In this episode, Dr. Joan Rosenberg discusses her book, 90 Seconds to A Life You Love, and the concept of living life by design. Many believe their circumstances dictate their lives; our guest asserts that one can design their life by having a vision or big goals and working towards them despite the circumstances.

Dr. Rosenberg shares the importance of paying attention to how thoughts and feelings are expressed and managing emotional states effectively. She introduces the concept of the "Rosenberg reset," which involves choosing awareness by experiencing unpleasant feelings for 90 seconds and using insights gained from those feelings to make decisions or act.

Dr. Rosenberg also discusses how clinicians can apply these principles in their practice, including addressing difficult topics with patients and handling their own emotions. She suggests using a soft contract with patients to discuss sensitive issues and delivering information with well-intentioned kindness. Dr. Rosenberg believes confidence and resiliency can be developed when clinicians are able to confront difficult topics and handle the responses they receive.

Download and listen to this conversation to learn more about:

• How to develop confidence as a clinician
• Why emotional mastery is an important component of successfully collaborating with patients
• The eight emotions we need to accept to feel more capable in our lives
• Using “soft contracts” and offering observations tentatively to deliver difficult messages to patients
• And much, much more

Joan I. Rosenberg, PhD, creator of Emotional Mastery™ and Emotional Mastery Training™, is a highly regarded expert psychologist, master clinician, trainer and consultant. She is a cutting-edge psychologist who is known as an innovative thinker, trainer and speaker. 

In this episode, Dr. Mollie James shares her experiences during and after the pandemic. She transitioned from being a critical care physician in an ICU to providing functional and integrative medicine primary care services.  

Dr. James previously had a career in surgical and critical care, which ended because she spoke publicly about providing early COVID treatments and did not receive a vaccine because she has natural immunity. She was put under investigation by a medical board for 18 months, even though the board made no accusation of wrongdoing. This led to her dropping her fellowship credentials. She was also censured by The American College of Surgeons and is now unable to work in another ICU.

You’ll hear her discuss post-vaccine syndrome and how she helps patients clear and recover from excessive spike protein. She is now dedicated to providing personalized care rooted in functional and integrative medicine principles, and she treats a broad spectrum of chronic health conditions beyond COVID and post-vaccine syndromes.

Tune in and download this episode to learn more about: 

• How Dr. James’ first attempt at building a practice failed because she was using an insurance model
• The ethical responsibility of physicians to keep functional medicine affordable
• Her experience working in ICUs during four waves of the pandemic, which included having her ivermectin prescriptions canceled

• Foundational tools to treat post-vaccine syndrome
• And much, much more

Peter Kozlowski, MD is a functional medicine physician based in Chicago, Illinois. In this episode, we discussed the importance of detoxification and gut health in his practice. He emphasizes the need to address the mental, emotional and spiritual aspects of health because they play a significant role in detoxification.

Dr. Kozlowski recommends focusing on the basics of detox, such as sleep, hydration, bowel movements, and sweating, before considering more advanced testing and treatments. He also highlights the importance of community and social support for maintaining a healthy detoxification system in the body. Dr. Kozlowski encourages practitioners to work together and collaborate rather than compete in order to better serve patients and improve outcomes.

Download and listen to learn more about the following:

• How recovering from an alcohol-use disorder led Dr. Kozlowski to functional medicine
• The value of testing for heavy metals, mycotoxins and glyphosate
• Addressing the skin and gut barrier during detoxification protocols  
• Dr. Kozlowski’s experimentation with different payment models and in-person versus virtual visits
• Using cortisol labs, stool cultures and other tests to show patients how trauma impacts their health
• And much, much more 

 This episode’s guest is Dr. Michelle Thompson, the medical director of the Lifestyle Medicine Institute at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC). This conversation explores how Dr. Thompson is bringing lifestyle and integrative medicine into major health systems.

She began her journey practicing integrative medicine but leveraged the six pillars of lifestyle medicine to bridge the gap with conventional medicine. This hybrid path allowed her to excel at practicing in traditional settings and facilitated introducing integrative and lifestyle medicine principles into larger health systems.

