Episode 463: Dr. Erika Schwartz: Why Your Doctor Is Wrong About Hormones and How HRT Actually Saves Lives

27:55Right. So they're not there all the time. They come and go. When you put a pellet in, you're releasing hormones all the time. Not a good idea because you're going to keep on flooding your receptors on your cells with hormones. And they're going to be like, screw it, I'm not interested in this anymore. So then you're going to dull your receptors. and then people like me are going to wind up having to clean up the mess by figuring out how to give you hormones that your body will actually accept. So no, if it's about money. That's actually a great point. So once you kind of screw around with your receptors like that, how can you, can you fix them?

28:40If you're lucky, yes. So would you say then what is the best, vehicle to get testosterone into your body? Injectable or creams. There's a new form, which is like sublingual, like a thing, which has not been studied enough, which is new, that I would not endorse yet, but hopefully it'll work. The problem with oral testosterone is, you know, it goes through your liver. The same as oral estrogen goes through your liver. Your liver is already over-toxic, right? From all this crap in our environment, right? Yeah. So you want to protect your liver. So if you can get the cream to get absorbed, by all means, do it.

29:26If you can get injections once a month, twice a month, that's fine. Remember, they come out in pulses. So you don't have to have it all the time. As long as you have it once in a while, you will protect it. because remember, you're going to be doing strength training. So you're going to have muscles. So your muscles will protect you. What is your take on creatine? I love pre-creatine. You do? Do you take creatine? Yeah, of course. Five grams, twice a day, three times a day. So I take it too. And do you know anything about the whitewash, acid wash, all these different types of washes for creatine?

30:04Tell me about it. Well, no, I just feel like you got to be, from what I like from what I understand you got to be very very careful of what the like where you're getting your creatine from yeah but I think you should be careful of where you get anything from yeah 100 so you're right so I think I use momentous you guys it's my favorite and that's just it's called momentous it's like they it's like everything is triple party tested I actually got it because of you really yeah I love that thank you by the way momentous you hear that? Oh, third-party tested, not triple-party tested. I don't even know what I'm talking about.

30:38I was looking to be over your shoulder. Yeah, no, I got it. I got it. Do you like it? It seems to be good. There's like a lot of good ones. We have one at Evolve Science that they sell, which has great bioavailability. Then there are like bulk nutrients, supplements that are good. There are a lot of good ones. And the way you know it, as you know, is you take the five grams, you put it in a little bit of water, not this much water, but like a little bit, you take it. And then all of a sudden your brain kicks in and you feel good. So, you know, it's working. So that's what I want. That's why I wanted to ask you about it because a couple of things, women are really scared of taking creatine because it's the same as the hormones.

31:22We've heard so much of it being like, Oh, it's going to bloat you. And it's going to, um, it's a, it's a, it's a, supplement that guys only take. Again, there's a lot of like rhetoric that's been around for like 30 years that people still kind of remember or heard in the past. And so it's kind of like tainted what the truth is. Right. But that's the one supplement that I think, I mean, listen, I'm no doctor, but I would think that you actually live in your body and you know better. Right. Or I play one on TV, right? No, but like, but like, it's better than most of them. Well, right. No, I thank you.

31:55But I think if you want to like, if you want to like keep muscle on your body. Yes. Right? Correct. Creatine will help you with strength and with recovery. Exactly. But the other thing is what you just said is that brain fog. So that's why. That's why I said to you because it's about bioavailability, right? Yeah. And you want to make sure that you're not taking talcum powder basically. Exactly. Right. And so that's the best test. You just take five grams, put it in a little bit of water mix it because it dissolves immediately then chug it down and if within five to ten minutes you're like on then you go okay this is working that's like i see it because i'm not as i'm not a shake person i i don't really have shakes you know i do and i start every morning with a shake and then when you put the creatine in it it's like okay i have anositol in there i have whey protein i have all kinds of other stuff right how am i gonna know so that's the bestest.

