Richard Harris MD, PharmD, MBA

Dr. Richard E Harris II is a board-certified internal medicine physician and pharmacist and the host of the Strive for Great Health Podcast. Dr. Harris attended the University of Texas at Austin for pharmacy school then pursued medical education at the McGovern school of medicine in Houston. Dr. Harris completed his residency in Internal Medicine at UTMB in Galveston. Dr. Harris has a client-centric view focusing on building relationships and trust through a comprehensive lifestyle medicine system combined with genetic, micronutrient, GI Mapping & food allergy testing. He is an avid reader, weight lifter, video game enthusiast, and author in his spare time. Dr. Harris also enjoys sports, traveling, philanthropy, church, and keto donuts. He currently is the Chief Medical Officer for Nimbus Healthcare a digital personalized medicine company.

My journey into medicine started in high school when I took my first genetics class. We had to do a family tree of disease, and I was shocked by all the conditions that ran in my family. My parents were both on multiple medications and only in their 40's! I saw cancer, diabetes, hypertension, Parkinson's, anxiety, depression, fibromyalgia, sciatica, auto-immune disease, Alzheimer's, and more. I knew that I had to do something to take care of myself because my genetic disposition was toward disease. As I grew in my knowledge and practice, I learned that your genes are not a foregone conclusion. You can change your outcomes based upon your behavior! I went into medicine with a passion for holistic care, but the practice I worked at scoffed at holistic practice. I left that practice to pursue holistic medicine on my terms to transform the health of our nation through lifestyle and personalized medicine!

Shocking! The first visit is for us to get to know each other. We discuss the 5 Pillars of Great Health and what your individual goals are. I want to meet you where you are and individualize a plan just for you. The shocking part comes from how little I speak during the first event as I get to know you and begin to outline the case-specific wellness plan!

Gratitude is something that is critical for our health but is an underutilized practice. As human beings, we have a negativity bias, meaning we actively remember adverse events. A negative bias served us well when we were hunter-gatherers but in today's society, it is harming our health. A simple gratitude practice can open up your mind to your actual reality and lock in moments and memories in our lives for which we are grateful. Try saying three things every morning you are thankful for; trust me, your health will thank you!