Why FASTING For Women is Different & How To Do It CORRECTLY For Insane Benefits | Dr. Mindy Pelz

Contrary to popular belief, women cannot follow the same health and fitness protocols as men and expect to see the same results. Unlike men, women in their reproductive years have their hormones to take care of, and their rise and fall throughout the month impact everything from energy to focus, mood, metabolism, and the ability to adapt to good-for-you stressors like exercise or fasting.

Today on The Dhru Purohit Podcast, Dhru sits down with holistic health expert, and one of the world’s leading experts on fasting, Dr. Mindy Pelz to talk about the benefits of fasting and how women, in particular, can cultivate a fasting routine in a way that honors their hormones.

They also discuss the menstrual cycle and life phases that would benefit from fasting the most and when to pump the breaks on longer fasts and fasting in general (e.g., pregnancy, breastfeeding, eating disorders, and thyroid conditions).

Dr. Mindy Pelz is a renowned holistic health expert and one of the leading voices in educating women about their hormonal health. She has empowered hundreds of thousands of people around the world to tap into their bodies’ innate healing abilities through her “5-Step Approach,” which uses fasting, personalized nutrition, stress management, chemical detoxification, and lifestyle changes to optimize health and slow the aging process.

Dr. Mindy is on a mission to start a women’s health revolution. Her private coaching group, The Reset Academy, teaches women how to sync a fasting lifestyle with their hormones. She is the author of three bestselling books—The Menopause Reset, The Reset Factor, and The Reset Kitchen—and her members-only Facebook group, The Resetter Collaborative, includes over 50,000 active members who regularly participate in Dr. Mindy’s exclusive monthly “Fast Training Week” programs. Her newest book, Fast Like A Girl, is a definitive guide for women everywhere to harness the benefits of fasting while making sure they are supporting and caring for their hormones throughout the different stages of their cycle and throughout perimenopause, menopause, and postmenopause.

In this episode, Dhru and Dr. Mindy dive into:
-Top misconceptions around fasting as a tool for women
-The impact of estrogen and progesterone on fasting
-Why women should approach fasting differently than men
-How rising progesterone levels impact fasting leading up to menstruation
-The impact of perimenopause and menopause on fasting protocols
-Why it’s important for women to personalize fasting
-The benefits you can get from fasting beyond losing weight
-The “do’s” of a prolonged fasting window
-The “don’ts” of prolonged fasting
-How to properly break a fast
-A few testimonials from Dr. Mindy’s clients
-Where you can follow and learn more about Dr. Mindy’s work

Also mentioned in this episode:

For more on Dr. Mindy Pelz:

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[sandrametcalfe]

I have been fasting for 4 years. I have lost over 100 pounds. I feel great. I drink a lot of water. I make sure that I eat at least 1200 calories a day. I work five days a week. I eat once a day on workdays, twice a day on my days off. I make sure that I fast for at least 16 hours. I don’t deprive myself of what my body needs. I don’t starve myself. I’m now down to my ideal weight. I went from a size 18 to a size 4 in jeans.

[utopiadweller]

3:15 women hormones 4:25 low progesterone symptons - hair loss, poor sleep, weight gain, sarcopenia 5:00 protein - at least 30g per meal 7:30 testosterone 8:00 3 women hormones 8:48 ovulation testos 9:30 back half of cycle 10:00 stressors raise cortisol 10:45 insulin resistant 11:25 insulin sensitive 12:38 metabolic fitness 13:37 week before preriod 16:20 day 21 of cycle, ok to not work out, do not add stress to the body, progesterone needs you to rest 16:55 peri-menopause starts at age 40, takes 10-15 years to go into retirement 17:50 adrenals have to start producing 3 sex hormones for women 18:48 peri-menopause women track your cycle, what day you're on, what hormone is coming in .. Day 10 estrogen is coming in, keto, fasting, extreme exercise ... 19:20 back cycle 21 day, progesterone is going down, nurture yourself... 20:48 peri-menopasual symptons, poor sleep, introlerant to stress, easily injured and triggered, anxious, hot flashes, weight gain. 22:00 previous weight manangement tricks don't work = exercise doesn't work 22:39 fasts, 3-day water fast in line with the cycle time 23:30 post-menopausal women, 30-day reset involves Keto foods 27:45 intermittment fast of 15 hours 29:30 advocate for finding your fasting lifestyle 42:00 women don't do 48-hour fast between day 10-15 of cycle (ovulation time). 43:31 3-day water fast twice a year (jan and sep) 44:36 48-hour fast once a quarter for mental health. 44:57 weight loss 36-hour once a month. 45:15 one 24-hour fast per week. 45:25 most days 16-18 hours except cycle week. 46:40 black coffee ok - check glucose - use mct oil 47:33 blood sugar 30 mins after cream. Shouldn’t be more than .5 higher 48:50 microbiome controls blood sugar. 49:46 get to know your own bioindividuality to get out of absolutes 50:45 heart test. 51:43 dangerous when we get into absolutes because of differences in the microbiome. 52:33 dos - mineral water, electrolytes. 53:21 have pure fat if it doesn’t raise your blood sugar 55:31 keto cups 59:13 apoptosis = detox after 17 hour fast. 1:00:13 diabetes. 1:00:43 thyroid - caloric restriction is bad. 1:02:00 fasting = swiss army knife. 1:03:01 breaking fast - anything that raises blood sugar over 5 points breaks fast 1:03:56 3 things: build muscle - 30g protein 1:05:19 polyphenols probiotic prebiotic rich foods. Salad n protein. 1:05:52 fat for first meal

[rebeccaaldrich]

I became a vegetarian at 42 and it caused me to get Hashimotos. Now I understand that I NEED protein and it can't just be plant based. I eat eggs daily now.

