Today I'm sitting down with my partner Dr. Leah Antoniewicz to discuss one of our new service lines, which is holistic nutrition consultation. Dr. Leah has specialty training in nutrition as well as being a menopausal gynecologic specialist, and has a 10-part approach to creating the ideal nutrition plan for each of our patients. Whether the goal is losing fat, gaining muscle or simply improving health and longevity, she will discuss how we create an individualized plan that will allow you to ma...
Jan 19, 2024•23 min
Vasomotor symptoms, commonly known as hot flashes and night sweats, affect the great majority of women in perimenopause and menopause, and are a direct result of estrogen depletion. So it stands to reason that replacing estrogen is the number one (FDA approved) way to address these often highly unpleasant symptoms at their root. Today I'll talk about the cause of these symptoms as well as describing the many ways they can be extremely disruptive, and will share not only why estrogen remains the ...
Jan 12, 2024•23 min
Today I'm talking about a fascinating supplement that really walks the line between being a supplement and a drug, since it has remarkable efficacy for lowering LDL cholesterol and ApoB. Red yeast rice contains small amounts of monacolin K, which in fact is a statin. Although this supplement is safe if it comes from a reputable manufacturer, I will talk about why it's very important to be monitored by a physician and follow the same guidelines that you would use if you were taking a prescription...
Dec 21, 2023•18 min
After more than 21 years, I still get multiple questions a week about hormone replacement risks, specifically regarding breast cancer, but also fears of other disease risks. Today my partner Dr. Leah Antoniewicz and I are revising the risks and benefits of hormone replacement, and the curious history of the WHI (Women's Health Initiative) study. We'll be discussing the science behind this very emotional topic, and I hope to lay it all out there for you so that you will have the best information ...
Dec 13, 2023•1 hr 10 min
Now almost 2 years into our holistic weight management program we have been overjoyed with the success of our patients. I am excited to be chatting with my partner Dr. Gracia Wynne Duncan regarding not only our own experience with GLP-1 agonist drugs for weight loss (specifically Semaglutide) - but also reviewing the pros and cons, the history and possible future of these drugs, and everything that you might need to know in order to make an educated decision about whether this might be a good ch...
Dec 06, 2023•43 min
Now just a short time after our second Empowering Midlife Wellness retreat focusing on Activating Happiness, I'm sitting down with co-facilitators Meg Ellis and Kelley Workman to tell you all about our experience and the magic that happened in Costa Rica! In this episode we go through the details of this magical, fun and connecting 4-day weekend, as well as sharing what our guests told us, and unveiling brand new plans for our next retreat in April 2024! I can honestly tell you this was the happ...
Nov 30, 2023•1 hr
Today I'm sharing my experience visiting Composition ID in Houston, which offers two really important tests that can help improve your health and longevity. I've talked a lot about body composition (which we can measure in my office), but the most accurate way to measure it is with a DEXA scan. A DEXA scan for a body composition picks up more data than an in-office test, since it will not only measure your body fat percentage, but will also identify exactly where the body fat is located. Not all...
Nov 08, 2023•26 min
Urine leakage is one of the more annoying and embarrassing things that can happen to us after childbirth, especially in midlife. Today I'm talking about the most common forms of urinary leakage, and especially focusing on nonsurgical ways to manage this difficult problem. I'll be introducing you to the Emsella chair, which is a fantastic option to strengthen pelvic floor muscles without the effort and exhaustion of doing Kegel exercises yourself. The Emsella chair electrically stimulates your pe...
Nov 02, 2023•17 min
This week I'm chatting again with one of my new partners, menopause specialist Dr. Leah Antoneiwicz. Dr. Leah has a particular interest in perimenopause since she is experiencing this time in life herself and has some fantastic advice for other women in this confusing and misunderstood phase of hormone change. She will share some secrets that have worked not only for her patients but also for herself, including hormonal optimization, healthy nutrition and exercise, optimizing sleep, and use of s...
Oct 27, 2023•1 hr 2 min
To celebrate Menopause Awareness Month, and today being World Menopause Day, I'm sharing my collaboration with @dominiquesachsetv ! This was a very special podcast episode where I went live to answer menopause-related questions from viewers. We tackled an array of subjects... breast cancer, estrogen replacement, why some women deal with menopause symptoms and others don't, different ways to take hormones, sleep loss, hysterectomies, and MORE! I hope you enjoyed this episode, and that you learned...
