Oxytocin: The Most Powerful Hormone Ever? – With Dr. Anna Cabeca

Dr Anna Cabeca 0:00
That is my specialty. It takes more than hormones to picture hormone

Dr. Mindy 0:04
receptors. Dr. Mindy here and I am on a mission to teach you just how powerful your body was built to be. This podcast is about giving you the power back and helping you believe in yourself again. Let’s jump in. On this episode of The resetter podcast, I bring you Dr. Anna Qhubeka. Now if you are not familiar with Anna, I really want to introduce you to this woman who is so passionate about helping women heal their Hormonal Health, and she is a triple board certified gynecologist. She has written many books, I’ll tell you two of my favorite one of them is the hormone fix and is absolutely my go to when women want to understand a general picture of their hormones. You’ve gotta read the hormone fix. And she just put out a book that we all needed so desperately and I’m so excited she did this. The book is called menu pause and it has recipes and ideas for women going through the perimenopause, menopause and post menopause years. And on top of all the books she writes and the information she puts out on social media, her podcast, she’s got amazing products to help women through menopause. She also is a dear friend, this woman has just really crawled into my heart. I love what she shares about hormones, and you’ll hear it in this episode. One of the one of the things that I find so humbling is when people have been through horrific situations in their lives, and they use it as fuel for purpose and they use it to make themselves stronger. And in the hormone fix Dr. Anna, Rebecca really shares her story of losing her son at when he was 18 months old. And if all the mamas out there, this story will pull on your heartstrings, but it also will give you inspiration because what you will hear in this episode is that she has been dedicated to teaching women about their hormones. Since that time, she has been focused on healing her own hormones. And what you’re going to hear this episode is she just became a grandma and delivered her own grandbaby. So there’s so much to unpack about hormones. We start off in this conversation talking about oxytocin, which is a very free hormone you can get and we talk about why you want to get it and how we can all get it and why it should be the precursor to any food change you make. And then we dive into her six different plans that she has for helping hormones through food. And they’re all done in short little chunks. You can use these, these plans that she’s created in our menu paws book, you can use them for five to six days out of the month to start to look at detoxing hormones to building up certain hormones to building up your gut so you can break hormones down. Literally anything you want to know about food and hormones this woman has put in this book. So menopause Dr. Annika Becca, I am so excited to share this episode with you and I hope that she crawls into your heart as deeply as she has mine. Enjoy.

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Dr Anna Cabeca 6:45
your inspiration, Mindy.

Dr. Mindy 6:47
Yeah, thank you. That was very sweet. And I just Yeah, I just I love doing anything with you. So this is really exciting. But the second thing is your your dedication. Oh my gosh, you made me cry. Like for starters, you just have some really amazing sounds like you have some amazing people in your life. And your story about your kids and your son and like all of that just always moves me to tears just on on all levels. And so I just want to start off by highlighting your heart for my listeners because that is why I love Annika Becca is for your heart. You put out incredible books, but it’s your heart that I have fallen in love with.

Dr Anna Cabeca 7:32
Thank you. Thank you and I feel like we are so alike in that way. Really? It’s like spirits. Yeah, a great or that and yeah, yeah, yeah.

Dr. Mindy 7:43
Yeah. And so let’s start off with this. Because before we can get into the recipes and everything we need to make men. Now all I can say is menu pause. Menopause.

Dr Anna Cabeca 7:53
Oh my gosh, Mindy. I’ve been doing this. And I actually wrote a little email this morning. I’m just like, my whole house is in menu. Pause right now. We’re all in menopause. And upon menopause, and my husband’s husband’s famous, famous basketball player from the Mavericks, Rolando Blackman. And I’m like, I’m just gonna share with everyone that he’s in menu pause too early. I love it. I love it. Join us in menu pause.

Dr. Mindy 8:25
And actually, if outside of the book, if you could join us in menu, pause the way that would mean what that would mean to me would be like, we stop and we eat together. Is that? Is that supposed to be

Dr Anna Cabeca 8:38
that? Good? That is a good way and see that’s I love that you thought about it that way because being the fasting expert, right? I would have thought you might say okay, we pause eating we pause and you know, pause and eat together? Because that is that good food, good medicine good people. That’s right, or medicine.

Dr. Mindy 8:54
That’s right. So so that brings me to my point that we’ve got to start with oxytocin. And before we dive into food, we’ve got to start with oxytocin and the benefit of it on hormones. And you know, maybe through like, I mean, I know you’re doing the horse world with your daughter and like how do we let’s start with this question. How do we use community how do we use friendships? How do we tap in the oxytocin

Dr Anna Cabeca 9:22
to balance our hormones? You know, it’s just that sense that if we could feel in love every day, what does the world just become a better place? I mean, bright colors you know, the you see things clearer. The sky is blue right? You’re in love with everyone they greet you. They hug you. There’s gonna be this just dots like die is oxytocin. Oxytocin is just the world’s a better place. And it’s so funny because I was thinking about this because I can’t wait till my new granddaughter. Yes.

