Acute vs Chronic Stress Effects on Cortisol in Menopause and Beyond

Real quick, before we dive into this episode, I have a little sleep secret I want to tell you about. Look, sleep is crucial for your fitness, but it's crucial for just plain old everyday life and function. And I find I sleep great unless I have a migraine. And I've had more than my fair share since perimenopause all the way through postmenopause. My secret weapon was Blue Sky CBD sleep gels. Each gel contains 25 milligrams of CBD and 25 milligrams CBN for deep restorative sleep. Something about it helps to reduce inflammation, which I believe for me was key in helping me get to sleep. But the biggest thing is so many of the over-the-counter solutions, whether for sleep or migraines, can ruin gut health, and liver health. Neither one of those did I want to be problematic for me. So this option is recommended by healthcare providers worldwide and backed by thousands of happy customers, many of whom come from our Flipping 50 community. There is zero THC, so it's non-habit-forming. It's made by a trusted family-owned company that we all can feel good about. Third-party tested for purity and potency. And if you're interested, you too can try a sample for just $6. But even better, you can get 30% off forever with discount code FLIPPING50. That's FLIPPING50. Just go to flipping50.com/blueskycbd. We'll put that link in the show notes and you'll find it everywhere on Flipping 50 at My Favorites. What are you waiting for? Good night. What you don't know about cortisol might hurt you and might rob you of all its benefits. So this is that kind of podcast where we talk about the yin and the yang and the good and the bad and how if you're in the bad, you can get to the good. It's all about cortisol today with my guest. I'm Debra Atkinson and you're listening to Flipping 50. I started this podcast over a decade ago to answer questions about fitness and menopause and beyond before you know to ask them. The goal to help accelerate your results with the science and the practical application of proven protocols while living your best life. There's no more powerful health influencer in the world than a midlife woman. It's not just you, but it's the 3 generations that you influence. My unique 40-year career, including being a university senior lecturer in kinesiology, an industry subject matter expert, an international speaker, to founder of the first and the only exclusively made-for-menopause-and-beyond fitness membership in the world. Every week I interview experts behind the science of optimal hormone-balancing fitness and longevity and share answers to our community's questions so you can have the vitality and the energy you want, need, and deserve. There is no escaping stress, but cortisol in menopause changes, and with that, your stress response to nearly everything also might have changed. You don't feel it at first, but then there's this unexplained Maybe it's weight gain for you or belly fat. Maybe it's just the— I experienced this where I would actually feel like the hair on the back of my neck raised, not in fear, but in like, "Ugh, I feel this is happening to me," and it wasn't a hot flash, it was something else. There's a lot less focus or concentration than you used to have. It shows up in different ways for all of us. In this episode, we bring back guest health expert, Sarah Banta. She's founder of Accelerated Health Products and host of the famed Accelerated Health Podcast. She's known for making the complicated simple and her desire to support the underlying causes of illness as opposed to masking or band-aiding symptoms. I think you're going to love this because it's a topic that you and I and all of us need in this contemporary life we're living. Well, welcome back to Sarah Banta, who I think might have just hit the world record for most, most often guest on the podcast. Hey, how are you?

I'm good. I feel like our, our audiences need both of us. I need you, Debra, and you need me.

I do need you. Personal level.

And it's— it also helps that we actually like each other off off camera.

So true. And it's true, I need your accessories. I mean, do you see this? I had nothing. I had nothing. You always got all the things.

It's just like, okay, okay, yes, okay.

We're talking about a topic that right now I feel like is almost like an open can of worms on social media. And I, I hate to lead with what's on social media dictating what we're talking about, and yet I feel like it's very important because finally The conversation is coming back around to this, but I also think it's so misunderstood. We talk cortisol and everybody suddenly thinks, "Oh, that's evil," or, "Oh, you're making a big deal out of that." They're one side or the other, and no one really understands it or takes the time to do it. So if you are struggling, this is your moment. We're gonna talk about it right here. So let's pull it into the lens of first, the difference between acute and chronic cortisol so that people understand that.

