Ep. 187 Strategies for Biohacking Metabolic Health with Dr. Alexandra Sowa

Today, I am thrilled and honored to be talking to Dr. Alexandra Sowa. Dr. Sowa is a dual board-certified physician of internal medicine, specializing in metabolic health, and clinical instructor of medicine at NYU Langone. She has served as a health expert for national media outlets and print publications like SiriusXM, CBS News, NPR, the New York Times, U.S. News, World Report, and more. In addition to her private practice in NYC, she is the founder of SoWell Health, a consumer metabolic health company. 

Over the years, people kept complaining to Dr. Sowa about weight gain, decreased endurance, brain fog, and irregular periods, even when their doctors had told them they were healthy and their labs looked fine. When Dr. Sowa checked their labs, however, she would immediately see that they had metabolic syndrome, an underactive thyroid, a vitamin deficiency, and in 90% of the cases, insulin resistance too.

During the turbulent period of the pandemic, Dr. Sowa finally had the time to sit and think about how she could help those patients. She came up with a unique solution and developed a home-testing kit to assess and address the symptoms of people’s metabolic health issues.

In this episode, we discuss the scope of metabolic health in the U.S., and Dr. Sowa explains how she came up with her Weight Biology Kit. We talk about the importance of making the right nutritional choices and improving your health by making better lifestyle decisions. We dive into the role of using technology to monitor health, the influence of alcohol, and using Naltrexone to overcome alcohol cravings. We also unpack the notions of cheat days and biohacking in the wellness space.

Remember to check out Dr. Sowa’s Weight Biology Kit, a point-of-care testing kit for insulin resistance. Stay tuned for more! 

IN THIS EPISODE YOU WILL LEARN:

• How Dr. Sowa came up with her home-testing kit to address people’s metabolic issues.
• Insulin is often the first biomarker to become dysregulated as people move towards insulin resistance.
• Dr. Sowa explains why insulin is a better predictor than blood sugar of where people are in terms of their metabolic health.
• Why do people with high insulin levels gain weight even if they are calorie-restricting and eating very little?
• How does nutrition impact metabolic health?
• The two most important things you can do to improve your health if you have elevated insulin, and you show signs of insulin resistance.
• Three lifestyle changes that, in addition to better nutrition, can be instrumental in helping improve fasting insulin and blood sugar levels.
• The disruptive role alcohol can play in your metabolic health.
• Some tips for overcoming alcohol cravings.
• Why is it best to avoid having cheat days?
• The benefits of journaling, as a motivator for changing behavior.
• The roles technology and biohacking can play in metabolic health.
• The eight areas that get tested in Dr. Sowa’s core point-of-care home testing products.
• Dr. Sowa explains what the HOMA-IR score is.

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On Instagram (@alexandrasowamd)