Zandra Palma, MD practices what she calls “sub-diagnostic analysis and disease reversal,” which is primarily environmental medicine with a touch of functional medicine. Environmental medicine, according to our guest, looks for elegant solutions to chronic health conditions. This often means removing environmental toxins that trigger mitochondrial dysfunction. 

Common environmental toxins include heavy metals, pesticides, plastics like BPA, and biotoxins like Lyme and mold—among many others. She also discusses the treatments she uses to reboot mitochondrial function.

Her passion is to spread the word about the gravity of the effects environmental toxins have on human health, especially the hormone-disrupting impacts of plastics and BPAs.

She recently gave a TEDx talk, which was censored by the TED organization. Thankfully, she was able to rip the video so you can still watch it online. In her talk, she provides specific tips to protect yourself from environmental toxins and recommendations for initiating grass roots movements in your community.

Other topics Dr. Palma covered in the conversation include:

•  Factors that motivate patients to care about their environment, such as weight loss, fertility and the health of future generations
•   The CLARITY-BPA Program
•  Why environmentalism is a public health issue
• And much more!

Our guest for this episode is Zeev E. Neuwirth, MD, an advocate for transforming healthcare delivery.

He is a healthcare executive with over 15 years of clinical practice in internal medicine and another 15 years in clinical operations, quality improvement, care redesign and population health. Dr. Neuwirth is also a digital health industry advisor, podcast host and author.

His most recent book released in September 2023 is called Beyond The Walls: Megatrends, Movements and Market Disruptors Transforming American Healthcare. It outlines a three-part strategy for the transformation of American healthcare and documents dozens of examples of the visionary, courageous entrepreneurs and leaders who are transcending the constraints of our legacy past.

Dr. Neuwirth is closely aligned with the Evolution of Medicine’s values, and he has been working to change healthcare from a high level within conventional systems.

Download and listen to the episode to learn more about the following:

• How digital technology and group visits can improve healthcare
• The importance of reducing or preventing physician burnout
• The urgency behind transforming payment models to reduce healthcare expenses
• Practical strategies for transforming healthcare from within large healthcare systems and “beyond the walls” of those systems
• And much, much more!

On this episode, Jon D. Kaiser, MD taught us about the mitochondrial health and chronic disease connection.

Dr. Kaiser is a mitochondrial specialist with over thirty years of clinical and research experience in applying functional medicine approaches to treat complex medical conditions, including HIV/AIDS, chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS), fibromyalgia and long COVID.

Dr. Kaiser began his career as an HIV/AIDS specialist in San Francisco at the height of the HIV epidemic. He found that many of his patients needed nutritional and mitochondrial support, especially after manifesting antiviral medication side effects.

He developed protocols to help patients improve their baseline health with an original nutraceutical formulation that supports mitochondrial health. Dr. Kaiser joined James to discuss how he has applied his protocols to help patients with other chronic illnesses and post-infection syndromes.

Tune in to learn more from Dr. Kaiser about the following topics:

•        Lifestyle factors that support healing beyond other integrative interventions 
•         How mitochondria are chemically and electrically connected and communicate with each other throughout the body
•         Parasympathetic activation as a critical component of recovery  
•        How the poor mitochondrial function impacts the neuro-endocrine-immune axis and gastrointestinal tract
•        His vision for the next steps in medicine, including the need for a readily available blood test that assays the health of mitochondria in blood cells

This episode continues to explore the theme laid out in the August 2023 Functional Forum, Mitochondrial Mayem, where we learned how mitochondrial dysfunction leads to a wide range of chronic illnesses—from autoimmunity to cardiometabolic disease, neurologic disorders and more. 

This week, we address a hot and controversial topic in medicine: weight loss pharmaceuticals. 

Glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) and glucose-dependent insulinotropic polypeptides (GIP) agonists are gaining popularity for their use in treating type 2 diabetes and, in some cases, obesity. These medications stimulate insulin secretion and are shown to increase weight loss and improve blood pressure.

However, significant gastrointestinal and other rare but concerning side effects make these medications controversial. Patients often also gain back much of the lost weight when these medications are stopped.

Our guest this episode is Christina Robins, MD, who has a successful clinic called RevitaLife, which blends family medicine, women’s health care, antiaging medicine and medical weight loss, among other services. Dr. Robins has long been using GLP-1 agonists with her patients, and she joined James to share her strategies for supporting patients using those medications in combination with nutraceutical support.

Listen to the full conversation to learn about the following:

• Lifestyle and nutraceutical support before, during and after the use of weight-loss medications
• How to prevent connective tissue and muscle loss during weight loss
• FDA approval for weight loss and type 2 diabetes drugs
• Appropriate uses for these medications and potential off-label uses
• And much, much more!

Molly Maloof, MD joins the Evolution of Medicine podcast to discuss a shared vision: connection as a critical pillar of healthcare.

Dr. Maloof recently authored and released a book called The Spark Factor, which teaches readers how to personalize biohacking strategies for better energy and health. Dr. Maloof wrote portions of the book to fill the information gaps in biohacking for women, but 80% of its content is also applicable to men.

If you listen to this short yet powerful episode, you’ll quickly recognize how well-aligned Dr. Maloof is with our year of connection. She discussed how loneliness and lack of connection—either social or connecting with your own body and health—is a leading crisis, especially post-pandemic. 

Please listen to the full audio to learn more about the following:

• How The Spark Factor helps readers personalize their journey to improve their mitochondrial energy
• How the Functional Forum will be even more critical in the age of digital and medical censorship
• The seriousness of the loneliness and mental health crises
• Some practical tips for women to better align with their cycles
• Tips on fasting and exercise for different patient groups
• And much, much more!

