Explore every episode of the podcast The Ovary Club with Alisa Vitti

Most hormone advice assumes you control your day. Get morning sunlight. Eat on a schedule. Go to bed at the same time every night. But what if you are on hour 10 of a 12-hour night shift, standing at mandatory PT at 6 a.m., or living on a ship where you have not seen the sun in weeks? Cycle Syncing® was never about having a perfect life. It was about knowing what your body needs in each phase and using every choice you do have, even when there are not many.

In this episode of The Ovary Club, I sit down with two women who have lived this in one of the most extreme ways possible. We get into how shift work shows up in your cycle, why your ovaries care what time it is, how to eat well when you do not control the menu, and the simple framework that makes cycle care realistic when the mission has to come first. We are releasing this one the day before Veterans Day on purpose. To every woman who has served, and every nurse and first responder working the shifts the rest of us depend on, this one is for you.

Jayden Davey is an active-duty Naval Information Warfare Officer. She enlisted in the Navy in 2018, served in the Reserve while in college, earned an NROTC scholarship, and commissioned in 2023 from Miami University. She deployed with Carrier Air Wing 17 aboard the USS Nimitz and now works shift work in a supporting role for operational commands across the Department of the Navy.

Angela Bento-Swass is a retired U.S. Air Force master sergeant who served more than 20 years across active duty, Reserve, Guard, and contractor roles. She worked in operational and shift-work environments, deployed multiple times, spent more than five years managing the publication of technical orders for her airframe and weapon system, and later served as a First Sergeant and Resilience Integrator. She founded the Women's Initiative Team at Creech Air Force Base, and in 2021 she organized a three-day Women's Health Symposium where I was the featured speaker.  

(5:50) How shift work shows up in women's mood, energy, cycles, and family planning.

(10:35) Why "go outside and get morning sunlight" falls apart on a ship or a night shift.

(21:24) Why your ovaries care what time of day you are working.

(41:15) Why eating imperfect food beats skipping the meal.

(52:31) The minimum, available, and optimal framework for cycle care when you cannot control your day.

(1:00:47) How to talk to leadership about family planning and shift work.

(1:21:36) My four-part plan for biohacking shift work: light, blood sugar, temperature, and supplements.

(1:37:05) What I would pack for a 12-hour shift with no fridge and no cooking.

If you have ever felt like you are failing at your health because your schedule will not cooperate, this conversation will change what you think "doing it right" looks like.

The Shero's Program

If you are a woman serving in the military, a nurse, or a first responder, you now have lifetime access to my products and programs at a special discount, built to support your hormones through the shift work that keeps the rest of us safe.

Join the Shero's Program: [LINK TO COME]

Resources Mentioned

My shift work guide (light, meal timing, and sleep setup for night shifts): [LINK TO COME]

My shelf-stable food and product list for long shifts and deployments: [LINK TO COME]

Thank You to our Sponsors: 

FLO Living (supplement): Get 25% off with the code podcast25 at floliving.com 

Slow Down Hormonal Aging
Want to be more proactive about your hormones as you get older? Start with Alisa's Slow Down Hormonal Aging resource and learn what you can begin paying attention to now: alisavitti.kit.com/77c59f219c

Learn more about Alisa Vitti:

Instagram: alisa.vitti

Website: alisavitti.kit.com

Jayden Davey and Angela Bento-Swass appear in a personal capacity. The views they share are their own and do not represent the U.S. Navy, the U.S. Air Force, or the Department of Defense.

Girls are starting puberty earlier than they did a generation ago. Some pediatricians are now seeing breast buds in girls as young as 6 and 7. And it is not just genetics. Everyday factors like stress, diet, and chemical exposure can push a girl's body into puberty years before it is ready.

In this solo episode of The Ovary Club, I am breaking down why the timing of puberty matters so much more than most people realize, the four main factors research has linked to early puberty, and the simple, consistent things you can do to set your daughter's hormones up for success. Whether you are a mom or not, this is information every woman should have.

I am also sharing exactly what I do for my own daughters, from screens off after 7 p.m. and fragrance-free products, to how we talk about bodies and periods at home. Because none of us had this information handed to us. You have it now, and that is what matters.

What's Discussed:

(1:07) How the timeline of puberty is shifting for girls.

(2:24) What precocious puberty is and the signs to watch for.

(3:08) Why the timing of puberty matters decades later.

(4:06) How chronic stress is linked to earlier periods in girls.

(4:49) The personal care products worth a closer look.

(5:20) What diet and rapid weight gain have to do with puberty timing.

(5:59) The surprising link between infant feeding and puberty.

(7:11) My own late puberty and why I wanted something different for my daughters.

(7:49) How I manage my daughters' stress load and screen time.

(8:32) What I look for in personal care products at home.

(9:01) How to feed her for healthy hormones, starting in infancy.

(9:56) Why the conversation about her body should start early.

(10:26) The simple daily check that teaches kids to read their body's signals.

Thank You to our Sponsors:

FLO Living (supplement): Get 25% off with the code podcast25 at floliving.com 

Slow Down Hormonal Aging
Want to be more proactive about your hormones as you get older? Start with Alisa's Slow Down Hormonal Aging resource and learn what you can begin paying attention to now: alisavitti.kit.com/77c59f219c

Learn more about Alisa Vitti:

Instagram: alisa.vitti

Website: alisavitti.kit.com

If your desire has disappeared, you probably already have a theory about why. Your hormones. Your age. Your relationship. The kids. But there is a system sitting underneath all of those that almost nobody is talking about. When your nervous system is stuck in survival mode, your body is not going to prioritize pleasure, no matter how clean your diet is or how perfect your protocol looks.

In this episode of The Ovary Club, I sit down with my friend Kimberly Ann Johnson to talk about what is actually happening when women feel cut off from their bodies, why postpartum is so often where that disconnection begins, and why trying to "fix" your nervous system can keep you stuck in the exact state you are trying to get out of. We also get into her new book, Erotic Seasons, and how a woman's desire shifts through every season of her life and every phase of her cycle.

Kimberly Ann Johnson is a sexological bodyworker, Somatic Experiencing™ Practitioner, birth doula, and postpartum advocate who has spent the past twenty years helping women heal from birth injuries, gynecological surgeries, and sexual boundary violations. She is the author of the early mothering classic The Fourth Trimester and Call of the Wild, the creator of Activate Your Inner Jaguar, and the host of the Sex Birth Trauma podcast. Her new book, Erotic Seasons: Tuning into the Rhythms of Women's Sexuality and Spirituality, maps a woman's sexuality through the maiden, mother, virgin, and crone seasons of life.

(6:45) What is actually happening in your nervous system when you feel cut off from your body.

(8:02) The "social nervous system" and why so many women get stuck in comparison mode.

(10:06) What "I've done everything and nothing works" may really be telling you.

(14:17) What is going on underneath disappearing desire.

(19:22) Why calling oxytocin "the love hormone" sells it short.

(25:22) Why postpartum is so often where long-term disconnection from your body begins.

(29:12) Why postpartum care should look more like recovering from a car accident than "bouncing back."

(36:24) The blue and red framework, and why noticing what feels good is a skill.

(47:07) Why going from a busy day straight into intimacy is like going zero to 60.

(52:13) The biggest misconception about how women try to "fix" their nervous system.

(1:00:32) The four erotic seasons of a woman's life.

(1:08:49) How your monthly cycle gives you a preview of every erotic season.

(1:15:14) Where to start if you feel disconnected and your desire is low.

Thank You to our Sponsors:
FLO Living (supplement): Get 25% off with the code podcast25 at floliving.com 

Slow Down Hormonal Aging
Want to be more proactive about your hormones as you get older? Start with Alisa's Slow Down Hormonal Aging resource and learn what you can begin paying attention to now: alisavitti.kit.com/77c59f219c

Learn more about Alisa Vitti:

Instagram: alisa.vitti

Website: alisavitti.kit.com

Learn More About Kimberly Ann Johnson:

Website: kimberlyannjohnson.com 

YouTube: @kimberly.ann.johnson 

Instagram: @kimberly.ann.johnson

Podcast: Sex Birth Trauma

Erotic Seasons available for pre-order now & a Free Gift: Download an exclusive additional chapter from Erotic Seasons entitled "The Body and the Belly" at www.kimberlyannjohnson.com/erotic-seasons-book/

Perimenopause brings up a lot of very specific questions. What should I actually be eating? Why am I suddenly gaining weight when I have not changed anything? Should I be fasting? Is HRT enough? And what do I do if symptoms are already showing up hard in my 40s?

In this episode of The Ovary Club, I am answering four real questions women sent me about navigating this stage. I take you inside how I structure my own meals, when I eat carbohydrates, how I fuel strength training, what I pay attention to when weight suddenly becomes harder to manage, and where HRT fits into the bigger picture.

