The Hormone Education You're Looking for with Dr. Jolene Brighten

The following podcast is a dear media production. ♪♪ Um, okay. I'm so happy to have you on the podcast, especially, um, because I know that so many things that are happening with my body and have been happening with my body in many of our listeners is not normal. Yeah, yeah. It is perfect. And while we're speaking in the context of your book, is this normal? Okay, give me your background, because you are a doctor, but you also specialize in, like, you know, a lot of, like, west... or I'm sorry, a lot of eastern medicine, correct? Yeah, well, for sure. So can I just, like, say that I really appreciate that you sing your words? Um, that I can't do that, too. And you're, like, singing right away, and I was like, we're gonna jive. This is gonna be good. So, um, I am board certified in naturopathic endocrinology, so integrative medicine, bringing in the best of everything we got, as if it's a buffet, and presenting it to the patient to meet their needs. And then I am also a trained sexual counselor. And that is very, you know, interesting background, especially when you layer on the fact that I'm also a nutrition scientist, and that's where I started all of this. And so that lends itself to a very holistic perspective when it comes to hormones and women's health altogether. Okay, I just wanna dive into PCOS. And I'd like to know, okay, here's how I describe PCOS sometimes, and tell me if I'm wrong. Do you know how there was a big influx of everybody being diagnosed with leaky gut? And it wasn't, like, one, not like a thing. It was like all these different kinds of things are happening, and there's a lot of different ways to solve it. So we're gonna call it leaky gut. I feel like PCOS is in that category, where there's many levels and many forms and many things affected, and the symptoms can be different, a lot of the same, but there's a lot of different ways to fix it, and it's very specific for a deep condition. You are not wrong. In fact, I think that if the condition could be renamed, it would, why it is they could. There's been such a fight for so long just to raise awareness and get doctors to listen to the fact that PCOS is a real thing, and it's not just that women are not eating right and exercising and being lazy, like it is a real endocrine and metabolic disorder. And so when you fought so hard for all that advocacy, and then you start trying to change a name, then people are like, well, now we're basically starting from scratch, but you're not wrong, because even the name Polycystic ovarian syndrome, it's not cis. There's not cis on the ovary is what they actually are, follicles, they're normal follicles, but there's just too many of them because your body's trying so hard to ovulate. And so it looks like, wow, you have all these cysts when in reality, is that you have ovaries that just really, really want to work. They really want to ovulate and they can't, because we've got testosterone and insulin leading to dysfunction. And the other thing is that, you know, there was this, like we now say lean PCOS, but for a long time, doctors would be like, you're not overweight, you can't have PCOS. And it's like, well, I have high-endrogens, and I have anobulatory cycles, like, or- One of the things people I know just got diagnosed with PCOS. Yes, and so you'll see that. And then you'll see doctors who will also say things like, oh, well, it's because you gained weight that you got PCOS, and so that is not how any of this works. And they're the same people, like spreading the rhetoric, they have absolutely no background in nutrition, no education whatsoever. They, like, you know, a lot of these doctors, what really gets me is they've never even stepped foot in a gym, and then they're telling women, like, you need to eat less, you need to exercise more. If you weren't so lazy, like, you wouldn't have PCOS, and it's a lie. I'm gonna give you a real shitty story, which is bad. Let's go. I got my period when I was 10, and I would bleed for two weeks. I would bleed through an overnight pad in and out. Nobody knew, my mom's period, her whole life, has been like a drop, so she was just like, I don't know what to do. Then I started getting very bloated, very tired, and really nauseous. And we went to my pediatrician because I was fucking 10. And so it's not like when I was gonna leave the guy in, and he said, did you give her a pregnancy test? Our family doctor said this to my mother about her 10 year old. So we went to a doctor who found that I had assist the size of a grapefruit on my ovary, and it popped, and I was really uncomfortable. And then they just threw me on a bunch of birth control, which then the kids at school found out, and the moms had a field day with that. And so I would bleed all over myself at school, but I was the only one. So that's my little kid journey with this shit. This isn't even what I had to deal with as an adult trying to get pregnant. So I can't imagine the stories that you hear constantly because I know that everybody feels really lost. I just got diagnosed with PCOS postpartum. Wow. Yeah, you know, to all of that, like the thing that really strikes me right down the current political climate is here you are talking about getting a period of 10. There's legislators in Florida right now with their like, don't say a period bill. And imagine going through that and not being able to talk about it. And then the shame and stigma, like, I mean, for the majority of my menstruating life, periods have been a way to not only stigmatize us, dismiss us, but also insult us. And so there's a lot of shame that comes with that. And then what you were speaking to at the birth control pill. So on one hand, we don't even have research to tell us what the heck happens to a child's brain. So anybody that's like younger than 20, their brain is not done developing and their brain ovarian communication hasn't finished maturing. We have no research to tell us, what happens when we do that? What happens when we get into that? And yeah, yeah, so there's like that piece, but then there's also the piece of like, your doctors, that's the only thing they have in their toolkit, they're like, well, we have to do something to stop this bleeding instead of actually investigating it. And the big problem with that is that they just mass symptom. So here you go, our postpartum, getting the diagnosis of PCOS, that somebody should have been working you up when you were 10, but instead they slapped you with the birth control pill and sent you on your way and just basically, kick the ball, like kick the can, punch the ball, whatever you wanna say, down the line to be like, we'll just deal with it when we have to deal with it, but until then we'll just do this. And it's really problematic because what we've seen arise out of that is people who are like, I hate doctors and I hate the birth control pill because this is what happened. And then we've got people that are like, we should take it away because it's not even necessary that we're doing that. And reality is, it's like, yes, we need birth control. And yes, we need to listen to women's stories and provide them options beyond just birth control pill. Our next partner is Athletic Greens. I take AG1 by Athletic Greens literally every day. 