I know I’ve been absent for a few days, but lucky for you, I had seven bowls of awesome flakes this morning and I’m back with a vengeance.
The seminar this weekend was fantastic. It was great to see so many people make the trip out to Hudson and Cassandra touched on many topics that were eye opening. Namely, people need to be more cognizant of their fructose intake (I’m going to touch on this topic in a future article), purity of fish oil is kind of a big deal, saturated fat is actually not that bad (the asshats who wrote Skinny Bitch deserve to be nunchucked to the throat), and tweaking one’s diet/training around their menstrual cycle actually has a lot of merit.
Normally, I’d rather swallow live bees than talk about the female menstrual cycle, but in this case, I’m going to make an exception because it has a lot of applicability to women and how they can change their eating habits to coincide with their friend.*
Estradiol (E2) is the predominant estrogen in the body. What’s great about E2 is the fact that it’s associated with greater fat oxidation and improves glucose uptake along with insulin sensitivity. Contrary to what many believe, estrogen keeps your body fat in check, while the actual culprit is progesterone (causes increased fat storage).
So what does this have to do with how a woman can alter her diet? As the graph above shows, during the Follicular Phase (days 1-13), estradiol steadily increases, while progesterone stays relatively low. It’s during this phase where the body can handle carbohydrates more efficiently and it would be wise to follow a diet higher in carbohydrates/proteins and lower in fat.
Conversely, in the Luteal Phase (days 14-28), estradiol steadily decreases, while progesterone spikes rapidly. It’s during this time that the body handles fat much more efficiently and the body does not tolerate carbs quite as well. According to Cassandra, women should try to vary their macronutrient ratio to include more dietary fat and less carbohydrates during this phase (protein can stay the same).
Additionally, to help counteract PMS, women should try to ingest more EFA’s (Essential Fatty Acids) to help reduce inflammation (GLA-borage oil, Omega-3’s) along with focusing on getting more antioxidants (fruits, veggies, Greens product) in the diet to help prevent free-radical damage that is enhanced during this time. Also, women should lay off their husband/boyfriend/significant other and realize that they’ll take out the garbage when they’re good and ready dammit!!!! *slams door*
*= Period. Or what I like to call “the 5-7 days that could be the worst of a man’s life, which in many cases may lead to a breakup if an excessive amount of time is spent with the periodee.” Just a fair warning, ladies.
