Point One: “Hormones Influence Weight”
This was the first of the five principles that Sara Gottfried lays out in Chapter 1 of her book. Today, I want to talk about the first three principles. Tomorrow, I’ll cover the other two.
In her book, Sara states that hormones are messengers and when these messengers are all firing correctly, your body will run like a well-oiled machine. She uses the analogy of an orchestra, where the conductor is the brain, sending signals to all of the endocrine organs, like your adrenals and thyroid. When you’re taking care of your body, eating the right food and reducing stress, the conductor works well. When the conductor isn’t doing so well, neither are your hormones.
In her book, Sara states that of the eight major hormones, (insulin, cortisol, thyroid, testosterone, estrogen, progesterone, growth hormone and leptin) that insulin rises to the top of the pile of hormones needing to be addressed. When the body is in an insulin resistant state it will store fat. Elevated insulin levels will in turn, exacerbate thyroid issues.
Besides the issue with blood sugar and insulin, which is mainly driven by the high sugar-processed food diet we eat, endocrine issues are driven by environment, chemicals and stress as well.
Point two: “Women are more influenced by hormones than men.”
To put it simply, women just have more hormones than men do, and they are in a constant flux even before menopause begins. For this reason alone, diets and protocols that work for men will not and do not work for women. She states, “just knowing that hormones can block weight loss, and that women are more likely to experience hormone imbalance, is part of the solution.” (pp33) For this reason, Dr. Gottfried believes that her protocol, which is a modified ketogenic diet, will work to balance hormones.
Point three: “The ketogenic diet influences hormones.”
The ketogenic diet has been shown to be one of the most effective ways to deal with insulin, which is the main culprit in weight gain. “The trouble is that keto has the potential to adversely affect other hormones, including cortisol, thyroid and estrogen.” (p34)
In my experience, I would totally agree with point three. As a middle-aged woman going through menopause, with a family history of thyroid problems and a tendency to high levels of stress, I do think that the times that I’ve done strict keto in the past have negatively affected my other hormones. I’ve even gained weight doing keto, which makes the whole cycle even more vicious because the more weight you gain the more stressed out about it you become. The more you gain, the longer you exercise, which increases cortisol etc. etc. And so, the cycle goes. I absolutely can’t wait to hear how she plans to modify the keto diet for women and make it flow with all of our crazy hormones in a positive way.
Here’s how I’m planning to start incorporating some of Dr. Gottfried’s principles: This week, I’m going to add more sulfur rich vegetables such as broccoli, brussels sprouts, cabbage, cauliflower and kale to open up the detox pathways. I’m not real focused on counting macros at this point. I’m just going to try and get one generous serving of one of these vegetables in at every meal. I particularly love sauteed cabbage and find it easy and inexpensive to add to soups and stir fry dishes. As I get farther into the book and really see how she intends to make her protocol a “better” way to do keto, I might try to incorporate her methods. On the other hand, if it looks like the same old keto, I will probably steer clear. In my experience, my system doesn’t like that approach and I will look elsewhere for answers to my ever-changing body.
Deep Roots Wellness 