It was time to reintroduce myself.
Long before telehealth was a trend, we were building a different kind of medicine, one rooted in bioindividuality.
In listening.
In understanding that two people can have similar labs and completely different healing journeys.
Functional medicine, at its core, is about asking better questions. Looking at genetics and epigenetics, gut health and immune resilience, stress, trauma, personality, lifestyle, and lived experience, not just numbers on a page.
Healing is never one-size-fits-all. And neither are you.
If you’re ready to explore a deeper, root-cause approach with me and my team, comment CARE and we’ll send you more information on how to work with us.
Dark showering is one of my favorite simple rituals I recommend to all of our telehealth patients who are struggling with nervous-system overload, poor sleep, or that constant “wired but tired” feeling. By turning off the lights and showering in complete (or near-complete) darkness, you shut down visual noise—the relentless stream of bright screens, overhead lights, and environmental stimuli that keeps your sympathetic nervous system on high alert all day. This rapid drop in visual input signals safety to your brain, quickly shifting you into parasympathetic rest-and-digest mode, lowering cortisol, and allowing melatonin production to begin earlier in the evening.
To deepen the sensory reset, add a few drops of calming lavender, pine, ylang ylang or eucalyptus essential oil or a handful of fresh eucalyptus or lavender leaves right under the shower stream—the warm water releases their therapeutic compounds, creating an aromatherapy steam that further calms the nervous system while supporting respiratory and skin health. If total pitch black feels too intense at first, simply light one small candle on the counter; the soft flicker is still gentle enough to keep visual stimulation minimal.
After your dark shower, I love sipping my favorite evening mocktail that doubles as my nervous-system support and skin-and-hair nourishment.
— Comment CALM below in the comments and I’ll send you an article with the exact mocktail recipe I use.
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“Trusting the experts” is used in religion and despotic authoritarianism, it has no place in science or a free society. There was a day when science hailed cocaine as a wonder anesthetic for toothaches and pain, sold over-the-counter in tonics and lozenges for everything from depression to impotence—until addiction rates exploded (over 200,000 cases in the US by the early 1900s), leading to its ban under the 1914 Harrison Narcotic Act amid reports of hallucinations and dependency.
Heroin followed a parallel path: introduced by Bayer in 1898 as a “non-addictive” alternative to morphine, it was marketed as a cough syrup safe even for children’s colds, with ads depicting spoonfuls for sore throats and claiming it was five times more effective. By the 1910s, its addictive nature became undeniable, prompting Bayer to discontinue it in 1913 and the FDA to ban it in 1924. In the mid-20th century, cigarette smoking was promoted for digestion in 1930s-50s ads, like those for Camels asserting it stimulated digestive fluids and aided alkalinity, with doctors endorsing brands as “healthier” or less irritating—until cancer links emerged in the 1940s, resulting in a 1951 FTC ban on such claims.
Lobotomies, developed in 1936, severed frontal lobe connections through crude methods like ice picks inserted via the eyes, positioned as a quick “fix” for depression and mental agitation based on early neurology. Despite risks including a 15% death rate, relapses, and severe personality changes (as seen in Rosemary Kennedy’s case), it was performed widely until banned by 1967 due to ethical outcries and fatal complications. Finally, electroshock therapy was used from the 1950s-70s as a “conversion” tool for homosexuality, which mainstream medicine considered a mental disorder until the 1970s; often paired with aversion shocks during exposure to same-gender images, it affected thousands in the UK and US and wasn’t discontinued until after the 1973 diagnosis declassification.
Follow me @drwillcole to see how I help people around the world reclaim their health, improve their labs and think for themselves.
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What do you think about this health news? Let me know. 👇🏽
For years in my work with optimizing labs of my telehealth patients and immersion clinical nutrition research, I’ve seen firsthand grass-fed, grass-finished beef delivers a better fatty acid profile – more omega-3s, higher CLA, antioxidants like vitamin E, and a healthier omega-6 to omega-3 ratio compared to grain-fed.
