Extend Podcast with Darshan Shah, MD 160. Dr. Kara Fitzgerald on Biological Age, Epigenetic Clocks, and the Future of Aging Reversal
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Apr 30, 2026 
Dr. Kara Fitzgerald, a functional medicine physician and epigenetics researcher who studies how diet and lifestyle can reverse biological age. She discusses measuring biological vs chronological age, organ-specific epigenetic clocks, the role of polyphenols and postbiotics for mitochondria, exposomic drivers of aging, and emerging approaches like Yamanaka mimetics for controlled cellular reprogramming.
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Winning Through A Bloody Knee Shows New Menopause Freedom
- Kara returned after a mountain bike race where she crashed, injured her knee and elbow but still won.
- She used the story to illustrate living fully and the freedom and strength she feels in menopause.
Use Polyphenol Dense Diets To Influence Gene Expression
- Design dietary patterns rich in polyphenols and microbiome-supporting foods to optimize gene expression.
- Kara's 2018 study tested a methylation-supportive diet plus lifestyle and showed surprising potency in changing biological age.
Biological Age Is A Measurable Rate Not A Number
- Biological age is the rate you're aging and can be measured at organ and cellular resolution.
- Epigenetic clocks read chemical marks that change gene expression, letting clinicians track organ-specific aging and pace of aging with blood tests and other tools.