Menopause and Metabolism
We get a lot of questions from women about menopause and its effect on metabolism. This new video discusses menopause and how it relates to the Phases of the Fast Metabolism Diet.
Many of my clients are women convinced they can’t lose weight because of menopause. While menopause can certainly slow down your metabolism, you can fight back with the right foods. You can absolutely speed up your metabolism, improve your health and lose weight, even if you are struggling through menopause.
Menopause and Metabolism: Notes on the Video
Phase 1: All About the Adrenals
Your adrenals are all about regulating stress hormones, but the also help control how your body uses and stores sugar. The goal is to keep your adrenals calm and efficient.
Your focus in this Phase:
- Eat a wide range of foods so you’re collecting the full range of phytonutrients
- Include foods with resveratrol, like blueberries and pomegranates
- Use stress reduction techniques to keep cortisol at bay
- For cardio exercise, aim for a sustained heart rate of around 125 or 135 (check with your doctor). Higher than that can increase production of stress hormones
Phase 2: Liver Support
The liver makes hormones bio-active in the body. It also produces sex-binding hormone globulin, or SBHG, a protein that binds itself to excess estrogen. We want to feed your liver foods that support the efficient processing of the smaller amount of estrogen your body now produces.
Your focus on this Phase:
- Load up on cruciferous vegetables like cabbage, broccoli and asparagus. The nutrients in these help the body metabolize estrogen, preventing it from being stored in fat cells
- Focus on fiber. Those same vegetables have important fiber, used to help excrete non-metabolized estrogen through the colon
- Reduce inflammation, which inhibits estrogen metabolism
- Incorporate resistance workouts with heavy weights, enough to complete three sets of decreasing reps: 10 reps, 8 reps, 6 reps. If you can to more than that, your weights aren’t heavy enough
Phase 3: Support for Hormone Production
Here, we want to use phytonutrients that stimulate estrogen production.
Your focus on this Phase:
- Include non-soy phyto-estrogens like flax seeds, beans and oats
- Increase vasodilation by including fresh herbs and spices
- Help move toxins through the body through dry brushing, loofah and massage
- Especially on this phase, choose organic vegetables to reduce exposure to xenohormones — chemicals that mimic hormones in the body, like some pesticides
We get a lot of questions from women about menopause and its effect on metabolism. This new video discusses menopause and how it relates to the Phases of the Fast Metabolism Diet.
Many of my clients are women convinced they can’t lose weight because of menopause. While menopause can certainly slow down your metabolism, you can fight back with the right foods. You can absolutely speed up your metabolism, improve your health and lose weight, even if you are struggling through menopause.
Menopause and Metabolism: Notes on the Video
Phase 1: All About the Adrenals
Your adrenals are all about regulating stress hormones, but the also help control how your body uses and stores sugar. The goal is to keep your adrenals calm and efficient.
Your focus in this Phase:
- Eat a wide range of foods so you’re collecting the full range of phytonutrients
- Include foods with resveratrol, like blueberries and pomegranates
- Use stress reduction techniques to keep cortisol at bay
- For cardio exercise, aim for a sustained heart rate of around 125 or 135 (check with your doctor). Higher than that can increase production of stress hormones
Phase 2: Liver Support
The liver makes hormones bio-active in the body. It also produces sex-binding hormone globulin, or SBHG, a protein that binds itself to excess estrogen. We want to feed your liver foods that support the efficient processing of the smaller amount of estrogen your body now produces.
Your focus on this Phase:
- Load up on cruciferous vegetables like cabbage, broccoli and asparagus. The nutrients in these help the body metabolize estrogen, preventing it from being stored in fat cells
- Focus on fiber. Those same vegetables have important fiber, used to help excrete non-metabolized estrogen through the colon
- Reduce inflammation, which inhibits estrogen metabolism
- Incorporate resistance workouts with heavy weights, enough to complete three sets of decreasing reps: 10 reps, 8 reps, 6 reps. If you can to more than that, your weights aren’t heavy enough
Phase 3: Support for Hormone Production
Here, we want to use phytonutrients that stimulate estrogen production.
Your focus on this Phase:
- Include non-soy phyto-estrogens like flax seeds, beans and oats
- Increase vasodilation by including fresh herbs and spices
- Help move toxins through the body through dry brushing, loofah and massage
- Especially on this phase, choose organic vegetables to reduce exposure to xenohormones — chemicals that mimic hormones in the body, like some pesticides
