My guest on this episode is Dr Mauricio Gonzalez, a triple board-certified physician in internal, emergency, and obesity medicine, and a current endocrinology fellow practising in New York. Known to his community as Dr Mau, he spends his days at the coalface of metabolic medicine, and he has a rare gift for turning complex science into something you can actually use. We sat down to talk about what he describes as a new way to think about metabolic health, weight loss, and longevity.
For decades, the conversation about metabolic health has been dominated by the number on the scale. Mauricio makes a compelling case that we have been measuring the wrong thing. The medications and tools now available, from GLP-1s to better screening, have shifted the goalposts from how much weight you lose to what is actually happening inside your metabolic organs, and your liver in particular. It is a conversation that cuts through a lot of the noise, and it challenges a few ideas that have become gospel on both sides of the nutrition debate.
What we cover:
- Why isolated blood tests and blood pressure readings tell you very little, and what to track instead
- The claim that GLP-1 medications are “the easy way out”, and why Mauricio thinks that idea falls apart in the clinic
- Why it may be liver fat, not body weight, that should guide how we treat metabolic disease
- How diabetes clinics have quietly shifted from adding medications to removing them
- What a 12-year-old with high cholesterol reveals about the gaps in preventive medicine
- How to choose between the growing menu of GLP-1 options, and why a lower dose can work as well as a high one
- Which supplements earn their place, and which ones Mauricio has cooled on
- The minimum effective dose for strength and cardio, and knowing when “enough” beats optimising everything
This was a wide-ranging, practical conversation with a doctor who clearly cares about meeting people where they are. If you have ever felt confused by the headlines on weight-loss medications, or unsure what metabolic health actually means, I think you will find a lot of clarity here.
To connect with Dr Mauricio Gonzalez, follow him on Instagram, X, and YouTube, or visit his website at drmauriciogonzalez.com.
- Intro (00:00)
- Minimum Effective Dose for Exercise (01:38)
- Why Continuity of Care Reduces Mortality (07:09)
- How Type 2 Diabetes Silently Develops Over 12 Years (09:23)
- Statin vs. PCSK9 Inhibitor: How Doctors Choose (12:45)
- How GLP-1 Drugs Transformed the Diabetes Clinic (21:46)
- Why Doctors Now Measure Organ Fat, Not Body Weight (30:25)
- How Fatty Liver Disease Is Diagnosed (34:05)
- How Liver Fat Drives Insulin Resistance (40:47)
- Wegovy vs. Zepbound: How to Choose a GLP-1 (48:18)
- Should Lean People Use GLP-1s for Metabolic Health? (51:53)
- Why Patients Feel Guilty Taking GLP-1s (54:13)
- How Mauricio’s Nutrition Advice Has Evolved Over a Decade (01:04:35)
- Supplements on GLP-1s: What’s Worth Taking (01:09:42)
- Minimum Effective Dose for Resistance Training (01:16:52)
- When Health Optimization Becomes Counterproductive (01:21:20)
Resources and links:
- Embla (Lifestyle Modifications + GLP1): Information on the company and their published results can be found here
- Benefit of Adding Ezetimibe to Statin Therapy on Cardiovascular Outcomes and Safety in Patients With Versus Without Diabetes Mellitus: Results From IMPROVE-IT (Improved Reduction of Outcomes: Vytorin Efficacy International Trial)
- Noninvasive Assessment of Liver Fibrosis
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More about Dr Mauricio Gonzalez
Dr Mauricio Gonzalez is a triple board certified physician (internal, emergency and obesity medicine) and current endocrinology fellow at Metropolitan Hospital, who practices medicine in New York City who is regarded as one of the most trusted sources of medical information. Dr Gonzalez has been actively promoting prevention strategies in national TV interviews and leveraging the power of social media to debunk myths and share facts related to all things science. For his communication work within the Latino community, he received the Hispanic star award in 2021. He is an active member of multiple efforts that try to shape the next generation of leaders in the USA.
Dr Mau, as he is affectionately known, is passionate about inspiring, motivating and educating his vast online community, medical students and residents about evidence based nutrition and exercise in order to prevent the most common chronic degenerative diseases such as diabetes, hypertension and heart disease. Reaching millions on social media daily, his main mission is to make scientific and medical knowledge available and easy to understand to everyone.
Along with his wife, Mayte Moncada, they’re founders of one of the largest healthy nutrition medical conference in Latin America and for Spanish speakers in the U.S. They have an online academy that might offer classes to more than 27,000 people. He specializes in health communication and collaborate with international industries to curate powerful messages about healthcare that people can actually understand. His work is all about making successful campaigns that truly impact the lives of patients.
He is a regular contributor for CNN, Telemundo, Televisa, Univision and has been featured in Forbes, Newsweek, The Today Show, People Magazine, InStyle, to name a few. An avid public speaker, he has shared a panel with Dr Tedros and Bill Clinton in the patient safety symposium and has been invited to participate in panels with PAHO/WHO, Secretary Becerra, the second gentleman and in the United Nation, among others.
