Hormones are a big deal! They seem to rule our life if we are a woman because so much depends on them for our cycle and reproductive life if we want children.
But aside from that aspect, they still affect so much of our health, wellbeing and how we experience our world, including the relationship with our partner… Men are affected in their own right obviously, and also when supporting their female partner.
Without going into a whole scientific or medical explanation, suffice to say that hormones regulate and control many of our body functions and development. They affect our rhythms from sleep, sex drive, hunger, motivation, body temperature, menstrual cycle, growth, metabolism, stress response and so much more.
In today’s episode I’m excited to have a conversation with Dr. Serena Goldstein to address how to support ourselves on our Hormonal Journey throughout our lifespan. We have a rich conversation covering: Identifying symptoms that might indicate a hormonal imbalance that just add unnecessary challenges to our life, what testing one might need to help identify these for proper treatment, how to use life rhythms and lifestyle to address imbalances and promote health, and what might be needed to smoothly sail through different life stages while taking personality, relationship dynamics and energetics into consideration… Enjoy!
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🌟ABOUT OUR GUEST:
Dr. Serena Goldstein is a Naturopathic Doctor who guides you to trust and understand what your body is telling you. She has a diverse, deep and growing knowledge base around conventional medicine, natural modalities, energy medicine modalities, and spirituality, where she seeks to find and address the root cause of symptoms with an individualized plan that also feels like relief. Dr. Serena works with those experiencing weight gain, hormone imbalance, poor sleep, stress, thyroid, mood, and gut health issues who want to learn more of what their body is saying and needs. She has shared her expertise on different media outlets, has appeared on NYU Doctor Radio Sirius XM, has written research articles on mind/body healing, presented at conferences, and serves as an Advisory Board Member for Natural Practitioner Magazine. You can find her at DrSerenaGoldstein.com.
Gift from Serena:
Spirituality Medicine
Find her also here:
Facebook | Instagram | Linkedin
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DISCLAIMER: This content is meant to support your Journey and not as a replacement for professional assistance. Additionally, the ideas and resources provides by our guests are their ideas and recommendations alone and not necessarily a reflection of the host’s.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Emma Viglucci (00:07):
Hello lovelies, welcome to another episode.
I am so excited for today'stopic.
We talk about the hormonaljourney for women and all of the
things that she might worryabout at each stage of life.
We address the topics from alldifferent angles, like using
different lifestyle changes,different treatment modalities,
(00:31):
supplements, even mindsets, andwe even throw in there some
woo-woo spiritual things toreally support you and help you
nourish yourself and your body,so that you come free of the
energy that might be spent onworrying and addressing and
dealing with all these thingsand it could be better spent on
(00:52):
creating a beautiful home, abeautiful family, beautiful life
and a beautiful relationshipwith your partner.
The conversation takes placewith Dr Serena Goldstein.
It is so fun and resourceful.
I hope you enjoyed it as muchas I did and that you especially
hone in into that woo-woo stuffLike it's a really nice
different angle that we added tothis conversation.
(01:13):
I hope that you enjoy it.
Stay tuned, you're in for atreat.
Let me read you her bio andthen we'll say hello to Serena.
Dr Serena Goldstein is anaturopathic doctor who guides
you to trust and understand whatyour body is telling you.
(01:35):
She has a diverse, deep andgrowing knowledge base around
conventional medicine, naturalmodalities, energy medicine
modalities and the spirituality,where she seeks to find and
address the root cause ofsymptoms with an individualized
plan.
That also feels like relief.
Dr Serena works with thoseexperiencing weight gain,
(01:58):
hormone imbalance, poor sleep,stress, thyroid mood and gut
health issues, who want to learnmore of what their body is
saying and needs.
Dr Serena has shared herexpertise on outlets such as
MindBodyGreen, forbes andShapecom, has appeared on NYU
(02:19):
Radio Cyrus XM, written multipleresearch articles on mind-body
healing, presented at numerousconferences, and serves as an
advisory board member forNatural Practitioner magazine.
Without further ado, let's sayhello to Serena.
Hello Serena, how are you today?
(02:40):
I'm so happy to have you herewith us.
Dr. Serena Goldstein (02:43):
Yes, and thank you so much for having me.
Emma Viglucci (02:46):
I am really excited for this conversation,
as I like to share.
I am a nerd for all the thingswellness and body and things
aside from the work that I dowith couples and I always like
to deepen the conversation, soI'm so excited for us to dive in
and more specifically into thehormone side of things.
So this is going to be so goodand I want the audience to get
(03:08):
hooked up with details aboutwhat's going on with their
hormones if they're not feelingwell, and how you and your
profession and your angle mightbring something different to
them that they might not haveconsidered, and how we'll take
care of them.
Good.
Dr. Serena Goldstein (03:24):
Awesome.
Emma Viglucci (03:27):
Yeah, perfect, all right.
So why don't you tell us alittle bit about your profession
, your, your, what do you dolike neuropathic medicine?
Dr. Serena Goldstein (03:33):
exactly so .
It's actually and that was agood example because that it's
actually pretty common have.
People may say oh, is itneuropath, natural?
There's so many differentpronunciations of it.
Interestingly, you may hearnaturopathic on the East Coast
and naturopathic on the WestCoast.
(03:53):
There's a lot of differentaccents in this country.
Emma Viglucci (03:57):
Yes, yes, yes.
I don't remember what I said.
I hope I said it properly.
Dr. Serena Goldstein (04:05):
So go right ahead.
Yes, so in naturopathic medicineit's similar to conventional
medicine in the sense that thefirst two years so just to give
everyone some context it's basicsciences, and then we take labs
, imaging, diagnostics,pathology, and then we have our
first set of board exams, whichare like the USMLEs.
Then the next two to three yearsare all the ologies, so I think
(04:28):
cardiology, endocrinology,gynecology, pediatrics,
geriatrics, so forth, and thennot only do we take pharmacology
, so all the drugs, and then wetake nutrition, botanical
medicine, homeopathy, iv therapy, chiropractic and minor surgery
.
There we go.
So it's really more tools inour toolbox to not just treat
(04:50):
the patient but to get to theroot cause of disease.
And what that really means isthat it's more than just
palliating a certain concern orjust making you feel better
right away, which of course Iwant and I know you want to but
it's being able to explainphysiology in such a way which
(05:10):
we will get into with hormones,that they move through so many
different organ systems thatlet's also boost the nourishment
and the health of those organsystems.
So really everything isfunctioning so much better.
Emma Viglucci (05:25):
I love that.
Yeah, you know, it'sinteresting because sometimes it
feels like the functionalmedicine or the more traditional
doesn't go to that, to that thebottom line.
Of course it won't make youfeel better, but it feels like a
bandaid Okay.
So they take this, you know,and it's like okay, but what
cost it?
And how do we fix the root ofthe problem?
I suppose to like now I stillhave the problem, now I have a
(05:49):
band-aid and the band is causingother problems.
I was like right, so, yes, lovethis conversation.
Okay, so tell us a little bitmore then about at what point
for yourself, did you like whatbrought you into this and at
what point for yourself did youfind that it was a hormone thing
for you and I might be goingtoo fast here.
So do you specialize inhormones?
Do you have other specialties?
(06:10):
And then like, how did you honein?
Dr. Serena Goldstein (06:14):
yeah, so I'll.
I'll wrap it all up becauseeverything can be so intertwined
.
So before psychology, which wasmy original path, before
medicine, which is what I hadfirst desired, I remember my
hormone journey a few yearsprior.
So around those teenage years Iused to double over from cramps
(06:35):
and pass out, like many my age,you know we had might all in
our backpacks and proactive thatevery so often I would only
stop it once it burnt my skin.
I had the pimple poppers andthe clear assault.
Emma Viglucci (06:51):
You might be aging yourself right now.
I can relate to all of thesethings.
Dr. Serena Goldstein (06:57):
Yes, definitely aging myself.
And you know at the same time,that's what we've heard of,
that's what everyone knew andthat's what we heard of, that's
what everyone knew and that'sthe advice that was given.
However, from the morenaturopathic side and my own
journey so I was a competitivegymnast.
I injured my elbow ingymnastics and when I couldn't
(07:22):
play the trombone or dogymnastics, I was not a happy
camper.
So at 15, I went to the libraryand I began reading young
Erickson and Freud to try tofigure out what was going on
with myself.
And then, like many of mypatients and people that I tend
to work with and be around, Iwanted to do all the research
and fix myself at some point.
(07:42):
But I was also reading so muchI was thinking you know what?
I need?
Help, I need someone, I need tobring someone in.
So I did actually try a coupleof different therapists, landed
on one who was a PhD.
She made such a difference inmy life that I thought, oh my
God, I want to get my doctorate,just like her.
(08:02):
So I started college as apsychology major and Japanese
minor, because I finished withthree honors.
So I finished with three honorsin high school, tested into
Japanese too, did not get alongwith my teacher.
And then a close friend saidwhy don't you go pre-med?
And I thought you know, there'sno doctors in my family.
Emma Viglucci (08:25):
Is that pre-med?
Okay, you know there's nodoctors in my family.
It's that pre-med.
Dr. Serena Goldstein (08:28):
Okay, you know, like the drugs, I don't
know.
It seemed, I hesitate to say,simple, but it just seemed like
one extra thing.
But it was an extra thing inaddition to talking.
So I thought, okay, I could domore for people.
But when I found naturopathicmedicine as you've heard my
explanations oh, all hands on.
Okay, I could do more forpeople.
But when I found naturopathicmedicine as you heard my
explanations oh, all hands ondeck, I could do a lot for
(08:50):
people.
At the same time, my journeythrough college and especially
into my 20s, my weight had somany different fluctuations.
I would, or I would have like aSouth Beach diet bar in one
hand and like a calorie counterin the other, so I would try.
I would have like a South Beachdiet bar in one hand and like a
calorie counter in the other,so I would try mixing diets.
I gained a freshman 15,.
I gained weight in med school,lost some, went to the gym.
(09:13):
I did so much.
I saw a nutritionist, I have myown naturopathic doctor.
So this is where I've gonethrough some of the fluctuations
myself and then realizing howmuch it could also impact your
life.
So now when I work with people,I always say, like balanced
hormones, balanced life.
(09:33):
You need to make room foryourself and to have fun and
enjoy.
Your body will do what it needs, as long as we're nourishing
everything that's there.
Emma Viglucci (09:47):
Yes, I love that.
I mean, our bodies are suchtechnological vehicles for us to
do our journey right, and if wedon't treat them as this
amazing machinery, chemistry,layer, like you know, like like
we have everything, we don'ttreat it as such, we just I
(10:09):
don't know how we usually thinkabout it.
It's like kind of weird, likewe, we just move around, we
totally ignore it, we don't giveit enough credit for what it
does.
At the end of the day, as women, we create a life inside of our
own bodies.
I mean, like when we reallytake a step back and and think
about what the human body is,and especially as a woman like
(10:31):
whoa right, and it's just such abeautiful thing not to be
neglected, because the more thatwe nourish it I love the word
nourish for all of this it knowswhat it, what to do and how to
do it right.
Like we don't have to go, doall of the things and sometimes
make it worse because we throweverything out of whack right,
and that's sometimes.
Dr. Serena Goldstein (10:52):
It is that we think we're doing all the
right things.
And I remember sometimes Iwould see people taking 40 plus
supplements, or sometimes noneat all.
Or they don't believe in it orthey don't believe in it, and or
they don't believe inpharmaceuticals, and you know,
there's all these differentbelief systems.
So I feel like, by the time,it's not about me quelling your
(11:13):
beliefs or trying to change yourmind.
It's saying hey, here's what'sgoing on at the moment.
