Extend Podcast with Darshan Shah, MD

When a couple is trying to get pregnant and it is not happening, the conversation can become very intense very quickly. Suddenly, you are hearing about IVF, egg freezing, AMH, sperm count, hormones, age, cost, and timing. But before the conversation jumps straight to the next procedure or the next number to panic over, there may be a deeper question worth asking: What is fertility trying to tell us about the health of the mother, the father, and the future child?
In this episode of Extend, I sit down with Dr. Labib Ghulmiyyah to talk about fertility and pregnancy through a much bigger lens. This conversation looks at infertility not as a failure, but as information. It helps explain why fertility struggles, sperm health, ovarian reserve, placental function, and pregnancy complications can all give clues about metabolic health, inflammation, cardiovascular health, hormones, sleep, stress, toxins, and long-term risk.
Dr. Labib Ghulmiyyah is an OB-GYN and residency director at Broward Health who brings together reproductive medicine, pregnancy care, longevity, and functional health. That combination matters because fertility is often treated like a separate category, when in reality, it is connected to the whole body. His approach helps couples think beyond "How do we get pregnant?" and start asking what their reproductive health may be revealing before, during, and after pregnancy.
What's Discussed:
(02:30) Why health optimization should happen before or alongside IVF.
(04:55) How long couples may need to optimize health before fertility treatment.
(07:17) Why the placenta may be one of the most overlooked biomarkers in pregnancy.
(10:40) Why pregnancy complications should be debriefed after delivery.
(18:40) Why the father's health matters far more than sperm count.
(26:15) How testosterone therapy can affect sperm production.
(41:29) Why low AMH does not automatically mean you cannot get pregnant.
Listen to this episode of Extend to understand why fertility is not only about having a baby. It may be one of the earliest windows into your health, your partner's health, and the health of the next generation.
Thank You to Our Sponsor:
FunctionHealth: Learn more and join using my link. Visit functionhealth.com/drshah and use gift code DRSHAH25 for a $25 credit toward your membership. 
Learn More About Dr. Darshan Shah:
Website: drshah.com

Clinic: next-health.com

Instagram: @darshanshahmd
Learn More About Dr. Labib Ghulmiyyah: 
Website: drlabib.com  
Instagram: drlabibghulmiyyah

Your body is constantly repairing, renewing, and rebuilding itself. Hundreds of millions of cells are replaced every few months, which sounds incredible until you ask the question most people skip: if the body is designed to heal, why do so many people still feel tired, foggy, inflamed, slow to recover, or like something is off even when they are doing so many of the "right" things?
In this episode of Extend, I sit down with Justin Roethlingshoefer to bring that question back to the cell. Justin explains why healing is not just about what your body is trying to do, but the environment your cells are trying to do it in. If that environment is missing oxygen, overloaded with toxins, or depleted of nutrients, your body may be creating new cells without giving them the conditions they need to thrive.
Justin Roethlingshoefer is the creator of OWN IT, a coaching platform and app built to help people take ownership of their health through HRV, VO2 max, sleep quality, cellular testing, personalized rhythms, and practical behaviour change. His work helps people cut through the noise of the wellness space and understand what their body actually needs at the cellular level, which is what makes him the right person to explain why feeling better may require more than another supplement, device, or protocol.
What's Discussed:
(03:46) Why your body's ability to repair and renew starts at the cellular level.
(07:59) The three things your cells cannot live without.
(08:36) Why the environment your new cells enter can affect how well they thrive.
(12:33) How VO2 max reflects oxygen efficiency at the cellular level.
(25:37) Why sleep quality matters for cellular detoxification.
(34:30) Why standard blood work may not explain why you still feel off.
(44:24) Why good habits can fall apart inside disordered rhythms.
Listen to this episode of Extend to understand why your body may be trying to heal, why it may still feel like something is not working, and what your cells may need before your next supplement, wearable, protocol, or health habit can actually make the difference you are looking for.
Free resources: 
Quality sleep is the most underestimated longevity accelerator. Download this sleep optimization workbook to transform sleep into a powerful longevity practice: https://www.drshah.com/sleep
Thank You to Our Sponsor:
Next Health Longevity Summit: Head to next-health.com/summit to secure your spot at the first ever Next Health Logevity Summit in Nashville on 9/12.
Momentous:  Head to livemomentous.com/fiber and use code DRSHAH for up to 35% off your first order. 
Learn More About Dr. Darshan Shah:
Website: drshah.com

Clinic: next-health.com

Instagram: @darshanshahmd
Learn More About Justin Roethlingshoefer:
Website: ownitcoaching.com

Holy Health Website: holyhealthbook.com

Instagram: @JustinRoeth

A lot of people are trying to do the right things. They are learning more, tracking their health, working on their stress, trying to be more present, and using the tools they have been told should help. But if the advice is available, the science is clearer than ever, and the tools are right in front of us, why do so many people still feel overwhelmed, burned out, disconnected, or unable to make those changes stick?
In this episode of Extend, I sit down with Dr. Dave Rabin to talk about one of the biggest missing pieces in how we understand stress, healing, and what it actually takes to feel better in the modern world. We get into the questions so many people are quietly carrying: why being human feels harder than it should, why knowing what to do does not always mean your body can follow through, and what it may take to finally turn information into something your body can actually use.
What's Discussed:

