Dr. Amy Shah On Hormones, Cortisol & Why You’re So Tired

We're always been told to get smaller and all of our diets are based on that.

What about a diet that's teaching you to get stronger, that's helping you move into your power as you get older?

Dr. Amy Sha is a double board certified medical doctor. She's a nutrition

medical doctor. She's a nutrition specialist and a New York Times bestselling author. Her newest book,

bestselling author. Her newest book, Hormone Havoc, reveals the root cause of hormone issues and practical ways to bring them back into balance. When our

hormones are off, it literally changes our entire day, our mood, the way we feel. And it's so underststudied. 1993,

feel. And it's so underststudied. 1993,

which is not too long ago, was the first time that the NAH actually mandated that we include women in studies.

No way.

Yeah. And so every single study on every medication on every condition is on men.

I'm Radhi Dluka and on my podcast, A Really Good Cry, we embrace the real, the messy, and the beautiful, providing a space for raw, unfiltered conversations that celebrate vulnerability and allow you to tune in

to learn, connect, and find comfort together. Amy, thank you so much for

together. Amy, thank you so much for being here.

Thank you for having me.

I'm so excited. I love Well, you've had two bestselling books, which is incredible, but this book was absolutely incredible, and I think it is so needed in the world of health for women. And I

think every woman is so confused especially about this topic of hormones and I really appreciated how simple you made it.

Oh, I appreciate that. Thank you.

I want to start off by asking what took you from obviously writing books about uh your book so effing hungry and I'm so effing tired to writing a book about hormones. Why did you feel that was so

hormones. Why did you feel that was so important right now? Oh, or hormones.

Radi hormones are run so much of our body, you know, like when our hormones are off or we're right before our period, it literally changes our entire day, our mood, the way we feel. And it's

so underststudied.

Yeah.

1993, which is not too long ago, was the first time that the NH actually mandated that we include women in studies.

No way.

Yeah. And so every single study on every medication on every condition is on men.

And I felt like what I was noticing after the pandemic is I started to really share more on social media.

Yeah.

And where I saw the whole where I felt like the energy that I was needed was around women's health and nutrition because

it's like both underserved and confused.

And so I think I kept saying like, "Oh, there's like so much interest whenever I post about nutrition for hormones or how our hormones affect us." And so I decided that that was the angle I was going to take this time.

Yeah. And I think it's even more confusing for people now because of social media where you can you hear so many opposing views, so many opposing

diets, so many opposing um trends that we should be doing this and then the next week you're told that you shouldn't be doing it. What do you from all the work that you've seen and all the research you've done? What do you think

at the moment is like the biggest lie that women are being told about their hormones?

Oh gosh, there's so many.

Really? Okay, give me a few.

Give us all the tea.

First of all, there's no one supplement or thing like magic trick that can balance your hormones. I think that's number one. And I think we're all

number one. And I think we're all looking for that magic pill. Um, that's

why I talk about my podcast is called Save Yourself because at some point you learn that there's not a pill or a person or a thing that's going to save you, right? Because we're all suff

you, right? Because we're all suff suffering with hormone issues and so many of us are looking for solutions. To

say that there's a one-stop solution or there's a one-step thing that you can take to make it go away is just not true. Even even hormone therapy, like I

true. Even even hormone therapy, like I talk a lot about women in pmenopause and menopause and they're all like, "Oh, well, just start hormone therapy." But

just like birth control, just like supplements, just like pills, it's not like you just take one thing and then everything gets better.

So that's one of the biggest ones.

And I feel like your podcast calling saving yourself. I feel like you also

saving yourself. I feel like you also have to believe that you can help yourself. That's so like that's such a

yourself. That's so like that's such a big part of especially for women and women's intuition and how intuitive you are with your body and how uh you have to tune into your body so much. It's

like you also have to have this belief that actually even though I'm being told that everybody else can fix me, I do have a belief that I know how to fix my body and I can understand my body better

than than maybe somebody else can, right? That you're your best healer.

right? That you're your best healer.

Um, and one of the things I always think about is like as a doctor, lots of people will say like, "What should I do?

What should I" And I always think like my goal is to help you find your own gifts. So like you know the whole goal

gifts. So like you know the whole goal for the book for example I want you to read the book and then go find your gifts you know that would be the goal cuz it's not about telling you what to do.

Yeah. Yeah. Because everyone's so individual.

Yeah.

What are some things that women are being told are normal in their body but is actually not that normal.

So one of the things is that there's really no good test for hormones. So no

matter what people tell you, no matter what they try to sell you there right now in 2026, we still don't have a great hormone test. And so a lot of times

hormone test. And so a lot of times women will go in with hormonal complaints and doctors will say everything looks normal.

Yes. My friends get told that all the time and they're like but I'm tired all the time. But

the time. But yes, that's why because we don't really have an answer yet for hormone imbalance. We

don't have a test. So how you know we can't know that.

So all these tests that they get done.

So, let's say you go on for go in to the doctors and get a hormone panel done where they give you your estrogen, your testosterone, your you know, whatever that your all the all the markers that they um recommend.

Yeah.

Are you saying that the the parameters aren't quite right or are you saying that generally how they're testing it is actually just can be completely inaccurate for your body?

That's a great question. So, our

hormones go on a kind of roller coaster through the month, right? So the level that's normal is like between 20 and 200.

And so say for you this is abnormal but the range it's like it's not going to come up. So what happens is everybody

come up. So what happens is everybody gets these tests and you don't end up finding anything. It's because we don't

finding anything. It's because we don't have the ability to really know what your normal um synchrony is and how off you are from that. And so it ends up just being like okay it looks normal or

it's within range.

Yeah. Two to 200. You're right. There's

such a huge gap in the ranges and you might be someone who like if it was like way off and there's something very wrong like you know obviously zero or like you know yes you'll find it but

most people are in the ranges of the normal and so that's I think why hormone imbalance is so confusing cuz doctors for so many years were just like oh you're fine you're just

you're just you know working really hard you're just getting older that's it.

Would you recommend that a woman so that they're able to test against themselves?

Like let's say you can't have a range that's normal, but to have an idea of your own body, would you recommend women get tested or they get their hormones tested every year to see if there's shifts and changes or is that still not

going to be as accurate?

Okay, so here's the thing. When a woman has like say you are feeling tired and something's off, I definitely do want you to get your labs done.

There's so many other things it could be. It could be your B12. It's low. Iron

be. It could be your B12. It's low. Iron

deficiency is so common. Up to 40% of women that are menstruating can have iron deficiency. And so like there's so

iron deficiency. And so like there's so many things that we should vitamin D.

80% of women like going through this pmenopause journey are vitamin D deficient. So there's so many things

deficient. So there's so many things that you should be checking for, but you know, we don't really know. Yes, you

should definitely check your hormones at some level to make sure they're not completely way too high or way too low.