Yeah, you know, I love cortisol. It's what wakes you up in the morning. It gets you out of bed. It's what says, okay, you can wake up without that alarm clock. It brains your— it fuels your brain. It regulates that inflammation so you heal without overreacting. It supports your immune defenses so you're protected. And think about when you you were in college and you did finals week and you were busting out those hours and hours and hours of studying and you didn't get sick, but then you landed at home on Christmas break and all of a sudden you got sick. It's because your stress just kind of came down and your body said, "Oh, now I have time to get sick," because cortisol actually boosts up your immune system for that initial acute response. But when— and it also helps with your blood sugar stability so your brain doesn't run out of fuel. And it helps with the blood pressure and your electrolyte balance, all of these things in that acute stage. But here's the catch. Both emotional and physical stress can throw that rhythm off, especially if you're under it for a long term. And what makes it even worse for all of us, and this is why it's trending on social media, is in 2025, we're following the pandemic. And yes, we've got financial stress, we've got the husband stress, we've got the kids stress, we've got the menopausal stress, we've got the stress for overworking out because we were taught to do chronic cardio. All of those are regular stressors that women have been dealing with for years and years and years. But the spike protein And the pandemic has actually made this even worse. Our liver can't regulate that cortisol. It actually causes depression and anxiety, which will also boost up cortisol in a bad way and burn out our adrenals. And we have even more stress on our bodies and we can't get out. And Debra, I see this in my own family. I have someone in my family who was diagnosed with stage 4 adrenal fatigue. And essentially he said, "You know, I eat clean, I take all the supplements you tell me to, Sarah, and nothing works. I have the belly fat, I can't build the muscle, all the things. And it doesn't matter if I try, you know, steroids," which he didn't, "or testosterone or the peptides or all the things." if your adrenals are wiped out, nothing works. It's like asking an electric car to run without a battery and just pouring in, plugging it in, plugging it in. Or the other example is just what happened to me this week where my computer said it doesn't matter how many times you plug it in, the battery's drained. And so I had to get a new computer. Well, unfortunately, we can't trade in our bodies, right? We've got to work with what we have. But We've got this low cortisol that happens when our adrenals are just, they say, kaput. And, you know, there's so many other stressors we're going to get into, what it does to the thyroid and the brain and all of the— and the liver. The liver is a huge part of this. But you've got 3 stages. You've got the overdrive phase where the chronic stress, emotional, physical, chemical, That's another thing that we have today that we didn't even have like 10, 15 years ago. Yeah, is the pollutants in our air, our water, and our food. I actually just got a scan done. It's a scalar machine that scans your body for a whole bunch of things, and on the top of it was fluoride, was alcohol. I don't drink alcohol. It had some other— it had gluten. I don't eat gluten. So somehow those elements are getting into my body. I, I eat organic. I don't go out to dinner very often. I'm pretty boring, unfortunately, but I'm also a good test case, right? So I even get in these toxins and I don't know where they— a lot, a lot of supplements on the market are filled with stuff. If you're buying a supplement on Amazon, it might not even be the real supplement. And it might have a whole bunch of fillers or toxins that your body is reactive to. That's a stressor. That will hit your epinephrine and your cortisol. So you have that overdrive phase, then you have the compensation phase where the thyroid slows. Why does the thyroid slow down? Well, I'm being chased by a tiger or I'm facing a famine for 6 months. I need to survive. I am going to not only slow down my metabolism, but I'm going to increase the propensity to store fat without changing my diet. Let alone the fact that when you're stressed, you stress-eat and then you end up putting in more calories than you do when you are not stressed. So it's a double whammy. The metabolism dips, the blood sugar spikes, and that Blood sugar spike increases insulin, which is a fat-storing hormone, and you crash. And then you have no energy, so you're eating more to try to gain that energy. And you're probably reaching for the high-sugar, processed foods because you don't really want to take the time to cook some meat and vegetables. And that is not going to fill you up. And your body says, "Okay, keep eating because I'm not getting what I want." So it's like this domino effect and everything goes in the wrong direction. And then you sit there and go, "I feel like crap and I'm depressed." And not only am I depressed mentally because I'm not getting the results that I want, but I'm depressed physically because my brain is not getting the circulation it needs. It's not getting the cortisol it needs to wake up and get out of bed. But then I'm wired and tired at night and can't sleep. And you're exhausted. Cortisol output drops, energy tanks, your body starts stealing from other hormones like progesterone and testosterone to keep going. And if we're in menopause, our hormones are already suffering and our adrenals are that battery pack. So when our ovaries die, the adrenals take over that production of the hormones. So if there's more stress on the adrenals even more so, the hormonal imbalance is going to only get worse. My girls who are 18 and 21 can go on the rowing machine for 3 hours and then they can go do a lifting session. They've got great hormones. I can't do that anymore. And that's where you come in to teach people how to, you know, restore their physique, build that muscle, lose the fat. But first, we've got to balance with nutrition, sleep, lifestyle hacks, supplements to get you back on track. So the top triggers that burn out the adrenals: chronic emotional stress, nonstop work pressure, caregiving. So here we are in our 40s and 50s, we've got our elderly parents that are stressing us out, and then we've got our adult children that are, you know, we're not changing diapers anymore, but we're managing maybe boyfriend/girlfriends, husbands/wives, grandkids, all of that. You've got marriage stress or relationship stress. And then you've got the mini emergencies that never give you a break, the blood sugar roller coasters that we've talked about. And then you're having your coffee, possibly on an empty stomach because we've all been taught We should be intermittent fasting. And I'm not against intermittent fasting for everybody, but it's not a blanket everyone should be intermittent fasting, especially if you're completely stressed out. And then overtraining, right, Debra?

