Made for Health | Peptides | Lyme | Chronic Infections | Long Covid | Insulin Resistance | Hypermobility

🎒 Back-to-school season brings changing routines, new exposures, and added demands on the whole family. Support your family’s health this season with Richmond Integrative & Functional Medicine’s Back-to-School 2026 resources.
Back-to-School 2026:
https://richmondfunctionalmedicine.com/lp/back-to-school-2026/
In this special episode of Made for Health, Dr. Aaron Hartman shares the deeply personal story behind his journey from conventional family medicine into integrative and functional medicine—and why Richmond Integrative & Functional Medicine exists today.
The turning point began with his daughter, Anna.
When Dr. Hartman and his wife began caring for Anna, who had cerebral palsy and significant medical needs, they quickly found themselves questioning recommendations from specialists. One of the earliest moments involved a recommendation for a feeding tube because Anna was considered extremely small on a standard growth chart. Dr. Hartman and his wife declined, believing there might be another path. Months later, they discovered a growth chart specifically for children with cerebral palsy—and Anna was right in the middle of the expected range. Pasted text
That experience fundamentally changed how Dr. Hartman viewed expertise, medical decision-making, and the importance of looking at the right frame of reference for the individual patient.
From there, his family continued exploring alternatives when standard medicine seemed to offer only procedures, medications, or surgery. Their search took them into nutrition, genetics, advanced gut testing, functional neurology, rehabilitation technologies, neuromodulation, and other approaches that were often being used elsewhere long before they became familiar in mainstream American medicine. Pasted text
Today, Anna continues to make progress far beyond what her family was originally told to expect. Dr. Hartman shares how that experience shaped not only his life as a father but also his identity as a physician, researcher, and lifelong student of medicine. Pasted text
Key Topics Covered
How Dr. Hartman originally entered medicine
The difference between learning medicine and truly learning how to heal
How adopting Anna changed his personal and professional life
Raising a child with cerebral palsy and significant medical needs
Why his family began questioning specialist recommendations
Anna’s feeding-tube recommendation and the importance of the correct clinical reference point
Why medical experts can sometimes be wrong
Medical gaslighting and families with special-needs children
Looking beyond one-size-fits-all treatment
Why function mattered more than appearance in Anna’s care
Exploring nutrition, genetics, gut health, and functional neurology
Technologies and therapies used in neurological rehabilitation
Why Dr. Hartman became increasingly interested in root-cause medicine
His transition from traditional family medicine into functional medicine
The role of clinical research in shaping his thinking
IFM, integrative medicine, functional medicine, and advanced training
Learning about mold, CIRS, mast-cell activation, and hypermobility
How his understanding of chronic illness evolved over time
Why short conventional appointments were not enough for complex patients
The creation of Richmond Integrative & Functional Medicine
Why complex patients need time, curiosity, and individualized care
Moving the practice to a fully functional-medicine model
The role of faith, family, persistence, and continuing education
Dr. Hartman’s vision for the future of personalized medicine

In This Episode, You Will Learn
✅ Why caring for his daughter became the biggest turning point in Dr. Hartman’s medical career
✅ How using the wrong clinical reference point almost led Anna toward an unnecessary feeding tube
✅ Why Dr. Hartman began questioning the idea that specialists always have the complete answer
✅ How parenting children with complex health needs pushed him to investigate nutrition, genetics, neurology, and rehabilitation more deeply
✅ Why functional medicine appealed to him as a way of asking “Why?” rather than only treating the diagnosis
✅ How research helped him recognize that many “new” therapies are often built on decades of previous science
✅ Why conditions such as mold illness, mast-cell activation, hypermobility, and complex chronic illness required him to keep expanding his training
✅ Why he eventually realized complex patients needed much more than a 10- or 12-minute appointment
✅ How Richmond Integrative & Functional Medicine grew from a personal family journey into a practice serving patients with complex chronic conditions
Resources & Links:
🌐 Dr. Aaron Hartman – Richmond Functional Medicine: richmondfunctionalmedicine.com
🌐 LinkedIn – Dr. Aaron Hartman: Connect Here
📺 YouTube – Richmond Functional Medicine: Watch Here
🎒 Back-to-School 2026: Back-to-School Bundle
Mentioned in this episode:
25% Off Back to School Support for Parents
Back to school asks a lot of parents, too. Support your body through the season with three physician-reviewed, foundation-first essentials: Twice Daily Multi, Quercetin + Nettles, and NAC.
For a limited time, save 25% on the Back to School Support Bundle.
Visit the link below ⬇️ Shop the Back to School Sale
Back to School Support for Parents
25% Off Back to School Support for Parents
Back to school asks a lot of parents, too. Support your body through the season with three physician-reviewed, foundation-first essentials: Twice Daily Multi, Quercetin + Nettles, and NAC.
For a limited time, save 25% on the Back to School Support Bundle.
Visit the link below ⬇️ Shop the Back to School Sale
Back to School Support for Parents

