The guest
Dr. Rhonda Patrick: Biomedical scientist and anti-aging researcher who runs the Found My Fitness podcast and newsletter. She translates cutting-edge longevity and metabolic-health studies into practical advice.
What this episode covers
Steven Bartlett and Dr. Rhonda Patrick dig into visceral fat: what it is, why it doubles early-mortality risk, and how sleep loss, caloric excess, stress and alcohol drive it. They walk through Rhonda's framework of 'peak span' (staying within 90% of peak function) and the toll of endocrine-disrupting chemicals like BPA, phthalates and PFAS found in plastics, receipts, non-stick pans and packaging. A kitchen tour flags black plastic, canned soup, plastic utensils and bottled water as exposure sources. The back half covers Rhonda's supplement stack (omega-3, vitamin D3, multivitamin, creatine, magnesium, curcumin, urolithin A, glutamine), fasting and ketones, updated exercise guidelines favoring short vigorous bursts, the dangers of being sedentary, and a balanced look at GLP-1 weight-loss drugs.
Recommended on this episode
ProductRecommended
Avmacol
Nutramax
“The supplement I take has is called Avacol”
“The supplement I take has is called Avacol. It's by a company called Neutramax. I like their supplement because one they've got 12 published studies”— Rhonda Patrick
ProductRecommended
All-Clad cookware
All-Clad
“This is what I use. These are amazing”
“All clad. This is what I use. These are amazing. No plastic lining, no PAS, no nonstick.”— Rhonda Patrick
ProductRecommended
Creatine monohydrate
various
“This is the one I take”
“This is the one I take. Yeah, I take I take the creatine monohydrate because it's the most wellstudied”— Rhonda Patrick
ProductRecommended
Omega-3 fish oil
various
“one of the best and easiest things that people can do to improve their health”
“this is probably one of the best and easiest things that people can do to improve their health, improve the way they age. Um, omega-3 fatty acids.”— Rhonda Patrick
ProductRecommended
Vitamin D3
various
“very very strong evidence that you're going to slow aging”
“Fish oil number one. Number one, vitamin D. Multivitamin. All three very very strong evidence that you're going to slow aging”— Rhonda Patrick
ProductRecommended
Magnesium
various
“the last one is magnesium”
“And then the last one is magnesium... Magnesium is important for 300 different enzymes in your body... it also helps with sleep.”— Rhonda Patrick
ProductRecommended
Phytosome curcumin
various
“the reason I take phytoal”
“Phytoal curcumin is the reason I take phytoal... it's more bioavailable... it's been shown to improve performance in people that are exercising”— Rhonda Patrick
ProductRecommended
Urolithin A
various
“you got to try this supplement”
“This is this is like you got to try this supplement. Uthin A... It is a compound that is able to basically get rid of damaged mitochondria.”— Rhonda Patrick
ProductRecommended
Glutamine
various
“I'm doing glutamine”
“I'm doing the creatine. I'm doing the uriththna and I'm doing glutamine... if those endurance athletes supplemented with glutamine, they didn't get sick as often.”— Rhonda Patrick
ProductRecommended
Liposomal glutathione
various
“You're going to want to get something called liposomal glutathione”
“You're going to want to get something called liposomal glutathione. Liposal glutathione has been shown to get inside because liposomes”— Rhonda Patrick
ProductRecommended
Continuous glucose monitor
various
“the one that really did improve my in quality was a continuous glucose monitor”
“the one that really did improve my in quality was a continuous glucose monitor... it did because I realized how important sleep was for my metabolic health.”— Rhonda Patrick
ProductRecommended
Omega-3 index test
various
“a purchase that improved my quality of life the most”
“I would say the omega-3 index test that is measuring your omega-3 fatty acid levels... one of the easiest ones that I've done.”— Rhonda Patrick
Also referenced (named, not recommended)
ProductReferenced
Yeti to-go coffee mug
Yeti
“I have like a Yeti kind of to- go coffee mug that I'll bring into a Starbucks or wherever coffee bean and I'll have them fill it up.”— Rhonda Patrick
ProductReferenced
Centrum Silver multivitamin
Centrum
“they took one sententrum silver a day. And I'm not, you know, I'm not advocating for sententrum silver. I'm just saying that was involved in the study.”— Rhonda Patrick
ProductReferenced
DEXA scan
various
“Ideally, you would go and get what's called a DEXA scan... another way to do it. You really want to have below 300 grams of visceral fat.”— Rhonda Patrick
BookReferencedISBN verified
Deskbound
Kelly Starrett
“Kelly Starret wrote a book Deskbound some years ago and you know he really played a role in popularizing this this idea”— Rhonda Patrick
Big reveals from this episode
- Visceral fat doubles your risk of early mortality and raises metastatic cancer risk by 44%.
- Healthy young men sleeping 4 hours a night for two weeks gained 11% visceral fat with no change on the scale.
- Adolescent boys with the highest BPA levels had 50% lower testosterone than those with the lowest.
- Patrick says don't touch receipts: thermal paper is coated in BPA and hand lotion drives it into the bloodstream ~100x more.
- A consumer study found nearly all creatine gummies tested contained essentially no creatine.
- New accelerometer data shows one minute of vigorous exercise can equal 4-10 minutes of moderate activity for cutting mortality.
- Most people regain weight after stopping GLP-1 drugs as hunger returns 'with a vengeance.'
- A study found 83% of AI users couldn't recall a passage they'd written with AI help; brain connectivity nearly halved.
Worth remembering
- Stop eating 3 hours before bed; eating late activates the sympathetic nervous system and fragments sleep.
- Cooked-then-cooled rice or potato becomes resistant starch, good for the gut and shown to help sleep.
- Resistance training barely moves visceral fat; aerobic, vigorous exercise (running, cycling, swimming) does.
- Sulforaphane from broccoli sprouts activates phase-2 enzymes that help the body excrete BPA in urine.
- Glass bottled water can carry more microplastics than plastic, from polymer paint on the lids.
- Vitamin D3 supplementation slowed biological aging by almost 2 years in deficient people in a large study.
- Creatine isn't just for muscle: ~10g/day raises brain creatine and Patrick calls it a daily 'game changer.'
- Urolithin A clears damaged mitochondria (mitophagy) and extended lifespan ~20% in mice.
- Women doing just 3.5 minutes of vigorous activity a day lowered cancer risk by 40%.
- Sitting is an independent risk factor for disease, especially cancer, even if you exercise.
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