Episode 25 - Jules Ashlock - Cortisol and health protocols for better aging

Hi everyone, welcome to another episode of Menopause Chats. I am your host, Aaron Darusca. This is just a reminder that this conversation is for informational purposes only and is not and should not be considered medical advice. Today I am speaking with Jules Ashlock. I'm very excited to have you here. We were introduced through another guest, Diane Allen, and uh here we are. So, Jules, tell us a little bit about what you do.

Oh, thank you, Erin. It's a pleasure to be here. Um I, as you said, uh Jules Ashlock. I am a certified master health coach, a certified menopause coaching specialist, a uh certified personal fitness trainer, and I'm a licensed massage therapist. So I have spent the last 17 years of my life in the health and wellness industry deep diving in, um, all things health and wellness, holistic minded. And um as time has progressed and I've gotten more experience in life, I have uh really dove in deeply and have been focusing on helping C-Suite Women, all women really, but C-Suite Women, to um not only survive menopause, the second chapter of life, but to thrive through it holistically. So it is my intention to help women understand that their bodies are not broken. They just need a new roadmap.

Exciting. Don't we all? What so it sounds like you've been doing this for a while and probably didn't always work with this population. Or you may have worked with this population, but not as focused as you are now.

No, like life brought me to where I am now, the experience of going through menopause and uh going through the different phases of it, and uh, you know, thinking when I first started going through menopause that it was no big deal because I didn't really experience any symptoms from it. So um, and that was in 2014 to so 15 when I had my year officially of being, you know, saying that I was menopausal. Um, but it really wasn't until like probably the last two, three years of my life that it really came around and made me realize, you know what, we're we're never through menopause, as some women uh have that perception of life. Um obviously the spectrum that we go through when we experience the various symptoms of it, uh no two women experience it in the same fashion. And so, you know, it it took me a while to realize that we're never through it and and that my my symptoms weren't gonna come and bite me in the hind end and until you know far later uh when I thought I was through.

So yeah, that I mean that's a kind of a fascinating thing to think about that maybe people don't want to hear this, like, oh you're what we're never through.

Sadly, it's true.

It's a constant change. That's the only thing we can rely on.

Yeah.

What we're in in your brain, this was the the in initial purpose of starting menopause chats was realizing that like no no two people's experience is the same. And so just getting more people talking about their experience, then somebody else might recognize themselves in that experience and say, Oh, maybe this is perimenopause or maybe this is menopause. Like, I don't, I don't even know. And now going, huh, okay, maybe, maybe this is something. So for those, uh so I guess I'm curious for you if you feel like sharing your what was your in high not in hindsight, because it was like your your post-menopausal menopausal symptoms.

Yeah. Um, so like I said, um 2015 was my official, you know, year ending and saying menopause is here. Um but I don't get a certificate or anything. Yeah, same sandwich generation here. Um, I am uh stepmom to four adult kids. And um up until June of last year, um I was caregiving for um well, my dad was was left standing. My mother had passed away a couple of years ago. So a good 10, 12-year period of being in that sandwich generation of having to care, you know, for my parents who were ailing and my mother got dementia. And, you know, it it just started taking its toll on my cortisol levels. Um, you know, like I said, about three years ago, the stress just started elevating and elevating and the pressure and you know, trying to be an entrepreneur and being self-employed, and you know, which has its blessings and curses because it afforded me fortunately the opportunity to be able to step back from from my passion of of of my my career at the time to really it was kind of full time for a bit of you know caregiving for my parents as they were as they were declining. And you know, it that that's when the cortisol just really said, hey, you know, we're gonna settle in. And uh, you know, the whole weight gain and the whole you know changing of the sleep patterns and the stress level and the you know kind of brain fog and you know, why did I walk into this room and what am I here for? And you know, all of those things really started elevating and coming to the forefront for me. And so it was really at that time that, you know, I mean, until the process was through, until I was on the other side of it, you know, with my parents taking care while they're finalizing their estates and everything, you know, that's when you look in the mirror and you go, what the heck happened to me, you know, in these last couple of years, and who am I and what happened to my body that, you know, that was there for me. And you just go into survival mode, you know, and and then you have to like take a hard look one day and go, okay, I know how I got here, but now how do I get me back again?

