Increased appetite before menstruation. Causes of increased appetite before menstruation and ways to get rid of it Increased appetite before menstruation

Very often women ask the question - why do you want to eat a lot before your period and how to moderate your appetite at the end of the cycle? And in general, is such a phenomenon normal, or does it indicate any hormonal abnormalities?

In the previous article, we discussed in detail such an unpleasant problem as bloating. This trouble also often accompanies women during PMS. using medications, home remedies and special gymnastics - read on the website.

Today our topic concerns another unpleasant sensation. Women are very familiar with the state of hunger and duty in the kitchen during the second phase of the menstrual cycle. In addition to the fact that you have to control your changeable mood, your appetite also becomes indomitable and all the work on your figure in a month seems in vain.

Why do you want to eat a lot before your period? We asked this question to several experts, gynecologists and endocrinologists of the highest category. An increase in appetite before menstruation is a normal natural physiological need of the female body. Nature intended it this way: in order to ensure a complete conception, the body needs strength and a balance of sex hormones. The physiological resource is replenished through the intake of healthy calories, proteins, carbohydrates, vitamins, microelements and minerals into the body.

How does this happen

The second phase of the cycle is under the influence of progesterone, the hormone responsible for successful conception and implantation of the embryo. The endometrium in the uterus serves as a breeding ground for implantation; if pregnancy does not occur, the endometrium sloughs off (in the form of menstrual bleeding) and the level of progesterone in the blood drops sharply. And again, hunger “falls asleep” until the next second phase.

Every month, the body prepares for pregnancy and tries to replenish its reserves with nutrients that can come from your diet.
That's why we don't leave the refrigerator every month! During PMS, increased appetite is normal, so don't worry.
But as soon as menstruation begins, appetite returns to normal, weight is restored, and a couple of kilograms gained disappear with the onset of a new cycle.

What to do to tame your appetite

It is up to you to organize your meals evenly throughout the day. There have been cases when women tried to restrain their appetite, which resulted in increased irritability and apathetic state, ultimately causing binge eating at night.

Helpful advice: eat to your health, but do not overeat, otherwise it will cause heaviness in the stomach and harm other organs. Eat meat, fish, porridge with meat, tea with honey and bread with butter and cheese are especially good at satisfying your hunger. It will be better if you distribute main meals and snacks 5-7 times.

To tame your appetite means to disagree with nature. Include more protein foods in your menu, this will satisfy your hunger and not reach for unhealthy sweets. It is noted that during this period there may be special preferences for sweet, flour and chocolate products, or meat, pickles, and salted fish.

What to do to maintain your figure

Read on topic: - how and how much you can practice.

Almost 40% of women aged 20 to 50 years suffer from manifestations of premenstrual syndrome, the most annoying of which, perhaps, is a constant desire to eat and, as a result, noticeable weight gain. What is the reason for increased appetite before menstruation and how to deal with it?

Why does your appetite increase before your period?

The sensitivity of the hunger center in the female body is directly related to the phase of the menstrual cycle. In the second phase, i.e. approximately 2 weeks before menstruation, this sensitivity increases and women experience increased appetite before menstruation, and if for some this manifests itself immediately with the onset of the second phase, then for others it occurs 1-2 days before the discharge.

This is due, first of all, to changes in hormonal levels. In the second phase of the cycle, the level of progesterone increases, which, in turn, increases the production of adrenaline and norepinephrine, hormones that increase the secretion of gastric juice. Therefore, food that enters the stomach is digested much faster.

In addition, appetite is affected progesterone is a hormone responsible for pregnancy in women. When there is too much of it, the body receives a signal that, due to a possible pregnancy, it should begin to stock up on nutrients, which also causes increased appetite before menstruation in women.

In the second phase of the cycle, the female body begins to produce less insulin, a hormone that regulates blood sugar, which is why during PMS the weaker sex is so drawn to “harmful” carbohydrates: chocolate, baked goods, sweets, etc.

