I have been meaning to do this podcast for months!

And although I am talking about men and testosterone, ladies please pay attention. Too many men are suffering in silence as their version of menopause (Andropause) is sneaky and subtle and often dismissed.

Testosterone isn't just about muscle or libido — it's the foundation of a man’s vitality, strength, confidence, and health. But what happens when it starts to decline… and how can men fight back?

In this cutting-edge episode of Midlife Mayhem, Joanne dives deep into the misunderstood world of male hormones, unpacking why testosterone declines with age, what “normal” actually means, and how lifestyle, labs, and even peptides are helping men take control.

If you're a man over 40 (or you care about one), this is essential listening.

✅ Why testosterone declines with age — and how it’s not just aging ✅ What the medical world considers “normal”… and why that’s often useless ✅ The real difference between total vs. free testosterone ✅ The impact of aromatase (and why belly fat makes everything worse) ✅ How SHBG binds and blocks your testosterone — and what to do about it ✅ Subtle signs of low testosterone most men miss ✅ Top supplements to lower SHBG and aromatase naturally ✅ Why TRT might not help if you carry too much fat — and how to fix that ✅ The controversial but powerful role of peptides (Kisspeptin, HCG, BPC-157) ✅ How the right exercise strategy can increase testosterone ✅ The truth about andropause — and why it’s time we talked about it ✅ How men are reclaiming their edge with smart lifestyle upgrades and testing

• Key labs to test: Total T, Free T, SHBG, Estradiol, DHT, Hematocrit

• Supplements: Zinc, Boron, Magnesium, Vitamin D, Tongkat Ali, DIM, Ashwagandha

• Peptides: Kisspeptin-10, HCG, CJC-1295/Ipamorelin, BPC-157

• Training focus: Resistance training & HIIT over chronic cardio

• Optimization tip: Leaner body = better testosterone balance

• Apple Podcasts

• Spotify

• Amazon Music

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• @joanneleecornish

• 📧 Got questions? Email Joanne directly: @joanneleecornish

• Website: www.jlcstrong.com

🔥 JULY 4TH FLASH DEAL – ENDS MONDAY! Buy 1 bottle of 5-Amino-1MQ and get the 2nd for $100 – that’s a $39 savings! 🧬 Boost fat loss, protect muscle, and optimize your body’s performance. 👉 Use code JULY4 at checkout at www.5amino.com Expires Monday at noon (MST) – don’t miss it!

This episode is bold, necessary, and deeply personal.

We’re diving into the truth about HRT (Hormone Replacement Therapy) and HGH (Human Growth Hormone), what women actually need, and why most of what you're told is incomplete, underdosed, or simply outdated.

👀 If you’ve ever been told “your labs are normal” while feeling exhausted, anxious, and like a stranger in your own body—this episode is for you.

• The real difference between HRT and HGH

• Why most doctors underprescribe (and what to do about it)

• What bloodwork matters—and what it’s NOT telling you

• Why testosterone is essential for women (yes, really)

• What happens when your progesterone disappears

• The risks and rewards of HGH (and how to do it safely)

• Why peptides like CJC, Ipamorelin, and 5-Amino-1MQ might be the smarter option

• Why information alone doesn’t create results—but coaching support does

Tight28 is my LIVE 28-day program to identify food sensitivities without extreme elimination diets.

No gluten, no dairy, no soy, no added sugar—just clean, powerful results.

🚫 No fluff. No detox gimmicks. ✅ Rapid wins, powerful education, and deep coaching support.

⚠️ This live version won’t return until 2027 as I roll out two other programs. 👉 Join here before Sunday – you’ll thank yourself later.

A premium membership that includes: ✅ Full access to all my content ✅ Weekly live coaching calls ✅ A curated community of high-level doers ✅ Access to me

This will not be open to everyone—only to those serious about growth, community, and results. 💌 Interested? Email Joanne Lee Cornish on YouTube

🔬 Learn more about 5-Amino-1MQ: 👉 www.5amino.com 💥 Use code JULY4 to get the second bottle for just $100 through Monday!

This 28-day program is all about reclaiming food quality, reducing inflammation, and resetting your understanding of nourishment. It’s soy-, dairy-, gluten-, and added sugar–free. Learn more at www.tight28.com

In this episode, Joanne breaks down the two dominant eating models:

• Homeostatic Eating: eating driven by biological hunger cues

• Hedonic Eating: eating driven by pleasure, emotions, and dopamine hits

And then layers in how the rise of weight-loss medications, engineered food, and cultural shifts are shaping the future of our health—one dopamine snack at a time.

