September 2, 2024 • 27 mins
Can food truly act as medicine, transforming your health at a gene level? This week on the Ageless and Awesome podcast, we're exploring the powerful intersection between nutrition and women's health, especially for those navigating perimenopause and post-menopause. Discover how embracing a diet rich in colourful fruits, veggies, and high-quality proteins can do more than just fuel your body—it can promote optimal health and influence your genetic expression. We also discuss why Menopause Hormone Therapy (MHT) and herbal medicine should be part of a broader, holistic approach to well-being rather than standalone solutions.
In this enlightening episode, learn the significance of the Environmental Working Group's Clean 15 and Dirty Dozen lists to make informed choices about your produce. Hear practical tips for incorporating 30 different plant foods into your weekly diet, fostering a healthy gut microbiome. We'll contrast the impact of whole foods versus processed foods on your cellular and DNA health, and share how to balance indulgences with healthy eating habits. Stay connected by subscribing to the Ageless and Awesome podcast and don’t miss your exclusive access to the free Radiant Reset Hormone Detox Guide for Perimenopausal Women in the show notes! Join the ongoing conversation on Instagram @susiegardenwellness.
Are you a woman feeling stressed, flat and experiencing the challenges of perimenopause?
It’s time to reclaim your youthful energy, radiance and self-assurance (and your ideal weight).
I’m here to help with my proven method.
Here's how I can support you -
1. Hit your health and wellbeing goals this year, balance your hormones and lose weight with your own personalised protocol, based on your body's biochemistry. Sounds awesome right!! Book a free 30 minute Peri Weight Loss Assessment with me so we can discuss your health and wellbeing goals and also see how I might be able to support you. Book your call here.
2. Follow me on Instagram and Facebook - @the.perimenopause.path
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hi, I'm Susie Garden and this is the Ageless and
Awesome podcast.
I'm an age-defying naturopathand clinical nutritionist and
I'm here to bust myths aroundwomen's health and aging so that
you can be ageless and awesomein your 40s, 50s and beyond.
The Ageless and Awesome podcastis dedicated to helping women
(00:24):
through perimenopause andmenopause with great health, a
positive mindset and outrageousconfidence.
Hit, subscribe or follow nowand let's get started.
Hello, gorgeous one, andwelcome to this week's episode
of the Ageless and Awesomepodcast.
Today's episode is kind of anodd one in that normally I do a
(00:48):
fair amount of preparation foreach episode, a little bit of
research, making sure that I'mputting together the episode in
a structure of sorts, but I'llhave to be honest with you.
I have not done that today.
I have been sitting thinking,you know, what do I want to talk
(01:08):
about and what is coming in?
I guess strongly as something Iwant to talk about is the power
of food as medicine, and so Ijust thought I would jump on and
I can always delete thisrecording if I decide I don't
want to publish it.
But I just thought I'd justcome on and talk about my
passion for nutrition and why Ihave such a passion for
(01:30):
nutrition and particularly why Ithink it's so important for
women in perimenopause andpostmenopause.
In fact, it's absolutelycritical.
What I find when I'm workingwith women, or even just talking
with women generally, is thatthere seems to be this
perception that when ourhormones start going haywire
(01:55):
with our perimenopause andmenopausal transition, that one
of the few things we can do isHRT or MHT.
Menopause hormone therapy, asit's now called, is the big one
that I have a lot ofconversations about with people,
and I'm pretty supportive ofMHT, to be honest, and herbal
(02:19):
medicine.
Herbal medicine can beincredible, also for helping
manage hormones through thistime, so that's great.
That's another thing, anothertool I guess in the toolbox, and
the thing is, these two thingsare not magic If you are not
(02:40):
addressing lifestyle and whatyou're putting into your body,
whether that is food, whetherthat is water, whether that is
other beverages which we'll talkabout today.
It really is a holisticapproach.
(03:01):
You can't just take the magicpill, whether that be MHT or
herbs, and expect that that isgoing to control everything
that's going on in your body andthat you're going to magically
feel better.
Absolutely, you can get quite abit of symptom using those
(03:21):
things.
But ultimately we are designedto take in food to make our body
work optimally and that is ourgut microbiome, feeding our gut
microbiome, the best foods forbrain to work optimally, for our
(03:44):
muscles to maintain and grow,for everything in our body.
We are designed to take in foodand specific nutrients that do
specific jobs and it's not justas simple as food as fuel, which
I think certainly for me.
(04:06):
Before I became a nutritionist,I very much saw food as fuel.
I had for a long time amentality of food as fuel and
that very much is rooted in thecalories, in calories.
Out model, which, as you know,I really kind of detest, is our
(04:26):
model, which, as you know, Ireally kind of detest.
It set up a lot of really badmindsets around food and ideas
around food and weight inparticular, and that is sort of
what food as fuel thatphilosophy for me anyway, came
into as just eating to fuel thebody from an energy point of
view.
I had no idea about, certainlynot the gut microbiome.
(04:48):
I mean, a lot of people didn'tknow much about the gut
microbiome back then and I thinkwe still are only scratching
the surface with it.
But also, yeah, we didn't have.
