People · Leaders in Natural Health
Dr. Will Cole
Who is Dr. Will Cole?
Will Cole is a functional medicine practitioner, author, and podcast host who pioneered telehealth functional medicine, consulting patients worldwide by webcam from the Pittsburgh area since 2009. He is best known for the Ketotarian approach, The Art of Being Well podcast, and a body of work connecting food, inflammation, fasting, and faith to whole-person health.13
Natural medicine is the family trade: Cole's father was a functional medicine chiropractor before him, and that practice shaped the path his son would take.14 After earning his doctorate, Cole made an unusual bet for 2009 — that people would trust a health consultation delivered through a webcam. He was right years before the industry was, and Cole Natural Health Centers grew from a Pittsburgh-area practice into one of the first telehealth functional medicine clinics in the world.3 Today that practice continues through The Health Institute, the virtual clinic he co-owns with Dr. Josh Axe.14
The books did the rest. Ketotarian gave plant-forward keto a name, Intuitive Fasting reached the New York Times bestseller list, and roles as a health expert for goop and mindbodygreen carried his root-cause message far beyond the functional medicine world.46 In our overview of functional medicine, we named him one of the 25 most influential people who built the field — specifically for scaling it through telehealth.
Dr. Will Cole's credentials and education
Cole holds three credentials: Doctor of Chiropractic (DC), Doctor of Natural Medicine (DNM), and Institute for Functional Medicine Certified Practitioner (IFMCP). He earned his doctorate from Southern California University of Health Sciences, with post-doctorate training in functional medicine and clinical nutrition.116
A DC is a Doctor of Chiropractic — a licensed, doctorate-level clinical degree. A DNM is a Doctor of Natural Medicine, focused on natural and lifestyle-based therapeutics. IFMCP is the Institute for Functional Medicine's certification, earned through case-based clinical training in the IFM's model of care.15 His doctorate is from Southern California University of Health Sciences, and his formal coursework spanned the biological sciences — anatomy, physiology, pathophysiology, epidemiology, blood chemistry, neurology, and pharmacology — along with clinical nutrition, botanical medicine, and lifestyle counseling.116
In his model of care, that training translates into a specific kind of clinical work: reviewing bloodwork and other laboratory testing, taking a deep health history, investigating the underlying contributors to chronic health problems, and building individualized programs of nutrition, targeted supplements, and lifestyle change.12
The Dr. Will Cole clinic: The Health Institute
Cole's current clinic is The Health Institute, a virtual functional medicine clinic he co-owns with Dr. Josh Axe.14 He previously founded Cole Natural Health Centers in the Pittsburgh area and has delivered care by webcam since 2009 — one of the first telehealth functional medicine practices in the world.23
The model has stayed consistent across both chapters: use advanced diagnostic testing to uncover overlooked dysfunction, then tailor a program — customized diet, targeted supplements, lifestyle change — to the person's unique physiology.2 Patients typically come with the stubborn, chronic issues that resist quick fixes: autoimmune conditions, brain fog, fatigue, hormone imbalances, metabolic problems, and digestive disorders.3 New patients begin with an evaluation to see whether the program fits their case, and care is delivered entirely virtually with ongoing support.3
The deeper lesson of his clinic work is access. Root-cause care once required living near one of a handful of practitioners; telehealth collapsed that barrier — the same principle behind our CellRx bloodwork program.
The ventures Dr. Will Cole built
Dr. Will Cole's health philosophy and approach
Cole practices personalized, root-cause functional medicine: find each person's underlying contributors through labs and history, personalize nutrition, calm inflammation, build metabolic flexibility, care for the gut-brain connection, and treat the whole person. His trademark frameworks — Ketotarian, the Inflammation Spectrum, intuitive fasting, and “shameflammation” — each serve one step of that process.
Every program starts with data: comprehensive lab work, a deep health history, symptoms, and lifestyle — the investigation that tells the rest of the plan what to do.
No single diet works for everyone. Cole fits the template to the person — his plant-forward keto framework is one starting point, not a universal prescription.
Chronic inflammation sits under most chronic disease. Structured elimination and reintroduction reveal each person's own food triggers instead of assuming a universal list.
Flexible, individualized fasting strategies — where appropriate — train the body to burn both fat and carbohydrates efficiently, with food peace over food fear.
Stress, emotion, and the nervous system shape digestion and inflammation. His term “shameflammation” names how unresolved emotion becomes physical symptoms.
Physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual health belong in the same plan — prayer, stillness, and spiritual practice are treated as real tools, not decoration.
The through-line: inflammation sits at the root of most chronic disease, food is the most powerful lever, and the mind and spirit are inseparable from the body — ground we have long covered in our work on the ketogenic diet, leaky gut, and brain fog.
The debate around Dr. Will Cole
Cole's rise has drawn real criticism, and it belongs in his story as much as the bestsellers do. Here is what critics say — and the fuller picture.