1. Hedonic vs. Homeostatic Eating

• Why most of us are eating for pleasure, not hunger

• How the food industry hijacks flavor, texture, sound, and smell to keep us eating

• The engineering of hyper-palatable foods that override satiety

2. GLP-1 Medications and Hunger Suppression

• Appetite suppression vs. metabolic impact

• Can your metabolism still slow down if you’re not hungry? (Spoiler: yes)

3. Cultural Shifts in Movement

• Two generations ago: movement was built into life

• Now: drive-thrus, delivery, and gym opt-outs

• Gen Z: 37% would rather take a pill than move

4. Parental Modeling and the Generational Impact

• Kids of inactive parents are 5–6x more likely to be sedentary

• The ripple effect: kids never seeing parents exercise means habits disappear entirely

5. The Blue Zone Model

• No macros. No medications. Just movement, consistency, and unprocessed food

• Rice, legumes, bread, wine, and olive oil—not low carb, just real food

• A strong reminder of what health actually looks like

6. What the Food Industry Is Doing (It’s Wild):

• Flavor layering and bliss point engineering

• Sound design: louder crunch = more satisfaction

• Emulsifiers, salt crystal tech, and texture manipulation

• Micro-snacks designed specifically for medicated, low-appetite users

• Marketing “protein bars” and “health snacks” that are actually dopamine bombs

7. The Leptin and Metabolism Connection

• Losing fat lowers leptin, which tells the brain to slow your metabolism

• Even if meds suppress appetite, the body still conserves energy

• Long-term consequences of rapid weight loss without preserving muscle

8. Generational Futures: What Happens Next?

• If hunger is “bad” and satiety comes from a pill, how do we teach nourishment?

• If kids never see activity, how will they know it’s vital?

• What if inflammation becomes the new “normal”?

• 60%+ of U.S. calories now come from ultra-processed foods

• 1960s men ate 3,000+ calories daily and were leaner—because it was real food

• A 2015 study showed fiber alone created weight loss equal to full diet plans

• A 2020 review: polyphenol-rich foods reduce fat without changing calorie intake

• 37% of Gen Z plan to skip the gym and use weight-loss drugs instead

We’re not demonizing medication. We’re calling for awareness. If we don’t pay attention now, the next few generations may live in a world where:

• Hunger is “bad”

• Exercise is forgotten

• Health is just a number on the scale

• And food is nothing but chemically enhanced pleasure

Ready to reset? Join Joanne inside Tight28 – starting this Sunday. A return to real food, intentional movement, and a body that works—not just looks.

🎙️ Midlife Mayhem Show Notes: Zonulin & Leaky Gut — Why You Can’t Not Be Affected

📆 Tight28 starts July 6–August 2! Enjoy your gluten-filled 4th of July… then join us for 28 days of discovery, education, and possibly the biggest physical and mental relief you didn’t know you needed. 👉 Tight28.com

In today’s episode, we’re getting real about zonulin—what it is, what it does, and why it might be quietly wrecking your health (yes, even if you feel “fine”).

Unlike a food sensitivity (which affects some), zonulin affects everyone. It’s not subjective. It’s not up for debate. And it might just be turning your digestive system into a fishnet factory.

• What is zonulin? A protein made in the small intestine that controls your gut’s tight junctions (think: gatekeeper).

• Cheesecloth vs. Fishnet Stockings Analogy A visual breakdown of what a healthy gut lining should be doing… and what happens when zonulin is chronically elevated.

• The Origin Story Discovered by Dr. Alessio Fasano (Italian gastroenterologist), zonulin was the missing link in how gluten triggers immune responses, even in non-celiacs.

• Why It’s a Universal Problem Zonulin loosens your gut lining in everybody, not just those with gluten sensitivity. When that lining opens too wide, stuff gets into your blood that shouldn’t. Your immune system freaks out. Cue: inflammation, fatigue, mood swings, brain fog, skin issues, and more.

• Enter LPS (Lipopolysaccharides) When zonulin opens the gates, LPS—an inflammatory toxin from normal gut bacteria—sneaks in. It’s been linked to insulin resistance, autoimmune conditions, and chronic fatigue.

• Zonulin Triggers

  • Gluten (especially gliadin)

  • Bacterial overgrowth (E. coli, salmonella, SIBO)

  • Toxins & inflammation

• Why the Body Even Makes Zonulin It’s a defense mechanism—but it backfires when activated daily by diet. Occasional gluten = recoverable. Daily gluten = chronic gut permeability.

• Kevin’s Case Study Gluten out, inflammation gone. Kevin lost 15 lbs in 10 days—pure inflammation and water. Not fat. Just normalized gut havoc.

Yes.

