Hello and a very big welcome back to the FoodMedic podcast. I'm your host, Dr. Hazel Wallace. I'm a medical doctor, registered associate nutritionist and a bestselling author. For more about me and the work that I do, head over to www.com.combe.com. And make sure to check us out on all social media platforms under the Food Medic.

This podcast episode is sponsored by Murad. Murad is the dermatologist developed skincare brand

that approaches skin differently. How? Through founder Dr Howard Murad's four main pillars of

wellness for total skin health, eat your water, awaken your body,

be kind to your mind and of course nourish your skin with their high performance formulas.

For more than 30 years, Muraad has been committed to developing clinically proven

cruelty-free products that meet the meticulous standards for safety, efficacy and care you'd expect from a doctor.

My personal favourite product is their best-selling retinol youth renewal eye serum. Retinal is a derivative

of vitamin A, which helps improve skin cell turnover and reduce the breakdown of collagen. I find this

product is great for reducing the appearance of fine lines and

improving skin texture. It's suitable for all skin types, even sensitive skin, and you can use

it all over your eye area, including the lids. Thank you to Murad for supporting the FoodMedic

podcast. On this episode, I'm delighted to be joined by Kelly McNulty.

Kelly is a PhD student at Northumbria University investigating the effects of the menstrual cycle and hormonal contraceptive use on performance, recovery and adaptation in sportswomen.

She recently launched a project and podcast coming soon,

the period of the period, which aims to promote awareness

and increase evidence-based education on the topics

surrounding women's health and sport and exercise.

For any of our male listeners who may not think this is for them, I urge you to keep listening and please share this podcast with the women in your life.

This is an important conversation for all of us to have and hopefully the start of many more around the menstrual cycle.

So first things first, how I came across you initially was because of your research paper,

which was published this year. And I would love to start off just asking you about you,

...