Ep 133. Why Women Need More Protein

Discover why protein is essential for almost every health function for women:

• 4 tips for success with a high protein diet
• How amino acids in protein are synthesized in the body
• High protein foods and practical ways to eat more of them
• How protein optimizes everything from digestion to energy production, and vaginal health to immune boosting.

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Ep 104. An Intro to Traditional Foods for Female Health

Four Sigmatic Protein Powder with adaptogens HERE

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Transcript

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You're at home with Kelly and Tiffany. And we are not at home. We are in our office, but technically in somebody else's office in order to have a little bit more quiet and we have a whole new setup for recording and I am into it. We are borrowing. Our colleagues office furniture. And there is a mobile desk situation that is bringing the laptops and the microphone and the equipment. To the exact right place. And we've been missing this in our podcasting lives. We're also sitting on a couch instead of the floor. We have upgraded tremendously for this recording. So I am. A hundred percent certain that this is going to be one of the best episodes we have ever done. You'll have to give us feedback if the quality of recording. Is like top tier this time. I even feel like the blood flow is optimally circulating to my brain. That's saying something. All that also could be due to the fact that I am on my third day of zero caffeine. I'm really proud of you because normally. You have a lot of caffeine. I love caffeine, Kathy, Kathy Kev caffeine. It is my best friend. In fact, I've, I'm your best friend. Oh, great. I know it CA but caffeine is always available to me. Okay. If you're like 90% available to me. Okay. But yeah, I have, I have. Historically taken breaks from caffeine and just used, you know, periodically once a year or so. Just kind of reset that space. And I have not done that since 2020, and it's been really on my heart and mind to take a break, but truly the past six months or so I was absolutely Willing. I knew I needed to. And I was like, no, I cannot. And that is how, you know, you've got a serious problem. That's when you know, you really probably should. Yeah. So I. I know I've told you this before. I don't know if I've shared this on a show before, but something about the way that coffee or caffeine interacts in my body actually has me somewhat physically dependent on it so that if I come off it too abruptly, I get really bad leg cramps. And so I'm taking, you know, tons of magnesium and massage and oils and everything, because the last time this happened in 2020. Aye. There was like two or three nights while I was detoxing that I couldn't sleep. My leg cramps were so bad. That's brutal so bad. And like your body is it's telling you something, right. And really it's gonna thank you. But in that moment, it is like you have taken away the one thing that you supply to us to survive now, what are you going to do about it? Yeah, absolutely. So I will say this time that wasn't my greatest fear. This is like a true. Drug addict. Parallel thing happening here, my brain rate. So my greatest fear was not that I would not get to have my caffeine. It was the physical withdrawal symptoms. And so I went really slow. I tied her down really slow. It took me two and a half weeks to come off of it completely. And I had. Tinge of leg cramps one day. But nothing compared to what I've had before. And so I feel really good. That's great off of it so far. I love it. No, my husband's like, how long are you going to do this for? I just feel like I should know. And I'm like, I don't have a plan actually. Hmm. Great. He's like, but you love coffee so much at like literally completes you. And I'm like, I know. So I'm going to drink it again. Trust me one day. I just need some perspective without it. That's really good. I can appreciate that. I am not off caffeine. But. It's also not my best friend. I enjoy a cup of coffee, but if I don't have coffee until like 10:00 AM, I'm like, well, that's fine. I don't like, need it right in the morning, or like, it's not the thing. That I'm like my body's not necessarily craving it right when I wake up. Good for you. I don't know. I also didn't start drinking coffee until I was like an adult. Like I was in midwifery school. So already had two kids. When I started drinking coffee for the first time ever. I mean, I'd had it before and I was like, this is disgusting. And then I actually like needed it. In school. More so than even as a doula and. Then that's when I really fell in love with it. Wow. Yeah. Learning new things about you every single day. And that's why women need more proteins. The topic of the day. I'm excited to jump into this, but first I want to get a listener question. We love. And when you ask questions, BT dubs. Yeah. And so you guys know in the show notes, there's a link. To ask a questions and we know that you're finding that link because there are so many questions to answer. We'll get to them as we can. But this one is especially great because it's a question that a listener asked for her husband. And I can appreciate this deeply because. Recently and separately, our husbands have been like, wow, this thing you recommended actually works. I got my husband's on our email list. Huh. What you said today, that was actually really helpful. Mike. Thanks. Yeah, I know a thing or two. Mostly for women, but you know, there's crossover. Yes. So this listener recognizes that we have just holistic knowledge in general and she wants to help her hubby out. It's so