I Choose ... More Untangling Hormone Havoc with Dr. Amy Shah

You're listening to I Choose Me with Jenny Girl. Hi everyone, exciting news. Okay, my second annual I Choose Me Live Summit Women's empowerment event is coming to Los Angeles on Saturday, April twenty fifth, and I want you to be there. The I Choose Me movement began as three little words on Beverly Hills nine O two one oh in nineteen ninety five, but it has evolved into something so much more than that. A revolution, you guys. It's a message I feel so passionate about. I wrote the book on it.

Chips and cookies.

And in the bag?

Right, Yeah, but not just anything in the bad.

It's anything that you could not recreate in your kitchen. So if it was just potatoes and salt, you could recreate that.

But if it's like.

A complicated twenty ingredient thing that doesn't even have food in it, you could not recreate that in your kitchen.

And there's a lot of things like that.

It's so many things. You look at the ingredient list and you're like, why are there so many ingredients? I know it no idea what these are.

That's right, it should just be the three things that you would need to.

Make that food. And if that's the case, that's what you want to stick to.

So small ingredients tested on the outside of packaging is very very important. Love that you say, we can support estrogen levels with a sniff. So talk to me about the benefits of essential oils because I love essential oils.

I am such a fan of essential oils too. But there's actually really good data that there's certain you know and you can there's a whole list. There's many, many, many, many essential oils that can actually support form one levels and bring down cortisol and improve mood. And it's like, what tell us like a cop okay like peppermint, for example, is a great way to improve mood and stop cravings neurolis in there.

What's your favorite?

I love Nearola. You just had that. I know that clar stage is really good for our horns.

Yeah, Claire stage is one of the best ones.

That one doesn't smell that great to know it's not as it's pretty strong. Yes, so I mix it with others.

I like peppermint because I feel like peppermint is one that you could have after a meal or small after a meal and then just feel satisfied and not need that sweet treat.

Yeah, and it kind of wakes you up too, Yeah, it wakes you up. I love essential oils too. It's so funny because they come and they go in the news rotation of their importance, you know. Yeah, I think it's true waiting for you.

Yeah. I think it's like not as sexy as like, you.

Know, a new medication or whatever, or a new skin cream.

Yes, yes, yes, yes, exactly.

Okay, getting irritable seems easier these days. Fun being honest, are their foods we should keep on hand to help with this disruptive symptom.

Yeah. So one of my favorite foods, honestly hacks is blueberries. Blueberries not only.

Have fiber, but they have these dark blue compounds called polyphenols, and they have been own and studies blueberries to actually boost your mood and brain function within hours of eating that. So, like if you had a big meeting or test or like you just want to boost your brain and mood that day, you can have a couple of blueberries and study show that you will feel that boost.

That's incredible, And frozen blueberries count too.

Frozen blueberries count sometimes even better, right, because they're frozen at the peak of freshness. It's like when you do egg freezing at the peak of.

Freshness, only the good ones. Yeah.

Yeah, so then you.

End up having really full of polyphenols blueberries.

I love that. I'm going to have a blueberry filled smoothie at some point and that'll be my I choose the moment today. Yes, Okay, so you talk about resetting your gut in just three days. I am seriously going to do this because things have not been the same for me since Thanksgiving. Just my intake is off and yeah, my moods are swing in. Everything is different. So give me how do I do this in three days?

What about? Okay?

So, long story short, you have to really change your diet and lifestyle for three days to see a difference. So the cobody that showed it was like a ultra process full, sugar full, you know, diet and then changing it to a whole foods lots of fruits, and vegetables. So my thirty thirty three, if you did that for three days, you would start to feel better. Thirty grams of protein in the morning, thirty grams of fiber throughout the day, and three servings of probiotic foods every single day.

Okay, I've been preaching this since I read the book two days ago, to everybody exceed thirty thirty three. Yes, and you recommend getting those thirty grams of protein right in the beginning of the day, which is not that hard. Yes, I think that's really hard.

