741_Dr Anna Cabeca
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[00:00:00] JJ: I’m J. J. Virgin, Ph. D. dropout, sorry mom, turned four time New York Times bestselling author. I’m a certified nutrition specialist, fitness hall of famer, and I speak at health conferences and trainings around the globe, but I’m driven most of all. By my insatiable curiosity and love of science, to keep asking questions, digging for answers and sharing the information that I uncover with as many people as I can.

[00:00:33] JJ: And that’s where you come in. That’s why I created the Well Beyond 40 podcast. to synthesize and simplify the science of health into actionable strategies to help you thrive. In each episode, we’ll talk about what’s working in the world of wellness, from personalized nutrition and healing your metabolism to powerful aging and prescriptive fitness.

[00:00:57] JJ: Join me on the journey to better health so you can love how you look and feel right now and have the energy to play full out. at 100. Don’t miss an episode. Subscribe now at subscribe to JJ. com to start unlocking your healthiest, most energetic self. All right, I have a repeat guest today of I don’t know this might be her.

[00:01:22] JJ: Fifth time on the show because she’s so awesome. We are going to be talking today about a hormone that can impact your stress, your sex drive, um, your bone health. And it’s something that’s never really talked about. We’re talking today about oxytocin and this is something you’ve probably thought about as like, Oh, the love hormone or what happens when you hug.

[00:01:49] JJ: It goes way, way beyond that. You’re going to discover how oxytocin can not only breathe life into your relationship, um, and how it can be devastated by stress and by cortisol, but also how it can help with your libido, your, um, You know, your happiness, your focus, et cetera. So we are digging into this with Dr.

[00:02:13] JJ: Anna Kabeca. We are kind of, kind of giving you a preview of a book that she will be writing. It’s, it’s like the book I’ve been bugging her about for years. I’m like, please write the book on oxytocin. Um, and it’s just been something that we haven’t talked about ever on the show and really hasn’t talked about much, but it makes a massive difference.

[00:02:31] JJ: If you don’t know Dr. Anna, she is a, uh, OBGYN. Who is Triple board certified. She’s a fellow of Gynecology and Obstructives, Integrative Medicine, and Anti Aging and Regenerative Medicine. She also has certifications in Functional Medicine, Sexual Health, and Hormone Replacement Therapy, and she lectures all over the world.

[00:02:55] JJ: She is the best selling author of The Hormone Fix, Keto Green 16, and Menu Paws. And she has an amazing product line, which we have a very cool little, uh, code for to get you 15 percent off. So you’ll learn more about all of that as well. And we’re going to be digging into oxytocin today. What it is, why it matters, how you can support yours best, and why you want to do that.

[00:03:21] JJ: So I will be right back with Dr. Anna Kabeca. Stay with me.

[00:03:44] JJ: Dr. Anna Cabeca, welcome back for the gazillionth time.

[00:03:49] Dr. Anna Cabeca: Always good to see you. I’m like, when was our podcast? Or was that just a chat or conversation? And when were we?

[00:03:55] JJ: Okay.

[00:03:56] Dr. Anna Cabeca: For

[00:03:56] JJ: everybody listening, this is completely selfish. Anna and I wanted to catch up. She’s one of my oldest, dearest friends. And we are going to be talking today about the book.

[00:04:05] JJ: I want her to get out into the world. This. This, this is, you know, you’ve done so many cool things out in the world of women’s health. You’re truly a pioneer. And this is like the big idea. And we’re going to be talking today about oxytocin. And I would love to start with what it is, because again, I don’t think this is out there.

[00:04:27] JJ: Everybody, when they think of oxytocin probably thinks of hugging.

[00:04:32] Dr. Anna Cabeca: Right. And then oxytocin, like, and I always like to differentiate, it’s oxytocin, not oxycodone. Oxycodone is the pain medicine. Okay. Bad. And, um, but oxytocin is the cuddle love hormone. It’s a, really a trust hormone and a connection home hormone.

[00:04:49] Dr. Anna Cabeca: And the, the most important piece about oxytocin and we’ll, when we think about it, it’s. It’s the most powerful hormone in our body. It’s an alkalinizing hormone. It’s to rebuild and restore. I mean, we, when we, um, orgasm, we produce oxytocin when we’re in, you know, to initiate labor. Oxytocin is secreted endogenously and so that we have contractions and it’s that hormone that when you have had, if you’ve, um, had a child and you look at this child after you’ve been in labor for, I don’t know, for my first experience, it was three days.

[00:05:23] Dr. Anna Cabeca: And then I look at this little child, all wrinkly and everything. And I’m like, Oh my God, the most beautiful thing in the world. I just love it. Let’s let’s just, it’s just amazing. Right? And you forget the pain, you forget the pain, you, you know, it’s a natural anesthesia, you’re completely connected to this child and that is that oxytocin hormone.

[00:05:44] Dr. Anna Cabeca: It’s really the glue that keeps us together and makes life worth living.

[00:05:49] JJ: Okay. I have to ask you one. Maybe, you know, the answer to this one. I think I heard it from Alison Armstrong in that when women have an orgasm, they have oxytocin around from it for three weeks. And when men have an orgasm, it’s like, I want to say three minutes, but it’s like three days.

[00:06:07] JJ: So

[00:06:07] Dr. Anna Cabeca: is this true? It is so true. It is so true. So it’s like, oxytocin has a double edge to it. Right? So the time it starts to, it peaks with ovulation too. There’s a slight peak of it, but that, you know, with ovulation, you’ve got an increase in testosterone and dopamine. You’ve got that drive for that increased desire, drive for sex.

[00:06:29] Dr. Anna Cabeca: And so that is naturally that kind of that peak when you have sex and intimacy and you. You know, you secrete oxytocin. It’s like, it can, it can connect you. It can connect you in a way that it’s like a bad judgment hormone.

