Habits and Hustle - Episode 463: Dr. Erika Schwartz: Why Your Doctor Is Wrong About Hormones and How HRT Actually Saves Lives

Episode Date: July 1, 2025

Are you being told hormones are dangerous while suffering through menopause symptoms? In this episode of the Habits and Hustle podcast, I sit down with hormone pioneer Dr. Erika Schwartz, who reveals why the 2002 Women's Health Initiative study destroyed women's health for decades. We explore how 7 million women were wrongly taken off hormones overnight, why your gynecologist still fears HRT, and the difference between bioidentical and synthetic hormones. Dr. Schwartz explains why pellets are dangerous, shares her daily supplement stack, and reveals how to find the right hormone doctor when the medical system has failed you. Dr. Erika Schwartz is a board-certified internist and hormone expert with over 30 years of experience. She's the author of "Don't Let Your Doctor Kill You" and became the leading hormone authority after her book "The Hormone Solution" hit #2 on Amazon the same year the flawed hormone study was published. What We Discuss: (06:50) Debunking Myths About Hormone Replacement (14:25) Navigating the Broken Medical System (19:20) Optimizing Health Through Hormone Replacement (35:56) Foundation of Hormones and Supplements (47:59) The Dark Truth About Medical Insurance (52:48) Exploring Supplements for Health (01:06:24) Empowering Women in Healthcare …and more! Thank you to our sponsors: Momentous: Shop this link and use code Jen for 20% off Therasage: Head over to therasage.com and use code Be Bold for 15% off  TruNiagen: Head over to truniagen.com and use code HUSTLE20 to get $20 off any purchase over $100. Magic Mind: Head over to www.magicmind.com/jen and use code Jen at checkout. Bio.me: Link to daily prebiotic fiber here, code Jennifer20 for 20% off.  David: Buy 4, get the 5th free at davidprotein.com/habitsandhustle.   Find more from Jen:  Website: https://www.jennifercohen.com/ Instagram: @therealjencohen   Books: https://www.jennifercohen.com/books Speaking: https://www.jennifercohen.com/speaking-engagement Find more from Dr. Erika Schwartz: Website: https://drerika.com/ Books: https://drerika.com/publications/  Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/drerikaschwartz/ 

Hi guys, it's Tony Robbins. You're listening to Habits and Hustle. Crush it. You need hormones. Everybody needs hormones. Everybody needs hormones. Well, now it's like super trendy and everyone's talking about hormones and HRT. This lady was doing it way before it was popular and trending on Instagram and TikTok. And so I am so happy to have her in the studio today. So Erica or doctor, how do I call,

Erica, I can call you Erica. Erica, I think I know you. I know we are. It's such a pleasure to be here. I cannot tell you how excited I am to be with you. I'm excited to have you here. I can't believe I'm here with you. Well, it's so interesting.

I know of all the things, right? Tell them. So I met Erica probably like 25 years ago through a mutual friend named Tammy, who at the time was working at Extra TV. Right. And we, her and I became fast friends, me and Tammy, and Tammy was doing all sorts of things called, she was doing a show called Life Changers. Do you remember this? I was supposed to be one of the main life changers.

We did this pilot that they were incubating. So I did that and then they, incubating. So I did that. And then they, it was me and two other guys. Right, okay. Remember? And then I remember they wanted me to read teleprompter. And I remember taking a ride and going to Santa Monica and saying, you know what?

I don't want to read a teleprompter. I can't do that. Right, that's not for you. No, so then I went to Lisa Grigorich, who was the... Executive. She's Lisa's the... ...the executive producer of Extra Back then. I totally remember. And I totally remember this because I was a life changer.

It was Dr. Drew was the main guy. He became... No. So what happened is I left and I said, I can't do it. I'm going back home. Even though they gave me this amazing contract, I never made that kind of money. It was amazing. But I was like, I can't do it, I'm going back home. Even though they gave me this amazing contract, I never made that kind of money. It was amazing. But I was like, I can't do this.

So I went home back to New York. Right. And there were two other guys who were doing it. And then they weren't there anymore. And then they brought Drew, Dr. Drew. So funny. And then I was on the show a couple of times. But it was so funny.

So that's when we met. It's wild. And I was, just so everyone knows, this is like a whole new, a whole different lifetime ago, but I was a life changer and I was a body image expert. Right, you were. On the show. But what was so interesting is you were really close

with Tammy, you were like long time friends, and Tammy would always tell me, Oh my God, Jennifer, you have to talk to Dr. Erica. She's the smartest woman in the world. She knows everything. Not exaggerating at all. No, but I swear that's what she would say. She was like emphatic about it.

She's like, if you have any health issue, she's so amazing. You have to talk to her. She's so knowledgeable. And then she connected us and you were so lovely. And thank you. I'm glad to hear that. You were so lovely. I don't remember ever meeting you in person, but we talked on the phone.

And I just had such a nice feeling about you. Cut to now 25 years later, you've written a bunch of books, but one of your books is being re-released and the book is called Don't Let Your Doctor Kill You, which is a great title. So you're on the podcast to kind of just talk about everything, you know, you've been doing. But I really wanted to talk to you about hormones and HRT because like we said, it's so popular right now. Metapause is so popular. Everyone's talking about it. And what I really like about you is that you're an actual doctor.

For real. For real. And has and have been doing this for so long. And when you are dealing with hormones, like to be, I'm gonna be totally candid. I'm not on anything because I am really scared to screw with my hormones. Of course. And when you have too much information, it's actually more dangerous

than having too little information. Because now you're just confused and don't know what to do. So I want to ask you something. Is HRT, there's all these like, if there's always this underbelly of chatter that it's dangerous, is it dangerous? No. HRT is exactly what you need. Because think about it, when you're in your 20s and you're full of hormones, you don't really get sick a lot. When you're pregnant and you're like overflowing with hormones, sure as hell nothing happens and you're like immortal, literally.

So HRT is really important, but it's not HRT. It's the kind of hormones that you're taking. And it's all because of a study that went awry in 2002 called the women's health initiative and the truth behind that study, you're going to love it, was it was a government sponsored study paid for fully by pharma. government-sponsored study paid for fully by Pharma. So Pharma gave the hormones that they were using, which were not human identical, bioidentical, whatever we're talking about now, but they were like, they look different.

