Everyday Wellness: Midlife Hormones, Menopause, and Science for Women 35+

Today, we have a sponsored episode featuring One Skin, a super high-value company I’ve worked with over the past two years.

I'm joined today by Dr. Carolina Reis Oliveira, one of the CEOs and co-founders of One Skin. Dr. Oliveira holds a PhD in stem cell biology and tissue engineering. She has co-invented five patents and co-authored numerous scientific publications. She and her team are disrupting the outdated anti-aging skincare industry with their cutting-edge research on skin and longevity.

In our conversation, Dr. Reis Oliveira shares her journey from receiving her PhD to co-founding One Skin. We explore the impact of cellular senescence and immunosenescence and how estrogen receptors in the skin change during perimenopause and menopause, increasing the rate of senescent cell accumulation. We discuss skin as a longevity organ and the research behind the OS-01 peptide, including how it supports the microbiome and blood flow, its exceptional results for increasing hair thickness, and how to use this peptide in skin, body, or hair care. We also cover the effects of sun and environmental exposures on skin aging, and Dr. Reis Oliveira discusses her current research on the influence of GLP-1s on stem cells and skin health.

Stay tuned for a truly interesting and insightful conversation on the science of skin, longevity, and the latest research behind One Skin.

IN THIS EPISODE, YOU WILL LEARN:

What led Dr. Reis Oliveira and her team to focus on cellular senescence and skin as a longevity organ?

What cellular senescence is, and why it becomes increasingly important during perimenopause and menopause

How maintaining a healthy skin barrier and good hydration helps the skin recover from various stressors

One Skin's research and product development process

How Dr. Reis Oliveira's team measures the epigenetic signature of the skin to determine biological skin age

The importance of supporting the barrier function across the entire body, and not just the face

How stress, hormonal changes, and aging increase senescent cells within hair follicles, and how to support hair density and thickness

Why protecting your skin from UV exposure remains an important part of healthy aging

Investigating whether the OS-01 peptide could help support skin quality in people using GLP-1 medications

How long does it typically take to see results with One Skin face, body, eye, and hair products

Bio: Dr. Carolina Reis Oliveira

Dr. Carolina Reis Oliveira is the CEO and co-founder of One Skin. She holds a Ph.D. in stem cell biology and tissue engineering, is a co-inventor of 5 patents, and a co-author of numerous scientific publications. She relocated from Brazil to Silicon Valley in 2016 to found One Skin, a fast-growing longevity company developing products to promote skin age reversal by targeting a central driver of aging, the accumulation of senescent cells.

Carolina and her team are disrupting the outdated anti-aging skincare industry with their groundbreaking research around skin and longevity.

Connect with Cynthia Thurlow

Follow on X, Instagram & LinkedIn

Check out Cynthia’s website.

Submit your questions to support@cynthiathurlow.com

Join other like-minded women in a supportive, nurturing community: The Midlife Pause/Cynthia Thurlow.

Purchase Cynthia’s book, The Menopause Gut.

Cynthia’s Intermittent Fasting Transformation Book

The Midlife Pause Supplement Line

Connect with Dr. Carolina Reis Oliveira

One Skin

On TikTok

Instagram

I am honored to have Dr. Carrie Jones back on the podcast today. She’s a naturopathic physician and hormone expert with over 20 years of clinical experience in women's health and endocrinology.

In today’s conversation, we unpack common social media myths about midlife, the influence of lifestyle choices in perimenopause, the role of cortisol and hormones, and current research on the parasympathetic nervous system. Dr. Jones explains vagal freeze, how our stress response can exacerbate it, and why stress has become so normalized. We also explore the influence of synthetic hormones, thyroid propaganda, immune system function, autoimmunity, lab reference values and ranges, and the timing hypothesis of hormone replacement therapy, and Dr. Jones shares her favorite new supplements.

Stay tuned for another insightful conversation with one of my favorite voices in the hormone space.

IN THIS EPISODE, YOU WILL LEARN:

The importance of being thoughtful about information shared on social media regarding perimenopause and menopause

How chronic stress becomes harder to tolerate and can cause an increase in inflammation during perimenopause

Some simple strategies to help you feel safe, connected, and supported, and improve your vagal tone

How actual stress, anticipated stress, and perceived stress all activate the same stress response

How chronic stress affects every system within the body

How certain women can tolerate synthetic hormones very well, while others develop various symptoms

Why basic blood tests and reference ranges are not always optimal for everyone

Factors that could influence thyroid function, and the benefits of a broader thyroid assessment than TSH alone

Dr. Jones explains why she prefers to start hormone therapy early in perimenopause if appropriate

The new supplements Dr. Jones uses to support mood, stress, and sleep

Connect with Cynthia Thurlow

Follow on X, Instagram & LinkedIn

Check out Cynthia’s website.

