May 23, 2025 • 33 mins
This week, The Dusty Muffins – Dr. Aoife O’Sullivan (MD, MSCP), Dr. Christine Hart Kress (DNP, MSCP), and Dr. Rebbecca Hertel (DO, MSCP) – step into the fitness world as special guests on Eager 2 Motivate’s Wellness Wednesday with Alicia Edwards (aka Ivana’s Fitness), a dedicated personal trainer with Eager to Motivate (E2M).. In this crossover episode, they tackle the realities of menopause, fitness, and why finding your best fitness plan is a process.
What You’ll Learn:
💪 Nutrition for Perimenopause: The truth about protein, fiber, carbs, and fats
🏋️ Workout Wisdom: Cardio vs. strength vs. balance – and why your routine should change with age
💊 Vitamin Know-How: Why testing (not guessing) is key (and which supplements really matter)
🧠 Mindset Shifts: Why consistency beats perfection every time
Featured Highlights:• Why lifting heavier (with fewer reps) might be your new best friend• How cardio feels different during menopause – and what to do about it• The #1 vitamin you can’t ignore (hint: it’s D!)
Connect With the Experts:
✨ Dr. Aoife O’Sullivan: @portlandmenopausedoc
✨ Dr. Rebbecca Hertel: @drrebbeccaherteldo
✨ Dr. Christine Hart Kress: @christinehartkress_dnp
✨ Alicia Edwards (Ivana’s Fitness): @ivanafitness
Check Out E2M Fitness:
With their signature blend of medical expertise and real-talk humor, The Dusty Muffins and Alicia Edwards prove that menopause fitness isn’t about perfection – it’s about progress. Whether you’re lifting weights, adjusting macros, or just showing up, this episode will leave you motivated and ready to embrace the journey.
Remember: They’re doctors, but not YOUR doctors. This episode is all about education, empowerment, and a little bit of sweat!
Subscribe for more unfiltered conversations on women’s health, hormones, and living your best midlife.
Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-dusty-muffins--6539849/support.
What You’ll Learn:
💪 Nutrition for Perimenopause: The truth about protein, fiber, carbs, and fats
🏋️ Workout Wisdom: Cardio vs. strength vs. balance – and why your routine should change with age
💊 Vitamin Know-How: Why testing (not guessing) is key (and which supplements really matter)
🧠 Mindset Shifts: Why consistency beats perfection every time
Featured Highlights:• Why lifting heavier (with fewer reps) might be your new best friend• How cardio feels different during menopause – and what to do about it• The #1 vitamin you can’t ignore (hint: it’s D!)
Connect With the Experts:
✨ Dr. Aoife O’Sullivan: @portlandmenopausedoc
✨ Dr. Rebbecca Hertel: @drrebbeccaherteldo
✨ Dr. Christine Hart Kress: @christinehartkress_dnp
✨ Alicia Edwards (Ivana’s Fitness): @ivanafitness
Check Out E2M Fitness:
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@e2mfitness
- Website: https://e2mfitness.com
With their signature blend of medical expertise and real-talk humor, The Dusty Muffins and Alicia Edwards prove that menopause fitness isn’t about perfection – it’s about progress. Whether you’re lifting weights, adjusting macros, or just showing up, this episode will leave you motivated and ready to embrace the journey.
Remember: They’re doctors, but not YOUR doctors. This episode is all about education, empowerment, and a little bit of sweat!
Subscribe for more unfiltered conversations on women’s health, hormones, and living your best midlife.
Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-dusty-muffins--6539849/support.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:05):
Welcome to the Dusty Muffins, where menopause meets sisterhood and strength.
We're three menopause specialists coming together to laugh, share, and
empower you through the wild ride of menopause and perimenopause.
Whether you're curious, confused, or just looking for real talk,
you're in the right place. We're here to answer your
burning questions, educate, and advocate all with a dash of
(00:26):
humor and a lot of heart. So pull up your
chair and join the conversation. Before we dive in, Please remember,
while we're doctors, we're not your doctors. This podcast is
for educational purposes only, and it's not a substitute for
medical advice. We encourage you to partner with your own
medical clinician to address your unique health needs. This is
(00:47):
the Dusty Muffins.
Speaker 2 (00:50):
Go ahead and tag your people, Tag your friends, because
y'all do not want to miss this one. I had
our special guests, I had her before, and y'all on,
and it's the viuse on this particular subject was up
here up here, y'all was really ready for this conversation.
So I'm not gonna say her name yet, but we're
bringing her back and she's actually bringing some friends with
(01:11):
her today. So again I'm super excited about this one.
But go ahead and tag your people, take your friends
and let them know. You know that well on this
Wednesday is live. But as you all are coming in,
I also just want to take the time to just
to say that.
Speaker 3 (01:26):
I am so proud of y'all. Like I see you
posting every day.
Speaker 2 (01:31):
About your consistency with these workouts, and I'm just so
happy and I'm so proud of you guys, like being
that I am. You know, on my postpartum journey, consistency
hits different nowadays. Like you know, I've always been very
active always, you know, just doing the most in the gym,
you know, doing my workouts.
Speaker 3 (01:51):
It was it just came natural. Always been active. But honey,
let me tell you since having baby.
Speaker 2 (01:58):
Girl, which I'm so thankful, whoo, sometimes I just don't
feel like doing nothing. I mean, I'm like, where I
need some sleep, Like you're talking about working out cookie
meal prapfic.
Speaker 3 (02:09):
I need sleep.
Speaker 2 (02:10):
But yet here I am.
Speaker 3 (02:12):
I'm still showing up.
Speaker 2 (02:14):
I'm making sure that I'm getting these workouts in. I'm
making sure that I'm getting these meals together.
Speaker 3 (02:18):
Honey.
Speaker 2 (02:19):
But who it hits different, and it's it's such a
humbling experience too, because, like I said, I'm here, I
don't know, Like it's like I'm doing the same things
that I used to do, but with a different set
of energy, if that makes sense. It's like I always
joking with my friends and say, you know, I have
(02:40):
that crackhead energy because I'm always like.
Speaker 3 (02:43):
Go go, go, go go.
Speaker 2 (02:45):
But now it's it's days where I show up but
it takes.
Speaker 3 (02:51):
Me a little longer. Or I'm like, man, I.
Speaker 2 (02:54):
Have a lot of real tough conversations with myself. They
because I know the commitment that I know I need
to put in in order to reach my goals. But sometimes,
you know, some days I just feel off. And I
am really using this season to give myself grace. Everybody
(03:15):
keeps saying like, give yourself grace, give yourself grace, And
it's so easy to say give yourself grace, but.
Speaker 3 (03:19):
Do you really know what it means?
Speaker 2 (03:21):
Like that's me talking to myself. I'm like, do I
really know what giving myself grace looks like? And one
thing I had to keep in mind and I'm still
keeping in mind during this whole postpartum journey is that
progress is not leniar, you know, and that's okay. Some
(03:41):
days I'm like a machine and some days I'm a
little off, and that's okay. And I'm learning that about
myself and I'm still setting my goals. I'm still you know,
staying committed. And I also had to remind myself because
I do like everything to be in order, but trying
to be perfect it's like the enemy of progress because
(04:02):
when you're trying to wait for the perfect time, Oh.
Speaker 3 (04:05):
When I get this energy or when I do this
and I want to baby, just get up and do it.
Speaker 2 (04:10):
It's so many times where I'm like, okay, and I
set myself up for this. On the day that I
don't teach, I'm like, oh, I'm gonna just work out
a little later because I probably like wake up by that,
you know, if I'm tired and.
Speaker 3 (04:24):
I'm not an I just some day.
