Do you comfort eat? It could be down to your cycle: Women binge on treats ‘when they’re at their most fertile to relieve stress’

July 12, 2016

Unhealthy food can affect brains of men and women and alleviate stress
Reduced stress response occurred most at most fertile times in females
Suggests women may be most tempted to treat themselves when ovulating

Rosie Taylor For Mail Online

Published:
11:06 EST, 12 July 2016

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Updated:
11:13 EST, 12 July 2016

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Comfort eating reduces stress levels in women when they are at their most fertile, research suggests.

Scoffing unhealthy food can affect the brains of both men and women, but is particularly likely to help limit stress in women when their levels of oestrogen are highest.

The research sheds light on how men and women’s brains function differently, and how women’s hormones could make them more likely to rely on comfort food at certain times of the month.

Scientists from the University of Cincinnati carried out a study on rats to test the brain’s response to snacking on comfort food.

Scientists from the University of Cincinnati carried out a study on rats to test the brain’s response to snacking on comfort food

They divided female rats into two groups, one set was fed a sweet sugary drink twice a day for 14 days – to mimic human snacking patterns – and one was just given water at the same times.

The rats were then put through a stress test and their stress hormone response was measured.

Females given the sugar solution showed lower levels of stress hormones than those who had not. Previous studies have shown eating comforting food has a similar response in male rats.

But in this test, the reduced stress response only occurred in female rats who were at the most fertile point of their cycles with high levels of oestrogen.

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The researchers also analysed which parts of the brain were ‘lit up’ by eating comfort food.

Levels of one protein, FosB/deltaFosB, which indicates increased activity in the brain regions responsible for stress relief were higher in males given the sugary drink compared to those who were not.

This increase was also seen in female rats – but only when they were in the most fertile stage.

Another protein showing increase in stress relief, pCREB, was at high levels in male rats given the comfort food but not in females. Instead, levels varied across the cycle and was unaffected by whether they ate the sugar solution or not.

Scientists said the results showed that comfort eating can have a stress-relieving effect on both men and women’s brains, but that in women it is linked to the hormonal cycle

Scientists said the results showed that comfort eating can have a stress-relieving effect on both men and women’s brains, but that in women it is linked to the hormonal cycle.

Researcher Ann Egan said: ‘We know that both men and women eat tasty foods as a strategy to reduce stress, and in fact there is some evidence that suggests that women may be more prone to this “comfort food” style of eating.

‘This study is important because it suggests that males and females may be using slightly different brain regions, and the stress relief in females may also be affected by the stage of the (hormonal) cycle.

‘This can help us understand how eating behaviours can affect men and women differently, and how eating behaviours are affected by fluctuating hormone levels.’

The research will be presented at the Annual Meeting of the Society for the Study of Ingestive Behavior this week.