The Bossticks - The Science of Aging Well: Dr. Stephanie Venn-Watson On Longevity Tips & Lifespan, & Living Well

Episode Date: March 7, 2025

#815: Join us as we sit down with Dr. Stephanie Venn-Watson – CEO of Fatty15, & a seasoned veterinary epidemiologist & public health scientist, who previously served at the World Health Organization & U.S. Navy. After years of research dedicated to improving human & animal health, Dr. Stephanie made groundbreaking discoveries in longevity. In this episode, Dr. Stephanie shares how lifestyle choices & genetic influences can greatly impact lifespan, essential habits to incorporate into your daily routine, the critical role of C15, & what the future holds for longevity!   To Watch the Show click HERE   To Watch Dr. Stephanie Venn-Watson's previous episode click HERE   For Detailed Show Notes visit TSCPODCAST.COM   To connect with Dr. Stephanie Venn-Watson click HERE   To connect with Lauryn Bosstick click HERE   To connect with Michael Bosstick click HERE   Read More on The Skinny Confidential HERE   Get your burning questions featured on the show! Leave the Him & Her Show a voicemail at [phone].   This episode is brought to you by The Skinny Confidential   Head to the HIM & HER Show ShopMy page HERE and LTK page HERE to find all of Michael and Lauryn's favorite products mentioned on their latest episodes.   Visit fatty15.com/SKINNY or use code SKINNY for 15% off your first purchase of Fatty15 and learn more about Dr. Stephanie Venn-Watson's book, The Longevity Nutrient. Nerd out on all the C15:0 science at DiscoverC15.com.   Visit istandwithmypack.org to support I Stand With My Pack's (ISWMP) mission by donating or adopting. Every contribution helps!   This episode is sponsored by Netflix - Running Point   Running Point, now streaming only on Netflix.   This episode is sponsored by Jenni Kayne   Find your forever pieces @jennikayne and get 15% off with promo code SKINNY15 at jennikayne.com/SKINNY15! #jennikaynepartner   This episode is sponsored by Wildgrain   For a limited time, Wildgrain is offering our listeners $30 off the first box - PLUS free Croissants in every box - when you go to Wildgrain.com/SKINNY to start your subscription.   This episode is sponsored by Squarespace   Go to Squarespace.com for a free trial, and when you're ready to launch, squarespace.com/SKINNY to save 10% off your first purchase of a website or domain.   This episode is sponsored by Smalls Cat Food    For 50% off your first order, head to Smalls.com and use code SKINNY.    This episode is sponsored by Momentous   Go to livemomentous.com/skinny and try it today at 20% off with code SKINNY, and start living on purpose.   Produced by Dear Media

The following podcast is a dear media production. This episode is brought to you by my favorite charity. I stand with my pack. Meet Murphy. You guys got to meet Murphy. He's our dog of the month. Murphy is a sweet 10-month-old pit bull mix. He's a puppy who was saved from euthanasia.

He's potty and crate trained. He loves people and dogs and enjoys cuddling with his foster brother and thrives in the mist of activity. He'd be a wonderful addition to any home, and he is looking for someone to adopt him. If you're unfamiliar with I Stand with My Pack, they rescue dogs from high-kill shelters in Southern California. They also place them in foster homes for rehabilitation, and they help find these animals forever homes. You should also know it's a female-run nonprofit dedicated to saving animals. They're all about preventing cruelty locally and globally. I am a very much. I am a so inspired by this charity, I absolutely love them. Check them out on Instagram at I Stand With

My Pack. You can see about donating or fostering or adopting. You could even visit I Stand With Mypack.org to learn more. Every contribution helps. She's a lifestyle blogger extraordinaire. Fantastic. And he's a serial entrepreneur. A very smart cookie. And now Lauren Everts and Michael Bostic are bringing you alone for the ride. Get ready for some major realness. Welcome to the skinny confidential, him and her. Hello everybody, welcome back to the skinny confidential, him and her show. Today we have a truly special guest rejoining us, Dr. Stephanie Van Watson, a groundbreaking researcher whose work has been changing the way we think about aging and longevity. You may remember her from our previous conversation where we explored her fascinating work

with Navy bottlenose dolphins. It was through this research that Dr. Van Watson made an extraordinary her discovery, the health benefits of C-15, a unique fatty acid that could hold the key to healthier aging. Today, we're diving into a highly anticipated new book, The Longevity Nutrient, where she uncovers how C-15 and other discoveries can revolutionize the way we live and age. So for anyone that's looking to live healthier, live longer, and discover things that we could be doing to make ourselves feel better and age more gracefully. This episode is for you.

Welcome back to the show, Dr. Stephanie Vin-Win Watson. This is the skinny confidential, him and her. Dr. Stephanie, you're back. What is the biggest misconception? What do people get wrong about longevity? I think that one of the biggest misconceptions is that longevity is just living as long as possible absent health. And so it's really funny that when you talk to people, you'll see a lot of them actually say, I don't want longevity. No, thank you.

I don't want to live forever because they're thinking I'm going to live a long time. but I'm just going to have more years of being sick. And so it's really interesting. That whole world is changing. So a big misconception is living longer just means eventually I'm going to get sick and then I'm going to be sitting around and suffering for a long time. There's a whole new world now where longevity equals living healthier, longer. We can enjoy our lives a lot longer.

It's like the distinction between lifespan and health span. Those two worlds are merging together. That's exactly right. Yeah, because unfortunately I had a grandmother and she lived, I think to like 96, but she was unfortunately diagnosed with dementia Alzheimer's. And so like 20 years of that, honestly, after she retired, which is why I'm never going to retire, was kind of spent a not the best quality, right? I think that's what a lot of people fear, something like that.

