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

Peptides are everywhere right now.

Weight loss. Muscle. Recovery. Energy. Skin. Longevity. Suddenly everyone seems to have a "stack" they swear by.

But how do you know what is actually safe, what is experimental, where your peptides are really coming from, or whether the protocol you saw online makes any sense for a woman in midlife?

In this episode, I sit down with peptide coach Stephanie Gambetta, founder of The Loop Way, to cut through some of the noise.

We talk about the huge difference between using peptides strategically and simply...

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.

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For almost two years, I kept hearing about PEMF mats.

People were using them for stress, sleep, pain, and recovery, but every time I started researching them, I got overwhelmed by all the different technologies and cl...

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I turned 50 this year, and I swear my face got the memo.

Suddenly I started noticing things I had not really paid attention to before: a little more sagging, broken capillaries, pigmentation, droopier eyelids, changes around my jawline, and that feeling of looking in the mirror and thinking, "Okay... when did THAT happen?"

So naturally, I went down a rabbit hole.

A very deep rabbit hole.

Skincare. Red light therapy. PRP microneedling. IPL. Lasers. Botox. Retinoids. Copper peptides. Exosomes. Eyelid surgery. Deep plane...

Have you ever noticed that when stress goes up, everything else seems to fall apart with it?

Your digestion gets worse. Your anxiety ramps up. You suddenly react to foods you used to tolerate. Your sleep goes sideways. Your migraines get worse. And for so many women, this seems to intensify right around perimenopause.

We spend a lot of time talking about hormones, supplements, gut health, inflammation, diet, and lab testing.

But what if there is another layer sitting underneath all of it?

In this episode, I sit down with Dr...

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.

In this episode, I sit down with Ann and Anoop Asok to talk about stubborn belly fat, metabolism, reverse dieting, muscle, stress, and why so many women end up trapped in a cycle of eating le...

DOWNLOAD YOUR FREE **The Estrogen Shortage Survival Guide for Women**

Can't get your usual estrogen patch? Don't panic. You have options!

In this free guide, hormone specialist Karen Martel breaks down the different estrogen delivery methods, including patches, creams, gels, oils, and injections. Learn how they compare, understand approximate dosing equivalents, and discover what to ask your doctor before making a switch. Plus, get practical tips for navigating the estrogen shortage so you can stay on track with your hormone therapy and avoid unnecessary disruptions.

Imagine finally getting your HRT dialed...

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 here.

We talk constantly about eating more protein in midlife.

But here is the question we do not ask nearly enough:

Is your body actually getting what it needs from that protein?

Because there is a big difference between ea...

Most women enter perimenopause thinking about hot flashes, weight gain, sleep, brain fog, and hormones.

Very few are told that this may also be one of the most important cardiovascular windows of their lives.

And that is a problem.

Heart disease remains the number one killer of women, yet women are still being underdiagnosed, dismissed, and evaluated using systems that were largely built around male cardiovascular disease.

In this episode, I sit down with preventative cardiologist Dr. Suzanne Steinbaum to talk about what women actually need to understand about their hearts...

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 here.

Listen to the full episode on iTunes here.

This week we're exploring the intricacies of hormonal health and nutrition for women over 40, including the delicate balance between diet, exercise, and hormones. Joining us is nutrition expert Philip Pape, and together we debunk di...

DOWNLOAD OUR FREE GUIDE "IS YOUR HRT OPTIMIZED!" https://karenmartel.com/blogs/health/is-your-hrt-actually-optimized

Yesterday morning, I sat up in bed and somehow threw my neck out.

That was it.

I did not fall. I did not lift anything heavy. I did not have some dramatic injury.

I literally sat up.

And if you are somewhere in your 40s or 50s, there is a very good chance you have your own version of this story.

Your shoulder suddenly stops moving properly. Your back goes out doing something...

This is Quick Hits, where I pull the best takeaways from past podcast episodes and bring them to you in a shorter format.

If today's clip resonates with you, be sure to check out the full episode linked below.

Download in iTunes or on your favorite podcast platforms.

Listen to the full episode here.

Listen to the full episode on iTunes here.

Dr. Devaki Lindsey Berkson is a thought leader in functional medicine, with an emphasis on hormones, nutrition, digestion, and intimacy. Berkson was a distinguished hormone scholar at...

Peptides are everywhere right now. They are being talked about for fat loss, muscle, recovery, brain health, skin, longevity, inflammation, mitochondrial function, injury repair, and just about every other problem women run into in midlife.

But which peptides actually make sense? Which ones have useful evidence or clinical experience behind them? Which ones are still early? And where do peptides fit when a woman is already dealing with changing hormones, declining muscle, stubborn body composition changes, poor sleep, low energy, and slower recovery?

