What if the key to solving addiction, chronic disease, and aging wasn't another pill—but understanding the 37 trillion powerhouses inside your body? This episode Sean Fetcho CEO & Co-Founder, Versea Health unpacks: • What mitochondria actually are—and why they're the root of nearly every chronic disease • How 37 trillion mitochondria power your body—and why most people have no idea how theirs are functioning • Why every non-communicable disease—cancer, diabetes, heart disease, neurodegeneration, inflammation, fertility issues—has ties to mitochondrial dysfunction • The breakthrough: how MitoScreen simplified mitochondrial testing from invasive muscle biopsies costing thousands of dollars to a simple finger-prick blood test anyone can do at home • Why professional athletes and bodybuilders often score poorly on mitochondrial health—despite looking physically fit • The fight-or-flight balance: why rest is just as important as activity for mitochondrial resilience • How stress, anxiety, and depression directly impact cellular health—and why mental health is inseparable from physical health • Why intermittent fasting works for some people and not others—and how personalized data reveals what actually works for YOUR body • The 80-20 rule: why balance matters more than perfection, and why partying occasionally won't destroy your health • The brutal truth about alcohol: it's poison, but so is drinking six Pepsis a day—context and moderation matter • Why the opioid epidemic killed 80-100,000 Americans annually—and how it's now shifted to fentanyl smuggled through China, Canada, and Mexico • Sean's firsthand experience losing friends, colleagues, and mentors to prescription drug abuse and opioid addiction • How Purdue Pharma and the Sackler family created a mass addiction crisis—and why doctors weren't educated on proper titration • Why mixing prescription meds (Xanax, Adderall, Ambien) with alcohol is deadly—and how it's killing people in their 30s and 40s • The power of plant medicine: ayahuasca, ibogaine, psilocybin, and how they're being studied for PTSD, depression, and addiction recovery • Why meditation, breathwork, massage, and sound baths should be tried before reaching for a pill • How Joe Dispenza's research (9,000+ subjects) is proving meditation creates measurable physiological changes at the cellular level • The future of healthcare: proactive, preventative, and personalized—not reactive, symptom-based, and standardized • Why governments and nonprofits need to fund preventative testing instead of waiting until people are sick • How the VA (Veterans Association) should be the first to adopt mitochondrial testing for Gulf War Syndrome and long COVID • Why small populations like the Caribbean (270,000 in Barbados) are ideal testing grounds for government-backed wellness programs • The 3P model: proactive, preventative, and precision medicine—and why personalized care is the only path forward • How Hamilton Souther became the world's leading ayahuasca shaman after drinking it 720 days straight to decode the safest protocols • Why MitoScreen is running studies on ayahuasca and ibogaine to measure what's happening at the cellular level during plant medicine retreats • The truth about supplements: taking 60 pills a day might be overstressing your mitochondria—not optimizing it • Why younger generations are drinking less alcohol and turning to mushrooms, edibles, and plant medicine instead • How travel, stress, and building a business tax the body—and why even founders need to measure their cellular health • Why blood work, gut health, hormones, and mitochondrial testing together create a complete picture of health—not just one data point • The bullshit detector: how mitochondrial testing reveals whether your diet, fasting, supplements, NAD, or biohacking protocols are actually working His philosophy is clear: "We're all different. Your 37 trillion mitochondria operate differently than mine. Why not assess the individual and let them trial and error what works—instead of following blanket protocols that don't apply to everyone?" From working with Dr. Patel (molecular biologist at UC San Diego and lead researcher for Joe Dispenza), to building the first mitochondrial health lab in the United States, to making testing accessible through a simple finger-prick blood card—Sean is building the infrastructure for a future where health is personalized, preventative, and precise. If you care about mitochondrial health, personalized medicine, addiction recovery, plant medicine research, or the future of preventative care, this conversation is essential.
