Dr Amy Shah: [00:00:00] We live in this world that has ignored our health for so long, and it's showing the effects. Our circadian rhythms are disrupted, our food is ultrapro, and then the products we're using are adding to the toxic load in our bodies.

Hala Taha: Dr. Amy Shaw, a double board certified md, trained at Harvard, Columbia, and Cornell.

Hala Taha: She's here to break down the real reasons behind burnout, brain fog, cravings, and hormonal imbalance, and the simple science backed habits that will help you reset your system and redeem your clarity.

Dr Amy Shah: I was living this like very extremely hustle culture life where I wasn't sleeping well, I wasn't eating well, I was trying to do it all.

Dr Amy Shah: I hated the work that I was doing. I know something inside of me is telling me to go a different route. A lot of people think energy just is in the brain, but your gut is the center of your energy. It's really important that you eat well.

Hala Taha: How would you recommend that we figure out what we should actually eat?

Hala Taha: 'cause there's so many recommendations out there,

Dr Amy Shah: Paula, I'm gonna give you a [00:01:00] framework that's gonna change nutrition. Okay? It's circadian rhythms run 80% of our body's processes and we completely, in today's world, ignore circadian rhythms. If you can figure out how to sleep and get light in the right times, it's gonna make the biggest difference in your energy.

Hala Taha: What's one or two things people can do to immediately improve their energy?

Dr Amy Shah: One of the biggest things that has helped me in my life, and I recommend to people.

Hala Taha: Yeah. Bam. Are you always so effing tired or so effing hungry even after you've just eaten? If your energy cravings or mood feel totally out of control, you're gonna love today's episode.

Hala Taha: We're joined by Dr. Amy Shaw, a double board certified md, trained at Harvard, Columbia, and Cornell, who went from a burnt out physician to a powerhouse wellness expert and influencer with nearly 2 million followers on Instagram. She's also the author of the brand New Book Hormone Havoc, where she uncovers how modern stress or sleep and disrupted [00:02:00] circadian rhythms are throwing our bodies into total chaos.

Hala Taha: And what actually works to fix it. Dr. Amy's here to break down the real reasons behind burnout, brain fog, cravings, and hormonal imbalance, and the simple science-backed habits that will help you reset your system and redeem your clarity. Dr. Amy, welcome to Young and Profiting Podcast.

Dr Amy Shah: I'm so excited to be here.

Dr Amy Shah: Thanks for having me.

Hala Taha: I'm so excited too. You know, we've met in person, we've got to chat. I feel like you're friends with all my friends and I'm just so happy that finally we made this interview happen and you have like blown up on social media. Like you were all over my timeline. You are becoming one of the biggest like wellness gurus on Instagram and TikTok and you're just absolutely crushing it.

Hala Taha: And a lot of times entrepreneurs, they do best when really they are helping their past selves. Right?

Dr Amy Shah: Yes.

Hala Taha: And so you actually were the person that you're trying to help now. Uh, you know, you used to have [00:03:00] brain fog and you were exhausted and had a cravings, um, and you turned that all around. So talk to us about what really started your journey on becoming this, you know, outspoken person on wellness.

Hala Taha: Like, what triggered it all?

Dr Amy Shah: Well, I'm glad you're asking that because I think for your, um, audience and a lot of people who are like entrepreneurs, for example, um, I think this will really resonate because I think I spent, you know, I went to medical school and I did my residency in fellowship, and I knew I wanted to do nutrition, women's health and gut health, but like, I couldn't figure out how to incorporate it.

Dr Amy Shah: And a lot of people like, you know, start their careers in a place where they don't feel like they're doing the absolute work that they want to do eventually. And I just lived in a brain fog, like I was consistently on this adrenaline rush and I thought that I had to, you know, do certain things to make money and to be successful [00:04:00] and, um, and follow this traditional path.

Dr Amy Shah: And it wasn't until my forties that I was like, screw this. I really need to take a different approach. Um, after the pandemic, I started to really get into sharing on social media. And, uh, speaking and writing. And what I realized through that is that was my true calling. And the way I got there, Hala, is like what I talk about.

Dr Amy Shah: Like, when you clear your mind, when you are not always in, um, kind of that adrenaline rushed mode, um, where you're eating crappy, you're not sleeping, you're trying to hustle, quote unquote, um, and you're trying to multitask, but you're not really getting anything done. You can't really know what is good for you once you start to eat, right sleep, get sunlight, you know, take care of your body.

Dr Amy Shah: Um, all the things that I talk about when I start to do it for myself, that's when I was like, okay, it's very clear now I have to leave my safe [00:05:00] job. Even though that's the traditional medical job, that's where I'm making money. That's all I know. I know something inside of me is telling me to go a different route and um, that's why this year actually is the first year that I, um, left my safe medical practice job and really dove into this.

Dr Amy Shah: And so that's why like when I wrote Hormone Havoc, which is my new book, I honestly said that the reason I'm writing this is not to make you look thinner or like, you know, even whatever. It's really so you can find your gifts and live out your best life in your thirties, forties, fifties, and beyond.

Hala Taha: Hmm. I love that.

Hala Taha: And you are like such a testament of somebody who's like a professional expert who went out and became this like extraordinary creator, entrepreneur. And so second half of this interview, I really just wanna deep dive on like how you did that, how you transition from, you know, clinical to then being, you know, an online influencer [00:06:00] essentially, right?

Hala Taha: So, so we'll talk all about that, but first I really wanna pick your brain on hormones, eating habits, energy exercise, all that kind of stuff that you talk about. Before we get into that, let's talk about what traditional medicine tried to tell you was wrong with you, and then how you actually cured yourself.

Hala Taha: Like what were the things that you did to, to cure yourself?

Dr Amy Shah: Okay. Hala, it wasn't until 1993 that women were mandated to be included in research. So when I started to have my own issues with my hormones and my gut and mental health, I started to think maybe it was just me. Maybe I didn't learn that part in medical school or like I wasn't in a woman.

Dr Amy Shah: I wasn't doing OB GYN as my specialty. And so I started to like ask my super smart colleagues, you know, you know, what are we supposed to know about hormones that we don't know? What is it that we are supposed to know about gut health? They knew nothing. They knew lesson than I did. And that was just like cursory [00:07:00] stuff that I had learned.

Dr Amy Shah: And I had done nutrition, nutrition school before medical school, so I really did have an upper hand when it came to kind of nutrition and health.

Hala Taha: Mm-hmm.

Dr Amy Shah: Mm-hmm. And I, I feel like, oh my God, how can we have a huge population of people, 51% of people, and we don't serve them at all. We don't have answers.

Dr Amy Shah: Like if you go to your doctor even today in 20 25, 20 26, 27, and you ask your doctor, you know, tell me everything you've learned about hormones, women's hormones, gut health, um, nutrition, they probably could tell you in like five minutes what, um, all that we've learned. Um, so that's a real problem. I got no answers.

