Food As Medicine, Part 2

As we discussed last week in the first part of my interview with functional nutritionist, Brigid Titgemeier, MS, RDN, LD, IFNCP, a healthy diet is one of the foundations of a healthy life. And the diet which works best for each of us is as unique as our individual thumbprints. 

In today’s issue Brigid and I continue our discussion of personalized nutrition, touching on common reasons people seek out nutritionists, some great recommendations every woman can use to feel their best, and Continuous Glucose Monitors.

Happy reading!

Karyn: What are common reasons people work with a nutritionist and how can a nutritionist help someone reach their goals?

Brigid: Most people underestimate the impact nutrition has on their health. Conventionally, nutritionists are thought of as someone to help you count your calories so you can lose weight. If you have any health concerns, you go to your conventional medicine doctor. They would then give you medication for your symptoms or to address any lab imbalances, often without any discussion of how the lifestyle choices people are making are contributing to their illness.

People are not really given the option to pursue a food as medicine approach first, to see if food and lifestyle changes can decrease their need for medication. Even the CDC recognizes 80% of chronic disease is driven by poor diet and lifestyle (sedentary behaviors, alcohol use, and smoking). 

While there are different types of nutritionists, a functional nutritionist works to connect the whole picture. They work to understand how the choices you are making on a day-to-day basis impact your symptoms and your labs. 

Working with a nutritionist is about taking radical ownership of your health. Yes, we work with our patients around specific issues such as lowering blood pressure to reduce the amount of medication needed, or decreasing joint pain to avoid surgery, or smoothing out hormonal fluctuations. But at the end of the day, we are trying to help people feel better on a day-to-day basis, live longer, and have more time to experience meaningful connection, purpose, and vitality in their lives.

Karyn: What are some general recommendations for women going through perimenopause and menopause to help them look and feel their best?

Brigid: One of the most important areas to deal with is inflammation, which makes many issues worse. Among other things, it can impact menopause symptoms, joint pain, and osteoporosis. One way to decrease inflammation is to eat more anti-inflammatory foods, especially foods containing Omega-3 fatty acids, as well as eliminating ultra-processed foods. 

I also would recommend addressing blood sugar imbalances, as imbalances exacerbate inflammation, hot flashes, and mood swings. Blood sugar imbalances also make it more difficult to lose weight and negatively impact cardiovascular health. In our practice we see drastic improvements in people's menopausal symptoms when they improve their blood sugar balance.

For post-menopausal women, whose hormones are not as sensitive, intermittent fasting can be beneficial. A 14-hour overnight fast produces positive results for many of our clients. 

We also work with our patients on their sleep. I know getting good sleep can be difficult for women going through menopause due to changes in their hormones. But getting good sleep, including prioritizing 7 to 8 hours of sleep a night, will have a positive impact on menopause symptoms.

Lastly, something else we often recommend, and which is very effective for women in perimenopause and menopause, is Maca. It helps support overall energy, decreases mood swings and breast tenderness, can improve sleep, and helps regulate hormones. 

There is a company called Femmenessence which has clinically tested Maca. The company offers formulations specifically for women who have gone through menopause as well as one for women in perimenopause.

Karyn: Continuous Glucose Monitors are getting a lot of press recently. What does a CGM do and how might wearing one help non-diabetic women realize their health goals?

Brigid: A Continuous Glucose Monitor (CGM) is a wearable device which you put on your body. It measures interstitial fluid to provide a continuous measurement of your blood sugar levels on a 24/7 basis. Most people are familiar with these devices in the context of people they know who have Type 1 Diabetes, which is how they have historically been used.

You typically can't get a prescription for a CGM unless you have Type 1 diabetes. However, there are now several new companies which give you access to a CGM without having to go through a traditional doctor’s office.

Wearing the device tells you your blood sugar response to meals and exercise. It can also help you identify patterns in your sleep as well as your body’s response to stress. For example, sometimes you can see an increase in blood sugar just from experiencing a stressor in your day-to-day life.

The benefit of wearing a CGM is it can help people improve how they feel. Whether by improving energy levels by decreasing blood sugar spikes after meals or improving sleep, which can be disturbed by blood sugar spikes. And for women in perimenopause and menopause, getting control of your blood sugar can positively impact a lot of menopause symptoms and make the transition into menopause easier.

A CGM can also be used preventively to decrease the likelihood of developing prediabetes and Type 2 diabetes. We know one third of the population has prediabetes, a condition which takes 6-8 years to develop. Unfortunately, most people don’t know they are developing it as they only get a diagnosis once they have it. A CGM could prevent a lot of these cases. 

Parting Thought

As I mentioned last week, working with Brigid has been incredibly helpful for me in making some lifestyle changes, which have helped me feel better as I journey through this stage of my life. You can learn more about Brigid and connect with her here:

Brigid Titgemeier, MS, RDN, LD, IFNCP is a Functional Medicine Registered Dietitian and health advocate on a mission to help you transform your health through personalized nutrition. Throughout her career Brigid has worked with more than 5,000 clients. She founded the functional nutrition and health consulting business, Being Functional Nutrition in 2019 to offer virtual programs and coaching that provide a personalized, food-is-medicine approach to health that is data-driven. With a Master’s in Public Health Nutrition and Board Certification in Integrative and Functional Nutrition, Brigid was a founding Dietitian at the Cleveland Clinic Center for Functional Medicine working under Dr. Mark Hyman. Follow Brigid on Instagram and sign up for her newsletter to learn about her programs.