32:53That's a great, that's a great way of doing it. So, cause like, like to your point, like, well, you'd have so much, you have a shake every morning. I have a shake once in a while. So then like what people do is they don't, they don't take the proper supplement. Everyone puts everything in the, in the smoothie. But you were saying other things. What else do you think is important for people? Like what supplements are you some that you swear by? Can I name you some and you just say which ones you think? What do you think of fish oil? I think it's great, but what kind of fish oil omega-3 omega-9 omega-3 15 fatty 15 oh fatty 15 fatty 15 is really good so is it different than omega-3s yeah yeah they have their higher concentration so they're great then there is plasmalogens which is omega-9 which work on the brain really well so they're don't do omega-6, whatever you're doing.

33:48Yeah, that's the one. Don't do 6. So tell me what supplements then. I won't do the game with you. Go for it. No, no, no. ADK, of course. I want you to say that the supplements that you think are the most important for women to take as they hit menopause. How about forever? Or forever. Whatever, right. ADK, I have that as a combination because, you know, vitamin D, because it's about D, obviously. D is actually a hormone. A hormone. Yeah. It's not a vitamin. But it's a fat-soluble hormone. So if you take it ADK together, it gets absorbed better. That's interesting. I always heard vitamin D take with K2, but I've never heard A.

34:33A. Yeah, it works great. So that's the formula I'm using at Evolve Science. I'm going to write that down. Okay, thank you. Next one. Okay. Magnesium. Remember, magnesium is crucial. Now, there are a lot of types of magnesium. And, you know, citrate is great to make you poop. Right. But it's also muscle-relaxant. You know, glycinate is great as a muscle-relaxant. So I think combinations are great, but also citrate is wonderful. You don't have to go too far. Can you take magnesium citrate then in the morning? Can you take magnesium? No, I only take it at night. I only take it at night. Because people take magnesium glycinate to chill.

35:15But citrate won't make you chill. It might. But you know what? You can also take L-theanine, which is calm kind of thing, right? In the morning. And that will help you calm down. Now, anxiety, as you know, comes from hormones. So if your hormones are imbalanced, you're not going to be walking around with a knot in the pit of your stomach. Really? You will need the CNA. So tell me all the benefits then of hormones, just so we have a really good clip that I want to put up. Okay. Hormones are the foundation of everything because they're made in different cells in the body and they travel through the bloodstream and they affect every cell of every organ in your body.

36:07So they're really important. And by hormones, I mean, you know, the sex hormones, estrogen, progesterone, testosterone. But I also mean insulin. I mean thyroid. I mean adrenal. There are a lot of hormones. They work together. So if your hormones are in balance, you stay young. You stay useful. You have a brain. It affects your brain. It affects your sleep. It affects your ability to work out. You know, I put libido in there because it's important, obviously. And I wrote a whole book about it. Of course you did. Right? But it was like trying to show people that intimacy and sexuality are not the same at all ages.

36:50And as you go through life, things change. Yeah. No, it's important. And it's important. Right. So it works. But anyway, so all of these, everything, everything, the clarity of thought. Yeah. Your appetite. You know, we have GLP-1s now. Everybody's taking GLP-1s. If your hormones are not in balance, the GLP-1s are going to be just another fad diet. Really? Of course. So what happens, because you're right, it's such a fad, right? Everyone's taking these GLP-1s. And they all look like bobbleheads. What do you think about this whole thing? Yeah. Listen, I've been working with them for five years because I teach peptides at A4M too.

37:31Oh, you do? Yes. So I've learned a lot. I know peptides pretty well. And we use a lot of peptides. but GLP ones are great. But you know what? They're great in context, like everything else. When you lose weight, like let's say you're 50 pounds overweight, not happening here. No, not here. Not here. 50 pounds overweight. So you made the muscle to carry those 50 pounds of fat. I mean, 50 pounds of overweight, not fat. So you have more muscle than you think, right? Because you have to carry it because you're carrying the weight. Like resistant training. Like it's more to carry. No, you know what?

38:11No, it is because you're carrying so much extra poundage. It's like resistance. Exactly. So then you start taking GLP-1 and you start dropping the fat. But you're also dropping the muscle. And while you're dropping the muscle, then you know what happens. Everything else falls apart. Then your metabolic rate, which is crucial, goes down. So now all of a sudden, you look like a bobblehead and you feel like crap. The only way to prevent that is to have your hormones balanced first. And the way I say it is we treat people in layers. So the treatment starts with the hormones. If your hormones are imbalanced, then I can give you GLP ones.