The beauty in working withsomeone is that things can
always be temporary and then, asyou start to heal actually
sometimes other you know pastsymptoms do wind up, popping up.
It's also part of the healingjourney.
But how can we also make thislong term?
(11:35):
And then listening to our bodywill definitely be a whole other
part of the conversation.
I'm sure what?
Emma Viglucci (11:44):
that's something that we should do, right?
Oh, my goodness for sure.
But so that's interesting thatyou brought up supplements.
So what is you said?
Some people take too many, somepeople take none.
I think I shared in our firstconversation that I become the
one probably the ones, thatprobably take too many.
So I would love to learn alittle bit more about that.
What's's too much, what's toolittle, and how do you choose,
(12:07):
how to find that middle groundthat makes sense?
Dr. Serena Goldstein (12:10):
So this is where I say it's usually per
person, because, in alltransparency, there are times
I've had patients call me out ontaking too many and because
this is too many for them.
So the beauty of what I do, too, is we could talk about all
right, well, is it just thatit's too many for them?
So the beauty of what I do, too, is we could talk about all
right, well, is it just thatit's too many pills?
Do we need to put things inpowders?
(12:30):
Do we need droppers?
Because there's also some greatforms out there.
When you see the tinctures, youknow that you know, especially
with herbs and everything.
So we can also talk aboutdifferent forms.
There's also IV therapy, andthose have been so popular
recently.
So that's another way ofgetting vitamins in, and I
(12:50):
always say too, it helps doubleas some R&R.
You usually get to be in thisnice big, comfy chair, if you're
okay with needles, of course.
Emma Viglucci (12:58):
Unless you're a medical doctor.
Right.
Dr. Serena Goldstein (13:03):
And then when it comes to getting the
supplements, I mean even justlogically, whole foods will
naturally, no pun intended orany health or even any small
health food store, will likelyhave more healthful supplements
than, let's say, costco orwalgreens.
Right, you know any of those,yeah?
(13:24):
So how to know if you're kindof at wit's end is if some of
the symptoms still keep comingback, or maybe they haven't
completely gone away, or maybethey go away for a time being,
but then and something else popsup instead so you know what?
Emma Viglucci (13:40):
why don't we jump into that for a second and
describe what are some of thesymptoms that people might be
experiencing that might be signsof hormonal imbalance or
something else going a littlearray that this type of approach
might be helpful for?
Dr. Serena Goldstein (13:56):
Yeah, so typically we think of hormonal
imbalances like food cravings,weight gain, especially around
the abdomen, but it can alsohappen around the hips as well
Acne hair growth, so it's calledhirsutism, which is you know
where.
If there's any facial hairsometimes chest hair it's
usually pretty dark, but someother, you know, which seemingly
(14:43):
unrelated, but still can bevery much in that hormonal
sphere, because hormonesactually can mirror some of our
neurotransmitters which areresponsible for mood stress and
it.
I mean chances are the body'salready stressed, but it's
almost like you're now in thisfreeze response, like everything
just becomes too overwhelmingso to speak yes you know, brain
fog, memory issues and then justfeeling snippier with people.
That tends to be a big.
You know, if your personalitystarts changing a little bit or
you just inherently feel like,okay, well, you're a little more
(15:06):
bloated, things aren'tdigesting.
Well, you're just not asthrilled anymore that that tends
to be more of.
Okay, we could talk gut alittle bit.
But certainly stress adrenalswith the two little glands that
sit on top of the kidneys andhormone imbalance can certainly
be a huge portion of everything.
Emma Viglucci (15:28):
Cool.
So if somebody is having all ofthose symptoms and then they're
like okay, I don't even knowwhere to start.
Is it my food?
Is it my exercise?
Is it my supplements?
Is it my things?
Should I be taking somethingelse?
What's wrong with me?
I don't know what to do.
Like, where would you startwith all of this?
Dr. Serena Goldstein (15:47):
Well, the first thing I would do is look
at someone's rhythm.
Are they always on the go?
Are they eating at regulartimes?
Are they getting enough proteinin, which is huge, because most
people, especially if it's graband go, aren't really thinking
about the protein content, whichI always recommend, like 40 to
50 grams a day.
(16:07):
You know, special for men andwomen, you know, maybe for men a
little bit more, more if you'reworking out, and what protein
helps do is it helps buildmuscle and it really helps
stabilize blood sugar.
It's also very like, on a moremetaphysical level, kind of
grounding for us.
So it just helps bring us backwithin the body.
Emma Viglucci (16:27):
We could say definitely back to that point.
To come back to, I'm going topin that.
Dr. Serena Goldstein (16:32):
Awesome, you know, having enough healthy
fats, drinking enough water,because all of these two, if
we're not getting enough waterin and we're made of mostly
water, then yeah, we could getpretty irritable.
So it's also part of the fuelthat our body needs.
So first I'm really looking atwhat is your whole rhythm like,
(16:53):
what is your diet generallylooking like, and then, if we
need to bring in any tests, samething I'm going to be looking
at especially your cortisollevels for that circadian rhythm
.
And is someone sleeping?
Which chances are they could bewaking up in the middle of the
night if they're having thesedifferent stressors, or maybe
not even really being able toget out of bed properly.
(17:16):
So all these different telltalesigns, even in the history,
where I'm like all right, here'swhere we need to start,
definitely usually on the stressand hormone piece.
But, yes, we could always bringin some tests as needed
beautiful.
Emma Viglucci (17:32):
You know, out of all the conversations that I've
been having with people, you'rethe first one that mentioned
that just what is the rhythm ofthe day and the routines, and I
love that because I'm all aboutthe routine, the habits, the
daily.
You know what is the dailystructure for the day.
Um, you know, how do youmaximize what you put in, how do
(17:53):
you nurture yourself, what'syour self-care like?
All these different things,right?
This some of the some of what Ibring to the conversation with
my clients as well.
And how do we build in habitsor tactics or whatever we need
to put in there to supporteverything that you're saying,
so that we can function the bestwe can, so that we could be the
best partner that we wanna beto our partner in our
(18:15):
relationship.
So the habits are just notwellness habits but also
connection habits, so all kindsof different habits just to do
our life better.
So what you said is perfect,just going with the rhythm,
right, like from the moment Iopen my eyes, okay, what is my
life like, and then what happens?
And then what happens, and thenwhat happens, right, until I
close my eyes again at night.
And can I do anything differentto make my life easier and
(18:36):
better throughout the day, so Ilove that that's where you start
, that you didn't automaticallystart with blood work.
Let's take 27 vials of bloodI'm not going to say who did
that and let's find out all ofthe things you know.
That's fun, and I'd like thatyou start there and then what's
(18:56):
indicated, and then we'll do thetest or any test that might be
indicated Cool, very cool.
So what are some things thatyou look at when you do do the
blood work and or all the tests?
What are the tests out there aswell?
Dr. Serena Goldstein (19:09):
Right.
So when I recommend blood workfor patients, it's usually not
that much different from whattheir MD would do.
So what I always say is I maygo a little more thorough, like,
for example chances are theirMD may order just only a tsh,
which is a measure of yourthyroid itself.
Or how well, um, your pituitary, which is one of the glands in
(19:31):
your brain, talks to the thyroid, which is controlled also by
the hypothalamus, before that.
So you have the hypothalamus,pituitary, thyroid axis, or
called axis, because they're allkind of talking to each other,
and then the thyroid spits outabout 99% of T4, which is your
inactive hormone, and then about1% of T3, which is your active
(19:53):
thyroid hormone.
Fun fact, most gets convertedin the liver, another portion in
the gut and then know the restaround the body.
However, in conventionalmedicine they may only test your
t4 levels, which isn't reallygoing to tell me anything.
So then I say oh, if I'm notconverting, it was right, it was
(20:15):
not helpful exactly, yeah, thenwe, then I could take a look at
your conversion levels becauseyou could have, okay, if your
tSH looks okay.
Well, at least for my standardsanyways, I tend to tighten the
ranges, yeah, but then what ifyour T4 looks okay but you're
also not feeling good?
Then it's not giving us thebest information.
(20:35):
So this is where I may order ormay recommend just a little bit
more.
I don't go too in depth testingwise, because I also want to
make sure that they can get whatthey need from their MD, just
because a lot, well, themajority of the states that I've
practiced in, I'm not able todirectly order blood work, so
(20:57):
I'm so I'm just grateful that,hey, you know what, I have some
tools for them.
I can, you know, help them sayhey, here's actually the
reasoning, knockwood, their MDis usually pretty good with it,
and then they just bringeverything back to me.
So, yeah, and so this is where,again, you know, coming to just
(21:19):
some basic blood work.
And then you know, usually, formy end, where then I would
start recommending more of thespecialized tests we can go into
genetic testing, urine testingfor cortisol and hormones,
saliva testing for the samething, neurotransmitters, stool
tests.
We could do heavy metals, butwe could also do some heavy
(21:39):
metals and blood work, which issomething that we would always
talk about as well, but what Ifind is that a lot of people,
too, they're interested in thetests, but it's also having the
test as part of a plan, you know, even having them spaced out
enough to say, hey, did wereally maximize this, get the
results that we need before wemove to the next one.
Emma Viglucci (22:01):
that's smart, gotcha, I like that.
So let's go back for a second.
We move to the next one.
That's smart, gotcha, I likethat.
So let's go back for a secondto the conversion.
So if you have enough T4, butyou don't have enough converted
to T3, and you see that convertsprimarily in the liver, the gut
and some other parts of thebody as well.
So what if you could see thatyou're not converting?
(22:21):
Well, first of all, how do youknow if it's not converting?
Is there a test for that?
You could order a free T3.
Okay, so then if you don't havea T3, you know it's not
converting.
Dr. Serena Goldstein (22:30):
Correct.
So this is where.
So usually with TSH,conventionally the range is like
0.5 to 4.5.
But usually people stop feelinggood after two or two and a
half, interestingly enough.
So this is where it's alreadykind of a borderline of all
(22:51):
right.
You know what like also what'shappening further off as well.
So then depending on how muchT4 there you know that's coming
out of the thyroid, sometimesthat it may be on the low end of
normal, I've seen like normalto low end, but then it's the T3
that can potentially take alittle bit of a nosedive or a
(23:12):
little bit of like.
Okay, it's probably notconverting this, which would
make sense, because if theperson is stressed out, there's
also a marker called reverse T3,which literally is a marker of
stress.
So either t4 converts into t3,which is what the body uses, or
it converts into reverse t3,which is another inactive form,
(23:33):
like it literally doesn't doanything right?
Emma Viglucci (23:36):
yeah, don't convert to things that are not
helpful.
Wow, interesting.
So what converts?
What was?
Is it an enzyme, or I forgetwhat converts?
Yeah, there's, there's a coupleof.
Dr. Serena Goldstein (23:51):
Yeah, there's a couple of different
enzymes and I want to say that II'm probably going to
mispronounce the diadonase, thethe different enzymes, because
what's happening is that it'scleaving off the different
molecules to make literally t4to t3.
You know those active, you knowfrom the inactive to the active
.
But that's also why you knowminerals like selenium iodine,
(24:16):
you know especially likepotassium chloride and even like
, from the more macro side ofthings, you know sea salt are so
important is because it reallydoes help with all these
conversions.
So what I'm thinking about okay, well, again, looking at this
overall health, what we see theliver now is this sort of
underrated organ, because nownot only is it responsible for
(24:38):
thyroid, but it helps withcholesterol, it helps make and
metabolize hormones, it's goingto help with all our detox
pathways and getting justliteral crap out of our body.
You know that it needs.
So you know.
To the original question, maybeif supplements aren't quite
(24:59):
working, people think, oh well,thyroid, I need to take thyroid
stuff.
Well, what if they actuallyneed more liver stuff?
