unPAUSED with Dr. Mary Claire Haver

In this episode of unPAUSED , Dr. Mary Claire Haver sits down with exercise physiologist and nutrition scientist Dr. Stacy Sims to unpack why so much fitness and diet advice built on male physiology leaves women confused about why the scale will not move, and why weight loss can feel so much harder for women than for men on the exact same plan. Dr. Sims, author of Roar and Next Level , a former professional cyclist who has taught and coached at Stanford, breaks down why women following the same diet and training program as their male partners often end up tired and stuck rather than leaner and fitter. The conversation covers the biological reasons women conserve fat in a calorie deficit, how female circadian rhythm differs from male circadian rhythm, and why eating within an hour of waking helps regulate cortisol and appetite hormones like ghrelin and peptide YY. Dr. Sims explains why fasted workouts can backfire for women, why front loading calories earlier in the day supports better metabolic outcomes, and why time restricted eating works with a woman's biology in ways that intermittent fasting often does not. Guest links: Dr. Stacy Sims Dr. Stacy Sims ( Facebook ) Dr. Stacy Sims (YouTube) Dr. Stacy Sims ( Instagram ) Stacy T. Sims, PhD ( LinkedIn ) Dr. Stacy Sims Newsletter Dr. Stacy Sims Microlearning Course Books “The New Perimenopause,” by Dr. Mary Claire Haver “The New Menopause"⁠ by Dr. Mary Claire Haver “Next Level: Your Guide to Kicking Ass, Feeling Great, and Crushing Goals Through Menopause and Beyond,” by Dr. Stacy Sims “ROAR: How to Match Your Food and Fitness to Your Unique Female Physiology for Optimum Performance, Great Health, and a Strong, Lean Body for Life,” by Dr. Stacy Sims

Guest links Karen Tang, MD ( Instagram ) Karen Tang, MD ( Facebook ) Karen Tang, MD ( YouTube ) Karen Tang, MD ( LinkedIn ) Karen Tang, MD ( TikTok ) GynoMight with Karen Tang, MD ( Substack ) Thrive Gynecology Books “ It's Not Hysteria: Everything You Need to Know About Your Reproductive Health (but Were Never Told) ,” by Dr. Karen Tang “ The New Perimenopause: An Evidence-Based Guide to Surviving the Zone of Chaos and Feeling Like Yourself Again ,” by Dr. Mary Claire Haver “The New Menopause"⁠ by Dr. Mary Claire Haver For a list of full show notes, please click here .

In this episode of unPAUSED , Dr. Mary Claire Haver sits down with Dr. Karen Tang, a board certified gynecologist and minimally invasive gynecologic surgeon, and author of It's Not Hysteria: Everything You Need to Know About Your Reproductive Health But Were Never Told . This is part one of a two part conversation. Together they take on a question that most women entering perimenopause have never been given the tools to answer: what happens to the gynecologic conditions you have been managing for years when your hormones start to shift? Dr. Tang opens with endometriosis, dismantling two of the most persistent myths in gynecology: that it goes away after menopause, and that it is cured by pregnancy or hysterectomy. She explains what endometriosis actually is, why it so often goes undiagnosed for an average of seven years, why imaging studies frequently miss it, and what the full range of treatment options looks like for perimenopausal women dealing with painful periods, pelvic pain, and chronic inflammation, including when surgery is the right next step. Guest links Karen Tang, MD ( Instagram ) Karen Tang, MD ( Facebook ) Karen Tang, MD ( YouTube ) Karen Tang, MD ( LinkedIn ) Karen Tang, MD ( TikTok ) GynoMight with Karen Tang, MD ( Substack ) Thrive Gynecology Books “ It's Not Hysteria: Everything You Need to Know About Your Reproductive Health (but Were Never Told) ,” by Dr. Karen Tang “ The New Perimenopause: An Evidence-Based Guide to Surviving the Zone of Chaos and Feeling Like Yourself Again ,” by Dr. Mary Claire Haver “The New Menopause"⁠ by Dr. Mary Claire Haver For full show notes, please click here .