I certainly didn't have thatthought, even of the quality of
the food, and I looked at macros.
I used to use MyFitnessPal alot and it was all about
(05:09):
calories and macros and nothingto do with the micronutrients.
So, am I getting enoughselenium?
Am I getting enough iodine?
Am I getting enough manganese?
None of that and, to be honest,I don't want any of you guys to
be stressing out over oh mygosh, now I've got to think
about the micronutrients.
No, the thing is, that willtake care of itself.
(05:32):
If you are eating widely, ifyou're eating lots of different
colored veggies and fruits andhaving good quality proteins
from a multitude of differentsources, that will take care of
itself.
You don't need to sit out andwork out how much of these
things you're having.
Okay, so I didn't want to openup that Pandora's box, but what
(05:52):
I did want to just mention thatthe food actually talks to our
genes.
Right, that's so cool, don'tyou reckon Food actually talks
to our genes.
Every single mouthful of foodthat we eat on a daily basis
initiates this complexconversation at a cellular level
(06:15):
, at a genetic DNA level.
These conversations determinewhether our DNA or our genes get
switched on or off.
I haven't probably talked aboutthis for a long time.
I used to talk a lot about thisin when I used to teach a lot of
(06:36):
meditation and I've done quitea number of podcasts talking
about this how, even though wemay have the genes for certain
diseases, it doesn't mean thosegenes will be expressed.
And lifestyle has a lot to dowith how those genes are
expressed and whether or notthose genes are going to be
expressed.
And this is really importantbecause I think a lot of people,
(06:59):
when they find out, for example, that there is I don't know a
lot of cardiovascular disease intheir family and they think, oh
well, my mother has diabetes,my father has diabetes, my
grandparents on both sides of myfamily have diabetes.
Therefore I'm going to getdiabetes.
Therefore there's nothing I cando about it, so I might as well
(07:19):
just eat all of the things now,because later in life, when I
have diabetes, I'm not going tobe allowed to do that.
And having a mindset like thatwill almost guarantee that you
get diabetes later in life.
And so I guess what I'm sayingwhen we're talking about these
the genes, sort of switching onand switching off, and this is
the science of nutrigenomics, ifyou want to learn more about
(07:42):
this.
Just pop nutrigenomics intoyour search and look at go
nutrigenomics actually pubMedand that will actually get you
proper research rather thanblogs and that will actually
give you the right information.
But anyway, I'm digressing alittle bit.
But yeah, what we know now isthat just because you have the
(08:07):
gene doesn't mean you're goingto get the illness, and you can
do so much to help maintain ahealthy DNA by using the right
foods for you, by having theright lifestyle modifications in
there, and I'll talk about foodfirst.
(08:28):
When I talk about the rightfoods for you, there's a few
different ways we can approachthis.
Firstly, it's looking.
When I'm assessing a client,it's like what is going on in
the body?
Are there any actual symptomsthere that may be signs of food
intolerance that perhaps theclient hasn't considered, like,
(08:49):
for example, skin rashes?
And this is my personal story,which you've heard if you're a
long time listener, you've heardthis before is that when I hit
my kind of mid forties, Ideveloped eczema on my hands in
particular, but then it actuallywent into my face, around my
eyes.
It was like getting worse andworse, and I hadn't really
changed anything much in my dietor my lifestyle.
(09:10):
I couldn't work out what wasgoing on and I actually just
thought I was allergic to thosea few things.
I thought it was dairy, becausedairy is a really common food
intolerance, and I was anutrition student at the time.
This was going on, so my stresslevel from my corporate job had
gone down dramatically.
But I guess there's quite a bitof stress that goes on when
you're a student because you'reconstantly being assessed and,
(09:32):
yeah, your time is not your ownand so.
And then I learned aboutmenopause and perimenopause and
realized, even though I didn'tknow, I was in perimenopause I
would have been, and definitelywe see an increase in skin
rashes, itchiness, all sorts ofskin conditions when we're in
perimenopause because of thedrop in estrogen which helps
(09:58):
support our skin barrier.
So we get a dryness in the skin, we get the cell walls aren't
as what's the word?
Not as strong I guess it'sprobably not quite the right
word, but let's just use thatand so they break down more
easily.
They're more responsive toallergens that might be around.
(10:19):
And there were certainly thingsfor me, like I know I'm
allergic to cooch grass, forexample, and you know, when you
have dogs and you walk them,they're always going to be
walking in cooch grass.
So I knew that was a thing.
But yeah, they can't.
This itchy skin can be fromhormones, it can be from food
intolerances and it can be acombination of both.
So I know, for me personally, Ithought it was dairy.
(10:40):
I dropped out a lot of my dairyat the time and didn't really
see that much of an improvement,to be honest.
And then when I ran, did mytraining for metabolic balance
and got my program, it said notomatoes.
And I'm like what.
I have tomatoes every lunchtime, every dinner, pretty much
Loved them.
I removed them.
All of my skin condition wentaway within like two to three
(11:05):
days and I thought this can't beright.
This cannot be right.
So I reintroduced the tomatoesBang Skin terrible.
Off the tomatoes, again skingreat.