🎒 Back-to-school season brings changing routines, new exposures, and added demands on the whole family. Support your family’s health this season with Richmond Integrative & Functional Medicine’s Back-to-School 2026 resources.
Back-to-School 2026:
https://richmondfunctionalmedicine.com/lp/back-to-school-2026/
In this Made for Health minisode, Dr. Aaron Hartman continues exploring the question at the center of this series: Why are you still sick? Why does your body seem stuck even after addressing so many other pieces?
This time, he turns to something that connects nearly every structure in the body but often receives far less attention: fascia and connective tissue.
Dr. Hartman explains that fascia helps support organs, tissues, joints, nerves, and other structures throughout the body. For people with hypermobility, those tissues may be more lax or stretchy, which he believes can influence everything from joint stability and pain to nervous-system activation and complex chronic illness. Pasted text
And hypermobility doesn't always mean someone can still perform obvious “double-jointed” tricks. Dr. Hartman explains that people who were very flexible when younger may become increasingly tight and painful as they age because the surrounding fascia can stiffen and develop areas of restriction—even while certain joints remain hypermobile. Pasted text
Key Topics Covered
Why fascia and connective tissue may be an overlooked part of chronic illness
What hypermobility actually means
Why hypermobility is more than being “double-jointed”
The relationship between fascia and the nervous system
Why loose connective tissue may increase sensory input to the brain
Hypermobility as both a potential strength and vulnerability
Why hypermobile people may become tighter with age
Fascia, pain, and nervous-system activation
Ehlers-Danlos syndrome versus the broader hypermobility spectrum
The Pentad Super Syndrome discussed by Dr. Hartman
Hypermobility and Mast Cell Activation Syndrome
Hypermobility and POTS/dysautonomia
Gastrointestinal issues and connective tissue
Autoimmune conditions and hypermobility
Associations with ADHD, autism, OCD, and other neuropsychiatric conditions discussed in the episode
Bruising, bleeding, joint instability, and sports injuries
Nutrition and connective-tissue repair
Protein and collagen
Vitamin C and collagen production
Trace minerals and connective-tissue health
Bone broth, organ meats, and mineral-rich foods
Why childhood flexibility history may matter in adults
The Beighton score as a screening tool

In This Episode, You Will Learn
✅ Why connective tissue may deserve more attention when chronic symptoms aren't improving
✅ Why hypermobility affects more than just joints
✅ How Dr. Hartman connects fascia with sensory signaling and nervous-system activation
✅ Why someone can be hypermobile and still feel extremely stiff as an adult
✅ How hypermobility may overlap with POTS, dysautonomia, mast-cell activation, gastrointestinal problems, and autoimmune issues
✅ Why childhood flexibility can provide important clues even if you are no longer flexible today
✅ Why hypermobile athletes may sometimes experience repeated injuries despite being strong and highly trained
✅ Why Dr. Hartman pays particular attention to protein, collagen, vitamin C, and mineral status in hypermobile patients
✅ How the Beighton score can help identify physical signs associated with hypermobility
Resources & Links:
🌐 Dr. Aaron Hartman – Richmond Functional Medicine: richmondfunctionalmedicine.com
🌐 LinkedIn – Dr. Aaron Hartman: Connect Here
📺 YouTube – Richmond Functional Medicine: Watch Here
🎒 Back-to-School 2026: Back-to-School Bundle
Mentioned in this episode:
25% Off Back to School Support for Parents
Back to school asks a lot of parents, too. Support your body through the season with three physician-reviewed, foundation-first essentials: Twice Daily Multi, Quercetin + Nettles, and NAC.
For a limited time, save 25% on the Back to School Support Bundle.
Visit the link below ⬇️ Shop the Back to School Sale
Back to School Support for Parents
25% Off Back to School Support for Parents
Back to school asks a lot of parents, too. Support your body through the season with three physician-reviewed, foundation-first essentials: Twice Daily Multi, Quercetin + Nettles, and NAC.
For a limited time, save 25% on the Back to School Support Bundle.
Visit the link below ⬇️ Shop the Back to School Sale
Back to School Support for Parents