Exactly. And we're all seeing it, right? So especially when we talk about dementias and Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, that we're witnessing this. And so a lot of people are saying, no, thank you to longevity. But again, just a brave new world, exciting new world where, you know, the science is advancing where exactly we can have our health span extended so that we can live longer and enjoy the entirety of that life. With all your research that you've done, what do you think are the keys to living better if you're going to live longer? Yeah, so the keys are living better.

So there are specific criteria. So there's actually seven criteria must-haves of a longevity enabler, whether that's exercise. diet or pills, right? When we talk about like rapomice and our metformin. And those seven very quickly are the ability to tap into what's called the human regulating pathway, longevity pathway, the ability to target hallmarks of aging. This is how we age at the cellular level. Evidence that we can slow the rate at which we age, the ability to have clinically meaningful benefits within weeks or months, the ability to prevent the onset of diseases that kill us. So we talk about cancer, Alzheimer's disease, type 2 diabetes, and fatty liver disease, and heart disease.

And then the last two are the simplest, but they're actually the most difficult. And that is interventions that help to, in which we can do them, reliable and have access to them throughout our whole lives and have them be safe. So when you put in all of those together, if you have something in which you can do, that can do all of that, Lauren, that's something that's called, it's like the Holy Grail of Healthy E. and longevity, and that's called a gero protector. It's not a very sexy word, but gero protector is something that protects us against the onset of these chronic diseases that in the end take us down. So I want to get very focused with you on this episode, not that we weren't before, but for people who are just being introduced to Dr. Stephanie, we did a whole episode.

I don't remember the number off the top of my head, but if you just look it up, Dr. Stephanie, Ben Watson, and the Skinny Confidential, you'll see it in our shows. And we talked all about everything that you're doing with Fatty 15 and the groundbreaking discoveries that you found with dolphins and all this. People should go back and listen to that episode. I think this is a continuation kind of sorts of that conversation. You didn't have the book at that time, but you hinted at it. Now you have the longevity nutrient. So to kick it off, why did you decide to write this book?

So I was asked. Simon and Chuster actually reached out. They were watching. We have a blog that comes out. every week, a healthy aging blog. And they were kind of witnessing the science, all the science that was coming out about C-15, but also just longevity in general. And amazingly, we reached out and said stuff, we would love for you to write a book about longevity. And so, you know, eight, ten, twelve months later, here it is. And what is different about this book that people

will find interesting compared to some of the other things that have come out in the space? Because obviously this topic is now becoming a big topic. You have people like Brian Johnson and Peter Atia. And this is what I'm excited about is people are really putting a focus on this. But what makes this one different? Yeah, it is a super hot space, right? We're talking about longevity. What's different about this one was really had to do a lot with serendipity

and in which we're understanding where the science is where we can understand how we can live longer, these must-haves of a longevity nutrient and molecule, which people are understanding. And those are covered in a lot of these other books. There's a lot of consistency there. What's unique about this book is, you know, this was an accidental discovery that while a lot of research looking into how we can live longer, what are interventions we can do are based on short-lived species like mice, worms, and flies. And then you're saying, okay, well, we help the worm live two weeks instead of one weeks, therefore we doubled its lifespan. And how can that apply to improving our longevity? This book focuses on, you know, an accidental discovery, as we talked about in long-lived, large-brain mammals, dolphins.

And what we're able to do is that this book walks through this fascinating 20-year, you know, adventure and journey where we made this discovery in dolphins. It allowed us to basically jump, you know, have C-15, this discovery jump to the front of the line. because if you think about it, you know, nature has already unlocked longevity. We already live 37 times longer than a mouse. So why start where short-lived species? Let's figure out how evolution has enabled us to live longer than a mouse form or fly like humans and dolphins have and optimize it from there. So it just provides a whole new perspective into longevity. And the last part of is the book includes not just our research on C-15, the discoveries from dolphins.

But now wonderfully, it's just the tale of the research that unfolded throughout the world from dozens and dozens of labs. When you were researching this subject, you mentioned broad things, but from a more granular level, what are things that people can do today to improve their longevity? Okay, so there's the basics, because I got to say them, right? So, because it would be amiss to not say it. So exercise, we all understand, is being able to move number one, number two, is obviously a healthy diet, staying away from especially pro-inflammatory foods that, you know, increase pro-inflammatory state and accelerate aging, getting good sleep and making sure that

we maintain sleep and increasingly an appreciation for socialization, that when people stop socializing and stop having a sense of community and purpose, then that can shorten lives. You know, it's so funny. I think it's relevant to cover the basics because I was talking to Lauren the other day and I was saying, listen, I don't want to hear about seed oils and EMFs and fluoride in the water and all these things which are relevant to look at from somebody who hasn't got their sleep order, their sleeping order, hasn't managed their personal relationships, doesn't exercise and get metabolically in shape. You got to do those things before we worry about Wi-Fi radiation frying your brain. You know what I mean? That's exactly right. And I'm not saying that to diminish those discoveries or spaces or people that are calling things like that to attention. But you, you know, you kind of, there's some things that we can do to kind of mitigate against some of those things that if you're not doing, it kind of makes the other stuff moot. I did just buy an EMF protector blanket, though. Yeah, fine.

And I do have EMF protector rocks in my drawers next to our bed that you don't know about. But let me just say, like, and I do have an EMF sticker on my shirt. But that's, but you do that. But like if somebody's sleeping three hours a night and saying their hormones are out of control and it's because of the fluoride in the water or because of EMFs coming from Wi-Fi, I'm like, well, let's first get seven to eight hours and then we'll look at the other stuff. What did you find, though, with supplements? Like, what did you find was really important to living longer? Right. So interestingly, when we look at, you know, we talk about those seven criteria of a longevity-hanceing molecule, then the leaders of the ones that are on the top of that leaderboard, you know,

know, before C-15, science came along, they're all drugs. So it's rapamycin, metformin, acarbo. So all of these are prescription drugs that basically have been repurposed and evaluated in which they have found, like, oh gosh, in addition to treating these diseases, we're actually finding they have these multiple effects that check off the boxes until you get to the last two criteria, right, which is, especially with rapamycin, the ability to safely take it over long periods of time, that's proving out to be less true. It sounds very similar to semi-glutide. Yeah, that is right.

