The Luminescence Podcast with Schuyler Grant

Latest Episodes:

Peptides as a Female Longevity Shortcut? BPC-157, GH & Epithalon Nov 03, 2026

Show notes

Peptides are trending hard. "The bros are taking them, the sisters are starting to too." but Schuyler Grant, Dr. Robin Berzin, and Dr. Mary Pardee keep GLP-1s off the table for this one entirely (that's its own episode) to focus on three specific longevity peptides instead.

Phone-a-friend Dr. Aleksandra Gajer joins to walk through what's actually happening in her own compounding-pharmacy practice, while Dr. Pardee stays openly skeptical about recommending anything without real human safety data.

They discuss:

BPC-157, the most talked-about peptide, and its use for tissue repair and gut healing — including very light, early data on an oral version
Growth hormone secretagogues like sermorelin, CJC-1295/ipamorelin, and tesamorelin — used for lean muscle mass and performance, and why Dr. Berzin is personally curious about this category specifically for her own grip strength
Epithalon (epithelin) — the peptide most directly linked to telomere length, and why it's also the one with the least data behind it
Why most of these substances are technically not legal outside a small number of FDA-approved indications, and what it means that Parsley Health — the largest functional medicine longevity clinic in the country — still has to operate carefully within that gray zone
Dr. Pardee's stance: for healthy people who "have a lot to lose," the risk currently outweighs the potential benefit — a real disagreement that never quite resolves
Why there's no rapid fire for this one: none of the three would call themselves peptide experts, and they say so on air

For any woman who's seen "peptides for longevity" all over her feed and wants an honest answer instead of a hype cycle.

Catch more episodes, live events, retreats, and free master classes at luminescence.health.

Genova Connect:

Save 20% on testing with code COMMUNE20 so you can stop guessing and make adjustments to support what matters. Visit ⁠connect.gdx.net

⁠Stemregen:

Go to ⁠stemregen.co⁠ and use code LUMPOD for 20% off your next order.

Vivobarefoot:

Try Vivobarefoot with a 100-day return guarantee, and get a special discount for Luminescence podcast listeners at ⁠vivobarefoot.com/commune⁠.

BiOptimizers:

Go to ⁠bioptimizers.com/luminescence⁠ and use code LUMINESCENCE for 15% off.

Sick From Your Breast Implants? Explants & Fat Transfers, Explained Oct 27, 2026

Show notes

Breast implants are common at every age and getting more accessible every year — but almost nobody frames them as a medical device you're placing in your body, probably for the rest of your life, until something goes wrong.

Schuyler Grant, Dr. Robin Berzin, and Dr. Mary Pardee bring in phone-a-friend Dr. Jon Kanevsky, a breast explant and fat transfer surgeon, for one of the most personal conversations of the season — including Dr. Berzin's own patient whose decade of unexplained migraines resolved completely after an explant.

They discuss:

A study of over 7,000 women in which 49% reported some level of breast implant illness — symptoms including headaches, fatigue, brain fog, joint pain, and immune dysfunction
Why textured implants carry higher reported symptom rates than smooth ones, and what that means for anyone currently considering the choice
What an explant procedure actually involves, and why it's a fundamentally different surgery than getting implants in the first place
Why the panel couldn't build a clean rapid fire for this one — Dr. Pardee calls it a legitimate "agnostic yes or BS," because the honest answer is "depends entirely on the woman"
The identity layer underneath the medical one: what it means to alter your body in midlife, what message it sends to your kids, and whether "loving yourself" and "wanting implants" can coexist without contradiction

For any woman who's had implants for years and never quite let herself ask whether her symptoms might be connected — or anyone considering getting them for the first time.

Catch more episodes, live events, retreats, and free master classes at luminescence.health.

Presented by our sponsors: Genova Connect:

Save 20% on testing with code COMMUNE20 so you can stop guessing and make adjustments to support what matters. Visit ⁠connect.gdx.net

⁠Stemregen:

Go to ⁠stemregen.co⁠ and use code LUMPOD for 20% off your next order.

Vivobarefoot:

Try Vivobarefoot with a 100-day return guarantee, and get a special discount for Luminescence podcast listeners at ⁠vivobarefoot.com/commune⁠.