They were like from pregnant horse's urine. Anyway, and they gave the, the Pharma gave the drugs to the academic institutions that conducted the study. So when the study went off and it turns out five years into the study that the women were not doing so well, there were 10 years post-menopause, there were smokers, they had all kinds of pre-existing conditions.

There was no reason. That study was just flawed. The moment that came out, the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology and And that study was just flawed. And the moment that came out, the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology and the North American Metapol Society, which rules the coup when it comes to women's health, got scared that the truth would come out,

that it wasn't government money, but rather drug money. Drug money. Yeah, it is drug money. Right. Yep. So they took, they told everybody they're bad for you. They cause cancer, they cause heart attacks, strokes.

They cause like blood clots, whatever. And seven million, think about that number, seven million women were taken off their hormones instantly by these doctors who clearly didn't care enough. And the North American Menopause Society sent out a note because the doctors were like, so what are we supposed to do now? And the women were like, what am I supposed to do now?

They said, you should dress in layers and you should be in cool rooms because if you sweat, that's the way to take care of it. Just think about that. That's 2002. So that was disgusting actually. Wow. No words. So I was screaming. That was the way that we should deal with it. Yeah.

Just put extra layers on. Exactly. Because of hot flashes or whatever. Of course. Now listen to this one. 2011, there is an International Menopause Society conference in Italy, which I went to because it was in Italy. Right, right.

Let's be honest now, right? And there are all these researchers coming and talking about it and they're saying there's no class effect. What does that mean? That all estrogens are not the same, that all progestogens are not the same, testosterone are not the same. They're not the same if they're molecularly,

their molecules don't look the same. Did it cross the Atlantic? It didn't. We came back here, nobody was getting hormones, it was a mess. I was working with bioidentical hormones and I had written a book that came out literally in April. So I was at the right place in the right time.

What was that book called again? The Hormone Solution. Yeah, the Hormone Solution. And it was since we released, it's called The New Hormone Solution, but either one. And it was number two on Amazon. So all of a sudden I'm the expert. Right.

2013, the principal investigator, so all these academicians who had done this research on the study, came out in the medical journals like in JAMA and said that it didn't really matter if you're on the hormones, these hormones that they had been on, or not, all cause mortality was the same. So the study was flawed and it didn't prove anything. But guess what? The media didn't pick up on it. There was not one word in the media.

I wrote about it, but then again, I was screaming in the dark at the time. Right, right, right. And it was really horrible. So of course I've been taking care of women, giving them hormones forever, but then all this data started coming, showing that hormones were good for you, that they didn't cause cancer,

that they didn't cause blood clots, that bioidenticals or human identical hormones are fine. And not only that, you desperately need them. So the North American Metropole Society and ACOG were like, oh no, we can't do it, whatever. Slowly but surely they started moving in that direction, but now they went against compounding pharmacies because they weren't

FDA approved. Now they're FDA approved. You can get them anywhere you want. Anyway, and they tried to say, well, as low a dose as possible for a shorter period of time as possible. Now it's for as long as you alive, because I'm not going to stop the hormones so that I can dry up and die. Right. I'm not going to stop the hormones so that I can dry up and die. Right.

I'm not planning on it. So wait, back then then, so because what I even notice now, so let me just ask you some very poignant questions because what's happening is I feel like MDs, like doctors, like my gynecologist, for example, you know, they're reading these blood panels very differently than let's say a functional medicine doctor would, right? They're like, oh, your testosterone is fine. Even though it's so low, it's like five, right? They're like, you're fine. But if you go to a functional medicine doctor,

then they're like, oh no, you're really low. You need to be put on this, this and that. Why is it that actual MDs are still not on the bandwagon for hormones, but the functional medicine doctors and all these other HRT clinics are? Well, that's a good question, right? Yeah, thank you. Yes, so it's like this, the medical education, medical school has not changed an iota

since when I went to medical school 50, 60 years ago. Wow. Literally. Nothing has changed. So they, you know, and I used to interview people for, I was on the board of one of the medical schools in New York and I used to interview people to go to medical school and I never interviewed somebody who said, oh, I want to be rich, I want to be important,

I want to be arrogant, whatever the hell. They all wanted to heal. Four years later, they turn out to be assholes. They don't care. They don't care. They don't care. But they're following the same party line as 50 years ago because nobody told them that things have changed.

So that's why what you're getting is they have no idea about hormones. There's no education on hormones. So is it because also like this is what I, I, I have mentioned this before on this show and with my friends is that the, the, the medical system as we use, as we used to know it is so just broken, right? Like to get a doctor is almost impossible. It's literally almost impossible.

Like I don't even have it like a main doctor. Which actually might be better for you. Really? Well, let me tell you the problem I find, right? Every doctor becomes now a concierge doctor or they're the functional medicine doctors. And to see these doctors, there's a major price tag. So it's making people sick, right?

Because if you're somebody who is making like a modest income, you are screwed. There's nowhere to even go to even get proper advice. And if you're going to a doctor and you're someone who's hitting menopause or peri-menopause or whatever it is, they're not going to help you. They'll say, oh no, you're fine here, or maybe here, we'll give you this testosterone cream or something. But it's a very blunt way of dealing with people. No one's really tweaking and looking and changing and fixing.

You're getting a very, very sterile medical visit, right? Because people don't have, they don't have time for you. It's like onto the next one, unless you want to pay 20,000 a year, and then I will see you when you call me. That's literally what's happened to the medical industry. Yeah, at least. That's like literally you making it sound better. Oh, I'm trying to be polite. You know, you are, you are because that's what's happening because it's a mess. It's a disaster. And the reason it's a disaster is because nobody cares. Nobody cares. The doctors just care about getting it done.

They follow algorithms. They follow, you know, protocols. Let AI do that. But is it because there's too many patients and too few doctors, or is it because, or do you think it's because after a while people become really kind of desensitized to people who are sick?

Listen, it could be any of those things. Right, but you know what? It shouldn't be. Because if it is, like I said to you, you're better off with no doctor. So then what, okay, so then what would you have people do? If you have no doctor, then what? You figure out who you are. So the point is you figure it out.

