Tommy and I recorded this interview in person at the Buck Institute for Research on Aging where we were attending Dr. Dale Bredesen’s training for reversing cognitive decline. If you’ve yet to discover Dr. Bredesen’s amazing work, I’d highly recommend his STEM-Talk interview. My attempt to capture the impressiveness of the Buck Institute leaves a lot to be desired, but since I promised a photo during the recording, here it is:

We love our supplements at Nourish Balance Thrive, and we regularly recommend them to the people we work with, usually when indicated by a test result. What we’re less keen on is expensive nonsense with no human data or even plausible mechanism of action. Oxaloacetate falls into this category, and in this interview, you'll learn enough biochemistry to understand why you should save your money. As always, we reserve the right to be proven wrong!

In the second part of this interview, you'll learn about why it's essential to eat to fuel for your activity. We're huge fans of a ketogenic diet for a handful of very specific applications, but not as a general recommendation, especially for athletes engaging in highly glycolytic activities like Crossfit and obstacle course racing.

Here’s the outline of this interview with Dr. Tommy Wood, MD PhDc:

[00:00:26] Buck Institute for Research on Aging.

[00:00:43] Bredesen, Dale E., et al. "Reversal of cognitive decline in Alzheimer's disease." Aging (Albany NY) 8.6 (2016): 1250.

[00:00:59] Journal of Neuroscience.

[00:02:00] Hippocampal volume increasing.

[00:02:26] Blood chem, genotyping, biotoxins, heavy metals.

[00:02:32] ReCode software.

[00:03:17] Send me your questions for Dr. Bredesen.

[00:03:41] Oxaloacetate supplementation.

[00:04:01] How to Achieve Near-Normal Blood Sugar with Type 1 Diabetes with Dr. Keith Runyan, MD.

[00:05:18] Caloric restriction in humans.

[00:05:23] CALERIE trial.

[00:06:08] Calorie restriction falters in the long run.

[00:07:01] The benefit comes on the refeed.

[00:07:14] Valter Longo, Ph.D. on Fasting-Mimicking Diet & Fasting for Longevity, Cancer & Multiple Sclerosis.

[00:07:41] Getting Stronger with Todd Becker.

[00:08:18] C. elegans.

[00:08:47] Malate-aspartate shuttle.

[00:09:20] NAD+/NADH ratio.

[00:09:32] AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) and Sirtuin 1 (SIRT1).

[00:09:45] FOXO3.

[00:10:01] Nicotinamide riboside (NR).

[00:10:19] Strong, Randy, et al. "Evaluation of resveratrol, green tea extract, curcumin, oxaloacetic acid, and medium-chain triglyceride oil on life span of genetically heterogeneous mice." The Journals of Gerontology Series A: Biological Sciences and Medical Sciences 68.1 (2013): 6-16.

[00:11:14] Toxic effects of glutamate.

[00:11:48] Excitotoxicity.

[00:12:30] Aspartate transaminase (AST) on a blood chem.

[00:13:37] The OAA supplements include a meaningless dose anyway.

[00:14:17] Anaplerotic reactions.

[00:15:27] Pyruvate dehydrogenase and biotin (B7) deficiency.

[00:16:54] Context for a ketogenic diet.

[00:18:06] Glycolytic activity.

[00:19:20] Fasting blood glucose.

[00:19:36] Alkaline phosphatase (Alk Phos).

[00:20:01] Zinc deficiency.

[00:21:26] Thyroid.

[00:22:02] Deiodinase enzymes.

[00:24:11] Lipids.

[00:24:39] LDL receptor.

[00:25:29] Red blood cell production

[00:25:51] Mean corpuscular volume (MCV).

[00:26:33] Macrocytosis due to folate deficiency.

[00:29:24] Masharani, U., et al. "Metabolic and physiologic effects from consuming a hunter-gatherer (Paleolithic)-type diet in type 2 diabetes." European journal of clinical nutrition 69.8 (2015): 944-948.

[00:31:07] Ketosis makes you sharp so you can go get some food.

[00:31:46] A New Hope for Brain Tumors with Dr. Adrienne Scheck.

[00:31:59] Dominic D'Agostino: Researcher and Athlete on the Benefits of a Ketogenic Diet.

[00:32:08] A ketogenic diet shows some promise for Multiple Sclerosis and Alzheimer’s.

[00:32:33] Light dark cycles.

[00:33:18] Breast feeding and carbs.

[00:33:45] Thompson, Betty J., and Stuart Smith. "Biosynthesis of fatty acids by lactating human breast epithelial cells: an evaluation of the contribution to the overall composition of human milk fat." Pediatr Res 19.1 (1985): 139-143.

[00:34:05] Babies are in ketosis.

[00:34:32] Medium-chain triglyceride.

[00:35:07] Read, W. W. C., PHYLLIS G. LUTZ, and ANAHID TASHJIAN. "Human Milk Lipids II. The influence of dietary carbohydrates and fat on the fatty acids of mature milk. A study in four ethnic groups." The American journal of clinical nutrition 17.3 (1965): 180-183.

[00:35:21] Keto rat experiment.