Hormones and Health - Keeping vibrant, healthy and sane under pressure

Hello. Welcome everybody to another episode of Thrive Time. We are here to have some really great content today because here's a question I have for you. Are you a woman or do you know a woman? Did you come out of a woman? Are you related to a woman? If you have any yeses to any of those answers, then this episode is definitely, definitely for you. All right, so. So here we are back again with thrivetime. And I'm very, very, very interested in this topic because frankly, one of the things I've been wondering a lot about my entire life, okay, pretty much from 13, I've been wondering a lot about women. I've been wondering a lot about them. But more than that, over the last couple of years, what's happened for me is as WildFit has taken off and grown all around the world, I have really had the opportunity to meet and talk with and get to know a lot of different women around the world facing a variety of different health challenges, which I frankly am ill equipped to deal with sometimes. And so it's really been a privilege of mine to meet some experts in that field. And today is absolutely no exception. We are going to have a real treat today because our guest really, really knows her stuff. And I want to introduce you to her right now. So we're going to be talking today with Annika Beckett. She's an internationally acclaimed menopause and sexual health expert, global speaker and pioneering promoter of women's health. She's an Emory University trained and triple board certified in gynecology and obstetrics, integrative medicine, anti aging, regenerative medicine, and she's a best selling author of the book the Hormone Fix. So I am absolutely thrilled to welcome her to the show today. Anna, please say hello.

Hello. Hello. Great to be here with you, Eric. Thanks so much for having me.

You know, I meant everything that I said earlier. I really, you know, one of the things that we've seen a great deal through Wildfit is when we first started WildFit, it was largely something that we were doing for our business clients. And because it was something we really offered at our, at our business freedom programs. And that was basically the only way people could find their way to WildFit. And so at that stage, we were probably 60% men and 40% women as clientele for the first several years. And then one day our publisher, mindvalley, picked up the program and they started putting it out there in a really, really big way. And all of a sudden our demographics changed dramatically and we're now at a Point where we're probably like something like 65 to 70% of our clients around the world are women. And so that's really put me in a position where I've been facing all kinds of interesting questions about food and hormones and all that kind of stuff. So I'm really, really thrilled to have you here. First thing I really want to jump in with you is you've got a new book coming out. I don't mean to make this a big plug for your book, but I know you've got a book coming out, and I wanted to talk a little bit about. Because your new book is about. Your new book is really about keto, if I understand that correctly. And I wanted to kind of talk. I want to jump into that because as you know, in Wildfit, we've got, you know, we've got Wildfit Spring, and you've got this book coming out, you know, keto Green. I want to talk a little bit about that relative to health and hormone balance and that kind of stuff. So give us a little lowdown on how you think keto supports people, supports women, particularly with those issues. Yeah.

And actually would say it's essential. It's essential for hormone balancing. As we know, keto helps us become insulin sensitive if we do it right. Right there is keto dirty, but keto, Keto clean, I like to say, is keto Green. And. And that does make a difference for women. I think one of the big aha moments for me was in my own personal journey, just when I was cycling down at age 48 and I was struggling with brain fog, memory loss, and weight gain. And that was just, you know, that was just agonizing. And then coming into what I now call my keto Green way to pull me out of that. That as our hormones shift as we age, our ability for our brain to use glucose for fuel over ketones, you know, our ability for our brain to use glucose for fuel is compromised because that process is estrogen dependent. But using ketones for fuel, not estrogen dependent, it is essential for brain clarity among. Among other things. But we have to do it the right way. So that's how. That's how I just really emphasize, especially in the perimenopause and beyond that we at least jump into keto on a regular basis, get our body into ketosis on a regular basis.

I agree with you completely, and I'm going to dive into that even more deeply because I know it's a big question for people. Here's something that's happened to us a lot like in fact for a while, I haven't checked in on it a while, but there was this group on Facebook called, they called themselves the Eric Haters. And, and here's why. It was a joke. It was a joke because in brackets they put lovers. And here's what was going on is it was. There were a lot of women that were in that 24 month menopausal, you know, transition period and they, menstruation had stopped and all this kind of stuff. And then they went through wildfit, they got into spring, they learned how to put their bodies into really good solid keto and then suddenly menstruation would begin again. And so hence they hated me. But equally they saw it as a winding back of the biological clock. Can you give us some insight as to why that happens?

