What: Washington Post columnist and doctor Trisha Pasricha breaks down cravings during menstrual cycles, and how some small studies have shown the foods we crave may be driven more by culture than by biology.
Key line: “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 hypothesized 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.”
Source: Washington Post // https://www.washingtonpost.com/wellness/2024/10/28/period-cravings-chocolate/