Family Lore is a weekly narrative podcast that celebrates and investigates ancestral mystique. Each episode begins with a guest sharing a fascinating family legend, followed by a historical deep-dive to uncover the truth and meaning behind the tale. Available now: link.pscrb.fm/f0281/FLFD

In this episode of unPAUSED , Dr. Mary Claire Haver sits down with Dr. Amy Shah, a physician trained in internal medicine and immunology with a nutrition background from Cornell, and author of the new book Hormone Havoc . Dr. Haver and Dr. Shah begin the conversation with the gut-hormone-brain connection, explaining how 40% of estrogen is recirculated through the gut, how the estrobolome, the collection of gut bacteria responsible for metabolizing estrogen, determines how much the body retains, and why declining estrogen in perimenopause and menopause triggers a cascade that loosens the tight junctions meant to keep food particles, toxins, and viruses from entering the bloodstream. This leaky gut drives inflammation that accelerates every symptom women are already experiencing, from weight gain and mood changes to sleep disruption and brain health decline. The gut-brain axis, the constant two-way communication between the gut and the brain, means that what is happening in the gut is directly shaping cognitive function, motivation, and emotional resilience in menopause. She also covers how 95% of serotonin is made in the gut, why chronic inflammation reroutes tryptophan away from serotonin and melatonin, and what that means for mood, sleep, and appetite in midlife. Guest links: Dr. Amy Shah ( Instagram ) Dr. Amy Shah ( TikTok ) Dr. Amy Shah Save Yourself With Dr. Amy Shah ( Apple Podcasts ) Books: “Hormone Havoc: A Science-Backed Protocol for Perimenopause and Menopause: Sleep Better. Think Better. Feel Better,” by Dr. Amy Shah

In this episode of unPAUSED , Dr. Mary Claire Haver sits down with Dr. Sue Varma, a board certified psychiatrist, distinguished fellow of the American Psychiatric Association, and author of Practical Optimism . They open by taking on a question that sits at the intersection of psychiatry and menopause medicine: why do some women thrive through the most difficult biological transition of their lives, and what can the rest of us learn from them? Early in the conversation, Dr. Varma shares a finding that reframes everything: only 25% of people are born optimistic, and there is actually a gene for it. The other 75% have to learn it. Dr. Varma explains why optimism is not toxic positivity, what practical optimism actually means, and why both extreme optimists and extreme pessimists end up paralyzed into inaction in different ways. She also addresses what happens when depression, anxiety, and brain fog layer on top of the hormonal changes of menopause and perimenopause, and why so many women are being undertreated as a result. Guest links: Dr. Sue Varma ( Instagram ) Dr. Sue Varma ( Facebook ) Dr. Sue Varma ( LinkedIn ) Dr. Sue Varma Books: “Practical Optimism,” by Dr. Sue Varma “The New Perimenopause,” by Dr. Mary Claire Haver “The New Menopause"⁠ by Dr. Mary Claire Haver “Joyspan,” by Dr. Kerry Burnight “The Relaxation Response,” by Dr. Herbert Benson For full show notes, please click here .

In this solo episode of unPAUSED, Dr. Mary Claire Haver answers one of the most asked questions she receives: what hormones do you actually take, and why? Rather than a general overview of menopause hormone therapy, this is a fully transparent, clinically grounded walk through her personal protocol, including every formulation she uses, why she chose it, and what the FDA-approved alternatives are for women whose needs or circumstances differ. Dr. Haver opens with systemic estrogen, explaining why she uses a transdermal patch as her primary delivery method, why she added a small dose of oral estradiol for bone protection after finding her serum levels were not reaching the threshold needed to preserve bone density, and why she believes routine estradiol level testing should become standard of care even though current guidelines do not yet reflect the latest absorption data. She walks through the key FDA-approved transdermal and oral estrogen options, including patches, gels, sprays, and oral formulations, covering the differences in delivery, cost, clotting risk, and SHBG implications. For full show notes, please click here.

