You May Be Mineral Deficient in Menopause: Obvious and Hidden Signs

We are talking all about minerals. So yes, as in vitamins and minerals. And before you say, oh, I don't wanna listen to this one, not another supplement, I got you. Anyone I'm interviewing and talking to, I'm doing it for a reason and I do it going in with them. And we clearly talk about, we've got resistance, meaning you and me, we all have a little resistance to another supplement. I really need this one. And I ask them and tell them and challenge them that we need to overcome this obstacle that any of us have. And we really need to help you and me develop this way of vetting what it is we take and maybe the order that we take things. You may need certain things, maybe several things over the course of your, your life or next few years, maybe next few months. But there may be a more optimal order for you to prioritize them in so that the things you take next and after that actually get where they're going and deliver the goods. This is one of those episodes. And this brings to light something that I've recently been doing that I did not know or think I needed to be doing. And it's given me a subtle upgrade. So I wanna call your attention to it. And my guest is actually one of us. I think you're gonna like it, so stay tuned. You are in perimenopause, menopause, or postmenopause, and you're not slowing down. You're just getting started. But the old rules don't apply anymore. The workouts that worked before, they're working against you now. The advice you've been given, incomplete at best. I'm Debra Atkinson, and I'm the founder of Flipping 50, the pioneer in fitness for women in midlife. For more than 40 years, I've been in the trenches with women just like you, and for the last 12, right here on this podcast, and, and the founder of Flipping 50: The Stronger Way app and membership. Welcome to Flipping 50: The Stronger Way, where science meets strength, where you'll find the tools, research, and real talk to build the body and life you want in your second half. Each week, you'll get evidence-based exercise and nutrition strategies, conversations with leading experts, and honest answers to the questions your doctor didn't get answers to in medical school and doesn't have time to answer in an appointment. This is your show. Let's get stronger. Hey, welcome and welcome back to those of you who are OGs. That means Old greatest of all time, by the way. Um, so I am diving into an episode here and we're talking about minerals. So full disclosure, minerals and electrolytes kind of flip-flopping back and forth, and, and they are very related or interrelated. They're a little bit like the relationship between essential amino acid and branched-chain amino acids, if you wanna look at it like that. Maybe you don't, maybe you do, but do you need minerals? And if I start talking about any supplement, the reason it needs to be very obvious, I think, to any one of us why we want to take another supplement, right? I mean, I could put that money toward good shoes or something, you know, that was much more fun than another supplement. And yet, Am I really going to enjoy those new shoes if if I'm somehow depleted in something within my body that's robbing me of a little bit of energy, higher quality sleep, brain function, a multitude of things? And so I'm unpacking this, and I know this could be a very unpopular decision to talk about supplements yet again. But I also think where else are you going to get this information? So quite obviously, if you're talking only. To a product developer and you're not getting the vantage point of somebody like you, which is me in this case, speaking for you, asking questions for you. As all, I believe, good maybe journalists and/or podcast hosts do, we try to be in your mind. What question do you want answered right now? What objection might you have? And when I'm playing devil's advocate with respect to any guest, It is with that vein that I'm doing it because I'm not just here to feature a book or a supplement or program that someone's offering, but I'm here to find out why this is important to you, convey that. And that's why we're here today. My guest today is Carolyn Allen. She's a health survivor, mineral expert, and educator on a mission to shift the way we think about cellular health. After a demanding career in the high-tech corporate world, it left her physically, mentally, and energetically depleted. Carolyn began a personal journey to reclaim her health, and that path led her to a world of plant-based minerals and their profound ability to help the body restore its own natural balance. Her transformational experience sparked a deep dive into the science of minerals and human physiology. Carolyn explored microbiology, molecular and cellular biology, agricultural soil science, and plant decomposition to understand why minerals are essential and how they truly work in the body. We explore much of that on today's episode. Through her research, she's become a passionate advocate, as you will hear, but I think what you will really hear is she is Very skilled and articulate at taking something that is potentially you know way above your seventh grade science and making it very practical for how does that apply to you today? She is now co-founder and CEO of Beam B E A M Minerals. Carolyn's all in on sharing this vital knowledge and doing it with the world. Affectionately, she is known as the mineral geek. Carolyn is celebrated for her. Rare ability to explain complex scientific concepts in clear, relatable terms. Her common-sense approach, backed by solid science, leaves audiences empowered and inspired with simple, actionable steps to support their own wellness journeys. And honestly, I have a choice when I read somebody's bio, and I chose to read it all because after our interview, I feel like every word speaks the truth. That was my feeling, and feeling matters to me a great deal. When I'm on, there is a certain energy and synergy with a guest who I feel is authentically bringing something of value and wants to convey that. And for those of you who are prove-it-to-me girls, I don't just wanna hear about another supplement, I asked the hard question at the end about you and about me in particular. How can we test first, potentially, To understand, do we have a need? And there is a test we'll include in the show notes. We talk about it at the end. And there is a quiz that you can go and answer that will potentially lead you to signs and symptoms that may suggest you have a higher need for minerals and places to read more. So those of you who really like to dive deep— Deep dive. Wow. I just— Had a little dyslexic moment right there. We're not going to edit that, but I perhaps might go take some more minerals. I want you to talk to me after this show. I'd love to hear from you. And here's what this all comes back to: you and I can do all the exercise in the world. We can also pay attention to the food that we're eating, getting the protein, trying to get the sleep and the rest and the stress, and yet. We still live in a world where many of us are overloaded with stress and the time crunch to get the exercise in, or the mental thing that, that drives us to push beyond really our limits may also spin us over. But if we don't have the foundational building blocks, and of course, essential amino acids are a part of that, but they're not the only part. We need these minerals. And understanding that so much of our conversation of recent has been about electrolytes, electrolytes, electrolytes. Carolyn brings up a really good point in regard to electrolytes. And I will tell you what I've noticed. If you just ask, if you want to know subtle behind the scenes, I can tell you that I feel kind of a mild upgrade. And the closer you are to the finish line, you already have a clean house, you're already doing a lot of things right, you're not going to have a dramatic change. But if you feel really poorly, even then, immediately, will you have an immediate response? No. We discussed that today too. But over time, from where you are here to where you will be in 6, 7, 8 months might be dramatically different because you stand to gain that much. And for you and I, when And we're here in the frame. It's hard to see it, but we discuss all of that. So stay tuned. Let's dive into this episode. I think you will really get a lot out of this in terms of education, no matter what you decide to do after the fact. Feel free to ask me behind the scenes in DMs how I'm doing, how I'm liking it, and if I'm still using. Carolyn Allen, welcome to the show.