Metformin is on the same frequency as that. It sounds like it does a lot of things short-term-wise, but we really don't know what it does long-term-wise. So it's kind of a catch-22, isn't it? It is. Exactly, Lauren. So we're gaining insights into how we tap into these various longevity pathways, how we slow down cellular aging.

And when they put them into the lab, you know, they're working well. And then when we look at them early studies in humans, it's looking promising. But the problem with drugs is that drugs are used long time among people who are ill and have a disease. What we don't know, Lauren, to the point that you're making is we don't know necessarily how that plays out and people who are otherwise healthy. So working through it. And that's where C-15 comes in with regard to this is a molecule and odd-chain saturated fatty acid. that every mammal gets from birth in milk,

and that we've now come to understand strength in cells and helps enable longevity, what we had talked about. And this is something that we're meant to get throughout our whole lives. And so we know that it's safe, and that it's actually a molecule that we've evolved to use to enable longevity. Not we, but nature has. Well, I told you when you walked in

that I've been taking fatty 15, C-15, since we met that day. So I don't know how many days that's been, but it's got to be close to like 75 or 90, maybe longer. I don't know. But I feel great. And again, people should go back and listen to that full episode to get the full context. I wonder, based on your research, I don't know if you have this data or not, how much weight is applied to longevity pending our genetics versus our lifestyle versus, you know, our environment. Like, are there some people that have certain genetics where it's like they're going to live a really long time compared to others?

Is it sound like, hey, you're going to shorten that based on an environment? Like, do you have data that shows that? Yeah, it's a great question. So there are data that show that. So I'll share those versus what I have had one lifetime thus far. So share what others have worked on too. But we do know genetics absolutely plays a role in a lot of things. We know, like, for example, Eric, my husband's mom, grandmother, live to 104.

And his mom is, she's out there skis. skiing a black diamond skis and she's 80. So Eric's got a really good chance living a long time because of genes. Even genes even have a factor on things like the gold standard for what can help things live longer is fasting. So fasting actually creates that whole human longevity regulating pathway that if we fasted, we decreased our calories to like 1,200 or 1,000 a day, which isn't sustainable, not recommended, you theoretically would live longer. So in what window, like, are you suggesting? Because people are going to want no detail.

Yeah. So that is, it's actually not recommended. So what they do is they've done this in this is the short-lived animal models. And so they've been able to show reliably that whether you're a worm, a mouse, a fly, and even a dog, if a dog is fed less, that it can extend its lifespan by like six months. So, which is meaningful if you have a dog. No, dog, yeah, yeah. I'll take those six months, right?

So they've shown that even this gold standard pathway for longevity, even that a paper just came out this last, over the last couple of months, showing that even that is driven by genetics. So your genetics determine how well even something like fasting will influence how much it impacts your longevity. that's where you know Dr. Nick Shorke he's head of the NIH's Longevity Consortium and Nick came in and what he was excited about with C15 is he said it's absent of genetic influence and he said if it's you have something that's an essential fatty acid so it's an essential nutrient that every mammal and now we're even realizing worms and mice need in order to develop and grow and live then it is absent of genetic influence and there's a big study and that was done looking at genes and C-15, and it showed that there was no genetic predisposition

to how well C-15 worked. So it's really interesting, undoubtedly, environment has a huge impact. What we eat, you know, what we drink has a huge impact. And that's where the dolphins really became a fascinating patient population because they were absent a lot of those risk factors, right? They aren't eating ultra-processed foods. They're exercising every day. They have the same level of health care. And yet we were seeing some dolphins developing these age-related diseases, including Alzheimer's, including fatty liver disease and hyperglycemia. So we had some developing these diseases and some not, despite being in the same environment. So that's where we were able to learn a lot about aging from them. Are you seeing any like copycats or claims being made

that are maybe trying to be like C-15 on the market? Or is there really nothing like it? We've had people. Yeah, we have had that. What do you do? Because you guys have to. I can see I'm stepping carefully. Yeah. That is a sign of success, right? Absolutely. When you have reached the point where there are others that are, you know, doing a copycat. I just want our audience to know what to look out for because you do, it's a very specific thing that you do. Like, is there things that you should caution them against when they're buying this? I guess that's a, thank you, Lauren.

That's a really good point that there is something very specific, which was surprising for us. So it's C-15 is also called pentadecanoic acid. It sounds a lot like pantathanoic acid, which pantathanoic acid is actually vitamin B5, which is completely different molecule, completely different functions. And there have been some not intentional. mistakes of thinking that vitamin B5 is the same as this C-15. So just for everyone to know that it's a completely different molecule, C-15 really has stood out as, again, the whole what earned the title of the longevity nutrient of being able to have

all of this robust data from epidemiological studies, cell-based studies, and now clinical trials all supporting its role. If you were to explain to a kindergartner why you think it's, you know, you think it's, you know, the longevity nutrient. What would you say? That we as long-lived species have evolved to UC15 to make ourselves stronger, which help us live longer. And so when you take it, it increases your lifespan essentially. Yes. I was saying, okay, so I've been taking the product and we are in the sick season, especially we have young kids that are in school and they bring home the place. every other day. It's unbelievable. They're done sick with sick. It's another sick.

