Soy contains a certain kind of molecule called a “phytoestrogen” that acts like estrogen in the body.Health professionals disagree strongly about whether phytoestrogens are healthy for women to eat. Is soy (and flax, another potent phytoestrogen-containing food) the fountain of youth, or is it a toxin? What is a phytoestrogen? Phyto is Greek for “plant.” … Read more
I propose in a number of blog posts that the most important thing for a woman’s health is to love herself. Maybe I never came out and said it that explicitly, but I do believe that that is the truth. And I do hope that is apparent in my writing. From self-love (and being reasonable!) … Read more
Many people liked my post on the Happiest, Healthiest, Easiest Weight Loss in the World. The idea is simple: restore proper hormone function by nourishing the body and eliminating food toxins. This type of weight loss is happy because there’s no psychological damage, and body image issues take a back seat when health is prioritized. … Read more
I spend a disproportionate amount of my time telling women to eat carbohydrates. In the paleosphere, it is incredibly common to eat a low carbohydrate diet. Plenty of people use low carbohydrate diets to lose weight, to sharpen insulin sensitivity, and to reduce appetite in the short term. A low carbohydrate diet can also be … Read more
Let me begin my review by stating outright that I don’t like most books, philosophies, and things. It’s a matter of quality in a vast variety of realms. Intelligence, rationality, common sense, scientific-coherence, clear communication of ideas. Love, feminism, equianimity, no-nonsense approaches to life. Hard-hitting and real and down-to-Earth all at the same time. These … Read more
The volume of emails I receive from women who start having menstrual problems on a paleo diet is staggering. It is not an enormous volume, no. But it is enough to give a woman pause. What gives? Aren’t we supposed to be healthier on a paleo diet? Yes, we are, and really, we are. In … Read more
In the short series The Physiology of Women’s Weight Loss, I highlighted the most important factors that make a woman’s weight loss unique to a man’s. In Part I, I discussed estrogen. In Part II, I discussed the mechanisms by which female bodies preserve fat stores. (And if that wasn’t enough, I went ahead and … Read more
In the first post I wrote on the physiology of women’s weight loss, I focused on the role estrogen plays in fat stores. I noted at the end of the post that estrogen is involved with sending appetite-regulating signals to the brain. This is an important factor in female weight loss. Men have hormonal feedback … Read more
Many people in the modern world believe that it is more difficult for women to lose weight than for men. This is unfortunate, and it’s an over-simplification, but the idea is not precisely wrong. A woman’s body is laced with hormonal complexities that a man’s is not. This is strikingly born out in the simple … Read more
Protein, composed of amino acids, is the building block molecule. For this reason, we usually think of it as constructing our bones, our skin, and our muscles. A lesser-known fact of amino acids, however, is that they are also the building blocks of neurotransmitters. This means that when certain amino acids break down from proteins … Read more