Eat Right, Feel Amazing: Nutrition Hacks for Hormonal Harmony in Perimenopause! (Part 2)

Embark on a transformative culinary journey with me, Jennifer Woodward, as we usher in a new era of eating for perimenopause on the Perimenopause Show. Discover the power of a nutrient-dense diet to ease the ebb and flow of perimenopausal symptoms, with a focus on the superhero trio: omega-3s, antioxidants, and fiber. Ever wonder how a simple glass of water can be your ally in hormonal harmony? We'll quench that curiosity and go beyond, touching on common intolerances that may surface during this time. Get ready for some practical wisdom on meal planning and timing, along with delectable sample recipes that promise to fit superfoods into your busy life like a glove.

Let's talk strategy—starting your day with a protein-forward breakfast can be a game-changer for your mood and energy, and I'm here to show you how. Say goodbye to meal-skipping and hello to satisfaction with dishes designed to carry you from sunrise to sunset, keeping those blood sugar levels on an even keel. Tune in for my top tips on crafting dinners that double as the next day’s power lunch. We're here to steady the ship in the sometimes stormy seas of perimenopause, helping you manage cravings, stress, and that all-important estrogen balance. Grab your cozy beverage of choice, and let's set sail towards well-being.

Chapters

• 0:00 Opening
• 0:40 Intro
• 2:13 Gluten and Lactose Intolerance in Perimenopause
• 3:11 Stress and New Dietary Restrictions in Perimenopause
• 12:25 Importance of Balanced Protein-Rich Meals
• 21:01 Closing
• 21:23 Outro

Transcript

Jennifer: 0:02

In today's episode, we will be exploring nutrient-rich diets. We'll learn about specific foods for symptom management in perimenopause and what you can start eating today to alleviate common perimenopausal symptoms, like foods that are high in omega-3 fatty acids, antioxidants and fiber. We'll look at whether or not you should eat soy for your hot flashes and exactly what you should be doing when it comes to carbohydrates, proteins, fat and, especially, micronutrients.

Jennifer: 0:40

Hey there, it's Jennifer Woodward, and welcome to the perimenopause show, the go-to spot for all things perimenopause. I'm on a mission to demystify this wild ride sharing stories, laughs and maybe a few eye rolling moments. Whether you're knee deep in hot flashes or just curious, we've got you covered. Expect real talk, expert guests and a sprinkle of humor, because, let's face it, we could all use a laugh during perimenopause. So grab your favorite drink, get comfy and let's navigate this rollercoaster together. This is the Perimenopause Show, where we're turning perimenopause into a conversation, not a crisis crisis.

Jennifer: 1:25

Hello, and welcome back to the perimenopause show. I'm Jennifer Woodward, your host, and in today's episode, we are going to be talking a little bit more about diet. We're going to discuss dietary restrictions and considerations during perimenopause, like gluten sensitivity and lactose intolerance. We're going to be talking about the role of hydration in supporting overall health during perimenopause, how it can contribute to symptom management and its impact on hormonal balance. We're going to be talking about meal planning tips and meal timing strategies, incorporating superfoods, and then I'm going to give you some sample recipes and sample meal plans, just for women in perimenopause. So let's dive in.

Jennifer: 2:13

All right, let's start off with discussing gluten intolerance, lactose intolerance in perimenopause. . A lot of times, women can sail through their twenties and their thirties kind of eating whatever they want. They can have ice cream, they can have bread, you can have donuts, and their bodies might respond a little bit unfavorably, but for the most part they can handle those foods just fine. Then, by the time they get into perimenopause, their body almost starts rebelling. They've got these new dietary restrictions that seemingly come out of nowhere, and the two most common dietary restrictions and intolerances are those of gluten sensitivity and lactose intolerance. So people can't tolerate bread and milk and, as we talked about last episode in the perimenopause show, you know I like my women to eat and drink dairy if at all possible. There's a lot of healing properties in dairy. But if you get to perimenopause and you realize that you just can't tolerate dairy. What do you do, and why does that happen? Well, in perimenopause remember, oftentimes women are going from or coming off of years or decades of being stuck in fight or flight mode. So their autonomic nervous system is too far in the sympathetic mode, so they are stuck in this, this point in time, this, you know, energetic system, where their bodies are always on the alert, they're always ready. They have too much cortisol, too much adrenaline coursing through their system at any given time. They're always on high alert. And so their autonomic nervous system, you know, is on high alert. But then their body is also on high alert. Their immune system starts to become on high alert due to the effects of these stress hormones. And so oftentimes, you know, new dietary restrictions are going to pop up during perimenopause because the body's just tired. It's literally not only are you tired, but your body is tired. It's kind of wasted a lot of its resources, propelling you through the last few years or decades with all of this stress, and so now it's like, hey, I'm going to give you these symptoms. So you slow down and you listen to me. So you realize that we have to change something in perimenopause so that we can get through these years very gracefully.