So now I know, I know that Ican't have them every day
anymore and that's fine, I'velearned to live with that.
But it's just this example ofhow you don't necessarily
(11:27):
understand or know that certainfoods are causing problems,
inflammation, whatever in yourbody.
And so when I'm assessingclients for their symptoms, I'm
looking for these signs ofinflammation.
I'm looking for gut healthissues such as bloating, reflux,
excess burping, excessflatulence, chronic diarrhea,
(11:48):
chronic constipation, floatingstools, yellow stools, excess
smelliness, all that sort ofstuff to look at.
What is the gut health like,what is the inflammation like?
And this can be addressed withfood, and this can be addressed
(12:11):
by having foods that are goingto be having these conversations
with your DNA in a positive way, so that we're reducing
inflammation.
Remembering inflammation is theroot cause of every single
mental health condition,physical health condition pretty
much, and so reducinginflammation is super important
(12:33):
and we can do that with food,having foods that are high in
antioxidants, that are high inpolyphenols, that are going to
help support our gut health,because there's a huge
interaction between our gut andour immune system.
So when we are choosing foods,we don't have to go into
MyFitnessPal and look at whatare the calories?
(12:56):
No.
Or how much selenium does thishave?
No, no, no.
Just have a broad variety ofbeautifully multicolored whole
foods, ideally chemical-free, ifyou can get it pesticide-free,
organic, chemical free, if youcan get it pesticide free,
organic, or just wash themreally, really well.
The other thing you can do isgo to the EWG website, which is
(13:24):
the Environmental Working Group.
Every year they publish theClean 15 and the Dirty Dozen,
and they are the foods that areusing the most pesticides that
year in North America, which isusually very similar to
Australia.
So that can be really handybecause you can look at that and
go well, these are the Clean 15.
I can get away with not gettingorganic or pesticide free with
(13:47):
those.
I'll just wash them.
But the Dirty Dozen you really,if you can afford it, get the
organic version or at least thepesticide free if possible.
Otherwise, really wash themextremely, extremely well, just
to get rid of all of thosechemicals and pesticides,
because we know that they havenot so great effects on our gut
(14:09):
health, amongst many otherthings.
So, yeah, I think I'm going offtrack, which is why I usually
plan my podcast, so that I cankeep myself on track, but that's
okay.
So, yeah, what am I wanting tosay with that?
Yeah, lots of brightly coloredfruits, veggies.
I mentioned, I think, last weekin the podcast, the five and
(14:29):
two, if you want to, if you needsome sort of structure around
it.
So two pieces of fruit, fivepieces of vegetables, To me that
doesn't seem enough.
I know from a lot of the guthealth studies that I've done,
if you're looking at having areally healthy gut microbiome
and I'm struggling to rememberwhether it was 20 different
(14:53):
plant foods a week or 30different plant foods a week.
Aim for 30.
If you have 30 different plantfoods a week, that is extremely
helpful to fostering a healthygut microbiome.
So when I'm talking aboutdifferent plant foods, I'm
talking All those sorts ofthings Anything that had its
(15:20):
origin in a plant food that isfairly unprocessed.
So if you're drinking a lot ofwine, that doesn't really count
as grapes Okay, it's got to bethe actual grape.
So, yeah, 30 different plantfoods a week, aim for that.
That will really help in termsof getting the variety of
(15:42):
micronutrients that your bodyneeds to function well, so that
when you're eating your food andyou know that every mouthful of
food is having a complexconversation at a cellular level
with the DNA, like, reallythink about this.
This is not science fiction,this is actually what happens.
So if you think about well, I'mhaving a green smoothie with,
(16:08):
you know, coconut water, kale,flaxseed oil, avocado, some nuts
, some seeds, all that sort ofstuff versus having uh, nearly
said a brand name, I won't saythat a hamburger from a fast
food chain that might have alimp bit of lettuce, a slice of
(16:31):
tomato, a meat patty that'sprobably full of actually
definitely full of preservativesand additives on a pretty low
nutrition level bread.
It's not ideal, right?
I don't want that having aconversation with my cells.
(16:52):
I don't want that having aconversation with my DNA and
influencing my DNA, do you?
I don't.
So that's kind of how I like tothink about food when we're
looking at the health of thebody.
And that's not saying I neverhave treats.
(17:13):
My friends know, and I know alot of my friends listen to the
podcast.
They know that I like to have adrink, I like to have dessert,
I like to, you know, eat out.
But I also balance that out byeating at home as often as I can
during the week in particular,always having breakfast at home,
(17:36):
pretty much, even if I, youknow I do have a regular
breakfast club with somebeautiful friends and I will
generally still have my greensmoothie or I'll have something
that's more whole food basedbefore I go and I'll either have
a coffee and a sweet treat or,if I do have breakfast, it would
be the most whole foodbreakfast I can possibly order
(17:58):
off that menu.
So that includes not orderingthings like scrambled eggs,
because that's going to be fullof cream, butter, dairy salt,
all of the things poached eggway better choice.
So it's just thinking aboutyour food like that.
Because, getting back to myoriginal topic, having, when
(18:18):
your hormones are kind of out ofwhack and your body is really
struggling and I know that formany of my women that are
listening to this podcast theirbodies are struggling, your
minds are struggling.
