Couch Talk W/ Dr. Anna Cabeca

Dr. Louann Brizendine talks about why menopause is not only a period of transition for women but also an opportunity for positive transformation and more happiness than you thought possible. Learn why the female brain becomes stronger and better in the midlife, how to adapt and thrive during that time of change, and why we need to incorporate more compassion, community, and connection in our lives as we age.  [0:45] There is a physiology of mental health that is often ignored. There are changes to our brain that happen as we age and we need a comprehensive approach to healing. Biology and psychology have always both been fascinating for Dr. Anna, which is why she graduated with a double major in both fields. [4:30] To thrive you must honor your physiology. There is no mind/body dichotomy, they work together and rely on each other to make up you. [6:45] The Female Brain recently became a movie. It told the story of Dr. Brizendine, played by Whitney Cummings, and her book. [11:30] Being in psychiatry, Dr. Briz

Dr. Anthony Youn is a plastic surgeon, bestselling author, and transformation expert who has become a social media sensation building an audience of millions of followers across YouTube, Instagram and TikTok. He joins the show to discuss how to take care of your skin and what you can do to turn back the clock. [7:20] Dr. Youn re-invented himself during the pandemic as he found himself having to close his office and not having patients to take care of. He started creating entertaining and educational videos on YouTube, Instagram and TikTok. [8:21] Dr. Youn likes the fact that he can treat 20 people in his office in a day, but that he can also help 500,000 people on social media. [11:03] When it comes to the fight against aging, Dr. Youn recommends eating real food, using clean skincare, and looking at actual plastic surgery only as a last resort. As far as best diets for the skin, there isn’t a particular one Dr. Youn recommends following – it’s about consuming what’s best for your body in general. [11:31] Th

Instead of guessing, you need to test when it comes to your health. Barton Scott is on the podcast to talk about his struggle with brain fog and low energy, despite being a high level athlete in his youth and how he discovered the connection between minerals and optimal health. Find out how to improve your thyroid function, why magnesium and iodine are crucial to your hormone health, and how to get more of them into your body ASAP. [1:40] Barton started his journey because of his own experience. When he was younger, Barton was a high-level athlete and student and always pushing his body. His mother had ill health for a long time, and he could tell that she was losing her vitality as time went on. [3:35] Barton spent a lot of money on testing for him and his family, and he noticed that nothing they seemed to be doing affected the test results. He started looking at what areas of his life he could change. [4:20] As a high-level wrestler, Barton had been supplementing since the age of 12. Eventually, he realize

February is the month of love, so it’s time to take the opportunity and show yourself some love too! Find out how to not only live longer but improve the quality of your life, by choosing to have more oxytocin moments and by embracing and recognizing the ones you love and who love you back. [0:20] It’s not just about the number of years in our lives, but our healthspan as well. We are destined for a long life and our quality of life is in our control. [0:40] Oxytocin is one of the leading factors to longevity in our lives. The love we feel in our lives is correlated to the most powerful rejuvenating hormone in our lives. Stress and cortisol is the opposite. When we don’t get a break from the stresses in our life we shorten our lives unnecessarily. [2:45] February is filled with messages of love, but if we’re not feeling love in our life, it can become a stressor. High stress and low oxytocin is the physiology of divorce. [4:10] Dr. Anna received an email from a listener that realized the link between pain du

Dr. Bindiya breaks down the impact of the hormone leptin and why so many people struggle with a weight loss plateau that they can’t breakthrough. Learn how dieting for too long can actually prevent you from losing weight, why the counterintuitive solution may be to eat more, why leptin might be the reason you’re always craving food and stressed out all the time, and what you can do to reset your metabolism. [0:20] Leptin is a largely unknown hormone but one of which everyone should be aware. Leptin is responsible for telling your brain that you have enough fat stored to fuel your body for calories at a normal rate. When leptin levels are high, that’s when you’re prone to food cravings, gaining weight, anxiety, and more. [3:00] We have been told for years that we should be snacking between meals, but when we do that it increases our insulin and blood sugar levels without much benefit. You should typically eat every 4 to 6 hours, and if your leptin resistance is off you need to reset your metabolism. [5:20] Le