BiOptimizers:

Go to ⁠bioptimizers.com/luminescence⁠ and use code LUMINESCENCE for 15% off.

Is Fasting a Female Longevity Lever? CGMs, Berberine & Metabolic Health Oct 20, 2026

Show notes

Metabolic health isn't really about weight, Schuyler Grant, Dr. Robin Berzin, and Dr. Mary Pardee argue — it's the single biggest lever available for healthspan, driving everything from brain function to bone health to the "four horsemen" of heart disease, cancer, and dementia.

So they zero in on the two protocols Schuyler calls the most provocative in the whole metabolic conversation: intermittent fasting and continuous glucose monitors.

They discuss:

Why intermittent fasting only works if it actually reduces total daily calories — and why treating it as a magic fix on top of overeating doesn't hold up
Who should avoid fasting protocols entirely, including anyone actively trying to conceive
Dr. Berzin's own CGM story — how an incidental discovery while wearing one turned out to be genuinely life-changing, and where Dr. Pardee remains skeptical for healthy women
A rapid-fire round: Zone 2 training (hard yes), berberine (a qualified yes — effective, but not first choice), ketogenic protocols long-term (BS), continuous protein feeding (BS — total daily protein matters more), glucose-disposal stacks like cinnamon and apple cider vinegar (BS), eliminating seed oils as a metabolic hack (BS), and methylene blue (BS)
Why the panel keeps landing back on the same unglamorous answer: build and keep lean muscle mass

For any woman drowning in metabolic protocol content who wants to know which two are actually worth trying.

Catch more episodes, live events, retreats, and free master classes at luminescence.health.

Presented by our sponsors: Genova Connect:
Save 20% on testing with code COMMUNE20 so you can stop guessing and make adjustments to support what matters. Visit connect.gdx.net
Stemregen:
Go to stemregen.co and use code LUMPOD for 20% off your next order.
Vivobarefoot:
Try Vivobarefoot with a 100-day return guarantee, and get a special discount for Luminescence podcast listeners at vivobarefoot.com/commune.
BiOptimizers:
Go to bioptimizers.com/luminescence and use code LUMINESCENCE for 15% off.

Libido as a Vital Sign? Testosterone, Addyi & Vyleesi Oct 13, 2026

Show notes

Viagra was approved in 1998. It took another two decades before women's sexual health started being treated as a physiological issue instead of a mood problem — and most women still don't know there are three real prescription options for low desire.

In this Season 3 premiere, Schuyler Grant, Dr. Robin Berzin, and Dr. Mary Pardee are joined by phone-a-friend Dr. Somi Javaid, founder of HerMD, to break down testosterone, Addyi, and Vyleesi — what each one actually does, who they're for, and why the female desire drugs work on the brain while the male ones work on blood flow.

They discuss:

Why sexual pleasure functions as a genuine health metric — orgasm's measurable effects on cortisol, cardiovascular health, oxytocin, and sleep-supporting prolactin
Why roughly 80% of women lose meaningful natural testosterone production by midlife, and why some women mysteriously don't
Addyi (flibanserin) — a daily pill that works on serotonin and dopamine receptors — versus Vyleesi (bremelanotide), an on-demand injectable, and the real-world data Dr. Javaid has published on both
Off-label testosterone therapy in women — why it's not FDA-approved as a standalone product for women despite a global consensus statement supporting its use, and what nearly 80% success rates look like in the right candidate
Combining testosterone with Addyi or Vyleesi, and how FSFI (Female Sexual Function Index) scores are used to actually measure whether treatment is working
A rapid-fire round on saffron, erotic fiction, cannabis, red-light pelvic devices, the O-Shot, Vyleesi microdosing, and intranasal oxytocin — yes, BS, or "a hard maybe"

For any woman who's noticed her desire quietly disappearing and assumed there was nothing to actually do about it.

Catch more episodes, live events, retreats, and free master classes at luminescence.health.

This episode is presented by:

Genova Connect:
Save 20% on testing with code COMMUNE20 so you can stop guessing and make adjustments to support what matters. Visit connect.gdx.net
Stemregen:
Go to stemregen.co and use code LUMPOD for 20% off your next order.
Vivobarefoot:
Try Vivobarefoot with a 100-day return guarantee, and get a special discount for Luminescence podcast listeners at vivobarefoot.com/commune.
BiOptimizers:
Go to bioptimizers.com/luminescence and use code LUMINESCENCE for 15% off.

