Author: Marko Balašević
Time for reading: ~1
minutes
Last Updated:
August 08, 2022
The results show that the premenstrual period is not a reason for a possible increase in the desire for sweets.
Before the menstrual period or in the so-called premenstrual syndrome, women tend to reach for sweets. Many attribute this desire to the period.
In a new study, researchers find that chocolate cravings do not increase before the menstrual cycle.
The results show that the premenstrual period is not the reason for the greater desire for sweets.
The study is small and includes only 35 women. It contradicts previous ones, from which it is concluded that before the menstrual cycle the desire for high-calorie foods and chocolate products increases.
The data of the volunteers were monitored in two stages, seven days before menstruation, at the end of the luteal phase and during the late follicular phase, the time towards the middle of the cycle, before the release of the egg.
One of the conditions for the participants in the study is that they have a regular menstrual cycle in order to follow the process more easily and accurately.
Putting a bowl of sweet temptations in front of the volunteers in both follow-up stages, the researchers found that there was not much difference in the desire to eat jam depending on the cycle.
Additional data are needed to determine whether mood swings during this period have any influence on food choices and desires, the research team explained.
The results of the study are expected to be published in the journal Appetite .