Jennifer: 4:22

The immune system becomes on high alert due to a couple of different reasons. One is leaky gut, so the body can slowly have have deterioration of the gut lining. There can be small holes that can kind of get torn in the gut and the gut's supposed to be semi-permeable, like we should have the ability to, you know, push products and proteins through our small intestines, small intestinal walls, into the immune system so the immune system can attack, you know bacteria or virus or some sort of infection. So it's it's by design that our guts can be semi-permeable, but we don't want our guts permeable all the time, we don't want those holes opened up all the time, because then we have all sorts of proteins, all sorts of you know bits and pieces of things that should be in our gut leaking out into our immune system, which can over activate that immune system and make food intolerances more likely. And again, the two most common are gluten and dairy, but a whole host of other. You know symptoms can arise when you become more sensitive to to other foods, like for me when I run the food sensitivity test on myself, the mediator release test from Oxford biomedical, which is one of my core tests in my practice I found that I was sensitive to broccoli and avocado. So those broccoli and avocado proteins when my body would break down food into its amino acids, I would mount an immune system response to the broccoli and avocado proteins as well as some others, and that's due to my gut being, you know, too permeable. Those proteins ought to stay inside my small intestine but they don't. During times of stress I'm like your classic perimenopausal case, like decades of over-exercising, over-stressing, under sleeping and under eating have kind of led me to this point in my life where, at 41, I have to work really hard at managing my perimenopausal symptoms. Luckily, I do know what to do, but I'm not going to tell you that it's that it's really easy.

Jennifer: 6:11

I know you have to be on on constant kind of vigilance in order to care for yourself well during perimenopause and when we haven't for decades, that stress also contributes to a leaky gut. Those higher stress hormones can also kind of tear holes in your small intestine, contributing to leaky gut. And since a lot of us, you know, aren't turning to bread and ice cream or aren't turning to avocado and broccoli, during times of stress, we turn to bread and ice cream. That repeated exposure to those you know regular foods. Those regular exposures to gluten and lactose can increase the chance that we are going to become sensitive to them because our bodies are exposed to them more often. Hopefully that makes sense. Those are really common dietary considerations during perimenopause.

Jennifer: 6:57

As decades of being in fight or flight mode catch up to you in those perimenopausal years and food sensitivity starts to become much more common, you also realize that some of these symptoms are happening. If in perimenopause you're also not sleeping and your mood is off, your energy is really low, you're getting migraines, your periods are bad, you're also going to notice that those gut symptoms are occurring more often or you're more attuned to them because you feel like crap already. So the most common thing to do when we are sensitive to gluten and dairy is to take out gluten and dairy for a period of time. But with my clients and with myself, I'm always working at at re introducing those foods at a later date, especially dairy. I tell my clients often there's really no reason that any Western woman, any American woman, really needs to eat American gluten because it's so processed and it is so intertwined. Even some of our organic dairy is so intertwined with glyphosate and atrazine and some of those chemicals that further tear holes in the gut, that it's not really necessary for us to have gluten. So you could essentially take gluten out of your diet and, yeah, you know, keep gluten out of your diet for for years or decades with no adverse consequences.

