(women) do you think we really burn more calories on our periods?

I've never heard that we burn more on our periods...guess you heard a new weight loss myths all the time!

I've heard that we do burn a little more during our luteal phase, because our body temperature increases slighty. But I don't think it's that much. Maybe an extra hundred calories. I wear a Fitbit and my heart rate is a little higher the past few days. I'm expecting AF in about 5 or so days. I've also been much more hungry than usual. And much more tired.

Not giving into any cravings though....and well there is coffee for the tiredness...

andylllI wrote: »

jemhh wrote: »

rabbitjb wrote: »

People hearing all this stuff

Hit google scholar ..find the research ...post it so we can all get up to date and discuss

I've heard that waist trainers, green tea and juice detox work ..but have been able to completely discount them thanks to real information

This. Holy cow people. Read up. Don't just sit around wondering. I keep these in my profile. There's more than you asked about OP but it's good reading.


Menstrual cycle & fitness & other lady stuff
* http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/research-review/impact-of-the-menstrual-cycle-on-determinants-of-energy-intake-reseach-review.html/
* http://breakingmuscle.com/womens-fitness/what-really-causes-irregular-menstrual-cycles-in-female-athletes
* http://www.optimumh.co.uk/influence-of-menstrual-cycle-on-strength-training-and-timing/
* https://www.t-nation.com/training/hormone-cycle-and-female-lifters
* http://rebellion.nerdfitness.com/index.php?/topic/69538-the-pelvis-abs-and-hormones-walk-into-a-gym/
* http://www.strengtheory.com/gender-differences-in-training-and-diet/#axzz3kRAhKHG5

Thanks @jemhh you beat me too it! I think the original studies are > 30 years old so the full texts of the articles are in the public domain. There was quite a bit of variation in changes in BMR at various pts in the cycle between women. One unlucky lady, as I recall, had a variation of around 700 kcal/ d between the high and the nadir others much much less. I think I'm that lady.

None of these articles support that. The one from Lyle McDonald (which was posted a bit before my post actually) discusses increased energy expenditure during the luteal phase (around ovulation.) The increase was minor...

Next, the paper looks at the impact of menstrual cycle on energy expenditure (this brings us back to the increased body temperature I noted above). The major increase in energy expenditure occurs also during the luteal phase (when hunger is increased) with increases of 2.5-11.5% having been reported.

It’s important to note that this only amounts to a daily increase in energy expenditure of 90-280 calories per day. That would be contrasted to the potential increase in food intake of 90-500 calories. That is, while energy expenditure is up during the luteal phase, so is appetite; increases in energy intake can easily overwhelm the small increase in energy output if food intake isn’t controlled.

I've never heard of this myth, and no clue if it is true but I've noticed if I don't give into the munchies during that week, I actually lose some weight. I have no idea why and I am sure it is not something common but it is something I've noticed over the years for me, I am always a few pounds less during that week.

Heartisalonelyhunter wrote: »

jemhh wrote: »

rabbitjb wrote: »

People hearing all this stuff

Hit google scholar ..find the research ...post it so we can all get up to date and discuss

I've heard that waist trainers, green tea and juice detox work ..but have been able to completely discount them thanks to real information

This. Holy cow people. Read up. Don't just sit around wondering. I keep these in my profile. There's more than you asked about OP but it's good reading.


Menstrual cycle & fitness & other lady stuff
* http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/research-review/impact-of-the-menstrual-cycle-on-determinants-of-energy-intake-reseach-review.html/
* http://breakingmuscle.com/womens-fitness/what-really-causes-irregular-menstrual-cycles-in-female-athletes
* http://www.optimumh.co.uk/influence-of-menstrual-cycle-on-strength-training-and-timing/
* https://www.t-nation.com/training/hormone-cycle-and-female-lifters
* http://rebellion.nerdfitness.com/index.php?/topic/69538-the-pelvis-abs-and-hormones-walk-into-a-gym/
* http://www.strengtheory.com/gender-differences-in-training-and-diet/#axzz3kRAhKHG5

This is great. I get so sick of seeing this on here (my period makes me eat all the food because of 'hormones'). What hormones??? Because progesterone doesn't effect appetite (and I say that as someone who had to have progesterone shots in the *kitten* every day for a month). Leptin and some others do but men have those too. 'Hormones' is not a blanket excuse for stuffing your face.

But those links aren't supporting what you are saying in this post. They tell what hormones. Not to mention all the other studies on progesterone in particular.


I bet the 500 calories came from an old study where the women studied were found to eat 500 calories more a day during the 10 days before their period than in the 10 after. That's just a guess. I've never heard anyone cite exactly where '500' came from.

The study wasn't great (it was very introductory research into the subject, to be fair), but it does have a background discussion with citations that are pretty interesting. http://ajcn.nutrition.org/content/34/9/1811.full.pdf

If anyone is still wondering (in 2015!) whether reproductive hormones affect how much female mammals want to eat when, well... yeah. That seemed pretty obvious for a while now anyway, no? That 'all in their heads' assumption for women is way too old school for me, and that is all I can think of for why people might not believe that hormones affect the situation. Or maybe individual women thinking we're all the same as they are, which happens a lot (with all genders), I think.

'Want to eat' doesn't mean you have to eat, but it's entirely normal to notice the changes in appetite! I certainly don't eat 500 more a day for 10 days before, but I do eat more early in my period and fewer once it's been going on a few days. I get a bit nauseous, personally, which is pretty clearly hormones in that latter case.

Re: calories burned: I can't imagine that we would burn an extra 500 cal/day while on our periods. If that were the case, I'd lose a lot of weight during and after mine! But I suppose it is possible we might burn a little bit more ... like, say, 50 cal/day.

