The Dr. Hyman Show

For decades we were taught there was no stopping cognitive and physical decline, now we know it’s possible to maintain a youthful brain and body into old age using accessible means. Given the right conditions, you can continue to thrive well into old age. In fact, the personality trait of “openness to experience” was a major predictor of good physical activity at age 75, because of a willingness t...

Despite what conventional medicine has told us, type 1 diabetes is not a sentence for a heavy reliance on insulin. For many people, a diet that carefully monitors carb intake can dramatically reduce blood sugar swings and reduce the amount of insulin needed.  Keto (or the ketogenic diet) has gotten a lot of buzz lately, and this fat-heavy very low-carb approach to eating is showing some promise fo...

Wendell Berry said, "To be interested in food but not in food production is clearly absurd." We need to revolutionize the food system completely. We have as system that fuels destruction, not only of our own health, but the health of the planet and animals. ⁣⁣ ⁣⁣ My new book, Food Fix, both defines the problems and maps out the policies, business innovations and grass roots solutions. And what we...

There are so many angles we need to look at with gut health and they can tell us an amazing amount of information about the rest of the body. Our gut bacteria regulate many of our bodily functions, from creating vitamins to controlling our immune system, our brain function and of course, our metabolism and weight. They are critical to our long-term health. In this mini-episode Dr. Hyman explores t...

Nobody wants to name the problem, but let’s call it what it is: social injustice is part of our healthcare system. Black and Hispanic people are far more likely to get sick and die from the 10 leading causes of death due to a range of factors, including lack of access and discrimination in our healthcare system and policies. When you consider that most treatments and drugs are only tested on white...

Nourishing our spirit through addressing the inner challenges we all face—whether it’s discontent in a marriage or job or self-sabotaging beliefs about not being good enough—has a major impact on our overall well-being. When we address the lies we tell ourselves and others, connect with our personal integrity, and embrace the spirit we’re often keeping locked away, some truly amazing things can ha...

We have the best hospitals, most highly trained doctors, and people come from all over the world to get medical treatments in the US. Yet, we’re lagging behind almost every other country in health metrics, including life expectancy and infant mortality. That’s because we’re not being set up for success: The policies and systems we rely on for healthcare aren’t supporting prevention, education, and...

Unfortunately, in today’s world we’ve become exposed to a greater number of environmental toxins than ever before. Heavy metals including mercury, lead, and arsenic pose many threats to our health, from increased risk of cancer to autoimmune disorders, hormonal imbalances, gut issues, and much more. In this mini-episode Dr. Hyman talks to Dave Asprey about the best ways to test for and detoxify fr...

We’re up against a chronic epidemic: stress. In fact, it’s estimated that 80% or more of doctors’ visits are due to illnesses related to stress. This can come in many different forms. Socioeconomic stress is a real burden for many people, as is the stress of taking care of several generations within a family, or meeting the demands of our jobs. Stress can also come in the form of bad food and poor...

Food waste is one of the largest problems of our time. In fact, about 30% of all food produced globally (1.3 billion tons) is wasted—and it’s costing us. Food waste is also a major contributor to climate change; if food waste was represented as its own country it would be the third-largest greenhouse gas emitter! In this minisode, Dr. Hyman dives into this topic and what we can do about it in our...

As we see a rise in the hyperlocal movement, urban farming, school gardening programs, and farm to table restaurants it’s clear there are some really exciting solutions in the works for a cleaner, healthier, more sustainable food system. We just need to embrace them and keep the innovations coming. When it comes to innovative ideas that support a more sustainable, nutritious, and beneficial food s...

We’re always hearing extreme results from nutritional research. Ranging from the “dangers” of coconut oil and eggs to completely contradictory statements, like that a low-carb diet shortens lifespan and also increases it, we are bombarded with confusing information that can make deciding what to eat totally overwhelming. But with the right knowledge and resources, we can learn to decipher dietary...