sweet. This is what she says. What are some holistic ways to handle heartburn and acid reflux? My husband has been struggling to even drink black coffee because it's affecting him so badly. I know Tums can cause kidney stones because of the fact that they're straight, calcium and milk can help, help with a quick fix. Hit or miss, but something more long-term to incorporate into diet or lifestyle would be much appreciated. Thank you both for all you do. Oh, actually, this is the exact issue that my husband was like. I saw that you sent an email about heartburn. That was very timely. This is very sweet though, because. I've. I've maybe I've experienced it once or twice, but I don't have like a history of it, but watching my husband work through it, especially after he had like weeks of antibiotics after his appendix burst. And after that has got, was like not okay. And he had horrific heartburn and acid reflux stuff. And so anyway, I just really feel for somebody who like deals with this in their everyday life. But what I was fascinated to learn about. So, it's not necessarily. The pro the problem becomes right. These Tums and whatever those are antiacid. And usually the problem is the amount and type of asset that are that's going on in your gut. So, so much of gut health plays into every aspect of our health, but so much in this as well. And so, supporting that and actually encouraging some of that. Can be. A huge help. Just interesting. Yeah, I think that's a great emphasis. And then I also think that we have this concept in our culture where if you're having an acid problem, then you need to get rid of the acid. Yes. And that's actually the opposite. What you need to do is neutralize the acid. And usually that can be done with Like a natural remedy for that would be apple cider vinegar. While you continue to work on gut health stuff in order to get some balance. Yeah. Apple cider vinegar is super great for a million things, but drinking even like a tablespoon in some water can be really helpful at any point. During the day, a lot of people will do that. Like first thing. A handful of almonds after you eat any of your meals sounds really random, but that's a really great neutralizer. Certain digestive enzymes and like digestive bitters can be really helpful, especially like a lot of people go to papaya enzymes that those can be. Supportive. And why am I blanking on the homeopathic? Nat phos is the one and that's P H O S O N I T P H O S can be really, really helpful in neutralizing the system as well. And that one. I've seen be a really heavy hitter for my husband. For sure. They also make homeopathic like blends. I'm forgetting the name. I know by. Boy run boy, run. Hyland's to probably make something. Yeah. Those are like, kind of top things that I would be thinking about as well as like, when are you drinking your water? How are you moving your body? What is the rest of your diet? Looking like all of those kinds of things, but. Depending on how bad it is as well. Like physical body work, chiropractic care acupuncture. Those can be really helpful. Yeah, absolutely. So longterm looking at the root cause of how to neutralize stomach acid, how to get your body to do that itself with good gut health. But then instead of grabbing the Tums or the ENS acids, You've got almonds. You've got apple cider vinegar. You've got some homeopathics to run to instead. Yes you do. I hope he gets some relief. Same. Okay, Kelly, what is your go-to protein right now? Like if I said you still have 20 grams of protein, you need to eat today. What would you go grab in your kitchen? So like go-to quick ones. I love. Meat sticks and like, Cheese. I'm big on dairy protein, depending on the time, depending on the source of the dairy. Otherwise it does not sit well with me. As well as collagen. Like powder, just throwing that into something. But I will say we connected with a brand of protein powder. That I have been really impressed with, and it's got some adaptogens in it and I've thrown it into pancake mix and like baked with it, put it just in straight water and like shook it up. We can link it. I'm forgetting the name, unfortunately right now it's four Sigmatic. There you go. Yeah. They also make some light coffee alternatives. They make some great stuff, but normally when I see protein powder, I'm like, this is kind of like, It's got some fillers and some junk in it. That was actually pretty clean while I normally want animal protein. That's what I want to have the majority of in my. Diet. This is plant-based, but at the same time, it's super clean and helpful. Yeah, thanks for saying that. Four Sigmatic sent us a sample. And when I saw that it wasn't animal because I just am on the same page as you, it just generally has a better nutrition profile and you can get a cleaner product. I was like, all right, here, Kelly, try this. If you want. And she said it, you said it blew your mind how good it was. It did. And my husband's had all different types of protein powders over the years and they're always too sweet or whatever. And this one was like a tiny hint of vanilla bean. So it wasn't even like. Fake vanilla, vanilla. So, anyway. That's that's my go-to right now. What's yours. Oh, my gosh, pretty much exactly the same. Hard boiled eggs. Yes, yes. Yes. Because we have chickens. We just can't figure out at this point when they're producing so much how to actually use all the eggs. So hard-boiled eggs are an easy go-to. And meet sticks a hundred percent. Love love that as a quick choice. And then recently I changed the container that we keep our nuts in to a top that you pull off instead of twist off. And so I just opened the cabinet. I pulled the top, I grabbed a handful and I just