Functional Medicine Reality Podcast

What if the knee pain you've been blaming on age is actually a statin side effect? That's a question worth sitting with. And it's one of the reasons I wanted to do this episode, because I see this pattern in real people, in real conversations, all the time. Someone's been on a statin for a few years. They're moving less, feeling foggy, their joints ache. And when they brin...

I'll be upfront. I walked into my first encounter with Dr. Todd Watts as a full-on skeptic. I'm an MD. I like data. I've literally told vendors at conference booths, hey, I'm not buying anything, fair warning. That's just who I am. But I remember standing in that conference room years ago watching Todd present on parasites, a topic I had barely touched in fifteen years of...

Hey friends, what if we stopped fighting over labels and actually started treating the mechanisms behind what's making people sick? That's the question driving today's conversation with Dr. Jessica Lasky-Su from Harvard Medical School and Brigham and Women's Hospital. Here's the thing. Her team is working at the edge of some really fascinating science, genetics, epigenetic...

What does “I feel good” mean after years of chronic Lyme and a major surgery that reshapes your body and your identity? We sit down with Mary Jo to unpack a tender, determined third chapter: living well after treatment, navigating a post-hysterectomy reality, and rebuilding confidence without ignoring limits. The result is a rare blend of practical playbooks and soul-level honesty—how to budget en...

In this episode, I sit down with Sebastian, a family friend and college student, for an open and thoughtful conversation about health, food, mental clarity, and the overwhelm of modern wellness information. This is a rare and refreshing look at how the younger generation is thinking about health and asking questions many adults never learned to ask. Seb shares how his interest in lifting, performa...

In this episode of the Functional Medicine Reality Podcast , I sit down again with my friend and colleague Mike Schrantz, an Indoor Environmental Professional I often call the “Doctor of Homes.” I’m the “Doctor of People,” and together we work at the intersection where sick buildings and sick bodies collide. Today we step into a thorny topic that affects a lot of patients and a lot of practitioner...

One of the questions I am asked most often by patients is this: “Don’t doctors get paid to prescribe medications?” It is a fair question. And if you have ever left a medical visit feeling rushed, unheard, or confused about why a prescription was offered when you wanted to talk about lifestyle change, you are not alone. The short answer, from my experience, is no. Doctors are not paid directly for...

Hey friends. This is one of those foundational conversations that quietly shapes everything we do in healthcare, yet it’s rarely talked about outside medical training. In this episode, I walk you through the concept of differential diagnosis , what it is, why it matters, and how overlooking it can delay healing or, in some cases, cause real harm. Differential diagnosis simply means creating a thou...

Welcome back to the Functional Medicine Reality Podcast. I'm Dr. Mark Su, and today we're pivoting from the chronic inflammation world into the longevity space. I'm here with Cooper Paul, a pulmonary hypertension specialist at a major academic hospital in Boston and a true longevity medicine enthusiast who's taught me an incredible amount over the last few years. Here's th...

Welcome back to the Functional Medicine Reality Podcast. I'm Dr. Mark Su, and this is part two of my conversation with Mary Jo Anderson. If you caught our first episode together, you know we covered the long, painful road to getting a Lyme disease diagnosis. Today we're diving into what happens after you finally have answers. Here's the thing. Getting a diagnosis doesn't mean e...

Alright, so here's one I get asked constantly: Do I really need to throw out all my belongings if there's mold in my house? If that question's been keeping you up at night, or if you're stuck wondering whether dealing with mold means going bankrupt and starting over, take a deep breath. This episode's for you. I brought back Mike Schrantz, one of the most networked indoor...

Hey friends, this one's for both practitioners and patients who've been around the functional medicine world for a while. Here's the thing. When you've been dealing with chronic symptoms for months or years, it's really easy to fall into patterns. You start assuming every flare-up is the same old story. SIBO acting up again. Mold toxicity. Food sensitivities. But what if i...

I’m Dr. Mark Su, a conventionally trained physician, functional medicine practitioner, and lifelong student of the why behind symptoms. This podcast was born out of real-life questions, real patient stories, and a deep sense that the healthcare conversation needs more honesty, nuance, and humanity. Not perfection. Not dogma. Just reality. In this kickoff episode, I share three confessions , a few...

Mold is a real issue, but the conversation around it has become increasingly extreme and overwhelming. In this episode, I’m joined by Mike Schrantz , an indoor environmental professional and long-time colleague, for an honest, grounded discussion about mold, sick buildings, and how environmental health intersects with human health in the real world. Together, we explore how fear-based, black-and-w...

This is a deeply personal and meaningful episode. In this conversation, I’m joined by Mary Jo Anderson , who courageously shares her health journey for the first time publicly. This episode marks the beginning of a longer, unfolding story and a new chapter for both Mary Jo and this podcast. Mary Jo’s story is not just about chronic illness or Lyme disease. It is about what it feels like to slowly...

In this episode, I sit down with Dr. George Papanicolaou , long-time mentor, colleague, and friend, for one of the most honest conversations we’ve ever had publicly about medicine, humanity, and what it really means to care for people. George was my first boss early in my career and has spent more than three decades practicing medicine across vastly different settings, from the Navajo Nation to pr...

From GI Struggles to Stability: Anti-Aging in Real Life A Patient Conversation with Jean In this episode, I’m joined by Jean , a long-time patient who generously shares her real-life health journey, not from a place of perfection, but from lived experience. This conversation is about what healing actually looks like over time. It is about chronic gut issues, instability, fatigue, and inflammation,...