The Slow Kitchen Podcast

Episode 39: "Bacon, Bones, Protein & All the Other Things We’re Supposed to Be Worried About"

• Cat Dillon • Season 1 • Episode 39

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In this episode, we’re talking about:
🥓 What about bacon? Is it safe and healthy for me?
🏋️‍♀️Should I eat before or after my workout, or is it better to train fasted?
🦴 What’s the best collagen for bone, hair and nails? Does it count as protein?
🥄 Can psyllium affect nutrient absorption?
🌱 Should I be afraid of “anti-nutrients” like phytates and oxalates if I have osteoporosis?
🥤 Why do I crash after my protein smoothie?
💪 What is anabolic resistance?


A few of the studies I mention:

Other mentions:  


🎧 Listen to the full episodes of related conversations on The Slow Kitchen Podcast:
The Bone Rebuilding series, episodes 22 and 23. I go much deeper into what actually matters for supporting stronger bones, without turning your diet into a giant list of foods you’re afraid to eat. 


Resources:

🌿 Free Bone Health Blindspots Guide
A grounded look at what’s often missing in conversations around bone loss, stress, and midlife metabolism. Food, supplements and lifestyle….

If you’ve been told to take calcium or just monitor with scans 🩻 but still feel unclear, this connects the dots.

👉 https://catdillon.com/BoneHealthBlindSpots


💛 Work With Cat
Body feeling different lately—more reactive, more tired, and unpredictable?—Cat helps midlife women support metabolism and hormones while creating a steadier, more peaceful relationship with food.

🌿 Mood, Metabolism & Bone Health Collective — Learn more & join here

You get ongoing support from me to help you actually put this into practice.

• Personal guidance from me inside the Collective — bring your questions, challenges, wins, and “what do I do about this?” moments to me through our private chat. You’re not left to figure it out alone.

• Live support + education — join me for monthly live cooking classes and practical teaching so you understand how protein, minerals, blood sugar, stress, hormones, and food choices come together to support your bones and metabolism.

• A plan you can actually use — bone-supportive, blood-sugar-steady recipes, meal planning and Instacart lists make it easier to know what to eat and get it on the table.

• Support between the live sessions — this isn’t just a monthly class you watch and forget. You have a place to ask questions, get guidance, stay connected, and keep moving forward throughout the month.

Think of it as working with me in a more accessible way — with the education, tools, accountability, and personal support to help you make this part of your life.

🎧 Join the Self-Paced 30-Day Carb Clarity: Protein-First Menopause Plate Mastery — a gentle, step-by-step reset that works with your menopause-shifted body to stabilize blood sugar, quiet cravings, and support metabolism and bone health through simple plate shifts.

More Resources for You:

Connect with Me:

