How Weight Gain Affects Perimenopause, PCOS, and Puberty - With Dr. Jennifer Ashton

31:55So it's just, that's just a fact. And that's how I would, those are the conversations that I would have with my kids when they were as young as 10. So now that they're young adults and they're in their twenties, they've, like we all do as parents, they hear my voice in their head, even probably when they don't want to. And that doesn't mean they never eat that stuff, but it just means they're making a conscious, intentional, deliberate decision with their nutrition. Yeah. Yeah. I love it. So you're talking about essentially shifting the culture, you know, and in particular, the microculture in your own household.

32:30Yeah. It's got to start there. Right. And also I think, and, and what I talk about in agenda, you know, my program, my newsletter is one person can't be an Island in their, in their home environment, right. Or your social environment. You can't do it alone. It's so much better if you have buy-in from your friends, your relatives, your family, and women are in a really unique and powerful position because we lead the household. That's, that's not controversial. Period. Period. Full stop. And so like it's in terms of nutrition, it's, there's only one way that matters in my home and it's my way. And so it's, I have a lot of responsibility to my husband, to my family, to lead by example and to do it in a way that's honest, informed, realistic, sustainable, safe, you know, all those things.

33:31And it's a process. It doesn't, it's not something that, you know, happens like that. It's baby steps. But every day you're chipping away towards a goal that really, really matters. Yeah. I love this. So we're going to move along the timeline just a little bit. And of course, this can show up, you know, many places along this timeline from puberty to menopause. You know better than most about the rise in PCOS. So let's talk a little bit about for people who might not be familiar with the term, what PCOS is and what you're seeing and what's going on. Why are the rates increasing? So first of all, polycystic ovarian syndrome, PCOS, we love acronyms in medicine.

34:17so everything has to be initials. It's referred to as the most common but least well understood hormonal disorder affecting women. If you read a gynecology textbook or an endocrinology textbook, you'll see incidents of 5 % to 8%, maybe 10%. I think it's closer to 15 % or maybe even higher. And that's based on 20 years of clinical experience for me, but also just connecting the dots again for other conditions in our society that I know are connected with PCOS. Two of them, the conditions of overweight and obesity, have a very complicated but well-documented connection between glucose and insulin, metabolic health, weight management, and our hormones.

35:13So it's a flywheel that has a spoke in the middle that shoots out to all these different kind of groups or areas in the human body. Um, it's a spectrum disorder. So it's not a disease that continues to get worse and worse and worse. Uh, there are mild cases of it, and then there are severe cases and everything in between. And, you know, I would always say to my patients, look, it's very easy when someone comes in with every single sign and symptom to say, Oh, you have PCOS. You don't need a blood test or an ultrasound, all you need is eyes and ears, listen to the patient and visually look at her.

36:00That's easy. What's not so easy is the women who have milder form, mild to moderate, where it's easy to dismiss some of her signs and symptoms. And that's when it's harder to make a diagnosis. And that's what I'm always, you know, kind of bothered by because that's a missed opportunity to help manage a condition that is associated with an increased risk of metabolic syndrome, which then in turn is a risk factor for cardiovascular disease. So very, very powerful body weight connection, metabolism connection, and on a cellular and metabolic level, glucose and insulin connection. So with a patient who's experiencing maybe a severe case, what would some of the approaches be or what would you do from the perspective of nutritional gynecology?

36:59So I always start with the nutrition. And that's why, you know, I think that term is so relevant, right? But there's published data that suggests and supports that with a person who has the conditions of overweight and obesity, that a loss of just 5 % of their body weight will improve their hormonal condition with respect to PCOS. That might not be enough for that person in terms of what they want. But internally, just that little bit of weight loss, 5 % can make a big difference in a positive sense. So I start with the food and the nutrition. Unfortunately, for PCOS, there is an insulin resistance and carbohydrate sensitivity that people without PCOS don't have.

