The Hotflash inc podcast

Send us a textThere is something that is discussed very little in the current wave of menopause awareness, yet it is, in essence, our very structure.Yet obviously our DNA is a very big piece of this midlife puzzle. And if you, like me, thought that DNA testing was something to avoid, because you don’t want to find out what diseases you are going to die of, then today’s conversation with Kashif Khan, founder of The DNA Company and author of The DNA Way, will be very eye-opening.The DNA Way is all about using your individual DNA to prevent health issues. The DNA Company has amassed years of in-depth genetic analysis on the DNA results of more than 7,000 people, unlocking valuable insights into mood, behaviour and mental health, energy, diet and nutrition, weight management, sleep, and more.This is about using epigenetics to overcome your genetic legacy. Rather than serving as a possible inescapable prophesy, DNA testing provides actionable recommendations for all the most confusing health concerns we have, and can provide guidance on what foods to eat, how to exercise, where and how to work, and more. As Kashif writes in his book and tells me in the podcast, this has helped him prevent or reverse illness, slow down the aging process, and optimize performance. And it can do the same for you.Kashif explains DNA in a way that I never really understood it before, and he provided vital insight – and a much different take – on things like reducing our breast cancer risk, and how we can more safely use menopause hormone therapy. It’s like a human instruction manual – for menopause too. Get ready to have your mind blown. Mine certainly was.If you like what you hear: Hotflash inc has partnered with The DNA Company to provide listeners with an exclusive 10 percent discount on the DNA Company’s DNA 360 Report. Click here and use promo code HOTFLASHINC.Join the Hotflash inc perimenoposse: Web: hotflashinc.comNewsletter: Hotflash inc. on SubstackTikTok: @hotflashincInstagram: @hotflashincX: @hotflashinc Episode website: Hotflashinc Listen on: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Google Podcasts | YouTube | Substack See hotflashinc.com/privacy-policy for privacy information

Send us a textTania Elfersy is a transformative coach, speaker and award-winning author specializing in midlife women's health. Tania has spent years researching perimenopause and menopause: what causes it, what makes it worse and what can relieve the symptoms. She suffered too, and then after a profound emotional shift, became free of her own physical and emotional symptoms naturally and simply, through insight alone.Tania set up The Wiser Woman project in 2015 to help women transform their experience of midlife change. Through her coaching, writing and teaching, Tania focuses on connecting women to the innate brilliance of their bodies, having seen that healing occurs with ease when we relax into the divine intelligence within.Highlights: Recognizing and rejecting the negative narratives surrounding menopause in media and on social mediaHow we “innocently” make our health worse by what’s going on in our mindsThe healing process as a shift in consciousnessHer take on the #menopauserevolution and what is really going on in the UK Do we really need HRT? And could it “desensitize” us to the truth of menopause?How to lean into becoming a Wiser WomanHow to manage – not try to change – our thoughtsWhere to find more of Tania: Web: The Wiser WomanFacebook: @Tania.ElfersyLinkedin: Tania ElfersyJoin the Hotflash inc perimenoposse: Web: hotflashinc.comNewsletter: Hotflash inc. on SubstackTikTok: @hotflashincInstagram: @hotflashincX: @hotflashinc Episode website: Hotflashinc Listen on: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Google Podcasts | YouTube | Substack See hotflashinc.com/privacy-policy for privacy information

