00:00:00:03 - 00:00:11:10
Unknown
It's a huge day in the late bloomers camp because we have got our very first guest today. Can you believe it? No I cannot. We have the incredible doctor, Jolene Brighton.

00:00:11:13 - 00:00:28:18
Unknown
She is the author of Beyond the Pill. And is this normal? And she is also written a brand new book called ADHD and women. It's coming out in October, and she is here to tell us all about it. We are going to learn what we should be eating to try and help our ADHD.

00:00:28:20 - 00:00:40:16
Unknown
How are we going to finally get to sleep? And what the hell is going on with our hormones during perimenopause? We're also going to learn the scientific reason that rocks is so grumpy in the morning.

00:00:40:18 - 00:00:49:12
Unknown
This is the Late Bloomers podcast where we are getting our lives together eventually. Just pop that over there, my love.

00:00:49:14 - 00:01:10:09
Unknown
Welcome to the Late Bloomers podcast. It's so credible here. Thank you so much for having me. You're actually our first ever guest. I know I don't like me in new people usually, so I better not disappoint. Rich did actually. Before you. Or just when you arrived. I was obviously running late, and he ran up and said, coming down.

00:01:10:15 - 00:01:34:00
Unknown
Doctor Clayton's here. Yeah. Oh, is this so difficult? I was like, as soon as the doorbell rang, my heart sank because I could hear you on the hairdryer. I was like, oh my God, I can't expect Max to do the entertaining in my house. But you made it. We're here. I do have to say, though, I rang the doorbell and then I was like, oh no, I should have messaged first because we arrived early and I did.

00:01:34:00 - 00:01:52:24
Unknown
I, I have timeliness and so I was very paranoid about getting here on time. Yes. So I did have the moment at the door where I was like, I shouldn't have run the bell. I should have messaged first. Neurodivergent social rules that like Drake down, everything would be told just for us. Well, when we were chatting about it.

00:01:53:00 - 00:02:23:07
Unknown
Lots of Brighton said if you'd have just said sit there, I will be with you in 20 minutes. She would have liked that. But society tells me that you can't do that. So, I have just read your brand new book, ADHD and women and it is absolutely blown my mind. I feel like it's a book that every woman with ADHD, it should be compulsory reading, not just for us, but for doctors.

00:02:23:07 - 00:02:52:08
Unknown
It blows my mind how this isn't compulsory learning or teaching. It's a subject really, really close to my heart because I've been having a really very, very difficult time with us over the last few years. And in fact, last year that really came to a head, didn't it? We definitely. You should probably say, though, the book's not out yet.

00:02:52:09 - 00:03:27:03
Unknown
You're in a privileged position. Oh, really? It's not coming out until October. So, yes, acknowledging the privilege. I've got to read it soon and I can't wait for other people to do it. I wish we could have you here for like, eight hours, so we could go through every single chapter. And what I've done is just try to kind of extrapolate the bits that I think people have to know, and also a few funny things that are going to maybe help me with you, help you with me about why I can't wake up in the morning.

00:03:27:05 - 00:03:57:22
Unknown
Medical reason and I. Yeah. So last year I felt like I was going through, a mental breakdown, a burnout, a complete loss of identity. It was incredibly horrendous to go through it. Almost like quit my career. And you ever talked to him? You've made it. You. You can take that. At point, it was like you've lost touch on reality.

00:03:57:23 - 00:04:21:08
Unknown
You were so low about things that really didn't matter. Like one of the things was we were a bit behind on our last book. We were going to, like, miss the deadline for the manuscript by like a couple of weeks, right? Which is standard, like it would be more surprising to make the deadline. But you were like, everything's ruined, that lifesaver.

00:04:21:09 - 00:04:49:08
Unknown
We've missed the deadline and rubbish like our careers. But I was like, what are you talking about? Frying. Panic attacks, meltdowns. And it's like the whole of life just became awful. I have now realized that I was going to carry my purse. It started in the late 80s, and because nobody knows about this stuff, despite numerous blood tests and visits to doctors.

00:04:49:10 - 00:05:20:03
Unknown
Nobody like, picked up on the science. In your book, you say that ADHD women are more likely to have a severe perimenopause and but also it might affect us earlier. Just tell us. Yeah, well, there was recent research that came out showing that ADHD women experience perimenopause about a decade earlier. So for a very long time we said, oh, perimenopause can start around age 35 for some women.

00:05:20:04 - 00:05:44:15
Unknown
For ADHD women, that's quite common. Yet medicine still says no. That's too young. New. Many doctors will say, oh no, like you're 50. Like that's that's the age, right? That we expect you to be in perimenopause. They don't realize that perimenopause is the transitional phase leading into menopause, which is a one day event, and that's 12 consecutive months of no period.

00:05:44:15 - 00:06:12:12
Unknown
And then the next day you're post-menopausal. And so, you know, we're often dismissed and told, like, you're too young. You know, the same study showed that women have twice the symptom severity, ADHD, women twice the symptom severity of perimenopause. So they're not only dealing with worsening ADHD, but they're getting the dry skin, the itchy ears, the joint pain, the hot flashes, the night sweats, the brain fog, the sleepless nights.

00:06:12:13 - 00:06:37:13
Unknown
Right? Like the list goes on and on. And you're talking about somebody who's already struggled, likely with emotional regulation. They're losing their progesterone. They're losing the Gaba. Basically stop gap. The mouth filter, as I shared with you guys before, that stops them from saying the things from raging out, like, you know, all of these things and then they're told that's a you problem.

00:06:37:13 - 00:06:56:17
Unknown
That's a your broken problem. That couldn't be a hormone problem. Oh, and you're not trying to have a baby. So why would we test your hormones? Why would we even look into that? Even when they do test with that. Because I had at least three blood tests when I was looking for answers for what was happening. Nobody picked up.

00:06:56:18 - 00:07:23:03
Unknown
There was low testosterone on there. And yeah, it was just never noticed. And one entry from the largest 60 year old man for you with me and said, I sort of questioned my low. I think it's free androgens. Is that sounds about right. I question that and whether that could be something. Absolutely not. You know, 4040 down there but never really starting HRT.

00:07:23:04 - 00:07:45:20
Unknown
Far too low. And you don't need to do it just flat out in one sentence. One sentence. But I listened because he he was the expert. It's so it's like a breath of fresh air hearing you speak. So just thank you. And I want to hear more of it. You mentioned there for gesturing. Obviously, this book is about optimizing hormones to actually help your ADHD.

00:07:46:01 - 00:08:09:21
Unknown
Would you mind just giving us a kind of like quick Idiot's guide? Quick. Sorry. It's just I don't know, I know you. I only work in bullet points. So if you could visualize it. Yeah, yeah. No. And just laughing because, you know, having ADHD, I'm like. And this is my special interest, right? So like ADHD, autism meets and I'm like, you want me to talk about hormones?

00:08:09:22 - 00:08:27:07
Unknown
It's like whenever people are like, how could you be autistic? You're not into trains. And I'm like, I'm into nutrition and hormones. It just so happens everybody wants to hear about that. So if I like nerd Out on you, you're like, oh, this is helpful, I love this. And then I realize like, oh my God, I've been just like talking to this person for an hour.

00:08:27:08 - 00:08:55:23
Unknown
Just talking. Want you to nudge out and say, what hormones do we need to know about? What are the big ones? Okay, so progesterone, you only make it following ovulation helps stimulate the Gabba receptor via its neuro steroidal metabolite called Alo alone. That should make you chilled out. Calm help you get good sleep. There is a paradoxical effect that can happen with some ADHD women who have progesterone intolerance.

00:08:55:23 - 00:09:17:00
Unknown
They rage, they don't sleep, they sometimes become suicidal. So we have to be aware of that estrogen. She's the IT girl. This is being she's being followed around by all the neurotransmitters. Acetylcholine is why you are able to hold a thought in your head. Like I remember what I'm saying while I'm saying it. Thank you acetylcholine. I also know where like my keys are, right?

