Key Lifestyle Changes for Better Health with Dr. Farzanna Haffizulla
In this episode, I’m excited to be joined by Dr. Farzanna Haffizulla, President-elect of the American Heart Association in South Florida. Together, we discuss important topics around women’s health, focusing on how to prevent health issues and make lasting changes in our well-being.
We explore the six pillars of lifestyle medicine: exercise, nutrition, sleep, stress resilience, social connections, and avoiding harmful habits. Dr. Haffizulla gives tips on how to incorporate these into your daily life, from simple ways to move more to healthier eating choices.
We even chat about her cooking show, where she transforms traditional recipes into healthier versions without losing the flavors we love.
This episode is full of helpful tips to take control of your health and feel better every day. If you’re looking for practical ways to improve your well-being, you’ll enjoy this conversation!
If your body feels like it's running on empty, overburdened, or just not responding the way it used to, Haylie's latest book, Toxic Overload, tells you exactly what to do. Download your free digital copy today and start understanding what your body is trying to tell you.
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Dr. Farzanna Haffizulla is an Associate Professor of Internal Medicine at Nova Southeastern University’s Dr. Kiran C. Patel College of Osteopathic Medicine (NSU KPCOM) and a former Assistant Dean for Community and Global Health. A board-certified Internal Medicine physician, she runs a hybrid-concierge private practice in Davie, Florida. Dr. Haffizulla is dedicated to health equity, leading projects like the Caribbean Diaspora Healthy Nutrition Outreach Project. She has received numerous accolades for her work, including induction into the Global Healthcare Hall of Fame. A published author and host of the cooking show In the Kitchen with Dr. H, she is also involved in healthcare innovation and mentoring. Dr. Haffizulla is married with four children.
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/inthekitchenwithdrh/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/BusyMomMD
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/fhaffizulla/
Haylie Pomroy, Founder and CEO of The Haylie Pomroy Group, is a leading health strategist specializing in metabolism, weight loss, and integrative wellness. With over 25 years of experience, she has worked with top medical institutions and high-profile clients, developing targeted programs and supplements rooted in the "Food is Medicine" philosophy. Inspired by her own autoimmune journey, she combines expertise in nutrition, biochemistry, and patient advocacy to help others reclaim their health. She is a New York Times bestselling author of The Fast Metabolism Diet.
Website: https://hayliepomroy.com
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EDITED TRANSCRIPT
Haylie Pomroy: We are outperforming men in heart disease right now, aren't we, in strokes and heart attacks?
Dr. Farzanna Haffizulla: And women are also underdiagnosed. You'll find that the symptoms or heart disease, or at least if you're having any kind of poor blood flow to the heart, your symptoms may not be the same as a man. It may be dismissed, as you mentioned. Could be just fatigue or just tiredness for a period of time.
Haylie Pomroy: Hi, it's Haylie Pomroy, your host. I've written six New York Times bestselling books on metabolic pathways. My latest book, Toxic Overload, tells you exactly what to do when your body's overburdened.
If you go to hayliepomroy.com/book, for a limited time, you can download a digital copy of this book completely free. That's hayliepomroy.com/book. Grab your free copy while supplies last. Now back to our show.
I'm Haylie Pomroy, #1 New York Times bestselling author and the former assistant director of the integrative medicine program at the Institute for Neuroimmune Medicine. Why am I saying the former is because I quit my job, guys, because I am now a PhD student. That's right.
A lifelong learner, just like the rest of you, I'm working on getting my PhD in neuroimmunology. This podcast, our community, the Institute has just inspired me to first recognize that there's a lot I don't know. And second, that I am in one of the best places on this whole earth to learn from.
Today, we are going to actually talk about how to stay healthy and how to prevent disease. We are privileged today because I am joined with the president-elect of the American Heart Association in South Florida, Dr. Hafizullah.
Dr. Hafizullah, can I call you Dr. H?
Dr. Farzanna Haffizulla: Yes, absolutely. You can.
Haylie Pomroy: Thank you so much for coming today.
Dr. Farzanna Haffizulla: My pleasure, Haylie. It is so wonderful to be here. And congrats on getting your PhD.
Haylie Pomroy: Thank you. I'm working on it. It's going to be a journey. Doing these podcasts, talking and getting all the questions from our community, I've always been a lifelong learner, but it really let me know that I was in the right place to learn the future of medicine.
Dr. Farzanna Haffizulla: Well, we need more brilliant women leaders.
Haylie Pomroy: Yes, we do. Thank you for bringing women to the table, because that is one of the many reasons why I wanted to have you here. Your bio, both from a medical perspective, from what you do in the community, is so vast and so meaningful. You've made such an incredible impact on so many lives. You guys, I promise I'm going to put all of the bio on the blog posts that come with our podcast.
But one of the things that really touches me is the strength that you have empowered so many women to accomplish things in their health. Where does that come from?
Dr. Farzanna Haffizulla: Gosh, I'm so happy you asked me that. I'm literally leading from my heart. And that heart, those seeds were planted from my mother. My mother was a nurse. She very much inspired me to be in health care and medicine since I was a very little girl.
In fact, I would go to the hospital with her on my “sick days.” I'd pretend to be sick many times just to follow her. But I was supposed to sit at the nurse's station and color with paper and crayons. Never once did I do that. I always escaped onto the ward. I remember just as a young child seeing little children and babies on a burn unit, tethered to cords and IVs, no families around them, crying.
I remember feeling this intense, sharp pain in my heart to help and heal them. That never went away. That stayed with me my whole life.
Haylie Pomroy: That's exciting. That's so cool. We come from generations of healers. My mom is an acupuncturist in the fertility space, and we were always in the fertility clinics. Even my kids, like my son and my daughter, got to see ultrasounds of triplets.
I think instilling that, the magic of medicine, there's still a lot of magic and mystery, and it can still be a beautiful science, I think, is very cool. And the seeds that our parents plant.
Dr. Farzanna Haffizulla: Yes. Very much so.
Haylie Pomroy: That's amazing. How did you come to be at NSU? And we have a deep love for you at the Institute. So I'd love for you to share with our listeners kind of how this whole family came together.
Dr. Farzanna Haffizulla: Well, I just feel so privileged, honored, and blessed to be here. I'll tell you, it really mirrors the diversity I experienced as a child in Trinidad, where I'm originally from.
Here I was in the community practicing internal medicine. My husband and I are both here in practice. I have my own private life, he has his, but our children are here, all four kids are here as well. Then my oldest daughter had interest in NSU. She was applying. And then lo and behold, the MD program was starting up at the same time.
Haylie Pomroy: What is that? The MD program?
Dr. Farzanna Haffizulla: The MD program.
Haylie Pomroy: You went to school at the University of Miami.
Dr. Farzanna Haffizulla: I did. That's where I did my medical school training. And then I was at the Cleveland Clinic, both the Cleveland Clinic Foundation in Ohio, and here in Florida, as well, for residency training. But then we set up practice here. You know, a lot of the physicians who end up training here, stay here.
Haylie Pomroy: Yes, they do.
Dr. Farzanna Haffizulla: So we did that. And as we were in the community, I got involved in many different leadership activities. Then all of a sudden, the MD program or the allopathic medicine program here at NSU reached out to me and recruited me to be their assistant dean for community and global health. I did that. Actually, a lot of health equity initiatives were born there. Then our incredible dean here in the College of Osteopathic Medicine, she recruited me over to the osteopathic school to serve as the chair of medicine.
So I started there, and then my journey now takes me still on the health equity road.
Haylie Pomroy: Dean Wallace brought you into the osteopathic medical space. How did you start to work with, I mean, I know Dr. Klimas adores you. How did that relationship, how was that established?
Dr. Farzanna Haffizulla: I knew Dr. Klimas from the University of Miami (UM). It's amazing how small the world is. This is many decades before I even joined, which is incredible. She was just a mentor, a professor we just completely respected and were inspired by. And to now know that she was here, that was a seal that we needed to kind of move. I said, oh, absolutely.
We'll make sure we're here.
Haylie Pomroy: Are you still with the College of Osteopathic Medicine?
Dr. Farzanna Haffizulla: Yes, very much so.
Haylie Pomroy: In what role?
Dr. Farzanna Haffizulla: I'm an associate professor, and I lead many different health equity initiatives, and I'm on the legislative side of the college. I'm getting involved in some of the advocacy and on the politics, if you will, of medicine and the business side of medicine, just tying those roles together. =
I'm working very closely with Dr. Jim Howell. He's a former Secretary of Health for the state of Florida. Of course, our dean, who's incredible, we're just essentially ensuring that we keep our finger on the pulse of all the changes happening in medicine and healthcare to position our students very well so that not only can they assimilate well into the climate of medicine as it's changing, but they're going to be natural innovators and master adaptive learners.
Haylie Pomroy: I love what you just said. I had an interview the other day with an incredible MD that has a stronghold on curriculum at Harvard right now. We were talking about Dean Wallace and yourself and how we have to take our current medical students and indoctrinate them, if you will, with what is actually needed out there in medicine. I think there was a period of time, and there's a group of doctors that are almost going back to school now because medicine has changed so drastically in the last 20 years.
But I think it's even more so since the pandemic. And one of the things that Dr. Komaroff was saying, Tony was saying that none of us deal at the Institute with a lot of chronic fatigue, myalgic encephalomyelitis, chronic neuroinflammation. He said most doctors won't see a lot of that in their practice. But with long COVID, all doctors are having to learn about neuroinflammation and inflammatory and chronic disease in general, and how to treat the chronic patient, even if they're 22.
The one other thing that you said that for me was one of the things that brought me to NSU was our medical students, the fact that we travel and see underserved, whether it's in India or the Galapagos or Peru, but also how much work we require of our students to do from an equity perspective in South Florida.
Dr. Farzanna Haffizulla: Very much so.
Haylie Pomroy: Can you share with me why that even matters? Why aren't we all just in Boston, the kind of the mecca of universities, and only treating people in large cities like that?
Dr. Farzanna Haffizulla: I love that you asked me that question because it's very important for us to know that there is not a one-size-fits all for all patients. We really have to understand our patients' backgrounds, where they work, live, play, eat, worship. Those are the social determinants of health. Those impact someone's health and wellness more than their own genetic makeup many times.
Haylie Pomroy: Sometimes I would get somebody that says something that just gives me chills because I know there are people out here listening. I mean, I know we just did a retreat where we got to meet people in person. The fact that you just said that there's no one-size-fits-all and that you brought in the social components to health. I will share with you that most people out there aren't getting that kind of care. They're getting one-size-fits-all solutions. It does not matter what you eat or don't eat, or how your stress level is, or whether you sleep. I mean, we obviously have a different mindset here, but if I can, just because that was super impactful to me, I felt like you gave a lot of people permission to desire better care. Thank you.
What kind of verbiage can you help someone out there that's listening to communicate to their doctor? Should they walk in the door with a portfolio, if you will, or a bio of themselves? Like, how can they get treated the way that we insist our medical students treat their patients?
