Biohacking Autism with Nadia Elkhatib.

When a child or adult with autism has multiple overlapping health concerns, where do you start, what comes next, and what may need to wait? Scott Forsgren, founder of BetterHealthGuy, joins Nadia to walk through the 16-step roadmap he developed from nearly three decades of navigating complex chronic illness, and to explore what autism families may be able to learn from that framework.

The conversation begins with nervous system regulation, mast cells and histamine, detoxification and drainage, and the external environment. Scott then explains why sleep, movement, nutrition, the microbiome, mitochondria, immune modulation, coagulation, microbial burden, dental health, structure, and regeneration may belong in a broader sequence rather than a collection of disconnected interventions.

They also discuss mold illness, Lyme disease, MCAS, sensitivity to interventions, why “more aggressive” is not always better, and how autism families can use a chronic-illness framework like this to ask better questions with qualified practitioners.

Connect with Scott Forsgren

BetterHealthGuy: https://www.betterhealthguy.com/

BetterHealthGuy Podcast: https://www.betterhealthguy.com/podcast

Episode Resource

Scott Forsgren’s 16-Step Health Recovery Framework and downloadable slides:

https://www.betterhealthguy.com/steps

Disclosure

Scott Forsgren has disclosed relationships with FREmedica / WeAreNIKKI as an advisor, Ravel Health as an ambassador and investor, Prodrome as an affiliate, and advertising relationships through BetterHealthGuy. These relationships are disclosed for transparency.

Medical Disclaimer

This episode is for educational and informational purposes only. It is not medical advice. Always consult with a qualified healthcare provider before making changes to your health protocol or your child’s protocol. This discussion includes personal experiences, prescription and off-label references, emerging regenerative approaches, and category-level discussion of peptides and peptide bioregulators. It is not a recommendation or individualized treatment plan.

Why can some peptides work orally while others struggle to survive the gut?

In this episode of Biohacking Autism, Nadia Elkhatib talks with Kyal Van Der Leest, CEO, founder, and formulator of LVLUP Health, about autism gut health, peptide signaling, inflammation, oral bioavailability, and what formulation changes when peptides have to travel through the digestive system.

Kyal starts with one of the clearest explanations of peptides we have heard on the podcast:

“Amino acids are letters, peptides are words, and proteins are sentences.”

From there, Nadia and Kyal explore why the size and structure of a peptide matter, what happens when peptides encounter stomach acid and digestive enzymes, and why delivery technologies such as delayed-release capsules may affect whether a compound survives long enough to act.

They also go deeper into the gut barrier, tight junctions, histamine, inflammation, and the gut-brain connection. Kyal explains how he thinks about combining different compounds within a formulation, why some effects may remain local to the gut while others may be systemic, and how his approach to formulation has evolved as manufacturing and testing technology have improved.

The conversation also explores Kyal’s personal experience with peptides, his family’s experience with brain health, Nadia’s experience navigating complex health issues with her son Jimmy, and the larger question at the center of Biohacking Autism: how do we better understand what is happening biologically beneath symptoms and behaviors?

IN THIS EPISODE

• What peptides are and how they signal in the body

• Why some peptides are more difficult to deliver orally

• Oral peptide bioavailability and absorption

• The gut barrier, tight junctions, and intestinal permeability

• Histamine, inflammation, and gut-brain signaling

• Oral versus injectable peptide delivery

• Why different peptides may be combined in a formulation

• Peptides and brain health

• Glutathione, neuroinflammation, and cognition

• Formulation, manufacturing, and quality control

• Why the sequence of interventions can matter in complex chronic health issues

CONNECT WITH KYAL VAN DER LEEST

Kyal Van Der Leest is the CEO, founder, and formulator of LVLUP Health.

LVLUP Health:

https://leveluphealth.com

Kyal has a financial interest in LVLUP Health and in products discussed during this conversation.

MEDICAL DISCLAIMER

This episode is for educational and informational purposes only. It is not medical advice. Always consult with a qualified healthcare provider before making changes to your health protocol or your child’s protocol.

Several compounds discussed in this episode are investigational or are not FDA-approved for the uses discussed. Biohacking Autism does not provide individualized treatment protocols, dosing instructions, or sourcing guidance for regulated compounds.

Autism gut issues, the gut-brain axis, and bioregulators come together in this conversation with Dr. Grace Liu, PharmD. Grace explains why she approaches the gut and the brain as one interconnected system rather than working through them in sequence, what peptide bioregulators are and how they differ from signaling peptides, what the research actually shows, and why highly reactive children need a very different clinical lens.

For most families the starting point is not theory. It is constipation, diarrhea, extreme food selectivity, and the behavior changes that seem to track alongside them. Grace talks through the microbiome picture underneath those symptoms, why some children react to almost everything including their own probiotics, and what she watches for when nothing is tolerated.

