Podcast appearances and mentions of mara gordon

You're listening to Burnt Toast! Today, my guest is Cole Kazdin.Cole is an Emmy Award-winning television journalist and author of What's Eating Us: Women, Food, and the Epidemic of Body Anxiety. Cole came on Burnt Toast about two years ago to talk about What's Eating Us when it first came out—and the way the eating disorder industrial complex leaves so many folks struggling to find durable recovery.Today, Cole is joining us again as an eating disorder expert, but also as a fellow woman in perimenopause… who is reeling right now from all the diet culture nonsense coming for us in this stage of life.Our goal today is to call out the anti-fatness, ageism and diet culture running rampant in peri/menopause-adjacent media. I know a lot of you have more specific questions about menopause (like how much protein DO we need?). Part 2 of the Burnt Toast Menopause Conversation will be coming in a few weeks with Mara Gordon, MD joining us to tackle those topics. So drop your questions in the comments for Dr. Mara! This episode is free but if you value this conversation, please consider supporting our work with a paid subscription. Burnt Toast is 100% reader- and listener-supported. We literally can't do this without you.PS. You can always listen to this pod right here in your email, where you'll also receive full transcripts (edited and condensed for clarity). But please also follow us in Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, and/or Pocket Casts! And if you enjoy today's conversation, please tap the heart on this post — likes are one of the biggest drivers of traffic from Substack's Notes, so that's a super easy, free way to support the show!Episode 199VirginiaSo, Cole, you are back because you emailed me to say: Is all of menopause a diet? What are we doing? By which I mean menopause and perimenopause—we're going to kind of lump them together everyone. They are distinct life stages. But in terms of the cultural discourse, they're very much hooked together.You emailed and said:Look, I'm not a menopause expert, but I am an eating disorder expert and I'm seeing a lot of stuff that I don't like. How do we take a skeptical but informed eye about the messaging we get as we age? How do we get through this without developing an eating disorder as we are in the full witch phase of our lives?So, let's just start by getting a lay of the land. What are our first impressions as women newly arriving in perimenopause?ColeThere's something that is so exciting about all the books that are out and the research that's emerging, from actual OB/GYNs to the existence of the Menopause Society to Naomi Watts wrote a book about menopause. I think we're the first real generation to have menopause information and conversations.When I asked my mom about her perimenopause and menopause she doesn't really remember it. So I think I really want to preface this by saying how valuable this is. When I sat down to start looking at the available information and read these books, I was stunned by some of the symptoms that I've never heard of—tinnitus, joint pain, right? Things that aren't just hot flashes, which I think are the standard menopause symptoms that we tend to hear about.VirginiaThere are a lot. It's like, everything that could be happening to your body.ColeAnd then very quickly… there's a sharp left turn to intermittent fasting. VirginiaYes. It's like, wait, what? I want to know about my joint pain? What are we doing?ColeAnd it felt to me, like some sort of betrayal. Because you get on the train of “we're going to learn about something that's happening to our bodies that no one's ever really talked about or paid attention to before.” And, then it's oh wait, I have to track my protein. What just happened? I'm having so much trouble with that clash of gratitude and absolute hunger—pun intended, sorry, there's no other word—for the information and research. And then being told, “But no hunger!”VirginiaI mean, this is always the story with women's health, right? Women's health is so ignored and forgotten by the mainstream—the media, the medical system—so we are left to put it together on our own.And of course, we have a proud tradition of centuries of midwives teaching women about our bodies. It's the Our Bodies, Ourselves legacy. There's all this wisdom that women figure out about how our bodies work, what we need to know to take care of ourselves. But because it's being ignored by scientific research, it's being ignored by the mainstream, and it is this sort of an underground thing—that also opens up a really clear market for diet culture.So it's really easy to find an influencer—and they may even be a doctor or have some other credentials attached to their name—who you feel like, “Oh, she's voicing something that I am feeling. I'm being ignored by my regular doctor and here's this person on Tiktok who really seems to get it,” …and then also wants to sell me a supplement line. It's so quick to go to this place of it's just another Goop, basically.ColeAnd what if it didn't go there? What does the world look like where it doesn't go there? I am really hyper conscious of my own vulnerabilities—even though I feel very, very, very, very solid in my eating disorder recovery. I don't go there anymore. I know there are vulnerabilities there, because I struggled on and off with eating disorders for decades. But, I really feel solid in my recovery. And then I wonder if I should start tracking my protein? I was shocked to even hear that in my own head, and then to hear my very sophisticated turn of “well, you're not looking at calories, you're not trying to get smaller, you're done with that for real for real. But you should probably start looking at how much protein you're getting!” Wait a minute, stop!VirginiaWhere's that coming from?ColeI'm fortunate enough that because of my background and because I wrote a book on this, I can reach out to top eating disorder researchers in the country, and just ask a question. Isn't this kind of funny that I did this? Isn't that interesting? What do you think? And to be met with: Do not go near tracking apps! That is not safe for you. DO NOT track your protein. It's not funny. I did that last night. I just reached out to one of the top eating disorder experts in the country, because this is something we don't talk about. But I think with something like intermittent fasting, which we hear about in all aspects of wellness diet culture, we have to remember that intermittent fasting is extreme food restriction. Our bodies panic when we fast. But these can set us on roads towards very disordered relationships with food in our bodies. And the worst case is developing an eating disorder.VirginiaRight, or living with a subclinical eating disorder that makes you miserable, even if no one ever says, yes, you have a diagnosis.ColeAbsolutely. Thinking about protein every day is stressful and just being consumed with this idea of what we're eating and how much we're eating and what we need to be doing. And the fear of the consequences, right? If I don't track my protein, I'm going to break a hip, right? I mean, I'm condensing the messaging. But if you follow the steps, that's kind of where it goes.VirginiaWell, and I don't think it's even just “I'm going to break a hip.” I think it's “I'm going to become old and vulnerable and undesirable.” The hip is symbolic of this cultural narrative about older women's bodies, which is that you are going to become disposable and irrelevant. And the fear that's stoking us, that's making us hungry for the information—which is valid, it is a mysterious phase of life that we don't know enough about. But there's this fear of of irrelevancy and and not being attractive, and all of that. You can't tease that out from “I'm worried about my bone density.” It's all layered in there.ColeAnd my own OB/GYN told me at our last visit—she offers a separate let's have a talk about perimenopause appointment, which I think is great. It's essentially about hormone replacement therapy and when and if that might be part of your journey. But she told me that most people who don't have some immediate symptom like hot flashes are coming to her in perimenopause because of weight gain or redistribution of weight, which is very normal during this phase of life. And they are asking if hormone replacement therapy could “fix” that issue.So it's the post-baby body thing all over again. As if there's a return to something, as opposed to a forward movement. But the fact that that's an entry point for a lot of these menopause physicians that write books and have a presence on social media. It's very, very connected to an audience that is looking for weight loss.VirginiaI think there is something about any mysterious health situation—whether it's perimenopause, or I see a similar narrative happen around diabetes often—where the condition gets held out as this worst case scenario that's so so bad that therefore any concerns you had about is it disordered to diet? Is it risky for me to count protein? All of that kind of goes out the window because we get laser focused and we have to solve this thing. You no longer get to have feelings about how pursuing weight loss can be damaging for you. This physical health thing trumps all the emotions.ColeIt's a medical issue now.VirginiaRight! I'm at sea in this whole new complicated medical landscape of menopause. I don't know what it is, so obviously, whatever I used to feel about needing to accept my body no longer applies. I don't get to do that anymore. I have to just like, drill in and get serious about this.I've had older women say this to me. Like, “you can be body positive in your 30s or early 40s, but get over 50, sweetheart, and you're not going to be able to do that anymore.” But why not? That should be available to us throughout our lives. So that frustrates me. Because simultaneously, we have no good information, we have no good science about what's happening to us. And yet menopause weight loss is given this gravitas. You can't argue with it, and you have to just be okay eating less for the rest of your life now.ColeMaybe this is where body liberation is in one of its most critical stages? To develop it here in this phase of life. Because I think what complicates it further, and I will give people the benefit of the doubt that it is not nefarious when the messaging is also married to we're not trying to get smaller, we're trying to get stronger. But here's also how to get rid of belly fat. And that I find genuinely confusing, I think, oh good, you're not talking about weight loss. Oh, wait, you are talking about weight loss. But is being stronger now a proxy for weight loss? You're telling people not to diet.We see this in other arenas, and I even wonder, gee, now that these weight loss drugs are so ubiquitous, is menopause, the next frontier of of health and weight being conflated? And it's such a letdown. I mean, I know that sounds so simple it's just