Thank you. Thank you so much. It's great to be here with you, Debra.

Well, there are a lot of things to love and to unpack in your bio, but the first and foremost, I think I read in the first line, and that is you're a health survivor. And, and also, we already love and embrace you because you are one of us. So you so understand the moment that is midlife that, that few can understand until they get here. You know, I like to say that as a trainer, I thought I was a wise old soul I thought I was so cool in my 20s and 30s, understood all my midlife clients. And then I got here and I'm like, I knew nothing.

Like, you know, I, I've learned it.

School of Hard Knocks is no joke and it's pretty, a pretty good way to get there. But now on the other side, can you look back and tell us a little bit about why are you here? Why are you here talking about minerals today? Why you, what happened?

Yeah. Well, it's true that I am many of the women on this audience who hit their perimenopause and menopause years and struggled. Now, I grew up with an autoimmune. I have Hashimoto's, but I had another autoimmune. I've also had a bad mold exposure event, and I've struggled a lot with different health issues. Maybe not celiac, but very close, so high gluten intolerance. So, About 10 years ago, Debra, I was in really ill health and I had been in a very high-pressure corporate job in high-tech. I was a project manager for hire for very large software development projects and I just hit the wall. So at that time, I had bad inflammation in my gut, real bad bloating on— even after being gluten-free for 7 years, I could never get past the the digestion issues, and the elimination issues. I had bad inflammation in my mouth. So I had periodontal disease, deep pockets, soft dentin in my teeth. I had recurring sinus infections, partly related to this mold exposure event, but my immune system was just shot. So any bacteria or virus that came, I would immediately get sick. I had flatlined adrenals and they had been flatlined for over a year. And I'd worked with multiple practitioners of different types trying to find some way to jumpstart my adrenal function. I didn't sleep at night. And this is, of course, you know, so many women, when we hit this age, there's a struggle to sleep at night.

