Mayim Bialik, known for her roles in "The Big Bang Theory" and "Jeopardy!", is embracing a new chapter in her life, marked by significant personal changes and a renewed focus on health and well-being. At 48 years old, Bialik is prioritizing her family, exploring new approaches to health, and welcoming the evolving phases of life.
Embracing Change and Exploring Ancient Traditions
Bialik is currently hosting her podcast, "Mayim Bialik's Breakdown," and serving as an executive producer on the documentary "Mom & Dad's Nipple Factory". Bialik and co-creator Jonathan Cohen launched her podcast in 2020 with the intention of discussing various healthcare treatments and approaches from a "scientific perspective." This pursuit has led her to explore ancient traditions in her quest for a healthy and long life. She is keen to embrace change.
Bialik is exploring shamans and healers in her quest for a long and healthy life. She stated that she and Jonathan also had an interest in the traditions. She is trying to understand the science behind it.
She is trying to understand how our general system can be supported by a lot of things that were previously dismissed as hooey, which in many cases for thousands of years have been part of Eastern traditions. She also embraces the notion of food as medicine, like naturopathy or functional nutritional naturopathy.
Ayurvedic medicine has been using food as medicine for thousands of years. She is glad to be learning about it for her own health and for her kids' health, but also as a way to share with other people just so that people can get more information.
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Addressing Health Issues and Seeking Alternative Options
Bialik revealed last month that she had begun receiving hyperbaric treatments for her autoimmune-related health issues, said a lot of these discussions offer a safe space for those going through similar situations or looking for alternative options. She emphasizes the importance of open conversations, particularly for women diagnosed with autoimmune conditions or experiencing perimenopause or postmenopause. She said that a lot of women are diagnosed with autoimmune conditions, and a lot of women in the perimenopause, postmenopause stages of life, we're speaking up a lot more about things that we previously were told, either we're in our head or that it’s nothing or that's just how things have to be. She also added that there are a lot of really interesting kind of immunological conversations about why immune systems for women are behaving this way.
Bialik highlights the importance of lifestyle factors in maintaining overall health. She said that we can no longer pretend the food that we eat doesn't matter, the way that we think, the way that we work, the way that we relax doesn't matter. She also added that all of these things contribute to the body's ability to protect itself.
Bialik is curious if hyperbaric treatments can be supportive with her health. She enjoys going in there and sometimes she feels more energized when she comes out. She also mentioned that it's not like taking ibuprofen and you don't necessarily feel the effects right away. She also believes that sometimes we need to kind of support the system, and there's many things that do that and she hopes that this is one of them.
Embracing Aging and Shifting Priorities
As she prepares to turn 49 this year, Bialik is embracing this new era with ease and is grateful she can look to her podcast as a safe space to have these discussions. She acknowledges that "one of the best parts of getting older is caring less about what other people think of you." She also said that a lot of our teens and 20s and even my 30s was about what other people wanted from me or how I was supposed to look or what I was supposed to do. She added that there comes a point where you just really stop placing that much emphasis on other people's plans for you or thoughts or perceptions about you.
Bialik emphasizes the importance of not just living long, but living healthy. She said that we talk to a lot of health experts who talk about not just living long, but living healthy, being able to lift up your grandkids physically and still exercise and still be able to move your body and not have your joints hurt and things like that. She has already seen a lot of differences just from shifting her diet in terms of how her body feels, and so she will keep on that track.
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Navigating Family Transitions
Bialik is also preparing for another major transition as her son Miles is going to college. She shares Miles, 18, and son Frederick, 16, with ex-husband Michael Stone. She said that it's a lot more emotional, honestly, than I had anticipated, and I’m really leaning heavily on friends of mine who have already sent their kids to college. She is happy for her children to be independent, make their own choices, all those things, and also there's a real tug. She also added that her kids were homeschooled their whole lives and her older one didn't go to high school until he was in 11th grade. So, she is also used to having her kids around a lot.
She is really happy for him to discover what he loves, what he wants to study, and she still has one in high school, so it's not a totally empty nest. But there's also a shift in the family dynamic too. It's an exciting time and there are a lot of transitions. She is really glad that she has a mental health podcast, to be honest with you, because a lot of the tools and the things needed for these transitions, we have many guests on to talk about these things all the time. So, she is grateful for that.
Bialik attended Thanksgiving at her ex-husband Michael Stone's home. With his girlfriend in attendance. Not only that, the girlfriend's ex-husband and their children were also on hand! She wrote on her Grok Nation blog Tuesday that she would be lying if she didn't say she was nervous. She was meeting the girlfriend's ex for the first time at a sit-down dinner and she was wondering if it was uncomfortable.
Stone and Bialik, who were married from 2003-2012, have two children together: Miles, 13, and Frederick, 10, so it is nice to have a full family unit on board for Thanksgiving.
In the blog, Bialik explained why she decided to "push through and do it," mentioning it was about kids, family, change, pain and gratitude. She wrote that she has two children and that's a blessing. She has an ex-husband who is not perfect and who sometimes irritates her, but all in all, he is pretty awesome. He has a fantastic girlfriend.
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Bialik brought her mom and best friend to the gathering as well. Plus, she contributed a lot of food, showing off the extended baking marathon on Instagram.
Bialik still feels conflicting emotions when dealing with the topic of marriage, as she explained in April when her "Big Bang" character Amy got married to Sheldon and she had to don a wedding dress again. She said that she doesn't know if that's in my life's journey to be in a wedding dress again, so I don't know; it's just hard. She tried to be married once; she was in that position, and … I failed.
She reported in the blog after the big day that it was an enjoyable evening, noting they'd did very normal things like assembling a puzzle and watching some of the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade and football. There were some Christmas lights up in my ex's neighborhood, and they bring me joy just looking at them. There are many blessings. And she seems to be embracing them all.
"Mom & Dad's Nipple Factory"
Bialik is also gearing up for the release of her upcoming documentary, "Mom & Dad's Nipple Factory," which she worked on with filmmaker Justin Johnson. She said that honestly, the title really startled me. It details Johnson's family business creating custom prosthetic nipples for breast cancer survivors. She added that you really have to kind of see it to understand. The way this story is being told, it walks you through not just the journey of what happens when someone gets breast cancer, but sort of the entire journey of someone's story about their life, and everyone has a story that ultimately impacts their self-image when they get breast cancer.
Bialik is also a lactation educator counselor, so they wanted to bring someone on who can speak to this. Johnson's parents are very, very sweet, very quiet, and they knew she was a scientist and a person of faith. Those things were important to his family as they thought about ways to get it more noticed. So, she was really grateful to be added to this project so that we can honestly just educate more people about it.
She also said that it's such a fascinating story and it's a rom-com. It's a strange little rom-com that involves a nipple factory in this guy's sister's bedroom. But it's a really, really sweet story and, in particular, it's a love story about what the husband of this family devises.
"Mom & Dad's Nipple Factory" is out in limited theatrical release starting Sept. 6 and VOD starting Sept.