She is also direct about the limits of the evidence. Much of the bioregulator literature sits outside peer-reviewed Western research, and she says so plainly rather than overselling it. The conversation closes on caregiver health, and why the twenty and thirty year horizon for parents belongs in the same roadmap as their kids.

IN THIS EPISODE

Why Grace approaches the gut and the brain as one system

What separates a bioregulator from a signaling peptide

What the research base actually looks like, and where it thins out

Why reactive children need a different clinical lens

Why caregiver longevity belongs in the same conversation

"They have to be healed in parallel." Dr. Grace Liu, PharmD

CONNECT WITH DR. GRACE LIU

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/gut_goddess/

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@drgraceliu

CONNECT WITH BIOHACKING AUTISM

Website: https://biohackautism.com

Instagram: @biohackautism

TikTok: @biohackingautism

YouTube: @BiohackingAutism

LinkedIn: /in/nadiaelkhatib

SUBSCRIBE

Subscribe to Biohacking Autism for real solutions for people with autism and the ones who love them.

PRODUCTS AND RESOURCES MENTIONED

DISCLOSURE: Dr. Grace Liu is the founder of The Gut Institute and formulates and sells microbiome products discussed in this episode.

The Gut Institute. Dr. Liu's clinical practice and clinician education platform, referenced throughout the conversation.

Microbiome Mojo and Bifida Max. The probiotic formulations Dr. Liu developed and discusses on air.

7 Steps to Heal SIBO. Dr. Liu's book on small intestinal bacterial overgrowth.

The published work of Professor Vladimir Khavinson. The peptide bioregulator research Dr. Liu trained under, and the origin of the cytamin, cytomax, and cytogen classification discussed in the episode.

Partty A, Kalliomaki M, Wacklin P, Salminen S, Isolauri E. "A possible link between early probiotic intervention and the risk of neuropsychiatric disorders later in childhood: a randomized trial." Pediatric Research, 2015. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25760553/

The study referenced on air. Worth opening rather than taking secondhand: it is a 75-infant pilot, which is useful context for how the finding lands in the conversation.

The Profound Health Summit. The October peptide and bioregulator meeting Dr. Liu mentions she is speaking at.

MORE FROM BIOHACKING AUTISM

Episode 26 with Dr. Debby Hamilton on mast cell activation and MCAS

Episode 16 with Dr. Krishna Doniparthi on the cell membrane

Episode 2 on peptides and bioregulators

ABOUT DR. GRACE LIU

Dr. Grace Liu, PharmD is a clinical pharmacist with a doctorate in pharmacy and more than twenty years in practice. She is trained through A4M and IFM in regenerative and functional medicine, and she is the founder of The Gut Institute. Her work focuses on rebuilding the microbiome after the damage modern living does to it, using nutrigenomic tools, advanced testing, and peptides and bioregulators to address gut dysbiosis and chronic illness. She completed peptide and bioregulator training with Professor Vladimir Khavinson, is adjunct faculty at Peptide University and HealthMasters, and is the best-selling author of 7 Steps to Heal SIBO. She works with executive clients and elite athletes on lifespan, energy, and endurance, and she formulates her own products, including Microbiome Mojo and Bifida Max.

MEDICAL DISCLAIMER

This episode is for educational and informational purposes only. It is not medical advice. Always consult with a qualified healthcare provider before making changes to your health protocol or your child's protocol. Bioregulators, peptides, and the compounds discussed in this episode are not approved by the FDA for any use in the United States and carry no pediatric labeling. This conversation does not provide sourcing, dosing, or individualized recommendations, and nothing in it should be used as a plan for a specific child.

Biohacking Autism with Nadia Elkhatib explores integrative and functional approaches to autism gut issues, the gut-brain axis, the microbiome, leaky gut, food sensitivities, and caregiver health, for people with autism and the ones who love them.

Autism blood work rarely comes first. In this solo episode Nadia Elkhatib

explains why she now starts with baseline biology before choosing the next

specialty treatment for her son Jimmy.

For twenty years she worked on Lyme, mold, gut, mast cells and detoxification,

and that work helped. What she skipped was the foundation underneath it:

thyroid function, sex hormones, insulin and metabolic health, the lipid panel,

and nervous system regulation.

Nadia walks through the difference between a laboratory reference range and

the working targets her practitioners use, how a specialist's lens shapes the

direction a family takes, and why anxiety, poor sleep, low motivation or

withdrawal deserve a whole-body review rather than being filed under autism.

She shares her own family's numbers, including the years when Jimmy's fasting

glucose and insulin were drifting while his diet was already completely sugar

free, and what changed once they measured instead of assumed.