I think it's like the easiest one actually, out of the three because per stent of people are not getting in a fiber or probiotics. But I think people are starting to learn the importance of protein. And if you thropload your protein, your day is going to be so much better. You're gonna have less cravings, you're gonna have better mood, you're gonna have more energy, and you're more

What about tofu tofu scramble about.

That tofu scramble, love that tofu scramble.

With veggies to bump up the fiber and have that in the morning. Or you know, you could do a Greek yogurt perthae or a non dairy yogurt perfe. You could do a protein powder mixed into your yogurt or.

Milk or whatever you want to have a smoothie. You can.

Definitely there's so many ways to get that protein in the morning. It doesn't have to be any one particular food, but getting it in the beginning of the day is really really important.

Yeah. I think it's so interesting how we've learned the numbers. You know how before it was just like eat more fiber, get more protein, But now we're getting more scientific about it and saying you start with thirty grams start your day. And I do that front loading of the protein because I feel like, oh my gosh, I'm like halfway to my full goal for the day. This is just one meal that I've had.

So do you love tofu?

You meant I love tofu. Yeah, I don't eat dairy or anything.

Yeah, so difficult.

The nice thing about tofu especially is that it has fido estrogens, which by the way, is not dangerous for people who are like one during.

Like oh my god, that has estrogen.

You know.

Everybody's especially my husband, is like, I can't eat too much tofu. I'm gonna get man boobs.

No, that's phido estrogen's work differently than actual estrogen, but they do support estrogen for people who are going.

Through that phase where they're either low or no estrogen.

You really do get a boost because it has estrogen like activity. But it doesn't, you know, increase your cancer risk or make you man boobs or all that stuff.

But it is good. It's actually superfood.

And during this time, oh well, I'm good then I eat yeah, pretty much every single day.

And if you do.

Honestly, the worry was in me like, oh am I eating too much soy or you know, but I'm so happy to hear you say that. I'm not.

If you do a tofu and black bean scramble, you get thirty grams so easily because the black beans are like so full of protein too, and both of them have. Black beans are a super big source of good fiber as well, so it's a really great combination.

Chop up some broccoli in there.

Yeah, there you go.

You're making me so hungry.

I know, I was thinking the same thing.

Wait, that reminds me of the meno belly. Yes, you know that all of a sudden pooch that just comes out of nowhere. It is how do we get rid of that?

So I think when I was in medical school and training, I feel like it was kind of a myth, like, oh, there's this thing like meno belly. But it's literally a fact that people get a change in their fat distribution during perimenopause, and like I think it's like over eighty five percent of people have this notice this change, and so it's not something that is that's like one of

Every day, like we are told in society.

I think just moving your body more, getting enough sleep, and eating for your gut and hormones can really help reverse.

Some of these so so good, these are all perfect easy, little I choose me moments that we can do. I mean, yeah, going to the gym and working out for two hours is a little bit like too much, yeah, for a lot of us to incorporate into our busy schedules in our days. And also we're tired, we don't want to go work out, I know, just move and walk and eat well and get your sleep, the three like most important things.

I think that's that's absolutely right.

And I think in fact, we're often killing ourselves. Like my old me self was going to these high intensity workouts but never recovering and never sleeping enough and never kicking a day off, and I was actually worsening that whole situation where my cortosol was sky high, and then I was, you know, gaining fat in all the wrong places. And I think that lots of women don't understand that you need to give yourself permission to recover and maybe do some low intensity activities in there.

Yes, yes, okay, wait, I have to go back to the prebiotic thing, freed pro whatever it is. Apple cider vinegar. I could probably handle that. What do you think is the best way to disguise getting what is it? Two ta spoons three teaspoons in?

Yeah, so raw apple sider vinegar acts like a probiotic in our body, you know, with the mother, the ont the skobe sitting in.

There, the same thing from weird Like.

Yeah, it's like a light life. It's bacteria.

And so if you add that to a big glass of water, you won even taste it.

If you add it to your.

Dressing, salad dress, okay, you probably like you can really mask it very well.

It works really well that way.