00:09:17:01 - 00:09:43:14
Unknown
Like those kinds of things. Then there's dopamine. Norepinephrine. Everybody loves to talk about those. They're important in ADHD, but they get all the attention because we develop drugs for them. So the reality is yes, absolutely important for focus, attention, motivation. We love them. Then there's serotonin not often talked about with estrogen, not often talked about with ADHD. Serotonin is not just about your mood.

00:09:43:14 - 00:10:07:07
Unknown
It's also about neuroplasticity. So if you come across something dopamine says this is relevant. Serotonin says solidify it. Let's make sure that we remember it. And estrogen is helping all those things. So when Austrian goes low, the eight girl, they follow the other side of this too much estrogen, unopposed estrogen. So maybe not enough progesterone. Now we've got histamine problems coming up.

00:10:07:08 - 00:10:35:02
Unknown
Very common in ADHD. We don't talk about histamine enough. That is raging agitation. Waking up at two, three, 4 a.m. in the morning, feeling like you're getting the flu every time before your period comes. And this can happen quite commonly in perimenopause, but also PMDD, premenstrual dysphoric disorder symptoms that can be related to this histamine component. So these are the two female hormones we talk about.

00:10:35:02 - 00:10:56:19
Unknown
But in the book I go through an ADHD hormone profile where we also talk about insulin. We talk about cortisol and we talk about testosterone as well, because those are all very important. You're not some stuff that well, my my brain went as soon as you said histamine. I was like, wait, what? So that just I that's like a hasty with it.

00:10:56:22 - 00:11:20:09
Unknown
Absolutely. Yes. You take antihistamines if you've got hay fever and you can you can bunk this for tell me if it's real. So in a slightly weird, odd thing, if I scratch myself, like for a couple of minutes later, I have four yellow lines like really? Show up. And my mum, who's not medically trained or is used to say your histamines must be up, is that is that a thing?

00:11:20:14 - 00:11:40:24
Unknown
Yes, that's called Dermot. Yes. And like, actually my husband, who's in the room, used to have it really bad that I'm going to just share this, that on his bachelor party, he came home, he passed out after he had been drinking. And my sister and I proceeded to draw all these things on his back and take photos of them, not just my fingernail.

00:11:41:00 - 00:12:08:00
Unknown
Not very nice to do when you're a doctor. I get through that. But but I'm like, that's the, like, prank we pulled on him, right? Was dramatic. Raffia was proven crazy, and it was real. But it is. So with our kind of introduction to these female hormones, hormones all into playing with each other and offending estrogen is the it girl and everyone's following estrogen.

00:12:08:02 - 00:12:41:20
Unknown
So when you go into perimenopause, these hormones start to climb. But what's happening? Yeah. To make us fall apart. The reason obviously I had what I went through last year, but I've got a couple of best friends obviously got together with the older versions you haven't identified or be tested for ADHD, you haven't thought they had ADHD, but they are sort of, I think entering perimenopause, they're having the kind of hot flushes, the anxiety.

00:12:41:22 - 00:13:08:24
Unknown
They're not feeling that brain fog. And they're saying, my life's more than my coping mechanisms have gone. And it's almost like it's unmasking ADHD. Like what's going on there? Yeah, I love this question. So perimenopause doesn't cause ADHD, but it absolutely does unmask it due to the energetic changes of the brain. So for people I'm sure on this podcast people are familiar with masking.

00:13:09:02 - 00:13:24:04
Unknown
So your surveying like what's happening in the room, what's happening in the conversation you're rehearsing, what you're going to say next. Like you're monitoring your face constantly, right? Like, am I like I'm thinking about something, but oh, but don't make that face. Because if you make that face, then they're going to think you're thinking something bad at them.

00:13:24:04 - 00:13:51:02
Unknown
This is all very energetically expensive. And so what happens is that, and for anyone listening who loves someone with ADHD who's like, I never had these problems my whole life, but now I'm experiencing this stream executive dysfunction. That is because what happens in perimenopause is what's been happening the entire lifetime of the ADHD or in their brain. So in perimenopause, estrogen declines.

00:13:51:05 - 00:14:16:01
Unknown
Estrogen is a mitochondrial hormone. So kicking it back to when you were 12 that's the powerhouse of the cell. This is how you generate energy. As estrogen declines the mitochondrial function declines. So we see reduction 10 to 20% reduction in glucose utilization. That's your blood sugar. So you don't have enough energy. You really energy hungry your brain 2% of your body weight 20% of your energy it's consuming.

00:14:16:01 - 00:14:39:13
Unknown
And the prefrontal cortex where all of the executive functions exist need all of that energy. So we go the mitochondria start decreasing in their energy production. And then what we have is as cool as the mitochondria are, they're just kind of lame to because with the hormonal changes we get immune system dysregulation. We also get gut changes that lead to neuroinflammation.

00:14:39:13 - 00:14:58:10
Unknown
Then the mitochondria see that they're like are we making reactive oxygen species. That's what you all are doing, which are free radicals that rip apart cells. And the mitochondria is like, cool, I'm going to do that too. I come and join in on all of that. And so what we have is neuroinflammation disrupting how the neurotransmitters actually dock onto the receptors.

00:14:58:10 - 00:15:19:14
Unknown
We have neuroinflammation causing neurotoxic metabolites to be made and causing all this brain fog. We've got decrease in energy production and then we've got increase in free radical and oxidative stress. And this is where I'm like manufacturer recall because like who designed us to run out of hormones and have all this amplified. So you can be a perimenopause.

00:15:19:20 - 00:15:46:07
Unknown
And then you have what I call ADHD light where it's like you get the light version and it's temporary. And by the time you're two years post-menopausal, you're going to be fine. The brain will actually switch into using fats for energy. 25% of those with ADHD will enter post-menopausal with the most severe lifelong symptoms of ADHD. And I think what's important to understand because often ADHD is portrayed is this quirky thing online, right.

00:15:46:08 - 00:16:09:07
Unknown
It's like I mean, you know, I hear things like, oh yeah, so you mismatched your socks because you misplace them. And I'm like, if it's only that these women are missing mortgage payments, they're having to leave the workforce. They can't support themselves anymore. They're missing critical screening exams, pap smears, you know, colonoscopies, Dexa scans. And I think people kind of take that for granted.

00:16:09:07 - 00:16:30:19
Unknown
But these are these are preventative medicine. And you lose track of the appointment before you know it. You're like, wait, I was supposed to have that done in 45 and I'm 55. Like, where did that time go? It can have a serious impact on your health, that it's actually a health crisis. Absolutely. Going into ten years earlier. And they're not knowing.

00:16:30:24 - 00:17:02:19
Unknown
And actually something you said there just really resonated with me that they're leaving their careers. One of the things that we spoke about so much of last year, I felt like I lost energy, my drive, my identity actually didn't feel capable of like doing my music career. It's something I've done on the side for, tried to do it for 20 years and it's finally started working and I was just in bits and crying panic, saying to Rich, I think this might be the end because I just lost.

00:17:02:20 - 00:17:23:14
Unknown
You were ready to leave it. You played with that when you were younger anymore? Yeah. From your point of view, like, what were you witnessing? Just like, I guess it's something that we always used to joke in and say it was your forever fixation. Like you'll have a new hobby every week in the new business every year. But the music was the one that stayed.

00:17:23:19 - 00:17:50:23
Unknown
And since childhood, right. He was picking up the instruments and stuff. But for that to go, it's like, this is this isn't right. This is who you are at your course. Yeah. You're losing a core part of your identity. So can you just speak a bit more about that? Women of you are entering paramedic wars and then struggling with work or dreams and actually quitting or walking away.

00:17:50:24 - 00:18:17:15
Unknown
And why is that happening to me? You know, there's so many layers to this because on one end there's like the decrease in the energy production in your brain, right. Then there's changing hormones and how they change how your brain functions. That creates a vulnerability. So this is like anxiety starts to come up. I think we often we characterize sensory sensitivities and those being heightened very bad as this pathology as something wrong.

00:18:17:15 - 00:18:37:06
Unknown
But if you consider that if you are becoming vulnerable, what would be the smartest thing for your body to do? Survey the environment more for threats so that you can avoid those threats. But we see that as a dysfunction. I think it's also incredibly difficult depending on the demands of your job. Like you, you're having to remember lyrics, right?

