Processed Food
Role on Hormones
Did you know?
The United States has the worst health outcomes of any country in contrast to the significant cost of healthcare. These statistics can be discouraging, but how does it impact your personal health, and more importantly, what can you do to be the healthiest version of yourself?
Learning to eat to support optimum health is critical given how lousy the quality of the food is in the United States
Processed foods can significantly impact hormone balance in the body, often leading to various health issues. Foods high in refined sugars and carbohydrates, can cause rapid spikes in blood sugar levels. Over time, this can lead to insulin resistance.
Persistent insulin resistance can lead to metabolic syndrome, obesity, and further hormonal imbalances.
Currently 50%of adults are either Diabetic or Pre-Diabetic.
Processed foods often contain trans fats and high amounts of sugar, which can trigger inflammation and stress responses in the body, leading to elevated cortisol levels.
Chronically high cortisol can result in weight gain, disrupted sleep, mood swings, and other hormone imbalances.
This leads to problems with sperm in men and PCOS in women.
Many processed foods contain chemicals such as phthalates and BPA(Bisphenol A), which are known as endocrine disruptors. These chemicals can mimic estrogen and disrupt the natural balance of estrogen and progesterone in the body.
This hormonal imbalance can contribute to conditions such as polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), irregular menstrual cycles, infertility, and increased risk of hormone-dependent cancers like breast cancer.
Processed foods are often high in fructose, which can interfere with the body's ability to regulate leptin, the hormone responsible for controlling hunger and fat storage. Leptin resistance can lead to overeating, weight gain, and difficulty losing weight, perpetuating a cycle of hormonal imbalance.
Processed foods often lack essential nutrients like iodine, selenium, and zinc, which are crucial for healthy thyroid function. Poor thyroid function can result in hypothyroidism, causing fatigue, weight gain, and hormonal irregularities.
Processed foods can disrupt gut health, leading to poor digestion and absorption of nutrients. A healthy gut is essential for proper hormone metabolism and detoxification.
Gut issues can affect the balance of hormones like serotonin and estrogen, leading to mood swings, depression, and worsening of PMS or menopausal symptoms.
Choose Whole Foods: Prioritize whole, unprocessed foods like fruits, vegetables, whole grains, lean proteins, and healthy fats.
Limit Sugary and Processed Snacks: Reducing the intake of refined sugars and trans fats can improve insulin sensitivity and lower cortisol levels.
Support Gut Health: Incorporate fiber-rich foods, probiotics, and prebiotics to support digestion and hormone balance.
Where can you start today to shift the quality of the food you are eating?
One of my favorite hacks is hiring a high quality meal prep service. These services drop ready packed meals high in nutrient density to your door in the same amount of time it takes to order fast food on Door Dash.
Here is my favorite resource for Meal Prep in San Diego:
https://order.foodofjoy.com/
To find a good meal prep in your area, here are the things to look for:
Find out what oils they cook with. If they use any seeds oils, keep looking.
Ask about packaging. Look for compostable packaging where possible to minimize plastics leeching into meals.
Ask about the sourcing of any proteins. For example, tofu not grown organically is one of the dirtiest foods, while grown organically it is a great source of nutrition.
For further reading, here are some great links:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KISzuU67Awc
https://www.ifm.org/news-insights/nutrition-impacts-hormone-signaling/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8538.
“Health is not valued until sickness comes” —Thomas Fuller
For any custom guidance, schedule a free chat to get started with me today.
Remember we are all BIOINDIVIDUAL, what works for one does not work the same for another.
For more info on packages and classes with Angie’s Real Food look here:
https://angiesrealfood.com/
