The Art of Being Well
The Art of Being Well

Functional Medicine Is the Cake: Longevity Labs, HRT, Peptides, DEXA Scans & What Actually Is Worth Your Money | Dr. Robin Berzin

May 14, 2026

AI Summary

5 min read

Dr. Robin Berzin, founder and CEO of Parsley Health, sat down with Dr. Will Cole at the Eudaimonia event to discuss the state of functional medicine, longevity, and what actually moves the needle on health. Berzin, who trained at Columbia and Mount Sinai before building the largest functional medicine clinic in the U.S., argues that the current longevity craze has gotten the priorities backward. "If you think of this whole space as like a cake, functional medicine is the cake and the icing, and then your name written on top is your plasmapheresis and your cryotherapy," she says. The flashy interventions are the final ten percent, not the foundation.

The Core Labs That Matter Most

Berzin emphasizes that the most important diagnostic information comes from conventional tests that are routinely ignored. The lab panel Parsley has used for a decade to help 50,000 patients focuses on three things. First, ApoB — not total cholesterol — as the real predictor of cardiovascular risk. She recommends targeting ApoB under 80, ideally under 70. Heart disease remains the number one killer of everyone, and it is largely preventable or reversible. Second, inflammation markers like hsCRP and ESR. "We call it inflammaging," Berzin says. "When you're inflamed all the time, your body is rapidly aging." Symptoms like brain fog, fatigue, joint pain, rashes, and headaches are signs of chronic in

Continue reading the full summary in the app — free to try.

Read Full Summary →

Free • No credit card required

Listen to Audio Summary Open in App

What you'll learn

  • 1 (00:46) **The Parsley Health Origin Story** - Dr. Robin Berzin shares the early vision for combining functional medicine with technology and AI, long before it became mainstream.
  • 2 (08:01) **What Is Functional Medicine?** - A clear, on-the-record definition of functional medicine and why it was a hard sell in the early days.
  • 3 (11:08) **The Pandemic as a Wake-Up Call for Health** - How COVID-19 and the rise of health-focused influencers created a tipping point for functional medicine awareness.
  • 4 (12:52) **From Columbia to Renegade** - Dr. Berzin’s personal journey from conventional medical training to becoming an outlier in functional medicine.
  • 5 (21:21) **The Cake Metaphor for Longevity** - Robin’s framework for understanding the hierarchy of longevity interventions, from foundational to flashy.
  • 6 (24:51) **The DIY Danger & AI as a Doctor** - The risks of self-prescribing peptides and using AI like ChatGPT for medical advice without professional guidance.
  • 7 (35:17) **Core Longevity Labs You’re Overlooking** - The foundational blood tests that are often ignored but are critical for tracking healthspan.

+ Full timestamped outline available in the app

Guests on this episode

Dr. Will Cole

Show Notes

Dr. Robin Berzin, founder and CEO of Parsley Health, joins Dr. Will Cole live at Eudemonia for a wide-ranging conversation between two of functional medicine's most prominent voices. They cover the state of functional medicine and where the longevity trend gets it right - and wrong - the lab tests Parsley has used for a decade across 50,000 patients, why DEXA scans should start at 35 (not 65), the HRT revolution following the FDA's removal of the black box warning, what to do about elevated Lp(a), and how to use AI for your health without being led astray. Plus live audience Q&A on osteopenia, intermittent fasting, and the MAHA movement. For all links mentioned in this episode, visit www.drwillcole.com/podcast.


Please note that this episode may contain paid endorsements and advertisements for products and services. Individuals on the show may have a direct or indirect financial interest in products or services referred to in this episode.

Sponsors:

You can get an additional 15% off their 90-day subscription Starter Kit by going to fatty15.com/WILLCOLE and using code WILLCOLE at checkout.

AG1 has over 50,000 verified 5-star reviews and comes with a 90-day money-back guarantee. Visit DRINKAG1.COM/WILLCOLE to get a FREE AG1 Flavor Sampler and a bottle of Vitamin D3+K2 in your AG1 Welcome Kit when you first subscribe, a $72 value.

Go to AvocadoGreenMattress.com/ABW and check out their mattress and bedding sale!

Visit TM.org to find a certified teacher near you. That’s TM.org.

Get 15% off your first order when you visit Coyuchi.com/ABW!


Produced by Dear Media.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

The Art of Being Well

More from this podcast

The Art of Being Well →