A lot of people start their New Year's resolutions and they're like, okay, every day I'm going to do this three-hour morning routine and now I'm going to change my entire life and it never really works out. But this concept of like, hey, can you add four more minutes to your workout? If you combine all of those things, these little, little switches, you can make such a huge impact on your health. I mean, this is insane that you can make such a huge difference with such small changes. Welcome to another episode of the Save Yourself podcast. Today, we are going to be talking about the latest trends in health and wellness and my take on it, my takeaways for you on it. Today, I wanted to also share with you that our book, Hormone Havoc, has been so popular and it is now named on the New York Times bestseller list. So I'm so grateful for all of you who have supported the book, have read it, have shared it with your friends, have put a review on Amazon or wherever you bought it. Honestly, it's not something that happens very often to authors like me. It's not a book that's super likely to get on bestseller lists. This signals to the world that we want more information on nutrition, gut health, and women's health in a science-backed, expert-led way. And so I think it's really cool in so many different ways. It's like you have not only supported the topic of women's health and perimenopause, but you've also supported authors that don't look like the typical authors that get featured on these very prestigious international sites. And then on top of that, it actually signals to the world that nutrition is important, that people want to know more about it. So then more authors and more brands and more people start to think about food as medicine and start to think about gut health. so for all those reasons I'm so grateful for all of you continue to ask your questions and I continue to share information on social media and the podcast that I think are is really important for you to know to upgrade your life and often as I'm upgrading my life or talking to my patients about upgrading theirs I always want to bring that to you because often we don't get enough time with our doctor where they're not really talking to us about the things that matter to us So for all those reasons, I'm so grateful for you to be here. Today, we're going to talk about some of the trends that are happening in 2026 around nutrition, gut health, and women's health, and how you can put them into action. So number one trend, our first trend is honestly the evolution of nutrition. So nutrition, obviously, for most of my life has been thought of as a weight loss tool. And I don't think we talked a lot about longevity or gut health or how gut health relates to brain health and how food is actually medicine for us. And I think the big thing I want to share with you is that food is medicine. It works like medicine. And it's a thing you do three to five, six, seven times a day that actually alters your life in a significant way. And I don't think we think of it that way. We think of it as just like fun or nourishment, but it literally can alter the way you think and the way you feel and how you end up living the rest of your life. So I think that is a trend that I'm really can get behind. The fiber maxing trend is super cool. And of course, there's also a negative side to it. So a lot of people are taking advantage of this and talking about their product or supplement that is a solution for nutrition. But I will say over and over again, even though I take supplements, I support supplements, eating a good diet, eating a varied diet, eating a diet that supports your gut and your brain connection is the number one thing that you can do for your health. I would put it like neck and neck, I guess, with like sleep and exercise. But I love nutrition because it's the one thing that you can really change within an hour. And we know that gut bacteria change within days, three days, and you can have a totally different microbiome. And some gut bacteria die within hours. So you're making a change so quickly. So the first trend is evolution of nutrition. Obviously, gut health has become huge. The other thing is GLP obviously are a huge trend But I think the other trend that is happening is just understanding that people are on GLP are often doing it for blood sugar control sometimes just weight control sometimes various other reasons, anti-inflammatory reasons. So eating and learning about how to navigate GLP-1s has become a super trend. So if you're on one, or if you're thinking about being on one, there's a lot of nuance that you need to know. Like for people who are on GLP-1s, it's extremely important to stay focused on protein and weightlifting and fiber and probiotic foods because, you know, your appetite will be lower and it's very easy to skimp on those things that give you long-term health. And the other thing that's really kind of piggybacking off of GLP-1s is blood sugar balance. And so you really do want to work on blood sugar balance, whether it's through GLP-1s or whether it's through a walk right after you eat a meal. That's like one of the best ways to get your blood sugar down quickly after you eat. So those are other trends that we are seeing. I don't know about you, but I'm always looking for ways to moisturize without it being oily. It's something that's like nourishing my skin, something that has research behind it. So there's Osea skincare that I have been loving because it's not too greasy. It feels light and the scent is just delectable, especially if you're from South Asia, like