[00:00:00] Vesna: today I'm going to talk about metabolic health for women in business and leadership metabolic health refers to energy and our metabolism. So when everything's running smoothly, we have the physical and mental energy. to do everything that we need to do in a day.
[00:00:52] Now, when we're in a position, whether we're running a business or in a position of leadership or management, we can have more stress, more things to juggle, intense work hours, and it can us to snacking more often on sugary foods, having more caffeine, maybe rewarding yourself at the end of the day with wine or some alcohol, going for more.
[00:01:15] quick food options like an Uber Eats or eating out and all of that has impact to our metabolic health and how well our body can create energy and how it uses fat for fuel as well.
[00:01:28] Metabolic health issues such as metabolic syndrome is connected with or is a big cause of chronic disease. It's related to insulin resistance, where we have high insulin and more body fat, in particular belly fat.
[00:01:41] it's a cause of diabetes. Cardiovascular disease, they're calling dementia, type 3 diabetes, due to this whole metabolic syndrome. It affects our mood and our mental health because our brain needs glucose and we also have insulin receptors in our brains. It's going to affect our mood and other hormonal problems like PCOS, it affects all of our hormones and can lead to fatigue, a lack of focus, lack of concentration and just not feeling your best.
[00:02:09] Now, as we get to our forties and mid forties and beyond, women in particular are more prone to having metabolic health issues because as we go into our mid forties and beyond, the changes in our hormones make us more prone to insulin resistance. So again, this is where your body has a higher level of insulin.
[00:02:31] So in order for your cells to move or your body to move the glucose into the cells, it requires insulin. And over time with insulin resistance. there's a high dose of insulin to have the same effect. So we get, um, insulin resistance of the cells. And that means we can't utilize energy as well. We can't burn body fat.
[00:02:51] We start storing more body fat and it leads to belly fat, weight gain, increases in cholesterol and so forth.
[00:02:58] So for women in their mid forties, they will notice that their body shape is changing. They're getting more body fat. Less muscle fat in areas that they didn't have before. And this is what's going on. Now this is completely correctable and you can prevent it as well.
[00:03:12] So what causes disruptions to our metabolic health? Well, number one is too many glucose spikes over time. So glucose being in response to sugar or carbohydrates. Causes our glucose levels to rise and it should rise at like a steady rate. But glucose spikes mean that they go up very fast and they come down very fast.
[00:03:31] And that means as it spikes, it causes insulin to spike and insulin being the hormone there that really affects our metabolic health when we have too much of it. Now, glucose spikes can come from the diet. It can come from stress. It can come from lack of sleep
[00:03:45] and all of that triggers higher insulin levels. So insulin, like I said, is going to look like. more belly fat, more fatty areas for women, more cellulite and just changes to our body, but it has huge impact and knock on effect to the rest of our system.
[00:04:00] The other factor is stress like stress in general. Uh, this invisible stress that we carry all the time has a huge impact on glucose because as we become stressed without eating anything, our glucose levels will rise and so will our insulin levels. So if we're living In chronic stress, we find that we go about our day to day where everything's panic, or everything's catastrophized, or everything seems urgent, We are going to be spiking glucose and insulin all day long.
[00:04:27] And then eventually, in our 40s, it's going to catch up with us. So it may feel like, Hey, I got to this point, I was doing, I'm doing everything the same as what I was doing before, but I'm really looking different and feeling different and reacting to stress in different ways. And that's because this is, it's progressive.
[00:04:45] It catches up with us over time.
[00:04:46] So what can we do to improve metabolic health? So you as a woman can really perform at your best, feel your best, look your best and maintain healthy weight and muscle mass and your health for many years to come. Step one is to really look at and test your metabolic markers. Now this is looking at your glucose levels, so going for a blood test, have a look at your fasting glucose levels.
[00:05:10] But also your fasting insulin levels will give you a really good indication of where your metabolic health is at. And then also looking at cholesterol, like your HDL cholesterol, your triglycerides. And the other marker which you can simply do at home yourself is looking at your waist circumference. So if you go tape measure and measure your waist at the belly button region, Or even where the widest part is, your measurements should be below 88 centimeters for women or 35 inches.
[00:05:40] So the studies have found that over that number we are, it is a key indicator of heading into insulin resistance.
[00:05:47] So that's the first step, making sure that you get the appropriate test to find out where you're at right now and how much improvement you need to make.
[00:05:54] Step number two is spike free glucose levels. So obviously we're going to eat So, we're not just gonna eat foods that contain carbohydrates which get converted into glucose, which will cause our sugar levels or glucose levels to rise. But we wanna make sure that we're not getting those spikes and dips and spikes and dips.
