"BONUS You’re Not Just Aging – The Shocking Truth About Cellular Health & Aging Better"

Today, we have another episode in our series of podcasts sponsored by BodyBio.

Jessica Kane, the Chief Marketing Officer and co-owner of BodyBio, joins me for this episode. BodyBio is a third-generation family-owned company dedicated to advancing cellular health through science-backed supplements. Jessica is passionate about innovating and educating on products that support optimal health.

BodyBio has played a significant role in my health and healing journey as well as in the lives of many of my patients, clients, and family members. I love their products, so I was delighted when they reached out to me for a conversation.

In our discussion, Jessica shares BodyBio’s mission to advance foundational health, and we discuss the impact of phospholipids on cellular function and the difference between health span and lifespan. We explore the role bioactive lipids and essential fatty acids play, highlighting the distinctions between omega-3s and omega-6s and their benefits. We cover specific testing that could help when navigating ways to support the body, the role of TUDCA in supporting liver and mitochondrial health, and emerging research on its potential for brain health. We also dive into the value of butyrate for gut health, upcoming innovations and products for healthy aging, and pilot studies on perimenopausal women.   

This discussion with Jessica Kane is rich, insightful, and well worth listening to more than once.

IN THIS EPISODE, YOU WILL LEARN:

• Jessica discusses BodyBio’s mission and how she and her husband continue doing the significant work her grandfather did

• Why are phospholipids essential for cellular health? 

• The importance of consuming healthy fats from whole foods and supplements

• The connection between cellular health and longevity, and some common contributors to problematic cellular health

• The difference between polyunsaturated fats (bioactive lipids) and saturated fats

• How to increase your essential fatty acid intake with whole foods

• How BodyBio Balance Oil provides a perfect balance of Omega-3s and Omega-6s, and the benefits of BodyBio TUDCA for supporting liver health and detoxification in middle age and beyond

• The best way to test for essential fatty acids

• How butyrate supports the gut lining integrity

• Jessica discusses her upcoming pilot study. 

Bio:

Jess Kane is the Chief Marketing Officer and co-owner of BodyBio, a third-generation, family-owned company dedicated to advancing cellular health through science-backed supplements. With a passion for wellness and a commitment to transparency, Jess leads BodyBio's mission to innovate and educate on products that support optimal health. She brings a blend of strategic insight and a deep understanding of nutritional science to her role, ensuring BodyBio remains a trusted brand for practitioners and consumers alike. Jess's leadership has helped BodyBio evolve as a pioneer in anti-toxin support and mitochondrial health, trusted by over 35,000 healthcare professionals worldwide.

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“The toxic world we live in is affecting those lipids, breaking them down, increasing the rates of disease, and fast-tracking aging.”

– Jessica Kane (Body Bio)

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Connect with Jessica Kane 

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Transcript:

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Cynthia Thurlow: [00:00:02] Welcome to Everyday Wellness Podcast. I'm your host, Nurse Practitioner Cynthia Thurlow. This podcast is designed to educate, empower and inspire you to achieve your health and wellness goals. My goal and intent is to provide you with the best content and conversations from leaders in the health and wellness industry each week and impact over a million lives. 

[00:00:29] Today, I spoke with Jessica Kane who is the Chief Marketing Officer and co-owner of BodyBio, which is a third-generation family-owned company dedicated to advancing cellular health through science backed supplements. Her passion is to innovate and educate on products that support optimal health and for me BodyBio has been integral not only in my own health and healing journey, but in so many of my patients, clients and even family members. 

[00:00:57] I really love their products and so I was delighted when they reached out and asked to have a discussion. Today, we spoke at length about BodyBio's mission to advance foundational health, the impact of phospholipids in cellular biology and the importance of fatty acids and how our cells become dysfunctional by lifestyle-mediated issues, why longevity and foundational health are so important and how lifespan and health span are differentiated, the impact of bioactive lipids including fatty acids as well as essential fatty acids and key differentiators between omega-3s and omega-6s, hint they're important for structure, immune function, cell signaling and mood, key benefits of omega-3s and omega 6s and specific testing that can be helpful in navigating how to support our bodies, the role of TUDCA not only for mitochondrial but liver health and emerging science that's coming for TUDCA with regard to brain health, why butyrate is the unsung hero of the gut. it is a postbiotic and it's important for overall health, the maintenance of our gut lining integrity and the influence on colonocytes and immune system and inflammation control as well as metabolic health, upcoming innovations or products focused on healthy aging as well as existing pilot studies on perimenopausal women and some of my favorite quickfire segments that Jessica was receptive to participating in. This is truly an invaluable conversation that you'll want to listen to more than once.

[00:02:40] Jessica, such a pleasure to connect with you. I've been really excited to have this conversation. 

Jessica Kane: [00:02:45] Thank you, thank you for having me. I'm so excited to chat all things, all the things. 

Cynthia Thurlow: [00:02:50] Yeah, you know it's interesting. Like there are definitely a few of the supplement companies that I just really hold in high regard and so when your team reached out about organizing an interview, I was genuinely really excited and I'm sure as we go through our conversation today, I'm going to share some of the N of 1 experiments in my own household that have been to me, magical, especially with one of my children. And so, I'd really love to initiate the conversation talking about BodyBio's mission and continuing the work that your grandparents did. I love that it's a family business and it's something that you have continued with this love and focus on educating consumers and providing really high-quality products.

Jessica Kane: [00:03:34] Thank you. Yeah. It's been a really fun journey. It's been eight years since my husband and I got involved actually this month. And really just extending on my grandfather's belief that there is a serious problem that we are having with the fats, the fats in our body, the lipids that protect our cells, the lipids that protect our mitochondria. And there is a true issue with the toxic world that we're living in, how it's affecting those lipids and breaking down those lipids and increasing the rates of disease, fast tracking aging, all of these things. And so, we're just really proud to be able to stand by that. The product that he invented and the mission that he created and truly believe that people can change their lives through impacting and building more resilient cells. That's really what he believed. 

Cynthia Thurlow: [00:04:22] Yeah. So, for the benefit of listeners, let's talk about this very important phospholipid bilayer in these cells. We're getting down to some cellular science, but I promise we're going to keep it light. But why is this so important? Why is it important for us to understand the role of fats in our cells and in terms of communication and an abundance of other items that are very important? But why is your grandfather's work so important and relevant even today? 