Submit your questions to support@cynthiathurlow.com

Join other like-minded women in a supportive, nurturing community: The Midlife Pause/Cynthia Thurlow.

Purchase Cynthia’s book, The Menopause Gut.

Cynthia’s Intermittent Fasting Transformation Book

The Midlife Pause Supplement Line

Connect with Dr. Carrie Jones

On her website

Instagram

YouTube

Hello Hormones Podcast

I’m excited to welcome Dr. Dave Rabin today. Dr. Rabin is a translational neuroscientist and board-certified psychiatrist who specializes in treatment-resistant PTSD, addiction, vagus nerve activation, and HRV as a biomarker. He is also the author of A Simple Guide to Being Alive, a thoughtful and helpful guide to supporting our health, and one of my favorite books in the last several years.

In this episode, we explore the habitat crisis and why we cannot bully our nervous system into safety. Dr. Rabin explains trauma and support, healing from within, the role of anhedonia, and why the absence of pleasure is a physiologic issue rather than a moral one. We also discuss wonder, awe, and play; the importance of touch, intimacy, eye contact, oxytocin, and co-regulation; the role of psychedelics, medication, and psychotherapy in trauma healing, and how kindness toward ourselves and others can help activate the vagus nerve.

Stay tuned for an insightful discussion on supporting your nervous system, healing from within, and rethinking what it means to be truly alive.

IN THIS EPISODE, YOU WILL LEARN:

Why Dr. Rabin believes we are facing a habitat crisis rather than simply a mental health crisis

What happens when you try to bully your nervous system into safety

How the vagus nerve helps shift the body from chronic stress into recovery

Being blamed or unsupported after hardship can reinforce a victim mindset.

Why medicine, technology, practitioners, and other tools should help activate your own healing rather than become something you depend on

Wonder, awe, play, and pleasure may support the body's natural healing response.

How human connection, oxytocin, co-regulation, and shared experiences support nervous system regulation and recovery

How psychedelic-assisted therapy fits into trauma healing

How medication can help stabilize people while healing begins

Why being kind to yourself is an essential part of healing

Bio: Dr. Davis Rabin

Dr. David M. L. Rabin, MD, PhD, is a translational neuroscientist, psychiatrist, entrepreneur & inventor on a mission to cure mental illness. He has been studying the impact of chronic stress in humans for over 20 years, focusing on trauma, addiction, and human performance. Dr. Rabin is a Senior Research Scientist at the Institute for Human and Machine Cognition, the Chief Medical Officer and co-founder at Apollo Neuroscience, the Executive Director of The Board of Medicine Nonprofit Medical Board, and the Medical Director of The Apollo Clinic. In addition to hosting The Psychedelic Report and Your Brain Explained podcasts, Dr. Rabin regularly serves as an expert for news outlets such as The New York Times, Vogue, CBS News, The Washington Post, and The Wall Street Journal. In his spare time, he enjoys cooking, dancing, playing volleyball, sailing, and hiking with his wife, Kathryn, and their son, Sammy.

Connect with Cynthia Thurlow

Follow on X, Instagram & LinkedIn

Check out Cynthia’s website.

Submit your questions to support@cynthiathurlow.com

Join other like-minded women in a supportive, nurturing community: The Midlife Pause/Cynthia Thurlow.

Purchase Cynthia’s book, The Menopause Gut.

Cynthia’s Intermittent Fasting Transformation Book

The Midlife Pause Supplement Line

Connect with Dr. David Rabin

On his website

On social media: @DrDaveRabin

The Psychedelic Report and Your Brain Explained Podcasts

Dr. Rabin’s book: A Simple Guide to Being Alive

I am happy to connect with Coach Bronson Dant today. He has spent over a decade guiding and training people in health and fitness. He discovered the benefits of a whole-food, animal-based ketogenic diet for optimizing metabolic health and performance, and wrote The Ultimate Ketogenic Fitness Book.

In our discussion today, we dive into the powerful story of Coach Bronson’s pain-to-purpose journey. We explore the value of mindset and look at how age-related changes affect muscle, inflammation, and metabolic flexibility. He shares his three pillars of muscle health related to nutrient density, bioavailability, and satiety, and we examine the importance of sleep, the impact of extremes in exercise, and the value of stress management. We also unravel the complexities of weight-loss resistance, and Coach Bronson discusses his research published in the Journal of Nutrition, Metabolism, and Health Science, sharing his perspective on macros and functional movement in menopausal women.

IN THIS EPISODE YOU WILL LEARN:


Coach Bronson shares his three pillars for nutrition


The limitations of basing nutrition on calories alone


How the hormone piece impacts effective weight management


How to avoid physical deterioration through fitness and nutrition


Why Coach Bronson advocates for living life to the fullest and dying quickly


How does muscle mass impact metabolic health?


