Dr. Christina Enzmann: How to Navigate a Myriad of Symptoms and Life during Menopause?

00:00:02:13 – 00:00:23:10
Dr. Christina Enzmann
It’s similar to what happens to women, even if they’re not professionally involved in that. They’re just coming to the point when they realize in midlife. Well, first of all, the reproduction function gives up. There are symptoms associated with it. They come off then to realize their relationships are not what they thought they are. You know, I have many patients who tell me about their stories.

00:00:23:10 – 00:00:40:24
Dr. Christina Enzmann
And it’s always like, you know, sometimes it’s sad. Sometimes we laugh about it. It’s often tragic. But then it’s good to know that kind of systems out there that weren’t exactly the same thing.

00:00:41:01 – 00:01:25:21
Claudia Mahler
Hello and welcome back to Shift Happens. Today, I’m excited to be in a rather educational conversation with Doctor Christina and Simon, a physician and gynecologist, former assistant professor at the University of Maryland School of Medicine. Christina is originally from Germany, but has been living and working in Baltimore, Maryland for many, many years. She is telling me about her pivotal moment that was so often accumulation of many factors, questioning her then professional situation, coming to realize that her marriage wasn’t working anymore, and experiencing early onset of perimenopause causal effects which took her by total surprise.

00:01:25:23 – 00:01:58:24
Claudia Mahler
The question why is key for her as a practitioner? Why do changes in my body happen? And even for her as a doctor, it was often a lonely journey to find solutions and healing for herself. Christina is supporting women in their personalized and individual journey through menopause, and also helps men during the changes around midlife. We talk all things from hip pain to back injuries, navigating the self-care realm and key hacks during menopause.

00:01:59:01 – 00:02:14:11
Claudia Mahler
Tune in and learn from a pro.

00:02:14:13 – 00:02:16:05
Claudia Mahler
Good to see you, Christina.

00:02:16:07 – 00:02:20:20
Dr. Christina Enzmann
Yeah. Same here. Wait. Where are you? Actually, Claudia, where are you located?

00:02:21:01 – 00:02:22:17
Claudia Mahler
Fred? Now I’m in Berlin.

00:02:22:19 – 00:02:24:22
Dr. Christina Enzmann
Okay. Hello?

00:02:24:24 – 00:02:27:20
Claudia Mahler
Yeah. And where are you, like, located again?

00:02:27:22 – 00:02:32:04
Dr. Christina Enzmann
In Baltimore. Oh, yeah. Baltimore, Maryland, close to Washington, D.C., on the East Coast.

00:02:32:07 – 00:02:55:00
Claudia Mahler
Okay, great. Well, thank you so much for taking the time to be in conversation with me for shift Happens. And before we get into your a very complex shifts that you shared with me beforehand, I wanted to ask you a few questions. What is your current state of mind?

00:02:55:02 – 00:03:03:03
Dr. Christina Enzmann
Between relaxed and overwhelmed, I would say most like okay.

00:03:03:05 – 00:03:09:10
Claudia Mahler
And how would you describe your idea of perfect happiness?

00:03:09:12 – 00:03:33:21
Dr. Christina Enzmann
Perfect happiness? I would say that’s really when you, you found the people you are happy with and they are surrounding you and you have things to do that you enjoy to do, and they make sense to you, and you can build something, but at the same time, you know, have time for yourself, have time for yourself, and do what, what what you your brain needs, your body needs.

00:03:33:21 – 00:03:50:05
Dr. Christina Enzmann
We are all different. Some people need, you know, excitement all day long and other people just need more. I’m more an introvert, but actually I think I am that, so I need to. I love to have time for myself and that’s what I would. I would be happy if that would happen one day. That nice balance.

00:03:50:07 – 00:03:55:19
Claudia Mahler
Yes. Which living person do you most admire?

00:03:55:21 – 00:03:57:10
Dr. Christina Enzmann
Oh. Ha.

00:03:57:12 – 00:04:21:00
Dr. Christina Enzmann
Oh, that’s a that’s a difficult question. You’re popping here on me living person that I most admire. Let’s see. I’m thinking about the professional people versus the inspirational people. Many of them are dead, unfortunately. Can you ask me this again a little bit later?

00:04:21:02 – 00:04:28:22
Claudia Mahler
Sure, sure, sure, sure. Whenever it pops up or if not, then yeah.