Jessica Kane: [00:04:49] I think he was able to almost see ahead in time. I think in the 1990s, when he started the company out of a need for himself, he had chronic fatigue from heavy metal toxicity and really went deeper. He was a true biohacker, a true explorer who was not willing to take that diagnosis at face value and said, “How am I going to live a healthier, better life? How am I going to feel great every day?” And he went on that mission and he discovered through that, all of this research that led him to believe that so many of these things that we're exposed to, the hundreds of thousands of chemicals that have been introduced that are, “safe,” but then of course, they're removed from the market later, at a later date actually are not safe and they're having lasting impacts. 

[00:05:28] And a huge part of where they impact our health is obviously in our cells. Our cells are the root of every single thing in the body. It sounds very esoteric to talk about cells, but it's so important because cells are where disease occurs. Our cells are protected by this healthy, this fat, this phospholipid bilayer. It's like a bubble that surrounds all of the different organelles within the cell, the nucleus and the mitochondria, and the endoplasmic reticulum, these things that you're thinking about from high school biology. But this phospholipid bilayer breaks down. And what happens as we age is our ability to synthesize these phospholipids from food decreases, particularly even worse for postmenopausal women. And this bilayer is also broken down by toxin exposure. So, whether it's viruses, whether it's chemicals, heavy metals, microplastics, think about, we can't feel the impact of microplastics. 

[00:06:21] We know it's happening and it's impacting our cells. And so, it's breaking down this phospholipid bilayer. And then this stuff that we do not want in our cells is getting into our cells. It is getting into our mitochondria. It's affecting our energy production. It's affecting our epigenetics. It's actually changing our genetic DNA. It's altering our epigenetics and activating things now that shouldn't be activated. Children getting all these different diseases, people getting colon cancer in their 20s. These things should not be happening. The rates of autoimmune disease for women are just astronomical. And it's this breakdown in this phospholipid layer that is a part of that process. I'm not by any means saying it's a cure for all of these things, but we have this breakdown and we need to start addressing it. And really that's so much of it came from that. He was like a high fat fanatic. He was eating 12 egg yolks a day. 

Cynthia Thurlow: [00:07:16] That was really, I mean, was totally against the grain because that's when I was in my training and we bastardized fats. We told everyone fat was bad. That was terrible. 

Jessica Kane: [00:07:26] You still go into a hospital and everything's low fat. It's insane. 

Cynthia Thurlow: [00:07:29] It is a little bit bizarre to be completely transparent with you. And I agree and what I find really interesting when I reflect back on cell biology and cell danger response and chronic inflammation and all the things that are a counterpart, a reflection of what's going on at a deep cellular level. This is our modern-day lifestyles coming out. And the thing that I find interesting is traditional allopathic medicine and I'm not dumping, I'm just saying there are limitations to that traditional model and it's why so many people continue to not feel good. Let's use as an example, they've got an underactive thyroid. If they don't fit in this very broad range of lab values, they're missed. And you start to think about mitochondrial dysfunction which really accelerates after the age of 40. 

[00:08:17] You add in perimenopause. It's like a little match gets lit that just accelerates this oxidative stress and inflammation in the body. And for many individuals, they just don't feel good and that becomes their normal as they are getting chronologically older. And it doesn't have to be that way. And so, I always humbly say, know better, do better. But a lot of the rhetoric that I started with as a new nurse practitioner I look at now and I cringe because we bastardized all fats, animal-based fats, encouraged people to have, in many instances, a lot of these rancid seed oils. And I know that we'll unpack healthy omega-6 fats versus the oxidized, rancid, highly processed variety.

[00:09:00] Where do you think the average person-- when you are talking to individuals working within your company, where are some of the hidden underlying causes of cellular senescence, dysfunctional cellular membranes? What are some of the common reasons, like we talk about this modern-day lifestyle that's exacerbating this but for listeners benefit, what are the most common things that you think are contributing to why our cell health is so problematic? 

Jessica Kane: [00:09:32] Chemicals-- Introduction of so many different chemicals. Think about it. When you're walking around Home Depot or Lowe's or when you're walking around a Target, looking at these different cleaning agents, there's a reason there is such a movement towards cleaner products and more natural products. And it's because a lot of these chemicals affect us greatly. Heavy metals, wherever they are, the introduction of all of these processed foods, these also are chemicals in these foods. And so, this replacement of, just take a margarine for instance, the replacement of something healthy and natural with something that is chemically made and altered and biochemically engineered to be different. None of it makes sense. And so much of this that's happened in the last, let's say 50 years just has a true impact on our health. 

[00:10:21] You also have things like viruses, vector borne diseases like Lyme disease. These things can greatly impact our cell membranes. And many of us are walking around not even realizing we've ever been impacted by Lyme. I'm amazed all the time how many people say to me, “I finally went and did a really intense Lyme panel, not just my general GP and yep, you were right, my headaches were caused by Lyme. And we're walking around thinking that we're completely fine. I found out about two years ago that I had Lyme disease. I never even knew. And so, it's one of those things mono, when we're younger and we get coxsackie hand, foot and mouth, all of these things impact, these viruses, impact EBV. 

[00:10:58] There's so many, so many different things that are impacting our cell membrane and causing-- we all are so familiar with leaky gut, but this inflammation is also causing leaky cells. 

Cynthia Thurlow: [00:11:10] Yeah, it's so interesting to me. And when I lived in Northern Virginia, we had the highest rate of Lyme in the entire state. And so even though I was nicely, conveniently tucked away in cardiology, we were faced with unusual presentations of Lyme all the time. And just as a fun fact for listeners, the family, their spirochetes, the type of bacterium that Lyme and people don't like to hear the syphilis, they're not the same thing, but they are similar in terms of their morphology, the way that they work. They're called the great masquerader, they hide. Sometimes it can be very hard to diagnose, very hard to treat. And so, I'm of the belief system that more often than not tickborne illnesses are at the basis for a lot of chronic health problems. But I think we're getting better at diagnosing these things. 

Jessica Kane: [00:11:57] Yeah. It's becoming more mainstream. 