I am also sharing what I am doing personally at 49, because I do not believe women should have to wait until symptoms become unbearable before they start changing how they support their hormones. There is a lot we can pay attention to now, and sometimes the smallest adjustments tell you the most about what your body needs.

What's Discussed:

Q&A 1 | 0:56 What should I eat in perimenopause if I have insulin resistance and strength train?

Q&A 2 | 16:12 Could menopause eventually become optional?

Q&A 3 | 22:45 What can women 45+ do when hot flashes, night sweats, anxiety, and irregular periods are already showing up?

Q&A 4 | 28:16 Why will the scale not budge at 47 even when I walk daily and eat clean?

I had way more perimenopause questions than I could fit into one public episode, so I kept going.

The full Q&A is available exclusively inside The Ovary Club Insiders, where I answer more of your questions about caffeine, dietary fat, legumes and the bean protocol, melatonin, and more. 

The Ovary Club Insiders: Join us at alisavitti.kit.com/products/the-ovary-club 

Thank You to our Sponsors:

FLO Living (supplement): Get 25% off with the code podcast25 at floliving.com  

More From Alisa:

Get my guide on slowing down hormonal aging: https://alisavitti.kit.com/77c59f219c

Learn more about Alisa Vitti:

Instagram: alisa.vitti

Website: alisavitti.kit.com

If having a baby is somewhere in your plans for the next year, there is a lot you can be doing now that most women are never told about. Fertility prep starts well before you are officially "trying," and the months leading up to conception are a chance to support your body in ways that can make a real difference.

In this episode of The Ovary Club, I sit down with Lily Nichols for a much-needed conversation about what preconception nutrition actually looks like. We talk about where the usual fertility advice falls short, the things women are doing in the name of "health" that may not be helping, and what I want you paying attention to now if pregnancy is on your radar. We also get into the part of fertility prep that should never fall entirely on the woman.

Lily Nichols is a Registered Dietitian/Nutritionist, Certified Diabetes Educator, researcher, and author known for her evidence-based work in prenatal nutrition. She is the founder of the Institute for Prenatal Nutrition® and the author of Real Food for Pregnancy, Real Food for Fertility, and Real Food for Gestational Diabetes. Her books have reached millions of readers worldwide, are used in university-level maternal nutrition and midwifery courses, and have influenced prenatal nutrition policy internationally.

(6:49) Why fertility nutrition should start months before you begin trying.

(11:19) Why having a "normal" period does not necessarily tell you everything about ovulation.

(13:39) What blood sugar can tell you about fertility, even when your labs are technically normal.

(19:54) The problem with fasting and under-eating when you are trying to support fertility.

(37:06) How long an egg is actually developing before ovulation.

(39:34) Why not all prenatal vitamins are created equal.

(49:21) What hormonal birth control can do to nutrient levels before conception.

(56:45) Why nutrition still matters if you are going through IVF.

(1:03:35) Why male fertility needs to be part of the preconception conversation.

(1:09:47) What to start doing now if you want to try to conceive within the next year.

(1:16:28) Can you really improve egg quality in 90 days?

Thank You to our Sponsors:
FLO Living: Get 25% off with the code podcast25 at floliving.com 

Slow Down Hormonal Aging

Want to be more proactive about your hormones as you get older? Start with Alisa's Slow Down Hormonal Aging resource and learn what you can begin paying attention to now: alisavitti.kit.com/77c59f219c

Boost Your Fertility

Trying to conceive now or in the future? Get Alisa's guide including the exact supplement protocol she used to conceive at 36 and 43, plus her essential fertility biohacks: https://alisavitti.kit.com/a2b80c30b0

Learn more about Alisa Vitti:

Instagram: alisa.vitti

Website: alisavitti.kit.com

Learn More About Lily Nichols:

Website: lilynicholsrdn.com 

Substack: lilynicholsrdn.substack.com  

Instagram: @lilynicholsrdn 

If you are in your 40s or 50s and travel suddenly feels harder on your body than it used to, we need to talk. You come home bloated, constipated, exhausted, starving at weird times, sleeping terribly, and wondering why one trip knocked you out for days. In midlife, your hormones are already shifting, and travel can pile even more disruption on top of that.

There are five things I pay very close attention to when I travel now: my circadian rhythm, hydration, gut health, blood sugar and cortisol, and mitochondrial health. In this episode, I am breaking down what flying can do to each one, why women in perimenopause may feel those changes more intensely, and the things you can do before, during, and after a trip to make recovery much easier.

And I am giving you my personal travel routine because, as I say in the episode, I am a delicate flower. 😂 I bring my food. I pack my supplements and tea. I get up and do squats and calf raises on the airplane. I have spent years figuring out what keeps me feeling like myself when I travel, especially now in perimenopause, and I want you to take whatever helps make your next trip easier on your body.

Get my free Travel Cheat Sheet here so you know exactly what to pack and how to prep for your next trip: https://alisavitti.kit.com/457e61fb4c

Get my Slow Down Hormonal Aging cheat sheet here: https://alisavitti.kit.com/77c59f219c

(1:50) What crossing time zones can do to your circadian rhythm.

(5:04) Why protecting melatonin matters for much more than sleep.

(6:41) The surprising connection between dehydration, hunger, and fullness.

(7:56) Why your post-travel constipation may also affect your hormones.

(9:17) Where blood sugar and cortisol start getting messy during travel.

(10:05) Why I really want you to stop winging your food at the airport.

(11:06) The mitochondrial piece almost nobody thinks about when flying.

(12:45) My personal hormone-friendly travel routine.

(13:44) Yes, I actually do squats and calf raises on the plane.

(16:46) What I pack and eat when I travel in perimenopause.

Learn more about Alisa Vitti:

Instagram: alisa.vitti

Website: alisavitti.kit.com

Food is one of the most powerful tools we have for hormonal health, and somehow it has become one of the most confusing. Protein targets, fasting windows, carbs, fats, blood sugar, meal timing, supplements, food quality... women are trying so hard to get it "right" that eating can start to feel like another full-time job. And somewhere in all of that advice, we have lost the part where food is supposed to taste good, fit into an actual life, and be something we enjoy.

In this episode of The Ovary Club, I sit down with Giada De Laurentiis to make eating for your hormones feel practical again. We get into what happens when the way you have always eaten no longer feels like it is working for your body, why hormone health is about more than simply choosing "healthy" foods, and how to build an approach to eating that can actually survive a busy life, travel, restaurants, family, and everything else women are carrying. Most importantly, we talk about how to do all of that without taking the joy out of food in the process.

Giada De Laurentiis is an Emmy Award-winning chef, nine-time New York Times bestselling cookbook author, and one of the most recognizable culinary voices in the world. Born in Rome and trained at Le Cordon Bleu in Paris, she brings a perspective on food that has always gone far beyond calories and macros. This conversation brings that philosophy into the hormone conversation, and into the very real question so many women are asking: How do I eat in a way that supports my body without making food miserable?

Get the step counter we talked about in the episode: https://amzn.to/4yAEztw 

What's Discussed:

(03:40) Why hormone changes can begin in your early 40s even when standard lab results still appear "normal."

(11:07) Why eating foods that seem healthy may still leave blood sugar, cholesterol, inflammation, and energy moving in the wrong direction.

(15:22) How fasting and meal timing can work against some women in midlife instead of supporting their metabolism.

(22:36) How protein, carbohydrates, fats, and the way meals are structured can change metabolic health.

(31:31) Why fiber becomes especially important for digestion, gut health, and estrogen metabolism in menopause.

(41:02) Why HRT can be helpful without replacing the nutrition and lifestyle foundations your body still needs.

(47:51) How to eat for your hormones without turning food into restriction, perfectionism, or another source of stress.

Free Guide:

The 90-Day Reset Roadmap: Most women quit fixing their hormones right before it actually works, because nobody told them what to expect. Your body works in cycles, not days, so real change shows up over about three of them. I mapped it out month by month in a guide called the 90-Day Reset Roadmap, so you know exactly what is normal and when to expect the shift.

Get it free here: alisavitti.kit.com/

Learn More About Alisa Vitti:

Instagram: @alisa.vitti 

Website: alisavitti.kit.com 

Learn More About Giada De Laurentiis:

Instagram: @giadadelaurentiis 

Website: giadzy.com & giadadelaurentiis.com

Books: https://www.giadadelaurentiis.com/books

If you are waking up at 3 a.m. every night, getting enough hours but still feeling exhausted, or suddenly having trouble sleeping when you never used to, please stop writing it off as "just perimenopause." Yes, your hormones are changing. But that does not mean every sleep problem after 40 should automatically get blamed on hormones and left there. Women can have real sleep disorders in midlife that show up very differently than the symptoms most doctors were trained to look for.