Dr. Mindy 9:51
Got it. Yeah. You delivered your granddaughter. flippin amazing. Okay,

Dr Anna Cabeca 9:59
gotta live We have my life best delivery in my life. I mean, very humbling to this delivery. And so, you know, it’s like, oh my god, what are the first movies I’m gonna have her watches trolls, because that is oxytocin versus cortisol. So you know that Pixar film The trolls, and it’s these colorful trolls and they’ve got all this beautiful Cyndi Lauper song is, you know, is in their true colors, true colors. True Colors. Thank you. And so you know, these trolls are great, and they’re fighting these like monsters and, and they’re all gray and the world’s Gray, and they make everyone sad, and they walk around depressed, and alone, and there’s no friends and they’re not worth anything and they just killed and what they try to do is eat up the happy trolls. Oh my god energy. But anyway, that is cortisol versus oxytocin. Yes, right. That is cortisol versus oxytocin. And then of course, True Colors and, you know, lots of happy songs. And that can becomes contagious and the trolls become happy. So the love monsters become happy. So it’s so funny. But that is a really good visual comparison. It really is a lesson to be learned here is is the effect of stress on our physiology. And the antidote to that the antidote is laughter. It’s love. It’s kindness, it’s compassion. It’s paying it forward. It’s sharing heart to heart, being authentic, letting the scales and hardshell that we may have been, you know, forced to build over time as safety, being able to to emerge from that. And menopause is this transition space to really blossom, to be empowered to be that for yourself, like, I love my laflife Yes, I love them.

Dr. Mindy 11:49
Yes, that’s what I keep telling myself.

Dr Anna Cabeca 11:52
Exactly. So they are hard earned. This body has been through so much. Thank you for it. Right? And let’s, let’s let me keep let me let me pay it back. Yeah. And we think about it that way to pay it back with love. And, you know, my my cousin who I mentioned in the, in the my dedication to amazing human being. And I was having this conversation because I recognize she has saboteurs around her some unhealthy community. So in my book, many pause, there’s a chapter, pausing the things that no longer serve you. And that’s true, it could be people pushing really hard boundaries. Look, I respect your opinion. But if you’re not going to encourage me, you know, keep that to yourself. Like don’t be Debbie Downer anymore. But she said, when she looks in the mirror, she just scouts, she’s like, look what I’ve done to my body. And I said, Well, you’re not your body’s not going to pay you back in any good way. You have to start you have to promise me, you’ve got the most amazing smile, the best eyes. I mean, look at your curly hair. I mean, you know, just like focus on what you do love cash, this body bore you two amazing children. Right has contributed to your four grandchildren. Thank God for that body. And like, sometimes you have to, you have to just, you know, make it up to you believe it. And that’s okay. That’s okay. I consider that good medicine.

Dr. Mindy 13:16
Yeah, yeah, you know, I hit a spot. So when I turned 40, I told myself, like, oh, my gosh, I’m 40. Now, I don’t have to care what other people think of me. That was like my mantra going from 39 into 40, like 40 year old women don’t don’t care what other people think of them as like my, my spot, lack of tolerance. Right. But you know what I had to realize, well, if I don’t care what other people think of me, what gets highlighted is what I think of me. And I started really developing this relationship with myself. And one of the things I realized is, every time I looked in the mirror, I would my brain would go to the areas that I didn’t like, and I would say mean things to myself. And one day, I thought, Well, why don’t I flip that? And let me go to what I do like and say and highlight that. And I’ll tell you, after 12 years of doing this, when I look in the mirror, I go to the body parts that I love. First, it’s really a cool technique. So I think that’s great that you told her that

Dr Anna Cabeca 14:17
that is so good. And discipline and practice, right? Yeah, you have to have a discipline and you have to practice it on a daily basis. And I agree. And this is a difference between women and men, you know, because one of the things that I know from working with men, I mean, they’ll look in the mirror and they’ll be like, Man, look at these biceps, man like because I’m so studly, and they will totally forget about their big beer guy, they totally don’t even look at it. But guys will focus on what they like. And it’s true because in my core sexual CPR, I talk about this, that guys will focus on what they like about you, not what they don’t like you’re focusing on that. So and you’ve got mirror neurons so don’t like focus on what you like about you focus on what he likes. It’s about you. He is focusing on how gorgeous you are, how much you know, he wants to make you happy. Your smile lights him up. I mean, so you have to shift that for relational health to it’s fast. Yeah, super

Dr. Mindy 15:13
fascinating. So what do you do? You know, one of the things that I think about oxytocin and women is if I go back, and I look at my 40s Oh, that was that was tough, because you’ve got kids leaving the house, you’re

Dr Anna Cabeca 15:28
not for me, five at a 14 year old, baby at home now.

Dr. Mindy 15:32
Oh, my gosh, I would take some people back. I want some people that come back into my office, they all laughed, and I felt like desperately texting the kids like, how’s your day? What are you doing? I feel I feel like the movies that I feel like I’m living the song cats in the cradle. Or you’re like, I don’t have time, every time and now they’re saying that to me. But what do when I feel like 40s or that time that all of a sudden, all the things that beat you up in life, sort of all bubbled to the surface. And you combine that with the loss of progesterone, the loss of estrogen, cortisol is up, like, let’s just take 40 to 50. What can we do? If we’ve been sort of beaten up with life? How do we start to unwind that so oxytocin can be this hero to come in? Like, how do we? What’s that process look like?

