Register for a live Q&A with Dr. Tommy Wood on Wednesday, March 25th.

Decreased glucose uptake in the brain is often considered a hallmark of Alzheimer's disease. But Dr. Tommy Wood asks whether part of that metabolic signature may reflect how little cognitive demand we place on the brain.

He sits down with Dr. Dominic D'Agostino for a nuanced conversation on metabolic health and cognitive function.. Dr. Wood is a neuroscientist, neonatal brain injury researcher, and author of The Stimulated Mind.

This episode follows the metabolic thread through every stage of brain health. Pre-diabetes and type 2 diabetes as predictors of cognitive decline. Neurovascular coupling as the reason heart disease risk factors double as brain disease risk factors. Lactate crossing the blood-brain barrier to drive BDNF production where it actually matters. Creatine as a brain energy distributor that most people still only associate with muscle. Dr. Wood lays out his Three S Model — Stimulus, Supply, Support — and makes the case that cognitive demand drives glucose uptake into the brain the same way muscular contraction drives it into skeletal muscle.

Questions Answered in This Episode:

• Does the brain respond to energy demand the same way skeletal muscle does?
• What role does creatine play in brain energy distribution, and what do the clinical trials show?
• Can heavy resistance training produce the same brain-relevant lactate response as HIIT?
• How should exercise be dosed after a concussion or traumatic brain injury?
• Is cognitive decline in your 50s, 60s, and 70s actually inevitable, or is that a statistical artifact?
• Why are pre-diabetes and metabolic syndrome among the strongest predictors of dementia?

The mechanistic throughline here is demand-driven metabolism. Dr. Wood makes the case that the same principles governing glucose uptake in skeletal muscle apply to the brain — and the conversation gets into what that means for how we interpret FDG-PET data, design lifestyle interventions, and think about neurodegeneration itself.

Find more at DrTommyWood.com

Special thanks to the sponsors of this episode:

✅ Fatty15 – Get 15% off a 90-day Starter Kit with code METABOLICLINK here

✅ Troscriptions – Get 10% off your first order with code METABOLICLINK here

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In every episode of The Metabolic Link, we'll uncover the very latest research on metabolic health and therapy. If you like this episode, please share it, subscribe, follow, and leave us a comment or review on whichever platform you use to tune in!

You can find us on all your major podcast players here and full episodes are also up on our Metabolic Health Summit YouTube channel!

Find us on social:

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Please keep in mind: The Metabolic Link does not provide medical or health advice, but rather general information that does not serve as a substitute for a licensed healthcare professional. Never delay in seeking medical advice from an appropriately licensed medical provider for any health condition that you may have.

Get free access to our new Ketogenic Metabolic Therapy ebook here.

Could changing your metabolism reduce alcohol cravings, ease psychiatric symptoms, and even make cancer immunotherapy more effective? The science is pointing to yes, and the mechanisms are fascinating.

In this Journal Club episode, co-hosts Victoria Field, Dr. Dominic D'Agostino, and Dr. Angela Poff break down five peer-reviewed papers from their newly released Ketogenic Metabolic Therapy ebook (Volume 4). From a French preclinical study showing ketogenic diet enhances PD-L1 immunotherapy response in kidney cancer, to an NIH/UPenn trial using machine-learning-derived fMRI signatures to measure reduced alcohol cravings during ketosis, to Stanford's pilot trial demonstrating notable metabolic and psychiatric improvements in schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, this episode covers the cutting edge of metabolic therapy research.

Questions Answered in This Episode:

• Why does the brain crave alcohol in people with alcohol use disorder, and how might ketones help?
• How might a ketogenic diet affect a tumor’s response to immunotherapy?
• Can insulin resistance in the brain contribute to psychiatric symptom severity?
• How does the ketogenic diet compare to the Mediterranean diet for autoimmune inflammation?
• Does timing of ketogenic diet initiation matter for chronic pain relief?
• Is it realistic for people with serious mental illness to adhere to a ketogenic diet?

Whether you're a clinician, researcher, or someone looking to understand the latest science, this episode reveals just how far-reaching ketogenic metabolic therapy has become, spanning oncology, psychiatry, addiction, autoimmune disease, chronic pain, and much more!

In every episode of The Metabolic Link, we'll uncover the very latest research on metabolic health and therapy. If you like this episode, please share it, subscribe, follow, and leave us a comment or review on whichever platform you use to tune in!

You can find us on all your major podcast players here and full episodes are also up on our Metabolic Health Summit YouTube channel!

Find us on social:

• Instagram
• Facebook
• YouTube
• LinkedIn

Please keep in mind: The Metabolic Link does not provide medical or health advice, but rather general information that does not serve as a substitute for a licensed healthcare professional. Never delay in seeking medical advice from an appropriately licensed medical provider for any health condition that you may have.

Dr. Mark Tarnopolsky's VO2 max was once 87.6 ml/kg/min — an elite-level mark few humans have reached. He's competed at three world championships in three different sports. He's also had three cardiac ablation surgeries, bled from his bowels after races, and watched his vision tunnel to a speck crossing a finish line. His story is a master class in where the line falls between peak performance and self-destruction.

Now 63, Tarnopolsky is a neurologist, neuromuscular disease specialist, and supplement formulator who has channeled decades of elite athletic experience and hundreds of published studies into the idea that keeping metabolic throughput high is what protects us as we age.

In this conversation with Dom D'Agostino, he shares practical strategies anyone can apply: why resistance training three times per week is non-negotiable after 50, why post-exercise nutrient timing improved performance in a simulated training camp with identical calories, why he says creatine belongs in nearly everyone's regimen, and why he personally takes his mitochondrial supplement stack situationally after hard efforts rather than daily.

Questions Answered in This Episode:

• What is the only intervention proven to extend human lifespan — and by how much?
• At what point does endurance exercise become pro-aging — and what are the warning signs?
• What simple nutrient timing strategy improved performance with zero extra calories?
• How did a bodybuilder bar conversation lead to a published discovery about growth hormone and collagen?
• What muscle and bone costs of Ozempic aren't getting enough attention?
• Why did elite endurance athletes need nearly as much dietary protein as bodybuilders — and why were bodybuilders massively overconsuming?

This conversation reframes the longevity debate around what's actually been proven in human clinical trials — not Petri dishes, not animal models, and not social media influencers.

Special thanks to the sponsors of this episode:

✅ Troscriptions – Get 10% off your first order with code METABOLICLINK here.
✅ Toups and Co – Get 15% off your first order with code METABOLIC here.
✅ iRestore – Get a huge discount on the Elite and the Illumina bundle here.
✅ MudWtr – Get up to 43% off + free shipping and a free rechargeable frother with code METABOLICLINK here.

In every episode of The Metabolic Link, we'll uncover the very latest research on metabolic health and therapy. If you like this episode, please share it, subscribe, follow, and leave us a comment or review on whichever platform you use to tune in!

You can find us on all your major podcast players here and full episodes are also up on our Metabolic Health Summit YouTube channel!

Find us on social:

• Instagram
• Facebook
• YouTube
• LinkedIn

Please keep in mind: The Metabolic Link does not provide medical or health advice, but rather general information that does not serve as a substitute for a licensed healthcare professional. Never delay in seeking medical advice from an appropriately licensed medical provider for any health condition that you may have.