The College of Glycation with Dr. Paul Reynolds

Paul Reynolds
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The College of Glycation with Dr. Paul Reynolds explores how sugar impacts aging, health, and disease. Join Dr. Reynolds as he unpacks the science of glycation and AGEs through expert interviews, myth-busting insights, and practical takeaways. Whether you're a health professional or simply curious, this podcast brings clarity to the sticky world of sugar metabolism. New episodes weekly.

  1. 4d ago

    Are we eating too much protein?

    Are we eating too much protein? In this episode of the College of Glycation, biomedical scientist and Professor of Cell Biology Paul Reynolds argues that both camps can be right, because they are describing different people. In midlife, higher protein raises growth signaling through mTOR and IGF-1, and one widely cited cohort found higher mortality before 65 — then the association flipped after 65. Older muscle is anabolically resistant: the same amino-acid dose that builds young muscle can do nothing in a seventy-year-old unless leucine is high enough in a single sitting. Muscle is also the body’s largest glucose sink, so losing it raises the glycation burden. Trial data do not show that higher protein damages healthy kidneys; already-reduced filtration is a separate clinical problem. The glycation question is less “how many grams” than “how was it cooked.” Dry heat can raise dietary AGEs 10- to 100-fold, and browned animal protein is the largest dietary AGE source in a typical diet. Moist heat, lower temperature, shorter time, and acid marinades cut that load. Higher protein can also lower HbA1c by improving the glucose environment. Net effect depends on age, protein per meal, what the protein displaced, and whether it was braised or seared. Paul’s favorite yerba mate: https://unicity.link/121f260bfe Yerba mate with a special formulated Balance fiber: https://ufeelgreat.com/c/PaulReynolds For the full Metabolic System storefront: https://shop.unicity.com/paulreynolds Paul’s favorite source for clean, earth-sourced essentials such as salt, electrolytes, hydration, pre-workout and more. Go to https://redmond.life and use PAULSALT for 15% discount. Paul’s favorite exogenous ketones: A high-quality option is the NSF-certified goBHB from Clean Form Nutrition, where you can use the code Paul10 for a 10% discount: https://cleanformnutrition.com/products/go-bhb Paul’s favorite health check-up for men or women: https://blokes.co/DRPAUL (discount: DRPAUL for 50% off of labs and smart supplements and 15% off all other products)

    Are we eating too much protein?

  2. Sep 23

    Natural GLP-1

    Food can raise your own GLP-1. It cannot copy Ozempic. In this episode of the College of Glycation, biomedical scientist and Professor of Cell Biology Paul Reynolds tests the “Nature’s Ozempic” claim against the actual physiology. Native GLP-1 is a brief meal-timing signal: Deacon and colleagues showed in 1995 that DPP-4 degrades the intact peptide within minutes, which is why weekly agonists are engineered to last about a week. A food-induced rise lasts through the postprandial window at a fraction of those concentrations. No seed, tea, or capsule closes that gap. What those tools can do is flatten the glucose curve — and that is the part that matters for glycation. Viscous fiber can delay gastric emptying and cut the post-meal glucose and insulin rise even when GLP-1 itself does not move. Eating protein before starch changes the same meal’s curve and does raise GLP-1. Fermentable fiber, bitter compounds such as berberine, and olive oil work through slower or separate receptors. Repeated sharp excursions leave a record in long-lived proteins; a flatter curve means less Amadori product and less AGE burden in tissues you cannot replace. Use the tools. Do not sell them as a natural version of the drug.Paul’s favorite yerba mate: https://unicity.link/121f260bfe Yerba mate with a special formulated Balance fiber: https://ufeelgreat.com/c/PaulReynolds For the full Metabolic System storefront: https://shop.unicity.com/paulreynolds Paul’s favorite source for clean, earth-sourced essentials such as salt, electrolytes, hydration, pre-workout and more. Go to https://redmond.life and use PAULSALT for 15% discount. Paul’s favorite exogenous ketones: A high-quality option is the NSF-certified goBHB from Clean Form Nutrition, where you can use the code Paul10 for a 10% discount: https://cleanformnutrition.com/products/go-bhb Paul’s favorite health check-up for men or women: https://blokes.co/DRPAUL (discount: DRPAUL for 50% off of labs and smart supplements and 15% off all other products)