That's probably why you'relistening to the podcast.
It's because we're all goingthrough this together and you
think well, you know, at leastI've got MHT up my sleeve if I
really feel like I want to dothat.
(18:39):
But it is not the magic pill.
If you don't have the rightfoods on board, then those
hormones they're only going todo so much.
And believe me I've worked inthe pharmaceutical industry for
16 years and even our mostwell-researched drugs, they
(19:06):
don't work 100% on 100% ofpeople.
There's some things these drugscan do, but they're not a magic
pill.
And any of you that might have,for example, high blood
pressure, it's very common tohave two or three different
medications required to get thatblood pressure under control.
It's not just having one pilland then you're done for most
people.
So you know these drugs aren'tjust a magic cure.
So really look at no matter whatsort of medical condition you
(19:30):
might have currently or ifyou're just trying to stay
healthy for your future and foryour current situation, really
look at.
Okay, what am I eating on aweekly basis and is it really
the stuff that I want to behaving complex communications
with my cells and my DNA andinfluencing that DNA for my
(19:51):
future health?
Really have a think about that.
So that, from a food point ofview, I guess is probably all I
want to cover.
But there's more, becausethere's lifestyle obviously.
Now, when I'm talking aboutlifestyle, it's pretty much
everything else, it's themind-body stuff.
So what is your stress levellike on a daily basis?
(20:11):
And that's not to say that, ohwell, I've got a lot of
stressors in my life, so there'snothing I can do about that.
You can learn to regulate yourresponse to those stressors.
Now, you can learn to regulateyour response to those stressors
and often when you have theright food on board, that helps
as well.
And I see this a lot in clientsin the first few weeks of their
program.
They go gosh.
I just feel so much calmer.
(20:31):
And there's probably a numberof reasons One, the inflammation
will have gone down.
We know when you have gutissues, you have brain issues.
I don't know if that's quitethe right way to describe it,
but if you have gut inflammation, it's likely there's some
low-grade inflammation going onin the brain.
Now that is not something youneed to be scared of and going
(20:55):
to the doctor and gettingantibiotics or anything like
that.
That's not what I'm talkingabout.
But we know with, for example,brain fog, which a lot of women
have in perimenopause andpostmenopause, that it's just
what we call this leaky brain orthis low-level brain
inflammation, and absolutely wecan fix that just with the right
food choices.
And also the other thing thatwe need is good brain chemicals,
(21:19):
such as our serotonin, ourdopamine, our melatonin, all of
those sorts of things, and foodhas a huge influence on that as
well, as well as your breathingtechniques, as well as spending
time in nature.
We know that spending time innature has a profound impact on
our DNA, has a profound impacton our ability to handle the
(21:44):
stressors in our lives.
So spending a little bit oftime in nature, whether that's
walking the dog, whether that isgoing for a swim, whether
that's just standing with yourfeet on some grass, whether it's
looking out the window at theblue sky or whether it is
feeling the sunlight on yourskin.
Spending time in nature is aprofound way to impact your DNA
(22:09):
and therefore your experience ofperimenopause and menopause and
your health ongoing.
So I mentioned breathing.
Obviously, other things, like Imean meditation, is great if it
suits your mind.
For some people, they justcan't get their mind to settle,
and that's where breathing canbe amazing, because we all have
(22:30):
to breathe.
And also, of course, movement.
That's probably the last thingI'll talk about in this podcast
and finding movement that youlove, whether that's dancing in
your living room, findingmovement that you love, whether
that's dancing in your livingroom, whether that is walking,
doing a HIIT class, cycling,swimming, reformer which, as you
know, I love yoga any of thosethings where, when you're doing
(22:54):
those activities, it's bringingyou joy.
Also, it is moving your body,so improving your flexibility.
It will be helping to flush outtoxins.
It will be improving yourmuscle mass, your strength, your
ability to move and maintainMovement is such an important
(23:15):
part of many people's lives,even just to deal with things in
daily life.
Being able to lift, being ableto move things is actually, you
know, I was thinking about onthe weekend because I was moving
around some plants and thingslike that and picking up my dogs
and picking up their dog bowls,and you know, it's just all
(23:37):
these little things that you doon a daily basis that require
your body to be in a prettyreasonable state.
Like I've got, as I'vementioned many times, a chronic
neck shoulder issue.
So I'm always very mindful ofthat, and when I'm going through
periods where it's not feelinggood, then it really impacts my
(23:58):
ability to do all of thoseeveryday activities which are
necessary.
So it makes those simple thingsreally difficult.
But I know that if I continuemy gym, if I continue my
reformer, if I am well hydrated,if I'm eating well, then all of
that settles down.
That inflammation, thattightness, that pain settles
(24:20):
down, my sleep better andeverything in life feels better
when all of that is in balance,including hormones.
So I think that's all I'm goingto talk about today.
I know I've been a little bitall over the place, but I just
wanted to kind of freeform ittoday and I hope that that has
(24:44):
been interesting.
If you've got any questions,I'd love to hear from you.
I always love getting littlemessages.