put it back down. And so the funniest thing is like, Not taking a container out of the cabinet and twisting the cap and taking your stuff and then twisting it back on and putting it back in the cabinet. It's a game changer. It's so silly. How stuff like that can drastically change your whole routine. I'm just thinking about how, when I don't have my. Water bottle with like the straw, like, I have to like pour water into a cup and like bring it to my mouth and put my head back. No, I'm going to have a fuse. Yeah. I mean, I'm all about how to make it as easy as possible to do some of these things. And you would be surprised all the stupid ways that, that. Happening a hundred percent. Okay. So here's four tips for success with a higher protein diet. And remember ladies, this is 70 plus grams of protein per day. And so we all need a little bit of help, kind of fine tuning this and returning to emphasizing it in our diet. But here's four tips. Number one. Noah is available and trying new things. Just Google search protein foods, just walk down, supermarket aisles, just ask your friends and family what they eat and what their protein situations are because. There's new bars that are coming out on the market all the time. There's new meat sticks that are, you know, made me taste better than ones that you've tried before. And so just look at the convenience aspect to it and know what is available. Number two is keep your kitchen stocked. But giving the items that you love and that, you know, you're going to eat a permanent place to live on your shopping list. So you never run out all the items that Kelly and I just said our go-to protein things. You can believe that like, That we do not run out of those items. Every time we go to Costco, we buy more cheese sticks every time. I put in an Amazon order, I'm buying the mystics that we like, and we just make sure that it's around all the time. Number three. I spend a handful of minutes a week prepping your items. So all you have to do is grab it when you need it and just eat it. That can be hard boiling eggs that can be just pulling the cheese stick rappers apart from each other in the bag. That can be putting nuts inside of a, to go container that you can grab. I mean, there's so many ways set yourself up for success and just spend a few minutes, just having those really easy to grab items. And then number four, stash options all over the place, your purse, your bag to work your car, your office, different places in your home. Any place that you end up needing a snack, just commit to it. Being a protein filled snack. Yeah. And what's so helpful with all of these is that it makes it so easy for when you're like, you know, the pro maybe you, maybe you didn't have something in your car or your purse or something, and you're like, I'm so hungry and you get home. And all you want to do is just like, Eat. Carb or. You know, something that you're just like, I just need something in my mouth that's quick and easy. And that just like sounds good right now. Having something like that, it just makes it so easy to be like, okay, the hard-boiled eggs are made. The cheese stick is right there. I can eat this and then I can decide. What am I actually going to eat now that I've supported my system, hopefully regulated my blood sugar a little bit. So that you're not finding yourself in a place where you're like binge eating because you didn't think ahead. Yeah. It happens to me all the time still. Yes. I know. I know this information. I need to, this is a great reminder for me to absolutely. Okay, so what is protein? Why do we need it? How does it work in our body? So many questions. So I think what is most important to remember is that so protein is built of all of these different amino acids, and they're going to play super important roles in all different types of body functions. Right? So not. Not one particular thing that protein does or not one particular thing that these amino acids do. There's over 20 of them required for your body to actually function properly. And you probably heard the difference between like, which ones are essential, right. The essential amino acids are not synthesized in the body. So you actually have to obtain them, whether it's through diet or through supplements, the non-essential ones are made within your body, right. They're synthesized in there, but those, those non-essential ones are the ones that your body needs in order to actually. Utilize. Like you have to get them from another source. Yes. And we're going to share 10 specific ways that your body uses protein and why we need to be constantly giving our bodies enough of it so that they. So that they, so that our bodies. Can work off of dietary protein instead of trying to compensate in other ways, which is the leading cause of symptoms in so many women is protein deficiency. Their body is just constantly. Deficient and having to work extra hard to go through all of its functionings without enough dietary protein. Yeah. We see that a lot in pregnancy, but it is not just a pregnancy issue for sure. We see so many women who come in. Whether for wound care that we're chatting with, or just, I feel like when you look at the society in general so many of these things can be. Quote solved or supported with focusing on these things. So the first thing is about proper digestion. So eating high protein meals. Getting enough protein in your system. It's going to increase the amount of time. Actually required to sufficiently break down the meal in your stomach. So the food's going to remain in the stomach longer. It's going to make you feel full longer, and that's going to help your body kind of process what it's been. Exposed to. Yeah. And a part of