Everyday Wellness: Midlife Hormones, Menopause, and Science for Women 35+

I am honored to connect with Dr. Sharon Stills today. She is a graduate of naturopathic medical school with extensive training in European biological medicine, bioidentical hormone replacement, and anti-aging therapies.

In our conversation today, we explore terrain-based medicine and strategies to support women in perimenopause and beyond. We talk extensively about gut health, the estroblome, the microbiome, how European biological medicine views these as terrain, disruptive factors, and why they matter for women in midlife. We also examine the influence of the lymphatic system and how castor oil packs support it, bioidentical hormones as a lifelong tool rather than a temporary fix, and why menopause is a sacred second act in women's lives.

Dr. Stills is thoughtful, insightful, and grounded, and I know you will enjoy this conversation with her as much as I did recording it.

IN THIS EPISODE, YOU WILL LEARN:

How European biological medicine emphasizes the extracellular matrix (terrain) rather than focusing only on individual cells or mitochondria

How declining hormones during menopause often expose longstanding yet previously hidden aspects of women’s health

Dr. Stills shares what she did to prepare herself for menopause in the preceding years

Dr. Stills encourages women to create meaningful challenges or experiences to mark their major life transitions

How limiting beliefs about aging can influence how you experience midlife and beyond

Factors that could influence the health of your terrain

How supplements can play an important role, but work best alongside lifestyle habits, mindfulness, and supporting your body's natural healing processes

Why Dr. Stills considers the lymphatic system an overlooked contributor to hormone balance, and some practical ways to support healthy lymphatic flow

How simple daily habits often have a greater impact on your health than wellness gadgets

The value of bioidentical hormones, and why hormone therapy should be individualized rather than one-size-fits-all

Bio: Dr. Sharon Stills

Dr. Sharon Stills, a licensed Naturopathic Medical Doctor and graduate of The Sonoran University (2001), has spent over two decades transforming women’s health, with a special focus on guiding women through perimenopause and menopause.

Creator of the pioneering RED Hot Sexy Meno(pause) Program and host of the annual Mastering Your Meno(pause) Transition summit, she combines her expertise in European Biological Medicine, pro-aging therapies, and Bio-identical Hormone Replacement to help women rediscover vitality with natural methods.

A respected voice in her field, Dr. Stills has lectured internationally at the Paracelsus Academy in Switzerland, contributed to Women’s Health Network, and served on the boards of the Bio-Regulatory Medicine Institute and UCLA’s Archive of Healing.

She recently opened the Lasting Wellness Center in Scottsdale, AZ—alongside her son, Dr. Ben Stills—offering advanced diagnostic and therapeutic care for chronic illness and women’s health.

Connect with Cynthia Thurlow

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Check out Cynthia’s website.

Submit your questions to support@cynthiathurlow.com

Join other like-minded women in a supportive, nurturing community: The Midlife Pause/Cynthia Thurlow.

Purchase Cynthia’s book, The Menopause Gut.

Cynthia’s Intermittent Fasting Transformation Book

The Midlife Pause Supplement Line

Connect with Dr. Sharon Stills

On her website

Welcome to the latest Midlife Minute episode.

Today, we’re talking about elimination diets, iron, and ferritin. I share my personal experience with prolonged antibiotic and antifungal use, clarify what the research actually says about restrictive diets, nutrient deficiencies, fatigue, and brain fog, and highlight why it’s essential to understand your iron status during the menopausal transition.

IN THIS EPISODE, YOU WILL LEARN:

Why elimination diets can be helpful in specific situations, but may not be appropriate for the long term

How removing major food groups without a replacement strategy can cause unintended nutrient deficiencies

Why some women become more reactive to certain foods during the menopausal transition

How women’s protein requirements increase during perimenopause and menopause

How low ferritin is often overlooked in women, even when they are experiencing fatigue and brain fog

Why women’s iron status fluctuates during the perimenopause to menopause transition

How some women experience significant symptoms long before anemia appears in their standard lab work

Connect with Cynthia Thurlow

Follow on X, Instagram & LinkedIn

Check out Cynthia’s website.

Submit your questions to support@cynthiathurlow.com

Join other like-minded women in a supportive, nurturing community: The Midlife Pause/Cynthia Thurlow.

Purchase Cynthia’s book, The Menopause Gut.