But pmenopause for example is one thing that you don't need labs to actually diagnose.

Right. Okay. So uh hold that thought for a second. So I want to come back to

a second. So I want to come back to pmenopause. What are some symptoms that

pmenopause. What are some symptoms that women shouldn't be ignoring? Like if

they're feeling certain things are there like three or four things that you're noticing people are getting regularly that they shouldn't actually be be feeling on is normal.

Okay. Number one,

period cramps that are so bad that you miss work or that you can't get out of bed. So, we

I'm sure you know too, and I know too, when we were growing up, there's lots of friends or people or even ourselves that would have period cramps so bad that they were disabling. And I think women

don't realize that that could be a sign of endometriosis or other problems. And it's because our medical system doesn't know enough. So you could go to the

know enough. So you could go to the doctor and be like, "My period cramps are really bad." And they're like, "Oh yeah, so everybody else is."

Yeah. Take a paracetamol. You're good.

Yeah.

You wouldn't even know that that was abnormal, right? Like that's not normal.

abnormal, right? Like that's not normal.

And then the other thing that's not normal is like our cycle is actually like a vital sign.

And so if you're someone who is exercising so hard or working so hard or so thin that you're not getting a period every month, um that's a sign that something is off.

like that is not something to be ignored.

It's really difficult when you're not having your period to have any symptoms or signs sometimes because that is such a beautiful signal that your body gives you of whether your female health is

doing okay or whether there's something to check and then when that's missed it's almost like your body is missing a whole system that gives you those signals.

It's like dulled. So like our um our hormones are going up and down like waves and when you're on like say oral contraceptives it's adults the it's more

even um through the month and so you're not getting the ups and downs but then you're also not getting like you said like the signs that you need um sometimes to actually make intuitive decisions. When I um was younger, I used

decisions. When I um was younger, I used to get really bad period pain. And then

when I started learning more about nutrition and I studied Ayurveda, the changes that I made in my body, I could tell a healthier lifestyle completely shifted

my whole period. Like now, Dr. Wood, I don't even like, you know, I can continue on my normal day. Like I know I'm on my period and I might be a bit sad and I'll cry the day before, but but I don't it doesn't um disable me. Like

it doesn't make me feel like I can't do things in my day. Uh, but that is very normalized.

It's very normalized and people just don't know enough about women to be be say like, "Hey, that's actually not normal. You need to go get checked out.

normal. You need to go get checked out.

Like get an ultrasound, get some testing done. Like is there something else going

done. Like is there something else going on?" I mean, that's so sad, right? Like

on?" I mean, that's so sad, right? Like

women will wait like 10 years before they ever get diagnosed.

Totally. Yeah. Because they're told it's just part and parcel of being a woman.

Yeah.

Where do you think hormone disruption starts? Like if you had to is there a

starts? Like if you had to is there a pinpoint time that you're noticing that when people start doing this or is there a specific age that you're seeing hormones start hormones start changing significantly? Can you pinpoint

significantly? Can you pinpoint where it all kind of begins?

Oh, it's so fun being a woman. Okay, so

there is there's the big hormonal shift of puberty and so you know as you know some people go through puberty it's like easy breezy and others have like all kinds of things their mood swings and

acne and hair like all kinds of things right. So similarly pregnancy and

right. So similarly pregnancy and pmenopause are all times where your hormones are in shift and um and things are changing and

it's very individual you know uh but there are some things that um we should know about it like I think that women know all about periods because not all about they still don't know enough but

we get at least a little bit of coaching on it and even with pregnancy there's a little bit of coaching but with pmenopause there's no coaching. It's

literally the most overlooked area in all of medicine, not just women's health.

So, that's really, really sad.

Are there any specific tips? You

mentioned pregnancy for women that they should be aware of for when they are trying to get pregnant or during pregnancy or things that they should be doing to prevent too much hormone disruption.

Well, I think what you said, well, I hit the nail on the head. I think the reason why my book and my work is all about nutrition is that I honestly think that if you shift your nutrition and even

your healthy practices, your lifestyle, you can really optimize yourself for fertility but also for pmenopause.

Yeah. And what about uh with pmenopause?

Is there anything specific you I would love to hear the research that you've done and what you find has really helped people with the symptoms or the delaying the onset of of permenopause.

Um healthy lifestyle. Okay. So if people who smoke or are generally eating very unhealthy tend to have worse symptoms. So our gut and our hormones are like

intimately intertwined. And so when you

intimately intertwined. And so when you improve your gut health, you will improve your hormone health. So, one of the biggest things I tell women is as they start to move into that territory,

and we can talk about like what what age and what signs there is, as you start to move into that territory or even a little bit before that, start working on your gut. Start to get it into better

your gut. Start to get it into better place because you're going to have less symptoms and maybe even reverse the first symptoms that you have.

Um, are there specific foods or um habits that you recommend for that?

Yeah. So, um I have a dietary framework that I talk a lot about in the book.

It's called 3033.

So, you can be vegan, you can be carnivore, you can be paleo, you can be it's not about a diet. It's not about buying any special stuff. It's about

getting 30 g of protein in your first meal.

Mhm.

30 g of fiber throughout the day and three servings of probiotic foods every day.

Okay.

All of those are sciencebacked. There's

thousands of studies on each of those parameters. And the reason why I thought

parameters. And the reason why I thought is like we're so busy. We don't have time to be on restrictive diets. We're

always been told to get smaller and all of our diets are based on that. What

about a diet that's teaching you to get stronger? That's helping you move into

stronger? That's helping you move into your power as you get older. That's

actually nourish your body.

Yeah, exactly. I have a question about women women who obviously work really hard. You mentioned stress. Now, there's

hard. You mentioned stress. Now, there's

so so much online that talks about how overachieving women and women who are high achievers, they tend to have kind of more hormone issues. Is that something you're seeing?

issues. Is that something you're seeing?

And 100%.

What do you think that's because of cortisol? Okay. So,

cortisol? Okay. So,

almost everyone that I work with as my patients now, when we're talking about like women's health, it's like really high achieving women who can't seem to get control over their

stress. So they start to eat better,

stress. So they start to eat better, maybe they start to even, you know, take exercise better.

But that piece of the cortisol and the nervous system being so activated because we're asked to do so many things as women. Not only are we asked to um,

as women. Not only are we asked to um, you know, work and do amazing things in this world, but then we're also asked to like often be mothers or often be caretakers for our family. Often we're

told to look a certain way, dress a certain way, be a certain way. there's a

lot of pressure and then you're like trying to have a social life and then you're trying, you know, it's a lot. A

lot of women are having trouble kind of managing that um nervous system and the cortisol levels. And so that's something

cortisol levels. And so that's something I see a lot in high achieving women.

