We’re told stress (looking at you cortisol) is the enemy in midlife—but that’s too simple. In the right dose (and with real recovery), stress is good medicine that builds resilience and makes us stronger, in sport, at work, and in life. In this episode, we dive into the “stress that helps” with Dr. Sharon Horesh Bergquist—physician, researcher, and author of The Stress Paradox. We break down hormesis (the just-enough stress plus recovery cycle), how the right doses of stress in the form of training, plant phytochemicals, hot/cold exposure, and smart time-restricted eating activates cellular defense pathways that ultimately rebuild us to be stronger right down to our DNA. We also dive into how to stack stressors without tipping into overload, which is key for active midlife women, so we can live longer, healthier, and happier lives.

Sharon Bergquist, MD, is a board-certified physician, researcher, and pioneer in lifestyle medicine. She has led $61M in clinical trials on lifestyle interventions and early biomarkers of chronic disease. Her book, The Stress Paradox: Why You Need Stress to Live Longer, Healthier, and Happier (HarperCollins, Mar 2025), unpacks how daily habits activate the body’s regenerative systems. An Emory University faculty physician since 2000, she earned a B.S. in molecular biophysics and biochemistry from Yale, an M.D. from Harvard, and trained in internal medicine at Brigham & Women’s. Her TED-Ed lesson has 8M+ views, and she’s been featured by Good Morning America, CNN, ABC News, The Wall Street Journal, and NPR. You can learn more about her and her work and sign up for her newsletter at drsharonbergquist.com

Resources:

The Stress Paradox book: drsharonbergquist.com/the-stress-paradox

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