Send us a text Cellular metabolism, mitochondrial health, and the roles of diet and environment in metabolic health, fetal & child development, and Alzheimer's. TOPICS DISCUSSED: Cellular growth vs. burning: Cells alternate between growing (using glucose for building blocks in low-oxygen environments) and burning (generating ATP in mitochondria with oxygen); dysregulation leads to metabolic issues.Key regulatory enzymes: PI3 kinase imports glucose, AMP kinase builds mitochondria, and mTOR...

Send us a text Deep dive into how ketogenic diets and carbohydrate intake effect exercise performance, and misconceptions in sports nutrition. TOPICS DISCUSSED: Insulin as a powerful metabolic hormone: regulates nutrient storage across tissues, overriding others like glucagon to promote fat and glucose storage during abundance.Glucagon & GLP-1 roles in metabolism: Glucagon mobilizes liver glucose during scarcity; GLP-1, amplified in drugs like Ozempic, suppresses hunger but originated as ...

Send us a text Neurobiology of maternal care in mammals: hormonal influences, stress effects & a study on psilocybin's unexpected effects during the postpartum period. Sponsor: SporesMD. Use code TRIKOMES for 20% off pharmaceutical-grade mushroom liquid cultures & mycology products. Topics Discussed: Maternal care behavior in rodents: Nursing, pup retrieval, grooming, and nest-building, essential for altricial pups’ survival; conserved across mammals but varies by species.Hormonal cha...

Send us a text Metabolic effects of soybean oil and linoleic acid on obesity, fatty liver, and liver function. Topics Discussed: Historical trends in soybean oil use: Consumption increased dramatically since the 1960s due to farming subsidies, now providing over 10% of calories for many Americans, far exceeding the 1-2% required biologically.Soybean oil’s effects in mice: Diets with 8-10% linoleic acid cause obesity, fatty liver, and diabetes over weeks, unlike coconut oil diets; effects pers...

Send us a text How seasonal changes in light and dietary unsaturated fats affect circadian rhythms in mammals. Topics Discussed: Evolutionary context of circadian rhythms: All organisms have adapted to Earth’s 24-hour day for survival, with internal clocks slightly offset and adjusted by environmental cues.Molecular clock mechanism: Involves a feedback loop where proteins turn on/off genes, lasting ~24 hours, regulated by phosphorylation and degradation for timing precision.Genetic variations...

Send us a text How ketosis and ketogenic diets work and how these tools can improve metabolic health, brain function, and even cancer management. Topics Discussed: Organs have different fuel preferences: brain strongly prefers glucose, heart prefers fatty acids, skeletal muscle is flexible and likes fat/ketones.Humans evolved with high metabolic flexibility; regular ketosis was normal for ancestors, but today most people never experience it.“Keto flu” is largely glucose withdrawal plus electr...

Send us a text How dietary polyunsaturated fats, especially omega-6 from seed oils, influence inflammation & heart health. Topics Discussed: Polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs): Omega-6 from seed oils like safflower and corn can convert to pro-inflammatory molecules, while omega-3s produce resolving ones; imbalance biases toward chronic inflammation.Inflammation regulation: Acute inflammation aids healing but requires active “on” and “off” signals from lipid mediators; chronic inflammatio...

Send us a text Methods & challenges of establishing causal relationships in health research, emphasizing epidemiology, randomized trials, and genetic approaches. Topics: Epidemiology: Studies disease influences using observational designs like case-control and prospective cohorts, plus trials, to identify patterns and test hypotheses.Hierarchy of evidence critique: Rejects rigid pyramids favoring RCTs, as all studies can be biased; advocates triangulation integrating varied data types for...

Send us a text Integration of brain metabolism with neural signaling, highlighting how core metabolites regulate energy use and protect neurons. Topics Discussed: Brain energy efficiency: Brains are much more energy-efficient than computers for similar processing, relying on adaptive metabolic strategies evolved under energy scarcity.Metabolism vs. information processing: Core metabolites like glutamate bridge basic cellular energy production and neural signaling.Lactate as a signal: Produced...

Send us a text Mitochondrial fatty acid synthesis is a little-known but essential pathway that supports energy production and metabolic health. Summary: Dr. Sara Nowinski explains how mitochondria not only burn fuels to make ATP but also synthesize their own fatty acids inside the matrix; this conserved pathway produces lipoic acid (an essential enzyme cofactor) and longer-chain fats required for proper assembly of the electron transport chain, and disrupting it impairs respiration, glucose h...