Mm-hmm.

And I had actually been an insomniac all my life, so struggle falling asleep. But then when I hit these years, I ended up not being able to sleep through the night. I would wake up 3, 4, sometimes 5 times a night, every single night. So my quality of sleep was very low. And all of this led to, you know, this, this difficulty to get my thoughts together, to make decisions, executive function, and which then of course led to anxiety because I was in a job that required huge amounts of executive function and ultimately into depression. So, you know, because, and this is to me the saddest part of it, because who did I blame for my issues? Myself. I said, you know, I'm not strong enough, I'm not smart enough, I'm not disciplined enough, or maybe I'm not rich enough to buy all of the healthcare that I need. And I tended to put that onus on myself. And it wasn't until right around this time where someone introduced me to minerals and plant-based liquid minerals that everything changed for me. And it It radically changed the whole way I think about my body, health, wellness, and actually supporting the body.

So how was it? I mean, had you been kind of turning over every stone and looking for solutions, not finding them, and somebody says, lo and behold, try this? There has to have been a little skepticism, or were you, no, give it to me, I'll try anything?

Yeah, you know, I was at my— I was like, F all this stuff. You know, every protocol and detox setup and diet and, you know, elimination diet and you name it, I've done it. You name the kind of practitioner, every kind of practitioner. I've spent well over $100,000 or more, maybe close to $200,000 on my health. I mean, I spent all my extra money on trying to heal myself and not a single one of those practitioners ever said to me the word minerals. It wasn't till I met my friend, who is now my business partner, and he handed me this little cup of liquid. It looked like dark, like almost like tea, dark tea only.

Right.

And I drank it and it tasted like water. And I was like, minerals? Like really? And he's like, yeah, they might help you. And what was interesting is even though I was very skeptical, I woke up every morning and my body said, Oh, I want my minerals. Like, I wanted the minerals. And I started taking them. After 2 months of taking them every day, I went to my dentist to have my teeth cleaned. I had to have them cleaned 4 times a year. I usually had terrible pain, bleeding during the process. There was no pain, there was no bleeding. And when my dentist looked in my mouth to do the exam, she was like, whoa, what has happened? The tissues are pink and healthy. You had no bleeding when you were having your teeth cleaned. What? What is this? The pH has completely changed. And I said, you know, I don't know, but maybe it's these minerals. Then 4 months in, I went to my naturopath to have the test results of my adrenal function read, and they were 1/3 of the way up the chart. And at my last appointment, she had given me a prescription, and she's a naturopath, for hydrocortisone, which I had never filled. And over the space of 8 or 9 months, all of the symptoms that I just described to you, every single one just slowly resolved. And I started getting really curious, like, how could this little cup of liquid minerals make such a difference? And I kept going back to my friend and he kept handing me little pieces of information saying, go read this, go read that. And I just started going deeper and deeper. Deeper down the rabbit hole studying microbiology and all about minerals and what they are and how they work in the body and how they get replenished. I studied our food supply. I studied how water works in the body. I studied, anyway, soil science, so many things. And as I did, I started having these huge aha moments. And the aha moments Made me like galvanized, not only to create a company to bring these minerals, these plant-based minerals to the world, but also to help people begin to understand minerals as well as we even think and know about the microbiome. There was somebody years ago who brought information about the gut microbiome to the world, 'cause we never knew.

Yeah.

And that's what I'm trying to do with minerals.

Amazing. Let's talk a little bit about, you know, I think if we go back in time, everyone will remember the first time that they heard the quality of the food that we pick up at the grocery store. And we think we're looking at fresh produce, we're walking around the outside of the grocery store doing what we should, but the quality of it and the micronutrients contained in any fruit or vegetable now compared to 25 or 50 years ago being so much less, I think everybody considers that, oh yeah, well, I know that. But is that a part of the reason? Is that the only part why we're not getting minerals that we should be from foods?

