Flavonoid supplement improves leg health and reduces fluid retention in pre-menopausal women in a double-blind, placebo-controlled study.

What Was Tested

Researchers studied Flavonoids in this randomized controlled trial publication.

However, no studies have investigated these compounds for use in premenstrual fluid retention, a complaint common among women with otherwise normal menstrual cycles.

Leg girth was also measured at baseline and at the end of the study.

Who Took Part

The age groups tagged for this paper are adults, women only.

Fluid retention was assessed at baseline and throughout 4 menstrual cycles of the intervention using validated questionnaires.

How the Study Was Run

The researchers set it up as a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled and pilot study.

Because people in this Flavonoids study were split into groups at random, differences between the groups are less likely to reflect who happened to join each one.

Neither the participants nor the staff measuring them knew who was on Flavonoids, so expectations could not easily colour the readings.

A placebo (an inactive look-alike) gave the Flavonoids group a baseline to be compared against.

It is described as a pilot, a small early test of whether a larger Flavonoids study would be practical.

What Was Measured

Leg girth was also measured at baseline and at the end of the study.

PubMed files the paper under topics including Dietary Supplements, Edema, Flavonoids, Fruit, Leg, Menstrual Cycle and Phytotherapy.

What This Means in Plain Language

The paper is a randomized, double-blind and placebo-controlled study of Flavonoids.

The publication is from 2004 (Phytomedicine : international journal of phytotherapy and phytopharmacology), a journal based in Germany.

More context: all human trials.