---
title: Does caloric restriction and aerobic exercise improve PMS symptoms in obese women?
description: Yes, when combined with medication, caloric restriction and aerobic exercise significantly improved PMS symptoms, reduced weight, and improved stress and repr
url: https://niyora.com/research/papers/effect-of-caloric-restriction-and-aerobic-exercise-on-premenstrual-syndrome-2025/
---

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- Does caloric restriction and aerobic exercise improve PMS symptoms in obese women?

Randomised trial, 2025

# Does caloric restriction and aerobic exercise improve PMS symptoms in obese women?

Yes, when combined with medication, caloric restriction and aerobic exercise significantly improved PMS symptoms, reduced weight, and improved stress and reproductive hormones over 12 weeks.

 Strong study design

40 obese women with PMS

## What they did

Randomized controlled trial with 40 obese women with PMS. Both groups received ibuprofen for 12 weeks (one tablet daily for 5 days before menstruation, two daily during). The study group also did caloric restriction and aerobic exercise. Researchers measured PMS symptoms, weight, body size, and hormones.

## What they found

The exercise and diet group showed significantly greater improvements than medication alone: lower PMS symptom scores, weight loss, lower BMI, smaller waist and hip measurements, lower stress hormone (cortisol), and higher reproductive hormone (progesterone) (all p < 0.05). At baseline, the groups had no differences.

## What it means for you

For obese women with PMS, adding exercise and dietary changes to medication works better than medication alone. This suggests that weight loss and fitness improvements help reduce PMS. The main limitation is that it only tested women with obesity, so results may not apply to women at a normal weight.

40

Sample size

12 weeks

Duration

20

Per group

## About the study

Original title Effect of Caloric Restriction and Aerobic Exercise on Premenstrual Syndrome, Anthropometric, and Hormonal Parameters in Obese Females: A Randomized Controlled Trial Authors Soliman YM, Okeel FM, Yousef AM et al. Journal Physiotherapy research international : the journal for researchers and clinicians in physical therapy Year 2025 Study design Randomised trial Participants 40 What was tested 12 weeks of caloric restriction and aerobic exercise plus medication Read the paper [doi.org/10.1002/pri.70015](https://doi.org/10.1002/pri.70015)

## Topics

[Premenstrual syndrome (PMS)](https://niyora.com/research/topics/condition-pms/)[Stress](https://niyora.com/research/topics/symptom-stress/)[Exercise and yoga](https://niyora.com/research/topics/treatment-exercise/)

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