Cynthia Thurlow: [00:11:58] Yeah. But certainly, it's interesting. I'm doing a functional medicine certification and we had this big lecture with one of the big Lyme disease doctors. And I sat in awe during this lecture and thought to myself, “Oh my gosh, there's so much to unpack here.” And what's interesting is for listeners, it was 30 years ago, one of my best friends got married, I got bit by a deer tick. Unlike most people that I have always had this magnified response to any insect bite my entire life. I got classic bullseye rash. And at the time, my very astute primary care provider, I was seeing her for something else and she was like, “I don't want to talk to you about what you came in for. I'm focused on your leg.” And so, I was treated very appropriately with doxycycline. 

[00:12:40] And I always say very humbly, how many people are bit and are completely unaware that they were bit and go on to develop mystery illnesses that turn out to be-- related to multiple-- Oftentimes it's not just Lyme, it's multiple tickborne illnesses. And the one that I find most interesting right now, and I'm going off on a tangent, but relevant, there's something called Lone star tick. At University of Virginia, which is close to where I live now. There were some researchers there that probably more than 10 years ago diagnosed that some people that are bit by this particular tick will develop a mammalian meat allergy. Why is that relevant? Some of my patients that needed to have cardiac surgery could not have cardiac surgery because they had developed an allergy to pork. And pork is in heparin and heparin is a drug that's given for patients in many instances having surgery. 

Jessica Kane: [00:13:31] Of course.

Cynthia Thurlow: [00:13:31] I would have patients that suddenly would-- they would be anaphylactic. They would have these severe allergic reactions. 

Jessica Kane: [00:13:37] Wow. 

Cynthia Thurlow: [00:13:38] It's a small percentage of people, I don't know the specifics that will develop this mammalian meat allergy, but imagine something as benign as a tick bite then going on to create an allergy to meat I would be-- that would be devastating because I love-- [crosstalk] 

Jessica Kane: [00:13:52] Unbelievable. It's the really-- I've heard so many times, I thought it was MS, it was originally from Lyme. There's a root to every problem that we're experiencing. And so oftentimes people think they're finding the root cause, but it goes even deeper than that. And I think that's with a lot of the case even within functional medicine, they're addressing the root cause. But if you're not actually addressing cellular health, you're missing a huge component of healing. 

Cynthia Thurlow: [00:14:17] How does cellular health impact longevity? When you're having these conversations and we're talking about this complex interrelationship with the health of our cells and how that impacts how we age, how we feel, how we view the world, how do longevity and cellular health go together for you. 

Jessica Kane: [00:14:37] Longevity is aging well and putting off disease. Eventually, we all die from disease. That is how we all pass away. Disease occurs within the cells. And so, to me, protecting and making your cells more resilient is directly tied to better health span, better lifespan, better longevity. 60% of our brain is fat. So, if you just isolate brain function on its own. As we age, our ability to synthesize phospholipids from food decreases. So, we talk a lot about these healthy fats that make up our cell membrane in these phospholipids. The main one is called phosphatidylcholine, which some people may have heard of. And as we age, our ability to get these from food decreases. We're getting the insult of our modern-day environment that is breaking down these lipids even more. 

[00:15:26] And it's causing a problem within our cells to communicate so that neurotransmission is no longer as strong as it used to be. Our mitochondria also have phospholipids and they have various different fats that are a huge part of their energy production. We lose energy. So, all of these things, these little biochemical processes are affecting ultimately how you feel and how you age. And it's something that's not talked about enough. But I think it's so important to be getting these healthy fats in so that our cells are optimally functioning, our brain function is better, our memory, our retention, all of these things are working better when we're taking care of ourselves. 

Cynthia Thurlow: [00:16:03] And I think a lot of people think about the aging process of we just need to replace hormones. And I'm not suggesting that it's that simplistic. I think it is far more than that. Certainly, with conversations I have on the podcast, whether it's micronutrients, whether it's those healthy fats. I think there are still a large group of the population that are fearful of fat consumption. And I think it's very important to be having this conversation so that people understand that, these phospholipids are important for cell function. They're important for signaling, which is messaging. It's like I always trying to explain to my kids, messaging between cells, messaging between hormones and neurotransmitters all these are so important. Let's talk a little bit about different types of fatty acids. 

[00:16:47] I think this always comes into the conversation because I think that we've gotten so generalized in our-- fats are bad, fats are good. People don't know necessarily understand or are able to adequately differentiate different types of fats. But I think fatty acids in particular are very, very important. And I absolutely want to talk a little bit about my 17-year-old as we kind of dive into this. 

Jessica Kane: [00:17:13] Yeah. And I think people hear polyunsaturated fats and they're just immediately scared away. Saturated fats are obviously solid at room temperature. Polyunsaturated fats are not. I call them bioactive lipids like living, breathing, moving little molecules. And not literally like bacteria, but polyunsaturated fats have an energy to them. And polyunsaturated fats are essential fatty acids. Essential fatty acids are not something that we make in the body. So, we make phospholipids that we’re just talking about that protect your cells. Other part of the cell membrane is part essential fatty acid. We have to consume them. That's why they're called essential. That is why things like seed cycling are proponents of hormone regulation, essential fatty acids. The two-mother essential fatty acids are omega-6 and omega-3. 

[00:17:57] And so, often we talk about these ones down here, these omega 3s, DHA and EPA, but we're not talking about ALA and LA. LA is the one that is always bastardized. People go crazy over oxidized omega-6, which is bad. The stuff that is used in all this packaged food and all the processed food and all the fast food and it's heated in restaurants and vegetable oils, that stuff is rancid. That stuff is bad. You need to be very, very careful with how polyunsaturated fats, essential fatty acids are treated. And that even goes for your fish oil. I would venture to say 90% of fish oil in the market is actually rancid. It's just as bad as that vegetable canola oil sitting on the shelf at your local supermarket. 

[00:18:39] And so, people try to act nuanced and they go all crazy, but we're really throwing the baby out with the bathwater when we say all omega-6 is bad. Because omega-6 is an essential fatty acid. And there's a whole host of incredible biochemical processes that are involved in the downstream metabolites and the building blocks for eicosanoids, which are responsible, they're almost like hormone like compounds and they're responsible for inflammation, both pro and anti-inflammatory signaling in the body, ovulation and menstruation, labor and delivery, immune response and so you need a healthy balance of these essential fatty acids. And it's hard to get that because of all the processed crap that is out there. And so, we think let's avoid omega-6 and let's take a bunch of fish oil. Doesn't work that way. These two pathways don't cross over into each other. 