In this episode, I sit down with Dr. Jeff Gross, a board-certified...

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 popular conversations.

Want the full episode? You'll find the link below.

Are we getting enough of the right kind of light?

In this Quick Hits episode, I pull out the biggest takeaways from my conversation with Gerardo "Guti" Gutierrez on sunlight, UVB, vitamin D, red light therapy, infrared light, circadian rhythm, and hormone health.

We break down why sunlight is about far more...

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.

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, le...

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...

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 he...

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...

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.

This week we're tackling the misconceptions around health and weight loss, and exploring sustainable ways to achieve wellness goals. I'll tell you some practical tips to debunk dieting and exercise myths, and emphasize the importance of...

You cannot open your phone anymore without hearing about Ozempic, Wegovy, Mounjaro, Zepbound, retatrutide, and before-and-after transformations. One person says GLP-1s are the greatest thing ever. Another says they are going to destroy your health.

As usual, the truth is somewhere in the middle.

In this episode, I break down GLP-1s specifically through the lens of perimenopause and menopause, because midlife women are dealing with a completely different metabolic landscape. Estrogen is changing. Muscle is easier to lose. Insulin sensitivity may be shifting. Sleep is falling apart. Belly fat is showing up where...

If you are taking HRT, it is not enough to only ask how much estrogen you are using. You also have to ask a second question: how well is your body actually processing and clearing that estrogen?

In this episode, I sit down with David Roberts and John Gilday from Mara Labs to unpack estrogen metabolism, estrogen receptors, environmental hormone disruptors, detoxification pathways, and why the conversation around "estrogen dominance" is often way too simplistic. We talk about the difference between having high estrogen and having estrogen that is not being metabolized efficiently, especially in perimenopause when...

Have you ever felt like you are doing everything right and your body is just not cooperating?

You are eating well, exercising, tracking your protein, fasting, taking supplements, getting your steps in, and still gaining weight, feeling exhausted, sleeping poorly, and wondering why the strategies that used to work suddenly do not anymore.

In this episode, I sit down with Debbie Potts to talk about what may actually be happening when healthy habits become unhealthy stressors. We get into the connection between the nervous system, metabolism, hormones, muscle, recovery, under-fueling, overtraining, and the chronic stress...

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 on iTunes.

Angela is an award-winning Nutritionist, Health & Performance Coach, Keynote Speaker and Host of The High Performance Health Podcast.

A former corporate lawyer turned industry leader in biohacking and health optimisation for women, Angela regularly gives keynotes to large fi...

Grab Your FREE guide "Is Your HRT Actually Optimized?"

How do you know if your HRT is actually optimized? Not just enough to stop a hot flash, but enough to support your bones, brain, mood, metabolism, sleep, sexual health, and overall quality of life?

In this episode, I break down one of the most confusing parts of hormone replacement therapy: dose, levels, and symptom response. Because the old-school advice to simply use the lowest dose possible until your symptoms disappear does not tell us the whole story. At the same time, more is absolutely not...

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 on iTunes

What actually works when it comes to anti-aging skincare, and what is simply expensive marketing in a very attractive bottle?

In this quick hits clip Karen sits down with Amitay Eshel, co-founder and CEO of Young Goose.

...

Something happened after my conversation with Natalie Jill on her podcast, Midlife Conversations. Women flooded my inbox and my community, not with questions about dosing or side effects, but with something closer to relief. They finally felt heard. That reaction told me this conversation needed a second chapter, so I'm bringing you the rest of it here, along with some of the raw, honest messages from women in my community who are done being quietly shamed for a choice that has changed their health and their lives.

In this episode, Natalie and I go back to where...

Karen Martel grew up with a front row seat to diet culture most of us only felt secondhand. Her mom didn't just live it, she ran a weight loss center. Butter was called Vaseline. Popcorn was the enemy. And by her teenage years, Karen was deep in an eating disorder that would shape her relationship with food for decades.

In this conversation, Karen gets honest about that history, and about something she still checks herself on today. Because here's the twist. We told ourselves we moved past the thin obsession. Body positivity was supposed to be the...

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 here.

Have you ever thought about what you truly want in your sexual experiences? Are you curious about the often misunderstood aspects of female anatomy and how they play a critical role in pleasure? This episode with Susan Bratton, who is the "Intimacy Expert to Mi...

In part one, Dr. Liz Bartman and I broke down why PMDD happens: the histamine surges, the GABA receptor glitch, the progesterone metabolite that either calms you down or completely wrecks you depending on your unique biology. If you haven't listened to that one yet, start there, because this episode builds directly on it.

