The LIVING Room Podcast | Inside The WNDR Lab

Chris Wharton

What if longevity wasn’t owned by a single voice—but shaped by many? Our host, Chris Wharton, brings together the world’s leading scientists, doctors, performers, and cultural icons—each offering a distinct perspective on the art of living better, longer.  From cutting-edge, data-backed research to lived experience, we explore the habits, mindsets, and breakthroughs that truly move the needle when it comes to elevating both the quality and length of your life. Built on collective expertise, not individual opinion, The Living Room is where science, experience, and insight come together—bringing the most trusted thinking in longevity to your living room, whether that’s your couch or your commute… This is not about shortcuts. It’s not about hype. It’s about understanding the full picture—and giving you the clarity to act on it. Because a long life, well lived, is never one-dimensional—and neither is the path to getting there. Step into The LIVING Room, where the future of LIVING comes alive.

  1. 3h ago ·  Video

    You Should Age In A Space That Helps Not Hurts Your Body

    Is the room you're sitting in quietly aging you? Dr. Esther Sternberg, the Research Director of the Andrew Weil Center for Integrative Medicine and Professor of Medicine at the University of Arizona, says the answer is yes.  The numbers are stark: Americans spend over 98% of their time indoors. People working in well-designed open offices move 32% more during the day than people in private offices, and are 14% less stressed at night. Chronic stress can leave your telomeres looking 10 to 17 years older than your actual age. And unmanaged sleep loss alone can cost an organization roughly $3,000 per employee, per year. Her own body forced the next chapter of the research. While buried in the stress of a federal whistleblower case, a dying parent, and a divorce, Dr. Sternberg developed the very autoimmune disease she studied and recovered not with a new drug, but by spending two weeks in a tiny Greek village. That became the seed of a 20-year, NIH- and U.S.-government-funded research program on how the physical spaces we live and work in shape our stress, sleep, movement, and long-term health.  In this episode you'll learn: Why Dr. Sternberg's own supervisors told her the brain and immune system “don't communicate” — and the rat study that proved them wrongThe “Seven Domains of Integrative Health” she identified after her own recovery in CreteWhy open-plan offices — done right — beat cubicles and private offices on nearly every health metricHow color temperature and intensity of light control your cortisol, focus, and sleep and why evening screen light acts like a shot of coffeeThe surprising neuroscience behind why looking at green light can reduce chronic painWhy humans are wired to find nature images calming (hint: it's about fractals)Concrete, low-cost changes anyone can make at home or at work even without control over the building itselfLiterature The Balance WithinHealing SpacesWell at Work  Timestamps 0:43 The 1979 patient who convinced her the brain and immune system are connected 7:54 The 1989 L-Tryptophan case: 1,500 people ill, 45 dead, and a $2–10B lawsuit 10:15 The Greek neighbors who changed the course of her illness 13:26 The Seven Domains of Integrative Health, explained 17:15 The stat: Americans spend over 98% of their time indoors 25:03 The finding: open-office workers move 32% more and sleep better 36:50 Why blue light at night works on your brain like a cup of coffee 44:29 The green light/chronic pain discovery, and the lab behind it 52:50 The brain-imaging study that mapped “beauty” to a real reward pathway 1:09:03 Inside “The Recharge Room” — immersive nature rooms built for hospital staff 1:13:33 What to do if you have zero control over your office 1:20:05 Chronic stress and the 17-years-older telomere finding 1:21:41 “Allostatic load”: the stress you’re carrying without realizing it 1:23:34 Why poor sleep costs companies roughly $3,000 per employee a year 1:34:54 Her closing message: what to fix first in your own space Show Notes People Kevin Kampschroer former Research Director, U.S. General Services Administration (GSA); later Director of High Performance Federal Green Buildings and Chief White House Sustainability Officer for GSA Robert Propst credited with developing the open-office “Action Office” concept Mirelle Phillips  founder of Studio Elsewhere creator of “The Recharge Room” Institutions, Labs & Initiatives National Institutes of Health (NIH) / National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) Andrew Weil Center for Integrative Medicine, University of Arizona Walter Reed National Military Medical Center — National Intrepid Center of Excellence Mount Sinai Hospital University of Southern California (USC) — fMRI imaging research International WELL Building Institute Nature Sacred — nonprofit building healing gardens in areas of disaster/devastation Studies, Papers & Reported Data Points Effects of Office Workstation Type on Physical Activity and Stress Casey M. Lindberg, Esther M. Sternberg, Kevin Kampschroer, et al. Wellbuilt for Wellbeing: Controlling Relative Humidity in the Workplace Matters for Our Health Ester Sternberg, et al.Accelerated Telomere Shortening in Response to Life Stress Elissa S. Epel, Elizabeth H. Blackburn, Jue Lin, et al.Effect of Comprehensive Lifestyle Changes on Telomerase Activity and Telomere Length in Men With Biopsy-Proven Low-Risk Prostate Cancer: 5-Year Follow-Up of a Descriptive Pilot Study Dean Ornish, Elizabeth Blackburn, Lorne Hofmann, et al.Neural Correlates of Beauty Hideaki Kawabata, Semir Zeki The Cost of Poor Sleep: Workplace Productivity Loss and Associated Costs Ronald C. Kessler, et al. Discovery of Associative Patterns Between Workplace Sound Level and Physiological Wellbeing Using Wearable Devices and Empirical Bayes Modeling Casey M. Lindberg, Esther M. Sternberg, Kevin Kampschroer, et al.

