Episode 110
Lorraine Maita, MD:
Dr. Lorraine Maita, a triple board certified physician specializing in hormone balance and detoxification, joins us in this podcast to discuss the fascinating connection between autoimmunity, hormones, and detoxification.
In this episode, we dive deep into the impact of hormone imbalances, the role of toxins, and the importance of bioidentical hormone replacement therapy for overall health and well-being.
First Aired on: Oct 23, 2023
Episode 110
Lorraine Maita, MD:
Dr. Lorraine Maita, a triple board certified physician specializing in hormone balance and detoxification, joins us in this podcast to discuss the fascinating connection between autoimmunity, hormones, and detoxification.
In this episode, we dive deep into the impact of hormone imbalances, the role of toxins, and the importance of bioidentical hormone replacement therapy for overall health and well-being.
First Aired on: Oct 23, 2023
Table of Contents:
In this episode:
Thank you for joining us in this episode as we explore the fascinating connection between autoimmunity, hormones, and detoxification with Dr. Lorraine Maita. Make sure to tune in to the full podcast episode to gain further insights and knowledge on this important topic.
Here is what you’ll learn from this interview:
Here is what you’ll learn from this interview:
The Connection Between Autoimmunity and Hormones
- We explore the correlation between autoimmunity and hormone imbalances
- The role of toxins in exacerbating hormonal issues
- Personal experiences leading Dr. Maita to study and help others with hormone imbalances
The Impact of Hormone Therapy and Autoimmunity
- Personal experience of improved mood, sleep, and well-being with progesterone
- Emphasis on considering hormones as a crucial factor in addressing health issues
- The connection between hormones and autoimmunity, particularly the role of estrogen in increasing antibody production
Hormonal Shifts and Autoimmune Disorders in Women
- Postpartum as a high-risk period for the development of autoimmune diseases in women
- The influence of estrogen and hormonal changes in triggering autoimmune disorders during various life stages
- The importance of balancing hormones to prevent autoimmune disorders and other health issues
- The impact of toxins with estrogenic effects on hormone levels
The Inflammatory Effects of Estrogen and the Role of Detoxification
- The inflammatory effects of estrogen and the anti-inflammatory effects of progesterone
- Identifying sources of toxins in our daily lives, including air, food, water, and household items
- The importance of continuously detoxing by reducing toxin exposure through lifestyle changes
- Managing stress, trauma, toxins, and infections to prevent autoimmune disorders
- The significance of making choices and being flexible rather than striving for perfection
- The role of constipation in hormone intolerance
The Role of Bowel Movements and Detoxification
- The importance of regular bowel movements in eliminating toxins and excess estrogen from the body
- How a backed-up system can lead to various health problems
- The significance of magnesium, fiber, water, and probiotics in promoting bowel regularity
- The impact of a healthy gut microbiome and the role of the gallbladder in detoxification
Maintaining a Healthy Microbiome and Improving Gallbladder Health
- The connection between what we eat and the health of our microbiome
- The significance of bitter foods, monounsaturated fats, and fiber for proper bile flow and gallbladder health
- Discussing the benefits and safety of hormone replacement therapy, particularly bioidentical hormones
Myths and Truths About Hormone Therapy
- The flaws of the Women’s Health Initiative study and its outdated practices
- The need to assess individual risks and determine the suitability of hormone therapy based on circumstances
- The benefits of hormone therapy beyond addressing menopause symptoms, including lowering the risk of fractures and dementia
- The potential of avoiding surgeries like hysterectomies or breast biopsies through hormone therapy
Hormones and Relationships
- The impact of hormones on relationships and the transformations witnessed through hormone treatment
- The difference between synthetic hormones and bioidentical hormones
- Addressing misconceptions and understanding the safety and benefits of hormone therapy
- The connection between hormone therapy and heart health
Overall Health and Quality of Life
- The importance of taking care of overall health, not just for women with a uterus
- Doctors recognizing the benefits of hormone therapy for patients' quality of life
- Understanding that hot flashes can indicate underlying health issues
- Emphasizing the role of a positive attitude and personal commitment in driving positive change
- Highlighting the “Feel Good Again Institute” as a resource for further information
- Invitation to visit the show’s website for more resources, tools, and information
Other Resources:
Connect with Lorraine Maita, MD
Episode Transcript
Julie Michelson: [Page//00:00:00] Welcome back to the inspired living with autoimmunity podcast. I'm your host, Julie Michaelson. And today we're joined by Dr. Lorraine Maita, the hormone harmonizer and detoxifier.
Dr. Maita specializes in helping you have boundless energy, stable moods, a lean body, sharp, clear mind, balanced hormones and a healthy libido so you can feel like yourself again.
She is a triple board certified physician, writer, author, [Page//00:01:00] speaker, and award winning physician as well. In today's conversation, we're talking about the connection between autoimmunity and hormones and the role that toxins play. Dr. Maita shares about the importance of bioidentical hormone replacement therapy to support health and well being and to avoid aging like a dried raisin.
Dr. Maita, welcome to the podcast.
Lorraine Maita: Thank you so much for having me. I really love to help people and educate people on what I've been studying for almost a lifetime. It seems.
Julie Michelson: Well, we are grateful that you're going to share that wisdom with us. And I always love, and I know the audience loves to learn like, Hey, how did you, you know, you're, you're a very well known physician, you're successful, but what got you into this hormone detox? You know, why that specialty?
Lorraine Maita: [Page//00:02:00] I have several stories. I'll make them short. But when I was working in the emergency room in Midtown in Manhattan in New York City, I developed TB and I was on antibiotics for nine months. I had, I was a giant yeast ball. I had candida up the wazoo. I was losing my hair. I developed sensitivities to food.
I was gaining weight. I was getting rashes. I was tired. I was completely miserable. We, you know, this was way back in the eighties. So we didn't talk about things then, right? We didn't talk about probiotics then. And I was traditionally trained, even though I've since a child, I studied supplements and natural medicine.
So I did seek out someone and, you know, within three months, I'm, I'm better. I did the whole gut healing, I'm better. And then, when I was in a company and I treated, I was part of occupational health and wellness and [Page//00:03:00] a senior women, woman executive came down to me. And that was when, at that time, there were so few.
And she came down and she said
Julie Michelson: like physicians.
Lorraine Maita: Yeah, I mean, I remember, I mean, this is a company of 120, 000 people, and there are, I think, six, six women in high level positions, so when one of them walks into my office and said, you have to help me, I was like, yeah, I could, like, Bring you back to life. You had an attack or something, you know, and I could treat your infection.
But she said I was up giving a lecture and all of a sudden I started breaking out in a hot flash and sweats and I lost my words and the men in the audience were either elbowing each other, snickering or like they're casting their head down in shame. Like I don't want to see this. And she said, I, how am I going to be taken seriously?
So that's when I went on a mission to study hormones
Julie Michelson: That's motivating.
Lorraine Maita: and then [Page//00:04:00] fast forward. It was around the time of 9-11 and, you know, I, I used to live across the street from the world trade center. And, you know, the company I was working for was going through tremendous change and not only did I have issues with my mother being ill, my brother being ill, people I knew died in that horror.
I was losing it. I noticed friends told me my personality changed and my periods were irregular. I was irritable. I couldn't sleep. I was losing my hair. I was gaining weight. I didn't feel like myself anymore and I just, I thought it was all the stress of 9 11 and the stress in the company and I actually left my job to just take care of my mother and brother.
And once I realized, I said, you know what? I treat people for hormone imbalances. Maybe that's what it is. And you know what? I gave myself progesterone. It was like, that was it. That was it. I mean, there were the stressors were [Page//00:05:00] still there, but I coped better. I got to sleep. My personality went back to its bubbly self.
And, you know, it was pretty awful when I used to walk into a room and everybody would scatter. Cause they didn't know like, what kind of mood is she in today? And, you know, I, that a lot for my patients. So that's when I just, I even doubled down and I said, you know what, I have to do this full time, you know, I'm not, I, you know, I, and do it my way, even though I did, you know, functional medicine since 1992.
And I had the pleasure of meeting Jeff Bland at the MindShare conference. And I told him, I still have my, my diploma. And he said, that was the very first IFM course he ever did. So I'm his first grad student.
Julie Michelson: That's, that's special. That's really special. That's amazing. Yeah. So this is not a new, new thing for you. Um, but it [Page//00:06:00] is always funny how sometimes it takes us a while to remember to do for ourselves what we're doing for other people.
Lorraine Maita: no. Like laughing at myself like how come I didn't think of that but you know there was so much going on and, and that's what people that's why I'm here educating people because you have to make that connection and it you know it's a slap in the face for me to do it but you know the more you are exposed the more you, you know, you start going through your checklist.
