Women who battle painful premenstrual syndrome (PMS) symptoms could find relief in a common snack, with new research revealing eating a handful of nuts a day reduces the risk of PMS symptoms by 41%.¹

Seeds and legumes were also shown to help with PMS risk, while giving in to sugar cravings only made symptoms worse, with a serve of sugar and sweets shown to increase the risk of moderate to severe PMS symptoms by 33%.

The research, published in Nutrition, was the first review to establish a significant link between specific foods and PMS symptoms.

The Polish study examined 606 women aged 18-35 years, each with a menstrual cycle length of 22-35 days, and found that eating around 30g of nuts, seeds and legumes daily, reduced PMS in women experiencing mild symptoms, as well as those with moderate to severe symptoms.

Researchers pointed to the anti-inflammatory properties of nuts, seeds and legumes, as a primary reason for their ability to reduce PMS symptoms.

“This ground-breaking research helps to establish the benefits of food, especially nuts, in managing psychological and physical symptoms associated with the menstrual cycle,” said Ms Belinda Neville, dietitian and program manager at Australian nut industry nutrition body, Nuts for Life.

“For women, the combination of dietary fibre, omega-3 fatty acids and anti-inflammatory phytochemicals found in nuts, can work to balance hormone levels, ease inflammation in the body and reduce premenstrual pain.

“Nuts also contain small quantities of isoflavones, which can provide additional soothing effects on PMS symptoms. To gain these health benefits and others, women should be aiming to eat 30g of nuts a day, which is around a handful.”

According to recent research, 80% of Australian women aged 18 to 44 have experienced severe PMS issues in the past five years, with 44% missing work or study days.² The estimated economic impact of painful menstrual symptoms, including PMS, is $14 billion annually excluding healthcare costs.³

Given greater nut consumption alongside other dietary modifications has been shown to reduce PMS symptoms across the board, eating more nuts could help ease this economic cost through alleviating PMS markers.

“Severe PMS symptoms can have a detrimental impact on women’s daily lives and wellbeing. This much-
needed research offers women hope when it comes to managing the effects and severity of PMS symptoms. Simply adding nuts to the menu each day has the potential to help millions of women have a smoother cycle each month,” said Ms Neville.

Belinda Neville’s five tips to include more nuts in your diet to help manage PMS:

• Reach for one handful of nuts rather than a sweet treat during your menstrual cycle.
• Add pistachios to your trolley – these contain the most of PMS soothing isoflavones out of all nuts.
• Don’t forget the walnuts – these are one of the highest omega-3 containing nuts.
• Increase nuts in your diet by making a nut pesto, adding nuts to salads, blending in smoothies.
• Nut butters also have health benefits, so try adding an ABC (almond, Brazil nut and cashew) nut butter and banana on wholegrain toast for breakfast.

Featured Image: Greta Hoffman

References:

1. Granda, D, et al. Dietary predictors of premenstrual syndrome: protective role of nuts, seeds, and legumes, and adverse role of sugar and sweets. Nutrition, 2025. ↩︎
2. ABC Listen. Reported by Rachel Carbonell Available at: abc.net.au ↩︎
3. Mardon, AK, et al. Problematic Periods Costing Young Women – The Impact of Menstrual Symptoms on Work and Study. Australian and New Zealand Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology (ANZJOG), 2024. ↩︎