Menstrual cramps are something many women deal with on a monthly basis. Imagine if you could alleviate that pain? Well, one Cornell University student has created a delicious solution.

“My grandma and mom would always make me these snacks before I came to college that always helped with my period cramps," said Armita Jamshidi, founder of Aunt Flo’s Kitchen. "I’ve had period cramps for about seven or eight years, and it’s pretty bad. I couldn’t go to school. I couldn’t really get any work done, or I had to skip swim practice a lot of times.”

Jamshidi is a junior at Cornell University studying women’s health and computer science. She knows firsthand what it’s like to struggle with period cramps.

“The day before classes started, my cramps got so bad that I fell out of consciousness and I was transported to the emergency room,” Jamshidi said.

She said it was in that moment she realized how few choices there were for women when it comes to period cramps. So she started researching the products her mom and grandma would use to help with her cramps.

“I found some way to ship it from different places across the U.S. — the ingredients. I used to make it in my dorm. That would help with my cramps. Eventually, I was giving it to my friends, and they wanted more,” Jamshidi said.

The main ingredients for the cramp bites are dates, walnuts and tahini, which can be found in Iranian traditional medicine.

“But the real active ingredient are various spices, so stuff like cardomin, enice, safron, cinnamon. Safron is actually more so for mood, but we put it in there just because personally, it’s made me feel better. In Iranian culture, it’s like the happiness spice, so to speak, so we add that in there as well,” Jamshidi said.

Jamshidi was a part of the women and entrepreneurship program at Cornell University, when she came up with Aunt Flo’s Kitchen, a website to sell her products. Her innovation led her to receive the Epperson Entrepreneurial Grant in 2022. She and a couple other undergraduate students used the grant to conduct a pilot clinical trial to test the efficacy of her products.

“This was assessed alongside a placebo, you know, something that really wasn’t meant to work. From those results, after being able to run a few statistical tests, we found that they were helping, they were helping individuals with their cramps. They reported through their own testimonials that they were really impactful,” said Kiran Ganga, a member of Aunt Flo’s Kitchen's research team.

Being able to help women with something she struggled with for so long through her Iranian roots is fulfilling for Jamshidi.

“Iranian traditional medicine was a huge part of my upbringing and a huge part of my family’s upbringing. So I really enjoy telling people about it and hearing their feedback. Looking at new research done in Iran is really interesting to me,” Jamshidi said.

The cramp bites are available for purchase at Cornell’s Health Pharmacy, and this spring they will be for sale at five Gimme! Coffee Shops in the Ithaca area.