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You've cleaned up your diet, started the sauna, cleared the toxins out of your cabinets, and taken every supplement on the list, and you're still only about halfway back to the person you used to be. That's where Amy is. Five years ago she was a nurse practitioner juggling two phones and a pager on hospital floors and training for triathlons. Today she's managing lupus, mold in her home, a past Lyme infection, mast cell symptoms, POTS, and brain fog that still won't lift. Why this episode matters When you're carrying this many diagnoses, the hardest part often isn't finding something to try. It's knowing where to start. In this unscripted patient consult, Dr. Su works through Amy's case in real time and shows how he thinks when someone has several root causes at once. He explains why the order you address them in changes how quickly you feel better, and why fatigue and brain fog are so often the last symptoms to go. What you'll learn Why the sickest patients almost never have a single root cause, and why the words "root cause" can quietly send you looking for oneWhether mold treatment can start before your home remediation is finished, and what to expect if it doesHow drainage differs from detox, and why the sicker you are, the longer drainage tends to matterWhich to address first when you're dealing with both mold illness and Lyme diseaseWhy fatigue and brain fog are usually the last two symptoms standing, even after major progressWhat rising brain markers like p-tau can mean, and why Dr. Su sees real reason for hopeKey moments Amy describes taking patient calls from a closed basement room because background noise made her lose her wordsThe common transplant medication that turns out to be the same mycotoxin measured on urine mold testsDr. Su's "dodgeball" analogy for why addressing mycotoxins can be a two-for-oneA candid look at peptides, immune modulation, and why spending on them instead of fixing a moldy environment is a hard no for himWhy Dr. Su supports using every tool available, conventional medicine included, to help you feel better while the root causes are being addressedDr. Su's perspective Most of us hear "root cause" so often that we start hunting for the one thing that will turn it all around. For someone as sick as Amy, there are several, and you can't address them all at once. You don't have to wait until you're completely out of a moldy home to start getting better, but as long as the exposure continues there's a ceiling on how far you can go. Mold toxins suppress the immune system, which is why, if I have to pick a starting point, I lean toward mold. That said, no two cases follow the same sequence, and the goal is always the same: help you get better, faster, and keep you feeling as well as possible along the way. Have a question for Dr. Su? Once a month, Dr. Su opens one hour to five people only. Real questions, real answers, real direction. Book your spot: https://go.rootseekhealth.com/askdrmark Get your free Lab Results Guide: Download at https://labsoptin.rootseekhealth.com/labs/ Connect with Dr. Su: rootseekhealth.com | @rootseekhealth About our guest "Amy" (name changed for privacy) is a 50-year-old nurse practitioner and single mom with more than 20 years in hospital medicine. A former triathlete, she has been out of work for three and a half years while working to recover from autoimmune disease, mold exposure, and a cluster of related conditions. She joined the show to share her story so others in the same place know they aren't alone. Disclaimer: This podcast is for educational purposes only.  Information discussed is not intended for diagnosis, curing, or prevention of any disease and is not intended to replace advice given by a licensed healthcare practitioner. This podcast and its guests may have direct or indirect financial interests associated with products mentioned.

Your ring gives you one biological age, your watch gives you another, and the lab panel you ordered last spring lands somewhere else. It's hard to know which number to believe, or whether any of it is worth the money you're spending on it. In this episode, Dr. Su talks with Ryan Smith, founder of TruDiagnostic, about how to sort signal from noise. Ryan explains that the most important thing to check in a biological age test is how well it predicts real health outcomes later in life. A clock that simply gets better at guessing your birthday tells you very little. DNA methylation clocks trained on long-term outcomes have the strongest research behind them so far, and they respond to the things we already know improve healthspan. They also cover what early research is showing on GLP-1s and longevity, including a placebo-controlled trial where biological age markers improved in people who were overweight but not diabetic, and why there's still very little data on microdosing. Dr. Su raises one of the harder parts of longevity work, which is that the changes that matter most at the cellular level may be ones you never feel. Ryan shares a simple filter for the next supplement or device that shows up in your feed: look at who is investing in the data to prove it works. Find out more at www.trudiagnostic.com IG: trudiagnosticofficial Have a question for Dr. Su? Once a month, Dr. Su opens one hour to five people only. Real questions, real answers, real direction. Book your spot: https://go.rootseekhealth.com/askdrmark Get your free Lab Results Guide: Download at https://labsoptin.rootseekhealth.com/labs/ Connect with Dr. Su: rootseekhealth.com | @rootseekhealth Subscribe and Leave a Review: If Functional Medicine Reality has been valuable to you, please subscribe and leave a review. It helps more patients find the answers they have been searching for. If you're focused on optimizing your health long-term, we have something coming for you. Stay connected at rootseekhealth.com. Instagram: @rootseekhealth Disclaimer: This podcast is for educational purposes only.  Information discussed is not intended for diagnosis, curing, or prevention of any disease and is not intended to replace advice given by a licensed healthcare practitioner. This podcast and its guests may have direct or indirect financial interests associated with products mentioned.

