Hayley Hobson: Hey, my friends, I'm Hayley Hobson, and I am so glad you're here. Welcome to the 10 out of 10 Podcast, where I help ambitious women like you look and feel younger so you can achieve a 10 out of 10 lifestyle and unlock financial freedom. Today, I'm sharing about a topic that's extremely important for all women as we age and has impacted my personal health journey. For far too long, the medical system, in my opinion, has failed women in midlife.
Our symptoms—fatigue, weight gain, brain fog, insomnia, mood swings—get dismissed as just a part of aging. I wonder if something like this has happened to you too. You know something's off, and the doctors simply aren't helping. You don't feel like there's anyone to talk to or lean on for support. I'm actually dealing with this right now, so I know this conversation is going to be just as helpful for me as it is for you.
Before we jump into it, let me give you a little background on what I’m currently dealing with. Just as a reminder, I’m a 55-year-old woman. I have been investing in all things woo-woo wellness, holistic healing, and all-natural, non-toxic living for well over 30 years now. Yes, I said 30 years. To be honest, I’m really healthy for my age. In fact, the last time I got my blood work done several years ago, the doctor said I had the biological age of a 20-year-old.
Meaning that at age 55, my blood looked as healthy as a 20-year-old's. Not only that, but I feel pretty amazing on the daily, and my energy levels are next level. I’m super happy with my body. I think my skin looks great. So I know all the stuff I do and invest in really works. But recently, I’ve had a huge setback that not only shook my physical health but also my mental well-being. I have had a shoulder injury from a stupid air hockey game I played about a year ago, and no matter what I have done, nothing seemed to be healing it. I felt like I was getting the runaround in circles by doctors.
So I finally got an MRI—no tear. I was diagnosed with inflammation and a frozen shoulder. I couldn’t lift my arm or move it beyond a certain radius. I started doing physical therapy, exercises, and getting bodywork while receiving feedback from multiple health professionals that it could be an estrogen issue—which I thought was super strange. Then I noticed, and my hairstylist pointed out, that my hair wasn’t growing in certain places.
No matter what products I was using, and believe me, I was trying a lot of things, I wasn’t seeing new hair growth. Finally, I met with one of my friends who is on the podcast with me today. We were in Vegas for a race our husbands were doing. I’ll introduce her in just a second—she's amazing. She is an integrative health practitioner and suggested that I get my blood drawn again so she could analyze the results. When she called to deliver the results, I was shocked. She said I had basically zero hormones—no estrogen, no progesterone, and no testosterone.
Honestly, I couldn’t believe it. As someone who considers themselves extremely healthy, who has done everything to optimize and prolong their health, and even makes a living sharing with other women how to do the same, my immediate thought was: "I’m a fraud. I’m a total fraud." But here’s the truth. Health issues like this around peri- and menopause are completely normal. But it doesn’t feel that way because no one talks about it, and the education and knowledge on the topic are completely lacking. But I’m not here to hide what’s been going on in my world. I want to share my entire health journey because you deserve to know, and my story may help you too.
So here we are, and I’m going to share what’s working for me as I go through these midlife changes. Without further delay, let me introduce my friend, board-certified physician assistant, and functional medicine expert specializing in hormone optimization, gut health, and longevity medicine—Tanya Zucco. She is also the founder of Elite Peak Health, where she helps women in their 40s and 50s and beyond reclaim their energy, confidence, and well-being through personalized, root-cause-focused care. She understands that the medical system has failed women in midlife, dismissing their symptoms as just part of aging. Many are told their labs are normal while they feel anything but fine. They’re often prescribed antidepressants instead of real solutions.
Tanya’s on a mission to change that. Today, she’s here with us to have an honest conversation about why women’s healthcare is broken, why outdated medical guidelines around hormone therapy are harming women, and—most importantly—what women can do to take control of their health today. If you'd like to speak to her after, she’ll share how you can get in touch.
Hayley Hobson: Hi, Tanya.
