Women's Bodies, Women's Wisdom (156 page)

Eat the Right Carbohydrates

As already stated, eating high-glycemic-index foods leads to a spike in blood sugar—and a temporary, unsustainable boost in the brain chemicals serotonin and endorphin. The problem is that these high blood sugar levels rapidly fall, thus prompting the consumption of more foods that raise blood sugar quickly once again. Chasing the blood sugar high by eating refined or high sugar carbohydrates is very addictive. Some individuals are more susceptible than others. If you are prone to seasonal affective disorder (SAD) or other forms of depression, you will crave carbohydrates more than most people in order to boost your serotonin to adequate levels. But the reasons for carb cravings are many. Alcoholics and those who crave alcohol often have underlying blood sugar problems as well.

It has been my clinical experience that families in which there are several alcoholics invariably have members who are addicted to sugar, even if they are not prone to excessive alcohol intake themselves. These addictions tend to flip-flop. Any veteran of Alcoholics Anonymous will tell you that sugary snacks are a staple at meetings, as individuals substitute sugar for alcohol.

This observation has been confirmed by the work of Kathleen Des-Maisons, Ph.D., a specialist in nutrition and addiction and author of
Potatoes
Not Prozac
(Simon & Schuster, 1999), who was able to achieve a 90 percent success rate in rehabilitating repeat-offender drunk drivers by teaching them how to eat in order to stabilize their blood sugar and brain chemistry. Her research, which matches my clin ical experience, revealed that individuals who crave either alcohol or sugar—or both—have an increased need (probably inborn) for the brain chemicals serotonin, dopamine, and beta-endorphin. The key to gaining control over their ad dictive, and often destructive, eating or drinking behaviors is for them to learn to balance their brain chemicals by understanding the food-mood connection.

Dr. DesMaisons has a simple test to help you decide whether you’re sugar-sensitive. When you were a kid and went out with your family on summer nights for ice cream, what part of the trip do you remember most? The car, the feel of the night air, your family members, or the ice cream itself? If ice cream comes first in your recollections, you’re probably sugar-sensitive.

We know that having enough of the brain chemical serotonin is key to feeling calm and focused, which is why antidepressants such as Prozac, Paxil, and Zoloft, all of which enhance serotonin, have become so popular. The weight-loss drugs “fen-phen” and Redux, now removed from the market because of their dangerous side effects, also boosted serotonin. Luckily, you can learn how to enhance and balance your own serotonin without help from drugs. Serotonin is manufactured in the brain from the amino acid tryptophan, which is found in protein. In order for tryptophan to enter your brain from the bloodstream, your body requires insulin—which means you need to eat some carbohydrates as well. You want just enough insulin to do the job, but not so much that you get rebound low blood sugar.

Beta-endorphins are also mood elevators, and they’re why we crave the refined carbohydrates we call “comfort foods.” Macaroni and cheese, garlic mashed potatoes with plenty of butter, french fries, pancakes, waffles, cakes, and cookies all raise blood sugar quickly, thus increasing our levels of beta-endorphins. There’s an over-the-counter PMS medication called PMS Escape, designed to elevate mood, that contains almost nothing except pure sugar. You’d be better off having some chocolate! Unfortunately, continually eating “comfort foods” eventually wreaks havoc with just about every system in the body, leading to cellular inflammation and chronic degenerative disease. So much for long-term comfort. Happily, there are other ways to boost your serotonin and balance your brain chemicals. Exercise, natural light, and meditation are all good.

The bottom line is that growing up in an alcoholic or otherwise dysfunctional family—which I’ve come to see is true for the majority of us—is stress ful. The imprint of that stress continues to affect how we feel about ourselves. We use food as a drug to soothe us. Sugar addiction is an addiction like any other. It needs to be treated like one. The best book on sugar addiction and recovery I have ever read is
Holy Hunger: A Memoir of Desire
(Knopf, 1999), by Margaret Bullitt-Jonas, a brilliant Episcopal priest. She never touches sugar anymore, is at peace with food, and writes the following words of wisdom: “The first step in the long process of recov ery, and the foundation of a food addict’s subsequent well-being, is putting down the fork, putting down the food, one day at a time. No insight into self, however subtle; no analysis of the dynamics of addiction, however accurate; no understanding of the nature of desire, however sophisticated or enlightening— none of these fine things can substitute for action. The healing of addiction depends, first and foremost, not on what we know, nor on what we feel, but on what we do—a fact that remains as stubbornly true of ‘old timers’ as it does for newcomers.”
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Get Enough Protein

