Mind & Matter

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit mindandmatter.substack.com Wide release: February 19, 2026. Not medical advice. TOPICS DISCUSSED: * Gene regulation basics: DNA transcribes to RNAs, including non-coding types like microRNAs that inhibit mRNA translation into proteins, influencing up to 60% of the proteome. * Non-coding RNAs in neuroplasticity: MicroRNAs and circular RN...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit mindandmatter.substack.com Wide release: February 14, 2026. Not medical advice. TOPICS DISCUSSED: * Adipose tissue basics: White fat primarily stores energy in large lipid droplets, while brown fat burns fatty acids for heat via high mitochondrial density; white fat can “brown” with exercise or certain foods like capsaicin. * Fat distri...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit mindandmatter.substack.com Wide release: February 9, 2026. Not medical advice. TOPICS DISCUSSED: * Cerebral cortex structure: Described as a six-layered structure with pyramidal neurons and inhibitory interneurons; information flows between layers and regions to process sensory input and enable complex behaviors. * Claustrum anatomy & c...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit mindandmatter.substack.com Wide release: February 4, 2026. Not medical advice. TOPICS DISCUSSED: * Biased agonism: Different drugs activate the same receptor (e.g., 5-HT2A) but trigger varied intracellular pathways, explaining why LSD is psychedelic while similar lisuride is not. * Enantiomers & isomers: Mirror-image versions of drugs l...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit mindandmatter.substack.com Wide release: January 25, 2026. Not medical advice. TOPICS DISCUSSED: * Cellular energy basics: ATP/ADP/AMP as energy currencies; AMP kinase activates on low ATP to conserve and redirect resources, like a budget manager. * AMP kinase mechanics: Heterotrimeric enzyme phosphorylating 100+ substrates; localizes d...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit mindandmatter.substack.com Wide release: January 19, 2026. Not medical advice. TOPICS DISCUSSED: * Soy’s rise in farming: Originating from paint uses and wartime chemicals, soy became dominant due to subsidies and large-scale farming practices, but introduces high PUFAs, phytoestrogens, and pesticides into animal feeds. * Feed’s impact...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit mindandmatter.substack.com Wide release: January 14, 2026. Not medical advice. TOPICS DISCUSSED: * Personalized health profiling: Snyder’s lab sequences genomes and measures molecules from blood, urine, and microbiomes to detect diseases early, emphasizing data-driven discovery over assumptions. * Fiber variations and effects: Responses...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit mindandmatter.substack.com Wide release: January 9, 2026. Not medical advice. TOPICS DISCUSSED: * Nutrient density profiling: Labs analyze thousands of compounds beyond macros and vitamins; this “dark matter” includes phytonutrients that may support health despite not being essential. * Phytonutrients in foods: Plant secondary metabolit...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit mindandmatter.substack.com Wide release: January 4, 2026. Not medical advice. TOPICS DISCUSSED: * Cellular growth vs. burning: Cells alternate between growing (using glucose for building blocks in low-oxygen environments) and burning (generating ATP in mitochondria with oxygen); dysregulation leads to metabolic issues. * Key regulatory...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit mindandmatter.substack.com Wide release date: December 31, 2025. Not medical advice. TOPICS DISCUSSED: * Insulin as a powerful metabolic hormone: regulates nutrient storage across tissues, overriding others like glucagon to promote fat and glucose storage during abundance. * Glucagon & GLP-1 roles in metabolism: Glucagon mobilizes liver...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit mindandmatter.substack.com Wide release date: December 26, 2025. Topics Discussed: * Maternal care behavior in rodents: Nursing, pup retrieval, grooming, and nest-building, essential for altricial pups’ survival; conserved across mammals but varies by species. * Hormonal changes in pregnancy: Estradiol and progesterone surge then drop a...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit mindandmatter.substack.com Wide release date: December 21, 2025. Not medical advice. Topics Discussed: * Historical trends in soybean oil use: Consumption increased dramatically since the 1960s due to farming subsidies, now providing over 10% of calories for many Americans, far exceeding the 1-2% required biologically. * Soybean oil’s e...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit mindandmatter.substack.com Wide release date: December 17, 2025. Topics Discussed: * Evolutionary context of circadian rhythms : All organisms have adapted to Earth’s 24-hour day for survival, with internal clocks slightly offset and adjusted by environmental cues. * Molecular clock mechanism: Involves a feedback loop where proteins tur...