Dan Strause is the president and CEO of Hometown Pharmacy, which is a network of 70 independent functional pharmacies across Wisconsin and Upper Michigan that deliver patient-focused care.

The Hometown Pharmacy group seeks to connect prescribing clinicians with pharmacists to collaborate and achieve the goal of moving patients from pharmaceuticals to nutraceuticals to food. They see a critical need for pharmacists to reconnect and work with prescribing clinicians, especially to mitigate or address drug-induced nutrient deficiencies.

Building relationships between patients, prescribing clinicians and pharmacists often starts with patients asking questions and engaging with their health care. Thus, the functional pharmacy approach involves empowering and inspiring patients through health education.

Listen to this full conversation to learn from Dan about the many innovative strategies the group incorporates, including: 

• Sending dieticians and nutritionists to speak within communities about functional pharmacies to educate and inspire at a grassroots level
• A test-teach-therapy-test approach with patients
• Using scientific literature and dialog to build relationships with like-minded clinicians 
• Learning how to best work with patients to foster adherence
• And much, much more!

Dan Strause is a keynote speaker at the upcoming Functional Pharmacy Symposium on September 23 in Nashville, TN. He will be joined by other former Functional Forum and Evolution of Medicine podcast guests, such as James LaValle, RPh; Thomas G. Guilliams, PhD; Mark Houston, MD; and Jeff Robins, RPh. Register to attend the conference to learn more functional medicine best practices that will support the future success of your pharmacy.

Our guest this week on the podcast is Robert Pearl, MD, a lifestyle medicine champion and leader. He is the former CEO of The Permanente Medical Group (1999-2017), the largest United States medical group, and the former president of The Mid-Atlantic Permanente Medical Group (2009-2017). In those two roles, he led 10,000 physicians and 38,000 staff. Currently, he cohosts a podcast and is an author, clinical professor, contributor to Forbes, and speaker.

In this podcast episode, we discussed the economics of health care and different payment models that can support preventative care and lifestyle medicine. Dr. Pearl laid out his perspective on the issues with fee-for-service payment models—mainly that it incentivizes disease treatment rather than prevention. He proposed an alternative model known as capitation, which is the model Kaiser Permanente uses. Capitation pays a group of doctors an established, upfront fee to fulfill medical needs for a defined population of patients.

 Listen to this fascinating conversation to learn more about the following:

• Capitation versus fee-for-service models
• Dr. Pearl’s vision for how clinicians can contribute to building an alternative market for lifestyle medicine
• The role of artificial intelligence in supporting patient education, compliance and outcomes
• Using telemedicine and groups to make lifestyle medicine more economical
• And much more!

Izabella Wentz, PharmD is an author and pharmacist who previously spoke on the Functional Forum and specializes in helping patients overcome thyroid dysfunction. In this episode, she joins James to talk about her personal journey with Hashimoto’s thyroiditis after years of debilitating symptoms.

Her most recent book, Adrenal Transformation Protocol, was released on April 18, 2023. The book focuses on resetting the body’s stress response through targeted safety signals, and it features a four-week program that has already helped over 3,500 people. 

Dr. Wentz is also an advocate for spreading awareness about how thyroid dysfunction can produce psychiatric symptoms, which is often overlooked by conventional health care providers. Check out the full episode to learn more about:

• The stigma around the term “adrenal fatigue”   
• Dr. Wentz’ experience addressing adverse drug events and drug-induced nutrient depletion
• The mental health and adrenal connection
• Options for supporting patients with thyroid dysfunction
• How to help your patients achieve lifestyle changes
• And much, much more!

Dr. Carrie Jones rejoins the Evolution of Medicine podcast to discuss the functional medicine approach to depression, anxiety and attention issues. She is an avid educator who specializes in stress and endocrine health.

A recent systematic review found that the serotonin theory of depression is scientifically unsupported,  which raises the question: What does this mean for patients who use either SSRIs or SNRIs? Dr. Jones explains how she answers this for concerned patients and discusses her approach to resolving mood issues by looking for root causes.

Other topics discussed in this conversation include rising mental health issues amongst teenagers in particular, group care, and mental health lifestyle factors, such as balancing neurotransmitters, stress management, social connection, nutrition, gut health and physical activity.

Tune in and listen to the whole conversation to learn about the following from Dr. Jones:

• Examples of how blood sugar dysregulation can harm sleep quality and mental health
• Problems that can arise when supporting only one neurotransmitter
• Specific nutrients she uses for patients with mood dysregulation
• The potential for technology, especially continuous glucose monitors, to empower patients in their health journeys
• And much, much more!

Kristen Brokaw hosts this episode which features Andy Sutton, CEO of Kare Health & Wellness. 

Andy and his wife, Keri Sutton, cofounded and grew a successful integrative health center. Andy’s background is in architecture as a project manager, and his wife is a nurse practitioner who serves as the chief medical officer of Kare Health & Wellness. At the clinic, Andy also oversees marketing, new staff hires and training.

Their clinic prioritizes developing and nurturing a strong culture amongst staff. Andy believes his staff’s cohesiveness and shared values has a downstream effect of benefiting patients and allowing their business to be more efficient, which is one of the keys to their success.

This episode belongs to the Evolution of Medicine’s Business of Functional Medicine series. Once a quarter, we bring you conversations that focus on the business and practice management side of functional medicine. 

Check out the full recording to learn more about Andy’s approach to the following:

•        Developing a standardized staff training program
•        Staff hiring and fostering a team culture
•        Leveraging emotional appeal to acquire and retain patients
•        New patient onboarding
•        And much, much more!