September 23, 2024 • 22 mins
Do you like to sleep in on weekends or days off?
Or does your routine change significantly on those days?
Or are you a shift worker?
Did you know your irregular eating habits could be throwing your entire system off balance? Join me as we tackle the fascinating concept of metabolic jet lag and its significant impact on women navigating perimenopause.
I'll explain how disruptions to our circadian rhythm—triggered by erratic meal times and fluctuating daily routines—can lead to fatigue, weight gain, and digestion woes. And who knew that frequent travel, shift work, and those unpredictable weekend habits can contribute to increased blood pressure and rising HbA1c levels, ultimately affecting glucose management and overall health.
Ready to reclaim your metabolic health? This episode offers you five indispensable tips tailored for women in perimenopause. We'll explore the power of regular meal times and the benefits of whole, nutrient-dense foods to keep your energy levels steady. Mindful eating emerges as a key tactic for curbing cravings and enhancing digestion, while staying well-hydrated becomes crucial for distinguishing between hunger and thirst. Plus, discover how prioritizing sleep can be a game-changer in regulating hormones and supporting your brain's detoxification process. Whether you're battling metabolic jet lag or just seeking a balanced, healthy lifestyle, these practical strategies are your roadmap to wellness. I'd love it if you shared these insights and please subscribe now for more transformative health tips!
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.
I'm back after having a coupleof weeks break off the podcast,
(00:45):
just to kind of refresh myapproach a little, refresh my
topics, and so I'm back withfresh, new content today.
So I want to start this podcastwith a question to you who likes
to sleep in on weekends or ondays off and therefore eat later
(01:08):
?
And it may not even be that youlike to sleep in.
It could be just that yourroutines are a little different
on weekends and so your mealtimes are a little more
interrupted and not the same asthey are during the week.
The reason I'm asking thisquestion is because last week I
did some refresher training.
I spent two whole days doingrefresher training on metabolic
(01:31):
balance.
So metabolic balance is thepersonalized nutrition program
that I use in my signatureprogram, the GLOW protocol, and
I also just do it as plainmetabolic balance for men
because I do work with men aswell.
And during this refreshertraining, the concept of
metabolic jet lag was discussedand I'd actually never heard of
(01:54):
this before.
I don't know if you have.
It's also known as social jetlag.
Again, never heard of this andit's got nothing to do really
with flying.
So I did some reading and it'sactually really interesting and
actually very relevant.
So I had to share this with youtoday on the podcast because it
(02:19):
especially impacts women duringperimenopause.
I haven't really structuredthat sentence very well.
It doesn't especially impactwomen, it just has some.
I think with women inperimenopause we also have some
other things going on in ourbodies which can make the impact
of social jet lag or metabolicjet lag even more pronounced,
(02:41):
particularly concerning weightmanagement, and I know that that
is a big concern with many ofthe women that listen to the
podcast, certainly a big concernwith many of the women that
work with me.
So I really enjoyed having aread about it and I thought that
you would enjoy hearing aboutit.
So let's start by understandingwhat it actually means.
(03:02):
What is metabolic jet lag?
So, in simple terms we keep itreally super simple it's a
disruption of our body'sinternal biological clock, our
circadian rhythm.
So you've probably all heard ofcircadian rhythm, I'm sure you
have.
So circadian rhythm isessentially this 24-hour cycle
(03:25):
that influences a lot of thedifferent physiological
processes that go on in ourbodies, including our metabolism
, our sleep-wake cycles, ourhormone release.
Many, many, many, manydifferent things are all tied
into our circadian rhythm.
(03:45):
And this clock, this internalbiological clock that we call
the circadian rhythm, it'sdeeply tied to our environment.
It responds to light, itresponds to darkness, it helps
regulate when we feel alertthrough certain hormone release
and when we feel tired.
So this metabolic jet lag, orsocial jet lag, is a disruption
(04:12):
of our circadian rhythm causedby some of our specific
behaviors.
So and let's get into thosespecific behaviors, I guess.
So we're now.
Eating patterns are inconsistentand this can be because of
being really busy, working longhours, having frequent travel.
(04:33):
I know, in my previouscorporate job I used to
frequently travel acrossAustralia during multiple
different time zones and evenjust the two hour, I think, two
hour or three hour, whether Iwas living in Sydney or Brisbane
when this happened to me, thatI remember going to Perth and
having to kind of crashed in theafternoon.
