Podcast
unPAUSED with Dr. Mary Claire Haver
Hosted by Audacy | Mary Claire Haver, MD · EN
Welcome to unPAUSED, the podcast where bold, unfiltered conversations take place about what it really takes for women to thrive in the second half of life. Every week, Dr. Mary Claire Haver, a board-certified Obstetrician-Gynecologist, Certified Menopause Practitioner, and #1 New York Times best-selling author, tackles the conversations women actually need to hear. Dr. Haver sits down with a variety of medical experts, CEOs, and risk-takers to discuss everything that matters, from hormones and identity to financial power, relationships, and the tools needed to build the life you want. unPAUSED is about reclaiming your healthspan—not just the number of years you live, but the number of years you live well. Tune in every Tuesday for new episodes of unPAUSED. Subscribe now so you don't miss it.
47episodes
Episodes
Newest firstAll episodes
Gut, Brain, and Hormones: The Menopause Connection with Dr. Amy Shah
3d ago01:24:17Summary readyIn this episode of unPAUSED, Dr. Mary Claire Haver sits down with Dr. Amy Shah, a physician trained in internal medicine and immunology with a nutrition background from Cornell, and author of the new book Hormone Havoc. Dr. Haver and Dr. Shah begin the conversation with the gut-hormone-brain connection, explaining how 40% of estrogen is recirculated through the gut, how the estrobolome, the collection of gut bacteria responsible for metabolizing estrogen, determines how much the body retains, and why declining estrogen in perimenopause and menopause triggers a cascade that loosens the tight junctions meant to keep food particles, toxins, and viruses from entering the bloodstream. This leaky gut drives inflammation that accelerates every symptom women are already experiencing, from weight gain and mood changes to sleep disruption and brain health decline. The gut-brain axis, the constant two-way communication between the gut and the brain, means that what is happening in the gut is directly shaping cognitive function, motivation, and emotional resilience in menopause. She also covers how 95% of serotonin is made in the gut, why chronic inflammation reroutes tryptophan away from serotonin and melatonin, and what that means for mood, sleep, and appetite in midlife. Guest links: Dr. Amy Shah (Instagram) Dr. Amy Shah (TikTok) Dr. Amy Shah Save Yourself With Dr. Amy Shah (Apple Podcasts) Books: “Hormone Havoc: A Science-Backed Protocol for Perimenopause and Menopause: Sleep Better. Think Better. Feel Better,” by Dr. Amy Shah To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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Train Your Brain To Thrive Through Menopause
1w ago01:34:02Summary readyIn this episode of unPAUSED, Dr. Mary Claire Haver sits down with Dr. Sue Varma, a board certified psychiatrist, distinguished fellow of the American Psychiatric Association, and author of Practical Optimism. They open by taking on a question that sits at the intersection of psychiatry and menopause medicine: why do some women thrive through the most difficult biological transition of their lives, and what can the rest of us learn from them? Early in the conversation, Dr. Varma shares a finding that reframes everything: only 25% of people are born optimistic, and there is actually a gene for it. The other 75% have to learn it. Dr. Varma explains why optimism is not toxic positivity, what practical optimism actually means, and why both extreme optimists and extreme pessimists end up paralyzed into inaction in different ways. She also addresses what happens when depression, anxiety, and brain fog layer on top of the hormonal changes of menopause and perimenopause, and why so many women are being undertreated as a result. Guest links: Dr. Sue Varma (Instagram) Dr. Sue Varma (Facebook) Dr. Sue Varma (LinkedIn) Dr. Sue Varma Books: “Practical Optimism,” by Dr. Sue Varma “The New Perimenopause,” by Dr. Mary Claire Haver “The New Menopause" by Dr. Mary Claire Haver “Joyspan,” by Dr. Kerry Burnight “The Relaxation Response,” by Dr. Herbert Benson To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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Menopause Masterclass: My Menopause Toolkit – HRT and more
2w ago01:04:44Summary readyIn this solo episode of unPAUSED, Dr. Mary Claire Haver answers one of the most asked questions she receives: what hormones do you actually take, and why? Rather than a general overview of menopause hormone therapy, this is a fully transparent, clinically grounded walk through her personal protocol, including every formulation she uses, why she chose it, and what the FDA-approved alternatives are for women whose needs or circumstances differ. Dr. Haver opens with systemic estrogen, explaining why she uses a transdermal patch as her primary delivery method, why she added a small dose of oral estradiol for bone protection after finding her serum levels were not reaching the threshold needed to preserve bone density, and why she believes routine estradiol level testing should become standard of care even though current guidelines do not yet reflect the latest absorption data. She walks through the key FDA-approved transdermal and oral estrogen options, including patches, gels, sprays, and oral formulations, covering the differences in delivery, cost, clotting risk, and SHBG implications. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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Toxins, Stress, and What They're Doing to Your Hormones with a Top Reproductive Endocrinologist
