Women's hormones, gut + metabolism

Women function best in a well-fed state

Alright ladies, listen up.

Your body will always fight for homeostasis and whether you like it or not your body requires carbs. How much? That is up to your discretion and individual needs.

It is no coincidence that women come to me trying to recover from their years of restriction and low carb dieting after it stops working *SHOCKING* 🙃

They are now putting on the weight they lost, their thyroids are trashed, minerals tanked and they put their bodies into a hyper reactive state reacting to everything they are putting in their mouths.

Mark my words. Any diet that discriminates against a macro group will go down as the most detrimental diets in history (especially for women). I’m talking to you keto, carnivore, low carbers!

Rather than doing something drastic because “carbs are causing xyz_” have you ever thought maybe you need to adjust your macro ratios and the types/quality of carbs you are eating based on how you live your life?

Repeat after me.

EACH MACRO HAS A PURPOSE!

How your body uses those macros is determined by your current state of health and the life you live.

Poor sleep? Long hike? Strength training? Stressful day of work? Laying in the sun? Poor digestion? THESE are all factors that effect your energy needs and how you will use said energy.

Something I know for sure is a healthy woman that understands her body is a woman that can utilize all macros; carbs, proteins and fats for energy effortlessly.

Imagine that? What freedom.

Ready to join a community of like-minded women ending the war on their bodies and breaking free from diet culture? Ready to finally balance your hormones, understand your body, and become your own health advocate? Ready for unfiltered and uncensored wellness talks? Then you’re in the right place! Click here to learn more + enroll.

A self-paced program designed to help you overcome your uncomfortable digestive symptoms without restrictive diets and stressful protocols so you can enjoy food again and live a happier, healthier life. Click here to learn more + enroll.

8 Reasons Why You Can’t Seem To Tolerate Carbs

Girl, I will say it over and over again. It is NOT the carbs fault.

If you find that you can’t tolerate carbs whether they make you tired, they cause gas and bloating, or weight gain it is not the carbs fault but an underlying reason to WHY your cells are not able to use glucose for energy in the first place

If we can’t use carbs well, we need to address our body as a whole. Going low carb to fix insulin resistance only leaves you more insulin resistant. WE NEED CARBS! Our bodies main source of energy is glucose after all!

Let’s talk about the hormone insulin real quick. First of all, insulin is not bad, it in fact helps glucose (sugar) get into our cells to use for energy.
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Where it goes wrong: your body starts over producing insulin when you are under chronic stress. Eventually your cells stop responding to these high stress demands and become resistant to insulin overtime. Your body produces higher amounts of cortisol (the stress hormone) which makes your cells resistant to insulin. When this happens too much sugar builds up in the blood instead of being used by our cells. Insulin resistance simply means your cells are having a hard time absorbing glucose.

What causes chronic stress? All of the above. Let’s take a look.

Minerals like magnesium, potassium, calcium, copper, + sodium are needed to let blood sugar into the cell and are necessary for thyroid function.

All carbs are not created equal. Focus on roots, tubers, dairy + fruit.

Always pair carbs with a protein + fat. Fructose, the sugar found in fruit helps us use glucose from starchy carbs like potatoes better. Consider pairing the two.

Excess estrogen will cause the pancreas to over produce insulin, so you can’t burn fat efficiently. Also leading to low progesterone, the hormone needed to balance blood sugar.

Eating loads of PUFA’s interferes with cell signaling inhibiting the conversion to glycogen.

Bacterial overgrowth in the gut causes inflammation + deficiencies worsening insulin resistance.

Studies show a direct correlation with fluoride + insulin + it impacts the way our cells take in glucose.

All our problems can be brought back to our relationship with carbs and how we use them.

Your Metabolism Runs on Sugar and Carbs!

Yup. SUGAR, your metabolism runs on sugar and carbs! Are you shook?

I know I have talked about the importance of metabolism but here is a quick metabolism 411 and why I emphasize it.

To put it simply, your metabolism is how well you take in nutrients for energy and has absolutely nothing to do with whether or not you will be fat or skinny.

Symptoms of a sluggish metabolism:

⫸ cold hands and feet
⫸ digestive symptoms
⫸ wacky hormones + period probs
⫸ acne + dry skin
⫸ thinning hair
⫸ weak bones or teeth
⫸ frequent urination
⫸ low sex drive
⫸ brain fog
⫸ weight fluctuations
⫸ poor sleep
⫸ feeling irritated, depressed, angry, + anxious all the time

Let’s break this down real quick. We eat carbs which turns into sugar (glucose), the glucose turns into the stored form glycogen in the liver, the glycogen stored in the liver cells regulates the enzymes that convert inactive T4 thyroid hormone to active T3 hormone. The thyroid runs your metabolism which as I just said runs the show for every process in the body.

If we don’t supply our bodies with sugar then it will start eating it’s own tissues, yup it will literally start eating you alive. YUM!

This is also a super inflammatory and stressful process. Just because it is something our body can do, does not mean it should. This should be your bodies last resort and should only be used for backup in the case of famine to keep you alive.

This is why low carb diets and fasting do not work! You are starving your thyroid and liver of what it needs to help you survive and thrive!

And no girlfriend that doesn’t mean you should go face first into a box of donuts to save your liver and thyroid. We need quality carbs and sugar but we also need lots of protein, saturated fat, minerals and amino acids to support your metabolism. Nourish those cells!