David Friedman, BS: Hello, this is Dr. David Friedman, host of Te Dugood Health Radio. Ladies, if you're in your forties, fifties, or beyond, have you ever found yourself wondering what is happening to me? Maybe you're dealing with brain fog, unexpected mood swings, relentless fatigue, or fading. Libido, you're not alone. For years, society has told women that menopause is the beginning of the end.

A slow decline. You simply must accept. But what if everything you've heard is wrong? What if this phase of life is not you've falling apart, but ultimately being rebuilt stronger and more vibrant than ever? Imagine if those shifting hormones are rewriting your brain for greater clarity, confidence, and authenticity.

Joining us is Dr. Mindy Pell's, author of the groundbreaking new book, age Like A Girl. She Believes Menopause isn't a slow fade, it's a powerful biological upgrade. If you're ready to discover what's really happening in your body and how to embrace this stage of life with energy, vitality, peace, and high velocity and momentum, I can be coming up with many, many, many things.

Stay tuned. This inspiring conversation starts now. My

next guest is a sought after keynote speaker, New York Times bestselling author and renowned woman's health expert. She's a pioneering voice in the science of women's hormones, fasting and longevity, and she's the hosts of the Hit Show, the Resetter podcast. She's helped millions of women. Think what's possible for their health at every age.

Her groundbreaking books, including Fast Like A Girl and The Menopause Reset, have helped redefine how females can optimize their health. In her new book, age. Like A Girl, she takes on one of the most misunderstood chapters in a woman's life. Menopause. Today you're gonna learn why this transformation is happening for you not to you.

Welcome to the show, Dr. Mindy PEs.

Mindy Pelz: Oh, thank you, Dr. Friedman. I love that. That's quite an intro, so I appreciate all the kind words.

David Friedman, BS: Yeah. It's so great to have you with us. You know, I first heard about your, about a year ago, a patient shared how, your health advice helped balance her hormones, regain her mental clarity, and I quote, bring her life back. So, let's, bring some listeners back to life First, share what inspired you to write your new book.

Age Like a Girl.

Mindy Pelz: you nailed it on the head when you said, this is the most mysterious time for a woman at not only her health, but her relationships, her identity. Everything starts to change. During this time, and I really wanted women to feel empowered. I wanted them to understand that this is the greatest time of your life if you understand what's going on with your brain, with your body, and what's gonna happen on the other side when you get into your postmenopausal years.

So it was really about changing the way women are looking at menopause and seeing it through a more empowering lens.

David Friedman, BS: Yeah, I know most doctors, they tell the, the female patients all the negative effects of menopause, just normal part of aging, you gotta live with. That, and you describe menopause as really an evolutionary upgrade rather than a decline. How can women start to internalize this new narrative pretty much in their own lives?

Mindy Pelz: Yeah, so I love the word rewiring. If we could think of this in the most simple terms, what's happening as your sex hormones change, primarily estrogen going down is that hormonal shift initiates an incredible rewiring of the brain and the neurons in your brain that kept you addicted to people pleasing, that kept you addicted to everybody else's opinion of you.

Actually go away. Those neurons are being pruned off and new neurons are starting to form. That actually allows a woman to finally stand in the most authentic version of her she may have ever seen. She starts to speak her truth. She starts putting herself first. Her brain becomes more focused.

She gets more confidence. That is the brain rewire that's happening during this phase.

David Friedman, BS: Great. I know you talk a lot about the powerful neurochemical changes during menopause. Can you explain maybe how things like the decline of estrogen, dopamine, serotonin, and oxytocin can set females up for greater clarity and resilience?

Mindy Pelz: Yeah, so I found about 12 different neurochemicals. A few of them, I call 'em bonus molecules, but in general, there's 12 neurochemicals that. Estrogen stimulated and I like to lovingly refer to them as estrogen's, girl gang. And if estrogen was the popular hormone, the girl gang are like her little side posse.