I should be my own doctor? You're probably better off than getting an asshole who's not going to help you. Or misdiagnose me. Exactly. Because they're lazy. And I have a ton of them, situations like that, because I still see patients all the time. But this is the thing. So you better off, first of all, you know, and that's don't let your doctor kill you. The goal is how do we protect ourselves and how do we empower ourselves because nobody's

going to help us. And all these like, you know, media, whatever, social media, excellent, they have, you know, they have all the answers, they don't see patients. So what the hell are you going to do with that? Well, that was my other thing, right? The second someone has any blip of popularity, they all want to be, every doctor I meet wants to be famous. Can you imagine? They want to have followers. And then once they start like tracking on social media, the patients are then like just discarded basically. Couldn't you imagine? And they're just posting and they're going to speak at this conference

and they're going at this stage and they're like doing a sponsorship deal. Every doctor now is monetizing the fact that they're an expert and there's no doctors in the doctor's office. No. See the patients. Right. And you know what they're doing? They're's no doctors in the doctor's office. No. Seeing patients. Right. And you know what they're doing?

They're promoting whatever is paying them. Yes. And it's horrible. Horrible. This is why. That's why I came out. Well, this is why I want to know. Can you please?

I know. Well, how do we find, like, listen, how do you find a doctor? Well, what, okay, you're saying we have to be our own, our own. You have to start owning it. Our own medical advisor saying we have to be our own, our own, you have to start owning it. Our own medical advisor. You have to. So okay, so if you don't have the if you don't have the knowledge and the wherewithal, and if you just Google or chat GPT, you get a plethora of stuff that doesn't make sense.

So what is what is someone like, give me some tactile things that people should do to govern their own bodies then like that actually can work. Totally. Okay, your Totally. Okay. Your lifestyle. Okay. As you get older and you know, and I hate labels. I don't like pre-menopause, pre-menopause, post-menopause,

whatever, menopause, I hate that. Yeah. Because it's a continuum. From the time you go through puberty, till the time you close your eyes for the last time, it's a continuum. Yeah. Things change. We know that. So the better you close your eyes for the last time, it's a continuum. Things change. We know that.

So the better you know yourself, the more you address your lifestyle, the more likely you are to make life a continuum of health with small interruptions when you're sick. And that's my goal to teach you. So the point is you can take care of yourself by looking like as you get older, can't tolerate the same lifestyle that you had when you were young, your body can't, so you want to make your body feel better. So you need to sleep. But then when your hormones are out of whack, you can't sleep anymore.

Right. So there, that's when you need hormones. You know, you can exercise and you need to exercise because you want to maintain your muscle mass. Cause as we know, muscles are the currency of youth. You want to eat more protein and stop eating all the carbs and stop drinking all the alcohol because we can't process it anymore. Right.

And the thing is that this is just some of it. You can start meditating. If you don't wanna call it meditation, just sit there by yourself, call it anything you want, breathe. There are a million little things that will help you get yourself better. You know, I was gonna say one thing about exercise,

cause that's something I, to me, exercise is the fountain of youth beyond everything else, right? You could be doing... You could take every supplement, and you could be taking every hormone in the world, but if you're not exercising daily and lifting heavy weights as you get older and just moving your body, forget about it.

Or just walking, plain walking. Like, that's not overcomplicate stuff. You. Or just walking, plain walking. Like that's not over complicate stuff. You know, just go for a walk. Movement to me, there's nothing better. That's like the foundation. Everything else you can build from there. Right. Well, let me throw a little wrench in that one. Go ahead. If your hormones are out of whack and you feel like shit, you're not going to be able to get off the couch. You're not going to be able to exercise.

So then you're going to go like, okay, this is mother nature putting, taking me out. And I'm like, no, that's not mother nature taking you out. It's a moment when you can confront the fact that you can change it. Or when would you, when do you know, like when, if someone's sitting on a couch and they're super lethargic and they don't want to, they don't want to work out, they're having anxiety, they have depression or like, they're just like, they just have, they're lackluster, okay?

How do they, what's the, what's the correlation? Like truly give us like symptoms if it's not, like we all hear about what the symptoms are, are perimetapoly, you don't like the names, but like- You can use them, don't ignore me. No, no, but I use them. Don't ignore me. If I'm a medical advisor to my own body, which you are, which I should be, because you live there. I don't. Right. That's a good way of putting it. No doctor lives there. Right. How do we know? And how do we know if we

need estrogen, if it's progesterone, if it's testosterone, like what's the, or if it's even hormones at all? How do we know if actually we need hormones? You need hormones. How do you know? You know because estrogen keeps your brain, your heart, your bones, everything that falls apart as you get older is protected by estrogen.

Think about when you're full of estradiol, right? Your bones don't fall apart. Your skin looks nice. You have no wrinkles. Things look great. So that's estrogen. So that's, but you know what? It's not only one, they're all together.

Well, this is what my point is though. Like I, you know, people like, I have a lot of friends who are taking testosterone, right? But they're not taking estrogen or progesterone. And they need progesterone if they take testosterone. Is it a mistake just to take testosterone as a woman if you're not taking estrogen and progesterone? It may not be, depends on the person.

And remember, that's why I go back to the individual is like the key. Right. So it may not be, but testosterone should go with progesterone because testosterone does turn into estrogen in the body. So you wanna protect your uterus, not a problem, you're okay. But the thing is, you will know when you need hormones.

And I'll tell you how you know. You don't feel like yourself. It's like, in my case, an alien invaded my head. I am pretty even tempered. And suddenly I was like moody and I was like short. People complain about that a lot. Nobody thinks hormones. They'll give you an antidepressant. Antidepressant is the number one medication that they give women when they start going through the changes, then it's birth control pills. Now, birth control pills, they should get rid of them. I mean, if they were men,

we wouldn't have birth control pills. The problem is that they put you in a menopausal hormone state because they shut off your own hormone production. So if you do the blood. Birth control pills do. Yes. Or the IUD Mirena with a hormone,

the synthetic hormone in it, those things actually cause more problems than they solve. You know, they used to never give women over 35 birth control pills because in Europe they used to go through menopause with that. Now they give it to everybody. And then what happens? You still wind up with no hormones and you wind up in trouble. So the thing is, when you start not feeling like yourself, probably it's time to have your hormones checked. Ideally, in my world, I would want your hormones checked when you're not having problems. Because I'd like to know what your ideal hormone balance is. In the second half of the cycle, not the first one, because I'm not looking for your fertility level,

because there's more to you than just your fertility. Right. But we might never know that. And what happens is that I would like to know what your hormone levels are. So then as you start going through these not to be mentioned labels, your hormone levels start fluctuating.

