Research Spotlight: Mitochondrial Dynamics & Cancer (the “bubble” explainer)
Dr. Mike highlights a new PubMed paper (“Unraveling the Role of Mitochondrial Dynamics in Cancer Stem Cells”) and translates the science into plain English:
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Fusion (merge): Picture two soap bubbles joining into a bigger one. A weaker mitochondrion can share parts with a stronger neighbor—like power plants connecting grids—to keep energy flowing.
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Fission (split): One bubble divides into two. Cells use this to make more mitochondria when demand rises and for quality control—damaged sections can be separated and queued for cleanup.
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Mitophagy (recycle): The cleanup program that removes worn‑out mitochondria so they don’t linger and stoke inflammation.
Why it matters: The paper (as summarized on the show) links dysregulated fusion/fission/mitophagy to cancer stem cell survival and treatment resistance. In principle, nudging these levers—inhibiting excessive fusion, encouraging fission or mitophagy—might make tumors more sensitive to therapy. Context and timing matter: what helps in one cancer type or stage may hinder in another.
00;00;01;19 - 00;00;33;21
Dr. Mike Belkowski
Welcome to the Energy Code, the show that unlocks the secrets of your mitochondria from light, water, and magnetism to powerful molecules and proven lifestyle upgrades, we will continuously search for and add to what I've dubbed the Mitochondrial matrix by decoding the most efficacious signs and strategies, ultimately providing the blueprint for limitless vitality. This is the energy code. I'm your host, doctor Mike Koski.
00;00;33;24 - 00;00;37;09
Dr. Mike Belkowski
Welcome back everybody. Links for joining me on another.
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Dr. Mike Belkowski
Episode with Don Bailey on the Energy Code. We're creeping up here on fall equinox, for better or worse. But regardless, let's jump into some kind of pick up where we left off last time with Don in our episode last week, we kind of covered some facts about the mitochondria. So we're going to continue along that line of thought, but in a more rapid fire way.
00;01;01;26 - 00;01;18;19
Dr. Mike Belkowski
But before we get to that, I do want to start off of these episodes that I do with Don, with with a piece of research, because a couple of weeks go by or several weeks go by, and there's just dozens and dozens of articles I want to talk about that. Don't get that. I don't get a chance to.
00;01;18;20 - 00;01;50;12
Dr. Mike Belkowski
So sometimes it's tough to pick one. But one of the more recent pieces, a study that came out on PubMed six days ago, I believe, at the time of this recording. So it came out September 10th, and it's entitled Unraveling the Role of Mitochondrial Dynamics in Cancer Stem Cells Molecular Basis and Therapeutic Implications. So the authors of this article, they examine mitochondrial dynamics.
00;01;50;15 - 00;02;20;00
Dr. Mike Belkowski
And these are the processes by which the mitochondria and cells merge, as in fusion, when mitochondrial cells split, as in fission, move and get removed, or recycled, as in my autophagy. And how these processes again are involved in cancer, specifically in cancer stem cells, in the way that the tumors resist treatment. And I just want to highlight mitochondrial dynamics again.
00;02;20;02 - 00;02;49;15
Dr. Mike Belkowski
So whenever you hear that, whether there's this podcast or otherwise, that comprises again, specifically mitochondrial fusion and fission. And so to give this more of a lay person perspective instead of instead of getting two sciency, let's let's think of the mitochondria and in terms of fusion again as a merging together. So imagine two mitochondria as two soap bubbles floating close together.
00;02;49;17 - 00;03;17;08
Dr. Mike Belkowski
Fusion is when those bubbles join into one bigger bubble. So two smaller bubbles joined together make a bigger bubble. And so why does this matter from a mitochondrial perspective? So a weak or damaged mitochondrion can share parts with the stronger one. That's why those two emerge. It's like two power plants connecting their grids. So electricity keeps flowing even if one is struggling.
00;03;17;11 - 00;03;50;16
Dr. Mike Belkowski
So in this sense, fusion helps mitochondria exchange tools, DNA and resources, keeping the network resilient versus allowing that weaker one, the smaller one, to falter into mitochondrial dysfunction. So that's mitochondrial fusion. Whereas mitochondrial mitochondrial fusion is the splitting apart. There's the complete opposite. So now imagine this this bubble so to speak dividing into two smaller bubbles. Fusion is one one mitochondria and splits into two.
00;03;50;22 - 00;04;15;28
Dr. Mike Belkowski
So why does this matter from a mitochondrial perspective it helps the cell that the mitochondria are in make more mitochondria when energy demand goes up. So it's like making extra batteries in a sense. And it also acts as quality control. So if a mitochondrion has broken parts it can split leaving the damaged section behind to be recycled via my top AG.
00;04;16;00 - 00;04;41;20
Dr. Mike Belkowski
So there is pros to the fusion. There's pros to the fusion. And to bring it back to this article, we'll learn that when one of these one of these programs is acting an excess that can actually feed the cancer. So again, that's mitochondrial fusion and fission. And just to wrap up that that thought on fusion and fission, it's a beautiful dance and a balance of both fusion and fusion.
00;04;41;20 - 00;05;14;12
Dr. Mike Belkowski
Again we don't want one hyper hypo healthy cells need both fusion and fusion happening in balance. Too much vision. You get lots of small, weak, fragmented mitochondria. And this is linked to disease, aging, and low energy. Whereas too much fusion creates overly large and clunky mitochondria that can't be cleared properly. So again, when balanced, this constant merge and split of fusion and fusion dance keeps the mitochondrial network adaptable, clean and powerful.
00;05;14;15 - 00;05;39;22
Dr. Mike Belkowski
So again, back to this article looking at unraveling the role of mitochondrial dynamics in cancer. The goal of this paper was to understand how targeting these mitochondrial dynamics can be a strategy for new cancer therapies. And again, they're specifically looking at not just fusion and fusion, but also might haffajee, which we've covered in recent podcasts. Essentially, the recycling of dysfunctional mitochondria.
00;05;39;25 - 00;06;13;14
Dr. Mike Belkowski
So if in my path is not working, you're allowing dysfunctional mitochondria to linger, be pro-inflammatory and self propagate, thus creating more and more dysfunctional mitochondria. So quickly, some key insights from this article is that lo and behold, mitochondrial dynamics are critical to cancer stem cell maintenance. So cancer stem cells use the balance of fusion and fission, mitochondrial transport and clearance to survive, proliferate, and resist conventional treatments.
00;06;13;16 - 00;06;49;28
Dr. Mike Belkowski
So changes in mitochondrial shape or connectivity help cancer stem cells maintain their energy, survive stress, and evade damage. Number two takeaway from this paper is that this regulation tips the balance. So when fusion and fusion or my autophagy is off for example, off now meaning off switch, but like it's not in balance. For example, if there's too much fusion or poor autophagy, it can either promote tumor growth or, under certain conditions, hinder it depending on the context.
00;06;50;00 - 00;07;28;09
Dr. Mike Belkowski
So some proteins involved in these processes can show aberrant expression, meaning atypical expression or regulation in various cancers. So from a therapeutic potential standpoint, intervening in mitochondrial dynamics meaning inhibiting that excessive fusion or promoting fusion where need or enhancing my autophagy can weaken the cancer cells or make them more sensitive to other treatments. So especially promising and targeting cancer stem cells because they are often the cells that drive relapse, metastasis and resistance.
00;07;28;11 - 00;07;54;01
Dr. Mike Belkowski
So if you can disrupt their mitochondrial balance, so to speak, you may reduce their ability to survive therapy and then challenge, challenges with this mindset or some context dependance. The role, of course, of mitochondrial dynamics is fusion is vision. And then my type isn't uniform. Different cancer types, cell types, environments, and stages may behave differently. Stage 1234.