It just really makes my dayBecause, as I've often said, I'm
just standing in my office withmy three doggies just recording
this thinking is anybodylistening?
I mean, I know people are, butit is really nice to get that
(25:05):
feedback.
So I hope you're having a greatweek so far and I'll be back on
Thursday with Q and A.
Thanks so much for joining metoday on the Ageless and Awesome
podcast.
If you liked today's episode,please make sure you click the
little plus button if you're onApple podcasts, or little plus
button if you're on ApplePodcasts, or the follow button
if you're on Spotify, so thatyou get each new episode
(25:27):
delivered to you every week.
If you like free stuff, thenhead to the show notes and click
the link to receive my freeRadiant Reset Hormone Detox
Guide for Perimenopausal Women.
Or, if you'd like to continuethe discussion, head over to
Instagram and DM me atSusieGardenWellness.
I'd love to connect with you.
Hi, I'm Susie Garden and this is the Ageless and
Awesome podcast.
I'm an age-defying naturopathand clinical nutritionist and
I'm here to bust myths aroundwomen's health and aging so that
you can be ageless and awesomein your 40s, 50s and beyond.
The Ageless and Awesome podcastis dedicated to helping women
(00:24):
through perimenopause andmenopause with great health, a
positive mindset and outrageousconfidence.
Hit, subscribe or follow nowand let's get started.
Hello, gorgeous one, andwelcome to this week's episode
of the Ageless and Awesomepodcast.
Today's episode is kind of anodd one in that normally I do a
(00:48):
fair amount of preparation foreach episode, a little bit of
research, making sure that I'mputting together the episode in
a structure of sorts, but I'llhave to be honest with you.
I have not done that today.
I have been sitting thinking,you know, what do I want to talk
(01:08):
about and what is coming in?
I guess strongly as something Iwant to talk about is the power
of food as medicine, and so Ijust thought I would jump on and
I can always delete thisrecording if I decide I don't
want to publish it.
But I just thought I'd justcome on and talk about my
passion for nutrition and why Ihave such a passion for
(01:30):
nutrition and particularly why Ithink it's so important for
women in perimenopause andpostmenopause.
In fact, it's absolutelycritical.
What I find when I'm workingwith women, or even just talking
with women generally, is thatthere seems to be this
perception that when ourhormones start going haywire
(01:55):
with our perimenopause andmenopausal transition, that one
of the few things we can do isHRT or MHT.
Menopause hormone therapy, asit's now called, is the big one
that I have a lot ofconversations about with people,
and I'm pretty supportive ofMHT, to be honest, and herbal
(02:19):
medicine.
Herbal medicine can beincredible, also for helping
manage hormones through thistime, so that's great.
That's another thing, anothertool I guess in the toolbox, and
the thing is, these two thingsare not magic If you are not
(02:40):
addressing lifestyle and whatyou're putting into your body,
whether that is food, whetherthat is water, whether that is
other beverages which we'll talkabout today.
It really is a holisticapproach.
(03:01):
You can't just take the magicpill, whether that be MHT or
herbs, and expect that that isgoing to control everything
that's going on in your body andthat you're going to magically
feel better.
Absolutely, you can get quite abit of symptom using those
(03:21):
things.
But ultimately we are designedto take in food to make our body
work optimally and that is ourgut microbiome, feeding our gut
microbiome, the best foods forbrain to work optimally, for our
(03:44):
muscles to maintain and grow,for everything in our body.
We are designed to take in foodand specific nutrients that do
specific jobs and it's not justas simple as food as fuel, which
I think certainly for me.
(04:06):
Before I became a nutritionist,I very much saw food as fuel.
I had for a long time amentality of food as fuel and
that very much is rooted in thecalories, in calories.
Out model, which, as you know,I really kind of detest, is our
(04:26):
model, which, as you know, Ireally kind of detest.
It set up a lot of really badmindsets around food and ideas
around food and weight inparticular, and that is sort of
what food as fuel thatphilosophy for me anyway, came
into as just eating to fuel thebody from an energy point of
view.
I had no idea about, certainlynot the gut microbiome.
(04:48):
I mean, a lot of people didn'tknow much about the gut
microbiome back then and I thinkwe still are only scratching
the surface with it.
But also, yeah, we didn't have.
I certainly didn't have thatthought, even of the quality of
the food, and I looked at macros.
I used to use MyFitnessPal alot and it was all about
(05:09):
calories and macros and nothingto do with the micronutrients.
So, am I getting enoughselenium?
Am I getting enough iodine?
Am I getting enough manganese?
None of that and, to be honest,I don't want any of you guys to
be stressing out over oh mygosh, now I've got to think
about the micronutrients.
No, the thing is, that willtake care of itself.
(05:32):
If you are eating widely, ifyou're eating lots of different
colored veggies and fruits andhaving good quality proteins
from a multitude of differentsources, that will take care of
itself.
You don't need to sit out andwork out how much of these
things you're having.
Okay, so I didn't want to openup that Pandora's box, but what
(05:52):
I did want to just mention thatthe food actually talks to our
genes.
Right, that's so cool, don'tyou reckon Food actually talks
to our genes.