(04:28) What Dr. Rabin realized Western medicine left out of his training.
(07:01) Why trauma may be understood differently when viewed through the lens of learning.
(13:42) What parents need to know about screens, discomfort, and regulation.
(21:54) Why stillness is so difficult for many people today.
(27:44) How productivity became tied to worth, and what the body loses when recovery is ignored.
(33:25) Why emotional wounds can be harder to address when they are invisible.
(45:47) Why connection and community may matter more to longevity than many people realize.
Next Health Longevity Summit: Head to next-health.com/summit to secure your spot at the first ever Next Health Logevity Summit in Nashville on 9/12.
Thank You to Our Sponsors:
Timeline: Timeline powered by Mitopure just dropped the price. Check it out at timeline.com/drshah and get an additional 20% off your first month with code DRSHAH.
IM8: Try IM8 today with a 30-day money back guarantee. You can get 10% off your first order with code DRSHAH at im8health.com/discount/DRSHAH
Learn more about Dr. Darshan Shah:
Website: drshah.com

Clinic: next-health.com
Instagram: darshanshahmd 
Learn more about Dr. Dave Rabin:
Website: drdave.io

Instagram: @drdavidrabin

The Board of Medicine: boardofmedicine.org

The Psychedelic Report podcast:  podcast/the-psychedelic-report/
Dr. Rabin's new book: ASimpleGuideToBeingAlive.com

When your body feels wired, depleted, foggy, inflamed, or slow to recover, the usual instinct is to add something else. Another supplement. Another device. Another protocol. But the body does not respond to tools just because they are available. It responds to the signals it is receiving, and if those signals keep telling the body it is under threat, it will keep prioritizing survival over repair.
In this episode of Extend with Dr. Shah, I sit down with Brian Le Gette, the creator of the Ammortal Chamber to talk about it after personally experiencing it and feeling the difference in my body for days afterward. Brian breaks down the technology behind that experience, why it felt so different, and how the chamber works with the body, mind, nervous system, and cells at the same time. We also get into why many of the same principles behind the chamber are not as far out of reach as people may think, and what you can start applying at home if you want to give your body better recovery signals.
Brian Le Gette is the creator of the Ammortal Chamber. With a background in industrial design, engineering, entrepreneurship, and health technology, he has spent decades building products and companies before creating a multi-modality experience focused on recovery, nervous system regulation, cellular support, performance, and human vibrancy.
What's Discussed:
(02:11) What the Ammortal Chamber is and why it works on more than one system in the body.
(05:17) The calm, grounded, and energized feeling many people experience after a session.
(09:42) The technology working behind the scenes during the chamber experience.
(12:30) Why the body's stress state can affect healing, recovery, and performance.
(18:00) The simple reset Brian recommends for people who do not have access to the chamber.
(21:18) Why HRV may become one of the most important ways to understand nervous system balance.
(37:34) The deeper science behind cellular recovery, oxidative stress, and the chamber's approach.
Listen now to learn what happened inside the Ammortal Chamber, why the effects lasted beyond the session, and what recovery signals your body may be missing in everyday life.
Thank You to Our Sponsors:

Momentous: Head to livemomentous.com/fiber and use code DRSHAH for up to 35% off your first order. 
 
Learn more about Dr. Darshan Shah:
Website: drshah.com
Clinic: next-health.com
Instagram: darshanshahmd 
Learn more about Brian Le Gette: 
Instagram: @brian.legette 
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/brian-le-gette

Modern life tells us that more freedom should make us happier. More independence, more control, more convenience, more space to do life on our own terms. But what if the thing we keep chasing is also the thing quietly pulling us away from what our brain and body still need most: connection.
In this episode of Extend, I sit down with Dr. William Von Hippel to talk about the conflict between two of our most basic human motives: connection and autonomy. We get into why connection used to be built into survival, why autonomy used to be rare, and why modern life has flipped that balance in a way that can leave people feeling lonely, empty, or disconnected even when they seem to "have everything." We also talk about why loneliness is not just an emotion, how it can affect the immune system, and how to build connection back into everyday routines without overcomplicating your life.
Dr. William Von Hippel is an evolutionary psychologist, researcher at WHOOP, and the author of The Social Paradox and The Social Leap. After three decades as a psychology professor in the United States and Australia, he has published more than 150 academic articles, with work cited over 15,000 times and featured in outlets including The New York Times, The Economist, USA Today, Der Spiegel, and The Australian.
What's Discussed:
(02:23) What hunter-gatherer life reveals about how humans evolved to survive through connection.
(12:34) Why modern life has created evolutionary mismatches our biology has not caught up with.
(16:02) The conflict between connection and autonomy, and why both needs matter.
(18:39) Why more people are living alone and spending more time disconnected than ever before.
(23:08) Why even introverts still need meaningful human connection.
(31:23) Why loneliness is not the same as being alone, and why the body can read disconnection as danger.
(36:11) How emotions can affect immune function and physical health.
(39:34) How to build connection into the things you already do instead of adding more to your schedule.
Listen to this episode of Extend to understand why having more freedom does not always create more happiness, and why rebuilding connection into daily life may be one of the most important things you can do for your health, relationships, and sense of meaning.
Thank you to our sponsors: 
Momentous: Head to livemomentous.com/fiber and use code DRSHAH for up to 35% off your first order. 
IM8: Try IM8 today with a 30-day money back guarantee. You can get 10% off your first order with code DRSHAH at im8health.com/discount/DRSHAH. 
Learn more about Dr. Darshan Shah:
Website: drshah.com
Clinic: next-health.com
Instagram: darshanshahmd 
Learn more about Dr. William Von Hippel
Website: researchwithimpact.com/