These are like the whim, the girls that hang out with her because she's the popular girl. And so when estrogen gets up and leaves. All of these neurochemicals are at jeopardy, so I'll explain a couple of them. dopamine is a big one, serotonin, acetylcholine, which helps with memory, gaba, which keeps us calm.

Oxytocin, which makes us feel connected to others. Melatonin, which helps us sleep. Insulin, which helps us stay thin. All of these neurochemicals start to change. As estrogen goes down and this is even if you're doing HRT, these neurochemicals are in jeopardy and it is your lifestyle. It's what you do every single day that's either going to bring them back or accelerate their decline.

David Friedman, BS: Right. I know I get so many female patients over 40. They complain. Mood swings, exhaustion, brain fog. I hear daily. What are a few steps they can take to start feeling like themselves again?

Mindy Pelz: Well, I have to go back into my other work that has continued to serve women in, in incredible ways, and that's through the lens of fasting. if you're not a faster, sit tight with me for a second as I explain this. So the brain has two fuel sources. One is called glucose.

And glucose we get when we eat food. So you're, when you hear blood sugar, the chemical name for that is glucose. When you eat something, your blood sugar goes up. When you don't eat, when you fast, at minimum 12, 13 hours, your metabolism actually switches over into what I call the fat burning metabolism, where you will burn fat to make a ketone when you go through menopause, when you start to lose estrogen.

What happens is your brain is becoming less sensitive to glucose. I don't care how healthy you are, those neurons can't take in the glucose fuel source as well as they did when you were menstruating. So this other fuel source, this ketone becomes the hero for brain fog, irritability, anxiety, depression.

Because when you train your body specifically to fast, what will happen is that you'll start to get these ketones. Your body burns fat, by the way, in order to make the ketone. And then that ketone starts to bring all these members of estrogen's, girl, gang back. You start to get more dopamine, more serotonin, you get more gaba.

It kills your hunger. It's, it's like a, hybrid car. Like you're switching over into the electric vehicle and all of a sudden your brain is much more efficient, more powerful, and you will think and feel a whole lot better if you can start to learn how to access these ketones.

And I promise you it is not that hard. It's just that we're not teaching women the power of ketones.

David Friedman, BS: Right. Great benefits of fasting. What about when they're eating? There's so much conflicting advice on what to eat during menopause. Some say stay away from soy and flax seeds and chickpeas. I've seen stay away from red meat. It's off limits. Are there specific dietary restrictions that you recommend to help manage symptoms?

Mindy Pelz: Yeah, so a couple things on the diet. When I put this book together, you know, we've been teaching women, millions of women how to eat and fast according to their cycle for years. And the one thing that I really see in women is they're tired of counting. They're tired of counting calories, they're tired of counting macros.

They're tired of, living their life off the number on the scale. So I really wanted to make it simple. And so I came up with some really basic. Guidelines for women going through menopause to make sure that they master their food and here they are. So first we've gotta get off the ultra processed foods.

So if you're still doing the inflammatory oils, the ultra refined sugars and flowers, your menopausal experience specifically, the way your brain will work is gonna be much more bumpy. So let's make sure that we get you off of the toxic food. Then we start to add in some real basic foods.

So for starters, I'm a huge fan of, animal meat. I don't know if a lot of your listeners are vegetarians, but the reason that a animal meat is so important, is that it's a complete protein and it has. All the amino acids you need to be able to make neurotransmitters and be able to make hormones.

So if you're not dipping into animal meat, and you're a vegetarian, we need to make sure you're getting a variety of proteins because protein brings amino acids. And amino acids help your neurochemical system. So the most important thing to start with is making sure every single meal you're having some form of clean protein.

Preference is animal, if you're not doing animal, just make a good variety and get a good complete protein with plant. The second thing that is really surprising and really exciting and I found in all my research is that tubers, so tubers are sweet. Potatoes, potatoes, hickma, turnips. These are your root vegetables that are really yummy and a lot of people who went into the keto diet.

