# Understanding the Female Brain - Dr. Sarah Hill

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GBt_eusWsTc
Translation: zh-CN

[00:04] Dr. Sarah Hill, it's great to have you on the podcast again.
  希尔博士，很高兴再次邀请您来参加播客。

[00:08] So great to be here.
  很高兴来到这里。

[00:09] Yeah.
  是的。

[00:09] So, our first collaboration was about how the birth control affects who you're attracted to.
  所以，我们第一次合作是关于避孕药如何影响您被谁吸引。

[00:17] And that was from your book, which I absolutely loved, uh, Your Brain on Birth Control.
  那是根据您的书，我非常喜欢，呃，《您的避孕药大脑》。

[00:21] So good.
  非常好。

[00:21] And so, you're here today to share a brand new big idea with us.
  所以，您今天来是想与我们分享一个全新的重要想法。

[00:28] Yeah.
  是的。

[00:28] So, I I've I've got a new book that's come that's coming out uh end of September and it's called The Period Brain, and it's just more about the hidden influences of hormones on women's brains and the way that they experience the world and just um the sort of damage that can happen as a result of ignoring it, right?
  所以，我我有一本新书将于九月底出版，名为《经期大脑》，它更多地讲述了激素对女性大脑的隐藏影响，以及她们体验世界的方式，还有因此而可能造成的损害，对吧？

[00:50] Because in a lot of ways, this is your brain on birth control was about that very thing, right?
  因为在很多方面，《您的避孕药大脑》就是关于这件事的，对吧？

[00:53] And just this idea that we've been very cavalier about women's hormones and about the role that they play in terms of the way that women think and feel and experience the world.
  以及我们一直对女性荷尔蒙以及它们在女性思考、感受和体验世界方面所起的作用持轻率态度的这种想法。

[01:04] Well, the same is true for
  嗯，同样的情况也适用于

[01:06] Our cycling hormones, right?
  我们周期性的荷尔蒙，对吧？

[01:08] And so there's been this um assumption that we can uh treat women just kind of like little men, right?
  所以一直有一种假设，认为我们可以像对待男人一样对待女人，对吧？

[01:13] And in men, of course, have one hormonal state that's relatively constant, minus, of course, all of the fluctuations that you get in testosterone, both across a 24-hour period, but also in response to different environmental stimuli.
  当然，男性有一种相对恒定的荷尔蒙状态，当然，减去你在睾酮中遇到的所有波动，这些波动既有跨越24小时周期的，也有对不同环境刺激的反应。

[01:30] So, we know that men's testosterone levels change, you know, when they see a beautiful woman or if they see weapons or if their sports team wins or loses.
  所以，我们知道男性的睾酮水平会发生变化，你知道，当他们看到一个漂亮的女人，或者看到武器，或者他们的运动队赢了或输了的时候。

[01:39] Um, and so you do get changes in testosterone that way, but for the most part, you know, it it obviously doesn't cycle.
  嗯，所以你确实会以这种方式看到睾酮的变化，但总的来说，你知道，它显然不会周期性变化。

[01:45] And uh, and so this this book is just like kind of getting into the nitty-gritty of women's uh, cycling hormones and the way that it influences the way that women think and feel and the way that they experience the world in their bodies.
  嗯，所以这本书就像是深入探讨女性的周期性荷尔蒙，以及它影响女性思考和感受方式以及她们在身体中体验世界的方式。

[01:59] and how ignoring this has um created sort of a what for a lot
  以及忽视这一点是如何造成了很大一部分的

[02:06] of women can really feel pathological during the last two weeks of the menstrual cycle which is the half of the menstrual cycle that's really been ignored by both science and medicine.
  女性在月经周期的最后两周可能会感到病态，而月经周期的这一半一直被科学和医学所忽视。

[02:17] Well, fortunately this is a subject that I'm an expert in.
  嗯，幸运的是，这是一个我擅长的领域。

[02:19] So just kidding, right?
  所以只是开玩笑，对吧？

[02:22] Um so I might need you to explain everything like I'm 5 years old or three years old.
  嗯，所以你可能需要像我5岁或3岁一样解释一切。

[02:26] Um cuz I when you came to me to do this podcast, I was like, "Oh boy, I don't know much about this topic and I'm coming into it full of ignorance, right?"
  嗯，因为你来找我做这个播客时，我想，“哦，天哪，我对这个话题了解不多，而且我带着满满的无知来，对吧？”

[02:36] Yeah.
  是的。

[02:36] No, and I mean and I think a lot of people are.
  不，我的意思是，我认为很多人都是。

[02:39] So it's not just you.
  所以不只是你。

[02:40] Um and it's not even people who have a Y chromosome, right?
  嗯，甚至不是拥有Y染色体的人，对吧？

[02:43] It's not just like limited to men and and and you.
  它不仅仅是局限于男性和你。

[02:47] Um but I think a lot of people are are kind of in the dark about the way that women's cycles work and the way that our hormones cycle.
  嗯，但我认为很多人都对女性周期如何运作以及我们的荷尔蒙如何周期性变化不太了解。

[02:53] And so just like as a intro point um you know the menstrual cycle right we've all heard of it um and you know the cycle lasts like let's just say it lasts 28 days because
  所以，就像作为一个开场白，嗯，你知道月经周期，我们都听说过它，嗯，你知道周期持续多久，比如说它持续28天，因为

[03:06] That's like sort of the average length of a menstrual cycle.
  这大约是月经周期的平均长度。

[03:08] And the cycle is sort of this this period of time when your body is shifting between the two states that are necessary for a female to reproduce.
  而这个周期就是你的身体在为女性繁殖所必需的两种状态之间转换的这段时间。

[03:17] Right?
  对吗？

[03:19] All right.
  好的。

[03:21] And so the first part of the menstrual cycle and and the menstrual cycle begins on the day you get your period.
  所以月经周期的第一部分，月经周期从你开始来月经的那天算起。

[03:25] So that's day one of your cycle.
  所以那是你周期的第一天。

[03:27] And during this first 14 days of the cycle, what your body is doing is it is preparing for the prob or the possibility of conception from sex, right?
  而在周期的这前14天里，你的身体所做的是为性行为受孕的可能性做准备，对吗？

[03:38] And so during this phase of the cycle, estrogen is rising.
  所以在周期的这个阶段，雌激素在上升。

[03:44] And as estrogen rises, it sort of rolls out the red carpet in the brain and then in women's bodies in terms of maximizing everything related to u mate attraction and then conception.
  随着雌激素的上升，它在大脑和女性身体中就像铺红毯一样，最大限度地发挥与伴侣吸引和受孕相关的一切。

[03:56] And essentially it's kind of orienting your body toward sex and conception, right?
  基本上，它是在将你的身体导向性行为和受孕，对吗？

[03:58] Because this is the period of time particularly in what we call the fertile window um which
  因为这是一段时期，尤其是在我们称之为的排卵期内，嗯，它

[04:08] is the 5 days prior to ovulation and then the day of ovulation itself.
  是排卵前的5天，然后是排卵当天。

[04:13] um this is the only period in time across the entire cycle when sex can lead to conception for women.
  嗯，这是整个周期中唯一可以导致女性怀孕的时间段。

[04:21] And so during this time of course you know given that we've inherited this brain and this body um through this evolutionary process that rewards traits that promote reproduction.
  因此，在这个时期，当然，你知道，鉴于我们通过这个奖励促进繁殖特征的进化过程继承了大脑和身体，嗯。

[04:29] Um we are oriented toward sex at this time.
  嗯，我们在这个时候倾向于性行为。

[04:33] Right?
  对吗？

[04:35] So women have higher sexual desire.
  所以女性的性欲更高。

[04:37] They tend to have more sex.
  她们往往有更多的性行为。

[04:39] Um they tend to be more attractive to men.
  嗯，她们对男性更具吸引力。

[04:42] So men find women particularly sexy.
  所以男性觉得女性特别性感。

[04:45] Um they smell sexier, they move sexier, they sound sexier, they look sexier um right when fertility is is rising in the cycle.
  嗯，她们闻起来更性感，举止更性感，声音更性感，外表更性感，嗯，就在生育能力在周期中上升的时候。

[04:51] So again during this fertile window and all of these things are happening in response to the sex hormone estrogen because again this is the time in the cycle when sex can lead to conception and that is the first thing that women need to do in order to reproduce.
  所以，再次强调，在这个易孕期，所有这些事情都发生在对性激素雌激素的反应中，因为再次强调，这是周期中可以导致怀孕的时间，而这是女性为了繁殖需要做的第一件事。

[05:06] Right?
  对吗？

[05:06] So that's the first 14 days of the cycle.
  所以这是周期的前14天。

[05:06] Now, the
  现在，

[05:08] reason that women have two hormones, like two primary hormones instead of just one like men, is because that's not the only thing that's necessary for the female body to reproduce, right?
  女性有两个激素，像是两个主要的激素而不是像男性只有一个，这是因为那不是女性身体繁殖所必需的唯一事物，对吧？

[05:19] In addition to having sex and, you know, getting an egg and sperm together, you know, for that magical union that can create um an embryo, uh women's bodies also have to prepare for the possibility of pregnancy, right?
  除了发生性行为，你知道，让卵子和精子结合，你知道，为了那个可以创造出胚胎的奇妙结合，女性的身体也必须为怀孕的可能性做好准备，对吧？

[05:32] So, men have one job to do for reproduction, and that's sex.
  所以，男性要为繁殖做一件事，那就是性行为。

[05:36] And so they only need one sex hormone.
  所以他们只需要一种性激素。

[05:38] Women's bodies have two things they have to do for reproduction, sex and pregnancy.
  女性的身体要为繁殖做两件事，性行为和怀孕。

[05:42] And that's why we have two hormones and that's why they cycle.
  这就是为什么我们有两种激素，也是为什么它们会周期性变化。

[05:47] Right?
  对吧？

[05:47] So the first two weeks of the cycle, our brain and our body are optimized for attraction and sex.
  所以，周期的前两周，我们的大脑和身体都为吸引和性行为进行了优化。

[05:52] The second two weeks of the cycle, our body and our brain are optimized for implantation and pregnancy.
  周期的后两周，我们的身体和大腦都为着床和怀孕进行了优化。

[05:56] Right?
  对吧？

[05:58] And these are two very categorically different kinds of activities.
  这是两种在类别上截然不同的活动。

[06:03] And they require of our body very different things.
  它们需要我们的身体做非常不同的事情。

[06:05] And because of this, um, what we see is that as women cycle between their
  因为这个原因，嗯，我们看到的是，当女性在她们的周期中循环时

[06:10] two primary sex hormones, estrogen, which is the the hormone that most of us know a lot about, and it's the one that is dominant during the first two weeks of the cycle, right?
  两种主要的性激素，雌激素，这是我们大多数人都很了解的那种激素，也是在周期前两周占主导地位的激素，对吧？

[06:18] All all about sex and attraction.
  一切都与性和吸引力有关。

[06:20] And then our second primary sex hormone, progesterone, which is one we almost never hear about because nobody talks about it because everybody just assumes that, oh, you know, men have testosterone and women have estrogen and isn't that a nice little story?
  然后是我们的第二种主要性激素，孕激素，这是我们几乎从未听说过的一种激素，因为没有人谈论它，因为每个人都认为，哦，你知道，男人有睾酮，女人有雌激素，这难道不是一个美好的小故事吗？

[06:36] Um, but the fact is that because our bodies have to do two different things in order to reproduce, we need two primary sex hormones that create two very different physical and psychological states for a woman.
  嗯，但事实是，因为我们的身体为了繁殖必须做两件不同的事情，我们需要两种主要的性激素，为女性创造两种非常不同的生理和心理状态。

[06:48] And not paying attention to this and ignoring this is the reason that so many women feel terrible in the last two weeks of the cycle, right?
  而忽视这一点和忽略这一点是许多女性在周期最后两周感觉糟糕的原因，对吧？

[06:56] And the reason that so many women experience what most of us have sort of collectively decided to call PMS, right?
  这也是为什么许多女性会经历我们大多数人集体决定称之为经前综合征的原因，对吧？

[07:02] this like collection of experiences, some of which are not very pleasant um that women experience as their bodies are orienting and and sort of gearing up
  这种经历的集合，其中一些并不愉快，嗯，女性在身体调整和准备的过程中会经历这些

[07:11] for the possibility of pregnancy, right?
  为了怀孕的可能性，对吗？

[07:14] And so we experience changes as a result of our body making functional changes that actually promote pregnancy.
  因此，我们身体会发生功能性变化，从而促进怀孕。

[07:20] But then we also experience some changes that aren't so pleasant because we are ignoring that and treating our body with one-size-fits-all set of rules for how we're supposed to be taking care of ourselves and understanding ourselves that just don't fit for our bodies, right?
  但随后我们也会经历一些不那么令人愉快 things，因为我们忽略了这一点，并用一套“一刀切”的规则来对待我们的身体，关于我们应该如何照顾自己和理解自己，而这些规则根本不适合我们的身体，对吗？

[07:34] And the result is that it can actually create, you know, pathological states for women.
  结果是，它实际上会为女性创造，你知道，病理状态。

[07:40] Wow, that was beautifully explained.
  哇，解释得很美。

[07:43] Um, thanks.
  嗯，谢谢。

[07:43] Yeah, I I'm I'm wondering like maybe just to from the very beginning,
  是的，我我想知道，也许从一开始，

[07:48] why do we menrate? Why do women menrate, right?
  我们为什么会来月经？为什么女性会来月经，对吗？

[07:50] Um why not just have an egg for a year or, you know, a lifetime?
  嗯，为什么不能一年只有一个卵子，或者，你知道，一生只有一个？

[07:56] Yeah. No. So, yeah. So, the reason that we menrate Well, it's actually sort of this is really interesting because um most mammals So, most female mammals don't menrate, right?
  是的。不。所以，是的。所以，我们来月经的原因，嗯，实际上这很有趣，因为嗯，大多数哺乳动物，所以，大多数雌性哺乳动物不会来月经，对吗？

[08:08] So, most female mammals Yeah. So, this is like actually really kind of cool about humans. Um, so
  所以，大多数雌性哺乳动物，是的。所以，这实际上是关于人类非常酷的一点。嗯，所以

[08:12] For most female mammals, even though they ovulate and they'll have like these periods of estrus, um, which is for a female mammal, it's it's the period of time when sex can lead to conception.
  对于大多数雌性哺乳动物来说，即使它们排卵并且会有像这样的发情期，嗯，对于雌性哺乳动物来说，这是性行为可能导致怀孕的时间段。

[08:23] And for most female mammals, this is the only time in the cycle that they have sex because, you know, it's kind of a reproductive dead end to have sex outside of this fertile period.
  而对于大多数雌性哺乳动物来说，这是它们在周期中唯一进行性行为的时间，因为，你知道，在非受孕期进行性行为在生殖上是死路一条。

[08:33] And so humans are also unique in that we have sex across the cycle, which we can also talk about cuz it's kind of interesting.
  所以人类也很独特，因为我们在整个周期中都会进行性行为，这一点我们也可以谈谈，因为它很有趣。

[08:40] But um but so most female mammals, even though they only have a period of time, you know, this brief little window in their cycle when they can conceive um they if they don't, you know, if an egg doesn't get fertilized or if an embryo starts to implant but doesn't really, you know, kind of do a full job, um their bodies will just reabsorb the material and and then it's, you know, they'll reabsorb the endometrial layer and uh and there's no shedding of the lining.
  但是，嗯，所以大多数雌性哺乳动物，即使它们只有一段时间，你知道，在它们的周期中这个短暂的小窗口期可以受孕，嗯，如果它们不，你知道，如果卵子没有受精，或者如果胚胎开始着床但没有真正，你知道，做好，嗯，它们的身体会重新吸收这些物质，然后，你知道，它们会重新吸收子宫内膜层，嗯，并且没有内膜脱落。

[09:07] um and humans do and the leading hypothesis about why it is that humans
  嗯，而人类会，关于人类为什么会这样，主流的假设是

[09:14] So not the cycle part, right?
  所以不是周期部分，对吧？

[09:16] Because the the cycling hormones we see across, you know, species of female mammals because anytime you have a female mammal, you've got a body that has two jobs for reproduction, right?
  因为我们看到的哺乳动物雌性物种的周期性激素，因为任何时候你有一个哺乳动物雌性，你都有一个身体有两个繁殖任务，对吧？

[09:26] Sex and pregnancy, right?
  性和怀孕，对吧？

[09:26] And so that requires two hormones.
  所以这需要两种激素。

[09:29] That requires a cycle.
  这需要一个周期。

[09:31] And so other species cycle, but we're one of the few that menrate.
  所以其他物种会周期性变化，但我们是少数会月经的物种之一。

