MIND Diet Does Not Independently Predict Premenstrual Syndrome Severity

Adherence to the Mediterranean-DASH Intervention for Neurodegenerative Delay (MIND) diet showed a weak inverse association with premenstrual syndrome (PMS) severity but failed to serve as an independent predictor in a cross-sectional study of adult women. The investigation, carried out by researchers at Acibadem Mehmet Ali Aydinlar University, the University of Health Sciences, Erciyes Universitesi, and Marmara Universitesi in Türkiye, evaluated the relationship between dietary adherence patterns and the severity of premenstrual symptoms.

The descriptive, cross-sectional investigation enrolled 405 adult women who volunteered for the study. To gather empirical data, investigators administered sociodemographic questionnaires that documented participants’ general menstrual cycle characteristics, habitual dietary patterns, and specific nutritional changes occurring during the premenstrual window. Symptom severity was quantified using the Premenstrual Syndrome Scale (PMSS), while dietary alignment was measured using the MIND Diet Adherence Scale.

Premenstrual syndrome was identified in 46.7 percent of the surveyed women. When the researchers compared participants with PMS to those without the condition, significant differences emerged across demographic and behavioral factors. Women diagnosed with PMS had a significantly lower mean age, reported longer menstrual cycle durations, and showed higher rates of cigarette smoking and alcohol consumption, with each of these comparisons reaching statistical significance at p < 0.05.

The study also identified distinct dietary shifts during the premenstrual period among affected participants. Women with PMS reported significantly more frequent increases in their consumption of refined grains, fried foods, sweets and sugary foods, coffee, packaged foods, and sugary beverages compared to women without PMS (p < 0.05).

In bivariate statistical evaluations, the researchers observed a weak negative correlation between MIND diet adherence scores and total PMSS scores (r = −0.131; p = 0.008). However, this relationship did not hold when adjusting for other variables in a hierarchical regression model. In the multivariable regression analysis, the MIND diet adherence score was not an independent predictor of premenstrual symptom severity (β = −0.070; p = 0.146).

Age emerged as the only statistically significant predictor in the hierarchical regression model, with increasing age associated with lower PMS severity scores (β = −0.320; p < 0.001). The authors noted that the increased intake of processed products, sugary foods, and coffee among women with PMS indicates a role for targeted nutritional counseling during this period, while emphasizing that prospective longitudinal studies are required to clarify the direction of these observed associations.

Subject of Research: Relationship between MIND diet adherence and premenstrual syndrome severity in adult women

Article Title: MIND diet adherence and premenstrual syndrome severity among adult women: a cross-sectional study

Article References: Sarıyer, E. T., Baş, M., Çolak Çetinkaya, H., & Yüksel, M. (2026). MIND diet adherence and premenstrual syndrome severity among adult women: a cross-sectional study. Frontiers in Nutrition, 13, Article 1990224. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnut.2026.1990224

Image Credits: AI Generated

DOI: 10.3389/fnut.2026.1990224

Keywords: MIND diet, premenstrual syndrome, PMSS, MIND Diet Adherence Scale, premenstrual symptoms, menstrual cycle duration, women's health, nutritional epidemiology, hierarchical regression, age predictor, cross-sectional study, refined grains, fried foods, sweets and sugary foods, coffee consumption, packaged foods, sugary beverages, alcohol consumption