Human research suggests that women also experience a variation in food intake during the menstrual cycle.[5,6] The clearest change is that total daily food intake is significantly reduced during the periovulatory period . Lyons and colleagues[7] studied women living at home who prepared and weighed their own food. Cycle phases were determined by analysis of urinary luteinizing hormone and menses. The researchers found that food intake was significantly lower during the ovulatory phase. Similarly, Gong and associates[8] investigated women living in a dormitory who self-selected their food. Cycle days were numbered backwards from the onset of menses. These findings also showed that food intake declined in the periovulatory phase of the menstrual cycle.


Some studies also suggest that women eat more during the luteal phase than during the follicular phase. Whether this fluctuation is a result of increased eating late in the luteal phase or early in the follicular phase, as suggested by the rat data, is not known.

Patterns of macronutrient intake may also change during the menstrual cycle; however, this phenomenon remains poorly characterized.[5] Some studies show an increased fat intake premenstrually, whereas others suggest an increased carbohydrate intake. The incidence of food cravings also increases during the premenstrual phase. Both patients with depression and those with premenstrual syndrome exhibit an increased incidence of food cravings.[5] Whether food cravings are related to increases in total food intake or to macronutrient selection, however, has not been established.