Right, what if they also needadrenal support, of course
supported by a healthfullifestyle, because it is
possible to out supplementsupplements with a not so
healthy lifestyle.
But they need adrenal supportto help mitigate the stress
(25:23):
response.
This is going to be stressthat's going to throw off the
thyroid right, love it very,very good, right.
Emma Viglucci (25:31):
So liver support, adrenal support, all the things
not necessarily just target thethyroid itself.
All the other organs also needto be in good balance too, so
everything works well, makessense.
So what kind of supplements?
I guess would be the nextquestion.
Would it be helpful or can you?
(25:53):
Can supplements help with thehormonal balance?
Like, how does that tietogether?
Dr. Serena Goldstein (26:00):
yeah, and I think, um, you know, touching
on too from the hormonal side ofthings.
This is also how I help balancehormones, without birth control
and without hormone replacementtherapy, when I'm looking at
the nutrients of like all theorgan systems, of course,
including the gut.
So this is where I'm thinkingabout and then coming back to
(26:21):
the rhythm, what are theperson's main concerns?
Like, if they're not sleeping?
Right, we got to get themsleeping and then you know, look
at what time the person wakesup in the middle of the night is
in Chinese medicine?
That could also point to whichorgan system do we really need
to look at?
So, like, one to 3am tends tobe more liver and blood sugar
(26:42):
related.
3 to 5 is like kidney, adrenal.
Well, those are the few thattend to pop up.
Um, so, supplements that Ireally like and things.
Magnesium involved in over 300reactions in the body.
So this is coming from that bigpicture.
We're versus sending everyoneout saying, okay, go get this
(27:03):
for this and this for that andthat for that.
Magnesium can cover a whole lotand it's and it's calming,
which we all need nowadays.
Um, get your vitamin d3 levelschecked as well.
Emma Viglucci (27:20):
So that's a big one yeah, I was just gonna add
that I like that, that mindsetof let's grab this supplement
that takes off a bunch of boxesI'm supposed to in this and this
and this and this and then andthey have a gazillion pills to
take or gazillion powders, orgives most of things.
Dr. Serena Goldstein (27:38):
So yeah, I really like inositol.
Oh so it's actually a type of bvitamin, but, and same thing, I
find it very grounding.
It helps make serotonin, whichis our happy hormone.
It helps with blood sugar, ithelps with just hormone health
overall.
So same thing it it's.
(28:00):
It's a's a multifaceted one.
I've seen it, you know pill,both pill and powder.
So those are really good.
Emma Viglucci (28:08):
Lovely.
What's the name of it?
Dr. Serena Goldstein (28:08):
again Inositol, so it's
I-N-O-S-I-T-O-L.
Emma Viglucci (28:17):
Very nice, I learned something new.
I like when I learn stuff nice,I learned something new.
Dr. Serena Goldstein (28:25):
I like when I learned stuff.
Yeah, yeah, it's one of the.
It's not so well, it'sinteresting.
It's well known, but I don'tknow how well known it is if
someone you know again just goesand does a bunch of research
per se, right it might be wellknown, but not well known to me.
Emma Viglucci (28:36):
It's okay, exactly cool, um, wow, so we
cover this from, from the veryspecific to the hormones.
So, since we're in this realm,how did this imbalances show up,
with period issues, let's say,if the, if a younger woman is
(28:58):
listening to this, um, and?
Or or a woman with a with ateenage daughter, or a young
adult daughter, and we just wantto be helpful to the younger
population, like what might begoing on and what might we see
in terms of some of the thingsthat you're mentioning?
Dr. Serena Goldstein (29:15):
well, great questions.
So, interestingly, in theteenage years not only are they
battling hormones, but in thedevelopmental side they're also.
They also now have this newidentity Right, and there's this
new burgeoning almost adulthood, but not really.
Their body is changing, but ithasn't settled in yet.
(29:38):
So now it's really going on.
So some of it could be whetherit's a little symptom palliation
, but of course we also want tomake sure.
I would want to make sure I'mdue to due diligence of okay,
well, let's say, if there'sheavy bleeding, is there any
chance of fibroids?
If she's having like any hairgrowth, you know, looking at
(30:00):
polycystic ovarian syndrome,like any cysts on the ovaries,
if there's any like really bigchanges in the period.
So usually a period is 25 to 35days, but if it starts getting
shorter or longer, same thing,you know.
Want to look at any estrogen,especially like estrogen
dominance related issues.
Um, you know which,interestingly, men and women
(30:23):
tend to have, usually like a lowprogesterone, high estrogen,
acne could be testosteronerelated.
So, looking at all thesedifferent factors, same thing.
They're going to benefit fromthese nutrients as well,
especially as their body isgoing to start to level out.
But if we could get them early,you know and really teach them
(30:45):
about prevention and listeningto their body, and because now
they're literally going to havea monthly visitor, they could
also really track it by theirfood, by their stress levels,
even when they're around, whatmakes them feel really good,
because all of these factors aregoing to then kind of make a
(31:05):
sum into, well, what is theirperiod going to be like this
coming month?
And they could track.
Is it a little more painful?
Ooh, what were they eating?
What were they doing?
You know what were their stresslevels like the month before?
I mean, that's the thing is,you know we were talking about
earlier.
Some of the hormone imbalancescan literally manifest as
(31:29):
anxiety attacks, panic attacksand, just you know, migraines
are a big one, you know.
So I mean, not what I never had, you know, migraines, but I
definitely had a lot of othersymptoms that were in that
sphere and it's taken years to,you know, really understand.
(31:51):
Okay, it's not just about theimbalances, but what am I doing
every month to also bettermyself?
And then, if there's a monththat wasn't as good, where can I
reflect?
Emma Viglucci (32:02):
because especially, you know, when
you're sitting there and notfeeling fantastic, it's a good
time to reflect too so I've beendiving a little bit into cycle
thinking also, and so I thinkthat that might be really
helpful with everything thatyou're saying as well.
So if I know that, you know I'min this phase of the period of
(32:22):
the cycle, then this is how Iline up my lifestyle and all the
things that you're suggesting.
If I'm in this phase and I lineit up like this, so then I,
then I could be aware of how I'min support, supporting and
nourishing my body.
Um, right, so so that I have abetter period, is this month, or
an easier month, altogetherEasier?
Dr. Serena Goldstein (32:43):
one, oh, definitely.
Well, and too you know from thewhole cycle circadian rhythm
piece.
What's interesting as well isthat you know you may find that
whatever you feel like doing ornot doing is actually kind of
aligned with that cycle syncingpart.
So I can find that cyclesyncing it's great because it
(33:03):
can bring some awareness.
But, yeah, when it comes tofamiliarity, I'm like it also
gives us that chance to reallylisten in and understand of,
okay, what does make me feelreally good around certain times
.
Emma Viglucci (33:15):
Because, especially as women, we have at
least we have like four hormonesin flux that is so good to be
in tune with that, because youknow, if this week I'm not
feeling like seeing anybody,let's say then, oh, it's
interesting, it's okay, I'm notbeing a bad person or not being
crazy or I'm not being lazy orI'm not being whatever things
(33:37):
people might sell themselves.
If I don't feel like it, itsupports that part of the cycle.
It just means, like you know,it's time to like kind of slow
down and hibernate a little bit.
It's okay, it's just going toslow down and nourish, right.
There might be another phase ofthe cycle where like, woohoo,
party time, and then it's like,doesn't make you a bad person,
too active or too whatever, like, whatever the things are that
(34:04):
you know, party animal and notresponsible enough, whatever the
stories are that people mightsay, right.
So if I'm partying all the time, that's okay.
You're in the social part ofyour cycle, right.
So whatever the cycle is, it'sokay to honor what you're
feeling and what's going on.
So then you get the most out ofeach cycle and you don't have
to beat yourself up for, likelast week I was partying so much
, how come I can't party thisweek?
Or last week I wanted to.
I was nice and chilling.
I'm like crazy or whatever.
(34:25):
So it's okay.
You don't have to be the sameevery week.
So as then, that's teenagers,young adult.
Now we start getting a littlebit older in our life.
Now we might be in a morecommitted relationship, we might
be thinking of having babies.
So how might all of this playout in our fertility?
Dr. Serena Goldstein (34:51):
All right, yeah, so well, fertility is
pretty big because it's, yes, wewant everything balanced, but
we also want to make sure thoseeggs are viable.
So this is where getting ablood test like AMH, you know,
the anti-malarian hormone, canactually help.
You know, with the um, the test, the quality of the eggs as
well, yeah, so that, so thatwill be helpful, and actually
inositol is further helpful forthat as well.
(35:12):
Um, in addition, right, yeah,it has multi-purpose.
Um, yeah, fertility is isinteresting because it's also
part of the journey and I feel,for women, you know, there is,
oh, if we get into a little moreof the spiritual, um, there is,
I know where this is going now.
(35:34):
Uh, right, so we have the divinemasculine, the divine feminine.
So the masculine side, which weall have, the two sides, but
the masculine, you know, men, ofcourse, will have more of that
energy.
Women, you know, have more ofthe feminine.
The masculine provides thewomen can multiply, and that's
exactly what we do.
They provide the sperm, we canmultiply it, and so it's also
(36:00):
meaning keeping us clear and onthis rhythm and, you know, and
moving away from the society ofthe go, go, go and do, do, do, I
mean, hey, if it warmssomeone's heart, fantastic, and
that's.
You know where they are, youknow.
No, clearly no judgment, butwhat I have found, you know,
there are times along thefertility journey of maybe being
(36:23):
able to step back or havecertain shifts in mindset that
have been helpful as well.
Emma Viglucci (36:31):
I love that.
Can you say a little bit moreabout that?
So, because infertility is very, very common, I see that a lot
of my practice with the couplesthat I work with and so that's
interesting that you went moreto a mindset angle on on this
and an energetic angle.
So can you touch a little bitmore on both of those things?
Dr. Serena Goldstein (36:52):
sure.
Well, I feel like even justpersonality wise, or what I've
seen, what I've noticed is thatI know there's a lot of the
stereotypes of oh down with thepatriarchy, and I used to be
like that, but you could say,since my awakening, since some
(37:13):
other understandings, it's notnecessarily the patriarchy
itself, but it's more for thefact that women have been taught
to control, to know that wecould be literally just like men
, even though we know we're not.
We haven't even been in enoughresearch studies ourselves,
because most blood work isactually based on men.
(37:34):
And so here we are, acting likemen, are taught to act like men
.
But where does that leave roomfor the men to literally be men
and step up and provide and beemotional support for the women
who may go through somedifferent throes throughout this
journey as well?
(37:58):
So, from the again, from the bigpicture, I do believe it starts
with the, with the peoplethemselves, the women, knowing
their, you know, understandingthe role as women, so to speak.
We are meant to create andmultiply.
That said, as a disclaimer,this is certainly not to limit
anything.
You know, we can do anything,as you know, as it's from our
(38:21):
heart and the creation, but themen are there to be sturdy as
well and to support.
So I find that it's with thisdynamic, and as long as both
couples really are, or both inthe couple are supportive of
each other and have that, thenit's certainly going to be a
better chance than the womanwho's going to feel resentful
(38:43):
and who still has to control andis still sort of stuck in a
certain mindset.
Emma Viglucci (38:53):
Wow, you know that's so beautiful.
I think that that's very coming, especially with with the
couples in this area.
So I mean, I know that thispodcast and the audience is all
over, but the people that wework with, primarily one to one,
are New Jersey, new York, likethis Northeast area, and so the
(39:18):
energy is very much.
The women are very much intheir masculine.
Just go getting right and again, nothing wrong.
We have masculine and femininein all of our bodies.
We're both.
But when we're constantly inour masculine and doing part of
ourselves, we're shutting downall the other stuff.