00:18:37:12 - 00:18:56:22
Unknown
That's incredibly difficult when the brain doesn't have enough energy. You're moving a lot on stage, okay? As estrogen declines, we get more inflammation in our joints. We don't recover as well. Like you might work out. And you're like, this is the same workout routine I've been doing my whole life. And five days later, my body still hurts. I don't feel good from it.

00:18:56:22 - 00:19:23:03
Unknown
If it's testosterone declining, we're also having a decline in our muscle mass. We're having problems with having enough energy to see things through. We're having trouble setting boundaries. So we start getting pushed over, walked on. And not because we want to or because we're like a weak character, but because we don't have our hormonal allies supporting us. And so, you know, there's a lot of ways that hormone changes are affecting the body.

00:19:23:04 - 00:19:52:10
Unknown
And I think, cognitively speaking, that's the biggest complaint women have. But depending on your job, it can be all of these different areas. Someone might be going through that and not know. But I didn't realize until I'm reading a book on the book, I almost walked away from a 20 year passion project because of all, and it took me a while to get there, but I actually started taking a chance on January.

00:19:52:10 - 00:20:19:15
Unknown
So it's been over six months and it's been completely larger. I mean, really the best couple of weeks. Not only that from a mental health point of view, but your sleep as well is something that is ridiculous. You always struggle and now you, like, go into the coma. I thought I'd just become a bit more relaxed, super wake up in the middle of night.

00:20:19:15 - 00:20:42:19
Unknown
Struggled to get back to sleep. I didn't think anything of it. And then my first day I'm kind of taking sick and tired. Yesterday I took a test when I had the best I've had in decades. Can you talk about that? Yes. How? For me, because it's not a sleeping tablet. Yeah. And I think you know what you said.

00:20:42:20 - 00:21:06:13
Unknown
Like I became a light sleeper again. Evolutionary adaptation for survival, right? You know, if you are feeling like I'm more vulnerable, let's make sure that we wake up. If there's a threat. And we just don't live in that kind of society anymore, right? There's this huge evolutionary mismatch between the operating system, the body that we have, and then the society that we've now landed in in this very moment.

00:21:06:14 - 00:21:32:00
Unknown
So progesterone, as I was saying, it gets metabolized to aloe pregnenolone that aloe alone docks on the Gabba receptors in the brain. And that Gaba is what helps you stay asleep at night. So melatonin when we when the sun goes down, things are dark. Hopefully we're not exposed to blue light for my ADHD or try to remove that best you can because then your melatonin rises and that will say, okay, let's go to sleep.

00:21:32:01 - 00:21:50:07
Unknown
You also have this adenosine pressure. So that's why I say one of the most important things you can do is wake up at the same time every day, because then adenosine builds up and you get the sleep pressure. And if you anyone who has toddlers knows what happens when they miss their nap, here comes cortisol, here comes norepinephrine, here comes.

00:21:50:08 - 00:22:10:02
Unknown
I ain't going to sleep for like another 2 to 3 hours now. And so we want to we want to catch that window of adenosine and melatonin and then go to sleep. But if you don't have that Gaba stimulation you don't stay asleep. So that 2 to 4 a.m. waking is very common. But we also have to rule out could that be histamine or could that be a blood sugar issue.

00:22:10:02 - 00:22:34:04
Unknown
Because those are also common reasons that you would be waking up at night as well. But that's why I progesterone helps and that's why it's always so when we talk about perimenopause, the first hormone to go universally is progesterone. Sometimes testosterone is already taken in your 30s. But universally we can say progesterone will be the first to go because first the ovaries become weak after ovulation.

00:22:34:04 - 00:22:52:08
Unknown
They don't make as enough progesterone. Then they stop obviating as consistently an estrogen can be. You know, I said in the book, rocking and rolling like more like harder than a heavy metal concert I did. I had to change that analogy. But like, as as I'm speaking with a rock star, I'm like, I feel like you would get me.

00:22:52:08 - 00:23:06:10
Unknown
But like the person that was editing my book was like, no, but like, that makes it sound like sometimes it's rocking hard and then sometimes it's not. And I was like, yeah, because there's always the love ballad at the at the show, right? And they were like, if you have to explain it, rewrite it like do something else.

00:23:06:10 - 00:23:28:06
Unknown
But I was like, but I was like, I feel like that's what it's like is like sometimes you're just like rocking so hard estrogen. And then other times you're just like, where'd you go? Why are we like, slow jamming it now? Yeah. So that's why I'm sleeping. Because of the Gabba? Yes. Because of progesterone to aloe, pregnenolone to Gaba stimulation.

00:23:28:08 - 00:23:52:04
Unknown
Just being able to sleep has changed a lot of stuff here in the UK. HRT, it still is not worried about it. And there is some kind of press and beliefs about it that were quite old and quite outdated now. But a lot of women still have fear and the HRT, for example, would increase your breast cancer risk.

00:23:52:05 - 00:24:16:13
Unknown
Yeah, that it's somehow inherently dangerous. And obviously you speak a lot about it in the book. Could you just kind of speak about that? And if, say, a woman was experiencing some of these symptoms of paramedical but was really scared about, what would you kind of say to her? Well, the first thing I would say is that every woman qualifies and can benefit from vaginal estrogen or data.

00:24:16:16 - 00:24:36:22
Unknown
That's not going to go systemic in the same way as the other hormones that we're talking about that affect your brain. So that's also the downside of it. But that prevents things like UTIs, pain with sex, vaginal atrophy, which can be very inflammatory. And I pause, anything that can upregulate inflammation in the body can contribute to worsening ADHD symptoms.

00:24:36:23 - 00:25:06:15
Unknown
Now the systemic estrogen that you're talking about, that's what most women are concerned about that women's health Initiatives study. What was interesting about it is that they actually looked at a whole arm of women who only used estrogen, and they didn't get breast cancer. The women who got breast cancer were the estrogen and progestin, which is a synthetic form of progesterone that does not stimulate Gaba in your brain, does not help with the myelin sheath, which is the insulation of your neurons.

00:25:06:15 - 00:25:31:03
Unknown
It doesn't have the same benefits. It's really effective for the endometrium, for endometriosis cases sometimes, but not so effective if you want the actual brain benefits of progesterone because progesterone helps with anxiety as well, something that roughly like 40% of women in perimenopause will experience. So what we found, you know, looking at that data that did scare everyone, everyone stops hormones.

00:25:31:03 - 00:25:52:22
Unknown
But when you look at that data, it's like, actually the estrogen arm wasn't experiencing higher rates of breast cancer. And that makes sense because who gets breast cancer? Not a 20 year old, not a 30 year old. And a lot of instances, it's the women who actually lose their estrogen. And so they're now researchers starting to look into like estradiol might actually be protective.

00:25:52:24 - 00:26:12:09
Unknown
The other thing we have to consider that I talk about in the book, it's really nerdy in there, but like the way I wrote the book is like, you can you can turn out with me, or you can just jump to solutions like you can just be like, what are the solutions is the estrogen metabolites we make. So the way we process our estrogen, we can make different metabolites and those can be pro carcinogenic.

00:26:12:10 - 00:26:37:23
Unknown
They can cause DNA damage or we can make more favorable metabolites. And we can do that very simply with like how we eat. It's like eating more cruciferous vegetables. And for my people, someone always says I get bloated. Broccoli sprouts, two tablespoons of broccoli sprouts rival two and a half pounds of broccoli itself. In terms of the sulforaphane, the anti compound that they have that promotes a healthier estrogen.

00:26:37:23 - 00:26:56:22
Unknown
So I can we can see why women were scared. Now the other part of it I will say is there's a critical window I talk about in the book. We know 5 to 10 years within your last menstrual period or before age 60. If we start you on estrogen, there's been some studies that show a significant reduction in your risk for dementia.

