Episode 93: Why Menopause Changes How You Need Protein with Lisa G - Mini Menopause Pod Series
Welcome back to our mini menopause series with nutritionist and health coach Lisa G, where we chat about some individual aspects of the menopause.
In episode three of our four-part menopause mini-series, Jemma is joined again by Lisa to talk about one topic that comes up again and again for women in midlife: protein.
If you’ve ever felt more fatigued, foggy, hungry, or noticed your body responding differently to food during perimenopause or menopause — this episode is for you. And if you have a complicated relationship with food, you’re especially not alone.
This conversation gently explores why protein matters so much during menopause, without rules, pressure, or perfection.
Don't forget, Lisa is offering a free 20 min consultation, you can find her contact details on her website!
EPISODE TIMESTAMPS:
[00:30] - The Importance of Protein During Menopause
[01:26] - Challenges and Solutions for Protein Intake
[05:59] - Protein Sources and Recommendations
[08:56] - Practical Protein-Rich Meal Ideas
CONNECT WITH LISA G:
THANK YOU FOR LISTENING!
If you enjoyed this episode, please let us know your thoughts on Instagram @lovethisfoodthing and consider leaving an honest review and rating for the show - we’d be extremely grateful.
WAYS WE CAN HELP YOU:
EPISODE #93 TRANSCRIPT: Why Menopause Changes How You Need Protein with Lisa G - Mini Menopause Pod Series
Jemma: Welcome back to Love This Food Thing for number three of four bite-sized menopausal pods with nutritionist and health coach Lisa G. Hello, hello. She's not paying any attention, just trying to sort something out. So Lisa was just having a little snooze if, why are we doing these rhetorical question?
Well, if you've got a history of eating disorders like me, or if you still have food stuff going on, the menopausal years can be even more challenging. And we think that fundamentally women want to know about weight, mood, and sex. So number three is about protein, and we're both aware that. It's such a far subject, not protein.
It is, but menopause that we're just skimming the surface. We're just trying to Mm. Provoke or you know, and just
Lisa: stimulate some discussion. Conversation. Conversation. And also I think most importantly is to know that you are not alone. Exactly.
Jemma: So there is a massive amount that we could say. And what happens when you record is that you end up not saying anything you intended to.
Don't you find?
Lisa: Yeah. Which is why anyone can reach out and ask a question to me.
Jemma: Yeah, exactly. Okay. I'm setting that pinger. She's quite annoying me now. I dunno why I started this. Okay. Ready? Go for it. Protein. I need desperate to talk about protein. I'm so desperate to talk about protein. Okay. Wait for the beep.
Go. No, it hasn't started. What's wrong with it? There we go. Protein. Can I just say I'm very focused on eating protein now. Great. Which is more difficult. I'd love to just chuck a chicken breast. Yeah. Under the grill. Yeah. But I don't eat meat. Okay. And I'm never going to, okay. I do now eat a bit of fish.
Yeah. But I'm really conscious of my protein intake every meal, and it makes a huge difference. So, over
Lisa: to you. Yeah. So when your estrogen levels decline mm-hmm. In menopause Mm. It, it affects way more than just your reproductive. Hormones. Okay. People think, oh, estro, gester. So what happens is estrogen helps build muscle.
Mm-hmm. So, and then mitochondrial deficiency mitochondria are the, um, they create energy in the cell. In the cell. Mm-hmm. Well, their A TP creates the energy in the cell, but the mitochondria are little organelles. Okay. That lots of stuff's going on. And then there's insulin sensitivity. Okay. So. Actually, if we were all told this at the age of 30, we start losing lean muscle.
I didn't know that. We all should have been told that in school. None. None of us were told that. So what happens is if we're not to eating enough protein and we're gonna go through later how much protein we think you should eat. Mm-hmm. We are losing lean muscle. Muscle is a metabolic organ. Okay. And then muscle is responsible for insulin sensitivity.