You've read the posts, watched the reels, maybe dropped your lab results into ChatGPT late at night, and you still don't know what to do next. When three doctors give you three different answers and your feed offers a new diagnosis every morning, the hardest part becomes knowing who to trust. Why this episode matters MaryJo Anderson saw 50 doctors over four years before she found answers for chronic Lyme disease. Nine months after sharing her story on this podcast, she's back with Dr. Su to talk about what happened next, including the flood of messages from women sorting through hormones, hysterectomy decisions, and conflicting medical advice. After ten years of building a community on Instagram, she has a clear view of how health advice on social media shapes the decisions people make, and Dr. Su sees the other side of it every week in his practice. What you'll learn Why more health information hasn't made decisions easier, and what MaryJo does before she acts on anything she readsWhat Dr. Su notices when patients arrive with AI-interpreted labs or a diagnosis they've already settled onHow online awareness can keep one person stuck while finally getting another person the help they neededThe practical difference between discernment and judgment, and how to use it with your feed, your supplements, and your doctorsKey themes Self-advocacy takes time: reading first, interviewing two or three providers, and turning down the noiseThree doctors, three answers: what to do when the experts disagreeHow algorithms feed you more of whatever you searched last, including symptomsThe pressure on women (and now young men) to buy what they're told they needAbout MaryJo Anderson MaryJo Anderson is a mom of three and a content creator who has spent ten years building a close community of women on Instagram. After years of unexplained symptoms and 50 doctors, she was diagnosed with chronic Lyme disease and shared her full story on the Functional Medicine Reality Podcast earlier this year. She returns as a recurring co-host to talk about patient advocacy, women's health, and staying discerning online. Dr. Su's perspective "More information saying the same thing doesn't mean it's accurate, or the best answer for you. There are shades of gray, and sorting through it takes time and effort." Dr. Su has spent 23 years helping patients who arrive overwhelmed by conflicting input. His goal is never to talk someone out of their research. It's to help them keep an open mind long enough to find what's driving their symptoms, so they can get better, faster. MaryJo and Dr. Su also agreed this conversation needs a Part Two on social media and mental health, so stay tuned. Have a question for Dr. Su? Once a month, Dr. Su opens one hour to five people only. Real questions, real answers, real direction. Book your spot: https://go.rootseekhealth.com/askdrmark Get your free Lab Results Guide: Download at https://labsoptin.rootseekhealth.com/labs/ Connect with Dr. Su: rootseekhealth.com | @rootseekhealth Subscribe and Leave a Review: If Functional Medicine Reality has been valuable to you, please subscribe and leave a review. It helps more patients find the answers they have been searching for. If you're focused on optimizing your health long-term, we have something coming for you. Stay connected at rootseekhealth.com. Instagram: @rootseekhealth Disclaimer: This podcast is for educational purposes only.  Information discussed is not intended for diagnosis, curing, or prevention of any disease and is not intended to replace advice given by a licensed healthcare practitioner. This podcast and its guests may have direct or indirect financial interests associated with products mentioned.

You've asked a doctor about a supplement, an herb, or a therapy like hyperbaric oxygen or ozone, and gotten a flat "that doesn't work" in return, with no real explanation and no room for follow up questions. Why this episode matters: Dr. Su has watched this happen to his own patients for years. In this episode he names exactly what's going on and gives it a term, ontological humility, the simple idea that we don't know what we don't know. He applies it to both sides of the exam room, and by the end you'll understand not just why doctors dismiss what they don't know, but why patients need to ask the same honest questions about the herbs and supplements they trust. What you will learn: Why conventional doctors often say "it doesn't work" when the honest answer is "I don't know enough to say" Why "natural" doesn't automatically mean "safe," and what's actually missing from the research on herbs and supplements How to think about the real risk of what you're taking, instead of assuming risk is zero because it came from a health food store Key themes: Ontological humility as a framework for honest practice The time crunch behind conventional medicine's dismissiveness The unregulated gray zone of supplement and herbal research  Dr. Su doesn't let either side off the hook here. He's direct that dismissing a therapy just because you're unfamiliar with it is unfair and unjust, and he's equally direct that assuming a supplement is safe just because it's not a pharmaceutical is its own kind of unearned confidence. His answer isn't to pick a side, it's to be honest about what's actually known and unknown, and to weigh real risk before making a decision.  Get your free Lab Results Guide: https://labsoptin.rootseekhealth.com/labs/ Have a question for Dr. Su? Once a month, Dr. Su opens one hour to five people only. Real questions, real answers, real direction. Book your spot: https://go.rootseekhealth.com/askdrmark Disclaimer: This podcast is for educational purposes only.  Information discussed is not intended for diagnosis, curing, or prevention of any disease and is not intended to replace advice given by a licensed healthcare practitioner. This podcast and its guests may have direct or indirect financial interests associated with products mentioned.