38:55Then I can give you supplements. Then I can give you peptides. Then I can send you to work out. then I can do a lot of things because you have the foundation. So hormones are the foundation. They are. Yeah. They really are. And I wish I could say they're not, but I learned it over 30 plus years of doing it. And so how does, so for example, do you treat men as well? Of course. Half the practice is men. Oh, half the practice is men. So if men have low testosterone, what are some symptoms beyond the ones that we think of, like low libido, their strength is, you know, injuries. Depression. Is depression?

39:35Yeah. You know what? When they get older and they stop losing their macho thing, they want to go do things, and they just sit on the couch, back to the couch. Right, back to the couch. Back to the couch. That's low testosterone. They don't go to the gym. They're not interested. What do they do go to the gym? I think a lot of guys do go to the gym. Yeah, I know. And they're trying so hard, and they're, like, stepping on the gas with the gas tank empty. So that's really bad because that brings me to one thing. The whole thing with prostate cancer and testosterone was one report in 1939 by one doctor by the name of Huggins who reported a patient of prostate cancer with high testosterone.

40:19And that took over the whole urology idiocy. And to this day, they're still not going to give testosterone to men. And in 2007, this guy Morgenthaler, who was the head of urology at Harvard, did a whole review, like a total study review of every study ever conducted and proved that there was no connection between prostate cancer and testosterone and nobody talked about it. But what about if I heard that if someone has cancer that runs in their family and they're more susceptible or prone to maybe breast cancer or any type of whatever kind of cancer, hormones can't activate that? Is that false?

41:08It's false. It's false. Okay. Because hormones are not going to activate things. You're, you know, if you do genetic testing, which is a complete waste of time, because if you remember, we spent billions of dollars on genome testing and we're still running. I mean, if you go to a functional medicine doctor, they'll do genome testing and they'll tell you, oh, you know, there are three genetic diseases we know about and the rest of them are, oh, you know, your gene could be activated and might increase the risk. When I hear the word might, I run away. And the thing is, genes will get activated. It's our lifestyle.

41:47If we're eating our microplastics in the air, and if we're eating the hormone-treated cow, we are going to increase the risk of cancer. Right. And the thing is, instead of running and saying, oh my God, I don't want to get cancer, maybe we change it and we make it. I want to live the healthiest life possible for as long as possible instead of running from doctor to doctor to doctor looking for what? So what do you think of functional medicine doctors? What's your take? They're fine. If they know what they're doing and they have experience and they care about you, anybody's fine. Right. You know what I don't like?

42:25I tell you, what I don't like is when you go to a doctor and they'll say to you, you say, oh, I want testosterone. No, you can't have it. It'll give you cancer. When somebody says that, What it means to me is they don't know anything about it and they're not listening to you. So that's the dead end street. Right. Out the door. Next. Right. So you're all about like really your whole thing is like picking practitioners. Doesn't matter what type of doctor. Exactly. But someone who you feel genuinely cares. And sees you. And is seeing you. And listens to you. And is telling you like people come to me and tell me stuff.

43:04like you said about whitewash yeah yeah yeah what was the comment i'm gonna look it up because it's gonna i think i said it wrong and i'm like no but don't worry about it but this is the point there's a point to that curious yeah go ahead this is the thing yeah go ahead there's a lot of stuff i don't know and all i have to say is i don't know because the moment i say i don't know my credibility has gone up with you you respect me you know i care about you i'm not gonna bullshit you with my ego I'm not putting my ego first. I'm putting you first. So that's how you judge your doctor. Because you're special, though.

43:38A lot of people, like we were saying, you're a unique person. That's why Tammy, who said that in the first place. But I have to say, it's become a monetization. Also, the truth of the matter is, it's expensive. Most doctors are not taking insurance. The good ones are not taking insurance. I can bet you, if I went to your office, you're for i bet you're a fortune there's no way that you're taking my blue cross blue shield for free no and you know what why i tell you why okay i never took insurance because yeah see i tell you why but i'll tell you why okay and it makes sense because we as in you and me yeah should change that whole insurance yes because i didn't take insurance because i didn't want anybody else between you and me.