Tanya Zucco: Hello! I’m so excited to be here with you.
Hayley Hobson: I’m excited too. This is such an important conversation.
Hayley Hobson: So I’m just going to get right into it. I’ve got a lot of questions for you, and we’ll probably dive into some of the stuff that’s been going on with me too. I’m totally open to sharing that with my family here online. But why do you believe that so many women in their 40s and 50s feel ignored or dismissed when they bring up symptoms of perimenopause and menopause?
Tanya Zucco: Well, first of all, Hayley, the medical system has historically understudied and underfunded women’s health. That’s a problem. But also, many doctors, PAs, and NPs—the prescribing and diagnosing professionals—aren’t trained in menopause or perimenopause. It’s barely covered in medical school. In fact, some recent data shows that less than 30% of providers feel like they have adequate training and knowledge to counsel and help women through these phases in life. Oftentimes, symptoms like fatigue, mood swings, and weight gain—just like you mentioned—get labeled as normal. It’s part of aging. You’re too stressed. There’s this massive gap in care, leaving women feeling like, Wow, is this really what it’s like?
Hayley Hobson: Yeah, it blows my mind. And as I’ve begun to share my journey with personal friends—like I was out to dinner with some really good friends this past Sunday night—when I shared what was going on, one of them, who is 58, said, Oh yeah, I’ve been on hormone replacement therapy since I was 40.
That’s the reaction I’m getting from most people. They’re actually on things to support their hormones, but they’re still not talking about it.
So what do you think is the biggest myth about perimenopause and menopause that doctors are still telling people today? And why isn’t there more knowledge?
Tanya Zucco: Well, first of all, over the last 20 years, doctors have been practicing a fear-based approach to hormones, largely due to a study called the Women’s Health Initiative, which was conducted in 2002.
This study was deeply flawed. First, it was done on a flawed population—most of the participants were 63 and older, many with pre-existing conditions like heart disease and osteoporosis.
Second, the hormones studied were synthetic—Premarin (a synthetic estrogen) and Provera (a synthetic progestin). We now know that these synthetic hormones lead to higher risks of certain things like cancers and blood clots. The biggest issue? The study’s interpretation was misleading. They claimed there was a 26% increased risk of breast cancer, but the absolute risk was actually tiny. Later analyses showed that when bioidentical hormones—not synthetic ones—are used, they do not increase the risk of breast cancer.
But despite this, the misleading interpretation of that study stuck, and now many doctors—and women—are afraid of hormones. There’s this stigma around estrogen causes cancer, so people avoid the topic altogether. And a lot of providers simply aren’t educating themselves on the new research.
Hayley Hobson: Yeah, and I want to talk to you about hormone therapy. I’ve just started—you saw me unzip my pants a few minutes ago to show you my estrogen patch! And I was terrified of it. Why? Because of a misbelief I had. Sometimes we read something or hear something, and we make up our own story about it. In fact, that’s what’s going on all over our country right now with politics—one side sees it one way, the other side sees it another way. People make up their stories. They’re probably both right, and they’re probably both wrong.
That’s how I felt. I was horrified that I had to put something in my body that wasn’t natural. And then you shared with me that it actually is natural—it’s the exact hormone that my body would already be producing. But at a certain age, my body just can’t produce it anymore. So can you talk about the difference between bioidentical hormones and synthetic hormones, and why that difference matters?
Tanya Zucco: Absolutely. Yes. So, bioidentical hormones—estradiol, progesterone, testosterone—are molecularly identical to what your body produces. As you said, Hayley, when we’re younger, we naturally have those hormones. But after a certain age, we start losing them—progesterone is usually the first to go, then estrogen. After menopause, your body completely stops producing them. Testosterone declines, too, though at a different rate for each person.