me, you're going to love the Jasmine and Rose scent. Osea skincare is something that I love because it's also clean and it's clinically backed. Okay. I hate it, but I'm reaching for the anti-aging stuff. So Osea has this anti-aging body balm that is like liquid silk. It's so beautiful. And that leaves your skin looking firmer and more hydrated. So if you're looking for a spring worthy glow with clean, clinically bathed skincare from Osea, you want to check out this discount code I have for you. And right now I'm able to extend a 10% discount code if you use the code Amy at OseaMalibu.com. Okay, another big trend that we're seeing with the takeaway, small shifts create big changes. So one thing you'll see on my social media over and over again, it's like the idea of like, Hey, if you just do, you know, five minutes of sunlight, it can really shift your life. Or if you can go for a quick five to 10 minute walk after meals, it can shift your life. Or if you can add one more thing with fiber, five to 10 grams can literally change your life. And so small things with big gains, this has been seen in studies over and over again. It's not like you have to overhaul your diet. A lot of people start their New Year's resolutions and they're like, okay, every day I'm going to do this three hour morning routine and now I'm going to change my entire life. And it never really works out. But this concept of like, hey, can you add four more minutes to your workout? This was actually a study they found. So four and a half more minutes to your workout, 11 more minutes for sleep and change your diet in a small way. Like maybe add five to 10 grams of fiber every day, maybe have protein in your first meal. This, if you combine all of those things, these little, little switches, you can make such a huge impact on your health. In fact, we found that if you look at that specific thing, 11 minutes of sleep, four and a half minutes of daily activity and making modest dietary improvements, it can lower your risk of heart attack and stroke by 57% if you put them all together. I mean, this is insane that you can makes such a huge difference with such small changes. The second really, really, really big shift that's happening in the literature and in social media and the wellness landscape is women's health is having a moment. This is long overdue and this doesn't even, we're like 1% of the research when it comes to perimenopause and menopause. And so everything we do right now is just like a drop in the bucket. We need to all put drops in the bucket. It should be a rain downpour so that we can have enough support for women. That's how far we are. There's nearly 6,000 women in the U.S. that enter perimenopause daily, and we don't have enough evidence support for mood hormone balance cognitive function and sleep And so we actually need to be talking more about it We need to be doing more research We need to have more awareness about options both nutritional lifestyle and menopause hormone therapy options. We need to get clarity for people. Like I tried in Hormone Havoc, the book, to give clarity to you around my thoughts around hormone therapy. Menopause hormone therapy, I think, is an amazing choice for people who have severe, not severe, have symptoms of menopause and perimenopause. Specifically, moderate to severe hot flashes, very disturbed pain or itching or discomfort in the vaginal area, and then osteopenia, osteoporosis. Those are the three main indications for menopause hormone therapy. so I think that everything outside of that is still like hotly up for debate and there's lots of people who feel so much better on hormone therapy but then there's others who say it's not a panacea for everything so you don't have to start it you know the minute you like hit 35 so there's a lot of debate but I do think that if you have those symptoms the three that I described then it's a almost a slam dunk depending on your family history and background Of course, there are contraindications, but really women's health in general, talking about the nutrition for women, talking about the lifestyle support, the exercise support, this has really changed over the last few years and will continue to change. So really excited about that. pelvic floor awareness has been something that maybe you've heard about because 80% of people experience leaking during fitness activities, if you have pelvic floor issues, and then there's also growing movement to demystify and strengthen the pelvic floor, because it helps your core, it helps your overall health. That's one issue. Another one is creatine. So creatine used to be thought as just something that bodybuilders use. A 2026 study showed that strength training and muscle preservation is extremely important to older women, and it's actually linked to longer lives. So not only is strength training and muscle building great for like, you know, being functional, it's also linked to a longer life. And so now creatine is now shedding the bodybuilder reputation, And now more and more people are starting to use it for cognitive performance, for hormone health. And the old myths about bloating and weight gain have kind of been demystified. Okay, another trend that's really happening these days is lifestyle management of your cortisol. Like I talk so much about a cortisol reset and how to manage our cortisol. We live in a world where we're bombarded. We have AI, we have notifications, we have even the apps that track our health. like everything is raising our cortisol, right? So sleep maxing and all these things have been really getting a lot of push because people