that. Taking longer to process and digest actually increases your energy production because the slower digestion keeps absorption and energy more stable throughout the time. Instead of just slamming a bunch of carbs, your body's going to digest it really quickly. Shoot that into your bloodstream. You're going to spike and crash. And so you have better energy production, more stable energy production. When you eat protein with your other. Macros. I will, I will say out of this list that we're talking about, I think that's the one that I noticed the most when I'm not getting enough. Protein. I noticed that where I'm lagging so much. Protein for sure is helping so many pieces of what's going on within our system and the better blood production and actual like clotting factors within our blood. That's actually caused by proteins that are kind of floating around in there. And so we've seen this even on women's blood work before showing like your body's actually screaming for more and we're seeing these symptoms and now we're actually looking at the tangible Information here that saying. Hey, your body needs some help in blood production. It needs some help and it's clotting factors. And this is one huge way that you can support that. Yeah. So, if you've ever been diagnosed with anemia or you've ever had low platelets and pregnancy pointed out to you, it could be a potential protein issue. Next is blood sugar balancing, which we talk about on this show all the time, but it can turn. Hormone imbalance problem. Right again, in a matter of like a couple of meals, it also helps to support sleep rhythms. And the way that this works is because protein slows, the digestion impacts how much glucose is led into the bloodstream at any particular time. And so again, with the proper digestion and the energy production, your body is able to take its time, absorbing what you've given it to eat and keep those spikes to a minimum. I'm getting encouraged here. I'm getting hungry. It's true. And it, so obviously things are going on within your body when you get enough protein. But things are also going on externally in your body. Things like hair growth, the hair texture, your skin, your nail health, protein is going to supply your body with the amino acids. That's required to make something that's in a ton of like, health skincare shampoos, all kinds of stuff called keratin. So that's one of the structural proteins. That's actually in our skin, in our hair and our nails. And so in order to boost your body's natural keratin, where you don't have to pay all this money to these people who are putting it in to boost that you need to consume an adequate amount of protein to support that. So. That's an added bonus right there. Yeah. Like even if you don't care, all the benefits that are going on inside your body, just be a vain. Protein consumer. I'm here for it. Okay. And so also it is well-known that protein supports muscle fibers and healing, but that is actually the reason amino acids are called building blocks because they form these long chains of amino acids. That group together. And then they're able to literally grow. Ourselves, literally repair ourselves and is a huge part of that cell turnover and repair process. We need protein in order to do that. On top of that. Protein is going to help actually level out the pH in your gut. It's going to help normalize that. And if you have been around here for any amount of time, you know, that we always kind of go back to this, like, Blood sugar stabilization, gut health, like here are some really foundational things to be supportive of. And so proteins are going to form a part of that kind of buffer system to regulate pH levels. And so that's a huge aspect of supporting your gut from like a very low level foundational. Like if you do this, your gut will. Be happy or at least respond. With some happiness. Yeah. And so if you're somebody who has gut issues or especially has vaginal imbalance issues that end up having to do with pH, which is basically any vaginal imbalance issue, protein creates that structure that protects your tissue from pH fluctuation. So a lot of women will get yeast infections. Right after their period or right after sex or right after some other event that is irritating to the tissue. And that is a sign that potentially you're not getting enough protein to try to keep those structures as stable and firm and protective as possible. Pretty cool. Yeah. Protein also balances fluids in your body. It helps decrease puffiness and swelling and certain types of bloating. Proteins in the blood are called albumin and globulin. And they help maintain the body's fluid balance by keeping water inside the blood. Instead of falling out of the blood vessel, into the tissues. Yeah. And that is one of the reasons that we end up recommending more protein rate for women in pregnancy when they're like, oh, what do I do to decrease all this swelling? And all of a sudden, it's one of those like, light switch moments where the body really responds well to it. And so that's kind of fun to actually see in action. So quickly. Protein's also going to bolster your immune system. So those amino acids, they help turn T cells, B cells antibodies into like germ fighters. Right. It's going to turn them into the things that we need. In order to kind of spot kill all of the harmful cells that enter the body before they can even start an infection. Protein actually synthesizes glutathione also, which is what's going to really help What is the word sort of detox your body from some of these fighting cells that are trying to get you sick. Yeah, absolutely. And protein is also essential in helping to transport nutrients. And store nutrients and other