Feeding the menopause

This week I have received a special request from a dear, and very talented friend of mine; María José Sesma (if you don't know her you really should check her out, she's incredible!).  MaryJo has asked me to help with nutrition during the menopause, so for all of you facing this new time in life, here are some suggestions I hope will help you through.

The menopause is a highly challenging time of life as it brings many changes with it, and not many of them are welcomed.  Common symptoms include hot flushes, sweating, insomnia, anxiety, impairment of memory, fatigue, fluctuating emotions and weight gain.  There can also be long term consequences which include a decrease in libido, osteoporosis, heart disease and even dementia which are all linked to a reduction in estrogen levels.

The menopause is an unavoidable stage in life which can be a relief for many and a horror for others.  A woman's ovaries stop releasing eggs at some time in her early 50s, and because of this her menstrual cycle will stop.  All the physiological changes she will begin to experiment are largely due to the decrease in estrogen production and the effect this has on other hormones.  Estrogen helps to lift a woman's mood so, when levels drop, she may feel depressed.

Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT) is available, but some women prefer to try natural remedies or both!  One certainly doesn't interfere with the other so here are some of the natural remedies you might like to consider.

Fatigue:
Avoid foods high in sugar and simple carbohydrates, these cause sharp increases in blood sugar levels but are followed by a sharp dip which can leave you feeling even more tired than you were before.  A better option would be fresh fruit (not juice) or raw nuts.

Hot Flushes:
This is probably one of the worst effects of the menopause.  They pounce when you least expect it and usually when you have just done yourself up for an evening out and the sweat leaves you with your mascara half way down your cheeks and unsightly sweat marks on your smart clothes!  No fun at all...  Stop eating foods that are likely to set off or worsen hot flushes and night sweats such as spicy foods, and other stimulating foods such as coffee, alcohol and chocolate.

Dry Skin:
This is a side effect of the decline in hormones, up your intake of legumes, nuts and seeds such as sunflower, pumpkin and almonds which contain vitamin E, zinc and calcium.  These highly nutritious foods also contain oils which help prevent dry skin and normalize hormone levels.

Depression and Irritability:
Here tryptophan is your friend.  Tryptophan is an essential amino acid which is a precursor to serotonin - the happy hormone.  Serotonin helps moods and may even control sleep regulation and appetite.  Tryptophan rich foods are:

• Seeds and Nuts
• Soy Foods - but make sure they are FERMENTED soy foods
• Cheese
• Lamb, beef, pork and game
• Chicken and Turkey
• Fish
• Shellfish
• Oat Bran and Oats
• Beans and Lentils
• Eggs

There are tryptophan supplements available on the market, however, it would be convenient to carry out a specific blood test to check your amino acid levels before supplementing.

Also, you would be wise to not skip a meal, this way you will keep your blood sugar levels balanced which also contributes to less emotional imbalances.

Anxiety:

Many women find themselves suffering from anxiety when they reach menopause without any apparent reason.  Here you may find it helps to increase your intake of cashew nuts, almonds, cranberries, acai berries and maca root.

Bone Health:

Menopause is a great time for osteoporosis to strike so you really need to be conscious of getting enough calcium.  Now, I am definitely not one to recommend dairy produce in large quantities as it can be counter-productive as far as bone health goes.  Certain foods produce acidity in the body which means the body releases calcium from the bones to lower the acidity level in the body.  So,  you need to increase your intake of alkaline foods such as vegetables (especially green leafy vegetables and broccoli), fruits, seeds, nuts and yogurts.  Also eat foods that are high in magnesium and boron, these are minerals are important for the replacement of bone and therefore help to lower the risk of osteoporosis, such as; apples, pears, grapes, dates and raisins, legumes and nuts.  You may also like to consider a calcium supplement but make sure it also contains magnesium, vitamin E, D and zinc.  It is also very important to exercise as much as possible, especially weight-bearing exercises; walk, run, skip, jump, dance, lift weights...

A big NO NO for bone health is drinking too much caffeine and smoking and you should reduce your intake of sodium and animal protein.  We eat far too much animal protein, you really only need a piece the size of your palm without the fingers and the same thickness as your palm and not at every meal.  So up your intake of veggies and reduce your animal protein intake.

Other helpers:

However, there are other things you may find helpful, supplementing with Evening Primrose Oil is said to relieve the hot flushes and other symptoms of the menopause - several women I know swear by it.  Yoga... yoga is good for just about everything but the exercise and muscle strengthening it provides are brilliant and the health benefits of meditation are second to none.

I hope this is of help!

I can help you improve your health.  If you would like to make an appointment with me either in person or via Skype, just send me an email to lucycarr@socialnutrition.com

The hunger neurons

To be honest, in my opinion the worst thing about dieting is psychologically induced.  Let's face it, the minute someone (like me) tells you you can't eat bread even though you probably didn't eat it often, you suddenly start craving bread.  This is just an example.  It could be bread, biscuits or anything else you fancy.  There are also the pesky hunger pangs which also tend to be more psychological than physical.  You may feel hungry but you probably aren't really.  It's the simple fact that your brain is telling you that you should feel hungry because you are on a diet.  Oh, and let's not forget that irritability... brave be the person who dares ask you a question!!!!!