Is this, could it be this? Could it be that? Could it be this? You know,
Julie Michelson: Yeah. Anybody listening to this, you, the hormones has to be on your list with a question mark, you know, could it be, is it, so, um, let's, or is there, I don't want to cut off your story
Lorraine Maita: No, no, I mean, the story has a happy ending. I'm like, I'm happy. I'm healthy. I went to my reunion with one of my friends who's a patient and we, we looked at each other and [Page//00:07:00] we said, Oh, my God, everybody else looks so much older, you know, but we take, it's not just hormones.
It's the whole package. You know, you have to. You know, I have some people just give me the hormones. I don't want to do the diet. I don't want to, you know, but it's the whole package and I feel I feel as good as I did in my, you know, at a younger age. I don't even tell my age.
Julie Michelson: you should, you should brag. I say, I tell all the time. I see. I didn't
Lorraine Maita: right. All right.
I'll tell you. I'm 67 and going strong.
Julie Michelson: Holy cracker jacks. Wow.
Lorraine Maita: Yeah.
Julie Michelson: I mean, literally you look 35. That's amazing. But it, you can tell, you feel. That way, you know, it's yeah, I, I'm in my mid fifties. I feel, I feel younger than I did it in my thirties, you
Lorraine Maita: Yeah. And everybody said, when are you going to retire? I said, I'm not going to retire. I love what I do. I love seeing transformations and, and people feeling, you know, they all say, I got my life back or I feel like [Page//00:08:00] myself again. And I, I know from personal, what I went through that it's transformative. It's totally transformative.
Julie Michelson: it is. It is unbelievable. I was estrogen dominant, didn't know it and never heard those words, right. I didn't have high estrogen, but I, I had all the things and just that little bit. Of progesterone way back when literally life, life changing. And I wasn't even at the bad end of the spectrum as far as hormonal symptoms, but I was full blown auto immune I, you know, I had all the things and, and so, um, I would love to maybe even get listeners to lean in a little, a little more.
And what is this connection between hormones and auto immunity?
Lorraine Maita: Well, it's our X chromosome. As women, we have more antibodies. The more antibodies you [Page//00:09:00] have, the more they could go awry. So even, and it has something to do with the X chromosome. Estrogen, estrogen will make more antibodies than that's the most likely scenario when people go through autoimmune disorders.
I always, when, when someone comes to me with an autoimmune disorder, I always ask them, Trace back, what happened the time before that? What's going on with you? You know, we, we evolved to have more antibodies to keep our newborns safe. Right. So the most likely time you're going to develop an autoimmune disease is postpartum.
And the more pregnancies you have, you're the more likely you're to develop an autoimmune disorder. If you have the genetic predisposition, right? I mean, I had every recipe for developing an autoimmune disorder. I don't have one and I'm grateful for that, but I had all the hormonal symptoms.
So estrogen makes more [Page//00:10:00] immune cells. Women as a whole have more immune cells, and that tends to trigger autoimmune disorders. And what I see is whenever women go through hormonal shifts or hormonal changes, that's when it occurs.
Sometimes puberty, some current puberty, postpartum, perimenopause, postmenopause, all the piece. So those are the times when women are most likely to have it because we go through big hormonal shifts. I mean, that's the one thing men don't have and it's not as dramatic in men. They have their shifts, but in women it can be a wild roller coaster ride.
And what it does to our bodies is, you know, pretty significant, and they've shown that lupus occurs more often post puberty. Psoriasis will decrease around menopause and if it will increase around menopause and if you're taking [Page//00:11:00] hormone replacement therapy, it will calm it down, and rheumatoid arthritis happens when your periods are all over the place irregular especially perimenopause.
So this is why balancing your hormones, keeping the hormones level, keeping them stable, keeping things in balance and estrogen in a kind of nice sweet spot is so important for not just autoimmune disorders, but for just about everything. I mean, listen, we all complain to the same things in midlife. We're gaining weight.
We can't think we're moody. We're anxious. It's hormones have a very potent, very, very potent effect on the brain.
Julie Michelson: That's why women are way outnumber men for Alzheimer's and dementia. Same thing. I don't know, but this hormones are, are such a big
Lorraine Maita: Huge.
Julie Michelson: piece. I wish we had five hours because
I would want, I want to talk about all the things that are impacting [Page//00:12:00] the hormones too.
I want to touch on it lightly because this is what you do, right? It's not just hormones. Like yes, we're, we're women. We have more antibodies, all those things, but why, and you know, I even was, we're talking about the men as well. Right. Right. So what is Going on that, that people's hormones seem because it's all, you can't isolate.
It's not the one thing.
Lorraine Maita: No, it's not the one thing. And what I noticed in my practice, you know, I've been practicing over 40 years, young men work in their thirties. We're coming in with big boobs and big bellies. Women were entering puberty earlier. And like, what's that all about? Well, toxins we're exposed to almost 200 toxins per day.
And a lot of them have estrogenic effects. So that estrogen dominance, not only do you have estrogen dominance from your own estrogen and progesterone dropping. So what estrogen dominance. is for in case your [Page//00:13:00] audience doesn't know is estrogen, estrogen is high in relation to progesterone.
So your, your estrogen could be high. It could be normal.
It could be low, but if progesterone, there's not enough progesterone to balance it, you're estrogen dominant. So you're going to have more of the dominant effects of estrogen: excitability. I call it the hormone of energy and growth. And so too much energy is anxiety, irritability, impatient, snappy behavior, insomnia, growth of the breast, cysts of the breast, tender breast, bleeding, spotting, weight gain around the hips, the eyes and breasts, you know, and fluid retention.
So those are the inflammation. Yes. Estrogen can be very inflammatory. Progesterone can be very anti inflammatory. But you add toxins, and you can't get away from them. It's in our air. It's in our food. It's in our water. It's in our clothing. It's in our furniture. It's in our carpeting. It's in our draperies.
It's in just about [Page//00:14:00] everything. And I tell my patients, we have to be in a continuous state of detox, where you lower the amount of toxins coming in by starting to choose, you know, filter your water, drink clean water, eat the dirty dozen organic, you know, start looking as you run out of personal care and cleaning products, look for safer, cleaner products, because, you know, women, women have apply a lot more product than men.
And our makeup, our hair products, our skin creams, our serums, all this, all that there, a lot of them are not so good for you. So,
Julie Michelson: Yeah.
Lorraine Maita: Scents are a big deal
Julie Michelson: Yeah. And so, and I, I like to say, cause it is always, it can be really overwhelming and depressing when we start to talk about where we're exposed literally everywhere. But what you're talking about is reducing the burden, right? [Page//00:15:00] There is no, nobody's ever going to be toxin free. It's, I love that you said, you know, you have to constantly be working on detox and reducing that burden.
And I love the, the particular things that you mentioned, because my approach is the, you know, if we make our home our haven and, and support our detox path, you know, do all the things, but if we have the, the water filters, the air filters, the, you know, get rid of our plastics, do those things at home, we can take the hit.
When we go out and about as long as we're working on it.
Lorraine Maita: exactly, you know, you don't want that straw to break the camel's back. You know, it's that one. And, you know, every time I ask. When did this autoimmune disorder show its ugly head? I mean, stress, trauma, toxin, infection, something, you know, because somebody said to me, isn't everybody stressed? I said, well, sure.
But when you have the confluence of all those things at once, and then [Page//00:16:00] you're a hormone rage or change or whatever, your body is like that, that immune system turns on and it doesn't know how to turn off. Great. And it attacks us. So, so just these little, they're, they're little things and you don't have to do it all at once and you don't have to be perfect.
I'm not perfect. Look, I'm, I dyed my hair. So, you know, but you can choose and it's so, you know, I'm pretty much toxin free, you know, as free as I
Julie Michelson: you make your choices. I had a client who literally, she's like, I'll do anything. She cleaned up, you know, every, everything. She was already paying attention, but she up leveled and I said, what are, what, tell me about your hair products. What, what is your shampoo? And she said, I'm not even discussing it.
It's a, it's a non negotiable. I said, perfect. Because you were, you know, somebody asked me the other day, I was at a conference and they were like, [Page//00:17:00] What kind of nail polish do you wear? Because I, I can't find a really clean one that actually works. And I'm like, it's not really clean. It's cleaner.
And that's my one thing.
Like,
Lorraine Maita: Same thing with like, as you start decreasing the amount of toxins coming in, you're never going to be perfect. So that's why I don't want people, you know, I go to people's houses, they're not eating organic with, you know, whatever, you know, so I'm fine because 80, I'd say 80 percent of the time, clean, clean, clean, but you know what, I'm, I'm in a state of detox.
And one of the other reasons why I find that some women can't tolerate their hormones. It's maybe not the most pleasant topic is constipation. Like any
Julie Michelson: about it. I love talking about poop.
Lorraine Maita: Oh my God. Oh my God. You know, you, you know, that's one of the big, big ways where you get rid of toxins and that's where you get rid of the excess estrogen and estrogen dominance.
So some people come to [Page//00:18:00] me in perimenopause or PMS and once I detox them and I make sure their bowels are moving and big snakes. Like every day, because people say it's normal. Oh, my, how are you? Oh, they're normal.
