Eat like a girl? What could that possibly mean? Dr. Mindy Pelz and her team have the answer:
Fact: Women’s bodies need different considerations than men’s.
Fact: Much of the medical world has been developed with men in mind.
Fact: Women have natural hormonal cycles that require different food needs.
So, Eat like a girl? Don’t mind if we do.
In her new book, Eat Like A Girl, Dr. Mindy Pelz expertly explains how food impacts our hormones and metabolism. In a world where women are still subjected to diet culture and often have health concerns dismissed due to weight or gender, it's refreshing to hear from a medical professional who understands that women’s bodies are unique. The success of her first book, Fast Like A Girl, revealed how much women struggled to understand and treat their bodies.
In Eat Like A Girl, Dr. Pelz does an excellent job breaking down the science behind hormones and offers actionable advice on how to adapt our lifestyles based on that understanding.
Section 1: Understanding Hormones and Diet
The first part of the book explores how hormones and diet are connected. Dr. Pelz introduces three pivotal phases in a woman’s hormonal journey: puberty, childbearing years, and menopause.
“There are three pivotal phases to a woman’s hormonal journey. I call them the warm-up, the main act, and the cooldown. You may know these as your puberty years, childbearing years, and menopausal years. No matter where you are on this hormonal journey, learning what and when to eat will smooth the bumps hormones can often provide.”
To balance our bodies and hormones, Dr. Pelz recommends three key principles for eating like a girl:
Eat to Make Hormones
Dr. Pelz emphasizes the importance of providing our bodies with the essential nutrients needed for hormone production, what she calls the Key 24. These nutrients—spanning vitamins, minerals, fatty acids, and amino acids—are crucial for the production of estrogen, progesterone, and androgens. Eating a balanced diet of whole, unprocessed foods rich in these nutrients can significantly impact how we feel.“A key component of eating for hormone production is diversification of foods. We need to eat a good variety of nutrient-rich foods to ensure our bodies get all 24 nutrients.”
Eat to Metabolize Hormones
Once hormones are produced, they need to be converted into a usable format—this is known as hormone metabolism. If you’re taking birth control or hormone replacement therapy, your body needs to metabolize these hormones efficiently to minimize side effects like weight gain. Foods like probiotic-rich yogurt, kimchi, prebiotic garlic and onions, and polyphenol-rich olives and cocoa powder can support liver and gut health, aiding this process.“Without a change in format, it doesn’t matter how well your brain and body are coordinating the production of that hormone; it is rendered useless to your cells.”
Eat to Detox Hormones
After hormones have done their job, they need to be removed from the body. Hormones are broken down in the liver and excreted by the kidneys. By avoiding artificial sweeteners and processed foods, drinking plenty of water, and eating detox-supporting foods like leafy greens and apples, we can assist this process.“The liver’s ability to efficiently metabolize these hormones is essential for overall hormonal balance and health. Disorders of the liver can lead to imbalances in hormone levels and contribute to various health issues.”
Section 2: Using Food to Support Your Fasting Lifestyle
One common misconception many of us grew up with is that eating small meals throughout the day speeds up metabolism. Dr. Pelz debunks this, explaining that it’s not how often we eat, but the quality of the food and the timing of our meals that matters most. Research supports fasting as a way to repair the body.
“I have scoured the research looking for evidence that eating small meals throughout the day speeds up your metabolism. I can’t find any scientific evidence that eating more often helps you burn fat. But I can find a tremendous amount of research showing that metabolic switching helps us release weight.”
She introduces the concept of metabolic switching, which involves creating windows for eating and fasting to encourage fat-burning. After about eight hours without food, the body switches into fat-burning mode, with ketone production taking up to four more hours. Dr. Pelz recommends fasting for at least 12 hours each day and notes that fasting doesn't mean total deprivation—there are certain things, like coffee, that you can have during fasting periods.
“There are some tried-and-true drinks that will not pull most people out of a fasted state. In fact, some of these drinks are used to make fasting easier. This is definitely true with coffee.”
The first meal after a fast is critical. Dr. Pelz suggests including polyphenol, probiotic, and prebiotic foods to replenish the gut and boost hormone balance.
Section 3: The Fasting Cycle
Women’s hormone levels fluctuate throughout the menstrual cycle, creating unique nutritional needs at different times. Dr. Pelz calls these hormonal fluctuations our "power phases." She explains how to optimize diet during each phase to maximize health and hormone function.
“If you are a menstruating woman, you have two times in your cycle when your hormones are at their lowest. The first is the day your period starts, or Day 1 of your cycle. The other low-hormonal time is right after ovulation—or Day 16 of your cycle.”
During these phases, Dr. Pelz recommends eating lower protein, incorporating good carbohydrates like spinach, avocados, and cabbage, and focusing on longer fasts to improve insulin sensitivity.
For women struggling with perimenopause or menopause, the same principles apply, but fasting becomes even more important. Insulin resistance becomes a common issue during menopause, and fasting can help regulate this. Dr. Pelz provides specific fasting protocols for each stage of menopause to help women maintain hormonal balance.
Conclusion
Eat Like A Girl is about understanding our bodies, embracing our hormonal cycles, and using food to support our health. Whether you're menstruating, perimenopausal, or menopausal, Dr. Pelz offers real, science-backed solutions for managing hormones and metabolism.
As women, we can finally learn to work with our bodies rather than against them. And yes, we can still eat like a girl—on our terms.
Excerpts from Eat Like a Girl © Dr. Mindy Pelz. Reprinted with permission
Dr. Mindy Pelz is a world-renowned women's health expert on a mission to empower women to believe in their bodies! She is a bestselling author of Fast Like a Girl (number-one selling release of 2023 from Hay House Publishing) and The Menopause Reset. Her podcast, “The Resetter Podcast,” is ranked within Apple’s top 20 category of leading U.S. science podcasts, and her Youtube channel has garnered over 60 million lifetime views.