Change Your Brain Every Day - Your Gut Is Messing With Your Hormones?! The Hidden Connection You NEED to Know | Part 2 with Dr. Eboni Cornish & Tana Amen

Episode Date: October 19, 2026

What if the key to balancing your hormones, boosting your energy, and finally feeling like yourself again starts in your GUT?   In Part 2 of our gut health and hormone series, Dr. Eboni Cornish joins Tana Amen to uncover the powerful connection between your gut microbiome, hormones, inflammation, and overall health—and why so many people may be overlooking one of the biggest pieces of the puzzle.   In this episode, we're diving into:   The gut-hormone connection and how your microbiome influences your health 2. Why gut imbalances may contribute to hormone-related symptoms 3. The surprising link between gut health, brain function, mood, and energy   If you've been doing all the "right" things but still don't feel your best, this conversation may change the way you think about your health. Your gut and your hormones are more connected than you think. It's time to connect the dots.   For a clinical assessment visit www.amenclinics.com

Estrogen, when it's depleted, can cause dysbiosis, which is an imbalance of good and bad bacteria. It helps when it's at optimal levels with your microbiome stabilization, especially bifidobacterium, which is one of the bacteria that we need for both our brain and our inflammatory and our immune system. Dr. Ebony Cornish is a board-certified family physician, a brain health expert, and a medical detective known for uncovering why patients can look normal on paper, yet still not feel well. Some people think, oh yeah, I feel well, and then they're dealing with issues they haven't quite addressed. Look at your big picture. Who are the toxic people in your life? Is that preventing you from feeling 110%? Admitting that there are some relationships that you got to cut off. That's a key to health because that can call your stress response to go up.

What can people do just to be optimized? Maybe they're not sick. They just want to optimize their brain health, their gut health, their hormone health. Where do they start? I think they start one with Every day you are making your brain better or you are making it worse. Stay with us to learn how you can change your brain for the better every day. After looking at nearly 300,000 brain scans, I'm still amazed at how few people learn how their own brain works. One of our students said the content and information was cutting edge. Why isn't everyone learning? about brain help. That's the very question that drives everything we do. And it's why we train

coaches to carry this message into the world. Become certified at amon university.com. So welcome back to the Change Your Brain Everyday podcast. I'm still here with my friend and also one of my favorite doctors at Amon Clinics, Dr. Ebony Cornish. She's just masterful at working not just on the gut, but she's a functional medicine doctor. She handles a lot of our really tough cases and connecting the dots. And we're talking about gut health and how it connects to brain health. And today we're going to throw in hormones. Are you sure? Yeah, because we're like at that age. Like, I'm a little past it. She's a little before it. So we're all right around it. And we feel the same. Yeah. So we've just having this great conversation about gut health and the brain. And you surprised me in the last

episode when you said, I thought you were for sure going to say that if you're having brain issues, you need to think about the gut and change your diet. And you actually said the opposite. You said if you're having gut issues, you need to think about the brain. And I thought that was so surprising. It was great. Well, thank you. Yeah. I like to throw a little nuggets here and there. You always surprise me. So it's good. So we're going to talk today about a lot of the same stuff we talked about in the last one. So go listen to the last one on the gut brain. connection, it's very good. But we're going to throw in some hormones today. So perimenopause, menopause, postmenopause, what it means and what it looks like in relationship to the brain and

the gut. And I can tell you just from all of the followers who like write to me and DM me, basically they feel like they're going crazy. Yeah. They're losing their minds. Yeah. It is. I mean, these hormone changes, until I started to experience it, I didn't understand how much it impacted the brain. You know, it was like that 3 a.m. wake up call that you get that. And not the fun kind. No. No. And you just can't go.

Yeah, it's not the fun one. And you can't go back to sleep. Or that irritability that happens. But more importantly, how it affects your immune system and your gut health. So this is one of my favorite topics to talk about as relates to women because I'm living it. Yeah. And we can help you through. So I remember when I got my first hot flash, I mean, it came out of nowhere.

We were on a business dinner and I'm sitting there and we're in a really nice restaurant. And I thought something happened to the restaurant. I'm like, what? I just started pouring sweat and like, what is going on? I didn't think it was me. And I'm like, is this a hot flash? Like it was so shocking to me. It just came out of nowhere.

And I'm like, no, no, no, no, no. And I felt myself prickly, like, just like prickly all of a sudden. And I'm like, I'm going to end up on the 6 o'clock news or in jail. So I'm not doing this. And I ran to the doctor and got hormones like right away. I'm like, I am not, I'm just not going to do this. And at that point, it was just a little bit of progesterone that settled it down. But over time, I had to keep getting an assessed, right?

Yes, definitely. And even with the hot flashes, I've found some remarkable natural things like food base, like chickory root that has been shown to help with that because it's so miserable. And it wakes you up and assessing that early because we already have a dysfunctional circadian rhythm. as we're going through perimenopause and menopause. And those hot flashes alone, if we're not supporting them, not just with hormones, but even with natural agents like chickery root, which is a favorite, you can help. And Brain MD actually, I'm pretty sure that I was one of the reasons Daniel wanted to come up with it. They have menopause support.

