The Dr. Hyman Show

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...

There is an exciting shift happening in the relationship between consumers and companies—consumers are driving industry change through a higher level of awareness when it comes to where they spend their money. A new generation of consumers, entrepreneurs, and business leaders is focused on transparency, sourcing, production practices, and company values, forcing industries like Big Food and Big Ag...

So many Functional Medicine practitioners like myself have gone through their own healing crisis. For me, it was a total brain and body breakdown 30 years ago due to mercury poisoning from when I lived in China. For my good friend and fellow Functional Medicine doctor Elizabeth Boham, it was triple-negative breast cancer diagnosed at the young age of 30, despite already embracing many principles o...

You might be surprised to learn that there is a major monopoly when it comes to seeds. Globally, 68% of seeds are in the hands of just three companies. This has major implications for our food system at every level. In this mini-episode Dr. Hyman talks with Dan Barber about how seeds are the blueprint for better food, better soil, and a better food system. Dan explains why seeds are the foundation...

It might sound too good to be true, but there are tools waiting within all of us, that can improve everything from depression to addiction, anxiety, discontent, or numerous other unbeneficial feelings or states of dis-ease. We just have to open ourselves up to them and be willing to dig deeper. Tapping into creativity and passion is one key component; another is slowing down and taking the time to...

Having a coach or community to support your health journey can be instrumental in creating and sustaining lifestyle and behavioral change. In this mini-episode, Dr. Hyman talks with Functional Medicine practitioner, Chris Kresser, about the challenges involved in altering behaviors that affect your health, and how external support can be the key to making lasting change. He also talks with Dr. Sea...

Imagine getting the freshest basil, lettuce, and tomatoes for your favorite salad, right in your own neighborhood, no matter where you live or what time of year it is. With urban farming, this is the future we can all look forward to. It’s changing our food system for the better by reducing transportation (a leading cause of climate change) and allowing us to access fresher, more nutritious food....

You may be surprised to learn that we see genetic crosstalk between the bacteria we harbor in our bodies and the bacteria or microbes within our soil. In fact, food acts as a language helping the two communicate. In this minisode, Dr. Hyman speaks to Drs. Daphne Miller and Jeffrey Bland about the evolving understanding of soil’s incredibly important role in creating, and maintaining a healthy ecos...

Getting older is inevitable, but aging is not. What society thinks of as aging—wrinkly skin, poor memory, weight gain, aches and pains—is actually abnormal aging, and it doesn’t have to be this way. There are reasons for these symptoms, and when we tap into the root cause we can prevent and even reverse them and feel youthful despite our age. We can do that using the principles of Functional Medic...

We all want to know what it takes to live a long, healthy, and happy life. In this mini-episode of the podcast, Dr. Hyman speaks with longevity expert and bestselling author of, “Blue Zones,” Dan Buettner, about the commonalities amongst several geographic regions around the world where high percentages of centenarians are enjoying remarkably long, full lives. Specifically, Dan shares the pillars...

Think about how different our medical system would be if all doctors were required to have an extreme health crisis before practicing medicine. It’s through those toughest times with our own health that many of us turn to Functional Medicine, as we realize conventional care isn’t getting us what we need. But sometimes, being so involved in treating others’ diseases makes it difficult for doctors t...

The health of our digestive system greatly impacts the health of our whole body. This is because our gut is designed to help us digest food, absorb nutrients, keep invaders out, and even produce helpful compounds like the neurotransmitter serotonin, among so many other powerful functions. This is why the whole body will suffer when the gut is out of balance. In this mini-episode, Dr. Hyman speaks...

Soil is the most important answer to climate change, and also one of the most underappreciated. Without soil, we have no food, and I don’t think I need to elaborate on how catastrophic that would be. The positive news is that we can work on our soil integrity right now to preserve it for many future generations to come—you might be surprised that using regeneratively raised cattle is part of that...

As a society, we have been brainwashed into thinking that cooking real food costs too much, is too hard, and takes too long. Fast food manufacturers and grocers lure us into convenient, heavily processed meals that take a toll on our health and our wallet. In this mini-episode, Dr. Hyman speaks with Marco Canora and Ocean Robbins about reframing our relationship to cooking and how it can save us t...

Trauma comes in many forms, and it’s something we’re all going to face at one point or another. Though it might seem in the moment that we should push away negative feelings and pretend everything is fine, true healing can’t happen unless we open ourselves to our traumatic experiences and work through them. Despite what many of us in search of help have been told, this doesn’t necessarily need to...

Among the major superpowers of our stem cells is their ability to self renew. Stem cells can also sense damaged cells and tissues and send signals that promote self-healing. In this mini-episode, Dr. Hyman speaks with Dr. William Li about the things that both enhance, and impair, our body’s regenerative abilities, including our diet. Dr. Li shares information on which foods have been scientificall...

Age is not the definitive factor it’s made out to be when it comes to our health. We can use our age as a baseline for tracking our health and longevity, but it isn’t stagnant. For example, certain types of testing can help us compare our biological age to our calendar age in order to tinker with our wellness routine and achieve the milestones we’re after. With the right steps, we can slow down an...

While we are in an incredibly exciting time when it comes to preventing and reversing disease, issues such as misleading scientific research, imperfect policy, corporate financial interests, and other biases often act as roadblocks to enhancing the health of our population and our planet. Yet, when we recently reflected on a number of conversations from The Doctor’s Farmacy, we couldn’t help but h...

The gut and brain are strongly interconnected. That’s why in Functional Medicine we always take the gut into account, along with the rest of the body, when trying to understand a brain disease. Unfortunately, conventional medicine likes to look at each part of the body separately, which may be why doctors have a hard time effectively treating neurological diseases like Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, an...