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This deal is only available through my link, so you must go to drinklmnt.com. It's totally risk free if you don't like it. Just give some to a salty friend. Get your money back. No questions asked. You have absolutely nothing to lose. I mean, at that point in my life, too, I was a child. So, you know, I was, if I think now, like how I eat and how I make sure that I'm doing the right things here, my cycle. I mean, my mom was getting me like frappuccinos every day after school. And I started to gain weight and I was eating french fries. I started getting acne. Like she was just giving me whatever I wanted to make me feel better. And it was really this like odd cycle. And I swear the birth control then derailed so many. I mean, thinking about me being like an insulin resistant head and what I was eating in high school, like of course I had ADD. Of course I was diagnosed with depression and all these things and then put on a slew of other pills where now I'm the happiest I've ever been and just eating right. And not really focusing on my cortisol levels and really, but I was so stressed and I was scared and the stress of my period made me more, I mean, I would have panic attacks constantly. I'd keep crazy anxiety when I was really little which is why they would give me antidepressants and all these things. And so, you know, I think it was so challenging for me to just be like a little girl that turned into a woman kind of too soon. And yeah, well, it is early. I mean, statistically the average age is about 12. But we see as young as eight, but it is something that like, like when you think, so I have a 10 year old boy and he's starting like, there's definitely moments where I'm like, oh testosterone is starting and they compare it and like definitely like get middle of like preteen attitude kind of coming on which I just have to laugh because as much as I'm frustrated I'm also like, oh, it's an important part of that. Yeah, yeah. I'm annoyed by this. Like just cool. But to just think about like, oh wow, at his age, if he had to go through that and as your mom, like she was doing the best she could, like who doesn't want to get their child like comfortable and out of fame, right? Like giving you the foods in like whatever you want, no one taught her nutrition. Nobody teaches us these foundations. No. And really, you know, there's the big gap in the knowledge that she had or has like Lee still because like we're just, we've got a long way to go. It's big reason why I wrote is this normal. People ask me like, oh, how young of a child do you attend this book for? And I'm like, I intend this book for no children because whatever conversations I'm having in this book, you should have first. This is not the kind of book that I want you to just slap in front of your child and be like, read and learn. I want you to read and you to learn and you to have the conversation and be the authority in your household so that when they are faced with things like extremely heavy periods or having anxiety, they're not going to Google, they're not going to social media, they're not going to their friends, they're going to you and saying, you're an ally. You taught me about my body. Like how can you help me through this? But it's a really, I see like doctors and I see society blame moms for like, they should have taught their children about their body. I'm not going to know any of this stuff. Who taught them? Who taught them about their bodies? Like medicine has gatecats a lot of information and failed to do the research and to do their due diligence in women's health. And then, you know, they get the blame the women for like not knowing that like this isn't normal except that you've been saying periods are horrible to women forever. So like who are they supposed to believe here? Yeah, totally. Because ultimately you can, correct me if I'm wrong because I kind of have for the most part, you can have a period that doesn't have to be awful, right? Yes, absolutely. I mean, I cut out coffee and I had no cramps my last cycle and I cut out coffee in January. Yeah. Interesting. No, it's so some people cut out caffeine, their rest tenderness goes. I didn't have to cut out caffeine. Just coffee. Interesting. I know, is that weird? Because I get that. Well, I don't think it's weird, but it's like what's fine for you. From coffee, you know, I can feel the like I'm jacked up and I'm like, dah, and I can be anxiety. I can feel the rush, I can feel the way it's such a stimulant for me where I don't feel that way with like a matcha or a green tea. Yeah, well, the thing about matcha green tea, it has eltheanine in it as well, which is an amino acid that reinforces, let's become. And so you get this stimulation of caffeine, you also get these wonderful antioxidants for your brain, your ovaries, your body overall. But you don't, a lot of people say they don't get the same kind of stimulation from coffee. And with coffee, there's a lot of people who are like, coffee is just bad for women's hormones. I'm like, that's not true. Okay, like in general, it's not true, but for some people, absolutely. So how do we evaluate what's true for me? Well, what you said, do you feel anxious? Do you feel hangry? Do you feel like you're gritting your teeth? Like do you notice that you fatigue easy in the afternoon when you're having morning coffee? If you drink coffee in the afternoon, are you staying up all night? Because like, well, there are cultures who drink coffee at 10 o'clock at night and go to bed at 11. And this exists. So if you are that person who's like, yes, I feel all those ways on coffee, then coffee isn't working for your body. Okay? And we can stay neutral about it. I feel like there's a lot of morality placed on food. In fact, when I was getting my nutrition degree, I remember, and this has really stood out to me my entire life where they were like, welcome to like one of the worst professions ever because people tell the way about, yeah, will people feel the way about food that they do about politics and religion? And nobody wants to talk about politics and religion, but everybody has to talk about food if they want to have a healthy and complete life. Like not just like, oh, I look good. And you know, all that rhetoric we get, like I actually can show up in the way I want to in my life, reach my goals, be with my family, like do the things I came here to do. Everything you eat becomes a part of you. And so we do have to have that conversation, but we can stay neutral in things. So there's people that are like, they hate coffee and, oh my God, I love coffee. And when I want to talk about drinking coffee, because I'm not, I don't want to be one of those people on the internet that's like highly real of like me living my perfect life. My life is not perfect. It's a mess. It's like right now in particular, it's very messy. And I'm just honest about that. But when I share that I drink coffee, people are like, you are not a hormone expert because you would not drink coffee. And I'm like, you know, it's really funny is there's a lot of like experts in health who also smoke cigarettes and drink alcohol and do all of these things that are not that we know or not good for their own. Like coffee has actually even shown there's to be beneficial for neurological health. Like if you have Alzheimer's partners, these like these different neurological conditions, become in with coffee as part of what we're using to help with that. So I think it's just very interesting how we vilify things. Like you were like, oh, eating french fries. Like that oil is not the best for menstrual cramps. That's for sure. Not the best for our mood and definitely not the best for our skin. But damn, aren't french fries good? Like do french fries at least once a week. I make sure to have french fries. I always get table fries, but I have french fries after I have a big salad and I usually have my french fries with in the vegetables that I'm eating. Yeah, yeah, exactly. So what you do is you eat the fiber, you give your body the nutrient dense foods and that actually helps buffer the glycemic effect of the french fries. So people know these kinds of starches, especially like once we take those potatoes and we fry them up, they can spike your blood sugar and anything. So in PCOS, definitely problematic, but I don't, the people like like PCOS is the only one that has to worry about it because when insulin goes high, this is one of your foundational hormones next to what the adrenal glands produce, it can cause issues with thyroid dysfunction, with adrenal dysfunction and with your period altogether. And it's something that just like even with PCOS, I don't feel like it gets talked a lot about. So in the case of PCOS, it can be that insulin that is driving the testosterone and the anovulatory cycles and basically like the period problems of your life. And there's an approach where people take where they're like, let's just get really strict and controlling about food. And I don't think that's the healthiest way to live your life. There is a way, I actually say in the book, like we're gonna have our cake and our balanced hormones too, because I didn't come here to work like a life that was void of all pleasure. Like seriously, there's this. Well the ironic part is like, E-Rus makes PCOS worse. So to have an entire day where you're panicked, that we're eating or, you know, I mean, think about, and I'm sure you deal with this on a daily basis, but like when I first learned about PCOS, I remember my doctor saying, you know, so many of them with PCOS have extremely disordered eating because a lot of them have had, you know, weight on their body that they absolutely cannot get off and you've probably tried every single thing to do so. And so alleviating that aspect of food for me and removing the guilt if I want to have something, I was like, that actually like freed me because it took away the whole stress of eating and I'm just trying at all times to control my stress and my cortisol. When you look at bags of dog food, you see pictures of bright carrots and juicy snakes, but when you open the bag, you just see like little gross, smelly pellets that you don't really know like what the ingredients are. 