What Menopause Does to Your Organs | Dr. Mary Claire Haver Oct 06, 2026

Show notes

Estrogen receptors are in nearly every organ in your body, so when estrogen drops, your whole body feels it. OB/GYN and menopause expert Dr. Mary Claire Haver explains what that means for your bones, muscle, heart, brain, and belly fat. Recorded live at the Luminescence event in Texas.

Medical school taught her that menopause meant one year without a period and maybe some hot flashes. Then she opened a menopause-only clinic and saw what it really looks like: symptoms most doctors never connect, and women told their labs are "normal" while they feel nothing like themselves.

And while the wellness bros chase living to 120, she's after something else: staying strong, independent, and clear-headed for as long as she's here.In this episode:

Why perimenopause can start as early as 35, and why no blood test reliably diagnoses it
The "big six" silent changes after estrogen loss: osteoporosis, muscle loss, insulin resistance, visceral fat, dementia, and heart disease
How a woman can be a "normal" weight and still be metabolically unhealthy, and why BMI is "a good predictor of shame, and that's about it"
Her daily targets for protein, fiber, added sugar, and creatine, and why she'd get a bone density scan now instead of waiting until 65
Hormone therapy (HRT) and the window for heart benefits: before 60 or within 10 years of menopause
Watching her grandmother and mother decline with dementia, and why she refuses that future for her daughters

Find more episodes, live events, retreats, and master classes at luminescence.health.

Why Women Age Differently: Bone, Muscle & Menopause with Dr. Vonda Wright Sep 29, 2026

Show notes

Women lose up to 20% of their bone density during perimenopause, often silently, until a fracture makes it impossible to ignore.

Dr. Vonda Wright, MD, an orthopedic sports surgeon and author of Unbreakable, explains the biology of bone loss, muscle loss, and menopause, and why women, the 51% who make most household and healthcare decisions, still receive only a sliver of research funding after age 40.

Recorded live at Luminescence Los Angeles in February 2025.

Here's what you'll learn:

Why bone functions as an endocrine organ that influences the brain, metabolism, and more
The biological drivers of aging: epigenetics, cellular senescence, inflammation, and mitochondrial dysfunction
Why lifting heavier weights and eating more protein matter more at midlife than moderate cardio
Making hormone decisions based on evidence rather than fear This talk is for anyone concerned about bone density, osteoporosis risk, or building strength through perimenopause and menopause.

Topics: bone density, osteoporosis prevention, perimenopause, menopause, strength training, women's health research

Fire Your Doctor? Robin Berzin & Mindy Pelz on Health Advocacy Sep 22, 2026

Show notes

55% of women say they've felt gaslit by a doctor. 80% delay care rather than walk into an appointment where they know they won't be heard.

In this Luminescence LA conversation, Dr. Mindy Pelz (Fast Like a Girl, The Menopause Reset) and Dr. Robin Berzin, founder and CEO of Parsley Health, talk about why the medical system is built for medicine, not health, and what it actually looks like to walk into a doctor's office as an equal instead of a patient.

What you'll hear, and when:

[00:00] Mindy's origin story: misdiagnosed at 19, and the homeopathic doctor who changed her life

[03:00] The stats behind why healthcare feels broken right now

[08:00] The patriarchal medical model, and why chronic disease keeps winning

[13:00] "The body heals itself" — the principle Robin says conventional medicine forgot

[16:00] Walking in as an equal: treating your doctor like an employee, not an authority

[21:00] Why "I don't know" is the hardest thing for a doctor to say, and where GLP-1s fit into our quick-fix culture

[26:00] Why only 8% of women get preventive testing

[30:00] The closing message: you are the hero of your own health story

This episode is for anyone who has left a doctor's office feeling dismissed, and anyone ready to take an active role in their own healthcare.

The Heart of Menopause: Four leading experts on the cardiovascular chapter of menopause no one prepares you for. Sep 15, 2026

Show notes

Menopause is usually talked about in terms of hot flashes and mood swings. But beneath those symptoms are silent, system-wide changes and one of the most important ones happens in the heart.