Just shied away from these. And I wanna make sure that menopausal women are leaning into these because these are incredible for stabilizing your blood sugar. a lot of these tubers bring magnesium that will really help you make hormones. the really incredible tubers are incredible for your microbiome that will actually help you start to break hormones down.

So the second category I would put is tuber And then the third category is sort of a broad one, which is fiber. We absolutely need to be eating more fiber as we go in through menopause into our post-menopausal years because fiber feeds the microbes and the microbes break. Hormones down.

And if you don't break your hormone down, whether it's estrogen or even cortisol, your body will store those hormones as fat. And usually where it'll store it in is in your belly. and if there's one thing that women going through menopause, are trying to overcome, it's menopausal belly weight.

David Friedman, BS: That's great. I love that you say you don't have to be a mathematician. Stop the counting. I love this saying don't count calories. Make your calories count.

Mindy Pelz: Ooh, that's good.

David Friedman, BS: I love that one. It's like everybody's like pulling out their calculator. That's not how our ancestors used to eat. What are we doing it now for? I love that. Lemme ask you this. There's so many supplements touted for helping women who are dealing with menopause. Everything from Black Co-Host the Evening, Primrose Oil, I've heard about Dong Quad.

The list goes on and on. Is there anything that gets the Dr. Pell's seal of approval?

Mindy Pelz: Well, okay. First let's talk about supplements as a, general idea. Supplements. We gotta break that word down. It's a supplement. You are supplementing a good diet, so there is no supplement that you can take that's going to pull you out of chronic stress and poor diet So don't waste your money.

Let's get the lifestyle in order first. Second, for sure. I don't know how any woman makes it through menopause or even into her postmenopausal years without magnesium. Magnesium is the hero supplement because helps you make progesterone, helps you make estrogen, but it also helps relax muscles. It can help with your whole digestive system.

so it's really good for calming. I love it for that. the new supplement, and you're probably seeing this in your practice that everybody's crazy about I would say with good reason is creatine. So estrogen helps stimulate natural creatine production in your own body. So when estrogen goes away, we need to add some creatine back in.

Whether it's, I put a scoop of creatine in my coffee every morning, and what creatine does is it helps you with muscle power. It helps you keep those muscles strong, and it helps the greatest muscle in your body, which is sitting in your skull called your brain. So when we take creatine, it helps with cognition, it helps with muscle strength and estrogen naturally produced creatine for you.

But as estrogen's gone away, now you're going to need to supplement or get a diet high in creatine rich foods, which is pretty much a animal based diet.

David Friedman, BS: great advice. I know you probably hear the same thing. I hear the complaint from females over 40, how horrible sleep they get. They can't sleep. Is there anything you've discovered that can combat this hormonal nightmare?

Mindy Pelz: Yeah. So in researching this book, one of the things I figured out was that estrogen actually stimulates the timekeeper in our brain. estrogen made sure that the body knew when it was night and you wanted to go to sleep, and when you were waking up. So without estrogen, that timekeeper doesn't know what time of day you're in.

So it doesn't know when to make melatonin. So the greatest way to get the timekeeper back on track is light. So we need to see red light in the morning. Ideally, I'd want people to see it from the sun. course, there are great red light tools out there right now, but get up with the sunrise.

Look outside. Let your eyes see that there's a red hue in the sky that will tell the timekeeper. Turn melatonin off in the middle of the day. Go out and go for our 20 minute walk without your sunglasses. Not only will that help make serotonin, 'cause we have receptor sites in our eyes for serotonin, but it also will tell the timekeeper, oh, see this full spectrum blue light.

We are in the middle of our day. And then at the end of the day, take your dog for a walk around sunset. And tell the timekeeper, oh, see how the light in the sky is changing? This means we're gonna start to slow down and you need to make melatonin again.

So without estrogen to anchor to our sleep wake cycle, we've gotta look at light in as many different ways as we can, but we've gotta start to train our body to use light as a cue of when to wake up and when to sleep.

