Quick Hits: The Groundbreaking Science of Protein Leverage: What the Animal Kingdom Teaches Us About Human Nutrition with David Raubenheimer & Stephen J. Simpson
The Hormone Solution | Perimenopause, Menopause, HRT, Weight Loss & Women’s Midlife Health
Release Date: 10/22/2024
Menopause Ages You 9–20 Years… Unless You Do This with Nikolina Lauc
The Hormone Solution | Perimenopause, Menopause, HRT, Weight Loss & Women’s Midlife Health
In this episode, I sit down with Nikolina Lauc, CEO and Co-Founder of GlycanAge, and we dive into a questions that should stop every midlife woman in her tracks: is menopause actually accelerating your biological aging? What if the shift from perimenopause to menopause could age you up to nine years in just six months? And more importantly, what can you do about it? We unpack what biological age really means (and why it’s not the same as your chronological age), how inflammation quietly drives aging and disease, and why estrogen may be one of the most powerful longevity tools we have. Is...
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Estrogen Dominance… or Estrogen Deficiency? Is It Safe to Start Estrogen in Perimenopause?
The Hormone Solution | Perimenopause, Menopause, HRT, Weight Loss & Women’s Midlife Health
Welcome to the very first Hormone Hotline episode of The Hormone Solution! I’m getting straight into your real-life questions about estrogen—because why, in 2026, are we still being told we’re “estrogen dominant” with rock-bottom levels? If your doctor has warned you against HRT, this episode is for you. Have you been told you can’t start estrogen until you hit full menopause? Or that perimenopause is just too much of a “hormone rollercoaster” to treat? I break down what’s actually happening in your brain and ovaries during late perimenopause, and why adding estrogen might...
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From Toe Curling Orgasms to Healthy Poops: Why Oxytocin Is Essential for Midlife Women with Dr. Lindsey Berkson
The Hormone Solution | Perimenopause, Menopause, HRT, Weight Loss & Women’s Midlife Health
What if your mood swings, anxiety, sleep issues, or loss of motivation aren’t just “getting older?” What role does oxytocin really play in midlife, and why has it been overlooked for so long? In this episode, I’m joined by the brilliant hormone scholar Dr. Lindsey Berkson, and we dive into a part of menopause that almost no one is talking about—what’s happening in your brain. We explore how hormones act as the body’s Wi‑Fi system, and what happens when that signal gets disrupted. Could environmental toxins be hijacking not just estrogen and progesterone, but oxytocin too? And...
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Inflammaging Is Hijacking Your Hormones: The Ancient Reset Women Need in Midlife with Dr. Shivani Gupta
The Hormone Solution | Perimenopause, Menopause, HRT, Weight Loss & Women’s Midlife Health
Do you know whether you’re Vata, Pitta, or Kapha...and could that explain your stubborn symptoms in midlife? In this episode, I’m joined by my brilliant friend Dr. Shivani Gupta, and we dive into Ayurveda, inflammation, and why your body might be asking for a completely different approach right now. Have you ever wondered why turmeric seems to work like magic for pain, migraines, or inflammation? Or why the same routines that used to work suddenly don’t anymore in perimenopause? We unpack how ancient Ayurvedic wisdom meets modern science—and why that combination matters so much for...
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Why So Many Hormone Providers Get It Wrong (And How to Find One Who Doesn’t)
The Hormone Solution | Perimenopause, Menopause, HRT, Weight Loss & Women’s Midlife Health
This episode comes straight from my own lived experience of spiraling before doctor’s appointments and feeling dismissed when it comes to hormones. I dig into why so many hormone providers get it wrong and what’s actually happening behind those rushed, frustrating conversations. Why does advocating for ourselves feel so hard? I walk you through what most doctors are (and aren’t) trained to do when it comes to perimenopause and menopause. How much of this is about lack of education versus lack of time? And how do you stop blaming yourself when you’re told your labs are “normal,”...
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Why You’re Not Healing: Stress, Insomnia, Weight Gain & the Vagus Nerve with Dr. Navaz Nabib
The Hormone Solution | Perimenopause, Menopause, HRT, Weight Loss & Women’s Midlife Health
Have you’ve tried everything from protocols, to supplements, to experts and the healing still hasn’t happened? Why do so many of us stay stuck despite doing “all the right things”? In this episode, I sit down with Dr. Navaz Habib, aka "The Vagus Nerve Doc," to explore what might be missing. What if the real issue isn’t another diagnosis, hormone imbalance, or gut protocol? What if it’s your nervous system itself? I share my own journey of chasing answers and why discovering the vagus nerve made me question everything I thought I knew about healing. Why does stress seem to override...