(04:53):
I remember saying to therepresentative I was working
with that day I was like I needyou to take me back to my hotel
and it was like two o'clock inthe afternoon, which was the
equivalent of either four orfive o'clock in the afternoon my
body clock time but I just wasstruggling.
So even that small timedifference can make a huge
impact on the body, andcertainly for me, and at that
(05:15):
point I would have only beengosh 40 odd.
So yeah, frequent travel can be, and particularly across
different time zones.
Shift work, that's a big oneand that's another thing that
I've had many years ofexperience.
When I was a nurse that made ahuge difference to how I felt.
The week we used to do sevennights in a row of shift work
(05:37):
and that was horrible.
Um, but this may be applicableto you.
Even just changes in routine onyour weekends or on your days
off or on your holidays can leadto this metabolic jet lag and
it means that our body strugglesto sync up its metabolic
processes, which are reallyimportant, with our irregular
(06:00):
mealtimes, and that can resultin issues like fatigue, weight
gain and digestive issues.
And you may have noticed this.
You know, when you travel, whenyou're on holidays, when you
have a different routine, youmay notice that you feel more
tired.
You may notice that you put onweight more easily or that you
have bloating or something goingon with the gut.
(06:20):
So this metabolic jet lag hasbeen researched I would say not
particularly robustly, let's putit that way but there's been
quite a bit of interest andresearch in this, particularly
because of the impact on ourglucose level.
So I'm just going to get intothat.
And the reason that the impacton the glucose levels is of
(06:45):
interest to researchers isbecause of diabetes and the
epidemic of diabetes that we arein in the Western world.
So, yeah, what the research hasshown is that metabolic jet lag
increases blood pressure.
(07:09):
That metabolic jet lag increasesblood pressure, increases
levels of something called HbA1c.
So this is the blood glucosemeasurement that takes into
account about three months ofblood glucose levels.
So when you go for a bloodglucose test, generally there's
two measures that they do.
They do the serum blood glucose, which is what it is right now
when the needle hits the skin,and that's influenced by what
you've been eating sort of inthe hours leading up to the test
(07:32):
or if you've been fasting.
That will impact it as well.
But HbA1c looks at a particularlittle.
I think it's a protein thatsits on.
I think it's a protein thatsits on.
It's glycated hemoglobin iswhat it's called and it will
give us an indication of whatyour blood glucose average blood
glucose has been over theprevious three months.
(07:54):
So you can't kind of trick yourdoctor or your healthcare
professional with your bloodglucose management because we
look at HbA1c and we can tell.
Even if your fasting bloodglucose is exceptional, if your
HbA1c is high, then we know thatthere's been something going on
in your body that's beenimpacting that and probably your
behavior around food.
(08:14):
So we know that this metabolicjet lag increases blood pressure
, increases HbA1c.
It also is associated with ahigher BMI, so our body mass
index, also a higher waistcircumference, and that is
really really a really criticalmeasure of your metabolic health
(08:36):
.
And also it's been associatedwith higher odds of obesity
Really important because obesitycan lead to multiple long-term
chronic health conditions as allat any time actually through
your life.
Now, interestingly, because alot of these studies are being
done on people with type 2diabetes, but they found in
(08:59):
people with type 1 diabetes.
So type 1 diabetes is the onethat tends to be childhood or
young adulthood diagnosis andthat's where people must have
insulin.
2 diabetes is more that adultonset where you can get away
with dietary management.
You can get away with sometablets.
(09:20):
Some people do need to go toinsulin, but it tends to be
further down the track, whereaspeople with type 1 diabetes must
have insulin, and they foundthat people with this metabolic
jet lag it actually caused themto need more insulin on a daily
basis and worse blood sugarcontrol overall.
(09:44):
And that is really importantwhen you're managing type 1
diabetes, because what youreally want you want to avoid
hyperglycemia so too much sugarin the blood, hyperglycemia so
too much sugar in the blood andhypo.
Either of those can be verydramatic, very critical health
(10:06):
conditions that can lead tohospitalization, even death.
So you need to be very mindful.
People that have type 1diabetes know all about this.