Dr. Farzanna Haffizulla: I love that question. I tell my patients to stay empowered, make sure you're informed, and you're empowered in this process. That understanding of who is treating you, that can happen well before you even get into a health care facility or to see that physician.
We've got ways to see who does what where, yes, of course, reviews are sometimes not always going to share the in-depth analysis of what might be happening, but you can interview a physician and a group. You can interview the healthcare system. We did that. I remember my husband and I, when we had the first of four kids, we went into the pediatrician and saw she was a good fit for us.
Haylie Pomroy: It's so funny that you said that, because OB-GYN and pediatricians are the only times that people feel like they can interview a healthcare practitioner. My kids, we changed to UCLA, they were in L.A. At the time. My son says, I'm fine, why are you making me a doctor's appointment? I said, because this might be your doctor. Well, is he my doctor or not? I said, I don't know. Go interview him. He said, that's cool. I said, absolutely.
Because when you are sick, or you do have a problem, you have to make sure that you have an ally, and you use the word empower, that you walk out of those visits. I always tell our community, if you leave the visit not feeling empowered, and especially if you leave the visit feeling deflated, defeated, or small, change doctors, period.
Dr. Farzanna Haffizulla: And I'll tell you, we know that the administrative burden from the electronic health records and all the other pieces that pull doctors away from actually seeing their patients, that's contributed significantly to not only physician burnout, but that crunched amount of time that you see that strains the entire patient-physician relationship.
Haylie Pomroy: So, how can a patient be more proactive in it? Because ultimately, they're the one that's going to benefit from a positive visit.
We have this form that's called a request for care. We call it a Dear Dr. Sanders letter. I tell people this story reluctantly. There was a doc that I had to work with that was in Chicago. He was with this particular client. The client was having a really hard time. They couldn't get away from the particular practitioner. So as we started formulating letters before, we'd send it to the nurse, we'd send it to the office, and they'd walk in with a copy, three copies for the doctor.
His name was Dr. Sanders. We adore each other now. He, I always say, worships the quicksand I walked upon when we first met. But my client couldn't communicate effectively, and he couldn't hear effectively. I'll say it was a very circular dynamic, and there was a big, massive problem.
So as a community, we fill out this, we call it a request for care, Dear Dr. Sanders letter. But I tell everybody, do not walk into the doctor's office thinking you remember what's going on with you. Also, tell them something important about you so that you stand out, that they remember you. But be really articulate, because there is the crunch time.
Are there tools that you like, if a patient walks into you and you go, oh, it actually takes stress off of you, what are some attributes that they can walk in the door with?
Dr. Farzanna Haffizulla: Use the electronic health record to your advantage. There is a patient portal. There are ways that you can electronically check in.
There are ways you can communicate with the staff ahead of time, share your records ahead of time if you can. I love that you said portfolio, bring in a portfolio or a folder of all of your past records, if you have it, all of your scans and labs, et cetera. That helps really allow a proper, holistic assessment.
Rather than repeating some of the testing that might be done, that'll save on cost. Also, you have to realize that, as well, where all that information may not be digested in that one visit, at least it's something your physician and the health care team can look over.
Haylie Pomroy: I always jokingly say, I wrote books, they're 200 and something pages, 200 ended up on the editing floor, but I sold a book on a one sheet. So you've got to sell your case on a one sheet. You know what I mean? Bring everything, but have a summary. Yeah. I love that.
Can I talk about, I just want to bring us, and it's not just a selfish perspective, our communities ask this, women's health. Give me the top three things that are impacting women's health right now? Because it's changed drastically in the last 20 years.
Dr. Farzanna Haffizulla: Very much so. Heart disease remains the number one killer of not just women, but women and men in this country. It is really not budged. And that is horrific. And of course, with the pandemic, that just further amplified the situation.
Haylie Pomroy: Jokingly, we say want something done well, give it to a woman. But on the serious side, we are outperforming men in heart disease right now, aren't we? In strokes and heart attacks.
Dr. Farzanna Haffizulla: Women are also underdiagnosed.
Haylie Pomroy: Underdiagnosed and gaslit. I just have to throw that out there.
Dr. Farzanna Haffizulla: Very much so. You'll find that the symptoms for heart disease, or at least if you're having any kind of poor blood flow to the heart, your symptoms may not be the same as a man. And it may be dismissed, as you mentioned. Could be just fatigue or just tiredness for a period of time, or pain that's not typical like you read in the textbooks. I encourage everybody to go on the American Heart Association website and look at symptoms and look to see some of those resources.
Haylie Pomroy: Then if you're having those symptoms, make sure that you call those out to your doctor for your visit. Because a lot of people, it's a postmortem. It's after the fact. They're in the hospital. They've had a heart attack. They've had a stroke and they say, gosh, it's really weird. I was having nausea. I was having fatigue. I was having shortness of breath. That's right.
Also, I know you guys have really good suggestions for, and I'd love to hear some of the suggestions from a preventative perspective.
Dr. Farzanna Haffizulla: That is my passion, to prevent it. My father and mother said growing up an ounce of prevention is worth more than a pound of cure. That's a very well-known saying.
Haylie Pomroy: Yes. I love that though.
Dr. Farzanna Haffizulla: Ways to prevent, I like to focus on those six pillars of lifestyle medicine and give a couple of tips and strategies along the way that you can adopt based on your own preferences.
Haylie Pomroy: Okay. I'm writing them down. Take me through the six and then we're going to go through them.
Dr. Farzanna Haffizulla: Absolutely. First one, exercise. Just start to move. Now, you don't have to get a gym membership to move. You can park in the furthest parking spot and walk all the way in. You can choose to walk in the evening or the morning in your own neighborhood. If your neighborhood, you're not so happy, and it's not as walkable, go into a mall and just walk inside. You don't have to worry about the weather. Just find a way to move. If you have a sedentary desk job or anything else, elevate that desk and stand.
Haylie Pomroy: Yes. Blood flow.
Dr. Farzanna Haffizulla: Blood flow. You want to move your body any way you can. One thing, because we have a lot of clients in the beginning of their journey towards wellness, Dr. Klimas, when I came in, and the whole team, the first thing she said was, she goes, I will believe every patient can get well. Everybody that walks through my door, I will hold out for them until the day I'm not here. And then even afterwards, she's convinced she's going to hold out that everybody can get well. Sometimes, individuals that come in the beginning of our journey, they have POTS, they have myalgic encephalomyelitis, they've been diagnosed with chronic fatigue, and post-exertional malaise is part of their disease profile.
Exercise, we measure VO2 max, we measure where the fatigue comes in. But one of our docs said something interesting, which is if exercise causes the disease state to be worse, you can do something passively, like massage. Even a really good one, we have acupuncture in the clinic, like acupuncture, because it helps to regulate some of the stress hormones that exercise is so profound for. As well as it helps blood flow that exercise is so profound for. We can't get our nutrients to our fingers and toes without exercise. I mean, it's really difficult.
Dr. Farzanna Haffizulla: That's right. Even water, sitting in water. That also moves your body. Exactly, you are. Yes. That is a nice way, especially for joints.
Haylie Pomroy: I heard the doctor just prescribed a jacuzzi and a massage. That's what I'm taking home. Check. Just a massage, jacuzzi. Yep.
Dr. Farzanna Haffizulla: So that's the exercise.
Haylie Pomroy: Walk with one hand. Yeah. Or exercise to your fitness level.
Dr. Farzanna Haffizulla: Right. I mean, 150 minutes of moderate intensity exercise per week is what's recommended. You can go above and below that. You can make it more vigorous, however you choose to just move.
Haylie Pomroy: But I love what you said earlier with customizing. There is not one size that fits all. This is a category, and directionally, we are going to improve this of one of six categories. I love that.
Dr. Farzanna Haffizulla: Exactly. That's right. Yeah.
Haylie Pomroy: You're not going to be the next Arnold Schwarzenegger, or maybe you are. But we also need to have blood flow and lymphatic drainage and nutrient delivery, so we've got to figure out what's right for you.
Dr. Farzanna Haffizulla: This community, we love to dance as well. We put our music on and dance. That's very popular down here. After exercise, of course, not even after it, these are all sort of on the same level because I love to approach them all at the same time, which is of course what we eat.
Haylie Pomroy: Yeah. Speaking my love language.
Dr. Farzanna Haffizulla: Oh, let me tell you. Right? I mean, we grew up in Trinidad, literally growing our own vegetables and our seasonings and spices from the backyard. We wanted seafood. We were at Fisherman's Wharf, tasting the brine and that seafood, or went to the farm. But here, we've got to stay away from those ultra-processed foods that have a lot of preservatives and chemicals. More whole grains, whole foods, whole fruits, and vegetables. Make a very colorful plate that's more plant-based.
Haylie Pomroy: I always say food shouldn't be allowed to be called food if it's not food. There should be no reason that the grocery store has an aisle that says healthy food. I mean, they should clock the doors if someone's trying to...
But, I mean, they're willing to acknowledge it. We know it. That 90% of what's in your grocery store is not healthy. The closer you can get to patting the farmer on the back or growing it yourself, that's when you're ingesting actual food.
Dr. Farzanna Haffizulla: Yes. Get your family involved. And you know what? Neighborhoods can have sustainable gardens as well. There are different communities who are doing this so well in different ways. You can find ways to make it happen even if you don't have a big yard. There are different ways to grow some things within.
Haylie Pomroy: And I think, too, when you do farmers' markets and stuff like that, it can become really affordable. AndI love some of the vertical farming, although I get a little bit nervous about nutrient density. When you don't have organic soils involved. I am a soil scientist, so I studied dirt. What did you study? Dirt. Dirt manure. Dirt manure, water runoff.
Dr. Farzanna Haffizulla: That plays a huge role.That can poison your entire food if it's not healthy.
Haylie Pomroy: Absolutely. You know what? I was just reading the statistics about the insults on non-organic fruits and vegetables. Because we, the American Heart Association, and many organizations have done such a phenomenal job driving home the importance of fruits and vegetables.. But non-organic fruits and vegetables, because there's such a strong market for them now, are some of the most adulterated. I mean, we were seeing turmeric being sprayed with paint the other day.
Dr. Farzanna Haffizulla: Unbelievable.
Haylie Pomroy: I know. You just… If you can understand the source of your food, if you can grow your food, I love that. But every single thing we do is nutrient-dependent. Sitting here right now is a nutrient-dependent process.
Sleep is the most nutrient-dependent action you can have in your life, which regulates all of the nervous system and the heart and all of those things. You have to have nutrition. Dr. H, thank you for driving that home for my community. I'm always saying it, but you have way more —
Dr. Farzanna Haffizulla: You know, it's important. Our cooking show looks at this. We take foods enjoyed by different cultures, and we make tiny digestible changes like reducing the salt here, or sugar content. Changing the source, figuring out a way to keep that taste there. And the identity of the dish present, while not affecting the flavors.
Haylie Pomroy: You just mentioned your cooking show. That's where we're going next.I want to go through the six. Everybody knows how my ADHD is such in service to you all today.