Well, not for nothing.
(39:38):
We can't produce the eggs andwe can't have a group of
hormones and we can't getpregnant.
Like, where's the feminine?
Right, literally right.
So, and it's a hard pill toswallow, to sell or to sell that
, to sell the pill.
So so it's interesting to havea different angle on what might
be going on.
It's not just literally yourbiology, but what's contributing
(40:02):
to your biology.
Your biology is affected byyour mindset, your lifestyle,
how you're just, how you'reshowing up, how you're doing
everything.
Your whole body, your wholemakeup is affected by all of the
other things, right?
So if we have this mindset of,I could, could provide two.
I could make money.
Two, of course you can.
We could do anything we want.
But how are you going about that?
Are you shutting down yourfeminine?
Are you shutting down,literally, your ovaries, your
(40:25):
organs, your things, right?
Are you throwing your hormonesout of whack to work at the same
pace or in the same style, witha 24-hour circadian rhythm that
men have, as opposed to 28average day lifestyle cycle that
we have?
Right, we're not honoringourselves, we're not for nothing
in our bodies are notsupporting us and doing what we
wanted to do.
(40:45):
So thank you for that.
Oh, you're welcome.
Really puts it into context,right, in terms of dynamics
between the partners and usingour bodies to their full
capacity and supporting it andnourishing to its full capacity,
as opposed to doing life in away that breaks it down instead
shuts it down.
And just the energetics betweenthe partners.
(41:07):
What are the dynamics therethat contribute to that mindset
or to the approach to life thatcreates a funkiness and then
people shooting themselves onthe foot.
So, yes, very nice, very nice.
Okay, so that's the fertilityyears, but in terms of the
energetics, in the dynamics,emotional and energetics,
(41:27):
anything that you want to add tothat?
Dr. Serena Goldstein (41:31):
so I would say it's.
There are times I feel like it'snot a be all and end all,
because there could also bepeople that we wouldn't even
expect maybe to get pregnant, orwomen, I should say, and they
do, and maybe there was no otherrhyme or reason you could say
there's, you know that higherpower, god's plan, however the
(41:52):
soul was meant to enter, youknow, so be it.
But, as I know, we do havesimilar demographics, that, for
the most part, but yes, havingthat healthy masculine and
feminine dynamic, you know, Ifeel will be so helpful.
And what I wanted to add too isthat, even though we could say,
okay, well then, change what'sin the head, it's like, well,
(42:14):
you gotta also change some ofthe physiology, because some of
the physiology is going toaffect you know we talked about
mood and all the other thingsthat hold.
You know how hormones can look,like neurotransmitters and vice
versa, that you know they canalso affect each other, so
you're sort of going in like alittle spiral, like that.
(42:36):
So, yes, I think, working, youknow, from multiple angles, um,
you know, doing energy medicine,techniques like reiki, even
acupuncture, that there's somany other wonderful modalities
out there to also just help getthe woman to relax and achieve
optimal health and, you know,really do all the things.
Emma Viglucci (43:09):
So good, yes, beautiful sleepiness nights,
waking up in the middle of thenight, all of the things that we
require of early motherhood orinfant stage, and then all the
other demands as the kids growolder, anything for that part of
life to support yes, soprogesterone is definitely well.
Dr. Serena Goldstein (43:31):
yeah, so you have a couple of different
hormones going on.
I will say I'm not as wellversed in that area and that's
probably where I would go moreinto testing a little sooner,
because, from what I do know, atthat time, oh my god, hormones
are just all over the place.
And then it depends if awoman's breastfeeding if they're
(43:54):
not breastfeeding because ifthey're breastfeeding it's going
to help speed up theirmetabolism a woman's
breastfeeding if they're notbreastfeeding because if they're
breastfeeding it's going tohelp speed up their metabolism
they go yay.
But then if they're not, it'slike, well, then what happens
with this extra weight kind ofdeal.
So this is where definitelyworking out, building muscle,
you know I would say this wouldbe their time to get back to the
basics with everything.
And then, because I have workedwith some, you know, right
(44:18):
afterwards and heard some oftheir stories and everything,
and it can take a minute, youknow it's not again, not a quick
fix.
It is about now establishing amama-baby type rhythm as well.
I mean, there's so manydifferent schools of thoughts on
you know, then, how the baby isgoing to be parented as well
and the energy that's going tobe put in, so it's really an
(44:42):
interesting time.
Emma Viglucci (44:44):
Yeah, that's, that's one of my favorites, very
nice.
So what is your?
Your, your specialty, age ortopics?
Dr. Serena Goldstein (44:54):
So I tend to see women mostly from 20s to
60s.
Okay, I have supported women ingetting pregnant.
I have helped them, usually afew years after, so it sometimes
just so happens that way.
Personality types this is whereit tends to be pretty similar.
(45:14):
It's the well-read.
They are probably alreadytaking supplements, or just I
need to know what to take.
They've had certain diagnosis.
They have a lot going on notsleeping right, high stress
levels, either want to get offbirth control just got off birth
control and or don't want totake hormone replacement.
Emma Viglucci (45:38):
Let's pay a hormone replacement.
We'll come back to that in asecond Right.
So those are your people, verygood.
So then, speaking of that, oncethe whole fertility years going
to start waning down andperimenopause, menopause, like
what's happening there, andwhat's the best way to support
(45:58):
the women at that age?
Dr. Serena Goldstein (46:01):
Also those diagnoses which I always
explain first.
These are diagnoses ofexclusion If you're not getting
your period, if you're havingthe hot flashes and the weight
gain and all of that again,let's get your rhythm back,
let's manage your stress levels,because clearly your body knows
something is up.
But if we can help bring thatback into balance then maybe it
(46:28):
who knows?
Menopause will likely not be aspainful.
You may not, your hot flashesmay not be as prominent, so to
to speak.
So this is all the preventionthat we can do.
And again, just because youknow, a blood test may say you
know that, okay, well, you're inmenopause kind of deal.
Well, it would also last quitea bit.
(46:50):
Or, you know, there have beentimes too where someone could
think they're coming into it,but they literally just had a
hormone imbalance and theirperiod lasts for a number of
more years.
I know, culturally it can lookdifferent.
I remember being told that inthe Middle East women do tend to
have their menses a bit longer,you know, than in other
(47:12):
cultures, which is interesting.
So for a lot of these women,interestingly, as they're coming
into that perimenopausemenopause era, it's going to be
blood sugar.
That's slightly that takesslightly more precedence than
hormones.
So, even though it's like okay,oh my god, we go right to the
(47:32):
Like, we actually really got tolook at blood sugar, because any
sort of blood sugar imbalanceis going to throw off hormones,
and so around this timeprogesterone really plummets.
So now they're left with thiskind of high estrogen, and then
in menopausal women there's atype of estrogen that shifts.
So now you're going from thepotent one that you know usually
(47:56):
made their face all shinyaround ovulation you know their
hips all wide to now this lesspotent form, which is actually
what contributes to the applebody, you know, which is sort of
like what men have or can havetoo right.
Emma Viglucci (48:14):
So at this point, then they're aside from the
well we want the lifestyle to do, I should say, or the rhythms
to do is sure that we're stillproducing estrogen, good
estrogen and enough progesterone.
So any suggestions for that?
Dr. Serena Goldstein (48:29):
yeah, so we could always do things
naturally.
So there are naturalprogesterones, but I would say
some of the supplements that Irecommended, like definitely
getting your vitamin D levelschecked, because vitamin D helps
make hormones.
Um, you know, magnesium Bcomplex is another great one.
So B B vitamins are involved inover over 500 reactions in the
(48:55):
human body, so the adrenalsupport will actually look
different for each woman.
So these could be things likeashwagandha, ginseng, rhodiola
so there are some really goodherbs there, sometimes liver or
shrew, because that's like anice phytoestrogen, so it acts
(49:18):
like an estrogen, but it doesn'thave all the potent side
effects.
So, again, this is now more perthe woman, because she's also
dealing with the emotionaltransition as well, and that's a
big piece that really comesinto.
You know, maybe we do a littlemore heart centered, like the
(49:38):
flower essences.
Um, I really like the herbhawthorn, which is great on the
mental, emotional, for the heart, like just heart nourishment,
and it also helps hawthorn cool,yeah, and then it also helps
lower anxiety and then it'sgoing to be great for blood
vessels.
So you're looking for benefitswith hot flashes and everything.
Emma Viglucci (50:01):
Oh, how beautiful .
I love that.
So that's the wonderful way ofsupporting through the
transition from peri to meno andpost, and just how do we do it
as gently as possible so wedon't suffer through menopause
right or the transition, but notjust physically but also
mentally.
There's different ways ofsupporting that the identity and
(50:24):
the laws and everything thatcomes along with this time of
life.
Um, and I love these herbs andvitamins and supplements,
concoctions to support thedifferent parts in support
center.
I love adding that to the mixhere.
You know, serena was reallywonderful about this
conversation is that you notonly bringing in all the medical
and all the natural pet stuff,which rich and beautiful, but I
(50:50):
love the whole more energeticand the whole other piece that
comes along with this and andthe more woo stuff, if you may.
You know I'm hearing anotherpodcast in there.
I'm hearing, like all thepatterns and the energetics, how
they all play out, butdifferent conversation possibly
now.
So that's one thing.
You you mentioned personality afew times.
(51:10):
So anything else about patterns, relational things,
personalities to throw in hereto close this up.
Dr. Serena Goldstein (51:17):
Yes, so I know, the other piece that we
talked about earlier, and theneven on our own, was the whole
piece of anger control.
So, as we talked about thefeminine that's still in a way
trying to act like the man, soto speak, and usually women know
when they're, when they're justfeeling this high stress and
(51:41):
the competition and justliterally unable to like, unable
to let go in a way, is that?
Well, that's when we see samething with hormones, say,
balanced hormones, balanced life, but if they're too much on
this anger control, this thatblack white, what do I do?
Oh, my God.
Oh, we need to turn in.
(52:02):
We got to go into the heartspace and that's why, too, you
know, again, like recommendingthe Anastol, getting us grounded
in our bodies, starting withnature, starting with that
circadian rhythm, maybe gettingsome hawthorn to really get us
into the heart and to loveourselves, because that's so
much of who we are as humanbeings are you talking about
(52:24):
self-love practice?
Emma Viglucci (52:26):
what?
That's crazy talk.
I love that so much.
Yes, the personality type thatis.
So I have to be in the man modekind of thing more in my
masculine, in the control piece,in the competition piece and
all these different things.
It hurts us right.
So if we're more able to let goand to open up, which is more
(52:47):
feminine, that's where we getmore in alignment and where we
support ourselves better.
So then, what do we need?
What practices do we need toput in place to cultivate and
nurture that parts more?
And it doesn't mean that ourcareer is going to take a hit.
It doesn't mean that we can'thave high power jobs.
It doesn't mean that we can bego-getters.
But how do we balance it outwith some of these more
(53:07):
nourishing things so that we arenot killing ourselves literally
?
Dr. Serena Goldstein (53:11):
Do what you used to do as a kid, what
you love to do as a kid, there'sgot to be something.
If you love to draw, I'm sureyou could still draw if it was
being athletic.
Oh my god, there's so manysports or team sports nowadays
that there's got to be somethingwith an age group that you can
(53:34):
join somewhere, you know.
Yeah, it's getting back to whatgets us uninhibited and really
feeling safe.
Emma Viglucci (53:46):
Beautiful.
Those are beautiful partingwords, I think, right there.
So this is so, so good.
I want to talk with you for amillion hours, but of course,
we're going to be respectful oftime yours and the audience's so
we're going to keep thiscontained.