[09:34] And the leading hypothesis about why we menrate is that our pregnancies are so metabolically expensive and they're so physically risky for human females because um I mean it's even currently with all the medical care that we have you know thousands of women die in childbirth every year um it's it's it's risky business and the idea is that it adds this layer of complexity for the embryo to have to navigate in order to implant right so having this endometrial layer, even though we tend to think of it as this like warm, snuggly blanket that like welcomes an embryo with a big warm hug.
  关于我们为什么会月经的主要假说是，我们的怀孕在代谢上非常昂贵，而且对人类女性来说身体风险非常高，因为嗯，我的意思是，即使是现在，我们拥有所有的医疗保健，你知道，每年仍有数千名女性死于分娩，嗯，这是非常危险的事情，而这个想法是，它为胚胎必须导航才能着床增加了一层复杂性，对吧？所以拥有这个子宫内膜层，尽管我们倾向于认为它就像一个温暖、舒适的毯子，像一个大大的温暖拥抱欢迎胚胎。

[10:13] Um, that's actually not what
  嗯，实际上不是这样

[10:15] Um, it's actually very difficult to penetrate.
  嗯，它实际上非常难以穿透。

[10:20] And the one of the ideas is, and in fact, they've done studies where they find that if you want to get an embryo to implant anywhere in the body, it's easier to do than in the in the uterus.
  其中一个想法是，事实上，他们已经做过研究，发现如果你想让胚胎在身体的任何地方着床，这比在子宫里更容易做到。

[10:29] um because the endometrial lining actually makes it more difficult to penetrate than other um than than other areas that don't have this sort of barrier.
  嗯，因为子宫内膜实际上比没有这种屏障的其他区域更难穿透。

[10:37] Um but the idea is that that this is intentionally difficult because in some ways it's providing like a like a test of strength um to an embryo, right?
  嗯，但这个想法是，这是故意设置的困难，因为在某些方面，它就像在给胚胎进行力量测试，对吧？

[10:47] And if you're an embryo and you're not able to make it through, then you're probably not going to have enough moxy to survive, right?
  如果你是一个胚胎，你无法通过，那么你可能就没有足够的勇气来生存，对吧？

[10:55] And and actually be able to make it all the way full through a full pregnancy.
  并且实际上能够完成整个孕期。

[10:59] And so that's like sort of a first line of defense for a female against an like sort of a weak embryo is that you've got this dense endometrial layer that's hard to penetrate.
  所以，这就像是女性对抗虚弱胚胎的第一道防线，你有一层致密的子宫内膜，难以穿透。

[11:07] And so um so we have this dense, you know, layer in part because it provides like a screening test for
  所以，嗯，我们有这层致密的、你知道的、部分原因是因为它提供了一种筛选测试，用于

[11:15] women's bodies like all right, are you going to make it?
  女性的身体，就像，好吧，你打算让它成功吗？

[11:17] Are you not going to make it?
  你打算让它不成功吗？

[11:18] And then also for those that aren't able to fully implant, it allows women to cut their losses before the embryo taps into the maternal bloodline and starts to divide and make itself bigger because the embryo, you know, and I'm going to talk about this in a way that makes it sound like an embryo is conscious and obviously it's not.
  然后，对于那些无法完全着床的，它允许女性在胚胎接触到母体血线并开始分裂和壮大之前就及时止损，因为胚胎，你知道，我将以一种听起来像是胚胎有意识的方式来谈论这一点，但显然它不是。

[11:38] But the embryo wants to survive, right?
  但是胚胎想要生存，对吧？

[11:40] This is its one shot at life, right?
  这是它生命中的唯一机会，对吧？

[11:42] And so, and from an embryo's point of view, you know, even if it's got some funky mutations that make it unlikely to be able to survive, you know, and and and like be a fully functioning adult, um the embryo doesn't care.
  所以，从胚胎的角度来看，你知道，即使它有一些奇怪的突变，使其不太可能存活，你知道，并且并且并且像成为一个完全健康的成年人，嗯，胚胎不在乎。

[11:53] You know, this is its one shot and it's going to, you know, take its shot and burrow into the maternal bloodline and, you know, just give it its best try to be able to try to, you know, grow and and survive.
  你知道，这是它的一次机会，它会，你知道，抓住机会，钻入母体血线，你知道，尽力去尝试，你知道，生长和生存。

[12:05] Um, but, you know, obviously from the mom's point of view, that's not the best idea, right?
  嗯，但是，你知道，显然从妈妈的角度来看，这不是最好的主意，对吧？

[12:09] Because she if she's growing this fetus that's unlikely to be able to survive, you know, make it even maybe
  因为她，如果她正在孕育这个不太可能存活的胎儿，你知道，让它甚至可能

[12:16] even fully all the way through the end of the pregnancy or not be able to survive in adulthood, it's better for her to cut her losses and invest in the next pregnancy where the embryo is healthier.
  即使在整个怀孕期间都完全结束，或者无法在成年后生存，她最好还是及时止损，投资于下一个更健康的胚胎的怀孕。

[12:25] And so the reason that women shed the endometrial lining is that it provides a nice out for pregnancies that aren't that aren't going to be successful.
  因此，女性脱落子宫内膜的原因是，它为不成功的怀孕提供了一个很好的退出机制。

[12:35] So if you have a weekly implanting embryo or an embryo that's not able to, you know, make its way through the densely packed endometrial layer, it allows women to cut their losses by shedding the endometrial lining and that way anything that um any m genetic material that's in there is out.
  所以，如果你有一个每周着床的胚胎，或者一个无法通过密集堆积的子宫内膜层的胚胎，它允许女性通过脱落子宫内膜来及时止损，这样里面任何 um 任何遗传物质都会被排出。

[12:54] Um and that way she can start a fresh with the next cycle.
  嗯，这样她就可以在下一个周期重新开始。

[12:58] That was very well explained. Thank you for that.
  解释得非常好。谢谢你。

[13:00] And I that makes a lot of sense that it's a necessary filter because we are so complex or or we think of ourselves as basically the most complex thing on earth.
  这很有道理，它是一个必要的过滤器，因为我们非常复杂，或者我们认为自己是地球上最复杂的东西。

[13:09] And so, right, you'd think that a very simple organism wouldn't have to deal with menration.
  所以，是的，你会认为一个非常简单的生物不必处理月经。

[13:17] would their reproduction would be incredibly simple and fast, right?
  它们的繁殖会非常简单快捷，对吧？

[13:20] Yeah. And ours is so I mean it it requires a 9-month investment just for pregnancy, right?
  是的。而我们的，我的意思是，仅仅怀孕就需要九个月的投入，对吧？

[13:25] And then a woman puts her life at risk every time that she has a baby.
  然后女人每次生孩子都会冒生命危险。

[13:28] And so it's like it better be good, you know, and then and then our lifespans are so long that it's like um you know, it's it's got to survive a long time before it's able to reproduce.
  所以，最好是好的，你知道，而且我们的寿命很长，所以你知道，它必须存活很长时间才能繁殖。

[13:40] And so it is a big investment for a female body to make any time that it has a baby.
  所以，女性身体每次生孩子都是一项巨大的投资。

[13:45] And so because of this, it it makes sense that our body essentially has these different like almost like a obstacle course that you have to make your way through before you're actually able to tap into it.
  所以，因为这个原因，我们的身体基本上会经历这些不同的，就像一个障碍赛，你必须在真正能够利用它之前通过它，这是有道理的。

[13:56] Excuse me. before you're able to tap into the maternal bloodline and then be able to grow and and turn yourself into a full-sized fetus and then later a baby.
  对不起。在你能够连接到母系血统，然后能够成长并把自己变成一个足月胎儿，然后成为一个婴儿之前。

[14:06] That makes perfect sense cuz the investment is so high of having a baby, raising, going through that whole process.
  这完全说得通，因为生孩子、抚养、经历整个过程的投入太高了。

[14:13] You need to make sure that that one shot that you take is pretty darn
  你需要确保你抓住的那一次机会是相当不错的

[14:17] Good. I mean, right. Yeah. Yeah. Exactly. That's why there's probably billions of sperm and only that one sperm, you know, 99.9999999% aren't going to make the cut, right?
  好。我的意思是，对。是的。是的。没错。这就是为什么可能有数十亿的精子，而只有一个精子，你知道，99.9999999% 的精子无法通过，对吧？

[14:31] Which is so interesting. There's there's a lot of new research right now on um what and I forget what I forget that there's a term for it, but essentially it's like cryptic well I think it is cryptic female choice is what they're calling it.
  这很有趣。现在有很多关于 um 的新研究，我忘了是什么，我忘了它的术语，但基本上它就像隐秘的，嗯，我认为是隐秘的女性选择，他们是这么称呼它的。

[14:42] But it's just this idea that the egg seems to operate like it it executes like a lot more like sort of decision-making capacity than we've ever given it credit for before.
  但这只是这个想法，即卵子似乎像它执行的，它执行的决策能力比我们以前给它的任何信用都要大得多。

[14:53] And researchers are becoming increasingly aware of the fact that, you know, there's lots of sperm that come close to the egg and there is like one that gets in if if they're lucky, right?
  研究人员越来越意识到，你知道，有很多精子靠近卵子，然后只有一个能进去，如果他们幸运的话，对吧？

[15:05] And so there does seem to be some mechanism by which the female egg is making decisions about who's going to be able to penetrate and who's not.
  所以似乎确实存在某种机制，通过这种机制，雌性卵子正在决定谁将能够穿透，谁不能。

[15:14] And so some of the sort of secret sauce, you know, is trying to figure out like what that is,
  所以，你知道，一些秘密武器就是试图弄清楚那是什么，

[15:18] Right? Like trying to understand like what what is it that is is being picked up on and like you know what are the mechanisms and how I how might we be able to use this to understand um unexplained infertility.
  对吧？就像试图理解，它到底被捕捉到了什么，以及我们如何能够利用它来理解未解的不孕症。

[15:32] It sounds like the egg and the embryo are more conscious than we might give it credit for.
  听起来卵子和胚胎比我们想象的更有意识。

[15:36] I don't I don't know.
  我不知道，我不知道。

[15:38] I would not use the word conscious, right?
  我不会用“有意识”这个词，对吧？

[15:40] Instead, I would just say that they have inherited deep evolutionary wisdom, right?
  相反，我会说它们继承了深刻的进化智慧，对吧？

[15:45] And a lot of that stuff operates below the level of consciousness.
  而很多这样的东西是在意识层面之下的运作的。

[15:49] Yeah.
  是的。

[15:49] It's it's hard to know who's driving the bus.
  很难知道谁在掌控一切。

[15:51] Like, is my stomach telling my brain what to do?
  比如，是我的胃在告诉我的大脑该做什么吗？

[15:53] Is my, you know, am I just uh kind of is my reproductive system driving the car and I'm just kind of like everything else is is to like follow that lead?
  你知道，是我，我的生殖系统在开车，而我只是，就像其他一切都在跟随它的指示吗？

[16:05] Like, it's hard to know.
  比如，这很难说。

[16:07] Like you think your brain's the one driving the bus, but we are at the service of so many other systems.
  你可能认为你的大脑是掌控者，但我们却服务于许多其他系统。

[16:12] They're all so intertwined and
  它们都如此交织在一起，而且

[16:15] Yeah.
  是的。

[16:15] Yeah.
  是的。

[16:15] Yeah.
  是的。

[16:15] No, for sure.
  不，当然。

[16:18] I mean, you know, some of my favorite research
  我的意思是，你知道，我最喜欢的一些研究

[16:19] And one of the reasons I actually got interested in psychology was just simply because um there I was learned about this research where they um were dealing with people who have split brain, which is where the corpus colosum is is severed.
  我之所以对心理学产生兴趣，原因之一就是，我在那里了解到一项研究，研究对象是胼胝体被切断的裂脑患者。

[16:33] And so the left brain and the right brain can't communicate with each other.
  因此，左脑和右脑无法相互交流。

[16:39] And um in these studies what they would do is they would show a person's right brain a set of instructions.
  在这些研究中，他们会向一个人的右脑展示一套指令。

[16:46] So it would be something like get up and walk into the hallway, right?
  比如，让他们站起来走进走廊，对吧？

[16:50] And so you would see that because because again the person um their right brain and uh left brain are not communicating.
  你会看到，因为，再次强调，这个人的右脑和左脑没有在交流。

[16:55] And so the way they would show it only to their right brain is by showing it to their left eyeball because your left eyeball actually roots into the right side of your brain.
  所以，他们只向右脑展示指令的方式是，通过左眼球展示，因为你的左眼球实际上连接到你大脑的右侧。

[17:04] Right?
  对吧？

[17:04] So a person sees something with only their left eye and it says, "Get up and go walk into the hallway."
  所以，一个人只用左眼看到信息，上面写着：“站起来走进走廊。”

[17:10] Right?
  对吧？

[17:10] So the person gets up and they walk in the hallway and then they have somebody stop them in the hallway and say, "Hey, what are you doing out here?"
  于是这个人就站起来走进走廊，然后有人在走廊拦住他们说：“嘿，你在这儿干什么？”

[17:17] And uh the person without missing a beat will just
  这个人毫不迟疑地会说

[17:20] Make up a story about why they're there.
  编造一个关于他们为什么在那里的故事。

[17:21] Because their left brain, which is the verbal part of your brain, doesn't have any idea why they're in the hallway, right?
  因为他们的大脑左半球，也就是你大脑的语言部分，根本不知道为什么他们在走廊里，对吧？

[17:27] But but they make up a story.
  但是，但是他们编造了一个故事。

[17:28] They're like, "Oh, I'm just I was really thirsty and so I'm getting a drink of water."
  他们会说：“哦，我只是我真的很渴，所以我要去喝水。”

[17:31] And it's like our left brain is just a spin doctor for unconscious things that we're not aware of, right?
  这就像我们的大脑左半球只是我们没有意识到的无意识事情的“公关医生”，对吧？

[17:37] And the person had no idea that there was any that they were being set up, right?
  那个人根本不知道有什么，他们被设局了，对吧？

[17:40] They had no idea that they got this set of instructions, right?
  他们不知道他们收到了这套指示，对吧？

[17:42] They had no idea why they were really there.
  他们不知道自己为什么真的在那里。

[17:43] And so their brain, their left brain just made up a story about why they were there.
  所以他们的大脑，他们的大脑左半球就编造了一个关于他们为什么在那里的故事。

[17:46] And they believed it.
  而且他们相信了。

[17:49] You know, their conscious brain believed that that's why they were there.
  你知道，他们有意识的大脑相信那就是他们在那里的原因。

[17:54] Were these people with a disorder?
  这些人有障碍吗？

[17:56] Yeah.
  是的。

[17:56] Well, no.
  嗯，不是。

[17:56] The this guy in particular had his corpus callosum severed because he had severe seizures.
  特别是这个家伙的胼胝体被切断了，因为他有严重的癫痫发作。

[18:01] And so sometimes they'll do that, but a lot of times it'll be because um somebody, you know, has been in a terrible car accident or something and so it severs that communication between the two halves of the brain.
  所以有时候他们会这样做，但很多时候是因为某人，你知道，经历了一场可怕的车祸或类似的事情，从而切断了大脑两个半球之间的交流。

[18:10] But um the left the left half of the brain, I mean that's that's our spin doctor.
  但是，嗯，左半，大脑的左半球，我的意思是，那就是我们的“公关医生”。

[18:14] I mean that's that's the part of ourselves that makes us feel like we're making decisions
  我的意思是，那就是我们自己让我们感觉我们在做决定的那部分。

[18:21] about things.
  关于事情。

[18:22] We're going, you know, going through life and and and choosing what we want.
  我们正在经历，你知道，经历生活并选择我们想要的东西。

[18:26] But there's an whole unconscious set of processes that we have absolutely no awareness of, right?
  但是有一整套无意识的过程是我们完全没有意识到的，对吧？

[18:30] That's probably driving the bus, right?
  那可能是在掌舵，对吧？

[18:33] in that are in our left brain is just like you know telling itself stories about how much agency it has and you know and and how it just wanted to go up and get a drink of water to start a podcast or wanted to write a book you know
  在我们左脑中，它就像你知道的，在给自己讲故事，关于它拥有多少自主权，你知道的，关于它只是想去喝杯水，开始一个播客，或者想写一本书，你知道的。