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You said something about changing something culturally. One of the things that I found too is if you go back historically to the culture of food, that when we had kind of the industrial revolution, when we started doing microwave foods, you watch food history, a lot of the cultural foods had natural ingredients now and didn't have all the refined sugar and the food dyes and stuff. A lot of times what I'll do is I'll take that cultural food, I'll do a historical deep dive on it and find out the origin or the origin, excuse me, of those foods. Then we almost, I feel like we resurrect the true culture of the food. It's such a fun experience because they understand that we were doing this in Hawaiian culture, like the refined sugars and the refined complex carbs that weren't there. You know, they had complex carbs.
Dr. Farzanna Haffizulla: That's right. The whole grain.
Haylie Pomroy: Yes, exactly. Okay. Give me number three. I mean, we could just stop with food and exercise, but I would love to hear all three.
Dr. Farzanna Haffizulla: Well, you already mentioned sleep, which is very important, and that needs to be seven to nine hours of restorative sleep. If you're waking up every hour, it's not going to count for you. How can you create a situation where you could start to wind down and really get that sleep, as you mentioned, so, so, so important.
Haylie Pomroy: I just taught a class this last week, we had a retreat on adrenal fatigue and inflammatory diseases. I was saying, if we could address diet, exercise, and sleep, I believe that 99% of the diseases that are existing in the United States right now would have no home. Period.
Dr. Farzanna Haffizulla: Absolutely. Very, very powerful pillars if addressed.
Absolutely. We would make, we would move that needle. And the other pieces that tie in, of course, stress resilience. Finding ways to reduce that stress, being mindful, taking a moment to walk outside, connect with nature, play with your pet babies and your children and your family, and that ties to social connections, which is the next one.
Haylie Pomroy: But I love that you said stress resilience, not just stress reduction. Being an individual that's gone through different stressors. We all are. The hardest, the most stressful thing that anybody can tell me is just reduce your stress. There are times when you can't get out of a stressful situation. Maybe it's a fractured femur. Maybe it's a divorce. Maybe it's the death of a parent that you can't. I don't have a magic wand to make that stress go away. So the resilience or the adaptability in the human body is what keeps us out of trouble. So I know you're going to talk about the social aspect next, but really gauging your stress and then seeing where, of course, get rid of what you can, but how do you infuse yourself so that you're more resilient? I love that.
Dr. Farzanna Haffizulla: I think over the years, I know myself, I've learned ways to react and ways to protect your space. If we can ensure that we stay within our own power, know that the ball is always in your court when it comes to that, you will find that you can deal with things in a way that won't make you sick.
Haylie Pomroy: You know, sometimes people say things to me on these podcasts that I feel like I'm not on a podcast, and you're just here for me. Thank you. I needed to hear that today. Protect your space. I'm going to write that on my bathroom mirror. Protect your space. I'm an open person. I love people. I genuinely think everybody's scrumptious and squishy, and I just adore them. I do. I really do. But sometimes there's things that are not serving me, and I need to be very protective of my space. That's mine.
Dr. Farzanna Haffizulla: Your body knows when you're not in a safe space. So listen to those cues and make adjustments.
Haylie Pomroy: But women are often taught, I'm just going to bring this up, to be pleasant about it, to be kind about saying no. To protect your space, I'm sorry, but those words sound masculine to me. Like being protective sounds masculine. I love that I can embrace that personally because so many times we're taught to smooth it over, keep the family happy. It's okay if it's not a positive interaction. Let's see if we can somehow be the peacemaker of the family or things like that. I love that.
Dr. Farzanna Haffizulla: Stand firm and you will. It's sort of an infectious way of living, which is a great way because then your children learn from you, everybody else, it sort of helps to diffuse all of the bumps in the road, if you will, and can have a preventive effect down the road, which is amazing.
Haylie Pomroy: You guys, I brought a doctor on here today to tell you to protect your space, to be empowered during your medical visits, to exercise, to sleep, to have nutrition. I mean, this is the top of the top. So I'm excited for the next one.
Dr. Farzanna Haffizulla: Social connections. We're talking about sort of really playing with your friends and family members outside of your workspace, having fun, just enjoying life, and building on that human-to-human connection. You know, during the pandemic, we were all siloed, separated.
I know, especially in our Caribbean community, that wreaked havoc, really. Of course, there was a buildup of many different complications of disease states just from losing those social connections. We saw it in our kids. How they had a hard time.
Haylie Pomroy: Weren't able to go to school. We dragged my parents to the house, and we all ran to the ranch. We had to, because I was just so used to engaging, interacting, making food together. We didn't live, but we just said, that's it. We can't be apart. We have to be under the same roof. I will say that was lifesaving for our family. It was really, the kids came home, and I kind of miss it, quite frankly.
Dr. Farzanna Haffizulla: Absolutely. This is what life's about. The people you love and the ones who support you. We're not islands. We're here to connect and that human side of our existence. Should always be at the forefront.
Haylie Pomroy: I think in a workspace too, when I was looking at different PhD programs at first, this one in neuroimmune medicine wasn't ready or available yet. I was grieving leaving my team here. We have a lovely group of people who lead with their hearts. I was grieving that social interaction from a work environment. I'd been a solopreneur for so many years. I love that you say that. It's so important in your health. Also, I always tell everybody, remember, you can change if it's not where you like it, change it.
Haylie Pomroy: That's exactly right.
Dr. Farzanna Haffizulla: That goes back to that empowerment.
Haylie Pomroy: Always have that power to do that.
Dr. Farzanna Haffizulla: Then the final one was just really avoiding risky substances, like don't smoke or avoid cigarette smoke if you can, and alcohol. If you don't drink, don't start to drink.
Haylie Pomroy: Exactly. No matter what they say about it, we did a lot of mocktail cooking classes during the pandemic because people were starting to make all kinds of liquor at home. I'm watching people like we were watching people because we had these big Zoom parties and did a whole bunch of things.
Dr. Farzanna Haffizulla: We did the same. I love that.
Haylie Pomroy: Yeah, but they were making cocktails. Like hard, like a lot of liquor. I mean, they were researching gluten-free liquor out of vodka out of New Hampshire. I mean, they were like sourcing tequilas, and I'm like, hold on a minute. This isn't going to get us where we need to be when this is all said and done. So we started doing mocktail parties. We had a blast.
Risk assessment. We always do this thing called a health wish list. Whenever people like, like dream big, pretend like no one's going to read it. Like it's just you and your guardian angels or your parents in heaven or your God or whatever it is. Just have this moment and dream about what your health would be like. That's the health wish list.
Then we do a health assessment, risk assessment, and we go like we all know smoking is not good for us. I don't think anybody's smoking, what? Is this bad for me? We know we make decisions, we're all autonomous, but let's do a risk assessment and let's just look at what's in there that's not serving you. I will tell you, sometimes when we do the risk assessment, we find I always try to identify 10 things. People that are like, I am not going to quit my coffee, my smoking, and my alcohol. Okay, let's look at the other seven, because if I can get rid of some of these other things that maybe are benign, that you don't even think about. You're using chemicals on your armpits. You're on a diet. So whatever it is that we think has a negative impact on your health. Let's do the ones that feel less traumatic to you. Let's get rid of those.
Then, as you get healthier, you're probably not going to want to smoke in that body. That's the way I try to go after it.
Dr. Farzanna Haffizulla: Exactly. Well, I love that. That's a very collaborative sort of coach approach, which I think works extraordinarily well. And you're sort of doing a motivational process, motivational interviewing to figure out what people's intrinsic motivations are and then meet them where they are.
Haylie Pomroy: That's exactly what you said in the very beginning that I'm pulling it back to. I have to get it, because I'm selfish, I'm obsessed with food, talk to me about your cooking show.
Dr. Farzanna Haffizulla: Oh, absolutely. It started off focusing on the Caribbean and Latin American community. I cook in my own kitchen, and there are dishes from across the Caribbean and Latin American region itself. We literally take those dishes and find small ways to reduce the salt, fat, healthier fats, maybe replace it with healthier fats, or sugar content, looking at portions and servings, and so forth and so on. And we make mocktails. I love that you mentioned mocktails. I love it. We have non-alcoholic drinks there. We talk all about all the possibilities. Then, of course, we enjoy the food together.
Put the recipes out there. Everything is freely available to everyone. Seasons one and two started off just literally on social media. Season three was sort of broadcast-ready. We've got our YouTube channel In the Kitchen with Dr. H.
Now season four, we're going global. All cultures are very much invited to the table. I plan to go out of my kitchen and get into some of the restaurants and some of the places and spaces where people are cooking and enjoying food.
And we'll talk a little bit about those six pillars as with beer, but I also want to capture the personal stories. Your why. Why this is important to you. This dish, the significance of this dish, for example, and then finding ways that we honor the identity of that food and the cultural aspects of it while keeping it healthy and enjoying food. Just having that joy eating.
Haylie Pomroy: Pleasure stimulates the metabolism. And when you love what you eat, I think there's so much research, amazing research on having oxytocin and the love hormones and how it works on adiponectin and how it helps regulate your immune system. Even if it's, you love it.
Like, so my last cookbook, in all the photographs, is someone that I love dishes and dishes. I love that. SoI have my grandmother's salt shakers. I have my aunt, my aunt, like I have placemats from clients, like I'd ask clients to send in things that were meaningful to them. So even the dishes, like I'm big on, I just traveled a bunch, and I always bring some sort of dish, plate, and glass home.
But the vessel that the food is in, like what a benign, easy thing to improve your health.
Dr. Farzanna Haffizulla: Yes. You eat with your eyes first.
Haylie Pomroy: Yes, you do. And your heart and your smells and all of those things.
When you do these shows, like, so right now, we've watched tons of them and, and right now we're calling for sponsors for the new show, correct?
Dr. Farzanna Haffizulla: Yes, we are. We are very much doing that. We want to continue this mission. So we are so deeply grateful to our sponsors. Now we are not able to do any of this work without that, but we're looking at seasons five, six, beyond. We want to continue this moving forward in the right direction, honoring the stories from our community, amplifying the voices of our community.
Haylie Pomroy: And I love going into the kitchens. We did a thing with Dr. Osborne. I flew to this woman that had, I'm going to mess this up, 18 or 19 children. The family is beautiful. I went in, and we went into her kitchen, and we had so much fun cooking for everybody, and she had a tremendous health trajectory change. I mean, her cholesterol came down, her HDLs went up, her C-reactive protein came down, her blood pressure stabilized. But it wasn't until I could go in and understand her and her life and her kids and her family.
And we taught the kids how to make things, how to prepare, and how to chop veggies. It was really, really meaningful.
Dr. Farzanna Haffizulla: You were personalizing that entire experience for her. That's how we are able to make sustainable change.
Haylie Pomroy: So, how would somebody get a hold of you? I know everybody's going to watch this. I will not let our community get a hold of you to ask for a doctor's appointment or for medical advice. That's for me.
Anytime. Anytime. You host the show.
But how can people get a hold of you if they want to sponsor the show? We have a lot of really cool natural health viewers in our space that love to foster healthy food and healthy eating and a show like yours that's making life changes right in the trenches.