3w ago00:50:01Summary readyIn this episode of unPAUSED, Dr. Mary Claire Haver continues her conversation with Dr. Natalie Crawford, double board certified obstetrician, gynecologist, and reproductive endocrinologist, and author of The Fertility Formula. In part two of this conversation, Dr. Crawford gets specific about the forces working against our hormones every day, chronic stress, disrupted sleep, inflammatory food, and the endocrine disrupting chemicals most women have never been warned about. She explains how cortisol triggers insulin resistance, how insulin resistance drives inflammation and ovarian dysfunction, and why resistance training and building skeletal muscle is one of the most direct interventions a woman can make at any age, including perimenopause. On sleep, she makes the case that it is the single most under addressed factor she sees clinically, explaining how FSH and LH are released in the early morning hours and why disrupted sleep directly interferes with ovulation, estrogen, and progesterone production. The conversation also covers anti-inflammatory nutrition and gut health, the difference between unscented and fragrance-free, why forever chemicals and phthalates are disrupting the hormone system from inside most women's homes, birth control timing and uterine lining recovery, and what egg freezing actually is and is not, and who it is most likely to benefit. Guest links Natalie Crawford, MD Natalie Crawford, MD (Instagram) Natalie Crawford, MD (TikTok) Natalie Crawford, MD (Facebook) Natalie Crawford, MD (YouTube) Natalie Crawford, MD (LinkedIn) Books “The New Perimenopause,” by Dr. Mary Claire Haver “The New Menopause,” by Dr. Mary Claire Haver “The Fertility Formula,” by Dr. Natalie Crawford To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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The Truth About Your Biological Clock: Egg Quality, AMH and Fertility with Dr. Natalie Crawford
3w ago01:08:06Summary readyIn this episode of unPAUSED, Dr. Mary Claire Haver sits down with Dr. Natalie Crawford, a double board certified obstetrician, gynecologist, and reproductive endocrinologist, and author of the new book The Fertility Formula. Both physicians open by sharing their own fertility journeys, including pregnancy losses and dismissal from the medical system, before turning to the science that most women are never given access to. Dr. Crawford challenges one of the most persistent myths in women's health: that the biological clock is about running out of eggs. It is not. It is about egg quality, and those are completely different problems with completely different solutions. She explains how inflammation damages the chromosomes and mitochondria inside eggs, how chronic inflammation can actually deplete the ovarian reserve by penetrating the ovarian vault, and why the standard message to women, hurry up or give up, is not supported by the science. Guest links Natalie Crawford, MD Natalie Crawford, MD (Instagram) Natalie Crawford, MD (TikTok) Natalie Crawford, MD (Threads) Natalie Crawford, MD (Facebook) Natalie Crawford, MD (YouTube) Natalie Crawford, MD (LinkedIn) Books “The New Perimenopause,” by Dr. Mary Claire Haver “The New Menopause,” by Dr. Mary Claire Haver“The Fertility Formula,” by Dr. Natalie Crawford To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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GLP-1s, Hormones, and Why You Can't Calorie-Count Your Way Out of Menopause with Dr. Michelle Gordon
Jun 201:15:07Summary readyIn this episode of unPAUSED, Dr. Mary Claire Haver sits down with Dr. Michelle Gordon, a board certified obesity medicine physician and diplomate of the American College of Lifestyle Medicine, with surgical fellowships from the American College of Surgeons and the American College of Osteopathic Surgeons. Through her practice Thrive Span Medical, she works with midlife women across 39 states whose metabolic and hormonal symptoms have been dismissed as normal aging. Dr. Gordon opens by dismantling the calories in, calories out framework, not as a vague wellness talking point but on a physiological level. She explains why biology determines the burn rate, why fat oxidation drops by 32% in perimenopause, why visceral fat accumulation accelerates when estrogen declines, and why insulin resistance and leptin resistance make it nearly impossible for midlife women to lose weight through willpower alone. She also covers how sleep deprivation compounds all of it, creating a cycle of cravings, brain fog, and weight gain that most women are navigating without any clinical support. Guest links: Michelle E. Gordon, DO (LinkedIn) Dr. Michelle Gordon (Instagram) Dr. Gordon, Obesity Medicine (Substack) Dr. Michelle Gordon (Facebook) Dr. Michelle Gordon Dr. Michelle Gordon (TikTok) Dr. Michelle Gordon Dr. Michelle Gordon (YouTube) Books: “The New Perimenopause: An Evidence-Based Guide to Surviving the Zone of Chaos and Feeling Like Yourself Again,” by Dr. Mary Claire Haver “The New Menopause,” by Dr. Mary Claire HaverWeightless: A Doctor's Guide to GLP-1 Medications, Sustainable Weight Loss, and the Health You Deserve,” by Dr. Rocio Salas-Whalen To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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Menopause Is a Portal: Reclaiming the Body, the Story, and the Second Half with Dr. Hillary McBride