00:04:28:24 – 00:04:56:03
Claudia Mahler
So in this podcast, we talk about pivotal moments and turning points in life. And you, I imagine, confronted with this within the outside world of your profession, your a doctor, your, women’s health specialist. You have, as I read, a profound background because you also in functional medicine, well versed, you are highly educated in Chinese medicine.

00:04:56:05 – 00:05:13:09
Claudia Mahler
So I’m sure you, supporting women in a big turn in life. Menopause. But I’m interested, actually, in your pivotal moment, and, would be great if you could give us some insights from your life.

00:05:13:11 – 00:05:39:24
Dr. Christina Enzmann
Yeah, absolutely. So, first, can I go back to the person I most admire? Yeah. Oh. Is that. No. Yes. Absolutely. For a living person. So I really think it’s actually my teacher, doctor Rita Marie last council. So she’s like, she founded the Institute of, Nutritional Endocrinology here in the US. So. And she has, you know, 20 to 30 years of when the functional medicine really when it started, she really started back then.

00:05:39:24 – 00:05:58:04
Dr. Christina Enzmann
And, I think she feels like a real she’s not me not making it from money anymore. She’s really trying to to educate more and more providers and physicians and really get the word out there. So I think she’s the one. Okay, doctor Reed Council. Okay. All right. Now you want to go back to to my own pivotal moment.

00:05:58:04 – 00:06:21:09
Dr. Christina Enzmann
Yes. Yes, please. Yeah. All right. So you know, like, like many women, I was in my mid 40s. I was I had a very busy job. I was working for the University of Maryland. So that was certainly, you know, for what’s called here in the US for medical graduate, because I did not train in the US, I was trained in Germany.

00:06:21:11 – 00:06:44:07
Dr. Christina Enzmann
And I basically came and, you know, did my training here. So for person like me to really get a job at University of Maryland as faculty, that was pretty cool. So, but you know, after like, doing this for eight years or nine years, I, you know, I had to change positions there and I didn’t feel it anymore.

00:06:44:08 – 00:07:05:22
Dr. Christina Enzmann
So, you know, I could I realized all this, you know, they say they give you, like, these golden, cuffs, golden handcuffs. Right? Because they come benefits with it. And I just couldn’t feel it at all. I did not understand what this was good for. I had just it was I had no time. You know, my kids were growing up, you know, I needed a doctor’s appointment with the kids.

00:07:05:22 – 00:07:39:06
Dr. Christina Enzmann
I could never be there because it was impossible to take time off. So I think that was when I was like, this is not you know, that’s not that’s not me. And I had a partner who was like, well, you didn’t really take this serious. And, I failed my I didn’t feel that energetic anymore. You know, I had these joint pains and this and that and, I had some child a back pain, and, so it came all together at that time, and I just realized I didn’t want to do that anymore.

00:07:39:06 – 00:08:12:21
Dr. Christina Enzmann
That it’s not me as shiny as it is. And the moment came. Yes, my my marriage fell apart during that time to. It was a couple of years, of course. Thank goodness that doesn’t happen all in one year. But when, you know, I realize my support system isn’t there and I don’t want to do this. And yes, so I separated and, I started a new partner at some point, and, and at that point, that was now the person who really supported me and, and saying, okay, that is not you.

00:08:12:21 – 00:08:30:22
Dr. Christina Enzmann
You have to to let go. And, and it was already when I was basically I was wanting to, you know, to build in practice or in that, in the University of Maryland, I felt, well, let’s do like a menopause clinic. Right? And there was just no support. It was not what their vision was. And that’s fair enough.

00:08:30:22 – 00:09:00:23
Dr. Christina Enzmann
But then, you know, as a physician, you have to then test to take your consequences. And that’s when I kind of, you know, not refocus. But I kind of took that on this functional medicine, view on things, got my self education. I left that, position and that was, you know, you kind of in the US, there’s something called non-compete, so you cannot just leave somewhere and open your office, like three miles away.

00:09:01:01 – 00:09:32:23
Dr. Christina Enzmann
I couldn’t do that. So kind of snuck my way out of that. I did like, you know, I started some online education and business, and I started to work as a trust on labor delivery for another hospital system where that was actually possible. So and then slowly, I got, you know, once I had my head on things, then I got, you know, another position offered when and now I would basically they were supporting me and doing it gynecology only and the menopausal clinic they liked.