In this episode of unPAUSED , Dr. Mary Claire Haver continues her conversation with Dr. Natalie Crawford, double board certified obstetrician, gynecologist, and reproductive endocrinologist, and author of The Fertility Formula . In part two of this conversation, Dr. Crawford gets specific about the forces working against our hormones every day, chronic stress, disrupted sleep, inflammatory food, and the endocrine disrupting chemicals most women have never been warned about. She explains how cortisol triggers insulin resistance, how insulin resistance drives inflammation and ovarian dysfunction, and why resistance training and building skeletal muscle is one of the most direct interventions a woman can make at any age, including perimenopause. On sleep, she makes the case that it is the single most under addressed factor she sees clinically, explaining how FSH and LH are released in the early morning hours and why disrupted sleep directly interferes with ovulation, estrogen, and progesterone production. The conversation also covers anti-inflammatory nutrition and gut health, the difference between unscented and fragrance-free, why forever chemicals and phthalates are disrupting the hormone system from inside most women's homes, birth control timing and uterine lining recovery, and what egg freezing actually is and is not, and who it is most likely to benefit. Guest links Natalie Crawford, MD Natalie Crawford, MD ( Instagram ) Natalie Crawford, MD ( TikTok ) Natalie Crawford, MD ( Facebook ) Natalie Crawford, MD ( YouTube ) Natalie Crawford, MD ( LinkedIn ) Books “The New Perimenopause,” by Dr. Mary Claire Haver “The New Menopause,” by Dr. Mary Claire Haver “The Fertility Formula,” by Dr. Natalie Crawford

In this episode of unPAUSED, Dr. Mary Claire Haver sits down with Dr. Natalie Crawford, a double board certified obstetrician, gynecologist, and reproductive endocrinologist, and author of the new book The Fertility Formula . Both physicians open by sharing their own fertility journeys, including pregnancy losses and dismissal from the medical system, before turning to the science that most women are never given access to. Dr. Crawford challenges one of the most persistent myths in women's health: that the biological clock is about running out of eggs. It is not. It is about egg quality, and those are completely different problems with completely different solutions. She explains how inflammation damages the chromosomes and mitochondria inside eggs, how chronic inflammation can actually deplete the ovarian reserve by penetrating the ovarian vault, and why the standard message to women, hurry up or give up, is not supported by the science. Guest links Natalie Crawford, MD Natalie Crawford, MD ( Instagram ) Natalie Crawford, MD ( TikTok ) Natalie Crawford, MD ( Threads ) Natalie Crawford, MD ( Facebook ) Natalie Crawford, MD ( YouTube ) Natalie Crawford, MD ( LinkedIn ) Books “The New Perimenopause,” by Dr. Mary Claire Haver “The New Menopause,” by Dr. Mary Claire Haver “The Fertility Formula,” by Dr. Natalie Crawford

In this episode of unPAUSED , Dr. Mary Claire Haver sits down with Dr. Michelle Gordon, a board certified obesity medicine physician and diplomate of the American College of Lifestyle Medicine, with surgical fellowships from the American College of Surgeons and the American College of Osteopathic Surgeons. Through her practice Thrive Span Medical, she works with midlife women across 39 states whose metabolic and hormonal symptoms have been dismissed as normal aging. Dr. Gordon opens by dismantling the calories in, calories out framework, not as a vague wellness talking point but on a physiological level. She explains why biology determines the burn rate, why fat oxidation drops by 32% in perimenopause, why visceral fat accumulation accelerates when estrogen declines, and why insulin resistance and leptin resistance make it nearly impossible for midlife women to lose weight through willpower alone. She also covers how sleep deprivation compounds all of it, creating a cycle of cravings, brain fog, and weight gain that most women are navigating without any clinical support. Guest links: Michelle E. Gordon, DO ( LinkedIn ) Dr. Michelle Gordon ( Instagram ) Dr. Gordon, Obesity Medicine ( Substack ) Dr. Michelle Gordon ( Facebook ) Dr. Michelle Gordon Dr. Michelle Gordon ( TikTok ) Dr. Michelle Gordon Dr. Michelle Gordon ( YouTube ) Books: “The New Perimenopause: An Evidence-Based Guide to Surviving the Zone of Chaos and Feeling Like Yourself Again,” by Dr. Mary Claire Haver “The New Menopause,” by Dr. Mary Claire Haver Weightless: A Doctor's Guide to GLP-1 Medications, Sustainable Weight Loss, and the Health You Deserve,” by Dr. Rocio Salas-Whalen For full show notes, please click here .