00;07;54;04 - 00;08;33;28
Dr. Mike Belkowski
And what works in one context may not work in another. Certainly probably doesn't. Especially n equals one on a given person. So there are risks to perturbing mitochondrial dynamics. For example, too much fusion or fusion can also damage healthy cells or lead to unwanted side effects. So the timing, degree and specificity of interventions matter. And so the take home of this is that there's an understanding that mitochondrial dynamics play a role in either perpetuating or, dismantling a certain tumor or a certain cancer.
00;08;34;04 - 00;09;03;00
Dr. Mike Belkowski
It's very context dependent. It's person dependent. It's environment dependent. But we know that there's another level lever. Excuse me, another pulley to potentially either an arm and potentially in the worst case scenario, up upregulate cancer cells. So interesting information is just kind of another piece of research showing and implicating the mitochondria really are at the at the center of health and even at the center of cancer.
00;09;03;02 - 00;09;06;23
Dr. Mike Belkowski
Don, I know you haven't heard that before. Any thoughts? Just hearing that.
00;09;06;25 - 00;09;16;28
Don Bailey
Yeah. So one of the parts that stood out to me is how improving mitochondrial health could make the mitochondria more sensitive to other forms of treatment.
00;09;17;00 - 00;09;51;26
Dr. Mike Belkowski
Yeah. Because actually and if we go into the very end portion of what I was going to say with this study is that cancer stem cells are often resistant to chemotherapy, radiation, etc.. So if they're kept alive in part by robust mitochondrial dynamics, then disrupting those dynamics may make cancer treatment more effective. So again, if there's excessive fission or fusion or a poorly operating my tough ag program in a person's body, balancing or again, in this case disrupting the mitochondrial dynamics may actually work in your favor for a given cancer.
00;09;51;27 - 00;10;10;20
Dr. Mike Belkowski
Again, this isn't like a black and white where there's a lot of gray area and like context or environmental dependency, but again, it's just showing the implications that mitochondrial fusion vision my top AG can have on the potential progression and or regression of a can of a given cancer.
00;10;10;21 - 00;10;13;19
Don Bailey
Absolutely phenomenal. And when did this article come out.
00;10;13;21 - 00;10;49;17
Dr. Mike Belkowski
On Pub Med came out on September 10th. So it's kind of fresh hot off the press. We'll leave a link to this article in the show notes, and it'll show that this is kind of a prerelease, so it's not going to be in the actual journal until November of 2025. But interesting, because I always think any time we can see some potential role for mitochondria in cancer, it just further drives home the point that while the DNA does hold some keys to our blueprint, a lot of our health in terms of healthspan and longevity is is within the mitochondrial mitochondria.
00;10;49;19 - 00;11;02;02
Dr. Mike Belkowski
Again, robust operations or function, if you will, meaning let's stave off mitochondrial dysfunction by all means possible. Absolutely beautiful into some mechanisms and applications today.
00;11;02;04 - 00;11;07;17
Don Bailey
Absolutely beautiful. So doctor Mike let's go. Ready for rapid fire questions.
00;11;07;20 - 00;11;30;04
Dr. Mike Belkowski
Yeah. So like I said at the top, this was Dan's idea. And I think it's brilliant. Instead of letting me go on five minute soliloquies and diatribes, he's going to try to hold me to 62nd answers on a slew of questions. And I think this is again directed towards the mitochondria, their function, why they're important applications of how to improve or like how do they become dysfunctional, etc., etc..
00;11;30;04 - 00;11;33;08
Dr. Mike Belkowski
I don't know all the questions, but I'll, I don't take it from here.
00;11;33;10 - 00;11;57;14
Don Bailey
Right. And so just to kind of clarify, last week we had more of a long term question content. We ended with the what are the two best things people could do to improve my conjugal health? The answers were sleep, circadian rhythm and also sunlight. So during this episode, I do want to revisit some of the questions that we answered in the last episode to hear them in a rapid fire context.
00;11;57;17 - 00;12;22;01
Don Bailey
But additionally, I kind of want to get more into the supplementation for mitochondria. So the methylene blue, how does that impact the mitochondria? Why are people, you know, focused on methylene blue for a bio modulation, carbon 60, etc.. So we'll get into that as well. Kind of towards the end of the questioning. But for the questions doctor Mike will have 60s per question.
00;12;22;03 - 00;12;33;03
Don Bailey
I'll ask the question. Start the timer is that when you get to 30s, I'll give you this symbol right here. That'll mean 30s left 15 seconds and then five, four, three, two, one.
00;12;33;05 - 00;12;34;29
Dr. Mike Belkowski
You're actually going to give me a minute?
00;12;35;01 - 00;12;39;03
Don Bailey
I'm actually going to give you 60s per question.
00;12;39;05 - 00;12;45;13
Dr. Mike Belkowski
Does that include when you're speaking and asking the question? There's that post question post question.
00;12;45;13 - 00;12;50;28
Don Bailey
And you like to think before you give an answer. So I'll start the timer on your first word.
00;12;51;00 - 00;13;06;17
Dr. Mike Belkowski
Just so people know, because Donal never admitted on his own, but he used to be one of the top speech and debate individuals when he was graduating high school. So. Oh, and he should be the one answering these questions like he'd be a little more succinct and articulate, but we'll see what I don't have.
00;13;06;17 - 00;13;32;26
Don Bailey
The depth, the knowledge that you do here, but also not just high school. It was college too. So you throw that in there, you sprinkle that on on the top for people. But I think this is going to be really good for the listener because in that minute of time, it allows us to grab key nuggets from what you're saying in relation to the question, but more importantly, it allows us to kind of switch topics every minute.
00;13;32;29 - 00;13;39;15
Don Bailey
That way our brains can more easily follow their answers. You know, the short term memory portion of our brain.
00;13;39;20 - 00;13;41;02
Dr. Mike Belkowski
I love it. Let's go.
00;13;41;05 - 00;13;51;22
Don Bailey
And if you're taking methylene blue, you can, remember a lot more. So. All right, you ready? Let's go. First question what are mitochondria and why do people call them power plants of the cell.
00;13;51;25 - 00;14;16;00
Dr. Mike Belkowski
Mitochondria are inside of every single cell in our body. Outside the red blood cells are little organelles. They produce the vast majority upwards of 90, 95% of all the energy in our body, which the implications of that are massive in that the more energy we have, so the healthier you will be. That is just an axiom, axiomatic truth.
00;14;16;02 - 00;14;41;13
Dr. Mike Belkowski
So again, if we're concentrated on improving our energy to improve our overall health and vitality, then what we're left with is at a root level root cause, improving mitochondrial function. The more in mitochondria we can have dozens. So we can have hundreds, we can have thousands, we can have millions of mitochondria. So and the density of mitochondria is dependent on how energy intensive a given tissue or organ is.
00;14;41;13 - 00;14;58;10
Dr. Mike Belkowski
For example, the brain is the most mitochondrial dense because it requires the most energy, which means, for better or worse, when the bioenergetics or on your brain is function optimally in your bioenergetics or off your brain. Neurodegeneration, anxiety, depression can quickly occur.
00;14;58;13 - 00;15;01;12
Don Bailey
It's nice you ran over a little bit there, but great answers.
00;15;01;15 - 00;15;03;29
Dr. Mike Belkowski
In the video so they can't see.
00;15;04;01 - 00;15;10;09
Don Bailey
All right, second question why do scientists care about mitochondria when they talk about energy and aging.
00;15;10;12 - 00;15;42;01
Dr. Mike Belkowski
Without being too redundant? As the research has come out the last handful of decades, especially a lot of the work, thanks to Doctor Doug Wallace over in Philadelphia, top mitochondrial research in the world. He's kind of really brought to light, pun somewhat intended, that the mitochondria are highly implicated. It's not just our overall wellness, but from a preventive mindset staving off modern diseases, cancers and just overall body dysfunction.