Yeah. And it might not be the same you because we start and evolve, right? But how do you get back to the the me you want to be now?

The new and improved, right?

Right? The upgraded version.

Yeah, Julie 2.0.

Yes, right. And so what what helps you get to Julie? And maybe you're I don't know. I guess I should ask this first. Do you feel like you're it it Jules 2.0?

You know, I I I think I'm most of the way there. I don't, you know, I don't think we're ever done. I don't think we're ever finished. I think we're always uh a progress in motion, and but I I do feel like the most energized, healthy version of me that I have in quite a long time. And and I have a protocol, you know, that that I've created throughout the years. And the thing that got me through maintaining my health as a whole was doing customized vitamins, but it was based off of DNA testing that I had done and methylation testing that I provide for other women now, which really gave me, you know, the deep dive picture of what my challenges were based on my DNA and the things that I really needed to address that, you know, unfortunately, the vast majority of women don't have that knowledge and accessibility to because they don't know it exists. Um and so for me to be able to customize my supplementation throughout the years really proved to be beneficial for maintaining my longevity overall. It's just, you know, when the cortisol and everything set in and settled into my body, that even the things that I was doing really well, you know, exercising and good nutrition and knowing what my body wanted for macros, you know, it's still set in. And so I understand that level of frustration that women get to of saying, everything that I used to do isn't working anymore. And what do I do? You know, because my body's just not responding. And so it was at that point in my life, um, last year, actually, that uh a trusted source that I know introduced me to peptides and GLPs and really gave me a reason to look at them differently because I think a lot of people have a perception, because I did, that they weren't healthy for us, that they couldn't be good for us, that you know, they were this magic pill. Because I had seen, you know, a handful of people on social media that you could tell they had lost a lot of weight, but they also didn't look healthy. They looked older, they looked frail, they just, you know, they they looked like they had aged. And so my perception was these things can't be good for you, you know, and and so I carried that perception for a good long while until my friend, who again a trusted medical holistic provider, said, I I think maybe I've gotten a different perception of these, and I think that you might want to consider looking at them differently too. And and so I did, you know, because I was at the end of my rope of, you know, everything that I was trying wasn't working.

Right, and I think that's the appeal, you know, right now with the GLP ones that people go, oh, well, here is a solution. And I know that we we had this initial conversation because I had the perception I have is the perception you used to have. So I was like, oh, we should have this conversation on the podcast because I I am curious to hear like what was it that shifted your you know perspective um around uh around, I guess uh that as a as an option for people. And it's still an option. Like I my my philosophy around this is like you do you. Like so whatever's good for you, and and that's it for me. I'm like, I don't know if I'd want to be on something for the rest of my life. So that's um my own, my own take and my own personal opinion, but that doesn't, it's not a judgment on anybody else that chooses to do something different.

Yeah, and and so I did. I I really started educating myself and doing the research and finding out what are they and and why do they help people, and you know, why are they making people not look healthy? Um, which, you know, led me to understand. So our body has messengers all over from head to toe that we utilize, you know, if if we scratch ourselves, we have these messengers that tell the body to heal, that tell the collagen to kick in, that tell, you know, the the bones to heal or you know, the muscles to heal if we have an injury. And so these messengers over time start to lose effect. And peptides are already within our bodies, and those are the little messengers. But as they start to lose efficacy, they need a boost, if you will. And so that's what peptides are. They're tiny messengers that are completely natural, the the bioidentical versions of them. Of course, you know, there's there's the spectrum of quality and and not quality out there that you know people have to understand that first and foremost. Um, but they are messengers that just kind of reboost our healing process within our body. And so that was the one thing in the form of GLPs that started giving me the boost that my cortisol needed and wanted desperately to be able to start healing my inflammation, which I had a lot of, which is what the cortisol creates, you know, that midsection tire of the you know, whole bloating thing that we women especially start to feel, and it started to get smaller and dissipate. And so I was, you know, I was relieved because I was finally starting to see a difference in my physical appearance, but my energy level, my brain fog started shifting, and I started to feel like me again. But here are the caveats that I learned that are critical if people choose to explore the GLPs, especially. You have to put protein in your body that is sufficient to be able to keep everything going holistically and naturally for your systems. Because the people that think it's the magic pill, I mean, so it when you start down the trail of them, it really like turns off your your hunger signals, right?