I know that we're going to haveanother conversation that has
to do more with the brain andall the neurotransmitters, and
(54:07):
wellness and diagnosis and howwe're doing with our mind and
all the brain and all that, sowe're going to hone in even more
.
So I'm looking forward to thatconversation, and so anything
else for today, and do you wantto share with the audience what
your free gift is?
Dr. Serena Goldstein (54:26):
Yes, so, like all this, my free gift is
all about spirituality andmedicine, which is really about
getting back to the basics,getting back to ourselves as we
incorporate it with what's goingon within our body.
So I'm sure you'll have thelinks and everything below.
Emma Viglucci (54:43):
Yes, yes, I'm going to add that to the show
notes.
Oh my gosh, Serena, you havebeen most informative.
Gorgeous, beautiful, radiant,all of the things.
Thank you so much for beinghere and I really look forward
to the next conversation so wecould dive in into the different
body part and what that meansfor our life and our
(55:03):
relationship.
So I look forward to thatconversation then.
Thank you for being here withme today.
I appreciate it.
Dr. Serena Goldstein (55:09):
Yes, thank you.
Emma Viglucci (55:12):
And to the audience until the next one.
Bye.
Hello lovelies, welcome to another episode.
I am so excited for today'stopic.
We talk about the hormonaljourney for women and all of the
things that she might worryabout at each stage of life.
We address the topics from alldifferent angles, like using
different lifestyle changes,different treatment modalities,
(00:31):
supplements, even mindsets, andwe even throw in there some
woo-woo spiritual things toreally support you and help you
nourish yourself and your body,so that you come free of the
energy that might be spent onworrying and addressing and
dealing with all these thingsand it could be better spent on
(00:52):
creating a beautiful home, abeautiful family, beautiful life
and a beautiful relationshipwith your partner.
The conversation takes placewith Dr Serena Goldstein.
It is so fun and resourceful.
I hope you enjoyed it as muchas I did and that you especially
hone in into that woo-woo stuffLike it's a really nice
different angle that we added tothis conversation.
(01:13):
I hope that you enjoy it.
Stay tuned, you're in for atreat.
Let me read you her bio andthen we'll say hello to Serena.
Dr Serena Goldstein is anaturopathic doctor who guides
you to trust and understand whatyour body is telling you.
(01:35):
She has a diverse, deep andgrowing knowledge base around
conventional medicine, naturalmodalities, energy medicine
modalities and the spirituality,where she seeks to find and
address the root cause ofsymptoms with an individualized
plan.
That also feels like relief.
Dr Serena works with thoseexperiencing weight gain,
(01:58):
hormone imbalance, poor sleep,stress, thyroid mood and gut
health issues, who want to learnmore of what their body is
saying and needs.
Dr Serena has shared herexpertise on outlets such as
MindBodyGreen, forbes andShapecom, has appeared on NYU
(02:19):
Radio Cyrus XM, written multipleresearch articles on mind-body
healing, presented at numerousconferences, and serves as an
advisory board member forNatural Practitioner magazine.
Without further ado, let's sayhello to Serena.
Hello Serena, how are you today?
(02:40):
I'm so happy to have you herewith us.
Dr. Serena Goldstein (02:43):
Yes, and thank you so much for having me.
Emma Viglucci (02:46):
I am really excited for this conversation,
as I like to share.
I am a nerd for all the thingswellness and body and things
aside from the work that I dowith couples and I always like
to deepen the conversation, soI'm so excited for us to dive in
and more specifically into thehormone side of things.
So this is going to be so goodand I want the audience to get
(03:08):
hooked up with details aboutwhat's going on with their
hormones if they're not feelingwell, and how you and your
profession and your angle mightbring something different to
them that they might not haveconsidered, and how we'll take
care of them.
Good.
Dr. Serena Goldstein (03:24):
Awesome.
Emma Viglucci (03:27):
Yeah, perfect, all right.
So why don't you tell us alittle bit about your profession
, your, your, what do you dolike neuropathic medicine?
Dr. Serena Goldstein (03:33):
exactly so .
It's actually and that was agood example because that it's
actually pretty common have.
People may say oh, is itneuropath, natural?
There's so many differentpronunciations of it.
Interestingly, you may hearnaturopathic on the East Coast
and naturopathic on the WestCoast.
(03:53):
There's a lot of differentaccents in this country.
Emma Viglucci (03:57):
Yes, yes, yes.
I don't remember what I said.
I hope I said it properly.
Dr. Serena Goldstein (04:05):
So go right ahead.
Yes, so in naturopathic medicineit's similar to conventional
medicine in the sense that thefirst two years so just to give
everyone some context it's basicsciences, and then we take labs
, imaging, diagnostics,pathology, and then we have our
first set of board exams, whichare like the USMLEs.
Then the next two to three yearsare all the ologies, so I think
(04:28):
cardiology, endocrinology,gynecology, pediatrics,
geriatrics, so forth, and thennot only do we take pharmacology
, so all the drugs, and then wetake nutrition, botanical
medicine, homeopathy, iv therapy, chiropractic and minor surgery
.
There we go.
So it's really more tools inour toolbox to not just treat
(04:50):
the patient but to get to theroot cause of disease.
And what that really means isthat it's more than just
palliating a certain concern orjust making you feel better
right away, which of course Iwant and I know you want to but
it's being able to explainphysiology in such a way which
(05:10):
we will get into with hormones,that they move through so many
different organ systems thatlet's also boost the nourishment
and the health of those organsystems.
So really everything isfunctioning so much better.
Emma Viglucci (05:25):
I love that.
Yeah, you know, it'sinteresting because sometimes it
feels like the functionalmedicine or the more traditional
doesn't go to that, to that thebottom line.
Of course it won't make youfeel better, but it feels like a
bandaid Okay.
So they take this, you know,and it's like okay, but what
cost it?
And how do we fix the root ofthe problem?
I suppose to like now I stillhave the problem, now I have a
(05:49):
band-aid and the band is causingother problems.
I was like right, so, yes, lovethis conversation.
Okay, so tell us a little bitmore then about at what point
for yourself, did you like whatbrought you into this and at
what point for yourself did youfind that it was a hormone thing
for you and I might be goingtoo fast here.
So do you specialize inhormones?
Do you have other specialties?
(06:10):
And then like, how did you honein?
Dr. Serena Goldstein (06:14):
yeah, so I'll.
I'll wrap it all up becauseeverything can be so intertwined
.
So before psychology, which wasmy original path, before
medicine, which is what I hadfirst desired, I remember my
hormone journey a few yearsprior.
So around those teenage years Iused to double over from cramps
(06:35):
and pass out, like many my age,you know we had might all in
our backpacks and proactive thatevery so often I would only
stop it once it burnt my skin.
I had the pimple poppers andthe clear assault.
Emma Viglucci (06:51):
You might be aging yourself right now.
I can relate to all of thesethings.
Dr. Serena Goldstein (06:57):
Yes, definitely aging myself.
And you know at the same time,that's what we've heard of,
that's what everyone knew andthat's what we heard of, that's
what everyone knew and that'sthe advice that was given.
However, from the morenaturopathic side and my own
journey so I was a competitivegymnast.
I injured my elbow ingymnastics and when I couldn't
(07:22):
play the trombone or dogymnastics, I was not a happy
camper.
So at 15, I went to the libraryand I began reading young
Erickson and Freud to try tofigure out what was going on
with myself.
And then, like many of mypatients and people that I tend
to work with and be around, Iwanted to do all the research
and fix myself at some point.
(07:42):
But I was also reading so muchI was thinking you know what?
I need?
Help, I need someone, I need tobring someone in.
So I did actually try a coupleof different therapists, landed
on one who was a PhD.
She made such a difference inmy life that I thought, oh my
God, I want to get my doctorate,just like her.
(08:02):
So I started college as apsychology major and Japanese
minor, because I finished withthree honors.
So I finished with three honorsin high school, tested into
Japanese too, did not get alongwith my teacher.
And then a close friend saidwhy don't you go pre-med?
And I thought you know, there'sno doctors in my family.
Emma Viglucci (08:25):
Is that pre-med?
Okay, you know there's nodoctors in my family.
It's that pre-med.
Dr. Serena Goldstein (08:28):
Okay, you know, like the drugs, I don't
know.
It seemed, I hesitate to say,simple, but it just seemed like
one extra thing.
But it was an extra thing inaddition to talking.
So I thought, okay, I could domore for people.
But when I found naturopathicmedicine as you've heard my
explanations oh, all hands on.
Okay, I could do more forpeople.
But when I found naturopathicmedicine as you heard my
explanations oh, all hands ondeck, I could do a lot for
(08:50):
people.
At the same time, my journeythrough college and especially
into my 20s, my weight had somany different fluctuations.
I would, or I would have like aSouth Beach diet bar in one
hand and like a calorie counterin the other, so I would try.
I would have like a South Beachdiet bar in one hand and like a
calorie counter in the other,so I would try mixing diets.
I gained a freshman 15,.
I gained weight in med school,lost some, went to the gym.
(09:13):
I did so much.
I saw a nutritionist, I have myown naturopathic doctor.
So this is where I've gonethrough some of the fluctuations
myself and then realizing howmuch it could also impact your
life.
So now when I work with people,I always say, like balanced
hormones, balanced life.
(09:33):
You need to make room foryourself and to have fun and
enjoy.
Your body will do what it needs, as long as we're nourishing
everything that's there.
Emma Viglucci (09:47):
Yes, I love that.
I mean, our bodies are suchtechnological vehicles for us to
do our journey right, and if wedon't treat them as this
amazing machinery, chemistry,layer, like you know, like like
we have everything, we don'ttreat it as such, we just I
(10:09):
don't know how we usually thinkabout it.
It's like kind of weird, likewe, we just move around, we
totally ignore it, we don't giveit enough credit for what it
does.
At the end of the day, as women, we create a life inside of our
own bodies.
I mean, like when we reallytake a step back and and think
about what the human body is,and especially as a woman like
(10:31):
whoa right, and it's just such abeautiful thing not to be
neglected, because the more thatwe nourish it I love the word
nourish for all of this it knowswhat it, what to do and how to
do it right.
Like we don't have to go, doall of the things and sometimes
make it worse because we throweverything out of whack right,
and that's sometimes.
Dr. Serena Goldstein (10:52):
It is that we think we're doing all the
right things.
And I remember sometimes Iwould see people taking 40 plus
supplements, or sometimes noneat all.
Or they don't believe in it orthey don't believe in it, and or
they don't believe inpharmaceuticals, and you know,
there's all these differentbelief systems.
So I feel like, by the time,it's not about me quelling your
(11:13):
beliefs or trying to change yourmind.
It's saying hey, here's what'sgoing on at the moment.
The beauty in working withsomeone is that things can
always be temporary and then, asyou start to heal actually
sometimes other you know pastsymptoms do wind up, popping up.
It's also part of the healingjourney.
But how can we also make thislong term?
(11:35):
And then listening to our bodywill definitely be a whole other
part of the conversation.
I'm sure what?
Emma Viglucci (11:44):
that's something that we should do, right?
Oh, my goodness for sure.
But so that's interesting thatyou brought up supplements.
So what is you said?
Some people take too many, somepeople take none.
I think I shared in our firstconversation that I become the
one probably the ones, thatprobably take too many.
So I would love to learn alittle bit more about that.
What's's too much, what's toolittle, and how do you choose,
(12:07):
how to find that middle groundthat makes sense?
Dr. Serena Goldstein (12:10):
So this is where I say it's usually per
person, because, in alltransparency, there are times
I've had patients call me out ontaking too many and because
this is too many for them.
So the beauty of what I do, too, is we could talk about all
right, well, is it just thatit's too many for them?
So the beauty of what I do, too, is we could talk about all
right, well, is it just thatit's too many pills?
Do we need to put things inpowders?