Yet again estrogens, joy hormones, are produced at this time in insufficient quantities, and women usually compensate for this by overeating.

How to reduce appetite before menstruation

To avoid undesirable consequences, i.e. To avoid gaining a couple of kilograms during PMS, you just need to know a few simple rules.

Firstly, you should change your diet at this time, giving preference to foods that are rich in “healthy” carbohydrates (cereals, vegetables, fruits, legumes, grains), but the amount of protein foods (meat, fish, eggs, poultry), on the contrary, reduce it.

Foods that contain complex carbohydrates increase the production of serotonin (the hormone of joy) and promote the metabolism of progesterone.

You can also reduce your appetite by adding a small amount of any vegetable oil or mayonnaise to your food. During this period you should drink more water.

Many women notice a significantly increased appetite before menstruation. For some, it can be so strong that it is almost impossible to restrain oneself. At the same time, taste preferences can be the strangest. Therefore, girls often ask, is this normal?

Let's figure out what's happening. Why do you feel hungry before your period? Why are you drawn to a certain type of product? How to survive these days without harming your figure?

Increased appetite before menstruation - normal or pathological?

To understand which state of health is normal and which indicates health problems, it is important to understand what processes occur in the body before menstruation. Therefore, let us recall some features of female physiology.

It is known that during each menstrual cycle the hormonal status in the body changes in a certain way. Each hormone has its own, rather strongly expressed effect. But for our topic, the most important processes are those occurring in connection with the influence of progesterone.

The role of progesterone

The level of this hormone begins to increase after the release of the egg. Its role is to provide ideal conditions for the development of pregnancy.

There are several aspects of how progesterone affects the female body:

1. Stimulates the growth of the inner layer of the endometrium so that the embryo has somewhere to attach.
2. Reduces the contractility of uterine muscle cells.
3. Slight breast enlargement.
4. Fluid retention in the body.
5. Stimulation of the parts of the brain responsible for the regulation of metabolic processes. As a result, nutrients begin to accumulate.

Such changes occur in the second half of each menstrual cycle.

Why do you feel hungry before your period?

Everything described above greatly affects appetite. Under the influence of progesterone, the body tries to accumulate nutrients both for the woman so that there are enough of them to bear the pregnancy and for the unborn baby. Therefore, a woman has to eat a lot - “for two.” This explains complaints about eating before menstruation.

This is how the body prepares for motherhood every month. The fact that pregnancy has not occurred will become clear at the end of the cycle, and the body will stop demanding food, the woman will eat as usual. During or after menstruation everything goes away. But after a couple of weeks the cycle repeats and again you have to deal with increased appetite.

To make this struggle as easy as possible, and to avoid eating before your period leading to weight gain, you need to try to eat light foods, exclude fatty, fried, salty foods, alcohol, and drink clean water. If your appetite increases too much before your period and interferes with leading a normal lifestyle, you need to visit a gynecologist and check your hormone levels.

Why do you want something unusual?

Many girls notice that before their period they want to eat very much, but they are drawn to a particular product or group of products. Some people these days cannot live without sweets, while others eat salty foods in unprecedented quantities or combine foods in the most unusual way.

If a woman can somehow understand the unprecedented appetite before menstruation, then the reasons why she is drawn to a particular product are not always clear. But nothing happens in the body just like that. Below are some reasons for the most common premenstrual food preferences.

If you want something sweet

“I want something sweet” is one of the strongest feelings many women have before and during menstruation. How to explain this phenomenon?

Here are the most common theories that try to explain sugar cravings:

1. Due to a sharp drop in estrogen levels compared to what they were in the first half of the cycle, the woman begins to sharply feel the lack of its action. And one of the facets of the influence of this hormone on the body is associated with the stimulation of brain structures responsible for the production of substances that cause a feeling of joy and high mood. At a time when progesterone predominates, the body tries to compensate for the deficiency of estrogen with a craving for sweets - something that also improves mood quite well.
2. Under the influence of progesterone in the blood, insulin levels and sugar levels change.
3. Sweets are usually high in calories, and the body, which at this time is trying to stock up on as much energy as possible, is exactly what it needs.
4. The reasons why you crave sweets may be related to emotional dissatisfaction, worries and stress, to which women are especially sensitive during the premenstrual period.