    Natural GLP-1

  3. Sep 16

    Muscle Loss/Retention & GLP-1s

    In this episode of the College of Glycation, Professor Paul Reynolds addresses the most frequent question surrounding GLP-1 medications: what happens to muscle during rapid weight loss, and why it matters for glycation. Skeletal muscle disposes of roughly 80 % of insulin-stimulated glucose. When a substantial portion of weight lost is lean tissue (often 25–40 % of total loss), the body’s primary glucose-clearance capacity shrinks. Post-meal glucose rises higher and stays elevated longer, increasing the formation of advanced glycation end-products. Those same AGEs accumulate on the long-lived collagen scaffold inside muscle, stiffening the matrix and impairing the satellite cells that rebuild tissue—creating a slow, self-reinforcing loop of less muscle, poorer glucose control, more glycation, and harder recovery. The risk is not uniform. Some lean-mass reduction is physiological, and fat-free mass is not pure muscle, yet the speed and magnitude of loss on these drugs can be consequential for older adults and women with lower starting muscle. Practical protection is straightforward: prioritize protein (1.2–1.6 g per kg body weight), perform progressive resistance training, track body composition rather than scale weight alone, and titrate the dose so that eating and training remain possible. Emerging agents such as bimagrumab show the muscle-loss problem is solvable. These medications remain the most effective weight-loss tools available; the long-term metabolic outcome depends on whether the muscle is protected on the way down. Paul’s favorite yerba mate: https://unicity.link/121f260bfe Yerbe mate with a special formulated Balance fiber: https://ufeelgreat.com/c/PaulReynolds Full Metabolic System storefront: https://shop.unicity.com/paulreynolds Paul’s favorite source for clean, earth-sourced essentials such as salt, electrolytes, hydration, pre-workout and more. Go to https://redmond.life and use PAULSALT for 15% discount. Paul’s favorite exogenous ketones: A high-quality option is the NSF-certified goBHB from Clean Form Nutrition, where you can use the code Paul10 for a 10% discount: https://cleanformnutrition.com/products/go-bhb Paul’s favorite allulose source: https://rxsugar.com (discount: PAUL20) Paul’s favorite health check-up for men or women: https://blokes.co/DRPAUL (discount: DRPAUL for 50% off of labs and smart supplements and 15% off all other products)

    Muscle Loss/Retention & GLP-1s

  4. Sep 9

    Glycation and Kidney Health

    In this episode of the College of Glycation, Professor Paul Reynolds explains why the kidney is uniquely vulnerable to glycation and why the damage is so often silent until advanced. The organ filters roughly one-fifth of the heart’s output and is also the main site that clears circulating advanced glycation end-products. When function declines, AGE free adducts and their dicarbonyl precursors rise sharply, driving further injury in a self-reinforcing loop. AGEs damage the kidney through RAGE-mediated inflammation and oxidative stress, chemical cross-linking that thickens the glomerular basement membrane, and irreversible injury to podocytes that produces proteinuria and progressive fibrosis. Circulating AGEs also act as uremic toxins that help explain the high cardiovascular mortality of advanced kidney disease. Human data show that higher AGE levels predict faster loss of kidney function and greater mortality beyond standard clinical markers. Practical levers are immediately available: shift from high-dry-heat cooking (grilling, frying, roasting) to moist methods (steaming, poaching, stewing) to lower dietary AGE intake, control blood glucose to reduce endogenous formation, and support endothelial and antioxidant defenses through regular activity and whole-food nutrition. Experimental approaches such as AGE cross-link breakers and RAGE blockade remain preclinical, so the near-term gains remain the ones under personal control. Protecting the filter is largely the same work as lowering the overall glycation burden. Paul’s favorite yerba mate: https://unicity.link/121f260bfe Yerbe mate with a special formulated Balance fiber: https://ufeelgreat.com/c/PaulReynolds Full Metabolic System storefront: https://shop.unicity.com/paulreynolds Paul’s favorite source for clean, earth-sourced essentials such as salt, electrolytes, hydration, pre-workout and more. Go to https://redmond.life and use PAULSALT for 15% discount. Paul’s favorite exogenous ketones: A high-quality option is the NSF-certified goBHB from Clean Form Nutrition, where you can use the code Paul10 for a 10% discount: https://cleanformnutrition.com/products/go-bhb Paul’s favorite health check-up for men or women: https://blokes.co/DRPAUL (discount: DRPAUL for 50% off of labs and smart supplements and 15% off all other products)

