Keeping Abreast with Dr. Jenn

Dr. Jenn Simmons is joined by Dr. Louise Newson, a hormone-focused physician and menopause educator, for a wide-ranging conversation about the difference between bioidentical and synthetic hormones, why hormone fear persists in medicine, and how that fear affects women’s long-term health. They also dig into breast cancer, BRCA mutations, perimenopause, testosterone, compounding, and why shared decision-making matters more than blanket rules.

Key topics
Dr. Louise Newson shares how her medical path moved from internal medicine and pathology into general practice, medical writing, and ultimately menopause and hormone care.
She explains why the Women’s Health Initiative and other early studies created lasting confusion by mixing synthetic hormones with bioidentical hormones.
Dr. Newson breaks down the biological difference between endogenous hormones and synthetic compounds, using receptor biology and chemical structure to show why they are not interchangeable.
The conversation examines why many clinicians still fear hormone therapy, including outdated warnings, guideline dependence, pharma influence, and professional ego.
Dr. Newson argues that menopause is not just a “natural transition” but a hormone deficiency with real biological consequences, especially for bone, cardiovascular, brain, and metabolic health.
They discuss the misconception that hormones should only be used briefly, and why some women benefit from continuing treatment based on symptoms, quality of life, and future risk reduction.
The episode covers testosterone in women, including why it is underused, why it is often misunderstood as only a libido hormone, and how it can affect mood, energy, sleep, joints, and cognition.
They explore how perimenopause is best approached by assessing progesterone, estradiol, and testosterone separately rather than relying on one broad label.
Dr. Newson addresses compounding, explaining why individualized preparations can be useful and why “compounded” does not automatically mean unsafe.
The discussion moves into breast cancer and BRCA mutations, with a focus on why hormone decisions should be individualized rather than ruled out by category.
They emphasize that women need better information to make informed choices, and that refusing to offer hormone treatment can itself cause harm.

Timestamps
00:00 - Why Dr. Louise Newson is such a trusted voice on hormones

01:17 - Losing her father young and the path into medicine

03:39 - From prescribing HRT to becoming a medical writer

04:04 - The WHI study and why it changed everything

05:55 - Why antidepressants were replacing hormone care

07:32 - Synthetic hormones versus bioidentical hormones

09:33 - How receptor biology explains the difference

10:32 - Chemical examples that show how small changes matter

11:30 - Why WHO classified ethinyl estradiol as carcinogenic

13:34 - Why warnings and guidelines keep the fear alive

15:28 - The vacuum created when doctors stopped learning hormones

16:41 - Training more than 33,000 clinicians in menopause care

18:57 - Why gynecologists are not necessarily hormone experts

19:24 - Why endocrinology and psychiatry often miss the issue

20:49 - Is menopause a disease or a normal transition?

22:15 - Why early menopause raises the stakes

23:34 - Why hormone therapy should remain a choice

24:27 - What happens when the body adapts to low hormones

25:41 - Why supplements cannot replace estradiol, progesterone, or testosterone

28:55 - What older women discover when they finally try hormones

29:57 - The so-called window of opportunity after age 60

31:31 - Why hormones may still help women with heart disease

33:41 - Why there will never be a big randomized trial

35:07 - Why medicine accepts some evidence standards and ignores others

37:39 - The compounding controversy and why it makes no sense

39:36 - Why testosterone can be safer as a pump or customized preparation

40:03 - Why Dr. Newson dislikes the words menopause and perimenopause

40:59 - Treating progesterone, estradiol, and testosterone separately

42:38 - Why testosterone is so misunderstood in women

44:03 - The limits of libido-only thinking

45:28 - Testosterone data in men and why it gets ignored for women

46:11 - BRCA mutations, ovarian cancer, and hormone eligibility

48:56 - Why society guidelines are not the same as facts

49:54 - The hidden harm of withholding hormones

51:52 - The woman whose life changed after starting treatment

53:09 - Why not prescribing can create real long-term danger

54:11 - Women often know more than their providers now

55:38 - The breast cancer population and refusing tamoxifen or aromatase inhibitors

