July 3, 2025 • 65 mins
Are your eating habits messing with your hormones? Meghan Donnelly, lead dietitian for the 60 Day Reset, shares the science behind why so many women struggle to lose weight despite “eating healthy.”
Many of us are unknowingly sabotaging thyroid function and metabolism by eating too little, not too much. The results include blood sugar crashes, hormone imbalances, brain fog, brittle nails, hair loss, sleep problems, fatigue, and mood swings.
Disordered eating patterns, Meghan says, aren’t always as stark as anorexia and bulimia. They show up in subtle everyday behaviors we consider normal, but are damaging our bodies.
Meghan gives us strategies to boost metabolism and weight loss, and the best foods for hormones. She explains why gut health and protein are critical for hormone health and lays out the reasons we should be snacking every day.
We discuss the importance of personalized nutrition solutions, then weigh the side effects of Ozempic and other GLP-1 injections, covering how these medications can seriously decrease muscle mass and bone density.
Tune in for some vital nutrition information that may surprise you.
TESS’S TAKEAWAYS:
- Eating balanced meals frequently promotes weight loss and hormone balance.
- Undernourishment slows down metabolism, digestion, circulation, and brain function.
- Disordered eating includes many behaviors normalized today.
- Quality snacks support thyroid health to ward off and combat autoimmune disease.
- Better gut health is crucial for better hormone and blood sugar regulation.
- Meeting your protein needs is a game-changer for better hormone function.
- Working with a dietitian isn’t about restriction, but about strategies to expand choices.
- Ditch generic diets. Personalized nutrition is the path to sustainable lifestyle change.
ABOUT MEGHAN
Meghan Donnelly, MS, RDN, CDN, is a registered dietitian specializing in gastrointestinal nutrition, and is Director Of Health Communications at the Celiac Disease Foundation.
Her experience spans clinical practice, nutrition counseling, medical nonprofits, and the food industry.
In her private practice at Nutmeg Nutrition, Meghan helps her clients establish a balanced and joyful relationship with food, particularly when managing digestive disorders (IBS and SIBO), food intolerances, gluten-related conditions (celiac disease), and disordered eating.
She also provides nutrition counseling for heart health, kidney disease, weight management, and food intolerances. Monash University certified, she guides clients on Low-FODMAP diets.
As lead dietitian for Skinny60®, Meghan provides nutrition education and support for participants in the 60-Day Reset.
CONNECT WITH MEGHAN
Nutmeg Nutrition: https://www.nutmegnutrition.org/
60-Day Reset: https://www.skinny60.com/60-day-reset/
MEET TESS MASTERS:
Tess Masters is an actor, presenter, health coach, cook, and author of The Blender Girl, The Blender Girl Smoothies, and The Perfect Blend, published by Penguin Random House. She is also the creator of the Skinny60® health programs.
Health tips and recipes by Tess have been featured in the LA Times, Washington Post, InStyle, Prevention, Shape, Glamour, Real Simple, Yoga Journal, Yahoo Health, Hallmark Channel, The Today Show, and many others.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Tess Masters (00:00):
Megan, whenever we get ready to do one of these
(00:01):
podcast interviews, it justfeels like an extension of one
of our calls in the 60 dayreason because we speak every
Monday night. So talking abouthormone health, let's just start
from what are hormones, so thatwe're all starting from the same
knowledge base? Yeah, they're
Meghan Donnelly (00:21):
they're actually, you can think of them
like chemical messengers.They're created by various
endocrine glands throughout thebody, and they're created all
over the body, and they all havedifferent functions depending on
kind of where they're created.Their main function really is to
send signals throughout the bodyand help coordinate more complex
(00:41):
systems like growth andmetabolism and fertility and a
number of other things, butthose are some of the main ones.
Tess Masters (00:48):
Yeah, they just control how we feel, and it's so
complex, and everybody's systemis affected differently. So what
are some of the things that justmess with our hormones in can
get in the way of this messagingsystem sending the right
messages around our body.
Meghan Donnelly (01:09):
Yeah, it's actually a lot of things, and
probably it's the combination ofa lot of them that really gets
people so things like Westerndiet think that is high in
highly processed foods, having asedentary lifestyle, age,
chronic stress, environmentaltoxins, nutrient deficiencies
(01:31):
and even not eating enough canaffect your hormone regulation.
Tess Masters (01:36):
Yeah, I want to dive into some of this, because
there's so many things thataffect and disrupt the balance
in our bodies, and we just don'ttalk about disordered eating
enough. And I love the educationthat you give the members of our
community about disorderedeating, because we typically
(02:00):
only think of eating disordersas anorexia, bulimia, obesity.
So how do you think ofdisordered eating? What's a
what's a way to frame it so thatwe can all understand that we
may, in fact, be engaging inbehaviors that are sending our
body out of balance?
Meghan Donnelly (02:21):
Yeah. I mean, as a dietitian, I'm always
thinking about the why behindthe decisions that we make with
food and so really, eatingbehaviors play a big role in
that, behaviors like binging andpurging, which people might
think of as more traditionalsigns of an eating disorder, but
there are many disordered eatingpatterns that I don't think
(02:42):
people realize are disordered,things like obsessively limiting
your calorie intake, beingpreoccupied with clean eating,
abusing laxatives, eating lateat night, especially binging
Late at night, over exercising,yo yo, dieting, preoccupation
(03:02):
with food, regurgitation offood. There are lots of
behaviors that can become thatcan be considered disordered and
also that can be maladaptive.And really, what we mean by that
is that they're behaviors thatyou start to do in response to
something that you're trying tocontrol, and so that's a
(03:22):
maladaptive eating behavior.Yeah,
Tess Masters (03:25):
we see this a lot, don't we, in our community
where, when we start talkingabout this, and I remember you
giving a bunch of examples ofdisordered eating where it's
become normalized, where youreplace your breakfast with just
a cup of coffee, and then itjust becomes this socially
acceptable habit, because a lotof people do it. And then you
(03:47):
were talking about, what aboutif you're working all day, and
at five o'clock you all of asudden, look, look at your day,
and you go, I haven't eatenanything, and the whole day has
gone by. And it's not evennecessarily that you consciously
set out to do that, but it justgets away from you and everybody
on the video call, you know,just you could see everybody's
faces going, Oh, I'm doing someof those things, you know. So
(04:11):
it's really interesting to bereframing it like this, you
know. So what happens in thebody when we don't nourish our
bodies with balanced nutritionand don't eat regularly
throughout the day, justphysiologically. What happens?
Yeah, it's really important torecognize
Meghan Donnelly (04:32):
that it's not going to look the same for
everyone. I think people tend toassociate thinness or a certain
look with having a lot ofcontrol around food, and there's
a lot of genetic variabilitythere. Not everyone looks the
same, but the physical effectsare damaging. Regardless of your
(04:54):
body size, your metabolismactually slows down and. Um,
that is kind of a adaptiveresponse to your body trying to
keep you alive. Your body'strying to prevent you from
starving. Um, so the your meta,your metabolism is going to slow
down. Your metabolic rate willslow down so that you burn fewer
(05:15):
calories at rest. And it doesthis by slowing down your heart
rate, reducing your bloodpressure, slowing down your
digestion, and even reducingyour blood flow and
circulations. So you're going tofeel the effects of that a lot
of times, though, the thing thatpeople start to feel is low
energy and brain fog. Um, yourbrain can't function very well
(05:37):
when it's not nourishedproperly, and sometimes people
don't associate that with withunder nourishing, but it is a
very common thing. A lot ofpeople say, Oh, I don't feel
hungry. That's why I don't eatduring the day. And maybe you
don't experience traditionalsigns of hunger, and maybe
that's because you're sort oftraining. You've trained your
(05:59):
body over the years to ignorethose things, but your brain
still feels the effects, and sosometimes people don't
Tess Masters (06:05):
really make that connection. Yeah, that's always
another light bulb moment whenwe're on one of our calls every
week and, you know, a memberwill ask a question and say, oh,
you know, and when was the lasttime that you ate? You may
simply need to eat something,and everybody's face just goes,
Can it really be that simple?And we all laugh, don't we
(06:25):
together? Because yes, we needto be eating. And also, isn't
that a great thing, becausefood's just so yummy, right? I
love to eat throughout the dayregularly. What about the
digestive component? Like, whathappens to our digestion when we
don't eat regularly,
Meghan Donnelly (06:43):
everything slows down, so your body can't
initiate the muscularcontractions of the digestive
tract, which is calledperistalsis. You really can't do
this very well because you don'thave enough energy. So some of
the symptoms of that that peoplemight experience are feeling
very full very quickly after asmall amount of food. Some
(07:04):
people experience constipation,particularly if they're eating a
lot of raw vegetables andthings, but not much else.
That's a form of calorierestriction. That's something we
see a lot. And then, you know,bloating and abdominal pain and
things that you know we we kindof think they're normal
symptoms, and to an extent, theycan be, but it can be a sign
(07:26):
that you're just not digestingyour food very well, and so you
might get some of those more,more functional digestive
symptoms.
Tess Masters (07:33):
And we typically think of gas and bloating as a
byproduct of eating too much. Wedon't think of it as eating too
little. It's so interesting whatyou're saying. Even though you
and I speak every week, youknow, I still have my own light
bulb moments as we're talkingabout these things. What about
the effects to our organs, likeour liver function and and
(07:57):
things that are so necessary forfor detoxification in the body,
they all start to not functionproperly as well, right?
Meghan Donnelly (08:05):
Yeah, so I mean, your body is basically
trying to reduce the functionsthat it deems as less necessary
to keep you alive, so all organscan be affected. Your liver will
not detox as prop as well as itshould. Some people experience
blood sugar dysregulation,especially hypoglycemia, which
(08:26):
is low blood sugar, and on achronic basis, that can be a
problem, especially if you'renot consuming energy on a
regular basis, you're going tohave more dysregulation in terms
of blood sugar. Some peopleexperience poor wound healing or
more bruising, in extreme cases,bone density issues. And then,
(08:46):
of course, there's things likeissues with hair, skin and
nails. Those tend to be theybecome affected pretty quickly.
Actually, a lot of people getvery like thinning hair and very
brittle nails and skin that justdoesn't have that same
plumpness, I guess that itshould,
Tess Masters (09:04):
yeah, yeah. And that nail splitting, and that is
so common, we hear that a lot,don't we, and obviously the
thinning hair is, you know, alsoa symptom of your hormones being
out of balance. And a lot ofwomen you know have thinning and
hair and hair loss duringmenopause. Specifically, I want
to go back to this blood sugarpiece, because, again, it's
(09:26):
something that just gets ignoreda lot, and it's such an
important indicator of health atany age. But as we get older, it
becomes even more important tobe mindful about regulating our
blood sugar, and we often ignorethe signs of low blood sugar or
high blood sugar. So what aresome of those signs to look out
(09:48):
for, where our body isdefinitely giving us those signs
that we need to be eatingsomething,
Meghan Donnelly (09:56):
one of the most common ways I can relate to
people on this. Is describing itas feeling hangry. That is a
sign of when your brain is soaffected by your lack of
nutrition that it starts to youget mood swings, right? That's
absolutely a sign, but there area number of other things,
(10:18):
nausea, acid reflux, actuallyfeeling like you have a sour
stomach when you eat a littlebit of food. That could be a
sign that you waited too longbefore your before you ate too
long of a gap between yourmeals. But brain fog really is
one of the biggest ones. I seepeople just, you know, we say it
(10:40):
all the time. You know, I get, Iget the slump at three o'clock
and I need another cup ofcoffee, and I'm like, That's
what was in your lunch. How longago was your lunch? It's
probably means you need food. Ifyou experience brain fog every
day at the same time, I thinkjust your starvation puts your
body into fight or flight mode.And so all of the normal things
(11:03):
you would think about when yourbody's biting something that
that's really what's happening,and you're also releasing stress
hormones in your body.