    Glycation and Kidney Health

  5. Sep 2

    Glycation and Autoimmune Disorders

    In this episode of the College of Glycation, Professor Paul Reynolds examines how glycation helps drive autoimmune disease. Advanced glycation end-products bind the multi-ligand receptor RAGE, activating NF-κB and creating a self-amplifying inflammatory loop that recruits more immune cells. Elevated AGEs and reduced protective soluble RAGE appear consistently in rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, and related conditions. In type 1 diabetes, RAGE is expressed on both the attacking immune cells and the targeted beta cells, promoting aggressive responses while suppressing regulatory ones. Glycation also contributes to loss of self-tolerance by chemically modifying protein and DNA epitopes so that self-molecules no longer look like self. In multiple sclerosis lesions, methylglyoxal-derived AGEs accumulate in astrocytes while RAGE appears on nearby immune cells, feeding local neuroinflammation. Dietary AGEs from high-heat cooking further raise the inflammatory burden and lower soluble RAGE. Practical levers include reducing dietary AGE load through gentler cooking methods, controlling blood glucose to limit endogenous glycation, and considering carnosine as a carbonyl scavenger. RAGE is a real contributor inside a redundant network rather than a single master switch, so the near-term wins remain the ones you control at the plate and in the kitchen. Paul’s favorite yerba mate: https://unicity.link/121f260bfe Yerbe mate with a special formulated Balance fiber: https://ufeelgreat.com/c/PaulReynolds Full Metabolic System storefront: https://shop.unicity.com/paulreynolds Paul’s favorite source for clean, earth-sourced essentials such as salt, electrolytes, hydration, pre-workout and more. Go to https://redmond.life and use PAULSALT for 15% discount. Paul’s favorite exogenous ketones: A high-quality option is the NSF-certified goBHB from Clean Form Nutrition, where you can use the code Paul10 for a 10% discount: https://cleanformnutrition.com/products/go-bhb Paul’s favorite allulose source: https://rxsugar.com (discount: PAUL20) Paul’s favorite health check-up for men or women: https://blokes.co/DRPAUL (discount: DRPAUL for 50% off of labs and smart supplements and 15% off all other products)

    Glycation and Autoimmune Disorders

  6. Aug 27

    Glycation and Mitochondrial Dysfunction

    In this episode of the College of Glycation, Professor Paul Reynolds explains how glycation turns against the cell’s energy factories. Methylglyoxal and advanced glycation end-products preferentially damage mitochondrial proteins and the mitochondrial genome itself. The result is a crippled respiratory chain that produces less ATP while leaking more reactive oxygen species; those radicals then accelerate further glycation, creating a self-reinforcing energy crisis. Quality-control systems also fail: fusion declines, fission rises, and mitophagy becomes defective, so damaged, ROS-generating mitochondria accumulate instead of being cleared. High-energy organs feel the shortfall first — the brain, heart, kidney, and endothelium — linking this single mechanism to cognitive decline, cardiovascular disease, and metabolic dysfunction.Animal studies show that a high-AGE diet impairs mitochondrial respiration and memory, while scavenging mitochondrial ROS can reduce AGE accumulation and restore ATP. Practical levers attack the loop at multiple points: lower dietary AGE load through gentler cooking methods, control glucose and insulin swings to limit methylglyoxal formation, and support the mitochondria directly with CoQ10 (ubiquinol) paired with sensible exercise. Breaking enough links turns a self-reinforcing spiral back into a manageable process, protecting the energy supply that every high-demand tissue depends on.Paul’s favorite yerba mate: https://unicity.link/121f260bfe Yerbe mate with a special formulated Balance fiber: https://ufeelgreat.com/c/PaulReynolds Full Metabolic System storefront: https://shop.unicity.com/paulreynolds Paul’s favorite source for clean, earth-sourced essentials such as salt, electrolytes, hydration, pre-workout and more. Go to https://redmond.life and use PAULSALT for 15% discount. Paul’s favorite exogenous ketones: A high-quality option is the NSF-certified goBHB from Clean Form Nutrition, where you can use the code Paul10 for a 10% discount: https://cleanformnutrition.com/products/go-bhb Paul’s favorite allulose source: https://rxsugar.com (discount: PAUL20) Paul’s favorite health check-up for men or women: https://blokes.co/DRPAUL (discount: DRPAUL for 50% off of labs and smart supplements and 15% off all other products)

