13: Biohacking Fertility: Why Infertility Is a Symptom, Not a Diagnosis with Dr. Aumatma Simmons

13: Biohacking Fertility: Why Infertility Is a Symptom, Not a Diagnosis with Dr. Aumatma Simmons

When a woman is told she cannot get pregnant, the assumption is often that something in her body has failed. But what if infertility is not the final answer? What if it is a signal that the body needs different internal conditions before it can support conception, implantation, and pregnancy? In this episode of The Ovary Club, I'm joined by Dr. Aumatma Simmons to talk about fertility through the lens of female biology. We get into why infertility should be understood as a symptom, what the body may be doing when conception is not happening, why most biohacking advice was built around male physiology, and how women can start supporting fertility by working with their cycle instead of against it. Dr. Aumatma Simmons is a double board-certified Naturopathic Endocrinologist who has spent nearly 20 years specializing in fertility. She works with the cases that often fall through the cracks, including unexplained infertility and recurrent pregnancy loss, and helps women and couples look beyond standard testing to understand hormones, egg quality, sleep, blood sugar, toxins, partner health, and the deeper factors that can affect conception. Want to go deeper with this episode? Insiders get to submit questions and receive monthly Q&As directly from Alisa. Join here: alisavitti.kit.com/products/the-ovary-club [https://alisavitti.kit.com/products/the-ovary-club] What's Discussed: 02:36 – Why infertility should be understood as a symptom, not a diagnosis. 06:59 – What the body may be doing when conception is not happening. 09:58 – Why biohacking fertility has to account for female biology and the infradian rhythm. 13:58 – What to assess before starting another supplement stack, protocol, or fertility plan. 19:06 – Why sleep can change ovulation, progesterone, egg quality, and fertility outcomes. 38:34 – How carb restriction, fasting, and intense workouts can work against fertility. 52:59 – What standard testing can miss in unexplained infertility and recurrent pregnancy loss. If you are trying to conceive, navigating unexplained infertility, dealing with recurrent pregnancy loss, or wondering why everything looks "normal" but something still feels off, this episode will help you understand what your body may need before conception can happen. Thank You to Our Sponsors: MyFLOⓇ App: Download the MyFLOⓇ App at floliving.com/pages/app [https://floliving.com/pages/app] and use the code FREEMONTH Ovary Club Insiders: Ovary Club: Join us at alisavitti.kit.com/products/the-ovary-club [https://alisavitti.kit.com/products/the-ovary-club] Learn more about Alisa Vitti: Instagram: @alisa.vitti [https://www.instagram.com/alisa.vitti/] Website: alisavitti.kit.com/ [https://alisavitti.kit.com/] Learn more about Dr. Aumatma Simmons: Instagram: @holisticfertilitydoctor [https://www.instagram.com/holisticfertilitydoctor/] LinkedIn: Aumatma/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/aumatma/] Facebook: DrAumatmaND [http://facebook.com/DrAumatmaND] YouTube: HolisticFertilityExpert [https://www.youtube.com/c/HolisticFertilityExpert] TikTok: @holisticfertilitydoctor [https://www.tiktok.com/@holisticfertilitydoctor] Website: holisticfertilityinstitute.com [https://holisticfertilityinstitute.com/] Madre: madrefertility.com [https://madrefertility.com/]

