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Tag: carbohydrates

Mini Pause #41: How Nutrition Can Heal Your Hormones

Posted on by stephanie-estima

TL;DR (Too Long; Didn't Read)

Change is a good (and even great) thing when it means you’re open to new research, new understanding, and what we continue to learn about the body. What you need in any area of your life will evolve as you grow, mature, and gain new knowledge. Build a solid foundation that allows you to pivot as your body ages.

WHY

Were your ears ringing this week? I was talking about you, thinking about you, and discussing all the ways we are going to work together.

This week during a meeting with my team, we were talking about the future of Hello Betty, the Bettyverse, and of course, YOU.

We were thinking about what the immediate, midterm, and long-term needs of our Bettys are.

And we stumbled upon nutrition. Someone on social media this week commented that she is aggravated because I have “changed my stance” on carbohydrates and nutrition. And it got me thinking.

Had I changed my opinion? In some cases (like fasting) yes.

But others I have not changed, but simply evolved as my nutritional needs changed over time.

So when someone asks me to exactly describe how I am currently eating / training / recovering, the answer is a bit complicated.

There is what I do now, and there is also the foundation I built so that I can do what I do now.

WHAT

As many of you read in The Betty Body, I used to despise my menstrual cycle. It hurt. I was down for the count three or four weeks every month. I was medicating my pain, hating my body, and feeling like it was a curse to be female.

Looking at my labs back then, I had

  • elevated fasting insulin levels
  • high fasted glucose
  • high estradiol levels relative to my progesterone levels
  • high HbA1c levels (a measure of your blood glucose over the past three months)
  • elevated cholesterol levels (TG, LDL-c, and total) that were higher than what was considered normal
  • elevated hs-CRP (a marker of inflammation)

When I look at my life back then, I had a small group of people who were not real friends, just acquaintances. I was in the wrong marriage. I had young kids and limited support. My hair was falling out. I was anxious. And, if I’m honest, falling out of love with my work. I loved my patients and I loved the private practice, but the volume of paperwork and often incorrect staff hires wore me out.

If you’d told that girl to just eat more protein, don’t be scared of carbs, and just lift heavy weights–I would have fallen flat on my face.

Carbs felt awful in my body, I felt constantly hungry and snacky, and the afternoon energetic slump at 2 p.m. was REAL.

I was still lifting weights during this time, and having an almost identical amount of protein that I do now, but felt none of my hard work showed. My waist-to-hip ratio was not where I wanted it to be, and in my luteal cycle, bloating made it look like I was in my second trimester of pregnancy. My genetics revealed I was very prone to (although never formally diagnosed with) PCOS, as well as being on the spectrum for endometriosis.

So what gives?

The answer lies in the nutritional journey to healing.

HOW

For me (and the thousands of women who have gone through The Estima Diet), I needed to establish insulin sensitivity again.

I needed to go low carb first before I could go higher carb. I needed to mildly restrict protein for a bit (my formal thinking hypothesis here is that with protein restriction, you also get methionine restriction–a topic for another Mini Pause), and I just needed to drop some water weight and bloating.

This was the birth of Phase 1 of the Estima Diet.

Then I started cycling my macros with my menstrual cycle and Phase 2 of The Estima Diet was born.

I followed this style of eating for years. In doing so, I watched all my labs normalize, to the point now where my hsCRP now is undetectable, my glucose and insulin are optimal, and my cholesterol (all markers) are pristine.

As I built this foundation of metabolic health, I was able to easily transition to the type of diet I have now in my 40s. If I had to start over again, that would be the path I would take:

  • Estima Diet Phase 1

  • Estima Diet Phase 2

  • Move into the Maintenance Phase, with higher protein and carbs to suit my training demands

You’ve heard me say this before and I’ll continue to say it: The diet you follow to heal is not the one you will follow forever.

The diet that heals you is the one that sets you up for metabolic health so that you have the option to play with different styles of eating later on. With estimates that 88-92% of North Americans are metabolically unhealthy and meet the criteria for Metabolic Syndrome, it's likely that you might also fall into that category.

I did for years.

NOW

  • If you haven’t already, pick up a copy of The Betty Body and follow the nutrition plan in the book.
  • That program saved me, it saved my patients, and saved the thousands of women who went through the program.
  • Stay tuned in the coming months as we revise The Estima Diet in a whole new way. I can’t say much yet, but I can reveal it is going to be a game-changer in the industry.
  • Along with The Estima Diet relaunch, we are going to debut new programs for those of you who want to go deeper into your health journey and work with me.