Dr Anna Cabeca 16:27
That kind of unwinding, like unwinding the, the neural pathways when I guess I think about that, I really want to make the emphasis, you know, I have a daughter with seizures. And that’s how I really started learning and studying about Kido way back when. But when we do have someone has a seizure, for instance, a young 21 year old daughter as in the case of mine at the time, and we think okay, there’s nothing organic here, she may never have another seizure. But if she has the second seizure, we know she’s going to have a third. Right? That’s how quick those neural pathways are made. And so our responses, like how you retrain and it’s like, doesn’t happen overnight. You retrain those neural pathways of negatively talking about ourselves or seeing that mirror. Mirror, instead of a mirror. Yeah, right. There. Hashtag more sexy. That’s what we’re doing in the girlfriend, actor club right now. We got that hashtag go, Mindy, and you are totally more sexy. So

Dr. Mindy 17:30
good. And I appreciate it.

Dr Anna Cabeca 17:34
Now, I forgot the question anyway. rewiring neural pathways, yeah,

Dr. Mindy 17:37
rewiring pathways. Because, you know, again, I want to dive into what you have in this book. But because you put the word pause in there, it’s really had me thinking about my 40s. And now I’m 52. It’s like, there, I’ve learned more about being a woman from 40 to 52, than I think my entire life, just going through this experience of men of menopause. And I feel like oxytocin what is I didn’t prioritize her. And yet, what my brain wants to do is say, Yeah, and it’s been rough. I mean, years, you’ve had some rough bumps, some incredibly rough bumps. So we, as do many of the women listening. So we can put a book in front of them and say, Hey, eat this life will get better. But what I want to do is create a framework in which women can start to thrive in their 40s and 50s. And oxytocin is your hormone that’s the one we got to highlight

Dr Anna Cabeca 18:35
it is and because oxytocin is this longevity hormone, it’s been proved to regenerate, you know, with oxytocin, you can regenerate muscles healthier, stronger, faster, you can improve memory, healthy, strong, you know, quicker, faster. You it’s anti aging, right? When you’re in love. I mean, it’s the most alkalizing hormone in our body, where cortisol is the most acidified, can we check your pH on a stressed out day in a day, you’re having a blast? And so what I want women to do, and I have every, like, if you look at my history, and you know, by the day, I mean, there’s like 10 More traumas, right? But, you know, I could I could be deep and I have been deep in the depths of hell. And I could be focused on that still, it was like a daily practice. What am I grateful for? Thank you for this oxytocin is the best medicine and I can give all the hormones, all the drugs, all the you know, whatever supplements that I want to give, but if they are so, gratitude, appreciation, sense of self love, or feeling like you are loved you are you have a purpose. Each and every one of us have a purpose. Like every one of the hormones in our body has the purpose, right? Each and every one of us has a purpose. So to feel that and sometimes we have to make it up for ourselves because physiologically, we’re at a deficit and that can be you know, that can be The hormonal can be past life stuff, possibly. I mean, there’s a lot of stuff I’ve seen in my 55 years, right? There’s a lot that I’ve seen. So the underlying DNA wiring and coding, bravo, we can show that we can shift the quickest way. And the most important way and I’m glad you’re highlighting this is is with oxytocin. It’s like, okay, here’s menopause. I’m so grateful for that. Look at the beauty of it, right? It is beautiful, but someone else in the negative like, for example, you know, my cousin Grace’s saboteur. He’s like, Oh, I don’t think you can make food look like that. Oh, oh, yeah, that’s kind of stuff around. I’m like, Oh, no wonder you’re sick girl. Yeah,

Dr. Mindy 20:45
we’re definitely rude. We got to reframe that limiting belief. Do

Dr Anna Cabeca 20:49
you have to call him on his shit? Yeah, you do. Call him on a ship. But you also have to own yours. Like, ah, you know, I’m you know, I know. I know where my value is, and being able to appreciate to say a blessing before you eat this meal. Blessing of gratitude to share with a friend Hey, I’m doing this I made extra. I made extra for my cousin of my Georgia. Buffalo shepherd’s pie. I’m so excited to share that with them. Like, they’re gonna like it and love it. But I’m more excited that I made extra and I’m gonna give it to them. I mean, my mom used to do stuff like that. Like, this was my grandma mom.

Dr. Mindy 21:27
Right. I know, you definitely have a more grandmotherly vibe. Not that you look more grandmother lady, but definitely have the wisdom of a grandmother and it’s only been a couple of months. This is really do. Yeah. So what do you what do you do if you you know what I found about hormones, especially in 40s and 50s. I mean, that’s the only thing I can speak to personally, is that when they decline, you can look around at your environment and know that you’re supposed to say I’m want to be grateful, but all your brain your heart is like joyless. It can’t find gratitude. So if I decide to just say it, like, yeah, I’m really happy. And I sent me this book, and I just, you know, look at it and say the words but I don’t really feel the words does that work the same and over time we will you grow yourself some some oxytocin.

Dr Anna Cabeca 22:22
I think you have to find something that you appreciate. Like, if it’s, you know, I really appreciate that the orchid flower looks like a vulva. I really appreciate that.

Dr. Mindy 22:33
I have so many around. That’s right.