My simple answer to this is to not sit around and dwell on it.  Do something positive, get up and move, clean something, go for a walk, play with your kids... the list is endless.

However, there are worse cases than a normal diet to lose a few pounds for the summer.  There are people who are morbidly obese, obese, obese children and people who are generally overweight.  All of these cases are at a higher risk of developing insulin resistance, type 2 diabetes, heart disease and cancer.  We also know that treating obesity is cheaper than treating any of the aforementioned diseases that are also potentially life threatening.

Luckily a new scientific discovery has emerged.  This new discovery centers on a tiny group of brain cells known as PVH MC4R neurons.  This group accounts for only a few hundred of the billions of cells in the brain - but don't underestimate this little bunch, they are highly powerful.  Scientists have discovered that switching the PCH MC4R neurons OFF causes a fierce spike in hunger and turning them ON stops hunger in it's tracks.

So far, the only experiments carried out have been on mice, but they seem promising.  In one experiment, mice that went to sleep on full stomachs became "ravenous" when the cells were switched off.

Alastair Garfield, a researcher at Edinburgh University said that the effect was similar to someone who had finished their dinner at 9pm waking up at midnight and being so hungry they ate their breakfast.

However, scientists found that the opposite is also true.  Stimulating this group of cells that they have nicknamed "the hunger hub", meant that the animals' appetites were diminished to the extent that mice that hadn't been fed for a while, barely ate anything at all.

The scientists are trying to understand what feelings the PCH MC4R neurons produce to stop the mice from eating.  The placed hungry mice in a clear box with two rooms, one of which was being blasted with a laser light designed to activate the hunger hub.  The hungry mice were drawn to this side of the box which suggests that they liked the effect it was having on their brains.  The mice that had been fed before entering the box divided their time between both rooms.

The scientists believe that the hunger hub does not cut appetite by creating unpleasant feelings of nausea, but release a good feeling that banishes hunger pangs and irritability.

Bradford Lowell, a researcher at the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston said:

"Turning on the PVH MC4R had the same effect as dieting.

"But because it directly reduced hunger drive, it did not cause the gnawing feelings of discomfort that often come with dieting."

Dr. Garfield said:

"If you could design a magic bullet, something that could fly through the brain and hit just these cells and turn them on, then I think we would see the same effects in humans as in mice.

"The problem is that it is very difficult to design a drug that is so specific to one area of the brain."

With obesity on a seemingly uncontrollable rise with the World Health Organization predicting horrendous levels of obesity for 2030, let's hope they manage to design the magic pill that will activate the hunger hub and help tens of thousands of obese people to take back control and lose weight, get their lives back and drop their associated health risks.

 I can help you improve your health.  If you would like to make an appointment with me either in person or via Skype, just send me an email to lucycarr@socialnutrition.com

Dare I say Sugar and Heroin in the same sentence?

Well, you all know by now how anti sugar I am.  I've already written two previous posts about sugar and High Fructose Corn Syrup.  As a Nutritionist I can honestly say that there is NOTHING positive to be said for sugar.  Last week I read a book that was first published in 1973 "sugar Blues" by William Dufty.  I have to say even I was shocked at just how poisonous sugar is to the human body.  Now when I say sugar, I mean man-refined sugar.  there are natural sugars in natural foods such as fruit and, to a lesser degree, in vegetables.  These natural sugars, in moderation, are fine for us and our bodies can cope perfectly well with them and they are needed.

Man-refined sugar has not always been a part of the human diet.  None of the ancient books such as: Mosaic Law, the code of Manu, the I Ching, the Yellow Emperor's Classic of Internal Medicine, the New Testament or the Koran mention sugar.  The prophets did tell us a few things about sweet cane in ancient times: "It was a rare luxury, imported from afar and very expensive.  What else they did with it except offer it up as a sacrifice, we can only surmise." (W. Dufty. Sugar Blues).  The Greeks had no word for it.  When Admiral Nearchus in the service of Alexander the Great explored the East Indies in 325 B.C, he described it as "a kind of honey" growing in canes or reeds.  Herodotus called it "manufactured honey" and Pliny called it "honey from the cane".  It was used as a medicine and a Roman writer of Nero's time recorded its latin name saccharum.  I could go on for a very long time about the origins of sugar but one this is blatantly clear if you read the history of sugar - nothing good has ever come from the sugar trade.

With the introduction of sugar into human life, only bad things have happened.  The sugar trade brought many riches to those who were rich and powerful enough to deal in it.  However, it also brought slavery and illness.  Sugar cane grew in tropical climes and when grown elsewhere, slaves were also imported to work the plantations.  Invading armies found it fascinating  but soon found themselves succumbing to illnesses they had never heard of.  When it reached Europe, only the wealthy could afford it (the peasants living off the the land eating whole foods and a little meat and fish every now and again, couldn't afford it and strangely enough didn't succumb to the illnesses rife in the larger cities where sugar was available).  The Portuguese, Spanish and British all did very well, financially that is, from the sugar trade.  Americans soon outdistanced the British in sugar consumption - and almost every other nation too.  The U.S. has consumed one-fifth of the world's production of sugar every year but one since the Civil War (1861-1865).  By 1893, America was consuming more sugar than had been produced in the whole world in 1865.  Sugar consumption has continued to rise consistently - through depression, prosperity, war, peace, drought and flood - nothing, it seems, can stop it.

