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The Hormone Diet by Dr. Natasha Turner, ND
Dr. Natasha Turner, ND, is the Clinical Director and Owner of Clear Medicine.
She is one of Canada's leading naturopathic doctors and natural health consultants, focusing on hormonal issues, weight loss and digestive concerns. Her goal is to provide the guidance and tools necessary for wellness—for life to each and every patient.
Read more
Visit www.uweightloss.com
Middle-Age Weight Gain: Six Natural Ways to Fight It
2010/02/24
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The changes in a woman's body between the ages of 35 and 55 could be referred to as the "midlife expansion." It is a time when weight gain occurs more easily, fat accumulates around the waist and stomach rather than on the hips or thighs and maintaining weight or body shape becomes extra difficult. This change in body shape occurs primarily because of the alternations in hormone balance in addition to the normal effects of aging. There is a natural tendency to lose muscle every year after the age of 30 without a focused effort to maintain it. But, weight gain does not have to be inevitable!
Causes of Middle Age Weight Gain
For most women, shifts in weight begin before menopause (peri-menopause) when an average woman gains approximately one pound a year leading up to menopause. Many women believe that the changing levels of estrogen are the main cause of weight gain, but other factors are also at play:
Reduced physical activity: The majority of menopausal women do not perform adequate exercise. At total of 150 minutes of exercise per week is required for weight loss. I recommend three 30 minute strength training sessions, one to two sessions of yoga and one to two cardio per week.
Excess caloric intake or improper combinations of healthy protein, carbohydrates and fats: Studies show individuals who practice carbohydrate-conscious eating can consume more calories per day without weight gain than those individuals who do not focus on balancing proteins and carbohydrates.
Metabolic drop: The number of calories needed each day decreases as your metabolic rate slows down and your muscle mass decreases. Since muscle burns more calories than fat, the less muscle you have, the fewer calories will be burned each day.
Genetics: Genetic factors may play a role in your weight gain. You might be predisposed to gain weight around your stomach as you age. This means that you may have to work harder to maintain your figure.
Excess weight increases the risk of:
High cholesterol
High blood pressure
Insulin-resistance which can lead to type 2 diabetes
Increased risk of heart disease
Increased risk of Alzheimer's disease
Increased risk of certain types of cancer (especially breast cancer)
Six Tips to Help You Avoid the Midlife Expansion
An inability to lose weight through exercise and dietary changes can be related to a number of different causes, especially during the hormonal changes with aging.
1. Your dietary plan may need some tweaking. For weight loss, you must be sure to:
Balance your protein and carbohydrates 1:1. This means that if you see this ratio on food labels, it is a good choice for you. Let's discuss an example using yogurt. Plain yogurt typically has 6 grams of protein, 6 grams of carbs and a few grams of fat while a fat-free yogurt has 34 grams of carbs, 4 grams of protein and no fat.
Eat every three to four hours. Never skip a meal because it affects your blood sugar balance and stress hormones which ultimately inhibits weight loss and damages your metabolism.
2. Have your thyroid gland tested. The thyroid gland is the main governor of the metabolism. You should have TSH, Free T3, Free T4 and thyroid antibodies. Your TSH should be less than 2 to 2.5, not 5, the previously accepted normal range. If you are menopausal, problems of the thyroid gland can occur, especially if you are taking HRT.
3. Have your fasting blood sugar and fasting insulin levels tested. If you are insulin-resistant, which means you have high insulin levels on fasting tests (insulin is the body's signal to store energy as fat if it is not consumed) you will tend to gain weight around the abdomen and have difficulty losing weight in general. If your insulin levels are high, then a higher protein diet is essential for you to successfully lose weight.
4. Monitor your stress levels. You may want to consider having a salivary hormonal test to check if you have excessive levels of the stress hormone cortisol. Elevated cortisol levels cause an inhibition of thyroid gland function leading to accelerated aging, water retention and increased abdominal fat. The herbal formula Relora lowers cortisol, assists with abdominal fat, helps restore healthy sleep patterns and may also reduce the frequency and severity of hot flashes. This popular supplement can be purchased on the Clear Medicine online store.
5. Make sure your estrogen and progesterone levels are healthy. You can have these levels tested with a salivary hormone analysis-the most accurate way to measure your hormones.
6. Watch your sleep habits as you would your diet and exercise program. Sleep in complete darkness and get to bed before 11pm for optimal release of hormones that affect body composition. If you are sleep-deprived, it may cause weight gain and a tendency to overeat.