Dr Anna Cabeca 22:36
It does look like a bowl but each one is unique and different. Just like vulva us. Yeah. Right? All unique and different, all beautiful. So you have to find something you can authentically laugh at or appreciate. Watch My Big Fat Greek Wedding, watch your your watch trolls watch something that makes you laugh. But you know, it is true. You have to there has to be a sense a sentiment and this is a patient that I worked with, who had and she was a younger patient in her late 20s. I want to say she was 28 or 29. I can’t remember exactly. But she would I mean, I saw her so frequently, year after year and then sub every you know, a few times every month and it finally occurred to me that he had fibromyalgia this that the other thing I was supplementing, I was bioidentical hormones, and I was I was just detoxing. And then there was always something and finally it dawned on me Mindy. I asked her this beautiful young woman I said, Tell me one thing that you love about yourself. Like nothing. Yeah, that was the lightbulb moment for me. That was That’s why I can’t get her better. And I said, you know, Crystal, I love your hair. It was just gorgeous. And she started to smile. She goes, Oh, yeah, I love my hair. And but until that moment, I said, Well, I just want you to say that. I want you to say that every day. I want you to reflect it because she felt it. You see she smiled. She felt it. Oxytocin deficient. Also oxytocin deficiency doesn’t allow you to feel and when you’re in cortisol, overdrive or burnout, you have that deficiency. So you have to like generate some authentic sense of of appreciation of gratitude you have to generate and it is around and sometimes we are you we have like we’re in the dark. We don’t see it. We have to we have to find it. We have to Nancy Drew it.

Dr. Mindy 24:29
I love it. Nancy Drew and I read all the dancy truth so I’m very up to speed on Nancy Drew. So here’s what here’s what I’m where I’m going to and this is where my heart’s been recently, which is, I think as women it the time is now for us to rally around each other and build each other up. And we as women for you know, centuries have been breaking each other down and we can Pete with each other. And we were, you know, when I have a son and a daughter and when I look at the difference between how they treat with, you know, the girlfriend group versus the guy group, like it’s we need to treat each other better. And we could all raise our oxytocin by doing exactly what you just said, give a compliment to a friend show, tell a friend how much she you care about them. And you would definitely hormonally benefit yourself and her, but instead, we’re in the comparison society, and we’re always, oh, she’s doing something better than me. She looks better than me. She’s, you know, you know, all those things. And we have to change that.

Dr Anna Cabeca 25:36
genuinely appreciate another person. And it feels so good. I have I have and that’s not natural to me, especially, you know, a competitive one of the only female physicians and my Med School Class of 1991. Right? Right. It’s 50 women out of 150 men and there’s, there’s competition, right in so many ways and to, to be like the only do in my residency class, you know, and, you know, there’s a lot of competition and cutthroat right? There’s that sense. And so my I have one daughter, My daughter, Amira, it’s her gifting. She like sees people and she sees what’s good, and she can’t keep it to herself. I love that I able to, and if you you meet her, and you just immediately like, oh my gosh, you know, what a genuine soul. And that’s how she is. And I was like, huh, I could take lessons from when she was little amazed when she started being able to talk to make people laugh and feel good. That is her gifting. And so like you do you look at that and say, Oh, well, how can I do that? And you know, you just practice? Well, what? Let me try. Let me just practice, you know, you know, where does it start? It can start with if your, your your mailman greet them. Thank you. You’re doing this every day for me. I really appreciate that. I mean, when genuine. And you know, and I think that that is practice that is practice. And that is it pays back that pays back in spades. It sure does.

Dr. Mindy 27:06
And hanging around people like your daughter. I mean, I call it a positive energy exchange. I purposely seek out people who have high loving, grateful vibrations, because all I’ve got to do is hang out with them or talk to them for a minute or two. And like, like you right now, just like yes, like, I’ll get off this interview and I’ll be a better version of me than beforehand because of the oxytocin exchange that can happen amongst people but a women I think we do it really well. So, so So okay, so now we’ve got that out of the way because I what I find is everybody wants the magic pill for hormones. And I think starting with this idea of gratitude and oxytocin is so important. So let’s move

Dr Anna Cabeca 27:49
on with that with that, like other ways to increase oxytocin laughter course orgasm, climax orgasm, intimacy, a massage, facials, doing things you love and enjoy playing with a pet. happy marriages and pet owners have longer lifespan, right. So that’s something I mean, that’s, that’s something to pay attention to. So what can we do? Why do pet owners have helped get to a longer healthier lifespan? I mean, unconditional love. I mean, let’s I don’t know I’m not I’m a dog owner, not a cat owner. So I can’t meet so those, but that dog have no matter what it’s like, I just want to be around you. I know. I missed you. You were God. Two minutes and happy you’re home. Yeah, so do that. But, you know, pets do. It’s really good. Yeah. I’m like trying to still trying to train my children, right?

Dr. Mindy 28:37
Well, you know what I do? I do tell my kids when I see them now. They’re 22 and 19. And I say, Okay, I just need a little oxytocin. I know, you don’t want to, I know you don’t want to be hugged. But I want to be hugged for my oxytocin. So they kind of laugh and they know that doubt, that’s part of the ship. You’re gonna get that. So. So okay, so I just am so happy. We’re highlighting oxytocin because it’s free. And you can do it anywhere, you can get it anywhere. I mean, there’s, there’s so many ways to get it. So beyond that, what I absolutely love about your book, and Bravo to you, and how you laid this out, is you really hit all the points that we need to be thinking about when it comes to food and hormones, everything from detox to gut repair, to building up hormones. So talk a little bit about how you map these chapters out because it Well done my friend. Well.

