The College of Glycation with Dr. Paul Reynolds

In this episode of the College of Glycation, Professor Paul Reynolds explores the lung as the ultimate proof-of-concept organ for the AGE-RAGE axis. Unlike most tissues where RAGE appears only during injury, the lung expresses the highest baseline levels of RAGE in the body from birth, where it normally plays a structural role helping alveolar type I cells maintain the delicate gas-exchange surfac...

In this episode of the College of Glycation, Professor Paul Reynolds challenges the decades-old story that heart disease risk is simply a matter of lowering your LDL cholesterol number. He explains how glycation — driven by glucose, fructose, and especially methylglyoxal — chemically modifies LDL particles, turning ordinary LDL into small, dense, sticky versions with defaced apoB that the liver ca...

In this episode of the College of Glycation, Professor Paul Reynolds reveals how glycation and leaky gut don’t just coexist — they actively multiply each other’s damage. A diet high in heat-generated advanced glycation end-products (AGEs) reshapes the gut microbiome, weakens the intestinal barrier, and allows bacterial lipopolysaccharide (LPS) to leak into the bloodstream in a state called metabol...

In this episode of the College of Glycation, Paul Reynolds flips the script on sugar. While glycation is usually portrayed as the villain that damages proteins, lipids, and DNA through advanced glycation end products, today he reveals a place where sugar is actually the hero: the glycocalyx. This dense, gel-like sugar coat covers nearly every cell in your body, with its most important version lini...

Podcast Episode Description:In this eye-opening episode of the College of Glycation, Professor Paul Reynolds explores adipose glycation — the hidden process where fat cells themselves become chemically modified by sugar, turning them into drivers of metabolic dysfunction. Far from being passive storage tanks, hypertrophic adipocytes generate their own glycating agents like methylglyoxal (MGO), act...

In this eye-opening episode of the College of Glycation, biomedical scientist and Professor of Cell Biology Paul Reynolds goes beyond the headlines on the blockbuster GLP-1 receptor agonists—semaglutide (Ozempic, Wegovy) and tirzepatide (Mounjaro, Zepbound). While everyone talks about dramatic weight loss, Reynolds reveals what these drugs are actually doing at the cellular level: directly downreg...

In this episode of the College of Glycation, Dr. Paul Reynolds explores autophagy—one of the body’s most powerful yet underappreciated defenses against aging. Autophagy, the Nobel Prize-winning cellular “self-eating” process, allows cells to identify, package, and recycle damaged proteins, dysfunctional mitochondria, misfolded molecules, and glycated junk before they mature into advanced glycation...

In this episode of the College of Glycation, Dr. Paul Reynolds takes a clear-eyed look at the viral “sugar diet” trend sweeping social media — where people are eating bowls of sugar, drinking large amounts of fruit juice and honey, and eliminating fat while claiming major improvements in energy, mood, and metabolism. He asks the question almost no one else is asking: what does this dietary pattern...

In this episode of the College of Glycation, Dr. Paul Reynolds reveals why traditional fermented foods—staples of every human culture for thousands of years—may be one of the most powerful, yet underused tools for lowering your glycation burden and resetting metabolic health. He explains how fermentation pre-digests sugars, delivers living microbes and bioactive compounds (lactic acid, acetic acid...

In this episode of the College of Glycation, Dr. Paul Reynolds—Professor of Cell Biology—explains how fasting is one of the most powerful and underutilized tools for resetting the glycation burden your body carries. He breaks down how the standard modern eating pattern of frequent, carbohydrate-rich meals drives near-constant glucose and insulin elevations that accelerate the formation of advanced...

Your gums may be telling you something critical about your metabolic health. In this episode of the College of Glycation , Dr. Paul Reynolds explores the overlooked connection between gum disease, glycation, and systemic inflammation. He explains how Advanced Glycation End Products (AGEs) form and accumulate—and how periodontal disease doesn’t just result from metabolic dysfunction, but can active...

In this episode of the College of Glycation series, Dr. Paul Reynolds explores how advanced glycation end-products (AGEs) quietly disrupt the body’s hormonal systems. Moving beyond blood sugar alone, he explains how glycation damages key proteins involved in hormone production, transport, and signaling—affecting thyroid function, testosterone levels, insulin sensitivity, and fertility. Even when l...