Yes, exactly. And that's so important. I love that, I love that. That's just such an empower, empowerment. That's the body, you know, resuming fertility again, right. Turning back the biologic clock. They just aged younger. And I love to see that and often hear. And that was the truth for me too. 48 in that perimenopause and able to reverse it. And now at 53, I may finally actually be through, through menopause another month to be sure. But what's happening is as we get into ketos and when we're doing it the right way, right, adding in the plant based greens, that what we, what we see happen is that we increase insulin sensitivity. We are supporting our hormones, especially correct cortisol, when we're working with intermittent fasting and we're working with alkalinizing ingredients, we're getting out in nature, moving our body, sleeping well, which is all a component of a healthy, you know, healthy living plan. So as we get more insulin sensitive and also manage cortisol, our natural production of progesterone is higher, our natural production of dhea, the precursors to estrogen and testosterone is higher. And we see that, we see that in lab values, we see that beautiful rejuvenation. Those numbers just are illustrating this rejuvenation process in full swing.

That's actually very much the way we've explained it is that it is almost like a reversing of aging at that point because the hormones start to come in balance. Let's talk a little bit about something else you said that really intrigued me. I don't know your definitions of keto clean and keto dirty. I think I can guess, but I'd love to hear your side of that?

Well, definitely, because often we think of, you know, ketogenic diet as the bacon and butter diet and processed foods. And you can certainly do hot dogs and Velveeta and get into keto, you know, get be ketogenic and get into ketosis. But that is not healthy because we always want to think how are we nourishing our body, right? It's not just about feeding our body, getting fed, it's about nourishing our body. And, and so we want to look at the balanced micronutrients that we're getting to support our cellular processes, our immune system. So keto dirty, you kind of get the image. And keto clean is that like this. We are what we ate ate, right? So did that receive antibiotics? Was that injected with hormones? And women, look, we want to rely on our own hormone production. Certainly don't want to be eating antibiotics and eating hormones from our food sources. And that's going to interfere with our body's natural hormone production. That's where we become estrogen dominant. We have, then we have toxic hormones and problems with hormone metabolism when we're doing that. And so with the keto clean aspect, it is that wild, you know, wild grown, free range, you know, raised, grass fed, all that wild caught all of those things that really do make a difference in the quality of the food we're eating. But plus with balancing the fiber in our diet so that we're not constipated, we're not, you know, metabolically acidic, you know, and that we're incorporating alkalinizing foods and alkalinizing lifestyle practices and that creates a more of a keto clean, hence keto green program.

I really like that. It's funny because, you know, I think you can apply that principle to just about any, you know, any kind of diet. Like there's vegan clean and there's vegan not clean, there's carnivore clean and carnivore not clean. And you know, I think that's a really important distinction. I've noticed very often people think that a certain word means healthy, like natural means healthy or organic. I could have sworn I saw deep fried potato chips the other day that were organic. Like that means that that's going to be healthy for you. So that's interesting. Now here's something that kind of, that leads into, for me anyway, is that very often when I'm, you know, speaking around the world and I'm talking to people about different things, I'll throw, I'll drop something on them, like you've just done. And then they will say to me, well, it's too late for me now. You know, I've, I've already messed that up. Let's talk a little bit about how, how can somebody, you know, turn that around? What, what can they do to, to get themselves back into balance, to cleanse themselves of the toxicity?

Oh my gosh, there is so much that we can do and there's no age limit on it. I worked with clients as you have in their 70s and their 80s and you know, even in my own family history, turning around my dad's life at age 79 when his doctors had given up with him and telling me he's lived a good life, right in implementing what we practice and some bioidentical hormones, he didn't just live a good life, he lived a great life till age 91, 2012 years after they had given up on him. And so like we can shift so quickly. And with that, this 79 year old man went from 120 units of insulin per day to 20 units of insulin per day. His doctor had never seen that. His doctor was practicing 30 years. There's so much. Our body has this ability to rejuvenate and let's not put an age limit on it. And it breaks my heart. I mean, Eric, I had done a sprint triathlon at age 44 and I had a client come into my office, she saw the picture of my triathlon win and only did once because I checked that box on my bucket list and that's it. But anyway, she's like, oh man, I wish I could do that, but I'm too old. I looked at her chart, she was 39, a full five years younger than me. I was like, how, you know, why are you giving up on yourself? You're never too old. And I think that's really an important impression to make. And especially when it comes to how we can empower our body through lifestyle. It's amazing. We are designed to do that given the right, you know, historical and evolutionary practices that's part of the process. And the addition of nutrition and supplements and hormones that in a physiologic range can really support us.