Dr Anna Cabeca 29:33
Thank you. I had so much fun with the title menu pause. I had so much fun with that and coming up with the five most common pauses that I would work with clients like they’re doing everything right in our keto green world, right. They’re doing it right and things stop working, or they have another issue condition Hashimotos autoimmune issue psoriasis, and these different conditions I would have to say, Okay, well, let’s pause this. Let’s do good. Okay. Yeah, we’re just going to do this for, you know, 567 days and let’s focus right now just on this. And so that’s kind of how the plants developed. And so my core keto green is healthy fats, high quality protein, and lots of good dark leafy greens, the sprouts, you know, high oxidant superfoods and cruciferous vegetables and intermittent fasting and no more snacking to once we get used to it two meals a day is great two or three meals a day. And sometimes it’s one meal a day and sometimes, you know, it’s feasting days, which I love personally, as the big glutton or gastronomique, let’s say,

Unknown Speaker 30:42
Oh, I love that. That’s a great title. So good, so

Dr Anna Cabeca 30:45
good. And so I am. So with the Keto green as a core, I said, Okay, here’s the Keto green auto immune plan. So we call that keto, green extreme and we take out all the night shades peppers, and that’s a hard one for me because I’m Middle Eastern background. I love my tomatoes. I love my eggplant. I mean a week without Baba, no news, will I survive? I have no idea. So we will see where I’m doing it so strictly this week, a degree in extreme. So. So there’s that. And that’s because that it’s very, you know, we worry about nightshades being triggering peppers and really wanted to pay attention to that for my clients. And so all the menus are clean that way, and still will help alkalize your body give you good fiber and be very ketogenic and supporting. So we’ve had amazing results. And then the second plan I put people on and sometimes often put people on is completely blank plant based. So it’s a vegan vegetarian keto green plan. Because we’re taken out a lot of the grain we take out all the grades that pretty much that are vegetarians tend to eat and so really want to eliminate that so they can experience ketosis and also not be hungry with highs and lows and blood sugar. So also, because constipation is something so many people deal with, and Mindy, every time I you know, on my questionnaire, as a doctor, I have that question, are you constipated? And they many times would say no. And then I would do an exam. I’m like, really feel constipated? How often? Are you having those bowel movements? And they’d be like, Oh, once or twice a week. I’m like, you’re constipated. And they’re like, Oh, this is how I’ve always been. If you’re not having one or two bowel movements a day you are constipated, right? And so sometimes people don’t realize that they’ve been this way for all their life. And I was just interviewed on a radio show, and this woman and she’s in her 40s 4748 And I told her about that plan. And she’s also does mostly vegetarian. And she goes, Oh, well, I’ve been constipated my entire life. That’s not going to change. I work with that. Meeting laxatives and I’m like, oh, no, oh, no, we can still fix you the gut lining regenerates every 72 hours. That’s why many pauses six days to get you through to 72 hours cycles. I mean, that’s, that’s some of that concept, the science behind it. Plus, usually, day three and four are tough on people. So you need you need a couple more days beyond that to really feel that re energize lift from the work that your body’s doing amazingly like magic and repairing itself. So then the third plan swings the entire opposite way and it’s more of carnivore plan. nose to tail carnivore. Seriously my cardamom seared liver. It’s really to die for it’s oh my god, try it so good. My daughter Ava, she will eat second helpings. She really loves that one. Okay. Oh, good. So yeah, that’s a good one. It was like I’m not cooking I haven’t had I didn’t have liver. You know, since my mom passed away, because that was one thing that she would do us all pieces of an animal. So and that’s how we used to eat ancestrally now we take it in pills or capsules, or adrenal glandulars or whatever it might be. So we’re going to do news detail here and also give the body a chance to heal and support digestive enzyme production. And so inlanta Really, that’s a really strong plan to do and you get into high ketosis so that brain fog lifts and then the fourth plan is the cleanse especially coming right out of carnivore if you do it that way. You’re already or you’re already in ketosis you’re not hungry so you do this cleanse great and has a liver gallbladder flush a bit and my audience is loving it they are loving it and it’s the hardest it’s the hardest one but yet it’s it’s fine it’s sustainable you feel nourished it kind of you know gives you a range of of food, you know fruits and vegetables to to enjoy and then the fifth plan that sometimes I have to put clients out I’m curious if you see this too, but people that have been so keto for so long are fasting so long or so carb restricted for so along that sometimes I need to carve them up in order to get a good night’s sleep to feel better to get that power back in the gym. And so there’s a carve up plan. So those are the five plans,

Dr. Mindy 35:12
and you do it in a row. Are you Is it meant or is it kind of you grab one, they’re all five days long.

Dr Anna Cabeca 35:18
They’re all six days long,

Dr. Mindy 35:19
six days. So five plans six days long, just so you all catch the brilliance of this book. And they’re all coming at hormones and menopause from a different direction, which again, I just want to point out so flippin, brilliant. Thanks. So would you do it? Would it be a 30 day plan, then would you do it? Third,

Dr Anna Cabeca 35:35
I would use the seven day to pause ha another pause within a pause. So the seven day that’s what I figured, you know, and like the seven day can be a feasting day can be a fasting day, it can be opportunity to challenge your body, okay, I’ve been off dairy, for instance, for six days and never going to know me try it and see what happens. And if you’re like me, you’ll be inflamed, you’ll be like, yeah, I gotta stop it again. So terrible.

Dr. Mindy 36:01
So you’ll get insight, you’ll be like, this act, this style of eating worked for me, I took this out, I’m feeling better. So just so people don’t lose that nuance. It’s a it’s a self discovery path.