If you have gone through The Estima Diet and are ready for more, as well as those of you interested in taking your health in a new direction, reply “ESTIMA DIET” to support@drstephanieestima.com.

We're Making a Q&A Change

You've asked and I've answered 40 questions in this column this year. Thank you to all my Bettys who took the time to write in and ask such great questions!

In September, we began offering full Ask Me Anything episodes in the new EVEN BETTER! Premium Membership. Each month we open up a new AMA to member questions on a specific topic. These Qs form the foundation of a full AMA episode which appears in the members' private podcast feed and on their membership dashboard.

Now that this membership feature is available, we'll be sunsetting the Mini Pause QOTW. To continue to get your questions answered about Meals, Muscle, Mindset and (Peri) Menopause (and more!), I'd love for you to join us in the EVEN BETTER! Premium Membership community.

Membership benefits are outlined for you directly below. You can sign up HERE.

What I Recommend: Sauna

Adding regular sauna sessions into my routine has made a significant difference in my recovery and overall health. The science is clear on sauna benefits. For their 25th Anniversary, Sunlighten is offering up to $600 off PLUS a FREE gift with purchase through Oct. 31. The FREE gift with purchase includes an at-home biomarker panel test and educational webinar.

  • The biomarker panel test covers 17 markers across six categories (Lipid and Cardiovascular Markers, Metabolic Health, Inflammation, Hormonal Health, Thyroid Function, and Nutritional Status).
  • The webinar will be hosted by Dr. Darshan Shah, who will dive deeper into understanding these biomarkers.

Link HERE to more about the Sunlighten sauna models and take advantage of this special promotion.

Now Open: EVEN BETTER! Premium Membership Subscription

Members have immediate access to numerous content pieces, with more coming online. The membership benefits were designed with input and insights from my community of women. Here's what you'll find within the membership:

  • Early and ad-free access to the weekly Better! podcasts.
  • A downloadable action guide for each podcast episode.
  • Private “Ask Me Anything” episodes based on member questions.
  • Surprise guests and solo shows only for members.
  • My insights from the guest discussion coupled with recommendations you can use to build habits and routines that support your goals.
  • Bonus content beyond the podcast episodes.
  • Exclusive discounts for brands I love.
  • Being a part of a community with like-minded Bettys!

Subscribe HERE to find several introductory membership options to fit your budget.

Mini Pause #24: How to Make Friends with Carbs

Posted on by stephanie-estima

Food, Female Athletes & Fertility

TL;DR (Too Long; Didn't Read)

Women need to eat more overall calories to appropriately fuel and perform in their workouts. We want to think about how to maximally take advantage of food by strategically thinking about total calories (and in particular) carbohydrates in the peri-exercise time. In other words, carbs are your friend.

WHY

If you’re an active female who is either lifting weights, engaging in cardiovascular activity, or both, there is a chance you may not be eating enough calories to fuel adequate performance in your sport of choice and your basic, day-to-day functions. This is commonly referred to as Low Energy Availability or LEA.

Lack of food intake is rampant in female athletes because of societal pressures to look a certain way as a female athlete [*][*]. This might be coming from media, including social media (and the dreaded comments section), as well as teammates and coaches who may believe there are perceived performance enhancements if the athlete is leaner.

And you don’t need to be on a team or in a competitive environment to also feel this pressure.

Many women begin working out for aesthetic reasons (I was one of these women), and there is an inherent expectation of body composition changes when combining energy manipulation in the form of caloric restriction and an exercise intervention.

Dieting can mess with our heads.

I have seen this firsthand in females who initially participate in a ketogenic or a low-carbohydrate diet. The results are immediate and welcome! A drop in water weight, the scale moving in the right direction, and we can make the cognitive error that we have found the diet for us.

And it does work.

It works wonderfully while we are metabolically unhealthy or consuming too many calories. Restricting carbohydrates works to reduce total calorie intake, decrease inflammation, and fuel weight loss.

Until it doesn’t.

WHAT

I’ve seen this countless times with women–they love the results of carb restriction so much that they hold onto the idea that that is the only way to drop weight and keep it off.

Clinically I have seen this NOT be the case. After a time, excessive carbohydrate restriction begins to wreak havoc on the thyroid. Dom D’Agostino and I [*] discussed this on the podcast a few years back–excessive carbohydrate restriction often leads to a hypoactive thyroid.