56:46 - Estrogen receptor positive does not mean estrogen caused the cancer

60:06 - Risks of tamoxifen and aromatase inhibitors

61:33 - Testosterone use after breast cancer

63:05 - Why cancer and recurrence happen with or without hormones

65:26 - Who Dr. Newson would refuse to treat

66:55 - A breast cancer case where hormones supported mental health

68:09 - Why old breast cancer treatments included estrogen and progesterone

70:13 - Why hormone treatment is reversible

71:56 - The goal is helping women reach a better baseline

72:23 - Where to find Dr. Louise Newson
To talk to a member of Dr. Jenn's team and learn more about working with Dr. Jenn visit: https://calendly.com/stephanie-1031/clarity-call

To get your copy of Dr. Jenn's book, The Smart Woman's Guide to Breast Cancer, visit: https://tinyurl.com/SmartWomansBreastCancerGuide

Connect with Dr. Jenn:
Website:  https://www.perfeqtionimaging.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DrJennSimmons
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/drjennsimmons/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@dr.jennsimmons

Dr. Jenn Simmons speaks with pharmacist turned integrative health author Dr. Isabella Wentz about the hidden drivers of IBS, why so many people get mislabeled without answers, and how gut issues can connect to autoimmune disease, hormones, and chronic inflammation. Dr. Wentz shares her own path from conventional pharmacy into root-cause medicine, including how her personal experience with fatigue, IBS, and Hashimoto’s changed everything.We discuss the limits of standard IBS care, the most useful testing strategies, and the major causes she sees in practice, from SIBO and food sensitivities to protozoal infections and hormone disruption. This conversation is especially useful for anyone who has been told their digestive symptoms are “just IBS” and wants a more complete framework.
Key topics
Dr. Wentz shares how she entered pharmacy school wanting to invent drugs, not practice natural medicine, and how her own illness redirected her career.
Her first major gut issue began in pharmacy school with fatigue and severe IBS symptoms, which improved after removing certain soy-based meal replacements.
She explains IBS as a wastebasket diagnosis, not a true root-cause diagnosis, and says it often reflects a much bigger underlying problem.
She notes that IBS can precede autoimmune conditions by 5 to 10 years, which is why gut symptoms should be taken seriously.
She outlines red flags that should prompt further testing, including rectal bleeding, blood in stool, weight loss, fever, and new IBS symptoms after age 35 to 40.
She recommends functional testing such as SIBO breath testing and comprehensive stool analysis like GI Map or Gut Zoomer to look for dysbiosis, low enzymes, and infections.
She explains why SIBO often comes back if the true driver is not addressed, such as low thyroid function, low stomach acid, H. pylori, or protozoal infection.
She cautions against overly restrictive diets, saying many people end up with “gluten-free junk food” patterns or elimination diets so strict they create new problems.
She discusses food sensitivity testing, saying results vary widely by method, but she has seen strong practical value in IgG testing for symptom tracking.
She highlights the role of parasites and protozoa, especially microscopic organisms like Giardia and Blastocystis, and her preference for testing rather than guessing.
She and Dr. Simmons discuss hormone effects on digestion, including how progesterone decline and estrogen dominance may contribute to constipation and IBS symptoms.
Dr. Wentz emphasizes that healing should support real life, not perfection, so people can travel, eat normally sometimes, and still feel well.
Timestamps
00:00 - Why Dr. Wentz wrote her fifth book on IBS
 03:29 - From pharmacy school to the first signs something was wrong
 04:42 - Fatigue, IBS, and the soy lecithin discovery
 06:57 - When Hashimoto’s changed the entire direction of her career
 08:21 - Why root-cause medicine became impossible to ignore
 10:51 - How she found answers before functional medicine was mainstream
 13:54 - Why IBS is often the wrong label for the real problem
 18:39 - Red flags that should never be written off as IBS
 21:26 - The two tests she relies on most: SIBO and stool analysis
 23:15 - Why SIBO keeps returning when the root cause remains
 26:53 - Protozoa, infections, and why SIBO is often secondary
 28:18 - Movement, walking, and improving gut motility
 29:06 - What IBS still gets wrong today
 30:17 - Why gluten and dairy are often the first foods to remove
 31:33 - When elimination diets become too extreme
 33:30 - Processed “healthy” foods, artificial sweeteners, and gut irritation
 36:27 - Birth control, IBS risk, and hidden hormone effects
 42:26 - Progesterone, estrogen dominance, and constipation cycles
 45:04 - Gut connections to anxiety, TMJ, fibromyalgia, and chronic fatigue
 47:50 - Parasites, protozoa, and how Dr. Wentz tests for them
 52:28 - Full moon timing and why collection method matters
 54:28 - Why food sensitivity testing depends on the test used
 57:17 - Getting foods back after elimination
 59:33 - Her own shift away from perfectionism
 62:50 - What the IBS book covers and who should read it
 65:10 - Where to find Dr. Wentz online

