WomanCode: Unlocking Women's Health - A Holistic Approach to Hormone Balance, Fertility, and Wellness Through Nutrition and Lifestyle Changes

by Alisa Vitti

medicine of the future is going to be a hybrid form—one in which people take greater responsibility for their own health instead of relying exclusively on doctors to make them better when they get sick.

She is letting go of her passive relationship with her body because of all of the nutritional support and holistic health coaching she is receiving from FLOliving every day between her regular doctor visits. She’s on top of her symptoms, on top of her nutrition and self-care, and on top of her health.

your body is capable of so much more than pain, exhaustion, blame, and confusion. When you decode your own physiology, you’re able to help your body heal and use that body to create the life you desire.

Then, every time you start to engage part of the protocol and hear the negative script spring into action, you can begin to replace the old script with a new one. Use plenty of positive assurances: I am healing. Change is possible. I am getting better. My body is capable of fixing itself. The more you bring positive statements

Chronic low-grade anxiety affects the feedback between your brain’s hypothalamus, pituitary gland, and adrenal glands—a configuration known as the HPA-axis, which regulates digestion, immunity, moods, libido, and energy.

Carb cravings/binging

Sugar and chocolate cravings

coffee,

Anxiety

Insomnia

Waking up during sleep

Low libido

Facial/body hair

Irritable bowel syndrome

Eczema

Hair loss

Constipation

Mood swings

The endocrine system is simply powerful and elegantly complex. It’s an organ system of glands, each of which secretes a type of hormone that regulates a particular function in your body—

Your endocrine system is a series of glands that communicate with each other using hormones; think of it as a type of “chemical language.” This is in fact your WomanCode in action! Not only do hormones tell all the systems of your body what to do—kidneys, liver, metabolism, digestion, nervous system, reproductive organs—they also have an impressive second job: self-regulation.

feed and move your body in ways that work with its natural rhythms.

The Ovary Oath I believe in aligning daily with my hormones and using food as medicine to support them. I believe in the power of my cycle and hormones and know that they need to be cared for, supported, and nurtured. I promise to pay attention to the signals my body gives me so that I can make small course corrections and avoid larger breakdowns down the road. I promise to use my body and health as a platform for creating an extraordinary life in which I’m living my purpose in the world.

Your endocrine system is made up of a system of organs and glands that send messages to one another via hormones that determine how the system functions.

When I started to put this program together for myself I asked: What does my body want to do? How does my body work? And what are the things I need to do in order to support its processes?

Stabilize your blood sugar Nurture your adrenals Support the organs of elimination Cross-train your menstrual cycle Engage your feminine energy

WomanCode zones. They are: • The blood sugar group—pancreas and liver • The stress group—hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis • The metabolic group—thyroid and parathyroid • The elimination group—liver and large intestine, lymphatic system and skin • The reproductive group—hypothalamic-pituitary-ovarian (HPO) axis

This is a permanent lifestyle change that’s easy to do and pleasurable to maintain, and it’s never too late to start!

When your blood sugar, adrenals, and pathways of elimination aren’t being cared for and nurtured with an “every meal, every day” approach, they quickly become unstable.

The key is getting your blood sugar, stress responses, and pathways of elimination running smoothly so that estrogen can flow normally and you can experience abundant, flourishing, drug-free fertility.

Morning • Upon waking, immediately drink at least 8 ounces of water. (If drinking room-temperature water on an empty stomach gives you a bellyache, try drinking hot water with a slice of lemon.) • Eat breakfast within ninety minutes of waking. • Don’t consume caffeine of any kind before eating breakfast. • Eat a protein-rich food with breakfast, such as eggs, a vegan protein shake, or smoked salmon. • Minimize carbohydrates to 30 grams in the morning if you’re a slow burner and no more than 50 grams if you’re a fast burner. (A packet of plain instant granola contains 19 grams of carbs, ¹⁄³ cup of granola contains 22 grams of carbs, and two slices of sprouted whole-grain bread contain 30 grams of carbs.) Lunchtime • Eat lunch within three and a half hours of breakfast. • Consume the majority of your daily calories at lunch. • Try to consume only one complex carbohydrate. For instance, have brown rice or black beans, but not both in the same meal. • Incorporate at least one good-fat food, such as avocado, olive oil, or sunflower seeds. They keep blood sugar more stable and prevent you from craving simple carbs later in the day. • Take a digestive enzyme (a form of nutritional supplement) so you absorb as much nutrition as possible from your meal. (I recommend Rainbow Light’s Advanced Enzyme System.) If you notice a significant improvement in how you feel when you take a digestive enzyme, feel free to take it with every meal; but if you take it only once, make sure ...

Here are my specific exercise recommendations when you’re working to heal adrenal fatigue: • Three days a week do brisk walking/jogging intervals for a total of twenty minutes. Walk briskly for two minutes; then jog for thirty seconds. That’s one interval. Do eight total. • Two nonconsecutive days per week do a full-body strength-training work-out with weights for twenty minutes. Choose exercise pairings that combine multiple muscle groups, such as squats with overhead presses, lunges with bicep curls, side lunges with lateral raises, pushups and crunches. Do two sets of twelve reps for each exercise. Start with five-pound weights and work up to about ten pounds. • Rest two days per week, which can include gentle yoga or walking when feeling better.