Dr. Farzanna Haffizulla: Absolutely. Well, I'm going to do this.
I'm going to give out an email address here from the university. You can email me for sure at fhaffizull@nova.edu or you can go on our website, nsucaribbeanhealth.com. You can go ahead and fill out the contact form over there.
Haylie Pomroy: I will definitely put this in all of our digital stuff, but this is not where someone calls to make an appointment with you.
Dr. Farzanna Haffizulla: No, not at all.
Haylie Pomroy: If anybody wants to participate in the cooking show.
Dr. Farzanna Haffizulla: Health equity initiatives.
Haylie Pomroy: That's the next thing we're going to jump on really quick. But you guys send an email, but do not send an email looking for a doctor's appointment, please. That is only for me. No, I'm just kidding.
Please, one, tell me you're going to come back.
Dr. Farzanna Haffizulla: Oh, I'd be honored. This was a highlight of my...
Haylie Pomroy: There's so many topics that I haven't gotten to yet. But I want to talk about the health equity initiative. When I sat down with Dr. Klimas and we decided what we wanted to do with this podcast, her biggest thing that she said that just keeps her awake is lack of access.And that so many people that are dealing with chronic inflammation, chronic disease, whether it's Parkinson's, Alzheimer's, autism, ME/CFS, all of it is that we know we're so limited to the amount of patients that we can actually see. We also know that we do have patients that travel from all over globally and in the United States, but that's at a cost. Not just time, but financially.
We know when people walk in the door, we have a sliding scale in the clinic. I didn't know if you knew that. We're very proud of that.
Dr. Farzanna Haffizulla: That's wonderful.
Haylie Pomroy: Yeah, it's very cool. But it's still, for every patient that we spend three hours each visit with, we know that there are hundreds of thousands, millions that aren't getting access. I'm fascinated by this health equity aspect of it. Can you explain it to us a little bit?
Dr. Farzanna Haffizulla: Absolutely. We're looking at five main areas. The cooking show is actually born out of a lot of those health equity initiatives. The areas that we look at, of course, like you mentioned, healthcare access and quality, education access and quality, looking at the neighborhood and the built environment, social and community context, and then economic stability.
Approaching it from all of those aspects and all of those pillars allows us to get a sort of a comprehensive view of the needs of the community. I'll give you an example. We have some incredible leadership in the city of Lauderhill.
I'll just shout out to them. Commissioner Melissa Dunn and City Manager Desorae Giles-Smith, together co-founded Lauderhill Health and Prosperity Partnership and asked me to come on as a co-chair. So I co-chair along with two other folks.
And they have used those five areas to sort of build in a framework to understand the needs of the community. The community needs assessment was done that not only looked at health itself but looked at the environment, looked at crime, looked at the entire environment, and all of the factors that lead to health and wellness. Then, hearing now and looking at the data and hearing from the community in some of these initiatives allowed them to make certain initiatives move forward and to build out the areas that needed to have growth in order to solve some of the problems in the community.
Haylie Pomroy: It's interesting that you say that. Florida has a very unique medical exposure for practitioners. For me, coming from Southern California, Colorado, I'll just say it's very different here.
We have a lot of tropical diseases that we don't see in other parts of the United States. We have a lot of different environmental toxins that are all over the United States, but are widely recognized, like mold toxicity, things like that.
We had a patient that came in from Colorado, and their doctor literally told them there's no way you have a mold toxicity environmental illness based because you live in Colorado and it's a dry climate. Oh, they had water damage in their house. We figured that one out.
But the docs here are so exposed to it. I was working with one of the docs in our infectious disease strictly in parasitology. Part of it was because my daughter ended up in the hospital in UCLA. One of my favorite hospitals. I love UCLA. But we were having an infectious disease issue that I said, I need somebody that actually sees human-to-animal communicable diseases.
So I had to find a doctor in Florida long before I was down here. Because you guys have such diverse exposure. Also, it is like LA is a melting pot, but there's a different flavor, if you will, to South Florida.
Dr. Farzanna Haffizulla: Exactly. Every area is going to be a little bit different. But there's a way to sort of get an environmental risk assessment.
We can use technology to do that. You know, with the advent of artificial intelligence entering healthcare, if we can harness that power of technology to connect our communities more and ensure that we break down those barriers, we can have not only better access to quality healthcare and quality assessment, but also we can ensure that we're personalizing the experience for who we're treating.
Haylie Pomroy: Our perspective, and I love working with Dean Wallace on this, is infusing our medical students. Infusing our medical students to provide better care. How do we communicate? I'm walking into the office.
How do I get equitable care? Do I communicate with them? In my socioeconomic situation, there's a demographic piece when you fill it out.
But what would you say are the top three important things that you've learned by being involved in this massive amount of data assessment or looking at all the different variables? What are the top three things that someone should bring to their doctor visit from a knowledge perspective that they should share with their physician? Like I always tell my kids, Joey, you've been international, you've been international, you work with livestock. You literally are in the thick of working with livestock. That's not normal in Southern California. It's something that I always tell my kids you end up in the hospital and it happened to both of them. You end up at UCLA. The first thing you say is I work with livestock. You let them know. That's something that maybe people wouldn't think about telling their doc.
Dr. Farzanna Haffizulla: They may not ask you that in history.
Haylie Pomroy: Right. Especially if you're in Manhattan.
Dr. Farzanna Haffizulla: Yes. So again, to really keep it very personalized, because there might be other variables that we may not consider important that might be important to a diagnosis. Like you mentioned in the very beginning, create a one page summary of maybe what has happened over the last six months in your life.
Haylie Pomroy: Are we still valuing family health history?
Dr. Farzanna Haffizulla: Absolutely. Very much so. Your past medical history, your family history, your social history, surgical history, any medications that you're taking, any allergies that you have. I would even talk about your preventive health as well. Have you had your screenings, like for the mammograms or colonoscopies, et cetera. Any blood work that you may or may not have had, and then of course, talk about symptoms that you're experiencing, things that you want brought to the table.
You can again, use that patient portal to your advantage and complete a lot of information ahead of time. There is a form that we typically use to collect those social determinants of health. If your patient portal is from the electronic health record used by the health facility that you go to, they don't have that.
You can print one out online and complete it. That's a prepared form.
Haylie Pomroy: I'm going to say something that I've said. Every Friday, we have clinicals, which is, even though I'm not technically working, I was in Spain, and I literally logged into our clinicals. I cannot, all the docs get together, and we all contemplate stuff, and it's just brilliance in a room. I love it.
But I don't know. I'm always bringing up a different perspective. Sometimes, that everybody totally disagrees with, and I have said this, and I think I've got them to come to my side a little bit. There are a lot of doctors that don't look at all of that data before the visit. That it's used a lot for larger health initiatives to collect data to know if this person is prone to slipping and falling, and also for insurance companies to know where to funnel their money.
Because you fill it out, I just want people to know that some docs read it and some docs don't. Don't feel like I've already told your office this. Have that direct communication with the human being that you're seeking care with in a really human way.
Dr. Farzanna Haffizulla: Absolutely. You can point out the things like you mentioned, the things that you feel, you know what, this is significant and a change for me. I love that. I love that you mentioned that. Use a whole staff as well too. The nurses, the MAs, are part of the team.
Haylie Pomroy: Yes, I'm a kiss butt for my doctor's visit. Like, here's books, here's bars, here's treats, here's homemade jerky. No, I do.
Dr. Farzanna Haffizulla: No, they will never forget you.
Haylie Pomroy: I hope not. But you know, I get called back. And I don't know. I mean, they're non-biased, but we are human.
Dr. Farzanna Haffizulla: That's right. We are human. Respect each other, love each other. Show that care.
Haylie Pomroy: And walk out. I wrote, one size doesn't fit all. I want everybody to walk out empowered. The more times I get brilliant people like you to tell people like myself and my community out there that we deserve good care, the more it's going to sink in. Because a lot of people, I had somebody the other day, so I got to ask my doctor if I can go off of that. I said, but your blood pressure is super, super low. Call right now and ask. Then I went, that's an interesting thing to ask permission for. But it's the way we've been raised and trained, but things are changing.
I mean, we got the pandemic sped a lot of stuff up. It was funny when I first brought that thing up about you filling out all your things, but do the docs really read them? Our docs were like, yes, we all read them. Then I brought one day the amount of forms, because we're a research facility. I said, there is no way you know all this. This is what we learned in our 3-hour meeting. I said, okay, but I want you to have a one sheet. I had to drive the point home.
YouTube, you have an incredible YouTube channel right now. It's In the Kitchen with Dr. H.
Dr. Farzanna Haffizulla: You got it.
Haylie Pomroy: Okay, great. I want to come and play with you. I want to come cook with you. I want to come just to watch you cook.
Dr. Farzanna Haffizulla: I would love that. That would be a dream for us. We would love it.
Haylie Pomroy: And I want to make sure that I, that you do come back. This is great. This gives our community so much empowerment, and the women and the men that listen to this, just a lot of permission to advocate for themselves.
Dr. Farzanna Haffizulla: Absolutely. We're in this together.
Haylie Pomroy: We're in this together. We're leading with our hearts, with compassion and empathy. We're going to accomplish a lot together. Keep our community healthy.
Haylie Pomroy: Hey, this is Haylie Pomroy. And right now, we're going to transition into our Q&A portion of the podcast. You'll notice that we have live viewers asking us questions. They're my Fast Metabolism members, and they get all kinds of amazing benefits, like member discounts on my world-class supplements and shakes, every product, every day, personalized guidance and support from myself and my team, and even the ability to ask questions of our podcast guests.
If you have questions and want to get them answered, you should absolutely join my membership. If you go to hayliepomroy.com/member, you can join for free for 30 days. Again, that's hayliepomroy.com/member and join for free for 30 days. I can't wait to see you there.
We're lucky to have doctors like you. We're so lucky to have doctors like you. Thank you for spending time with me. I know you are a very busy woman, and I look forward to having you back. You guys post lots of questions for Dr. H. You heard it here. She promised to come back. Do not email her for a visit or for medical advice, but please email her if you'd like to participate in the show and support the show. It is amazing. I can't wait for you guys to all watch it. Make sure you give it 5-star reviews. If you want to participate either from a sponsorship perspective or if you think you have a great recipe that you want to see converted into an even greater recipe because it makes a positive impact for your health, please make sure you let Dr. H. know.
Thank you so much. Thank you again from the Institute, but from myself, selfishly, thank you for being here. I appreciate it.
Dr. Farzanna Haffizulla: It's an honor, privilege, and a pleasure. Thank you, Haylie.
Haylie Pomroy: Absolutely.
In this episode, I’m excited to be joined by Dr. Farzanna Haffizulla, President-elect of the American Heart Association in South Florida. Together, we discuss important topics around women’s health, focusing on how to prevent health issues and make lasting changes in our well-being.
We explore the six pillars of lifestyle medicine: exercise, nutrition, sleep, stress resilience, social connections, and avoiding harmful habits. Dr. Haffizulla gives tips on how to incorporate these into your daily life, from simple ways to move more to healthier eating choices.