[18:44] I mean it's like our our brain a lot of what drives us is just not available to a conscious awareness and so it's it's the our verbal part of our brain that just makes up stories about why we're doing the things we're doing.
  我的意思是，就像我们的大脑，很多驱动我们的东西只是无法被有意识地觉察到，所以是我们大脑的语言部分在编造故事，关于我们为什么做我们正在做的事情。

[18:57] Yeah.
  是的。

[18:57] And consciousness is such a hard thing to test for.
  而意识是如此难以测试的东西。

[18:59] I guess that's why they call it the hard problem because there's like
  我想这就是为什么他们称之为难题，因为有

[19:02] Yeah, it is.
  是的，确实如此。

[19:02] It is.
  确实如此。

[19:02] I mean, it's like how do you There's There's really not a smart I mean, you can't really do it, you know, because it's like you only know what you know and you don't know what you don't know.
  我的意思是，就像你怎么做？真的没有一个聪明的方法，我的意思是，你真的做不到，你知道的，因为就像你只知道你知道的，而你不知道你不知道的。

[19:11] There's literally infinite variables that could affect consciousness.
  有无数的变量可能影响意识。

[19:15] So, trying to isolate it to one part of the brain or one section of the body is nearly impossible.
  所以，试图将其隔离到大脑的一个部分或身体的一个区域几乎是不可能的。

[19:22] Right. Yeah.
  对。是的。

[19:24] Which is why ultimately like I'm like I don't know that it matters, you know?
  这就是为什么最终我好像我不知道这是否重要，你知道吗？

[19:27] It's like it's like yes, there are probably processes that are driving my behavior that I have absolutely no awareness of.
  就像，就像是的，可能有一些过程在驱动我的行为，而我对此完全没有意识。

[19:34] Um but the same is true for everybody and it's kind of like you know I don't understand the astrophysics that guide the universe either and yet I see the sunrise and I see the sunset and I appreciate that and you know and that's my experience and um and and that's enough you know.
  嗯，但对每个人来说也是如此，而且有点像你知道我也不理解指导宇宙的宇宙物理学，但我看到了日出，看到了日落，我很感激，你知道，这就是我的体验，嗯，这就足够了，你知道。

[19:48] Yeah, we we can't be an expert in every single thing but we can learn about periods today.
  是的，我们我们不能成为每个事物的专家，但我们可以了解今天的经期。

[19:51] we can you can learn about periods and you can learn about the role of women's hormones and and shaping their experiences and kind of the the dangers.
  我们可以，你可以了解经期，你可以了解女性荷尔蒙的作用，以及塑造她们的经历和所谓的危险。

[19:59] Um, and I shouldn't say the word dangers because that always makes it sound like you're going to grow a tail or like a cancer or something and I don't want to give that impression,
  嗯，我不应该说“危险”这个词，因为它总是听起来像你会长出尾巴或者像癌症一样的东西，而我不想给人留下这种印象，

[20:09] but I I do think that a lot of women have kind of gone through life in a way where they've felt like their body is the enemy and um and and that's dangerous in and of itself.
  但我确实认为很多女性在生活中都有一种感觉，觉得自己的身体是敌人，嗯，这本身就很危险。

[20:20] And I and and I think that you know a big part of
  而且我认为，你知道，很大一部分

[20:24] that is that we haven't really been

[20:27] taught to take our hormones very

[20:29] seriously.

[20:32] >> So before we lose all the men listening

[20:34] to this podcast,

[20:35] >> why should a man why should a male be

[20:38] interested in this topic? Well, any man

[20:41] who is either in a relationship with a

[20:43] woman or like works for a woman or knows

[20:46] a woman, um I think that it's really

[20:48] important to understand like how we work

[20:51] because it's not, you know, I have found

[20:54] that in my own relationship, um that

[20:58] things have gotten

[21:01] better like the more that we're able to

[21:03] talk about what's going on with me

[21:06] hormonally. And um and I think that

[21:08] having an awareness of this in a lot of

[21:11] ways is um is is the keys to the

[21:14] kingdom. Honestly, what he always tells

[21:16] people is that he would be dangerous if

[21:17] he was out on the open market because um

[21:21] having an awareness of the way that um

[21:23] cycling hormones affect uh the way that

[21:25] women think and feel and experience the

[21:28] world and emotional changes and sexual

[21:30] desire and all these other things. Um,

[21:32] it's so eyeopening, I think, to somebody

[21:35] who, you know, like a a male who just

[21:38] has one hormone that stays relatively

[21:39] constant, um, getting a little bit

[21:42] dialed in to what might be going on, um,

[21:44] with women who can often times seem very

[21:47] mysterious to men, um, I think is

[21:49] incredibly valuable. Um, it's been

[21:51] incredibly valuable in my own

[21:52] relationship. And like I said, um it

[21:55] makes my partner feel like he's got

[21:56] superpowers because he's he's got this

[21:59] like he's tuned in to the female

[22:01] experience.

[22:02] >> I can already imagine the uh how that

[22:04] conversation will go. The next time I

[22:06] get into an argument or something with

[22:07] my wife, you know, I'm like, "Let's talk

[22:09] about your hormones when

[22:11] >> Yeah. No, you just keep that to

[22:12] yourself."

[22:13] >> Yeah. Yeah.

[22:14] >> You just keep that to yourself. No, no,

[22:16] no. You just keep that You just keep

[22:17] that little piece to yourself. But it is

[22:19] a fairly taboo thing to bring up like

[22:22] because you're kind of accusing them of

[22:23] not having agency or you know just being

[22:26] at the whim of their hormones.

[22:27] >> No, no, no, no. I, you know, despite our

[22:31] conversation about the left and the

[22:32] right hemisphere, I mean, it's like the

[22:34] idea that that women are somehow more at

[22:37] the whims of their biology than men is

[22:39] just completely false. I I mean, it's

[22:41] like we're all biological. Like, there's

[22:43] no getting around it. And I think that

[22:45] for a really long time just simply

[22:46] because women do cycle like that it's

[22:49] been easier to like sort of assign

[22:51] biological causes to what's going on

[22:53] with us. But men are just as biological

[22:55] as we are. I mean the idea that somehow

[22:58] you know we are slaves to these

[23:00] unconscious processes in our brain and

[23:02] our hormones. But men it's the soul and

[23:05] the rational mind. I mean that's crazy.

[23:07] I mean it's just crazy. You know, it's

[23:09] like we're all you in in you know, it's

[23:12] like human behavior is created by this

[23:15] biological process called our nervous

[23:16] system, right? And it's biological for

[23:19] all of us. And in anything that we do

[23:21] can be explained by a series of, you

[23:24] know, electrical signals and chemical

[23:26] signals and synapses and everything

[23:28] else. And so, um, just because we have a

[23:32] biological, you know, drivers of our

[23:34] behavior, it's everybody's got

[23:36] biological drivers of their behavior,

[23:37] right? And so it's like we can either

[23:39] talk about them or we can choose not to

[23:42] talk about them, pretend that they're

[23:43] not happening and then have, you know,

[23:45] 50% of the population feeling like, you

[23:48] know, what's wrong with me because

[23:50] they're experiencing cyclical changes

[23:52] that would be absolutely explainable if

[23:54] anybody would sit down and actually take

[23:56] the time to explain it to somebody. So,

[23:58] I think that, you know, I think that the

[24:00] idea that um that there's anything wrong

[24:04] with being biological is just based on a

[24:07] fundamental, you know, um

[24:10] misunderstanding of the way that biology

[24:12] works for everybody because it's like

[24:14] you can't escape it. We're all

[24:15] biological. It's it's gears, sprockets,

[24:18] electricity, and chemicals.

[24:21] >> Yeah. I think it's incredibly important

[24:22] to be aware of how much your hormones

[24:25] impact your mood and and like your

[24:26] presentation on uh how it affects how

[24:29] birth control can affect who you're

[24:30] attracted to and how much our hormones

[24:32] play a part in that. Um in that

[24:34] presentation you talked about what

[24:37] activities boost testosterone and which

[24:39] ones reduce it. And so I've been ever

[24:42] since you said that I've been very aware

[24:43] of like oh these activities are really

[24:45] lowering my testosterone. I need to

[24:47] maybe counteract that with some uh

[24:49] weightlifting or wood chopping or shoot

[24:51] a gun or you know

[24:52] >> do so like like if you're doing like

[24:54] child care because I know you recently

[24:56] had a child

[24:57] >> right and so like if you're and we know

[24:58] that one of the things that suppresses

[25:00] testosterone levels is child care right

[25:02] in and functionally right so if like and

[25:04] men who are listening to this like it's

[25:06] like an endocrine disruptor like no it's

[25:08] not an endoc like having children is not

[25:10] an endocrine disruptor right this

[25:12] happens on purpose because it's shifting

[25:13] your gears away from you know being

[25:16] distracted by the attractive next door

[25:18] neighbor and just temporarily making

[25:20] sure that your attention is focused

[25:21] where it needs to be in terms of

[25:23] maintaining your relationship and then

[25:25] child care. And so this is a very

[25:27] functional thing that happens. Um, and

[25:29] so are like when you're done like caring

[25:31] for your child, do you like go and like

[25:33] bench press things and like shoot a gun

[25:34] to try to counterbalance the

[25:36] testosterone impact of child care?

[25:39] >> Not I'm not super conscious about it,

[25:41] but I I am becoming more and more

[25:43] conscious about it. You know, like it

[25:44] makes perfect sense that being around a

[25:47] baby all the time is not the time to be

[25:48] aggressive. You don't want to have all

[25:50] that testosterone. But I recently

[25:52] started having bonfires and and chopping

[25:54] a lot of wood.

[25:55] >> And every time I chop a wood and it goes

[25:57] really well, I'm like, "Woo, that like

[26:00] that gave me that boost I needed. I felt

[26:02] like that was something I was missing."

[26:05] >> I love that. I think it'd be really

[26:06] interesting to see because I would I

[26:09] would imagine especially for dads

[26:11] because now, you know, in our current

[26:13] environment because you have women who

[26:15] have, you know, roles that have now kind

[26:17] of blurred into the male area and so

[26:19] men, you know, men's traditional roles

[26:22] are also bleeding into the female area

[26:23] where they're doing more child care than

[26:25] they ever have before. And I wonder

[26:27] whether having like even like simple

[26:30] things like you were saying like

[26:31] chopping wood like whether or not that

[26:33] would be really therapeutic especially

[26:35] for new dads to just like feel more like

[26:38] themselves, right? Cuz I think like part

[26:40] of the process of feeling like you're

[26:41] lost after you have a child and which is

[26:43] very common for people where you just

[26:45] feel cuz your roles I mean everything

[26:47] gets kind of turned upside down and

[26:49] whether that would sort of make you back

[26:51] at home in your own body um in a

[26:54] relatively shorter order. That's a

[26:55] really interesting idea.

[26:57] >> Yeah, that's definitely something to

[26:58] explore. Um

[27:00] >> yeah, I think wood chopping wood

[27:02] chopping camp for like new dads. Like I

[27:05] like go out into the woods like build a

[27:07] fire like I don't know. To me that seems

[27:09] like it'd be really it would be really

[27:11] therapeutic.

[27:13] >> I don't think it could hurt.

[27:14] >> Yeah.

[27:16] >> Yeah. I guess so. Getting back to the

[27:18] the period and the menration.

[27:21] >> Um I'm curious how do we optimize this

[27:23] cycle? What's the best way to approach

[27:26] this?

[27:27] >> I mean, honestly, it's it's just really

[27:29] it's really about understanding that

[27:32] your body is shifting gears, right? So,

[27:34] again, first 14 days of the cycle, which

[27:37] is something that there's been a lot of

[27:38] discussion about on like social media.

[27:40] There's like Tik Tok videos all over the

[27:42] place about estrogen and how you're sexy

[27:44] and it's all about this and sex and

[27:46] attraction and so on. Um, but your body

[27:49] is shifting gears. You know, it's like

[27:51] when um after you ovulate, uh estrogen

[27:55] levels fall and then you begin releasing

[27:58] in really high quantities this other sex

[28:00] hormone progesterone. And progesterone

[28:03] gets the body kind of marching together

[28:05] to allow for the possibility of

[28:07] pregnancy. And what this means is, you

[28:10] know, it's essentially it's it's

[28:12] shifting our whole state, right? All of

[28:13] our biological priorities are changing

[28:16] as our body's preparing for the

[28:17] possibility of pregnancy. And so like in

[28:20] one of these changes is that you know

[28:22] our body is having to remodel all of

[28:26] this tissue in the endometrial layer

[28:27] that you know will allow for the

[28:29] possibility of implantation in

[28:30] pregnancy. And this is something that is

[28:33] metabolically costly right it women's

[28:36] basil metabolic rate increases between

[28:38] about like 7 and 11% in the ludial phase

[28:42] of the cycle. And what that means is

[28:44] that, you know, like for a person who

[28:46] eats like 2,000 calories a day, let's

[28:48] say your nutritional needs are like

[28:49] 2,000 calories a day, you're in the

[28:51] ludal phase, you need an extra 150 to

[28:54] 200 calories a day just to do basic

[28:57] tasks, right? And this is something that

[28:59] women are not told about, right? And

[29:01] instead, we're given oneizefits-all, you

[29:04] know, nutritional guidelines that say

[29:05] eat this number of calories a day. And

[29:08] um and then women are tired and they're

[29:10] hungry and they have food cravings and

[29:13] then they develop a narrative about

[29:15] themselves where they are like, "Oh, I

[29:17] have no self-control. You know, here I

[29:19] am and and I'm trying to eat healthy and

[29:22] I'm hungry all the time." And then, you

[29:24] know, and then and then I'm craving this

[29:25] and that and then the next thing you

[29:27] know, you know, they have a chance

[29:29] encounter with some Oreo cookies and

[29:31] then, you know, it's just like lights

[29:33] out on their healthy eating goals,

[29:35] right? And all of that could have been

[29:37] totally avoided if we just leaned into

[29:40] and trusted our hunger. Right? So as our

[29:43] hunger as as we go into this other phase

[29:45] of the cycle, our hunger is going to

[29:46] increase. Right? Or another thing that

[29:49] changes that again we're not told about.

[29:52] And so it just feels crazy and

[29:54] pathological

[29:56] is that because our body as we're

[29:58] transitioning into um into um a way of

[30:02] being that promotes pregnancy um this is

[30:05] a really vulnerable state for women to

[30:07] be in. Right? So pregnancy is obviously

[30:10] a time when um historically women would

[30:13] have been incredibly dependent on men

[30:15] for protection and for access to

[30:17] resources, right? Because if you are a

[30:20] pregnant woman, you're not going to be

[30:21] able to get away from a saber-tooth

[30:23] tiger very quickly, right? And you're

[30:25] also it's going to be very difficult to

[30:27] get some of the types of calories that

[30:29] you need to be able to maintain a

[30:30] pregnancy, which oftentimes come from

[30:32] hunted food, right? and going away on a

[30:34] five or 10 day hunt is a lot more

[30:37] difficult when you're, you know, eight

[30:38] months pregnant than it is when you're

[30:40] not. And so, you know, historically,

[30:43] being pregnant is a state of incredible

[30:45] vulnerability for women. And even

[30:47] currently it's like the you know one of

[30:50] the like the the highest risk one of the

[30:53] times where a woman is at the greatest

[30:54] risk of homicide is during pregnancy

[30:57] because we know that this is a time when

[30:59] women are more likely to get murdered um

[31:01] by their partners which is a grizzly but

[31:03] true statistic. And so so it's this

[31:06] period of incredible vulnerability and

[31:08] also um heavy reliance on male partners.

[31:12] And what happens when our body is in a

[31:14] state of vulnerability is it actually

[31:16] changes the threshold that our brain

[31:19] uses for detecting a threat right so

[31:21] when we are you know really capable and

[31:24] things are going really well we don't

[31:26] need to be afraid of anything right

[31:27] because we've got this like we can take

[31:29] care of ourselves we can get resources

[31:31] like we don't need to be you know we

[31:33] don't need to put up with anything from

[31:34] anyone and we you know we don't need to

[31:36] be nervous about anything because um

[31:38] we've got this as our body becomes

[31:41] vulnerable and You've probably even

[31:42] experienced this as a man yourself when

[31:45] you're sick, right? When you're sick,

[31:47] you find that everything seems a little

[31:49] bit louder, a little bit more startling.

[31:51] And it's because you're in a state of

[31:53] vulnerability. And uh when women are

[31:56] transitioning into um the ludal phase of

[31:59] the cycle, which is that second two

[32:00] weeks when progesterone is the dominant

[32:02] hormone, it changes the threshold that

[32:05] our brain uses to send off the alarm

[32:07] bells that there's a potential threat.