Most of us will get our teeth cleaned twice this year and never think once about our brain. That's the gap Dr. Mark sits down with Dr. Trevor Berry to close in this episode. Why this episode matters: Dr. Berry is a board-certified chiropractic neurologist and co-founder of Brain Restore Centers, a fast-growing national network built around a hard fact, the changes behind conditions like Alzheimer's and Parkinson's can start twenty to thirty years before anyone notices a symptom. By the time memory loss or brain fog shows up, the process is already well underway, and waiting for symptoms means waiting too long. What you will learn: The four foundational pillars Dr. Berry uses to protect and rebuild brain function, movement, low-level laser therapy and photobiomodulation, oxygen therapies, and nutritionWhy brain fog and fatigue deserve the same root-cause investigation as any other chronic symptom, instead of getting dismissed as normal aging or stressWhat objective testing for brain health actually looks like, from cognitive assessments to balance and blood flow markersWhy prevention has to start decades before symptoms, and what "prevention" actually looks like day to dayKey themes: Root-cause thinking applied to the brainMovement, light, oxygen, and nutrition as the real foundations of brain healthChronic stress and its long-term effect on the brainWhy one modality alone rarely gets the full resultDr. Su's perspective: Dr. Mark has known Dr. Berry for a couple of years, and this conversation grew out of watching his approach up close. What stood out most was the objective side of it, the idea that brain health doesn't have to stay subjective or vague. There are real markers you can track and real progress you can measure, and that's the same root-cause philosophy RootSeek applies to every other system in the body. If you're focused on optimizing your health long term, the Longevity program is coming. Stay connected at rootseekhealth.com. And if brain fog or fatigue has you wondering what your labs aren't telling you, our free Lab Results Guide is a good place to start. Links: rootseekhealth.comFree Lab Results Guide: https://labsoptin.rootseekhealth.com/opt-in-page-landing-page-for-lab-results-without-answersBrain Restore Centers: brainrestorecenters.comGuest bio: Dr. Trevor Berry, DC, DACNB, is a board-certified chiropractic neurologist, published researcher, and international lecturer specializing in brain health. He founded the Arizona Chiropractic Neurology Center and now serves as Chief Clinical Officer and co-founder of Brain Restore Centers, a nationwide network of clinics focused on neurodegeneration, traumatic brain injury, and neurodevelopmental care. Disclaimer: This podcast is for educational purposes only.  Information discussed is not intended for diagnosis, curing, or prevention of any disease and is not intended to replace advice given by a licensed healthcare practitioner. This podcast and its guests may have direct or indirect financial interests associated with products mentioned.

If you've ever wondered what you're actually getting when you walk through the door of a functional medicine practice, you're not alone. It's a crowded field, and there's no easy way to know what a given practitioner will actually be like until you've experienced it firsthand. Why this episode matters: In this episode, Dr. Mark Su steps back from the usual format of the show to explain exactly why the Functional Medicine Reality Podcast exists. This isn't a sales pitch and it never has been. Dr. Su built it to give people considering root-cause medicine, and specifically considering RootSeek Health, a transparent look at who they'd be trusting with their care before they ever book a visit. What listeners will learn: Why Dr. Su started this podcast, and why it was never meant to build audience or revenueHow the show is structured, rotating between professional interviews and unscripted patient consultationsWhy Mike Schrantz and Mary Jo Anderson return as recurring co-hosts, and what each brings to the showWhy the patient interviews are real, unscripted consultations, not scripted contentHow to get a free consultation with Dr. Su by sharing your story on the podcastKey moments or themes: The show's rotating format: two out of every four episodes are professional interviews, two are patient conversationsMike Schrantz as the recurring "doctor of homes," covering the intersection of environmental illness and clinical careMary Jo Anderson's ongoing story, from chronic Lyme disease to longevity optimizationThe invitation for listeners to be interviewed as patients in exchange for a free consultationDr. Su's perspective: At the six-month mark, Dr. Su reflects on the feedback the show has received and reaffirms its singular goal: helping people who've been dismissed by conventional medicine feel confident that someone finally believes them and has a plan. Connect with RootSeek: Get your free Lab Results Guide: Download at rootseekhealth.com/labs/ Have a question for Dr. Su? Once a month, Dr. Su opens one hour to five people only. Real questions, real answers, real direction. Book your spot: rootseekhealth.com/askdrmark Subscribe and Leave a Review: If Functional Medicine Reality has been valuable to you, please subscribe and leave a review. It helps more patients find the answers they have been searching for. If you're focused on optimizing your health long-term, we have something coming for you. Stay connected at rootseekhealth.com. Instagram: @rootseekhealth Disclaimer: This podcast is for educational purposes only.  Information discussed is not intended for diagnosis, curing, or prevention of any disease and is not intended to replace advice given by a licensed healthcare practitioner. This podcast and its guests may have direct or indirect financial interests associated with products mentioned.

