The Supplements You’ve NEVER Heard of … - Dr. G's Quick Health Tip | EP 374.B

Summary

The Dr. Gundry Podcast

Episode: The Supplements You’ve NEVER Heard of … - Dr. G's Quick Health Tip | EP 374.B
Date: October 23, 2025
Host: Dr. Stephen Gundry

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Episode Overview

In this short, information-packed episode, Dr. Stephen Gundry introduces listeners to cutting-edge, lesser-known supplements that may profoundly benefit health and longevity. With his trademark blend of clinical experience and digestible science, Dr. Gundry focuses on two "under the radar" compounds—spermidine and molecular hydrogen—detailing their cellular mechanisms, sources, and what makes them potentially transformative additions to your wellness regimen.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Spermidine: The Cellular Recycling Agent

• What is Spermidine?
  • A naturally occurring polyamine compound in the body, crucial for proper cellular function and survival.
  • Regulates cellular functions, especially the life/death cycles of cells.
• How Does It Work?
  • Facilitates autophagy (self-recycling of cells), rather than apoptosis (cell death by explosion), which leads to inflammation.
  • [03:00] Dr. Gundry: “Apoptosis is really bad for you... mitochondria... contain bacterial DNA. Your immune system views this as bacteria and produces inflammation.”
  • Autophagy is beneficial because it recycles cellular components without triggering inflammatory responses.
• Pathways Activated:
  • Inhibits mTOR pathway: Senses energy scarcity, encouraging non-essential cells to self-recycle.
    • “It’s kind of like pruning a tree for winter.” — [04:55]
  • Activates AMPK pathway: Enhances energy utilization and releases fatty acids from adipose tissue for fuel (similar to how exercise and GLP-1 drugs work).
    • [06:15] Dr. Gundry: “Spermidine is kind of exercise and fasting in a bottle.”
• Benefits:
  • Increases longevity by driving autophagy.
  • Improves fat metabolism.
  • Inhibits cell proliferation in favorable ways.
  • Improves gut barrier integrity and overall gut health—a key to long-term health and brain protection.
• Best Food Sources:
  • Traditional fermented sausages, chicken skin, chicken livers, sheep and goat cheese.
    • [09:13] Dr. Gundry: “Fun fact. Chicken skin is loaded with spermidine, as are chicken livers. So don't have a boneless, skinless chicken breast. Have the skin instead.”
    • Notably high in the diets of Andorra, a region with exceptional longevity.
• Supplements:
  • Dr. Gundry has incorporated spermidine in his supplement lines, notably “Gummy active amines.”

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2. Molecular Hydrogen (H₂): The Cellular Protector

• What is Molecular Hydrogen?
  • Smallest molecule; can be taken via hydrogen water (dissolving hydrogen tablets in water).
• Cellular Mechanisms:
  • Activates NRF2 pathway: A master regulator of antioxidant and detoxification responses.
  • Regulates nitric oxide and hydrogen sulfide production (key signaling molecules, especially for cardiovascular and brain health).
    • [11:09] Dr. Gundry: “Hydrogen sulfide… we used to think [it's] a toxic gas, but... a little dab will do you; a bit… is very protective to the walls of our blood vessels, your brain, and your gut wall integrity.”
• Why Gut Health Matters:
  • Many beneficial gut bacteria produce hydrogen gas—vital for brain and gut function.
  • Modern lifestyles and antibiotics can diminish these bacteria.
• Research/Evidence:
  • Over 15,000 published papers indicate diverse roles in improving cellular stress response, recovery, and gut health.
  • Animal studies (rat swim tests) show improved performance and faster recovery with hydrogen water.
    • [13:03] Dr. Gundry: “Rats who were given hydrogen water performed better and recovered faster than rats who did not...”
• Practical Advice:
  • Most hydrogen water machines do not deliver sufficient hydrogen.
  • Hydrogen tablets (like “H2 Restore”) are a more reliable source.
  • Best sulfur sources for hydrogen sulfide: cruciferous vegetables (broccoli, cauliflower, bok choy, arugula, cabbages).
  • San Pellegrino mineral water is naturally high in sulfur (no sponsorship involved).
    • [12:21] Dr. Gundry: “You probably know I’m a big fan of San Pellegrino water. And no, they don't sponsor me... highest sulfur content of any mineral water.”