00:26:56:22 - 00:27:21:00
Unknown
But if we start you 15 years later, so the average age of 51 being when women enter menopause, there was a study that looked at if we started women at age 76, they had almost a 50% increase risk of developing dementia. Now, why is that? The mitochondria have already adopted and they're also fragile and vulnerable. That doesn't mean we can't do estrogen, just have to do it differently in these women.

00:27:21:00 - 00:27:38:13
Unknown
We can't just start them the same way. So there's a lot of nuance in this is someone who's been prescribing for 15 years. I mean, at one point, I mean, I had doctors writing, me being like, you're going to kill women, like you're going to kill this patient because I prescribed her vagina. And I'm like, she's hot. How many UTIs?

00:27:38:14 - 00:27:53:14
Unknown
Like, she now can't even use the antibiotics. Like we could just do vaginal estriol. And now here we are. I'm like, I would like an apology, please. I would like an apology. You choose.

00:27:53:16 - 00:28:16:23
Unknown
Yes. So as your estrogen decreases. Okay, here's some, like, really nerdy stuff that I love is that I say estrogen is like your farmer, and it stimulates the cells of the vagina to produce glycogen, which glycogen is a fertilizer that causes the lactobacilli, which is your crop, to grow and to flourish. So estrogen a little farmer in there.

00:28:16:23 - 00:28:41:16
Unknown
As estrogen declines so does their food supply. Now we see a skew. We see a shift. We see dysbiosis. So abnormal flora can be over growing. And so it's normal flora abnormal levels is what I should say. So we can see more yeast infections bacterial vaginosis and UTIs. Because estrogen and also testosterone are really important for the pelvic floor for the integrity of the tissue.

00:28:41:17 - 00:29:08:14
Unknown
One of the number one causes of UTIs is E.coli. These little bugs suck because they have arms. They literally climb up your urethra. Like, how lame is that? And we we share it. Now this is going to grow some people out. But the major reservoir for all these organisms is our gut. And so that's the other part of this is that as estrogen declines, microbial diversity in the gut declines, we don't have the Lactobacillus reservoir.

00:29:08:16 - 00:29:34:21
Unknown
The farmer has left left the crops. And so we're not getting that proliferation of the lactobacilli in the vaginal canal and then the tissue integrity. So five years post menopause we lose about 30% of our collagen. So and everyone's always like oh my God. Fine lines and wrinkles. Droopy breast. Yes I get that you're concerned about that. But I'm also concerned about the integrity of your pelvic floor urinary incontinence and then having UTIs.

00:29:34:23 - 00:29:39:01
Unknown
Everyone should find you.

00:29:39:03 - 00:30:10:02
Unknown
So many years in an article. Yeah like it's paramedics too. Oh my friend. Yes. What the hell? We need to shout it from the rafters. So really, no time? Did you spoke to it like nobody. Nobody connects. It's why we have so much antibiotic resistance against UTI organisms like we have created. We have created a health problem by ignoring women's physiology and by ignoring the fact that, like, this could be solved with estrogen.

00:30:10:02 - 00:30:27:16
Unknown
And and for people listening, I think sometimes when you're like, if you've never had a UTI, you're like, oh, what is it? Just a painful bladder. It's the risk of losing a kidney. Pillow nephritis is real that you've got immune privileged sites. So your eyes being one. This is why your mammal is like, don't touch your eyes when you're out in public.

00:30:27:17 - 00:30:47:02
Unknown
The other is your kidneys. And once an organism gets in there, that's a that's very life threatening. You could lose your kidney. Your immune system cannot get in there and battle in the same way it can. If this infection was in your gut, on your skin somewhere else, was taken away in an ambulance from the UTI. That got me into that.

00:30:47:05 - 00:31:14:12
Unknown
Yeah, it was, it was what was the word wasn't sepsis, but it was like one level before my family. Yeah, that was the worst times I had it. I had it for so many years. I think that's one of the things that's most shocking, amazing, shocking. In reading. This is quite how many different health issues in women are connected to our hormones, and nobody's connecting the dots.

00:31:14:13 - 00:31:50:01
Unknown
So the fact that UTIs are connected, your anxiety is connected. You get up and go and resist, for life is connected. And one other thing in my mind was the connection with insulin. So and this actually makes me a bit angry, a bit sad. I think my first symptom that I can remember something going wrong was, was five years ago, where I started suffering with no blood sugar out of nowhere, and I was relatively healthy.

00:31:50:02 - 00:32:15:22
Unknown
I didn't think I had a bad diet, and I bought one of those little blood sugar monitors from Amazon, and I was stunned to find out that I was. My level of getting was pre-diabetic and I would feel sick in the morning. We had to get me a food sometimes when we were out of the house, and I sort of managed to deal with it on my own.

00:32:15:23 - 00:32:39:22
Unknown
You'd diet, but reading all the connections in this book on my body, it was like the first sign that I was. My hormones were changing. Can you just kind of speak about insulin, hormones and what that might feel like for somebody experiencing it? Right? So for people who aren't familiar with what insulin is, it really is like it's the guy that vouches for glucose to let them in the cell.

00:32:39:22 - 00:33:00:08
Unknown
So you have your blood sugar. That's the glucose and insulin, escorts it to the cell and knocks on the door and says, I vouch for glucose. Let them in their cool. And then that's how things flow. And then the mitochondria take that and they say, let's produce energy. So if the glucose can't get in because the cell is like, I can't even hear your knock, I'm too inflamed to even hear the knock.

00:33:00:09 - 00:33:29:04
Unknown
There's like a, you know, a double door between us. Then the mitochondria cannot produce energy. So you can feel fatigue, like full body fatigue, brain fatigue. You are three, 4:00 in the afternoon and you're like, I need a donut and coffee. Like, I need something to stimulate me now to keep going and while in the brain. So the brain is unique, that it doesn't need insulin to be able to escort glucose in the cell because it's so hungry and it's impatient, it cannot wait.

00:33:29:09 - 00:33:47:10
Unknown
It's like, no, I ain't got time for insulin. But insulin can still if it's in elevated levels because that's the body's response. If there's resistance, like you can't hear the knock, let's knock louder. Let's put more knockers at the door. And that insulin can disrupt the neurotransmitters in the brain and how the brain is actually able to function.

00:33:47:10 - 00:34:11:07
Unknown
And there is research on ADHD and insulin. But what we always see is that people are like, well, if it's not diabetes, then it's not a problem. But pre-diabetic means that we're already getting. And this is why I say in the book test insulin first, I don't care what your fasting blood sugar is, it's very uninteresting because you could be stressed out going to the lab, you could be scared of needles and your fasting blood sugar is high.

00:34:11:08 - 00:34:31:02
Unknown
I want to see what your fasting insulin is. If that's elevated, we've got a problem. That means on average, your blood sugar is staying higher than it needs to your hemoglobin A1, C, which is a marker of the average of the last three months of your blood sugar. That'll also tell me if that's up high. On average we're having too much of this glucose exposure.

00:34:31:04 - 00:34:56:07
Unknown
Glucose being too high actually ages you rapidly. And so that's also something like we don't want that. Right. And the kidneys, the eyes your fingertips your toes like all of these start to get hit first in perimenopause. What we've come to understand is that as estrogen declines, insulin sensitivity becomes more of an issue. And then this is again manufacturer recall.

00:34:56:07 - 00:35:14:03
Unknown
This is so lame. We start to build visceral adiposity which is belly fat, but not to grab the belly fat. It's packed around the organs. This is metabolically active. This is an endocrine organ and it is inflammatory. And so that's why like I mean I fought for so much in this book. This book is so long and needy and dense.

00:35:14:03 - 00:35:37:22
Unknown
But I'm like, we have to have a whole section on visceral adiposity and how to actually address that, because that can be a source of inflammation that's now disrupting your neurotransmitters. Instead of making serotonin, you're happy. You have great, you know, solidification of memories and having your neuroplasticity and then going into melatonin. So you have great sleep. You instead start to go in these neurotoxic pathways.

00:35:37:22 - 00:35:56:22
Unknown
And now you're like, I have brain fog. I'm feeling anxious and irritable and I can't focus. And I'm like, something is wrong with me. And visceral adiposity you always necessarily see. So we have to do a waste to hip ratio where you have to measure your waist, measure your hips to really understand if your waist is starting to expand your waistline.

