Cravings during your luteal phase!
Let's take a moment to understand the menstrual cycle a little bit better. It is something that we need to NORMALIZE talking about and recognize that it is normal biology.
On average, most women have a 28-day cycle, give or take a couple of days. We have a follicular phase and a luteal phase. The follicular phase lasts from the first day of your period, to ovulation (about 14-16 days later). The luteal phase lasts from ovulation until the start of your next period.
These phases are regulated by two hormones, estrogen and progesterone. Both of these levels rise and fall throughout the cycle.
For the sake of understanding why we have cravings during our luteal phase of our cycle, we are going to focus on estrogen in particular.
Did you know that there are THREE types of estrogen?
Estrone, estradiol, and estriol.
Estradiol (eh-struh-dai-aal) is the one that is most involved in hunger and fullness, such as how much you eat in a day.
Estradiol goes up during the follicular phase, peaks right before ovulation, and then goes down during the luteal phase.
It doesn't impact frequency of meals, but it DOES impact quantity (meal size). The more estradiol that is present, the sooner you will feel full and more satisfied. The less estradiol that is present, the longer it takes to feel full.
How does this happen? Well! Our brain has estrogen receptors.
In the luteal phase (from ovulation until the day you start your period), your estradiol goes down. When estradiol goes down, those parts of your brain start telling you that you are not full, and you feel less content after a meal.
Estradiol directly impacts our hunger hormones. One of those being, ghrelin, a hormone produced by the stomach that stimulates your appetite. Ghrelin makes you feel hungry when your stomach is empty and it signals to your brain that it is time to eat. Estradiol decreases ghrelin's hunger cues. So, absence of estradiol (during luteal phase) means more ghrelin, therefore we are more hungry.
Simpler terms:
More estradiol = less ghrelin = less hungry = less food consumed!
Less estradiol = more ghrelin = more hungry = more food consumed!
So - there you have it! You are actually NOT lacking discipline or being "bad" when you have stronger cravings and eat more food. What you are experiencing is a very real response to neurological signals.
Most women are aware of the fact that their cycle changes the way they eat, but not many women know/understand WHY.
It helps to know that as estradiol goes down, you will in fact feel hungrier and not quite as full, making you have more cravings.
I have noticed with most women that I have worked with, they tie their cravings and/or choices to lack of willpower. They blame themselves for not being "disciplined" enough and end up feeling guilty for wanting to eat more or having cravings.
We all know that telling a woman to "be more disciplined" is NOT the answer. So, what can we do to manage the effects of hormonal change?
Eat slowly. This helps your hunger hormones communicate with your brain effectively in order to understand fullness. This is a habit you should be practicing regardless of the time of your cycle but during your cycle, it is a little more important if cravings are an issue.
Keep track of what you want to eat during your luteal phase and be prepared for these cravings during each cycle.
Try to get at least 7-9 hours of sleep each night. This is another habit that you should be practicing anyway but it is particularly important during your luteal phase as lack of sleep messes with our hormones and increases hunger hormones in addition to lower estradiol/more ghrelin.
Be prepared! If you don't track your cycle, you should! Know exactly what to expect, and when!
If you want to know exactly what your body is doing during your cycle, track your body temperature. You may notice an increase in body temperature around the same time that you are experiencing increased cravings. A drop in estradiol is related to an increase in body temperature. Which means your luteal phase is starting.