Dr. Anna talks about her upcoming book MenuPause and how you can use the six-day menu plans to overhaul your hormonal balance and allow your body to detoxify and heal. Learn about the different phases of detoxification, the #1 most beneficial thing for your body no matter how old you are, and why your health always comes down to two specific factors. [0:30] Dr. Anna talks about her past book releases, and what her latest book is about. MenuPause is a collection of six-day menu plans that pause out something from your diet because something as simple as a six-day pause can make a huge change in your life. [4:35] You can reclaim the health of your life through food. Menopause can be one of the most challenging stages of your life and what you eat has a direct impact on your ability to handle and manage that time. [6:20] Detoxification symptoms can sneak in when you are pausing out certain foods. As we detox, emotions are released as well. Many different religions from around the world say similar things about

We can’t create miracles, but we can create the conditions to invite them into our lives this year. The biggest thing that each of us can do to create a better world is for each of us to live a better, happier life. Marci Schimoff talks about her Year of Miracles program and how you can learn to become open to receiving more miracles in your life, how to focus your energy and attention on love and gratitude, and why the path to peace is finding happiness that doesn’t depend on your circumstances. [0:30] 2021 was a year of challenge and growth for many people, Marci included. Pivoting into her opportunities has been a real blessing. [2:20] The past year has also introduced a lot of additional stress into people’s lives. Having a supportive community around you can be crucial to growth and wellbeing, and can help you avoid becoming depressed and isolated. [5:10] We can’t do everything alone. We are social creatures and we get energy from connection with other people. Marci helps organize groups of women to con

JJ Virgin shares the key lifestyle changes that you need to make to boost your metabolism and live your best life at age 50 and beyond. Learn about the seven foods you should drop immediately from your diet, how to cross train your diet in the same way you would cross train your exercise, and the key health parameters you should be paying attention to every week to know if you’re moving in the right direction.  [1:45] One of the things you have to prioritize as you age is self-care and putting yourself first. Sacrificing your sleep may no longer be a worthy option. You can be in your best shape at 50, but you need to focus on what you need to be healthy. [3:30] A healthy body burns fat and holds onto muscle. If you’re carrying around extra weight, it may be an indicator that you have a metabolic condition. Weight loss is a side benefit of your metabolism working well. [4:20] You need to step on the scale everyday if you want to understand how your body is functioning. The key is to position yourself as the o

David Perlmutter MD reveals the exciting and challenging science behind a major health risk that almost no one is talking about. Find out how uric acid is contributing to some of the biggest health risks in modern life, how the standard American diet is the perfect formula for creating dangerous levels of uric acid in your body, and how you can make changes to your diet that will help you lose weight, control your blood sugar, and live a healthier life.  [1:40] As of 2022, David will be 67 years young and he’s planning on traveling from Vancouver to Alaska with his wife. The world has a lot of variability and uncertainty right now so it’s hard to make detailed plans for the following year, but in some ways, that’s good because it forces you to focus on the present. [5:00] David’s new book is called Drop Acid. It specifically deals with uric acid and how we discovered it to be a central player in regulating metabolic health. It’s not only that uric acid just becomes elevated, it actually plays a causal role i

Menopause and perimenopause shouldn’t be something you just power through, yet that’s the way that many women deal with their hormone or energy issues. There’s a better way, and it doesn’t involve being afraid of estrogen and hormone therapy. Dr. Shawn Tassone answers your questions on cancer, estrogen, hormones, and health, and talks about why the narrative matters in getting to the root cause of a patient’s problems. [3:05] Being a man in the arena of women's health gives him a different perspective. As the author of The Hormone Balance Bible, Shawn helps women transform their body and life during perimenopause and menopause. [4:10] Shawn found that if he could share stories of hormonal archetypes with his patients, it connects much better than just raw data. It gives women a starting point to get the information they are looking for and points them in the right direction to learn more. [5:50] Hormone issues can feel very isolating, like you’re not being acknowledged. Hearing the stories of other people an

