Welcome to Peptides for Women. I'm Jennifer Woodward and this
is your podcast for smart, honest conversations about
peptide therapy and midlife Wellness.
We cover everything from GLP ones to BPC 157, plus the
foundations that still matter, sunlight, steps, strength
training, protein and minerals. So if you're ready to feel
better with science, back tools, and natural habits that actually
work, you're in the right place. Let's dive in.
I have to address the question I get more than almost any other
question, More than what do I do about my belly fat, more than is
this perimenopause, and honestly, probably more than
questions from my own family. Where do I get my peptides?
So here's the answer. I've been working with LEMD now
for about a year and I genuinely love them.
The physician oversight, the quality of the peptides, and the
business opportunity they've built for practitioners like me
is the real deal. If you want to order your own
peptides, the link is in the show notes.
It's super easy. And if you're a practitioner and
you want to talk about how LEMD can work in your own practice,
reach out to me directly. The conversation is free and
it's a good one. But a couple of quick disclosure
is because I'm a legally responsible adults, if you
purchase through my show notes link, I do earn an affiliate
income. Thank you.
I also want to be clear that I'm not a doctor and I don't
diagnose, treat, or prescribe anything.
I'm just a woman who did a lot of research, has a lot of
feelings about her hormones, and now has a podcast about it.
OK, now let's get into it. Welcome back to the Peptides for
Women podcast. I'm Jennifer Woodward, and it
was Easter for me yesterday. So today we're recording on
Easter Monday, and I'm very excited to welcome Doctor Angela
Peterson to the show. So Angela Peterson helps women
get out of survival mode and back into metabolic balance
using tools like peptides. She focuses on weight loss,
energy recovery, and overall optimization so women can
actually feel like themselves again.
It's not about quick fixes. It's about fixing the roots and
restoring vitality. I love it.
I love to hear it. We talk about it all the time on
the podcast Foundations Before Injections.
And so I'm excited to kind of dive into this with you today.
But First off, what did you do for Easter yesterday?
Had brunch with my family and then played golf with my husband
so it was pretty good. Golfer a How long have you been
golfing? Oh, I mean on and off for the
last five years, but I still terrible.
But I do enjoy it. Like just the getting outside.
And yeah, and it's just, it's fun.
It's a fun activity with my husband and friends and yeah, it
was good. Nice, good way to spend time
together. And then you guys had some
delicious some brunch together. And some mimosas of course.
But yes, it was. I love it.
A very Easter. Very, very, very spring, very
Easter. Yes, I walked a lot this morning
after our Easter. Yesterday we had Easter first at
my mother in It was a good day. So before we hopped on, you were
telling me a little bit that wasn't in your bio.
You told me you wrote a book. So let's take that.
Talk to me about your book, Angela.
Oh, thanks. I appreciate that.
You know, I, I wrote a book. It's called The Wellness Glitch
and it's really dissecting the systems that we have been told
to trust for our health and why these systems aren't working
anymore, why we don't feel very good.
And I also tie in, you know, a lot of political, some spiritual
and some environmental things, mostly like community that are
breaking down and not serving people in the ways that it that
we used to. The healthcare insurance
industrial complex, I like to call it, I think is a mess.
I think it's a sick care model, not a healthcare model.
And insurance premiums are going through the roof.
People are paying incredible amounts of money for things they
really don't even utilize. And we're just, we're sicker and
sicker than we ever used to be. Chronic illness is everywhere.
People are on way too many medications.
And, you know, we've gotten to this point where, you know, you
have a complaint, you go get a pill.
Well, you have another complaint, you go get another
pill. And that's just not health,
That's not longevity, that's not fixing your root cause of, you
know, what's wrong. And I was seeing a lot of these
patterns in my clients and it was just driving me crazy.
And you know, I would, I just thought about it like, what are
we? We're really doing something
fundamentally wrong with ourselves, our systems.
And you know, we were told to trust the experts on so many
things. And a lot of the things that
we've trusted experts on have been refuted and have been
completely dismissed by research, by practical
experience. And getting out of that loop is,
is really important to take over agency over your own health and
to make decisions and to live a better life and just feel
better. You know, I get complaints of
fatigue. I don't feel like myself
anymore. And, you know, I'm gaining
weight. I don't know why I'm not having,
you know, good sexual experience.
So a lot of these things are just very similar for so many
people. And when we peel back the layers
of what's really going on, you know, we can get to a point of
really optimizing ourselves. I mean, good relationships,
having a good sex life with your partner, being at an ideal
weight, getting your hormones balanced.
And I think when you get all of those things kind of squared
away, you just become a better person.
And when you're a better person, you're better citizen and you
take care of your families better, we get rid of a lot of
stress. So that's really my goal is to
just help people untangle what they thought they knew they were
doing and and really give them better suggestions to to live a
healthier life. Yep, the holistic picture.