Dr Amy Shah: And so I was like, well, there's a hole. And that's honestly why I started to share it because I was like, as I'm figuring it out for my patients myself. I want to be sharing it with people who probably wanna know as well.

Hala Taha: Mm-hmm. Yeah. Okay, [00:08:00] cool. So I can't wait to deep dive into all your tips and tricks when it comes to wellness.

Hala Taha: So let's first talk about cravings. Okay. So I know there's a difference, or you say there's a difference between hunger, appetite, and cravings. Talk to us about that.

Dr Amy Shah: Okay. Most people don't know this, but cravings is very different than hunger. Hunger is something that our body just creates cyclically throughout the day to remind us to eat.

Dr Amy Shah: So I think the ex perfect example of this would be like every day at 12 o'clock, if you're used to eating lunch, you will get like hunger pangs. Mm-hmm. Um, but if you forget and, um, you're so busy and you're in meetings, like at some point that hunger kind of goes away. It doesn't just keep increasing as the day goes on.

Dr Amy Shah: It'll come back later in the day, maybe with a vengeance, but it definitely doesn't stay the whole time. Whereas cravings are completely different, cravings are dopamine driven. So just like we get a [00:09:00] dopamine hit from looking at social media or gambling or drinking alcohol, we get a dopamine hit from e eating certain foods and you know what those foods are because it's the foods that you would get up, get in your car, drive across town, um, and go by or that are in your home and you can't stop thinking about it.

Dr Amy Shah: Mm-hmm. Those are dopamine driven foods and that's cravings. So you, um, hunger and cravings are completely different. Hunger's, biological. Cravings is physiological.

Hala Taha: So interesting. And you have this bowl of vegetables tests that can, that can show us whether we're just hungry or, or craving something. Is that right?

Dr Amy Shah: Yeah. So if you think about it, if you're truly hungry, you think about your favorite vegetables. And you know, I talk a lot about vegetables because we don't really include them a lot in our diets, especially young people these days. Um, they're full of fiber and phytonutrients, but they're [00:10:00] not necessarily, um, big dopamine boosters.

Dr Amy Shah: And so, um, if you are truly hungry, you will want to eat a bowl of vegetables. If you are just craving, you probably don't want vegetables, you want like ice cream, chocolate or chips, right? So it's a good way to test yourself, especially if you're someone who just habitually snacks. Like I grew up in a family, um, my South Asian family, like we would have breakfast, but then there would be a snack at like 10:00 AM and then there would be like a snack after lunch.

Dr Amy Shah: And so it was like this constant craving cycle. Um, but it was very different than hunger. And that's an easy test that you can do to figure out if you're hungry or not.

Hala Taha: Yeah, I love that. And then you also talk about something called the Miami Effect to show us like what dopamine really does to us. And can you give us that analogy?

Hala Taha: I just love that analogy.

Dr Amy Shah: Yeah. When you go to Vegas or you go to Miami, you basically have this big boost [00:11:00] of dopamine everywhere. You're, um, there's parties and there's bright lights, and there's, um, slot machines, and there's, um, food. And that is, uh, a very good example of, um, you know, when your dopamine is on fire.

Dr Amy Shah: Um, that is something that happens when we eat processed foods, when we eat, um, junk foods, when we drink alcohol. And so that's kind of, um, what happens when you go there.

Hala Taha: Yeah. So talk to just us about the difference between men and women when it comes to diet cravings. What's the difference between us two, because a lot of people think they can just replicate what their husband or boyfriend does, but I think women are just inherently different.

Hala Taha: And by the way, most of my listeners, I would say like it's a 50 50, 60 40 split male female. So there's actually more men listening to this right now. So talk to us about what they have to pay attention to with their girlfriends, their wives, and how they're, how people are just different. [00:12:00]

Dr Amy Shah: Okay. I love that.

Dr Amy Shah: So women and men are very different. The biggest difference I think that. Women have is that we have this hormonal cycle, um, that's a 28 day cycle. So we have different phases. And Hala, you and I know, and probably anyone who has a partner, knows that women can show up very differently in the world depending on where in their cycle they are.

Dr Amy Shah: Yeah. And that definitely affects your mood, your energy, and also your cravings and your appetite. And so a lot of women will notice, um, in their late luteal phase, which is that PMS week, right before their period mm-hmm. That they're lower energy, that they have more cravings, that they're hungrier, that they have more stress, even with the same exact things, um, that they used to not.

Dr Amy Shah: And so, like for example, if you're working, um, in a high stress environment that week before your period, that late luteal phase is probably the most difficult week for you to be doing your most [00:13:00] stressful activities, whether it's working out or, um, something at work. And so, um, and that will affect your energy, the lifts that you can do at the gym and your appetite and your cravings.

Dr Amy Shah: And that's really different than men. Men have like a day to day change, like we all do, you know, we just sometimes wake up tired, um, et cetera, but they don't have this very profound monthly cycle. Um, and then also a life cycle, like we have a hormonal continuum. So my new book is actually talking about how in your thirties, forties and fifties as as a woman, you're going through this immense change in your body.

Dr Amy Shah: Um, that men have a very gradual, uh, change. Like their testosterone gradually goes down. And yes, you will see effects of that, but women's hormones, I mean, they go through this entire crazy. Um, tornado rollercoaster type effect from your thirties to your fifties. So that's why I think it can be really difficult for women, [00:14:00] um, in that age group to lose weight or be at their best, um, energy levels because there's so much going on with their bodies.

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Hala Taha: Services not available in all areas. So I've been thinking about my cycle a lot, and I am in a position now where I'm an entrepreneur. I get to pick my own schedule. And so one of the things that I'm trying to implement for 2026 is that I do no interviews and zero recordings during my luteal phase and into like the first like two days of my my period, basically, because I just don't feel like myself.

Hala Taha: I feel tired, I feel uglier. I feel like I just, you can just, I can just tell because I have all these videos that live online and I can tell exactly which ones were in my luteal phase. 'cause it's like I always don't perform as good. I always don't look as pretty. And it's like, you know what? I control my own schedule.

Hala Taha: Now why am I doing this to myself? I'm not a man and I should show up and record on the days that like I have high energy and I feel good and I don't [00:17:00] have brain fog. And I just feel like that might become a trend. I hope it becomes a trend in the future because I think it's unfair that women have to work exactly like men when we're not going through the same situation that a man does when it comes to just work.

Dr Amy Shah: I just love that hala because I completely agree with you. And the other thing that I think is different from women and men and like, you know, we are talking in general, so obviously there's women out there who are gonna be like, I feel great in my late luteal phase. Like even in that. Yeah. And that's okay.