In this episode:

Why normal is not the same as optimal

How a specialist's lens shapes what gets treated first

Why thyroid problems can look like behavior

Why fasting glucose alone can miss the metabolic story

Why caregiver health belongs in the same roadmap

"The specialist cannot decide the entire order for us. That is our job as

parents."

NOTES ON WHAT YOU WILL HEAR IN THIS EPISODE

Jimmy's history includes IVIG. That is one family's experience under medical

care. IVIG has no FDA-approved indication for autism.

Nadia describes tirzepatide being started with Jimmy's clinical team for a

metabolic problem they had measured, and a HOMA-IR that moved from 3.34 to

1.56. Tirzepatide is approved for type 2 diabetes and for chronic weight

management in qualifying adults. It is not approved for autism. This is one

family's experience under clinical supervision. No doses and no sources are

given anywhere in this episode.

The optimal ranges Nadia refers to are the working targets she uses with her

own practitioners. A HOMA-IR under 1 is her working target, not a laboratory

reference range and not a consensus clinical guideline. Working targets vary

by laboratory method, assay, age, treatment status and clinician.

Reverse T3 is a test many integrative and functional practitioners use, and

Dr. Amie Hornaman explains her reasoning in episode 25. Routine clinical

guidelines generally do not recommend it for standard thyroid evaluation.

Dr. Dayan Goodenowe is a guest on an upcoming episode of this podcast. He

researches plasmalogens and also sells plasmalogen products. This episode

discusses his published research only.

RELATED EPISODES

Episode 25 with Dr. Amie Hornaman, on thyroid:

Episode 24 with Carole Petersen, on sex hormones:

Episode 20, solo, on weight loss and metabolic health:

Episode 10, solo, on anxiety:

Episode 5, solo, on sleep:

Episode 2, solo, on peptides and bioregulators:

RESEARCH REFERENCED IN THIS EPISODE

Sex hormones and autism

Croonenberghs J, Van Grieken S, Wauters A, et al. Serum testosterone in male

adolescents with autism. Neuro Endocrinol Lett. 2010;31(4):483-488. PMID

20802443.

Thyroid and autism

Desoky T, Hassan MH, Fayed HM, Sakhr HM. Biochemical assessments of thyroid

profile, serum 25-hydroxycholecalciferol and cluster of differentiation 5

expression levels among children with autism. Neuropsychiatr Dis Treat.

2017;13:2397-2403. PMID 28979127.

Cohen DJ, Young JG, Lowe TL, Harcherik D. Thyroid hormone in children with

autism. J Autism Dev Disord. 1980;10(4):445-450. PMID 6927746. This older and

larger study found no group difference, and is included for balance.

Lipids and autism

Kim EK, Neggers YH, Shin CS, Kim E, Kim EM. Lipid profiles in boys with

autism. Nutr Res. 2010;30(4):255-260. PMID 20534328.

Plasmalogens, autism and Alzheimer's disease

Pastural E, Ritchie S, Lu Y, et al. Novel plasma phospholipid biomarkers of

autism: mitochondrial dysfunction as a putative causative mechanism.

Prostaglandins Leukot Essent Fatty Acids. 2009;81(4):253-264. PMID 19608392.

Goodenowe DB, Cook LL, Liu J, et al. Peripheral ethanolamine plasmalogen

deficiency: a logical causative factor in Alzheimer's disease and dementia. J

Lipid Res. 2007;48(11):2485-2498. PMID 17664527.

PEOPLE MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE

Hunter Williams

Dr. Amie Hornaman

Carole Petersen

Nathalie Niddam

Zora Benhamou

Dr. Dayan Goodenowe

Len Arcuri

CONNECT WITH BIOHACKING AUTISM

Website: biohackautism.com

Email: [email protected]

Instagram: @biohackautism

TikTok: @biohackingautism

YouTube: @BiohackingAutism

LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/nadiaelkhatib

SUBSCRIBE

If this episode helped you, please follow Biohacking Autism wherever you

listen, and share it with a parent, caregiver, adult with autism or

practitioner who might need to hear it. Sometimes one different question

changes the entire direction of a family's care.

ABOUT NADIA

Nadia Elkhatib is the host of Biohacking Autism. She is not a physician. She

is a mother who has spent more than twenty years learning from clinicians and

researchers, collecting data, changing direction, and working to understand

her son as a whole person.

DISCLAIMER

This episode describes one family's experience under clinical supervision and

names prescription and hormone-related products that are not approved for

autism. It is not medical advice and contains no doses, sources or treatment

instructions. Please discuss any testing or treatment with a qualified

clinician who knows the person's history.

