If you enjoy this podcast, please consider Muscle Month. I simply can’t do topics like this true justice in a short podcast. Muscle Month is where I teach the actual physiology behind muscle building, fat loss, and long-term health—properly, in context, and without fear-based nonsense. 👉 Join here: musclemonth.com (or joannelee.com)

It was only a few years ago that we lived through the protein panic.

Fear-based documentaries told us protein was going to kill us and that we should avoid it at all costs. Films like Forks Over Knives painted protein—especially animal protein—as inflammatory, cancer-causing, and reckless.

At the same time, I was in a constant verbal battle with would-be clients asking me to write “new” vegan diets while also wanting to build muscle.

(Yes. Build muscle… while eating leaves.)

It was a fun time to coach.

But seriously—people became genuinely terrified of protein. And now? The very same people are being told to eat gobs of it.

No explanation. No accountability. Just a hard pivot.

So if you feel confused, cautious, or unsure who to believe—you’re not wrong. You’re watching what happens when badly handled science gets turned into marketing.

This episode breaks down the three biochemical villains that were used to scare people away from protein:

• TMAO

• IGF-1

• mTOR

Here’s what actually matters.

The scary headline:

“Red meat increases TMAO, and TMAO increases heart disease risk.”

What was conveniently skipped:

• TMAO production depends heavily on gut bacteria and fiber

• Fish contains ~66× more TMAO than red meat, yet is consistently linked with better cardiovascular outcomes

So no—TMAO is not a simple “protein = danger” equation.

• Soluble fiber (can reduce TMAO production ~60%)

• Cruciferous vegetables & sprouts

• Resveratrol, garlic, berberine

• B vitamins, probiotics, vitamin D

Translation: protein wasn’t the issue. Protein without plants might be—but that nuance didn’t sell documentaries.

IGF-1 supports:

• connective tissue

• heart tissue

• brain health

The fear came from animal studies suggesting lower IGF-1 may relate to longevity—without explaining that centenarians typically have normal IGF-1 but reduced sensitivity to it.

Key facts that got lost:

• Resistance training raises IGF-1

• Adequate protein supports IGF-1

• Fasting naturally lowers IGF-1

Translation: IGF-1 isn’t something to eliminate. It’s something to cycle and balance.

mTOR is the pathway required for:

• muscle protein synthesis

• repair and recovery

Protein (especially leucine) and resistance training help activate it.

Yes—chronically elevated mTOR without balance can be problematic. But that’s a constant-feeding, low-movement lifestyle issue, not a “protein is dangerous” issue.

Your natural counterbalance is AMPK, activated by:

• exercise

• fasting

• glycogen depletion

You’re meant to move between these pathways.

Translation: mTOR isn’t the enemy. Misuse is.

A small amount of real science was:

• oversimplified

• taken out of context

• weaponized with fear

And in many cases, the loudest voices had financial incentives tied to plant-based products.

Protein was never the problem.

The real issues were always the unsexy ones:

• ultra-processed food

• lack of fiber

• inactivity

• metabolic imbalance

If this episode made you think “Oh… that explains a lot”, Muscle Month is where I teach this properly—with structure, timing, and application.

You’ll learn how to:

• eat enough protein without fear

• trigger muscle-building pathways correctly

• stay lean while building strength

• stop trying harder and start getting results

👉 Join here: musclemonth.com (or joannelee.com)

It won’t be back for a long time

In today’s episode, Joanne dives into two simple, misunderstood products — one for skin and one for muscle — and explains why what something does matters far more than where it comes from.

This is a practical, science-backed conversation about cellular biology, not marketing hype.

MUSCLE MONTH STARTS IN LESS THAN 2 WEEKS! www.musclemonth.com

Joanne shares her personal experience using niacinamide powder as part of her nightly skincare routine — a product that costs less than $10 and has quietly delivered some of the best skin results she’s had.

