If you've tried keto, fasting, or cutting carbs and felt like your body just won't cooperate the way it used to, you're not broken and you're not doing it wrong. You may just be missing the piece that makes it sustainable: flexibility.

In this episode, Dr. Shivani Gupta sits down with returning guest Ben Azadi, FDN-P, New York Times bestselling author of Metabolic Freedom, to talk about his newly revised book, Keto Flex. Ben explains why keto isn't a diet at all, but a metabolic process nearly all of us are born knowing how to use, and why most people, especially in midlife, have simply forgotten how to access it. They dig into why the real question isn't "how do I lose weight," but "how do I lower inflammation and insulin," and why that shift changes everything.

This conversation is for anyone who has felt like a walking science experiment with their own body: trying a plan, watching it work for a while, then hitting a wall with no clear reason why. Ben and Dr. Shivani talk through what makes this approach different for women, especially in the perimenopausal and postmenopausal years, and how to build metabolic flexibility gently instead of forcing it.

WHAT YOU'LL LEARN

Why keto is a metabolic process your body already knows, not a diet you have to force

The real question to ask instead of "how do I lose weight": how to lower inflammation and insulin first

The four-pillar framework (adapt, fast, phase, flex) and why the last pillar is where true customization begins

Why fasting is a stress on the body, and how to tell if you're adapting to it or being harmed by it

How anti-nutrients like oxalates, tannins, and phytates can quietly block progress, even in "healthy" keto foods

Why women in perimenopause and postmenopause need a different approach than men, and what to track along the way

RESOURCES MENTIONED
The Inflammation Code (book)
https://www.amazon.com/dp/140199699X?tag=usalinktagdefault-20&th=1&psc=1&geniuslink=true
Fusionary Formulas Supplements (use code CODE15 for 15% off your first order)
https://fusionaryformulas.com/?utm_source=Show+Notes&utm_medium=Show+notes+&utm_campaign=Podcast+promo&utm_id=The+Inflammation+Code+Podcast
7-Day Inflammation Detox Challenge
https://www.7dayinflammationdetox.com/
Work with Dr. Shivani — Free Discovery Call
https://shivanigupta.com/

ABOUT BEN AZADI
Ben Azadi is a leading authority on metabolic health and the New York Times bestselling author of Metabolic Freedom. His revised book, Keto Flex, releases July 21, 2026. Learn more and access free bonuses at ketoflexbook.com.

CONNECT WITH BEN AZADI
Website: benazadi.com
Instagram: instagram.com/thebenazadi
YouTube: youtube.com/@KetoKamp

CONNECT WITH DR. SHIVANI
Instagram: @dr.shivanigupta — https://www.instagram.com/dr.shivanigupta/
Website: https://www.shivanigupta.com/

SHARE THIS EPISODE
If you've been feeling stuck in your own metabolism, share this episode with a friend who needs a gentler way in, and leave a review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. It helps more women find this message. 🌿

You know that feeling when you're at the end of your rope, but you push a little further anyway because you assume there's more fuel left in the tank? In this solo episode, Dr. Shivani breaks down why that instinct, so common in women, is quietly setting the stage for burnout, hair loss, and even autoimmune disease.

Using the story of her friend Rima, whose autoimmune diagnosis showed up right after a devastating divorce, and her client Amy, who lost half her hair with no dermatology treatment able to reverse it, Dr. Shivani explains the Ayurvedic concept of ojas, your body's vital reserve, and why running on empty for years eventually forces the body to shut down non essential systems one by one.

This episode also gets personal. Dr. Shivani shares what happened to her own body after a mold exposure, a book launch, and a TEDx talk collided in the same season, and what her acupuncturist told her that changed how she thinks about resilience.

WHAT YOU'LL LEARN

• Why women wait until they hit empty to refuel, while men stop at a quarter tank, and what that pattern costs the body over decades
• What happens physiologically when you run on fumes for too long, using the exact mechanics of a car's fuel pump as the analogy
• Why the body deprioritizes hair, skin, gut function, hormones, and libido when it senses depletion, and why that is not random
• The real story behind Rima's autoimmune diagnosis and why it appeared exactly when it did
• Why Amy's hair loss could not be solved with dermatology treatments alone, and what actually needed to happen instead
• What ojas, rasa, and agni mean in Ayurveda, and why they matter more than any supplement or treatment
• Why vata season in midlife requires you to slow down right as your body is asking for more support, not less
• The moment Dr. Shivani's own acupuncturist reframed what resilience actually looks like
• Why rhythm, not more effort, is what rebuilds a depleted system
• The simple, low cost daily practices that begin restoring your reserves without adding anything to your to do list

The Inflammation Code

https://www.amazon.com/dp/140199699X?tag=usalinktagdefault-20&th=1&psc=1&geniuslink=true

Use code CODE15 for 15% off your first order

7-Day Inflammation Detox Challenge

https://www.7dayinflammationdetox.com/

Work with Dr. Shivani / Free Discovery Call

https://shivanigupta.com/

Most women have felt it.

You bring your symptoms to a doctor, you leave without real answers, and somewhere between the waiting room and your car, you start wondering if you are the problem.

You are not.

In this episode of The Inflammation Code Podcast, Dr. Shivani Gupta sits down with Meghan Rabbitt, award-winning health journalist and author of The New Rules of Women's Health, written for Maria Shriver's imprint after 100+ interviews with all-female medical experts.

What they unpack together is both sobering and genuinely useful: the systemic research gaps that have left women without answers, and the practical tools to close that gap for yourself right now.

In this episode:

• Why women were not included in NIH-funded clinical trials until 1993 and how that research gap still affects your care today
• Why the 40 to 60 window is the most critical period for preventive health and why most women fall off during exactly this time
• How hot flashes work in the body and why they matter for long-term heart health
• Why two thirds of Alzheimer's patients are women and what brain researchers are uncovering about estrogen and cognitive health
• How pregnancy complications like preeclampsia may be early warning signs for heart disease risk decades later
• The "don't bury the lead" advice that could change how your doctor appointments go
• How to use a lifetime breast cancer risk calculator to advocate for the testing you actually need
• Why getting the care you deserve is, as Meghan puts it, a radical act of self-love

If you've ever been told your symptoms are fine when you knew something was not right, this conversation is for you.

The Inflammation Code

https://www.amazon.com/dp/140199699X?tag=usalinktagdefault-20&th=1&psc=1&geniuslink=true

Fusionary Formulas Supplements

Use code CODE15 for 15% off your first order

https://fusionaryformulas.com/?utm_source=Show+Notes&utm_medium=Show+notes+&utm_campaign=Podcast+promo&utm_id=The+Inflammation+Code+Podcast

7-Day Inflammation Detox Challenge

https://www.7dayinflammationdetox.com/

Work with Dr. Shivani / Free Discovery Call

https://shivanigupta.com/