Grain-Free, Alkalinity and Hormones

I just dug out this article for a female friend of mine and I decided it was worth including this as a feature for me too, as the author describes so well, just how harmful insulin can be for hormone regulation and balancing. Simply put, when we’re consistently generating high levels of insulin (as a result of high GI carbs and sugar intake) a number of processes in the body are negatively impacted. For example, insulin is your fat storing hormone, and when you consistently trigger high levels of insulin, if you’re prone to storying fat, sugar and high GI carbs will lead to fat gain and make it practically impossible to burn fat. Suggestion: Free yourself of the likes of high GI carbs and sugar if you are prone to storing fat and eat more dietary fats – the likes of avocados, fatty fish, whole organic eggs, olives, olive oil, coconut oil, coconut fat, nuts and seeds. This is not exhaustive!

Belly fat storage leads to more oestrogen in the body as a result aromatase activity (an enzyme which converts testosterone to two forms of oestrogen) and this imbalance of hormones leads to a host of other problems. If you’re a guy with high levels of oestrogen circulating in your body, testosterone will drop and you might just grow man boobs. Not appealing to most women I know! Breasts look amazing on women, not so great on men. If negative aesthetics aren’t enough to induce change, then the health dangers of increased belly fat should – namely, it leads to inflammation and high levels of oestrogen are linked with a number of diseases including breast cancer (even in men), colon and pancreatic cancer. Chronic inflammation is the foundation for pretty much every chronic disease.

High levels of insulin also suppress the immune system, you’ll experience an energy rollercoaster with emotions all over the place and high levels of stress that also suppresses the immune system and throws hormones out of whack. Cortisol also creates and acidic environment in the body.

Why are wheat grains so bad? They trigger a sharper blood sugar response than table sugar and they contain 3 ingredients which are anti-nutrients. Grains are inflammatory and cause an acidic environment in your body. Check out this article and share with the women you love too:

Balanced Sex Hormones from Eating Grain Free & Don’t Be Scared of Healing Symptoms

Why is it so important to give up grains for hormonal balance?

There are so many reasons for not eating grains. Grains have protease inhibitors, phytates, lectins, glutens (many different glutens have now been found in all grains and are the perfect food for bad gut bacteria) but I am not going to discuss any of these reasons. I just want to talk about the effect of grains on blood sugar levels and what this does to the hormonal balance.

Eating any kind of grain will create high blood sugar levels (also called spikes). Among the many to note this is Dr William Davis in his book “Wheat Belly”. This rise in blood sugar levels will in turn raise the hormone, Insulin.

Insulin, cortisol, and the sex hormones estrogen, progesterone, testosterone and all the other hormones work in a symphony of interconnectedness. Usually, we only think of one hormone at a time. Thyroid symptoms indicate a thyroid problem. Blood sugar symptoms means there is an insulin problem. Symptoms around sexual function indicate a sex hormone problem. And high stress means a cortisol problem. We are told that if your thyroid hormone, or if your testosterone was normalized, you would feel fine, but the hormonal system really does not work like this.

An enzyme system found in the liver converts cholesterol into Pregnenelone, the top hormone in the hormonal cascade. High levels of insulin will cause liver dysfunction which will prevent or severely impede this important conversion.

Sex hormone binding globulins (SHBG) are produced by the liver as well. As the livers function is greatly impeded by insulin spikes the liver won’t be able to make enough SHBG. Without SHBG, too much free estrogen is available creating high levels on estrogen in the body.

The hormone DHEA “the youthening hormone”, has been shown to be greatly reduced in the body by insulin spikes.

Have you noticed the increasing number of men with breasts in today’s world? These men aren’t necessarily fat. This tendency is coming from an excess of estrogen from eating a high carbohydrate diet (which is usually mostly eating grains and sugar) causing these ‘man boobs’ even in younger men.

Read more on AkalinePaleoDiet.com

Side note: Insulin can be beneficial when higher GI carbs are eaten after a workout when insulin does its job in converting the excess blood sugar in the blood and depositing it into muscle cells, and this helps with muscle recovery, strengthening and repair – hypertrophy.

You may be thinking this is a limited diet. Truth be told, there are so many options for eating grain-free and high GI-free. It basically just means eating real food, free from the offensive processed “foods” that are out there, and most packaged goods. If you eat real food, with tons of micronutrients from veggies, healthy fats and some protein, you can’t go wrong as long as quantities of meat aren’t ridiculous. I eat much less meat than I used to and more wild-caught fish now, and twice a day. I’ve not been ill for as long as I can remember as I’m vegetable juicing daily and eating tons of veggies.

You can eat vegetables until the cows come home (excluding potatoes and starchy veggies) , consume healthy fats and any kind of protein (as long as it’s not soy!). Swap breakfast cereals over for fully loaded veggie omelette with spices, side of avocado and fresh salad and you’re golden. Have veggies for lunch with some kind of protein and a huge mixed salad at night, with quinoa if you’re in need or with butternut squash or sweet potato. If you’re particularly active, then you may want more sweet potatoes for example, otherwise, we really don’t need the carb load our conventional diet tells us to eat. You can make pizza base with cauliflower and even have pancakes and and wraps made from wheat alternatives.