44:25I didn't want the malpractice lawyer there. I didn't want the insurance there. I didn't want anybody there. It's between you and me. So that's, you know, now it's AI was deciding if you should have whatever the hell you're having. You know what I mean? It's disgusting what's going on, but people say stupid things because they don't know any better. They'll say, well, the insurance will cover this and they don't understand that. That means you and I are paying for it. Right. So no, what you want to do is say, no, I want, you know, like the end of life is the most expensive part of healthcare. All the young people are paying for the expenses of end of life, which is total bullshit because we're going to die anyway.

45:13That's right. So what are we talking about? We have to change the system. If we don't change the system, we're doomed. Yeah, I agree with you. Okay, there are a couple other supplements I want to ask you about. Oh, right, the supplements. We didn't finish them. We didn't. Okay, quercetin. Is that something that we should be taking? And what does it do? No? Not necessarily. It's okay, but no. CoQ10? CoQ10, yes. CoQ10 is great. Okay, why? CoQ10 helps with energy production at the cellular level. So now everybody's talking about cells. Everybody's talking about mitochondria. Yeah. And that's a great supplement.

45:51CoQ10 is great. Because I take for the cellular health, I take Truniogen NAD. Do you take that? Yeah, I work with NMNs, which you're right. Truniogen's a good one. Wait, you work with NMN? You should be off of this show. No, I'm joking. Well, no, because I thought NR is a precursor. It makes it yourself. Yeah, it is. Because you're going to take NMN has to convert into NR. So isn't it better just to take NR, which is true nitrogen? If it actually converts. So if it converts, you're lucky. If it doesn't convert, NMN's kind of better because it's more likely to convert in more people. Really? Why?

46:30And, you know, because of the way it's made, really, the way they make it. Oh, really? Yeah. And you know what? We give NAD shots in the office. Yeah. They love it, but not IV. make sure you tell them not iv iv nad doesn't work it's painful you feel like you have an elephant sitting on you right well it takes a long time three three five hours to to get it in and then by the time it comes out by by the time you walk away it's out so you want something that stays so we do like subcutaneous in your skin does that work though people like it yeah but does it work I don't know. See, this is the thing.

47:11I'm not overall like vitamin IVs, right? It's a huge business, right? We have it. We do it. Everybody does, right? But these IVs, I don't know. I feel like you're putting all this liquid into your body. You pee it out in two seconds. You sit there, you've spent all this money, you've spent all this time, and then it's gone. Interesting. Let me give you another piece of it. Okay. So IVs used to be what you get when you go to the emergency room and you have debt, right? Yeah. Then all of a sudden somebody got the idea, like maybe we can keep people healthy with IVs. Yeah. And then we started growing it.

47:46And so if it's the right stuff in it, it'll help. But not for hangovers, because people use it for hangovers. Yeah, exactly. And the hydration and things like that. But if you use it consistently for immune boosting, for when you travel, for anti-inflammatory, they work beautifully if you put the right things in they do so you so it is it just another one of these myths that like you are just pissing them out two seconds later because they're putting all this liquid like people get these vitamin c things right and like you know my mom would always say why are you doing that like it's a waste she's also like she's a nurse but she's like you're just gonna pee it out yeah she's like a conventional mode yeah she's like you could you're just going to pee it out anyway, right?

48:31So you're saying that it depends on like what the scenario is. Yep. And I think that I look at what we do with the IVs and I look at what I do with IVs and I say, they actually work if you do it right. So there's something else that you said, okay, let's go, I'm going to circle, I'm going to go right back to those NAD IVs. I could not agree with you more however actually true niagen put out an nr iv have you heard of this no so their iv is except like this is like super potent very potent and it takes 30 minutes to get into your body you know does that make a difference you should try it if it works i interviewed for a4m yeah i run the podcast there yeah the founder of true niagen oh wait hold on is it charles brenner Yeah.

49:20He's the scientist, right? Yeah, he's the scientist. Okay. So he sold me on the whole thing, obviously. Right, right, right. I bought the whole thing. I did it. I didn't do the IV. So, yeah, it happens to be a good product. Right. It sounds like a good product. Right. Why not? Right. So, no, I'm asking. I want to know legitimately, right? Yeah, no, I wouldn't. No, the data behind it is good. The thing is like, okay, so how about NAC? Have you heard of NAC? Of course. And acetyl, cysteine is amazing. It's great for your brain. It's great for your lungs. It's great for everything. And I use it regularly.

