Biohacking for Women: Aligning Health With Your Hormones

Introduction to Womenu2019s Nervous System Safety 0:00

Nervous system regulation is really, really critical. So one thing that we've come across a lot, especially in the world with toxins and chronic illness, which is something that I specialize in, women just don't feel safe. And sometimes this is a concept that's not as easy to explain to men because it's just a little different for us. You're not always scanning a room or scanning a parking lot or just looking at the world through that lens. So women have a lot of different experiences where they don't feel safe.

And so their nervous system is on alert constantly. The other thing is that once somebody has had an exposure of mold in their home, they feel like their home is not safe for them. So this can happen with other things, like if you go into a mall and there's perfume and we smell it and you know that you might react to that. So it's really critical to find the best way for your clients to feel safe in their bodies so that they can heal. And this is a cornerstone of foundational health, but especially for optimization.

This is Doctor Talks, real talk from real doctors on the issues that matter to you most. Welcome to the Longevity Leaders podcast. I'm Dr. Isaac Jones. And what you're about to hear is part of a special series recorded at the Disrupt Clinical Event, where the world's top health medicine and longevity experts gather to share their latest breakthrough strategies and real world results. Let's dive in to the conversation.

Biohacking for Women and Personalized Medicine 1:34

Good afternoon. So again, my name is Dr. Ashley Beckman, and we're going to be going into biohacking, but especially for women. Everything that we see is predominantly made for men. And this is really important differentiation that we need to go into. So again, as Dr. Jones mentioned, I'm a doctor of Chinese medicine. I wrote my thesis on epigenetics. So I'm very much into personalized medicine and I focus and blend epigenetics, functional medicine with Chinese medicine theory. So in my practice, I worked in Beverly Hills for about eight years.

I saw over 50,000 clients and I just began to see a lot of patterns. But one of the main things is how unique we all are. and how important it is to customize and especially throughout the lens of Chinese medicine theory. So biohacking for women needs to be customized because we are not just small men. This is something that a lot of people focus on in general is just how to minimize or take a smaller dose of something, but we are quite unique and we have a lot of different phases each week of our cycle and then different phases of life.

So we're gonna hop into this a little bit deeper. So again, we have different hormones, and they're really critical to our everyday function, both in how we feel, how we build muscle, and how we recover. So these are really, really impactful for us, and they really need to be targeted both on the individual level and then as for women themselves, and then of course in what phase of life that we are. So again, we have a wide variety of different times in our life where we have very different needs.

So childbearing years are very different than pre and perimenopause, menopause is quite different, and postmenopause. So even within our phases of our menstrual cycle, we want to do different things. You can train differently, you can eat differently, you should regulate your nervous system differently, and then even potentially you want to change different types of food that you're having as well. So because biohacking is, again, very individualized, you want to see and provide for your clients what is going to be the best for that particular individual.

And even as tailored as during what week they are in in their cycle, if they're still cycling. Another big part that we focus on would be if somebody has not had children or if they're in their childbearing years. So again, men have a predictable 24-hour testosterone cycle. And most people do know that women are much more complex. And we change about every week with completely different levels of hormones. And another big issue that I think most of us have been seeing is how histamine has been playing a really big role for women and how they're breaking down this excess estrogen.

So a lot of women have so many symptoms, and unfortunately women are mostly dismissed by doctors, and they're told that they either need to rest more, it's stress, anxiety, and they're often prescribed an antidepressant. So these are just some of the most common signs that we see of hormonal imbalances. And I don't know about you, but what I've been seeing more and more of is something called the period flu. Have you guys heard of this? No. OK, so it's basically it can happen usually around the week before your cycle or even the week of your period.

Your body temperature rises, you feel like you have the flu and you're very achy. So again, there's a wide variety of how symptomatic a client could be.