Hayley Hobson: Hold on one second. I just want you guys to hear that. There are a lot of companies out there telling you, You can balance your hormones naturally! That is not true. Once you lose your progesterone, testosterone, and estrogen, there’s nothing to balance—you don’t have them anymore. In order to get them back into your body, you have to use hormone replacement therapy—that’s why it’s called replacement. You are replacing what your body has lost. That doesn’t mean we can’t balance other hormones—I’ll talk in a bit about how I’ve been balancing my cortisol—but if you don’t have these hormones anymore, you can’t balance them.
Tanya Zucco: 100%. You hit the nail on the head. And let me dive deeper into that before circling back to bioidentical vs. synthetic hormones, because I think this is an important concept to grasp. Like you said, hormones is a broad term. There are many hormones in the body. But when we talk about hormone replacement therapy, we’re specifically talking about estrogen, progesterone, and testosterone. Once those hormones are gone, you cannot make your body start producing them again. No amount of yam cream, chia seeds, or flaxseeds will bring them back. The only way to restore them is through replacement therapy.
But here’s a good way to think about it: Imagine your body is a beautiful orchestra.
- Nutrients, blood sugar regulation, and food—those are the musicians. We need them to be good.
- At a certain age, we still have conductors—hormones that tell the musicians what to do.
- But once estrogen, progesterone, and testosterone disappear? The conductors are gone. And what happens when an orchestra has no conductor? It falls apart.
So, if someone tells you, You can balance your hormones naturally, ask them: Which hormones are you talking about? Because you’re not going to optimize your estrogen and progesterone naturally once they’re gone.
Hayley Hobson: Yeah. Okay, great. That’s such an important distinction. There are other hormones we can balance. For example, I found out last year that my cortisol was completely out of whack—no surprise, since I run around the world every day, stressing myself out! Not on purpose, but I live a very big life, and being active and busy all the time can raise your cortisol levels. I started using a sublingual cortisol-balancing product, and the results were amazing—I was sleeping better, I lost almost 10 pounds, my mood improved, and my blood work showed that my cortisol was now in a great range. But that product does nothing for estrogen, progesterone, or testosterone.
Tanya Zucco: Exactly. It’s not that the ingredients in those products—like the ones marketed for balancing hormones—are bad. A lot of them contain adaptogens and other great nutrients. But again, they’re like the musicians in our orchestra analogy. They support the system, but they don’t replace the missing conductors—which are estrogen, progesterone, and testosterone.
Hayley Hobson: Right. So, actually, the product I’m using for cortisol might work even more effectively now that I’m also adding in hormone replacement therapy, right?
Tanya Zucco: Exactly!
Hayley Hobson: Which is really fun and cool.
Tanya Zucco: Totally. But let’s go back to the bioidentical vs. synthetic hormone discussion. We already established that bioidentical hormones—estradiol, progesterone, testosterone—are molecularly identical to what your body naturally produces. When prescribed correctly and dosed properly, they are safe, effective, and do not increase the risk of breast cancer. Synthetic hormones, on the other hand—such as Premarin, Provera, and even oral contraceptives—are not identical to the body’s natural hormones. Many studies have shown that synthetic hormones are linked to higher risks of certain cancers, blood clots, and high blood pressure.
So the gold standard in hormone therapy is:
- Using bioidentical hormones instead of synthetic ones.
- Personalizing the dosage to fit each woman’s individual needs—because one-size-fits-all does not work when it comes to hormones.
Unfortunately, some companies are just slapping the same doses on everyone, and that’s something we want to be careful about.
Hayley Hobson: Exactly. Okay, thank you for that. So let’s talk about how untreated perimenopause and menopause symptoms impact things like heart health, brain health, joint health, bone health, and longevity. Because I think a lot of women just resign themselves to thinking, Oh, I’m going through menopause, this is just what’s going to happen to me. And when I was debating whether I really wanted to put these hormones into my body, you told me something that really stuck with me: "Your health is excellent, and it can be 100%. You don’t have to live with no hormones."
Tanya Zucco: Exactly. You’re absolutely right—many women feel like this is just "normal" and that they have to accept it. But here’s something to think about:
- Back in the day, women were having babies as teenagers.