Okay, so let's talk about cortisol a little bit more cuz I'm sure many people listening to this, they're like, "Oh god, I've got high cortisol. I don't

know what to do."

Um foods that can help to reduce cortisol levels. Okay. So, when just to

cortisol levels. Okay. So, when just to move back uh step back a little bit, when you wake up in the morning, that's when your cortisol is highest and that's a good thing. It wakes you up. That's

actually what wakes you up. Makes you

feel energized. Okay? Cortisol is um like very tightly linked to adrenaline.

So, you feel energized. You want your cortisol to be high. People have low cortisol in the morning. They feel

tired. They feel listless. Like, you

don't want that. Okay?

So, you want it to be high and then you want it to come down. And then by the end of the evening, you want it to be at its lowest so that you can fall asleep and have a restful night's sleep. What

happens to most women, not most, many women, especially high achieving women, is that that evening time is when you're checking emails, it's when you're out and about, you're getting blue light, you're getting stimulated, you're in a fight, you're, you know, like having all

this stuff happening, and then you're trying to tell your body, "Okay, go to bed. Go to bed."

bed. Go to bed."

Yeah. And it's like, no. So, and maybe you've had a lot of caffeine. So, that's

the number one thing like late in the day. So, not only is your lifestyle so

day. So, not only is your lifestyle so crazy, but now you have something in your body that's actually keeping you up and keeping your cortisol levels up. So,

you definitely want to move the coffee up. I'm a big coffee fan and tea fan,

up. I'm a big coffee fan and tea fan, but I want you to have like 10 hours before bed because it kind of delays.

And then the other um thing that people are often doing is we're not getting enough sunlight. M

enough sunlight. M and sunlight is a really good um way that our eyes send a message to our brains and our hormones of what they should be doing.

So if you didn't get sunlight early in the day, at the end of the day, the body doesn't know that it's time to unwind and um be stressed. And then one big thing I think people nutrition-wise the

biggest mistake I think people make is that they eat a super late dinner like big huge dinner late at night. And you

believe in Ayurveda and everybody knows that thousands of years ago we didn't have Uber Eats and like we couldn't have like a four course huge meal at midnight like it was not

possible. Our bodies are designed to be

possible. Our bodies are designed to be in repair mode when you are going to bed. And so if you delay that, your

bed. And so if you delay that, your cortisol levels are going to be messed up. Your sleep will be messed up. Your

up. Your sleep will be messed up. Your

insulin levels will also be affected.

Okay. So let's go through a typical day of a cortisol balancing life. Like if we were living cortisol balanced life, I wake up in the morning. What's the first thing I do?

You're going to get sunlight.

Okay. I'm going to go outside. I'm

And even if it's cloudy day, like today is a cloudy day here. It doesn't matter.

The light outside is still at least 10 to 100 times brighter than inside. And

if you are in a place, because I know we're in the middle of winter, um you are in a place that absolutely there's no light and you've lived in London and so you know, you can get a sun lamp um a

happy light like from Amazon actually or any store where um it mimics um the sun.

No way.

Yeah. And you can put it on your desk or when you're getting ready 10 to 15 minutes and it's different to the lights that we have in our homes.

Yes. It's a um special lamp that has 10,000 lux of light. So, it's kind of mimicking kind of a sunlight and you want to keep it close um like 10 to 12 inches from your face. They actually use

that in schools in many countries where there's very little daylight like in the northern hemisphere to kind of let the children play around with the sun lamps.

It's really great for mood and energy.

Um so yeah, start with that.

Okay, so we start with that and then am I working out or am I eating before I work out? Okay. So, that I'm going to

work out? Okay. So, that I'm going to actually be uh very woman forward in this case. I don't think there's a rule

this case. I don't think there's a rule on that.

Okay.

So, I love 30 g of protein in the morning, but you know, and I know there are some days I want to just go for a quick walk or yoga and I'm okay. I don't

need um so maybe I'm going to have my 30 g right after I out. But if I'm going to do like usually if you're doing something competitive high intensity where you're measuring your strength or your like you know time that's the time

that you want to get your food before it.

And why is that? Because obviously

there's so much to do with intermittent fasting out there where you have such a large break between when you eat your dinner and then when you have your breakfast and then the idea that if you're eating before your workout, am I

really getting a good workout in? Am I

burning as much as I should be? And so

what is the the weigh up of that? What's

the benefit of eating before a really strenuous workout? Um, and what can

strenuous workout? Um, and what can happen if for long periods you don't?

So, for women, we're very cortisol sensitive and long periods of fasting and heavy exercise without eating can be very stressful to our bodies. And so,

it's a very female thing. And there's a lot of people who will argue either way.

What I realize is that um 30 grams of protein in the morning is really really beneficial to women, but it's okay if you like for a lot of us, we're not doing a strenuous like timed um

competitive workout. But for those

competitive workout. But for those people, there's people out there who like women need to eat as soon as they get up cuz their cortisol levels will be imbalanced. And that is true that women

imbalanced. And that is true that women tend to be a little more stress sensitive. And so we don't do well with

sensitive. And so we don't do well with those long long fasts and we don't do well with very strenuous exercise without breaks or without food. And so

getting yourself kind of really tuning into yourself and going back to Ayurveda, I think like probably you know that we are supposed to naturally take

breaks from food, right? We're not

supposed to be eating all the time. Like

in America, they've had people like measure like literally when they put their fast food in their mouth and when they wake up and have the first and it's like less than 8 hours. Like maybe 6 7 8

hours that they're taking a break. Like

all of us should be taking a 12-hour break.

Like you know that's like something I think intermittent fasting has gotten to be labeled bad, but you should be doing some kind of intermittent fasting. I

mean it's I would call it circadian fasting cuz it's like based on the sun and the dark cycle. Um, so if you've gotten your 12-h hour fast and you feel like eating, go for it. If you feel like

going for a 13, 14 hours, great. But

most women don't do well with super super long fast. There are some people here and there that can do it, but it's not. It's very different than men. Men

not. It's very different than men. Men

can often fast all the way till dinner and be fine.

Yeah. So, we're going to have a little snack, at least if we're doing a strenuous workout, ideally a protein snack, and then I'm doing my workout.

And then is there anything midday or any little tips that you could give women during the day that they should be incorporating? Yes.

incorporating? Yes.

Into their life.

So for example, if you are someone who um does a strenuous workout, you shouldn't do it every day. So I used to go to those classes. I think everybody knows about these classes where it's like Yeah. Like a hit workout. And I

like Yeah. Like a hit workout. And I

would do it every day and I would not get enough sleep and I would have a stressful day and then I would um and I wasn't getting the results. And so you definitely if you're someone who's

wanting a cortisol reset um try swapping it out with yoga, try swapping it out with a sunny walk. So you really want to get a lot of so the if you're trying to reset your cortisol on a perfect day,

you're going to get at least 1 hour of nature time that day. So whether it's a walk where it's u or split up um through the day. So, in the middle of the

the day. So, in the middle of the afternoon, you might go for a walk. You

might um do some meditation, some mindfulness, get your, you know, body.