00:09:32:23 – 00:09:53:07
Dr. Christina Enzmann
And of course, I also like vaginal disease. That was the other niche I really wanted to develop. And I didn’t really get support from my previous job, but we I would have thought, why wouldn’t you give me like, a great vocal vaginal disease clinic as university? Well, sometimes, you know, we are not heard and then we have to find our way out.

00:09:53:07 – 00:09:54:09
Dr. Christina Enzmann
So yes.

00:09:54:11 – 00:10:24:20
Claudia Mahler
Yeah, I actually did, organize an event with a think tank here in New York in June on women’s health. And the research really depressed me, majorly, because I just had no clue how underfunded and under-researched women and women’s health have been. And it’s, I mean, of course, a tragedy and how much pain and suffering could have been prevented earlier if women had been more in the focus.

00:10:24:20 – 00:10:49:18
Claudia Mahler
Yeah. And it’s still slow. I mean, there’s so many startups now, especially in the fertility field that are being funded and that get funding. And, you know, it’s been a topic in big organizations and conferences all over the world. But yeah, it’s still unfathomable for me how this happened. Yeah. So when you had a progressive idea and it wasn’t supported.

00:10:49:20 – 00:10:51:19
Claudia Mahler
Yeah, that must have been hard.

00:10:51:21 – 00:11:13:16
Dr. Christina Enzmann
Well, you know, these are important steps in life, I think when you just and I it’s, you know, it happened to me professionally and you know, because I was also in perimenopause and menopause and it’s it’s similar to what happens to, to women even if they’re not professionally involved and that they’re just coming to the point when they realize in midlife, well, first of all, the reproduction function gives up.

00:11:13:16 – 00:11:35:16
Dr. Christina Enzmann
There are symptoms associated with it. They come often then to realize their relationships are not what they thought they are. You know, I’ve many patients who tell me about their stories, and it’s always like, you know, sometimes it’s sad. Sometimes we laugh about it. It’s often tragic. But then it’s good to know that kind of systems out there that weren’t exactly the same thing.

00:11:35:16 – 00:11:57:09
Dr. Christina Enzmann
So I think as a woman who seeks care, you just need someone who understands what’s going on, not just from, okay, you ever had. I have a tablet for you or or you have some G.I. Symptoms. Let me send you to the gastroenterologist. Right. Or or joint pain as well. You know, that can happen. You know, just take it easy.

00:11:57:11 – 00:12:18:19
Dr. Christina Enzmann
Because women see there’s more behind it. I just think I felt there were just no answers, no good answers. You know, I’m. You know, I’m a long term member in the menopause society in the US. And it was eye opening to me at the beginning because they gave me all the education about menopause that I didn’t get from my residency training here.

00:12:18:21 – 00:12:38:22
Dr. Christina Enzmann
But then, you know, as I became more verse and saw more and more of these women, then I suddenly saw that, you know, if you’re just talking data all the time. So, you know, here’s the data about heart disease, here’s the data. If you do this, that amount of percentage relieves hot flashes. You know, something is missing somehow, right?

00:12:38:22 – 00:12:55:13
Dr. Christina Enzmann
So, you know, then, you know, women are concerned about weight gain and they give you the data. Well, if you look at such and such a thousand women, the average weight gain is only three kilos. So then you. But but what? You know, a woman is still asking what? Why? And then it’s just the average. Some gain more.

00:12:55:19 – 00:13:17:19
Dr. Christina Enzmann
So what? You know, women are asking why is that happening? This is all great that you can describe it in your data or what is behind that. You know, the the perimenopausal tendency to depression. Why is that? Or what is that, dementia? I mean, that’s always these, you know, this data, it might get worse or not.

00:13:17:19 – 00:13:38:17
Dr. Christina Enzmann
And maybe estrogen helps or not, but what are the other factors like why. So I think that’s what kind of, you know, heated me up as, I approach my own menopausal journey and I finally you felt. Well, no, I need some more answers. And, that’s how, you know, women out there just feel these days when they go to their regular gynecologist.

00:13:38:17 – 00:13:57:04
Dr. Christina Enzmann
So I have many, many patients, unfortunately, they come and see me and they just, you know, they have a young and perky gynecologist, but they just don’t want to deal with that menopausal issue. They had chest pain. February, we’ve been told still, like this is just how it is. Deal with it. And that’s just sad.