Speaker 2 (04:26):
It's nine pm, stop bed, and that work I didn't
get done. So I had to like nip that in
the butt real quick, and I said, I, you know,
I'm not gonna wait till the perfect time to work out.
Speaker 3 (04:38):
If I know that I have the opportunity to do
it right now.
Speaker 2 (04:42):
So I am learning the new definition of grace and
I am giving it to myself each and every day.
So shout out to you guys for the commitment that
you put in for yourself, the consistency that you're you
know you are doing with your workouts and mail prepping.
And I just will let you know that I see you.
I see you, and it don't take it for granted, because.
Speaker 3 (05:07):
You know it's not always.
Speaker 2 (05:09):
Easy, right, But our five minutes are coming up, and
again hopefully you already tag your people and tag your friends,
and I'm super excited. I'm gonna go ahead and bring
my special guests in and let them introduce themselves. Well, hello,
beautiful people. Hello awesome.
Speaker 3 (05:30):
So I'm just gonna have each and up.
Speaker 2 (05:32):
Each of you just introduced yourself and then we're going
to get into today's hot topic.
Speaker 1 (05:38):
All right, Hi, you too them. I'm back. I'm doctor
Christine Hartcrass. I'm a Board certified Women's Health nurs practitioner
and a Menopause Society Certified practitioner and Menopause of course,
I own my own telemedicine practice and where I deliver
midlife and menopause care. And what's news Since the last
(05:58):
time I was here. Are my friends? I mean they
were my friends before, but we are now collectively known.
Are we ready, ladies, one, two, three?
Speaker 2 (06:08):
We are the friends I love.
Speaker 4 (06:14):
No, we didn't.
Speaker 1 (06:16):
So I'm here with my two wonderful colleagues, my MENO besties,
and I will pass off to doctor Rebecca Hurdle.
Speaker 4 (06:24):
Hi, everyone, thanks for having me. I am doctor Rebecca Hurdle.
I'm a board certified osthroopathic family medicine physician and a
certified menopause practitioner. I also have a telemedicine practice, but
I'm based in Pennsylvania, but I'm licensed in roughly ten states,
so i take care of perimenopausal men aposele women as well.
Speaker 5 (06:46):
Hi, everybody, I'm delighted to be here. My name is
Ifa O'Sullivan. I am a family physician and a Menopause
Society certified physician over here in Oregon, and I see
patients via Italian Medicine and from Oregon and Washington.
Speaker 2 (07:03):
I love that. Well, thank you so much for being
here with us in this wellness Wednesday. And at the end,
I definitely want to learn more about this dusty muffins
because I need to know how y'all came up with
the name and all of that, but we're going to
say that to the end. But yes, guys, we are
talking about menopause and perimenopause today. It is a very
hot topic and just in general, but a very hot
(07:25):
topic here at E T M. And I am so
happy that we are able to discuss some of the
questions that you all submitted. So probably like two weeks ago,
I put up a Google doc in the group and
allowed some of our members to jot down these questions
that they have, because yes, we always provide a great information,
(07:46):
but I wanted to know, like, what questions do you
guys have? And you did not disappoint and submitted quite
a few questions. But I realized when I was kind
of like going through the questions, a lot of them
were similar. So we're just gonna hot right into it.
And this is from Koletta hopefully in right and Lisa.
They both talked about the struggles of having energy and
(08:10):
they say, like the energy struggle is real? Or where
did my energy, stamina and strength go? So with that
being said, our first question is how should ones diet
look in perimenopause and what should their workout plant consist of.
Speaker 3 (08:27):
Whoever would like.
Speaker 1 (08:28):
That's a loaded question.
Speaker 2 (08:31):
It's like a tupart let's psycholotics, nutrition partners.
Speaker 1 (08:35):
So I'll start with protein. Protein. You need protein to
build muscle. You need muscle to burn fat, which is
what most of us are trying to do because we
have that natural shape shift of that subcutaneous fat, which
is the fat and our hips and thighs and brusts
that all of us sudden shifts to our middle. That
(08:56):
visceral fat, which I know we've talked about, is metabolically
active and increases your risks for things like high cholesterol,
cardiovascular disease, even some cancers. And so you know protein,
I mean, protein is like a full time job. In general.
You need one gram per kilogram of body weight, and
(09:18):
I think protein is just a challenge. But I think
one of the ways to at least set your day
up for success is to get that protein in at
breakfast and set that foundation. And I'll pot and let
my colleagues kind of jump in with me.
Speaker 5 (09:34):
I'll do fiber. Yeah, fiber is so important. You know,
there are other countries where they get over one hundred
grams of fiber in their diet a day and in
America we struggle to get thirty grams.
Speaker 3 (09:48):
Wow.
Speaker 5 (09:49):
And it's so important for the microbiome in our gut,
which is really the center of everything. That's where even
some of our neurotransmitters like serotonin can be made and
they all that's all dependent on our microbiome, which is
dependent on fiber intake, so really really important and if
you can, it's important to get it through your fruits
(10:11):
and vegetables and food. But if you really feel like
you can't take that in and a lot of people
also are on some weight loss medicines which really decrease
their appetite, which makes it hard to get all your
protein and fiber in, so sometimes you do end up
needing a supplement and then it is safe to take
a fiber supplement as well.
Speaker 4 (10:32):
Yeah, and you know kind of all of that together,
so you know the protein and fiber and in you
know your carbs and your fats, and so I always
say it doesn't start impairment a pause. You know, we
really should be thinking about this clean eating far before that, right,
our kids, our twenties, you know, all of that, because
(10:54):
then that just really sets us up for just being
really really great at this point in our life, and
so there needs to be that shift. So for one thing,
and then I agree too, you know that protein. And
for women who who are on or men who are
on those gops that I tell them, got to start
with it getting that protein in first. Don't drink with
(11:14):
your meals. Get your protein in. And then all around
that should be this pretty plate of greens and fruits
and and your fiber and so you know, your salads,
your vegetables, your low glycemic fruits, because you know we're
not chasing after our prey. I'm not running after something
I need to eat, so we don't need all those carbohydrates.
(11:35):
But but if we do, we want the ones that
have the lower glycemic So your berries and things like that.
Speaker 2 (11:41):
So nice good goods, all right? And that was I like,
how you all kind of top top can't even get
my wrists together. You all focus on different things of
the meal of our plate.
Speaker 3 (11:54):
Right.
Speaker 2 (11:55):
And for those of you who may feel like, oh,
I don't really know where to get recipes from, we
do have an Eat Swim Foody page as well as
you know this the East Wim Kitchen.
Speaker 3 (12:03):
We have cookbooks.
Speaker 2 (12:05):
You know, there's always plenty of recipes on Pintris, so
let that not be an excuse for why you're not
getting those meals in due to recipes, because these ladies
just let you know and get your protein, your fiber,
and of course the healthy carbs and the healthy fat.
So going into our next part of that question, we
talked about the nutrition. They want to know what kind
(12:27):
of workouts should they focus on? And I'm actually gonna
tie in Rachelle's question. I'm sorry it's not Michelle. Lisa's
second part of her question was should you focus on more.
Speaker 3 (12:36):
Cardio or string training?
Speaker 2 (12:38):
I think that's something that's really big that I see
a lot in the group, and it kind of goes
into like, well, what workout plans should we do cardio
versus strump training or collaboration of both.
Speaker 4 (12:51):
Yeah, I guess I can. I got mind starting with
that one. And sometimes it changes as we're aging, right,
So what even ten years ago for me in my
you know, late thirties, has changed now in my late
forties as to what I can do so for my
patients and for myself. So I practice what I preach.
I lift three to four days a week as heavy
(13:11):
as I can without hurting myself. Right, So let's be
realistic about what you can do. You really should be
wrapping out and you can increase those things. Use a
trainer if you new trainer, and follow your workouts, and
then I do a cardio two to three days a
week and incorporate stretching into that as well. I will
be the first few minute. I'm not the best stretcher.
