When Hunger Feels “Out of Control”… Navigating Appetite in Menopause

Have you ever wondered why you have “menopause sugar cravings”? Or why your appetite in menopause has changed? Well, you’re not alone. Let’s dig in.

Maybe you used to, or still do, experience hunger before your period. Before your period, progesterone drops, estrogen rises, and then falls, and serotonin decreases. These changes all impact appetite.

It’s important to remember that the same hormone fluctuations that happen before your period are happening all the time in perimenopause. Estrogen is up and down constantly. Because estrogen slightly reduces appetite, a drop in it may trigger hunger.

Estrogen also has a symbiotic relationship with serotonin, helping maintain serotonin levels in the brain. When estrogen drops, serotonin drops too, and lower serotonin is associated with more carbohydrate and sugar cravings.

There are many changes when women transition to menopause. That transition can last months—or even years. Leading up to the end of the menstrual cycle, women often experience sleep disturbances. When folks don’t get enough sleep, hunger and fullness signals shift. Reduced sleep increases ghrelin, the hunger hormone, and decreases leptin, the hormone that signals fullness.

When hormones fluctuate, mood can change too. You might feel mood swings, depression, or anxiety. During times of increased stress, cortisol can drive cravings for sweet, salty, and fatty foods. Unfortunately, that’s the opposite of what we need in peri- and post-menopause. What we need is less sugar and more protein and fiber.

Now that you understand how hunger changes and what might be driving it, let’s look at some solutions.

1. Hydrate with water for improved appetite in menopause

Avoid mistaking thirst for hunger. Your belly has mechanical receptors that trigger a sense of fullness. Drinking water fills your stomach and reduces the consumption of high-calorie beverages. Aim to eat your calories, not drink them.

2. Fill up your belly with fiber

Fiber takes up space in your stomach and helps you feel fuller after a meal. High-fiber, high-water foods promote “mechanical satiety.” Fiber fuels your microbiome, producing short-chain fatty acids that increase GLP-1, a hormone that reduces appetite.

Fiber is also a source of phytoestrogens, plant compounds that bind to estrogen receptors and may help regulate appetite. Great sources include beans, lentils, edamame, flax, hemp seeds, carrots, beets, and dates.

3. Minimize hyperpalatable foods

Try to reduce foods high in salt, sugar, or artificial sweeteners like erythritol, sucralose, stevia, and monk fruit. Check for the phrase “natural flavors” on a label - it often means flavor enhancers or additives. These can make it harder to feel satisfied with whole foods.

An apple doesn’t taste as sweet as aspartame, but eating whole foods retrain your taste buds. There is a great review article in Forks Over Knives about the negative impact of artificial sweeteners and even plant-based sweeteners for weight loss.  Animals that consumed artificial sweeteners were actually hungrier afterward.  Women enrolled in a weight loss program that swapped water for diet sodas had more weight loss over a 6-12 month period than those who drank diet sodas.  

4. Enjoy eating

Make eating a pleasurable and mindful experience. I like to call this the HOW of eating. In nutrition, we focus so much on what to eat but not enough on how we eat.

I love Marc David’s book Nourishing Wisdom. He asks thoughtful questions that help you reflect on your eating patterns.

When you sit down to eat, notice your location, timing, and setting. Smell and taste the food. Be present. Eating with pleasure increases ghrelin—the hormone that signals you are full! When we eat quickly, we can miss those fullness cues. Eating with pleasure slows us down, helping us taste food and listen to our bodies.

5. Enjoy herbal teas

Herbal teas (hot or iced) are mostly caffeine-free, non-caloric, and hydrating. They support mood and add fun flavor variety.  Herbal teas are a great way to hydrate.

Favorites include:

• Lemon balm – for low mood

• Passionflower – for anxiety

• Peppermint – for tummy upset

• Hibiscus – for healthy blood pressure and weight support

• Spearmint – for fatigue

• Reishi – for coffee withdrawal

• Cinnamon – for blood sugar balance

• Licorice root – for those mornings when it’s hard to get out of bed

• Roasted dandelion root – for constipation

6. Prioritize sleep

This one’s tricky. Sleep disturbances are common in menopause, but prioritizing sleep is essential. Lack of sleep or sleep “deficit” is linked to obesity and mood changes. Folks with sleep deprivation tend to have more negative thought systems. Low mood can affect wellness habits like movement, social connection, and food intake.

Keep in mind that elevated cortisol from acute or chronic stress drives cravings for fat, sugar, and salt.

Not only does sleep loss impact mood, but it also directly affects appetite centers in the brain and hunger-satiety signals. Sleep deprivation increases the desire for high-calorie foods, and the severity of cravings correlates with the amount of sleep lost.

If you are having trouble sleeping, consider booking an appointment with one of our nutritionists to help you optimize sleep.

7. Diversify your palate

A 2021 exploratory study found that combining two predominant flavors in one meal improved satiety. This ties back to enjoying your food more, not less. Taste receptors exist throughout the body; the tongue is just the beginning. Activating them helps the body prepare for food and digestion.

Try mixing flavors:

• Sweet: sweet potato, caramelized onion, berries, apples, brown rice, balsamic vinegar

• Sour: pickled radish, yogurt, kombucha, apple cider vinegar

• Bitter: kale, collards, coffee, cocoa

• Salty: seaweed, salt, soy sauce, coconut aminos

• Umami (meaty or brothy flavor): tomato paste, tuna, cheese, broth, ham, soy sauce, mushrooms, miso

• Spicy or pungent (not a true taste but a sensation on the tongue): cayenne, ginger, garlic, sriracha, salsa, mustard

Keep in mind that chili peppers are a potential weight loss food, through their stimulation of body metabolism, activating brown fat, and other potential mechanisms.  Check out Varghese et al review from 2017.

References

Chaaban, N., & Andersen, B. V. (2021). Sensory specific desires: The role of sensory taste exposure in desire for food with a similar or different taste profile. Foods, 10(12), 3005. https://doi.org/10.3390/foods10123005

Greer, S. M., Goldstein, A. N., & Walker, M. P. (2013). The impact of sleep deprivation on food desire in the human brain. Nature Communications, 4, 2259. https://doi.org/10.1038/ncomms3259

Kravitz, H. M., Kazlauskaite, R., & Joffe, H. (2018). Sleep, health, and metabolism in midlife women and menopause: Food for thought. Obstetrics and Gynecology Clinics of North America, 45(4), 679–694. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ogc.2018.07.008

Varghese, S., Kubatka, P., Rodrigo, L., Gazdikova, K., Caprnda, M., Fedotova, J., Zulli, A., Kruzliak, P., & Büsselberg, D. (2017). Chili pepper as a body weight-loss food. International journal of food sciences and nutrition, 68(4), 392–401. https://doi.org/10.1080/09637486.2016.1258044