Dr. Sara Gottfried: How to Optimize Female Hormone Health for Vitality & Longevity | Huberman Lab

My guest is Sara Gottfried, M.D., a Harvard-trained, board-certified gynecologist and clinical assistant professor of integrative medicine & nutritional sciences at Thomas Jefferson University. Dr. Gottfried specializes in hormone health, vitality and longevity using precision/personalized approaches. We discuss female hormone health, puberty, perimenopause, and menopause, hormone testing, the microbiome, stress related hormone challenges, their causes, and various treatments. We also discuss fertility, birth control and tools for improving microbiome health, treating PCOS, insulin management, and the best nutrition, supplementation, and exercise programs for women. While the episode focuses mainly on female hormones, males will also benefit from our discussion because it includes actionable tools suggested for managing stress, bolstering the gut microbiome, and immunity—all of which stand to improve overall health, vitality and longevity in males and females.

Thank you to our sponsors

Supplements from Momentous

Huberman Lab Social & Website

Dr. Sara Gottfried

Articles

Books

Other Resources

Timestamps
00:00:00 Dr. Sara Gottfried
00:03:51 ROKA, Thesis, LMNT, Momentous
00:07:50 Women, Family History, Heredity & Environment
00:11:00 Puberty, Stress, Menstrual Cycles, Intrauterine Devices (IUDs)
00:17:26 Tool: Sex Hormones, Microbiome, Estrobolome & Disease; Biomarker Testing
00:25:11 Nutritional Testing; Vegetables, Microbiome & Disease
00:31:13 AG1 (Athletic Greens)
00:32:22 Microbiome, Prebiotics & Probiotics, Inflammation
00:36:08 Microbiome Testing, Magnesium, Constipation & Thyroid
00:42:25 Female Colonoscopy; Network Effect & Modern Medicine, Stress Factors
00:45:13 Constipation, Stress & Trauma, Autonomic Balance
00:55:35 Constipation Relief, Stress, Breathwork & Meditation
01:02:58 Systemic & Societal Stress Unique to Females
01:08:19 InsideTracker
01:09:23 Testing & Future Behavior
01:11:55 Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS) & Cardiometabolic Disease; Stress
01:22:57 PCOS, Insulin, Glucose Monitoring and Management; Data Access
01:29:48 Behaviors for Vitality; Exercise & Body Phenotype; Cortisol
01:36:40 Cortisol Supplements: Ashwagandha, Rhodiola, Fish Oil, Phosphatidylserine
01:42:36 Cortisol, Anxiety & Immune System; Adrenal Function, Resilience
01:48:07 Tool: Omega-3 Fatty Acids, Inflammation, Specialized Pro-Resolving Mediators
01:54:20 Oral Contraceptives, Benefits & Risks; Ovarian Cancer; Testosterone
02:06:50 Fertility, Follicular & Anti-Mullerian Hormone (AMH) Assessments
02:10:29 Menopause & Hormone Replacement Therapy; Women’s Health Initiative
02:15:30 Perimenopause, Cerebral Hypometabolism, Metabolism & Estrogen
02:21:49 Intermittent Fasting, Ketogenic Diet, Metabolic Flexibility
02:23:29 Stool Testing
02:25:32 Coronary Artery Calcium (CAC) Test, ACE Score & Disease
02:31:56 Zero-Cost Support, YouTube Feedback, Spotify & Apple Reviews, Sponsors, Social Media, Neural Network Newsletter, Momentous

[taniasawaya]

This is THE single best Huberman Lab episode you have ever done, Andrew. On behalf of all women, thank you. Let's hear her again soon, please.

[marijazil]

(Saying louder than everyone else) Andrew, PLEASE bring more people specialising in women's health to your podcast! I love how on many of topics with other guests you make sure to ask 'and what's that like for women?' - it's so important, and so few other big podcasters do. It was refreshing to listen to Sara and not have to quickly google every other claim with added 'for women'. Can't wait to read her books.

[belamourbeauty]

My family think I’m going through some kind of spiritual awakening in my life. I spent two months binge watching this podcast after I hit rock bottom. Andrew hubermans podcast changed my life. He saved my life. Helped with my trauma, grief, depression, anxiety and adhd. I now have a business, in better physical and mental health I’ve not been at in over 10 years! I am so so so grateful to Andrew for this podcast, I hope he knows the impact he has on others. ❤

[amusienk]

I’m so grateful for this episode, Dr. Huberman! I was struggling with infertility and, thanks to the rich content of this episode, was able to self-diagnose PCOS and then confirm it with my doc. I began exercising 30-60 minutes a day, followed by cold showers, and supplementing with high EPA fish oil, L-Carnitine, and Inositol. My sleep improved, joint pain went away, BG went down from 5.7 to 5.6 and within 2 months of this protocol I achieved ovulation. I found out today I am pregnant, on the very first cycle! My husband and I are joyful beyond words!!