Ryan Lundy was diagnosed with a nonverbal learning disability as a child and with autism at 40. In between, he got through school with a 504 plan, a resource teacher, a private tutor, and a lot of family support. Today he teaches physical education at a school for students with special needs, coaches adaptive tennis, and has just been accepted into the Autism Speaks Advocacy Academy.

He has sat on both sides of the desk. He was the student who needed the support, and he is now the educator providing it. There are not many people who can speak to both.

In this episode:

What NVLD actually is, and why the name confuses almost everyone who hears it

Why Ryan pursued an updated assessment at 40, and what the autism diagnosis clarified

What strong verbal ability concealed from his teachers and clinicians for decades

The supports that got him through school and college: PT, OT, speech, tutoring, a 504 plan, a resource teacher, and extra time

How a PE teacher figures out what a student who does not speak is telling him

What he wants families to do differently, and why starting early matters so much

How to evaluate an adaptive sports or recreation program, and what to watch for

Whether a job interview is really a social test, and how Ryan actually got hired

Disclosure at work, and what one manager did that made the difference

Living at home at 40, and the honest uncertainty about what comes next

Becoming an advocate, and learning how to sit down with lawmakers

"My parents are still concerned that when they're not here, what, how am I gonna survive?"

CONNECT WITH RYAN LUNDY

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryan-lundy/

Ryan is available for speaking engagements and is responsive on LinkedIn.

CONNECT WITH BIOHACKING AUTISM

Website: biohackautism.com

Email: [email protected]

Instagram: @biohackautism

TikTok: @biohackingautism

YouTube: @BiohackingAutism

LinkedIn: /in/nadiaelkhatib

SUBSCRIBE

New episodes every Monday. Subscribe wherever you are listening right now, and if this episode gave you something, send it to one person who needs it. A parent, a grandparent, a teacher, or an adult who has been wondering about themselves for a long time.

RESOURCES MENTIONED

The NVLD Project

https://nvld.org/

Awareness, research, and education on nonverbal learning disability, plus the ambassador program Ryan is part of.

Autism Speaks Advocacy Academy

https://www.autismspeaks.org/AdvocacyAcademy

The year-round volunteer training and leadership program Ryan was recently accepted into, built for people who want to do federal and state advocacy work.

Autism Speaks

https://www.autismspeaks.org/

Advocacy, resources, and support across the lifespan.

Els for Autism

https://www.elsforautism.org/

The Florida campus where Ryan works the camps and serves on an advisory board. Speech and occupational therapy, parent trainings, and resources for families who do not live nearby.

Love Serving Autism

https://loveservingautism.org/

Adaptive tennis, pickleball, and padel for people with autism, founded by speech-language pathologist Lisa Pugliese-LaCroix. Programs across multiple states.

Atlantis Academy

https://chancelight.com/locations/brands/atlantis-academy/

The South Florida school for students with special needs where Ryan teaches physical education.

ACEing Autism

https://aceingautism.org/

National tennis programming for children and adults with autism. Ryan found it through his own research.

Special Olympics

https://www.specialolympics.org/

Year-round sports training and competition. Ryan coached basketball, tennis, and track with them in Pennsylvania.

The Miracle League

https://www.miracleleague.com/

Baseball for children and adults with disabilities, built so that every player bats and every player scores.

TOPSoccer

https://www.usyouthsoccer.org/topsoccer/

Free, low-pressure community soccer through US Youth Soccer. Ryan takes clients to the program near where he lives.

TERI, Inc.

https://www.teriinc.org/

The California campus Ryan names as the one comparable facility he found when researching where families move for services.

RELATED EPISODE

Jobs for Adults With Autism: What This Investor and Father Learned in 15 Years, with Brian Jacobs

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/jobs-for-adults-with-autism-what-this-investor-and/id1882362264?i=1000774681949

Ryan pushes back on an idea from this conversation, that a job interview is really a social interview, and explains why it did not match his own experience.

MEDICAL DISCLAIMER

This episode is for educational and informational purposes only. It is not medical advice. Always consult with a qualified healthcare provider before making changes to your health protocol or your child's protocol. This conversation includes one guest's personal account of anxiety, depression, therapy, and medication. It is his experience alone and is not a recommendation, a diagnostic guide, or a prediction for anyone else.

ABOUT THE SHOW

Biohacking Autism with Nadia Elkhatib looks for real solutions for people with autism and the ones who love them. Each week Nadia talks with clinicians, researchers, educators, and adults with autism about integrative and functional approaches, adult outcomes, employment, and what actually helps families.

Mast cell activation syndrome, or MCAS, is being recognized in more and more people, and for families living with autism the pattern is often familiar before it has a name. When sleep falls apart, anxiety spikes, big emotions arrive out of nowhere, and foods, supplements, seasons, and smells all start to become triggers, most people have no language for what is happening. In this episode, Dr. Debby Hamilton builds that language from the ground up.