Julie Michelson: Oh, I know. Oh,
Lorraine Maita: Oh, like, oh,
Julie Michelson: It's normal for me.
Lorraine Maita: or once a week. Yeah, you know, even every two or three days.
That's not normal for you, but that's not normal. It's not optimal. It's not healthy. Just here's the visual. Okay, you can close your ears.
Julie Michelson: No, listen, everybody
Lorraine Maita: have flushing a backed up toilet, where's it going to go? It's just going to go right back. Into your system and the longer it sits there, the more you have problems because early in back in the day when I first started, I didn't understand why some women just didn't tolerate the hormones, you know, and when I'm like thinking and reading and, you know, like, then I really dove deep into.
Are you moving your bowels? And, and, [Page//00:19:00] and, no, they're not. And once we got the bowel movements going, they're like, oh my God, I feel so much better. I have energy. I'm not getting that breast tenderness anymore. I'm calmer. I'm sleeping better. I mean, these toxins affect your immune system, your hormone system, and your nervous system, and just.
Getting bowel movements going and you know, some people have to work a little harder than others, you know, but water fiber probiotics, um, sometimes I use some magnesium is big, big and sometimes I use some utility, um, herbs. So, you know, I can almost get anybody to go
Julie Michelson: it is. And I love that you said it does sometimes, it does sometimes take work. I mean, and, and for some people it's so fun. Cause people are like, you know, they're looking for the big fancy thing. And it's like, are you drinking water? Like, let's [Page//00:20:00] start with, you know, the basics. Mo are you moving your body?
Are you, you know, all, all the
basic
Lorraine Maita: you know, they're, it's not just hormones are going to make you better. You need, you need the whole structure and I do want to give a caution with magnesium and fiber. You start low and go slow, otherwise you're going to get gas and bloating and not be happy and give up.
But go start low, go slow and move your body. Get enough water. You'd be amazed at how much better you feel. I'm amazed.
Julie Michelson: Yeah, it's, it's, it's huge. I mean, look, it's essential. I had interviewed somebody who said, you know, you're, we're supposed to poop like a puppy, you know, one of my dogs is really little and, and I can tell when I pick him up, if he hasn't pooped yet, like if he's eaten, but not pooped because he's heavier, I can feel it, but you know, puppies eat and they poop.
So, yeah, it's, yeah. It's [Page//00:21:00] huge. It is so important. I'm really glad that you brought it up
Lorraine Maita: Yeah, it's
something I see so often. It's, I just had to. I know it's not like, you know, pleasant conversation, but it's so essential. And nobody gets past that visual of flushing a backed up toilet. It's just, this is what's happening in your body. It's just going back in.
Julie Michelson: Right. Ew,
Lorraine Maita: And the other is gallbladder, the gallbladder, another one.
I'm, uh, so many women have had their gallbladder out and you know what? That is a big, well, it's a sanitizer of your gut. And it also does digest fats, but it also removes toxins. And you know, the gallbladder will bind the toxins and you got to move it out through the bowel movement. And you also have to have a good healthy microbiome by eating healthy.
You know, I say, you know, if you have a party and you serve pizza, burger, fries, soda, chips, you're going to attract a different crowd than if you, [Page//00:22:00] you serve like, you know, lean protein, fresh fruits and vegetables, nice salad, but you're going to have a different crowd and same thing with your microbiome. So what you eat is going to affect that microbiome and, and they rule there.
They have more power over you than your own brain. And they will take those toxins attached to bile if you've got the wrong neighborhood down there, they're going to, they're going to break it off and then you're going to reabsorb the toxins. And this is where I see a lot of estrogen dominance as well.
Julie Michelson: What do you do for, because I, I see so many people as well that have already unfortunately had their gallbladder out. Um, but I, I feel like it's treated almost like appendix. Like, oh, you know,
you're having, you're having pain from your gallbladder. We'll just take it out. Like what is there, what do you do to,
Lorraine Maita: well, bitter foods, bitter foods, [Page//00:23:00] tatka, um, monounsaturated fats, you know, fish oil also. The saturated fats will make bile, you know, just think, I tell people the visual. Butter is not going to flow. Oil will. So you want your bile to flow with the fats that flow, like fish, olives, avocado, nuts, seeds, and any of their oils.
So you want to, you want to make the bile more liquidy with the right kind of fats. You want to make it flow and with the Bile salts like Tadka, or digestive bitters, or bitter food, and there, you know, there are a number of other things. Fiber also, you need, you need fiber to keep that going. There's, you know, someone just came to me and I have a um, a list of things that I'm, I'm doing for her because she doesn't want to have her gallbladder out.
And I'm so happy she came to me before she had it out because she came to me a week before her scheduled surgery. And I'm saying, I can't do it that fast. So, [Page//00:24:00] but it will, you know, you'll be
Julie Michelson: Give us some, some time. Yeah.
Lorraine Maita: give it some time, right? I mean, I'm pretty good, but I'm not
Julie Michelson: I'm not magic. That's why I say that all the time, but I'm not magic.
Lorraine Maita: Yeah, even though I have my magic wand, I keep it here for,
Julie Michelson: I love it. I love it.
Lorraine Maita: wand.
Julie Michelson: So amazing. So I want to dive into a little bit because I, I hear so, so many questions, misinformation and concerns about hormone replacement therapy. And so if we're saying hormone balance is important, um, let's, let's talk about that a little bit about, you know, who should use them?
Why should we use them? Why shouldn't we use them? Are they safe?
Lorraine Maita: Well, yes, and I've been studying this for a very long time. I'm on them, and I have thousands of people on them, and I did take that [Page//00:25:00] Hippocratic Oath, and I take it very seriously, and you know, I've been writing blogs about this for about at least 15 years or more. And I, I dived deep into the research and.
Lately, the last few years, there have been quite a number of studies that came out that should put this to rest. We hope I, that's why I want to be on as many podcasts and do as many, uh, shows or interviews as I possibly can. Even the most conservative North American menopause society now says that the benefits outweigh the risk.
So. Oh, the only reason you shouldn't be on hormone replacement therapy is if you, you know, you, you have breast cancer. I'm still not brave enough to give it to anyone with a history of breast cancer because there's not studies. Um, or if you're, you, you have clots, I mean, but even with clots, it's not estrogen [Page//00:26:00] given through the skin does not
cause
Julie Michelson: I was just going to say, so, and I want to back up because I said hormone replacement therapy, I'm guessing you're talking about bioidentical hormone replacement therapy. Yes.
Lorraine Maita: I've been studying this for years. And what I did for what I do for my patients and even for their doctors is I put together a whole history of what happened, why it happened. Some of the studies were not designed, especially the women's health initiative.
Julie Michelson: and
Lorraine Maita: They wanted, they were designed to see how long after menopause, can you give hormones, but they gave high dose oral synthetic hormones to women whose average age was 63, 10 years past menopause.
This is not what we're doing now, but the big reveal of this study is that when they looked at it and they said, Oh. There was more cancer. No, no, the control, [Page//00:27:00] you know, you have a control
Julie Michelson: yeah, it was a bad study all, all the way across
Lorraine Maita: about it was bad. And even the principal investigator years later in 2017 came out with a study and said, this study was hijacked.
It was released to the press before we had a chance to review it, to put it into context. And the press took off with it. And just like misinformation happens now virally, the person took off with it and that got embedded in everybody's brain and nobody really analyzed it and they looked at it till now.
The control group had a lesser, um, amount of breast cancer than the normal.
Julie Michelson: Population.
Lorraine Maita: population, right? So you're starting with the stack deck of it lower. When you look at the curve of who developed breast cancer in that study of the synthetic high dose oral, um, it was the same. So there was, there was no increased risk of [Page//00:28:00] breast cancer.
And now that they've done studies on bioidentical hormones, they showed, you know, less risk of breast cancer, what they've What the current theory is, is that it's synthetic progestins that are causing this, and that it's not estrogen. In fact, in the Women's Health Initiative, estrogen alone, they had a decreased risk of breast cancer.
And in some of the studies that had a mix of bioidenticals and non, there, the first five years, there was no increased risk of breast cancer. The others, it was nominal. The benefits outweigh the risks, and some of the studies show it decreases risk of different types of cancers. It improves, decreases fracture risk.
It decreases the risk of dementia. It improves your quality of life. And, you know, you, you, if you balance your hormones, you probably won't have to have a hysterectomy or, or a cyst in your breast and all these breast biopsies. So [Page//00:29:00] it is, you know, Life changing for people and really, it's only active cancer, you know, that's the only one where, you know, you just don't want to give estrogen to somebody with that.
And I even developed a course is HRT for you because you've had to look at. What is your, what are your risks? Like if you're a Nordic and you're light haired, light eyes, light skin, thin, you're more likely to develop osteoporosis and probably have a family history of it. And you know what a fracture can put you in a nursing home and people never get out.