SPEAKER_00

Welcome to the Slow Kitchen Podcast, your 15-minute space to slow down, breathe, and reconnect with nourishment that actually fits your real life. I'm Kat Dylan, registered holistic nutritionist, former chef, and someone who believes deeply in beautiful, unfussy meals that leave you feeling supported, satisfied, and steady from the inside out. If you're a woman in midlife, juggling work, family hormones, cravings, mood shifts, and a world that will not stop moving, this podcast is for you. We take the pressure out of cooking here, and we bring the pleasure back in. Food is so much more than fuel. It's connection, it's regulation, sensory, emotional, mental, and spiritual nourishment all at once. When we prepare food with intention, even just for a couple of minutes, something shifts. Digestion improves, cravings can ease, energy steadies, and your nervous system gets the signal that you're safe. This is where I bring my kitchen to you. Simple tips, health-building ingredients, tiny habits that save you from evening overwhelm, and real life ways to cook and eat more mindfully. Because how you eat is how you live. And when you slow down in the kitchen, even just a little, everything starts to ship too. Let's do this together, one intentional, nourishing bite at a time. So I've been seeing a lot of the same questions coming up from followers, clients, and across the web. So today I thought I would answer some of your best questions about food, protein, workouts, digestion, bone health, and the often confusing nutrition messages online. My goal is to always help you zoom out and feel less afraid of food. Really return to the big picture habits that support your hormones, your muscles and bones, your digestion, and of course your energy throughout midlife. So let's dive in. And the first question here is Kat, I see bacon in so many keto and healthy recipes. I love it, but I'm confused. Does bacon cause cancer? Is nitrite-free or uncured bacon actually okay to eat? This is such a fair question because bacon is often made to sound either like a superfood or like something you should never touch. And the truth is more balanced. Bacon can be an occasional enjoyable food, but it's not a health food. And it wouldn't make it a daily protein staple. It's a processed meat, and regularly eating processed meats is associated with a higher risk of colorectal cancer. That does not mean one brunch or one BLT or a few pieces of bacon are going to cause cancer. The concern, really, is the overall pattern, especially eating bacon, deli meats, sausage, hot dogs, or pepperoni most days of the week. The research found that eating about 50 grams of processed meat daily, roughly around a few strips of bacon, was associated with an 18% higher relative risk of colorectal cancer. Now, here's where the label confusion comes in. Uncured, no nitrites or nitrites added, and nitrite-free bacon are often cured with celery powder or celery juice, which is have a naturally containing nitrate that converts into nitrites. In other words, it's still cured, though large cancer studies did not separately prove that celery-cured or natural or nitrite-free bacon is safer than conventionally cured bacon made with synthetic sodium nitrate. So I wouldn't choose it because you think it's cancer proof, but I might choose a higher quality option for its simple ingredients, no added sugar or corn syrup, and fewer unnecessary additives. What I really want you to watch here is frequency and not fearing food. Think of bacon as a flavor food rather than your main source of protein, like I said earlier. A small amount can bring that savory, smoky goodness to saute greens, soups, and roasted vegetables, salads, or a breakfast hash, and let the main protein on your plate come from foods like eggs, Greek yogurt, fish, chicken, tofu, tempeh, beans, or red meat. That's how you can enjoy bacon from time to time without turning it into an everyday habit. I should mention, if you do like that smoky flavor, you can always try roasting a pepper and peeling it for that smoky flavor and texture. Also using smoked paprika. Those tend to be nice, or even a really umame type of ingredient like roasted mushrooms or caramelized onion can really, really help to amp up the flavor in your next pot of beans. Next question is I am so confused about whether I should eat before workouts, how long can I wait to eat afterwards? Some say fasted workouts are fine, and others disagree. All right. For midlife and postmenopausal women, I generally do not love hard workouts fully fasted, especially heavy weight training or HIIT classes or long cardio or anything that leaves you shaky, wired, or exhausted after. Our goal is not just to burn calories. We want to really build muscle, protect bone, support recovery, and really avoid adding unnecessary stress to the system. Before workout, think small and easy to digest. A little protein plus a carb. Greek yogurt with berries is great, or one of my all-time favorites is a slightly green banana with tahini and cinnamon. Might also do a small protein shake with a little bit of fruit or a half a piece of toast with some eggs. You do not need a big meal. You just want your body to know that fuel is readily available. After resistance training or hit, aim for a