parts of your body. And so being able to utilize the foods and supplements that you're taking all comes back to having enough protein circulating also. And so if those are not enough reason for you to take. Protein. Recommendation of increasing that dietarily seriously. I don't know what will I got nothing for ya. I honestly re being reminded of. That, all of that, what protein does only makes me more encouraged to be like, where else can I hide it? And I haven't really done a, a good, solid protein assessment of my own diet in a while. You know, every so often I'll kind of take a survey of like, what did my day kind of look like and how much am I getting today? But I haven't done that in a while. And it This is encouraging to me. Yeah, it is worthwhile to just track it for a couple of days. See where you're at. And we don't recommend that women go crazy, changing their diet around to accommodate protein. Just look at the protein that you're already eating and double up on that, or increase that. Yeah, absolutely hiding it where you can too is like a favorite of mine. So using what you already enjoy, that, you know, you like, but also being willing to like try some new things. So. Some options of foods that potentially you have heard have a good amount of protein, or maybe you haven't even thought about. Me, I, I feel like we've mentioned me quite a few times just because we're a big animal. Animal. Product. Appreciators we are. And if you want to know why that is, besides that, it tastes good. And we are thankful for the resource. That has been provided for us. On this planet. The traditional foods episode goes into why. Meet should be such a huge part of our diet ancestrally. Yes. So meet. Seafood or just going down the list of more animals to eat. Meat seafood, poultry, eggs, dairy products, soy. Keenwah buckwheat. All of those are things just to kind of be thinking about that. Have a good protein. Content. Yep. Huge amount of protein per gram in those options. If you ladies want some specific ideas or some hacks to get more protein in, we have a blog post called. Easy to grab whole food, protein ideas. Keeping it simple. It is very self-explanatory, but we basically go into a whole list of ideas and how to kind of like hack your snacks and diet to get more protein in. And that is available to you. We'll put that in the show notes. Yes it is. And we just did not want to end this episode without sharing the fact that as you're listening to this. The doors of our beloved membership that we have talked about over the last many months that we have been curating it and working with our members that we're kind of the founding part of this membership. The doors to that membership are officially open. Whew, they're open for you. So it is available. We're not going to close them on you. And we would love to have you join us there. So our monthly memberships, $32 a month. Which is a ridiculous deal. When you realize the amount that's actually that you actually get from it. Yeah. It is completely loaded. And we have spent the last six months with our founding members packing it to the brim, literally packed. We took a survey in our community recently just to see how everybody was doing with the material. Not one person said they were able to consume it at the rate that we were able to create it. Which is great because we just want it to be the richest place of education and community. But this is a two-fold resource. This membership, the first one is just straight education. Holistic tools for everyday topics like sleep, gut health, hormones, protein, and there are specialty topics too, like fibroid mental health for women fatigue, period problems. And it's all in the form of courses, videos, handouts, workbooks protocols, and it's it's on demand that information can be consumed at any time at any pace. Yeah, I love that you can go in and simply search your topic too. If you're like, I really need to work on my thyroid stuff. I'm going to pay 32 bucks this month and get in like work on my thyroid stuff and just type that in. And all of the information will come up, right. Or, gosh, you've been dealing with brain fog or I've been dealing with X, Y, Z, and who go in and actually type it. And all of our protocols, all of our handouts, all of the information is there for you, which is super cool. But the flip side of this is that it's actually a community as well, where Tiffany and I are both inside of a community forum, answering questions, chatting Asking our own questions of other women, other women are in there answering their. There are other member questions, which has been super sweet to see these relationships being formed to. There's topical discussions. There's monthly challenges that we've started in terms of like, okay, let's encourage each other and taking our supplements and working on our sleep and all kinds of stuff. As well as us popping in there and doing live learning. Tutorials and meetups and live Q and A's and all kinds of stuff. And so it is. Like TIFF said, just packed to the brim of good stuff. And it's available for you. Yeah, and it's month to month. So if you just want to come check it out, this is your chance to do that. It's going to be restructured in future months. And so if you want to just jump in for one month and see how you like it and take a look around and survey all of the amenities, this is the time to do it. Yes, it is. So the link to that is in the show notes. And we hope we get to see you in there. Yeah. That'd be really fun if listeners come in, make sure you say. Long time listener, first time member. And we will be there to greet. You will be so happy to have you. Awesome ladies. We'll we'll chat with you next week. Bye.