Every single mouthful of foodthat we eat on a daily basis
initiates this complexconversation at a cellular level
(06:15):
, at a genetic DNA level.
These conversations determinewhether our DNA or our genes get
switched on or off.
I haven't probably talked aboutthis for a long time.
I used to talk a lot about thisin when I used to teach a lot of
(06:36):
meditation and I've done quitea number of podcasts talking
about this how, even though wemay have the genes for certain
diseases, it doesn't mean thosegenes will be expressed.
And lifestyle has a lot to dowith how those genes are
expressed and whether or notthose genes are going to be
expressed.
And this is really importantbecause I think a lot of people,
(06:59):
when they find out, for example, that there is I don't know a
lot of cardiovascular disease intheir family and they think, oh
well, my mother has diabetes,my father has diabetes, my
grandparents on both sides of myfamily have diabetes.
Therefore I'm going to getdiabetes.
Therefore there's nothing I cando about it, so I might as well
(07:19):
just eat all of the things now,because later in life, when I
have diabetes, I'm not going tobe allowed to do that.
And having a mindset like thatwill almost guarantee that you
get diabetes later in life.
And so I guess what I'm sayingwhen we're talking about these
the genes, sort of switching onand switching off, and this is
the science of nutrigenomics, ifyou want to learn more about
(07:42):
this.
Just pop nutrigenomics intoyour search and look at go
nutrigenomics actually pubMedand that will actually get you
proper research rather thanblogs and that will actually
give you the right information.
But anyway, I'm digressing alittle bit.
But yeah, what we know now isthat just because you have the
(08:07):
gene doesn't mean you're goingto get the illness, and you can
do so much to help maintain ahealthy DNA by using the right
foods for you, by having theright lifestyle modifications in
there, and I'll talk about foodfirst.
(08:28):
When I talk about the rightfoods for you, there's a few
different ways we can approachthis.
Firstly, it's looking.
When I'm assessing a client,it's like what is going on in
the body?
Are there any actual symptomsthere that may be signs of food
intolerance that perhaps theclient hasn't considered, like,
(08:49):
for example, skin rashes?
And this is my personal story,which you've heard if you're a
long time listener, you've heardthis before is that when I hit
my kind of mid forties, Ideveloped eczema on my hands in
particular, but then it actuallywent into my face, around my
eyes.
It was like getting worse andworse, and I hadn't really
changed anything much in my dietor my lifestyle.
(09:10):
I couldn't work out what wasgoing on and I actually just
thought I was allergic to thosea few things.
I thought it was dairy, becausedairy is a really common food
intolerance, and I was anutrition student at the time.
This was going on, so my stresslevel from my corporate job had
gone down dramatically.
But I guess there's quite a bitof stress that goes on when
you're a student because you'reconstantly being assessed and,
(09:32):
yeah, your time is not your ownand so.
And then I learned aboutmenopause and perimenopause and
realized, even though I didn'tknow, I was in perimenopause I
would have been, and definitelywe see an increase in skin
rashes, itchiness, all sorts ofskin conditions when we're in
perimenopause because of thedrop in estrogen which helps
(09:58):
support our skin barrier.
So we get a dryness in the skin, we get the cell walls aren't
as what's the word?
Not as strong I guess it'sprobably not quite the right
word, but let's just use thatand so they break down more
easily.
They're more responsive toallergens that might be around.
(10:19):
And there were certainly thingsfor me, like I know I'm
allergic to cooch grass, forexample, and you know, when you
have dogs and you walk them,they're always going to be
walking in cooch grass.
So I knew that was a thing.
But yeah, they can't.
This itchy skin can be fromhormones, it can be from food
intolerances and it can be acombination of both.
So I know, for me personally, Ithought it was dairy.
(10:40):
I dropped out a lot of my dairyat the time and didn't really
see that much of an improvement,to be honest.
And then when I ran, did mytraining for metabolic balance
and got my program, it said notomatoes.
And I'm like what.
I have tomatoes every lunchtime, every dinner, pretty much
Loved them.
I removed them.
All of my skin condition wentaway within like two to three
(11:05):
days and I thought this can't beright.
This cannot be right.
So I reintroduced the tomatoesBang Skin terrible.
Off the tomatoes, again skingreat.
So now I know, I know that Ican't have them every day
anymore and that's fine, I'velearned to live with that.
But it's just this example ofhow you don't necessarily
(11:27):
understand or know that certainfoods are causing problems,
inflammation, whatever in yourbody.
And so when I'm assessingclients for their symptoms, I'm
looking for these signs ofinflammation.
I'm looking for gut healthissues such as bloating, reflux,
excess burping, excessflatulence, chronic diarrhea,
(11:48):
chronic constipation, floatingstools, yellow stools, excess
smelliness, all that sort ofstuff to look at.
What is the gut health like,what is the inflammation like?
And this can be addressed withfood, and this can be addressed
(12:11):
by having foods that are goingto be having these conversations
with your DNA in a positive way, so that we're reducing
inflammation.