37:55So what does that mean? That means a woman with PCOS and a woman without PCOS, they weigh the same. The woman with PCOS, if they eat a slice of pizza, it's gonna be much easier for that woman with PCOS to wind up gaining weight with that. Where a woman without PCOS, same weight, without the insulin resistance, processes those carbs much easier. And it doesn't, it's less likely to be stored as fat. You know, that's an oversimplification, but that's basically what's going on. That's why a lot of women with PCOS are told, go on a low carb diet. Now, low carb does not mean no carb, right? And as you know, and as we just talked about with the apple example, there's carbs and then there's carbs, right?

38:45I would always kind of try to strike a middle ground, something that's sustainable. again if you're going to eat carbs make sure that they're really rich whole grains the fruit and vegetable variety and be selective with your fruits like I just had this conversation by the way with my husband the other day and he said something about grapes and I said listen grapes are a dessert and he goes what do you mean it's a fruit I said it's straight sugar honey it is straight sugar there are so many better fruits for your health to eat than grapes right but But that's kind of the PCOS eating plan is going to be relatively high lean protein, some healthy fats, good carbs, but relatively lower carbs.

39:30So around, and this is not written in stone, by the way, at least in my philosophy, around 100 grams of carbs a day or 80, not less than 50. We're not talking about keto, nothing crazy, you know, but you have to be careful. That's just the reality with PCOS. Yeah. I love this. You're just bringing some balance, you know? And again, it's just so practical, but we tend to go to these extremes, you know? And so - Because it's clickbaity. Yeah. Yeah. And also, you know, again, just being able to have a little bit of carbs, it just makes everything easier, you know? And it does so much for us psychologically.

40:09One of the things that jumped out for me early on with this movement, this huge wave with keto diets. And I know the guys, like some of the, you know, the physicians who are like the faces of the, these are my friends and colleagues and they advocate for them, many of them, because they've helped people with these frameworks. Sure. But it's very individual. And also a lot of this stuff tends to work in phases, but sometimes when we get attached to a thing and it helps us, we do or die this thing. And when it doesn't work anymore, it's just like, I'm just doing it wrong. I need to do this harder.

40:40Yeah. giving your body some of these healthier versions of carbohydrates, guess what? You get a little serotonin uptick, a little feel good. Like I could do this, like I'm good, but you force yourself, you deprive yourself. And maybe, especially in the case of PCOS, it's more stressful. And it's just like, so finding that balance for you, finding the carbs that work for you, something, as you just mentioned with grapes, just being very, they're just high in sugar, it's higher glycemic, something a little bit more fibrous type of fruit to enjoy, but it's just going to depend on you. I think the other thing, and as you say, what you're talking about with any approach, whether it's PCOS, whether it's someone with high cholesterol, whether it's someone who's eating for brain health and well-being, whatever.

41:33Rigid programs, this is very well known. Any program can work short term. Talk to me at the two-year mark. That's the end point I want to see because that's what's reported in the data that 85 to 90 percent of diets fail at the two-year mark. So, and we're not, you and I are not, I'm not even interested in the two-year mark. I'm interested in the 20-year mark, the 25-year mark. I'm interested in something that is no longer a short-term approach, but it's a habit. It's a philosophy. It's the way people live. And in order to do that, from my nutritional philosophy, it has to be four things. They're all S's.

42:18Even though I said we were talking about all P's in nutritional gynecology. The four S's are it has to be safe, simple, sustainable, and relatively low sugar. That's it. So if you want to do keto-ish, short term, I have no problem with it. The data supports that it's effective. There are people who swear by it. And by the way, if you need to lose 100 pounds, keto is the way to do it. And that's great. When you get to your 100 pounds, though, then what are you going to do? because as the daughter of a cardiologist and someone who's on the board of the American Heart Association, you're never gonna convince me that eating a stick of butter and a slab of animal protein is good for your coronary arteries or your brain.

43:04Short-term, fine. I don't, I'll have a steak. I'll put butter on my, you know, whatever, on my sweet potato. But existing on that for your whole life, Sorry, I'm not buying it from a medical standpoint. So anything that someone does, I'm interested in the sustainability, the safety. Is it simple? If you can't do it in college or at work or travel, I'm not impressed by it because those are the things that make up real life. And any system has to work in those settings. Yeah. Yeah. Amazing. So let's move on to perimenopause. Okay. And even five years ago, this was not a big part of the conversation.