The credentials question
The American Council on Science and Health published a pointed critique arguing that Cole, trained as a chiropractor at the Southern California University of Health Sciences, treats conditions — thyroid, autoimmune, hormones — outside what critics consider a chiropractor's scope.15 The fuller picture is the one this page states plainly: he is not an MD or a doctor of osteopathic medicine, and his work is nutrition-and-lifestyle medicine, not surgery or pharmacology. What his critics rarely mention is the training built on top of the doctorate: IFMCP certification through the Institute for Functional Medicine — the field's most rigorous credential — a Doctor of Natural Medicine designation, more than fifteen years of telehealth clinical practice, and recognition as one of the top 50 functional and integrative practitioners in the nation.2
The supplement critique
The same critique took aim at a broader wellness-industry pattern: naming alarming-sounding conditions, then selling the supplements to address them — and noted that Cole, like most practitioners in the space, has his own supplement line.15 It is a fair structural point, and the honest answer is transparency and evidence: supplements should follow testing and individual need rather than fear, which is how his clinical programs are structured — and why on DrAxe.com every ingredient is evaluated independently through the computed Dr. Axe Score regardless of who sells it. In full disclosure, repeated from the top of this page: I co-own The Health Institute with Cole, and readers should weigh my perspective with that in view.
Celebrity wellness and Intuitive Fasting
Gwyneth Paltrow wrote the foreword to Intuitive Fasting, and the association with celebrity wellness culture drew a wave of criticism from dietitians who argue fasting is over-hyped and is wrong for some people — those with a history of disordered eating among them. This is where personalized medicine comes in: most people can benefit from some form of flexible time-restricted eating, a smaller subset should not fast at all, and his four-week plan is built around adjusting the window to the person rather than forcing one protocol on everyone. The criticism is a real caution; it is not a refutation of metabolic flexibility itself.
Dr. Will Cole books — and which one to read first
Cole has written five books, in order: Ketotarian (2018), The Inflammation Spectrum (2019), Intuitive Fasting (2021) — a New York Times bestseller — Gut Feelings (2023), and Heal Your Cells (2026), co-authored with Dr. Josh Axe.5614
A mostly plant-based path to the fat-burning benefits of keto.
Plant-forward ketoA four-week plan for flexible fasting and metabolic flexibility.6
NYT bestsellerHow stress and emotion become inflammation — and a 21-day plan to heal it.5
Gut-brain axisOur co-authored guide to restoring health at the cellular level.14
Cellular health| Book | Year | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| Ketotarian | 2018 | Plant-forward keto and metabolic health |
| The Inflammation Spectrum | 2019 | Identifying personal food triggers |
| Intuitive Fasting | 2021 | Flexible fasting and metabolic flexibility |
| Gut Feelings | 2023 | Gut-brain connection, stress and emotional health |
| Heal Your Cells (with Dr. Josh Axe) | 2026 | Cellular health and whole-body healing |
Gwyneth Paltrow — who credits Cole with helping guide her own health — wrote the foreword to one of his books, a measure of how far his reach extends beyond the functional medicine world.7
The Dr. Will Cole podcast: The Art of Being Well
Cole hosts The Art of Being Well, produced with Dear Media since 2020 — a show he describes as “a fresh infusion of grace and lightness into wellness,” covering body, spirit, mind, and relationships.8 He previously co-hosted goop's Goopfellas podcast and Keto Talk.4
The show has become one of the leading interview platforms in wellness, pairing clinical depth with conversations about faith, family, and purpose that most health podcasts avoid. Recently on the show:
Dr. Josh AxeFaith, peptides & healing against all oddsIf you enjoy his show, you'll feel at home on The Dr. Josh Axe Show, where we go deep on the same themes each week.
Will Cole and Dr. Josh Axe — the conversations
Two friends, two shows, one mission — watch us go deep on faith, cells, and root-cause healing.
Will Cole quotes worth keeping
“It's not a medication deficiency.”
On chronic disease · Prima interview 13“We have to do something different to see something different.”
Functional Medicine Coaching Academy podcast 6Dr. Will Cole supplements
Cole recommends supplements individually, based on lab work and each person's case, rather than one universal stack. His supplement company is Longevity Rx; he has also collaborated with the beauty brand Agent Nateur.1014
Like most leading functional medicine practitioners, Cole pairs his clinical work with a curated formulary — Longevity Rx — so patients and readers can access the ingredients his protocols rely on, with an emphasis on formulas designed to work together.1014 Our editorial approach at DrAxe.com is to evaluate ingredients rather than personalities or brands: every supplement we cover receives a computed Dr. Axe Score — start with our guides to magnesium glycinate and creatine.
Is Dr. Will Cole a Christian?