so disappointing. It's so disappointing.VirginiaYou called it the Full Witch Phase. This should be a stage of our life that's more free than ever before, right? We're not 20-somethings trying to find a man to be a baby daddy, we're through with that pressure.ColeNo this is the taking pottery lessons, stranger sex, no pregnancy phase! Maybe, I don't know. For some people.VirginiaIt seems like it should be!ColeIt could be.VirginiaAnd yet, here is all this body stuff/weight stuff coming in.And women go through this at every stage of our life. I'm watching my my middle schooler in puberty, where weight gain is absolutely normal and what we want their bodies to be doing. Reproductive years, childbirth, weight gain—this is a part of having a body with a uterus is that you are going to go through phases where it is normal for your body to get bigger. And in every one of these stages, we're told it's terrible and you should avoid it at all costs. That said, I do feel like in some of the other arenas, like around pregnancy, there's a lot of pressure on women to get their bodies back after they have babies. But you can find a counter-narrative that's saying, no, I don't have to erase the evidence that I had a child. My body can be different now, I'm going to embrace that. There are those of us out there saying that.But I don't see that counter-narrative around menopause. I don't see women saying, “Yep, you're going to have a bigger stomach in menopause. It makes sense because of the estrogen drop off.” This is why bodies change in menopause. Let's just embrace it. Instead, it feels like this, of all the weight gains, you must fight this one the most. And I don't understand. I mean, again, I think there's a link to ageism there. But what else do you think is going on there?ColeI mean, it's ageism, it's ableism, it's beauty standards. It's all the things. It's how we're valued as women. I want to dive deeper in this to see the fat menopause doctors. I would like to find some of those. I don't know.VirginiaListeners, if you know some, drop them in the comments please. We want to talk to the fat menopuase doctors! ColeTo just see people that look different from some of these “classic doctors”e we see on Instagram and Tiktok, to just talk about what do we really have to think about during menopause? We know that the drop in estrogen affects from the brain, affects everything in our bodies, and how we don't want to lose sight of that because we're trying to get rid of belly fat either.VirginiaRight, right? I think of Jessica Slice, who I had the on the podcast recently, talking about differentiating between alleviating suffering and trying to “fix” your body. Or caring for your body instead of trying to force it into an ideal. We're not saying that this isn't a time of life where women need extra support, where our bodies need extra care. That makes sense to me. My face does this weird flushing thing now it never used to do. I just suddenly get blotchy for like, 20 minutes and feel really hot. But only in my face. It's not even a hot flash. So there are all these wild things our bodies are doing that we deserve to have information about, and we deserve to have strategies to manage them. I mean, the face blotchy thing is not really impacting my quality of life. But there are a lot that do. The night sweats are terrible. I want strategies to alleviate that suffering. And it just seems like what a disservice we do when all of the advice is filtered through weight loss instead of actually focusing on the symptoms that are causing distress.ColeYes, yes. And is it boring to talk about weight fluctuation? Because I find it interesting that weight fluctuation is so deeply correlated with so many health problems. There has been research on this for years. That's why I ask if it's boring, because we know this, and we don't talk about it nearly enough, but we know this. The research is so, so so deeply there. It's correlated with chronic illnesses. And who among us hasn't in their history had weight fluctuation? With our diets or whatever our behaviors are. And so what is weight fluctuation going to do in menopause? I doubt that's being studied.I was looking at weight fluctuation and fertility when I was researching my book, and there aren't those studies, because fertility studies are much shorter term, and weight fluctuation studies are longer term. So never do they meet.But could weight fluctuation impact negatively our menopause experience? It would make perfect sense if that if that were the case.VirginiaYes. This maybe isn't a stage of life wher you want to be weight cycling and going up and down, and deliberately pursuing going down, because there might be cost to it. I mean, we do know that higher body weight is really protective against osteoporosis, for example. If you're concerned about breaking a hip, pursuing weight loss, I would argue, is counter to that goal for a lot of us. Researchers call this the obesity paradox, which is an extremely anti-fat, terrible term. But we know that folks in bigger bodies have lower mortality rates, that they survive things like cancer treatments and heart surgery with better outcomes.So as we're thinking of our aging years, where we're all going to be dealing with some type of chronic condition or other, some type of cancer, heart stuff, like this is what's going to happen right. Then pursuing thinness at any cost is not actually going to be the prescription for that. There's a good reason to hold onto your body fat.ColeAnd I come back to the stress piece of this, which I don't think can be overstated. Stress is so detrimental to our health, and this preoccupation with food, body exercise, tracking apps, all of that really does elevate our stress. And I think we're so used to it. It's invisible in so many ways because it's bundled in with so many other stressors in our lives. Eliminating the stressor of what am I eating? Am I getting enough fiber? All of that is really, really can be a crucial piece of having a better experience in our bodies and of our health. It's that Atkins echo over and over and over again, which I thought we had decided already we were done with. But it's those two triggers, the protein, resistance training, lifting.I think it comes back to, you can control your behaviors. You can't control your weight. And if weight is ever going to be some sort of goal, you're really setting yourself up for stress, health problems, and again, at worst, an eating disorder.VirginiaAbsolutely. And we should caveat here: I personally love lifting weights. It's my favorite kind of workout. If these things bring you joy, keep doing that. We're not saying nobody should lift weights or nobody should eat protein. I just feel like I have to slip that in because people get frustrated.ColeNo, I think that's important, and I am the same as you. I love lifting weights, and for me, it has actually been an antidote to a lot of the compulsive cardio I did when I had an eating disorder. There's something about lifting weights that is so grounding. Every month or so, I go to this this guy—he does training in his garage—and we lift weights. And I told him before our first session, look, I'm recovering anorexic, I'm perimenopausal. I'm not here to have language like “tone up” and all of that. I do not want to do it. I want to lift something heavy and put it down. That's what I'm here for. I was a little aggressive.VirginiaI mean, you have to put the boundary, though, you really do.ColeBut to his credit, he has respected that. And we lift heavy shit and put it down, and it is so so good for me. In repairing my relationship with exercise, which for me was one of the biggest challenges in recovery. So when someone says, lift weights, I'm here for that, because I really enjoy that. But I agree with you. I think it's so important that we go with our ability and something we enjoy.VirginiaThe main reason I lift weights is because I do a lot of gardening, and I have to be able to lift a heavy bag of soil or a pot or dig big holes and do these things.We need to remember that these things, eating protein, lifting weight, it's supposed to support you living the life you want to live. It's not a gold star you need to get every day to be valuable as a person. I can tell weightlifting all winter is really helping me garden this year. That's what I did it for. So you can recognize the value that these things have in your life—I'm less cranky if I eat protein at breakfast. I make it through my work morning better. And not be measuring our success by whether or not we're doing those things and like, how we're doing them and counting how much we're doing them every day.ColeWell, that is key. I mean, first of all, I will say there are a few things more gratifying than hauling a 40 pound bag of cat litter up the stairs to my second floor apartment. I feel like I need some sort of like, are people watching me? Am I getting a medal for this? Even if no one is.VirginiaI totally agree.ColeIt is exciting, me, alone with myself, walking up the stairs with that, and it's not that hard. I get excited. I lift weights so I can carry this bag of cat litter. I mean, it's more complex than that, but that is a very significant percentage of why I lift weights.VirginiaBecause that impacts your daily functioning and happiness.ColeAnd I think with eating, I find I'm in a better mood when I'm carbing it out. You know what I mean? I'm sure protein is great. And I have some. I do all the things, whatever. And everyone's body is different. Everyone responds differently. But some people will say, oh, when I have salmon, I just feel fantastic or something. I don't know. VirginiaHave they tried pasta? Do they not know about pasta?ColeFor me, I feel better when I eat—it almost doesn't matter what it is. And if I don't eat, then I have low energy and brain fog and don't feel good. VirginiaAnd again, it's because of the fear mongering around the stage of life. It's because of this you're now in this murky waters where everything could go wrong with your body at any moment type of thing. I mean, this is what diet culture teaches us. Control what you can control. Okay, well, probably I can't control what's happening to my hip bones, but we think we should be able to control how we how we exercise and losing weight. The fact is, your day to day context is going to change. Having arbitrary standards you have to hold yourself to because of vague future health threat stuff is unhelpful when you may have a week where you don't have time to make all the salmon and you have to just be okay with eating takeout. There's no grace for just being a person with a lot else going on. And every woman in perimenopause and menopause is a person with a lot going on.All right, we are going chat a little bit about one of the folks that we see on the socials talking about menopause relentlessly —Dr. Mary Claire Haver.ColeShe wrote the book The New Menopause, which is a really great, significant book in many