The Hormone Solution | Menopause, Perimenopause, & Women's Midlife Health

This may be one of those episodes you are tempted to skip because nobody really wants to hear that their nightly glass of wine could be working against them.
But this is not a lecture about why you should never drink again.
In this episode, I'm having a very honest conversation about alcohol, especially for women in their 40s, 50s, and beyond. We talk about how drinking may affect sleep, cortisol, cravings, estrogen metabolism, liver health, insulin sensitivity, weight loss, and the way your body handles stress as you move through perimenopause and menopause.
But this conversation goes much deeper than calories and hormones. I share my own history with alcohol, addiction, social pressure, unhealthy relationships, and the moment I realized I had to break the cycle for my daughter. We talk about why drinking can become such an easy way to numb stress, dissatisfaction, loneliness, relationship problems, motherhood, or simply a life that does not feel the way we want it to.
The goal is not to shame you into quitting. It is to help you become honest about what alcohol is giving you, what it may be taking from you, and whether it is still serving the woman you are becoming.
In this episode, we cover:
Why alcohol can become harder to tolerate in midlife
The connection between alcohol, cortisol, and stress
Why drinking may worsen sleep even when it helps you fall asleep
How poor sleep can affect hunger, cravings, insulin sensitivity, and weight
Alcohol and estrogen metabolism
Why drinking may make midlife weight loss harder
The social pressure women face when they decide to stop drinking
My personal history with alcohol and addiction
Why alcohol can become a tool for avoiding uncomfortable parts of life
How drinking can affect relationships, parenting, and self-identity
The moment I knew I needed to break the cycle for my daughter
How to start examining why you drink
Finding your personal leverage for cutting back or quitting
Why addressing the reason you drink matters more than sheer willpower
Who This Episode Is For
This episode is for the woman who tells herself she only drinks to unwind.
Maybe it is one glass of wine after work. Maybe it is a few drinks on the weekend. Maybe you know you are drinking more than you would like, but you are not sure you are ready to look too closely at why.
It is especially for midlife women who are struggling with stubborn weight gain, poor sleep, anxiety, stress, hormone symptoms, or feeling disconnected from themselves and wondering whether alcohol may be playing a bigger role than they realized.
 
 
Sponsors
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Head to getkion.com/hormone and use my link for 20% off your order.
 
 
Are you in perimenopause or postmenopause and struggling with symptoms—but not getting the support you deserve?
At Midlife Solutions, we specialize in hormone optimization for women in midlife. Our all-female clinical team offers telehealth care across all 50 U.S. states, with the ability to prescribe bioidentical estrogen, progesterone, testosterone, and thyroid medication.
 
Book your FREE Hormone Discovery Call
Find out what's really driving your symptoms and what your next best steps are.
 
Visit the website: https://karenmartel.com
 
Shop the Midlife Solutions Store
Over-the-counter bioidentical hormone creams and oils — no prescription needed.
Including:
• Progesterone
• Estrogen Face Cream
• Vaginal Moisturizer
and more!
 
Take the Hormone Quiz
Discover hidden hormone imbalances that could be driving your symptoms.
Get personalized results (and yes, they may surprise you).
 
Women's Peptide Weight Loss Program
Clinically guided, hormone-aware weight loss for midlife women.
 
Midlife RESET HRT Program
A complete, supportive approach to hormone replacement therapy in midlife.
 
Your host:
Karen Martel
Certified Hormone Specialist, Transformational Nutrition Coach, & Weight Loss Expert
 
