The Truth About Food
15 Jan 2007
Thursday 18 January BBC 2 9pm -10pm How To Be Sexy -NAPS Chairman Nick Panay and Trustee Nigel Denby give advice
Vic Reeves and Nancy Sorrell put their bodies on the line to discover just what effect food can have on our sex lives. Is the way to a person's heart really through the stomach? Can fruit and veg boost sperm quality? Does the smell of some foods turn men on? And just how might cheese help relieve PMS?
With a team of specialists the BBC investigates iclaims that increasing the amount of calcium and vitamin D in a woman's diet can help reduce the symptoms of PMS.
Can a change in diet transform a woman's mood?
As many of 80% of women at reproductive age may experience premenstrual symptoms which range from swollen breasts and mood swings to tearfulness and irritability. For some the list can be endless and at the extreme end PMS can be very severe, manifesting itself in verbal and physical aggression and potentially leading to relationship breakdowns and job losses.
Previous research suggested that perhaps women who do not have enough zinc, magnesium, Vitamins E and B6, or certain fatty acids in their diets are more likely to have PMS.
But there is a stronger claim to be made.
In the search to cure a condition whose cause is unknown many scientists have observed a significant reduction in symptoms of PMS if sufferers are placed on high doses of calcium and Vitamin D supplements.
With the help of our PMS and nutrition specialists we took sixteen women who had been battling with PMS for years and put eight of them on a three month dairy-rich diet to see if dietary intervention could work where conventional medication had failed. The other half we placed on a placebo pill.
"many scientists have observed a significant reduction in symptoms of PMS if sufferers are placed on high doses of calcium and Vitamin D"
Three months on did the “Double D diet” have a positive improvement on the women’s lives?
Well, some of the women weren’t so sure but others were definitely feeling a change. Hayley had an 80% improvement in her symptoms and Abi had a complete resolution.
According to our specialist, Nick Panay, the women on the high calcium and vitamin D diet had a one-third improvement over the placebo group.
The study was conducted by Nick Panay, consultant gynaecologist at Queen Charlotte’s & Chelsea and Westminster Hospitals, London, and our dietician was Nigel Denby, senior dietician at Queen Charlotte’s & Chelsea Hospital, London.