00:35:56:22 - 00:36:27:01
Unknown
Like that's not something of like you're just not exercising and eating right. It's a okay, wait a minute, we have something very serious developing. Yes, exercising and eating right. It's going to be helpful. It's going to be necessary. But I need to start asking the question right now, what is going on with your hormones and what health risks are you are you going to experience if we do not intervene quickly or maybe are already developing what you think, by the way, I'm saying changing.

00:36:27:03 - 00:36:39:03
Unknown
So let's just I'm going to ask you a few questions about food you drink and the other sake of the simple fact you never drink, do you call a full fat. I had a bit of a crash.

00:36:39:05 - 00:37:00:10
Unknown
Yeah. The French. I grab a full back out in the back. Wait, what do you call it, then? So it's just a Coke. It's just. But it has sugar, but not fat. So that's why it's like a full fat coat. But, you know, but the the alternative is like sugar free coke, which then, you know, can have its own problems with your digestion and other things.

00:37:00:11 - 00:37:21:22
Unknown
This was just like, right, I need a I'm having a little crash. Go to the fridge. Do I want to make a potato salad or no could grab. We should definitely talk about potato salad though for the ADHD brain. We should definitely do that, but I do. I think everyone should not judge you and recognize that we've been at this for a while because you were first interviewed on my podcast.

00:37:21:24 - 00:37:52:17
Unknown
I'm rocking and rolling with the full Fat Coke, but there's a part in the book where you say, and it just made me giggle because it is. You said it was dense. I just find it incredibly detailed. It's somebody passion. It's somebody lifelong, like hyperfocus, and it's so engaging. I think sometimes we give ADHD as a hard time and not being able to engage with a long book, but we absolutely can if it's something that will change your life and you're interested in it, we can get there.

00:37:52:17 - 00:38:18:22
Unknown
But within all the kind of science and the hormones and all of that jazz, there's this bit about food and you talk about an ADHD opening fridge and sort of looking around, not choosing something in just closing it, maybe giggle because that is me. I mean, multiple times a day is open fridge. The executive dysfunction is like, I can't access cooking right now.

00:38:18:24 - 00:38:43:23
Unknown
Maybe a slice of cheese, but you've just told us that insulin can be affected with ADHD, and what we eat is affecting our hormones and making everything worse. So it sounds to me like our ADHD executive dysfunction is like getting in the way of eating what we need to eat. So what are we meant to do? Because I can't start cooking.

00:38:43:24 - 00:39:05:14
Unknown
Yeah. So what am I meant to do? I know it's not drinkable back home. Yeah. What are the alternatives? Well, in the book, I have the chill girl Mills, which is like. And it has a, it even has. You know, I might basically take these pages and you can rip them out of the book. I won't judge you and stick them to your fridge where it's like, okay, I need you to have protein.

00:39:05:14 - 00:39:23:18
Unknown
I need you to have healthy carbohydrates. I need you to have healthy fats. I need you to have this fiber source on your plate. And like, here's a menu of selection. You don't have to put together a meal. You just have to structure it in a way so that it is going to optimize your blood sugar. It's going to support mitochondrial function.

00:39:23:18 - 00:39:48:17
Unknown
Lower inflammation like this sounds really heavy as I'm saying at all. And support the microbiome. No, no big deal. But it is really simple of like just make sure you have proteins that you gravitate towards and that you can just grab set up like adult like style, right? So you're just setting up a plate. Half your plate is going to be the fruits, vegetables, things of color, things with fiber in them.

00:39:48:17 - 00:40:05:00
Unknown
Then you're going to split the plate in half a quarter of it, stick a protein on it like whatever you want, several proteins on it if you want. And then the other corner of that plate, that is where you're going to have your grains. So like potato salad. Why do I love potato salad? You cook a potato, you cool a potato, you eat the potato.

00:40:05:01 - 00:40:29:22
Unknown
You get resistant, starch resistant starch supports your microbiome in creating a short chain fatty acid called butyrate. This is amazing because not only does it help with healing your gut lining, but it helps with healing the blood brain barrier and it helps lower inflammation. It's like, seriously, Mother Nature set this up. Yes, you can buy potato salad. You can also buy ghee.

00:40:29:23 - 00:40:49:06
Unknown
Guys, a great source of butyrate. Do you see me sit outside the fridge with an open dataset just spooning it in. I can't leave it now on its own. I now got a doctor who's told me that that is good for the blood brain barrier, so no more laughing. Yeah, so you can stick that on the card portion of your plate.

00:40:49:06 - 00:41:07:02
Unknown
And just so I did a whole visual model because ADHD ers are much better with visuals like, and when they read something and then they have the visual to make that connection. But then I also just set it up these like it's even in the the recipes that I put in the book, it's just like these chill girl meals of like just stack it up.

00:41:07:03 - 00:41:25:12
Unknown
You want to put. Yeah. You want to put like pickles in there. You want to add like some nuts. Some avocados like do it. It's funny because there is a part in my book where I'm like, oh, here's avocados and like your plant part of the plate. And then later I'm like, oh, extra toppings like guac. And they're like, well, you repeated that and they're already having a lot of those.

00:41:25:13 - 00:41:49:06
Unknown
And I was like, do you not underestimate women who went through the 90s needing permission to eat more fat like, and to have the extra guac you could do with more protein now, I think, yes, that's the one thing reading that, and it seemed to be protein was like the star of the plate. That's ADHD women. Why is protein so important for the ADHD brain?

00:41:49:07 - 00:42:10:15
Unknown
What's going on? Well, if you want to make a neurotransmitter, you're going to need protein for that. And the other thing about protein is it's going to keep your blood sugar stabilized. And when we talk about aging, protein is one of the ways we combat what's called sarcopenia obesity, which is that visceral adiposity. And then the extremities you lose your muscle mass.

00:42:10:15 - 00:42:33:08
Unknown
And so I like, you know, the round M&M guy. That's basically what you're becoming is the round diamond guy with like the little tiny stick arms. And that is associated with increased morbidity and mortality. More muscle in your legs is is increased mitochondria in your brain and associated with better brain outcomes as we age. And so we need that protein to reinforce all of that.

00:42:33:10 - 00:42:51:21
Unknown
More protein. You need to take me out for more steak dinners. That's what I'm hearing from. Right? I think the thing is, we need more bits in the fridge. Yeah, we probably need more cooking. Not just solitary cheese. Well, one of the things, yeah, that I talk about in the book, though, is like the Bell Pepper books and, like, I'm pretty savage about it.

00:42:51:21 - 00:43:13:05
Unknown
I'll just take a bell pepper and break it open and then, like, stuff it with, like, deli meat and, like, delicious. Yeah. And then I'll just eat that night without cooking it. Without cooking it. Yeah. I just I would just open it up. Yeah. And then, you know, sometimes people want to put guacamole in it. Cream cheese like other things.

00:43:13:05 - 00:43:35:12
Unknown
But I'll just stuff it with me and then I'll stuff like broccoli sprouts in it and I'm like, done. That's what I'm eating. Because you can just make it with no cooking. Yeah. And literally you break it open over the trash, rip it out like you're like, no mesh that for someone listening. Obviously there's so much more in the book and I can't wait for people to read it or listen to the audiobook.

00:43:35:16 - 00:44:02:05
Unknown
But for an aged woman listening, if you could say to her the changes, three simple changes to her diet that would make the biggest difference for her, what would those three changes be? So we covered the protein. Absolutely. Every meal, every single meal. No exceptions. And these like seriously. Like when you're like get into like middle age, which I don't like that that's what we are called now.

00:44:02:05 - 00:44:21:22
Unknown
But it's the reality. It's like protein becomes a full time job. Like there are days I resent protein. There's like why? The only thing is diversity of fiber. So I say in the book microdosing or microbiome, like these days, I was just at a conference. Literally everyone wants to micro dose, like everything in the world. And I'm like, my kiddos, your microbiome, that's the most important thing.