Right.

The long cardio with no recovery. If you're going for an 8-mile run every day, your body knows you're going for an 8-mile run every day, and it's going to slow down that metabolism. And it's going to say, okay, she's not giving me enough calories, but she's going to take me on this 2-hour exhaustion and I have no fuel in the tank. I'm going to shut down the metabolism even more. Let's—

let me interject right here, because some of you are thinking, I never go for an 8-hour— it could be for you an hour and a half hike. Yeah, I've watched, I've watched people do it beside them, honestly. And, you know, So it is relative to you, by the way, that we're saying this. And it's also what are you doing over time? So, and I want to come back to intermittent fasting. So it's not just that, but I've also seen women doing what I call intended-to-be therapeutic kinds of things for a long term. Like something that's therapeutic and done for a short time that actually may work or kind of re-fire your wire, you know, system. But trying to do that long term because, hey, that felt really good. And, and by that, I see a lot of women just dipping really, really low in carbohydrate because initially you'll lose water weight. That feels really good, you feel lighter. But that's okay if it's Thursday and you're doing that for a Saturday night event, but it's not necessarily okay long term. And you'll get that feedback, but you may not know where it came from because you got all these other things coming in on your life. So realize, number one, the exercise piece is relative to you. So whatever feels like that's an endurance event for you, or right now your body is saying it's endurance because you're not feeding me anything, right? And you're doing this repeatedly, and, and it's finally gonna say, no, wait, you're getting me to the breaking point here. Sorry to interrupt, but it felt really important for you to understand, whoever you are listening, this is for you too. There is a tipping point for you that's personal.

Yes, that's a huge point. And then also, what are you going through in life at that moment? So it could change. And the next one is the inflammation overload from infections, mold, autoimmune conditions. These are stressors. And personally, almost a year ago, I had a spike protein exposure parasite infection that then became shingles and viral. And so my liver was overwhelmed with all that it had to deal with and my immune system, right? Everything was under attack. Mind you, nothing changed. My workouts were the same, my diet was the same, I was doing all the same things. Like I said, I'm super boring, so I'm a great test case. But with all that being said, My cortisol was high, my thyroid hormones were down, my testosterone was down. Why? Because my body was under attack. It was in a stress state. And then what was happening, Debra? I was eating away at my own muscles because that's what cortisol does, right? It just eats away because it wants to keep that fat on and eat away at your muscles. And us over 40 and 50, we've We've got to keep our muscle, right? And so it— this was a real eye-opening experience for me personally. And this is part of the reason that I'm so passionate about this topic because these stressors are that hidden key that is keeping us from our goals.

Amen. And I want to come back to one thing. So for listeners, If you're— that just went over your head or through you and you, you were walking and navigating a rock or something, come back to us right now. So Sarah said it was eating away at her muscles. And you and I, Sarah, are probably hyper-diligent on getting onto a smart scale and, and/or maybe doing something more to be sure. We're checking, we're checking in regularly because that's such a slippery slope if you don't monitor it, or you may see a little like, "This is a loss," you just want to know, "Is that a trend or was that a fluke?" You know, and that can happen too. Those flukes do happen. So don't let alarms go off right away. But if you see 3 measures going in the wrong direction, you need to pay attention. So I'm talking 3 weeks, not 3 months, and definitely not 3 years. We don't have that time to lose anymore. But for those of you that are not using a smart scale, if I could say one piece, one tool, it's not going to be even a weight or a bench or a ball, it's going to be a smart scale so that you know what you're measuring. I, I— this happens every day. I've got women who feel like, you know, I'm out and I'm active and I'm feeling so much better, my clothes are looser. And I'm like, what are you learning about your muscle mass? Because that's got to be the next question. Are we losing the right thing? Are we losing inflammation and/or fat, not the muscle? Because that will come back to bite you in the butt. Yeah, if it is, it will mean ultimately your, your metabolism is going to slow down. It's going to turn around and get harder for you to get to that again. Temporarily, we'll get elated because we've been conditioned to be that way, but you have to measure and know, is it— should I really celebrate?

