October 11, 2013 (Online) 6 Things You Didn't Know About Dr. Sanjay Gupta Sanjay Gupta, photographed at Grady Memorial Hospital in Atlanta on Sept. 17.(Spencer Heyfron) http://www.parade.com/200470/leahrozen/7-things-you-didnt-know-about-dr-sanjay-gupta/ 345 Hudson Street, 16th Floor | New York, NY 10014 | Phone (646) 728-9500 | Fax (646) 728-9501 | www.EverydayHealth.com This weekend’s issue of Parade features CNN’s Sanjay Gupta on the cover. Here are six things he reveals that are not widely known about one of TV’s most popular doctors: He once wanted to change his name to Steve: As a boy growing up in the small community of Novi, Michigan, he encountered prejudice and bullying. Wanting to fit in, he proposed changing his name, inspired by Steve Austin of TV’s The Six Million Dollar Man. His mother talked him out of it. “I told him to be proud of his name, that one day everyone would know it because of the wonderful things he was going to do,” she recalls. He’s a Ford Motor Company loyalist: Gupta’s immigrant parents were engineers at Ford Motor Company, and he’s still loyal to the company. He drives a Ford Lincoln Navigator and a Jaguar bought when the British carmaker was owned by Ford. He’s much more than a doctor: In addition to his medical responsibilities (apart from his work at CNN and at Grady, he’s an assistant professor of neurosurgery at Emory University, contributes pieces to CBS’s 60 Minutes and does videos and blog posts for Everyday Health.com) Dr. Gupta has published three books, including a novel, Monday Mornings, that briefly became a TV series last winter; competes in triathlons; writes poetry; is a devoted husband to wife Rebecca Olson Gupta; and an involved parent to their three daughters, ages 8, 6, and 4. He still works as a neurosurgeon: His viewers may not know that when he’s home in Atlanta, Dr. Gupta operates on patients’ brains and spines at least one day a week at Grady Memorial Hospital, where he is associate chief of neurosurgery. “You can have immediate healing through operations, and it’s gratifying,” he explains to Parade. He loves music while he operates: Dr. Gupta’s OR playlists include hip-hop and the Red Hot Chili Peppers for opening and closing spinal surgeries, when something “a little raucous” is called for, and music that’s “more chill,” like Coldplay, during operations. http://www.parade.com/200470/leahrozen/7-things-you-didnt-know-about-dr-sanjay-gupta/ 345 Hudson Street, 16th Floor | New York, NY 10014 | Phone (646) 728-9500 | Fax (646) 728-9501 | www.EverydayHealth.com He doesn’t think the Affordable Care Act is a cure-all: Although Gupta applauds the Act as “an important step” he cautions that offering most Americans access to insurance is not enough. “If you don’t make America healthier, you’re not going to control costs,” he says. “And ultimately that’s what we have to do.” For more on Dr. Sanjay Gupta, and suggestions on how you can take charge of your health before the end of the year, see Sunday’s Parade. In the exclusive video below, Dr. Sanjay Gupta shares a few of his best stay-healthy tips http://www.parade.com/200470/leahrozen/7-things-you-didnt-know-about-dr-sanjay-gupta/ 345 Hudson Street, 16th Floor | New York, NY 10014 | Phone (646) 728-9500 | Fax (646) 728-9501 | www.EverydayHealth.com .