Survey study, 2012
Do hormone changes during the menstrual cycle affect body image and eating symptoms?
Yes, this small study found that feeling dissatisfied with your body and wanting to be thin were highest in the days before a period, and these feelings tracked with changes in estradiol and progesterone. But with only 10 and 8 women studied, this is an early finding, not proof.
What they did
Researchers followed two small groups of women from the community (10 women in Study 1, 8 women in Study 2). Each woman filled in daily surveys about eating-related feelings and mood for 35 to 65 days, covering a full menstrual cycle or more. In Study 2 only, daily saliva samples were tested for the hormones estradiol and progesterone.
What they found
Body dissatisfaction and drive for thinness were highest in the mid-luteal and premenstrual phases (the days before a period) in both studies. These two symptoms were negatively linked to estradiol and positively linked to progesterone. Dietary restraint (trying to limit food intake) changed much less across the cycle and was only weakly linked to the hormones.
What it means for you
This suggests ovarian hormones may play a specific role in premenstrual body image distress, separate from dieting behavior, meaning different eating-related symptoms may have different causes. The study is very small (8 to 10 women), observational with no control group, and cannot show that hormones cause these feelings, only that they rise and fall together.
10
Women in Study 1
8
Women in Study 2
35-65
Days of daily tracking
About the study
- Original title
- Differential associations between ovarian hormones and disordered eating symptoms across the menstrual cycle in women
- Authors
- Racine SE, Culbert KM, Keel PK et al.
- Journal
- The International journal of eating disorders
- Year
- 2012
- Study design
- Survey study
- Participants
- 10
- What was tested
- No treatment tested. This was an observational tracking study of naturally occurring hormone and symptom changes across the menstrual cycle.
- Open access
- Yes
- Read the paper
- doi.org/10.1002/eat.20941