It reminds me of something I read a few years ago that I'm
constantly thinking about that in ancient Chinese medicine,
people would only pay their doctors their if they were well,
they wouldn't pay for sick care. They would pay if they were
healthy. And it's such a a difference
today when like you said, I mean insurance companies and you
know, pharmaceutical companies, they get paid so well for
legions, legions of sick people and the sick that you're talking
about that I'm talking about, this isn't, you know, this isn't
cancer, right? This isn't like like
cardiovascular disease. This is people who do not feel
well. Well, like you were talking
about low sex drive, low energy, inability to lose weight,
compromised thyroid function, low metabolism.
And it's just so funny that, like you said, we kind of farmed
out that care to, you know, traditional medicine for so long
and look where it's gotten us, right?
I think that's one of the reasons that peptide medicine is
swelling, because people are starting to advocate for
themselves and they're asking for something else.
Yes, absolutely. And, you know, just a chronic
illness and the obesity and the problems that go along with
these obesity. I mean, you know, you, you can't
go to any major public function and not just be astounded at the
amount of obesity out there. And we've just, I mean, people
are just getting fatter and fatter and fatter by the day.
And you know, what comes along with it is high blood pressure,
you know, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and you're on
multiple medications in in no time.
Absolutely. And you know, that's I think
that's one of the reasons people love going to Disneyland or on
vacation sometimes because people are say, you know, the
people watching is so great. But when you dig down deeper
into like what that people watching looks like, it's like,
you know, 30 year olds on motorized scooters because
they're so overweight they can't walk, you know, people who
clearly aren't making the right choices metabolically, but maybe
it's because they haven't been educated correctly, right.
And so like you out there, people like I've been having on
this podcast who are educating on not just the peptides, not
just the regenerative medicine tools, but people, you know,
educating on those foundations of physical.
But also, like you said, you know, spiritual, emotional,
mental, I think is so important for women to feel and men,
right, to feel like they have more power over their health
than they might have traditionally felt like they had
a decade ago, 2 decades ago. And that's something I kind of
wanted to ask you about because you mentioned it in passing
about your book. You are looking at some of these
other pillars of health. So let's start with spiritual
because you mentioned that well. I think it's, you know, that's
different for everybody, but we've really just gotten away
from, you know, believing in ourselves and believing in
taking care of each other, which I just think is part of being
spiritual. And we've gotten away from this,
you know, God is different to is different for everybody.
And I would never, you know, say who's right or who's wrong, but
it really just comes from within and finding that really
spiritual guide within yourself to be a good person and to give
back to society and to do good things.
You know, I think it's very simple.
It's like, do good, be kind, give back to others.
And if we kind of live by those three things, you know, this
world would be a much, much better place And there wouldn't
be, you know, still the the evil that's going on right now with,
you know, everything in the headlines is, is really hard to
digest because you almost can't like believe it.
You're like, well, that, that cannot be true, but it is.
And I think a lot of us are struggling with those notions of
that. There's like, there is some
really bad things that are going on and why does that happen?
You know, where where do these people lose their spiritual
compass? Why are they doing bad things to
good people? And why does bad things happen
to good people? And it, it's just, it's very
concerning. So like I said, you know, just
being a good human and, you know, treating each other with
respect and love can go a long way.
And to me, that's really like the essence of what spirituality
is. And then finding, you know,
whatever, you know, whatever God means to you and how you express
that. But it it doesn't, it's not
fearful and it's not something that needs to be condemned.
But we do need to look at ourselves and look at ourselves
as the planet of of what we're doing and why we're why we're,
you know, why are these really horrible things happening across
the board? Yeah, I.
Appreciate you talking about it. Yeah, go ahead.
No, I just, I mean, I, I just, you know, it, it keeps me awake
at night sometimes. Like it is this the world we're
leading for our children? And you know, like what, Like
how much worse could it get? Is, is really kind of where
we're at. Like, I think we've reached like
a threshold of this is really bad and we're not taking care of
our planet. We're not taking care of each
other. And you know that that may not
last forever. Yeah, yeah, good point.
Yeah, we do have a finite number of resources for sure.
And you know, you're bringing up the next generation.
Something to be mindful of I think is definitely very
helpful. I love the concept of
spirituality just in healing medicine.
Like personally, I believe that God is my higher power and I
really do prioritize that spiritual relationship with
them. And it's something, you know, I
talk with my clients about to you, not like you said, not
everyone has the same definition of what, of what God is in their
own life. But being able to realize that
it's not just you like in this little planet, you know, I think
that's really helpful for especially women in really
working on their their mental game and their emotional game.
And so one of the things I found that that really started
helping, you know, women in my practice is instead of when we
open up a session, you know, we start talking about your
Wellness and what's gone on the last week, instead of diving
right into like, how are you? Because sometimes I can, you
know, degenerate into it. Well, I'm still getting
migraines and I haven't lost any weight.
And, you know, I'm really tired. We start off with what are three
things you're thankful for? And that's something I try to do
in my own life too, and even with my children, to kind of
start with that attitude of, of gratitude because like you said,
the world is a mess, right? And sometimes our lives feel
like they're a mess. But to have that, that bit of
centeredness where you can kind of focus on, you know, what are
three good things that happened today has been helpful for my
kids, you know, historically and my self and release kind of made
a difference with some of my client sessions.