Dr. Thompson also shared evidence that there is growing momentum behind the integrative and lifestyle medicine movements, including acceptance and adoption of its principles within health systems. She encourages physicians who may have previously left the system to consider returning and joining a hospital system that is open to change and supportive of these modalities.

Building upon recent podcast conversations, such as the episode with Dr. Joe Pizzorno, this episode emphasizes the importance of unity amongst the many disciplines within health-promoting care.

Download and listen to this episode to learn more about:

• How clinicans can transform medicine by being bold and authentic in how they choose to practice
• The responsibility of clinicians, residents and medical students to help shift the culture in medicine to better align with the principles of lifestyle medicine
• The importance of showing empathy towards patients and letting them drive their own health journey
• Physician burnout and the importance of clinicians prioritizing self-care
• And much, much more

Related resources:

American College of Lifestyle Medicine: About the UMPC Lifestyle Medicine Program

Whole Hearted Medicine: Meet Dr. Michelle 

Dr. Joe Pizzorno, a prominent naturopathic doctor and Board Chair at the Institute for Functional Medicine (IFM), joins James to discuss the unifying factors among the many channels of health medicine, which include acupuncture, naturopathic, functional, integrative, chiropractic, and Ayurvedic medicine.

This conversation addresses foundational aspects of health, such as nutrition and lifestyle, that support optimal mitochondrial function for vitality. Dr. Pizzorno also shared the need for scientific research to support the effectiveness of health medicine practices and calls for increased funding in this area. For example, he hopes that we will have access to reliable clinical testing for mitochondrial energy and ATP production in the future.

Listen to the episode to learn more about:

•   Preventing neurodegeneration by eating organically grown food
•   The importance of flavonoids 
•   Vitalism (creating health) versus pathogenesis and salutogenesis
•     The need for a clear conceptual basis for integrative medicine
•   The great potential for Health Medicine Alliance to improve the public health baseline

Related resources:

•  Health Medicine Alliance
•   Health Medicine by Dr. Joseph Pizzorno and published in Integrative Medicine

ummary 

Our guest, Lieutenant Colonel (Retired) Scott Mann is a former U.S. Army Green Beret, and he now shares his skills and experience as a storyteller, speaker, actor, playwright and leadership trainer. During this podcast episode, he joined Kristen Brokaw, our host for the Business of Functional Medicine quarterly series, to discuss the importance of emotional recovery and human connection for clinicians so they can combat burnout and build trust with patients.

Scott Mann's experience in the Special Forces, where relationships were crucial to his survival, has shaped his approach to leadership and communication. He now helps business, nonprofit and corporate leaders develop interpersonal influence skills to bridge trust gaps and engage with others effectively. He also highlights the power of storytelling in healing and fostering connections.

Scott encourages practitioners to share their own stories and ask thoughtful, open-ended questions to build trust and understanding with patients and peers.

Check out this episode to learn more about the following:

·       Scott Mann’s Pre-Engagement Preparation (PEP) technique (demo video) 

• What the world should learn from acting and storytelling practices
• High performers and mental health issues, and why clinicians must protect their well-being
• Storytelling heals and is a sense-making tool
• Why narrative competence may be the most important soft skill for clinicians to foster  
• And much, much more!

In this podcast episode, James Maskell speaks with Swathi Rao, PA-C. She is the owner of Be Well Family Care in Indianapolis, and she was featured in James’ book, The Community Cure, to showcase her successful implementation of group visits.

We explored the clinical applications of vitamin K2, which range from musculoskeletal and immune health to aesthetics and longevity. Swathi also shared how her knowledge on vitamin K2 nutrient therapy has developed throughout her career, how to identify patients who may benefit from vitamin K2 therapy and the benefits of combining vitamin K2 with vitamin D, including dosing recommendations.

Swathi emphasized the importance of patient education to enable informed decision-making when it comes to controversial health topics like vitamin K2 supplementation. She also provided insights on building a successful practice and the role of non-MD professionals in healthcare.

