Welcome to Your Dose of Dr. Molly: Issue #7!
I got a paper published! An exclusive preview of my company. Plus learn about the power of social connection & metabolic health.
I’m still riding the high from publishing my first book, The Spark Factor. In case you’re new here, this book is based on a course I taught at Stanford for 3 years on healthspan, which has since been transformed into an online course, Your Healthspan Journey, in addition to my career working with executives as a private physician, and working with over 50 companies in the last 10 years where I helped them with clinical strategy and product development.
A big part of the book and online course focuses on metabolism and the root causes of insulin resistance, (for very good reason). But my book and course and a paper that I recently published in Frontiers in Psychiatry, also cover something that people don’t talk about as often or even realize: the relationship between social disconnection (which causes psychosocial stress) and metabolic dysfunction.
New research points to the mitochondria and energy dysregulation as the root cause of the majority of metabolic and mental illnesses. I think this topic is particularly of importance to men because of what has happened during the pandemic and the astonishing number of mass shootings. I believe that we all underwent a significant social experiment involving social distancing, and the end result of this was clearly detrimental to both our physical and mental wellbeing. Studies have established a correlation between social disconnection and various ailments, including metabolic dysfunction and diseases of despair.
I highly suggest you consider taking my online course to learn more about connection and relationships as the key to longevity, their impact on human health, and how to create better habits around this:
15+ hrs of video lectures (including material on the connection between mitochondrial health and the origins of life; and, how the world around you and the people you meet throughout your life affect your health)
Extended sneak peek of lecture 1 HERE
Accompanying questionnaires and protocols (including Adverse Childhood Experience questionnaire, Attachment Style questionnaire, Internal Family Systems (aka “Parts Work”) Document, plus additional videos walking you through these exercises.
Science-based strategies and practical tips
Plus live monthly sessions coming soon!
Hot Off the Press! Metabolism & Social Connection
Speaking about the scientific correlation between human connection and health… check it out: I got a paper published, Breaking the vicious cycle: The interplay between loneliness, metabolic illness, and mental health, in Frontiers in Psychiatry.
Below are the words written by my co-author, Minhal Ahmed, of Harvard Medical School: An invisible pandemic of people feeling invisible.
“Loneliness is much more than just a sad feeling: it’s a powerful physiologic stressor and one of the *leading predictors* of early mortality.
For more than a third of the population, loneliness is a chronic state, and the fact that we live in an ‘epidemic of loneliness’ is now a well-established (if ironic) truth in an increasingly connected world.
Here, we argue that the epidemic of loneliness is intimately tied to the alarming rise of metabolic and mental illness, and propose that addressing loneliness may be an overlooked but cost-effective public health strategy to reduce the burden of these chronic diseases.
On the flip side, in their recently published book (“The Good Life”) authors of the longest scientific study on happiness ever conducted found that one of the best predictors of our happiness and health is not diet or exercise but the quality of our relationships.
While we tend to think of our health in individual terms, these robust findings challenge us to think bigger, and remind us that at our core, we are social beings wired for connection for our well-being.
At a social level, the antidote to loneliness is communion. At a psychological level, it’s trust. At a biological level, it is a body resilient to the very real physiological consequences of psychosocial stressors.
Today’s society stands at the feet of decades of decline in civic gathering, at a moment when trust in institutions—in each other—is at an all-time low, and at a time when unprecedented shares of our population are burdened with chronic mental and physical disease.
Changing course for the future calls for a different way of doing things: the cure for loneliness, ultimately, is not with pills, but with people.”
In my opinion, there is a pressing need for a social connection movement that the government should sponsor and public health departments should implement nationwide. Such an initiative would promote human social bonding, which we know to be the most critical factor in determining human happiness and longevity. By fostering more social connections, we could potentially mitigate several social problems. However, we must also provide education that highlights how social bonding is an innate feature of our neurobiology, and we are naturally inclined to thrive in group settings, rather than being socially isolated.
Unfortunately, social disconnection is not the only thing we need to be worried about when it comes to metabolic dysfunction.
Worldwide Obesity Epidemic: Alarming Rates & Urgent Action Needed
Did you know that over a quarter of the world's population is now classified as obese or overweight? A new study by the World Obesity Federation analyzed data from 1975 to 2023 and found that the global rate of obesity has nearly tripled since 1975. That's crazy, right?! Unfortunately, the report also indicates things are only supposed to get worse. If things keep going the way they are, by 2035, over 38% of adults worldwide will be overweight and 21% will be obese.