So I actually added that, and it does help. I mean, it helps. So, you know, not everyone can take hormones. Not everyone wants to take hormones. They don't want to do hormone replacement therapy. So if you're not one of those people, or if you're not one of those people, Or if doing the hormone replacement therapy just doesn't feel quite like enough and you're not a person who wants to increase those doses. Like some of the natural things can really help.

I know that our supplement really helped me. Yeah. And the paramedopause, I mean, seriously, this perimenopause support was one of a game changer for me as well. And just also things like Gabba that calm my brain, Lthian. Those two. Oh, my gosh. Those just chilled me out and got me sleeping better. Did I tell you when Daniel got me high?

No, tell me story. No, tell me. Yeah, I'm pretty sure he did it intentionally. He says he didn't, but he did. So I was feeling very anxious and, like, edgy and whatever during this whole time. And I called him and I said, hey, I want to take some Gabba and Elthianian. And this was like years ago. And I'm like, how much can I take?

And he goes, four of each. Now, you know that four of each is, I saw the look on your face. You know that that's a lot. Oh, that's fun. Yeah. So I'm like, okay, I'm going to take four of each. He came home. I couldn't get off the couch.

I was like, I'm dealing. dizzy. I'm like, I'm stoned. I am stoned. And I'm like, I don't know what is happening to me. And I'm like, I'm wasted. And so it was the weirdest thing. I was like sort of spinny. And he's like, did you take like, I'm like, you told me to take four of each. No, you start with one of each. And then maybe two of each, if you like really need it and you just like see where you're at. No, he just had me start with four of each. So don't do that. I know. And one of my favorite hormone replacements, progesterone, it's great because it is relaxing. It helps you. with sleep, but it also produces gabba.

So it's like natural. You have to be careful. So I probably like was overdoing the gabba because of that too. But sometimes you might need it. So I always tell people that because sometimes they like take too much and then they're like, oh, it's like I can't take that. Well, maybe you just didn't need that much. Like maybe your husband just wanted you to be overly chill like mine.

Yeah. I don't let, how mine is it listening? I know, right? So, so, but there's, the point is that there's help. Yes, definitely. And I think knowing the warning signs before it gets too late, because even with perimenopause, I mean, that can go on for years. Ten years for me. It usually is about 10 years or more.

Yeah, my 12. Yeah. And it's like menopause is a year after your last period. But perimenopause, I just tell people not to ignore those small changes that might occur in your 30s or 40s if you're having that fog. But I know the first symptom a lot of women did is that insomomomomileged. is that insomnia that we're talking about because of that progesterone estrogen imbalance. And having that sleep is the first step at stabilizing some of your menopause symptoms. Yeah. And that's the biggest problem for women is sleep. So really, I love the idea that fix sleep first.

Yes, right. Definitely. That's paramount because you can take all the hormones you want. And that's one of things I look at in patients who are taking hormones replacement and they're not feeling well. It's typically because you're sleep or you have more inflammation or something going on in your gut that's preventing it. So it's not, I always want women to know it's not just about hormone replacement. It's about body replacement and stabilization. Yeah, that's what we need to look at. So I want, I would love to hear from you, my favorite sleep routine because I'm a sleep princess, like, and it's hard for me to sleep because I not only have menopause, ADD, you know, all of the things, all of the above, but I also have a thyroid condition. So I have to take high

dose thyroid from previous thyroid cancer that recurred. So it's sleep can be tricky for me. So for me, I've got, this is my routine, pitch black room, ice cold, blackout mask, earplugs, and then my cocktail is my magnesium. I like when I need to, a milligram of melatonin. I don't always take it, but when I need it, I take it. And then my Lthianine. And then when I needed that extra little bump of Gabba. So what is your sleep cock? Like, what is your sleep routine? So I use a lot of Ashwaganda. That's kind of my favorite thing. Ashwaganda and Valerian root, if I'm having a long day. But my first thing. He's me dreams. I mean, I like dreaming, but it just knocks me out. It makes me calm. But I also do a lot of

vagal nerve stimulation at night. And that can be something that's easy as wearable. or humming or taking that deep breathing because I find when I calm my nervous system, I'm not waking up. I'm getting it, I'm feeling refreshed in the morning. So a lot of times I'll tell my patients to work on that, work on calming that brain tonight, not just by what you take, by what you do.

But one thing I found was mandatory because having a stressful day is my Pulsadil device. That's like my second husband. It's something I put around my neck every night and it massages my vagus nerve. Just the longest nerve in the body in your neck. And I'm out. I'm out like a light.

No thoughts. And I'm refreshed in the morning. And when I found that I was still having sleep issues, this was years ago, I had to get tested for sleep apnea. Oh, interesting. Yeah, because I was finding that I did have sleep apnea back then because I have. And I'll wake you up on. That'll wake you up. And you might not even know it.