Tess Masters (11:12):
Yeah, this is it's just so fascinating that we have
just been ingrained to believethat the only way to be skinny,
to lose weight, is to restrictto eat less, to exercise more,
and that that's the formula, andin actuality, that the most
(11:33):
efficient path to achievingthose goals is to actually Eat
more more often. Eat smallermeals more often throughout the
day, and this is such a hugepart of the education in skinny
60 that surprises a lot ofwomen, doesn't it? You know,
when you are constantly givingpeople this message every day,
(11:55):
and we hear this, don't we, I'mlosing weight and feeling better
than I have, eating more than Iever have in my life. I'm just
shocked, you know, but whenyou're eating really quality
foods and in appropriatequantities and in a way that is
strategic for your needs,everything just starts opening
up. So I want to ask you aboutthis thesis that you did when
(12:16):
you were at NYU, about snackingand late night snacking. And
then I want to ask aboutsnacking, because, again, there
are so many misconceptionsaround it. So when we're
snacking in an appropriate waythat's efficient, it's so great
for the body. So what have youlearned about that in your years
(12:37):
of being a dietitian?
Meghan Donnelly (12:39):
Yeah, so when I was in grad school, I did a
study on night eating, and wewere looking at diet quality and
body weight, the impact ofeating at night, and we were
using a night eating screenerthat was it was validated to it
(13:00):
was a validated tool to diagnosenight eating disorder, so it was
a disordered eating tool, but wefound that eating at night was
associated with poor dietquality and unhealthy body
weight and the Poor diet qualitywas really it was interesting
(13:21):
because we found that therethese, these people overall, had
lower intake of fruits andvegetables in general, and they
had much higher intake of saltyand sugary foods, which the diet
quality screener we used didn'tactually get into what those
foods were, but you can assumethat A sweet and salty food is
(13:41):
probably like a snacky type offood, right? And then the body
weight piece was interesting. Wefound that when we just when we
said unhealthy body weight,these people tended to fall in
the underweight and the obeserange of the BMI scale, which
tells me that this, this eatingat night, was really wreaking
(14:03):
havoc on their health in anumber of ways, and it's very
likely that there were otherissues going on with these
people leading, you know,perhaps other forms of eating
disorders. But just I want toreiterate that, you know,
there's a lot of digestiveproblems that happen when you're
under nourishing but also whenyou're eating close to bedtime.
(14:25):
Your your body needs that timeto rest so that it can properly
do all the functions that youneed to do while you're
sleeping, all those restorativefunctions. And so eating close
to bedtime, especially largevolumes of food, it's really bad
for your digestive system. Imean, if you think about it,
just thinking about gravity,laying horizontally does not
(14:49):
help food move down yourdigestive tract, which is really
just one long tube from yourmouth to your rectum. So it's
kind of interesting when youjust think about it like that,
as I'll just kind of sit.They're flat and not moving,
which you know, it's it's nothelpful. So it's just, there's a
lot to the reasons why eating atnight and close to bed is is not
(15:11):
recommended. We recommendcutting off your eating time
about three to four hours beforebedtime to help with digestion,
to help with the restorativefunctions of sleep to help with
blood sugar control, and alsothinking about that diet quality
study. So
Tess Masters (15:27):
yeah, so Conversely, when we snack on
quality foods throughout the dayand we eat regularly about every
three hours or so throughout theday, then we don't actually need
to snack at night, and we canstart to break that habit, and
obviously, sometimes and veryoften, it's not a need for
physical Association, isn't it?It's a habit we sit in front of
the TV and we eat or we havethis particular thing at night.
(15:49):
It becomes sort of a ritualthat's about emotional, you
know, aspects of this as well.But talk, talk to me about why
snacking is a great thing whenyou're throughout the day, when
you're snacking on qualityfoods,
Meghan Donnelly (16:07):
there are so many reasons we tell people to
try to not go more than three tofour hours without any food, and
the reason for That is really togive your metabolism the support
that it needs in order tofunction well. So snacking has a
number of benefits. I mean, itcan first of all, help curb your
(16:30):
appetite so that you're notgetting into this cycle of being
starving before a meal, eatingvery quickly and in a way that
is not very mindful, and gettingoverly full very quickly, and
getting into that it's kind oflike yo yo eating right? Like,
where you're just like, soravenous, and then you have an
(16:50):
overwhelming amount of food.It's also giving you the
nutrients that you need. Whenyou allow your yourself to
snack. We talk a lot aboutnutrient needs and how to meet
them, and what foods can helpyou meet those nutrient goals
that you have, whether it beproteins, fats and carbs or
vitamins and minerals, and it'sreally hard to achieve those
(17:11):
nutrient goals when you are notconsuming food often throughout
the day. It's almost impossibleactually to meet your protein if
you're not eating at least fourtimes a day. Yeah. So, so that's
part of it, and then also thisblood sugar piece, maintaining
your body likes to be in sort ofa steady state in terms of blood
sugar, you don't want to havelarge spikes followed by
(17:34):
crashes. So you want to kind ofgive your giving your body fuel
throughout the day makes you onemore efficient at regulating
your blood sugar, but alsoprevents those blood sugar dips
because you have somecarbohydrates that you're then
able to use for energy. So thereare a lot of benefits of
snacking. And when we saysnacking, we don't mean, you
know what I think, what peoplethink of as traditional snacks.
(17:57):
We mean consuming high qualityfoods throughout the day. So you
know, for us, a snack is manythings. It could be a few bites
of leftovers, it could be asalad, it could be a number of
whole foods that are helping youmeet your nutrient goals, just
spread out.
Tess Masters (18:16):
Yeah, it's interesting again, too, isn't
it? Just reframing, what is asnack? What can a snack be? And
when you when you say, you know,to to our participants and to
your private clients, you know,it can be just a few bites of
leftover lunch or leftoverdinner from last night.
Everybody again, just, we alljust look at each other, it's
(18:39):
like, Oh, yeah. And instead ofnarrowing your choices, it
actually opens them up. And Ithink that that's one of the
many things that I love aboutyou as a dietitian, is that
you're always focused on notwhat we're taking away, what
we're adding, about expandingour options and never
(18:59):
restricting things that don'tneed to be restricted. In terms
of this blood sugar piece, youknow, obviously the 60 day reset
is a gut is a digestive healthreset. We're focused on gut
health and how the gut isconnected to hormones,
metabolism and blood sugar. It'sfascinating to me. It continues
(19:21):
to be, you know, just how thehuman body works, and when we
work with the what the amazingthings that can happen. So can
you do an overview about thejust the basic biology of the
gut brain connection and how itconnects with our hormone
health?
Meghan Donnelly (19:39):
Yes, the gut brain connection is fascinating.
We know now that your gut andyour brain are physically
connected by a network ofnerves, and they also kind of
work off of each other, sothings that are happening in
your gut can affect your. Brainand things that are happening in
(20:02):
your brain can also affect yourgut. I work with digestive
diseases, and we see time andtime again that stress triggers
many digestive symptoms,especially some of the ones that
give people significant qualityof life issues, things like
diarrhea, bloating, gas,abdominal pain, a lot a lot of
(20:24):
times, those are triggered bystress. On the flip side, your
gut health affects how well yourbody can respond to stress. And
a good example is that about 90%of your body serotonin intake is
produced in the gut. And whatthat means is that that
serotonin stimulates thatnetwork of nerves, specifically
(20:47):
the vagus nerve, to produce moreserotonin in your brain. And so
having enough, having a gut thatis producing these hormones,
actually can affect your moodvery directly. So it's
interesting as we learn aboutmore of these connections. And I
think where science is going isthat we're really honing in on
the fact that having good guthealth actually can affect your
(21:13):
overall well being and yourmental health. Which is which is
really fascinating.
Tess Masters (21:18):
Yeah, I want to talk further about this gut
hormone connection. So it'sreally coming into the fore in
the mainstream with the prolificusage of ozempic and other GLP
one agonist injections. So canyou just explain what GLP one is
and how that affects our hormonehealth and our overall health,
Meghan Donnelly (21:42):
yeah, so GLP one is a hormone that helps with
appetite regulation, and sothese GLP one mimicking
medications are basically justsupplementing what your body
naturally makes of this hormone.GLP one. GLP one, though it it
(22:02):
does have a gut healthcomponent. When you consume when
you consume food, your gutmicrobiome, the microbes that
live in your gut, actuallyferment, and there are
byproducts of that fermentation,your gut microbiome produces a
number of things, includingvitamin K, but also short T,
(22:23):
short chain fatty acids. Andthese short chain fatty acids
have different functions. One ofthese short chain fatty acids
that is produced by gutmicrobiome fermentation is
butyrate, and butyrate helps,helps create the hormone GLP,
one which is important forhunger, maintaining hunger and
(22:45):
fullness cues, as I mentioned,but also your metabolism. It
affects how well you burncalories, and it can help
prevent insulin resistance. Andso it's a very, very important
function, and making sure yourgut microbes are getting the
foods that they need in order tocreate these byproducts is
something we talk about a lot,but the best information we have
(23:07):
is that eating a lot of highfiber foods really is the best
way to promote the stimulationof these byproducts.
Tess Masters (23:16):
So I want to connect the dots with this blood
sugar piece. So GLP, one isproduced in the body, and it's a
lot of it is produced in thegut. Then GLP, one sends the
message to insulin, doesn't it?Which is another hormone in the
pancreas, about how much isreleased to regulate our blood
(23:36):
sugar. Because we need the sugarto get into our cells where it
produce, you know, it's used forenergy, so when we don't have
enough, GLP, one, that's when wecan't process carbohydrates
efficiently. Is that a good wayto to summarize it?
Meghan Donnelly (23:52):
It's a great way to summarize it. And also,
insulin is a hormone, and so onehormone regulates the production
and function of another.
Tess Masters (24:01):
Yeah, so when we're not our gut microbiome is
on imbalance, and we're notproducing enough of GLP one.
Then it affects insulin, then itaffects our blood sugar, then it
affects, you know, it affectsour hunger, our leptin and
ghrelin, our hunger and satietyhormones. And then it just
starts to affect the wholesystem. And you talked about
serotonin, one of theneurotransmitters, and then GABA
(24:23):
and dopamine, are some others,and we just start to not feel
very good. So I just want toconnect the dots a little bit
further with these injectionsand why they're causing so many
problems for people in thesehigher dosages. So people are
taking these really elevateddosages of the a synthetic form
of GLP one it's like having 10cups of coffee as opposed to one
(24:46):
cup of coffee at a time, right?So just connect the dots further
about why this is becoming sodisruptive for people,
specifically women over 40, andwhat we're seeing in terms of
the. Negative, the adversereactions of taking these
peptides in huge quantitiesevery day, every week. I should
(25:07):
say, you inject yourself once aweek.
Meghan Donnelly (25:10):
There are a number of concerns. I mean,
first of all, they seem to havean effect on the digestive
system in a way that slows itdown, and so a lot of people
start to experience that slowmotility, and one of the
telltale signs of that isgetting full very quickly after
a small amount of food andfeeling very nauseous. They're
(25:34):
starting to kind of figure thatpiece out. My understanding is
that they're starting to givesmaller doses to people to kind
of see how they respond and tryto manage that symptom, which is
great. The other thing is thatyou're one of the things that
happens with this medication isyou end up in a in a metabol
(25:59):
metabolic state that is creatinglike a calorie deficit. It's not
literally creating a caloriedeficit, but you are eating
fewer calories, typically, ifyou're on these medications,
because they affect your hungerand fullness cues. And so you're
going to start to burn morecalories. You're going to start
to burn energy. You're going tostart to burn your fat and your
muscle tissue. Unfortunately,your muscle tends to be
(26:24):
effective first, and so ifyou're not taking these
medications alongside performingsome strength training exercise
that has a really bad effect onyour metabolism. If you have not
a lot of lean body mass comparedto fat, we know that that leads
to a slower metabolism ingeneral over time. So while you
(26:44):
might see weight loss in theshort term, in the long term,
not having those muscle storesis actually going to be
problematic for your metabolism.So I think, you know, there's a
there's a place for the use ofthese medications. I think
unfortunately, people who don'tneed them necessarily,
(27:07):
oftentimes are taking them andnot being made aware of some of
these side effects and how toprevent them. And I would argue
that that gets you into thiscycle of undernourishing your
body and disordered eatingpatterns, and these are just a
vehicle for that, and in a lotof cases, of course, not
everyone. But yeah, so it's justsomething to be aware of that
(27:28):
this isn't a benign medication,and it certainly needs to be
taken alongside it, I wouldargue, a dietitian that really
knows how to manage some ofthese things.