Hormones, Histamine, and Cycle-Based Symptoms 5:23

But unfortunately, this is the body's issue with breaking down the surge of histamine that's affected by the higher estrogen. The other big issue with this is people might focus on histamine and breaking that down, but we always want to look upstream to the issue at hand, which is how is your liver doing at breaking down all of these toxins that it's coming in contact with. So it's having a really hard time breaking down histamine if this is happening. Any of your clients have morning sickness when they're pregnant, right?

There's nothing really still after everything we've learned to figure out exactly how this has been contributed to why somebody might have a really difficult pregnancy with hyperemesis and they're vomiting multiple times a day for months to somebody who has a very smooth pregnancy. So this has a lot to do with the liver's ability to break down all of that extra estrogen. Another factor, and this is a Chinese medicine theory, is that when you have a male baby, that male is going to give you this extra yang energy, and most women feel amazing with that.

So often there are the women that have this smooth sailing pregnancy with lots of energy. Often we look and see, did they have a male child or did they have a girl? Girls are notorious for creating a lot more issues. in many ways, but even in utero, right? So we wanna take a look at this, but I love to look at it through the Chinese medicine lens. If you're a medical doctor, nurse practitioner, chiropractor, or other health expert that's stuck in a broken system, there's a better way. The Freedom webinar shows you a proven five-step system to build a seven-figure virtual health practice or how to modernize your current brick and mortar practice without the burnout.

Learn to create high ticket programs, automated income, residual revenue, and attract clients ready to work with you. Book your million dollar strategy session today by clicking the link in the description. So one thing that we look at a lot, especially in longevity, is your certain different types of energy that we work with, your chi, which is your vital energy. There's yin and there's yang. And then we have something called jing, which is your essence that you're born with. Now, jing is something that is depleted very quickly through menstruation, childbirth and breastfeeding.

So we also have this information in Chinese medicine that with each child, you give away half of your chi. So when you have the moms are laughing, right? Because everyone always wants to get back to, oh, I want to feel how I did before I had kids, right? That's kind of the goal for a lot of women, which is generally not that easy to do. And in Chinese medicine, we have this theory that, again, It's not as attainable to do that because you're only coming out and starting with half of that Chi with your next child.

So we are really all about conserving Chi and Jing and essence in Chinese medicine. And they created so many different protocols and herbs and treatments, all based on longevity. This is a huge part of Chinese medicine. And again, that's why I studied this because we have our entire doctoral program dedicated to longevity and cultivating that within our clients. So we do this through strengthening the kidneys and nourishing the blood. And there are specific things that we do in regards to the type of food that you eat, the way that you live life, the type of exercise you use,

Chinese Medicine, Jing, and Postpartum Recovery 9:11

and then nutritional and herbal therapy. So in Jing, this is very important, but what is something that we want to make sure that you do is also apply this to somebody's day to day life. So somebody who depletes searching very quickly is usually someone that is burned out. They are just constantly working. And they're on the computer all day, not moving and usually this is very common in our field right burnout is extremely common. And when somebody has that terminology associated with how they're living you're going through your gene very quickly, and this is one of our most precious.

substances that we have in Chinese theory. So we have a lot of different food that you can implement, but there aren't that many things that really nourish your jing. And actually some of the things that are included in stem regens products do that. And there's black cumin seed oil. So if you've heard of black seed oil, we use that a lot. We use black sesame seed oil too, which is another one. It's very, very potent for restoring your jing. Also the herb that turns your hair back from gray to black, it's called he shi wu.

That is another one that restores your Jing. So there's actually just a small handful of things that actually work on such a deep level. Most of it is nutrition and lifestyle. So you really had to see and work with your clients to figure out how they can live in more harmony. So postpartum recovery in Chinese medicine is also really one of the most important times. It's called the first 40 days. And basically you take a month. The mom is very much taken care of and given very specific foods. In Chinese medicine, we only eat warm, nurturing foods.

Cold and raw is one of the most depleting things that we have. So they barely ever use that in that type of prescription for food. So again, a lot of people want to just bounce right back and get to how they used to be. And unfortunately, that will just further deplete their energy faster. Oh, sorry. One more thing is we do say it takes a full two years to recover after each child. So this is something that you can talk about with your clients. You can see this on labs, but it's very important to really take the time for the mom to fully recuperate as much as possible before starting this whole process over again.