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Now I do hate that. I hate when a doctor's lazy and they're like, oh, it's just stress or you're just getting older or your mom like people could see me now throwing at my hands like ridiculous. It's really annoying. But to understand how to stress impact your body, I very much believe that if you give people the information they need to make better choices and they understand the why, they can make those better choices much more easily. And it doesn't become this like intangible, elusive thing of like, oh, stress. Like, and there has to be a talk about how there's stress that you can control and there's stress that you cannot control. And what we're doing in our day-to-day life, like trying to get good sleep, making sure that we are balancing our blood sugar by eating fat and fiber and protein at every meal. Like all of these things, they build resiliency to the stress you cannot control. But when we become hyper-focused on health or thinking that we can control everything, that becomes a stressor in itself. And so I give an analogy in the book of like, we've got these scales, like the old school scales where you balance things out and we want to be making like the choices that are towards optimal health. And I say in there, but if all you're doing is trying to fill that one side with optimal health, it also becomes imbalanced. Because now that perfectionism has taken over and you've lost the joy. And we see this rhetoric of like, food is fuel, like don't eat for pleasure. Like, why do you think I have receptors for pleasure? Like, why do you think my body evolved in this way? Because that's part of the full human experience. I get most of my pleasure for meals. I'm a total foodie too. Like, I'm in Paris like sharing Benier's. I'm like, I'm gonna eat a Benier and people are like, isn't that like sugar and fried stuff and it's not good for your hormones? And I explain. I had protein, I had fat and I had fiber. Like I fueled my body first with the nutrients in me. It's a, that's something that like, I've taught my children as well. So my oldest, whenever he wants something to snack on, usually he's like wanting some dark chocolate after dinner, like who doesn't? And he will say like, oh, can I like have this? And I just ask the question, like, have you nourished your body? And if it's after dinner, like, yeah, that's an easy yes. But sometimes in the day, I will hear him be like, oh, I wanna go like, snack on this. And he's like, wait, I haven't nourished my body yet. Like maybe I should have an apple and then I'll have that. And he's like, doesn't make sense. Has autonomy for wanting to make good choices for his body because you gave him information and it makes him proud to do things that are good. We live in a very like divided society. So there is not really like, especially with the way people judge each other on Instagram, which I can tell you've been through with you said, you know, a lot. Yeah, I'm good. So like what really doesn't happen here is balance. And that's really what never gets explained. That's really like kind of what this country, if we all were just like, there's somewhere in the middle. That works for most people or we can do a little bit of this if you're bad, I was just saying as long as my baseline is good. You know, I start with a good baseline. So, you know, when I couldn't get pregnant before or I got pregnant years ago, I knew nothing about any of this and you'll love this. I said, you're just gonna really love this. I was fasting every day. So I only ate between like two and maybe eight p.m. You have myself a six hour window. I bet you were really enjoyable to be around. I was shining person. Pop top on Bulletproof Coffee. I was only doing hit workouts. I was inflamed, and period was crazy. I wasn't losing any weight and I couldn't get pregnant. I hadn't had breakfast in years. Like I would go, I had breakfast, you know, Sunday brunch, but like the idea of having breakfast felt like 30 to me. Though, tell me, explain to me and our listeners, everyone is clearly very individualized. But what do you know are some day to day things that most women should be doing to optimize their hormone? Yeah, well, and I first want to acknowledge that everything you just shared, if you were a man, and maybe even a post-menopausal woman. Absolutely. Be healthy, right? It works for my sister who's post-menopausal. She's never felt better. Yes, exactly. And why? Because the hormones are no longer cyclical. And when you have cyclical hormones, especially, so okay, everything that you just said, fasting, that is sending the signal from the environment. There's not enough food present. If you are fasting during your late follicular phase, less of a problem. If you're fasting during your luteal phase, which is that couple of weeks before your period, between ovulation and your period, like that is so hard on the body because your caloric needs actually increase by about 5% to 10%. You become mildly insulin resistant, okay? It's not like majorly significant, but it is enough that you feel more hungry. Progesterone is rising, estrogen's taking a back seat and serotonin can fall. Estrogen is a mild appetite suppressant. So progesterone is like, let's eat more. The body's like, there could be a baby. We don't know. Most people are hungry during that time too. And that's when people will say, oh, whatever, like, I'm hungry. I'm just not gonna, you know, because I don't wanna get any weight. So I'm gonna stay away from that. Or like, I'm tired, you're more tired during that time too, right? And that's where I feel like most of them and be like, oh, just do it. I gotta, I gotta, I gotta do that workout. But like your body's telling you to chill a little bit. Yes. And it's important to listen to that signal. Like even, so this was interesting is the average individual is like pushed no matter what. An athlete knows that you've gotta have recovery time in order to push the next go round and to have those achievements. And so we're not teaching the average individual that it's not about willpower. It's about listening to your body and working with your body. And so one, so in terms of fasting, a 12 hour fast, which is what like a very normal thing, but not everybody's doing that because they're like late night eating and there's different reasons. But they should be just like a normal way of being about a 12 hours fast where you just don't eat after breakfast or excuse me, you don't eat after dinner and then you eat breakfast in the morning. Like eight to eight is so normal. Yeah. And it's great for your gut health. It's great for so many aspects of your health. If you are someone who has adrenal dysfunction, so you are popping off in the middle of the night, some cortisol and the difference between a hot flash and a hungry flash is that you wake up hungry, you wake up irritable, you may wake up panicked. If it's just a hot flash because of estrogen, you wake up hot, maybe sweaty, maybe like you. I gotta go take your shower. Anyone postpartum has probably experienced this. I know what he told me about that. When I came home from the hospital, by the way, that I was gonna wake up drenched. And smell and be like, what? Or smell so bad hormones. And so that can happen in perimenopause when estrogen is playing with you. So with that, okay, so there's the aspect of like, that's the kind of situation of like, you wanna