If you find yourself overeating while on your period or gravitating towards sugary foods...it's ok.

Damn, we really do put a lot of pressure on ourselves!

Not only are we literally shedding the lining of a life-creating organ, but we expect ourselves to NOT feel/act any differently during this time?

WHY YOU CRAVE SUGARY FOODS WHEN ON YOUR PERIOD

LUTEAL PHASE CALORIC NEEDS

Now while we don't actually use extra calories when ON our periods, it turns out our bodies require 100-300 more calories during the luteal phase (the week before our period).

So your cravings during your period may be down to you having suppressed or ignored your higher calorie needs the week before.

Ensure you fuel your body during the luteal week extra well.

HORMONE CHANGES CAN CAUSE FOOD CRAVINGS

A 2016 study indicated that changes in hormones such as estrogen and progesterone can cause cravings for high-sugar and high-carb foods before your period. 

TAKE CARE OF YOUR EMOTIONS

I'd also ensure your period cravings aren't down to the feelings you might be experiencing during your period (like pain!). We all know that sugary foods can be comforting and help us self-soothe - especially if you haven't learned healthy emotional regulation yet.

Not only can eating sugary and starchy foods distract us from our period pain, your body actually releases serotonin (the happiness hormone) when you eat these foods.

In other words, it makes sense why you might gravitate towards sugary and starchy foods more often during your period. Remember though that while period pain is common, it's not normal - so if you're experiencing pain to such an extent that you're using sugary foods to escape - please see a specialist. Periods should not be painful. 

MAYBE YOUR CRAVINGS AREN'T NOT PERIOD-RELATED

Yes, you might be craving sugar during your period, but it may just be a coincidence. 

Why else might you be craving sugary foods more than usual? Cravings can come down to all sorts of physical and mental reasons like:

•  A nutrient-poor diet. Nutrients like protein and fiber can help you feel full. A diet that’s low in these nutrients may cause you to feel hungry or experience cravings, even if you have otherwise eaten enough calories.

•  Lack of sleep. Too little or poor quality sleep can disturb your levels of the hormones responsible for regulating hunger, fullness, and sleep-wake cycles, possibly intensifying food cravings, especially in the evenings
•  Highly processed foods. There is some evidence that highly processed foods rich in added fat and sugar may cause addiction-like symptoms, in turn, possibly increasing cravings.
•  Stress. Stress can increase your levels of the hormone cortisol. High cortisol levels may be linked to hunger, cravings, and a higher likelihood of stress- or binge-eating behaviours.
•  Your personality. Some evidence suggests that people who are more impulsive or have higher scores on measures of addictive personality may also have a higher likelihood of experiencing food cravings.
•  Eating context. Your brain can associate eating a specific food to a specific context — for instance, popcorn and a movie. This may cause you to crave that particular food the next time the same context comes around.
•  Your mood. Certain moods may trigger cravings for specific foods. For example, negative moods appear to often spark cravings for comfort foods.

SHOULD I *ALWAYS* ACCEPT SUGAR CRAVINGS?

Food freedom tells us that we shouldn’t resist foods we crave because the craving only gets bigger.

But I want to challenge that a little bit!

Firstly, food freedom is about FREEDOM. It’s about freedom of choice.

You have a CHOICE whether you accept a craving. You don’t always have to 'honour it'. Maybe it’s not a practical time to accept it (e.g. busy in work meetings), maybe you know you’ll be eating a meal in an hour so don’t want to fill up on your craving food.

Maybe by accepting this craving, you’ll be overstepping a boundary like “I prefer to eat more whole foods than processed foods”

Food freedom is about releasing the ‘should’s’ and rules! You don’t always have to accept a craving. You don’t always have to eat when you feel the slightest bit hungry. You don’t always have to have ex-binge foods in the house. It’s actually up to you what you want to do.

It’s also important to note that cravings aren’t ALWAYS caused by restricting a specific food like chocolate. You might be craving chocolate because you’re withholding it and it’s causing that ‘Forbidden Fruit’ effect where we want what we can’t have. And as discussed earlier, cravings can come down to many, many other reasons. 

To conclude, the best you can do is allow more food in the luteal phase so you don't feel deprived by the time your period arrives AND take care of your emotions while on your period (freebie to help with that here). Also bear in mind that shifts in levels of hormones before your period have been shown to induce cravings!

Blame it on the hormones!