We even chat about her cooking show, where she transforms traditional recipes into healthier versions without losing the flavors we love.
This episode is full of helpful tips to take control of your health and feel better every day. If you’re looking for practical ways to improve your well-being, you’ll enjoy this conversation!
If your body feels like it's running on empty, overburdened, or just not responding the way it used to, Haylie's latest book, Toxic Overload, tells you exactly what to do. Download your free digital copy today and start understanding what your body is trying to tell you.
Free Download: Get Your Copy of Toxic Overload 👉 https://hayliepomroy.com/pages/toxic-overload
You don't have to figure this out alone. Inside Haylie's private membership community, you get personalized guidance and support, member discounts on supplements and shakes, and the ability to ask questions directly to podcast guests like Dr. Systrom. Join free for 30 days and take the next step on your health journey.
Join the Fast Metabolism Membership — First 30 Days Free 👉 https://hayliepomroy.com/pages/fast-metabolism-membership
Dr. Farzanna Haffizulla is an Associate Professor of Internal Medicine at Nova Southeastern University’s Dr. Kiran C. Patel College of Osteopathic Medicine (NSU KPCOM) and a former Assistant Dean for Community and Global Health. A board-certified Internal Medicine physician, she runs a hybrid-concierge private practice in Davie, Florida. Dr. Haffizulla is dedicated to health equity, leading projects like the Caribbean Diaspora Healthy Nutrition Outreach Project. She has received numerous accolades for her work, including induction into the Global Healthcare Hall of Fame. A published author and host of the cooking show In the Kitchen with Dr. H, she is also involved in healthcare innovation and mentoring. Dr. Haffizulla is married with four children.
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/inthekitchenwithdrh/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/BusyMomMD
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/fhaffizulla/
Haylie Pomroy, Founder and CEO of The Haylie Pomroy Group, is a leading health strategist specializing in metabolism, weight loss, and integrative wellness. With over 25 years of experience, she has worked with top medical institutions and high-profile clients, developing targeted programs and supplements rooted in the "Food is Medicine" philosophy. Inspired by her own autoimmune journey, she combines expertise in nutrition, biochemistry, and patient advocacy to help others reclaim their health. She is a New York Times bestselling author of The Fast Metabolism Diet.
Website: https://hayliepomroy.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hayliepomroy
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/hayliepomroy
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@hayliepomroy/videos
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hayliepomroy/
EDITED TRANSCRIPT
Haylie Pomroy: We are outperforming men in heart disease right now, aren't we, in strokes and heart attacks?
Dr. Farzanna Haffizulla: And women are also underdiagnosed. You'll find that the symptoms or heart disease, or at least if you're having any kind of poor blood flow to the heart, your symptoms may not be the same as a man. It may be dismissed, as you mentioned. Could be just fatigue or just tiredness for a period of time.
Haylie Pomroy: Hi, it's Haylie Pomroy, your host. I've written six New York Times bestselling books on metabolic pathways. My latest book, Toxic Overload, tells you exactly what to do when your body's overburdened.
If you go to hayliepomroy.com/book, for a limited time, you can download a digital copy of this book completely free. That's hayliepomroy.com/book. Grab your free copy while supplies last. Now back to our show.
I'm Haylie Pomroy, #1 New York Times bestselling author and the former assistant director of the integrative medicine program at the Institute for Neuroimmune Medicine. Why am I saying the former is because I quit my job, guys, because I am now a PhD student. That's right.
A lifelong learner, just like the rest of you, I'm working on getting my PhD in neuroimmunology. This podcast, our community, the Institute has just inspired me to first recognize that there's a lot I don't know. And second, that I am in one of the best places on this whole earth to learn from.
Today, we are going to actually talk about how to stay healthy and how to prevent disease. We are privileged today because I am joined with the president-elect of the American Heart Association in South Florida, Dr. Hafizullah.
Dr. Hafizullah, can I call you Dr. H?
Dr. Farzanna Haffizulla: Yes, absolutely. You can.
Haylie Pomroy: Thank you so much for coming today.
Dr. Farzanna Haffizulla: My pleasure, Haylie. It is so wonderful to be here. And congrats on getting your PhD.
Haylie Pomroy: Thank you. I'm working on it. It's going to be a journey. Doing these podcasts, talking and getting all the questions from our community, I've always been a lifelong learner, but it really let me know that I was in the right place to learn the future of medicine.
Dr. Farzanna Haffizulla: Well, we need more brilliant women leaders.
Haylie Pomroy: Yes, we do. Thank you for bringing women to the table, because that is one of the many reasons why I wanted to have you here. Your bio, both from a medical perspective, from what you do in the community, is so vast and so meaningful. You've made such an incredible impact on so many lives. You guys, I promise I'm going to put all of the bio on the blog posts that come with our podcast.
But one of the things that really touches me is the strength that you have empowered so many women to accomplish things in their health. Where does that come from?
Dr. Farzanna Haffizulla: Gosh, I'm so happy you asked me that. I'm literally leading from my heart. And that heart, those seeds were planted from my mother. My mother was a nurse. She very much inspired me to be in health care and medicine since I was a very little girl.
In fact, I would go to the hospital with her on my “sick days.” I'd pretend to be sick many times just to follow her. But I was supposed to sit at the nurse's station and color with paper and crayons. Never once did I do that. I always escaped onto the ward. I remember just as a young child seeing little children and babies on a burn unit, tethered to cords and IVs, no families around them, crying.
I remember feeling this intense, sharp pain in my heart to help and heal them. That never went away. That stayed with me my whole life.
Haylie Pomroy: That's exciting. That's so cool. We come from generations of healers. My mom is an acupuncturist in the fertility space, and we were always in the fertility clinics. Even my kids, like my son and my daughter, got to see ultrasounds of triplets.
I think instilling that, the magic of medicine, there's still a lot of magic and mystery, and it can still be a beautiful science, I think, is very cool. And the seeds that our parents plant.
Dr. Farzanna Haffizulla: Yes. Very much so.
Haylie Pomroy: That's amazing. How did you come to be at NSU? And we have a deep love for you at the Institute. So I'd love for you to share with our listeners kind of how this whole family came together.
Dr. Farzanna Haffizulla: Well, I just feel so privileged, honored, and blessed to be here. I'll tell you, it really mirrors the diversity I experienced as a child in Trinidad, where I'm originally from.
Here I was in the community practicing internal medicine. My husband and I are both here in practice. I have my own private life, he has his, but our children are here, all four kids are here as well. Then my oldest daughter had interest in NSU. She was applying. And then lo and behold, the MD program was starting up at the same time.
Haylie Pomroy: What is that? The MD program?
Dr. Farzanna Haffizulla: The MD program.
Haylie Pomroy: You went to school at the University of Miami.
Dr. Farzanna Haffizulla: I did. That's where I did my medical school training. And then I was at the Cleveland Clinic, both the Cleveland Clinic Foundation in Ohio, and here in Florida, as well, for residency training. But then we set up practice here. You know, a lot of the physicians who end up training here, stay here.
Haylie Pomroy: Yes, they do.
Dr. Farzanna Haffizulla: So we did that. And as we were in the community, I got involved in many different leadership activities. Then all of a sudden, the MD program or the allopathic medicine program here at NSU reached out to me and recruited me to be their assistant dean for community and global health. I did that. Actually, a lot of health equity initiatives were born there. Then our incredible dean here in the College of Osteopathic Medicine, she recruited me over to the osteopathic school to serve as the chair of medicine.
So I started there, and then my journey now takes me still on the health equity road.
Haylie Pomroy: Dean Wallace brought you into the osteopathic medical space. How did you start to work with, I mean, I know Dr. Klimas adores you. How did that relationship, how was that established?
Dr. Farzanna Haffizulla: I knew Dr. Klimas from the University of Miami (UM). It's amazing how small the world is. This is many decades before I even joined, which is incredible. She was just a mentor, a professor we just completely respected and were inspired by. And to now know that she was here, that was a seal that we needed to kind of move. I said, oh, absolutely.
We'll make sure we're here.
Haylie Pomroy: Are you still with the College of Osteopathic Medicine?
Dr. Farzanna Haffizulla: Yes, very much so.
Haylie Pomroy: In what role?
Dr. Farzanna Haffizulla: I'm an associate professor, and I lead many different health equity initiatives, and I'm on the legislative side of the college. I'm getting involved in some of the advocacy and on the politics, if you will, of medicine and the business side of medicine, just tying those roles together. =
I'm working very closely with Dr. Jim Howell. He's a former Secretary of Health for the state of Florida. Of course, our dean, who's incredible, we're just essentially ensuring that we keep our finger on the pulse of all the changes happening in medicine and healthcare to position our students very well so that not only can they assimilate well into the climate of medicine as it's changing, but they're going to be natural innovators and master adaptive learners.
Haylie Pomroy: I love what you just said. I had an interview the other day with an incredible MD that has a stronghold on curriculum at Harvard right now. We were talking about Dean Wallace and yourself and how we have to take our current medical students and indoctrinate them, if you will, with what is actually needed out there in medicine. I think there was a period of time, and there's a group of doctors that are almost going back to school now because medicine has changed so drastically in the last 20 years.
But I think it's even more so since the pandemic. And one of the things that Dr. Komaroff was saying, Tony was saying that none of us deal at the Institute with a lot of chronic fatigue, myalgic encephalomyelitis, chronic neuroinflammation. He said most doctors won't see a lot of that in their practice. But with long COVID, all doctors are having to learn about neuroinflammation and inflammatory and chronic disease in general, and how to treat the chronic patient, even if they're 22.
The one other thing that you said that for me was one of the things that brought me to NSU was our medical students, the fact that we travel and see underserved, whether it's in India or the Galapagos or Peru, but also how much work we require of our students to do from an equity perspective in South Florida.
Dr. Farzanna Haffizulla: Very much so.
Haylie Pomroy: Can you share with me why that even matters? Why aren't we all just in Boston, the kind of the mecca of universities, and only treating people in large cities like that?
Dr. Farzanna Haffizulla: I love that you asked me that question because it's very important for us to know that there is not a one-size-fits all for all patients. We really have to understand our patients' backgrounds, where they work, live, play, eat, worship. Those are the social determinants of health. Those impact someone's health and wellness more than their own genetic makeup many times.
Haylie Pomroy: Sometimes I would get somebody that says something that just gives me chills because I know there are people out here listening. I mean, I know we just did a retreat where we got to meet people in person. The fact that you just said that there's no one-size-fits-all and that you brought in the social components to health. I will share with you that most people out there aren't getting that kind of care. They're getting one-size-fits-all solutions. It does not matter what you eat or don't eat, or how your stress level is, or whether you sleep. I mean, we obviously have a different mindset here, but if I can, just because that was super impactful to me, I felt like you gave a lot of people permission to desire better care. Thank you.
What kind of verbiage can you help someone out there that's listening to communicate to their doctor? Should they walk in the door with a portfolio, if you will, or a bio of themselves? Like, how can they get treated the way that we insist our medical students treat their patients?
