cyclical eating and metabolism

[Guest guest]

To those you who don't suffer from cyclical hormonal-induced " hunger "

binges (because you're male or you just don't have that effect) -

consider yourself lucky and you can ignore this message. To those who

do, you know that it is intensely real and not just in your head. Right

now I'm at the phase where I don't want any food at all, but a week ago

I wanted to eat everything in my refrigerator and empty the cupboards as

well!

So being a science geek and since I'm in a research frame of mind (I'm

trying to finish writing my Ph.D. thesis), I did some investigation on

this topic. A google search turned up a couple of weight-loss web sites

which stated that metabolic needs increase by 150-300 calories per day

during the pre-menstrual phase. Looking for more evidence I went to

Medline (a listing of journal articles primarily from the medical and

nutritional fields) to get some real science.

I found quite a few researchers have studied the effects of the

menstrual cycle on energy intake and have found, not surprisingly, that

women eat more at certain times during the monthly cycle. (This is

important if you're doing some kind of nutritional study and you want to

measure nutrient intake, you have to account for those cyclical

differences).

However, the issue at hand is changes in metabolic rate due to cyclical

influences. This has been researched, either by measuring resting

metabolic rate or sleeping metabolic rate. Most of the reported studies

found a significant increase in metabolic rate in the luteal or

post-ovulatory portion of the cycle, although some found no difference

at all. One study specifically looked at individual women and were able

to conclude that some women experience this metabolic rate change and

others don't. There was no specific mention in the literature of the

150-300 cal/day increase.

For me, I went through the " hungry phase " over Christmas weekend. What a

bad combination! I'm working against the effects now as I resume

counting points and get back into my regular exercise routine.

Since this is my first post to the list, I'll make a brief introduction.

I started the WW program last February when I had to leave my pants

unbuttoned one afternoon at work (the waistband was too tight). I had

watched my weight slowly creep up over the past 10 years, but never got

too worried about it, until that day. There were several people at my

new job who had been very successful at WW, so I decided to give it a

try. I'm now a lifetime member, but my personal goal is another 15 lbs.

lower than my WW goal weight. It's not difficult to maintain, but if I

want to continuing losing, I'm at 22 points per day which is a real

challenge for me.

>

>

[Guest guest]

Well, the reference material sure sounds un-conclusive and inconsistent. No

wonder weight control is such a difficult issue, you just can't pinpoint one

cause and there isn't one 'fix' for every hour of the day.

Thanks for checking on this, it could make a very interested PHD research

paper.....

Debi

[Guest guest]

Thanks for posting, . It was very informative! It's nice

to " meet " you.

Wishing you continued success,

Crystal

> To those you who don't suffer from cyclical hormonal-

induced " hunger "

> binges (because you're male or you just don't have that effect) -

> consider yourself lucky and you can ignore this message. To those

who

> do, you know that it is intensely real and not just in your head.

Right

> now I'm at the phase where I don't want any food at all, but a

week ago

> I wanted to eat everything in my refrigerator and empty the

cupboards as

> well!

>

> So being a science geek and since I'm in a research frame of mind

(I'm

> trying to finish writing my Ph.D. thesis), I did some

investigation on

> this topic. A google search turned up a couple of weight-loss web

sites

> which stated that metabolic needs increase by 150-300 calories per

day

> during the pre-menstrual phase. Looking for more evidence I went

to

> Medline (a listing of journal articles primarily from the medical

and

> nutritional fields) to get some real science.

>

> I found quite a few researchers have studied the effects of the

> menstrual cycle on energy intake and have found, not surprisingly,

that

> women eat more at certain times during the monthly cycle. (This is

> important if you're doing some kind of nutritional study and you

want to

> measure nutrient intake, you have to account for those cyclical

> differences).

>

> However, the issue at hand is changes in metabolic rate due to

cyclical

> influences. This has been researched, either by measuring resting

> metabolic rate or sleeping metabolic rate. Most of the reported

studies

> found a significant increase in metabolic rate in the luteal or

> post-ovulatory portion of the cycle, although some found no

difference

> at all. One study specifically looked at individual women and were

able

> to conclude that some women experience this metabolic rate change

and

> others don't. There was no specific mention in the literature of

the

> 150-300 cal/day increase.

>

> For me, I went through the " hungry phase " over Christmas weekend.

What a

> bad combination! I'm working against the effects now as I resume

> counting points and get back into my regular exercise routine.

>

> Since this is my first post to the list, I'll make a brief

introduction.

> I started the WW program last February when I had to leave my

pants

> unbuttoned one afternoon at work (the waistband was too tight). I

had

> watched my weight slowly creep up over the past 10 years, but

never got

> too worried about it, until that day. There were several people at

my

> new job who had been very successful at WW, so I decided to give

it a

> try. I'm now a lifetime member, but my personal goal is another 15

lbs.

> lower than my WW goal weight. It's not difficult to maintain, but

if I

> want to continuing losing, I'm at 22 points per day which is a

real

> challenge for me.

>

>

>

>

> >

> >

[Guest guest]

,

Thank you sooooo much for posting this! I think I suffer from

this greatly but never connected it to monthly episodes. I've

been journaling eating (food intake) and feelings (desperate

huger, not hungry at all) for about 3 months now and sure enough it's definitely

related to cycle!

I could go about 2.5 weeks with eating maybe an apple, a muffin and a drink in a

24 hr period and feel just fine. For another week and a half I can eat very

normal and healthy and then the week

prior I feel totally out of control and want to do nothing

but binge on chips and ice cream.

I'm aware of these wide array of feelings I get so I can deal with those now

logically and hopefully in as healthy a manner

as possible. 1/2 of the battle is just being aware of it and that there might be

a logical/maybe even a scientific reason for it all. With the awareness I can

now work productively!

Thank you again for sharing! I appreciate it!

Becky