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit mindandmatter.substack.com Wide release date: December 12, 2025. Topics Discussed: * Organs have different fuel preferences: brain strongly prefers glucose, heart prefers fatty acids, skeletal muscle is flexible and likes fat/ketones. * Humans evolved with high metabolic flexibility; regular ketosis was normal for ancestors, but today m...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit mindandmatter.substack.com Wide release date: December 7, 2025. Topics Discussed: * Polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs): Omega-6 from seed oils like safflower and corn can convert to pro-inflammatory molecules, while omega-3s produce resolving ones; imbalance biases toward chronic inflammation. * Inflammation regulation: Acute inflammat...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit mindandmatter.substack.com Wide release date: December 2, 2025. Topics Discussed: * Epidemiology basics: Studies disease influences using observational designs like case-control and prospective cohorts, plus trials, to identify patterns and test hypotheses. * Hierarchy of evidence critique: Rejects rigid pyramids favoring RCTs, as all s...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit mindandmatter.substack.com Wide release date: November 26, 2025. Topics Discussed: * Brain energy efficiency: Brains are much more energy-efficient than computers for similar processing, relying on adaptive metabolic strategies evolved under energy scarcity. * Metabolism vs. information processing: Core metabolites like glutamate bridge...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit mindandmatter.substack.com Wide release date: September 12, 2025 Episode Summary: Dr. Christopher Morrison talks about how animals sense and prioritize nutrients like protein, discussing defense mechanisms for essentials such as oxygen, water, sodium, and energy; the brain's role in detecting protein deprivation via signals like FGF21;...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit mindandmatter.substack.com Wide release date: September 7, 2025 Episode Summary: Dr. Michael Levin talks about cognition manifesting at scales beyond brains, including in cells and tissues via bioelectric networks; analog vs. digital coding in biology; how bioelectric patterns guide development and regeneration (e.g., in planarians); cr...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit mindandmatter.substack.com Wide release date: September 3, 2025 Episode Summary: Dr. Justin Perry talks about the body's constant cellular turnover—about 3 million cells die per second in adults (double in children and women)—handled by phagocytes like macrophages that engulf and digest debris to prevent diseases like lupus. They explor...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit mindandmatter.substack.com Wide release date: August 25, 2025 Episode Summary: Dr. Uffe Ravnskov talks about his decades-long career challenging the idea that high cholesterol causes heart disease, discussing LDL's protective role in the immune system by binding to bacteria, the harms and biases in statin research influenced by pharmace...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit mindandmatter.substack.com Wide release date: August 18, 2025 Episode Summary: Dr. William Parker discusses gut anatomy, the appendix's role in harboring beneficial bacterial biofilms and immune tissue, and how modern hygiene depletes helminths (intestinal worms), causing immune overreactions like allergies, autoimmunity, and psychiatri...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit mindandmatter.substack.com Wide release date: August 13, 2025 Episode Summary: Dr. Giovanni Marsicano is a neuroscientist based in Bordeaux, France, where he leads a research group at INSERM focusing on the endocannabinoid system. About the guest: Giovanni Marsicano, PhD discusses the endocannabinoid system, starting with its core compo...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit mindandmatter.substack.com Wide release date: August 1, 2025 Episode Summary: Anthropologist Dr. Herman Pontzer discusses human evolution and metabolism, comparing humans to primates like chimps and gorillas to explain our higher energy use, bigger brains, and longer lives despite trade-offs in reproduction and activity; they discuss di...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit mindandmatter.substack.com Wide release date: July 27, 2025 Episode Summary: Astrophysicist Dr. Robert Fosbury discusses the sun's characteristics as a star, its analogies to living systems via entropy and complexity, and Erwin Schrödinger's insights on life as order-maintaining entities; he explores how near-infrared (NIR) light from t...