BONUS: Dr. Mary Claire Haver: Weight Gain in Middle Age, Perimenopause and Inflammation

Everyday Wellness: Midlife Hormones, Menopause, and Science for Women 35+

Cynthia Thurlow

Science, Life Sciences, Health & Fitness, Nutrition, Alternative Health

4.7 • 1.2K Ratings

🗓️ 18 May 2026

⏱️ 47 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Today, I am honored to connect with Dr. Mary Claire Haver, a board-certified OBGYN who has dedicated her entire adult life to championing women's health. Dr. Haver is the visionary creator of the Galveston Diet, the first and only nutrition program ever designed by a female OBGYN for menopausal women. In our conversation today, Dr. Haver shares her background, and we discuss her new book, The Galveston Diet. We examine the glaring systemic gap where the health of middle-aged women remains undervalued and underfunded in research, and our discussion touches on various facets of women's health, including perimenopausal symptoms, the distinction between chronological and endocrine aging, the scientific misconceptions surrounding weight gain and hormones, the advantages of intermittent fasting, inflammation, and macros. We also get into the supplements Dr. Haver finds beneficial for women in middle age, as well as the impact of non-nutritive sweeteners and the role of continuous glucose monitors. IN THIS EPISODE YOU WILL LEARN: Dr. Haver highlights various symptoms of perimenopause How menopause can increase health risks How muscle loss with aging can make women more insulin resistant and lead to cardiovascular changes How the hormonal changes that occur during perimenopause and menopause can impact weight management What are the benefits of intermittent fasting for perimenopausal women? How a combination of genetics and lifestyle factors can help women prepare for menopause and manage its symptoms How sugar, alcohol, and gluten impact inflammation, insulin levels, and blood sugar How a lack of protein and the wrong types of fats can lead to hunger and satiety issues and lead to muscle breakdown and weight gain in menopausal women Dr. Haver talks about her book, The Galveston Diet How do non-nutritive sweeteners impact the gut microbiome and blood sugar levels? The benefits of using a continuous glucose monitor to track blood sugar levels Connect with Cynthia Thurlow Follow on X, Instagram & LinkedIn Check out Cynthia’s website. Submit your questions to support@cynthiathurlow.com Join other like-minded women in a supportive, nurturing community: The Midlife Pause/Cynthia Thurlow. Purchase Cynthia’s book, The Menopause Gut. Cynthia’s Intermittent Fasting Transformation Book The Midlife Pause Supplement Line Connect with Dr. Mary Claire Haver ⁠Website⁠ ⁠Instagram⁠ ⁠TikTok⁠ ⁠YouTube⁠ ⁠Order a copy of The Galveston Diet.⁠

Transcript

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0:00.0	Welcome to Everyday Wellness Podcast.
0:03.6	I'm your host, nurse practitioner, Cynthia Thurlow.
0:07.4	This podcast is designed to educate, empower, and inspire you to achieve your health and wellness goals.
0:13.8	My goal and intent is to provide you with the best content and conversations from leaders in the health and wellness industry each week and impact over a million lives.
0:28.8	This is Bonus Monday, your most downloaded favorite podcast. I love that this community runs the gamut from medical professionals,
0:40.3	research scientists, science writers, personal trainers, and more. These are your favorite,
0:45.5	most love podcasts of the last five years. I could not be more proud of the diversification of
0:51.5	guests that appeal to all of you. Thanks for tuning in.
0:56.4	Today I had the honor of connecting with Dr. Mary Claire Haver, who's a board-certified
1:01.2	OBGYN, who's devoted her adult life to women's health. She created the online program
1:06.4	the Galveston Diet, and this is the first and only nutrition program in the world created by a female
1:11.6	OBGYN designed for women in menopause. Today we spoke about her new book, the Galveston Diet,
1:16.8	her background and how there's been a systemic gap in where women of middle age are undervalued
1:22.6	and research is underfunded. We spoke about perimenopausal symptoms, chronological versus endocrine
1:29.5	aging, the flawed science around weight gain, hormones, the benefits of intermittent fasting,
1:35.4	inflammation, macros, specific supplements that she finds beneficial to women in middle age,
1:41.4	as well as the role of non-nutrative sweeteners and continuous glucose
1:45.1	monitors. I hope you will enjoy this discussion as much as I did recording it.
1:52.5	Well, welcome, Dr. Haver. It's such a pleasure to have you on. I've been really looking forward
1:56.5	to this conversation. So good to be here. Thank you. Absolutely. So it would be great to kind of start
2:02.2	from the beginning. I would imagine that when you trained as an OBGYN, and I feel
2:06.4	substantial, I feel a lot of this because I used to think of menopause as a cliff. I was like it's
	...

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