Remembering inflammation is theroot cause of every single
mental health condition,physical health condition pretty
much, and so reducinginflammation is super important
(12:33):
and we can do that with food,having foods that are high in
antioxidants, that are high inpolyphenols, that are going to
help support our gut health,because there's a huge
interaction between our gut andour immune system.
So when we are choosing foods,we don't have to go into
MyFitnessPal and look at whatare the calories?
(12:56):
No.
Or how much selenium does thishave?
No, no, no.
Just have a broad variety ofbeautifully multicolored whole
foods, ideally chemical-free, ifyou can get it pesticide-free,
organic, chemical free, if youcan get it pesticide free,
organic, or just wash themreally, really well.
The other thing you can do isgo to the EWG website, which is
(13:24):
the Environmental Working Group.
Every year they publish theClean 15 and the Dirty Dozen,
and they are the foods that areusing the most pesticides that
year in North America, which isusually very similar to
Australia.
So that can be really handybecause you can look at that and
go well, these are the Clean 15.
I can get away with not gettingorganic or pesticide free with
(13:47):
those.
I'll just wash them.
But the Dirty Dozen you really,if you can afford it, get the
organic version or at least thepesticide free if possible.
Otherwise, really wash themextremely, extremely well, just
to get rid of all of thosechemicals and pesticides,
because we know that they havenot so great effects on our gut
(14:09):
health, amongst many otherthings.
So, yeah, I think I'm going offtrack, which is why I usually
plan my podcast, so that I cankeep myself on track, but that's
okay.
So, yeah, what am I wanting tosay with that?
Yeah, lots of brightly coloredfruits, veggies.
I mentioned, I think, last weekin the podcast, the five and
(14:29):
two, if you want to, if you needsome sort of structure around
it.
So two pieces of fruit, fivepieces of vegetables, To me that
doesn't seem enough.
I know from a lot of the guthealth studies that I've done,
if you're looking at having areally healthy gut microbiome
and I'm struggling to rememberwhether it was 20 different
(14:53):
plant foods a week or 30different plant foods a week.
Aim for 30.
If you have 30 different plantfoods a week, that is extremely
helpful to fostering a healthygut microbiome.
So when I'm talking aboutdifferent plant foods, I'm
talking All those sorts ofthings Anything that had its
(15:20):
origin in a plant food that isfairly unprocessed.
So if you're drinking a lot ofwine, that doesn't really count
as grapes Okay, it's got to bethe actual grape.
So, yeah, 30 different plantfoods a week, aim for that.
That will really help in termsof getting the variety of
(15:42):
micronutrients that your bodyneeds to function well, so that
when you're eating your food andyou know that every mouthful of
food is having a complexconversation at a cellular level
with the DNA, like, reallythink about this.
This is not science fiction,this is actually what happens.
So if you think about well, I'mhaving a green smoothie with,
(16:08):
you know, coconut water, kale,flaxseed oil, avocado, some nuts
, some seeds, all that sort ofstuff versus having uh, nearly
said a brand name, I won't saythat a hamburger from a fast
food chain that might have alimp bit of lettuce, a slice of
(16:31):
tomato, a meat patty that'sprobably full of actually
definitely full of preservativesand additives on a pretty low
nutrition level bread.
It's not ideal, right?
I don't want that having aconversation with my cells.
(16:52):
I don't want that having aconversation with my DNA and
influencing my DNA, do you?
I don't.
So that's kind of how I like tothink about food when we're
looking at the health of thebody.
And that's not saying I neverhave treats.
(17:13):
My friends know, and I know alot of my friends listen to the
podcast.
They know that I like to have adrink, I like to have dessert,
I like to, you know, eat out.
But I also balance that out byeating at home as often as I can
during the week in particular,always having breakfast at home,
(17:36):
pretty much, even if I, youknow I do have a regular
breakfast club with somebeautiful friends and I will
generally still have my greensmoothie or I'll have something
that's more whole food basedbefore I go and I'll either have
a coffee and a sweet treat or,if I do have breakfast, it would
be the most whole foodbreakfast I can possibly order
(17:58):
off that menu.
So that includes not orderingthings like scrambled eggs,
because that's going to be fullof cream, butter, dairy salt,
all of the things poached eggway better choice.
So it's just thinking aboutyour food like that.
Because, getting back to myoriginal topic, having, when
(18:18):
your hormones are kind of out ofwhack and your body is really
struggling and I know that formany of my women that are
listening to this podcast theirbodies are struggling, your
minds are struggling.
That's probably why you'relistening to the podcast.
It's because we're all goingthrough this together and you
think well, you know, at leastI've got MHT up my sleeve if I
really feel like I want to dothat.
(18:39):
But it is not the magic pill.
If you don't have the rightfoods on board, then those
hormones they're only going todo so much.
And believe me I've worked inthe pharmaceutical industry for
16 years and even our mostwell-researched drugs, they
(19:06):
don't work 100% on 100% ofpeople.
There's some things these drugscan do, but they're not a magic
pill.
And any of you that might have,for example, high blood
pressure, it's very common tohave two or three different
medications required to get thatblood pressure under control.
It's not just having one pilland then you're done for most
people.
So you know these drugs aren'tjust a magic cure.