[00:19:27] And so really what you want to do is find a great balance in your diet. I love raw seeds. I think raw seeds are one of the best things you could possibly be eating also from your foods, from meats, from organ meats, from fish, from shellfish, all of these things are really great ways to increase these beautiful essential fatty acids in the whole food form. 

Cynthia Thurlow: [00:19:47] I think you're bringing up such an important point is that in many instances, and I have to believe that people were well intentioned about bringing greater awareness to rancid processed polyunsaturated oils. But I think it's come at an expense and I will share very transparently with my listeners that my youngest son, probably about two years ago had a strep infection like most kids do. He's a pretty healthy kid, but after his strep infection he had a lot of neuroinflammation and it showed up in some behavioral quirky things that started to happen. And so, through the course of working with a wonderful integrative medicine doc, we did a lot of testing and the first thing he said was he's like, “Cynthia, no wonder why he's so inflamed. He is deficient in omega-6 fatty acids.”

[00:20:37] And so part of his recovery, I really think is instrumental has been this Balance Oil that your company creates. And in many instances, I think so many of us have gotten so conditioned that omega-6 are bad, even as clinicians like we've gotten so focused on anti-inflammatory as opposed to proinflammatory and our body is constantly looking for balance. And so, let's talk a little bit about what these omega-6s are doing. I know you gave us a broad overview, but in terms of brain health, immune function, communication in the body, why are those so critically important and why are we getting overly fixated on nuance when it really should-- we should be thinking a bit more broadly. 

Jessica Kane: [00:21:22] I think there's also a detriment within the testing. And so, what people do is they go and they get an Omega Quant. They do a test that shows they have 22:1 ratio of omega 6:3. That's firstly it's looking at blood plasma, not your red blood cells, blood plasma is going to show what you've consumed in the last week. It's not actually going to show how it's impacting your cells, how it's impacting the cell membrane. For that you actually have to look at a red blood cell fatty acid analysis. And those are not easy to get. The Omega Quant, very easy to get these omega tests, finger prick tests, very easy. They're not testing the right thing. And so yes, adjust your diet, remove the rancid oils. 

[00:22:01] If you're going to eat in a restaurant, consuming, asking for steamed food, try not to eat something that's doused in vegetable oil. We talk about this kind of stuff all the time. Look for the French fries that are cooked in tallow, not canola oil. Things like this, really really important. But it's also really important to be supposed to supplying the body with the right omega 6s, the right form of linoleic acid, whether it's from seeds, whether it's from a product like Balance Oil. Balance Oil was created to provide the 4:1 ratio, 4 parts omega 6 to 1 part 3. And because that is the ratio that our cells need. And so, it's this really carefully treated, non-oxidized, cold pressed organic product that really helps to rebalance that essential fatty acid pathway. 

[00:22:44] And so, even if you are going to consume, if I go out to a restaurant and I know I'm not being careful, I just want to enjoy my meal with my family, I'll go back home and take Balance Oil because I know it's going to help to balance out the impact of any rancid sixes that I am actually eating. So, I really love, I think so often we talk about evening primrose oil and people are totally fine with talking about evening primrose oil. That's an omega 6. 

Cynthia Thurlow: [00:23:07] Yeah.

Jessica Kane: [00:23:08] Right? That's just, it's a downstream metabolite from linoleic acid. And I love evening primrose oil. Much of the evening primrose oil on the market is actually cut with borage oil which you don't want. And so, you want to make sure that you're getting a pure evening primrose oil. People say that they're proinflammatory because they help with the body's inflammatory response, in mounting an inflammatory response when it's needed. But when they are all balanced, these essential fatty acids actually really help to balance these cell-signaling molecules so that everything exists together. When we remove one and we are replacing with oxidized six so when we're consuming a bunch of Kentucky Fried Chicken and then we're thinking we can take a fish oil to balance all that out, it's creating absolute chaos and havoc in our cells.

[00:23:57] And so that's one of the worst things I think we can do. And I think just eating the right foods, consuming the right nuts, the raw seeds I think is really helpful. Taking products like Balance Oil to help balance all those essential fatty acids out. I consume it every single day. I love making salad dressings with it. We have a liquid version. I take Balance Oil every morning in my-- I do like raw milk, a protein powder, Balance Oil, a little bit of minerals. That's my go to start to every single day. My kids love it as well. It's great for kids. And I've had people from all forms of issues with children tell me their eczema is gone, their neuroinflammation, their ADHD. It's wonderful for kids who have ADHD-type symptoms, there's always a root cause and so often it's an imbalance at the cellular level. It's this cellular inflammation that's occurring. 

Cynthia Thurlow: [00:24:45] Yeah, I think, for me, seeing it from the perspective of a parent, even as a clinician, it was nearly miraculous because I feel like within probably three months of him taking it and he dutifully takes it, like I don't have to give him a hard time, he takes it, he actually uses the oil and some other things, takes it every night. Doesn't complain, because he said it makes my brain feel better, I feel better. And so, we talk about crotchety, grumpy teens that don't want to do what their parents or frankly their healthcare professional is suggesting to them. But I think even as a 17-year-old, he definitely has been able to see the benefits and [crosstalk] feel them quite significantly. 

[00:25:26] Now on the flip side, we're talking about omega-6s, how in many instances we just need greater education around the benefits and not stressing so much. You don't throw the baby out with the bathwater as that expression goes. Talk to us about omega-3s because they are also important. And for a lot of individuals, they don't like fish, they don't want to have chia or flax seeds, they don't want to have the walnuts. Talk to us about the benefits of omega-3s. Obviously, it's this 4:1 ratio, omega 6 to omega 3s. But I think for a lot of people, they think if I just take fish oil, I'm set, I don't have to worry about it. 

[00:26:01] And certainly from what you have suggested with a lot of the fish oil products that are rancid, oxidized, that's not a benefit. So, how can we focus in on the benefits of omega-3s and ensure we're getting enough in our diet and/or plus or minus supplementation? 

