Pathways to Well-Being

Functional medicine uses the latest advances in the areas of genomics, epigenetics, nutrition, and lifestyle to find personalized solutions that lead to improved patient outcomes. Now, more than ever, the functional medicine approach is critical to address the rising tide of chronic disease and increase resilience among the most vulnerable populations in the time of a pandemic. Everyone deserves to find their own pathway to optimal health, which requires expanding access to high quality medical care for all individuals. Pathways to Well-being is a clinician-focused podcast that will feature leading practitioners and researchers from around the world engaged in conversations about the foundations of health, the latest medical advances from the front lines of health care, and the ways in which we can all help increase access to quality functional medicine care for everyone.

In Conversation with the 2025 Linus and Ave Helen Pauling Award Winner Deanna Minich, MS, PhD, and Jeffery Bland, PhD

On this special episode of Pathways to Well-Being, IFM co-founder Dr. Jeffery Bland talks with the winner of the 2025 Linus and Ave Helen Pauling Award in Functional Medicine, Dr. Deanna Minich.  

09-22
40:26

Exploring the Potential of Psychedelics in Mental Health with Robin Carhart-Harris, PhD

On this episode of Pathways to Well-Being, noted psychiatric researcher Robin Carhart-Harris, PhD, discusses the potential of psychedelic-assisted therapies to better understand how these agents may be applied therapeutically to support mental health and brain function.        

08-15
48:27

Vagus Nerve Stimulation: Modulating the Parasympathetic Response

On this episode of Pathways to Well-Being, Peter Staats, MD, MBA, discusses the role of the vaganerve is modulating the body’s response to chronic and acute stressors, and explores vagus nervestimulation therapies for restoring parasympathetic balance.

07-17
44:10

Ketogenic Diets and Brain Health with Dr. Terry Wahls

On this episode of Pathways to Well-Being, legendary IFM educator Dr. Terry Wahls discusses how low-carbohydrate dietary plans like paleo and keto can provide the necessary nutrients to fuel the brain and help prevent cognitive decline and neurodegeneration, as well as how we can help patients implement and sustain these dietary changes to improve brain health.

06-18
48:11

Breath, Autonomic Balance, and Health with Sachin Patel, DC

On this episode of Pathways to Well-Being, we welcome AIC 2025 presenter Dr. Sachin Patel to discuss the importance of breathing, mindfulness, and achieving balance from within.

05-20
51:44

Whole Health and Transforming Healthcare Systems With Tracy Gaudet, MD

On this episode of Pathways to Well-Being, Whole Health pioneer and featured 2025 AIC speaker TracyGaudet, MD, who has years of experience as an agent of change in healthcare systems, will explore whathealthcare transformation means and how practices and hospital systems alike can begin to achieve it.

05-13
43:54

Healing the Physiological Effects of Trauma

On today’s episode of Pathways to Well-Being, AIC 2025 speaker Aimie K. Apigian, MD, MS, MPH, explores physiological dysfunction rooted in past trauma, differentiates between the body’s stress response and trauma response, and discusses how trauma affects mental, emotional, and physical markers of health.

04-30
42:09

Optimizing Protein Intake for Muscle Health and Improved Health Across the Lifespan

On today’s episode of Pathways to Well-Being, 2025 AIC speaker Donald Layman, PhD, FASN,explores why muscle health is so important to overall health, the lifestyle-based approaches thatbenefit muscle quality and preservation, and the important role that protein plays.

04-19
50:09

Chronic Infections as an Underlying Cause of Persistent Symptoms

On today’s episode of Pathways to Well-Being, Tom Sult, MD, discusses the important clinical connections between chronic infections and common persistent symptoms and how to manage them using functional medicine strategies. Transcript: https://www.ifm.org/podcast/chronic-infections-persistent-symptoms

03-18
49:35

Pediatric Food Allergies & Intolerances with Rebecca Carey, MD

Pediatric gastroenterologist Rebecca Carey, MD, shares how childhood GI issues and sensitivities influence adult health. Transcript: https://www.ifm.org/podcast/food-allergies-intolerances-pediatric-health