Jennifer: 8:11

If you go to Italy, if you go to France, where they take, you know, more pride in their food and they don't have the chemicals that we have in the United States, go crazy with the gluten. You should be just fine. I have clients often that travel and have croissants and have, you know, italian pasta and their gut is fine. Their symptoms are fine because they're not being exposed to that glyphosate and atrazine and some of the other chemicals that we have in the United States, and because there are, so those are so coupled with the gluten. Here Again, I just recommend that clients stay off of gluten indefinitely, especially if you notice that that is a symptom that you have. I would never tell you, you know, go off of gluten If your health is perfect, you know, if you're totally fine. Go off of gluten If your health is perfect, you know, if you're totally fine, there's no reason to remove gluten. But if you, you know, eat bread or eat cake or eat pasta, and two hours, four hours, six hours later, you notice you're getting, you know, brain fog or lethargy or stomach issues. It might be worth going off of the gluten specifically. So that's one thing that we want to take into account.

Jennifer: 9:09

During perimenopause, we also want to make sure that we're staying super hydrated. I've got my stanley cup here. This is 40 ounces. I usually recommend that women are getting at least 80 ounces of filtered, high quality water every single day. Our body has many cries for water. You know, if we're getting a lot of cravings, if we're really tired, if our mood is off, it's likely that we're somewhat dehydrated and most women are like it's a job to get. You know, 80 ounces of water, a hundred ounces of water, but just start adding little bits here and there. You know, start with 16 ounces of water. So when you wake up in the morning, you can definitely do the same thing, you know, before and after every meal.

Jennifer: 9:48

Other signs that you might not be getting enough water is constipation. That's a that's a big one, right? Your colon is going to absorb water faster than almost any other area of the body. So if you find that you're struggling with impacted stool or if you're not pooping very often up your water, that's an easy fix. If your skin is off, if you're experiencing lots of acne or dry skin, you also might be a little bit dehydrated and just with energy. In general, it takes a lot of hydration to keep your body going.

Jennifer: 10:16

So it's really important that you get plenty of good quality water and no tea doesn't count, coffee doesn't count, smoothies don't count, green tea doesn't count, like just straight water. And then, of course, you can add those other beverages throughout the day as well. But really aim to get about 80 ounces of water every single day, and what I tell my clients too is that you know we have to be mineralized. At the same time, we're drinking extra water, because if you're just drinking like distilled water or tap water and you're urinating more often, you're actually going to be peeing out your minerals, and we learned last episode that it's really, really important to have plenty of sodium, potassium, magnesium and calcium, and during times of stress, you actually are going to pee out those minerals more often, especially magnesium and potassium. So make sure that you're adding like a little pinch of gray Celtic sea salt or pink Himalayan sea salt or some electrolytes to your water. If you're, you know, excessively upping your water, or if your water consumption is going to be much greater than it was yesterday or a week ago, if you're going from like 30 ounces to 80 ounces of water, make sure that you're getting some minerals in there as well, and that's just a good rule of thumb for anyone. You know.

Jennifer: 11:28

To increase cellular hydration and to really mitigate a lot of these perimenopausal symptoms, we have to increase our minerals, and it's a really easy way to increase minerals to just add them to your water. So, again, a little pinch of mineral salt gray, celtic or pink Himalayan or some electrolytes in general can definitely help keep you hydrated, because it's not just water that you need inside your cells to stay hydrated, it's minerals that you need inside your cells to stay hydrated as well. So let's shift over now to talk about meal planning tips and some meal timing strategies, because diet is one of the backbone, one of the foundational things that we need to get right in perimenopause in order to feel really, really good. So protein, remember, is a first importance. We have to keep our meals very protein centric in order to feel centered ourselves, in order to cut down on cravings in order to achieve our ideal body composition. But also you have to eat Like.

Jennifer: 12:25

I see this all the time in my women. They'll report, you know, skipping breakfast Cause they've been told intermittent fasting is a good thing. Then lunch comes around and they're like well, I'm too busy for lunch. I'm like working through lunch or I'm running kids around, or I'm just not hungry for lunch Cause I've eaten. You know nothing but drink three cups of coffee on an empty stomach today. So coffee on an empty stomach will absolutely shut down your appetite. Sometimes we think that's a good thing as women because we're trying to lose weight, but it's not a good thing because it sets you up for failure the rest of the day. You're not hungry in the morning, but then come three, four or five o'clock, you're just starving and your cravings are going haywire, right. So we really want to eat regular meals in perimenopause, and so I encourage my woman get a palm size serving of protein three times a day at least, starting off with breakfast. I encourage you eat breakfast within 30 minutes of waking up, like you absolutely need the breakfast.