    You Should Age In A Space That Helps Not Hurts Your Body

  2. Oct 14 ·  Video

    Can We Wake Up Sleeping Brain Cells? ‘Zombie Cells’ And The Aging Brain

    Are stem cells used for ‘better aging’ a fairytale future or a near reality? This conversation lays out what stem cell therapies actually are, where today’s methods stand, and where the legitimate research is actually headed. Our guest Dr. Darcie Moore, PhD, studies neural stem cells in the adult brain at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, a lab internationally known for stem cell research. Stem cells are what keep tissue regenerating throughout life, replenishing it, repairing it, and keeping it functionally young. As we age, that capacity declines, and the effects show up across the body: slower wound healing, weaker skeletal muscle, a blunted immune response, and cognitive decline. Understanding how to protect or restore aging stem cells means understanding both halves of the problem, not just how they age, but what keeps them young in the first place. Dr. Moore's lab studies the exact opposite question: what keeps the stem cells that could make new neurons stuck in a dormant, "quiescent" state, and what it would take to safely wake them back up. IN THIS EPISODE YOU'LL LEARN: • What a stem cell actually is, and why not all stem cells are created equal • How scientists "erase" a cell's identity and turn it back into a stem cell • Why 3D-printing a working organ could still be years away (the surprising reason involves your immune system) • The real difference between a dormant ("quiescent") cell and a "zombie" (senescent) cell • Why human cloning is not possible with current stem cell science — and what is actually happening instead • The two things proven to boost brain cell growth — and the two proven to shut it down • Her blunt take on stem cell clinics, and what she would and would not inject into her own body • The truth about popular stem cell ‘therapies’ and the very real dangers associated with them Want to learn more? Each month, we send a newsletter curated by our scientific council on what's actually advancing the science of human longevity — and what isn't. Subscribe at https://www.thewndrlab.com/mailing-list Check out The WNDR Lab Connect with Dr. Darcie Moore Connect with our host Chris Wharton Follow The LIVING Room Podcast on Socials: The LIVING Room on Instagram The LIVING Room on TikTok The WNDR Lab on LinkedIn The WNDR Lab: https://www.thewndrlab.com/ The views, opinions, and stories Chris Wharton shares on The LIVING Room are his own and don't necessarily reflect the official positions of The WNDR Lab. This podcast is a space for candid, personal conversation and not company communications. Nothing said here constitutes medical advice, a statement of clinical efficacy, or an official company claim about our products or outcomes. Subscribe for new conversations every week, and drop your answer to our pinned question below. We read every one! Timestamps 0:18 — What a stem cell actually is, from scratch 1:28 — Turning your own skin cells into neurons with your exact disease mutation 5:43 — The stem cells already living in your body right now 8:34 — How scientists erase a cell’s identity back to its stem state 10:40 — The “baby bird of himself” biohacker claim — and why it’s not real 12:57 — Why cloning a human is still not possible 16:06 — Her rule for any bold science timeline: add 20 years 20:45 — The exact moment of her biggest research discovery 28:29 — The 100-year fight over whether adult brains make new neurons 32:43 — She grew real human brain stem cells from patient tissue — in a dish 33:25 — The two things proven to boost brain cell growth (and the two that shut it down) 39:45 — Quiescent vs. senescent: “dormant” vs. a literal “zombie cell” 45:24 — “Hype is a real thing” — her warning on overclaiming 1:10:54 — What it actually takes to get a research grant funded 1:14:26 — Dr. Moore's warning on stem cell clinics ──────────────────────────────────── Show Notes A quick clarification from our conversation: when we talked about cooling and spinal cord injury, the example I meant to reference was the case of Kevin Everett of the Buffalo Bills. His early treatment included an experimental cold‑saline IV infusion started by the team physician about fifteen minutes after impact, with continued cooling in the hospital to help limit swelling and tissue damage. This approach was inspired by research from The Miami Project to Cure Paralysis. Separately, the University of Miami football program uses cooling chambers and cryotherapy for general athlete recovery — a different kind of “cooling” altogether. Just wanted to make that distinction clear for listeners. People Mentioned Dr. Darcie Moore, PhD — guest. Faculty page·  Lab site: dlmoorelab.com Shinya Yamanaka — co-discoverer of induced pluripotency (Yamanaka factors). Nobel biography James Thomson — isolated the first human embryonic stem cells, UW–Madison Santiago Ramón y Cajal — historical "no new neurons" dogma.  Institutions / Labs University of Wisconsin–Madison — Department of Neuroscience: neuro.wisc.edu Waisman Center (UW–Madison) Allen Institute (Seattle) — cell-type/connectivity mapping referenced re: AI and neuroscience data. EPFL / NeuroRestore (Switzerland) — robotic/neural interface work for spinal cord injury referenced. ISSCR (International Society for Stem Cell Research) guidelines, referenced re: cloning/organoid ethics. isscr.org WiCell Research Institute WI.