00;15;42;04 - 00;16;04;07
Dr. Mike Belkowski
And again, that ties back to the very first question, which is because if we have more energy, so we will emphatically have better health and stave off diseases and cancers as the years go on. And just like a piece of research I just talked about, we're looking at now, mitochondria intimately intertwined in the process and or regression of cancer.
00;16;04;07 - 00;16;10;03
Dr. Mike Belkowski
So it's very much leading the charge in the research from health wellness cancer and beyond mitochondria.
00;16;10;06 - 00;16;11;28
Don Bailey
To I was great okay.
00;16;11;29 - 00;16;44;23
Dr. Mike Belkowski
All right guys bio light has recently released its newest, most well rounded mitochondrial support supplement. And we're calling it the Fountain of Youth. More technically, it's bio blue Fountain of youth because it does contain, in one version methylene blue. In another version, local methylene blue alongside a slew of other efficacious and effective mitochondrial boosting compounds. So like I mentioned, one of the hero ingredients is methylene blue or another version, local methylene blue.
00;16;44;23 - 00;17;10;26
Dr. Mike Belkowski
And then the other hero ingredient is euro lithium a. And then we also include three types of the most mitochondrial impactful versions of mushroom, such as lion's mane, cordyceps and chaga. And then we also include a high quality organic quality. Sheila legit. And I should mention the mushrooms are all organic, but then an organic quality. Sheila G8, which contains humic and folic acid.
00;17;10;26 - 00;17;31;19
Dr. Mike Belkowski
So again, just like the liquid that has for the acid helps you better absorb whatever you take with it so it gets deeper into the cells. That's why we're including the Sheila G here. And then lastly PK, which is amazing for micro Genesis or the formation of new mitochondria. So again this is the Cadillac of mitochondrial support supplements.
00;17;31;19 - 00;17;55;09
Dr. Mike Belkowski
So if you're someone who is very focused and excited about improving your mitochondrial function, again this is the most comprehensive supplement on the market at this point for those that are interested. Again this is called bio blue Fountain of Youth. You can use discount code fo y 15 fo y1 five to get 15% off your first order. And again we have two versions.
00;17;55;09 - 00;18;20;02
Dr. Mike Belkowski
One is called Bio Blue Fountain of Youth and then the other one is Bio Blue Fountain of Youth. Lucho. Because of course that incorporates the lucho methylene blue, which is kind of a supercharged version of methylene blue. But also remember, you can always choose the subscription on all of our supplements, so you can always get a 10% off your order and then have that subscribe for one month, or every two months, or every four months, or every six months.
00;18;20;02 - 00;18;51;03
Dr. Mike Belkowski
And then you can also choose the bio blue fountain of Youth in our bio bundle. And so by choosing a bio bundle that automatically unlocks 15% off. So with the bio bundle, you choose one Bio blue product and then you choose one bio C60 product, either the regular or the concentrated version of bio C60. And so if you choose the bio bundle plus the subscription version of the bio bundle, which unlocks an additional 10% off, you can get 25% off total of the entire bio bundle.
00;18;51;03 - 00;19;09;05
Dr. Mike Belkowski
So again, you can get 25% off the Fountain of Youth by using the bio bundle. If you just want to dip your toes into the water, use discount code for a 15 to get 15% off and try this. Most comprehensive, well-rounded mitochondrial support supplement that we're offering now at Bio Light number three.
00;19;09;05 - 00;19;14;06
Don Bailey
Besides making energy, what else do mitochondria do inside of our cells?
00;19;14;08 - 00;19;38;29
Dr. Mike Belkowski
Yeah, and I guess without even knowing this question that makes this article even more relevant or prevalent to this discussion, because I help define mitochondrial fusion. Mitochondrial fission, those are things people really don't think about when we talk about mitochondria, because I keep harping on energy. Energy, energy, which is clearly important. But to your question, Don, and things like mitochondrial fusion and fission, again, that's known as mitochondrial dynamics.
00;19;39;01 - 00;20;03;00
Dr. Mike Belkowski
Clearly that's important because if you're fusion of bringing two weaker mitochondria together excuse me. That's fusion is not working. Then you're left with more dysfunctional mitochondria. So we think of mitochondria producing energy. We think of might agenesis meaning the production of more mitochondria. That's a program you need for anti-aging. My autophagy that's what you're listening does it recycles dysfunctional mitochondria kind of like autophagy.
00;20;03;02 - 00;20;27;27
Dr. Mike Belkowski
But at the mitochondrial level they produce reactive oxygen species, which in a normal amount is good because they're signaling molecules when it's excessive, that damages the mitochondrial DNA, which leads to aging, disease and so forth. And then the mitochondria have chromatophores on them, which means they intimately and directly interact with light, which is why sunlight is so important for our health because of its impact on our mitochondria and much more.
00;20;27;29 - 00;20;35;15
Don Bailey
I like this format. Albert Einstein said, if you can't explain a topic simply, you don't understand the topic enough.
00;20;35;18 - 00;20;39;09
Dr. Mike Belkowski
And we'll just because it's 60s doesn't mean I'm saying it simply.
00;20;39;12 - 00;20;51;02
Don Bailey
You're crushing it. All right. Number four, what kinds of problems do people commonly link to? Mitochondrial trouble, such as fatigue, exercise intolerance, etc.?
00;20;51;04 - 00;21;14;07
Dr. Mike Belkowski
Well, you just answered them. So mitochondrial dysfunction again mitochondria in every single cell in your body. So depending on your DNA. So literally depending on your blueprint you're going to be you have propensities for certain deficits. Or if the blueprint is in your favor like for example your detox pathway. Some people have really great detox pathways. Some people like me, very poor detox pathways.
00;21;14;10 - 00;21;44;28
Dr. Mike Belkowski
So all of that to say, your DNA is part of it, but the mitochondria are your environmental sensors. So what's your relationship with light meaning the sunlight and or how often are you under fluorescent lights? Quality of food, quality of water matters. How often do you touch the earth? All of these things directly impact the mitochondria. So a person will have mitochondrial dysfunction in certain organs or tissues that are in at least resonance with your environment.
00;21;45;00 - 00;22;09;10
Dr. Mike Belkowski
So for example, if you have a laptop on your lap a lot, that will lead to pancreatitis. If you're constantly surrounded by poor magnetic fields, let's say you're working in a hospital around the radiation center or X-ray machines or MRI's. You're being exposed to a lot of poor deleterious non-native magnetism that's going to affect your mitochondria, probably systemically, but certainly where there's the most water, which is your brain.
00;22;09;12 - 00;22;36;13
Dr. Mike Belkowski
So to your point on energy, low energy, low fatigue, poor poor sleep, increased pain, meaning decreased pain tolerance, we're going to behavioral disorders. It runs the gamut because the mitochondria are in every single organ. So they can literally lead to dysfunctional organs tissues i.e. diseases like these diagnoses of Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, Hashimoto's. That's all because of directly tied to mitochondrial dysfunction.
00;22;36;15 - 00;22;47;21
Don Bailey
Sorry. That question kind of required a little bit more than a minute. There. Perfect. Next question. How do researchers think mitochondria might be involved in common conditions like brain fog or low stamina.
00;22;47;24 - 00;23;14;03
Dr. Mike Belkowski
Similar to the last question, I guess if your mitochondria are not operating properly, and is that because you have low redox potential, which we talked about last week, is that cause your autophagy program isn't working properly, so you have too many dysfunctional mitochondria lingering around, perpetuating themselves, causing inflammation, wreaking havoc, causing more oxidative stress. All of these things can lead to mitochondria at the root level, so they can cause dysfunctional cells which cause dysfunctional tissues, organs.