Dr Amy Shah: Um, but I think there's a big number of women that feel like you and I feel like you also, during that time, I also need more sleep and more recovery time. And so if you're in control of your schedule, this is a good time to spend more time outdoors. Maybe walking, maybe you're. Not scheduling the early morning calls or interviews.

Dr Amy Shah: Maybe you're not making those big life decisions during that time, if possible, and business decisions. And I completely agree with you. I have, [00:18:00] um, now that I'm kind of on, uh, a more flexible schedule, I also do what you're saying. It's not that I don't do anything during those that week. Yeah. But I do give myself a lot more cushion when it comes to sleep, when it comes to stress, when it comes to recovery, because I know that I never allowed myself this my entire life.

Dr Amy Shah: But now I have the opportunity to allow myself, and then I can go a little harder when I'm ready.

Hala Taha: Love that. Um, okay, so let's move on to energy. You talk about the energy trifecta. Tell us about that.

Dr Amy Shah: Okay, so a lot of people think energy just is in the brain, right? Mm-hmm. Um, but what I want to share with everyone is that your gut.

Dr Amy Shah: Is the center of your energy. So your gut talks to your hormones, it talks to your immune system all the time, and they're making decisions and they're basically telling the brain what to do. So it's not like your energy. If you think about it that way, [00:19:00] then it's really important that you eat well because your gut bacteria, um, is gonna be talking to the rest of your body about what, just, what you just inputted.

Dr Amy Shah: So your thoughts, your food, your drinks, your alcohol, everything gets inputted. And then the gut kind of makes decisions about your hormones, about your immune system, and that is why you feel either good or you feel exhausted and depleted.

Hala Taha: Interesting. Um, so how do you, like, what are some, like what's one or two things people can do to immediately improve their energy?

Dr Amy Shah: Okay, number one thing that you can do to immediately improve your energy is get morning sun. So, circadian rhythms run 80% of our bodies processes, and we completely, in today's world ignore circadian rhythms. So some people might be like, oh, I get up at 5:00 AM because I need, you know, whatever. You can get a light box, 10,000 lux of light.

Dr Amy Shah: There's good research that in countries and in places where you cannot, um, get morning sunlight. You can put a light box on [00:20:00] your desk and it's just as good and to improve your mood. But if, if you're someone who lives in Austin or Miami or New York or Scottsdale. Uh, not necessarily New York, but you can just hop outside and, um, get that sunlight, uh, just for a couple minutes in the morning.

Dr Amy Shah: What it does is that from our eyes, our retina, there's a direct connection to, to our super chiasma nucleus in our brain that is the centers where all the decisions are being made for the day. And so when they get input, you feel more focused, you feel more awake, and your hormones work better. And they also give that input to the gut.

Dr Amy Shah: And so the gut knows, alright, it's morning, we need to kind of retrain everybody to start doing the morning activities. Um, it gets input for the rest of the day.

Hala Taha: Mm-hmm. This reminds me of something that Ben Greenfield was talking to me about Yes. Recently. He always talks about how like a lot of these modern like wearables, tech, like PEMF mats are, [00:21:00] are basically just like.

Hala Taha: Things that our ancestors used to just do. Yes. So for example, like people like are like trying to mimic sunlight with like red light, but it's like you could just go outside or people are trying to mimic grounding with PEMF mats, but you could just sit on the ground outside and kind of get the same effect.

Hala Taha: Uh, so I just thought it was really interesting that a lot of these, like biohacking things are actually just in nature. Things that we can do without necessarily have to having to buy new tech.

Dr Amy Shah: I completely agree. Oh, the other second thing I would say nutrition base that could change your life. Is eating 30 grams of protein in the morning, like in your breakfast, it, it can be split up so you don't have to have all 30 grams first thing.

Dr Amy Shah: Um, you can, like a lot of times I don't eat breakfast till like 10 30 and that's okay. You can kind of like split it up. But that honestly, based on so many thousands of studies, it actually improves your mood. It has the precursors of dopamine so you can feel more focused and [00:22:00] motivated. Mm-hmm. It reduces your cravings throughout the day and your, the chances of you getting to your protein goals, um, are so much higher when you have protein in the morning.

Dr Amy Shah: So yeah, that's another really easy thing that you can be doing, um, for everyone can be doing to improve their health.

Hala Taha: So men and women, 30 grams of protein, men

Dr Amy Shah: and women for that one.

Hala Taha: Okay.

Dr Amy Shah: Yes.

Hala Taha: What do you feel about like, you know, eating your body weight in grams of protein? Like, I need to eat a hundred and, you know, 13 pounds of protein a day.

Hala Taha: Uh, grams of protein a day and a half pounds.

Dr Amy Shah: Yeah. Um, so I think. One-to-one is a little bit high. Um, and you know, and I know that, um, it's really difficult to get there and if you're mm-hmm. You know, actively trying to body build, that would be on the highest end I think, of what I would recommend for even women who are trying to like, maximize their muscle intake.

Dr Amy Shah: Mm-hmm. I think it's closer to 0.8. Um, so like closer to a hundred for you? Um, or 90, probably a hundred. Uh, because I [00:23:00] think that is a really great way, if you are actively trying to build muscle and you're working out every day, that would be good for you, but mm-hmm. I agree. I like to say high protein, but not necessarily that high.

Hala Taha: Okay. So let's, let's continue on and talk about energy. And one of the things that I feel like people don't realize impacts energy is your cortisol. Levels. Is that right?

Dr Amy Shah: That's right.

Hala Taha: Cortisol is something that people just throw around a lot. Yeah. I don't think people really understand what it is or what it does.

Hala Taha: Can you break that down for us?

Dr Amy Shah: Yeah. Hala, when we wake up in the morning, it's our cortisol that wakes us up. So it's great. You know, like we want that surge. It's kind of like adrenaline and cortisol both go up in the morning and that is a normal way that we wake up and, um, we want the cortisol to be low before bed because that will help us relax and get into deep sleep.

Dr Amy Shah: So it's kind of like you want it high in the morning, you want it low at night. That's kind of the way that you want it. It's not all [00:24:00] bad, you know, and you want your cortisol, if you are going to speak on stage, Hal, or you're going on a big podcast, you want that cortisol to be like getting you in focus.

Dr Amy Shah: And um, it is our fight or flight response. It's the one we want to have working when we need it. But of course we live in a world where we get an email at 10 o'clock at night and now our cortisol is super high and we can't fall asleep. You know, like mm-hmm. That is a kind of, um, issue that a lot of people have.

Dr Amy Shah: And, um, a lot of people find that they're not able to get their cortisol levels down because we live in a world with like alerts and, um, social media and like 24 7 hustle culture. And so, um, learning to lower your cortisol at the end of the day or when it's appropriate, and then keeping it high and normal in times where it's appropriate for it to be high is the goal.