And breastfeeding is also something that takes a lot of chi and energy as well. So this is something that we add in. You can basically use this. It doesn't have to just be postpartum. This is for all women that are depleted and need extra support and energy to rebuild up their system. Now, most women too are the ones that come into our practice that have autoimmune issues. I love looking at the autoimmune significance in regards to toxins, so I always run toxin panels. And the most common thing that I see with every single autoimmune patient is their exposure to mold toxicity.

So when we're working with clients, I'm always looking at mold, heavy metals, what their gut looks like, some vitamin deficiencies, and especially if somebody has any sort of autoimmune issues. Another big problem that I see in current offices is when people are trying to use their own insurance to get a full thyroid panel. It's almost impossible. And so most of my clients have to come and order something out of pocket. And we pretty much always see some sort of autoimmune thyroid issues. So again, it's extremely common with both men and women, but it's very impactful.

And really, some of these foundations must be in place before you even start to try to optimize for longevity. So another big piece also again for this is just how we deal with estrogen and how estrogen is made and detoxified within our system. If someone is not going to the bathroom regularly, they're going to reabsorb the estrogen and then that's going to create a bit more of an imbalance and will lead to estrogen dominance much more frequently. than if someone is going to the bathroom regularly.

So we have an entire system that's basically a subset of gut bacteria that regulates estrogen metabolism, and it's called the estrabalome. And this is really, really critical for how women are going to feel on a day-to-day basis and definitely a weekly basis.

Toxins, Autoimmunity, and Estrogen Detox 13:55

So there are some specific probiotics you can implement and some fermented foods, polyphenols. But really what we have to do is make sure that the liver is supported really well. And then again, what steps are they taking to mitigate stress? So a lot of women are over-exercising, doing tons of cold plunges, and fasting too much because they read about it online. So biohacking again has to be very much tailored to the individual. And again, especially tailored to where they are in their cycle or what level of life they are in their childbearing years.

In general, we always are going to look at toxins. Toxins are going to be one of your biggest barriers to optimization. You don't want to start optimizing a client if they are filled with toxins because they aren't going to get good results. So most of the time, we always order a total toxin test from Vibrant America. I love to add the organic acid test as well because then you're going to see how their amino acids are doing. You're going to see how they detoxify their levels of glutathione and some of the main B vitamins and a few other nutritional markers that are very important.

So testing is really critical and I think very helpful to assess where your client will be and then what type of longevity program that you can implement with them. The other thing is if they have a toxin test that's riddled with lots of toxins, that's your main first step beyond getting them on foundational products and foundations set in place with how they respond to stress, what type of exercise they're doing, what kind of clean water they're drinking, what kind of food. Things like that are really critical.

They always seem like basics, but most of our clients are not doing them and they're ignoring something quite large that is a major impediment to their healing process. So why are women more susceptible to an overloaded toxic? burden. So in general, we do have more fat and a lot of the toxins are stored in the fat. So you will release more toxins into the bloodstream when you start fasting or going on specific cleaning up of the diet and if you're losing weight. So you do have to be careful and mitigate this with some binders and things that work well for that particular client.

The other thing is personal care products have so many chemicals in them. If your clients are still using traditional products, they're usually putting about 200 to 500 chemicals on their body every single day. All of these will disrupt their hormones or many are carcinogenic and they really have to be cleaned up. Fragrance alone can house over 200 toxic ingredients. So a big part I would say of longevity is just looking at everything that your client is doing on a day-to-day basis, their habits, and seeing where we can make some tweaks and implement that with them so that they can really optimize their longevity.

I do use different testing that I love. I also love a hair tissue mineral analysis test. That's a great one for checking heavy metals. So one of the biggest limiting factors that I see again is the role of the liver and how burdened it is. Many people drink wine, lots of women drink wine in the evening, and it's very much normalized. And unfortunately, it's one of their biggest impediments to healing. The other big factor is how much sugar they consume. And I'm a bit more strict. I think, of course, not having refined sugars is a big deal.