You know, just yesterday we had one of our wildfit classes coming through graduation and, and I checked in on the class myself. And the very first woman to check in, she was a spitfire. I mean, I couldn't like the energy, she was overflowing. And you know, she, she was so excited because in a very real way it seemed like she was getting you know, this expression that a new lease on life. Well, what does that really mean? It means that I think sometimes you come to a place where they do think it's now too late, it's over. I mean, can you imagine in that 30s thinking that this woman was 75 years old, 75 years old, and she was like, I have a whole new chapter to write right now because I have energy, because my moods are balanced and so on. And that kind of leads me to my next question because I went through something. My. My first wife and I went through a really difficult time together. And we. We created the most incredible little boy in the world. He's not so little anymore, 22 or something. And they allege. And he say, but. But, you know, at the time, we went through a real difficulty, which may have been something like postpartum depression or something like. Let's talk a little bit about, you know, I think hormones in men and women, but in particular in women, they're going to fluctuate heavily, especially during those types of things. Obviously, if we stay in balance, that's going to help a lot. But are there specific things or specific hacks that you would suggest, like, somebody is coming, you know, they want to recover quickly, you know, post birth, and they want to keep their hormones balanced and keep their moods on track. What would you recommend?

Yeah, definitely. Especially postpartum. Postpartum depression, pms, pmdd, perimenopausal depression, anxiety, all of these. These are hormonal. There's a hormonal component to all of this. Absolutely. And what I say in my first book, the hormone fix, is takes more than hormones to fix our hormones. There's certainly so much more that we need to do than just hormones. But this is a really big gap in our gynecologic and obstetric practices in helping women in these transition phases of life that we have solutions for. And so it starts with this. Hence, I always say it starts with really optimizing healthy fats. Healthy fats are needed for hormones. And I say this because also I've tested. I'm a big test. Don't guess. I've looked at fatty acid levels in postpartum moms or women that have had two children and more or even, you know, wanting to conceive. I've evaluated fatty acid levels. So looking at Omega 3, EPA and DHA concentration. So when we look at a bottle on fish oils, we look at the EPA DHA concentration, right? And we look at that in the blood because we need fatty acids for healthy Cell membranes. Every woman who's had two or more children, for sure, were significantly, significantly low. And every postpartum woman was low on their fatty acid level. So right away we're thinking, okay, let's optimize fatty acids. So through, you know, wild caught salmon, through oysters, really big on raw oysters in the southeast here. So then it's a superfood, right? And then supplementation with clean fish oil sources that have been tested, cleared of any mercury toxicity. That's a really big improvement. So fish oils are really important. And then, you know, adaptogens. Adaptogens, adaptogenic substances for me, which helped me part of my journey around the world, created this combination of adaptogens called Mighty Maca plus, but maca, huge adrenal adaptogen, quercetin, resveratrol, turmeric, grapeseed extract, all of these, you know, cat's claw herb anti inflammatory adaptogens that can really support the body's natural healing capacity. So that's all in this one formula. But then also during this time, progesterone is plummeting. Using bioidentical progesterone, either oral or transdermal, for postpartum depression was a mainstay in my care for clients. Progesterone is this neuroprotective hormone when we are stressed, okay, having a baby, I don't know about y', all, but I will admit it's so awesome. But there's a certain significant amount of stress. That worry starts right with pregnancy and certainly continues. I don't think there's an end game on maternal worry. But that cortisol is further depleting progesterone, this really vital hormone of peace, of decreasing anxiety, of helping with getting a good night's sleep and depression. So unless we have great support, lots of laughter, lots of great nourishing lifestyle practices, that drop in progesterone can contribute to worsening postpartum depression, pms, perimenopausal transition, issues with anxiety and depression, not to mention all the menstrual irregularities. So bioidentical progesterone during this time. So that's my triad, bioidentical progesterone, omega 3 fish oils. And for me, it's the Mighty Maca supplement or something similar that adaptogenic support, which you can do while breastfeeding and is very much healthier than antianxiety medications.

And so, wow, that's, you know, your stuff.

Well, I found that to be so helpful because I saw patients that came to me, you know, they'd been medicated and they still didn't feel good. And, and once I got them, you know, balanced and getting a good night's sleep, progesterone helps with that good night's sleep. Naturally we're able to wean off the medications and they just, the cloud lifts. They're happy, they're joyful, they're experiencing the love of motherhood versus like just the constant in this fear state. So with lifestyle again, it's always, and you're so amazing about sharing this and teaching this, but it's all about the lifestyle. What is the, you know, activities that help restore you. Where is our attention focused and, and how that just shifts our physiology so that in combination with some support that we need, it just is transformational.