David Friedman, BS: I love that you're showing how to produce natural melatonin. I get patients that try the melatonin supplements and they're just groggy and they feel worse. And one thing I recommend, I've, been telling 'em to drink some tart cherry juice. It's, anti-inflammatory and it helps natural melatonin. And they've had good results.

They wake up refreshed. it's simple. Just little six ounces before, you know, dinner time or a little after dinners a dessert really helps. Let me ask you another common complaint. A no, you've. Probably, been asked this a hundred times during menopause. Is the decline in libido? Are there strategies, whether hormonal, physiological, or lifestyle related that can help, you know, really reignite intimacy?

Mindy Pelz: So there's two things. First, to realize is that testosterone has a precursor that it needs in order for your body to make testosterone, and that's called DHEA. And DHEA will help make cortisol, progesterone, and testosterone. So if you're in a chronically stressed state while you are going through your perimenopausal years, you may end up with your DHEA stores completely tanked because all that DHEA went to make cortisol and there's nothing left to be able to make testosterone, which is one of the reasons we're starting to see more and more women talk about.

looking at HRT for testosterone or talking about this libido decline, they just don't have enough testosterone because they've been so stressed out and those DHA stores are tanked. So you could supplement with DHEA, the other thing, and, I've spent a lot of time on interviews for this book talking about marriage through this whole process.

And one of the things I think that. As women, we don't quite grasp is that we are great stewards of pleasing everybody else. We are really good at making sure that we fix everybody else's problems, we take care of everybody else, but in that. What happens is we can get resentful.

the very, very famous marriage, therapist, Julie Gottman, the Gottman's, have studied married couples more than anybody on the planet. I was with her last spring and we were talking about this exact topic and she said, here's what happens to women when they get into marriage and long-term marriages, and especially when they go through the menopausal process, is that the resentment builds when a woman is saying yes.

To all the things she really wanted to say no to. and when she does that, she becomes more and more resentful so we can look at libido from a place of, okay, she's totally stressed out. Her DHEA stores need to be filled back up, which is a really valid thing to look at.

But we also need to ask that woman. Where can we resolve some of this resentment? How can we get you starting to speak up for yourself? How can we get you living life on your terms? Because when you can heal the resentment, the libido will come back.

David Friedman, BS: great advice. Yeah. I've been practicing now 35 years and I've had the, honor of watching many of my female patients journey from their twenties into their fifties, and one thing I've noticed I have to share is, they become extremely nervous and stressed during menopause, and I know the person, so I know they're not normally like that 'cause I remember them.

I remember them 10, 20, 30 years ago. What can they do to dial down the worry and the stress button find ease again?

Mindy Pelz: Yeah. the beautiful thing about menopause, and this was like the main concept I wanted to bring forward and age like a girl, is that. You are starting to hear your own desires more than ever before. So sometimes we're stressed because we've been doing too many things, and all of a sudden we hear a little voice inside our head that's like, I don't wanna do all these things.

I need to free my schedule up. And so when you feel that stress, like you can't handle stress anymore, I think the first thing to ask yourself is what needs to go? What are you doing that you no longer want to do anymore? I can tell you for me, as I went through this transition, I finally got really clear.

I only wanna work two days a week. I don't wanna work seven days a week like I did for two decades. And the minute I made that decision, I could feel my whole spirit lift. and some women, they don't wanna be the one that's cooking the meal every night for dinner.

And so they let go of that and all of a sudden they can start to feel that stress lift. So don't lose the opportunity to start to let go of some of the things that are bringing you stress. Second thing is this is the era. Menopause and beyond is the era where you get to put your focus on you.

So are you getting out into nature on a regular basis? Are you working out? Are you doing things that. Fill your soul, like maybe it's time to start to learn to draw, or to write, or to play a new musical instrument. I can tell you one thing I started doing just four months ago, and I'm 56 years old.

I live in Santa Cruz, California, and I started surfing I'd had friends ask me to come out and surf before, but I never had time. I was always putting my family and work ahead it, and I just said, yeah, I'm gonna try this. And I fell in love with it and it's this strange thing I get to do every day.