The holiday season can be stressful, but it doesn’t have to stay that way. Dr. Anna talks about the importance of reflecting on the joys in our lives and honoring our experiences without getting frustrated or depressed. She also has the ultimate holiday health gift guide for you, filled to the brim with great ideas for giving the gift of good health this holiday season. [0:45] The holiday blues are a real thing and it’s not just the stress of the season. [1:50] There are four pillars of health in the Girlfriend Doctor community: Embrace, Nourish, Shine, and Awaken, and there are gifts in each area that we give this season. [2:20] Celebrate the simple joys in your life. Reflect on the joys you experience because the more you focus on something, the more it expands and is magnetized toward you. Being able to sit and embrace that feeling is a skill that will change your physiology. [4:00] Dr. Anna is giving to the House of Hope, a place that she helped to start that helps young girls who have been trafficked. T

Red light therapy is the energy hack we need to support our mitochondria and re-energize our bodies. Ari Whitten goes into the science of the Energy Blueprint system and breaks down the myths around adrenal fatigue. Learn how we can repair our cells, increase our energy, and reduce inflammation with light therapy and by working with our body’s natural hormonal and circadian rhythms. [0:50] Ari Whitten has done his PhD work on energy, is the host of the Energy Blueprint Podcast, and the author of the Energy Blueprint System. He’s on the cutting edge of science when it comes to energy. [2:40] Health science has been Ari’s passion since the age of 12 when he was into fitness and exercise, but he differed from traditional bodybuilders in their pursuit of muscle mass at any cost. [6:15] Ari was always fit and healthy until his early 20’s when he was diagnosed with Epstein-Barr Virus and was floored for over a year with chronic fatigue. That experience became the seed of his fascination with the body’s energy syst

Your oral health is the gateway to your immune system. Trina Felber talks about how your oral health is directly related to the strength of your immune system, and how poor oral health can lead to a higher risk of heart disease, dementia, erectile dysfunction, and kidney disease. Learn exactly what you can do to have a healthier mouth right now and why you should be avoiding the off-the-shelf oral care products most people use today. [1:55] Good health starts inside your mouth. If you don’t have the right bacteria inside your mouth it causes a number of other issues with your overall health, and your immune system is one of those things. [3:20] People who fail to brush their teeth twice a day may be putting themselves at risk of heart disease and advanced gum disease. Both of which can raise your risk of a fatal heart attack ten fold. Other increases in risk from poor oral health include bad breath, dementia, pneumonia, erectile dysfunction, and kidney disease. [5:10] Your mouth and vaginal health are direct

Madiha Saeed is on a mission as the Holistic Mom to help children live healthier, happier, more mindful lives. Learn about the inflammation epidemic that is afflicting children today and what we as parents can do to help our children make more rational, healthy decisions by choosing nutrient-rich foods, focusing on gratitude and optimism, and creating a home environment where they can thrive. [0:40] What can we do as parents to raise mindful and resilient children with a combination of functional medicine and parenting? That’s the question that Madiha’s new book tries to answer. [1:25] Because of widespread chronic inflammation, children are unable to make rational decisions today which are resulting in a number of societal issues. [3:10] Madiha’s mission began after seeing her newborn child struggle to simply breathe. She started her journey of self-healing and put those lessons into practice to help her children as well. [5:35] Chronic disease has quadrupled amongst children since the 1960s. Now 1 out of 2

Understanding the seven key areas of health and sexual health are key to knowing what your next right step is and to unburden you from some of the guilt, grief, and self-sabotage in your life. Learn about the pillars of sexual health and what solutions women can access that will go beyond just dealing with their reproductive hormones to allow them to regain their sex life and enjoy sex again. [1:00] Dr. Anna has been practicing in the field of women’s sexual health for years and today’s episode deals with hot topics around sexual health, sexual function and dysfunction, and what you need to know to have a healthy and happy sex life. [3:25] The vagina is essential for life and it’s vital to take care of your vagina as you age because our physiology drives our behaviour. [3:45] Testosterone affects our behaviour in various ways and its use has risen and fallen in favor as a therapy over time. Dr. Anna tells the story of a patient that was undergoing testosterone therapy and how high testosterone could have res

