The importance of a healthy diet and an active lifestyle has been branded into our minds over our lifetimes, and there is a good reason for it -- these activities lead to an overall better life. Moreover, when it comes to lessening or even completely eliminating menstrual cramps -- your lifestyle can play a major role regarding the severity of these unwanted monthly pains.

Obesity, drinking and smoking

In 1996, the British Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology reported findings on a study that followed 165 women over the period of one year. The most telling findings of this study concluded:

• Very heavy women increased the risk of succumbing to menstrual cramps by about 75%

• Active smokers increased their risk of suffering from cramping pain two or more days by about 50%

• Drinking (alcohol) while dealing with menstrual cramps increased the intensity of, and the duration of, the cramps.

In simple terms -- being obese, or even overweight, is a major contributing factor to menstrual cramps, being an active smoker may significantly increase your chances of extending the length of time you have to deal with menstrual cramps, and drinking during your time of the month may very well make your cramps hurt more and last longer. This study performed some twelve years ago really underscores the need for women to choose moderation over indulgences, and a health-conscious lifestyle over one rife with vices.

Importance of exercise and rest

When you are talking about lifestyle, rest and exercise naturally fall in line here. We all know that exercise is an integral part of a healthy lifestyle, but where it is especially relevant to warding off menstrual cramp pains is in what exercise helps to produce in our bodies -- endorphins.

Endorphins are our built-in "happy pills", or more aptly -- like the morphine button they give out at the hospital to injured or ill patients; they are our bodies’ natural pain killers. Exercise stimulates, or triggers, endorphin production during the initial stages of a workout regimen, and can have a significant impact on the amount of pain that you might experience during your period. Now, while you can reserve your exercise routine to your time of the month and will still benefit from the release of endorphins -- making a lifestyle choice of continual exercise can make it much easier to commit to a half-hour of light exercise during your period to help alleviate any pain or discomfort that you feel at that time.

Proper rest, much like exercise, is an important factor in your bodies ability to deal with pain adequately. In our never-a-dull-moment society, many of us fail to get adequate sleep at night, or even "down time" during the day. A well-rested body is more capable of coping with, and compensating for, painful menstrual cramps.

In all honestly, maintaining a healthy lifestyle -- one that incorporates ongoing exercise, a conscious effort to maintain a healthy weight, getting plenty of rest and giving up unhealthy vices, especially during your period, may be all it takes to lessen the intensity of, or to eliminate completely, the monthly pain felt from menstrual cramping.