That translates to reduced inflammation markers and improved cardiometabolic markers. Beyond our health directly, on a larger environmental health level (which is also intimately connected to our health) more grass-fed builds soil carbon, pulling it out of the environment, supports biodiversity, and avoids the concentrated pollution of feedlots. Is Steak n Shake regenerative organic? No. Is it American beef? We don’t know yet. So is it perfect? Far from it, but pragmatically I’m excited to see this done at scale nationally and hopefully it inspires more change in other major national food companies.
This is a big win for accessible, better for you real food. Support companies doing the right thing.
#ArtOfBeingWell
I see how disconnected many people are from this part of themselves.
Not because they don’t want it, but because their nervous system has learned to stay in function, productivity, or protection.
Whimsy creates space for something different.
It brings your body out of survival mode and back into presence.
Not everything that heals you has to be serious.
Sometimes it looks like doing something for no reason at all.
What’s something small that makes you feel like you again?
#artofbeingwell
They just renamed PCOS to PMOS. For decades the label “Polycystic Ovary Syndrome” was inaccurate. Most women diagnosed never had multiple cysts on their ovaries. The old name focused too narrowly on cysts while ignoring the real drivers: insulin resistance, metabolic dysfunction, hormonal chaos, and chronic inflammation. The new name, Polyendocrine Metabolic Ovarian Syndrome, finally admits this bigger picture. We’ve always known this in functional medicine.
There is noise online that the rebrand feels timed with the explosion of GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic. It risks funneling millions of women onto lifelong medication monopolized by Big Pharma without addressing why metabolic dysfunction is skyrocketing: inflammatory foods, toxins, gut health, stress, trauma. For 16 + years I’ve seen nearly every telehealth patient reverse PMOS by targeting these root causes.
But in truth, the push to rename PCOS actually began over a decade ago, with the final consensus published in The Lancet after 14 yrs of collaboration involving 22,000+ patients, clinicians, experts, 56 organizations. But is the timing convenient for Pharma? Sure.
I love the research around peptides like tirzepatide and retatrutide. We use a both-and approach—microdosing clean, compounded peptides cyclically, paired with root causes. The world always wants a quick fix with pharma and overdoes everything.
Because of this, people are reporting “Ozempic personality”—emotional blunting, dulled dopamine reward centers that flatten joy in relationships, love, food, and life. America doesn’t have a pharmaceutical deficiency. Remember: GLP-1 is made naturally in the gut.
Healing lives in the nuance. One amazing herbal stack I love is concentrated cinnamon polyphenols, American ginseng, green tea, gymnema, alpha-lipoic acid, and chromium. These work together to support hormones, protect endocrine cells, and increase antioxidants in a targeted way.
👉🏽 Comment PMOS below if you want me to send you the formula which has all of these. #artofbeingwell
Most people are not told this.
Antibiotics are designed to treat bacterial infections, but they are often used in situations where they are not needed. That matters, because they don’t just target harmful bacteria. They also impact the beneficial bacteria in your gut that play a major role in immunity, digestion, and overall health.
In my telehealth clinic, I see this show up as lingering gut issues, lowered resilience, and symptoms that don’t fully resolve after treatment.
This isn’t about avoiding antibiotics when they’re necessary. It’s about understanding when they’re appropriate and how to support your body if you do need them.
Being more intentional with how and when you use them can make a meaningful difference in how your body recovers and functions long term.
Comment ANTIBIOTICS and I’ll send you the full article.
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There is a lot of noise right now around health, and a lot of opinions about who should be saying what.
In this conversation, we step back from the politics and focus on something that actually matters. Health literacy.
More people are starting to ask questions about ingredients, sourcing, and what they are putting in their bodies. That shift is meaningful. It reflects a growing awareness that health is something to take ownership of, not outsource.
I am less concerned with where the message is coming from, and more focused on whether people are becoming more informed and more engaged in their own wellbeing.
At the end of the day, I care more about people getting healthier than I do about aligning with any particular narrative.
Comment HEALTH and I will send you the full episode.
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Not enough people realise this.
It has nothing to do with your thyroid labs being “normal”
and everything to do with whether they’re actually giving you the full picture
TSH is often the only marker tested, but it doesn’t tell you how well your body is converting hormones, whether your immune system is involved, or if underlying inflammation is interfering with function.