12: PMOS Part 1: The PMOS Symptoms Women Are Told Are Normal

Note: This episode was recorded before PCOS was renamed PMOS, Polyendocrine Metabolic Ovarian Syndrome. Throughout this episode and some original episode materials, you may hear or see the former name PCOS used. Before I ever built FLO Living or created the Cycle Syncing® Method, I was a teenager who knew something was wrong with my body and had no language for it. I didn't get my first period until almost 16. Then my period disappeared for months at a time. By 19, my skin, weight, hair growth, sleep, mood, and energy were all telling the same story, but no one could tell me what it meant. In this episode of The Ovary Club, I'm sharing the part of my PMOS story I rarely get to tell in full. I walk through what it felt like to live with painful cystic acne, unexplained weight gain, excess body hair, insomnia, anxiety, depression, brain fog, and missing periods before I finally found a possible answer in a medical journal and received a PMOS diagnosis seven years after my first bleed. I also break down what PMOS actually is, why elevated androgens can disrupt ovulation, why the condition can look different from woman to woman, and why a diagnosis is not always as simple as one symptom, one scan, or one lab result. Before we get into triggers and the protocol in Part 2, this episode gives you the foundation for understanding what your body may have been trying to tell you all along. Want to go deeper with this episode? Insiders get to submit questions and receive monthly Q&As directly from Alisa. Join here: alisavitti.kit.com/products/the-ovary-club [https://alisavitti.kit.com/products/the-ovary-club] What's Discussed: (05:55) Why I'm sharing the PMOS story I rarely tell in full. (09:48) Getting my first period late, missing cycles for years, and knowing something was off. (11:43) How acne, weight gain, hair growth, insomnia, anxiety, depression, and brain fog showed up together. (17:17) The medical journal moment that finally gave me a lead. (18:59) What changed when I finally got a PMOS diagnosis after years without answers. (27:36) What PMOS actually is and why elevated androgens matter. (35:05) The symptoms and diagnostic criteria women should know before they are told everything is "normal." If your symptoms feel disconnected, confusing, or easy to dismiss, this episode will help you understand why they may be part of the same bigger hormonal picture. Thank You to Our Sponsors: MyFLOⓇ App: Download the MyFLOⓇ App at floliving.com/pages/app [https://floliving.com/pages/app] and use the code FREEMONTH Ovary Club Insiders: Ovary Club: Join us at alisavitti.kit.com/products/the-ovary-club [https://alisavitti.kit.com/products/the-ovary-club] Learn more about Alisa Vitti: Instagram: @alisa.vitti [https://www.instagram.com/alisa.vitti/] Website: alisavitti.kit.com/ [https://alisavitti.kit.com/]

11: The Early Signs of Perimenopause Most Women Miss with Dr. Robin Berzin

Perimenopause is one of those phases women are often taught to recognize only after it becomes obvious. The cycle can still look regular, labs can still look normal on paper, and one appointment may not give enough context to explain why the body suddenly feels different. In this episode of The Ovary Club, I'm joined by Dr. Robin Berzin to talk about how to build a clearer picture of early perimenopause before symptoms become impossible to ignore. We get into what women should start paying attention to, why tracking patterns over time matters, how stress, blood sugar, thyroid, and adrenal health can overlap with hormonal changes, and what to ask for when you want more useful answers. Dr. Robin Berzin is a Columbia-trained internal medicine physician, functional medicine pioneer, and founder and CEO of Parsley Health, the first national functional medicine and longevity clinic in the US. She is also the author of State Change: End Anxiety, Beat Burnout, and Ignite a New Baseline of Energy and Flow and one of the leading voices helping women understand the physical root causes behind symptoms they are too often told to brush off. Want to go deeper with this episode? Insiders get to submit questions and receive monthly Q&As directly from Alisa. Join us at alisavitti.kit.com/products/the-ovary-club [https://alisavitti.kit.com/products/the-ovary-club] What's Discussed: 01:54 – Why so many women miss the early perimenopause window. 03:36 – The symptoms that can show up before perimenopause looks "obvious." 06:58 – Why this stage matters for your long-term health span. 10:23 – Where HRT fits into the bigger perimenopause conversation. 14:57 – What testing can help clarify when everything feels confusing. 23:13 – Why stress and metabolism can make perimenopause harder to read. 33:43 – The brain and focus changes women do not always connect to hormones. Thank You to Our Sponsors: FLO Living (supplement): Get 25% off with the code podcast25 at floliving.com [http://floliving.com] Ovary Club Insiders: Ovary Club: Join us at alisavitti.kit.com/products/the-ovary-club [https://alisavitti.kit.com/products/the-ovary-club] Learn more about Alisa Vitti: Instagram: @alisa.vitti [https://www.instagram.com/alisa.vitti/] Website: alisavitti.kit.com/ [https://alisavitti.kit.com/] Learn More About Dr. Robin Berzin: Website: www.parsleyhealth.com [https://www.parsleyhealth.com] Instagram: @parsleyhealth [https://www.instagram.com/parsleyhealth/] and @robinberzinmd [https://www.instagram.com/robinberzinmd/] X: @parsley_health [https://x.com/parsley_health] and @robinberzinmd [https://x.com/robinberzinmd] LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/robin-berzin-md [https://www.linkedin.com/in/robin-berzin-md] Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/parsleyhealthwww.facebook.com/parsleyhealth [http://www.facebook.com/parsleyhealth]