Yeah, I love that you brought this up because I have the BodyPod, the Hume BodyPod, and I can share with you my 20% discount if anyone is interested in getting it, but it's been a game changer for me because there are days when the scale says it's higher and that is— and my water is higher, right? My muscle's higher, right? And, and your muscle is 80% water, right? So you're— that's just one of those— we could do a whole podcast on this, Debra, where if you're dehydrated, it actually might show your muscle go down But this is where you want to follow the trend and make sure you're, you're testing yourself at the same time every day. And after all, but that trend, the bathroom scale on its own tells you nothing. There, there, most times actually when the scale is down, my fat is up and my muscle's down.

Yeah.

So it can be very confusing and play with the mind, especially for women.

Yeah, so just back to that to emphasize what Sarah said. You're not necessarily losing or gaining muscle if you're measuring in different conditions, different times of day. So even if you say, "Monday morning, first thing I get out of bed, I pee and I weigh, and that's the same every time," you still might see a little variance based on what was the weather, how much humidity was there over the weekend, how much did you exert because you may have lost a lot of water and may be a little dehydrated Anyway, you maybe ate something higher in sodium, so you're actually retaining water and holding on to more. That will change because we store the water in our muscles. So it's not that you lost or gained muscle necessarily, it's are we seeing all the muscle? So if you're hydrated at same status, then we know we're okay. We're looking at apples to apples every time I do this. And that's where— look at the trend. There will be a little variance, but this is where those of you don't get obsessed with that thing. It'll change a little from week to week just because you didn't eat exactly the same thing. Hey, this is Debra Atkinson, and there's one thing that you can't do in the gym at your age, and that's get all the protein that you need. You've got to do that in the kitchen. To make it easy for myself to not only get the protein but the fiber, fruits and veggies that I want daily, I started drinking a smoothie a day. Over 30 years ago when I realized all the junk, the sugar, and the extras that you don't want hiding in most protein powders or pre-made shakes. I finally caved in after years of saying I'd never ever ever sell supplements. Look, stop skipping, skimping, and sabotaging yourself in the morning and after workouts by always being prepared Protein plus fiber kill cravings and boost satiety and build muscles and a strong future. Use code PODCAST for 10% off your first order at flipping50.com today.

Okay, so to continue on with the, the stressors, we've got the toxic exposures—pesticides, heavy metals, plastics, the endocrine disruptors that completely knock our hormones out of balance—and the thyroid dysfunction. If I were to guess, I would say 80, at least 80% of Americans have suboptimal thyroid and they're not getting the right testing done by their doctor. Huge issue amongst my clientele. And the thyroid and the adrenals pull on each other and so So they are in this stress loop. So the red flags to look for: morning hangover, fatigue without the alcohol, afternoon crashes between 2:00 and 5:00 PM. Oh gosh, that nap at 3:00 PM sounds so good, or I'm reaching for another coffee or some sort of stimulant. I'm tired and wired at bedtime, craving salty food. Why? Because your adrenals use extra salt and iodine when they're stressed out. That— we'll talk about that in a minute. Um, you get lightheaded when standing up. Your brain— you have brain fog. You can't recall your words. You're sick a lot, right? If it's acute stress, your immune system goes up. If you're chronically stressed, your immune system's down. And then loss of muscle, like we talked about. Low blood pressure. Oh, and the loss of muscle on women, it's in all the wrong places. It's your— it's your butt. Who wants a flat butt, right? Right. Yeah, and it's the legs. We don't want those skinny legs and then the big belly. And why do we get the big belly? Because our body puts, puts on the fat to protect our organs around our gut. Who needs a butt, right? For survival, you don't need a butt. And there is something called the adrenal body type. I have an article about it on my website. You can go see the other aspect is that you get these big shoulders and they call it a fat pad up in the back of your neck. It's almost like a football player. Why? Because you're protecting yourself.