Dr. Farzanna Haffizulla: I love that question. I tell my patients to stay empowered, make sure you're informed, and you're empowered in this process. That understanding of who is treating you, that can happen well before you even get into a health care facility or to see that physician.
We've got ways to see who does what where, yes, of course, reviews are sometimes not always going to share the in-depth analysis of what might be happening, but you can interview a physician and a group. You can interview the healthcare system. We did that. I remember my husband and I, when we had the first of four kids, we went into the pediatrician and saw she was a good fit for us.
Haylie Pomroy: It's so funny that you said that, because OB-GYN and pediatricians are the only times that people feel like they can interview a healthcare practitioner. My kids, we changed to UCLA, they were in L.A. At the time. My son says, I'm fine, why are you making me a doctor's appointment? I said, because this might be your doctor. Well, is he my doctor or not? I said, I don't know. Go interview him. He said, that's cool. I said, absolutely.
Because when you are sick, or you do have a problem, you have to make sure that you have an ally, and you use the word empower, that you walk out of those visits. I always tell our community, if you leave the visit not feeling empowered, and especially if you leave the visit feeling deflated, defeated, or small, change doctors, period.
Dr. Farzanna Haffizulla: And I'll tell you, we know that the administrative burden from the electronic health records and all the other pieces that pull doctors away from actually seeing their patients, that's contributed significantly to not only physician burnout, but that crunched amount of time that you see that strains the entire patient-physician relationship.
Haylie Pomroy: So, how can a patient be more proactive in it? Because ultimately, they're the one that's going to benefit from a positive visit.
We have this form that's called a request for care. We call it a Dear Dr. Sanders letter. I tell people this story reluctantly. There was a doc that I had to work with that was in Chicago. He was with this particular client. The client was having a really hard time. They couldn't get away from the particular practitioner. So as we started formulating letters before, we'd send it to the nurse, we'd send it to the office, and they'd walk in with a copy, three copies for the doctor.
His name was Dr. Sanders. We adore each other now. He, I always say, worships the quicksand I walked upon when we first met. But my client couldn't communicate effectively, and he couldn't hear effectively. I'll say it was a very circular dynamic, and there was a big, massive problem.
So as a community, we fill out this, we call it a request for care, Dear Dr. Sanders letter. But I tell everybody, do not walk into the doctor's office thinking you remember what's going on with you. Also, tell them something important about you so that you stand out, that they remember you. But be really articulate, because there is the crunch time.
Are there tools that you like, if a patient walks into you and you go, oh, it actually takes stress off of you, what are some attributes that they can walk in the door with?
Dr. Farzanna Haffizulla: Use the electronic health record to your advantage. There is a patient portal. There are ways that you can electronically check in.
There are ways you can communicate with the staff ahead of time, share your records ahead of time if you can. I love that you said portfolio, bring in a portfolio or a folder of all of your past records, if you have it, all of your scans and labs, et cetera. That helps really allow a proper, holistic assessment.
Rather than repeating some of the testing that might be done, that'll save on cost. Also, you have to realize that, as well, where all that information may not be digested in that one visit, at least it's something your physician and the health care team can look over.
Haylie Pomroy: I always jokingly say, I wrote books, they're 200 and something pages, 200 ended up on the editing floor, but I sold a book on a one sheet. So you've got to sell your case on a one sheet. You know what I mean? Bring everything, but have a summary. Yeah. I love that.
Can I talk about, I just want to bring us, and it's not just a selfish perspective, our communities ask this, women's health. Give me the top three things that are impacting women's health right now? Because it's changed drastically in the last 20 years.
Dr. Farzanna Haffizulla: Very much so. Heart disease remains the number one killer of not just women, but women and men in this country. It is really not budged. And that is horrific. And of course, with the pandemic, that just further amplified the situation.
Haylie Pomroy: Jokingly, we say want something done well, give it to a woman. But on the serious side, we are outperforming men in heart disease right now, aren't we? In strokes and heart attacks.
Dr. Farzanna Haffizulla: Women are also underdiagnosed.
Haylie Pomroy: Underdiagnosed and gaslit. I just have to throw that out there.
Dr. Farzanna Haffizulla: Very much so. You'll find that the symptoms for heart disease, or at least if you're having any kind of poor blood flow to the heart, your symptoms may not be the same as a man. And it may be dismissed, as you mentioned. Could be just fatigue or just tiredness for a period of time, or pain that's not typical like you read in the textbooks. I encourage everybody to go on the American Heart Association website and look at symptoms and look to see some of those resources.
Haylie Pomroy: Then if you're having those symptoms, make sure that you call those out to your doctor for your visit. Because a lot of people, it's a postmortem. It's after the fact. They're in the hospital. They've had a heart attack. They've had a stroke and they say, gosh, it's really weird. I was having nausea. I was having fatigue. I was having shortness of breath. That's right.
Also, I know you guys have really good suggestions for, and I'd love to hear some of the suggestions from a preventative perspective.
Dr. Farzanna Haffizulla: That is my passion, to prevent it. My father and mother said growing up an ounce of prevention is worth more than a pound of cure. That's a very well-known saying.
Haylie Pomroy: Yes. I love that though.
Dr. Farzanna Haffizulla: Ways to prevent, I like to focus on those six pillars of lifestyle medicine and give a couple of tips and strategies along the way that you can adopt based on your own preferences.
Haylie Pomroy: Okay. I'm writing them down. Take me through the six and then we're going to go through them.
Dr. Farzanna Haffizulla: Absolutely. First one, exercise. Just start to move. Now, you don't have to get a gym membership to move. You can park in the furthest parking spot and walk all the way in. You can choose to walk in the evening or the morning in your own neighborhood. If your neighborhood, you're not so happy, and it's not as walkable, go into a mall and just walk inside. You don't have to worry about the weather. Just find a way to move. If you have a sedentary desk job or anything else, elevate that desk and stand.
Haylie Pomroy: Yes. Blood flow.
Dr. Farzanna Haffizulla: Blood flow. You want to move your body any way you can. One thing, because we have a lot of clients in the beginning of their journey towards wellness, Dr. Klimas, when I came in, and the whole team, the first thing she said was, she goes, I will believe every patient can get well. Everybody that walks through my door, I will hold out for them until the day I'm not here. And then even afterwards, she's convinced she's going to hold out that everybody can get well. Sometimes, individuals that come in the beginning of our journey, they have POTS, they have myalgic encephalomyelitis, they've been diagnosed with chronic fatigue, and post-exertional malaise is part of their disease profile.
Exercise, we measure VO2 max, we measure where the fatigue comes in. But one of our docs said something interesting, which is if exercise causes the disease state to be worse, you can do something passively, like massage. Even a really good one, we have acupuncture in the clinic, like acupuncture, because it helps to regulate some of the stress hormones that exercise is so profound for. As well as it helps blood flow that exercise is so profound for. We can't get our nutrients to our fingers and toes without exercise. I mean, it's really difficult.
Dr. Farzanna Haffizulla: That's right. Even water, sitting in water. That also moves your body. Exactly, you are. Yes. That is a nice way, especially for joints.
Haylie Pomroy: I heard the doctor just prescribed a jacuzzi and a massage. That's what I'm taking home. Check. Just a massage, jacuzzi. Yep.
Dr. Farzanna Haffizulla: So that's the exercise.
Haylie Pomroy: Walk with one hand. Yeah. Or exercise to your fitness level.
Dr. Farzanna Haffizulla: Right. I mean, 150 minutes of moderate intensity exercise per week is what's recommended. You can go above and below that. You can make it more vigorous, however you choose to just move.
Haylie Pomroy: But I love what you said earlier with customizing. There is not one size that fits all. This is a category, and directionally, we are going to improve this of one of six categories. I love that.
Dr. Farzanna Haffizulla: Exactly. That's right. Yeah.
Haylie Pomroy: You're not going to be the next Arnold Schwarzenegger, or maybe you are. But we also need to have blood flow and lymphatic drainage and nutrient delivery, so we've got to figure out what's right for you.
Dr. Farzanna Haffizulla: This community, we love to dance as well. We put our music on and dance. That's very popular down here. After exercise, of course, not even after it, these are all sort of on the same level because I love to approach them all at the same time, which is of course what we eat.
Haylie Pomroy: Yeah. Speaking my love language.
Dr. Farzanna Haffizulla: Oh, let me tell you. Right? I mean, we grew up in Trinidad, literally growing our own vegetables and our seasonings and spices from the backyard. We wanted seafood. We were at Fisherman's Wharf, tasting the brine and that seafood, or went to the farm. But here, we've got to stay away from those ultra-processed foods that have a lot of preservatives and chemicals. More whole grains, whole foods, whole fruits, and vegetables. Make a very colorful plate that's more plant-based.
Haylie Pomroy: I always say food shouldn't be allowed to be called food if it's not food. There should be no reason that the grocery store has an aisle that says healthy food. I mean, they should clock the doors if someone's trying to...
But, I mean, they're willing to acknowledge it. We know it. That 90% of what's in your grocery store is not healthy. The closer you can get to patting the farmer on the back or growing it yourself, that's when you're ingesting actual food.
Dr. Farzanna Haffizulla: Yes. Get your family involved. And you know what? Neighborhoods can have sustainable gardens as well. There are different communities who are doing this so well in different ways. You can find ways to make it happen even if you don't have a big yard. There are different ways to grow some things within.
Haylie Pomroy: And I think, too, when you do farmers' markets and stuff like that, it can become really affordable. AndI love some of the vertical farming, although I get a little bit nervous about nutrient density. When you don't have organic soils involved. I am a soil scientist, so I studied dirt. What did you study? Dirt. Dirt manure. Dirt manure, water runoff.
Dr. Farzanna Haffizulla: That plays a huge role.That can poison your entire food if it's not healthy.
Haylie Pomroy: Absolutely. You know what? I was just reading the statistics about the insults on non-organic fruits and vegetables. Because we, the American Heart Association, and many organizations have done such a phenomenal job driving home the importance of fruits and vegetables.. But non-organic fruits and vegetables, because there's such a strong market for them now, are some of the most adulterated. I mean, we were seeing turmeric being sprayed with paint the other day.
Dr. Farzanna Haffizulla: Unbelievable.
Haylie Pomroy: I know. You just… If you can understand the source of your food, if you can grow your food, I love that. But every single thing we do is nutrient-dependent. Sitting here right now is a nutrient-dependent process.
Sleep is the most nutrient-dependent action you can have in your life, which regulates all of the nervous system and the heart and all of those things. You have to have nutrition. Dr. H, thank you for driving that home for my community. I'm always saying it, but you have way more —
Dr. Farzanna Haffizulla: You know, it's important. Our cooking show looks at this. We take foods enjoyed by different cultures, and we make tiny digestible changes like reducing the salt here, or sugar content. Changing the source, figuring out a way to keep that taste there. And the identity of the dish present, while not affecting the flavors.
Haylie Pomroy: You just mentioned your cooking show. That's where we're going next.I want to go through the six. Everybody knows how my ADHD is such in service to you all today.