Please download and listen to learn more about:

•       The forms of vitamin K and which are most beneficial
•       When it is appropriate to recommend this nutrient
•       Swathi’s experience with local Functional Forum meetups
•      Vitamin K2 uses for aesthetics and longevity
•       And much, much more!

Related resources:

•      Episode with Dr. Leon Schurgers on vitamin K
•      Be Well Family Care
•     Dr. Robin Berzin on the Functional Forum

Our podcast guest, Michael Mabry, DO, works in a fully capitated medical group in Johnson City, Tennessee. Capitation is a fee-per-patient model, which tends to promote health by incentivizing preventative medicine, chronic disease reversal and helping patients maintain their health. 

Implementing group medical visits has allowed Dr. Mabry’s practice to improve patient outcomes and increase the local community’s access to lifestyle medicine. In his group visits, patients who have similar medical issues come together once a month for a two-hour visit to learn relevant health information.

Dr. Mabry also shared that he can spend more time with patients individually because he has systemized patient education. Part of the success of the group visits, according to Dr. Mabry, comes from the much-needed sense of community experienced by participants.

Early in his career, he learned about how to build and scale his practice through some of the first Functional Forum events and the Group Visit Toolkits from Lifestyle Matrix Resource Center.

When you listen to this episode, you’ll also learn about the following:

• How to connect your business needs with your passion for lifestyle medicine to evolve health care
• The benefits of capitation as a business model
• How you can foster connections with your local community to build your business
• Practical alternatives for dysfunctional payment models in the health care industry
• And much more!

This week’s podcast guest is Jonathan Jones, PhD, a plant polyphenols researcher and the Chief Scientific Officer at Monteloeder, a company that provides innovative, scientifically researched botanical ingredients by assessing the botanicals’ components, antioxidant and anti-inflammatory capacities, and mechanisms of action.

They developed a product called metabolaid®, which contains a standardized ratio of Hibiscus sabdariffa extract and lemon verbena extract to deliver active compounds, primarily anthocyanins and verbascoside, respectively. This product reduces triglyceride buildup in fat cells in the liver and adipose tissue.

We learned from Dr. Jones about how metabolaid® activates AMPK, which can switch on fat burning and block fat storage. There are numerous other cardiovascular and weight-loss benefits linked to this product, including improved microbiome diversity and others discussed by Dr. Jones in this episode.

Please listen to the full conversation to learn the following about this powerful botanical:

•       Its cardiovascular and fat-loss benefits
•        The plant components and mechanisms of action
•        The research and extraction process
•        How this product differs from incretin agonists and increases GLP-1 expression
•        And much, much more!

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!

Guest:  Amanda Wilson, MD, CEO, Founder

In this episode, we learned about emerging, research-based treatments for alcohol use disorder (AUD) that pair well with functional medicine values. 

Traditional 12-step programs have startlingly low success rates (8% for Alcoholics Anonymous) and teach some principles that are not supported by scientific literature—for example, that patients must abstain and avoid exposure indefinitely to stay in recovery.  

James’ guest, Amanda Wilson, MD, is an addiction physician who cofounded NorthStar Care, an alcohol treatment center that approaches AUD as a medical issue and offers a year-long, physician-monitored, at-home program. They incorporate functional medicine elements, including nutrition therapy, genomics for personalized medication selection, social support groups, and several technologies, such as virtual reality (VR) and wearables. 

NorthStar Care is partnering with a company developing a wearable device to continuously track not only blood alcohol levels but also glucose and sleep patterns. For their peer support group meetings, they use VR headsets so patients can participate remotely using anonymous avatars, virtual backgrounds and even voice changers for privacy. 

Download and listen to the full conversation to learn about:

• A genetic factor that makes naltrexone ineffective for a portion of the population
• The shortcomings of rapid-detox, inpatient rehabilitation and 12-step programs
• The importance of medical support throughout the recovery process
• The benefits of using VR for peer support networks
• And much more!

Adrian den Boer, DC, ND joins the podcast this week to share his clinical success with collagen. As a functional medicine practitioner with extensive experience in naturopathic and chiropractic care, Dr. den Boer is just the person we needed to speak with to learn about the benefits of collagen for the musculoskeletal system.  