(13:33):
That's been a New Year's resolution and it's now there.
So but you know, so I used to run and
do a lot of cardio, and now as I'm aging,
that's just tougher on my joint. So I'm doing more
Zone two, which lasts longer throughout that week, with some
sprints at the end. And so if you're still like
I got to get that one day of cardio, then
(13:53):
I love that, likes it, and I'll do that. I
even do that once a week. So it kind of
just you know, the best workout is the one that
you're going to actually do when it really comes down
to it. Right, But as women, we need to stay strong.
We need to keep that lean muscle, math keep our
bones strong so we don't break when we fall and
we can get up off the ground.
Speaker 5 (14:14):
Yeah, I just had this exact conversation with a patient
just before we jumped down here, And honestly, for each
woman it can be so different. Like I would say
if I was really generalizing that the cardio that we
used to do before we were perimenopausal does not have
the same effects and not feel as beneficial during perimenopause
(14:37):
as it did beforehand. And we tend to do better
with exercises that are more hit kind of focused, where
you're getting that little spike in heart rate and then
let it drop and a spike and a drop. And
I know Christine loves and Rebecca the sprint intervals, but
(14:57):
they're so good for you. And I think some of
us are more sensitive maybe to cortzile levels, and when
we do those really intense cardio workouts sometimes we can
get a big cortiso spike, and cortisos best buddies with insulin.
Then the two of them tend to tend to travel
together and can cause you not to feel great and
(15:19):
to have a different effect on your metabolism when you're
going through perimenopause. And then you'll meet other women who
do just fine doing their cardio like they always have
so we're generalizing saying that, but I would say in general,
cardio feels different when you hit perimenopause.
Speaker 1 (15:39):
M yeah, And I mean you need muscle to burn fat, right,
So the more muscle you have, the higher your basal
metabolic rate is going to be. And so that's burning
you know, burning your fat at rest, right, the number
of calories that you can burn at rest, and so
that muscle is just so important. But you know, if
(16:00):
if you really want to build muscle, you let less
reps heavy weight every you know, for e two m
every round, you should be looking at picking up a
heavier weight. Maybe you won't be able to do that
weight for the entire minute, but if you can get
(16:20):
you know, four to six reps at failure, you're going
to be building better lean muscle mass for yourself. The
other thing about you know, cardio, I just had a conversation.
You know, your cholesterol says a lot about what you're doing, right,
And so I was talking to a patient. I'm like,
you know, your HDL is thirty two. I can tell
(16:43):
looking at it you do not have any You know,
your HDL is your good cholesterol. It's protective for your heart.
I can tell that you are not challenging your heart.
You are not doing any cardio. She's like, I don't
do any exercise, and I said, and I can see that.
And so you know, if you want to protect your heart,
you need one hundred and fifty minutes of cardio walking
(17:06):
as absolutely fine for that. And then if you want
to lose weight, you need three hundred minutes. And I
was just listening to a podcast that said, you know,
one of the best things that you can do to
not have an insulin spike after you eat dinner is
even take a five to ten minute walk that it
(17:26):
will reduce your insulin and your glucose spikes by fifty percent.
So I think that, you know, I think it's a combination,
but I think and there's so many different opinions, but
the thing I know that everyone agrees upon is lift heavy.
Speaker 2 (17:45):
I love that. I love that you tapped on too
about the hit workouts as well as lifting heavy and
making sure you're challenging yourself. And that's so of course
in Eat to WIM we have those hitstle workouts as
well as the cardio classes that were so you can
get both of them here. But I want to also
tap into a little bit about Premium. I love that
(18:06):
with Premium, we do offer those gym workouts for those
who you know, want to live heavier in the gym
but kind of don't know what to do. So definitely, guys,
if you're like still not familiar with each one, Premium,
we do have those gym workouts over there. And one
thing that I always say during my lives is like,
(18:28):
increase the weight. But the beautiful thing about increasing the
weight and if it's to heaven, you can always put
it down. If you can always pick up.
Speaker 4 (18:35):
Those a lot of weights, yeah, you can keep trying.
Speaker 2 (18:38):
So with that being said, why you're doing your workouts
and if you are like, man, I'm gonna try to
use these fifteens and it's like, oh I can only
get five, that's still great.
Speaker 3 (18:46):
That's great. You're just getting better each time.
Speaker 2 (18:48):
I like to look at those challenges as data, so
you know, okay, I was able to do five with fifteen,
let me see what I can do next week.
Speaker 3 (18:57):
Other we got to that.
Speaker 2 (18:58):
So definitely, don't ever feel the courage guys, if you
are trying to let that heavy a weight safely, of course,
and you're not able to do as many reps as
you think you you know, should be able to just
continue to practice, make sure you're eating, make sure you
continue to work out, and it will get better over time.
Speaker 3 (19:14):
So thank you for that. Our next question is from Rachelle.
Speaker 2 (19:18):
She said, should we be taking any type of vitamins
to help with bone health and brain a fog.
Speaker 5 (19:29):
There's a few things that seem to tank during the
menopause transition. I would say when I check them on patients,
usually vitamin D is low, and vitamin B twelve and
very often a woman's iron stores her ferretin, and during perimenopause,
our periods can really change and they can get very heavy,
(19:51):
they can get more frequent, and without even realizing it,
we're losing iron and so all of that can really
contribute to your brain fog, memory concentration, and energy as well.
Speaker 1 (20:06):
Yeah, and with you know, vitamin D. Now I will
caveat this, We're not your providers, but what I do
with my patients is I like vitamin D over sixty.
I think women feel better, their brain works better, It's
good for bone protection.
Speaker 5 (20:24):
You know.
Speaker 1 (20:25):
I think that you know, one of the things that
I see is a lot of women with I mean literally,
they'll come to a visit and you know, they're like,
hold on a minute, and then they they bend down
and they pull their tub of supplements and put it
on the table in front of the computer, and I'm like,
what is that all my supplements? Because you listen to
(20:48):
somebody on a podcast, or you know, you see an advertisement,
and then you're taking all of these supplements, and supplements
are expensive. And then you get a B twelve level
and your B twelve is like two thousand, which we
need it more than four fifty women feel great around
six seven hundred, and so getting your B twelve, getting
(21:09):
your ferotine, your vitamin D, your fol eate checked, and
then supplementing I think, is you know, the better way
than just guessing. And then you know, the one thing
I'll add on vitamin D is that one hundred and
eighty micrograms of K two helps you get the vitamin
D into your bones. And so that's a great additive
(21:34):
to make sure that your vitamin D has K two
in it.
Speaker 4 (21:38):
Yeah, yep, I agree with all of that. And I
always say, you know, get all that you can through
healthy food, right, So are calcium same, there's you know,
there's a lot in there. And then there are great
supplemental calciums that are food based which are fantastic, And
I love the vite and you can get the vitamin
(21:59):
D in the K two together. It just is so
much easier to do too, so you're not taking two
different supplements. I do like a good magnesium at night
for I think you know, it crosses up the brain
barrier and just helps with like thought process and sleep
and relaxation. You know, there's different types of magnesiums So
unless you don't want to be running to the bathroom,
watch the type of mag that you're getting, or maybe
(22:22):
you do need to go to the bathroom, so you
need to get that type of magnesium. So I think
we all agree that that food is your best source
of all of you know, your your your supplements, and
then then we supplement and like we said, depending on
where you live, PA everyone's unday. I barely even check
it because we're so far away from the equator and
we're all low here, and you know, and again because
(22:44):
you're losing that that iron through a period every month
or multiple that is such a big one not to
miss for patients.