I like that you brought in that we're not just physical beings,
right? It's a holistic picture for all
of us. Absolutely.
And then just your circle of influence too.
Sometimes it can be overwhelming, but just thinking
about your circle of influence and, you know, how you can make
an impact in that, you know, smaller environment and how, you
know, your family, your community, you know, where you
live, like making, you know, really impactful changes there
and can, you know, lead to bigger changes across the world.
Yeah. Yeah, I love that we think
things are kind of insignificant or were maybe insignificant just
like another cog in the wheel. But truly being able to pay it
forward, especially, especially when you start to feel better,
right? Like when you feel like, OK, now
I have a little bit more energy and I a little bit more focused,
my brain fog is kind of dissipated.
You know, I'm feeling a little bit better in my clothes now I
get to go back and, and give instead of just, you know, take.
And I think that that's a big shift for a lot of women when
they become healthier, whatever that looks like for them, you
know, foundations, obviously, and then maybe adding in
peptides or dialing in, you know, the right lab tests and
getting on hormones and whatnot. I do think that that's a big
shift because women, you know, by nature, we're givers, we're,
we're producers, we, we care and we're empathetic.
And so to strip away that power from women, you know, in midlife
when they're just not feeling their best, I think is, you
know, one of the reasons why so many women are, are, are feeling
emotionally and kind of mentally imbalanced, you know, right in
their 40s, fifties and whatnot, 100%.
Is that something you feel like you see too with your your
clients and your I? See it all the time, like
absolutely all the time. Like, you know, we just weren't
supposed to live this long. You know, that's the other thing
that we're just starting to understand that, you know, we
most, you know, long lifespan was 40-50 years old and now
we're living these longer lives. But it's like, what's our
quality of life? And are we sedentary?
Are we on multiple medications? Do we have chronic illness?
Are we, you know, clouding our brain with, you know, SSRIs and
kind of like really try to get people off of them.
And, you know, we're looking for different ways to improve health
because, like, we just didn't, we don't really know, you know,
like, living to 100 is now very possible, but living to 100 in a
memory care center isn't where I want to be.
And, you know, if you don't want to have that end game, then you
got to start making changes. You know, really as soon as
things start to feel off, that's your signal to yourself to be
like, all right, what's happening here?
I, I need to get this looked at. And it's not just getting on
pills. It's, you know, really replacing
the things that are deteriorating.
And, you know, the hormone replacement has a lot to do with
that. And, you know, that's really why
a lot of women especially are, you know, have a higher rate of
Alzheimer's and dementia and age-related cognitive decline is
because they didn't do hormone replacement.
And I can't say this like enough to people.
Like that's what's going to protect your brain, your bones
and your heart, and that's going to give you longevity and that's
going to make you feel good. You know, your body stops making
these hormones after a certain time called, you know, menopause
and most women didn't make it this long.
And now we are. And you, if you want to have
that vitality and be able to be with your children and your
grandchildren and have that spark, it's just it's a non
negotiable. And so many women were scared
into not doing it. And look where we're at.
You know, there's a memory care center literally on every corner
in every town and they keep popping up all over the place.
And that's just not like that's not what I want for my golden
years. And, you know, you can live a
very full life and be very active if you start doing the
right things. You know when when you start
noticing changes. Hormone replacement therapy is a
very good discussion to have because as you were alluding to,
the Women's Health Initiative just did, just did the
generation before us. Such a disservice to service.
Terrified of estrogen. Yeah, true.
I mean, it really is like when you go into the research and
look at how they doctorate the study and look at how they
doctorate the outcomes and the fact that, you know, for what,
20-30 years now, the black box warning has been on estradiol
and women have been terrified they're going to get cancer.
And that's not to say that, you know, there aren't risks
associated with any sort of, you know, like intervention at some
point. But we've seen overwhelmingly
that estradiol, especially, you know, in the presence of
progesterone, is very safe for women and very effective for
women. And such as, you know, the black
box warning has been removed, which is incredible.
You know, women hopefully are a little bit more empowered to go
out and ask their doctors, like, can we get the right labs?
You know, can I get on hormone replacement therapy?
These are my symptoms. Do you even know what menopause
is, doctor? Yeah.
I mean it, I just shake my head and and there's still like so
much resistance. And a lot of women are, oh, I
don't, I don't need to do that. I'm like, all right, well, these
are the things that are gonna start to happen if you don't.
And being able to educate women on the benefits of it, you know,
has been kind of a, a steeper climb.
There's lots of women that are very educated about it and do
the right things. But this, you know, the mindset
we've had for so long has just been ingrained in providers and
in women. And now, you know, it's just sad
to see someone in their 60s start to lose it mentally.
And when that starts to happen, it's, it's hard to reverse it.
So if you're listening to us today and you're in
perimenopause, don't listen, Don't take no for an answer.
Like just because you're still being in your period, there's
still things that we can do to really optimize and make you
just feel much more like yourself.
And it's been a game changer for myself.
It's been a huge game changer for so many of my clients.
And it's just, it's just the writing's on the wall and you
just, you got to do something about it.