ways in terms of providing information that has never been provided before. VirginiaOh yes, this is @drmaryclaire.ColeWhen I bought her book, I saw that she has also written The Galveston Diet, and I said to myself, hmm. And then bought the book anyway. And you know now it all makes sense. Because The Galveston Diet is is very geared towards the perimenopausal, menopausal lose belly fat, but also have more energy help your menopause symptoms, right? How can you knock that? Come on.And so it's very sort of interwoven with all the diet stuff. So it's not surprising that she would bring so much of that up in her menopause book and a lot on her Instagram. She wears a weighted vest all the time. I thought, “Should I get a weighted vest?” And I again, I wasn't sure if I was doing it for menopause diet culture reasons, or I just love to lift heavy things reasons. I thought, “That could be cool. Maybe that'll be fun. I'll just wear a weighted vest around the house, like this woman, who's the menopause authority.”I guess what's coming across in this interview is how vulnerable I am to any advertising!VirginiaNo, it's relatable. We all are vulnerable! I mean, I'm looking at her Instagram right now and I'm simultaneously exhausted at the prospect of wearing a weighted vest around my house and, like…well…ColeWouldn't that be convenient? But let me save you a minute here, because when you go to whatever your favorite website is to buy weighted vests, and you look at the reviews, it's split between people saying, “This is the best weighted vest [insert weighted vest brand here],” and other people saying, “Gee, the petroleum smell hasn't gone away after two months.”VirginiaOkay. I can't be walking around my house smelling petroleum. No, thank you.ColeBecause they're filled with sand that comes from who knows where, and the petroleum smell doesn't go away. And according to some reviews I read—because I did go down the rabbit hole with this—it actually increases if you sweat. So I thought, You know what, I can do this in other ways.VirginiaI'm sure there are folks for whom the weighted vest is a revelation. And, it's a very diet culture thing to need to be alway optimizing an activity. You can't just go for a walk. You need to be walking with a weighted vest or with weighted ankles. Why do we need to add this added layer of doing the most to everything?And I'm looking at a reel now where she talks about the supplements she's taking. Dr. Mary Claire is taking a lot of supplements.ColeSo many supplements! VirginiaVitamin D, K, omega threes, fiber, creatine, collagen, probiotic… That's a lot to be taking every day. That's a really expensive way to manage your health. Supplements are not covered by insurance. There's a lot of privilege involved in who can pursue gold standard healthy menopause lifestyle habits.ColeAnd it's always great to ask the question, who's getting rich off of the thing that I'm supposed to be doing for my health? Because it's never you.VirginiaYes. She keeps referencing the same brand — Pause.Cole It's hers. It's her brand.VirginiaOh there you go. So, yeah, taking advice from someone with a supplement line, I think, is really complicated. This is why it's so difficult to find a dermatologist as well. Any medical professional who's selling their own product line has gone into a gray area between medical ethics and capitalism that is very difficult to steer through.ColeAnd even in the most, let's say, the most noblest, pure intentions, it still creates that doubt, I think, with patients.VirginiaI'm interested to see some “body positive” rhetoric coming in. There's a reel I'm looking at from May, where she's talking about, “When you were 12, you wanted to be smaller…” The message is, as you get older, you're constantly realizing that the body you once had was the perfect body.And so she's arguing that we shouldn't this pursuit of thinness can leave us more fragile, more frail and less resilient as we age. Instead of chasing someone else's standard, celebrate the strength, power and uniqueness of you. “Because your body's worth isn't measured in dress sizes. It's measured in the life it lets you live.” Which is kind of what we've been saying. And this is from a woman who sells a diet plan, so I don't know how to square that.ColeThat's what I'm struggling with, with this whole menopause thing! Because when someone starts selling me supplements, or talking about weight loss, talking about tracking your protein, I no longer trust them. And yet, it's not so black or white, because there's a lot good information too. She's helping a lot of people, myself included, with the information about menopause symptoms and the history of research or lack thereof, on this. It's really valuable, and it is hard to square that with the other part.VirginiaIt says to me that these people are choosing profit. I mean, maybe this isn't the piece she believes the most. Maybe she cares more about getting the information about menopause out there, and cares more about correcting those imbalances—but she's also comfortable profiting off this piece. And that's something that you just have to hold together. And I mean, listeners have been asking me to do a menopause episode for like, months and months. And the reason I keep not doing it, and the reason, when you emailed, I was like, Oh, good, there's finally a way to do this, is I can't find an expert who is a menopause and perimenopause expert who is not pushing weight loss in a way that I am uncomfortable with. There certainly isn't a social media influencer person doing it. I mean, my own midwife is great and extremely weight neutral. I hope people are finding, individually, providers who are really helpful. But the discourse really is centering around “you're in this terrifying stage of life you have to fight looking older at every turn,” and that includes pursuing thinness now more than ever.ColeAnd: Don't worry, we'll fix this belly fat thing.It's so difficult to find providers who can talk about menopause, period. I have friends who went through menopause early and they were given every test in the world except a conversation about menopause, and found out after thousands of dollars and spinal taps and and really big procedures, that it was early menopause. So it's so difficult to find a provider who is educated in menopause and can talk with you about it in a constructive way. So that's the first step.Then to be so audacious as to hope for a provider who will then be weight inclusive. Maybe we're not there yet.VirginiaWe're really reaching for the stars.I hate to end on a depressing note, but I do think that's where we are. I think it is hopefully helpful that we're just voicing that and voicing this tension, that we're seeing this disconnect, that we're seeing in this conversation, that there needs to be better better information. That we need menopause voices who are not selling us things and pushing weight loss.But yeah, this is, this is where we are. So I appreciate you talking with me.ColeMe too, and the answer to menopause is not weight loss.VirginiaIt really does not seem like it should ever have to be. It really is never the answer.ColeIsn't the whole point caftans??VirginiaCan we please get to the caftan stage? I've been training my whole life to be in my caftan era. It's all I want.ButterVirginia Well, speaking of caftans and things that make us delighted, Cole, do you have any Butter for us this week?ColeI do. My Butter is very specific. It's my friend Catherine's swimming pool. A good friend of mine from New York is now here in Los Angeles, where I live, helping to take care of her mother. And they have a lovely house with a heated swimming pool in the midst of a garden. I've never had the opportunity to be a garden person because of where I have lived. I would love the chance one day.VirginiaIn your Full Witch era!ColeIn my Full Witch era. Lavender and roses around the swimming pool. It's kind of like a three or four hour vacation. I went there the other day. I brought my son. He was absolutely delighted to be out of our two bedroom apartment. So my Butter is my goal. My summer goals is more of my friend Catherine's pool. And whatever that is for anyone else, I wish that for them, too.VirginiaYes, I love this Butter. I am going to double your Butter, because we have a small pool that I love. It's not a full-size swimming pool. It's called a plunge pool, but it's big enough for a couple of us, to get in. And it's in my garden, which is a magical combination. And the thing about being having pool privilege—which I own. I have a pool, so I have pool privilege—the thing about pool privilege is your kids will then disgust you, because they will stop caring that the pool is there.It's just like everyone gets a backyard swing set. It becomes window dressing. They don't see it. They're like, “I don't need to go in the pool. I don't want to go in the pool.” And you're just like, do you not know how privileged you are? Do you not know how lucky you are that we have a pool? But I realized last night the trick to it. We were having dinner on the back patio, and I wanted them to go swimming after dinner, because I'm trying to wear out my kids. And they didn't want to go in. And then I was like, “Well, what if you went in with your clothes on?” And they were like, oh my god, this is the best ever. I just let them jump right in. And then I went and put a swimsuit on, because that is not my journey.Then we hung out in the pool, and once I get them in there, we have the best conversations. Pools, being in any water, is such a nice way to bond with your kids, because you can't really be on your phone. Something about the water, it just puts everyone in a good mood.But yeah, for anyone else with pool privilege and annoying children, just let them go in with their clothes on. It's fine. You're going to be dealing with wet clothes anyway afterwards.ColeThat is such a constructive menopause tip.VirginiaTrue. The reason I wanted to go in the pool is because I was freaking hot. And I could have gone in without them, but I was trying to be a fun mom, you know? Trying to have a magical moment, damn it.Well, Cole, this was wonderful. Tell folks where we can follow you, how we can support your work, where we send our vents about our menopause symptoms.ColeI'm on Instagram and have been kind of quiet on Instagram lately, but I'll get loud if we talk about menopause.VirginiaAll right, all right. I'm here for it. Thank you so much for doing this. This was really delightful.ColeThank you so much. So good to talk.The Burnt Toast Podcast is produced and hosted by Virginia Sole-Smith (follow me on Instagram) and Corinne Fay, who runs @SellTradePlus, and Big Undies.The Burnt Toast logo is by Deanna Lowe.Our theme music is by Farideh.Tommy Harron is our audio engineer.Thanks for listening and for supporting anti-diet, body liberation journalism! This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit virginiasolesmith.substack.com/subscribe