Hala Taha: Yeah. That, that is a goal. 'cause I know from personal experience, whenever I have a really big event, I [00:25:00] think my cortisol shoots through the roof the day before. Yes. And then I don't sleep.

Dr Amy Shah: Yes.

Hala Taha: Which is terrible for a big day. Terrible. So what can we do to actually reduce our cortisol when we need to relax and, and get some rest?

Dr Amy Shah: Uh, so one thing I've experienced over the last two years as I've gotten more into the entrepreneurial world is really that cortisol effect. Because anytime something really big is happening, good or bad, I wake up in the middle of the night, um mm-hmm. And then I can't fall asleep because you have a little bump of cortisol in the middle of the night.

Dr Amy Shah: Um, that is natural. And, um, we, if we're controlling our cortisol levels, you just sleep right through it, or you wake up. And you go to the bathroom and you go back to bed. Mm-hmm. But when your baseline cortisol levels are high, your nervous system is really riled up. That's gonna wake you up and get your mind thinking, and then you can't, um, fall back asleep.

Dr Amy Shah: So for me, that's always a sign that I have to do a better job taking care of myself. So better nutrition, better sleep, better. Um, stress control. [00:26:00] So like if you're not taking care of it during the day, it's gonna show up at night. Um, of course there are times where it's really, really difficult to control it.

Dr Amy Shah: Like for a one day event, no big deal. You go to sleep that night. But if it's happening every night for many, many nights, that is a sign that you need to kind of change what you're doing during the day. Add in a lot more cortisol, reducing activities like meditation, yoga, sunlight, sleep, um, like, you know, whatever it takes to get yourself in a place where you feel relaxed is something that.

Dr Amy Shah: Um, you need to do, and I have like a little cortisol reset that I often do with people, um, especially high performers because you are like an athlete and you need to be at a peak, um, level when you're performing. And then you have to really be like an athlete and uh, learn how to bring that cortisol down after mm-hmm.

Dr Amy Shah: It is done so that you can recover.

Hala Taha: Yeah. One of my favorite things to use right now is a [00:27:00] vibration plate. Have you seen like all the rage of everybody being obsessed with vibration plates?

Dr Amy Shah: Yes.

Hala Taha: I'm obsessed with mine. I just got mine like a month ago and I use it every morning for 10 minutes and I'm gonna get like a red light to use in front of it.

Hala Taha: And I often have trouble sticking to new habits like that, but this was like an immediate one for me and I just feel so much more energized after I wake up. I feel like the blood is flowing. I feel like it takes away my brain fog. It's just amazing. And I've also heard that you can use it before bed to lower your cortisol.

Hala Taha: Mm-hmm. What's your take on vibration plates? Are, are you using them?

Dr Amy Shah: Um, I like vibration plates. I feel like it kind of goes off of that research. Just like you're moving the lymph, you're moving that circulation. So there's like a good study that shows like 50 to a hundred jumps, like 50 jumps in the morning.

Dr Amy Shah: Right. Um, which is like, like the poor man's, if you don't have a vibration plate, you can do 50 jumps. Yeah. And it basically is the same thing. It gets your circulation going, it moves the lymph around. It makes you feel more energized. [00:28:00] It's kind of very, like you mentioned Ben Greenfield, like it's very natural way to wake up with movement and um, uh, blood flow.

Dr Amy Shah: And so it makes you feel energized for the day. So I'm a fan of anything that gets you up and ready for the day.

Hala Taha: Now let's talk about food gut and, and how that really impacts our energy. You talk about silent inflammation. How can silent inflammation actually impact our energy, our day-to-day? What does that look like?

Dr Amy Shah: So Hala, when we eat, um, most of the foods that are the ultra processed foods, like, so say ultra processed just means that it's made with ingredients that don't exist in nature. So all the preservatives or emulsifiers, et cetera. So say you get, um, and I'm picking on Starbucks, but I could pick on anything else,

Hala Taha: pick on Starbucks, I don't

Dr Amy Shah: mind.

Dr Amy Shah: Yes. So you get a, um, so you get a, uh, frappuccino and, um, you know, you're, um, getting all these calories in, but um, you're also [00:29:00] getting very little fiber. There's almost no fiber in those frappuccinos, right? So, um, your body is seeing all this, um, artificial ingredients, maybe flavors, um, stabilizers and all this stuff that are far into it.

Dr Amy Shah: And so the gut bacteria basically says, Hey, red light, there's a little bit of stuff that we need to get rid of, some toxins, um, some things that we need to neutralize. So they call in the immune system for help. Like I said, it's like the energy trifecta. The gut is talking to your hormones and immune system, and what they do is they create a little inflammation, meaning the immune system, when it's activated, it's called inflammation.

Dr Amy Shah: And so they're actually creating inflammation every time you eat these things that are foreign to the body and very similar to alcohol. Um, very similar when you're eating candy or like, um, artificial colors and flavors. And so what's happening to us is that we're consuming all these foods, not knowing this.

Dr Amy Shah: Um, [00:30:00] 67% of an American's diet is ultra processed foods. Uh, over 70% of a teenagers and young adults diet is ultra processed foods. And we're creating these, this inflammation in our body. And we don't even know it. And now I'm not even talking about how much inflammation we're getting from sitting all day and how much inflammation we're getting from vaping and smoking and alcohol and all those things.

Dr Amy Shah: So if you add that all up, like the load that we have on our bodies, um, we have a lot of inflammation going on, um, when we could literally change the way we eat and live and really lower that silent inflammation.

Hala Taha: Mm-hmm. Yeah. And, and aside from just putting things in our body, we're also like spraying a lot of like disruptors on our body.

Hala Taha: And I feel like nobody talks about it enough, like in my opinion. I had a boyfriend, uh, that we broke up like many years ago, but he was allergic to fragrances and we dated for like 10 years. And so I didn't wear fragrance during that [00:31:00] time and even after we broke up, if somebody sprays perfume around me or if there's a highly sed candle, like I immediately feel sick.

Hala Taha: I, it gives me brain fog, it gives me a headache. Um, and I just can't believe that people are putting air fresheners in their car and using scent A detergent. It's literally like spraying poison on, on your body in my opinion. And I just feel like nobody talks about that enough. What is your opinion on, uh, artificial fragrances and things like that?

Dr Amy Shah: So, for most of my career, um, I was. Uh, working in the fields of allergy and immunology, so immune system and allergy in America, it's like combined. And so I couldn't wear fragrances either because most of my patients that were coming in had allergies, um, to something and often it would be fragrances. And so I saw that day in and day out hala people getting reactions to detergents, makeup, skincare, um, uh, candles.