Jessica Kane: [00:26:16] Yeah, there's a huge amount of benefits to omega-3s particularly. There's been so much research on EPA, DHA and ALA is the higher level essential fatty acid. So, LA and ALA are at the top of this little food chain and the downstream metabolites are EPA and DHA. The conversion from ALA, which is found in many seeds and that's the reason so many people talk about seed cycling. The conversion to DHA and EPA from ALA is actually very minimal. And so that's why we always suggest people get whole food forms of EPA and DHA. We actually make a fish oil product that is cold pressed caviar. So, caviar and breast milk are the two areas that supply specialized pro-resolving mediators which are a really important component to omega-3s that are responsible for resolving inflammation. 

[00:27:05] And so omega-3s in general are highly anti-inflammatory. The problem is the actual sourcing and the actual production and the amount of artificial nonsense that is added to these to make these not as anti-inflammatory as they were originally intended to be. Which is why we often tell people to eat whole food forms. So, I think just be careful with your source when you're going for the omega-3s. I think, omega-3s and EFAs in general are incredibly important for endocrine gland function. Helps with adrenal gland regulation, all the sex hormones, estrogen, progesterone, testosterone, thyroid function. So, you want them in balance I think hence why the product's called Balance Oil. That's the critical piece here that I think is so important. 

[00:27:49] And I think that, years ago, we would have been able to balance all this out with our diets. But the problem is we've thrown so much mess in there that it's thrown everything off. And so, I think in general I love omega-3s for brain function, DHA for brain is critically important. I always recommend women take it, particularly in their third trimester when they're pregnant. But in general, it's also very supportive of liver detoxification of estrogen, which is really important in perimenopause and post menopause and also just for general hormone regulation. So, I think that omega-3s have a really great place. I don't think they have this panacea that people have claimed for several years that they cure everything. 

[00:28:34] So, yes, of course they are anti-inflammatory, but they're anti-inflammatory when everything is in balance. 

Cynthia Thurlow: [00:28:39] And I think that's really key, the emphasis on just greater awareness of what your own biological needs are. I think for many people. And as an example, my 17-year-old has always hated fish and he was the kid even if we tried to get him to eat certain things, he was just very resistant and to do it. I think for many of us we have our own kind of proclivities, we have our own preferences and this is where I think testing can be very important. The question is, are people getting the right types of tests to assess their own personal needs? 

Jessica Kane: [00:29:13] Yes. 

Cynthia Thurlow: [00:29:13] From your perspective, are there tests that you prefer to talk about or we don't necessarily have to talk about brands, but we could certainly talk around this. What do you feel like is the most beneficial way to test for these essential fatty acids? 

Jessica Kane: [00:29:27] The best test is it's one that we're working on. It's a red blood cell fatty acid analysis. We've actually done it for many, many years. We've done our tests for over 20 years. We've just never made it available to public and so it was only available to some specific doctors. But they've seen incredible results for it and we're updating it so we will be able to offer it next year, which I'm really excited about. And it's going to look at the red blood cell fatty acid analysis and it will look at the 3:6 ratio.

[00:29:53] It will tell you what type of fats and renegade fats are building up in your cells and what you need to get rid of and what the dietary changes are in particular that I think are really helpful because it's so easy to say like “Here's a supplement that'll help.” But it's really also important to address nutrition and food is medicine and really treat it as such. So, I think with testing, just as your clinician that worked with your 17-year-old did, I think it's about really taking a nuanced look and making sure you're working with a professional who really understands the essential fatty acids and how they play into cellular health and cellular function. 

Cynthia Thurlow: [00:30:26] Yeah, this is definitely one of the challenges of working in a functional integrative space is that there are a lot of amazing tests. They're not traditional allopathic tests. They can be valuable. They can also be very expensive. They're not covered by insurance. And if you're not working with someone who knows how to interpret the test, then it ends up being a very expensive, somewhat nonbeneficial way of looking at additional data. And that's why I think it's so important, whoever you're working with, make sure whatever test they're running, they've looked at hundreds of them. You're the guinea pig and this is the second time they've looked at this test and they're not 100% sure how to evaluate it. I think that is certainly very important. 

[00:31:02] Now you've mentioned several times, and I think it goes without saying for many women navigating middle age, they suddenly start hearing buzzwords like detoxification and looking at mitochondrial function and gut health. Talk to me about the role of things like TUDCA in particular, which is one of my favorite supplements that you all make. What are the unique benefits of utilizing this supplement to support mitochondrial health, to support detoxification and liver health in middle age and beyond? 

Jessica Kane: [00:31:36] Yeah, and I think as we age, our ability to detox gets so clogged up. How many people do you know who have had their gallbladder removed? This is an organ that we are removing and we're saying it has no consequences. And so that's just one of the examples. Kidney stones, gallbladder stones, bile flow issues, fatty liver. Fatty liver is an absolute epidemic. And so many of these things are occurring, as we get older our ability to detoxify, both Phase I and Phase II get backed up. We have this toxic bucket that I like to say we have. And when it just starts overflowing, so many of these symptoms come to be. Our livers are so important for detoxification. And when they get backed up, a huge- It's just a product that I think is so helpful and you've probably seen it firsthand to get everything flowing and get the liver rejuvenated is TUDCA.

[00:32:32] And no amount of milk thistle or dandelion or what's the other one people take, turmeric is going to have the effect that something like TUDCA does. TUDCA is a bile acid and it helps to get that bile flowing. So, your gallbladder is where bile is stored. Bile is constantly passing through both the stomach and the liver, and it helps to move that function along so that we are able to detoxify better. So, if you take glutathione, but your liver's all backed up, you're not actually able to remove a lot of these things through the body. And we know, obviously you've talked about this a lot on your podcast, how important that movement of estrogen and of our different hormones are, they go through the liver. 

[00:33:14] And so, it really optimizes liver function, liver health, and gets things moving. Really interestingly, TUDCA is also a molecule that has many different benefits. It's made in the body, but it has many different benefits to it. It's also a chemical chaperone, which is a really interesting molecule one of our other products is as well, it's called butyrate. That one's more for gut health. TUDCA’s focus is more on liver. And it has this role in the mitochondria and in the cell of breaking down the toxic sludge that's stuck in our mitochondria and moving it out of the body. 