[32:09] In particular, a relationship threat,

[32:11] right? And so what this means is that it

[32:13] takes less input that suggests that

[32:16] there's a problem for women's brains to

[32:18] think that there's a problem, right? And

[32:20] it's because we're in a state of

[32:22] vulnerability and partner dependence and

[32:24] our brain is sensitive to that. And so

[32:27] it becomes very sort of trigger happy

[32:30] with the alarm bells. It's kind of like

[32:31] a smoke detector, right? Sometimes the

[32:33] smoke detector is really finely attuned

[32:35] to the possibility of threat and that's

[32:37] the type of smoke detector that goes off

[32:39] anytime that you make a bag of microwave

[32:40] popcorn, right? Or you can have the

[32:42] smoke detector that doesn't go off

[32:44] unless the house has already burned down

[32:45] to the ground, right? and and the the

[32:48] other, you know, it's like as annoying

[32:49] as it is for the smoke detector to go

[32:51] off every time that you watch a movie

[32:53] and are going to make some popcorn,

[32:54] right? It's much better than having a

[32:56] house that burns down. And so most smoke

[32:59] detectors are are finely tuned to pick

[33:02] up on even the slightest trace of smoke,

[33:05] right? Same with the female brain,

[33:06] particularly in the ludal phase, right?

[33:08] So it's like we are very attuned to the

[33:10] possibility of threat. And what this

[33:12] means is that the exact same thing, the

[33:15] exact same set of stimuli that could go

[33:17] on during the first two weeks of the

[33:19] cycle are more likely to set off the

[33:21] alarm bells during the second two weeks

[33:22] of the cycle, right? And this is one of

[33:25] the reasons that women tend to have more

[33:27] emotional reactivity during this time,

[33:30] right? They tend to experience more

[33:31] anxiety, right? And this is again

[33:33] because you have um a greater uh degree

[33:36] of of physical vulnerability as your

[33:38] body is transitioning into the state

[33:40] that's optimized for pregnancy. And also

[33:43] the you know you need your partner more

[33:45] because women are more reliant on their

[33:47] partners during during pregnancy. And so

[33:49] all of this you know can create an

[33:52] emotional state that can be relatively

[33:54] difficult to navigate especially if you

[33:57] have no awareness of it right and you

[33:58] have no language to describe it. Um, and

[34:01] I'll tell you that in my own life, this

[34:03] has been incredibly useful because

[34:05] there's been many things that have

[34:06] happened both in my personal life and in

[34:09] my work life where I check myself and

[34:12] figure out where I am in my cycle and

[34:14] then decide whether or not I'm actually

[34:16] going to worry about it because I know

[34:18] now that my threat detector is set at

[34:21] different levels, right? And and that

[34:24] sometimes things that can seem dangerous

[34:25] aren't. Um, and I'm usually able to talk

[34:28] myself out of having a big reaction to

[34:31] something, understanding this

[34:32] information, right? And even if I'm not

[34:35] able to save myself from totally losing

[34:37] my mind, right, I'm able to then after I

[34:39] calm down to be able to revisit whatever

[34:41] it was that I was upset about and then

[34:44] walk myself through it, understanding

[34:46] what was actually happening in my body

[34:48] and then leading me to respond the way

[34:49] that I did.

[34:51] >> That's great practical practical advice.

[34:53] Um, do you want to lean into these like

[34:56] with this new understanding? Do you want

[34:58] to lean into the cycle?

[35:01] >> I mean, I think that it makes sense, you

[35:03] know, and and the the thing is is that

[35:05] it's like I think that it's up to

[35:07] everybody to make that decision on their

[35:09] own. You know what I mean? Like I think

[35:11] so for me, um, I find that understanding

[35:15] my cycle and kind of leaning into it has

[35:18] been incredibly useful to me. Um, it's

[35:20] been useful to me in terms of like, you

[35:23] know, I now change the way that I work

[35:25] out and I tend to prioritize heavy

[35:28] lifting during the first two weeks and I

[35:30] tend to do more restorative work during

[35:32] the second two weeks just cuz that felt

[35:33] right for me. But it might not feel

[35:35] right for everybody else. But it's

[35:37] allowed me to get stronger and and in a

[35:39] way that feels less terrible than the

[35:42] way that I was doing things before. And

[35:45] you know, and I very much have learned

[35:47] now to trust my hunger. And when I'm

[35:50] hungrier, I'll eat more. And um and

[35:52] that's also been really transformative

[35:54] for me in just in sort of letting go of

[35:57] the idea that I need to be eating

[35:59] according to some set of guidelines that

[36:01] doesn't even necessarily apply to my

[36:02] body. And I think that's been really

[36:04] useful. And it's also been useful for me

[36:07] as I consider, you know, how I'm feeling

[36:09] on a given day. you know, it doesn't

[36:11] always save me like like I said from

[36:13] losing my like if I'm really upset about

[36:15] something that seems like it's really

[36:17] upsetting and I know that I'm in the

[36:19] middle of the ludial phase and I know

[36:21] that my you know you know alarm bells

[36:23] are are probably um firing um just

[36:26] because they're they're highly attuned

[36:28] to threat. Um, that doesn't always save

[36:31] me from having a bad day, but it

[36:33] definitely gives me a better aftermath

[36:35] where I'm able to, okay, I know what's

[36:37] going on there. Um, and move on with my

[36:40] life, you know, and not think and and,

[36:42] you know, well, if I was feeling this

[36:44] way, there must be something, you know,

[36:46] going on. Um, you know, I'm I'm able to

[36:49] recognize it and then kind of move on

[36:51] with my life in a better way. Um, and

[36:54] and it also, like I said, it's allowed

[36:55] me to communicate better with my

[36:57] partner. Um because I mean there's a lot

[36:59] of things about what we tend to think of

[37:02] as normal that are very male, you know,

[37:06] which just, you know, the the

[37:08] one-sizefits-all nutritional guidelines

[37:10] is one. One sizefits-all sort of

[37:12] emotional responses to things in the

[37:14] environment is another one.

[37:16] Oneizefits-all sexual desire is another

[37:18] one. You know, and this is another thing

[37:20] I talk about in my book is that um

[37:22] women's sexual desire falls across the

[37:24] cycle and it it changes across the cycle

[37:26] and it means very different things

[37:29] depending on where you are in your

[37:30] cycle. Um and you know, one of the

[37:33] things that you and I talked about at

[37:34] the top was we talked about the fact

[37:37] that you know, it is unusual for a

[37:40] mammal, a mamalian female to be having

[37:43] sex across the cycle. Most mamlian

[37:46] females only have sex when fertility is

[37:49] high like when you know in what we would

[37:51] call in the other species we would call

[37:53] estrus but in humans we call it the

[37:55] fertile window and in most species

[37:57] that's the only time that females have

[37:59] sex because sex outside of that window

[38:01] is costly right it's energetically

[38:04] costly just because if you're doing it

[38:05] right sex requires some energy right and

[38:08] it also is costly because it creates an

[38:10] inflammatory response going on in the

[38:12] you know in the vaginal canal and in the

[38:14] cervix because there's going to be

[38:16] nonself genetic material that gets

[38:19] deposited. Um, and that also can create

[38:21] this inflammatory event which is

[38:23] biologically costly in terms of the

[38:25] energy that's used to create

[38:26] inflammation but also because it can

[38:28] potentially um this inflammatory

[38:30] activity can interfere potentially with

[38:32] implantation during this critical

[38:34] implantation window that happens in the

[38:37] ludial phase. And so the fact that we

[38:39] have sex across the cycle is also really

[38:41] interesting and it's it tells us that

[38:43] for humans sex serves more than just you

[38:46] know a reproductive function that it

[38:48] also serves a connection function and uh

[38:52] and this is what ludalphase sex is all

[38:54] about right so what we tend to see when

[38:56] we look at women's sexuality is that

[38:59] rather than you know sort of having you

[39:02] know spontaneous sexual desire every day

[39:04] of the cycle like is the case for men

[39:07] Um, women tend to get, you know, sharp

[39:10] increases in sexual desire and sexual

[39:12] activity right near ovulation. So, in

[39:15] the fertile window, which makes perfect

[39:17] sense, right? Sex can lead to

[39:18] conception. You're going to want to have

[39:19] sex. Um, because evolution by selection

[39:22] would of course select our brain to be

[39:24] designed that way, and they are. Um but

[39:28] then you know what we also tend to see

[39:30] is that with sexual desire decreases in

[39:32] the ludal phase and again the ludal

[39:34] phase being that two weeks in the cycle

[39:36] when progesterone is the primary hormone

[39:39] and pregnancy is not possible from sex.

[39:41] But what we see is that sex that women

[39:43] are having during that time is very much

[39:45] oriented toward connecting with their

[39:47] partners. And we find that women who

[39:50] have the most sex during the ludal phase

[39:52] of their cycle tend to be those women

[39:54] with the strongest need to connect with

[39:56] their partners. So it generally tends to

[39:59] be the women who have the most sex in

[40:01] the ludal phase tend to be women who

[40:04] feel a little bit of a disconnect

[40:06] between how much they are invested in

[40:08] their relationship relative to how much

[40:10] they feel their partner is invested in

[40:12] them. Right? And women who have the

[40:14] largest gap, right? where they feel like

[40:16] their partner is invested less than how

[40:19] much they are invested themselves.

[40:20] They're the ones who are having the most

[40:22] sex in the lydial phase during this time

[40:24] when sex serves this very different

[40:26] function which is about connection and

[40:29] stabilizing the pair bond rather than

[40:31] just you know simply like conception and

[40:34] you know just you know as a result of um

[40:37] what we would call like spontaneous

[40:39] sexual desire which is just desire that

[40:41] comes out of nowhere right it's not

[40:43] desire because it serves some other

[40:45] function like connection or trying to

[40:48] get your partner to empty the

[40:49] dishwasher.

[40:52] Wow, you just said so many interesting

[40:53] things there.

[40:55] >> Um, all right.

[40:55] >> It kind of my mind went back to our

[40:58] collaboration where we talked about um

[41:00] how these hormones in women affect who

[41:03] they're attracted to and they did tests

[41:05] based on the facial structure. So,

[41:07] within that cycle where that when the

[41:09] estrogen's high, they prefer a partner

[41:12] with high testosterone.

[41:14] And I think we were we were in our

[41:16] example in the video, we were comparing

[41:18] women on birth control who had low

[41:20] estrogen, right? Preferred very feminine

[41:23] looking men, more feminine looking. And

[41:25] then women who were not on birth

[41:27] control, higher estrogen, preferred the

[41:30] square jaw, the the big traps, the big

[41:32] shoulders, the

[41:33] >> bigger brows.

[41:35] >> Um,

[41:36] yeah. So, um I'm wondering within the

[41:39] natural cycle,

[41:41] >> do we see women's attraction to men

[41:44] fluctuate just like we do?

[41:46] >> Yeah.

[41:47] >> Yeah. No, totally. So, for a naturally

[41:49] cycling woman, what you generally see is

[41:51] that near ovulation, so when estrogen is

[41:54] high, that you get this preference for

[41:56] these really masculineized male traits,

[41:59] right? So like the deep voice and like

[42:01] you said the big traps and like the

[42:03] square cut jaw and the deeper set eyes

[42:05] and the you know the more pronounced

[42:07] brow ridge and that when women

[42:09] transition into the ludal phase it tends

[42:12] to show a dispreference for these types

[42:14] of qualities. So not like it's not like

[42:17] they are actively you know moving toward

[42:19] somebody who's like you know quote

[42:21] unquote like super feminine. Instead

[42:23] it's less masculineized. So, it seems

[42:25] like they're less zeroed in on those

[42:27] qualities and are instead more focused

[42:30] on the other types of qualities that

[42:32] women choose in their partners, which

[42:34] are those qualities related to somebody

[42:36] being a good partner. So, being, you

[42:38] know, somebody who's um going to be a

[42:41] co-parent with you, for example. And you

[42:44] know, and it's actually like it's it's a

[42:45] really interesting system because um you

[42:49] know, when anybody is choosing a mate,

[42:51] and of course, you know, I'm going to

[42:52] talk about this from a female

[42:53] perspective, but we can also think about

[42:55] this from a male perspective. And it's

[42:57] like when you're choosing a partner,

[42:59] you're choosing a mix of what in the

[43:01] evolutionary sciences we would call

[43:03] direct and indirect benefits. And what

[43:05] this means is you're choosing somebody

[43:07] who's a combination of good genes,

[43:09] right? That's indirect benefits. So

[43:11] these are essentially the qualities that

[43:13] you're going to be passing down to your

[43:15] offspring, right? So you're looking at

[43:16] potential mates and thinking like what

[43:19] genes do I want my children to have,

[43:21] right? And obviously this is all going

[43:22] on unconsciously because most of us

[43:24] don't spend time thinking about that

[43:26] stuff consciously. Although some people

[43:28] do like my mom tells me, she's like, you

[43:30] know, I met your dad and I thought I

[43:32] want that for my kids. Which is so

[43:35] funny. So my mom like if we leave my mom

[43:38] out of the equation for most people you

[43:39] know they're not consciously

[43:40] articulating like I want these genes for

[43:42] my kids but you know whenever we're

[43:44] choosing it's like a mix of these

[43:45] indirect benefits which are the genes

[43:47] that we're looking at for our kids and

[43:50] then direct benefits. So like what are

[43:52] the things that this person is going to

[43:54] offer me and my children in terms of

[43:56] investment of time and resources, right?

[43:58] And anytime that we're picking a

[44:00] partner, it's a combination of these

[44:02] things, right? And so with a woman's

[44:04] cycle, ultimately what we tend to see is

[44:07] that the types of things that our brains

[44:09] emphasize shift cyclically, right? And

[44:12] like during the first, you know, two

[44:14] weeks of the cycle when estrogen is the

[44:15] primary hormone, it's really zeroed in

[44:18] on those indirect good genes benefits

[44:20] where like, ooh, testosterone. Like,

[44:23] yeah, like that suggests a good immune

[44:24] system and like that's really sexy and I

[44:26] like that. And then during the second

[44:28] half of the cycle, it's like, okay, all

[44:30] right, no, that's great and all, but

[44:32] what about all this other stuff? Like,

[44:33] what about provisioning and like what

[44:35] about resource access and what about

[44:37] intelligence? And so it's like women's

[44:40] um what what they prioritize shifts, but

[44:43] it doesn't mean that we have these like

[44:45] wild swings and like oh my gosh, you

[44:46] know, I'm gonna be with this guy for

[44:48] these two weeks and then this other guy

[44:49] for these two weeks. um you know instead

[44:52] it's that during that as we go through

[44:54] the cycle that there's different things

[44:56] that our brain kind of emphasizes and

[44:58] then you know obviously most courtship

[45:00] period you know goes on for longer than

[45:02] a single cycle and so it's like every

[45:05] you know your all of your hormones are

[45:07] kind of getting a vote but within the

[45:09] cont you know so it's like your your

[45:10] estrogen is going to get a vote and so

[45:12] this person has to like meet those

[45:14] qualities and then progesterone is also

[45:16] getting a vote and so this person also

[45:18] needs to possess these other types of

[45:19] qualities

[45:20] And then the result is that we get a

[45:21] decent balance, right? Because it's

[45:23] always a trade-off, right? Because

[45:24] nobody's got a perfect partner. And so

[45:25] we're all kind of making these

[45:27] trade-offs between, okay, well, they

[45:29] have to have this and okay, if they

[45:31] don't have that, I can live with it. And

[45:33] um and as our hormones shift, it's part

[45:35] of brokering, you know, these different

[45:37] types of qualities and what we're going

[45:39] to be emphasizing. And and it's really

[45:41] interesting because even within, you

[45:43] know, the course of a single person's

[45:45] relationship, right? What you can see is

[45:48] that the types of things that people

[45:50] appreciate about their partners seems to

[45:52] shift a little bit across the cycle,

[45:54] right? So, a woman, you know, at high

[45:56] fertility when estrogen is the primary

[45:58] hormone, you know, and she sees her

[46:01] partner outside chopping wood. Oh, like,

[46:04] yeah, look at that. Right? Like that's

[46:06] like really interesting to me right now.