00;23;14;03 - 00;23;43;05
Dr. Mike Belkowski
So in the brain, which is most mitochondrial dense, if there's low redox potential, meaning you are not producing ATP, there's not proper circulation, there's not proper nutrients in and garbage out, then. Yeah, especially this energy crisis. I guess that's what it comes down to. Done when the when it's the brain, whether it's mood, stress, anxiety, neurodegeneration, even TBI and head trauma, there's this energy crisis that happens, which is again intimately tied to mitochondrial function.
00;23;43;08 - 00;24;13;22
Dr. Mike Belkowski
Thus you do anything to improve your mitochondrial function in your brain, i.e. transcranial photodiode modulation. You're more than likely going to reverse that process, or at least ameliorate or accelerate the progression of or resolution of. I should say, let's say anxiety, depression, even neurodegeneration. You can reverse TBI, you can accelerate the healing process. It all comes down to how can you properly and effectively improve mitochondrial function in the brain.
00;24;13;25 - 00;24;19;06
Dr. Mike Belkowski
We can get into things like deuterium depleted water, hydrogen for the by modulation, methylene blue, so on and so forth.
00;24;19;08 - 00;24;24;07
Don Bailey
Beautiful. How do mitochondria turn food into usable energy?
00;24;24;10 - 00;25;05;04
Dr. Mike Belkowski
Well, at its most basic level, it strips it of its electrons, feeds it through the electron transport chain, and then through oxidative phosphorylation, the pathway that happens inside of the mitochondrial electron transport chain. You have ATP and metabolic water that's produced. I mean, at its most basic level, that's what's occurring. Furthermore, whether your food was touched by light or if it was like a packaged food that was never touched by light, synthetic, what have you, that's going to have an effect on the quality of the mitochondria or of the electron, because the electron carries a spoon which carries a signal of the light that touched it, or lack thereof, which then tells the mitochondria really
00;25;05;04 - 00;25;21;20
Dr. Mike Belkowski
what to do with that electron in terms of being more efficient or being more prone to disease or adding fat to your body. So that's why eating these whole foods are so much more healthful is because they were touched by light, which gives a signal to your mitochondria, which is more inherent to our biology.
00;25;21;22 - 00;25;38;18
Don Bailey
I'm going to adlib and go off the list and throw another question in here. In the conversation last week, you were talking about it's important to eat food native to the area that you're receiving light in. So what is the connection between the light and your diet?
00;25;38;20 - 00;26;07;08
Dr. Mike Belkowski
Well, if you think about it, if you and I don't even know you're in South Carolina, I'm in Montana. Before we started eating pineapples in December, that would be out of complete resonance with our light environment in December. We're not good enough. You've specifically to offset the deleterious effects of the deuterium in the fruit. So we would be eating a fruit that's in a high energy location that's producing that pineapple in December.
00;26;07;10 - 00;26;32;15
Dr. Mike Belkowski
Yet we're eating it in a location that we're living in, you and I, in the middle of winter, that is poor sunlight and low UVA. So just from that basic level, that's going to be a major disconnect. When we're processing digesting that food, the electrons are going through the mitochondria and it's trying to read. It's that spin state which tells the spin state of the electron, which tells the mitochondria what was the type of light, what was the intensity of light of this food.
00;26;32;18 - 00;26;50;00
Dr. Mike Belkowski
So again, if there's a disconnect there that will inherently not be as healthful compared to if you and I in the middle of December, are eating food that has a similar spectra in intensity of light for that season, that comes from the photoelectric effect from Albert Einstein 1922.
00;26;50;02 - 00;27;01;18
Don Bailey
Okay. So you touched on this question a bit, and one of your earlier answers. But what are free radicals and why are they sometimes described as both helpful and harmful?
00;27;01;20 - 00;27;24;19
Dr. Mike Belkowski
Well, for example, nitric oxide is a free radical in its normal production in a person's given body, a normal amount of know is healthful. It's beneficial. It's a signaling molecule in excess. It can become a problem just like anything in health. So the main source of free radical production. And there's even something called the free radical theory of aging.
00;27;24;22 - 00;27;50;08
Dr. Mike Belkowski
I think it's been supplanted by something else. I forget what it is. It might even be the mitochondrial theory of aging. But free radical theory of aging, says that the more free radicals you produce, the less healthful and the shorter you will live. Whereas if we can modulate and normalize that free radical production, then you're going to have the benefits of the signaling without the detriments of the excess, which leads to oxidative stress.
00;27;50;08 - 00;28;10;28
Dr. Mike Belkowski
So the main site of free radical production in our body is the mitochondria. It's that exhaust, if you will, from producing energy and water again in normal oxidative phosphorylation capacity. Good thing in excess when there's leakage through the electron transport chain, for example, that's a detriment.
00;28;11;00 - 00;28;19;13
Don Bailey
I really like this next question. So what is mitochondrial quality control like autophagy. And why does it matter.
00;28;19;16 - 00;28;48;26
Dr. Mike Belkowski
Quality control. We can allude that to my autophagy because that's essentially what it is. My TFG it's a program that cleans up and recycles dysfunctional mitochondria similar to autophagy, where when there's a dysfunctional cell, it'll kind of like self break down, recycle itself. My autophagy has that at the mitochondrial level. So if you might have a G program is not working properly then you're allowing these dysfunctional mitochondria to linger around.
00;28;48;28 - 00;29;11;13
Dr. Mike Belkowski
Become senescent if you will, like zombie like. And they're just pro-inflammatory. Furthermore, like I alluded to at the beginning, the dysfunctional mitochondria, if they're not cleaned up and taken care of through my haffajee, they'll self propagate. And so then you have more and more dysfunctional mitochondria being produced. All the while they actually also inhibit the propagation of healthy mitochondria.
00;29;11;13 - 00;29;13;23
Dr. Mike Belkowski
So it's kind of a double whammy in that sense.
00;29;13;26 - 00;29;22;00
Don Bailey
Okay. Let's move on to more lifestyle based questions and habits. What everyday things are thought to affect mitochondrial health?
00;29;22;02 - 00;29;52;21
Dr. Mike Belkowski
Sleep, food, water, light, magnetism? For example, I sleep on magnets, but I also do grounding every day. Your stressors in life. And that's both physical and mental stressors. Are they in balance or are they out of whack? Your interpersonal relationships, friends, family? Otherwise? Are those in harmony? Or are they in dissonance that will affect your mitochondria? Because your thoughts and emotions affect the water in your body which is surrounds you?
00;29;52;21 - 00;30;22;14
Dr. Mike Belkowski
Mitochondria. So if your emotions imprint a negative energy on your water that's going to have a negative effect on your mitochondria. And that's how emotions and thoughts can literally shape your health. We already said sleep circadian rhythm, non-native EMF. So are you in a very densely populated city? Do you have strategies to mitigate your your interaction or how much non-native EMF is having an effect on your body?
00;30;22;14 - 00;30;35;27
Dr. Mike Belkowski
So how much Bluetooth, Wi-Fi? How close are you to a 5G tower? There is ways to mitigate this through clothing, through things like Soma, Vedic and other technology. So the list goes on and on. But those are kind of the top ones. I think of.
00;30;35;29 - 00;30;49;11
Don Bailey
So the next question is, is in terms of exercise, is there a specific type of exercise that is good for everyone or does different types of exercise impact people's mitochondria differently? Well, let's.
00;30;49;18 - 00;31;13;00
Dr. Mike Belkowski
Think of the top endurance runners in the world. And then let's think of the top sumo wrestlers in the world. Very different mitochondria if you will, or like density of in certain parts of the body. But I guess to drive home the point here. So for example, this is an episode that will come out in the coming weeks, but it's about my DNA specifically being analyzed to me.
