The Exchanges

Q So you basically, you saw your mom go through menopause, and when you say metabolic health, basically what that means is she became quite overweight?

A Yes, and then you end up in this pre-diabetic state, which is, you know, they call it metabolic syndrome, which a lot of people are walking, you know, what, the last stats. We have 20 18 stats that were published in 2021 showing that close to, I think, 90 four percent of U.S. adults have cardiometabolic compromise. So it's this pre or I'm sorry, pre diabetes state, this phase one, if you will, stage one, some people call it. And so back then they called it syndromax. It was brand new. Nobody had appreciated it. And so it was this conglomerate of symptoms and they didn't really know what to do with it, but you stay on that trajectory and you will end up with type two diabetes. At some point, you just suddenly arrive and your numbers match on labs and your doctor's like, congratulations, you have type two. Well, that damage has been happening for, you know, 10, 15, 20 years sometimes.

AI assessment note: “Yes, and then you end up in this pre-diabetic state”

Q nuts and seeds, lower low sugar fruits. And then in the middle, we should be doing a lot of low carb fruits and vegetables. And then at the bottom, we should be doing the most whole fat dairy and proteins, fats and oils, et cetera. Is that right versus the inverse of what we used to be? And is it too simplistic to say that that is right for Everybody.

A I think it's too simplistic to say. I think everybody's a little bit different. You can over carnivore yourself into insulin resistance. High levels of arachidonic acid can send you into insulin resistance as well. So the way that I like to think about it is a, just eat real food, get enough protein. What does that mean? We could go high protein. We could go lower protein. I think it depends on the individual. I think it depends on their age. I think it depends on their goals, how active they are, how fit they are. But generally speaking, you know, a gram of protein per pound of body weight is a great goal. So for women, our size, I'm, I'm sorry, I'm thinking. 90 to a 120 grams is a Minimum goal. And then more, if you're pregnant or you're lifting a lot of weight, make sure you get a variety of colors in your diet. And then as we get older, understand that we become more insulin resistant period. As we age as women and we lose our estrogen stores, we become more insulin resistant period. And the more muscle mass we lose with age and atrophy, because that's just a normal part of aging as we start to atrophy everywhere. That we will become more insulin resistant. So in my head, the goal is always to keep insulin sensitivity going, whatever that looks like. So I've carnivored myself into insulin resistance. Wow. So this is the people who say I got fatter on carnivore. What's happe…

AI assessment note: “I think it's too simplistic to say. I think everybody's a little bit different.”

Q Well, he's actually always the one that's like, you need to chill on losing weight. Um, well, I have a question about that, though. So, I'm, I'm getting older, and I absolutely do feel, whether it's true or not, that my metabolism is slowing down. Is that real? Are there ways around it? Can we keep our metabolism as we age?

A Supposedly the metabolism is not slowing. That's what data shows, which I know, I know I get, I I'm in the same boat. I, what I think is happening is we're having hormonal shifts. And like I said, the estrogen shifts will cause the insulin to shift because insulin is a hormone at the end of the day. And then we're having, I think, um, well, no, I don't think I know as our estrogen starts to shift, our tolerance to stress goes down. So women do not tolerate stress the way men do. Women do not tolerate lack of sleep the way men do. Women do not tolerate You know, consistent intensity the way women are sorry, men do. And so as our estrogen is waning, that gets worse and worse and worse and harder and harder to deal with. And cortisol will make you put fat on in weird places. And then I think thirdly, we're losing muscle mass. And so this is why the lifting is non-negotiable. Like it's just non Negotiable. I was telling people a long time ago on the internet to eat meat and deadlift when all the influencers were like, just do yoga and go vegan. And it was not popular. And I'm so glad that, you know, folks like Dr. Gabrielle have finally gotten the message out that women are in Dr. Stacey Sims. It's like, this is non-negotiable if you want to age well. And you, it's not about looking hot. It's about not breaking a hip.

AI assessment note: “Supposedly the metabolism is not slowing. That's what data shows”

Q wondering, like, what's that, like, little extra that I should do, too? We've talked about a lot of chronic disease, but where would you leave people with if they're already, like, I'm doing pretty good. Like, I'm crushing it over here. What studies have you seen or what information would you give to somebody who is out there, like, I just want to be even better than I am today?

A The two biggest things I've, cause that's been predominantly my patient base. The two biggest things would be number one, keep an eye on your hormones and get them handled before you think you need to. And that is different for everyone. That might be in your thirties. That might be in your forties. But start, find somebody who's hormone literate and get that handled before you think you need to, because it, when it creeps up onto you, it's pretty subtle until you fall off the cliff. And it could be something like COVID or a big stressor or something that throws you off the cliff. And so having that dialed in, I think is the ticket. I've been on hormones since my thirties. And when people say you look great, I'm like, I shouldn't look great. I mean, I shared with you how unhealthy I was when I was a teen, but I think the hormones since the thirties, Have been, you know, little bits here and there. I love the peptides for that as well. So become peptide literate. Educate yourself as best you can, you know, because you're only going to get so far with any practitioner. So you need to have a basic handle on nutrition and fitness. Like that's a skill you need to learn is how to navigate the gym. And then I think the last thing is really watching your stress because stress will erode all your best efforts despite how much intention you're putting into all of the good things. Stress …

AI assessment note: “The two biggest things would be number one, keep an eye on your hormones”

Q but the wild thing is that why don't doctors talk to women about that? Why do they just go, you can't get pregnant, your, your blood level's fine, the swimmers are fine-ish, whatever they think fine means by average today. They don't really check for thyroid stuff. They don't ask at all about what your health is otherwise, and then they just tell you, let's begin IVF. Why is that?

A Because that's their hammer. And that hammer is profitable. It's their hammer, you know, like every, every doctor is going to have their hammer. My hammer in my practice was needles. I was like, well, let's stick a needle in it. Let's, you know, let's see what, what's, what can we change in the tissue? What can we change in your immune response if we inject it? You know, um, chiropractors adjust, naturopathic doctors give supplements, you know, It's their hammer. And so orthopedists are going to do orthopedic surgery and, you know, rehab docs are going to rehab you all day. And it's, I think we're seeing actually the cool part in the last 10 years is I'm seeing a lot less turf wars and a lot more doctors coming together, especially since 2020. It was very clear there was like team freedom and everything else. And so it's, that's been very cool because a lot of people have come over to the functional medicine side because they've seen like, wait a minute, the system is They lied to us. They've been, I'm like, welcome. They've been lying to us for a long time. Right. And so like, it didn't, you know, I, I knew 20 years ago that big pharma was quite corrupt. So over here, I think we started melding more and I'm hoping that that translates, but I don't know. I am concerned. I think in most countries in the world, the, what I have seen is that there's not even a population being bor…

AI assessment note: “Because that's their hammer. And that hammer is profitable.”