Dr. Hamilton explains what mast cells actually do, how MCAS differs from a classic allergy and from histamine intolerance (three terms people use interchangeably but should not), where it comes from, and what actually helps. She walks through the decision tree she uses when a child or an adult reacts to everything, and why she calms mast cells and histamine first, before pushing detox or stacking new protocols. She connects histamine and neuroinflammation to the anxiety and big emotions parents recognize fastest, reframing them as an inflamed nervous system rather than behavior.

We also talk about low-histamine foods and the DAO enzyme, why some supplements are tolerated while others are not, how MCAS can hide behind POTS, Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, and IBS, and one calm first step a family can take this week.

"If you're reacting to everything, you go back and you treat the MCAS first." Dr. Debby Hamilton

Connect with Dr. Debby Hamilton

Website: https://holisticpediatric.com

Email: [email protected]

Practice: Holistic Pediatric Consulting, founded in Colorado in 2005. Licensed in several states, in person in Colorado, and offering telemedicine.

Connect with Biohacking Autism

Website: https://biohackautism.com

Instagram: https://instagram.com/biohackautism

TikTok: https://tiktok.com/@biohackingautism

LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/nadiaelkhatib

Email: [email protected]

Subscribe to Biohacking Autism on YouTube, Spotify, and Apple Podcasts so you never miss an episode.

Products and Resources Mentioned

Nutra-Hist by NutraMedix: https://amzn.to/4yaFjpz

This is an affiliate link. Dr. Hamilton is an employee of NutraMedix, where she is Director of Product Education and Clinical Research, and she developed this formula.

Quercetin: https://amzn.to/4wHaLKx

Luteolin: https://amzn.to/4aI6HRB

Stinging nettle: https://amzn.to/4yh6RcJ

DAO enzyme supplement: https://amzn.to/4aN7C3j

Phosphatidylcholine: https://amzn.to/4yfWXrQ

Phosphatidylserine: https://amzn.to/4yeylzL

Black seed oil: https://amzn.to/4penLo4

Vitamin C: https://amzn.to/4vRLEEx

Air filter: https://amzn.to/4h133Gk

Fragrance-free laundry and soap: https://amzn.to/4f8eSb0

The Sensitive Patient's Healing Guide by Dr. Neil Nathan: https://amzn.to/3R0jfNz

As an Amazon Associate, Biohacking Autism earns from qualifying purchases.

About Dr. Debby Hamilton

Dr. Debby Hamilton, MD, MPH, IFMCP, is a pediatrician with twenty years in integrative medicine, certified in Pediatrics, Nutrition, and Functional Medicine, and a Fellow of the Medical Academy of Pediatric Special Needs. She founded Holistic Pediatric Consulting in Colorado in 2005, focusing on children and adults with chronic conditions including autism, ADHD, PANS and PANDAS, mood and behavioral issues, and chronic infections. She is an employee of NutraMedix, where she is Director of Product Education and Clinical Research.

This episode is for educational and informational purposes only. It is not medical advice. Always consult with a qualified healthcare provider before making changes to your health protocol or your child's protocol. This conversation discusses specific supplements and prescription medications, including regulated compounds. Nothing here is a recommendation to start, stop, or dose any product or medication. Please work with your own clinician before changing anything.

Biohacking Autism with Nadia Elkhatib explores integrative and functional approaches to mast cell activation syndrome, histamine, neuroinflammation, and immune health for autism families and caregivers. New episodes every Monday.

Hashimoto's symptoms get dismissed as "normal" every day, and women pay for it with years of fatigue, weight gain, brain fog, and hair loss. In this episode, Dr. Amie Hornaman, The Thyroid Fixer, explains why a "normal" TSH can hide real hypothyroidism, how the T4-to-T3 conversion breaks down, and why reverse T3 and low testosterone in women matter so much for metabolism, energy, and mood.

Nadia shares her own Hashimoto's turnaround under Dr. Amie's care, and the two of them dig into the caregiver stress that drives autoimmune thyroid disease for so many parents raising a child with autism. You will hear the exact labs to ask your doctor for, how to recognize medical gaslighting, and what optimal (not just "normal") really looks like on a lab report.

