Dr. Ravi Kumar is a board-certified neurosurgeon who left the operating room to explore the questions that matter most about your health.
Listen to the PodcastEvery week, I cut through the noise of health headlines and marketing claims to bring you what the research actually says. No dogma, no agenda, just an honest look at the science that shapes how you live, heal, and thrive.
The trial answered the standard objection to failed vitamin D studies, that the dose was fixed and blood levels were never checked. It still could not tell a real benefit apart from chance.
In 129,287 US adults, the number of days on a first Z-drug prescription predicted whether patients were still filling sleeping pills seven years later.
A study of 216,293 adults with type 2 diabetes found a lower five-year risk of atrial fibrillation in people who started an SGLT2 inhibitor than in those who started a GLP-1 drug, and no extra benefit from adding a GLP-1 on top.
In 318,308 adults with no diagnosed liver or heart disease, three scores calculated from ordinary blood work each predicted future heart problems, and stacking all three predicted the most.
A Global Burden of Disease analysis found annual US alcohol-attributable cancer deaths climbed from 11,361 to 23,126 between 1990 and 2023, with colorectal cancer overtaking liver cancer as the top alcohol-linked cancer death in adults under 55.
A Florida International University study tested Apple, Garmin, Samsung, and Fitbit watches against lab-grade metabolic equipment and found they read high, with the biggest errors in people carrying more body fat.
What if some of the most severe mental illness is, in part, a brain energy problem? Dr. Ravi Kumar sits down with Dr. Matt Bernstein, a traditionally trained psychiatrist who now runs Accord, an immersive metabolic psychiatry program outside Boston, to unpack why brain regions like the hypothalamus, hippocampus, and amygdala can starve for fuel while glucose is plentiful everywhere else, and why ketones bypass that insulin gate entirely. They walk through the Stanford pilot in which every fully adherent patient with schizophrenia or bipolar disorder reached remission, a French inpatient series with effect sizes far beyond what antidepressants typically produce, and the clear limits of both, since neither had a control group. They also cover ketogenic ratios, why Bernstein keeps protein high, the three month commitment it takes to know if it is working, and why none of it works without sleep, sunlight, movement, and medical supervision.
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Dr. Ravi Kumar is a board-certified neurosurgeon and assistant professor of neurosurgery at the University of North Carolina. After years in the operating room, a transformative sabbatical in India changed how he saw medicine forever.
Now, through The Dr. Kumar Discovery, he explores the intersection of modern science, traditional wisdom, and the questions most doctors never think to ask.
Read the full story★★★★★"So glad I found this podcast. Dr. Kumar doesn't want you to just mask symptoms, he wants you to understand root causes and help you truly heal. He is the best of both worlds - he shares a wealth of modern medical knowledge, but also empowers the listeners to take personal responsibility for their health."
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★★★★★"I love this podcast! It's smart and covers the science in very accessible ways. After each episode I feel empowered to make some changes in my life. Thanks, Dr. Kumar!"
Dr Kumar Review
★★★★★"Dr Kumar's podcasts have been such a great find! As an OR nurse I have worked with neurosurgeons for years. I found the podcasts to be informative, easy to follow and just the right length."
NRRN66
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