Tune into this episode to hear his astounding success stories, including one that did not even seem possible, according to his medical school training. He also provided clinical pearls that will help you achieve the best outcomes and improve compliance when using collagen with your patients.

Listen to the full episode to learn:

•         How collagen helps athletes recover from injury
•         Benefits of collagen for the aging musculoskeletal system
•         How Dr. den Boer’s highly successful practice got started, and why he is passionate about quality testing for supplements
•         Issues and risks with using bone broth in place of collagen supplements
•         And much, much more!

Functional Forum Local Communities connect like-minded practitioners, enabling dialog, information sharing, interdisciplinary discussion, and community building for those who attend.

In this episode we hear from a Functional Forum Community host and a loyal attendee. Kristen Brokaw, this week’s host, is the leader of Saint Louis’ local Forum Community, and founder of the St. Louis Institute for Integrative Medicine (SLIIM).

Guest Grant Corsi is the Community Host of the Orange County Functional Forum Community.  He shares his story about what drove him to begin planning community events and what has made his community successful.

Our second guest is Anthony Pasek, DC who has been attending St. Louis Forum Community events for at least seven years. He speaks to the value of his community, including professional camaraderie and collaboration.

Listen to this short episode to learn:

·       Valuable tips for initiating community meetups

·       Why you should consider hosting your own local Community

·       What challenges to expect, and how to prepare for them as a new host

·        The benefits of attending local community events for physicians

·       And much, much more.

Help us honor this year’s theme of Connection by sharing this episode and consider joining or hosting a local Forum Community near you.

Find a community near you.

Host a community.

Request a community.  

“Everyone needs a good coach in life,” according to our podcast guest this week.

For this Business of Functional Medicine episode, Kristen Brokaw interviewed Coach Micheal Burt to explore his perspective on becoming and staying motivated.

He applies the term prey drive—the instinctual motivation of certain animals to find, pursue and capture prey—to human behavior and motivation.

Coach Burt began his career as a basketball coach and is now an author, speaker and professional coach for multiple industries. He has clients who are the most successful preventative doctors and functional health care providers in the country.

Check out this full episode to take in empowering messages about:

• Every individuals’ potential to express a strong prey drive
• The parts of oneself that may need to be supported (body, mind, heart and spirit)
• How to foster motivation on a daily basis
• The importance of building and maintaining dynamic energy in business
• Business coaching for preventative and functional medicine providers
• And much, much more!

Visit his website to learn more about activating the drive to pursue your goals.

On this episode of the podcast, James is joined by two doctors from the Institute of Functional Medicine (IFM) to learn about their upcoming annual conference from June 1-3 in Orlando, FL.

Aly Cohen, MD is an integrative rheumatologist who speaks about the importance of environmental medicine and why autoimmunity needs to be understood by providers across medical specialties.

Dan Lukaczer, ND is the Director of Medical Education at IFM. He was previously Director of Clinical Research at the Metagenics Functional Medicine Research Center in Gig Harbor, WA, where he served as the principal investigator on various clinical trials on diet and nutrition.

This event will be the first in-person IFM event since 2019 and will not be limited to any one topic or health issue. Instead, they offer an agenda featuring a wide range of subject matter. Consider registering for the IFM conference to learn more about:

·       Contaminants in drinking water—from artificial turf, fluoride and more

·       Data about environmental chemicals and how they contribute to human health conditions, specifically diseases of the immune system

·       Dietary approaches and lifestyle changes to reduce toxicity

·       Functional medicine approaches to oncology and cancer care

·       Understanding mast cell activation syndrome (MCAS)

·       Innovative treatment options for mental health care

·       Updates on the microbiome, oral microbiome and systemic disease

·       Impacts of intermittent thermal stress on aging and longevity

·       Therapeutic applications of medical cannabis and endocannabinoids

·       Wearable devices and the unlocked potential of remote health monitoring

·       And much more!

This episode explores Kalibra, a new healthcare AI tool. It aggregates patient data from multiple sources and helps clinicians and patients alike prioritize health information based on functional and lifestyle medicine principles. 

