A body is like a lighthouse that constantly signals
Ep2 Breaking the fast series. How food influences female hormones, blood glucose, mood and body rhythms
A body is like a lighthouse that constantly signals
In a world full of noise, it sometimes takes a gargantuan effort to make space for silence and whispers—the kind that our bodies hum to us in hushed tones daily.
This is both a recurring thought and a feeling I have. Stillness, an essential ingredient for listening to and interpreting body signals, seems rarely cultivated nowadays. Not because we don’t want to, but because our environment makes it harder than ever.
Growing up, the notion of attuning to my body was never discussed at school or home. Yet as a child, I instinctively sensed when something was off or simply shifting. Whether it was a heaviness in my chest when faced with a difficult decision, a subtle discomfort after a meal, or a sense of unease that something bad would happen, my body always seemed to “catch” the signal before my brain did.
The gap of silence when that shift happened, moments before my brain interpreted the body’s message, was always there, even if, at the time, I didn’t have the language for it.
In a recent conversation with a close friend, I learned that this kind of listening has only recently become a habit in her life. We were debating how we got here and why we weren’t taught about these things earlier. I said, “What if the thing to do now is just to whisper to our bodies, “I hear you” , “I feel you” , “I’m here” , to acknowledge our bodies and their sensations, emotions, and changes?”
You might ask: “What does this have to do with food, blood glucose, and hormones?” Depending on who you ask, the answer might be: everything.
The body keeps the score
One of the reasons I decided to write an article on this topic was because about two and a half years ago (2 years and 8 months to be more exact) I started experiencing all sort of symptoms out of the blue: loss of apetite, severe insomnia, brain fog, extreme fatigue (even after sleeping 8hrs/night), mood swings, frequent night sweats and much more. Although at the time I was going through a very stressful period and was arguably close to burnout, these symptoms seemed to overlap with something more.
Understandably, I started to think something was very wrong, so I began documenting everything and went to the doctors.
Through the answers I got, the most frequent was that they had no idea what was going on, with the symptoms being so widespread. What surprised me most was that no one asked about my lifestyle or my hormonal health, even when I was voicing my concerns about that.
So I decided to take matters into my own hands and became a Sherlock Holmes of my case: blood tests, habit tracking, documenting every phase of my cycle, you name it.
And then it hit me.
My mother had experienced similar symptoms at about the same age, but at the time, she lacked the resources we have today. This led me to learn about the role of female hormones in brain and body health, how they oscillate throughout the month, and what I can do to better support them.
Consequently, this triggered changes in my eating timing (I stopped eating later than 90 minutes after waking up), the type of nutrients I consumed (I payed attention to having more iron-rich foods in the luteal phase, although eating red meat more regularly was a challenge), how I worked out, and how I prioritised proper rest and recovery routines. My sleep hygiene was already good, so rather than changing or adding something to it, I subtracted everything that didn’t serve me.
And so it began with cultivating stillness.
Female hormones’ cycle, blood glucose, and stillness
You see, the female body has a magical rhythm to it. And stillness creates the space to listen to this rhythm.
Unlike men, whose bodies operate in 24-hour cycles and reset every day, women’s bodies move through cycles of roughly 28 days or longer (34 days, in my case).
This is why in women, blood glucose is modulated not only by cortisol but also by estrogen and progesterone, which fluctuate across the menstrual cycle.
Estrogen enhances insulin sensitivity and helps the body respond effectively to insulin, thus supporting stable blood glucose, especially in the follicular phase.
Progesterone rises in the luteal phase, reducing insulin sensitivity. This often leads to higher blood glucose and increased cravings or mood changes.
Several studies ( 1, 2, 3) show this variability, which I have also observed through my notes, CGM, and Oura ring data: foods that are fine in the follicular phase cause a higher blood glucose in the luteal phase. Mood, sleep, and energy follow these patterns, too.
Besides modulating blood sugar, estrogen plays a crucial role in brain health and helps convert glucose, the brain’s primary fuel source, into energy.
When food enters the equation
Food and hormones nurture a very intricate relationship.