So, yeah, this metabolic jetlag is particularly important
with type 1 diabetes.
But, yeah, I do want to beclear More research does need to
be done, but that research thatthey've done so far is looking
pretty consistent.
So, as I mentioned before, formy ladies in perimenopause it's
(10:31):
particularly important to beaware of and perhaps manage and
I'm going to get into managementshortly.
But for many women inperimenopause, obviously you're
getting these fluctuatinghormone levels, with your
estrogen particularly, and moreyour drop away of your
progesterone and I've talkedabout it on the podcast before.
(10:53):
There's absolutely a tendencytowards insulin resistance at
this time and alsopost-menopause, and that can
impact your metabolism, yourmood and your energy levels.
So when you add metabolic jetlag on top of that, it can
(11:14):
intensify symptoms such asweight gain, sugar cravings,
fatigue and sleep disturbances,and particularly if you're
already having the sleepdisturbances that come with low
progesterone, this can justamplify that.
So the take-home message isreally that our metabolism
(11:35):
functions best when we eat insync with our circadian rhythm
and when we eat at irregulartimes such as late at night or
on, for example, the weekend.
If you sleep in, you're nothaving breakfast till, say, 10
or 11, maybe you then don't eatlunch, or you're having lunch at
(11:57):
maybe two or three, or you'rejust having a big snack then to
tide you over to dinner orwhatever.
This can lead to impairedglucose metabolism, sugar
cravings, overeating, fatigueand weight gain, as well as
sleep issues.
So this is particularlyconcerning during perimenopause,
(12:18):
given the hormonal changes arealready kind of putting you at
risk for these things,particularly that abdominal
weight gain, because thatabdominal weight gain is the one
that's going to increase yourcardiovascular risk, your
diabetes risk, all these thingsthat we don't really want to
think about, right?
I don't want to think aboutthat.
I'm too young to get any ofthese issues right.
(12:41):
But the thing is, what you'redoing now on a daily basis
whether that's with what you'reeating, whether it's how you're
moving your body, whether it'show you're managing your stress,
whether it's your hydration allof the decisions you're making
on a daily basis are impactingyour future self, impacting your
future health, and so it'sreally important to be making
(13:07):
decisions now that your 60 and70 and 80 and 90 year old self
are going to be grateful for,because you're going to have a
better quality of life, you'regoing to have less pain in your
body, you're going to havebetter activity, you're going to
be able to do the things thatyou love doing, because you've
managed your health well rightnow, at this critical time point
(13:30):
for health, which isperimenopause.
So how do we manage this?
How do we mitigate the effectsof metabolic jet lag, especially
during perimenopause?
So here are kind of my fivetips to doing that.
So probably the main one thatyou may have already guessed
(13:50):
from what I've told you aboutmetabolic jet lag the main one
is to maintain your regular mealtimes.
Now we already know from some ofthe more recent sleep research
that you are way better gettingup at the same time every day,
regardless of the amount ofsleep that you've had.
(14:11):
So, for example, if younormally get up say, for example
, me, I normally get up ataround six-ish on a weekday, but
sometimes on a weekend I thinkI'll be nice to get up at seven
or whatever.
Unfortunately my dogs wake meup, so I don't really have a lot
of choices with regard to that.
But we know with sleep,maintaining regular sleep
(14:33):
schedule actually helps insomnia.
So even if you've been awakefor four hours during the night,
rather than trying to catch upthat sleep the following morning
and trying to sleep until, say,eight or nine o'clock, you're
still better off getting up atsix, even if you're dragging
yourself out of bed to try andreset your clock.
So maintaining regular mealtimes is really important.
(14:53):
So trying to eat your meals atthe same times every day or
within reason, including onweekends.
So ideally you're doing threebalanced main meals a day and no
snacks, and this really helpsto align your metabolism with
your body's natural rhythms.
(15:14):
And this is awesome for yourdigestion, your gut symptoms,
your blood glucose balance, yourenergy levels and your ability
to maintain a healthy weight.
Because if you maintain sort ofthat five to six hours between
meals, you will get yourselfinto fat burning zone.
Obviously, as long as thosemeals are well balanced, if
(15:36):
you've got too little protein,too little carb, too little fat,
you're going to get hungry, sothey need to be balanced.