To talk to a member of Dr. Jenn's team and learn more about working with Dr. Jenn visit: https://calendly.com/stephanie-1031/clarity-call

To get your copy of Dr. Jenn's book, The Smart Woman's Guide to Breast Cancer, visit: https://tinyurl.com/SmartWomansBreastCancerGuide

Connect with Dr. Jenn:
Website:  https://www.perfeqtionimaging.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DrJennSimmons
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/drjennsimmons/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@dr.jennsimmons

Dr. Jenn Simmons talks with Dr. Robin Berzin about her path from an unexpected pre-med background to conventional medical training, then into functional medicine and entrepreneurship. The conversation covers the roots of Robin's interest in prevention, her early exposure to health and nutrition, and how she built Parsley Health into a national, insurance-covered practice.In this episode, they discuss why functional medicine can work alongside conventional care, how to think about root causes instead of symptom suppression alone, and what it takes to scale a health care company without losing clinical rigor. Robin also shares the realities of fundraising, leadership, and protecting her own health while building a company and raising three kids.
Key topics
Dr. Robin Berzin's origin story, from international relations and economics to medicine
How a college thesis on hormone-treated beef helped shape her interest in public health, nutrition, and cancer risk
Why she did not initially see herself as a science person, and how she later reframed medicine as pattern recognition and synthesis
The role of her father's internal medicine background, and why she still did not assume medicine was her path
How yoga, meditation, organic food, and personal health experiences deepened her interest in prevention and whole-person care
What functional medicine means in practice: using the same medical tools, but focusing on root causes, personalization, and prevention
Why Robin saw a need to standardize and scale functional medicine through Parsley Health
The tension between conventional medicine and alternative medicine, and why she rejects all-or-nothing thinking
Examples of root-cause thinking, including recurrent UTIs, migraines, autoimmune disease, infertility, and chronic fatigue
The challenge of building trust with insurers through outcomes data, cost savings, and reduced utilization
What it took to raise capital as a female founder with no MBA and no prior business background
How leadership changed as Parsley grew from a small team to a 120-person company
The importance of listening to patients, not just investors or skeptics, when making company decisions
How Robin maintains her own health with sleep, supplements, meditation, food choices, exercise, and self-monitoring
Her hope that evidence-based functional medicine becomes part of standard primary care
Timestamps
00:00 - Why Dr. Robin Berzin stands out in functional medicine
 01:22 - The unexpected path from undergrad to medicine
 02:26 - A thesis on hormone-treated beef and public health
 04:35 - Early exposure to cancer prevention and health research
 06:12 - Having a doctor father, but not seeing medicine as an obvious path
 07:01 - Why medicine is more about synthesis than equations
 09:22 - Strengths that matter in clinical practice
 10:56 - From conventional med school to a functional medicine career
 12:40 - What functional medicine actually means
 14:14 - Yoga, food, and becoming more aware of health
 16:18 - Research, ADHD trials, and early clues about her own ADHD
 18:12 - Early exposure to Mark Hyman and Dr. Oz
 20:31 - Why Parsley Health was built to fix access and consistency problems
 21:24 - Real outcomes from functional medicine care
 22:33 - Why medicine should use both conventional and functional tools
 23:47 - Root-cause care for UTIs and migraines
 25:09 - Functional medicine versus paint-by-numbers primary care
 26:04 - Making functional medicine accessible through a national platform
 27:24 - The courage required to build a company while practicing medicine
 28:29 - Trial, error, and the first steps as a founder
 31:20 - Bootstrapping the first version of Parsley
 33:28 - Building a patient base and hiring the first team
 34:32 - Raising a first round as a female founder
 36:11 - The fear and pressure of taking investor money
 37:30 - Learning fundraising with help from other women in venture
 38:26 - Why fundraising never really ends
 39:23 - How investor relationships changed as Parsley grew
 41:28 - Why medicine did not prepare her for executive leadership
 42:16 - The hardest lessons in hiring and management
 44:15 - When investor priorities pushed the company off course
 46:17 - Choosing company survival while staying true to the mission
 47:45 - Parsley's broader mission and why health care costs are unsustainable
 49:34 - Why functional medicine should become standard primary care
 50:01 - Using outcomes data to win over insurers
 52:25 - Why people assumed Parsley was only for the “worried well”
 53:29 - How the medical community has responded over time
 54:20 - The rise of longevity medicine and ongoing skepticism
 56:52 - Dark nights of the soul during fundraising and board conflict
 59:51 - How Robin protects her own mental and physical health
 62:52 - Sleep, data, and the reality of life as a busy founder
 64:03 - Travel routines, intermittent fasting, and skincare
 65:53 - What she hopes medicine will look like when her career is done
 68:17 - Why impact is fastest when you stay in your lane
 70:18 - Food dyes, public health priorities, and respecting different missions
 73:16 - Curiosity, skepticism, and keeping the lamps lit
 74:24 - What Parsley Health offers now and how to work with the team
Connect with Dr Robin Berzin & Parsley Health:
Website: https://www.parsleyhealth.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/robinberzinmd/
To talk to a member of Dr. Jenn's team and learn more about working with Dr. Jenn visit: https://calendly.com/stephanie-1031/clarity-call