43:50Ten years ago, forget about it. No, crickets. You know, but now it's even, especially with the way my algorithm is set up, it's difficult for me to get on, you know, to any social media without - They probably think you have a uterus. They're showing you so much of it. I think it's because obviously, you know, the research, but also just being somebody who's kind of lifted up women's voices to have these conversations early on. But it's just like the pendulum has swung so quickly. And so I want to keep everything grounded because a significant portion of the Model Health Show listeners are in that timeframe of their lives of perimenopause.

44:29And so first of all, just seeing this onset of all these different random things that might be popping up related to health issues, weight gain, whatever the case might be. And what it was initially and still is for, I think for the most part is women not even knowing that perimenopause is a factor, right? And so just turning on the light bulb, you know, just to know that this is a factor and something to consider at that frame of life. So if you could, can you talk about what you're seeing with perimenopause right now and what women need to know? And in particular, through the lens of nutritional gynecology.

45:09I think, well, first, can I turn the tables and ask you a question? Absolutely, you can. Before the perimenopause blitz, perimenopause a palooza, I don't think I've heard that word, started. How much did you know about it as a man who was in the fitness and nutrition and wellness sphere? Yeah, next to nothing. Wow. Next to nothing. Menopause, yes. perimenopause, next to nothing. Right. I mean, all right. I think first of all, let's start there again. I love this topic for so many reasons. There's so many nuanced areas that I think are interesting to explore. I think first, again, as I said, I'm a glass is half full kind of person.

45:58So let's start with the positives. I do have some negative thoughts on this, which I'll get to in a second. You probably haven't heard them in your algorithm yet. But, you know, on the positive, look, women's health across the board has been underfunded, under-researched, under-discussed, underrepresented, you name it. Any under, it's put it in the category of women's health. Literally, even till today. that that's there's no excuse for that right we're 51 of the population okay um that could be a whole hour as to why again i kind of feel like all right that's in the rearview mirror let's focus on today in the future it's more productive but those things are facts right that has trickled down in the field of Western clinical medicine and healthcare because the trained physicians, even including probably today, I think it's probably just starting to change, barely, right?

47:11From medical school on, even in our field of women's health, OBGYN, we got zero training on menopause, zero. Right. Our specialty, OBGYN, is primarily focused on the female human as a vehicle for reproduction. And you see that literally in the care of the pregnant woman. It's part of the reason why we have a maternal mortality crisis in this country, because our medical system unplugs from that woman. the second she's entered the third stage of labor and that baby is out. We're like, bye, you've done your job. Thanks for the baby. Now we're going to focus on the baby. Pediatric care, neonatal care, infant care, child care, all of that, that conveyor belt starts immediately.

48:10And no one pays attention to the woman. You see that in OBGYN offices, by the way. where there's a pregnant woman sitting next to a 40 some odd year old woman, forget about a woman over 50. All of the attention goes to that pregnant woman. They're there to see the same doctor. They don't get the same level of priority. Okay. So that's, it is so important to recognize that and understand that that's the landscape that women have to deal with today in the United States. So it's not really a surprise that something that would start to happen to women in their late 30s that was not pregnancy related was totally ignored.

48:59It was heretofore ignored by the medical specialty, by research, by society. I also believe that up until pretty much now, our society, our culture also did not place value on a woman once they lost the ability to reproduce. What changed that? I think largely popular culture. And this is where social media and people's ability to see women all over the world, I actually think is a positive, right? Because what are you seeing? Helen Mirren in, I don't know how old she is. You probably do late 70s, maybe even 80, top of her career. Politicians, worldwide leaders in Europe, in other countries, running their governments, 60s, 70s, in some cases, 80 years old, women running the biggest corporations in the world in their 50s, 60s, 70s.

50:01That's what changed this. That's what made everyone say, oh, well, maybe they can't get pregnant, but they can win Academy Awards, they can run billion dollar companies, they can run governments. I guess they're, they're okay. So I think that's a good thing. Okay, should it have not taken that? Of course. Should it have happened years and decades ago? Of course, but we'll take it. It's better late than never, right? I think that when you talk about hormonally, it's now very well known that the symptoms of perimenopause, and I'm sure you know this stat, but some of your listeners may not, they can start in a woman's mid thirties.