One of the reasons Functional Medicine is so transformative is that it recognizes disease does not occur in isolation. If one part of the body is compromised the entire body is thrown out of balance. SIBO, or small intestine bacterial overgrowth, is a great example of this. It rarely occurs on its own, and is often paired with a number of other issues, from neurological symptoms to migraines, arth...

We have all heard that meditation can provide stress relief, but the benefits do not stop there. Meditation also provides immune support, can lead to better sleep, and even better sex; it also provides the immune system a rest five times deeper than sleep. In this mini-episode, Dr. Hyman sits down with his own meditation teacher, Emily Fletcher, to talk about the science behind meditation’s benefi...

There’s a part of our food system that’s not being talked about: racial inequality. The division of land, government subsidies, and financial resources that are available favor white farmers. Meanwhile, many of our sustainable farming practices actually stem from African and indigenous roots. Since 1920 African-American farmers have lost over 14 million acres of land. Combine this with the fact th...

Food has an amazing ability to heal, but the timing of when we eat or abstain from eating can also have really amazing impacts on our health. Autoimmunity, gut issues, Alzheimer’s, and aging have all been found to benefit from the right kind of fasting. In this mini-episode, Dr. Hyman sits down with Dr. Valter Longo to discuss the Fasting Mimicking Diet, a diet that helps you feel fed and nourishe...

Ever notice how a growth mindset leads to opportunity and success and how a poverty mindset leaves you with nothing but want, and often spirals downwards into an ongoing funk? We have to use our physical state to change our mental state, and vice versa. There’s a feedback loop between our bodies and brains, which is why mindset and behavior are so powerful for creating the reality we desire.  This...

Creating optimal health and a life you love is about setting the right foundation and putting in the right inputs to get the right results. And the first step is your vision. What do you want your present and future to look like? How do you see yourself? What can you do to get there? In this mini-sode, Dr. Hyman explores with his guests, Mark Bittman, Cal Newport, and Vishen Lakhiani, the importan...

The impact the gut has on the entire body should not be underestimated, but unfortunately in conventional medicine it often is. We are shuttling pounds and pounds of food into this tube we have called the digestive system several times a day and we don’t give it a second thought—it’s pretty crazy when you think about it. The gut is responsible for our ability to turn food into fuel; to absorb and...

Currently, psychedelics are getting renewed interest from the medical community. From anxiety and depression to addiction and even overcoming fear of death, research is showing psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy has a lot to offer. And science is showing us that the same part of the brain that is suppressed with psychedelics—the default mode network— is also suppressed in very experienced meditato...

Eating unhealthy food and trying to improve your health is like mopping up the floor while the sink is still overflowing—it just doesn’t work! But it can be hard to decide what we really should be eating for optimal health, considering the diet wars (Paleo or vegan?), the non-stop exposure to sugary foods in every market isle, and clever marketing by Big Food to make us think things are good for u...

With deliberate attention, we can create the physical, mental, and emotional health we desire at any age. The first step is identifying where we want to be at “X” age. In this mini-episode, Dr. Hyman speaks with Dr. Peter Attia about his personal action plan for longevity, and as he likes to put it, training for the Centenarian Olympics. Dr. Peter Attia is the founder of Attia Medical, PC, a medic...

Success comes from support. We are actually more strongly impacted by our peers and social networks than by our genetics—this is huge when it comes to changing our health. That’s why I’m such an advocate for community-based healthcare. Putting people in groups, where they can be heard by others in similar situations, supported, and held accountable is an incredible tool for creating long-lasting c...

Many of us grew up believing that vegetable oils were good and butter was bad. We were told, even by government and medical associations, to use more vegetable, seed and bean oils (like soybean, corn, safflower, canola). Now we know this advice was completely wrong. In this mini-episode, Dr. Hyman explores the origin story of how Americans began embracing vegetable oil with his guest, Nina Teichol...

There’s a certain stigma around mental illness, one that can, unfortunately, keep people from feeling empowered that they can change their brain health and get the care they truly need. But think about it—would we ever shame someone with cancer, autoimmunity, or dementia for needing help? Of course not. Unfortunately, the past methods of treating mental health disorders didn’t actually look at wha...