{"podcast":{"title":"Everyday Wellness: Midlife Hormones, Menopause, and Science for Women 35+","slug":"everyday-wellness-midlife-hormones-menopause-and-science-for-women-35-72097","podcast_index_feed_id":72097,"rss_url":"https://feeds.megaphone.fm/CTH5015378255","website_url":"https://cynthiathurlow.com/podcast","image_url":"https://megaphone.imgix.net/podcasts/1d7d0888-c5c2-11eb-9609-eb0ddaa88f9d/image/e47b0ba3f061eba8ffa079c1196fdd6e.jpg?ixlib=rails-4.3.1&max-w=3000&max-h=3000&fit=crop&auto=format,compress","author":"Cynthia Thurlow","episode_count":769,"summary":"Looking for the latest strategies for dealing with menopause, hormones and midlife health issues? You're in the right place! Cynthia Thurlow is a nurse practitioner, host of the Everyday Wellness podcast, author and international speaker, with over 15 million views for her second TEDx talk (Intermittent Fasting: Transformational Technique). With over 25 years experience in health and wellness, Cynthia is a globally recognized expert in perimenopause/menopause and intermittent fasting, and has been featured on ABC, FOX5, KTLA, CW, Medium, Entrepreneur, and The Megyn Kelly Show. Her mission is to help empower women to live their most optimal lives in perimenopause and beyond.","last_synced_at":"2026-09-24T06:20:47.420971+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/everyday-wellness-midlife-hormones-menopause-and-science-for-women-35-72097"},"episode":{"title":"Ep. 621 Cortisol, Belly Fat, and the Fasting Mistake Most Women Make with Ben Azadi, FDN-P | Menopause, Perimenopause, Keto","slug":"ep-621-cortisol-belly-fat-and-the-fasting-mistake-most-women-make-with-ben-azadi-fdn-p-menopause-perimenopause-keto","published_at":"2026-07-22T07:00:00+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/everyday-wellness-midlife-hormones-menopause-and-science-for-women-35-72097/ep-621-cortisol-belly-fat-and-the-fasting-mistake-most-women-make-with-ben-azadi-fdn-p-menopause-perimenopause-keto","show_page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/everyday-wellness-midlife-hormones-menopause-and-science-for-women-35-72097","url":"https://traffic.megaphone.fm/CTH8049662082.mp3","audio_url":"https://traffic.megaphone.fm/CTH8049662082.mp3","summary":"I’m delighted to reconnect with my dear friend Ben Azadi today, in honor of his newly revised book, Keto Flex. Ben is a leading authority on metabolic health, an international Keystone speaker, and the New York Times best-selling author of Metabolic Freedom. In today’s conversation, we discuss why women fail on keto. We examine how women’s menstrual cycles and various life stages influence both the ketogenic diet and intermittent fasting, and the importance of coming out of ketosis and incorporating feast days. We explain what the Randall cycle is, why we need to be finely tuned to it, how to support healthy cortisol regulation, particularly the HPA axis, and tools to determine whether we are balanced within the autonomic nervous system, including heart rate variability, sleep, and whether our glucose and ketones are within range. We also explore the effects of anti-nutrients and elimination diets, and Ben shares his approach for women who feel keto hasn't worked for them, explaining why keto should be viewed as a process rather than a diet. This is, as always, a truly invaluable conversation with my dear friend Ben Azadi. Stay tuned, as we will also be offering giveaways to listeners of Ben's new book, Keto Flex. IN THIS EPISODE, YOU WILL LEARN: Various factors that could influence how women respond to a ketogenic diet How women need to adjust keto and fasting according to their menstrual cycle, perimenopause, and postmenopausal years, rather than continuously following the same approach Why Ben encourages women to have intentional feast days instead of remaining in ketosis indefinitely  What a feast day looks like,  and how it differs from a cheat day Why fasting should be adapted to how well your body tolerates stress Factors that can help to determine whe…","meta_description":"I’m delighted to reconnect with my dear friend Ben Azadi today, in honor of his newly revised book, Keto Flex. Ben is a leading authority on metabolic hea…","key_points":[],"chapters":[],"topics":[],"duration_seconds":3162,"processing_state":"not_requested","actions":[{"name":"request_transcript","method":"POST","url":"https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/everyday-wellness-midlife-hormones-menopause-and-science-for-women-35-72097/episodes/ep-621-cortisol-belly-fat-and-the-fasting-mistake-most-women-make-with-ben-azadi-fdn-p-menopause-perimenopause-keto/transcription-requests","description":"Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode."},{"name":"read_markdown","method":"GET","url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/everyday-wellness-midlife-hormones-menopause-and-science-for-women-35-72097/ep-621-cortisol-belly-fat-and-the-fasting-mistake-most-women-make-with-ben-azadi-fdn-p-menopause-perimenopause-keto.md","description":"Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource."}]}}