New Frontiers In Functional Medicine

What can queen bees teach us about epigenetics? And what do polyphenols, stress, and sunlight have in common? Hint: it has to do with longevity science. To mark our exciting paper on the Potential Reversal of Epigenetic Age Using a Diet and Lifestyle Intervention we are hosting a series of podcasts focused on the science of epigenetics and longevity, and kick things off with talented researcher and Stanford lecturer, Dr. Lucia Aronica. Dr. Aronica is a passionate advocate of lifestyle medicine and is currently leading the epigenetic analysis for the largest randomized clinical trial in the field of personalized nutrition on low carb vs. low fat diets. Fascinating work! With her rich international research experience in nutritional epigenetics, Dr. Aronica guides us through the mechanics of epigenetics and epigenetic aging, the importance of hormesis, and the powerful epigenetic language of lifestyle interventions, including epinutrients. Join me in this fascinating conversation and find out what you can do ri

Folks, if you’ve been following me for any time, you know I am fascinated with reversing epigenetic aging. With such research rapidly evolving, there’s always something new to talk about and my guest today has become a friend and a regular on the New Frontiers podcast – Dr. Joseph Raffaele: a renowned expert on telomere biology and age management medicine. Dr. Raffaele, who is board-certified in internal medicine, diplomat at the American Board of Anti-Aging Medicine, AND co-founder of PhysioAge Systems, joins me for the third time to talk about the latest in immunosenescence and aging. (You can find links to our previous conversations and related content in the shownotes.) I’m excited to continue the conversation with Dr. Raffaele, as we dive into the connection between viral infections, including COVID-19 and CMV, and cell senescence and what we can do clinically to reduce immune risk phenotypes and rejuvenate not only our immune system but our entire bodies. We also touch upon various lab markers that can

So many of us in functional medicine use urine organic acids as an assessment tool, yet we rarely pause to think how they are so intricately connected with the wider world of applied metabolomics (the vast landscape of clinically-relevant metabolites). And we should because research shows that a broader view of metabolomics (i.e. not just your standard organic acid markers) results in a six-fold higher diagnosis rate compared to traditional assessment methods. Impressive, isn’t it? I’m thrilled to be joined by my dear friend and metabolomics expert Dr. Betsy Redmond in today’s podcast. I worked with Dr. Redmond back at MetaMetrics and deeply admire her passion and skill in bringing metabolomics into clinical practice. With years of experience in functional lab testing and a doctorate degree in nutrition, Dr. Redmond shares exciting pearls from the latest metabolomics research, including using urinary dicarboxylic acids to identify early cognitive decline and strategies to modulate the kynurenine tryptophan ra

As the name suggests, New Frontiers is about staying ahead of the curve in functional medicine, continually asking critical questions, and being open to self-critique. This couldn’t be more true than when it comes to advanced functional testing. Today I’m pleased to talk with a familiar face and renowned hormone testing expert, my friend Mark Newman. Mark created the DUTCH test based on his decade-long experience in novel test development, and joins New Frontiers to talk about all things hormones: from cortisol & thyroid health to estrogen, progesterone and androgens, the importance of analytical and clinical validation of tests, and his upcoming research on various hormone replacement therapy methods. If you’re like me, you’ll be blown away by Mark’s passion for delivering functional tests that offer meaningful differentiation and his commitment to publishing peer-reviewed data. Settle in, and be sure to check out the shownotes for tons of ancillary info, plus special offers from Precision Analytical. Listen

Therapeutic dietary interventions such as an elimination diet, a cardiometabolic diet, intermittent fasting, or caloric reduction, are some of the most important tools we have in functional medicine. Transitioning to healthful eating can for some patients be a joyous experience of liberation, but then for others it can be restrictive and problematic, and sometimes fall in the continuum of eating disorders. How do we tease this out? How do we screen for vulnerability in disordered eating and support patients who fall within this spectrum? In this episode of New Frontiers, Dr. Carolyn Fisher PhD, a licensed clinical psychologist who specializes in helping individuals with binge eating, emotional eating, chronic dieting, and other medical conditions heal their relationships with food. Today we discuss the importance of identifying disordered eating tendencies before guiding patients into dietary changes, tools to recognize those at risk, what is involved in treating eating disorders, and how to discuss weight in

