TOMORROW (1/23) AT 11AM ET WE WILL HOST OUR LIVESTREAM FOR THE WEEK - (LINK). IT WILL BE A PART II OF CLAUDE FOR HEALTHCARE (AND OTHER FOOD IS HEALTH RABBIT HOLES).
Preamble
This is a completely transparent recording and post. Some of our readers love it when we get real, others prefer to stick to our pieces about restructuring healthcare. If you prefer the latter, you should skip this one.
Here’s the thing, I’m not just obsessed with redesigning 3 industries simultaneously, I’m also a 53 year old woman, and anyone with basic science knowledge knows what that generally entails. I’ve also determined that on this Food Is Health crusade, if my own willingness to be vulnerable and open to being an N of 1 experiment for others is helpful, then I’m in. So here goes, this one is going to be FUN.
I highly recommend you watch or listen to the recording as my quick summary below does not give the energy of this one justice. Dr. Robert Ferguson is truly a gem!
A Little Background
If you’ve been following my “Claude for Healthcare” journey (still in process - note I’m looking for a few docs to join me to weigh-in on the findings either via livestream or pre-recorded), you know I’ve been on a deep dive into my own health - particularly my brain health. We have a family history of brain health issues that is accompanied by premature and mismanged hormones. After everything I’ve learned about the connection between hormones and brain health, I can’t ignore this for myself.
I don’t want an end of life with Dementia if I can prevent it.
So a few weeks ago, I put up a LinkedIn post saying I was ready to start HRT. I’d asked friends who they were seeing, compiled a list, and found that only one provider even met my basic criteria. When I looked them up? They were also a Botox clinic. A MedSpa.
Nothing wrong with that business model. But it wasn’t the right fit for me.
Then Robert Ferguson responded to my post with words that stopped me: “I wish you’d asked me first.”
Robert is a clinical nutritionist with 31 years in practice. He’s worked with thousands of women navigating perimenopause and menopause - using food. His mother survived breast cancer and he believes they were connected to hormonal therapies of the late ‘70s and early ‘80s. That personal history drives his work.
I immediately took him up on his offer. Here’s the thing: I’m not in crisis mode. My symptoms are manageable. I’m lucky. But I know that the hormonal dysregulation happening in my body isn’t healthy for my systems long-term.
So we to kick things off, Robert, Carter Williams and I recorded a conversation, here are the highlights.
The Foundation Nobody’s Talking About
Robert’s approach starts with something most doctors skip entirely: inflammation.
“All chronic disease - all of it - the base for all is inflammation,” he told us. I’m not here to validate, but based on all that I’ve learned, I tend to agree and Carter is in the same camp.
Robert’s been having this conversation with OBGYNs from Harvard and Stanford. Now he has them on board. And he pointed us to Dr. Artemis Simopoulos, a 92-year-old endocrinologist and nutrition researcher who is the most cited physician in the world on inflammation and lifestyle.
In some ways this is the core thesis of Food Is Health and We spend so much time chasing hormone levels without addressing why the body can’t regulate those hormones properly. Robert’s argument is that if we fix the root cause - inflammation - he body can do what it’s designed to do.
Carter summed it up perfectly: “Your body knows how to regulate estrogen. Putting exogenous estrogen in isn’t necessarily helpful, and you’ll never get it right. What you really need to do is make sure the regulatory mechanism isn’t screwed up by too much inflammation.” Who knew engineers would also be such good clinicians?
Three Things You Generally Never Hear
1. The Omega-6 to Omega-3 Ratio
Most doctors order standard omega-3 tests that measure what’s in your plasma - which basically tells you what you ate two days ago. Robert uses a dried blood spot test that looks at the cell membrane, giving a picture of what’s happening over 120 days (similar to an A1C for blood sugar).
The ratio between omega-6 and omega-3 fatty acids is a critical inflammation marker. In Europe, this is standard. At Harvard’s research department, they do it. But almost no practicing physicians in the U.S. look at this.
2. Cell Membrane Fluidity
This one blew my mind. I’ve had hundreds of tests run because of an immune system malfunction - some that had to be sent to a specialty hospital and were only done for my particular Immunologist but it doesn’t appear he did this one.
Every cell in your body has a membrane that’s both protective and selective - it controls what gets in (oxygen, nutrients) and what gets out. If that membrane is rigid instead of fluid, cell signaling breaks down. Estrogen can’t do its job. Insulin can’t work efficiently.
Robert asked a question that reframed everything: Why are we pushing 25,000 milligrams of vitamin D on people? Because the cell membrane isn’t fluid enough for normal amounts to work. We’re forcing nutrients into cells instead of fixing the cells’ ability to receive them.
Think about people with neuropathy taking medication for pain. What if early on they had improved their cell membrane fluidity so oxygen could actually reach those cells?
3. What Happens in Your Gut Shows Up in Your Blood
The most potent antioxidant in the human body isn’t glutathione (though that’s what most people would guess). It’s something called indole-3-propionic acid (IPA), produced by bacteria in your gut.
When your gut is inflamed, your body produces higher levels of kynurenine, which robs tryptophan. That means less IPA, less serotonin, less melatonin, and more aggressive behavior, depression, and anxiety. What’s happening on one side of your health is robbing the other side.
A key area to be addressed - are you getting enough dietary fiber? Enough variety of fiber? Any fermented foods?
The Plan: What We’re Actually Going to Do
Robert is sending me a discovery questionnaire and lab tests - including that cell membrane fluidity marker that nobody else looks at. We’ll establish a baseline.
Then he’ll create a customized food-based protocol. Not supplements (though those may play a role). Real food.
Over the next four months, we’ll meet weekly for 10-minute check-ins. I’m committing to complete compliance - I’ll do exactly what he tells me to do. And I’ll share the whole process here via the Substack.
We’ll make sure to put up a Livestream when we review my labs and he builds the protocol. I want you to see what we learn. I want you to be able to ask questions.
Because here’s what I keep thinking about: We say personalized medicine isn’t scalable. After my experience with Claude last week, I don’t think that’s true anymore. With AI, with accessible testing, with practitioners like Robert willing to share their knowledge - N of 1 care is becoming real so rapidly it’s jarring.
I’m going to be your guinea pig. If my data can help you understand what’s possible, then there’s no shame in any of it. We all need to figure this out collectively.
A Note on What I Was Eating During This Conversation
Yes, I was snacking on camera. I’m not a processed food person, but when I hit days like today where I end up at 3pm recording without lunch, I need something. It used to be protein bars but I don’t like how processed they are and the lack of transparency about chemical load.
I’ve found these awesome crackers called Better Buckwheat. And no we aren’t sponsored, I just stumbled onto them through Thrive. The ingredients are pretty darn amazing for crackers - buckwheat flour, dried figs, walnuts, organic maple syrup, hemp hearts, flax seed, thyme, balsamic vinegar, baking soda, sea salt, and black pepper. 6 crackers - 60 calories, 0g saturated fat, minimal sodium, 9g carbs and 2g protein - I’d say no added sugar but as Carter pointed out, there is maple syrup in them so that’s a reflection of labeling standards that we all know need improving. Maple syrup is still sugar to your liver.
The point of all of this isn’t perfection. The point is understanding what actually moves the needle.
This is going to be FUN!
What do you want to know and learn? How can we make this impactful for you?