Parents out there with young kids starting school, no. I mean, like, I can't, like, I can't believe some of the things they bring home. It's just, and how frequently. Like, you think, like, and they recover quick. Oh, yeah. But the parents are on. I also, like, kiss them on the lips and the, like, people get mad on these social. I love kissing my kids on the lips and the cheeks and the face. And they're also so sweet when they're sick. I know, when they're sick. And so I just am like, well, but you haven't gotten sick. No, no. So what I was going to say, and I told you out there, I have not been sick one time in probably six months, and my entire household and everyone around me has been sick. And I keep thinking like, and I'm not,

if I have to hear about you being sick on top of the children being sick, I'll just. And I'm not doing anything differently other than I'm like, I'm taking this. And I was wondering if my, this is again, like maybe it's just like mind over matter. I'm like, okay, if my inflammation is so down, then my body's got an even stronger chance. And I wonder if there's any validity. This is the narrative in the car. His inflammation is so down that he doesn't get sick. Because you would think, is that a thing,

that's what he said. Like, I'm next to my wife and I'm next to my kids and I'm not like guarding myself. And I'm like, okay, here it comes. And it just never comes. I'm like either I've gotten out of that phase or like. You've gotten out of the phase of getting sick? Well, I don't know. Maybe.

Oh my God. I'm wondering if this research and this. Unbelievable. You're not like Batman. Yeah. Well, maybe now. Oh. If the C-15 does anything to create,

um, better resilience for the body to fight off viral illnesses or if that's if this is just my mind? So the couple of things. So it's yes and no as far as is the science there. So yes, absolutely lots of studies showing that it's anti-inflammatory with regard to it calms down an overactive immune system, which when you have an overactive immune system, you're setting yourself up for hyper-reactivity to problems. Like, for example, when people got COVID, the Dane came at the end when they you developed these cytokine storms right in the lungs and then you're basically your pro-inflammatory state has these big storms and that's what caused the end

stage really scary time and so things that were anti-inflammatory were basically the target of that I'm not saying take c15 to avoid COVID or it's downstream complications but it's just example of inflammation and viral infections we do know and so being able to have a balanced immune system, Michael, is critical to be able to fight off infections. There's great studies that have been coming out, again, from other folks showing that C-15 has antimicrobial property. So it actually effectively can stop the growth of pathogenic, of bad bacteria and fungi. Interestingly, same way rapamycin does. And there is one study, which is a little bit of a stepchild, but it does show that people with higher C-15 who had dengue fever, which is a virus,

are less likely to develop severe forms of it. So it's association, but a lot of interesting work being done in that area. Because then I was even wondering, I'm like, I wonder if the tickles coming on. I'm like, no, my body just shut it down right away. You know what? She's just mad that she got sick and out. It's just amazing how he has to narrate this to me. Like there's a whole narration that's like an inner monologue that I have to hear in the car.

So it's like, huh, I wonder why I'm not sick today. You're sick. I think it's because my inflammation levels are so low. I took fatty 15. It's a whole narration. It's like I literally am in his brain 24-7. Is it healthy in a marriage to compete on immune systems? I don't know.

I think it's good to have a little competition. But Lauren's creating life. So it's true. You're kind of, you're at a disadvantage. My favorite thing is when he goes, what's wrong with you? Why are you so tired? Let's talk about a new show that is now airing on Netflix called Running Point. Kate Hudson is Comedy Gold and Netflix's hilarious new series Running Point from Mindy Kaling,

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Get ready to binge your new favorite comedy. Check it out. Again, it's called Running Point, and it's now streaming on Netflix. I get so much of my homeware on Jenny Kane. So Doreet from Beverly Hills Housewives introduced me to this brand. She's a fashionista.

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fisherman sweater, which you can tuck into a trouser. I wear it all the time to podcast, but I also like their cashmere Stevie Polo. I got the Stevie Polo in their pewter, which is like a light kind of gray. It's beautiful. The sleeve is right. It's very flattering to the body how they cut. And all of their products just are so classic. Like I feel like you can have them forever. If you guys have not stocked their cashmere section, you have to. And this is so random. But I also get all my trash cans on Jenny Kane. They have these beautiful trash cans that I have in each of my bathrooms. I got them in white. Find your new spring uniform at Jenny Kane. And our listeners get 15% off your first order when you use Code Skinny 15 at checkout. That's 15% off your

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It's called the plain sourdough loaf. It's made with super minimal ingredients. There's like a sourdough starter, organic whole wheat flour, some sea salt and cornmeal. It's very simple. It has so many reviews. Like people are obsessed with it. Even my sister-in-law texts me that she loves this sourdough. You have to try it. But if you're on there, you've got to try the croissants too. I love bread. I'm a bread person, so I think you're going to like this site. Wild grains boxes are fully customizable to your taste and dietary restrictions. Are you ready to bring all your favorite carbs right to your doorstep? Be sure to check out wild grains so you can begin building your own box of artisanal breads, pastas, and pastries. For a limited time, Wildcrain is offering our

listeners, $30 off the first box plus free croissants in every box. Go to wildgrain.com slash skinny to start your subscription. You heard me, free croissants in every box and $30 off your first box when you go to wildgreen.com slash skinny. That's wildgrain.com slash skinny or you can use promo code skinny at checkout. I would like to know what it's going to be like for my future baby to be having C-15 every day. So this is a great question based upon, and the answer, which is evolving, is based upon a whole suite of studies that have been done in the last year from entirely independent different teams. These are teams in Canada and France and I'm trying to think of the last one is. But they're following cohorts of pregnant moms from their third trimester, following them through baby being born, and then following that child. through six years old. And these studies are showing that the more C-15 mom has from her diet,

