Dr. Kara Fitzgerald | New Frontiers in Functional Medicine, Longevity, Epigenetics

We are living in times of great medical discoveries and advancements and today I am thrilled to talk about a relatively unknown structure: the endothelial glycocalyx (EGX). EGX can profoundly affect overall health – after all, you can’t have healthy organs and tissues if blood vessels are not healthy. Today on New Frontiers, I am joined by Dr. Kristine Burke a board certified family, sports and functional medicine physician and medical director for Help Your Diabetes Sacramento, where we discuss the full breadth of EGX functions and why it’s critical for cardiovascular health and so much more. Dr. Burke shares her exciting clinical experience and impressive findings from her case study series using Arterosil for plaque regression in some of her toughest patients. It’s a fascinating and enlightening conversation, so tune in and get ready to take some notes! Thanks for listening, and your support of New Frontiers. -DrKF

With an ongoing pandemic that doesn't abate, is it any wonder immune health is on everyone's mind? As we adapt to these unprecedented times, the interest in supporting immunity has skyrocketed. So, I couldn't wait to interview my dear friend and long-term colleague, Romilly Hodges. With her new book Immune Resilience just out, I'm thrilled to share Romilly's exciting pearls on immune health on New Frontiers. You may know Rom from her time as Nutrition Programs Director at our clinic and her work on our Methylation Diet & Lifestyle program, now known as Younger You. Romilly is all that, and so much more: also a CNS, IFMCP, and vastly published author in several peer-reviewed journals. In this very special episode, we discuss the role of the microbiome in infection defense and immune system training, the effects of nature exposure, the ongoing pandemic and immune system development, immune tolerance and micro-exposures, and how sleep affects vaccine efficacy. It’s a lot! Romilly also reveals strategic multifactorial interventions and the power of whole foods over supplements. This research-packed discussion will leave you wanting more – to be continued for sure! As always, thank you for listening and please do leave a comment wherever you hear my voice. - DrKF

Folks, I'm thrilled to be back once again with my friend and colleague, Dr. Tom Fabian - leading functional nutrition practitioner trained in the molecular biology of aging. Together with his training and experience as the clinical laboratory consultant for Diagnostic Solutions Lab, Dr. Fabian shares a wealth of practical applications for microbiome research in functional medicine and clinical settings. In this episode, we explore key microbial species for longevity and how to boost their levels, inflammaging of the microbiota, often-missed leaky gut clues on GI-MAP reports, the small intestine as a key site for immune tolerance, how microbiota influence epigenetics, and much more. It’s truly exciting to learn from his extensive research expertise in the role of the human microbiome in health, disease, and aging, so make sure you get ready to take notes and bookmark this page – you’ll want to come back for more! Thanks for listening, and leave us a review wherever you listen to New Frontiers! ~DrKF

Sleep – we spend a third of our lives doing it, we know it is a powerful longevity tool, yet we continue to skimp on it. I know from personal experience – improving my sleep after struggling for years was a total game-changer. And in this episode of New Frontiers, I’m joined by Dr. Sara Mednick, world-renowned sleep scientist, professor of psychology at the University of California, and director of the Sleep and Cognition Lab to discuss her exciting research findings and new lexicon for understanding stress. Together we explore why aligning sleep with the nervous system’s downstate is more important than sleep duration for optimal restoration and longevity – AND how you can use heart-rate variability to measure restore function. We also talk about green exercise, harnessing the power of dreams, setting health boundaries, the connection between meal timing and melatonin, and WOW -- so much more. This one is a gem-packed session for sure, so get ready to take some notes and get inspired! And if you don’t mind, please consider leaving a review on iTunes or wherever you listen to New Frontiers! Every thumbs-up helps us reach more people! Thank you! ~DrKF

Reversing biological age by just one year can save $38 trillion of public health funding. Read that again. $38 TRILLION. And by now, you probably know in my new Younger You book, I walk through exactly how to reverse your biological age by over three years through nutrition and lifestyle. But writing a book is not enough, and I’m really excited to bring an easy-to-follow digital program accessible from anywhere in the world. And I couldn’t have done it without Suggestic, the innovative health tech company powering the 3YY digital program. In this episode of New Frontiers, I share the ins and outs of this turnkey digital program with the potential to revolutionize personalized nutrition delivery and optimize health at scale. Join me for an intimate chat with my good friends and colleagues from Suggestic, Victor Chapela and Erica Sanders, and discover how we translate the multi-modal clinical trial intervention into a digital program everyone can access by combining lab testing, supplementation and one-to-one nutritionist support. As always, I’m grateful to all of you for joining in the passion and excitement around my research and work – I so appreciate your support; it has touched my soul. Thank you for listening, and please leave a comment and review wherever you hear my voice! - DrKF