Speaker 3 (22:55):
I love that you kind.
Speaker 2 (22:56):
Of sap into the next question that I had because
a lot of people wanted to know what are natural
options available for dealing with some of the common symptoms.
And of course the bottom is that you all listed
are super great. But you said's food. You can get
a lot of that for food, So if you wanted
to add anything on that to feel free, but if not,
(23:16):
will happen to.
Speaker 1 (23:17):
The next question, Yeah, just you know, an anti inflammatory diet.
Dairy's verylamatory.
Speaker 4 (23:25):
Remember sugar, Sugar really inflames. Dairy can inflame.
Speaker 2 (23:29):
And listen to your body.
Speaker 4 (23:30):
I think there's something to be said for that, right
if you're eating something and all of a sudden you're like,
I just don't feel well, I'm bogged down, I have
low energy, you know, And maybe it didn't happen to
you ten years ago, but it's happening now. I mean
I can barely eat ice cream anymore. It really upsets
my stomach, you know, and certain breads that if especially
(23:51):
if they're not whole green and it's may not truly
be you know, an allergy. I talk a lot about
this with my patients, and like we just are gut change,
you know, the microbiome changes. These foods we just don't
do well with. And and I think, you know, again,
let's look at that like do we need it. We
don't need it. We may want it, but we don't
(24:12):
necessarily need that food. And so you know, watch the
treats that you're having. Make it a good one, and
then you know, move on and if you have it,
you're okay. Just you know, get up and drag in
the next day.
Speaker 3 (24:27):
I love that. I have two more questions for you,
beautiful ladies.
Speaker 2 (24:30):
My next question is does menopause, our perimenopause cause a
rise in blood pressure?
Speaker 4 (24:38):
Yes, yes, so it can.
Speaker 1 (24:43):
So estrogen is anti inflammatory, and so when you have estrogen,
it keeps everything, your vessels dilated and open, and when
you don't have it, they get tight and squeezy. And
so we see blood pressure rise. But we also see cholesterol,
you know, get out of control. It's we just did
(25:05):
a podcast and we just released that this week where
we talked about that and I did the Confessions of
My Bad Cholesterol, and my colleagues yelled at me. Yeah,
So I'll flip over to you guys to add to that.
Speaker 5 (25:18):
Well, there's a study called the Swan Study, the Study
of women's health across the nation. That's been going on
since the nineties and there's over three thousand women in it,
and they were all perimenopausal when they entered the study,
so they're all in their seventies now and they're still
being followed. I think this year was maybe like their
seventeenth or eighteenth visit if we still have funding, who knows.
(25:45):
And they have measured all those measures in women, all
the blood pressure and their sugar levels as those years
have gone on, and you can clearly see as women
enter that menopausal transition the few years coming up to
their last period, that their blood pressure increases and their
(26:08):
cholesterol increases directly tied to your loss of hormones.
Speaker 3 (26:15):
Yeah, yeah, and.
Speaker 4 (26:16):
I'll not just add to that too that you know,
that's some of that is a natural process of aging.
As we age, our arteries gets differ, and so you know,
I have some women that that never have any blood
pressure issues, and I have some that do you know,
whether there have bigger body compositions, smaller body compositions, Genetics,
(26:36):
all of that plays a part in that as well, right, So,
but yeah, but again we also do see this in
the transition where all of a sudden they're like it
just like it's ticking up and I'm not sure what
I did or I didn't do anything differently, And so
for some women they really have that that blood pressure
change through that that pyramidoposeminopause transition.
Speaker 3 (27:01):
Okay, thank you for that.
Speaker 2 (27:03):
And before we get to that last question, I just
want to take the time to say thank you so
much for just allowing us to get all this good knowledge. Again,
I know this is a very hot topic. They're probably
gonna want to Part two, Part three, Part four because
we were not able to get through all of the questions,
but it was these are some of the common questions
that I saw repeated on the Google docs. So thank
(27:24):
you for your time. But my last question, which is
super important because we talked a lot about instruments and
fasting and e to them, is it recommended during pyramidopause
and menopause. It's a hot topic.
Speaker 4 (27:44):
Yeah, so right, there's I mean, there's a lot of
different studies depending on who you follow. I recommend my
patience to do what works for them. If intermittent fasting
works for you, and you can do it, and that's
the way you know that you're seeing your energy level
seeing up you're able to you know, eat the right
(28:07):
things in that small amount of time.
Speaker 2 (28:09):
Great, do it.
Speaker 4 (28:10):
I cannot do it. Some of my patients cannot do
it and they just don't feel well. So I really
talk about just all the different options as far as that,
And obviously there's lots of different intermentt and fasting options
for some people at two o'clock in the morning and
that's the fast I do say, do not eat typically
after dinner two hours before bedtime. And that's just for
(28:31):
a lot of different reasons, you know, just adequate sleep, digestion,
you know, heartburn, reflex things like that.
Speaker 1 (28:38):
Yeah, I think I think you know, the body needs
time to digest, right, so you need to you know,
not make your body work all the time trying to
digest food. So at minimum twelve hours of just letting
your gut just chill out and process all that you've
put into it for the day. But if you wake
up hungry, eats thing, and I think you know that
(29:02):
there is a lot of controversy over do you should
you exercise fasted or not fasted, depending on where who
you talk to, But it doesn't you know, giving yourself
a like some you know, a handful of blueberries, or
you know a rice cake with some peanut butter may
help you have a better workout if you're finding you're
(29:23):
just super fatigue. That's one of the things in the
horm you know in our space that you know people
are thinking that you do need a little bit of
food before you go into an exercise, before you exercise
for best performance.
Speaker 5 (29:36):
I think go with your gut. Excuse the pun, but
I really think, you know, we notice this with our
patients when we use medications as well, that women just
know whether something suits them or not. If you give
intimate and fasting a try and you feel wonderful on it,
your brain is clear, you work well, you feel good.
(29:59):
You I know that that works for you. But there'll
be an equal number of women who try it who
don't feel well at oh, have headaches, feel sluggish, and
they know then you know that doesn't suit you and
you can find something else that suits you. So it's
really nuanced, which is a word we use a lot
when in men apostle medicine. But how such finely tuned
(30:22):
little machines, you know, and we're so different to each other.
Speaker 3 (30:26):
Yes, yeah, I love that you can.
Speaker 2 (30:28):
You kind of hit on that too with the the
last topic we talked about as far as with the
what was it we were talking about the with.
Speaker 3 (30:35):
The vitamins and also with the exercise.
Speaker 2 (30:38):
It kind of depends on the person the cardio, That's
what it was. When you're saying, some people they can
do their cardio like never before. Some people it's different.
I love how you highlight that it is different for everyone,
Like we are not the same person. We may have
access to some of the same things, but that doesn't
mean it's gonna suit us the same way. So God said,
(31:00):
if you feel like it works for you, perfect you know,
that's something that we definitely encourage here and we want
you all to feel great. But again, our bodies are different.
Our bodies respond to things different. So if you know
you need to switch it up a little bit, that
is perfectly fine. But guys, again, you all have I'm
sure blessed the audience with so much knowledge and information.
(31:23):
Like I said, this is a very hot topic and
I would love hopefully to have you again in the future.
Speaker 3 (31:27):
But I said, I was.
Speaker 2 (31:29):
Gonna circle back to this. How did we come up
with the dusty muffins? Let us know a little bit
about the Dusty Muffins your podcast, and let us know
how we can stay in contact with you.
Speaker 4 (31:40):
Guys, I'm gonna let Christina, I'll all give us, give
us all the goods.
Speaker 2 (31:46):
On that line.
Speaker 1 (31:48):
So, we were looking for a podcast name, and of course,
you know, we wanted something unique, and we were the
three of us were kind of going back and forth
and we really didn't didn't really come up with anything.