[00:33:44] And the way we move it out of the body is by using the healthy fats like Balance Oil and PC. And so, it's part of the overall protocol of how do we break down this stuff that's affecting our DNA, affecting our epigenetics? And TUDCA is one of the key components that helps with that. 

Cynthia Thurlow: [00:33:58] Yeah, it's interesting because it's part of my new book. I talk about it. And as we are losing estrogen, as we're navigating the latter stages of perimenopause into menopause, we start to lose the ability to effectively break down and emulsify fats. That becomes part of it. Women, in many instances, they become fat malabsorbed, their digestion is off to your point about how many women in middle age-- We had a mnemonic, which I'm not going to repeat, but the mnemonic was, women of a certain age come in presenting with right upper quadrant pain. 

[00:34:29] It's 40, flatulent. It's this whole, like mnemonic that's created for the perfect ideal storm of women that are dealing with trouble breaking down and emulsifying fats. You know, add into it the metabolic health crisis that we're experiencing, and that certainly contributes as well. Is there emerging research that you're aware of that's discussing some of the benefits for TUDCA and the interrelationship between brain health?

Jessica Kane: [00:34:54] Yeah, I mean there's a lot, they were actually studying-- they were using TUDCA in a trial for ALS. It actually did not end up making it through the second phase of the trial. I think there were some flaws in the way that they were setting it up, but its role as a chemical chaperone in that way, TUDCA and its role in neuroinflammation and neurodegeneration is really interesting and how it's starting to resolve that. So, it's very emerging. I don't talk about it a lot because you're getting into drug territory, but it's a very powerful compound is what I would say. And I think it's one of those things that will be looked at as a very powerful nootropic and particularly for aging and particularly for anybody who has any history, familial history of neurodegeneration. 

Cynthia Thurlow: [00:35:39] Yeah. For me, I think the more I learn about TUDCA, the more humbled I am with the way that-- we view it as an allopathic medicine, but it's actually not a new-- [crosstalk].

Jessica Kane: [00:35:48] It was in Chinese medicine for hundreds of years from bear bile. 

Cynthia Thurlow: [00:35:53] Complementary. Right, it's complementary medicine. And so, I look at how we're merging things together and in many instances, patients that I put on TUDCA its life changing for them. 

Jessica Kane: [00:36:02] Interesting. I love that. I feel like TUDCA for me, after I had my first son, I had complete fat malabsorption issues. I would eat an egg and be in that awful upper quadrant pain, that nausea that you don't understand. And I'm in this space, right. And I'm asking all the right questions and nobody could really tell me what it was. And years later, I look back, it was at that time that I started to particularly say like, “Okay, I'm just going to try this. I'm to take TUDCA.” Well, I'm able to eat eggs. I eat tons of eggs. I'm able to eat meat. I don't have to take it as much as I once did because that bile is circulating and I'm able to break all of that down. I used to have a lot of like liver pain. 

[00:36:42] I felt like too, particularly after I had the kids, because your hormones are fluctuating so much. I actually really like to recommend that women take it after they like give birth because it's helping to regulate so many of these hormones. Not every day, but every couple days, I think it's really helpful. And it entirely changed the game for me in terms of fat absorption. So, if you suspect a history of gallbladder issues, my mother had her gallbladder removed, my grandmother. If you suspect you have issues digesting fats, you feel that like weird pain or it may feel like acid reflux, it's not. And introducing TUDCA I think can be really really helpful. And I think it changes things pretty quickly for people. 

Cynthia Thurlow: [00:37:21] It's interesting. I sometimes will ask patients, do you notice that your stool-- I know, I'm a nurse practitioner, we talk about poop. But if you look at your stool, if your stool's floating on the surface of the water, if it looks greasy, if you have a lot of trouble, like you go to dinner and you have a ribeye steak and you come home and the next day you're like, “I feel nauseous, I don't feel good.” A lot of people just don't digest their fats properly. And I think this is exacerbated/magnified by the past 40-50 years of bastardizing fats. People are terrified to eat fats. Now, they're starting to eat them and their bile just isn't working as effectively as it once did. That is certainly a contributory issue. 

[00:38:01] On the other side is butyrate, and this is a molecule that I find to be truly like the unsung hero of the gut. Let's talk about what exactly it is and why it's so critical for overall health. And not just with the gut. 

Jessica Kane: [00:38:15] Butyrate is a postbiotic. So, we know what prebiotics are, we know what probiotics are. Butyrate is the byproduct of a healthy microbiome. When you have specific keystone strains of bacteria in our gut, which many of us are missing, and you're feeding it specific foods, resistant starches, so plantains, green bananas, oats, specific types of fiber these specific bacteria eat. And then you produce ample amounts of butyrate. No one's doing that these days, right? Our guts are so disrupted through antibiotic overuse, through pesticides, herbicides, all of these things that are damaging our gut and our bacteria levels in the gut. And so, butyrate is a product that you can take, you make it in your body, but you can also take it in therapeutic doses. And it really has unbelievable anti-inflammatory benefits. 

[00:39:02] It's an incredible molecule. It's the molecule that regulates our immune function. It tells immune cells when to trigger autoimmune reactions. It's really incredible. They're looking at it for so many different things. Some things that I can't mention, but it's critically important. We're doing a bunch of clinical trials with it. One in particular with the VA that I'm so excited about. That's a five-year trial. It's extremely effective. You will feel it if you start taking butyrate in days. You will have better bowel movements, better bowel function and less bloating, less flatulence, less gassiness. It helps with all of those things, but it goes so much deeper as a molecule in the body and helps on the cellular level as well. It's really awesome what it does. 

Cynthia Thurlow: [00:39:43] Yeah. And how do you think it works to support the gut lining integrity? So, we know we have one cell layer thick in the small intestine and we are at greater risk because again, I have hate to keep harping on this, but it's the topic of the new book. You know, women are at greater risk for developing autoimmune conditions. This escalates in the setting of shifts in sex hormones as we're navigating perimenopause and menopause too. 