Send us a textThe Hotflash inc podcast is the #1 podcast in Women’s Health on Goodpods and in the top 1.5 percent on Listen Notes. Thank you for making that happen! Andrea Donsky is a Canadian nutritionist who turned her own terrible and epic perimenopause into a movement – and a company. Now a Menopause Educator and Researcher with 300,000+ TikTok followers, she is on a mission to change the conversation around perimenopause and menopause. An entrepreneur with more than 23 years of experience in the health and wellness industry, Andrea hosts the weekly ‘Menopause Reimagined’ podcast, and appears as a menopause expert on television across North America. To date, Andrea has appeared in over 400 TV segments and has been featured on every major network across the U.S and Canada. Her newest venture, Morphus, (which signifies ‘metamorphosis’ + ‘us’ as a community), empowers women over the age of 35 to “Reimagine Menopause” as a journey of empowerment so they feel heard, supported, and validated. Morphus empowers women to take control of their symptoms and health with nutrition, resources, and science-backed supplements. Andrea and her business partner Randy are also my partners in the Menopause Shift Summit, which is returning next year! Highlights: What launched her into becoming a menopause researcher and entrepreneur (hint: A horrid, epic perimenopause)Why she focused on symptomologyStarting to understand supplements through ingredients The big problem she had with one of the most common menopause ingredients Why you need to know about guar fiber Pycnogenol: What it is, why she loves it and how much you really needThe one thing you need to know before you take a supplement (hint: It’s super-simple but most of us miss it Toco-what? The two things you need to address early in perimenopause Her one golden rule about supplements The scoop on black seed oil – and why it’s magic for menopausersWhat to watch out for when it comes to supplement additives (and why they could be the reason what you tried isn’t working)Why too many ingredients is a big supplement red flag The benefit of new supplements vs older varieties Why perimenopause is like updating your cell phone’s softwareThe goodies of menopause (stay tuned: there are MANY and they are AMAZING)The magnesium-stress loop  Learn more at wearemorphus.comFind Andrea: Podcast: Menopause ReimaginedTikTok: @andreadonskyIG: @andreadonsky @wearemorphusJoin the Hotflash inc perimenoposse: Web: hotflashinc.comNewsletter: Hotflash inc. on SubstackTikTok: @hotflashincInstagram: @hotflashincX: @hotflashinc Episode website: Hotflashinc Listen on: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Google Podcasts | YouTube | Substack See hotflashinc.com/privacy-policy for privacy information

Send us a textBIG NEWS: Hotflash inc is the #1 Women's Health Podcast on Goodpods, and in the top 1.5 percent of podcasts according to Listen Notes. Thanks so much for making that happen! While Hotflash inc takes a break, we are replaying a popular and confounding episode here: With so much hype surrounding menopause hormone therapy today, it’s very hard to know what or who to believe. There is a big push to portray HRT not only as helpful for menopause symptoms, but also as a preventative for cardiovascular disease. But does this bear out in the research we have so far, most of which lumps bioidenticals and synthetic hormones into one basket? That was the question of the latest literature review published in the American Heart Association’ journal Circulation this past Valentine’s Day – Rethinking Menopausal Hormone Therapy: For Whom, What, When, and How Long? – that looked at 96 papers, articles and studies. The authors included gynecologists, women’s health internists, endocrinologists, as well as Stephanie Faubion, medical director for the North American Menopause Society, all members of the American College of Cardiology Cardiovascular Disease in Women Committee. Kathryn Lindley, an MD and clinical investigator in the Division of Cardiovascular Medicine at Vanderbilt University Medical Center and one of the authors of the paper is my guest on the podcast this week to break down these findings.This episode was originally #63 and published on February 18, 2023.Highlights: • why cardiologists have shied away from the topic of HRT• why HRT isn't recommended for prevention of cardiovascular disease (even if it seems like it should be)• the case for HRT to help symptoms• calculating the of using HRT for symptoms ("it's not zero but...")• why other health conditions matter• when it comes to vaginal estrogen...• respecting the HRT "the window of opportunity" • so, what can you do to prevent heart disease and stroke?• the case for assessing reproductive risk factors (and what you need to tell your doctors about your previous reproductive life – even if she doesn't ask)• the importance of taking in medical news in the media with "skepticism"• the case for keeping top of your health during perimenopause and taking action early for your future healthJoin the Hotflash inc perimenoposse: Web: hotflashinc.comNewsletter: Hotflash inc. on SubstackTikTok: @hotflashincInstagram: @hotflashincX: @hotflashinc Episode website: Hotflashinc Listen on: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Google Podcasts | YouTube | Substack See hotflashinc.com/privacy-policy for privacy information