[00:06:47] JJ: It’s, I, I always looked at that when I heard that. I went, well, this is why women are not made for one night stands.

[00:06:52] Dr. Anna Cabeca: No,

[00:06:53] JJ: right. Because even if they think about and they go, you know, okay, this is just going to be a one night stand, they can’t stop thinking about the guy.

[00:07:02] Dr. Anna Cabeca: Hey, my first marriage.

[00:07:07] Dr. Anna Cabeca: Some things you just have to experience

[00:07:09] JJ: to learn, you know? Oh my goodness, that might be my favorite all time podcast line.

[00:07:14] Dr. Anna Cabeca: Right there. Oh my god, it’s so true. So that, the concept is, okay, your your oxytocin is connecting you to that partner from like ovulation to the time you know you’re pregnant, basically.

[00:07:28] Dr. Anna Cabeca: That, at two weeks, that gestation period, you’ve got that oxytocin, you’re connected to that mate, you are glued in, and that’s kind of the, the hormone of survival. as well. So there’s so many faces to oxytocin, but it’s that survival piece. Okay. I’m connected. So now we’ll have, you know, a child together type of experience.

[00:07:48] Dr. Anna Cabeca: And it’s, it, it is true. You have to, you have to really pay attention to that. You’re like, okay, is this oxytocin speaking? Or is this, is this, is this really the right, the right relationship type experience? Yeah.

[00:08:03] JJ: And what happens, you know, as we age, our hormones go down, does oxytocin go down too?

[00:08:11] Dr. Anna Cabeca: Yeah, yeah, it does, sadly.

[00:08:13] Dr. Anna Cabeca: It’s like, oxytocin goes down, all our reproductive hormones start to decrease, cortisol and insulin increase. I

[00:08:20] JJ: know, it’s like, this is not fair.

[00:08:21] Dr. Anna Cabeca: It is not fair, but the good thing is you just have to be more intentionable, intentional about making more oxytocin. So I would say you’ve got to microdose oxytocin throughout your day.

[00:08:32] Dr. Anna Cabeca: that I call OxyPlay, doing activities that increase oxytocin. So it’s like chatting with a girlfriend right here right now. My oxytocin is definitely higher than it was when I got started. And so there’s that piece, you know, how can you incorporate activities that increase oxytocin throughout the day, the same time decrease cortisol?

[00:08:51] JJ: Yeah. So if you are increasing oxytocin, is that Is it that oxytocin elevation decreases cortisol or is it that the things that would increase oxytocin would decrease cortisol? Which is it, or is it both?

[00:09:04] Dr. Anna Cabeca: Yes, it’s definitely both. And this is how I learned to, um, this association to begin with was because in my, you know, at 48 I was going through my second menopause or perimenopausal journey.

[00:09:21] Dr. Anna Cabeca: I mean, really like. You know, mood all over the place, feeling really disconnected, burnout from my work and really feeling, I mean, disconnected to life in general, to anything, relationships, et cetera. That’s when you’re just, you’re running on fumes and you’re doing what you need to do because you’re disciplined and you just have to do it to survive or to exist or you’ve got your routines in place.

[00:09:45] Dr. Anna Cabeca: You’re kind of running in that. realm versus a energy of desire and happiness and you know, totally fueled. So during that time, I was struggling with PTSD, which was under the surface. And I thought I’d handled those issues, but I hadn’t. So cortisol and oxytocin were fighting each other, essentially in my life.

[00:10:07] Dr. Anna Cabeca: So what I found is that when I would do activities to increase oxytocin, naturally helped support decreasing cortisol. And that did a simple test to just, you know, looking at your adrenal, there’s ways we can test and measure and see how we’re doing on a regular basis to make sure we’re doing that in a physiologic way, actually getting physiologic results.

[00:10:32] Dr. Anna Cabeca: So as I realized as I started increasing more of the oxytocin increasing practices, my, you know, Acidity went down, stress makes us acidic and cortisol, you know, was regulated and my circadian rhythm regulated and it was just healthier in general, happier in general. I lifted myself out of that depression, lifted myself out of that hormonal imbalance and really, even though all my other hormones were dialed in, oxytocin was the key hormone to pull me out of the depths of, of PTSD and depression.

[00:11:09] JJ: Now, are there times that someone would benefit from doing supplemental oxytocin? Like it’s not going to be enough to hug someone, laugh at the girlfriend and pet your dog.

[00:11:20] Dr. Anna Cabeca: Yeah, sometimes there is. Absolutely. And I use it clinically as a physician and with clients who have had PTSD and are really struggling with, um, adrenal, you know, with cortisol, hypo function, burnout, or even hyper function.

[00:11:35] Dr. Anna Cabeca: So disordered circadian rhythm or cortisol curves. So I’ll look at that. And, you know, certainly depression, um, disconnect. Those are instances that we can use it as a crutch, that we can use oxytocin as a crutch in these situations. And for example, I had a client who’s an ER physician and she says, you know, I give everything at work.

[00:11:57] Dr. Anna Cabeca: I’m in the ER. I mean, you know, that’s a. Damn stressful job, right? Damn stressful job. And so she goes, by the time I get home, I’m cranky. I’m irritable. I’m exhausted. I just want to, you know, uh, sit on the couch, read a book or watch a movie. And I’m not interacting with my kids. And I said, well, first you change the music.

[00:12:15] Dr. Anna Cabeca: What music are you listening to? All the things, what can you do in your life? Can you get some movement in, et cetera? several activities that will help you manage stress. So do all those things. But let’s give you a boost of oxytocin on your way home. So as a lozenge or a nasal spray, there’s different ways we can administer it for sexual health.

[00:12:34] Dr. Anna Cabeca: You can use oxytocin vaginally as well. But so I give her these turkeys at that point, these turkeys are rapid dissolve tablets. And she would take it when she would get in the car on her way home. And she goes, you know, that first day she was, I will open the door and I’m smiling. My kids are like, Who’s that?

