The Science of Longevity: How Lifestyle Shapes Your DNA

On Wednesday, January 21st, FMCA hosted a special Ask the Expert webinar with Dr. Kara Fitzgerald, functional medicine clinician, researcher, and leader in epigenetics and longevity. Dr. Fitzgerald’s peer-reviewed research, published in the journal Aging, explores how targeted diet and lifestyle interventions can support DNA methylation and potentially reduce biological age in both middle-aged men and women.

In this conversation, Dr. Sandi and Dr. Fitzgerald discussed the science of epigenetics, its relevance to healthy aging, and how health coaches can apply this knowledge to support clients through practical, evidence-informed lifestyle strategies.

In this webinar replay, you will learn:

The difference between chronological age and biological age
How epigenetics and DNA methylation influence aging and longevity
Key findings from Dr. Fitzgerald’s clinical research
How nutrition and lifestyle choices impact gene expression
Practical ways health coaches can support clients interested in healthy aging

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The Science of Longevity: How Lifestyle Shapes Your DNA, With Dr. Kara Fitzgerald:

Meet the Guest

Dr. Kara Fitzgerald

drkarafitzgerald.com

Kara Fitzgerald, ND, IFMCP, is a leading voice in functional medicine and epigenetic research. Her award-winning clinical studies investigate how dietary and lifestyle interventions can impact biological aging. Her first trial, published in Aging (2021), showed that an 8-week DNA methylation-supportive program could reduce biological age in middle-aged men. A follow-up case series, published in Aging (2023), found similar results in women. Her 2025 study identified the specific nutrients within the intervention diet most strongly linked to biological age reversal.

Dr. Fitzgerald is the author of Younger You: Reduce Your Bio Age and Live Longer, Better, and its companion Better Broths and Healing Tonics. She served as lead author and editor of Case Studies in Integrative and Functional Medicine and is a contributing author to Laboratory Evaluations for Integrative and Functional Medicine and IFM’s Textbook for Functional Medicine.

She earned her doctorate from the National University of Natural Medicine in Portland, Oregon, completed the first CNME-accredited postdoctoral program in nutritional biochemistry and laboratory science at Metametrix Clinical Laboratory, and completed her residency at Progressive Medical Center in Atlanta, Georgia.

An IFM faculty member and Certified Practitioner, Dr. Fitzgerald lectures internationally on functional medicine, longevity, and epigenetics. For the past decade, she has hosted the podcast New Frontiers in Functional Medicine and writes regularly at drkarafitzgerald.com. Her clinical practice is based in Connecticut.

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