Why Protein Is So Important For Women’s Health + Hormones

Most of you eat protein because you’ve heard it’s important and perhaps a good macro to keep up in our diet. You may have also experimented with more protein and know you feel better or your hormones are more balanced when  you are more mindful of protein intake.

Some of us also know that protein (along with carbs) fuels building muscle mass and that my friends is where it’s at as muscle mass is essentially your metabolism. It burns calories during exercise and at rest as it repairs and grows itself (known as MPS or muscle protein synthesis) and body comp/weight loss/aesthetic goals aside, it’s that muscle mass that gives you strength, longevity and independence as we age.

If there is a fountain of youth, it’s muscle mass.

 

Women of All Ages Need Muscle

We know lower muscle mass is associated with decreased ability to live independently and keep life in our years as we age. While muscle mass always serves us well, it be comes more important each passing year that women make a concerned effort to hold on to muscle mass.

Muscle will keep us from the all too common fate of frailty, fractures and increased injuries as we age but it also keeps us from missing out on our favorite physical activities be that lifting, hiking, tennis or gardening, getting up easily from the toilet or opening up the proverbial pickle jar on our own as we get older. Muscle improves strength and strength keeps life and vitality in our years and after all women are living longer, but we want to live BETTER.

 

You might be thinking that you don’t really need to worry about muscle mass until you’re older but the truth is hormone changes begin in our 30s.

And unfortunately, our overly stressful lifestyles, any female hormone imbalance that creates low estrogen or low testosterone, a host of beauty standards that prioritize being smaller or thinner that push many women to err on the side of cardio vs. weight lifting, and all the confusion about what to eat  – vegan, Paleo, etc. – can have many of us dealing with lower mass in our younger years as well.

We also know that muscle mass is more than having the ability to lift heavy things. Muscle mass is our reserve of insulin sensitivity, it keeps us metabolically healthy as we age. It gives food we eat somewhere to go and be used for energy but it also is truly an integral part of our overall health. It doesn’t merely burn calories, it releases hormone like chemicals called myokines that interact not only with other muscles but with our brains and other organs as well.

Muscular health is about a whole lot more than how we look – but that’s a decent side effect as well!

This article focuses on the importance of protein in building lean muscle but eating more protein also gives us more balanced blood sugar which results in more even energy, a better more stable mood, less cravings and because protein is also part of things that make us feel generally better about ourselves like healthy skin and hair it’s an important aspect of our beauty and body care practices as well.

 

What is MPS: Muscle Protein Synthesis?

This is literally what we mean by saying “building muscle”.

Muscle protein synthesis or MPS is just that: making more skeletal muscle proteins to increase your muscle mass, improve your metabolism and gain strength. It’s a dynamic process that is constantly in flux between the anabolic phase of building more muscle and catabolism, the breakdown of muscle tissue. If you’re hoping to build more lean muscle you want to tip the scales in favor the anabolic, building phase more often.

MPS is the metabolic process that describes the incorporation of amino acids into bound skeletal muscle proteins which are defined as the contractile proteins (myofibrils such as myosin, actin, tropomyosin and troponin) and the proteins inside the mitochondria that are involved in energy production (AKA burning calories).

So whether you want to have a better metabolism (including better blood sugar and burn more calories in general), a more “toned” (for lack of a better word) look to your physique or have improved longevity, less risk of injury or fracture as you age – you want to be building muscle.

 

How To Increase MPS

There are several factors that impact muscle building and muscle protein synthesis including hormones that favor catabolism (muscle breakdown) like cortisol (high stress is not good for healing, repair or growth of new tissues) and those that favor anabolism (building muscle) like insulin, growth hormone, estrogen and testosterone.

Balance in these hormones is obviously very important and that’s what I do in my practice and in my book Hangry. And while you may need some help sorting out those hormones and getting them into optimal balance, lifestyle and nutrition factors are absolutely key to this process and the ones you can most easily influence every day with the right choices.

Strength training because of its impact directly on muscle tissue but also because it favorably impacts growth hormone, testosterone, insulin and cortisol is a must when it comes to supporting your lean muscle mass. And FYI there is a fabulous strength training template in Hangry!