00:13:57:06 – 00:14:17:02
Claudia Mahler
Yeah, it’s really sad. And with the experience that you have now, I mean, would you go back to universities and suggest that in their education of young physicians, this must be an initial part, not just only for gynecologists, but for every practitioner? I would think. I mean, they at least need to understand the basics now.

00:14:17:05 – 00:14:44:21
Dr. Christina Enzmann
You know, I think they got that memo and I think, you know, they they get some education about menopause and HRT, but it’s just not enough. Right? It’s I think, not enough to make these young people or maybe even primary care physicians comfortable enough. And then often they don’t understand important points that I would I see then someone does give it, but they really don’t give it with the right information and they don’t know when not to do it.

00:14:44:23 – 00:15:09:15
Dr. Christina Enzmann
But to me, my wish is that it would be seen more in a in an integrative perspective. And actually women referred to other providers for certain things. University of Maryland, for example, did actually a whole department for integrative medicine. So it’s not that it doesn’t exist, but no, I by accident found them and there was just no interconnection.

00:15:09:15 – 00:15:29:02
Dr. Christina Enzmann
And if it could have been so fruitful in a way. So, I think I would wish that more than everything that people would know, you know, because if you are traditional physician, I don’t think you have to know everything. But just then to know, okay, I’m here at my end. You just done a colonoscopy. This looks all good.

00:15:29:04 – 00:15:53:15
Dr. Christina Enzmann
And then to say, well, maybe go to the integrative medicine department. Let’s just see if they have have more time to talk to you about, you know, food sensitivities, potential, you know, nutritional approaches, all of that, or, you know, talking about the diet recommendations. You know, here in the US, many of the traditional trained diet counselors, right?

00:15:53:15 – 00:16:14:13
Dr. Christina Enzmann
Dietitians, they just still tell my patients about the food pyramid, basically what it meant. And patients are just coming back and saying, what is that? This is just so not helpful. And I’ve been doing this for years and it doesn’t help. So there are good people out there, though they often don’t, that people can’t access them because they are only if you have a diagnosis diabetes, you can go and see them.

00:16:14:17 – 00:16:18:03
Dr. Christina Enzmann
So there’s just so many blocks in so many directions, so.

00:16:18:06 – 00:16:45:13
Claudia Mahler
Many layers, so many layers. When you felt kind of at your lowest within perimenopause and menopause and after the probably, pretty complex breakup, what were hacks or how did you find out what was good for your body? What was working like? Did you change your nutrition or did you started weightlifting? Or I mean, how did you for yourself, tackle, tackle your own body?

00:16:45:13 – 00:17:15:13
Dr. Christina Enzmann
Yeah. So for me, it was nutrition. And I think for most of my patients I would say nutrition first. So particularly if we talk about joint pains, the fatigue, you know, the weight gain. So yeah. So I found, you know, like that I was very insulin not really pre-diabetic. That’s the thing. Not in traditional medical thing, but yes, I did not respond well to any, glycemic load and apparently on my life because I always had issues with belly fat and all of that.

00:17:15:14 – 00:17:34:09
Dr. Christina Enzmann
And I suddenly understood why, right when I ate, you know, a high glycemic meal, I would just put I was known for that at University of Hamburg, at the library where we studied. I would put my head on the on the desk, like after lunch every time and sleep for an hour. It took me until I was kind of end of my 40s to understand what that was.

00:17:34:09 – 00:17:56:24
Dr. Christina Enzmann
So yeah. So I started very, let’s say planned for what? Okay. Low glycemic nutrition. So I ate enough, but I tried not to get my blood sugar going. You know, many healthy things like rice and quinoa, all the things we think are healthy. And they, were not good for me. So in nutrition, it’s just a lot of personalization.

00:17:57:01 – 00:18:17:07
Dr. Christina Enzmann
So I change, you know, I tried a gluten free diet, even, I have to say, I, you know, in my training, I got myself tested for all kinds of things. I don’t even have gluten sensitivity. I have issues with dairy. But I did all of this, and and then, you know, my joint pains really went away, and I lost that extra weight.

