This week Chris Masterjohn Phd was on the Joe Rogan Experience episode #2420 and is one of the most quietly important conversations about health you’ll hear all year — because it reframes almost everything through a single lens:

Your mitochondria — your cellular power plants — determine how you age, how you think, how you feel, how you sleep, how you perform, and how well you recover.

Below is a distilled recap that cuts out the noise and leaves the real science, the surprising insights, and practical steps you can start today.

⚡ 1. The Big Idea: Energy = Health

Masterjohn argues that almost every major health outcome — sleep quality, mental clarity, mood, immunity, recovery, longevity — tracks back to how well your mitochondria produce and distribute energy.

If your energy production dips even a little over time, the body slowly loses its ability to repair itself. This decline compounds yearly — which is a more elegant explanation for aging than most people realize.

Why it matters:
You don’t feel “tired” first — you lose control of energy distribution.
You may feel wired, anxious, or unfocused instead of fatigued. Low mitochondrial function often shows up as:

• Racing mind

• Poor sleep

• Irritability

• Feeling “on edge”

• Brain fog

• Low libido

Healthy energy is:

• High energy AND low anxiety

• Strong libido

• Deep, restorative sleep

👀 2. Myth-Busting: Turkey Isn’t Making You Sleepy

Thanksgiving fatigue? It’s not tryptophan in turkey — turkey actually has less tryptophan than whey protein.
It’s simply overeating and the body switching into “rest & digest.”

🧠 3. Creatine: The Most Underrated Brain Supplement

Creatine is no longer just a “gym bro” supplement.

Recent studies show:

• 20g of creatine during sleep deprivation maintained cognitive performance

• Participants felt less tired

Why?
Creatine acts like the power grid that distributes energy from mitochondria. When the brain is stressed, creatine keeps circuits firing.

Practical takeaway:
Most people — unless eating 1–2 lbs of rare red meat a day — should supplement creatine.

☀️ 4. Morning Sunlight Is Not Optional — It Sets Your Mitochondria’s Clock

Sunlight is the signal that “wakes up” mitochondrial energy production.
Without morning sun:

• Your energy metabolism stays sluggish

• You feel foggier

• Sleep worsens

Even cloudy daylight provides 10–100x more light than indoors. A light therapy lamp is acceptable when sunlight isn’t available.

🔴 5. Red Light Therapy Really Does Something

Red and near-infrared light directly improve mitochondrial energy production.

Wild findings:

• A study improved eyesight the day after shining red light on the chest (eyes were covered)

Meaning: red light doesn’t just work locally — it can have systemic mitochondrial effects.

Joe reports reversing early macular degeneration by combining red light with carotenoids like lutein and zeaxanthin.

🔵 6. Methylene Blue: Powerful… or Dangerous?

This is one of the most misunderstood supplements online.

Masterjohn explains:

Methylene blue “rewires” mitochondria — which helps if you have a blockage, and harms you if you don’t.

This is why some people rave about it and others feel awful.

If you don’t know your mitochondrial profile, methylene blue is like rerouting a highway when traffic is flowing normally — it creates chaos.

Bottom line:
✔️ Can be therapeutic if you have documented mitochondrial blocks
✖️ Can make healthy people worse
✔️ Requires testing before using
✔️ High doses also act like antidepressants, confusing people

❤️ 7. CoQ10: A “Food First” Mitochondrial Booster

Unlike methylene blue, CoQ10 is natural, found in foods, and made in your own body.

Top food source: heart (especially beef heart).

Powerful clinical example:

A woman with 10 years of lost menstrual cycles restored her period in 2 weeks after high-dose CoQ10 (based on her mitochondrial testing).

But dosing matters:

• 100–200 mg/day often helps

• 400 mg/day sometimes worsens blood pressure, glucose, or sleep

Masterjohn’s rule:
→ Fix with food first (nose-to-tail eating)
→ Then supplement strategically

🥬 8. Nutrition: 93% of Americans Are Missing Key Nutrients

Despite modern food availability, nutrient deficiencies are more widespread than most people realize.

Reasons include:

• Overreliance on fortified processed foods

• Lack of nose-to-tail nutrition

• Poor digestion

• Seed oils blocking nutrient activation (e.g., vitamin A conversion)

Masterjohn recommends:

• Eat animal foods nose to tail (liver, heart, broths)

• Prioritize protein: ⅓ of your plate (double for eggs/dairy because of volume)

• Eat the broadest range of carb sources; avoid refined grains first

• 80% of meals cooked at home

🛢️ 9. Seed Oils: The Most Misunderstood Source of Long-Term Damage

Seed oils don’t cause damage — they make your tissues easier to damage.

Important points:

• They take 4 years to fully integrate into your tissues

• They deplete vitamin E

• They increase vulnerability to inflammation and oxidation

Short studies (7–12 weeks) are misleading.
Long-term studies (5–8 years) show:

• Higher cancer rates

• Higher all-cause mortality over time

This is why online contrarians get it wrong:
They rely on short trials while ignoring the long-term research.

🧘 10. Movement: Gymnasts and Pole Vaulters Live the Longest

Surprising stat:

Gymnasts and pole vaulters live 8 years longer than the general population — more than cyclists, runners, or even most endurance athletes.

Why?

Possibilities:

• Full-body coordination

• Skill development

• Reaction time

• Flexibility

• Explosive power

• Frequent inversions (upside-down time may help fluid circulation)

Rogan & Masterjohn note:
Skill-based training (boxing, BJJ, Muay Thai, gymnastics) may protect the nervous system better than repetitive exercise.

🛠️ ACTIONABLE TAKEAWAYS (Start Today)

✔️ 1. Get 5–10 minutes of morning sun immediately upon waking

Sets your circadian rhythm and activates mitochondrial energy.
If cloudy → use a light therapy lamp.

✔️ 2. Take creatine (3–5g/day)

Especially if you don’t eat ~1 lb of red meat daily.

✔️ 3. Add red or near-infrared light therapy

Great for eyes, metabolism, recovery, mood.

Joe used this + carotenoids to reverse early macular degeneration.

✔️ 4. Eat nose-to-tail

Incorporate:

• Liver (1–2x/week)

• Heart (best CoQ10 source)

• Bone broth

• Shellfish

• Eggs (for lutein/zeaxanthin)

✔️ 5. Reduce seed oils

Avoid canola, soy, corn, safflower, sunflower oils.
Cook with butter, tallow, olive oil, or avocado oil.

✔️ 6. Diversify movement

Pick one new skill each year:

• Boxing

• BJJ

• Gymnastics basics

• Jump rope

• Dancing

• Sprinting

• Handstands

This builds neurological resilience.

✔️ 7. Avoid megadosing supplements blindly

Especially methylene blue, thiamine, and CoQ10.
If you experiment, track:

• Glucose

• Ketones

• Lactate
  (Lactate up = mitochondria stressed)

✔️ 8. Make deep sleep a priority

Your mitochondria recharge during sleep.
Creatine may help acutely if you're sleep-deprived.

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