The Gut: The Foundation of Overall Health

For more than 25 years, I practiced conventional gastroenterology. My training at Johns Hopkins and my years in St. Louis gave me the opportunity to help countless patients manage digestive diseases—using procedures, medications, and the tools that traditional medicine offers. But as the years went on, I noticed something troubling: too many of my patients were stuck in cycles of chronic symptoms. We could put out the “fires” in the short term, but we weren’t addressing the root causes that were driving their illness in the first place.

That realization led me to expand my practice into functional medicine. What I’ve learned is simple but profound: the gut is the foundation of overall health. It influences not just digestion, but the immune system, hormone balance, energy, and even mood. When the gut is inflamed, leaky, or out of balance, the effects ripple across the entire body. Autoimmune diseases flare, chronic inflammation takes hold, and patients experience fatigue, weight changes, and brain fog.

In conventional medicine, we often wait for disease to reach a point where it can be diagnosed and labeled. But in functional medicine, we ask why symptoms are happening. Is there a microbiome imbalance? Are food sensitivities quietly inflaming the gut lining? Is stress or poor sleep fueling the cycle? These are the questions that matter, because once we identify the root triggers, healing can truly begin.

What excites me now is seeing patients reclaim their health by restoring their gut. With advanced testing, targeted nutrition, and lifestyle interventions, we can reduce inflammation, strengthen the immune system, and improve not only digestive symptoms but overall vitality. Patients often tell me they’re surprised—“I came to you for bloating or reflux, and suddenly I have more energy, clearer thinking, and my joints don’t ache anymore.” That’s the power of healing from the inside out.

For me, the shift from conventional to functional medicine has been both humbling and inspiring. I still value the tools of traditional medicine, but my focus now is on helping patients prevent illness, not just treat it after the fact. And it all starts with the gut. When we care for it, we aren’t just improving digestion—we’re laying the foundation for lifelong health.