Cole speaks openly about faith in God as part of whole-person health. He hosts long-form conversations about Christian faith on The Art of Being Well, has appeared on Christian podcasts, and wove prayer and spiritual practice into Gut Feelings. He has not made a denomination or church affiliation part of his public work, and this page does not assign him one.911
Because this is one of the most-searched questions about Cole, precision matters. What he has said himself: his clinic's language speaks of helping patients “live the life you were created for,”3 and Gut Feelings treats prayer, stillness, and forgiveness as clinical tools for calming inflammation. What happens on his show: guests' faith stories — many explicitly Christian — get long-form, respectful space.11 And what I know personally: in our conversations and our work together, faith comes up naturally, because it is part of who he is.14 Faith and health have always belonged together in our view too — see our guide to prayer for healing.
Dr. Josh Axe's perspective on Will Cole
Will is one of the few people in this library I can write about firsthand. We have been friends and colleagues for years: we co-authored Heal Your Cells, we work together through The Health Institute, and we have sat across from each other on both of our shows.14
Two things stand out to me about his work. First, he made functional medicine approachable. He was doing telehealth in 2009 when the rest of the field thought healing required an office, and his writing carries grace instead of fear — his podcast's promise of “grace and lightness” is simply the man himself.8 Second, he has the courage to treat the whole person: emotional health and faith sit on the table next to the lab work, which is still rare at his level of visibility.
On personalized medicine, cellular health, food as medicine, and faith, we are very aligned.
- Personalized medicine — the program fits the person, not the diagnosis code
- Cellular health as the deepest layer of healing — the thesis of Heal Your Cells
- Root cause over symptom management; food first; faith in the health conversation
- Telehealth and at-home testing put root-cause care within anyone's reach
- Within ketogenic eating, Cole places a little more emphasis on saturated fat than I do
- A matter of emphasis, not disagreement — overall our approaches are very aligned
Career timeline
Begins consulting patients by webcam — one of the first functional medicine telehealth practices in the world.3
Ketotarian published, defining plant-forward keto for a mass audience.
The Inflammation Spectrum published; co-hosts goop's Goopfellas podcast.4
Launches The Art of Being Well with Dear Media.8
Intuitive Fasting debuts as a New York Times bestseller.6
Loses his father — a functional medicine chiropractor whose practice came before his own.14
Gut Feelings published, bringing “shameflammation” and the gut-brain-emotion connection to the mainstream.5
Heal Your Cells published with Dr. Josh Axe; his clinical practice now runs through The Health Institute, the virtual clinic they co-own.14
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Frequently asked questions about Dr. Will Cole
Sources
- Dr. Will Cole. About Dr. Will Cole — credentials, education and training. drwillcole.com/about
- Dr. Will Cole. Functional medicine with Dr. Will Cole — Cole Natural Health Centers. drwillcole.com/functional-medicine-doctor
- Dr. Will Cole. Become a patient — telehealth functional medicine care since 2009. drwillcole.com/consultation
- Nuzest. Interview with functional medicine expert Dr. Will Cole — Top 50 recognition, Goopfellas and Keto Talk. nuzest.com
- NOW Foods. Dr. Will Cole — practitioner bio and book list, including Gut Feelings (March 21, 2023). nowfoods.com/dr-will-cole
- Functional Medicine Coaching Academy. The future of healthcare with Dr. Will Cole — New York Times bestselling author of Intuitive Fasting. functionalmedicinecoaching.org
- American Council on Science and Health. Critical profile of Will Cole discussing credentials and the wellness industry. acsh.org
- Apple Podcasts. The Art of Being Well — Dear Media, Will Cole. podcasts.apple.com
- The Art of Being Well. Healing Against All Odds: Stem Cells, Peptides & Faith — with Dr. Josh Axe. drwillcole.com/podcast
- Dr. Will Cole. Official site — personally curated supplements, Agent Nateur collaboration, and content disclaimers. drwillcole.com
- Thriving Beyond Belief (Ep. 082). Conversation with Dr. Will Cole on a faith-based program — husband, father, upbringing and calling. thrivingbeyondbelief.com
- A4M. Speaker profile: Will Cole, IFMCP, DNM, DC. a4m.com
- Prima. The Doctor Is In: a conversation with Dr. Will Cole. prima.co
- The Dr. Josh Axe Show. Interview and personal communications with Will Cole — firsthand source for family history, Heal Your Cells, and The Health Institute. draxe.com/podcast
- American Council on Science and Health. Suleta, Katie. Will Cole, and the Grift of Functional Medicine (April 2024) — the critical case on credentials and supplements. acsh.org
- The Institute for Functional Medicine. IFM certification and model of care. ifm.org
- Southern California University of Health Sciences. Institutional site. scuhs.edu
Editorial note: This is an editorial profile. Dr. Will Cole is a friend and collaborator of Dr. Josh Axe: they co-authored Heal Your Cells and share a business relationship through The Health Institute. He did not commission or review this page, sources are independently cited, and DrAxe.com has no commercial relationship with his clinic or supplement line. Corrections are welcome through our editorial policy page.
Updated September 2026: added Heal Your Cells, updated current ventures, and reverified credentials.