Re: premenstrual hunger: When I have been heavier (like let's say, above 140 lbs), I get mildly more hungry in the day or two leading up to my periods ... like I wouldn't mind an extra piece of toast and honey in the evenings or something. When I am lighter, like I am now, the cravings go away. I also found that a little bit extra (not too much) calcium and magnesium eased a lot of the PMS symptoms, including cravings ... it also eases the cramping.

Re: premenstrual dizziness: That doesn't have anything to do with hunger. When I went into perimenopause, I started getting dizzy in the couple days leading up to my periods and first day of my period. But again, now that I've lost weight, that seems to have eased off too. Incidentally, so have the hot flashes.

azulvioleta6 wrote: »

The extra calories burned are negligible. It certainly is not 500 calories.

There is never any excuse to eat like a horse. I see people recording 4000-5000 calorie days and blaming it on PMS and find it both ridiculous and disgusting.

LOL. This was just kinda out of left field. Clearly, there's some PMS going on in this thread.

cafeaulait7 wrote: »

Heartisalonelyhunter wrote: »

jemhh wrote: »

rabbitjb wrote: »

People hearing all this stuff

Hit google scholar ..find the research ...post it so we can all get up to date and discuss

I've heard that waist trainers, green tea and juice detox work ..but have been able to completely discount them thanks to real information

This. Holy cow people. Read up. Don't just sit around wondering. I keep these in my profile. There's more than you asked about OP but it's good reading.


Menstrual cycle & fitness & other lady stuff
* http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/research-review/impact-of-the-menstrual-cycle-on-determinants-of-energy-intake-reseach-review.html/
* http://breakingmuscle.com/womens-fitness/what-really-causes-irregular-menstrual-cycles-in-female-athletes
* http://www.optimumh.co.uk/influence-of-menstrual-cycle-on-strength-training-and-timing/
* https://www.t-nation.com/training/hormone-cycle-and-female-lifters
* http://rebellion.nerdfitness.com/index.php?/topic/69538-the-pelvis-abs-and-hormones-walk-into-a-gym/
* http://www.strengtheory.com/gender-differences-in-training-and-diet/#axzz3kRAhKHG5

This is great. I get so sick of seeing this on here (my period makes me eat all the food because of 'hormones'). What hormones??? Because progesterone doesn't effect appetite (and I say that as someone who had to have progesterone shots in the *kitten* every day for a month). Leptin and some others do but men have those too. 'Hormones' is not a blanket excuse for stuffing your face.

But those links aren't supporting what you are saying in this post. They tell what hormones. Not to mention all the other studies on progesterone in particular.


I bet the 500 calories came from an old study where the women studied were found to eat 500 calories more a day during the 10 days before their period than in the 10 after. That's just a guess. I've never heard anyone cite exactly where '500' came from.

The study wasn't great (it was very introductory research into the subject, to be fair), but it does have a background discussion with citations that are pretty interesting. http://ajcn.nutrition.org/content/34/9/1811.full.pdf

If anyone is still wondering (in 2015!) whether reproductive hormones affect how much female mammals want to eat when, well... yeah. That seemed pretty obvious for a while now anyway, no? That 'all in their heads' assumption for women is way too old school for me, and that is all I can think of for why people might not believe that hormones affect the situation. Or maybe individual women thinking we're all the same as they are, which happens a lot (with all genders), I think.

'Want to eat' doesn't mean you have to eat, but it's entirely normal to notice the changes in appetite! I certainly don't eat 500 more a day for 10 days before, but I do eat more early in my period and fewer once it's been going on a few days. I get a bit nauseous, personally, which is pretty clearly hormones in that latter case.

Seriously. Enough with the "women are deluded/malingerers/excuse-makers" bull, so boring

It would be strange for (most of) us to have evolved a sense of **illusory** hunger during menstruation & the few days before. I guess nature's full of weirder things, and evolutionary psych is full of a lot of crap stories, but a regular, temporary uncoupling of subjective hunger from caloric needs/expenditure doesn't seem adaptive on the face of it.

I mean it happens all the time in general now that we're yay far from originating conditions (food industry food) but the obvious connection of increased hunger with menstruation is something else

Alatariel75 wrote: »

Fun fact: a common euphamism for a period in Denmark translates as "there are communists in the fun house". Cracked me up.

That is great.

Sabine_Stroehm wrote: »

azulvioleta6 wrote: »

The extra calories burned are negligible. It certainly is not 500 calories.

There is never any excuse to eat like a horse. I see people recording 4000-5000 calorie days and blaming it on PMS and find it both ridiculous and disgusting.

You've never had a 4k day? Seriously?
(How did you come to be here?)

It doesn't take 4000 calories a day to be here.

I calculated out how many calories over my maintenance I was as I gradually gained weight over the past 4 years, using 1 lb = 3500 calories. It came to less than 80 calories/day. I'm not exactly sure what my maintenance calories are yet, but for sake of argument, let's say they were 2000 calories per day ... for 4 years, I was consuming on average 2080 cal/day.
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/blog/Machka9/view/about-weight-749365


I have rarely consumed more than 3000 calories in day. About the only times I have done that are when I'm on a long randonnee and I'm desperately trying to keep my fuel up. Even then, I have a lot of trouble doing that ... just simply too much eating involved ... I try to find small high calorie items (like a packet of hot chips) so that I don't have to eat much to take in the required number of calories.

I had a massive food day on Sunday ... a planned diet break. I consumed 2,722 calories and burned about 900 of that off with exercise. But I would have a tough time eating more than that.


Obviously everyone is different, some people get really hungry ... but if I have PMS cravings, it is for a chocolate bar, or as mentioned above a piece of toast with honey ... or maybe a slightly larger dinner.