"Normal is a setting on your dryer. It should never be used to describe your health or your labs." (Dr. Amie Hornaman)

In this episode:

Why "normal" labs and optimal labs are not the same thing

The full thyroid panel to request: TSH, Free T4, Free T3, Reverse T3, TPO, and TgAb

How chronic caregiver stress becomes a trigger for Hashimoto's

Why T4-only medication leaves so many people still feeling unwell

Low testosterone in women, and what it does to metabolism and motivation

How to advocate for yourself when you are told you are "fine"

Connect with Dr. Amie Hornaman:

Website: https://dramie.com

Free thyroid lab quiz: https://dramie.com/labs

Book a free call (become a patient): https://health.dramie.com/book-a-call#col-yETGVfxLVV

Supplement store (Better Life Doctor): https://betterlifedoctor.com/

Connect with Biohacking Autism:

Website: https://biohackautism.com

Instagram: https://instagram.com/biohackautism

TikTok: https://tiktok.com/@biohackingautism

YouTube: https://youtube.com/@BiohackingAutism

LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/nadiaelkhatib

Email: [email protected]

Subscribe to Biohacking Autism on your favorite podcast app and on YouTube so you never miss an episode.

Products and Resources Mentioned:

The Thyroid Fix by Dr. Amie Hornaman (hardcover): https://amzn.to/3QWZBSE - Dr. Amie's no-nonsense guide to fixing fatigue, fogginess, and stubborn weight.

The Thyroid Fix (audiobook): https://amzn.to/4vmPrsC - Same guide in audio, with bonus material.

T2 (thyroid support supplement): https://amzn.to/44PDDnF or https://betterlifedoctor.com/ - The T2 supplement discussed on the episode.

The Thyroid Fixer Amazon storefront: https://amzn.to/4ybqJxN - Dr. Amie's full lineup in one place.

Better Life Doctor (supplement store): https://betterlifedoctor.com/ - Dr. Amie's supplement line.

Dr. Amie's website: https://dramie.com - Practice information, resources, and the free lab quiz.

Free thyroid lab quiz: https://dramie.com/labs - Find out which of your numbers to pay attention to.

About Dr. Amie Hornaman:

Dr. Amie Hornaman, known as The Thyroid Fixer, is the founder and CEO of the Better Thyroid and Hormone Institute, a telehealth practice serving all 50 states. She holds a doctorate in clinical nutrition and functional medicine and has more than 25 years in clinical practice. After being dismissed by multiple doctors before her own thyroid diagnosis, she rebuilt her career around helping women get the answers and the optimized care conventional medicine so often misses.

Medical Disclaimer:

This episode is for educational and informational purposes only. It is not medical advice. Always consult with a qualified healthcare provider before making changes to your health protocol or your child's protocol. Specific thyroid medications, hormones, and supplements discussed in this episode (including T2, T3, low-dose naltrexone, and other compounds) are mentioned for general educational context only and are not recommendations; dosing and lab targets are individual and must be managed with your own qualified practitioner.

Biohacking Autism with Nadia Elkhatib delivers real solutions for people with autism and the ones who love them, exploring the root causes of health and the integrative and functional approaches that help families and caregivers thrive.

Most people think they understand progesterone. Most people, it turns out, get it completely wrong. In this episode, compounding pharmacist Carol Petersen, RPh, CNP, joins Nadia to unpack what this one hormone actually does in the body, for women and for men, and why hormone balance sits underneath so much of what caregivers and their children struggle with every day.

Carol has spent more than thirty years on the question most of medicine skips past: what happens when our hormones fall out of balance, and what it actually takes to put them back. Together they walk through how progesterone calms an overstimulated nervous system through its metabolite allopregnanolone and the GABA receptor, the adrenaline-to-cortisol-to-burnout cycle that leaves caregivers wired and exhausted at the same time, and why "sensitive" people may be running low on the cortisol they need to meet their environment. They go deep on the women's side, estrogen dominance and its many signs, progesterone and sleep, and the perimenopause and menopause window when anxiety climbs at the worst possible time.

The conversation then turns to a part of the story Carol's own audience rarely hears laid out this way: progesterone in men. Men have progesterone too, and they need it. Carol explains the male nervous system, the androgen load, and the calm that men are often missing, and Nadia poses the question at the center of the episode: autism shows up far more often in boys and men than in girls and women, so does the wired, overstimulated, under-calmed picture rhyme with what so many caregivers see in their sons, and in themselves? This is not a claim that progesterone treats autism. It is a question worth asking.

"Estrogen can induce anxiety and progesterone will relieve it." - Carol Petersen, RPh, CNP

CONNECT WITH CAROL PETERSEN

Website: https://thewellnessbydesignproject.com/

Coaching: https://thewellnessbydesignproject.com/coaching/

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@thewellnessbydesignproject

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/carol-petersen-71514220/

CONNECT WITH BIOHACKING AUTISM

Website: https://biohackautism.com

Listen, follow, and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts, and on YouTube.

SUBSCRIBE

If this episode gave you a new way to look at hormones, calm, and caregiving, follow Biohacking Autism and share it with someone who needs it. New episodes every Monday.