[00:12:51] Dr. Anna Cabeca: Hang on, right? Like, who? What happened? And so she used it as a crutch for a while as it helped shift her physiology, and then just as needed on very stressful days till she didn’t need it any longer.

[00:13:03] JJ: Very cool.

[00:13:04] Dr. Anna Cabeca: Yeah.

[00:13:04] JJ: Now, you mentioned libido, and everyone tends to think of libido as more of a testosterone issue.

[00:13:11] JJ: What’s the role of oxytocin here?

[00:13:14] Dr. Anna Cabeca: So oxytocin, first of all, helps with the trust factor, the enjoyment factor, the joyful factor, that connection factor. And when we think of key areas that disconnect, that interrupt our libido, our desire, it is, you know, issues with desire straight off. So it can be the hormonal, it can be disconnected in a relationship, and it can be discomfort or pain.

[00:13:38] Dr. Anna Cabeca: So that disconnect is a really key piece. So when you have oxytocin and intimacy, when you have intimacy and you increase oxytocin, That’s a positive feedback to have more intimacy. So the frequency of intercourse can increase or intimacy can increase in general. The important thing to know is that again, oxytocin in women versus oxytocin in men, there are significant differences here.

[00:14:06] JJ: So what walk us through what the.

[00:14:10] Dr. Anna Cabeca: Yeah. So for men with like, for oxytocin after intimacy, it makes them want to roll over and go to sleep. Right. It helps them. You can ask. I mean, I have been doing this now for many years and there is, yeah, not one man that I know of that. Hasn’t said that at some point.

[00:14:32] Dr. Anna Cabeca: Yeah. After sex, I like to roll over, you know, I just will roll over and go to sleep or whatever. And so the key thing you have to tell them is like, okay, here’s the two minute strategy to get your mate wanting to have more intimacy and more sex with you and to initiate it more. So give her a couple minutes after sex to have connection, positive feedback, caressing, be really present with her.

[00:14:55] Dr. Anna Cabeca: For at least two minutes, right? The amount of time it takes to shave, the amount of time it takes to shower. I mean, just give her those couple minutes to really increase that connection, and that will make her want to have more sex with you.

[00:15:09] JJ: Wait, so, so rolling over and falling asleep right after sex, is that just men do that?

[00:15:15] JJ: Or if women do that, oxytocin too?

[00:15:19] Dr. Anna Cabeca: They, well, it could be, it can be for multiple factors, right? You’re relaxed, super relaxed and exhausted. But most for most women, for most women physiologically with oxytocin, it increases that desire for more connection and intimacy. That’s the time where, you know, especially.

[00:15:40] Dr. Anna Cabeca: early on in practices, initiating that time increases that feeling of satisfaction and connection. Cause for women, when they have orgasm, for instance, increased amount of oxytocin, which can be, you know, we’re going to increase oxytocin without orgasm, just with play and laughter and pleasure, having fun.

[00:16:00] Dr. Anna Cabeca: But so when we’re increasing oxytocin, that positive feedback is that there’s a need, a desire for that deep connection. It’s like an open heart moment for women specifically. They feel that open heart moment. And whereas men, they’re like, okay, I’m done. That’s good. It’s fast acting stuff. That’s wonderful.

[00:16:23] Dr. Anna Cabeca: I’m in bed, right? I’m, I’m asleep. For women, you have that time and really to take that time as women to nurture, to continue to, you know, continue to increase that oxytocin delivery to increase that positive feedback from the intimacy. So when women are surveyed, when they look at, okay, what’s your number one satisfaction with, um, intimacy with your husband or with intercourse.

[00:16:49] Dr. Anna Cabeca: And she’ll say, you know, it’s, it’s really, it’s a feeling of connection and love. And in that space for men, it’s that, well, did I make her happy? Did she have pleasure? Right. There’s that piece, but he’s also like, okay, did I get off? Right. And so there’s, you know, okay, done check that box. And it’s important to understand too, in surveys of men and women, we look at the number one benefit that, uh, Um, men, his number one turn on in the bedroom is her turn on.

[00:17:22] Dr. Anna Cabeca: And so it’s not like he’s going, you know, me going in, he’s going to check that box. He wants to see her enjoy the pleasure, enjoy the intimacy, enjoy the touch. She’s, he’s made, he’s doing something to make her happy. And that’s a really big turn on for him. So in both aspects, before, during and after, there’s many aspects here, but the role of oxytocin is threaded through the entire, um, playtime.

[00:17:51] JJ: And beyond sex. So. Do the things that raise oxytocin in women also raise oxytocin in men?

[00:18:00] Dr. Anna Cabeca: Yes, yeah. Or are

[00:18:01] JJ: there different activities? Like, you know, I know men can go watch football and raise testosterone, and that ain’t gonna do anything for me. Yeah,

[00:18:08] Dr. Anna Cabeca: yeah, that’s a, being around people, you’re connected.

[00:18:12] Dr. Anna Cabeca: two increases oxytocin in both sex. And so pretty, pretty consistent. The activities that increase oxytocin in a man increase oxytocin in women and vice versa. So that is absolutely true. Now, what are activities unique to the individual that she likes more? So you can say, okay, nipple stem increases oxytocin, but if you don’t enjoy it, it’s not going to increase your oxytocin.

[00:18:41] Dr. Anna Cabeca: Right? If you’re like, Oh, that hurts. It’s annoying. I don’t, I’m not enjoying it. That is not going to increase oxytocin. So same thing, you know, you can have a pet lover. You’ve got your beautiful dog and you’re enjoying your dog. And someone else like, okay, I’m not. I’m not petting this dog, right? Like what, you know, there’s things that are definite aversions that are going to interfere with oxytocin, but in that, in the moment in general, laughter always in both sexes increases oxytocin.

