The female nervous system – complex, adaptive and deeply connected to our cyclical nature. Our nervous systems are profoundly intelligent, designed to process the information which allows us to think, move, heal, feel and respond to the world around us. It is the bridge between the external world and the world within. Our nervous systems control our thoughts, emotions, digestion, hormones, immune response and stress response – it’s a pretty big deal! The nervous system is connected to trauma, chronic inflammation, burnout, anxiety, feelings of safety and how we connect to our intuition. This highlights the importance of understanding its complexities and in trying to understand what we can do in this modern world to support our nervous systems the best that we can.
I think the term “balancing the nervous system” is used a lot, without really understanding what it means. Does it mean feeling completely calm all of the time? Or does it mean being able to move through the different states of life with fluidity, and being able to find our way back to a feeling of safety within? Our nervous systems are designed to protect us, and by finding balance in the complex processes that it is constantly undergoing, we are able to more easily shift out of states of “fight or flight” and “wired but tired” and into the safety of feeling energised but grounded, calm but alert and emotionally steady. Sounds like bliss doesn’t it!
Nutrition and the female nervous system
The female nervous system is very complex and exquisitely sensitive and there is so much that we can learn about it – and from it! It is so exciting to learn about how everything is so connected and to begin leaning into the journey of supporting our own nervous systems. One of the ways that we can help to balance our nervous systems is through nutrition.
Well actually if we’re being clear, nutrition doesn’t just “support” the nervous system, it is literally building it, fuelling it and regulating it! Nutrition is so important for our overall wellness and feelings of safety in so many ways. What we eat and how we fuel our bodies influences the female nervous system by:
- Providing structural building blocks
- Stabilising blood sugar
- Regulating stress hormones
- Reducing inflammation
- Supporting neurotransmitter function
- Improving vagal tone
- Supporting hormonal rhythm
A nourished body feels safe and a safe body regulates much better.
The nervous system is made up of fat (lots of it! About 60%), amino acids, micronutrients, electrolyte and water. We need to provide the building materials that are required, or signalling within the nervous system becomes weaker, slower and dysregulated. Many of us have been affected by restriction culture, skipping meals, dieting and other lifestyle factors such as increased caregiving load that have led us to insufficiently fueling our bodies. But lets collectively agree that it’s time to put ourselves and our wellness first and to actually give ourselves what we need to feel safe and well!
There is so much magic that happens in the human body, and a lot of different factors that work together to keep everything in balance. It can seem pretty daunting to take it all in at once, so for this blog post I’m just going to be talking about how protein specifically can help to support the nervous system. Over time the puzzle pieces will start coming together and you can begin to look at other areas of your nutrition journey and build on the habits you have already established 🙂
How can protein help to balance the nervous system?
Protein plays a pretty major role in helping to balance the nervous system. Protein is an essential macronutrient that is made of different amino acids, which are the fundamental building blocks of the body. There are 20 different amino acids that our bodies need to function, with 9 of these being “essential”, meaning our bodies cannot produce them themselves – so we need to consume them from food. Protein is crucial for the functioning of the body, with roles such as providing energy, repairing tissue, building muscle, supporting immune function, producing enzymes and hormones and regulating body processes.
Consuming an adequate protein intake also plays an important part in balancing the nervous system through its role in blood sugar stability, neurotransmitter production, hormonal resilience and stress regulation – which are all central to nervous system balance.
Let’s dive into the specific ways that protein helps to support the nervous system!
Protein is the building blocks of neurotransmitters
Neurotransmitters are chemical messengers that allow nerve cells, or neurons, to communicate with glands, muscles and other neurotransmitters around the body. Over 100 neurotransmitters have been identified in the human body, and they are essential for regulating almost all bodily functions, including how we respond to stress, our motivation, sleep quality, impulse control, emotional regulation and how we experience pleasure.
When we consume protein, it is broken down in the body to amino acids – many of which are the precursors to some key neurotransmitters with important roles in balancing the nervous system and feeling calm, safe and motivated.
Some examples of these include:
Tryptophan -> Serotonin
- Tryptophan is an essential amino acid that is found in both animal and plant based proteins, although it is more readily found in animal proteins and is generally more bioavailable, meaning it is easier for the body to break down and use.
- The presence of tryptophan allows for the synthesis of Serotonin, an important neurotransmitter that helps us to feel calm and balanced by helping to regulate mood stability, sleep quality, emotional regulation and impulse control.
- Low levels of serotonin have been linked to mental health disorders such as depression, anxiety and PMS symptoms.
- Studies show that postpartum women show lower blood concentrations of tryptophan compared to the non pp control group. This is such a vulnerable period in a woman’s life, with an estimation of 10-20% of women experiencing postpartum depression during the first year after giving birth. There are many factors that contribute to conditions such as postpartum depression, but it is interesting to see how everything works together and the influence that nutrition plays.
Food sources of tryptophan include:
- Animal sources such as pork, turkey and beef are excellent sources of tryptophan. Chicken is also a source of tryptophan.
- Seafood sources of tryptophan include salmon, tuna, lobster, crab, oysters and snapper
- Soybean based products such as tofu and edamame are great plant based sources of tryptophan
- Dairy products such as yoghurt, milk and cheeses
- Eggs
- Some grains including quinoa, oats and buckwheat
- Some nuts and seeds, with pumpkin seeds being an excellent source with 163mg per 28g serving.