eat a little something before bed. And that's actually where instead of like upgraded, coffee, we do like upgraded golden milk because the rest be like to get where it's like, when you're having turmeric, it's great anti-inflammatory. Cortisol loves it when you have anti-inflammatories coming in and you also add some collagen, which is rich in glycine that helps you stay asleep through the night and then add a fat of your choice. Maybe it's some ghee, maybe it's some avocado oil, maybe it's a full fat milk. And then having like a little bit of honey and that's something that maybe able to help sustain your blood sugars that you can sleep through the night when you work on healing your adrenals. So this is a situation where it's like fasting is not for you. If you're pregnant, fasting is not for you. And there are people that are like, I did keto and I faster during pregnancy and all of that. And I was hungry and I'm like, you know, that is really hard on the body. Like a pregnancy is hard enough. Like don't be that harder on your body than you have to. And those signals were actually your body saying, this is, would you please just meet my needs? So we've got the like fasting aspect. Then there's high intensity interval workout. Also can be great during that late follicular phase when estrogen is up, testosterone is up. And you really can do this like at any time in your cycle. But what you may find is that it's harder in the luteal phase. Maybe you don't push his heart. Maybe you only do like one round or something. And that's still a win. But with that, that is sending the signal from the environment, your unevolved body. Okay, you're not as involved as our society as doesn't know, like, are we not eating because it's a famine? Are we working out this hard because there are predators around all of the time? Yeah, exactly. And with that signal coming in, your body, which has the capacity for making life, which is very strenuous, anybody who's a mom knows, like babies are bad when predators around, they're really noisy, they don't sleep, they slow you down. Like your body knows that. Your body's like the environment is not safe for us to have other humans. My priority is you, you need to be safe first once you're safe, then we can move into that way. And so I hope what I've illustrated here is one, it's not you, you're not broken, you're not the problem. It's not, we are constantly be sure to do these male models of how we're supposed to be. And fasting isn't necessarily bad and high intensity interval training isn't bad, but done at the wrong time of your cycle or when your hormones are not at a place for that, it can be the wrong thing for you at the wrong time in your life. Parallel is a huge constant in my life. They've targeted Dr. May, daily vitamin routines that are conveniently bundled into cute little packets for different stages of your reproductive life. There really isn't anything that parallel makes that you cannot take at some point in your life. There's a general women's multivitamin pack, there's a product for anyone trying to conceive, which is what I'm taking. And by the way, we're not even trying to conceive until like end of summer, but everyone that I've talked to who's a doctor has told me to just take these months in advance. And so I have been and it makes me feel like more confident, you know what I mean? They also have packets for each trimester of pregnancy because mom and baby need different nutrients at different stages and you know I'll be taking that. And they have a mom multipack for postpartum, which I brought with me to the hospital. I took it the day that I gave birth. 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The same thing with the PCOS support product, which is one of my favorite things about parallel because they have boutique add-on products. So you can further customize your routine. And as a PCOS girl, I was taking Berberine separately. I was taking Dim, I was taking Anosetol. This has both kinds of Anosetol, it has Dim, it has everything. And I was taking these things totally separate and like going to dinner with like multiple giant bottles in my bag and parallel just does it all. They are my go-to, they're fabulous. I even have Davide on the men's multi, which is the only vitamin I can get him to take. Exclusively for everything is the best listeners, parallel is offering 15% off your first three months with code best15. So head to parallel.co, that is p-e-r-e-l-l-e-l.co. If you don't love it, cancel anytime with a 30-day money-back guarantee. We had game night once a week growing up and it's like those memories are my absolute favorite. And that's obviously one and I do the same for a little Melabella. That's why I love the Kiwi Co. Kiwi Co is defining the future of playing by making it engaging and enriching and seriously fun. And it really solves one of the biggest problems I felt when I gave birth, which is just like, I wanna play with my daughter, right? But I don't know why playing felt so confusing because I was like I wanted to learn things and I wanted to have things that inspire her and are good for her growth, but are also really fun. And like, what is that? That's why Kiwi Co does so well, delivers crates packed with fun, sparks creativity with like these kid-friendly topics and fun activities. You can engineer a robot and learn about science where you can do like little cooking stuff. There's interesting topics for every kid and real hands-on skills to explore. The cutest one we just got, like I was just saying, it was like all about cooking and that's something that I really wanted to introduce her to. 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I just don't know what to do. Is there a good way to brag about my accomplishments? Careers are complicated, and there are so many hush-hush topics we're told we can't talk about. That's why you have the Career Contessa Podcast. I'm your host, Laura McGood one, and each week I'm joined by experts to help you overcome your workplace woes with actionable advice that you can use today. Subscribe to the Career Contessa Podcast and make progress in your career every Tuesday. What are some things on a daily basis that you recommend? I feel like you have so many, by the way, your Instagram is full of a lot of tips. You focus a lot on the adrenals, which I was looking at your Instagram a couple days ago, and I was like, damn, I really need to get like, I don't do anything for my adrenal support. I don't have any supplements or anything, and I probably should. I can see we're both wearing our aura rings. Yeah, I'm not twinning it. Which I had a 93 sleep score last night, thank you. Oh, man, for people who know, they know. They know. So what are some kind of things, almost on a daily basis, that you better maybe like a practice in your life as a mother. And I mean, listen, I think a lot of us will say our stress comes from, listen, we have environmental stressors, and we have work and family. And you are a perfect example of someone we should be listening to, because you have children and you clearly have a job and are very busy. And so I'd love to know kind of like what you do and what you recommend for your patients on maybe like, we could go through like a daily basis and then maybe like in the different phases that are really helpful. Yeah, totally. I go through all of this. There's a 28 day program to where I take you through like week by week. So like behind the scenes, I don't know if I talked about this with anyone, but like I was writing this book with a baby strapped to me, like on a walking treadmill desk, like I walking treadmill, like that's redundant, but I have a treadmill desk. And so I would like the baby in the carrier. I want to get in one of the carrier. It's like I love it. So I'm assuming for the baby too. Yes. And like you're walking and walking is such underrated exercise. Like I always say that. Like, you know, I did this Instagram post the other day and I invited people to come fight me, but people tried to fight me in my DMS, but they would not fight me on the page. Heaven forbid people see them like shame women, but I was just talking about like the hypothyroidism. But just as one example, like when you're in a healing phase and everybody's out there saying like lift weights, like go hard, like do the hard things. That