[00:19:09] Dr. Anna Cabeca: The amount of oxytocin increased is different, uh, for each individual. Paul Zaks, one of a forefront researcher in oxytocin as the trust hormone. And he was measuring people in. oxytocin levels in different situations. So a classic example is measuring oxytocin of everyone in a wedding party. And the number one person with the highest level of oxytocin is the bride.

[00:19:34] Dr. Anna Cabeca: And the number two person is the mother of the bride. I was going to say it was mom. Totally, totally the groom somewhere a few steps down.

[00:19:44] JJ: I wonder if the dad is like way far. I remember my dad at my wedding was like, Talking to my mom, I overheard him about, she’s not my little girl anymore. I just wonder if they have less, like a low, it was so sweet.

[00:19:58] JJ: I mean,

[00:19:58] Dr. Anna Cabeca: so sweet. He’s like, Oh my gosh, I have to send her off. I mean, it’s, I mean, when you go to, he

[00:20:05] JJ: didn’t like my husband.

[00:20:08] Dr. Anna Cabeca: Oh yeah. It probably was really

[00:20:10] JJ: not

[00:20:10] Dr. Anna Cabeca: in

[00:20:12] JJ: retrospect didn’t really either, but. You know, what it is, this is the one no one knows. It’s the mystery third husband.

[00:20:19] Dr. Anna Cabeca: Okay.

[00:20:20] JJ: Yeah.

[00:20:21] Dr. Anna Cabeca: Okay. Yeah. We’ll have to, we’ll, we’ll talk later.

[00:20:23] Dr. Anna Cabeca: I’ll call you

[00:20:26] JJ: podcast.

[00:20:28] Dr. Anna Cabeca: Well, I mean, there’s so much to that, but even if you think of the ceremonies that we’ve cultivated, the ceremonies that we’ve cultivated and increased. And for example, Um, a wedding ceremony is designed to bring the level of, I mean, part of the results of creating this ceremony time tested over thousands of years is to bring love and connection as one of your gifts to the couple getting married.

[00:20:52] Dr. Anna Cabeca: You’re bathing them in your feelings of love and intimacy and nostalgia and good feelings and laughter and dancing in oxytocin. is designed to help, you know, again, surround a couple with good community, good family, good friendships that are all in alignment with this relationship and marriage and also for the longevity of the marriage.

[00:21:15] Dr. Anna Cabeca: So in cultures time, like, you know, our traditional cultures, even wedding ceremonies can be a week long. And I think part of that was this cultivation as we’re celebrating, as we’re coming together, et cetera, then, you know, there’s longevity in the marriage Some more glue associated with that, um, ceremony, essentially.

[00:21:38] JJ: So is this something that we could measure? And if we’re measuring it, is this something that has like cycles or, you know, like, how would you know the right time to measure it? How do you know if you’re low, et cetera?

[00:21:54] Dr. Anna Cabeca: Measuring is a challenge. Measuring oxytocin is a challenge. There’s only a couple labs in the country that are really skilled at measuring oxytocin because it is very fragile.

[00:22:05] Dr. Anna Cabeca: It has to be flash frozen, shipped overnight. And the, you know, conditions, just like with any of our hormones, Reproductive hormones, estrogen, testosterone, et cetera, they’re pulsatile. And so it’s going to fluctuate throughout the day. I had created an oxytocin quiz to ask, you know, a list of questions that I asked my clients or, you know, customers, here are some questions that are associated with either high versus low oxytocin.

[00:22:32] Dr. Anna Cabeca: So. There are definitely clinical symptoms associated with low oxytocin and, um, and also certainly physiologic.

[00:22:42] JJ: So what are the, what, how would someone suspect they were low in oxytocin?

[00:22:48] Dr. Anna Cabeca: He knew what. In, you know, in like the self evaluation with yourself, it’s assessing, do I feel connected? Do I, you know, am I enjoying the activities I used to enjoy?

[00:23:01] Dr. Anna Cabeca: Am I feeling less, um, likely to initiate intimacy or some of those activities? I’m not playing with my pet as much. I’m not going out to my horses and connecting with my girlfriends. I’m not interacting in life, engaged in life as much as I used to. Now there are other hormones involved in there too, serotonin, dopamine, et cetera, melatonin.

[00:23:24] Dr. Anna Cabeca: And again, all, all our reproductive hormones have a part, but definitely that over the long haul, looking you know, at those symptoms of low oxytocin is key. The other thing is, uh, when we think of autism as a low oxytocin state, so not making eye contact, you know, not having physical touch or initiating physical touch, cold clammy hands, pale skin.

[00:23:51] Dr. Anna Cabeca: Those are symptoms of low oxy. Those can be symptoms of low oxytocin among other things.

[00:23:58] JJ: What things would, would make your oxytocin go low?

[00:24:02] Dr. Anna Cabeca: Definitely number one is stress. It’s certainly stress, trauma, depression, negative self talk. Um, that most common thing I see, it has to do with cortisol, is the most common thing.

[00:24:17] JJ: So you could pretty much assume if someone’s got You know, chronically, and this is, I think this is so important to designate. I hear so much stuff right now about people being afraid to exercise because it causes a cortisol rise. I’m like, yes, that’s good. Like it’s, we got to know acute versus chronic.

[00:24:38] JJ: If you cannot acutely raise cortisol. We will not be here. So we want to be able to do that. And if you looked at the things that happened during exercise, you would not exercise because you’d look like you were having a heart attack. You know, it’s kind of ridiculous. But, um, you know, I’m looking at what are these things?

[00:24:57] JJ: Cause it seems like it’s safe to say if you’ve got chronically elevated or probably just the opposite, that would be true too. If you’ve really burnt out your adrenals, either one of those two things. would also mean low oxytocin?