50:47Sit on that for a second. Mid thirties, brain fog, insomnia, night sweats, irregular periods, weight gain, musculoskeletal problems, mid thirties. There's zero chance that any doctor or healthcare professional seeing a woman in her mid thirties who starts complaining of these things is going to say, oh, you might be in perimenopause because there's a woman sitting next to her in the waiting room who's pregnant at the same age. So they just, it was not picked up. The awareness wasn't there. The diagnostic methods still really aren't there. And more to the point, the woman's lived experience was not prioritized.

51:33So I think finally, one of the good things about the perimenopause of Palooza, How many syllables is that? Perimenopause, palusa. That's an eight syllable word. I don't know that I've ever said an eight syllable word before. That's a lot of syllables. But that is now, it's made it okay, right? It's made it okay to say like, oh, I'm in perimenopause, or I think I might be in perimenopause, or I'm in menopause. people aren't whispering about that anymore. And that's really, really good. Yeah. And it's not just getting brushed under the rug, like, you know, you're broken. By the way, forget about being broken.

52:16I go to the flip side, not that it's not a negative, it's actually a positive. You know why? You know what the alternative to going through menopause is? You're dead. Menopause is only reserved for the women who are alive to go through menopause. and let's not take that for granted. There are, it was not that long ago that women did not live to age 50. So I actually think it's a positive. And humans are unique in menopause going decades beyond reproductive age. You know, it's very special. This episode is brought to you by the incredible team at Organifi and their phenomenal superfood blends. Not only does their best-selling green juice blend have the most powerful green superfoods, it also has a therapeutic amount of ashwagandha.

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54:44And now back to the show. And this is the right use of technology and innovations because, you know, many people who have places of influence can share their story. That's right. And because they like I have my voice, whereas before like major media, it's kind of controlled and it's just this very curated thing. now a holly berry can jump on her instagram and say yeah i'm going through menopause right and you know and just share and i'm here and i matter right and so that's a absolutely wonderful thing um now with this being said i want to go back to in mid-30s potentially you know something else and to tie this together with the first p early onset puberty right it's likely going to see early onset menopause or perimenopause you could the timeline of that yeah there's many reasons for perimenopause to show up earlier, but that's one of them.

55:36You could, well, weight, weight is the, um, is the common thread through that because women, girls who are overweight or have the conditions of overweight and obesity. And by the way, that's the proper way to say it not are because we use person first language, um, or we should be right. So someone isn't obese, they have obesity. Someone isn't overweight, they have overweight. Girls and young girls who have those conditions are likely to continue to have those conditions as adults. And women who have overweight and obesity tend to have worse menopausal symptoms. When they achieve menopause is still variable.

56:20And there are other factors, including genetics, which is a big factor on the actual age of menopause, but their symptoms are linked with weight. And so people, 100%, you're right, they need to be clear that a problem at age nine is likely to continue to be a problem at 39 and 59 and 69. Do you want to hear my negatives about menopause? Absolutely, I do. Why would I not? All right. I think that you talked about the pendulum and the pendulum right now is majorly on the like, you know, up on the menopause meter, right? In terms of everything, people talking about it, people trying to capitalize on it, whatever, some bad, some good.

57:08I think there's a potential negative here that no one is really talking about, which is the narrative that women are passive meek victims of sorts in this whole process. And that, you know, we, if, if things aren't served up to us on a silver platter, figuratively, we will be lost at sea and just floundering without that. And, and specifically what I mean by that is there are a lot of people often well credentialed, I hope and think well-intentioned experts who, because it garners a lot of buzz and it hits the algorithm, have literally focused their narrative on the line that no one told us. Well, no one told us about this.

58:01No one told me I was going to have a hot flash or gain weight around my midsection despite eating all the right things or have vaginal dryness or painful sex or low libido or no one told me. And if, unless someone tells me these things, I'm, I'm just a meek, like, you know, floundering female. I push back on that big time. Okay. no one told us how to go through puberty did you have a good sex ed class when you were in fifth grade probably not I certainly didn't no one does I've yet to meet someone who was like yep I learned so much in my health class when I was in fifth grade no one no one learns anything good pretty much right we figured it out we went through puberty as women we figured it out No one, I didn't go to a class on how to insert a tampon.