In this episode of the College of Glycation, Dr. Paul Reynolds explores a major blind spot in metabolic health: fructose. While most discussions around sugar focus on glucose and blood sugar levels, this episode reveals why fructose may be even more damaging. Dr. Reynolds explains how fructose is metabolized almost entirely in the liver, bypassing key regulatory systems and driving fat production,...

In this episode of the College of Glycation, Dr. Paul Reynolds introduces the foundational science of glycation—one of the most important and underrecognized processes driving aging and chronic disease. He explains how glucose, while essential for energy, can also react with proteins in the body through a non-enzymatic process that gradually leads to the formation of advanced glycation end-product...

In this episode of the College of Glycation, Dr. Paul Reynolds explores one of the most important questions in metabolic health: Is glycation reversible? While some damage—especially in long-lived tissues like collagen—can persist for decades, this episode reveals that the body is far from helpless. Dr. Reynolds breaks down the science of how glycation forms, why certain stages are more reversible...

In this episode of the College of Glycation, Dr. Paul Reynolds explores a growing concern among health-conscious individuals: whether even “healthy” foods may be contributing to glycation and long-term metabolic damage. Prompted by real audience questions, he unpacks the science of advanced glycation end products (AGEs) with a focus on those introduced through diet, revealing that the true driver...

In this episode of the College of Glycation , Dr. Paul Reynolds explores how glycation—long understood as a driver of aging and metabolic disease—may also underlie a range of specialized health conditions that often go unexplained. Moving beyond theory, he connects the biochemical process of advanced glycation end product (AGE) formation to real-world issues like frozen shoulder, vertigo, and MTHF...

In this episode of the College of Glycation , Dr. Paul Reynolds—Professor of Cell Biology and Physiology—shifts from explaining the science of glycation to exploring practical strategies for fighting it . Glycation and the buildup of advanced glycation end products (AGEs) contribute to aging, inflammation, and many chronic diseases, but there are evidence-based ways to slow this process. Dr. Reyno...

In this episode of the College of Glycation, Dr. Paul Reynolds examines one of the most debated questions in metabolic health: do ketogenic and carnivore diets worsen glycation—or help prevent it? Breaking down the biochemistry, he explains how glycation forms advanced glycation end products (AGEs) that drive inflammation, oxidative stress, and accelerated aging, and why chronically elevated blood...

In this episode of the College of Glycation, Dr. Paul Reynolds explores how glycation impacts one of the most metabolically sensitive systems in the body: the reproductive system. From PCOS and ovarian dysfunction to erectile dysfunction and impaired nitric oxide signaling, this episode connects advanced glycation end products (AGEs) to hormonal imbalance, vascular damage, and chronic inflammation...

In this episode of the College of Glycation, Dr. Paul Reynolds—Professor of Cell Biology—dives into the integumentary system and explains why your skin is one of the most revealing indicators of metabolic health. Unlike internal organs you can’t see, the effects of glycation and chronic inflammation show up directly on your face, hands, and body. Dr. Reynolds breaks down how advanced glycation end...

In this episode of the College of Glycation , Dr. Paul Reynolds—Professor of Cell Biology and Physiology—explores how glycation quietly damages two of the body’s most delicate and essential systems: the eyes and the ears . While most people associate diabetes-related damage with the heart or kidneys, this lecture shows how advanced glycation end products (AGEs) progressively harm the retina, lens,...

In this episode of the College of Glycation , Dr. Paul Reynolds—Professor of Cell Biology and Physiology—explores how glycation and metabolic dysfunction silently damage the nervous system. From neurons and myelin to the blood-brain barrier, Dr. Reynolds explains how advanced glycation end products (AGEs) disrupt electrical signaling, trigger inflammation through the AGE–RAGE pathway, impair mitoc...

In this episode of the College of Glycation , Dr. Paul Reynolds, Professor of Cell Biology and Physiology, explores how glycation and chronic inflammation undermine the musculoskeletal system—one of the body’s most critical drivers of movement, strength, and metabolic health. Beginning with normal muscle and bone physiology, Dr. Reynolds explains why skeletal muscle serves as the body’s primary gl...

In this episode of the College of Glycation, Dr. Paul Reynolds—Professor of Cell Biology and Physiology—dives into the kidneys, organs that quietly perform some of the most demanding work in the body. He begins by explaining how healthy kidneys filter massive volumes of blood, maintain fluid and electrolyte balance, regulate blood pressure, and preserve essential proteins through the highly specia...