So Angela, if we've got a woman, you know, 35 to 45, and she goes
to her doctor and asks for lab testing because she's not
feeling like herself, and her doctor says, you know, no,
you're fine. It's just normal.
You're just aging. What would some of the symptoms
be that she might be looking for as a sign that, yeah, she is
definitely in perimenopause and inching toward menopause?
I think the biggest things are the loss of libido and fatigue,
weight gain and you know, that brain fog where you're not able
to recall things as fast as you used to be able to.
I mean, some of that's just life.
But you know, when you start like, oh, shoot, what's that
word? And what's their name again?
Like those things happen and those are kind of your first
signs. Women do start getting hot
flashes pretty early. Those are, that's another big
sign. But really the big ones are
fatigue and lots of libido and weight gain.
And a lot of providers will look at your lab work and be like,
you're fine, everything is fine. But we overlook the importance
of testosterone in women. And that can be a game changer
for a, for a lot. And that could be a very, very
simple tweak. And most providers beating women
will not optimize that level because it's fine.
But what that's not fine. You know, you want to be, you
want to be, you want to be vital, you want to have all
those things back. And, you know, testosterone can
really, you know, give you back your kind of pep and your sex
drive and help with muscle building.
And most of the times it just gets overlooked.
Yeah, absolutely does. And it's not a, it's not a
hormone that most physicians are testing.
When women go in complaining, you know, of, of, of fatigue,
especially like you said, I think that, you know, I get a
lot of women who will tell me, well, my doctor says I'm low in
iron. And like, well, probably you are
#1 because you're not eating enough meat, you're probably not
eating enough vitamin C because you skipped fruit.
And so your iron isn't being stored.
But also your testosterone levels can be very, very low.
You know, in, in perimenopause especially, you know, if you are
stressed out all the time, if your cortisol levels are wonky,
that is going to affect some of the downstream hormones like
testosterone. And it just doesn't get tested.
So if a woman's listening to this and she's like, I need to
go ask my doctor what labs I can run in order to see like, am I
deficient any of these hormones? What would your top five labs be
that you would advise that woman to go ask for her doctor from?
But definitely your thyroid, your testosterone level at your
free and your total. Let's see.
So it's two, your LH, which is your luteinizing hormone and
then your FSH, I think is really important and then the estradiol
level 2. But if you're still ovulating
and still having a period, that's typically OK.
I don't usually recommend, you know, adding an estrogen until,
you know, menses have ceased, which is menopause.
But some people are, you know, do need a little bit of it.
It just really depends. But looking at and most if I get
a referral from another or a client comes in that's new,
that's been, you know, within their primary care, their OBGYN
for years, they've never had it looked at.
And you know, they're kind of shocked when I'm like, oh, let's
look at your testosterone. And they're like, let's nobody's
ever asked to do that before. I'm like, Oh yeah, well, we need
to opt. And then hormone, the thyroid
hormone too is very important. You know, you can be
subclinically low and really need just like a little thyroid
support. Are you testing progesterone for
a woman too? Is that one of the?
Yeah, for sure. Yeah, it wouldn't be.
I mean, I just usually add it in because it's a balancer, you
know, it balances everything out and it's kind of the calming
hormone. So I don't necessarily sometimes
need to see that, but, you know, but if you just my top five, you
know, that's what it would be. But yeah, I always look at
progesterone and then I usually just add it in, you know, for
most people. And they love it, you know,
helps them sleep. It chills them out a little bit
and it really regulates a lot of things.
Yes, I'm a big fan of progesterone in my own life.
And I've seen it work so well for so many women who are
coming, you know, with anxiety and insomnia and panic attacks
even. And no one's ever tested their
progesterone. They don't realize that they're,
you know, almost completely deficient.
They've been on birth control for 20 years.
They're not. They're not making progesterone.
Don't even get me started on that. 10 start it for me Angela,
tell me all about it. I, I just, I mean the lies we
have been told and the trusting the experts on birth control.
I, I think it's a health crisis, to be honest, because it's
leading to the fertility crisis. And, you know, a lot of these
things were just thought to be very innocuous.
You do you. A 15 year old started having
their, you know, has had their period for three years and it's
inconvenient. You know, they don't like it and
they go to, you know, they're a provider and they get put on,
you know, for oral birth control pill without even blinking an
eye. And then they're locked into
birth control for probably in the next 15 years of their life.
And you know, I, I talk a lot about this in my book because
you can see the cycle. You can see where this is
leading. And I just posted something on
Instagram about this too. Like, you know, you're on birth
control, which puts you into like a menopausal state.
And, you know, it, it creates this mismatch, I think, with
relationships because you lose your sex drive, you start to get
depressed and, you know, your partner who's young and, you
know, ready to roll, you're not meeting each other at the same
point in life. And that causes a lot of
tension. It causes a lot of problems and
relationships. And there's just like, there's
better ways to prevent a pregnancy.
And we just have to educate women that like, you know, being
a woman is really special and being able to grow a human is
one of the greatest gifts ever. And when you're compromising
that, I think you're doing yourself a disservice because if
you look at the infertility rates that are rising, everybody
you know is known somebody that has struggled with infertility
and that didn't used to be the case.