The other biggest factor is eating enough protein.

 

How Much Protein Do You Need?

The million dollar question right? Well it’s more simple than we make it, yet many women hate to hear it. The general recommendation to ensure you’re able to build muscle is 1.2 – 1.7 g per kg body weight for women that exercise regularly per the American College of Sports Medicine. Other research suggested 1.4 to 3g/kg body weight. In my practice and on the podcast, for simplicity I suggest 1 gram protein per pound of body weight, adjusting up as you’re able. At a very minimum, you want to hit 100g per day.

So very many women I speak with struggle with even that 100g per day amount for a variety of reasons from low appetite for protein (which can be digestion or blood sugar or stress issues, contact me to figure out which!) or the time it takes to prep protein as it mostly always needs to be cooked to cost to other concerns.

I cover what 100g plus of protein per day looks like and how to get it in this article.

 

Can you eat too much protein?

We can safely put to bed outdated (sometimes just straight up bad science) idea that protein damages our kidneys, breaks down our bones or even causes cancer. As well, protein is the hardest macronutrient overeat because of the unique hormone response it creates with our blood sugar managing hormones: glucagon and insulin. It also suppresses our hunger hormone ghrelin, raises our satiety hormone peptide YY and raises leptin (another hormone that suppresses appetite). Lastly, protein is a great way to boost your own production of GLP-1 (the hormone targeted with medications like Ozempic) to improve glucose metabolism and regulate appetite.

It’s hard to eat too much protein, whereas other macros like fat and carbohydrates actually can be easy for us to overeat. How much easier is it to overeat a bag of chips than a plate of chicken breasts?

Does it happen? Sometimes, however, cutting down on protein intake is something I’ve done with only a small handful of clients in my over 20 years of working with women whereas upping protein is something I do with nearly all of them.

 

Protein + Your Hormones

Women’s hormones and health are a moving target, we can’t cling too tightly to any one tool (i.e. protein shakes for breakfast) or technique (i.e. fasting or keto) that might have worked for us before or seems to be working for a girlfriend that has different hormone issues than we do. Our hormones and what works for them certainly changes decade to decade and even year to year but it can also fluctuate throughout the month as our menstrual cycle and female hormones estrogen and progesterone shift.

 

Here are a few examples:

Estrogen is one of our anabolic hormones and it will promote muscle protein synthesis and increase in lean mass so when we are low estrogen due to anovulation (i.e. PCOS, amenorrhea), full hysterectomy, perimenopause or menopause we can struggle to build muscle and higher protein intake may be helpful to offset this decline.

As well, without estrogen insulin resistance worsens leading to an easier time gaining body fat and harder time balancing blood sugar. Increased protein intake will help on both counts.

Protein needs are generally higher during the luteal phase (2nd half of the menstrual cycle after ovulation) due to protein needs of the uterine lining (endometrial tissue), increased protein oxidation and increased protein usage overall as well as lower estrogen levels during this second half of our cycle.

When we are lower in progesterone due to anovulation (i.e. hypothalamic amenorrhea, PCOS, oophorectomy, perimenopause and menopause) we are more stress sensitive meaning any stresses can be exacerbated and cortisol’s catabolic or breakdown impact on muscle mass can be worse. Remember, progesterone is the first hormone to fall during perimenopause, seeing a decline as early as our mid 30s, so we will see this issue well before we are worried about menopausal hormone chaos.

Cortisol from excessive stress impacts your protein requirements as cortisol will increase lean muscle tissue breakdown and decrease your ability to build up new muscle (aka lowers MPS or muscle protein synthesis). Cortisol also can also hinder our sleep which means worsening insulin resistance and lower growth hormone, both of which can lead to less anabolic stimulus for us to grow and heal.

Testosterone is another important anabolic hormone for women, along with estrogen, and without it we can struggle with building or maintaining muscle mass and strength. Testosterone can be low due to stress, lack of stimulus for growth (including not lifting weights or eating adequate protein) or waning hormone production in perimenopause and menopause.