Karen's Facebook
Karen's Instagram

Welcome to Quick Hits — where we bring you the most impactful moments from past episodes in under 15 minutes.
Today's clip comes from one of our most replayed conversations.
If you want the full episode, check the link in the description below.
Listen to the full episode.
Listen to the full episode on Apple Podcasts.
Breathwork has been used for thousands of years across cultures as a powerful tool for healing, emotional release, self-discovery, and spiritual connection. Yet most of us move through our days barely thinking about our breath, let alone using it intentionally.
In this episode, we explore how breathwork can help you reconnect with yourself, regulate your nervous system, move through stored emotions, and create space for deeper healing.
I'm joined by my good friend Kyla Erlandson, a trained and certified breathwork practitioner, intuitive guide, and healer. For more than 15 years, Kyla has supported and empowered women through a variety of healing modalities, including somatic breathwork, meditation, and energetics.
Together, we dive into the emotional and physical power of breathwork, why so many women struggle to prioritize themselves, and what can happen when we finally give ourselves permission to slow down, feel, and heal.
In this episode, we discuss:
Why Kyla believes one of the greatest gifts we can give ourselves is time and space to reconnect
How Kyla discovered breathwork and why she felt called to pursue it more deeply
The different levels and styles of breathwork training
How breathwork can help uncover emotions, patterns, and pain we may have been avoiding
Why so many women are conditioned to care for everyone else before themselves
How making time for yourself can reinforce your sense of self-worth
Kyla's experience with codependency and how it affected her relationships
Why healing often requires us to stop running from discomfort and learn to sit with it
How breathwork can support greater peace, clarity, and emotional resilience
What can surface during a somatic breathwork session
The powerful connection between breathing patterns and the nervous system
How intentional breathing can influence circulation and physical sensations in the body
What Kyla hopes to help clients experience during a breathwork session
How somatic breathwork differs from traditional talk therapy
The most common struggles Kyla sees women bringing into her practice
Why women need space to process emotions, stress, expectations, and old patterns
How breathwork can help you reconnect with emotions that may have been suppressed
What it means to reclaim the powerful, intuitive woman you already are
This conversation is an invitation to stop living entirely from the neck up and begin listening to what your body has been trying to tell you.
 
 
Sponsors
Head to cozyearth.com and use my code HORMONES for 20% off sitewide! And if you get a Post-Purchase Survey, make sure to let them know you heard about Cozy Earth right here!
 
 
Are you in perimenopause or postmenopause and struggling with symptoms—but not getting the support you deserve?
At Midlife Solutions, we specialize in hormone optimization for women in midlife. Our all-female clinical team offers telehealth care across all 50 U.S. states, with the ability to prescribe bioidentical estrogen, progesterone, testosterone, and thyroid medication.
 
Book your FREE Hormone Discovery Call
Find out what's really driving your symptoms and what your next best steps are.
 
Visit the website: https://karenmartel.com
 
Shop the Midlife Solutions Store
Over-the-counter bioidentical hormone creams and oils — no prescription needed.
Including:
• Progesterone
• Estrogen Face Cream
• Vaginal Moisturizer
and more!
 
Take the Hormone Quiz
Discover hidden hormone imbalances that could be driving your symptoms.
Get personalized results (and yes, they may surprise you).
 
Women's Peptide Weight Loss Program
Clinically guided, hormone-aware weight loss for midlife women.
 
Midlife RESET HRT Program
A complete, supportive approach to hormone replacement therapy in midlife.
 
Your host:
Karen Martel
Certified Hormone Specialist, Transformational Nutrition Coach, & Weight Loss Expert
 
Karen's Facebook
Karen's Instagram

You are taking the supplements. Drinking the water. Maybe you are even on HRT. And yet you still feel tired, puffy, anxious, inflamed, constipated, foggy, wired at night, and completely drained during the day.
What if one of the missing pieces is far more basic than another hormone, peptide, or supplement?
In this episode, I sit down with Caroline Allen, The Mineral Geek and co-founder of BEAM Minerals, to talk about the role minerals play at the cellular level. We get into mitochondria, energy production, hydration, nervous system regulation, detoxification, adrenal and thyroid function, and why Caroline believes we need to stop looking at the body as a collection of broken parts and start looking at it as an ecosystem.
We also unpack humic and fulvic minerals, why taking isolated minerals may not always be the same as replenishing a full spectrum of minerals, how environmental toxins and heavy metals can interfere with mineral balance, and why mineral needs may become even more important during pregnancy, perimenopause, menopause, chronic stress, and GLP-1 use.
This conversation may change the way you think about supplements entirely.
In this episode, we cover:
Why mineral depletion may contribute to multiple seemingly unrelated symptoms
Caroline's personal recovery from fatigue, insomnia, brain fog, gut inflammation, and burnout
The connection between minerals, mitochondria, and cellular energy
Why adrenal, thyroid, and reproductive hormones are so interconnected
How chronic stress may increase mineral demands
Why isolated magnesium, calcium, and other minerals may not tell the whole story
What humic and fulvic minerals are
How humic and fulvic substances may support mineral delivery and detoxification
The relationship between mineral balance, nervous system regulation, and sleep
Why heavy metals can interfere with mineral receptor sites
Minerals during pregnancy, perimenopause, menopause, and GLP-1 use
Why supporting the whole cellular ecosystem may help other therapies work better
Who This Episode Is For
This episode is for women who feel like they are doing everything right but still do not feel well.
If you are struggling with fatigue, poor sleep, brain fog, constipation, muscle cramps, anxiety, hormone symptoms, stress intolerance, or feeling like your body simply does not have enough energy to keep up anymore, this conversation will give you a completely different way to think about what may be missing.
It is also especially relevant for women using HRT or GLP-1 medications who want to make sure they are supporting their body nutritionally at the same time.
 