Hi. It's Haylie Pomroy, your host. When I was going through my health crisis, the worst part of it was feeling lost and alone. I decided that I didn't want anybody else to feel as desperate as I did. That's why we set up a private membership group where you can come in, ask questions, get support, and be connected with people that can actually help you on your health journey.
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You said something about changing something culturally. One of the things that I found too is if you go back historically to the culture of food, that when we had kind of the industrial revolution, when we started doing microwave foods, you watch food history, a lot of the cultural foods had natural ingredients now and didn't have all the refined sugar and the food dyes and stuff. A lot of times what I'll do is I'll take that cultural food, I'll do a historical deep dive on it and find out the origin or the origin, excuse me, of those foods. Then we almost, I feel like we resurrect the true culture of the food. It's such a fun experience because they understand that we were doing this in Hawaiian culture, like the refined sugars and the refined complex carbs that weren't there. You know, they had complex carbs.
Dr. Farzanna Haffizulla: That's right. The whole grain.
Haylie Pomroy: Yes, exactly. Okay. Give me number three. I mean, we could just stop with food and exercise, but I would love to hear all three.
Dr. Farzanna Haffizulla: Well, you already mentioned sleep, which is very important, and that needs to be seven to nine hours of restorative sleep. If you're waking up every hour, it's not going to count for you. How can you create a situation where you could start to wind down and really get that sleep, as you mentioned, so, so, so important.
Haylie Pomroy: I just taught a class this last week, we had a retreat on adrenal fatigue and inflammatory diseases. I was saying, if we could address diet, exercise, and sleep, I believe that 99% of the diseases that are existing in the United States right now would have no home. Period.
Dr. Farzanna Haffizulla: Absolutely. Very, very powerful pillars if addressed.
Absolutely. We would make, we would move that needle. And the other pieces that tie in, of course, stress resilience. Finding ways to reduce that stress, being mindful, taking a moment to walk outside, connect with nature, play with your pet babies and your children and your family, and that ties to social connections, which is the next one.
Haylie Pomroy: But I love that you said stress resilience, not just stress reduction. Being an individual that's gone through different stressors. We all are. The hardest, the most stressful thing that anybody can tell me is just reduce your stress. There are times when you can't get out of a stressful situation. Maybe it's a fractured femur. Maybe it's a divorce. Maybe it's the death of a parent that you can't. I don't have a magic wand to make that stress go away. So the resilience or the adaptability in the human body is what keeps us out of trouble. So I know you're going to talk about the social aspect next, but really gauging your stress and then seeing where, of course, get rid of what you can, but how do you infuse yourself so that you're more resilient? I love that.
Dr. Farzanna Haffizulla: I think over the years, I know myself, I've learned ways to react and ways to protect your space. If we can ensure that we stay within our own power, know that the ball is always in your court when it comes to that, you will find that you can deal with things in a way that won't make you sick.
Haylie Pomroy: You know, sometimes people say things to me on these podcasts that I feel like I'm not on a podcast, and you're just here for me. Thank you. I needed to hear that today. Protect your space. I'm going to write that on my bathroom mirror. Protect your space. I'm an open person. I love people. I genuinely think everybody's scrumptious and squishy, and I just adore them. I do. I really do. But sometimes there's things that are not serving me, and I need to be very protective of my space. That's mine.
Dr. Farzanna Haffizulla: Your body knows when you're not in a safe space. So listen to those cues and make adjustments.
Haylie Pomroy: But women are often taught, I'm just going to bring this up, to be pleasant about it, to be kind about saying no. To protect your space, I'm sorry, but those words sound masculine to me. Like being protective sounds masculine. I love that I can embrace that personally because so many times we're taught to smooth it over, keep the family happy. It's okay if it's not a positive interaction. Let's see if we can somehow be the peacemaker of the family or things like that. I love that.
Dr. Farzanna Haffizulla: Stand firm and you will. It's sort of an infectious way of living, which is a great way because then your children learn from you, everybody else, it sort of helps to diffuse all of the bumps in the road, if you will, and can have a preventive effect down the road, which is amazing.
Haylie Pomroy: You guys, I brought a doctor on here today to tell you to protect your space, to be empowered during your medical visits, to exercise, to sleep, to have nutrition. I mean, this is the top of the top. So I'm excited for the next one.
Dr. Farzanna Haffizulla: Social connections. We're talking about sort of really playing with your friends and family members outside of your workspace, having fun, just enjoying life, and building on that human-to-human connection. You know, during the pandemic, we were all siloed, separated.
I know, especially in our Caribbean community, that wreaked havoc, really. Of course, there was a buildup of many different complications of disease states just from losing those social connections. We saw it in our kids. How they had a hard time.
Haylie Pomroy: Weren't able to go to school. We dragged my parents to the house, and we all ran to the ranch. We had to, because I was just so used to engaging, interacting, making food together. We didn't live, but we just said, that's it. We can't be apart. We have to be under the same roof. I will say that was lifesaving for our family. It was really, the kids came home, and I kind of miss it, quite frankly.
Dr. Farzanna Haffizulla: Absolutely. This is what life's about. The people you love and the ones who support you. We're not islands. We're here to connect and that human side of our existence. Should always be at the forefront.
Haylie Pomroy: I think in a workspace too, when I was looking at different PhD programs at first, this one in neuroimmune medicine wasn't ready or available yet. I was grieving leaving my team here. We have a lovely group of people who lead with their hearts. I was grieving that social interaction from a work environment. I'd been a solopreneur for so many years. I love that you say that. It's so important in your health. Also, I always tell everybody, remember, you can change if it's not where you like it, change it.
Haylie Pomroy: That's exactly right.
Dr. Farzanna Haffizulla: That goes back to that empowerment.
Haylie Pomroy: Always have that power to do that.
Dr. Farzanna Haffizulla: Then the final one was just really avoiding risky substances, like don't smoke or avoid cigarette smoke if you can, and alcohol. If you don't drink, don't start to drink.
Haylie Pomroy: Exactly. No matter what they say about it, we did a lot of mocktail cooking classes during the pandemic because people were starting to make all kinds of liquor at home. I'm watching people like we were watching people because we had these big Zoom parties and did a whole bunch of things.
Dr. Farzanna Haffizulla: We did the same. I love that.
Haylie Pomroy: Yeah, but they were making cocktails. Like hard, like a lot of liquor. I mean, they were researching gluten-free liquor out of vodka out of New Hampshire. I mean, they were like sourcing tequilas, and I'm like, hold on a minute. This isn't going to get us where we need to be when this is all said and done. So we started doing mocktail parties. We had a blast.
Risk assessment. We always do this thing called a health wish list. Whenever people like, like dream big, pretend like no one's going to read it. Like it's just you and your guardian angels or your parents in heaven or your God or whatever it is. Just have this moment and dream about what your health would be like. That's the health wish list.
Then we do a health assessment, risk assessment, and we go like we all know smoking is not good for us. I don't think anybody's smoking, what? Is this bad for me? We know we make decisions, we're all autonomous, but let's do a risk assessment and let's just look at what's in there that's not serving you. I will tell you, sometimes when we do the risk assessment, we find I always try to identify 10 things. People that are like, I am not going to quit my coffee, my smoking, and my alcohol. Okay, let's look at the other seven, because if I can get rid of some of these other things that maybe are benign, that you don't even think about. You're using chemicals on your armpits. You're on a diet. So whatever it is that we think has a negative impact on your health. Let's do the ones that feel less traumatic to you. Let's get rid of those.
Then, as you get healthier, you're probably not going to want to smoke in that body. That's the way I try to go after it.
Dr. Farzanna Haffizulla: Exactly. Well, I love that. That's a very collaborative sort of coach approach, which I think works extraordinarily well. And you're sort of doing a motivational process, motivational interviewing to figure out what people's intrinsic motivations are and then meet them where they are.
Haylie Pomroy: That's exactly what you said in the very beginning that I'm pulling it back to. I have to get it, because I'm selfish, I'm obsessed with food, talk to me about your cooking show.
Dr. Farzanna Haffizulla: Oh, absolutely. It started off focusing on the Caribbean and Latin American community. I cook in my own kitchen, and there are dishes from across the Caribbean and Latin American region itself. We literally take those dishes and find small ways to reduce the salt, fat, healthier fats, maybe replace it with healthier fats, or sugar content, looking at portions and servings, and so forth and so on. And we make mocktails. I love that you mentioned mocktails. I love it. We have non-alcoholic drinks there. We talk all about all the possibilities. Then, of course, we enjoy the food together.
Put the recipes out there. Everything is freely available to everyone. Seasons one and two started off just literally on social media. Season three was sort of broadcast-ready. We've got our YouTube channel In the Kitchen with Dr. H.
Now season four, we're going global. All cultures are very much invited to the table. I plan to go out of my kitchen and get into some of the restaurants and some of the places and spaces where people are cooking and enjoying food.
And we'll talk a little bit about those six pillars as with beer, but I also want to capture the personal stories. Your why. Why this is important to you. This dish, the significance of this dish, for example, and then finding ways that we honor the identity of that food and the cultural aspects of it while keeping it healthy and enjoying food. Just having that joy eating.
Haylie Pomroy: Pleasure stimulates the metabolism. And when you love what you eat, I think there's so much research, amazing research on having oxytocin and the love hormones and how it works on adiponectin and how it helps regulate your immune system. Even if it's, you love it.
Like, so my last cookbook, in all the photographs, is someone that I love dishes and dishes. I love that. SoI have my grandmother's salt shakers. I have my aunt, my aunt, like I have placemats from clients, like I'd ask clients to send in things that were meaningful to them. So even the dishes, like I'm big on, I just traveled a bunch, and I always bring some sort of dish, plate, and glass home.
But the vessel that the food is in, like what a benign, easy thing to improve your health.
Dr. Farzanna Haffizulla: Yes. You eat with your eyes first.
Haylie Pomroy: Yes, you do. And your heart and your smells and all of those things.
When you do these shows, like, so right now, we've watched tons of them and, and right now we're calling for sponsors for the new show, correct?
Dr. Farzanna Haffizulla: Yes, we are. We are very much doing that. We want to continue this mission. So we are so deeply grateful to our sponsors. Now we are not able to do any of this work without that, but we're looking at seasons five, six, beyond. We want to continue this moving forward in the right direction, honoring the stories from our community, amplifying the voices of our community.
Haylie Pomroy: And I love going into the kitchens. We did a thing with Dr. Osborne. I flew to this woman that had, I'm going to mess this up, 18 or 19 children. The family is beautiful. I went in, and we went into her kitchen, and we had so much fun cooking for everybody, and she had a tremendous health trajectory change. I mean, her cholesterol came down, her HDLs went up, her C-reactive protein came down, her blood pressure stabilized. But it wasn't until I could go in and understand her and her life and her kids and her family.
And we taught the kids how to make things, how to prepare, and how to chop veggies. It was really, really meaningful.
Dr. Farzanna Haffizulla: You were personalizing that entire experience for her. That's how we are able to make sustainable change.
