DIETS ENRICHED WITH WHOLE GRAINS REDUCE PREMENSTRUAL SYNDROME SCORES IN NURSES: AN OPEN-LABEL PARALLEL RANDOMIZED CONTROLLED TRIAL

Background and Aim: Although previous studies have demonstrated the beneficial effects of some components of whole grains on premenstrual syndrome (PMS), our literature review showed that no clinical trial has been studied the effect of whole grain consumption on PMS so far. Therefore, the present study was designed to study the effect of diet rich in whole grains on PMS among nurses.Methods: This study is a parallel controlled clinical trial with a three months intervention period in which, after following two menstrual cycles among nurses, 100 nurses diagnosed with PMS were randomly divided into two groups of intervention and control, with 50 individuals in each. Those in the intervention group replaced at least four servings of refined grains in their daily diets with whole grains. To supply four servings, 120 grams of bread made with whole flour was given to the intervention group on daily basis. Those in the control group continued their regular daily consumption of grains. The two groups were compared regarding PMS symptoms after adjusting the confounding variables. Results: The repeated measurement test showed that the interaction between the time factor and the experimental group on the mean score of PMS symptoms were significant, that is, the intervention group showed a significant decrease in the general, mood, physical, and behavioral symptoms of PMS compared to the controls (P=0.003, P<0.001, P=0.015, P<0.001, respectively). Conclusion: Therefore, daily consumption of whole grains in place of refined grains can contribute to improvement of PMS symptoms. Further studies are needed to confirm our findings.

کلیدواژه ها:

Whole grains ، Premenstrual syndrome ، Diet ، Nurses