Dr Amy Shah: You know, people who work at Costco, poor [00:32:00] thing. They work at Costco and they actually are very sensitized to the smells and there's nothing you can do about it because that's your job. And so. So we live in this world that has ignored our health for so long. Um, and it's showing the effects because our circadian rhythms are disrupted because we're not supposed to be looking at these screens all day and all night, and that's why we can't sleep.

Dr Amy Shah: And then our food is ultra processed, so it's creating the silent inflammation. And then the products we're using are basically, uh, adding to the toxic load in our body. So even like receipts that we get from a lot of these retailers, um, they have toxic chemicals in them that can leach into our body. And so there's, oh gosh, so much out there that we could be doing to improve our health that, you know, smart people out there should be listening and being like, yeah, I should create a better version of this, because there's a whole market for that.

Hala Taha: So I know that you say that like, and when it comes to our diet, there's no one size fits all. Like [00:33:00] everybody's different. And I talked to Dave Asprey earlier this year and he talks about how everybody has like reactive foods, right? Yes. There's certain foods that you react differently to. And so you've gotta pay attention to like what you react badly to, what you react good to.

Hala Taha: How would you recommend that we figure out what we should actually eat? 'cause there's so many recommendations out there.

Dr Amy Shah: Okay. Hala, I'm gonna give you my, um, very, very new, um, but my, um, it's a framework that's gonna change nutrition. Okay? It's part of my ne book hormone havoc. So it is called the 30 dash 30 dash three.

Dr Amy Shah: So 30, 33, 30 grams of protein in your first meal. So in the morning. 30 grams of fiber throughout the day.

Hala Taha: Mm-hmm.

Dr Amy Shah: And three probiotic foods every single day. And this is based on thousands of medical research articles. This is not like, hey, a diet or a trend. This is [00:34:00] the bulk of the data that we have says this.

Dr Amy Shah: And so what I like about this is that it's not a diet. It's not trying to get you skinny, it's not trying to, um, it's not, you know, you could be gluten-free, you can be paleo, you can be vegetarian, you can be vegan, but if you just follow the framework. Um, that is literally how we should have been told to be eating instead of like the food pyramid or whatever the hell we have right now.

Dr Amy Shah: Um, this is actually the new way that we should be structuring our food. And that's for everyone.

Hala Taha: Isn't 30 grams of, uh, protein just like, not enough? Like to me, I feel like that's seems like a, like one meal, right?

Dr Amy Shah: 30 grams of protein in a meal in your first meal is the, uh, is a mnemonic. Got it. So the reason why that one is just for the first meal is because everybody's protein needs are different.

Dr Amy Shah: But we know based on all of the research that 30 grams in your breakfast or, or first meal is ideal, um, when it comes to gut health, [00:35:00] brain health, hormone health. So 30 grams of protein in your first meal, 30 grams of fiber throughout the day. And three servings of probiotic foods, which is kind of the hardest one.

Dr Amy Shah: So the oldest, um, living person hala in the world is like, she's like 112 or something, or 17 in Spain. She would have yogurt three times a day. That's a probiotic food. And they looked at her gut and they were like, she had an incredible gut microbiome. Now of course there's genetics that play into it. She also had a healthy lifestyle.

Dr Amy Shah: She was walking a lot. But it's really interesting because there's a lot of good research now looking at probiotic foods and how they can actually improve our health.

Hala Taha: What are some of your favorite probiotic foods?

Dr Amy Shah: Yogurt's the easiest one in America. Um, keefer, if you're in Europe and like, uh, you know, there's lots of other dairy options like probiotic cottage cheese, for example.

Dr Amy Shah: Um, certain cheeses. But, um, kimchi sauerkraut and raw apple cider vinegar are some easy ones, um, that people [00:36:00] can use. If you like. Japanese food, miso and, um, NATO are great ones. Almost every single culture in the world has some sort of, um, probiotic food that they once had or, um, is part of the culture, but it's lost it.

Dr Amy Shah: It was lost because now we have refrigerators and microwaves and fermentation is a way to preserve foods. And so that's how they used to do preserve foods in, um, thousands of years ago. But we don't need it anymore, but we gotta bring it back because it's really great for our gut.

Hala Taha: Another example of bringing back what our ancestors actually did.

Hala Taha: Um, so sourdough is kind of like a fermented food and, and it's like everybody is like kind of obsessed with sourdough these days. Do you, do you like sourdough or, I'm a

Dr Amy Shah: fan. What do you think? Sour? I'm not sourdough.

Hala Taha: Okay.

Dr Amy Shah: Okay. Here's the thing. Certain fermented foods, like, there's certain Indian foods too that use a, a, a starter that's fermented and then you cook it.

Dr Amy Shah: And so people are like, oh, well the probiotics are dead. But now there's new research that shows that [00:37:00] there are some real big benefits to dead bacteria in our body. So like eating foods, like sourdough eating foods, um, like ID Italy and DOA and Indian food, um, their fermented batter actually serves a purpose in our gut as well.

Hala Taha: Hmm. All right, Amy, we're gonna play a fun game. We're gonna stack rank some energy trends. You tell me which one that you like the best, and we'll see which one overall wins at the end.

Dr Amy Shah: And this is for energy.

Hala Taha: This is for energy. So, so the best energy boosting trends. Okay. And for men and men and women. All right, let's go.

Hala Taha: Ginger shots or cold plunging.

Dr Amy Shah: Oh, cold plunging.

Hala Taha: Okay. Cold plunging or vibration plates

Dr Amy Shah: still cold Plunging.

Hala Taha: Cold plunging or electrolyte packets?

Dr Amy Shah: Cold plunging.

Hala Taha: Cold plunging. Or morning sunlight.

Dr Amy Shah: Morning sunlight.

Hala Taha: Morning sunlight or red light therapy.

Dr Amy Shah: Morning sunlight.

Hala Taha: Morning sunlight, or 30 grams of protein breakfast.

Dr Amy Shah: Ugh, that's a hard [00:38:00] one. Okay, I'm still gonna pick morning sunlight, but they're close.

Hala Taha: Okay. Morning. Sunlight or sauna

Dr Amy Shah: still? Morning sunlight for energy?

Hala Taha: Mm-hmm. Morning sunlight or zone two? Walking.

Dr Amy Shah: Oh my god. Sunny walk in the morning is the ideal. So I would pick both of them for that one.

Hala Taha: Okay. Uh, let's go with morning sunlight and reducing ultra processed foods.

Dr Amy Shah: Still morning sunlight. I'm telling

Hala Taha: you. Oh. Morning sunlight is the winner. So morning sunlight is just so important. In your opinion then, is that the number one energy boosting hack is morning sunlight to you?

Dr Amy Shah: It's the number one energy boosting hack. Now, a lot of the things you said are all yes, yes, and yes.

Dr Amy Shah: It's not like worse, you know, but if you were like, what is the one thing that I could be doing in my life? It's that circadian rhythms, like they run our body. And if you can figure out how to sleep and get light in the right times, it, it's gonna make the biggest difference in your energy.