🎒 Back-to-school season brings new routines, new exposures, and new challenges for the whole family. Support your family this school year with targeted nutritional support designed with whole-person health in mind. Get 25% Off the Back-to-School Bundle
In this episode of Made for Health, Dr. Aaron Hartman sits down with Dr. Roseann Capanna-Hodge, a leading psychologist, author, and educator, to discuss how parents and teachers can better support neurodivergent children.
They explore the challenges these kids often face in traditional education systems—and why character, curiosity, and passion can matter more than grades. Dr. Capanna-Hodge highlights the value of hands-on learning, vocational training, and individualized education plans (IEPs) for fostering success.
With warmth and expertise, she offers practical strategies for helping children regulate emotions, build resilience, and thrive despite stigma or misunderstanding. Through personal stories and evidence-based insights, this conversation encourages a shift toward inclusive, flexible, and strength-based approaches to learning.
✅ Show Highlights:
Why traditional education can overlook neurodivergent kids’ strengths
The role of character, curiosity, and passion in lifelong success
How vocational and hands-on learning opens doors for all learners
Practical emotional regulation strategies for children
The importance of early intervention and individualized education plans (IEPs)
How stigma affects children’s confidence and opportunities
Building inclusive environments at home and school

🎯 Some Questions We Explore:
How can parents advocate for their neurodivergent child in school?
What educational changes make the biggest difference for these students?
How do emotional regulation skills support academic and social success?
Why should we value vocational skills and creativity as much as grades?
What can be done to reduce stigma in educational settings?

💡 In This Episode, You Will Learn:
How to recognize and nurture a neurodivergent child’s unique strengths
Actionable strategies to support focus, learning, and emotional well-being
Why flexibility in teaching benefits all students—not just those with diagnoses
How to partner with schools to create effective IEPs and supports
Resources to help parents and educators stay informed and empowered

🌐 Resources & Links:
Dr. Roseann Capanna-Hodge – Official Website: drroseann.com
Dr. Aaron Hartman – Richmond Functional Medicine: richmondfunctionalmedicine.com
YouTube – Richmond Functional Medicine: Watch Here
LinkedIn – Dr. Aaron Hartman: Connect Here

🎧 Closing Call to Action:
👉 Whether you’re a parent, teacher, or advocate, this episode will help you see and support neurodivergent children in a new light. Subscribe to Made for Health and share this episode to spread awareness and foster more inclusive communities.
Mentioned in this episode:
25% Off Back to School Support for Parents
Back to school asks a lot of parents, too. Support your body through the season with three physician-reviewed, foundation-first essentials: Twice Daily Multi, Quercetin + Nettles, and NAC.
For a limited time, save 25% on the Back to School Support Bundle.
Visit the link below ⬇️ Shop the Back to School Sale
Back to School Support for Parents
25% Off Back to School Support for Parents
Back to school asks a lot of parents, too. Support your body through the season with three physician-reviewed, foundation-first essentials: Twice Daily Multi, Quercetin + Nettles, and NAC.
For a limited time, save 25% on the Back to School Support Bundle.
Visit the link below ⬇️ Shop the Back to School Sale
Back to School Support for Parents

