Transcript
Jennifer Hanway: Hi everyone. My name's Jennifer Hanway. I'm a certified holistic nutritionist, a women's wellness expert, and today we're talking all things protein, the most important macronutrient for your menopause transition.
Ambassador: Why is protein such a critical part of a balanced diet?
Jennifer Hanway: Protein is the only one of our macronutrients that human beings can't live without. So just as a reminder, our macronutrients are protein, carbohydrates, and fat.
Now, typically we think of protein for lean muscle mass. So muscle repair, muscle building, but we also need it for so many other processes in the body. We need it for healthy bones, healthy brain, healthy hair, skin, and nails. The amino acids in proteins are the building blocks for our neurotransmitters and our hormones. It's important for our gut health and for our immune health. So protein really is the most important macronutrient in your diet.
Ambassador: How much protein do I really need during perimenopause and menopause? And does it depend on my health goals?
Jennifer Hanway: This is a great question. How much protein do we need during perimenopause and menopause? Well, what happens is as we get older, our protein needs increase, and this is for two reasons. Number one, as we get older, our ability to absorb and utilize the protein that we eat declines. The other reason is something called sarcopenia. That's the loss of lean muscle mass. Now, lean muscle mass is so important for us during this menopause journey.
So how much do we need? And does it depend on our health goals? For a general population, for just normal standard daily protein intake, we're going to aim for 0.7 to 1 gram per pound of body weight. Let me do the math for you. If you weigh 130 pounds, you're going to aim for 130 grams of protein a day.
Now, if you are doing a lot of exercise, if you're playing sports, if you're doing a lot of strength training, you might need more protein. But that's a great place to start. Another way of looking at it is aiming for 30 grams at each meal.
Ambassador: What are the best sources of protein that people can take when they're living a plant-based lifestyle? And would I be getting enough protein?
Jennifer Hanway: You can absolutely get enough protein on a plant-based diet. It might just take a little bit more planning. Now, if you are following a plant-based diet, you might need to have more protein throughout the day. This is because we want to make sure that you're getting a good variety of amino acids. Amino acids are the building blocks of protein, and just like vitamins and minerals, they do different things within the body.
So, if you're having a plant-based diet, make sure you're getting your sources of protein from lots of different ways. Think tofu, tempeh, edamame, lentils, chickpeas, beans, legumes, even nuts and seeds.
If you are on a plant-based diet, leucine might be one of the amino acids that you need to supplement with. So you can look at doing that through an amino acid powder or a leucine powder. And then if you are struggling to get enough protein in a plant-based diet, you could think of using a plant-based protein powder to keep your numbers up.
Ambassador: Does protein have any effect on menopause symptoms like hot flashes or mood swings?
Jennifer Hanway: Protein can have an indirect effect on helping us manage our menopause symptoms. For example, when we eat enough protein, we have nice stable blood sugar, which can also help keep our cortisol stable. Now this can really help with menopause related mood swings. Eating enough protein also helps to balance our sugar, it helps our insulin sensitivity, and means we're not craving high sugar and high carb foods. This is going to have a positive impact on our weight and metabolism.
Ambassador: So as I've gotten older, I'm noticing more muscle loss. Can eating protein help with that?
Jennifer Hanway: If you feel like you're losing lean muscle mass as you're moving through menopause, it's not your imagination. And there could be a couple of reasons why this happens.
Number one is that we're more sedentary. We have more responsibilities at home and at work, and we also might be feeling less energized because of the other menopause symptoms. So it might be that we're just not moving our bodies as much as we used to.
Number two is that we're not absorbing our protein as well as we used to. So as we get older, our ability to absorb protein and to utilize it in the body lowers, which is why we should be eating more at this time.
And then number three is a process called sarcopenia. Sarcopenia is where we lose lean muscle mass, and this can happen as a result of general aging, but also as a result as our hormones lower throughout menopause. But by increasing your protein intake and making sure you're strength training, you can actually put on more lean muscle throughout the menopause journey.
Ambassador: I'm wondering, does eating more protein really help with losing weight?
Jennifer Hanway: Protein can absolutely be your key tool in your toolbox if you want to lose weight during menopause. Now, it's important to say that we are not talking about losing weight, we're talking about losing body fat. We want to reduce body fat and we want to increase lean muscle mass. That's going to be the best thing for boosting your metabolism.
Now, protein has a whole host of benefits for this. Protein is our most satiating macronutrient. So when we eat more protein, we feel less hungry. We make less of the hormones that make us feel hungry and more of the hormones that make us feel full and satiated.
Protein also helps to balance our blood sugar, which again helps with the cravings, but also keeps our insulin levels nice and steady. And that can put us in fat burning rather than fat storage mode. So when we eat protein, it breaks down to amino acids, and those amino acids help to repair and grow our muscle tissue. And the more lean muscle tissue we have, the higher our metabolic rate.
Ambassador: Can you suggest some simple ways to add more protein to my diet without completely changing my meal routine?
Jennifer Hanway: My first top tip when adding more protein to our diet is never cook one serving of anything. So if you're cooking dinner for your family at night, make sure that you're cooking an extra chicken breast or some extra ground turkey, and then you can use that for breakfast or lunch the next day.
Tip number two is to always have a protein-based breakfast. When we fasted overnight, our bodies are primed to make lean muscle mass. It's the most important meal of the day to get protein in. And think about things like a protein smoothie. You can have eggs, Greek yogurt, cottage cheese, or turkey bacon. So 30 grams of breakfast is the most important meal.
And then tip number three is to add protein to your snacks. This can be simple as having some boiled eggs and some spinach for a snack, having hummus and veggie sticks, or even some Greek yogurt and berries.
So as we've discussed, protein can be a key tool in your menopause toolbox and help you with a number of different symptoms. Protein is going to help you feel full. It's going to help you manage your cravings. It's going to help keep your blood sugar stable, which is going to help you with a healthy weight, a healthy BMI, and even with mood and mental health.
Now, we always wanted to keep these things in balance. So protein is part of a balanced diet. We want to make sure that we're having our fruits and vegetables, our healthy fats, and our complex carbohydrates, too. And before we make any major changes in our diet, it's always important to consult with your healthcare practitioner or a registered dietitian so you know that you're making the best choices for your body.