Tyrosine -> Dopamine and Norepinephrine
- The amino acid Tyrosene is the precursor for dopamine and norepinephrine, meaning that it is needed in the synthesis of the two neurotransmitters.
- Dopamine and norepinephrine are two vital catecholamine neurotransmitters (chemical messengers) that act together to regulate mood, focus, drive, stress resilience and reward.
- Dopamine is associated with the brain’s reward system, motivation and pleasure
- Norepinephrine is a key player in the body’s “fight or flight” response and is responsible for controlling focus, alertness and blood pressure.
Both dopamine and norepinephrine are used for the treatment of conditions such as ADHD. Studies have found that those with ADHD have lower levels of dopamine and norepinephrine.
Tyrosine is a non essential amino acid, meaning that if food sources are insufficient, it can be synthesised in the body by the “essential” amino acid phenylalanine.
Fun fact! The word tyrsosine was actually derived from the greek word tyrós, meaning cheese. It was first discovered in 1846 in the protein cassein which is found in milk and other dairy products such as cheese and yoghurt.
Food sources of Tyrosine include beef, pork, turkey, salmon, tofu, legumes such as lentils and black beans, pumpkin seeds and dairy products such as milk, cheese and yoghurt.
Glutamine -> GABA
- Glutamine is a “non essential” amino acid, meaning that it can be synthesised in the body. It is also the most abundant amino acid in the body, including in the central nervous system.
- Glutamine is a precursor of neurotransmitters, including Gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA). GABA is an inhibitory neurotransmitter and is known for it’s calming effect, with the ability to control nerve cell hyperactivity that is associated with stress, fear and anxiety.
- GABA works by binding to receptors on nerve cells, slowing down the messages between nerve cells and decreasing their responsiveness. This is where the calming effect comes from, as inhibitory neurotransmitters lessens the nerve cell’s abilities to create, receive and send chemical messages.
- Studies show that low levels of glutamine have been shown in patients experiencing mental health conditions such as depression.
As we can see in the examples above, it is important to eat a variety of different proteins to make sure that we are consuming the wide variety of amino acids that are needed! If the availability of these amino acids decrease, it could lead to heightened nervous system sensitivity and feeling of imbalance within.
How neurotransmitters buffer the hormonal shifts of women
The cyclical nature of women is so divine and so connected to nature, expanding and contracting through the different phases of our lives. Our bodies are crafted so perfectly and so precisely for creation, nurturing, connection, pattern recognition and responding to the subtle signals of our intuition. The changes in our reproduction systems do not just reflect our body’s abilities to procreate, they allow us to flow through the cycles of outward expansion and to bring ourselves inwards during periods of heightened sensitivity that call for deeper attunement and discernment.
Our bodies experience such vast fluctuations in the hormones estrogen and progesterone during the different phases that we experience, including during pregnancy, peri and post-menopause, postpartum and during our menstrual cycle. These key hormones directly influence the activity of the neurotransmitters that we discussed above (serotonin, dopamine and GABA). Not only do these hormones influence neurotransmitter activity, but also stress response via the HPA axis, inflammation, sleep quality and blood sugar stability – all of which play important roles in keeping our nervous systems feeling balanced, calm and safe.
For example, during late luteal phase (the time just before your period starts), falling progesterone and estrogen levels may lower dopamine and serotonin, which can contribute to PMDD and PMS symptoms. During perimenopause, there is a dramatic drop in estrogen levels, which can result in many women experiencing symptoms of depression, irritabilty, anxiety, loss of motivation and poor sleep quality.
So how does protein support our nervous system during the different stages of our cycle?
Consuming adequate amounts of protein ensures that we are providing our bodies with the amino acids, the building blocks, that our bodies need to buffer the hormonal shifts of the different phases of our cycle. As hormones fluctuate, so too can key neurotransmitter activity which increases nervous system sensitivity.
Throughout the menstrual cycle, fluctuations in estrogen and progesterone alter:
- Insulin sensitivity
- Neurotransmitter production
- Metabolic rate
- Nervous system stress tolerance
Protein provides the amino acids that are required to produce neurotransmitters and regulates blood sugar, making it particularly important in softening these shifts – hopefully resulting in increased feelings of calm and safety and decreased reactivity.
During the late luteal phase, many women experience PMS symptoms, which can include irritability, mood swings, anxiety, depression, breast tenderness, fatigue, acne and food cravings. For a lot of us, our nervous systems can become more sensitive to stress during this time. Fluctuations in blood sugar can also intensify these symptoms.
Increased protein intake during luteal phase may help to reduce PMS symptoms through a variety of mechanisms. These include:
- Stabilising blood sugar levels in the body, as insulin sensitivity decreases during luteal phase. Fluctuating blood sugar levels can activate stress pathways and disrupt normal neurotransmitter signalling, with the nervous system having to work much harder to restore balance.
- Provide the amino acids such as tryptophan and glutamate that are the precursors for neurotransmitters implicated in PMS aetiology.
- Increased protein intake may also include levels of renin, aldosterone and vasopressin which are hormones involved in the renin-aldosterone-vasopressin system (RAAS). Dysregulation of the RAAS has been suggested to contribute to PMS symptoms, especially related to bloating, fluid retention and blood pressure.
The varying nutrition needs for the different phases of the menstrual cycle is a topic that I would love to really deep dive into and expand on a lot more, so I will pop a link below to a separate blog post to explore this further!