Lulwa Al Armali's guest appearances

Lulwa Al Armali

The Project: Kuwait 

Sal Di Stefano

Anthony Balduzzi

Matthew Januszek

Sarah Taylor

James Wright

Ruben Garcia

Dan Mason

Marcus Filly

Travis Zigler

Chris Burres

Lesley Logan

Justin Andrews

Christopher Smith

Adam Schafer

James Quigley

OwlTail

Time Stamps:1:47 – Luwlwa, the Functional Nutritionist, joins Liam and Mahdi again today to discuss men’s hormones. Mahdi asks about how pheromones are related to hormones and Luwlwa shares about an experiment her class did at university.3:25 – Mahdi reveals his “secret” that he uses women’s Secret vanilla bean deodorant because it keeps him from sweating. Liam briefly considers revoking his man card, but they move on when Luwlwa says that some men get botox or detox their arm pits to reduce sweating.5:13 – Mahdi has noticed in the Middle East that men are softer and have more of a female build than elsewhere in the world and he thinks it is as a result of lower testosterone. Luwlwa confirms Mahdi’s suspicions and says that men are developing more female facial features as well.7:06 – Kuwait was recently listed as the #2 most toxic country in the world, and while this is a big factor in hormone production, Luwlwa says that it also has to do with the fact that Kuwait is not as health-conscious in general. 10:22 – In addition to this constant exposure to toxicity, these health choices are causing men in Kuwait to convert testosterone to estrogen which causes them to store fat in areas where women would.13:21 – Mahdi asks the question that many men have probably wondered if they have ever dabbled in taking steroids: does taking steroids really cause your gonads to shrink up? Luwlwa confirms that taking testosterone replacement drugs will cause your body to stop producing testosterone, and it could have a lasting effect even after men aren’t taking steroids anymore.15:31 – Toxins such as BPA can be endocrine disruptors and should be avoided. BPA is used to make plastic remain rigid, and it is released when the plastic is heated up; specifically, when you are microwaving your leftovers. When ingested, BPA acts as estrogen and can be harmful to the body. Another unexpected source of BPA is receipts.18:08 – Mahdi and Luwlwa provide a summary of cortisol, its purposes, and its impacts on the body over a long period of time. Liam summarizes constant cortisol production to being in “sport mode” in your car all the time.23:13 – Luwlwa asks Mahdi and Liam about their sleeping patterns and says that if you have healthy cortisol levels, you should not have to wake up at all during the night, even to go to the bathroom. If you do not have deep sleep like this, you are probably sleep deprived.25:58 – Mahdi tells of his experience tracking his sleep with a smart band.27:00 – Luwlwa talks about REM (rapid eye movement) sleep and the importance of several REM cycles every night for the proper production of testosterone. One of the best ways to improve your sleep environment is to reduce your exposure to blue light for 1-2 hours before going to bed, either by not looking at screens or by using a blue light reducing app on your phone or computer.28:27 – In response to Mahdi’s question about how working out at night affects sleep, Luwlwa says that working out increases your cortisol levels which is not conducive to restful sleep. She recommends taking thianine after a workout at night to combat high cortisol levels or using a meditation app like Headspace. 30:05 – In addition to the Headspace app, Luwlwa recommends diaphragmatic breathing and deep stretching to activate the parasympathetic nervous system and optimize sleep.31:45 – Although a lot of people think that taking a hot bath or shower would be relaxing in preparation for going to sleep, the opposite is actually true. While a hot shower causes the heart rate to rise, a cold shower slows the heart rate and activates the parasympathetic nervous system instead.34:40 – When short-term stress turns into prolonged stress, this changes the cortisol levels in thSupport the show