Dr. Mara Gordon is a writer and primary care physician for Cooper University Healthcare in Camden, NJ. Listen to Mara discuss her motivations for writing about healthcare, ways to create change in our healthcare system and the rationale for size-inclusive medicine. Check out Dr. Gordon's work here: https://sites.google.com/view/mara-gordon/

Welcome back to Part Two of our series, the Economics of Weight Loss Drugs. (If you haven't heard Part One, listen here!) Today, we're picking back up where we left off in our conversation with Lili Zarghami, a writer who got on (then off) a weight loss drug. Then we'll talk with Dr. Mara Gordon, a weight-neutral physician who deals with GLP-1s. Finally, I'll share my final thoughts and analysis on where the world of GLP-1 agonists is all headed and what it says about health, wealth, stigma, and class. Transcripts, show notes, production credits, and more can be found at: https://moneywithkatie.com/diet-culture. Money with Katie's mission is to be the intersection where the economic, cultural, and political meet the tactical, practical, personal finance education everyone needs. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The first 45 minutes of this conversation are FREE! Listen to the extended version of this episode when you subscribe to Patreon here. Dr. Mara Gordon joins the pod to share what it means to be a size-inclusive physician and why it's time to rethink weight in medicine. We discuss why it's harmful to center medical care on a patient's weight, the stigma and negative health consequences of medical providers prescribing intentional weight loss, how to advocate for yourself with your physician, declining to be weighed at the doctor's, why BMI is so problematic, caring for and treating diagnoses without weight loss, and her thoughts on the GLP-1 hype. Mara also opens up about what she regrets as a physician prior to finding fat-positive medicine, and how she came to see the harms of anti-fat bias and diet culture more broadly.  In the EXTENDED version (a bonus episode that you can find at www.patreon.com/fullplate), Mara answers questions about: her concerns about GLP-1s like Ozempic, and what we can do to think about them differently how larger bodied humans can advocate for themselves at the doctor's office without giving the unwritten message that they're “noncompliant” or don't care about their health how to deal with being told weight loss will help a specific health condition (like diabetes, joint pain, sleep apnea) why folks in larger bodies need to receive the same treatments offered to thin-bodied folks how “obesity” as a pathological condition has its roots in the pharmaceutical industry, and it started in the 90s   More about Dr. Mara Gordon: Dr. Gordon is a family physician and writer based in Philadelphia. She worked in public health in Tanzania and Malawi before returning to the Philadelphia area to attend medical school at the Perelman School of Medicine at the  University of Pennsylvania, where she was awarded the Zervanos Family Medicine Award for a medical student going into family medicine. She cares for patients of all ages at the Cooper Family Medicine office at the Kroc Center in Camden. She loves working with medical students in preclinical and clinical educational settings. She teaches selectives in Narrative Medicine and Audio Storytelling and co-directs the Narrative Medicine Scholarly Concentration. She continues to write professionally about issues in contemporary medicine. Learn more about her here.    Check out Medical Students for Size Inclusivity here.  You can read more of Mara's work here: maragordonmd.com Here's more about AWSIM: www.weightinclusivemedicine.org Support the show on Patreon: Enjoying this podcast? Please support the show on Patreon for bonus episodes, community engagement, and access to "Ask Abbie" at Patreon.com/fullplate Join the Full Plate Patreon right here! Group program: Good news! Enrollment is open for Abbie's next group program: Looking for more support and concrete steps to take to heal your relationship with food and your body? Apply for Abbie's next 10-week group program: https://www.abbieattwoodwellness.com/group-coaching Group membership: Already been at this anti-diet culture thing for a while, but want community and continued learning? Apply for Abbie's monthly membership: https://www.abbieattwoodwellness.com/circle-monthly-group Social media: Find the show on Instagram: @fullplate.podcast Find Abbie on Instagram: @abbieattwoodwellness Podcast Cover Photography by Anya McInroy Podcast Administrative Support by Alexis Eades Podcast Editing by Brian Walters This podcast is ad-free and support comes from our Patrons on Patreon: Patreon.com/fullplate

Tweetable Quotes "It's pretty rare to find a doctor who practices from a weight-inclusive perspective." - Rachelle Heinemann   "Obesity stigma is extremely common in healthcare settings. People with larger bodies like consistently in research study after research study say, that healthcare settings are some of the most stigmatizing places that they go." - Dr. Mara Gordon   “Even the American Medical Association has said that clinicians shouldn't be using BMI to really be making decisions about their individual patients.” - Dr. Mara Gordon   "My approach as a size-inclusive doctor is basically like I let the patient initiate that conversation." - Dr. Mara Gordon   "Food is so important. It's so cultural. It's a way that we share community, a way that we show respect to people, and it really can change the way that people sort of experience food." - Dr. Mara Gordon Resources Dr. Mara Gordon's website   Dr. Mara Gordon's substack   Grab my Journal Prompts Here!   Grab the Replay of the Resistance in Treatment Webinar   Now accepting new clients! Find out if we're a good fit!      LEAVE A REVIEW + help someone who may need this podcast by sharing this episode.   Be sure to sign up for my weekly newsletter here!   You can connect with me on Instagram @rachelleheinemann, through my website www.rachelleheinemann.com, or email me directly at rachelle@rachelleheinemann.com  

“Weight bias often predates degree completion, for doctors, and one study showed 67% of medical students exhibited overt (explicit) bias against patients in larger bodies, calling them “lazy, unmotivated, noncompliant, and unhealthy” (source).  It's no wonder so many people I meet with have such little desire to go to the doctor. Today's episode is an […] The post A Look At Size Inclusive Care, Weight Loss Drugs, and Weight Bias and Stigma, with Size Inclusive Provider Dr. Mara Gordon appeared first on Registered Dietitian Nutritionist, Intuitive Eating Columbus OH.

In this enlightening episode of The Reflective Mind Podcast, Dr. Reid speaks with Dr. Mara Gordon, a pioneer in the field of size-inclusive medicine. Dr. Gordon shares insights into her comprehensive approach to healthcare that prioritizes patients of all body sizes.We delve into how size-inclusive medicine goes beyond the numbers on a scale, focusing on holistic patient care, individualized treatment plans, and the importance of addressing weight bias in the medical field. Dr. Gordon discusses the impact of size discrimination, and practical strategies for other healthcare professionals to foster a more inclusive environment.Join us for an eye-opening conversation that redefines what it means to provide compassionate and equitable care. Whether you're a healthcare professional, a patient, or simply curious about how to make the medical system more inclusive, this episode offers valuable perspectives and actionable insights.Thanks for reading A Mind of Her Own! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.Medical Students for Size-Inclusive Medicine can be found at https://sizeinclusivemedicine.org/our-story/Authors Recommended in Episode:* Lindy West* Roxane Gay* Kiese LaymonDr. Reid on Instagram: @jenreidmdThanks for listening to The Reflective Mind Podcast! Listening is free for all, so please share it with everyone!Also check out Dr. Reid's regular contributions to Psychology Today: Think Like a ShrinkDr. Mara Gordon is a family physician and writer based in Philadelphia. Her writing has appeared on NPR, in the New York Times, the Atlantic, the Philadelphia Inquirer, STAT News, and elsewhere. Please check out her newsletter, Chief Complaint, for more reflections on medicine, parenting, gender, and fatphobia.Dr. Gordon worked in public health in Tanzania and Malawi before returning home to attend medical school at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. She stayed at Penn for residency training in Family Medicine and Community Health and was the 2018-2019 Health & Media Fellow at National Public Radio.She is now on the faculty at Cooper Medical School of Rowan University in Camden, NJ, where she serves as a primary care physician for patients of all ages and teach medical students. Seeking a mental health provider? Try Psychology TodayNational Suicide Prevention Lifeline: 1-800-273-8255Dial 988 for mental health crisis supportSAMHSA's National Helpline - 1-800-662-HELP (4357)-a free, confidential, 24/7, 365-day-a-year treatment referral and information service (in English and Spanish) for individuals and families facing mental and/or substance use disorders.Disclaimer:The views expressed on this podcast reflect those of the host and guests, and are not associated with any organization or academic site. The information and other content provided on this podcast or in any linked materials, are not intended and should not be construed as medical advice, nor is the information a substitute for professional medical expertise or treatment. All content, including text, graphics, images and information, contained on or available through this website is for general information purposes only.If you or any other person has a medical concern, you should consult with your health care provider or seek other professional medical treatment. Never disregard professional medical advice or delay in seeking it because of something that have read on this website, blog or in any linked materials. If you think you may have a medical emergency, call your doctor or emergency services (911) immediately. You can also access the National Suicide Help Line at 1-800-273-8255 or call 988 for mental health emergencies. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit amindofherown.substack.com

Sara welcomes back Mara Gordon where they talk about innovative uses of cannabinoids, patient-specific protocols, and the global acceptance and research of medical cannabis. [Ep118]

The final part of a three part "best of" series - featuring choice cuts from The Paul Ryder Tapes series with late Happy Mondays bassist and founding member Paul Ryder and his ex-wife Angela Smith along with special guests Alan Howard, Rosemary Barratt, Sonny Ryder, Chico Ryder, Rowetta, Paul Popplewell, Jeanette Jackson, Daz Gilkinson, Danny Short, Pete Smith, Linda Ryder, Sandra Whelan, Gaz Whelan, Dolph Taylor, Alison Taylor, Steven Marcus, Sarah Nelson, Latch, Paul Davis, John Robb, Phil Saxe, Jason Godwin, Mara Gordon, Mani, Bez, Mark Day, Anthony "Muzzer" Murray, Dave Brettell, Clint Boon and Peter Hook. Hear about Happy Mondays trip to Brazil where they met Ronnie Biggs, Paul's son Chico's cancer battle, his infidelities and encounters with Mickey Rourke, George Harrison, Ringo Starr and Prince. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

People are turning to drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy to lose weight – but where do they fit in the body-positivity movement? Today on Post Reports, what some fat activists think of these drugs and how one doctor is talking about these medicines with her patients.Read more:Some companies are marketing GLP-1 drugs to body-positive influencers in the hopes that they'll market their products to their followers. Shane O'Neill is a style reporter at the Post and writes the Style Memo newsletter. When he heard about this marketing push, he reached out to some of these influencers and activists to get their take on whether these drugs had a place in their messaging.At the same time, many doctors are busy fielding questions from patients who are interested in taking these drugs to lose weight. Mara Gordon is a physician in New Jersey who is trying to stop weight stigma by practicing a size-inclusive approach to medicine – meaning she doesn't offer these drugs for weight loss. She doesn't think that these drugs can cure fatphobia, and so she tries to talk through patients' goals with them and orient the solutions away from weight loss.“So let's say I have a patient who doesn't have diabetes, but they say they want to lose weight. So we try to explore that – what are you hoping to achieve? What feels wrong in your life that feels related to, related to your body size?”Today's show was produced by Sabby Robinson. It was edited by Lucy Perkins and mixed by Sean Carter. Thanks to Monica Campbell and Ariel Plotnick. Subscribe to The Washington Post here.