To get your copy of Dr. Jenn's book, The Smart Woman's Guide to Breast Cancer, visit: https://tinyurl.com/SmartWomansBreastCancerGuide

Connect with Dr. Jenn:
Website:  https://www.perfeqtionimaging.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DrJennSimmons
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/drjennsimmons/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@dr.jennsimmons

Dr. Jenn Simmons and Dr. Erica Schwartz on hormones, individualized care, and questioning mainstream medicineDr. Jenn Simmons sits down with Dr. Erica Schwartz for a candid conversation about women’s health, hormone replacement, and the importance of individualized care. They discuss why hormone therapy is gaining renewed attention, why many providers are not adequately trained to prescribe it, and how patients can make more informed decisions about their health.
They also explore breast screening, overdiagnosis, metabolic health, medical fear, and the value of having a trusted provider who looks at the whole person. Together, Dr. Jenn and Dr. Schwartz challenge one-size-fits-all medicine and make the case for thoughtful, relationship-based care.
What You'll Learn:
Why hormone therapy requires better provider education, not just wider access
How outdated medical training continues to affect women’s health
Why individualized care is often more important than rigid protocols
 The difference between breast cancer prevention, diagnosis, and overdiagnosis
Why metabolic health is central to breast health and long-term wellness
How watchful waiting can sometimes be safer than immediate testing or biopsy
Why progesterone and synthetic progestins should not be treated as the same thing
What women should consider before using supplements, peptides, or extreme diets
Why having a trusted healthcare provider can prevent conflicting and unnecessary treatments
How patients can question medical assumptions while taking greater responsibility for their health
 
Timestamps
00:00 - Why hormone conversations are surging and why training matters
02:10 - Dr. Schwartz’s path from conventional medicine to individualized care
04:00 - Medical paternalism, discrimination, and resistance to change
15:46 - Why mammography is diagnosis, not prevention
17:32 - Hormone replacement, oral estrogen, and breast cancer concerns
24:07 - Perimenopause labels, social media, and inadequate training
30:30 - Why relationships matter more than protocols and lab results
43:13 - Watchful waiting, breast biopsies, and the value of doing less
45:55 - Metabolic health as a foundation for breast cancer prevention
56:34 - Questioning mammography and taking responsibility for your care
60:08 - Why modern medicine needs more time for patient relationships
To talk to a member of Dr. Jenn's team and learn more about working with Dr. Jenn visit: https://calendly.com/stephanie-1031/clarity-call

To get your copy of Dr. Jenn's book, The Smart Woman's Guide to Breast Cancer, visit: https://tinyurl.com/SmartWomansBreastCancerGuide

Connect with Dr. Jenn:
Website:  https://www.perfeqtionimaging.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DrJennSimmons
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/drjennsimmons/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@dr.jennsimmons