is true information. Lifting weights is fantastic. Your muscles aren't at there. It's an endocrine organ. It's going to help with insulin sensitivity, which is also going to help with your sex hormones and with your thyroid. I mean, it's just amazing, amazing organ tissue. Is a tissue of longevity? Yes. However, when you're in a healing phase and you have to focus on like slowing down, regenerating, repairing tissue, that's not the way. Or if you don't have hormones that can so thyroid, for example, I actually hope you repair that tissue. So I just want to say that everything I'm going to say right now, this is like a good general guideline, but I want you to ask the question, is this true for me? And is this where I'm at in my life? And is this even reasonable? So waking up in the morning, first thing would be lovely to do is can you just focus on some deep breathing? A lot of people per the research tend to roll over and look at social media. You had to start squalling. And what you do when you look at social media is you let other people set the agenda, the tone, and really what the vibe is going to be. Ooh, that's a good, I've never heard anybody say that because I am a scroller. I'll take a couple deep breaths, I'll look at my husband and say, I love you, I'm so thankful and then I go right into it. But I will remember that when I wake up tomorrow morning, I will hear in my head that you said I'm letting other people set the agenda for my date. That's very powerful. Absolutely. Especially like if you say anything controversial or like you have an account, like that has significant following or whatever and significant following can be like 500 people because you know you're waking up to a chance that there are people firing off at you. Oh, yeah. Yeah. And saying like hateful things. And like here's like just for everybody to understand like really like you got to be in a bad place to come on the internet and be hateful to other people. Like you are not healthy. Like Ross the boy talking about this all morning. I don't people came at me last week actually because I had someone on the podcast and they said, you know, do you water your hobbies? And I was like, you know, my work is kind of my hobby. I don't have any hobbies. And he was like, do you go to therapy? And I said, no, I do. I don't have a weekly appointment because my schedule is crazy. But I have a therapist that I talked to and I talked to my therapist for a long time this morning. And the topic of internet boundaries came up because if it's not just me. No, I get a bad girl. And, but everybody does. Everybody. There isn't a single person that I know that hasn't had some sort of trauma. By the way, my friends who like live in San Francisco and have like private Instagram accounts are going through it with like moms in their neighborhood. Like it happens to everybody. But it's, it's, it says more about the person than it does about us because there's no part of me who would ever go on the internet and say anything mean to somebody else. And it would really take a lot for me to care that much to be that triggered by what somebody else is doing. And try to hurt someone is far beyond my comprehension. And so I am sure whatever is coming at you as a person who's trying to make women feel better. I must be very hard thing for your brain to even try to comprehend and digest. Yeah, well, and I think, you know, to this point, like people, so, you know, people will say like hurt people hurt people. It's true. Like this person's not well. If they're on your page, they're hating on you. They're saying awful things. They probably wouldn't even say to your face like they are not well. And their healing is not your responsibility. You are not responsible for their healing. Delete block disengage. But there are people out there who are like energy parasites who are like, oh, these people block and like they don't want accountability. And that's why they block. No, they block because you're bad for their mental health and nothing is worth compromising your piece. So buy, buy, you're done here. Completely. Yeah, but like it's so funny because I have a therapist as well and I've talked to her about this and I'm like, the only one who like struggles with this. And she's like, oh my God, the majority of my sessions social media is coming in some way. And I'm like, not like because I thought like, oh God, it's because like, you know, I'm out here like saying controversial things sometimes like, you know, we should listen to women. Oh my God. That's so controversial. Or that like, you know, even I had a post recently. I was on the model health show and he put out this great clip just talking about the question was about sexual desire women. And how many men are like this? What you're talking about doesn't even take into account men. They never even thought about men, blah, blah, blah, blah. And how many of these men I had to respond to and say, so the researchers who proposed this model are two men and they first did it to describe men and they're like, oh, well, you didn't say that. Like you can't say everything in a clip, friends, but like, if you hang around, you're going to learn a thing or two, but like, why are you so mad at me right now? What is going on? But anyhow, we should get back to like, okay, so morning routine. No, I think it's important that I think we all need to set that boundary. So being able to wake up and say, like, I'm not letting these people, whether or not you're a mom in every this go or Ohio or are you like, and that I think means for people who are the people who make the routine comments, like, you shouldn't be looking at somebody else's Instagram, you shouldn't wake up and consume that. If it's setting you up so much, this is firing up your cortisol. This is your own life. Well, what you've done is you've shifted into Paris from Paris sympathetic, which is that rest digest, make wonderful hormones into the fight, flight, or freeze. And when you're going online and you're popping off, you're fighting. In the fight. And so with that, now we're like, we have to run cortisol, epinephrine, norepinephrine, as you push into that over and over and over, the body starts to say, you know, this progesterone that makes you feel chilled out and calm, but it's also like associated with pregnancy. Let's make more like, let's make more cortisol. Let's make less of that progesterone because we've got to survive here. And so waking up in the morning, even if you can't do the deep breathing, because maybe you're like, man, a toddler decides to like, dive, dive bomb your face. I don't know why this is his new thing, but like throat checking me in the morning is like where it's at apparently. But, you know, I don't always get to wake up and be like, let's do some deep belly breathing. Yeah, I do have is picking like a song for the day. And I have like my playlist on Spotify of like songs I just like. And so if I'm just like, man, I'm already getting in a funky mood and I've been up for five minutes. I'm like song of the day. What's the song of the day? And it's just really smart something. Yeah, that I put on that can shift my mood. I can get up. I can start moving to it. So dancing, feeling that joy in my body that helps start dissipating stress right away. That song could come back on. Or if you're in a moment and it's stressful, like you can just start humming that song to yourself because that can actually take your nervous system back to where you were of like, I feel good. I'm in a happy, good place. So how you start the day is really important. And it's and like, in a lot of ways, food isn't even like the most important thing like when your eyes wake up like it's about like where is your nervous system going to be. How are you going to set the tone for the day if you are someone who journals. I recommend then journaling at night and writing down like what is your intention for the next day reading that before you read social media because if the habit is to scroll, then to just say just don't. That's funny. We're humans. We like these. Instead, reach for the journal. Read that. Give your eyes and your ideas doing of writing what I want to do for the next day, the night before and then waking up and going into that right away seeing that for. I'm going to do that because yeah, sometimes I'll free