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Truth- Protein quality varies-some sources offer more usable amino acids than others. WHY This Myth is Wrong- Animal-based proteins are typically complete (all 9 essential amino acids). Many plant proteins are incomplete or harder to digest unless combined. FitnHealthy Forever Simple Tip - Include one complete protein source at each meal-like eggs, fish, or tempeh + rice. What's your favorite high-quality protein?

Most women think weight gain in menopause is just about “slowing metabolism.” But the truth is deeper — it’s about the interaction between thyroid hormones, adrenal stress, and insulin resistance. Your Thyroid is Your The Metabolic Engine - The thyroid gland makes T4 (storage hormone) and some T3 (active hormone). - The real fat-burning hormone is T3. - approximately 80% of T3 is made in your liver, gut, muscles, kidneys, brain, and fat tissue by converting T4 → T3. If conversion is poor, or if T4 is shunted into Reverse T3 (RT3), metabolism slows and belly fat becomes “stuck.” Do You feel like you're missing Your Spark?

Most Effective (Strong Evidence) 1. Resistant Starches (foods: green bananas, cooked & cooled potatoes/rice, legumes, oats) - Mechanism: Fermented by gut bacteria → produces SCFAs (butyrate, propionate) → stimulates GLP-1 release. - Effectiveness: Strong human evidence; one of the best natural ways to raise GLP-1. Can I make a big batch (meal prep for the week) and re-heat it? Yes, even better! The resistant starch stays intact even if you reheat the potatoes or rice, as long as they’ve been cooled down first. Here’s why - - When you cook starches (like rice, potatoes, pasta), the starch granules gelatinize and become highly digestible. - When you cool them, some of that starch retrogrades (re-crystallizes) into a form your digestive enzymes can’t break down — this is resistant starch (RS3). - Once it’s retrograded, reheating doesn’t reverse it — the resistant starch is stable. - Each cook-cool cycle can actually increase resistant starch further (e.g., cook, chill, reheat, chill again). - Cooked white rice (fresh) → almost no resistant starch. - Rice cooked → cooled overnight in the fridge → resistant starch forms. - If you then warm it back up gently (pot or stir-fry), the resistant starch is still there. FitnHealthy Forever - Best tips. - - Potatoes: Boil, cool overnight, use in potato salad or reheat for dinner. Non-GMO if possible Choose organic red, purple, or new potatoes, waxy potatoes rather than russet or instant mashed. - Rice: Cook, refrigerate, use for fried rice or warm side dish. Organic if possible. Brown rice often higher in arsenic than white (arsenic concentrates in the bran) - Pasta: Cook al dente, chill, then reheat as pasta salad or baked pasta. No Glyphosate sprayed Traditional wheat strains (like Einkorn and Durum), which have lower gluten content and are easier to digest. Buy Pasta - made in Italy. - Green bananas / plantains: Contain resistant starch naturally (without cooking). - Oats: Overnight oats are naturally high in resistant starch. Organic ONLY

Although women today are the most educated, empowered, and resourceful generation in history… studies reveal a sobering truth - they are also the most medicated, disconnected, and unfulfilled. The reality looks like this- Keep in mind that these are just SYMPTOMS of a bigger problem. Women today are the "canary in the coal mine" - Over 20% of women take antidepressants. - More than 90% report an unhealthy relationship with food or their bodies. - Nearly 70% of women in midlife gain weight they cannot lose during perimenopause or menopause. - Almost 40% of women say they rarely wake up rested — and insomnia is twice as common in women as in men. - Heart disease is the #1 killer of women, causing 1 in 5 female deaths (CDC). - Autoimmune diseases affect women at 3x the rate of men (NIH) - Women are twice as likely to develop Alzheimer’s (Alzheimer’s Association). - Nearly 2 in 3 Alzheimer’s patients are women. - 75% of women experience hot flashes and night sweats during perimenopause (Mayo Clinic). - 80% of women will experience fibroids by age 50 (Office on Women’s Health). - Endometriosis affects 1 in 10 women of reproductive age, yet diagnosis often takes 7–10 years (Endometriosis Foundation). - Around 50% of women experience pelvic organ prolapse after childbirth (NIH). - Women are twice as likely as men to experience depression (WHO). - 1 in 8 women experiences postpartum depression (CDC). - Women are 60% more likely than men to experience anxiety disorders (NIMH). - Women are 40% more likely to suffer from insomnia compared to men (Sleep Foundation). - 70% of women report not getting enough sleep at least once per week (Sleep Foundation). - Chronic stress raises cortisol, which increases belly fat storage in midlife women (Endocrine Society). - 70% of U.S. women are overweight or obese (CDC). - Women who diet repeatedly have a higher risk of long-term weight gain (NIH). - Women spend, on average, 32 years of their life trying to lose weight (HuffPost survey). - Women live on average 6 years longer than men — but spend more years in poor health (World Health Organization). - 1 in 3 women over 50 will experience an osteoporotic fracture in her lifetime (International Osteoporosis Foundation). - Hearing loss affects 1 in 4 women over 65, impacting social connection and mood (NIH).