Hello and welcome to the Food Medic podcast. I'm Dr. Hazel Wallace, founder of the Food Medic. I'm a qualified doctor,

personal trainer, blogger and bestselling author of the books of Food Medic and the Food Medic for life.

I'm passionate about maximising our health through how we live our lives, including the food that we eat,

physical activity and stress management.

We will hear from leading experts in their field who will be sharing evidence-based advice

on how we can live healthier lives, and we will cut through the confusing information that we find

online.

I like to think of myself as one of the first of a new generation of doctors.

Thank you. I like to think of myself as one of the first of a new generation of doctors. Hey everyone, it's Hazel here and welcome back to the FoodMedic podcast. First of all, I want to say a huge thank you to everyone who is downloaded and subscribed. Thanks to you guys, we are the number one health podcast on iTunes here in the UK. Now today I'm joined by Dr. Anita Mitra, who is an NHS doctor

specialising in obstetrics in gynecology. She has spent many years undertaking medical research

and recently finished her PhD on HPV, cervical cancer and the vaginal microbiome.

Anita uses these skills to provide evidence-based information to a non-medical audience.

She also loves trying to normalise awkward health-related subjects and helping women to feel

at ease talking about their bodies.

Oh, and her surname is the Greek word for uterus.

Anita, welcome to the podcast.

Hi. First of all, huge congrats on finishing your PhD. I feel like we should have a round of applause. Massive relief. Massive relief. Now, I want to, first

of all, kick off the podcast talking about periods, and in particular, the loss of a regular period,

also known as amenorrhea.

I come across this quite frequently in practice, and I have quite a few young women who approach

me who have lost their period, and they're not quite sure why. Now, there are many reasons why

this can happen. Some of them are due to underlying conditions, such as PCOS, which will come on to later,

...