So you have to look at all your various risk factors. Then you have to see as can hormones help this. Do you have any risk factors that hormones can harm? What's it impacting on the quality of life? And, and I have this theory that midlife crisis is hormonal. It's because, you know, it's not all, let's, let's [Page//00:30:00] face it.
But I have couples come into me and I describe to the woman what a woman feels like with a husband there and both that they nod their head, the anxiety, their ability, patience, insomnia. And then I say, the women get in your face when they're perimenopausal, they're, they're, they're. They're like a short fuse.
They're irritable. And a lot of them come to me and say, I don't believe what I said my, um, and then I feel guilty and I cry and my kids tiptoe around me and my husband doesn't, you know, want to, you know, he checks in on my
Julie Michelson: Uh huh.
Lorraine Maita: and then the man, when their hormones declined, they withdraw. So you have this push and, and, and receiving back and they all sit there and they, they nod their head.
It's like, you know, there is something to this. Well, one warning, like when I usually treat both people, these relationships get better, but sometimes when I treat the women have the acknowledgement, I married the wrong person. [Page//00:31:00] I'm a, I'm a, I was a different person. Then I'm coming into myself now and I am going to stand for myself and I'm going to leave this relationship because you're, you're centered, you're clear, you're stable, your moods, you're not at the mercy of your moods.
And I, you know, it's amazing where they're freed from something that. They were in
Julie Michelson: That wasn't right. Yeah.
Lorraine Maita: night and they didn't take the time to recognize that they weren't, you know, when you're in these wild hormone swings, you can't make good decisions. And that's what happens. I left my, I left a very prestigious job. I mean, I had everything power play perks, you know, prestige position, whatever, you know, um,
Julie Michelson: Back to the piece.
Lorraine Maita: but I wanted, I wanted peace and I wanted to take care of my family.
And I really didn't, didn't, it didn't, yeah. Dawn on me that this wasn't the major [Page//00:32:00] pressures that I was feeling. This was horrible, but I'm giving you the warning. Think hormones first. All right, have somebody measure that. Think hormones first because you know, but I don't regret leaving because it led me in this path and I
Julie Michelson: the world needs.
Lorraine Maita: Yeah, I have so much satisfaction from the transformations I see, and that's, that's what keeps me going. That's why I'm not retiring. Why would I retire? I'm
Julie Michelson: Right.
Lorraine Maita: loving what I'm doing. I'm loving how people are feeling. And I want, I want that for everybody.
Julie Michelson: And as a man, as do I, and that, and that's, I'm why I'm so glad you're here having the conversation because it is amazing how that one study
Lorraine Maita: Yeah,
Julie Michelson: just, and even though it's been refuted, it's been, you know, taken apart, it's been, you know, none of that seems to be getting the traction
Lorraine Maita: it
Julie Michelson: from,
Lorraine Maita: not sensational, right? And even, [Page//00:33:00] um, bioidentical progesterone, they're finding, you know, it's so much safer there, you know,
Julie Michelson: Well, I say this all the time. I, I, I grew up in equestrian. I love horses. I have horses right here in my yard out the window. I'm not a horse though. So I don't want to take stuff that's made from equine urine. Okay. I don't think it just doesn't even make, and I wouldn't give them my hormones because I don't think that would be really
Lorraine Maita: Oh, it's not right. And I tell people it's the same, like, what's the difference between a trans fat and omega 3 fat? It's a big difference, but they still call it fat. And, you know, the press calls everything progesterone when it's a progestin. And people can't discern, you know, I read the studies so you don't have to.
And, you know, the latest article about. Bioidentical progesterone, synthetic can cause gallbladder sludging, right? Bioidentical doesn't. [Page//00:34:00] Synthetic can cause spasms of the coronary arteries. Bioidentical doesn't. Synthetic has, um, can cause clotting. Bioidentical doesn't. There's some really big differences, just like there's a difference between a trans fat that mucks up your system that your body doesn't recognize versus a nice omega 3 that keeps
Julie Michelson: I love that analogy. That's brilliant. I'm, I will credit you every time I use it. it. Well, it, it really does. I mean, we, it's, it's not a, it's not apples to apples and so,
Lorraine Maita: And even the American Heart Association is saying there's something to this hormones helping your heart,
Julie Michelson: it's cardioprotective it, it's, that's, I know I told you before, you know, that I, I had a complete hysterectomy and ectomy and, and my surgeon who on her website, it's, Says she's a hormone specialist said, [Page//00:35:00] you know, you don't, you can stop your, I was already on progesterone. You can, you can stop your progesterone.
Now you don't have a uterus. And I was like, uh, I have a heart and a brain and, you know, I have a lot of other organs and a body that, and I look at it this way to, I didn't go to medical school. So I like to put stuff like really, really, really simple. We didn't used to live this long.
And so, uh, you know, as women and, and then add in all the toxins and all those other layers, right.
But even just in general, we had our babies. We raised them for a little while and then we died.
And so, you know, you're, you mentioned to us that I want people to understand that connection between living well and and living a long time. You don't want to be shriveled up because you can't get out of bed and your bones are brittle and your brain doesn't work.
You don't even know where you are. That's not living[Page//00:36:00]
Lorraine Maita: And that's why you think the quality of your life,
Julie Michelson: Yeah.
Lorraine Maita: you have to think of the quality of your life. And so now that the North American Medical Society and 20 other organizations say the benefits outweigh the risks, there are plenty of studies, you know, and I, you know, I blog about all this stuff too, but for my patients, I give them a big detailed synopsis.
And I even offer to give their doctors. Uh,
Julie Michelson: love that.
Lorraine Maita: and the doctors are really, they're opening their, their, I mean, listen, they don't have the time to do this. Almost all of them are, they're, they're employees and they're not able to spend the time, but they're, I'm getting more and more doctors referring to me, let her do it.
Julie Michelson: Right. Right.
Well, and
Lorraine Maita: your patients look younger. I'm sending them to you.
Julie Michelson: my, my big autoimmune coaching package includes a doctor. Like I, I, you know, I know a lot of functional medicine doctors have coaches. I am somebody who, [Page//00:37:00] you know, I'm I, cause I know I'll only get you so far. If you're a period postmenopausal woman with autoimmunity and you're not supporting hormones, you know, um, and I, I
Lorraine Maita: I need my coach.
I need my coach too, because there's so many details that I can't get into.
Julie Michelson: Right. Right. And I, and I joke, I mean, I look at me, I'm like, I don't have the parts. There are not enough seeds in the world. I'm not making those hormones. So, you know, I think it's so important for people to have a physician who really specializes like you do. It's, it's a good, I just said this to another doctor two weeks ago that I was coaching.
I was like, this is a gift that you get to give women.
Lorraine Maita: Yeah.
Julie Michelson: It's a gift. You're giving them their life back. So it's, it's
Lorraine Maita: like dental floss every day. You know, that's why I love it. And I, that's why I'm not giving it up. And another, one other point [Page//00:38:00] I want to make is a lot of women will say, no, no, I don't want hormones. I have hot flashes. It's nothing there. You know, um, they'll pass. Well, half lashes are a biomarker of underlying problems, and I presented this at the American Academy of anti aging and regenerative medicine because half lashes are not benign.
They're biomarker that you're, you know, the, you know, you have an increased risk of high calcium in your arteries. Artery spasm, increased intimal thickness, meaning the insides of your arteries get thicker, so the lumen gets thinner and you don't get blood flow. It's a biomarker for inflammation, for osteoporosis, and for dementia.
So hot flashes are not benign. They're not just a symptom that, ah, it'll go away. Yeah, it'll go away along with your bones, your brains, and your arteries. So, you know, it's, you
Julie Michelson: And it it's, but that's the, that was what for decades we've been told to expect. Right. [Page//00:39:00] Oh, it's just part of being a woman. It's I know. And so, yeah, I'm not,
Lorraine Maita: know, we're living longer. We're living longer. And you know what? The quality of life matters.
You deserve it. You owe it to yourself.
Julie Michelson: So good. So good. So I am so excited to ask you this question because I really don't know what you're going to say. What is one step that listeners can take today to start to improve their health?
Lorraine Maita: Oh, one step. One step. You know what? Everything is comes by attitude. You have to have the right attitude and make a commitment. That's, that's the bottom line. All, I mean, you know, I have people who do all the check boxes and they're still not happy and not good. But your, your attitude is going to drive everything.
You're, you know, you know, my husband says to me, why are you always [Page//00:40:00] happy? And I say, well, I choose to be. And that's it. Just choose, make that commitment to yourself. That's going to drive everything.
Julie Michelson: Oh, I love it. And see that, that you're going to have to come back on because you just opened up a whole nother, whole nother box that I would love to, to dive deeper in because that's, it is essential, attitude is essential. And see, I knew I had just had a feeling it was going to be something I wasn't expecting.
