Clinical Use of Peptides and the Nine Hallmarks of Aging

Uh, he has studied dietary epigenetics at Stanford university, um, is certified epigenetic coats and holds a certification and the clinical application of advanced, uh, peptide therapies. He has partnered with the, uh, appear on a center for human potential and Austin, Texas. Uh, I was butcher that, uh, and working with clients, uh, to elevate their, uh, health and wellbeing through genomics based, uh, precision performance medicine. I think it’s well put, it really is the medicine of the future. Um, it really leverages the latest, uh, cutting edge, genetic epigenetic science nervous system assessment, blood analysis, biometric monitoring, uh, hormone optimization and lifestyle design. So yeah, of kind of do everything. So, uh, welcome. And I thank you for, um, uh, taking the time to be with us and welcome to the summit.

Ryan Lester

Yeah. Thanks for having me here in beautiful Austin. It’s great. It’s the, sun’s out. It’s a little hot, but uh, that’s, you know, that’s coming every year, so yeah.

Kent Holtorf, M.D.

So cool. So, um, we’re gonna talk about, you know, and I, you know, basically free reality. Can you describe what, what the heck is that? Why, why do I care? Who becomes frail? Why is that?

Ryan Lester

Yeah, well, you know, certainly in our, in our current medical model, um, uh, we’re experts, the medical industry at treating sick care, sick people, sick symptoms, right? And, and, um, in that system, people become frail and bad things happen. Um, and so in this new that we are trying to focus on, it is starting with the foundation, um, you know, lifestyle, uh, um, lifestyle, uh, designed to, to optimize stress, sleep exercise, um, and, and to prevent, um, people from getting sick and then developing these chronic diseases and staying out of that for our state.

Kent Holtorf, M.D.

Yeah. And I think that is, it goes along with that health span curve where, you know, you look at the way we work now is we keep people alive longer, but their last 10 years of life is in a nursing home. They’ve got Alzheimer’s, they’ve got emphysema and all these things, you know, I’m sorry, I don’t live like that. Um, and, uh, it’s, you know, live better, longer, right?

Ryan Lester

Absolutely improve health span and lifespan. Definitely.

Kent Holtorf, M.D.

And, uh, and the nice thing is, again, like you said, with standard medicine, I, they won’t even treat you until you’re bad enough. And I remember we had, um, one guy who had almost had diabetes and he, we gave him samples of, uh, I forget some medication, but it worked really well. And, but they wouldn’t cover it. So he goes, that’s it, he ate a bunch and became diabetic. So now,

Ryan Lester

Oh, geez.

Kent Holtorf, M.D.

So that’s, you know, that’s standard medicine, but the whole thing is yeah. Prevent being there and being actually healthy throughout your life. And I think that’s becoming so such a possibility. And, um, uh, so tell me, um, all the things associated with, uh, free reality. Okay. Why is it something to really concentrate on when it’s, so this is so far down the road. Um, but like what, when do you start?

Ryan Lester

Yeah. So, you know, the aging process starts, uh, the second we’re born. I mean, really it does from a cellular level. Um, and so probably the biggest things we see in the traditional medical model are, are, um, have a loss of muscle mass as we age, right. Sarcopenia, we know that’s one of the biggest predictors of morbidity and mortality. Um, cognitive decline. We know that Alzheimer’s is rampant right now. Um, uh, certainly, uh, uh, loss of bone density, which, uh, people start to get older, their balances and so great. They become deconditioned. They fall there’s the hip fracture and then everything’s downhill from there. And, um, those are the big ones, but I mean, it really starts aging starts from the moment you’re born and, and, and really the cellular inefficiencies that happen over time is what leads to all these processes. So if we can intervene now is the best time. Right.

Kent Holtorf, M.D.

Yeah. And, um, how about mitochondria? What’s your thought on?

Ryan Lester

Yeah, I mean, certainly mitochondrial dysfunction is one of the nine hallmarks aging. So, um, I think it’s incredibly important. A lot of these peptides address mitochondria, um, certainly lifestyle addresses, mitochondria, um, but it’s, it’s incredibly important and impactful. Um, for sure. Yeah.

Kent Holtorf, M.D.

And, and so far we know your mitochondria, they basically organelles a cell that produce energy, and there’s a lot of theories of aging that it’s really, if your cells just can’t produce enough energy. So, you know, what’s affected especially cells that need a lot brain muscles, and what happens to your body needs energy to get rid of old cells. And if you don’t have enough energy where the old cells, you have these old cells lingering, and that’s what all of a sudden they turn into cancer, cause they’re all messed up. Um, so there there’s, there’s so many things. So, um, what, uh, what areas do you like to target with live with the peptides?

Ryan Lester

Yeah, so I kind of bring it back to the nine hallmarks of aging. Um, we just talked about mitochondria, um, and certainly tell us what those are. Yeah. So mitochondrial dysfunction or mitochondrial decline, uh, telomere attrition, which really just means the loss of telomeres are the caps on the ends of the chromosomes that protect our DNA from damage, um, nutrient signaling dysfunction, um, the loss of epigenetic, um, signals. So gene expression, we, we, we, our gene expression, um, declines, um, uh, the loss of STEM cells, which relates to, um, immune system dysregulation increasing your risk of infections. And certainly that’s relevant right now with COVID, um, and then interest at loss of interest cellular communications, which really, really can, um, can lead to chronic inflammation, which we know is a huge part of aging, um, genomic instability, um, loss of proteostasis, uh, the clearance of, of proteins. 