In this episode of unPAUSED , Dr. Mary Claire Haver sits down with Dr. Hillary McBride, a psychologist, researcher, and author whose work focuses on women's lived experience of embodiment across the lifespan, and particularly what happens during the perimenopausal and menopausal transition. She brings a feminist, biopsychosocial lens to the work, looking at the intersection of biology and culture and how the stories we are handed about aging as women can shape what we actually feel, right down to measurable health outcomes. Dr. McBride opens by naming what the research literature has gotten wrong. Women's voices have been largely absent from the empirical conversation about perimenopause and menopause, and what women are actually saying when asked about their experience is strikingly different from what the medical literature reflects. They are describing not just difficulty but clarity, not just loss but a deepening sense of self, not just symptoms but a portal. Guest links: Hillary L. McBride Hillary L. McBride ( Instagram ) Hillary McBride ( Facebook ) Hillary McBride ( X ) Books: Hillary L. McBride For full show notes, please click here .

In this episode of unPAUSED , Dr. Mary Claire Haver continues her conversation with Dr. Tony Youn, board certified plastic surgeon, bestselling author of Younger for Life , and the most followed plastic surgeon on social media. In part two of this conversation, Dr. Youn moves from skincare into devices, lifestyle, and the bigger picture of how women can think about aging and anti-aging without getting swept up in the extremes. Dr. Youn walks through the most commonly asked about in-office treatments, explaining what each one actually does and where the limitations are. He covers IPL for hyperpigmentation and sun damage, fractional CO2 lasers and how they differ from older more aggressive approaches, chemical peels and how depth determines results, and radiofrequency microneedling including what it can realistically achieve and where it falls short. He also addresses at-home devices, covering red light therapy and what the studies actually show about collagen and elastin, and what to look for in a dermal stamper. Guest links: Anthony Youn, MD Tony Youn, MD ( Instagram ) Doctor Youn ( TikTok ) Dr. Anthony Youn ( Facebook ) Doctor Youn ( YouTube ) The Doctor Youn Show ( Apple Podcasts ) Books “The New Perimenopause,” by Dr. Mary Claire Haver “The New Menopause"⁠ by Dr. Mary Claire Haver “Younger for Life: Unlocking the Secrets of Longevity, Nutrition and Self-Care for a Youthful Life,” by Anthony Youn ⁠"Playing God"⁠ by Anthony Youn ⁠"The Age Fix" ⁠ by Anthony Youn ⁠"In Stitches"⁠ by Anthony Youn For full show notes, please click here .

In this episode of unPAUSED, Dr. Mary Claire Haver sits down with Dr. Tony Youn, a board certified plastic surgeon nationally recognized as one of the top plastic surgeons in the United States, bestselling author of Younger for Life, and the most followed plastic surgeon on social media with more than five million YouTube subscribers and eight million TikTok followers. In part one of this two part conversation, they take on a question that sits at the intersection of hormones and skin health that most doctors have never connected for their patients: what estrogen is actually doing to the skin, and what women can do about it. Dr. Youn opens with a statistic that women lose 30% of the thickness of their collagen in the first five years after menopause, and then continue losing collagen at twice the rate of men for every year that follows. He explains exactly why this happens, how estrogen interacts with the fibroblasts that produce collagen and elastin, what declining estrogen does to hyaluronic acid and skin hydration, and why women are not imagining it when their skincare suddenly stops working. Guest links: Anthony Youn, MD Tony Youn, MD ( Instagram ) Doctor Youn ( TikTok ) Dr. Anthony Youn ( Facebook ) Doctor Youn ( YouTube ) The Doctor Youn Show ( Apple Podcasts ) Books “The New Perimenopause,” by Dr. Mary Claire Haver “The New Menopause"⁠ by Dr. Mary Claire Haver “Younger for Life: Unlocking the Secrets of Longevity, Nutrition and Self-Care for a Youthful Life,” by Anthony Youn "Playing God" by Anthony Youn "The Age Fix" by Anthony Youn "In Stitches" by Anthony Youn

In this episode of unPAUSED, Dr. Mary Claire Haver answers your most asked questions about hormone therapy, menopause symptoms, and how to advocate for yourself when your doctor doesn't have answers. She walks through who actually qualifies for HRT, what the real contraindications are versus conditions that simply require a different delivery method, and how to think about continuing estrogen, progesterone, and testosterone therapy after 60. Dr. Haver explains the estrogen patch absorption problem, with research showing that up to 20 percent of women on transdermal therapy never reach physiologic estradiol levels regardless of dose. She breaks down SHBG, the protein that can bind your hormones and render them inactive even when your numbers look adequate on paper, and walks through what optimal estradiol levels look like for bone density and osteoporosis prevention specifically. Books: “The Complete Bone and Joint Health Plan: Help Prevent and Treat Osteoporosis and Arthritis,” by Jocelyn Wittstein “The New Perimenopause,” by Dr. Mary Claire Haver Resources: Women’s Health Initiative Estradiol (University of Rochester Medical Center) Meet Dr. Heather Hirsch Alloy Health Midi Health Menopause Quiz Lab Test Checklist Blueprint to close the women's health gap For full show notes, please click here .