  3. Oct 7 ·  Video

    Chris Williamson's Take On ‘Optimization Culture’; Longevity Lessons from 1100 episodes of Modern Wisdom

    In this conversation our host, Chris Wharton, does a deep dive on the media phenomenon Chris Williamson who hosts the billion-view YT channel Modern Wisdom where he has interviewed over 1,100 guests. In this honest conversation, Williamson opens up about how he, despite having gained insights from experts from around the world, for two years was at a loss when his own body started falling apart. Chris Williamson runs the world's largest interview and self-improvement podcasts, with over 4.5 million YouTube subscribers. But how does a lifestyle inspired by 1000+ hours of expert conversation really look? And what happens when one’s train, thriving on optimization, suddenly in an unexplainable way rails out? From two years of fatigue, and low mood, compounded by a genetic predisposition to poor detoxification, to how loneliness penetrates the bubble of famedom, Williamson gets personal about challenging life changes and essentials for his well being. In this conversation Chris and Chris explore the health habits and life practices Williamson considers actually worth sticking with. In this episode, you'll learn: How two years of unexplained fatigue and memory loss turned out to be toxic mold poisoning in Williamson's own home What “advice hyper-responders” means, and why the people most likely to take extreme advice to heart are usually the ones who need it least Why he still doesn't wear a wearable device The three health habits he'd keep if he had to give up everything else Why he believes the backlash against health-optimization culture is overdue What “fading affect bias” is, and why it explains why people abandon habits that once worked Why he calls sleep the most underrated lever in longevity, despite being the most talked about Show Notes Want to learn more? Each month, we send a newsletter curated by our scientific council on what's actually advancing the science of human longevity — and what isn't. Subscribe at https://www.thewndrlab.com/mailing-list Check out The WNDR Lab Connect with Chris Williamson https://www.instagram.com/chriswillx/?hl=en & check out Modern Wisdom https://www.youtube.com/@ChrisWillx Connect with our host Chris Wharton: https://www.instagram.com/chriswharton1/ Follow The LIVING Room Podcast on Socials: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/the.living.room.pod/ Follow The LIVING Room Podcast on Socials: Instagram LinkedIn The WNDR Lab Show notes Institutions & Studies World Health Organization: https://www.who.int/ Companies & Products Mentioned Neutonic: https://www.neutonic.com/en-us?srsltid=AU7gw4Uy2NRt6WYFqZ8S2sgJrqCk6suZROApfIvbSjxDFAZ2TZotH8IW LMNT: https://drinklmnt.com/collections/salt?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=evergreenmisspellcold&gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=21002967780&gbraid=0AAAAAC5L3ce1pCCF0zEL_2g0PZ0PEVHLI&gclid=CjwKCAjw25fWBhAVEiwAMopNjnon1JKatm1Yg4cXrx4YDCPL4b05hQkiU73zdD4GCfA1wOnFQHwLQRoC48cQAvD_BwE OHM.health lamp:https://ohm.health/ — a heart-rate-variability biofeedback device used for resonance breathing.  MoldCo: https://www.moldco.com/ — companies referenced for home mold and air-quality testing. The views, opinions, and stories Chris Wharton shares on The LIVING Room are his own and don't necessarily reflect the official positions of The WNDR Lab. This podcast is a space for candid, personal conversation — not company communications. Nothing said here constitutes medical advice, a statement of clinical efficacy, or an official company claim about our products or outcomes.