02-12
41:39

Revisiting the Trending Topics in Functional Medicine of 2024

As a systems-based approach, the functional medicine model looks all facets of health; evaluating why disease occurs and uncovering what each patients needs to thrive. Over the past year, we’ve discussed how this personalized approach to dysfunction and disease makes a difference in clinical outcomes. On this special episode of Pathways to Well-Being, we’re revisiting some of the trending topics and highlights of 2024. From brain health and thyroid health, to Long COVID, menopause, the gut microbiome and beyond, we’ll explore how the core concepts of functional medicine, such as precision nutrition, lifestyle modifications, and honoring the patient's story, can impact these diverse areas of care because they make health goals achievable and sustainable long-term. Transcript: https://www.ifm.org/podcast/2024-trending-topics-in-functional-medicine

12-22
42:12

Linking Stress and Inflammation to Chronic Disease

Mylene Huynh, MD, MPH, IFMCP, explores the connections between stress, inflammation, and disease and highlights ways to effectively transform stress to improve health. Transcript: https://www.ifm.org/news-insights/stress-inflammation-chronic-disease/

11-23
39:26

Optimizing Cancer Care & Prevention

Rebecca Knackstedt, MD, PhD, discusses the benefit of lifestyle-based modalities in supporting breast cancer treatment. Transcript: https://www.ifm.org/podcast/breast-cancer-care-and-prevention

10-25
40:37

The Impact of Toxins on the Gut Microbiome, With Dr. Joseph Pizzorno

On this episode of Pathways to Well-Being, Dr. Joseph Pizzorno discusses clinical indicators of toxic overload and how the integrity of the gut microbiome can influence an individual’s sensitivity to ubiquitous toxins. Transcript: https://www.ifm.org/news-insights/impact-of-toxins-on-the-gut-microbiome/

10-21
46:49

Improving Thyroid Function by Targeting the Gut Microbiome

On today’s episode of Pathways to Well-Being, clinical researcher and thyroid expert Michael Ruscio, DC, discusses the functional medicine approaches to optimizing and balancing thyroid hormone levels. Transcript: https://www.ifm.org/news-insights/improving-thyroid-function-gut-microbiome/

09-14
46:13

Biological Aging and Extending Healthspan, With Dr. Kara Fitzgerald

On this episode of Pathways to Well-Being, Dr. Kara Fitzgerald discusses epigenetics, longevity, and how diet and lifestyle-based interventions can slow biological aging to optimize the healthspan. Full transcript: https://www.ifm.org/news-insights/biological-aging-health-span

08-25
36:24

Neuroinflammation, Brain Function, & Mental Health

On this episode of Pathways to Well-Being, we welcome Jaquel Patterson, ND, to explore the systemic impacts of neuroinflammation on physiological and psychiatric conditions and outline functional medicine approaches to optimizing brain health. Full transcript: https://www.ifm.org/news-insights/neuroinflammation-brain-function-mental-health/

08-22
42:46

Whole-Person Care for Perimenopause Symptoms

Carrie Levine, CNM, IFMCP discusses whole-person care for perimenopause and personalized approaches for assessing and treating fluctuating hormonal patterns. Full transcript: https://www.ifm.org/news-insights/podcast-july-2024-whole-person-care-perimenopause/

07-27
45:18

Drug-Induced Nutrient Depletion and How Functional Medicine Pharmacists Can Help

In this episode of Pathways to Well-Being, we welcome functional medicine pharmacists Dr. Lara Zakaria and Dr. Melody Hartzler to discuss drug-induced nutrient depletions and the role of pharmacists on collaborative care teams. View full transcript here: https://www.ifm.org/news-insights/podcast-july-2024-nutrient-depletion-and-pharmacists/

07-12
43:55

Mental-Emotional-Spiritual Connections to Physiology

In this episode of Pathways to Well-Being, Kara Parker, MD, discusses social determinants of health and assessing mental-emotional-spiritual well-being. Read episode transcript here: https://www.ifm.org/news-insights/podcast-june-2024-mental-emotional-spiritual-connections/

06-24
44:12

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