[46:08] Whereas, if you're doing that in the

[46:09] second two weeks of the cycle, it might

[46:10] not turn her head, right? And instead

[46:12] what might be really exciting during

[46:14] that time is like oh look you know he's

[46:16] walking around with the baby and like oh

[46:17] thank goodness you know and that's so

[46:18] wonderful and I love that and I'm so

[46:20] attracted to that. And so, you know, we

[46:22] can also even just see the way that this

[46:24] influences the way that we feel about

[46:25] our own relationships, you know, and I

[46:27] think that again, I think that a lot of

[46:29] this is really important um because most

[46:31] of the understanding that most of us

[46:34] have been given about, you know, what

[46:37] sec, you know, what does sex mean and

[46:38] what does sexual desire look like and

[46:40] all this is very much it's very much

[46:42] built on this idea of like it's kind of

[46:45] a male model, right? right? Where it's

[46:46] like, well, sex is sex is sex and if you

[46:49] have low libido, it means there's a

[46:50] relationship problem or maybe you're not

[46:52] even attracted to your partner, right?

[46:54] Whereas, if you're a female, it's like,

[46:56] no, actually, you know, women's libido

[46:58] waxes and waines with the cycle. It's

[47:00] high with the high estrogen. it falls

[47:01] with um progesterone and and when you do

[47:04] have you know when you do want to have

[47:06] sex in um in the second phase of the

[47:08] cycle that you know it might not be

[47:11] about like this like you know quicky

[47:13] sexual gratification that you wanted two

[47:16] weeks earlier. it might be more about

[47:17] connecting with your partner and so

[47:19] you're going to want to schedule more

[47:20] time for that and it's not just going to

[47:22] be the oneoff in the mornings it's going

[47:23] to make you upset and so I mean there's

[47:25] a lot of things that you know about this

[47:27] that can really um I think to help women

[47:30] you know not over because I I think that

[47:32] especially with sexuality because female

[47:34] sexuality is just different than male

[47:36] sexuality and I think that all of the

[47:37] beliefs that we have about what good sex

[47:39] is and like what it's supposed to look

[47:41] like and um and the meaning of you know

[47:44] having changing libido

[47:47] um is is all very much based on the male

[47:49] model. And I and have known a lot of

[47:52] women who spent a lot of time needlessly

[47:55] worrying about the quality of their

[47:56] relationship based on their shifting

[47:58] libido when it's just the nature of

[48:00] being female, right? And and that you

[48:02] don't need to be spending that time

[48:04] worrying about it because generally um

[48:06] this is just what is normal for us.

[48:10] Wow, that was very well explained. And

[48:13] it um that's going to change some of my

[48:15] behavior patterns now because, you know,

[48:18] I'll I'll try to be aware of where we

[48:19] are in the cycle and I'll say, "Okay,

[48:21] it's time to chop wood now. Time to, you

[48:24] know, do the things that boost up the

[48:25] testosterone." And then maybe the second

[48:28] two weeks, I'm baking cookies and I've

[48:31] got a snuggly blanket and I'm like,

[48:32] "Here, let's uh watch this movie that

[48:34] let's watch this chick flick together."

[48:38] I I I mean I think that I think you're

[48:40] set. I mean do doing that alone is like

[48:43] Yeah. You're like you're like three

[48:44] steps ahead of of most men.

[48:48] >> Cheat codes. So

[48:49] >> yeah. Exactly. Like I said, my my my uh

[48:52] my husband always tells people he's like

[48:53] if if I was out on the open streets, I'd

[48:55] be dangerous.

[48:58] >> Yeah.

[49:01] So, is there a way to naturally boost

[49:03] these uh you know, estrogen or

[49:07] progesterone,

[49:08] >> right? Yeah. Well, I mean, there's ways

[49:09] that we can support our cycle for sure.

[49:11] And, you know, one of the things that

[49:13] most people don't realize and and this

[49:15] is um this is like something I didn't I

[49:19] don't know that I really even

[49:20] appreciated until the last five or six

[49:22] years. And it was, you know, we were

[49:24] doing some research in our lab where we

[49:26] were studying women's cycles and the way

[49:28] that cycling hormones affect this

[49:30] outcome and that outcome and responses

[49:32] to stress and some other things. And um

[49:35] and so we recruit we were recruiting

[49:37] women and we were going to measure their

[49:38] hormones across the cycle and see how

[49:41] they responded to a stress intervention

[49:43] that we were doing. And um and you know

[49:46] we only recruited healthy women who have

[49:49] regular menstrual cycles, right? So

[49:51] women who say I have no endocrine

[49:53] disorders, I have a regular cycle, you

[49:55] know, da da da. And they were all

[49:57] between the ages of like 19 and 25. So

[50:00] this is like a nice like fertile, you

[50:02] know, group of healthy women. And we

[50:05] found that the fail the rate of failure

[50:07] to ovulate within the course of a given

[50:10] cycle, whenever it was that we were

[50:11] measuring it, was about 30%.

[50:14] Right? And so these are women with

[50:16] normal cycles who are healthy and peak

[50:18] reproductive age. And so I was checking

[50:20] with some of my colleagues because I'm

[50:21] like, we have to be doing something

[50:23] wrong. Everybody gets about the same

[50:25] rate. They get a rate of about 30%

[50:27] failure to ovulate um within a given

[50:29] sample at at any given time.

[50:31] >> And and what what does that mean?

[50:33] Failure to ovulate. Does that mean the

[50:34] egg didn't implant?

[50:36] >> It never got released. No, just in

[50:38] release.

[50:39] >> Right. And so this is this is a cycle

[50:41] where a woman's body is not producing

[50:43] its full range of sex hormones because

[50:45] one thing that people don't really

[50:47] recognize about ovulation is that it is

[50:50] not only this process by which you know

[50:51] we create this egg that you know makes

[50:54] this magical journey down the fallopian

[50:55] tube but it's also the process by which

[50:57] our body creates hormones. So um when

[51:00] the eggs are proliferating like and

[51:02] getting ready for one to get released

[51:04] that causes the release of uh relatively

[51:06] high levels of estrogen right that's how

[51:08] we produce most of our estrogen is

[51:10] through this process of stimulating egg

[51:12] follicles and then after estrogen or

[51:14] after the egg gets released that empty

[51:17] egg follicle becomes an endocrine

[51:19] structure that releases progesterone

[51:22] right our other sex hormone. And so if

[51:24] you don't ovulate, sometimes you'll get

[51:26] eggs that start to develop and release a

[51:28] little bit of estrogen, but then if

[51:30] nothing gets released, no progesterone

[51:32] is released, right? Or you can get cases

[51:34] where the, you know, the brain is

[51:37] telling the ovaries like, "Hey, let's

[51:38] get at it, guys." And they just like

[51:41] don't really do it. They're like, "No,

[51:42] not this cycle. I'm not doing it." And

[51:44] so then you don't get estrogen released

[51:46] or progesterone. And so what this means

[51:49] is that to be hormonally healthy and to

[51:52] sort of experience the full spectrum of

[51:55] your sex hormones, you need to be

[51:56] ovulating, right? And the fact that we

[51:59] have about 30% of cycles, you know, on a

[52:02] just a given cycle getting a rate of

[52:04] about 30% non- ovulation

[52:07] tells us that women are experiencing

[52:10] failure to ovulate a lot more frequently

[52:12] than they probably have any idea about.

[52:14] Because a lot of times when you have

[52:16] failure to ovulate, you still have your

[52:18] regular period, right? A lot of times

[52:20] you'll get it. It won't look like any

[52:22] other cycle. It might be lighter. It's

[52:24] usually lighter cuz the endometrial

[52:26] layer didn't uh proliferate as much. Um

[52:28] but a lot of times even the timing won't

[52:30] be very different. It'll look like a

[52:32] regular cycle. Um and so you know what

[52:36] are the what's the reason for this right

[52:38] is the question. Like why are so many

[52:40] women failing to ovulate? And um and the

[52:43] reason for this is I mean largely and

[52:45] and it's it's it's like it's like the

[52:47] deep evolutionary wisdom of our bodies

[52:50] is that we will not release an egg,

[52:53] right? If we're getting a lot of input

[52:55] from the environment that says pregnancy

[52:58] would be a terrible idea right now,

[53:00] right? So what are some of the things

[53:02] that sort of um lead to failure to

[53:04] ovulate? Stress, right? And this is like

[53:08] one of these, you know, things that it's

[53:09] like we all know, but like no, like we

[53:12] don't really appreciate. It's like we

[53:13] know it, but we don't understand it. Uh

[53:15] stress is really bad for hormone

[53:17] production because it's it's bad for

[53:18] ovulation. And when we have too much

[53:21] stress that's not getting resolved, um

[53:23] our, you know, our brain will be telling

[53:25] our ovaries like, "Hey, let's go ahead

[53:27] and get kicking on some um egg

[53:29] production." And our ovaries will just

[53:32] won't do it right. they'll um cause the

[53:35] release of other types of hormones which

[53:36] will actually disrupt ovulation and then

[53:38] you're not producing estrogen, you're

[53:40] not produc producing progesterone. So

[53:42] you're not getting exposed to these uh

[53:43] sex hormones that you would normally be

[53:45] um exposed to.

[53:47] Imunological events in your body, right?

[53:49] So things like chronic inflammation and

[53:51] we get chronic inflammation just simply

[53:53] because you know if we're eating a

[53:55] terrible diet and again having a lot of

[53:57] stress um these are things that can

[53:59] cause inflammation in the body or um if

[54:01] we're sick or if we get an a vaccine or

[54:04] an immunization and this isn't to say

[54:06] don't get vaccines or don't get

[54:07] immunizations. It just means that for

[54:09] that cycle, it might it might push you

[54:12] back a couple of days because when your

[54:14] body is sick or dealing with any type of

[54:16] a stressor, whether it's imunological or

[54:18] otherwise, it's not going to ovulate.

[54:20] It's going to say, "No way." Or if

[54:22] you're not getting enough food. So, if

[54:24] women are taking in fewer calories than

[54:26] they're expending, this can also lead to

[54:28] failure to ovulate. Not having social

[54:31] connections. And this is another one

[54:33] where it's like it doesn't sound like it

[54:36] should be that important, but it really

[54:38] is. And they've done studies where they

[54:39] have done these experimental paradigms

[54:42] where they'll exclude women where

[54:44] they'll just like make women feel like

[54:46] they've been left out of an activity and

[54:48] it feels really bad to the women and

[54:50] their bodies will start to release

[54:52] progesterone while in the follicular

[54:55] phase, which is something that disrupts

[54:57] ovulation. And so it's like the body is

[54:59] essentially saying, "Nope." Like we may

[55:01] have started some egg proliferation down

[55:03] there, but we're not going to do it.

[55:04] We're going to disrupt this because, you

[55:06] know, you don't have the the village

[55:09] that's required to successfully raise a

[55:11] child. And so we're not going to ovulate

[55:13] the cycle. And um so the things that we

[55:15] really can do to help promote hormone

[55:18] production, promote uh regular ovulation

[55:20] is really try to create an environment

[55:23] both the physical environment of our

[55:25] body and the social environment that we

[55:27] live in that is supportive of a

[55:29] pregnancy you know and and and this

[55:32] means you know self-care. This means

[55:35] making sure that you have social

[55:36] connections and that you feel like you

[55:38] have the support of other people around

[55:39] you. It means taking good care of your

[55:42] physical health by getting enough sleep,

[55:44] making sure that you're eating whole

[55:46] foods, right? So, like actual food and

[55:49] not some of this, you know, processed

[55:51] stuff that sort of masquerades as food

[55:53] in our current environment, getting

[55:55] exercise, making sure you're eating

[55:57] enough, um, regulating your stress. Um,

[56:00] and you know, if you take these, if you

[56:03] take small steps and in my new book, I

[56:05] spend a lot of time just like talking

[56:07] about things that are actually

[56:09] actionable that you can do because it's

[56:11] like on the one hand, we all know,

[56:13] right, that exercise is good for us,

[56:15] right? And we all know that we need to

[56:17] get more sleep and we all know that we

[56:18] need to do better with stress and we all

[56:20] know we need to eat healthier foods. Um,

[56:22] but it's like actually trying to do

[56:24] these things that is generally the

[56:25] roadblock because people have the

[56:27] information. and they just have a hard

[56:28] time trying to figure out how to

[56:30] actually implement this and they're

[56:31] really already really busy lives. And so

[56:33] I spend a little bit of time in addition

[56:35] to talking about hormones and you know

[56:37] supporting hormones and understanding

[56:39] ourselves in the season of different

[56:40] hormones also spend a little bit of time

[56:42] just really talking about actionable

[56:44] steps that you can take um to start make

[56:47] some making some of the positive changes

[56:49] in your life that many people do need to

[56:51] make in order to help support their

[56:53] hormones and uh and and their cycles.

[56:58] That's brilliant. And it makes me think

[57:00] of a lot of older couples I know, late

[57:03] 30s, even 40s, that are um trying really

[57:06] hard to get pregnant right now.

[57:08] >> And um it's not easy.

[57:11] >> And so I'm wondering like

[57:14] >> Oh, I'm just wondering like what advice

[57:15] you have for people.

[57:17] >> You know, it sounds like you gave sleep,

[57:19] exercise, be with friends. That's a good

[57:21] place to start. Do you have like a a

[57:23] guide book for

[57:25] >> success manage stress? Yeah. Well, no.

[57:27] So, I actually, you know, in my in in

[57:29] the book, one of the the things I talk

[57:31] about, I have a whole chapter that's

[57:32] really dedicated towards supporting

[57:34] ovulation, right? So, understanding it.

[57:38] So, learning how to measure it within

[57:39] your body. So, I spend time talking

[57:40] about that and the different things that

[57:42] you can do depending on how involved you

[57:43] want to be. Right? For some people, it's

[57:45] going to be using a um, you know, an

[57:47] external um, fertility monitor where

[57:49] they just like pee in a cup and then

[57:51] they're told. For other people, it can

[57:52] be getting down and dirty with their

[57:54] cervix and and cervical mucus and these

[57:56] other things. And I I cover both extreme

[57:58] because some people really like getting

[58:01] into things and other people do not and

[58:03] they just want to test and see things

[58:04] that way. And so I talk about the

[58:06] different ways that you can be keeping

[58:07] track of your fertility and also the

[58:09] different ways you can support

[58:10] ovulation. And I mean honestly it really

[58:12] is as simple as um you know really

[58:15] supporting the physical health of your

[58:16] body and the pillars of the physical

[58:18] health of your body are unchanged you

[58:21] know from the times of our distant

[58:22] ancestors and it's like making sure that

[58:24] you're getting good quality sleep. Um

[58:26] and the easiest way to do this in my

[58:29] view has been um you know getting that

[58:31] morning sunlight to help set your

[58:33] circadian rhythms. And it's really very

[58:36] easy, you know, like one of the things

[58:38] that I I did and I and I talk a little

[58:40] bit about this in the book. Um, but you

[58:42] know, I started out because my my sleep

[58:45] is always been a difficult thing for me

[58:47] because I have a lot of irons in the

[58:49] fire and as happens with people with a

[58:51] lot of irons in the fire. It's like your

[58:52] brain races and um and so I was like I I

[58:55] know I knew I needed to get serious with

[58:57] my sleep. And so every morning I was

[58:59] drinking coffee anyway and I was like,

[59:01] "Okay, I'm going to go and drink my

[59:03] coffee out of the patio, right? And so

[59:06] and so in the morning I just like made a

[59:08] simple change, right? Something I was

[59:09] already doing, right? Drinking my

[59:11] coffee. And I just moved that habit of

[59:13] mine outside, right? And James Clear

[59:15] talks about this in his book Atomic

[59:17] Habits, right? It's called habit

[59:18] stacking where it's like you take

[59:20] something you're already doing and then

[59:21] you just like add something on to it

[59:23] that's positive that promotes some sort

[59:25] of a change you want in your life." And

[59:27] so for me it started off of my morning

[59:28] coffee outside, right? And that actually

[59:31] ended up turning into a morning coffee

[59:33] walk, right? So the next thing that I

[59:35] was doing is I was like, you know, cuz

[59:38] I'm pretty good about going to the gym,

[59:39] but I just felt like I needed to have

[59:42] some sort of restorative green exercise

[59:44] cuz that way I would do both moving my

[59:46] body and also getting some like sort of

[59:49] stress relief. And there's a lot of

[59:50] really great research about the effects

[59:52] of green space on, you know, regulating

[59:55] our stress responses. And so then I

[59:57] started eventually and it took a couple

[01:00:00] months and I never even had this as um

[01:00:02] like a goal. Like it just my original

[01:00:03] goal was just to have my coffee outside

[01:00:05] and then it was like I would lace up my

[01:00:07] sneakers and I'd take my cup of coffee

[01:00:09] and I would just go for a quick little

[01:00:10] walk, right? Then that walk kept getting

[01:00:13] longer and longer and now I have my

[01:00:15] coffee and then I go out for a walk

[01:00:17] that's too long to be carrying coffee

[01:00:19] and I'm drinking my water instead. But

[01:00:21] it's like my my morning is kind of

[01:00:22] transformed in this really positive way.

