The Root Cause Medicine Podcast · Rupa Health

Hidden Impacts of Menopause: Gut Health, Methylation, and More with Dr. Bridget Briggs: Episode Rerun

·47 min·3 clips

Briggs says women with PCOS can have three to eight times higher BPA in their bloodstream.

1. The Root Cause Medicine Podcast episode centers on menopause, gut health, methylation, and hormonal changes in women in their 40s and 50s. 2. Dr. Keri Jones hosts Dr. Bridget Briggs, a California family medicine doctor who specializes in geriatrics and women’s health. 3. The episode asks what menopause is doing to the GI tract, the microbiome, methylation, and cardiometabolic risk. 4. Briggs says estrogen loss reduces microbiome diversity and shifts the body toward a more androgen-like microbiome. 5. Jones and Briggs discuss hot sweats, night sweats, sleep disruption, weight gain, and the GI symptoms women do not expect. 6. Briggs defines xenoestrogens as false estrogens and names BPA, DES, phthalates, dioxins, and pesticides. 7. She says women with PCOS can have three times to eight-fold higher BPA levels in the bloodstream. 8. The episode links estrogen receptors in the GI tract to appetite, bloating, gas, constipation, diarrhea, and heartburn. 9. Briggs says GLP secretion drops when ER alpha is antagonized, and she connects that to tight junctions and inflammatory gut changes. 10. Jones references semaglutide, Ozempic, and Mounjaro while Briggs explains why many women notice reduced satiety in perimenopause. 11. Briggs says 65% of women ages 45 to 55 meet obesity, and 75% of women over 65 reach obesity. 12. She describes continuous blood glucose monitors as a way to reveal sugar spikes that a normal A1C can miss. 13. Briggs says fasting insulin, C-peptide, and lipid panels help show hyperinsulinemia before diabetes develops. 14. She gives an A1C goal below 5.5 and says insulin levels around 3 to 5 are ideal. 15. Briggs separates women into higher-insulin, more insulin-resistant body types and thinner women with low insulin, low C-peptide, and low GLP. 16. She says methylation supports phase two detoxification, DNA regulation, catecholamine breakdown, and estrogen processing. 17. Briggs explains that if methylation is strained, women may divert into sulfation and develop excess estrone sulfate or DHEAS. 18. She says molybdenum can help with excess sulfur and reports clinical improvement in bloating, gas, heartburn, and tendon pain. 19. The episode sounds like an interview with active back-and-forth, practical examples, and frequent translation of technical terms into everyday language. 20. Women in perimenopause, women tracking blood sugar, and listeners interested in hormones and methylation will get the most from it.

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