The wellness trends flooding social media - cold plunges, intermittent fasting, extreme workouts - may carry hidden risks for women, according to fitness and nutrition expert Jody Trierweiler. “Women and men are not the same, as we’ve learned, right?” Trierweiler said during an appearance on Live in the D, noting that most health research has historically been conducted on male subjects, leaving women with incomplete guidance. She said the science is now catching up, with findings that reveal sharp biological differences in how women respond to popular health interventions.
Cold plunges are among the biggest concerns. While men can tolerate extreme cold exposure with few ill effects, Trierweiler said the practice is far more taxing on the female body. “Men can do this without problems,” she said. “Women’s bodies start to go into absolute panic.” She recommended women who want cold therapy keep water temperatures between 55 and 60 degrees - significantly warmer than the near-freezing temperatures many men use - and suggested the hot sauna as a more beneficial alternative for women, citing its ability to reduce glucose, lower insulin and ease hot flashes.
Intermittent fasting and morning caffeine also carry gender-specific caveats, Trierweiler said. Skipping breakfast, a cornerstone of many fasting regimens, can backfire for women because “when a woman wakes up and skips breakfast, your body now thinks you’re starving,” with hormones - including cortisol - already surging. She advised women to eat “within an hour of waking.” On the caffeine front, she warned that hormonal changes in a woman’s 40s alter how the body processes coffee. “When a woman hits her 40s, estrogen changes the way you break down caffeine,” she said, adding that many women in perimenopause report that “women will say when they hit their 40s, like perimenopause, I’m feeling jittery and anxious and they never used to feel like that from the same exact coffee.”