the more she has in her body, especially by eating cheese. So cheese is a specific food that they've shown in those studies. I love cheese. So there you go. You just got your go-for-it card. And then, so then from there, the more C-15 mom has with regard to the fetus, the better body growth, better head circumference, which is a sign of brain growth, and the better size of the body. So not just how much it grows, but the size of the body. This translates over to the infant. And so the more C-15 mom has in her body, the more she has in her milk. And so the more baby gets from mom's milk, then the better that baby grows and develops. And these studies that follow infants and children out to six years old are showing that these six-year-olds have better overall cognitive development

of language skills and cognition scores than others. These are associations, but at the same time, there have been really exciting studies coming out, kind of doing these gold standard studies in rodents where they are able to do more experimental things in which they make the mom C-15 deficient, the mama rat or mouse, and then the baby is born C-15 deficient. It has deficiency poor growth and when they give that new mouse or rat C-15 it fixes the deficiency and they get back they catch up to normal so it's a really exciting times when we talk about longevity we're talking about their earliest stages of life and the concern and the urgency around C-15 deficiencies that more and more

people including pregnant moms have low C-15 and how is that translating to you the baby being born all the way through the rest of their life. We're seeing a lot of, you know, increased onset of type 2 diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure, fatty liver disease, and younger and younger people. And the question is, you know, given I think what we shared last time, knowing that lower C-15 helps is, creates a nutritional deficiency syndrome called cellular fragility syndrome that accelerates aging. And so are we doing this at the youngest years? So it's a really, the big part of the book is to help increase awareness of all the science behind it, not just ours, but others, and just really get conversations like this going.

You guys should do a gummy for kids. You're right. Please do a gummy because my kids are two and four and they can't take a pill. Or even a tablet. It doesn't have to be, if it's like, yeah, a tablet they could suck. I tried to get them to take a pill the other day. They looked at me like, what are you talking about? To the two-year-old, I'm like, you put it in your mouth and you take a sip and swallow.

and he was like, what is this bitch talking about? You got the same with our 16. Then I started sprinkling it. You don't even know this. In their pancakes. And opening it up and putting it in their pancakes. Because I'm like, it's something. But if you could do a gummy, it would be so efficient.

Or even like a pill. Anyways, you got it figured out. I would love a gummy. I'm just saying. All right. I really would love like a raspberry. On that. The flavors.

Yeah, I'd like a flavor. On that note, for adults or people that, okay, they're listening. They say, wait, minute, I want my C-50, maybe we cover this a bit on the last episode, I want my C-15 levels strong. Are they able to like replete or like recalibrate their levels? We didn't. You didn't ask that. I want to know that.

Like, can we, like, say you should be at X level and they're low because they don't have a bit of their diet or lifestyle factors. Can they start to build that level back up? And I wonder if this period of time that I've been taking it, if I've built back up. Yeah, there's a, there's a great chance. So we absolutely know that by taking, this is, these are, based upon four different clinical trials in humans that if you take more of eat more C-15 and these clinical trials were on the pure, you know, C-15 supplement, but the same counts

for food too. If you eat more C-15, your C-15 levels will go up. Which are what foods? So a dairy fat. So for the most part, dairy fat is by far our leading source of C-15 from food. The upside of it is that we know it's pretty real viably in dairy fat. We talked a little bit about like if cows are fed corn, they have half as much C-15 in their fat than cows fed grass. So their influence is there. But getting whole dairy fat is a really good source of C-15, especially in our younger years. So if think about mammals, all mammals drink milk, right, when they're babies. And then at some point, they stop eating dairy, right? So no other species except for us, mammalian species, really keeps eating dairy. And so what

we're learning is that there are pluses and minuses to dairy over long periods of time. And that's why the Navy funded us for 10 years to basically say, can you take this molecule, C-15, find a way to optimize it, make a bioavailable, and take away all the complications of dairy fat. There's over 400 fatty acids in dairy fat. Only 1% of those are C-15, 40% are pro-inflammatory. So it's like, how can you take this good fat and then make it, you know, readily to optimize it so we can get those levels. So yes, we can take C-15, raise our levels. Your doctor can test for your C-15 levels. There's even an at-home C-15 test to see basically where you're at. How quickly can they do that? So your C-15 levels can go up as early as in within two weeks. Oh, wow. Okay.

So it's very quick response. Our bodies were really, think of us like sponges and we're just ready to get that C-15 into our bodies. So quick follow-up. Can I take too much? much? Like where you, like, you know, if you have too much vitamin D3 or too many B, can you do that? There isn't too much as far as there have been, there's been no evidence that taking, you could take too much C15 with it being a health risk or risk factor. So it's a great question, Michael. There are some studies supporting that there's like a maximum benefit. So it's almost like if you once you get too much or too high, you're not gaining any more benefit from it. And so that's this, you know, when we look at these levels, that's, you know, around this in our blood, this 50 micromolar

level, our ranges are usually between 10 and 50 micromolars in our blood. Once you get above that, it's, there's not really, which is why we always... But it's not harmful. Yeah, it's not harmful. Like, it's not like you take too many B vitamins or too much iron or too like you don't get to a point where it's like, hey, you're imbalancing. Yeah, no evidence to support. Okay. Yeah, no evidence to support that. Whenever I do my skincare routine, I want my skin to look like dolphin skin. You know what that kind of skin. It's like how your skin looks. Well, thank you.

I'll take it. That's why I've always wanted to touch and ride a dolphin. I'm not going back into this. Because no, I just, that's why, because their skin is so beautiful. Do you think that this, obviously like they have that skin, but do you think that part of it is because they have so much C-15? Does it affect your skin and beauty benefits? It, it very well may.