I have this vision. I have this vision of you and I. So I used to do this when we were, we were training trainers. Like, how do you do like a postural assessment? You know, and I want you to understand when you see external rotation. And so we'd say, go to the mall. You know, I mean, don't be creepy, but go to the mall and just look at bodies. And ask yourself what's going on with that person when they walk by. You should get that good so you identify it when you're walking down the hall with a client or prospective client. You can help them right away. I see us like going to the mall and we'd be like, what do you think, adrenal body? Adrenal body?

Unfortunately, it would probably be about 90% of Americans. Oh no. And it makes you So sad looking at these women especially, who you look at them and you're like, I know you are under so much stress and you're carrying the stress of your family and you're just trying to hold it together. You know, I mean, another person could look at that same person and go, she needs to stop eating donuts. Well, maybe it's not the donuts, maybe it's the stress. You get that weight gain, you get the anxiety and depression and mood swings. Why? Because the number one cause of depression, iodine deficiency and slow thyroid. So if the thyroid and the adrenals are taking each other down, then you are going to be depressed. And then of course you're going to be anxious. You're anxious about life. And then you're so wired and tired, you're not sleeping. The anxieties can increase, and the pandemic has made anxiety that much worse. And then you have a difficult time concentrating. Your hormonal imbalances affect everything from your cycle to your libido, which is only going to cause the stress to get worse. So that is what to look for, but there is solution, and there, there's a reason that you are listening today because before you go to the gym and do all the things to get the results Debra is going to tell you about. You want to eat to support your adrenals, you want to rethink your caffeine, and then you want to take some supplements. And just first on the food, you want to focus on the nutrient-dense proteins. And I love the wild proteins. I love the wild proteins because they're the most nutrient-dense, they have a higher amount of omega-3s, Omega-3 fatty acids, lower amounts of the omega-6 inflammatory fatty acids. Chicken, dirty bird, try to stay away from it if you can. It really gives you nothing. But then also surround those, those proteins with the vegetables. And I have an accelerated food guide that lays them out because there are certain vegetables that have oxalates or sulfur in them. That could actually be tripping up your detox pathways, slowing down your thyroid, and making you worse.

I want to pipe in here, first of all, personal experience, but I hear this regularly. I just heard it the other day. In fact, I'm like, I think of you all the time and you don't even know it, but I, I'm like, oh, Sarah wouldn't like that. Um, because you hear people say you should include more sulfurous vegetables in your diet They're— women are being recommended to do this, and in part it's because they're telling them this is going to actually help when estrogen declines. And so women right here who are listening in menopause are being suggested that without knowing. But wait a minute, and if I back up a step, we talked just now about iodine, and that too is controversial. Women will hear the opposite of what you just said. So calling attention to Sarah said, we get depleted in iodine. And often in regard to thyroid, you may hear, you know, avoid iodine. You may hear the exact opposite. So we really need to unpack and sort this out.