  4. Sep 30 ·  Video

    This Will Make You Strength Train. Build Muscle Today And Live a Longer, Healthier Life

    Why do two people on the exact same exercise program end up with completely different results — and what does that mean for the roughly 80 percent of American adults who aren't getting enough exercise in the first place? Professor John Hawley is the Director of the Centre for Human Metabolism & Performance at Australian Catholic University in Melbourne and has published more than 300 scientific papers on the interaction between exercise and nutrition. This conversation keeps coming back to one idea: the biggest gains in health span don't come from a new molecule or a wearable — they come from getting the fundamentals of exercise and nutrition right, and understanding why so many people who genuinely try still don't stick with it. Embracing the mindset and making exercise a habit is discussed as the greatest challenge. However, as Chris and Dr. Hawley mentions, with minimal effort one can gain huge rewards. Muscle mass peaks in your mid-30s and declines by roughly 1 percent a year after 50, accelerating sharply after 60 and 70. VO2 max — a simple, testable number — is currently the single best predictor of all-cause mortality we have. Strength training is a clear indicator for longevity and remember, it’s never too late to start! In this episode, you'll learn: Why identical exercise programs produce wildly different results in different people — and what the science says about “responders” and “non-responders” Why “no pain, no gain” is actively driving people away from a lifelong exercise habit Why lack of time isn't really why most people don't exercise — and what is The hidden cost GLP-1 weight-loss drugs can carry for muscle and bone, especially later in life The three simple tests that best predict how long — and how well — you'll live Why there is still no pill on Earth that replicates what exercise does to the body A simple way to build meaningful activity into a busy day without ever setting foot in a gym Want to learn more? Each month, we send a newsletter curated by our scientific council on what's actually advancing the science of human longevity — and what isn't. Subscribe at https://www.thewndrlab.com/mailing-list Check out The WNDR Lab Connect with Dr. Hawley Connect with our host Chris Wharton  Follow The LIVING Room Podcast on Socials: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/the.living.room.pod/ LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/wndrlab/ The WNDR Lab: https://www.thewndrlab.com/ Show Notes People Professor Louise Burke — Chair in Sports Nutrition, ACU Professor Tim Noakes — University of Cape Town Dave Costill — Ball State University; “grandfather of exercise physiology”  Professor Claude Bouchard — Pennington Biomedical Research Institute; led the HERITAGE Family Study on exercise responders/non-responders Professor Stuart Phillips — referenced for a study debunking the need to lift near-maximal loads to build muscle. Professor. Martin Gibala, the McMaster researcher known for 6x1-minute HIIT protocols and the book The One-Minute Workout. Institutions Loughborough University Ball State University University of Cape Town The Sports Science Institute of South Africa Australian Catholic University Mary MacKillop Institute for Health Research Pennington Biomedical Research Center McMaster University Studies & Findings Referenced HERITAGE Family Study (Bouchard et al., Pennington Biomedical) — identical exercise produced VO₂ max gains ranging from ~0% to 45%; genetics did not fully explain the variation. Light-load vs. heavy-load resistance training (Stuart Phillips et al.) — ~30% 1RM taken to failure produced a comparable muscle protein synthesis response to much heavier loads. McMaster HIIT research — brief high-intensity intervals produced adaptations comparable to substantially longer continuous exercise. JAMA push-up study — push-up capacity was associated with cardiovascular disease risk in a cohort of male firefighters. Concepts Myokines — signaling molecules released by contracting muscle that communicate with other organs DOMS (delayed onset muscle soreness) — muscle damage from eccentric load, not a required marker of a “good” workout VO2 max, and grip strength, two tests discussed as strong predictors of longevity/health Timestamps:  0:00 — Cold open 1:41 — The only metabolic chamber in the Southern Hemisphere 6:38 — Why loud, unqualified voices beat scientists in the media 9:48 — “Exercise is medicine” — myokines and organ-to-organ crosstalk 19:53 — Responders vs. non-responders: the HERITAGE Study's 0%–45% spread 24:16 — Six 1-minute intervals can rival 30–40 minutes of continuous exercise 34:06 — Fidgeters, NEAT, and staying lean 42:44 — The hidden cost of GLP-1 weight-loss drugs: muscle and bone 58:14 — The three best tests for predicting longevity 1:07:11 — Three takeaways in under 60 seconds

