How Your Appetite Might Change Across Your Menstrual Cycle

Research on how the menstrual cycle affects energy intake can be tricky to interpret. Different studies use different methods, and many don’t fully follow guidelines, so it’s hard to draw firm conclusions.

That said, most evidence suggests that people tend to eat more during the luteal phase (the phase after ovulation) compared with the follicular phase (the first half of the cycle). Energy intake is usually lowest in the late-follicular and ovulatory phases, though fewer studies have looked closely at these specific times.

Studies that investigated energy changes throughout the menstrual cycle phases with hormone tests saw a range from 159 to 529 calories per day. For context, in a 65 kg (143 lb) person with 15% body fat, the higher end of this range could translate to almost 10 calories per kilogram of lean body mass per day, which could matter for things like performance, weight management, and research.

It’s also important to remember that these changes aren’t the same for everyone: they can vary from person to person and from cycle to cycle. Because of this, it’s usually better to take a personalized approach when planning nutrition around your cycle.

Citation

Rogan MM, Black KE. Dietary energy intake across the menstrual cycle: a narrative review. Nutr Rev. 2023 Jun 9;81(7):869-886. doi: 10.1093/nutrit/nuac094. PMID: 36367830; PMCID: PMC10251302.