And people just food noise, right? That's like thinking about that, yeah.

Yeah, food noise. And so you just don't feel like eating anymore, right? And and so the people who don't understand the vital the vitalness of proteins, that's what makes your muscles go away because you're going to lose, you know, something. And if you're not feeding your muscles and exercising and doing strength training and having at least 100 grams of protein, and that's just a general based on your weight, you know, that that a lot of people need a lot more than 100 grams a day. Um, but you have to be doing the naturally healthy things for your body because it's not a magic pill that you just, you know, say, I'm I'm not eating anymore, I'm gonna continue the bad healthy habits, you know, and the weight comes off. And then when people decide to stop taking them, the vast majority of the people, if you haven't conditioned your body naturally to do the healthy things, that weight's gonna come back on and probably more than than you lost to begin with. And so that's why people go, Oh, these things are terrible for you, you know, they don't work, they kill your pancreas, you know, they do these terrible things to your body, because you have to condition yourself to do the naturally healthy things along the way and make that your daily habits.

Well, it sounds to me like any diet, right? Like any kind of restrictive diet. I know I've been on plenty of them, and and and can speak to this, uh that you know, like cutting out all the carbs, you know, the minute you bring carbs back, if you if you just go back to your old eating habits, then you're gonna be in the same position if or or larger than before. And you know, so I think anytime you're in a sort of restrictive, which is what sounds like in some ways might happen for people is that they're restricting because they don't think about eating because they're not hungry, then you know it puts them in that sort of almost I would say like a starvation mode, it sounds like to the extreme, it could.

It could. Um, you know, the key thing is is whenever you start to go, what am I gonna put in my my body, it has to be protein first and protein priority, because if you start, like you said, you know, shoving carbs in, you're gonna get full on those pretty quickly, and you've given your body no nutrition.

Yeah.

Even if they're good carbs. Yeah. Yeah, I mean, but that's where my DNA test kind of comes in too. Like, like I really customize for the the people that I work with because the DNA test tells you what your macro breakdown should be. Some of us are carb sensitive, some of us are fat sensitive. And so when we really understand exactly what our bodies are are, you know, craving, then I can really help to customize that nutrition scale so people are getting the balance that they need with the protein heavy to begin with.

Yeah, and I shouldn't have said good carb, bad carb, but just healthier carb. Healthier choice versus less healthy choice.

It it truly is a scale for sure.

Yeah, yeah. And uh so that's interesting. So there's uh I'm curious about this. Uh so there's some people that protein maybe that is it that they metabolize it different or you know, versus fat versus carbs.

For sure, for sure. Um, I mean, if we carry inflammation in our in our bodies naturally, then the way that we process those macros is going to be different. And that's really again where the customization comes in to find out, you know, how are you going to process your macros as as you're you know along the health journey.

So and just so to be clear, in case people are listening, they're like, what the hell are macros? Um, that's just the combination of proteins, fats, and carbs.

Correct. Correct.

Um I I often realize it's like I understand what you mean, but then I was like, oh, I wonder if someone's listening and being like, what the heck are macros?

Yeah, the the corporations of proteins, healthy carbs, healthy fats.

And you're right, because it's not a again, having been someone who's been on diets a lot, it's like, oh, here's the here's what you're supposed to eat. And it's like, that seems like a lot, you know, like, or depending on what it is, you know. And it's like, well, that sounds like a lot of protein, or that seems like a lot of carbs, or a lot of fat, depending. Now I grew up at a time where you know fat was like evil, right? Since that's not the case. Um, but that's sort of the the conditioning I was raised in because in the 80s that was everything.