00:18:17:07 – 00:18:41:16
Dr. Christina Enzmann
And I felt in control again. And, you know, this weakness of the the, the muscles, you not it had a lot to do with stress, definitely, but also just with insulin resistance and the elevated cortisol levels. So things can become very complex. But I fixed my stress. I, you know, I’ve changed my nutrition and I know I wrote you.

00:18:41:16 – 00:19:02:08
Dr. Christina Enzmann
There was one thing I always I think it’s a funny coincidence. So what really I mean, all of this, I might have just taken, you know, it’s aging, but I had this tablet. Excruciating back pain that really, I always had it for a little bit, but it really got so bad. I had, like, to wear, like, it’s called a sacroiliac belt to really hold things together.

00:19:02:08 – 00:19:24:08
Dr. Christina Enzmann
Like when I was a nightshift. And at some point, I basically realized that this had nothing to do with my stress. So that could really fix. Then, later with some nails in my in my hip. And since then I’m good. The only sad thing about that story only is because no one told me what it is I had to find it out literally myself.

00:19:24:10 – 00:19:44:13
Dr. Christina Enzmann
And I’m still thinking how can. And I’m a physician, you know, I knew where to go. And they and they gave me these back injections and I was telling them, people, this doesn’t help. So then I went, and this is now the one advice I would give everyone if you have really, you know, musculoskeletal issues, go to a good physical therapist.

00:19:44:13 – 00:20:07:01
Dr. Christina Enzmann
Right. And it might be something like you have to pay and get reimbursement by insurance because these people, you know, physicians are great, but they are these we call the mid-level providers. You know, they are just very hands on. They have so much experience with bones, and they’ll have a more holistic view and many things, because where they get the education, they have a much more integrative view.

00:20:07:03 – 00:20:40:16
Dr. Christina Enzmann
So that’s what I did. And I found someone and and she kind of put me on, you know, telling me actually what that is, that back pain. It wasn’t like a slip disc. It came from their joints. So and then I had to find the right physician to fix that. And it was also like this weird thing because I literally had to go over a company who manufactured these nails for that type of pain, and they had a list with a couple of physicians in us, and two of them happened to be somewhere in my area.

00:20:40:18 – 00:21:01:24
Dr. Christina Enzmann
And once I went there, they they did like, you know, I had seen like five physicians before on there. That physician’s assistant, she’d check with my leg. She did one movement and she said, like, yes. As I joined. So it’s kind of unnerving and sad. And I’m like, how can someone ever, you know, navigate that? So that kind of stuff upsets me a little bit.

00:21:02:01 – 00:21:06:24
Claudia Mahler
Yeah, yeah. And especially you, I mean, being a physician yourself. Right.

00:21:06:24 – 00:21:11:13
Dr. Christina Enzmann
And at university and you know, I had shocking. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

00:21:11:17 – 00:21:38:24
Claudia Mahler
But it’s interesting that you talk about the physical therapists like I also had like this really strange hip pain and lower back pain. And I did my pinatas and yoga and everything and sometimes it was good. Some. But anyway, I can’t remember how, but I ended up with a physical therapist who was specializing on the pelvic floor and I had, I think, eight sessions with her gone.

00:21:39:01 – 00:21:51:24
Claudia Mahler
Yes. And she taught me these like tiny, tiny movements and exercises that have such an impact. Yeah, basically on the whole body, you know how how your body is held. The female body is. Yes.

00:21:51:24 – 00:21:52:24
Dr. Christina Enzmann
Yeah. I love that.

00:21:53:04 – 00:21:53:21
Claudia Mahler
To that.

00:21:53:23 – 00:22:14:01
Dr. Christina Enzmann
Pelvic floor. Physical therapist. That is like a specialty that has really been evolving over the last ten years. I would say they were really hard to find. And now you find even like some change and franchising. But yes, I agree, the pelvic floor and these women are magicians. Like like you’re saying you have pain in the pelvis or in the vagina.

00:22:14:01 – 00:22:33:19
Dr. Christina Enzmann
Even I said many of my patients and they show you some release techniques on your abdomen or on. Yeah. This is nothing. They train as physicians. So you need a good physical therapist when anything starts to hurt. Really. I always say don’t wait. Don’t be like, oh, it’s going to go away. No, don’t let it be evaluated.

