Dr. Ade
Welcome to the Modern Midlife Collective podcast. The place where we get unapologetically real about thriving in midlife, health, hormones, and everything in between.
00:12
Dr. Jillian
I'm Dr. Jillian.
00:13
Dr. Ade
And I'm Dr. Aday.
00:14
Dr. Jillian
Together, we're your guides to navigating this powerful season with confidence, strength, and the wisdom you deserve. Welcome back to the Modern Midlife Collective.
00:26
Dr. Ade
Yes, and today we are diving into a very important topic that we feel like every midlife women need to hear. The topic today is food, fads and female hormones. So what actually is happening to your nourishment, your nutrition, as you're experiencing midlife? So in my practice as a weight loss and health coach, I find that it's often a challenge to figure out how to navigate what's happening in your body and then aligning that with what you eat. So what. Hopefully this episode really resonates with you so you can understand what nutrition is, what's out there, and how you can personalize it to your lifestyle.
01:03
Dr. Jillian
Midlife hormones enter the mix. It causes things to really get mixed up. There are so many diets and fads and nutrition plans and things that are out there when midlife comes about. Your hormone levels, as we've talked about all the time, they really fluctuate wildly. And so we really have to choose a plan that's really going to support us, maybe decrease that fluctuation of hormones. And so many people have very strong opinions on their diet plans. I know I do have some very strong opinions. Dr. Aday, I'm sure you have some opinions on what you think work best for women. So I'm excited to get into it, discuss what's out there, what people are doing, and what we think about it.
01:50
Dr. Ade
Yes, we definitely need to talk about the noise and then cut through the noise, hopefully, from everything from keto to HCG to intermittent fasting. You know, there's so many things, it's impossible to keep up sometimes with all of the things or things that are maybe evidence based and not so evidence based. So hopefully this is resonating for you. So let's go ahead and get started.
02:08
Dr. Jillian
Yeah. Some of the diets, I don't even know what they do or what they are. So maybe you can feel us in when we get to those parts. But there are certainly some things that I had never heard of and then others that I know are extremely popular. But we should start with the basics and why our bodies react differently to food once we hit midlife. Can you, like, tell us about that part? Because things you may have been Doing before may not work for you now in terms of giving you energy that you need or maintaining your weight or helping you to lose weight. Things we did in our 20s and 30s don't work in our 40s and 50s.
02:48
Dr. Ade
Sure. I think it's important to kind of bring it home and make it as realistic for women, because, you know, I experienced those shifts, and maybe you, Dr. Jill, experienced that. But I have a particular patient in mind that came in, and she fit this exact bill where she's 45 years old, and unfortunately, she had gone to other places, and they had given her certain diet plans. And I can't remember what kind of diet she was on, but she was on this diet. And of course she tried it. She lost weight. Of course, when she stopped it, she gained all this weight back. And so she came to us looking for help. And she had been put on other medications for obesity. She was put on medications for depression.
03:27
Dr. Ade
She was working out five days a week, literally going early in the morning doing cardio. She was doing intermittent fasting. So she was experiencing perimenopause, likely all of these hormonal shifts that we talked about in other episodes, but it wasn't working. So she came to us feeling stuck, and she's like, I don't know what else to do. I'm doing what everybody else is telling me to do. I lost this much weight, and I'm gaining it back in more. So, unfortunately, there has to be some kind of a shift where you're realizing that your body's changing. But it's not a bad thing. It just means that things need to be done a little bit differently. So your estrogen levels are declining with age. Your progesterone is declining. Testosterone, as we know more and more, is really important.
04:10
Dr. Ade
So as those levels drop, when you're doing all the things and you're exercising and strength training and eating less, all of that, unfortunately, puts more stress on your body, and that's when the cortisol level or stress hormone increases. So in this woman's case, most likely she was stressing her body out. So her body was essentially saying, listen, I'm trying to protect you. I want you to do less. I want you to calm down so. So that you can have fuel for your body, because your body still needs nutrition. But what's important is figuring out what kind of a nutrition based on your own lifestyle, genetic makeup. Right? So we're gonna dive deeper into that. And, of course, as you lose these hormones, too, your insulin sensitivity also goes down.