Yeah. Yeah. So those are some of my secrets. My Pulsetto, my Aschwaganda, Valerian root. And also sometimes earthing. too because we got a lot of eat that. Yeah, we actually had one of those. It seems like everything gets magnified during menopause. ADD gets magnified. Gut issues get magnified. Brain issues get magnified. Like, everything gets magnified with menopause. So talk to us about the brain and

the gut issues that get magnified with menopause and why. Yeah. So the thing to understand, the key is estrogen. Okay. People don't realize how important it is. You think of estrogen replacement and the black box warning that you were going to get a heart attack, that they now have removed. But estrogen is not only a sex hormone. It helps optimize our immune system. So as your estrogen goes down, so does your immune system, it helps optimize blood flow in your brain. Yeah. So as estrogen levels drop, you might start having decreased activity in the brain, maybe some fog, more fatigue. Memory too, right? And memory. And memory. is so common with perimenopause.

And estrogen helps support your muscles. Interesting. Yeah. And bones too, right? And bone help as well. That's one of the reasons that I was like, no, I need to bump my estrogen up because I got my first scan that was, I had a bone scan because of my thyroid. And it was not osteoporosis, but like mild osteopenia.

And I'm like, I am not doing that. So I started lifting heavier and increased my estrogen just a little bit. Yeah. And it was so interesting when I learned about also estrogen is. connection with the gut, right? That's one of the ways we process estrogen. So the more I did tests for patients who had gut issues and also hormone issues like PCOS or they might have had irregular cycles, a lot of times is because they had too much estrogen and it wasn't being processed by certain enzymes in your gut. They were deficient, right? That's so interesting. And so you

had to help recycle estrogen, but not only that, but clearing estrogen. And that was affecting. They just weren't metabolizing it properly. They weren't metabolizing it properly. They weren't metabolizing a property and they weren't clearing it. So that was huge. And it was leading to higher estrogen levels and more estrogen dominance. And, you know, that's when you have the heavier periods, you know, you're having act. I'd never heard that connected to PCOS. I had PCOS. So that's so interesting. Yeah. And I sometimes give patients things like calcium. deglucrate. That's one of the things that will help your body process estrogen if you're having that problem or things like dim. Those are other supplements we use to help process estrogen.

But a key thing could be in your gut because of that connection with hormones. This is a weird little tidbit, little side note, but I had a struggle. I want to know if you've ever heard of this because I had no idea. I struggled recently with pretty wicked vertigo. And I've had one other bout of another problem with vertigo about five years ago and couldn't figure out what was causing it. I'm like, I did. And the exercises didn't help. Nothing helped.

And then lo and behold, if you believe in coincidence, I read an article that week about estrogen receptors being found in the ears. And it's almost always women at the age of menopause that start getting vertigo. That is the number one population who gets vertigo. And so like 95%. And so they started to find that when estrogen drops because there are receptors literally that affect the crystals. I had never heard this. And lo and behold, I had forgotten, I didn't go pick up my estrogen patches.

So I was behind putting my patches on and I got the vertigo. So I don't know that that's what it was. But I'm wondering, have you heard that? I've seen that in some cases, actually, because that's like a really common symptom I see in my practice. Really? I treat complex chronic diseases. And I also treat women with hormone change. Where were you?

I don't know. Because you didn't ask me. I didn't call you. You didn't call me up. You call me. I'm available. But no, honestly, there are receptors for estrogen everywhere. And the ear connection is so cool.

And this one patient of mine, she just had to pump up her cream dose. She was taking it like every other day. And she was like, wow. You know, she had went to see prisms, had seen a ear nose and throat doctor, had done all these drugs. And it was just a little bit of... I put my patch on and a week later it was gone. You were like, oh, thanks. Yeah, it was so crazy.

crazy. So I was like that was wild. Like this is so wild. So now I'm very cautious. I don't like, I used to think, oh, it's not a big deal if I'm a couple of days late. Now I'm like, no, I need to pay attention. No, consistency is key. Like I, you know, traveling here from home, I left my hormones, you know, and I was like, what's going on? And it was a couple of days without my progesterone. And I'm like so busy here running and going. And I got the triplets who were here too in California. And I'm like, what is happening with me? And so what I was, went to the audio, I went to the office and I'm like, okay, Eastern versus specific. And I'm like, why am I struggling over that?

Sure enough, it was a lack of consistency with hormones. So if it could happen to a doctor, it can happen to everyone. So be consistent because replacing those hormones are leading to brain support. And people got to connect that. Yeah, it was so important. So I learned that. I just wanted to throw that tidbit in for anybody struggling with vertigo. So that was crazy.