Yeah.

Um, and then I think about all the chemicals that we ingested because instead of that, you got some other stuff.

So we didn't pay attention to all of those chemicals.

We just wanted to fruit cookies without the fat, you know. Or the potato chips without the uh fat, and that caused a whole other problem.

So exactly, it's all good.

But um, so is there a difference between because I don't know, is there a difference between GLPs or GLP ones? Well, I guess there's different numbers of GLPs as well. So there's that, and peptides, or is like a are GLPs a type of peptide?

Is that the peptides are the the category as a whole? GLPs are a peptide. Okay. Um, there is TBC 157 as a peptide, there is glutathione as a peptide. There are literally dozens of individualized peptides that can be beneficial for you know so many different things that we go through in life. Um, and some people they called stack them. And so some people will do GLP1s and TBC 157 because um that is known to really help alleviate uh muscle and tendon and joint pain. And so people will stack them together because it will help, you know, escalate your ability to be able to work out and move and do the things so that you're you know able to take the weight off in a healthier fashion. But they've come up and and every day they're doing so much research, especially on GLP ones, that they are good for your heart health. They are good for our brains. They're really, really heavily right now doing so much, they're finally starting to come around and do research for women's health and finding that GLPs have been found to be very beneficial to help if people have um especially a propensity for dementia and Alzheimer's and in their DNA, that GLPs are really helping to prove to be beneficial to cut that off. Um, but again, heart health for women, especially, uh, you know, because women have a propensity for heart issues as we age. And so they're really discovering the that there are a multitude of proactive benefits for GLPs beyond just the weight loss, um, as well as the rest of the peptides out there right now. It's just a an ever-changing by the day, you know, new discoveries that they're coming out with that you mentioned earlier, you know, about people not wanting to be on these lifelong. And and I understand that concept. Uh, and you know, people will, it's called tearing up, you know, in GOPs. Um, if you haven't reached the weight loss that you're, you know, wanting to, then it'll increase the dosage of it. But once you have reached that point where you have maintained um, you know, your healthy weight, then there are micro-dosing options that people will choose to do. And and it isn't something that you have to do every single day, but you know, you keep it maybe stored in if you're going on vacation, you know you're going to overindulge, you know, that you can do it incrementally or just sporadically over time to keep it in your system. But, you know, when people again have heart issues, you know, DNA-wise or genetic-wise, then people are choosing to do a microdose every single day for that benefit alone. Or again, you know, my mother had dementia. I don't want to end up like my mother. I probably will choose to microdose for the rest of my life. If if that one thing that's a healthy thing that's already in my body and it's signaling my brain to stay healthy, why would I not do it?

Yeah. Well, and I think like anything, you know, even if it's just, you know, regular diet and exercise, or, you know, people who have um weight loss surgeries, it's not It's not the magic bullet that people think it is. I mean, I've I've known individuals who have had, you know, weight loss surgeries and, you know, years later have put the weight back on. And, you know, and so I think it's it sounds like with anything, one, it's a personal choice, obviously. Um, a choice probably to also a conversation to have with your doctor or a healthcare professional. And then, you know, just trying to outweigh any sort of risks versus benefits that each individual, you know. I mean, the same thing happened for me with this, you know, the the conversation of do I go on a statin? You know, and it's like, well, you know, let's talk about like let's get evaluated, let's look at all the different things, and then let's have a conversation about like what are what's the what are the risks of being on it, what's the versus the risks not being on it, and and make a personal choice.

Yeah, no, 100%. I can't encourage people enough to do your research. Don't rely on everything your doctor says because they are very good.

Or what you hear in a podcast.

They're very good and skilled at some things in life, but they don't know everything. And and they, you know, they're they're sometimes not the best source for your soul determination to rely on them. And, you know, I'm not here to badmouth the medical profession, but I am here to advocate, do your research, be your best advocate. You know, don't don't just rely on what your doctor is recommending for you. Know what it's doing to your body, know what the side effects are, know what the risks are, and know what you can do holistically and naturally, proactively to, you know, avoid medications, if you will.

