 This is going to be fun, and this is important information that I've been talking about now for my last three books, starting with the energy paradox, unlocking the keto code, and now gut check. And that is the importance of mitochondria. Now, most of us who had high school biology remember seeing a picture of a cell. And in that cell, there were these kind of wiggly squiggly things that almost looked like a radiator that are mitochondria. And if you remember, we were taught that the mitochondria is the energy powerhouse of the cell. And that's absolutely true. If you've read any of my recent books, you know that mitochondria, we think, are ancient bacteria that two billion years ago were engulfed by other single cell organisms and made an exchange that instead of being eaten, that the mitochondria, that bacteria, would take the food that the cell ate and convert it into the energy currency adenosine triphosphate ATP in exchange for not being eaten. And apparently it was a very good deal because almost all advanced life forms, plants and animals, use mitochondria to make ATP. But they still retain some characteristics of being engulfed bacteria. One of the more fascinating things is that mitochondria have their own DNA separate from the nucleus of the cell. Now what we're going to learn today, that's exciting news because normally a cell has to divide to split all the DNA into two new cells. Not a mitochondria can divide on its own to make two new mitochondria, or from that matter replace itself with a better newer mitochondria without the cell having to divide. And that's really exciting because once we know the stimuli to allow mitochondria to repair themselves and to divide, that opens up all sorts of opportunities for improving our ability to make ATP regardless of the state of the rest of the cell. Why is that important? Well, remember back in high school biology we maybe saw one of these guys in a cell or two of these guys in a cell, but in fact cells can be packed with mitochondria. So it's not just a couple of these little guys, these guys are essential for producing ATP. And quite frankly, the more ATP you produce out of the food you eat, the better off your muscles are, your brain is, your heart is, you name it, the better. Also, my research has shown that you really want the mitochondria in the cells that make up the wall of your gut to be in tip top shape because that's where the rubber meets the road in terms of you surviving well for a very long time. Okay, now, if you've read the energy paradox, for that matter if you've read Unlocking the Keto Code, you know that our modern lifestyle is really good at mucking up the works with our mitochondria. Our modern lifestyle and the foods we eat really damage our mitochondria. And our mitochondria, when they're damaged, one of two things is important. One of two things is possible. First of all, if a mitochondria is damaged beyond repair, normally it literally explodes and it's called apoptosis. And that explosion of the mitochondria gets rid of the mitochondria, no doubt about it. But in the process of exploding, it actually produces cellular debris that causes, you guessed it, inflammation. So, the more damaged mitochondria that you have and the more that they undergo apoptosis, the more inflammation. There's a second way that mitochondria, which are damaged, can be taken care of. And that's called autophagy, better known as self-eat, eat itself. Now, when mitochondria undergo autophagy, it's got its own term called mitophagy, or eat your own mitochondria. What that literally means is the mitochondria undergoes recycling. Rather than exploding and spewing out all the various components of a mitochondria, it literally recycles every last bit. So that autophagy, or mitophagy, is really good for you because not only does it not make inflammation, but it also recycles the components so that you get a fresh new mitochondria. So that's what you want to do. And if you've actually read about how we do that, there are numerous mechanisms to improve a mitophagy. Time-restricted eating is one of the most famous methods of making mitophagy. Exercise is one or the other great ways of improving mitophagy. But as you'll learn in gut check, having the right microbiome and having the right nutrients for the microbiome may be another way that we really haven't known about until recently. Let's talk about an exciting new compound called urolithin A. A little bit of history. We have known for a very long time that there is a polyphenol that's present in raspberries, in pomegranates, in a few other compounds, walnuts, for example, called egalic acid. And egalic acid has been a darling of us polyphenol experts because we've known from studies that pomegranate extract, raspberry extract with egalic acid seems to have some pretty cool health-promoting properties. And it's been a darling of polyphenol. Enter a company called Timeline Nutrition, which is a Swiss-based company. This Swiss-based company, a number of years ago, began investigating various polyphenol compounds, including egalic acid, and looked at the possibility of bisband extension in worms, for example, in mice, for example. And lo and behold, they found that egalic acid seemed to be really, really interesting in terms of promoting longevity. So they doubled down on how egalic acid worked. And lo and behold, they found that it really wasn't egalic acid that was the miracle worker. They found that if you had certain bacteria in your gut, that those bacteria would convert egalic acid into the active compound, a postbiotic, which is called urolithin A. Now, what's so exciting about urolithin A is that when you look at animal studies, urolithin A promotes mitophagy. That is recycling damaged mitochondria and making new ones. And the process of making new ones is called mitogenesis. All right, mitophagy, breaking down a damaged mitochondria, mitogenesis, then making it into a new one. So needless to say, breaking down damaged mitochondria without doing damage, great idea, making new ones, an even better idea. And so what they found was that urolithin A was actually the magic ingredient. Now, what's so cool about that is you've got to have the right gut bacteria to make urolithin A. And unfortunately, research has now shown that only about 12% of us have the right combination of gut bacteria that if they're exposed to, let's say pomegranate seeds or pomegranate juice, they then will make urolithin A that will then