(12:30):
Do we need droppers?
Because there's also some greatforms out there.
When you see the tinctures, youknow that you know, especially
with herbs and everything.
So we can also talk aboutdifferent forms.
There's also IV therapy, andthose have been so popular
recently.
So that's another way ofgetting vitamins in, and I
(12:50):
always say too, it helps doubleas some R&R.
You usually get to be in thisnice big, comfy chair, if you're
okay with needles, of course.
Emma Viglucci (12:58):
Unless you're a medical doctor.
Right.
Dr. Serena Goldstein (13:03):
And then when it comes to getting the
supplements, I mean even justlogically, whole foods will
naturally, no pun intended orany health or even any small
health food store, will likelyhave more healthful supplements
than, let's say, costco orwalgreens.
Right, you know any of those,yeah?
(13:24):
So how to know if you're kindof at wit's end is if some of
the symptoms still keep comingback, or maybe they haven't
completely gone away, or maybethey go away for a time being,
but then and something else popsup instead so you know what?
Emma Viglucci (13:40):
why don't we jump into that for a second and
describe what are some of thesymptoms that people might be
experiencing that might be signsof hormonal imbalance or
something else going a littlearray that this type of approach
might be helpful for?
Dr. Serena Goldstein (13:56):
Yeah, so typically we think of hormonal
imbalances like food cravings,weight gain, especially around
the abdomen, but it can alsohappen around the hips as well
Acne hair growth, so it's calledhirsutism, which is you know
where.
If there's any facial hairsometimes chest hair it's
usually pretty dark, but someother, you know, which seemingly
(14:43):
unrelated, but still can bevery much in that hormonal
sphere, because hormonesactually can mirror some of our
neurotransmitters which areresponsible for mood stress and
it.
I mean chances are the body'salready stressed, but it's
almost like you're now in thisfreeze response, like everything
just becomes too overwhelmingso to speak yes you know, brain
fog, memory issues and then justfeeling snippier with people.
That tends to be a big.
You know, if your personalitystarts changing a little bit or
you just inherently feel like,okay, well, you're a little more
(15:06):
bloated, things aren'tdigesting.
Well, you're just not asthrilled anymore that that tends
to be more of.
Okay, we could talk gut alittle bit.
But certainly stress adrenalswith the two little glands that
sit on top of the kidneys andhormone imbalance can certainly
be a huge portion of everything.
Emma Viglucci (15:28):
Cool.
So if somebody is having all ofthose symptoms and then they're
like okay, I don't even knowwhere to start.
Is it my food?
Is it my exercise?
Is it my supplements?
Is it my things?
Should I be taking somethingelse?
What's wrong with me?
I don't know what to do.
Like, where would you startwith all of this?
Dr. Serena Goldstein (15:47):
Well, the first thing I would do is look
at someone's rhythm.
Are they always on the go?
Are they eating at regulartimes?
Are they getting enough proteinin, which is huge, because most
people, especially if it's graband go, aren't really thinking
about the protein content, whichI always recommend, like 40 to
50 grams a day.
(16:07):
You know, special for men andwomen, you know, maybe for men a
little bit more, more if you'reworking out, and what protein
helps do is it helps buildmuscle and it really helps
stabilize blood sugar.
It's also very like, on a moremetaphysical level, kind of
grounding for us.
So it just helps bring us backwithin the body.
Emma Viglucci (16:27):
We could say definitely back to that point.
To come back to, I'm going topin that.
Dr. Serena Goldstein (16:32):
Awesome, you know, having enough healthy
fats, drinking enough water,because all of these two, if
we're not getting enough waterin and we're made of mostly
water, then yeah, we could getpretty irritable.
So it's also part of the fuelthat our body needs.
So first I'm really looking atwhat is your whole rhythm like,
(16:53):
what is your diet generallylooking like, and then, if we
need to bring in any tests, samething I'm going to be looking
at especially your cortisollevels for that circadian rhythm
.
And is someone sleeping?
Which chances are they could bewaking up in the middle of the
night if they're having thesedifferent stressors, or maybe
not even really being able toget out of bed properly.
(17:16):
So all these different telltalesigns, even in the history,
where I'm like all right, here'swhere we need to start,
definitely usually on the stressand hormone piece.
But, yes, we could always bringin some tests as needed
beautiful.
Emma Viglucci (17:32):
You know, out of all the conversations that I've
been having with people, you'rethe first one that mentioned
that just what is the rhythm ofthe day and the routines, and I
love that because I'm all aboutthe routine, the habits, the
daily.
You know what is the dailystructure for the day.
Um, you know, how do youmaximize what you put in, how do
(17:53):
you nurture yourself, what'syour self-care like?
All these different things,right?
This some of the some of what Ibring to the conversation with
my clients as well.
And how do we build in habitsor tactics or whatever we need
to put in there to supporteverything that you're saying,
so that we can function the bestwe can, so that we could be the
best partner that we wanna beto our partner in our
(18:15):
relationship.
So the habits are just notwellness habits but also
connection habits, so all kindsof different habits just to do
our life better.
So what you said is perfect,just going with the rhythm,
right, like from the moment Iopen my eyes, okay, what is my
life like, and then what happens?
And then what happens, and thenwhat happens, right, until I
close my eyes again at night.
And can I do anything differentto make my life easier and
(18:36):
better throughout the day, so Ilove that that's where you start
, that you didn't automaticallystart with blood work.
Let's take 27 vials of bloodI'm not going to say who did
that and let's find out all ofthe things you know.
That's fun, and I'd like thatyou start there and then what's
(18:56):
indicated, and then we'll do thetest or any test that might be
indicated Cool, very cool.
So what are some things thatyou look at when you do do the
blood work and or all the tests?
What are the tests out there aswell?
Dr. Serena Goldstein (19:09):
Right.
So when I recommend blood workfor patients, it's usually not
that much different from whattheir MD would do.
So what I always say is I maygo a little more thorough, like,
for example chances are theirMD may order just only a tsh,
which is a measure of yourthyroid itself.
Or how well, um, your pituitary, which is one of the glands in
(19:31):
your brain, talks to the thyroid, which is controlled also by
the hypothalamus, before that.
So you have the hypothalamus,pituitary, thyroid axis, or
called axis, because they're allkind of talking to each other,
and then the thyroid spits outabout 99% of T4, which is your
inactive hormone, and then about1% of T3, which is your active
(19:53):
thyroid hormone.
Fun fact, most gets convertedin the liver, another portion in
the gut and then know the restaround the body.
However, in conventionalmedicine they may only test your
t4 levels, which isn't reallygoing to tell me anything.
So then I say oh, if I'm notconverting, it was right, it was
(20:15):
not helpful exactly, yeah, thenwe, then I could take a look at
your conversion levels becauseyou could have, okay, if your
tSH looks okay.
Well, at least for my standardsanyways, I tend to tighten the
ranges, yeah, but then what ifyour T4 looks okay but you're
also not feeling good?
Then it's not giving us thebest information.
(20:35):
So this is where I may order ormay recommend just a little bit
more.
I don't go too in depth testingwise, because I also want to
make sure that they can get whatthey need from their MD, just
because a lot, well, themajority of the states that I've
practiced in, I'm not able todirectly order blood work, so
(20:57):
I'm so I'm just grateful that,hey, you know what, I have some
tools for them.
I can, you know, help them sayhey, here's actually the
reasoning, knockwood, their MDis usually pretty good with it,
and then they just bringeverything back to me.
So, yeah, and so this is where,again, you know, coming to just
(21:19):
some basic blood work.
And then you know, usually, formy end, where then I would
start recommending more of thespecialized tests we can go into
genetic testing, urine testingfor cortisol and hormones,
saliva testing for the samething, neurotransmitters, stool
tests.
We could do heavy metals, butwe could also do some heavy
(21:39):
metals and blood work, which issomething that we would always
talk about as well, but what Ifind is that a lot of people,
too, they're interested in thetests, but it's also having the
test as part of a plan, you know, even having them spaced out
enough to say, hey, did wereally maximize this, get the
results that we need before wemove to the next one.
Emma Viglucci (22:01):
that's smart, gotcha, I like that.
So let's go back for a second.
We move to the next one.
That's smart, gotcha, I likethat.
So let's go back for a secondto the conversion.
So if you have enough T4, butyou don't have enough converted
to T3, and you see that convertsprimarily in the liver, the gut
and some other parts of thebody as well.
So what if you could see thatyou're not converting?
(22:21):
Well, first of all, how do youknow if it's not converting?
Is there a test for that?
You could order a free T3.
Okay, so then if you don't havea T3, you know it's not
converting.
Dr. Serena Goldstein (22:30):
Correct.
So this is where.
So usually with TSH,conventionally the range is like
0.5 to 4.5.
But usually people stop feelinggood after two or two and a
half, interestingly enough.
So this is where it's alreadykind of a borderline of all
(22:51):
right.
You know what like also what'shappening further off as well.
So then depending on how muchT4 there you know that's coming
out of the thyroid, sometimesthat it may be on the low end of
normal, I've seen like normalto low end, but then it's the T3
that can potentially take alittle bit of a nosedive or a
(23:12):
little bit of like.
Okay, it's probably notconverting this, which would
make sense, because if theperson is stressed out, there's
also a marker called reverse T3,which literally is a marker of
stress.
So either t4 converts into t3,which is what the body uses, or
it converts into reverse t3,which is another inactive form,
(23:33):
like it literally doesn't doanything right?
Emma Viglucci (23:36):
yeah, don't convert to things that are not
helpful.
Wow, interesting.
So what converts?
What was?
Is it an enzyme, or I forgetwhat converts?
Yeah, there's, there's a coupleof.
Dr. Serena Goldstein (23:51):
Yeah, there's a couple of different
enzymes and I want to say that II'm probably going to
mispronounce the diadonase, thethe different enzymes, because
what's happening is that it'scleaving off the different
molecules to make literally t4to t3.
You know those active, you knowfrom the inactive to the active
.
But that's also why you knowminerals like selenium iodine,
(24:16):
you know especially likepotassium chloride and even like
, from the more macro side ofthings, you know sea salt are so
important is because it reallydoes help with all these
conversions.
So what I'm thinking about okay, well, again, looking at this
overall health, what we see theliver now is this sort of
underrated organ, because nownot only is it responsible for
(24:38):
thyroid, but it helps withcholesterol, it helps make and
metabolize hormones, it's goingto help with all our detox
pathways and getting justliteral crap out of our body.
You know that it needs.
So you know.
To the original question, maybeif supplements aren't quite
(24:59):
working, people think, oh well,thyroid, I need to take thyroid
stuff.
Well, what if they actuallyneed more liver stuff?
Right, what if they also needadrenal support, of course
supported by a healthfullifestyle, because it is
possible to out supplementsupplements with a not so
healthy lifestyle.
But they need adrenal supportto help mitigate the stress
(25:23):
response.
This is going to be stressthat's going to throw off the
thyroid right, love it very,very good, right.
Emma Viglucci (25:31):
So liver support, adrenal support, all the things
not necessarily just target thethyroid itself.
All the other organs also needto be in good balance too, so
everything works well, makessense.
So what kind of supplements?
I guess would be the nextquestion.
Would it be helpful or can you?
(25:53):
Can supplements help with thehormonal balance?
Like, how does that tietogether?
Dr. Serena Goldstein (26:00):
yeah, and I think, um, you know, touching
on too from the hormonal side ofthings.
This is also how I help balancehormones, without birth control
and without hormone replacementtherapy, when I'm looking at
the nutrients of like all theorgan systems, of course,
including the gut.
So this is where I'm thinkingabout and then coming back to
(26:21):
the rhythm, what are theperson's main concerns?
Like, if they're not sleeping?