And then, you know, then the depression comes in because
you're not getting the hormones that your body needs.
There's a hormone receptor on every cell of your body.
And when those are completely taken away and replaced with
synthetic, like, what are we doing?
I just think that we're women are looking for quick fixes, You
know, they don't want to get pregnant before they're ready.
And I can understand that. But you also just have to
educate yourself on, well, how do I, how do I do this a
different way? Or how can I respect myself
enough to like be able to say no?
And I, I mean, my personal thought, and this might be kind
of controversial, but I really think birth control exists for
unlimited male pleasure. And, you know, having, you know,
getting rid of like the pregnancy risk, you're kind of
losing that self respect and being able to say like, hey, now
it's not the right, I got my 48 hour window here.
You're just going to have to chill.
And like, like, why is that a bad thing?
Like I just like, let's get back to like, I mean, you can
regulate your cycle, you know, when you're ovulating that
that's not that big of a deal. Condoms actually work, you know,
like, why is it just let's go get on the birth control pills.
So my acne, which is really coming from, you know, your food
sources and your inflammation. It's not, you know, necessarily
your hormones, but it it's just, it's just been this quick fix
and the downstream effects on what's going to happen later in
life are, you know, we could just see that cycle.
It's birth control pill, you know, SSRIs, Adderall, all those
things and that that's not good. And it's just, it is not good
for Women's Health. And then when you're suppressing
your own natural production for so long, your body doesn't
really know what to do when it gets off of it.
And there will people that will argue this sooth and nail but I
I just I don't see how putting synthetic hormones in your body
to suppress ovulation for 15 plus years can be anything but
detrimental. So agreed, you guys can't see my
face, but I am just smiling and nodding with everything.
Doctor Angela sailing saying I I do see it right now we're having
a peptides for women female health empowerment conference
and Doctor Angela is going to headline it.
This is great. Stuff I would love it.
I would love it. Oh.
Good. There's that small little study
2013 that showed when women started the pill, their
preference for more masculine faces decreased.
And so we have seen that, you know, when it really is taking
away all aspects of our fertility.
Not only are we unable to ovulate, which of course is
going to suppress our production and and like you said, lead to
infertility in our later years, You can't just turn back on the
switch of, you know, wanting to get pregnant.
There's so much that goes into healthy fertility, you know, for
women. And, you know, I've seen the
pill in my own life personally. And one of the reasons why I
counsel my daughter and my daughter's friends, like stay
far away from the pill. Go off of dairy, go off of
gluten, make sure you're drinking enough water, get your
minerals, get a food sensitivity test if needed.
And you're only fertile for 48 hours.
If you're really careful for, you know, two to three days on
either side of that window, then you're probably going to be OK.
You know, with pregnancy you don't eat ice cream every day.
Right, right, right, Like it's not that hard to figure out gals
like you're doing. It's just become this.
It is. It was like, it's like trendy,
you know? Like, I know when I was like, in
high school and going into college, you know, it was like
trendy to be on your ortho tricycling.
Oh, yeah. And everybody was like, oh, I
got to take my pill. Like it was just this thing.
I was like, I don't know about you guys, but I feel like
absolute shit. And I feel like I'm losing my
mind. Like I could not handle it at
all. And I just didn't do it.
I was like, this is terrible. And then I had a terrible
experience with Iuds. I gained a ton of weight.
I felt like I, my mind was just not myself.
And I know a lot of people say it's fine, actually have a lot
of friends my age now that still have Iuds.
They're like, oh, I'm getting my hormone replacement through my
IUD. I'm like, okay, that's great.
Alright, come to me. Like when you're ready to talk,
you know, I'm like, that's fake. Those are fake hormones and you
know, it's just like, where are people getting this information?
Well, a lot of it's their providers and I'm sorry, but
most my colleagues don't know what they're doing anymore and
it this is just not, it's just it, it's not the solution that
we made for pregnancy. And you know, I don't want to
say that like I'm not trying to be like AI don't even know how
to say this right, but like, you know, so conservative, but like,
respect yourself. Like, you know, a one night
stand isn't going to do anything for you.
It's just going to make you feel like crap, you know, cuz this
guy's not going to call you back.
Like stop using sex as a way to rope in men cuz it doesn't
usually work, you know? But if you can be in, you know,
more vibrant and have good communication skills and be
funny and someone fun to hang out with, that's more important,
you know, the, the intimacy can come later.
And there's also, like news flash, a lot of things you can
do for intimacy that don't require penetration.
And even a man. Right self intimacy measures,
right there's that too. There's plenty of that, but
like, you know, it's, we've really, I mean, I, I think like
the sexual divide is, is really sad because I, I see this in my
practice a lot is the people just have really stopped having
like satisfying sexual relationships.
And women don't even, especially when they're birth control,
there's really, very, very little ways to actually have a
true orgasmic experience, if I'm being honest.
And then you couple in the SSRI and the SSNR is with that and
like, forget it. Like they don't even know what
it really feels like, you know, especially for a woman.