Now we get into the part everyone actually wants to know: what do you do about it? We talk about why popular fixes like DAO supplements and strict low histamine diets usually fall short, and what to focus on instead, starting with your...

You've been told menopause is a hormonal transition. It's also a vascular one, and almost nobody is talking about it.

In this episode, Karen sits back down with Cathy Eason, Chief Science Officer at Berkeley Life, for round two on a molecule most women have never heard of but should know by heart: nitric oxide. It is tiny, it is a gas, and it touches nearly every system in your body. When estrogen drops in perimenopause and menopause, nitric oxide production drops right along with it, and that decline may be quietly connected to your fatigue, your...

If you've been on social media lately, you've probably seen it: women swearing that a combo of Pepcid and Claritin, ordinary histamine blockers, gave them their life back during the worst days of their cycle. It sounds too simple to be real, and honestly, it kind of is. But the reason it's working for some women and doing absolutely nothing for others is the whole story, and it's a story almost nobody is explaining correctly.

In this episode, I sit down with one of my all time favorite guests, Dr. Liz Bartman, to go deep into progesterone...

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.

Download on iTunes.

This weeks quick hit we are jumping right into a very important topic: uterine fibroids.

Maybe you have experience with fibroids, or maybe you do not even really know what they are yet. Either way, this is a co...

This is not just a conversation about hormones. It is a conversation about what it means to age as a woman in a culture that is obsessed with youth, terrified of wrinkles, and wildly uncomfortable with female power after 40. In this roundtable episode, I sit down with Dr. Amy Horniman and Elle Russ to talk about the very real physical, emotional, and identity shifts that happen as women move through perimenopause and menopause.

We get into everything from early perimenopause symptoms, thyroid issues, SHBG, testosterone, progesterone, estrogen, libido, vaginal dryness, hot flashes, pelvic floor changes, and how...

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 the full episode.

Download in iTunes or on your favorite podcast platforms

James O'Hara is a family nurse practitioner who utilizes a utilizes an integrative approach to health which combines lifestyle interventions, appropriate supplementation, and medications when indicated to empower patients to feel better and live longer, he...

If you've ever wondered why you don't want your husband to walk through the door and rip your clothes off anymore, this episode is for you. If you've ever quietly believed something was wrong with you because you don't orgasm easily, or at all, this episode is for you too.

I sat down with Dr. Sally Greenwald, a board-certified OB/GYN with specialized training in menopause medicine, and what she shared genuinely stopped me in my tracks. We were taught to protect ourselves from pregnancy and disease. We were never taught how our bodies actually work. No...

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 on Apple.

With Dani's guidance, we're exploring how simple changes in light exposure and grounding can revolutionize metabolic health, particularly for those grappling with conditions like PCOS, hypoglycemia, acne, or weight loss resistance. Dani shares her personal journey and expert insights on ho...

You've made it to part three, and this is the one that ties everything together. If parts one and two left you with a clearer picture of your stress system and your sleep, this episode takes you somewhere deeper: into your thyroid, your brain chemistry, and a layer of midlife that almost nobody talks about on a podcast about hormones.

I'm breaking down why your thyroid and your adrenal system are locked in a relationship that most doctors never explain, and why a normal TSH does not mean your thyroid is actually working. Then we go into...

You're eating "pretty well." You're moving your body. So why does it feel like your muscle is disappearing and your effort isn't paying off the way it used to? In this episode, I sit down with Liz Plosser, former editor-in-chief of Women's Health and a woman who has spent her entire career reporting on health and fitness, to talk about what changes in midlife and why the old rules stop working.

Then we go deep on amino acids, what they actually are, why your body becomes less efficient at using them as estrogen declines, and why an...

If you are exhausted all day, wired at night, and waking up between 2:00 and 4:00 AM with your heart pounding and your brain suddenly wide awake, this episode is for you. Because midlife sleep issues are rarely just about needing more progesterone or taking a melatonin gummy. They are usually a sign that a whole system is asking to be recalibrated. In this episode, I go deeper into the sleep side of the midlife stress puzzle and break down what may actually be happening beneath the surface.

In this episode:

If you are waking up between 2:00 and 4:00 AM, lying there wide awake with your heart beating a little too fast and your mind solving every problem in your life, this episode is for you. Because this is not just about bad sleep. It is about what happens when the hormonal, adrenal, and nervous system shifts of midlife collide with the stress load most women are already carrying. And for a lot of women, this is the moment they stop feeling like themselves.

In this episode, I do a deep dive into what is actually happening beneath the...