Oct 18, 2023•1 hr 2 min
October is menopause month so I'm focusing again on everything to do with hormones, and one of the most frustrating problems that can occur with estrogen depletion, which is vaginal dryness and pain with intimacy. Today I'm talking about different options for eradicating this annoying problem and restoring a healthy and enjoyable, intimate life! Want to try the Juliet laser treatment for yourself? Come visit us at Complete Midlife Wellness Center this month, and enjoy $1000 off of our Juliet Las...
Oct 11, 2023•14 min
I get so many questions about the latest issues in midlife women's health, and today I compiled 10 of my favorite questions that have answers that might surprise you! From hormonal health, to interpreting lab values, to supplements, Alzheimer's prevention, lipid analysis and more ... this week's conversation covers some of the most important up-to-date science that will help us to live a long, healthy and vibrant second half of life.
Oct 04, 2023•42 min
Science is pretty clear about this one thing. To have a long, healthy life, the MOST important intervention is exercise, and specifically weight-bearing exercise. Today I have my dear friend, Kelley Workman, master personal trainer, and midlife woman herself back with me. As many of you know, Kelley is my personal trainer and has improved my health dramatically with some very simple lifestyle changes that she will discuss today. Not only does exercise improve things that might sound obvious like...
Sep 25, 2023•38 min
This week I have my dear friend Meg Ellis back, and we are chatting about the science of creating the life that you want! Meg is a Conscious Life Coach and Neurolinguistic Programming Expert, as well as a co-facilitator for our upcoming midlife wellness retreat taking place November 10-13th in Costa Rica. In this fascinating conversation, we talk about how to create the environment to make your best life possible. Understanding our own psychology we can create the energy which makes positive out...
Sep 12, 2023•49 min
It's finally here! Like many of you, I'm a brand new empty nester having sent my last two kids to college this month. I've been preparing myself for this moment for years, but now faced with the reality of the situation I have put together some hopefully helpful thoughts about how to not only survive, but thrive in this unique life transition. I'm not going to tell you all the reasons why an empty nest is great and rosy- even though that is also true! Today I'm focusing on some of the difficult ...
Aug 30, 2023•39 min
Most of us don't think much about brain aneurysms, but 2-5% of us have an asymptotic brain aneurysm, which is a weakening of the wall of a critical blood vessel, often not detected until it ruptures. Ruptured aneurysms are a relatively common cause of stroke or even sudden death, but can be quite easily treated in a non invasive way if caught prior to rupture. Today I'm sharing my personal health story following an incidental finding of a significant brain aneurysm, which was treated last week b...
Aug 16, 2023•30 min
As many of you know our "Activating Happiness in Midlife" retreat is coming up soon. Today I'm sitting down with my friend Yaniv Shanti, who has been such a huge inspiration to me on my personal development journey, and will be one of the co-facilitators of this incredible event. After attending one of Yaniv's "Happiness Activation" programs myself, I was so inspired to offer it to others. Yaniv runs a "Happiness School" in San Jose, Costa Rica and describes himself as a happiness activist! His ...
Aug 07, 2023•41 min
Today I'm sitting down with my dear friend Mary Jo Rapini, who is a clinical psychologist with specialized training in sex therapy for individuals and couples. Mary Jo is an author, speaker, frequent guest on national TV and audio platforms, and also has a fantastic YouTube channel and social media presence focusing on sexual wellness, particularly for women in Midlife. Today we are talking about the importance of connection for rejuvenating sexual energy, either in relationships or individually...
Aug 03, 2023•50 min
I am so excited to announce that registration for the second Empowering Midlife Wellness Retreat is now open! This time we’re going to beautiful Costa Rica for a relaxing, engaging, and transformative weekend. Because this is an international trip, we were able to significantly reduce the cost to an all-inclusive price starting at $2685. And as an added bonus we are also offering an early bird discount if you’re able to sign up before August 31! Don't miss out on this opportunity to invest in yo...
Jul 28, 2023•17 min
I know almost everyone listening has a personal experience with Alzheimer's disease, and many of us in midlife are facing taking care of parents or loved ones suffering with this devastating form of dementia. Today I'll be talking about lifestyle changes, supplements, and other interventions that have been shown to decrease the incidence of Alzheimer's, and also discussing the conflicting information around the subject of hormone replacement and Alzheimer's disease. I'll also be discussing the A...
