We may not *need* more food around TOM, but I've always been curious as to the biological reason about why we think we do. If it were just a few of us, then it would be easy to discount. However, it seems that it's the majority.
What sort of evolutionary/scientific reason is there for it? Obviously, hormones cause it. Wondering why we're wired that way is what has always been a question mark.
Whenever one wonder "why did we evolve this and not that" the answer usually is very simple: Because those who did survived and those who didnt... didn't or are fewer.
I could go into great detail as to how our hormones work and why they are fluctuating immensely during TOM, but the meaningful bottomline is that the body resets. "Well this month I failed to get pregnant, lets prepare the next chance" is what the body does. So it commands the inner uterus layer out, the new layer to grow a bit more and a new egg to start maturing.
All this needs a very sophisticated cocktail of hormones, which all have "side-effects".
To be able to have a healthy thick uterus ready for a baby other systems have to "pay for it" so to say.
Most sex hormones are being ordered to be produced by the hypothalamus, are then produced in the hypophysis in the brain and our ovaries (also from the placenta during pregnancy). So it is a whole factory line to get us fertile.
The body decides (if we aren't anorexic or very sick/anxious) that it is worth it to have side-effects, if genetic immortality is on the line.
So we get water retention, mood swings and pains not associated with the genitals.
Whenever the body feels it was stressed it immediately causes you to produce more grelin (among other non sex hormones) so that you will make sure to eat more just in case something happens again soon.
Ape-men that didn't eat more after being stressed were less likely to survive continuous threats and thus to hand down their genes.
Bottomline is that in our times of plenty and plump we have absolutely no need to heed such instincts. Once someone realises it is just the body acting up we can relax and ignore.
I disagree. Hormones are a real & crazy thing. It's not JUST the "food cravings"... it's the bloating, the headache/backache/cramps, the mood swings, etc. I don't think there's been nearly enough studies done on TOM. It's a LOT MORE than just "bleed'n & b****'n"
I do not deny it that we HAVE the side-effects. Of course I too bloat, feel moody and want chocolate etc, but I also know that it's just useless instincts and hormonal side-effects. There is no room to indulge when there is no reason.
Feeling badd/stressed is no reason to eat. In the contrary, people that are overweight like me actually get more bad feelings and stress out of it.
Food is not stress medication, food is fuel.
Self-medicating with junk-food or too much food is just another addiction and a way of living that simply is not healthy and "thin".
For me, I used chocolate to ease the pain when I wasn't dieting or watching my calories at all, so it certainly wasn't an excuse; I could just want chocolate and have it, no need to justify it with pain. If celery or a nice salad stopped the cramps, I'd eat them instead.
For me, I used chocolate to ease the pain when I wasn't dieting or watching my calories at all, so it certainly wasn't an excuse; I could just want chocolate and have it, no need to justify it with pain. If celery or a nice salad stopped the cramps, I'd eat them instead.
I agree. Beer is not "needed" on any ordinary basis, but when I'm cramping like a b****, I drink beer and I FEEL BETTER PHYSICALLY. (Alcohol thins the blood and the reason we cramp is because the blood is thickening when the "liner" is shred.) And if I'm going craving-crazy over chocolate, I FEEL BETTER EMOTIONALLY if I just HAVE SOME instead of denying myself & continuing to go stark raving mad.
So FOR ME, it has nothing to do with "excuses". I know VERY FEW women who don't crave "something out of the ordinary" when they have TOM. For some it's salty, some it's sweets, some it's both. Same thing when a woman is pregnant (pickles & ice cream anyone?) I was pregnant a few years ago (altho I miscarried at 13 weeks) and I was craving the **** out of some salads! All I wanted was salad, salad, salad! With NO dressing! Just the salad! Lots of veggies! AND FRUITS!!! ... and Honey Nut Cheerios, for some strange reason, LOL!!!
Oh yeah, there is definitely a science behind it, it just hasn't been studied to any conclusive measures.
There is no room to indulge when there is no reason.
But for some TOM -is- a reason.
We're all going to have different occasions that it's "ok" to have something to indulge in.
Going out with friends to dinner, a birthday or celebration, or just because it's Wednesday... who knows? Those reasons are individual and we get to choose when there's room, and when there's no room.