Send us a textBIG NEWS: Hotflash inc is the #1 Women's Health Podcast on Goodpods, and in the top 1.5 percent of podcasts according to Listen Notes. Thanks so much for making that happen! In today's episode, I talk about traveling to New York for my first big event on behalf of Hotflash inc. And how I finally realized that I belong in the room. The broad themes are connection, confidence and purpose.But the main point, as it always seems to be, is loving and accepting yourself. And how to get there, even if it seems like it takes a lifetime. I talk about the long, hard road to building the confidence to feel worthy of being there, and to keep confident while there, about the essential-ness of connecting with other people, and of the beauty in finding and having a sense of purpose – all essentials, and all things that it can feel like midlife and peri/menopause threatens. But if you let them, they can be just the opposite. I talk about the feeling of ALMOST entering menopause, meeting heroes, becoming your own hero, and what it feels like to start to see yourself, accept yourself, and BECOME yourself, after all this time. Also discussed in this episode:Not wearing heels when everyone else is + the beauty of proper hair and makeupHow I got involved with Perry, the sisterhood for perimenopausePerry panel members: State of Menopause’s Stacy London, Menopocalypse author and Nyah Health cofounder Amanda Thebe, Behavioural Sleep Doc Dr. Shelby Harris,  The Menopause mogul Dr. Joy’El Ballard, Endocrinologist Dr. Disha Narang, journalist and midlife influencer Tamsen Fadel, ob-gyn and menopause expert Dr Sharon Malone and most inspirational-in-midlife maven Rachel HughesYvonne, Hotflash inc perimenoposse member extraordinaireCoffee in Bryant Park with pro-aging advocate Skylar Liberty Rose (apologies, I say ROSS)Menopause Multiverse Cocktail Hour in Harlem: Hosted by Omisade Burney-Scott (Black Girl's Guide to Menopause) and featuring many amazing women including Karen Arthur (Menopause Whilst Black); Jessica Jolie (Age Lust) and and the fearless, wonderfully profane and inspiring Mona Eltahawy, who has such astonishing courage that I switched my own nickname for summoning courage from LADY BALLS MONASThe hero’s journey of menopause and midlife Showing up for yourselfThank you so much to Perry and Omi and sparks & honey and everyone else who helped me be a part of this.Join the Hotflash inc perimenoposse: Web: hotflashinc.comNewsletter: Hotflash inc. on SubstackTikTok: @hotflashincInstagram: @hotflashincX: @hotflashinc Episode website: Hotflashinc Listen on: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Google Podcasts | YouTube | Substack See hotflashinc.com/privacy-policy for privacy information

Send us a textBIG NEWS: Hotflash inc is the #1 Women's Health Podcast on Goodpods, and in the top 1.5 percent of podcasts according to Listen Notes. Thanks so much for making that happen! While Hotflash inc takes a break, we are replaying a popular episode:Dr Maria Luque is an Austin, Texas-based, United States Air Force veteran (she was a fitness program manager) and health science professor who studied fitness in menopause for her doctorate. She is bothered by the reams of health, fitness and nutrition information on social media, never mind when it comes to what we are supposed to be doing in peri/menopause.  Her approach is careful, measured, and science-based, and at 47, she's really frank about her own challenges at this stage of life with brain fog, body image and more. She's also a huge fan of putting on muscle and all that can do for us, both now and down the road.This episode was #66, originally published on March 18, 2023. Highlights: • Why it's better to add things that take things away (3.45)• Losing weight doesn't address a poor body image (4.07)• Why we are all tired of fitness (5.41)• How the diet and fitness world is designed to bamboozle you (7.26)• Diet and exercise can never fix everything – and it never did  (10.12)• How perimenopause is opening up a Pandora's box (12.42)• We have the wisdom to figure this out, we just need to listen (18.34)• Why the HRT conversation needs a little more moderation (21.50)• Navigating the tricky world of interpreting research (25.41)• Other problems in menopause reporting + research (29:16)Where to find Maria: Web: Fitnessinmenopause.comIG: @drmarialuqueTwitter: @DoctorLuqueIdeafit: Dr LuqueJoin the Hotflash inc perimenoposse: Web: hotflashinc.comNewsletter: Hotflash inc. on SubstackTikTok: @hotflashincInstagram: @hotflashincX: @hotflashinc Episode website: Hotflashinc Listen on: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Google Podcasts | YouTube | Substack See hotflashinc.com/privacy-policy for privacy information

