Ep.13 - What's Actually Happening to Your Body in Perimenopause - Functional Medicine Guide

Ep 18 - What Every Manual Therapist Needs to Know About Treating Women in Perimenopause and Menopause Dr. Andrea Robertson shares her recent Osteopathy Australia Conference talk on how perimenopause & menopause can change tissue recovery and drive common midlife complaints like stubborn shoulder, hip, tendon and joint pain. She explains clinical definitions of perimenopause, menopause and post-menopause, why symptoms can fluctuate with erratic estrogen and falling progesterone, and introduces the "midlife inflammatory load model" with six drivers: estrogen fluctuation/decline, visceral fat and metabolic dysfunction, insulin resistance, poor sleep, chronic stress, and inactivity with muscle loss. Andrea links hormonal and metabolic factors to tendons and joints, outlines what practitioners should ask, do and when to refer, and emphasizes treating the painful tissue while assessing the broader environment through education, movement, lifestyle support and appropriate GP referral. Show Sponsors & Links This episode is proudly supported by: 💧 Mineralyte - sugar-free electrolyte drops containing 22 electrolytes, minerals and trace elements, proudly made in Australia. Mix into any drink to support rapid hydration every day. www.mineralyte.com.au

Ep. 17 - Self-Love: How to Move Through Hard Times, Build Resilience, and Come Back to Yourself with Kim Morrison Dr. Andrea Robertson (Osteopath, Naturopath & Nutritionist) interviews Kim Morrison who is an ultramarathon world record holder, aromatherapist, founder of 28 Essentials, author of The Art of Self-Love, and host of The Self-Love Podcast which is about building resilience through life's polarities and using tough times as learnings. Kim shares how she accidentally entered ultras under mentor Cliff Young, the mindset tools and aromatherapy anchors that helped her persist, and how she developed a six-step "circle of self-love" (self-awareness, self-care, self-discipline, self-control, self-respect, self-acceptance) after family crisis and her son's mental health struggle. They discuss why more people openly admit hardship, how self-compassion links to physical health, and how self-love supports women through perimenopause/menopause via listening to the body, rest, movement, and daily rituals.

Ep. 16 - Osteoporosis: Building Strong Bones, How to get Calcium Without Dairy, and the #1 Exercise Lever Dr. Andrea Robertson (Osteopath, Naturopath, Nutritionist) explains that osteoporosis is symptomless until fracture, defines osteopenia/osteoporosis and DEXA T-scores, and highlights hip fracture risks and outcomes. She describes bone remodeling (osteoclasts vs osteoblasts), distinguishes bone density from bone quality, and notes a study that shows fluoride increased density but worsened fractures.

Ep. 15 - Nathalie Sebbag's MS Diagnosis: Building a Care Team, AIP Nutrition, and Living Well Without Being Defined by a Label Dr. Andrea Robertson hosts friend and fellow Osteopath Nathalie Sebbag, who shares her journey from early tingling symptoms and anxiety about worst-case diagnoses to MRI findings of a disc bulge and brain/spinal lesions indicating MS, and multiple specialist opinions focused on medication.

Ep.14 - The 15-Minute Meal Planning Habit That Makes Healthy Eating Stick (Plus How I Use AI) Dr. Andrea Robertson explains why healthy eating most often collapses at busy weeknight dinnertimes when there's no plan, leading to repetitive meals and reduced variety in plant foods, fibers, polyphenols, and amino acids. She argues meal plans aren't rigid diets but decisions made in advance that reduce mental load, account for who's home and who cooks, and intentionally build in leftovers and flexibility. Andrea reviews research linking meal planning with higher diet quality and food variety, and a controlled study showing ultra-processed foods lead to higher calorie intake. Andrea details her long-time paper system - calendar first, allocate cooking, plan dinners then lunches, batch-cook components, and shop from the plan - then shows how custom AI GPTs built on her recipes and principles can create a realistic weekly plan from fridge contents and constraints in minutes, while noting AI limits for clinical needs.