[beverlygreen]

hi, I am 80year, I been fasting since, I was a teen. One reason we didn't have much food. I feel much better when I go a long time without food. i did a 10 day fast, and I did few 3 day. Now that I am 80, I just do 16 hour .My weight is 135

[marilynful]

All I know is I could not lose weight for years and as I am getting older looking at hypertension, diabetes, and high cholesterol. I panicked and almost gave up. I discovered fasting learning about insulin and now I feel great and losing weight, slowly but losing. So this lady knows what she is talking about. Thanks Mindy. I don’t listen to men when it comes to fasting except Dr Fung.

[veronikalambert]

Thanks Mindy for the wonderful explanations. I’m 72 and never felt like having breakfast, even as a child. In my family we had early diner, at 6 pm. I had lunch at about 1 or 2 in the afternoon as the first meal. I still eat that way, when I am by myself and all the hormones seemed okay, all my life, 4 pregnancies and breastfeeding, menopause. Maybe when we simply listen to our bodies and eating healthy food is just a pleasure. Greetings from France

[apdurn]

THANK YOU. I’ve been fasting for YEARS and I have been doing it WRONG and it has caused a TON of problems but now that I’m fasting appropriately according to your info - ALL BETTTER. Thanks!!

[jlee]

This made so much sense. I'm a keto endurance athlete, my body is freaking out when I try to fast and do my long swims on the back part of the cycle. I always thought I was supposed to push through. Wow. Listening to your body for the win, once again

[afrikurl]

I have been following Dr Pelz since March. I am down 55 pounds and my menstrual cycle is no longer heavy and is more regular. She knows what she’s talking about

[niamhmckinney]

Wow. Im 37 and finished having babies age 30. I have to a huge extent just ignored my cycle since then because I didn't "need" to pay attention any more as after 5 babies there were gonna be no more. Now thanks to stumbling upon the video I am learning that I will need to do all my fasting and plan my diet around my cycle, instead of pushing through and ignoring signals from my hormones. Absolutely fascinating and so necessary

[tiffani]

Such a great interview… I’m 43 and when she said all the things we did in our 20’s and 30’s to stay fit, no longer work.. that’s where I am.. nothing has been working for the past 3 years.. I’m now doing ADF.. now I just need to personalize it to my cycle. Being a woman can be absolutely exhausting. I would tell my bf that what works for him doesn’t work for me, he can do a workout plan and eating plan and drop 20lbs in a month and I can do the same and the scale not move. Our hormones play the biggest part in our day to day life, something that he really doesn’t have to worry about. It also changes how we define “staying consistent “ with an eating or fasting plan.

[yogagirlvioletsky]

Both interviewer and interviewee are phenomenal in getting this information OUT to the world and making it UNDERSTANDABLE! THANK YOU BOTH!!!

[bchristine]

EXCEELNT interview. I am 64 and have done IF for about 4 years most days of the week at 14-17 hours. I tried my first water fast this past October for about 56 hours. It was fairly easy for me and I did plenty of research beforehand to make the most of it. I drank unflavored Pedialyte along with filtered water. After coming off the fast I had incredible energy, lost a couple pounds, and appreciated food even more. It honestly felt like a "reset". It helped clear my eczema and gave me a whole new perspective on fasting. I plan on doing it again this month - can't wait :)

[ladycarys]

I wish I had know this before. I was hard into fasting for years and I killed my progesterone which led to 2 miscarriages. I stopped doing long fasts and started listening to my body, having days where I eat less and others where I eat more, usually focused around my cycle and just trying to stay eating healthy. That combined with supplements and a progesterone oil my naturopath prescribed, my levels are balanced again and I'm hoping for a successful pregnancy. That, and my anxiety is way down and I'm sleeping better.

[alejandrabilloni]

I am a woman and 20 to 23 hours of fasting works fantastic to balance my hormones
I am strong and happy.

[Anne-rjbk]

I am 40 years old and have been fasting since I was 20. Monday to Friday, no fasting over weekends. People used to say to me I am slowing my metabolism, and all the other theories of 5 meals a day. I always just said, "then my body works differently, because this works for me".

[theedgeofcorrie]

I've always eaten like a "trucker" about a week before my period. It comes on slowly, but before I know it I'm ordering out to satisfy all my cravings & inhaling everything put in front if me. And I retain water like crazy so I feel like the Michelin Man! But the week after my period I slowly shrink back down as my appetite wains & water releases. If that part didn't happen I would trying to starve myself through it. Because of it, though, I always knew that my cycle binges were something my body needed more than it didn't. Thank you so much for confirming this! I know I need to reign it in a little bit & not go so crazy, but the confirmation that I'm normal & probably giving my body more of what it needs than it doesn't during my cycle is a huge relief to me. Knowing vs suspecting is powerful. Thank you!!!

[redfullmoon]

It's high time women listen to their body and validate their own inner needs than whatever some male fitness guru who is unfamiliar with women's bodies will ever say. I remember restricting my diet during my cycle but craving something salty like an aged cheese. I thought it was "bad" for me, I had some other salty snack but it didn't "satisfy" my inner craving. So i went for the cheese, it immediately satiated me. Turns out my body needed casein, dairy protein, in partocular.

[onceamishB]

I am literally sitting here in awe- she explained my body so well to myself that I’m excited to implement some of these changes! Makes so much sense! Been doing keto for 6 years and wondered why these past cpl years I’v been feeling some negative differences. Will be 42 in June 😉 it’s just that my ovaries are wanting to retire! 😂

[MCRPOSITIVESusieQ]

Just finished her 3 day water fast…77 hr. SHE ROCKS! Get her book! FAST LIKE A GIRL hot off the press