But why does, let's talk a little bit more about. how estrogen affects the gut and why so many women start struggling with gut. And then I want to go into why do you suddenly, like literally it feels like it's all of a sudden, start having this squishy midsection. It goes from being like nice and firm to squishy. Yeah. What? Inflammation. You know, I always tell people, it's not you. You're not fat. That's just an inflammation bun you have there. You know, just a little inflammation bump. And what we know with estrogen, and these are some of the cool things I found out over the years. One is that estrogen, when it's depleted, can cause dysbiosis, which is an imbalance of good and bad bacteria. So it helps when it's at optimal

levels with your microbiome stabilization, especially bifidobacterium, which is one of the bacteria that we need for both our brain and our inflammatory and our immune system. So estrogen has a direct impact on your microbiome. We call it like an estrogen gut or estrobolo, is what we're looking at. Okay, so based on our last episode in the gut-brain connection, if that's off, then you're, obviously you could end up with more brain issues. You could end up with anxiety, anxiety, depression, issues with sleeping. So basically if your estrogen is off and it's affecting your gut, then that could affect your brain.

The whole thing is tied together. We just talked about HRT. We talked about hormone replacement therapy, obviously helping. Everyone's not a candidate. We talked about supplements like the one that Brain MD makes that, I mean, I find very helpful for people who don't want to. There are lots of supplements people can take. There are other options. I like that one.

You mentioned chickery root. And we talked a little bit in the last episode about some probiotics. foods. Yes. Like sauerkraut, kimchi, getting the gut right and probiotic supplements as well, just like probiotic supplements can be very helpful and prebiotic supplements to feed the probiotics. Yes. So adding some inuline to your smoothie like I do might be very helpful. Yes, right. And I think one of the most important supplements that I find helpful to the gut is something called IGG or immunoglobulin. Yeah, you put me on that one. Yeah. It's so great because it's heals that gut lining.

Unless you're allergic to beef, you know, because it is bovine-based, I have seen remarkable improvements because you can take all these supplements, but if they're not being absorbed because you have leaky gut lining, then that's a problem. And IGG, it has different brands that it comes in, you know, different companies make it with the molecular or thorn. I mean, that's like the hot topic because it not only helps the gut, it helps your immune system. So I have a lot of patients who might have restricted diets, especially my kids who are neurodivergent or picky eaters. They may only want certain foods. So they have compromised immune

systems because of poor gut habits. But that IgG can definitely help. It can help the gut lining and your immunity. So it seems like a lot of women struggle with sleep. We talked a little bit about how to fix that. But sometimes it's like the morning is what really sets you up not only for the rest of the day and for your sleep. It's like that's when everything really gets set up for success or for failure. So what are like three things you can do first thing in the morning, even if you've had a bad night's sleep that's going to set you up for a good day and then maybe a better night's sleep the next night. These are easy. Go outside. You know, getting that first morning vitamin D is better almost in any supplement you can take. All right. I always reset my nervous system

with a gratitude journal every day. I'm ready for my day because I'm grateful even for waking up that morning. That resets my brain that gives me started because, I mean, it's a stressful life that we have, especially working women and moms. So just resetting that brain to start your day will make it better. And then also, I'm a big fan of protein in the morning. Not protein shakes, but protein. I try to at least get 30 grams of good protein and what's called coline.

in the morning. So I'll make my eggs. I'll have my avocado. Those are things that I love my avocado toast to get my brain started and get me right, you know, or I might have even a green smoothie to give me some of those antioxidants and basic lemon water. That's another way to get your day started because that's going to help your liver detox. So those are easy techniques that I apply every day. And if I don't, I do notice a difference. I feel like you're my sister. We're like so on the same page. First thing I do in the morning, like literally the first thing we do is take the dog out, the dogs for a walk. And it gets my blood flowing because I have ADD. So it's like I need to move my body, get that vitamin D, make sure I get a big glass of water.

Hydrating the brain is so important. Like everything you just said. And then I add a little bit of collagen and creatine and protein to my smoothie. And it's like everything you just said, everything you just said. Yeah. It turned a little bit of meditation. Five minutes of meditation. Even if that. I mean, one minute of deep breathing. I know. Because people are like, I don't have time. Just something. Yeah. Go in the bathroom. Shut the door. 30 seconds is better than nothing, you know?

So I just always say, take your time out for you. There's sometimes when I have no time and I just feel really stressed, we'll be walking on the beach. And I literally will stop, put my feet in the sand and go, be still and know that I am God. And I don't know why. That one line just settles my brain. It just settles me down. Yeah. It calms your vagus nerve, too.

It does. I love the testimonials at Aiman Clinics. I want you to go to Aemanclinics.com, just one that I love. Michelle says right away. I knew my son was different. The doctor said, just keep watching him, but it was scary. He was diagnosed with ADD, dyslexia, depression, and anxiety. I was overwhelmed.