 

Long story short: getting a minimum of 100g or ideally at least 1g per pound of body weight daily is the first and most important goal to hit – and hit consistently. So weekends too. Week after week.

 

Should You Vary Protein Intake Throughout Your Cycle?

In premenstrual women, those that are still cycling regularly and are not yet into the hormone fluctuating time of perimenopause, there is some merit in upping protein intake the second half or luteal phase of your cycle.

After ovulation, your progesterone will rise and this hormone will promote breakdown of proteins (carbs and fats too) in effort to build up the uterine lining, which will house a growing baby or be shed as a period. Bumping up protein by 20g or so during the second half of our cycle can help mitigate this.

However, not all women will notice that this is all that significantly helpful for them and I do like to avoid making things overly complicated with a nutrition plan that changes week to week.

But if you’re doing all the basics right and want to play with this by all means, give it a try. Many women notice that if they do increase protein during their luteal phase, that cravings around their period and low energy can be really improved. So muscle growth aside, high protein second half of the cycle might be really helpful in terms of your ACES (appetite, cravings, energy and sleep) so give it a try!

 

What About Taking Progesterone as part of HRT (Hormone Replacement Therapy) or MHT (Menopausal Hormone Therapy)?

Because we know progesterone promotes protein breakdown, if you are taking oral or topical progesterone during perimenopause or menopause heeding a high protein diet might be wise. We don’t have adequate research to determine that women taking progesterone either consistently or taking it 2 weeks on and 2 weeks off requires higher protein intake, but it stands to reason they might. Again, certainly worth a try to experiment with how this may help your muscle and strength gains as well as your ACES and how you feel day to day.

 

With lowering estrogen during perimenopause and into menopause, and possibly lower testosterone as well during our 40s and onward, these anabolic hormones are not around in the same amounts as our 20s thus our muscle mass declines. As well, lowering progesterone will make us generally more stress sensitive (remember cortisol also will cause protein breakdown) making midlife hormone changes a recipe for losing muscle mass. Thus while a higher protein diet is very important to women in general but we need to be even more diligent with our intake and many women find they do better on even a bit more protein than they did in their 20s and 30s during these hormonal changes. They notice better energy, less cravings, better mood, improved sleep and higher protein intake also helps ward off not only the loss of muscle mass and but the increase in body fat (especially around the middle) that’s so distressing during midlife.

As I say to the women in my practice: it’s an all out battle in our 40s and beyond to keep our muscle mass. If you’d like me on your side in this fight, by all means reach out about becoming a patient.

 

What Kind Of Protein Is Best?

Protein is protein right? I covered this issue in depth on this episode of the Dr Brooke Show with Kion founder Angelo Keely. At the end of the day it’s about getting all of the essential amino acids (the ones we have to eat and can’t make on our own) BUT it’s also about getting them in the right ratios.

Here’s where things get dicey: for your body to trigger muscle protein synthesis, there needs to be a minimum amount of the amino acid leucine around 3to be exact. This is really hard to get from plant based sources but it’s easy to get from a large chicken breast or a steak.

If you use plant based sources be sure you supplement with leucine or consider this amazing product from KION. As well, consider that plant based proteins often have issues with digestibility and absorption so you need to have great digestion and err on the side of needing to consume more plant based protein to get enough protein actually assimilated – and this can bring on more digestibility issues (legume and grain based protein powders often cause a lot of gas/bloating) and extra calories. So be mindful.

Remember your body is in a constant state of building up and breaking down: anabolism and catabolism. When you hit this leucine threshold you’ll push the body into an anabolic state when it comes to your muscle mass.

This state of anabolism or muscle protein synthesis lasts about 1.5 to 2 hours so you need to hit this leucine threshold that triggers MPS multiple times per day. Often I hear women are doing great on protein intake with dinner, maybe with lunch and often not even close with breakfast. And if you hit that 3g leucine as part of a 30-40g total protein serving just with dinner then you spent the bulk of the day not building lean muscle.

You want to trigger lean muscle building or muscle protein synthesis multiple times per day so getting that 30-50g several times per day from a source that has 3g leucine per serving (again, super easy if you eat 30+g animal based protein at a meal).

