Veracity: Over the 20 years that you have been practicing medicine, how have you seen the medical industry change?
Dr. Taz Bhatia: I would celebrate the evolution of at least the majority of physicians, who are starting to come around to understanding the value of food as medicine and that there is a connection between internal health and external health. They're starting to connect some of those dots. It’s exciting, but the problem is we're still hearing a lot of the same old dialogue, like “you can't check your hormones, you can't balance your hormones.” I continue to see frequently missed diagnoses of women's health issues. So, I think we still have a really long way to go as a medical system if we're going to make this the dialogue that everyone's using, rather than really having to fight for it, which is what we’re doing right now.
V: Why should all women be paying attention to their hormones?
TB: I believe hormones are our superpower. I feel like we are dictated by them to a certain extent. You can have the most incredible willpower and you can have the strongest work ethic, but if your hormones are be-bopping all over the place, those things will have trouble helping you make it through your day if you're imbalanced. For women to thrive, to really step into their power and be the fullest version of themselves, they have to take care of their hormonal health.
V: Are there any consistent issues that bring women to you?
TB: I always say the top five are fatigue — they're suddenly tired and they can't explain why. Poor sleep — they’re waking up throughout the night, have hot flashes, or are having trouble falling asleep. Weight gain is a big one for women who all of a sudden start gaining weight when it never was an issue before. The mental health component of this — anxiety, mood, depression, and even bipolar and OCD — is very powerful, too. In today’s climate, it’s really important to understand the hormonal component of your mental health. The last one is pain, like new onset muscle weakness, joint pain, exercise, and intolerance. All of these symptoms are connected back to hormones and women are coming in for them all the time. They often translate into diagnoses including PCOS, endometriosis, Hashimoto's disease, insulin resistance, autoimmune disease, gut disorders, and so much more.
V: Your platform has a very large emphasis on community — you have a thriving social media account, the Superwomen's circle community, and the 4-Hour Hormone System. Why do you think community is such an important aspect of women's health?
TB: I think we as women are social creatures, we are meant to be together, to raise children together, to build families together. And I think one of the things Western culture has done is to take that away from us and silo us into these nuclear families where we often feel really alone, stressed, and highly dependent on our partner. And I think that is not how we are fundamentally wired.
So my idea around community was, “Hey, I'm really great at dispensing information and educating. I’m doing it all the time. But what happens when that door closes or you stop scrolling?” People have to then step back into their lives, to their duties of caregiving, and doing the 50 things that they always do. I thought it would be incredible to bring women together to share their stories and learn from one another. I felt called to start building that community.
I also know firsthand that the stronger we are as women and the more community support that we have, the better we run our families. The more support we have outside of that nuclear family — whether that’s knowledge, education, energy, or innovation — the more we can bring into to nurture that nuclear family and our relationships rather than having them be this place where we feel drained, exhausted, and resentful.
V: What advice do you have for the top three things you think women can do in their 20s, 30s, and 40s to optimize their hormone health?
TB: For women in their 20s, I think it's mastering their diet. I think a win for them is understanding what an anti-inflammatory diet is, what a blood sugar-balancing diet is, upping their intake of high-nutrient foods, and watching the amount of processed foods, alcohol, and sugar they consume. They should also understand what their nutrient requirements are and if they have any nutritional deficiencies. Finally, they should focus on stress management and getting quality sleep. If they keep things things in place then most of them get through their 20s with their hormones in good shape.
As you go into your 30s, things start to shift and change and you want to pay more attention to what your actual hormone levels are, especially if you're trying to get pregnant or are post-pregnancy. Tracking hormone levels is something I think everyone in their 30s should be doing every six months, whereas, in their 20s, I would say they should test at least once a year. As you enter your 30s, there's a higher need for healthy fats because they nourish and protect your hormones. So it’s not a good idea to go crazy about being fat-free. And this age group should start with some supplementation. I think this is where women benefit from things like methylated B vitamins and taking some magnesium, the two that I call the hormone supporters that help to prevent the state of depletion during a very busy decade.
I think the 40s is where women really need to embrace weight training. They should focus on adding in protein to help with blood sugar stability and really start to clean up their liver to make sure it’s working for them, not against them. The liver is beginning to slow down a little bit, so maybe think about doing a mini liver detox using glutathione, milk thistle, and some of these things that really support it.