The popular weight loss drug Ozempic makes shedding pounds seem like magic. But the reality is more complicated, says family physician Dr. Mara Gordon. She explains why it's hard to talk about Ozempic without addressing weight stigma and diet culture.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

The popular weight loss drug Ozempic makes shedding pounds seem like magic. But the reality is more complicated, says family physician Dr. Mara Gordon. She explains why it's hard to talk about Ozempic without addressing weight stigma and diet culture.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

She has spoken to medical practitioners, advocates and families around the world about the amazing benefits of cannabis. You may have heard her through TEDx Talks or seen her in the documentary, Weed The People. Mara Gordon joins us from Mexico to talk about how cannabis helped both her and her husband and discusses the benefits of cannabis along with proper dosing for both young and old. This episode is jam packed with valuable information and well worth the listen.

Mara Gordon, co-founder of Aunt Zelda's, Octopi Wellness, and Zelira Therapeutics, offers her take on the value of cannabis and why the insurance community should embrace and not … Read More » The post Cannabis 101 Talk on Workers' Comp and Medical Cannabis appeared first on Insurance Journal TV.

Mara Gordon , cofounder of Aunt Zeldas is the guest for episode 56 of the Lonestar Collective Podcast. For more information on her business visit https://auntzeldas.org/ For her Ted Talk visit https://youtu.be/jyAGlb8PMRc Mara Gordon is a cannabis advocate, entrepreneur, and researcher. She has harnessed her background as a process engineer to create therapeutic dosing regimens for thousands of patients around the world, drastically improving their health, quality of life and longevity. Mara openly shares her knowledge about the therapeutic benefits of the cannabis plant – whether consulting with medical teams, through TEDx Talks or calling out hyperbole in the industry she cares so deeply about. Find us on social media Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/txcancollective Twitter: https://twitter.com/txcannaco Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/txcannabiscollective/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/TexasCannabisCollective

Mara Gordon , cofounder of Aunt Zeldas is the guest for episode 56 of the Lonestar Collective Podcast. For more information on her business visit https://auntzeldas.org/ For her Ted Talk visit https://youtu.be/jyAGlb8PMRc Mara Gordon is a cannabis advocate, entrepreneur, and researcher. She has harnessed her background as a process engineer to create therapeutic dosing regimens for thousands of patients around the world, drastically improving their health, quality of life and longevity. Mara openly shares her knowledge about the therapeutic benefits of the cannabis plant – whether consulting with medical teams, through TEDx Talks or calling out hyperbole in the industry she cares so deeply about. Find us on social media Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/txcancollective Twitter: https://twitter.com/txcannaco Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/txcannabiscollective/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/TexasCannabisCollective

Sprinkle me this, sprinkle me that, sprinkle me vegan sweets. This is a delicious episode. Meet Mara Gordon, a Fort Lauderdale resident who started her vegan baking business during the pandemic. Her vegan cookies and desserts have been a hit around the Miami/Fort Lauderdale farmers markets. Learn how she began her successful side hustle all while planning a wedding and working full time. You can do it too! Airpods in, volume up, start your successful side hustle!  Head over to www.getbeyondmoney.tropicalfcu.com/get-beyond-money-quiz to see how much you could stop losing and start saving. For more GBM resource follow @TropicalFCU on Instagram, LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter.

Gretchen Gailey is a journalist, communications strategist and political policy maker. She is the founder of Panoptic Strategies, a consulting firm that works specifically with cannabis clients. In addition to her communications expertise, she has also worked with lawmakers to inform them on tax policy and provided the U.S. Senate Finance Committee with the data necessary to draft cannabis tax legislation. Cannabis and politics!Before joining the cannabis movement, Gretchen served as the Communications Director for Congressman Bill Shuster (R-PA), the Chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee. She has a wide depth of knowledge in communications stemming from more than ten-years of experience as a journalist with Fox News and NBC News in Washington, D.C. Gretchen has interviewed heads of state, covered natural disasters, political campaigns, terrorist trials and has told the stories of countless Americans across the country. But Joyce knows her has a regular contributor on The State of Cannabis, the stickiest news source on Clubhouse. On today's episode Joyce and Gretchen discuss political cannabis intersections and the value her conservative voice is adding to the cannabis conversation.Topics Discussed(1:32) Courage in Cannabis book available(3:22) Pot Pocket(3:50) University of Arizona and Green Flower(4:20) Cannabis Policy Advisor(5:00) Gretchen Gailey Introduction(6:04) The State of Cannabis (6:30) Susan Soares and State of Cannabis(12:10) Cannabis Economist(13:41) KCSA Congressional Cannabis Day Forum and Ricki Lake(13:53) Weed the People(14:14) Mara Gordon(21:30) New Frontier Data(24:12) Cannabis Relationships(28:00) The Daughters of the American Revolution(30:25) Safe Banking(35:00) The Future of Cannabis Delivery(39:30) 2022 Predictions(40:20) Industrial Hemp(42:35) Connect with Gretchen on Linked-In, Twitter and State of CannabisThe Canna Mom Show wants to thank:Josh Lamkin and Bella Jaffe for writing and performing TCMS theme music

In episode 8, Mara and Jeffrey discuss cannabis treatment protocols and education, global patient access, and much more... Links: Aunt Zelda's, Zelira Therapeutics, Society of Cannabis Clinicians, Weed the People on Netflix, Mary Janes: The Women of Weed Learn more: Mara Gordon is the co-founder of Aunt Zelda's™, Octopi Wellness, and Zelda Therapeutics (now Zelira Therapeutics). She specializes in the development of cannabis treatment protocols for seriously ill patients, and is a pioneer in medicinal cannabis globally. Aunt Zelda's™ line of products are the result of years of research & development in consultation with knowledgeable physicians and world-renowned researchers. Utilizing time-proven extraction processes improved with modern technology, Aunt Zelda's™ products offer precisely measured potency & purity that allows patients to dose to the milligram, unlocking the therapeutic potential of cannabis. Aunt Zelda's™ is manufactured by The Oil Plant. Previously, Mara worked as a process engineer, helping Fortune 500 companies create intelligent software. This experience has enabled her to take a detailed & scientific approach to medical cannabis. Her pioneering work in cannabis was recently chronicled in the Ricki Lake and Abby Epstein documentary, “Weed the People”, as well as Windy Borman's film “Mary Janes: The Women of Weed”, and Ben Daitz's "The Medicine in Marijuana". Mara is a Director of North Bay Credit Union (NBCU). She has been the keynote speaker at numerous conferences around the globe, and holds numerous advisory board positions including Zelira Therapeutics, CannPal, House of Saka, Patients Out of Time, and Marijuana Business Daily.

Mara Gordon is the Co-Founder of Aunt Zelda's™, Zelira Therapeutics, and OCTOPI Wellness as well as a Director of multiple organizations, including North Bay Credit Union.

On this episode, we are joined by Mara Gordon. Mara is a cannabis advocate, entrepreneur, and researcher. She has harnessed her background as a process engineer to create therapeutic dosing regimens for thousands of patients around the world, drastically improving their health, quality of life and longevity. Topics: 1. The Art of the Exact Dosage 2. Formal Clinical Cannabis Research 3. Industry Hyperbole Twitter - @TheCannabisRev2 Episode Library - https://www.irishmedianetwork.com/the... Aunt Zelda - https://auntzeldas.org/

Mara Gordon is a cannabis advocate, entrepreneur, and researcher. She has harnessed her background as a process engineer to create therapeutic dosing regimens for thousands of patients around the world, drastically improving their health, quality of life and longevity. Mara openly shares her knowledge about the therapeutic benefits of the cannabis plant – whether consulting with medical teams, through TEDx Talks or calling out hyperbole in the industry she cares so deeply about. Mara rose to prominence through the company she co-founded, Aunt Zelda's. Back in 2011, Aunt Zelda's operated as a collective, bringing bespoke cannabis formulations to patients. As additional regulations were introduced in California, Mara standardized her most popular therapeutic oil blends, making them commercially available to patients through the respected Aunt Zelda's brand. With science as her North Star, Mara has pursued data-driven, plant-based medicine for numerous maladies. Seeking to engage a larger medical and patient community as well as to place the practice of medicine back into the hands of qualified medical practitioners, Mara launched Calla Spring Wellness, a telemedicine platform and clinical service utilized by physicians and nurses to guide them on incorporating cannabinoid-based medicines into their standard treatment plans. Calla Spring Wellnessis fueled by her careful data collection through Aunt Zelda's, along with years of research and development in consultation with knowledgeable physicians and world-renowned researchers. Unlike other pharmaceutical drugs with recommended dosage protocols, formal clinical research on cannabis has been unavailable in the U.S. because of its classification as a Schedule I drug, resulting in more anecdotal than factual information. Unwilling to be stymied by federal laws, Mara co-founded Zelda Therapeutics in Australia. The company brings together some of the world's leading researchers and clinicians active in the study and use of medicinal cannabis to treat a variety of ailments. Presently, Zelda is engaged in pre-clinical research for multiple forms of cancer and diabetes-related cognitive decline, as well as clinical trials for autism, chronic pain and insomnia. As interest in cannabis spreads, Mara continues to be an outspoken leader in the medical cannabis space. She has appeared on stage in front of audiences nationally and internationally and was featured in the films The Medicine in Marijuana, Mary Janes: Women of Weed, and the award-winning documentary Weed the People.

