The real reason women crave chocolate during their period

Chocolate cravings around periods may feel natural, but they’re likely influenced by culture and stress. Photo / 123rf

There’s a popular belief that period cravings are linked to hormones. But researchers now think these cravings are culturally driven.

Many studies have found that women report craving chocolate around menstruation, often with an increase beginning a few days before its onset. There’s a popular idea that these chocolate cravings are linked to fluctuating hormones during the menstrual cycle. But the data have not been so clear cut.

Researchers now think cravings around menses are culturally driven, rather than a purely biological phenomenon. In fact, more American women tend to crave chocolate than in other countries.

A 2006 survey of more than 300 Cornell University students found that 91% of the female students surveyed craved chocolate. For the women, chocolate was also the most-craved food overall.

But in other parts of the world, chocolate cravings can be less common. The 2006 study also surveyed Spanish college-aged women and found that of about 260 students at a university in Spain, 28% of women endorsed chocolate cravings specifically related to their menstrual cycle, compared to 49% of American women.

Additionally, one 2019 study found that the most craved food among Japanese women was rice, and only around 19% of Japanese women crave chocolate in general.

Cravings are complex - they’re not related to how hungry you may be, and they can be driven by many factors, including habits we create around eating.

But the reasons cravings occur may be less important than evaluating how those foods make you feel. Many women report that eating chocolate and other sweets or carbohydrates around their menstrual cycle helps boost their mood while others find the cravings troublesome.

If you want to curb cravings, think about when they occur and how to disrupt the habit. Do you crave chocolate at night? One of my favourite suggestions came from a reader who recommended brushing your teeth right after dinner. Besides the overwhelming flavour profile that can come from the toothpaste, we’re conditioned to not eat after brushing by a habit formed in early childhood.

Chocolate cravings are much more common among American women than in other countries. Photo / 123rf

The science on periods and cravings

Women’s caloric intake does increase just before the start of a period - while at the same time insulin resistance may decrease - so the idea that fluctuating hormones would impact cravings feels logical. For years, it was hypothesised that the fall in progesterone, which typically occurs a few days before the start of a period, is what induced chocolate cravings.

However, when scientists directly measured hormone levels and tried to correlate them with cravings, no such link was found. And another study found that oral progesterone treatment was no better than placebo in reducing chocolate or sweet cravings among menstruating women.

Additionally, if chocolate cravings were truly tied to the menstrual cycle, you might expect that after menopause, they would go away - or at least drop by the percent accounted for by premenopausal women who specifically reported period cravings.

Researchers from the University of Pennsylvania found that postmenopausal women did crave chocolate less than premenopausal women, but that difference was only by a small fraction - and not by enough to pin it on periods. Most postmenopausal women (about 77%) still craved chocolate and often linked it to their mood.

These studies have led some scientists to think that eating chocolate is more likely a culturally sanctioned and conditioned response to various forms of stress, especially in the United States (and having a period every month can certainly be a big stressor).

A 2017 US. study compared menstrual chocolate cravings among women born outside the United States to those born in the country. The study found that women born outside the United States were significantly less likely to endorse menstrual chocolate cravings. But interestingly, the ones who did experience them reported greater US acculturation and lower identification with their native culture than those who didn’t experience menstrual chocolate cravings.

Period cravings often coincide with stress-related symptoms and fluctuating hormone levels. Photo / 123rf

What I want my patients to know

Cravings tend to happen among people who are suffering from severe symptoms related to their periods. One study published in PLOS One this year found that women who tended to crave high-fat and sweet foods were more likely to suffer from premenstrual syndrome, or have irregular or painful cycles.

If you have strong cravings, pause a moment and take stock of what else is happening around your period. Are your cramps so severe it’s hard to go about your day? Do you suffer from upsetting mood swings, bloating or anxiety?

If you have any of these symptoms, it’s a good idea to speak with your doctor about the entire picture - and strategise the best way to cope. I always tell my patients not to “dismiss” anything about your period as “normal” without checking in with a physician. Suffering during your menstrual cycle is not normal, but we too often treat it like it is.

Trisha Pasricha is an instructor of medicine at Harvard Medical School.