04:53
Dr. Ade
So that just means Your body is not responding the way it used to when it comes to high, low sugar load. So if you're used to eating a higher content of sugar, you kind of need to adapt to how your body is now and eat differently. Of course, your thyroid too. And Dr. Jill, I'm sure we'll dive deeper into that as well. And how suboptimal thyroid function can even make this worse. When you are stressing your body, some of your organs also need a lot more help. So it's really a mastering of what really will work for you so that as your hormones are changing, you can adapt. I think it's more of an adaptation, not that there's anything wrong with you. It's adapting to how your body's behaving now.
05:32
Dr. Jillian
Right? Adehei, you described a very typical patient and I'm sure that we've had patients, friends, family members that really have that same story about how their body's just not responding the way that it used to and that they're doing all of these things like you said, exercising more, eating less, and all of those things are adding to stress. And I think one thing I try to talk about which is a little strange is really our bodies, a woman's body is created and made to get us pregnant. And so our menstrual cycles are to try to get us pregnant. The things that our body does in terms of storing fat are to get us pregnant. And so when we are leaving, that time period of getting pregnant changes take place because different things are needed.
06:20
Dr. Jillian
And so when we do things that increase the stress on our body, so whether that's emotional stress, work stress, physical stress, illness stress and inflammation, these are periods where traditionally our bodies would not get pregnant because when there's extreme stress then it's not a time for a pregnancy. And so then our bodies will start storing fat in specific locations because we need to store up that energy for later. And so we do not want to be so simulating this stressful situation later in life when we do not have a need for pregnancy. We are not even amenstuating in that way. So it's very interesting to be thinking about all of these diet and things that are out there. I did a Google search of the top 10 diets. Let me see what I came up with.
07:14
Dr. Jillian
So this is for women 35 to 65 years old. Number one was intermittent fasting. Number two, keto diet. Three was a plant based plant forward diet. Four, the Mediterranean diet. Five, anti inflammatory diet. Six were hormone specific diets like the Galveston diet. This was actually developed by an OB gyn. So as more people are learning about, more women are learning about hormones and hormone management at midlife. This is someone that became quite popular around Covid, I think Covid times number seven, high protein or protein forward diets. Number eight, which that can fit into so many of them. Eight is a paleo diet, which is also a high protein diet. Nine is a whole 30 diet, which is a whole foods diet. And then the last one is a low fodmap diet. And I'm not sure what that is.
08:09
Dr. Jillian
I didn't have a chance to look into that.
08:11
Dr. Ade
Low fodmap diet.
08:12
Dr. Jillian
Yeah. What is that one?
08:14
Dr. Ade
Low fodmap diet? I think that's just pretty much. There are certain kinds of foods you eliminate that really injure the gut health. So those things you take out, and it's supposed to the people that are bloated, gassy, have a lot of gut inflammation, that kind of thing.
08:29
Dr. Jillian
So really that seems more of a personalized diet, which really would be my favorite thing. Right. Because not all women are the same.
08:36
Dr. Ade
Exactly.
08:38
Dr. Jillian
And then there's some that didn't make the top 10 list. But I've had many women come into my office that are interested in or have done the HCG diet. And then there's also the carnivore diet, which is very similar to paleo and keto. I would say they all just have a little bit of variation.
08:57
Dr. Ade
Yeah, I feel like this list keeps growing every year. I mean, people come in all the time into the clinic and there's another thing that they've researched or they read a book that has another diet plan. And some of them are a variation of what's already on here, maybe a little bit more specialized. Maybe there's another thing that they add on to that. So unfortunately, a lot of them come with their pros and their cons. Some of them are very restrictive. I mean, there's One like the HCG, I think, is it like 800 calories per day or something like that where, yeah, you're initially losing weight, but often it's at the expense of energy. So most of the time you can't even exercise on these diets. So if you're not exercising, maybe you're even losing fiber and protein.
09:43
Dr. Ade
So there's the risk of also losing muscle mass. And we are already at risk for losing muscle as we getting older. So it's like compounding on top of that. So for women with a shifting environment, you know, you might want to check in before going on doing this yourself, checking in with a obesity specialist, hormone specialist or something just to make sure for sure.
10:04
Dr. Jillian
Yes, I agree. Because you can calculate your fasting metabolic rates, you can figure out how many calories you need to support yourself at rest. And I think the HCG diet doesn't even give you enough calories to do that.
