PMS Food & Chocolate Cravings

PMS Food & Chocolate Cravings
by Dr. Daniel J. Heller

It's a few days before your period, and you feel a magnetic pull to the chocolate aisle at the grocery store. Or you find yourself irresistibly drawn to salty, crunchy, fried snacks—even though you've sworn off of them. Maybe your willpower deserts you at the dessert buffet, ruining the diet you've stuck to for weeks.

*Premenstrual food cravings are like that. They can feel overwhelming, impossible to resist, and for many women completely out of character—the rest of the month, staying with a disciplined diet may be relatively easy. Premenstrual food cravings are not imaginary; they are very real. And food cravings before the period is one of the most common PMS symptoms.

Food cravings may be partially the result of messenger molecules in our brain called neurotransmitters: serotonin and dopamine are among the best known. However, these molecules don't act in isolation: hormones, stress, and emotions all play a role in the way your appetite changes before your period.

Fortunately, you don't need to study biochemistry or psychology to take control of your PMS food cravings, no matter what they're for—chocolate or salt or sweets, or just for more food than you usually eat. It will help though, to have plenty of:

• Patience: Because lasting changes don't happen overnight.
• Planning: Because it's all about prevention.
• Willingness: To change your patterns and your diet.

Control PMS Food Cravings by Controlling Your Blood Sugar

When your blood sugar falls too low, your appetite regulation changes and your willpower decreases, too, a combination which can lead to overeating (and of the wrong foods, too). If you find that you become faint, irritable, or tired if you miss a meal or snack, you may have a condition called hypoglycemia—which is a fancy way of saying your blood sugar, and your blood sugar-balancing hormones, aren't working well together. Hypoglycemia tends to lead to food and sweet and chocolate cravings.

When you keep your blood sugar well-balanced with the right foods and overall eating patterns, it prevents premenstrual food cravings before they start. You can go a long way towards overcoming even the most intense food cravings, including PMS food binges, by following these simple guidelines:

• Cut back on sweets and sweet foods; and never have them before lunch.
• Fruits and whole grains are fine; sugary soda, sweets, baked goods, ice cream, and candy are not.
• Most breakfast cereal has added sugar; read the label first.
• Eat breakfast every day; and make sure your breakfast has protein in it.
• Eggs, nuts, seeds, soy, low-fat meats or poultry, fish, and low-fat yoghurt are ideal sources. Salty breakfast meats or meat substitutes are not ideal, though they won't disrupt your blood sugar in line.
• Soy is the bean with the best protein and fat to carbohydrate ratio, which will balance your blood sugar. It offers beneficial phytonutrients, too.
• Fruits, whole–grain breads, or better yet, whole-grain cereals (like cream of brown rice or oatmeal) at breakfast are excellent.
• Eat three meals per day, and up to two snacks per day.
• Going too long without eating doesn't work well for women with cravings or hypoglycemia.
• Every meal and snack should contain at least some protein from the sources mentioned above.
• Don't go to the other extreme of eating all-protein: a balance of healthy protein, complex carbohydrates, and fats, with plentiful vegetables and fruit is ideal.

Eating this way will keep you feeling full and satisfied, help maintain even mood and energy level throughout the day, and make it much easier for you to resist cravings, especially for sweets. We recommend you eat this way all month long if you have the hypoglycemic tendency, or if you get premenstrual food cravings. If your food cravings are mild, they may disappear if you use this approach just in the last two weeks of your cycle (from ovulation to the first day of your period). Our complete hypoglycemia program, part of our PMS Balance Diet, gives you the tools and information you need to get back on track and have stable mood and energy.

Premenstrual Chocolate Cravings

Let's face it: chocolate is good! It tastes great, it makes you feel good, and it's a proven source of healthy, powerful antioxidants. It may even contain chemicals that mimic the ones your brain makes when you're in love. In moderation, it's a healthy treat. And for many women, a little goes a long way: they'll eat a couple squares of dark chocolate before their period, and that's all they need. But not everyone's appetite works this way: extreme premenstrual chocolate cravings undo many a woman's diet, and all the fat and sugar in the chocolate just might undo its healthful benefits.

If PMS chocolate cravings are outsmarting your will power, try this action plan:

• Dark chocolate offers more of the healthful chocolate benefits, and less of the sugar. Try it instead of milk chocolate or chocolate candy.
• Exercise helps satisfy your brain's craving for those feel-good endorphins that chocolate stimulates.
• Follow the blood sugar diet detailed above.
• Identify what you're feeling; sometimes we "stuff our feelings" with chocolate. Take a moment to check out if something is bothering you.

Treating the Cause

Part 2 of this article covers some of the other trouble spots for PMS food cravings, including cravings for sweets in general and for salt. We also explore the problem of overeating and binge eating.

Premenstrual food cravings, binges, and appetite changes are often symptoms of an overall hormonal imbalance that can interfere with your life in many ways. The best approach to premenstrual syndrome is a holistic one that addresses all the underlying causes of hormonal PMS: diet, nutrition, lifestyle, and emotions. In the process of using a holistic PMS action plan, you'll be improving your overall health and wellness.

^*Success Stories (or what Google refers to as Testimonials; henceforth referred to as Success Stores) appearing on this site are actually received via text, audio, or video submission. They are individual experiences, reflecting real life experiences of those who have used PMS Comfort products and/or services in some way or another. However, they are individual results and results do vary. We do not claim that they are typical results that consumers will generally achieve. The Success Stories are not necessarily representative of all of those who will use our products and/or services.

The Success Stories displayed (text, audio and/or video) are given verbatim except for correction of grammatical or typing errors. NOTE: PMS Comfort changed the names and any personally identifiable information to ensure confidentiality of the storyteller.

PMS Comfort is not responsible for any of the opinions or comments posted to our site. PMS Comfort is not a forum for Success Stories; however, it provides Success Stories as a means for online users to share their experiences with one another. To prevent against abuse, all Success Stories appear after they have been reviewed by PMS Comfort.

Additionally, these Success Stories are not intended to make claims that PMS Comfort products can be used to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease. The information and the contents contained on this Web site has not been evaluated by the FDA.