Tess Masters (27:41):
Yeah, it's really interesting to see the results
that practitioners are gettingby micro dosing, taking much
smaller doses, as you were justsaying before, where it's it's
actually effective. It's not asdisruptive to hormones and
balance in the body. And you canbe doing other things in
conjunction with it, so that youare supporting the formation of
(28:05):
better habits without havingthese nasty side effects. Watch
this space, as we always say,right? Because we're just
learning more and more aboutthese things. But also, there's
such a huge percentage of peoplewhere they try to titrate off of
the injection, and then theygain the weight back, and then
(28:26):
some. And so it's, what is it?They're saying over a third of
people, or two thirds of people.I mean, it's just unbelievable.
You know what's going on? So ifyou are on one of those
injections, you know it'sinteresting to watch what people
are doing by taking much lowerdosages. But we have a lot of
participants come into theprogram, don't we, who have been
very disappointed with theirjourney with these injections
(28:49):
long term, and it's causing allkinds of disruptions with their
hormones. And for women goingthrough menopause, specifically,
it doesn't do a lot to affect,you know, hot flashes and sweats
and brain fog and all of theseother symptoms that really
affect your quality of life. Sowe're not just focused on
weight. I just want to go backto what you were saying about
(29:09):
muscle, where they're estimatingthat about half of the weight
loss is muscle, or a largepercentage of the weight loss is
muscle. Can you just reiterateagain why the lean muscle mass
is so important for metabolism,but also for bone health.
Meghan Donnelly (29:28):
Yes, lean muscle tissue is more
metabolically active than fat,so having more muscle is going
to have lead to a highermetabolic rate, and that's
generally considered a goodthing, but it's also holding
your bones in place. You canthink of it like scaffolding for
your bones, and so if you don'thave enough muscle on top of
your bones, you're going to beat risk for other issues like
(29:52):
fractures and injuries andthings like that, also under
nourishing in addition. You andnot having a lot of muscle
stores is probably going to leadto bone density issues in over
time, because you you justaren't going to be able to meet
your nutrient needs and toprotect those bones.
Tess Masters (30:13):
Yeah, that's another thing that I think we're
going to see in the coming yearsand decades, is people that have
been on a long term usage ofthese drugs and what it's doing
to their bone health long term.So we all know, as women past
the age of 40, 5060, we'rereally looking at our bone
health, and that can beproblematic with, you know,
(30:35):
osteoporosis and so forth. Soagain, just something to
consider when you're thinkingabout using these medications.
Let's talk about what we can doto support better hormone health
and better hormone function. Solet's talk about what we can do
to support better gut health.We've been talking about how
important it is with regards tooverall health, but how it
(30:56):
connects to our hormones. Whatcan we be doing to improve our
gut microbiome.
Meghan Donnelly (31:03):
Eating a lot of high fiber foods
Tess Masters (31:06):
is your favorite subject fiber. It
Meghan Donnelly (31:09):
is for a number of reasons, but eating a lot of
plants, plants havemicronutrients, phytonutrients,
important anti inflammatorynutrients for your overall
health, but they also havefiber, which is the food for
your gut microbiome. So that'snumber one. There was one study
(31:33):
I always like to talk about whenwe have our weekly calls, is
that there was a study wherethey looked at people who ate 30
plants per week and showed thatthey had healthier gut
microbiomes than people whodidn't have or who had less than
30 plants per week. And I don'tthink like the 30 number is
extremely important. I justthink it's important in the
(31:54):
sense that if you're eating 30plants per week, you're getting
a variety of plants, right? It'squality fruits and vegetables
and nuts and seeds and a lot ofthem at every meal and snack,
probably that is what I wouldtell people to take away from
that is that variety isimportant. Then hydration, your
digestive system does not workwithout water and you need
Tess Masters (32:19):
and we get dehydrated as we get older,
absolutely, we
Meghan Donnelly (32:23):
do, and so making sure you're hydrated,
especially if you're consuming adiet that is high in fiber, if
you are not hydrating, well,you're going to experience
blockage and constipation. It'svery unpleasant thing that
people sometimes when they'retrying to change their habits,
all of a sudden they get verybloated and constipated.
Sometimes that is becausethey're not hydrating enough. So
(32:46):
those are, those are the biggestthings. And then we also talk a
lot about probiotic containingfoods. People always ask about
probiotics and
Tess Masters (32:58):
and your response surprises everybody.
Meghan Donnelly (33:02):
I like to turn people towards fermented foods
which naturally contain liveprobiotics, or most shouldn't
say all fermented foods containlive probiotics, but certain
fermented foods contain liveprobiotics that are plentiful
and diverse in the species thatthey contain. And so I like to
(33:25):
steer people towards fermentedfoods if they can tolerate them,
things like sauerkraut andfermented pickles, kimchi, like
there are a lot of good optionsout there now, and they're going
to be the ones that you find inthe refrigerator section of the
grocery store. Those can thosecan be wonderful. And then you
don't need to go out and buy aprobiotic supplement, which
(33:46):
might have bacteria that are nolonger alive or unknown in terms
of the quantities and thediversity of the species.
Tess Masters (33:53):
I like, yeah, one of the many things that
everybody loves about you in ourcommunity is that you don't
recommend supplements unlessthey're absolutely necessary.
It's just this very much foodforward, go to your regular
grocery store, do these things.It's very simple, and going and
spending $60 on these expensiveprobiotics may just not be what
(34:16):
is required. And also, it's sofascinating, isn't it? This,
this studies that are coming outnow about the bio individuality
of everybody's microbiome, thatit's like a fingerprint, and
everybody is different, and thatactually the probiotic that you
may be using may actually not beappropriate for you, and it may
not be the strains that yourbody actually needs. So it's
(34:38):
just going to be so interestinghow our knowledge expands with
regards to that moving forward,it's fantastic. Let's talk about
protein, because this is also areally big focus of our program,
educating people about proteinand why it's so important. So.
(35:01):
So let's just connect the dotsabout the protein hormone
connection as well, and why it'sso incredibly important to be
getting the appropriate amountof protein, particularly over
40.
Meghan Donnelly (35:13):
Yeah, there are a number of hormones that are
dependent upon the proteins youconsume. So these hormones can
regulate a number of things,especially growth, metabolism,
even appetite and stress. But Imean, most of the hormones in
(35:33):
your body are dependent on theenergy that you take in. It's
it's just a matter of, you knowwhich ones are stimulated by
which food group, but it's kindof that's why I always tell
people there's no magic likecombination of macronutrients.
You shouldn't demonize anyspecific macronutrient, because
(35:54):
they all affect your hormones indifferent ways. And so yeah,
protein is very important, and Iwould say, in order to build up
your lean body mass, which isyour muscle stores, as we were
talking about before you've gotto make sure you're getting
enough protein. And thoseprocesses are also dependent
upon peptide hormones.
Tess Masters (36:16):
And so in terms of protein, this is another thing
that really surprises peoplewhen we were talking every week
and about nutrition education,that with protein, more is just
more. So it's about what'sappropriate. If you eat too
little, your body doesn'tfunction properly, your low
energy and so forth. If you eattoo much, then it irritates,
disrupts and overwhelms thebody. So how do we figure out
(36:40):
how much protein we need. Like,what are the factors that
determine what our protein needsmight might be? It's
Meghan Donnelly (36:46):
dependent on a number of things, your body
size, so your weight, also yourage, your health status and your
activity level. Those are themain ones there are. There are
some other ones. Like, if you'rein the hospital, we might put
someone on a super high proteindiet if they have a wound that
won't heal, for example. But forthe most part, it's the things I
mentioned before. And yeah, Imean, there are a number of
(37:11):
calculations out there tocalculate protein needs, and
these are evidence basedmethods. And yeah, we find that
people who overdo it don'tnecessarily, they don't have
better health outcomes becausethey're having such large
amounts of protein. Actually,your body tends to treat any
macronutrient in excess like anexcess nutrient that it's going
(37:35):
to convert to a storage form offat, right? So having too much
protein isn't going to make makeit so that you can't produce fat
in any any energy storage. Um,any nutrient in excess is going
to be stored as energy in theform of fat in the body, pretty
much. Um,
Tess Masters (37:55):
yeah, so this is another piece of the education.
You know that our bodies canonly absorb so much protein per
meal or snack, so a lot ofpeople are loading up at night
but not eating proteinthroughout the day. And so this,
this, when you say this topeople, I always ask you to
repeat it, don't I, because it'sjust so important, if you eat
(38:18):
more protein than your body canassimilate, it gets stored as
fat, and so it actually worksagainst your weight loss goals,
for example, and it can reallydisrupt your hormones and so
forth. So it's just a reallyinteresting piece of this. I
just want to specifically forwomen over 40 in perimenopause,
(38:39):
menopause and post menopause.Just connect the dots with skin,
bone health, muscles, you know,and collagen production with
regards to protein. Andeveryone's taking collagen
supplements, but we can just beeating quality protein foods,
right?
Meghan Donnelly (38:55):
Yeah, you really a lot of times you don't
need those supplements. Yeah,protein stimulates collagen
production, actually, whichaffects your skin, your bone
health and your muscles. So yes,there are people who are taking
it in supplemental form, but ifyou're meeting your protein
needs and getting a variety ofprotein sources in your diet,
(39:16):
very likely that supplements notgoing to do much for you.
Tess Masters (39:20):
Yeah, yeah. I want to go back to this macronutrient
conversation, part of theconversation with protein, fats
and carbs. Oh, we love to talkabout healthy fats, don't we,
and thankfully, when we're in anera where the word is out that
fats are not only good for us,they're essential. But I want to
connect the dots with hormonehealth. Why are healthy fats so
(39:43):
critical for better hormonehealth?
Meghan Donnelly (39:46):
They are the building blocks of many
hormones, and so often, what Isee is that people are not
feeling satiated after meals,which we know is hormone. It's a
hormone. Response satiation, andalso they're just not feeling
very energized in between meals.They're not able to meet that
(40:07):
three to four hour window thatwe recommend before your next
meal, and a lot of times that'sbecause of their fat intake.
More often than not, actually,we're telling people, you've
gotta have more fat with that.Yeah, yeah.
Tess Masters (40:22):
And they're yummy. Fats are delicious. They make us
feel full, and they give us thatyummy feeling when we eat
things, you know? And so it's,it's always kind of a bit of
another cause for celebration,isn't it? When people are
looking at, you know, the mealplans or the recipes or what
you're talking about, and going,Wait a second, I can maintain a
healthy weight and lose weighteating this much fat, and we go,
(40:45):
Yep, and then they all of asudden start losing weight,
going, Ah, this is so great, youknow. So in terms of healthy
fats, what? What do yourecommend other foods that we
gravitate towards for betterhealth and better hormone
health? Specifically?
