Eating chocolate actually eases the agony of periods, says study
- Experts found that listening to music also helps reduce discomfort during periods
- Researchers tracked 84 students at Manisa Celal Bayar University in Turkey
- Eating just 40mg of dark chocolate a day for four days significantly reduced pain
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It is already the go-to remedy for millions of women struggling with periods of agony.
But eating chocolate really is beneficial, scientists say.
That is as long as women eat a small amount of the dark variety in the days leading up to delivery.
Listening to soothing music also helps reduce discomfort on the first day of menstruation, the study of 84 nursing students found.
Turkish experts believe that the endorphins released by the body after eating chocolate and listening to music help reduce pain and act as a natural sedative.
Turkish experts found that eating dark chocolate or listening to music helps reduce menstrual pain and anxiety during the first day of menstruation
Nine out of 10 women in the UK and 80 per cent in the US experience period pain at some point in their lives.
It is caused by the tightening of the muscles around the uterus, which cuts off the blood supply to the organ and causes the tissues to release chemicals that trigger pain.
Conditions like endometriosis, fibroids, pelvic inflammatory disease, and adenomyosis can also cause discomfort during periods.
The NHS recommends taking pain relievers such as ibuprofen and aspirin to help relieve pain and also applying heat to the belly.
The latest study, published in the European Journal of Integrative Medicinetracked women ages 18 to 25 who were studying at Manisa Celal Bayar University.
Ninety students were originally included and all rated their period pain as at least five out of 10.
But six dropped out because they wanted to take painkillers. None of those who received the chocolate gave up.
The volunteers were randomly divided into three groups of 30: a control group that received nothing for their pain, a chocolate group, and a music group.
The chocolate group ate 40 mg of dark chocolate containing 60 percent cocoa, the equivalent of one slider bar. For example, an average sized bar, such as those sold by Cadbury’s and Galaxy, contains up to 200g of chocolate.
They were asked to eat the chocolate in the three days before their period and on the first day of their period.
Music group volunteers listened to a 29-minute, 32-second song daily during the same period.
The song was composed by neurology researcher Juan Sebastián Martín-Saavedra, with the aim of studying the impact of music on pain for a separate study.
The slow orchestral piece is designed to be relaxing and slow.
Participants were asked about their pain on the first day of their period at the start of the study.
They were also questioned at the same point at the end of the study, which allowed the researchers to see if their discomfort had changed.
Another questionnaire was used to assess their anxiety levels at regular intervals throughout the study.
The results showed that the average pain level dropped from six to five out of 10 in the chocolate group after they started eating it.
It fell from seven to six in the music group, while it remained at six in the control group.
Anxiety levels fell 18 percent in the chocolate group, 13 percent in the music group and not at all in the control group.
The team, led by Dr. Asli Karakus Selcuk, claimed that dark chocolate and music could be used to help with dysmenorrhea, the medical term for period pain.
Writing in the journal, they said: “Both dark chocolate and music medicine had a significant effect in reducing menstrual pain and anxiety in young women with primary dysmenorrhea.”
‘It can be suggested that dark chocolate or music medicine can be used safely and effectively as nursing interventions in primary dysmenorrhea to control menstrual pain and anxiety.
“More research is needed to draw stronger conclusions about the effect of music medicine and dark chocolate.”
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