So you'll have high estrogen one day, low estrogen another day. So if you give someone estrogen at that point, you'll create more problems because what's gonna happen is their boobs will start hurting, their periods are not coming right. So you want to actually know your patient, which is why you need to know yourself. You need to know who's sitting across from you

and you need to care about them. So how do they, so again, so if we're self-governing ourselves and we're finding all these things and we were talking about how doctors are kind of like checked out for the most part because of, you know, desensitization or lack there or too many people or bad education, whatever the reason is, how does someone find, okay, so now that they're self-governed and now they're like, okay, yes, I need hormones, where do they go? Do they go to, Because HRT clinics are popping up on every corner. Yeah. And that's where people are going. Right. Is that so is that not what people should be doing? You know what? It's better than not doing it. Okay, so that is something that you would suggest to do. I'd say once you know yourself, once you've adjusted your lifestyle, right? Yeah. Because

they're going to just give you hormones because they have the protocols, they'll follow protocols. Well, they also they want to make money. They're expensive. By the way, these things are not cheap. Well, right. So you have to make sure that they're doing the right thing. Well, that's what I'm saying.

How do you know, though? That's the thing. Well, you look at your lifestyle. So if you're not sleeping well or... No, no, no, let's move past that point. Like we're doing all those things now. Now we're sleeping well. Now we're like, oh, shit, no. Let's move past that point. Like we're doing all those things now. Now we're sleeping well. Now we're like, oh shit, I do need hormones.

Right. Now what do we do? Like now I call up doctor, doctor Smith. I go to see doctor Smith. Right. Dr. Smith is like, oh yeah, yeah, yeah. We'll get, we'll get your blood test and we'll, we'll do a blood test.

And then it says, yes, your testosterone is five. You're fine. Then that's Dr. Smith who was trained by, by the American college Obstetrics and Gynecology. So then where do I go? If you go and find, you know, whether it's called, you know, the problem is, you know, the problem is that functional, complimentary, integrative, wellness, anti-aging, longevity, everything means the same.

So that's the key. That's good to know. It's all just like, you know, it's like how Advil, Motrin, Aliv are all the same. Yes. Though I be prophet. Well, no, that's good. Can you talk about that a little bit? Yeah, of course. I think people are very confused.

Of course. Yeah, I am. So you go, well, I'll be happy to fix it. Thank you. But this is the thing. You have to find someone who has experience. That's the first thing. Yeah. That's why I came out.

Yeah. Because there's so many inexperienced people who are promoting themselves as experts who don't see patients. And that's not okay because you're not helping women. And you're actually kind of fueling the fire against hormones by getting the wrong doctors, the wrong providers. So it's very important that you find the right ones. So, you know, I teach at A4M, which is the American Academy of Anti-Aging

Medicine, which has hormone tracts and they teach them and they get them certified and they have some basic information. So go find one of those. There are a lot of those. But the thing is, if it's working, so let's say, okay, you've gone, you started, they're not going to sell you on too many supplements. You're lucky. They figured out that your hormones are low.

They'll give you hormones and you feel better. So you're lucky. If you don't feel better, just give it three months. If in three months, you're not back to your 35-year-old self, move on. What we have to understand is the relationships with doctors are the same as any other relationship. If it's a two-way street, it works. If it's a two-way street, it works.

If it's a one-way street, it's a dead end. So you don't want to be in a dead end. So if you feel better in three months, stay with it. If you don't feel better in three months, find someone else. And as you said, there's one on every street corner. There is. So let me ask you this. So when is HRT dangerous? Because they're so, they pop up everywhere.

If you're not with the right provider, can it be dangerous? Not really. So there's no way for it to be dangerous? You know, when I say something like this, don't push it to that end, right? Yes. Don't go that far. And now when I say something like this, don't push it to that end, right? Okay, okay. Yes. Don't go that far. I would say, chances are that if they're not giving you the right thing for you, it's not

going to work, which means it's not going to be enough. The formulation is not going to get absorbed. Don't do pellets. Your body does not absorb pellets. I was going to ask you about that. So she taught you're talking, Erica's talking about testosterone pellets. Your body does not absorb pellets. I was going to ask you about that. So she's taught you're talking, Erica's talking about testosterone pellets. Very popular. Yeah.

Very popular. Because they're promoted a lot of marketing for it. And you know what? And they're expensive. And you got to keep on getting them and doctors make a lot of money off of these stem, these testosterone pellets. And so they're pushing them. That's what a lot of these HRT doctors are doing, pushing these. And also like what happens, like you're going from zero to 60,

you put a pellet in your butt, it's like your testosterone goes from like 10 to 400. And there's nothing you can do about it. You can't like- No, you just have three months that it'll stay there. But this is the interesting thing. Your body releases hormones and pulses from your brain, your pituitary gland, sends pulses to your ovaries

to release hormones. So they're not there all the time. They come and go. When you put a pellet in, you're releasing hormones all the time. Not a good idea because you're going to keep on flooding your receptors on your cells with hormones and they're going to be like, screw it, I'm not interested in this anymore. So then you're going to dull your receptors and then people like me are going to wind

up having to clean up the mess by figuring out how to give you hormones that your body will actually accept. So no, if it's about money. That's actually a great point. So once you kind of screw around with your receptors like that, how can you fix them? If you like it, yes. So would you say then, what is the best, what's the best vehicle to get testosterone into your body? Injectable or creams. There's a new form, which is like sublingual, like a thing, which has not been studied enough,

which is new, that I would not endorse yet, but hopefully it will work. The problem with oral testosterone is, you know, it goes through your liver. The same as oral estrogen goes through your liver. Your liver is already over-toxic, right? From all this crap in our environment, right? So you want to protect your liver.

So if you can get the cream to get absorbed, by all means, do it. If you can get injections once a month, twice a month, that's fine. Remember, they come out in pulses. So you don't have to have it all the time. As long as you have it once in a while, you will protect it. Because remember, you're going to be doing strength training. So you're going to have muscles. So your muscles will protect you. What is your take on creatine? I love pre-creatine.