[01:00:25] Um and it all started by just my simple

[01:00:27] cup of coffee in the morning which was

[01:00:28] an outside coffee and then a coffee walk

[01:00:30] and then a regular walk and um you know

[01:00:32] and you can kind of build from there but

[01:00:34] um you know getting getting good sleep

[01:00:36] like getting that morning sunlight it

[01:00:37] really has done a lot for me in terms of

[01:00:39] helping to regulate my circadian rhythms

[01:00:41] and making sure that then I'm also in

[01:00:43] bed no later than 10:00 at night and um

[01:00:47] and sort of powering things down before

[01:00:49] then um has been really useful. So

[01:00:51] getting good sleep, eating whole foods

[01:00:53] like healthful foods and one of the

[01:00:56] things I talk about in the body or in

[01:00:58] the body, one of the things I talk about

[01:00:59] in the book is that there's no research

[01:01:02] that support, you know, it's like

[01:01:03] there's lots of different versions of

[01:01:04] healthy eating, right? And there's no

[01:01:06] consensus on like what the best like is

[01:01:08] it Mediterranean, is it plant-based, is

[01:01:10] it, you know, um keto, is it, you know,

[01:01:13] and different people's bodies respond to

[01:01:15] different things. And so I just kind of

[01:01:16] talk about what the sort of pillars are

[01:01:18] of a good diet and then you can kind of

[01:01:20] pick and choose the one that you feel

[01:01:21] the best because what I've learned is

[01:01:23] that there really is no oneizefits-all

[01:01:25] like best nutritional guidelines cuz

[01:01:27] like I eat mostly plants. I do eat

[01:01:29] animal protein but not not as much as

[01:01:32] most folks do. I eat mostly plants. But

[01:01:34] I know a lot of people who would eat the

[01:01:35] way that I eat and their blood work

[01:01:37] looks terrible and they feel terrible,

[01:01:38] right? Whereas for me my blood work

[01:01:40] looks awesome and like when I start to

[01:01:42] add in too many animal products, my

[01:01:43] blood work starts to look terrible. And

[01:01:45] so everybody's a little bit different

[01:01:46] and I think it probably has something to

[01:01:48] do with our different, you know, sort of

[01:01:49] lineages and um where our ancestors came

[01:01:52] from and some, you know, genetic stuff

[01:01:54] and um anyway, so I talk about different

[01:01:56] ways that you can eat, but eating

[01:01:58] healthy, moving your body, you know,

[01:02:00] getting exercise is um so good for

[01:02:03] managing mood related changes and across

[01:02:05] the cycle. You know, one of the things

[01:02:07] that um you know, women sort of

[01:02:10] experience that they don't like are some

[01:02:12] of the mood changes that they get across

[01:02:13] the cycle. And you can really minimize a

[01:02:15] lot of those um again with good health

[01:02:18] because when we do things like exercise

[01:02:20] and eat healthy food and get enough

[01:02:22] sleep and have our village around us, it

[01:02:24] supports ovulation, but it also supports

[01:02:27] our resilience to hormonal changes,

[01:02:30] meaning that we're able to ride those

[01:02:32] waves of hormonal change in a way that

[01:02:34] doesn't feel really disruptive and

[01:02:36] instead just feels like riding a wave,

[01:02:39] you know? So anything that you can do to

[01:02:41] support the physical health of your body

[01:02:42] and then also again think about you know

[01:02:46] and and and I think all of us can do

[01:02:48] this because it's a very tangible thing

[01:02:49] to think about but just like imagine the

[01:02:51] optimal environment to bring a baby into

[01:02:54] the world right imagine the optimal

[01:02:57] environment right where there's a lot of

[01:02:58] support there's a lot of love right

[01:03:01] there's trust there's not so much stress

[01:03:04] right that that it's a feeling like like

[01:03:06] there's it's serene right there's access

[01:03:09] to food, you know, enough food. Um, and

[01:03:12] and building those environments is

[01:03:15] really, you know, ultimately all of

[01:03:17] those things are sending signals to the

[01:03:19] nervous system which are ultimately

[01:03:21] sending signals to the rest of the body

[01:03:23] that are either going to promote or

[01:03:25] impede ovulation. And so, it's like

[01:03:27] almost like act like you have the baby

[01:03:30] already, right? What is the environment

[01:03:32] that you would want for that baby?

[01:03:33] Create that for yourself, right? Create

[01:03:36] that for yourself first. And then that

[01:03:38] usually eases um the transition. And you

[01:03:41] know a lot of people who struggle with

[01:03:42] infertility, the stress of infertility

[01:03:45] becomes part of the problem, right?

[01:03:47] Which is why a lot of um couples, you'll

[01:03:50] hear these stories about where they made

[01:03:51] the decision to adopt or they made the

[01:03:53] decision to do something else and all of

[01:03:54] a sudden they got pregnant. And it's

[01:03:56] because the stress was gone. And it's

[01:03:58] like our our our fertility is very

[01:04:01] responsive to stress because a female

[01:04:03] body wants absolutely nothing to do with

[01:04:06] a pregnancy that it's not going to be

[01:04:07] able to carry out all the way, right?

[01:04:09] And so it's just like again and this

[01:04:11] gets at the fact that pregnancy for

[01:04:12] females is incredibly costly and risky,

[01:04:15] right? So if you're getting all these

[01:04:16] environmental cues that are telling you

[01:04:18] you don't have enough, you know, care in

[01:04:20] your environment or things are too

[01:04:22] stressful or, you know, there's not

[01:04:24] enough food, your body is going to not

[01:04:26] want to ovulate. is going to say, "No,

[01:04:27] we're not doing that this time. Next

[01:04:29] time, maybe. Let's see how things go

[01:04:30] next month." Um, and so supporting

[01:04:33] fertility is creating that environment

[01:04:35] where the body feels safe to ovulate.

[01:04:38] >> That's fantastic advice. Are there any

[01:04:41] um external factors um simple tips that

[01:04:44] we should absolutely stay away from like

[01:04:46] microwaving things in plastic or things

[01:04:49] like that?

[01:04:50] >> Well, yeah. I mean, look, you you don't

[01:04:52] want to be doing that. Endocrine

[01:04:53] disrupting compounds are a real

[01:04:55] phenomenon. I mean, and and they are

[01:04:57] messing with hormones. I mean, there's

[01:04:59] just no doubt about it. And, you know,

[01:05:00] one of the things that you and I had

[01:05:02] talked about offline over email was

[01:05:04] about this. You know, girls are going

[01:05:06] into puberty at like nine, you know, and

[01:05:08] it's because they're exposed to all of

[01:05:10] these xenoestrogens

[01:05:12] um that are disruptive to their

[01:05:14] endocrine system and is essentially, you

[01:05:16] know, putting them into a time of

[01:05:19] fertility when they're very young. Um,

[01:05:21] and this is not good. Um, and so yeah,

[01:05:23] avoiding, you know, avoiding endocrine

[01:05:25] disrupting compounds, just making the

[01:05:27] some simple swaps like not having things

[01:05:30] in plastic. Like I we made the switch

[01:05:33] away from um plastic bottles and away

[01:05:35] from plastic storage containers um a

[01:05:38] couple years ago. And you know, it's a

[01:05:40] little bit of an investment, but it

[01:05:41] really is worth it. Um and to the extent

[01:05:44] that you're comfortable also swapping

[01:05:45] out skinincare products. So, um they

[01:05:48] have these really wonderful um uh apps

[01:05:51] now that will allow you to scan labels

[01:05:54] and it will tell you like whether

[01:05:56] something is good or bad or sort of in

[01:05:57] the middle and then if it has a bunch of

[01:06:00] endocrine disrupting compounds in it, it

[01:06:02] will actually give you alternatives like

[01:06:04] alternative products within a similar

[01:06:06] price point that you can buy. Okay. And

[01:06:08] I love and I wish I remember the name of

[01:06:10] the app because I would um and maybe I

[01:06:11] can send it to you and you can link it

[01:06:12] in the notes, the show notes, but um but

[01:06:14] I love it and it's been really helpful

[01:06:16] because we've been trying to in my

[01:06:18] household getting away from some of

[01:06:20] these endocrine disrupting compounds. Um

[01:06:23] but I mean honestly even more than that

[01:06:26] is really just the absolute like the

[01:06:29] pillars of of good physical health

[01:06:31] eating real food, right? Like if you eat

[01:06:34] a real like a diet that is comprised of

[01:06:36] like healthy foods, our body is actually

[01:06:40] pretty reasonably good at getting rid of

[01:06:42] things that it doesn't need to be

[01:06:43] holding on to. Um and so like having a

[01:06:46] lot of um cruciferous vegetables and

[01:06:48] that sort of thing helps your body to

[01:06:50] process and eliminate microplastics. And

[01:06:52] I'm not saying that we shouldn't worry

[01:06:54] about plastics cuz we absolutely should.

[01:06:56] But um if if I had to say like one or

[01:06:58] two things that people should do, it's

[01:07:01] like eating swapping out the

[01:07:02] ultrarocessed foods for actual healthful

[01:07:06] nutritious food items I think is

[01:07:08] probably the most important thing

[01:07:09] followed very closely by physical

[01:07:11] activity. those two things alone. I

[01:07:14] mean, and not only, you know, is that

[01:07:16] going to take care of, you know, helping

[01:07:18] to promote ovulation and doing all these

[01:07:20] other things, it's also going to take

[01:07:21] care of all the other health issues, you

[01:07:23] know, mental health issues and physical

[01:07:25] health issues that tend to um tend to

[01:07:28] unfortunately um you know, be part of

[01:07:31] the western industrialized um life

[01:07:34] experience.

[01:07:37] >> Yeah, well said. It seems like we've

[01:07:38] created this uh world of convenience,

[01:07:40] but a lot of that convenience is hurting

[01:07:42] our ability to live on and reproduce.

[01:07:45] Um, but I did want to I I really like

[01:07:48] that you mentioned that uh puberty uh

[01:07:50] situation, which shocked me when I heard

[01:07:52] it, and I just wrote down something

[01:07:53] here. Um, that research shows that girls

[01:07:56] are going through puberty earlier. In

[01:07:57] the 1800s and early 1900s, the average

[01:08:00] age of puberty for girls was 12 to 14

[01:08:02] years old. Now, it's 9 to 11 years old.

[01:08:06] Um, a large US study showed that 23% of

[01:08:09] black girls, 15% of Hispanic girls, and

[01:08:13] 10% of white girls were showing signs of

[01:08:15] breast development by age seven.

[01:08:17] >> So, I mean that these stats are there's

[01:08:20] a lot of them that kind of blow you

[01:08:22] away. So, I'm curious to know like what

[01:08:24] do you think's going on here?

[01:08:26] >> I mean, I think that it's a combination

[01:08:27] of things, right? So one is that you

[01:08:30] know exposure to endocrine disrupting

[01:08:32] compounds is absolutely um affecting

[01:08:35] fertility. I mean in in in in sort of in

[01:08:38] and when I say fertility um here I'm

[01:08:40] talking about in the context of when

[01:08:42] people enter puberty right and um and if

[01:08:45] you're getting exposed to endocrine

[01:08:47] disrupting compounds you're going to

[01:08:48] have earlier puberty. Um if you're

[01:08:50] getting xenoestrogens bombarding your

[01:08:52] system um other things going on number

[01:08:54] two is excess body weight. Um so

[01:08:58] atyposity

[01:08:59] um creates estrogen right? So um fat in

[01:09:03] addition to all the other things that it

[01:09:04] does is an endocr and works as an

[01:09:06] endocrine organ in the body and it

[01:09:08] causes the release of estrogens. And

[01:09:11] what this means is that it lowers male

[01:09:13] fertility which is one of the reasons

[01:09:15] that we're seeing male fertility so low

[01:09:17] is that their testosterone is being

[01:09:18] aromatized through this um this compound

[01:09:22] called aromatase which um transfers it

[01:09:24] into estrogen and you get that in the

[01:09:27] context of high body weight and then in

[01:09:29] girls you just get really high levels of

[01:09:31] estrogen right so they are also

[01:09:33] aromatizing their testosterone and um

[01:09:36] and then they're having you know these

[01:09:37] higher levels of estrogen and so these

[01:09:40] girls are getting exposed to more

[01:09:41] estrogen earlier which is then you know

[01:09:43] kicking them off down a path of early

[01:09:45] pubertal development right so atapost

[01:09:47] tissue also creates estrogen which then

[01:09:50] can contribute to these different

[01:09:52] patterns and then lastly there's a lot

[01:09:54] there's a whole body of research that

[01:09:56] shows that psychosocial stress

[01:09:58] especially um this the type of stress

[01:10:00] that you encounter in your early

[01:10:02] childhood environment also plays a role

[01:10:05] in girls pubertal timing and that girls

[01:10:07] who grow up in unpredictable

[01:10:09] environments or envir environments where

[01:10:11] there's not an investing father that

[01:10:13] these types of environments tend to

[01:10:15] promote early puberty in girls. And the

[01:10:18] idea is that what's happening is with

[01:10:21] these types of cues that it's sending

[01:10:23] women's nervous system or young girls

[01:10:25] nervous system this idea that the

[01:10:28] environment is unsafe. Male investment

[01:10:31] is unpredictable. And so the best sort

[01:10:33] of life history strategy that you can

[01:10:36] have is one where you reproduce early,

[01:10:38] right? just in case you don't survive

[01:10:40] very long, right? Because whenever you

[01:10:42] have an environment where there's a lot

[01:10:43] of unpredictability and lack of male

[01:10:45] investment, this suggests that this is,

[01:10:48] you know, not a great environment for

[01:10:50] survival, right? This isn't um the type

[01:10:52] of environment where you wait and have a

[01:10:55] baby at 32 and, you know, because you

[01:10:58] you don't know what's going to happen

[01:10:59] next. unpredictability, lack of um

[01:11:01] paternal care are both related to um

[01:11:04] environmental uh uncertainty and that

[01:11:08] then sort of shunts girls into what we

[01:11:10] call like a faster life history

[01:11:12] strategy. And so there's also a lot of

[01:11:14] research indicating that lack of male

[01:11:16] investment, unpredictability because of

[01:11:18] things like poverty, um these different

[01:11:21] types of features of the environment

[01:11:22] alto also predict early pubertal timing

[01:11:25] in girls. And so you put all of these

[01:11:27] things together, which is what you get

[01:11:30] in some of these cases of very early

[01:11:32] pubertal development and it's kind of a

[01:11:34] perfect storm, right? If you have

[01:11:35] somebody who is living in poverty and

[01:11:38] they don't have an investing dad and

[01:11:40] because they're living in poverty,

[01:11:41] they're eating a lot of processed foods.

[01:11:43] They're getting exposure to a lot of

[01:11:44] chemicals, right? They're not getting

[01:11:46] the types of foods that tend to detoxify

[01:11:49] um you know these uh endocrine

[01:11:51] disrupting compounds. you have excess at

[01:11:53] adoposity which is also creating um

[01:11:55] xenoestrogens and storing them because

[01:11:57] that's the other thing that body fat

[01:11:59] does is it stores these all this garbage

[01:12:01] right so all of the toxins and stuff um

[01:12:03] that we come in counter with or into

[01:12:05] contact with get stored in body fat

[01:12:07] which is just another reason that having

[01:12:09] excess atapost tissue isn't healthy for

[01:12:11] us and then if you're also in an

[01:12:13] unpredictable environment that is sort

[01:12:15] of shunting you down this fast life path

[01:12:17] anyway I mean it's it's a perfect storm

[01:12:19] for early puberty

[01:12:22] Ah, so are we seeing that in in certain

[01:12:24] countries that are kind of quote unquote

[01:12:26] developed this early puberty is

[01:12:28] happening more than maybe a country that

[01:12:30] is uh rural um third world maybe not

[01:12:34] >> maybe a place where the fathers are

[01:12:36] living in the home with the family.

[01:12:38] >> Yeah. Uh so what's really interesting is

[01:12:40] that it really does depend, you know,

[01:12:42] the the the father absence effects on

[01:12:45] early pubertal timing does seem to be um

[01:12:48] particularly uh what's the word I'm

[01:12:51] looking for? Like a like a like a

[01:12:53] catalyst for early puberty specifically

[01:12:57] in the context of environmental

[01:12:59] unpredictability. So if you're in an

[01:13:00] unpredictable environment um you know

[01:13:03] with an absent father that this can kind

[01:13:05] of shift you down this faster path. If

[01:13:07] you're in an environment that's more

[01:13:09] characterized by predictability, even if

[01:13:12] you have poverty, um that that tends to

[01:13:16] actually slow things down, right?