00:44:21:22 - 00:44:46:18
Unknown
So what that means is, is that if there's fiber rich foods that you're like, oh, look, I hated chia seed pudding. Can you just take the tiniest bit of that? Just microdosing, because even the tiniest bit is going to signal something positive to your microbiome. As we age, our microbial diversity reduces because of estrogen going down, which is really lame because having ADHD, you already have reduced microbial diversity.

00:44:46:18 - 00:45:07:01
Unknown
There's already so much gut dysfunction happening. So eating a variety of fiber, this is where I think it's really important to travel and eat different foods. But also you can just go into like the different sections of the grocery. So like go into the Mexican food section and like pick out some spices, some seasonings like spices, seasonings, herbs.

00:45:07:01 - 00:45:23:22
Unknown
These are so rich in polyphenols. And then the other thing that you could do is go over into like, you know, they got the weird root section where you're like, what are these weird roots? I don't know, take a picture, ask ChatGPT can you at least like, grind? Like great. A little bit of that in a pan, saute and eat just a little bit.

00:45:23:23 - 00:45:42:21
Unknown
It's those little things that can add up to big changes in your microbiome. And that microbiome works for you. So not only is it making nutrients, but it can make that butyrate, the microbiome is also making tons of neurotransmitters. They don't cross the blood brain barrier, but they communicate with this giant nerve called the vagus nerve. That helps you get into that.

00:45:42:21 - 00:46:05:00
Unknown
Parasympathetic helps tell the brain environment that things are safe. So protein variety of fiber and then hydrate. And there's a drink I talk about in there called swara which is from Mexico. And it's it's basically a nonalcoholic margarita but it's lime juice sparkling water and a salt rim. A great way to hydrate because drinking water is so boring.

00:46:05:01 - 00:46:23:12
Unknown
Like why why is it the things that we need to do like the most boring things? But drinking water is really boring. And so having something like that, that's always been my secret weapon at parties to where people are like, Jolene, party is so hard with us. And I'm like, I'm just drinking sparkling water here. But also you get a boost of vitamin C in it.

00:46:23:12 - 00:46:41:18
Unknown
You get some electrolytes, like it's a it's a fantastic combination. But staying hydrated because when we get dehydrated the brain really struggles to function. And so you'll be like, why am I so tired? Oh, it must be my sleep. It must be this, it must be that. And oftentimes it's like, have you drink enough water that the simplest solution okay.

00:46:41:19 - 00:47:05:23
Unknown
So I'm going to eat more protein. I'm going to microdata my microbiome by trying loads of different things. Yeah yeah I good at that I think. And then the water I'm so close I obviously for like weird ADHD reasons I find like plain water boring. I drink sparkling water with lemon juice anyway, so I just need to add a little salt and then we're rocking and rolling.

00:47:06:01 - 00:47:27:05
Unknown
That is incredible. I literally drink so much sparkling water. I reckon you do have enough of it, but you do have a lot of salt and so on. And avocado oil. Most people don't need more salt. Like that's the reality. Yeah, but I mean, it does. It makes it feel like something novel, something unique. And it feels like a cocktail.

00:47:27:06 - 00:47:52:10
Unknown
Right. But it's such a low effort mocktail. I do love, like a really complicated mocktail, but like, also sometimes I'm just like, that gets in the way, that gets in the way of the objective of just hydrate. Yeah. I also recommend like, you know, so like I wrote this book and I, I joke, but it's actually facts is that like, my husband would have to escort me to the shower after like three days because he's like, you stink, you haven't showered.

00:47:52:10 - 00:48:21:06
Unknown
You're not taking care of yourself. Like that's the the, you know, it's a superpower. I'm like, have you seen me hyper focus into like, nasty like, no. But I'm so grateful because I think when you have someone your stature who's written many books, who is a doctor also admitting this, that sometimes we can either play the same, actually forget to shower, and it's just really healing to know that you can achieve incredible things.

00:48:21:06 - 00:48:37:09
Unknown
You can write books, you can know everything there is to know about hormones. And sometimes you can forget to shower. Yeah, it just makes it. It makes it look very real. But I was going to say that's why it's my trick of three beverages at the desk before you sit down, because then you'll be dancing and you'll be like, I have to get up.

00:48:37:09 - 00:49:05:14
Unknown
I have to pee. Like I have to move. Absolutely love it. One thing that you've mentioned here, and you mentioned a lot in the book, is exercise. And in the same way, food is really important for us. The executive dysfunction gets in the way, seems to be the same thing. The exercise, like exercise, seems to be so important for people that emerged.

00:49:05:17 - 00:49:29:22
Unknown
And yet this is so many barriers in the way to making the routine. So firstly, can I just understand why is exercise so important for us to do well? I would actually give you the brain importance first, because I think whenever we talk about exercise, it's like the way you look prevent diabetes, right? But I told you the mitochondria as the powerhouse of the cell.

00:49:29:22 - 00:49:49:05
Unknown
So if that's what's like running the electricity of the house right now, exercise is literally the crank generator on that. You have to move your body to generate the thing that makes you saw lactic acid. The brain uses the lactate as a backup energy supply. That's why the worst thing we ever do to an HD kid in school is say, sit still.

00:49:49:07 - 00:50:13:16
Unknown
Their brain is screaming and starving, and you're like, you need to sit there and just endure it. Like, would you tell someone who hasn't eaten like, oh yeah, just suck it up. No, but that's what we're telling children. And so exercise is so important for that reason. And we know that from the research. Like so if you like want to be the best like what you're doing mentally, 20 minutes of physical activity can buy you 2 to 3 hours of focus and increase cognitive performance.

00:50:13:17 - 00:50:31:05
Unknown
Like that is absolutely incredible. And it's so simple. But if you're listening to this right now and you're like, yeah, I know exercise is not good, that's where I invite you to be like. And how well are you doing it? Because so many of us know all of this. We're told like drink water, exercise, eat a good meals, all of that.

00:50:31:05 - 00:50:53:19
Unknown
But that's what I try to do differently in the book is like instead of just telling you do all of these things, I'm like, let's evaluate why you're not doing these things, because for the ADHD or it's so much more complex, and it's also things that other people think are just silly and ridiculous, like the that even. And you'd never, ever imagined this in a go and exercise book.

00:50:53:21 - 00:51:18:00
Unknown
And it was so beautiful to read about the sensitivity. It might be the bright lights in the gym that you don't like. It might be the clothes that you're wearing, and it's like, oh my God. Yeah, actually. Thanks. There are other things that get in the way other than what I think ADHD is tend to be, which is I'm just lazy or I can't follow a schedule.

00:51:18:00 - 00:51:40:19
Unknown
It's the routine, but also the routines are boring and your body was never meant to do the same exercises every day. That is supposed to be boring. So how do we do it? We need to exercise. It helps with focus. We know that to be true. Like last year. What's helped you recently is we started CrossFit, which is different every day in competitive.

00:51:40:20 - 00:52:09:15
Unknown
Yeah, every time I'm competing with myself at the bottom. But I love it. It's a lot of weightlifting. There's also cardio. We might go once a week. We might go five times a week, depending on on the week. There's flexibility. But that thing you said about how good exercise can get you focused, and I come back feeling happier and ready to like it's a huge, huge difference.

00:52:09:18 - 00:52:33:21
Unknown
So how can we get this? Yeah. Into a form of exercise that works. What should they be doing? Well, I think it's different for everyone. Like sometimes gamify it like so maybe you have a reward after you exercise, or maybe you have a sticker chart. Cigarettes are like highly effective. Okay? Especially if you really like the stickers. And I know it seems like wasn't on something a five year old do.

00:52:33:22 - 00:52:51:05
Unknown
Yes. And you're actually perpetually a five year old. Like you just have responsibilities now. So you could use a sticker chart that says, like when I complete a naked small. So the first thing you're probably going to say is like, when I complete ten exercises, I earn this. How about instead, when I complete one exercise, I earn this thing.