[00:25:10] Dr. Anna Cabeca: Yeah, because when your cortisol’s up for a long time, your paraventricular nucleus in the brain will say, okay, cortisol, you are frying me out and suppress it.

[00:25:19] Dr. Anna Cabeca: It’s like putting the brakes on your cortisol. And so what happens, you’re in the, the adrenals aren’t burnt out. They’re just in hypofunction. They’re Like your body, your PVN is like, okay, we got to save you from frying out the system. High chronic cortisol is catabolic. It breaks down muscle. It breaks down bone.

[00:25:37] Dr. Anna Cabeca: And one of the reasons I have a 37 year old in my practice right now with osteoporosis, very high stress and PTSD. I mean, you, you know, the, it will break down. Cortisol is catabolic. It breaks us down. Oxytocin, and it increases acidity in our, in our bodies. It actually physiologically increases hydrogen ion secretion across our renal tubules of our kidneys.

[00:26:00] Dr. Anna Cabeca: And so creates that acidic urine pH, which long term too, isn’t good for bladder health. I mean, cystitis, infections, incontinence. As we get older, we have to really pay attention to these things. So anything that can help support decreasing oxytocin is going to help support increasing, I mean, increasing oxytocin.

[00:26:21] Dr. Anna Cabeca: Yeah. So we, anything that supports increasing oxytocin is going to help manage cortisol. And with that concept of, oh, well, you’re, you know, don’t, I mean, I agree. Don’t run a marathon when you’re burned out. I mean, I agree. Go for a walk. Don’t run a

[00:26:34] JJ: marathon.

[00:26:35] Dr. Anna Cabeca: Yeah. And don’t ever run a marathon. Right. I got that one.

[00:26:37] JJ: Marathon. How’s that? I know I’m going to get some hate on that, but yeah, sorry, take some of that time and do some resistance training, hit training and meditate.

[00:26:46] Dr. Anna Cabeca: Well, you know, or put that challenge on and check it off, but look at the state of your life that you’re in marathon runners versus sprinters, which looks healthier than what else is going on in your life.

[00:26:57] Dr. Anna Cabeca: So if you’re focusing on that alkalinizing, nourishing. diet, you’ve got low inflammation in your system when you have, you know, I mean, anything, you have a gratitude practice, you have good relationships and good friendships. That’s a very good cocoon to do whatever exercise you want, honestly, because, and this is the other piece with oxytocin and say, okay, cortisol is acidifying.

[00:27:21] Dr. Anna Cabeca: Oxytocin is alkalinizing. We’ve seen that in many studies. We’ve seen that it helps with regeneration of even aged muscles. Again, there’s so much good stuff with, uh, oxytocin as far as a longevity hormone is the key to longevity. And especially if you consider what do most people want on their, you know, gravestones or their head, you know, their headstones at the time they die, you know, I loved well and I was well loved, right?

[00:27:46] Dr. Anna Cabeca: And I mean, that’s, uh, that’s oxytocin, right? Not that I worked harder or, you know, I worked

[00:27:52] JJ: my ass off and felt like people didn’t appreciate me. That’s right. I don’t know. That’s great. What about, are there any supplements that can help with oxytocin?

[00:28:02] Dr. Anna Cabeca: Yeah, definitely. There are certain supplements in my research and I write about this in, um, one of my books.

[00:28:08] Dr. Anna Cabeca: I have three, I have three published books, the Hormone Fix, and I definitely write about it in the Hormone Fix, Keto Green 16, and Menu Paws. So, and I, oxytocin comes up in all my books because it is a key factor for health. And she will

[00:28:27] JJ: have the big oxytocin. The

[00:28:29] Dr. Anna Cabeca: big oxytocin book proposal is in and, um, then I get eventually we’re in our final stages of getting that proposal in and accepted.

[00:28:39] Dr. Anna Cabeca: So yeah, I’m excited about it. Back

[00:28:41] JJ: over to supplements. So supplements that can help boost support. Oxytocin production or I, I’m not sure if it’s supporting the production of it, keeping it around, what are like, what, what can we do?

[00:28:55] Dr. Anna Cabeca: Well, several, several factors. One is vitamin C. Vitamin C is a key component.

[00:29:00] Dr. Anna Cabeca: Um, vitamin D, like if our vitamin D levels are low, think about low vitamin D depression, low oxytocin, you need vitamin D on board for all of our hormones to work really well. So vitamin D, you know, higher melatonin and melatonin. Also is key from melatonin will metabolize to oxytocin as well. That good night’s sleep.

[00:29:21] Dr. Anna Cabeca: You feel better the next day.

[00:29:24] JJ: So I have a question around that, that I’m glad you brought that up because I still remember when I was younger and I took melatonin and I felt like I was hung over the next day and then, you know, decades later I started using melatonin. And didn’t feel that, right? And so obviously I’d been normal in my melatonin before and then now I’m low.

[00:29:49] JJ: And I hear from people, they’re like, Oh no, you should not take melatonin all the time. And I’m like. Well, why wouldn’t you take melatonin every night if you’re low in melatonin, you know, it doesn’t make sense to me that you would cycle it or do anything else if you’re low in it. Why would you want to be low in it?

[00:30:06] JJ: It’s so mission critical.

[00:30:08] Dr. Anna Cabeca: It is mission critical. I think the same thing with oxytocin where I pulse it for clients, I may keep them on short term, three to six months and then intermittently in between or after. Because anything that we’re taking, any exogenous hormone that we’re taking on a regular basis is going to potentially provide negative feedback and decrease our ability’s manufacturing of that hormone in and of itself.

[00:30:35] JJ: However, as we age, we’re not able to produce as much of, say, melatonin. You know, and then we’re not producing estrogen. We’re not like I can, it doesn’t matter if I pulse estrogen or not, I’m not going to produce the estrogen I need to feel like a, I don’t want to crawl out of my skin. So with melatonin, if you’re aging out and you’re not producing the melatonin, you would have.

