What foods help reduce menstrual pain?

A diet high in foods such as meat, oil, sugar, salt, and coffee increases menstrual pain. That's the conclusion reached by doctors from Temple University. Their findings were presented at the North American Menopause Society's annual NAMS conference.

"Many foods that young people like to eat contribute to inflammation. These are sausages and foods high in sugar and trans fats. If you stick to an 'anti-inflammatory' diet - including fruits, vegetables and olive oil in your diet, as in the Mediterranean diet - there will be less cramping," the researchers say.

Earlier studies showed that women who drank sodas and ate meat were more likely to suffer from menstrual cycle pain than women who ate more fruits and vegetables. Moreover, women who ate fewer than two servings of fruit a day were more likely to suffer from menstrual cycle pain, the researchers noted.

According to the researchers, the strength of menstrual pain is affected in part by an imbalance between omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids. The pain occurs because the hormone-like pro-inflammatory substance prostaglandins causes the uterus to contract. Prostaglandins are formed from essential fatty acids, found mostly in animal products, and are omega-6-unsaturated fatty acids. Excess omega-6 provokes inflammatory reactions, while omega-3 have an anti-inflammatory effect. So, if you reduce the proportion of omega-6 in your diet and increase the proportion of omega-3 acids, your prostaglandin production should decrease - and with it, your menstrual pain.

Omega-3s are found in foods such as salmon, tuna, sardines, oysters, walnuts, chia seeds and flaxseeds.

Follow NEWS.am Medicine on Facebook and Twitter