How to eat in your 40s. What you need to know about mid-life nutrition.
There are few subjects as confusing as nutrition. Countless diets exist on the market, all contradicting each other. One claims to eat this, the next to avoid that. It’s no wonder people are confused! It’s time to get back to basics. This is a bit of a long one because I really wanted to provide you with a good overview of the foundations of nutrition, addressing lots of the questions I get in practice. If you’re short on time, skip to the end where I’ve put it all together in a quick checklist.
Macronutrients: The building blocks of food.
There are three main components of food: carbohydrates, protein and fats.
CARBOHYDRATES
Carbohydrates are any food that can be broken down by the body into simple sugars. This includes fruit, vegetables, nuts, lentils, beans, grains, cereals, bread, rice, pasta, honey, sugar, soft drinks and baked goods such as muffins and cakes.
Sugar is used by the body as a fuel source, although the body can use other food sources for fuel (which is why they are called ‘simple’ sugars and not ‘essential’ sugars). Your body only uses sugar as an energy source. Too much of it causes weight gain, diabetes, fatigue, depletion of other nutrients, insomnia, acidity, reduced immunity, fatty liver, teeth cavities, and weak bones. It also promotes heart disease, inflammation, causes brain fog, feeds cancer cells and is highly addictive.
Considering carbohydrates break down to sugar, should we simply avoid all of them? No. Fruit and vegetables average 10% sugar, which leaves 90% nutrition in the form of water, fibre, vitamins, minerals, and phytonutrients. It’s simply about looking at the type of carbohydrate you’re consuming, rather than avoiding them altogether.
Tips for eating carbohydrates:
Vegetables and salads should be eaten in abundance. Anything grown above ground is generally lower in carbohydrates. Anything that is grown below ground, such as root vegetables like potatoes, are storehouses of sugar for the plant and are therefore higher in carbohydrates. Root vegetables are still ok to eat but most of your vegetables should be from above ground sources.
The lowest carbohydrate fruits are berries and melons. Eat one to two serves of fruit every day.
Nuts are a combination food, meaning they are a carbohydrate but also a protein and fat. My concern with nuts is mould. Any stored grain, seed or nut can be contaminated with mould. The best way to prevent this is to buy the freshest nuts possible and store them in the fridge or freezer instead of the cupboard. The healthiest nuts are activated nuts. You can buy these or make your own. An important thing to remember about eating nuts is to eat a portion and not an entire bag.
Consume legumes in moderation. Legumes are also a phytoestrogen, but more about that later.
Grains (foods made from wheat, rice, oats, barley etc.) are best to eat sparingly, if at all. This is because of the amount of sugar they convert to. On average, grains convert to about 75% sugar. Consider a bowl of pasta, roughly 125 grams, this converts to 94 grams of sugar. If a teaspoon of sugar equals 4 grams, the amount of sugar your body converts that bowl of pasta into is the equivalent to 23 ½ teaspoons. This is a lot!
PROTEIN
Proteins are large molecules made up of combinations of smaller units called amino acids. There are twenty-two different amino acids the human body requires to function. Fourteen of these amino acids can be manufactured by the body, while the remaining eight must be obtained from the diet. These eight are termed essential amino acids. Every meal (and snack) must include a complete protein.
All the eight essential amino acids in the correct ratio for the body to use are found in animal foods: meat, chicken, fish, eggs and dairy. Animal foods are therefore termed ‘complete’ proteins. Plant foods are ‘incomplete’ proteins as they lack the complete range of essential amino acids.
The correct ratio of the essential amino acids the body needs can however be obtained from plant foods by combining two or more of the categories listed below:
Legumes: tofu, tempeh, chickpeas, lentils, kidney beans, butter beans, split peas, cannellini beans
Grains & Seeds: rice, oats, millet, buckwheat, quinoa, pumpkin seeds, sesame seeds, sunflower seeds, hemp seeds, linseeds
Nuts: cashews, walnuts, brazil nuts, pecans, pistachios, almonds, hazelnuts, macadamias.
Amino acids are essential for:
Every single cell in your body as they are a key building block for new cell creation.