00:52:51:05 - 00:53:10:03
Unknown
Now, when I complete three exercises, I earn this thing and you work your way up. Maybe it's like you're like, oh, like, you know, fitness clothes for women are just so ridiculously expensive. But like, a good bra cannot be underrated. So maybe you're like, okay, when I, when I reach this goal, I'm going to buy that, like nice bra, because then I know I'm going to keep going.

00:53:10:04 - 00:53:27:09
Unknown
Maybe that's what you need to do is you need to buy clothes that you feel good in that are like comfortable, that like the waistband isn't rubbing on you or you like, don't have to like, I have sports bra that I love, but sometimes I have to get my husband to get me out of them because I'm all sweaty and I'm like, why do I do this to myself?

00:53:27:09 - 00:53:44:15
Unknown
And I'm like, well, it's not enough of a hindrance and a, you know, obstruction. But if it is for you that you're like, I don't like being trapped. I feel like I'm suffocating in my clothes. Get a different outfit. Maybe you come up with a playlist that you're like, this is going to be my playlist for this. This is songs that I love and motivate me.

00:53:44:15 - 00:54:00:22
Unknown
Or you say to Spotify, pick the playlist for me, and then you're excited. You're like, what songs coming next? So you have to find a way to gamify it for you and make it to where it's like, this is actually fun. You know, I share in the book that like, I was a group fitness instructor because I really.

00:54:00:23 - 00:54:15:18
Unknown
Oh my God. And I had to become a spin, a cycling instructor because I freaking hate cardio so much. I had to be like paid to do it. Then I only paid to do it. But having like 40 people waiting on me to do it. And then I also had to control the lights and pick the music like that's what it took.

00:54:15:19 - 00:54:36:01
Unknown
And now nobody pays me to work out. So they just like, have to figure out these other ways. It because for me, I could think of nothing more boring than going for a run for 30 minutes. But if you said go and play football competitively for 45 minutes if you like, that sounds like those are fine and it probably be better exercise.

00:54:36:03 - 00:55:04:21
Unknown
So even even sports and stuff, I mean, it's probably not that much of an exercise, but you've just started golf and you're obsessed with it, but you're walking. 1015 I'm carrying my golf bags and I what I like, what I'd like to play and is providing the clothes to get you to work out, which I do that. So it has now been scientifically proven that it's a good thing because I'm stimulating my brain to go.

00:55:04:23 - 00:55:31:02
Unknown
You know, I was someone that, as a kid, exercise every day. Every day gymnastics would do. I am doing that for obviously ADHD kids signing up to everything. And then I kind of I lost it in my in my 20s, in the 30s, I wasn't really doing any exercise, and I really felt the downsides to that. Getting back into it was like really quite difficult.

00:55:31:02 - 00:55:55:08
Unknown
And over the last few years we've tried loads of different things. Prospect has been asking that has worked, but I wouldn't have been able to do that a few years ago. It would have been too much. Even just going for a walk was exercise. If someone's kind of at home, they're not very active, but they really want to try and do exercise because they know there's going to be focused benefits.

00:55:55:10 - 00:56:15:16
Unknown
What would be the kind of like? I think you talk about the minimal effective days. Like like what? What could they start with that they could commit to that. They would notice a difference. Yeah. I think that's such a great question. So if you're like if you're starting from the couch, starting with walking. So walking is a cross-body action.

00:56:15:17 - 00:56:33:12
Unknown
We're moving our arms and legs and it actually helps both lobes of your brain speak better. So it's fantastic. Especially if you have worries. If you have things that you need to process to actually get out and move your arms and legs. If you're someone who's like, I would love to like pick up running, well, don't start with that because it's going to hurt.

00:56:33:12 - 00:56:49:24
Unknown
It's going to suck like, and you're going to feel like a failure. There's actually a great app that's called couch to five K and it just has you you start with walking. Then you have these intermittent sprints. Sprints are actually fantastic for the brain. But and then it's not even like a full out sprint. It's just doing a little bit of running.

00:56:49:24 - 00:57:06:06
Unknown
And why I love that is because it's a very small dose that is manageable. So you get a win, then you're like, okay, I can do this. So often we're like, I'm going to work out. So you'll see, you know, I see people online make fun of women for picking up like 3 pound, 5 pound weights. I'm like, you have to start somewhere.

00:57:06:06 - 00:57:28:22
Unknown
If you tell them to lift heavy and they go from the couch to the gym and they try to deadlift like that, you know, even like 50 pounds, they might end up injured. What does an injury do? Especially, you know, in our 40s and beyond. It sets you back like six weeks or more. So it's always better to listen to your body, see where you're at on where your on, and then figure out like, what's the next step?

00:57:28:23 - 00:57:52:22
Unknown
If you're someone who's like, I've never been in a gym, I've never picked up a weight meeting with a personal trainer, if that is within your means, can be really helpful. If it's not, there's all these free people on YouTube, all these free people on YouTube. And I would also say don't underestimate mobility work. Now, anytime I say that, people are like, no, but like I have a connective tissue disorder because it's very common with ADHD and autism.

00:57:52:22 - 00:58:12:08
Unknown
And if I stretch, that's going to be, you know, it's going to put a joint out, it's going to cause an injury. Mobility work is not just stretching. It's actually supporting joint mobility. So the other day I was going on a stage. I'm like, I would usually lift weights, do some cardio before I go on a stage that I can be my best for 2 to 3 hours.

00:58:12:08 - 00:58:27:20
Unknown
But I'm like, I have not had good sleep in a week. I can't do that. If I do a workout like that and probably in a fry myself, it's going to be too much like working out is a stressor. So just like cold plunges or a stress or intermittent fasting as a stress, there are all these things people do.

00:58:27:20 - 00:58:50:01
Unknown
And we have to just gauge where is your stress out at the moment and how much stress your body can handle. So mobility work. I was like, I'm going to do this 20 minute mobility routine on YouTube and I just pull it up. I'm like, this is what I should be doing before stages because it's strengthening the joint capsules while also releasing them and releasing your back, your shoulders, your neck, and not a yoga.

00:58:50:02 - 00:59:12:20
Unknown
Hold a pose for like a minute and stretch. But really movement. Dynamic movement that is strengthening and gentle way and getting movement the way I tell you that I'm like, I don't think I've never done this before. I went on a stage and I was so in the zone. Everything was so like just I just was like, this is one of the best performances, because when I speak, it's like a performance that I've ever given.

00:59:12:20 - 00:59:38:03
Unknown
And I'm like, I think part of that was there was so much nervous system regulation as part of what I was doing, and I was completely within my body, like doing that. And that's the kind of exercise that people would often look at and be like, that's a nice to have. That's not so great. But in supporting blood flow, lymphatic flow, actually getting joint mobility, this is something that we don't appreciate that as we age we start to lose joint mobility.

00:59:38:04 - 01:00:00:22
Unknown
Like, you know, we were talking about people watching. I was people watching in the airport and seeing how many elderly people really couldn't move their body. Like I'm looking at them, only you're capable, but there's so many restrictions because we're not focusing on getting that movement in. And so I want to give people permission for that. And there's actually like a week plan of like, okay, if you don't know where to start with exercise, like, here's a plan.

01:00:00:23 - 01:00:18:21
Unknown
Not because I'm telling you what to do, but because sometimes it's just helpful to know where to start. And mobility is one of those days because especially if you have a connective tissue disorder, you need to have mobility work because you need to strengthen around the joint capsule so that you don't have that laxity. Can I do a time check?

01:00:18:23 - 01:00:21:18
Unknown
But.

01:00:21:20 - 01:00:44:18
Unknown
I'm just like, so we're like two part episode. Seriously, I'm just like learning so much. There is one final thing that if you don't mind, I would love to. Yeah, I'm not the time keeper. So am I allowed to keep going? Because this this just made me giggle. And I think you'll understand why is it kind of spoken about hormones and paramedics?

01:00:44:19 - 01:01:19:06
Unknown
You've spoken about diet, how important it is for ADHD, and also opening up exercise. There's kind of one final piece that really struck me from the book, which is about sleep. Obviously, we can struggle with getting to sleep and staying asleep, but there was one section where you were talking about, please correct me if I'm getting getting it wrong, cortisol, and you were talking about what it can feel like in the morning to wake up with ADHD.