- By their 20s and 30s, they were considered old.
- And by their 40s, many had already passed away.
Life expectancy has changed dramatically, but our hormones still follow the old timeline. Now, let’s talk about why estrogen is so important for long-term health.
Estrogen’s Role in the Body:
- It’s one of the most powerful anti-inflammatories in the body.
- This helps reduce the risk of heart disease and protect the brain from dementia and Alzheimer’s.
- It’s essential for joint lubrication.
- That’s why many women develop joint pain and stiffness after menopause.
- Your case, Hayley—your frozen shoulder? It’s estrogen-driven. That’s why it’s literally called frozen shoulder after 50.
- It helps maintain bone health.
- Estrogen tells vitamin D, calcium, and vitamin K where to go, ensuring that bones stay strong.
- Without it, women are at a higher risk of osteoporosis and fractures.
When women lose estrogen, their bodies naturally become more inflamed, and they are at a higher risk for heart disease, Alzheimer’s, and musculoskeletal issues.
And here’s a really interesting fact:
- Men actually have lower rates of heart disease and Alzheimer’s as they age.
- That’s because they continue producing estrogen—even though they don’t have ovaries!
- They convert testosterone into estrogen, so their levels never drop as drastically as women’s do.
- Women, on the other hand, go from having high estrogen to having none after menopause.
So, yes—men need estrogen too!
Hayley Hobson: Wow. Yeah, okay. So if women in perimenopause or menopause start struggling with symptoms like weight gain, mood swings, insomnia, and their doctors tell them, Oh, you’re fine! Your labs look normal! Where do they go from there? What’s missing in standard lab testing?
Tanya Zucco: First of all, most women aren’t even being tested for the right things.
If you go to a traditional doctor, they’ll often say:
- You don’t need hormone testing.
- You’re not in menopause yet.
- You don’t need hormones—they’re dangerous.
That’s the biggest problem—these providers aren’t even looking at the data. So if you’re being dismissed, it’s NOT because you’re crazy. It’s because most doctors simply haven’t been trained to understand hormone health.
Hayley Hobson: Is that going to change?
Tanya Zucco: Yes, I believe so. But it will take time. We’re already seeing more conversations around women’s health, and things are changing. But right now, you have to advocate for yourself and find a provider who understands hormones.
The key tests you need to request:
- Estrogen, progesterone, and testosterone levels
- Insulin resistance markers (fasting insulin, A1C, C-reactive protein)
- A full thyroid panel (because thyroid imbalances are common during menopause)
Hayley Hobson: And people can do this online with you, right?
Tanya Zucco: Yes, absolutely. Now, I have to be licensed in your state to prescribe anything, but I’m licensed in many states across the U.S. There are also other providers like me who specialize in virtual hormone health consultations.
Hayley Hobson: How can people get in touch with you?
Hayley Hobson: That’s T-A-N-Y-A, right?
Tanya Zucco: Yes, exactly!
Hayley Hobson: Okay, before we wrap up, are there any lifestyle strategies, diet changes, or supplements that women should look into if they feel their body is changing and no one is giving them answers?
Tanya Zucco: Absolutely. We already talked about hormone replacement therapy, but there are other things women can do to optimize their health:
- Prioritize protein-rich, whole foods (to stabilize blood sugar and reduce inflammation).
- Strength train (since women lose 1-2% of muscle mass per year after 40).
- Optimize sleep (because poor sleep disrupts hormone balance).
- Manage stress (because cortisol imbalance worsens menopause symptoms).
Hayley Hobson: Yes! Adding more protein was a game-changer for me. I was already doing things like stress management, sleep optimization, and daily movement. But I wasn’t getting enough protein—which might be why my hair wasn’t growing. Since our conversation, I’ve been committed to getting a minimum of 60–80g of protein per day through plant-based protein powders, plus additional protein from my meals. And strength training? I used to be a cardio addict—but now I see that weight training is what actually tones my body and keeps me strong.