Yeah. So it's the, it's a fundamental reason. There are really 3 primary reasons. One is our food. Second is our water. And the third is toxins like glyphosate. Now, the thing that I love to do is help people, 'cause it's one thing for someone to say, oh, our food doesn't have enough nutrients in it anymore.

Yeah.

But I think it's really interesting and helpful for people to understand why that is. So when a plant grows in the soil, the way that it grows is it pulls nutrients from the soil, and those absorb into its roots, and it uses those minerals for its structure, also for energy generation and biosynthesis. Now, in nature, when that plant dies and decomposes, it delivers its mineral and nutrient content back into the soil for use by future plants. But we have been cultivating for hundreds of years. We grow plants in the soil, we harvest them, we take them away, we eat them and dispose of their waste far from where they're grown. And it's kind of like having a bank account where you're just taking money out, taking money out.

Hmm.

So they did a study. Compared foods grown in the 1950s with foods grown in 1999 and showed a significant nutrient deficiency or depletion difference between the two. So here is the sad truth. You cannot eat enough volume of food today, even if you're eating organic.

Mm-hmm.

Maybe if you're eating out of your backyard garden, maybe. If you're augmenting your soil with minerals, because the same thing happens in your backyard garden. So you cannot get enough of all of the nutrients that you need, and in the case of minerals, that's like 18 minimum that you have to get from your food. So one apple that your grandfather ate, you'd have to eat like 6 today.

Right.

One cup of spinach, like 4 or 5. Like, so, um, that's the first problem. That's just the first one.

That's, that's just the first one. And there was a lot already there, I think, in like water sources, you know. I mean, there are several ways to look at that and how, how people think. I think that they're taking a better step toward better water by drinking bottled water. You doing a lean into that a little?

Yeah, well, so here's the challenge with water. And so many people, they think they're doing a great thing by getting that reverse osmosis filtered thing under their sink. So now the water that comes out of their tap is filtered. And I agree that we need to drink filtered water because there are toxins in our water supply and things that you don't want in your system, chlorine just being one of many. The problem is that water, when you filter it that way, either distill it, even the Brita filter on your counter, it takes the minerals out. And water that has no minerals has a big problem when it gets into your body. First of all, it goes straight through, so it doesn't actually hydrate you. Water has to have minerals in it for it to be transported around your body, get into cells, Mm-hmm. That's hydration. And when you put empty water, water that is devoid of all minerals into your body, it actually goes straight through. So lots of kids, you know, soccer teams and sports teams, they give them bottles of water and they're usually like distilled water, little plastic bottles of distilled water. It's not hydrating them. And so this is one of the reasons I say we have a rise in, you know, childhood sports injuries now, as an example.

Really?

Because these kids are starting out depleted. They're not getting hydrated when they're playing.

Yeah. And isolated sports too soon. Yeah.

So many things there.

Okay. Yeah, that's a lot. I want everybody to hear that on hydration because I think we've said it, we've said it, say it many times, but I think we still revert back to drink your water, drink your water as the first statement. And we don't go deep enough. To say, we need the minerals in there. For a listener, distinguish between you need electrolytes versus you need minerals.

Ah, so electrolytes are minerals. They are just minerals with a strong electrical charge, which is why we call them electrolytes. The other, really the way I describe minerals is 2 things, macrominerals, and the electrolytes fall into what we call macrominerals, meaning you need a lot of them.

Mm-hmm.

And then there are micronutrients, and there are a whole bunch of micronutrients that you need. You absolutely have to have them. And that's the thing that people don't recognize is, you know, you can live without, like, calories. You can live without the macros, meaning what we call carbs, fats, proteins. You can actually live without those for a long time, but without minerals, you will perish in a few hours. Now, the challenge with, you know, this idea of electrolytes and people pounding like salt-based electrolytes is that it creates imbalance in the system. And one of the big aha moments I had when I studied minerals is mineral balance, meaning across all the minerals, is as important as quantity. That's number one.

Right.