Within the realm of functional medicine, we are quite successful at restoring some order to the cacophonous symphony of chronic illness, and getting our patients better to a large extent. However, there is a final piece – a missing piece, if you will – and my guest today, Ashok Gupta, shares how neuroplasticity affected his own healing journey of chronic fatigue syndrome and why this final piece is integral to restoring optimal health. Ashok is a speaker, filmmaker, and health practitioner who created a program for retraining the brain using interventions to facilitate neuroplasticity. In this episode of New Frontiers, we discuss neuroplasticity dysfunction, how to rewire the brain’s survival response, and so much more. Folks, this conversation goes well beyond the patient-physician encounter and explores the depths of our homes, our communities, and how we experience the world around us. Stay tuned, leave us a comment, and subscribe to stay up to date on our latest content! ~DrKF

Have you ever looked at serum hormone levels and scratched your head, wondering why there was such a difference between your patient’s clinical signs and the numbers on the report? Felt unsure whether to look at bioavailable hormone markers or their metabolites? Not surprisingly, when it comes to endocrinological health, there are just as many questions as hormones (and there are over 50!). My guest in this podcast, Dr. Lylen Ferris, gives us very clear and user-friendly guidance on appropriate hormone testing, interpreting results from different specimens and, most excitingly, using novel biomarkers, such as allopregnanolone. Having completed her naturopathic residency with Dr. Kimberly Windstar, and after years of teaching and mentoring medical students on gynecology and women’s health, Dr. Ferris has plenty of brilliant clinical pearls to share with us! Please share, comment, and leave us a starred review if you wouldn’t mind! Thank you! ~DrKF

Since the time of mapping out the genome in 2000, we’ve continued to connect the dots between generational experiences, particularly trauma and in utero exposures, and the development of health and disease. We’ve seen, for instance, from survivors of the Dutch Hunger Winter or the Holocaust, epigenetic changes that are passed on to future generations. My guest in this podcast, best-selling author and former journalist Judith Finlayson, discusses the fascinating history that led to our current understanding of epigenetic expression. She shares research from her book, You Are What Your Grandparents Ate: What You Need to Know About Nutrition, Experience, Epigenetics and the Origins of Chronic Disease, and dives into the dietary and lifestyle choices she prioritizes to support optimal genetic expression. Listen, learn, and leave a review/rating wherever you're listening to New Frontiers! Thanks ~DrKF

I am always eager to learn from other clinicians about how they approach complex patients and layer various healing modalities into the therapeutic encounter. My guest today, Dr. Bruce Hoffman MD, has combined his passion in integrative medicine with psychiatry to explore cellular health to best guide his patient's health journey. Dr. Hoffman is based in Calgary, Canada at the Hoffman Centre for Integrative Medicine and the Brain Center of Alberta. He’s an IFM-certified functional medicine practitioner, board-certified in anti-aging and regenerative medicine, certified in Shoemaker’s mold protocol, a certified Ayurvedic practitioner, certified in Bredesen’s ReCODE protocol, certified as a family constellation therapy specialist, ILADS trained for Lyme and co-infections, and trained in Chinese medicine, to name just a few of his substantial specialties. He knows his stuff. Tune in for this thought-provoking conversation as we explore the role the psyche plays in disease and healing, including clinical pearls,