You do? Do you take creatine? Yeah, of course. Five grams twice a day, three times a day. So I take it too. And do you know anything about the whitewash, acid wash, all these different types of washes for creatine? Tell me about it. Well, no, I just feel like you gotta be,

from what I understand, you gotta be very, very careful of where you're getting your creatine from. Yeah, but I think you should be careful of where you get anything from. Yeah, 100%. So you're right. So I think that- I use Momentus, you guys, it's my favorite.

And that's just, it's called Momentus. It's like everything is triple party tested. Oh, I know, I actually got use momentous you guys, it's my favorite. And that's just it's called momentous. It's like they it's like everything is triple party. I actually got it because of you. Really? Yeah, I love that. Thank you. By the way, momentous, you hear that? Oh, third party tested, not triple party tested. Third party. I don't even know what I'm talking about. I was looking to be over your shoulder.

Yeah, no, I got it. I got it. I love it. Do you like it? It seems to be good. I mean, it's that there I got it because of it. I love it. Do you like it? It seems to be good. I mean, it's a... But there's like a lot of good ones. We have one at Evolve Science that they sell, which has great bioavailability.

Then there are like bulk nutrients, supplements that are good. There are a lot of good ones. And the way you know it, as you know, is you take the five grams, you put it in a little bit of water, not this much water, but like a little bit, you take it, and then all of a sudden your brain kicks in and you feel good so you know it's working. So that's what I wanted to ask you about it because a couple of things. Women are really scared of taking creatine.

Why? Because it's the same as the hormones. We've heard so much of it being like, oh, it's gonna bloat you and it's going to, it's a supplement that guys only take. Again, there's a lot of like rhetoric that's been around for like 30 years that people still kind of remember or heard in the past. And so it's kind of like tainted what the truth is, right?

But that's the one supplement that I think, I mean, listen, I'm no doctor, but I would think that you actually live in your body and you know better. Right. Or I play one on TV, right? No, but like, yes. But like, it's better than most of them. All right. No, thank you.

But I think if you want to like, if you want to like keep muscle on your body, yes, right. Correct. Creatine will help you with strength and with recovery. Exactly. But the other thing is what you with strength and with recovery. Exactly. But the other thing is what you just said is that brain fog. So that's why. That's why I said to you, because it's about bioavailability, right?

Yeah. And you want to make sure that you're not taking talcum powder, basically. Exactly. Right. And so that's the best test. You just take five grams, put it in a little bit of water, mix it because it dissolves immediately, then chug it down.

And if within five to 10 minutes you're like on, then you go, okay, this is working. That's a good, I see it, because I'm not a shake person. I don't really have shakes often. It's hard with shakes, you know, I do. And I start every morning with a shake. And then when you put the creatine in it,

it's like, okay, I have, I'm not so tall in there. I have whey protein. I start every morning with a shake. And then when you put the creatine in it, it's like, okay, I have imocitol in there. I have whey protein. I have all kinds of other stuff. How am I gonna know? So that's the best test. That's a great way of doing it. So, cause like, to your point, like,

well, you'd have so much, you have a shake every morning. I have a shake once in a while. So then like what people do is they don't take the proper supplement. Everyone puts everything in the smoothie. They put too much in the shakes. But then like what people do is they don't take the proper supplement, because everyone puts everything in the smoothie. They put too much in the shakes. But you were saying other things. What else do you think is important for people?

Like what supplements are you some that you swear by? Can I name you some and you just say which ones you think? What do you think of fish oil? I think it's great, but what kind of fish oil? Omega-3, omega-9 9, Omega 15, fatty 15. Oh, fatty 15. Fatty 15 is really good. Is it different than Omega 3's?

Yeah, they have the higher concentration. So they're great. Then there is plasmalogens, which is Omega 9, which work on the brain really well. So there, don't do omega 6, whatever you're doing. Don't do 6. So tell me what supplements then I won't do the game with you. Go for it. No, no, no, I want to- ADK, of course, D. I want you to say that the ones, the supplements that you think are the most important for

women to take as they hit menopause. How about forever? Or forever. Whatever, right. ADK, I have that as a combination because, you know, vitamin D, because it's about D, obviously, D is actually a hormone. It's not a vitamin. But it's a fat-soluble hormone. So if you take it ADK together, it gets absorbed better.

That's interesting. I always heard vitamin D take with K2, but I've never heard A. Yeah, it works great. So that's the formula I'm using at Evolve Science. I'm going to write that down. Okay, thank you. Next one. Okay.

Magnesium. Remember, magnesium is crucial. Now, there are a lot of types of magnesium. And, you know, citrate is great to make you poop. Right. But it's also muscle relaxant. You know, glycinate is great as a muscle relaxant. So I think combinations are great, but also, citrate is wonderful. You don't have to go too far. Can you do take magnesium citrate then in the morning and take, can you take magnesium? No, I only take it at night.

I only take it at night. Because people take magnesium glycinate to chill. But citrate won't make you chill. It might, but you know what? You can also take L-theanine, which is calm kind of thing, right? In the morning and that will help you calm down. Now anxiety, as you know, comes from hormones. So if your hormones are in balance, you're not going to be walking around with a knot

in the pit of your stomach. Really? You will need the cna. So tell me all the benefits then of hormones just so we have like a really good clip that I want to put up. Okay. Hormones are the foundation of everything because they're made in different cells in the body and they travel through the bloodstream and they affect every cell of every organ in your body.

So they're really important. And by hormones, I mean, you know, the sex hormones, estrogen, progesterone, testosterone, but I also mean insulin. I mean thyroid. I mean adrenal. There are a lot of hormones. They work together. So if your hormones are in balance, you stay young,

you stay useful, you have a brain, it affects your brain, it affects your sleep, it affects your ability to work out. You know, I put libido in there because it's important, obviously, and I wrote a whole book about it. Of course you did. Right? But it was like trying to show people that intimacy

and sexuality are not the same at all ages. And as you go through life, things change. Yeah, that's important. And it's important, so it works. But anyway, so all of these, everything, everything, the clarity of thought, your appetite. You know, we have GLP-1s now. Everybody's taking GLP-1s. If your hormones are not in balance, the GLP-1s are going to be just another fad diet. Really?