Using cannabis for medicinal use has come a long way... BUT (there's always a 'but'). The ubiquitous products of CBD make this field seem like things are further progressed than they are. Newsflash: We have a long way to go. No fear: Data is here.Mara Gordon, Co-Founder of Aunt Zelda, Zelda Therapeutics, highlights the difference between the acclaimed CBD vs THC. Joined by Niko Woischnik, Mara clarifies how her company uses data to instruct doctors to prescribe the precise potency and dosage to patients seeking relief from a number of health conditions.Other topics to listen out for: Non-organic drug effects, advocating cannabis alongside treatments, and bringing about change in the healthcare system for the better.For more TOA content, subscribe to our NL (toa.berlin) and follow us on Instagram (@toaberlin), Twitter (@toaberlin), LinkedIn (toa-berlin) & Facebook (TechOpenAir).Support the show (https://paypal.me/TechOpenGmbH?locale.x=en_US)

 Pursuing data-driven, plant-based medicine for numerous maladiesAs an entrepreneur, researcher and founder of Aunt Zelda's,  Mara Gordon is a well-known cannabis advocate.  She joins Kyra Reed to talk about harnessing her background as a process engineer to create therapeutic dosing regimens for thousands of patients around the world, drastically improving their health, quality of life and longevity.Produced by podCONXWeed The People 

When Mara Gordon started using medical cannabis there wasn't any lab testing — or any way to know how much of each cannabinoid or terpene was in a given strain . There was definitely no way of ensuring that you got the same effect from it consistently.So she drew on her training as a process engineer and decided to start doing it herself.Gordon has been featured in the Netflix documentary, Weed the People, and owns and operates two medical cannabis companies. One of the things she does is collect and analyze data about cannabis products and how patients with different medical conditions respond to them. All of that data is packaged into software doctors can use to manage their patients' medical marijuana treatment.“I know how to collect data. I know how to analyze data. I know how to make incredibly good medicine, but [doctors] have to be the ones managing [their] patients' care,” Gordon says on The Cannabis Enigma Podcast.What's one of the most surprising things she's learned from all of that data? “The lack of correlation between the weight of the patient and the dose,” Gordon says. “That was shocking.”This episode was originally released in December 2019.Produced by Michael Schaeffer Omer-Man and Elana Goldberg, and edited and mixed by Michael Schaeffer Omer-Man. The Cannabis Enigma Podcast is a co-production of Americans for Safe Access and The Cannigma. Music by Desca.

Mara Gordon is the co-founder of Aunt Zelda’s™, The Oil Plant (TOP), Calla Spring Wellness, and Zelda Therapeutics (now Zelira Therapeutics). She is a cannabis advocate, entrepreneur, and researcher.

Another big hitter on the pod this week! Jonny and Oscar were joined by a true legend of the cannabis industry – Mara Gordon, the Founder of Aunt Zelda’s. As one of the pioneers in bringing cannabis medicines to patients, Mara takes us through her cannabis journey, speaking about crucial data collection from patients, clinical trials, her staring role in canna films and more.

It’s so refreshing when you meet someone who understands what fulfills them and is actually doing it! It’s their calling. They’re mission driven. That is especially true for today’s guest: Mara Gordon, Co-Founder of Aunt Zelda’s. The drive to care for a loved one is a very powerful force. Mara, confronted with the challenge of helping her husband, when traditional methods had failed, turned to Cannabis. The impact was immediate, but unfocused. The obstacle in turning to Cannabis was that there was no data on effective dosing. She wanted a prescription, but ended up with a picnic! To a Process Engineer that is unacceptable. The ensuing journey in treating her husband, herself, loved ones, and eventually others embarked Mara down the road to solve the dosing issue for Cannabis. In the documentary “Weed the People”, and her TED Talk “Cannabis: Separating the Science from the Hype”, shares part of Mara’s journey of applying a collaborative, qualitative approach, in uncovering effective dosing for Cannabis. Her Aunt Zelda’s oil heavy Carrot Cake recipe was the perfect delivery method for some of those initial doses. That mission has now expanded to 4 companies, to deliver data-driven, Cannabis-based plant medicines, research, and knowledge for practitioners. Please enjoy the Amazing Founder’s Journey of Mara Gordon, Co-Founder of Aunt Zelda’s. Mara Gordon, Professional Summary: https://auntzeldas.org/about/mara-gordon/ Aunt Zelda’s, Corporate Summary: https://auntzeldas.org/about/ Show Notes: Relevant Links: Cannabis: Separating the Science from the Hype | Mara Gordon | TEDxPaloAlto: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jyAGlb8PMRc My Experience From 24 Years In California Cannabis: From Compassionate Use To A Corporate Buyout: https://www.benzinga.com/markets/cannabis/20/08/16903769/my-experience-from-24-years-in-california-cannabis-from-compassionate-use-to-a-corporate-buyout Mara Gordon: Aunt Zelda's, For Every Household: https://www.forbes.com/sites/warrenbobrow/2019/05/29/mara-gordon-aunt-zeldas-for-every-household/ HempCon: https://www.facebook.com/HempconShow/ https://www.instagram.com/hempcon/ Weed the People: https://www.weedthepeoplemovie.com/ Lawrence Ringo: A Hidden Origin Story of the CBD Craze: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/23/sunday-review/coronavirus-cbd-oil.html Lawrence Ringo: Father of CBD: https://theemeraldmagazine.com/lawrence-ringo/ Zelira Therapeutics: https://zeliratx.com/ Calla Spring Wellness: Canna/Non-Canna Founders LinkedIn & Social Steve Jobs: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_Jobs Mother Teresa: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mother_Teresa Hashtags: #LitUpCannabis #CannabisFoundersJourney #CannabisEntrepreneur #Founder #Cannabis #Entrepreneur #MaraGordon #AuntZeldas Mara Gordon, Co-Founder, Aunt Zelda’s Also: Co-Founder of The Oil Plant, Zelda Therapeutics, and Calla Spring Wellness mara@auntzeldas.org https://auntzeldas.org/about/mara-gordon/ Personal Contact Info, Social, & Websites https://twitter.com/marabg https://www.linkedin.com/in/maragordon/ Brian Weber, Producer & Host, Lit Up Cannabis: A Founder's Journey linkedin.com/in/briancweber/ www.litupfounders.com www.facebook.com/LitUpFounders/ www.instagram.com/LitUpFounders/ www.twitter.com/LitUpFounders www.linkedin.com/company/litupmedia/ Listen to the episode here or on SoundCloud, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, TuneIn, iHeartRadio or RSS to your favorite podcast app.

Leslie Andrachuk, Founder and CEO of Alpha Woman interviews Mara Gordon. Mara specializes in the development of cannabis extract treatment protocols for seriously ill patients in California. She is the co-founder of Aunt Zelda's and Zelda Therapeutics. Prior to Aunt Zelda's, Mara worked as a process engineer, helping Fortune 500 companies create intelligent software by utilizing the Rational Unified Process. Visit https://www.alphawomanco.com for more Alpha Woman!

Mara Gordon is the co-founder of Aunt Zelda'sTM and Zelira Therapeutics. She specializes in the development of cannabis treatment protocols for seriously ill patients, and is dedicated to bringing about change in the healthcare system. Prior to Aunt Zelda's, Gordon worked as a process engineer, helping Fortune 500 companies create intelligent software. This experience has enabled her to take a detailed and scientific approach to medical cannabis. Gordon has transformed the lives of thousands of patients suffering from a variety of ailments, including chronic pain, autoimmune conditions and multiple forms of cancer. Her pioneering work in the field of medical cannabis has been chronicled in films such as The Medicine in Marijuana, Mary Janes: Women of Weed, and the award-winning documentary Weed the People. Gordon is an outspoken and highly-respected advocate for medical cannabis, reshaping perceptions and leading an industry-wide revolution. She has presented at medical and industry conferences around the globe and holds multiple board positions, including North Bay Credit Union, in addition to numerous advisory boards. Useful linkshttps://auntzeldas.org/https://www.linkedin.com/in/maragordon/To learn more about plants & your health from Colleen at LabAroma check out this informative PDF: https://mailchi.mp/2fe0e426b244/osw1lg2dkhDisclaimer: The information presented in this podcast is for educational purposes only, and is not intended to replace professional medical advice. Please consult your doctor if you are in need of medical care, and before making any changes to your health routine.

Joel Selway of Brigham Young Univ on some democracies thriving during COVID-19. Deborah Himes of Brigham Young Univ on breast cancer communication. Evan Wiig, Community Alliance Family With Farmers on community supported agriculture. Mara Gordon of Cooper Medical School, Rowan Univ, on afternoon doctor visits. Dave Conlin of the National Park Service on their dive team. Sophia Choukas-Bradley, Univ of Pittsburgh, on social looks.

