---
title: Does the big hormonal surge at ovulation affect emotional eating later in the cycle?
description: No clear link was found between the sudden hormone changes at ovulation and later emotional eating. Overall hormone levels mattered more than the sudden chang
url: https://niyora.com/research/papers/associations-between-ovarian-hormones-and-emotional-eating-across-the-menstrual-2019/
---

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- Does the big hormonal surge at ovulation affect emotional eating later in the cycle?

Survey study, 2019

# Does the big hormonal surge at ovulation affect emotional eating later in the cycle?

No clear link was found between the sudden hormone changes at ovulation and later emotional eating. Overall hormone levels mattered more than the sudden changes.

 Moderate study design

375 female twins aged 15-25 from Michigan State University Twin Registry

## What they did

375 twin sisters aged 15-25 tracked emotional eating daily for 45 days straight and provided saliva samples. Researchers measured changes in estradiol and progesterone around ovulation.

## What they found

No significant associations were found between the drops in estradiol and rises in progesterone at ovulation and changes in emotional eating in the later cycle phase. This remained true even for women with binge eating episodes or the biggest hormone swings.

## What it means for you

Overall hormone levels, not the sudden changes at ovulation, seem to matter for emotional eating. This suggests focusing on hormone balance rather than cycle changes might be more useful.

375

women studied

45

days of tracking

15-25

age range

## About the study

Original title Associations between ovarian hormones and emotional eating across the menstrual cycle: Do ovulatory shifts in hormones matter? Authors Fowler N, Keel PK, Burt SA et al. Journal The International journal of eating disorders Year 2019 Study design Survey study Participants 375 What was tested None Open access Yes Read the paper [doi.org/10.1002/eat.22985](https://doi.org/10.1002/eat.22985)

## Topics

[Menstrual cycle and mood](https://niyora.com/research/topics/condition-cycle-mood/)[Appetite and food cravings](https://niyora.com/research/topics/symptom-food-cravings/)

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