Do you ever find yourself watching the clock as it gets close to mealtimes? Are you often short-tempered, shaky, or 'hangry' in the hour before a meal? Have you noticed your friends and family seem to dodge you three times a day and come out of hiding after you’ve eaten? 

Well, if you're going through menopause, hormones are likely at the root of your problems. In the beginning stages of menopause, your body undergoes a series of changes all at once. One common change that many women experience prior to menopause is a ravenous appetite.

To minimize this feeling, you need to understand why your body is reacting this way. When we understand the why behind a symptom, it empowers us to make informed changes that help us return to a healthy relationship to food. So, if hormones are the root of the problem, what causes imbalanced hormones in the first place? Allow me to explain.

You may already know that our body runs on calories. If your body was a car, you would need more gas to go on a road trip than you would need to commute to the office. The same is true for your calories. The more you move, the more you need to eat. 

Our appetite is controlled by a complex system of hormones, all of which need to be in balance to function. When your body is working well, you eat until you feel satisfied and the hunger “signal” turns off. 

But, it's not always that simple. 

Hormones are the body’s communicators and regulators. They are in charge of making you “feel full.” So that means when your hormones are off-kilter, they wreak havoc on your body.

The sex hormones—estrogen, progesterone, and testosterone—fluctuate before, during, and after menopause. Most women are familiar with these three hormones. However, they aren’t the only ones responsible for 'hanger.' 

Two lesser-known hormones called ghrelin and leptin control the signals that tell our body whether we are hungry or full. These two hormones also undergo changes during menopause. 

Ghrelin originates in your stomach. It passes through the bloodstream and into the brain to signal that your stomach is empty and it's time to eat. We call this feeling hunger. 

Leptin does the opposite. It's made in your fat cells, and its primary job is to let your brain know when you've got plenty of fat available for fuel. You feel satiated with no need to eat. 

A 2009 study of 40 pre-, post-, and perimenopausal women found that the levels of ghrelin increase in some women during midlife, while at the same time, their levels of leptin declined.

In other words, your hunger hormone level increases just as your "I've-eaten-enough" hormone levels go down. And the result? For some women, an almost uncontrollable midlife hunger. 

As we know, many women do gain weight during perimenopause and menopause with a corresponding increased risk of stroke and heart disease. While it is not necessarily menopause that causes that weight gain, research suggests a correlation between your hunger hormones and menopause. However, that's certainly not the whole story.

Cortisol (the stress hormone) and insulin (the hormone that regulates blood sugar) can also contribute to midlife hunger pangs. 

While they may not be directly associated with menopausal hormone changes, many women's insulin and cortisol hormones may be off-balance at midlife. If that's the case for you, cortisol and insulin could be contributing to an increase in appetite. 

That wouldn't be so bad if you developed a craving for leafy green vegetables. Unfortunately, these cravings usually send us straight to the cookie jar as we look for easy-to-digest, simple carbohydrates.

Insulin's job is to keep our blood sugar from going too high, while cortisol keeps it from plunging too low. It's not hard to see that sugar and carb cravings will occur when either of the two is out of balance. 

Insulin and cortisol are like the bookend hormones that control blood sugar and stress. And unfortunately, in our modern, western society, most women have accumulated significant cortisol dysfunction by the time they reach midlife. 

What's more, because cortisol and insulin levels are not routinely checked in mainstream medicine, many doctors are unaware of the relationship between these hormones and appetite changes in midlife women. That makes it difficult for them to offer any meaningful help. 

We often don’t realize how imbalanced our hormones are until it becomes a problem. So we continue on the "stress train" of overwork and over-worry, both of which contribute to even higher cortisol levels and insulin resistance. 

Your body is desperate to protect itself from danger, so it attempts to balance out-of-control cortisol by having you consume more sugar. Of course, in the long run, this response is a short-term fix with disastrous long-term consequences. 

The solution is to get off this amusement park ride once and for all. And don’t buy another ticket! 

Every time you take a ride on the blood sugar roller coaster, your hunger goes up. You'll know when that happens because you get 'hangry' and want to eat the wallpaper only two to three hours after eating. What's more, your concentration's gone out the window, and you'll snap at anyone who asks even a simple question. You may even feel shaky or weak. 

If all that sounds familiar, you are probably on the blood sugar roller coaster, and it's time to get off.

You may be thinking, it's all well and good to say that I want to get off of the ride, but what can I do to make it a reality? Here are a few of my go-to tips to naturally balance your ghrelin, leptin, insulin, and cortisol hormones. 

If you find yourself ravenous either before, during, or after menopause, your hormones may be responsible. But, you can choose to get off the 'hangry' roller coaster ride any time you want. 

Supporting your body begins with self-awareness and persistence. By making some simple lifestyle and food habit changes, you can manage the major metabolic hormones to help regain a healthy appetite and life.