Our guest on this episode of the podcast, Ivan Vatchkov, the CEO of Kalibra, shares with us how Kalibra.ai performs diverse functions, including bringing together all patient data into one dynamic place. It digitizes, organizes and analyzes the many PDFs from health wearables and lab, gut microbiome, and functional medicine testing.

Listen to the full conversation to: 

•       Understand how you can simplify your practice management
•        Consider how data collection and analysis can streamline healthcare, especially in conventional medicine
•        Discover how lifestyle medicine principles were built into Kalibra
•        Explore the potential of AI health coaches as powerful tools to help patients make lifestyle changes
•        And much, much more

The Evolution of Medicine has sought to be inspiring, present valuable clinical content, and highlight technology and practice management topics that advance lifestyle and functional medicine. Now that AI is becoming more prevalent, we are asking, “how will this impact the evolution of medicine?”

Kalibra is tangible, it is real, and it is exciting. This is the Evolution of Medicine. Enjoy.

Approximately one quarter (25%) of the United States population has non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). Patients with this reversible condition have accumulated fat in their liver cells. Over time, this creates inflammation and if left unaddressed, will eventually lead to permanent scarring or cirrhosis of the liver. The condition is highly associated with metabolic syndrome and insulin resistance, and it is projected to become the leading cause of liver transplantation by 2030.

Our guest on this episode of the podcast is Elizabeth Boham, MD. She is trained as both a medical doctor and nutritionist, teaches with the IFM and is the Medical Director for the UltraWellness Center.

 She joins James to share:

•            Which symptoms and test results are red flags for NAFLD

•            That toxins and alcohol significantly impact liver health and metabolic syndrome

•            How lifestyle and nutrition strategies will help patients with the condition  

•            Resources and approaches that will help your patients with cardiometabolic disease

•            And much more!

Nathan S. Bryan, PhD is an academic and entrepreneur who has focused his career on the study of nitric oxide for nearly 25 years. He joins the podcast to contribute to the Evolution of Medicine’s current focus on cardiovascular and endothelial health.  

Nitric oxide production is foundational to overall health. Unfortunately, many contemporary environmental and lifestyle factors reduce or prevent nitric oxide production in the body. Suboptimal nitric oxide production is a factor in insulin resistance, cardiovascular issues, erectile dysfunction, long COVID and other post-viral syndromes, chronic fatigue, cognitive disorders, and more.

Tune into this episode to learn about the many lifestyle and environmental factors that can impede or support the production of this important molecule. Some may even surprise you!

Listen to the episode to learn more about:

• Nitric oxide’s role in cardiovascular, immune and nervous system function
• The gold standards for measuring functional nitric oxide production
• James’ and Dr. Bryan’s views on the public health response during the COVID era
• Using nitric oxide to heal inflammation caused by excess spike protein
• The risks of using some commercially available products that claim to boost nitric oxide

Also, check out Dr. Bryan’s educational website, which includes a blog, videos and more: https://drnathansbryan.com/

Dr. Patricia Restrepo is a Practice Accelerator alumna who joins the podcast to share her experience growing two businesses with the help of the Accelerator program.

After being diagnosed with type 2 diabetes at 14 years old, Dr. Restrepo pursued an education and career that allowed her to research natural solutions for weight management and diabetes. She was able to reverse her own diabetes, and now helps patients with similar diagnoses. Both of her businesses, one in Miami and the other in Mexico, help patients manage weight loss and diabetes.

 Dr. Restrepo used what she learned in the Practice Accelerator program to establish a business model that allows her to allocate time according to her personal lifestyle goals: 20% of her time is spent in clinic with patients (including groups), 40% is spent on remote consultations, and 40% is spent on her own continuing education and developing medical education for her patient community.

 Listen to this full episode from the Success Leaves Clues Series to learn about:

• ·       The key elements that allowed her businesses to run efficiently
• ·       How the Practice Accelerator program helped her build a patient database
• ·       The importance of recording patient education videos
• ·       The aspects of the business can best be delegated
• ·       And much more!

To explore what the Practice Accelerator program has to offer, consider registering for the free 90-Minute Private Practice Sprint at goevomed.com/sprint.