We know that when people take C-15, that it gets, all of our cells are meant to have a certain amount, 0.2% of every cell membrane should have C-15 in it. And C-15 is this sturdy fatty acid that helps keep them stable and strong. So this includes our skin cells. And if you think about, you know, the biggest problem a lot of people have with skin is it gets irritated and dry, which feeds inflammation. And then that helps us not able to maintain its moisture. And that's a common underlying manifestation of nutritional deficiencies in general. This includes is the omega-3's omega-6, but C-15 as well. I noticed when you were talking about dolphin skin, you were looking at Lauren,

and then you said irritated and dry and looked directly at me. Yeah. Oh, sorry about that. Edit this part out of the show. Did you put this call-off? Yeah, no. You also have beautiful skin, Michael. He works at it.

Right? He works really hard. It was because we're talking about inflammation. Just to clarify. He steals my skin care. You wouldn't believe it. He steals my skincare out of my drawer. and I catch like him having my vitamin C, my colostrum serum, like my oil, all kinds of things.

Hey, listen, if I get the information, I will, I will follow the protocol. There you go. I will follow the instructions. You, I would like to know what the key changes are needed and how society approaches aging. What are, what are some things that need to be changed? Oh boy, that's a big question. Yes, I'm sure. There are a couple of things. I mean, that's a, if I, if we go bigger scale with regard to how.

we approach aging, right, is that aging should be nothing but good, right? If we removed the increased risk of disease and our breakdown with age, right, then, and you left how many years you're getting in experience in life and you continue to be healthy, then the back half of our life should be amazing, right? When you have that time, and I'm bragging about it now, because I'm 50 years. too and enjoying it very much so our kid is 16 years old now and you know and I loved those first 50 50 years but the ability for us to approach aging as something that we want we want to be able to lean in and be able to do the things and you know one way that's a good way to think about it is Lauren and Michael if I asked you if you had an extra two hours of every single day guaranteed

two free guilt-free hours of time what would you do with it what would i want to hear what you do two hours guilt-free time i don't know some pretty good video games out right now um no you are you're being serious no it i mean no no i would do not lie i would honestly probably spend you know i i would probably spend that time a little bit more on myself now that being said wow i'm being honest wow i got i've got i've got I've got two kids. I'm in trouble now. Listen, I'm being honest.

I've got two kids under five, another on the way. I've got a business. I've got team members. We do the show. A wife. You know, I've got a wife. And so a lot of my energy goes into those buckets first. And I work myself in.

But if I had two underrupted hours, I would probably be doing, you know, more time for myself. Wow. All right. So that's good to sit with Lauren. What about you? You're going to say I was going to give a better answer, but I'm going to get really selfish. I would definitely read for one of those hours. That's for yourself. Yep. That's right. And the other hour, I would probably spend it with my family.

Yeah. I was very cerebral, introspective, needs a lot of time to recharge by himself. He's always been like that. He's always been like that since you were 12 years old. I know when to step off the gas. That's honestly why I think the key to our marriage is. I know when to just give him some space. I let him go up to his a cupboard upstairs. There's a lot of, there's a lot of inner work that needs to take place for me to take on. Great.

I could use a break. That's self-care for me. Get away from me. I think that's right. And so the point, you know, the point of this being is that everybody has an answer pretty quickly. What's your answer? And so mine's super dorky.

And I don't know about two hours. Maybe for, maybe for at least a half an hour a day. I would do origami. And I just, because it's like, it's mind, I just love the idea of just taking a piece of paper

and folding it and creating something. And it's just, origami, that's a good one. For me, like, and I love doing it. And yet,

I never do origami because I never have enough time. So the bigger picture point is, you know, being able to walk yourself through that question is saying, well,

then the whole point of longevity is to have more time to do the things we love. Yep. And so aging should actually be celebrated in which, which the further we get along in the years, the more time, hopefully we have for ourselves

to be able to enjoy all of those things that we want to do. And that's where really aging needs to be focused. And that then means helping us as we get older, ensuring we have community, ensuring we have opportunities for exercise and quality of life, you know, all so we can help answer that question for you. I mean, which I think you. I get exactly. I mean, I guess what I'm saying is like I, the reason it's not family or business or these other things is because I feel like I put those things as the priorities right now. And also I take care of myself. I do things. But if I'm being dead honest and I had like an extra two hours where all of those other things were satisfied, like I played with my kids and I've spent time with my wife and I've done my responsibilities

of the company, like I'd probably say, okay, like selfishly then once those things are done, if I had an extra two hours, they'd probably be like, hey, let's do something else for me. It would do nothing to do with my phone. Oh, that's a big way. I'm so sick of my phone by the end of the night. I notice it like even in the morning, I find it to be such a disrupting. distraction. And the longer I have it, the more disruptive I find it. Like, I almost get like grossed out by it. I know what you're talking about. And it just becomes a cycle that you. And so it's just as we need to, I feel like we need to rethink aging. And then we can say, okay, what would I want to be able to do later in life? And then even being able to bring that back around to say, well, why kids? Can't I make that

time happen now because we've got one, we've got one life. And so it's just being able to kind of think about it almost, you know, kind of backtracking to say what's best, what would I love to do in the future? And then why can I incorporate that? You need to be doing more origami. I need to be doing, exactly. And why am I not? Like it's just, and so it's just a, inner some origami. That's a great. But you know, I think as you were asking the question, and it's a pretty deep enlightening question. Actually, for people to think about, like, I was thinking as I was going to answer, I'm like, well, if my, I thought, like, I went in my brain for a while. And I was like, if my answer was I need to spend more time with my kids, it's probably an indication

that I'm not doing that enough right now. But if I need, or if the answer was like, oh, I better spend time with my wife. But the point is, I think if people think about that question, and that is, like, maybe their answer is something that maybe they could recalibrate and put the focus into now. I actually think that in a weird way, it's good to say I'd spend more time myself because I'm focused on a lot of the things that are very important. Like, I don't have the, oh, I need to spend more time. with my kids. I spent a lot of time with my kids, you know, or with my wife. I'm not saying

I'm so great, but I was just thinking as people, like it would be a shame if you're like, oh, I wish I could spend more time with my wife, which would indicate that I don't spend time with her. Yeah, it makes sense. And you're in a big, like another big purpose of writing the book, the longevity nutrient. It's, yes, it shares science and yes, there's a whole lot of it in there in the adventure and the journey of the discovery around C-15 and understanding how longevity works and How do we discover these molecules? It's also the hope is it inspires people to say like, gosh, you know, this is the life I've been given. I was able to, you know, have this amazing opportunity to pursue my passion to fight for it.

