Dr. Kara Fitzgerald

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Dr. Kara Fitzgerald

Actively engaged in award-winning clinical research on epigenetics & longevity. IFM Faculty & renowned international speaker.

Director of New Frontiers Functional Medicine & Nutrition Clinic. Subscribe to get latest content at www.drkarafitzgerald.com

02/13/2026

Physicians appear in the Epstein files.

Silence didn’t feel like an option.

In this episode of New Frontiers, I sit down with Sara Gottfried, MDand Brad Jacobs MD for a values-based conversation about medical ethics, accountability, and trauma-informed care.

Because this isn’t outside functional medicine.

Trauma impacts chronic disease. ACE scores predict biological aging. Integrity matters in medicine.

Trigger warning: This episode discusses sexual abuse.

Comment PROTECTING and we’ll DM you a link to the episode, or head to https://www.drkarafitzgerald.com/2026/02/12/ethics-in-healthcare-epstein-files/ to listen to the full episode.

02/12/2026

“You need to become the director of the orchestra of your own health.”

That idea sits at the heart of my recent podcast conversation with Sergey Young.
We talk about what it really means to take an active role in your health, not chasing every new trend, but learning how to coordinate the basics so your biology works with you, not against you.

If you’re curious about longevity, agency, and how science can guide smarter choices over time, this is a conversation worth hearing.

🎧 Comment HEALTHSPAN or head to https://www.drkarafitzgerald.com/2025/10/21/sergey-young-longevity-future/ to listen to the full podcast.

02/11/2026

🔬 International Day of Women & Girls in Science

The facts:
• Women make up just ~33% of researchers globally
• In G20 countries, women hold only 22% of STEM jobs
• In some regions, fewer than 1 in 10 scientists are women
Science is stronger when more voices are included.

Innovation accelerates when girls see a future for themselves in STEM.

Equity in science isn’t just fair. It’s essential.

Today, we celebrate women in science and commit to supporting the next generation.

Source: UNESCO

02/10/2026

Walk this way to a better brain 🧠 🚶🏻

Sometimes we overcomplicate things when it comes to improving brain health. This study showed that walking for 40 minutes three times a week increased the size of the hippocampus and improved memory in healthy older adults. It increased hippocampal volume by 2%, which corresponds to reversing the age-related loss in hippocampal volume that occurs over 1 to 2 years.

Want more from us? Comment "newsletter" to join our exclusive mailing list. 💌

Want to find out your biological age? Comment "bioagequiz" to take our pop quiz and test your BioAge!

02/09/2026

If a patient doesn’t feel right but their hormones look “normal”, this matters.

Perimenopause and menopause aren’t static. Hormones fluctuate day to day, yet most testing captures a single moment in time. That snapshot can miss the patterns behind symptoms like brain fog, poor sleep, mood changes, weight gain, or irregular cycles.
When symptoms persist but labs look “fine,” it often leads to frustration, delayed care, or guesswork.

In this upcoming webinar, we walk through real patient cases to show how tracking hormones over time can change the way peri- and menopause are understood and managed.
If you’re navigating this transition, or caring for someone who is, this conversation offers clarity and a more realistic approach to hormone care.

🎧 Join Dr. Kara Fitzgerald, Dr. Carrie Jones, and the clinical team at Mira for this important conversation.

Comment HAPPY HORMONES and we’ll DM you the link or head to https://www.drkarafitzgerald.com/2026/01/28/webinar-hormone-testing-menopause/ to register.

02/08/2026

This isn’t just a delicious keto dessert. It’s a way to support your gene expression and cellular health through what I call . These are food compounds that literally send information to your genes, helping dial up processes that support metabolic balance, inflammation control, and healthy aging.

In this recipe, made with creamy coconut, sugar-free chocolate, and cooling mint, you’re getting:
✨ Healthy fats (from coconut): fuel for cellular energy
✨ Polyphenols & flavonoids (from dark chocolate): antioxidant and gene-activating powerhouses
✨ Mint bioactives: soothing, anti-inflammatory flavor boosters

All of these compounds fall into the broader category of epinutrients , molecules that influence DNA methylation and gene expression in ways that support resilience and longevity. That’s exactly the kind of nutrition we emphasize throughout Younger You: food as information, not just calories.

🍦 Mint Chocolate Chip Keto Dessert is a satisfying treat that also aligns with longevity-supportive eating, a blend of pleasure and purpose.

Try it. Enjoy it. And remember: rich flavor and biological support can coexist.

Comment MINT DESSERT and we'll DM you the link to the full recipe or head to https://www.drkarafitzgerald.com/recipe/mint-chocolate-chip-keto-dessert/.

02/07/2026

A 2025 paper in the Journal of Internal Medicine highlights how a common oral pathogen (Porphyromonas gingivalis) can dysregulate innate immunity in ways that may drive neuroinflammation and Alzheimer’s pathology.

Key insight:
Amyloid-β may not be the primary problem, but a protective antimicrobial response to chronic infection and immune stress.

From a functional medicine lens, this matters. It links:
• Oral health
• Chronic infection
• Immune resilience
• Neurodegeneration

And it reinforces something many of us already practice:
👉 look upstream
👉 support immune balance
👉 address barrier health early

For clinicians, this is a reminder that brain health is inseparable from systemic immune function.

doi: 10.1111/joim.70060

Funding: Supported by the NIH National Institute on Aging (NIH Director’s Pioneer Award ), with additional support from the SENS Foundation, Stanford University, Cisco University Research Program Fund, and the Truchard Foundation.

Conflicts of interest: None declared.