Time Stamps:1:47 – Luwlwa, the Functional Nutritionist, joins Liam and Mahdi again today to discuss men’s hormones. Mahdi asks about how pheromones are related to hormones and Luwlwa shares about an experiment her class did at university.3:25 – Mahdi reveals his “secret” that he uses women’s Secret vanilla bean deodorant because it keeps him from sweating. Liam briefly considers revoking his man card, but they move on when Luwlwa says that some men get botox or detox their arm pits to reduce sweating.5:13 – Mahdi has noticed in the Middle East that men are softer and have more of a female build than elsewhere in the world and he thinks it is as a result of lower testosterone. Luwlwa confirms Mahdi’s suspicions and says that men are developing more female facial features as well.7:06 – Kuwait was recently listed as the #2 most toxic country in the world, and while this is a big factor in hormone production, Luwlwa says that it also has to do with the fact that Kuwait is not as health-conscious in general. 10:22 – In addition to this constant exposure to toxicity, these health choices are causing men in Kuwait to convert testosterone to estrogen which causes them to store fat in areas where women would.13:21 – Mahdi asks the question that many men have probably wondered if they have ever dabbled in taking steroids: does taking steroids really cause your gonads to shrink up? Luwlwa confirms that taking testosterone replacement drugs will cause your body to stop producing testosterone, and it could have a lasting effect even after men aren’t taking steroids anymore.15:31 – Toxins such as BPA can be endocrine disruptors and should be avoided. BPA is used to make plastic remain rigid, and it is released when the plastic is heated up; specifically, when you are microwaving your leftovers. When ingested, BPA acts as estrogen and can be harmful to the body. Another unexpected source of BPA is receipts.18:08 – Mahdi and Luwlwa provide a summary of cortisol, its purposes, and its impacts on the body over a long period of time. Liam summarizes constant cortisol production to being in “sport mode” in your car all the time.23:13 – Luwlwa asks Mahdi and Liam about their sleeping patterns and says that if you have healthy cortisol levels, you should not have to wake up at all during the night, even to go to the bathroom. If you do not have deep sleep like this, you are probably sleep deprived.25:58 – Mahdi tells of his experience tracking his sleep with a smart band.27:00 – Luwlwa talks about REM (rapid eye movement) sleep and the importance of several REM cycles every night for the proper production of testosterone. One of the best ways to improve your sleep environment is to reduce your exposure to blue light for 1-2 hours before going to bed, either by not looking at screens or by using a blue light reducing app on your phone or computer.28:27 – In response to Mahdi’s question about how working out at night affects sleep, Luwlwa says that working out increases your cortisol levels which is not conducive to restful sleep. She recommends taking thianine after a workout at night to combat high cortisol levels or using a meditation app like Headspace. 30:05 – In addition to the Headspace app, Luwlwa recommends diaphragmatic breathing and deep stretching to activate the parasympathetic nervous system and optimize sleep.31:45 – Although a lot of people think that taking a hot bath or shower would be relaxing in preparation for going to sleep, the opposite is actually true. While a hot shower causes the heart rate to rise, a cold shower slows the heart rate and activates the parasympathetic nervous system instead.34:40 – When short-term stress turns into prolonged stress, this changes the cortisol levels in th<a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/Bl8NPB2H4Mf/?igshid=1m9w8d28oarlu&amp;utm_source=fb_www_attr" rel="payment nofollow" target="_blank">Support the show</a>

Lulwa Al Armali  The Functional Nutritionist Tells All About Testosterone, Sleep, Fat Loss, Building Muscle and Overall Health

Summary:On this episode of the Project Kuwait podcast, we are joined again by Luwlwa, the Functional Nutritionist, who is broaching a taboo topic. Luwlwa and Meg share their expertise on the female cycle and hormones as well as learning how to have a healthy relationship with your period.Time Stamps:1:10 – People don’t typically talk about PMS, PCOS, and hormones in females, especially in Kuwait. Mahdi and Meg are joined by Luwlwa, the Functional Nutritionist, again to discuss these taboo topics. 2:24 – Recently, Luwlwa posted something on her Instagram regarding changing her eating habits in preparation for her period coming soon, and she was amazed at the supportive responses as well as the hostile ones.3:31 – Meg brings up the point that there are purposes of the female cycle beyond childbearing.4:04 – Luwlwa provides a detailed background on the hormones present in women: estrogen, progesterone, and male hormones like testosterone. There are defined pathways for these hormones to break down in the body, and the way the body metabolizes them can have much broader impacts than most people are aware of.6:08 – Mahdi asks about the common assumption that hormones make you gain weight. Luwlwa says that imbalanced in way the hormones are metabolized can lead to water weight gain, irritability, aggression, heavy bleeding, and hair growth or loss. The best way to learn about these imbalances is through blood or urine testing.7:52 – Meg points out that the body needs balance to function properly, and things such as food or stress can affect this balance.9:05 – Mahdi chimes in with “men’s interpretation” of PMS: back off and give the women whatever they want.10:06 – Luwlwa describes the 28-day cycle and the difficulty that can come from doing a single test to determine if there is a problem because of the length of the cycle. Through cycle mapping, women can begin to understand the relationship that their cycle and hormones have with external variables.11:35 – She then addresses the misconception that periods are painful, unpredictable, and mysterious by explaining that extreme pain or heavy bleeding can indicate a vitamin or nutrition imbalance.13:11 – Meg says that most people don’t understand their cycle because sex ed is usually too vague and high schoolers don’t want to know about it. In fact, as a high school athlete, Meg saw her period as a nuisance and she tried to avoid having it.14:12 – Luwlwa describes the ideal diet for women who are experiencing PMS: anti-inflammatory foods and limited gluten and dairy. Symptoms of PMS include anger, anxiety, cramping, headaches, and mood swings.16:02 – Mahdi brings up something he has heard about the need to avoid nightshade vegetables. Luwlwa says that if you aren’t sure if they have a negative effect on you, cut them out for 3-6 weeks and then reintroduce them to confirm.17:15 – Meg and Luwlwa agree that it is counterproductive when men assume that women are having PMS if they are emotional or aggressive, and it is important for women to be self-aware enough to know if they are experiencing PMS or if they are just being especially moody.19:00 – Luwlwa shares that many of the symptoms of PMS can be caused by the drop in blood sugar that occurs with the fluctuation of progesterone in the week leading up to a woman’s period. Just as when they are otherwise “hangry”, this can be amended by eating smaller and more frequent meals to regulate the blood sugar.21:01 – This backs up the claim that women crave chocolate when they are PMSing – this is caused by blood sugar drops and drops in serotonin. Meg says that this is why women crave carbs.24:00 – Meg emphasizes that it is important to know where you are in your cycle.25:02 – Support the show