write and sometimes we'll do this, but I haven't really had something that's been consistent. And I just had my therapist was like, you need to start writing the night before what you want to do the next day. But I love the intention of reading that first thing in the morning. Yeah, and it doesn't even have to be a journal. You could put a sticky note on your phone. That's what she said. So when you go to grab your phone, you're like, sticky note, stop me. Love you sticky note, but like it doesn't like I feel like there's always this idea like how wellness is like portrayed on social media, right? And it's so beautiful. And people have like the best station. They even have their nails done just so that when they're writing with their pen, it's like so beautiful. And I love that aesthetic and I am never going to be that aesthetic. I am not going to be that very soothing to watch, but they get a little a little I'm going with like their nails and prokle and you're just like, oh, this is this is all the things. So, but that's like it doesn't have to be that way. It doesn't have to be that way at all. It just has to be whatever works for you. And if it works for you, share it. Because it might work for someone else, but also just like, know that like it doesn't it doesn't really matter what it looks like what it matters is what it feels like. And does it feel like you are happy in the morning and you're moving into that place. And I just want to say like, I'm saying this right now as so like I'm just going to say that I am on day five of a miscarriage like I just had a pregnancy loss. Thank you. Oh, it's been a really, really hard journey. And this time around. I actually took medication, took my husband going to five pharmacies and like begging so that I could get it in a place where it's legal, but because like there's just such issues and stigma around this but like, there was no heartbeat and there was malformation and it was like, I just couldn't go. I was like, this time I can't just wait for my body like I can't. I just need to like move through this beat on also I have a book coming out. And I thought I'd be announcing a pregnancy and instead I'm just like feeling that all the things you feel with a miscarriage and still having to show up. And today I was doing an Ask Doctor Brayton and people are like, how are you like you look great and all this stuff and I was like, I'm horrible. Actually, I'm absolutely like really just trying to hold it together and focus on everything I need to do. But I'm not going to come on here and lie and act like, oh, this really traumatic thing happened and also I'm just like totally fine you guys. And so I want to share that because even now as I'm sharing this to you with you, it is not always easy to wake up every day with positive thoughts, life hands you shit sometimes. And you still have to do the work to really overcome that. And so I think sometimes when we get to talking about all these things, we forget about the fact that like there's people who are grieving. There's people who are going through divorce. There are people who are in the thick of it and not even talking about it. And we're telling them like, change your thoughts in the morning and deep breathe and all of that. And I will tell you that like, man, like there was just a couple of days ago where I was like, I'm just going to lay here and cry like the ugliest cry. And I just, I don't have it in me and just honoring that. And then moving through that, I was like, okay, now I can rally again. But sometimes in this entire like holistic wellness space, like the thought is, is that it should be perfect. And then, you know, there's this lie people are like, if you're in gratitude, like then you can't feel anything negative or like if the this is no, like you can feel so many things at the same time. Like, I'm scrolling tick tock and seeing like these creators who are exactly the same and they're huge creators. So like, always on my freaking F Y P. And, and I love them. They're also on my F Y P. But like, they're exactly where I should be in pregnancy. And I am so happy for them. And I'm so hurting at the same time. And so just want people to know that the dichotomy can exist and you can be moving towards this like positivity and you can be moving towards like trying to take care of your nervous system. And you can also just have moments where you're a complete puddle on the floor and you're breaking down and you're in like the floor is literally like the hardest place in our house and that's where you are you are in the hardest place right now. And you can be gentle with yourself through all of that. Thank you for sharing. I'm so sorry. I'm scared to start to get pregnant again because it took me so long the first time. And I'm just like, okay, like, you know, there's going to be a big likelihood that something that's very exciting for me will come to an abrupt end and am I in the mental place for that, like, am I in the place where I can recover from that because, yeah, we have jobs and we have children and we open up our phones to fucking assholes and it's, and then we're trying to keep it all together to keep ourselves balanced and keep our whole families moving, but you're right, you have to honor those moments. I didn't do the job of it with my last miscarriage. I went to work the next day. Oh, my, my very first one. I was in with patients the next day. Um, and actually there were people who had been trying to get pregnant and they were pregnant and I was like, Oh my God. Yeah, I was like, I just was sitting there being like, what the hell am I doing here right now like I, the I am hurting. I'm hurting. And I'm like, I'm so happy for them. And I'm also in so much pain. And I just, and I honestly, the biggest thing I was. God bless your heart. I just felt so guilty. I couldn't be completely present with them. Like if I felt so guilty, I could they deserve that like they're coming to see me I should be present with them. But I was like, I just had this moment where I was like, nobody ever taught me as a doctor, how to like, how to be breaking inside and still showing up for people. And honestly, I should have just take it. I was in the emergency room like the day before and like there I am like going back to work. Um, it just, yeah, it's, it's wild, but it is something that like, and we even just like for a moment as a society like recognize there's like, how do we have to be recognize there's like how incredible women are that in everything they do showing up asthma, they're showing up when we have lost showing up when we have terrible periods showing up when we have like crippling depression like, and we still show up and we still provide care and we still do all these things. And I was saying to my husband last night, like, man, there is such this like patriarchal like hold on me in some ways to where I'm like, I really just like feel like, I mean, I took the weekend off and I like I'm actually speaking at a conference for like three hours this weekend. I just, I feel like I want to cancel like everything. And at the same time, I'm like, I don't, there's the, I don't want to let people down. And also I love what I do. And it's really nice to have the distraction. But I'm like, there's also this little part in my mind that's like, do not let men be right of why women cannot succeed or can't. Totally. Oh, they're emotional or their body. Yeah, exactly. They can't just like handle it. Whereas like my husband is definitely grieving right now to a kind of feel. I mean, at times I feel kind of like guilty and like bad because he can't be in his grief as much as like he probably needs to be because right now I'm like, I'm in my grief and I have all of these things to do and I really need your support and he's got that up because my husband was very devastated. Yeah. Yeah. Very devastated and not all men are evil. There are some very wonderful. I mean, not all people are evil. There are some wonderful people on this planet. And clearly you have a very supportive husband and as was mine and he was very upset and just very attentive to me, you know, but I didn't really even. And he followed my lead, but I know that that was really hard for him to. And we have no playbook for men in all of this, like, and that is something when people are like, oh, you know, men