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Memorable Quotes

• On the importance of autophagy:
  “Autophagy is a great thing. Apoptosis is a terrible thing. So the more you can produce autophagy, the better.”
  — Dr. Stephen Gundry, [03:30]

• On the dietary sources of spermidine:
  “Fun fact. Chicken skin is loaded with spermidine, as are chicken livers... Have the skin instead.”
  — Dr. Stephen Gundry, [09:13]

• On molecular hydrogen's emerging role:
  “Hydrogen has been shown in literally now 15,000 separate papers to be really important for multiple cellular functions.”
  — Dr. Stephen Gundry, [10:13]

• On hydrogen sulfide and sulfur:
  “A bit of hydrogen sulfide is very protective to the walls of our blood vessels. It’s very protective to your brain, and it’s also very protective to your gut wall integrity.”
  — Dr. Stephen Gundry, [11:09]

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Notable Moments & Timestamps

• [02:07] Introduction of the episode's theme: “Supplements you’ve never heard of”
• [03:00–05:30] Deep dive into autophagy versus apoptosis and role of spermidine
• [06:00–07:00] mTOR and AMPK regulation, fasting and “exercise in a bottle” concept
• [08:13–09:35] Food sources of spermidine, Andorran longevity, gut health connection
• [10:10–13:20] Molecular hydrogen’s biological mechanisms, research evidence, and practical usage
• [12:21] Dr. Gundry’s personal favorite source of dietary sulfur (San Pellegrino water)

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Conclusion & Actionable Takeaways

• Spermidine and molecular hydrogen are promising but underutilized supplements with evidence supporting their roles in cellular repair, longevity, and gut health.
• Dietary strategies (fermented meats, organ meats, cruciferous vegetables) and carefully chosen supplements (like hydrogen tablets) may help replicate some of the body’s own defenses, especially if your microbiome or metabolism could use support.
• Practical tip: Look for ways to increase these compounds naturally or with well-formulated supplements—especially if typical sources are missing from your diet.
• Overarching message: Supporting autophagy and boosting cellular protection with these lesser-known tools could be key to a longer, healthier life.

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For resources, studies, and further reading, Dr. Gundry suggests signing up for his newsletter at drgundry.com.

Transcript

[Dr. Stephen Gundry]

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[Podcast Narrator]

Where Dr. Stephen Gundry shares his groundbreaking research from over 25 years of treating patients with diet and lifestyle changes alone. Dr. Gundry and other wellness experts offer inspiring stories, the latest scientific advancements and practical tips to empower you to take control of your health and live a long, happy life.

[Dr. Stephen Gundry]

As many of my longtime listeners will know, I'm always on the top of latest research regarding exciting compounds that support your health, and as soon as the.

Research is available, I like to bring.

It to you right here. I also like to try it out on myself and my patients. So today I want to talk about some of the best supplements that are available right now, but not very many people have heard about. So number one is spermidine. Well now I'll give you one guess where that compound was first discovered. And it's a naturally occurring compound in the body, but it plays a crucial role in cellular function and survival. In fact, spermidine is one of several polyamines, including putresine. These actually regulate cellular function. Now how does it work? Well, spermidine is very critical for the process of autophagy. Now you may remember the word autophagy. I've talked about it a lot. I've written about it in my books. Normally, cells die. And when cells die, one of two things can happen. One is that the cell literally explodes, and it's called apoptosis. Apoptosis is really bad for you for multiple reasons. I've written about this in multiple of my books. Among the other really bad things about your cell exploding is the mitochondria in the cell also explode. And mitochondria, you might recall, are actually containing bacterial DNA. And your immune system views this mitochondrial DNA as bacteria and produces inflammation. So cells dying by apoptosis is a bad thing. On the other hand, the other way cell death can be accomplished is what's called autophagy. Autophagy basically means self eat. That says that the cell recycles its components to build a new cell, including recycling mitochondria, so that none of this debris is sprayed out and none of this debris is looked on with inflammation in mind. So autophagy is a great thing. Apoptosis is a terrible thing. So the more you can produce autophagy, the better. Just so happens that fasting happens to be a great way to produce autophagy, but you can ignite the process in many other ways. So spermidine is one of those agents that activates autophagy. So it does that in two ways. First of all, it inhibits the MTOR pathway. Now, you've heard me talk about MTOR many, many times. MTOR was originally called the mammalian target of rapamycin. It was discovered during the time we were developing transplant drugs, including rapamycin and rapamycin. We test transplant drugs to see if it doesn't kill animals before we use it on human beings. And rapamycin was fascinating because giving rapamycin to animals made them live longer. And people said, what the heck? Well, they found an energy sensor called the mammalian target of rapamycin, mtor, and subsequently it's been found in all life forms, not just mammals. But MTOR had kind of stuck in our heads. And so now it's called the mechanistic target of rapamycin, just to keep that M in your head. So what? So this senses energy. If it senses that there's not much energy available, what it tells every cell in your body is to look at itself and see if it's pulling its own weight, see if it looks a little odd, seeing if it's doing the job. And if it's not pulling its own weight or not doing its job or looks a little different, it tells it to recycle itself, to not take any more energy. And that's actually a good thing. It's kind of like pruning a tree for winter. The other thing it does, like spermidine activates the AMPK pathway Now, you hear this word a lot, and I'm going to talk about it in this lecture. AMPK pathway is another system to utilize energy properly and to also activate the release of fatty acids from fat cells so that they can be used for fuel. And if you follow some of the GLP1 agonist drugs that are now incredibly popular, one of the ways they work is also activating the AMPK pathway. So the great news is you can activate it with fasting, you can activate it with spermidine, and oh, by the way, a great way to activate it is exercise. So spermidine is kind of exercise fasting in a bottle.

