Decoding Disease with Dr. Rue
Learn to see your body through a different lens.
There comes a point where you begin to sense that what you are experiencing cannot be fully explained by symptoms alone. Patterns repeat, progress feels incomplete, and something deeper is asking to be understood. I’m Dr. Rue, a naturopathic physician focused on chronic illness and integrative oncology, where the work is not about chasing conditions, but about observing the terrain in which they arise.
In this space, we explore how the body adapts, how systems communicate, and how environment, metabolism, and lived experience shape what you feel day to day. The body is not random, and it is not working against you. It responds in ways that reflect its internal and external worlds. As you begin to understand those responses, your relationship with your health begins to change.
These are quiet, intentional conversations designed to bring clarity without removing complexity. If you have ever felt that your experience does not fit into a simple explanation, you are not alone. This is a place to listen more closely, to reconnect, and to begin seeing what may have been there all along.
Decoding Disease with Dr. Rue
Where Does Metabolism Happen? | Ep. 101
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Metabolism is happening everywhere. In every organ, every tissue, and every cell, it is part of the constant exchange that keeps the human system alive, responsive, and adaptable.
It is not something happening in one organ or one pathway. Metabolism is woven throughout the entire terrain of the body. And when that terrain begins to shift, it raises a much bigger question: what happens to everything that depends on it?
Decoding Disease with Dr. Rue
Decoding Disease with Dr. Rue
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So in the last episode, we stopped at asking ourselves where metabolism actually took place. So let's pick up from there. One would think the most obvious place for metabolism to occur would be your liver, right? Or maybe your muscles? Your stomach, maybe? Well, the answer to that question is yes, that's correct, but it's not the whole story. Let me explain. One of the biggest misconceptions about metabolism is that it's happening in just one part of the body. But that's not how your body works. Metabolism isn't confined to one organ. It's happening everywhere. In your brain, heart, liver, kidneys, muscles, and even your skin. In fact, every living tissue in your body depends on metabolism to do its job. But if we zoom in even further, past the organs, past the tissue, something incredible begins to appear. Your body is made up of trillions of tiny living cells, and every one of those cells has work to do. Some become brain cells, some become liver or immune cells, etc. Each one has a different job, but they all have one thing in common. They all need energy, nutrients, and they all need to build, repair, communicate, adapt. In other words, every cell has its own metabolism. That's why metabolism isn't just something your body does. It's something every single cell in your body has to do in order to function. And when millions of healthy cells are working together, your organs function well. The tissues function well. Same with the body. And guess what? The opposite is true. When cells begin to struggle, those changes can eventually affect tissues and then organs. And eventually your health. That's why throughout the series, you'll hear me talk about thinking from the cell outward rather than simply from the disease inward. Because health begins at a cellular level, and that's where we're headed next. If every cell has metabolism, what exactly are those cells doing all day? I'll see you in the next episode.