Summary:On this episode of the Project Kuwait podcast, we are joined again by Luwlwa, the Functional Nutritionist, who is broaching a taboo topic. Luwlwa and Meg share their expertise on the female cycle and hormones as well as learning how to have a healthy relationship with your period.Time Stamps:1:10 – People don’t typically talk about PMS, PCOS, and hormones in females, especially in Kuwait. Mahdi and Meg are joined by Luwlwa, the Functional Nutritionist, again to discuss these taboo topics. 2:24 – Recently, Luwlwa posted something on her Instagram regarding changing her eating habits in preparation for her period coming soon, and she was amazed at the supportive responses as well as the hostile ones.3:31 – Meg brings up the point that there are purposes of the female cycle beyond childbearing.4:04 – Luwlwa provides a detailed background on the hormones present in women: estrogen, progesterone, and male hormones like testosterone. There are defined pathways for these hormones to break down in the body, and the way the body metabolizes them can have much broader impacts than most people are aware of.6:08 – Mahdi asks about the common assumption that hormones make you gain weight. Luwlwa says that imbalanced in way the hormones are metabolized can lead to water weight gain, irritability, aggression, heavy bleeding, and hair growth or loss. The best way to learn about these imbalances is through blood or urine testing.7:52 – Meg points out that the body needs balance to function properly, and things such as food or stress can affect this balance.9:05 – Mahdi chimes in with “men’s interpretation” of PMS: back off and give the women whatever they want.10:06 – Luwlwa describes the 28-day cycle and the difficulty that can come from doing a single test to determine if there is a problem because of the length of the cycle. Through cycle mapping, women can begin to understand the relationship that their cycle and hormones have with external variables.11:35 – She then addresses the misconception that periods are painful, unpredictable, and mysterious by explaining that extreme pain or heavy bleeding can indicate a vitamin or nutrition imbalance.13:11 – Meg says that most people don’t understand their cycle because sex ed is usually too vague and high schoolers don’t want to know about it. In fact, as a high school athlete, Meg saw her period as a nuisance and she tried to avoid having it.14:12 – Luwlwa describes the ideal diet for women who are experiencing PMS: anti-inflammatory foods and limited gluten and dairy. Symptoms of PMS include anger, anxiety, cramping, headaches, and mood swings.16:02 – Mahdi brings up something he has heard about the need to avoid nightshade vegetables. Luwlwa says that if you aren’t sure if they have a negative effect on you, cut them out for 3-6 weeks and then reintroduce them to confirm.17:15 – Meg and Luwlwa agree that it is counterproductive when men assume that women are having PMS if they are emotional or aggressive, and it is important for women to be self-aware enough to know if they are experiencing PMS or if they are just being especially moody.19:00 – Luwlwa shares that many of the symptoms of PMS can be caused by the drop in blood sugar that occurs with the fluctuation of progesterone in the week leading up to a woman’s period. Just as when they are otherwise “hangry”, this can be amended by eating smaller and more frequent meals to regulate the blood sugar.21:01 – This backs up the claim that women crave chocolate when they are PMSing – this is caused by blood sugar drops and drops in serotonin. Meg says that this is why women crave carbs.24:00 – Meg emphasizes that it is important to know where you are in your cycle.25:02 – <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/Bl8NPB2H4Mf/?igshid=1m9w8d28oarlu&amp;utm_source=fb_www_attr" rel="payment nofollow" target="_blank">Support the show</a>

029: The Truth About PMS with Lulwa Al Armali "The Functional Nutritionist" Meg and Mahdi