And just a real quick on that one, number one on the sulfur. So sulfur vegetables are in the DIM supplement that's supposed to bind the excess estrogen, get it out the body. Sulfur is not the problem. It has been hijacked. The sulfur detox pathways have been hijacked by glyphosate and the environmental toxins. The good news is there's sulfur packed into those wild animal proteins, and the ability to utilize it is, is contained in that meat. So you are going to get your sulfur that way. You can bind your estrogen with calcium D-glucarate away from the DIM supplements. I, personally, when I got rid of the sulfur vegetables out of my diet, within 24 hours dropped 5 pounds of water, Debra. Oh my gosh! So much, so much inflammation, gut bloat, dysbiosis, brain fog, all the things. Then you have the oxalates, which are spinach and berries and kale and almonds. Those Are known to disrupt thyroid health, slow it down, all the things. Iodine. I want to touch on that. The myth about people not taking iodine started with Dr. David Brownstein. And if you go to Accelerated Health with Sarah Banta podcast, search up Dr. David Brownstein and iodine. I pinned him and I said, "Dr. Brownstein, do you believe that people with Hashimoto's should not take iodine. He said, "Sarah, I personally am the one who started that myth. And I started that myth in the first 5 years of my practice when I didn't know anything." So there you go. And when people are saying that they are having maybe an adverse reaction to iodine, it is where is the iodine coming from? Is it paired with a toxic alcohol? Is it paired with a toxic other ingredient or iodine coming from a source full of heavy metals or radiation. Most iodine supplements come from Asia that has been contaminated by Fukushima. Acceleridine Iodine comes from the deep mines of South America, untouched by modern man, and it is paired with non-GMO pure alcohol, 200-proof alcohol, that is the most bioavailable carrier. To get the iodine not just into your thyroid, but into every cell of the body. But I have to ask you this. How do you make thyroid hormones, T4 and T3, when it stands for tyrosine and 4 and 3 molecules of iodine? Right? And we're going to get into the thyroid real quick because what happens is when you are, um, high cortisol, you're getting a blocked conversion from the T4 to T3. And then that T4, which is inactive— now mind you, it's 4 molecules of iodine, so you first have to have iodine in the system to even make T4— but then that can convert into reverse T3, which is an inactive form that slows down your thyroid. Puts a brake on your metabolism, and flips you into survival mode. But then they also— high cortisol will disrupt the thyroid signaling and interfere with that hypothalamus-pituitary-thyroid axis, so HPT axis, leading to a lower thyroid-stimulating hormone, TSH. And that is what doctors look at, is TSH. And when TSH goes too high, they think, "Oh, you are hypothyroid." Well, that will happen if you're on iodine. So people will say that, "Oh my gosh, my TSH is too high. My doctor says I need to get off the iodine." That's a signaling hormone. That is not a thyroid hormone. We need to see what our free T3 is to know where our metabolism is. And then you know, "Okay, is my iodine needed? Is my thyroid glandular needed? What support do I need for my thyroid?" And something else that is not talked about enough, and we could do a whole podcast on thyroid, is that your, Debra, cells are more or less sensitive than mine. They're not the same. So our blood values don't tell you the whole picture. Because our blood values might be the exact same, but you feel great and I can't get out of bed. And this has to do with how the cell danger response and the cell's resistance or sensitivity to a hormone. It's just like being insulin resistant or insulin sensitive. It would mean, okay, I'm sensitive or resistant to the thyroid hormones at the cellular level. So that, that gets down into the weeds, but this is also— can be affected by the adrenal health and cortisol. So we use, as I mentioned, more iodine and salt reserves during stressed states. And then what happens? Well, now we don't have enough iodine for our thyroid. So our adrenals are using up the iodine, so our thyroid's going to slow down even more, even more than when it will shut down because we're in survival mode. So we get the muscle breakdown, insulin resistance, metabolic slowdown, and it stores— it tells your body to store that belly fat, shifts your energy to want sugar instead of fat for fuel, so you're not going to burn your fat. You're going to have increased cravings, which is only going to make things worse. And so this is where supplements can come in to help get you back on track. And we have come up with the Accelerated Cortisol Detox Reset, and we're starting a group on September 1st. Super excited. I do these supplements every day, and after all the, the hell I went through, Right. For the last year, I feel back to myself again and it's so amazing. And that number one supplement is the iodine. The Acceleridine Iodine kickstarts the thyroid hormone production, supports your adrenal sensitivity. It detoxifies. This is something people don't talk about enough, is the iodine detoxes your cells of all those toxins we were talking about, the heavy metals, the halogens, the fluoride, bromide, chlorine, things that are not even legal in Europe that are legal here. It helps kick those out. It supports that cell membrane when it allows the toxins out of the cells and the nutrients in. It boosts mitochondrial health. I know people take all of these anti-aging supplements for mitochondria. Start with the foundation. You need iodine for mitochondrial health. The number one cause of mitochondrial failure is iodine deficiency. So Acceleridine, and then you pair that with the Accelerated Ancient Salt. This is 62 minerals of trace minerals. It restores that sodium-potassium pump. It is really important for that sodium iodide carrier at the cellular level. That's getting into the weeds, and I go into that during the group education. But it is a salt that is untouched by modern man, hand-mined. There's no plastics, no microplastics, no bird droppings, all that fun stuff. Number 3 is adrenocin. This is an adrenal glandular. This is a supplement that you take for a month. You don't take it long-term. It's just gonna give you that battery pack backup. You know that separate battery pack you have for your computer before that you plug into the wall? So it kind of gives you that extra juice and it kind of just gives you that foundation. It helps repair the adrenal cortex and it balances the cortisol output. It restores DHEA production, supporting your mood, your muscle retention, all the things. And then Accelerated Thyroid. This is a thyroid supplement that is going to give your thyroid the glandular, but also the adaptogens and the peptides and amino acids you need to restore thyroid health. Wouldn't it be nice to actually have your metabolism back so that when you do the work that you are doing with Debra, that it actually gets the results between the Acceleridine iodine and Accelerated Thyroid? And lastly is— excuse me, there's a fly that loves to come into my podcast— is the Accelerated Liver Care. And when I told you about my story, you're— you gotta love your liver. When my liver was under attack, thyroid hormones tanked, cortisol tanked, my female hormones tanked. I was losing muscle. I could not metabolize fat, couldn't eat fat. I would get nauseous. So the Accelerated Liver Care restores, detoxes, and rebuilds your liver. Most Americans have fatty liver disease. With a fatty liver, you're not going to get the results that you're looking for. I don't care how many hours you're putting into working out, strength training, the gym, all these other things we're talking about. But it helps with flushing out the toxins, the excess estrogens, helps with your bile flow so you're absorbing your nutrients better, improves autophagy, and all the things. So those are the 5 supplements in the Cortisol Reset. And then it comes with coaching. So we're talking about the lifestyle hacks alongside with your program, Debra.