[00:06:11] Cause that's what's the biggest problem that affects our metabolic health and our energy. And sugar is in everything really, if you walked into the supermarket, most of the things on the shelves will contain some kind of sugar or processed carbohydrates, which will cause your glucose levels to spike as well.
[00:06:28] So this looks like adding sugar to anything that you drink. It looks like chocolate, ice cream, any confectionery, biscuits, soft drinks, cake, desserts, condiments, flavoured drinks. When you look at the label, when you see the sugar content or the carbohydrate content, if it is high, it is going to cause a glucose spike.
[00:06:48] So really the first step here that we want to do to reduce the glucose spike is to reduce Sugar. Reduce the obvious sugars so all those things that I just mentioned. And then also reducing processed foods now even if you eat out, unfortunately the condiments use a lot of sweetener, they put a lot of sugar, so that's also going to disrupt your glucose levels.
[00:07:07] But processed foods, anything in a packet, be really diligent in looking at the nutrient list to have a look at, is there sugar added in there? What is the carbohydrate content? The other thing that we want to look at, so carbohydrates is one part of the conversation.
[00:07:21] The second part is the protein, because the protein and fiber, so we, you know, we get fiber in vegetables, is going to slow the glucose glucose rate, right? So, if you're eating something and you have a nice balance of carbohydrates and proteins, and there's fiber in there, then it means that your glucose levels will rise very steadily, which is a very normal response.
[00:07:45] And then they will come down very steadily over time. So that's normal. So if you're, if you eat your protein portion first and then your carbohydrates, you're going to get a nice kind of very smooth and slow increase and then a decrease. But if you're just eating carbohydrate meal like a pasta, you're going to get an increase in your glucose or a spike and then a drop.
[00:08:06] So we want to make sure that everything has protein and fiber combined. So, and even your healthy fats. Carbohydrates, proteins. Healthy fats and your fiber will make sure that your glucose levels don't spike. You're having more level glucose days, which means insulin is lower. And if insulin is lower, you're going to be able to burn your body fat for energy.
[00:08:28] You're going to be able to use anything excesses energy and store excess as energy rather than body fat.
[00:08:34] Step number three is stress reduction I've had clients, we test their glucose. We use a continuous glucose monitor and we find that when they're in a meeting or they've had a stressful day. That the glucose levels will spike even though they haven't eaten anything for hours. And this is the impact of stress hormones on our glucose levels.
[00:08:52] So stress hormones cause the body to flood glucose into the system, and then flood insulin as well. So you may be doing all the right things in terms of your diet, But you're still noticing the changes in your body and this could be coming down to high levels of stress hormones.
[00:09:09] So there's physical stress on the body. So changing the diet to change the biochemistry. There's also sleep. poor sleep has a huge impact on our metabolic health and our glucose levels. So making sure that you have a good sleep routine, you know, getting to bed on time, getting to bed by 10, having eight hours of sleep, getting off your devices, so to make sure that you're not You have that good quality deep sleep time, but then the other part of our stress is this mental and emotional stress or this invisible load that we carry with us.
[00:09:38] So if you find yourself in business feeling very stressed over any kind of challenge or anything that goes wrong, then you really need to find ways to improve your mindset or your mental health in order to handle that stress. Because if you're catastrophizing everything or everything feels like a huge problem, then It's just going to keep your stress response activated all day and keep your glucose levels high.
[00:09:59] Step number four is movement and muscle so movement and exercise helps us to build lean muscle, it helps to improve our metabolic health. In fact, even just going for a walk after you've eaten something helps to balance out the glucose levels. Being in sunlight while you're eating your carbohydrates helps you to balance and normalize your glucose levels.
[00:10:22] So if you were to eat your lunch outside every day, it would do wonders for your metabolic health. But we also want to look at muscle mass because as we get into our forties, women, as I said, due to hormonal changes, we're prone to insulin resistance, which means we're prone to a condition called sarcopenia.
[00:10:40] So this really accelerates in our forties. So if you've noticed that your body shape has changed, you have, you know, Arms that sag and your bums flat and your, you've got more belly fat and your whole, you've just got fat in areas that you didn't have before, and you can really see the loss of muscle tone, then that is called sarcopenia.
[00:11:01] Now, as I said, our hormonal changes make us prone to it, but there are. Definitely things that we can do to reverse that and prevent it.
[00:11:08] And so one of those ways is, you know, maintaining metabolic health through those factors that I've already mentioned and increasing exercise, particularly resistance exercise, because it's helping to rebuild lean muscle. I did a whole episode on this, on episode 10, where I talked about Sarcopenia, how it kind of accelerates from 35 to 40 and onwards, and what you need to do to prevent it.
[00:11:29] So those are the four steps for metabolic health for women in business. So if you are a woman in business or leadership, then your metabolic health, your energy, your performance, your mental power is really important part of your work and your career in order for you to do the best work and sustain your success.
