In This ArticleView AllIn This ArticleHow Much Coffee Is Too Much?What Happens When You Drink Coffee During Your PeriodThe Bottom Line
In This ArticleView All
View All
In This Article
How Much Coffee Is Too Much?
What Happens When You Drink Coffee During Your Period
The Bottom Line
So what is the truth? Can drinking coffee actually make your period last longer and make PMS symptoms worse? We asked women’s health dietitian and expertElizabeth Ward, MS, RDNwhether drinking coffee could affect your menstrual cycle, and if there is any science to back up claims that it could make your PMS symptoms worse. Spoiler alert—it doesn’t.
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TheU.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)states that consumers should keep theircaffeineintake at 400 milligrams a day. A cup of regular coffee averages around 100 milligrams per 8 ounces, meaning a coffee drinker should not have over 28 ounces (or four cups) of coffee in a day.
Nevertheless, if one drinks more than that allotted amount of caffeine in a day, there is a chance they could experiencecaffeine toxicity—aka, drinking too much caffeine at once. Experts say overconsumption of caffeine can even be lethal.Symptoms of caffeine overdoseinclude:
Coffee drinkers may also experiencewithdrawal symptoms after consuming caffeinesuch as headaches, drowsiness, irritability, nausea, and trouble concentrating.
Your PMS Symptoms Will Remain the Same
Despite any previous claim you have seen online about drinking coffee during your period, no concrete evidence links caffeine intake with intensifiedPMS symptomsduring your cycle.
“I think it’s safe to say that there isn’t much evidence that caffeine affects the menstrual cycle,” says Ward.
“That said, people vary in their reaction to caffeine,” Ward warns. “Habitual ‘users’—people who consume the same, reasonable amount (400 milligrams) on a regular basis will likely feel no effects of caffeine on their menstrual cycle.”
The Length of your Period Will Remain the Same, or Could Even Be Shorter
Despite a previous observational study in the late 1990s that stated how caffeine could affect the timeframe of one’s cycle, a recent 2022 cross-sectional study published inBMC Women’s Healthactually claimed the opposite. After evaluating 9,335 premenopausal women between the ages 25 and 45, researchers stated that coffee drinkers were less likely to experience longer menstrual cycles. Meaning that drinking their coffee had no effect on the length of one’s cycle, or could even make the duration shorter.
Ward does make it clear that both of these referenced studies are observational, and more research needs to be done in order to determine how coffee could ultimately affect the length of one’s cycle. Needless to say, there isn’t enough evidence to show that it could make your period cycle longer.
Too Much Caffeine Could Intensify Menstrual Discomforts
Although the studies do not link caffeine intake and menstrual cycles, Ward points out that drinking too much caffeine could intensify some of the discomforts you may experience during your cycle already.
However, if you keep to the allotted 400 milligrams of caffeine (or 28 ounces of coffee) during the day, caffeine should not bother your typical cycle. Ward even points out the beneficial ways caffeine gives you an extra boost of energy if you are prone to experienceperiod fatigueduring your cycle.
There isn’t enough evidence to link how drinking coffee could affect one’s menstrual cycle. While there is an observational study that shows how caffeine intake (whether it be coffee, tea, or another source) could be linked to shorter menstrual cycle durations, there is no concrete research to claim that caffeine in coffee can intensify PMS symptoms during one’s period. However, if coffee already causes discomfort for a consumer, experts say that those comforts could intensify if the consumer is also going through their time of the month.
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