As well, there are two times during the day where you can get a little extra bang for your buck with hitting this goal: breakfast and post workout.

Again, worry about this after you have figured out how to get your minimum daily amount consistently and are sure you’re spreading that out throughout your day to keep in a more anabolic/lean mass building state consistently. Then if you want to dial it in further, be sure you are getting 30-50g protein (including 3g leucine each time) for breakfast and post workout as both have been shown to positively correlate with increased lean mass for women.

I cover these two unique times to harness the power of protein in more detail in this article.

 

Weight Loss + Wellness Hacks That Might Leave You Low On Protein

First we need to get clear on how much you need and what foods to eat in order to get it, however many women still struggle to get adequate protein due to undereating whether intentionally to dieting, because we’re just plain busy or as part of a fasting regimen. Thus, if you are cutting calories for any reason be sure the bulk of those calories come from protein and if you are busy, strategize on  how you can make eating a few meals a day a priority. If you’re in a habit of skipping meals, look at how to restructure your day to nourish yourself better (this podcast on habits may be helpful) or get more quick protein snacks such as PaleoValley or Chomps meat sticks or Epic Bars.

We glorify being highly productive, but know that it’s the most basic selfcare to feed ourselves! Yet so many of us fail to do it consistently, I’m guilty of it too sometimes. It’s a problem worth solving.

If you’re fasting, know it may be tough to hit these numbers if you’re eating just one or two times per day. For some, it can be hard to hit those numbers even with three meals per day. I’m not necessarily saying don’t fast, not at all, but if you’ve been fasting (or some version of intermittent fasting) and struggling with weight loss, energy or muscle gain it may be time to reconsider how to get more protein.

Fasting + Women’s Hormones

Fasting is a tool that can be used to lower inflammation by giving the gut a break and for certain digestive issues, it’s a great strategy. Fasting is also one strategy that helps women improve their insulin sensitivity.

Fasting can be useful to control calories as many women find pushing breakfast later is an easy way to practice intermittent fasting and shave off some calories for little effort and minimal feelings of deprivation.

And programs such the Fasting Mimicking Diet (which is intentionally very low protein) can be used periodically for women as well for a variety of inflammatory or immune reasons however, these are not strategies that work for all women all the time so be sure you are clear on your goals and if a tool such as fasting supports them.

While there may be a place for longer fasts or low protein diets as part of a treatment plan for certain health issues, for women trying to preserve their strength, support their metabolism and optimize their hormones ensuring adequate protein is the best way to accomplish this goal fasting can make that harder. Use tools like fasting for specific goals and be sure they are in fact working for what is s going on for your hormones. And by all means, though I completely understand the temptation, don’t sacrifice that precious muscle mass for some quick weight loss.

Intermittent fasting is probably the most common type of fasting suggested for women and this can usually be done while hitting protein goals if you are mindful to get your 100 grams plus of protein during your feeding window. Many women though find it challenging to get 100 or more grams in when they are only eating one or two meals.

Utilize tools like the Fasting Mimicking Diet or prolonged fasts for certain health issues or sparingly over the course of a year and not as daily strategies.

And if you’re intentionally cutting calories or using a macro plan, consider that when we lower calories and are calculating protein based on a percentage of calories it can be hard to get this minimum 100g protein per day or more. If you’re doing a macro plan and everything is going great I’m not saying you have to stop but if you’re struggling to hit your goals, your ACES are out of balance of you can’t seem to put on muscle then it’s time to take another look.

 

Lastly, and most likely due to low appetite for protein or in general, if you’re taking a GLP-1 agonist such as Ozempic is yet another reason you might also be coming up low on protein intake. Muscle mass loss with these medications – or any caloric restriction – can be helped by lifting weights, getting adequate recovery and eating plenty of protein. If your calorie intake is lower for any reason, prioritize the calories you do eat to come from protein.

Remember fasting, if it fits your macros, saunas, medications, cold exposure, keto, all of it – they are tools. Sometimes they are the right tool for where your hormones are at and sometimes they aren’t. Use them if they work for you, skip them if they don’t and don’t forget to continually check in and be sure a tool that was working is still working.