Dr.MashelleBaker PhD-IMD

07/29/2026

TRUST THE SCIENCE.
“I plead the fifth.”

Were you told by family members not to attend gatherings unless you had the COVID vaccine? And the 💩flu shot?

Were you unable to attend church, school, stores..etc because of COVID-related restrictions?

Did your business lose income during the COVID pandemic?

These are questions many people still reflect on.

Science was never meant to be a belief system—it was designed to be a process.

A scientific process asks questions, examines evidence, welcomes debate, and changes when new evidence emerges.

I'm glad I DIDN'T trust the science! Even being in research.

Those are not always the same thing.

🧬 Ask questions.
📚 Read the evidence.
🧠 Think critically.
🔬 Follow the data wherever it leads.

07/29/2026

Have you ever noticed that the moment you decide to change… life seems to test you a little harder?

Don’t fold.

I’ve had to tell myself those two words more times than I can count. There was a time I lived with obesity, constant anxiety, exhaustion, and a body that didn’t feel like my own. I finally decided I wasn’t going to live that way anymore.

Today, I choose muscle, health, and longevity. 💪 Every decision I make is an investment in the life I want to live.

Your body is always listening to the way you speak to yourself. Choose words that build you, not break you.

A diagnosis may be part of your story, but it doesn’t have to be the ending. Your diagnosis does not define you. What you do about it does.

✨ Don’t fold. Keep showing up. Your future self is listening.

07/28/2026

Your body is an ecosystem—not just a number on a scale.

If your goal is to lose fat, preserve muscle, and improve your metabolism, it starts by understanding how your body’s systems work together.

🦠 The gut microbiome is one of the most important systems in your body. A healthy, diverse microbiome supports communication through the gut-brain axis and the gut-immune axis, influencing digestion, inflammation, immune function, mood, energy, and metabolic health.

Personalized stool testing gives us a much deeper look than simply asking, “What should I eat?” It can help evaluate:

✔️ Microbiome diversity
✔️ Keystone and beneficial commensal bacteria
✔️ Opportunistic bacteria
✔️ Yeast and fungi
✔️ Parasites and other intestinal organisms (when present)
✔️ Digestive function and enzyme activity
✔️ Markers of inflammation
✔️ Immune activity within the gastrointestinal tract

When one system begins to struggle, other systems often follow. The body doesn’t work in isolated parts—it works as an integrated network.

At Mt. Taylor Functional Medicine, we believe in identifying the root causes rather than guessing. We test, evaluate, and create personalized strategies to help restore balance.

When your gut is healthier…
💪 your muscles respond better to training.
🔥 your metabolism functions more efficiently.
🧠 your brain communicates more effectively.
🛡️ your immune system becomes more resilient.
⚡ your body is better equipped to heal and perform.

The goal isn’t simply to lose weight.

The goal is to build a body that functions the way it was designed to function.

Because when your systems work together, your health works better.

🧬 We test. We don’t guess.

For educational purposes only. Individual results vary, and laboratory findings should always be interpreted in the context of your medical history and symptoms.

07/23/2026

Illness is the subscription you never meant to sign up for.✍️

Unlike a streaming service, you can’t click “unsubscribe” from poor metabolic health, chronic inflammation, muscle loss, insulin resistance, or many lifestyle-related diseases. They don’t simply disappear because we want them to.

Instead, they send you a bill every single day.

Fatigue.
Pain.
Medications.
Doctor appointments.
Missed opportunities.
Lower energy.
Reduced independence.
Less time doing the things you love.

The only way to cancel many lifestyle-related health problems is to begin changing the biology that created them. That takes consistent action—not perfection.🤸🏼

Seven years ago today, I remember sitting with my clinical nutrition textbook, carrying an extra 80 pounds, wondering, “How am I ever going to get out of this?”

I didn’t have a magic answer. I simply started.🚶‍♀️

If you can’t afford a gym, use your body.
If you can’t afford a trainer, become consistent with the basics.
Walk. Push. Pull. Squat. Carry. Repeat.

Movement changes biology. Muscle improves metabolic health. Better nutrition lowers inflammatory burden. Small decisions, repeated daily, create measurable physiological change.

Today, I’m grateful for every decision that helped me lose over 80 pounds and improve health conditions that once controlled my life. The work wasn’t easy—but neither is living with poor health.

Health isn’t built in a day, and illness usually isn’t either. Both are subscriptions. The difference is that one costs you your future, and the other invests in it.

Your body is responding to every choice you make. What subscription are you paying for today?

Education only. Not all illnesses are preventable or reversible, but healthy nutrition, resistance training, sleep, stress management, and appropriate medical care can improve health and quality of life for many people.

shelbyshootseverything- photo credit

07/22/2026

http://pay.withcherry.com/mt-taylor-functional-medicine

💖 Big news! We now offer Cherry Financing! 🍒

Your health is one of the best investments you’ll ever make—and now getting started is even easier.

✨ Flexible monthly payments
✨ Apply in minutes
✨ Start your health journey today

Don’t keep putting you on the back burner. Your future self will thank you. ❤️

At Mt. Taylor Functional Medicine, we test—we don’t guess. Let’s get to the root cause and help you build a healthier, stronger future.

📍Now accepting Cherry Financing. Message us to learn more! 🍒 #🍒

http://pay.withcherry.com/mt-taylor-functional-medicine

07/17/2026

07/15/2026

🦴 Bone responds to load—not just age.

This is education only..