Hala Taha: Mm. Okay. So let's move on [00:39:00] to some scenarios.

Hala Taha: Okay. I'm gonna give you some scenarios of, uh, people's lifestyles, and you give me what you would recommend. Like if they were one of your like, personal clients, what, what regimens would you put them on?

Dr Amy Shah: Sure.

Hala Taha: So. Meet Sarah. She's 35. She wakes up tired. She grabs coffee immediately. She skips breakfast because she's not hungry.

Hala Taha: She powers through her morning every single day at around 3:00 PM she crashes. She has cravings, irritability, brain fog, nonstop grazing, and at the end of the day, she feels bloated and exhausted. How would you fix her day?

Dr Amy Shah: Okay, that's me. That's, that's literally the old me. I would be like in the back room in my clinic where all the like cupcakes and cookies were, especially around the holidays, uh, because I hadn't eaten all day properly, just coffee all day.

Dr Amy Shah: So this is what I would do. I would make sure she's getting adequate sleep. So maybe it's seven to eight hours, maybe it's eight to nine hours she's getting adequate [00:40:00] sleep, then she's getting some sunlight or like I said, a light box or opening her window on her way to work or walking, um, to, to work. If she can fit in a quick walk there in the morning, even if it's 10 minutes, great.

Dr Amy Shah: Um, because like I said, those two energy boosters being in a sun and walking is the perfect way to start her day. Then she's gonna get to work and maybe it's like a cup an hour or two after she's woken up and she's gonna have a 30 gram breakfast, uh, 30 grams of protein breakfast, I meant to say. So it's an egg scramble.

Dr Amy Shah: Maybe with extra egg whites and maybe it's cottage cheese, the probiotic cottage cheese, and a few berries that are high in fiber, um, with it. And so she can have coffee. Coffee is a life lengthening food and everybody loves coffee, but we don't love, I don't love the mixers that you put into coffee, like the processed creamers, et cetera.

Dr Amy Shah: So skip that. But you can have your coffee, you can have a little milk, and then, um, you're gonna find ways to move throughout the day. So she, instead of sitting in her [00:41:00] office for eight hours, she's gonna go for a quick walk at lunch, or she's gonna do. 10 body weight squats every 45 minutes because that's actually been shown to be better than waiting till the end of the day and going for a walk.

Dr Amy Shah: So she's gonna find mini movements, mini exercise snacks throughout the day, and then she's going to eat another 30 grams of protein in her late lunch. Um, and then she goes home and maybe before she goes home, she goes to weight train because I want her to incorporate two to three times a week of weight training, especially if she's in Sarah's, in her thir late thirties, forties, or fifties.

Dr Amy Shah: And then she's gonna go home, she's going to eat dinner, and then she's gonna go for a walk after her meal because she knows that walking after her meal is twice as effective as walking in at another time of day. Even if it's just a 10 minute walk your dog or walk around the neighborhood, um, that's all you need.

Dr Amy Shah: And then she's going to unplug for at least one hour before bed. Um, and I say one hour. 'cause like people say two to three hours and [00:42:00] that's just not possible for Sarah and for most busy people. So one hour before bed, you're uh, maybe taking a hot bath because hot therapy's really good for you. Um, maybe you're doing a combination of cold plunge and hot bath because that, um, contrast therapy is really amazing.

Dr Amy Shah: And maybe you do other things like red light therapy, vibration plate. You do all the things you need to do to get that cortisol down so you can have a good sleep. And one of the biggest things that has helped me. In my life and I recommend to people is pick the perfect bedtime for you and stick to it.

Dr Amy Shah: So don't go to bed like the old me one day, it's 10 o'clock one day it's midnight. One day it's nine o'clock one day. You wanna pick around the same time and stay within a half an hour of it every single day. And same with the wake time. That is the perfect day for you.

Hala Taha: Hmm. I feel like that just tied in like so many of the things that you taught us today.

Hala Taha: So that we'll just stick to that one scenario because it was so good. [00:43:00] But one question that I have is this, this topic of intermittent fasting and so many of us were kind of trained to not eat until like 11, 12 I. This is like, my habit is that like I have trained myself to not even want to eat until lunchtime.

Hala Taha: Is that good or bad? Or, or, or what are your thoughts around that?

Dr Amy Shah: Okay. I challenge you hala to move up your dinner a little bit. So what ends up happening is if you eat a late lunch, or like you eat your first meal at lunch, then you're eating a later dinner

Hala Taha: mm-hmm.

Dr Amy Shah: And you're eating really close to bedtime.

Dr Amy Shah: So for optimal energy and focus and gut health, you actually wanna go with circadian rhythm. So if you think about it again, ancestors, thousands of years ago after sundown, it wasn't like they could call Uber Eats at midnight for like a huge meal. It's true. It's like they ate their biggest meal and then they, maybe they had a snack or a little something, something, but it wasn't like a humongous, um, calorie load late in the [00:44:00] day.

Dr Amy Shah: So I challenge you to not eat two to three hours before bed. And maybe you're doing that already, but. Um, that is the best, best way to optimize your gut and your circadian rhythms and that energy trifecta. And then, then you'll notice when you wake up, you're a little hungrier because you had that big break.

Dr Amy Shah: And so even if it's not, you know, 6:00 AM if you're having it nine, 10:00 AM that's still a win. Really. I don't want you to skip breakfast altogether if possible.

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Hala Taha: Terms and conditions apply hiring. Do it the right way with indeed. Okay. So I wanna circle back to your amazing career transition from doctor to now online influencer. Walk us through, you know, [00:47:00] how you made that transition and maybe some of the big pivotal moments where you're like, okay, like I'm going all in on this.

Hala Taha: I know this is the right path for me.

Dr Amy Shah: Hala, I started to do this because I was so frustrated. Um, I think a lot of people can relate, like they're working their jobs and everybody from the outside was like, oh my God, you are a partner in your practice. You are so successful. You're like doing this and that.

Dr Amy Shah: And I hated it. I hated myself. I was living this like very extremely, um, hustle culture life where I wasn't sleeping well, I wasn't eating well, I was trying to do it all, and I didn't feel like I was good at anything I was doing. I hated the work that I was doing. And so I started to just like write free blogs, literally got paid zero money and I would just write about like gut health, nutrition, women's health, and I would submit them to these like sites back then, like 10 years ago that was like.

Dr Amy Shah: Something that people could do, and I got a lot of satisfaction [00:48:00] from that. Even then, I started to get pushback from my colleagues because I was really traditionally trained. I went to Columbia and Harvard and Cornell and all these places where there those people did not go on the internet, especially at that time, which is like about 10 years ago.