So if you put a lot of one mineral into you, your body tries to balance it with the other minerals it has relationships with. So you can't just think of your body— this is kind of the paradigm shift that I made, which is I had been, you know, as a sick person, I was going to all these specialists, different people. I was putting all these things in my body. I was trying to— I was treating my body like a car. I'm gonna take it down to the gas station, I'm gonna fill the gas tank, check the oil, the windshield, you know, I'm gonna go and check the stuff and I'm gonna put in stuff because somebody said, You need X milligrams of this and X milligrams of that, but the body doesn't work at all like that. The body actually works a lot more like a forest. It's a natural ecosystem of single cells that all work together incredibly, beautifully, miraculous ways to complete all their functions and keep you alive and keep you healthy and clear things away and eliminate and do all this biosynthesis. It's absolutely phenomenal. And it's all driven at the cellular level, at the mitochondrial level, by minerals. And amino acids also. We can't leave them out. Amino acids, your body makes a lot of. Some have to come from the outside as well.

Speak into that a little bit. So you and I, for instance, maybe 2 women, midlife, need minerals, but we're taking the same supplement and yet we have different things, activities, over-the-counter meds, prescriptions that we take that might deplete certain minerals more or less. How does the body work that magic? I mean, does it have a certain bandwidth or latitude so that it can support itself in getting it right? Because It seems like if we each had a slightly different need, how is it that you and I could take the same supplement and both benefit?

Yeah, it's all in the perspective change, excuse me, rather than— actually, let's talk about 2 models. And one is what I call the supplementation model, and the other is the replenishment model. So the supplementation model is based on the supplement facts or nutritional facts panel on the back of the food or the bottle of pills, and it says, this product provides X percentage of your value, or your recommended daily amount, or whatever like that. There's some number. And that number was created in a lab with scientists who developed these basically to understand what's the minimum amount that humans need to survive, like to not die.

Yeah.

So they weren't designed with optimal health in mind, first of all. Second of all, they weren't— they did not take into account— I mean, you and I are probably more alike than, let's say, me and a 20-year-old woman or a triathlete, a 6-foot-4 male triathlete. So everyone has different body sizes, they have different activity levels, they have different ways of eating.

Mm-hmm.

eating, they have health histories, they have genetics, and then they have epigenetics, the way those genetics are expressed. And they have chronic symptoms that they're, you know, taking medicine for. So, and they have— there are so many factors. And the needs for minerals in the body are so incredibly dynamic. from moment to moment, that there's absolutely no way that I can determine how much of any mineral, or most supplements also, but I'm not— I'm just gonna stay in my lane, and my lane is minerals, okay?

Yeah.

So there's really no way you're gonna be able to determine how much of any mineral your body needs at any given moment. I don't care even if you're the smartest AI, okay? However, That's the supplement model. The supplement model says there's an amount you should take and you should put it in every day.

Hmm.

Now, the sad problem— there are several problems beyond what I even talked about with the supplement model. And one is with minerals, most of those supplements are made from rocks, bones, and shells. So those things don't digest well in your gut. Your digestive enzymes don't, and your hydrochloric acid, etc., doesn't digest them well.

Hmm.

90% or more ends up in the toilet.

Hmm.

Now, a smaller percentage gets absorbed into your bloodstream, and that depends on the health of your digestive enzymes and the lining of your small intestine. And then a much smaller amount gets actually assimilated into the cell. And most minerals actually do their job Inside the cells. So they have to make it all the way from as an apple that I'm eating, broken down through saliva and hydrochloric acid and digestive enzymes into their molecular components, hit up against the lining in your gut, get absorbed into your bloodstream, and ultimately via the same kind of method assimilated into your cells. So It's just not very efficient to think that you can just fill up the magnesium tank or the potassium tank today.

Mm-hmm.

And the other problem is that when you use your gut in that way, it's actually completely messing up your gut microbiome because minerals are very powerful substances and you don't want to constantly be causing imbalance in that ecosystem. That the microbiome of your gut works a lot like a forest. So if you took a wheelbarrow of magnesium or potassium and threw it on the floor of that forest, what would the plants in that area do? They probably wouldn't thrive because there's a concentration.

Mm-hmm.

And in nature, concentrations of strong substances like minerals are actually usually toxic to cellular life. So your body now has this huge amount of one particular mineral, it has to balance Balance it with other minerals or bring water from parts of your body and eliminate it. Try and get rid of this overconcentration and try and get back to that balanced state. It's very, it's completely like not at all what we've been taught and the way we've been taught to think about it.

