Dr. Brendan McCarthy

Is weight gain really about willpower… or is something deeper going on?

In this episode, Dr. Brendan McCarthy, Chief Medical Officer at Protea Medical Center, breaks down the real biology behind stress, cravings, and weight gain—and why blaming yourself (or cortisol) is missing the point.

You’ll learn:

• Why chronic stress rewires your metabolism

• How stress drives cravings for ultra-processed foods

• The truth about cortisol ...

We’ve all heard it: calories in vs. calories out. And while that’s not wrong… it’s not complete.

Dr. McCarthy breaks down the three major approaches to weight loss:

1. Calorie restriction

2. Insulin management (low-carb, keto, etc.)

3. Exercise & performance

…and explains why each works—but still falls short on its own.

The missing piece? The signal your food sends to your body.

This episode explores how ultra-processed foods:

...

Why do you crave dessert after dinner? Why are you hungry again an hour after eating? And why does weight sometimes seem to accelerate even when you're watching calories?

In Episode 3 of this series on ultra-processed and hyper-palatable foods, Dr. Brendan McCarthy breaks down the biology behind cravings, hunger, and weight gain. This episode connects the dots between food engineering, blood sugar spikes, insulin, and the brain’s r...

In this episode, we’re diving deep into ultra-processed foods — and why cravings in your 30s, 40s, and 50s are not a character flaw.

If you’ve ever:

• Felt compulsive around certain foods

• Wondered why you “used to have more willpower”

• Eaten for stress relief and felt ashamed afterward

• Asked yourself why your partner can stop but you can’t

This episode is for you.

There are three major biologic reasons why cravings ...

If you're a woman in your late 30s, 40s, or 50s and you feel swollen, inflamed, stuck, exhausted, or like your body has completely turned against you — this series is for you.

Let’s be clear: This is NOT a diet episode. This is NOT food shaming. This is NOT about willpower.

This is upstream endocrinology.

In this episode, Dr. McCarthy explains:

• Why weight gain in perimenopause is not a discipline problem

• How estrogen domina...

In this final episode of the Progesterone Promise series, Dr. Brendan McCarthy, Chief Medical Officer of Protea Medical Center, breaks down one of the most misunderstood hormones in women’s health: progesterone.

Progesterone is not “good” or “bad.” It’s contextual.

In today’s world of quick sound bites and social media medicine, hormones are often reduced to oversimplified claims like “progesterone fixes anxiety” or “progesterone c...

In this episode of the progesterone series, Dr. Brendan McCarthy — Chief Medical Officer of Protea Medical Center in Tempe, Arizona — explores the often misunderstood relationship between progesterone, estrogen, and breast health.

For decades, women have been taught to fear their breasts and fear hormones. While awareness matters, fear is disempowering — and it has left many women confused about what’s actually happening in their b...

Unexplained infertility, PMS, and low progesterone are often dismissed when labs fall “within range.” In this episode, Dr. Brendan McCarthy explains why prolactin may be the missing piece.

Learn how mildly elevated prolactin can suppress ovulation, lower progesterone, and impact fertility—even when labs appear normal. We also discuss common causes, symptoms, the role of stress and medications, and why diet (including gluten sensiti...

In this episode of our progesterone series (Episode 5), Dr. Brendan McCarthy — Chief Medical Officer of Protea Medical Center in Tempe, Arizona — breaks down the often-misunderstood relationship between stress, ovulation, progesterone, and cortisol.

We explore the concept commonly referred to as the “progesterone steal” and why this term can be misleading. Rather than hormones being “stolen,” Dr. McCarthy explains how the body inte...

In this episode, Dr. Brendan McCarthy, Chief Medical Officer of Protea Medical Center, explains why progesterone delivery systems matter—and how different routes change what progesterone actually does in the body.

Part 4 of the progesterone series covers oral, topical, vaginal, rectal, injectable, and sublingual progesterone, breaking down which methods affect the brain, uterus, and breast tissue—and why choosing the right route is...

If progesterone makes you feel wired, anxious, angry, emotional, or unable to sleep, this episode is for you.

In this deeply important continuation of our reverse responding series, Dr. Brendan McCarthy—Chief Medical Officer of Protea Medical Center—returns to clarify what was missing in Episode 3C and to walk you through the real physiology, compassion, and treatment strategy behind reverse responding.

Reverse responding is not in...

Dr. Brendan McCarthy, Chief Medical Officer of Protea Medical Center in Tempe, Arizona, brings closure to an important and often misunderstood topic: progesterone reverse responders.

Some women take progesterone expecting calm, better sleep, and emotional balance — but instead experience anxiety, irritability, agitation, or feeling “wired but tired.” These responses are real, not imagined, and not a personal failure.

In this episod...

In this episode of the podcast, Dr. Brendan McCarthy—Chief Medical Officer of Protea Medical Center in Tempe, Arizona—continues his in-depth progesterone series with a deep dive into reverse responders and an often-overlooked mechanism: hormone sulfation.

Many women take progesterone expecting better sleep, calmer moods, and reduced anxiety—yet feel more alert, only mildly calmer, or see no benefit at all. This episode explains why...

Have you taken progesterone expecting calm, better sleep, or relief from PMS… only to feel more anxious, wired, or worse overall? You are not a failure—and progesterone is not failing you. Your body is responding exactly as physiology dictates. The issue is how progesterone is being delivered and metabolized.

In this episode, Dr. McCarthy explains:

• What it means to be a progesterone reverse responder

• How progesterone normal...

In Episode 2 of this deep-dive hormone series, Dr. Brendan McCarthy—Chief Medical Officer of Protea Medical Center in Tempe, AZ—breaks down the part of progesterone almost no one talks about: its powerful role as a brain hormone.

Most women are only taught that progesterone is about fertility and uterine lining. But the truth? Progesterone is a neurosteroid that influences your amygdala, hippocampus, and prefrontal cortex—three key...

In today’s episode, I’m opening the first chapter of what I believe is the most important series I’ve ever created — a deep dive into progesterone and why it became the heart of my medical practice.

For more than 20 years, I’ve watched this “simple, humble hormone” transform women’s lives in ways most conventional medicine overlooks. What started in two small treatment rooms has grown into a 25,000 sq ft facility, and the core of o...

Join Dr. Brendan McCarthy, Chief Medical Officer at Protea Medical Center in Tempe, Arizona, for a deep, practical breakdown of estrone—one of the most misunderstood and under-tested hormones in women’s health.

In this episode, Dr. McCarthy explains:

• Why estrone matters far more than most routine labs suggest

• How estrone relates to inflammation, insulin resistance, body fat, and chronic disease

• What your estrone actually ...

In this episode, Dr. Brendan McCarthy, Chief Medical Officer at Protea Medical Center in Tempe, Arizona, takes you deep into the science of Estrone metabolism, why it becomes dominant during perimenopause and menopause, and the exact lab tests that uncover real root causes of symptoms like weight gain, mood swings, breast tenderness, irritability, fatigue, and sleep disruption.

This is Part 4 of our Estrone Series — and today’s foc...

In Part 3 of the Forgotten Estrogen series, Dr. Brendan McCarthy—Chief Medical Officer of Protea Medical Center in Tempe, Arizona—dives deep into the misunderstood relationship between estrone and cancer.

For decades, women have been told to fear estrogen. But is estrogen really the enemy—or is it the environment within the body that determines risk?

Dr. McCarthy explains:

• How estrone functions after menopause

• Why estrogen ...