You know, I think about, you know, me, I'm always, I'm always going through sort of evolutionary theory like what, what, what process did we go through to evolve the hormones, biochemistry, physiology, instincts and stuff that we have? And, and so one of the observations I've had, having spent quite a lot of time, you know, with, with hunter gatherer people in Africa over the last 10 years, and just general human nature is, it strikes me that it is safer for a woman to be a little afraid when she's in late stage pregnancy and just after she's had the baby. In nature, it would be safer for her to be a little bit afraid. You know, it's just safer. And it just means like, yeah, a little bit vigilant, it's safer. I have this a little being I have to take care of. But here's one of the things that, that gets me and I really think we need to bring some light to this, is that we live in a world now where it is safer than it's ever been. I mean, look, even now, even with everything we're facing right now, it's still safer than it's ever been, been ever. And so I suspect that one of the troubles that we run into is that a woman goes into that say vigilant, period. You know what? The only thing worse than a spider that you can see is the spider that you can't see. And so I think sometimes part of what's happening is that, you know, women go into that, that post birth they've had the baby, the baby's there and they go into this vigilance, but there's like nothing around that's. And it would almost be better if they could see something scary in the distance and go, okay, the scary thing is there, I know about it, but it's Almost like it's, it's almost like I'm calibrated for this terrifying environment and then there's nothing terrifying. And that's even more scary because I can't see it. I'm, I'm, I'm really curious. Let's, like from the. Okay, breastfeeding is going to help. Progesterone. Progesterone is going to help. Talk to me a little bit about, like, what about meditative practice? Like, how do you recommend that? You know, look, one of my favorite expressions is the less you want to meditate, the more you need to in that moment. Right? And so, you know, but what I'm suggesting, what I'm asking is what can we do, even in our minds, what can we do to really try to bring that calm in, to communicate that we don't have to be vigilant? What do you suggest there?

Well, I think it really. The power of pregnancy, especially in this postpartum time, is the power of oxytocin. Why breastfeeding, feeding is so therapeutic. Increasing prolactin, increasing oxytocin. These are calming hormones, the most alkalinizing hormones to our body. I mean, oxytocin is the most alkalinizing hormone in our body. That hormone of love, bonding and connection that attaches us to this newborn. And every time we nurse, we're, you know, just continuing, continuing this attachment. Just the hormone, it's the hormone of childbirth, oxytocin. So there's that evolutionary reason for oxytocin. So continuing with increasing oxytocin, increasing habits like meditating. Meditating is essential on the positive, on the good. Gratitude, joy, compassion increases oxytocin. So even in this stage, especially in this postpartum, where meditating can be, you know, like that is certainly a challenge. Continues to this day. Eric, I got to work on it. You'll have to help me. Continues to be a challenge. But the practice of compassion, getting into a compassionate, heart centered space to increase coherence and heart rate variability, I mean, that's huge. Let's just want to talk about heart rate variability because we're still in this postpartum conversation, is that when we as obstetricians monitor a mom during labor and we're checking on fetal health, the baby's health, we're continuously listening to that heart rate variability. We're listening beat by beat variability, we're looking for the jagged curve. When that straightens out, that's a stressed out baby. When there is less heart rate variability, that's a stressed out baby. And you know, and I think, and then we're as obstetricians, we're like, I got to get this baby out right away. This baby is now in a traumatic time period. Right. It's stressed, it's dangerous. Let's get this baby out. Then we stop listening to our heart rate variability as adults. And I think especially in the postpartum, listening to the baby's heart rate, listening to the mom's heart rate, that there can create such coherence there too. That helps with our heart rate variability and helps with our recovery too, and also increases oxytocin, decreases cortisol. When cortisol goes up, oxytocin goes down. So we have to balance that out by these oxytocin building practices like meditation, like compassion, and watch that increase and test, don't guess right. Look at your heart rate variability.

Yeah. And that's getting obviously easier and easier. We now have all the devices that can measure that for us and give us feedback on it. I want to talk a little bit about breastfeeding. It's something I'm. As you know, we've talked about it and I talk about it a lot in the WildFit community. I'm a major fan of breastfeeding over any other way of feeding a baby when it's at all possible. Of course, you've just kind of highlighted something that I don't think gets talked about enough. And I think that there's a lot of discussion about how important breastfeeding is for the baby. There's a lot of discussion about that. In fact, I'll tell you how seriously I took that. Is that when our little Zoe was born, little Zoe.