Jessica Kane: [00:40:06] Oh, yeah, and it's so important. There is two products, I think that are critically important for the gut lining. And remember, this gut lining is one cell thick food for the gut lining. These colonocytes, that's what they're called, is butyrate. And so, feeding it butyrate is going to help seal that leaky gut and protect that lining. Your gastric mucosa is also made of phosphatidylcholine, which is, we talked about earlier, that phospholipid, that healthy fat that feeds your brain, it's everywhere in your body. It's in your liver. It's in your skin. I don't do Botox. I'm 41 years old. It's my key fat that helps with plumping up your cells. It also does the same in your gut lining. And it's a critically important supplement. 

[00:40:44] Both of these really, for women as we're aging because we're losing the ability to produce butyrate in the gut, we're also losing the ability to create phospholipids and phosphatidylcholine with the decrease of estrogen that we see. So, with a decrease of estrogen, you're decreasing PEMT, which is responsible for pulling the phospholipids out of the food you're consuming. And so, we need these products more than ever. And we just see unbelievable results when people start taking them. Whether it's better gut function, better brain function, less brain fog. All of these things are really impacted. And I think that we can't go through life as we once did in the same way that you can't smoke a pack of cigarettes like your grandparents did and expect to live till 95 like they did. 

[00:41:25] Our world is just much different and these things impact ourselves. And so, providing these resources for ourselves to make them more resilient is really our mission at BodyBio. 

Cynthia Thurlow: [00:41:37] Yeah, it's interesting. I released a podcast talking with my integrative doc, and he was saying we can't compare our generation to our grandparents. We absolutely can't. We have an onslaught of, to your point, toxins, chemicals that we've been exposed to. The food is so different, our stress is different, people are living longer. You can't compare apples to bananas. And so always really good to kind of think about that. And so, explain to me, just to tie up the butyrate conversation, how is butyrate and metabolic health so intricately interwoven with one another? 

Jessica Kane: [00:42:10] Yeah, this is an interesting one, butyrate is the molecule in the gut, so, it has all these different roles. One of the roles is to increase GLP-1. One of the roles is to help regulate blood sugar. And so, it helps in both a way that is, you know, a bit like two different drugs to increase these molecules that help to regulate metabolism. And so, it's a really powerful. I take it after meals, I love to take it after meals because it helps to balance blood sugar, it helps to regulate insulin resistance. I once had PCOS, so it's my go to-- I've had three healthy babies, no issues with pregnancies. And it was always my go to really just help even things out when you have all these spikes that are causing so many of these fertility issues and hormonal disruptions. 

[00:42:52] And I think metabolic dysfunction is really one of the root causes of so many issues. And so, anything that we can do to help increase our ability to just digest things properly and utilize them in the body properly is beneficial. 

Cynthia Thurlow: [00:43:06] Yeah, it's interesting to me, endogenous GLP-1 production is also kind of closely tied into keystone bacteria like Akkermansia and so helping people understand like there's a lot at play. And I think the use of the GLP-1 drugs for a lot of people is life changing. But we're also speaking about the important things we can be doing day to day that will support our metabolic health. And I think as you astutely stated, 92% to 93% of us are not metabolically healthy. It's really important that we're doing all the things we can do to kind of-- if we're already there for-- becoming insulin resistant or we are diabetic to reverse that and for those of us that are metabolically healthy to do everything we can to ensure we never get to that point. 

Jessica Kane: [00:43:48] It's true. And I think there's also benefit, I mean I've seen personally for people who take endogenous GLP-1 or exogenous there's issues with some of these drugs and things like butyrate can help with some of those GI issues and some of the side effects that they have. So, it's something that we typically recommend on both sides of the spectrum. Also, although I'm hearing more and more issues with these drugs.

Cynthia Thurlow: [00:44:07] I think so much of-- because certainly I interview the experts, I do not prescribe them right now, but the emerging research is that-- the traditional allopathic medicine their kind of go to is everyone gets the same dose. And I think that you know, personalized medicine really looking as an N of 1, just like when I was still prescribing antihypertensives if I had 10 middle-aged women, I did not give them all the same drug, I did not give them all the same dose. And I think when people are prescribing GLP-1s like a lot of these weight loss centers which I'm sure are well intentioned. If you give everyone the same dose of drug, you're going to get variants in their responses to it. 

Jessica Kane: [00:44:46] Of course.

Cynthia Thurlow: [00:44:47] So, that's why I think these conversations are so important. Nutrition first, targeted supplementation, being really careful and conscientious about how we approach these things. Are there any upcoming innovations or products focused on healthy aging? I know there's probably a lot that you're working on, maybe not everything that you can talk about yet, but what are the things you're excited about that BodyBio is doing moving forward with new products or existing research that you're doing right now? 

Jessica Kane: [00:45:15] So, one thing we're building is our pilot study, and I'm so excited about this because it's actually on perimenopausal women. And we're going to look at 30 women. We're doing it through a hospital system. We're doing everything right. I have an amazing lead researcher who has just transformed the way I'm looking at clinical trial development. This is an undertaking. So, these things cost hundreds of thousands of dollars. RCTs cost millions. And I love it when people say to us like, “Well, show me the proof that phospholipids do this and this. And I'm like-- you can't.” There's no one's researched these things. There's a lot of research that's out there, but nobody's actually looked directly at supplementation so we are, and that's what I'm really excited about. 

[00:45:53] So, we're going to be looking at the root cause of fatigue, which is mitochondrial dysfunction. And we're going to be looking at 30 women experiencing fatigue, can't do brain fog because it leads to other issues, but brain fog is one of those and monitoring them over a six-month period, taking phospholipids, so they'll be taking BodyBio PC, they'll be getting to a dose of about two tablespoons a day. We're going to be looking at the reduction in toxins. So, we're seeing systemically people that start taking PC. You see a reduction in microplastics, you see a reduction in forever chemicals, phthalates, all these weird chemicals that we've been introduced to, you don't even realize are impacting our cells, heavy metals. 

[00:46:30] So, I'm really excited to be able to actually publish research that says this product helps to decrease these. We're going to be looking at how it affects our mitochondria and mitochondrial energy production. So, I'm really excited about that and doing some great work with mitochondrial researchers, both at University of Connecticut over in the UK. So that is like my baby right now that I'm spending a ton of time working on and I'm super excited about that one. The other thing that we have in the pipeline, we had a product that people just loved and it was a prebiotic and a postbiotic. It was called GutPlus. And that's coming back out in-- When's it coming out? Probably around January, February time. And so, it's on stability now. NPD for us takes forever. We really want to make sure that when we're coming out with something that the efficacy is there, the claim substantiation is there. We can really stand behind that it does what we say it's going to do. 

