Dr. Younan Nowzaradan, widely known to television viewers as “Dr. Now,” is an Iranian-American surgeon who became famous for helping some of the heaviest patients in the country lose weight on TLC’s My 600-lb Life. Outside the show, he is a working bariatric and vascular surgeon in Houston, Texas, with a medical career that goes back more than five decades.
This biography looks at his early life, his medical training, how he became a TV personality, and what he has been doing in 2026. It also looks honestly at parts of his story — like his exact net worth — where public information is unclear or contradictory, something many existing articles about him do not admit.
Quick Facts
| Detail | Information |
|---|---|
| Full Name | Younan Nowzaradan |
| Known As | Dr. Now |
| Born | October 11, 1944, Tehran, Iran |
| Age (2026) | 81 |
| Heritage | Assyrian-Iranian; became a U.S. citizen |
| Education | Doctor of Medicine, University of Tehran (1970) |
| Specialty | Vascular and bariatric (weight-loss) surgery |
| Known For | My 600-lb Life (TLC, since 2012); The 6000-lb Diaries with Dr. Now (Lifetime, since 2025) |
| Based In | Houston, Texas |
| Author Of | The Scale Does Not Lie, People Do |
| Marriage | Delores McRedmond (married 1975; divorced in the early 2000s) |
| Children | Three, including son Jonathan Nowzaradan, a producer on his shows |
| Net Worth | Estimated, unconfirmed — figures vary widely (see below) |
Early Life and Education
Younan Nowzaradan was born on October 11, 1944, in Tehran, Iran, into a family of Assyrian background. He completed his early schooling in Iran and went on to study medicine at the University of Tehran, where he earned his medical degree in 1970. That same year, he left Iran and moved to the United States to continue his training, a decision that would eventually lead him to one of the busiest bariatric surgery practices in the country.
Medical Training in the United States
After arriving in the U.S., Nowzaradan completed a Medical Orientation Program at Saint Louis University in 1971. From there, he finished a rotating surgical internship at St. John Hospital in Detroit, Michigan. He then completed a four-year surgical residency at St. Thomas Hospital in Nashville, Tennessee, followed by a cardiovascular fellowship at the Texas Heart Institute in Houston. This training shaped him into a surgeon skilled in both vascular work and, later, weight-loss procedures. He is a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons.
Building a Career in Bariatric Surgery
Nowzaradan settled in Houston, where he built a surgical practice focused first on vascular surgery and later increasingly on bariatric (weight-loss) surgery for patients with severe, “super-morbid” obesity — a category many other surgeons were unwilling or unable to treat because of the higher medical risk involved. He became known for adapting laparoscopic, minimally invasive techniques for these especially difficult cases, work that helped establish his reputation among peers well before television made him a household name.
How Dr. Now Became a TV Star
Nowzaradan’s public fame began with My 600-lb Life, which premiered on TLC in 2012 and is still airing new seasons as of early 2026. The show follows patients who weigh close to or over 600 pounds as they attempt to qualify for bariatric surgery under his care, usually starting with a strict pre-operative diet. His blunt, no-nonsense manner with patients — paired with clear affection for their wellbeing — became the show’s signature dynamic and turned him into one of reality television’s most recognizable doctors.
In January 2025, a related series called The 6000lb Diaries with Dr. Now began airing on Lifetime rather than TLC. Created by his son, Jonathan Nowzaradan, the show follows ten patients whose combined weight totals roughly 6,000 pounds, using diary-style cameras to capture more of their day-to-day struggles. Nowzaradan announced the new series himself on Instagram in May 2025, telling followers he had exciting news to share.
Recent News: The 2025 Death Hoax and His 2026 Status
In late October 2025, false rumors claiming Nowzaradan had died began spreading on social media. He addressed the hoax directly in an Instagram video, confirming he was alive and well and asking followers not to spread unverified claims. As of mid-2026, reporting indicates he remains active both on-screen and in his Houston practice, where he continues to perform procedures such as gastric bypass and gastric sleeve surgery while also taking part in producing new episodes of his shows. This is worth noting because several older biography pages online still describe him only through pre-2025 information, without addressing either the hoax or his current activity.
Dr. Now’s Diet and Book
Before surgery, Nowzaradan typically places patients on a strict low-carbohydrate, low-calorie diet designed to shrink the liver and reduce surgical risk. He outlines his approach in his book, The Scale Does Not Lie, People Do, where he explains his method using the acronym “FAT” — standing for frequency, amount, and type of food. He generally recommends two to three meals a day, a daily calorie limit around 1,200, and specific food choices meant to support rapid, medically supervised weight loss. It is worth noting this diet is intended for patients preparing for surgery under direct medical supervision, not as a general weight-loss plan for the public.
Personal Life
Nowzaradan married Delores McRedmond in 1975; public records and reporting indicate the marriage ended in divorce in the early 2000s, though exact sources differ slightly on the year. The couple had three children together. One son, Jonathan Nowzaradan, has become closely involved in his father’s television career, working as a producer and, more recently, as the creator of The 6000lb Diaries with Dr. Now. Beyond this, Nowzaradan has kept most other details of his personal life private, and no further confirmed information about his home life is publicly available as of 2026.
Net Worth: Why the Numbers Don’t Add Up
Search for “Dr. Nowzaradan net worth” and you will find wildly different numbers — some pages claim around $4 million, others claim $6 million, $10 million, $18 million, $40 million, or even over $100 million. Several of these same pages also contain factual errors, such as incorrect medical schools, incorrect residency locations, or mixed-up biographical details with his son Jonathan. Because none of these figures come from a verified financial disclosure, this article treats any specific net worth number as an unconfirmed, widely varying estimate rather than a fact. What can be said with more confidence is that his income likely comes from a combination of his surgical practice, television work, and book sales, though exact amounts are not publicly documented.
How This Was Researched
I researched this biography using a mix of encyclopedic reference material, entertainment reporting, and recent celebrity-news coverage from 2025 and 2026, including coverage of the October 2025 death-hoax story. Where sources disagreed — particularly around his divorce date, his height, and any net worth figure — I noted the discrepancy instead of picking one number to present as fact. That is also the main gap this article tries to fill: much of the existing coverage of Dr. Nowzaradan repeats the same biographical outline without flagging where the publicly available information is actually inconsistent or unverified.
FAQ
Who is Dr. Younan Nowzaradan?
He is an Iranian-American surgeon based in Houston, Texas, known for treating severely obese patients on TLC’s My 600-lb Life and, since 2025, Lifetime’s The 6000lb Diaries with Dr. Now.
How old is Dr. Now in 2026?
He was born on October 11, 1944, making him 81 years old in 2026.
Is Dr. Nowzaradan still practicing medicine?
Reporting from 2026 indicates he continues to treat patients and perform bariatric procedures in Houston while remaining involved in his television shows.
What is Dr. Now’s real net worth?
There is no confirmed, official figure. Online estimates range from roughly $4 million to over $100 million, and this wide spread suggests the actual number is not publicly verified.
Did Dr. Now die?
No. A death hoax spread on social media in October 2025, which he personally denied in an Instagram video.
What diet does Dr. Now use with his patients?
He typically puts pre-surgery patients on a strict low-carbohydrate diet limited to around 1,200 calories a day, detailed in his book The Scale Does Not Lie, People Do.
Accuracy Note:
This biography is based on publicly available information, including encyclopedic references and verified news coverage through 2026. Where figures such as net worth or personal-life dates were inconsistent across sources, that was noted rather than presented as settled fact. If you spot anything outdated or incorrect, please let us know so we can update it.
Written and researched by Hassan, contributor at ntx magazine.
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