fbpx

Click Here to Receive Your Free Hormone Detox Guide for Balanced Hormones in Perimenopause

One of the Surprising Reasons You’re Feeling Tired All the Time

One of the Surprising Reasons You’re Feeling Tired All the Time

by | Oct 21, 2022 | Podcast

PODCAST EPISODE

One of the Surprising Reasons You’re Feeling Tired All the Time

PODCAST SUMMARY

 

Do you find yourself promising, ‘New Year, new me!’ every time January rolls around? I’m not going to lie – I think the whole idea of New Year, New You sucks. But that doesn’t mean that you can’t make some great changes over the next 12 months – let me explain to you what I mean in this week’s pod.

I help women feeling stressed, flat and older than they’d like regain their youthful energy and glow with a proven method so their natural beauty and confidence shines through. I do this through my signature program, The Glow Protocol™️.

Book your complimentary Anti-Ageing/Weight Loss Strategy Call with me and let’s chat about how I might be able to support you.

About Your Host: Susie Garden

I help women feeling stressed, flat and older than they’d like regain their youthful energy and glow using a proven method so their natural beauty and confidence shines through.

Spotlight on THE Key Preventative Ageing Marker

Spotlight on THE Key Preventative Ageing Marker

by | Sep 15, 2022 | Podcast

PODCAST EPISODE

Spotlight on THE Key Preventative Ageing Marker

PODCAST SUMMARY

 

Metabolic flexibility is your body’s ability to respond or adapt to changes such as fuel types (glucose vs fats) or energy demand (e.g. exercise). Some of the benefits include steadier energy, fewer cravings, increased fat-burning and balanced blood sugar levels.

But when you are insulin resistant, this flexibility drops off. As a result, you’re more prone to sugar and carb cravings, constant hunger, energy crashes, mood swings and irritability. It also becomes much harder to shift excess fat from the body.

If that wasn’t enough to deal with, insulin resistance is also tied to:

Premature/accelerated ageing Stubborn weight gain and belly fat Increased inflammation Reduced stress tolerance

Join me on this week’s podcast as I begin a new short series on a key marker of ageing that you should know how to modify.

Want to work with me to improve your health, lose weight, glow up your skin and/or manage your hormones? Book your complimentary Anti-Ageing Strategy call here – https://booking.simpleclinic.net/#/booking/Brx/services?location_id=1023&service_id=7353

Follow me on @susiegardenwellness and @theglowprotocolau for juicy updates.

About Your Host: Susie Garden

I help women feeling stressed, flat and older than they’d like regain their youthful energy and glow using a proven method so their natural beauty and confidence shines through.

How Blood Sugar Can Make Perimenopause A Nightmare

How Blood Sugar Can Make Perimenopause A Nightmare

by | Aug 30, 2022 | Perimenopause, Weight Loss

Is perimenopause taking you on a wild rollercoaster ride? There are several reasons why perimenopause is rough on some, but a big contributing factor is how your body regulates blood sugar.

Let’s look at how a common health condition, insulin resistance, can make perimenopause a nightmare for you.

What is insulin resistance (IR)?

IR occurs when you have consistently high levels of insulin. It’s a known precursor to type 2 diabetes, so you might see it referred to as pre-diabetes.

Insulin is a hormone that’s secreted by the pancreas in response to the glucose entering our blood. Its job is to allow glucose into our cells and store body fat.

In IR, your body produces plenty of insulin, but your cells don’t get the ‘message’. To try and fix the problem, your body will produce more insulin. Unfortunately, this just perpetuates the cycle by increasing the cells’ resistance to insulin.

Symptoms of insulin resistance

Some of the symptoms of insulin resistance include:

  • Weight gain or difficulty losing weight

  • Weight gain around the abdominal area

  • Sugar and carb cravings

  • Fatigue and low energy

  • Skin tags

  • Fatigue

  • Cognitive symptoms such as brain fog, memory issues and inability to focus

  • Hot flushes

  • Heavy, painful periods

  • High cholesterol or triglycerides

  • Fatty liver (NAFLD)

You might notice that there are a lot of symptoms that overlap with perimenopause. This is no coincidence – in many cases, it’s because perimenopause has led to (or at least contributed to) insulin resistance.

The effects on perimenopause

When there is too much insulin in the bloodstream, it can cause inflammation. One kind of inflammation it can cause is meta-inflammation (metabolic inflammation). This leads to the classic perimenopause symptoms of gaining weight around the belly area.

Then there’s also more sugar (glucose) in the bloodstream because cells aren’t ‘listening’ to insulin, which is a double-whammy for inflammation!

