If you’re one of Dr. Tania Elliott’s 369,000 Instagram followers, you know her approach to healthcare is anything but clinical. Yes, she’s board-certified in both Internal Medicine and Allergy/Immunology, but connecting directly with patients is at the core of how Dr. Tania navigates medicine. Early in her career as an allergist, she noticed how counterintuitive it felt to see patients in an office rather than their home environment. “I’d ask, ‘Do you have carpeting? Bedding? Upholstered furniture? What does your HVAC look like? Do you use candles? What creams and soaps do you use?” she explains. “When you ask someone to strip down into a gown, you miss cues like if they wear a uniform, or have stains on their clothes because they work with paints or acrylics. All those things are cues for me to be able to make a diagnosis. Trying to identify triggers didn’t make any sense [in an office].” It’s how her new business, called Welth, was born. Welth provides access to resources, education, and a comprehensive care team via telemedicine, text, video, or phone to help people navigate their health and feel their best. Tania’s goal? To bridge the gap between healthcare and wellness.
As she prepares to expand her brand and reach in 2025, she spoke with Westport Lifestyle about living happily and healthily.
What’s your overall philosophy on healthcare?
[Medicine generally focuses] on individual organs—you see the pulmonary doctor for your lungs or the cardiologist for your heart. Well, you're not a lung, you’re not a heart—you are a whole person. People would come to me when they had a diagnostic dilemma and had already been to a bunch of doctors who only looked at a piece of things. An allergist is trained to look at the whole picture—the root cause as well as factors in the environment. Is it a food that's reacting with you? Is it something in your home? You have to look at the whole person. That’s when I realized maybe I could Skype with my patients. I started doing telemedicine before it was cool!
What are the benefits of telemedicine when diagnosing allergies?
You want a doctor who can access you at the exact moment when you don't feel well. Say you have a rash. By the time you get in to see me, the rash has gone away. When patients can immediately send me a photo, I know right away if it is hives, or bed bugs, or dermatitis. But how can I make that diagnosis later?
What's your approach to creating social media content?
I want to be relatable and aspirational, in some way. So sometimes I'll do a post in my workout clothes, and that's intentional. If I can look like [a wellness influencer], and provide accurate information, I'm going to do that. If it's the summertime and I'm sitting by my pool and say, ‘This is what my friends ask me about introducing food allergens to their kids…’ well, that’s actually how I do talk to my friends who sit by my pool and ask questions about their kids! People say ‘no one's going to listen to a doctor in a crop top.’ But I want to be a relatable friend—who happens to be a credible physician.
You’re known for sharing “healthy swaps” in your Instagram videos. What do you recommend swapping out in your home this year?
Stop using dish sponges. And if you want to use a sponge, put it in the dishwasher or boil it every night—it’s full of bacteria and fungus. Instead, I recommend Swedish dishcloths that are plant-based and become hard when they're dry.
What about swaps for healthier meals and snacks?
I always say drastic changes won’t be effective or long-lasting. So quick, simple, and easy swaps that are doable. If you like having a snack at night, figure out the best snack for you to have. Have a handful of pistachios and walnuts (which are a natural source of melatonin) before bed instead of potato chips.
How do you keep your own family healthy?
Ten minutes of sunshine every day. I get up in the morning and watch the sunrise. It’s mood-boosting! And for sleep hygiene, I sleep in a pitch-black room with an eye mask. In our family, we also got rid of night lights in our kids' rooms, so their bodies can create natural sleep hormones. To help them feel more comfortable in the dark, a fun adventure we've implemented is night walks. We look at the moon and the stars. When you're in the dark for about ten minutes, your eyes adjust, and it doesn’t feel that dark.
What are some healthy hacks you’ve discovered living in Westport?
Cold plunges! I go to Compo Beach and do a cold plunge. It shocks the system and releases natural endorphins like dopamine. The cold is also numbing, so it can help with pain and inflammation. And the sunrises and sunsets are incredible by the beach. I love to start and end my day there. I even started drawing what I see with colored pencils. I never thought of myself as an artist! And having the beach and forests so close to one another is topography that I love. Enjoying the natural beauty of Westport has been huge.
For more tips from Dr. Tania Elliott, follow @drtaniaelliott