Dr. Jenn Simmons and Dr. Bradley Campbell unpack why autoimmune disease is rising, why so many patients are dismissed for years, and why symptom suppression alone often makes things worse. This conversation focuses on root causes, especially gut dysfunction, stress, and immune triggers, and explains why individualized care matters more than one-size-fits-all treatment.Dr. Campbell shares how his work evolved from injury care into complex autoimmune cases, while Dr. Simmons brings the perspective of conventional medicine, cancer care, and the limits of training that does not teach health optimization.
Key topics
In this episode, Dr. Simmons opens with a blunt critique of how poorly autoimmune disease is understood in conventional medicine, especially when labs are “normal” but patients are clearly unwell.
Dr. Campbell explains how autoimmune cases found him through patients with chronic, rare, and complex conditions that mainstream care could not resolve.
We discuss the gap between medical training and real-world health care, including the difference between knowing how to prescribe and knowing how to create health.
Dr. Simmons and Dr. Campbell agree that the system rewards sickness management, not healing, and that insurance incentives often push short visits, prescriptions, and procedures over root-cause work.
In this episode: low iron is treated as a major red flag for digestive dysfunction, malabsorption, celiac disease, low enzymes, or bile flow problems, not just a number to supplement away.
We discuss why proton pump inhibitors can create long-term digestive problems by reducing stomach acid, impairing digestion, and contributing to dysbiosis and infection risk.
Dr. Campbell outlines his autoimmune screening approach, including ANA, ENA panels, thyroid antibodies, hormone testing, food sensitivity workups, and broader root-cause diagnostics.
The autoimmune triad comes up in detail: genetics, gut dysfunction, and a trigger such as physical trauma, infection, medication, food reaction, or emotional stress.
We discuss parasites as a controversial but real variable in some autoimmune cases, especially in the context of protozoa, gut imbalance, and chronic thyroid issues.
Dr. Simmons and Dr. Campbell both push back on rigid diets and medical absolutism, arguing for individualized decisions around grains, dairy, nightshades, and autoimmune protocols.
The conversation closes with a strong emphasis on stress, nervous system overload, childhood trauma, and the need for quiet, reflection, and community without constant screen input.
Timestamps
00:00 - Why autoimmune disease is exploding and often missed for years
 03:15 - How Dr. Campbell’s path shifted from music and injuries to autoimmune care
 06:23 - Why medical training is a foundation, not a complete education in health
 08:49 - Doctors as well-intentioned players inside a broken system
 11:10 - Why screening versus symptom-based testing must be treated differently
 13:20 - Autoimmune disease is highly individualized, even when diagnoses look similar
 14:23 - Why celiac disease is often found only after a breast cancer diagnosis
 16:36 - Why 30 patients a day leaves no room for root-cause medicine
 19:34 - Insurance incentives reward sickness instead of health
 23:55 - Years of delayed diagnosis and the cost of being told labs are “normal”
 26:52 - Low iron as a clue to digestion, not just iron deficiency
 28:19 - Why stomach acid matters for digestion, immune protection, and bile signaling
 31:03 - How Heidelberg testing evaluates stomach acidity in real time
 33:39 - What Dr. Campbell looks for that many providers miss in autoimmune cases
 36:09 - The autoimmune triad: genetics, gut dysfunction, and a trigger
 37:34 - Structural, biochemical, and emotional triggers that can set off autoimmunity
 40:28 - Parasites, terrain, and why over-treatment is not always the answer
 43:44 - Vaccine-era inflammation, informed consent, and autoimmune flare concerns
 48:59 - A better model for autoimmune disease: the immune system is trying to do something
 51:02 - The autoimmune protocol diet and when a less restrictive approach is better
 53:31 - Nightshades, liver function, and why food rules should not be universal
 56:13 - Why grains and dairy are not automatically bad for everyone, but can be poor fits in active disease
 61:34 - Blood sugar, energy, mood, and why kids often need more real food
 63:41 - Why processed protein bars and powders are often worse than whole foods
 65:49 - Food transitions at home: why change is hard even when the benefits are obvious
 67:46 - Root-cause thinking applies to MS, breast cancer, dementia, osteoporosis, and diabetes
 70:03 - Dr. Campbell’s membership community, weekly teaching, and lab support
 71:30 - GLP-1 drugs: useful tools for some, but not a shortcut for lifestyle change
 74:42 - Stress, trauma, quiet time, and why emotional load drives chronic disease
 76:55 - Why unresolved trauma and a lack of safety can affect healing for years
To talk to a member of Dr. Jenn's team and learn more about working with Dr. Jenn visit: https://calendly.com/stephanie-1031/clarity-call

To get your copy of Dr. Jenn's book, The Smart Woman's Guide to Breast Cancer, visit: https://tinyurl.com/SmartWomansBreastCancerGuide

Connect with Dr. Jenn:
Website:  https://www.perfeqtionimaging.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DrJennSimmons
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/drjennsimmons/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@dr.jennsimmons