Cynthia’s Intermittent Fasting Transformation Book

The Midlife Pause Supplement Line

Links:

1. The Importance of Nutrition in Menopause and Perimenopause—A Review

2. Weight gain during the menopause transition: Evidence for a mechanism

dependent on protein leverage

3. The gut microbiota in menopause: Is there a role for prebiotic and probiotic

solutions?

4. Cognitive Performance in Relation to Systemic and Brain Iron at Perimenopause

5. Accelerated Increase in Ferritin Levels During Menopausal Transition as a Marker of Metabolic Health

6. Iron and Menopause: Does Increased Iron Affect the Health of Postmenopausal Women?

7. Iron deficiency in peri-menopausal women: Clinical considerations from an expert consensus

8. Cognitive Function in Peri- and Postmenopausal Women: Implications for

Considering Iron Supplementation

I’m delighted to reconnect with Dr. Philip Ovadia today. He is a board-certified cardiothoracic surgeon with over 20 years of experience in the operating room and the founder of Ovadia Heart Health, a telemedicine practice focused on preventing and treating metabolic and cardiovascular disease through dietary and lifestyle intervention. He has co-authored two books, including, most recently, Stay Off My Kitchen Table.

Today we discuss key statistics on metabolic health, metabolic health challenges, and lifestyle interventions, including Dr. Ovadia’s three I's (insulin resistance, inflammation, and imaging), optimal lab values, vulnerable populations, and why prevention is key, especially for women and heart disease. We discuss the influence of gut and metabolic health, elimination diets, the reintroduction of food, and the positive influence of AI on medicine. We also cover the impact of GLP-1s and so much more.

Stay tuned for an insightful conversation with Dr. Phil Ovadia on why improving metabolic health is one of the most important steps you can take to prevent cardiovascular disease.

IN THIS EPISODE, YOU WILL LEARN:

Why clinicians often fail to recognize the five metabolic syndrome criteria as signs of metabolic disease

Dr. Ovadia introduces his "three I's”, and explains why they deserve far more attention when evaluating cardiovascular disease risk.

How dietary and lifestyle interventions can improve metabolic health, reduce medication use, and help people feel more empowered

Why blood work should always be interpreted as part of the bigger picture rather than focusing on a single value

How metabolic changes during perimenopause and menopause can increase cardiovascular disease risk, and why prevention is particularly important

How gut dysfunction can interfere with nutrient absorption and contribute to ongoing metabolic health challenges

The value of using the carnivore diet as an elimination diet

Dr. Ovadia explains why he is optimistic about AI in medicine

How Dr. Ovadia’s perspective on GLP-1 medications has evolved, and how he now uses low-dose GLP-1s alongside dietary and lifestyle interventions for certain patients

Some simple measures to help you better understand your current metabolic health

Bio: Dr. Philip Ovadia

Conducting over 3,000 heart surgeries taught Dr. Philip Ovadia that good health comes from lifestyle and nutrition, not surgery. Sadly, many of his patients considered their heart attacks “inevitable.”

Having lost 100lbs to overcome lifelong obesity, Dr Ovadia is on a mission to help people stay off his operating table by teaching them how to never need a heart surgeon through his Telehealth practice, Ovadia Heart Health.

Connect with Cynthia Thurlow

Follow on X, Instagram & LinkedIn

Check out Cynthia’s website.

Submit your questions to support@cynthiathurlow.com

Join other like-minded women in a supportive, nurturing community: The Midlife Pause/Cynthia Thurlow.

Purchase Cynthia’s book, The Menopause Gut.

Cynthia’s Intermittent Fasting Transformation Book

The Midlife Pause Supplement Line

Connect with Dr. Philip Ovadia

On his website

On social media: @ifixhearts

Pre-order a copy of Stay Off My Kitchen Table

Today, we have a sponsored episode featuring One Skin, a super high-value company I’ve worked with over the past two years.

I'm joined today by Dr. Carolina Reis Oliveira, one of the CEOs and co-founders of One Skin. Dr. Oliveira holds a PhD in stem cell biology and tissue engineering. She has co-invented five patents and co-authored numerous scientific publications. She and her team are disrupting the outdated anti-aging skincare industry with their cutting-edge research on skin and longevity.