02/06/2026

In my first year of naturopathic medical school, we had a class on hydrotherapy.

Hot and cold water Prescribed like medicine. Taught alongside biochemistry and physiology.

At the time, practices like this were often dismissed as “nature cure.” Today, they’ve been rebranded as intermittent thermal stress, and the science has finally caught up.

And honestly? My heart sings a little every time that happens.

What we’re now seeing in the research is powerful: Brief, intentional exposure to heat or cold acts as a hormetic stressor, a small challenge that activates the body’s repair, resilience, and longevity pathways.

From a functional medicine perspective, this matters because intermittent thermal stress has been shown to:

• Improve mitochondrial function and metabolic flexibility
• Increase heat shock proteins that protect protein structure (a hallmark of aging)
• Reduce chronic inflammation and support immune resilience
• Support cardiovascular health, mood, and even cognitive protection
• Potentially narrow the gap between lifespan and healthspan

This concept of hormesis, that a little stress can be profoundly beneficial, is foundational to how I think about longevity and is woven throughout Younger You.

Ancient practices. Modern science. One powerful reminder: our bodies are built to adapt when we give them the right signals.

Read the full blog. Comment THERMAL STRESS and we’ll DM you the link!

02/05/2026

February is National Cancer Prevention Month. And the numbers are a wake-up call.

In the U.S. alone, an estimated 2,041,910 new cancer cases and over 618,000 deaths are projected this year, that’s more than 5,600 diagnoses every single day.

Even more striking: nearly 40% of men and women in the U.S. will be diagnosed with cancer at some point in their lives based on the latest lifetime risk data.

Globally, about 1 in 4 people will develop cancer during their lifetime, a somber reminder that this is not rare, it’s common.

But here’s what functional medicine brings to this month of awareness:
Cancer isn’t just a matter of genetics or chance. Most cases are influenced by modifiable lifestyle and metabolic factors. Diet quality, metabolic health, inflammation, immune resilience, toxin exposure, physical activity, and circadian rhythms all shape risk over time.

An FxMed approach doesn’t chase fear. It focuses on root causes and signals:
• Optimize metabolic flexibility and glucose regulation
• Prioritize nutrient patterns that support detoxification and DNA repair
• Balance the microbiome and reduce chronic inflammation
• Support immune surveillance and resilience
• Address environmental and lifestyle exposures early

If nearly 4 in 10 people are diagnosed with cancer in their lifetime, prevention isn’t optional, it’s essential.

This month, think beyond screening. Think upstream, where metabolic health, nutrition, movement, sleep, and immune signaling intersect.

Cancer prevention isn’t one pill or test. It’s a lifelong strategy built on physiology, not fear.

Sources: https://www.cancer.gov/about-cancer/understanding/statistics https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11745215/ https://gco.iarc.fr/ and https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10640926/

02/04/2026

When you eat may matter as much as what you eat.

A new 2025 review in Current Obesity Reports takes a deep look at time-restricted eating (TRE) and what it’s really doing under the hood.

From a functional medicine lens, the most important takeaway is about circadian biology.

TRE appears to:
• Resynchronize peripheral clocks (liver, muscle, gut, adipose tissue)
• Improve mitochondrial signaling and metabolic flexibility
• Reduce inflammatory signaling
• Support autophagy and cellular repair
• Favorably influence the gut microbiome

Clinically, TRE performs about as well as calorie restriction for weight loss, without calorie counting, which matters for adherence. More importantly, it reinforces a core FxMed principle: metabolism is rhythmic, and timing is a therapeutic lever.

This aligns closely with how I think about metabolic timing, resilience, and aging biology in Younger You, not extremes, but intelligent signaling.

https://doi.org/10.1007/s13679-025-00609-z

Funding & disclosures: Open-access funding provided by Università degli Studi di Roma Tor Vergata (CRUI-CARE Agreement). No external funding. Authors report no competing interests.

02/03/2026

❤️ It’s National Heart Month, and your heart is listening to more than your cholesterol.

When we talk about heart health, we often focus on a single number. But the heart is deeply influenced by inflammation, metabolic health, mitochondrial function, hormones, sleep, stress, and even how your genes are being expressed.

In functional and longevity medicine, we look at the heart as part of an interconnected system, not an isolated organ.
Here’s what truly supports heart health over time:
• Metabolic flexibility and insulin sensitivity
• Mitochondrial resilience
• Vascular health and endothelial function
• Inflammation control
• Lifestyle patterns that shape gene expression

And yes, nutrition, movement, and stress regulation matter every single day, not just when labs are out of range.

What I find hopeful is this:
❤️ The heart is remarkably responsive to change. Small, consistent shifts can meaningfully improve cardiovascular health and biological aging trajectories.

This month is a reminder not to fear heart disease, but to understand it better, address root causes, and use the tools we have to protect heart health across the lifespan.

02/02/2026

What happens when AI meets aging biology? In this conversation, reproductive biologist Dr. Vittorio Sebastiano and I explore how rapidly advancing technologies are reshaping geroscience and regenerative medicine, with the potential to be game-changing for human health and longevity.

To watch the full excerpt, comment ERA, and we'll send you the link or head to https://www.drkarafitzgerald.com/2026/01/20/ai-ovarian-rejuvenation-longevity/

Dr. Sebastiano also joined us for the 2025 Functional Medicine is Longevity Medicine™ Masterclass, where he examined how organ-specific rejuvenation may deliver systemic benefits for overall health and longevity.

To access the full recording, comment “YYIP” and we’ll send you the registration link.

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