Dr. Anna shares the story of her experience struggling with PTSD and the fear of losing everything she had worked so hard to build up over the years, and how, through those struggles, she discovered the power of being willing to receive as well as contribute and give back. Learn why oxytocin is the most powerful hormone of all and how living a life of contribution is the best life you can have. [0:55] Community is healing. Being in a community increases oxytocin in the body which is the most powerful hormone responsible for the feeling of love and connection. [2:15] Our energy, thoughts, and emotions are held in certain parts of the body. We usually associate oxytocin with the heart, which is why heartbreak is a common and easily understood emotion. It’s a physical as well as an emotional experience. [3:45] Dr. Anna was in California last weekend where she spent some relaxing time at a spa. While she was there she met a chiropractor who helped Dr. Anna release some tension in her back and during the treatmen

If you’ve experienced trauma in your past, know that you’re not broken, you’re a survivor. Our past experiences can lead to chronic debilitating conditions but they don’t have to be a life sentence. Dani Williamson suffered from a number of chronic lifestyle diseases related to her adverse childhood experiences, and now she’s on a mission to help people understand how your diet can either heal you or kill you, and how you can overcome what you’re suffering from with six steps to living wild and well. [1:05] Adverse experiences and the physical issues that come up from them are contributing to an explosion of depression, disorders, and suicide. Phone calls to suicide crisis headlines have gone up 800% since the beginning of the pandemic. Age 10 to 24 is the fastest growing demographic for suicide. [2:45] Dani grew up in a storm of chaos. Her grandfather died by suicide and her mother attempted to kill herself many times. Dani suffered from chronic diarrhea for years from the stress and 15 years later she was

Halloween is essentially the beginning of an avalanche of sugar until the end of the year for most people, but if you’re not careful, you may be risking more than just rotting your teeth. Find out why sugar and stress is a deadly combination that you should definitely avoid, why the “diet” in diet soda is a cruel joke, and how you can ditch the toxic boyfriend known as sugar and start living the Keto Green lifestyle right now. [0:10] This is the season of sugar consumption and stress, and that combination leads to a lot of acidity in your system. It’s time to break up with the toxic boyfriend that keeps on coming back, sugar. [1:35] Halloween is known for sugar, sugar, sugar. And right after Halloween the holiday season starts up and with it comes the temptation to eat even more sugary treats. Unfortunately, stress and glucose together can be a deadly combination that creates acidity and inflammation throughout your body. [3:25] Getting into the Keto green lifestyle is the secret to breaking up with sugar fo

Erica Ziel, deep core exercise specialist, talks about the deep connections throughout the body and how your fascia and muscles impact everything from your toes to the top of your head. Learn about how Erica helps her students heal and release their fascia from inherited patterns of movement that cause dysfunction, and how to properly train your core to support your body and move without pain. [0:30] As a child, Erica had daily knee pains that only got worse as the years went on. After finally seeing a specialist about the pain, she was told the solution was to simply strengthen her legs. This put her on the path to learn about exercise science and the body. She began developing her own methodologies through her experience, especially when it comes to pre and post-natal women. [2:30] The pelvic floor and the fascia is a very important area of the body but people don’t talk about it or how to address pelvic floor pain. The quality of your life depends a lot on the health of your pelvic floor. [4:00] So many w

Food is medicine and food is energy. The energy you bring to your food matters almost as much as the physical ingredients you combine in the recipe. Chef Serena Poon talks about how to bring love and positivity to your culinary creations and a simple technique to shift your energy state, practice gratitude, and show up as the most empowered version of yourself.  [1:00] Serena’s journey started with her parents, who both contracted cancer when they were in their 40’s. Her father was diagnosed with stage 4 liver cancer and after he died, her mother was diagnosed with a rare form of ovarian cancer. The passion that drives Serena is rooted in that experience and what led to her learning about holistic nutrition. [3:30] The kitchen is the heart of the house. Serena went on to school to study food as medicine and to help people understand its power in their life. [4:45] Because her mother’s cancer was so aggressive and she had lost so much weight during the ordeal with her father, they discovered the tumor during