Page 21 - MyMT EATS Recipe book (Proofed May 2017) (2)

Whilst eating a balanced diet mostly supplies you with sufficient essential and non-essential
amino-acids, sometimes as you transition through menopause, you need to have a bit more focus
on the type, timing and amount of proteins you are eating. This is because if you don’t eat
enough essential amino acids, your body might struggle to conserve what essential amino acids it
can. Eventually it runs out and production of new proteins slows. When that happens, you can
start to lose muscle tissue and your immune health will gradually deteriorate.

Some foods contain all of the essential amino acids in amounts sufficient to maintain protein
synthesis (manufacturing); these are the complete protein foods. The problem for women who
might be suffering from the inflammatory effects of menopause however, many of these
‘complete’ protein foods are meat and dairy based which we have already said are quite acidic.

To reduce the inflammatory symptoms of menopause, it is important to eat a less-acidic diet for a
few weeks and this is what Circuit Breaker and Transform Me Liver Lover phase is all about. But
don’t worry. Because if you combine the right proteins together and/or add more fish and organic
chicken to your diet, you can still get the protein benefits that red meat offers. Use the list of
protein foods to guide you in your choices.

How Much Protein is Enough during the Menopause Transition?

There has been a lot of talk lately about ‘high-protein’ diets and their benefit for weight loss,
however, I am often asked “how high?” is ‘high’. I typically say, “that depends”. Because the
amount of protein you should eat daily depends on factors
such as gender, age, training regime and most importantly,
your gut and liver health. The last factor relating to protein Protein digestion begins with
digestion and absorbability is often forgotten in the 'high cooking. They are ‘denatured’ by
heat. Eggs, including the whites,
protein’ debate but this is really important for menopausal need to be cooked so your body can
women who might be over-weight and struggling with a absorb the proteins more readily.
‘fatty liver’ or for women who have poor gut health.

Proteins that we eat are partially broken down by hydrochloric acid in the stomach and an
enzyme called pepsin. Further digestion occurs by polypeptides released from the pancreas. Final
digestion of amino acids takes place mostly inside the small intestine. These single amino acids
are then absorbed into the portal vein which transport them to the liver. From here, they enter
the general bloodstream. So doesn’t it make sense then, that if your gut cells are inflamed or
your liver is fatty, that you might not be absorbing these amino acids sufficiently, so they can’t