You've probably been told your labs look fine while you're barely functioning. That gap, between what a lab report says and what your body is actually telling you, is exactly where this episode lives. Christine has been a patient of Dr. Su's for over fifteen years, and this conversation traces her whole arc, from years of unexplained symptoms that finally led to a Lyme disease diagnosis, through a mold reaction, and into the last five months, where three specific changes stacked together and took her vitality from a self-rated three out of ten to a consistent eight or nine. What you will learn: Why a body composition scan gave Christine real numbers instead of vague impressions, and how tracking muscle mass percentile (not just weight) became a starting point she could actually work fromHow hormone replacement therapy changed her ability to follow through on things, not just how she felt day to dayWhy properly managed ADHD medication, paired with better sleep and exercise, gave her the executive function to organize her whole routine around the other changesKey themes: What it took to finally get a Lyme disease diagnosis after over a decade of unexplained symptomsWhy gradual decline is so hard to notice and even harder to advocate for yourself againstHow several right-fit interventions, stacked together, can move the needle faster than any single one aloneDr. Su: "What stands out most in this conversation isn't any single treatment. It's the sequence. Christine had spent over a decade working through Lyme and mold before we ever got to hormones and ADHD medication. Each piece mattered, and each piece needed the ones before it. That's usually how real change works. It's rarely one thing." Guest bio: Christine" is a longtime RootSeek patient whose name has been altered to protect her privacy. She works in IT and has been under Dr. Su's care for over fifteen years, through a Lyme disease diagnosis, a mold reaction, and most recently, a five-month stretch of change involving body composition testing, hormone replacement therapy, and ADHD medication management. Ready to start your own root-cause investigation? Visit rootseekhealth.com to get started, or grab our free Lab Results Guide if you've been told your labs are normal but you still don't feel like yourself. Connect with RootSeek: Get your free Lab Results Guide: Download at rootseekhealth.com/labs/ Have a question for Dr. Su? Once a month, Dr. Su opens one hour to five people only. Real questions, real answers, real direction. Book your spot: rootseekhealth.com/askdrmark Subscribe and Leave a Review: If Functional Medicine Reality has been valuable to you, please subscribe and leave a review. It helps more patients find the answers they have been searching for. If you're focused on optimizing your health long-term, we have something coming for you. Stay connected at rootseekhealth.com. Instagram: @rootseekhealth Disclaimer: This podcast is for educational purposes only.  Information discussed is not intended for diagnosis, curing, or prevention of any disease and is not intended to replace advice given by a licensed healthcare practitioner. This podcast and its guests may have direct or indirect financial interests associated with products mentioned.

You've watched GLP-1s take over every feed, every ad, every conversation at a family gathering, and you're still not sure what to believe. Is it legit? Is it safe? Is it just the easy way out? Why this episode matters:  GLP-1s and peptides have gone from a niche diabetes medication to a full-blown cultural moment in just a few years, and the information hasn't kept up with the demand. Dr. Su and Mary Jo sit down for an honest, unfiltered conversation about what's actually happening in the body, where the confusion comes from, and why the stigma around using them deserves a second look. What you will learn: The real mechanism behind GLP-1s, and how tirzepatide differs from semaglutideWhy sourcing peptides has become what Dr. Su calls a wild west, and what that means for your safety and your walletWhere the "easy way out" stigma comes from, and why Dr. Su pushes back on it clinicallyWhat Mary Jo experienced firsthand over two years on semaglutide, including inflammation, energy, and the harder truth about what happens when you stopThe evolving research connecting GLP-1s to mast cell regulation and inflammation, beyond weight loss aloneKey themes: The gap between how GLP-1s are marketed and how they actually workStigma, gender, and the quiet judgment around using medication for weightCost, access, and how to avoid getting overcharged for microdosing or unreliable sourcingDr. Su's perspective: Dr. Su is direct about where he stands. He's seen GLP-1s change the trajectory of patients' health, not just their weight, and he's equally direct that the "did you earn this the hard way" question misses the point entirely. His focus stays on what actually helps someone get better, faster, and at a cost that doesn't take advantage of them. Guest bio, if relevant: Mary Jo Anderson is a recurring co-host of the Functional Medicine Reality Podcast, sharing her own chronic illness journey and recovery alongside Dr. Su. Connect with RootSeek: Get your free Lab Results Guide: Download at rootseekhealth.com/labs/ Have a question for Dr. Su? Once a month, Dr. Su opens one hour to five people only. Real questions, real answers, real direction. Book your spot: rootseekhealth.com/askdrmark Subscribe and Leave a Review: If Functional Medicine Reality has been valuable to you, please subscribe and leave a review. It helps more patients find the answers they have been searching for. If you're focused on optimizing your health long-term, we have something coming for you. Stay connected at rootseekhealth.com. Instagram: @rootseekhealth Disclaimer: This podcast is for educational purposes only.  Information discussed is not intended for diagnosis, curing, or prevention of any disease and is not intended to replace advice given by a licensed healthcare practitioner. This podcast and its guests may have direct or indirect financial interests associated with products mentioned.