In this episode of The Ovary Club, Dr. Andrea Matsumura and I unpack why broken sleep after 40 is more complicated than "your hormones are changing," and why so many women are still not getting the right answers. We talk about the sleep problems that are commonly missed in midlife, what your 3 a.m. wake-up may actually be telling you, and why some of the most popular sleep fixes may not be helping the way you think they are 

Dr. Andrea Matsumura is a board-certified sleep medicine physician, certified menopause practitioner, and founder of the D.R.E.A.M. Sleep Method. She has built her work around something that should have happened a long time ago: looking at women's sleep through female physiology. Her framework considers daily habits, your sleep environment, emotions, circadian archetype, and the medical conditions that can quietly keep women from getting restorative sleep.

What's Discussed

(7:42) Why estrogen changes can disrupt the melatonin signal helping you stay asleep.

(12:26) The four-part sleep pattern Dr. Matsumura keeps seeing in women entering menopause.

(15:19) What may really be happening behind the 3 a.m. wake-up.

(23:05) Why women with sleep apnea often do not look like the sleep apnea patient you are picturing.

(46:28) Why your own melatonin production can take a major hit by midlife.

(51:14) The problem with taking high-dose melatonin right before bed.

(1:03:43) What to ask when you know your sleep is not normal but no one has investigated it.

If you are doing all the "right" things and still waking up exhausted, this conversation will give you a very different way to look at what might be going on. 

Thank You to Our Sponsors: 

FLOLiving: Get 25% off with the code podcast25 at floliving.com 

The 90-Day Reset Roadmap: Most women quit fixing their hormones right before it actually works, because nobody told them what to expect. Your body works in cycles, not days, so real change shows up over about three of them. I mapped it out month by month in a guide called the 90 Day Reset Roadmap, so you know exactly what's normal, and when to expect the shift. Get it for free here: https://alisavitti.kit.com/e9c34804dc

Learn more about Alisa Vitti:

Instagram: alisa.vitti

Website: alisavitti.kit.com

Learn more about Dr. Andrea Matsumura:

Instagram: @drandreamatsumura 

YouTube: @DrAndreaMatsumura 

If you have ever been told, "Well, you are over 35," as if that is the end of the fertility conversation, I need you to hear this episode. Of course age matters. I am not arguing with biology. But there is another piece of fertility that I pay very close attention to, and it can tell us so much more about what is actually happening with your ovaries than the number on your birthday cake.

I have lived this myself. I had PCOS, was told when I was younger that having children could be very difficult for me, conceived my first daughter at 37, and had my second two months after turning 44. None of that happened because I found some magic fertility trick at the last minute. There were very specific things I had been doing for years to support my hormones, my ovaries, and my fertility, and in this episode I am walking you through the five biohacks I believe made the biggest difference.

So whether you are trying to conceive right now, getting ready for IVF, coming back from a loss, or sitting there thinking, "I definitely want kids someday, just not yet," this conversation is for you. We are getting into the things I wish more women were told to think about before fertility becomes urgent, including a few that probably are not even on your radar yet.

What's Discussed:

• (2:26) Why your chronological age is not the only age that matters for fertility.

• (5:17) My own fertility story and what I had been doing long before I was ready to conceive.

• (11:15) Why fertility is much more than simply whether or not you ovulate.

• (17:26) The difference between taking a prenatal and actually preparing your ovaries for conception.

• (27:55) The fertility biohack most women would never think to put on their preconception list.

• (31:08) Why some of the "healthy" habits women are following may actually work against fertility.

• (35:08) The overlooked nighttime factor that can change what happens hormonally in your next cycle.

If becoming a mom is something you want now or someday, I do not want you waiting until you are actively trying to start thinking about your fertility. There is so much more to this conversation than age, and that is exactly what we are getting into in this episode.

Get Your Fertility Game Plan After 35: alisavitti.kit.com/a2b80c30b0

Thank You to Our Sponsors:

Veracity: Veracity's Metabolism Ignite is a great alternative to GLP-1s. Code INTHEFLO20 gets you 20% off: tinyurl.com/ 

Learn more about Alisa Vitti:

Instagram: alisa.vitti

Website: alisavitti.kit.com

In your 40s, libido can start feeling completely unfamiliar. One week you cannot keep your hands off your partner. The next, they initiate and you would genuinely rather finish your to-do list. And suddenly your brain goes there: Am I not attracted to them anymore? Is something wrong with our relationship? Why do I feel so different?

This is where understanding female biology can save us from making a hormonal shift mean something it may not mean at all. Desire changes across the menstrual cycle, and the way it shows up can change again during perimenopause. Sometimes it is spontaneous. Sometimes your body needs touch, connection, foreplay, emotional safety, or simply enough space to get out of your head and back into your body.

In this solo episode of The Ovary Club, I am breaking down what happens to female desire across your cycle and through perimenopause, what your libido can reveal about your overall health, and the unexpected ways to support it in midlife. And no, this is not another conversation telling you to put on some lingerie and "get in the mood." We are going much deeper than that.

What's Discussed:

(02:51) Why your sex drive is not supposed to feel the same throughout the month.
(05:36) Spontaneous vs. responsive desire and why confusing the two can create unnecessary relationship worry.
(08:50) Why lubrication naturally changes across the cycle.
(13:14) What libido can reveal about your overall health.
(17:35) What desire may look like during each phase of your cycle.
(28:29) Unexpected ways to support libido and sexual response.
(42:32) The everyday habits that can quietly shut desire down.

Thank you to our sponsor:

Veracity: Veracity's Metabolism Ignite is a great alternative to GLP-1s. Code INTHEFLO20 gets you 20% off: https://tinyurl.com/2pxh4j5r

Free Guide:

The 90-Day Reset Roadmap: Most women quit fixing their hormones right before it actually works, because nobody told them what to expect. Your body works in cycles, not days, so real change shows up over about three of them. I mapped it out month by month in a guide called the 90-Day Reset Roadmap, so you know exactly what's normal, and when to expect the shift. Get it for free here: alisavitti.kit.com/

Learn more about Alisa Vitti:

Instagram: alisa.vitti

Website: alisavitti.kit.com

Stress is often presented to women as a vague explanation for symptoms no one has investigated deeply enough. You are exhausted, anxious, unable to sleep, gaining weight, or noticing that your cycle has changed, and the conversation ends with advice to relax. But what if stress is not the end of the explanation? What if it is the beginning of a physiological loop affecting nearly every system involved?

In this episode of The Ovary Club, I sit down with Dr. Taz Bhatia to examine what happens when a healthy stress response stops resolving and cortisol begins running the show. We trace the progression from feeling constantly activated to disrupted sleep, unstable blood sugar, low progesterone, sluggish thyroid function, inflammation, burnout, and chronic disease. We also explore why ignoring your intuition can become a stress input of its own, what cortisol testing can and cannot reveal, and how to build a recovery plan without overwhelming an already overwhelmed body.

Dr. Taz Bhatia is a triple board-certified integrative medicine physician, bestselling author of Super Woman Rx and The Hormone Shift, and founder of hol+. Her clinical approach combines Western medicine with Chinese medicine, Ayurveda, nutrition, emotional health, and nervous-system regulation to identify the individual drivers keeping each patient stuck.

Want to go deeper with this episode? Get my free guide to stress-proofing your hormones: https://alisavitti.kit.com/55777c884d

(01:54) What separates ordinary stress from the cortisol loop and why the body can become unable to switch it off.

(08:41) How cortisol dysfunction progresses from constant activation to reversed rhythms, daytime exhaustion, insomnia, and hormone disruption.

(15:30) The hidden cortisol inputs women may overlook, including the physiological cost of repeatedly ignoring their intuition.

(19:20) Why chronic stress affects women differently and how cortisol can drive androgens, blood sugar instability, weight gain, PMOS, and difficult perimenopause symptoms.

(32:36) How cortisol interferes with progesterone, thyroid function, insulin, testosterone, ovulation, and the wider hormonal axis.

(35:55) The tests and personal data that may help reveal cortisol dysregulation when a standard laboratory panel appears normal.

(39:54) How Dr. Taz sequences recovery and the practical routines that help women begin breaking the loop without adding more pressure.

FLO Living supplements: Get 25% off with the code podcast25 at floliving.com

Free Guide:

The 90-Day Reset Roadmap: Most women quit fixing their hormones right before it actually works, because nobody told them what to expect. Your body works in cycles, not days, so real change shows up over about three of them. I mapped it out month by month in a guide called the 90-Day Reset Roadmap, so you know exactly what's normal, and when to expect the shift. Get it for free here: alisavitti.kit.com/

Learn more about Alisa Vitti: 

Instagram: @alisa.vitti 

Website: alisavitti.kit.com 

Learn More About Dr. Taz Bhatia: 

Website: doctortaz.com

hol+: holplus.co

Instagram: @drtazmd 

For years, women have been told to focus on the number on the scale. We count calories, spend hours doing cardio, and chase smaller bodies, believing weight is the biggest marker of health. But one of the most powerful things a woman can do for her hormones has very little to do with losing weight. It has everything to do with building muscle.