So
Lorraine Maita: Yeah, when I did a radio show, I said that there was silence and there's never silence on a radio show. The woman's like, well, you, you, you are,
Julie Michelson: What are you talking about? Yeah. I love it though. And it is a choice and we can intentionally choose daily, hourly, however often we need to until that becomes our perspective. And that is, it is such a powerful part of wellness. So I'm really glad you brought it up.[Page//00:41:00]
Lorraine Maita: Well, thank you. Thank you for asking the question,
Julie Michelson: Oh, Dr. Meda, this has been amazing for people that listen on the go like I do, where's the best place for them to find you.
Lorraine Maita: the feel good again, institute. com. Yes.
Julie Michelson: Who doesn't want to go there?
Lorraine Maita: Yeah. And it has to be me in the front and Institute at the back. Otherwise there's some, a lot of
Julie Michelson: Oh yeah. Be
Lorraine Maita: Yeah. Yeah. Well,
the Institute. com. And I also have the female hormone quiz. com. So you know, you can find that on my website and it's again, the female hormone quiz.
Julie Michelson: Love it. Uh, I love it. Dr. Maita, thank you so much. You have really just educated and, and such a fun, bright way. This conversation is so important and this is how things change. And so thank you for sharing.
Lorraine Maita: And [Page//00:42:00] thank you for hosting and sharing your wisdom and knowledge. I appreciate it.
Julie Michelson: My pleasure. For everyone listening. Remember you can get the show notes and transcripts by visiting inspiredliving.show. I hope you enjoyed this episode as much as I did. I'll see you next week. [Page//00:43:00]
Dr. Maita specializes in helping you have boundless energy, stable moods, a lean body, sharp, clear mind, balanced hormones and a healthy libido so you can feel like yourself again.
She is a triple board certified physician, writer, author, [Page//00:01:00] speaker, and award winning physician as well. In today's conversation, we're talking about the connection between autoimmunity and hormones and the role that toxins play. Dr. Maita shares about the importance of bioidentical hormone replacement therapy to support health and well being and to avoid aging like a dried raisin.
Dr. Maita, welcome to the podcast.
Lorraine Maita: Thank you so much for having me. I really love to help people and educate people on what I've been studying for almost a lifetime. It seems.
Julie Michelson: Well, we are grateful that you're going to share that wisdom with us. And I always love, and I know the audience loves to learn like, Hey, how did you, you know, you're, you're a very well known physician, you're successful, but what got you into this hormone detox? You know, why that specialty?
Lorraine Maita: [Page//00:02:00] I have several stories. I'll make them short. But when I was working in the emergency room in Midtown in Manhattan in New York City, I developed TB and I was on antibiotics for nine months. I had, I was a giant yeast ball. I had candida up the wazoo. I was losing my hair. I developed sensitivities to food.
I was gaining weight. I was getting rashes. I was tired. I was completely miserable. We, you know, this was way back in the eighties. So we didn't talk about things then, right? We didn't talk about probiotics then. And I was traditionally trained, even though I've since a child, I studied supplements and natural medicine.
So I did seek out someone and, you know, within three months, I'm, I'm better. I did the whole gut healing, I'm better. And then, when I was in a company and I treated, I was part of occupational health and wellness and [Page//00:03:00] a senior women, woman executive came down to me. And that was when, at that time, there were so few.
And she came down and she said
Julie Michelson: like physicians.
Lorraine Maita: Yeah, I mean, I remember, I mean, this is a company of 120, 000 people, and there are, I think, six, six women in high level positions, so when one of them walks into my office and said, you have to help me, I was like, yeah, I could, like, Bring you back to life. You had an attack or something, you know, and I could treat your infection.
But she said I was up giving a lecture and all of a sudden I started breaking out in a hot flash and sweats and I lost my words and the men in the audience were either elbowing each other, snickering or like they're casting their head down in shame. Like I don't want to see this. And she said, I, how am I going to be taken seriously?
So that's when I went on a mission to study hormones
Julie Michelson: That's motivating.
Lorraine Maita: and then [Page//00:04:00] fast forward. It was around the time of 9-11 and, you know, I, I used to live across the street from the world trade center. And, you know, the company I was working for was going through tremendous change and not only did I have issues with my mother being ill, my brother being ill, people I knew died in that horror.
I was losing it. I noticed friends told me my personality changed and my periods were irregular. I was irritable. I couldn't sleep. I was losing my hair. I was gaining weight. I didn't feel like myself anymore and I just, I thought it was all the stress of 9 11 and the stress in the company and I actually left my job to just take care of my mother and brother.
And once I realized, I said, you know what? I treat people for hormone imbalances. Maybe that's what it is. And you know what? I gave myself progesterone. It was like, that was it. That was it. I mean, there were the stressors were [Page//00:05:00] still there, but I coped better. I got to sleep. My personality went back to its bubbly self.
And, you know, it was pretty awful when I used to walk into a room and everybody would scatter. Cause they didn't know like, what kind of mood is she in today? And, you know, I, that a lot for my patients. So that's when I just, I even doubled down and I said, you know what, I have to do this full time, you know, I'm not, I, you know, I, and do it my way, even though I did, you know, functional medicine since 1992.
And I had the pleasure of meeting Jeff Bland at the MindShare conference. And I told him, I still have my, my diploma. And he said, that was the very first IFM course he ever did. So I'm his first grad student.
Julie Michelson: That's, that's special. That's really special. That's amazing. Yeah. So this is not a new, new thing for you. Um, but it [Page//00:06:00] is always funny how sometimes it takes us a while to remember to do for ourselves what we're doing for other people.
Lorraine Maita: no. Like laughing at myself like how come I didn't think of that but you know there was so much going on and, and that's what people that's why I'm here educating people because you have to make that connection and it you know it's a slap in the face for me to do it but you know the more you are exposed the more you, you know, you start going through your checklist.
Is this, could it be this? Could it be that? Could it be this? You know,
Julie Michelson: Yeah. Anybody listening to this, you, the hormones has to be on your list with a question mark, you know, could it be, is it, so, um, let's, or is there, I don't want to cut off your story
Lorraine Maita: No, no, I mean, the story has a happy ending. I'm like, I'm happy. I'm healthy. I went to my reunion with one of my friends who's a patient and we, we looked at each other and [Page//00:07:00] we said, Oh, my God, everybody else looks so much older, you know, but we take, it's not just hormones.
It's the whole package. You know, you have to. You know, I have some people just give me the hormones. I don't want to do the diet. I don't want to, you know, but it's the whole package and I feel I feel as good as I did in my, you know, at a younger age. I don't even tell my age.
Julie Michelson: you should, you should brag. I say, I tell all the time. I see. I didn't
Lorraine Maita: right. All right.
I'll tell you. I'm 67 and going strong.
Julie Michelson: Holy cracker jacks. Wow.
Lorraine Maita: Yeah.
Julie Michelson: I mean, literally you look 35. That's amazing. But it, you can tell, you feel. That way, you know, it's yeah, I, I'm in my mid fifties. I feel, I feel younger than I did it in my thirties, you
Lorraine Maita: Yeah. And everybody said, when are you going to retire? I said, I'm not going to retire. I love what I do. I love seeing transformations and, and people feeling, you know, they all say, I got my life back or I feel like [Page//00:08:00] myself again. And I, I know from personal, what I went through that it's transformative. It's totally transformative.
Julie Michelson: it is. It is unbelievable. I was estrogen dominant, didn't know it and never heard those words, right. I didn't have high estrogen, but I, I had all the things and just that little bit. Of progesterone way back when literally life, life changing. And I wasn't even at the bad end of the spectrum as far as hormonal symptoms, but I was full blown auto immune I, you know, I had all the things and, and so, um, I would love to maybe even get listeners to lean in a little, a little more.
And what is this connection between hormones and auto immunity?
Lorraine Maita: Well, it's our X chromosome. As women, we have more antibodies. The more antibodies you [Page//00:09:00] have, the more they could go awry. So even, and it has something to do with the X chromosome. Estrogen, estrogen will make more antibodies than that's the most likely scenario when people go through autoimmune disorders.
I always, when, when someone comes to me with an autoimmune disorder, I always ask them, Trace back, what happened the time before that? What's going on with you? You know, we, we evolved to have more antibodies to keep our newborns safe. Right. So the most likely time you're going to develop an autoimmune disease is postpartum.
And the more pregnancies you have, you're the more likely you're to develop an autoimmune disorder. If you have the genetic predisposition, right? I mean, I had every recipe for developing an autoimmune disorder. I don't have one and I'm grateful for that, but I had all the hormonal symptoms.
So estrogen makes more [Page//00:10:00] immune cells. Women as a whole have more immune cells, and that tends to trigger autoimmune disorders. And what I see is whenever women go through hormonal shifts or hormonal changes, that's when it occurs.
Sometimes puberty, some current puberty, postpartum, perimenopause, postmenopause, all the piece. So those are the times when women are most likely to have it because we go through big hormonal shifts. I mean, that's the one thing men don't have and it's not as dramatic in men. They have their shifts, but in women it can be a wild roller coaster ride.