And then my husband's like, I think you should just
call yourself the Dusty Muffins because from the Saturday Night
Live skit where they were, you know, the two news
(32:13):
casters and Betty White, and so I'm the oldest, So
I guess that makes me Betty of our group here.
And then you know, like we're and then I told
told Rebecca and Ifa and I kind of rolled my
eyes and they're like, I love it. And we all
do struggle with our Dusty muffins and we're in the
(32:35):
fix and the dusty muffin business, and so that that
pun just works and it's catchy.
Speaker 3 (32:41):
Yeah, I love it.
Speaker 2 (32:43):
Okay, Okay, So again, guys, you heard the other podcast,
go ahead and make sure you subscribe to the podcast.
Where else can we find you? Do you have like
Instagram YouTube all of that?
Speaker 4 (32:54):
Yes, Instagram YouTube. The podcast is on you know, Amazon, everywhere.
You can find us word all on social media as well.
Speaker 1 (33:04):
You're going to give your social media. He love it.
Speaker 4 (33:06):
Oh yeah, nottcha Rebecca Hurle d O.
Speaker 5 (33:09):
And mine is Portland Menopause doc and I'm Christine Hartcress
Underscore d MP.
Speaker 1 (33:16):
And then our podcast is just at the Dusty Muffins.
Speaker 2 (33:20):
I love it. Okay, guys, well we are coming close
to it in again, thank you so much. And for
those of you who are tapping into our Wellderness Wednesday
every Wednesday we're here with a different topic. If you
know that you have a topic that you would like
to have us discuss, please let me know in the comments,
or even if you are interested in being interviewed for
Wellness Wednesday, let me know in the comments as well.
(33:41):
But again, thank you so much and until the next time,
God bless
Welcome to the Dusty Muffins, where menopause meets sisterhood and strength.
We're three menopause specialists coming together to laugh, share, and
empower you through the wild ride of menopause and perimenopause.
Whether you're curious, confused, or just looking for real talk,
you're in the right place. We're here to answer your
burning questions, educate, and advocate all with a dash of
(00:26):
humor and a lot of heart. So pull up your
chair and join the conversation. Before we dive in, Please remember,
while we're doctors, we're not your doctors. This podcast is
for educational purposes only, and it's not a substitute for
medical advice. We encourage you to partner with your own
medical clinician to address your unique health needs. This is
(00:47):
the Dusty Muffins.
Speaker 2 (00:50):
Go ahead and tag your people, Tag your friends, because
y'all do not want to miss this one. I had
our special guests, I had her before, and y'all on,
and it's the viuse on this particular subject was up
here up here, y'all was really ready for this conversation.
So I'm not gonna say her name yet, but we're
bringing her back and she's actually bringing some friends with
(01:11):
her today. So again I'm super excited about this one.
But go ahead and tag your people, take your friends
and let them know. You know that well on this
Wednesday is live. But as you all are coming in,
I also just want to take the time to just
to say that.
Speaker 3 (01:26):
I am so proud of y'all. Like I see you
posting every day.
Speaker 2 (01:31):
About your consistency with these workouts, and I'm just so
happy and I'm so proud of you guys, like being
that I am. You know, on my postpartum journey, consistency
hits different nowadays. Like you know, I've always been very
active always, you know, just doing the most in the gym,
you know, doing my workouts.
Speaker 3 (01:51):
It was it just came natural. Always been active. But honey,
let me tell you since having baby.
Speaker 2 (01:58):
Girl, which I'm so thankful, whoo, sometimes I just don't
feel like doing nothing. I mean, I'm like, where I
need some sleep, Like you're talking about working out cookie
meal prapfic.
Speaker 3 (02:09):
I need sleep.
Speaker 2 (02:10):
But yet here I am.
Speaker 3 (02:12):
I'm still showing up.
Speaker 2 (02:14):
I'm making sure that I'm getting these workouts in. I'm
making sure that I'm getting these meals together.
Speaker 3 (02:18):
Honey.
Speaker 2 (02:19):
But who it hits different, and it's it's such a
humbling experience too, because, like I said, I'm here, I
don't know, Like it's like I'm doing the same things
that I used to do, but with a different set
of energy, if that makes sense. It's like I always
joking with my friends and say, you know, I have
(02:40):
that crackhead energy because I'm always like.
Speaker 3 (02:43):
Go go, go, go go.
Speaker 2 (02:45):
But now it's it's days where I show up but
it takes.
Speaker 3 (02:51):
Me a little longer. Or I'm like, man, I.
Speaker 2 (02:54):
Have a lot of real tough conversations with myself. They
because I know the commitment that I know I need
to put in in order to reach my goals. But sometimes,
you know, some days I just feel off. And I
am really using this season to give myself grace. Everybody
(03:15):
keeps saying like, give yourself grace, give yourself grace, And
it's so easy to say give yourself grace, but.
Speaker 3 (03:19):
Do you really know what it means?
Speaker 2 (03:21):
Like that's me talking to myself. I'm like, do I
really know what giving myself grace looks like? And one
thing I had to keep in mind and I'm still
keeping in mind during this whole postpartum journey is that
progress is not leniar, you know, and that's okay. Some
(03:41):
days I'm like a machine and some days I'm a
little off, and that's okay. And I'm learning that about
myself and I'm still setting my goals. I'm still you know,
staying committed. And I also had to remind myself because
I do like everything to be in order, but trying
to be perfect it's like the enemy of progress because
(04:02):
when you're trying to wait for the perfect time, Oh.
Speaker 3 (04:05):
When I get this energy or when I do this
and I want to baby, just get up and do it.
Speaker 2 (04:10):
It's so many times where I'm like, okay, and I
set myself up for this. On the day that I
don't teach, I'm like, oh, I'm gonna just work out
a little later because I probably like wake up by that,
you know, if I'm tired and.
Speaker 3 (04:24):
I'm not an I just some day.
Speaker 2 (04:26):
It's nine pm, stop bed, and that work I didn't
get done. So I had to like nip that in
the butt real quick, and I said, I, you know,
I'm not gonna wait till the perfect time to work out.
Speaker 3 (04:38):
If I know that I have the opportunity to do
it right now.
Speaker 2 (04:42):
So I am learning the new definition of grace and
I am giving it to myself each and every day.
So shout out to you guys for the commitment that
you put in for yourself, the consistency that you're you
know you are doing with your workouts and mail prepping.
And I just will let you know that I see you.
I see you, and it don't take it for granted, because.
Speaker 3 (05:07):
You know it's not always.
Speaker 2 (05:09):
Easy, right, But our five minutes are coming up, and
again hopefully you already tag your people and tag your friends,
and I'm super excited. I'm gonna go ahead and bring
my special guests in and let them introduce themselves. Well, hello,
beautiful people. Hello awesome.
Speaker 3 (05:30):
So I'm just gonna have each and up.
Speaker 2 (05:32):
Each of you just introduced yourself and then we're going
to get into today's hot topic.
Speaker 1 (05:38):
All right, Hi, you too them. I'm back. I'm doctor
Christine Hartcrass. I'm a Board certified Women's Health nurs practitioner
and a Menopause Society Certified practitioner and Menopause of course,
I own my own telemedicine practice and where I deliver
midlife and menopause care. And what's news Since the last
(05:58):
time I was here. Are my friends? I mean they
were my friends before, but we are now collectively known.
Are we ready, ladies, one, two, three?
Speaker 2 (06:08):
We are the friends I love.
Speaker 4 (06:14):
No, we didn't.
Speaker 1 (06:16):
So I'm here with my two wonderful colleagues, my MENO besties,
and I will pass off to doctor Rebecca Hurdle.