In this bonus episode of unPAUSED , Dr. Mary Claire Haver is joined by Dr. Zachary Rubin, double board certified allergist and immunologist and New York Times bestselling author of All About Allergies , to dig into the connection between histamine, mast cells, and women's hormonal health. Dr. Rubin breaks down what mast cells are, how histamine works across multiple organ systems, and why women are disproportionately affected by mast cell related conditions including mast cell activation syndrome (MCAS). The two dig into the estrogen and histamine connection, why perimenopause can trigger or worsen symptoms like anxiety, brain fog, and histamine intolerance, and what MCAS actually is and how it is diagnosed. Dr. Rubin also addresses the viral H1 and H2 blocker combination that has been circulating online, explaining the real science behind why it may be helping some women with PMDD, endometriosis, and perimenopausal symptoms, while being honest about what we still do not know. They also cover quercetin, DAO supplements, low histamine diets, and how to think about self experimentation safely. If you have been wondering whether histamine could be a piece of your hormonal health puzzle, this conversation is a great place to start.

In this episode of unPAUSED, Dr. Mary Claire Haver sits down with Dr. Tami Rowen, an obstetrician, gynecologist, and leading gynecologic surgeon at the University of California San Francisco, and an internationally recognized expert in sexual health and sexual medicine. Together they get precise about some of the most misunderstood terrain in women's health: estrogen, progesterone, progestins, and testosterone for women, what they actually do in the body, how the confusion around them began, and what becomes possible for women when care is evidence-based and not fear-based. Dr. Rowen opens with something most women have never been told: that contraceptive estrogen and menopausal estrogen are fundamentally different molecules with different goals, different mechanisms, and different effects on the body. She walks through why ethinyl estradiol, the synthetic estrogen in most birth control pills, binds to the estrogen receptor 300 times more strongly than natural estradiol, why that matters for everything from blood clotting to testosterone levels to bone density, and why modern contraception is still valuable and worth defending even as we get more precise about how it works. Guest links: Dr. Tami Rowen ( UCSF Health ) Dr. Tami Rowen ( ISSWSH ) Dr. Tami Rowen ( Instagram )

In this episode of unPAUSED, Dr. Mary Claire Haver sits down with Kim and Penn Holderness, the husband and wife content creators behind the widely popular Holderness Family, bestselling authors, and winners of The Amazing Race Season 33. Together they built an audience of millions by finding the humor in real life, and in this conversation they turn that same lens on perimenopause, ADHD, marriage, and the particular chaos of midlife. Kim opens up about the perimenopausal symptoms that arrived before she had any name for them: the anxiety that made everything feel like being chased by a bear, the panic attacks triggered by nothing she could identify, and the growing sense that something was fundamentally wrong with her. She describes walking out of her doctor's office with no treatment after being told her symptoms were normal, the financial reality of having to seek out a functional medicine doctor to finally get the estrogen and progesterone support she needed, and the combination of hormonal and psychiatric care that eventually helped her feel like herself again. She also speaks with real honesty about her postpartum anxiety, perimenopause and depression, and her OCD diagnosis, and how all of it left her desperate for a voice that would simply say: this is hard. Guest links: The Holderness Family The Holderness Family ( Instagram ) The Holderness Family - Music ( YouTube ) The Holderness Family - Comedy ( YouTube ) The Holderness Family ( Facebook ) The Holderness Family ( Substack ) The Holderness Family ( TikTok ) Laugh Lines with Kim & Penn Holderness ( Apple Podcasts ) PC’s Playbook Podcast ( YouTube ) Books: “ADHD Is Awesome,” by Penn and Kim Holderness “Everybody Fights,” by Penn and Kim Holderness