suck. Oh God. Yeah, some of them are totally like just trash like awful like people in general, but like there are people like that is people, right? But there's also like, there's a lot of issues, generally, speaking of us not teaching and showing men what does it look like to have emotions? What does it look like to show up and support somebody. And, you know, in my book, I talk about like it's so funny how many interviews I go into where people are like, oh, like women are not having orgasms because men suck and and I'm like, so I like, you might not have read the part in the book where I'm like, I don't think that men. Like who are in these partnerships or are in relationships with women are really intending to withhold pleasure. It's because no one has taught them about women's bodies about the vulva about all of these things. And that's really the big issue that comes up so often in relationships is like nobody taught them. And now as women, we're like, well, we're in a place where we can expect more and we can expect better, but also like we sometimes have to hand hold in. What is this? What does this look like? Absolutely. For me, when you're already so exhausted and like in this instance, like you're already in your grief and you're like, oh my God, but I have to tell you what I need on top of that. Like, yes, because this is new for all of us. Yeah, because think about the, you know, the step from grandparent to parent to parent to, you know, our generation of men. I mean, the difference is unbelievable. So now, like as mothers, it's really our job for this next round for your son, for you and your husband, you know, we have like, I say, always talk about getting pregnant. It's like, like, it's almost like, you know, by the way, like getting pregnant is almost like this very egotistical thing, right? Because you're like, I, I love my husband or I love my partner so much. I think we are so great. And our love is so strong that we should make another person. But I'm like, we kind of forget that like, and it hit me very hard when I was pregnant, like, I'm so responsible for putting a better person in the world. And that means I can't like snap. I've had so many conversations about this, and we're really good about it. That means I like, you know, my mom lives with us that I can't snap at my mom. If I don't want her snapping at me, that I can't snap at my husband, that the way we talk on the phone. Like, if I'm on the phone, somebody in my car and maybe we're talking about somebody else that like, that's a conversation that I can't have and should the little ears are soaking up for sure. And the little ears, even if she doesn't understand it, she feels the energy around it, you know, so it's the full level of becoming like your, your best self 2.0 because you have to otherwise like, yeah, your child is a reflection of you. Totally. That's something that, you know, in the beginning, my husband was like, you know, we never, like, I don't want to fight in front of our kids. I don't want to like, there's just. That's perfect. It's perfection limits. And I just laughed. I just left. I remember him saying to me, like, we're going to stop cussing. We're never going to cuss in front of our kids. Spoiler for everybody. It's wrong that only uneducated people cuss because I got a dirty mouth hanging out with a lot of PhD people. Like, it was like the higher I went on education, the more the f word was utilized in sentences. And there are definitely moments. And I just showed my husband was like, fine, then I'm never driving the car. Like, I'm getting the car with me. But I was like, you know, my thing is that like, yes, like, it does, you do become like a better person, right? Because you have to be. Well, I think we should get back to because I don't want to take up too much of your time, but I don't want to take up too much of your time. But I think we should get back to the day. Yeah, because I want, because I feel like I could talk to you for the next like five hours. But I want to make sure that like our listeners. We set up a promise and I that's why I was like, we should probably talk more about that because we're going to get big mad in the comments. We're going to be like, she never finished. Okay, so we're starting our day with some boundaries and perhaps we're doing our best, even if we don't have some boundaries and we need to feel our feelings. But we're starting our day with the intention to just do our best, right? Absolutely. What else? What else to be doing? What are you going to eat first thing in the day? You know, going to be cereal. Well, friend, you're probably going to have a big blood sugar spike and like, I definitely grew up eating cereal. So I'm not judging anybody, but really the best thing you can do is protein load in the morning and I'm a big fan of vegetables in the morning because we really want to get six to nine servings is the ideal. Is that going to happen every day? No, but that's our goal on average of a daily basis. And one of the ways to hit that is to get your vegetables first thing in the morning because then whatever happens in the day, you know, at least got some vegetables in. So eating a meal that is higher in protein. And if you're eating those vegetables, you're going to get the fiber in there as well. That's going to keep your blood sugar optimal. If you choose to have coffee, it's also going to help with that as well. And so having that meal set for the day is going to set your glucose for the day, your insulin for the day and your cortisol. So as you're making breakfast, can you expose yourself to sunlight? So first thing in the morning, I did both of these things this morning and I'm so proud of. Yes. Yeah. I don't want to brag with fuck. Yes, I already did. I already did what you're so lead to that. Awesome. And so exposing ourselves to sunlight is because that's going to help spike your cortisol in the morning when it should spike. And so that sunlight is going to degrade melatonin, which melatonin and cortisol are always in opposition, not like they're fighting each other, but like they're going to be on opposite ends of the spectrum. So in the morning, cortisol comes up, melatonin goes down, and that is going to help tonify the circadian rhythm. And as we're doing that, that's going to help the rest of the hormones start functioning optimally as well. So that's like first thing getting going in the day. When are you going to get movement in? It's totally up to you. Like within a couple of hours of bed, that might mess with your deep sleep, not the best idea. But if that's when you're like, I've had a stressful day, I need to move my body, go for it. So we want to have some level of physical activity. If it is just walking, try to get seven to 10,000 steps in a day. So this is why I have a treadmill desk. Yeah, it's impossible to get fucking 10,000 steps. Like I come to the conclusion that in a lot like it's, it takes, I mean, that's over an hour of walking. Yeah. Yeah. So I need a walking. I need one of the treadmill things. Yeah, I walk. I will walk usually an hour. The other thing to do is something's just chasing my toddler around. Totally. I actually had, I had like a horrific flight to LA and it was like 18 hours of travel. And we had a four hour layover. And I thought for sure, like, I'm not going to hit my steps today. Like, I'm not going to get any movement. I walked 15,000 steps that day just with a toddler in the airport. Amazing. What? Amazing. Yeah. I'm like, imagine that just going back and forth. But either edit away, you know, get the movement that's going to work for your body. Walking absolutely does count as exercise. Yeah, absolutely. Yeah. Strength training like three to four times a week. Absolutely wonderful to get that in. But what the thing about walking is that that crossbody action and moving your arms and legs actually helps your brain. Both lobes kind of de-stress, integrate your thoughts and the feelings and emotions and interactions from the day. And so I really hate when people discount walking because I'm like, it also moves your pelvis. And in this society where we sit a lot. And we've got where do our ovaries live? They live in our pelvis. Oh, it's just blood flow. Exactly. Exactly. So we want to get movement in every day. We want to get our water in every day. So