Luckily, when I use metabolicbalance, all of that is
calculated scientifically for me, for my clients, so I know that
that's exactly right for thatperson's body biochemistry,
(15:59):
their medical history, theirweight loss goal, their
metabolic type, et cetera.
So for yourself, if you're notdoing that type of program, it's
going to be a little bit hitand miss and experimentation,
but it's totally doable.
It just might take you a littlebit of time to do that, but
(16:24):
it's definitely worth it.
My second tip is what I probablysay every week on this podcast
is to have whole foods as themajority of your meal.
So focusing on your nutrientdense foods, veggies, fruits,
whole grains, lean proteins,healthy fats this balanced
nutrition supports your energyto be nice and stable, helps to
(16:46):
regulate cravings and providesyour cells with everything that
they need to do their job, todetox properly, to manage your
hormone balance, like it's justa bit of a no-brainer.
Your body knows what to do withwhole foods in a way that it
simply is not equipped to handlepackaged foods or processed
(17:10):
foods.
Lots of highly like your whitefoods, your white flour, your
white sugar, your white rice,your white pasta, all of those
sorts of things.
So whole foods is just a nobrainer.
The third kind of tip I wouldgive with regard to this is to
practice mindful eating.
So all that means is just toslow down and be present when
(17:33):
you're eating your food, ratherthan being in front of the TV or
being in front of your screenor checking your emails, et
cetera.
Being present while you eatactually helps your digestive
enzymes be produced, believe itor not, and I can give you a
quick example of that right now.
Bring into your mind yourabsolute favorite food, whether
(17:56):
that's chocolate, whether thatis hot baked bread, whether that
is a big plate of pot, likewhatever it is.
Bring that into your mind rightnow, think about it, imagine it
and notice if your mouth iswatering.
Notice if you might feel a bithungry or maybe you suddenly
(18:19):
have a craving for thatparticular food.
That is part of what we call acephalic reflex.
That's C-E-P-H-A-L-I-C, thecatholic reflex.
So when you are present whileeating, that can really help
those digestive enzymes getproduced.
It can help you tune into yourhunger and fullness cues so you
(18:43):
don't overeat.
And that's really criticalduring perimenopause, when
cravings can spike.
Menopause, when cravings canspike.
Next tip stay hydrated.
Water is vital for metabolicprocesses.
It also sometimes our sensationof hunger is actually a
(19:07):
sensation of thirst.
So if you're fully hydratedthen you know for sure whether
or not you're hungry.
But it's also just we needwater every day for for the
chemical reactions that go on inour body.
So I will always give that umwater calculation 35 mils per
kilo of your body weight is yourideal amount of water a day.
And that includes if you're noton the GLO protocol or
(19:28):
metabolic balance, by the way.
If you are, that's your waterintake, but if you're not, that
can include things like yourherbal teas, not your tea or
coffee.
It can include your soups orsmoothies and things like that
any sort of fluid in yourcooking Again, not if you have
metabolic balance or the GLOWprotocol.
(19:51):
My fifth tip is to prioritizeyour sleep.
Good sleep hygiene is essential, so aim for a consistent sleep
schedule as much as you can.
I mean, obviously, there aregoing to be times if you're
going out and having a latenight, if you're going to bed at
like midnight, whatever.
Sure, I mean you're not goingto be doing that every weekend,
(20:12):
probably.
Yeah, creating a regular sleepschedule can really help your
body recharge.
It helps your body regulateyour hormone levels, because we
do a lot of hormone workovernight.
When we're asleep, we get ourglymphatic system working well,
which is our braindetoxification.
(20:34):
That's really important forhelping things like brain fog,
cognition, et cetera.
So all of these tips I'll justrun them past you again maintain
your regular meal times, choosewhole foods, practice mindful
eating, stay hydrated andprioritize sleep.
This will all help you combatthat metabolic jet lag if it
(20:57):
impacts you.
It's also important torecognize that everyone's
experience with perimenopause isunique, so there may be things
that help you identify whatworks best for you, and
particularly if some of this isjust not possible.
If you're a shift worker, forexample, then at least being
aware of this issue of metabolicjet lag can, if you have an
(21:19):
awareness that maybe it can helpyou with your own routines.
I know as a previous shiftworker myself, you do have
control over some of those sleeproutines that you have in place
and maybe that might just helpyou to change some of that.