Why Weight Loss Sometimes Just Won't Happen
2009/11/30
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I can remember my experience as though it happened only yesterday. Just a few months had passed since I had graduated from university in 1993. I was 22. I arrived home one day from my summer job in tears. I couldn’t think. My head was buzzing with confusion. I felt weak and feverish. I couldn't drive the car anymore. I couldn't understand people when they spoke to me. I felt overwhelmed by everything and couldn't seem to process information fast enough to make sense of anything. I thought I was going crazy and was certain I had a serious neurological disease.
Later that day, I wound up in the emergency room, where the doctors found I indeed had a fever, along with severe anemia. They told me to take some iron and to go home and rest. Well, that was about all I was capable of. I stayed in my house for days. I would wake up feeling okay but within minutes the confusion and fogginess in my head would return. I couldn't interact with anyone or even watch TV.
I knew something had been off for a few months. I needed so much sleep – over 16 hours a day. And even though I was exhausted, I forced myself to exercise because I was so incredibly frustrated with the 25 pounds I had gained – even while watching my diet and staying active.
Thank heavens the emergency room doctor who treated me at the hospital that fateful day decided to investigate further why I was so anemic and tested my TSH to rule out hypothyroidism. Days later, I received a call letting me know my TSH was over 25. Just to put that alarming number in context, a normal level is considered to be less than 4.7 (but optimal is less than 2). I was so severely hypothyroid; between it, my extremely low iron and red blood cell count, confusion was overcoming me because the rate at which my brain was functioning was even slowing down! Finally, I found out why I had been experiencing so many issues for so long. I started taking thyroid medication immediately and within a week I felt like a completely different person.
My hypothyroidism had been misdiagnosed for over 12 years. Looking back, I know I had the telltale symptoms of hypothyroidism as early as age 13. I remember waking up with my pillow covered in my hair. I always had belly fat and would never wear a two-piece bathing suit. I hated my body.
Now, I know my disease was missed because I seemed petite, even though I did have a lot of body fat. Because my weight seemed "normal," my doctors did not think of looking into my thyroid, a condition commonly found in noticeably overweight people. This was my first experience with hormones and I quickly realized how these chemicals were truly running the show – especially when it comes to maintaining a healthy body composition and weight loss.
Hormones and Weight Loss
Until now, it's believed that weight loss happens when we have a calorie deficit. Yes, weight loss can happen when we burn more calories—via exercise and basic life functions such as breathing and digesting—than we take in. But there's another absolutely critical, routinely ignored variable that must be integrated into this equation: our hormones. In fact these powerful chemical messengers control every single aspect involved in weight loss – from our appetite and our cravings, to how well we burn fat and even where we store it.
Are your hormones balanced?
Since hormones control our appetite and stimulate metabolism, achieving and maintaining hormonal balance plays an essential role in achieving lasting fat loss. No matter how an imbalance manifests on the outside, the internal reality remains the same—any and all hormonal imbalance leads to difficulty losing weight and increased risk of obesity. Weight loss and wellness are next to impossible until you bring your hormones back into balance. There are actually over 16 major hormones that impact our success!
Take the mini-hormone quiz:
SYMPTOM
Sugar, starch or salt cravings
Hair loss
PMS (breast tenderness, bloating, mood swings, etc)
Difficulty falling or staying asleep
Hypoglycemia
Abdominal fat
Hot flashes or night sweats
Memory loss
Anxiety or depression
Skin that has lost its lustre or tone
Low libido
Water retention
Difficulty losing weight even with diet and exercise
Fatigue
Loss of motivation or drive
If you answered yes to one or more of these questions, hormonal imbalance is slowing or preventing your weight loss.
Restoring Hormonal Balance through The Hormone Diet Approach
The first necessary step towards hormonal balance and weight loss is to focus on the liver. Your liver influences the production of certain hormones, such as your fat-burning friend, thyroid hormone, and the breakdown of others, such as the fat-burning foe, cortisol. Your liver is also a major player in achieving hormonal balance because it controls the removal of toxins. Toxins affect many of the hormones that influence our body composition and ability to lose weight, including thyroid hormone, testosterone, estrogen, insulin, cortisol and the appetite controlling hormone leptin. A 2006 study published in the American Journal of Physiology—Gastroenterology and Liver Physiology reported that toxins, including drugs and alcohol, can also cause abnormalities in the fat-burning pathways of the liver. This causes less fat burning, and leads to increased storage of fat in the body and possibly in our liver cells, too.