Building and repairing muscles, organs and other structural components of your body.
Immune response (antibody formation).
Energy (haemoglobin production—part of a red blood cell that carries oxygen).
Building enzymes, neurotransmitters, and hormones.
Regulating body processes (e.g., water balance, transports nutrients).
Stabilizing blood sugar levels
Some women find it difficult to eat enough protein every day. They know they need to eat more protein, but unfortunately, they struggle to digest it, so avoid it. If this is you, you need more digestive fire, more enzymes, and acids. Each meal (and snack) you eat must contain some protein.
FATS
Did you know the body breaks down fats to form essential and non-essential fatty acids? Like protein, essential means that you must eat this macronutrient, as the human body cannot make it. Therefore, eating fat containing foods is a must.
Foods containing good fats include:
Animal products: wild fish, organic eggs, kangaroo, grass-fed meats, full-fat natural or Greek yoghurt.
Vegetarian sources: olives, olive oil, avocado, nuts, seeds, coconut.
Benefits:
Enables absorption and activation of fat-soluble nutrients (ADEK, calcium)
Strengthens bones
Increases sensation of fullness
Production and regulation of hormones
Nerve signalling, such as regulating insulin release
Supports cellular structure and function (a key component of your cells phospholipid membrane)
Reduces premature aging
Cancer preventing
Muscle building
Fat burning (not fat gaining)
Provides energy
Source of lubrication
Anti-inflammatory
Promotes hair, skin and nail health
Supports brain health and cognitive function
Promotes eye health
Improves mood and behaviour
Improves cardiovascular health
Protects the liver from certain drugs and medications
Encourages healthy lung function, as the lung coating surfactant is made from 100% fat
Strengthens the immune system.
Please don’t be afraid of adding the right kinds of fats into your diet. There have been decades of misinformation about dietary fats, and I see people struggle with this information daily. Foods that naturally contain fat are good for our health, while man-made fats or interfered with fats are not. Avoid anything ‘fat free’, ‘low fat’, ‘skim’ or ‘light’. Manufacturers have three main choices when it comes to flavouring foods. Fat, sugar and salt. Fat is beneficial, but sugar and demineralized salt is not. As a golden rule of nutrition, look for the food that is least altered, it will be the best choice every time.
DRINKS
Water
Consider dehydration for a minute. A grape is well hydrated and looks plump, young and healthy, while a dehydrated raisin looks shrivelled up and old. The difference is water. How much are you drinking every day? The minimum you should be drinking is 2 litres.
Something that is far more important than the quantity of water you are drinking, is the quality of water. Please invest in a quality water filter and stop drinking out of plastic water bottles. Glass or stainless-steel bottle varieties are much safer.
Herbal teas
Herbal teas can be very delicious and helpful during menopause. The only word of warning here is that some women are triggered by drinking hot drinks if this is you try these as iced teas instead.
Sage is a traditional menopause tea used to help reduce excessive sweat. It also has calming, anti-inflammatory and memory enhancing qualities. The tea can be drunk with fresh or dried tea leaves.
Fennel tea is usually considered a digestive drink, good for bloating, gas and cramps but it’s also a good tea for menopause. It has been found to help reduce hot flushes and anxiety while improving sleep.
Green tea is thought of an aging well tea. It has antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties. Brain function enhancing and anxiety reducing components such as L-theanine. It may boost your metabolism and aid in blood sugar regulation and weight loss. It could also strengthen your bone metabolism and reduce your risk of breaks.
Alcohol
Alcohol can trigger hot flushes in many women. Red wine is a well-known culprit. You may play around with your drinks to see if you can find a drink that doesn't produce flushes, some women find they can tolerate a beer or a vodka-based drink.
Soft drinks
Stop the sugary soft drinks. Sugar is another well-known trigger for hot flushes. It is also linked to diabetes and poorer bone density. If you miss bubbles swap to sparkling water, which you can flavour with many different things including lemons, limes, berries, pear, apple, cucumber, mint, etc. The sky is the limit. Soft drink with artificial sweeteners is not any better.
