5 Essential Steps to Manage Stress-Driven Cravings in Perimenopause
- Brainz Magazine
- May 6
- 5 min read
Written by MJ Feeke, Nutritional Therapist
MJ is a BANT Registered Nutritionist, Nutritional Therapist, Health Coach, Chef, and Certified Breathwork Facilitator with over 25 years of experience in the food industry and over 20 years as a small business owner. She is dedicated to educating and empowering others through nutrition and wellness.
When stressed, it’s not just your willpower that takes a hit; your hormones play a major role, too. From increased cravings to energy dips and emotional eating, your body is doing its best to cope. Learn how stress hormones like cortisol, insulin, and leptin influence your hunger, and how to nourish yourself with balance, not guilt. This guide also shows how to manage cravings, regulate blood sugar, and support your nervous system so you can feel more in control, grounded, and nourished, even during the toughest days.
1. Understand the stress and craving connection
When stress increases, it’s not just your willpower that takes a hit, your hormones also play a major role. Craving snacks when you’re overwhelmed doesn’t mean you’ve failed. Increased cravings, low energy, and emotional eating are all signs that your body is doing its best to cope with what’s going on around you. These are signals from your nervous system that it needs nourishment, regulation, and care.
Elevated cortisol increases cravings
When stressed, your body releases cortisol, a hormone that boosts alertness but also drives hunger, particularly for quick energy like sugar and refined carbs.
Craving particular types of foods
Stress puts your body in survival mode, seeking fast fuel. High-carb, high-fat foods offer temporary comfort by boosting dopamine and serotonin, but they don’t address the underlying stress.
Salty craving: Crisps (potato chips). Try swapping with roasted chickpeas or edamame. Crunchy, salty, and packed with fibre and plant protein, better for blood sugar support.
Carb craving: White toast with butter. Try swapping with sourdough or seeded rye topped with avocado or egg. Complex carbs, fat, and protein provide sustained fuel instead of a quick crash.
Salty carb craving: Instant noodles. Try rice cakes with hummus, or cucumber with a boiled egg. Quick and satisfying without an overload of sodium.
Sweet craving: Chocolate bar. Try dark chocolate–dipped almonds or a date with nut butter. This still hits the sweet spot but includes healthy fats and protein to reduce blood sugar spikes.
Sweet craving: Sugary cereal or biscuits. Try Greek yogurt with berries and granola, creamy, crunchy, and sweet, balanced with protein and fibre. Or try grapes coated in yogurt and frozen, just like candy.
Your hormones can have an impact
Craving snacks when you’re overwhelmed doesn’t mean you’ve failed. It's a signal from your nervous system that it needs nourishment, regulation, and care.
Ghrelin, your hunger hormone, can rise with sleep loss and chronic stress, making you feel hungrier.
Leptin, your fullness hormone, may become less effective (leptin resistance), especially if you're inflamed or insulin-resistant.
Insulin spikes and crashes can drive more cravings, especially if blood sugar isn’t well balanced.
Estrogen, which fluctuates in perimenopause, helps regulate both insulin sensitivity and serotonin, so when it dips, cravings often rise.
2. Balance your blood sugar every day
Balancing your blood sugar is key for steady energy, fewer cravings, and a more stable mood. With a few simple daily habits, you can support your body and feel more in control throughout the day.
Eat protein at every meal, especially breakfast
Starting your day with protein helps keep blood sugar stable, reducing dips that can trigger emotional or reactive eating later on.
Include slow-burning carbs and healthy fats
Complex carbs like oats, lentils, and sweet potato, along with fats like avocado or nuts, keep you fuller for longer and support your mood.
Don’t skip meals, even when you are busy
Skipping meals increases cortisol and leads to stronger cravings. Aim for regular meals and nourishing snacks to keep your body and brain steady.
3. Spot your emotional hunger cues
Understanding your emotional hunger cues is essential for building a healthier relationship with food. Unlike physical hunger, emotional hunger often comes on suddenly and is tied to stress, boredom, or specific cravings. Learning to recognise the difference helps you respond with awareness.
Ask yourself: What do I need right now?
Before reaching for a snack, take a moment to check in. Are you hungry, tired, bored, or stressed? Often, the craving isn’t for food but for rest, relief, or comfort.
Keep a craving journal
Reflect. Note down how you feel before and after snacking. Over time, patterns emerge, and more conscious choices become easier.
Replace shame with curiosity
Stress eating doesn’t mean something is wrong with you. It means something is asking for your attention. Be gentle and listen.
4. Upgrade your usual snacks
Choose foods that make you feel good physically and emotionally while giving your body the nourishment it needs. When you focus on how food makes you feel, it becomes easier to make choices that support your energy, mood, and overall well-being.
Choose foods that make you feel good and fuel your body
Think dark chocolate and nuts, banana with almond butter, or oat protein balls. These snacks satisfy cravings and support stable energy.
Add fibre and protein to sweet treats
Boost homemade snacks like flapjacks or muffins with seeds, oats, nut butters, or lupin flour. This slows the blood sugar spike and keeps you fuller for longer.
Keep nourishing options visible
Create a snack zone in your fridge or pantry with ready-to-grab options, washed berries, boiled eggs, hummus, or energy balls. Convenience supports consistency, and having them at eye level makes it even easier.
5. Regulate your nervous system
Regulating your nervous system helps you feel calmer, more focused, and better equipped to handle stress. Simple practices like deep breathing, gentle movement, or time in nature can shift your body from survival mode into a state of balance and ease.
Move gently to burn off stress hormones
Even a 10-minute walk, a few stretches, or a dance break can lower cortisol and reduce cravings. It doesn't have to be a full workout to be effective.
Try grounding and breathwork
Slow, deep breathing or spending time barefoot outdoors helps shift you into your parasympathetic (rest and digest) state, where cravings calm down naturally.
Prioritise sleep
Lack of sleep raises ghrelin, the hunger hormone, and makes it harder to manage cravings. Aim for 7–9 hours, and create a wind-down routine that supports it.
Cravings are not the enemy
When stress, hormones, and hunger collide, it’s easy to feel out of control. But you can support your body with simple shifts in food, rhythm, and rest. This isn’t about perfection. It’s about noticing what you need and nourishing yourself in a way that feels kind and practical.
Want personalised support for your stress, snacks, and hormones? Book a 1:1 session with me. I’d love to help you feel more balanced and in control.
MJ Feeke, Nutritional Therapist
MJ is a leader in the wellness world who understands the transformative power of positive nutrition and lifestyle medicine. As a busy working woman, mom, wife, and daughter, she deeply relates to the challenges of managing stress and life load, especially for midlife women. MJ is passionate about empowering individuals to reclaim their health and live their best lives.