This is where we start connecting the dots for patients who have been told everything looks fine, but still don’t feel like themselves.
Looking deeper at the full thyroid picture often reveals what standard testing misses.
Comment THYROID and I’ll send you the full article.
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Things that make me shudder. Which ones are the scariest for you?..
1. Ubers with air fresheners — synthetic chemical fumes.. noxious and obnoxious. Does anyone want to smell anything like that? It should be a setting on the app to avoid.
2. Grain-fed A1 dairy — inflammatory and poor fat quality. Grass-fed A2 only.
3. Alcohol — quietly wrecks gut, sleep, hormones, and mitochondria.
4. Anything past 8:30 pm — I like my wind down time before bed too much.
5. Medical gaslighting — being told real symptoms are “just depression and anxiety” or “just stress”
6. An unstimulated vagus nerve — poor stress resilience and digestion.
7. Sleeping above 69°F — I’m not a rainforest amphibian. Deep, restorative sleep is impacted in a warm room.
8. Unresolved trauma stored in the body — keeps driving chronic inflammatory issues.
9. Weak sparkling water — I need that strong, slightly mouth-burning bubbly kick (personal preference).
10. Seed oils — hidden inflammatory oils impacting cellular health over time.
11. Restaurants without unsweetened iced tea — Tea is the sixth love language in my opinion
12. Oat milk — oat sugar water with some seed oils and emulsifiers. No nutrition.
13. A world without peptides — I use them clinically and like them a lot.
14. A world without rectal ozone — use it clinically for gut health, chronic infections and inflammation.
15. Paper straws that dissolve in 5 sips — why Lord?
16. An unhealthy gut — when the microbiome is off, everything is off.
17. Lab-grown vegan meat — ultra-processed frankenfood with sketchy ingredients.
18 and 19. Forever chemicals + moldy HVAC systems — See them high on labs a lot impacting people’s health
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The difference is how these tools are being used together.
Your body relies on a specific response after exercise to build strength and adapt. When that process is interrupted too early, it can limit the results you’re working for.
Cold exposure has benefits, but timing changes everything.
Using it before your workout can support circulation, while heat after training can help maintain the adaptive response.
This is a small shift, but over time it creates a completely different outcome.
Comment ROUTINE and I’ll send you the full article
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Emotional tears are flush stress hormones like cortisol while releasing oxytocin and endorphins — your body’s natural calmers. Heart rate drops, blood pressure lowers, and your nervous system shifts from fight-or-flight into rest-and-digest. Studies show people who cry recover faster, both physically and emotionally.
For trauma healing, and inflammatory problems, this is powerful. Unresolved stress and trauma keep your body stuck in unsafety — tight shoulders, shallow breath, constant vigilance. Crying completes those stuck stress cycles that words alone can’t touch.
Japan has a deliberate practice called rui-katsu (“tear-seeking”). Since 2013, “tear teacher” Hidefumi Yoshida has guided over 50,000 people in group sessions. They watch moving films or stories and cry together — not from grief, but for relief. In a culture known for emotional restraint, rui-katsu creates safe space to release stress, refresh the spirit, and even support immunity.
In telehealth sessions, my clinical team often prescribe crying as somatic homework. Dim the lights, wrap up in a blanket, play a song or movie that resonates, and give yourself 10–20 minutes to simply feel. No judgment. Follow it with grounding — slow breaths, feet on the floor — so the release brings safety instead of overwhelm. Many telehealth patients call it one of the most regulating practices they do.
True healing addresses the full picture. We work on the physical — gut health, hormones, inflammation, toxins — that can dysregulate your nervous system. But we also must tend to the mental, emotional, and spiritual layers: chronic stress, suppressed emotions, unresolved trauma.
When you don’t address both/and it sends the same message to your body: I’m not safe. And safety is the non-negotiable foundation for sustainable healing. Without it, even the best protocols fall short.
So next time tears rise, don’t push them down. Welcome them. Your body is doing exactly what it was made to do — baptizing you in release, clearing what no longer serves, and gently bringing you home to safety in your own skin.
#ArtOfBeingWell