PRODUCTS AND RESOURCES MENTIONED

Progesterone deficiency symptoms (Carol's reference list): https://thewellnessbydesignproject.com/2022/08/symptoms-of-progesterone-deficiency/ - the catalog of progesterone-deficiency symptoms Carol references in the episode.

Ray Peat's research archive: https://raypeat.com/ - foundational work on progesterone and hormones referenced in the conversation.

Pregnenolone (25 mg option): https://amzn.to/441xGnt - the precursor hormone discussed for calm and cognition.

Pregnenolone (100 mg option): https://amzn.to/4xXBT9f - higher-dose option of the same.

DHEA: https://amzn.to/4gMHNnx - adrenal hormone discussed in the hormone-balance picture.

Creatine: https://amzn.to/3Rg0965 - discussed for energy and cellular support.

Betaine: https://amzn.to/3QzK8aZ - methylation support discussed in the episode.

TMG (trimethylglycine): https://amzn.to/4bhvYSI - methyl-donor support.

NAC: https://amzn.to/4y43F4i - discussed for glutathione and detoxification support.

Calcium d-glucarate: https://amzn.to/4p08bwz - discussed for estrogen clearance and detoxification.

Sulforaphane: https://amzn.to/4oZCiEc - discussed in the detoxification context.

SAMe: https://amzn.to/4gkXmTv - methylation and mood support discussed on-mic.

ABOUT CAROL PETERSEN

Carol Petersen, RPh, CNP, is a compounding pharmacist and certified nutritional practitioner with more than thirty years of experience in hormone health. Her work centers on restoring hormone balance, with particular attention to progesterone, the nervous system, and the questions conventional medicine tends to skip. She writes and educates through The Wellness By Design Project and works directly with families on hormone and nervous-system support.

MEDICAL DISCLAIMER

This episode is for educational and informational purposes only. It is not medical advice. Always consult with a qualified healthcare provider before making changes to your health protocol or your child's protocol. This conversation discusses hormones, including progesterone, pregnenolone, and DHEA, as well as prescription and compounded compounds and specific dosages named on-mic. Nothing here is a recommendation to start, stop, or change any hormone, supplement, or medication. Carol Petersen holds professional affiliate relationships with certain brands she may name, and runs a paid consulting and lab-ordering practice.

ABOUT THE SHOW

Biohacking Autism with Nadia Elkhatib explores integrative health, hormone balance, nervous-system regulation, and real solutions for people with autism and the caregivers who love them. New episodes every Monday.

What is Silicon Valley actually funding in longevity, and what can cutting-edge aging science teach us about autism and chronic illness? Nadia sits down with Dr. Ronjon Nag, OBE, an AI pioneer turned Stanford genetics professor and longevity investor behind the R42 fund. Ronjon built some of the earliest neural networks that modern AI rests on, shipped voice recognition and the first mobile app store, sold companies to Apple, Motorola, and BlackBerry, and then pointed everything he knew at one of the biggest problems there is: aging.

The conversation is a tour of the frontier. Ronjon explains his vaccine for aging and why he starts with cancer as the proof of concept, what AI now makes possible in drug discovery and clinical research, how he invests across roughly 100 companies through R42, and how epigenetic reprogramming can take a cell back toward age zero. They get into the GLP-1 conversation, NeuroAge and cognitive testing, why menopause and women's health are an obvious next frontier, and the lifestyle medicine pillars he personally lives by. The throughline for this audience: what we learn chasing longevity extends straight into autism, Alzheimer's, and chronic disease. Every healthy year is another year of capacity to care for the person who needs you. Healthspan, not just lifespan.

"Every healthy year is another year of capacity to care for the person who needs you." - Nadia Elkhatib

CONNECT WITH DR. RONJON NAG

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ronjonnag/

R42 Group (portfolio): https://www.r42group.com/

R42 Institute: https://www.r42institute.com/

R42 Institute AI Fellows Program: https://www.r42institute.com/r42-institute-ai-fellows-program

R42 Founders Program: https://www.r42institute.com/r42-founders-program

R42 Longevity Series: https://www.r42institute.com/longevity-series

R42 University (Luma): https://luma.com/r42university

Stanford courses (ExploreCourses): https://explorecourses.stanford.edu/instructor/ronjon

Stanford AI Longevity Lab Certificate Course: https://med.stanford.edu/genetics/events/Stanford_AI_Longevity_Lab_Certificate_Course1.html

Stanford Medicine profile: https://med.stanford.edu/profiles/ronjon-nag

Stanford DCI profile: https://dci.stanford.edu/ronjon-nag_impact-in-classroom/

Agemica: https://www.agemica.com/

CONNECT WITH BIOHACKING AUTISM

Website: https://biohackautism.com

Instagram: @biohackautism

TikTok: @biohackingautism

YouTube: @BiohackingAutism

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nadiaelkhatib

Email: [email protected]

SUBSCRIBE

If this conversation shifted how you think about your own healthspan, follow Biohacking Autism wherever you are listening, and pass this episode along to another parent or caregiver who needs to hear that taking care of themselves is not selfish. It is how you stay in the game for the person who is counting on you.