00:22:33:21 – 00:22:53:11
Claudia Mahler
So going back to you and your turning point and menopause. So you say nutrition has been really pivotal in, navigating this time of change. What are 2 or 3 other hacks you would share from your own experience or from experience of your patients?

00:22:53:16 – 00:23:17:19
Dr. Christina Enzmann
Yeah. So nutrition, sleep, right? Really prioritize sleep at night. It might be, you know, counter-intuitive because I know many women allow struggling with sleep. But focus on sleep. Go to bed. Really. And that’s that’s a great book. And it’s called Why We Sleep, that many of these things are actually explained from the neurological standpoint, but we can’t unlock our brain from the circadian rhythm basically.

00:23:17:19 – 00:23:38:22
Dr. Christina Enzmann
So I think it’s really important to understand you have to go to bed prior to 11 p.m. period. It’s not like, oh, I sleep a little later. That’s going to be fine. No, it doesn’t matter because the brain is so linked to that circadian rhythm. You are going to go through these deep restorative sleep stages if you just miss these hours prior to midnight.

00:23:38:22 – 00:24:02:23
Dr. Christina Enzmann
So sleep prioritizing sleep and, you know, have so many patients and I think now it’s so easy. But, you know, I have been doing this for while and my patients are smart women accomplished. It seems to be so, so hot to really get to bed in time and, you know, to turn off the screen time. But, you know, once they do it, it’s like they immediately they have more energy.

00:24:02:23 – 00:24:26:04
Dr. Christina Enzmann
So yes. And yeah. So sleep is important. And movement movement you know it’s not just we always think yes sure we have to move because thought is good. It’s so important for our cortisol levels. It’s it’s like we know this now. It’s so movement and alone walking. So there are studies that show, people who you put on a six week walking program.

00:24:26:04 – 00:24:47:16
Dr. Christina Enzmann
I think it was every day is 30 minutes. They basically improved their brain health. Two years. This is just wow. It’s just our body is basically screaming to do the things we kind of were meant to do. We were, you know, meant to be outside in the sun, eat like a natural diet and to move all day long.

00:24:47:16 – 00:25:09:06
Dr. Christina Enzmann
So, yeah, I can’t move all day long either, because I’m sitting a lot on the desk like many of us. But just don’t forget it. You have to move and it doesn’t have to be something super strenuous, right? Many patients I met, you know, they come to midlife, some of them have suddenly more time and, you know, and they’re seeing these bodily changes, so they’re overdoing it.

00:25:09:07 – 00:25:32:01
Dr. Christina Enzmann
They are starting to you know, I obviously they start to try out lines like literally. And then they are surprised that they’re even more fatigued. They don’t seem to be able to gain muscle. They enjoy themselves and they don’t lose weight. And the reason really is because the cortisol levels are already elevated in this perimenopausal transition. So the stress hormone levels that later goes away.

00:25:32:01 – 00:25:54:15
Dr. Christina Enzmann
But that really means during that time you need to cut your body a little slack. That means what is much better for you is actually what is much easier to go outside and walk. Go, walk. There’s so much data how good that is. Or, you know, do gentler exercise. Whatever it is you’re like, is it Pilates or reformer or, you know, whatever people like to do?

00:25:54:17 – 00:26:19:10
Dr. Christina Enzmann
So yes. And then, you know, sun and outlook. So if there’s nothing that you look forward to when you wake up in the morning and there is just nothing left you like to do, your just have your job and all the things you have you do, it’s gonna be difficult. So I think we have to have an outlook and find something that gives us joy, and that’s something we have to work on and then implement.

00:26:19:12 – 00:26:28:06
Claudia Mahler
That’s very wise. Thank you. How do you share your knowledge beyond your practice?

00:26:28:08 – 00:26:52:09
Dr. Christina Enzmann
Oh, so, like in my practice when I’m employed, you know, I do regular gynecology mostly, so I do surgery actually. Still, I do well with actual resources. Yes, I prescribe hormone replacement therapy. And of course, I can’t turn off my functional medicine head right. But there is no right time for, like, you know, long explanations or long lifestyle changes.

00:26:52:11 – 00:27:18:06
Dr. Christina Enzmann
So for women who are really motivated to do that, I have an online practice that I’m still billing, but I have clients now, and that’s when I really offer, you know, really like the most fascinating of the tests we use. It’s used in functional medicine to really check what our hormones are doing. What is the gut microbiome doing, what is our metabolism doing all these fun things, I think, and they give us lots of, actionable information.

