Midlife part 3(b)
Let's get radically honest about our lifestyle choices
This is a long one with many resources/links/videos, so I suggest reading it via the URL site thesoberglow.substack.com
The first part is available to all readers. The remainder is available to the subscribers to the Feel Good Studio. If you find this information valuable and would like to support this work, please consider subscribing. Sharing this newsletter is also a beautiful way to give support and I appreciate it so much!
Midlife part 3 (a) Resistance training
Midlife part 3 (b) Nutrition
Midlife part 3 (c) Supplements & Herbs
Midlife part 3 (d) Stress reduction & Rest
Nutrition. Not an easy topic. Add in the midlife messiness, and it becomes a landmine. However, if we can get through all the misinformation and people selling stuff and shouting polarizing tidbits, I think we can navigate it pretty well. We just have to learn the basics, test it out, understand how certain foods make us feel, and willingly make the best choice that is available to us, I think we will be ok. In fact, I think we will be better than ok.
Trigger warning: This newsletter is covering food. If this topic triggers you in any way, please skip it and we will catch up next time.
Read this email with a grain of salt. You may be vegan, vegetarian, pescatarian, carnivore, or somewhere in between. Because social media has ruined me, I feel it necessary to always give a reminder that I am writing about this from my perspective. You may not agree with everything I share here, and in this community, you are welcome to share that. I love open and respectful dialogue. Often, I think that’s how we learn the best. Here I will be sharing what I have been learning (and incorporating) and from who. I also like to back up my information with a bit of science mixed with anecdotal experience, as an RN but also a 46yr old woman who is IN IT right now.
Since nutrition is so damn vast, I am narrowing it down to the core of what I believe all women should be considering, especially in midlife.
Protein intake
Intermittent fasting
Anti-inflammatory choices
The experts mentioned:
Cynthia Thurlow, NP
Dr. Mindy Pelz
Dr. Amy Shah
Dr. Gabrielle Lyon
Dr. Layne Norton
Dr. Stacy Sims
To note, my baseline for who I consider an expert starts with a medical degree, plus additional training in nutrition. I do not consider social media influencers, non-elite athletes, or writers for websites like well+good and goop to be experts or expert advice. Those are opinions, which can often be spot on and may work for us, but they are still opinions.
As always, all sources are listed at the bottom of this newsletter.
PROTEIN for midlife.
Up until I started working with my trainer Ashley, who happens to also coach on nutrition, I never once considered my macros.
Macros = protein, fat, carbohydrates
Ashley had me tracking macros for the first time. My main takeaway from this tracking is that if you have never done it before, and if you’ve never paid attention to what you eat, your eyes will be opened! I was shocked by my eating habits. Also, I’ve never been someone with any issues around food (sugar may be another story, but that sh*tshow topic will be its own newsletter) but I can see how tracking could be a gateway into diet culture and becoming too restrictive around food. So if there are any issues with disordered eating, I would stay away from it. However, if someone is not distressed by it, tracking can be quite educational and can definitely change your trajectory, as it did for me.
I turned a blind eye to protein in general. Of course, I knew I needed it, but I honestly never thought about it. During my first few weeks of tracking, I quickly learned how little protein I was eating. That was the first thing we changed. Instead of taking things away, Ashley simply set a protein goal for me and I was to try to meet it daily.
The first controversy starts with how much protein we should be getting. Here are some of what the experts say:
“The recommended dietary allowance to prevent deficiency for an average sedentary adult is 0.8 grams per kilogram of body weight. For example, a person who weighs 165 pounds, or 75 kilograms, should consume 60 grams of protein per day.” - Mayo Clinic Health Systems
To put this into perspective, that means a non-active 130lb (59kg respectively). 59 x 0.8 = 47.2gm of protein.
*Personally, I take the RDA about as seriously as I take the food pyramid. Meaning, I don’t.
To meet the functional needs such as promoting skeletal-muscle protein accretion and physical strength, dietary intake of 1.0, 1.3, and 1.6g protein per kg BW per day is recommended for individuals with minimal, moderate, and intense physical activity, respectively. - PubMed
Consume 1 gram of protein per pound of body weight - Dr. Gabrielle Lyon
The recommended ratio for protein consumption is 1:1 for grams/pound of your ideal body weight. - Cynthia Thurlow, NP
I recommend 75gm of protein a day for women - Dr. Mindy Pelz
With PubMed recommendations that 130lb (59kg) woman is now recommended to eat anywhere from 59-94gm of protein! (59kg x 1, 59kg x 1.3, 59 x 1.6).
Daily protein requirements: 1.6 – 2.4 g / kg or .24g/kg/meal - Dr. Layne Norton
Then there is the plant-based community which consumes protein from non-animal sources such as lentils, beans, nuts, greens, chickpeas, etc. It seems (my experience) that vegans of course recognize the importance of protein but often disagree about the amount that is necessary.
Three-quarters of a gram per pound of body weight - Matt Frazier the No Meat Athlete via the Rich Roll Podcast.
Someone I respect very much also shares an opinion similar to Matt and Rich. You can read all about it here.
So to simplify and completely generalize the above:
RDA is 0.8gm per kilogram of weight (130lb = 59kg =47.2gm protein).
Plant-based community recommends 0.75gm per pound of weight (130lb x .75 = 97.5gm protein) or less.
Meat eating community recommends 1gm per pound of weight (130lb x 1.1 = 143gm protein) or more.
*Note the potential confusion; some use kilograms, and others use pounds.
Do you want to pull your hair out yet? Yea, me too. Now let’s specifically talk about women in perimenopause and menopause. It’s no secret that as we age there is a natural decline in muscle mass.
“Skeletal muscle weakness occurs with aging and in females this is compounded by the loss of estrogen with ovarian failure. Estrogen deficiency mediates decrements in muscle strength from both inadequate preservation of skeletal muscle mass and decrements in the quality of the remaining skeletal muscle.” - NIH
and
“Broadly speaking, women should aim for 1.7 to 2.4 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight per day. (1 kilogram = 2.2 pounds, so to figure your weight in lbs to kg, just divide by 2.2.) Women in the menopause transition should target the higher end of that range (2.2 to 2.4 grams per kilogram), aiming for the lower end on easier days and the higher end on very heavy training days”. - Dr. Stacy Sims
So to me, it just makes sense with this information that I should be increasing my protein intake. But I am also aware that just eating more protein won’t make me keep or gain muscle. No. I also have to lift heavy sh*t to do that. Unfortunately, just focusing on eating more protein will not give us muscle. Damn.
Below is a list of RABBIT HOLES: For all things women and protein