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Why Waiting for Menopause Is a Mistake: The Case for Earlier HRT and Replacing Hormones the Right Way
The Hormone Solution | Perimenopause, Menopause, HRT, Weight Loss & Women’s Midlife Health
I’m diving into why waiting until menopause to address hormones can be an incredibly costly mistake for so many women. Why are we told to “wait it out” when symptoms often start years earlier? And what’s really happening inside our bodies long before our periods stop? I walk through the often-missed perimenopausal years and explain why this phase matters more than most of us realize. What if heavy periods, anxiety, weight gain, or insomnia aren’t things you just have to tolerate? Could early hormone shifts be driving them? We also explore timing, myths, and fears around hormone...
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Why Your Gut Is Sabotaging Your Hormones (and Your Hormones Are Sabotaging Your Gut) with Kiran Krishnan
The Hormone Solution | Perimenopause, Menopause, HRT, Weight Loss & Women’s Midlife Health
I’m sitting down with microbiome expert Kiran Krishnan to explore a question I see come up all the time: why do hormones sometimes stop responding the way they used to? But what if the real issue isn’t your hormones at all, rather what’s happening in your gut? In this episode, we dig into the powerful gut-hormone connection. How can gut bacteria influence estrogen metabolism, inflammation, weight gain, and even mood? Why do so many women struggle more during perimenopause and menopause despite “doing all the right things”? We also talk about why hormone therapy sometimes backfires,...
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Goodbye 2025: A Year of Healing, Hard Truths, and Growth
The Hormone Solution | Perimenopause, Menopause, HRT, Weight Loss & Women’s Midlife Health
It’s time to say goodbye to 2025, so let’s get real about a year that looked successful for me on the outside, but sometimes felt like a reckoning on the inside. What happens when your body forces you to slow down? And what do you do when growth starts to cost you your peace? I open up about identity shifts, burnout, and the uncomfortable realization that I couldn’t keep working the way I was. How much of my worth was tied to helping others? What happens when you’re asked to step out of the role that once defined you? I also unpack the chaos of the menopause conversation in 2025. With...
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Part 2 Q&A with Karen: Cortisol Replacement, Optimal Levels, HRT Absorption Issues, Estrogen Detox, BIEST Troches, Perimenopause Confusion & More!
The Hormone Solution | Perimenopause, Menopause, HRT, Weight Loss & Women’s Midlife Health
This episode picks up right where part one leaves off as I dive into more of your thoughtful, honest questions in the second-part of this year-end Q&A. What happens when hormone therapy doesn’t seem to be working the way you expected? And how do you know if your dose is actually doing what you need it to do? I answer questions about achy joints, stubborn symptoms, cortisol replacement, thyroid interactions, and why some delivery methods work beautifully for one person and fail another. Why do absorption issues happen? What does “optimal” really mean when it comes to hormone levels?...
info_outlineWelcome to Quick Hits: Blasts from The Past. Join Karen as she explores her podcast archives, offering you short, impactful excerpts from standout episodes. In just 15 minutes, you'll experience the essence of past conversations, packed with valuable insights and memorable moments from our guests. If you want to dive deeper, you'll find links to the full episodes in the show notes below.
David Raubenheimer is the Leonard P. Ullman Professor of Nutritional Ecology in the School of Life and Environmental Sciences, and Nutrition Theme Leader in the Charles Perkins Centre at the University of Sydney. Stephen J. Simpson is Academic Director of the Charles Perkins Centre and Professor in the School of Life and Environmental Sciences at the University of Sydney.
David and Stephen are the authors of Eat Like The Animals the new groundbreaking evidence on what nature teaches us about the science of healthy eating.
In this episode;
- How did they come to write a book on human nutrition?
- How Stella the baboon shocked them when they studied her diet.
- What they found when they studied different animals and their diet.
- The million dollar question how or does this apply to humans?
- Why we MUST meet our protein requirements and what happens when we don't.
- What is protein leverage?
- How much should our average protein intake be as humans?
- Could this explain the obesity epidemic?
- What did they discover when they did a massive experience on fruit flies to see if the popular theory that calorie restriction helped with longevity. Or if it was what they ate that made the difference?
- Flies versus humans.
- What is the problem eating too much protein?
- Why is it better for reproduction but not longevity?
- Looking to the science of what we ate as hunter gatherers what does it tell us?
- How our needs for protein from birth to death changes?
https://www.eatliketheanimals.com/
Listen to the full episode: https://karenmartel.com/eat-like-the-animals/
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