Yeah, I mean, I think this audience alone probably is like, oh yeah, I don't, you know, necessarily believe doctors anymore because so many people have been dismissed in their menopause experience.

Unfortunately, the reality is with menopause, which is what we're here to talk about, uh the medical profession is not trained to discuss it, to give you advice, which is really sad and unfortunate, which again is why I'm saying you have to do your research and be your own advocate. And if your doctor tells you flat out no about something that you believe in your gut is beneficial for you, get a second opinion or or find another doctor. If you're dismissed, if you're told it's all in your head, if you're told there's nothing that can be done about it. Or you're too young. That's what I hear from people. You're too young. Um, you know, because menopause symptoms can start um naturally as young as 36 years of age. And most women will start to experience, you know, a symptom here, maybe a symptom there that they they don't feel is related, right? But it absolutely can be root cause coming back to a hormonal change. And if you go to one doctor here and they say, Oh, you're depressed, oh, here's a pill for you, and you're experiencing something else over here, and then so you go to see another doctor, those doctors aren't talking, they're not communicating, and they're not paying attention to connecting your dots for you. So, again, you have to advocate and pay attention to what's going on in your body because you know it better than anybody else does, and you deserve to get the absolute best answers for yourself.

Yeah, 100%. And that is exactly, you know, part of my story, right? Of not of not having those dots connected. And only in hindsight, which you know, the Steve Jobs quote, right? Like you know, you can only connect the dots looking back. Well, yeah. And if something like this was available or I had a friend who was doing, you know, doing what I'm doing, it would make it easier. It would have been like, oh, it's on my radar at least. Because I think that's the thing, and and what I hope with, especially if if people are younger in that 35 plus like age range or listening to it even before then, right? Listening to it going, oh, at least you know what to look for.

Yeah.

You know, when we were growing up, like you knew to what to look out for for menstruation and puberty. Right. But you know, only until recently have people been talking so much about menopause.

Right. And you know, I mean, that's kind of my mission in life. It our generations, it was kind of taboo. Like, you know, my my mother, my aunts, my grandparents, you know, my grandmother never talked about it. My mother had a hysterectomy at 50, and I'm sure, and she was diagnosed with diabetes in the exact same time period. So I can't only imagine, you know, the physiological changes that were like imploding her feelings uh of health and and wellness and not feeling, you know, like she was completely, you know, deteriorating all at once. And and it was never talked about. I know she had didn't have a doctor that you know she could confide in and and talk about those things. And and I really want to change that narrative for the generations that are coming after us, because it it shouldn't be some scary taboo topic that that we can't talk about. We should bring it to the forefront, and and that's really what what I'm trying to do every day.

Yeah, well, thank you for doing that. Uh anything else that you like if you what's your your parting words of wisdom?

My parting words of wisdom again, you're not broken. There's nothing wrong with you. Your body is changing physiologically, and it needs a different playbook. And the things that used to work for you that don't work for you anymore doesn't mean that you can't find yourself again or find a better version for yourself again. And be kind to yourself, give yourself grace, um, and just never stop doing your research and and looking for holistic solutions to things because they're out there and and you deserve to know about them.

Great. Thank you. And if if people are interested in learning more about you, where can they find you?

Um, you can find me on LinkedIn uh at Julie Ashlock, J-U-L-I-E-A-S-H-L-O-C-K. You can look on my website, which is Jules J-U-L-E-S Body Shop, S-H-O-P-P-E dot com. Or you uh can look me up on Facebook, Julie Ashlock and Jules Body Shop, or you can email me info at Jules Body Shop, and no question is is one that I won't respond to and answer because it is it is my passion to have women feel better about themselves.

Great, thank you. And I'll put that in the show notes as well so people can easy access if they'd like. Um, but thank you so much for being here. I appreciate it. Uh and thank you. Um thank you uh for listening today. Uh and uh be honored if you would subscribe or uh shared menopause chats with others. Uh and if you're interested in being a guest, please reach out to me. Uh but until next time.