But it's not just about how we look—obesity can have serious health consequences too, like an increased risk of heart disease, diabetes, and some cancers. It's also really expensive, with healthcare and lost productivity costs estimated at a whopping $2.0 trillion per year.
So why is this happening? Unhealthy diets, sedentary lifestyles, and lack of access to healthy food options all play a role.
And the COVID-19 pandemic hasn't helped, with lockdowns and restrictions making it harder to stay active and eat well. If you saw my recent Instagram post @drmolly.co with a clip from Joe Rogan’s podcast, you already know I believe the root cause is metabolic dysfunction.
The origin of metabolic dysfunction is clear: when you break the engines of the cells, metabolism breaks down and diseases emerge. We now know that blood sugar problems play a role in developing chronic diseases including obesity, diabetes, Alzheimer’s, heart disease, stroke, and mental illness. Blood sugar is your energy gauge, it’s the ultimate energy biomarker.
Plain and simple: if you want to live an outstanding quality of life for as long as possible rather than settle for an aged appearance, slower brain, and frail body–you HAVE to avoid insulin resistance because it creates the conditions for poor metabolic health including increasing the risk of obesity. The key is:
Making metabolic health a priority through:
Healing your gut
Measuring your blood sugar
Changing your diet
Developing metabolic flexibility
Moving your body more
Mastering your stress
Maintaining social connection
With new science and technology like Levels and Lumen, you can now biohack your body into optimal health. My online course teaches you foundational and imperative tactics on how to master blood sugar optimization, and you’ll learn how to tackle these issues head-on, for life. You’ll also learn:
Why being overfat (having high visceral fat levels) is a bigger problem than BMI
How to hack your mitochondria for more energy
How to beat insulin resistance
Food hacks for avoiding blood sugar spikes
Why testing your microbiome is key for optimizing gut health
What is metabolic flexibility and how to build yours
Tips on fasting and who should/shouldn’t fast
Understanding stress can impact your health
Guidance for stress recovery practices
The World Obesity Federation report calls for urgent action to address this epidemic, like improving access to healthy food, promoting physical activity, and raising awareness about the risks of obesity. That all sounds fine and dandy, but we don’t have time to wait around for them to figure out solutions at a global scale.
Only 7% of Americans are metabolically healthy and 1-in-3 are prediabetic, yet, many people have never heard the term “metabolic disease.” This is why I became the first doctor to start putting CGMs on “healthy” patients and the reason why I developed my online course. Sign up for my online course to heal your metabolism, generate more energy, and live as long as possible without chronic disease. Don’t wait, start today.
Join me at the Independent National Convention in Austin this April!
I want to invite you to join me at this amazing convergence of US Independents. It’s happening this April 3-5 in Austin, Texas, and you don’t want to miss it! Hundreds of reform leaders, organizers, visionaries, and activists will gather for three action-packed days to hear from Independent movement leaders, who will share their plans for national transformation on a world stage. I’m so excited to be a part of this historical gathering, and I’d love to see you there with me!
Don’t miss my panel on Alternative Medicine & Health on Tuesday, Apr 4 at 10:30AM on the outdoor stage.
USE CODE “$50OFFDRMOLLY” and get your ticket here!
Exclusive Preview: Adamo Bioscience
I’ve been working very hard behind the scenes on my company, Adamo Bioscience. We are building a brand around human love and sexuality and are going to be developing products and services designed to measure and amplify love within and between individuals. We are creating a new sex therapy because sex therapy has not been reinvented in 50 years. The mission of Adamo Bioscience is to reveal how the science of love can unlock the capacity for healing, connection, and creation within everyone. We are here to ignite a psychedelic sexual revolution based on love.
I can’t wait to share more with you very soon!
Thanks for reading! I’d love to hear feedback about this newsletter or requests for future newsletter content in the comments below. Make sure to check out my website to stay updated on what I’m working on. And, if you have read my book and loved it, please write me an amazon review!
Quote of the Day:
“People don’t need help. People need love. They need to be reminded of what it feels like to be in the presence of love. No agendas. Just love.”
— Richard Rudd
With LOVE,
Dr. Molly