7 Best Fitness and Nutrition Podcasts for Women

Mel Robbins interviews Dr. Stacy Sims, an exercise physiologist and women’s health researcher, about why most popular fitness and nutrition advice fails women. Sims explains her core principle, “women are not small men,” and details how female physiology, hormones, and muscle composition require different strategies from male-centered ‘bro science.’

Four leading women’s health experts explain why female-specific exercise, nutrition, sleep, and environmental strategies are essential for longevity, brain health, fertility, and menopause. They show how most fitness and diet guidance is based on male data and can backfire hormonally for women, especially around the menstrual cycle and in perimenopause. The conversation emphasizes muscle as a critical metabolic and ‘geroprotective’ organ, the dangers of chronic moderate-intensity cardio, under‑recovery, and under‑eating, plus the profound impact of sleep and environmental toxins. They close by urging women to become CEOs of their own health, push back against minimization, and proactively plan for both fertility and healthy aging.

Andrew Huberman and exercise physiologist Dr. Stacy Sims dive into how female physiology—especially hormones and life stage—changes the rules for nutrition, fasting, training, recovery, and temperature-based tools like sauna and cold exposure.

Dr. Lauren Colenso-Semple argues that skeletal muscle biology and training adaptations are largely similar in men and women; differences in baseline muscularity are mainly driven by puberty-related testosterone, not different “rules” for women’s training.

Dr. Stacy Sims explains how most exercise, nutrition, and sports science protocols are built on male data and why applying them directly to women often backfires. She details fundamental sex differences in physiology—from muscle fiber type, heart and lung size, to the menstrual cycle, perimenopause, and menopause—and how these change training, fasting, recovery, and injury risk.

Dr. Amy Shah argues women’s health guidance has lagged because much medical research historically centered on men, then offers a practical nutrition framework designed for busy women: 30 grams of protein in the first meal, 30 grams of fiber per day, and 3 probiotic foods daily.

Dr Mindy Pelz explains why fasting, food quality, and hormone-aware nutrition are more powerful and accessible health tools than most medications, including Ozempic. She argues that modern eating patterns and ultra-processed foods, especially obesogens and toxic additives, are driving obesity, cancer risk, and hormonal disruption while eroding metabolic flexibility. A large portion of the conversation focuses on women’s unique hormonal cycles, how fasting should be adapted across the menstrual month, and why menstrual health is a vital detox and longevity signal. Throughout, she urges people to build a personal ‘health toolbox’—combining fasting, food label literacy, strength training, microbiome support, connection, and oxytocin-raising behaviors—rather than outsourcing health to miracle drugs or one-size-fits-all diets.