Yeah, absolutely. But it makes so much sense now that you say sourcing the minerals from plants, The bioavailability, the ability of your body to actually use it, would be far greater, and it's liquid. Um, and so how much does— I mean, I take my shot, you know, in that first glass of water that I have waiting for me on the counter. How much of taking it on empty, is that also more beneficial than taking it other time?

No, you can take it anytime. And, and I wanna clarify that And, you know, when we say plant-based minerals, we're not talking about like plants out in your garden that we ground up and dried or something like that.

Mm-hmm.

No, these are actually really amazing substances and they come from ancient decomposed plants. So imagine 65 million years ago, the Earth was covered with rainforests as far north as Northern Canada, and a meteor hit the Yucatan and it killed 75% of all life in a few hours. And all of those rainforests around the the Earth died and decomposed. Now, here's the interesting thing. When plants die and decompose, they actually go through a microbial decomposition process that results in molecules that are pre-formulated in the exact ratios of minerals that your body needs. So that's the power of these plant-based mineral substances called humic And fulvic. They're plant-based mineral complexes and they're pre-formulated by nature because guess what? Out in nature, all of those cells, all of the cellular life in nature requires minerals in the same ratios that you do. Because at a mitochondrial level, we work at— like a mitochondria is inside the cell generating energy. And it works the same way in us as it does in a redwood tree, or a whale, or an ant, or a microorganism in our gut. Isn't that interesting? They all need the same ratio because as above, so below. We come from the Earth.

Amazing. And simple.

And simple.

We make it so complicated. I wanna ask this question rather selfishly. Based on a recent move, you mentioned glyphosate as a part of the picture. How does it play a role in mineral depletion?

Yeah, well, there are several ways, quite a few ways, but specifically— or ways that it's detrimental in the body, but specifically with minerals, one of the ways that glyphosate Glyphosate kills weeds. And actually, let's clarify just for people who've never heard of it, maybe there's somebody out there. Glyphosate is a weed killer and they use it in production farming. They spray it on foods that are growing and those foods are genetically modified not to die, but the weeds die. So now they can produce a lot of food without getting any weed contamination. The problem is that the glyphosate itself Mimics glycine, which is the most prevalent amino acid in your body, and readily absorbs into the plant, which— and also readily absorbs into your body. And one of the ways that it kills plants and the ways that it's detrimental in your body is it chelates minerals out. So it's further creating mineral depletion in your system. Copper's one, iron is another. So 2 that are really, I mean, super needed in your system. So that's just one. It also causes, you know, all of my gluten intolerance issues, I'm pretty sure were caused by glyphosate toxicity in my— because I grew up in a rural area, all sorts of different things. So my gut is so much healthier now, and I can even handle some gluten. I'm not as— intolerant as I was. So these things can change in your body if you're able to get the glyphosate out. One of the cool things about humic and fulvic is they actually are one of the key, like the best remediators and removers of glyphosate from your system.

Okay, well, I'm a lifer. I have just recently moved back to the Midwest.

Ah.

And yeah, so one of the things about my great state is we are number one for cancer rates in the United States, you know. And so, you know, I'm talking to kids who are not yet ready to hear about their water and what are you feeding my grandchild and, you know, all kinds of things, but also concerned about myself because you want to do all the things Exactly. And here we are breathing deeper.

Exactly.

So we've gotta be careful and I think looking to how can I balance that, you know?

One of the cool things is that, you know, there are toxins in our environment and glyphosate is only one, but this is the beautiful thing about going back to nature is, you know, there have always been toxic elements and concentrations of substances, et cetera, that were toxic to cellular life, but look how diverse and rich and amazing the cellular life on our planet is. So nature created tools for removing toxins from cellular life. And a couple of those incredibly effective tools are these humic and fulvic molecules.