Of course. So what happens, because you're right, it's such a fad, right? Everyone's taking these GLP-1s. And they all look like bubble heads. What do you think about this whole thing? Yeah. Listen, I've been working with them for five years because I teach peptides a day for them too.

Oh, you do? Yes. So I've learned a lot. I know peptides pretty well and we use a lot of peptides, but GLP ones are great. But you know what? They're great in context, like everything else. When you lose weight, like let's say you're 50 pounds overweight, not happening here.

No, not here, not here. 50 pounds overweight. So you made the muscle to carry those 50 pounds of fat. I mean, 50 pounds of overweight, not fat. So you have more muscle than you think, right? Because you have to carry it, because you're carrying the weight. Like resistant training, like it's more to carry.

Whatever, no, you know what? No, it is because you're carrying so much extra-panded. Exactly, no, you're right. It's like resistance, exactly. So then you start doing GLP-1, and you start dropping the fat, but you're also dropping the muscle. And while you're dropping the muscle, then you're also dropping the muscle. And while you're dropping the muscle,

then you know what happens, everything else falls apart. Then your metabolic rate, which is crucial, goes down. So now all of a sudden, you look like a bobblehead and you feel like crap. The only way to prevent that is to have your hormones balanced first. And the way I say it is we treat people in layers. So the treatment starts with the hormones. If your hormones are in

balance, then I can give you GLP ones, then I can give you supplements, then I can give you peptides, then I can send you to workout, then I can do a lot of things because you have the foundation. So hormones are the foundation. They are. Yeah. They really are. And I wish I could say they're not, but I learned it over 30 plus years of doing it. And so how does, so for example, do you treat men as well?

Of course, half the practice is men. Oh, half the practice is men. So if men have low testosterone, what are some symptoms beyond the ones that we think of, like low libido, their strength is, you know, injuries. Depression. Is depression? Yeah, you know what?

When they get older and they stop losing their macho thing, they wanna go do things, and they just sit on the couch, back to the couch. Right, back to the couch. Back to the couch, That's low testosterone. They don't go to the gym. They're not interested. What if they do go to the gym? I think a lot of guys do go to the gym. I know and they're trying so hard and they're like stepping with the on the gas with the, you know, gas tank empty. So that's really bad because that brings me to one thing, you know, the whole thing

with prostate cancer and testosterone was one report in 1939 by one doctor by the name of Huggins who reported a patient with prostate cancer with high testosterone. And that took over the whole urology idiocy. And to this day, they're still not gonna give testosterone to men. And in 2007, the Sky Morgan-Taller, who was the head of urology at Harvard, did a whole review, like a total study review

of every study ever conducted and proved that there was no connection between prostate cancer and testosterone and nobody talked about it. But what about if I heard that if someone has cancer that runs in their family and they're more susceptible or prone to maybe breast cancer or any type of whatever kind of cancer, hormones can't activate that? Is that false? It's false. Because hormones are not going to activate things. If you do genetic testing, which is a complete waste of time, because if you remember, we spend billions of dollars on genome

testing and we still running, I mean, if you go to a functional medicine doctor, they'll do genome testing and they'll tell you, oh, you know, there are three genetic diseases we know about and the rest of them are, oh, you know, your gene could be activated and might increase the risk. When I hear the word might, I run away. And the thing is, genes will get activated.

It's our lifestyle. If we're eating our microplastics in the air, and if we're eating the hormone-treated cow, we are going to increase the risk of cancer. The thing is, instead of running and saying, oh my God, I don't want to get cancer, maybe we change it and we make it. I want to live the healthiest life possible

for as long as possible, instead of running from doctor to doctor to doctor looking for what? So what do you think of functional medicine doctors? What's your take? They're fine. If they know what they're doing and they have experience and they care about you, anybody's fine. You know what I don't like?

I tell you, what I don't like is when you go to a doctor and they'll say to you, you say, oh, I want testosterone. No, you can't have it, it'll give you cancer. When somebody says that, what it means to me is they don't know anything about it and they're not listening to you. So that's the dead end street.

Out the door, next. Right, so you're all about like really, your whole thing is like picking practitioners, doesn't matter what type of doctor, what type of, but someone who you feel genuinely cares. And sees you. And is seeing you. And listens to you.

And is telling you like, people come to me and tell me stuff. Like you said about whitewash. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. What was the club? I'm going to look it up. Cause it's going to, I think I said it wrong and I'm like, don't worry about it. But this, the point, there's a point to that. Curious. Yeah. Go ahead. This is the thing. Yeah. Go ahead. There's a lot of stuff I don't know. And all I have to say is I don't know because the moment I say, I don't know my credibility has gone up with you. You respect me, you know I care about you. I'm not going to bullshit you with my ego.

I'm not putting my ego first. I'm putting you first. So that's how you judge your doctor. Because you're special though. A lot of people, like we were saying, like you're a unique person. That's why Tammy, who said that in the first place. But I have to say it's become a monetization. Also, the truth of the matter is like people like it's expensive. Most doctors are not taking insurance. The good ones are not taking insurance. I can bet you if I went to your

office, you're a fortune. I bet you're a fortune. There's no way that you're taking my Blue Cross, Blue Shield for free. No. And you know what? I tell you why. Okay. There's no way that you're taking my blue cross blue shield for free. No. And you know what? Why? I tell you why. Okay. I never took insurance because I tell you what, but I'll tell you why. Okay.

And it makes sense because we, as in you and me, should change that whole insurance EDC because I didn't take insurance because I didn't want anybody else between you and me, I didn't want anybody else between you and me. I didn't want the malpractice lawyer there. I didn't want the insurance there. I didn't want anybody there. It's a nightmare. It's between you and me.

So that's, you know, now it's AI was deciding if you should have whatever the hell you're having. You know what I mean? Yeah. It's disgusting what's going on. But people say stupid things because they don't know any better. They'll say, well, the insurance will cover this. And they don't understand that.

That means you and I are paying for it. Right. So no, what you want to do is say, no, I want, you know, like the end of life is the most expensive part of healthcare. All the young people are paying for the expenses of end of life, which is total bullshit because we're going to die anyway. That's right.