    Glycation and Mitochondrial Dysfunction

  7. Aug 19

    Sleep Circadian Disruption and Melatonin

    In this episode of the College of Glycation, Professor Paul Reynolds shows why the same meal produces a higher glucose peak and slower clearance at night than in the morning — and why that difference is a direct driver of glycation. Controlled studies demonstrate that just six nights of sleep restriction in healthy young men impair glucose tolerance to a degree resembling normal aging. Circadian misalignment independently reduces insulin sensitivity, and the pancreas itself contains an autonomous molecular clock; when that clock is disrupted, insulin secretion fails. A late dinner raises peak glucose by roughly 18 % and reduces overnight fat oxidation, extending the daily window of elevated glucose that fuels AGE formation. Melatonin has limited anti-glycation activity against early Maillard chemistry, yet exogenous melatonin near meals suppresses insulin release and worsens glucose tolerance. Obstructive sleep apnea adds intermittent hypoxia that accelerates oxidative stress and lowers protective soluble RAGE.The practical levers are straightforward and powerful: protect 7–9 hours of sleep, get morning light and dim evening light to anchor the master clock, finish eating 2–3 hours before bed, keep any melatonin dose well away from food, and evaluate for sleep apnea when glycemic control stalls despite good diet. Glycation is concentration multiplied by time. Aligning meals and sleep with the body’s internal clocks shortens that exposure window without changing a single item on your plate.Paul’s favorite yerba mate: https://unicity.link/121f260bfe Yerbe mate with a special formulated Balance fiber: https://ufeelgreat.com/c/PaulReynolds Full Metabolic System storefront: https://shop.unicity.com/paulreynolds Paul’s favorite source for clean, earth-sourced essentials such as salt, electrolytes, hydration, pre-workout and more. Go to https://redmond.life and use PAULSALT for 15% discount. Paul’s favorite exogenous ketones: A high-quality option is the NSF-certified goBHB from Clean Form Nutrition, where you can use the code Paul10 for a 10% discount: https://cleanformnutrition.com/products/go-bhb Paul’s favorite allulose source: https://rxsugar.com (discount: PAUL20) Paul’s favorite health check-up for men or women: https://blokes.co/DRPAUL (discount: DRPAUL for 50% off of labs and smart supplements and 15% off all other products)

    Sleep Circadian Disruption and Melatonin

  8. Aug 12

    Fatty Liver and MASLD

    In this episode of the College of Glycation, Professor Paul Reynolds explains why the liver sits at the center of systemic glycation. The same organ that clears advanced glycation end-products from the bloodstream is also the one that accumulates them when burdened with fat and inflammation, creating a self-reinforcing loop. Fructose is the key substrate: it bypasses the main regulatory brake of glycolysis, flooding the liver with both new fat (de novo lipogenesis) and methylglyoxal, the most aggressive endogenous glycating agent. RAGE, activated by AGEs and the danger signal HMGB1, is required for hepatic stellate cells to produce scar tissue; once collagen is deposited, AGE crosslinks make that scar resistant to breakdown. The 2023 renaming to metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD) correctly places insulin resistance and glycemic burden at the center of the diagnosis.Reynolds covers practical measurement tools (FIB-4, FibroScan, and supportive skin autofluorescence) and the specific weight-loss thresholds that matter: steatosis improves at 3–5 %, steatohepatitis at 7–10 %, and meaningful fibrosis regression mainly at 10 % or more. Fructose restriction produces rapid measurable benefits even without calorie reduction, and emerging histology data from GLP-1 therapies further support intervention while the process is still reversible. Fatty liver is a flux problem, not merely a storage problem—and every major point in the loop remains under your influence if addressed early enough.Paul’s favorite yerba mate: https://unicity.link/121f260bfe Yerbe mate with a special formulated Balance fiber: https://ufeelgreat.com/c/PaulReynolds Full Metabolic System storefront: https://shop.unicity.com/paulreynolds Paul’s favorite source for clean, earth-sourced essentials such as salt, electrolytes, hydration, pre-workout and more. Go to https://redmond.life and use PAULSALT for 15% discount. Paul’s favorite exogenous ketones: A high-quality option is the NSF-certified goBHB from Clean Form Nutrition, where you can use the code Paul10 for a 10% discount: https://cleanformnutrition.com/products/go-bhb Paul’s favorite allulose source: https://rxsugar.com (discount: PAUL20) Paul’s favorite health check-up for men or women: https://blokes.co/DRPAUL (discount: DRPAUL for 50% off of labs and smart supplements and 15% off all other products)

    Fatty Liver and MASLD
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The College of Glycation with Dr. Paul Reynolds explores how sugar impacts aging, health, and disease. Join Dr. Reynolds as he unpacks the science of glycation and AGEs through expert interviews, myth-busting insights, and practical takeaways. Whether you're a health professional or simply curious, this podcast brings clarity to the sticky world of sugar metabolism. New episodes weekly.

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