Muscle is far more than strength or appearance. It helps regulate blood sugar, supports insulin sensitivity, lowers inflammation, protects ovarian function, and influences everything from PMS and fertility to perimenopause and healthy aging. In this solo episode of The Ovary Club, I explain why muscle may be the missing piece behind stubborn weight, cravings, fatigue, mood swings, hormone symptoms, and metabolic dysfunction. I also share the simple strength training approach every woman can start, no matter how busy life feels.

If you've ever wondered why eating well and doing more cardio still hasn't given you the results you expected, this episode may completely change the way you think about women's health.

Get my free Strength Training Starter Kit here: https://alisavitti.kit.com/01c76bd1a9 

What's Discussed:

(03:10) Why muscle is one of the body's most important organs for hormone health.

(08:05) The connection between muscle, blood sugar, insulin, and ovarian function.

(13:12) How muscle may help slow ovarian aging and reduce inflammation.

(17:36) Why women with more muscle often experience fewer hormone symptoms during perimenopause.

(21:45) The surprising signs you may have lower muscle mass than you realize.

(28:10) The minimum amount of strength training research shows women actually need.

(34:30) How protein, creatine, and progressive overload help support muscle and hormone health.

Thank You to Our Sponsors:

FLO Living (supplement): Get 25% off with the code podcast25 at floliving.com

Free Guide:

The 90-Day Reset Roadmap: Most women quit fixing their hormones right before it actually works, because nobody told them what to expect. Your body works in cycles, not days, so real change shows up over about three of them. I mapped it out month by month in a guide called the 90-Day Reset Roadmap, so you know exactly what's normal, and when to expect the shift. Get it for free here: https://alisavitti.kit.com/e9c34804dc

Learn more about Alisa Vitti:

Instagram: alisa.vitti

Website: alisavitti.kit.com

By the time perimenopause begins, fatigue, stubborn weight changes, irregular cycles, low progesterone, low mood, and fertility struggles can all be folded into the same explanation: hormones are changing. But what if some of the symptoms women are taught to expect during this transition are also pointing to a gland that rarely gets included in the conversation?

Most women hear about the thyroid in relation to metabolism, yet its reach extends through the cycle, ovaries, ovulation, progesterone, fertility, and the wider endocrine system. In this episode of The Ovary Club, I sit down with Dr. Amie Hornaman to uncover why thyroid dysfunction can be hidden inside what looks like perimenopause, why having the thyroid checked is not always the same as having it fully evaluated, and what women may be missing when every symptom is treated as a separate problem. We also examine the surprising research connecting long-term hormonal contraceptive use with thyroid risk and the overlooked overlap Dr. Amie calls thyropause.

Dr. Amie Hornaman is a functional medicine clinician, founder of the Advanced Thyroid and Hormone Clinic, host of the top-rated The Thyroid (and Hormone) Fixer Podcast, and author of The Thyroid Fix. Through her clinical work, she helps women investigate persistent symptoms, understand the thyroid markers that standard testing may leave out, and explore more individualized approaches to thyroid and hormone care.

Want to go deeper with this episode? Insiders get to submit questions and receive monthly Q&As directly from Alisa. Join here: alisavitti.kit.com/products/the-ovary-club

What's Discussed

(03:40) Why the thyroid belongs in the conversation about cycles, progesterone, fertility, and perimenopause.

(05:50) The first thyroid question Dr. Amie asks when hormone symptoms do not fully add up.

(09:13) The surprising link between long-term hormonal contraceptive use and thyroid risk.

(13:59) What can happen when the body is not converting thyroid hormone efficiently.

(19:18) What "thyropause" means and why it can overlap with perimenopause.

(29:31) Why some women continue to struggle even after starting thyroid treatment.

(34:41) The thyroid markers that may reveal what a basic panel leaves unanswered.

Thank You to Our Sponsor: 

FLO Living (supplement): Get 25% off with the code podcast25 at floliving.com 

Free Guide:

The Lab Request Checklist: Struggling with hormonal issues that you just can't figure out? Get the exact labs to ask your doctor for so you can measure progress instead of guessing. alisavitti.kit.com/

Learn more about Alisa Vitti: 

Instagram: @alisa.vitti 

Website: alisavitti.kit.com/ 

Learn more about Dr. Amie Hornaman

Website: dramie.com   

The Thyroid Fix book: thyroidfixbook.com 

Instagram: @dramiehornaman 

Facebook: facebook.com/groups/dramie 

YouTube: youtube.com/dramiehornaman 

TikTok: @dramiehornaman 

7-Day Thyroid Healing Kickstarter: fixyourthyroid.com/7daykickstarter 

Could the workout clothes you wear be affecting your hormones? Can you reverse perimenopause? What does a sudden chin breakout after 35 reveal about your hormonal health? And why can ADHD symptoms feel harder to manage before your period?

In this solo Q&A, I'm answering questions submitted by Ovary Club Insiders about the hormone concerns so many women are trying to make sense of. We're talking about synthetic fabrics and endocrine disruptors, ovarian aging, fertility with low AMH or one ovary, hormonal acne, recurring yeast infections and UTIs, creatine for women, and the connection between ADHD symptoms and the luteal phase.

I'll help you connect these concerns to the systems involved, including estrogen, progesterone, ovarian reserve, blood sugar, muscle mass, sleep, gut and vaginal health, and dopamine. You'll leave with a clearer understanding of what may be happening in your body, what to start tracking, and which supportive steps may be worth exploring.

Want to go deeper with this episode? Insiders get to submit questions and receive monthly Q&As directly from Alisa. Join here: alisavitti.kit.com/products/the-ovary-club

What's Discussed

00:05 Can synthetic workout clothes, lingerie, and other fabrics affect your hormones?

07:30 Can you reverse perimenopause, or support healthier ovarian aging?

13:10 Why chin acne can suddenly appear after 35.

21:50 Low AMH, fertility with one ovary, IVF, and natural conception.

29:35 Recurrent yeast infections, UTIs, and the vaginal microbiome.

37:30 Creatine for women: muscle, brain health, and hormone changes after 35.

43:12 Why ADHD symptoms can become harder to manage during the luteal phase.

Thank You to Our Sponsor: 

FLO Living (supplement): Get 25% off with the code podcast25 at http://floliving.com 

Free Guide:

The 90-Day Reset Roadmap: Most women quit fixing their hormones right before it actually works, because nobody told them what to expect. Your body works in cycles, not days, so real change shows up over about three of them. I mapped it out month by month in a guide called the 90-Day Reset Roadmap, so you know exactly what's normal, and when to expect the shift. Get it for free here: alisavitti.kit.com/

Learn more about Alisa Vitti: 

Instagram: @alisa.vitti 

Website: alisavitti.kit.com/ 

When we talk about perimenopause, the conversation usually centers on hot flashes, irregular periods, poor sleep, brain fog, mood changes, and weight gain.

The heart is rarely part of that conversation.

But estrogen also affects the arteries, blood pressure, blood-vessel flexibility, and the endothelium, the thin lining inside the arteries. As hormones begin to shift, changes may already be happening in the cardiovascular system, even while women are being told their symptoms are stress, anxiety, aging, or "just menopause." In this episode of The Ovary Club, I sit down with preventive cardiologist Dr. Suzanne Steinbaum to talk about why perimenopause may be one of the most important windows for protecting long-term heart health. We get into what estrogen is actually doing for the heart, why women can still have cardiovascular disease developing even when standard testing looks normal, and which parts of a woman's history deserve a place in her cardiac risk assessment.

Dr. Suzanne Steinbaum has spent nearly three decades changing the way women's heart health is understood and treated. She has served as Director of Women's Cardiovascular Prevention, Health and Wellness at Mount Sinai, Director of Women and Heart Disease at Lenox Hill Hospital, and Director of the Center for Cardiac and Pulmonary Health at Beth Israel Medical Center. She is also the founder of Heart-Tech Health, whose signature program, Adesso, gives women access to cardiovascular prevention designed around female biology.

Want to go deeper with this episode? Insiders get to submit questions and receive monthly Q&As directly from Alisa. Join here: alisavitti.kit.com/products/the-ovary-club  

What's Discussed

(00:17) Why women are still being missed in heart-disease research, diagnosis, and care.

(12:34) What begins to change in the arteries during perimenopause.

(18:10) What estrogen does for cardiovascular health and why hot flashes may carry more information than women realize.

(21:01) How chronic stress, pregnancy complications, depression, and emotional history can affect future heart risk.

(29:34) The symptoms women may mistake for hormones, anxiety, stress, or aging.

(39:01) Why a normal cardiac workup may not always show the full picture.

(47:21) The testing, movement, nutrition, and prevention strategies that can help women act earlier.