[01:13:18] Because it's essentially sending

[01:13:19] different signals to the brain. In one

[01:13:22] set of signals, it's just like, okay,

[01:13:23] there's not a lot of resources, but we

[01:13:25] know that everything is consistent. So,

[01:13:27] I can make a I can forecast about what

[01:13:29] things are going to be like in the

[01:13:30] future, right? And things are going to

[01:13:32] be tough, but they're going to be, you

[01:13:34] know, I'll probably be alive. And in

[01:13:36] those contexts we actually sometimes

[01:13:37] will see delayed puberty. But in

[01:13:40] environments that are unpredictable in

[01:13:42] poor um you tend to see earlier puberty

[01:13:45] and it all has to do with the amount of

[01:13:48] sort of stochastity

[01:13:50] um within an environment. And so like

[01:13:52] are you able to make predictions about

[01:13:54] what's going to happen tomorrow based on

[01:13:55] what happens today? And if the answer to

[01:13:57] that is no, then that's the type of

[01:13:59] environment that tends to promote early

[01:14:01] puberty.

[01:14:03] >> Yeah, that's well said. It seems that

[01:14:05] makes perfect sense because we're living

[01:14:06] in a time where it seems like change is

[01:14:08] happening more and more rapidly. And if

[01:14:13] the world never changed, we wouldn't

[01:14:15] need to reproduce. You could just live

[01:14:16] forever because

[01:14:18] >> you're, you know, nothing's changing. So

[01:14:20] there's no need for an organism to

[01:14:22] change. But because the world does

[01:14:24] change, reproduction is kind of like the

[01:14:27] best way to adapt to an ever changing

[01:14:29] world cuz like you're taking you're

[01:14:31] mixing your genes with,

[01:14:34] >> you know, to ensure survival. And so it

[01:14:36] seems like this early puberty is almost

[01:14:38] a response to this rapid change, this

[01:14:40] heightened stress because it's like we

[01:14:43] need to mix our genes to adapt to this

[01:14:45] everchanging world faster and faster and

[01:14:46] faster,

[01:14:47] >> right? And it's like it's like okay like

[01:14:49] I don't um you know I don't know if I'll

[01:14:52] be around tomorrow right because

[01:14:54] everything is changing and and you know

[01:14:56] and who knows um and in in those types

[01:15:00] of context you know the biological

[01:15:01] imperative is pass my jeans on before I

[01:15:04] die right and so if um there's cues that

[01:15:07] you don't really even know that you're

[01:15:10] going to make it you know then it makes

[01:15:12] sense to that you should be ready to

[01:15:15] reproduce sooner rather than later so

[01:15:17] that way you can go ahead and pass your

[01:15:18] genes on to the next generation before

[01:15:20] something terrible happens to you.

[01:15:23] >> It sounds like we're in the perfect

[01:15:24] storm of not being able to reproduce

[01:15:26] very well because we have this this

[01:15:29] turmoil on the women's side and then on

[01:15:31] the male side we have this low

[01:15:33] testosterone

[01:15:34] kind of uh no sperm count

[01:15:38] >> I know

[01:15:38] >> can't get out of the house type of deal.

[01:15:40] >> Yeah. No, it's like it's our our

[01:15:42] hormones are really a mess right now and

[01:15:45] and part of it is you know these

[01:15:46] endocrine disrupting compounds as not it

[01:15:48] noted part of it is excess atoposity so

[01:15:52] body fat is also a complete you know

[01:15:54] it'll totally disregulate hormones and

[01:15:56] that's part of the picture um yeah and

[01:15:59] then you've got these environment these

[01:16:00] quickly changing environments that are

[01:16:03] sending in some ways conflicting signals

[01:16:05] about you know what the body is supposed

[01:16:07] to be doing and then also and this might

[01:16:10] be kind of a controversial hot take. Um,

[01:16:12] but I also wonder whether or not the

[01:16:15] blending of gender roles is also playing

[01:16:18] a role in terms of shifting our sex

[01:16:20] hormones. Um, and I'm not saying this in

[01:16:23] a way where I'm saying that this is bad

[01:16:25] because, you know, we don't want to fall

[01:16:26] prey to the naturalistic fallacy which

[01:16:28] tells us like if it's natural, it's

[01:16:30] good. And, you know, if there's any

[01:16:32] societal intervention on something

[01:16:34] biological, it means it's bad. Cuz I

[01:16:35] don't think that that's true. I don't

[01:16:37] think that the fact that we have less

[01:16:39] demarcated gender roles is bad. It's

[01:16:42] just something that may have unintended

[01:16:44] consequences. And one of those

[01:16:46] unintended consequences may be that it

[01:16:49] it's shifting our hormones a little bit.

[01:16:51] And and the reason I make this hot take

[01:16:53] or I take this hot take is because you

[01:16:55] know we know from research and we talked

[01:16:57] about this at the top of the hour is

[01:16:59] that um when men are doing more

[01:17:01] caregiving that their bodies put a they

[01:17:04] tap the brakes on testosterone

[01:17:05] production because it is

[01:17:07] counterproductive to be producing high

[01:17:09] levels of testosterone when you're

[01:17:10] caring for kids. um you should be more

[01:17:13] patient and you know and not distracted

[01:17:16] by sex and like really focused on the

[01:17:18] kids and um and so we know from research

[01:17:20] that when men are engaged in more

[01:17:22] caregiving their testosterone is a

[01:17:23] little bit lower and men are doing more

[01:17:25] caregiving now than they've ever done

[01:17:27] before in history and so yeah so that is

[01:17:29] probably contributing in some ways to

[01:17:31] men's lower levels of testosterone and

[01:17:34] then women you know are are doing a lot

[01:17:36] more male typical things like you know

[01:17:38] spending a lot of time in the office and

[01:17:40] doing these workrelated

[01:17:42] which are not necessarily increasing

[01:17:44] their testosterone, although they may

[01:17:45] be. And that's a that's an empirical

[01:17:47] question I don't have an answer to, but

[01:17:49] it's certainly stressing women out,

[01:17:51] right? Because they are feeling like

[01:17:52] they're having to be at home and they're

[01:17:53] having to be at work. And this has the

[01:17:56] effect of suppressing ovulation in a lot

[01:17:58] of cases, which is the way that women's

[01:18:01] bodies make most of their sex hormones.

[01:18:03] And so, you know, I have no doubt that

[01:18:05] our changing gender roles have, you

[01:18:07] know, also been contributing to some of

[01:18:09] the hormonal changes we've seen society

[01:18:11] with men's testosterone levels being low

[01:18:14] and women um having higher rates of

[01:18:15] infertility um simply because stress is

[01:18:18] not necessarily um productive in terms

[01:18:22] of ovulation.

[01:18:24] Yeah, I saw this interesting meme

[01:18:26] recently that showed uh like 1960s women

[01:18:29] want to work. 1980s men and women are

[01:18:33] working. 2000s men and women have to

[01:18:36] work. 2020s women have to work and men

[01:18:40] don't want to work. It it was like the

[01:18:42] trajectory of the two um have changed

[01:18:45] courses quite a bit.

[01:18:47] >> Yeah. Yeah. And I mean and and you know

[01:18:49] with that I think I think part of that

[01:18:51] is that you know it's like there's a lot

[01:18:53] of social traps out there right now like

[01:18:56] pornography is a trap right where it's

[01:18:58] like it makes your brain feel like

[01:18:59] you're solving these important adaptive

[01:19:01] problems related to mating right so

[01:19:03] you're getting these rewards without any

[01:19:04] effort. Um, and then you know, social

[01:19:06] media is a social trap, right? It makes

[01:19:08] your brain feel like you're solving all

[01:19:10] these adaptive important adaptive

[01:19:11] problems related to, you know, living in

[01:19:13] groups and and and forming

[01:19:15] relationships, right, without as much

[01:19:18] effort as it takes to go out and do

[01:19:19] things. And you have video games, which

[01:19:21] again is another trap. And you've got

[01:19:23] junk food, which is another trap. And so

[01:19:25] we have all these different traps that

[01:19:27] essentially fool our brain into thinking

[01:19:28] that we're doing these important things,

[01:19:30] but then ultimately at the end of the

[01:19:32] day, you know, we don't have anything to

[01:19:34] show for it and we feel really awful.

[01:19:36] And I think that there's more of those

[01:19:37] for boys than there are for girls. You

[01:19:39] know, it's like there are traps for

[01:19:40] girls, no question about it. And I think

[01:19:42] that social media is a much worse um and

[01:19:45] toxic trap for girls than it is for

[01:19:47] boys. But for boys, it's like, you know,

[01:19:49] you've got junk food, you've got porn,

[01:19:51] and you've got video games. And so it's

[01:19:52] like for men, the things that you know

[01:19:55] that have mostly motivated most action

[01:19:57] on the part of men has been the need to

[01:20:00] defend yourself and and win, right? So

[01:20:02] you got video games for that, the need

[01:20:04] to attract partners and have orgasms and

[01:20:06] you got porn for that and then you know

[01:20:08] food and you got a bunch of junk food.

[01:20:10] And so it's like your brain is getting

[01:20:11] all these signals that it's like winning

[01:20:13] without having to exert any effort. And

[01:20:15] I think it's training male brains that

[01:20:17] they don't need to do anything and then

[01:20:18] they are like pissed off when somebody

[01:20:20] asks them to actually exert some effort.

[01:20:22] And so I think that the number of social

[01:20:24] traps is greater for boys than it is for

[01:20:26] girls. And I think it's part of the

[01:20:27] reason that we see this divide between

[01:20:29] men and women.

[01:20:30] >> Yeah. It's um the modern world it it

[01:20:33] seems like it's hard for young men to

[01:20:35] find their place in it. You know, the

[01:20:37] the jobs don't really seem like you can

[01:20:39] have a career anymore, especially in

[01:20:41] like a physical type of industry. You

[01:20:43] know, it seems like that work is really

[01:20:44] be prioritized. And um you know, back a

[01:20:48] thousand years ago, a strong male was

[01:20:50] like the life of the tribe. Like you're

[01:20:53] going to live and die based on on your

[01:20:55] strong men. But now it's like that those

[01:20:57] skills that we used to value so much are

[01:20:59] really not as not prioritized anymore.

[01:21:02] And so I think a lot of young men are

[01:21:04] struggling to figure out what's their

[01:21:06] role.

[01:21:07] >> Right. Right. Yeah. I think I'm I'm

[01:21:09] hoping that things, you know, so there's

[01:21:10] a lot of talk about like how AI is going

[01:21:12] to make the world explode and we're all

[01:21:14] going to, you know, be slaves to robots

[01:21:16] and all that, but I'm I do wonder

[01:21:18] whether one thing that may come out of

[01:21:20] it that might be positive is that it may

[01:21:23] shift the focus on those kinds of

[01:21:25] careers and make them sort of more

[01:21:28] valuable or seen as more valuable

[01:21:30] because they they are valuable. Like if

[01:21:32] you've got a skill, like if you can put

[01:21:33] together an air conditioner, right, or

[01:21:35] or fix one, like it's it's harder to

[01:21:38] have a robot do that than it is to have

[01:21:40] a human being do that. And as a lot of

[01:21:42] the sort of soft labor, you know, which

[01:21:44] is like, you know, spreadsheets and all

[01:21:46] that stuff like kind of goes in in the

[01:21:48] world of of AI, it may come that we

[01:21:52] value these other things more just

[01:21:54] simply because they're things that we

[01:21:56] require other human beings to actually

[01:21:58] do. And so maybe that will end up

[01:22:00] shifting, you know, the way that we

[01:22:02] prioritize

[01:22:03] um and the status that we assign to

[01:22:06] different types of jobs that I think

[01:22:07] historically have been male and um and

[01:22:10] that, you know, have sort of gotten this

[01:22:12] the short shrift. Um because I I I I

[01:22:15] think that um I don't think that we

[01:22:16] value some of those physical skills as

[01:22:19] much as they should be valued.

[01:22:22] >> Agreed. Agreed. I just saw that uh China

[01:22:25] was experimenting with artificial wombs

[01:22:28] for

[01:22:28] >> Yeah. It's weird, right? Yeah, I know.

[01:22:30] It's just like like totally um totally

[01:22:33] taking the human out of uh out of

[01:22:36] humanity and it's just going to continue

[01:22:38] to create this division between people

[01:22:41] who have and people who don't, you know,

[01:22:43] cuz whenever you have technology like

[01:22:45] doing, you know, this and technology

[01:22:47] doing that and whatever, it just creates

[01:22:49] a greater divides in the difference

[01:22:51] between people who have access to wealth

[01:22:53] and people who don't because technology

[01:22:55] is expensive. Um, and so I don't know. I

[01:22:57] think that might just be another way

[01:23:00] that we create division in our species.

[01:23:04] >> Yikes. Well, just just to close this

[01:23:08] >> cheerful note.

[01:23:08] >> Yes. Just to close this conversation on

[01:23:11] a more positive note.

[01:23:13] >> Mhm.

[01:23:13] >> Menopause.

[01:23:16] Yeah. I uh

[01:23:18] should we kind of cover what it is and

[01:23:20] Yeah.

[01:23:21] >> Sure. Yeah. So, menopause is when you

[01:23:23] stop having periods. It's when you stop

[01:23:25] cycling. And so your body is essentially

[01:23:26] telling you like now is the time to stop

[01:23:29] investing in direct reproduction, right?

[01:23:32] So stop having babies your own and

[01:23:34] instead take that effort and then exert

[01:23:36] it toward investing in existing

[01:23:39] relatives. So that's a deep evolutionary

[01:23:41] reason for it. Um you know menopause is

[01:23:44] something that happens on purpose like

[01:23:45] it was long you know for a really long

[01:23:47] time people thought that menopause was

[01:23:49] just an accident and a byproduct of the

[01:23:51] fact that we live so long but turns out

[01:23:54] that's not true.

[01:23:55] um and that you can't account for the

[01:23:57] fact that we in you know that we

[01:23:59] experience this period of um nonrouction

[01:24:04] um as adults um just based on the fact

[01:24:06] we have long lifespans. And so it

[01:24:08] happens on purpose and again it's a way

[01:24:10] to shift our bodies away from the risky

[01:24:12] business of child birth and toward um

[01:24:15] existing or investing effort in existing

[01:24:19] relatives. So whether it's our children,

[01:24:20] our grandchildren, our nieces, our grand

[01:24:23] nieces and nephews, you know, it's it's

[01:24:25] um essentially shifting our role and um

[01:24:28] and you know, and so women experience

[01:24:30] this and the and the the shift from

[01:24:34] cycling and then going into the

[01:24:36] menopausal state is something that um

[01:24:38] creates this state of parameopause,

[01:24:41] right? Which is the time in a woman's

[01:24:42] life where her body is transitioning

[01:24:44] from being cycling um to being

[01:24:47] menopausal. they're not having cycles

[01:24:50] and um and that can last for almost 10

[01:24:52] years. You know, for some women it lasts

[01:24:54] a couple years, for some women it can

[01:24:56] last up to 10 years. And it's this

[01:24:58] period of gradual reproductive

[01:25:00] scinessence, so aging. Um and it's

[01:25:03] related to having uh a greater number of

[01:25:06] an ovulatory cycles. So cycles where

[01:25:08] you're not ovulating and you'll have

[01:25:10] cycles where you start to almost ovulate

[01:25:12] and then you don't. And so it creates

[01:25:14] these hormonal imbalances where all of a

[01:25:15] sudden you have high estrogen, right?