One of the most common findings I see on DEXA scans, especially in postmenopausal women, is declining bone mineral density. Many people assume this is simply part of aging, but that’s only part of the story.

🌸 After menopause, estrogen levels decline significantly. Estrogen plays a major role in regulating bone remodeling—the continuous process of breaking down old bone (osteoclast activity) and building new bone (osteoblast activity). When estrogen drops, bone breakdown begins to outpace bone formation, increasing the risk of osteopenia, osteoporosis, and fractures.

💪 The good news? Bone is living tissue. It responds to mechanical load.

One of the strongest signals you can give your skeleton is progressive resistance training. When muscles pull against bone during lifting, your body receives the message that stronger bones are needed to handle the demand.

That’s why I encourage my patients to build toward functional strength goals such as:
🏋️‍♀️ Hip hinges
🏋️‍♀️ Deadlifts
🏋️‍♀️ Step-ups
🏋️‍♀️ Loaded carries
🏋️‍♀️ Squats—with the long-term goal of safely squatting your own body weight.

Think about it—you carry your body weight every single day. Developing the strength to control that weight improves much more than muscle.

✨ Progressive resistance training can help:
✅ Slow age-related bone loss
✅ Improve bone mineral density
✅ Preserve lean muscle
✅ Increase balance and stability
✅ Reduce the risk of falls and fractures
✅ Improve metabolic health and insulin sensitivity
✅ Maintain independence and quality of life as you age

📊 A DEXA scan tells us where you are today. It does not determine where you’ll be five or ten years from now.

At Mt. Taylor Functional Medicine, we use DEXA scans as one piece of the puzzle. We also evaluate 🥩 nutrition, 🍳 protein intake, 🌸 hormones, 🔥 inflammation, 🌿 gut health, 💊 vitamin and mineral status, 😴 recovery, and 🏋️‍♀️ your resistance-training program to build a plan that supports healthy aging from the inside out.

✨ Aging is inevitable. Frailty is not.

💪 Build muscle.
🦴 Load your bones.
🌿 Support your hormones.
📈 Measure your progress.

We test. We don’t guess. 🧡💚

07/14/2026

🧬 Nine years ago, I made a decision that changed my life.

I decided I wasn’t just going to study health—I was going to become a researcher of the human body… starting with my own. ❤️

Over the last 9 years, I’ve dedicated thousands of hours to studying nutrition, exercise science, metabolism, inflammation, hormones, functional medicine, and lifestyle medicine.

I’ve learned how to help people improve metabolic health, support the reversal of type 2 diabetes in many cases, and help reduce the symptoms of autoimmune diseases by addressing the root causes. But the greatest research project has been… me. 💪

📸 This Hume scan is my own—not a patient’s. I never share patient information, and I strictly follow HIPAA. This is my personal health journey.

Today I’m 54 years old, yet my metabolic age is 41.

🎉 In about 65 days, I’ll celebrate my 55th birthday, but according to this morning’s scan, my body is functioning like it’s 13 years younger.

Here’s the part that amazes me…

When I first started this journey, my testing showed I was functioning 7 years older than my chronological age.

That’s a 20-year improvement in my metabolic age over the last nine years. 🤯

No magic pill.
No shortcut.
No fad diet.

Just consistent daily choices:
🥩 Eating for my body.
🏋️‍♀️ Building and protecting muscle.
😴 Prioritizing sleep.
🚶‍♀️ Moving every day.
🧠 Managing stress.
🩺 Testing instead of guessing.
❤️ Showing up for myself—day after day.

I truly believe our bodies were designed with an incredible ability to repair, adapt, and become healthier when we provide the right environment. While every person’s health journey is different, I’ve watched the body do remarkable things when we remove obstacles and give it what it needs.

This is why I’m so passionate about what I do.

I don’t just teach it…
I live it.

📚 This post is for educational purposes only and is not intended to diagnose, treat, or cure any disease. I’m simply sharing my own results and the power of consistent lifestyle choices backed by research.

✨ The body is always listening to what you do every single day.
Feed it well.
Challenge it.
Respect it.
And it may surprise you with what it’s capable of.

🧡 We test. We don’t guess.

💪🧬🧡

07/13/2026

I’m probably not the grandma you’ll find sitting and knitting or crocheting. 🧶❌

I’m the grandma you’ll find lifting weights 💪, building muscle 🏋️‍♀️, meal prepping 🥗, walking 🚶‍♀️, and choosing my health every single day.

Why?

Because I don’t want one day to have to call my children or grandchildren and ask them to stop living their lives because I didn’t take care of mine.

One of the biggest things I hear from women is:
💬 “I feel selfish taking time to work out.”
💬 “I feel guilty meal prepping just for me.”
💬 “My family eats differently.”

I see it differently.

Taking care of yourself isn’t selfish. It’s one of the greatest gifts you can give the people you love. ❤️

Your family deserves to enjoy time with you—not spend years watching you lose your independence because you never made yourself a priority.

Every workout… 💪
Every healthy meal… 🥗
Every walk… 🚶‍♀️
Every good night’s sleep… 😴
Every pound of muscle you build… 🦴

You’re investing in a future where you can keep doing life on your own terms.

None of us can control everything about aging, and health challenges can happen to anyone. But we can choose to do everything reasonably within our control to stay strong, mobile, and independent for as long as possible. 🌿

At Mt. Taylor Functional Medicine, we believe in creating a life of longevity—not just adding years to your life, but adding life to your years. ✨

We test. We don’t guess. 🧪
Build the body that carries you into the future. 💚