A visit to the doctor's office looks a little different during the pandemic. Doctors are using telemedicine services to treat patients more frequently. In this episode, Dr. Mara Gordon provides tips to help you get the most out of your telehealth visit.

A visit to the doctor's office looks a little different during the pandemic. Doctors are using telemedicine services to treat patients more frequently. In this episode, Dr. Mara Gordon provides tips to help you get the most out of your telehealth visit.

Why does science research and data matter so much in this day and age? And more importantly who are our sources from the information and data we get? Not all data is the same. In this episode of Cannabis Tech Talks, Editor-in-Chief Charles Warner talks with cannabis advocate, entrepreneur, and researcher, and founder of Aunt Zelda's and Zelira Therapeutics Ltd. Mara Gordon. Mara and Charles talk about how the cannabis industry has evolved and changed in such a short period of time and what data is the right data. Zelira Therapeutics Ltd (formerly Zelda Therapeutics) is a leading global therapeutic medicinal cannabis company with access to the world's largest and fastest growing cannabis markets. Visit https://auntzeldas.org https://zeliratx.com to learn more! Today's Cannabis Tech Talks is brought to you by Surna Inc. - Indoor Cultivation HVAC Equipment and MEP Engineers Visit www.surna.com to learn more!

Why does science research and data matter so much in this day and age? And more importantly who are our sources from the information and data we get? Not all data is the same. In this episode of Cannabis Tech Talks, Editor-in-Chief Charles Warner talks with cannabis advocate, entrepreneur, and researcher, and founder of Aunt Zelda's and Zelira Therapeutics Ltd. Mara Gordon. Mara and Charles talk about how the cannabis industry has evolved and changed in such a short period of time and what data is the right data. Zelira Therapeutics Ltd (formerly Zelda Therapeutics) is a leading global therapeutic medicinal cannabis company with access to the world’s largest and fastest growing cannabis markets. Visit https://auntzeldas.org https://zeliratx.com to learn more! Today’s Cannabis Tech Talks is brought to you by Surna Inc. - Indoor Cultivation HVAC Equipment and MEP Engineers Visit www.surna.com to learn more!

A trailblazing form of pediatric physical therapy that utilizes postural responses to improve function. Learn about CME therapy from expert physical therapist Mara Gordon! Would you like to sponsor an episode? Have a questions: specialneedsinmotion@gmail.com. Please review and share so we can grow! #pediatricphysicaltherapy #specialneeds #specialneedsparenting --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/specialneedsinmotion/support

Mara Gordon is the co-founder of Aunt Zelda's, a California medical cannabis brand that emphasizes a scientific understanding of cannabis's medicinal qualities. Mara recently joined podcast host TG Branfalt to talk about cannabis medicine, medical cannabis research developments from around the world, using data and technology to drive the medical cannabis space, how to harness the excitement surrounding this industry, and more. For a full transcript: https://www.ganjapreneur.com/mara-gordon-data-driven-cannabis-medicine/

When Mara Gordon started using medical cannabis there wasn't any lab testing — or any way to know how much of each cannabinoid or terpenes were in any given strain . There was definitely no way of ensuring that you got the same effect from it consistently.So she drew on her profession as a process engineer and decided to start doing it herself.Gordon has been featured in the Netflix documentary, Weed the People, and owns and operates two medical cannabis companies. One of the things she does is collect and analyze data about cannabis products and how patients with different medical conditions respond to them. All of that data is packaged into software doctors can use to manage their patients' medical marijuana treatment.“I know how to collect data. I know how to analyze data. I know how to make I incredibly good medicine, but [doctors] have to be the ones managing [their] patients' care,” Gordon says on The Cannabis Enigma Podcast.What's one of the most surprising things she's learned from all of that data? “The lack of correlation between the weight of the patient and the dose,” Gordon says. “That was shocking.”At the end of the episode, stick around for a Q&A with Dr. Roni Sharon about using cannabis to treat anxiety and depression.

Based on her personal experiences, Mara Gordon, co-founder of Aunt Zelda's, has become passionate about using cannabis to treat patients with illnesses and injuries. Gordon notes that, based on her data, THC is the most medically useful cannabinoid, although she is also a strong proponent of medical-use CBD. She also points out that, typically, younger patients require higher doses, whereas older patients require lower doses. This could be due to number of cannabinoid receptors, metabolism speed, or mere differences in psychology. Besides science, Gordon believes that products need to be well understood with everything printed on the label.

Sara talks with Mara Gordon, co-founder of The Oil Plant (TOP), Aunt Zelda’s™, Calla Spring Wellness, and Zelda Therapeutics about the medical cannabis industry, the cannabis/integrative health connection and education. The post Planted – Mara Gordon appeared first on Radio Misfits.

Aunt Zelda's is a medicinal cannabis dispensary based in the state of California. Their products are contaminant-free and high quality with easily understood dosages. Mara Gordon, the founder of Aunt Zelda's, is guest speaking on an episode of The Thoughtful Entrepreneur. Tune in! Mara Gordon talks about the documentary Weed the People: The Future of Legal Marijuana in America that she's involved in and her recent TEDx presentation: Cannabis: Separating the Science from the Hype. Mara Gordon's goal is to accurately dose patients in order to create individualized treatments for different people with different illnesses. If you want to know more about the modern day medicinal cannabis industry then jump onto The Thoughtful Entrepreneur!   ***************** FREE LIVE TRAINING ON BECOMING A MEDIA CELEBRITY: https://upmyinfluence.com/free-ticket ***************** WHAT IS YOUR AUTHORITY SCORE? TAKE THE QUIZ: https://upmyinfluence.com/quiz ***************** WANT TO BECOME A MEDIA CELEBRITY? GRAB 30 MIN WITH JOSH TO DISCUSS: https://upmyinfluence.com/schedule ***************** BE A GUEST ON THE THOUGHTFUL ENTREPRENEUR: https://upmyinfluence.com/podcast-application/ ***************** SEE OUR YOUTUBE CHANNEL AND LEARN AUTHORITY MARKETING & INFLUENCE GROWTH:https://upmyinfluence.com/youtube

Mara Gordon is a cannabis advocate, entrepreneur, and researcher. She has harnessed her background as a process engineer to create therapeutic dosing regimens for thousands of patients around the world, drastically improving their health, quality of life and longevity. Mara openly shares her knowledge about the therapeutic benefits of the cannabis plant – whether consulting with medical teams, through TEDx Talks or calling out hyperbole in the industry she cares so deeply about. Mara rose to prominence through the company she co-founded, Aunt Zelda’s. Back in 2011, Aunt Zelda’s operated as a collective, bringing bespoke cannabis formulations to patients. As additional regulations were introduced in California, Mara standardized her most popular therapeutic oil blends, making them commercially available to patients through the respected Aunt Zelda’s brand. With science as her North Star, Mara has pursued data-driven, plant-based medicine for numerous maladies. Seeking to engage a larger medical and patient community as well as to place the practice of medicine back into the hands of qualified medical practitioners, Mara launched Calla Spring Wellness, a telemedicine platform and clinical service utilized by physicians and nurses to guide them on incorporating cannabinoid-based medicines into their standard treatment plans. Calla Spring Wellness is fueled by her careful data collection through Aunt Zelda’s, along with years of research and development in consultation with knowledgeable physicians and world-renowned researchers. Unlike other pharmaceutical drugs with recommended dosage protocols, formal clinical research on cannabis has been unavailable in the U.S. because of its classification as a Schedule I drug, resulting in more anecdotal than factual information. Unwilling to be stimied by federal laws, Mara co-founded Zelda Therapeutics in Australia. The company brings together some of the world’s leading researchers and clinicians active in the study and use of medicinal cannabis to treat a variety of ailments. Presently, Zelda is engaged in pre-clinical research for multiple forms of cancer and diabetes-related cognitive decline, as well as clinical trials for autism, chronic pain and insomnia. As interest in cannabis spreads, Mara continues to be an outspoken leader in the medical cannabis space. She has appeared on stage in front of audiences nationally and internationally and was featured in the films The Medicine in Marijuana, Mary Janes: Women of Weed, and the award-winning documentary Weed the People.

More and more people battling cancer are turning to cannabis to help alleviate their symptoms and mitigate the side-effects of chemotherapy. So what role should cannabis play in cancer treatment? In this episode, host Max Simon explores the topic of cannabis and cancer with the help of three people on the front lines of the fight against the disease: Dr. Donald Abrams one of the world’s leading physicians on cannabis and cancer, Mike Robinson a cancer patient and cannabis advocate, and medical cannabis product maker Mara Gordon.

Cannabis is now on most people’s short list of things to consider when managing a diagnosis of cancer, and especially if pain is a part of the picture. Does cannabis deserve consideration in people with cancer and cancer-related pain? What do we know at this point? Join us with guest Mara Gordon, a global pioneer in medicinal cannabis as we explore the ins and outs of cannabis in cancer. This show is broadcast live on Tuesday's at 7PM ET on W4CS – The Cancer Support Network (www.w4cs.com) part of Talk 4 Radio (http://www.talk4radio.com/) on the Talk 4 Media Network (http://www.talk4media.com/).

