GENIUS FORUMS

I started thinking about this because women seem to have higher instances of digestive issues/disorders than men, and I tried to come up with the major cause, and therefore a possible solution. However, I'm not sure if there is any scientific truth to this theory at all. Perhaps female posters from the forum can comment on whether this fits their experience or not.

First of all, a woman's monthly cycle causes a whole host of hormonal imbalances, some of which are detrimental to the metabolic processes necessary to break down food. One would think that if the stable level of hormones necessary for regular metabolic activity is interrupted then the female's ability to digest certain foods should also be compromised.

Moreover, heavy foods which I classify as meats, carbs, dairy, and certain grains would probably cause the most trouble because these foods require more cellular work to break down due to the fact that they are more complex at the molecular level. However, foods such as vegetables, fruits, water, and very light snacks shouldn't require as much cellular work, and therefore wouldn't put as much of a demand on the woman's hormonal production system, which is thrown out of wack during the monthly cycle.

So what is the solution: women should eat very light and healthy leading up to their monthly cycle, and during their cycle, and then afterwards, continue eating heavier foods when their hormonal levels stabilize. However, some women do not experience very severe cycles, so such a diet would not be required. This sort of diet would only be necessary for women who experience severe monthly cycles, accompanied by digestive issues.

Any thoughts?

Ryan Rudolph:

Any thoughts?

Carmel:

Firstly, thank you for taking an interest in women's health issues.;)

No, I've never experienced any of the symptoms you described, but I enjoy overall good health and eat healthy, most of the time, so these may be the more influential factors.

The worst symptom for me is the change in auditory perception. For 1-2 days, I have an acute sensitivity to all auditory stimulus, particularly high pitched noises. i.e ambulance sirens, certain phone ring tones, electric guitars. It's like I have bionic hearing, which sounds kind of cool at first glance, but the overall effect is bizarre and a bit unsettling.

I've never heard other women complain of this, but I looked it up, out of curiousity, and was a bit surprised to see that there have been some studies on this.

On a related note, men's hormones fluctuate as well, on a 24 hour cycle, with testoterone levels being highest in the morning, lowest in the evening, but increase with certain activities, such as sports, competition/contests, video games etc.

There's also a body of research that indicates that men's hormones fluctuate seasonally, that testosterone levels are higher in the fall than in the spring, though, I'm not sure if these findings are conclusive or well accepted among the medical community.

I've read that a woman's metabolism speeds up on the first day of her period, and I have experienced increased appetite on those days, as well as cravings for meat. Those of us who have heavier periods do lose iron at that time, so it would make sense to eat more iron rich foods during that time.

The hormonal fluctuations seem to primarily target mood. For me, I get a significant desire for sexual relations within a day of onset. For someone who I was friends with and saw multiple times per week for years, I finally just started marking on my calendar the week before she was to get her period so that I would remember not to talk to her during that time. Carmel, she also had increased sensitivity to sound at that time, and it also got on her nerves. Actually, everything got on her nerves at that time, which is why I avoided her for a week out of each month.

As for digestive problems being more common amongst women, what kind of digestive problems are you referring to? Irritable bowel syndrome is most often linked to laxative abuse, and women are more likely to abuse laxatives as an attempt to lose weight than men. Women are more prone to eating disorders than men because women have slower metabolisms than men, yet are held to a more restricted standard of acceptable appearance. Eating disorders amongst men has increased since the sizes of men in the media has become smaller. John Wayne would never make it as a movie star today unless he lost about 40 pounds, but in the day that he was considered the perfect man, men very rarely had eating disorders. Eating disorders, and even just poor eating habits, are naturally linked to digestive problems in both directions. Not only can an eating disorder cause a digestive problem, but a digestive problem, either perceived or fabricated, can be a reason that a female may give for not wanting to eat.

yeah, but women are diagnosed with IBS three to four times more often than men, but only a fraction of those cases have probably abused laxatives or some other dieting exercise. From my experience, women actually show less control in what they eat, as they tend to eat everything men do, and more, and I believe their metabolisms are not as robust due to the hormonal imbalances.

Both of your experiences do not really fit into my theory, but the input is interesting.