[00:30:58] JJ: Why would you want to pulse that? Wouldn’t you want to just get it back to the levels that you used to have, so you feel good, sleep well, etc.?

[00:31:05] Dr. Anna Cabeca: You should take it on a continuous basis to get that sleep cycle established. To get that sleep cycle established, and there are other reasons to take melatonin too, in higher doses for immune function, and in our cancer protocols, melatonin’s a key factor.

[00:31:20] JJ: And I know with brain injury too.

[00:31:22] Dr. Anna Cabeca: brain injury as well. The key factor too, when we think, okay, melatonin’s low because of age related issues, but how do we make melatonin? We need to have enough progesterone and estrogen on board, or we’re not going to make melatonin because without enough progesterone, we’re not going to have enough dopamine as well, because progesterone helps decrease dopamine degradation, the breakdown of dopamine.

[00:31:45] Dr. Anna Cabeca: And from dopamine, we make serotonin, which we need estrogen on board to make serotonin from serotonin. We make melatonin. So something along that pathway is not working. I’m not, I’m on the philosophy now more than ever after. 30 years of practice is that, you know, look at the, look at the pathways, look what leads up to it.

[00:32:03] Dr. Anna Cabeca: How can we optimize every step on the pathway? And what do we need to make serotonin? We need tryptophan on board five hydroxy tryptophan. So like, okay, so where can we support five hydroxy tryptophan, which has other roles in our body besides man, making serotonin and melatonin and will help with mood.

[00:32:23] Dr. Anna Cabeca: So. up the food chain, down the food chain, supply what is needed for the time needed. And in the case of melatonin, I think, um, more information is really needed long term, especially in, you know, over age 60 to look at daily chronic use. Now in someone in their forties, I wouldn’t do it. chronically every day for a year.

[00:32:47] Dr. Anna Cabeca: You’ve got to address the underlying issues causing your body not to make melatonin. And you’re like, okay, you’re getting your, you’re getting your morning sunshine, you’ve got red light, you’ve got sauna, you’re working on setting your circadian rhythm. It’s like, okay, I wouldn’t deny you thyroid hormone.

[00:33:03] Dr. Anna Cabeca: So let me give you melatonin hormone the same way. And so in that situation, but I’ve seen clients coming in. in their teens or teenagers who have been on melatonin daily and I think that’s a mistake.

[00:33:18] JJ: Yeah, that makes a ton of sense that it’d be something in your 50s, 60s, 70s that likely even giving everything in the pathway the cofactors.

[00:33:27] JJ: B6. Things like this. You’re just not going to get where you need to get.

[00:33:30] Dr. Anna Cabeca: Right. Right. In some I mean we’re living inside versus outside. So really resetting that certain emphasizing the importance of circadian rhythm and.

[00:33:40] JJ: And I live with a mole like literally it’s great at night. Tim does not, has very light sensitive eyes.

[00:33:46] JJ: So at night this is great. We turn everything down. I would normally I’m like Flip all the lights on. But in the morning, I’m like, okay, mole, we got to like, put the lights on, you know,

[00:33:58] Dr. Anna Cabeca: let’s open the curtains, get some sunlight. And that’s another thing too, with, um, light, you know, light sensitivity, you know, you have to.

[00:34:06] Dr. Anna Cabeca: If it work on, I mean, I’ll encourage in just the situation is when I have clients with significant light sensitivity, we’re able to turn that around to optimizing vitamin D, retraining the eyes, wearing blue light blockers instead of a regular glasses at night, getting, you know, exposure to our eyes, especially for those of us that have been glasses or contact wearers for a long time, it’s actually working against us.

[00:34:30] Dr. Anna Cabeca: So we have to conscientiously do things to re exercise and get that light exposure.

[00:34:36] JJ: Because, uh, anyway. What was that? Take him to Bryce Applebaum. We’re going to, I think, go over there and see him to get out of our glasses. Now, the, the last thing I’d love to look at is, um, how this fits into HRT.

[00:34:54] Dr. Anna Cabeca: So again.

[00:34:55] Dr. Anna Cabeca: with oxytocin and looking at that hierarchy of hormones. The most important thing is we do have this incredible pharmacy within our body that’s designed to sustain us, right? Our longest, this is the, the controversy, our longest living populations aren’t on handfuls of supplements and hormones,

[00:35:11] JJ: but they also don’t live in this whacked situation.

[00:35:14] JJ: We live

[00:35:14] Dr. Anna Cabeca: in exactly exposed. I mean, we’re exposed to an unprecedented amount of toxins and hormone disruptors that have to constantly be addressed and, and paid attention to. lifestyle factors, the whole thing about sunrises and sunsets, circadian rhythm, getting sunlight, optimizing your vitamin D. I mean, there’s no age limit on being able to naturally that I know of optimize our vitamin D.

[00:35:37] Dr. Anna Cabeca: It may take longer as we get older with sun exposure, et cetera, but it is, it is definitely something our body is still able to do. So when it comes to hormone, you know, managing our hormones, we want to look at all the underlying root causes, why those hormones are out of balance. Always is it. you need detox, you need nutrients, you know, whatever it is that you may need and address those issues and then replace, replenish.

[00:36:03] Dr. Anna Cabeca: I like to say I do hormone replenishment, not replacement. That way replenishing the hormones that your body needs in ideally an ideal physiologic way for you at. this time of your life. And I would, you know, this is just bringing up, I’m going to go on a tangent, JJ, go

[00:36:21] JJ: for it.

[00:36:22] Dr. Anna Cabeca: Yeah. A client of mine, I hadn’t seen her.

[00:36:24] Dr. Anna Cabeca: She was a Georgia client of mine. And so when I had moved and I had retired my practice there several years ago. Um, as you know, like I’d retired my practice in 2015. I started seeing patients here in Dallas in 2023. So I had a significant time of sabbatical. And she says, you know, I’ve really had to strong arm my pain, my doctors to keep me on the prescriptions that you’ve had me on the cream.