01:01:19:08 - 01:01:48:14
Unknown
And let me tell you how I wake up in the morning and rich my son times have when I wake up, I am not awoken yet. I need half an hour minimum. I need to have a coffee and I can't actually like engage with the world into why I like boot it up system and had my coffee. And sometimes he'll play something on me in the morning.

01:01:48:15 - 01:02:14:01
Unknown
Wait, what are we doing at work? Then? I'm like, well, I don't do it. That no, I'm doing it, doing it for effect. But then I read in there that this might have something to do with quarters of an inch deep, and why I might be a slug in human form in the morning. I thought I'd love you to explain to Rich why that might be, and then to to maybe tell me what I could do

01:02:14:04 - 01:02:30:19
Unknown
what ADHD ers are very good at doing is engaging that delayed sleep phase onset, which about 70% have. And then working from like, you know, 11 p.m. until like 2:00 in the morning and doing their best work so

01:02:30:22 - 01:02:33:03
Unknown
you can develop a reverse cortisol curve.

01:02:33:03 - 01:02:51:23
Unknown
So cortisol should spike in the morning and melatonin should come down. And then it should taper off during the day and then be at its lowest. Melatonin comes up and you go to sleep. So cortisol wakes you up in the morning. You you do shows right at night. So night shift workers tend to develop this reverse cortisol curve.

01:02:51:24 - 01:03:12:13
Unknown
We also see it in moms who have newborns because they're up all night as well. And the body's like what is the deal here? And so you don't spike cortisol the way that you're supposed to first thing in the morning and then wake up alert, ready to go. It might be spiking a little bit later in the morning, and then you might get that second wind in the afternoon and then find in the evening it's going back up.

01:03:12:13 - 01:03:31:23
Unknown
And now you want to stay awake. Most ADHD ers their melatonin is not rising 9:10 p.m. like other people. It's rising like 1 a.m.. So of course we're going to see this. And this is where it's like, man, we don't really fit in this modern world. Like if we were all like living by campfire back in the day, like we'd be guard in the tribe, like we're like, I'm good.

01:03:31:24 - 01:03:55:10
Unknown
I'm up right now. Like there's a there's a real value in all of this. And again, it's not you that's the problem. It's this society that like, and this mic that I'm whacking, but this society that like we now exist in that we haven't really evolved with. So, you know, one thing that you can do is in the evening, try to avoid those blue lights as much as possible.

01:03:55:12 - 01:04:14:00
Unknown
You know, you're on a stage, you've got bright lights in your eyes. You could get really cool red tinted glasses which help block the blue lights. Like there's ways around that that will help. But also you need to be awake. So like that's a little bit tricky. But when I do. So I came in on the flight. Really.

01:04:14:02 - 01:04:39:00
Unknown
You guys are all laugh at what is happening. I'm just waiting to speak. I don't know, I know what you said, what you said. But when I hear she was hoping. Oh, it's just the way it is. She was hoping for you to side with her, to say. Rich, don't ask her to do anything in the morning because she's special with what you've told her to do is get off her phone.

01:04:39:02 - 01:04:49:22
Unknown
So hard. Don't ask you to do anything in the morning, though, because she's like a bear coming out of hibernation. I will say that you will get mauled.

01:04:49:24 - 01:05:09:02
Unknown
To actually quantify what happened is the other day she did apologize. Other day I was really like calm. It wasn't like, right, come on, we've got to do this. I was like, hey, do you want me to help you with your where again show today? Because it's growing arms and legs. And she was like, why are you talking to me about this nap?

01:05:09:03 - 01:05:34:03
Unknown
Like you were really brotherly, prickly. Prickly. Yes. Cause my cortisol has risen because you're on your phone. Because I was on my phone reading Twitter, just absorbing that blue light energy. Well, you can also get filters. So, Yes. Well, it is a good idea because it really should start like by like 8 p.m.. Like as soon as the sun starts going down, we should put a filter on our phone.

01:05:34:03 - 01:05:50:17
Unknown
And so on YouTube, there's tutorials of how to put a red filter on your phone. So it's blocking these lights. And the other thing I was going to say is I came into the airport a obscene our last night like, don't live like Doctor Brighton has for the last week and a half, but it was like 3 a.m. Estonia time.

01:05:50:17 - 01:06:08:13
Unknown
But I put on my blue light blocking glasses so that, okay, now that I can get in a car and go, I want my melatonin to start rising. I don't want the light to affect me. And then the other thing is again, trying to wake at the same time every morning so that you build up that that sleep pressure.

01:06:08:13 - 01:06:30:03
Unknown
But this is like not going to be enough sometimes in these instances, it's like we might need to use things like bringing in B vitamins, especially B5 for the adrenal glands having vitamin C, because they they are the most rich tissue with vitamin C and then herbs like, I don't know if you can get them in the UK, but like rodeo is a really good one for mental physical endurance.

01:06:30:03 - 01:06:50:12
Unknown
But and in some cases when cortisol is really low and we don't have a blood pressure issue, we'll also use like some licorice first thing in the morning, like a, like an actual like tincture of licorice. Because that helps when a little bit of cortisol is there, it keeps it around a little bit longer. And so there's like little tricks that we can start to do to start to shift things.

01:06:50:12 - 01:07:09:06
Unknown
And then in the evening that's when we might want to use. So we got to have bedtime rituals, practices, sleep hygiene that I talk about in the book. But we might also want to use something like magnesium glycine that can help the nervous system wind down. Else is fantastic for getting better sleep, and it's been shown to be really beneficial for ADHD.

01:07:09:08 - 01:07:29:09
Unknown
And then for the women who are like, I can't get progesterone. Passionflower is an herb that stimulates the Gaba system in the brain as well. And so that's something that you can drink as a tea you can take as a capsule form. It's not going to outperform progesterone, but it is. These are some of the things that can get you by until you get the hormone therapy.

01:07:29:09 - 01:07:34:20
Unknown
Or maybe you're like, I don't want hormone therapy. I just want to go natural roots. And that's your right to choose as well

01:07:35:01 - 01:07:36:05
Unknown
absolutely amazing.

01:07:36:06 - 01:07:39:22
Unknown
I can't wait to try them all. There's obviously so much more in the book,

01:07:40:00 - 01:07:54:19
Unknown
and ADHD is going to be released this year in October, and it is coming to us here in the UK, and there's also going to be an audiobook. I think it would be amazing if you could just tell our Late Bloomer listeners where they can preorder the book.

01:07:54:21 - 01:08:16:17
Unknown
I also believe they might be able to get something special if they do preorder from the website. Yes, well, you can preorder anywhere and I'll still give you something special, but if you go to Doctor Brighton and Women, you get the first chapter read by me immediately. So instant gratification. I also give you a focused meal plan and recipe guide that goes beyond what is in the book.

01:08:16:17 - 01:08:38:03
Unknown
So you can just start that right away. And then there's other bonuses included, like the PMDD ADHD workshop to help you identify like what is driving your PMDD, how to talk to your doctor, get help, and then what you can start doing right now. Because too many of us are like, I have identified the problem and it's a six month wait to see my doctor, so whatever you can start now is going to help.

01:08:38:03 - 01:09:06:05
Unknown
Whatever treatments are offered to you actually work a lot better. So grab the book that in the show notes. For anyone that is interested in being able to go to Doctor Friday's website, preorder ADHD and the women, and also get those samples, which sounds amazing. I could listen to you talk about your hyperfocus all day long. My mind is blown by everything you've shared with us today, but also in the book it has really.

01:09:06:07 - 01:09:26:16
Unknown
I wish I'd had it a few years ago. It would absolutely changed my life. Our life from the struggles of the last few years, and I just hope it can help so many more women. Thank you for being a voice, a passionate and informed voice about ADHD and hormones. It has been an absolute pleasure to have you here guys.

01:09:26:17 - 01:09:36:15
Unknown
Our first guest doctor, right. And what an absolute pleasure is being. Please share her out in the comments. This has been the label in this podcast in which I see you next week.