FFP 625 | The Case for Progesterone in Perimenopause | Dr. Jerilynn Prior

In this episode, Lisa welcomes back Dr. Jerilynn Prior, endocrinologist, UBC Professor Emerita, and founder of the Centre for Menstrual Cycle and Ovulation Research (CeMCOR), for a thought-provoking conversation that challenges mainstream narratives about perimenopause and hormone therapy. Dr. Prior shares her research-backed perspective on why perimenopause is often characterized by erratically high estrogen rather than low estrogen, and how this physiological reality reshapes the conversation around symptoms like night sweats, sleep disturbances, heavy flow, and sore breasts. She discusses her randomized controlled trial demonstrating that progesterone is effective for night sweats and sleep in perimenopausal women, and explains why approximately 30% of perimenopausal women experience symptoms severe enough to warrant treatment. Lisa and Dr. Prior also explore findings from the Women's Health Initiative, the difference between treating symptomatic women and prescribing hormones preventively, and why the cultural framing of menopause as a deficiency disease misrepresents what is, for most women, a normal life transition. Tune in as Dr. Prior shares decades of research on the menstrual cycle, ovulation, and the often-overlooked role of progesterone in women's health across the lifespan. Follow this link to view the full show notes page! This episode is sponsored by Lisa's new book, Real Food for Fertility, co-authored with Lily Nichols! Grab your copy here! 🎧 Would you prefer to listen to the audiobook version of Real Food for Fertility instead? 🎧 Listen here! 💥This episode is also sponsored by FAMM, the Fertility Awareness Mastery MentorshipTM program! Apply now to join our next class! We start on May 12th! 📚Have you grabbed your copy of the Fertility Awareness Mastery Charting Workbook? It is the first fully customizable paper charting workbook of its kind, available in both Fahrenheit and Celsius editions. Click here to grab your copy today! 📚 If you haven't grabbed your copy of The Fifth Vital Sign, grab it here! 🎧Would you rather listen to the audiobook version of The Fifth Vital Sign? 🎧 Listen here!

In this episode, Lisa sits down with Stuart James Fischbein, MD — obstetrician, homebirth physician, and host of the Birthing Instincts Podcast — to examine one of the most consequential questions in modern maternity care: is hospital birth actually safer? Dr. Fischbein draws on more than 40 years of obstetric experience to trace how the medical model came to frame pregnancy as a high-risk condition requiring active management, and how that framing has shaped the interventions women encounter today. The conversation explores the steep rise in cesarean section rates, induction rates, and NICU admissions since the 1970s — alongside the sobering reality that maternal and neonatal outcomes have not improved commensurately. Follow this link to view the full show notes page! This episode is sponsored by Lisa's new book, Real Food for Fertility, co-authored with Lily Nichols! Grab your copy here! 🎧 Would you prefer to listen to the audiobook version of Real Food for Fertility instead? 🎧 Listen here! 💥This episode is also sponsored by FAMM, the Fertility Awareness Mastery MentorshipTM program! Apply now to join our next class! We start on May 12th! 📚Have you grabbed your copy of the Fertility Awareness Mastery Charting Workbook? It is the first fully customizable paper charting workbook of its kind, available in both Fahrenheit and Celsius editions. Click here to grab your copy today! 📚 If you haven't grabbed your copy of The Fifth Vital Sign, grab it here! 🎧Would you rather listen to the audiobook version of The Fifth Vital Sign? 🎧 Listen here!

In Episode 623 of the Fertility Friday Podcast, Lisa sits down with Harriet Thorn, a Switzerland-based midwife and recent graduate of the Fertility Awareness Mastery Mentorship (FAMM) program, for a wide-ranging conversation about cycle charting in midwifery practice. Harriet shares her personal journey from biotechnology PhD to midwife — including her own experience navigating heavy and painful periods, hormonal contraception, and eventually discovering fertility awareness charting as a tool for both personal and professional use. The conversation explores why midwives, despite being primary caregivers for women across the full reproductive lifespan, receive minimal training in fertility awareness — and how the FAMM certification has helped Harriet build the structure, confidence, and clinical protocols to support her clients more comprehensively. Lisa and Harriet also dive into a thoughtful discussion on research literacy, including the importance of reading full study texts, understanding researcher bias, and the challenges of accessing fertility awareness research in non-English-speaking countries. Harriet reflects on how her FAMM training has expanded her practice beyond prenatal and postnatal care to include menstrual health support — and why she views cycle charting as a foundational skill for any midwife committed to truly holistic, women-centred care. Follow this link to view the full show notes page! This episode is sponsored by Lisa's new book, Real Food for Fertility, co-authored with Lily Nichols! Grab your copy here! 🎧 Would you prefer to listen to the audiobook version of Real Food for Fertility instead? 🎧 Listen here! 💥This episode is also sponsored by FAMM, the Fertility Awareness Mastery MentorshipTM program! Apply now to join our next class! We start on May 12th! 📚Have you grabbed your copy of the Fertility Awareness Mastery Charting Workbook? It is the first fully customizable paper charting workbook of its kind, available in both Fahrenheit and Celsius editions. Click here to grab your copy today! 📚 If you haven't grabbed your copy of The Fifth Vital Sign, grab it here! 🎧Would you rather listen to the audiobook version of The Fifth Vital Sign? 🎧 Listen here!