00;31;13;03 - 00;31;47;11
Dr. Mike Belkowski
I learned my body, my DNA does not resonate well with long endurance training. It doesn't resonate well with the typical resistance training paradigm like you do heavy lifts, three sets, yada yada. You just do a bunch of different exercises that those three sets. At heavy weights, my body prefers to do one single set to failure exercises meaning for bench press example, do comfortable weight and then just do as many reps as I can, whether that's six, eight, ten, 12, whatever, as many reps as I can at a relatively heavy weight.
00;31;47;13 - 00;32;25;16
Dr. Mike Belkowski
Once I max out, drop is 10 or 15 pounds max out at that again, drop a 10 or 15 pounds max out again and then drop another 10 or 15 pounds max out again. So I'm consecutively doing lighter and lighter and lighter weight and then maxing out at that given weight. So what that does is instead of doing the same heavy weight for 3 or 4 sets, I'm doing a lighter and lighter and lighter weight, but I'm reaching that maximum failure in that matters to my DNA because it's not able to combat the inflammation as well.
00;32;25;19 - 00;32;45;27
Dr. Mike Belkowski
Whereas with those heavy sets, you're tearing muscle fibers, you're creating inflammation. But since I'm doing lighter and lighter weights, I'm reaching failure. But I'm not tearing muscle fibers because I'm doing such a lightweight. So it allows me to get that burn, get that exercise. But it's more in alignment with my DNA, which with the traditional paradigm that would be more inflammatory to my DNA.
00;32;46;01 - 00;33;12;15
Dr. Mike Belkowski
So as an example, it's like to answer your question, no, there's no blanketed type of exercise that's great for everyone. One could argue that things like yoga, tai chi, I think those are healthy for everyone because that involves stretching, breathing. It's not tearing down muscle fiber, it's not creating inflammation. So those types of things will actually help tap into your vagus nerve, tap into your parasympathetic static nervous system, help drive up your RV.
00;33;12;20 - 00;33;33;29
Dr. Mike Belkowski
Those are actually helpful. I would argue, for virtually everyone. But to your point, from like an athletic perspective, building muscle, building cardio, it's not a one size fits all paradigm that necessitates that you have your DNA taken and analyzed. You can't guess. I mean, you probably could guess if you're from like Eastern Africa or Western Africa, your endurance is probably superior.
00;33;34;01 - 00;33;54;06
Dr. Mike Belkowski
But like if you don't know, you don't know. Because I was brought up and again, I was under that traditional paradigm for my entire life. But since I just heard my DNA read, I've literally already changed the way I lived and the way I exercise to be in more resonance with my with my DNA. So something that you literally have to have your DNA analyzed to know which exercise is best for you.
00;33;54;08 - 00;33;57;01
Dr. Mike Belkowski
Otherwise it's more or less guesswork.
00;33;57;03 - 00;34;13;07
Don Bailey
Yeah. You can't just guess what's going on in DNA. So in terms of eating patterns like intermittent fasting or time restricted eating, what type of claims do those eating patterns or how do they claim to influence the mitochondria.
00;34;13;10 - 00;34;36;19
Dr. Mike Belkowski
So both will start with fasting. You get to a certain threshold of hours without food, meaning you could do a water fast. If you do a dry fast, it's even further accelerated. Then you're turning on the programs like autophagy. Now, I don't know if that specifically relates to my autophagy, but I would have to think it does because it means you have more energy when you're not eating and digesting, which takes a lot of energy.
00;34;36;22 - 00;35;17;07
Dr. Mike Belkowski
So when you're not eating and you have all of that extra energy for your cells and to carry out those physiological processes, that means those programs like autophagy might you are probably going to be turned on to just clean out the system to help things get optimized. So fasting is great for that. Intermittent fasting to a lesser degree, but I want to get more so to like ketosis or a ketogenic diet, specifically the mitochondrial claims, since you're burning ketones and instead of glucose, that's going to be a deuterium depleting diet or lifestyle, which we'll get into here in future episodes.
00;35;17;09 - 00;35;43;14
Dr. Mike Belkowski
The importance of depleting your deuterium level in your body in a nutshell, Don, just let me finish here. Deuterium, which is an isotope of hydrogen, is larger and heavier than hydrogen. And these hydrogen protons are what runs through this ATP synthase in the mitochondria. It's after the fourth respiratory protein. So we go complex 1234. Then the protons are spinning this rotary motor at complex five the ATP synthase.
00;35;43;16 - 00;36;09;13
Dr. Mike Belkowski
If deuterium gets into this rotary motor this gear instead of the regular sized protons, remembering that deuterium is is bigger and bulkier, it literally clogs that ATP synthase. And you need that ATP synthase to be rotating normally. That should, because that's what produces ATP and biological water. So the more deuterium you have clogging up these gears, just think about all the gears in the watches.
00;36;09;13 - 00;36;33;12
Dr. Mike Belkowski
They're in perfect alignment. They have to be working perfectly. If a little grain of sand gets in those gears, it's going to cause a little hitch or little giddy get up and in its normal rotation, if you will. So deuterium clogs the gears, decreases ATP metabolic water production. Thus, if we can deplete deuterium, more mitochondria are going to be operating normally normalized energy production.
00;36;33;14 - 00;36;54;25
Dr. Mike Belkowski
And again back to bioenergetics, more energy, more health. And again, a whole lot. To your question. Ketogenic diet promotes the production of deuterium depleted water. Thus, it's one of the best ways to without engaging in an expensive habit like drinking deuterium depleted water. Undertaking a ketogenic diet is a surefire way to help reduce deuterium levels in your body.
00;36;54;27 - 00;37;22;00
Don Bailey
Okay, so this next section that I want to move into, I kind of want to talk about, it's going to be more or less the supplementation or the mitochondria. So I'm going to go into some of the ingredients that are used in some of the bio blue formulations, the S 60, etc.. So we'll do rapid fire on. I'll ask you the ingredient and then you tell me what it does for the mitochondria.
00;37;22;03 - 00;37;37;09
Don Bailey
So the first question is going to be an extended question. And then after that first question I'll say methylene blue. And I'm actually not going to time this section. Let's just try to get as short of answers. Impossible because there is a lot of, you know, ingredients.
00;37;37;17 - 00;37;38;25
Dr. Mike Belkowski
Okay. I'll try.
00;37;38;27 - 00;37;46;25
Don Bailey
All right. So the first question, what are mitochondria targeted antioxidants. And what do they aim to do? In theory.
00;37;46;27 - 00;38;17;24
Dr. Mike Belkowski
Antioxidants are electron donors. So anytime you can accrue electrons, that will inherently improve your redox potential, which means your affinity for electrons and to utilize them. Electrons are used in the electron transport chain to produce ATP, the token of energy in metabolic water, which is deuterium depleted water. So your mitochondria produce deuterium depleted water. Does anything you can do to improve mitochondrial function will inherently lower your deuterium levels in your body.
00;38;17;26 - 00;38;22;25
Don Bailey
What's an example of, mitochondria targeted antioxidant.
00;38;22;27 - 00;39;01;18
Dr. Mike Belkowski
CoQ10 or NAD precursors such as. And I'm in an R which is nicotinamide mono nucleotide and nicotinamide riverside. Those are precursors for NAD. NAD is utilized in the electron transport chain. So it is important to help move those electrons through the transport chain in order to produce ATP. So if there's a deficiency of CoQ10 or NAD, for example, that may lead to a less efficient electron transport chain, which it gets too inefficient, that becomes mitochondrial dysfunction.
00;39;01;20 - 00;39;06;28
Don Bailey
So Niman is an ingredient in the bio blue serum, correct.
00;39;07;01 - 00;39;09;24
Dr. Mike Belkowski
In the by the blue liquid formulas. Yep.
00;39;09;26 - 00;39;14;19
Don Bailey
And, why did you choose to pair the inner moon with methylene blue?