Jennifer: 13:17

Stop intermittent fasting. If you're a perimenopausal woman, okay, most likely, if you're watching this or listening to it. You've tried intermittent fasting and it has worked for you for a time, but then it stops working, just like everything else. And this is why in perimenopause, we really have to be very cognizant of the fact that we're trying to get out of fight or flight mode and nourish our bodies Well, otherwise nothing's going to change. In order to do that, you have to eat. All right, eating calms the stress response. Eating lowers cortisol. We know that. The literature shows us that in peer reviewed studies, where they're actually observing people and taking people's blood serum samples of cortisol, we can see just the introduction of food will lower the stress hormone. So if you are stuck in fight or flight and you probably are, if you're an American woman in perimenopause, then we need to get you out of fight or flight, and eating is a great way to do that.

Jennifer: 14:07

So instead of drinking coffee on an empty stomach or having a low calorie smoothie, why don't you try having a full breakfast within 30 minutes of waking up? My favorite breakfast for myself and my clients are two full size chicken apple sausages. This is my pen. It's about the size. You know, the length of a pen, but obviously the width, like a full sausage or like a banana. So I like the traderader Joe's brands, I like the Idel's brand of chicken apple sausage, two of those. You can put those in the toaster oven and have them kind of like plump up while you're doing other stuff around the kitchen in the morning and couple that with half a cup of berries and half of an avocado with salt. You've got your minerals like potassium and magnesium, you've got your sodium with that salt on top of the avocado and you've got protein with that chicken apple sausage.

Jennifer: 14:54

That, my friends, is a craving cutting breakfast. So I really encourage you, try to add that into your regimen. You know, three to five times a week breakfast doesn't have to be something brand new. Every single day I will have that breakfast pretty much on repeat. And the other breakfast that really shuts down cravings for myself and for my women are four eggs plus half a cup of berries. I know that sounds like a crap ton of eggs, and it is, it is. But realize that since eggs have seven grams of protein each, that's about 28 grams of protein you're getting from your eggs, which is approaching, but not quite at that 30 gram of protein mark.

Jennifer: 15:31

If you really want to push the needle and I've seen all sorts of people do this, from like 120 pound woman to a 220 pound man and be just fine. You can have five eggs for breakfast and, as one of my favorite hormone clinicians, dr Laura Bryden, says, you deserve so much more food than you've been led to believe you do. So let that sink in for a minute. You're like how can I eat five eggs? But think about this in a vacuum, without all the stressors of your day, without all of that knowledge you might have you know from Google about cholesterol and calories and fat grams and you know whatever. Could you sit down and eat five scrambled eggs or five hard boiled eggs Like maybe, maybe not, but try it and see and see how your cravings are and your mood is and your energy is for the rest of the day.

Jennifer: 16:21

If you're trying to survive on one egg and a piece of toast or just black coffee or nothing in the morning, it's no wonder that your perimenopausal symptoms are so intense. So that is my tip and trick for you this morning is eat breakfast and make it protein rich. About 30 grams of protein in the morning, lunch, almost every single day, should be leftovers. You need to make enough of your dinners in order to have plenty of leftovers. You don't have to worry about anything.

Jennifer: 16:49

Usually I'm working through lunch because I have four kids and I work in the mornings and the early afternoons and I pick up my kids and we do our afternoon activities, you know, after about three o'clock. So I'm generally working, you know, through lunch or around lunch I do eat outside. You know, I practice what I preach and I'm usually slowing down at that time, but I'm probably checking emails or something like that on my computer, just sitting outside eating my lunch right. That's something you can absolutely do too, but you want to make sure that you're actually eating right we're not skipping lunches but you don't want to put a ton of effort and energy into trying to procure or cook something for lunch, and that's why leftovers are the very best thing you can do for lunch.