So what are we talking about? We have to change the system. If we don't change the system, we're doomed. Yeah, I agree with you. Okay, there are a couple other supplements I want to ask you about. All right, the supplements. We didn't finish them. We didn't. Okay. Quercetin. Is that something that we should be taking? And what does it do? No? Not necessarily. It's okay. But no.

CoQ10? CoQ10, yes. CoQ10 is great. CoQ10 helps with energy production at the cellular level. So now everybody's talking about cells, everybody's talking about mitochondria. Yeah. And that's a great supplement. CoQ10 is great. Cause I take for the cellular health, I take Trunijagen NAD.

Do you take that? Yeah, and I work with NMNs, which you're right, Trunijagen's good one. Wait, you work with NMN? You should be off of the show. No, it's okay. I'm joking. Why?

Well, no, because I thought NR is a precursor. It makes it yourself. NMN, yeah, it is. Because you're gonna take NMN has to convert into NR. So isn't it better just to take NR, which is Trunajan? If it actually converts. So if it converts, you're lucky. If it doesn't convert, NMN's kind of better

because it's more likely to convert in more people. Really, why? Mm-hmm. And you know, because of the way it's made, really, the way they make it. Oh, really? That's all it is, yeah. And you know what?

We give NAD shots in the office. Yeah, it's a big one. They love it, but not IV. Make sure you tell them, not IV. IV, NAD, doesn't work. It's painful. You feel like you have an elephant sitting on you. Right. Well, it takes a long time. It takes three, five hours to get it in. And then by the time it comes out, by the time you walk away, it's out. So you want something that stays. So we do like subcutaneous in your skin.

Does that work though? People like it. Yeah, but does it work? I don't know. See, this is the thing. Like I'm not overall like vitamin IVs, right? It's a huge business, right? We have it. We do it.

Everybody does, right? But these IVs like, I don't know, like I feel like you're putting all this liquid into your body. You pee it out in two seconds. You sit there, you've spent all this money, you've spent all this time, and then it's poof, it's gone. Interesting. Let me give you another piece of it.

So IVs used to be what you get when you go to the emergency room and you have debt, right? Then all of a sudden somebody got the idea, like maybe we can keep people healthy with IVs. And then we started growing it. And so if it's the right stuff in it, it'll help, but not for hangovers because people use it for hangovers. Yeah, exactly. And the hydration and things like that.

Exactly. But if you use it consistently for immune boosting, for when you travel, for anti-inflammatory, they work beautifully if you put the right things in them. They do. So is that just another one of these myths that you are just pissing them out two seconds later because they're putting all this liquid,

like people get these vitamin C things, right? And my mom would always say, why are you doing that? It's a waste. She's also like, she's a nurse, but she's like, you're just gonna pee it out. Yeah, she's like, it's a conventional mode. Yeah, she's like, you could, you're just gonna pee it out anyway, right?

So you're saying that it depends on like what the scenario is. Yeah, and I think that I look at what we do with the IVs and I look at what I do with IVs and I say, they actually work if you do it right. So there's something else that you said, okay, let's go, I'm going to circle. I'm going to go right back to those NAD IVs. I could not agree with you more. However, actually TrueNiogen put out an NR IV. Have you heard of this? No.

So their IV is except like this is like super potent, very potent, and it takes 30 minutes to get into your body. Does that make a difference? You should try it. If it works. I interviewed for A4M, where I run the podcast there, the founder of True Niantgen. Oh, wait, hold on. Is it Charles Brenner? Yeah. He's the scientist, right?

Yeah, he's the scientist. So he sold me on the whole thing, obviously. Right, right. I bought the whole thing. I did it. I didn't do the IV. So yeah, it happens to be a good product. It sounds like a good product. Why not?

Right. So, no, I'm asking, I want to know legitimately, right? Because there's so- No, the data behind it is good. The thing is like, okay, so how about NAC? Have you heard of NAC? Of course, N-Acetyl-Cysteine is amazing. It's great for your brain, it's great for your lungs, it's great for everything.

And I use it regularly, funny that you mention it. I use it in the morning and at night. When somebody has a cold and they cough and their lungs are not okay, the moment you give it to them, they heal. You don't have to give them cough medicine. Really? So I've been taking it every day.

Is that, is that okay? Because does your body get used to it? Yeah. I used to, if you're taking a supplement for too long. Yeah. The body gets used to it. So I like drug hormone supplement holidays to give your body time to reset and then say, oh, I want this again.

Right. So I do that. How long should the vacation be? Depends on what it is. Like when you finish with a bottle, skip the next bottle for a week or two. Really? Yeah. Or like cycle it because yeah, your body gets used to it.

Yeah. And you don't want it to be used to it. You want it to be like, oh yeah, I like this. It's like now I'm traveling, right? So I'm traveling all week. So I have my AM and my PM pack and I put whatever I'm taking in there. So I'm gonna take the most because I don't wanna get sick.

I want my immune system to be top, right? I gotta have a brain for you. Right, of course. I ask hard hitting questions there. Right, right. So there, like I'll take a lot of them. Then I'll go home and I'll be like, okay, you can chill out.

Okay, so then tell me what you do every day. What's your, you say you take your AM ones and your PM. What do you do AM and what do you do PM? All right, so AM, what do I do? I do some vitamin C. I take vitamin C because you know what? Linus Bowling got a Nobel Prize for a reason. I don't take huge doses, but I take about a thousand milligrams twice a day.

How do you take it? Oral. Which one? Which one did you say? Oh, you know what? The ones I use is allergy research is the one I like. I'm going to ask you about one that my friend is taking. He just actually sent it to me. Yeah, totally. He asked me to find out about it.

He's like on top of his stuff. So, okay, so this is what it was. And I'm like, I never heard of it, but it's like a vitamin C type. Is it liposomal or something? Yeah, you just said it. Liposomal, you know what? That's like a gimmicky thing for absorption,

that it's better absorption. Yeah, so what do you call it? Liposomal. That's exactly what it is. Right, so it gets absorbed better supposedly. I'm not. It's not true? No, it's more expensive.

It's more expensive. So someone just takes a thousand, you take a thousand milligrams of vitamin C. Okay, what else? So you take an A? Yeah, then when I travel, I take defense, which is lactoferrin. Lactoferrin is actually an immune booster that your body makes. It's part of your body and you can't find it very often.