solid protein-rich meal or a shake relatively soon, ideally within about 30 to 60 minutes, if that's practical. For many postmenopausal women, 30 to 40 grams of high quality protein is a pretty useful target, with carbs included after a long or more demanding session. Protein distribution across the day matters more than perfection here, around the single minute on the clock. If gentle morning walks feel good fasted, that's a very different thing from hard training. Pay attention to your energy, sleep, mood, digestion, recovery, and strength progress. Your body is going to give you useful feedback here. The next question is what is the best collagen for bone, hair, and nails? And does it count towards my protein? Well, they forgot skin hair, but I'm going to talk about skin as well because it's all related. But for hair, nail, skin, and bone support, I usually look for a quality bovine collagen peptide. Bovine collagen tends to provide type 1 and type 3 collagen, which are the types that are most associated with skin, hair, nails, tendon, and bone matrix. Chicken collagen tends to be richer in type 2 collagen, which is more targeted towards joint cartilage and mobility. And for osteopenia and osteoporosis specifically, you may hear about something called phortabone. And that is a branded specific bioactive collagen peptide that has been studied in postmenopausal women. In clinical research, five grams daily was associated with improvements in bone mineral density and bone turnover markers over time. It can be a helpful supportive tool, but it is not a replacement for resistance training, adequate protein, calcium, vitamin D, K2, magnesium, hormone support when appropriate, and a full osteoporosis plan. Now, does collagen count as protein? Well, it contains protein, but I would not count it as your main muscle-building protein. Collagen lacks tryptophan, and also it's low in cysteine and methionine, which are essential amino acids. So it's really considered an incomplete protein. Think of collagen as a targeted supplement for your connective tissue support, not as a protein that you rely on to meet your anabolic needs. I do love collagen in smoothies, in yogurt or oatmeal. Some people like it in coffee and tea, but still make sure your meals contain certain complete leucine-rich proteins such as eggs, fish, poultry, red meat, dairy, tofu, tempeh, or a well-formed protein powder. Hey, quick break. If you're liking what you're hearing, can you take a second to subscribe and rate the podcast? It sure does go a heck of a long way in helping others like yourself find hype-free information that matters. Thank you so much and enjoy the rest of the show. And here's another question about cilion. Can psyllium affect the absorption of the vitamins and minerals that I take? Cilium can really be a great tool for bowel regularity, for cholesterol support, blood sugar steadiness, and feeding that gut microbiome, but timing really matters. Cilium forms a gel in the digestive tract, and that can slow the absorption of some medications or supplements when they're taken at the exact same time. I like to space psilium about one to two hours from any medications in case supplements, especially thyroid or other hormone medications, iron, zinc, calcium, and prescriptive medications, where absorption is important. And if you do take medication for diabetes, heart rhythm, mood, or anything with specific dosing instructions, check with your prescribing clinician or your pharmacist about timing. In research, there's good news in that normal doses of psyllium don't appear to make major practical differences in calcium absorption for most. Still, because you are taking it for health benefit, not to compete with your supplements, I think spacing it out is a simple and low stress strategy. What you want to remember is to always mix psilium into a full glass of water and drink it promptly and follow it with more fluid. You never want to take dry psilium and avoid taking it before you lie down. If you have trouble swallowing a history of bowel narrowing or obstruction, this is something to discuss with your clinician before you use it. Here's another question about antinutrients like phytates and lectins. They ask, I am afraid of antinutrients like phytates and all the healthy foods that contain them. What do I do? I have osteoporosis. No, you don't need to fear antinutrients. It's a dramatic name for naturally occurring compounds in plant foods that can slightly reduce the absorption of certain minerals from the same meal, but they don't make healthy foods unhealthy. Cytates are found in foods like beans, lentils, seeds, and nuts, flax seeds, and whole grains, while oxalates are found in foods like spinach, Swiss chard, beets, and rhubarb. These foods still bring so much to the table: fiber, antioxidants, polyphenols, and nutrients that support gut health, blood sugar, heart health, and healthy aging. If you do have osteoporosis, the key here is not avoiding all phytates or oxalates. It's being intentional about reliable calcium sources. Spinach is still a nutritious vegetable, but it's not great as a calcium source because its oxalates bind so much of this mineral. And that makes it harder for your body to absorb. Enjoy spinach if you like it, just don't rely