Usually, we all have the circadian lull around 300 p.m. And that's why around the world, people usually take naps, but here in the US, you might want to do meditation or you might want to go for a

nature walk. Yeah, that's so true.

nature walk. Yeah, that's so true.

Usually around 3:00 is when I need to jump on the treadmill with my laptop and work while I'm walking because I can feel my energy levels dipping and I need a little bit of a boost.

Exactly. That's that's natural for everyone and so h using that to maybe your advantage is um a good idea and then the real cortisol um manage it management needs to start in the evening

time.

Okay. Yeah. Tell us about that.

Okay. So in the evening time you 3 hours 2 to 3 hours before bed you don't want to do a heavy workout.

You don't want to have the animated conversation with your husband or your family members.

Well save the fights for tomorrow.

Yeah. Save the fights for the next morning. And you know, if you have a

morning. And you know, if you have a fight or like even if it's something exciting, right? Exciting,

exciting, right? Exciting, energizing, the email that's like, "Oh [ __ ] I forgot to do something."

All that if it comes right before bed, that's it. Your cortisol levels are

that's it. Your cortisol levels are through the roof, right? So, you want to kind of cut that out. You want um we talked about caffeine, alcohol, no alcohol at night.

Um alcohol at night is a sleep killer.

And so, that's something that a lot of people are doing. And then they're getting a lot of blue light in the evening. People are getting like all

evening. People are getting like all kinds of bright. They're going to Target at like 10 o'clock at night and getting like all that midnight stroll.

Yeah. And it's so it's disrupting your sleep. And like I'm talking about like

sleep. And like I'm talking about like you know like I said high achieving women you know you're doing all these things and then like at night you're still up and about and you know being really active but really 2 to three

hours before bed you want to use that time to really wind your body down and have some maybe you read a book at that time. Maybe you turn off all the bright

time. Maybe you turn off all the bright lights and maybe you just use a red light you know or um and not Yeah.

Yeah. I'm such a uh my my team always gets mad at me because well certain people because they don't they when it hits about 4:00 at the moment it gets dark and I really don't like artificial light.

Yes. And um it's so funny because always battling between I'm like no it's not dark enough yet. We don't need any lights on. I really struggle with

lights on. I really struggle with artificial light and the way that it affects my sleep as well. And so I usually try and keep all the lights really dim, put some candles on. Um I

love that it makes such a difference to my sleep.

That's part of cortisol reset is really not having so much exposure. So when I talk about cortisol reset, we're talking about this. It's kind of like if you go

about this. It's kind of like if you go to India or you go on a retreat to like on a um you know something to reset your mind or body that's you're already doing that naturally. It's just that here we'd

that naturally. It's just that here we'd have to like reprogram our lives to fit in maybe a couple of days where we can like reset cortisol and then go, you

know, then we're feeling better. M I've

started to read at night and I find it so interesting because if I'm watching something I can stay awake for hours as soon as I sit on the sofa even if it's 7:00 and I start reading a book I'm

ready to go to bed within like half an hour and it just shows that actually our natural body and our natural instinct is so ready to sleep when the as soon as the sun goes down our body's preparing

for sleep but these different lights and these different stimulations they actually make us stay awake longer than our body even wants to.

So, there's this amazing researcher on that point. There's this amazing

that point. There's this amazing research group in San Diego and he wanted to prove a point about stiradian rhythms. And so, all these people in his lab were saying that they're night owls and all this. So, he took them all on a

camping trip where they were in this cave where it was like pitch black after sun sundown.

And he was like, "Okay, you know, let's see." and all he's like pretty much

see." and all he's like pretty much every single human is just wired in a way that we are within one hour or so of each other. So yes, there are people who

each other. So yes, there are people who tend to fall asleep a little bit later, but it's not like okay, every there's half the people are night owls and half the people we are we are sun and dark

sensitive and so people we are supposed to wake up when it's light and being dark when it's night. And one one thing he show told me that was so transformative to me. He's like, "You

can't switch that. No matter what you do, there's people who work night shifts for years, but it's like their bodies are still on dayight cycle. So it's not like you can change that."

So all those night owls fell asleep by like 8:00 p.m. when they went in the woods.

When they they were out in the cave, all the people that said that they are naturally night owls and they could never sleep.

They all fell asleep. Um, it also reminded me of uh what you were saying about no exciting conversations or anything. Like my husband is always

anything. Like my husband is always wanting to talk when we get into bed.

And I'm like, it is literally it's bedtime and I am as soon as I'm awake in the morning, I'm ready to go. I want to have every conversation. I'm like, "What about this? What about this?" The

about this? What about this?" The

schedule um and all these exciting. He's

like, "I've just woken up." And so it's so funny because for me, I'm as soon as I'm getting to bed, I'm like, "This is bedtime and I'm ready to knock out."

He's like, "So, what do you think about this? Did you know I did that?" I was

this? Did you know I did that?" I was like, "M yeah, okay." Okay. And then I'm like, "It's bedtime now."

And did you know, you can use this as um that women need more sleep than men.

Oh, really?

Yeah. I don't know if you see that in your own personal life, but women I generally need less sleep in terms of my body clock just wakes me up in the morning and I'm good. But um but yeah, I can budget.

We need more recovery. Meaning like

women tend to need some like um recovery from I Yes. I need recovery from people a

I Yes. I need recovery from people a lot.

people, events, like and exercise like women are not small men. We can't just do everything they do. Um, and it's a great thing. We have amazing abilities,

great thing. We have amazing abilities, you know, as women, but we can't, we have more, our bodies need more recovery from cortisol and nervous system. That's

why when we try to work these same 9 toive jobs, a corporate setting, that's why our cortisol tends to get um in disarray. Yeah, I notic that a lot with

disarray. Yeah, I notic that a lot with JJ can do events four nights a week.

Like he has been this week. He's had an event every single night. If I go to an event one night, I need two to three days to not have an event. Otherwise, I

feel like I'm burnt out socially. And so, but he's just got so

socially. And so, but he's just got so much social energy and I think it's part of his personality, but I also think it's uh the ability to recuperate quite fast and um not get as affected, I

guess.

Yeah. And I think I think we um tend to not give ourselves the recovery and that's how people get burned out. So for

example, if you are someone who needs that recovery, say you did do the four nights, you say you went with him all four nights and then the way you feel at the end is just not serving you. You

needed that recovery.

Yeah. And then sit in a dark room for the weekend and just hibernate.

Yeah. And then you just get burned out and feel And I think it's changed. It

also for me it's changed as I get older.