The root of the problem lies in your liver. As we have seen, the liver is responsible for removing toxins from your body, and it does this by turning fat-soluble toxins into water-soluble ones so they can be excreted through your large intestine, kidneys, and skin.

up your dietary and supplemental forms of intake of vitamin A, vitamin B, and vitamin C, as well as sulforaphane and the antioxidant glutathione—nutrients your liver needs to detoxify effectively.

Fill your diet with plenty of vegetables from the brassica family: cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli, brussels sprouts, and all kinds of kale. Try to sneak at least one brassica-type vegetable into every meal throughout the day. Add them to smoothies and juices that you make, too. • Reach for lemons and oranges. Add fresh lemon to your water. However, not all citrus will do—grapefruit contains an enzyme that impedes liver detoxification, so avoid it while you’re working on getting your liver back into shape. • Sneak caraway and dill seeds into as many meals as you can. Grind them in a spice grinder (a coffee grinder works, too) and rub them on chicken, fish, or other meats before baking, combine them with whole grains, or add them to homemade salad dressings.

A day or two before the cleanse, stock up on: • green apples • pears • avocados • grapes • lemon

fresh berries (and other fruit you like, but no melon—it causes water retention) • baby greens • bok choy • dark-green leafy vegetables (kale, collards, mustard greens, spinach, broccoli rabe) • tomato • carrots • onion • scallions • cucumber • celery • radish • fennel (or other simple spring vegetables) • garlic • parsley • olive oil • apple cider vinegar • white fish (cod, tilapia, haddock, etc.) • salmon (preferably wild, no tuna) • beans (cannellini, lentils, black-eyed peas, chick peas, etc.) • Fiber Smart by Renewlife, Fiber Fusion by Enzymatic Therapy, or other fiber supplement • Chlorella tablets by Jarrow (optional but strongly recommended) • Green Drink—freshly juiced or powdered ( I recommend Kyo-Green) • Epsom salts or salt scrub

a sharp knife and a mandolin for slicing • a cutting board • a soup pot • brown rice (long grain only: plain brown, brown basmati, or brown jasmine) • quinoa • kasha (buckwheat) • your favorite herbal and green teas (if you use sweeteners, use stevia, raw agave nectar or raw honey—they contain valuable enzymes) • flaxseed meal • your favorite nuts or nut butter (almonds, cashews, etc.) Non-food items you will need: • containers to transport food • a journal (you may want to buy a fresh one to mark the occasion!) • a nice washcloth for hot towel scrub or dry body brush

What you’ll need to prep for the first three days: • Fruit salad: This will be breakfast every day, so feel free to chop apples in advance or make it as you go. • Liver cleansing medley: I use the term “liver cleansing medley” instead of “salad” to emphasize the fact that this is much more substantial than just lettuce. You’ll be eating this with every lunch, so make a big batch of any of the medleys listed below. If you keep the dressing separate and use a sealed container, it can last you all week long. • grains: Make a batch of brown rice or quinoa. • Protein: Use the fish or bean recipes below. You’ll be eating fish for lunch, or just beans if you are vegetarian. • Large pot of soup: This will be your dinner for the first three days. Choose from the Quick Veggie Soup or Mung Bean Minestrone below. • greens: Choose any from the list below, following the recipes or just mixing them in with your soup.

Listen to your body. Does it really want food? Or is it really asking for something else, but food is your usual solution to keep it quiet? Listen.

these include foods with a low glycemic index and water-rich fruits and vegetables. Seafood and sea-based veggies will also help remineralize your body with iron and zinc, which you lose during menstruation.

The food guidelines listed above and in the food chart (page 159) are based on three principles: food energetics, micronutrient support, and estrogen metabolism.

foods impart different energies within your body. The foods I recommend in each phase are aligned with the energy you experience and/or the kind of energy you need most to feel your best in each phase.

Next are micronutrients. Simply put, the foods in each phase provide your body with the building blocks it needs to support the hormonal ratios that occur in your body. You have different micro-nutrient demands depending on where you are in your cycle, and the foods in the chart at right deliver accordingly.

most symptoms that occur with hormonal conditions are due to an excess of estrogen within the bloodstream. Therefore, the foods in each phase are designed to keep estrogen moving through your organs of elimination and ensure that your liver has the support it needs to metabolize estrogen as efficiently as possible, detoxify it, and remove it from your body.

When you go to the grocery store, take this chart with you so you can front-load your diet with phase-appropriate foods the very best you can. As long as such foods make up the majority of your intake on any given week,

Cycle Syncing means selecting behaviors that nurture you and engaging in activities that you can excel at based on what’s going on biochemically and physiologically at that time. This includes: • Choosing foods that provide the nourishment you need at each point in your cycle. • Choosing forms of exercise that honor and maximize your physical abilities during the four hormonal phases. This step of the protocol can support you if you aren’t getting your cycle regularly due to menstrual issues like PCOS, as it can help regulate your cycle or, during the somewhat unpredictable transition of perimenopause, can help create a sense of stability,

Remember that by doing the WomanCode protocol, you will be eating to optimize your weekly hormonal ratios. When trying to conceive, pay extra attention to this, making sure you are: • incorporating sprouted and fermented foods during the follicular phase to deliver as many bioavailable nutrients as possible to the ovary • consuming the majority of your fruits and vegetables raw during ovulation to up egg-boosting glutathione levels