In this segment, you’ll learn:

• What niacinamide (vitamin B3) actually is

• Why it’s a cellular support nutrient, not a cosmetic trick

• Its role in NAD⁺ production, cellular energy, DNA repair, and inflammation control

• Why niacinamide improves:

  • Skin barrier strength

  • Hydration retention

  • Redness and reactivity

  • Texture and overall resilience (over time, not overnight)

Joanne also explains why she prefers niacinamide in powder form, including:

• Greater stability

• No unnecessary fillers

• Fresh activation every time it’s mixed into a serum

• Complete control over dose

She discusses her experience using niacinamide from The Ordinary, a company known for simple, single-ingredient products without inflated pricing or marketing noise.

Find it on Amazon for under $7 https://a.co/d/aWfMIJr

A listener question sparks the second half of the episode:

If complete proteins come from animals, how can a plant-based amino acid supplement be high quality?

Joanne breaks this down clearly and practically.

You’ll learn:

• The difference between whole proteins and isolated amino acids

• Why plants are considered “incomplete” at the food level — but not at the amino acid level

• How amino acid supplements are produced using fermentation and purification

• Why once isolated, amino acids are chemically identical regardless of source

• Why muscle tissue does not care about labels, only:

  • Total essential amino acids

  • Leucine content

  • Proper ratios

  • mTOR activation

  • Muscle protein synthesis

This segment is especially relevant for:

• Midlife adults

• People with gut sensitivities

• Those struggling to hit protein targets

• Anyone losing weight and trying to preserve muscle

Whether it’s skincare or nutrition, the mistake is the same:

People judge the source instead of understanding the biology.

Cells respond to:

• Vitamins they recognize

• Amino acids they can use

Not branding, not buzzwords, not price tags.

AMINO ACIDS for under $20 https://a.co/d/1TpEODX

If this episode resonated, Muscle Month is where these concepts are taught in depth and applied correctly.

🗓 February 16 – March 14 🎯 10 live coaching calls 🎯 Full access to Joanne for the entire month 🎯 Training, nutrition, and strategy 🎯 365-day access to a deep content library (50+ resources)

If you want to:

• Preserve muscle during weight loss

• Understand leucine, mTOR, and protein strategy

• Stop guessing and start training with intention

👉 Learn more and join here: https://joannelee.com

• Supplements & education

• YouTube videos on amino acids, muscle, and metabolism

In today’s episode I cover two topics that came up in real conversations this week: energy drinks (especially in teens/20s) and a key Muscle Month training concept most people get wrong.

A client told me her doctor is seeing more gallbladder issues in young people, plus signs of gut lining irritation — and energy drinks keep showing up in the pattern.

This isn’t fear-based content. It’s education.

Why energy drinks hit hard:

• They’re not “just coffee” — caffeine can be coming from multiple sources, and people often stack it with coffee, pre-workout, and sometimes ADHD meds.

• If they’re sugar-based: blood sugar spike → crash → cravings → repeat.

• If they’re “zero sugar”: some sweeteners may affect tight junctions / gut barrier over time, especially with a low-fiber, processed diet.

• Add in acidity + carbonation and you’ve got a perfect recipe for reflux, nausea, bloating, and ‘my stomach is always off.’

The real problem: it becomes a daily habit replacing sleep, breakfast, hydration, and real food — aka borrowed energy.

Nope — and the “muscle is muscle” line is oversimplified.

In Muscle Month, I explain how muscle fiber tendencies and fatigue patterns often differ, which changes:

• pacing

• rest times

• exercise sequencing

• how you build muscle efficiently (without grinding yourself into dust)

If you want to actually learn how muscle is built (and train in a way that works for your body), join me:

➡️ www.musclemonth.com

Questions? joanne@joannelee.com

Coaching? www.joannelee.com

In this episode of Midlife Mayhem, I’m talking about thyroid and testosterone — two topics I’ve covered before, but ones that came up for me personally this week in a way that highlights just how misunderstood midlife physiology still is.

I was diagnosed with hypothyroidism over 15 years ago, and for me it was never just about weight. It showed up as fatigue, cold intolerance, Raynaud’s, dry skin and hair, brain fog, constipation — the kind of symptoms that slowly chip away at quality of life. The frustrating part is that the older we get, the more likely these issues are dismissed as “normal aging.” They aren’t.