And that's, I think where our relationships just start to tank
because if you don't have that, you know, really natural
connection, I, I think that's a huge problem.
Well, and women start to get resentful and they start to get
100%. They think, you know, every
single time we have sex, my man gets to have an orgasm, never
have an orgasm. It just becomes a chore.
It's not anything that's mutually beneficial, you know,
for a happy couple. And I, I definitely see that all
the time too. You know, with women, it might,
might practice. The demographic is, you know,
age 35 to 50. And more often than not, it kind
of boggles my mind how often women will tell me I've never
had a libido. Like I just, I never want to
have sex. I'm like, what in the world?
I mean, mine, granted, is low, but I'm also recovering from,
you know, 20 years of being on the pill, you know, a 20 year
eating disorder, you know, all of these like over exercising,
overstressing, being an overachiever.
I think all of that has conspired for so many women to
completely lose their libido because they've almost lost
their zest for life. They go through the motions.
They'll go to the gym, they'll, you know, drink their coffee,
they'll eat a semi healthy meal. They'll go to work, they'll take
care of their kids. But there's no joy in it
anymore. And, you know, it's so important
for us to experience joy, especially as women, because,
you know, I, I, I just see that if that's not part of your life,
that's when you know, women are, are searching for other options
like, you know, SSRIs, obviously, or like diet after
diet after diet or workout after workout after workout or
spiritual practice after spiritual practice, like being
able to feel good enough to cultivate joyful, you know,
things joyful practices in your own life can be really life
transporting for women after they've, you know, had their
kids grow up a little bit, right?
They don't, they're not as needed as much in the trenches.
Maybe they're kind of coasting a little bit more at work or
they've risen to the top of their profession.
They're enjoying their professional success.
Like now is the time for women to feel like they get to have a
joyful life and it's just being sucked away from them by, you
know, medications and a shitty lifestyle.
It makes me so sad. Yeah, well, and they're the
research coming out with SSRI's is it can cause per minute
sexual dysfunction even after you stop.
And so that that should be the black box warning on those
medications because that it's like that's going to kill your
relationship. You know, even, you know, when
you do stop, it doesn't necessarily bounce back.
And I just, I think that's just a really sad thing to have
happened to somebody. Yeah, women are supposed to be
sexual beings. It's like your birthright to get
to feel like you are a sexual being, you know?
And women just do not have that anymore.
And it does make me sad. And I do.
I mean, it is the peptides for Women podcast.
I feel like I should I should transition us to peptides at one
at one point. Let's say with peptides too for
sure. Well, and that's what I was
going to say. There's two areas of peptides I
want to look at very closely with you because there are two
things that women really need to hear about.
Since we're on the topic of sexual dysfunction right now,
let's go ahead and talk about some of the peptides for libido
and connection. But then I really want to focus
in on some of those libidos for or some of those peptides for
brain function, right? Maybe preventing things like
Alzheimer's and Parkinson's and neurodegeneration.
So let's go ahead and start with how you know Once foundations
are in place for women, where can they start exploring
peptides for libido? Oh, there's a couple of them.
One of them that I'm researching right now is kisspeptin and that
peptide will help to increase your LH and FSH function, which
is really important because that's going to help stimulate
your own natural production of hormones.
So this might be more, this might be like another way to
circumvent hormone replacement. We just don't really know.
I'm, I like to experiment on myself to kind of see how things
work and I it's been pretty cool.
It's a really cool peptide. So I'm super interested in that
one. It's not very expensive and it I
think has like some real promising attributes to it.
The one for libido that works great is the PT141 and yeah,
it's a, and it's for men and women alike.
I think it's awesome. It can take it every day.
It just helps increase desire. It increases blood flow.
And, you know, those are things that are really important, you
know, obviously for sexual function.
And then, I mean, I, this isn't one that's actually for sexual,
but I think when you feel better about yourself and you're at,
you know, an ideal weight, you're much more like at you
want to engage, you know, if you are embarrassed with how you
look or you know, you have some self-confidence issues, like
losing some weight can really help with that.
And that's why I, I mean, trzipatide for me and for what I
recommend to clients is the Holy Grail because that just starts
everything off. You look, you have, you know,
you look better, you have a ton of confidence.
And I mean, we had talked about a lot more of the benefits of
trzipatide as we go, but that's kind of the foundational one
that I really like to recommend. And then, you know, oxytocin,
it's not a peptide, but that can be really helpful for bonding,
especially between men and women, because that really is
the the love hormone. And what we're finding is that
if you don't have a good gut system, if your gut is not
working well, that that's where oxytocin is produced.
And when that is compromised, you're not getting that release
of oxytocin. So that's, you know, really
important to consider to make sure your gut lining and your
microbiome are really well functioning.
That's a great point to bring up for people, that that is where
you know your your oxytocin is produced and there's so many
things that lead to poor gut function in women.
You can almost operate on the assumption that most people
aren't, especially women aren't making appropriate levels of
oxytocin. And so, you know, they're,
they're so it's like multi factorial why relationships are
kind of breaking down. But adding some of that back in
can be so, so helpful. I love that you brought up
PT1412 because you said, yeah, it works on, you know, brain
function to help increase feelings of desire and arousal.
So helpful for women. Then it also increases blood
flow, you know, obviously helpful for men, but also women,
right? Yeah, same principle.
Yeah, without, without some of the negative side effects of
something like Cialis. Right.
So are you using it for both men and women in your practice?
Yep, Yep. I actually work with a company
here in Utah and I'd love to share this source with you
because they're really amazing. But I brought, I have some
examples right here, but they're oral dissolving strips.
That and PT141 is one of the ones that we offer and it also
has a little bit of tadalafil in it, which is Cialis, but that
that's more for like the nitric oxide production, which is, you
know, another thing we can talk about that's really important.
But these, these peptides are amazing and really accessible.
No needles, no guessing on dosing.
And I've been recommending these to most of my clients and it's
like the efficacy is fantastic. And as things get a little
complicated in the FDA space with peptides, these are the
ones that are going to be, you know, more widely.
Available because they're technically a dietary
supplement, but I the PT141 strip I can't keep it in stock.
It's amazing. I've actually used a dissolvable
oral for the strip for PT141. I've used a nasal and then I've
used the injection and I would say for ease of use and and you
know, really the way that it worked, I did like the oral
dissolvable. I like the injection too, but
it's really easy to take too much and a lot of my clients
will feel really nauseous on the PT131 injection which I don't
get from the strep. Yeah, because it's really a
derivative of Mt 2, the melatonin, which causes tanning,
which is fabulous as well. But that can definitely have
some nausea related to it. Yeah, and the melatonin, he
said. My husband has been taking that
just for fun. You know, he loves his peptides,
too. And we know one of the side
effects is increased libido. So I looked at him this weekend
after like the third proposition in like 12 hours is like, what
is going on? He's like, oh, I think it's my
Melania Tan. It's like, oh.
My gosh. Back off.
That stuff, though, come.
On yeah, yeah, it's revolutionary.
I mean, it, it helps a lot of things and some people, you
know, get really bad side effects from Viagra and high
doses of Cialis. And this is a good way to, you
know, have an alternative. Yeah, yeah, there's no like 24
hour erections from PT141, at least not that I've seen in the
literature or in real life, no. But you know, the, the thing
that's, you know, the other caveats, that is your nitric
oxide like that is super important.
And I think it's been, it's not widely known how important
nitric oxide is, but that's what helps your circulation.
And that's why, you know, tadalafil and Viagra work so
well is because they prevent the breakdown of nitric oxide.
And so that promotes better blood flow.
And it, those are actually a really, I don't love the type of
pharmaceuticals, but I can get behind those because of the
mechanism of action. But one thing you easy, one
thing you can do to improve your nitric oxide is to get fluoride
out of everything. So stop using fluoride in your
toothpaste because the nitric oxide is really first produced
in your oral microbiome and you get the downstream effects from
that, but fluoride completely kills it.
So as much as you can get fluoride out of your toothpaste
and water, that's a really beneficial thing.
I've not heard that before, but I did hear you talking about the
importance of running, you know, the right thyroid labs.
And we know, you know, that fluoride is going to displace
those lighter halogens like iodine, which is so important
for thyroid health. And so I am a huge proponent of
not having fluoride as much as possible, you know, in our house
and in our our toothpaste. I love a tooth powder, a nice
mineralized tooth powder. What do you use for toothpaste?
I have do you have MI paste? You use that?
OK, that is fantastic. So that re mineralizes your
teeth. It'll put dentists out of
business to be honest, but it helps whiten them and it re
mineralizes your it makes your teeth stronger.
You can get it off of like a dental supply company.
And then I my favorite fluoride free toothpaste is Burt's Bees.
I think that one tastes the best and I just, I just like it.
But widely available. Yeah.
Just anything just get off fluoride.
Like if that is the one take away from today besides other
tidbits like get rid of your toothpaste, Yeah.
Love it, love it, love it. OK, let's, let's finish up here
with some brain health hacks, especially peptides, because we
know women are terrified that they are going to lose use brain
function. Like you said, there is, there's
a memory care facility on almost every corner and it is
terrifying. I can't think of everything that
terrifies me more, you know? So what can women do you know
from a peptide perspective to protect their brain health now
and ensure better brain health in the future?
I mean, this one, and there's a couple options and really the
basic one I'm just going to go back to is tirzepatide.
Keeping your blood sugar and regulation and being in
metabolic regulation is going to help your brain health because
there is so much evidence that having high blood sugar levels
really deteriorates your brain and you need to, you know, make
sure that you're in good metabolic balance to protect
yourself. You know, especially for brain
health. I think Salank and C Max have
really a lot of promising attributes to them, especially
for mental health. And then for cognition, I think
those are great. But really just getting, you
know, tirzepatide has so many benefits to it.
And you know that metabolic regulation, I think is really
important. And if this is mini peptide and
I'm degressing and I apologize, but cholesterol also, we need
cholesterol for brain health. And so if you're keeping your
blood sugar low, that means your inflammation is going to be low.
And that's, that means that your vessels are, are not, as you
know, they're not rigid. And when you have a lot of
inflammation and you have rigid vasculature, that's where
cholesterol gets trapped. That's where you get the, you
know, the heart attacks, the strokes.
But if that molecule can flow freely through your vasculature,
you're fine. And we need that fat for our,
for our brain health. So that's just, I just default
to tirzepatide, honestly, I think that is so important.
And then estrogen too, you know, there's just that that's just is
non negotiable. And probably a call for women,
especially in midlife, to be wary of going on a statin.
I used to sell a statin for Abbott Labs.
Now I feel terrible I did that because we know the body's going
to make cholesterol no matter what.
And like you said, cholesterol is the building block not only
of our brain, but also of our hormones, including things like
cortisol. So, you know, breaking down the
the building blocks of our hormones and our brain is such a
detriment for women. So just be careful when your
doctor tells you you need to go on a statin, maybe just do a
little. Bit do it, don't do it.
I mean, it's just handed out like candy and most men over 40
are on it. Then they get on a blood
pressure medication and it's like, like, okay, that's gonna
work out well for you. But metabolic health, you know,
it's just, is really the cornerstone.
And I just like trzipatide and semaglutide works too.
I mean, I, I, I default to trzipatide because the side
effects are less and really the profile of it is much better.
But that's where the secret sauce is.
And once you get that metabolic regulation in, and it's not
always about just losing weight. It's not like being on Ozempic.
It this is a crucial peptide that our body makes that we need
more of and you know, micro dosing tirzepatide at a really
responsible level is going to give you so many health benefits
beyond just losing weight. Beautifully said.
I mean, brain benefits for sure. We know Alzheimer's is referred
to as type 3 diabetes. We know there's a huge insulin
and glucose component to a brain that's going awry.
You know, sooner rather than later.
It allows, you know, like sugars, you know, with the Tau
proteins and, and just the neurodegeneration that happens
can be prevented by having, you know, steady glucose, steady
insulin and taking care of your body metabolically.
And so I mean, tersapatite, they shouldn't put fluoride in the
water. They should put tersapatite in
the water. You're going to get comments for
that one. Probably.
Right, but I just, I'm going to add, you know, I, I think it's
the Holy Grail of peptides and you know, it's gotten my clients
off of their Lexapro. You know, I can get them off
their statin, I can get them off their blood pressure medication
and their numbers are fantastic. And really like it's, I mean, my
own mom was showing some really significant cognitive decline
and was overweight and I've really helped her lose over 80
lbs and she's much, she's much more alert.
She's her recall is better, her zest for life is better.
And you know, she's, she just feels like a completely new
person and has she just feels more like herself because her
mental clarity is better. And I and this other thing, you
know, the other thing that happens with Tricipatite is that
kind of veil of that fog and just that brain, you know, sugar
overload because if, if you're, if you're overweight, you're in
insulin resistance like no doubt.
And that has a lot to do with brain function.
And I think people can think a lot clearer, be a lot more
creative when when that metabolic regulation is in good
balance. Yeah, very, very good thing for
women to think about as they're choosing, you know, number one,
what foundations to practice and then what peptides to invest in.
Yeah. And I mean, it's the, it's gone
bananas, you know, like there are, there's just so many
sources for it now and the education is out there.
And they're really powerful molecules.
And, you know, they're amino acids.
So they're cell signalers, and they really do a bunch of
wonderful things. You just got to make sure your
building blocks are solid first because they can be very
expensive. And if you're not in, you know,
metabolic regulation and hormone regulation first, a lot of it is
not really going to work. And you're just, you know,
throwing money down the drain. All right, Doctor Angela M
Peterson, what a great discussion.
Thank you for being so frank and open and willing to discuss the
subjects that women actually want to hear about.
And if they want to hear more, or work with you or the other
wonderful women in your practice, where can they learn
more? You read my book.
I would love it. I am super proud of it.
I talk about this a lot, especially about kind of the
sexual mismatch and obesity and how all of these just all of
these things in our world has just caused us to be
dysregulated and how we can ease those, you know, out of our
lives and make better decisions. But I'm widely available.
I'm on really active on Twitter. I love to write and that
platform is one of my favorites. I know it's called X, but I
still refer to it as Twitter. But I'm on there at fix the
glitch now and then my website isampdhealth.net and then my
phone number for my business which I answer texts in real
time and I can do consultations over the phone is 385-486-4181
and just reach out I'd love to help.
Amazing. All right, I'm going to get on
Amazon and order your book. I'll be reading it before I
invite you back on so we can have another fantastic
discussion about the fun side of peptides.
Yes. Well, I mean, it's it, it's
just, it's exploding. And like we said earlier, it's,
it's the future of health, it's the future of regeneration and
it's ways of making our body, you know, signal the cells in
the right way to really heal ourselves, you know, in a very
positive, beneficial way. Yeah, All right, Doctor
Peterson, thank you for being on the Peptides for Women podcast
with me today. And thank you everyone for
listening to this weeks episode. We will see you next time.
All right. Thank you so much.
I loved it.