Like I think when I was younger, I could just go when it comes to social. And

then I think as I got older, like now I'm like, is it cuz I'm more into health or is it cuz I'm getting older? Because

I'll I'll be like, I just need a walk. I

just need to go outside. I just need to be in nature and like have a good night's sleep and then I can like reset for the next Exactly. Do you think there's an age

Exactly. Do you think there's an age window um that you've seen that women can reverse or recover faster with hormone imbalances? like is there a

hormone imbalances? like is there a ideal window that people should really start thinking about their hormone health?

Okay, the magic window honestly is like 35 to 45 is like the window where you get to your peak muscle mass about at

age 30 and you also get to kind of like the peak hormones um around 2530. So

like after when you're in that window of 35 to 45, it's time where you can preserve kind of your muscle mass and your bone and your hormones um in a

window. And if you did nothing for those

window. And if you did nothing for those 10 years, there's a lot of catchup that you'll have to do at 45 um to kind of go back in time and get your hormones in check. And with that you mean diet,

check. And with that you mean diet, lifestyle, like is there anything specific within that age range um that you've seen people do that has really helped them?

The number one thing I think that you need to change is diet but also exercise. So and lifestyle. So from 35

exercise. So and lifestyle. So from 35 to 45 is like okay now my muscles are not just building themselves and our bone is not just building itself like it

used to. So you want to take action on

used to. So you want to take action on um doing things to stimulate the muscles to stimulate the bone and same thing with our gut. So our gut as our hormones

start to change um starts to have less bacteria and is able to less d you know help with hormones and mood and all that stuff. So you need to support that gut.

stuff. So you need to support that gut.

So if 25 to 30 or 35 to 45 you start to eat better, you start to manage those circadian rhythms better, you start to really take care of the gut bacteria, you're going to be in a much better

place 45 onwards.

And the place to start is the 30 33 three. Okay, great.

three. Okay, great.

30 33 is something that you can start.

And then um the things you can do is like you know if you haven't weight trained ever in your life, you want to start doing things going push and pull things to stimulate your

muscles and bones. Um you want to start to get more nature if you haven't been really managing like we said we're not if you're not managing your circadian rhythms or your sleep you want to start doing that because that's your critical

window that you can really change your entire trajectory of your health.

Wow. Now you talked about uh the gut already and in your book you talk about the estrobolum. Did I say it right?

the estrobolum. Did I say it right?

Estrobum.

Estrobalom. Um and how the gut impacts our hormones. So um I know you mentioned

our hormones. So um I know you mentioned having probiotic foods but are there any other foods that you recommend to really boost that gut being strong. Yeah.

Exactly.

The gut bacteria their food is fiber. So

radi 95% of Americans don't eat enough fiber because we don't really talk about it. if you're trying to fix your

it. if you're trying to fix your hormones. Nobody's like, "Oh, eat more

hormones. Nobody's like, "Oh, eat more fiber." It's like it doesn't even

fiber." It's like it doesn't even connect in our culture, but it's actually very important. So, 95% of people don't get enough. Um, and we know

that for a typical American, they get about 12 g. And if you added just 5 g of fiber to their diet, you would extend their life by 7 to 10%.

Wow. What's an easy way to get fiber into your diet?

Okay. things that you wouldn't even think had fiber. Avocados.

Oh, love an avocado.

Blueberries um and raspberries are really high in fiber, which they don't seem fiber rich foods. Um chia seeds.

Um one tablespoon of chia seeds is uh five grams of fiber. So that whole thing about eating five more grams of fiber is something that you can just get with one

tablespoon. Um so those are like super

tablespoon. Um so those are like super super easy things of flax seeds as well.

Um, so fiber is not just um, you know, a supplement or something. It's in so many foods like pears actually, surprisingly have a ton of fiber. Kiwi fruit with the skin on.

Oh, yeah. I know. I still haven't gotten into that.

Yeah, it has.

I don't think I could bring myself to eat that skin. The furiness just gets me.

But you can get the sunold that doesn't have the fur. So I You know what I did?

This is your trick. Okay. when you're

flying and like desperate for like fruit, um, put it in your bag. And mine

are were like a little bit firm. So, by

the time I was like starving, I just needed something fresh.

Um, it was like And you're in a plain.

So, you could cut it and make it smaller pieces, but it's just so easy to eat like an apple. Yeah.

Um, for anybody, I know I mentioned the estro estro can't estroone. Will you

just um explain to people what that is because I forgot to ask that. So most

people uh all people have bacteria in their gut. They have trillions of

their gut. They have trillions of bacteria. I mean it's like weird to

bacteria. I mean it's like weird to imagine like there's like an entire ecosystem that lives inside of us. And they're

helping make decisions. They're helping

make decisions every single day about our immune system, what mood we want to be in, how full we are, and how um how much estrogen uh we should recirculate

or take out of the body. And so what the estrobolom does is specifically for women, it actually 40% of the estrogen in our body can get recirculated from

those bacteria. They will decide the

those bacteria. They will decide the bacteria decide how much you need or how much you need to get rid of. And so it's really important for us to nourish those bacteria because they're like our little

soldiers in our body and we are killing them just without even knowing. We're

not we're starving them to death and then we're killing them with antibiotics and being so clean. Um, and

we are not playing outside in nature enough and to get natural bacteria.

We're not eating enough fermented foods.

And so it's really sad.

Fermented foods, veggies, and fruit.

Yes.

So it like sounds so simple, doesn't it?

But for some reason, we make it so complicated.

I know. And fermented foods is so interesting. When I was doing research

interesting. When I was doing research for this book, I understood that every single culture in the world, every single used fermented foods because fermentation was the only way

you could preserve things before refrigerators and um modern processing.

And so the real way to eat foods is is having some fermented foods. But we

completely lost that in our modern culture.

Also, it tastes so good with your food.

I love having like a pickled sauerkraut or they just it adds so much to your meal as well. It adds like a flavor that you don't usually get in your food.

That's actually true. And you know, one of the things I um learned also in this um when I was doing research for this book is that things like sourdough Mhm.

and like Indian um like idli or dosa batter um even though you're cooking it, even though the bacteria are dead, you know, with sourdough and same with dosa or idli,

those bacteria that are dead the from that fermented flour are still really beneficial to your gut. like they um have a lot of effects on they're called

postbiotics. So postbiotics are super

postbiotics. So postbiotics are super healthy too. And so sourdough or

healthy too. And so sourdough or fermented dough foods are actually really great for our health.

Oh, that's so good to know. Um apart

from periods, I know you touched on when we're talking about symptoms of hormone disruption. Apart from periods, let's

disruption. Apart from periods, let's say someone has a regular period. Are

there any other symptoms that uh women might be feeling on a daily basis that could indicate that they've got hormone imbalance?

Well, the number one symptom is fatigue.