And, you know, that's living. And to help inspire others to say that do the same. Do the same with your life. Because, you know, and then how wonderful that C-15 can help people do just that. This episode is brought to you by Squarespace. SquareSpace is the all-in-war. website platform for entrepreneurs to stand out and succeed online, whether you're just starting out or managing a growing brand. Squarespace makes it easy to create a beautiful website, engage with your

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That's the best offer you'll find, but you have to use our code Skinny for 50% off your first order. One last time, that's promo code Skinny for 50% off your first order plus free shipping. Quick break to talk about Momentus. Lauren and I are huge fans of Momentus and the supplements that they create. We've had the founder of Momentus Jeff on this show to talk about all about the efficacy of their products. What we love is that their products come with some of the highest quality ingredients and certifications. They have an NSF certification, which means every batch is tested for heavy metals, harmful additives, and label claim accuracy.

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of creatine per day for most people is going to be an absolute game changer. And again, Momentus has one of the best creatines on the market. What I love about Momentus is not only they're testing, but they have these single ingredient formulations, whether that's vitamin D3 or zinc or their omegas or their creatine. There's no additives. There's no random ingredients. There's no things that don't belong there. You just get pure vitamins that have the right dosage for the occasion. So check it out. If you're looking for supplements, you can trust with the highest quality ingredients and test. And you've been confused about which brand to trust you can definitely trust Momentus. All you have to do is go to live momentous.com slash skinny and try it today at 20% off with code skinny and start living on purpose.

Again, that's L-I-V-E-M-O-M-E-N-T-O-U-S dot com slash skinny. With all the developments that are coming out and all the science and the social media and even like the amazing celebrity facelifts that you can't even tell, what does the future of aging look like in your opinion as a whole and I'm not I'm talking about looks I'm talking about brain I'm talking about dis-ease everything I think that it would be naive to say that we're not going to be continuing to focus on the external aesthetics as we age I think that that area is going to continue to grow and do just fine I don't think there's anything wrong with that I think increasingly physicians and health care providers and individuals are going to better understand there's more ownership they can take. There are some things out of our control like genetics, but there are more things we can control that can help us from the inside, right?

The ability to help delay the onset of aging to help enjoy our lives. Cognitive help is a huge one, right? because even when we think about longevity and we say even if we're physically able to do things, if mentally we're not, we're kind of stuck in that same situation. So being able to focus more on how to preserve just as much of our cognitive health as our physical health is really just going to be critical to protecting, enjoying the benefits of aging without the deficits. Why have we not seen C-15 in more places? Is there just like not enough education on it? Like, why is it not, I'm just making this up, but why is it not like an add-on on your IV if you get an IV vitamin bag? Why is it, is it, I know you guys have it patented, but is that why? It's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, there's been barriers up, um, from society that have, um, prevented the large,

for there are over 100 studies on the benefits of C-15 from prestigious research teams throughout the world. For longevity. For longevity, all in support of all of this, like, it all, you know, adds up. So it, like, it activates AMPK and inhibits M-Tor. It, you know, hits six different hallmarks of aging. It has meaningful benefits within 12 weeks of, you know, with regard to metabolic liver and heart health. We have large-scale epidemiological studies from different populations all over the world showing people with higher C-15 have a lower risk of having these conditions and now these, you know, studies on the young. So the way Nick Schorick, right, Dr. Schorick put it, is there is no molecule that has more robust data on its role as a longevity enabler than C-15. And he's seen

all of it. He runs the NIH's longevity consortium. The barrier has been C-15 is a saturated fatty acid that's present in dairy fat. And it's, we, we have. We have been so, we've been taught for so long that all saturated fats are bad and to purposely avoid butter and avoid whole fat milk because it has saturated fats. That the science is all there. It's just really hard for people to like understand that the dolphins helped us look at saturated fats with a different angle. And now others all around the world have looked at it. So it's really, the scientific world is now understanding it. So we've now had, there have been three different groups around the world that have used gold standard studies to actually show that C-15, indeed, is an essential fatty acid, which means our bodies have to have certain levels of it to maintain our health.

That is the first essential fatty acid to be discovered in 90 years. So the science is now there. So now it's about translating that science into physicians. We have a growing physician base who are becoming huge advocates of it. Dr. Mark Hyman, Dr. Drew, you know, we have, and then those that have boots on the ground are all seeing it. So it's a groundswell movement. You're part of it. I hope so. I hope that Paul Saladino and I can continue to talk about raw milk and butter. We go through so much butter in our house all the time. I mean, I'm slapping extra butter on my kids' food to get the butter in. And

I mean, you know, I'm a huge raw milk lover. I love dairy. Dairy helped me lose weight, which is so counterintuitive to everything we've been taught. They say it inflames you, you gain weight, et cetera, et cetera. So I do hope that I can, if it's a little bit, just tweak the narrative around it because it's been, it's a big, it's like a food group. Well, it is a food group. It's a food group in our house. Yeah. And, you know, and there have been like, if you looked back at, you know, early in the 1970s or the 1960s, 1970s, 100% of infants at 12 months old had been given cow's milk. Today, it's less than 10%.