Excellent. So, so glad. Okay. Can you— I know you've talked a little bit about your story. I'm kind of talking about mine. And, and I would say I'm aware of my environment and what I've just exposed myself to. And yet I felt fine, right? So I would say I didn't have signs and symptoms, and I also haven't felt an immediate, oh, that made such a difference. But I have noticed a very mild just uptick in like overall daily energy and stabilization that I didn't know I needed. And I think we can all live there. We settle into, this is my norm, and, and so that's our bar, and we don't realize, oh, but it could be better even. Um, so talk to me about what a listener might experience if there are levels or a continuum of signs, symptoms that somebody might be passing off as twofold in our audience, aging and/or menopause, that maybe aren't?

Yes. So one of the things to really recognize about minerals is that you absolutely have to have them for energy generation in your body. And one of the benchmark numbers I use to help people understand this is if your body has all of the mineral fuel that it needs to burn to create energy, it can generate about 1,200 watts of electricity daily. And there's other numbers. Some people say at a resting rate, it can keep a light bulb going, as an example. So you can kind of have some reference point. So it's generating energy all the time. But if you don't have enough of that mineral fuel, then maybe you're only generating 800 watts a day, or maybe 600, like half the amount that your body actually needs to complete all of its functions. Now, because of who you are and the way you take care of yourself and your awareness of your body, maybe you weren't generating 1,200, but maybe you were generating 1,100.

Mm-hmm.

Okay? So for you, the delta wasn't as large. So what happens with the body when it can't generate enough energy to do all of its functions at a cellular level is it has to pick and choose. And so it does what it can do and it focuses on the critical systems, and what it can't do, it stops. It just doesn't do. It just can't ever get to it. So with me, because I'd been going on for such a long time with mineral depletion and other hits to my system, I ended up with all these chronic symptoms. And one thing practitioners tell me now is that people don't come to them with 1 or 2 chronic symptoms, they come with 6 or 7 chronic symptoms now.

Mm-hmm.

And what that is saying is that the whole system The foundation is missing. And that's why I say, if you're gonna do one thing for your health, the first thing you should do is minerals. And what you're gonna start to feel is where your system is weak. So everybody has different chronic symptoms. Lots of people have sleep issues. Lots of people have hair, especially women, hair loss at a certain age. Lots of women have skin, their skin starts to get ashy or thin and papery. Those are the things that the body goes like, well, I can't do everything, so I'm just not gonna do that. I'm gonna get you to sleep, basically. And if you think about a nervous system, like at the cellular level, when the cell doesn't have what it needs, what it starts to do is send a neurological signal. It says, I don't have what I need. I don't have what I need. Get up, go looking. You find yourself getting up an hour after dinner, looking in the fridge. I just need that one last snack. That's why we call it the hidden hunger. Like something, there's just something. So when you start to provide the full spectrum of minerals your body needs, it's like raising the floor. You raise the entire floor. So for you, you just started to feel like a little bit clearer.

Mm-hmm.

A little bit more energy, maybe sleeping a little bit better because your delta between the optimal and what you were able to generate was not that high, but for people where it's half, within 10 days most people will start to feel a substantial— they'll be like, it's noticeable their energy is changing. Within a few weeks they start to notice their hair stopped falling out and their skin is starting to feel different. It's got some oil in it and it's starting to feel more healthy. People, after a month, people start going, wow, you look good, what's going on? You know? After 2 months, they start noticing that they're sleeping better. You see, so these are cumulative effects, and this is the way ecosystems like change to occur, is slow, incrementally, continually over time.

Love what you said, and I love that you used the term raising the floor. I just wanna call listeners' attention to that. Raising the floor, like we're talking about the low instead of raising the ceiling. You're so used to hearing that. And so if you missed that subtle difference, it matters. There's a reason she chose those words. So I would say we probably have at least 50% of my listeners may be prove it to me girls.

Yeah.

And still hear everything, say intellectually this makes so much sense, But they probably wanna know, is there a way, can I do a test to determine my need for minerals?

Yes, there is.

And I have a question though. How sensitive are those? Will those show when I have a need, but it's not great enough to really show I have a need?