And what it does to our bodies is, you know, pretty significant, and they've shown that lupus occurs more often post puberty. Psoriasis will decrease around menopause and if it will increase around menopause and if you're taking [Page//00:11:00] hormone replacement therapy, it will calm it down, and rheumatoid arthritis happens when your periods are all over the place irregular especially perimenopause.
So this is why balancing your hormones, keeping the hormones level, keeping them stable, keeping things in balance and estrogen in a kind of nice sweet spot is so important for not just autoimmune disorders, but for just about everything. I mean, listen, we all complain to the same things in midlife. We're gaining weight.
We can't think we're moody. We're anxious. It's hormones have a very potent, very, very potent effect on the brain.
Julie Michelson: That's why women are way outnumber men for Alzheimer's and dementia. Same thing. I don't know, but this hormones are, are such a big
Lorraine Maita: Huge.
Julie Michelson: piece. I wish we had five hours because
I would want, I want to talk about all the things that are impacting [Page//00:12:00] the hormones too.
I want to touch on it lightly because this is what you do, right? It's not just hormones. Like yes, we're, we're women. We have more antibodies, all those things, but why, and you know, I even was, we're talking about the men as well. Right. Right. So what is Going on that, that people's hormones seem because it's all, you can't isolate.
It's not the one thing.
Lorraine Maita: No, it's not the one thing. And what I noticed in my practice, you know, I've been practicing over 40 years, young men work in their thirties. We're coming in with big boobs and big bellies. Women were entering puberty earlier. And like, what's that all about? Well, toxins we're exposed to almost 200 toxins per day.
And a lot of them have estrogenic effects. So that estrogen dominance, not only do you have estrogen dominance from your own estrogen and progesterone dropping. So what estrogen dominance. is for in case your [Page//00:13:00] audience doesn't know is estrogen, estrogen is high in relation to progesterone.
So your, your estrogen could be high. It could be normal.
It could be low, but if progesterone, there's not enough progesterone to balance it, you're estrogen dominant. So you're going to have more of the dominant effects of estrogen: excitability. I call it the hormone of energy and growth. And so too much energy is anxiety, irritability, impatient, snappy behavior, insomnia, growth of the breast, cysts of the breast, tender breast, bleeding, spotting, weight gain around the hips, the eyes and breasts, you know, and fluid retention.
So those are the inflammation. Yes. Estrogen can be very inflammatory. Progesterone can be very anti inflammatory. But you add toxins, and you can't get away from them. It's in our air. It's in our food. It's in our water. It's in our clothing. It's in our furniture. It's in our carpeting. It's in our draperies.
It's in just about [Page//00:14:00] everything. And I tell my patients, we have to be in a continuous state of detox, where you lower the amount of toxins coming in by starting to choose, you know, filter your water, drink clean water, eat the dirty dozen organic, you know, start looking as you run out of personal care and cleaning products, look for safer, cleaner products, because, you know, women, women have apply a lot more product than men.
And our makeup, our hair products, our skin creams, our serums, all this, all that there, a lot of them are not so good for you. So,
Julie Michelson: Yeah.
Lorraine Maita: Scents are a big deal
Julie Michelson: Yeah. And so, and I, I like to say, cause it is always, it can be really overwhelming and depressing when we start to talk about where we're exposed literally everywhere. But what you're talking about is reducing the burden, right? [Page//00:15:00] There is no, nobody's ever going to be toxin free. It's, I love that you said, you know, you have to constantly be working on detox and reducing that burden.
And I love the, the particular things that you mentioned, because my approach is the, you know, if we make our home our haven and, and support our detox path, you know, do all the things, but if we have the, the water filters, the air filters, the, you know, get rid of our plastics, do those things at home, we can take the hit.
When we go out and about as long as we're working on it.
Lorraine Maita: exactly, you know, you don't want that straw to break the camel's back. You know, it's that one. And, you know, every time I ask. When did this autoimmune disorder show its ugly head? I mean, stress, trauma, toxin, infection, something, you know, because somebody said to me, isn't everybody stressed? I said, well, sure.
But when you have the confluence of all those things at once, and then [Page//00:16:00] you're a hormone rage or change or whatever, your body is like that, that immune system turns on and it doesn't know how to turn off. Great. And it attacks us. So, so just these little, they're, they're little things and you don't have to do it all at once and you don't have to be perfect.
I'm not perfect. Look, I'm, I dyed my hair. So, you know, but you can choose and it's so, you know, I'm pretty much toxin free, you know, as free as I
Julie Michelson: you make your choices. I had a client who literally, she's like, I'll do anything. She cleaned up, you know, every, everything. She was already paying attention, but she up leveled and I said, what are, what, tell me about your hair products. What, what is your shampoo? And she said, I'm not even discussing it.
It's a, it's a non negotiable. I said, perfect. Because you were, you know, somebody asked me the other day, I was at a conference and they were like, [Page//00:17:00] What kind of nail polish do you wear? Because I, I can't find a really clean one that actually works. And I'm like, it's not really clean. It's cleaner.
And that's my one thing.
Like,
Lorraine Maita: Same thing with like, as you start decreasing the amount of toxins coming in, you're never going to be perfect. So that's why I don't want people, you know, I go to people's houses, they're not eating organic with, you know, whatever, you know, so I'm fine because 80, I'd say 80 percent of the time, clean, clean, clean, but you know what, I'm, I'm in a state of detox.
And one of the other reasons why I find that some women can't tolerate their hormones. It's maybe not the most pleasant topic is constipation. Like any
Julie Michelson: about it. I love talking about poop.
Lorraine Maita: Oh my God. Oh my God. You know, you, you know, that's one of the big, big ways where you get rid of toxins and that's where you get rid of the excess estrogen and estrogen dominance.
So some people come to [Page//00:18:00] me in perimenopause or PMS and once I detox them and I make sure their bowels are moving and big snakes. Like every day, because people say it's normal. Oh, my, how are you? Oh, they're normal.
Julie Michelson: Oh, I know. Oh,
Lorraine Maita: Oh, like, oh,
Julie Michelson: It's normal for me.
Lorraine Maita: or once a week. Yeah, you know, even every two or three days.
That's not normal for you, but that's not normal. It's not optimal. It's not healthy. Just here's the visual. Okay, you can close your ears.
Julie Michelson: No, listen, everybody
Lorraine Maita: have flushing a backed up toilet, where's it going to go? It's just going to go right back. Into your system and the longer it sits there, the more you have problems because early in back in the day when I first started, I didn't understand why some women just didn't tolerate the hormones, you know, and when I'm like thinking and reading and, you know, like, then I really dove deep into.
Are you moving your bowels? And, and, [Page//00:19:00] and, no, they're not. And once we got the bowel movements going, they're like, oh my God, I feel so much better. I have energy. I'm not getting that breast tenderness anymore. I'm calmer. I'm sleeping better. I mean, these toxins affect your immune system, your hormone system, and your nervous system, and just.
Getting bowel movements going and you know, some people have to work a little harder than others, you know, but water fiber probiotics, um, sometimes I use some magnesium is big, big and sometimes I use some utility, um, herbs. So, you know, I can almost get anybody to go
Julie Michelson: it is. And I love that you said it does sometimes, it does sometimes take work. I mean, and, and for some people it's so fun. Cause people are like, you know, they're looking for the big fancy thing. And it's like, are you drinking water? Like, let's [Page//00:20:00] start with, you know, the basics. Mo are you moving your body?
Are you, you know, all, all the
basic
Lorraine Maita: you know, they're, it's not just hormones are going to make you better. You need, you need the whole structure and I do want to give a caution with magnesium and fiber. You start low and go slow, otherwise you're going to get gas and bloating and not be happy and give up.
But go start low, go slow and move your body. Get enough water. You'd be amazed at how much better you feel. I'm amazed.
Julie Michelson: Yeah, it's, it's, it's huge. I mean, look, it's essential. I had interviewed somebody who said, you know, you're, we're supposed to poop like a puppy, you know, one of my dogs is really little and, and I can tell when I pick him up, if he hasn't pooped yet, like if he's eaten, but not pooped because he's heavier, I can feel it, but you know, puppies eat and they poop.
So, yeah, it's, yeah. It's [Page//00:21:00] huge. It is so important. I'm really glad that you brought it up
Lorraine Maita: Yeah, it's
something I see so often. It's, I just had to. I know it's not like, you know, pleasant conversation, but it's so essential. And nobody gets past that visual of flushing a backed up toilet. It's just, this is what's happening in your body. It's just going back in.
Julie Michelson: Right. Ew,
Lorraine Maita: And the other is gallbladder, the gallbladder, another one.
I'm, uh, so many women have had their gallbladder out and you know what? That is a big, well, it's a sanitizer of your gut. And it also does digest fats, but it also removes toxins. And you know, the gallbladder will bind the toxins and you got to move it out through the bowel movement. And you also have to have a good healthy microbiome by eating healthy.