00;39;14;21 - 00;39;53;08
Dr. Mike Belkowski
Because in again, with it being an NAD precursor would help amplify energy levels. Again, not like hyper active coffee caffeine energy, but again, the normal physiological energy. And again, it's not meant to be a full therapeutic dose in our product. It's meant to be a synergistic with the methylene blue, with the other ingredients to amplify mitochondrial function. So we used NMR and because it is a very efficacious form of an NAD precursor and we discussed why NAD is important because of its role in making the electron transport chain efficient.
00;39;53;10 - 00;39;57;24
Don Bailey
All right. Next question. Mitogen or methylene blue.
00;39;57;27 - 00;40;41;29
Dr. Mike Belkowski
So methylene blue is considered one of the if not the top antioxidant. Same with carbon 60 which we'll get to here in a second. And they're very robust and profound because whereas other antioxidants like vitamin C, vitamin E, vitamin A, when they start donating their electrons, they begin degrading immediately. So they only have so many times they can donate electrons except donate, except whereas methylene blue and carbon 60, they're considered regenerative in cyclic or cyclic antioxidants because they can donate and accept, donate, and accept thousands and thousands of times before they begin degenerating.
00;40;41;29 - 00;41;14;13
Dr. Mike Belkowski
So they have a very robust capacity to neutralize free radicals, thus neutralize oxidative stress. But furthermore, and specifically with methylene blue, if there is a hiccup in the electron transport chain, specifically likes to happen at complex one, complex three where there's a backlog of electrons, which is one way that there's electron leakage and oxidative stress. So if there's those backlogs, methylene blue can donate its electrons to complex one and or three and normalize that electron flow, thus resuming the efficiency of energy production.
00;41;14;13 - 00;41;24;18
Dr. Mike Belkowski
Whereas beforehand energy production was inefficient. It's not happening at all. So methylene blue can literally restore energy production in a dysfunctional mitochondria.
00;41;24;21 - 00;41;26;03
Don Bailey
Luca methylene blue.
00;41;26;06 - 00;41;48;01
Dr. Mike Belkowski
So when you consume methylene blue, your body processes it and your liver reduces it into Lukoil methylene blue, which is ultimately what's utilized by your cells. So Luca, methylene blue, if you were to consume that in the first place, then you circumvent that process of having to be broken down and reduced in the liver, and it's immediately bioavailable.
00;41;48;04 - 00;42;20;22
Dr. Mike Belkowski
Furthermore, from a chemical standpoint, since the liver is reducing methylene blue into Luca, methylene blue reduction means the addition of electrons. So Luca methylene blue is not only more bioavailable, but has a higher antioxidant capacity. It essentially does the same things in the mitochondria. Like we've talked about the electron transport chain. The only potential downfall, shall we say, of Luca methylene blue, is that, to my knowledge, there's not as much or any research to show its photodynamic capacity, let's say, with red light.
00;42;20;25 - 00;42;43;19
Dr. Mike Belkowski
So I do believe that dark, dark, dark, dark blue pigment of the methylene blue is specific to methylene blue, and that it has a synergistic relationship with that 665 or 660 nanometer light, which is like dead center in the red light spectrum. Whereas Luca methylene blue in its most perfect form is clear, but once it becomes exposed to oxygen at all, it will start to turn blue.
00;42;43;23 - 00;43;12;17
Dr. Mike Belkowski
So you'll notice, like with our Lukoil Methylene Blue supplements, they can tend to be a little more teal, whereas the methylene blue is that dark dark royal blue. So I would hazard a guess just because of those color differences. Luca. Methylene blue wouldn't have the same photodynamic capacity as methylene blue. So if that's like your main concern and is utilizing methylene blue or utilizing one of these with red light therapy, you'd want to opt for the supplement that has methylene blue in it.
00;43;12;20 - 00;43;14;14
Don Bailey
Beautiful. Carbon 60.
00;43;14;16 - 00;43;41;08
Dr. Mike Belkowski
So carbon 60 are the quote unquote pharmaceutical grade form is called SS 60. And I've had a podcast with Chris Burris earlier this year where we describe how and why we switched our supplement name from bio C60 to bio 60. Again, it's differentiate that we use a very high quality pharmaceutical grade carbon 60. Whereas if you see a supplement that does not say that, then you kind of got to question its quality and legitimacy.
00;43;41;15 - 00;44;05;15
Dr. Mike Belkowski
So what does carbon 60 do to the mitochondria? Again carbon 60 is the molecule SS 60 is the pharmaceutical purity quality of carbon 60. Carbon 60 essentially again it's a it's an amazing profound antioxidant. Just like methylene blue. You can donate except donate except. But what it does versus interacting directly inside the mitochondrial transport chain. At least we don't know that yet.
00;44;05;18 - 00;44;37;01
Dr. Mike Belkowski
I hazard a guess. We'll find out more in the future through research. But currently what we know is that it is unparalleled to sequestering and quenching excess free radical production so it prevents or mitigates oxidative stress from even occurring. So it's amazing for energy, it's amazing for sleep, for reducing pain and improving athletic performance. And again, the list goes on and on and on, even anti-cancer properties again, because the central thesis here is that it improves mitochondrial function.
00;44;37;03 - 00;45;01;05
Dr. Mike Belkowski
But whereas methylene blue is more so working inside of the electron transport chain, carbon 60 is again cleaning up that exhaust, making it so it's the more normal amount that we want for free radical signaling. And it doesn't allow it from becoming excessive. The free radical production which excess free radicals turns into oxidative stress.
00;45;01;07 - 00;45;13;15
Don Bailey
Okay, so this next one I could just say the abbreviation for it. But I want to say the award. Tell me if I get this right. Nicotinamide mono nucleotide and amine.
00;45;13;18 - 00;45;15;20
Dr. Mike Belkowski
Yeah. Nicotinamide mono.
00;45;15;20 - 00;45;16;21
Dr. Mike Belkowski
Nucleotide.
00;45;16;23 - 00;45;16;28
Dr. Mike Belkowski
You.
00;45;16;28 - 00;45;20;18
Don Bailey
Know crushed it. Oh man ten points spelling bee champ.
00;45;20;25 - 00;45;54;03
Dr. Mike Belkowski
So it's a precursor to nad. NAD is central to shuttling electrons to the electron transport chain or at least one part of it, just like CoQ10 is one part of it. So if you're deficient in NAD, then your electron shuttling wouldn't be as efficient if occurring at all. Thus, that would lead to decreased energy production. So NAD, just like CoQ10 is one compound or one molecule that helps facilities facilitate the shuttling of electrons to produce energy and metabolic water.
00;45;54;05 - 00;46;13;09
Dr. Mike Belkowski
And again and amine is a precursor to NAD. So if you take NMN in, your body is going to metabolize it and synthesize it into NAD just like they could with nicotinamide. Right. Riverside. So yeah, that's how it can improve energy levels is by improving the electrons, getting through the electron transport chain.
00;46;13;12 - 00;46;18;15
Don Bailey
So these next two are just small things. But Claudio Gold and Claudio Silver.
00;46;18;17 - 00;46;19;16
Dr. Mike Belkowski
Colloidal.
00;46;19;19 - 00;46;20;14
Don Bailey
Colloidal.
00;46;20;14 - 00;46;21;19
Dr. Mike Belkowski
You just lost ten points.
00;46;21;22 - 00;46;24;11
Don Bailey
Spelling bee failure revoked.
00;46;24;15 - 00;46;46;16
Dr. Mike Belkowski
So a colloid or a colloidal molecule of sorts a colloid is just a substance in the suspension. So colloidal gold is gold suspended in water, colloidal silver is silver suspended in water. And it's just a what PMS like there can be different dilutions or concentrations right. So that's all like a colloidal gold or a colloidal silver or anything.