Um, I think you've mentioned earlier on that when you were in, uh, perimenopause, you would. Eat foods that you were eating and then you would crash afterwards. Yeah. Should sugary foods quickly, carbohydrates. This isn't necessarily to do with the muscle because you and I just love going off piece. What happens is, sorry, I just can't, can't control myself.
What happens is insulin that directs glucose into the cells mm-hmm. Needs estrogen and progesterone to work optimally. Okay. You don't coach, so when you've got those fluctuating. Hormones going on in perimenopause. Okay. And then menopause when they've completely gone. Okay. We can't process glucose as well as we used to, so we have to really look at the foods we were eating before.
We can't necessarily eat those high sugary foods as we used to. And feel the same. And feel the same. Okay? So everything the way we. Eat the food. It's about looking at the foods you eat and looking at how best those foods are going to serve you. Okay, and then you know, beyond muscle proteins important for immune hormone production.
Neurotransmitters, which we spoke about earlier, which are your brain chemicals and recovery and energy protein is responsible for. That recovery that we get overnight from exercise. Yes. And I satiety feeling full after we've eaten satiety. Yeah, that's the way you say that word. Satiety. Such a good word.
Jemma: Um, also I learned the other day that protein isn't something that your body now might be. Misquoting isn't something that your body will store. It kind of gets rid of it overnight. You have to top your protein
Lisa: levels up. Well, that's for your muscles. Oh, okay. Your, your tool, I mean, protein. Is abundant. I mean, collagen is protein.
Elastin is protein.
Jemma: Do you recommend people take, women take collagen powder?
Lisa: I think, I think we've got to be very mindful when we talk about protein powders and collagen, because the biggest difference between a protein powder and collagen. Collagen is not a complete amino. It doesn't have a complete amino acid profile.
Okay? Okay. Whereas most protein powders do, you've got your essential amino acids. And collagen doesn't have all the essential amino acids. I don't want, you can add it to things, but I think it's, we have to be mindful if we're thinking right, I'm having collagen, that's my protein. It's great and I love collagen.
But it doesn't have the complete profile of amino acids
Jemma: and, and you need to get your protein from a vast
Lisa: array of sauces. Right? You can get, so protein comes from obviously animal protein. Yeah. You meat your fish. It comes from nuts and seeds and beans and legumes. Vegetables have a little bit of protein in edamame beans, AMI.
Soy, all of that has protein in it. How many grams per day? So are we ready to move on to that or have I over spoken? No, don't, don't worry. I mean, as I said, there is so much to say about protein and why we need protein. Do you want to say anything else about why we need it? Well, I think we've covered obviously the muscles, the hormones, the immune, the recovery, the satiety.
Blood sugar balance and regulation. You did it for clarity as well. You just, it helps get through that fog. You just need the fatigue it, you just need it for everything. And the one thing I always try and educate my clients on is protein with everything you eat at all times. Because what that's gonna do is, like you said earlier about that.
Blood sugar crash you had protein is gonna stabilize that blood sugar. Your blood sugar. So like an apple and some almonds. Exactly. Okay. Or apple and seeds or apple and almond bowl. Okay. What, whatever protein works for you. Yeah. But it's really important. Now I'm of the mind, and I'm sure if you go online, everyone is gonna give you a different protein.
Amount, I think we should be having approximately 25 to 30 grams of protein each meal, which actually is quite a lot. I struggle to do that sometimes. It's, but as, as I said, that it's about those small sustainable changes. If you're having one egg a day, if that's all your protein, have two eggs a day. Mm.
It's about not also thinking, oh my God, I'm gonna look like a bodybuilder. It's about. Learning that it's going to help you. Okay.
Jemma: Well no, you have to have a massive amount of practice to do a lot of work. To be able to build up. Exactly. But we
Lisa: don't want people to get, I don't want anyone to get fixated.