You've read about mold. You've read about CIRS, mycotoxins, water damage, and now maybe even bacteria, and it's a lot. So you start looking into an environmental inspection, wondering if your house is behind the fatigue, the brain fog, the symptoms nobody's been able to explain. Why this episode matters: Dr. Mark Su sits down with Mike Schrantz, CIEC, one of the most connected indoor environmental professionals in the country, to talk about a pain point that shows up again and again in both their practices, patients starting their mold illness journey with an inspector before a clinician is ever involved. It's a conversation that rarely happens out loud, two professionals from different sides of the same problem comparing notes on where the process breaks down. What you will learn: Why starting with an environmental inspector before a doctor often leads to confusion, wasted money, and testing that doesn't answer the real questionThe difference between a targeted assessment and a whole-house assessment, and why that choice matters more than most people realizeWhat a clinician actually adds to the process that an inspector can't, and vice versaKey themes: The order of operations matters, clinician first, then environmental testingCost and scope decisions get a lot easier once a doctor has narrowed the focusThis is often a team effort between two professionals working toward the same goal, a patient who finally has answersDr. Su's perspective: Dr. Su has seen this pattern often enough to know it's rarely anyone's fault. Patients are doing their best with the information available to them, and that information usually points them toward testing before it points them toward a doctor who can make sense of the results. His take throughout the conversation is straightforward, if you have chronic symptoms that aren't going away and you have real concerns about your environment, it's worth having a clinician involved somewhere along the way, earlier rather than later. If this sounds like where you are right now, a Clinical First Steps Call with Dr. Su is a good next step before you spend a dime on testing. Book yours at go.rootseekhealth.com/askdrmark. Still in research mode? Grab the free Lab Results Guide at labsoptin.rootseekhealth.com/opt-in-page-landing-page-for-lab-results-without-answers. Links: rootseekhealth.comgo.rootseekhealth.com/askdrmarkenvironmentalanalytics.net (Mike Schrantz)healthybuildingalliance.orgiepradio.comiseai.orgGuest bio: Mike Schrantz, CIEC, is one of the most networked indoor environmental professionals in the country, working with chronic illness patients and complex mold and water-damage cases through Environmental Analytics. He's a recurring voice on the Functional Medicine Reality Podcast and a board member alongside Dr. Su at ISEAI. Disclaimer: This podcast is for educational purposes only.  Information discussed is not intended for diagnosis, curing, or prevention of any disease and is not intended to replace advice given by a licensed healthcare practitioner. This podcast and its guests may have direct or indirect financial interests associated with products mentioned.

If you've done months of physical therapy or chiropractic care and your pain still hasn't moved, you're not imagining it, and you're not doing it wrong. Something in the plan was probably missing from day one. Why this episode matters: Most pain treatment starts with the same assumption: get stronger. But strength only works within the range of motion you actually have access to. If a joint can't move the way it's supposed to move, no amount of strengthening will fix it, and in some cases, it can make things worse. Dr. Su sits down with Dr. Mike Melander, a chiropractor and Active Release Technique instructor, to explain the question almost no one asks before starting treatment. What you will learn: The difference between a mobility problem and a stability problem, and why it changes everything about a treatment planWhat "tissue quality" means, and why pain itself is an unreliable way to judge what's happening in a muscleWhy fibromyalgia and chronic Lyme patients often carry real, findable tissue issues, even when the root cause isn't musculoskeletalWhy chiropractic care and physical therapy work best together, not as competing approachesKey themes: Root-cause thinking applied to pain, not just complex chronic illnessThe overlap between structural pain and systemic conditions like Lyme and fibromyalgiaWhy "call me if you need me" is sometimes the best plan a provider can offerDr. Su's perspective: Dr. Su draws a direct line between what Dr. Melander does with tissue and joints and what RootSeek does with labs and systems. The tools are different, but the instinct is the same: don't stop at the first plan, look for what's actually driving the problem.  If this conversation named something you've been living with, whether it's pain that won't resolve or a chronic illness that hasn't had a clear answer, Dr. Su opens one hour a month to five people for real, direct guidance.   Book your spot: rootseekhealth.com/askdrmark Free Lab Guide: rootseekhealth.com/opt-in Links: North Shore Spine and Sport: northshorespinesport.comRootSeek Health: https://rootseekhealth.com/Guest bio: Dr. Mike Melander, DC is a chiropractor with 16 years in clinical practice and a multi-time Best of Boston winner. He has served as an Active Release Technique instructor since 2017 and practices at North Shore Spine and Sport in Newport, Massachusetts. Disclaimer: This podcast is for educational purposes only.  Information discussed is not intended for diagnosis, curing, or prevention of any disease and is not intended to replace advice given by a licensed healthcare practitioner. This podcast and its guests may have direct or indirect financial interests associated with products mentioned.