No matter how much you want sweets, you need to remember that high-calorie foods, especially those combining sugar and fat, are very harmful to both your figure and your health. Therefore, it is better to try to replace chocolate, sweets and cookies with fruits and honey.

When you crave salty food

Many people associate a strong craving for salty foods with pregnancy. But there are many girls who feel this every month, before every period. They ask questions: why are they so drawn to pickles and herring? Maybe I have some health problems? And is it possible to eat as much salty food as you want?

Possible reasons why you have a strong craving for salty foods:

• Lack of minerals and other trace elements. At a time when the body is actively preparing for pregnancy, such a deficiency is felt very strongly.
• Inflammatory processes in the organs of the genitourinary system.
• Dehydration. Progesterone inhibits the action of aldosterone, a hormone that retains sodium and water in the body. The desire to eat something salty is a compensatory reaction.
• Stressful situations that occurred in the coming days.

Even if cravings for salty foods are caused by a lack of fluid or microelements, increased salt intake will not solve this problem. Moreover, salt will not help cope with inflammation. But additional problems, for example, swelling and increased blood pressure, may appear.

It is difficult to fight excessive cravings for salty foods, and eating a lot of salt is very harmful. Therefore, it is necessary to consult a doctor and undergo a comprehensive examination to find the causes and select treatment, if necessary.

Women often suffer from premenstrual syndrome. It often manifests itself in the fact that before your period you want to eat a lot. Representatives of the fair sex, wanting to maintain a slender body, steadfastly deny themselves all sorts of goodies for a month, but on the eve of critical days it is especially difficult for them to overcome the temptation and not indulge in gluttony.

Increased appetite during menstruation is a feature of a healthy female body. The fact is that during the course of a month, a woman’s body is influenced by various biologically active substances, which force the woman to behave differently. During the first half of the cycle, estrogens dominate in the body, thanks to which the girl is balanced, efficient, and it is not difficult for her to refuse an additional portion of tasty food. These hormones are needed for the maturation of the egg and the onset of ovulation. This is how the body of a sexually mature woman prepares to conceive and bear a child.

If a female reproductive cell does not meet a male one and fertilization does not occur, then within a day it dies and leaves the body along with menstrual flow. After ovulation, the amount of estrogen released decreases, and the level of the hormone progesterone, on the contrary, increases. This happens every menstrual cycle from month to month. Thanks to the increase in this biologically active substance in the body, the girl is constantly very hungry.

This hormone also causes other changes that occur in the body. Women suffer from:

• get tired quickly;
• often want to sleep;
• acne appears on the skin;
• Frequent mood swings are observed, irritability and tearfulness appear.

During menstruation, mood and well-being return to normal.

How to trick your body and not gain weight

If a woman regularly increases her appetite before her period, then there are several ways to combat growing hunger during this period:

1. To prevent an increase in appetite before menstruation, you can start taking hormonal contraceptives. Taking pills evens out hormonal levels, and the woman does not feel the urge to eat an extra portion of flour, fried or salty foods. After all, it is these products that contribute to the rapid gain of extra pounds.
2. If you are craving sweets, this indicates low blood sugar and a lack of joy hormones in your body. When the body needs to make up for the lack of glucose, it signals this with a desire to eat something sweet. During such a period, you should not deny yourself the pleasure of enjoying your favorite delicacy. There just has to be moderation in everything. Of course, if you want a big cake, then you shouldn’t follow your whims, but enjoying one very tasty cake from the heart is not forbidden. Especially if you eat it slowly and enjoy every bite.
3. During the period of increased appetite, you need to eat more fruits, vegetables, apricots, dried apricots, prunes, whole grains instead of buns, sweets, chocolate or fast food. It turns out that it is difficult to control our desire to eat something, but we can wisely consume healthier foods that will not cause significant harm to our figure.
4. While doing work that is completely addictive, many people often forget that they are hungry. Therefore, at such moments, you need to load yourself up with activities so that you have no time to remember about food.