Folks, I am just honored, thrilled, excited to be talking to my dear mentor and friend Dr. Jeff Bland on this episode of New Frontiers in Functional Medicine. Not only is Dr. Bland the father of functional medicine, but he's also the founder of Big Bold Health, a company on a mission to enhance immunity at the global level through the rediscovery of ancient food crops and superfoods which support immuno-rejuvenation. Join me as I pick his brain on genetics, aging, SNPs, DNA repair, and senolytics, and find out why your genes are not a death certificate but rather a 'uniqueness certificate' that requires specific approaches. You won't want to miss this in-depth conversation! Listen, learn, and if you would be so kind, leave a review on iTunes or wherever you hear my voice. Thank you! ~DrKF

It's been exactly a hundred years since the ketogenic diet was developed, and yet we are still discovering its many benefits, including its positive effects on the epigenome. How fascinating is that? In this episode of New Frontiers, I’m thrilled to have renowned nutrigenomics researcher and fellow epigenetics aficionado Dr. Lucia Aronica interview one of the world's top experts on the ketogenic diet - Dominic D’Agostino. Dom is also a neuroscientist, accomplished researcher, and associate professor of Molecular Pharmacology and Physiology at the University of Florida. In this episode, Dr. Aronica and Dr. D’Agostino discuss the therapeutic uses of the keto diet, including emerging applications in type 2 diabetes, anxiety, and anorexia, the neuroprotective and epigenetic regulatory effects of ketones, and why more is not necessarily better. It is an episode packed with the latest research and clinical pearls from these two experts – you wouldn’t want to miss it! If you don’t mind, please consider leaving a review on iTunes, or wherever you listen to New Frontiers! Every thumbs-up helps us reach more people! ~DrKF

Living in a pandemic era filled with political, environmental, and social turmoil is tiring – downright exhausting. So is it any wonder the number of chronic fatigue cases has crept up to 1.5 million people in the US? In this episode of New Frontiers, guest host Dr. Patrick Hanaway talks with Alex Howard, the creator of the Therapeutic Coaching methodology and Founder of The Optimum Health Clinic, one of the world’s leading integrative clinics specializing in chronic fatigue syndrome. Alex has published several research articles and books on the topic, with his latest book, Decode Your Fatigue: A Clinically Proven 12-Step Plan to Increase Your Energy, Heal Your Body and Transform Your Life - just published. In addition, he is currently working on a randomized control trial with the UK national health service, NHS, as a follow-up to a preliminary study on his integrative approach to chronic fatigue syndrome. Dr. Hanaway and Alex discuss the key factors contributing to fatigue, using personalized mapping to untangle the picture and the importance of intervention sequencing to create positive, long-term shifts in patients’ well-being. I’m so proud to have these two incredible humans sharing what they know with all of us on New Frontiers – it’s an amazing conversation and I could listen to them talk all day! Please leave a review, rating, and share this episode far and wide! ~DrKF

Although lifespans are getting longer, most Americans spend the last 16 years of their lives (on average) managing multiple illnesses with various drugs. With most of our faculties compromised in those final years, quality of life is significantly reduced, and life is not as enjoyable as it could be. So is there anything we can do to expand our healthspan, not just our lifespan? My guest in this podcast, Dr. Jed Fahey, joins me to discuss the underappreciated, healthspan-promoting power of phytochemicals. Dr. Fahey is a nutritional biochemist with extensive research experience in phytochemistry. Following years of faculty appointments at the John Hopkins School of Medicine and Public Health, Dr. Fahey is now dedicating most of his efforts towards educating on “the dark matter of nutrition” – i.e. phytochemicals. In this interview, Dr. Fahey shares plenty of great pearls from his vast experience in the world of phytochemicals and zooms in on the protective role of the glucoraphanin-sulforaphane system. You wouldn’t want to miss his insights! As always, thanks for listening, and I so appreciate any comments, reviews, and ratings wherever you listen to New Frontiers. ~DrKF

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 right now to optimize longevity. Listen, learn, share -- leave us a comment – I’d love to know what you think! ~DrKF