Dietary vitamin D intake, 25-hydroxyvitamin D3 levels and premenstrual syndrome in a college-aged population

High dietary intake of vitamin D may reduce the risk of premenstrual syndrome (PMS), perhaps by affecting calcium levels, cyclic sex steroid hormone fluctuations, and/or neurotransmitter function. Only a small number of previous studies have evaluated this relationship and none have focused on young women. We assessed this relationship in a cross-sectional analysis within the UMass Vitamin D Status Study. Between 2006 and 2008, 186 women aged 18–30 (mean age = 21.6 years) completed a validated food frequency questionnaire, additional questionnaires to assess menstrual symptoms and other health and lifestyle factors, and provided a fasting blood sample collected during the late luteal phase of their menstrual cycle. Among all study participants, results suggested the possibility of an inverse association between intake of vitamin D from food sources and overall menstrual symptom severity, though were not statistically significant; mean intakes in women reporting menstrual symptom severity of none/minimal, mild, and moderate/severe were 253, 214, and 194 IU/day, respectively (P = 0.18). From among all study participants, 44 women meeting standard criteria for PMS and 46 women meeting control criteria were included in additional case–control analyses. In these women, after adjustment for age, body mass index, smoking status and total calcium intake, higher intake of vitamin D from foods was associated with a significant lower prevalence of PMS. Women reporting vitamin D intake from food sources of ≥100 IU/day had a prevalence odds ratio of 0.31 compared to those reporting <100 IU/day (95% confidence interval = 0.10–0.98). Late luteal phase 25-hydroxyvitamin D3 levels were not associated with prevalent PMS. Results from this pilot study suggest that a relationship between vitamin D and PMS is possible, though larger studies are needed to further evaluate this relationship and to investigate whether 25-hydroxyvitamin D3 levels in the follicular or early luteal phases of the menstrual cycle may be related to PMS risk.