Thank You to Our Sponsors: 

MyFLOⓇ App: Download the MyFLOⓇ App at floliving.com/pages/app and use the code FREEMONTH  

Ovary Club Insiders: Ovary Club: Join us at alisavitti.kit.com/products/the-ovary-club 

Learn more about Alisa Vitti: 

Instagram: @alisa.vitti 

Website: alisavitti.kit.com/ 

Learn more about Dr. Suzanne Steinbaum: 

LinkedIn: @drsuzannesteinbaum 

Instagram: @drsteinbaum 

Website: drsuzannesteinbaum.com

Adesso Health: adesso.health

Dr. Suzanne Steinbaum's Heart Book: Every Woman's Guide to a Heart-Healthy Life: a.co/d/006QRNln 

Note: This episode was recorded before PCOS was renamed PMOS, Polyendocrine Metabolic Ovarian Syndrome. Throughout this episode and some original episode materials, you may hear or see the former name PCOS used.

If you have ever left a PMOS diagnosis with no real explanation of why your body is doing this, this is the episode I wish you had.

In Part 1, I shared the PMOS story I rarely get to tell in full and walked through what this condition can look like on the symptom level. In this episode of The Ovary Club, we're picking up where we left off and going underneath the symptoms to look at what can actually keep the PMOS loop active.

I'm also talking about the well-intended "fixes" that can backfire when you are trying so hard to get better, and the protocol I wish someone had handed me when I was 19. My goal is not to overwhelm you with another list of things to do. It is to help you understand what your body may be responding to, what inputs matter, and how to start moving from guessing to knowing.

Want to go deeper with this episode? Insiders get to submit questions and receive monthly Q&As directly from Alisa. Join here: alisavitti.kit.com/products/the-ovary-club  

Get the exact 5-step protocol Alisa used to reverse her own PMOS: blood sugar, inflammation, gut, androgens, and tracking, all in one printable cheat sheet: https://alisavitti.kit.com/7d62882557

What's Discussed:

(46:34) What triggers PMOS and why understanding the symptoms is only the first step.

(47:56) The blood sugar and insulin loop that can keep PMOS active.

(49:48) How chronic stress can affect the ovaries, ovulation, and androgen production.

(51:59) The inflammation piece of PMOS and why your environment matters.

(54:13) The common PMOS mistakes that can backfire when you try to fix everything aggressively.

(1:04:04) The PMOS protocol I wish someone had handed me when I was 19.

(1:22:53) How to track your cycle, confirm ovulation, and know if your hormones are actually shifting.

If PMOS has made you feel like your body is unpredictable, frustrating, or impossible to figure out, this episode will help you understand what may be driving the loop and where to begin.  

Thank You to Our Sponsors: 

MyFLOⓇ App: Download the MyFLOⓇ App at floliving.com/pages/app and use the code FREEMONTH  

Ovary Club Insiders: Ovary Club: Join us at alisavitti.kit.com/products/the-ovary-club 

Learn more about Alisa Vitti: 

Instagram: @alisa.vitti 

Website: alisavitti.kit.com/ 

When a woman is told she cannot get pregnant, the assumption is often that something in her body has failed. But what if infertility is not the final answer? What if it is a signal that the body needs different internal conditions before it can support conception, implantation, and pregnancy?

In this episode of The Ovary Club, I'm joined by Dr. Aumatma Simmons to talk about fertility through the lens of female biology. We get into why infertility should be understood as a symptom, what the body may be doing when conception is not happening, why most biohacking advice was built around male physiology, and how women can start supporting fertility by working with their cycle instead of against it.

Dr. Aumatma Simmons is a double board-certified Naturopathic Endocrinologist who has spent nearly 20 years specializing in fertility. She works with the cases that often fall through the cracks, including unexplained infertility and recurrent pregnancy loss, and helps women and couples look beyond standard testing to understand hormones, egg quality, sleep, blood sugar, toxins, partner health, and the deeper factors that can affect conception.

Want to go deeper with this episode? Insiders get to submit questions and receive monthly Q&As directly from Alisa. Join here: alisavitti.kit.com/products/the-ovary-club  

What's Discussed:

02:36 – Why infertility should be understood as a symptom, not a diagnosis.

06:59 – What the body may be doing when conception is not happening.

09:58 – Why biohacking fertility has to account for female biology and the infradian rhythm.

13:58 – What to assess before starting another supplement stack, protocol, or fertility plan.

19:06 – Why sleep can change ovulation, progesterone, egg quality, and fertility outcomes.

38:34 – How carb restriction, fasting, and intense workouts can work against fertility.

52:59 – What standard testing can miss in unexplained infertility and recurrent pregnancy loss.

If you are trying to conceive, navigating unexplained infertility, dealing with recurrent pregnancy loss, or wondering why everything looks "normal" but something still feels off, this episode will help you understand what your body may need before conception can happen.

Thank You to Our Sponsors: 

MyFLOⓇ App: Download the MyFLOⓇ App at floliving.com/pages/app and use the code FREEMONTH  

Ovary Club Insiders: Ovary Club: Join us at alisavitti.kit.com/products/the-ovary-club 

Learn more about Alisa Vitti: 

Instagram: @alisa.vitti 

Website: alisavitti.kit.com/ 

Learn more about Dr. Aumatma Simmons: 

Instagram:  @holisticfertilitydoctor

LinkedIn: Aumatma/

Facebook: DrAumatmaND

YouTube: HolisticFertilityExpert

TikTok: @holisticfertilitydoctor

Website: holisticfertilityinstitute.com

Madre: madrefertility.com

Note: This episode was recorded before PCOS was renamed PMOS, Polyendocrine Metabolic Ovarian Syndrome. Throughout this episode and some original episode materials, you may hear or see the former name PCOS used. 

Before I ever built FLO Living or created the Cycle Syncing® Method, I was a teenager who knew something was wrong with my body and had no language for it. I didn't get my first period until almost 16. Then my period disappeared for months at a time. By 19, my skin, weight, hair growth, sleep, mood, and energy were all telling the same story, but no one could tell me what it meant.

In this episode of The Ovary Club, I'm sharing the part of my PMOS story I rarely get to tell in full. I walk through what it felt like to live with painful cystic acne, unexplained weight gain, excess body hair, insomnia, anxiety, depression, brain fog, and missing periods before I finally found a possible answer in a medical journal and received a PMOS diagnosis seven years after my first bleed.

I also break down what PMOS actually is, why elevated androgens can disrupt ovulation, why the condition can look different from woman to woman, and why a diagnosis is not always as simple as one symptom, one scan, or one lab result. Before we get into triggers and the protocol in Part 2, this episode gives you the foundation for understanding what your body may have been trying to tell you all along.

Want to go deeper with this episode? Insiders get to submit questions and receive monthly Q&As directly from Alisa. Join here: alisavitti.kit.com/products/the-ovary-club  

Get the exact 5-step protocol Alisa used to reverse her own PMOS: blood sugar, inflammation, gut, androgens, and tracking, all in one printable cheat sheet: https://alisavitti.kit.com/7d62882557

What's Discussed:

(05:55) Why I'm sharing the PMOS story I rarely tell in full.

(09:48) Getting my first period late, missing cycles for years, and knowing something was off.

(11:43) How acne, weight gain, hair growth, insomnia, anxiety, depression, and brain fog showed up together.

(17:17) The medical journal moment that finally gave me a lead.

(18:59) What changed when I finally got a PMOS diagnosis after years without answers.

(27:36) What PMOS actually is and why elevated androgens matter.

(35:05) The symptoms and diagnostic criteria women should know before they are told everything is "normal."

If your symptoms feel disconnected, confusing, or easy to dismiss, this episode will help you understand why they may be part of the same bigger hormonal picture.

Thank You to Our Sponsors: 

MyFLOⓇ App: Download the MyFLOⓇ App at floliving.com/pages/app and use the code FREEMONTH  

Ovary Club Insiders: Ovary Club: Join us at alisavitti.kit.com/products/the-ovary-club 

Learn more about Alisa Vitti: 

Instagram: @alisa.vitti 

Website: alisavitti.kit.com/ 

Perimenopause is one of those phases women are often taught to recognize only after it becomes obvious. The cycle can still look regular, labs can still look normal on paper, and one appointment may not give enough context to explain why the body suddenly feels different.

In this episode of The Ovary Club, I'm joined by Dr. Robin Berzin to talk about how to build a clearer picture of early perimenopause before symptoms become impossible to ignore. We get into what women should start paying attention to, why tracking patterns over time matters, how stress, blood sugar, thyroid, and adrenal health can overlap with hormonal changes, and what to ask for when you want more useful answers.

Dr. Robin Berzin is a Columbia-trained internal medicine physician, functional medicine pioneer, and founder and CEO of Parsley Health, the first national functional medicine and longevity clinic in the US. She is also the author of State Change: End Anxiety, Beat Burnout, and Ignite a New Baseline of Energy and Flow and one of the leading voices helping women understand the physical root causes behind symptoms they are too often told to brush off.

Want to go deeper with this episode? Insiders get to submit questions and receive monthly Q&As directly from Alisa.