What's the single best supplement for longevity? Dr. Mark Su gets asked this question constantly, and in this solo episode he finally sits down and gives a real answer. It depends on what you're after. Want to feel younger and better? Creatine is the cheap, convenient place to start. Want something more personalized? Hormone replacement therapy, guided by testing, becomes the conversation. Want to actually be younger, not just feel it? NAD comes into play. Want precision instead of a one-size-fits-all answer? Biological age testing shows you your rate of aging and, more importantly, which system in your body is the weakest link holding everything else back. Then Dr. Su tries something different. He takes the exact same question to Claude, his AI tool of choice, and reads through the response live on the show. What comes back is a four-tier hierarchy of evidence, from robust epidemiologic data at the top all the way down to practitioner opinion with weak or no data behind it, the tier where most peptides and longevity stacks actually live. The most defensible single answer that holds up under real scrutiny turns out to be structured exercise targeting VO2 max. But this episode isn't really just about supplements. It's about the difference between advice that sounds confident and advice that's actually evidence-backed, and why practitioners, whether they're working in longevity medicine or treating complex chronic illness through functional medicine, owe their patients honesty about what the data can and can't tell us. No overselling, no fear-mongering, no pretending there's more certainty than there is. If you've ever wanted a straight answer to "what should I actually take," or you've quietly wondered whether your own practitioner is being fully honest with you about the evidence behind your plan, this one's for you. In this episode: Dr. Su's real answer to the "one best supplement for longevity" questionCreatine, NAD, and hormone replacement therapy, and when each actually fitsBiological age testing and finding your body's weakest linkUsing AI to rank the real evidence behind longevity interventionsWhy VO2 max training is the most defensible single answer with real data behind itThe case for honesty and transparency over hype in functional and longevity medicineConnect with RootSeek: Get your free Lab Results Guide: Download at rootseekhealth.com/labs/ Have a question for Dr. Su? Once a month, Dr. Su opens one hour to five people only. Real questions, real answers, real direction. Book your spot: rootseekhealth.com/askdrmark Subscribe and Leave a Review: If Functional Medicine Reality has been valuable to you, please subscribe and leave a review. It helps more patients find the answers they have been searching for. If you're focused on optimizing your health long-term, we have something coming for you. Stay connected at rootseekhealth.com. Instagram: @rootseekhealth Disclaimer: This podcast is for educational purposes only.  Information discussed is not intended for diagnosis, curing, or prevention of any disease and is not intended to replace advice given by a licensed healthcare practitioner. This podcast and its guests may have direct or indirect financial interests associated with products mentioned.

If you've ever glanced at your wearable in the morning and felt a small wave of anxiety over your recovery score, this episode is for you. And if you've spent years feeling like your body is stuck in some kind of alert mode, tired but wired, never quite settled, this conversation might put language to something you've been feeling for a long time without knowing what to call it. Why This Episode Matters Heart rate variability, or HRV, gets talked about constantly in wearable culture, but most people have never had it explained in a way that actually makes sense. It's not a heart measurement. It's a window into your nervous system, specifically the balance between your fight or flight response and your ability to rest, recover, and digest. Understanding that difference changes how you interpret your own data and your own body. What Listeners Will Learn What HRV actually measures, and why it has almost nothing to do with your cardiovascular system directly  How a healthy nervous system responds to stress and recovers from it  Why comparing your HRV number to someone else's tells you nothing useful  How often you should actually be checking your HRV data  The difference between how a consumer should use HRV and how a practitioner uses it  Why some people benefit from tracking daily, and why others are better off not tracking at all Key Moments or Themes Vivek's path from Dartmouth to co-founding SPREN (formerly Elite HRV) after a decade at NxStage Medical working in dialysis care  The autonomic nervous system explained in plain language, fight or flight versus rest and digest  Why HRV shows up differently across your pupils, skin, temperature, and heartbeat, and why comparing devices or people is close to meaningless  The real story behind why some of SPREN's most successful users eventually stopped tracking altogether  How a practitioner might use HRV data differently than an individual tracking their own recovery  Vivek's honest take on where HRV research is headed, and why it isn't going away Dr. Su's Perspective Dr. Su brings this conversation back to something he sees constantly in his patients. So many people are living in a