Many of us have experienced the frustration of living day after day not feeling our best, searching for answers that seem just out of reach. Whether it’s a physical ailment that’s never quite resolved or a mental/mood struggle that doctors can’t seem to connect to the source, the experience can leave us feeling isolated and hopeless. Dr. Lauren Hutson is working fiercely to alleviate that frustration by empowering people to optimize their health, beginning with prevention. As the founder of Austin Medicine and a dedicated concierge doctor, she’s on a mission to rewrite the story of healthcare, one patient at a time.
“My goal is to provide an idealized healthcare experience for each person. We all need a little something different at different stages in our lives,” she says. “In our practice, we try to become your healthcare guide for life, not just for a sick visit.”
Her mission is inspired by personal experience. Growing up, Lauren witnessed friends and family members suffer from preventable diseases, some even passing from them. This sparked her desire to understand what caused people to get sick, and more importantly, how they could stay healthy. While in medical school, Lauren supported her mother through her brave battle with breast cancer, which included a double mastectomy and multiple complications. Dr. Hutson believes that her mom’s recovery was in large part due to her decision to adopt a healthier lifestyle—eating clean, prioritizing organic foods, embracing more fiber in her diet, and choosing whole food options.
A first-generation college graduate, Dr. Hutson earned her degree in Neuroscience and Biology from The University of Texas at Austin and completed her residence at Baylor Scott and White, Texas A&M, focusing on management of acute and chronic disease. It’s this combination of scientific expertise, real-life experience, and an unwavering commitment to learning that informs the holistic approach she practices to help change the lives of her patients.
“Throughout my childhood, I was always active, immersed in sports and physical activities. However, the concept of eating healthy didn't hold the same significance back then as it does today,” says Dr. Hutson. “Despite my active lifestyle, I struggled with various digestive issues, which made me acutely aware of how vital proper nutrition is to overall well-being.” Her perspective on how this awareness could be applied to medicine was profoundly changed by her experience with a patient early on. “After conducting a few tests and meticulously adjusting her diet, she experienced a remarkable transformation. Years of fatigue and persistent skin issues were alleviated, all thanks to the deliberate changes she made in her eating habits. Witnessing her recovery reinforced my belief in the profound connection between diet and health.”
The growing awareness of gut health is not just a passing trend, but a key insight that is revolutionizing modern medicine, particularly when it comes to prevention. Our gut, she explains, plays a pivotal role in everything from immune function to our mental state. “The gut has an ongoing connection with the brain, starting from infancy. It affects many of our daily functions, either positively or negatively,” she says.
Recognizing the crucial role gut health plays in our lives, Dr. Hutson recently published her book, The Good Gut Blueprint: Prescription for Healing from the Inside Out. In this accessible guide, she explains how healing the gut is the most important and effective first step to addressing many (mental and physical) health issues. “It’s a succinct read and has action items that anyone can follow,” says Dr. Hutson. For example, she offers four simple tips that anyone can adopt into their lifestyle to increase microbial diversity—a key element of a healthy gut: eat the rainbow, eat fermented foods, limit processed foods, and get outside. The book even provides recipes and weekly meal plans, offering not only the science behind the gut-mind-body connection, but these real-life things we can do in response to understanding the science.
While Dr. Hutson’s book serves as a great starting point, there’s no denying the value of personalized care. At Austin Medical, new patient visits are up to an hour long, allowing for a deep dive into a person’s history, sleep, lifestyle, infections, trauma, stress routines, and exercise. “Without the insight to a person's day to day it would be a hard press to know how to help them,” she says. “You have to meet people where they are to really give them the best chance of feeling better. Our practice gives the patient a different outcome than what they are typically used to. Most patients that end up in my clinic have been brushed off or told they are fine without really knowing how to truly get better.”
Dr. Hutson’s commitment to individualized care is not just a professional approach—it’s a personal calling. In addition to general care, she also works with patients on personalized strategies for aging well, weight management, and mind-body wellness. With family roots in the Texas Hill Country going back almost a century, Dr. Hutson now raises her own family in Austin, a city she believes is ripe with potential to live a healthy life. “Austin is a place where people can truly become the healthiest versions of themselves,” she says. “At our practice, patients find hope. They find a place where they are not dismissed but are seen and heard, a place to truly heal. You are not a number here, you are family.”
In a world where the healthcare system often leaves us feeling unheard and frustrated, Dr. Hutson offers a different path: one of personalized care, understanding of our bodies, lasting healing, and a renewed sense of hope.