Empowering Women, Transforming Medicine – A Conversation with Dr. Taz

I. Roots and Beginnings

POH-FRANK: Dr. Taz, let’s start at the beginning — was there always an early interest in health and healing in your life?

DR. TAZ: I think there may have been a seed planted as I watched my mom mix potions and beauty masks together, chock-full of natural remedies. But looking back, I was not really the healthiest child. I remember being sick a lot, having asthma that landed me in the hospital, and then having a host of hormone imbalances that caused weight gain, acne, and hair loss. On a trip to India when I was probably 10, I saw a more shocking reality of what actual disease looked like, as it was evident on the streets — all of this may have contributed to my early desire to be a doctor.

POH-FRANK: Did your cultural or family background influence your journey into medicine? Were there any traditions or ancestral wisdom that shaped your perspective?

DR. TAZ: There is a sense in Indian culture, which is my family background, that being a physician is the most highly regarded profession because it is one that is closest to Spirit or God, after spiritual leaders. So yes, that was definitely something I heard often, and my mom wanted me to be a doctor — as it was also her dream, which she could not reach. My grandfather, like my mom, was a businessman but had a whole herbal kitchen apparently, where he too would try to put healing formulas together for the whole family.

POH-FRANK: At what point did you decide you wanted to become a medical doctor? Was it a clear calling or a gradual realization?

DR. TAZ: I think there was a realization by 12 or 13, but more of a calling when I entered into holistic and integrative medicine. It took until then — after graduating, after residency, after working in emergency rooms for a few years, and getting sick myself — to understand that this is why I am here and what I need to do.

POH-FRANK: You were trained in conventional medicine. What led you to explore holistic healing modalities like Chinese Medicine, Ayurveda, and Acupuncture?

DR. TAZ: The decline of my own health in my 20s was the primary motivator. I found myself at 28 a shadow of myself — tired, gaining weight, losing hair, and with horrific skin. Dismissed by doctors as “anxious,” “stressed,” and “depressed,” I finally took things into my own hands and pursued alternative ways of thinking and healing — which ultimately healed me. Chinese medicine was my first stop, and I credit this form of medicine with turning my disease, PCOS, around and leading me to better health and vitality.

II. The Shift to Integrative Medicine

POH-FRANK: When did you realize that women’s health would become your core focus? Was there a moment that made it clear this was your calling?

DR. TAZ: I think women hold up society and the family, and I had a front-row seat at home and through my patients to watch what happened when women are not well, suppressed, or sick. It impacts not just the woman, but everyone she touches in her immediate community.
Chinese medicine also believes that the health of women is linked to the health of children — you cannot treat one without treating the other. The earliest days of my practice were focused on this symbiotic relationship between women and children as the nexus of the family.

POH-FRANK: How did you begin blending Eastern and Western philosophies in your clinical work? Was it met with resistance or excitement from patients?

DR. TAZ: I brought Chinese and Ayurvedic medicine, along with some homeopathy and herbal medicine, into the practice to help expand our healing toolbox — and to have options for many patients who did not need or were not responding to conventional treatments. I’m not sure patients fully understood initially what I was doing, but the results spoke for themselves. And now, 16 years later, a lot of what I was talking about and doing is becoming mainstream!

III. Becoming a Public Voice

POH-FRANK: You’ve appeared on major platforms like The Dr. Oz Show, CNN, Live with Kelly, and more. How did your media journey start?

DR. TAZ: Accidentally, to be honest. I appeared on CNN to talk about malpractice coverage for doctors in a news piece, and it snowballed from there. I went on to do regular CNN segments, then was “discovered” by Dr. Oz, which then led to more. It’s been an incredible experience.

POH-FRANK: Gwyneth Paltrow wrote the foreword for your latest book, The Hormone Shift. How did that connection come about?

