Eating To Flourish

Do you know what to eat to flourish as a woman?

It’s time we learnt the real way to eat that will fulfil our feminine needs and cycles. The more research I do (not least because I’m a peri-menopausal woman, have been through the various phases of being a woman, found the best way to eat to sustain me through the menopause, and my clients in their fertility struggles and early motherhood years, where energy is key!) the more I keep returning to the same foundation that we have been diverted from, with the likes of low fat, vegan, vegetarian lifestyles we’ve been conditioned to adopt.

Before I share my findings, I believe wholly in eating and adopting a lifestyle that suits you, your body and the way you live. So take from this what resonates and add in small changes to see what works for you. If you’re looking to balance your hormones, wherever you are on your journey through this thing called womanhood, then begin to include some of these tips and foods into your life:

Maintain blood sugar balance.

This is key for the avoidance of so many symptoms and chronic diseases. Sugar and refined carbohydrates encourage weight gain; being overweight is associated with a multitude of issues from menopause to fertility problems. Insulin is overproduced if you regularly eat too much sugar or refined carbohydrates, and is in itself a hormone. When one hormone is out of balance the entire hormonal system can become disrupted.

Therefore, ditch or strictly limit sugar and refined carbohydrates. Avoid biscuits, cakes, most bought bread (especially white bread), alcohol, white pasta, white rice, and most chocolate (most brands are mainly milk and sugar).

Switch to eating whole grains which are unrefined, and therefore retain their nutrients and fibre. For instance: brown rice, quinoa, buckwheat, oats. Try to obtain the bulk of your carbohydrates from sources other than grains; root vegetables are highly nutritious, ‘bulky’ and high in fibre which slows digestion, avoiding blood sugar spikes and subsequent crashes.

Spices.

Cinnamon is very useful for balancing blood sugar. Add it wherever possible – to porridge, teas etc.

Don’t leave it too long between eating.

Eating frequent healthy snacks or meals means that your blood sugar will remain more stable – which will help you resist grabbing for unhealthy solutions when desperately hungry!

Consume adequate high-quality proteins & fats.

This is of key importance when trying to balance blood sugar. Protein breaks down and digests more slowly than carbohydrates (particularly refined carbs). Digestion occurs more gradually and therefore your blood sugar remains more stable.

Good quality proteins

Organic meat (all types)

Wild caught or MSC fish

Eggs

Pulses / beans / lentils (combined with brown rice to create a ‘whole’ protein)

These foods are all extremely nutrient dense. Nutrient deficiencies can contribute to difficult menopausal symptoms, low energy, menstrual cycle issues, infertility and unsustained pregnancies.

Good quality fats

Fats are so important for fertility and indeed pregnancy and breastfeeding. You can obtain good quality fats from:

Nuts and seeds (unroasted)

Fish – particularly oily fish (think SMASH: Salmon, Mackerel, Anchovies, Herring)

Avocados

Olive oil, avocado oil, grass fed butter, coconut oil

Increase your fibre intake via fruits, vegetable and wholegrain intake.

Fibre slows the digestion process, meaning that you stay full for longer and the sugar from food reaches the bloodstream more slowly, therefore improving blood sugar balance. Fibre can be found in fruits and more importantly all vegetables, beans, lentils and whole grains. Fibre tends to bind to excess hormones (and toxins) and helps escort them out of the body via the stool. Excess hormones and indeed toxins of all kinds can contribute to infertility.

Maximise nutrient intake and utilisation.

Aim to increase intake of nutrient rich foods to ensure that your digestion is functioning optimally. It is not enough to eat well; you also must digest well, absorb the nutrients, and then utilise them.

A varied intake of fruit and vegetables has been shown to support greater biodiversity of the gut biome, which is vital for overall health and vitality and will be important in passing on a good ‘starter’ biome to your baby during birth.

Eat organic (where possible).

Non-organically reared animals are fed growth hormones to increase growth rate. These hormones can disrupt your own hormones when you consume the meat. Eating organic food also reduces your exposure to xenoestrogens (synthetic oestrogens) and other chemicals.

Non-organic animals are also given antibiotics prophylactically (as a preventative), meaning that the meat you then eat gives you a dose of antibiotics too. These antibiotics disrupt your own gut flora.

Heavy metals such as arsenic are also found in pesticides and herbicides. Glycosphate in Roundup is now well documented to interfere with fertility in both males and females, as well as causing birth defects. Glycosphate also reduces the mineral content of the produce grown using it.

Women’s Wellbeing

In essence we need to return to our ancestral way of life, especially where eating is concerned, when food was nutritionally dense and satiating, (essentially without the cheap highly processed foods) and return to nature to create a strong foundation as a woman.

If you would like to explore your menopausal or menstrual symptoms or activate your fertility then please get in touch.

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