Meghan Donnelly (41:00):
So, olive oil, avocado oil, oils that come from
high quality plant sources. Alsonuts and seeds are a big one. We
use them a lot and so, yeah,plant fats is what is what we
prioritize. Animal fats do havea role. They should have less of
(41:22):
a of a, I guess, percentage ofyour diet than plant fats. But
yeah, for the most part, we'reable to have people consuming
both sources. It is kind ofinteresting with fats. I think
people are afraid of fatsbecause they have more calories
than proteins and carbs, they'reactually nine calories per gram,
(41:44):
whereas proteins and carbs arefour calories per gram. And so
sometimes people get afraid,like it's just a little bit, but
it's so many more calories. Butwe know now that it's really
about the quality of thecalories that people are
consuming, and that having thesefats to kind of finish a meal
make a big difference in termsof people's overall health. And
(42:06):
we see time and time again thata lot of these, these hormonal
things, start to regulate whenpeople are consuming all of the
macronutrients often,
Tess Masters (42:16):
yeah, I want to ask you about some of these
quality animal fats that deliveromega threes, for example, like,
you know, fatty fish and thingslike that. So what, what are the
the sources of seafood that yourecommend for people that eat
animal protein,
Meghan Donnelly (42:30):
wild caught fish, primarily, and the fatty
fish, because they do have theseomega three fatty acids that are
important for our brain and ourhearts. So wild caught salmon is
a great example. There are somewhite fishes like cod and
halibut, when they're wildcaught that can be very high
quality. So just looking forsomething that is that contains
(42:52):
these healthy fats, but then itideally is wild caught, because
wild caught fish contains a lotmore nutrients than farmed fish,
and has also has a lot lesstoxins than farmed fish,
Tess Masters (43:05):
yeah, and you can get wild caught sardines too,
with the bones for for bonehealth, and they can be really
great, and you're not anticanned fish in in small
quantities either, right? Aslong as it's high quality wild
caught,
Meghan Donnelly (43:19):
yeah. There are a lot of reasons to consume
canned fish. Part of it is thatit lasts longer, and you can get
it from anywhere. You can buywild caught Alaskan salmon,
wherever you are, right? So,yeah, canned fish definitely has
a place. I think it makes a lotof sense. It's an easy protein.
You put it on a salad reallyeasily. Like, yes, there's
(43:41):
nothing wrong with canned fish.And, you know,
Tess Masters (43:43):
yeah, I think that's another surprise for
people. You know, we're justtaught that that anything in a
can that's shelf stable isterrible, and it not necessarily
so. So just getting in a varietyof things, I want to just touch
on something you said beforeabout We're talking a lot about
plant foods, and that everybodyshould be eating a lot of
plants, but plant based hasbecome synonymous with veganism,
(44:06):
and they're not the same thing.So we have a lot of different
people in our community, andpeople from, you know, with all
dietary stripes. So there'speople that are vegan,
vegetarian, pescetarian,omnivore, eat all kinds of
animal protein, but we all needto be plant based, so our diet
is based in plants, and then wesupplement with other quality
foods of our choice. And sothat's another part of of the
(44:30):
education that surprises people.You know, that there isn't just
one diet or one way of eatingthat works for every person, but
we're working within thesegeneral nutrition parameters,
which is, eat a lot of plants.You know, I want to go back to
what you were saying abouteating regularly throughout the
day, and just connect the dots alittle bit further with thyroid
health, because there's so manywomen over 40 that present with
(44:56):
Hashimotos graves and otherthyroid conditions. And this
relationship between thyroidhealth, hormone health and gut
health, and what you were sayingabout eating regularly
throughout the day. So can youjust explain to us about why our
thyroid and our blood sugar andgut health, how it's all
connected, and why we need to bepaying attention to our thyroid
(45:18):
function?
Meghan Donnelly (45:20):
Yes, your thyroid is very affected by your
nutrition status. So if you areunder nourishing your body, one
of the effects is that you'renot going to be giving your
thyroid the support that itneeds to perform all of the
complex functions that it needsto, including production of
hormones. So what I think, and Ithink what a lot of dietitians
(45:44):
are starting to understand, isthat, especially in women,
history of yo yo dieting andsignificantly reducing calorie
intake has a very big impact onthe health of the thyroid as we
age, and is very likely a strongcontributing factor to things
(46:06):
like autoimmune thyroid disease.So yeah, I one of my goals is
always to expand people's dietsbut, but I'm always working on
eating often and making sureyou're getting enough in terms
of protein and calories and fatand carbs as well, like all of
(46:27):
the macronutrients, because yourthyroid really depends on that
nutrition, and it can't performall of the functions that it
needs to without it. Andremember, your thyroid regulates
your metabolism, so this isreally important that it's
working. Well,
Tess Masters (46:42):
yeah, I mean, there's so many things that make
you so effective in ourcommunity, but just meeting each
person where they're at andhelping them make the program
work for their personality andlifestyle and the what's going
to work for one person is notthe same thing as another
(47:03):
person. With that in mind, whatare some of the general foods
that you recommend prioritizingto support better hormone
health?
Meghan Donnelly (47:16):
Omega threes, which we've talked about, is a
big one. So including foodsthat, actually, I think, in
American style diets are notvery common in our diet, um,
things like fatty fish andwalnuts and flax seeds and chia
seeds and hemp seeds, thesefoods are rich in omega three
(47:38):
fatty acids. And it's, I wouldargue it's important to consume
them daily for brain and hearthealth and and hormone health.
And so Absolutely, I'm pushingomega threes. I'm telling people
to put a tablespoon of flaxseeds at least every day, or
something
Tess Masters (47:55):
like and that's good for constipation too.
That's one of your big ones,isn't it?
Meghan Donnelly (48:00):
Oh, yes, I think flax and chia and hemp are
like super food. But you know, Imean, I was speaking with
someone the other day who saidto me, you want me to eat more
often. I'm not feeling veryhungry. I want to get more omega
threes in my diet. And so wecame up with, okay, one snack a
day is just a quarter cup ofwalnuts. We're killing two birds
(48:20):
with one stone, complicatedintervention, right? So things
like little things like that,can go a long way. I also talk
about cruciferous veggies a lot.Cruciferous veggies are amazing.
They have so much fiber, butthey also have other properties
(48:42):
that make them reallybeneficial, especially from an
anti inflammatory perspective.So they have what we call
glucosinolates, which areassociated with decreased
inflammation and can actuallyhelp regulate estrogen levels by
when you have excess levels ofestrogen. These glucosinolates
are thought to help convert itto a weaker form. Now, you would
(49:06):
have to be consuming very largeamounts in order to actually see
that direct effect, but I thinkwhat we can take away from that
is that cruciferous values arepositive for your hormone
health, and so we're talkingabout them all the time, things
like broccoli, cauliflower,Brussels sprouts, kale, we we
recommend those as daily things.
Tess Masters (49:26):
Yeah, cabbages. I mean, there's so many, right?
And and for those of you thatare listening going, Oh, I don't
like any of those foods, well,it's just about figuring out
really delicious ways to preparethem, because the way that you
prepare them, what you servethem with, really makes a
dramatic difference. So we'veturned many a Crucifer hater
(49:47):
into a lover, haven't we, Megan,it's, it's all about figuring
out what works for you, which iswhy, again, you're so effective
as a dietitian, because you'renot extreme. It's just about,
okay, all right. So let's, let'slook at what you do. Like, let's
look at what you can do. What'syour family going to eat? What's
possible for you. It doesn'thave to just look one particular
way. So I think therein lies thelimitation with just Googling a
(50:11):
bunch of foods and going, Oh,okay, well, I got to eat these
foods, right? But it's aboutfiguring out how it actually you
can integrate these principlesinto your life, which is, again,
why our program happens live sothat you can help each person do
that individually. You weretalking about exercise before. I
want to just connect the dotsagain between exercise and
(50:32):
hormone health and how physicalactivity increases hormone
receptiveness.
Meghan Donnelly (50:42):
Yes. Yes. So physical activity makes your
cells, what we call more insulinsensitive, meaning they are more
easily able to utilize theenergy that you're giving your
body. So we talk about bloodsugar, and how when you eat a
meal, that raises your bloodsugar. Well, that blood sugar
has to go somewhere. It has toget into you. Into your cells,
(51:04):
and insulin is the shuttle toget the blood sugar into your
cells. And when cells becomemore insulin sensitive, that
means they are more able toaccept that energy so that you
can use it efficiently. Soexercise absolutely affects
hormones. We know that sedentarylifestyle is affected with like,
(51:26):
negative hormone Association,like negative levels of some of
the hormones, like, I would say,unhealthy levels of these
hormones. So yes, but withinsulin, it's important,
Tess Masters (51:38):
yeah, I Gosh, it's there's so many things that we
could keep talking about as I'msitting here going, oh gosh, oh
gosh. I want the listeners toknow about this and this and
this. You know, this is, again,why the two of us just geek out
every week, because it's justthis. This knowledge is so
important. But if knowledge wasall we needed, we'd all Google
(52:01):
or chat GPT our way to gettingall of our goals. So I just want
to talk to you about thedifference working one on one
with a dietitian as opposed togoogling some of this stuff.
What would you say to someonewho says, Well, I can, I can
just google all that stuff forfree. Why do I actually need to
(52:22):
work with somebody? What? What?What fascinates you about
working personally with peopleand helping them figure it out?
Meghan Donnelly (52:31):
Yeah, I mean, all of this information you can
look up, I can look it up too,like that's how we learn. And
having knowledge doesn'tnecessarily help you understand
what's going on in your body. SoI have a lot of clients that
come to me and say that theyknow all this information about
gut health and fiber anddigestion, but they still have
(52:52):
all of these symptoms, and thatreally is because dietitians can
help you take the informationthat that you know and that we
know, and turn it into a foodrecommendation that is actually
going to work with yourlifestyle. So you know what the
example I gave before, about thewalnuts and how you're killing
(53:14):
two birds with one stone bygetting more food and getting
more omega threes, like we are,the people that know what that
what that translates to in foodform. I also think we are
experts at figuring out what's asustainable change for you, just
because you know somethingdoesn't mean you're going to
know how to change it. In yourlife, we find this a lot where
(53:37):
people get they have all thisinformation, but they don't know
what to do with it. They don'tknow how to make it and it into
a sustainable lifestylepractice. And as a dietitian, I
can easily figure out, okay,this, this is your goal. These
foods help you meet that goal,and here's how you can actually
eat them. Like, I think that'sthat's that last step actually
(53:58):
makes a big difference. Like, wecan tell unique cruciferous
veggies every day, but like howand and when and why, what makes
sense. So it's really thepersonalized piece and making
sure that the concepts aresomething that you can actually
integrate into your life. Peopleare surprised sometimes when
they work with me, I might startwith something very simple,
(54:22):
like, if someone that's what Ilove about you, yeah, yeah. I
mean, I will sometimes, youknow, someone come in, this is
just an example, but if someonecomes in and says, I I can never
eat cruciferous vegetables,usually, I'm trying to get them
to add a little bit ofcauliflower rice to a soup, and
that is worst thing, like westart with very simple things,
(54:44):
but that exposure over time, allof a sudden they're they're
eating all these differentthings, and it's just about the
texture and figuring that out.Like we are experts in food. And
yes, you can know the science,but if you don't know how to
prepare the food, and you.Consume it in a way that's
enjoyable to you, then you'renot going to get those benefits
Tess Masters (55:04):
at all. So I think that's one of your superpowers,
is thinking outside the box,listening to each person what
they like to do, what they don'tlike to do, what their
lifestyle, their habits, arelike, and you thinking of all
these different solutions andjust continuing to make your way
through all these suggestionsuntil we find the secret sauce
(55:25):
and the magic of what's going towork for somebody. I want to ask
you about the community aspectof it. So yes, you work a lot,
one to one with clients, andthen you work on these group
calls, and we have so manypeople that stay in our
community for that, that groupaspect, that community aspect
(55:46):
that can't be replicated anyother way, because googling on
your own at 11 o'clock at nightin front of your device is quite
a lonely endeavor. You just feelreally, really alone in that.