10:18
Dr. Ade
Not at all a typical person.
10:20
Dr. Jillian
Right. And so, yes, you're going to be losing important things, so not just fat, but other things. And then you'll start noticing a difference in your brain function, your memory, aside from the physical changes and I think personalized care, because the things that we can metabolize also changes. So the way we extract nutrients from food, the way we break down food can change just with age, with our hormone changes. And so even foods you tolerated before may become inflammatory to you. I'm from Pennsylvania, I'm from Pittsburgh and it's a very meat and potatoes kind of state in western Pennsylvania. It's a very Midwestern. And we ate a lot of meat and potatoes and a lot of German influence and Polish influence in the food. And so I was always that girl, you know, like, let me have that steak, medium rare steak.
11:12
Dr. Jillian
And now when I go to a restaurant, like, no way, I'm not eating that because afterwards I will feel horrible. I won't be able to sleep well, I will be bloated. It's not pretty. And so it's just so strange how even, you know, my tastes have changed because I don't want to feel that way. Will I have a bite of somebody's? Sure, you know, but no, I'm not going to order a whole steak anymore. Nor potatoes.
11:40
Dr. Ade
Exactly. I think that is one thing that personally was a huge surprise for me actually. This had been happening to me years before, but I just thought, well, I guess, I don't know, it didn't really click until it started to get worse after I turned 40. Then I was like, oh no, this is really bad. To the point where I had to eventually end up getting surgery because it was impacting parts of my gut. But to going back into that fodmap, the F O D M A P. So that is a diet that it's for people that may have issues like irritable bowel syndrome. You just get a lot of cramping, gas, diarrhea. So it's opposed to lower foods that cause that. And it really looks different for each person.
12:24
Dr. Ade
So that kind of a diet isn't really for weight loss, it's really for gut health. So I know a lot of people that are on that diet that do really well. And once they go back and they start to eat those foods again, they just can't tolerate it. And I think for me, I'm not necessarily on a FODMAP diet, but I know anything that would be highly acidic, I think even tomatoes. We talked to Ashley, the nutritionist that you introduced me to. The lectins that are from the tomatoes really was causing a lot of inflammation in my gut lining. And I'm from a West African background and tomatoes is a huge part of what we eat.
13:00
Dr. Ade
So it just goes to tell you how there are so many different variations of diets and you can't just go and start guessing and picking one because it can also wreak havoc. You personally, if you're not careful with what kind of diet. So at the end of the day, I think just looking for something that will be holistic, that will make you feel good, give you the energy, while not lacking the adequate macro or micronutrients that your body needs. Oftentimes I find people that are, if they go on a particular diet, like a keto diet, for example, which is very high in fat, can also lead to you not having certain nutrients. You need iodine, you need selenium, you need chromium. All of these micronutrients are so important for your thyroid function, for example.
13:49
Dr. Ade
So there's always a trade off with some of these diets, which is why I really prefer if you tolerated something that's more of a whole foods where you're focusing on great macros, fiber, protein, especially as you get older, so that you're not missing out on those important nutrients.
14:04
Dr. Jillian
Is there testing that you can do, Ben, to see what the inflammatory foods are for you or is it more general? If you have these symptoms, then we're going to eliminate certain foods.
14:16
Dr. Ade
Yeah, there's some testing you can do. I know a patient that actually came in and there was a take home test that she did and that's actually what prompted her to come in. She says, you know, I think it was probably IBD testing that she did. She did a home test and you know, in fact she came in and then we got the nutritionist to see her, repeated the test and was actually the same thing, same results. So there are some very high technology that's out there you can do on your own without even a physician's order, you can do at home. But obviously you need somebody to kind of look through that with you and make sure that you're doing this correctly, making sure that the diagnosis is correct. But, yeah, there's a lot of testing you can do.
14:52
Dr. Ade
You can do food sensitivity tests where they're not just. And this is different from an allergy test, obviously, this is a sensitivity test. It's looking at things at peptide level, proteins, little ones that you may be reacting to that you may not necessarily catch. It can really be enlightening to see that if you remove certain foods, it'll lower inflammation and you're able to lose weight because those things are not causing a lot of stress in your body.
