Appetite and food intake are influenced by steroid hormones during the menstrual cycle. Especially in the luteal phase, increased appetite for certain foods often occurs.
A 2016 study suggests that changes in estrogen and progesterone hormone levels cause cravings for sweets and high-carb foods before menstruation. 🍭
When consuming polysaccharides and sweets, the human body releases serotonin. Serotonin is a chemical that increases feelings of happiness. Increasing good feelings is always nice, but even more so when you are not feeling your best due to turbulent hormones. 🙍🏻♀️
According to an older study from 2004, about half of women who have a sweet tooth report craving chocolate. It was found that chocolate cravings, like sweet cravings, occur in many women around the time of their period.
Chocolate 🍫 is a high-carb food that many women crave more during their period than at other times during their menstrual cycle. There may be two reasons for the craving for chocolate. The first is that a woman's physiological state around menstruation may trigger a need that is satisfied by one of the components of chocolate (e.g. magnesium or serotonin). The second is that chocolate causes pleasure by increasing the release of neurotransmitters.
Vera team 💕
List of used literature:
Zellner, D. A., Garriga-Trillo, A., Centeno, S., & Wadsworth, E. (2004). Chocolate craving and the menstrual cycle. Appetite, 42(1), 119–121.doi:10.1016/j.appet.2003.11.004
Krishnan, S., Tryon, R., Welch, LC, Horn, WF and Keim, NL (2016), Menstrual cycle hormones, food intake, and cravings. The FASEB Journal, 30: 418.6-418.6. https://doi.org/10.1096/fasebj.30.1_supplement.418.6
Healthline: Why You Want to Eat All the Things Before Your Period [online]. Available from: https://www.healthline.com/health/period-cravings