[00:47:18] And so, it takes a really long time because we like to run it through some trials internally to make sure that it is doing that. Most companies, when they come out with a product, they're going to a contract manufacturer and they're signing a list and saying, “This is what I want.” We manufacture this stuff. And that was something that my grandfather really felt strongly about. And so, we're based in New Jersey. We have three manufacturing facilities. And things just take a little bit longer for us. But I'm excited for that one to come out. 

Cynthia Thurlow: [00:47:42] That is exciting and to circle back to something that you mentioned, this pilot study that you're working on I am not aware, other than like total plasma exchange of anything that's out there that can help lower our threshold of microplastics. And that's exciting because unfortunately, I know far too much about this now. I'm down like one of those proverbial rabbit holes learning about this. I think that's really exciting because there are things we have control over in our environment and sometimes there are things we do not. And I think for so many of us, even talking to men's health experts like Tracy Gapin, who's a urologist, he was talking about one of the reasons why men have plummeting testosterone rates, insulin resistance is certainly contributing.

[00:48:25] But the other thing is this exposure to microplastics and these endocrine-mimicking chemicals that we are just-- It's like trying to drink out of a fire hydrant. People are just exposed and exposed and exposed. So that study sounds--

Jessica Kane: [00:48:38] And it's destroying our cell membranes. It's destroying our cells and it's causing these microplastics to get into the cells to get into our mitochondria and to alter our DNA. And so, it's doing things at a cellular level that are extremely disruptive. And we've had a couple N of 1 cases that we've been running an observational case series on about 10 people. They've been doing some microplastics testing after the second test. So, a couple of them were doing over six months. After the second test they saw a 100% reduction in the largest particle size, 50% reduction in the second largest, and a 45% reduction in the smallest particle size. That's just taking two tablespoons of PC a day, no dietary interventions, no lifestyle changes whatsoever. And so, if we can formally say this does this, I mean, that could be huge. 

Cynthia Thurlow: [00:49:24] Well, and I think again, it goes back to, that's something that most people can do. What most people cannot do is total plasma exchange, which is very expensive.

Jessica Kane: [00:49:32] Oh no. Which, great, I want to do it for Lyme. But it's very, it's very-- [crosstalk] 

Cynthia Thurlow: [00:49:37] No, no, it's to give everyone an idea. This functional medicine program I'm in, they did a whole presentation on it and I just about fell out of my chair because I was like, “Who can afford $10,000 for one?” Like, that's just not affordable for 99.9% of people. Not at all. So, it's exciting to know there are things coming down the road that sound like they may be very helpful. I have some rapid-fire questions for you. That's what I usually do with the in-person podcast. What's your favorite underrated gut supportive food? 

Jessica Kane: [00:50:05] Oh, I'm going to go ahead and say sauerkraut. Yeah.

Cynthia Thurlow: [00:50:09] I like that.

Jessica Kane: [00:50:09] I love it. I love sauerkraut. I love the juice, fermented vegetable juice. 

Cynthia Thurlow: [00:50:14] Yeah. So, good. What is your go to longevity practice?

Jessica Kane: [00:50:18] Oh, I think probably I'm going to step outside my-- I’m going to take my supplement hat off and I'm going to say circadian biology, circadian rhythm. You know, really being careful and cognizant of getting my eyes exposed to the sun first thing in the day. Not using sunglasses anymore. And when I am traveling or having to look at a computer for a long period of time, making sure I'm taking care of my eyes and wearing Blue Light Blockers and things like that. 

Cynthia Thurlow: [00:50:38] Absolutely, what is one supplement that you never skip? 

Jessica Kane: [00:50:41] PC every day? Always. 

Cynthia Thurlow: [00:50:43] Of course. Of course. And after that-- [crosstalk] 

Jessica Kane: [00:50:45] I'm like the poster child for it.

Cynthia Thurlow: [00:50:46] Yeah, absolutely. And what's one wellness trend you'd love to see disappear? 

Jessica Kane: [00:50:51] I think the claims on colostrum are really broad. Same with collagen, to be honest with you. I think that there are some of those C vitamins that just need to kind of die out. I think that in general, I'm going to go ahead and say the wellness trend that I really think is detrimental to all of us is this seed oil, nonsense that we're creating. So, yes, avoid the rancid, but make sure you're getting the good stuff. 

Cynthia Thurlow: [00:51:14] And let's just to reiterate for listeners again, Omega-3s, we have to look at this with some degree of clarity. The healthy omega-3s we need, there's no question, it is this evolution and it's bringing greater awareness to the fact that we just need to be eating less ultra-processed food. Like that is a good thing that's coming out of the seed oil debate. But I think it is taken an important nuanced conversation and it's made this blanket statement that all Omega 6s are bad. And let's just reiterate for listeners again, why are Omega-6s so important and why do we need to be conscientious about where we are getting them from?

Jessica Kane: [00:51:52] They're essential, they’re essential to our cellular function, our cellular fluidity, our cellular neurotransmission. And so, we really need them in the right balance for our cells which are the root of every process and function in our body. So, if our cells are not healthy and they're devoid of these healthy fats, then all of these processes are going to start to break down. You're going to have issues and it's going to show up as various different symptoms. Whether it's autoimmune, whether it's brain fog, whether it's fatigue, all of these things, there's a root cause for all of them. 

Cynthia Thurlow: [00:52:22] Well, I've so enjoyed this conversation today. Please let listeners know how to learn more about your company, how to get access to your products and just for listeners to know, there are some incredible resources on your website. Your blogs are excellent. That's a really great resource point if you want to dive a little bit more deeply into the science or there's something you want to learn more about. 

Jessica Kane: [00:52:40] Yeah, I love our blog, bodybio.com and all of our handles are just @bodybio. We try to put out a ton of just educational, informative content in digestible ways so that you can understand it. But the blog is really a great deep dive into nutritional biochemistry and science.

Cynthia Thurlow: [00:52:56] Thank you so much. 

Jessica Kane: [00:52:58] Thank you. 

Cynthia Thurlow: [00:53:00] If you love this podcast episode, please leave a rating and review. Subscribe and tell a friend.

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