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Gary Rhodes, founder of Screen My Bones, opens a three-part deep dive into the most overlooked pillar of women's longevity: skeletal health. Part 1 covers what osteoporosis and osteopenia actually are, why bone loss in women accelerates so dramatically at menopause, and the hidden risks from GLP-1 weight loss drugs, chronic stress, and emotional trauma. Gary reversed his own grandmother's severe osteoporosis in 23 months — and has since scanned over 20,000 people to build the evidence base for early, proactive bone screening.

Key topics:
Reversing osteoporosis: Gary's grandmother's story (T-score minus 2.7 → normal range in 23 months)
What osteoporosis is — and why "disease" is the wrong framing
Bone density vs bone quality — two distinct measurements, both essential
T-scores, Z-scores, fragility scores: what to pay attention to
The menopause bone cliff: 1–5% loss per year, up to 20% over 5–7 years
Why women lose bone faster than men (oestrogen mechanism)
Osteoporosis prevalence: 19.6% in women vs 4.4% in men over 50
Peak bone mass at 28–32 and the case for screening in your thirties
GLP-1 drugs (Ozempic, Mounjaro) and the 40% muscle/bone loss risk
Osteoimmunology: bone marrow as immune factory; inflammatory cytokines and bone resorption
Cortisol, adrenal stress and mineral depletion from bone
Emotional trauma as a bone health risk factor

References and resources mentioned:
Screen My Bones: screenmybones.com
Tony Robbins — Unleash the Power Within (UPW): https://www.tonyrobbins.com/events/unleash-the-power-within
Dr Gabrielle Lyon — creatine and muscle protein research

Guest social links:
Website: screenmybones.com
Instagram (Gary Rhodes): https://www.instagram.com/garyandrewrhodes/
Instagram (Screen My Bones): https://www.instagram.com/screenmybones?igsh=MWY0ZWc1OWY1OGhubw==
Instagram (Screen My Bones US): https://www.instagram.com/screenmybones.us/
Instagram (Performance Health MSK): https://www.instagram.com/performancehealthsystemsmsk/
Facebook (Screen My Bones): https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61566125690406
Facebook (Performance Health MSK): https://web.facebook.com/PerformanceHealthSystemsMSK

Insta/TikTok: @BiohackingEve
Website: www.BiohackingEve.com

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In Part 2, materials engineer Shagun Maheshwari unpacks what conventional menstrual pads are actually made of — up to 90% plastic — and what that means for the body and the environment. Phthalates, microplastics, greenwashing, and why she designed Papaya to degrade in a landfill, not just a composter.

Key topics in this part:
- Why conventional pads can be up to 90% plastic; heat-bonding and textile engineering
- Adhesives as a still-unsolved sustainability problem
- Phthalates and VOCs; endocrine disruption and absorbent vulvovaginal tissue
- Why fragrance can worsen period odour rather than mask it
- Antimicrobial properties and the delicate vaginal microbiome balance
- Microplastics vs nanoplastics, and how they reach tissue
- Why plastic doesn't biodegrade; what genuine biodegradability requires
- Greenwashing: "biodegradable top sheet," bamboo/cotton pads that still contain SAP, the label test
- Industrial composter vs landfill degradation standards
- Lifetime product volume (≈5,000–15,000 products); ~800-year SAP degradation
- Where to find Papaya; what's next for the product
- The case for putting people who experience the problem on the technical design team

Timestamps:
00:00 — Hookable intro
00:42 — Biohacking Eve intro
01:07 — Recap of Part 1
01:27 — Episode summary
02:27 — Conversation resumes: plastics in pads
08:00 — Endocrine disruptors, fragrance, microbiome
16:00 — Microplastics and how they reach tissue
22:00 — Why plastic doesn't biodegrade; greenwashing and the label test
28:00 — Composter vs landfill; lifetime volume
33:00 — Where to find Papaya
34:00 — Curveball questions
40:00 — Close → outro

References mentioned in this part:
- Super absorbent polymer / sodium polyacrylate (SAP); polyacrylate, polypropylene, polyurethane
- Phthalates; volatile organic compounds (VOCs)
- Industrial composting vs landfill degradation standards (≈90% in six months)
- Strange Pictures by Uketsu — Japanese mystery novel
- Agatha Christie; P.G. Wodehouse (Jeeves and Wooster); Joseph Campbell (the hero's journey)

Guest & product links:
Website: papayapads.com
Instagram: @papaya.india and @shagun.maheshwari
LinkedIn (Shagun): https://www.linkedin.com/in/maheshwarishagun/
LinkedIn (company): https://www.linkedin.com/company/papayaindia/
Pilots in other countries: bulk orders only — contact Shagun directly

Insta/TikTok: @BiohackingEve
Website: www.BiohackingEve.com

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Materials engineer Shagun Maheshwari spent five years building the world's first blood-coagulating menstrual pad. In Part 1, she explains why the industry tests pads against saline rather than blood, takes a conventional pad apart layer by layer, and reveals the reframe — keep dry, don't just absorb — that led to a pad which clots blood in place.

Key topics in this part:

• Why pads are tested against water/saline, and how menstrual blood differs
• The four-layer anatomy of a conventional pad (top sheet, ADL, core, back sheet)
• Super absorbent polymer (SAP) and why it collapses under body weight
• The reframe from "absorb more" to "keep the person dry"
• How a physical, charge-based clot works (vs the biological clotting cascade)
• The naturally derived long-chain sugar coagulant, and how it was found
• Whether some "period problems" are actually product-design problems
• Industry inertia around cheap, mass-produced SAP

Timestamps:

• 00:00 — Hookable intro
• 00:40 — Biohacking Eve intro
• 01:05 — Episode summary
• 02:05 — Conversation begins: from smart contact lenses to period pads
• 07:00 — Optimising for the wrong metric; periods vs product problems
• 14:00 — What's in blood, and why it's hard to engineer for
• 16:00 — Pad anatomy, layer by layer
• 20:00 — Why fluid comes back out under load
• 21:00 — How coagulation works inside Papaya's pad
• 28:00 — The coagulant material and how it was identified
• 31:00 — Cliffhanger → outro

References mentioned in this part:

• Mojo Vision — smart contact lens company
• Super absorbent polymer / sodium polyacrylate (SAP)
• Stayfree, Whisper/Always — pad brands referenced

Guest & product links:

• Website: papayapads.com
• Instagram: @papaya.india and @shagun.maheshwari
• LinkedIn (Shagun): https://www.linkedin.com/in/maheshwarishagun/
• LinkedIn (company): https://www.linkedin.com/company/papayaindia/

Insta/TikTok: @BiohackingEve
Website: www.BiohackingEve.com