That's just for me. So the stress builds as you go through this process. You can use it as a mirror to start to see what you wanna start doing and what you wanna let go of.

David Friedman, BS: I love that you bring. I just had a solo segment where I talked about that, you know, now that you're in menopause, you've got time for a hobby. You know, all those excuses you had, you had kids, you had this, you had husband, this, you had to work, blah, blah.

Hey, now's the time for a hobby. Or like you said, surfing, skiing, do something, pottery. if you have bad hips or you know something, there's something that you could do. And, I think that creates new synapses in the brain and it makes life a. Last longer. It doesn't go by as quickly, which is so important.

you mentioned something called the grandmother hypothesis as evidence that women are meant to thrive and lead after fertility ends. How do you see this evolutionary perspective shifting the culture of conversation around aging and menopause?

Mindy Pelz: Yeah, so what was so interesting about the grandmother hypothesis is it really tracked with something I brought forward in fast like a girl, which is called the Thrifty Gene Hypothesis. And when we go back and we look at our hunter and gatherer ancestors, we start to see that the way they lived life, because they didn't know any better.

Was in alignment with the human design. So fasting people started losing weight because all of a sudden we were accessing this other metabolism that was there the whole time. just, nobody taught you how to access it. With the grandmother hypothesis, what that states, and what is so exciting is that back in the hunter and gatherer days, what happened is when a woman stopped cycling.

She was actually moved to a place of leadership within the clan because what the clan knew is that on almost every given day that the men were gonna go out for a big animal kill, and they would come back with food only about 3% of the time. So back home at the tribe.

Was fertile women, women that were nursing, women that were pregnant, little babies. And that in order for our species to even exist and evolve, somebody had to feed those women and children. And it was the grandmothers that every single day went on a seven hour trek to go and find food.

And this is where the tubers come in. Most of the time. They would go bring back tubers and they would cook 'em and they would feed the clan. So there's a belief system that actually as humans, we would not be here if it wasn't for the grandmother going and forging for food to keep us alive.

So in some sense, postmenopausal women are, evolutionary heroines. they are the reason you and I are having this conversation right now.

David Friedman, BS: So true. I know a common question I hear from women in their over 40 or fifties is they can't drink a glass of wine like they used to. It triggers these hot flashes, burning feed, some even get nausea. What's your take on wine during this stage of life?

Mindy Pelz: Yeah, that's such a tough one because I mean, here's the thing is if you drink a glass of wine, you're signing yourself up for a poor night's sleep. Part of that is because it will change your core temperature and at two and three in the morning, your body all of a sudden has the temperature goes high and you start sweating.

so that's the first thing that I would say. The second problem that we have with the glass of wine is that it's really hard on the liver and your liver is working really hard to break estrogen down, and you need as much estrogen as your body can naturally make.

So we wanna be kind to the liver now. I will say there are areas in which I can see wine as a useful tool. and it's really in more of like a social setting, you know, a sitting at, a family dinner, pairing it with a meal. I can tell you, for me.

I like the art of wine paired with food. We are a big foodie family and wine and food go together in our family. there are times in social situations where I think a glass of wine can be relaxing. It will temporarily, bring your cortisol levels down, and it can facilitate the journey and help put you into a state where you, feel like connecting with those around you a little bit better.

But we also have to realize too much is hard on the liver and you're signing yourself up for a poor night's sleep.

David Friedman, BS: Yeah, and too much wine can also hurt the bladder, making it be able to urinate. It's called Pinot more. You don't wanna drink any pee no more.

Mindy Pelz: Yeah.

David Friedman, BS: So those of you with bladder problems stay away from that time of mind.

Mindy Pelz: Oh my God, that was good. That was good.

David Friedman, BS: I wanna dive a little bit into brain fog. I know so many females over 50, they complain of what I call mental pause, that awful clouded memory. What causes this and is there any strategies to improve focus and mental clarity?

