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Does the menstrual cycle affect women’s appetites?

Does the menstrual cycle affect women’s appetites?

Jan. 31, 2025

By Jessica Tucker (MSc ’22), PhD student
Tom Hazell, professor, Kinesiology and Physical Education
(study co-authors: Derek Bornath, Jenna Khoja, Seth McCarthy)

Weight loss interventions are often less successful for women and the reasons remain unknown. This sexual divergence is possibly due to underlying physiological differences between males and females that affect energy intake: the amount of calories or energy someone consumes from food and drinks. Our Energy Metabolism Research Laboratory at ³Ô¹ÏÍø explored whether this difference could be the result of energy intake fluctuating across the menstrual cycle, which is a key difference between men and women.

The menstrual cycle involves fluctuations of two key sex hormones – estradiol, the most bioactive form of estrogen, and progesterone – and is divided into three phases:

  • Follicular phase
    • Duration: 10 to 14 days
    • Estradiol: Low in the early to mid stages, then peaks as ovulation approaches
    • Progesterone: Low
  • Ovulation phase
    • Duration: Approximately two days
    • Estradiol: Decreases
    • Progesterone: Low
  • Luteal phase
    • Duration: 10 to 14 days
    • Estradiol: Increases
    • Progesterone: Increases 

For our in Nutrition Reviews, we synthesized the results from all existing studies on energy intake across the menstrual cycle to determine whether energy intake differed between the follicular and luteal phases. We determined that energy intake is greater during the luteal phase by approximately 170 calories per day, which is the equivalent of eating an additional three medium apples or two slices of bread. This aligns with previous work suggesting that estradiol may be appetite-suppressing, while progesterone may be appetite-stimulating. The fluctuations of these key sex hormones may affect women’s appetites across the menstrual cycle. 

While reviewing the existing literature, we discovered methodological inconsistencies pertaining to how menstrual phase was characterized and energy intake was measured. Future work must use robust methods for identifying the menstrual cycle phase and determining energy intake.

We hope this study highlights the need for more rigorous research on female-specific physiology to improve our understanding of how the menstrual cycle affects energy intake, something our own lab will continue to examine.

This research was supported by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC).

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