Looking After Your Hormones On A Hectic Schedule
Life happens, stress happens. It's about building resilience so your body isn’t negatively affected. Think of building resiliency as putting more money in the bank. The stress being placed upon you should not exceed the money you have in the bank (or the nutrient foundation you have built overtime).
You can strategically use the food you eat every single day to meet your needs, to put money in the bank and build that resiliency. This way, when a hectic schedule arises, or a stressful situation comes out of the blue, you have the reserves to support you through it.
Let’s start with the basics of macro nutrient balance. If you have completed my workshops or group coaching, you will have covered the detail already … but here is a quick refresher:
Each meal and snack should consist of bioavailable protein, quality carbohydrates and healthy fat. Get your balanced plate started by using the Meal Plan Guide available under resources. This may need to be tweaked down the road to suit your nutritional demands.
Protein
Protein breaks down into amino acids which are used as building blocks for every single cell in the body. Bioavailable protein comes from animal food, so things like dairy, cheese milk, yogurt, eggs, meat, fish, seafood, organ meat and animal based broths. This is due to the amino acid structure and digestibility of animal foods, the nutrient profile is far superior than plant based proteins. This is very important when working to restore hormonal balance and achieve optimal health. You ideally need to be getting at least 80g of bioavailable protein each day. I like to split this into 20-30g at each meal and 10-15g at each snack.
Carbohydrates
Every single cell in the body runs from sugar, which is broken down from carbohydrates. If we starve our body of sugar by eating low carb or avoiding carbs, we force the body to use stress hormones to make sugar - fuelling through stress is one of the main contributors to hormonal imbalances.
The liver also needs glucose from carbohydrates to convert hormones and make progesterone, and it relies on a consistent source of glucose to effectively detox hormones such as estrogen. So eating carbs at every meal is the first step to fuelling your body well.
Not all carbs are equal! We need to prioritise carbohydrates that are easy to digest and are packed full of nutrition, such as ripe fruit, well cooked vegetables, cooked root vegetables, honey, milk and then some well cooked grains like oats and rice.
Saturated Fats
Saturated fat breaks down into fatty acids that maintain cellular structure and function by making up 50% of the cell membrane. This cell membrane allows nutrients and energy in and out of cells. Saturated fats also contain fat soluble nutrients vitamin A, D and K which all play a key role in hormone health. Depending on the quality, your animal foods should provide you with adequate amounts of saturated fat at each meal.
These nutrients should always be eaten together to avoid drastic blood sugar fluctuations throughout the day. If you have ever experienced the feeling of being hangry, or you get the mid afternoon energy slump, or maybe you notice you feel irritated, light headed or you have cravings for carbs, these are all signs of the blood sugar “rollercoaster” and suggests your meals and snacks need to be more balanced.
Eating breakfast within 1 hour of waking is a non negotiable for me and my clients, it is a key step in building resilience and reducing overall stress. You see, your liver stores fuel (sugar from carbs) as glycogen for up to 8 hours, and that’s a healthy liver (assuming you have balanced blood sugars, eat the right nutrients and so on). Those glycogen stores are tapped into during the night as you sleep, because sleep uses almost as much energy as when you are awake. Once those glycogen stores run out, your liver raises stress hormones , cortisol and adrenaline, to start breaking down your body tissue, tissue from your muscles, your organs and your fat, to make sugar. It then uses this sugar to fuel your body.
This is what happens when you fast, or when you skip breakfast in a rush.
If you’re someone that wakes up during the night to go to the toilet, or you just wake up and can’t get back to sleep, it is likely your body is using stress hormones to fuel, as cortisol and adrenaline are also our waking hormones. If you wake in the morning and you’re not hungry, and have no appetite, it could be that your body is already using cortisol to fuel itself, and therefore suppressing your appetite.
Consistently eating a balanced breakfast within 1 hour of waking, even if it’s something small to begin with, can inhibit this reliance on stress hormones and teach the body to efficiently store and use the fuel you provide it with. Overtime, this builds resiliency and you will start to see your morning appetite return!
Think of it this way, each time you skip breakfast, or go too long between meals, or eat a meal that isn’t nutritionally balanced, it is moving your bank account closer and closer to overdraft. You need to be consistently implementing these changes, slowly, one at a time, to create long-term change that builds up that bank account, and thus builds your resiliency.
If you want to dive deeper into building a nutritionally balanced meal then look out for my Foundations of Nutrition course coming soon!
Finally, let’s discuss how mineral balance can play a key role in supporting your body through hectic times. Minerals regulate enzymatic reactions in your body, they are the spark plugs to your engine.
Both chronic and acute stress can play havoc on your mineral balance. You see, minerals work synergistically, so often we go in with magnesium for stress and calm without considering the relationship between sodium and potassium.
Potassium and sodium are fundamental minerals that provide a base for optimal health. Without an optimal sodium and potassium ratio, your nutrients, hormones, energy, water etc. are passing in and out of our cells inadequately.
Magnesium is an important cofactor, needed to transport potassium in and out of cells itself. BUT, ratio is key here, supplementing high amounts of magnesium can drive potassium levels down. The first step in mineral balance is meeting your daily potassium needs (3500-4000mg).
Sodium intake needs to be considered at the same time. In today's scaremongering culture we avoid sodium rich foods such as pickles, ferments and sea salt, however, the problem isn’t with the sodium, it is usually with the ratios between sodium and potassium, and sodium and magnesium that contribute to ill health!
Salting foods to taste with sea salt such as Maldon or Cornish Sea Salt (please don’t use table salt which is just sodium chloride and anticaking agents) will help you achieve a healthier potassium:sodium ratio.
At the same time, add some magnesium rich foods to your diet such as avocado, organic dark or milk chocolate, fresh fruit and freshly squeezed orange juice to support your sodium:magnesium ratio. You could also take an epsom salt bath 2-3x a week, epsom salts are rich in magnesium and absorb straight into the cells through the skin, bypassing the digestive system.
Working on mineral balance alongside building a nutritionally balanced plate will steadily build your fuel supply and therefore increase your resilience to stressors over time.
Recap:
Prioritise macro balance at each meal. Start with breakfast, and work your way through lunch, dinner and snacks until you are consistently eating a nutritionally balanced diet.
Introduce breakfast within 1 hour of waking. If this is new to you, start with something small and be consistent. Your morning appetite will return.
Select some potassium and magnesium rich foods and introduce them to your diet everyday (remembering macro balance).
Salt your meals to taste.
Take epsom salt baths close to a meal (hot baths use your fuel!) to build your magnesium stores.
The above will take time and patience, it is not something you can achieve overnight, especially if you are currently living a hectic schedule. Work your way down the bullet points above one at a time, implementing what is realistic for you.
Every now and then, take a pause and reflect on your health.