Cohort study, 2015
Do genetic influences on emotional eating change across the menstrual cycle?
Yes. Genetic influences on emotional eating were two times higher after ovulation compared to before ovulation. Before ovulation, environmental factors played a larger role.
What they did
230 female twin pairs (460 twins total) from Michigan State University completed daily measures of emotional eating for 45 consecutive days. Researchers tracked menstrual cycle phase using dates and hormone levels.
What they found
Genetic influences on emotional eating were two times higher in the post-ovulation phase compared to pre-ovulation. Before ovulation, environmental influences were stronger, including shared environmental effects that had not previously been detected for eating patterns in adult women.
What it means for you
A woman's tendency toward emotional eating may be driven more by genes after ovulation and more by environment before ovulation. This helps explain why emotional eating changes across the cycle. The study is the first to examine this question, so larger studies are needed to confirm the findings.
460
female twins studied
230
twin pairs
2
times higher genetic influence post-ovulation
About the study
- Original title
- Changes in genetic risk for emotional eating across the menstrual cycle: a longitudinal study
- Authors
- Klump KL, Hildebrandt BA, O'Connor SM et al.
- Journal
- Psychological medicine
- Year
- 2015
- Study design
- Cohort study
- Participants
- 460
- What was tested
- None
- Open access
- Yes
- Read the paper
- doi.org/10.1017/s0033291715001221
Topics
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