And you and I are constantlyamazed at the nourishment that
people get from a group setting.So what? What is that like for
(56:08):
you as a dietitian, not onlyworking one to one with people,
but also in that group setting?What have you noticed the big
benefits for people, being in inthat, in, you know, learning in
that in that way,
Meghan Donnelly (56:23):
we can learn so much from each other and
sometimes speaking to someoneelse about their experiencing,
about what they're experiencing,and how that relates to what
you're experiencing. Can cantrigger some of those light bulb
moments I have that all the timewith my clients, even in one on
one sessions, you know, we'retalking about something, and
then they have an idea ofsomething that worked for them,
(56:45):
and then I'm like, Oh my gosh, Ineed to tell other people this,
and it we just that thatcommunity aspect is is so
helpful. And I do think it iscomforting to be in a group
where other people are goingthrough the same thing as you,
and maybe they're coming fromdifferent backgrounds, and they
have different life experiencesand different reasons why
(57:07):
they're here, but you're alllearning the same information
and taking those lifeexperiences along with that, and
how and how that affects yourexperience with The program, I
think it's really powerfulactually, like we have people
sharing all kinds of informationthat we wouldn't be able to come
(57:28):
up with
Tess Masters (57:28):
all Yeah, it's so true, isn't it? And I love it
when the members that have beenin our community for a long
time, they really take ownershipof it and really feel great
about sharing what has workedfor them and what continues to
work for them, and that we'reall taking responsibility for
(57:49):
teaching and learning together.As you just pointed out, it's a
it's a really lovely thing.Again. I could talk to you about
this all day long, but we'llpick it up in our call with the
community next week. So thankyou so much.
Meghan Donnelly (58:04):
Yeah, thank you. Bye.
Megan, whenever we get ready to do one of these
(00:01):
podcast interviews, it justfeels like an extension of one
of our calls in the 60 dayreason because we speak every
Monday night. So talking abouthormone health, let's just start
from what are hormones, so thatwe're all starting from the same
knowledge base? Yeah, they're
Meghan Donnelly (00:21):
they're actually, you can think of them
like chemical messengers.They're created by various
endocrine glands throughout thebody, and they're created all
over the body, and they all havedifferent functions depending on
kind of where they're created.Their main function really is to
send signals throughout the bodyand help coordinate more complex
(00:41):
systems like growth andmetabolism and fertility and a
number of other things, butthose are some of the main ones.
Tess Masters (00:48):
Yeah, they just control how we feel, and it's so
complex, and everybody's systemis affected differently. So what
are some of the things that justmess with our hormones in can
get in the way of this messagingsystem sending the right
messages around our body.
Meghan Donnelly (01:09):
Yeah, it's actually a lot of things, and
probably it's the combination ofa lot of them that really gets
people so things like Westerndiet think that is high in
highly processed foods, having asedentary lifestyle, age,
chronic stress, environmentaltoxins, nutrient deficiencies
(01:31):
and even not eating enough canaffect your hormone regulation.
Tess Masters (01:36):
Yeah, I want to dive into some of this, because
there's so many things thataffect and disrupt the balance
in our bodies, and we just don'ttalk about disordered eating
enough. And I love the educationthat you give the members of our
community about disorderedeating, because we typically
(02:00):
only think of eating disordersas anorexia, bulimia, obesity.
So how do you think ofdisordered eating? What's a
what's a way to frame it so thatwe can all understand that we
may, in fact, be engaging inbehaviors that are sending our
body out of balance?
Meghan Donnelly (02:21):
Yeah. I mean, as a dietitian, I'm always
thinking about the why behindthe decisions that we make with
food and so really, eatingbehaviors play a big role in
that, behaviors like binging andpurging, which people might
think of as more traditionalsigns of an eating disorder, but
there are many disordered eatingpatterns that I don't think
(02:42):
people realize are disordered,things like obsessively limiting
your calorie intake, beingpreoccupied with clean eating,
abusing laxatives, eating lateat night, especially binging
Late at night, over exercising,yo yo, dieting, preoccupation
(03:02):
with food, regurgitation offood. There are lots of
behaviors that can become thatcan be considered disordered and
also that can be maladaptive.And really, what we mean by that
is that they're behaviors thatyou start to do in response to
something that you're trying tocontrol, and so that's a
(03:22):
maladaptive eating behavior.Yeah,
Tess Masters (03:25):
we see this a lot, don't we, in our community
where, when we start talkingabout this, and I remember you
giving a bunch of examples ofdisordered eating where it's
become normalized, where youreplace your breakfast with just
a cup of coffee, and then itjust becomes this socially
acceptable habit, because a lotof people do it. And then you
(03:47):
were talking about, what aboutif you're working all day, and
at five o'clock you all of asudden, look, look at your day,
and you go, I haven't eatenanything, and the whole day has
gone by. And it's not evennecessarily that you consciously
set out to do that, but it justgets away from you and everybody
on the video call, you know,just you could see everybody's
faces going, Oh, I'm doing someof those things, you know. So
(04:11):
it's really interesting to bereframing it like this, you
know. So what happens in thebody when we don't nourish our
bodies with balanced nutritionand don't eat regularly
throughout the day, justphysiologically. What happens?
Yeah, it's really important torecognize
Meghan Donnelly (04:32):
that it's not going to look the same for
everyone. I think people tend toassociate thinness or a certain
look with having a lot ofcontrol around food, and there's
a lot of genetic variabilitythere. Not everyone looks the
same, but the physical effectsare damaging. Regardless of your
(04:54):
body size, your metabolismactually slows down and. Um,
that is kind of a adaptiveresponse to your body trying to
keep you alive. Your body'strying to prevent you from
starving. Um, so the your meta,your metabolism is going to slow
down. Your metabolic rate willslow down so that you burn fewer
(05:15):
calories at rest. And it doesthis by slowing down your heart
rate, reducing your bloodpressure, slowing down your
digestion, and even reducingyour blood flow and
circulations. So you're going tofeel the effects of that a lot
of times, though, the thing thatpeople start to feel is low
energy and brain fog. Um, yourbrain can't function very well
(05:37):
when it's not nourishedproperly, and sometimes people
don't associate that with withunder nourishing, but it is a
very common thing. A lot ofpeople say, Oh, I don't feel
hungry. That's why I don't eatduring the day. And maybe you
don't experience traditionalsigns of hunger, and maybe
that's because you're sort oftraining. You've trained your
(05:59):
body over the years to ignorethose things, but your brain
still feels the effects, and sosometimes people don't
Tess Masters (06:05):
really make that connection. Yeah, that's always
another light bulb moment whenwe're on one of our calls every
week and, you know, a memberwill ask a question and say, oh,
you know, and when was the lasttime that you ate? You may
simply need to eat something,and everybody's face just goes,
Can it really be that simple?And we all laugh, don't we
(06:25):
together? Because yes, we needto be eating. And also, isn't
that a great thing, becausefood's just so yummy, right? I
love to eat throughout the dayregularly. What about the
digestive component? Like, whathappens to our digestion when we
don't eat regularly,
Meghan Donnelly (06:43):
everything slows down, so your body can't
initiate the muscularcontractions of the digestive
tract, which is calledperistalsis. You really can't do
this very well because you don'thave enough energy. So some of
the symptoms of that that peoplemight experience are feeling
very full very quickly after asmall amount of food. Some
(07:04):
people experience constipation,particularly if they're eating a
lot of raw vegetables andthings, but not much else.
That's a form of calorierestriction. That's something we
see a lot. And then, you know,bloating and abdominal pain and
things that you know we we kindof think they're normal
symptoms, and to an extent, theycan be, but it can be a sign
(07:26):
that you're just not digestingyour food very well, and so you
might get some of those more,more functional digestive
symptoms.
Tess Masters (07:33):
And we typically think of gas and bloating as a
byproduct of eating too much. Wedon't think of it as eating too
little. It's so interesting whatyou're saying. Even though you
and I speak every week, youknow, I still have my own light
bulb moments as we're talkingabout these things. What about
the effects to our organs, likeour liver function and and
(07:57):
things that are so necessary forfor detoxification in the body,
they all start to not functionproperly as well, right?
Meghan Donnelly (08:05):
Yeah, so I mean, your body is basically
trying to reduce the functionsthat it deems as less necessary
to keep you alive, so all organscan be affected. Your liver will
not detox as prop as well as itshould. Some people experience
blood sugar dysregulation,especially hypoglycemia, which
(08:26):
is low blood sugar, and on achronic basis, that can be a
problem, especially if you'renot consuming energy on a
regular basis, you're going tohave more dysregulation in terms
of blood sugar. Some peopleexperience poor wound healing or
more bruising, in extreme cases,bone density issues. And then,
(08:46):
of course, there's things likeissues with hair, skin and
nails. Those tend to be theybecome affected pretty quickly.
Actually, a lot of people getvery like thinning hair and very
brittle nails and skin that justdoesn't have that same
plumpness, I guess that itshould,
Tess Masters (09:04):
yeah, yeah. And that nail splitting, and that is
so common, we hear that a lot,don't we, and obviously the
thinning hair is, you know, alsoa symptom of your hormones being
out of balance. And a lot ofwomen you know have thinning and
hair and hair loss duringmenopause. Specifically, I want
to go back to this blood sugarpiece, because, again, it's
(09:26):
something that just gets ignoreda lot, and it's such an
important indicator of health atany age. But as we get older, it
becomes even more important tobe mindful about regulating our
blood sugar, and we often ignorethe signs of low blood sugar or
high blood sugar. So what aresome of those signs to look out
(09:48):
for, where our body isdefinitely giving us those signs
that we need to be eatingsomething,
Meghan Donnelly (09:56):
one of the most common ways I can relate to
people on this. Is describing itas feeling hangry. That is a
sign of when your brain is soaffected by your lack of
nutrition that it starts to youget mood swings, right? That's
absolutely a sign, but there area number of other things,
(10:18):
nausea, acid reflux, actuallyfeeling like you have a sour
stomach when you eat a littlebit of food. That could be a
sign that you waited too longbefore your before you ate too
long of a gap between yourmeals. But brain fog really is
one of the biggest ones. I seepeople just, you know, we say it
(10:40):
all the time. You know, I get, Iget the slump at three o'clock
and I need another cup ofcoffee, and I'm like, That's
what was in your lunch. How longago was your lunch? It's
probably means you need food. Ifyou experience brain fog every
day at the same time, I thinkjust your starvation puts your
body into fight or flight mode.And so all of the normal things
(11:03):
you would think about when yourbody's biting something that
that's really what's happening,and you're also releasing stress
hormones in your body.
Tess Masters (11:12):
Yeah, this is it's just so fascinating that we have
just been ingrained to believethat the only way to be skinny,
to lose weight, is to restrictto eat less, to exercise more,
and that that's the formula, andin actuality, that the most
(11:33):
efficient path to achievingthose goals is to actually Eat
more more often. Eat smallermeals more often throughout the
day, and this is such a hugepart of the education in skinny
60 that surprises a lot ofwomen, doesn't it? You know,
when you are constantly givingpeople this message every day,
(11:55):
and we hear this, don't we, I'mlosing weight and feeling better
than I have, eating more than Iever have in my life. I'm just
shocked, you know, but whenyou're eating really quality
foods and in appropriatequantities and in a way that is
strategic for your needs,everything just starts opening
up. So I want to ask you aboutthis thesis that you did when
(12:16):
you were at NYU, about snackingand late night snacking. And
then I want to ask aboutsnacking, because, again, there
are so many misconceptionsaround it. So when we're
snacking in an appropriate waythat's efficient, it's so great
for the body. So what have youlearned about that in your years
(12:37):
of being a dietitian?
