Why Women Depend on Chocolate during their Time of the Month
Blog post by Lindsay Mustard, Holistic Nutritionist
Why Women Depend on Chocolate during their Time of the Month
It’s that time of the month again. Some women think it’s a beautiful thing, while others warn their spouse that it’s shark week. Some women experience zero cramps, bloating or food cravings, while others are curled up on the couch with a hot pack on their stomachs, a pint of Ben & Jerry’s and are out of commission for a week. Every period is different for everyone. But in today’s post, we’ll be talking about the one thing we all have in common - cravings for chocolate. Yes, we all crave and devour the good stuff like it’s going out of style. But why?
At the beginning of our period, estrogen and progesterone levels in our bodies drop. This leads to increased levels of hunger. If that wasn’t enough, our cortisol (stress hormone) levels increase and our serotonin (feel-good hormone) levels drop. In other words, your oncoming period and hormonal changes create the perfect storm for craving sugary foods that will boost both your serotonin and dopamine levels to make you feel better. This monthly cycle of increased stress levels leaves us feeling tired and hungry, which leads us to reach for chocolate and other high fat and sugar foods. Essentially, craving chocolate on our periods is a combination of cravings and a habit that we have created and perpetuated for X number of years over the lifetime of our periods.
So if we’re going to continue the cycle of craving, eating and repeating, let’s at least make sure we are eating the best quality of chocolate available! Zazubean Dark Chocolate, sweetened with coconut sugar or stevia, depending on the bar, contains between 55-90 percent cocoa solids. The levels determine the intensity of the chocolate - the higher the percentage, the more flavonoids are present in the bar. Flavanoids are an antioxidant that serves as an anti-inflammatory and helps to protect our bodies from oxidative damage. The darker the chocolate, the more antioxidants it contains. Ideally aim to stock bars containing 70-90% cocoa in your house around the time of your period!
The Benefits of Chocoalte - The Period Edition:
Relieves Menstrual Cramps
Dark chocolate is a plentiful source of magnesium, a powerful cofactor in our bodies that helps to regulate over 300 biochemical reactions in our bodies. In other words, we need magnesium to perform almost every function that involves our musculoskeletal, nervous or circulatory system. It also contains Vitamin A, B1, C, D and E. Chocolate also offers a variety of antioxidants including phenol and flavonoids, minerals like potassium, calcium, iron and small amounts of omega 3’s and 6’s. This rainbow of antioxidants and minerals can reduce both premenstrual and menstrual pain in women.
Mood Swings
Chocoalte has a powerful component called tyramine, a derivative of the amino acid tyrosine. This amino acid is a precursor to dopamine, the feel-good chemical that lights up the reward center in our brains. When we’re feeling doomy and gloomy, a few squares of chocolate can pick us back up and put us on our feet. Dark chocolate not only contains tyramine but also contains serotonin, a proven antidepressant that can elevate your mood. In other words, chocolate can make you feel calmer and more collected, while simultaneously stimulating the production of endorphins that make you feel happier.
Energy
This goes without saying that our energy levels are a fraction of what they usually are when we’re on our period. This leads us to reach for either a) coffee, b) sugar or c) chocolate. For some people, it’s all of the above. Depending on the strength of the chocolate, bars with over 70% cacao can contain up to 30 mg of caffeine. It’s a small enough amount to wake you up and give you a jolt of energy that is sustained by the healthy fats paired in the chocolate. A little extra energy never hurts anyone - especially when it can be used to motivate you to workout or go for a walk, another period pain reliever!
Iron
Don’t go using this as an excuse to eat your weight in chocolate every month now, but chocolate is a rich source of iron. Throughout the course of our menstruation cycle, we lose iron. It can be replaced through food or a multivitamin, but unless we are eating the right foods, it is often lost. A 28 gram serving of high-quality dark chocolate such as Zazubean Dark Chocolate, contains roughly 3.4 mg of iron which is roughly 19% of one’s RDA (Recommended Dietary Allowance). Iron helps with focus, energy levels, boosting our immune system and is a vital part of our circulatory system as iron helps to transport oxygen to our tissues and organs.
Glowing Skin
Cacao is a powerful antiaging superfood! When it’s not boosting our mood, supplying us with an abundance of iron and magnesium or stabilizing our mood and energy levels, it is feeding and nourishing our skin from the inside out. The flavonoids in dark chocolate help to reflect harmful UV rays off our skin when exposed to the sun, prevent sunburns and have been shown to help fight skin discolouration. As mentioned before, chocolate contains iron, but it also contains copper and zinc, two minerals that are proven to promote cell growth and nourish our skin by detoxifying it and eliminating dead skin cells. Last but not least, dark chocolate contains a healthy amount of antioxidants that help to lower inflammation in the skin and aid in treating skin conditions such as eczema and psoriasis. Say goodbye to fine lines and wrinkles, and say hello to supple, youthful, radiant-looking skin!
The next time that your phone reminds you of your upcoming cycle or you feel the first set of cramps coming on, be sure to have a bar at the ready. The darker the chocolate the better! We recommend Zazubean’s Nudie or Buff bar for emergencies. They are 100% Organic, Fair-trade, gluten free, vegan, soy-free and keto friendly.
Keep it stocked, but more importantly, keep it within arms reach. You’ll be back to feeling like yourself in just a few squares!