What is “enough protein”? Well, experts disagree. Some feel that all we need is about 30 grams per day (which is a mere ounce); others suggest higher amounts. Though some Americans get more protein than they need, others—and that includes a lot of women—don’t get enough to feel their best. This is one area in which I’ve changed my mind over the past decade based on newer research and both clinical and personal experience.

I, like many, used to think that it was possible for everybody to get all the protein they required for optimal health from grains, beans, and vegetables. Now I realize that while a diet high in complex carbohy drates from whole foods is great for some—the metabolically gifted, who have no problem with insulin—it is not the answer for everyone. I used to erroneously believe that a diet rich in protein and fat was in variably associated with an increased risk of losing calcium in the urine, thus increasing the risk of osteoporosis. However, a review of the current literature has shown that this is not always true.
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It depends on the quality of the protein and fat, and also on how much insulin is hanging around.

Whether you choose to improve your diet on your own or follow the recommendations in one of the many books on diet and nutrition, make sure you are getting an amount of protein every day that is adequate to maintain (or build) your lean body mass—the part of you that burns fat most efficiently. Not every diet proclaimed to be high-protein will provide sufficient amounts of protein. (See
table 10
to de termine the appropriate amount of protein.)

TABLE 10

C
ALCULATING
Y
OUR
D
AILY
P
ROTEIN
R
EQUIREMENT

To determine the daily protein amount required to preserve your lean body mass (LBM), you must first measure your percentage of body fat. (See page 703.) I’ll use Mildred, the former marathoner, as an example. She weighs 138 pounds and has a body fat measurement of 25 percent.

1. Multiply your weight in pounds by your percentage of body fat expressed as a decimal. This tells you the weight of your body fat. (For Mildred: 138 x .25 = 34 pounds.)

2. Subtract the weight of your body fat from your total weight. This tells you your lean body mass. (For Mildred: 138 - 34 = 104 pounds LBM.)

3. Now multiply your LBM by the cofactor that best describes you.
Sedentary
(you do no physical exercise whatsoever): You need 0.5 gram (0.017 oz.) of protein per pound of lean body mass. Multiply your LBM by 0.5.
Moderately active
(you do twenty to thirty minutes of exercise two to three times per week): You need 0.6 grams (0.021 oz.) of protein per pound of lean body mass. Multiply your LBM by 0.6.
Active
(you participate in organized physical activity for more than thirty minutes three to five times per week): You need 0.7 grams (0.024 oz.) of protein per pound of lean body mass. Multiple your LBM by 0.7.
Very active
(you participate in vigorous physical activity lasting an hour or more, five or more times per week): You need 0.8 grams (0.030 oz.) of protein per pound of lean body mass. Multiply your LBM by 0.8.
Athlete
(you are a competitive athlete in training doing twice-daily heavy workouts for an hour or more): You need 0.9 grams (0.320 oz.) of protein per pound of lean body mass. Multiply your LBM by 0.9. (Mildred has an LBM of 104 pounds and is moderately active. Therefore, her daily protein requirement is 62 grams, or 2.18 oz.—considerably less than when she was training for marathons.)

Source:
This method for calculating protein requirements is based on
Protein Power
(Bantam, 1996) by Drs. Michael and Mary Dan Eades.