Jennifer: 17:29

A protein about the size of your palm, you know I usually recommend for my women in perimenopause add one or two whole raw organic carrots. That's a nice way to round it out with some carbohydrates, some insoluble fiber really helps sweep estrogen out of the gut so that you can mitigate some of those perimenopausal symptoms, especially those of too much estrogen. And then some fruit and there you go, like that is your lunch. It doesn't have to be more complicated than that. And then dinner, you know, I always recommend just doing a protein. So chicken fish, you know, steak, ground beef, ground pork, whatever it is, a palm size serving of that. Just make it easy. It doesn't have to be a really in-depth dish, it just has to be. Can you get your protein and then can you get a good carbohydrate, some fruits and some vegetables.

Jennifer: 18:12

So in our show notes today you are going to have a seven day recommended meal plan. So that is my perimenopausal meal plan. So you don't have to guess as to what it is I mean when we're recommending, you know, some perimenopause kind of symptom mitigating meals. I'm going to give you that seven day suggested meal plan. Do you know, I'm not a registered dietitian, so this is not solving any health issue, it's just supportive foods for you to be able to meal plan and meal time effectively for yourself and your family. We want to make sure that we're timing our meals appropriately eating within 30 minutes of waking up, eating lunch around midday, eating a nice healthy dinner at night. This helps regulate blood sugar levels and really helps you. You know, support that hormonal stability throughout the day. And that's what we're looking for is stability, by getting out of fight or flight mode and staying in that, you know, balanced, sympathetic to parasympathetic nervous system, that balanced autonomic nervous system, you are going to have stable hormones throughout the day and it does start with food, my friends.

Jennifer: 19:18

Finally, let's talk a little bit about superfoods. So in our last episode we talked about seed cycling and how specifically flax seeds and pumpkin seeds can be really helpful hormonally for women who are going through perimenopause. Flax seed particularly has that benefit of being a phytoestrogen. So it's either going to help raise low estrogen levels by acting like an estrogen on the cell receptor site or it's going to block the harmful effects of too much estrogen by fitting into that cell receptor site and kind of like shielding the cell from too much estradiol or or xenoestrogens, you know, estrogens that are out there in our environments. So I really recommend, if you're trying to use foods or superfoods to balance out your perimenopausal symptoms, start with the seed cycling dots and that recipes and that guide is going to be in our show notes for today as well. It's just a really tasty chocolatey way to get started with using superfoods.

Jennifer: 20:06

You know you also want to incorporate healthy nuts and seeds and fruits and vegetables, and the plan that I have for you here today is going to provide all of that for you, just to make it easy. So I hope that's helpful. And what I want you to leave today's show with is that knowledge that you deserve so much more food than you've been led to believe, right, and that you really do need to eat breakfast. The more you can kind of front load your meals, your calories, your nutrition earlier in the day, the more you're going to see that your cravings and kind of that out of control feeling around food is going to fade away at the end of the day because you, my friend, are going to be nourished, you're going to be properly nourished, right. We're getting that protein, potassium, magnesium, the sodium earlier in the day, not skipping meals and not just surviving on black coffee, um, so that later in the day you can feel hormonally stable, and that's the name of the game in perimenopause.

Jennifer: 21:01

So I'm Jennifer Woodward, thank you for being here with me today on the perimenopause show. Join us next time and if you like this episode and, if you enjoy it, leave us a review and leave us a note. We'd love to hear what you like about it, what you didn't like and your ideas for future episodes. All right, everybody, have a great day, bye.

Jennifer: 21:23

Well, that's a wrap for today's episode. I hope you enjoyed our candid chat about perimenopause the good, the challenging and everything in between. If you found this episode as enlightening and entertaining as I did, be sure to hit that subscribe button so you never miss a dose of perimenopausal realness. Before you go, remember that you're not alone in this journey. We're building a community of kick-ass women embracing the changes and supporting each other. Connect with us on social media, share your stories and let's keep this conversation going. And hey, if you have a burning question, a topic you'd love us to tackle, or just want to say hello, shoot us a message. Your feedback keeps this podcast fueled and fabulous. Thanks for hanging out with us today. Until next time, take care, stay fabulous and remember perimenopause is just another chapter in the adventure of being a woman. Catch you on the flip side.