You know, I say, you know, if you have a party and you serve pizza, burger, fries, soda, chips, you're going to attract a different crowd than if you, [Page//00:22:00] you serve like, you know, lean protein, fresh fruits and vegetables, nice salad, but you're going to have a different crowd and same thing with your microbiome. So what you eat is going to affect that microbiome and, and they rule there.
They have more power over you than your own brain. And they will take those toxins attached to bile if you've got the wrong neighborhood down there, they're going to, they're going to break it off and then you're going to reabsorb the toxins. And this is where I see a lot of estrogen dominance as well.
Julie Michelson: What do you do for, because I, I see so many people as well that have already unfortunately had their gallbladder out. Um, but I, I feel like it's treated almost like appendix. Like, oh, you know,
you're having, you're having pain from your gallbladder. We'll just take it out. Like what is there, what do you do to,
Lorraine Maita: well, bitter foods, bitter foods, [Page//00:23:00] tatka, um, monounsaturated fats, you know, fish oil also. The saturated fats will make bile, you know, just think, I tell people the visual. Butter is not going to flow. Oil will. So you want your bile to flow with the fats that flow, like fish, olives, avocado, nuts, seeds, and any of their oils.
So you want to, you want to make the bile more liquidy with the right kind of fats. You want to make it flow and with the Bile salts like Tadka, or digestive bitters, or bitter food, and there, you know, there are a number of other things. Fiber also, you need, you need fiber to keep that going. There's, you know, someone just came to me and I have a um, a list of things that I'm, I'm doing for her because she doesn't want to have her gallbladder out.
And I'm so happy she came to me before she had it out because she came to me a week before her scheduled surgery. And I'm saying, I can't do it that fast. So, [Page//00:24:00] but it will, you know, you'll be
Julie Michelson: Give us some, some time. Yeah.
Lorraine Maita: give it some time, right? I mean, I'm pretty good, but I'm not
Julie Michelson: I'm not magic. That's why I say that all the time, but I'm not magic.
Lorraine Maita: Yeah, even though I have my magic wand, I keep it here for,
Julie Michelson: I love it. I love it.
Lorraine Maita: wand.
Julie Michelson: So amazing. So I want to dive into a little bit because I, I hear so, so many questions, misinformation and concerns about hormone replacement therapy. And so if we're saying hormone balance is important, um, let's, let's talk about that a little bit about, you know, who should use them?
Why should we use them? Why shouldn't we use them? Are they safe?
Lorraine Maita: Well, yes, and I've been studying this for a very long time. I'm on them, and I have thousands of people on them, and I did take that [Page//00:25:00] Hippocratic Oath, and I take it very seriously, and you know, I've been writing blogs about this for about at least 15 years or more. And I, I dived deep into the research and.
Lately, the last few years, there have been quite a number of studies that came out that should put this to rest. We hope I, that's why I want to be on as many podcasts and do as many, uh, shows or interviews as I possibly can. Even the most conservative North American menopause society now says that the benefits outweigh the risk.
So. Oh, the only reason you shouldn't be on hormone replacement therapy is if you, you know, you, you have breast cancer. I'm still not brave enough to give it to anyone with a history of breast cancer because there's not studies. Um, or if you're, you, you have clots, I mean, but even with clots, it's not estrogen [Page//00:26:00] given through the skin does not
cause
Julie Michelson: I was just going to say, so, and I want to back up because I said hormone replacement therapy, I'm guessing you're talking about bioidentical hormone replacement therapy. Yes.
Lorraine Maita: I've been studying this for years. And what I did for what I do for my patients and even for their doctors is I put together a whole history of what happened, why it happened. Some of the studies were not designed, especially the women's health initiative.
Julie Michelson: and
Lorraine Maita: They wanted, they were designed to see how long after menopause, can you give hormones, but they gave high dose oral synthetic hormones to women whose average age was 63, 10 years past menopause.
This is not what we're doing now, but the big reveal of this study is that when they looked at it and they said, Oh. There was more cancer. No, no, the control, [Page//00:27:00] you know, you have a control
Julie Michelson: yeah, it was a bad study all, all the way across
Lorraine Maita: about it was bad. And even the principal investigator years later in 2017 came out with a study and said, this study was hijacked.
It was released to the press before we had a chance to review it, to put it into context. And the press took off with it. And just like misinformation happens now virally, the person took off with it and that got embedded in everybody's brain and nobody really analyzed it and they looked at it till now.
The control group had a lesser, um, amount of breast cancer than the normal.
Julie Michelson: Population.
Lorraine Maita: population, right? So you're starting with the stack deck of it lower. When you look at the curve of who developed breast cancer in that study of the synthetic high dose oral, um, it was the same. So there was, there was no increased risk of [Page//00:28:00] breast cancer.
And now that they've done studies on bioidentical hormones, they showed, you know, less risk of breast cancer, what they've What the current theory is, is that it's synthetic progestins that are causing this, and that it's not estrogen. In fact, in the Women's Health Initiative, estrogen alone, they had a decreased risk of breast cancer.
And in some of the studies that had a mix of bioidenticals and non, there, the first five years, there was no increased risk of breast cancer. The others, it was nominal. The benefits outweigh the risks, and some of the studies show it decreases risk of different types of cancers. It improves, decreases fracture risk.
It decreases the risk of dementia. It improves your quality of life. And, you know, you, you, if you balance your hormones, you probably won't have to have a hysterectomy or, or a cyst in your breast and all these breast biopsies. So [Page//00:29:00] it is, you know, Life changing for people and really, it's only active cancer, you know, that's the only one where, you know, you just don't want to give estrogen to somebody with that.
And I even developed a course is HRT for you because you've had to look at. What is your, what are your risks? Like if you're a Nordic and you're light haired, light eyes, light skin, thin, you're more likely to develop osteoporosis and probably have a family history of it. And you know what a fracture can put you in a nursing home and people never get out.
So you have to look at all your various risk factors. Then you have to see as can hormones help this. Do you have any risk factors that hormones can harm? What's it impacting on the quality of life? And, and I have this theory that midlife crisis is hormonal. It's because, you know, it's not all, let's, let's [Page//00:30:00] face it.
But I have couples come into me and I describe to the woman what a woman feels like with a husband there and both that they nod their head, the anxiety, their ability, patience, insomnia. And then I say, the women get in your face when they're perimenopausal, they're, they're, they're. They're like a short fuse.
They're irritable. And a lot of them come to me and say, I don't believe what I said my, um, and then I feel guilty and I cry and my kids tiptoe around me and my husband doesn't, you know, want to, you know, he checks in on my
Julie Michelson: Uh huh.
Lorraine Maita: and then the man, when their hormones declined, they withdraw. So you have this push and, and, and receiving back and they all sit there and they, they nod their head.
It's like, you know, there is something to this. Well, one warning, like when I usually treat both people, these relationships get better, but sometimes when I treat the women have the acknowledgement, I married the wrong person. [Page//00:31:00] I'm a, I'm a, I was a different person. Then I'm coming into myself now and I am going to stand for myself and I'm going to leave this relationship because you're, you're centered, you're clear, you're stable, your moods, you're not at the mercy of your moods.
And I, you know, it's amazing where they're freed from something that. They were in
Julie Michelson: That wasn't right. Yeah.
Lorraine Maita: night and they didn't take the time to recognize that they weren't, you know, when you're in these wild hormone swings, you can't make good decisions. And that's what happens. I left my, I left a very prestigious job. I mean, I had everything power play perks, you know, prestige position, whatever, you know, um,
Julie Michelson: Back to the piece.
Lorraine Maita: but I wanted, I wanted peace and I wanted to take care of my family.
And I really didn't, didn't, it didn't, yeah. Dawn on me that this wasn't the major [Page//00:32:00] pressures that I was feeling. This was horrible, but I'm giving you the warning. Think hormones first. All right, have somebody measure that. Think hormones first because you know, but I don't regret leaving because it led me in this path and I
Julie Michelson: the world needs.
Lorraine Maita: Yeah, I have so much satisfaction from the transformations I see, and that's, that's what keeps me going. That's why I'm not retiring. Why would I retire? I'm
Julie Michelson: Right.
Lorraine Maita: loving what I'm doing. I'm loving how people are feeling. And I want, I want that for everybody.
Julie Michelson: And as a man, as do I, and that, and that's, I'm why I'm so glad you're here having the conversation because it is amazing how that one study
Lorraine Maita: Yeah,
Julie Michelson: just, and even though it's been refuted, it's been, you know, taken apart, it's been, you know, none of that seems to be getting the traction
Lorraine Maita: it
Julie Michelson: from,
Lorraine Maita: not sensational, right? And even, [Page//00:33:00] um, bioidentical progesterone, they're finding, you know, it's so much safer there, you know,
Julie Michelson: Well, I say this all the time. I, I, I grew up in equestrian. I love horses. I have horses right here in my yard out the window. I'm not a horse though. So I don't want to take stuff that's made from equine urine. Okay. I don't think it just doesn't even make, and I wouldn't give them my hormones because I don't think that would be really
Lorraine Maita: Oh, it's not right. And I tell people it's the same, like, what's the difference between a trans fat and omega 3 fat? It's a big difference, but they still call it fat. And, you know, the press calls everything progesterone when it's a progestin. And people can't discern, you know, I read the studies so you don't have to.