Join us at alisavitti.kit.com/products/the-ovary-club

What's Discussed:

01:54 – Why so many women miss the early perimenopause window.

03:36 – The symptoms that can show up before perimenopause looks "obvious."

06:58 – Why this stage matters for your long-term health span.

10:23 – Where HRT fits into the bigger perimenopause conversation.

14:57 – What testing can help clarify when everything feels confusing.

23:13 – Why stress and metabolism can make perimenopause harder to read.

33:43 – The brain and focus changes women do not always connect to hormones.

Thank You to Our Sponsors: 

FLO Living (supplement): Get 25% off with the code podcast25 at floliving.com 

Ovary Club Insiders: Ovary Club: Join us at alisavitti.kit.com/products/the-ovary-club 

Learn more about Alisa Vitti: 

Instagram: @alisa.vitti 

Website: alisavitti.kit.com/ 

Learn More About Dr. Robin Berzin:

Website: www.parsleyhealth.com

Instagram: @parsleyhealth and @robinberzinmd

X: @parsley_health and @robinberzinmd

LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/robin-berzin-md

Facebook: www.facebook.com/parsleyhealth

When you scroll through wellness content nowadays, you are going to see a lot of influencers sharing the next biohack women should try to balance their hormones, increase energy, reduce inflammation, or finally feel like themselves again. Cold plunges, supplement stacks, red light devices, fasting protocols, expensive wearables, and morning routines that look impossible to keep up with. And if you are someone who is desperate to support your hormonal health, you have probably tried a few of them.

But what if those "biohacks" are actually doing less for your hormones than the free things your body was designed to respond to?

In this episode of The Ovary Club, I'm breaking down the five most powerful biohacks for women's hormones, and none of them require a supplement stack, a wellness gadget, or another expensive protocol. Because after decades of working with women's hormones, one thing has become incredibly clear to me: the female body responds most powerfully to the things modern culture keeps teaching women to deprioritize.

Want to go deeper with this episode? Insiders get to submit questions and receive monthly Q&As directly from Alisa.

Join us at alisavitti.kit.com/products/the-ovary-club

What's Discussed:

(02:10) Why expensive wellness trends are not always the most powerful tools for women's hormones.

(04:35) Why ovulation is not just about fertility, but one of the clearest signs of hormonal health.

(07:42) How progesterone supports sleep, mood, and nervous system regulation.

(10:18) Why orgasm is a real hormonal event and how pleasure affects cortisol, DHEA, and cycle health.

(14:26) Why sleep is non-negotiable for cortisol, blood sugar, ovulation, and hormonal repair.

(19:08) How morning sunlight affects circadian rhythm, vitamin D, serotonin, and melatonin.

(23:44) Why community and social connection directly affect cortisol, oxytocin, and hormonal resilience.

(28:12) Why the free inputs women often dismiss are actually the biological requirements their hormones depend on.

If you've been feeling exhausted, hormonally overwhelmed, disconnected from your body, or like wellness has become another impossible standard to keep up with, this episode will help you understand what your hormones are actually asking for and how to support them in a way that feels sustainable, grounded, and biologically aligned instead of stressful and performative.

Thank You to Our Sponsors: 

FLO Living (supplement): Get 25% off with the code podcast25 at floliving.com 

Ovary Club Insiders: Ovary Club: Join us at alisavitti.kit.com/products/the-ovary-club 

Learn more about Alisa Vitti: 

Instagram: @alisa.vitti 

Website: alisavitti.kit.com/ 

"Balance your hormones" sounds like the goal. It is on supplement labels, wellness posts, detox programs, hormone hacks, and every quick-fix promise that makes women feel like their body is a problem to solve.

But your hormones do not get "balanced." They respond. They respond to whether you are eating enough, sleeping deeply, managing stress, clearing estrogen, moving with your cycle, and living in a way your endocrine system can actually regulate. So if you keep trying to fix estrogen, progesterone, cortisol, or PMS directly, you may be chasing the output instead of correcting the inputs.

In this episode of The Ovary Club, I break down why the hormone balance conversation is misleading, what your endocrine system is actually responding to, and the five foundations of the WomanCode FLO Protocol that help your body regulate hormones naturally instead of forcing quick fixes that never last.

Want to go deeper with this episode? Ovary Club Insiders get a special download: Your Ovarian Scorecard — find out exactly where your hormones need the most support and get a 30-day plan to fix it.

Become an Insider here: alisavitti.kit.com/products/the-ovary-club 

What's Discussed:

(01:24) Why "balancing your hormones" is the wrong framework.

(04:09) How detoxes, cleanses, restriction, and overtraining can worsen hormonal symptoms.

(06:00) Why hormones are outputs, not the starting point.

(09:00) How sleep, stress, food timing, and lifestyle inputs affect progesterone and ovulation.

(13:33) Why no single supplement or quick fix can solve hormonal dysfunction.

(19:16) How blood sugar stability becomes the first foundation of hormone regulation.

(23:06) Why cortisol and stress signals can shut down reproductive priorities.

(24:31) How gut health and estrogen metabolism affect PMS, bloating, heavy periods, and inflammation.

(34:00) Why cycle syncing reduces stress on the endocrine system.

(39:49) How rest, pleasure, and connection support the nervous system and hormonal health.

If you have been trying to "balance your hormones" and still feel like nothing is working, this episode will show you why the goal was wrong from the beginning.

Listen on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.

Thank You to Our Sponsors: 

FLO Living (supplement): Get 25% off with the code podcast25 at floliving.com 

Ovary Club Insiders: Ovary Club: Join us at alisavitti.kit.com/products/the-ovary-club 

Learn more about Alisa Vitti: 

Instagram: @alisa.vitti 

Website: alisavitti.kit.com/ 

Women are often told that aging is something that simply happens to them, especially once hormones begin to shift. But Dr. Kara Fitzgerald explains that stress, poor sleep, hormone changes, extreme dieting, and lifestyle patterns can all affect how fast your body ages. That means your biological age may be older than the number of birthdays you have had. But if your daily choices can push your body to age faster, could they also help you slow that process down?

In this episode of The Ovary Club, Alisa sits down with Dr. Kara Fitzgerald to unpack what biological age actually means and why it matters for your hormones, ovaries, mitochondria, stress response, and long-term health. You'll learn how DNA methylation reflects the way your body is aging, why menopause is not the starting line for women's aging, and how food, sleep, movement, stress reduction, and lifestyle changes can help shift your biology in a better direction.

Dr. Kara Fitzgerald is a naturopathic physician, functional medicine practitioner, researcher, and author of Younger You: Reduce Your Bio Age and Live Longer, Better. Her clinical research showed that an eight-week diet and lifestyle intervention reduced biological age by over three years on average, and she later replicated that work specifically in women. She is also a faculty member at the Institute for Functional Medicine and host of New Frontiers in Functional Medicine®.

What's Discussed:

(01:12) Why biological age may matter more than chronological age for women.

(05:22) How hormone shifts can affect how fast your body ages.

(08:23) What DNA methylation is and why it matters for biological aging.

(21:28) Why mitochondrial health is deeply connected to ovarian function.

(24:08) How stress, sleep, cortisol, trauma, pregnancy, and recovery affect biological age.

(32:23) Why extreme fasting, over-exercising, and restrictive eating can be pro-aging for women.

(37:09) How food, polyphenols, sleep, supplements, and lifestyle can help slow biological aging.

Listen to this episode of The Ovary Club to understand what your biological age may be telling you, why your hormones and ovaries are connected to how fast your body is aging, and what you can start doing now to support a slower, healthier aging process.

Thank You to Our Sponsors: 

Ovary Club Insiders: Ovary Club: Join us at alisavitti.kit.com/products/the-ovary-club 

MyFLO App: Download the MyFLO App at floliving.com/pages/app and use the code FREEMONTH 

Learn more about Alisa Vitti: 

Instagram: @alisa.vitti 

Website: alisavitti.kit.com/ 

Learn more about Dr. Kara Fitzgerald: 

Website: drkarafitzgerald.com/ 

Podcast: drkarafitzgerald.com/fxmed-podcast/

Webinars: drkarafitzgerald.com/webinars/

Instagram: @drkarafitzgerald 

Facebook: DrKaraFitzgerald

YouTube: www.youtube.com/channel/UC7jYgG7WMnqPeC4uwslqdfQ

X: x.com/kfitzgeraldnd

Podcast: pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33844651/

Potential reversal of epigenetic age using a diet and lifestyle intervention: a pilot randomized clinical trial: pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36947707/

Dietary associations with reduced epigenetic age: a secondary data analysis of the methylation diet and lifestyle study: pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/40266024/ 

Have you ever had one week where you feel strong, clear, productive, and totally on top of things… and then the next week, the exact same routine suddenly feels awful? Your workouts feel harder. Your mood shifts. You're hungrier, more tired, less focused, and you start wondering what happened. A lot of women take that as a sign they need to be stricter, more disciplined, more in control. But what you actually need is not another rule to follow. What you need to understand is cycle syncing.