As you can see, the terms high-protein and low-protein are completely meaningless when your dietary approach is individualized. I now believe that most women do better with some animal protein in their diets. Though I appreciate the sentiments of animal-rights activists and the problematic environmental impact of the current meat production industry, I don’t feel that it is healthful or necessary for everyone to become a vegetarian. (There is no question, however, that the vast majority of the population needs more vegetables, fruit, nuts, seeds, legumes, and whole grains. But whole grains may need to be limited or avoided if an individual is gluten intolerant [see page 691].) Organic methods of producing an imal food that respect the soil, the water, and the animal itself can over come the environmental concerns posed by the meat industry. You can now buy meat from animals raised without chemicals and antibiotics; this meat tends to be leaner and have smaller amounts of pesticide residues in it. The effects of low-fat beef on blood cholesterol and other lipids are no different from those of fish and chicken.
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The problem with most commercially produced beef is that it is heavily marbled with fat as a result of being fed too much grain. So it has the same inflammatory chemical imbalance that many humans have.

ARE YOU SENSITIVE TO ARACHIDONIC ACID?

There is no question that some individuals are very sensitive to arachidonic acid (AA), which is found in all animal products— especially organ meats, red meat, and egg yolks. In fact, this sensitivity to AA is what causes most of the problems that have been commonly attributed to saturated fat and cholesterol. Arachidonic acid is higher in the mod ern meat supply than in the past because the grain that is fed to live stock results in the same eicosanoid imbalance in animals as it does in humans—that is, it results in more inflammatory chemicals than is healthy. The famous China study, conducted by T. Colin Campbell, Ph.D., is the most comprehensive study ever undertaken of the relationship between diet and disease and has shown beyond a shadow of a doubt that the Western penchant for too much animal protein and not enough plant food is deadly. (See
The China Study
[BenBella Books, 2005] by T. Colin Campbell.) (Note that animal food in the diet is nearly always accompanied by lots of refined foods and sugars. Therefore Campbell’s theory that it is the animal food that is the biggest culprit is erroneous. I’m certain it is the refined carbohydrates that accompany this cultural dietary change that do the most damage. Okay—back to arachidonic acid— which is far less likely to be a problem if no refined carbs are eaten with it.) The symptoms of arachidonic acid sensitivity are chronic fatigue, poor and restless sleep, grogginess upon awak ening, brittle hair, brittle nails, dry and flaking skin, minor rashes, and arthritis. It seems clear that some of the health advantages we’ve attributed to a vegetarian diet are simply the result of lowering the AA con tent of the diet. To find out if you are susceptible to AA, eliminate all red meat and egg yolks from your diet for one month. Then eat a meal of steak and eggs and see if your symptoms return. To avoid excess AA, eat only low-fat meat (AA is mostly stored in animal fat), or switch to wild game or free-range livestock, which has much lower levels of AA. Look for free-range chickens and the eggs from them. Excess consumption of carbohydrates (particularly refined ones) also increases AA levels.

It’s not necessary to eat meat in order to increase your protein intake. You can get adequate protein from veggie burgers, tofu, seitan, and tempeh. Eggs, whey powder, soy powder, and milk products are good sources of protein if you’re not sensitive to them. Many vegetarian protein powders, including those made from whole soy, are now available. The nutritional quality of soy protein has been studied in depth (see box below). Studies have shown that nitrogen balance, digestibility, and protein utilization are similar between beef, milk, and soy proteins.
³³
Other studies show that soy protein can support nitrogen balance
³⁴
and provides adequate amounts of the amino acid methionine, which is important for growth and development.
³⁵
Therefore, the addition of soy to the diet is a good way to meet your protein requirements.

IS SOY A HEALTHY CHOICE?

Over the last several years, there’s been a lot of anti-soy information out there, and it’s little wonder women are confused. Long touted for its healthful properties (from helping with hot flashes to reducing breast cancer risk), suddenly soy is being accused of
promoting
breast tumor growth. It’s time to retire the hype, so let me give you the facts:

Soy protein is a nutritionally complete, high-quality protein that contains all the essential amino acids.
Amino acids are building blocks of protein. Soy contains all of the essential amino acids, which means that soy is a complete protein—though it is not particularly rich in one amino acid, methionine.
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However, it contains enough methionine to meet most people’s requirements under most circumstances.
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Soy protein is considered nutritionally excellent by nutritional researchers and the scientific community, especially when compared to other proteins using the Protein Digestibility Corrected Amino Acid Score (PDCAAS) scale.