Send us a textDr. Burt Webb is an Arizona-based ob-gyn and intimate wellness specialist who takes a holistic, functional, integrative approach to women’s health. (He also represents the non-invasive soundwave treatment Cliovana, which we discuss in part 2 of this podcast.)This week he gets into all the different treatments, hormone therapy and otherwise – that he uses for the entire pelvic region. With almost 30 years in practice treating women, he is one of the most switched-on mainstream practitioners to appear on the podcast. This is a fascinating conversation and the second in our first-ever two-part episode. Don’t forget to listen back to last week, on episode 83, when we talked all about why he believes a dry vagina isn’t always just a dry vagina due to menopause. And gives us major guidance on how to tackle the issue systemically. Highlights: Vaginal estrogen and breast cancer, including specifics on how to use it differently “They aren’t as familiar with the vagina” (who he’s talking about)That time he coached a young woman on a plane about vaginal health (she asked) How he uses vaginal DHEA? Additional ingredients in vaginal estrogen and why they may not work for youWhy your clitoris is a lot bigger than you think – and any treatment needs to focus on all of it Why women need to educate themselves – and men – about their bodies  How the body’s own healing factors can be harnessed to help your vaginaCliovana, radio frequency, laser treatments and the O-shot – and what’s best for what issueWhy mixing and matching – and tissue health – are key to treating each women individuallyWhat to look for in an intimate wellness specialist How the placebo effect plays a part in treatment Web: cliovana.comJoin the Hotflash inc perimenoposse: Web: hotflashinc.comNewsletter: Hotflash inc. on SubstackTikTok: @hotflashincInstagram: @hotflashincX: @hotflashinc Episode website: Hotflashinc Listen on: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Google Podcasts | YouTube | Substack See hotflashinc.com/privacy-policy for privacy information

Send us a textDr. Burt Webb is an Arizona-based ob-gyn and intimate wellness specialist with a holistic approach to women’s health. (He also represents the non-invasive soundwave treatment Cliovana, which we discuss in part 2 of this podcast.)He joins the Hotflash inc podcast to talk about how our entire body plays a role in our vaginal health – and genitourinary syndrome of menopause (GSM). With almost 30 years in practice treating women, he is one of the most switched-on mainstream practitioners to appear on the podcast. Contrary to the prevailing narrative – oh how we love that here – he believes a dry vagina isn’t always just a dry vagina due to menopause. And he explains all the different factors that may be going into this. This is a fascinating conversation and the first-ever two-part episode. Stay tuned to next week when he gets into all the different treatments, hormone therapy and otherwise – that he uses to treat the entire pelvic region. This is very different to what you are hearing elsewhere. Highlights: The role of blood flow and nutrients in menopause – and in particular, vagina stuff How and why the vagina gets lubricated (hint: it’s like a cheesecloth)How your gut microbiome impacts you mind, body and vaginaThe role of food insensitivities – and chemicals in processed food – in GSM Why a probiotic isn’t enough Vaginal hormone therapy in treating GSM Why you need pharmaceutical-grade supplements (it’s about the absorption) Why he looks at the tissues – and the four areas where symptoms of dryness and pain in the vagina appearHow inflammation contributes to poor sexual health and ultimately heart disease Vaginal estrogen and breast cancer - the consensus opinion Why he believes most vaginal estrogen is not used correctly – and how it should beJoin the Hotflash inc perimenoposse: Web: hotflashinc.comNewsletter: Hotflash inc. on SubstackTikTok: @hotflashincInstagram: @hotflashincX: @hotflashinc Episode website: Hotflashinc Listen on: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Google Podcasts | YouTube | Substack See hotflashinc.com/privacy-policy for privacy information