🎒 Back-to-school season brings changing routines, new exposures, and added demands on the whole family. Support your family’s health this season with Richmond Integrative & Functional Medicine’s Back-to-School 2026 resources.
Back-to-School 2026:
https://richmondfunctionalmedicine.com/lp/back-to-school-2026/
In this Made for Health minisode, Dr. Aaron Hartman continues his series exploring one central question: Why are you still sick?
Maybe you've gone from provider to provider. You've received pieces of the answer, tried different treatments, and improved somewhat—but your body still feels stuck.
One condition Dr. Hartman believes can sometimes sit underneath that complicated picture is Mast Cell Activation Syndrome, or MCAS.
Mast cells are part of the immune system and are found throughout the body, including tissues associated with the skin, gastrointestinal tract, bladder, blood vessels, and nerves. Because of that widespread distribution, mast-cell activation can potentially produce symptoms across multiple systems rather than creating one simple or predictable symptom pattern.
Dr. Hartman discusses symptoms such as rashes, hives, food and chemical sensitivities, reactions to supplements, heart palpitations, gastrointestinal problems, brain fog, and fatigue. He also explains why MCAS can overlap with conditions such as mold illness, Lyme disease, chronic fatigue, fibromyalgia, nervous-system dysregulation, and other complex chronic health problems.
Key Topics Covered
Why Mast Cell Activation Syndrome may be overlooked
How mast cells interact with the immune system
Skin symptoms, hives, and rashes
Food, chemical, fragrance, and supplement sensitivities
Palpitations and rapid heart rate
Diarrhea, constipation, and gastrointestinal symptoms
Brain fog and chronic fatigue
Why MCAS can resemble many other chronic illnesses
Mast cells and neurological symptoms
Interstitial cystitis and other less obvious presentations
The overlap between MCAS, Lyme disease, and mold exposure
Why some highly sensitive patients may need mast cells stabilized first
Challenges surrounding laboratory testing for mast-cell mediators
Histamine, prostaglandin D2, and tryptase testing discussed in the episode
Why sample handling may influence test results
Clinical criteria and treatment-response trials
Identifying the trigger behind mast-cell activation
Stress and nervous-system activation
Food and environmental chemical triggers
Mold and Lyme disease
SIBO and gastrointestinal triggers
Hormonal shifts, menstrual cycles, and menopause
Concussion, infections, travel-related illness, COVID, and other possible triggering events
Why understanding when symptoms began can provide important clues

In This Episode, You Will Learn
✅ Why Mast Cell Activation Syndrome can produce symptoms throughout multiple body systems
✅ Why someone with MCAS may become unusually reactive to foods, chemicals, fragrances, or supplements
✅ How mast-cell activation may overlap with Lyme disease, mold exposure, chronic fatigue, fibromyalgia, and nervous-system symptoms
✅ Why laboratory testing for mast-cell mediators can sometimes be difficult
✅ Why Dr. Hartman also relies on clinical history, symptom patterns, and response to treatment when evaluating suspected mast-cell activation
✅ Why calming mast-cell symptoms may sometimes need to happen before aggressively addressing mold, Lyme, or another underlying trigger
✅ Why improving symptoms is not necessarily the same as identifying the root cause
✅ How stress, infections, environmental exposure, gut dysfunction, and hormonal changes may potentially trigger mast-cell activation
✅ Why asking “When did this begin?” can be one of the most useful questions in a complicated chronic illness case
Follow Dr. Aaron Hartman and Richmond Integrative & Functional Medicine
🌐 Website: https://richmondfunctionalmedicine.com/
🎒 Back-to-School 2026: Back-to-School Bundle
📺 YouTube: @AaronHartmanMD
Mentioned in this episode:
25% Off Back to School Support for Parents
Back to school asks a lot of parents, too. Support your body through the season with three physician-reviewed, foundation-first essentials: Twice Daily Multi, Quercetin + Nettles, and NAC.
For a limited time, save 25% on the Back to School Support Bundle.
Visit the link below ⬇️ Shop the Back to School Sale
Back to School Support for Parents
25% Off Back to School Support for Parents
Back to school asks a lot of parents, too. Support your body through the season with three physician-reviewed, foundation-first essentials: Twice Daily Multi, Quercetin + Nettles, and NAC.
For a limited time, save 25% on the Back to School Support Bundle.
Visit the link below ⬇️ Shop the Back to School Sale
Back to School Support for Parents

