"Doctor, should I get one of those gene tests so I'll know what I'm going to get in the future?" That's a very common question now. People see friends posting DNA results online, hear about celebrities like Angelina Jolie having preventive surgery for BRCA genes, or know a family member who had cancer or a heart attack "out of the blue." It's natural to wonder if your genes can give you a clear warning, or a clean bill of health. Genomic testing can be a powerful tool for pre

In clinic, whenever coffee comes up, many people tense up. The same questions appear again and again: “Is it safe to drink coffee if I have a heart problem?” “If I don’t drink coffee I feel exhausted—should I force myself to quit?” It doesn’t help that media headlines often contradict one another. One day coffee is praised for lowering cancer risk and extending life; the next it’s labelled a trigger for high blood pressure and heart rhythm problems. No wonder so many people f

"My husband and I eat exactly the same thing. He loses weight. I gain it." That observation from a 44-year-old accountant stopped me mid-sentence during a review of her food diary. Her diet was genuinely good. Yet her glucose spiked where his stayed flat, and her energy crashed where his held steady. They had different gut microbiomes, different sleep patterns, and (as it turned out) different variants in the gene that governs how she processes dietary fat. Large studies conf

The single biggest turning point in my training came during a rotation at Weill Cornell's pediatric endocrinology service. In a center for pediatric obesity, I watched children and families change, not because of one prescription, but because their whole context was addressed: food and sleep, movement and family systems, school and culture, even faith and community. When those elements lined up, outcomes were remarkable and sustained. I decided to dedicate my career to making

"I've seen four doctors this year. Every test comes back normal. But I feel terrible." That line, or some version of it, shows up in my clinic more than any other. The person sitting across from me has usually done everything right: followed up on referrals, completed the labs, tried the advice. Yet here they are, still exhausted, still bloated, still wondering whether something real is happening in their body. Something usually is. The problem isn't that the tests were wrong