49:55Funny that you mention it. I use it in the morning and at night. When somebody has a cold and they cough and their lungs are not okay, the moment you give it to them, they heal. You don't have to give them cough medicine. Really? So I've been taking it every day. Is that okay? Because does your body get used to it? Yeah. If you're taking a supplement for too long, Yeah. The body gets used to it. So I like drug, hormone, supplement holidays. Yeah. To give your body time to reset and then say, oh, I want this again. Right. So I do that. How long should the vacation be? It depends what it is. Like when you finish with a bottle, skip the next bottle for a week or two.

50:36Really? Yeah. Or like cycle it because yeah, your body gets used to it. Yeah. And you don't want it to be used to it. You want it to be like, oh yeah, I like this. It's like now I'm traveling, right? Right. So I'm traveling all week, so I have my AM and my PM pack, and I put whatever I'm taking in there. So I'm going to take the most because I don't want to get sick. I want my immune system to be top, right? Yeah, of course. I got to have a brain for you. Right, of course. I ask hard-hitting questions. That's right. So then, I'll take a lot of them. Then I'll go home and I'll be like, okay, you can chill out.

51:13Okay, so then tell me what you do every day. You say you take your AM ones and your PM. What do you do AM and what do you do PM? All right, so AM, what do I do? I do some vitamin C. I take vitamin C because, you know what? Linus Bolin got a Nobel Prize for a reason. I don't take huge doses, but I take about 1 ,000 milligrams twice a day. How do you take it? Oral. Which one did you say? Oh, you know what? The ones I use is Allergy Research is the one I like. I'm going to ask you about one that my friend is taking. He just actually sent it to me. He asked me to find out about it. He's like on top of his stuff.

51:52So, okay, so this is what it was. And I'm like, I never heard of it, but it's like a vitamin C type. I'm taking. Is it liposomal or something? Yeah, you just said it. Liposomal. You know what? That's like a gimmicky thing for absorption, that it's better absorption. Yeah. Okay, so what do you call it? Liposomal. That's exactly what it is. Right. So it gets absorbed better, supposedly. I'm not. It's not true. It's not true. No, it's more expensive. It's more expensive. So someone just takes a thousand. You take a thousand milligrams of vitamin C. Okay, what else do you take in the A? Yeah, then when I travel, I take Defense, which is lactoferrin.

52:28Lactoferrin is actually an immune booster that your body makes. It's part of your body. And you really can't find it very often. We have it. And, you know, they practice as it. And it's great. You know what? Echinacea and all that other shit. No. Yeah. This one works really well. And I've been using it since like, God, only BC. Really? Yeah. And it really, only when I travel. Okay. What's the other ones? Let's see. What else do I take? CoQ10. Creatine. Yeah. What else do I take in the morning? In the morning. I take the NMNs, right? Because of the NAD thing. Then I take a peptide. It's called TB4-Frag, which is a peptide that's an immune-boosting peptide.

53:12How do you take it? It's oral. Oral. No, everything I'm taking is oral. I don't do any shots when I go anywhere. No, no. Okay. And now, you know, there's a lot of debate with the injectable, with the FDA involved and all of that. So I'm not really interested in that. Right. Let's see, what else do I take in the morning? That's it. That's it. How about at night? At night, I take the ADK. Okay. Oh, you take vitamin D at night? Yeah, but I can take it in the morning. It's fine. I take prodrome glia, which is the omega-9. Oh, in the morning, I take the fatty 15. And you take another type of omega at night?

53:54Yeah, because omega-9, which is prodrome glia, actually helps you sleep beautifully. I've never heard that. Listen to this one. There's another one called apigenin. which is from chamomile, and that helps you sleep well, too. Really? Okay. Are you taking that? I take that. Yeah, I have it. I'm thinking of the pack, but I have it in that pack. And then what else do I take? Magnesium, the defense. Is there a blood test so people can take them to see if they should be taking these? Because instead of just giving people lists of things, like you know yourself, right, because you're a doctor. I sure hope so.

54:32No, no, no. It's not what I'm a doctor. I was going to say, I was going to say, I want to correct myself. Please. Because you know your body, you're paying attention. I've been there a long time. You've been like your own advocate. Everyone should be their own advocate. I know that's what I understand. But instead of just like giving, not you, but instead of people just taking a ton of different stuff, is there a blood test so people can actually see what they're deficient in when these are things that are a little bit more, you know, a little more unique, right? You know what? There are a lot of blood tests.

