Found this at BBC

Guess they will push carbs and any cost

Women suffering from premenstrual syndrome can alleviate their symptoms with a carbohydrate-rich drink, say scientists.
Women were given the drink, PMS Escape, twice daily in the five days before their period.

The American researchers found that the women, who had mild to moderate symptoms, had less negative mood swings and food cravings after taking the supplement, which increased the brain chemical serotonin.

The drink is fruit-flavoured and contains carbohydrates, vitamins, and minerals.



The women that we helped really liked it and were enthusiastic

Professor Ellen Freeman,
University of Pennsylvania

But the data in the study, published in the International Journal of Gynaecology and Obstetrics, has been criticised by Professor of gynaecology John Studd.

He said it had used just over 50 women and was too small and "utterly illogical."

Professor Ellen Freeman, of the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, who led the study, disagreed and said it the drink had shown clear benefits for women suffering from mild to moderate symptoms.

"The women that we helped really liked it and were enthusiastic, and it was very easy to use."

'False hope'

She said one of the benefits of the drink was that it could be taken when symptoms first occurred.

Professor Studd, of London's Chelsea and Westminster Hospital, said he felt the study was "without foundation", and would give false hope to many women.

"We need treatment that works with a vigorous scientific trial," he said.

"It is utterly illogical. You certainly want a larger trial."

He added that women wanting to alleviate symptoms of premenstrual syndrome should do more exercise and avoid stress in the days leading up to their periods.

"It is a very serious disorder and we do not make it better by taking a calorie-rich beverage."

A recent study from Scandinavia indicated that grass pollen could also be used to treat PMS.

Scientists found that the pollen extract helped reduce fluid retention, weight gain and bloatedness as well as irritability and unhappiness.

Ha, ha...
I've had no problems at all (5 months) since making the change to a 95% whole foods diet, without any wheat-related grains or dairy. Grains in particular were throwing my whole system out of whack... thyroid, hormones, GI system, everything. But I guess that doesn't sell a sugar-filled "product", does it... LOL

Irks me as much as those "PMDD" commercials that make PMS seem like a terrible disorder of some sort.

Surleymel..

For some, PMS can be a terrible and disabling disorder, almost to the point of psychosis for those who have it's severest form. For others, it just makes them cranky and out of sorts for a few days. I'm sure the "treatment" works. Heck...anything with a lot of sugar in it is going to increase the serotonin level in your brain for a while and give you a sugar high. BUT...it will then result in a sugar crash where you feel worse than you did before which will require you, of course, to take more of the "treatment" to feel better again. Just because something works doesn't make it a solution to the problem or good for you.

I guess to me PMS seems more like a symptom of something else being off kilter within the body - rather than a disorder itself. Extreme PMS (to the point of yelling and violent anger) was one of my "symptoms" before I found out I had Celiac disease (not a disease... but a disorder, LOL)... once I completely removed grain from my diet, no more PMS... hormones and thyroid stabilized, iron levels got back to normal, good stuff.

It just makes me a little crazy that a sugar drink gets such a ringing endorsement... and that the carbo "cure" is something of an encouragement for individuals and science to stop looking for real answers to the problem.