15:15
Dr. Jillian
So that's absolutely. Well, I think this is a good time to kind of go in and break down each of these diet trends and say what we know about them and what we think about them. So let's start with the keto diet. Keto, yeah. And that's been around for a long time. Right. That's very interesting to me. I'm sure I must have done the keto diet at some point in my life. This was created a while ago, I think, like in the 1920s to treat epilepsy. And, you know, they noticed that the people were having less seizures when they had this keto diet. And so the keto diet is designed to push the body into ketosis, where you burn fat for energy instead of glucose. And I think it's probably good for those who have type 2 diabetes.
16:09
Dr. Jillian
It's really very low in carbs and high in fat. So very. It's kind of. What was the other diet called? The. Where you ate only meat. No fruit, some vegetables. What was that?
16:23
Dr. Ade
That was. There's a little bit of a variation. Are you talking about the carnivore diet?
16:26
Dr. Jillian
No, it's an old diet. It was made by a cardiologist.
16:31
Dr. Ade
And that's a variation of keto. I think that sounds like the ketogenic diet. I know that there is a protein sparing modified, but that's a completely different. That's a whole different one. Maybe this is the ketogenic diet.
16:43
Dr. Jillian
Yeah, maybe it is. That's what I'm thinking. Perhaps that a cardiologist made. I think he ended up passing away, though, from cardiovascular disease. Oh, no, this was a while ago, so. But yes, it was very popular, although it is great for controlling blood sugar. And I think in children and adults with epilepsy, that doesn't respond to medications or to prevent the need for medications. Right. There's a place for this. But I also think it's very. It causes a lot of stress. So stress on your Adrenal glands, stress on your thyroid. I don't know how sustainable this is to really have such a strict elimination for certain food groups. Maybe just a modified low carb diet would better. What do you think?
17:26
Dr. Ade
Yeah, I mean, I think it definitely. The keto diet definitely has its place. It's high in fat. You really dial down the carbs. I see a lot of people who have the potential to be insulin resistant to do well on this, because that's the issue for them. The problem, though, like you mentioned, is the sustainability on it. I've seen people last long on it, but if it's done correctly, the whole idea is it's supposed to put you in ketosis. So your body's in this state where it uses fat instead of sugar. Right. So you're able to lose weight that way. But unfortunately, when they say they've done it for a while, it can get kind of, you know, monotonous. It's like the same thing over and over again. So people end up not doing it for a long time.
18:08
Dr. Ade
And of course, with just like the other diets, it can really stress you out. And if you're not careful, you're eating high fat foods that can also have that wreak havoc on your cardiovascular health as well. If you're already prone to high cholesterol and you're eating high, this is like fat that you're taking in. So, yeah, again, this has to be under medical supervision. I think you really got to know what your medical history is, your genetic history, before you take on a diet like that for long term.
18:38
Dr. Jillian
Yeah, I agree.
18:40
Dr. Ade
So, you know, I think intermittent fasting is a good one because it is a great thing. I personally do intermittent fasting, especially after time of maybe I went on vacation and I'm trying to kind of reset is also. It's really great. And I read that book the Obesity Code by Jason Fung, and of course, he's a big proponent for it as well. It's very helpful. But I think sometimes if you're not careful how you take this on, it can be too much. I know people that would go days with fasting and not eating it at all and then piling on the calories or just eating anything. So it needs to be done well. And I recommend also under supervision, especially if you're gonna be doing anything like this, because you can really drop your blood sugar and end up being very sick.
19:29
Dr. Ade
You can also do it and not lose weight. So again, it all comes back to what is your history, what will work for you? Is your thyroid function well? Is your body able to do this? And trying to do intermittent fasting and then working out, doing cardiovascular activity throughout the week is probably too much for your body to do. But the way to really do it is looking at your schedule. I know sometimes I get people in the medical field who would want to do something like this. Maybe they work night shift and that's when they are up and doing what they need to do, you know? Is intermittent fasting appropriate for you during that time or not? Some people it's just about skipping breakfast or skipping lunch. So I try to work with patients based on their lifestyle.
