Dr. Sara Gottfried: How to Optimize Female Hormone Health for Vitality & Longevity | Episode 111
Main Takeaways
Understanding details of the medical history of women in your family is important, including age of menopause, puberty, pregnancy history, and reproductive system disorders, as they can impact your own health.
The age of first period is getting younger each decade, and biomarkers to monitor vary by age range, including cortisol in teenage years and estrogen, progesterone, and testosterone in your 20s.
An imbalance of estrogen and progesterone can increase the risk of fibroids and gut disruption, and monitoring biomarkers at the top half of the normal range is recommended.
Hormone panels are often not covered by insurance unless you're trying to get pregnant, and knowing your ACE score to assess childhood trauma is important.
Intake of vegetables is important for breast cancer prevention, and if someone won't eat vegetables, a smoothie with blended vegetables can be a good alternative.
Microbiome health is important, and prebiotics and polyphenols are more supported than probiotics, as the specific pattern of bacteria for a healthy microbiome varies greatly.
Stool testing or a nutritional blood panel can be used to identify nutritional deficiencies, and colonoscopies should begin at 50 for women.
An ideal exercise split is 1/3 cardio and 2/3 resistance training, and high cortisol levels from over-exercising can be addressed with supplements such as Rhodiola rosea, ashwagandha, phosphatidylserine, and Omega-3.
Polycystic ovary system (PCOS) is marked by high levels of testosterone and androgens and can increase the risk of cardiometabolic disease later in life, and some types may be driven by insulin resistance.
Copper IUDs have benefits such as being non-hormonal, effective, and long-lasting, and can be used by younger women.
