Gio Castranova

Castranova grew up in Los Angeles in a large Sicilian family that sparked his interest in medicinal practices from all over the world. His grandfather was an expert in gastrointestinal surgery who cared for people regardless of their background or ability to pay. Castranova spent much of his childhood at the hospital with him, watching how deeply his grandfather loved the work. At the same time, his mother was immersed in a wellness community of her own, with lifelong friends who were Ayurvedic doctors and Chinese herbalists practicing traditions passed down through their families for generations. That combination — rigorous Western medicine on one side of his family and generations-old healing traditions on the other — shaped the integrative style Castranova brings to his practice today.

“I saw all these practitioners who helped people for the love of their work,” Castranova says. “I realized I wanted to be helping people too. It’s a soul enriching thing to give love and step outside yourself and focus on the person in front of you.”

Castranova believes he has been on this path since birth and was born to help people. He earned both his Bachelor of Science and his Master of Science in nutrition and dietetics from Loma Linda University. During this time, he received grants that allowed him to travel to remote villages in the mountains of India and coastal jungles of Sierra Leone to learn about traditional nutritional practices of the world, something he has continued throughout his career. “I love to travel the world and visit other places to enrich my own practice,” he says. “I view my practice as a learning organism that grows from one client and one experience to the next.”

He describes his approach to nutrition as intuitive, built on a decade of listening closely to what patients say and do. With every new person, he starts with an assessment of the hair, skin, nails, and eyes, which he says can reveal patterns that lab work alone may miss. From there, he takes a full health history from birth to the present, getting to know each patient before building a plan tailored to that person’s goals, lifestyle, and patterns of living.

Castranova is also adept at crafting guidance that works for people with busy and varied schedules. He frequently builds strategies for high-powered individuals, people who eat on set, travel constantly, and entertain for work. An experienced cook himself, he has an arsenal of quick, delicious recipes he shares with patients, and also walks people through their favorite restaurant menus to help them find orders that fits their plans. “It’s all about making good food that is easy and works for them,” he says. “We all have enough stressors in our day-to-day life and food shouldn’t be one of them.”

If people need support in sticking with their goals, he checks in with them frequently and lets them know he is with them every step of the way. “I go above and beyond for every one of my patients,” Castranova says. “I laugh with my patients, I cry with my patients — this is truly a relationship.”

That means he is also honest and nonjudgmental with people when they ask him about the latest nutrition trends on social media. Castranova enjoys helping patients sort through the often confusing world of online wellness information, and he grounds his own guidance in a combination of clinical evidence and real-world experience.

He is an expert in general nutrition and works with individuals of all ages and sexual orientations in areas including longevity, digestive disorders, sleep problems, blood sugar management, allergies, skin issues, brain fog, headaches, migraines, and more. He also has special expertise in women’s health nutrition, an area he was drawn to after being raised in what he describes as a female-centered family. He enjoys supporting women through all phases of life, from fertility journeys and hormone balancing to pregnancy, postpartum, and menopause.

Castranova has spent years working with prominent medical practices on the west coast as their go-to nutrition expert for referrals, and enjoys collaborating with other specialists and physicians. At Atria, Castranova values the opportunity to continue this work, coordinating closely with the other clinicians involved in each patient’s care. “Atria brings together people who are truly the best of the best and want to work with other top practitioners,” he says. “True, clear communication with everyone involved in a person’s care is the best way to help them achieve robust, lifelong health.”

When he’s not working with patients, Castranova has volunteered his time teaching nutrition fundamentals to community college students and still regularly travels to countries across Central and South America and Africa. He lives in Los Angeles, and enjoys spending time with his large extended family and hiking, camping, and surfing daily, viewing time in the water as a form of meditation.