I like to explain this phenomenon–a diet working and then over a period of time it stops working–as exhausting the area under the curve [*]. While this term is used in pharmacokinetics (how long should a drug be dosed for), we can also apply this term to the therapeutic intervention of diet.

Said another way… the diet that heals you isn't the diet you should follow long term.

When women restrict too aggressively with the same intervention for too long, maladaptions can occur.

When you’re in a chronic energy deficit–either through over-exercising or under-eating –your reproductive capacity is downregulated via nutrient-sensing pathways [*], which also can affect your metabolism and body composition.

HOW

After a long period of carbohydrate restriction, if you notice that your weight loss has stalled, or it is feeling harder and harder to stick to it, it might be time for a change.

Change might mean increasing total calories, and reintroduction of carbohydrates specifically.

Realizing the anxiety this may invoke in some of you, think about strategic dosing of carbohydrates in the peri exercise time. Either immediately preceding a workout, immediately after a workout, or both (!) is a fantastic time to consume your carbohydrates.

Remember your muscle is one of the primary sites for insulin activity, glucose storage, glucose utilization, and fat utilization. So timing your carbohydrates around your exercise ensures this fuel will be sequestered and used for muscle activity. You are the most insulin-sensitive immediately after a workout!

NOW

If you are a cycling woman, consider initially increasing carbohydrates (and therefore total calories) in the luteal phase of your cycle. This is the 12- to 16-day period after ovulation, and before your period begins. I detail this in “The Betty Body,” which also has meal plans to show you exactly how to do this.

Typically I am for an initial increase of 10% of total calories to be increased.

If your cycles are irregular and unpredictable, or you are menopausal, you can increase your calories right now irrespective of where you are in the cycle. See how that affects your performance and endurance in your gym sessions.

Question of the Week:

Q: Can you clarify some questions about sunscreen?

This question from Doris about sunscreen comes at a great time. She writes, “Thanks for your podcast episodes on skin health–love them all! Regarding sunscreen: I am a proponent of wearing it daily, but I have some clarifying questions.”

  • If you work indoors all day but in front of computer screens, does that still warrant daily use?
  • How often is it recommended that one reapplies sunscreen?
  • When you are indoors, and then when you are outdoors (and outdoors, when it's April in Toronto and we might not be outdoors for long and the sun isn't strong, and when it's truly summertime)?

Sunscreen is such a polarizing topic, isn’t it?!

I would say that timing and dosing of sun (and of course light) is what’s most important to consider here.

On the one hand, chronic UV exposure (sitting out on a beach all day in the middle of summer, with no sunscreen) is going to increase your risk for skin cancers. And if you do require surgery to remove the cancer, it’s awful, usually induces bad disfigurement and scarring, and the recovery is more difficult than I think people realize.

On the other hand, insufficient sun exposure is a real problem [*] and has direct consequences for human health. As we have moved to working primarily indoors, we do have to be mindful of getting adequate sun exposure.

Here are my best recommendations:

  • Get early morning sun exposure. Go outside in the morning when the sun is low in the sky, full of blue and green lights that rev up our circadian rhythms. You can opt for sunscreen if you like (I do).
  • Indoors, it is less important to be concerned with the application and reapplication of sunscreen if you are not exposed directly to sunlight coming in.
  • Avoid sunbathing between 10 am to 2 pm when the sun is typically at its highest point in the sky and at its strongest. Personally, if I do spend time in the sun, it is usually after 4 pm.
  • Wear a hat with a brim and sunglasses to avoid squinting.
  • If you are lighter skinned and pasty pale from the winter months, be very cognizant of your initial weeks in the sun as you are hopefully developing a little base of color without turning into a tomato.

YOUR TURN!

I’ll be answering your questions every week right here in the Mini Pause! Let me know what’s on your mind. I’ll be checking for both questions and feedback at support@drstephanieestima.com.

What I Recommend: OneSkin

I’m super curious about advances in skin care that target both skin health and anti-aging. That’s why I’m obsessing about the OneSkin product line–especially the tinted facial SPF and the new body SPF with additional collagen support.

Four female Ph.D.-level longevity scientists experienced in stem cell biology, skin regeneration, aging, and bioinformatics founded OneSkin to specifically research the root causes of skin aging. They optimize skin biology at the cellular level.

OneSkin's flagship ingredient, OS-01, is a novel peptide that targets what’s called “cellular senescence” a root cause of why your skin ages.

Learn more about OneSkin peptide science and try the sunscreens for yourself this summer (and all year round). You’ll be SO glad you did! Use code DRSTEPHANIE at checkout to save 15%.