Dr Anna Cabeca 36:13
It is the self discovery. And then you may experience I think we should all do the plant based plan, essentially, once a quarter even are omnivores, and it’s good gut microbial diversity with plant diversity is improved. So so there’s the logic behind that. And I want kind of what we’re what I’m planning to do. And as we’re going into the spring and summer months, but planning to do each of the six day plans every week and exploring, okay, what makes me feel the best. And I’ll do that one again longer, or follow those guidelines longer and see but to take note how I’m doing but there’s benefit to all of us, right? Yeah, there’s benefit to all of them. So I would say get, don’t just choose one and stick with that one or later, you’re doing amazing and feels great. But try all of them because you never know what your body really is calling for. And it’s a good experience.

Dr. Mindy 37:08
Do you need to now I know it’s for menopause. But with perimenopause, we’ve got we’ve got women that still have a cycle. Do you need to time any of these plans around? Like if you know it’s the week before you’re about to have your period? Are there some you would avoid or some that you would add in?

Dr Anna Cabeca 37:24
Yeah, I would say I would not do the cleanse the week before my period. Okay, I just wouldn’t because you’re gonna have cravings, you’re more insulin resistant during that time. And and I would listen to your body give it what it needs during that time. And you know, but and see how you do that might be a good time to do carnivore.

Dr. Mindy 37:44
Yeah, it could be. My other thought was, what about would you focus in on the detox and the gut repair during your ovulation window?

Dr Anna Cabeca 37:54
Oh, wait, but I just had a brilliant idea. Can we do a carnivore and chocolate we’d be

Dr. Mindy 38:01
carnivore, chocolate, add a girlfriend time it will sit on the couch and watch all our favorite movies.

Dr Anna Cabeca 38:08
That sounds very therapeutic. And so I really haven’t. I haven’t worked with it around ovulation. Either. It’d be you know,

Dr. Mindy 38:17
I just find in I mean, the liver is so interesting the liver and gut just because of how it breaks down estrogen. I feel like as you go through menopause, that becomes even more important, important. I do but you know, you have this weird Peri menopausal age that it’s so it’s so hard to even do a flippin hormone test because you don’t know when it’s coming or going right? How many of you are seriously struggling with sleep? Sleep is such a crucial part of our health. And it really has a domino effect. When you don’t get good sleep, everything in your life, from how you perform at work, to your relationships, to how you feel in your body to your brain function. All of this requires amazing sleep. And it’s actually really hard to get good sleep. It’s crazy to think about but sleep has become such a pivotal discussion in all health communities. Because so many of us need to go back and train ourselves how to sleep properly. In fact, it’s such an important topic. I’ve dedicated a whole course in my reset Academy on sleep. I feel like I’ve spent the last 10 years and Peri menopausal years really mastering sleep. So I have some real clear ideas of what works for sleep and what doesn’t. And one of the things I’m noticing that is required for great sleep, especially deep sleep is magnesium. And the challenge as you guys have heard me say before with magnesium is that we’re not getting enough of it in the foods we’re eating. And you combine that with fasting you combine that with stress you combine that with hormones changing dramatically for Peri menopausal and menopausal women. And it will that deficiency of magnesium will impact how you approach your sleep every night. So, unfortunately, it’s not as simple as just take a magnesium supplement, all supplements are not created equal. I wish I could say that they were, which is why when I find a good one, and I know that it’s going to work, and I feel really excited to share with you these gems that I’m finding and upgraded formulas, because magnesium is a must like no joke, it is a must for sleep. In fact, when I don’t take it, I, I’m up to three in the morning when I do take it. I’m really good night’s sleep, I can see it on my whoop. And the deep sleep is where I want it to be the REM sleep is where I want it to be. And magnesium from upgraded formulas is the key. So what I love about upgraded formulas other than the amazing product is that they’re always giving you a percentage off. And I love that I want to offer you guys great products that I know will work at the best price possible. What I also love is that they are donating a percentage of their profits to charity, which hopefully you all know, my mission heart, I feel like we should all be our best selves so that we can be amazing humans to this planet and give back to others. So upgraded formulas reset or if you use the Reset or podcast, you type that in the coupon code, they’ll give you 15% On Off, all you got to do is go to upgraded formulas.com I will do the magnesium usually an hour or two before I go to bed to start to get my body into a calm state. And I can tell you with 100% certainty that this will be a game changer for your health. I hope you love it and sleep as well as I am. Thank you upgraded formulas for this amazing product. So do you use would could you also look at your symptoms and go Gosh, I’m feeling really anxious today. So maybe I need to build some progesterone or my mind is really foggy. Like I know sometimes the estrogen is really low and I get like really paranoid and my brain gets really foggy. Like my there’s a quality to my brain that I’m like, Ooh, got to work on estrogen. Could you use these?

Dr Anna Cabeca 42:36
Are you feeling that even when you’re in ketosis Monday?

Dr. Mindy 42:39
No Keep No Not. Not for estrogen. But progesterone when I feel like NK body anxiety now I can’t use ketosis as a tool. So I’m thinking you’re where you up your carbs? That might be the tool to use than I think

Dr Anna Cabeca 42:57
so I think like the carb plant would probably be good.

Dr. Mindy 43:01
Yeah. Like I love that they’re six days so I’m like how do we take the six days and and cycle them around a woman cycle the six little snippets?

Dr Anna Cabeca 43:15
That’s a great I mean great concept. So if I was to build that out oops, sorry one second.