But unfortunately, honey is a huge one for certain people. Maple syrup, coconut sugar, these can still really disrupt a lot of what's going on, depending on how sensitive your client is. So I am a big fan also of continuous glucose monitoring because it's really important to see this. Most people underestimate a what they're eating, the toxins that they're eating. And many women just don't eat enough. That's a huge problem as well for sugar regulation. And again, if you are not getting these things out of the way, it's really difficult to get someone into optimized living and work on how to optimize them if they have these huge barriers to homeostasis on happening throughout the day at various times.

I heard some glucose monitors going off throughout the day. I know mine does that. But it's really fascinating to get data in real time to actually see what's happening, because it's usually quite different than what we think is happening. So detoxification is really a cornerstone of longevity. So again, I really, really love Just shining a light on this, there are certain things that you can change and implement.

Nutrition, Fasting, Sleep, and Exercise 18:58

Otherwise, this is extremely overwhelming for most people. So I love the EWG water database. You just type in the zip code, you see what's in your water, because you will have more people consuming tap water and not telling you, right? Or they might use a filter that's not the best. So some of these basics have to be cleaned up. And then another thing that's just very important is how much they're moving their body. Because if you have stagnant lymph and issues with circulation, you're not going to have a very successful program.

I do love advanced detox therapies. I got some ozone yesterday. I love Ibu. And then there's something a little bit newer on the scene, a plasma exchange. So a lot of clients don't necessarily warrant needing this, but it can be a quick way to eliminate more toxins if your client can tolerate it. I have many clients that are very sensitive and we just don't implement these things because we have so many tools that are very effective on their own. So it's really important to focus on Longevity through nutrition.

Most people, again, there are still ways we can clean up our diet and nutrition. But again, it's to make it very simple, right? Otherwise, our clients just get extremely overwhelmed with all of the data that they're consuming. and how conflicting it is. So fasting for women, this is very popular. And what I would say when I'm looking at it through a Chinese medicine lens or a constitutional lens, you need to see how your client really is. If you have a female who is cold and tired and stressed, she needs a much longer window of eating time.

I have a general rule of thumb for all women. I know that's a little bit too general, but it's to never go past 10 a.m. and you need to eat by 10 a.m. Everything that people read online or that they're trying or their husbands are trying is often too jarring and messes with their nervous system too much. Unless you happen to be somebody who has their stress dialed in, you are exercising well, and you don't have these ups and downs with blood sugar regulation, But I have yet to find many women that this applies to.

So you can test this again with your blood glucose monitor, at least to see if you have a lot of stability throughout your day and based on the foods you're eating. But it's just something that really needs to be very tailored to the individual. So women need more sleep than men do. So this is something that a lot of women I think would be great information for them to have. We always, again, we compare ourselves to our partners or to people in the family and you generally have people that just think that they can function on very little sleep.

It's very rare and it's especially rare for women. Even more rare if you're in the middle of, if you're nursing and then pregnancy, we all know you sleep a lot more because you really need to to do that to repair. So when we're sleeping, it's critical because your glymphatic system drains. And then in Chinese medicine, we also look at the organ clock that shows you which organs are possibly having more issues or struggles by the time of night that you wake up. So it's just very critical to get more sleep.

And I think a lot of people minimize how important this is, and especially for women. A lot of women want to stay up, have some free time without kids, but unfortunately this is a big detriment to their overall health. So resistance training is also very important. As we age, we lose so much muscle and this usually starts around age 35. So it's extremely important to make sure as well that we're getting enough protein in. Amino acids can be very important. I'm a big fan of using beef protein and things like that to add.