Mindy Pelz: so the first thing is clean your diet up. Let's make sure you're not on the ultra processed foods, because when you eat something toxic, it inflames the brain and it leads to brain fog, so that would be. Like the low hanging fruit. first answer. Second thing is that we have to remember again, the brain is rewiring itself.

So there are neurons, the people pleasing neurons that are starting to be sloughed off. They're starting to go away. And so there is a remodeling, I call it in the book, the Brain Remodel Project. And anytime you remodel anything, think about a kitchen remodel. There's dust. There's dirt. It's gonna be a little messy.

So for a lot of women, this brain fog is just a temporary signal. That the brain is remodeling itself. So if you can look at it through that lens, sometimes that's a lot More helpful. and then the last thing, we're back at the ketone. I've watched over and over and over again, not only in my clinic, but we see it in our online community.

That when you teach a, perimenopause or postmenopausal woman how to make ketones from the inside of her body, literally within a day or two, that brain fog is gone and will never return as long as she's dipping into ketones on a regular basis.

David Friedman, BS: Wow. I know you, studied the topic of menopause. Is there one myth about it or aging in general that you most wish to see debunked in your lifetime?

Mindy Pelz: Oh yeah, that, it's a process of suffering. It is not a process. Of suffering. You are on the path to deliberation. You are not about to head into a decline, invisible state. Your brain is rewiring itself so that you can live the happiest, most productive, most in alignment, authentic version of you.

Of your life that you've ever seen. we have the idea right now that you're suffering, so stop suffering. But the idea here is that you're changing. You are changing into something better. Let's get to know this new version of you.

David Friedman, BS: Well said. Time flew by man. I had so many things I wanted to chat with you. But I guess in the two or three minutes we have left, is there anything else you'd like to share that we didn't cover today?

Mindy Pelz: I just want women to keep believing in themselves through this. it can be bumpy, but if you understand lifestyle tools, if you find a good doctor to work with, if you gather a really supportive community around you, you'll find that the experience is not just tolerable. But that actually, the closer you get to their postmenopausal years, you'll start to experience this brain that I'm talking about.

David Friedman, BS: That's great. And I love how you, focus on lifestyle and everyone thinks it's all about, you know, diet and exercise, but it really is, like you said, lifestyle, staying connected, having a purpose. Right? Isn't that important when you're, I think people lose a purpose. It's like, oh, I'm retired.

what am I waking up for? Find that purpose isn't that important?

Mindy Pelz: right. purpose is a huge piece. I talk about that a bunch in the book because with purpose comes dopamine, and dopamine is one of the Girl gang members that you lose as estrogen goes down. So for a lot of women. The purpose may have been their kids or, maybe their purpose was their job, but they don't like that job anymore.

So your purpose can be a lot of things, and it doesn't have to be big. Like a purpose moment could be. You decide every time you're out in public, you're gonna smile at people. Your purpose is to bring joy to people. You're gonna say hello. little purposes can have a same huge dopamine effect, but even if you find a big purpose or you start to volunteer, or you start to join a group of people who are walking or pickleball, like find that new thing that lights you up and dopamine will follow.

David Friedman, BS: Fantastic information. I wanna thank you so much for joining us today and shedding some very needed light on this important topic. I'm sure many of our listeners took some great notes, but what Dr. Mindy shared today doesn't even touch the surface of the plethora of information you're gonna get from her book Age Like a Girl.

Get your copy. You can do that at. Dr Mindy pells.com and that's spelled PELZ, Dr. Mindy Pells. And while there, be sure and check out her Resetter podcast, informative article. She's available and so many other resources that are on her website. You can also follow her on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and TikTok at Dr. Mindy Pells and for my Daily Health tips.

Be sure and follow me on Facebook and x. Dr. David Friedman and on Instagram at Dr. D Friedman. If you heard something today that would benefit somebody, you know, send them a link to this podcast, to your good health radio.com, and be sure and explore our podcast library and share these segments with friends, family, and colleagues.

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