Luckily, I knew of Aeman clinics, and I had hope. Now, from where he was as a kid to where he is today, it's night and day. What's one gut health myth that you wish people would stop? doing. I wish they would stop doing juice fast. Thank you. I wish they would just stop it. Oh my, I thought I was the only person who was saying. I am so unpopular when I say that. I'm sorry. It's just all sugar. They usually processed boxes of sugar, no protein because you need about 60 minima grams of protein, especially if you're in menopause or perimenopause. And it's just liquid. You're not getting anything from that. I wish people would stop it. I did not expect that you to say that, but I am so glad you said that. No, that's like

rule number one. There are no juice fast allowed. I'm sorry, because it's not healthy. It's not healthy. Then what's going to happen right after you're going to binge and all those quote-unquote benefits you thought you had. And you feel, like you literally start to almost shut down. You feel miserable. I don't mind when people fast. Right, right. You can fast as long as is medically guided, you know, maybe do a fast, reset your microbiome, intermittent fasting, you know, 12 hours, only eat an eight-hour window. Those things can be helpful, but you do need to have some guidance. And please, don't fast or even intermittent fast when you're about to run a marathon. Like, time it. Yeah. Let's time it to when you're not doing something super high stress. And make sure

you're taking whatever you need, your medication, your supplements to support you during that time. Because people think, okay, that's the best way to lose some pounds, to get my brine right, but you have to be careful with that. You do. Yeah. No, I'm so glad you said that. And is there any different myth, like gut myth that you wish people knew that's different for when you're in menopause? Or is it the same? I don't think it is. I think it's the same. You know, yes, our hormones are shifting, but the myths pretty much apply to everyone. Because I feel like women hit the panic button and they start trying everything, including crazy fasting and crazy diets. And because let's be honest. It like you do change. Your body changes and I think we freak out and panic. So I think

it's important for women to know not like that's probably not the best thing to do. Yeah. And I always give guidance too. So my women, especially if you want to do menopause or perimenopause, it's the simple counting, you know, and it's easy to obtain. 60 grams of protein a day minimally to support your brain and your bones. Maybe 30 grams of some fiber and that's your fruits and vegetables. Trying to make sure you're introducing that because a lot of us. are fiber deficient, and we need that fiber for a good healthy microbiome, and two to three prebiotic rich foods. And those are the fermented things that could even be the berries, you know, to just help feed that gut lining every single day. Most of us are doing it. But if we just keep

track of like 60, 33, that's a way to balance. And one thing I want to ask you, so for women who are very, very active, like I work out, I try to work out pretty hard every day. And I was eating probably 50 to 60 grams of protein. I was not really, I was not really tracking it for a while and just not paying attention. And I was getting a little bit of rain fog and just let fatigue. And so I bumped it up. I'm getting more like 80 to 100. So I don't know if you think that's too high, but I instantly like felt clear. No. No. I think 60 is the bare minimum. Okay. You should do. You know, 60 and I'm a big fan of coline rich foods like eggs as well. For sure. But I think you should also focus on the food choices. For sure. And that's again where, you know, online is helpful if you just sit down and

get the highest proteins because people always think, oh, you have to only get it from animal products. You can get protein from veggies. You can get it from beans. You can get it outside of it. Plant-based protein powders and exactly that are clean, right, being very careful with, especially protein powder. You got to be careful with your selection. I love Omni protein. That's the drink. Yeah, I don't make that one. You did. So I'm like, if you're going to make a protein powder, it's got to have the digestive enzymes. It has to have all of the amino acids. It's because I don't want to take weight protein because it upsets my stomach and it's just not as clean. Right.

So it's plant-based, but it's got everything in it. Yeah. And I think that's important because that protein is needed. And even with stabilizing your sugar. Yeah. That's why that high protein, for those women who are having problems with sleeping, I always say, hey, we're going through that change. Make sure you try to eat something high protein at bedtime, even if it's a protein snack, because that's going to help with your glucose throughout the evening and your stress hormone.

cortisol. I feel so validated because Daniel's always like, why are you eating so late? I'm like, I can't sleep. Like, I need, I need protein right before I go to bed. Not right before bed, but I'm not a person who I know it's healthier technically to not eat like whatever, a long time before bed, but I just feel better and I sleep better if I have some protein. Yeah, like a couple an hour. Yeah, hour so before. And it can be a small amount. We're not saying I have a whole meal. No, right. But even if it's something like a nut butter or jerky or something. Something, boiled egg, something, just a little bit to help balance that glucose throughout the evening and that cortisol. It matters so much. It's so important.

Yeah, because I'm like so active during the day. It's just like I need that little extra something. Yes, definitely. Thank you. I feel validating. Okay, so we've been talking a lot about sort of issues that people are having. But a lot of people feel okay. They feel okay. But they really don't want to feel okay. Like I never wanted to be average in my class. You didn't want to be average in your class, right? You want to be optimized. You want to be the best you can be. So, like, what can people do just to be optimized? Maybe they're not sick.

