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Some healthy eating principles apply to just about everyone – drinking enough water and consuming plenty of fresh fruit and veg, for example. But when it comes to hormones, a lot of diet advice neglects to mention the vast difference between women’s and men’s health. “Women are very under-represented in research, mainly because we have a menstrual cycle,” says functional nutritionist and author Pauline Cox. “My passion and mission is to empower women with the information and knowledge that can radically change their immediate health and their long-term health.” Cox, 43, who started her career as a physiotherapist before becoming a nutritionist, now mainly works with groups of women online and has just released her second book, Hungry Woman: Eating for Good Health, Happiness and Hormones. “I felt there was a lot of information that could be shared with women to help them understand their hormones, and understand that we don’t have to get frustrated with ourselves and fight our female physiology.” At the heart of the issue is the balance (or lack thereof) between oestrogen and progesterone levels. “When our progesterone levels are low, our oestrogen can become dominant, and that’s when we start to see things like PMS, heavy periods, painful periods, flooding at the beginning of our periods,” says Cox, who lives in Somerset. “A lot o women accept that as part of their monthly cycle, but when we bring our progesterone levels back up, it helps to balance the effect of oestrogen.” Here, she explains five ways women can tailor their diets to keep their hormones in check… 1. Look after your liver “Oestrogen is a driving-growth hormone,” Cox explains, using the analogy of grass growing on a lawn to explain how the two hormones interact. “Progesterone is like the lawnmower. It comes along and it keeps the grass in check. When we lose progesterone, oestrogen gets out of control.” That’s why it’s important that our bodies are able to clear oestrogen efficiently through the liver, gut and bowels. “How much oestrogen we clear can be influenced by what we eat and how we live,” says Cox. “There’s a lot of cruciferous in the book – cauliflower, broccoli, these are really great vegetables to support liver detoxification.” 2. Add fermented foods To deliver beneficial bacteria to your gut, try including fermented foods like pickled vegetables, kefir, kombucha or natural yoghurt as part of your daily diet. “Our gut diversity declines as we age and microbiome diversity has been linked with longevity and good health,” says Cox, who suggests just a tablespoon of sauerkraut a day can make a difference. “These are easy wins…to maximise our longevity and optimise our gut-brain axis, which is incredibly important.” 3. Avoid ultra-processed foods There’s been a lot of talk recently about how detrimental ultra-processed foods are, and that includes the effect on hormone levels. “When we’re eating high sugar, processed foods, our inflammatory levels go up and our cortisol level goes up, which robs us of progesterone,” Cox says. Plus, filling up with these empty calories – as delicious as they often are – means we have less room for nutritious foods. “They can often be devoid of nutrients, so you’re not getting the nutrients you need for building hormones and supporting hormonal health like magnesium, zinc, B vitamins, and omega three fatty acids.” 4. Create an eating window It’s not just what you eat, it’s when. Cox recommends having an ‘eating window’ during the day that ends around 6pm, so that there’s a gap of a few hours before you go to bed. “When your blood sugars go up at night, your kidneys have to kick in to try and remove this excess blood sugar, which then means you’re up in the night urinating,” she says. “A lot of women associate this with drinking a lot before bed, but actually eating late at night can also be for that reason.” Choosing meals that are nutritious and satisfying is the next step. “Within that window, start becoming a bit more conscious of your carbs and upping your protein,” she continues. “So you’re feeling full, your body’s getting all the amino acids it needs, and you’re maybe not having so much of the grab-and-go food like the sandwiches, the pasta, the crisps.” 5. Monitor your magnesium “Most women are sub-clinically deficient in magnesium,” Cox explains, which can cause insomnia, and the risk increases with age. “As we get to about the age of 40, we absorb less magnesium than we would have in our 20s.” Diet also plays a role: “If we have high blood sugars and levels of inflammation when we’re stressed, we lose magnesium.” She recommends taking a magnesium glycinate or bisglycinate supplement before bed to increase your chance of getting a good night’s sleep. “The glycine part of that helps to reduce your core body temperature, which is what the body wants when it’s going to bed,” she says. “That compound also helps get you into what’s called REM sleep, which is the sleep where you’re consolidating memories and learning.” Hungry Woman by Pauline Cox is published by Ebury Press, priced £27. Photography by Luke Albert. Available Now. 