DR. TAZ: Gwyneth invited me to her In Goop Health conference, I believe in 2017, and we formed a connection as she is kind, loving, and wants the best for all. We went on to work on one of her books, Clean Plate. Then in 2022, we were having a conversation around hormones and menopause, which led to The Hormone Shift.

POH-FRANK: How do you feel about being seen as a public figure in women’s wellness? Do you enjoy the spotlight, or does it come with pressure?

DR. TAZ: I don’t see myself as a public figure but as someone on a mission to change medicine. The spotlight is always nuanced — great opportunities but great responsibilities. I try not to get distracted or disheartened, and I never take any of it for granted.

POH-FRANK: What drives you to keep showing up publicly — on podcasts, TV, Instagram? What’s the deeper mission behind the visibility?

DR. TAZ: At this point, it is my responsibility to craft and curate a platform that will drive the change in health, healing, medicine, and community. Healthy people create healthy families, and healthy families create healthy communities. I feel pulled by both the mission and the burden of leaving a legacy so that this knowledge can be passed on to the next generations of doctors, health care providers, women, children, and families.

IV. Practice What You Preach

POH-FRANK: Many people in the wellness world teach healing but struggle to care for themselves. How do you personally stay grounded and healthy?

DR. TAZ: I struggle as well when deadlines hit and I am stressed, but scheduling my self-care, prioritizing healthy food and movement, and then family and nature is how I stay grounded and healthy.

POH-FRANK: Do you have daily rituals or non-negotiables — whether it’s yoga, breathwork, cooking, or something else?

DR. TAZ: Yes — on a good day, I have taken 10–15 minutes to journal, meditate, and prepare my morning breakfast and food for the day. I get sloppy at night and am trying to create a better night ritual, but it’s all part of the journey.

POH-FRANK: What’s your take on the ‘superwoman’ archetype — women holding everything together but often neglecting themselves?

DR. TAZ: I think it’s the modern woman’s albatross, and we have to recognize it and then advocate for ourselves both at home and in the workplace. We have to come together to create more supportive work environments for women, childcare that makes sense, and supportive help at home.

V. Travel, Retreat, and Real Life

POH-FRANK: Do you enjoy travel as part of your own wellness practice? If so, what kind of travel speaks to your soul — quiet, transformative retreats or the occasional escape from routine?

DR. TAZ: I LOVE to travel — it brings new perspective, clears my mind, and inspires me. I always come back with fresh inspiration from travel.

POH-FRANK: What are your favorite healing destinations in the world — places that have personally recharged or inspired you?

DR. TAZ: I love Costa Rica, Istanbul, Italy, and the coast of Northern California — I always come back refreshed and recharged.

POH-FRANK: When you travel for wellness, is it more of a solo reset, or do you go with your family? What’s the balance like for you?

DR. TAZ: I will travel for both a reset yearly and then with family a few times a year. At this point, given the amount of work travel I have, I don’t take pure respite solo trips beyond my yearly one — quite yet.

VI. Vision & Legacy

POH-FRANK: You’ve grown CentreSpringMD into a multi-location platform with a global reach. What is your ultimate dream with this work?

DR. TAZ: We are folding CentreSpringMD into our platform, hol+, which aims to offer evidence-based holistic care worldwide through multiple verticals. Our members can learn, watch our interviews with pioneering health experts and personalities, be part of a healing community, or start their journey with a plan that begins with our cumulative intellectual knowledge over 16 years and 60,000+ patients.

POH-FRANK: What motivates you to keep expanding your mission — through books, media, and clinics?

DR. TAZ: I want everyone to have some access to holistic health, which then heals not just the physical body but our emotional, spiritual, energetic, and community bodies as well.

POH-FRANK: If there’s one message you’d like every woman to understand about her body, hormones, or health — what would it be?

DR. TAZ: Our happiness lies in the ability to thread our physical health with our emotional health, which places us on a path of alignment. Hormones are a superpower for women today — and they are, and have to be, superwomen.

POH-FRANK: Thank your for your time – and thank you for all your support with womens health