Speaker 4 (06:24):
Hi, everyone, thanks for having me. I am doctor Rebecca Hurdle.
I'm a board certified osthroopathic family medicine physician and a
certified menopause practitioner. I also have a telemedicine practice, but
I'm based in Pennsylvania, but I'm licensed in roughly ten states,
so i take care of perimenopausal men aposele women as well.
Speaker 5 (06:46):
Hi, everybody, I'm delighted to be here. My name is
Ifa O'Sullivan. I am a family physician and a Menopause
Society certified physician over here in Oregon, and I see
patients via Italian Medicine and from Oregon and Washington.
Speaker 2 (07:03):
I love that. Well, thank you so much for being
here with us in this wellness Wednesday. And at the end,
I definitely want to learn more about this dusty muffins
because I need to know how y'all came up with
the name and all of that, but we're going to
say that to the end. But yes, guys, we are
talking about menopause and perimenopause today. It is a very
hot topic and just in general, but a very hot
(07:25):
topic here at E T M. And I am so
happy that we are able to discuss some of the
questions that you all submitted. So probably like two weeks ago,
I put up a Google doc in the group and
allowed some of our members to jot down these questions
that they have, because yes, we always provide a great information,
(07:46):
but I wanted to know, like, what questions do you
guys have? And you did not disappoint and submitted quite
a few questions. But I realized when I was kind
of like going through the questions, a lot of them
were similar. So we're just gonna hot right into it.
And this is from Koletta hopefully in right and Lisa.
They both talked about the struggles of having energy and
(08:10):
they say, like the energy struggle is real? Or where
did my energy, stamina and strength go? So with that
being said, our first question is how should ones diet
look in perimenopause and what should their workout plant consist of.
Speaker 3 (08:27):
Whoever would like.
Speaker 1 (08:28):
That's a loaded question.
Speaker 2 (08:31):
It's like a tupart let's psycholotics, nutrition partners.
Speaker 1 (08:35):
So I'll start with protein. Protein. You need protein to
build muscle. You need muscle to burn fat, which is
what most of us are trying to do because we
have that natural shape shift of that subcutaneous fat, which
is the fat and our hips and thighs and brusts
that all of us sudden shifts to our middle. That
(08:56):
visceral fat, which I know we've talked about, is metabolically
active and increases your risks for things like high cholesterol,
cardiovascular disease, even some cancers. And so you know protein,
I mean, protein is like a full time job. In general.
You need one gram per kilogram of body weight, and
(09:18):
I think protein is just a challenge. But I think
one of the ways to at least set your day
up for success is to get that protein in at
breakfast and set that foundation. And I'll pot and let
my colleagues kind of jump in with me.
Speaker 5 (09:34):
I'll do fiber. Yeah, fiber is so important. You know,
there are other countries where they get over one hundred
grams of fiber in their diet a day and in
America we struggle to get thirty grams.
Speaker 3 (09:48):
Wow.
Speaker 5 (09:49):
And it's so important for the microbiome in our gut,
which is really the center of everything. That's where even
some of our neurotransmitters like serotonin can be made and
they all that's all dependent on our microbiome, which is
dependent on fiber intake, so really really important and if
you can, it's important to get it through your fruits
(10:11):
and vegetables and food. But if you really feel like
you can't take that in and a lot of people
also are on some weight loss medicines which really decrease
their appetite, which makes it hard to get all your
protein and fiber in, so sometimes you do end up
needing a supplement and then it is safe to take
a fiber supplement as well.
Speaker 4 (10:32):
Yeah, and you know kind of all of that together,
so you know the protein and fiber and in you
know your carbs and your fats, and so I always
say it doesn't start impairment a pause. You know, we
really should be thinking about this clean eating far before that, right,
our kids, our twenties, you know, all of that, because
(10:54):
then that just really sets us up for just being
really really great at this point in our life, and
so there needs to be that shift. So for one thing,
and then I agree too, you know that protein. And
for women who who are on or men who are
on those gops that I tell them, got to start
with it getting that protein in first. Don't drink with
(11:14):
your meals. Get your protein in. And then all around
that should be this pretty plate of greens and fruits
and and your fiber and so you know, your salads,
your vegetables, your low glycemic fruits, because you know we're
not chasing after our prey. I'm not running after something
I need to eat, so we don't need all those carbohydrates.
(11:35):
But but if we do, we want the ones that
have the lower glycemic So your berries and things like that.
Speaker 2 (11:41):
So nice good goods, all right? And that was I like,
how you all kind of top top can't even get
my wrists together. You all focus on different things of
the meal of our plate.
Speaker 3 (11:54):
Right.
Speaker 2 (11:55):
And for those of you who may feel like, oh,
I don't really know where to get recipes from, we
do have an Eat Swim Foody page as well as
you know this the East Wim Kitchen.
Speaker 3 (12:03):
We have cookbooks.
Speaker 2 (12:05):
You know, there's always plenty of recipes on Pintris, so
let that not be an excuse for why you're not
getting those meals in due to recipes, because these ladies
just let you know and get your protein, your fiber,
and of course the healthy carbs and the healthy fat.
So going into our next part of that question, we
talked about the nutrition. They want to know what kind
(12:27):
of workouts should they focus on? And I'm actually gonna
tie in Rachelle's question. I'm sorry it's not Michelle. Lisa's
second part of her question was should you focus on more.
Speaker 3 (12:36):
Cardio or string training?
Speaker 2 (12:38):
I think that's something that's really big that I see
a lot in the group, and it kind of goes
into like, well, what workout plans should we do cardio
versus strump training or collaboration of both.
Speaker 4 (12:51):
Yeah, I guess I can. I got mind starting with
that one. And sometimes it changes as we're aging, right,
So what even ten years ago for me in my
you know, late thirties, has changed now in my late
forties as to what I can do so for my
patients and for myself. So I practice what I preach.
I lift three to four days a week as heavy
(13:11):
as I can without hurting myself. Right, So let's be
realistic about what you can do. You really should be
wrapping out and you can increase those things. Use a
trainer if you new trainer, and follow your workouts, and
then I do a cardio two to three days a
week and incorporate stretching into that as well. I will
be the first few minute. I'm not the best stretcher.
(13:33):
That's been a New Year's resolution and it's now there.
So but you know, so I used to run and
do a lot of cardio, and now as I'm aging,
that's just tougher on my joint. So I'm doing more
Zone two, which lasts longer throughout that week, with some
sprints at the end. And so if you're still like
I got to get that one day of cardio, then
(13:53):
I love that, likes it, and I'll do that. I
even do that once a week. So it kind of
just you know, the best workout is the one that
you're going to actually do when it really comes down
to it. Right, But as women, we need to stay strong.
We need to keep that lean muscle, math keep our
bones strong so we don't break when we fall and
we can get up off the ground.
Speaker 5 (14:14):
Yeah, I just had this exact conversation with a patient
just before we jumped down here, And honestly, for each
woman it can be so different. Like I would say
if I was really generalizing that the cardio that we
used to do before we were perimenopausal does not have
the same effects and not feel as beneficial during perimenopause
(14:37):
as it did beforehand. And we tend to do better
with exercises that are more hit kind of focused, where
you're getting that little spike in heart rate and then
let it drop and a spike and a drop. And
I know Christine loves and Rebecca the sprint intervals, but
(14:57):
they're so good for you. And I think some of
us are more sensitive maybe to cortzile levels, and when
we do those really intense cardio workouts sometimes we can
get a big cortiso spike, and cortisos best buddies with insulin.
Then the two of them tend to tend to travel
together and can cause you not to feel great and
(15:19):
to have a different effect on your metabolism when you're
going through perimenopause. And then you'll meet other women who
do just fine doing their cardio like they always have
so we're generalizing saying that, but I would say in general,
cardio feels different when you hit perimenopause.