So if you found this episodeinsightful, please feel free to
share it.
(21:40):
I love it when people share thepodcast.
That's how I grow.
Mainly is that organic sharing.
So pop it on your stories.
Tag me.
I would love to hear that, orsee that you're sharing it, and
I'll share it to my stories aswell.
And don't forget to subscribeso that you get the episode into
your device every single week.
So I'll be back on Thursdaywith a new Q&A.
(22:01):
Enjoy your week and I will seeyou soon.
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 the follow
button if you're on Spotify, sothat you get each new episode
delivered to you every week.
If you like free stuff, thenhead to the show notes and click
(22:24):
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.
I'm back after having a coupleof weeks break off the podcast,
(00:45):
just to kind of refresh myapproach a little, refresh my
topics, and so I'm back withfresh, new content today.
So I want to start this podcastwith a question to you who likes
to sleep in on weekends or ondays off and therefore eat later
(01:08):
?
And it may not even be that youlike to sleep in.
It could be just that yourroutines are a little different
on weekends and so your mealtimes are a little more
interrupted and not the same asthey are during the week.
The reason I'm asking thisquestion is because last week I
did some refresher training.
I spent two whole days doingrefresher training on metabolic
(01:31):
balance.
So metabolic balance is thepersonalized nutrition program
that I use in my signatureprogram, the GLOW protocol, and
I also just do it as plainmetabolic balance for men
because I do work with men aswell.
And during this refreshertraining, the concept of
metabolic jet lag was discussedand I'd actually never heard of
(01:54):
this before.
I don't know if you have.
It's also known as social jetlag.
Again, never heard of this andit's got nothing to do really
with flying.
So I did some reading and it'sactually really interesting and
actually very relevant.
So I had to share this with youtoday on the podcast because it
(02:19):
especially impacts women duringperimenopause.
I haven't really structuredthat sentence very well.
It doesn't especially impactwomen, it just has some.
I think with women inperimenopause we also have some
other things going on in ourbodies which can make the impact
of social jet lag or metabolicjet lag even more pronounced,
(02:41):
particularly concerning weightmanagement, and I know that that
is a big concern with many ofthe women that listen to the
podcast, certainly a big concernwith many of the women that
work with me.
So I really enjoyed having aread about it and I thought that
you would enjoy hearing aboutit.
So let's start by understandingwhat it actually means.
(03:02):
What is metabolic jet lag?
So, in simple terms we keep itreally super simple it's a
disruption of our body'sinternal biological clock, our
circadian rhythm.
So you've probably all heard ofcircadian rhythm, I'm sure you
have.
So circadian rhythm isessentially this 24-hour cycle
(03:25):
that influences a lot of thedifferent physiological
processes that go on in ourbodies, including our metabolism
, our sleep-wake cycles, ourhormone release.
Many, many, many, manydifferent things are all tied
into our circadian rhythm.
(03:45):
And this clock, this internalbiological clock that we call
the circadian rhythm, it'sdeeply tied to our environment.
It responds to light, itresponds to darkness, it helps
regulate when we feel alertthrough certain hormone release
and when we feel tired.
So this metabolic jet lag, orsocial jet lag, is a disruption
(04:12):
of our circadian rhythm causedby some of our specific
behaviors.
So and let's get into thosespecific behaviors, I guess.
So we're now.
Eating patterns are inconsistentand this can be because of
being really busy, working longhours, having frequent travel.
(04:33):
I know, in my previouscorporate job I used to
frequently travel acrossAustralia during multiple
different time zones and evenjust the two hour, I think, two
hour or three hour, whether Iwas living in Sydney or Brisbane
when this happened to me, thatI remember going to Perth and
having to kind of crashed in theafternoon.
(04:53):
I remember saying to therepresentative I was working
with that day I was like I needyou to take me back to my hotel
and it was like two o'clock inthe afternoon, which was the
equivalent of either four orfive o'clock in the afternoon my
body clock time but I just wasstruggling.
So even that small timedifference can make a huge
impact on the body, andcertainly for me, and at that
(05:15):
point I would have only beengosh 40 odd.
So yeah, frequent travel can be, and particularly across
different time zones.
Shift work, that's a big oneand that's another thing that
I've had many years ofexperience.
