Julie Holl

I have another great guest blogger for you….

Alan Holl is the National Personal Training Manager for Fitness First and an International Presenter.  He has many years experience in Personal Training and Personal Training Management making him a leading authority in his field.  Alan’s passion lies in getting people to achieve their goals, even when they don’t think they can themselves!!

He has somehow managed to answer the question that we have all asked at some point…Why do I crave chocolate so much?

As a man writing this you would think that I would just say that women have no will power and that they have no self control, these are true to a certain extent but not in this case….

Research suggests that sweet food cravings are caused by hormonal and chemical imbalances in the brain and the nervous system. This occurs particularly in women as the Uterus wall is constantly repairing and even more apparent during the time of a woman’s period.

The reason being when a woman is pre menstrual, levels of the hormone Progesterone rise and the body becomes deficient in Magnesium as the body is working overtime to repair the Uterus wall. Chocolate is very rich in Magnesium and women use it as a way of controlling the chemical and hormonal levels in the body. One study revealed that 91% of chocolate cravings associated with menstruation occurred between ovulation and the start of menstruation.

So in summary, ladies you have a scientific explanation to your cravings, although this could be controlled by taking a magnesium supplement its not half as tasty and certainly not as much fun!!