Send us a text How hunger, hormones, and brain wiring make animals switch between parenting and aggression. Episode Summary: Dr. Johannes Kohl explains instinctive behaviors in mice, focusing on how hunger and estrous cycle hormones interact in the hypothalamus to toggle between parental care and pup-directed aggression in virgin females; he also details how pregnancy hormones rewire the medial preoptic area for robust maternal behavior before birth, revealing multi-timescale neural integrati...

Send us a text How mitochondria travel between cells and how this hidden communication shapes metabolism, immunity, and even potential therapies. Episode Summary: Dr. Jon Brestoff talks about mitochondrial dynamics inside cells, their transfer between unrelated cells (distinct from inheritance during division), and its roles in adipose tissue communication, macrophage cleanup, and systemic metabolic signaling; they explore how high-fat diets disrupt this process, potential hormetic benefits, ...

Send us a text A biophysical rethink of life, health, and disease through the lens of the Energy Resistance Principle (ERP). Episode Summary: A reframe of biology as energy flow through resistance rather than mere molecular machinery, introducing the Energy Resistance Principle (ERP): life requires a Goldilocks balance of electron flow from food to oxygen via mitochondria; too much or too little resistance drives aging, disease, and death. Explain mitochondria as energy transformers, link ERP...

Send us a text How artificial light impacts female menstrual cycles and their relationship to lunar cycles of the moon. Summary: Dr. Förster talks about how biological clocks, including circadian, tidal, lunar, and annual cycles, regulate behaviors in various species, with a focus on lunar cycle effects on human menstrual cycles. They explore historical and modern data suggesting that menstrual cycles may synchronize with lunar phases, a phenomenon potentially disrupted by modern artificial l...

Send us a text The genetic & developmental changes behind bipedalism & human anatomy. Wide release date: October 15, 2025. Episode Summary: Dr. Terence Capellini talks about the evolution of bipedalism in humans, exploring when and why it emerged, the anatomical changes required, and the genetic mechanisms behind these adaptations. They discuss how environmental shifts, like shrinking forests, drove the need for upright walking, the gradual skeletal changes in the pelvis and limbs, an...

Send us a text The biological roots of sleep are tied to mitochondrial metabolism. Episode Summary: Dr. Gero Miesenböck discusses the evolutionary and metabolic basis of sleep, exploring how mitochondrial energy production in neurons, particularly in fruit flies, drives the need for sleep to manage harmful byproducts like reactive oxygen species and lipid peroxides. They discuss how sleep-inducing neurons sense these byproducts, the role of mitochondrial dynamics, and the broader implications...

Send us a text The surprising link between oral bacteria and heart disease. Episode Summary: Dr. Pekka Karhunen explains the connection between oral bacteria, cholesterol, and cardiovascular disease, discussing how oxidized LDL cholesterol triggers inflammation in arteries, how bacteria from the mouth can infiltrate arterial plaques to form biofilms, and the implications for heart disease prevention through lifestyle changes like better oral hygiene. About the guest: Pekka Karhunen, MD, PhD i...

Send us a text How nutrition and medications impact mitochondrial health. Episode Summary: Dr. Chris Masterjohn talks about the intricate relationships between nutrition, prescription drugs, and mitochondrial health; how molecules like acetaminophen & SSRIs affect the body; broader implications of serotonin outside the brain; side effects of commonly used medications; the importance of personalized nutritional strategies to optimize mitochondrial function. About the guest: Chris Masterjoh...

Send us a text Genetic & environmental factors that affect brain health, including why people age faster in outer space. (Note: technical difficulties affected the audio quality of this recording somewhat) Episode Summary: Dr. Jacob Raber explains how apolipoproteins, particularly ApoE, influence brain health and disease risk; their role in cholesterol metabolism, Alzheimer’s disease, and responses to environmental stressors like radiation and viral infections; interplay between genetics,...

Send us a text How maternal obesity epigenetically reprograms liver metabolism in offspring, predisposing them to metabolic disease. Episode Summary: Dr. Elvira Mass talks about macrophages, specialized immune cells that vary by tissue and play crucial roles beyond fighting infections, such as supporting organ function; Kupffer cells (liver macrophages) and how maternal obesity during pregnancy reprograms these cells in offspring, leading to fatty liver disease, fibrosis, and even cancer late...