They just want to optimize their brain health, their gut health, their hormone health. Where do they start? What can they do? So I think they start one with sleep, you know, making sure they're getting seven to eight hours of deep rim sleep and feeling refreshed in the morning. One thing I started doing at night just to see if I was, you know, in that kind of fight or flight, I started checking my heart rate variability. And I found that when my heart rate variability, which is something you can check with an oaring or even an Apple Watch and you can wear at night, you know, a device, when you check that level and you'll see, it'll tell you if your body is in fight or flight or not, you know, or rest and digest.

If your heart rate variability is like less than 10, then that could be a problem. That means, okay, we need to work on calming your brain down. So that's key. Like checking your sleep, if you want to watching your heart rate, variability, that's one. Number two, think about what it is that you might be missing. So some people think, oh yeah, I feel well and then they're dealing with their mood or they're dealing with trauma or they're dealing with issues they haven't quite addressed. I always tell my patience to look at your big picture. Who are the toxic people in your life? Is that preventing you from feeling 110%?

Right. Who? Boundaries. Love boundaries. Yeah, got to set boundaries. But you got to acknowledge that, you know, that has to be the first step, admitting that there are some relationships that you got to cut off because that's a key to health because that can call your stress response to go up. So understanding that, I also think making sure you are doing the right thing with your protein and with your diet because some people don't know how much to eat or when to eat. So trying to eat at least three meals a day, optimally, will even help your brain even more and knowing what good choices to make. So I'm a big fan on my healthy plate for it to be colorful. I got to have my greens, you know, for those vociferous vegetables,

because that gives you what's called glutathione. We all make glutathione. It helps us detox, but then we use it up. So making sure we have those greens, that's key. If we can tolerate them, making sure we have that protein, you know, and that's half of your plate. I love that. And then making sure we're having something with fiber, some healthy carbs, because a lot of people get on these diets and they feel great. I'm not a big fan of any type of diet. I just want you to eat anti-inflammatory foods, but you will notice there's a difference. So just looking at the bare minimum and just overall being positive. Yeah, I agree with you. I love what you said. One of the things that I like to do is journal, and one of the things I discovered about five years ago that has been

life-changing for me is rage journaling. Love rage journaling. Because after I get, it's like saying, if I'm just trying to like focus on gratitude, but there's still all this stuff stuff, then it's like trying to say there's no weeds in my garden, but I haven't picked the weeds out of my garden. So that makes sense? Yeah. So I do this rage journal and get it all out, all the stuff that no one should ever hear or see, get it out. And then I burn it or shred it or do whatever with it. So no one sees it. And then I can just focus on what I actually am grateful for without it being noise in my head. Yeah. So that really helps me. And then I love your plate. for me I've always craved fat

so I add my fat to the veggies like my avocado my nuts you know that kind of stuff so my fat's sort of mixed in with my veggies I love that and the Rage Journal you know that rage could be your hormones I can certainly be magnified yes right yes I mean we all have this stuff

that we and good girls don't talk about it good girls are trained to be polite kind let's not make trouble so we don't we just repress it yeah and that can actually come as back pain, body pain, migraines. It comes out in all kinds of ways. But if you just get it out and you acknowledge it, it doesn't mean you have to go, you know, destroy your life over it.

Just get it out. Acknowledge it. Then focus on what you're grateful for. Yeah, I agree with that. You know, one of my signs that I was going through perimenopause, I hated everyone. Yes. You know, I had a day. My kids were like, and it's not me.

It's you. It's always their fault. It was everybody's fault, you know. And I'm like, this is a norm. My life is okay. Where I saw I'm going to end up in jail or on the 6 o'clock news. This is not good. They're going to take my kids.

Yeah, I'm like married to the nicest person in the world. And I'm like, okay, why are you just like on my last nerve right now? And he's not even doing it. He's just looking at me. Right. And it's so funny. It's this one product I use a lot of patients. They call it the divorce saber.

It's called Vitannica Chase Tree, like Chase Tree. It's really good when you're on PMS or Parymenopause or menopause to just calm those nerves. I don't know. what's in that magic bullet. But I'm telling you, that Chase Tree Mary has saved some marriages, some relationships and just, you know, some women from just getting those emotions out of control. So, because they're so easy to call us stressed and anxious. Yeah.

It's our hormones. Yeah. You know, it's not me. And it's okay. It's not your fault. It's just part of life. But we just have to learn what do we do during the space, you know? It's just what do we do.

Yeah. We don't need people shaming us and going, oh, it's your, you know, like the worst thing a man can say is, oh, it's because of your period or oh, it's because you're in menopause. Don't do that. Like, just help her through the process. Exactly. So, yeah. So I think one of the big things that helped me surprisingly with a lot of my perimenopause symptoms was detoxing. I love that. I started doing my infrared sauna where I get those toxins out. I was like a new woman. So now, like, I use it 15 and 20 minutes a day, getting those toxins out that sometimes, you know, because estrogen helps support the liver with detox as well. It decreases inflammation when it's optimal.