Haylie Pomroy: So, how would somebody get a hold of you? I know everybody's going to watch this. I will not let our community get a hold of you to ask for a doctor's appointment or for medical advice. That's for me.
Anytime. Anytime. You host the show.
But how can people get a hold of you if they want to sponsor the show? We have a lot of really cool natural health viewers in our space that love to foster healthy food and healthy eating and a show like yours that's making life changes right in the trenches.
Dr. Farzanna Haffizulla: Absolutely. Well, I'm going to do this.
I'm going to give out an email address here from the university. You can email me for sure at fhaffizull@nova.edu or you can go on our website, nsucaribbeanhealth.com. You can go ahead and fill out the contact form over there.
Haylie Pomroy: I will definitely put this in all of our digital stuff, but this is not where someone calls to make an appointment with you.
Dr. Farzanna Haffizulla: No, not at all.
Haylie Pomroy: If anybody wants to participate in the cooking show.
Dr. Farzanna Haffizulla: Health equity initiatives.
Haylie Pomroy: That's the next thing we're going to jump on really quick. But you guys send an email, but do not send an email looking for a doctor's appointment, please. That is only for me. No, I'm just kidding.
Please, one, tell me you're going to come back.
Dr. Farzanna Haffizulla: Oh, I'd be honored. This was a highlight of my...
Haylie Pomroy: There's so many topics that I haven't gotten to yet. But I want to talk about the health equity initiative. When I sat down with Dr. Klimas and we decided what we wanted to do with this podcast, her biggest thing that she said that just keeps her awake is lack of access.And that so many people that are dealing with chronic inflammation, chronic disease, whether it's Parkinson's, Alzheimer's, autism, ME/CFS, all of it is that we know we're so limited to the amount of patients that we can actually see. We also know that we do have patients that travel from all over globally and in the United States, but that's at a cost. Not just time, but financially.
We know when people walk in the door, we have a sliding scale in the clinic. I didn't know if you knew that. We're very proud of that.
Dr. Farzanna Haffizulla: That's wonderful.
Haylie Pomroy: Yeah, it's very cool. But it's still, for every patient that we spend three hours each visit with, we know that there are hundreds of thousands, millions that aren't getting access. I'm fascinated by this health equity aspect of it. Can you explain it to us a little bit?
Dr. Farzanna Haffizulla: Absolutely. We're looking at five main areas. The cooking show is actually born out of a lot of those health equity initiatives. The areas that we look at, of course, like you mentioned, healthcare access and quality, education access and quality, looking at the neighborhood and the built environment, social and community context, and then economic stability.
Approaching it from all of those aspects and all of those pillars allows us to get a sort of a comprehensive view of the needs of the community. I'll give you an example. We have some incredible leadership in the city of Lauderhill.
I'll just shout out to them. Commissioner Melissa Dunn and City Manager Desorae Giles-Smith, together co-founded Lauderhill Health and Prosperity Partnership and asked me to come on as a co-chair. So I co-chair along with two other folks.
And they have used those five areas to sort of build in a framework to understand the needs of the community. The community needs assessment was done that not only looked at health itself but looked at the environment, looked at crime, looked at the entire environment, and all of the factors that lead to health and wellness. Then, hearing now and looking at the data and hearing from the community in some of these initiatives allowed them to make certain initiatives move forward and to build out the areas that needed to have growth in order to solve some of the problems in the community.
Haylie Pomroy: It's interesting that you say that. Florida has a very unique medical exposure for practitioners. For me, coming from Southern California, Colorado, I'll just say it's very different here.
We have a lot of tropical diseases that we don't see in other parts of the United States. We have a lot of different environmental toxins that are all over the United States, but are widely recognized, like mold toxicity, things like that.
We had a patient that came in from Colorado, and their doctor literally told them there's no way you have a mold toxicity environmental illness based because you live in Colorado and it's a dry climate. Oh, they had water damage in their house. We figured that one out.
But the docs here are so exposed to it. I was working with one of the docs in our infectious disease strictly in parasitology. Part of it was because my daughter ended up in the hospital in UCLA. One of my favorite hospitals. I love UCLA. But we were having an infectious disease issue that I said, I need somebody that actually sees human-to-animal communicable diseases.
So I had to find a doctor in Florida long before I was down here. Because you guys have such diverse exposure. Also, it is like LA is a melting pot, but there's a different flavor, if you will, to South Florida.
Dr. Farzanna Haffizulla: Exactly. Every area is going to be a little bit different. But there's a way to sort of get an environmental risk assessment.
We can use technology to do that. You know, with the advent of artificial intelligence entering healthcare, if we can harness that power of technology to connect our communities more and ensure that we break down those barriers, we can have not only better access to quality healthcare and quality assessment, but also we can ensure that we're personalizing the experience for who we're treating.
Haylie Pomroy: Our perspective, and I love working with Dean Wallace on this, is infusing our medical students. Infusing our medical students to provide better care. How do we communicate? I'm walking into the office.
How do I get equitable care? Do I communicate with them? In my socioeconomic situation, there's a demographic piece when you fill it out.
But what would you say are the top three important things that you've learned by being involved in this massive amount of data assessment or looking at all the different variables? What are the top three things that someone should bring to their doctor visit from a knowledge perspective that they should share with their physician? Like I always tell my kids, Joey, you've been international, you've been international, you work with livestock. You literally are in the thick of working with livestock. That's not normal in Southern California. It's something that I always tell my kids you end up in the hospital and it happened to both of them. You end up at UCLA. The first thing you say is I work with livestock. You let them know. That's something that maybe people wouldn't think about telling their doc.
Dr. Farzanna Haffizulla: They may not ask you that in history.
Haylie Pomroy: Right. Especially if you're in Manhattan.
Dr. Farzanna Haffizulla: Yes. So again, to really keep it very personalized, because there might be other variables that we may not consider important that might be important to a diagnosis. Like you mentioned in the very beginning, create a one page summary of maybe what has happened over the last six months in your life.
Haylie Pomroy: Are we still valuing family health history?
Dr. Farzanna Haffizulla: Absolutely. Very much so. Your past medical history, your family history, your social history, surgical history, any medications that you're taking, any allergies that you have. I would even talk about your preventive health as well. Have you had your screenings, like for the mammograms or colonoscopies, et cetera. Any blood work that you may or may not have had, and then of course, talk about symptoms that you're experiencing, things that you want brought to the table.
You can again, use that patient portal to your advantage and complete a lot of information ahead of time. There is a form that we typically use to collect those social determinants of health. If your patient portal is from the electronic health record used by the health facility that you go to, they don't have that.
You can print one out online and complete it. That's a prepared form.
Haylie Pomroy: I'm going to say something that I've said. Every Friday, we have clinicals, which is, even though I'm not technically working, I was in Spain, and I literally logged into our clinicals. I cannot, all the docs get together, and we all contemplate stuff, and it's just brilliance in a room. I love it.
But I don't know. I'm always bringing up a different perspective. Sometimes, that everybody totally disagrees with, and I have said this, and I think I've got them to come to my side a little bit. There are a lot of doctors that don't look at all of that data before the visit. That it's used a lot for larger health initiatives to collect data to know if this person is prone to slipping and falling, and also for insurance companies to know where to funnel their money.
Because you fill it out, I just want people to know that some docs read it and some docs don't. Don't feel like I've already told your office this. Have that direct communication with the human being that you're seeking care with in a really human way.
Dr. Farzanna Haffizulla: Absolutely. You can point out the things like you mentioned, the things that you feel, you know what, this is significant and a change for me. I love that. I love that you mentioned that. Use a whole staff as well too. The nurses, the MAs, are part of the team.
Haylie Pomroy: Yes, I'm a kiss butt for my doctor's visit. Like, here's books, here's bars, here's treats, here's homemade jerky. No, I do.
Dr. Farzanna Haffizulla: No, they will never forget you.
Haylie Pomroy: I hope not. But you know, I get called back. And I don't know. I mean, they're non-biased, but we are human.
Dr. Farzanna Haffizulla: That's right. We are human. Respect each other, love each other. Show that care.
Haylie Pomroy: And walk out. I wrote, one size doesn't fit all. I want everybody to walk out empowered. The more times I get brilliant people like you to tell people like myself and my community out there that we deserve good care, the more it's going to sink in. Because a lot of people, I had somebody the other day, so I got to ask my doctor if I can go off of that. I said, but your blood pressure is super, super low. Call right now and ask. Then I went, that's an interesting thing to ask permission for. But it's the way we've been raised and trained, but things are changing.
I mean, we got the pandemic sped a lot of stuff up. It was funny when I first brought that thing up about you filling out all your things, but do the docs really read them? Our docs were like, yes, we all read them. Then I brought one day the amount of forms, because we're a research facility. I said, there is no way you know all this. This is what we learned in our 3-hour meeting. I said, okay, but I want you to have a one sheet. I had to drive the point home.
YouTube, you have an incredible YouTube channel right now. It's In the Kitchen with Dr. H.
Dr. Farzanna Haffizulla: You got it.
Haylie Pomroy: Okay, great. I want to come and play with you. I want to come cook with you. I want to come just to watch you cook.
Dr. Farzanna Haffizulla: I would love that. That would be a dream for us. We would love it.
Haylie Pomroy: And I want to make sure that I, that you do come back. This is great. This gives our community so much empowerment, and the women and the men that listen to this, just a lot of permission to advocate for themselves.
Dr. Farzanna Haffizulla: Absolutely. We're in this together.
Haylie Pomroy: We're in this together. We're leading with our hearts, with compassion and empathy. We're going to accomplish a lot together. Keep our community healthy.
Haylie Pomroy: Hey, this is Haylie Pomroy. And right now, we're going to transition into our Q&A portion of the podcast. You'll notice that we have live viewers asking us questions. They're my Fast Metabolism members, and they get all kinds of amazing benefits, like member discounts on my world-class supplements and shakes, every product, every day, personalized guidance and support from myself and my team, and even the ability to ask questions of our podcast guests.
If you have questions and want to get them answered, you should absolutely join my membership. If you go to hayliepomroy.com/member, you can join for free for 30 days. Again, that's hayliepomroy.com/member and join for free for 30 days. I can't wait to see you there.
We're lucky to have doctors like you. We're so lucky to have doctors like you. Thank you for spending time with me. I know you are a very busy woman, and I look forward to having you back. You guys post lots of questions for Dr. H. You heard it here. She promised to come back. Do not email her for a visit or for medical advice, but please email her if you'd like to participate in the show and support the show. It is amazing. I can't wait for you guys to all watch it. Make sure you give it 5-star reviews. If you want to participate either from a sponsorship perspective or if you think you have a great recipe that you want to see converted into an even greater recipe because it makes a positive impact for your health, please make sure you let Dr. H. know.
Thank you so much. Thank you again from the Institute, but from myself, selfishly, thank you for being here. I appreciate it.
Dr. Farzanna Haffizulla: It's an honor, privilege, and a pleasure. Thank you, Haylie.
Haylie Pomroy: Absolutely.