But there are great calculations to basically just make sure as well that you're getting enough protein in because we just age so quickly when you have too little protein. So another one that's very popular is our HIIT exercises and cardio for women. A lot of women are very much overdoing this and it is a huge detriment to your system. So again, you really just want to see what your client can handle and also just think of this for yourself as well. Right. But what we want to do is customize this again to possibly the week you are in your cycle.

or if you feel more depleted, this is not the time to do HIIT exercises. I am a fan and was a fan of hot yoga with weights and cardio. So in Chinese medicine, this is about the antithesis of what you should do. And they would have a yoga challenge where you were supposed to go for 30 days in a row. So this is one of the most depleting things to stack all of these together for women is extremely impactful negatively, but you need to find the balance and the patient needs to find the balance, right?

If they're dizzy and tired and not feeling good after too much exercise, they have exerted too much energy and they're damaging their chi.

Nervous System Regulation and Longevity Tools 24:18

Nervous system regulation is really, really critical. So one thing that we've come across a lot, especially in the world with toxins and chronic illness, which is something that I specialize in, women just don't feel safe. And sometimes this is a concept that's not as easy to explain to men because it's just a little different for us. You're not always scanning a room or scanning a parking lot or. just looking at the world through that lens. So women have a lot of different experiences where they don't feel safe.

And so their nervous system is on alert constantly. The other thing is that once somebody has had an exposure of mold in their home, they feel like their home is not safe for them. So this can happen with other things, like if you go into a mall and there's perfume and we smell it, and you know that you might react to that. So it's really critical to find the best way for your clients to feel safe in their bodies so that they can heal. And this is a cornerstone of foundational health, but especially for optimization.

So generally cold plunging, long intermittent fasting, excessive sauna use, these can create too much stress in the body that that you really have to figure out that individual balance. So I love using salivary testing, Dutch hormone testing to really get a good picture of what's going on. And some people do great with adaptogens. Those are herbs that are amazing because they will regulate based on whatever your body needs. So this is something we use a lot of in Chinese medicine. And mindfulness is also really critical.

What somebody does when they first open their eyes every day is critical to their health and success of any program or protocol that you put them on. So we want to make sure and see what people are doing right when they wake up and in bed before going to sleep. And this has a lot to do with how their stress patterns are going to be set. And again, you can test this. I love the testing that shows that five times a day the cortisol response plus a vial for insomnia should they wake up in the middle of the night.

HRV is something that I do love to look at. Most of my clients that have chronic illness have notoriously low HRV. It's always in the teens or 20s. Now you get and talk to lots of guys like Isaac or Rudy, and they have HRV in the 70s on a consistent basis. So they have their stress levels dialed in. A lot of women do not, but that doesn't mean everybody is that way. But it's a beautiful way to see what your lifestyle is doing to your system, and if you're maybe adding in something that creates more stress on your body, and then you need to dial that in.

So again, a lot of this energy on the mitochondrial level is what we're looking to support. We have amazing things to do that. We have different supplements that we've tried and talked about, the Urolithin A, NAC, and the precursors. Red light therapy is my ultimate favorite. This is something that I utilize every day and I do talk to my clients about this. So what I want to make sure and just focus on the most is that if you have programs for longevity or even just within your practice, that there are some considerable tweaks for men versus women.

And again, just really making sure to look through a lens of constitution, right? what type of body they have, how they deal with stress. Do they run cold? Do they run warm? These are all really invaluable tips to customize the program so you have better outcomes. And this will happen in less time if they're on something more customized. Another big major thing that I would say is that adrenals and thyroid are often very much impacted just in our day-to-day world. And so a lot of people keep wanting to do something that's a more aggressive treatment because they think if they do something with more pills and a stronger treatment or sauna five times a week instead of three, that they're gonna get results faster.

So a lot of the times for women, this is what backfires their entire plan and then they're actually much worse off and then you have to backpedal and do a lot more repair. So it's just really critical, I think, to look at us in a different way, customize your protocols and just get very familiar with your client to see how unique we all are and customized to that beautiful difference that we have. Thank you for tuning into Doctor Talks. We hope today's episode has enlightened and inspired you on your path to optimal health.

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