Food isn’t LIKE medicine. It IS medicine… Dr. Robin Berzin talks root cause medicine. || EP. 145
Laurie McGraw is speaking with Inspiring Woman Dr. Robin Berzin, Founder and CEO of Parsley Health. This is the next episode of this Inspiring Women collaboration highlighting several of the extraordinary women leaders in the 7Wire family.
A third of this country, ~100M Americans, have two or more chronic conditions which also equates to about seventy percent of the cost of care in this country. Robin quickly draws our attention to the fact that the majority of these conditions are risk-adjustable – which means, that people can get better. But today’s healthcare system is optimized to triage, refer, refill … handling symptoms but not optimized to make patients well.
So in 2016, Robin tried a new approach and began the pioneering journey of Parsley Health focusing on root cause medicine. This includes a very deep dive clinical history (any first visit is an hour), smart diagnostics and a deep review of social determinants of health including understanding stress levels, what are you eating, how are you moving.
Several years later of connecting the dots using the body as the ecosystem, and evidence to back it up….. a lot of improved outcomes and lower total cost. I admit to asking Robin A LOT of questions about Parsley, because well, the approach was just different. And so promising!
As Robin discussed building the company, she also didn’t sugar coat her reality. The experience of a previous start up did not make it that much easier. Back in the day, it seemed like everyone was raising $100M on just ideas (Not her!). Two years in, not taking a salary, being the Chief of Everything Officer (IT/Ops/Billing/Doctor..) was hard. What kept her going was taking her passion and pouring it into a proof of concept. That gave her the confidence and needed resilience to weather what was ahead.
Her advice to other passionate entrepreneurs is to disregard the noise, the press, the comparisons and focus on YOU and YOUR metrics. Because that is what matters most.
Guest Bio:
Dr. Robin Berzin is the Founder and CEO of Parsley Health, America’s leading holistic medical practice designed to help people overcome chronic conditions. She founded Parsley to address the rising tide of chronic disease in America through personalized holistic medicine that puts food, lifestyle, and proactive diagnostic testing on the prescription pad next to medications. Since founding Parsley in 2016, Dr. Berzin has seen 80% of patients improve or resolve their chronic conditions within their first year of care, demonstrating the life-changing value of making modern holistic medicine accessible to everyone, anywhere. Parsley is available online nationwide. Dr. Berzin attended medical school at Columbia University and trained in Internal Medicine at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City. Her book, Prescription for Happiness: How to Eat, Move, and Supplement for Peak Mental Health, was published by Simon Element in January 2022.