[00:36:49] Dr. Anna Cabeca: She goes, Dr. Anna. So this is a psychiatrist, highly educated. She’s been in practice over 35 years. And she’s like, I have to like. negotiate and bargain, get really strong on my doctors to keep me on your prescription. Well, as a result, they haven’t changed it in these eight years. And I was like, Oh girl, and she’s six and she’s 65 now.

[00:37:10] Dr. Anna Cabeca: So they said, Oh, we can, we’re not writing it anymore for you. And I was like, would you deny her insulin if she needed based on her age? Would you denied her thyroid hormone? based on her age. I mean, it’s ridiculous to say, Oh, you’re 65 and now you’re not going to need. And psychiatry, I mean, especially for her, I mean, that’s high stress.

[00:37:30] Dr. Anna Cabeca: So periodically in the past we would, you know, um, incorporate oxytocin. Because there’s a lot of trauma, a lot of stress, but those key practices that you can do on a daily basis that increase your oxytocin, because our pharmacy and our body is the best pharmacy in the world. And so you want to do those things.

[00:37:48] Dr. Anna Cabeca: But then when you need it, you can add in appropriate replacement and replenishment. And so, yeah, other supplements too, like maca, I will tell you maca, I’ve been using mighty maca for years. It helps decrease cortisol and we’ve seen improvements and happiness content in these preclinical trials and surveys of our clients.

[00:38:10] Dr. Anna Cabeca: And so that’s a key thing. And also maca has been shown to naturally increase your body’s own natural sex hormones. And so. That’s an important supplement to take too. So that’s another one that I wanted to mention.

[00:38:25] JJ: And let’s just, like, let’s just jump the gun a little bit because you have, so you have jolva, which

[00:38:31] Dr. Anna Cabeca: Increases oxytocin.

[00:38:34] Dr. Anna Cabeca: It increases sexual activity. We’re going to

[00:38:36] JJ: tell everyone what jolva is. We’ll put a link in the show notes. But this was so funny because at our, Tim and I’s wedding, in my wedding, we had goodie bags for everybody and we had Jova in the goodie bags and people just went crazy for it.

[00:38:53] JJ: So, so what is Jova? A party favor. It’s been a party favor. Party favor. Yes. I, well, when we did, um, my girlfriend Lisa’s bachelorette party, we made sure she had Jova because, you know, so,

[00:39:06] Dr. Anna Cabeca: you

[00:39:06] JJ: know. What is it? So tell everyone what it is.

[00:39:08] Dr. Anna Cabeca: So, Jolva I created, you know, from that situation when I had stopped my practice and I had been compounding prescriptions for my patients and then patients would be like, you know, Dr.

[00:39:18] Dr. Anna Cabeca: Anna, our doctors are uncomfortable, you know, rewriting these compounds, compounded creams or turkeys or whatever. Vaginal potions specifically for libido, sexual health desire, vaginal health and dryness, incontinence issues. So I really had worked, um, through my career on customizing these. compounded formulas for patients.

[00:39:38] Dr. Anna Cabeca: And so when I retired, I said, okay, well, I’m going to come up with something that’s over the counter that’s even better than anything I can write on a prescription. So that’s what Jolva is. It is a topical formula to use clitoris to anus. Okay. Vaginally, uh, on the vulvar vaginal area, it’s important to, um, and use it.

[00:39:58] Dr. Anna Cabeca: get on a daily basis, part of your cosmetic routine, your aunt, you know, your healthy aging routine. And it has key ingredients that help really turn use together. They help turn back the hands of time. And we’re going to have had clients. She’s now 67. She likes to boast the. That she has the vagina of a 25 year old and I’m like, okay, you don’t need any other biomarker of aging than that.

[00:40:22] Dr. Anna Cabeca: But I see it all the time. People, you know, as a gynecologist, weren’t, you know, had incontinence issues, weren’t able to have sex because of dryness or in the thinning of the vaginal lining and discomfort. And that, you know, Jolva just completely turns that around. So love

[00:40:38] JJ: it. And you’re coming out with lube too.

[00:40:40] Dr. Anna Cabeca: I also have a new lubricant coming out. It is really great. I’m excited about this.

[00:40:47] JJ: Well, I just love the idea that it’s something that’s not in plastic.

[00:40:50] Dr. Anna Cabeca: No, no, it’s in a glass bottle and it is a very, very clean formula. So it’s a water based formula and it’s hard to find a nice water based formula that’s Slick and it also included a couple ingredients that help increase blood flow and of course nurturing and healing ingredients Especially this is designed for the post menopausal woman that can be used by anyone But so the combination of ingredients that I put in are really good like aloe vera and hyaluronan and it’s um Yeah, it’s nice.

[00:41:19] Dr. Anna Cabeca: And some ginseng. It will help with desire, pleasure, but most importantly, comfort and intimacy. So you can actually experience the pleasure. If it hurts, you’re not going to want to know.

[00:41:31] JJ: Yeah, it hurts. Well, there’s a couple people, but for the most part, now that if you’re watching, if you’re listening to this, We’ll put some pictures on social too, but if you’re seeing any of this on social, you will notice that Dr.

[00:41:46] JJ: Anna’s hair is insane. Like the first thing I said, I had like hair envy when I got on. I’m like, what the heck are you doing over there with your hair? Cause it’s like she’s got a lion’s mane of hair going on. And, uh, so talk me through this because I know you sent me this at the beginning and the first thing I thought about was I don’t wash my, I don’t wash my own hair very often because I can’t blow dry my own hair.

[00:42:10] JJ: So, um, tell me about the hair thing too because so many people complain about hair.