When I was a nurse that made ahuge difference to how I felt.
The week we used to do sevennights in a row of shift work
(05:37):
and that was horrible.
Um, but this may be applicableto you.
Even just changes in routine onyour weekends or on your days
off or on your holidays can leadto this metabolic jet lag and
it means that our body strugglesto sync up its metabolic
processes, which are reallyimportant, with our irregular
(06:00):
mealtimes, and that can resultin issues like fatigue, weight
gain and digestive issues.
And you may have noticed this.
You know, when you travel, whenyou're on holidays, when you
have a different routine, youmay notice that you feel more
tired.
You may notice that you put onweight more easily or that you
have bloating or something goingon with the gut.
(06:20):
So this metabolic jet lag hasbeen researched I would say not
particularly robustly, let's putit that way but there's been
quite a bit of interest andresearch in this, particularly
because of the impact on ourglucose level.
So I'm just going to get intothat.
And the reason that the impacton the glucose levels is of
(06:45):
interest to researchers isbecause of diabetes and the
epidemic of diabetes that we arein in the Western world.
So, yeah, what the research hasshown is that metabolic jet lag
increases blood pressure.
(07:09):
That metabolic jet lag increasesblood pressure, increases
levels of something called HbA1c.
So this is the blood glucosemeasurement that takes into
account about three months ofblood glucose levels.
So when you go for a bloodglucose test, generally there's
two measures that they do.
They do the serum blood glucose, which is what it is right now
when the needle hits the skin,and that's influenced by what
you've been eating sort of inthe hours leading up to the test
(07:32):
or if you've been fasting.
That will impact it as well.
But HbA1c looks at a particularlittle.
I think it's a protein thatsits on.
I think it's a protein thatsits on.
It's glycated hemoglobin iswhat it's called and it will
give us an indication of whatyour blood glucose average blood
glucose has been over theprevious three months.
(07:54):
So you can't kind of trick yourdoctor or your healthcare
professional with your bloodglucose management because we
look at HbA1c and we can tell.
Even if your fasting bloodglucose is exceptional, if your
HbA1c is high, then we know thatthere's been something going on
in your body that's beenimpacting that and probably your
behavior around food.
(08:14):
So we know that this metabolicjet lag increases blood pressure
, increases HbA1c.
It also is associated with ahigher BMI, so our body mass
index, also a higher waistcircumference, and that is
really really a really criticalmeasure of your metabolic health
(08:36):
.
And also it's been associatedwith higher odds of obesity
Really important because obesitycan lead to multiple long-term
chronic health conditions as allat any time actually through
your life.
Now, interestingly, because alot of these studies are being
done on people with type 2diabetes, but they found in
(08:59):
people with type 1 diabetes.
So type 1 diabetes is the onethat tends to be childhood or
young adulthood diagnosis andthat's where people must have
insulin.
2 diabetes is more that adultonset where you can get away
with dietary management.
You can get away with sometablets.
(09:20):
Some people do need to go toinsulin, but it tends to be
further down the track, whereaspeople with type 1 diabetes must
have insulin, and they foundthat people with this metabolic
jet lag it actually caused themto need more insulin on a daily
basis and worse blood sugarcontrol overall.
(09:44):
And that is really importantwhen you're managing type 1
diabetes, because what youreally want you want to avoid
hyperglycemia so too much sugarin the blood, hyperglycemia so
too much sugar in the blood andhypo.
Either of those can be verydramatic, very critical health
(10:06):
conditions that can lead tohospitalization, even death.
So you need to be very mindful.
People that have type 1diabetes know all about this.
So, yeah, this metabolic jetlag is particularly important
with type 1 diabetes.
But, yeah, I do want to beclear More research does need to
be done, but that research thatthey've done so far is looking
pretty consistent.
So, as I mentioned before, formy ladies in perimenopause it's
(10:31):
particularly important to beaware of and perhaps manage and
I'm going to get into managementshortly.
But for many women inperimenopause, obviously you're
getting these fluctuatinghormone levels, with your
estrogen particularly, and moreyour drop away of your
progesterone and I've talkedabout it on the podcast before.
(10:53):
There's absolutely a tendencytowards insulin resistance at
this time and alsopost-menopause, and that can
impact your metabolism, yourmood and your energy levels.