Meghan Donnelly (12:39):
Yeah, so when I was in grad school, I did a
study on night eating, and wewere looking at diet quality and
body weight, the impact ofeating at night, and we were
using a night eating screenerthat was it was validated to it
(13:00):
was a validated tool to diagnosenight eating disorder, so it was
a disordered eating tool, but wefound that eating at night was
associated with poor dietquality and unhealthy body
weight and the Poor diet qualitywas really it was interesting
(13:21):
because we found that therethese, these people overall, had
lower intake of fruits andvegetables in general, and they
had much higher intake of saltyand sugary foods, which the diet
quality screener we used didn'tactually get into what those
foods were, but you can assumethat A sweet and salty food is
(13:41):
probably like a snacky type offood, right? And then the body
weight piece was interesting. Wefound that when we just when we
said unhealthy body weight,these people tended to fall in
the underweight and the obeserange of the BMI scale, which
tells me that this, this eatingat night, was really wreaking
(14:03):
havoc on their health in anumber of ways, and it's very
likely that there were otherissues going on with these
people leading, you know,perhaps other forms of eating
disorders. But just I want toreiterate that, you know,
there's a lot of digestiveproblems that happen when you're
under nourishing but also whenyou're eating close to bedtime.
(14:25):
Your your body needs that timeto rest so that it can properly
do all the functions that youneed to do while you're
sleeping, all those restorativefunctions. And so eating close
to bedtime, especially largevolumes of food, it's really bad
for your digestive system. Imean, if you think about it,
just thinking about gravity,laying horizontally does not
(14:49):
help food move down yourdigestive tract, which is really
just one long tube from yourmouth to your rectum. So it's
kind of interesting when youjust think about it like that,
as I'll just kind of sit.They're flat and not moving,
which you know, it's it's nothelpful. So it's just, there's a
lot to the reasons why eating atnight and close to bed is is not
(15:11):
recommended. We recommendcutting off your eating time
about three to four hours beforebedtime to help with digestion,
to help with the restorativefunctions of sleep to help with
blood sugar control, and alsothinking about that diet quality
study. So
Tess Masters (15:27):
yeah, so Conversely, when we snack on
quality foods throughout the dayand we eat regularly about every
three hours or so throughout theday, then we don't actually need
to snack at night, and we canstart to break that habit, and
obviously, sometimes and veryoften, it's not a need for
physical Association, isn't it?It's a habit we sit in front of
the TV and we eat or we havethis particular thing at night.
(15:49):
It becomes sort of a ritualthat's about emotional, you
know, aspects of this as well.But talk, talk to me about why
snacking is a great thing whenyou're throughout the day, when
you're snacking on qualityfoods,
Meghan Donnelly (16:07):
there are so many reasons we tell people to
try to not go more than three tofour hours without any food, and
the reason for That is really togive your metabolism the support
that it needs in order tofunction well. So snacking has a
number of benefits. I mean, itcan first of all, help curb your
(16:30):
appetite so that you're notgetting into this cycle of being
starving before a meal, eatingvery quickly and in a way that
is not very mindful, and gettingoverly full very quickly, and
getting into that it's kind oflike yo yo eating right? Like,
where you're just like, soravenous, and then you have an
(16:50):
overwhelming amount of food.It's also giving you the
nutrients that you need. Whenyou allow your yourself to
snack. We talk a lot aboutnutrient needs and how to meet
them, and what foods can helpyou meet those nutrient goals
that you have, whether it beproteins, fats and carbs or
vitamins and minerals, and it'sreally hard to achieve those
(17:11):
nutrient goals when you are notconsuming food often throughout
the day. It's almost impossibleactually to meet your protein if
you're not eating at least fourtimes a day. Yeah. So, so that's
part of it, and then also thisblood sugar piece, maintaining
your body likes to be in sort ofa steady state in terms of blood
sugar, you don't want to havelarge spikes followed by
(17:34):
crashes. So you want to kind ofgive your giving your body fuel
throughout the day makes you onemore efficient at regulating
your blood sugar, but alsoprevents those blood sugar dips
because you have somecarbohydrates that you're then
able to use for energy. So thereare a lot of benefits of
snacking. And when we saysnacking, we don't mean, you
know what I think, what peoplethink of as traditional snacks.
(17:57):
We mean consuming high qualityfoods throughout the day. So you
know, for us, a snack is manythings. It could be a few bites
of leftovers, it could be asalad, it could be a number of
whole foods that are helping youmeet your nutrient goals, just
spread out.
Tess Masters (18:16):
Yeah, it's interesting again, too, isn't
it? Just reframing, what is asnack? What can a snack be? And
when you when you say, you know,to to our participants and to
your private clients, you know,it can be just a few bites of
leftover lunch or leftoverdinner from last night.
Everybody again, just, we alljust look at each other, it's
(18:39):
like, Oh, yeah. And instead ofnarrowing your choices, it
actually opens them up. And Ithink that that's one of the
many things that I love aboutyou as a dietitian, is that
you're always focused on notwhat we're taking away, what
we're adding, about expandingour options and never
(18:59):
restricting things that don'tneed to be restricted. In terms
of this blood sugar piece, youknow, obviously the 60 day reset
is a gut is a digestive healthreset. We're focused on gut
health and how the gut isconnected to hormones,
metabolism and blood sugar. It'sfascinating to me. It continues
(19:21):
to be, you know, just how thehuman body works, and when we
work with the what the amazingthings that can happen. So can
you do an overview about thejust the basic biology of the
gut brain connection and how itconnects with our hormone
health?
Meghan Donnelly (19:39):
Yes, the gut brain connection is fascinating.
We know now that your gut andyour brain are physically
connected by a network ofnerves, and they also kind of
work off of each other, sothings that are happening in
your gut can affect your. Brainand things that are happening in
(20:02):
your brain can also affect yourgut. I work with digestive
diseases, and we see time andtime again that stress triggers
many digestive symptoms,especially some of the ones that
give people significant qualityof life issues, things like
diarrhea, bloating, gas,abdominal pain, a lot a lot of
(20:24):
times, those are triggered bystress. On the flip side, your
gut health affects how well yourbody can respond to stress. And
a good example is that about 90%of your body serotonin intake is
produced in the gut. And whatthat means is that that
serotonin stimulates thatnetwork of nerves, specifically
(20:47):
the vagus nerve, to produce moreserotonin in your brain. And so
having enough, having a gut thatis producing these hormones,
actually can affect your moodvery directly. So it's
interesting as we learn aboutmore of these connections. And I
think where science is going isthat we're really honing in on
the fact that having good guthealth actually can affect your
(21:13):
overall well being and yourmental health. Which is which is
really fascinating.
Tess Masters (21:18):
Yeah, I want to talk further about this gut
hormone connection. So it'sreally coming into the fore in
the mainstream with the prolificusage of ozempic and other GLP
one agonist injections. So canyou just explain what GLP one is
and how that affects our hormonehealth and our overall health,
Meghan Donnelly (21:42):
yeah, so GLP one is a hormone that helps with
appetite regulation, and sothese GLP one mimicking
medications are basically justsupplementing what your body
naturally makes of this hormone.GLP one. GLP one, though it it
(22:02):
does have a gut healthcomponent. When you consume when
you consume food, your gutmicrobiome, the microbes that
live in your gut, actuallyferment, and there are
byproducts of that fermentation,your gut microbiome produces a
number of things, includingvitamin K, but also short T,
(22:23):
short chain fatty acids. Andthese short chain fatty acids
have different functions. One ofthese short chain fatty acids
that is produced by gutmicrobiome fermentation is
butyrate, and butyrate helps,helps create the hormone GLP,
one which is important forhunger, maintaining hunger and
(22:45):
fullness cues, as I mentioned,but also your metabolism. It
affects how well you burncalories, and it can help
prevent insulin resistance. Andso it's a very, very important
function, and making sure yourgut microbes are getting the
foods that they need in order tocreate these byproducts is
something we talk about a lot,but the best information we have
(23:07):
is that eating a lot of highfiber foods really is the best
way to promote the stimulationof these byproducts.
Tess Masters (23:16):
So I want to connect the dots with this blood
sugar piece. So GLP, one isproduced in the body, and it's a
lot of it is produced in thegut. Then GLP, one sends the
message to insulin, doesn't it?Which is another hormone in the
pancreas, about how much isreleased to regulate our blood
(23:36):
sugar. Because we need the sugarto get into our cells where it
produce, you know, it's used forenergy, so when we don't have
enough, GLP, one, that's when wecan't process carbohydrates
efficiently. Is that a good wayto to summarize it?
Meghan Donnelly (23:52):
It's a great way to summarize it. And also,
insulin is a hormone, and so onehormone regulates the production
and function of another.
Tess Masters (24:01):
Yeah, so when we're not our gut microbiome is
on imbalance, and we're notproducing enough of GLP one.
Then it affects insulin, then itaffects our blood sugar, then it
affects, you know, it affectsour hunger, our leptin and
ghrelin, our hunger and satietyhormones. And then it just
starts to affect the wholesystem. And you talked about
serotonin, one of theneurotransmitters, and then GABA
(24:23):
and dopamine, are some others,and we just start to not feel
very good. So I just want toconnect the dots a little bit
further with these injectionsand why they're causing so many
problems for people in thesehigher dosages. So people are
taking these really elevateddosages of the a synthetic form
of GLP one it's like having 10cups of coffee as opposed to one
(24:46):
cup of coffee at a time, right?So just connect the dots further
about why this is becoming sodisruptive for people,
specifically women over 40, andwhat we're seeing in terms of
the. Negative, the adversereactions of taking these
peptides in huge quantitiesevery day, every week. I should
(25:07):
say, you inject yourself once aweek.
Meghan Donnelly (25:10):
There are a number of concerns. I mean,
first of all, they seem to havean effect on the digestive
system in a way that slows itdown, and so a lot of people
start to experience that slowmotility, and one of the
telltale signs of that isgetting full very quickly after
a small amount of food andfeeling very nauseous. They're
(25:34):
starting to kind of figure thatpiece out. My understanding is
that they're starting to givesmaller doses to people to kind
of see how they respond and tryto manage that symptom, which is
great. The other thing is thatyou're one of the things that
happens with this medication isyou end up in a in a metabol
(25:59):
metabolic state that is creatinglike a calorie deficit. It's not
literally creating a caloriedeficit, but you are eating
fewer calories, typically, ifyou're on these medications,
because they affect your hungerand fullness cues. And so you're
going to start to burn morecalories. You're going to start
to burn energy. You're going tostart to burn your fat and your
muscle tissue. Unfortunately,your muscle tends to be
(26:24):
effective first, and so ifyou're not taking these
medications alongside performingsome strength training exercise
that has a really bad effect onyour metabolism. If you have not
a lot of lean body mass comparedto fat, we know that that leads
to a slower metabolism ingeneral over time. So while you
(26:44):
might see weight loss in theshort term, in the long term,
not having those muscle storesis actually going to be
problematic for your metabolism.So I think, you know, there's a
there's a place for the use ofthese medications. I think
unfortunately, people who don'tneed them necessarily,
(27:07):
oftentimes are taking them andnot being made aware of some of
these side effects and how toprevent them. And I would argue
that that gets you into thiscycle of undernourishing your
body and disordered eatingpatterns, and these are just a
vehicle for that, and in a lotof cases, of course, not
everyone. But yeah, so it's justsomething to be aware of that
(27:28):
this isn't a benign medication,and it certainly needs to be
taken alongside it, I wouldargue, a dietitian that really
knows how to manage some ofthese things.
Tess Masters (27:41):
Yeah, it's really interesting to see the results
that practitioners are gettingby micro dosing, taking much
smaller doses, as you were justsaying before, where it's it's
actually effective. It's not asdisruptive to hormones and
balance in the body. And you canbe doing other things in
conjunction with it, so that youare supporting the formation of
(28:05):
better habits without havingthese nasty side effects. Watch
this space, as we always say,right? Because we're just
learning more and more aboutthese things. But also, there's
such a huge percentage of peoplewhere they try to titrate off of
the injection, and then theygain the weight back, and then
(28:26):
some. And so it's, what is it?They're saying over a third of
people, or two thirds of people.I mean, it's just unbelievable.