Coffee
Good news! I’m not going to ask you to quit your morning coffee. There are health benefits of drinking coffee in moderation. That is if your coffee is black and has no sugar.
Additional benefits of coffee include:
Being an antioxidant
Increasing alertness
Increases cognitive function
Increased energy levels
Improved mood
Can help burn body fat
May lower risk of Type 2 diabetes (if it doesn’t contain sugar).
Milk
It is estimated 75% of the population cannot tolerate dairy. It’s not surprising when you consider it's the perfect food for calves, but not humans. Humans are designed to consume human breast milk in infancy and even as a child our production of lactase (the enzyme that breaks down milk) is already starting to reduce. This is the reason why some women say they could tolerate milk as a child, but now it gives them an upset tummy. Other signs of lactose intolerance include sinus congestion, headaches, joint pain, brain fog, skin itch, and fatigue.
PHYTOESTROGENS
Phytoestrogens are compounds found in plants that have an oestrogen-like effect in the body. They have a similar shape to oestradiol and can bind to and activate estrogen receptors. They are found in nuts (almonds, cashews, pistachios, walnuts), seeds (flaxseed/linseed, sesame, sunflower), legumes (chickpea, black beans, mung beans, lentils, red kidney beans, spilt beans), soy (tofu, tempeh, miso and edamame) and sprouts (alfalfa and red clover).
As phytoestrogens can bind to estrogen receptors, they are useful in cases of estrogen dominance (as can be found in perimenopause) as they are weaker than oestradiol and can dilute the number of free receptors available to bind to actual estrogen molecules. They are also useful in cases of low oestrogen levels (post-menopause) as they can bind to receptors and help increase the function of the available estrogen.
Other benefits of phytoestrogens include:
Improving general health and longevity via its action of being an antioxidant
Reduce total and LDL cholesterol
Reduced elevated blood pressure
Reduce blood sugar and insulin levels
Assist in weight loss by reducing visceral fat, improving leptin levels, suppressing appetite
May improve bone density
Help maintain and improve cognitive function
Reduce aging of the skin
Examples include a smoothie made with mango, banana, freshly ground flaxseeds and silken tofu for breakfast. A large salad with green lentils, olives, alfalfa sprouts, sesame seeds with a tahini & olive oil dressing drizzled over for lunch. A coconut lentil soup for dinner. Edamame beans or a miso soup as a snack. Aim for 1-2 serves of phytoestrogens every day.
Let’s put it all together…
How to eat in your 40s checklist:
It's important to allow your digestive system time to rest and digest. Ideally, there would be a minimum of 12 hours without food every day. This can be easily obtained if you finish dinner before 7 pm and do not have breakfast before 7 am. These hours can be moved around depending on your life, as long as there is a minimum of 12 hours free from food.
Stop grazing. You should focus on eating meals and not constantly snacking. If you are hungry, consider having a drink of water.
Are you getting adequate fluid? Filtered water and herbal teas count towards your minimum 2 litres daily. Coffee in moderation is okay, but as a diuretic, it doesn’t count towards your water count.
When planning your meal, start with the protein source. Good examples include fish, chicken, beef, lamb, and eggs.
Add a salad or vegetables to your meal. Look at what’s seasonally available. Is your garden abundant with leafy salad greens or is time to pull out the winter vegetables? Aim for at least half your plate.
Is there a good fat in the meal or do you need to add one? Some meals naturally contain a good fat source such a seafood dish, while others require more thought. You may want to drizzle some olive oil over the meal or add avocado to your dish.
Did you eat fruit today? Check your fruit intake, as it’s an important source of fibre.
Add in a daily serve of phytoestrogen foods. Freshly ground flaxseeds are a delicious and handy addition to most meals. You can add them to smoothies, granola, yoghurt with fruit or sprinkle them over your salads. Sometimes we use this as a coating on our homemade chicken schnitzel instead of breadcrumbs, just add your favourite spices.
Leave space for soul food. This isn’t a 30-day meal plan; it's a lifestyle. Life contains special events that deserve celebrating and moments where indulgence is wanted. Allow yourself a serving of guilt-free soul food once a week.
Bobbie X