Send us a textMichelle Aspinwall is a Medical Intuitive, Body Whisperer, and transformative healer whose mission is to shift women’s health specifically beyond 40. Michelle works with women worldwide using both science and spirit channeling leading them through specific and transformative health challenges. She teaches women that how they think, believe, support, and nourish themselves creates the foundation for her to become her most magnetic and vibrant being for the entirety of her life.She also believes that we are humans and spiritual beings, and because of that, we can take part in the entire smorgasbord of the earth’s experience: East, West, and everything in between. (As in: she uses testosterone and acupuncture for her perimenopausal symptoms)Highlights: How are various systems work togetherThe vital years from 37-50Perimenopause and our crown chakraDeveloping our intuitive musclesWhy and how it hurts not to tell your truth during this transition – and why it has everything and nothing to do timeOur experience, our perception of the experience, and the stories about the experience Using hormones for the human parts of us to augment and assist our spiritual selvesUnderstanding the magnitude of source and how it’s reflected in us Why we need to tend to our heart more than ever now – and how to begin to do that How she manages her thyroid and Hashimoto’s with Western and Eastern medicine, food and living in truth How the stress of the world heightens our symptoms and disorders – and how to navigate the turmoil and tumult energetically Where to find Michelle: Web: michelleaspinwall.comTikTok: @BodyWhispererIG: @MichellepaspinwallFB: Body Whisperer LoungeFree MeditationJoin the Hotflash inc perimenoposse: Web: hotflashinc.comNewsletter: Hotflash inc. on SubstackTikTok: @hotflashincInstagram: @hotflashincX: @hotflashinc Episode website: Hotflashinc Listen on: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Google Podcasts | YouTube | Substack See hotflashinc.com/privacy-policy for privacy information

Send us a textThis conversation was life-shifting for me and I hope it will be for you too. Elisa Kurylowicz is a Canadian former World Cup freestyle mogul skier turned coach and wellness mentor and host of the highly rated Elisa Unfiltered Podcast. Elisa teaches the practice of intuitive awareness, helping women to love themselves in body, business and life. She joins the Hotflash inc podcast for an epic (but so worth it) episode about the hard process of waking up to your conditioned mind so you can heal yourself.  Highlights: What happens when you face an Olympic-level Cigarettes, booze, Ramen noodles and angerWaking up – and then going back to sleepHow to start asking yourself big questionsSeeing the world for what it isMen is a midlife crisis, women it’s menopauseWhat’s going on with our urge to belong?Recognizing the teachers who help lift us upKeys to practicing intuitive awarenessThe big scary wall of what real change might meanPsilocybin therapy + microdosingRecognizing narratives around alcohol – and breaking out Navigating the early stages of perimenopause while trying to get pregnantWhere to find Elisa:Web: elisaunfiltered.comIG: @ElisaKurylowiczAdele Stratton (Elisa’s coach) IG @phoenixrisinghcJoin the Hotflash inc perimenoposse: Web: hotflashinc.comNewsletter: Hotflash inc. on SubstackTikTok: @hotflashincInstagram: @hotflashincX: @hotflashinc Episode website: Hotflashinc Listen on: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Google Podcasts | YouTube | Substack See hotflashinc.com/privacy-policy for privacy information