The importance of taking a balanced approach to weight loss


How sleep aids muscle recovery and growth 


Stress management, nutrition, and fitness for overall well-being


How alcohol affects our health and fitness


The benefits of combining functional movement training and proper nutrition for older adults 

Connect with Cynthia Thurlow


Follow on X, Instagram & LinkedIn


Check out Cynthia’s website.


Submit your questions to support@cynthiathurlow.com 


Join other like-minded women in a supportive, nurturing community: The Midlife Pause/Cynthia Thurlow. 


Purchase Cynthia’s book, The Menopause Gut.


Cynthia’s Intermittent Fasting Transformation Book


The Midlife Pause Supplement Line

Connect with Bronson Dant


On his ⁠website⁠ 


⁠YouTube⁠ and ⁠Instagram⁠


⁠The Ultimate Ketogenic Fitness Bundle⁠

Today, I’m delighted to share a compilation of adrenal-centric discussions with experts Drs. Sonya Jensen, Carrie Jones, Scott Sherr, and Will Bulsiewicz, and geneticist Dr. Yael Joffe, Nurse Practitioner Heather Quaile, and Physician's Assistant McCall McPherson.

In this masterclass, we explore the effects of generational silence and how the thrifty genotype impacts the likelihood of poor metabolic health outcomes over time. We define the GABAergic system and the effects of decreased progesterone in perimenopause, and examine how our immune and nervous systems are impacted in midlife. We discuss the impact of GABA cofactors, the connection between adrenal and thyroid health, how stress affects ovarian aging, and the impact of genetics on our lifestyle choices and responses. We also unpack shift work and circadian rhythm disruption, and their influence on the gut microbiome.

Join us for today’s action - and information-packed, adrenal-centric podcast. I know you will enjoy listening to it as much as I enjoyed putting it all together.

IN THIS EPISODE, YOU WILL LEARN:


The impact of generational trauma on stress resilience and metabolic health across generations


How famine exposure, family history, and cultural background could contribute to our metabolic and hormonal health


How estrogen metabolism pathways can influence hormone balance and long-term health


The importance of B vitamins, magnesium, amino acids, protein, and overall nutritional status for healthy liver function and detoxification


How ongoing fight-or-flight activation can impair energy production and contribute to a cycle of worsening stress and fatigue


How hormones, sleep, toxins, infections, and insulin resistance can influence mitochondrial performance


The importance of optimizing thyroid and adrenal dysfunction together 


How chronic stress and adverse childhood experiences can influence ovarian aging 


How gut barrier dysfunction can contribute to chronic low-grade inflammation


How genetics and epigenetics can affect our appetite, hormone metabolism, mood, and treatment responses

Connect with Cynthia Thurlow  


Follow on X, Instagram & LinkedIn


Check out Cynthia’s website


Submit your questions to support@cynthiathurlow.com


Join other like-minded women in a supportive, nurturing community: The Midlife Pause/Cynthia Thurlow 


Cynthia’s Menopause Gut Book is on presale now!


Cynthia’s Intermittent Fasting Transformation Book


The Midlife Pause Supplement Line

Connect with Dr. Sonya Jensen


On her book website: Heal Your Hormones, Reclaim Yourself


Instagram

Connect with Dr. Carrie Jones


On Instagram


Estrogen Detox Made Easy


Hello Hormones with Dr. Carrie Jones - Podcast

Connect with Dr. Scott Sherr


On his ⁠website⁠


Troscriptions


⁠Health Optimization Medicine  


One Base Health⁠⁠

Connect with McCall McPherson


On Modern Thyroid Clinic


Instagram and TikTok


Modern Thyroid and Wellness Podcast


Thyroid Lab Guide

Connect with Heather Quaile


On her website 


Instagram

Connect with Dr. Will Bulsiewicz


On his website

Connect with Yael Joffe


On 3X4 Genetics


Instagram


Facebook

Podcast Links:


Ep. 559 Heal Your Hormones, Reclaim Yourself: Women's Health in Midlife with Dr. Sonya Jensen | Perimenopause, Menopause & Hormones


Ep. 567 “Timing Is Everything” – The Best Way to Test Hormones, Cortisol & Thyroid for Real Answers with Dr. Carrie Jones


BONUS: "The Sympathetic Spiral of Doom!” – The Fastest Way To Reset Your Nervous System & End Burnout with Dr. Scott Sherr


Ep. 478 Thyroid Truths: Labs, Adrenals & Appetite Explained with McCall McPherson


Ep. 498 Chronic Stress Is Aging Your Ovaries – The Shocking Link Between Trauma, Hormones & Menopause with Heather Quaile


Ep. 537 The #1 Longevity Nutrient You’re Missing – How Fiber Supercharges Your Gut, Immunity & Sleep with Dr. Will Bulsiewicz


Ep. 558 Your DNA Isn’t Your Destiny – The Most Actionable Way to Use Genetics for Weight Loss with Dr. Yael Joffe