What came up in my recent labs was something many people don’t expect: I needed less thyroid medication, not more. That goes against the narrative most women are told — that once you’re on thyroid meds, you’re on them for life and the dose only ever increases. But when you understand that most thyroid hormone activation happens in the liver, it starts to make sense. If conversion improves and metabolic stress decreases, needing less can actually be a sign that the system is working more efficiently.

That conversation naturally led into testosterone — another hormone surrounded by fear and outdated advice for women. Hormones don’t act in isolation. As estrogen and progesterone decline in midlife, women often tolerate and benefit from higher testosterone levels than they would have earlier in life. That support matters for muscle, insulin sensitivity, bone density, energy, confidence, and recovery — all of which feed directly back into metabolic and thyroid health.

I also spend time clarifying why SLU-PP-332 has become one of my core metabolic tools in midlife. Despite being associated with an “estrogen-related receptor,” it is not hormonal and does not raise or lower estrogen or interfere with HRT. Instead, it works on metabolic pathways that regulate mitochondrial function, fat oxidation, and muscular endurance — the very systems that tend to decline with age, even when nutrition and training are solid.

What makes SLU-PP-332 especially useful in midlife is that it doesn’t suppress appetite, force rapid weight loss, or override physiology. It improves metabolic efficiency — helping the body access fat for fuel more easily, supporting energy output, improving endurance, and making training feel productive again. In other words, it helps the body behave more like it did when it was metabolically flexible, rather than fighting against it.

This episode isn’t about quick fixes or chasing numbers on a lab sheet. It’s about understanding how the system actually works, challenging outdated conversations, and choosing tools that support your whole body — muscle, metabolism, energy, and long-term health — not just one symptom.

Products discussed: www.joanneleestore.com Next coaching program: Muscle Month starts Feb 16 — www.musclemonth.com Podcast topic requests: hello@joannelee.com

Everything is now in one place:

👉 https://www.joannelee.com

You’ll find:

• My full program schedule

• 90-Day Elite 1:1 Coaching

• Perfect Ten — a 10-month immersive mentorship, limited to 10 women only

🔐 Coming up next: The Victory Vault — January 26 to February 7 A two-week live coaching program I’m genuinely looking forward to coaching. I’ve got a few things I want to tighten up for 2026, and committing to the group makes all the difference. www.yourvictoryvault.com

This New Year episode covers two topics that hit hard in midlife: food sensitivities (why they show up, why they worsen, and what to do about them) — and why change is harder when there’s no obvious consequence.

Food sensitivities aren’t the same as allergies. They’re often delayed, more subtle, and can show up as:

• bloating, joint pain, skin flare-ups

• brain fog, fatigue, headaches, inflammation

The big idea: it’s rarely “one bad food.” More commonly, it’s the terrain — especially a compromised gut lining (leaky gut). When digestion isn’t breaking food down properly and the gut barrier becomes more permeable, the immune system starts reacting to things it normally wouldn’t… which is why people sometimes feel like they’re reacting to everything.

We also talk about why this gets louder in midlife:

• estrogen and progesterone decline affects gut barrier integrity, immune regulation, and inflammation control

• stress + poor sleep + processed food damage accumulate over time

• midlife doesn’t always start the problem — it removes the buffers that used to keep it quieter

HRT doesn’t “cure” food sensitivities, but it can improve the environment:

• better gut barrier support

• reduced inflammation signaling

• calmer nervous system (which matters for digestion)

• improved repair and recovery capacity

I also share a real client example where food sensitivity testing improved significantly after dialling in HRT.

Some behaviors change easily when there’s an obvious consequence. But the toughest habits to shift are the ones that aren’t costing you enough… yet.

So the real question becomes: If it’s not “ruining your life,” why change it?

Because the cost isn’t always external — it’s internal:

• self-trust

• self-respect

• liking who you are when no one’s watching

That’s the work that creates real follow-through — and it’s exactly what we do inside The Victory Vault.

📅 January 26 – February 7

A two-week live coaching program focused on identity, follow-through, and becoming the person who succeeds — not the person who starts again.

👉 Details at https://www.yourvictoryvault.com