🎒 Back-to-school season brings new routines, new exposures, and new challenges for the whole family. Support your family this school year with targeted nutritional support designed with whole-person health in mind. Get 25% Off the Back-to-School Bundle
In this episode of Made for Health, Dr. Aaron Hartman welcomes back Dr. Neil Nathan, a pioneer in integrative and functional medicine with more than five decades of medical experience. Dr. Nathan has spent much of his career working with the patients other practitioners struggled to understand—people living with complex chronic illness, mold toxicity, Lyme disease, multiple chemical sensitivities, chronic fatigue, and increasingly reactive nervous and immune systems.
Their conversation centers on a question that both physicians encounter regularly: Why do some patients improve to a certain point and then stop getting better?
For Dr. Nathan, the answer often requires looking beyond a single diagnosis or treatment protocol. A patient may have already addressed mold, Lyme disease, gut health, autoimmune issues, or nutritional deficiencies and still feel stuck. At that point, he believes healing may require exploring the neurological, emotional, energetic, and spiritual dimensions of illness alongside the physical ones.
The discussion also dives into the growing population of highly sensitive patients—people who may react to light, sound, touch, fragrances, foods, supplements, medications, or electromagnetic exposures. Dr. Nathan explains why these reactions should not simply be dismissed as psychological and explores how the limbic system, vagal system, immune system, and mast cells can become interconnected in chronic illness.
Key Topics Covered
Why complex chronic illness appears increasingly difficult to treat
What Dr. Nathan means by a “sensitive patient”
Sensitivity to light, sound, touch, fragrances, foods, supplements, and environmental exposures
Mold toxicity and Lyme disease in complex chronic illness
Environmental chemicals and the cumulative burden of exposure
Dr. Nathan’s clinical perspective on electromagnetic field sensitivity
Why some patients improve 50–60% and then become stuck
Emotional, energetic, spiritual, and physical blockages to healing
Trauma and neurological hypervigilance
Big-T trauma versus accumulated smaller stressors
The limbic system and the brain’s threat-detection response
Vagal dysfunction and autonomic nervous system symptoms
POTS, gastrointestinal symptoms, palpitations, and dysautonomia
Mast Cell Activation Syndrome
The connection between the nervous and immune systems
Mold, mast cells, and hypermobility
Cranio-cervical instability and the “spiky-leaky” concept discussed in the episode
Thiamine deficiency and mitochondrial function
Vitamin B1 and autonomic nervous-system health
Oxalates as a potential source of inflammation
Why dietary changes sometimes need to happen gradually
SSRI and benzodiazepine withdrawal in sensitive patients
Why medication tapering needs to be individualized and medically supervised
Why Dr. Nathan refuses to use a one-size-fits-all mold-treatment algorithm
The importance of truly personalized medicine

In This Episode, You Will Learn
✅ Why Dr. Nathan believes some of today’s chronic illness patients are becoming increasingly sensitive and complex
✅ What distinguishes a sensitive patient from someone dealing with a single isolated condition
✅ Why mold, Lyme disease, environmental exposures, and immune dysfunction may overlap rather than exist as completely separate problems
✅ How trauma and chronic stress can contribute to a nervous system that remains hypervigilant long after the original stressor has passed
✅ Why the limbic system, vagal system, and mast cells may need to be addressed together in highly sensitive patients
✅ How autonomic dysfunction can contribute to symptoms involving digestion, heart rate, blood pressure, fatigue, and other body systems
✅ Why neurological sensitivity is different from simply labeling symptoms as psychological
✅ Why thiamine may deserve consideration when mitochondrial and autonomic function are impaired
✅ How oxalates can become another source of irritation and inflammation for certain individuals
✅ Why suddenly making major dietary changes may sometimes worsen symptoms in highly sensitive patients
✅ Why antidepressants and benzodiazepines should not be abruptly discontinued and why tapering needs to be individualized with the prescribing clinician
✅ Why the most sensitive patients often require treatment to move slower, not faster
Resources & Links:
🌐 Dr. Aaron Hartman – Richmond Functional Medicine: richmondfunctionalmedicine.com
🌐 LinkedIn – Dr. Aaron Hartman: Connect Here
📺 YouTube – Richmond Functional Medicine: Watch Here
🎒 Back-to-School 2026: Back-to-School Bundle
Mentioned in this episode:
25% Off Back to School Support for Parents
Back to school asks a lot of parents, too. Support your body through the season with three physician-reviewed, foundation-first essentials: Twice Daily Multi, Quercetin + Nettles, and NAC.
For a limited time, save 25% on the Back to School Support Bundle.
Visit the link below ⬇️ Shop the Back to School Sale
Back to School Support for Parents
25% Off Back to School Support for Parents
Back to school asks a lot of parents, too. Support your body through the season with three physician-reviewed, foundation-first essentials: Twice Daily Multi, Quercetin + Nettles, and NAC.
For a limited time, save 25% on the Back to School Support Bundle.
Visit the link below ⬇️ Shop the Back to School Sale
Back to School Support for Parents