Jul 19, 2023•29 min
Today I’m sharing all about my relationship with alcohol and why I decided to limit my own alcohol use. I’ll be discussing many reasons why alcohol is just not good for our health. We all know that excessive alcohol can damage the liver, but most of us are not aware that even moderate alcohol use is associated with an increased risk of many cancers (not just liver cancer), and has even been linked to dementia, gut dysbiosis and other serious issues including damaging relationships and causing ac...
Jul 19, 2023•27 min
When talking about women's health, we cannot ignore that the most common killer of both men and women is heart disease, and we are 10 times more likely to die from heart disease than breast cancer -- yet traditional medicine places very little emphasis on preventative tests especially for women. Today I'm going to share some simple and relatively inexpensive tests that every person should ask their doctor to do in order to establish her risk of heart disease, and to allow early detection of prob...
Jun 22, 2023•34 min
For generations moms have intuitively known to tell their kids to eat their vegetables, but medical science is now supporting so many reasons why getting adequate fiber is vital for health in more ways than you might think. Fiber, which is the indigestible type of carbohydrate found in plants, is critical not only for having regular bowel movements, but for preventing colon cancer, breast, cancer, diabetes, heart disease, obesity, autoimmune disease, general inflammation and more...and it's even...
Jun 14, 2023•32 min
Exciting news in women's healthcare is that a new non-hormonal drug named Veozah was FDA approved in May to treat vasomotor symptoms (also known as hot flashes and night sweats) for menopausal women. While this is no doubt an exciting development, I will be discussing who this might be appropriate for, and why it is not nearly as beneficial as estradiol for patients who are candidates for hormone replacement.
Jun 07, 2023•11 min
Over the years, so many people have asked me why I continue doing long-distance triathlons, and after putting a lot of thought into this question, I realized that I have learned so much about how to get through difficult things in real life through this sport. Doing hard things -which in my case might be athletic events, or could be as simple as having a difficult conversation, picking up a new hobby, or changing a relationship- teaches us that we CAN do hard things. Only though practicing doing...
May 31, 2023•23 min
There are many opinions and a lot of controversy about the ideal levels for postmenopausal hormone replacement, so today I'm going to share what I've learned from the science, as well as my own personal experience as a patient and from thousands of patients in our own practice. I'll be talking about ideal levels for estradiol, progesterone, and testosterone, as well as discussing thyroid and cortisol levels. Enjoy! Rebecca Glaser, MD - www.hormonebalance.org Oura Ring - www.ouraring.com
May 24, 2023•35 min
Having just returned from the very first "Empowering Midlife Wellness" retreat, I'm still reflecting on one of my breakout sessions, which was about how to have great sex in the second half of life. This talk was really well received, and today I want to share some of the things that we discussed-- which might not be what you were thinking! While this may be obvious, we often don't think enough about the mindset that sets the foundation for having a healthy sex life. I'll be talking again about ...
May 11, 2023•20 min
Continuing from last week's discussion about easy things that can bring us peace and joy, today I'm talking about a simple practice of generosity, and how that can completely change the flavor of our experience. An act of generosity as small as an offering a smile to a stranger, or giving of ourselves in any way (rather than keeping everything close to our chests) can completely disempower our stories about not being enough. If you think about it, generosity proves that story wrong, because we c...
Apr 27, 2023•21 min
Last week I was lucky enough to experience a silent meditation retreat, and the first question most people ask is “why one earth would you want to do that?” While this may not be everyone’s cup of tea, I have several key takeaways from this and other retreats that I have attended over the years that can really improve our quality of life in immeasurable ways. While hormonal and nutritional wellness are so important, we don’t want to forget about our mental wellbeing, which possibly is the MOST i...
Apr 21, 2023•35 min
Vitamin D3 is one of the most common supplements that I recommend in my practice, but science has been disappointing about the benefits that we once thought were offered by high doses of vitamin D. As is usually the case in medicine and in life, too little of something may be harmful, but too much can be equally harmful. Today I’m reviewing where science stands on the optimal levels of this important vitamin, how to know if you need it at all, how much to take, and what benefits we can truly exp...
Apr 13, 2023•18 min
