Kara Fitzgerald, ND, received her doctor of naturopathic medicine degree from the National University of Natural Medicine in Portland, Oregon. She completed the first Counsel on Naturopathic Medicine-accredited post-doctorate position in nutritional biochemistry and laboratory science at Metametrix Clinical Laboratory under the direction of Richard Lord, PhD. Her residency was completed at Progressive Medical Center, a large, integrative medical practice in Atlanta, Georgia.
Dr. Fitzgerald is the lead author and editor of Case Studies in Integrative and Functional Medicine and is a contributing author to Laboratory Evaluations for Integrative and Functional Medicine and the Institute for Functional Medicine (IFM)’s Textbook for Functional Medicine. With the Helfgott Research Institute, Dr. Fitzgerald is actively engaged in clinical research on the DNA methylome using a diet and lifestyle intervention developed in her practice. The first publication from the study focuses on reversal of biological aging and was published 04-12-2021 in the journal Aging. She has published a consumer book titled Younger You as well as a companion cookbook, Better Broths and Healing Tonics and has an application-based Younger You Program, based on the study.
Dr. Fitzgerald is on the faculty at IFM, is an IFM Certified Practitioner and lectures globally on functional medicine. She runs a Functional Nutrition Residency program, and maintains a podcast series, New Frontiers in Functional Medicine and an active blog on her website, www.drkarafitzgerald.com. Her clinical practice is in Sandy Hook, Connecticut.
Additional publications
Are we getting enough nutrients from our diet? And why do nutrient deficiencies persist even in those of us who are putting a lot of attention to what we’re eating? Join me and Chris Kresser as we dive into all things nutrient insufficiencies on this episode of New Frontiers. Chris is the founder of the Kresser Institute and the co-founder of the California Center for Functional Medicine. He’s the bestselling author of The Paleo Cure and Unconventional Medicine and a highly respected clinician in our space. We talk about the inadequacies of RDAs, the latest statistics on nutrient insufficiencies, the importance of nutrient bioavailability and nutrient synergy and why taking supplements on top of a really poor diet is not going to help. We also marvel at the wonders of magnesium, the interplay between vitamins D, K2 and A, and calcium plus so much more! It is a conversation filled with clinical pearls and practical implications, so get ready to take notes and tune in! ~DrKF
The function of the digestive tract is essential for proper function of almost every biological system in the body. Hormone metabolism and endocrinology is no exception to this rule. In fact, the connection is so strong with estrogen, that there is a term to describe it in the literature – the estrobolome.
Many of us in the functional medicine space are thinking about Akkermansia: what exactly makes this gut bug a keystone strain for health and longevity? I am excited to tackle this with a founder of Pendulum Therapeutics, Colleen Cutcliffe, PhD, an excellent scientist and a leader in biotech. Her passion to help her daughter, and many others, overcome food sensitivities inspired Colleen to use biotech and research to develop products that have the efficacy of a drug, but the safety of a probiotic. We cover it all, and then some! Enjoy, and let me know what you think. ~DrKF
Folks, WOW — what a thrilling conversation on all things hormone testing with Dr. Laura Neville from Doctor’s Data! We share the same alma mater, National University of Natural Medicine, as well as extensive experience in clinical lab testing, so had lots to talk about! On this episode of New Frontiers, we discuss what different testing methods tell us about patient’s hormone status, which specimens are best for monitoring hormone replacement therapy and non-HRT interventions, why high dose progesterone carries risks, and what makes liquid urine testing stand out from the rest. Dr. Neville shares many clinical pearls from her experience reviewing thousands and thousands of tests with physicians from around the world. You’ll absolutely want to bookmark for future reference! Thanks for listening and please share, comment, and leave us a starred review if you wouldn’t mind! ~DrKF
As a longevity aficionado, I am so excited to be talking to Dr. Morgan Levine in this episode of New Frontiers! Renowned for her research on the science of biological aging, Dr. Levine specifically uses bioinformatics to quantify the aging process. She’s played a vital role in developing and retraining several well-published bio age clocks, including the PhenoAge and Horvath clocks, making them much more reliable. Needless to say, I’m a big fan! Morgan and I dive into the fascinating science behind her new book, True Age: Cutting-Edge Research To Help Turn Back The Clock, and cover loads of important topics such as vetting bio age clocks, the role of the DNA methylome, how standard labs such as CBCs and CMPs can be used to calculate bio age, the controversial debate around immortality, challenges of applying the Yamanaka factors in clinical practice, how racial disparities affect biological aging – and believe me, so much more! I hope you’ll enjoy this thrilling conversation as much as I did, and please give me your feedback wherever you listen to New Frontiers – DrKF
Eating for longevity. A topic I’m very passionate about and one that has received incredible attention lately. How much protein should we eat to live longer? What about ketones, carbohydrates, and blood sugar spikes? Where does fasting fit in all of this? And what physical activity confers the most benefit for our healthspan? On this episode of New Frontiers, I pose all of these questions and more to one of the most brilliant minds in longevity science – Dr. Valter Longo. I’m so excited to have him as my guest once again – his grasp on the longevity literature is extraordinary, as is his immense contribution to this growing body of research. Dr. Longo and I discuss the fasting-mimicking diet, biological aging, macronutrient targets, the lifestyle pillars of centenarians, and much, much more. It was such a fun (and research-packed)conversation, just wait until you get your ears on it! As always, I would appreciate a thumbs up and a kind review wherever you listen to New Frontiers.
What do we know about using specific probiotics for different health conditions? And is it time to move away from broad-spectrum probiotics and into condition-specific strains? With an explosion of new research on probiotics and a recent change in nomenclature, it’s easy to get confused. In this episode of New Frontiers, I lean on Dr. Noelle Patno’s extensive research knowledge to tease apart the science on probiotics. Dr. Patno holds a PhD in Molecular Metabolism and Nutrition and has designed and monitored clinical trials on microbiome and immune health. Together, we dive into the latest evidence on therapeutic uses of specific probiotic strains, including Lactobacillus rhamnosus GR-1, for women’s health and other conditions. Dr. Patno also shares excellent pearls on dosing, duration, delivery methods and antibiotic resistance. Many thanks to Noelle and the team at Metagenics for always leading the way and researching interventions.
Because aging is so complex and multifaceted, there are dozens of measures that could be used. These range from things as simple as taking a selfie, to multisystem assessments that require specialized technology and algorithms. These are some of the ways you can estimate your biological age, many of which can even be done from…
Hormone therapy is still a highly controversial topic, fraught with lots of emotion, fear, and misleading information. And let me tell you: am I glad to be having a deep dive into the literature with my colleague and friend, the very brilliant Dr. Doreen Saltiel from Precision Analytical. She’s been practicing medicine for 40 years and preventative cardiology for more than 25 years. With advanced training in endocrinology as well as metabolic, anti-aging, and nutritional medicine, Dr. Saltiel is a leading expert on male and female hormone health. In this episode of New Frontiers, she brings her talent of dissecting the scientific evidence on testosterone deficiency and shares excellent clinical pearls to guide both physicians and patients in making decisions around hormone therapy. Folks, you’ll want to bookmark this one and save the show notes. Thanks for reading, sharing, and commenting!
Doctors, scientists and nutritionists are continually discovering how the gut microbiome influences our health – but we can influence its health too. Consider that one-third of the gut microbiome is consistent among adults, while the other two-thirds are unique to each of us, based on accumulated exposures to the environment, dietary patterns, physical activity, health conditions, and medications taken. Many of these are under our control.
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