Okay. Uh, and fatigue, it's so hard because fatigue, that's why it's so hard to diagnose and that's why um women are so underserved in this world is because

fatigue is just brushed off like, "Oh, you're tired. You must be lazy,

you're tired. You must be lazy, right?"

right?" You know, like, and okay, the I have to tell you this crazy story. So, they

found out that women that are having heart attacks, heart attacks, okay, life-threatening heart attacks, often present with just fatigue. and they're

not having the crushing chest pain to the arm because all that studies they were done on men, right? Those studies

were on men and the men had crushing heart pain on the left radiating to the left arm. Women often have weird

left arm. Women often have weird symptoms when they're having a heart attack, like they feel um nauseous or maybe they feel tired or just like off and they were being sent home

because you know when women say they're tired, people are like, "Oh, that can't be serious." Like that's just like and

be serious." Like that's just like and 50% worse outcomes in women with heart attacks because a lot of these symptoms are different in women. So fatigue can be anything from you didn't have a good

night's sleep to a heart attack, right? I actually is it is my prime way

right? I actually is it is my prime way of knowing whether there's something going on. Of course, if you're like a

going on. Of course, if you're like a new mom or something, that's just expected. But in times where you're not

expected. But in times where you're not expecting it, like if I don't wake up, um I usually wake up without an alarm.

But if I'm noticing that my I'm going to bed at the same time, but waking up later and later, I'm like, "Okay, I need to get my iron checked. Need to get my B12 checked. Need to get my hormones

B12 checked. Need to get my hormones checked." It is actually my prime

checked." It is actually my prime indicator to know that something isn't right. either I'm burning myself out or

right. either I'm burning myself out or something biologically is going wrong because if especially if you're used to being quite regular and quite rhythmic in your body, you really notice a

difference.

I think that's absolutely the best case scenario is that you know yourself so well that you would know that something was off. So when you do feel fatigue

was off. So when you do feel fatigue that you can see but most people or many people they're just tired or they don't know their schedule's so irregular that they don't even know they're not in tune. So

I think that being in tune would be the ideal situation but fatigue is unfortunately one of the biggest signs of um hormone imbalance and it's unfortunate because um it gets

confused with everything else you know that's going on. Now, for women, obviously, we talked about how intermittent fasting obviously isn't great for long periods um for women, but let's say a woman is trying to lose

weight. Someone's trying to get the

weight. Someone's trying to get the benefits of weight loss while also, you know, supporting their hormone health.

What kind of diet or what kind of um calorie deficit or, you know, what is actually possible to be able to have the perks of weight loss if they're looking for it while also still looking after their hormones and not being too

extreme. Yeah, I love that question

extreme. Yeah, I love that question because especially if you're talking about the women in their 30s and 40s and 50s in pmenopause and menopause, um it becomes a lot harder to lose weight um

and a lot of women are starting to notice that their weight is shifting more towards our belly stubborn areas.

Yes. And so one of the biggest things um that that's why the 30 33 includes a lot of protein because protein as you know can make you feel fuller and it can also

um kind of uh help you build muscle. So

that's a good one. And then second thing is um walking or low impact activity. So

one of the things that they've noticed in studies is that women tend to move less and less as they get older. and

they're like, you know, the amount, and if you think about it, the amount you moved in your teens and 20s, um, tends to go down in your 30s and then in your

40s and 50s. And so, um, and that little bit of movement, like just that climbing stairs, walking around that actually was burning a lot of calories without making you stressed

out. So, it's not a highintensity

out. So, it's not a highintensity workout. And so one of the things I find

workout. And so one of the things I find really effective for women not only just to lose weight but to feel better in their bodies is to just add more little

movements to the day like micro maybe you take a call and you on outside while you walk or maybe you um take the steps or maybe you add in some micro

movements. So, one of the best um tricks

movements. So, one of the best um tricks I put on Instagram is like uh people who sat for 8 hours a day, went for a walk at the end of the day, they're better

off actually doing a mini like squats in between each meeting, like 15 10 to 15 body weight squats instead of waiting till the end of the day and actually doing a workout.

because these mini movements, our body actually really not only craves them for insulin, uh, blood sugar and circulation, but it's also great for someone who's like maybe trying to get a

little like their weight off from their belly, um, and they want to or maybe they're trying to keep their weight in check or something. It's just keeping those that body moving and not sitting for like 8, 10, 12 hours a day.

Yeah. Become a bit you become so stagnant when you end up doing that.

Low carb diets. Now, I feel like for a lot of women on their weight loss journey, carbohydrates feel like the enemy even though they're just so good.

Um, how do we feel about low carb diets?

Is there a negative impact for women having too many carbohydrates and their hormones or is it beneficial?

It just depends on who you are. So, I

like moderately low carb, meaning that like you're eating fruit. So, I don't think there should be any diet in the world that tells you not to eat fruit because a lot of people who are on low

carb diets aren't allowed to eat like vegetables and fruit. Like, that's

insane. Like, there's no data that says that you should cut out fruits and vegetables from your diet. If

you're going on that low carb diet, that's not good for you long term. But

high carb diets, especially if it's high carb, like from refined carbs, yes, that's actually not doing your hormones any favor. So what happens is your blood

any favor. So what happens is your blood sugar levels go way up and then your insulin um goes up and then your cells become insulin resistant because it's like if someone was

knocking on your door all the time, you just kind of like it was like, "Oh yeah, it's them again." You know, you're not going to rush to open. Yeah. And so your body becomes insulin resistant and that

leads to diabetes, that leads to weight gain, um that leads to heart disease.

And so um you don't want to have a super high refined carb diet. Now if you're saying high carb diet like fruits and vegetables and nuts and seeds like

Mediterranean type diet, great. For some

people that's considered high carb, but that's high carb is just um how much energy do you need? Are you eating like if you're eating enough calories for your body and um some of them are a lot of them are coming from fruits and

vegetables. Amazing.

vegetables. Amazing.

So, there hasn't been any research to show that a low carb diet can help with hormone regulation.

No, low carb diets in general um if they're very very low carb can help in certain conditions um to get you in ketosis. Um but in general, you don't

ketosis. Um but in general, you don't want um an extremely low carb diet.

Yeah, a lower a lower refined carb diet is what I Yeah, that makes sense. Complex

carbohydrates. Has there been any research done around eating red meat and the hormone disruption?

Um, so, okay, there's two things. Red

meat um is really high in iron, heem iron. This is iron that we can actually

iron. This is iron that we can actually use.

And so, for some women that tends to be really great to get their iron levels up. However, red meat in almost every

up. However, red meat in almost every study done across the world as of today um is something that you want to limit

and especially processed um meat um you know, you're talking the bacons and the the deli meats and all of that and the

processed um the red meat that's coming from not grass-fed sources. I think

those are things you should limit. We

don't have any good studies. The jury is still out. I think the internet believes

still out. I think the internet believes that red meat, if it's if it's grass-fed and you're not eating it with a lot of sugar and carbs, that it's actually not

bad for you. But the long-term studies are all convoluted because it's usually looking at people who are eating burgers, they're also eating fries, they're also eating. So, um, the jury is

still out whether you can eat red meat in a very healthy way. Um, we believe that's the case, but we don't have long-term studies to show that yet.