So when it's low, your inflammatory burden does go up, right? That might make you feel a little more toxic, right? A little more bloated, a little more, you know, boggy. So when I found my infrared on it, that's like mandatory, you know, in my life during period menopause. It's just one of those things that they even show is good for cardiovascular activity, but form, you know, in the European literature, but it's also good to get those toxins out. And it's helped me a lot with my paramedopause symptoms. Interesting. Is this 15 minutes?

And I know, we have a sauna at home. And we, you know, we both like the chamber. But the hyperbaric oxygen chamber is more for like brain stuff. But one of my things that I love, and I know there's a lot of controversy over this for women. But I love my cold plunge therapy for pain and for brain fog. It just, it's so great. But I don't, you don't, there's also new research. You don't have to have it at 37 degrees or 30.

whatever. It doesn't have to be that cold. It's just really about getting everything sort of reset. And it helps the circadian rhythm to reset if you do it first thing in the morning. But it helps my pain. Yeah, definitely. And it makes me, it just puts me in a good mood. It feels like I had two cups of coffee. Yeah. I call it like my cold shower. You know. So much. It is. Even a cold shower is good for, I mean, even that is enough for people who don't have a cold plunge. I know. I'm too weak. My water doesn't get cold enough in the shower, but I love my cold plunge. Because for my back pain and stuff, it's great. And I even have a lot of my patients. They, might just dip their head in ice water. Even that's great. That's good for vagal nerve coffee. It's also good for your skin. It is. It's really good for your skin. So what's the single most important thing you wish every woman knew about gut health? That it's brain health. That's the most important thing because people don't put that together when they're going around and they don't quite feel like themselves and they're depressed or they're anxious.

They don't realize that those chemicals that keep your mood stable. are found in your gut. And if you love your gut a little doubt. That's right. Your brain won't be right. And neither will your mood. Well, there's a reason we have functional medicine doctors like you working at Aeman Clinics. And I think a lot of people are so surprised when they come to us for anxiety or depression or whatever other like my daughter brain inflammation. They're very surprised. They're very surprised. It's literally the cornerstone. It's literally the cornerstone. of what we do. It is. And like a lot of patients who might come in, women especially, we're going through paramedopause, ADHD symptoms, focus problems. What are you eating in the morning? Right? I found a lot of women, oh, yeah, I'm eating optimally healthy. What are you eating? Yogurt with strawberries in it. You know, how many grams of sugar is that, right? What is that doing to your gut? And you're just not making the best choices that you might think are really healthy,

but that starts your day off wrong. Well, and so many times we think we are healthy. And I, I mean, I'm guilty of this. And so I know that if I can do this, a lot of even health people, health nuts can do this, too. I know when my mom died and I went through grief, I didn't even notice I was doing it. And all of a sudden, I was like, I chalked it up to intermittent fasting. It wasn't. It was grief. But what happened was I used to always eat something with protein and fat first thing in the morning.

And all of a sudden, I was intermittent fasting and I wasn't eating until 2 o'clock in the afternoon. And I'm like, why am I tired? Why do I have brain? Duh. And so when I started with this new trainer and he's like, uh, that's not going to work. You need to increase your protein. I'm like, you know what? You're absolutely right. It just sort of like shook me out of that. And I added my protein back in in the morning with my fat. And it was like someone flipped the light switch on. Yeah. So it's like it's not really, that's not really brain science. That's really common sense. But we go through these life phases, whether it's menopause, whether it's grief, whether it's menopause and grief, because at this age, we've got empty nest. We're taking care. We're taking care of. We're taking care of. We're taking care of. We're taking care. We're. We're care of parents. We've got menopause all at the same time. We're losing parents. We're losing friends. And it's a tough time. And so you have to really make your health a priority or your body's not going to support you through it. I agree. I agree. And trying to make that connection, because when you're

going through grief and like my parents, it's hard to want to eat better. It's hard to even notice you're doing it. Exactly. Like I have all people. It's my, it's our life. It's our business. And I was like, huh, I'm fine. I'm FTA, fouled up, insecure, neurotic, and emotional, but I'm fine. Right. And you have to say it's okay to not be fine, you know, and with menopause, well, with perimenopause, that was me. I had to make sure it was okay to understand that this is not normal. Because, you know, I'm a functional doc. I am supposed to fix you, but if I don't have that self-care, if I'm not supporting my hormones, if I'm not supporting my gut, guess what? I'm not going to be in work. Right. And it's, it's okay to. acknowledge it. I remember the day Daniel walked up to me, he's like, honey, you're, you're getting

too skinny. And I'm like, no, I'm not. Nothing has changed. I hadn't weighed myself in two years. And he's like, honestly. And I like got on the scale and I was stunned at how much weight I had lost. So it's really important to just put it in the front of your mind, pay attention to it. And like, you might not notice it. But when people nudge you, don't take it personally. Just take it with love and, you know, start to come up with a plan. Right. Definitely. And, you know, now that we're talking about the weight, right? So many women, perimenopause, menopause are finding benefits with the GOP ones. Because it has anti-inflammatory properties.

