Degrees of Health

Health optimisation isn’t about chasing trends. It’s about understanding trade-offs, context and biology. In this episode, Ben Hopkins is joined by James O’Hara to explore what really lies beneath today’s biggest health conversations, from GLP-1 drugs and testosterone decline to peptides, diet, recovery, and ageing.Drawing on personal experience and emerging research, they unpack why population data doesn’t always translate to individual outcomes, how modern lifestyles are quietly eroding hormonal health, and where new tools may help or harm, if misunderstood.From anabolic recovery and muscle retention to carnivore diets, light therapy and mental resilience, this is a wide-ranging conversation for anyone trying to navigate health in an increasingly complex world.We cover:💉 GLP-1 agonists, weight loss & metabolic trade-offs🧠 Testosterone decline, ageing & lifestyle factors💪 Anabolic recovery, peptides & injury repair🥩 Carnivore diets, hormones & long-term health⚡ Light therapy, inflammation & healing🧬 Emerging research shaping modern wellnessIt’s nuanced, honest and grounded in real-world experience, not just theory.Exploring the benefits of red and infra light therapy? Our community receive 10% off via this linkWant to watch this on video? Subscribe on YouTubeInstagram  @degreesofhealthDisclaimer

Obesity isn’t just about willpower. It’s biology and it’s been hacked. In this episode, Dr. Richard Johnson (Professor of Medicine at the University of Colorado) joins Ben to explain why your body still thinks it's living in the wild and how the same survival switch that once kept us alive may now be quietly driving obesity, diabetes, dementia and addiction.From fructose and uric acid to GLP-1s, Alzheimer's, and mitochondrial health, this conversation unpacks the hidden biology shaping how we store fat, crave sugar and so often lose control with it.We cover:🧠 Fructose, the brain & Alzheimer’s🧪 The survival switch that drives obesity🍷 Why uric acid links sugar and alcohol💊 GLP-1s, food addiction & metabolic dysfunction⚡ What carbs do to your mitochondriaIt's deep, practical and quite possibly, completely paradigm-shifting.Find Dr Richard:WebsiteInstagramMentioned in this episode:Book - Nature Wants Us to Be Fat by Dr. Richard JohnsonPaper on alcohol, fructose, and liver diseaseExploring the benefits of red and infra light therapy? Our community receive 10% off via this linkWant to watch this on video? Subscribe on YouTubeInstagram  @degreesofhealthDisclaimer

What if the root of mental illness isn’t all in your head but in your cells?Dr. Ana Andreazza is leading one of the most exciting shifts in psychiatric science: away from neurotransmitters and towards the mighty mitochondria. In this episode, she and Ben explore the metabolic foundations of mood disorders, how lactate and ketones impact the brain and why most psychiatric medications only form part of the picture.From bipolar disorder and inflammation to mitochondrial transplants and brain organoids, Ana is at the forefront of rethinking how we treat, prevent and understand mental illness.We cover:🧬 Why mitochondria might be the missing link in mental illness🔥 How lactate and inflammation can trigger mania and mood swings🥦 Why nutrition is still missing from most psychiatric care⚡ The link between energy metabolism and neurotransmitters🥼 What mitochondrial transplants could mean for brain health🥑 The promise of ketones in bipolar and mood regulation💊 Why we need both meds and metabolic interventionsFind Ana:More about Ana's workPapers & ResearchExploring the benefits of red and infra light therapy? Our community receive 10% off via this linkWant to watch this on video? Subscribe on YouTubeInstagram  @degreesofhealthDisclaimer

Forget everything you thought you knew about biology. Dr Nirosha Murugan takes us way beyond molecules into the world of light, electricity and the energetic language of life itself. Here we explore a radical new lens on human health: one where energy, not just chemistry, drives disease, healing and even consciousness.From the role of light in cancer and red light therapy, to cells that 'think' without brains, to why homeostasis might be the wrong goal altogether. We cover:⚡ Why biology might be better understood as patterns of energy🧠 “Thinking” organisms that don’t have brains🌞 How light (even in the womb) shapes our biology🧬 Reframing cancer through the lens of energy resistance🧘‍♀️ Bioelectricity, metabolism & the limits of current science🌀 Consciousness as emergent energy, not brain activityThis episode is a ride - part biology, part physics, part philosophy - and all energy.Find Nirosha:WebsiteX (Twitter)LinkedInMentioned in this episode:A New Science of Life by Rupert SheldrakeDemons in the Machine by Paul DaviesEnergy and Information in Art, Science, and TechnologyExploring the benefits of red and infra light therapy? Our community receive 10% off via this linkWant to watch this on video? Subscribe on YouTubeInstagram  @degreesofhealthDisclaimer

🧬 What does it take to age slower than more than 99.9% of the population?Meet Annie who is currently ranked #2 in the Rejuvenation Olympics, measuring the slowest biological aging in the world (second only to Bryan Johnson). But Annie’s not a billionaire with a team of scientists. She’s a self-experimenting New Yorker who figured out what works for her and it’s more simple (and more joyful) than you’d think.In this episode, Ben and Annie explore her full protocol (yes, including a Kind Bar and red light therapy), the wild (and sometimes worrying) world of longevity culture and how the simplest shifts - walking more, laughing nightly, cutting alcohol - helped Annie feel better and slow her aging to 0.46x the typical rate.We cover:🧠 Annie's supplement stack & skin protocol🥦 How diet impacts pace of aging and why Annie is not anti-meat🧪 Senolytics, grounding mats, liposomal vitamins & NOVOS🧨 The supplement that lowered her skin age by 7 years🧘‍♀️ Why overtraining raised her aging score📉 What didn’t work: PEMF, metformin & too much “juice”A refreshingly human conversation in a space that too often forgets what health really means.Find Annie:Instagram @annienoshMentioned in this episode:NOVOS CoreOura RingDunedinPACE Test via TrueDiagnosticsRejuvenation Olympics leaderboardAtomic Habits by James ClearExploring the benefits of red and infra light therapy? Our community receive 10% off via this linkWant to watch this on video? Subscribe on YouTubeInstagram  @degreesofhealthDisclaimer