So interesting. Yeah, I feel like I've always heard red meat being the culprit of so many health issues and diseases and disorders that um I I thought maybe

there might be a link between the two of all the long-term studies show that the more you consume red meat, especially from poor sources, the worse your health is. Interesting.

is. Interesting.

Hormone and otherwise. Uh what the new data is saying is that partially that's because we were confusing it with all the other things that come with a high red meat diet. A lot of people are

eating a lot of unhealthy food, the processed foods. Um so I know we talked about your 3033 formula, but I think you also have a 4321 in there for movement. So tell us a little bit about

movement. So tell us a little bit about that.

Okay, so here's the thing. In every

single person that we look at when they live long like um centinarians, people who live above a hundred years, they often have an exercise or a um

something that they love to do um movement wise, whether it be what?

Biking walking you know, playing tennis, um pickle ball, whatever it is. And so my 4321 says four days you want to be moving

your body in a way that makes you happy like joy. It can be a walk, it can be um

like joy. It can be a walk, it can be um hiking, it can be biking, it can be dancing, something that you will do all throughout your life or not at least long term.

And so four days a week you want to do that. And if you don't know where to

that. And if you don't know where to start, just walk. That's like the the best best thing. There's no barriers to it.

3 days a week, you want to do something that stimulates that muscle or bone because like I said, by the time you're 30, you get your peak muscle mass and um

bone mass. You have to start to build

bone mass. You have to start to build that as uh when you start to get older.

And so 3 days a week, you want to incorporate that. And that doesn't

incorporate that. And that doesn't always have to be in the gym like lifting heavy weights. It can be a combination of Pilates or like heavy um some other kind of like a power yoga or

something. So, it doesn't always have to

something. So, it doesn't always have to be 3 days of um in the gym. It can be something different. And then two

something different. And then two um is hot therapy. So, either hot yoga, sauna, steam, something that gets your

body hot for 20 minutes at a time. Okay?

There's some really great data about hot therapy on long-term health, brain, hormones, heart, all of that.

And then the one I don't know if you're going to like this or not, actually, is a Once a week sprint.

Oh yeah.

So a sprint workout like a high intensity short very um get your heart rate to 85% of its max. So for people who don't know if you take 220 minus

your age that is your max heart rate roughly. And then if you go to 85% of

roughly. And then if you go to 85% of that that is considered kind of a sprint. And so you want to do that

sprint. And so you want to do that because there was a study that showed that if you took people who were sedentary, meaning that they never worked out really, um, and you put them

on a two-year exercise plan, you can reverse the age of their heart by 20 years.

Wow.

And that was using a sprint workout. So

it was um walking, it was uh weight training, and then they added one sprint workout a week.

I love sprint workouts.

Yeah, I do.

Okay, good. I'm glad cuz I was like I don't know how you're going to take Some people when they say that they're like I'm not sprinting like I hate sprinting.

Yeah. I I I love running actually but I do more sprints now than long running just because I feel like it's more beneficial for my body.

Actually 100% true. So if you think about that 4 321 I never said like you know do long like if you enjoy if some for some

people um enjoy long runs for their mental health. I was like that, but I

mental health. I was like that, but I started to see how it was affecting my hormones and I really had to change that myself.

So, no, it makes sense. I felt the same way.

And also just on your bones and your body, it's quite harsh.

Exactly. It's very harsh. You have to have the right form. You have to be really good about injury prevention. You

have to have good recovery. It's a lot to keep yourself like.

Exactly. Um, I would love to move on to supplements because there is just the whole world of supplements out there.

Oh gosh. Yes. And there's everything that says cortisol balances and hormone regulators and all those things. So, um,

you know, do do you recommend any supplements? Are there any specific

supplements? Are there any specific vitamins or herbs that you recommend women should be taking to support their hormone health?

Um, and that's a great question because there's so many supplements out there and most people I know I think they said like 85 up to 85% of people take supplements. I would say like a 100. I

supplements. I would say like a 100. I

don't know anybody who doesn't take supplements. When I was in medical

supplements. When I was in medical school, I took zero supplements. And it

was because they scared us. They were

like, "Supplements are bad. They're

unregulated. They are often not what they say they are." And we would see side effects from people taking all these kind of weird supplements, right?

Mhm.

But now I realize that that's not not that's kind of the extreme. Yes, there

are dangerous supplements for sure, and you definitely don't want to overdose on them, but there are some that can be really helpful. So, the three that

really helpful. So, the three that consistently come up in the research for women Mh.

is vitamin D.

Okay.

Magnesium and omega-3 fatty acids.

So, vitamin D, 80% of women um especially as they move through pmenopause and menopause um are vitamin D deficient. And women in general tend

D deficient. And women in general tend to be vitamin D deficient, even if you're getting sunlight all the time.

Omega-3 fatty acids. So, we have really good data that omega-3s are great for your brain and great for inflammation. Um, and

there's been very I mean it's like the data is amazing on omega-3. If you can get it from food, great. But you can also supplement with it.

Um, and then magnesium is the one that I think is surprising to people because magnesium does so many things in our body besides um, you know, some people

maybe know it for muscle soreness or um, it actually helps our brain. Okay. And

um there are studies that show that women who get more magnesium actually tend to um age slower, especially in their brain. And so

there's really great data. And there's

all kinds of different magnesiums. I was going to ask, yeah, what type of magnesium should people be taking?

So magnesium glycinate um is magnesium bound to glycine. That's great for women. Um that's great for women's

women. Um that's great for women's hormones. It's helps you relax and often

hormones. It's helps you relax and often can be great before bed because it can help with sleep.

Um, there's magnesium citrate. That's

great for women with or people with constipation because it kind of is the thing that people give before colonoscopies to kind of flush out your system. So, magnesium citrate. There's

system. So, magnesium citrate. There's

magnesium L30ate. So magnesium L308 just like magnesium glycinate actually goes to your brain and crosses that bloodb brain barrier and um can uh help with

mood and uh brain health. So that's

L308. And then there's some magnesium that you kind of um don't absorb well like magnesium oxide. So you don't really want to take that one.

Okay. Oh, thank you. That's so useful. I

didn't know that there were so many different types of magnesiums. I was speaking to this lady. I went to an event and she was saying, "Oh, I've just been I've started taking NAD. I'm going

into parmenopause and it's really helping me." Is NAD something that

helping me." Is NAD something that you've seen research on that helps women hormonally?

