Dr. Lamb shares how a moment of brutal honesty during a cardiology fellowship at the University of Colorado that sent him back to internal medicine — and eventually toward 30 years of functional and integrative practice. What followed was a career dedicated to one question: not what disease do you have, but why is it happening?

Together, Dr. Lamb and Dr. Leary break down the hidden drivers of cardiovascular disease that standard medicine consistently misses — from insulin resistance and heavy metal toxicity to endothelial dysfunction and dysfunctional HDL. They cover what your blood pressure is really doing when you're not in the office, why your standard lipid panel may be giving you false confidence, and how to use tools like the coronary artery calcium score to make smarter, more personalized treatment decisions.

This episode is a masterclass in cardiometabolic medicine — rigorous, accessible, and built around the belief that heart disease doesn't happen overnight. It builds over decades. And that means it can be caught, addressed, and reversed long before a crisis arrives.

If you've ever been told your numbers look fine but something still feels off — this episode is for you.

In this episode:

1:27 Meet Dr. Joseph Lamb

2:49 Why cardiology pulled Dr. Lamb in during residency

5:50 The M&M conference moment that changed everything

8:09 Leaving the fellowship and finding functional medicine

9:08 Defining functional cardiometabolic medicine

11:30 Why functional medicine is not a "green pharmacy"

11:59 Hypertension and looking upstream – the root cause approach

16:30 Blood pressure beyond the office – what to measure and when

18:30 Pulse pressure, exercise, and signs of endothelial dysfunction

23:26 HOMA-IR explained – the insulin resistance formula

24:18 Why normal insulin and normal blood sugar can still mean early insulin resistance

26:05 EndoPAT testing and how to measure endothelial function

28:10 What is endothelial dysfunction?

31:23 The storm surge analogy – why blood pressure surges matter more than averages

33:39 How micro-tears in blood vessels become plaques

34:05 Advanced lipid testing – who needs it and why

37:30 There is no such thing as good or bad cholesterol

38:30 HDL functionality – why a high number doesn't mean it's working

41:30 Small dense LDL, oxidized LDL, and particle number explained

45:02 Using advanced panels to tell the story to patients

47:03 Case study – Dr. Lamb's 91-year-old mother and the statin decision

50:55 Coronary artery calcium score – primary vs. secondary prevention

52:29 Soft plaque vs. calcified plaque and vulnerable plaque rupture

53:30 The clotting cascade and why aspirin matters

56:17 Homocysteine – the underappreciated cardiovascular risk factor

57:51 Broken heart syndrome – the stress-cardiovascular connection

58:23 Final question – what would change if cardiology prioritized prevention?

Ready to get to the root of your heart health with a Functional Medicine Approach?

Book an appointment at Vida → https://thinkvida.com

Explore our Functional Medicine Concierge Membership → https://thinkvida.com/fm-concierge

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Dr. Gonzalez shares her journey from biochemistry labs to naturopathic medical school, and how a cross-state move and her own endometriosis diagnosis shaped her passion for women's health.

Together, they explore why primary care is the foundation every functional medicine specialist needs, how to bridge conventional and integrative approaches, and what it actually means to treat the whole person. They break down the perimenopausal transition — including why symptoms like brain fog, weight changes, and elevated blood pressure are so often missed as hormonal signals — and cover how and when to test hormones, including the overlooked role of testosterone and DHT in women. They also tackle lab testing ethics, supplement transparency, and the evolving patient-as-consumer model reshaping modern medicine. The episode closes with an honest look at endometriosis: what it is, why it takes 7–12 years on average to diagnose, how it connects to gut health and the estrobolome, and what functional medicine can offer when conventional options run out.

In this episode:

1:35 Meet Dr. Alexis Gonzalez – Background, education & intro

2:53 Origin Story – A family legacy in healthcare

3:49 From the Lab to Medicine – Why she left biotech for naturopathic medicine

4:54 Moving to Washington – Bastyr, broader scope, and finding Vida

5:16 Women's Health Begins – Residency, fertility focus & personal endo diagnosis

6:50 Why Functional Medicine – Frameworks, systems thinking & a shared language

9:05 Why Primary Care Is the Foundation – The risk of specializing too early

11:07 The Generalist Backbone – Managing everything from colds to hormones

11:52 Perimenopause: The Overlooked Entry Point – Signals that don't look hormonal yet

13:07 Functional Medicine vs. Conventional Primary Care – Time, tools & patient-centered care

14:30 The Patriarchal Medical System – Consumer-driven healthcare & chronic conditions

15:59 Healthcare as Hospitality – Customer service and the next evolution of medicine

17:38 Handling Criticism of Naturopathic & Functional Medicine – Humility and results

20:03 Evidence-Based Medicine: The Nuanced Take – RCTs, research gaps & clinical courage

23:54 Testing Philosophy & Ethics – Not profiting from labs or supplements

28:17 How to Test Hormones – Saliva, serum, urine & the Mira device

29:23 Endometriosis: What It Is – Pathophysiology, retrograde menstruation & anatomy

33:22 Symptoms, Diagnosis Delays & Conventional Treatment – The 7–12 year gap

35:45 Functional Medicine Approach to Endo – Diet, pelvic PT, acupuncture & lifestyle

39:10 Biggest Misconception in Women's Health – One plan doesn't work for a lifetime

41:16 The Five Modifiable Lifestyle Factors – Nutrition, sleep, stress, relationships & movement

44:54 Muscle Mass & Insulin Sensitivity – Why women should lift heavy

46:17 Dr. Gonzalez's Next Chapter – Ovation Lab, AI & clinical implementation

Ready to get to the root of your health at every stage of your life?

Book a consultation at a Vida location near you → thinkvida.com

Explore our Functional Medicine Concierge Membership → thinkvida.com/fm-concierge

🎙️ Listen to Vida Vitality on Spotify | Apple Podcasts | Amazon Music 📺 Subscribe so you never miss an episode.

📲 Follow us @vidaintegratedhealth on Instagram.

Dr. Sasaki shares the story behind his unlikely path — from a wrist injury at a provincial basketball championship in Canada, to building chiropractic clinics in Peru, Brazil, Spain, and eventually Seattle. What drove him wasn't ambition alone. It was a conviction that patients deserved better — real musculoskeletal care done right, and a whole team working together to get to the root cause.

That conviction became Vida's foundation: an integrated model where chiropractors, physical therapists, acupuncturists, massage therapists, and functional medicine primary care physicians don't just share a building — they share your health goals. Every week. Together.

Subscribe to the Vida Vitality Podcast for new episodes featuring Vida's physicians, industry leaders, authors and practitioners bringing you real, research-informed conversations about health, longevity, and living with Vitality.

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