58:56I figured it out. Same thing with pregnancy. I was a medical student when I was pregnant with my son, my first baby. What did I know about being pregnant? I didn't know anything till I became pregnant. And then I made it my mission to educate myself and learn as much as I could about pregnancy for my two pregnancies. as an OBGYN board certified. I didn't know anything about menopause other than how to prescribe menopause hormone therapy or HRT to my patients to the point where I started having perimenopause symptoms and I didn't even recognize them in myself. But guess what? I educated myself.

59:44I figured it out. I spoke to my doctor, et cetera, et cetera. And my point is, is that I think to have a narrative where women feel that they've been a victim does not help. And I think it runs a serious risk of actually perpetuating a victim mindset that is really damaging for women. I think women are way too strong, way too smart, certainly not passive to fall into that. That is not to say that the medical community has not dropped the ball on menopause because they have. That's simply to say one of my favorite sayings, be careful when you point a finger of blame at someone or something because three are going to be pointing right back at you.

1:00:35And I don't believe that women deserve that blame. And that's what a lot of these narratives are about right now. They're about like, we have to, you know, everything should be just served up to us, you know, or we won't be able to handle it. No, that's not, that's not how I see women. That's not how I see women since the beginning of time. And that's not how I see a woman's arc of her life. Puberty, pregnancy, perimenopause, we're not really informed about any of those things. and how we get through it is not predicated on how much has been served up to us beforehand. So I think that's just a potential nuance in this climate right now that hasn't gotten a lot of attention that I think needs to get addressed a little bit better.

1:01:30Yeah. Thank you for sharing that. Thank you for letting me share. Yeah. I mean, just from a very rational perspective, being that this conversation is new for our society, it can easily fall into this pattern of any kind of diagnosis, right? Like I have insulin resistance, you know, I have heart disease, it runs in my family, there's nothing I can do about it. I'm a victim. I have this label and it is what it is. That's why, because we're searching for what is going on. If something isn't right. And we're searching for that thing, but then there's a tendency to be disempowered by the thing. Like this is what it is and there's nothing I can do about it.

1:02:11And so being able to, yes, have this information, but remember how powerful you are. And what I've seen and the thing that attracted me to you the most, like right now, was you are so about that life when it comes to your fitness now? Oh my God. Like - Thank you for noticing. Of course. So where did that tenacity come from with you training? It came from a place of curiosity. That's exactly where it came from. And it, you know, I was leaving my position as chief medical correspondent for ABC and Good Morning America to start Agenda. um, my, my women's health company. And I didn't really know what it was going to look like.

1:02:58I didn't know, you know, I've, I've never started anything like that before. Um, you know, other than my, my former medical practice, but this was different. And I didn't know, I really didn't know what step one was going to look like. And so I, I kind of forced myself to take a moment, which I think anyone can do. And they don't need a crossroads in their life to do this, right? It could be just self imposed, but say, look, let me just pump the brakes for a second. Let me, let me start from within, you know, before I start putting my effort and my attention out to other people, whether it's work or family or social life, let me, let me take care of what's the saying, like, get your own house in order, clean up your side of the street before the other, right?

1:03:47That's the saying. So I was like, let me clean up my side of the street. And what does that look like? So I was 55. This was a year ago. I'm 56 now. And I said, with curiosity, what would it take? And is it possible for me to feel better, more fit, healthier, and look better today than I did 20 years ago? And that was an open-ended question. Obviously, I didn't have the answer to it. I didn't even know if there was an answer to it. But I embarked upon kind of my own wellness journey with that sense of curiosity that was anchored in medical and scientific and nutritional principles, because that's how I see life as a doctor and as a nutritionist.