Colleagues, if you’ve been following me for any time, you’ve heard me speak frequently about aging as the top driver of chronic disease. In today’s interview, I dive into evidence-based integrative protocols to slow down and reverse the aging process. My guest, Dr. Joseph Cleaver MD, is a Fellow of the American Board of Anti-aging and Regenerative Medicine, is board-certified in internal medicine, a rheumatologist, on faculty at A4M and MMI and has authored and published a wealth of research and scholarly articles. He founded Paradigm Wellness Medical Group in Dallas and Sonoma Valley, California, AND he is Medical Director at Boutique Wellness in Winston, North Carolina. Folks, you’ll want to be ready to take notes during this interview, as Dr. Cleaver shares his personalized senolytic protocols specific to patient phenotypes. Listen, share, and leave a starred rating, if you wouldn't mind! Thanks for listening. ~DrKF

This is an exciting year for us in functional medicine, with the Institute of Functional Medicine (IFM) celebrating its 30-year anniversary alongside its Annual International Conference (AIC) on resilience in functional medicine. My guests in this podcast, Dr. Patrick Hanaway MD and Amy Mack CEO of IFM, join me to discuss how functional medicine is addressing the triple pandemic of COVID-19, racism, and economic crisis. Dr. Hanaway is a board-certified family physician, senior advisor to Amy Mack at IFM, and a founding medical director at the Cleveland Clinic Center for Functional Medicine. Amy Mack spent the last three decades in mission and service-oriented organizations and is now helping lead the IFM through uncomfortable territory as they not only offer evidence-based education but take action on the most pressing issues we are currently facing within our communities and healthcare. This is a powerful conversation with an important call to action, so stay tuned to learn more about the COVID-19 tools IFM

How do we approach patients with mental health disorders? How do you engage someone who's really depressed to get off the couch and get outside? To turn the TV off or put the phone down? The pandemic has led to an increase in mental illness, with more people reporting symptoms of anxiety, depression, and suicidal thoughts. My guest in this podcast, Dr. Jonathan Prousky ND, has been deeply entrenched in the world of integrative medicine to support patients with mental illness. Dr. Prousky has worked in the field of mental health as a naturopath, chief medical officer, and professor at the Canadian College of Naturopathic Medicine, and was inducted into The Orthomolecular Hall of Fame for his commitment to mental health. Together, we dive into the essentials for supporting patients with targeted supplementation, including mechanisms of action and dosages, how to best engage patients who are struggling with mental illness, and how to create safety planning for suicidal patients. You won’t want to miss this episo

We’ve been eager to put together a podcast on men’s health – prostate cancer, low testosterone, foundational vitamin and botanical supplements, nutritional interventions – and folks, it’s finally here! There’s a wealth of GREAT pearls to bring into your own practice from this month’s interview with our guest Dr. Geo Espinosa, ND. Dr. Geo is a long-time friend, a fellow naturopathic functional medicine physician, and a (if not “the”) definitive voice in urology and men’s health. His passion about men’s health helped him bridge the gap between conventional and naturopathic medicine. Together we discuss how to engage men in self-care, specific nutritional interventions to support men’s health, laboratory panels and optimal ranges, and some of his favorite vitamins and botanicals for his male patients. There’s a ton here, so settle in and take notes! We hope you come away from this podcast with some ah-ha moments and additional tools for your clinical toolkit – I know I did. Listen, learn, and if you would be so

Let’s face it, folks – we are all grappling with various levels of stress right now. As if chronic stress wasn’t already a top contributor to general health ailments and chronic disease, now add stress from social isolation, the pandemic, and political strife to the list. That’s why we are so grateful to welcome Dr. Susan Blum MD to New Frontiers. Dr. Blum has worked in preventative medicine as a chronic disease specialist for nearly two decades and is the founder and director of Blum Center for Health. Her focus is on supporting patients in their recovery from autoimmune and immune-related conditions, and now educates and coaches patients through mind-body medicine tools and behavior modification to rebalance their autonomic nervous system and downregulate the stress response. Together, we talk about her personal journey dealing with stress, how she approaches the topic with each patient, and why this is one of the most important considerations for your clinical practice as we navigate the current and post-p