20:16
Dr. Ade
Is there a period of time that you can fast safely where your body's not under stress? And then what are you doing during that eating window? So what is the eating window? So if you're doing the 16:8 method, for example, you're fasting for 16 hours and then you're eating within an eight hour period. So during that eight hour period you're consuming calories. And that can look like protein, fiber, carbs. And depending on what you talk to your provider about, it could be maybe you're eating 40% protein, maybe you're eating 30% protein. So you can work with your nutritionist to figure out what you need. If you're trying to build muscle, maybe that looks like eating more protein versus carbs. If you are someone who's struggling with insulin sensitivity, then you probably want to take down your carb levels.
20:59
Dr. Ade
So this is in conjunction with looking at your labs, looking at your lifestyle, looking at your sugar levels. You know, if you have something like a continuous glucose monitor, for example, that can tell us what time of the day your blood sugars tend to rise. So that might also help determine when you should be doing the fasting to improve insulin sensitivity, which is why the intermittent fasting is a great option. Of course, you just gotta make sure that it's done correctly.
21:25
Dr. Jillian
Yeah, I think my opinion on intermittent fasting may be a bit controversial because I know how popular this is. You mentioned like one of the most popular time periods is that 16 hours of fast and 8 hours of eating another one is like the 1410. But it could be whatever you want it to be. So it's a period of fasting and then a period of eating. And typically the fasting period is longer than the eating period. And some people feel great and they do wonderful on this. But when we're talking about midlife women, everyone, I think extended fasting, especially that 16 and 8 can cause a lot of stress. Your body is going to be looking for its nutrients. At this point, people start extracting less nutrients from their food or not eating the correct foods to have those nutrients.
22:17
Dr. Jillian
So whenever it's being starved, you're going to spike cortisol levels overnight. When you're sleeping, your body is using energy in order to do all of the repair processes that it needs to during sleep. And sadly, you know, we're sleeping less during this time, so there's less time to do that repair work. So it's not all getting done. And then we wake up in the morning after only some work has been done. And we're going to go through our day causing stress on our bodies and not have the support of these nutrients. So I think it's difficult thing to do. I think that, you know, when you're not eating and you increase stress in that way, your cortisol spikes and then later it can lead to intense cravings and then you may go for the wrong foods during that time.
23:06
Dr. Jillian
I know I do, and I'm hungry and then it's time to eat. I'm going to get something that's going to fuel me quickly and it may not be a smart move to make. You know, it may be something high in carbohydrates where I'm going to get that quick burst of energy and then later regret it when my energy falls and I'm feeling tired. And then our thyroid health is really vulnerable in midlife. And so our metabolism is decreasing as our thyroid levels decrease. And when that happens, we know that when you're not eating at those specific periods, you know, three, four hours. I'm not a nutritionist, so just make this clear. These are just my opinions. But when we're not supporting that metabolism by giving it work to do, I think it can just further slow the metabolism down.
23:52
Dr. Jillian
So we really just, like you said, have to work with somebody to figure out what is happening in our bodies so we know how best to support it and maybe a fast. That last time, I know growing up we talked about like not eating after 7 because everything you eat after 7pm Just, you know, goes to your hips. And so there's a saying, I think my mom was used to say that I forget it, but it was basically about, you know, not eating late because then you're going to lay down on it and having a good breakfast in the morning to support your activities and to support your brain health. You know, especially at this time. We have a lot of mental fog in midlife. And so giving the nutrients your brain Needs to work better, I guess, would be important.
24:38
Dr. Ade
Yeah, absolutely. And I think the point you made about the timing, I think is also important. So you don't even have to do this consistently, like for the whole entire week. I know you can actually do break it up. Maybe you do a couple of days and then have a rest period that allows your body to know that there's not that lion running after you where you're stressed out. Because when you have that break in between, your body's able to recover, maybe get to a new set point. Whether it's your blood sugar has improved or maybe you've lost a little bit of weight, you kind of give yourself a little break or maybe. So it really depends. So, yeah, I totally understand. It can be very stressful if you're doing prolonged fasts, especially as your hormones are changing. So taking breaks even.
25:19
Dr. Ade
I think with any diet plan too, right? Any diet where you are doing something different is going to switch your body into the mode of something is going on and your body's trying to figure out what it is and what it's natural to do is protect you. So what happens when women start to plateau and they don't see that weight coming off? They're panicking like, well, I've been doing this and it's not working. It's the upper body's protective mode. So sometimes you may need to pause and kind of reevaluate things and say, okay, what's happening? Is there more stress? What time of the month is it? If you're pre menopause, if you're perimenopause, you know, where are your hormones at? Even certain exercises you might need to not do because of where you are in the cycle of things. Perimenopause, right.