So really look at no matter whatsort of medical condition you
(19:30):
might have currently or ifyou're just trying to stay
healthy for your future and foryour current situation, really
look at.
Okay, what am I eating on aweekly basis and is it really
the stuff that I want to behaving complex communications
with my cells and my DNA andinfluencing that DNA for my
(19:51):
future health?
Really have a think about that.
So that, from a food point ofview, I guess is probably all I
want to cover.
But there's more, becausethere's lifestyle obviously.
Now, when I'm talking aboutlifestyle, it's pretty much
everything else, it's themind-body stuff.
So what is your stress levellike on a daily basis?
(20:11):
And that's not to say that, ohwell, I've got a lot of
stressors in my life, so there'snothing I can do about that.
You can learn to regulate yourresponse to those stressors.
Now, you can learn to regulateyour response to those stressors
and often when you have theright food on board, that helps
as well.
And I see this a lot in clientsin the first few weeks of their
program.
They go gosh.
I just feel so much calmer.
(20:31):
And there's probably a numberof reasons One, the inflammation
will have gone down.
We know when you have gutissues, you have brain issues.
I don't know if that's quitethe right way to describe it,
but if you have gut inflammation, it's likely there's some
low-grade inflammation going onin the brain.
Now that is not something youneed to be scared of and going
(20:55):
to the doctor and gettingantibiotics or anything like
that.
That's not what I'm talkingabout.
But we know with, for example,brain fog, which a lot of women
have in perimenopause andpostmenopause, that it's just
what we call this leaky brain orthis low-level brain
inflammation, and absolutely wecan fix that just with the right
food choices.
And also the other thing thatwe need is good brain chemicals,
(21:19):
such as our serotonin, ourdopamine, our melatonin, all of
those sorts of things, and foodhas a huge influence on that as
well, as well as your breathingtechniques, as well as spending
time in nature.
We know that spending time innature has a profound impact on
our DNA, has a profound impacton our ability to handle the
(21:44):
stressors in our lives.
So spending a little bit oftime in nature, whether that's
walking the dog, whether that isgoing for a swim, whether
that's just standing with yourfeet on some grass, whether it's
looking out the window at theblue sky or whether it is
feeling the sunlight on yourskin.
Spending time in nature is aprofound way to impact your DNA
(22:09):
and therefore your experience ofperimenopause and menopause and
your health ongoing.
So I mentioned breathing.
Obviously, other things, like Imean meditation, is great if it
suits your mind.
For some people, they justcan't get their mind to settle,
and that's where breathing canbe amazing, because we all have
(22:30):
to breathe.
And also, of course, movement.
That's probably the last thingI'll talk about in this podcast
and finding movement that youlove, whether that's dancing in
your living room, findingmovement that you love, whether
that's dancing in your livingroom, whether that is walking,
doing a HIIT class, cycling,swimming, reformer which, as you
know, I love yoga any of thosethings where, when you're doing
(22:54):
those activities, it's bringingyou joy.
Also, it is moving your body,so improving your flexibility.
It will be helping to flush outtoxins.
It will be improving yourmuscle mass, your strength, your
ability to move and maintainMovement is such an important
(23:15):
part of many people's lives,even just to deal with things in
daily life.
Being able to lift, being ableto move things is actually, you
know, I was thinking about onthe weekend because I was moving
around some plants and thingslike that and picking up my dogs
and picking up their dog bowls,and you know, it's just all
(23:37):
these little things that you doon a daily basis that require
your body to be in a prettyreasonable state.
Like I've got, as I'vementioned many times, a chronic
neck shoulder issue.
So I'm always very mindful ofthat, and when I'm going through
periods where it's not feelinggood, then it really impacts my
(23:58):
ability to do all of thoseeveryday activities which are
necessary.
So it makes those simple thingsreally difficult.
But I know that if I continuemy gym, if I continue my
reformer, if I am well hydrated,if I'm eating well, then all of
that settles down.
That inflammation, thattightness, that pain settles
(24:20):
down, my sleep better andeverything in life feels better
when all of that is in balance,including hormones.
So I think that's all I'm goingto talk about today.
I know I've been a little bitall over the place, but I just
wanted to kind of freeform ittoday and I hope that that has
(24:44):
been interesting.
If you've got any questions,I'd love to hear from you.
I always love getting littlemessages.
It just really makes my dayBecause, as I've often said, I'm
just standing in my office withmy three doggies just recording
this thinking is anybodylistening?
I mean, I know people are, butit is really nice to get that
(25:05):
feedback.
So I hope you're having a greatweek so far and I'll be back on
Thursday with Q and A.
Thanks so much for joining metoday on the Ageless and Awesome
podcast.
If you liked today's episode,please make sure you click the
little plus button if you're onApple podcasts, or little plus
button if you're on ApplePodcasts, or the follow button
if you're on Spotify, so thatyou get each new episode
(25:27):
delivered to you every week.
If you like free stuff, thenhead to the show notes and click
the link to receive my freeRadiant Reset Hormone Detox
Guide for Perimenopausal Women.
Or, if you'd like to continuethe discussion, head over to
Instagram and DM me atSusieGardenWellness.
I'd love to connect with you.
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