I had the honor to sit down and chat with a leader in our field regarding public health policy and advocacy, John Weeks. What a tremendous force behind the movement of bringing integrative and functional medicine to the forefront of healthcare – and with his 40 years of insight, it was a gift to get a sit-down to discuss where we are, and where we’re going – and how we can get there together. Listen in as we discuss how to create a collaborative and unified vision to light the path for the future of medicine – which will help patients, clinicians, and our entire community. The conversation left me invigorated and inspired and I’m confident it’ll do the same for you. Listen in, and let us know what you think by leaving a comment, review, or shooting us an email. Thanks as always, for the gift of your time. ~DrKF

Dr. Joe Raffaele is a busy, brilliant clinician with a successful age management clinic in NYC. This conversation is an update on what we started last year. DNA methylation clocks – where are they now? Telomere biology: the lastest research. Telomere length, immune science, and COVID19: a new, smart hypothesis that CAN be addressed using a systems/functional approach. All this and more, hope you listen, share and comment! ~DrKF

Is it fair that I say – yet again – that this was one of my best conversations of the year? A deeply personal, honest, scientific, evidence-informed (and pearl-ladened) conversation on cancer and recovery, and completely from the heart. Dr. Patrick Hanaway, MD is a mentor, a colleague, a friend, and an amazing guy. His journey as a leader in functional medicine through stage IV laryngeal cancer and his embrace of a metabolic approach is profound, and something you’re going to want to hear. His transformation took him to the Sierra Madres in Mexico to learn indigenous healing approaches from the Mara’akame, and back to his functional and integrative medicine roots exploring the research on using ketogenic and fasting dietary approaches alongside chemotherapy and radiation therapy. He does a fantastic job explaining the mechanisms of a ketogenic diet for cancer and how to support immune resilience through nutritional and herbal interventions. Dr. Hanaway is an inspiration always, and especially during the

There’s no better person to have on New Frontiers to talk about the underlying mechanisms that activate an immune response than Dr. Tom O’Bryan, a foremost expert in understanding wheat sensitivity and the development of autoimmune conditions and cognitive dysfunction. What a pleasure to talk to! Settle in: this is a great, fun, and informative podcast covering all the way back to Tom’s first exposure to EMF in 1978 to the hundreds of pounds of toxins we are all exposed to daily. We cover brain health (of course!) and Tom shares which labs he uses and why, how to interpret them, and the interventions he’s using to help fix his patients’ brains. Clinicians: you’re sure to grasp great insight to share with your patients, and we (practitioners or not!) can all learn A TON about food sensitivity and autoimmunity with this master teacher and clinician.

Dr. Mark Pimentel. We all know him as the clinician/scientist who understands the varied pathogenic underpinnings of IBS/SIBO/IMO. In my recent conversation with him, we cover the definition of terms, causes, when to use a stool test. We discuss the Pimentel low fermentation diet, intervention (including botanicals), and diagnosing hydrogen sulfide (a test is coming soon, but wasn’t available at time of recording). Probiotics: any utility? Elemental diet, and so much more. Grateful to have Dr. Pimentel on the podcast, and know you will benefit from this insightful convo. Thanks for listening, please leave a review if you can! ~DrKF

As a functional medicine clinician and scientist, I absolutely appreciate the deep literature dives my colleagues take. When they come up for air, there is a synthesized body of knowledge that is riveting, satisfying to listen to, trust-worthy and, most importantly, practice-changing. Such was my conversation on all things menopausal hormone therapy with Dr. Doreen Saltiel, currently consulting for Precision Analytical (they’re lucky to have her). She spent the bulk of her impressive career as an interventional cardiologist (although confesses she wanted to go into OBGYN) and jumped into integrative and functional medicine after her own “ah-ha” healing journey, involving hormone replacement therapy, relatively early on in her life. The first solid debunking Doreen provides are the findings from WHI. IT’S TIME these ideas are PUT TO BED. I asked Dr. S about the political backstory for the WHI debacle – it’s a good listen, and like me, you’ll probably want to read more. We then dive into the solid body of evide