Hayley Hobson: And that was one thing that was a big game changer for me—realizing I had to add more protein to my diet. I’ve always been really intentional about sleep because I used to be an insomniac for 20 years—from my late teens through my early 30s. My sleep pattern completely changed once I got involved with dōTERRA and started using essential oils. That was a huge turning point for me. I also got off a lot of medications—which I probably shouldn’t say online because it’s not compliant—but that was a big deal for me.
And because I was diagnosed with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) and inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), I’ve had to be really mindful of what I eat my entire life. I also have a malrotation of my colon—meaning my colon is on the wrong side of my body. So if I don’t eat properly, I feel really uncomfortable and struggle to absorb nutrients. That’s why I chose a plant-based diet and have been really strict about what I put into my body.
- I stopped eating dairy and red meat when I was 12.
- I eliminated fish and chicken about 15 years ago.
- Now, I’m fully vegan and have been feeling great.
But what Tanya really helped me understand is that I was probably not getting enough protein—which could be why my hair was thinning and not growing as much. So for the past three weeks, since we analyzed my blood work, I’ve been fully committed to adding:
✔ 2–4 scoops of plant-based protein powder per day (which gives me at least 60–80g of protein)
✔ More protein-rich plant foods (like lentils, oats, and coconut yogurt)
And I feel amazing.
Hayley Hobson: Another big shift for me has been strength training. I was a cardio addict my entire life.
- I was a competitive swimmer.
- I was a competitive runner.
- I was a competitive triathlete.
But in the past few years, I’ve completely changed my focus to weight training—and I love the results.
- My body looks leaner and more toned.
- My workouts actually elevate my heart rate, so I’m still getting cardio.
- And I feel stronger than ever.
At first, I thought lifting weights was boring and wasn’t burning enough calories. But now I see how valuable it is.
Hayley Hobson: And, of course, stress management has been a huge part of my wellness routine. My morning routine and evening wind-down routine are non-negotiable.
- I prioritize meditation.
- I follow a skincare routine.
- I use essential oils for relaxation.
- And I take cortisol-balancing supplements.
All of these things help me feel calm, balanced, and in control of my body. So now, with the addition of hormone replacement therapy, I feel like I finally have everything dialed in.
Hayley Hobson: Tanya, I just want to say thank you. At first, I was scared. I felt threatened. I even felt like a fraud—like, How could I be someone who teaches health and wellness, yet have zero hormones? But now? I feel empowered. I’m taking control of my health.
- I’m making informed decisions about my body.
- I’m choosing to feel amazing every single day.
And I want every woman listening to know—you do not have to accept feeling “off” just because you’re aging. You deserve to feel strong, vibrant, and healthy at any age.
Tanya Zucco: Love it.
Hayley Hobson: Tanya, thank you so much for your knowledge. I really hope everyone listening today feels as empowered as I do to take control of their own medical journey.
Tanya gave us some amazing tips on:
✔ Optimizing our health (especially hormone health)
✔ How to approach doctors and medical professionals
✔ How to get the answers and treatments we actually need
This is such an important topic, and the more I learn about it, the more I want to share. I’ll be keeping the conversation going on social media, so stay tuned. We need to talk about perimenopause and menopause more.
Tanya Zucco: Yes, we do!
Hayley Hobson: So before we sign off, I have a question for you—the listener.
👉 What is one thing you can do right now to advocate for your health?
Whatever it is—write it down. Put it in your calendar. Make a plan to make it happen.
You deserve to feel amazing every single day—no matter your age. And if today’s conversation taught you something—which I know it did—please share this episode with someone you love. This information is vital for every single woman.
Feel free to reach out to me anytime—all my contact info is on
HayleyHobson.com.
The gift of health is meant to be shared. Until next time, my friends, I’ll see you online.
Hayley Hobson: Bye, Tanya!
Tanya Zucco: Bye!