In a woman’s body, after ovulation, metabolism accelerates, food is digested faster and in larger quantities than is usually deposited in places where you don’t want it at all.

The volume of fluid in the body also increases, due to this extra centimeters and kilograms appear. On the eve of menstruation, women swell much more in the morning. Because of this, many people feel that they have gained weight. To get rid of excess fluid, you need to eat foods high in potassium.

Increased appetite as an aspect of PMS: how to part with it

Often, before menstruation, women’s appetite increases; they eat with great pleasure foods that are not entirely healthy for their figure and health. At this moment they feel happy, but then repentance comes.

To cope with the constant feeling of hunger and not gain extra pounds during premenstrual syndrome, you need to:

1. There are fruits, vegetables, berries, cereals, cereals, dried fruits and legumes. Such products will benefit your health and will not add additional pounds.
2. Spend more time outdoors doing fun things. You can also take soothing baths. And you definitely need to monitor your sleep schedule. When you lack sleep, you feel the lack of female hormones especially acutely on the eve of your period - and you want to eat even more.
3. You need to eat in small portions, but often. You don't have to endure hunger. After all, the longer you feel hungry, the higher the likelihood of breakdown and eating too much. If you eat often and in small quantities, chewing your food slowly, enjoying every bite, then your blood sugar level will not drop much - and this will not cause hungry gluttony.

Many women have noticed that they periodically have attacks of “wolfish” appetite. Can menstruation cause such an appetite? Not exactly, but first things first.

How does the menstrual cycle work?

The duration of the menstrual cycle ranges from 27 to 32 days. It is divided into two phases of approximately equal duration. Ovulation serves as a kind of boundary between them. During the first phase, the female body produces hormones - estrogens. These include extradiol, estriol and estrone. They are intended for the maturation of the egg. This period is accompanied by good health, equal mood and normal activity.

The maximum concentration of estrogen is observed at the moment the egg leaves the follicle - ovulation, after which it enters the fallopian tubes. Next, according to nature’s plan, the egg must be fertilized by sperm. Another hormone is responsible for this - progesterone. From the second phase of the cycle, the level of progesterone increases, and the concentration of estrogen decreases. It is progesterone that helps prepare for a possible pregnancy - changes that occur in the uterine cavity. Namely, the thickening of the lining inside the uterus, which is important for the successful attachment of the future embryo.

It happens that in combination with other hormones, progesterone has a very unusual effect on women’s well-being. Moreover, strange things can begin two weeks before menstruation, when progesterone levels are low. There are ladies for whom the “charms” of premenstrual syndrome emerge only a few days before their period: increased irritability (sometimes bordering on aggression), tearfulness, lethargy, acne, swelling, pain in different parts of the body and a huge appetite.

To one degree or another, up to 85% of women experience signs of PMS, but in only 10% of the fairer sex it goes away clearly. Statistics say that during the period of PMS, women are less attentive, therefore they are more likely to have accidents, make mistakes in calculations, and do worse on exams. Add to this aggressiveness and irritability - you have quarrels at work and in the family. It is almost impossible to stop yourself during this period: irritability comes from within and cannot be controlled. In some progressive countries, crimes committed by a woman during PMS are treated specially. They are equated to crimes committed in a state of passion.

To get PMS under control, you can contact a neurologist and gynecologist. Studies have shown that taking hormonal medications containing female hormones can reduce the symptoms of PMS. However, they have certain side effects and contraindications, so you cannot do without consulting a doctor. Light sedatives will restore peace and will not cause drowsiness.

Why does increased appetite occur?

