Forty percent of women are not being heard by their doctors when they report menopause symptoms. Andrea Donsky was one of them.

She is a nutritionist with 26 years of experience. She had studied health and wellness her entire career. And she still spent 14 years in perimenopause without knowing it.

When she finally understood what had been happening to her body, she did not keep it to herself. She spent two years researching, surveyed over 5,200 women, published her findings, and wrote the book she wished she had been handed at 35. That book is Nourishing Menopause: Powerful Nutrition and Lifestyle Strategies to Feel Your Best.

In this episode, we cover:

• Why perimenopause likely starts earlier than you think, and why most women miss it
• How one night of poor sleep disrupts insulin, increases cravings, and contributes to weight gain
• The REST Protocol for better sleep: Routine, Environment, Support, and Technology
• Why "eat less, exercise more" stops working in perimenopause, and what to do instead
• The 17 reasons you may be gaining weight, and most of them are not your fault
• How your gut microbiome and estrobolome affect hormone clearance
• The blood tests every woman in midlife should be asking her doctor for
• Andrea's simple protein formula, built directly from the research
• Why most electrolyte supplements are formulated for male athletes, not perimenopausal women
• How mindset shapes your menopause experience more than most people realize
• Andrea's research found that 50 to 90 percent of the top 10 most common menopause symptoms are brain and mental health related

Get Nourishing Menopause (available now): https://www.amazon.com/dp/1668061546

Audible: https://www.audible.com/pd/Nourishing-Menopause-Audiobook/B0FXHRZX63

Book website: nourishingmenopausebook.com (a great download is available on this site)

Learn more about Andrea and her research: https://wearemorphus.com

Follow Andrea Donsky:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/wearemorphus
• TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@andreadonsky
• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@wearemorphus

Additional resources to help you thrive on plants:

🌱 Access the free Plant-Powered Body course: Access Here

🌱 Take the free health assessment for women 40+: Start Here

🌱 Watch every episode on YouTube

⭐️ If you loved this episode, please leave a review! ⭐️

Here’s how to do it on Apple Podcasts:

Go to the Thrive on Plants Podcast page: Click here

Scroll down to the ‘Ratings & Reviews’ section. Tap ‘Write a Review’

(you may be prompted to log in with your Apple ID).

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Lori Baum is a medical assistant who has spent over two decades working in oncology. She knows cancer. She knows screenings. She eats well, stays active, and has been proactive about her health for years.

And still, in November 2022, she found the words "invasive carcinoma" on her phone screen at lunch.

In this episode of Thrive on Plants, Lori shares her full story: a heavy family history of cancer, a negative BRCA test, a breast MRI that changed everything, and a triple-negative breast cancer diagnosis that her mammogram earlier that same year had completely missed.

What follows is one of the most honest conversations we have had on this podcast. Lori talks about what it actually feels like to go through 16 rounds of chemotherapy and 15 rounds of radiation, how she stayed active and kept eating well when treatment was taking everything from her, what the healthcare system gets right and gets wrong during survivorship, and how she found her way back to herself on the other side.

Lori is now 58 years old, fully plant-based, strength training, running half marathons, and training for an Ironman relay. She says she is in the best shape of her life.

Topics covered:

• Why family history and dense breasts may require more than a standard mammogram
• Triple negative breast cancer: what it is and what treatment involves
• How Lori stayed active and ate well through chemotherapy and radiation
• The emotional weight of survivorship and what comes after treatment ends
• How plant-based eating and strength training transformed her recovery
• Why self-advocacy is the most important tool you have in your healthcare journey

Connect with Lori: loriabaum@yahoo.com

Additional resources to help you thrive on plants:

🌱 Access the free Plant-Powered Body course: Access Here

🌱 Take the free health assessment for women 40+: Start Here

🌱 Watch every episode on YouTube

⭐️ If you loved this episode, please leave a review! ⭐️

Here’s how to do it on Apple Podcasts:

Go to the Thrive on Plants Podcast page: Click here

Scroll down to the ‘Ratings & Reviews’ section. Tap ‘Write a Review’

(you may be prompted to log in with your Apple ID).

Thank you for your support!

Content Warning: This episode includes an honest, courageous conversation about the mental health toll of hormone deficiency, including a moment of profound hopelessness. Sarah speaks to this with full self-awareness and strong support in place. If you or someone you love is struggling, please reach out to the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline by calling or texting 988.

What happens when a nurse practitioner who specializes in women's hormonal health spends an entire year fighting to get her own hormones covered by insurance?

That is exactly what happened to Sarah Katkhouda, FNP-C.

Sarah is a women's health nurse practitioner and a provider at MIDI Health. In this episode, she pulls back the curtain on one of the most frustrating and overlooked realities in women's healthcare: the gap between what women need and what the system is actually willing to provide.

After undergoing a hysterectomy and oophorectomy for pelvic congestion syndrome, Sarah was plunged into surgical menopause overnight. What followed was a year of insurance denials, medication shortages, dose trials, canceled appointments, and a slow but deliberate fight to reclaim her health, her strength, and her sense of self.

In this episode, we cover:

• What pelvic congestion syndrome is, why it is underdiagnosed, and what women need to know before pursuing surgical intervention
• The critical differences between surgical menopause and natural menopause, and why treating them identically is doing women a serious disservice
• How to optimize estrogen, progesterone, and testosterone, and why the sequence and method of delivery matter
• The role of muscle in hormonal health, metabolic resilience, and longevity, and what happens to musculoskeletal integrity when hormones are out of range
• How to self-advocate when you feel dismissed or worn down by a system that was not built with women in mind

Sarah does not sugarcoat what this year has cost her. She also does not stop there. She shares what she has learned, what she wishes she had known, and why she is committed to making sure other women do not have to fight as hard or as long as she did.

Connect with Sarah Katkhouda, FNP-C:

Sarah is a provider at MIDI Health, a telehealth organization focused on women's midlife health. MIDI accepts insurance and is available in all 50 states.

MIDI Health: https://www.joinmidi.com

Disclaimer: This episode is for educational and informational purposes only. It does not constitute medical advice. Please consult a qualified healthcare provider for guidance specific to your individual health needs.

#MenopauseHealth #HormoneReplacement #SurgicalMenopause #WomensHealth #HRTAwareness #TestosteroneForWomen #PelvicPain #PelvicCongestionSyndrome #MenopauseSupport #HormoneOptimization #MidlifeWomen #WomensHealthAdvocacy #ThriveonPlants #DrDaphneBascom #PerimenopausalHealth #MuscleAndHormones #MentalHealthAndMenopause

Additional resources to help you thrive on plants:

🌱 Access the free Plant-Powered Body course: Access Here

🌱 Take the free health assessment for women 40+: Start Here

🌱 Watch every episode on YouTube

⭐️ If you loved this episode, please leave a review! ⭐️

Here’s how to do it on Apple Podcasts:

Go to the Thrive on Plants Podcast page: Click here

Scroll down to the ‘Ratings & Reviews’ section. Tap ‘Write a Review’

(you may be prompted to log in with your Apple ID).

Thank you for your support!