Right, we got to get themsleeping and then you know, look
at what time the person wakesup in the middle of the night is
in Chinese medicine?
That could also point to whichorgan system do we really need
to look at?
So, like, one to 3am tends tobe more liver and blood sugar
(26:42):
related.
3 to 5 is like kidney, adrenal.
Well, those are the few thattend to pop up.
Um, so, supplements that Ireally like and things.
Magnesium involved in over 300reactions in the body.
So this is coming from that bigpicture.
We're versus sending everyoneout saying, okay, go get this
(27:03):
for this and this for that andthat for that.
Magnesium can cover a whole lotand it's and it's calming,
which we all need nowadays.
Um, get your vitamin d3 levelschecked as well.
Emma Viglucci (27:20):
So that's a big one yeah, I was just gonna add
that I like that, that mindsetof let's grab this supplement
that takes off a bunch of boxesI'm supposed to in this and this
and this and this and then andthey have a gazillion pills to
take or gazillion powders, orgives most of things.
Dr. Serena Goldstein (27:38):
So yeah, I really like inositol.
Oh so it's actually a type of bvitamin, but, and same thing, I
find it very grounding.
It helps make serotonin, whichis our happy hormone.
It helps with blood sugar, ithelps with just hormone health
overall.
So same thing it it's.
(28:00):
It's a's a multifaceted one.
I've seen it, you know pill,both pill and powder.
So those are really good.
Emma Viglucci (28:08):
Lovely.
What's the name of it?
Dr. Serena Goldstein (28:08):
again Inositol, so it's
I-N-O-S-I-T-O-L.
Emma Viglucci (28:17):
Very nice, I learned something new.
I like when I learn stuff nice,I learned something new.
Dr. Serena Goldstein (28:25):
I like when I learned stuff.
Yeah, yeah, it's one of the.
It's not so well, it'sinteresting.
It's well known, but I don'tknow how well known it is if
someone you know again just goesand does a bunch of research
per se, right it might be wellknown, but not well known to me.
Emma Viglucci (28:36):
It's okay, exactly cool, um, wow, so we
cover this from, from the veryspecific to the hormones.
So, since we're in this realm,how did this imbalances show up,
with period issues, let's say,if the, if a younger woman is
(28:58):
listening to this, um, and?
Or or a woman with a with ateenage daughter, or a young
adult daughter, and we just wantto be helpful to the younger
population, like what might begoing on and what might we see
in terms of some of the thingsthat you're mentioning?
Dr. Serena Goldstein (29:15):
well, great questions.
So, interestingly, in theteenage years not only are they
battling hormones, but in thedevelopmental side they're also.
They also now have this newidentity Right, and there's this
new burgeoning almost adulthood, but not really.
Their body is changing, but ithasn't settled in yet.
(29:38):
So now it's really going on.
So some of it could be whetherit's a little symptom palliation
, but of course we also want tomake sure.
I would want to make sure I'mdue to due diligence of okay,
well, let's say, if there'sheavy bleeding, is there any
chance of fibroids?
If she's having like any hairgrowth, you know, looking at
(30:00):
polycystic ovarian syndrome,like any cysts on the ovaries,
if there's any like really bigchanges in the period.
So usually a period is 25 to 35days, but if it starts getting
shorter or longer, same thing,you know.
Want to look at any estrogen,especially like estrogen
dominance related issues.
Um, you know which,interestingly, men and women
(30:23):
tend to have, usually like a lowprogesterone, high estrogen,
acne could be testosteronerelated.
So, looking at all thesedifferent factors, same thing.
They're going to benefit fromthese nutrients as well,
especially as their body isgoing to start to level out.
But if we could get them early,you know and really teach them
(30:45):
about prevention and listeningto their body, and because now
they're literally going to havea monthly visitor, they could
also really track it by theirfood, by their stress levels,
even when they're around, whatmakes them feel really good,
because all of these factors aregoing to then kind of make a
(31:05):
sum into, well, what is theirperiod going to be like this
coming month?
And they could track.
Is it a little more painful?
Ooh, what were they eating?
What were they doing?
You know what were their stresslevels like the month before?
I mean, that's the thing is,you know we were talking about
earlier.
Some of the hormone imbalancescan literally manifest as
(31:29):
anxiety attacks, panic attacksand, just you know, migraines
are a big one, you know.
So I mean, not what I never had, you know, migraines, but I
definitely had a lot of othersymptoms that were in that
sphere and it's taken years to,you know, really understand.
(31:51):
Okay, it's not just about theimbalances, but what am I doing
every month to also bettermyself?
And then, if there's a monththat wasn't as good, where can I
reflect?
Emma Viglucci (32:02):
because especially, you know, when
you're sitting there and notfeeling fantastic, it's a good
time to reflect too so I've beendiving a little bit into cycle
thinking also, and so I thinkthat that might be really
helpful with everything thatyou're saying as well.
So if I know that, you know I'min this phase of the period of
(32:22):
the cycle, then this is how Iline up my lifestyle and all the
things that you're suggesting.
If I'm in this phase and I lineit up like this, so then I,
then I could be aware of how I'min support, supporting and
nourishing my body.
Um, right, so so that I have abetter period, is this month, or
an easier month, altogetherEasier?
Dr. Serena Goldstein (32:43):
one, oh, definitely.
Well, and too you know from thewhole cycle circadian rhythm
piece.
What's interesting as well isthat you know you may find that
whatever you feel like doing ornot doing is actually kind of
aligned with that cycle syncingpart.
So I can find that cyclesyncing it's great because it
(33:03):
can bring some awareness.
But, yeah, when it comes tofamiliarity, I'm like it also
gives us that chance to reallylisten in and understand of,
okay, what does make me feelreally good around certain times
.
Emma Viglucci (33:15):
Because, especially as women, we have at
least we have like four hormonesin flux that is so good to be
in tune with that, because youknow, if this week I'm not
feeling like seeing anybody,let's say then, oh, it's
interesting, it's okay, I'm notbeing a bad person or not being
crazy or I'm not being lazy orI'm not being whatever things
(33:37):
people might sell themselves.
If I don't feel like it, itsupports that part of the cycle.
It just means, like you know,it's time to like kind of slow
down and hibernate a little bit.
It's okay, it's just going toslow down and nourish, right.
There might be another phase ofthe cycle where like, woohoo,
party time, and then it's like,doesn't make you a bad person,
too active or too whatever, like, whatever the things are that
(34:04):
you know, party animal and notresponsible enough, whatever the
stories are that people mightsay, right.
So if I'm partying all the time, that's okay.
You're in the social part ofyour cycle, right.
So whatever the cycle is, it'sokay to honor what you're
feeling and what's going on.
So then you get the most out ofeach cycle and you don't have
to beat yourself up for, likelast week I was partying so much
, how come I can't party thisweek?
Or last week I wanted to.
I was nice and chilling.
I'm like crazy or whatever.
(34:25):
So it's okay.
You don't have to be the sameevery week.
So as then, that's teenagers,young adult.
Now we start getting a littlebit older in our life.
Now we might be in a morecommitted relationship, we might
be thinking of having babies.
So how might all of this playout in our fertility?
Dr. Serena Goldstein (34:51):
All right, yeah, so well, fertility is
pretty big because it's, yes, wewant everything balanced, but
we also want to make sure thoseeggs are viable.
So this is where getting ablood test like AMH, you know,
the anti-malarian hormone, canactually help.
You know, with the um, the test, the quality of the eggs as
well, yeah, so that, so thatwill be helpful, and actually
inositol is further helpful forthat as well.
(35:12):
Um, in addition, right, yeah,it has multi-purpose.
Um, yeah, fertility is isinteresting because it's also
part of the journey and I feel,for women, you know, there is,
oh, if we get into a little moreof the spiritual, um, there is,
I know where this is going now.
(35:34):
Uh, right, so we have the divinemasculine, the divine feminine.
So the masculine side, which weall have, the two sides, but
the masculine, you know, men, ofcourse, will have more of that
energy.
Women, you know, have more ofthe feminine.
The masculine provides thewomen can multiply, and that's
exactly what we do.
They provide the sperm, we canmultiply it, and so it's also
(36:00):
meaning keeping us clear and onthis rhythm and, you know, and
moving away from the society ofthe go, go, go and do, do, do, I
mean, hey, if it warmssomeone's heart, fantastic, and
that's.
You know where they are, youknow.
No, clearly no judgment, butwhat I have found, you know,
there are times along thefertility journey of maybe being
(36:23):
able to step back or havecertain shifts in mindset that
have been helpful as well.
Emma Viglucci (36:31):
I love that.
Can you say a little bit moreabout that?
So, because infertility is very, very common, I see that a lot
of my practice with the couplesthat I work with and so that's
interesting that you went moreto a mindset angle on on this
and an energetic angle.
So can you touch a little bitmore on both of those things?
Dr. Serena Goldstein (36:52):
sure.
Well, I feel like even justpersonality wise, or what I've
seen, what I've noticed is thatI know there's a lot of the
stereotypes of oh down with thepatriarchy, and I used to be
like that, but you could say,since my awakening, since some
(37:13):
other understandings, it's notnecessarily the patriarchy
itself, but it's more for thefact that women have been taught
to control, to know that wecould be literally just like men
, even though we know we're not.
We haven't even been in enoughresearch studies ourselves,
because most blood work isactually based on men.
(37:34):
And so here we are, acting likemen, are taught to act like men
.
But where does that leave roomfor the men to literally be men
and step up and provide and beemotional support for the women
who may go through somedifferent throes throughout this
journey as well?
(37:58):
So, from the again, from the bigpicture, I do believe it starts
with the, with the peoplethemselves, the women, knowing
their, you know, understandingthe role as women, so to speak.
We are meant to create andmultiply.
That said, as a disclaimer,this is certainly not to limit
anything.
You know, we can do anything,as you know, as it's from our
(38:21):
heart and the creation, but themen are there to be sturdy as
well and to support.
So I find that it's with thisdynamic, and as long as both
couples really are, or both inthe couple are supportive of
each other and have that, thenit's certainly going to be a
better chance than the womanwho's going to feel resentful
(38:43):
and who still has to control andis still sort of stuck in a
certain mindset.
Emma Viglucci (38:53):
Wow, you know that's so beautiful.
I think that that's very coming, especially with with the
couples in this area.
So I mean, I know that thispodcast and the audience is all
over, but the people that wework with, primarily one to one,
are New Jersey, new York, likethis Northeast area, and so the
(39:18):
energy is very much.
The women are very much intheir masculine.
Just go getting right and again, nothing wrong.
We have masculine and femininein all of our bodies.
We're both.
But when we're constantly inour masculine and doing part of
ourselves, we're shutting downall the other stuff.
Well, not for nothing.
(39:38):
We can't produce the eggs andwe can't have a group of
hormones and we can't getpregnant.
Like, where's the feminine?
Right, literally right.
So, and it's a hard pill toswallow, to sell or to sell that
, to sell the pill.
So so it's interesting to havea different angle on what might
be going on.
It's not just literally yourbiology, but what's contributing
(40:02):
to your biology.
Your biology is affected byyour mindset, your lifestyle,
how you're just, how you'reshowing up, how you're doing
everything.
Your whole body, your wholemakeup is affected by all of the
other things, right?
So if we have this mindset of,I could, could provide two.
I could make money.
Two, of course you can.
We could do anything we want.
But how are you going about that?
Are you shutting down yourfeminine?
Are you shutting down,literally, your ovaries, your
(40:25):
organs, your things, right?
Are you throwing your hormonesout of whack to work at the same
pace or in the same style, witha 24-hour circadian rhythm that
men have, as opposed to 28average day lifestyle cycle that
we have?
Right, we're not honoringourselves, we're not for nothing
in our bodies are notsupporting us and doing what we
wanted to do.