Well, I'm gonna tell you that 99.9% of the listeners If they went and had a test for minerals, and there's either you could do hair tissue mineral analysis. Blood tests are not what you need. You need either a hair tissue mineral analysis. The best test that I recommend is some. There are other intracellular testing models or tools, devices, and that's what you want to get. Something that's going to give you how much minerals do you have inside your cells, and the one that I recommend is called Oligoscan. We can give you a link to put in the bio, or I mean in the show notes. And it's a non-invasive test. You have to be where the practitioner is. It uses something called spectrophotometry, which is used in material sciences. It shines a strong light into 4 places on your palm and it reads intracellularly and gives you a reading of all of your mineral levels, your your beneficial minerals and electrolytes, as well as your heavy metal levels. It also gives you vitamin levels. How are your vitamins doing? Vitamin D, B, and all those kinds of things. It's an excellent test. I also am gonna give you a link to a mineral deficiency quiz. So this isn't a test, but your audience can take the quiz and it will, first of all, it helps them understand the correlation between chronic symptoms they may have and mineral deficiency. And then it's gonna— if they fill out the thing and send it to us, let it, you know, submit it, we'll send them an idea of where they are on the spectrum of critical, like you need to go get mineral, you're, you're really critically depleted, or, you know, you're doing pretty well and you should probably start looking into this, somewhere in that range. And then we'll give them specific reading and articles that are focused on symptoms they mentioned so they can understand how mineral replenishment might support that specific symptom or issue that they're dealing— health issue they're dealing with. So that's very helpful.

Amazing. Yes, both of those things. And I'm like, how have I never heard of that? I'm super curious to find out if I can do that locally. That's awesome.

Well, and then the other thing is I have a book. So I wrote the book, I have a book that's called The Mineral Reset. This just came out by— published by Hay House this spring. And it's a— if people are interested and, you know, kind of are— wanna lean into what we've been talking about, this is a great way to—

Mm-hmm.

This is where I put all my aha moments and helped people understand all of the things about minerals and how they work in the body and ways to support yourself. I highly recommend the book. You can go to mineralresetbook.com to order that book. You can get it on Amazon, but if you go to mineralresetbook.com, you'll get also some extra content. You'll also get an opportunity to join a mineral reset series that I do about quarterly.

Perfect. Okay, we'll put that link in the show notes. I'm typing. I can't type and talk at the same time.

There we go. No worries at all.

This has been a real pleasure and so very insightful. Carolyn, where can everybody follow you? Obviously, we'll have the links for the book and the quiz in the show notes, things that we've mentioned in terms of resources. Are you also hanging around on social media where they can follow? Where can we follow?

Yeah. Well, first of all, people also want to try the minerals that I did and you're taking, that you've noticed a difference and really helped me in my health over the years. It's the company I started and it's called BEAM, like beam of light, BEAM Minerals. BEAM stands for Best Electrolytes and Minerals.

Perfect.

It was just one of those whiteboard things that happened. Anyway, beamminerals.com and try, I always recommend the advanced set. And it's 2 products that work together. They're kind of the one-two punch for mineral replenishment and detoxification for your whole body. They taste like water. It looks like this if people are looking. brown in a glass, but it's not Coca-Cola or coffee. It tastes just like water.

Yeah.

Um, so those are really the best ways to kind of get into it. Beam Minerals also has a great Learn tab. So if you go to the website, in the Learn section, you can type in maybe a chronic symptom you're dealing with, and we have lots of articles that are cited through to kind of scientific references if you like to geek out. But they're good referential informational pieces.

Fantastic.

And then you can, of course, follow me on Instagram, carolineallen.official.

Okay, I love it. And I did not know the name-dropping acronym, so I love that. Now it makes it so much easier to— okay, that'll be at the tip of my tongue. Thank you so much. This was super insightful. And appreciate everything that you're doing and the support in really giving listeners an understanding of the what and the why. Thanks again.

Thank you. And I love the work you're doing as well. I sleuthed you out and you're doing phenomenal work for helping women as we age. I so appreciate it.

Thank you. The information shared on Flipping 50 the Stronger Way is for educational purposes only. Educational and informational purposes only, and not intended as a substitute for medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always consult your physician or qualified healthcare provider before beginning any exercise program, making changes to your diet, or adjusting any medications or supplements. Individual results may vary. Deborah Atkinson and Flipping Fifty are not responsible for any injury or adverse outcomes resulting from information presented on this podcast.