Happy holidays everyone! As you enjoy the festive season, I wanted to take a moment to share with you below some of the highlights from this past year here at Dr. Kara Fitzgerald. It’s been quite a 12 months, and I’ve been so honored by the participation and contributions of those who continue to work so hard to deepen our understanding of functional medicine, epigenetics, and longevity. I would like to call out some notable highlights for me including my conversations with the legendary Drs. Greg Fahy, Janine LaSalle, Artemis Simopoulos, and Vittorio Sebastiano. However, there were so many other heavy-hitters and I encourage you to look back over all the year’s content to see what you may have missed.
The field of longevity has continued to evolve, of course. The amount of human data we now have on the effect of nutrition on epigenetics is truly remarkable. We’re moving into the realm of irrefutable evidence and to say we’re excited about this would be an understatement. Ours was the first human randomized, controlled experimental study looking at diet and epigenetics – now there’s a wellspring of solid science in this space (although most of it is still observational rather than experimental). Even as we’re still tussling with communicating how best to language and interpret epigenetic clock results, the clear reality we’re witnessing is the tremendous power of diet and lifestyle on epigenetics. My goal is to continue to keep moving that conversation forwards as that evidence evolves.
As always, I appreciate you being part of our world and always welcome your thoughts, feedback, and dialogue.
-DrKF
Scroll down to find this year’s top podcasts, blogs, recipes, and social media. Enjoy!
Wow, I am beyond honored that the great Dr. Artemis Simopoulos joined me on New Frontiers. Basically, if you’re thinking about omega 3 and omega 6 fatty acids, it’s because of the pioneering work of this scientist. Hear how she figured out the importance of omega 3 fatty acids in a riveting tale of following the data, following hunches and importantly, asking the questions.
Dr. Fahy’s research was the first to demonstrate the potential of biological age reversal as measured by all epigenetic clocks available in 2019. This was an extraordinarily exciting moment in science.Hear all about that journey and what he and his team are working on now. Still underappreciated (in my opinion) is the fact that his protocol regenerates the thymus gland in older individuals. The implications of this are massive.
This pioneer scientist mapped the human placental methylome. That is, all of the DNA methylation marks on the placenta, and has associated changes with neurodevelopmental disorders. She’s also demonstrated the influence of toxins and insufficient folate. Of the many implications inherent in her work, very exciting to me is the fact that we are moving toward in utero diagnostics using mom’s blood (ie, a standard blood draw). My hope is one day we will identify issues and address them all before baby is born!
I am paying attention closely to research coming from the largely untapped world of postbiotic compounds and their essential role in human physiology. I have had the honor to talk quite a few times with Dr. Anurag Singh, and always the clinical (and preclinical) research that he and his team are up to looking at postbiotic wunderkind urolithin A (a compound produced by GI bacterial action on precursor compounds found in pomegranate) are thrilling, powerful and illustrate how wildly important these compounds are in human physiology
Why? Dr. Sebastiano has demonstrated in his laboratory that epigenetics, and primarily DNA methylation, is hierarchically dominant over all other hallmarks of aging. This is extraordinary. He has demonstrated in his laboratory (using Yamanaka factors) that when DNA methylation patterns are made more youthful, the other downstream hallmarks of aging also become more youthful.
Access all this year’s podcasts here and subscribe on your favorite blog platform.
Grip strength declines with age – this is an unwelcome change I’ve noticed even in myself, despite a good, consistent resistance training habit through adulthood. Jars that were completely uneventful…
Biological “clocks” based on epigenetic age have been around for just over a decade. Steve Horvath, a PhD scientist at UCLA launched the field with his original 2013 pan-tissue clock…
In this blog, we’ll take a look at how optimizing DNA methylation (through nutrition and lifestyle, as we do in Younger You), may positively impact various health conditions.
When you think about longevity tests, you might picture lipid panels and fasting blood glucose assessments. However, there’s one aspect of longevity you might not immediately consider: the health of…
Our patients and website readers are always asking whether they should be taking supplements, including what type, and at what dose. Often missed in the information put out by Dr.…
Access all this year’s blogs here.
This quick gluten-free, yeast-free bread recipe requires very little effort and is a pleasantly tasty surprise. Plus it’s main ingredient – sunflower seeds – are a Younger You longevity superfood.…
After exercise, food sources of antioxidants (in other words, all the ingredients in this recipe) are fabulously regenerative for the body. This recipe is also chock-full of electrolytes (such…
This is our favorite electrolyte recipe, adapted from the World Health Organization. You can also supplement with a few drops of liquid trace minerals and a smidge of fruit juice…
Bone broth (or stock) is fabulous for healing intestinal permeability. It contains collagen, which nourishes the intestinal lining and reduces inflammation.
Access all our recipes here.
