SMHP to Absorb LowCarbUSA® Conferences

The Society of Metabolic Health Practitioners (SMHP) this month has assumed management of the conferences previously presented by LowCarbUSA®. The events, previously known as “Low Carb Conferences”, will now be rebranded as “Symposiums for Metabolic Health”.

These events—including upcoming conferences in San Diego this August, and in Boca next January—will continue to be hosted by LowCarbUSA®. The Symposium for Metabolic Health – San Diego will take place August 25-28, 2022, and the Symposium for Metabolic Health – Boca is set for January 13-15, 2023.

The new arrangement gives SMHP input over the educational content of the events and aligns well with the non-profit organization’s mission, which is to “represent all researchers and practitioners working to improve metabolic health around the world through education, training, and support of evidence-based nutritional approaches, including carbohydrate restriction, as a valid therapeutic option or intervention.”

“It has been the mission of The SMHP to share not just the science but the clinical and practical application of nutritional interventions,” said SMHP board member and Treasurer Mark Cucuzzella, MD, FAAFP. 

This is where the larger change in medical care will happen,” added Cucuzzella. “It’s educating all levels of clinicians so they will catch up with what many of our own patients have been learning. Type 2 diabetes in many is a reversible condition and we need to establish this goal as the standard of care.”

SMHP board member Tro Kalayjian, DO, believes the new arrangement will provide the SMHP with greater opportunities to educate practitioners about metabolic health. “One of the key initiatives of  The SMHP is to educate doctors and provide a venue for networking, in addition to our other initiatives of producing quality research,” said Kalayjian who is double board certified in obesity medicine and internal medicine.

Doug Reynolds, MHP, who is president of The SMHP, says the organization is open to bringing other metabolic health events from other organizations under its umbrella. One of the potential benefits is that The SMHP is applying for ACCME accreditation, something many other organizers are unable to do.

“This new partnership has the potential to provide more consistent messaging, and make valuable information about metabolic health available to a greater number of people,” said Reynolds. “The SMHP has many resources and a large number of practitioners who are leading the way in our pursuit to help make therapeutic carbohydrate reduction (TCR) a part of the standard of care in the treatment of a wide range of medical conditions, including type 2 diabetes, PCOS, NAFLD, CVD, and hypertension, among others.

“I’m excited about the new name, Symposium for Metabolic Health,” said SMHP board member Eric C. Westman, MD, MHS. “There are many ways to achieve excellent metabolic health, and the Society of Metabolic Health Practitioners is widely inclusive of many different approaches, not just low carb, and welcomes many types of practitioners, not just doctors.”

“When new medical subspecialties come of age, they unify members in a specialty society as a forum to advance their science knowledge base and publish peer-reviewed scientific research,” said SMHP board member Robert Cywes, MD, PhD. “The SMHP is that metabolic specialty society, and we are very proud to announce our new forum, The Symposium for Metabolic Health.”

To learn more about The SMHP, the many benefits the organization provides, and how to join, visit The SMHP website. Non-practitioner and student memberships are also available. 

Register for an upcoming Symposium for Metabolic Health today, There are both in-person and online livestream options with recordings available.