  5. Sep 23 ·  Video

    The World's 'Most Measured Man' Stanford scientist on the future of Genomics and Wearables

    What if the device on your wrist could warn you that you have a life-threatening illness  before you feel a single symptom? That's exactly what happened to our guest — twice. Dr. Michael Snyder is the Director of the Center for Genomics and Personalized Medicine at Stanford University. Nicknamed “medicine's most measured man,” he pioneered the Integrative Personal Omics Profiling (iPOP) study by turning himself into the first subject — tracking his genome, blood, urine, and even his gut microbiome in extraordinary detail, years before wearables and at-home testing became mainstream. This conversation traces how that personal experiment scaled into a study of over 100 people, nearly half of whom uncovered a serious, pre-symptomatic health problem, and into a broader argument: healthcare today only measures you once you're already sick. But it also gets practical, tackling the questions anyone shopping for a wearable actually has: which device, e.g., Oura, Fitbit, Apple, WHOOP, etc, is worth buying and for what, whether tracking your own body constantly does more harm than good psychologically, and who actually has access to the data once it's collected. Dr. Snyder makes the case for a different approach — deep, continuous, personalized data collection while you're still healthy, so problems get caught upstream instead of in an emergency room. In this episode, you'll learn: How Snyder discovered his own Lyme disease and diabetes risk before he ever felt sickThat roughly 12 percent of the U.S. population is diabetic, closer to 40 percent are pre-diabetic and headed there — still, many are completely unawareWhy nearly half the people in his deep-data study found a serious health problem they didn't know they hadWhich wearable is actually best for what — why no single device does sleep, exercise, and nutrition equally well, and which one he reaches for eachWhether constantly tracking your health data causes more anxiety than it prevents, and how to tell if you're the kind of person it will help or hurtWhat actually happens to your health data once a company collects it, and whether it's really privateThat genome sequencing which once cost roughly a billion dollars now costs about $500Why most physicians advise against whole-body MRIs — and why Snyder disagreesWhy the same food can spike one person's blood sugar and do almost nothing to another'sHow Snyder used AI to help diagnose his own back injury faster than the emergency roomWhy he believes everyone should get a health baseline in their 20s, if not earlierWant to learn more? Each month, we send a newsletter curated by our scientific council on what's actually advancing the science of human longevity — and what isn't. Subscribe at https://www.thewndrlab.com/mailing-list Check out The WNDR Lab Connect with Dr. Snyder Connect with our host Chris Wharton on Instagram: instagram.com/chriswharton1  Follow The LIVING Room Podcast on Socials: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/the.living.room.pod/ LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/wndrlab/ The WNDR Lab: https://www.thewndrlab.com/ Show Notes Institutions & Companies Stanford University — Snyder Lab Michael Snyder — Stanford Profile TED Talk ​​”Why I’m Obsessed with Health Wearables (and You Should Be Too)” SensOmicsQ Bio January AI — About Us  Studies & Findings Integrative Personal Omics Profiling (iPOP) iPOP and its Role in Participatory MedicineWearable Sensors Can Tell When You Are Getting Sick Real-time Alerting System for COVID-19 Using Wearable DataAgeotypes Provide Window Into How Individuals AgePersonalized Nutrition by Prediction of Glycemic Responses  Techniques & Concepts Multiomics — combined measurement of the genome (DNA), transcriptome (RNA), proteome (proteins), and metabolome (metabolites), plus the microbiomeContinuous glucose monitors (CGMs) — and glucose dysregulation subtypes (muscle insulin resistance, beta-cell defect, hepatic insulin resistance) that determine which specific foods spike an individual's blood sugarWhole-body MRI as a longitudinal baseline tool, rather than a single-point-in-time scanWearable-based detection of AFib, respiratory infection, menstrual cycle shifts, and mental/workplace stress