00:27:18:06 – 00:27:35:17
Dr. Christina Enzmann
And then, you know, I guide then I have the time and I guide these women. I also have some men, by the way. I guide them through this lifestyle change. And sometimes some supplements. And I really give them all the insights there that we have, how to fix the underlying the root cause issues. Yes.

00:27:35:19 – 00:27:58:15
Claudia Mahler
Well that’s great. I mean there is I find that there’s a lot of information out on self-care and longevity and health preserving measurements, but I also realize, at least for me, that I start to get a little bit overwhelmed by it, especially on social media where I am because of my podcasts and all the other things that I’m doing.

00:27:58:17 – 00:28:19:24
Claudia Mahler
And it’s a little bit almost like I was caught the other day and I thought, I’m really in a bit of a like self-care stress. And in the end, I’m not really doing. It’s not that I’m not doing anything, but I’m so confused. Like one feed says that almonds are good, the other feed says no, they’re not at all because they build up something in my stomach.

00:28:19:24 – 00:28:50:05
Claudia Mahler
Then I start reading about this. So many contradicting messages. Yeah. Even though I think it’s really good to become more transparent and to have more people involved and be vocal about it, especially in the functional medical field and so on, it can also get confusing. So I think it’s great if you know a doctor can share and mix the classic and the functional medicine and the Chinese medicine and really come up with something that one feels one can trust.

00:28:50:05 – 00:28:50:17
Claudia Mahler
Yeah.

00:28:50:19 – 00:29:11:13
Dr. Christina Enzmann
Yeah. So there is a lot of, I always say a little bit of garbage out there and it’s overwhelming. So, so first of all, the term is so functional medicine. It’s not a protected term at all really. Everyone can get some education and functional medicine and can become a health coach, a nutrition counselor, one of these things. But functional medicine.

00:29:11:13 – 00:29:36:18
Dr. Christina Enzmann
So it’s a root cause. So these are really, I would call them really nerdy people, often, hopefully nerdy physicians that just like me, want to understand better the things we know from traditional medicine, but kind of, add something to the armamentarium for the things where there’s a void. In traditional medicine, there is also integrative medicine, integrative medicine now is actually a recognized board certification.

00:29:36:18 – 00:30:03:10
Dr. Christina Enzmann
So people don’t know all these differences. Right. Integrative medicine, these are board certified physicians. I think they probably tend to do more functional medicine, but not necessarily is that integrative medicine. That’s a basically means you learned how to also integrate, for example, acupuncture, behavioral therapy, all of these things. That is all nice, but it’s not really like the root cause approach we do in functional medicine.

00:30:03:10 – 00:30:31:07
Dr. Christina Enzmann
But naturally all of these things mix of course. So how would anyone know. So that is complicated. And then, you know, out there when you’re saying you’re confused about social media because I’m too and I’m and I always raise my eyebrow, but I always think, how would a consumer know what to trust? Because of course, all these people are offering, you know, whatever they’re offering their products or, you know, there’s always a catch and a hook and they want you to buy something or whatever the reason is.

00:30:31:07 – 00:31:01:02
Dr. Christina Enzmann
And sometimes it might come from reputable physicians and often it might not. So it is really complex, I agree. So so and then in terms enough, female health, you know, you can oil it’s hormone replacement therapy, for example. You get the very, you know, stone dry information from the menopause society usually used to be North American Menopause Society, which I love because I think every woman should really look what is really the data saying data is good.

00:31:01:02 – 00:31:24:09
Dr. Christina Enzmann
I’m not saying data is bad. And then you have so they I don’t think they have internet and or social media presence. So people don’t see that the most, which they should actually they are very quite the menopause society. And then you have the let’s say anti-aging. What is that? It’s also not a board certification. Don’t get me wrong.

00:31:24:09 – 00:31:50:10
Dr. Christina Enzmann
This is also like a line of holistic medicine that’s started maybe 15 years ago with marketing their approach to things, which none of this is FDA approved or showed in study. It’s safe or really reliable. So these people might want, you know, to sell you injections. You know, again, there’s lots of marketing push behind that. But they they have a great marketing machine and they put that information out there.