They've got to also, if it's about gradual buildup,
Jemma: if people are worried about protein powders, 'cause you know, there's a whole sort of debate about lesser thin and all the other bits and pieces and protein powders. I, I now have pea protein powder. I was gonna
Lisa: say pea protein is a really nice, complete.
Protein, complete amino acid profile. You've got hemp. Yep. Shelled hemp seeds. Delicious. Very nty. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So there's, there's loads of different. What? How many grams of protein are two eggs? Is that 30? It's, no, it's about, I think an egg's. About five. So what would you have with your two eggs? So you could have some seeded bread.
Okay. Some avocado. Okay. So you could do that. Also, the white has got a lot of protein and so you could have two eggs and just use the egg. White. White. And that's gonna build it up. But I've got some ideas. Go
Jemma: on. Go. Because you've got two and a half minutes. Oh my
Lisa: God. Right? Here I go. So. For breakfast if you do eat.
Um, actually no, this is a good one for everyone. So you could have 200 grams of Greek yogurt. Yeah. Normal fat. I don't believe, I'm not a believer in lowfat foods. Mm-hmm. Because I think fat's really important. Mm-hmm. Two tablespoons of cheer seeds, 10 grams of almonds, and half a cup of berries, that's gonna give you 30 grams of protein.
Jemma: And you soak that the night before, wouldn't you? Yep. So those cheer seeds can swell. Exactly.
Lisa: You want them to swell. Yes. Um, and then for lunch, these have, these have omnivore examples, so you could have some. 120 grams of grilled chicken breast, one cup of cooked quinoa, and then a cup of spinach, olive oil.
Jemma: This isn't to say this is what you must have. No. This is to give you some kind of indication of what the protein looks like in a, instead of Exactly,
Lisa: because everyone's like, oh, what
Jemma: does
Lisa: 30 grams of protein?
Jemma: No one. Then people go, well, people might be feeling triggered. I hate that word, E. Exactly. About, you know, how much and what they can and can't eat.
That's, that's not
Lisa: what we're talking about here. It's not, it's about giving people an idea of what a 30 grams of protein is. Yeah. An image. And then, you know, if you are, um, vegan, you could have, um, tofu scrambles. So 150 grams of tofus. Okay. Spinach, mushrooms, nutritional yeast, lover of nutritional yeast, beans really high in B12.
Yeah. And then. For, um, if you are a vegetarian, you just say for lunch, one cup of cooked lentils and then a hundred grams of cottage cheese. And actually no, that's a, that's a vegetarian. That's vegetarian. So that,
Jemma: that is 30 grams of protein. Is it? That's what it looks like with, that's 32 grams of protein.
32 grams. So then you've done 90,
Lisa: haven't you? Yeah. So that, that's pretty golden. Yeah. And I can give you these recipes and you can put them up and it's just giving people because. Also if you say you've got a a I'm gonna give chicken as an example. Yeah. If you've got a raw chicken breast, it's about a palm and a half.
Mm is about 25 grams. I'm gonna cut you off 'cause we're nearly there. Okay. Bone broth. Do you wanna talk about that or vegetable broth? I love. Bone broth. It's, why is that so good? Bone broth is full of collagen. And what about vegetable broth? Vegetable broth, you've still got the nutrients. It doesn't have the collagen in.
Okay. It does have a different, but if you can have bone broth, it's full of collagen, it's full of glycine. It's really calming and healing. Okay. On the gut.
Jemma: Okay. And also chickpeas. Kidney beans. Yeah. Oh, there we go.
Lisa: All of those. We go again. All the beans, the pulses, the lentils. They're really. Good. And the other thing to bear in mind, if you want a complete protein and you are a vegan, add some rice because then that gives you that complete protein profile.
Okay. Do you want to say anything else? There is so much I could say, but I'm just gonna say thank you for having me.
Jemma: Oh my God, it's been a pleasure.
Lisa: Great.