In a short interview focused on women navigating perimenopause and menopause, Speaker B recounts a pivotal moment when adding MCT oil to a salad sparked a noticeable surge in energy, illustrating the functional‑medicine principle that food can act as medicine. She explains that MCT oil is rapidly taken up by cells without active transport, providing quick fuel, but warns that excessive amounts can disrupt bowel function. Contrasting this with the effects of processed foods—cereals, pizza, etc.—she describes how such foods deplete B‑vitamins and magnesium, leaving the body fatigued and low‑mood for days. Drawing from a decade of personal experience, she advises listeners to begin dietary improvement with a single, manageable change and progressively “clean up” their diet to restore a feeling of well‑being that many have never known.
Chapters
There were several questions that kind of came about, about vitamins and nutrients and diet and exercise. So thinking about all of those things that women in perimenopause or pre-perimenopause and then menopause women are thinking about, what are some of the habit changes that you made that had the biggest impact on your journey?
I remember when I first started on this journey, you know, I was studying at the Institute of Functional Medicine and I read this book and I did exactly what it said. In the book, and I was eating a salad with MCT oil and some red wine vinaigrette. I had so much energy after that salad, and it just dawned on me, oh my gosh, I think it's the MCT oil. My brain is finally getting what it needs. And that is the truth of it. MCT oil doesn't have to be changed. It goes straight into your cells. There's no like active transport that has to happen. And so it's just, It gives you a little boost of energy. You do have to be careful 'cause too much at once can affect your bowels. But that was a really critical moment for me because it was like, I heard Dr. Hyman say, "Food is information, food is medicine," but I felt it in that moment. And I was like, "I want more of that, whatever that is." Because when I would eat a bowl of cereal or a couple pieces of pizza, I was miserable. I would be depressed for 3 days, or I would just have no energy and I'd want to take a nap because I'm eating the wrong things and it's actually depleting me and it's actually requiring my B vitamins and magnesium and all the good stuff to break down that garbage I just ate and digest it. So it's like you're, you're robbing Peter to pay Paul and you're continuing to stay depleted. So I would encourage everybody, start with one thing and see what it does. But the truth of it is, I've been saying this for a decade now, I was so unhealthy that it was my norm that I just felt like garbage all the time that until I really cleaned up everything, I didn't know what feeling good felt like. But once I got a taste of it, I didn't want to go back.