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Liverpool are seeking further information about the review into Saturday’s offside controversy at Tottenham before deciding on next steps. The club had a Luis Diaz goal ruled out in north London due to a miscommunication between VAR Darren England and on-field referee Simon Hooper. The Premier League game was goalless at the time of the incident, with the Reds going on to lose 2-1. Liverpool issued a statement on Sunday night saying they would “explore the range of options available given the clear need for escalation and resolution”. Much of the focus since has been on precisely how the club would like the matter escalated and resolved, but PA understands at this stage the key word in the statement from a Liverpool perspective is “explore”. They are seeking greater clarity and transparency over precisely what the review of the incident promised by referees’ body Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL) will entail. The Reds acknowledge there is no playbook and no established procedure to deal with this set of circumstances, as there would be in the case of appealing against a red card for instance. PGMOL issued a statement on Saturday night acknowledging a “significant error” had occurred. Hooper and his assistants had given offside against Diaz on the field, and the PA news agency understands that although England followed the correct procedure in drawing lines, he lost focus and mistakenly thought the initial onfield decision had been onside. This resulted in him issuing a ‘check complete’ notice to Hooper, rather than advising of an intervention and the goal being awarded. Once the officials realised an error had been made, play had restarted and VAR protocols state that once that has happened, there is no way back to revisit a decision. England was replaced as a fourth official for the Nottingham Forest v Brentford match on Sunday while his assistant VAR at Tottenham, Dan Cook, has been replaced for Monday night’s match between Fulham and Chelsea. Referee and VAR appointments for the coming weekend’s matches are due to be announced at 10am on Tuesday morning. The controversy over the Diaz goal has led to calls for the conversation between England and Hooper to be broadcast. PGMOL has not ruled out the possibility of the audio forming part of the next ‘Match Officials Mic’d Up’ programme, which is due to air next Monday. England and Cook had been part of a team of officials who oversaw a fixture between Sharjah and Al Ain in the United Arab Emirates on Thursday, arriving back in the UK on Friday morning. Requests for English officials to take charge of domestic matches overseas are made to the Football Association, with permission for officials to travel granted jointly by the FA and PGMOL. Just as players involved in Europa League matches on a Thursday do not return to domestic action until Sunday, so officials’ duties are balanced to take account of any overseas assignments in the week. For instance, Michael Oliver, who refereed the match in the UAE last week, was a fourth official on Saturday but was back to refereeing at Forest on Sunday. Nor was the UAE trip unusual. It was the fifth time in the last 10 months that officials have overseen domestic matches overseas, with Tom Bramall and Andy Madley leading teams to Japan in January and the early summer respectively, Oliver officiating a Saudi match in April and Craig Pawson going to Greece in May. That is on top of English officials frequently being called upon for club and national team matches in international competitions. Liverpool’s statement said the error that occurred had led to sporting integrity being undermined, but Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag said on Monday he still had complete “trust” in referees. “Well, I’m not so often giving comment on refereeing because they do what they have to do,” the Dutchman said. “Of course, the standard has to be high and it’s a part of the game. “Of course, you can expect, we can expect, teams can expect, the fans can all expect, that it has to be a high standard – so it should be because it’s Premier League. “But I think and I’m sure they do what they can. They are very professional, so they will give their best and I trust them.” Read More Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live Scotland’s Finn Russell says second best will not be good enough against Ireland Rory McIlroy says he began thinking about Ryder Cup quest a year ago Great to grow game – Jamie George in favour of historic England tour to Samoa

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NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jun 14, 2023--