Why women crave chocolate
It is an unfortunate (and disgusting) fact of life, all women suffer from ‘the monthly curse’. Some may refer to a woman’s period as ‘auntie flo is coming to town’ or even less articulately, as being ‘on the blob’. Whatever you want to call it, it is never a pleasant experience as it is at best uncomfortable and mildly embarrassing, at worse a woman’s period is debilitating agony that stops life for 5 days of a month.
Some women become psychopathic, they cry, get upset over the tiniest things and are difficult to please. It isn’t our fault! Men often don’t help the situation by being completely ignorant to his partner’s pain and insist that a woman’s period is ‘blow job week’. Helpful!
What you will find is that women typically crave certain foods just before or during her period. I usually crave a packet of jelly babies! Many women will crave chocolate and pig out on giant bars of chocolate to satisfy the craving but will have no idea why chocolate is suddenly the most important thing in the world. If you ask a menstruating woman whether she’d rather have chocolate or world peace, I reckon chocolate would often win.
So why do women crave chocolate on their periods? Chocolate contains a high level of magnesium and it has been shown that magnesium can help alleviate menstrual cramps. The body is an amazing thing, if you are in tune with it, it will always tell you what it wants.
Think about it, when a woman is menstruating, she is losing the ‘best’ blood in her body, the most nutrient rich stuff which is why women are more likely to be anaemic than men. Magnesium is an alkaline earth metal but it is also the 11th most abundant element according to mass in the human body (the first being the metal calcium) so we need it!
If you’re craving chocolate when you’re on a period, don’t feel guilty about having a small amount to satisfy the craving. If you are still crawling up the walls desperate for it, try drinking low calorie hot chocolates like Cadbury’s highlights which are only 40 calories a mug. Ultimately you need to have self control, so try light exercise like yoga or pilates to forget about period pains if you are trying to be ‘good’.
TIP: A little bit of what you fancy never hurt anyone so if you crave chocolate when you’re menstruating, try drinking hot chocolate. Your body craves what it needs but you ARE still in control of your diet so don’t go overboard. Ask your doctor about magnesium supplements if you are concerned.
