I’m Too Young for This! (2013) is a book about what happens in perimenopause and how to deal with it. Food recommendations include:
- Eat fresh, whole, unprocessed foods; gluten-free and dairy-free may be best.
- Avoid processed foods, white flour, sugar, artificial additives.
Below is a description of the food recommendations in the diet. Foods to eat | Foods to avoid. There’s a lot more in the book.
Get a copy of I’m Too Young for This! for a description of how your body transitions, common symptoms, what different hormones do, supplementation recommendations, lifestyle suggestions, and a discussion of bioidentical hormone replacement therapy BHRT.
The reasoning behind I’m Too Young for This!
The book discusses how your hormones levels change with perimenopause, and how this can affect your health. The food recommendations are a minor part of the book – the main recommendation is bioidentical hormone replacement therapy BHRT.
I’m Too Young for This! diet plan – what to eat and foods to avoid
Foods to eat in I’m Too Young for This!
General recommendations
The book doesn’t have clear guidelines on what you should eat in general. It seems to advocate: Eat an unprocessed diet with animal proteins, unstarchy vegetables, healthy fats, and perhaps gluten-free whole grains.
Power foods
This is the list of perimenopausal power foods listed in the book, divided into types of foods.
Ideally, your food choices should be organic and pesticide free.
- Nuts and seeds
- Almonds (raw, unsalted), flaxseed (at least one ounce daily, make sure it’s organic – freshly ground flaxseed releases more nutrients than whole flaxseed), other nuts
- Fruits
- Apples, blueberries, oranges, pineapple
- Vegetables
- Avocado, beets, broccoli, cabbage, garlic, sweet potatoes, tomatoes including cooked tomatoes
- Legumes/pulses
- Beans
- Proteins
- Eggs
- Meat – lean, organic, grass-fed whenever possible. Bison is a good choice
- Shellfish – e.g. clams, crab, mussels, prawns, scallops, shrimp
- Wild salmon. Fish should be wild not farm raised
- Other
- Olive oil, tea
You’re also encouraged to eat ginger, garlic, and turmeric for their antioxidant effects
Other recommendations
- Foods containing iodine, necessary for the synthesis of thyroid hormones in both sexes – shellfish, sea salt, seafood, seaweed, eggs, dairy products
- Foods containing zinc to avoid depression and mood disturbances – shellfish, lean muscle tissues (tenderloin) of beef, deer, or lamb; pumpkin seeds, sesame seeds
- After a strenuous workout, eat protein (grass-fed beef, organic chicken, wild-caught fish, organic eggs) and organic green leafy vegetables
- Food recommendations of doctors, mentioned in the book: “Ask the Doctors”
- Eat enough calories
- Follow a Paleolithic diet, that focuses on fruits, vegetables, meat, poultry, and fish
- Eat organic foods
- Eat a low-glycemic diet with lots of brightly colored and green vegetables
- For migraines – optimize your liver health: juice a lemon in 6 ounces of water first thing in the morning; increase your intake of carrots, beets, zucchini, squash, and artichokes; juice green vegetables daily
- Depression – drinking nothing but water for a month is a good start
- Fibroids – drink a green drink for breakfast, made of detoxifying greens such as kale, dandelion greens, celery, cilantro, or parsley; also add turmeric and ginger
Foods to avoid or limit with I’m Too Young for This!
- Avoid foods that the body converts to sugar
- Refined carbohydrates: white flour, white rice, refined white sugar, any foods that contain sugar
- High-starch vegetables
- Avoid toxic foods – the more toxins you take in, the more fat you need to store them
- Fast food
- Junk food
- Pesticides and chemicals
- Avoid foods and eating habits that can raise insulin
- Low-fat diets
- Excessive intake of carbohydrates
- Artificial sweeteners, including saccharin, aspartame
- Other fake foods, including margarine and most other invented substances found in overly refined, processed foods
- Soft drinks
- Overconsumption of alcohol
- Don’t drink alcohol before bed
- Limit chocolate, as it contains theobromine which can cause adrenal fatigue
- Hidden factors that could be keeping you symptomatic
- Watch out for adverse reactions to food– dairy products, eggs, nuts, soybeans, wheat, and corn can be troublemakers, as can chemicals, preservatives, additives, and GMO foods. These are in many packaged and processed foods.
- As many as 60% of people suffer from undetected food allergies with symptoms like headaches, sinusitis, nasal stuffiness, heartburn, irritable bowel syndrome IBS, muscle aches and stiffness, joint pain, anxiety, depression, difficulty sleeping, fatigue, skin itching, inability to focus, palpitations, or mental confusion. The most common food offenders are milk, eggs, soy, and wheat. Eliminate gluten and dairy for a couple of weeks to see how your body reacts
- Food recommendations of doctors, mentioned in the book: “Ask the Doctors”
- Avoid caffeinated drinks
- Avoid gluten, including cookies, bread, and pasta
- Avoid grains
- Avoid dairy products
- Avoid soda and diet soda
- Follow an anti-inflammatory diet, eliminating dairy, gluten, eggs, and soy
- Don’t have too much fish high in mercury, such as tuna and swordfish
- Fibroids – eliminate any dietary foods that can cause inflammation – the main ones are gluten, dairy, soy, peanuts, sugar, eggs, and red meat
- Yeast infections – red meat is acid and should be avoided. If you have too much yeast in your body, avoid sugar and anything with sugar in it; also wine, breads, whtie flour, white rice, high-starch vegetables such as yams, sweet potatoes, and potatoes
Health benefits claimed in I’m Too Young for This!
The diet in this book claims to reduce the risks for women in their 30’s and 40’s for: abdominal cramps, acne, aggression, allergies, anxiety, atherosclerosis, bladder infections, bloating and puffiness, high blood pressure, unstable blood sugar, low bone density, brain fog, painful tender swollen breasts, cervical dysplasia (abnormal pap smear), fatigue, gallbladder problems, headaches associated with your period, heart palpitations, hot flashes and sweating, incontinence infertility, insomnia/trouble sleeping, insulin resistance, painful intercourse, itching, low libido, heavy menstrual bleeding, midcycle pain, migraines and headaches, early miscarriage, mood swings, night sweats, osteoporosis, ovarian cysts, overweight/obesity, pain when ovulating, perimenopause symptoms, extremely heavy periods, polycystic ovary symptom PCOS, premenstrual syndrome PMS, red flush on face, stress, swollen extremities, excessive water retention, watery eyes, weepiness, unexplained weight gain
As always, this is not intended to be a replacement for professional medical diagnosis or treatment for a medical condition. Consult your doctor before starting a new diet. This page describes what the authors of the diet recommend – Chewfo is describing the diet only, not endorsing it.
Get a copy of I’m Too Young for This! for a description of how your body transitions, common symptoms, what different hormones do, supplementation recommendations, lifestyle suggestions, and a discussion of bioidentical hormone replacement therapy BHRT.
Suzanne Somer’s website is http://www.suzannesomers.com/; she also recommends http://www.foreverhealth.com/ for resources and http://www.lef.org/goodhealth for hormone testing.
How has this diet helped you? Please add a comment or question below.
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