Dr Amy Shah: And it was a lot of like, what are you trying to do? Like what is all this? Like only like whack, like quacked doctors go on the internet. There's a lot of criticism and pushback and they're like, if you're an actually a good doctor, you would just spend more time seeing patients or at a clinic if you're bored, you know, that kind of thing.

Dr Amy Shah: So I was kind of like, okay, well I'm gonna stay in my lane and I'm gonna try to concentrate on. I'm doing what I need to do to make money and be successful in this career. But I had this thing in the back of my mind kept telling me like, there's something else that you're supposed to be doing. And I didn't know what it was.

Dr Amy Shah: And so a few years ago, um, I went to a conference for a writer's conference because these free blogs I was doing [00:49:00] like, you know, there was a conference to thank the writers. Um, and I went and I was like, you know, when you finally see like people doing work that is so something that you wanna be doing?

Dr Amy Shah: And I, I was just like, there's something that happened to me that weekend and I went back home and I was like, I have to do something. So during the pandemic. Um, we didn't work full-time in our clinic be to allow for emergencies and, you know, all the things that were going on. And I got my first shot at really trying things on the internet and I started to post here and there and something happened the day that we decided that we were coming back in for, um, after the pandemic.

Dr Amy Shah: I said to my practice that I'm not gonna come back full time. I'm gonna kind of explore this other side. And, uh, they were really weirded out by it. People were disappointed. They definitely thought, um, that I was doing something weird. And I just started to share. I [00:50:00] challenged myself, Hala, to share every single day something, something about my research, something that I'd learned from my clinical practice.

Dr Amy Shah: Like I've been in clinical practice for 15 years. Like there were so many things that I was learning from patients that would say, oh, I tried this, and like, this is what happened. And so. I challenged myself to share every day was cringe. Total cringe. Because there were some times where I'd look at the video, I look back at those videos and I'm like, oh my God, I just did it because I forced myself to do it.

Dr Amy Shah: Yeah. And every day I forced myself to write something. So that's how hormone Havoc came about is like every day I would write a little bit, um, something that I thought would be helpful to people. Um, and over time that cringe became a, um, social media kind of, uh, very active social media. Page and people really started to relate to some of the things I was saying.

Dr Amy Shah: And um, then this past year I went to my practice and I said, I, it's like a, when you're a partner, it's [00:51:00] really hard to leave a practice. I said, really wanna jump into this full-time? And they thought I was crazy because like, how do you even make money on the internet? They were like, this is crazy. Like, who are you?

Dr Amy Shah: And probably

Hala Taha: you making more money on the internet, right? Yeah.

Dr Amy Shah: And the thing is like, yeah, exactly. And they, everybody kind of equated it as like, oh, are you trying to become like a YouTuber or something? And I was like, yeah, this is a whole different thing. So in any case, I made the plunge and you're right.

Dr Amy Shah: Like I thought that, you know, staying the safe medical practice was the right way to go for my career. But as soon as I left in May of this past year. I have really seen a growth, not even just like on my social media, but also personally for the opportunities, the consulting, the longevity centers, the of the, the consults that I get.

Dr Amy Shah: It has been transformative and I wish I, I had done it sooner and I'm sharing this because so many of us have that thing in the back of our head, but we're so scared. We get a lot of pushback. We get a lot of criticism, and so it stops us from making that move.

Hala Taha: Yeah, you are such a great example [00:52:00] of creator entrepreneurship and I'm actually gonna be writing a book this year on creator entrepreneurship, and you are just like, such a great case study of somebody who is like a traditional doctor who then transitioned their career online.

Hala Taha: How many followers, what's your biggest social channel and how many followers do you have on it? Um,

Dr Amy Shah: I have almost 2 million on, uh, Instagram. That's my biggest,

Hala Taha: uh, channel. Oh my gosh. 2 million followers. So you've obviously been able to really resonate, connect with people. You've obviously gone viral many, many times.

Hala Taha: Uh, I interviewed Mel Robbins and she told me that her key to connecting with her audience is to be really simple. Never say big words, never say jargon, speak like you're just talking to one person at all times. What is your formula for, you know, connecting with your audience and making sure this really complicated medical stuff actually resonates with the everyday person?

Dr Amy Shah: I think about how I can give them a gift. Okay. So if I was like. What did I learn in the past month that could be a gift to my audience? Like I [00:53:00] always think, how can I add value in a way that it feels like I'm giving them a present, like coming from a physician's point of view. And that is really, um, how I think about it every time.

Hala Taha: Very cool. So you're like, what gift can I give this person? Making sure that every post actually has like meaning Yes. That they can take away from it. And, and, and that way it's like shareable, right?

Dr Amy Shah: Yeah. And I think a lot of people get confused on social media because, especially women and uh, especially people who are like lifestyle, um, entrepreneurs.

Dr Amy Shah: Like I don't have a lot of posts, probably very few posts that are just like, look at me, this is what I'm doing. Most of the posts are like, how can, like 99.999 is. A gift to you, like, this is what you should do because of the research. This is what you should do because this helped me or my patients, or in the medical literature, or here's what's working for someone, or not working for someone.

Dr Amy Shah: So I feel like then they can feel like they've gained something from watching that post.

Hala Taha: Mm-hmm. [00:54:00] How do you decide what content you're posting? Are you thinking of like hooks to start off your video with? Are you like very formulaic or are you kind of just like, oh, I'm just gonna cop on the camera and talk about X, Y, z?

Hala Taha: Like how do you, how do you plan your content?

Dr Amy Shah: Well, I, as I told you, I challenge myself to create every single day. It's like a writer like you. I'm forcing myself to write and to create every single day. And so what happens is. Sometimes I'll write things that I think are awesome, I spend hours doing.

Dr Amy Shah: Mm-hmm. And it flops completely. Mm. Mm-hmm. And then there's other times where I take a risk and it took me two seconds and it just does so well. And so I think I've just learned so much. I continue to challenge myself to try new things because I think it could be very easy to be like, this works, let me just go with this.

Dr Amy Shah: And I often will find myself. Pushing myself to be like, I know this works, but let's try something different. Because I think there's so much value to be had. Um, there's unlimited content that I could be giving, but it's also a game [00:55:00] because social media's infotainment. So how do you present it in a way that's interesting to people?

Hala Taha: Yeah. Um, I was talking to Brock Johnson recently and he was telling me that he likes to record in batches. And like if he's not in a good mood, he just won't record. And that inspired me too. 'cause I was thinking like, that's when I decided like, Hey, I'm not gonna record during my luteal phase because I'm not feeling my best.

Hala Taha: And I'd rather like do two interviews on a regular day. Yes. That I'm not feeling bad then, then do it on a day where I'm not feeling my best. But you say you just. Every day no matter what you're doing content. So you never are batching. Is that, is that right?