1:04:40So I, you know, took this assessment in a, in a scientific manner of myself, of my life, how I was eating, how I was training, how I was living. And I kind of evaluated it as objectively as I could, considering it was myself. I partnered with professional trainer, Corey Rowe, And I said to him, I want to be more fit now or in six months than I've ever been in my life. Can you help me? And he was like, I'm in. And I knew and I should say for transparency sake, that I have always been someone who loves fitness. Exercise to me is my primary means of reducing stress in my life. And as a doctor and a woman, it has been the anchoring element in my entire life in every challenging thing I've gone through physically, emotionally, and mentally is my faith in the human body and what it's capable of.

1:05:51and more than that, my faith in my body and what it's capable of. Right. And so I, you know, I, that sense of faith and curiosity medically and scientifically and nutritionally was kind of what drove this. And in terms of the fitness, look, I mean, you're, you're an expert in this. If you had watched the way I was training a year and a half ago, you would have said, I mean, I guess it's better than nothing, but not by much. Like it was, I was that woman who would go to a gym, go to the gym, leave feeling as fresh as I did when I walked in. Well, that tells you something right there, right? Never break a sweat.

1:06:38I would never, I could go out to dinner right from the gym, no sweating, no thing like hair intact, the whole thing. And I was, I was wondering why I wasn't moving the needle, why I wasn't progressing, why I wasn't getting results more to the point, why I wasn't feeling strong and fit and powerful. And by the way, can I curse on that? I can, right? Shit was hurting. Like, and I would wake up every morning and be like, oh, my back. And then I would say, well, I'm 55. I guess my back hurts. I guess that's what happens when you're 55. Wrong, wrong answer. So I started training with Corey and he took his objective assessment of where I was at baseline.

1:07:28And by the way, it wasn't good. And I was someone who was going to the gym five days a week before then. I couldn't do a single unweighted pistol squat. Not one. I couldn't do one real push-up triceps push-up I could you know with a wide stance sure I could do 10 or 20 or whatever but the real kind that needs significant tricep and back and chest strength I couldn't do one real one with my knees off the ground and forget about my cardio it was in the crapper. And in, oh, and by the way, I was skinny fat, skinny fat. So again, not that anyone should need this in this day and age as a reminder, but please do not ever confuse the number on the scale with health, fitness, or disease.

1:08:33Because it is just one measure, right? My weight was low, fine, but I was not fit. I was not strong. And so it was unbelievable, like what I learned on this journey and what I'm still learning. And I can say now without question, and my kids who are 25 and 27, if they were sitting in this room, they would attest to my truth with this comment. I can do things now, not only that I couldn't do 20 years ago, but get ready. I can do things now that some of their friends at their ages can't do. Oh, come on. That's amazing. Yeah. It is. It's, it's the miracle of the human body is what it is. Yeah. And so it, it has been unbelievable and And it grew so organically.

1:09:30And, you know, I was sharing this with you by email that people, my followers on Instagram started seeing what I was posting and said, please develop this for us. And so Corey Rowe and I put together a program or he put together the workouts, daily workouts. I put together the nutritional program and the wellness science for 99 cents a day. and we had thousands and thousands of women, mostly over 50, but not only, at one point we had 26 to 86 in this program and it's plug and play. It gives you everything like what to eat, the portions, the grocery list, the workout, the wellness science. So I talk about menopause, perimenopause, statins, cholesterol, you name it.

1:10:19And I've probably positively impacted more lives in this program than I did in 20 years as a doctor in my office. And it was very, very important for me to make it less than$1 a day so that pretty much everyone could say, I know I have a dollar a day for my health. And it's been amazing. Yeah. And the results also that came from that are just remarkable. And so you've mentioned Agenda a few times. Can you tell people where they can get access and just get more information from you in general? I would love to. And also I would love it if you would one time write an article or more than one time for Agenda.

1:11:02We would love to have you as a guest writer. So I started Agenda before I left Good Morning America. It's a free weekly newsletter. we have uh about 200 000 subscribers uh-huh already amazing and um we it comes out once a week so people can go to join agenda and agendas like jennifer with a j-e-n joinagenda.com or they can see it on my instagram at drj ashton but what i loved about it is that it was me talking about the nutrition and women's health information and fitness stuff that is in my areas of expertise. So when I have an article on cardiology, for example, I will interview a cardiologist.