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Now, how does it support longevity? Well, since autophagy has been shown to increase longevity, the more autophagy you accomplish up to a point, the better. Spermidine has been shown to improve fat metabolism through what I went through before. And the other great thing, it appears that spermidine actually inhibits cell proliferation in a good way. Now that may explain why traditional fermented sausage eaters live a long time. In fact, as I wrote about in Gut Check, the folks with the longest life expectancy in the world by a country are people who live in this tiny country between Spain and France called Andorra, and they have the longest life expectancy of any country in the world by far. And they just so happen to be sheep herders. And they eat a lot of sheep and goat cheese. And interestingly, they have sausages every day. And it just so happens that sausages, fermented meat, meats are one of the richest sources of spermidine. Fun fact. Chicken skin is loaded with spermidine, as are chicken livers. So don't have a boneless, skinless chicken breast. Have the skin instead. I believe in spermidine so much that it's in several of my compounds, including my new Gummy active amines. And that's how spermidine works. Spermidine also has been shown to improve gut health. And if you've been paying attention, Hippocrates said 2500 years ago that all disease begins in the gut. Spermidine actually improves the gut barrier integrity and it is protective against the gut endothelial damage. And as you know from gut check and now coming up in my next book, the Gut Brain Paradox, the integrity of the gut wall determines what's going to happen to you and to your brain going forward. Okay, Hydrogen. Molecular hydrogen is called H2. You may remember from the periodic table from high school that hydrogen is the smallest molecule. It's so small that one of its unique properties is that it can be swallowed as molecular hydrogen water and be absorbed through the wall of your intestinal tract and be absorbed through cell walls. Now, hydrogen has been shown in literally now 15,000 separate papers to be really important for multiple cellular functions. One, it activates the NRF2 pathway, sometimes called the NRF2 pathway. It also is fundamental for regulating nitric oxide production and hydrogen sulfide production. Now, I've written a lot about these postbiotics, hydrogen sulfide, the so called rotten egg smell. We used to think that hydrogen sulfide was a toxic gas, but we now know that there's a goldilocks effect of hydrogen sulfide gas. And that is a little dab will do you a bit of hydrogen sulfide is very protective to the walls of our blood vessels. It's very protective to your brain, and it's also very protective to your gut wall integrity. So where do you get hydrogen sulfide? Well, you have to have hydrogen gas and you also have to have sulfur molecules. The best source for sulfur molecules in our diet are the cruciferous vegetables, the brassica vegetables like broccoli, cauliflower, bok choy, arugula, cabbages. Those are rich in sulfur containing compounds. Fun fact. You probably know I'm a big fan of San Pellegrino water. And no, they don't sponsor me and pay you to tell you this. They happen to have the highest sulfur content of any mineral water. So hydrogen and sulfur get hydrogen sulfide gas. Good for you in the right amount. Now, exercise also is good for you because it's bad for you. Nietzsche once said that what doesn't kill you makes you stronger. So a lot of these compounds actually have exercise mimetic effects. And who doesn't want exercise in a bottle? And we'll get to that in just a minute because there may be such a thing as exercise in a bottle. But back to hydrogen gas in a swim test on rats, rats who were given hydrogen water performed better and recovered faster than rats who did not drink hydrogen water. Now, what does this have to do with gut health? Well, it turns out that a lot of us, most of us, should have gut bacteria that produce hydrogen gas and that hydrogen gas is really important for brain function. Unfortunately, a great number of us, because our gut bacteria have been killed off, don't have hydrogen gas producing bacteria. Now, I have an entire episode on this with Alex Stravana, the mind behind the groundbreaking hydrogen tablet. And I have a hydrogen Tablet, it's called H2 Restore. All you do is pop it in water, it fizzes and you drink it. Sadly, as he points out, most of the hydrogen water producing machines don't produce a lot of molecular hydrogen enough in these forms dissolved in water. So you're actually better off using hydrogen tablets to make hydrogen gas water.

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[Podcast Narrator]

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