In this episode of unPAUSED, Dr. Mary Claire Haver continues her conversation with Dr. Kelly Casperson, urologist, author, and host of the podcast "You Are Not Broken." Part 2 goes deep on testosterone therapy for women, the most misunderstood hormone in women's health, and covers the full range of what it actually does in the female body, why every woman will experience declining levels over time, and why there are still zero FDA approved testosterone products for women while men have more than a dozen. Dr. Casperson opens with the basics: ovaries make testosterone, the hormone pathway runs one way from cholesterol through progesterone to testosterone to estradiol, and women in normal cycling years carry four times more testosterone than estrogen in their bodies. She explains where testosterone receptors are found, which is everywhere from the brain to bone to muscle to the clitoris to the tear ducts, and why reducing testosterone in women to a libido drug misses the full picture entirely. Guest links: Kelly Casperson, MD Kelly Casperson ( Instagram ) Kelly Casperson ( YouTube ) You Are Not Broken ( Apple Podcasts ) Books: “You Are Not Broken,” by Kelly Casperson, MD "The Menopause Moment," by Kelly Casperson, MD “The New Perimenopause,” by Dr. Mary Claire Haver “The New Menopause,” by Dr. Mary Claire Haver "Sexual Behavior in the Human Female," by Alfred Kinsey

In this episode of unPAUSED, Dr. Mary Claire Haver sits down with Dr. Kelly Casperson, a urologist, author, and host of the podcast “You Are Not Broken”. Dr. Casperson trained in a specialty that treats both men and women, which gave her an early and clear view of the gender gap in sexual healthcare. That disparity became the driving force behind her work, her two books You Are Not Broken and The Menopause Moment , and her clinic, the Casperson Clinic. Together they cover the full landscape of what women were never taught, what medicine has missed, and what actually works for female sexual health, libido, desire, and sexual dysfunction in midlife. The conversation gets straight to what most women were never told: that the orgasm gap between heterosexual men and women has not improved in decades, and that the silence around female sexual health has never been about a lack of science. It has been about a lack of priority. Guest links: Kelly Casperson, MD Kelly Casperson ( Instagram ) Kelly Casperson ( YouTube ) You Are Not Broken ( Apple Podcasts ) Books: “Sexual Behavior in the Human Female,” by Alfred Kinsey “You Are Not Broken,” by Kelly Casperson, MD

In this episode of unPAUSED, Dr. Mary Claire Haver sits down with Dr. Suzanne Gilberg-Lenz, a board-certified OB-GYN, integrative medicine expert, and author with nearly 30 years of clinical experience, including training in Ayurvedic medicine spanning almost two decades. Dr. Gilberg-Lenz is the Chief Clinical Officer of Monarch, a membership-based healthcare practice built to restore what modern medicine has nearly eliminated: time, relationship, and trust between women and their clinicians. Dr. Haver and Dr. Gilberg-Lenz open with a question that sits at the heart of women's midlife health: why does the current healthcare system consistently fail to see women clearly? Dr. Gilberg-Lenz explains why the system is not built for humans but for shareholders, reimbursement structures, and productivity metrics that reward procedures over listening. She breaks down the difference between burnout and moral injury, why physicians are leaving traditional medicine in record numbers, and what it actually costs women when their doctors are structurally prevented from knowing them. The conversation traces how the 1910 Flexner Report reshaped American medicine, shutting down Black medical colleges, eliminating part-time schools where women trained, and marginalizing plant-based and indigenous healing traditions in ways that still define clinical practice today. Guest links: Dr. Suzanne Dr. Suzanne Gilberg-Lenz ( Instagram ) Dr. Suzanne Gilberg-Lenz ( YouTube ) Dr. Suzanne Gilberg-Lenz ( LinkedIn ) Dr. Suzanne Gilberg-Lenz ( Facebook ) Dr. Suzanne Gilberg-Lenz ( X ) Books: “ Menopause Bootcamp: Optimize Your Health, Empower Your Self, and Flourish as You Age ,” by Dr. Suzanne Gilberg-Lenz “ The Myth of Aging: A Prescription for Emotional and Physical Well-Being ,” by Dr. Arnold Gilberg “The New Perimenopause,” by Dr. Mary Claire Haver “The New Menopause,” by Dr. Mary Claire Haver For full show notes, please click here .