Why does premenstrual syndrome develop in the form of increased appetite? The answer lies in the complex balance of hormonal levels. Hormones affect many areas of the body’s life, and when somewhere there is a disruption in the production of a particular substance, a malfunction occurs. It leads to various manifestations of PMS. Including increased appetite, and a passion for buns, sweets and chocolate can be combined with a craving for meat dishes: fried chicken, barbecue and others. Although opposite effects also occur.

There is an opinion that due to a decrease in estrogen in the second phase, a woman’s production of the “hormone of good mood and activity” - serotonin - decreases. Therefore, she indulges in sweets (or other foods she likes), which is designed to improve her mood.

By the way, you can use some foods to raise serotonin levels: dark chocolate, bananas, dates, tomatoes, nuts and sweets. They will become a kind of natural antidepressants. But it all depends on the quantity. This is where the main danger lies - weight gain due to the consumption of carbohydrates. In addition, “sweet tooth syndrome” may develop, when the body demands more and more sweets in response to the slightest stress or bad mood.

Increased appetite before menstruation is the body’s preparation for a possible pregnancy. A whole complex of hormones is switched on, affecting many metabolic processes: the hunger center is activated, the production of secretions from the glands of the digestive tract is enhanced, the absorption of nutrients in the intestines is increased, fluid is retained in the body, etc.

Due to swelling of the uterus and breast enlargement during the premenstrual period, weight, as if by magic, increases by 1-1.5 kg, and in some women by 2. All this is accompanied by mild nausea, swelling, heaviness, pain in the head, lower back and lower abdomen, as well as a strong desire to retire and be at home. If a woman does not become pregnant, the lining of the uterus is shed during menstruation. Due to this, body weight after the “red days of the calendar” decreases with the loss of accumulated fluid. If pregnancy occurs, the weight will gradually increase.

For this reason, you should not weigh yourself in the second phase of the cycle; do it only after the end of the “critical days”. Then the measurements will be more correct and the described errors will not creep into them.

Why this happens is now clear. But what to do? Ban yourself from eating sweets, give them up completely and become depressed?

Don’t go to extremes, everything should be in moderation: eat foods, but little by little, and enjoy every minute alone with the goodies.

One piece of chocolate, a tomato salad, a couple of nuts or a banana will not harm your figure.

However, it is also not good to let yourself go. Eating bad health and a gloomy mood does not last long, and you will want more and more sweets.

My period is over, but my weight has increased

In this case, you need to proceed in another way:

1. Don't beat yourself up: increased appetite in the second phase of the cycle is normal. Try to reduce the fat and sugar content in the foods you eat.
2. Place food on a small plate so that the portion is small in quantity but noticeable in the dish. Eat often, up to 6 times a day. Eat chocolate and treats slowly so that the taste receptors have time to send signals to the pleasure center of the brain.
3. Walking is suitable to improve your mood and reduce appetite. Sun and fresh air increase the production of serotonin. Do something that brings you pleasure: listen to music, take a bath with aromatic oils, or something else.
4. Sleep 8-9 hours a day. Lack of sleep and anxiety worsen PMS symptoms, including increased appetite.
5. Drink about two liters of clean water every day. Water helps remove harmful substances from the body. If you notice pathological swelling, it is better to consult a nephrologist. It is possible that the cause of weight gain is kidney disease.
6. Eat foods rich in calcium. Try to bring your daily calcium intake to 1200 mg. This mineral is not only a building material for bones, nails and hair, but also an element that reduces depression and fluid retention associated with PMS.
7. In the second phase of the cycle, reduce your consumption of meat, baked goods and nuts to a minimum. Lean on foods rich in fiber (bran, buckwheat, carrots, beets, cabbage, apples, plums, apricots, etc.). They take a long time to digest, are easily excreted from the body and reduce weight.
8. Drink herbal sedatives or green tea.
9. Engage in calm sports several times a week: Pilates, yoga, walking, low-intensity cardio training. Sports activities contribute to the production of pleasure hormones.

As you can see, increased appetite before menstruation is not the only symptom of premenstrual syndrome. To control your weight and emotional state, it is important to understand the nature of this phenomenon and act in accordance with the severity of the manifestations.