Speaker 1 (15:39):
M yeah, And I mean you need muscle to burn fat, right,
So the more muscle you have, the higher your basal
metabolic rate is going to be. And so that's burning
you know, burning your fat at rest, right, the number
of calories that you can burn at rest, and so
that muscle is just so important. But you know, if
(16:00):
if you really want to build muscle, you let less
reps heavy weight every you know, for e two m
every round, you should be looking at picking up a
heavier weight. Maybe you won't be able to do that
weight for the entire minute, but if you can get
(16:20):
you know, four to six reps at failure, you're going
to be building better lean muscle mass for yourself. The
other thing about you know, cardio, I just had a conversation.
You know, your cholesterol says a lot about what you're doing, right,
And so I was talking to a patient. I'm like,
you know, your HDL is thirty two. I can tell
(16:43):
looking at it you do not have any You know,
your HDL is your good cholesterol. It's protective for your heart.
I can tell that you are not challenging your heart.
You are not doing any cardio. She's like, I don't
do any exercise, and I said, and I can see that.
And so you know, if you want to protect your heart,
you need one hundred and fifty minutes of cardio walking
(17:06):
as absolutely fine for that. And then if you want
to lose weight, you need three hundred minutes. And I
was just listening to a podcast that said, you know,
one of the best things that you can do to
not have an insulin spike after you eat dinner is
even take a five to ten minute walk that it
(17:26):
will reduce your insulin and your glucose spikes by fifty percent.
So I think that, you know, I think it's a combination,
but I think and there's so many different opinions, but
the thing I know that everyone agrees upon is lift heavy.
Speaker 2 (17:45):
I love that. I love that you tapped on too
about the hit workouts as well as lifting heavy and
making sure you're challenging yourself. And that's so of course
in Eat to WIM we have those hitstle workouts as
well as the cardio classes that were so you can
get both of them here. But I want to also
tap into a little bit about Premium. I love that
(18:06):
with Premium, we do offer those gym workouts for those
who you know, want to live heavier in the gym
but kind of don't know what to do. So definitely, guys,
if you're like still not familiar with each one, Premium,
we do have those gym workouts over there. And one
thing that I always say during my lives is like,
(18:28):
increase the weight. But the beautiful thing about increasing the
weight and if it's to heaven, you can always put
it down. If you can always pick up.
Speaker 4 (18:35):
Those a lot of weights, yeah, you can keep trying.
Speaker 2 (18:38):
So with that being said, why you're doing your workouts
and if you are like, man, I'm gonna try to
use these fifteens and it's like, oh I can only
get five, that's still great.
Speaker 3 (18:46):
That's great. You're just getting better each time.
Speaker 2 (18:48):
I like to look at those challenges as data, so
you know, okay, I was able to do five with fifteen,
let me see what I can do next week.
Speaker 3 (18:57):
Other we got to that.
Speaker 2 (18:58):
So definitely, don't ever feel the courage guys, if you
are trying to let that heavy a weight safely, of course,
and you're not able to do as many reps as
you think you you know, should be able to just
continue to practice, make sure you're eating, make sure you
continue to work out, and it will get better over time.
Speaker 3 (19:14):
So thank you for that. Our next question is from Rachelle.
Speaker 2 (19:18):
She said, should we be taking any type of vitamins
to help with bone health and brain a fog.
Speaker 5 (19:29):
There's a few things that seem to tank during the
menopause transition. I would say when I check them on patients,
usually vitamin D is low, and vitamin B twelve and
very often a woman's iron stores her ferretin, and during perimenopause,
our periods can really change and they can get very heavy,
(19:51):
they can get more frequent, and without even realizing it,
we're losing iron and so all of that can really
contribute to your brain fog, memory concentration, and energy as well.
Speaker 1 (20:06):
Yeah, and with you know, vitamin D. Now I will
caveat this, We're not your providers, but what I do
with my patients is I like vitamin D over sixty.
I think women feel better, their brain works better, It's
good for bone protection.
Speaker 5 (20:24):
You know.
Speaker 1 (20:25):
I think that you know, one of the things that
I see is a lot of women with I mean literally,
they'll come to a visit and you know, they're like,
hold on a minute, and then they they bend down
and they pull their tub of supplements and put it
on the table in front of the computer, and I'm like,
what is that all my supplements? Because you listen to
(20:48):
somebody on a podcast, or you know, you see an advertisement,
and then you're taking all of these supplements, and supplements
are expensive. And then you get a B twelve level
and your B twelve is like two thousand, which we
need it more than four fifty women feel great around
six seven hundred, and so getting your B twelve, getting
(21:09):
your ferotine, your vitamin D, your fol eate checked, and
then supplementing I think, is you know, the better way
than just guessing. And then you know, the one thing
I'll add on vitamin D is that one hundred and
eighty micrograms of K two helps you get the vitamin
D into your bones. And so that's a great additive
(21:34):
to make sure that your vitamin D has K two
in it.
Speaker 4 (21:38):
Yeah, yep, I agree with all of that. And I
always say, you know, get all that you can through
healthy food, right, So are calcium same, there's you know,
there's a lot in there. And then there are great
supplemental calciums that are food based which are fantastic, And
I love the vite and you can get the vitamin
(21:59):
D in the K two together. It just is so
much easier to do too, so you're not taking two
different supplements. I do like a good magnesium at night
for I think you know, it crosses up the brain
barrier and just helps with like thought process and sleep
and relaxation. You know, there's different types of magnesiums So
unless you don't want to be running to the bathroom,
watch the type of mag that you're getting, or maybe
(22:22):
you do need to go to the bathroom, so you
need to get that type of magnesium. So I think
we all agree that that food is your best source
of all of you know, your your your supplements, and
then then we supplement and like we said, depending on
where you live, PA everyone's unday. I barely even check
it because we're so far away from the equator and
we're all low here, and you know, and again because
(22:44):
you're losing that that iron through a period every month
or multiple that is such a big one not to
miss for patients.
Speaker 3 (22:55):
I love that you kind.
Speaker 2 (22:56):
Of sap into the next question that I had because
a lot of people wanted to know what are natural
options available for dealing with some of the common symptoms.
And of course the bottom is that you all listed
are super great. But you said's food. You can get
a lot of that for food, So if you wanted
to add anything on that to feel free, but if not,
(23:16):
will happen to.
Speaker 1 (23:17):
The next question, Yeah, just you know, an anti inflammatory diet.
Dairy's verylamatory.
Speaker 4 (23:25):
Remember sugar, Sugar really inflames. Dairy can inflame.
Speaker 2 (23:29):
And listen to your body.
Speaker 4 (23:30):
I think there's something to be said for that, right
if you're eating something and all of a sudden you're like,
I just don't feel well, I'm bogged down, I have
low energy, you know, And maybe it didn't happen to
you ten years ago, but it's happening now. I mean
I can barely eat ice cream anymore. It really upsets
my stomach, you know, and certain breads that if especially
(23:51):
if they're not whole green and it's may not truly
be you know, an allergy. I talk a lot about
this with my patients, and like we just are gut change,
you know, the microbiome changes. These foods we just don't
do well with. And and I think, you know, again,
let's look at that like do we need it. We
don't need it. We may want it, but we don't
(24:12):
necessarily need that food. And so you know, watch the
treats that you're having. Make it a good one, and
then you know, move on and if you have it,
you're okay. Just you know, get up and drag in
the next day.
Speaker 3 (24:27):
I love that. I have two more questions for you,
beautiful ladies.
Speaker 2 (24:30):
My next question is does menopause, our perimenopause cause a
rise in blood pressure?
Speaker 4 (24:38):
Yes, yes, so it can.