10: The Ultimate 5 Biohacks for Women

When you scroll through wellness content nowadays, you are going to see a lot of influencers sharing the next biohack women should try to balance their hormones, increase energy, reduce inflammation, or finally feel like themselves again. Cold plunges, supplement stacks, red light devices, fasting protocols, expensive wearables, and morning routines that look impossible to keep up with. And if you are someone who is desperate to support your hormonal health, you have probably tried a few of them. But what if those "biohacks" are actually doing less for your hormones than the free things your body was designed to respond to? In this episode of The Ovary Club, I'm breaking down the five most powerful biohacks for women's hormones, and none of them require a supplement stack, a wellness gadget, or another expensive protocol. Because after decades of working with women's hormones, one thing has become incredibly clear to me: the female body responds most powerfully to the things modern culture keeps teaching women to deprioritize. Want to go deeper with this episode? Insiders get to submit questions and receive monthly Q&As directly from Alisa. Join us at alisavitti.kit.com/products/the-ovary-club [https://alisavitti.kit.com/products/the-ovary-club] What's Discussed: (02:10) Why expensive wellness trends are not always the most powerful tools for women's hormones. (04:35) Why ovulation is not just about fertility, but one of the clearest signs of hormonal health. (07:42) How progesterone supports sleep, mood, and nervous system regulation. (10:18) Why orgasm is a real hormonal event and how pleasure affects cortisol, DHEA, and cycle health. (14:26) Why sleep is non-negotiable for cortisol, blood sugar, ovulation, and hormonal repair. (19:08) How morning sunlight affects circadian rhythm, vitamin D, serotonin, and melatonin. (23:44) Why community and social connection directly affect cortisol, oxytocin, and hormonal resilience. (28:12) Why the free inputs women often dismiss are actually the biological requirements their hormones depend on. If you've been feeling exhausted, hormonally overwhelmed, disconnected from your body, or like wellness has become another impossible standard to keep up with, this episode will help you understand what your hormones are actually asking for and how to support them in a way that feels sustainable, grounded, and biologically aligned instead of stressful and performative. Thank You to Our Sponsors: FLO Living (supplement): Get 25% off with the code podcast25 at floliving.com [http://floliving.com] Ovary Club Insiders: Ovary Club: Join us at alisavitti.kit.com/products/the-ovary-club [https://alisavitti.kit.com/products/the-ovary-club] Learn more about Alisa Vitti: Instagram: @alisa.vitti [https://www.instagram.com/alisa.vitti/] Website: alisavitti.kit.com/ [https://alisavitti.kit.com/]

9: Why "Balancing Your Hormones" Is BS

"Balance your hormones" sounds like the goal. It is on supplement labels, wellness posts, detox programs, hormone hacks, and every quick-fix promise that makes women feel like their body is a problem to solve. But your hormones do not get "balanced." They respond. They respond to whether you are eating enough, sleeping deeply, managing stress, clearing estrogen, moving with your cycle, and living in a way your endocrine system can actually regulate. So if you keep trying to fix estrogen, progesterone, cortisol, or PMS directly, you may be chasing the output instead of correcting the inputs. In this episode of The Ovary Club, I break down why the hormone balance conversation is misleading, what your endocrine system is actually responding to, and the five foundations of the WomanCode FLO Protocol that help your body regulate hormones naturally instead of forcing quick fixes that never last. Want to go deeper with this episode? Ovary Club Insiders get a special download: Your Ovarian Scorecard — find out exactly where your hormones need the most support and get a 30-day plan to fix it. Become an Insider here: alisavitti.kit.com/products/the-ovary-club [https://alisavitti.kit.com/products/the-ovary-club] What's Discussed: (01:24) Why "balancing your hormones" is the wrong framework. (04:09) How detoxes, cleanses, restriction, and overtraining can worsen hormonal symptoms. (06:00) Why hormones are outputs, not the starting point. (09:00) How sleep, stress, food timing, and lifestyle inputs affect progesterone and ovulation. (13:33) Why no single supplement or quick fix can solve hormonal dysfunction. (19:16) How blood sugar stability becomes the first foundation of hormone regulation. (23:06) Why cortisol and stress signals can shut down reproductive priorities. (24:31) How gut health and estrogen metabolism affect PMS, bloating, heavy periods, and inflammation. (34:00) Why cycle syncing reduces stress on the endocrine system. (39:49) How rest, pleasure, and connection support the nervous system and hormonal health. If you have been trying to "balance your hormones" and still feel like nothing is working, this episode will show you why the goal was wrong from the beginning. Listen on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Thank You to Our Sponsors: FLO Living (supplement): Get 25% off with the code podcast25 at floliving.com [http://floliving.com] Ovary Club Insiders: Ovary Club: Join us at alisavitti.kit.com/products/the-ovary-club [https://alisavitti.kit.com/products/the-ovary-club] Learn more about Alisa Vitti: Instagram: @alisa.vitti [https://www.instagram.com/alisa.vitti/] Website: alisavitti.kit.com/ [https://alisavitti.kit.com/]