There's not a a whole lot of research about NAD with women's health, but NAD is something that's very exciting

because we know that NAD um goes down as you age and um it's something that we think that if you replace it will help

you as you age. But it's very like it's very early enough. It's hard to know.

And there's like um you know there's some really great I would say like those three are the ones that have the most research behind them. The magnesium,

omega-3 um and vitamin D. Um but there's a lot of companies like that are doing like Metagenics is a company that's came out with an amazing hormone health kind

of women's health blend with herbs and really well researched research ingredients. There's, you know, lots of

ingredients. There's, you know, lots of teas and herbs and things that um women can use to kind of help with their mood.

For example, saffron is a great mood booster. Turmeric is like a great

booster. Turmeric is like a great anti-inflammatory. And so there's so

anti-inflammatory. And so there's so many things that we have in our toolbox.

So I often say get those three in check and then you can play with everything else. Um because as you know you know

else. Um because as you know you know certain people will do amazing um with these things and others will you know not want them or not need them. I don't

think any person should be taking fistfuls of um supplements like you know those people who are like taking 97 like I don't because they also like cancel each other out

or at best they cancel each other out but they can also interact in a negative way and so you really want to get be careful about how many you're taking.

be careful how many and be careful of the brands you're using. So like

there's some trusted brands that we know out there and yeah give us some uh recommendations.

Uh okay mentioned Metagenics. That's a

great brand. They do a lot of research into there. Um and a lot of doctors use

into there. Um and a lot of doctors use that one.

Um I like Row RH. I like let's see Momentous is a good one. I like um there's so many. Um I take this drink in the morning called I am8. That's a good one. Um.

one. Um.

Oh yeah. I think Jay just started taking that.

Yeah. Okay, great. Yeah, it's a it's like something it's like a multivitamin and the problem sache you add in with Exactly. Yeah. So

the thing is I mean there's so many and there's tons of more brands that are great, but what happens is a lot of people will go to like Amazon, right?

And they'll just order the cheapest one for, you know, the one that looks good.

And when they checked on Amazon, they said like out of like the 10 that they randomly checked, eight of them didn't have what they said they on the label because it's not they're not it for

supplements, it's not very strict.

You think it's just through recommendation that you should pick your supplements?

Yeah. So that's the hard part. Like it's

like if I just look in the store and you just look in the store, like how would you even know, you know? So third party testing is something I highly recommend to people. So most of the supplements

to people. So most of the supplements like so I'm working with Mel Robbins on this protein shot. All these supplements that you're taking, they need to have

third party testing. You need to know that somebody else that's not affiliated with the company checked to see if it has what it has and it doesn't have any contaminants and heavy metals and all that crap that that

you do. That's like kind of the only

you do. That's like kind of the only way. And unfortunately unless it's third

way. And unfortunately unless it's third party tested that we don't really know if it's right or wrong. So, there's a lot of stuff that's like really scary. I

mean, I've been in the hospital. I used

to um I did my fellowship at Columbia in New York, and I remember in the hospital, there'd be all kinds of people hospitalized for like weird supplements that they were taking that cause liver

failure that cause um a a rash where their body was peeling off. Oh god.

Um like, you know, one, it was it's it was crazy um the kind of things that happen to people when they're taking random things.

Yeah, it's so true. And just a question on cortisol managers because I know that there are some supplements out there that are cortisol balancers and managers. Are there any um specific

managers. Are there any um specific specific brands that you like for that?

So um you know a lot of the things that are in cortisol reducing supplements like ashwagandha, althanine um are things that are in the ones that we talked about. So just be careful. One

of the things I tell people all the time and this happens to me all the time.

You need to look at all the things you're taking and make sure they don't all have ashwagandha. They don't all have althanine. They don't all have

have althanine. They don't all have because if it's great to reduce your stress, but make sure you're not getting magnesium, althanine, and ashwagandha from all these different sources. Um,

pick your one or two and get your blood checked. If you're on supplements, you

checked. If you're on supplements, you need to be getting your blood tested every quarter at least. Or if not, then every 6 months or one year.

Yes. Okay. I'm going to do a little rapid fire now if that's okay. Um, and

you can say yes or no, and then you can also elaborate if you feel like you want to. Um, so the first thing is carnivore

to. Um, so the first thing is carnivore diet tends to be bad for most people because you're cutting out fruits and vegetables.

Yeah. Uh, keto for women, helpful or harmful?

Oh gosh. Also usually harmful because you're cutting out all carbohydrates.

Um, and you really do like healthy carbohydrates like berries for example.

Sweet potatoes. Your sweet potatoes.

I know it's sad. And I mean, I I was in that world at one point and I'm like, you know, everything is bad.

Everything's bad.

Um, intim we've already talked about this, but intermittent fasting for women over 30, yes or no. Long term in No. No. Especially when it's long and it

No. No. Especially when it's long and it makes you skip a lot of daytime meals.

Yeah. Uh, that brings me on to one meal a day for women. There's this whole OMAD trend.

No, that's a no, people.

That's a very strong no.

Um, seed oils.

Okay, seed oils. Okay, I'm going to go a little scientific on this. Okay,

seed oils. Obviously, we don't want to eat a ton of seed oils, but the data shows that they're actually not bad for you.

I've heard this. I feel like this was a Tik Tok thing that really ruined seed oils for people.

Yeah. It's like It's like seed oils is something that was blamed for being It's almost like, do you blame when you look at Big Macs, a McDonald's meal, are you blaming the fries? Are you blaming the

burger? Are you blaming

burger? Are you blaming Or are you blaming the oil that it's in?

Yeah. Exactly. So, um, yeah, thank you.

I appreciate that. Cycle sinking for women.

Okay. Cycle sinking as a one-izefits-all. No.

one-izefits-all. No.

Okay.

Because everyone's cycle is so different. Like, if you feel like you

different. Like, if you feel like you can lift heavy on your period, go for it. Right. But it has to be individual.

it. Right. But it has to be individual.

For me, I know that the week before my period, and for most people, you're not lifting as heavy. You're not going as hard.

I'm throwing my back out if I try to.

Totally. I'm crying my eyes out. I'm

like, "No, this is not the time to lift heavy."

heavy." Yes. So cycle sinking in theory is

Yes. So cycle sinking in theory is amazing, but to prescribe it as a like oneizefits-all doesn't make sense because what if you feel like doing more?

Yeah. You know,

I like that answer. Um, and raw diets, uh, raw diets, um, you know, if you're careful about getting all of your nutrients, which is like really hard.

Same thing. Vegan and raw is similar to me. It's like, yes, but make sure you're

me. It's like, yes, but make sure you're getting all the things you need to.

Totally amazing. Amy, thank you so much.

It was such a pleasure having you on and thank you. Everything you said was so

thank you. Everything you said was so insightful. I think it's going to help

insightful. I think it's going to help so many people.