Dr. Pooja Gidwani

Dr. Pooja Gidwani đź“ŤLA / NYC
🥼 Personalized Medicine
👩‍⚕️ Double Board-Certified Internal & Obesity Medicine
🩺 Weight Loss • Skin Care • Primary Care • Concierge Medicine

08/20/2026

For our entire lives, South Asian women have been told that we’re low risk for breast cancer.

Then UCSF published “Breast Cancer Incidence in Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander Populations, 2000–2022.” Gomez et al., JAMA Network Open, June 30, 2026. 148,608 women. 22 years. Nine groups, counted separately instead of collapsed into one.

Incidence up more than 3% a year in almost every Asian American group. In women under 50, rates have caught up with white women. In South Asian women, late-stage disease rose 4% a year for eighteen years. In Chinese American women, triple negative (the most aggressive subtype) is up more than 6% a year since 2017.

The researchers are explicit that screening doesn’t explain this. If it were better detection, early-stage would be rising fastest. It’s the late-stage cancers rising fastest. They don’t yet know why.

“No family history” in a family where nobody was ever screened isn’t a history. It’s a blank.

An average isn’t a risk assessment. Ask what yours is based on.

08/03/2026

We are failing women in their 30s and 40s.

In one week I saw three women. One had her ADHD dose increased. One was started on an antidepressant. One was handed sleeping pills. Three different doctors, and every one of them missed the same thing. They were all in perimenopause.

The worsening brain fog got called worsening ADHD. The stress and difficulty coping was called anxiety. The 3am wake-ups got called insomnia. But maybe there was more to it.

The headlines say that 1 in 3 women over 35 can’t tell they’re in perimenopause, because there’s no test for it. But it’s not just that women don’t know. Their doctors don’t either. We were never trained to see it.

If your prescription list keeps growing and no one’s connected the dot, that may be the dot.

Not medical advice, and not a reason to stop any medication - some women genuinely need them. But perimenopause should be on the table, and too often it never is.

Is being single and unemployed a new indication for GLP-1s?A Harvard economist just put a number on something women have...
07/27/2026

Is being single and unemployed a new indication for GLP-1s?

A Harvard economist just put a number on something women have always felt.

In a new NBER working paper, Rebecca Diamond tracked women using GLP-1s and found:
• Previously unemployed women were ~27 percentage points more likely to be employed 18 months later.
• Single women were up to 28.6 points more likely to be married or partnered.
• Women already employed or already partnered? No real change.

They ruled out the easy explanations - it wasn’t mood, depression or life satisfaction barely moved. It wasn’t productivity - already-employed women got no bump, no promotions.

Diamond calls it a “first-impression discount”: weight bias that hits at the door - the interview, the first date - not once someone already knows your work.

So the change wasn’t in these women. It was in how they were seen. And the workplace has polished words for it: “executive presence,” “polished,” “client-ready,” “culture fit” that can quietly stand in for judging a woman’s body.

Getting healthier is real effort and deserves respect. But your body was never evidence of how good you are at your job. She lost weight and gained nothing but the credit she already deserved.

Share this with every woman you know.

Source: R. Diamond, “GLP-1–Induced Weight Loss and the Female Obesity Penalty,” NBER working paper, 2026; USC Understanding America Study.

Note: this is a working paper - not yet peer-reviewed, and it shows association, not proof.


07/26/2026

As a longevity physician, I’m always looking at how different parts of the body are connected.

One area that’s getting more attention is the relationship between oral health, heart health, and cognitive aging.

So I asked my parents, both dentists, for their best advice.

Dr. Gidwani 1 (Dad 🦷)
• Brush using gentle circular motions from the gumline toward the tooth.
• Floss in a “C” shape around each tooth.
• If you’re a chronic mouth breather, address the root cause. Saliva plays an important role in maintaining a healthy oral environment.