In this episode of the Fertility Friday Podcast, Lisa sits down with Carol da Selva — founder of Sacred Womb Rites and a practitioner completing her Fertility Awareness Mastery Mentorship (FAMM) certification — for a candid conversation about spiritual approaches to menstrual cycle health and where they intersect with evidence-based practice. Carol shares her personal journey with irregular cycles, painful periods, and the role that ancestral and spiritual practices played in her early healing path, alongside the limitations she encountered when those approaches alone were not enough. Together, Lisa and Carol explore why grounding spiritual and intuitive frameworks in peer-reviewed research may lead to more consistent, predictable results for both practitioners and their clients. Carol reflects on how foundational factors — including nutrition, blood sugar stability, and addressing environmental contributors such as mold and histamine — supported meaningful improvements in her own cycle over time. This episode is part of the ongoing FAM Practitioner Series, offering insights for women's health professionals who are looking to integrate fertility awareness and menstrual cycle literacy into their existing practice with greater confidence and clinical depth. Follow this link to view the full show notes page! This episode is sponsored by Lisa's new book, Real Food for Fertility, co-authored with Lily Nichols! Grab your copy here! 🎧 Would you prefer to listen to the audiobook version of Real Food for Fertility instead? 🎧 Listen here! 💥This episode is also sponsored by FAMM, the Fertility Awareness Mastery MentorshipTM program! Apply now to join our next class! We start on May 12th! 📚Have you grabbed your copy of the Fertility Awareness Mastery Charting Workbook? It is the first fully customizable paper charting workbook of its kind, available in both Fahrenheit and Celsius editions. Click here to grab your copy today! 📚 If you haven't grabbed your copy of The Fifth Vital Sign, grab it here! 🎧Would you rather listen to the audiobook version of The Fifth Vital Sign? 🎧 Listen here!

In this episode of the Fertility Friday Podcast, Lisa welcomes back Toni Weschler, MPH, author of the landmark book Taking Charge of Your Fertility, along with Toni's niece Sabrina Nowicki, co-creator and product lead of the Cyclisity app. Toni shares the behind-the-scenes story of how Taking Charge of Your Fertility came to be — from a humbling experience at a women's health clinic in the late 1980s to a bidding war among major publishers — and reflects on what has changed in the field of fertility awareness over the past 30-plus years. Sabrina walks listeners through the vision behind Cyclisity, explaining how the app was designed as an educational companion to Taking Charge of Your Fertility, running the four FAM rules as taught in the book and directing users back to the relevant pages and chapters as they chart. The episode also covers the importance of data privacy, the limitations of ovulation predictor kits as a standalone tool, and why education remains the foundation of effective fertility awareness practice. Follow this link to view the full show notes page! This episode is sponsored by Lisa's new book, Real Food for Fertility, co-authored with Lily Nichols! Grab your copy here! 🎧 Would you prefer to listen to the audiobook version of Real Food for Fertility instead? 🎧 Listen here! 💥This episode is also sponsored by FAMM, the Fertility Awareness Mastery MentorshipTM program! Apply now to join our next class! We start on May 12th! 📚Have you grabbed your copy of the Fertility Awareness Mastery Charting Workbook? It is the first fully customizable paper charting workbook of its kind, available in both Fahrenheit and Celsius editions. Click here to grab your copy today! 📚 If you haven't grabbed your copy of The Fifth Vital Sign, grab it here! 🎧Would you rather listen to the audiobook version of The Fifth Vital Sign? 🎧 Listen here!

In this episode of the Fertility Friday Podcast, Lisa welcomes back Aimee Raupp, MS, LAc, to celebrate the newly updated and expanded edition of Yes, You Can Get Pregnant — and the conversation covers far more than a book launch. Lisa and Aimee explore why a diagnosis of unexplained infertility should be a starting point for deeper investigation, not a final answer, and discuss the four core factors every practitioner and client should be considering: egg quality, sperm health, the uterine environment, and immune function.  Follow this link to view the full show notes page! This episode is sponsored by Lisa's new book Real Food for Fertility, co-authored with Lily Nichols! Grab your copy here!  Would you prefer to listen to the audiobook version of Real Food for Fertility instead? 🎧 Listen here! This episode is also sponsored by FAMM, the Fertility Awareness Mastery MentorshipTM program! Apply now to join the waiting list for our next class!  Have you grabbed your copy of the Fertility Awareness Mastery Charting Workbook? It is the first fully customizable paper charting workbook of its kind, available in both Fahrenheit and Celsius editions. Click here to grab your copy today! 📚 If you haven't grabbed your copy of The Fifth Vital Sign, grab it here! Would you rather listen to the audiobook version of The Fifth Vital Sign? 🎧 Listen here!