  6. Sep 21 ·  Video

    Animals That Don't Age at All — What It Means for Us

    What is aging? Why is it the single biggest predictor of disease? And which of the most talked-about anti-aging interventions — telomere extension, biological age tests, supplements — actually hold up? In this conversation we talk to Dr. Vera Gorbunova and Dr. Andrei Seluanov who run a research lab together at the University of Rochester where they study the biology of aging across dozens of long-lived species — from naked mole rats to bowhead whales.  A naked mole rat is roughly the size of a mouse but can live past 40 years — more than ten times a mouse's lifespan — and almost never develops tumors. Gorbunova and Seluanov's lab traced that resistance to a single molecule, and when they engineered mice to produce it, those mice developed about 50% fewer tumors and lived 10–15% longer.  The same lab has also found a seaweed compound that extended mouse lifespan by 15%, studies a 200-year-old whale that carries 100 times more of a specific DNA-repair protein than humans do, and recently found that controlling a stretch of the genome once dismissed as "junk" nearly doubled the reproductive lifespan of mice.  In this episode you'll learn: • What aging actually is, and why it happens in the first place -  Why naked mole rats almost never get cancer — and the clogged lab-vacuum tube that led to the discovery •  Why a naked mole rat gene cut tumors in half in mice and extended their lifespan •  Why a 200-year-old whale has 100x more of a DNA-repair protein than humans — and whether cold plunges can activate it •  Why longer telomeres don't make you live longer, and can raise cancer risk instead •  How a gene variant found in human centenarians led to a seaweed compound that extended mouse lifespan 15% •  How controlling the "dark genome" nearly doubled mice's reproductive lifespan, and what that might mean for delaying menopause •  Why biological age tests can swing by years on the same day — and how to actually use them •  Why the researchers say most anti-aging supplements are unproven — and which ones they still take themselves Connect with Dr. Vera Gorbunova: https://www.linkedin.com/in/vera-gorbunova-64a97b46/ Connect with Dr. Andrei Seluanov: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrei-seluanov-52055b62/ Connect with our host Chris Wharton on Instagram: instagram.com/chriswharton1 Follow The LIVING Room Podcast on Socials: •  Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/the.living.room.pod/ •  LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/wndrlab/ •  The WNDR Lab: https://www.thewndrlab.com/ Want to learn more? Each month, we send a newsletter curated by our scientific council on what's actually advancing the science of human longevity — and what isn't.  Subscribe at https://www.thewndrlab.com/mailing-list 3. Show Notes Institutions Referenced: The Gorbunova & Seluanov Laboratory at the University of Rochester  Albert Einstein College of Medicine Research: Naked mole rats can undergo developmental, oncogene-induced and DNA damage-induced cellular senescence Comparative analysis of naked mole-rat thermogenesis and its potential to maintain euthermia in response to cold

  7. Sep 10 ·  Video

    Why Women Spend the Last 5–6 Years of Life in Worse Health Than Men (And What to Do About It)

    Why do women spend the last 5–6 years of life in worse health than men — and what does it have to do with your ovaries? Only 8–9% of NIH research funding goes to women’s health research, and by some estimates as little as 4% of private R&D investment goes to anything outside female cancers, fertility, and maternal-fetal health combined. Meanwhile, cardiovascular disease risk can rise 2–4x almost overnight at menopause — a shift most women are never warned about. In this episode, Chris is joined by Dr. Jennifer Garrison, PhD, a neuroscientist, Co-Founder and Executive Director of ProductiveHealth.org, who spearheads the science on ovarian health. Most people — including doctors — have conflated ovarian aging with reproductive aging for decades. Garrison’s research shows they’re not the same thing: ovaries function as a signaling hub for the entire body, and when they decline, they take whole-body health down with them, independent of fertility. In this episode, you’ll learn: Why ovarian aging and reproductive aging are two different things — and why that distinction matters for your whole-body healthWhat the research funding gap actually looks like, in numbersWhy the 2002 hormone therapy scare was based on flawed study design — and what the data actually shows todayWhy oral estradiol carries stroke risk but the transdermal patch doesn’tWhat a landmark mouse study revealed when researchers swapped old ovaries for young ones — and then removed the folliclesWhy cardiovascular risk changes so sharply at menopause, and when to get a baseline cardiac workupWhy the “four phases of your cycle” fitness trend oversimplifies the real scienceWhat Garrison would tell women in their 20s to start paying attention to now Want to learn more? Each month, we send a newsletter curated by our scientific council on what's actually advancing the science of human longevity — and what isn't. Subscribe at https://www.thewndrlab.com/mailing-list Links: Follow Dr. Garrison on LinkedIn Connect with our host Chris Wharton on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/chriswharton1 Follow The LIVING Room Podcast on Socials: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/the.living.room.pod/ LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/wndrlab/ The WNDR Lab: https://www.thewndrlab.com/ Subscribe to our newsletter: https://www.thewndrlab.com/mailing-list Show Notes: 28andMe study: https://jacobs.psych.ucsb.edu/research/28-and-me  https://journals.plos.org/plosbiology/article?id=10.1371/journal.pbio.3003800 https://www.theinstitute.com/fellow/jennifer-garrison