Only one other plant has kept a parallel trajectory to sugar and that is Opium.  Both began as a medicine; both ended up being used as habit forming sensory pleasures.  The Opium Wars ended with the treaty of Nanking in 1842 and the British insisted in 1858 that Opium imports into China be reinstated.

By this time, chemists had managed to produce refined versions of both Opium (morphine) and sugar.  "Morphine shots became the wonder drug of their time, a cure for all ills, including a new malady that had been discovered in sugar-bingeing nations called Sugar Diabetes.  After the American Civil War, morphine addiction in the U.S. was called the "army disease".  The abuse of morphine in the Union armies of the North was so widespread that thousands of veterans went home hooked on the stuff.  During the Civil War years, soldiers also developed a yen for cans of condensed milk preserved with great quantities of sugar.

"When physicians belatedly discovered the addictive properties of morphine, the chemists went to work again and came up with a further refinement of morphine that was much touted by medical men as a new non-addictive painkiller.  Its multisyllabic chemical name, diacetylmorphine, was soon supplanted by the name of Heroin.  Heroin was hailed in its turn as the miracle wonder drug of its time.  It replaced morphine in the TREATMENT OF SUGAR DIABETES." (W. Dufty, Sugar Blues).

There, I said it.  Sugar and Heroin in the same sentence.  We all know the dangers of Heroin and other hards drugs, but if Heroin was used way back when to treat sugar diabetes - what does that say about SUGAR?

By now (2012), most of the general public should at least be aware that sugar causes:

• Obesity
• Diabetes
• Heart Disease
• Cancer
• Low Blood Glucose

The brain is the most sensitive organ in the body.  The difference between feeling up or down, calm or stressed, sane or insane, inspired or depressed depends largely on what we eat.  For the body to work efficiently the amount of glucose in the blood must balance with the amount of oxygen in the blood.  The adrenal glands have the job of maintaining this balance.  When we eat sucrose (man-refined sugar), it is close to being glucose so it largely escapes chemical processing.  The sugar passes directly into the intestines, where it becomes "predigested" glucose.  This is then absorbed into the blood where the glucose level has already been established in precise balance with oxygen.  The glucose level in the blood increases drastically, the balance is destroyed and the body goes into crisis mode.

So how does the body cope with the crisis?  The brain registers it first and hormones are released from the Adrenals, Insulin from the Pancreas works specifically to hold down the blood glucose levels in direct antagonism to the adrenal hormones which are trying to keep the glucose level up.  As a result of the emergency response to the crisis, it all goes too far.  The blood glucose level drops drastically, the pancreas producing insulin shuts down and other adrenal hormones kick in to bring the glucose level back up to normal.

All this has a direct effect on how we feel while this is happening.  While glucose is being absorbed into the blood we feel great - on top of the world!  However, when the blood glucose level falls drastically we feel tired, vulnerable, irritable, nervous and jumpy until our glucose level returns to normal.  So, if to combat the "blues" you eat more chocolate the whole process starts all over again.  After years of such abuse , the end result is damaged adrenals.  This results in "sugar blues"; day to day efficiency lags, constant fatigue and you never seem to get anything done.

The late endocrinologist Dr. John W. Tintera, was very emphatic when he said: "It is quite possible to improve your disposition, increase your efficiency, and change your personality for the better.  The way to do it is to avoid cane and beet sugar in all forms and guises."

In the 1940s Tintera rediscovered the vital importance of the endocrine system especially the adrenal glands.  The adrenal glands, damaged from the constant whiplash caused by the consumption of sugar, were producing a state of mental confusion or "brain boggling".  His patients' symptoms for mental confusion were incredibly similar to other patients who were unable to handle sugar: fatigue, nervousness, depression, apprehension, craving for sweets, inability to handle alcohol, lack of concentration, allergies and low blood pressure - the sugar blues!

He announced that many psychiatrically treated patients just needed to undergo a glucose tolerance test, if they couldn't handle sugar - remove it from their diet and they would be cured.  "Nobody but nobody should ever be allowed to begin what is called psychiatric treatment any place, anywhere, unless and until they have had a glucose tolerance test to discover if they can handle sugar."

This all means that to the already substantial list of health problems created by sugar, you should add:

• Depression
• Fatigue
• Nervousness
• Apprehension
• Cravings for sweets
• Irritability
• Inability to handle alcohol
• Lack of concentration

As with most things, there are people who handle things like sugar or alcohol worse than others.

Sugar has become such a part of our lives that we hardly even notice it.  All thanks to the riches from the sugar trade and huge efforts in political lobbying.  Just because it is such an ingrained part of our lives does not mean you have to consume it.  Life without sugar is possible and has a long list of benefits.  Understanding the poisonous side to it is just the beginning which I hope will lead you to a sugar-free, healthful life.