• Stool Test (GI Map, Doctor’s Data): Measures zonulin in the gut

• Blood Test (Serum Zonulin): Measures zonulin that’s leaked into the bloodstream—often high in autoimmune or chronically inflamed individuals

• Zonulin ≠ Sensitivity. It’s a biological mechanism. It works the same in everyone.

• Gluten increases zonulin. Period. Doesn’t matter if you “feel fine”—your gut lining is still impacted.

• This is reversible. Remove the irritants, and the results are often shockingly fast.

Join me for Tight28 (July 6–August 2) We dive into:

• Food reactivity

• Histamine & inflammation

• Gut-brain-skin connections

• How to feel actually better—without going full-on monk mode

👉 Tight28.com Let’s clean up your gut without a “cleanse.” Just smart, scientific education with a side of sass. 🎯

If you eat gluten regularly and think you're unaffected—you're not. Zonulin guarantees it. And you can feel better than you do right now.

🎧 Listen. Learn. Question Everything. That’s Midlife Mayhem.

🔗 Tight28.com | Starts July 6 #MidlifeMayhem #Tight28 #GutHealth #Zonulin #FoodSensitivities #BodyComposition #Inflammation #GlutenFacts #LeakyGut #LPS #GlutenFreeCurious #MidlifeStrong

Join me for Tight28, starting July 6th – a deep dive into food sensitivities, inflammation, and organ health that could be the missing link in your journey to looking and feeling your absolute best.

Tight28 isn’t just a meal plan. It’s 28 days of discovery – uncovering how certain foods may be silently sabotaging your health, comfort, and body composition. This is the only live round for 2025, and the non-scale victories are often immediate. 👉 Learn more at www.tight28.com

• The Differences Between Allergies, Sensitivities, and Intolerances

• Why skin issues, joint pain, and chronic fatigue might all point to food

• How food sensitivities can sneak past your radar and still wreak havoc

• The surprising link between inflammation, ATP energy production, and brain fog

• Why some people gain 6–8 lbs from a single meal (and what to do about it)

• The connection between gluten, thyroid tissue, and brain inflammation

• How your genotype may dramatically raise your risk for Alzheimer’s if inflammation isn’t addressed

• Why Tight28 gets the best (and fastest) results – especially for people who didn’t quite “crack the code” in my Signature Program

• Allergies are immediate. Sensitivities are sneaky. If you were truly allergic to something, you wouldn’t keep eating it—it hits fast and hard. Sensitivities, though? They creep in days later.

• Joint pain? Swelling in one area? It might not be "just your knee" acting up again. It could be your immune system responding to food from days ago—especially in joints with a history of injury.

• That ‘swollen all over’ feeling isn't in your head. It could be chronic inflammation from food sensitivities—something Tight28 was specifically created to help uncover.

• Fatigue that no nap can fix? It could be reduced ATP production, the cellular energy currency—often hindered by chronic low-grade inflammation caused by hidden food sensitivities.

• Even “healthy” foods can cause issues if you’re sensitive to them. Common culprits include gluten, dairy, eggs, and soy—which is why they’re removed for just 28 days in the Tight28 program.

• Brain fog, poor focus, or memory lapses? Food sensitivities—especially gluten—can trigger inflammation in the brain. If you carry the APOE4 genotype (linked to Alzheimer’s), chronic inflammation dramatically increases your risk.

✔️ 9 Live Coaching Calls ✔️ Brand New 2025 Content Library ✔️ Gluten-Free, Dairy-Free, Soy-Free, and Added Sugar-Free Meal Plans ✔️ In-depth education on food sensitivities, organ health, and cardiovascular strategy ✔️ 6 months access to all program materials ✔️ Life-changing results—especially for people who’ve “tried everything”

Whether your weight is stable but you still don’t feel your best, or you’ve been spinning your wheels trying to feel energized and less bloated, Tight28 is your next step. It’s not about restriction—it’s about revelation.

👉 Sign up now before we kick off July 6th.

• Thyroid Health: How to Know If You’re Undiagnosed or Mismanaged

• Overtraining & Fasting: Are You Slowing Down Your Metabolism?

• The 4 Forces of Success: Why Weight Loss is Never Just About Food

• Deep Dive into Menopause, Perimenopause, and Hormone Support

• Training Smarter After 40: HIIT vs. Steady State – Which Builds the Better Body?

Paul—thank you for the kind words! "Tell Joanne to keep doing the podcast" absolutely made my day.