26:04
Dr. Ade
If you are constantly stressing yourself out and your estrogen is low, there are so many pieces to the puzzle. And yes, we can be a little complicated. So just doing prolonged fasts, if you're doing that and you're stuck. This is part of why we're, like Dr. Jill says, you know, there's a lot of stress as your hormones are changing. So very important to look at the full picture.
26:24
Dr. Jillian
We are beautifully complex and men are as well, right? So this is getting to know our bodies. And gosh, you think about what the human body can do, it is going to be complex and it does some amazing things. And so we have to support it with our nutrition and a mindset thing too, right? Like the need for food and for nutrition. Is it for fuel? Is it for comfort? Is it for taste? And I think different people may have different idea in their life of the role that food serves. So maybe that's important when we're talking about diets to our providers or to nutritionists is what role does it play in your life? And then what role should it play? Is there a should?
27:17
Dr. Ade
Absolutely. So I think another one that we've talked about before is hcg. Do you get people that come to you that say that they're on a HCG diet?
27:28
Dr. Jillian
Oh, yes, our people want to do that with me. And this is a strong no for me. I do not like this. This is a very calorie restricted diet, as you mentioned earlier in the program, and it is coupled with HCG injections, human chorionic gonadotropin. This is something that your body makes high levels during pregnancy. It's also a time where you have very high hormone levels as well in its natural state. So this was developed for obesity treatments. It can lead to rapid weight loss, but it's not sustainable. Right. And like we talked about, you're not supporting your basic functions of your body. So my fear would be when you stop this and you're eating food, that all of this weight would come back. What's been your experience with this?
28:21
Dr. Ade
Yes. So it's part of the reason why when we start any kind of obesity plan, is to figure out, I always ask, you know, what have you tried before? And that gives me an idea of their pattern. So a lot of times people would have tried the HCG diet, they would have tried keto, and they all have this same solution where they're really reducing calorie intake. And most times in their 20s or 30s, it'll work. But then now you add in the perimenopause menopausal shift in hormones, so you are depriving yourself of nutrients. So this is where we have to really educate women and say, yes, this can work. And if that's what you're looking for, yes, you can do it.
29:06
Dr. Ade
But you're going to be right back here in a few months after you stop it, because you're going to gain the weight back and more because it's very low in calorie. And during this phase is where you really need to fuel your body with the nutrients. And most oftentimes it's that protein that you're missing from that. So you're actually getting weaker than you were. Even if you lose the weight, you're probably not losing weight in a very healthy way. Just like you talked about it's rapid weight loss. It's quick, and the more you do those things over and over again, you're actually slowing your metabolism even more. So it makes it even harder to lose weight the next time you try to do a diet like that. So I agree. I don't recommend it.
29:42
Dr. Ade
It's not something that I would prescribe especially for women during perimenopause. So, Dr. Jill, do you want to close us out? This was a great conversation. I feel like we're going to have more and more of this.
29:52
Dr. Jillian
Yes, I learned a lot today actually, just talking to you and I am so grateful that we have this opportunity to learn from each other and to share with all of you. Thank you so much for joining us on the Modern Midlife Collective. If you love this conversation, share it with your friends, share it with your sister, share it with anyone you think needs to hear what we have to say. And then please like and subscribe to this podcast and share with us. If there is something that we need to start talking about, we want to have conversations that we all need to hear. So you can email us@connectodernmidlifecollective.com See you next time. Bye.
30:37
Dr. Ade
Thank you for tuning in to the Modern Midlife Collective podcast. We hope today's episode has inspired you to take bold steps towards thriving in midlife.
30:46
Dr. Jillian
If you loved what you heard, please leave us a review and share this episode with a friend who's ready to step into their power.
30:53
Dr. Ade
We'll be back next week with more insights, strategies and real talk to help you live your best life at any age.
31:01
Dr. Jillian
Until then, remember, thriving at 40 and beyond isn't just possible. It's your birthright. We'll see you next time.