35. Dr. Neal Barnard Tells You His Secret to Hormonal Health

Part of my mission with the courageously.u podcast is to help you break free from beliefs and behaviors that keep you stuck. For the longest time, I believed periods were supposed to be painful, and the only way to function through the pain was to take medications. I’ve recently learned that my belief couldn’t be any farther from the truth.  To help further educate not only you but myself on hormonal health, I invited Dr. Neal Barnard onto the show.  Dr. Neal Barnard is an Adjunct Professor of Medicine at the George Washington University School of Medicine in Washington, DC, and President of the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine. Originally from Fargo, North Dakota, Dr. Barnard received his M.D. degree at the George Washington University School of Medicine and completed his residency at the same institution. Dr. Barnard has led numerous research studies investigating the effects of diet on diabetes, body weight, and chronic pain, including a groundbreaking study of dietary interventions in type 2 diabetes, funded by the National Institutes of Health, that paved the way for viewing type 2 diabetes as a potentially reversible condition for many patients. Dr. Barnard has authored more than 90 scientific publications and 20 books for medical and lay readers and is the editor in chief of the Nutrition Guide for Clinicians, a textbook made available to all U.S. medical students. As president of the Physicians Committee, Dr. Barnard leads programs advocating for preventive medicine, good nutrition, and higher ethical standards in research. His research contributed to the acceptance of plant-based diets in the Dietary Guidelines for Americans. In 2016, he founded the Barnard Medical Center in Washington, DC, as a model for making nutrition a routine part of all medical care.     Working with the Medical Society of the District of Columbia and the American Medical Association, Dr. Barnard has authored key resolutions, now part of AMA policy, calling for a new focus on prevention and nutrition in federal policies and in medical practice.  You can consider this episode your 101 course in hormonal health. If you’re ready, pull up a seat, or shall I say ear, and get ready to take some notes IN TODAY'S EPISODE, YOU WILL LEARN:  What hormones are (5:10) Where things go wrong with your hormones (6:01) What determines the level of estrogen in your blood (11:10) Why doctors aren't educating us on our hormonal health (12:59) What Dr. Barnard wants you to do to heal your hormones (14:20) What endometriosis is (16:06) On average, how long it takes to heal your hormones (18:45) What PCOS is (22:16) How to begin shifting to a vegan diet (26:56) Why we shouldn't give kids milk (28:03) Dr. Barnard's thoughts on coffee (30:18) Why infertility seems to be on the rise (32:02) The first step to reducing menstrual pain (35:33) Whether or not toxins impact hormonal health (37:50) I can’t wait to hear your feedback on this episode! Screenshot and tag me—I’m @courageously.u— and my guest—@drnealbarnard and share your thoughts, feelings, and reactions. __________ ALL THE GOODIES FROM THIS EPISODE: Save 10% on your Branch Basics Starter Kit with code: COURAGE __________⁣⁣ COURAGEOUSLY.U SHOWNOTES: https://courageouslyu.com/neal-barnard/ COURAGEOUSLY.U FACEBOOK COMMUNITY: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1416219115169393 COURAGEOUSLY.U INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/courageously.u/