Finally with Dr. Raina Patel

A "normal" cholesterol result can still hide real heart risk. Dr. Raina Patel explains ApoB, Lp(a), the new 2026 guidelines, how GLP-1s and weight loss change your lipids, the latest medications, and the truth about statin myths. The numbers your panel isn't showing you - and what to do about them.Follow Dr. Raina Patel:Instagram: @drrainapatelYoutube: @drrainapatelSpotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3mVmg2ILXrnYDMklGnv6T0?si=59b15e4179b64f27Apple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/finally-with-dr-raina-patel/id1896908922

Dr. Raina Patel sits down with Dr. Kimberly Bekemeier, a board-certified family physician and founder of Hormone Harmony OC, a membership-based women's primary care practice in Huntington Beach focused on perimenopause, menopause, and hormone therapy. Together they walk through menopause in plain language: what's actually happening in the body, the symptoms that get missed or dismissed, and what real treatment options look like today. Whether you're in the thick of it or just starting to wonder, this is the menopause primer every woman deserves.Find Dr. Bekemeier at hormoneharmonyoc.com and on Instagram @hormoneharmonyoc.Sources: Hormone Harmony OCFollow Dr. Raina Patel: Instagram: @drrainapatelYoutube: @drrainapatelSpotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3mVmg2ILXrnYDMklGnv6T0?si=59b15e4179b64f27Apple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/finally-with-dr-raina-patel/id1896908922

In this episode, Dr. Raina Patel breaks down how to actually read a nutrition label, in the order that matters. She walks through why serving size changes every other number on the panel, why protein deserves attention before calories, and the real difference between total sugar and added sugar. The episode also covers fiber, sodium, common marketing terms like "reduced sugar" and "multigrain," and specific ingredients worth recognizing by name, including hydrogenated oils, sodium nitrite, and non-nutritive sweeteners.Follow Dr. Raina Patel:Instagram: @drrainapatelYouTube: @drrainapatelSpotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3mVmg2ILXrnYDMklGnv6T0Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/finally-with-dr-raina-patel/id1896908922

Women's Health Mondays · Episode · Guest appearanceThis episode originally aired on The Dr. Francavilla Show. She invited me on, and I'm grateful she did. If you're not already following her show, start here: https://open.spotify.com/show/3qEaWFEYAm7RPE9oXv1Hq5?si=4e0a8baa13894663Weight gain in midlife is one of the most common things women bring to me, and it is almost always framed as a personal failure. It isn't. Dr. Francavilla and I sat down for a conversation about what actually changes in the body during perimenopause and menopause, why the same habits stop producing the same results, and what the evidence supports for treatment.We start with the biology: what falling estrogen does to fat distribution, muscle mass, insulin sensitivity, and sleep, and why those shifts show up on the scale even when nothing about your routine has changed. Then we get into what helps, including hormone therapy, nutrition and protein, resistance training, and where anti-obesity medications fit for women in this stage of life.

Dr. Raina Patel breaks down the wellness peptide trend taking over Instagram and TikTok, BPC-157, CJC-1295, Ipamorelin, Tesamorelin, and NAD, separating what’s backed by human evidence from what’s marketing. She covers why this category exploded, the FDA’s ongoing review of whether to widen access to several of these compounds, the regulatory gray zone around “research use only” products, real safety concerns, and how to critically evaluate a peptide claim before trying it.