Cardiovascular disease doubles after menopause, and most women aren't told why, when it starts, or what they can do about it. The truth is, perimenopause can begin in your mid-thirties, and the decisions you make in the decade that follows shape the next third of your life.

The Heart of Menopause is a master class bringing together four of the leading voices in women's health: journalist and filmmaker Tamsen Fadal, Harvard-trained physician Dr. Sara Szal, orthopedic surgeon Dr. Vonda Wright, and board-certified OB-GYN Dr. Mary Claire Haver.

Together, they unpack the science of estrogen and the cardiovascular system, the window of opportunity for hormone therapy, and the practical tools — from biomarker testing to nutrition to resistance training — that protect your heart for the long run.

You are not invisible. Let's change the conversation together.

Desire, Arousal & Menopause with Dr. Cindy Meston Sep 08, 2026

Show notes

For decades, almost everything we knew about sexual desire and arousal was based on research done on men — and simply assumed to apply to women too.

In this conversation, Dr. Cindy Meston, professor of clinical psychology and director of the Female Sexual Psychophysiology Laboratory at the University of Texas at Austin, breaks down thirty years of research into how women's desire and arousal actually work, and why the male template got it wrong.

Why the science of women's desire is decades behind the science of men's
The surprising model that flips the usual order of desire and arousal
What an eight-year study found about desire through menopause — and who defied the trend
Why a woman's body and her mind don't always agree on when she's turned on
The unexpected 20-minute intervention that changed the research

This conversation is part of Sex in Menopause, a free masterclass with Naomi Watts featuring sexual health expert Dr. Somi Javaid, Dr. Cindy Meston, and real women navigating changing bodies and desire most of us were never prepared for. Watch it for free at sexinmenopause.com.

Right now there is only one trained menopause provider for every 32,000 women who need care. This episode is for anyone confused by their own changing desire, and anyone who wants the actual science instead of the myths.

Menopause Taught Me to Put My Oxygen Mask On First: Gabby Bernstein & Emily Morse Sep 01, 2026

Show notes

Two women, one shared reckoning: perimenopause and menopause arrived and rewrote everything they thought they knew about their bodies, their sex lives, and themselves. In this extended conversation, #1 New York Times bestselling author Gabby Bernstein and sexologist Emily Morse (host of Sex with Emily) open up about the messy, unglamorous entry into midlife hormonal change — rage, hot flashes, vanished libido, and in Gabby's case, a fertility journey that included IVF and pregnancy loss. Emily, meanwhile, is living out her own perimenopause in real time, testing on herself everything she's spent over twenty years teaching other people about pleasure. Both conversations are part of Sex in Menopause, a free masterclass with Naomi Watts featuring sexual health expert Dr. Somi Javaid, psychologist Dr. Cindy Meston, and real women navigating changing bodies, mismatched desire, and identity shifts most of us were never prepared for. Right now there is only one trained menopause provider for every 32,000 women who need care. If sex has disappeared or changed in ways you can't explain, that's not a personal failure. That's a gap in the medical system. In this episode:

Menopause as a "spiritual shakedown" — Gabby's reckoning
Early perimenopause symptoms & finding real support
Marriage, communication & educating a partner
Fertility, IVF & pregnancy loss
HRT, lifestyle shifts & feeling more herself than ever (Gabby)
Preparing for menopause & a message of hope
Emily's own perimenopause & why she's not exempt from the confusion
Medical dismissal & why doctors aren't trained on this
Communication as "lubrication": talking to partners about sex
Letting go of duty sex
Desire, burnout & the nervous system connection
Toys, lube & modern arousal aids, without shame
Why midlife can mean the best sex of your life

Topics covered: menopause, perimenopause, women's sexual health, hormone replacement therapy (HRT), fertility, IVF, pregnancy loss, low libido, desire, arousal, sex toys, lube, communication in relationships, medical dismissal, nervous system regulation, self-pleasure, healing, spiritual growth, midlife identity, Gabby Bernstein, Emily Morse.

If this episode landed for you: watch Sex in Menopause, the free documentary with Naomi Watts, at sexinmenopause.com. For more conversations like this — plus live events, retreats, and past seasons — head to Luminescence.health.

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