  8. Sep 3

    This Peptide Burns Fat and Builds Muscle — But the Man Who Discovered It Won't Take It - Yet

    What's actually in the syringe when you buy a peptide off the black market? Now that the FDA regulation around 6 of these black market peptides is changing, should you be taking them? Should you be concerned about the link between GLP-1 use and lean tissue loss? Dr. Pinchas Cohen, PhD, is the scientist who co-discovered humanin and MOTS-c — two of the mitochondrial-derived peptides now driving the biggest wave of interest in longevity science — and he currently serves as Dean of the USC Leonard Davis School of Gerontology. Peptides have become a catch-all buzzword for a category that actually spans thousands of distinct molecules, most of them still unstudied. Dr. Cohen's lab discovered several of the ones people are now injecting themselves with, and he's spent the last year watching an unregulated market grow around his own research — to the point where he tested his friends' black-market MOTS-c and found some vials contained none of the peptide at all. Up to 30% of the weight lost on GLP-1 drugs is muscle. A genetic variant found in Ashkenazi Jews makes carriers roughly 20 times more likely to live to 100 and appears to blunt the effects of the biggest known Alzheimer's risk gene. In mice, MOTS-c extended lifespan by 10% and prevented the muscle and bone loss associated with GLP-1 use. And in July, 2026, Dr. Cohen testified in front of the FDA panel now reviewing MOTS-c's regulatory path. In this episode you'll learn: Why "peptides" make out three fundamentally different categories of molecules, not one trendHow MOTS-c and humanin were discovered inside DNA once dismissed as "junk"Why up to 30% of GLP-1 weight loss is muscle, and what that means over a decade of useWhat happened when Dr. Cohen tested the actual purity of black-market MOTS-cThe genetic variant linked to a 20x greater chance of living to 100Why he — the scientist who discovered MOTS-c — won't take it himself yetWhat the FDA's 503A compounding pathway means for legal access to peptidesWhere Alzheimer's and Parkinson's peptide research stands todayWant to learn more? Each month, we send a newsletter curated by our scientific council on what's actually advancing the science of human longevity — and what isn't. Subscribe at https://www.thewndrlab.com/mailing-list Check out The WNDR Lab Connect with Dr. Pinchas Cohen Connect with our host Chris Wharton on Instagram: instagram.com/chriswharton1  Follow The LIVING Room Podcast on Socials: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/the.living.room.pod/ LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/wndrlab/ The WNDR Lab: https://www.thewndrlab.com/ Show Notes Studies & Institutions referenced Health and Retirement Study Kumagai's Japanese cohort GWAS (Genome-Wide Association Study)USC Leonard Davis School of Gerontology503AFDA PCAC panel Peptides & molecules  HumaninMOTS-cSHLP SHMOOSE IGF-1, IGFBP-3ApoE4 / APOE (Alzheimer's risk gene)

See All (29)

Ratings & Reviews

4.8
out of 5
15 Ratings

About

What if longevity wasn’t owned by a single voice—but shaped by many? Our host, Chris Wharton, brings together the world’s leading scientists, doctors, performers, and cultural icons—each offering a distinct perspective on the art of living better, longer.  From cutting-edge, data-backed research to lived experience, we explore the habits, mindsets, and breakthroughs that truly move the needle when it comes to elevating both the quality and length of your life. Built on collective expertise, not individual opinion, The Living Room is where science, experience, and insight come together—bringing the most trusted thinking in longevity to your living room, whether that’s your couch or your commute… This is not about shortcuts. It’s not about hype. It’s about understanding the full picture—and giving you the clarity to act on it. Because a long life, well lived, is never one-dimensional—and neither is the path to getting there. Step into The LIVING Room, where the future of LIVING comes alive.

Information

You Might Also Like