55:04Most of them are to make money off of you. Right. They're not going to teach you anything. Which blood tests should people take? Oh, probiotics. Probiotics, right. I knew there was something else. Okay. You know what? I'll do like B12 level, folic acid level, iron level. You know, then I look at inflammation. So like CRP, C-reactive protein, homocysteine, sedimentation rate. So I'll look at what I could treat, what I can make sure I minimize. like i don't want inflammation obviously who does isn't no kitty isn't inflammation that's how every that's how everything gets and everybody's taking ibuprofen motrin for it as if that's going to help you that'll put a hole in your stomach right take some probiotics take some digestive enzymes what's so when do when do people take digestive enzymes because i think before meals you know before big meals okay because they have the enzymes right to help your uh liver and your gallbladder.

56:02So you take that and some people swear by it. I know. That's what I was asking you. Oh my God. They love them. So how do we know if you need one? I don't take it. You don't take it? No. I don't get heartburn. I don't get any problems. So then we're fine. You don't need to take it. Yeah. I mean, you got to look at what's going on, right? How about bloating? Bloating is hormonal. Bloating is hormones. Well, it can't be because I get bloated. I've been like maybe like TB too much. Like everything. I've been getting bloated since I was like 20, 19, 18. So that's hormonal. No, it's because I love to eat food.

56:36So I like to eat food. No, I eat a lot. I eat a lot too. I eat a ton of, like volume is my thing. I have to like eat volume. Is it fiber? Like you're eating 30 grams of fiber? I'll eat like a salad. Like my friends and family say it's like a trough. I love it. Me too. I'll have like a bowl of salad that's like this. And I just like, literally I can eat out of it for an hour. god bless you what's wrong with that bloated from it so then do i need a digestive enzyme from it try it see what happens try it always okay try it if it works by all means if it doesn't work get rid of it what probiotic should people take depends like you know their probiotics are candida and like you know saccharomyces boulardii whatever if you have candida but there's some bifidus they're basic probiotics that help that work really nicely you can also drink like you know the brine from sauerkraut and kimchi and all of that.

57:30I hate that stuff. I know it's very popular. I'm just saying it. I know. Just saying it. I don't do it, but I like actually sauerkraut because I'm from Eastern Europe. I know you are, of course. You're right. That's why. Okay, I'm sorry. Okay, so basically, you gave me a great list of, okay, so all these supplements. Okay, the book is called Yet Again. Do you want to say your title of the book? Sure. Okay, say the title. We can do another podcast when I do that. Don't let your doctor kill you. God, no. Please don't. please don't please don't erica i'm so glad that you came on i am thrilled when i saw that it was you i was like this is heaven this is so and then i'm like this is a house i'm like it's her house i know it's by the way yeah well because this is where i do my little thing my little podcast in a basement so cool thank you beyond cool oh my god and i love it and i want to see your new ted talk i'm very excited about that okay so i'm gonna i'll send it to you send it to me i mean Thank God.

58:24I'm so excited. And your book. I mean, everything. You're so good. You're so good. Listen, I didn't pay her. So proud of you. Oh, my God. So proud of you. You're so sweet. Thank you. Women should support each other. If women got it. There are, you know, that's a whole other podcast we should be doing. Yeah, we should. Everyone, Dr. Erica Schwartz, besides the book, where can people find you? Dr. Erica Schwartz. Yes. D-R-E-R-I-K-A-S-C-H-W-A-R-T-Z on Instagram. There you go. And if you are living in New York, are you accepting new patients? We have like three other doctors. They don't have to have me.

58:57Okay, they don't have to have you. But yes, I am. But to answer your question, there is an answer. This is what I like about you. This is a doctor that's actually a doctor that's seeing patients. Yes. Do you have time? Well, how else am I going to know what's going on? What? How else? And you know what? I'm not here to endorse or become an influencer. I want to tell the truth because I have the experience. I've been doing it for 30 years. And that's the thing. And that's why you're like a trusted source. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Oh my God. Thank you. You're welcome. Thank you.

59:31Bye. Bye.