If you've ever felt frustrated by how different you can feel from one week to the next, this episode is going to help that make a lot more sense. It's here to show you that your body is not being difficult, and you are not doing womanhood wrong. You're living in a female body with a rhythm that changes across the month, and once you understand how to work with that instead of against it, so much can start to feel easier - your energy, your mood, your workouts, your focus, and the way you move through everyday life.

Insiders get a special bonus this week: a free month inside my Cycle Syncing® Membership, plus an ongoing discount there if you decide to continue after month one. 

What's Discussed:

(0:50) Why women do not run on the same 24-hour rhythm as men, and why that changes everything.

(1:51) What cycle syncing actually is, and why it can make your body feel so much easier to work with.

(4:50) Why women are not smaller versions of men, especially when it comes to health, fitness, and stress.

(6:56) The clinical trial behind cycle syncing®, and what it revealed about reducing PMS.

(10:18) The four phases of the cycle, and why each one comes with different needs.

(17:41) Why planning your workouts, food, and schedule by phase can protect your hormones instead of draining them.

(21:31) What changes in the luteal phase, and why this is where so many women accidentally work against their biology.

(33:32) The easiest way to start cycle syncing® today without feeling overwhelmed.

Listen now and learn how to stop fighting your body and start working with it, so you can feel more steady, more supported, and much more like yourself all month long.

Thank You to our Sponsors: 

Ovary Club Insiders: Ovary Club: Join us at alisavitti.kit.com/products/the-ovary-club 

MyFLO App: Download the MyFLO App and use the code FREEMONTH 

Learn more about Alisa Vitti: 

Instagram: @alisa.vitti 

Website: alisavitti.kit.com/ 

Some months the dysmenorrhea is so painful you're counting minutes until the next dose of painkillers, living with a heating pad glued to your stomach, and trying to function like you didn't just lose a night of sleep to cramps. With all that happening on repeat, I can't blame women for chasing ways to suppress menstruation and "skip the hassle."

But suppressing your period is not the relief it has been sold as. Every cycle you skip, every ovulation you suppress, and every year you rush toward menopause is quietly withdrawing from the health bank account that your brain, your bones, your heart, and your hormones depend on for decades to come.

In this episode of The Ovary Club, I break down everything you were never told about your menstrual cycle and why understanding it will completely change the way you think about your body, your symptoms, and your long term health for the rest of your life.

Keep Your Ovaries Young: Alisa's 12 Daily Non-Negotiables

If you want better energy, fewer symptoms, and hormones that don't crash once you hit your 40s, start here.

From Alisa's exact breakfast macros to her sleep routine, this is the full behind-the-scenes protocol, plus a printable checklist so you can actually use it.

Become an Insider to get this bonus - and more! alisavitti.kit.com/products/the-ovary-club  

What's Discussed:

(1:42) Why your menstrual cycle is not a nuisance but a monthly report card of your health with built-in brain, heart, and bone protective benefits.

(4:04) Why being on birth control means you are not actually having a period and what that is doing to your body.

(5:03) Why every ovulation puts money into your health bank account for your postmenopausal years.

(11:22) Why skipping your period is not harmless and why your cycle is now considered a fifth vital sign.

(13:07) Why early menopause is associated with increased cardiovascular risk, reduced bone density, and cognitive decline.

(17:00) Why extending your cycling years is one of the most overlooked ways to protect your mitochondrial health and slow down hormonal aging.

(30:40) Why your PMS in your 20s is already predicting your fertility in your 30s and your perimenopause in your 40s.

(33:24) The five practical things you can start doing today to extend your cycling years and protect your hormonal longevity.

Listen to this episode of The Ovary Club and learn why keeping your menstrual cycle for as long as possible is one of the most powerful things you can do for your brain, your bones, your heart, and your long term health.

Thank you to our Sponsors: 

Ovary Club Insiders: Ovary Club: Join us at alisavitti.kit.com/products/the-ovary-club 

MyFLO App: Download the MyFLO App and use the code FREEMONTH 

Learn more about Alisa Vitti: 

Instagram: @alisa.vitti 

Website: alisavitti.kit.com/ 

Women have been told that the more disciplined they are with their wellness, the better they will feel. So they fast longer, do more cardio, restrict more, and push harder. And somehow they still feel exhausted, hormonally off, and like their body is working against them. What nobody told them is that almost every protocol they are following was designed for male biology and tested on male bodies.

In this episode of The Ovary Club, I sit down with Dr. Amy Killen for a conversation that is going to make a lot of women feel both vindicated and relieved. Because what she shares about which biohacks are actively harming female hormones, what the longevity data actually says women need to be doing, and how sexual health connects directly to how long and how well you age is the kind of information that changes the decisions you make every single day.

Dr. Amy Killen is a board-certified emergency medicine physician who left emergency medicine to specialize full-time in longevity, regenerative medicine, hormone optimization, peptide therapy, and sexual health. She is the co-founder of Humanaut Health, a longevity medicine franchise. With her clinical background spanning emergency medicine and her deep specialization in how hormones, sexual health, and longevity intersect specifically in women, she is exactly the person this conversation needed.

Want to go deeper with this episode? Ovary Club Insiders get a special download: The Female Longevity Checklist: Your Minimum Effective Dose of Everything That Actually Matters.

Dr. Amy Killen dropped specific numbers throughout our conversation that prove what I've been saying for years: women get MORE longevity benefit from LESS effort than men. Our biology is efficient. Stop overcomplicating it. Here's every number from the episode in one checklist.

Become an Insider here: alisavitti.kit.com/products/the-ovary-club 

What's Discussed:

(3:21) Why having a 28-day infradian rhythm on top of a circadian clock changes everything about how a woman's body responds to biohacking interventions.

(4:58) Which mainstream biohacks have strong evidence for men but actively disrupt female hormones.

(6:31) Why fasting is overrated for female hormone health and why skipping breakfast is quietly raising cardiovascular risk in women.

(11:00) Why one day of resistance training per week has the same longevity effect for women as three days does for men.

(24:26) When women should actually start thinking about hormone optimization and why most are waiting too long.

(45:10) Why the quality of a woman's sex life is one of the most underrated markers of how well she is aging.

(57:51) The biggest lie in women's biohacking and what to do instead.

(55:57) The one metric women should be tracking to know if their longevity strategy is actually working.

Listen to this episode of The Ovary Club and walk away finally understanding why your body has been responding the way it has, with the exact science and the specific tools to stop following protocols that were never built for you and start making decisions that actually work with your female biology.

Thank you to our Sponsors: 

FLO Living (supplement): Get 25% off with the code podcast25 at floliving.com 

Ovary Club Insiders: Ovary Club: Join us at alisavitti.kit.com/products/the-ovary-club 

MyFLO App: Download the MyFLO App and use the code FREEMONTH 

Learn more about Alisa Vitti: 

Instagram: @alisa.vitti 

Website: https://alisavitti.kit.com/ 

Learn more about Dr. Amy Killen: 

Instagram: @DrAmyBKillen 

Website: dramykillen.com/ 

YouTube: @Dr.AmyBKillen

Have you ever been told that PMS is just part of being a woman, that birth control will fix your period problems, and that the weight gain in your 40s is simply what happens when you get older and stop trying as hard?

Every single one of those things is wrong. And believing them is exactly what is costing women their fertility, their cycles, their energy, and decades of hormonal health they will never get back.

In this episode of The Ovary Club, I walk through five things your doctor will not tell you about your hormones in each decade of your life, from your 20s through your 40s. If you have ever felt like your body was changing in ways nobody prepared you for, like you were always one step behind your own hormones, or like the advice you were given never quite addressed what was actually going on, this episode is exactly where that changes. Because the decisions you make in each decade are not just about how you feel right now. They are shaping your fertility, your hormonal aging, and your longevity for the decades that follow.

What's Discussed: 

(02:47) Why your 20s are the decade of hormonal self-awareness and what that actually means.

(03:25) Why birth control is not a real fix for period problems and what it may be costing you long term.

(07:24) Why your period is a fifth vital sign and how to start reading it as real hormonal biofeedback.

(09:58) Why PMS is common but not normal, and what it may be signaling about your future fertility.

(14:39) What your 30s are really setting up hormonally, from fertility to stress resilience to perimenopause timing.

(19:06) Why perimenopause starts at 35 and what changes in the brain and ovary begin that transition.

(22:07) The early signs your rate of ovarian aging is speeding up in your 30s.

(23:40) The three master-regulating hormones to protect in your 30s: insulin, cortisol, and melatonin.

(25:45) Why your 40s are the hormonal self-care upgrade decade.

(29:12) Which biomarkers to test annually in your 40s and why data matters more than guesswork.

(33:21) Why midlife weight changes are not just about willpower, and what is actually driving them hormonally.