And if you add like a little spoon into something you're making all like a smoothie or something not hot, it's another. But I think adding it to a glass of water, a lot of people find that's super super easy because it doesn't barely like when you add it to enough water really takes away the taste completely.

Okay, I'm gonna try it because I need that. I need those because I'm not gonna eat sauerkraut. I'm not gonna do it.

No, but there are there are you know what what I realized is there's a lot of things out there like NATO, and there's a lot of things out there that we don't even think about when we're not thinking about probiotics.

But if you go to your local health withthtore now there's an entire section and you should pick and choose something that you might want to try. That's exactly how I found a couple of things that I actually enjoy. And it's just something like you know, you can just have when like a coconut cult yogurt for a dairy free person might be a good option. There's lots of new options out there, products out there.

I think it's important to read the label and just look for pre biotic probiotics and anytime it says that, just get it in.

Yeah.

So the nice thing is in the US, if something has bacteria, it has to be labeled that has bacteria, and so it's pretty easy to know.

Yeah, it's good. It's good that that happened relatively recently. That better labeling on the food.

So yeah, and then the other good news.

I don't know if you love sourdough, but killed bacteria in sourdough it's called post biotics, meaning that they're not live anymore, and most of them are dead because they hated it. But they still work really well like our gut bacteria apparently really thrive when even if they get post biotics.

Okay, that's good to know. Yeah, carbs, we love them, Yes, we hate them. They don't. They don't love us back. You know, we know that a diet heavy in carbs can cause unwanted weight gain and that blowdy feet. They also spike your blood sugar, which is not good internally. So give us the genius start check.

Yes, okay, so all of us love pasta and bread and rice and potatoes. I don't think there's anybody out there that I know that doesn't like one of those or all of those, right, Yeah, and so once in a while you might want to have a nice bowl of pasta.

And so the hack is that if you put pasta in.

The refrigerator overnight, after it's cooked or half cooked, it actually changes its structure. So some of the starch changes and becomes resistant starch. Resistance starch just means like it actually acts like fiber to our body and feeds.

The good gut bacteria.

So you took something that was super high and starch, and you change some of that starch into something really good for our gut, and so it is real and you can heat it up. So after you put in the fridge overnight, Okay, heat it up just like you would, so it's kind of like enjoy them as leftovers and they're healthier for you. That doesn't mean it becomes zero calories or zero blood sugar impact. That really does change it for those times you're creating it.

That's a great hack. Yeah, but I have to ask you this because I do that. I'll make rice like kind of for the week or for the last few days and just keep it on hand. But I saw something on I don't know TikTok Instagram, one of them that said if we store our rice over twenty four hours, then we are eating mold.

Yeah, so there's rice is something that you have to really be careful with in terms of like you want to refrigerate it right after it's cool down. So say you cook it, you don't want to let us sit out on your countertop for hours.

Before you put in the fridge, because.

There is not that it'll happen every time, but there's a higher chance that it could be growing a bacteria and that bacteria does not die when you put in the fridge or boocket.

Yeah, that's not the bastia we want.

Yeah, that's not the bacteria we want. So you you can store your rice, no problem, but you want to be cooking it and as soon as it's cool down you want to put it away. You don't want to have it sitting on the counter for five, six, seven hours.

How many days can I cop it in?

Once you do it, once you cook it, and you put in the fridge, you can have it for three, three to four days, not more than that.

Okay, Yeah, Because I was like loving this idea of this hack and then somebody totally ruined it for me. Yeah, it's like that's what that's with all the messaging, it's like, yes, I know, do that, No, don't.

Do There was a serious it's actually the bacteria is called be serious, and there was a serious case of a college student having you know, fried rice that was just sitting out out on the counter and they got extremely sick. You know, it can be very very toxic, but that's because they left it out, I think, overnight on their counter.

Oh my gosh, so much good information all packed into this incredible book. People really should start with some of these easy first steps, and you really must read Hormone Havoc by the beautiful doctor Amy Shaw.

Thank you, thanks so much for having me. This is so fun.

Thank you so much for being here. I've learned a lot.

Awesome.

Okay, b well, thank you