00;46;46;18 - 00;47;18;17
Dr. Mike Belkowski
Colloidal blank. That blank is suspended in a given liquid. It doesn't have to be water. But like what we're talking about, it is so with gold there are cognitive properties, neurodegenerative properties, with gold, with silver, there's immune boosting properties. Both of them, to a certain degree help enhance the photodynamic activity of methylene blue. So when we were creating bio blue, we wanted to amplify the benefits.
00;47;18;19 - 00;47;38;00
Dr. Mike Belkowski
The photodynamic capacity of methylene blue. Thus we added colloidal gold, colloidal silver. Again those are in huge quantities per serving. They're relatively small, but even in small amounts, just like with the in it adds a nice little synergistic effect with the methylene blue in this mitochondrial support.
00;47;38;02 - 00;47;39;21
Don Bailey
Pelvic acid so full.
00;47;39;21 - 00;48;10;11
Dr. Mike Belkowski
The acid is derived from the Earth folic acid humic acid. And they're chock full of minerals, micronutrients and such directly from the Earth, and so specifically to folic acid. I learned years ago that anything you consume in the presence of folic acid, folic acid, helps it drive deeper into the cell. So better absorption so again with methylene blue we want to amplify its mitochondrial boosting capacity.
00;48;10;13 - 00;48;39;25
Dr. Mike Belkowski
We included purified full like acid which would help you better absorb and drive a deeper into the cells into the mitochondria. And I just got verified from a very trustworthy source who knows a lot about these types of adjuvants or supplements. He asked specifically, what type of folic acid do we use in our supplements? Because he said, there's literally only one legitimate source of folic acid that anyone should be using a consuming.
00;48;39;28 - 00;49;08;05
Dr. Mike Belkowski
So I told him the source and he said with a nodding approval, that's the one. So just like just letting people know when I mean that, we I take a lot of time and diligence to find high quality ingredients or with whatever we're producing. And same thing with products that are coming in the future. I take a lot of time and energy to find the highest quality ingredients, because that's what I want to be providing to anyone who who's utilizing the product.
00;49;08;05 - 00;49;13;08
Dr. Mike Belkowski
That includes me, that includes Don, that includes my family, that includes you guys, the listeners.
00;49;13;12 - 00;49;18;08
Don Bailey
Yeah. It took me a while to find the ingredients for this next product.
00;49;18;11 - 00;49;20;19
Dr. Mike Belkowski
Yeah, it took me months, but it's worth it.
00;49;20;22 - 00;49;29;12
Don Bailey
It's worth it. It's worth it. I can't wait to talk about the benefits I've seen from that so far. Next one taurine. Yeah, this has.
00;49;29;12 - 00;49;58;01
Dr. Mike Belkowski
Become one of my new favorites, and I need to get Sandra Kaufmann back on on the podcast because she's been a huge fan of taurine as well of recent because her last spring I read a whole textbook on pretty big and the mitochondria applications in the pharmacotherapy of Human Diseases. It's 300 pages of small print. But like I like to do, I highlight, I underline all of that to say, after reading this book, essentially textbook, I had a great awakening.
00;49;58;01 - 00;50;18;13
Dr. Mike Belkowski
And a profound appreciation for taurine role in the mitochondria. So whether Red Bull and Monster and these people that put touring in their energy drinks, they probably saw some information or research that said, oh, taurine leads to improved energy production or creating an energy drink. But that's not the same thing as like improving energy at the mitochondrial level.
00;50;18;13 - 00;50;50;14
Dr. Mike Belkowski
Again, for health and longevity. So taurine does a lot of things, but the one that it does, again, like just like C60 sequesters free radicals, taurine sequesters calcium. So when there's excess calcium release that can lead to oxide of toxicity, cell death that happens in your brain that leads to neurotoxicity and nerve death, or like a disconnection of a of a synapse or synapses where nerves are sending signals from one to another.
00;50;50;19 - 00;51;21;24
Dr. Mike Belkowski
Those can get broken if there's excess calcium release. What causes excess calcium release? One of the worst ones is non-native emfs. So that's why we're constantly talking about the the the downstream negative consequences of being exposed to excess microwaves, Bluetooth, WiFi, 5G, etc., etc. it's not only because it dehydrates your body in remember your mitochondria produces water. So there's a direct connection to mitochondrial dysfunction, but it leads to excess calcium being released.
00;51;21;26 - 00;51;33;08
Dr. Mike Belkowski
Which leads to those detriments that I just talked about. So again taurine sequesters that excess calcium release thus mitigating the potential for nerve and cell damage.
00;51;33;10 - 00;51;48;17
Don Bailey
Absolutely beautiful. So I'm going to jump around and I'm going to skip a few ingredients. And some of the products. I'm going to do three more. But this next one is a grouping. So the mushrooms that we use like chaga quarter ceps, lion's mane and reishi.
00;51;48;19 - 00;51;49;21
Dr. Mike Belkowski
In terms of.
00;51;49;24 - 00;51;59;24
Don Bailey
How they impact the mitochondria. And maybe they're mushrooms that impact the mitochondria. Or you could talk about them individually. I just wanted to put mushrooms in a category.
00;51;59;26 - 00;52;24;09
Dr. Mike Belkowski
Yeah. Individual mushrooms do individual things. So Fargo is an antioxidant powerhouse. It helps fight inflammation, supports immunity, reduces cellular stress. It's like chaga is giving your cells armor on a daily. Like if you take it on a daily basis from these daily environmental factors, excess free radical production, what have you. Because again, if it's an antioxidant powerhouse, it's donating electrons.
00;52;24;16 - 00;52;57;10
Dr. Mike Belkowski
So chaga specifically is very powerful as an antioxidant. Cordyceps. More so this one's popular in athletic circles. It is known for boosting stamina and oxygen use. And in some like more quote unquote natural pre-workout or exercise supplements, you'll find cordyceps because of how it improves your energy. Lion's mane is notorious for improving brain health, improving neuronal synapses, kind of like how excess calcium prunes your nerves or like, kills nerve cells.
00;52;57;10 - 00;53;26;21
Dr. Mike Belkowski
I mean, lion's mane would work in combating that issue in a different way than Tareen was. Tareen is it's a question of the calcium Cordyceps is or sorry, lion's Mane is promoting the growth of new brain cells. And so especially in the older quote unquote, chronologically older population, lion's mane is popular for maintaining memory cognition focus. So it's very popular in longevity supplements, especially those tailored towards the brain and cognition.
00;53;26;23 - 00;53;29;26
Don Bailey
The next one. Q pq.
00;53;29;27 - 00;53;32;21
Dr. Mike Belkowski
I'm not even gonna attempt to pronounce.
00;53;32;27 - 00;53;33;26
Don Bailey
The.
00;53;33;28 - 00;54;06;08
Dr. Mike Belkowski
Crazy people. Go look it up and take take your best stab. But PQ is considered the top compound or molecule to initiate mutagenesis or the production of new mitochondria. That's important, especially as you age, because as you age you lose muscle mass. Muscle mass has mitochondria. So there's different ways that we're losing energy. Some research shows we're losing energy 1% per year, meaning over a decade you've lost 10% of your energy capacity.
00;54;06;13 - 00;54;34;22
Dr. Mike Belkowski
And a lot of that is due to losing the number of mitochondria. So again, PQ exercise are are two of the best ways to improve my genesis or the production of new mitochondria. Again not a consideration when you're in your 20s maybe early mid 30s. But beyond it's it's a huge consideration that you want to bolster and at least maintain the quantity of your mitochondria.
00;54;34;24 - 00;54;38;17
Dr. Mike Belkowski
And again PQ is one of the best ways from a supplement perspective.
00;54;38;17 - 00;54;45;23
Don Bailey
And then for to kind of wrap this section up here than a and then after that you're within B.
