Dr. Ford Brewer’s story is not about hacks or shortcuts. It is about a physician who left the adrenaline of the emergency department to confront a quieter, more uncomfortable reality. Most of the heart attacks and strokes he saw should never have happened. At Hopkins, in public health, and later in his own practice, he realized how profoundly our future health is shaped by habits that feel small in the moment and by metabolic problems that remain invisible for decades.
In this conversation, we unpack what “test, do not guess” really looks like in real life. We talk about the epidemic of undiagnosed prediabetes, why fasting glucose and A1C miss so much disease, and how an old school oral glucose tolerance test can reveal what is really happening under the surface. Dr. Brewer explains continuous glucose monitors, why leg muscle acts like an internal safety valve for high blood sugar, and how small “exercise snacks” can protect you more than heroic gym bursts. We dig into the GLP 1 craze, the politics of food guidelines, and the uncomfortable reality that some systems profit from people staying sick.
So whether you are a clinician, a patient who has been told your labs are “fine,” or someone who simply wants to stay out of the cath lab in your 50s, this episode is a sharp reset. It will change how you think about carbs, muscle, and “normal aging,” and it will give you tangible ways to take back agency over your metabolism. Plug in and see what happens when prevention stops being boring advice and becomes a clear plan for protecting the decades ahead.