Dr. Mindy 43:20
Yeah, no, you could keep good we love dogs on this show. This podcast is sponsored by everybody’s dog that has ever been in the background of an interview

Dr Anna Cabeca 43:35
oh my gosh, that is our welcoming committee here at this house right for sure. For sure. Yeah, I really do have to then get you a Pet Pet Store sponsor.

Dr. Mindy 43:46
I should I shouldn’t be like and for all the you that need oxytocin This podcast is now sponsored by your local pet adoption agency where you grab yourself some oxytocin immediately.

Dr Anna Cabeca 43:59
Oh my gosh, that’s brilliant. People are gonna be messaging you right now. Yes, I want one. I love it so cute. I think if I was to build out a cycle like how it would look for the cycle, I would start your cycle with keto green extreme. And then I probably the second week I probably do plant based because like with ovulation and just creating that really alkaline environment and supportive gut bacteria give them some good stuff to thrive on. And then the week the week before your period I would call I’d probably go back to keto grade extreme but then the week before your period I would I would carve up yeah I would do the carb player with a good sweet potatoes and root vegetables and I think that would that would make sense for me and then when you do want to do a cleanse you know probably the best time is that that first week of your menstrual cycle to cleanse and that would be saved through with carnivore properly

Dr. Mindy 44:59
and do you find If women are going through menopause, and they have hot flashes and insomnia, and they’re like, but I haven’t had a period in 10 years. Yeah, I feel like these organs and these body parts have just never been given the right nutrition, the right tools. So going through these six protocols can be the answer for those lingering symptoms.

Dr Anna Cabeca 45:20
Absolutely, absolutely. And I see this over and over again. And that, you know, I had actually a friend of mine, who’s a lead architect in India, and she’s amazing. I met her in Barcelona, and she’s like, Anna, these half letters, they’re killing me. What do we do? And I’m like, fancy what he was saying, right? Like fancy. We’ve got it. We got I know. It’s so great. And I said, Okay, this is this is going to work because the handful of hot flashes I’ve had it’s been because of too much carbs. Too much wine in my hormones were Dilaudid. Right? That is my specialty takes more than hormones to fix your hormones. So what’s happening here is there’s an underlying insulin resistance. There’s an underlying receptor damage that’s not well defined in the literature. I mean, really, I think that’s an area that we need to look at. How do you reawaken receptor sites because sometimes when we add in bioidentical progesterone, you can experience more hot flashes before they subside and it’s a reawakening. It’s like giving your body what it needs and it’s like give me more type of sensation. And I’ve really watched that so I combine it with So combine it with detoxification, so I start really focusing on that keto green extreme plan. combined some detoxification support, I add mighty maca PLAs because it’s adaptogenic it really does help eliminate hot flashes, you may need two, three, maybe four scoops a day if you’re really resistant, but to start at one because it is detoxifying, and it is supportive. So you don’t want to get to do too much too fast. That is so add in the detox support, and then and you know, add in the bioidentical progesterone. If you’re postmenopausal, or you’ve had a hysterectomy, you do that typically 25 to 28 days a month or take one to do it every day, take one to two days off per week, of bioidentical progesterone and use that transdermally or prescribed orally, that’s a good way

Dr. Mindy 47:17
to generate doesn’t matter which one just curious, oral or?

Dr Anna Cabeca 47:21
Well, it doesn’t. It really depends. Like I have been doing this for a long time. And I sometimes do oral especially if I’m having trouble with sleep. So oral progesterone metabolizes 90%, to the metabolites that help your body produce GABA, or our pregnenolone. And so that makes you sleep deeper, which is really nice. But I use transdermal pretty much every day except for one to two days a week. And that’s my balance cream, which I created with progesterone and pregnenolone and has tripeptide in it, which helps get rid of the sunspots from my sun worshipping body, but it’s a good thing. So I put it in there. an anti aging too, but just the boat progesterone in pregnant alone, and that train stimuli use a full pump in females and a quarter apoB in males to help them also get better night’s sleep and relax. So I like transdermal for slow delivery. But I like oral for the benefit of the metabolites to go Yeah, yeah, we know if we’re on estrogen we need probably closer if we’re doing oral 200 milligrams, transdermal that equates to 20 milligrams. But because of if we have a uterus and we’re on estrogen, we have to oppose estrogen on the uterus, so we don’t get into mutual cancer, endometrial build up god. Oh. So that’s that there.

Dr. Mindy 48:41
And you have some new products out. So talk a little bit about that. Because I always like Well, there’s two things. I’m always curious, no, three things I’m always curious on with you. One is, what’s the next book? So you and I talked a year ago, and you’re like, it’s gonna be called menu pause. And I was like, That’s brilliant, too. You know, what are your kids up to? Like, what are you doing with in the horse world because you and I share this passion for children in the horse world. And then the third is what new products have you developed? And so when I got my box today, I’m like, what? A reparative mask for my hormonal hair. And Rebecca, you are a you’re like a god. It’s amazing. It is