We also need to consider the relationship between insulin resistance and oestrogen. Oestrogen helps the brain to use glucose for energy and increases insulin sensitivity. So when your oestrogen levels drop off intermittently during the transition of perimenopause, you become more insulin resistant.

High stress is another common contributor to this perfect storm. During perimenopause, you’ll have a lower tolerance for stress thanks to the fluctuating hormones and drop in progesterone. Stress contributes to insulin resistance.

And if that wasn’t enough, insulin resistance can exacerbate the perimenopausal symptoms you already had! It becomes a never-ending cycle for many.

Adjusting to perimenopause

One of the biggest challenges your body and brain have during perimenopause is oestrogen fluctuations. In fact, the drop in oestrogen that occurs can lead to a drop of 25% in energy production and brain activity. As a result, you’re likely to have brain fog, forgetfulness, or just feel fatigued all the time.

It takes time to adjust to this, but if your brain re-calibrates, this is a temporary experience. The issue is that for some people, the brain doesn’t adjust and the low energy continues. It may even lead to Alzheimer’s disease, which we now know is linked to insulin resistance (it’s now known as type 3 diabetes!)

The key here is to ensure that you have metabolic flexibility – which we touched on in a previous blog. Otherwise, you might be on the path to feeling hungry, irritable, foggy and exhausted for a long time to come! Stay tuned for a future article where I’ll explore how to get insulin resistance under control.

There is no quick fix for insulin resistance!

When it comes to insulin resistance (and perimenopause) it takes time to see the results of diet and lifestyle changes. As a result, more people are looking for supplement options to help them reach their health goals quickly.

Honestly, when I looked for the type of supplement I wanted to fast-track my own well-being, my options were limited. That’s why I’ve formulated my own innovative supplement designed with healthy ageing in mind! Plus it helps to:

  • Support healthy blood glucose & metabolism of carbohydrates

  • Regulate a healthy menstrual cycle

  • Support healthy reproductive hormones

  • Support natural liver detoxification processes

Learn more about Energy Glow NR here.

Hi, I’m Susie.

I help women feeling stressed, flat and older than they’d like regain their youthful energy and glow using a proven method so their natural beauty and confidence shines through.

Looking for a recipe?

Susie Garden

I help women feeling stressed, flat and older than they’d like regain their youthful energy and glow using a proven method so their natural beauty and confidence shines through.

The Real Implications Of Insulin Resistance

The Real Implications Of Insulin Resistance

by | Aug 23, 2022 | Weight Loss

Have you been diagnosed with insulin resistance, or does it run in your family?

Most people think that it simply increases your risk of type 2 diabetes. But there are far more implications of insulin resistance than you might realise.

The role of insulin in the body

When it comes to insulin, the big role most of us already know about is stimulating your cells so they take up energy (glucose).

But there is much more to insulin than this mechanism (although don’t get me wrong, it’s an important one!)

Some of the other actions insulin is believed to be responsible for include:

  • Promoting muscle growth and repair by transporting amino acids to the muscle tissue

  • Supporting the uptake of lipids into fat cells

  • Facilitating the uptake of amino acids and potassium into cells

  • Modulating sodium and fluid volume in urine

  • Enhancing the brain’s ability to learn & memory

  • Supporting a regular menstrual cycle by maturing the egg for ovulation

As you can see, there are a lot of health implications when it comes to insulin.

Let’s talk insulin resistance

Now that we know a bit more about insulin, let’s look at where it can go wrong. The biggest concern is when you develop a condition known as insulin resistance (IR for short).

IR occurs when you have consistently high levels of insulin. It’s a known precursor to type 2 diabetes, so you might see it referred to as pre-diabetes.

In IR, your body is producing plenty of insulin, but your cells don’t get the ‘message’. To try and fix the problem, your body will produce more insulin. Unfortunately, this just perpetuates the cycle by increasing the cells’ resistance to insulin.

When there is too much insulin in the bloodstream, it can cause inflammation. Then there’s also more sugar (glucose) in the bloodstream because cells aren’t ‘listening’ to insulin, which is a double-whammy for inflammation!

WHAT INSULIN RESISTANCE CAN MEAN FOR YOU

Now that you have an understanding of what insulin resistance is – what does it actually mean?

At its root, insulin resistance is a sign of metabolic dysfunction. Something has thrown off the balance of your metabolism, and IR is your body trying to cope with it.

IR is also a major cause of reduced metabolic flexibility.

Metabolic flexibility is your body’s ability to respond or adapt to changes such as fuel types (glucose vs fats) or energy demand (e.g. exercise). Some of the benefits include steadier energy, fewer cravings, increased fat-burning and balanced blood sugar levels.

But when you are insulin resistant, this flexibility drops off. As a result, you’re more prone to sugar and carb cravings, constant hunger, energy crashes, mood swings and irritability. It also becomes much harder to shift excess fat from the body.