We have it and, um, you know, they, uh, practice has it and it's great. Do you know what? Acanasia and all that other shit. No, this one works really well. And I've been using it since like, God only, BC. Really? Yeah, and it really, only when I travel. Okay, what's the other ones? Let's see, what else do I take?

Cocutane, creatine. Yeah. What else do I take in the morning? In the morning, I take the NMNs, right? Because of the NAD thing. Then I take a peptide, it's called TB4 frag, which is a peptide that's an immune boosting peptide. How is it? How you take it? It's oral? Oral. No, everything I'm taking is oral. I don't do any shots when I go anywhere. No,

no. Okay. And now, you know, there's a lot of debate with the injectable, with the FDA involved and all of that. So I'm not really interested in that. Let's see, what else do I take in the morning? That's it, that's it. How about at night?

At night I take the 80K. Okay. I take the- Oh, you take vitamin D at night? Yeah, but I can take it in the morning, it's fine. I take Prodromglia, which is the Omega-9, which is, oh, in the morning I take the Fatty 15. And you take another type of Omega at night?

Yeah, because Omega-9, which is Prodromglia, actually helps you sleep beautifully. I've never heard that. Listen to this one. There's another one called Apigenin, which is from Chamomile, and that helps you sleep well too. Really? Okay.

Are you taking that? I take that. Yeah, I have it. I'm thinking of the pack. Yeah, of course. What I have in that pack. And then what else do I take? The magnesium, the defense.

What? I think that's it. Is there a blood test so people can take them to see if they should be taking these? Because instead of just giving people lists of things, like you know yourself, right? Because you're a doctor. I sure hope so.

No, no, no. It's not because I'm a doctor. I was going to say, I want to correct myself. Please. Because you know your body, you're paying attention. Yeah, I've been there a long time. You've been like your own advocate. Everyone should be their own advocate.

I know that's what I understand. But instead of just like giving, not you, but instead of people just taking a ton of different stuff, is there a blood test so people can actually see what they're deficient in when these are things that are a little bit more, you know, a little more unique. Yeah, right. You know what?

There are a lot of blood tests. Most of them are to make money off of you. They're not gonna teach you anything. Which ones should people, which blood tests should people take? Oh, probiotics. Oh yeah, okay. I knew there was something else.

Okay. You know what? I'll do like B12 level, folic acid level, iron level. You know, then I look at inflammation. So like CRP, C-reactive protein, homocysteine, sedimentation rate. So I'll look at what I could treat, what I can make sure I minimize. I don't want inflammation, obviously. Right.

Who does? No kidding. Isn't inflammation, that's how everything gets... Yeah, and everybody's taking ibuprofen, motrin for it. As if that's gonna help you, that'll put a hole in your stomach. Right. Take some probiotics, take some digestive enzymes.

So when do people take digestive enzymes? Because I think it's confusing. Before meals, you know, before big meals, because they have the enzymes, right, to help your liver and your gallbladder. So you take that and some people swear by it. I know, that's what I was asking you. Oh my God, they love them.

So how do we know if you need one? I don't take it. You don't take it? No, I don't get heartburn. I don't get any problems, so then we're fine. You don't need to take it. Yeah, I mean, you gotta look at what's going on, right? How about bloating?

Bloating is hormonal. Bloating is hormones. Well, it can't be because I get bloated. I've been like maybe like too much. Like everything. I like been, I've been getting bloated since I was like 20, 19, 18. So that's hormonal. No, it's because I love to eat food.

It's called eating too much. So I like to eat food. No, I eat a lot. I eat a lot too. I eat a ton of like volume is my thing. I can, I have to like eat volume. Is it fiber? Like you're eating 30 grams of fiber? I'll eat like a salad, like my friends and family say it,

it's like a trough. Like I'll have a bowl of salad that's like this and I just like, literally I can be eating, I can eat out of it for an hour. God bless you, what's wrong with that? I get bloated from it. So then do I need a digestive enzyme from it? Try it, see what happens.

Try it, always. Try it, if it works. By all means, if it doesn't work, get rid of it. What probiotic does your people take? Depends. Like, you know, their probiotics are candida and like, you know, saccharomyces, bulardi, whatever, if you have candida. But there's some, if it is, they're basic probiotics that help, that work really nicely. You can also drink like, you know, the brine from sauerkraut and kimchi and all of that. I hate that stuff.

I know it's very popular. I'm just saying it. I know. Just saying it. I don't do it, but I like actually sauerkraut because I'm from Eastern Europe. I know you are, of course. That's why. Okay, I'm sorry.

Okay, so basically, you gave me a great list of, okay, so all these supplements. Okay. Your book is called yet again. Do you want to say your title of the book? Sure. Okay. Say the title. We can do another podcast. Yeah, anytime. Don't let your doctor kill you. God no, please don't. Please don't. Please don't. Erica, I'm so glad that you came on. I am thrilled. When I saw that it was you. I was like, this is heaven. This

is so, I'm so happy to see a house. I'm like, it's her house. I know it's by the way. Yeah. Well, cause this is where I do my little thing. My little podcast in a basement. So cool. Thank you. You're beyond cool. Oh my God. And I love it. And I want to see your new Ted talk. I'm very excited about that. Okay. So I'll send it to you after. Send it to me. I mean, I got, I'm so excited. And your book, I mean, everything. You're so good. You're so good. Listen, I didn't pay her. Oh, my God. You're so sweet. Thank you. Women should support each other. If women got it. There are, you know, that's a whole other podcast we should be doing. Yeah, we should. Everyone, Dr. Erica Schwartz, besides the book, where can people find you?

Dr. Erica Schwartz. Yes. D-R-E-R-I-K-A-S-C-H-W-A-R-T-Z on Instagram. There you go. And if you are living in New York, are you accepting new patients? We have like three other doctors. They don't have to have me. Okay, they don't have to have you.

But yes, I am. But to answer your question, there is an answer. Yes. This is what I like about you. This is a doctor that's actually a doctor that's seeing patients. Yes. Do you have time? Well, how else am I going to know what's going on?

What? How else? Hallelujah. Thank you. And you know what? I'm not here to endorse or become an influencer. I want to tell the truth because I have the experience I've been doing for 30 years. And that's the thing.

That's why you're like a trusted source. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. My God. Thank you. You're welcome.

Thank you. Bye. Bye.