Food for your hormones: My choice to eat Paleo

FOTATELIE/SHUTTERSHOCK

Food is extremely personal. From your preferences, quantities, and even how your body processes nutrients. 

Just think about the topic around food - everyone wants to talk about it! It's ingrained in who we are, our culture, and something we plan our days around. 

{A Balanced Bombshell ALWAYS plans her day with food in mind!}

Whether you're gluten free, dairy free, vegeteraian, vegan, paleo, keto, and all the styles of eating in between, you gravitate toward a way of eating that makes you feel good. 

Yet, there's a lot of conflicting information out there, which confuses us on what to do. 

Food sensitivities are a HUGE thing.

It can be the difference between your body feeling amazing, or being too inflamed, which cause hormone problems.

My food sensitivities is a topic that comes up whenever I'm out with friends, family, or any time I talk to people about my work in women's health. Being sensitive to many different kinds of foods (even healthy ones!) has made me the queen of food modifications.

Here are a few foods I am sensitive to:

• gluten

• dairy

• soy

• sweet potatoes

• beans

• lentils

• rice

• millet

• gluten free products like oats, granola, and bars

• more than 2 dates at a time (sorry Larabars!)

• processed meats like sausages and deli meat

• hormone filled meats 

• farm raised fish

• sugar

• caffeine

• alcohol

• potatoes

• fried foods

Yikes, right?!

Many on this list you can expect.

But others you might not, like sweet potatoes. As you read this list, you may think you are sensitive to many and not relate whatsoever to some, like beans. This is just what I've noticed within myself, and not every woman is like this. 

I never push a style of eating upon people. I encourage women to take note of foods that don't feel good to them, so they can learn the subtle cues our bodies give us. 

A style of eating I've gravitated towards is the paleo diet. 

ELENA SHASHKINA/SHUTTERSTOCK

After trying many styles of eating like vegan and vegetarian, something still felt off. That's when I learned my body had a hard time processing gluten, which was one reason I had so many stomach problems.

Paleo is an anti-inflammatory diet.

It focuses consuming your carbohydrates from fresh fruits and vegetables (organic whenever possible), high quality proteins like lean cuts of meat (no, bacon is not an every day thing!), and healthy fats like avocado, coconut and olive oil, and nuts loaded with omega 3's like walnuts and macadamia nuts. Seeds are used sparingly.

It cuts out processed foods and all of these on the list that my body is very sensitive to, including legumes Think Whole30 all the time! 

It makes perfect sense why I'd feel so good eating this diet type, and not something else. Vegetarian's protein sources come heavily from beans, lentils and tofu (which contains a lot of soy). 

This has a lot to do with my genetics and how my body naturally processes foods, along with my hormonal makeup. My body is naturally higher in estrogen, so hormone filled meats, processed foods, sugar, dairy, alcohol, and soy, only increase this hormone in my body. Which would explain why I had such an issue with bloating and acne while eating these foods!

Again, this is just what feels good to me!

You could be very different.

I have clients who feel great eating beans and lentils, and really thrive with sweet potatoes. This is absolutely ok and doesn't mean your hormones will become unbalanced. The key is to tune in and know what works best for you! If you can eat these foods, you should!

I have been known to eat sweet potato fries with my lettuce wrapped, grassfed burger from time to time. On a very moderate basis, I can enjoy some of these foods! The glory of eating in a way that keeps inflammation at bay, my body won't have the same reaction when eaten in moderation 😊

After you eat, you should feel light, fresh, and energized.

All of these foods steal my energy, which has been motivation to stay away from them. I can't be my best self or function at a high capacity if I eat them. So I don't.

To get started pinpointing if you have any food sensitivities, start documenting what you're eating and how you feel afterwards. This video can also help you get started!

If you feel bloated, tired, and like you can't think straight, something you're eating is not working for you!

I carried around a notebook with me to document everything and there are many apps you can use that do the same (Cara is a great one to look at).

Do you suspect any food sensitivities? What are they?