In Episode 619, Lisa dives into a compelling meta-analysis examining the effect of omega-3 supplements and dietary intake on fertility outcomes in women. For practitioners supporting clients in the preconception window, this episode offers a clinically grounded look at where omega-3 supplements and fertility intersect in the current evidence base. Follow this link to view the full show notes page! This episode is sponsored by Lisa's new book Real Food for Fertility, co-authored with Lily Nichols! Grab your copy here!  Would you prefer to listen to the audiobook version of Real Food for Fertility instead? 🎧 Listen here! This episode is also sponsored by FAMM, the Fertility Awareness Mastery MentorshipTM program! Apply now to join the waiting list for our next class!  Have you grabbed your copy of the Fertility Awareness Mastery Charting Workbook? It is the first fully customizable paper charting workbook of its kind, available in both Fahrenheit and Celsius editions. Click here to grab your copy today! 📚 If you haven't grabbed your copy of The Fifth Vital Sign, grab it here! Would you rather listen to the audiobook version of The Fifth Vital Sign? 🎧 Listen here!

Miscarriage affects somewhere between 10 to 15 out of every 100 pregnancies, yet the male contribution to early pregnancy loss is rarely part of the clinical conversation. In this episode of the Fertility Friday Podcast, Lisa breaks down a 2021 study examining sperm DNA fragmentation as a biomarker for miscarriage — and what the findings may mean for practitioners supporting couples through fertility challenges.  Follow this link to view the full show notes page! This episode is sponsored by Lisa's new book Real Food for Fertility, co-authored with Lily Nichols! Grab your copy here!  Would you prefer to listen to the audiobook version of Real Food for Fertility instead? 🎧 Listen here! This episode is also sponsored by FAMM, the Fertility Awareness Mastery MentorshipTM program! Apply now to join the waiting list for our next class!  Have you grabbed your copy of the Fertility Awareness Mastery Charting Workbook? It is the first fully customizable paper charting workbook of its kind, available in both Fahrenheit and Celsius editions. Click here to grab your copy today! 📚 If you haven't grabbed your copy of The Fifth Vital Sign, grab it here! Would you rather listen to the audiobook version of The Fifth Vital Sign? 🎧 Listen here!

In this episode, Lisa explores a landmark Danish study — the largest of its kind — examining the relationship between sperm quality and life expectancy in nearly 80,000 men followed for up to 50 years. The headline finding: men with the highest total motile sperm counts lived an average of 2.7 years longer than men with the lowest counts, and this association held consistently across multiple semen parameters, including sperm concentration, semen volume, and total sperm count. Lisa walks through her five key takeaways from the research, including how pre-existing illness did not account for the association and why men with azoospermia fell into a distinct category of their own. The discussion raises a compelling question for practitioners: could semen parameters function as an early biological signal of underlying health — much like the menstrual cycle does in women? This episode offers an evidence-informed lens for thinking about male reproductive health beyond fertility outcomes alone. Follow this link to view the full show notes page! This episode is sponsored by Lisa's new book Real Food for Fertility, co-authored with Lily Nichols! Grab your copy here!  Would you prefer to listen to the audiobook version of Real Food for Fertility instead? 🎧 Listen here! This episode is also sponsored by FAMM, the Fertility Awareness Mastery MentorshipTM program! Apply now to join the waiting list for our next class!  Have you grabbed your copy of the Fertility Awareness Mastery Charting Workbook? It is the first fully customizable paper charting workbook of its kind, available in both Fahrenheit and Celsius editions. Click here to grab your copy today! 📚 If you haven't grabbed your copy of The Fifth Vital Sign, grab it here! Would you rather listen to the audiobook version of The Fifth Vital Sign? 🎧 Listen here!

In this episode of the FAMM Research Series, Lisa examines peer-reviewed research on the relationship between ADHD symptoms and the menstrual cycle, exploring how reproductive hormones may influence symptom variability in women. The episode draws on a study titled "Reproductive Steroids and ADHD Symptoms Across the Menstrual Cycle," which tracked salivary hormone levels and self-reported ADHD symptoms throughout participants' cycles. Lisa discusses key findings suggesting that the luteal phase — when progesterone is elevated and estrogen is comparatively lower — may be associated with a higher presentation of ADHD-related symptoms in women. She also highlights a secondary study on misdiagnosis, examining the specific challenges women face in receiving an accurate ADHD diagnosis, including patterns of being treated for anxiety or depression before the underlying condition is identified. Throughout the episode, Lisa connects these findings to the broader value of menstrual cycle charting as a tool for recognizing cyclical symptom patterns in clinical practice. Follow this link to view the full show notes page! This episode is sponsored by Lisa's new book Real Food for Fertility, co-authored with Lily Nichols! Grab your copy here!  Would you prefer to listen to the audiobook version of Real Food for Fertility instead? 🎧 Listen here! This episode is also sponsored by FAMM, the Fertility Awareness Mastery MentorshipTM program! Apply now to join the waiting list for our next class!  Have you grabbed your copy of the Fertility Awareness Mastery Charting Workbook? It is the first fully customizable paper charting workbook of its kind, available in both Fahrenheit and Celsius editions. Click here to grab your copy today! 📚 If you haven't grabbed your copy of The Fifth Vital Sign, grab it here! Would you rather listen to the audiobook version of The Fifth Vital Sign? 🎧 Listen here!