Julie Foucher – Precision Medicine, The Jump from CrossFit Games Athlete to Family Physician, and How Health Habits are Contagious

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Julie Foucher
Precision Medicine, The Jump from CrossFit Games Athlete to Family Physician, and How Health Habits are Contagious

Julie Foucher is a former four-time CrossFit Games athlete and family physician practicing precision medicine. She launched the Pursuing Health podcast back in 2015 while transitioning from CrossFit competition to being a full-time medical trainee. Based on what she saw in her medical training and CrossFit career, she realized her passion and unique position to help patients maximize their health through lifestyle, and she’s committed to transforming primary care delivery to achieve this mission. Julie is currently working with Wild Health, a precision medicine practice which takes a comprehensive look at genetics, laboratory results, microbiome, and lifestyle factors in order to craft a plan that fits the patient’s health, fitness, and longevity goals.

For more info about Julie and her work, follow her in Instagram, subscribe to her podcast, and check out Wild Health.

Athletes, Designers, and Okinawan Longevity Traditions mentioned in the episode: 

05:49  Julie is an athlete first, but went to med school and became a family physician and now works for Wild Health a company that specializes in “precision medicine”
06:10  Julie explains the term “precision medicine”
08:22  Juliet had already started the process of applying for medical school when she competed in her first CrossFit Games, so she continued both competitive CrossFit and medical school and was very very busy
10:42  There aren’t many top CrossFit Games athletes that are simultaneously doing grad school but Julie did medical school while competing; Another athlete is Taylor Williamson who just got her PA degree while being a Games athlete
11:52  At the start of school, Julie thought she would specialize but it became apparent very quickly that our primary care system wasn’t working and she became passionate about doing primary care differently
13:40  Julie realized that being a successful CrossFit Games athlete really was a platform to impact people’s health on a larger scale
15:11  A big part of precision medicine is developing that doctor-patient relationship
20:07  The primary care system is not working well for patients or practitioners, and while other models are emerging, they aren’t yet accessible to the whole population or patients that can not pay out of pocket
22:43  It’s hard to motivate the general population around health and longevity when talking about behaviors that may not affect them for 10-20 years
24:23  It comes down to education and public health, setting up our society in a way where it’s easier to make the decisions that are going to be better for our health long term; Bruce Mau
25:46  Family medicine is much like CrossFit, you have to be a generalist and know a little bit about everything
26:39  Julie would love to see this type of medicine brought to in-person communities because health behaviors are contagious
27:46  Juliet’s mom started a hiking club that meets once a week at the same time and place – they get great exercise, but they’ve created this community which is a huge driver of the people showing up each week
30:27  Julie ruptured her achilles, and now that she has analyzed her DNA as part of Wild Health, she knows she has a SNP that makes her at higher risk for achilles tendon rupture – had she known sooner, she may have done things differently to avoid the injury
31:37  In high school, Julie broke her foot at the beginning of her gymnastics seasons and missed the whole year – which prepared her for dealing with her achilles injury in 2015
34:21  Wild Health analyzes DNA as part of the patient health plan and look at SNPs (single nucleotide polymorphisms) which are variations that make a person at higher or lower risk for a particular trait – i.e. how well do your body tolerates fat or carbs or saturated fat in your diet
37:09  Julie goes over some blood tests that a patient can request of their primary physician
39:32  Frequency of blood panels depends on how often you are changing habits or training cycles
44:04  Emotional health is also critically important
52:10  Julie is a big fan of blue zones and maoi, an Okinawan longevity tradition
53:08  Julie’s podcast is called Pursuing Health and can be found on all podcasting platforms
54:44  If you want to sign up for Wild Health, you can use code “good health” for 30% off
55:00  Julie’s socials

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