PRODUCTS AND RESOURCES MENTIONED

Magnesium: https://amzn.to/3SrNqh5

Glycine: https://amzn.to/4wbIdZ5

Zinc: https://amzn.to/4wivi7P

Low dose naltrexone (LDN): https://agelessrx.com/ldn-science/

Fish oil: https://amzn.to/4eOhtqr

Creatine: https://amzn.to/4vnPXXr

Vitamin C: https://amzn.to/4w8LHvm

Copper: https://amzn.to/4vIgxeE

Vitamin D: https://amzn.to/4xWUAdm

Thymus bioregulator (Vladonix): https://vita-stream.com/a-6-vladonix-peptide-bioregulator-vladonix/

Pivot (GLP-1 food): https://getpivot.com

Mimeo Health (intermittent fasting mimic): https://mimeo.health

NeuroAge (cognitive testing): https://www.neuroagetx.com/

ABOUT THE GUEST

Dr. Ronjon Nag, OBE, is an adjunct professor of genetics at Stanford, a longevity investor, and an inventor. He built some of the earliest neural networks behind modern AI, founded companies acquired by Apple, Motorola, and BlackBerry, appeared on the cover of Fortune in 1993, and is a member of the Silicon Valley Engineering Hall of Fame. He was named an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) for his contributions to entrepreneurship and AI. Through the R42 fund and the R42 Institute, he invests in and teaches the science of aging.

MEDICAL DISCLAIMER

This podcast is for educational and informational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. The content reflects the personal views and experiences of the host and guest and should not be taken as medical guidance. Always consult a qualified healthcare provider before making any changes to your health regimen. This episode discusses specific compounds and protocols, including GLP-1, glycine, magnesium, zinc, low dose naltrexone, fish oil, creatine, peptides, and bioregulators. These are discussed for educational purposes only and are not recommendations. Always consult your clinician before changing any protocol.

Autism employment is one of the biggest questions parents carry: what happens when my child grows up, and will they find real work and purpose? In this episode on jobs for adults with autism, venture capitalist and autism dad Brian Jacobs shares what 15 years of investing in autism employment and raising a son on the spectrum taught him about preparing your child with autism for adulthood.

We get into why there is no single fix, why the job interview is an unfair social test for many on the spectrum, the small workplace accommodations that make the biggest difference, how AI could close the gap for adults with autism, and what meaningful work looks like for nonverbal and low-verbal young adults. It is a hopeful, practical conversation for any parent thinking about their child's working future.

"The parents are the soldiers in the war. They are out there talking about it and making it okay to talk about employment for people on the spectrum." - Brian Jacobs

Connect with Brian Jacobs:

Moai Capital: https://www.moai.vc/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brianjacobsvc/

Autism Impact Fund: https://autismimpact.fund/

AASCEND: https://www.aascend.org/

AASCEND Job Club: https://www.aascendjobclub.org/

Stanford Graduate School of Business faculty page: https://www.gsb.stanford.edu/faculty-research/faculty/brian-jacobs

Connect with Biohacking Autism:

Website: https://biohackautism.com

Email: [email protected]

Instagram: @biohackautism

TikTok: @biohackingautism

YouTube: @BiohackingAutism

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nadiaelkhatib

Subscribe to Biohacking Autism wherever you listen, and on YouTube, so you never miss a weekly episode.

Companies and organizations mentioned:

Ultranauts: https://ultranauts.co/

Daivergent: https://www.daivergent.com/

Auticon: https://auticon.com/

About Brian Jacobs:

Brian Jacobs is a co-founder of Emergence Capital and the founder and Managing Partner of Moai Capital, a seed fund based in San Mateo. Over a career investing in technology startups, he has served on the boards of more than fifty companies, twelve of which have gone public, and he was twice named to the Forbes Midas List of top venture investors. He teaches venture capital financing at the Stanford Graduate School of Business and holds degrees in mechanical engineering from MIT and an MBA from Stanford. Through Moai Capital, Brian invests in companies expanding employment for adults on the spectrum, including Ultranauts, Daivergent, and Auticon, and he is a founding Limited Partner of the Autism Impact Fund. He also serves on the board of AASCEND, the Autism Aspergers Spectrum Coalition for Education, Networking and Development. He is the father of an adult son on the spectrum who works today as a software engineer.

Medical disclaimer:

This podcast is for informational and educational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition. Never disregard professional medical advice or delay seeking it because of something you have heard on this podcast.