Hunger and PMT – manage your month!
Ripping cupboards open to find food when you’re due on? So are we all, us women.
Hormones are to blame, naturally, but what do these hormones actually do that make us hungry?
Before your period your metabolism genuinely increases by around 200 calories, though unfortunately you’re probably hungry for more than that. It’s one reason you may feel hot and get uncomfortable night sweats.
Ostetrogen, a hunger supressant, dips, while progesterone increases appetite.
Thiva offer a hormone test here which can tell you if your hormones are not behaving as they should.
Serotonin also dips, so your mood goes down, and carbs boost serotonin, so crisp sandwiches and chocolate muffins are your brain’s way of trying to stay happy.
Speaking of chocolate, cocoa boosts dopamine, another happy hormone, and cocoa contains iron which many women lack due to bleeding and not eating much red meat.
So actually, cocoa, real cocoa not cheap milk chocolate, is your friend during this time.
Try a heaped tsp in hot water with stevia to sweeten and a splash of milk if you like (like making an instant coffee, see recipe here), or put cocoa in your porridge, pancakes, coffee, shakes…….
That and protein (ideally whole foods but protein powder can be convenient with these ideas) and fibre to fill you up, such as a filling salad like these, and instead of hammering the weights right before your period, try restorative and balancing walks, gardening (nature is magic), or yoga/pilates.
And a good movie and a cuppa with a friend to rant to!