 
Sponsors
Timeline is offering up to 39% off your first order of Mitopure. Gummies. Go to timeline.com/HORMONE use coupon HORMONE
BEAM: Use coupon code HORMONE for 20% off your order.
Get 15% off Magnesium Breakthrough By BiOptimzers products at bioptimizers.com/hormone with coupon code HORMONE.
 
 
Are you in perimenopause or postmenopause and struggling with symptoms—but not getting the support you deserve?
At Midlife Solutions, we specialize in hormone optimization for women in midlife. Our all-female clinical team offers telehealth care across all 50 U.S. states, with the ability to prescribe bioidentical estrogen, progesterone, testosterone, and thyroid medication.
 
Book your FREE Hormone Discovery Call
Find out what's really driving your symptoms and what your next best steps are.
 
Visit the website: https://karenmartel.com
 
Shop the Midlife Solutions Store
Over-the-counter bioidentical hormone creams and oils — no prescription needed.
Including:
• Progesterone
• Estrogen Face Cream
• Vaginal Moisturizer
and more!
 
Take the Hormone Quiz
Discover hidden hormone imbalances that could be driving your symptoms.
Get personalized results (and yes, they may surprise you).
 
Women's Peptide Weight Loss Program
Clinically guided, hormone-aware weight loss for midlife women.
 
Midlife RESET HRT Program
A complete, supportive approach to hormone replacement therapy in midlife.
 
Your host:
Karen Martel
Certified Hormone Specialist, Transformational Nutrition Coach, & Weight Loss Expert
 
Karen's Facebook
Karen's Instagram

Welcome to Quick Hits — where we bring you the most impactful moments from past episodes in under 15 minutes.
Today's clip comes from one of our most replayed conversations.
If you want the full episode, check the link in the description below.
Listen to the full episode.
Listen to the full episode on Apple Podcasts.
Dr. Anshul Gupta is a best-selling author, speaker, researcher, and leading expert in Hashimoto's disease. Through his work, he helps people better understand the root causes of Hashimoto's and how a functional medicine approach may help improve thyroid function, reduce symptoms, and address the autoimmune process.
Hashimoto's is one of the most common autoimmune conditions affecting women, yet it is often missed or inadequately addressed. Many women are told their thyroid labs are "normal" while continuing to struggle with fatigue, weight gain, brain fog, hair loss, mood changes, and other symptoms.
In this episode, Dr. Gupta breaks down what may be driving Hashimoto's, why conventional treatment often falls short, and the lifestyle, nutritional, environmental, and emotional factors that can play a role in thyroid autoimmunity.
In This Episode, We Discuss:
How Hashimoto's affects the thyroid gland
How Hashimoto's is diagnosed and why it is often missed
Which thyroid antibodies should be included in your blood work
Why looking only at TSH may not tell the full story
Why conventional treatment may not address the underlying autoimmune process
What thyroid antibody levels can tell us
Who is most at risk for developing Hashimoto's
Why women are disproportionately affected by autoimmune thyroid disease
The infections that have been associated with Hashimoto's
Why many women have more than one contributing root cause
The dietary approach Dr. Gupta recommends for Hashimoto's
The potential connection between gluten and thyroid autoimmunity
How pesticides and environmental toxins may affect thyroid health
Why emotional stress and nervous system dysregulation matter
The stages of life when autoimmune conditions are more likely to emerge
and MORE!
 
 
Sponsors
Get 20% off your Cozy Earth Bed Sheet with coupon code HORMONES
 
 
Are you in perimenopause or postmenopause and struggling with symptoms—but not getting the support you deserve?
At Midlife Solutions, we specialize in hormone optimization for women in midlife. Our all-female clinical team offers telehealth care across all 50 U.S. states, with the ability to prescribe bioidentical estrogen, progesterone, testosterone, and thyroid medication.
 
Book your FREE Hormone Discovery Call
Find out what's really driving your symptoms and what your next best steps are.
 
