We used to think that we were fated by our genetics. Everything from disease to weight management to moods were supposedly controlled by genes handed down from our parents. Today we know differently. Epigenetics is the new science of how environmental signals alter how our genes are expressed. Based on our understanding of genes, we know that you can have a lower or higher probability of developing certain diseases. Epigenetics is the study of how those probabilities are triggered by influences from our environment, psychology, and diet.
Healthy Fats
Women who are concerned about their weight may turn to a low-fat diet, but that is not a good idea. There are good fats that you should be eating, because essential fatty acids reduce food cravings, make you feel full, give you more energy, and help you lose weight. Our fear that eating fat will make us fat is unfounded. Most of us are deficient in essential fatty acids. These EFAs help regulate every body function at the cellular level. These essential fatty acids include omega-3 fats in wild fatty fish, as well as coconut oil, extra-virgin olive oil, avocados, whole eggs, nuts, and seeds.
They are called essential because our bodies can’t make them—we must get them from food! One way to do this is to consume more cold-water fish like salmon, sardines, and mackerel. Be sure it is wild caught and not farm raised. Wild game or grass-fed beef both have more healthy fats than grain-fed meats. Essential fats are also found in walnuts, bean sprouts, and leafy green vegetables like spinach and kale. Flaxseeds are a good addition as well because they are especially good for regulating female hormones. They can be ground up and added to oats or to a smoothie. Flax oil can also be incorporated in salad dressing you make at home.
Avoid Consuming Sugar
This is so important for women because it affects three of the most prevalent health problems that women face—cardiovascular disease, hormone regulation, and mental health. Women should not consume more than 25 grams of net sugars in any given day. Net sugars are total grams of sugar in a food minus grams of fiber. Most foods today are filled with added sugar.
Soft drinks and other sugar-sweetened beverages are the number one source of sugar for most people. A 12 ounce can of regular soda pop has about 33 grams of sugar! Fruit juices contain high amounts of natural sugar too, so limit these or dilute them with sparkling or flat water. Honey is sugar, maple syrup is sugar, juice is sugar, alcohol is sugar.
Some sneaky names you will find on labels that are also sugar include high fructose corn syrup, corn syrup, maltodextrin/dextrose, cane sugar, glucose, and fructose. Don’t eat any foods where sugar is in the first five ingredients! If you crave sugar uncontrollably you may be deficient in zinc or vitamin B6, or you may have an overgrowth of Candida—a fungus that survives on sugar in your digestive tract.
Sugar negatively affects your mood. It can create or worsen anxiety. It negatively impacts your ability to maintain a healthy body weight. Sugar negatively impacts your immune system because it competes with Vitamin C for dominance in the cells. It negatively impacts your hormones, because it puts the body in a stress state where all other “nonessential” including digestion, reproduction, and immune functions are shut down.
Plenty of Clean Protein
Each day you should consume half your body weight in grams of protein. If you are a 150-pound woman, you should consume 75 grams of protein daily. Why is this important? Protein is broken down into components that build everything in our bodies—muscles, bones, blood, tendons, skin, hair, and nails! We need adequate protein to be vibrantly healthy. Animal proteins should be grass-fed, wild-caught, or pasture raised. Eggs, fish, and meats are filled with important amino acids that not only build the body, but also regulate brain neurotransmitters that can determine our mood at any given time. Serotonin is one such neurotransmitter. When it is low, you may be prone to anxiety and worry. It also comes with depression, sleep issues, anger, afternoon and evening craving, PMS, obsessiveness, irritability, and low self-esteem. Another important transmitter is GABA. When your levels are low, you may feel wired, stressed, and overwhelmed with food cravings for foods that calm you down. Emotional eating can be a sign of low endorphins—another important brain neurotransmitter. Low levels of endorphins can make you tear up easily, be sensitive to emotional and physical pain, and cause you to crave certain foods like cookies and ice cream. When you have plenty of endorphins you will feel pleasure, joy, euphoria, and feelings of comfort.