[01:25:17] and no progesterone and that makes women

[01:25:19] feel terrible. Or you'll have periods of

[01:25:22] time where there's no estrogen or

[01:25:23] progesterone and that makes women feel

[01:25:25] terrible. Their testosterone oftentimes

[01:25:27] takes a hit and that can make women feel

[01:25:29] terrible. And so it's a period of great

[01:25:31] hormonal tumultuousness, right? There's

[01:25:33] just a lot of swings going on with your

[01:25:36] hormones. And because women's hormones

[01:25:38] affect everything, right? They affect

[01:25:40] everything from head to toe. Um these

[01:25:43] this can cause sweeping changes in the

[01:25:44] body, right? It causes changes in like

[01:25:46] the texture of women's hair, the texture

[01:25:48] of their skin, causes changes

[01:25:50] psychologically, so their moods can kind

[01:25:52] of be all over the place. It can cause

[01:25:53] changes in their sexual desire first

[01:25:55] causing sexual desire to go off the

[01:25:57] charts because a lot of times

[01:25:58] testosterone will go high and then it

[01:26:00] will fall and then testosterone be low

[01:26:02] and then sexual desire falls off a cliff

[01:26:05] and then, you know, you get um yeah,

[01:26:07] like I said, changes in emotional

[01:26:09] states. You get changes vaginally. You

[01:26:11] get changes in what goes on with your

[01:26:12] cycle and on and on and on. Your your

[01:26:15] insulin like you become less sensitive

[01:26:17] to insulin and so you can get insulin

[01:26:19] resistance. I mean there's just this

[01:26:20] whole range of things that can happen as

[01:26:24] you're transitioning between being

[01:26:26] someone who cycles and being someone who

[01:26:29] doesn't cycle. Um that can be a little

[01:26:31] bit tumultuous for women. And so one of

[01:26:34] the things um and I talk about this a

[01:26:36] little bit in my book um but one of the

[01:26:38] things that we know from research is

[01:26:40] that women who have a difficult time

[01:26:43] with the hormonal changes they

[01:26:44] experience across a regular cycle. So

[01:26:46] women who have bad PMS or bad PMDDD,

[01:26:50] they also are at a greater risk of

[01:26:52] developing postpartum depression and

[01:26:54] they're also at a greater risk for

[01:26:56] experiencing a gnarly parameopausal

[01:26:58] transition. Right? is just some women

[01:27:01] are really sensitive to periods of great

[01:27:04] hormonal change whether across the cycle

[01:27:07] postnatally after having a baby and then

[01:27:10] parameopausally.

[01:27:11] And so um you know this is just

[01:27:13] something to know about yourself as

[01:27:15] you're kind of going into it um just so

[01:27:17] that way you're able to seek out

[01:27:18] resources and support. Um, but any of

[01:27:21] the things that I talk about in the

[01:27:22] period brain about ways that you can

[01:27:24] promote resilience to hormonal changes

[01:27:26] across the cycle also apply within the

[01:27:30] context of parameopause because again

[01:27:32] it's all about um our sensitivity to

[01:27:36] these changes in hormones that's

[01:27:37] generally responsible for feeling

[01:27:39] terrible. And so anything that we can do

[01:27:41] to minimize those things is really

[01:27:43] helpful. And also, you know, and one

[01:27:45] thing I don't talk about in the book

[01:27:46] just because I'm really not focused on

[01:27:48] parameopause itself as a question in

[01:27:50] this book, but is um is just, you know,

[01:27:53] the use of hormones. And a lot of women

[01:27:55] find hormone therapy in the

[01:27:57] parameopausal transition to be

[01:27:58] incredibly paleotative and incredibly

[01:28:01] helpful in helping them kind of smooth

[01:28:04] the edges off what goes on, you know, in

[01:28:08] that period. Um, and just like one other

[01:28:11] quick thing I want to add is that a lot

[01:28:12] of people because you know, so here I

[01:28:14] wrote this book, This is Your Brain on

[01:28:15] Birth Control and I talk about the ways

[01:28:17] that birth control can change the brain

[01:28:19] and you know, and a lot of these things

[01:28:20] aren't necessarily positive. And so

[01:28:22] people often assume that I think that

[01:28:25] hormone therapy and menopause is a bad

[01:28:27] idea and and that's absolutely couldn't

[01:28:30] be further from the truth. And I

[01:28:31] actually think that it's incredibly

[01:28:32] helpful to a lot of women. Um, and the

[01:28:34] reason for this is is, you know, and the

[01:28:37] reason that my opinion is so different

[01:28:38] about birth control compared to hormone

[01:28:41] therapy and menopause is that with birth

[01:28:43] control, you're taking a woman who's

[01:28:44] cycling and her body is producing

[01:28:46] hormones, right? And that's what our

[01:28:48] body our bodies feel best when we're

[01:28:49] hormonal because we're women and our

[01:28:51] bodies are built for our hormones. And

[01:28:53] um, and so when you take the pill,

[01:28:55] you're shutting down your production of

[01:28:57] hormones, right? And then you're

[01:28:59] replacing it with this synthetic

[01:29:01] progesterine, which is this funky

[01:29:03] monkey, you know, compound that's mostly

[01:29:06] created out of testosterone and does

[01:29:09] weird things in the body. Yeah. So, it's

[01:29:10] not even made out of progesterone. These

[01:29:12] progesterines and birth control and they

[01:29:14] bind to all kind like they'll bind to

[01:29:15] like testosterone receptors, they'll b

[01:29:18] they'll bind to glucocorticoid receptors

[01:29:20] and so they cause all these range of

[01:29:22] weirdo effects in the body because

[01:29:24] they're not they don't even have good

[01:29:26] binding specificity. So they bind to

[01:29:28] progesterone receptors but bind to a

[01:29:30] bunch of other stuff too. And so that's

[01:29:32] the reason they feel so terrible. And

[01:29:33] for a lot of women, the combination of

[01:29:35] having their own cycle shut down and

[01:29:37] keeping estrogen really low and then

[01:29:39] having no progesterone and replacing it

[01:29:41] with this funky monkey progesterine that

[01:29:43] does all these weirdo, you know, things

[01:29:45] to cells. Um that combination of things

[01:29:47] makes women feel often times not very

[01:29:49] amazing. And so that's the pill. with

[01:29:52] hormone therapy, you take someone whose

[01:29:54] hormone levels are all of a sudden

[01:29:55] falling and um and then you replace them

[01:29:58] with biologically identical hormones

[01:30:00] that help to take the edge off, right?

[01:30:02] So, this is a totally different set of

[01:30:04] situations, right? rather than taking

[01:30:05] somebody with these, you know, this

[01:30:07] great hormone production and then

[01:30:08] shutting it down. Instead, you're taking

[01:30:10] somebody whose hormone production is

[01:30:11] kind of sputtering along because they're

[01:30:12] at the end of their reproductive life

[01:30:14] and instead you're kind of like

[01:30:16] supplementing it in some ways with

[01:30:18] things that are biologically identical

[01:30:20] like um estradile and then a micronized

[01:30:24] progesterone. So, not progesterine,

[01:30:26] right? The actual real deal

[01:30:27] progesterone. And and this can be really

[01:30:30] helpful to women because it does ease

[01:30:32] that transition from going between

[01:30:33] somebody who's producing these big

[01:30:35] beautiful bursts of sex hormone and then

[01:30:38] it starts to sort of, you know, cough

[01:30:40] and sputter along. And it sort of allows

[01:30:42] you to smooth the pace of that coughing

[01:30:45] and sputtering along in a way that

[01:30:47] allows women to experience that period

[01:30:49] as less turbulent.

[01:30:52] >> Yeah, that makes sense. I know a lot of

[01:30:53] older men that are doing something

[01:30:55] similar with um testosterone as they

[01:30:57] age. Um, I think maybe the male story is

[01:31:00] a bit simpler where it's just kind of

[01:31:01] this gradual decline of testosterone to

[01:31:04] from like 30. From age 30, I think you

[01:31:06] lose about 2% of your testosterone a

[01:31:08] year up until, you know, once you hit

[01:31:10] 80, 50 years later, you're at kind of

[01:31:12] zero. So, if you can kind of make that

[01:31:15] 2% 1% or 5%, you can kind of instead of

[01:31:20] like landing that plane very steeply,

[01:31:22] you can kind of glide down. I mean, if

[01:31:25] you're Yeah,

[01:31:26] >> exactly. I mean, and that's and that's

[01:31:28] really, you know, what this is about.

[01:31:30] It's like about trying to make the

[01:31:32] experience less awful than it needs to

[01:31:35] be, right? Because although, you know,

[01:31:37] biologically there's a good reason that

[01:31:39] we experience menopause and it's like,

[01:31:41] okay, you know, you are not, you know,

[01:31:44] the risk to your body at this point is

[01:31:46] such, you know, of of giving birth is so

[01:31:50] great that it's like a bad idea to

[01:31:51] reproduce. So, it's trying to get you to

[01:31:52] shift gears. you know, all of the stuff

[01:31:54] that happens and the tumultuousness that

[01:31:56] happens with the hormones, that's just a

[01:31:57] byproduct of of your body shifting

[01:31:59] gears, and there's no reason for it to

[01:32:01] be feel as terrible as it does. The

[01:32:03] feeling terrible and the sort of clunky

[01:32:06] nature of the shift in hormones isn't

[01:32:08] something that's happening on purpose

[01:32:10] and serving a function in the body. And

[01:32:12] instead it's something that we can

[01:32:13] address that to try to make that land as

[01:32:16] you and I love the analogy that landing

[01:32:18] of a plane be a little bit more gradual

[01:32:21] rather than you know feeling like you're

[01:32:22] plummeting toward toward the earth and

[01:32:25] just hoping for a parachute you know. So

[01:32:28] yeah, after menopause is over, um are

[01:32:32] the hormones just completely like stable

[01:32:34] or there any

[01:32:35] >> Yeah, it's relatively flat. You know,

[01:32:37] it's like women are still producing uh

[01:32:39] some sex hormone. So they're producing

[01:32:41] um their primary uh uh mode of um

[01:32:44] estrogen at that point is estriol, which

[01:32:46] is a different type of um estrogen than

[01:32:48] estradiol, but it's estrogen

[01:32:50] nonetheless. And um and so and you're

[01:32:53] producing only progesterone from your

[01:32:55] adrenal glands and so relatively lower

[01:32:57] levels of that. and it's relatively

[01:32:58] constant. And so, you know, some women

[01:33:01] will go through the experience of the

[01:33:03] menopausal transition and feel like, "Oh

[01:33:05] my gosh, this is the worst thing that's

[01:33:06] ever happened." Um, but many women love

[01:33:09] it. And they're like, "Oh my gosh, you

[01:33:11] know, I don't feel so competitive and

[01:33:13] petty anymore. Like, I don't feel I

[01:33:16] don't I don't hate on myself about

[01:33:18] everything." So women oftentimes will

[01:33:20] end up feeling better about themselves

[01:33:22] um because it's like they no longer have

[01:33:24] this critic, you know, and and and I

[01:33:27] think that that critic is like a

[01:33:28] function of sex hormones where it's

[01:33:30] almost like you're seeing yourself as a

[01:33:32] potential mate and as a result of that

[01:33:34] that you're just like picking apart

[01:33:36] every little tiny terrible thing about

[01:33:38] yourself. And then once your sex

[01:33:40] hormones have sort of, you know, are

[01:33:41] kind of taken a backseat to the rest of

[01:33:43] everything else and this kind of stable

[01:33:45] that a lot of women end up feeling like

[01:33:47] that they're just like a new version of

[01:33:48] themselves that they much prefer to the

[01:33:51] version that they were when they were

[01:33:52] cycling. And so, like, even though

[01:33:54] sometimes it can feel like a terrible

[01:33:56] transition and a lot of women really

[01:33:58] mourn the loss of their cycles and the

[01:34:00] person that they were when they were

[01:34:02] cycling, it can really be a period of of

[01:34:04] tremendous like rebirth and into a

[01:34:07] person that a lot of women end up really

[01:34:08] liking.

[01:34:10] >> You just made me think of an interesting

[01:34:12] question. Um,

[01:34:14] >> so there I've heard that our aging is

[01:34:16] not uh gradual. There's like periods of

[01:34:18] life where we rapidly age. So, puberty,

[01:34:21] we rapidly age. Um, is menopause maybe a

[01:34:24] period where we rapidly

[01:34:25] >> Oh, yeah. Yeah. No, 100%. Cuz like once

[01:34:28] your sex hormones start to fall, I mean,

[01:34:30] there there is a lot of things that they

[01:34:32] do for us. They promote brain health and

[01:34:34] they do all kinds of things. Um, and

[01:34:36] when you have that fall off, it's going

[01:34:39] to create, you know, some aging issues,

[01:34:42] right? And so it does things like

[01:34:44] promote col you know estrogen promotes

[01:34:46] collagen growth and you know bone

[01:34:48] density and same with progesterone and

[01:34:51] promotes um neuroplasticity both

[01:34:53] estrogen and progesterone and so you

[01:34:55] have those things fall right and all of

[01:34:58] those things take a little bit of a hit

[01:34:59] and that's going to lead to a period of

[01:35:01] rapid aging.

[01:35:05] which again, you know, with the

[01:35:06] hormones, it does kind of, you know, if

[01:35:08] you kind of supplement as you're going

[01:35:10] through the transition, it can ease that

[01:35:12] a little bit where presumably it would,

[01:35:16] you know, lead to a smoother decline.

[01:35:18] Um, but, you know, it's it's a change

[01:35:21] for sure.

[01:35:23] >> Yeah. So, before this podcast started, I

[01:35:25] was like I was kind of worried because I

[01:35:27] don't know anything about periods or

[01:35:28] menration. So, I asked a bunch of about

[01:35:31] my wife and a bunch of other girls I

[01:35:33] know. I said, "Hey, like what do I ask

[01:35:34] on this podcast?" And so the number one

[01:35:37] question that they said they wanted me

[01:35:39] to ask you is, "Uh, is it normal to have

[01:35:41] a painful period?"

[01:35:43] >> No, it's really not. I mean, if it's a

[01:35:45] little bit of cramping, that can be

[01:35:47] normal, but if it's like hurting really

[01:35:50] bad, that suggests that there might be

[01:35:52] something else going on. And so it could

[01:35:54] be worth I mean depending on how bad the

[01:35:56] pain is, it could be worth getting

[01:35:58] checked out for endometriosis

[01:36:00] um or fibroids because those things can

[01:36:03] lead to really painful periods. Um but

[01:36:05] sometimes it can just be as simple as

[01:36:07] needing to add a little extra magnesium

[01:36:09] into your diet cuz that's something that

[01:36:11] magnesium and iodine,

[01:36:14] interestingly enough, are things that

[01:36:15] tend to ease um menstrual cramping. Um

[01:36:18] I'm a huge fan of magnesium. It's like I

[01:36:20] think it's like this amazing mineral

[01:36:22] that everybody ignores and um and it's

[01:36:25] really good for sleep. It's really good

[01:36:26] for mood and it's really good for

[01:36:28] menstrual cramps. Um but uh so no, if

[01:36:31] you have a really painful period, that's

[01:36:33] usually not normal and it's worth

[01:36:35] getting checked out because it should

[01:36:37] feel like I mean you might have some

[01:36:39] light cramping but it should be just

[01:36:41] something that's like oh okay hm I

[01:36:43] wonder what you know oh it looks like I

[01:36:44] have my period and then move on with

[01:36:46] your day. But if it's like hurting and

[01:36:48] you need to lay in bed, then um and if

[01:36:49] that happens regularly, I would get it

[01:36:51] checked out.

[01:36:52] >> Good advice. Good advice. Well, um this

[01:36:55] has been a great conversation. I think I

[01:36:57] have about 15 segments that I can like

[01:36:59] clip and put out on their own. So, you

[01:37:02] you did a great job. U you're on fire

[01:37:04] today.

[01:37:05] >> Thanks. That was Thanks. I don't I don't

[01:37:08] get told that every day, so I appreciate

[01:37:09] it. And yeah, it's always funny because

[01:37:11] like if I'm going to be talking to a guy

[01:37:14] about the period brain, um it's yeah,

[01:37:18] it's it's you never know what you're

[01:37:19] going to get with the questions. And so

[01:37:21] um I'm glad that we were able to talk

[01:37:22] about this in a way that you found

[01:37:24] interesting. Hopefully your male

[01:37:25] audience will find interesting in

[01:37:27] addition to the women who listen.

[01:37:29] Yeah, I think it's very important for

[01:37:31] men to have an understanding of this

[01:37:33] just so they can um be sensitive to

[01:37:37] these things and just awareness always

[01:37:39] helps. Awareness is

[01:37:40] >> I think so too. Yeah.

[01:37:41] >> No, I think so, too. I think so, too.

[01:37:43] >> Yeah. So, this has been a a great

[01:37:45] conversation. And when does your book

[01:37:46] come out?

[01:37:48] >> September 30th.

[01:37:49] >> So, it's not out yet, but by the time

[01:37:51] this podcast comes out, it'll be out.

[01:37:53] >> Yeah. So, anywhere you can find it

[01:37:55] anywhere books are sold.

[01:37:56] >> And what's it called? The period brain.

[01:37:59] >> The period brain. I can't wait to read

[01:38:00] that that one. Um, Dr. Sarah Hill, thank

[01:38:03] you so much for coming on. This has been

[01:38:04] a great conversation.

[01:38:05] >> Thanks for having me.

[01:38:17] [Music]