Dr Amy Shah: Um, okay. So I believe that we should be keeping 20% of our day free.

Dr Amy Shah: And I learned this from David Gillam who's a Kabbalah teacher and he said basically big things don't come to overwhelm people. And so when you keep 20% of your day free, um, you are processing what just happened. You might be able to have a longer conversation and you might have a moment to just create something.

Dr Amy Shah: And so I [00:56:00] challenge myself every single day to create something. Now it doesn't have to be amazing. It doesn't have to be something I even post per se, but I am always telling myself to, um, do something creative every day. And you're right, there are days hala where I'll be doing my walk or taking that 20% of my day to be creative and I will have 10 ideas.

Dr Amy Shah: And then there will be other days where I'm like, I cannot believe I have to like. Post anything today, but I just do it because it's like, um, um, it's like working out. Like I, I feel like, yeah, it's a muscle. I'm, I'm learning how to, uh, present my knowledge in a way that's usable for people. So I do batch record when it strikes.

Dr Amy Shah: But I don't, um, I don't have that like, uh, you know, Tuesdays are my bash recording day. I just can't do it like that because sometimes on Tuesdays I just don't have all the good ideas. And it's Wednesday that I have all the good ideas.

Hala Taha: Mm. I love that. And I feel like as long as you're posting consistent content, and I, I feel like your framework is especially good for somebody [00:57:00] who's just starting and like they need the motivation.

Hala Taha: Yes. And it's sort of like, this is your challenge. Yes. You're just gonna do it every day for 60 days no matter what, no matter how you feel. No matter if it's cringe, good or bad, you're put putting something up there and then you get in the habit and, and that's how you win, is it's really through consistency at the end of the day.

Dr Amy Shah: And I also find, like, just to Gary Vaynerchuk's point, like mm-hmm. I think when you create a lot of content, you learn a lot about Yeah. Your audience, about yourself and like things that you're, like I said, sometimes I'll perfect things and I think it's like the most valuable science backed. Um, real, and I'll post it on all the platforms and it'll totally flop.

Dr Amy Shah: And there's other times where I was not gonna post it and I'm like, uh, I'll just delete this. And it ends up being, um, something that overperformed. So really that creative, that social creative is such an important part of the story that we're telling. And so, um, it's important to test it.

Hala Taha: Mm-hmm. Okay. I wanna be respectful of your time.

Hala Taha: I know we're like running up on time here. So my last question to [00:58:00] you is, uh, for somebody out there who's in a profession that they, they spend a lot of money on a degree, but they're unhappy, what are your words of wisdom to them?

Dr Amy Shah: Take care of your insides, focus on your insides and everything will become clear.

Dr Amy Shah: So when you take care of your body, when you sleep well, when you eat well, when you start to focus on your gut health, all of a sudden you'll start to see the path that you're supposed to be on. And that would be my advice, is like you'll get clarity and go on that path. That is the path meant for you.

Hala Taha: Oh my gosh.

Hala Taha: I love that advice. I would, I didn't think you were gonna take it there. Yeah. But it's so true. When you have mental clarity and you feel your best, you know, you, you can be able to vision more clearly and understand what you need to do for yourself. So I love that advice, Amy. Where can everybody learn more about you and everything that you do and grab your new book?

Dr Amy Shah: Oh, thanks so much. Um, Hala, this was so fun. And my new book is called Hormone [00:59:00] Havoc. It is available everywhere books are sold. And my website is amy md wellness.com and my social media is at Dr. Amy Shaw.

Hala Taha: Amazing. This was such an awesome interview. I feel like we learned so much. Thank you so much for your time today.

Dr Amy Shah: Thank you so much for having me.

Hala Taha: Well, yap gang. What an incredible conversation with Dr. Amy Shaw. I just love how she turned her own burnout story into a mission to help millions of people reclaim their energy and health, and the fact that she left a safe, prestigious medical practice to pursue this risky vision full-time.

Hala Taha: Well, that takes serious courage. And as we all know, with high risk comes high reward. And she certainly is getting her rewards right now. And one of the biggest revelations for me in terms of the content of this podcast was learning that morning sunlight beats out every single trendy biohack that we threw at her cold plunges, vibration plates, electrolytes, you name it.

Hala Taha: It was morning sunlight that won every time. And that's because our circadian rhythms [01:00:00] control 80% of our body's processes. Just stepping outside for a few minutes in the morning directly connects your retina to your brain's control center, giving you better focus, better hormone function, and sustained energy throughout the day.

Hala Taha: If you add a morning walk to that sunlight exposure, you've got the ultimate energy combo. Morning sunlight, and a walk in the morning will totally change your life. And then there's Dr. Amy's revolutionary 30 33 framework from her new book, hormone Havoc. 30 grams of protein in your first meal, 30 grams of fiber throughout the day, and then three probiotic foods daily.

Hala Taha: This isn't just some bad diet, it's backed by thousands of medical studies and works, whether you're vegan, paleo, or anything in between. It's literally how we should have been taught. Eating all along. Again, getting back to our ancestral roots, and ladies, this one is for us. You've gotta align your schedule with your menstrual cycle.

Hala Taha: It can be a total game changer, that late luteal phase the week before your period is when you need more sleep, general, [01:01:00] or workouts and less stressful activities. If you control your schedule like I do now, make sure you protect your time, save your big presentations, your recordings, your important meetings.

Hala Taha: For when your hormones are actually supporting you. Now, of course, if you work a corporate career, you're not gonna be able to do this so easily. You can't just dictate your schedule. However, do what you can to optimize your own cycle and rhythm. Dr. Amy's journey also proves that you don't have to stay stuck in a career that drains you.

Hala Taha: Even if you've invested years and a lot of money getting there, sometimes your true calling is waiting on the other side of fear or cringe. As Dr. Amy said, thanks for listening to this episode of Young and Profiting. If you learn something valuable about optimizing your energy and health, then please share this episode with somebody who needs to hear it.

Hala Taha: And if you enjoy this conversation with Dr. Amy Shaw, drop us a five star review on Apple Podcasts. Your reviews help us reach more people. If you prefer to watch your videos on YouTube, we're growing a big community over there. Make sure you follow us on YouTube. Just search young and profiting, subscribe, [01:02:00] comment, join the conversation.

Hala Taha: You can also find me on Instagram at yah or LinkedIn. Just search for my name. It's Hala Taha. And of course, before we go, I've always got a shout out my YAP team. There's about 20 people who work on young and profiting podcasts alone. About 60 people at YAP Media. Everybody plays their part. Everybody works so hard.

Hala Taha: We've got rock stars on the team today. I wanna specifically shout out Ravi, for doing an amazing job with all of our videos and Jaden for absolutely crushing our social media and being such a gem and a team player all around. Thank you both for all that you do. This is your host, Hala Taha, AKA, the podcast princess signing off.