Yaa Boakye, CPT, RDN from the Practice Accelerator team joins James on this special episode to announce an upcoming resource that will help practitioners develop their businesses: the 90-Minute Private Practice Sprint. During this free webinar on February 17 at 8 p.m. PST/11 p.m. EST, James and Yaa will share practical, actionable, no-fluff guidelines to help practitioners set goals to grow their practices.

Register for the Sprint here: https://goevomed.com/sprint 

With her experience in marketing, personal training, nutrition and coaching healthcare providers, Yaa guides practitioners to develop the business side of their practices with efficiency and focus.

As she explains in this podcast episode, building a successful practice requires knowledge of multiple domains, including understanding your target patient, having solid marketing strategies, utilizing technology systems to streamline day-to-day operations, and understanding how to successfully deliver patient education to maximize clinical results.

However, without the right tools in place, healthcare providers may attract the wrong patients and adopt ineffective practices that consume their limited time and resources. The 90-Minute Private Practice Sprint was designed to help practitioners avoid these problems and streamline their business development strategy.

Listen to the episode to learn more about:

• Why it’s important to market your practice online and offline
• How to overcome unhelpful patterns that hold back your business development
• How the 90-Minute Private Practice Sprint can help you avoid common pitfalls and accelerate your practice growth
• The many other benefits and free resources you’ll receive when you join us live for the 90-Minute Private Practice Sprint

Dr. Tom Guilliams, a longtime friend of the podcast, returns to share his experience researching and foraging for mushrooms.

Dr. Guilliams also speaks about the difficulties of accurately identifying mushrooms due to inconsistent documentation and characterization across scientific resources. These inconsistencies present significant challenges for manufacturers developing medicinal mushroom products since the extracts and powders may not be reliably labeled. Therefore, manufacturers must be diligent in verifying the mushrooms they purchase.

There may also be unintended differences between mushrooms grown commercially versus those foraged from their natural setting. Practitioners and patients should be aware that many marketing claims around consumer-facing mushroom products are likely unsubstantiated. 

This episode honors this year’s theme of connection and builds upon what we recently learned from Dr. Zach Bush, who spoke about the role that environmental networks play in human health. Mushrooms are a literal example of biologic networks. Root-like networks of fungi and mushrooms, called mycelia, facilitate communication and allocate resources between plants within ecosystems.

Check out the full conversation to learn more about:

• The benefits of dietary versus supplemental mushrooms
• The components of mushrooms and their medicinal applications
• The immune-modulating qualities of medicinal mushrooms
• The potential benefits of mushrooms for autoimmune patients
• And much more!

This is the first podcast episode of the 2023 year of connection. How can we employ connection to advance the functional and lifestyle medicine movement?

One answer is that we must continue to leverage group care and community networks to support reconnection in the post-COVID era, improve patient outcomes and increase the awareness and accessibility of our movement.

Our guest on this episode is an innovator and thought leader on health creation and chronic disease reversal. Zach Bush, MD teaches about the intersections between the environment and the individual by identifying the themes that connect diverse systems, such as microbiologic processes and macroeconomics. To him, the original human wound is a false belief that we are not all connected—to ourselves, nature and everyone around us.

To be healthy—physically and mentally—is to be connected. In this episode, Dr. Bush and James explore the many repercussions of disconnection, from autoimmune disease to war, while also covering how connection can transform and heal.

The full episode will bring you more insights about:

• The negative effects of cellular disconnection, and what environmental or lifestyle factors trigger that dysfunction
• How a scarcity mentality leads to fear, guilt, shame and economic disparity
• Empowering perspectives that help people heal
• Flaws in peer-reviewed, evidence-based medicine
• Quorum sensing and Dr. Bush’s new organization, The Institute for Natural Law and Governance

The Journey of Intrinsic Health: 

• https://journeyofintrinsichealth.com/

 Institute of Natural Law and Governance:

• https://www.naturallawandgov.org/

FARMER’S FOOTPRINT:   

• http://www.farmersfootprint.us/    
• https://www.facebook.com/farmersfootprint   
• https://www.instagram.com/farmersfootprint/