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The Dr. Hyman Show

The Silent Fire Behind Chronic Disease—and How to Put It Out

The Dr. Hyman Show

Dr. Mark Hyman

Health & Fitness, Nutrition, Medicine

4.68.7K Ratings

🗓️ 8 September 2025

⏱️ 44 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Inflammation is the body’s natural way of healing, but when it becomes chronic and hidden, it quietly drives many of today’s most common health problems—heart disease, diabetes, dementia, cancer, autoimmune conditions, and more. Unlike the redness and swelling from a cut or sprain, this “silent inflammation” often goes unnoticed while slowly damaging tissues and speeding up aging. Modern life fuels the fire: processed foods, food additives, pollution, plastics, chronic stress, too much sitting, and poor sleep. The good news is inflammation can be calmed by simple daily choices—eating colorful whole foods like berries, leafy greens, beans, nuts, seeds, and omega-3 rich fish; adding herbs and spices like turmeric and cumin; moving regularly; practicing relaxation; and repairing gut health. Even small shifts, like climbing stairs, eating within a shorter window, or reducing sugar, can make a big difference. By lowering inflammation, the body finds balance again, opening the door to more energy, resilience, and healthy aging. In this episode, I discuss, along with Dr. Shilpa Ravella and Dr. David Furman, why it’s important to be aware of systemic inflammation and how to address it. Dr. Ravella is a gastroenterologist and Assistant Professor of Medicine at Columbia University Medical Center. She is the author of A Silent Fire: The Story of Inflammation, Diet & Disease, which investigates inflammation—the hidden force at the heart of modern disease. Her writing has appeared in The Atlantic, New York Magazine, The Wall Street Journal, TIME, Slate, Discover, and USA Today, among other publications.  Dr. David Furman is Associate Professor and Director of the Bioinformatics Core at the Buck Institute for Research on Aging, as well as the Director of the Stanford 1000 Immunomes Project. He obtained his doctoral degree in immunology from the School of Medicine, University of Buenos Aires, Argentina, for his work on cancer immune-surveillance. During his postdoctoral training at the Stanford School of Medicine, Dr. Furman focused on the application of advanced analytics to study the aging of the immune system in humans. He has published nearly thirty scientific articles in top-tier journals such as Cell, Nature Medicine, PNAS, The Lancet, and others.  This episode is brought to you by BIOptimizers. Head to bioptimizers.com/hyman and use code HYMAN to save 15%. Full-length episodes can be found here:What Causes Inflammation And How Can You Treat It? The Silent Killer: Inflammation And Chronic Disease How Silent Inflammation Accelerates Aging

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0

coming up on this episode of the Dr. Hyman Show.

0:02.5

And what we know about that is that 95% of chronic disease is caused by the

0:06.6

exposome, not the genome.

0:08.0

Meaning your genes are affected by the exposures that didn't change the genes function,

0:13.4

which then lead to all these diseases.

0:15.4

But it's not the genes that are the problem.

0:17.1

It's the exposome.

0:18.0

That's the major problem.

0:21.1

You might be eating clean, working out, even meditating, but still feel anxious, wired, or totally exhausted.

0:26.4

The truth is, it's easy to become magnesium deficient in today's fast-paced world. Stress,

0:30.8

screens, sugar, caffeine, and even workouts. They all deplete your magnesium stores. And magnesium

0:35.6

is involved in over 300 processes in your body,

0:38.3

from sleep to stress regulation, muscle recovery, heart health, and hormone balance.

0:42.3

That's why I take magnesium breakthrough every night.

0:44.3

It's the only supplement I've found with all seven essential forms of magnesium your body needs in one formula.

0:50.3

Most magnesium supplements only give you one or two forms.

0:53.3

That's not enough to make a difference.

0:54.9

If you feel burnout or constantly on edge, your body's likely needing more magnesium. Try

1:00.1

magnesium breakthrough and feel the difference in your sleep, your mood, and your energy. Bioptimizers

1:06.4

has increased their discount for my audience. Just go to bioptimizers.com slash hymen and use code hymen for 15% off your order. Before we jump into today's episode, I want to share a few ways you can go deeper on your health journey. While I wish I could work with everyone one-on-one, there just isn't enough time in the day, so I've built several tools to help you take control of your health. If you're looking for guidance, education, and community, check out my private membership, the Heimann Hive for live

1:31.2

Q&A's exclusive content and direct connection. For real-time lab testing and personalized insights

1:36.4

into your biology, visit Function Health. You can also explore my curated doctor-trusted

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