So when you add metabolic jetlag on top of that, it can
(11:14):
intensify symptoms such asweight gain, sugar cravings,
fatigue and sleep disturbances,and particularly if you're
already having the sleepdisturbances that come with low
progesterone, this can justamplify that.
So the take-home message isreally that our metabolism
(11:35):
functions best when we eat insync with our circadian rhythm
and when we eat at irregulartimes such as late at night or
on, for example, the weekend.
If you sleep in, you're nothaving breakfast till, say, 10
or 11, maybe you then don't eatlunch, or you're having lunch at
(11:57):
maybe two or three, or you'rejust having a big snack then to
tide you over to dinner orwhatever.
This can lead to impairedglucose metabolism, sugar
cravings, overeating, fatigueand weight gain, as well as
sleep issues.
So this is particularlyconcerning during perimenopause,
(12:18):
given the hormonal changes arealready kind of putting you at
risk for these things,particularly that abdominal
weight gain, because thatabdominal weight gain is the one
that's going to increase yourcardiovascular risk, your
diabetes risk, all these thingsthat we don't really want to
think about, right?
I don't want to think aboutthat.
I'm too young to get any ofthese issues right.
(12:41):
But the thing is, what you'redoing now on a daily basis
whether that's with what you'reeating, whether it's how you're
moving your body, whether it'show you're managing your stress,
whether it's your hydration allof the decisions you're making
on a daily basis are impactingyour future self, impacting your
future health, and so it'sreally important to be making
(13:07):
decisions now that your 60 and70 and 80 and 90 year old self
are going to be grateful for,because you're going to have a
better quality of life, you'regoing to have less pain in your
body, you're going to havebetter activity, you're going to
be able to do the things thatyou love doing, because you've
managed your health well rightnow, at this critical time point
(13:30):
for health, which isperimenopause.
So how do we manage this?
How do we mitigate the effectsof metabolic jet lag, especially
during perimenopause?
So here are kind of my fivetips to doing that.
So probably the main one thatyou may have already guessed
(13:50):
from what I've told you aboutmetabolic jet lag the main one
is to maintain your regular mealtimes.
Now we already know from some ofthe more recent sleep research
that you are way better gettingup at the same time every day,
regardless of the amount ofsleep that you've had.
(14:11):
So, for example, if younormally get up say, for example
, me, I normally get up ataround six-ish on a weekday, but
sometimes on a weekend I thinkI'll be nice to get up at seven
or whatever.
Unfortunately my dogs wake meup, so I don't really have a lot
of choices with regard to that.
But we know with sleep,maintaining regular sleep
(14:33):
schedule actually helps insomnia.
So even if you've been awakefor four hours during the night,
rather than trying to catch upthat sleep the following morning
and trying to sleep until, say,eight or nine o'clock, you're
still better off getting up atsix, even if you're dragging
yourself out of bed to try andreset your clock.
So maintaining regular mealtimes is really important.
(14:53):
So trying to eat your meals atthe same times every day or
within reason, including onweekends.
So ideally you're doing threebalanced main meals a day and no
snacks, and this really helpsto align your metabolism with
your body's natural rhythms.
(15:14):
And this is awesome for yourdigestion, your gut symptoms,
your blood glucose balance, yourenergy levels and your ability
to maintain a healthy weight.
Because if you maintain sort ofthat five to six hours between
meals, you will get yourselfinto fat burning zone.
Obviously, as long as thosemeals are well balanced, if
(15:36):
you've got too little protein,too little carb, too little fat,
you're going to get hungry, sothey need to be balanced.
Luckily, when I use metabolicbalance, all of that is
calculated scientifically for me, for my clients, so I know that
that's exactly right for thatperson's body biochemistry,
(15:59):
their medical history, theirweight loss goal, their
metabolic type, et cetera.
So for yourself, if you're notdoing that type of program, it's
going to be a little bit hitand miss and experimentation,
but it's totally doable.
It just might take you a littlebit of time to do that, but
(16:24):
it's definitely worth it.
My second tip is what I probablysay every week on this podcast
is to have whole foods as themajority of your meal.
