---
title: Does eating more calcium and vitamin D help prevent PMS? | Niyora
description: Yes. Women eating the most vitamin D and calcium had lower PMS risk, and drinking more low-fat milk was also linked to lower risk.
url: https://niyora.com/research/papers/calcium-and-vitamin-d-intake-and-risk-of-incident-premenstrual-syndrome-2005/
---

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- Does eating more calcium and vitamin D help prevent PMS?

Case-control study, 2005

# Does eating more calcium and vitamin D help prevent PMS?

Yes. Women eating the most vitamin D and calcium had lower PMS risk, and drinking more low-fat milk was also linked to lower risk.

 Moderate study design

1057 women aged 27 to 44 who developed PMS and 1968 who did not, from Nurses' Health Study II.

## What they did

Researchers followed nurses aged 27 to 44 for 10 years starting in 1991. They compared women who developed PMS with women who didn't, and looked at what calcium and vitamin D they consumed in 1991, 1995, and 1999.

## What they found

Women eating the most vitamin D (median 706 IU per day) had lower PMS risk than those eating the least (median 112 IU per day). Women eating the most calcium from food (median 1283 mg per day) had lower risk than those eating the least (median 529 mg per day). Women who drank skim or low-fat milk also had lower PMS risk.

## What it means for you

Eating calcium and vitamin D from food sources, especially milk, may help prevent PMS. The study was large and followed women over 10 years. The main limit is that this was an observation study so we cannot say these nutrients prevent PMS, only that eating more was linked to lower risk.

706 vs 112 IU

vitamin D daily (highest vs lowest)

1283 vs 529 mg

calcium daily (highest vs lowest)

10 years

length of follow-up

## About the study

Original title Calcium and vitamin D intake and risk of incident premenstrual syndrome Authors Bertone-Johnson ER, Hankinson SE, Bendich A et al. Journal Archives of internal medicine Year 2005 Study design Case-control study Participants 1,057 What was tested Varied calcium and vitamin D intake from food sources. Read the paper [doi.org/10.1001/archinte.165.11.1246](https://doi.org/10.1001/archinte.165.11.1246)

## Topics

[Premenstrual syndrome (PMS)](https://niyora.com/research/topics/condition-pms/)[Diet and nutrition](https://niyora.com/research/topics/treatment-diet/)[Calcium](https://niyora.com/research/topics/treatment-calcium/)[Vitamin D](https://niyora.com/research/topics/treatment-vitamin-d/)

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