Video by dr.emily.nutrition

Welcome to my new series, wellness habits that don't work the same for us women as they do for men. Catchy, I know. But it's 2026 and I'm saying bro science can finally take a step back and make room for some girl science. Because I'm sick to my back teeth and I'm sure you are too of male data

being copy pasted onto female bodies. Like please someone explain to me how that makes sense. But before we do, let me put the state of the science into context for you. So there's more research on erectile dysfunction than on the entire menstrual cycle. There's more research on pigeons than PCOS. I'm laughing, but sadly, these are not jokes. They are facts. And honestly, if we don't laugh,

what else can we do? So, here's the science you actually deserve to know. First up, intermittent fasting. Because if I have to hear one more bloke brag about the length of his fast, Lord help me. If only they'd focus on making something else last longer. Am I right, ladies? Look, it might work for them. But for us, when we wake up and simply skip breakfast, our hypothalamus, our brain's

hormone HQ, goes into alert mode. It's like, where's the food at? That sets off a biological red flag The body starts pumping out cortisol your stress hormone and it starts pulling on levers to conserve energy downregulating your fertility hormones slowing your metabolism and impacting our mood and recovery In short your body interprets fasting

as a threat to survival. So then when you go smash that morning workout, instead of burning fat, high cortisol can make the body break down muscle. Then your training gains get blunted, your recovery tanks and hormones slip out of sync. Now, before anyone jumps in, yes, this isn't the whole story. And to be clear, I'm not anti-fasting. I'm anti-bro science that skips over key facts about