For some there's plenty of room to allow themselves a portioned indulgence during TOM. For others, they don't see a reason. And that's fine, too.
If for a week I'm wanting a chocolate bar, not just a 20-minute craving, but something that's been on my brain for a whole week... I might decide it's time to plan in that treat for myself. And I'm allowed to say that there's room, and that's reason enough for me.
I have to be particularly careful about my blood sugar when I'm premenstrual. Not so much to avoid cravings, but it helps with PMDD and particularly migraine. I also get chocolate cravings around my period, and I learned seventeen years ago that I CANNOT give in to them. I have menstrual migraine, and chocolate is one of my migraine triggers, so the one time when I crave it is when I'm not allowed to eat it. The annoying thing about cravings is that sometimes they can be for what your body actually needs (I'm fairly sure that my sporadic yearnings for pak choi are healthy), and sometimes they can be for what will actually do you harm (used to crave cheese, then discovered that I'm actually lactose-intolerant - same happens with gluten, I hear). It's not as simple as "cravings are a sign that you need something" or "cravings should be ignored". Similarly, if I get ravenous and I'm starting to feel migrainish, I should eat, because otherwise the low blood sugar will trigger the migraine. It doesn't mean I should binge, and I should avoid sugar at all costs, but I should eat enough to keep me healthy at that moment. If I get salt cravings, I don't worry about indulging them as my blood pressure tends to be on the low side, I have problems with dizziness and such, and I naturally eat a low-salt diet. Other people may be in a position where they're craving salt because they eat too much salt already and are addicted to it, and need to wean themselves off.
Apparently the chocolate craving is about magnesium, which tends to get depleted at that time. I'm curious: has anyone ever found magnesium supplementation to help with chocolate cravings? And how do other people deal with craving more chocolate than they should really have? My current methods, apart from generally trying to ignore the craving, are to keep a bar of very dark chocolate in the cupboard and allow myself a very small piece, or else to have a cup of chocolate spice tea. I have just finished off the first bar of chocolate, which was 85% cocoa, after a five-week run (though the last 3g piece disappeared from the cupboard, no idea how it got lost, so it should have been a day longer), and moved onto a 72% one with cranberries. It practically tastes like milk chocolate to me by now, and I find that it doesn't taste as good and is a lot more moreish, for some strange reason. I'm adjusting to it, but I think the 85% will be the way to go after this, it was much easier to stick to a 3g or occasionally 5g piece. Anyway, I am very proud of this, and have even got away with eating the aforementioned tiny pieces of chocolate during my period without triggering migraine, which is fabulous for me.
Maybe you don't technically 'need' anything. But constantly dealing with cravings along with the other unpleasantnesses for that time is really stressful and maybe unrealistic.
I don't count calories, but restrict my starches. Around my period, I allow myself for two days of starchs, if I want them, just for comfort's sake. It doesn't set me back much, and having that 'built in' puts a limit on it, so I don't get discouraged and binge.
Apparently the chocolate craving is about magnesium, which tends to get depleted at that time. I'm curious: has anyone ever found magnesium supplementation to help with chocolate cravings? And how do other people deal with craving more chocolate than they should really have? My current methods, apart from generally trying to ignore the craving, are to keep a bar of very dark chocolate in the cupboard and allow myself a very small piece, or else to have a cup of chocolate spice tea. I have just finished off the first bar of chocolate, which was 85% cocoa, after a five-week run (though the last 3g piece disappeared from the cupboard, no idea how it got lost, so it should have been a day longer), and moved onto a 72% one with cranberries. It practically tastes like milk chocolate to me by now, and I find that it doesn't taste as good and is a lot more moreish, for some strange reason. I'm adjusting to it, but I think the 85% will be the way to go after this, it was much easier to stick to a 3g or occasionally 5g piece. Anyway, I am very proud of this, and have even got away with eating the aforementioned tiny pieces of chocolate during my period without triggering migraine, which is fabulous for me.
Oh, that's interesting! If they come back I might try a magnesium supplement instead.
I don't really get cravings apart from that, and one bar tends to satisfy; but perhaps something like buying small snack-sized bars, and keeping them out of the way? It's a lot easier to finish a large bar than go stand on a chair and take down and open a new one.
