Period cravings: Why do I get hungry and gain weight?

Evan Walker
Evan Walker TheMediTary.Com |
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Many people may experience food cravings before having a period. Heng Yu/Stocksy
  • Premenstrual food cravings affect many people, and a new study suggests they might be a result of decreased insulin sensitivity.
  • High insulin sensitivity allows the cells of the body to use glucose more efficiently, lowering blood glucose levels.
  • The study has found that insulin sensitivity varies throughout the menstrual cycle, being the highest before ovulation and lowest in the days preceding a menstrual period.
  • The researchers suggest this could explain why many women feel much hungrier just before their period.

Craving chocolate and carbohydrate-rich foods in the days before a menstrual period, resulting in weight gain, is common in many people who menstruate.

New research, recently published in Nature Metabolism, has found that insulin sensitivity — the response of your cells to the hormone insulin — varies throughout the menstrual cycle, being the highest in the days before ovulation and lowest in the run-up to a menstrual period.

The researchers suggest their findings explain why so many women experience hunger just prior to getting their period, why their metabolism slows, and why weight gain is so much more likely.

“This is an interesting finding — diabetics have reported cyclical changes in their blood sugar management for many years […] It is great to see some research into this at last!”
— Sally King, founder of Menstrual Matters, fellow in menstrual physiology, Dept. of Women and Children’s Health, King’s College London, who was not involved in the study.

However, Dr. Kara McElligot, obstetrician-gynecologist, NAMS-certified menopause practitioner, and medical advisor at Mira, who was not involved in the study, cautioned: “This is an exploratory observational study that provides some compelling pilot information. A study of this level can suggest possibilities but not prove that the conclusions are true.”

“The methodology of this study was too limited to definitively conclude that insulin sensitivity is reduced during the luteal phase of the menstrual cycle,” she added.

The menstrual cycle is controlled by hormones, which increase and decrease throughout the cycle. And this study suggests that these reproductive hormones may also affect insulin sensitivity.

The researchers measured insulin sensitivity in the brains of women who had a natural, Healthy menstrual cycle during different phases of their menstrual cycle. They administered insulin via a nasal spray and measured the response of the hypothalamus during both the follicular (the days before ovulation) and luteal (the lead-up to the menstrual period) Health">phases of the menstrual cycle.

Previous studies have shown inconsistent results about changes in blood glucose levels. However, a recent study has shown that blood glucose levels peak in the luteal phase (just before the period) and are at their lowest just before ovulation. And higher food cravings occurred when the blood glucose levels were highest.

“A state of reduced insulin sensitivity during the luteal phase of the menstrual cycle would, in theory, increase appetite.”
— Dr. Kara McElligot

In the premenstrual phase, both progesterone and estrogen levels decrease, and this is when desire for sweet foods is most likely. Health">Previous studies in people with type 1 diabetes have suggested that estrogen increases insulin sensitivity.

“From an evolutionary perspective, by increasing the amount of glucose circulating in the system during the luteal phase, the body would be better able to compensate for energy loss related to pregnancy (or menstruation) that follows,” Dr. McElligot said.

“In comparison, females without the change in insulin sensitivity and regulated appetite could be at a disadvantage in times of food shortage and therefore less likely to successfully reproduce,” she added.

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