In our conversation, Dr. Reis Oliveira shares her journey from receiving her PhD to co-founding One Skin. We explore the impact of cellular senescence and immunosenescence and how estrogen receptors in the skin change during perimenopause and menopause, increasing the rate of senescent cell accumulation. We discuss skin as a longevity organ and the research behind the OS-01 peptide, including how it supports the microbiome and blood flow, its exceptional results for increasing hair thickness, and how to use this peptide in skin, body, or hair care. We also cover the effects of sun and environmental exposures on skin aging, and Dr. Reis Oliveira discusses her current research on the influence of GLP-1s on stem cells and skin health.

Stay tuned for a truly interesting and insightful conversation on the science of skin, longevity, and the latest research behind One Skin.

IN THIS EPISODE, YOU WILL LEARN:

What led Dr. Reis Oliveira and her team to focus on cellular senescence and skin as a longevity organ?

What cellular senescence is, and why it becomes increasingly important during perimenopause and menopause

How maintaining a healthy skin barrier and good hydration helps the skin recover from various stressors

One Skin's research and product development process

How Dr. Reis Oliveira's team measures the epigenetic signature of the skin to determine biological skin age

The importance of supporting the barrier function across the entire body, and not just the face

How stress, hormonal changes, and aging increase senescent cells within hair follicles, and how to support hair density and thickness

Why protecting your skin from UV exposure remains an important part of healthy aging

Investigating whether the OS-01 peptide could help support skin quality in people using GLP-1 medications

How long does it typically take to see results with One Skin face, body, eye, and hair products

Bio: Dr. Carolina Reis Oliveira

Dr. Carolina Reis Oliveira is the CEO and co-founder of One Skin. She holds a Ph.D. in stem cell biology and tissue engineering, is a co-inventor of 5 patents, and a co-author of numerous scientific publications. She relocated from Brazil to Silicon Valley in 2016 to found One Skin, a fast-growing longevity company developing products to promote skin age reversal by targeting a central driver of aging, the accumulation of senescent cells.

Carolina and her team are disrupting the outdated anti-aging skincare industry with their groundbreaking research around skin and longevity.

Connect with Cynthia Thurlow

Follow on X, Instagram & LinkedIn

Check out Cynthia’s website.

Submit your questions to support@cynthiathurlow.com

Join other like-minded women in a supportive, nurturing community: The Midlife Pause/Cynthia Thurlow.

Purchase Cynthia’s book, The Menopause Gut.

Cynthia’s Intermittent Fasting Transformation Book

The Midlife Pause Supplement Line

Connect with Dr. Carolina Reis Oliveira

One Skin

On TikTok

Instagram

I am honored to have Dr. Carrie Jones back on the podcast today. She’s a naturopathic physician and hormone expert with over 20 years of clinical experience in women's health and endocrinology.

In today’s conversation, we unpack common social media myths about midlife, the influence of lifestyle choices in perimenopause, the role of cortisol and hormones, and current research on the parasympathetic nervous system. Dr. Jones explains vagal freeze, how our stress response can exacerbate it, and why stress has become so normalized. We also explore the influence of synthetic hormones, thyroid propaganda, immune system function, autoimmunity, lab reference values and ranges, and the timing hypothesis of hormone replacement therapy, and Dr. Jones shares her favorite new supplements.

Stay tuned for another insightful conversation with one of my favorite voices in the hormone space.

IN THIS EPISODE, YOU WILL LEARN:

The importance of being thoughtful about information shared on social media regarding perimenopause and menopause

How chronic stress becomes harder to tolerate and can cause an increase in inflammation during perimenopause

Some simple strategies to help you feel safe, connected, and supported, and improve your vagal tone

How actual stress, anticipated stress, and perceived stress all activate the same stress response

How chronic stress affects every system within the body

How certain women can tolerate synthetic hormones very well, while others develop various symptoms

Why basic blood tests and reference ranges are not always optimal for everyone

Factors that could influence thyroid function, and the benefits of a broader thyroid assessment than TSH alone

Dr. Jones explains why she prefers to start hormone therapy early in perimenopause if appropriate

The new supplements Dr. Jones uses to support mood, stress, and sleep

Connect with Cynthia Thurlow

Follow on X, Instagram & LinkedIn

Check out Cynthia’s website.

Submit your questions to support@cynthiathurlow.com

Join other like-minded women in a supportive, nurturing community: The Midlife Pause/Cynthia Thurlow.

Purchase Cynthia’s book, The Menopause Gut.

Cynthia’s Intermittent Fasting Transformation Book

The Midlife Pause Supplement Line

Connect with Dr. Carrie Jones

On her website

Instagram

YouTube

Hello Hormones Podcast