on it to meet your calcium needs. Instead, regularly include foods like dairy if you tolerate it, fortified plant milks, calcium-cent tofu, yogurt or kefir, canned salmon or canned sardines with bones, maybe some bok choy, kale, broccoli, cabbage, tahini, and sesame seeds. You can also make mineral-rich plant foods easier to digest and absorb by soaking and cooking dry beans in fresh water and choosing sourdough sometimes. And enjoying fermented foods like tempeh or sprouted grains when you like them. But please do not turn this into another food rule. Keep eating the flax, chickpeas, berries, broccoli, beans, and whole grains. And for stronger bones, focus on the big picture: adequate calcium, vitamin D, K2, enough protein, resistance, and impactive training and the right medical support for you. And if this question about osteoporosis and what you should or shouldn't be eating has you wanting to go a little deeper, check out my bone rebuilding series, episode 22 and 23, and I go way deeper into what actually matters for supporting strong bones without turning your diet into a giant list of foods you're afraid to eat. Here's a question about smoothies. I crash after drinking my plant protein smoothie with rice milk and soy milk. I have a sensitive digestion. Am I getting enough protein from one serving of protein powder? Well, a smoothie crash can come from a few things. So I would start by becoming label detective first. Look at both the rice protein powder and the soy milk. Are there maybe some added sugars, uh rice syrup, maltodextrin, any gums, any oils or sweeteners or fillers? Rice protein can be fine for some people, but it also can be less satisfying and sometimes less balanced for blood sugar than a more complete protein blend. For your digestion, a simpler ingredient list is usually better. If you prefer plant-based protein, you may want to try a pea and rice blend, a soy isolate, or another powder that provides a meaningful amount of protein per serving and is easier on your stomach. Plant proteins, you may need a larger serving of those when you eat them, or blend with added leucine to support with muscle protein synthesis as effectively as animal-based proteins like whey or beef. I like making smoothies more like a meal. And I like to add chia seeds, hemp hearts, ground flax, a nut or seed butter, or uh unsweetened coconut, even better, to put some toppings on it that you can chew, like hemp seeds, chopped walnuts, not for me though, pumpkin seeds, or any kind of crunchy bits, because slowing slows the experience down and helps your body register the meal more fully. Finally, look at the total protein. One scoop may only provide you 15 to 20 grams. For a post-workout meal or breakfast, you may need more extra protein powder, tofu, Greek yogurt if tolerated, or maybe some eggs or egg whites on the side. Your protein needs are bigger in midlife because we are supporting bone, muscle, metabolism, and recovery, not just trying to hit a number. And we need to answer a question about anabolic resistance. What the heck is that? Well, anabolic resistance is one of the most important concepts for women in midlife and beyond. Anabolic simply means building, building muscle, repairing tissue, and maintaining bone-supporting strength. As we age, especially after menopause, the body can become less responsive to the muscle building signals from protein and resistance training. In other words, the same small amount of protein that may have supported your muscle in your 30s, it might not be creating that same response in your 50s and 60s and beyond. And this is why I talk so much about protein as a metabolic anchor. We often need a larger protein dose per meal, enough of the amino acid leucine, and regular strength training to give the body a stronger build and repair message. For many women, a practical starting place is roughly 25 to 40 grams of high-quality protein at meals, depending on your body size, your appetite, your training, your medical needs, and total daily protein target. Older adults may need around three to four grams of leucine per meal to maximally stimulate muscle protein synthesis, which corresponds to approximately 25 to 30 grams of a high-quality protein source. This is not about obsessing or force-feeding yourself chicken breast. It is about strategically eating enough protein, lifting something heavy, recovering well, and giving your body the raw materials to stay strong. Muscle is your metabolic currency in midlife. It supports blood sugar balance, independence, bone health, and the ability to keep doing the things you love. I hope that this cleared up some of the noise online. And remember, nutrition does not have to be perfect to be powerful. Enjoy your food and prioritize protein, support your bones, fuel your workouts, and get enough recovery without sitting on the couch hours at a time. And don't let fear of one ingredient distract you from the bigger patterns that move the needle. And as always, if you have osteopenia or osteoporosis, digestive conditions, medication questions, or a complex health history, personalize these ideas with your physician, pharmacist, qualified practitioner, or sit up a call with me and I'll put that link in the show notes. I'll see you next time in the Slow Kitchen.