You know what's going on? So ifyou are on one of those
injections, you know it'sinteresting to watch what people
are doing by taking much lowerdosages. But we have a lot of
participants come into theprogram, don't we, who have been
very disappointed with theirjourney with these injections
(28:49):
long term, and it's causing allkinds of disruptions with their
hormones. And for women goingthrough menopause, specifically,
it doesn't do a lot to affect,you know, hot flashes and sweats
and brain fog and all of theseother symptoms that really
affect your quality of life. Sowe're not just focused on
weight. I just want to go backto what you were saying about
(29:09):
muscle, where they're estimatingthat about half of the weight
loss is muscle, or a largepercentage of the weight loss is
muscle. Can you just reiterateagain why the lean muscle mass
is so important for metabolism,but also for bone health.
Meghan Donnelly (29:28):
Yes, lean muscle tissue is more
metabolically active than fat,so having more muscle is going
to have lead to a highermetabolic rate, and that's
generally considered a goodthing, but it's also holding
your bones in place. You canthink of it like scaffolding for
your bones, and so if you don'thave enough muscle on top of
your bones, you're going to beat risk for other issues like
(29:52):
fractures and injuries andthings like that, also under
nourishing in addition. You andnot having a lot of muscle
stores is probably going to leadto bone density issues in over
time, because you you justaren't going to be able to meet
your nutrient needs and toprotect those bones.
Tess Masters (30:13):
Yeah, that's another thing that I think we're
going to see in the coming yearsand decades, is people that have
been on a long term usage ofthese drugs and what it's doing
to their bone health long term.So we all know, as women past
the age of 40, 5060, we'rereally looking at our bone
health, and that can beproblematic with, you know,
(30:35):
osteoporosis and so forth. Soagain, just something to
consider when you're thinkingabout using these medications.
Let's talk about what we can doto support better hormone health
and better hormone function. Solet's talk about what we can do
to support better gut health.We've been talking about how
important it is with regards tooverall health, but how it
(30:56):
connects to our hormones. Whatcan we be doing to improve our
gut microbiome.
Meghan Donnelly (31:03):
Eating a lot of high fiber foods
Tess Masters (31:06):
is your favorite subject fiber. It
Meghan Donnelly (31:09):
is for a number of reasons, but eating a lot of
plants, plants havemicronutrients, phytonutrients,
important anti inflammatorynutrients for your overall
health, but they also havefiber, which is the food for
your gut microbiome. So that'snumber one. There was one study
(31:33):
I always like to talk about whenwe have our weekly calls, is
that there was a study wherethey looked at people who ate 30
plants per week and showed thatthey had healthier gut
microbiomes than people whodidn't have or who had less than
30 plants per week. And I don'tthink like the 30 number is
extremely important. I justthink it's important in the
(31:54):
sense that if you're eating 30plants per week, you're getting
a variety of plants, right? It'squality fruits and vegetables
and nuts and seeds and a lot ofthem at every meal and snack,
probably that is what I wouldtell people to take away from
that is that variety isimportant. Then hydration, your
digestive system does not workwithout water and you need
Tess Masters (32:19):
and we get dehydrated as we get older,
absolutely, we
Meghan Donnelly (32:23):
do, and so making sure you're hydrated,
especially if you're consuming adiet that is high in fiber, if
you are not hydrating, well,you're going to experience
blockage and constipation. It'svery unpleasant thing that
people sometimes when they'retrying to change their habits,
all of a sudden they get verybloated and constipated.
Sometimes that is becausethey're not hydrating enough. So
(32:46):
those are, those are the biggestthings. And then we also talk a
lot about probiotic containingfoods. People always ask about
probiotics and
Tess Masters (32:58):
and your response surprises everybody.
Meghan Donnelly (33:02):
I like to turn people towards fermented foods
which naturally contain liveprobiotics, or most shouldn't
say all fermented foods containlive probiotics, but certain
fermented foods contain liveprobiotics that are plentiful
and diverse in the species thatthey contain. And so I like to
(33:25):
steer people towards fermentedfoods if they can tolerate them,
things like sauerkraut andfermented pickles, kimchi, like
there are a lot of good optionsout there now, and they're going
to be the ones that you find inthe refrigerator section of the
grocery store. Those can thosecan be wonderful. And then you
don't need to go out and buy aprobiotic supplement, which
(33:46):
might have bacteria that are nolonger alive or unknown in terms
of the quantities and thediversity of the species.
Tess Masters (33:53):
I like, yeah, one of the many things that
everybody loves about you in ourcommunity is that you don't
recommend supplements unlessthey're absolutely necessary.
It's just this very much foodforward, go to your regular
grocery store, do these things.It's very simple, and going and
spending $60 on these expensiveprobiotics may just not be what
(34:16):
is required. And also, it's sofascinating, isn't it? This,
this studies that are coming outnow about the bio individuality
of everybody's microbiome, thatit's like a fingerprint, and
everybody is different, and thatactually the probiotic that you
may be using may actually not beappropriate for you, and it may
not be the strains that yourbody actually needs. So it's
(34:38):
just going to be so interestinghow our knowledge expands with
regards to that moving forward,it's fantastic. Let's talk about
protein, because this is also areally big focus of our program,
educating people about proteinand why it's so important. So.
(35:01):
So let's just connect the dotsabout the protein hormone
connection as well, and why it'sso incredibly important to be
getting the appropriate amountof protein, particularly over
40.
Meghan Donnelly (35:13):
Yeah, there are a number of hormones that are
dependent upon the proteins youconsume. So these hormones can
regulate a number of things,especially growth, metabolism,
even appetite and stress. But Imean, most of the hormones in
(35:33):
your body are dependent on theenergy that you take in. It's
it's just a matter of, you knowwhich ones are stimulated by
which food group, but it's kindof that's why I always tell
people there's no magic likecombination of macronutrients.
You shouldn't demonize anyspecific macronutrient, because
(35:54):
they all affect your hormones indifferent ways. And so yeah,
protein is very important, and Iwould say, in order to build up
your lean body mass, which isyour muscle stores, as we were
talking about before you've gotto make sure you're getting
enough protein. And thoseprocesses are also dependent
upon peptide hormones.
Tess Masters (36:16):
And so in terms of protein, this is another thing
that really surprises peoplewhen we were talking every week
and about nutrition education,that with protein, more is just
more. So it's about what'sappropriate. If you eat too
little, your body doesn'tfunction properly, your low
energy and so forth. If you eattoo much, then it irritates,
disrupts and overwhelms thebody. So how do we figure out
(36:40):
how much protein we need. Like,what are the factors that
determine what our protein needsmight might be? It's
Meghan Donnelly (36:46):
dependent on a number of things, your body
size, so your weight, also yourage, your health status and your
activity level. Those are themain ones there are. There are
some other ones. Like, if you'rein the hospital, we might put
someone on a super high proteindiet if they have a wound that
won't heal, for example. But forthe most part, it's the things I
mentioned before. And yeah, Imean, there are a number of
(37:11):
calculations out there tocalculate protein needs, and
these are evidence basedmethods. And yeah, we find that
people who overdo it don'tnecessarily, they don't have
better health outcomes becausethey're having such large
amounts of protein. Actually,your body tends to treat any
macronutrient in excess like anexcess nutrient that it's going
(37:35):
to convert to a storage form offat, right? So having too much
protein isn't going to make makeit so that you can't produce fat
in any any energy storage. Um,any nutrient in excess is going
to be stored as energy in theform of fat in the body, pretty
much. Um,
Tess Masters (37:55):
yeah, so this is another piece of the education.
You know that our bodies canonly absorb so much protein per
meal or snack, so a lot ofpeople are loading up at night
but not eating proteinthroughout the day. And so this,
this, when you say this topeople, I always ask you to
repeat it, don't I, because it'sjust so important, if you eat
(38:18):
more protein than your body canassimilate, it gets stored as
fat, and so it actually worksagainst your weight loss goals,
for example, and it can reallydisrupt your hormones and so
forth. So it's just a reallyinteresting piece of this. I
just want to specifically forwomen over 40 in perimenopause,
(38:39):
menopause and post menopause.Just connect the dots with skin,
bone health, muscles, you know,and collagen production with
regards to protein. Andeveryone's taking collagen
supplements, but we can just beeating quality protein foods,
right?
Meghan Donnelly (38:55):
Yeah, you really a lot of times you don't
need those supplements. Yeah,protein stimulates collagen
production, actually, whichaffects your skin, your bone
health and your muscles. So yes,there are people who are taking
it in supplemental form, but ifyou're meeting your protein
needs and getting a variety ofprotein sources in your diet,
(39:16):
very likely that supplements notgoing to do much for you.
Tess Masters (39:20):
Yeah, yeah. I want to go back to this macronutrient
conversation, part of theconversation with protein, fats
and carbs. Oh, we love to talkabout healthy fats, don't we,
and thankfully, when we're in anera where the word is out that
fats are not only good for us,they're essential. But I want to
connect the dots with hormonehealth. Why are healthy fats so
(39:43):
critical for better hormonehealth?
Meghan Donnelly (39:46):
They are the building blocks of many
hormones, and so often, what Isee is that people are not
feeling satiated after meals,which we know is hormone. It's a
hormone. Response satiation, andalso they're just not feeling
very energized in between meals.They're not able to meet that
(40:07):
three to four hour window thatwe recommend before your next
meal, and a lot of times that'sbecause of their fat intake.
More often than not, actually,we're telling people, you've
gotta have more fat with that.Yeah, yeah.
Tess Masters (40:22):
And they're yummy. Fats are delicious. They make us
feel full, and they give us thatyummy feeling when we eat
things, you know? And so it's,it's always kind of a bit of
another cause for celebration,isn't it? When people are
looking at, you know, the mealplans or the recipes or what
you're talking about, and going,Wait a second, I can maintain a
healthy weight and lose weighteating this much fat, and we go,
(40:45):
Yep, and then they all of asudden start losing weight,
going, Ah, this is so great, youknow. So in terms of healthy
fats, what? What do yourecommend other foods that we
gravitate towards for betterhealth and better hormone
health? Specifically?
Meghan Donnelly (41:00):
So, olive oil, avocado oil, oils that come from
high quality plant sources. Alsonuts and seeds are a big one. We
use them a lot and so, yeah,plant fats is what is what we
prioritize. Animal fats do havea role. They should have less of
(41:22):
a of a, I guess, percentage ofyour diet than plant fats. But
yeah, for the most part, we'reable to have people consuming
both sources. It is kind ofinteresting with fats. I think
people are afraid of fatsbecause they have more calories
than proteins and carbs, they'reactually nine calories per gram,
(41:44):
whereas proteins and carbs arefour calories per gram. And so
sometimes people get afraid,like it's just a little bit, but
it's so many more calories. Butwe know now that it's really
about the quality of thecalories that people are
consuming, and that having thesefats to kind of finish a meal
make a big difference in termsof people's overall health. And
(42:06):
we see time and time again thata lot of these, these hormonal
things, start to regulate whenpeople are consuming all of the
macronutrients often,
Tess Masters (42:16):
yeah, I want to ask you about some of these
quality animal fats that deliveromega threes, for example, like,
you know, fatty fish and thingslike that. So what, what are the
the sources of seafood that yourecommend for people that eat
animal protein,
Meghan Donnelly (42:30):
wild caught fish, primarily, and the fatty
fish, because they do have theseomega three fatty acids that are
important for our brain and ourhearts. So wild caught salmon is
a great example. There are somewhite fishes like cod and
halibut, when they're wildcaught that can be very high
quality. So just looking forsomething that is that contains
(42:52):
these healthy fats, but then itideally is wild caught, because
wild caught fish contains a lotmore nutrients than farmed fish,
and has also has a lot lesstoxins than farmed fish,
Tess Masters (43:05):
yeah, and you can get wild caught sardines too,
with the bones for for bonehealth, and they can be really
great, and you're not anticanned fish in in small
quantities either, right? Aslong as it's high quality wild
caught,
Meghan Donnelly (43:19):
yeah. There are a lot of reasons to consume
canned fish. Part of it is thatit lasts longer, and you can get
it from anywhere. You can buywild caught Alaskan salmon,
wherever you are, right? So,yeah, canned fish definitely has
a place. I think it makes a lotof sense. It's an easy protein.
