There’s a lot of confusion about how our hormones change as we age, as well as how we can safely optimize them to not only benefit our health, but also improve our longevity. Elizabeth Yurth, MD, explains some of the key hormones that affect our wellness, the role they play in our health, what happens if they’re not appropriately balanced, and how to be proactive about addressing hormonal changes.

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Elizabeth Yurth, MD, ABPMR, ABAARM, FAARM, FAARFM, FSSRP, is the cofounder and chief medical officer of Boulder Longevity Institute, where she has been providing “tomorrow’s medicine today” to her clients since 2006. Along with her 30 years as a practicing orthopedist specializing in sports and spine medicine, Yurth has made it her mission to learn and share the latest scientific research on how to truly heal the body at the cellular level.

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She is fellowship trained in antiaging, regenerative, and cellular medicine and has completed 500-plus hours of training focused on longevity, nutrition, epigenetics, bioidentical hormone replacement therapy, regenerative peptide treatments, and regenerative orthopedic procedures. Yurth continues to serve as a thought leader in cellular medicine, speaking at longevity events across the world and teaching others through her position as a founding faculty member for Seeds Scientific Research and Performance Institute.

Episode Highlights

In this episode, Yurth talks about some of the key considerations around hormone health in relation to longevity, including the following:

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• While many hormones play various roles in the body, when it comes to longevity, the ones to focus on are the sex hormones: estrogen, progesterone, and testosterone.
• It’s common to think about estrogen and progesterone as female hormones and testosterone as a male hormone, but all three are equally important for both sexes.
• Research shows that hormone levels drop are dropping earlier in life, according to Yurth. For both men and women, optimal hormone levels tend to be in the early 20s, with men starting to see declines around age 25 and women around age 23.
• Environmental toxins, such as microplastics and chemicals like glyphosate, are hard to avoid; these endocrine disruptors interfere with hormone levels.
• Birth control pills are widely prescribed, yet Yurth stresses the importance of understanding how that medication can negatively affect hormone health.
• The Women’s Health Initiative study, which came out in 1991 and was designed to investigate the effects of hormone replacement therapy (HRT) in post-menopausal women, was cut short because researchers felt that hormone replacement was causing cancer. Yurth explains that study was misinterpreted and that there aren’t actually any studies that support the claim that estradiol causes cancer. She notes that there is a time and a place for HRT.
• Yurth also emphasizes understanding your hormones as soon as possible: The earlier you can address changes, the better. She speaks to a Stanford study that found that women who started on hormone replacement therapy at the onset of perimenopause had a marked reduction in atherosclerosis and cardiac disease risk.
• Because hormone imbalances aren’t always addressed by traditional medical providers, Yurth emphasizes the importance of being your own health advocate and being an active participant in your health trajectory.

Resources

• Female Hormone Balance and Optimization: A Panel Discussion With Life Time’s MIORA Leaders
• Male Hormone Balance and Optimization: A Panel Discussion With Life Time’s MIORA Leaders
• Balancing Your Sex Hormones
• How to Balance Your Hormones
• A Women’s Guide: 5 Practical Ways to Balance Hormones
• How to Balance Your Hormones as You Age
• Navigating Menopause
• Low Testosterone: Causes, Symptoms, Solutions
• How Strength Training Balances Your Hormones
• Boulder Longevity Institute
• BLI’s Human Optimization Academy
• @dryurth and @boulderlongevityinstitute on Instagram
• Boulder Longevity Institute on Facebook

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This podcast is puilled from Life Time Talks, podcasts created by Experience Life.