have the actions that we want, only 12%. That doesn't sound very good. Why is that important? Well, the important thing is you could eat all the raspberries in the world. You could drink six glasses of pomegranate juice. And unless you are one of the lucky 12%, you're probably not going to make the compound that you're looking for, urolithin A. What's really fascinating, and I talk about in gut check, if you look at super old people who are thriving in their mid to late 90s, early 100s, this group of people have the bacteria that make urolithin A, son of a gun. We're learning more and more that it may not be the compound that we're eating, but it's the bacteria that are eating that compound that make all the difference. And here's just another connection now that these super old people have bacteria that make urolithin A. And that's one of the reasons they're super old, because they're constantly upgrading their mitochondria through autophagy and mitogenesis. So what's really impressive is that we now have science that shows that this, in fact, is true not only in animals, but in humans. So, mitopure is the name, the trade name of urolithin A that's made by the Swiss scientists at Timeline Nutrition. And many of you may have heard that I'm so impressed with urolithin A that I've had their chief scientist on my podcast. It's that important. And quite frankly, I've been taking this compound since it was introduced, and I prescribe it to a large number of my patients, particularly with issues in muscle mass problems, in autoimmune problems, in cancer problems, and in neurologic problems. So let's get into the science a bit. All right. So in one study, there's a worm that we use in longevity studies called C. elegans that has stood the test of time in that what we find in this worm study invariably translates into higher animals, including humans. So that groundbreaking research often starts with this little worm. So it boosted the lifespan, urolithin A might appear, boosted the lifespan of C. elegans worms by 45% over worms that didn't get this compound, and it increased mouse aerobic performance, in other words, how long they could run on a treadmill, by 40% versus mice who didn't get it. Now it turns out that it kickstarts mitophagy in humans, and human studies now show that you get an impressive boost in muscle strength just by taking mitopure urolithin A, regardless of changing a strength training program. So that's pretty dog and exciting news. Once again, yes, you may be one of the lucky ones who could drink pomegranate juice or have a lot of raspberries and make urolithin A, but you're probably not. In fact, there's some studies that suggest you would need six glasses of pomegranate juice per day to even have detectable levels of urolithin A. And I can't tell you the sugar content of six glasses of pomegranate juice. So imagine how much easier it is to get the benefits of mitophagy and mitogenesis just from a supplement. So in humans, within six hours of taking mitopure, urolithin A is detected in the bloodstream. And after a month of use, you can actually measure an uptick in mitochondrial activity. And these benefits can actually continue to accrue over the next four months. Now, I've been taking this compound, and I'm going to test that I see benefits for myself and my patients. One of the things that has been remarkable for me is, you know, I'm now in my 70s. And as many of you know, I'm an avid hiker and I think nothing of going 10, 12 miles in heels on hikes. But I noticed over the last few years that my balance on steep rocky slopes, both going up and maybe going down, was not as good as it was before. And I could say, eh, I'm just getting old and maybe I should get some hiking sticks. But I could actually, you know, feel that there was something going on. Imagine my delight that since taking mitopure, my balance and stability has returned to my levels in my 50s and 60s. And the only thing I did differently, I didn't get a wobble board, I didn't increase my Pilates, was add mitopure. And so I'm a big believer from a personal standpoint. There are anecdotes that don't mean anything. But I can tell you that a number of my patients who I have put on for multiple reasons have noticed a big difference. Just this week, I have a patient with chronic lymphocytic leukemia who refuses to take drugs. And one of the problems with this condition is that you are subject, usually, to catching every virus known to mankind. These individuals are often very debilitated with viruses because their immune system doesn't work. And I just saw this patient two weeks ago and I had started him on this about a year ago. He says, the amazing thing is, he says, I have not been sick since I started this. He said, my wife doesn't take it. She obviously doesn't have leukemia. She's been getting every bug known to mankind, even with her catching it. I haven't caught it. And again, it's an anecdote, but this is a guy who's been living with this for a number of years. And we just changed one thing and that was mitopure. So it's kind of cool. And that's why I'm excited about this compound. There's recent evidence that this compound activates natural killer cells, which are really important in not only cancer prevention but cancer treatment. And that's actually one of the reasons I started this last patient on it. So the sky is the limit. Many of us believe that cancer is actually because our mitochondria have kind of fallen off the grid and are no longer producing the way they should. And if you like this theory, which I do, getting mitochondria back on the grid, back operating, back producing energy, may be a very effective way of preventing cancer and maybe even treating cancer. So again, when your mitochondria go, you go. When your mitochondria in your brain goes, your brain goes. When your mitochondria in your muscles go, your heart is a muscle go. That's what goes. So any compound that now has a proven ability to clean up damaged mitochondria and make new ones and actually improve muscle mass and performance, that's something well worth my interest and your interest. And that's why I personally am such a fan of Urolithin A and the company Timeline Nutrition. And that's why I wanted to tell you more about why this compound is worthy of your interest. More amazing episodes just like this one. Watch now. Recently there's been a very good paper showing the higher your vitamin D level is in your brain, the better your neurons work.