Women's Hormones: How To Test & Balance And Lose Weight At Any Age

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On this episode with Faraz Khan, Karen Martel shares how to use ideal tests to measure women’s hormones and how to balance hormones. Karen also discusses how she helps women lose weight at any age.

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Karen Martel is a Certified Hormone Specialist & Transformational Nutrition Coach and women’s weight loss expert. Karen is the host of the top 100 rated women’s health podcast The Other Side of Weight Loss where she helps women to unlock the mysteries of female fat loss and hormone imbalance.

Here are the topics of discussion:

2:15 Karen’s story and how she got into health coaching

In her early 30’s after giving birth, Karen rapidly gained weight
Tried all the diets, Atkins, vegan
Hormonal symptoms got worse, insomnia got worse
Doc put her on anti-depressants
Found her hormones were off, so she started taking action
Found the diet that was best for her and the weight started to come off

11:45 What are the best tests for women’s hormones?

Hormonal ranges can vary quite a bit
Blood is not too accurate when you are in reproductive age
For women’s hormones, always check free levels
Stick with saliva
ZRT test is great for urine, hormone and metabolites or Dutch test is a good one

16:10 What day of the cycle is it best to test women’s hormones?

7 days prior to the onset of period
If you’re irregular, get an ovulation test kit and base the test off those numbers

16:40 What age do hormones start changing in a woman’s body?

Peri-menopausal changes are now happening in their 30’s
PMS will start to get worse
When women don’t ovulate as much, then the periods get worse

23:48 The best tests to diagnose thyroid problems

Thyroid is hard to get the right correct
Important to get the full thyroid panel done
T3 is the active thyroid hormone, it’s important to get this done
It’s important to test for the antibodies as well which can show any autoimmune issues

33:25 Desiccated thyroid – is that the right thyroid supplement for you?

Majority of people get put on synthroid or levoxythyroxine which are only T4
Dessicated thyroid comes from a pig and it contains T4 and some T3
Some other people will do better on a compounded T4/T3 mix from a pharmacy

37:25 How common is Iron deficiency – and what can you do about it?

Irons are better absorbed from meat sources
Or take digestive enzymes to help break down vegan foods better, so that the iron can be absorbed
Vit C is important for absorption of iron, so make sure to get enough Vit C
Your iron and ferritin should be in the middle of the range
Copper helps your body to take iron out of the tissue so they can use it
Get the full iron panel

43:55 How to lose weight in your 30’s, 40’s and beyond

Find a good diet that matches your hormonal profile
For cycling, Vitex or chasteberry can help your body produce more progesterone
Take minerals can help improve women’s hormones
Manage stress to protect your hormones and health
Once ovarian function starts declining, estrogen, progesterone and testosterone levels fall
At this point, bio-identical hormone therapy can be considered