• 🌐 Tight28 Program → www.tight28.com

• 📘 Book: When Calories and Cardio Don’t Cut It – Available on Amazon

• 🎥 Programs: Signature 21-Day, Peak Week, Muscle Month, Tight28, Mastering Midlife - www.jlcstrong.com

🎤 Hosted by: Joanne Lee Cornish – Body Composition Coach, Midlife Health Educator, Former Bodybuilder, and Relatable Science Nerd 📍 Based in Eagle, Idaho – Coaching Globally

Tight28 is back July 6–August 2! If you’ve been feeling "okay, but not great," this program is for you. Tight28 dives into advanced topics like food sensitivities, inflammation, organ health, and how those invisible issues affect your weight, energy, bloating, joint pain, and even your mood—especially if you think you’re doing everything right.

💡 This is the only live round of Tight28 in 2025—and for some, it's the program that changes everything in just one week. 👉 Learn more and join us at www.tight28.com

This week, we’re talking about something small but mighty: Selenium—a trace mineral that plays a huge role in midlife health, especially for the thyroid, brain, and metabolism. Here's how this episode came to be (shoutout to Tom, the neighbor with all the wild Alaskan fish 🐟)...

We cover:

• Why Selenium is essential for thyroid conversion (T4 ➡️ T3)

• How a deficiency can show up as fatigue, cold intolerance, and brain fog

• Its critical role in protecting the thyroid from oxidative damage

• How Selenium binds to mercury and helps neutralize toxicity (especially relevant if you eat a lot of fish)

• What the research says about Selenium lowering thyroid antibodies in Hashimoto’s

• Why two Brazil nuts a day might be the most delicious prescription you’ll ever get

• Foods rich in Selenium (besides Brazil nuts): wild fish, sunflower seeds, turkey, eggs, and shiitake mushrooms

• How too much Selenium can be toxic—why more isn’t better

• A sneak preview of the upcoming Mastering Midlife program (August!)

“No Selenium, no thyroid conversion. You can have all the T4 in the world, but unless it’s turning into active T3, your metabolism is stuck in neutral.”

• If you’re always cold, sluggish, or foggy—check your thyroid and Selenium status.

• Food-based Selenium is often enough, especially if you enjoy Brazil nuts or wild fish.

• Ladies in midlife and beyond: keep Selenium on your radar—especially if you have or suspect Hashimoto’s.

• Test, don’t guess. And remember: more is not better when it comes to trace minerals.

Tight28 starts July 6—your chance to uncover hidden blocks like inflammation, organ dysfunction, and food sensitivities that may be sabotaging your progress. 🔗 www.tight28.com — let’s fix what’s really going on behind the scenes.

📍Share this episode with someone who loves fish, Brazil nuts, or just wants to stop being tired and cold all the time.

Tight28 starts July 6! This 28-day advanced program eliminates dairy, gluten, soy, and added sugar to reset your system, reduce inflammation, and finally move the needle on progress stalls. Learn more at 👉 www.tight28.com

In this thought-provoking episode of Mastering Midlife, Joanne Lee Cornish connects three powerful studies that shine a light on the psychological, metabolic, and societal complexities around food, dieting, and body composition—especially in today’s world of quick fixes and hyper-palatable temptations.

💡 Here's what we cover:

1. 🧠 The Minnesota Starvation Study

   • Conducted post-WWII, this landmark study reveals the shocking physical and psychological toll of calorie restriction—even at 1,500 calories per day.

   • Discover how restriction damages metabolism, distorts thinking, sparks binge behavior, and alters emotional health.

2. 💭 The Hotel Worker Study

   • This modern study shows how belief alone—without any behavior change—can lead to measurable improvements in weight, blood pressure, and metabolic markers.

   • A fascinating dive into the science of self-perception and how we often sabotage ourselves by believing we're not doing enough.

3. 🐀 The Rat & the Cheesecake Study

   • When rats were exposed to ultra-palatable foods, their appetite regulators broke, and they ignored real food—even to the brink of death.

   • This is the chilling parallel to modern food addiction, especially in people under 40 raised on processed foods. Joanne explains how food preferences are not just habits—they’re chemically wired responses that can be reprogrammed.

🧩 Key Takeaways:

• Dieting doesn't fail because of lack of willpower—it fails because of biological and emotional backlash.

• Belief systems directly impact health outcomes.

• Processed food has hijacked taste buds and disrupted our natural hunger signals—but it’s reversible with the right approach.

• Teens and adults alike need education, not more rules.

🔥 Plus, Joanne shares how these findings are shaping her upcoming Teenage Thrive program and how Tight28 provides real answers to chronic inflammation, fatigue, bloating, and stubborn body fat.

Join the next round of Tight28, starting July 6. This is a deeper-dive body composition program covering not only nutrition, but also the roles of cardio, liver, kidney, and heart health in achieving your goals.

🖥️ Learn more and enroll at 👉 www.tight28.com