You’ve probably seen her face on a Facebook ad or in a health newsletter talking about blood sugar or "the one vegetable to avoid." It usually leads to a polished video where she’s introduced as "Dr. Marlene Merritt." But then the internet does what it does best—it gets confused. Is she a medical doctor? Is she a nutritionist? Is she an acupuncturist?
People get weirdly heated about this.
👉 See also: Is There Any Illnesses Going Around? What’s Actually Making Everyone Sick Right Now
Honestly, it’s understandable. The term "Doctor" is a bit of a lightning rod in the wellness world. Some people see it and assume MD, while others see it and immediately start looking for a catch. When you dig into the actual dr marlene merritt credentials, what you find is a mix of traditional Eastern practice and very high-level Western nutritional science. It's not as simple as a single degree on a wall.
The "Doctor" Title: Breaking Down the DOM
Let’s clear this up right away because it’s the source of 90% of the confusion. Marlene Merritt is not a Medical Doctor (MD). She has never claimed to be an MD, though some of the marketing companies that promote her supplements or programs can sometimes be a little... blurry with the phrasing.
Her "Dr." title comes from being a Doctor of Oriental Medicine (DOM).
She earned her Master’s degree in Oriental Medicine back in 2000. In the state of New Mexico, where she is licensed, practitioners of Oriental Medicine are legally recognized as primary care providers and carry the DOM title. She’s also a Licensed Acupuncturist (L.Ac.) and is nationally board-certified in Oriental Medicine.
Basically, her foundation is in the "old school" way of looking at the body—meridians, Qi, and herbalism. But if you’ve listened to her speak lately, you know she doesn't spend much time talking about "liver fire." She talks about insulin resistance and cortisol.
That shift happened because of her second set of credentials.
👉 See also: Sweat Belt for Weight Loss: Why It Might Be Tricking Your Scale
The Science Side: MS and CNS
This is where the "credentials" conversation gets a lot more interesting for the science nerds. Merritt went back to school—long after she was already practicing—to get a Master of Science in Human Nutrition and Functional Medicine from the University of Bridgeport.
This wasn't some weekend seminar. It’s an intensive graduate program.
That degree allowed her to become a Certified Nutrition Specialist (CNS). If you aren't familiar with the alphabet soup of the nutrition world, here is the deal: A "nutritionist" can be anyone with a Pinterest board in some states. But a CNS is a protected title. It requires a Master’s or Doctorate in a health field, 1,000 hours of supervised practice, and passing a massive board exam.
In about 20 states, the CNS is the gold standard used for actual nutritionist licensure.
She also added the IFMCP tag to her name. That stands for Institute for Functional Medicine Certified Practitioner. To get that, you have to prove you understand how to read complex lab work—the kind of blood tests your regular doctor might skip because they "look fine"—and find the root cause of why someone feels like garbage.
Why Does This Matter?
You might think, "Who cares about the letters?"
You should care.
There is a massive gap in healthcare right now. On one side, you have conventional MDs who have about 15 minutes to see you and usually just prescribe a pill for a symptom. On the other side, you have "health coaches" who mean well but don't actually understand the biochemistry of how a cell creates energy.
Merritt sits in that weird middle ground.
Because of the dr marlene merritt credentials, she’s looking at your health through two different lenses at the same time. She’s using the diagnostic logic of Functional Medicine (looking at things like the Bredesen Protocol for cognitive decline, which she is also certified in) while applying the holistic philosophy of Oriental Medicine.
A Quick List of Her Key Certifications:
- DOM: Doctor of Oriental Medicine (New Mexico)
- MS: Masters in Human Nutrition and Functional Medicine
- CNS: Certified Nutrition Specialist
- IFMCP: Institute for Functional Medicine Certified Practitioner
- Bredesen Protocol: Certified for Reversing Cognitive Decline
- Shoemaker Protocol: Proficiency Diplomate in Mold/CIRS (Chronic Inflammatory Response Syndrome)
The Marketing vs. The Reality
If you search for her name, you'll find a lot of "Smart Blood Sugar" ads. This is where people get skeptical. The marketing is aggressive. It uses "one weird trick" tropes that make people roll their eyes.
💡 You might also like: Bedtime Stories for Adults: Why Your Brain Still Craves a Narrator
But when you separate the sales funnels from the person, you see a clinician who has been running a physical practice—the Merritt Wellness Center—since 2000. She isn't just an "internet doctor." She actually sees patients. Or she did, until her teaching and writing schedule became so packed that she had to bring in other practitioners to handle the load.
She spends a lot of her time now lecturing to other healthcare professionals. That’s usually a good sign. When other doctors are paying to hear you speak about blood chemistry and nutrition, it means you've moved past the "influencer" stage and into the "expert" stage.
The Shoemaker and Bredesen Factor
Most people don't know she’s a Proficiency Diplomate in the Shoemaker Protocol. This is a very niche, very difficult certification. It focuses on people who are sick from mold exposure or "sick building syndrome." It’s complicated stuff involving genetic markers like HLA-DR and inflammatory markers like TGF-beta1.
Most general practitioners don't even know those tests exist.
The fact that she went through the rigor of the Shoemaker training and the Bredesen Protocol (which is the main framework used for trying to reverse Alzheimer’s) shows she isn't interested in just selling "diet tips." She's interested in the hard-to-fix cases.
Is She Legit?
"Legit" is a subjective word.
If you are looking for a surgeon to take out your appendix, she isn't the one. She isn't a medical doctor. She doesn't perform surgery or prescribe statins.
However, if you are looking for someone who understands the intersection of diet, chronic inflammation, and endocrine function, the dr marlene merritt credentials are actually more relevant than a standard MD's education. Most medical students get less than 20 hours of nutrition instruction in four years of med school. Merritt has a Master’s degree specifically in it.
What You Should Do Next
If you're considering following her advice or buying one of her programs, don't just take the marketing at face value.
- Check the Board: You can actually look up CNS certifications on the American Nutrition Association website to see if someone is current.
- Read the Practice Notes: Look at the Merritt Wellness Center website. They have a "Who We Are" section that lists the current team. It’s a real clinic in Austin, Texas.
- Verify the DOM: New Mexico’s board of Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine keeps public records.
Don't get hung up on the "Dr." title. Look at the specific training. In her case, it's a 25-year-long paper trail of trying to figure out why people stay sick even when their "blood work looks normal."
If you want to understand her approach, start by looking into Functional Medicine as a concept. It’s less about a specific person and more about a method of clinical thinking. Once you understand the method, her specific credentials start to make a lot more sense in the context of modern wellness.
The next time you see one of those ads, you don't have to wonder if she's a "real doctor." Now you know exactly what kind she is.
Actionable Insights:
- Verify Practitioners: Always use the "Verify a CNS" tool on the American Nutrition Association website when vetting nutrition experts.
- Request Specific Labs: If you suspect issues Merritt talks about (like CIRS or insulin resistance), ask your doctor for specific markers like fasting insulin or HbA1c, rather than just a "standard panel."
- Research the Protocol: Before starting any program, look up the independent research behind the Bredesen or Shoemaker protocols to see if they align with your specific health needs.