--- title: Does vitamin B1 reduce premenstrual syndrome symptoms? | Niyora description: Yes. Vitamin B1 reduced mental symptoms by 35 percent and physical symptoms by 21 percent compared to placebo. url: https://niyora.com/research/papers/the-effects-of-vitamin-b1-on-ameliorating-the-premenstrual-syndrome-symptoms-2014/ --- - [Niyora](https://niyora.com/) - [Research](https://niyora.com/research/) - [Library](https://niyora.com/research/library/) - Does vitamin B1 reduce premenstrual syndrome symptoms? Randomised trial, 2014 # Does vitamin B1 reduce premenstrual syndrome symptoms? Yes. Vitamin B1 reduced mental symptoms by 35 percent and physical symptoms by 21 percent compared to placebo. Moderate study design 80 students with premenstrual syndrome in university dormitories in Iran ## What they did A double-blind placebo-controlled trial with 80 students with PMS living in university dormitories in Iran. Students were randomly assigned to receive vitamin B1 (thiamine) or placebo. Symptoms were recorded before the intervention and over 2 menstrual cycles using daily status records and depression questionnaires. ## What they found Vitamin B1 reduced mean mental symptoms by 35.08 percent and mean physical symptoms by 21.2 percent (P<0.0001). The vitamin B1 group had significantly lower mean symptoms than the placebo group. ## What it means for you Vitamin B1 may help reduce PMS symptoms. However, the study was limited to Iranian university students so results may not apply to all women. 80 students in study 35.08% reduction in mental symptoms 21.2% reduction in physical symptoms ## About the study Original title The effects of vitamin B1 on ameliorating the premenstrual syndrome symptoms Authors Abdollahifard S, Rahmanian Koshkaki A, Moazamiyanfar R Journal Global journal of health science Year 2014 Study design Randomised trial Participants 80 What was tested Vitamin B1 (thiamine) supplementation Open access Yes Read the paper [doi.org/10.5539/gjhs.v6n6p144](https://doi.org/10.5539/gjhs.v6n6p144) Original abstract Background & objective: The premenstrual syndrome (PMS) is a series of physical, mental, and behavioral symptoms with various severities, and disturbs social and personal relationships. The syndrome appears during luteal phase of the menstrual cycle and is a common disorder of reproductive age. Different treatments have been introduced for the syndrome due to its unknown complicated causes. Vitamin B1 (Thiamin) may reduce symptoms of the syndrome through affecting the performance of coenzymes in the metabolism of carbohydrates and main branch of amino acid that plays an important role in appearance of physical and mental symptoms of the PMS. Vitamin B1 is the first water-soluble discovered vitamin. As it is effective in neural activity and muscle tonus in different body activities, including hematopoiesis, metabolism of carbohydrates, activities of the central nervous system and neuromuscular system, etc., it can be effective in this dysmenorrhea that is a disorder resulting from uterine muscular contraction. There are no enough studies and research on the effect of vitamin B1 on the symptoms of PMS, therefore, this study was conducted to determine the effect of vitamin B1 on the symptoms of PMS in students residing at dormitories of Jahrom University of Medical Sciences in 2013. Methods: In this double-blind placebo-controlled clinical trial, 80 students with PMS residing at dormitories of Jahrom University of Medical Sciences were divided randomly into two groups, vitamin B1 and placebo. The severity of the symptoms of PMS in two cycles, before the intervention and during the intervention, was recorded by the students. The data were collected using an information collection form, PMS provisional diagnosis form, daily status record form, Beck Depression Inventory. The data were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. Results: There was no significant difference among the studied variables in terms of confounding variables. The comparison of vitamin B1 group before the intervention with that after the intervention showed that vitamin B1 reduced mean mental (35.08%) and physical (21.2%) symptoms significantly (P < 0.0001). Moreover, there was a significant difference between vitamin B1 and placebo groups in terms of mean mental and physical symptoms, as mean symptoms in vitamin B1 group was significantly lower than that in the placebo group (P < 0.0001). Conclusion: It seems that vitamin B1 is effective in recovery of mental and physical symptoms of PMS. Therefore, this vitamin can be used to reach a major goal of midwifery, that is, reduction of symptom severity of PMS, without any side effects. Reproduced under CC-BY. ## Topics [Premenstrual syndrome (PMS)](https://niyora.com/research/topics/condition-pms/)[Dysmenorrhea and period pain](https://niyora.com/research/topics/condition-dysmenorrhea/)[Diet and nutrition](https://niyora.com/research/topics/treatment-diet/)[Students and academic performance](https://niyora.com/research/topics/life-area-education/) Research tells you what helps on average. Niyora helps on the day it hits. Calm down, see it another way, and decide what to say, with a PMS and PMDD app built by a doctor. ## Related studies Systematic review, 2025 How common are PMS, PMDD, and painful periods in nursing students, and do they affect their schooling? Cohort study, 2026 Are diet and lifestyle linked to premenstrual symptoms in college students? Survey study, 2024 Does diet affect menstrual disorders including PMS? Cohort study, 2019 How do exercise, diet and weight affect menstrual problems? Survey study, 2019 What lifestyle and sleep habits are linked to PMS in teenage girls? Randomised trial, 2019 Does diet and aerobic exercise reduce PMS symptoms? Ask AI about this page Copy prompt ChatGPT ↗ Claude ↗ Perplexity ↗ Google AI Mode ↗ Grok ↗