We all like a good PMS joke, right? Wrong. Ads by the California Milk Processor Board using PMS mood swings as a joke to sell milk, which supposedly helps with PMS, went bad way before their sell-by date. The campaign had only been out for two weeks when the board decided to change it last Thursday.

We all know PMS jokes are tired. But is the claim in the ads true? Does milk help PMS?

The Boston Globe’s Deborah Kotz wanted to know, too, and came up with, “Clearly the milk-PMS relationship is tenuous at best.” Kotz cites NPR health blogger Scott Hensley noting that the studies on this are old, the latest published in 2005 finding that vitamin D-rich foods, not just milk, lowered PMS risk, and that one researcher found that the benefits come from skim or low-fat but not whole milk, among other findings.

Pssst. You know what does helps? Sex. Check this from Self magazine. It lists several helpers (including the calcium and vitamin D in dairy) but this is our favorite:

“Plagued by PMS? Indulge in some sexy time at least weekly. Contracting uterine and pelvic floor muscles during sex may reduce the ouch, says Winnifred Cutler, Ph.D., founder of the Athena Institute in Chester Springs, Penn.”

You don’t have to tell us, Winnie. Now let’s see a condom or lube company get on that ad campaign ...