The Quiet Deficiency Draining Your Mood, Sleep, and Sanity
Recipe: Amalfi Salt Crusted Sea Bass
*This newsletter is not intended to be medical advice. Supported by Mandy Murphy Carroll, RD MPH, Dr. Rosa Keller, PHD RD, Dr. Ricki Pollycove OBGYN, & Dr. Claire Packer OBGYN
Welcome to Modern Women’s Nutrition!
Empowering the busy modern woman to understand her hormone & metabolic health, and how to eat to thrive at every step of her journey—from fertility to menopause and beyond.
→ Jump to Recipe: Whitney’s Amalfi Salt Crusted Fish
Hey friends,
Let’s talk about something that rarely makes it into wellness headlines, but might be behind your 3pm crash, your restless nights, your fragile moods, and your nagging sense that something’s off.
Minerals.
Not the flashy kind you’ll find in a beauty supplement (which are everywhere these days). I’m talking about the foundational minerals your cells depend on to do everything, from creating energy to regulating essential hormones to helping you stay steady in the face of stress.
I’m currently in a moment of healing. I recently tore a muscle, and while the couch has become my good friend, I’ve put a lot of effort and focus into rejuvenating my muscles and healing my body.
What I’ve come to realize during a lot of this reflection, research and moment with all sorts of advice from others, is that minerals play a massive role in everyday healing. When we move our body and test it, or we put a lot of psychological stress on it, this leads to micro-tears in our system.
And how do these everyday tears, large or small, repair? Minerals.
What I see often—when talking to friends, in studies, and when making The Blood Sugar Method course—is that minerals are too often ignored. And even when we think we are doing everything right: clean food, fancy adaptogens, filtered water, high-quality supplements, all the things, we can still felt frayed and not heal entirely. We’re wired and tired, like we are surviving each day on fumes.
Let’s take a closer look: We might just be depleted in the basics.
No amount of turmeric lattes can help if you’re running on empty.
Stress burns through your minerals.
So do caffeine, alcohol, and skipping meals.
Here’s the part most women aren’t told: burnout isn’t always about doing too much. Sometimes it’s about not having what you need to meet the moment.
Modern life is demanding and every demand pulls from your mineral stores.
Every stressor—emotional, physical, even positive ones like exercise—requires minerals for your body to mount a response (source).
Caffeine? It gives you a short-term boost by stimulating your adrenals, but it also encourages magnesium and potassium loss–which are minerals.
Alcohol? It’s a diuretic that flushes out your sodium and zinc–both minerals.
If you are low-carb or intermittent fasting (required dietary adjustments for many) you’re experiencing natural mineral loss through urine and sweat, but without proper nutrition, you’re not replenishing them.
This depletion doesn’t show up overnight. It builds slowly and it often hides itself in the things we say to ourselves:
I guess I’m just getting older
Maybe I need to cut back on carbs even more
I must need a stronger probiotic or hormone support
When what your body might really be screaming is: I need minerals!
Let’s get specific.
Keep reading with a 7-day free trial
Subscribe to Modern Women's Nutrition to keep reading this post and get 7 days of free access to the full post archives.