In this episode, Ben sits down with Mark Lintern to challenge that assumption and explore a radically different idea...

What if cancer is a disease of suppression, not failure?

Drawing on the metabolic theory, the Warburg effect, mitochondrial biology, and emerging research into the tumour microbiome, Mark lays out a compelling framework that reframes cancer as a chronic cell danger response potentially driven by persistent infection.

They unpack..

Why the metabolic theory explains more than genetics but still leaves gaps.

Why apoptosis and immune evasion don’t fully fit the “broken cell” narrative.

How mitochondria may intentionally suppress oxidative phosphorylation.

Why prostate cancer breaks the Warburg rule entirely.

The role of fungi, bacteria, and the tumour associated microbiome.

Why immunotherapy often fails and sometimes backfires.

How infection biology may explain inflammation, immune suppression, and tumour growth.

What this means for real world treatment strategies, from metabolic therapy to repurposed drugs.

This is a deep, systems-level conversation. Not about silver bullets but about first principles.

If theory informs treatment, then getting the theory right matters.

We cover:

🧬 Metabolic vs somatic mutation theory

🔥 The Warburg effect as a defensive response

🦠 Infection, fungi, and the tumour microbiome

🧠 The cell danger response model

🫁 Oxygen, mitochondria, and immune signalling

🧪 Prostate cancer as a metabolic outlier

💊 Repurposed drugs, antifungals, and metabolic therapies

🌱 Why cancer may be adaptive — not defective

This episode isn’t about certainty.

It’s about asking better questions.

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Health optimisation isn’t about chasing trends. It’s about understanding trade-offs, context and biology. In this episode, Ben Hopkins is joined by James O’Hara to explore what really lies beneath today’s biggest health conversations, from GLP-1 drugs and testosterone decline to peptides, diet, recovery, and ageing.

Drawing on personal experience and emerging research, they unpack why population data doesn’t always translate to individual outcomes, how modern lifestyles are quietly eroding hormonal health, and where new tools may help or harm, if misunderstood.

From anabolic recovery and muscle retention to carnivore diets, light therapy and mental resilience, this is a wide-ranging conversation for anyone trying to navigate health in an increasingly complex world.

We cover:

💉 GLP-1 agonists, weight loss & metabolic trade-offs

🧠 Testosterone decline, ageing & lifestyle factors

💪 Anabolic recovery, peptides & injury repair

🥩 Carnivore diets, hormones & long-term health

⚡ Light therapy, inflammation & healing

🧬 Emerging research shaping modern wellness

It’s nuanced, honest and grounded in real-world experience, not just theory.

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Obesity isn’t just about willpower. It’s biology and it’s been hacked. In this episode, Dr. Richard Johnson (Professor of Medicine at the University of Colorado) joins Ben to explain why your body still thinks it's living in the wild and how the same survival switch that once kept us alive may now be quietly driving obesity, diabetes, dementia and addiction.

From fructose and uric acid to GLP-1s, Alzheimer's, and mitochondrial health, this conversation unpacks the hidden biology shaping how we store fat, crave sugar and so often lose control with it.

We cover:

🧠 Fructose, the brain & Alzheimer’s

🧪 The survival switch that drives obesity

🍷 Why uric acid links sugar and alcohol

💊 GLP-1s, food addiction & metabolic dysfunction

⚡ What carbs do to your mitochondria

It's deep, practical and quite possibly, completely paradigm-shifting.

Find Dr Richard:

Website

Instagram

Mentioned in this episode:

Book - Nature Wants Us to Be Fat by Dr. Richard Johnson

Paper on alcohol, fructose, and liver disease

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What if the root of mental illness isn’t all in your head but in your cells?

Dr. Ana Andreazza is leading one of the most exciting shifts in psychiatric science: away from neurotransmitters and towards the mighty mitochondria. In this episode, she and Ben explore the metabolic foundations of mood disorders, how lactate and ketones impact the brain and why most psychiatric medications only form part of the picture.

From bipolar disorder and inflammation to mitochondrial transplants and brain organoids, Ana is at the forefront of rethinking how we treat, prevent and understand mental illness.

We cover:

🧬 Why mitochondria might be the missing link in mental illness

🔥 How lactate and inflammation can trigger mania and mood swings

🥦 Why nutrition is still missing from most psychiatric care

⚡ The link between energy metabolism and neurotransmitters

🥼 What mitochondrial transplants could mean for brain health

🥑 The promise of ketones in bipolar and mood regulation

💊 Why we need both meds and metabolic interventions

Find Ana:

More about Ana's work

Papers & Research

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Forget everything you thought you knew about biology. Dr Nirosha Murugan takes us way beyond molecules into the world of light, electricity and the energetic language of life itself. Here we explore a radical new lens on human health: one where energy, not just chemistry, drives disease, healing and even consciousness.