And, you know, the latest article about. Bioidentical progesterone, synthetic can cause gallbladder sludging, right? Bioidentical doesn't. [Page//00:34:00] Synthetic can cause spasms of the coronary arteries. Bioidentical doesn't. Synthetic has, um, can cause clotting. Bioidentical doesn't. There's some really big differences, just like there's a difference between a trans fat that mucks up your system that your body doesn't recognize versus a nice omega 3 that keeps
Julie Michelson: I love that analogy. That's brilliant. I'm, I will credit you every time I use it. it. Well, it, it really does. I mean, we, it's, it's not a, it's not apples to apples and so,
Lorraine Maita: And even the American Heart Association is saying there's something to this hormones helping your heart,
Julie Michelson: it's cardioprotective it, it's, that's, I know I told you before, you know, that I, I had a complete hysterectomy and ectomy and, and my surgeon who on her website, it's, Says she's a hormone specialist said, [Page//00:35:00] you know, you don't, you can stop your, I was already on progesterone. You can, you can stop your progesterone.
Now you don't have a uterus. And I was like, uh, I have a heart and a brain and, you know, I have a lot of other organs and a body that, and I look at it this way to, I didn't go to medical school. So I like to put stuff like really, really, really simple. We didn't used to live this long.
And so, uh, you know, as women and, and then add in all the toxins and all those other layers, right.
But even just in general, we had our babies. We raised them for a little while and then we died.
And so, you know, you're, you mentioned to us that I want people to understand that connection between living well and and living a long time. You don't want to be shriveled up because you can't get out of bed and your bones are brittle and your brain doesn't work.
You don't even know where you are. That's not living[Page//00:36:00]
Lorraine Maita: And that's why you think the quality of your life,
Julie Michelson: Yeah.
Lorraine Maita: you have to think of the quality of your life. And so now that the North American Medical Society and 20 other organizations say the benefits outweigh the risks, there are plenty of studies, you know, and I, you know, I blog about all this stuff too, but for my patients, I give them a big detailed synopsis.
And I even offer to give their doctors. Uh,
Julie Michelson: love that.
Lorraine Maita: and the doctors are really, they're opening their, their, I mean, listen, they don't have the time to do this. Almost all of them are, they're, they're employees and they're not able to spend the time, but they're, I'm getting more and more doctors referring to me, let her do it.
Julie Michelson: Right. Right.
Well, and
Lorraine Maita: your patients look younger. I'm sending them to you.
Julie Michelson: my, my big autoimmune coaching package includes a doctor. Like I, I, you know, I know a lot of functional medicine doctors have coaches. I am somebody who, [Page//00:37:00] you know, I'm I, cause I know I'll only get you so far. If you're a period postmenopausal woman with autoimmunity and you're not supporting hormones, you know, um, and I, I
Lorraine Maita: I need my coach.
I need my coach too, because there's so many details that I can't get into.
Julie Michelson: Right. Right. And I, and I joke, I mean, I look at me, I'm like, I don't have the parts. There are not enough seeds in the world. I'm not making those hormones. So, you know, I think it's so important for people to have a physician who really specializes like you do. It's, it's a good, I just said this to another doctor two weeks ago that I was coaching.
I was like, this is a gift that you get to give women.
Lorraine Maita: Yeah.
Julie Michelson: It's a gift. You're giving them their life back. So it's, it's
Lorraine Maita: like dental floss every day. You know, that's why I love it. And I, that's why I'm not giving it up. And another, one other point [Page//00:38:00] I want to make is a lot of women will say, no, no, I don't want hormones. I have hot flashes. It's nothing there. You know, um, they'll pass. Well, half lashes are a biomarker of underlying problems, and I presented this at the American Academy of anti aging and regenerative medicine because half lashes are not benign.
They're biomarker that you're, you know, the, you know, you have an increased risk of high calcium in your arteries. Artery spasm, increased intimal thickness, meaning the insides of your arteries get thicker, so the lumen gets thinner and you don't get blood flow. It's a biomarker for inflammation, for osteoporosis, and for dementia.
So hot flashes are not benign. They're not just a symptom that, ah, it'll go away. Yeah, it'll go away along with your bones, your brains, and your arteries. So, you know, it's, you
Julie Michelson: And it it's, but that's the, that was what for decades we've been told to expect. Right. [Page//00:39:00] Oh, it's just part of being a woman. It's I know. And so, yeah, I'm not,
Lorraine Maita: know, we're living longer. We're living longer. And you know what? The quality of life matters.
You deserve it. You owe it to yourself.
Julie Michelson: So good. So good. So I am so excited to ask you this question because I really don't know what you're going to say. What is one step that listeners can take today to start to improve their health?
Lorraine Maita: Oh, one step. One step. You know what? Everything is comes by attitude. You have to have the right attitude and make a commitment. That's, that's the bottom line. All, I mean, you know, I have people who do all the check boxes and they're still not happy and not good. But your, your attitude is going to drive everything.
You're, you know, you know, my husband says to me, why are you always [Page//00:40:00] happy? And I say, well, I choose to be. And that's it. Just choose, make that commitment to yourself. That's going to drive everything.
Julie Michelson: Oh, I love it. And see that, that you're going to have to come back on because you just opened up a whole nother, whole nother box that I would love to, to dive deeper in because that's, it is essential, attitude is essential. And see, I knew I had just had a feeling it was going to be something I wasn't expecting.
So
Lorraine Maita: Yeah, when I did a radio show, I said that there was silence and there's never silence on a radio show. The woman's like, well, you, you, you are,
Julie Michelson: What are you talking about? Yeah. I love it though. And it is a choice and we can intentionally choose daily, hourly, however often we need to until that becomes our perspective. And that is, it is such a powerful part of wellness. So I'm really glad you brought it up.[Page//00:41:00]
Lorraine Maita: Well, thank you. Thank you for asking the question,
Julie Michelson: Oh, Dr. Meda, this has been amazing for people that listen on the go like I do, where's the best place for them to find you.
Lorraine Maita: the feel good again, institute. com. Yes.
Julie Michelson: Who doesn't want to go there?
Lorraine Maita: Yeah. And it has to be me in the front and Institute at the back. Otherwise there's some, a lot of
Julie Michelson: Oh yeah. Be
Lorraine Maita: Yeah. Yeah. Well,
the Institute. com. And I also have the female hormone quiz. com. So you know, you can find that on my website and it's again, the female hormone quiz.
Julie Michelson: Love it. Uh, I love it. Dr. Maita, thank you so much. You have really just educated and, and such a fun, bright way. This conversation is so important and this is how things change. And so thank you for sharing.
Lorraine Maita: And [Page//00:42:00] thank you for hosting and sharing your wisdom and knowledge. I appreciate it.
Julie Michelson: My pleasure. For everyone listening. Remember you can get the show notes and transcripts by visiting inspiredliving.show. I hope you enjoyed this episode as much as I did. I'll see you next week. [Page//00:43:00]
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My Guest For This Episode
Connect with Lorraine Maita, MD
Lorraine Maita, MD
Lorraine Maita, MD the Hormone Harmonizer and Detoxifier, specializes in helping you have boundless energy, stable moods, a lean body, sharp, clear mind, balanced hormones and a healthy libido so you can feel like yourself again.
She helps you understand how your lifestyle choices impact your mind and body so you can choose what makes your feel great.
• She is a triple board certified physician, writer, author, speaker and award winning physician.
• Her programs impacted over 120,000 people in each of 3 Fortune 100 companies where she served as Chief Medical Officer or Medical Director of Global Health Services as well as thousands in her private practice.
• Her own struggles with hormone imbalance prompted her to become Board Certified in Anti-Aging Regenerative and Functional Medicine and Advanced Endocrinology. This enabled her to help thousands of people.
She believes that no one should suffer the ravages of a hormone imbalance or age like a dried raisin, shriveled and juicele
She helps you understand how your lifestyle choices impact your mind and body so you can choose what makes your feel great.
• She is a triple board certified physician, writer, author, speaker and award winning physician.
• Her programs impacted over 120,000 people in each of 3 Fortune 100 companies where she served as Chief Medical Officer or Medical Director of Global Health Services as well as thousands in her private practice.
• Her own struggles with hormone imbalance prompted her to become Board Certified in Anti-Aging Regenerative and Functional Medicine and Advanced Endocrinology. This enabled her to help thousands of people.
She believes that no one should suffer the ravages of a hormone imbalance or age like a dried raisin, shriveled and juicele
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