state of chronic stress that their nervous system has simply adapted to it as the new normal. HRV gives language and data to something that root-cause medicine has always paid attention to, the nervous system is not separate from the rest of the body, it's central to it. Guest Bio Placeholder Vivek Menon is the co-founder of SPREN (formerly Elite HRV), a company that has spent over a decade turning wearable and smartphone data into insights people can actually use for their health, wellness, and performance. Prior to SPREN, he spent ten years at NxStage Medical, working to improve quality of life for dialysis patients. He's a Dartmouth graduate with dual degrees in economics and biology. If you're focused on optimizing your health long term, Dr. Su has something in the works for you. Stay connected at rootseekhealth.com. If this conversation had you thinking about your own nervous system, your own stress patterns, or what might really be going on in your body, Dr. Su opens a small number of spots each month for a direct conversation. Ask Dr. Mark: Clinical First Steps Call Once a month, Dr. Su opens one hour to five people only. Real questions, real answers, real direction. Book your spot: https://go.rootseekhealth.com/askdrmark Connect with Dr. Su: rootseekhealth.com | @rootseekhealth | @drmarksu Connect with RootSeek: Get your free Lab Results Guide: Download at rootseekhealth.com/labs/ Learn more about SPREN: www.spren.com Disclaimer: This podcast is for educational purposes only.  Information discussed is not intended for diagnosis, curing, or prevention of any disease and is not intended to replace advice given by a licensed healthcare practitioner. This podcast and its guests may have direct or indirect financial interests associated with products mentioned.

If your symptoms have never fully added up, if you've been handed a fibromyalgia diagnosis that didn't feel complete, or if you've watched someone you love go through the medical maze with Lyme disease and come out the other side still struggling, this episode is for you. Lyme disease is the single topic that opened the door to functional medicine for me nearly two decades ago. And it's one I keep coming back to because it remains one of the most complex, politically charged, and misunderstood conditions I encounter in practice. In this solo episode I share my most honest, grounded, and clinically informed perspective on where things stand in 2026. What I Cover in This Episode: Why I've always referred to Lyme disease as the great masquerader, and what that means for patients who keep being told their labs are normal. Why standard testing in conventional medicine misses Lyme disease more often than most people realize, and why a negative result is not always a definitive answer. My honest take on both underdiagnosis in conventional medicine and overfocus in the functional medicine world, and why I think both conversations are worth having. Why fibromyalgia is the number one conventional diagnosis I connect to undiagnosed Lyme disease, and what patterns in your own history are worth paying attention to. Where I stand on antimicrobial therapy, herbal approaches, and why I'm cautious about leaning too heavily on any single treatment direction. How fear and chronic fight or flight activation show up in my Lyme disease patients and why addressing the nervous system is always part of the protocol for me. A personal story about preparing for a family walk in a wooded area and what it reminded me about how patients with Lyme history experience everyday decisions differently. Who This Episode Is For: I made this episode for patients who have been diagnosed with fibromyalgia and never felt that diagnosis told the whole story. For anyone whose aches and pains just don't add up. For patients who have been treated for Lyme disease and made progress but still feel like there's a long way to go. And for practitioners who want a balanced, skeptic-friendly perspective on one of the most complex topics in chronic illness care. Key Takeaways: Lyme disease is underdiagnosed in conventional medicine due to symptom diversity and the limitations of standard testing. A negative result on standard two-tier testing does not close the investigation. Fibromyalgia is the number one conventional diagnosis I associate with undiagnosed Lyme disease. Herbal antimicrobials are my preferred approach for longer term treatment, always within a broader root cause framework. Fear and nervous system dysregulation are always part of the Lyme disease picture, and in my experience they are always worth addressing directly. Connect with RootSeek: Get your free Lab Results Guide: Download at rootseekhealth.com/labs/ Have a question for Dr. Su? Once a month, Dr. Su opens one hour to five people only. Real questions, real answers, real direction. Book your spot: rootseekhealth.com/askdrmark Subscribe and Leave a Review: If Functional Medicine Reality has been valuable to you, please subscribe and leave a review. It helps more patients find the answers they have been searching for. Disclaimer: This podcast is for educational purposes only.  Information discussed is not intended for diagnosis, curing, or prevention of any disease and is not intended to replace advice given by a licensed healthcare practitioner. This podcast and its guests may have direct or indirect financial interests associated with products mentioned.