00;54;45;23 - 00;55;10;22
Dr. Mike Belkowski
So your listeners become quite popular. The past 6 to 12 months because again similar to how PQ was considered the top adjuvant for mutagenesis, your listeners consider the top adjuvant. I guess technically, technically it's a supplement because it comes from a food. It's considered the top supplement for my autophagy, just like we talked about at the top of the conversation here.
00;55;10;22 - 00;55;49;07
Dr. Mike Belkowski
My top veggie is crucial because it takes care and discards and recycles dysfunctional mitochondria. So it's considered your my type, which is considered your body's cleanup crew or quality control and recycles renew old and tired mitochondria. You're looking B which is comes from the same sources as you're listening to for example, pomegranate, blueberries, walnuts and such. You're looking b helps with, things like neurodegeneration or like arthritis or like degenerating cartilage in your joints and also has this potential anabolic component.
00;55;49;10 - 00;56;09;18
Dr. Mike Belkowski
So again, for athletes or again, people wanting to maintain muscle mass as we get chronologically older, you're looking B has a potential from its anabolic muscle building standpoint, which again, is an indirect way of building more mitochondria. So you can see your list and B as being a pretty special molecule in that sense.
00;56;09;20 - 00;56;16;05
Don Bailey
Absolutely beautiful. Last question for the rapid fire section. Are you ready for this one?
00;56;16;07 - 00;56;16;23
Dr. Mike Belkowski
Probably not.
00;56;17;00 - 00;56;23;06
Don Bailey
Okay. What are the big unanswered questions researchers are trying to answer about mitochondria?
00;56;23;07 - 00;56;47;06
Dr. Mike Belkowski
Well, I think it's really honing down on all of the specifics. Kind of like we talked about. And again, this was not predestined. The article I brought up, but at the perfectly demonstrates and exemplifies like, okay, we know that these mitochondrial dynamics, these control fusion and fission, we know that they have a role on cancer. Sometimes it's good, sometimes it's bad.
00;56;47;09 - 00;57;12;00
Dr. Mike Belkowski
So again, it's like kind of getting out of the gray and more into the black and white. Like what do these do in certain situations. How are they concretely affected by this type of food, this type of light, this type of stress, this type of molecule? We have a lot of generalities. Same thing with red light therapy, a lot of generalities, some of them serious, some of them very robust theories, some of them not so much.
00;57;12;03 - 00;57;18;21
Dr. Mike Belkowski
We just need more specifics. And I'm just going to take time. Like, I mean, I could go on and on, but does I give kind of an encapsulation?
00;57;18;24 - 00;57;27;03
Don Bailey
Yeah, sure. If there was one study that you could do right now for mitochondria, how would that study look?
00;57;27;06 - 00;57;29;00
Dr. Mike Belkowski
How would that study look?
00;57;29;02 - 00;57;31;16
Don Bailey
Would you do like a twin study to take two twins?
00;57;31;18 - 00;57;58;15
Dr. Mike Belkowski
I mean, that's not a bad idea. Maybe in this world of technology. I mean, we could just go there for today. What are the impacts of 5G? What are the impacts of every time we increase this non-native signal? And I know people like Jack Cruz have like gone on huge, huge diatribes and deep research on every time you amplify the signal from like one G to two G, 2g to three G, you're not just like doubling the signal.
00;57;58;15 - 00;58;22;26
Dr. Mike Belkowski
It's like exponential by 100 or 1000. So you go from 4 to 5 g and then 5 to 6 G. Technology is progressing obviously quicker than we can keep up with it. There are a lot of politics behind the scenes that allows these technologies to come to fruition to the public and pervade the masses without any legitimate testing on the health consequences.
00;58;22;28 - 00;58;48;15
Dr. Mike Belkowski
Look at our cell phones, for example. There was actual documents that who was the president assigned? Did I forget? Might have been Obama. That allows like phone companies or allows electric like powerline companies to do what they do essentially without the public's permission or without the public's knowing, like they want, just like giving them permission. Like, how would you say a bunch carte how you say.
00;58;48;15 - 00;58;49;25
Don Bailey
It carte blanche, you know.
00;58;50;02 - 00;59;18;01
Dr. Mike Belkowski
It's like they can do whatever they want, even if it's detrimental. Like they kind of own their space. They don't need anyone's permission. They don't need any research. So it gets to bring this back to your question. What are the actual deleterious effects of these technologies on our mitochondria? And we can already kind of tell, based on what's happening over the past ten, 20, 30 years with all these parabolic rises of different diseases and cancers.
00;59;18;04 - 00;59;49;08
Dr. Mike Belkowski
Of course, it's very multifactorial. But a lot of it does have to do with us getting further and further away from nature and more and more entrenched and surrounded by these non-native signals, which are throwing our mitochondria for a tizzy, actually. So again, I don't know how you would do that study, but I would just like to have a definitive study that shows, you know, when you put a cell phone up to your ear and you're taking a call for 30s or 60s or five minutes, this is what you're doing to your brain cells because it is very cancer causing.
00;59;49;08 - 00;59;52;29
Dr. Mike Belkowski
And I just don't think enough people know about it or believe it. Quite honestly.
00;59;53;02 - 00;59;55;18
Don Bailey
I love it. That's why I talk on speaker phone all the time.
00;59;55;25 - 00;59;56;20
Dr. Mike Belkowski
Yeah, likewise.
00;59;56;20 - 01;00;02;16
Don Bailey
Perfect. So that's my rapidfire section for today. Yeah, that was really fun.
01;00;02;19 - 01;00;06;14
Dr. Mike Belkowski
Hopefully it was more rapid than fire, higher than rapid because it wasn't rapid.
01;00;06;17 - 01;00;16;26
Don Bailey
Well we started off pretty well. You're hitting the one minute and then I started listening to your answers more. Stop giving time signals as much. Stayed around approximately a minute.
01;00;16;28 - 01;00;20;17
Dr. Mike Belkowski
Compared to last time. I think it was much more succinct, shall we say.
01;00;20;22 - 01;00;21;16
Don Bailey
Allegra.
01;00;21;19 - 01;00;43;16
Dr. Mike Belkowski
Well, cool. I appreciate it, Don. Thanks for those questions. I hope people found them insightful. We'll do this again, but we'll just cover different topics. Perhaps we'll do it specifically on naphthalene blue or red light therapy or grounding, or even like food and diet or exercise. Like we can cover a lot of different types of topics with this, with this format, whether it's FAQs or rapid fire or a little combo of both.
01;00;43;19 - 01;00;59;16
Dr. Mike Belkowski
So we'll keep doing this in the future. Provide us with your feedback too, if you can, whether it's through email or a leave in comments through like Spotify or otherwise. Just let us know if you like this format and or what we could do to make it even better. Don. Any last thoughts here before we sign off?
01;00;59;18 - 01;01;04;25
Don Bailey
No, I'm absolutely honored to be a part of the journey, and thank you again for having me.
01;01;04;27 - 01;01;19;14
Dr. Mike Belkowski
Likewise, my friend. You've been a huge boon to the Violet team for Don Bailey. This is Doctor Michael Kowski signing off another episode of the Energy Code. You guys have an awesome week and we'll see you on the next episode.
01;01;19;16 - 01;01;42;29
Dr. Mike Belkowski
You've been listening to The Energy Code, the podcast that unlocks your mitochondria and the science of limitless vitality. If this episode gave you insight or tools to elevate your energy, share it with a friend or family member. And if you're enjoying the show, please leave a five star rating and review as it helps me reach more people and help spread the mission of mitochondrial health.
01;01;43;01 - 01;02;04;03
Dr. Mike Belkowski
Your energy isn't just about today, it's the foundation of your future health, longevity, and performance. For more resources and to connect with me, visit Fire Light Dot shop and also check me out on all social media platforms under my name, doctor Mike Bell Koski. This is the energy code where energy becomes unlimited. You.
