No doubt our regular readers and listeners will have noticed that muscle is having a moment in the healthy aging conversation. In this article, I want to tease out the potential contribution of some additional interventions that we can think about clinically to support muscle health – the amino acid leucine, its derivative HMB (beta-hydroxy-beta-methylbutyrate), vitamin D and urolithin A.
This nutrient-dense “megaboost” shot is designed to help vegans and anyone focused on optimal health meet key nutritional needs that can be harder to obtain on a plant-based diet. It features ingredients rich in nutrients that are often under-consumed in these eating patterns. For example, hemp seeds provide a complete amino acid profile, which is key for many body functions, including metabolic health, neurotransmitter and muscle synthesis, and mitochondrial biogenesis. Together with pumpkin seeds, they also supply zinc, an essential mineral for immune function, hormone homeostasis, and healthy gene expression, all of which are important for healthy aging.
It feels like every patient walking into our offices right now is hearing the same message—eat more protein. But maybe the more important question isn’t just how much protein someone is eating, but whether their gut can actually digest and absorb it effectively. Dr. Tom Fabian, Research Specialist at Diagnostic Solutions Laboratory, joins me again to unpack the emerging science around the gut–muscle axis and what it may mean for our patients. And in a moment when so many people are on GLP-1 medications that suppress appetite and slow digestion, that becomes an especially important clinical lens. It’s a fascinating shift in how we think about gut health and muscle resilience. ~DrKF
In this live conversation, Dr. Kara Fitzgerald and Dr. Allison Smith discuss low androgen levels and how they are a common but often underrecognized contributor to fatigue, loss of vitality, decreased lean mass, cognitive changes, and reduced quality of life in midlife men and women. Despite their profound impact on energy, resilience, and aging trajectories, androgens are frequently overlooked or under-assessed in clinical practice. You’ll get a broader understanding of androgen physiology and gain clinically actionable insight into aging, anabolism, and stress adaptation, so you can better identify and address these patterns in your patients.
More and more in practice, we’re working with what I often think of as “tough guts,” patients arriving on increasingly restricted diets, afraid to expand foods because nearly everything seems to trigger symptoms. A big part of our work now is helping rebuild resilience: restoring dietary diversity, supporting the microbiome, and getting people back to eating, and living more fully again. That’s one reason I was so glad to welcome Colleen Cutcliffe back to the podcast. I’ve long admired Pendulum’s philosophy of supporting the microbiome as an ecosystem rather than chasing quick fixes. This conversation really reflects the direction many of us are moving clinically—toward rebuilding function, flexibility, and long-term resilience for our patients. ~DrKF
I was really excited to sit down with Dr. Robert Lustig for this conversation. If you’ve ever thought seriously about sugar, fructose, or metabolic health, his work has probably shaped your thinking in some way. He’s also deeply outspoken, and while we don’t see every issue exactly the same way, I really value conversations like this, especially on the heels of the new USDA dietary guidelines. We talk through what he supports, what gives him pause, and where he thinks the real leverage points actually are, from food policy to ultra-processed foods to the bigger systems driving chronic disease. I didn’t quite know where this conversation would go, but I found it thoughtful, provocative, and grounding, and I think you will too.
Mitochondrial decline is one of the core biological drivers of aging, contributing to fatigue, loss of muscle, slower recovery, and reduced resilience across nearly every organ system. In this live conversation, Dr. Kara Fitzgerald and Dr. Anurag Singh review the clinical science behind mitophagy, the cellular renewal process that clears damaged mitochondria and restores energy production.
I just had a really fascinating conversation with the scientists at Sōlaria biō—Mark Charbonneau and Alicia Ballok—about a line of research that genuinely made me stop and rethink how we approach bone health. We talked about their journey from isolating microbes living inside edible plants, to identifying synergistic microbial interactions, to building out the preclinical work and then taking it all the way into human clinical research. It’s a rare and thoughtful progression, and the science is compelling. Their first clinical focus has been bone loss, and the results they’ve seen so far are striking. In an early clinical study, they reported a substantial reduction in bone loss—up to 80% in certain groups—along with meaningful reductions in CTX, one of the key markers we use to assess bone turnover. They’re now recruiting for a follow-up study in postmenopausal women in collaboration with Harvard, and we’ll share details in the show notes for anyone who may be eligible. This is a rich, science-forward conversation, and I think you’ll find it as interesting as I did. ~DrKF
This isn’t the podcast I expected to release this month. Not even close. But, in the wake of the most recent release of Epstein-related documents, things took a turn. In the face of what is such a colossal abuse of power over young women, it’s easy to feel paralyzed. In fact, along with a deep sense of pain, it was one of the first feelings that I felt as this new wave of information washed over us.
Dr. Carrie Jones (ND, FABNE, MPH, MSCP) and Rose MacKenzie (Clinical Manager at Mira) join Dr. Kara Fitzgerald for a practical, case-based exploration of real-time hormone testing in perimenopause and menopause care. Traditional hormone testing often captures a single snapshot, missing the dynamic fluctuations that define the menopause transition. In this clinician-focused webinar, we’ll show how longitudinal, at-home hormone data can sharpen diagnostics, guide HRT decisions, and improve treatment monitoring. Using real patient cases and cycle charts, this session will walk through how continuous hormone insights can change clinical decision-making in practice.