So focusing on your nutrientdense foods, veggies, fruits,
whole grains, lean proteins,healthy fats this balanced
nutrition supports your energyto be nice and stable, helps to
(16:46):
regulate cravings and providesyour cells with everything that
they need to do their job, todetox properly, to manage your
hormone balance, like it's justa bit of a no-brainer.
Your body knows what to do withwhole foods in a way that it
simply is not equipped to handlepackaged foods or processed
(17:10):
foods.
Lots of highly like your whitefoods, your white flour, your
white sugar, your white rice,your white pasta, all of those
sorts of things.
So whole foods is just a nobrainer.
The third kind of tip I wouldgive with regard to this is to
practice mindful eating.
So all that means is just toslow down and be present when
(17:33):
you're eating your food, ratherthan being in front of the TV or
being in front of your screenor checking your emails, et
cetera.
Being present while you eatactually helps your digestive
enzymes be produced, believe itor not, and I can give you a
quick example of that right now.
Bring into your mind yourabsolute favorite food, whether
(17:56):
that's chocolate, whether thatis hot baked bread, whether that
is a big plate of pot, likewhatever it is.
Bring that into your mind rightnow, think about it, imagine it
and notice if your mouth iswatering.
Notice if you might feel a bithungry or maybe you suddenly
(18:19):
have a craving for thatparticular food.
That is part of what we call acephalic reflex.
That's C-E-P-H-A-L-I-C, thecatholic reflex.
So when you are present whileeating, that can really help
those digestive enzymes getproduced.
It can help you tune into yourhunger and fullness cues so you
(18:43):
don't overeat.
And that's really criticalduring perimenopause, when
cravings can spike.
Menopause, when cravings canspike.
Next tip stay hydrated.
Water is vital for metabolicprocesses.
It also sometimes our sensationof hunger is actually a
(19:07):
sensation of thirst.
So if you're fully hydratedthen you know for sure whether
or not you're hungry.
But it's also just we needwater every day for for the
chemical reactions that go on inour body.
So I will always give that umwater calculation 35 mils per
kilo of your body weight is yourideal amount of water a day.
And that includes if you're noton the GLO protocol or
(19:28):
metabolic balance, by the way.
If you are, that's your waterintake, but if you're not, that
can include things like yourherbal teas, not your tea or
coffee.
It can include your soups orsmoothies and things like that
any sort of fluid in yourcooking Again, not if you have
metabolic balance or the GLOWprotocol.
(19:51):
My fifth tip is to prioritizeyour sleep.
Good sleep hygiene is essential, so aim for a consistent sleep
schedule as much as you can.
I mean, obviously, there aregoing to be times if you're
going out and having a latenight, if you're going to bed at
like midnight, whatever.
Sure, I mean you're not goingto be doing that every weekend,
(20:12):
probably.
Yeah, creating a regular sleepschedule can really help your
body recharge.
It helps your body regulateyour hormone levels, because we
do a lot of hormone workovernight.
When we're asleep, we get ourglymphatic system working well,
which is our braindetoxification.
(20:34):
That's really important forhelping things like brain fog,
cognition, et cetera.
So all of these tips I'll justrun them past you again maintain
your regular meal times, choosewhole foods, practice mindful
eating, stay hydrated andprioritize sleep.
This will all help you combatthat metabolic jet lag if it
(20:57):
impacts you.
It's also important torecognize that everyone's
experience with perimenopause isunique, so there may be things
that help you identify whatworks best for you, and
particularly if some of this isjust not possible.
If you're a shift worker, forexample, then at least being
aware of this issue of metabolicjet lag can, if you have an
(21:19):
awareness that maybe it can helpyou with your own routines.
I know as a previous shiftworker myself, you do have
control over some of those sleeproutines that you have in place
and maybe that might just helpyou to change some of that.
So if you found this episodeinsightful, please feel free to
share it.
(21:40):
I love it when people share thepodcast.
That's how I grow.
Mainly is that organic sharing.
So pop it on your stories.
Tag me.
I would love to hear that, orsee that you're sharing it, and
I'll share it to my stories aswell.
And don't forget to subscribeso that you get the episode into
your device every single week.
So I'll be back on Thursdaywith a new Q&A.
(22:01):
Enjoy your week and I will seeyou soon.
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 the follow
button if you're on Spotify, sothat you get each new episode
delivered to you every week.
If you like free stuff, thenhead to the show notes and click
(22:24):
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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