Dr. Gidwani 2 (Mom 🦷)
• Don’t use an alcohol-containing mouthwash.
• In some situations, she prefers a diluted hydrogen peroxide rinse (50% water, 50% hydrogen peroxide).
• Drink more green tea. Its polyphenols and catechins may help support a healthy oral microbiome.

The oral microbiome is another reminder that longevity isn’t about focusing on just one organ, it’s about taking care of the whole system.

Also, I’m not biased or anything, but they’re the best dentists in Phoenix. Which Dr. Gidwani gave your favorite tip?

07/23/2026

Today might be the most important day for peptides in years.

Right now, an FDA advisory committee is reviewing seven of the most talked-about peptides over two days, voting on whether they can be legally made by compounding pharmacies. They started with the big one, BPC-157, and it passed 8-6, one abstention.

But here’s what the “FDA APPROVED BPC-157” headlines means. This vote is non-binding, it still needs the FDA’s sign-off. What changed today is access, not evidence - that’s genuinely promising, and exactly the moment to stay sharp about what we do and don’t know before we inject anything.

Here’s every peptide on the table and what it’s being evaluated for:
BPC-157 -  voted 8-6 in favor of compounding access, for tissue and gut health / ulcerative colitis.
KPV -  voted 8-6 in favor, for wound healing and skin / inflammatory conditions.
TB-500 - evaluated for wound healing and tissue repair.
MOTS-c -  evaluated for metabolism, weight management, and osteoporosis.
Emideltide (DSIP) - evaluated for sleep and withdrawal.
Epitalon - evaluated for insomnia and aging research.
Semax - evaluated for neurological support and cognitive function.

BPC-157, KPV, TB-500, and MOTS-c are up today. DSIP, Semax, and Epitalon come tomorrow.

Stay tuned. We’re making history. Proud of my incredible colleagues who are paving the way.

I

07/20/2026

Four men in a sauna, guessing their way through testosterone, with no idea a hormone doctor was sitting three feet away. So let me set the record straight.

But am I womansplaining?

Testosterone is a steroid, yes. But it’s a steroid hormone your body already makes, and medical TRT just restores your normal physiologic levels. That’s not the same universe as the megadoses guys buy off the internet to get huge and then blame for their mood swings.

It doesn’t cause “roid rage.” That’s abuse, not treatment. If anything, it’s low testosterone that leaves you irritable, flat, and tired, in both men and women.

It helps build muscle, but it’s not a shortcut. No hormone replaces the work, no matter what your favorite podcast bro is selling.

And it doesn’t cause baldness on its own. That’s your genetic sensitivity to DHT, not the testosterone.

Now the part that makes “testosterone is a men’s hormone” fall apart entirely: women have more testosterone circulating than estrogen. It runs your energy, your muscle, your bones, your libido, your brain. It was never theirs to gatekeep.

So no, I’m not womansplaining. I’m the doctor. And it’s my hormone too.

🚨 Parasite Outbreak UpdateIf you’ve been following the cyclospora outbreak, you probably saw reports linking Taylor Farm...
07/20/2026

🚨 Parasite Outbreak Update

If you’ve been following the cyclospora outbreak, you probably saw reports linking Taylor Farms to the investigation.

The FDA announced on 7/19 that the previously reported positive product test was a false positive.

What hasn’t changed is that the source of the outbreak has still not been confirmed, and the investigation is ongoing.

Until more is known, it’s still reasonable to be mindful of foods commonly associated with Cyclospora outbreaks, particularly raw produce.

07/19/2026

Sometimes “normal” is just successful compensation.

That sentence changed how I think about medicine…and life in general.

The body is incredibly adaptive. It will often compensate long before it fails.

Sometimes that compensation is rising insulin to maintain normal blood sugar. Sometimes it’s other physiologic changes that help keep labs within the “normal” range while the underlying process is already underway.

That’s why I don’t just ask whether a number is normal.

I ask what the body had to do to keep it there.

I think this idea extends beyond medicine, too.
Sometimes what looks “normal” is actually the result of an incredible amount of compensation.

But that’s a conversation for another day.

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