usually like two to three liters is like just a good, you know, range for that. If you work out, of course, it's going to be more. If you live somewhere really hot, you're sweating a lot. It's going to be more just because you're somewhere cold. Doesn't mean you don't need to hydrate because especially if you're sitting inside with heaters that can be very inefficient as humans have holding on to water compared to like our dogs. They're much more efficient. So making sure that we're hydrated. So this is something might be like, Oh, yeah, of course, but hydration has a huge impact on your adrenal glands because they have the drop of making a dostarone, which helps govern your blood pressure. And that's going to help with your electrolyte balance with your fluid balance in the body. So dehydration can be a stressor. And so the, you know, the, this is like, you know, of course when we have stressful things come up, do the stress reduction technique that works best for you. Like, there's a lot that we could say in the day. But it's a like wrapping up in the evening is as important as how you start your day. So making sure that, yes, we want to sleep in a dark room. Yes, we want it to be cool. Yes, we want like pajamas that breathe and, you know, sheets that are not itchy. Like these things are important. But we also want to start like processing the stress of the day and getting that moved out, whether that is doing some movement in your body, whether it is doing journaling, whether that's talking to your partner. These kinds of things going to help the nervous system so we can start calming down when we're in that dark setting. That allows melatonin to come up cortisol to come down so you can get that restorative sleep. But also melatonin is a very potent antioxidant. So as we talk about fertility, super important for your ovaries. Are there, I just want to end with this because I just feel like you mentioned like how good college it is for us, you know, are there any supplements or besides, you know, getting a lot of protein, drinking our water, getting in good healthy fats and vegetables. Are there other things that you know, if you were even going to say to a friend or a patient like, hey, like buy some collagen, just throw it in your coffee or throw it in your smoothie. That's really good for you. You know, there's a ginger or, you know, what are your go to pantry staples that you think all of our girls need to have. Yeah. Okay. So this is a great way to ask this question because what I get asked all the time is like what, what are your top three supplements people should take for their hormones and I'm like, well, it depends on what's going on. Totally. And in the book, you can work out what hormonal issue up going on and I will give you the nutrition lifestyle and supplement protocol that can help with that. But the frame of like, what is just like baseline staples. Okay. I recommend this is what I live by so omega three fatty acids definitely have those on lock they make for easier periods, much better moods, less period poops like who doesn't want all that. And magnesium helps with that as well so magnesium, glycinate specifically. I'm a big fan of like 150 to 300 milligrams that can help with like PMS it can help with your mood it can help with sleep. I mean just like I'm a big bad medium girl. And that doesn't do it's like so amazing so those are two I definitely love the vitamins, whether that's coming like so there are like adrenal supplements that have a doctor, Jenna herbs in them that will have the vitamins as well or taking a be complex so vitamin B six great for your vitamin B five great for the adrenal glands. So I think a be complex is really helpful. And then I'm a big fan of N a seedle sustain it's an amino acid that's a precursor to glutathione. Gluenathione is like the mother of all antioxidants. I take that first thing in the morning on an empty stomach. Yeah, and NAC has been shown in PC us to not only help with fertility but to reduce the incidence of miscarriages in some people. I'm not saying like I for everybody I just want to be like really clear about supplements that they're not medications and they're not meant to be used as medications they're meant to support your body. And so I just think that's important because sometimes people are like, you know, we talk about like magnesium is good for their mood and they're like, I'll just jump off my SSRI and it's like, well, there's a way to do that. And that's not it. So just to be very mindful and a lot of times you can use these supplements along with other things that you're doing. NAC is one that like it is, I mean, it even helps the tears of your eyes be more antimicrobial and protect them and they can help with. Would you do glutathione and NAC or they're kind of the same. So NAC is a precursor to glutathione. It would depend on what's going on. If I have somebody that has like autoimmune disease, for example, or they are trying to get pregnant. They've been struggling with infertility. I might just, I might bring on NAC and additionally some sublingual glutathione like that's a liposomal so it's much easier to absorb. It just depends on like what we're dealing with. So like in the case of like a low AMH, anti-malarian hormone that's showing that like, oh, you might have low ovarian reserve, like bringing on the antioxidants like glutathione, CoQ10, ECE, you know, just basically like how many fruits and vegetables can you get in because those are floating with antioxidants. I have seen people shift their AMH after their doctors like you can't do IVF because your AMH isn't great. And then like six months later, their doctors like, this is amazing. What did you do when it's like, well, I did the things to support my ovarian health. So, yeah, so in terms of supplements, those are some of the big ones that I would say that like they work for men, women, like no matter who you are, having those things like the magnesium, the omega 3 fatty acids, the B complex. Those can really go a long way in terms of supporting your health. And then, you know, beyond that, we can really go in and look at like, you know, if you have an excess estrogen and issue, we might want to have the trifecta of dim sulfurophane and calcium de-glucate. If you are having adrenal problems in that vitamin C, we're going to take you up to like sometimes 1000 to 4000 milligrams in divided doses. So it just really depends on what is going on for you specifically so that you can support your body in the way that it needs. Thank you so much for taking the time to talk to me. This book is clearly such a wealth of knowledge, the fact that you can kind of identify where you are and be put on a protocol is incredible. I'm like, so excited to get this book in my hands. Truly. Awesome. Well, I'm excited to hear what you think. And thank you so much for what you shared with everyone today because we usually don't share those things and we should because you had to record a podcast today. Yeah, you could be, you know, it just shows how resilient we are. That and I think we need to normalize normal conversations. I mean, that's a lot of what I'm doing with this book, but like, this is a normal human experience when you consider one in four women to have a miscarriage. And as a normal part of our experience. Yeah, it is another aspect that we're told to be ashamed of and to not talk about. And it is hard enough to have lost, but then to have to suffer silently. I just think is too much and like, it's not like I want to use my body as a mission to like, and stigma and stuff like that, but just like, how can I expect. How can I tell people like we need to normalize these conversations if I'm not willing to do that myself. Well, thank you so much. It was really great to talk to you. So great to talk to you. Thank you. And that, ladies and gentlemen, concludes this week's episode of Everything Is the Best. I hope you enjoyed it. Please rate, review, subscribe, all that stuff. Maybe leave a comment, but remember, shitty comments are for shitty people. Go ahead and follow me on Instagram at via barangini. And I hope you have a fabulous, fabulous rest of your day. Love you. Tao! Please note that this episode may contain paid endorsements and advertisements for products and services. 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