Like all matter in the universe, food carries energy—chemical energy. Every time we eat, and food is broken down, chemical reactions happen, triggering a release of energy inside our bodies (my chemistry teacher would be so proud to hear this).
The energy produced from such a reaction powers our body movement, warmth, healing, and regeneration. But beyond energy, food is also information: it “speaks” to our bodies, influencing blood sugar, cortisol, hormones, and mood.
For women, timing and meal composition matter more than I’d like to accept. From experience, I can attest that delaying or skipping breakfast or eating late elevates cortisol, disrupts blood sugar, and throws off hormonal balance. This is why I made a habit of eating breakfast within 90 minutes of waking up.
You know the drill by now. I aim for balanced meals rich in protein, fiber, good fats, and complex carbohydrates.
Ain’t enough to have good meal timing, what you eat and how you eat also matter.
The interplay of listening, adapting, and growing
Adjusting my breakfast timing was just one of the small, consistent changes I made, along with learning to listen to my body’s signals, which didn’t happen overnight.
It took a while to accept that I needed to stop pushing breakfast late, ignoring fatigue, and powering through cravings in the luteal and menstrual phase, which was my body’s way of telling me it needs a different kind of fuel and support.
But once I arrived at this realisation, it stuck with me.
The reason for that? Internalising and experiencing how food impacts my cortisol, blood glucose, and other bodily systems, including female hormones (estrogen, progesterone, LH), hunger and satiety hormones (hello, ghrelin and leptin), and the gut.
This isn’t just my story; many amazing women in my circle have experienced something similar. Going through these challenges together and engaging in open conversations about the complex and ugly parts of them created the space to support ourselves and one another, which has truly strengthened our bonds.
I want to close this article with a few bits of information that I hope will be helpful to you in approaching change. I would’ve loved to have known these things when experiencing the rollercoaster of symptoms.
Your brain and body will always prioritise survival: is there enough glucose, water, minerals, etc, to maintain allostasis? This is why nutrition, sleep, and movement are core to anything else (learning, play, etc)
Female hormones are not just that; they are also brain hormones, and I wish I had learned much sooner about their importance (especially estrogen) for brain health. This article goes into great detail about it.
When you make changes, it will take a while for your body to calibrate, because a change in one system will trigger changes in other bodily systems too (e.g., regulating sleep will regulate hormonal health and mood )
This may sound cliché, but believe your body when it signals you. Most symptoms or signals are there to provide information, whether it’s an unmet need, some calibration required, or a need to slow down. Your body doesn’t fight against you; it fights to keep you safe.
For breakfast, I’d like to share a favourite meal of mine, the “put me together like a Lego” type.
Soft scrambled eggs on sourdough bread
Last summer, I became obsessed with making the eggs this way. I loved the texture and softness, and I loved how well they combined with the avocado and smoked salmon/prosciutto.
Also, it keeps me full for at least 4 hours, which I love. I passionately dislike feeling hungry mid-morning, merely two hours after having breakfast.
Serves: 2
Prep time: 5 minutes
Cooking time: 8 mins
Ingredients
4 large eggs
20g butter
2-3 sprigs of fresh dill and 2-4 sprigs of fresh chives, finely chopped
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/2 avocado
4 slices of smoked salmon or prosciutto
Method
Whisk the eggs with a pinch of salt and freshly ground pepper until they are airy and fluffy.
Preheat a pan over low-medium heat and add the butter. When the butter starts frothing, pour in the egg mixture and stir slowly with a wooden spoon. We want to slowly remove the mixture from the edges of the pan, making sure the eggs don’t overcook.
When the eggs look slightly runny and silky, they're ready. Then, turn off the stove and toast your bread. The eggs will continue to cook slightly, as the pan will remain hot.
On the toasted bread, add slices of avocado, and season with salt and pepper.
In the pan, add the chopped chives and dill to the eggs and mix slowly. Then, layer them over the avocado. On top, add the smoked salmon or prosciutto.
Serve with a small salad of choice.
Let me know if you try it.