Female-Specific Exercise & Nutrition for Health, Performance & Longevity | Dr. Stacy Sims

(uptempo music) Welcome to the Huberman Lab Podcast, where we discuss science and science-based tools for everyday life. I'm Andrew Huberman, and I'm a professor of neurobiology and ophthalmology at Stanford School of Medicine. My guest today is Dr. Staci Sims. Dr. Staci Sims is an exercise physiologist, and a nutrition scientist, and a world expert in all things training and nutrition, specifically for women. In addition to working at Stanford and with numerous professional athletic teams, Dr. Sims has authored more than 100 peer-reviewed studies on exercise physiology. She has not only evaluated existing protocols for nutrition and fitness that are specific to women versus men, but she has also developed many new protocols that are now in practice with professional sports teams, but that can also serve people who are generally interested in fitness and longevity, and in doing so, the general public. The tools that Dr. Sims shares with us today are applicable to fitness, to changing your body composition, and to overall health. Today, we discuss how hormones and hormone cycles impact nutrition and fitness needs, specifically in women of different ages. We, of course, discuss the menstrual cycle, perimenopause, and menopause, but also female-specific nutrition and training as it relates to things independent of hormones. For instance, we evaluate the evidence that women may not want to train fasted and the reasons for that. We talk about how training might vary according to different phases of the menstrual cycle, and we discuss how women can design nutrition and training programs that are optimized for their specific needs, not just because they are women, but because they are women of a particular stage of life and women with particular goals. As you'll soon see, Dr. Sims is exquisitely skilled at explaining the human universals of nutrition and training, that is, the things that do not differ between men and women and their needs in terms of nutrition and training. But she is also exquisitely skilled at highlighting the data showing that there are specific areas of nutrition and fitness for which women and men differ and women have specific needs. So today you will learn what those are, and you will learn how to apply those specific protocols such that by the end of today's episode, you will be armed with a tremendous amount of new knowledge about the biological mechanisms and the specific dos and do nots that can guide you towards your female-specific health and fitness goals. Before we begin, I'd like to emphasize that this podcast is separate from my teaching and research roles at Stanford. It is, however, part of my desire and effort to bring zero-cost-to-consumer information about science and science-related tools to the general public. In keeping with that theme, I'd like to thank the sponsors of today's podcast. Our first sponsor is Maui Nui Venison. Maui Nui Venison is the most nutrient-dense and delicious red meat available. Now, I've spoken many times before on this and other podcasts, and with several expert guests on this podcast, about the fact that most of us should be seeking to get about one gram of high-quality protein per pound of body weight every day. Not only does that protein provide critical building blocks for things like muscle repair and synthesis, but also for overall metabolism and health. Maui Nui Venison has an extremely high-quality protein-per-calorie ratio so that you can get that one gram of protein per pound of body weight easily and without ingesting an excess of calories. Also, Maui Nui Venison is absolutely delicious. I love their venison steaks, their ground venison. I love their bone broths, and I love their jerky, which is extremely convenient when you're traveling. Those Maui Nui Venison jerky sticks have 10 grams of high-quality protein per stick, at just 55 calories. While Maui Nui offers the highest quality meat available, their supplies are limited. Responsible management of the axis deer population on the island of Maui means that they will not go beyond harvest capacity. So signing up for a membership is the best way to ensure access to their high-quality meat. If you'd like to try Maui Nui Venison, you can go to mauinuivenison.com/huberman to get 20% off your membership or first order. Again, that's mauinuivenison.com/huberman. Today's episode is also brought to us by Eight Sleep. Eight Sleep makes smart mattress covers with cooling, heating, and sleep tracking capacity. Now, I've spoken many times before on this podcast about the critical need for us to get adequate amounts of quality sleep each night. One of the best ways to ensure a great night's sleep is to control the temperature of your sleeping environment, and that's because in order to fall and stay deeply asleep, your body temperature actually has to drop by about one to three degrees, and in order to wake up feeling refreshed and energized, your body temperature actually has to increase by about one to three degrees. Eight Sleep makes it incredibly easy to control the temperature of your sleeping environment by allowing you to program the temperature of your mattress cover at the beginning, middle, and end of the night. I've been sleeping on an Eight Sleep mattress cover for well over three years now, and it has completely transformed my sleep for the better. Eight Sleep recently launched their newest generation pod cover, the Pod 4 Ultra. The Pod 4 Ultra has improved cooling and heating capacity, higher fidelity sleep tracking technology, and it also has snoring detection that, remarkably, will automatically lift your head a few degrees to improve your airflow and stop your snoring. If you'd like to try an Eight Sleep mattress cover, you can go to eightsleep.com/huberman to save $350 off their Pod 4 Ultra. Eight Sleep currently ships to the USA, Canada, UK, select countries in the EU, and Australia. Again, that's eightsleep.com/huberman. Today's episode is also brought to us by Waking Up. Waking Up is a meditation app that offers hundreds of guided meditation programs, mindfulness trainings, yoga nidra sessions, and more. I started practicing meditation when I was about 15 years old, and it made a profound impact on my life. And by now, there are thousands of quality peer-reviewed studies that emphasize how useful mindfulness meditation can be for improving our focus, managing stress and anxiety, improving our mood, and much more. In recent years, I started using the Waking Up app for my meditations because I find it to be a terrific resource for allowing me to really be consistent with my meditation practice. Many people start a meditation practice and experience some benefits. But many people also have challenges keeping up with that practice. What I and so many other people love about the Waking Up app is that it has a lot of different meditations to choose from, and those meditations are of different durations. So it makes it very easy to keep up with your meditation practice.... both from the perspective of novelty, you never get tired of those meditations, there's always something new to explore and to learn about yourself and about the effectiveness of meditation. And, you can always fit meditation into your schedule even if you only have two or three minutes per day in which to meditate. I also really like doing Yoga Nidra, or what is sometimes called non-sleep deep rest, for about 10 or 20 minutes, because it is a great way to restore mental and physical vigor without the tiredness that some people experience when they wake up from a conventional nap. If you'd like to try the Waking Up app, please go to wakingup.com/huberman where you can access a free 30-day trial. Again, that's wakingup.com/huberman to access a free 30-day trial. And now for my discussion with Dr. Stacey Sims. Dr. Stacey Sims, welcome.