1:11:54So it's really, I'm big on credentials and I'm really big on staying in someone's lane. And my lane is obesity medicine, nutrition, and OBGYN, women's health. Of course, perimenopause is part of that, but that's what my passion is. So that's what I wanted to write about. And it will always be free. I wanted it to be free. People feel like they're literally talking to me when they read it. And it's been a real passion project. And it's been amazing to hear and see the response to it. So if you do another wellness experiment, people would be able to get access or stay up to date with that through Agenda.

1:12:36And they can see it. They can see it through the newsletter. They can see it on my Instagram and they can see it on our website, which is joinagenda.com. But, you know, I, I'm a big believer in, you know, as you know, yes, not only the field of nutritional gynecology, but where women's health and fitness and nutrition intersect. and I think if we learned one thing in the last five years in this country, it's that we have to take responsibility for our health and our path in life. There's a lot of things we can't control. You can't control who your parents are, so you can't control your genetics.

1:13:15You can't sometimes control your external environment, but you absolutely can control your behavior. and there's just so much noise in this space right now. Again, I think it's largely a good thing that people are interested. They're curious. They're, they're talking about things. Um, but getting credentialed information and credible information from trustworthy sources, you know, it's why you have your following because people trust you. It's why I had my position for 16 years in national network news is because I was trusted. And I take that trust more seriously than any other responsibility I have in the world other than being a mother.

1:13:59And so it's really, it's been incredible to work on it. And there's no shortage of interesting topics to talk about. That's for sure. Yeah. You know, your authenticity obviously shines through. You know that. It's certain people, you just, you can't shake it off of you. And so you've been a bright spot for people tuning in. And, you know, again, a medium that is complex. It's a lot of noise, a lot of stuff going on, but just, you know, you're so appreciated because it just, it really does shine through. And you've been about that life for a long time and giving us very valuable information about our health.

1:14:37And now in this phase, being able to like concentrate this stuff to get a lot of people active, communicating. It's just super exciting. So thank you. Yeah. You know what? It's, um, as I said, it's a responsibility that I take very seriously, but, um, I also, you know, as, as I said, right before we started talking at the beginning of the day, the end of the day, I'm a doctor, I'm a wife, a mother, I'm a nutritionist. That's whether I'm Talking to you, talking to millions of people, talking to someone on the street, talking to my kids, the message is the same. And it's your message, too. And, you know, I heard I'll end with saying something that I heard 20 years ago when I started in television.

1:15:28And I think you're a great example of this. But sometimes it's one of two sayings. Sometimes the messenger is as important as the message. I've kind of reframed it to a big message needs a big messenger and there is no bigger message than our health. And so like we, that's our job is to be good messengers for that message. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I appreciate you so much. This has been wonderful. I can't wait to just stay up to date with you, see what you do next, support your work. Thank you. Likewise. Yeah, this has been amazing. The one and only Dr. Jennifer Ashton, everybody. Thank you so much for tuning into this episode today.

1:16:10I hope that you got a lot of value out of this. If you did, you already know what to do. Share this information with somebody that you care about. This conversation is so critical for women's health in particular. But again, this reaches into so many different domains of our community wellness. and to have access to somebody like Dr. Jennifer Ashton is truly a gift because again, she's been at the forefront of this conversation and her sharing today, one of the things that this can be glanced over, but she is a classically trained from one of the top medical schools in the world in gynecology.

1:16:50And she learned next to nothing about menopause medicine. That makes no sense. it's changed slightly in recent years, but there is so much more work to do. And that changes by changing the conversation and what we're demanding. So again, sharing this information is absolutely important. And of course, if you're watching or listening on Spotify, leave a comment down below, share what you thought about this episode, any insights, aha moments, or just to share some love with Dr. Ashton. If you're listening on Apple Podcasts, of course, you can leave a review for the show. That really does mean a lot.

1:17:26wherever you're listening, share, like, subscribe, all the things. It really does mean so much. And we've got some amazing masterclasses and world-class guests coming your way very, very soon. So make sure to stay tuned. Take care. Have an amazing day. And I'll talk with you soon.