Visit the website: https://karenmartel.com
 
Shop the Midlife Solutions Store
Over-the-counter bioidentical hormone creams and oils — no prescription needed.
Including:
• Progesterone
• Estrogen Face Cream
• Vaginal Moisturizer
and more!
 
Take the Hormone Quiz
Discover hidden hormone imbalances that could be driving your symptoms.
Get personalized results (and yes, they may surprise you).
 
Women's Peptide Weight Loss Program
Clinically guided, hormone-aware weight loss for midlife women.
 
Midlife RESET HRT Program
A complete, supportive approach to hormone replacement therapy in midlife.
 
Your host:
Karen Martel
Certified Hormone Specialist, Transformational Nutrition Coach, & Weight Loss Expert
 
Karen's Facebook
Karen's Instagram

What do you do when you finally start HRT and instead of feeling amazing, you feel exhausted, puffy, bloated, or like something is just not right? Or you start a GLP-1, lose weight, and suddenly your hair starts falling out?
Today's episode is another listener Q&A, and we are getting into the real-life questions women are asking when hormone therapy, thyroid treatment, weight-loss peptides, and menopause symptoms do not fit neatly into a textbook.
We talk about progesterone intolerance, oral versus topical progesterone, when estradiol may still be too low even though your doctor says your levels are "fine," thyroid-related puffiness and fatigue, HRT after hysterectomy, and what women need to consider when starting hormones later in menopause.
I also answer questions about GLP-1 nutrition, peptide stacking, hair loss during rapid weight loss, muscle and bone concerns, stalled weight loss, and whether it makes sense to start HRT and a GLP-1 together.
This episode is all about troubleshooting instead of assuming there is only one right way to do hormones or weight loss in midlife.
In this episode, we cover:
Why oral progesterone can make some women extremely tired
Topical versus oral versus vaginal progesterone
What to look at when you feel puffy or tired on HRT
Why estradiol levels should not be interpreted by numbers alone
Thyroid testing when fatigue, constipation, puffiness, or brain fog persist
Alternatives to hysterectomy for heavy bleeding and uterine problems
How to eat while using GLP-1 weight-loss medications
Protein, fat, and carbohydrate considerations on GLP-1s
Combining GLP-1s with other peptides
HRT after a breast scare and questions around route of estrogen
Starting HRT later in menopause
Hormone intolerance and why delivery method matters
Whether tirzepatide works even when appetite suppression fades
Muscle and bone concerns during GLP-1 weight loss
Hair loss after rapid weight loss and how to support regrowth
Who This Episode Is For
This episode is for women who are already on HRT or GLP-1 therapy and have questions that are not being answered by the standard advice.
It is especially helpful if progesterone makes you tired or puffy, your HRT does not seem to be working, you are gaining weight despite hormones, you are losing hair on a GLP-1, or you are trying to understand whether your thyroid, estrogen, testosterone, cortisol, or nutrition may be part of the problem.
 
 
Sponsors
Timeline is offering up to 39% off your first order of Mitopure. Gummies. Go to timeline.com/HORMONE use coupon HORMONE
Try Vitali Skin Care vitaliskincare.com
use coupon KM20 to get 20% off your order!
Order your LMNT electrolytes today and get a FREE 8 pack of samples! Plus try it risk free, they have a no-questions-asked refund policy – you don't even have to send it back!
 
 
Are you in perimenopause or postmenopause and struggling with symptoms—but not getting the support you deserve?
At Midlife Solutions, we specialize in hormone optimization for women in midlife. Our all-female clinical team offers telehealth care across all 50 U.S. states, with the ability to prescribe bioidentical estrogen, progesterone, testosterone, and thyroid medication.
 
Book your FREE Hormone Discovery Call
Find out what's really driving your symptoms and what your next best steps are.
 
Visit the website: https://karenmartel.com
 
Shop the Midlife Solutions Store
Over-the-counter bioidentical hormone creams and oils — no prescription needed.
Including:
• Progesterone
• Estrogen Face Cream
• Vaginal Moisturizer
and more!
 
Take the Hormone Quiz
Discover hidden hormone imbalances that could be driving your symptoms.
Get personalized results (and yes, they may surprise you).
 
Women's Peptide Weight Loss Program
Clinically guided, hormone-aware weight loss for midlife women.
 
Midlife RESET HRT Program
A complete, supportive approach to hormone replacement therapy in midlife.
 
Your host:
Karen Martel
Certified Hormone Specialist, Transformational Nutrition Coach, & Weight Loss Expert
 
Karen's Facebook
Karen's Instagram