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Dr. Pooja Gidwani

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United States
Beverly Hills, CA
Dr. Pooja Gidwani

📍LA / NYC
🥼 Personalized Medicine
👩‍⚕️ Double Board-Certified Internal & Obesity Medicine
🩺 Weight Loss • Skin Care • Primary Care • Concierge Medicine

02/28/2026

Lipoprotein(a) is genetically determined and independently increases cardiovascular risk.

I’m currently at the Clinical Applications of Longevity Medicine Conference, and one takeaway stood out.

2025 prospective data showed something important:

When elevated Lp(a) was combined with a high waist-to-hip ratio, cardiovascular risk increased nearly two-fold compared to normal fat distribution.

Visceral fat is metabolically active. Pro-inflammatory. Atherogenic.

You can’t change your genes.
But you can reduce central adiposity.

And that meaningfully alters trajectory.

This is why I measure:
• Lp(a)
• ApoB
• Waist-to-hip ratio
• Visceral fat (DEXA when possible)

Longevity isn’t about chasing one biomarker.
It’s about understanding how they interact.

02/27/2026

This is why I care less about the scale and more about composition.

Muscle is metabolically protective.
Central fat is metabolically active and pro-inflammatory.

When low muscle and central obesity coexist, risk rises substantially, even in people with a “normal” BMI.

We should be measuring strength and waist circumference far more often in routine care.

Study: Celis-Morales et al., BMJ, 2018 (UK Biobank, n>450,000)

02/24/2026

There’s a lot of heat around longevity medicine right now.

Some of it is deserved.
Some of it is misunderstanding.
And some of it is social media distortion amplified by high-profile physicians like Peter Attia.

I’m double board-certified in Internal Medicine and Obesity Medicine.

Residency-trained.

We are not the same.

Longevity, to me, is precision medicine applied earlier.

When medicine becomes personality-driven, nuance gets lost.

Has longevity medicine been distorted by personality-driven platforms, or is the criticism justified?

02/19/2026

Most people focus on the fat they can see.

Clinically, I’m more concerned about the fat you can’t.

Visceral fat surrounds the liver, pancreas, and intestines. It’s metabolically active, releases inflammatory cytokines (like IL-6 and TNF-α), worsens insulin signaling, and is strongly associated with cardiovascular disease, stroke, and type 2 diabetes.

Two people can weigh the same.
Have the same BMI.
Look equally lean.

And have completely different metabolic risk.

This is why I care about:
• DEXA-derived visceral fat
• Waist-to-height ratio (

02/18/2026

Do antihistamines cause weight gain? 🤔

The short answer: some might.

First-generation antihistamines like diphenhydramine can cross the blood-brain barrier, affecting histamine receptors involved in appetite regulation and wakefulness.

Histamine naturally suppresses appetite and keeps you awake- so blocking it may increase hunger over time and cause drowsiness which decreases physical activity levels.

If you’re noticing changes, talk to your doctor about alternatives.

02/17/2026

There is no such thing as “natural Ozempic.”

If there were, it would be regulated like one.

Here are the 4 most common FDA approved GLP-1 RAs we’re currently using (retatrutide is still in clinical trials)

Ozempic (semaglutide)
GLP-1 receptor agonist. Weekly injection. Approved for type 2 diabetes. Also reduces cardiovascular risk in high-risk patients.

Wegovy (semaglutide)
Same molecule as Ozempic. Higher dosing. FDA-approved specifically for obesity and cardiovascular risk reduction in patients with overweight/obesity.

Mounjaro (tirzepatide)
Dual GIP + GLP-1 receptor agonist. Approved for type 2 diabetes. Greater average A1c and weight reduction compared to GLP-1 alone.

Zepbound (tirzepatide)
Same molecule as Mounjaro. Indicated for obesity management. Also recently approved for obstructive sleep apnea in patients with obesity.

Fiber can increase endogenous GLP secretion.
Protein can increase satiety hormones.
Berberine can improve insulin sensitivity.

But none of them directly activate the GLP-1 receptor.

02/16/2026

GLP-1 receptor agonists are often reduced to appetite suppression.

The data suggest broader physiologic effects.

• Visceral adiposity reduction
• Lower inflammatory markers
• Cardiovascular event reduction
• Improvement in osteoarthritis symptoms
• Reduced alcohol craving in randomized trials
• Observational links with lower dementia incidence

Weight loss is visible.

Metabolic signaling is less so.

09/15/2025

Most people think of a DEXA scan as just a bone density test. I call it a financial audit of your health - muscle and bone are your assets, and fat is your liability.

A DEXA scan really shows:
- Whether “normal” weight on the scale is hiding poor muscle-to-fat balance
- How much of your weight loss is muscle vs. fat (crucial for anyone on GLP-1s)
- Visceral fat levels, one of the strongest predictors of chronic disease

DEXA gives you what the scale can’t, and is ideal for tracking trends over time that strongly correlate to longevity.

You know EXACTLY who needs to hear this. Send this post to them.

From my recent feature in - thanks for writing this informative piece!

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Beverly Hills, CA

Opening Hours

Monday	8am - 9pm
Tuesday	8am - 9pm
Wednesday	8am - 9pm
Thursday	8am - 9pm
Friday	8am - 9pm
Saturday	8am - 9pm
Sunday	8am - 9pm

Telephone

+13109028816

Website

https://poojagidwanimd.com/

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