Your brain runs on what you eat. So what happens when you fuel it with fat instead of sugar?Drew Decker and Ben join together to discuss his study on the ketogenic diet and depression in college students and how a simple dietary shift led to a 70% reduction in depression scores. No tracking apps, no dieticians, no hand-holding, just students with a budget, a plan, and a mission to feel better.Drew’s journey started after a traumatic brain injury in the military and led him to Dr. Jeff Volek’s lab, where he’s now leading research into how ketosis may impact mental health, PTSD, inflammation, BDNF, energy metabolism and more.This is one of those episodes that’s equal parts hopeful, data-driven and deeply personal.🧠 Ketosis as a tool for mental health📉 The downside of keto? Pretty capped.🥑 How college students stuck to keto on a tight budget🧬 BDNF, energy metabolism & brain inflammation🧠 PTSD, trauma & the future of metabolic psychiatry💊 Exogenous vs endogenous ketones🥩 Animal-based, dairy-based, veggie-heavy — what actually matters📚 The ketogenic diet as metabolic medicineFind Drew:Instagram - @drew_d_deckerResearchGateMentioned in this episode:Keto-MojoFeasibility of Ketogenic Diet in College Students with Depression - A pilot studyExploring the benefits of red and infra light therapy? Our community receive 10% off via this linkWant to watch this on video? Subscribe on YouTubeInstagram  @degreesofhealthDisclaimer

Most people who end up in Jessica Turton’s health clinic have already tried everything from calorie tracking, low-fat, fasting, moving more, eating less… and still nothing works to shift weight. So what’s going on?Ben sits down with Jessica - dietitian, nutritionist, researcher - to talk about what happens when your body’s been stuck in energy deficit for years, and how the real issue for many people isn’t overeating, it’s under eating.They get into why most nutrition advice backfires, how your brain handles hunger, the impact of stress on metabolism and why we need to stop treating weight loss like a willpower problem.We cover:🧠 The real metabolic cost of chronic dieting🥑 Low-carb ≠ low-calorie (and why that matters)💉 Why type 2 diabetes is reversible if you treat the cause🔥 Why most people are walking around under-fueled💊 GLP-1s, binge cycles & the illusion of controlWe also look at what low-carb actually looks like when done well, and how to eat more food without losing your mind. Fascinating if you've ever been in this cycle yourself (which is most of us) and how we might actually be able to break the loop. Find Jessica:InstagramEllipse Health online clinicMentioned in this episode:The Minnesota Starvation ExperimentJessica’s PhD Research on Type 1 DiabetesExploring the benefits of red and infra light therapy? Our community receive 10% off via this linkWant to watch this on video? Subscribe on YouTubeInstagram  @degreesofhealthDisclaimer

What if your muscles could talk to your organs and maybe even prevent cancer? Here, Ben sits down with world-renowned exercise scientist Professor Mark Febbraio to dismantle the science behind myokines - molecules released by muscle that signal throughout the body.Insights covered in this episode:🧪 Myokines and inter-organ communication🦠 Exercise’s role in cancer prevention🧬 Inflammation, cytokines & what IL-6 does🧠 The cognitive power of exercise & BDNF🏋️‍♂️ What type of training protects best and how much is too much💉 Why we don’t understand GLP-1 side effects yet🧫 The future of exercise mimetics & blood-based therapies🧠 Why “we don’t know” might be science’s most honest answerFrom interleukin-6’s double life to how exercise blood can fight tumours, this one’s a digestible dive into how movement truly is medicine.Find Mark and papers reference in this episode:Google ScholarResearchGateExploring the benefits of red and infra light therapy? Our community receive 10% off via this linkWant to watch this on video? Subscribe on YouTubeInstagram  @degreesofhealthDisclaimer

Keto doesn’t have to be complicated. Yep, you heard that right.Nutritionist and author Amy Berger joins us to unpack the chaos of keto culture and how a once-simple metabolic switch has turned into a jungle of macros, misinformation and food fear. Amy cuts through the noise and brings keto back to what it was always meant to be: a simple, flexible, effective way of eating.Together with Ben, she covers the realities of weight loss stalls, hormonal shifts, fasting fads, the rise of ultra-processed keto products and what the science says about vegetables, carnivore diets, GLP-1s and calories.We cover:🥩 Carnivore vs Keto - what’s happening metabolically💊 GLP-1s, weight loss drugs & long-term risk📉 Why weight loss might stall (and what to do about it)🧃 Keto vs processed “keto” - marketing vs metabolism🥬 In defense of vegetables (yes, really)📊 Fasting: myth, magic, or just misunderstood?Whether you're new to low-carb or neck-deep in macros and metabolic rabbit holes - this one’s for you.Find Amy:YouTubeWebsiteCoursesSubstackMentioned in this episode:The Alzheimer’s Antidote by Amy BergerThe Stall Slayer by Amy Berger End Your Carb Confusion by Amy Berger & Dr. Eric Westman Dr. Eric Westman - Keto researcher & collaboratorThe Art and Science of Low Carbohydrate Living - Dr. Jeff Volek & Dr. Stephen PhinneyEat Like a Human - Dr. Bill SchindlerExploring the benefits of red and infra light therapy? Our community receive 10% off via this linkWant to watch this on video? Subscribe on YouTubeInstagram  @degreesofhealthDisclaimer