If that wasn’t enough to deal with, insulin resistance is also tied to:

  • Premature/accelerated ageing

  • Stubborn weight gain and belly fat

  • Increased inflammation

  • Reduced stress tolerance

Stay tuned for future blogs exploring these links and what you can do to prevent them.

THERE IS NO QUICK FIX FOR INSULIN RESISTANCE!

When it comes to insulin resistance, it takes time to see the results of diet and lifestyle changes (more on that in a future blog!) So more people are looking for supplement options to help them reach their health goals quickly.

Honestly, when I looked for the type of supplement I wanted to fast-track my own wellbeing, my options were limited. That’s why I’ve formulated my own innovative supplement designed to support healthy ageing! Plus it helps to support healthy blood glucose & metabolism of carbohydrates, both of which play a critical role in insulin resistance. Learn more about Energy Glow NR here.

Susie Garden

I help women feeling stressed, flat and older than they’d like regain their youthful energy and glow using a proven method so their natural beauty and confidence shines through.

Why You Want To Activate AMPK For Healthy Ageing

Why You Want To Activate AMPK For Healthy Ageing

by | Aug 9, 2022 | Anti-ageing

Have you heard of the anti-ageing enzyme, AMPK? This molecule is attracting a lot of attention when it comes to health benefits. Let’s explore how it works in the body and the easiest way to activate it to support healthy ageing.

What is AMPK?

AMPK stands for AMP-activated kinase, and is an enzyme found in the human body. Scientists who have studied AMPK describe it as a nutrient and energy sensor. It works to maintain the balance of glucose and lipid metabolism & how the body processes these nutrients.

The mechanisms of AMPK have attracted a lot of attention in the research world for metabolic disease such as type 2 diabetes, obesity and even cancer.

HOW DOES AMPK WORK IN THE BODY?

There are many properties and functions of AMPK, including:

  • Suppressing chronic inflammation (and therefore inflammaging)

  • Improving insulin sensitivity and glucose tolerance – this also means it can reverse insulin resistance

  • Decreasing body fat mass

  • Suppressing inflammatory cytokines

  • Promoting autophagy – the process that allows for the regular turnover of cells in the body

  • Enhancing mitochondrial function – as mitochondria are the powerhouses of cells, this promotes energy production on a cellular level

  • Regulating immune function

That’s a pretty impressive list of actions for a single enzyme! But AMPK also acts on sirtuins, which is another way it could promote longevity and a longer healthspan.

In case you missed my previous blog on the benefits of sirtuins, they can:

  • Reduce stress

  • Protect against insulin resistance

  • Reduce inflammation

  • Repair DNA instability and damage e.g. from smoking or sun exposure

  • Boost memory

  • Increase exercise endurance

  • Reduce the risk of depression

  • Support optimal metabolism & help maintain a healthy body weight regardless of food intake

 So by activating your AMPK, you’re getting twice as many healthy ageing benefits!

How can I activate AMPK?

The research is ongoing when it comes to AMPK, but there are a few ways we know to activate it.

The first is to deprive your cells of energy, as this causes them to boost AMPK. You could practise fasting or restrict calories – in fact, the AMPK boost may explain why calorie restriction has been linked to a longer lifespan.

Exercise is also a way to increase AMPK. Both strength training and cardio exercise have been linked to increases in AMPK, as skeletal muscles need greater insulin sensitivity to fuel the movement. The higher the intensity, the greater the activation.

A tasty way to support AMPK is to increase your intake of soluble fibre, such as that found in oats and apples. Soluble fibre has been shown to act on AMPK activation in the digestive tract.

If you are on medication such as metformin for diabetes or PCOS, this is activating AMPK. In fact, it’s how the drug works to increase insulin sensitivity.

Then we come to my favourite molecule, NAD+. NAD activates AMPK production, as well as acting on sirtuins, mTOR and other anti-ageing mechanisms. Unfortunately, NAD production significantly drops with age, increasing the risk of age-related disease.

SO HOW DO WE SUPPORT NAD LEVELS?

Simply taking NAD supplements is not effective, as the NAD molecule is too large to enter the cells. That’s where precursors that convert to NAD are the better option.

The precursor with the most human data and clinical trials to date is NR. Research shows that NR supplementation can increase NAD levels by up to 60% in middle-aged and older adults.

This is why NR is the star ingredient in my innovative new supplement, Energy Glow NR. If you’re looking for a simple way to support your NAD levels and sirtuin activation, learn more about Energy Glow NR here.

Susie Garden

I help women feeling stressed, flat and older than they’d like regain their youthful energy and glow using a proven method so their natural beauty and confidence shines through.