Yeah, I think it's such a great complement. By the way, so many of you know we're, we're talking all over the place about the 10-Day Hot Not Bothered Challenge. But here's something I want to suggest so you're not pulled in one direction versus another. Put off doing the challenge if you feel like I really maybe don't have a handle on my nutrition. Like, if you just got your mind blown just a little bit by what Sarah said, some of these things were like, oh, I didn't know that, I've thought about that differently, or I've never thought about that, I've never thought about that as a way to help control. I would go this route first, lay the foundation internally down, get your energy back, and then come into the 10-day challenge with the exercise side of things. And it's It's not that you won't be moving necessarily between now and then. Start walking, do some stretching. Movement is going to help you. But I would suggest do these as a one-two punch, and then we both got you, and it will both be cheering for you. So we're gonna put the link in the show notes to the cortisol cleanse with Sarah. And again, this is like a therapeutic intervention right now. For let's not let it go any further. If you're one of those that, you know, you've been trying to put your foot on the accelerator but you may have been putting your foot on the brake unknowingly, let's just take care of that right now. And flipping50.com/cortisolcleanse, no spaces between those words. If you don't have a mind like a steel trap and you're on, on the freeway or you're in the gym or otherwise, we've got it. It'll be right in the show notes and you'll see it everywhere, I'm sure. Sarah, thanks so much. Do you want to let everybody know where they can people can find you, follow you too?

Yes, everything is at sarahbantahealth.com. You can link to the store, which is acceleratedhealthproducts.com, and my podcast, which Debra will be on as well and has been, is Accelerated Health with Sarah Banta on over 100 different platforms. If you just search Sarah Banta, you'll find me. I'm super easy to find. And I also put together personalized protocols. If this sounds overwhelming and you just wanna start with 1 or 2 supplements, tolerance, email me. I'm happy to make a recommendation according to your tolerance. But all I can say is, wouldn't it be amazing to feel like you've got that battery pack back again? What you're doing actually gets results and feels good.

And, and here's the thing, so you don't have to go and get a dog named cortisol that wakes you up in the morning, you have your own. Okay. That's the only other option I could think of. Exactly. Thanks again, Sarah.

Thanks for having me, Debra.

Hey guys, just want to summarize. So at the end of the episode, I hope we didn't confuse you, but both of these would be great. And, you know, if you need them, one of the things I would suggest is don't think of it as an either/or or that we're competing. They are very complementary things. You could do them at the same time, but my recommendation would be let's just go down one path, focus on that, and then come back and wait for the next challenge and do that then. So if you have that opportunity, you're listening live and in the moment, take that option. All right. You'll see all the links in the show notes. It was flipping50.com/cortisolcleansed, no space between those words. And when you're ready, The 10-Day Hot Not Bother Challenge. You can get to from Flipping 50 or the show notes. Thank you so much for listening. To listen and access a decade of episodes and the show notes, visit flipping50.com where you'll be able to find all of our prior episodes. And I made it easy for you to make the most of your listening time by selecting 5 specific areas most commonly high priorities for our community and giving you top 10 lists if you let me know you'd love them. If you know a midlife woman or a soon-to-be one who wants to optimize her midlife energy and time with the right exercise and lifestyle changes and a mindset shift about just what is possible, share this podcast with her, and I thank you. There is no more powerful health influencer in the world than you, midlife woman.