Speaker 1 (24:43):
So estrogen is anti inflammatory, and so when you have estrogen,
it keeps everything, your vessels dilated and open, and when
you don't have it, they get tight and squeezy. And
so we see blood pressure rise. But we also see cholesterol,
you know, get out of control. It's we just did
(25:05):
a podcast and we just released that this week where
we talked about that and I did the Confessions of
My Bad Cholesterol, and my colleagues yelled at me. Yeah,
So I'll flip over to you guys to add to that.
Speaker 5 (25:18):
Well, there's a study called the Swan Study, the Study
of women's health across the nation. That's been going on
since the nineties and there's over three thousand women in it,
and they were all perimenopausal when they entered the study,
so they're all in their seventies now and they're still
being followed. I think this year was maybe like their
seventeenth or eighteenth visit if we still have funding, who knows.
(25:45):
And they have measured all those measures in women, all
the blood pressure and their sugar levels as those years
have gone on, and you can clearly see as women
enter that menopausal transition the few years coming up to
their last period, that their blood pressure increases and their
(26:08):
cholesterol increases directly tied to your loss of hormones.
Speaker 3 (26:15):
Yeah, yeah, and.
Speaker 4 (26:16):
I'll not just add to that too that you know,
that's some of that is a natural process of aging.
As we age, our arteries gets differ, and so you know,
I have some women that that never have any blood
pressure issues, and I have some that do you know,
whether there have bigger body compositions, smaller body compositions, Genetics,
(26:36):
all of that plays a part in that as well, right, So,
but yeah, but again we also do see this in
the transition where all of a sudden they're like it
just like it's ticking up and I'm not sure what
I did or I didn't do anything differently, And so
for some women they really have that that blood pressure
change through that that pyramidoposeminopause transition.
Speaker 3 (27:01):
Okay, thank you for that.
Speaker 2 (27:03):
And before we get to that last question, I just
want to take the time to say thank you so
much for just allowing us to get all this good knowledge. Again,
I know this is a very hot topic. They're probably
gonna want to Part two, Part three, Part four because
we were not able to get through all of the questions,
but it was these are some of the common questions
that I saw repeated on the Google docs. So thank
(27:24):
you for your time. But my last question, which is
super important because we talked a lot about instruments and
fasting and e to them, is it recommended during pyramidopause
and menopause. It's a hot topic.
Speaker 4 (27:44):
Yeah, so right, there's I mean, there's a lot of
different studies depending on who you follow. I recommend my
patience to do what works for them. If intermittent fasting
works for you, and you can do it, and that's
the way you know that you're seeing your energy level
seeing up you're able to you know, eat the right
(28:07):
things in that small amount of time.
Speaker 2 (28:09):
Great, do it.
Speaker 4 (28:10):
I cannot do it. Some of my patients cannot do
it and they just don't feel well. So I really
talk about just all the different options as far as that,
And obviously there's lots of different intermentt and fasting options
for some people at two o'clock in the morning and
that's the fast I do say, do not eat typically
after dinner two hours before bedtime. And that's just for
(28:31):
a lot of different reasons, you know, just adequate sleep, digestion,
you know, heartburn, reflex things like that.
Speaker 1 (28:38):
Yeah, I think I think you know, the body needs
time to digest, right, so you need to you know,
not make your body work all the time trying to
digest food. So at minimum twelve hours of just letting
your gut just chill out and process all that you've
put into it for the day. But if you wake
up hungry, eats thing, and I think you know that
(29:02):
there is a lot of controversy over do you should
you exercise fasted or not fasted, depending on where who
you talk to, But it doesn't you know, giving yourself
a like some you know, a handful of blueberries, or
you know a rice cake with some peanut butter may
help you have a better workout if you're finding you're
(29:23):
just super fatigue. That's one of the things in the
horm you know in our space that you know people
are thinking that you do need a little bit of
food before you go into an exercise, before you exercise
for best performance.
Speaker 5 (29:36):
I think go with your gut. Excuse the pun, but
I really think, you know, we notice this with our
patients when we use medications as well, that women just
know whether something suits them or not. If you give
intimate and fasting a try and you feel wonderful on it,
your brain is clear, you work well, you feel good.
(29:59):
You I know that that works for you. But there'll
be an equal number of women who try it who
don't feel well at oh, have headaches, feel sluggish, and
they know then you know that doesn't suit you and
you can find something else that suits you. So it's
really nuanced, which is a word we use a lot
when in men apostle medicine. But how such finely tuned
(30:22):
little machines, you know, and we're so different to each other.
Speaker 3 (30:26):
Yes, yeah, I love that you can.
Speaker 2 (30:28):
You kind of hit on that too with the the
last topic we talked about as far as with the
what was it we were talking about the with.
Speaker 3 (30:35):
The vitamins and also with the exercise.
Speaker 2 (30:38):
It kind of depends on the person the cardio, That's
what it was. When you're saying, some people they can
do their cardio like never before. Some people it's different.
I love how you highlight that it is different for everyone,
Like we are not the same person. We may have
access to some of the same things, but that doesn't
mean it's gonna suit us the same way. So God said,
(31:00):
if you feel like it works for you, perfect you know,
that's something that we definitely encourage here and we want
you all to feel great. But again, our bodies are different.
Our bodies respond to things different. So if you know
you need to switch it up a little bit, that
is perfectly fine. But guys, again, you all have I'm
sure blessed the audience with so much knowledge and information.
(31:23):
Like I said, this is a very hot topic and
I would love hopefully to have you again in the future.
Speaker 3 (31:27):
But I said, I was.
Speaker 2 (31:29):
Gonna circle back to this. How did we come up
with the dusty muffins? Let us know a little bit
about the Dusty Muffins your podcast, and let us know
how we can stay in contact with you.
Speaker 4 (31:40):
Guys, I'm gonna let Christina, I'll all give us, give
us all the goods.
Speaker 2 (31:46):
On that line.
Speaker 1 (31:48):
So, we were looking for a podcast name, and of course,
you know, we wanted something unique, and we were the
three of us were kind of going back and forth
and we really didn't didn't really come up with anything.
And then my husband's like, I think you should just
call yourself the Dusty Muffins because from the Saturday Night
Live skit where they were, you know, the two news
(32:13):
casters and Betty White, and so I'm the oldest, So
I guess that makes me Betty of our group here.
And then you know, like we're and then I told
told Rebecca and Ifa and I kind of rolled my
eyes and they're like, I love it. And we all
do struggle with our Dusty muffins and we're in the
(32:35):
fix and the dusty muffin business, and so that that
pun just works and it's catchy.
Speaker 3 (32:41):
Yeah, I love it.
Speaker 2 (32:43):
Okay, Okay, So again, guys, you heard the other podcast,
go ahead and make sure you subscribe to the podcast.
Where else can we find you? Do you have like
Instagram YouTube all of that?
Speaker 4 (32:54):
Yes, Instagram YouTube. The podcast is on you know, Amazon, everywhere.
You can find us word all on social media as well.
Speaker 1 (33:04):
You're going to give your social media. He love it.
Speaker 4 (33:06):
Oh yeah, nottcha Rebecca Hurle d O.
Speaker 5 (33:09):
And mine is Portland Menopause doc and I'm Christine Hartcress
Underscore d MP.
Speaker 1 (33:16):
And then our podcast is just at the Dusty Muffins.
Speaker 2 (33:20):
I love it. Okay, guys, well we are coming close
to it in again, thank you so much. And for
those of you who are tapping into our Wellderness Wednesday
every Wednesday we're here with a different topic. If you
know that you have a topic that you would like
to have us discuss, please let me know in the comments,
or even if you are interested in being interviewed for
Wellness Wednesday, let me know in the comments as well.
(33:41):
But again, thank you so much and until the next time,
God bless
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