From the role of light in cancer and red light therapy, to cells that 'think' without brains, to why homeostasis might be the wrong goal altogether.

We cover:

⚡ Why biology might be better understood as patterns of energy

🧠 “Thinking” organisms that don’t have brains

🌞 How light (even in the womb) shapes our biology

🧬 Reframing cancer through the lens of energy resistance

🧘‍♀️ Bioelectricity, metabolism & the limits of current science

🌀 Consciousness as emergent energy, not brain activity

This episode is a ride - part biology, part physics, part philosophy - and all energy.

Find Nirosha:

Website

X (Twitter)

LinkedIn

Mentioned in this episode:

A New Science of Life by Rupert Sheldrake

Demons in the Machine by Paul Davies

Energy and Information in Art, Science, and Technology

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🧬 What does it take to age slower than more than 99.9% of the population?

Meet Annie who is currently ranked #2 in the Rejuvenation Olympics, measuring the slowest biological aging in the world (second only to Bryan Johnson). But Annie’s not a billionaire with a team of scientists. She’s a self-experimenting New Yorker who figured out what works for her and it’s more simple (and more joyful) than you’d think.

In this episode, Ben and Annie explore her full protocol (yes, including a Kind Bar and red light therapy), the wild (and sometimes worrying) world of longevity culture and how the simplest shifts - walking more, laughing nightly, cutting alcohol - helped Annie feel better and slow her aging to 0.46x the typical rate.

We cover:

🧠 Annie's supplement stack & skin protocol

🥦 How diet impacts pace of aging and why Annie is not anti-meat

🧪 Senolytics, grounding mats, liposomal vitamins & NOVOS

🧨 The supplement that lowered her skin age by 7 years

🧘‍♀️ Why overtraining raised her aging score

📉 What didn’t work: PEMF, metformin & too much “juice”

A refreshingly human conversation in a space that too often forgets what health really means.

Find Annie:

Instagram @annienosh

Mentioned in this episode:

NOVOS Core

Oura Ring

DunedinPACE Test via TrueDiagnostics

Rejuvenation Olympics leaderboard

Atomic Habits by James Clear

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Your brain runs on what you eat. So what happens when you fuel it with fat instead of sugar?

Drew Decker and Ben join together to discuss his study on the ketogenic diet and depression in college students and how a simple dietary shift led to a 70% reduction in depression scores. No tracking apps, no dieticians, no hand-holding, just students with a budget, a plan, and a mission to feel better.

Drew’s journey started after a traumatic brain injury in the military and led him to Dr. Jeff Volek’s lab, where he’s now leading research into how ketosis may impact mental health, PTSD, inflammation, BDNF, energy metabolism and more.

This is one of those episodes that’s equal parts hopeful, data-driven and deeply personal.

🧠 Ketosis as a tool for mental health

📉 The downside of keto? Pretty capped.

🥑 How college students stuck to keto on a tight budget

🧬 BDNF, energy metabolism & brain inflammation

🧠 PTSD, trauma & the future of metabolic psychiatry

💊 Exogenous vs endogenous ketones

🥩 Animal-based, dairy-based, veggie-heavy — what actually matters

📚 The ketogenic diet as metabolic medicine

Find Drew:

Instagram - @drew_d_decker

ResearchGate

Mentioned in this episode:

Keto-Mojo

Feasibility of Ketogenic Diet in College Students with Depression - A pilot study

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Most people who end up in Jessica Turton’s health clinic have already tried everything from calorie tracking, low-fat, fasting, moving more, eating less… and still nothing works to shift weight. So what’s going on?

Ben sits down with Jessica - dietitian, nutritionist, researcher - to talk about what happens when your body’s been stuck in energy deficit for years, and how the real issue for many people isn’t overeating, it’s under eating.

They get into why most nutrition advice backfires, how your brain handles hunger, the impact of stress on metabolism and why we need to stop treating weight loss like a willpower problem.

We cover:

🧠 The real metabolic cost of chronic dieting

🥑 Low-carb ≠ low-calorie (and why that matters)

💉 Why type 2 diabetes is reversible if you treat the cause

🔥 Why most people are walking around under-fueled

💊 GLP-1s, binge cycles & the illusion of control

We also look at what low-carb actually looks like when done well, and how to eat more food without losing your mind. Fascinating if you've ever been in this cycle yourself (which is most of us) and how we might actually be able to break the loop.

Find Jessica:

Instagram

Ellipse Health online clinic

Mentioned in this episode:

The Minnesota Starvation Experiment

Jessica’s PhD Research on Type 1 Diabetes

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