And so we've removed. Wow. It's powder. And if you look at infant formula, most infant formula doesn't have C-15 in it. So it's just like, how can we change this narrative? It's not, yes, development of a supplement is part of the solution, but there's just so much more that we need to have a conversation around how do we change dietary practices. How do we get C-15 back into infant formulas?

It's just it's a bigger conversation, which we're excited to be behind. Well, I think for the first time in a long time, health is now being put at the forefront of conversation in this country. And we've needed it because, again, we talked about this last time you were here. We can go and run around to different parts of the world and kind of eat whatever we want and really not notice much of it, go and have a bunch of ice cream, whatever. You don't really know. Here, unfortunately, you have to.

to be a little more thoughtful about what you ingest into your body. But I think now in, you know, whichever way you feel politically, what I'm excited about is that this topic of health in this country is at the forefront. And to me, this should be bipartisan where everyone should just be interested in this topic and living better and not only better, but longer. Yeah, completely. You know, for the longest time, like, it's been maybe a little bit more about feelings than some of the science and maybe a little bit of sweet.

under the rug some of the things we've been doing and ignoring some of the things that have been happening. And so anyways, like I hope this. It's exciting time. It's exciting time for nutrition, you know, and prevention and individual ownership of your health. I agree. It's a good time for that. If you could inspire one significant change in the way humans approach aging, what would it be? It would be socialization. I just, I think it's, we all. all know about exercise. We all know about diet. And, you know, as our parents get older, you know, my parents included, it's the piece I see that doesn't get addressed enough is that you need interaction. Even my, you know, my father is losing his hearing. And there's, it's

now well understood that losing your hearing can actually speed up the onset of Alzheimer's disease because the brain isn't getting that stimulation. Makes total sense. Right? And so things like that that are so addressable, we just, you know, it's humanity, right? So like providing opportunities and making sure that people aren't in isolation as they age, is for me, it's like it's so easy to address. It should be easy to address.

It's something we could all do. Yeah. I mean, I think, and unfortunately, even though we feel more connected than ever, we're probably a little bit more disconnected than ever. You know, that's, you're talking through screens all the time and feeling like that's enough. But the reason we choose to do this show in person, and I could just, like, just like a microcosm observation is it is completely different sitting with someone here, as opposed to talking to them through the screen. Like there is, there is a true disconnect that happens when you communicate with someone on the other side of a screen. Even if you feel, it's just,

there's something about being in the room with someone energetically. We did like three episodes during the pandemic over a screen. And I was like, to Michael, I was like, we're not doing this anymore. I'd rather do a solo episode. It's so it's it's such a blockage of energy. You can't feel when the person's going to stop talking or start talking. It's just different. And by the way, you'd be surprised at some of the people that we've turned down on this show because they refuse to come in in person. Which for you? It's, it's, I would rather not do it than have a conversation that falls flat where it's like you get a certain marquee guest or something. And then it's like, oh my God, that was just not great because of the, the.

person circumstances. Yeah. Connection's important. Connection. Where can everyone find your book? It's called the longevity nutrient, the unexpected fat that holds the key to healthy aging. Pimp yourself out, Dr. Stephanie. Ooh, all right.

Being a nerd, I don't know, Lauren. So it's available wherever books are sold. So it's from Simon and Schuster. So it's on pre-sale now and then book start heading out the door on March 25th. Michael and I had you on, as he said before, and it was so interesting. We learned so much. We added C-15 to our diet. And when we knew you were coming out with this book, we wanted to have you back on.

If someone wants to DM you, say hi, they have longevity questions. Where can they find you on Instagram? So probably the best source is through Fatty 15. and then again I'm a nerd so on LinkedIn I'm also available there at LinkedIn I have a couple of requests I'm going to need a formula

with C15 in it I'm going to need a gummy for my kids to give them I'd also just the heart the vitamin they'll eat those two that you love a little sprinkle that I can put on my top of my dog's food those are the things that I need there is actually a sprinkle available for your dog.

Oh. So that is new news. It's called, it came out from a group called Pets Best Life. They were the team that had come up with greenies, you know, and their wonderful husband-wife team. And they have a product called Yummy Combs,

which is kind of their follow-on. And then now they just came out with longevity 15, which is powered by Fatty 15 for dogs. Can you, can I have some of that? We'll get you. Yeah, we'll absolutely. gets you guys. Maybe I can sprinkle that in my kids pancakes. I don't know. Well, it has Himalayan cheese. I may, I may be kids like it. I don't know. I mean, I have given my kids, I have given my kids raw

butter for dogs. Like I, because I can only say. No, because we found raw butter. They only sell raw butter for pets. And so I was like, it's the same as human. It's just they can't. What's the difference? It's fine. Slap some of that raw butter for pets on my kids. kids pancakes and serve that shit right up. There's all kinds of things going in those pancakes. It's like kind of like the same things like sometimes if I make a little bit too many eggs like scramble like the dogs and eat it's like it's like it's not like a human egg. Yeah, exactly. The dogs need it. This is the pancake recipe for parents that are listening. Okay. It's banana, a cup of oatmeal and I think it's two eggs. That's it. You mix it up and it

makes pancakes. You don't have all the stuff. So there's. no flour, there's no sugar, they love it. You sprinkle a little fatty 15 in there, maybe a couple of vitamins, put a little raw butter for dogs on there and serve it up. There we go. I'm a fucking cook if I've ever seen one. That's the next book. That's it. How to trick your kids in eating healthy. Dr. Stephanie, thank you for coming on the podcast. We do have a code for you guys to shop their C15 product. I take one of these every single day. and the code is fatty15.com slash skinny or you can use code skinny for 15% off your first purchase. And if you want to nerd out on all the C15 science details, you can go to Discoverc15.com.

Thank you. Thank you for doing this. Thanks. This is wonderful being here, Michael. Thank you, Lauren.