(37:04) Why hormone self-care in your 40s is preventative medicine, not a nice-to-have.

Listen to Episode 4 of The Ovary Club and find out exactly what your hormones need from you right now, in the decade you are in, before it costs you years you cannot get back. 

Thank you to our sponsors: 

FLO Living (supplement): Get 25% off with the code podcast25 at floliving.com 

Ovary Club Insiders: Ovary Club: Join us at https://alisavitti.kit.com/products/the-ovary-club 

MyFLO App: Download the My FLO App and use the code FREEMOTNH 

Learn more about Alisa Vitti: 

• Instagram: @alisa.vitti 

• Website: https://alisavitti.kit.com/ 

Biohacking is everywhere right now. The fasting protocols, the cold plunges, the 5am power mornings, the high intensity everything. And women are doing all of it, following the same advice, putting in the same effort, and still feeling exhausted, hormonally off, and like their body is somehow working against them.

Here is what nobody in that conversation is saying out loud. Almost every biohack that has gone mainstream was researched and designed on male biology. And male biology runs on a completely different clock than the female body does. Which means the protocols most women are killing themselves to follow were never built for them in the first place.

In this episode of The Ovary Club, I break down the five most popular biohacks that are quietly disrupting women's hormonal health and introduce a new concept that I believe is the real future of women's wellness.

Want to go deeper with this episode? Ovary Club Insiders get a special download: The Bioharmonizing Cheat Sheet — stop following male biohacks and start doing what actually works for your cycle, phase by phase

Become an Insider here: https://alisavitti.kit.com/products/the-ovary-club 

What's Discussed:

(04:03) Why intermittent fasting raises cortisol and quietly destroys progesterone production.

(08:03) The only fasting window that is actually safe for women in their reproductive years.

(12:18) Why keto increases LDL cholesterol in women after just four weeks and disrupts estrogen metabolism.

(17:11) The cold plunge protocol women actually need and why it looks nothing like what men are doing.

(20:43) Why daily HIIT workouts are doing the same hormonal damage as chronic stress.

(22:31) Why strength training from your teens changes your body composition for decades.

(24:25) Why the 5am power morning is actively working against female hormonal health.

(29:23) Bioharmonizing, the female alternative to biohacking that works with your biology instead of against it.

If you have been following all the protocols, doing all the things, and still feeling worse instead of better, this episode is going to explain exactly why.

Listen on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.

Thank you to our sponsors: 

FLO Living (supplement): Get 25% off with the code podcast25 at floliving.com 

Ovary Club Insiders: Ovary Club: Join us at https://alisavitti.kit.com/products/the-ovary-club 

MyFLO App: Download the My FLO App and use the code FREEMOTNH 

Learn more about Alisa Vitti: 

Instagram: @alisa.vitti 

Website: www.alisavitti.kit.com/

Perimenopause is usually expected to begin in the 40s. But more and more women are starting to see signs of it much earlier than that. Night sweats in the late 30s. Hot flashes that feel way too soon. Cycles changing earlier than expected. Trouble conceiving under 30. And most of the time, these symptoms are brushed off as stress, bad luck, or just part of being a woman.

What most women do not know is that those symptoms are not just a normal part of aging, or being a 'woman'. They are a sign that the body is aging hormonally faster than it should be. And brand new research has just revealed why. Scientists have discovered that the ovary is not just a storage facility for eggs. It is an incredibly sensitive organ that is picking up signals from everything you eat, every chemical you are exposed to, and every stressful season of your life. And it is using all of that information to decide how fast to age. So you may be only 30 chronologically, while your hormones are already behaving like those of someone much older.

In this first episode of The Ovary Club, I get into what this research actually means for you, why your hormonal age and your actual age can be two very different numbers, and what you can start doing right now to slow this down, no matter what decade you are in, and feel like yourself again.

Want to go deeper with this episode? Ovary Club Insiders get a special download: Your Ovarian Scorecard — find out exactly where your hormones need the most support and get a 30-day plan to fix it

Become an Insider here: https://alisavitti.kit.com/products/the-ovary-club   

What's Discussed:

• (00:00) Why hormonal symptoms are not a normal part of aging and what they are actually signaling.

• (02:17) The alarming statistics showing women are aging hormonally faster than ever before.

• (05:30) The groundbreaking new research on the ovarian ecosystem that changes everything.

• (07:21) The newly discovered structures in the ovary that are literally keeping score of your lifestyle.

• (10:21) Why the ovary is the first organ in the female body to age and what that means for your longevity.

• (13:00) What to focus on decade by decade to protect your hormonal health.

• (17:22) Why synthetic birth control interrupts a critical conversation in the brain and the ovary.

• (24:07) The key lifestyle levers that slow hormonal aging at any stage of life

• (31:00) The cycle syncing clinical trial results and what they mean for your hormonal health

If you have been wondering why your body feels off and nobody has been able to give you a real answer, this episode is where that changes.

Listen on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.

Thank you to our sponsors: 

FLO Living (supplement): Get 25% off with the code podcast25 at floliving.com 

Ovary Club Insiders: Ovary Club: Join us at https://alisavitti.kit.com/products/the-ovary-club 

MyFLO App: Download the My FLO App and use the code FREEMONTH 

Learn more about Alisa Vitti: 

Instagram: @alisa.vitti 

Website: www.alisavitti.kit.com

Every time a woman is told her labs are normal while she feels anything but, the problem is rarely that nothing is wrong; it is that she was given the incorrect tests, checked at the wrong time in her cycle, and compared against reference ranges that were never built for her biology in the first place. The healthcare system was not designed around the female hormonal cycle, and that gap is costing women answers, years, and their health.

We dive deeper into this in The Ovary Club with Dr. Carrie Jones. We also chat about why fasting insulin is the most important test nobody is ordering, how perimenopause rewires every system in the body and what that looks like in lab work, and how to use testing to advocate for yourself when your doctor is not asking the right questions.

If you have ever walked out of a doctor's office feeling dismissed, this is the episode you need to hear, and Dr. Carrie Jones is exactly the person you need to hear it from. She served as the first Medical Director of the DUTCH Test, has spent over two decades in clinical practice specializing in women's hormonal health, and is one of the most trusted voices in the field when it comes to understanding what your labs actually mean. 

Want all the lab details written out for you so you don't have to worry about jotting it down? Ovary Club Insiders get a special download that includes everything we discussed and more: Your Hormone Lab Cheat Sheet — walk into your next doctor's appointment knowing exactly what to ask for and how to read your results.

Become an Insider here: https://alisavitti.kit.com/products/the-ovary-club  

What's Discussed: 

(00:48) Why women can feel awful while being told their labs are "normal".

(04:13) How male-based lab reference ranges can miss what female biology is actually doing.

(11:05) Why testing on the wrong day of your cycle can make hormone results misleading.

(16:27) Why a single blood draw can miss what your hormones are actually doing across the day and cycle.

(19:26) The core labs Dr. Carrie checks first, including thyroid, iron, vitamin D, fasting insulin, and lipids.

(40:19) What urine testing can show that blood work alone cannot, especially when it comes to hormone metabolites.

(50:30) Why women should start testing in their 20s instead of waiting for a crisis.

(01:02:23) Why FSH becomes especially important after 40 and how it can help track the perimenopause transition.

If you have been told your labs are normal but your body is clearly saying otherwise, this episode will help you understand exactly where the testing is falling short.

Thank you to our sponsors: 

FLO Living (supplement): Get 25% off with the code podcast25 at floliving.com 

Ovary Club Insiders: Ovary Club: Join us at https://alisavitti.kit.com/products/the-ovary-club 

MyFLO App: Download the My FLO App and use the code FREEMOTNH 

Learn more about Alisa Vitti:

Instagram: @alisa.vitti

Website: alisavitti.kit.com 

Learn more about Dr. Carrie Jones:

Website: drcarriejones.com

Instagram: @dr.carriejones

Podcast:  Hello Hormones with Dr. Carrie Jones

Welcome to The Ovary Club with me, Alisa Vitti, your source for women's hormone truth from someone who's been pioneering this conversation for over 20 years.

If you want to join the club, here's what you need to know: your ovaries are a key driver of how you feel, function and age. They track everything and it's time you start working with them.

And no, your body doesn't operate like a man's, so your health strategy shouldn't either.

That's why I'm here to help you deal with hormone symptoms naturally, slow hormonal aging, and biohack like a woman.

Inside The Ovary Club, we do things differently. This is gender-specific science designed to help optimize your health through every decade of life.

Why listen to me? I'm a women's hormone and functional nutrition expert, bestselling author of WomanCode and In the Flo, and the creator of the Cycle Syncing® Method and Flo Living. 

So if you're ready to join the club, consider this your invitation to fall in love with your amazing female body and start living in sync with your hormones.

Find more from me: 

Join the Ovary Club: https://alisavitti.kit.com/products/the-ovary-club

Website: https://floliving.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/alisa.vitti/