I know they've been saying that with terseptide. They have literature to shows it helps with histamine problems. So a lot of people who have mass cells or are reacting negatively to foods or itchy or having allergies. That makes sense why you feel better. That can help them feel better. And I do believe, like people who have metabolic problems or they have sugar cravings and they're doing those things that can't abuse their gut. there is room for that, but I don't think you should be careless. You know, I have...

So what do you do? Do you microdose with people like that? If they're not overweight, are you saying you can use it with people who are not overweight? Are they microdosing? Yes, we're microdosing. And that depends on the patient, you know, how much a microdose is. It's not like a standard microdosing protocol. It does depend on the weight of the person and what your goals are. I find that I use microdosing a lot.

In my patients, you have mass cell activation syndrome, which is a syndrome. that means your immune system is dysregulated. It's talked about so much more often because these women and men are having problems with tolerating foods, supplements. They might be having this, they might have a dysregulated immune system. They're having random rashes. So we're not just talking about people who are overweight. No, we're not.

You can have microdosing and it's anti-inflammatory and it actually won't cause your weight to go down. Okay. And the reason I ask you that is because I, because of my pain, I actually, had a doctor who wanted to prescribe it and I was like, are you crazy? I'm underweight. Like, I was trying to gain weight. And I'm like, that sounds like a really bad idea to me. And he's like, no, no, no, no. It'd be a microdose. He had a tiny dose, but it's supposed to help with pain because of the inflammation. Yeah, I had a patient of mine. She was down to three food groups she could eat because of her gut issues and her histamine problems. And she was underweight. And I put her on a very

small dose of the GLP after listening to a friend of mine who did a research paper on this, and she got better. She's eating a full diet. Okay, well, you just like completely changed my view on that then. I'm glad we brought that up. Yeah, definitely. Because it's a hot topic right now, and people don't know. Yes. And I was, I was like very much not a fan when the doctor brought it up to me. And I was like, I'm looking for something for pain. But he's like, you might have inflammation. And so maybe we need to put you on. I'm like, you're crazy. But, But hearing you, I trust you. So that actually is an interesting point.

Yeah. And you have to look at the risk and the benefits as well. They're not for everyone, right? If you have thyroid issues, if you have pancreas issues, that might not be for you. But I have seen some benefit in those who can tolerate. Now, the bad side effects, you've got to be careful too because your gut and your brain are connected. And that's the number one side effect is constipation or irritable bowel. So I'm always making sure if you are on a GOP,

that I have you on a diet that's rich in fermented foods, a diet in a program that's rich in fiber, that I'm optimizing gut regularity and decreasing gut inflammation because that sometimes gets ignored. What about hair loss? Oh, hair loss, it depends. And that's also a myth that it's only the drug.

I think sometimes, and I haven't published this, and we haven't seen the data, but just from my patient population, that a lot of times the hair loss is nutritional deficiency. So they're not absorbing. Because they're not absorbing and they're not eating. That makes sense. Yeah.

Okay. I'm so glad we actually brought that up. Yeah. Good. So I'm sure this is going to be very helpful to a lot of our listeners and people watching. Certainly it was helpful to me even. So I'm always so happy to have you on. And I would love, is there anything that we didn't cover that you think our listeners and people watching need to know?

I think the biggest thing is knowing you can get through this. You know, having the hope, having the faith, and putting your best foot forward, as easy as it sounds, will help you on the road to recovery. So sure, things are going to naturally change in our lives. Yes, the food choices and lifestyle choices may not be up to par every day. But keeping that faith and having that hope, that's kind of the first step to healing process. And I think people need to keep that in mind as they go through whatever journey there. Just knowing there are solutions. Exactly.

Solutions, doctors who can help you, doctors who will investigate and don't just give up on that. I love that. Well, Dr. Cornish is who I see. She's who we send our family members to. She's here at Aymond Clinics. So if you are struggling, reach out. And I hope you have enjoyed this episode of Change Your Brain every day. We would love it if you would follow us.

If you would leave a review, you can follow me at at Tanna Aman. and where can they follow you, Ebony? I would love the best way that they can reach you. Yes, they can reach me at Amonclinics.com. My website, which is Dr. D.R. Ebony with an eye, cordish.com. And then I'm always spreading a word on Instagram and social media.

Social media is great. I'm easy to five. The triplets are so cute on your social media. Small changes can create meaningful results over time. One happy saffron plus, shared, I'd been taking it for about four months and feel less stressed, more calm, and better able to shift negative thoughts into positive ones. It's still a practice, but this supplement has been a great support.

That's exactly the kind of progress I love to see, because lasting change happens one healthy choice at a time. visit brainmd.com and use code podcast 20 for 20% off. So follow Dr. Cornish. She's got great tips that you can get every day, just little nuggets. I love that. I hope you enjoyed this and follow Dr. Cornish as well.