Hormones and Food interact in ways that are more similar than you might think

Diet is important, yet still not a consensus in the scientific community regarding how what we eat affects our biology. Many beliefs in this realm center around how high fat diets can lead to increased body weight, or how diets high in processed carbohydrates are the culprit. However, the focus on macronutrients (fats, carbs, and proteins) might be misleading. 

There are two general ways that scientists discern how food affects the body: 

1. Comparing populations of people who eat different types of food and assessing differences in factors like body weight in order to point a finger towards which diets may be healthy or not. 
2. Examining the ways that different micronutrients are processed and their effect on the physical body and ability to provide energy. 

Both of these methods of determining which foods are best for our bodies may be overlooking a key concept: how the intricacies of the food we eat interact with our human bodies. There is recent evidence that suggests the importance of the complexities of the foods we eat, narrowing things down to a molecular level. Food can be thought of like a hormone concoction. 

What even is a hormone? Hormones are compounds that communicate between organs in the body. Hormones act on the cells in tissues of the organs they have been transported to, and cause a cascade of signaling that ultimately affects gene expression. And gene expression comes across in SO MANY ways, affecting the way our body works on so many levels. 

Comparing food to hormones in a way makes a lot of sense. Although food is not produced in the body (while endogenous hormones ARE), the components of food circulate the body and influence the organs and systems of the body starting from a molecular level– mirroring the same concept demonstrated by hormones. 

For example, understanding the biochemistry of different micronutrients such as omega-3 fatty acids does not explain why omega-3 fatty acids have benefits for our cardiovascular health, compared to other fatty acids. To truly understand the reason why omega-3 fatty acids have health benefits, we need to examine on a very small, molecular level. Omega-3 fatty acids contain compounds that interact with the cell-receptors in our bodies, causing a chain or reactions in the body, eliciting communication between different organ systems involved with our metabolism, therefore affecting weight gain. This explains why eating omega-3 fatty acids protect against weight gain, while other fats have the opposite effect– the difference is the way that these small compounds interact with the body on a molecular level. 

Macronutrients are classified broadly according to their ability to provide energy to the body– BUT… it may be more useful to classify food by the way it interacts with receptors in the way that hormones do. This would provide us with more clear insight as to WHY what we eat has an effect on diseases such as obesity. 

Coach Emma has never been an advocate of calories counting nor focus on macros in her health coaching programs, because all macros are not created equal. The protein in fish, cow, black beans, avocado and broccoli will FEEL different and for equal amount of protein delivered in grams, your body will respond differently to the messages delivered. Food is COMMUNICATION just like hormones are chemical messengers. Do you feel high energy, clear headed, light, strong, attractive, calm eating this food? or do you feel comatose, heavy, foggy, tired, bloated, angry and frustrated?

Experience this concept first hand in our upcoming Hormonize Cleanse this April. Hormonize is built around a diet and lifestyle that promotes hormonal balance at the cellular level. The foods in our recipes speak to the various glands in your endocrine system, your nervous system, your reproductive system, your thyroid, etc… and every hormone is connected systemically. A change in one affects all other. In this Cleanse we’re not concerned with calorie counting, and every recipe contains all macros, but it’s the choice of food that is the key.

If you experience any hormonal imbalance such as PMS, low libido, infertility, any reproductive issues, perimenopause or menopausal symptoms, low testosterone, prostate issues, stubborn belly fat, low thyroid, excess cortisol, blood sugar imbalance, etc. all of these are cause of hormonal imbalance and can be alleviated with dietary and lifestyle changes. That’s great news!