And then of course the last one being cellular senescence, these zombie cells that form that stopped dividing and form, and then kind of just stay dormant and just give off these, these, uh, inflammation signals to nearby cells. Um, so pretty complex. Uh, but, uh, the peptides we’re going to talk about really addressed a majority of them. We’re going to talk about four or five. Um, and, uh, certainly we, we partner peptides with, you know, other medications supplements, but really, you know, all of these things, these things are all fancy tools, but the best thing obviously is, you know, is, is really starts with nutrition, sleep, stress, response mitigation, and then the exercise. Uh, but on top of all that stuff, we can really, we have some powerful tools to change these things.

Kent Holtorf, M.D.

Yeah. And it’s like, I mean, when I do work out, I work out religiously. It’s a passion of mine every four months for eight minutes. But, um, uh, you know, it’s like, I don’t feel like if I go, actually I said, I don’t have my peptide combination. I’m like, why do it, because I’m getting gypped, I gotta do three times as my Jackson size. Right. Yup. It does

Ryan Lester

Definitely a, it definitely makes a big impact when you add on some of these really, really potent peptides.

Kent Holtorf, M.D.

And I think you see, you know, people work out that that happens or are they, you know, trying to lose weight and get discouraged. And so you allowed, you know, to get, get the body back. And I, you know, some studies you have showing like looking at, you know, an elderly first or whatever it is now, it keeps, uh, what am I now 55. So that was ancient, you know, 20 years ago for me now it’s like, well, that’s not all that’s a middle age, but, um, maybe it will be, you know, it’s, uh, but uh, other people like, you know, even just the amount of genes that are turned on and not a messenger RNA that they’re producing, um, the amount of protein, it just declines, you know, the mitochondria and the cells just aren’t doing anything. So turn that stuff back on. It’s, it’s the ultimate, like anti-aging used to be kind of a quacky term, but I think we’re kinda there, you know? Um, so that makes it exciting stuff. Um, so what are some of your favorite peptides they may make a big difference?

Ryan Lester

Yeah, so, you know, I think it’s important to, to remember that, um, by the age of 50, we lose about 30% of our growth hormone. And by the age of 70, about 50%, um, our immune system declines, like I said, we lose muscle mass bone density. So, uh, probably one of the most popular and, and, um, um, most widely used peptides are the growth hormone releasing hormones. Um, and the, in my medics are the, uh, growth hormone, secreted dogs. Um, and so the most common GHR ages are going to be the CJC 1295 Tessa Morone, which is the most potent, um, Sermorelin, which isn’t as good and isn’t used as widely anymore. Um, and then the grill grill in my medics. Uh, so the [inaudible] it per Maryellen, which is, seems to be the, uh, the best one because it really doesn’t, uh, induce a lot of hunger. Uh [inaudible] and, and the, you know, the effect, the physiologic effect of these is, is, is well-documented. Um, uh,

Kent Holtorf, M.D.

And just so for the viewers, like, it’s like kind of word salad there. I mean, there’s just the bunch of them. Uh, and a lot of them we can’t get anymore. Right. I’m worried about peptides in general, you know, big farm of realizing that, Hey, these people are helping people, you know, we’re not going know the sick people around, you know, but, um, uh, so some are growth or releasing peptide, some are growth in losing hormones. They have slightly different effects, some secrete, multiple things. Um, but, um, uh, with that, do didn’t reuse them together.

Ryan Lester

Absolutely. So there seems to be a synergistic effect with CJC 1295 and upper Maryellen, um, kind of the classic one. Exactly. Yeah, yeah, yeah. We used to just give people growth hormone, and we thought that was really kind of best for outcomes. But what we really determined was that the pathway is pretty complex, right? There’s receptors, there’s IGF receptors, there’s IGF one receptors, there’s growth, hormone receptors, GHR its receptors, grelin receptors. And, and so, uh, you know, uh, that’s why when we start the pathway in the brain, it really kind of, you can utilize that pleiotropic effect of the whole pathway. Um, but reductions inflammatory markers reduces visceral fat, reduces triglycerides, um, reduces other cardiovascular disease, risk markers, um, injury, repair recovery from exercise. Um, you know, it, uh, reduces the atrophy of skeletal muscle improves, deep sleep. Um, that’s one of the big ones, a lot of people forget about.

Ryan Lester

So, uh, the effects are pretty impactful and, and, you know, there’s a controversy about this, right? Like, so we, we know from observational studies that chronic under stimulation of the growth hormone pathway is definitely not a good thing. And chronic overstimulation of the pathway is definitely not a good thing. So it seems to be the sweet spot is probably somewhere in the middle. And then the next question is what’s, what’s really optimal for, for anti-aging. Right. And, and that’s, that’s yet to be determined, but it’s definitely somewhere in the middle. And so we do like to cycle these.

Kent Holtorf, M.D.

Yeah. And I think, you know, we were using growth hormone and then, you know, it turns out, you know, anytime the athletes are abusing it and, and when we would have some athletes, we try not to, you know, treat anyone who’s trying to, you know, overdose on this stuff. But, you know, you can’t believe the doses, the stuff they’re taking and, you know, and they look and, or they go to their endo, their doctor, like, Oh, your head’s going to get bigger. And, you know, your job is going to, and I say, I don’t know anyone rich enough to do that much growth hormone except Barry bonds. I think, I think bigger. Um, but when you’re in professional sports, I mean, you know, you pay a lot to hit 10 more feet because you’re either warning, track power or superstar. And, and so yeah. Growth or one ended up being, it’s the only drug you can’t give off label, which is like more controlled than fentanyl, like get on narcotics and hunted people have died of growth hormone, you know, and I did a review on growth hormone. People say, