Dr. Mary Claire Haver

So when we look at women who don't have heart disease and what their habits are, women who don't have dementia and what their habits are, women who don't have osteoporosis and what their habits are, many of those habits are the same.

They eat adequate protein.

They limit their processed foods.

They exercise on a very regular basis to include strength training and some cardiovascular training.

They are social.

They stay connected to their communities.

They have lower stress levels because they have friends.

All of this is important.

So I wish that I could just wave a magic wand and tell you get on hormone therapy and it will solve all of your problems.

But that is not.

what happens at all.

It is unlikely that if you eat the standard Western diet and live a sedentary life and take hormone therapy, that it is going to dramatically improve your lifespan or your health span.

It most likely will have minimal effect.

It will definitely help your hot flashes and probably will help your bones as long as you take it.

But without the package, the toolkit, right?

of the lifestyle changes, of prioritizing yourself, of staying metabolically healthy, you are not going to be able to live your best life in that last decade.

We're going to get into some nitty gritty stuff here.

And I don't mean for this to sound political at all.

It's not really political.

It's like the powerful versus the powerless.