want to understand, okay, what are the things we should be doing for cortisol reset? A lot of people have been talking about how you don't wanna wake up and have your first cup of coffee right away. That's something that I have actually done. So I've been doing this thing called sky before screens as much as possible. So I look at my phone, I'll be honest, I look at my phone for any notifications from my kids or kid school or something important. And then I go outside and I look at the sun and spend some time in nature. And then I'll come back and get ready and I will drink a lot of water and maybe some sea salt depending on the day. And this will be a great way to set the stage instead of jumping right into my first caffeine tea or coffee. The other last thing I'll talk to you about with trends is zone two cardio for metabolic health. So we hear a lot about weight training. This is very important for perimenopausal women. But zone two cardio is like that moderate conversational intensity, 60 to 70% of your maximum heart rate. And it's highly effective and highly sustainable method for burning your visceral fat, which is like the dangerous fat, improving your metabolic health and building cardiovascular endurance without the burnout and the high cortisol issues. And so this has been something that extremely popular these days And I have to say I a huge fan I a huge fan of walking in general I a huge fan of zone two cardio because for women in my age group so people 35 and up we're often facing a lot of cortisol issues. So going for a nature walk is the best thing we can do. It's like lowering the cortisol. We're getting movement. We're doing something for our heart, but we're not getting stressed out and we're not coming back cranky and craving sugar. It's an extremely great also method of increasing your NEAT, your non-exercise activity thermogenesis. So NEAT is the calories and the exertion that your body does just living normal life. And so if you're someone who fidgets more, who paces when they talk, who takes the stairs, this is all adding to your NEAT activity. And this is a huge part of your metabolism. Takeaways for you. Takeaways is that 2026, everything is changing about health. And some of it is great and some of it is bad. One thing that I think is bad is that we are overwhelmed with all the different things we should be doing. And part of my job is to really curate the things that are actually worth doing. And I don't always get it right. And sometimes I have to switch my stance, but I've been trying to really give you the things that really matter. So for me, what I'm concentrating on, and this goes with what we talked about, really stress relief, learning ways, because nobody ever teaches us this, learning ways to manage cortisol while exercising, while being successful, while being busy. So that to me is nature walks. That to me is more sleep. That to me is eating foods that support me rather than the ultra processed foods that I used to. The other takeaway for me is that women's health is finally getting a moment. and we should be doing everything we can to advance the care for women. And for me, that means talking more about nutrition that's specific for women, gut health that's specific for women, things that women can do because most of the world is structured around men, pretty much all of the world and the research is structured around men. Reminder that women weren't even included in medical research studies until about 1993. And so we have a lot of making up to do. And so women's health is getting big. And for you, the biggest thing you can do is subscribe, Buy, you know, support women's health topics, books, everything. And also really tune into your own health. There's no, like, you know, people criticize cycle syncing because I agree because not everybody's cycle is the same. Women really have to tune into their own bodies. But the nutritional advice that I give for women is extremely helpful for men and women, but specifically women that are on the hormonal continuum that are noticing some changes or postpartum or their perimenopause or their menopause or postmenopause, all of these shifts will be a good time to concentrate on your nutrition. So I highly recommend that you consider the 30-33, 30 grams of protein in your first meal, 30 grams of fiber throughout the day, and three servings of probiotic foods. I also think the zone two movement is something I've really taken into account. So with all of this, this is just to remind you that there are some trends that are going on that you might hear people talking about. You might be wondering what you should do for it. And these are some of the takeaways that you could take from it. I am so excited to be sharing more of these kind of personal episodes with you where I'm answering some of your most burning questions. I have asked a lot of you, you know, what are you interested in? What do you need to support on? And so many of you have said nutrition and what's important and gut health and also like weight loss and fat loss. And so I've been really thinking about how to help you on that. I've created new guides, I've created new free content. And of course, I have the book, which I think is a great low cost you can get from your library, you can borrow from a friend, you don't need to purchase it. It is a great resource, it's got recipes and ideas. With that, I want to thank you for watching another episode of the Save Yourself podcast. Thank you for all of your subscriptions and your reviews. You really keep this going. I really appreciate you. Thanks. Have a great day.