For all of these reasons and more, I have included an anti-inflammatory detox as part of the first step of The Hormone Diet. By following my simple guidelines listed here, you can successfully complete your liver detox and begin to "reset" your hormonal balance and metabolism - in just two weeks:
1. Remove the foods that upset your hormones and increase fiber intake. Eliminate all inflammatory and allergenic foods including gluten containing grains, dairy, corn, red meats, sugar, alcohol, caffeine, citrus, harmful oils and peanuts. Include organic chicken, fish, cruciferous and green vegetables, berries, apples, olive oil, oats, rice, millet, eggs and herbal teas.
2. Improve digestion and nutrient absorption. Sufficient stomach acid, enzymes and bile secretion are essential to prevent bloating and to aid digestion and absorption of food. If you typically wake with a flat stomach but are bloated by end of the day, include digestive enzymes with your meals to reduce these uncomfortable symptoms.
3. Restore healthy bacterial balance with a high potency probiotic supplement. Bacteria in the digestive tract play a hugely important role in the breakdown of excess estrogen. Using a probiotic supplement may, therefore, help to avoid the unfavourable symptoms of excess estrogen including weight gain especially around the hips and thighs.
4. Give your liver a boost. Take a herbal cleansing formula that contains milk thistle, dandelion, turmeric, artichoke and/or beet leaf each morning and evening. These herbs improve the flow of bile, aid liver function, reduce inflammation, improve estrogen and cortisol metabolism and reduce fatty liver, a factor known to accelerate aging.
Until now, the prevailing approach to conquering fat loss has been somewhat like putting a broken arm in a sling without first resetting the bone. Yes, diet and exercise are important, but the solution to enduring fat loss success influences our hormones — because these are the complex chemicals truly running the show! I encourage you to discover the rest of my complete 3-step program to restore metabolism and hormonal balance for men and women in my new book, The Hormone Diet (Random House, 2009) available through your book club. Visit www.thehormonediet.com.
Top 10 Nutrition Habits to Kick-start Fat Loss:
2009/11/30
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1.) Consume lean protein at every meal and snack. If we fail to get enough protein in our diet, we can experience mood disorders, memory loss, increased appetite and cravings, decreased metabolism, sleep disruption, muscle loss and weight gain. Protein also packs a punch because it stimulates the activity of many of our fat-burning and appetite-controlling hormones when we consume it in the right amounts. Your serving should be the size and width of your palm (at least three times a day).
2.) Enjoy low-glycemic carbohydrates and healthy fats at each meal and snack. Non-starchy vegetables should occupy two-thirds of your plate at lunch and dinner. Healthy fats are essential because they help us feel full and satisfied because of their effects on our appetite-controlling hormones that prevent cravings and actually help us to lose weight when we consume them in the right forms and amounts.
3.) Once (women) to twice (men) a day, enjoy a serving of starchy carbohydrates the size of your fist. Consume your starchy carbs at lunch or dinner rather than breakfast for better appetite control. Stick to a protein-rich breakfast of eggs or whey protein smoothies. With this simple trick, you will encourage the hormonal balance that will lead you to eat less throughout the day and stay free of food cravings.
4.) To keep insulin in check and to reduce the risk of heart disease, stroke, obesity and diabetes, keep to the principles of a Mediterranean diet and consume olive oil, nuts and beans, daily.
5.) Aim to eat every four to five hours and enjoy your meals at the same times daily. Some people may prefer three larger meals and one snack, while others may like four equally-sized meals. This will keep your insulin and stress hormones balanced.
6.) Eat within one hour of rising and never within the three hour period before bedtime. If you must eat before bed, opt for a light meal or snack that it high in protein and low in carbohydrate and fat, such as plain yogurt, a protein shake made with berries and water, salad with grilled chicken, or shrimp and veggie stir-fry.
7.) To maximize fat burning, never eat high sugar content foods before your workouts and always eat within 45 minutes of finishing. Your after workout meal or snack is the only one of the day that should limit fat and can be higher in carbohydrates. For example, try a smoothie made with juice, fruit and protein powder but no flaxseeds or oil.
8.) Eat the protein on your plate first to help speed the signal to the brain that you are full.
9.) Drink plenty of water daily between your meals to aid digestion and to prevent an increase in the stress hormone NPY, which can cause you to eat instead of drink when you are dehydrated.
10.) Consume 35 to 40 grams of fiber per day and use a fiber supplement if necessary to help you reach this amount. Fiber slows the flow of sugar into our bloodstream; this causes less insulin release and thereby provides us with a steady supply of energy. Fiber also aids the removal of toxic estrogen from the body. In men and women, too much estrogen, a condition called estrogen dominance, causes toxic fat gain, water retention, bloating and a host of other health issues.
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