[amypolitano]

Please do a whole episode on Menopause! We as women are given so little information on this and it impacts us sooo much! Our providers gloss over it if we aren’t in the age range of going through it yet but I personally want to be prepared!

[SageLazuli]

I went to my primary care physician and asked for them to check my hormones including testosterone and he told me I didn’t need to check testosterone because I’m a woman… 🤦🏽‍♀️
Thank you Dr. Huberman for putting so much free information out to the public so we can have the option to educate ourselves. I’ve lost faith in the medical system long ago.

[yogini]

women’s health and wellness topics are largely centred around selling products and services. This is refreshing. Women want to know and understand the science of their bodies. We really need more of this kind of content. Produce more please!

[dmoyeno]

I think this is the first podcast that a male host actually cares enough to dive deep with great questions and actively wants to get to solutions on behalf of women. ✨ Thank you. Just amazing bro✨💫

[ymese]

Please consider doing a podcast solely focused on the perimenopausal stage of a woman’s lifecycle. It is so difficult to find useful, evidence based information on this topic. Every woman I know in my age group is struggling through it silently. Thank you! (Ps - Really love and appreciate your podcast and have learned so much!)

[caravolpicelli]

I was dismayed when 15 min in she made the statement that she's an IUD crusader and said, "Having a copper IUD gives you a complete authority and sovereignty over your sexual life that's profound". When I would argue having complete control over it WITHOUT a foreign substance in it is actual autonomy! Then she goes on to say that "women with the copper IUD have the highest satisfaction rate of anyone on contraceptives". Ironically I just made a post about this on my IG a few days ago, sharing the horrific side effects I suffered from having a copper IUD. All bloodwork showed I was completely "healthy, " yet I had suddenly developed numerous unexplainable issues - severe loss of strength, constant phantom pain and injuries, severe memory loss, severe fatigue, and more. My obgyn told me it wasn't possible that it was from my IUD, yet when I demanded I have it removed, I already started feeling better the very next morning. So many women also commented on my post sharing their own awful experiences, and if you search you will find info about all the lawsuits filed by women that went through these experiences as well.

[ioanaploscaru]

This podcast has helped me more than all my doctors ever had in my 33 years of existence.

[tecito]

I almost cried in several parts of this podcast because the way you two are adressing this almost INVISIBLE problems women all across the world go through is so rare yet so important.

[misscarlyle]

Andrew, you're the man. Bringing women's health issues to the forefront is so important. I have had issues for years and am dismissed, I recently asked for a hormone test as my migraines are happening with hormone fluctuations. My doctor said it's "pointless" as all hormones fluctuate. Love being dismissed. I have kept a journal for 6+ years with dates/symptoms and he didn't even look at it.

[gabrielab]

I am glad to see that female hormonal health is a more popular topic nowadays. In menopause we find ourselves trying to find the best advice because few care about old women's well-being. Dr. Gottfried has been an excellent guide for me. Thank you so much for this interview... I will watch it with great interest!

[hikergirlmandy]

Please have Dr. Sara Gottfried on again, specifically talking about perimenopause. As a woman in the midst of symptoms I am struggling to get helpful information and response from health care professionals. I am excited to use this information to help my three daughters navigate through their lives!

[Doridoesthings]

We definitely need part 2! We didnt get to what women in their 40s and 50+ need to be doing! Also please talk more about women and testosterone replacement!

[kayleechicoski]

As a woman, this episode was more impactful in understanding my health and wellness than anything else in mainstream medicine and media. It can’t be overstated how important it is to bring experts in women’s health on a show with such a large platform. This podcast has been life changing in many ways, but this one tops the list for me.

[sabinacho]

Thank you for this episode. I recently came to my OBGYN with some of the symptoms noted here; painful periods, bowel issues, mood irregularities, ovarian cysts. All my doctor recommended was birth control to alleviate these symptoms. There needs to be more conversations such as this one, as in practice, many women are left without proper care.

[markella]

I am very glad that finally a medicine doctor, who isn’t a psychiatrist, thinks that trauma is related with so many diseases. I as a doctor for internal medicine have the same beliefs and make almost every day the same observations!! 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻 Thank you for this great podcast!

[honorrush]

“being female is a health hazard”. Beyond medical rhetoric, the simplicity yet implication of Dr Sara’s statement resonates strongly. I’ve struggled with digestive and fertility issues for years. Very few male doctors have acknowledged the emotional/ psychological aspect that Dr Sara so rightly recognised. Thank you for this episode Dr Huberman.