[00:42:16] Dr. Anna Cabeca: Yeah. Yeah. Thank you. And there was a time, like I’ve, uh, I do have a full head of hair and it’s always been like the crowning glory, but there was a time where like my ponytail was down to like nothing. Like I had very, very lost a lot of hair when I pulled back my hair, I had hair loss all the way to the crown of my head.

[00:42:33] Dr. Anna Cabeca: So I’m like, you know, it’s, it’s amazing. I mean, I literally had four inches from my forehead to where my hair loss was. I mean, it was terrible. I mean, it was really terrifying too. And so I, really, you know, in building my own health back and my protocols and managing stress for me, it was a lot of stress related hair loss at that time too.

[00:42:55] Dr. Anna Cabeca: But then at 58, you know, getting my gray to come in, I was telling Jay, you know, JJ, I was, as I was telling you, I stopped coloring, you know, I’m not coloring my hair as much because I didn’t like how it Yeah. But I, I did create a product with sea buckthorn oil in it, which really does help. It’s a topical hair mask and it helps condition from the ends to the roots and the scalp to increase blood flow and hair growth.

[00:43:18] Dr. Anna Cabeca: So the beauty locks formula with amino acids in it too, to keep your hair strong is also specifically designed for hormonal hair loss and it, it, yeah, I’m happy with it.

[00:43:30] JJ: Like you’re, you are your own model here. Cause like wild. Did you blow out your own hair?

[00:43:37] Dr. Anna Cabeca: I did. I did it. I use the curlers, you know, how I sent you a curlers way back when those old Conair or something, curlers, those.

[00:43:47] Dr. Anna Cabeca: foam. Yeah. Foam curlers. Anyway. Yeah. So that’s why I did my hair. Yeah. But I prefer to have it done for me too, JJ. I have to admit. Well, speaking of which, you know, a head rub increases oxytocin. I love

[00:43:59] JJ: getting your hair washed and getting that. Oh my gosh. It’s the best. Yeah. That’s an oxy

[00:44:04] Dr. Anna Cabeca: play for you. So it’s the benefit is you get some, you know, you get your hair done, but you get a boost of oxytocin.

[00:44:10] JJ: That’s one of those things I do when I can at these, when you go to spas where they have the scalp. rituals. We did one in Bali, Tim and I, and I was like, it was so great. And then I remember she was trying to blow out my hair with this little blow dryer that was like, it was like, she was like blowing on my hair.

[00:44:29] JJ: This is not going to work. I got it. I’ll handle this. But yes, it’s looking fabulous. Everything’s looking great. Where should we send everybody who would love to learn more about. All the good stuff that you’re doing.

[00:44:43] Dr. Anna Cabeca: No, I definitely would love for you guys to connect with me on social media, Instagram at the girlfriend doctor and my website at dranna.

[00:44:51] Dr. Anna Cabeca: com. I have what? Decades now, a lot of good content and articles I’ve written and quizzes and information. So at dranna. com, d r a n n a. com.

[00:45:04] JJ: And what we’ll do is we’ll make it easy. We’ll put all your, um, social sites, uh, down and that. We’ll put it all at jjvirgin. com forward slash oxy play. Cause you’ll remember that O X Y play.

[00:45:17] JJ: Um. And is your primary thing Instagram, or what do you, where are all?

[00:45:24] Dr. Anna Cabeca: Predominantly Instagram. I haven’t gotten the nickname, you know, the knack for TikTok yet, but the primary one is Instagram. Were you saying

[00:45:30] JJ: knickknack on TikTok?

[00:45:33] Dr. Anna Cabeca: Knickknack on TikTok. That’s what I wanted to say. But also, JJ, we can offer your audience a discount code too.

[00:45:40] Dr. Anna Cabeca: Oh,

[00:45:40] JJ: let’s do that for sure. What would you,

[00:45:43] Dr. Anna Cabeca: what would you like it to be? We’ll put it in the system right now.

[00:45:46] JJ: Um, JJ, let’s just, like

[00:45:49] Dr. Anna Cabeca: JJ 15, 15 percent off. JJ 15

[00:45:51] JJ: is great. Okay, JJ

[00:45:52] Dr. Anna Cabeca: 15 will give you 15 percent off your first order at Dr. Anna. Fabulous,

[00:45:58] JJ: fabulous. So you just learned about all the goodies. She’s got great books, great social, does fun things there too.

[00:46:04] JJ: So make sure you get hooked up at jjvirgin. com forward slash oxyplay. And I hope I get to see you soon somewhere.

[00:46:11] Dr. Anna Cabeca: I do too. I do too. I look forward to it.

[00:46:14] JJ: Ciao. Ciao. Oxytocin.

[00:46:16] Dr. Anna Cabeca: That’s right.

[00:46:22] JJ: Be sure to join me next time for more tools, tips, and techniques you can incorporate into everyday life to ensure you look and feel great and are built to last. Check me out on Instagram, Facebook, and my website, JJVirgin. com. And make sure to follow my podcast at SubscribeToJJ. com so you don’t miss a single one.

[00:46:43] JJ: single episode. And Hey, if you’re loving what you hear, don’t forget to leave a review. Your reviews make a big difference in helping me reach more incredible women, just like you to spread the word about aging powerfully after 40. Thanks for tuning in. And I’ll catch you on the next episode.

[00:47:11] JJ: Hey, J. J. here, and just a reminder that the Well Beyond 40 podcast offers health, wellness, fitness, and nutritional information that’s designed for educational and entertainment purposes only. You should not rely on this information as a substitute for nor does it replace professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment.

[00:47:28] JJ: If you have any concerns or questions about your health, you should always consult with a physician or other healthcare professional. Make sure that you do not disregard, avoid, or delay obtaining medical or health related advice from your healthcare professional because of something you may have heard on this show or read in our show notes.

[00:47:44] JJ: The use of any information provided on this show is solely at your own risk.

 

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