May 2601:11:12Summary readyIn this episode of unPAUSED, Dr. Mary Claire Haver sits down with Dr. Hilary McBride, a psychologist, researcher, and author whose work focuses on women's lived experience of embodiment across the lifespan, and particularly what happens during the perimenopausal and menopausal transition. She brings a feminist, biopsychosocial lens to the work, looking at the intersection of biology and culture and how the stories we are handed about aging as women can shape what we actually feel, right down to measurable health outcomes. Dr. McBride opens by naming what the research literature has gotten wrong. Women's voices have been largely absent from the empirical conversation about perimenopause and menopause, and what women are actually saying when asked about their experience is strikingly different from what the medical literature reflects. They are describing not just difficulty but clarity, not just loss but a deepening sense of self, not just symptoms but a portal. Guest links: Hillary L. McBride Hillary L. McBride (Instagram) Hillary McBride (Facebook) Hillary McBride (X) Books: Hillary L. McBride To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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The Holistic Plastic Surgeon: Devices, Ozempic Face, and What Your Habits Do to Aging Skin
May 2100:42:21Summary readyIn this episode of unPAUSED, Dr. Mary Claire Haver continues her conversation with Dr. Tony Youn, board certified plastic surgeon, bestselling author of Younger for Life, and the most followed plastic surgeon on social media. In part two of this conversation, Dr. Youn moves from skincare into devices, lifestyle, and the bigger picture of how women can think about aging and anti-aging without getting swept up in the extremes. Dr. Youn walks through the most commonly asked about in-office treatments, explaining what each one actually does and where the limitations are. He covers IPL for hyperpigmentation and sun damage, fractional CO2 lasers and how they differ from older more aggressive approaches, chemical peels and how depth determines results, and radiofrequency microneedling including what it can realistically achieve and where it falls short. He also addresses at-home devices, covering red light therapy and what the studies actually show about collagen and elastin, and what to look for in a dermal stamper. Guest links: Anthony Youn, MD Tony Youn, MD (Instagram) Doctor Youn (TikTok) Dr. Anthony Youn (Facebook) Doctor Youn (YouTube) The Doctor Youn Show (Apple Podcasts) Books “The New Perimenopause,” by Dr. Mary Claire Haver “The New Menopause" by Dr. Mary Claire Haver“Younger for Life: Unlocking the Secrets of Longevity, Nutrition and Self-Care for a Youthful Life,” by Anthony Youn "Playing God" by Anthony Youn "The Age Fix" by Anthony Youn "In Stitches" by Anthony Youn To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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What Estrogen Does to Your Skin (And What Actually Works)
May 1901:07:27Summary readyIn this episode of unPAUSED, Dr. Mary Claire Haver sits down with Dr. Tony Youn, a board certified plastic surgeon nationally recognized as one of the top plastic surgeons in the United States, bestselling author of Younger for Life, and the most followed plastic surgeon on social media with more than five million YouTube subscribers and eight million TikTok followers. In part one of this two part conversation, they take on a question that sits at the intersection of hormones and skin health that most doctors have never connected for their patients: what estrogen is actually doing to the skin, and what women can do about it. Dr. Youn opens with a statistic that women lose 30% of the thickness of their collagen in the first five years after menopause, and then continue losing collagen at twice the rate of men for every year that follows. He explains exactly why this happens, how estrogen interacts with the fibroblasts that produce collagen and elastin, what declining estrogen does to hyaluronic acid and skin hydration, and why women are not imagining it when their skincare suddenly stops working. Guest links: Anthony Youn, MD Tony Youn, MD (Instagram) Doctor Youn (TikTok) Dr. Anthony Youn (Facebook) Doctor Youn (YouTube) The Doctor Youn Show (Apple Podcasts) Books “The New Perimenopause,” by Dr. Mary Claire Haver “The New Menopause" by Dr. Mary Claire Haver“Younger for Life: Unlocking the Secrets of Longevity, Nutrition and Self-Care for a Youthful Life,” by Anthony Youn "Playing God" by Anthony Youn To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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Menopause Masterclass: HRT Safety, Patch Absorption, Progesterone Intolerance, and Bone Density
May 1201:04:52Summary readyIn this episode of unPAUSED, Dr. Mary Claire Haver answers your most asked questions about hormone therapy, menopause symptoms, and how to advocate for yourself when your doctor doesn't have answers. She walks through who actually qualifies for HRT, what the real contraindications are versus conditions that simply require a different delivery method, and how to think about continuing estrogen, progesterone, and testosterone therapy after 60. Dr. Haver explains the estrogen patch absorption problem, with research showing that up to 20 percent of women on transdermal therapy never reach physiologic estradiol levels regardless of dose. She breaks down SHBG, the protein that can bind your hormones and render them inactive even when your numbers look adequate on paper, and walks through what optimal estradiol levels look like for bone density and osteoporosis prevention specifically. Books: “The Complete Bone and Joint Health Plan: Help Prevent and Treat Osteoporosis and Arthritis,” by Jocelyn Wittstein“The New Perimenopause,” by Dr. Mary Claire Haver Resources: Women’s Health Initiative Estradiol (University of Rochester Medical Center) Meet Dr. Heather Hirsch Alloy Health Midi Health Menopause Quiz Lab Test Checklist Blueprint to close the women's health gap To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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