Is Chocolate Craving During Periods a Physical Need or a Cultural Thing?

STATES CHRONICLE – Researchers from the University of Albany were skeptical regarding chocolate craving during periods. They believed these cravings were not caused by the menstrual cycle as much as they were culturally promoted against women. Therefore, they decided to put them at test and find out if they were really a physical need.

The results the researchers obtained might prove them right, and offer enough evidence that chocolate craving during periods is a cultural construct. They found that women not born in the United States were not so likely to experience the same cravings as American women. Also, those who feel the need to eat chocolate while on their period are more involved in the American culture than other women.

You might find it a little weird to think that women from other countries don’t experience chocolate craving during their menstruation. However, this is quite a typical mentality for the US. The results of the study showed that only 28 percent of women from Spain felt the need to indulge in devouring chocolate during that time of the month. In other countries, the percentage is even smaller.

Chocolate craving during periods might really have been culturally imposed

Therefore, this can only hint at the differences in culture between these countries, and the fact that US women don’t really need chocolate physically to get through the pains and unpleasant symptoms of their periods. In fact, they might be using an excuse to allow themselves to eat unhealthy food.

For the study, published in the journal PLOS One, researchers interviewed a number of 275 undergraduate young women who came from different cultural backgrounds. They had to answer a series of questions regarding chocolate craving. Then, they had American women answer another questionnaire.

Non-US women experienced chocolate craving as well, but they didn’t find it related to the menstrual cycle. Only 17.3 percent of them felt the need to eat it during their periods, as compared to 40.9 percent of American women. Therefore, society might have made women look for a socially acceptable excuse to eat unhealthy food and not feel guilty about it.
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