You put it on a salad reallyeasily. Like, yes, there's
(43:41):
nothing wrong with canned fish.And, you know,
Tess Masters (43:43):
yeah, I think that's another surprise for
people. You know, we're justtaught that that anything in a
can that's shelf stable isterrible, and it not necessarily
so. So just getting in a varietyof things, I want to just touch
on something you said beforeabout We're talking a lot about
plant foods, and that everybodyshould be eating a lot of
plants, but plant based hasbecome synonymous with veganism,
(44:06):
and they're not the same thing.So we have a lot of different
people in our community, andpeople from, you know, with all
dietary stripes. So there'speople that are vegan,
vegetarian, pescetarian,omnivore, eat all kinds of
animal protein, but we all needto be plant based, so our diet
is based in plants, and then wesupplement with other quality
foods of our choice. And sothat's another part of of the
(44:30):
education that surprises people.You know, that there isn't just
one diet or one way of eatingthat works for every person, but
we're working within thesegeneral nutrition parameters,
which is, eat a lot of plants.You know, I want to go back to
what you were saying abouteating regularly throughout the
day, and just connect the dots alittle bit further with thyroid
health, because there's so manywomen over 40 that present with
(44:56):
Hashimotos graves and otherthyroid conditions. And this
relationship between thyroidhealth, hormone health and gut
health, and what you were sayingabout eating regularly
throughout the day. So can youjust explain to us about why our
thyroid and our blood sugar andgut health, how it's all
connected, and why we need to bepaying attention to our thyroid
(45:18):
function?
Meghan Donnelly (45:20):
Yes, your thyroid is very affected by your
nutrition status. So if you areunder nourishing your body, one
of the effects is that you'renot going to be giving your
thyroid the support that itneeds to perform all of the
complex functions that it needsto, including production of
hormones. So what I think, and Ithink what a lot of dietitians
(45:44):
are starting to understand, isthat, especially in women,
history of yo yo dieting andsignificantly reducing calorie
intake has a very big impact onthe health of the thyroid as we
age, and is very likely a strongcontributing factor to things
(46:06):
like autoimmune thyroid disease.So yeah, I one of my goals is
always to expand people's dietsbut, but I'm always working on
eating often and making sureyou're getting enough in terms
of protein and calories and fatand carbs as well, like all of
(46:27):
the macronutrients, because yourthyroid really depends on that
nutrition, and it can't performall of the functions that it
needs to without it. Andremember, your thyroid regulates
your metabolism, so this isreally important that it's
working. Well,
Tess Masters (46:42):
yeah, I mean, there's so many things that make
you so effective in ourcommunity, but just meeting each
person where they're at andhelping them make the program
work for their personality andlifestyle and the what's going
to work for one person is notthe same thing as another
(47:03):
person. With that in mind, whatare some of the general foods
that you recommend prioritizingto support better hormone
health?
Meghan Donnelly (47:16):
Omega threes, which we've talked about, is a
big one. So including foodsthat, actually, I think, in
American style diets are notvery common in our diet, um,
things like fatty fish andwalnuts and flax seeds and chia
seeds and hemp seeds, thesefoods are rich in omega three
(47:38):
fatty acids. And it's, I wouldargue it's important to consume
them daily for brain and hearthealth and and hormone health.
And so Absolutely, I'm pushingomega threes. I'm telling people
to put a tablespoon of flaxseeds at least every day, or
something
Tess Masters (47:55):
like and that's good for constipation too.
That's one of your big ones,isn't it?
Meghan Donnelly (48:00):
Oh, yes, I think flax and chia and hemp are
like super food. But you know, Imean, I was speaking with
someone the other day who saidto me, you want me to eat more
often. I'm not feeling veryhungry. I want to get more omega
threes in my diet. And so wecame up with, okay, one snack a
day is just a quarter cup ofwalnuts. We're killing two birds
(48:20):
with one stone, complicatedintervention, right? So things
like little things like that,can go a long way. I also talk
about cruciferous veggies a lot.Cruciferous veggies are amazing.
They have so much fiber, butthey also have other properties
(48:42):
that make them reallybeneficial, especially from an
anti inflammatory perspective.So they have what we call
glucosinolates, which areassociated with decreased
inflammation and can actuallyhelp regulate estrogen levels by
when you have excess levels ofestrogen. These glucosinolates
are thought to help convert itto a weaker form. Now, you would
(49:06):
have to be consuming very largeamounts in order to actually see
that direct effect, but I thinkwhat we can take away from that
is that cruciferous values arepositive for your hormone
health, and so we're talkingabout them all the time, things
like broccoli, cauliflower,Brussels sprouts, kale, we we
recommend those as daily things.
Tess Masters (49:26):
Yeah, cabbages. I mean, there's so many, right?
And and for those of you thatare listening going, Oh, I don't
like any of those foods, well,it's just about figuring out
really delicious ways to preparethem, because the way that you
prepare them, what you servethem with, really makes a
dramatic difference. So we'veturned many a Crucifer hater
(49:47):
into a lover, haven't we, Megan,it's, it's all about figuring
out what works for you, which iswhy, again, you're so effective
as a dietitian, because you'renot extreme. It's just about,
okay, all right. So let's, let'slook at what you do. Like, let's
look at what you can do. What'syour family going to eat? What's
possible for you. It doesn'thave to just look one particular
way. So I think therein lies thelimitation with just Googling a
(50:11):
bunch of foods and going, Oh,okay, well, I got to eat these
foods, right? But it's aboutfiguring out how it actually you
can integrate these principlesinto your life, which is, again,
why our program happens live sothat you can help each person do
that individually. You weretalking about exercise before. I
want to just connect the dotsagain between exercise and
(50:32):
hormone health and how physicalactivity increases hormone
receptiveness.
Meghan Donnelly (50:42):
Yes. Yes. So physical activity makes your
cells, what we call more insulinsensitive, meaning they are more
easily able to utilize theenergy that you're giving your
body. So we talk about bloodsugar, and how when you eat a
meal, that raises your bloodsugar. Well, that blood sugar
has to go somewhere. It has toget into you. Into your cells,
(51:04):
and insulin is the shuttle toget the blood sugar into your
cells. And when cells becomemore insulin sensitive, that
means they are more able toaccept that energy so that you
can use it efficiently. Soexercise absolutely affects
hormones. We know that sedentarylifestyle is affected with like,
(51:26):
negative hormone Association,like negative levels of some of
the hormones, like, I would say,unhealthy levels of these
hormones. So yes, but withinsulin, it's important,
Tess Masters (51:38):
yeah, I Gosh, it's there's so many things that we
could keep talking about as I'msitting here going, oh gosh, oh
gosh. I want the listeners toknow about this and this and
this. You know, this is, again,why the two of us just geek out
every week, because it's justthis. This knowledge is so
important. But if knowledge wasall we needed, we'd all Google
(52:01):
or chat GPT our way to gettingall of our goals. So I just want
to talk to you about thedifference working one on one
with a dietitian as opposed togoogling some of this stuff.
What would you say to someonewho says, Well, I can, I can
just google all that stuff forfree. Why do I actually need to
(52:22):
work with somebody? What? What?What fascinates you about
working personally with peopleand helping them figure it out?
Meghan Donnelly (52:31):
Yeah, I mean, all of this information you can
look up, I can look it up too,like that's how we learn. And
having knowledge doesn'tnecessarily help you understand
what's going on in your body. SoI have a lot of clients that
come to me and say that theyknow all this information about
gut health and fiber anddigestion, but they still have
(52:52):
all of these symptoms, and thatreally is because dietitians can
help you take the informationthat that you know and that we
know, and turn it into a foodrecommendation that is actually
going to work with yourlifestyle. So you know what the
example I gave before, about thewalnuts and how you're killing
(53:14):
two birds with one stone bygetting more food and getting
more omega threes, like we are,the people that know what that
what that translates to in foodform. I also think we are
experts at figuring out what's asustainable change for you, just
because you know somethingdoesn't mean you're going to
know how to change it. In yourlife, we find this a lot where
(53:37):
people get they have all thisinformation, but they don't know
what to do with it. They don'tknow how to make it and it into
a sustainable lifestylepractice. And as a dietitian, I
can easily figure out, okay,this, this is your goal. These
foods help you meet that goal,and here's how you can actually
eat them. Like, I think that'sthat's that last step actually
(53:58):
makes a big difference. Like, wecan tell unique cruciferous
veggies every day, but like howand and when and why, what makes
sense. So it's really thepersonalized piece and making
sure that the concepts aresomething that you can actually
integrate into your life. Peopleare surprised sometimes when
they work with me, I might startwith something very simple,
(54:22):
like, if someone that's what Ilove about you, yeah, yeah. I
mean, I will sometimes, youknow, someone come in, this is
just an example, but if someonecomes in and says, I I can never
eat cruciferous vegetables,usually, I'm trying to get them
to add a little bit ofcauliflower rice to a soup, and
that is worst thing, like westart with very simple things,
(54:44):
but that exposure over time, allof a sudden they're they're
eating all these differentthings, and it's just about the
texture and figuring that out.Like we are experts in food. And
yes, you can know the science,but if you don't know how to
prepare the food, and you.Consume it in a way that's
enjoyable to you, then you'renot going to get those benefits
Tess Masters (55:04):
at all. So I think that's one of your superpowers,
is thinking outside the box,listening to each person what
they like to do, what they don'tlike to do, what their
lifestyle, their habits, arelike, and you thinking of all
these different solutions andjust continuing to make your way
through all these suggestionsuntil we find the secret sauce
(55:25):
and the magic of what's going towork for somebody. I want to ask
you about the community aspectof it. So yes, you work a lot,
one to one with clients, andthen you work on these group
calls, and we have so manypeople that stay in our
community for that, that groupaspect, that community aspect
(55:46):
that can't be replicated anyother way, because googling on
your own at 11 o'clock at nightin front of your device is quite
a lonely endeavor. You just feelreally, really alone in that.
And you and I are constantlyamazed at the nourishment that
people get from a group setting.So what? What is that like for
(56:08):
you as a dietitian, not onlyworking one to one with people,
but also in that group setting?What have you noticed the big
benefits for people, being in inthat, in, you know, learning in
that in that way,
Meghan Donnelly (56:23):
we can learn so much from each other and
sometimes speaking to someoneelse about their experiencing,
about what they're experiencing,and how that relates to what
you're experiencing. Can cantrigger some of those light bulb
moments I have that all the timewith my clients, even in one on
one sessions, you know, we'retalking about something, and
then they have an idea ofsomething that worked for them,
(56:45):
and then I'm like, Oh my gosh, Ineed to tell other people this,
and it we just that thatcommunity aspect is is so
helpful. And I do think it iscomforting to be in a group
where other people are goingthrough the same thing as you,
and maybe they're coming fromdifferent backgrounds, and they
have different life experiencesand different reasons why
(57:07):
they're here, but you're alllearning the same information
and taking those lifeexperiences along with that, and
how and how that affects yourexperience with The program, I
think it's really powerfulactually, like we have people
sharing all kinds of informationthat we wouldn't be able to come
(57:28):
up with
Tess Masters (57:28):
all Yeah, it's so true, isn't it? And I love it
when the members that have beenin our community for a long
time, they really take ownershipof it and really feel great
about sharing what has workedfor them and what continues to
work for them, and that we'reall taking responsibility for
(57:49):
teaching and learning together.As you just pointed out, it's a
it's a really lovely thing.Again. I could talk to you about
this all day long, but we'llpick it up in our call with the
community next week. So thankyou so much.
Meghan Donnelly (58:04):
Yeah, thank you. Bye.
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