If you've ever been told your labs are "normal" while you still feel exhausted, foggy, or sick in ways no one can explain, you already know how little "normal" actually promises. It turns out the same is true for the buildings we live in. Why this episode matters For anyone managing chronic illness, especially mold sensitivity, MCAS, or unexplained fatigue, your environment is often an overlooked piece of the root-cause puzzle. In this conversation, Dr. Mark Su talks with real estate developer Lou Minicucci of Minco Development Corp, along with recurring co-host Mike Schrantz, IEP, about what actually separates a building that just passes code from one that's genuinely built for health. What you'll learn Why meeting building code is a bare minimum standard, not a health standard, and how that mirrors the gap between a "normal" lab result and an optimal oneWhat FITWEL and LEED certifications actually measure, and why most buildings never pursue themHow lumber is inspected for mold before construction even begins, and why that detail matters more than most people realizeWhy low VOC materials matter cumulatively, even when every individual product is technically "compliant"The role of MERV filtration, ERV fresh air systems, and central water heating in reducing everyday exposurePractical questions you can ask about your own living space, whether you're moving, renting, or staying exactly where you areKey moments Lou's walk-through of the FITWEL and LEED certification process behind Newburyport CrossingThe mold inspection process during construction, and why it's so rarely doneDr. Su's "normal lab value" analogy applied to building standardsMike Schrantz's real-world perspective from working with chronic illness clients who are actively searching for a safer place to livePractical, no-pressure guidance for anyone who can't move or renovate right nowDr. Su's perspective Dr. Su has long said that healing happens on more than one front. This conversation is a reminder that the air you breathe and the space you live in are part of your health story, not separate from it. You don't need a fully certified building to make progress. Small, informed steps matter. A note on progress over perfection This episode isn't about needing a perfect home before you can get better. It's about understanding what's possible, what matters most, and where a person can realistically start. Curious whether your environment could be part of your own root-cause puzzle? Grab your free Lab Results Guide, or bring your questions to Dr. Su's monthly Ask Dr. Mark session, real questions, real answers, real direction. Get your free Lab Results Guide: Download at rootseekhealth.com/labs/ Have a question for Dr. Su? Once a month, Dr. Su opens one hour to five people only. Real questions, real answers, real direction.  Book your spot: rootseekhealth.com/askdrmark Connect with Dr. Su: rootseekhealth.com | @rootseekhealth Links: Minco Development Corp: mincocorp.comMike Schrantz's podcast: iepradio.comMike Schrantz's consulting: environmentalanalytics.netGuest bio: Lou Minicucci is a real estate developer with over 50 years of experience and the founder of Minco Development Corp. He's the developer behind Newburyport Crossing, a FITWEL and LEED certified residential community, and a Harvard Graduate School of Design alumnus known for his community involvement across the North Shore of Massachusetts. Disclaimer: This podcast is for educational purposes only.  Information discussed is not intended for diagnosis, curing, or prevention of any disease and is not intended to replace advice given by a licensed healthcare practitioner. This podcast and its guests may have direct or indirect financial interests associated with products mentioned.

If your stomach drops every time your doctor's office calls, or you find yourself spiraling into worst-case scenarios before a test result comes back, you're not broken and you're not overreacting. Medical anxiety is real, and it's especially common for people who've spent years navigating chronic illness, uncertain diagnoses, or being told their labs are "normal" when they know something is wrong. Why this episode matters Most anxiety advice tells you to "just breathe" or "stop worrying." That's not helpful when your nervous system has been shaped by years of appointments, imaging, and being dismissed. In this episode, Dr. Su shares three strategies he uses himself, and has learned from over a decade working with his own therapist and from countless conversations with patients, to actually work with medical anxiety instead of just pushing through it. What you'll learn Why confronting the anxiety directly, rather than avoiding or running from it, is the hardest but most effective first stepHow to flip the "what if" spiral in the opposite direction, and why grounding yourself in the feeling of good news matters as much as the logic of itThe "so what" game, a simple but revealing exercise for uncovering the real root cause underneath your medical anxietyWhy the fear you're carrying into an appointment is often about something deeper than the appointment itselfDr. Su's perspective Dr. Su doesn't position himself as a therapist, and he's clear about that in the episode. What he offers instead is the perspective of someone who has walked this road personally and who has sat across from hundreds of patients carrying the same dread. These are the strategies he's seen actually move the needle, not textbook talking points. Connect with Dr. Su and RootSeek Health: Download the free Lab Results Guide: If your labs keep coming back "normal" while you keep feeling anything but, this guide will help you understand what might be getting missed. Download at https://labsoptin.rootseekhealth.com/labs/ Have a question for Dr. Su? Once a month, Dr. Su opens one hour to five people only. Real questions, real answers, real direction. Book your spot: https://go.rootseekhealth.com/askdrmark rootseekhealth.com | @rootseekhealth | @drmarksu Disclaimer: This podcast is for educational purposes only.  Information discussed is not intended for diagnosis, curing, or prevention of any disease and is not intended to replace advice given by a licensed healthcare practitioner. This podcast and its guests may have direct or indirect financial interests associated with products mentioned.