Toxic Load, Autoimmunity & Everyday Swaps with Dr. Aly Cohen

Description: Board-certified rheumatologist Dr. Aly Cohen joins Dr. Micah Yu to connect environmental exposures with inflammation and autoimmunity, then turn that science into practical, low-stress habits. From plastics and bisphenols to water, air, food, and personal-care choices, Dr. Cohen shares a simple framework to cut risk without overwhelm, and how she integrates these steps into rheumatology care and patient outcomes.

What listeners will learn:

• Learn what “toxic load” means in plain language and why Dr. Cohen is seeing more young patients with autoimmune issues in her rheumatology practice.
• Discover smart ways to cut plastic exposure at home.
• Learn Dr. Cohen’s “4 As” roadmap to reduce exposures step by step so people make progress without burnout.
• Discover high-impact upgrades for water and why simple filtration can be a game changer across a lifetime.
• Learn how to choose and wash produce to lower pesticide residues
• Discover where endocrine-disrupting chemicals hide in cosmetics and personal care
• Learn practical changes for the kitchen, such as ways to remove microplastics
• Discover how Dr. Cohen pairs lifestyle and exposure reduction with standard rheumatology treatments to improve inflammation and quality of life.

Short bio for Dr. Aly Cohen:

Dr. Aly Cohen is a board-certified rheumatologist and integrative medicine physician with more than two decades of clinical experience. Her work focuses on how everyday environmental exposures influence hormones, immunity, and inflammation, and on translating that science into simple habits patients can sustain. In practice and public education, she teaches practical steps for safer water, food, air, and personal-care choices, and how to layer these into rheumatology care to support symptom control and long-term health.

Dr. Aly Cohen’s Website: https://thesmarthuman.com/

Link to Dr. Cohen’s Book: “Detoxify: The Everyday Toxins Harming Your Immune System and How to Defend Against Them”

Host Bio:

Dr. Micah Yu is a board-certified integrative rheumatologist who blends conventional care with lifestyle and nutrition to help people reverse inflammation and live well with autoimmune disease. He is board certified in rheumatology, internal medicine, and lifestyle medicine, completed his residency and rheumatology fellowship at Loma Linda University, and earned his MD from Chicago Medical School along with master’s degrees in biomedical sciences and health care administration.

He also completed fellowship training in integrative medicine at the University of Arizona. Dr. Yu co-founded Dr. Lifestyle in Newport Beach, California, where he sees patients locally and via telemedicine. He also co-hosts the Autoimmune Alchemy podcast with Dr. Melissa Mondala, bringing evidence, empathy, and practical tools to a global audience. His clinical perspective is informed by his own journey with autoimmune disease and by the results he has seen when patients pair targeted therapies with nutrition, sleep, movement, and stress resilience.

Website: https://myautoimmunemd.com/