Mara Gordon is a pioneer in the development of therapeutic cannabis oils for patients suffering from pediatric cancer and other serious diseases. (She's also the central figure in Weed the People, the documentary from Ricki Lake and Abby Epstein). Mara brings her encyclopedic knowledge of medicinal cannabis, boundless compassion, serious business acumen and sense of humor to this episode -- it's a must listen!

That’s the question scientists and advocates have been asking for decades. Ricki Lake’s moving new documentary, Weed The People, seeks the answer.If you've been following this podcast you know that cannabis doesn’t cure cancer. Nothing does -- cancer is a broad description of over 200 different disease states that can be treated with varying rates of success. But you also know that cannabis does do amazing things like cause some cancers cells such as glioblastoma (a fast-moving brain cancer that oncologists call “The Terminator”) to commit suicide. It also works synergistically and somewhat mysteriously to up the life extending outcomes of certain chemotherapies.What isn’t known is why the US government restricts access to cannabis meds and why it wantonly bans most of the research in this country.Ricki Lake and Abby Epstein’s new documentary, Weed The People, examines this cruel reality by following the lives of 5 kids with brain cancer (and their fraught families). In other words, kids with death sentences for whom conventional chemotherapies have failed. The filmmakers followed these families for upwards of 7 years. Four of the five kids are alive today. Some of them are thriving. 'Nuf said.The film was spawned when Ricki’s husband, Christian, received a cancer diagnosis. He passed away, but in their search for alternative therapies, he came upon some remarkable cannabis healers, among them Mara Gordon, founder of Aunt Zelda’s (she is featured on Episode 5 of our podcast). Ricki made it her mission to finish Christian's search and tell the story of so many others in the same situation.She, of course, is no stranger of advocacy film making. In 2008 she and Abby made the groundbreaking and widely heralded The Business of Being Born about the institutionalization of childbirth, which caused millions of women to shift to home birth.As of this writing, the Weed the People is showing in just a few markets (100% on Rotten Tomatoes so far), but the filmmakers are making it available to people who want to hold screenings in communities around the country. Listen to our great interview for details on how to arrange a screening and be sure to watch the trailer.

Episode 002 of the Critical Grass Podcast with guest Mara Gordon

Our special double episode with Mara Gordon and Roger Volodarsky on the medical and recreational benefits of dabbing.There’s no more controversial way of taking in cannabis than dabbing. Dabbing is the process by where a tiny, quinoa-size bit of cannabis oil is heated and inhaled. Instead of typical cannabis which averages about 25% THC, a dab can clock in from 70-90% THC. The effect can be mind stingingly powerful or a powerful remedy for relieving breakthrough pain.Aficionados claim dabs are the cleanest and most efficient way of consuming: No combustion of plant matter, no lung irritation. But there are, or were, downsides. One is the rig you once needed to smoke them--it required a blow torch to heat a titanium nail which you then inhaled in a long glass column. It looked like freebasing and the association with crack was unavoidable. Second, dabs are seriously powerful. As mentioned, the THC concentration is amazingly high (pun intended). Finally, the dose is difficult to control. The size difference between a quinoa and sesame seed isn’t that great, but it can make the difference between a powerful high and a knockout punch that can lay even experienced users flat.But those same powerful highs can also be used as powerful medicine, and in the first part of this episode, Mara Gordon, founder of Aunt Zelda’s, the finest oil maker in the US, explains how patients with serious conditions like chronic pain have been using them with great results. She’ll tell us how to look for great oil and recommends a portable dabber that allows for discreet dabbing on the go.Our second guest, Roger Volodarsky, founder of PuffCo, has created The Peak, a next generation instrument that looks good on any shelf. It is handsomely designed, well weighted so that it won’t tip, portable and equipped with hepatic feedback and temperature controls. Not only does it remove the visual stigma from dabbing, but it has inspired hundreds of glass artists to create their own designs to fit atop it. This makes it the first open source dab rig in existence. See some of remarkable designs here but listen to his thoughts and inspirations on the second half of this episode.

Cannabis Engineer Mara Gordon Tell Us About Proper Dosing by Doctor Frank

Today on Hempire our host Eileen Karpfinger is joined by Mara Gordon, co-founder of Aunt Zelda's and Zelda Therapeutics. "Aunt Zelda’s is a pioneering, data-driven developer of cannabis-based plan medicines. Their products are the result of years of research and development by founders, Mara Gordon and Stewart Smith, in consultation with knowledgeable physicians and world-renowned researchers. Utilizing ancient extraction process improved with modern technology, they offer organic medicines of precisely measured potency and purity. Their medicines empower patients to dose to the milligram and unlock the therapeutic potential of cannabis." Mara joins us to talk about the effects of cannabis against PTSD.

Jo dives into cannabis dosing with Mara Gordon, a world-renowned cannabis expert, and researcher. The founder of Aunt Zelda's and Calla Spring Wellness, Mara shares advice on honing our consumption experience. Don't miss the show notes for key takeaways and product info.

Co-founder of AuntZeldas.org, Mara Gordon stops by Truth Be Told Studio to tell us the history of why Marijuana became a crime and how the big business of the day made hemp product illegal instead of reaping the benefits of hemp and cannabis.

Today on Hempire Dr. Eileen Karpfinger is joined by Mara Gordon. Mara specializes in the development of cannabis extract treatment protocols for seriously ill patients in California. She is the co-founder of Aunt Zelda’s and Zelda Therapeutics. Prior to Aunt Zelda’s, Mara worked as a process engineer, helping Fortune 500 companies create intelligent software by utilizing the Rational Unified Process. This experience has enabled her to take a detailed and scientific approach to medical cannabis. Recognizing a need for patient focused software, Gordon founded CDRMed. With CDRMed, physicians and medical health professionals are able to make treatment recommendations based on the latest and highest-quality data. Gordon sits on the boards of Zelda Therapeutics, #illegallyhealed and New Frontier. She has presented at multiple CME-accredited medical conferences, along with inaugural medical cannabis conferences in Australia, Costa Rica, Chile, and the Czech Republic, as well as other events throughout the United States

Medical Care with Cannabinoids and Terpenes as Audrey Kerger welcomes Mara Gordon, founder of Aunt Zelda's, a world-renowned expert on cannabis and cancer.

Nope. Nothing cures the scourge of cancer (there are over 300 different types of “cancer,” all of which behave differently and respond differently to various treatments. That’s why it’s such a bitch.)But cannabis can cause certain types of cancer cells to commit suicide – in particular brain, breast and skin cancers.Our guest this week, Mara Gordon, has been treating cancer patients with high potency cannabis oils for over 5 years. She’s the founder of Aunt Zelda’s, a patient collective in Northern California, and the story of how she became one of the pioneers of this treatment is worth listening to—especially if you know someone battling this killer disease.Her treatments, in addition to standard oncology, have kept a young boy – Chico Ryder -- and dozens like him -- alive long after doctors wrote him off.To be clear: There are many myths surrounding cannabis and cancer—more pop up every day. Cannabis oil is not the miracle as some claim, but science is beginning to understand the ways it terminates tumors.

Cannabis expert Mara Gordon explains why, combined with conventional cancer therapies like chemo, cannabis provides new hope for cancer patients. The post Combined Therapy for Cancer: Chemo, Cannabis & A Dose of Courage appeared first on The Cannabis Reporter.

Packed with information, in this podcast we talk to Mara Gordon, founder of Aunt Zelda's.

Aunt Zelda’s is a pioneering, data-driven developer of cannabis-based plan medicines. Our products are the result of years of research and development by founders, Mara Gordon and Stewart Smith, in consultation with knowledgeable physicians and world-renowned researchers. Utilizing ancient extraction process improved with modern technology, we offer organic medicines of precisely measured potency and purity. Our medicines empower patients to dose to the milligram and unlock the therapeutic potential of cannabis.

Aunt Zelda’s is a pioneering, data-driven developer of cannabis-based plan medicines. Our products are the result of years of research and development by founders, Mara Gordon and Stewart Smith, in consultation with knowledgeable physicians and world-renowned researchers.Utilizing ancient extraction process improved with modern technology, we offer organic medicines of precisely measured potency and purity. Our medicines empower patients to dose to the milligram and unlock the therapeutic potential of cannabis.

On Episode 6 of THC Radio, hosts David Maddalena and Christie Lunsford have a chat with Mara Gordon, Founder of Aunt Zelda's.

Cannabis extract treatment protocols with Mara Gordon Co-founder / Chief Process Engineer of The Oil Plant (formerly Aunt Zelda's). Mara Gordon specializes in the development of cannabis extract treatment protocols for seriously ill patients in California. She is the co-founder of Aunt Zelda's and Zelda Therapeutics. Prior to Aunt Zelda's, Mara worked as a process engineer, helping Fortune 500 companies create intelligent software by utilizing the Rational Unified Process. This experience has enabled her to take a detailed and scientific approach to medical cannabis. Recognizing a need for patient-focused software, Gordon founded CDRMed. With CDRMed, physicians and medical health professionals are able to make treatment recommendations based on the latest and highest-quality data. Gordon sits on the boards of Zelda Therapeutics, #illegallyhealed, and New Frontier. She has presented at multiple CME-accredited medical conferences, along with inaugural medical cannabis conferences in Australia, Costa Rica, Chile, and the Czech Republic, as well as other events throughout the United States.