Dr Anna Cabeca 49:22
so funny how I created this. I’m telling you because I was working on my non DHEA joba formula for my Canadian people. So I’ve got jova for the vulva right the most important real estate of a body clitoris anus you guys try it. You will love it 100% money back guarantee me just read the 1000 1000s of testimonial that’s Joba. But it has DHEA and plant stem cells from the Alpine rose but we can’t send DHEA to Canada. It sounds like I’m coming up with another formula so I can get it to him and I used I research on like a sea buckthorn oil. I’m gonna get that and it’s the smells terrible and but it has such good attributes. So let me Make it better and then I was like reading something I said it’s really good for your hair and I was having that, you know, stressed menopausal hair and book launch hair. So I was like that was a year ago so book writing hair even in book launch time. I have all this new hair growth I mean, credible. Yeah. And it feels great. It’s so funny because I fellow influencer, Natalie, Jill, Natalie Jill fits or Instagram handle. I sent her one and she immediately used it in her hair. She was texting me how do I use it. I’m like, put it in dry, put it in wet, do whatever mean it works the other way. And if you use it at night and massage it in, it’s great too. It’s really there’s something really calming about it. But anyway, you can use it as a cream rinse, or leave it in as a mask. I like to put it in before I go to bed and rinse it out in the morning. Just lightly don’t have to use a lot and massage it into your scalp too. But anyway, so she did this video yesterday. She goes, oh my god, I just want to pet my hair. I feel so good. I was like oh my god. But it does it has a meaning I added amino acids to it and really is reparative for the hair. And so that coarseness it feels soft and smooth. It really does and it’s shiny and thick and healthy and I touch with so far I haven’t had my book on

Dr. Mindy 51:21
just so that our listeners know when Anna got on we we’ve interacted a lot in person and love it on Zoom. And I’m like what are you doing? It looks so beautiful. So definitely the hair whatever you’re doing the this beauty locks is going in my regime. I love it. I love and

Dr Anna Cabeca 51:38
you will love it. And so I’m sure it’s the oxytocin here that’s flowing to baby. There’s a lot of that too. There’s a confounding variables here.

Dr. Mindy 51:47
Quite possibly, quite possibly. Well, I just for the sake of time, I you know, because I could talk to you forever. Tell me one of the things that we have been really emphasizing on the resetter podcast this year is gratitude. We started this this conversation off with gratitude. I feel like we all got sideways in the last couple of years looking at the things that we didn’t like and that were happening in the world. And I really wanted 2021 to be about let’s come back to what is working. So let me ask you this. Do you have a daily gratitude practice like an intentional one you do every day?

Dr Anna Cabeca 52:20
Yeah, yes. And for that’s been a really big part of what we’re seeing too in my community here is the the practice for me. It’s the way I and this got me out of the depths of how before I opened my eyes in the morning, I say Where did I see love? Where did I laugh? Where did I feel love? And then like Where could I have laughed more been more loving to recognize that there’s, there’s just so much there’s so much that I sometimes don’t see I let slip by me like your cats in the cradle analogy. I just let it slip by me. So let me just take this moment now to embrace it. You know, the love and attention yesterday we were out shopping for instance, late and of course the store is closing and we’ve got the grandbaby shopping with us for furniture. And the woman who should be like heading out the door and closing up store. She’s like why don’t you sit here like telling my daughter Why don’t you sit here and nurse the baby. It’s quiet here. You’re fine. No rush. Right. That’s love. That’s love. I’m grateful for her. She gave us pay. She gave us pause, amaze. And where we see the magic in the pauses of our lives. And that is how I start my day if I don’t start my day that way Monday, then my blood sugar’s higher all day. And I’m still watching. Still. Yeah,

Dr. Mindy 53:41
you got you got your CGM on. Yep,

Dr Anna Cabeca 53:43
I’m on yet again. Going through the plans again. So yeah,

Dr. Mindy 53:47
love it. I love it. And what so and in this day and age, I think I already know what your answer will be. But in 2020, what are we in 2022? Like, I don’t even know what you’re wearing? What are you the most grateful for right now?

Dr Anna Cabeca 54:00
I’m grateful for this new grandbaby in my life and my daughter’s choices. Yeah, I’m so grateful.

Dr. Mindy 54:05
You’re literally your social media has made me cry twice in the last couple of months. And the first was the picture of you and your new grandbaby and, and being able to help deliver the grandbaby. Like I just can’t even imagine what what your heart experienced in that moment. And the second was when you took a picture of the front door of the house that you lived in for 21 years.

Dr Anna Cabeca 54:28
Yep. Yeah. Harvest hard.

Dr. Mindy 54:31
Yeah. Amazing, hard opening moments, but you’re incredible. And I how do people find you and I definitely I just want you all to know that. We get so many questions about recipes. And it’s hard to print out to get the right recipe for the with the right combination, and you nailed it. So I am hoping that my audience goes and gets this book. So how do they find the book and how do they find you?

Dr Anna Cabeca 54:56
Thank you. Thank you, Mindy. I appreciate that very, very much. And then you can find me at the girlfriend doctor on Instagram. I’m having fun showing up there because also that’s where I keep an eye on my grandbaby and my daughter post her pictures there. So, so at the girlfriend doctor and my website is Dr. anna.com, Dr. Anand a.com And you can get my book anywhere books are sold. So please support your local bookseller and then come back to my book page on my website and get extra book bonuses. Thank you for having

Dr. Mindy 55:28
Oh, and I just love you and I love everything that you do. So thank you for taking the time and you guys go follow her go get the book and enjoy she you’ve definitely been helping helping those of us that are stumbling through menopause. Sometimes, we need beauty locks, we need mighty maca. We need some menu paws all of those little things are little bursts of oxytocin. So thank you. Thank you so much for joining me in today’s episode. I love bringing thoughtful discussions about all things health to you. If you enjoyed it, we’d love to know about it. So please leave us a review, share it with your friends and let me know what your biggest takeaway is.