Are Processed foods affecting your hormone levels?

Processed food is good, but is it good for you? One Canterbury woman has worked out that it may not be as ideal as it may seem.

Lizzy Leonard has founded an app that allows women to track their wholefood diets and personalise their meals based on their stage of life.

“I started seeing a cause between how painful my periods were and how much ultra-processed foods I was eating… I tried all these different things to change my diet, and I learnt that food truly had the biggest impact on my mood, my pain and my general association throughout the day. I could control all of it with a whole-food diet.”

Lizzy's website, PhaseFood, gives you 28 days of recipes, teaches you while you eat, and lets you log what you're eating and the effects you feel.

“It asks them questions like what life stage they are in, if they still have a period, are they perimenopausal, or are they menopausal. It takes all that information and pairs it with what they are eating to go, 'Hey, we have noticed some trends about you; maybe we would suggest adding more fibre into your diet,' and then it will say, 'Do you wanna change your recipes so they give you more fibre in your diet?"

Lizzy began PhaseFood early this year, after many years of her own hormonal problems. From chronic headaches and nausea to a recent endometriosis diagnosis, she has seen doctors and specialists for it all. 

She began running mini experiments on herself changing the food she was eating, cutting out dairy and changing the amount of fibre in her meals. When the whole-food diet worked for her, she decided others need to learn more about what they are putting in their bodies and the effects it can have.

A study done by Everyday Health suggests ultra-processed foods can affect both the ability to get pregnant and the early development of children. 

“People don’t realise until they go to have kids that they are infertile, and it can have something to do with the ultra-processed foods they are consuming…"

"The marketing is really good; these products are highly addictive, and it’s not the fault of the individual that you are getting addicted to these products. They are built to make you addicted.”

Lizzy and her partner Rob say they both noticed they were fuller for longer, more sociated, had a better mood and thought about food less in the day once they ate only wholefood.

Processed foods are known for being the cheaper alternative, and with the current economic state, Lizzy understands this isn't feasible for everyone.

“You can lower the amount of ultraprocessed food you have without completely cutting it out. One way to do that is with wraps. You can make wraps with only flour, salt and oil and some warm water. They take about half an hour, and they make around seven that you can reheat throughout the week, and it costs roughly the same amount as buying them in store.”

Rob explained research that concluded you eat around 300 to 500 calories extra per day if you eat processed food due to the lack of fullness felt from the food. 

“It means you can end up spending the same amount on snacks as the whole foods.

“You’re right that it can be more expensive at times, but you end up more satiated, so you might eat a whole meal less in a day… There are ways to do it, but I understand there can be barriers for people.”

Ultimately Lizzy and Rob's aim with PhaseFood is to educate people on the food they are consuming and the effects it could have on them.

“My ultimate outcome is that we can improve the health outcomes for women. This is much bigger than just some software; our ultimate aim is that we can move into more products and more services that actually help people and that are good for people and can improve their quality of life.”