00:31:50:10 – 00:32:14:01
Dr. Christina Enzmann
So then people think maybe I should get some vitamin C injections of growth hormones, who knows what. And then they ask, for example, the pallet industry. These are now the companies that would like you to help your fatigue and your sexual problems with tasks giving you like these under the skin placed pallets that contain testosterone or estrogen plus progesterone.

00:32:14:03 – 00:32:37:17
Dr. Christina Enzmann
And they think tell you this is now the thing too. And they’re you know, and I’m not saying this is wrong necessarily for everyone, but I think these outlets don’t really inform about what is the official statement of traditional medicine regarding these things, right. That this is actually not needed. Functional medicine. We would always say, well, why don’t you fix why are you having this symptom?

00:32:37:17 – 00:32:51:13
Dr. Christina Enzmann
So it’s very nuanced and I think it’s impossible to understand for a layperson even I’m still, you know, sometimes I write newsletters. I’m trying to explain this to my followers what all this means, but man it’s complicated.

00:32:51:15 – 00:33:07:04
Claudia Mahler
Yeah. Yeah. No no it is. And and I just realized in myself that how I somehow I got caught into this. Yeah. And got confused. So I kind of cleared my feeds and I’m sticking to a very traditional moderation diet and so on and so forth.

00:33:07:06 – 00:33:15:16
Dr. Christina Enzmann
Good. No sugar, clean diet, sleep and moves. I always say this, fix this. Probably 90% of my patients.

00:33:15:18 – 00:33:25:21
Claudia Mahler
So two last questions in your busy job. How do you relax. And if you feel sluggish or so, what are your choices to energize yourself?

00:33:25:23 – 00:33:45:24
Dr. Christina Enzmann
Oh yeah. Right now, while I’m overwhelmed, as I told you most of the time. But I to relax and I just need to clear my head. I like to sit in my garden. I’m a very simple person. I like to sit in my garden, look at the bees. Literally. That’s when I just recharge and do not taking a walk.

00:33:45:24 – 00:34:09:20
Dr. Christina Enzmann
That is something that sometimes I don’t want to do it. And I’m just like, Christina, you’re so tired. You know, the brain is like, completely gone. And I take brisk walks, and that’s what I can always do easily. That’s how I try to do it. And if, you know, like, if I need an energy push, I like to supplement, you know, with some have you read like the the mushroom supplements.

00:34:09:20 – 00:34:48:02
Dr. Christina Enzmann
Like, right. She must room or how are the other ones could like the king King mushroom. Yeah. So, cordyceps. So I really always try to instead of taking, like, you know, a cup of coffee, I really try to, nourish my adrenal cleanse, how we call it in the functional medicine. Right. So basically really supporting the stress system, and that actually is consistent with, you know, old fashioned Chinese medicine, since you mentioned it, they also, you know, they are like really always in, they want to support this original tea, basically.

00:34:48:02 – 00:34:57:14
Dr. Christina Enzmann
So supporting that. So that’s what I do. And sometimes I just go to bed. So if I’m tired at night I rather than doing a workout I’ll go to bed.

00:34:57:16 – 00:35:16:01
Claudia Mahler
Okay. Great. Well Christina I thank you so much. That was an important conversation. I think we women still needs to learn so much more about ourselves. So anybody who’s in this field and active is I think it’s such important work.

00:35:16:03 – 00:35:19:06
Dr. Christina Enzmann
Yeah. Thank you for having me. They were fun. Yeah.

00:35:19:08 – 00:35:21:04
Claudia Mahler
Thank you. Be well.

00:35:21:06 – 00:35:34:01
Dr. Christina Enzmann
How about it?

00:35:34:03 – 00:36:09:19
Claudia Mahler
Those 30 minutes of brisk walking daily. It really seems to be the solution. Christina. Actually just released a coauthored book in Germany last week with a menopause advocate, activist and pioneer in her field, Susanna Pletka, who started the platform. Nobody told me their book is called Somebody Told Me, and is a comprehensive guide on nutrition as a key to more wellness and energy during menopause.

00:36:09:21 – 00:36:34:14
Claudia Mahler
Shift happens has been created and is hosted by me, Claudia Muller, editing, Andy Boroson and social media Magda Reckendrees. I hope you felt connected and heard by listening to Shift Happens and please leave a review and a rating wherever you listen to podcasts.