(40:45):
So thank you for that.
Oh, you're welcome.
Really puts it into context,right, in terms of dynamics
between the partners and usingour bodies to their full
capacity and supporting it andnourishing to its full capacity,
as opposed to doing life in away that breaks it down instead
shuts it down.
And just the energetics betweenthe partners.
(41:07):
What are the dynamics therethat contribute to that mindset
or to the approach to life thatcreates a funkiness and then
people shooting themselves onthe foot.
So, yes, very nice, very nice.
Okay, so that's the fertilityyears, but in terms of the
energetics, in the dynamics,emotional and energetics,
(41:27):
anything that you want to add tothat?
Dr. Serena Goldstein (41:31):
so I would say it's.
There are times I feel like it'snot a be all and end all,
because there could also bepeople that we wouldn't even
expect maybe to get pregnant, orwomen, I should say, and they
do, and maybe there was no otherrhyme or reason you could say
there's, you know that higherpower, god's plan, however the
(41:52):
soul was meant to enter, youknow, so be it.
But, as I know, we do havesimilar demographics, that, for
the most part, but yes, havingthat healthy masculine and
feminine dynamic, you know, Ifeel will be so helpful.
And what I wanted to add too isthat, even though we could say,
okay, well then, change what'sin the head, it's like, well,
(42:14):
you gotta also change some ofthe physiology, because some of
the physiology is going toaffect you know we talked about
mood and all the other thingsthat hold.
You know how hormones can look,like neurotransmitters and vice
versa, that you know they canalso affect each other, so
you're sort of going in like alittle spiral, like that.
(42:36):
So, yes, I think, working, youknow, from multiple angles, um,
you know, doing energy medicine,techniques like reiki, even
acupuncture, that there's somany other wonderful modalities
out there to also just help getthe woman to relax and achieve
optimal health and, you know,really do all the things.
Emma Viglucci (43:09):
So good, yes, beautiful sleepiness nights,
waking up in the middle of thenight, all of the things that we
require of early motherhood orinfant stage, and then all the
other demands as the kids growolder, anything for that part of
life to support yes, soprogesterone is definitely well.
Dr. Serena Goldstein (43:31):
yeah, so you have a couple of different
hormones going on.
I will say I'm not as wellversed in that area and that's
probably where I would go moreinto testing a little sooner,
because, from what I do know, atthat time, oh my god, hormones
are just all over the place.
And then it depends if awoman's breastfeeding if they're
(43:54):
not breastfeeding because ifthey're breastfeeding it's going
to help speed up theirmetabolism a woman's
breastfeeding if they're notbreastfeeding because if they're
breastfeeding it's going tohelp speed up their metabolism
they go yay.
But then if they're not, it'slike, well, then what happens
with this extra weight kind ofdeal.
So this is where definitelyworking out, building muscle,
you know I would say this wouldbe their time to get back to the
basics with everything.
And then, because I have workedwith some, you know, right
(44:18):
afterwards and heard some oftheir stories and everything,
and it can take a minute, youknow it's not again, not a quick
fix.
It is about now establishing amama-baby type rhythm as well.
I mean, there's so manydifferent schools of thoughts on
you know, then, how the baby isgoing to be parented as well
and the energy that's going tobe put in, so it's really an
(44:42):
interesting time.
Emma Viglucci (44:44):
Yeah, that's, that's one of my favorites, very
nice.
So what is your?
Your, your specialty, age ortopics?
Dr. Serena Goldstein (44:54):
So I tend to see women mostly from 20s to
60s.
Okay, I have supported women ingetting pregnant.
I have helped them, usually afew years after, so it sometimes
just so happens that way.
Personality types this is whereit tends to be pretty similar.
(45:14):
It's the well-read.
They are probably alreadytaking supplements, or just I
need to know what to take.
They've had certain diagnosis.
They have a lot going on notsleeping right, high stress
levels, either want to get offbirth control just got off birth
control and or don't want totake hormone replacement.
Emma Viglucci (45:38):
Let's pay a hormone replacement.
We'll come back to that in asecond Right.
So those are your people, verygood.
So then, speaking of that, oncethe whole fertility years going
to start waning down andperimenopause, menopause, like
what's happening there, andwhat's the best way to support
(45:58):
the women at that age?
Dr. Serena Goldstein (46:01):
Also those diagnoses which I always
explain first.
These are diagnoses ofexclusion If you're not getting
your period, if you're havingthe hot flashes and the weight
gain and all of that again,let's get your rhythm back,
let's manage your stress levels,because clearly your body knows
something is up.
But if we can help bring thatback into balance then maybe it
(46:28):
who knows?
Menopause will likely not be aspainful.
You may not, your hot flashesmay not be as prominent, so to
to speak.
So this is all the preventionthat we can do.
And again, just because youknow, a blood test may say you
know that, okay, well, you're inmenopause kind of deal.
Well, it would also last quitea bit.
(46:50):
Or, you know, there have beentimes too where someone could
think they're coming into it,but they literally just had a
hormone imbalance and theirperiod lasts for a number of
more years.
I know, culturally it can lookdifferent.
I remember being told that inthe Middle East women do tend to
have their menses a bit longer,you know, than in other
(47:12):
cultures, which is interesting.
So for a lot of these women,interestingly, as they're coming
into that perimenopausemenopause era, it's going to be
blood sugar.
That's slightly that takesslightly more precedence than
hormones.
So, even though it's like okay,oh my god, we go right to the
(47:32):
Like, we actually really got tolook at blood sugar, because any
sort of blood sugar imbalanceis going to throw off hormones,
and so around this timeprogesterone really plummets.
So now they're left with thiskind of high estrogen, and then
in menopausal women there's atype of estrogen that shifts.
So now you're going from thepotent one that you know usually
(47:56):
made their face all shinyaround ovulation you know their
hips all wide to now this lesspotent form, which is actually
what contributes to the applebody, you know, which is sort of
like what men have or can havetoo right.
Emma Viglucci (48:14):
So at this point, then they're aside from the
well we want the lifestyle to do, I should say, or the rhythms
to do is sure that we're stillproducing estrogen, good
estrogen and enough progesterone.
So any suggestions for that?
Dr. Serena Goldstein (48:29):
yeah, so we could always do things
naturally.
So there are naturalprogesterones, but I would say
some of the supplements that Irecommended, like definitely
getting your vitamin D levelschecked, because vitamin D helps
make hormones.
Um, you know, magnesium Bcomplex is another great one.
So B B vitamins are involved inover over 500 reactions in the
(48:55):
human body, so the adrenalsupport will actually look
different for each woman.
So these could be things likeashwagandha, ginseng, rhodiola
so there are some really goodherbs there, sometimes liver or
shrew, because that's like anice phytoestrogen, so it acts
(49:18):
like an estrogen, but it doesn'thave all the potent side
effects.
So, again, this is now more perthe woman, because she's also
dealing with the emotionaltransition as well, and that's a
big piece that really comesinto.
You know, maybe we do a littlemore heart centered, like the
(49:38):
flower essences.
Um, I really like the herbhawthorn, which is great on the
mental, emotional, for the heart, like just heart nourishment,
and it also helps hawthorn cool,yeah, and then it also helps
lower anxiety and then it'sgoing to be great for blood
vessels.
So you're looking for benefitswith hot flashes and everything.
Emma Viglucci (50:01):
Oh, how beautiful .
I love that.
So that's the wonderful way ofsupporting through the
transition from peri to meno andpost, and just how do we do it
as gently as possible so wedon't suffer through menopause
right or the transition, but notjust physically but also
mentally.
There's different ways ofsupporting that the identity and
(50:24):
the laws and everything thatcomes along with this time of
life.
Um, and I love these herbs andvitamins and supplements,
concoctions to support thedifferent parts in support
center.
I love adding that to the mixhere.
You know, serena was reallywonderful about this
conversation is that you notonly bringing in all the medical
and all the natural pet stuff,which rich and beautiful, but I
(50:50):
love the whole more energeticand the whole other piece that
comes along with this and andthe more woo stuff, if you may.
You know I'm hearing anotherpodcast in there.
I'm hearing, like all thepatterns and the energetics, how
they all play out, butdifferent conversation possibly
now.
So that's one thing.
You you mentioned personality afew times.
(51:10):
So anything else about patterns, relational things,
personalities to throw in hereto close this up.
Dr. Serena Goldstein (51:17):
Yes, so I know, the other piece that we
talked about earlier, and theneven on our own, was the whole
piece of anger control.
So, as we talked about thefeminine that's still in a way
trying to act like the man, soto speak, and usually women know
when they're, when they're justfeeling this high stress and
(51:41):
the competition and justliterally unable to like, unable
to let go in a way, is that?
Well, that's when we see samething with hormones, say,
balanced hormones, balanced life, but if they're too much on
this anger control, this thatblack white, what do I do?
Oh, my God.
Oh, we need to turn in.
(52:02):
We got to go into the heartspace and that's why, too, you
know, again, like recommendingthe Anastol, getting us grounded
in our bodies, starting withnature, starting with that
circadian rhythm, maybe gettingsome hawthorn to really get us
into the heart and to loveourselves, because that's so
much of who we are as humanbeings are you talking about
(52:24):
self-love practice?
Emma Viglucci (52:26):
what?
That's crazy talk.
I love that so much.
Yes, the personality type thatis.
So I have to be in the man modekind of thing more in my
masculine, in the control piece,in the competition piece and
all these different things.
It hurts us right.
So if we're more able to let goand to open up, which is more
(52:47):
feminine, that's where we getmore in alignment and where we
support ourselves better.
So then, what do we need?
What practices do we need toput in place to cultivate and
nurture that parts more?
And it doesn't mean that ourcareer is going to take a hit.
It doesn't mean that we can'thave high power jobs.
It doesn't mean that we can bego-getters.
But how do we balance it outwith some of these more
(53:07):
nourishing things so that we arenot killing ourselves literally
?
Dr. Serena Goldstein (53:11):
Do what you used to do as a kid, what
you love to do as a kid, there'sgot to be something.
If you love to draw, I'm sureyou could still draw if it was
being athletic.
Oh my god, there's so manysports or team sports nowadays
that there's got to be somethingwith an age group that you can
(53:34):
join somewhere, you know.
Yeah, it's getting back to whatgets us uninhibited and really
feeling safe.
Emma Viglucci (53:46):
Beautiful.
Those are beautiful partingwords, I think, right there.
So this is so, so good.
I want to talk with you for amillion hours, but of course,
we're going to be respectful oftime yours and the audience's so
we're going to keep thiscontained.
I know that we're going to haveanother conversation that has
to do more with the brain andall the neurotransmitters, and
(54:07):
wellness and diagnosis and howwe're doing with our mind and
all the brain and all that, sowe're going to hone in even more
.
So I'm looking forward to thatconversation, and so anything
else for today, and do you wantto share with the audience what
your free gift is?
Dr. Serena Goldstein (54:26):
Yes, so, like all this, my free gift is
all about spirituality andmedicine, which is really about
getting back to the basics,getting back to ourselves as we
incorporate it with what's goingon within our body.
So I'm sure you'll have thelinks and everything below.
Emma Viglucci (54:43):
Yes, yes, I'm going to add that to the show
notes.
Oh my gosh, Serena, you havebeen most informative.
Gorgeous, beautiful, radiant,all of the things.
Thank you so much for beinghere and I really look forward
to the next conversation so wecould dive in into the different
body part and what that meansfor our life and our
(55:03):
relationship.
So I look forward to thatconversation then.
Thank you for being here withme today.
I appreciate it.
Dr. Serena Goldstein (55:09):
Yes, thank you.
Emma Viglucci (55:12):
And to the audience until the next one.
Bye.
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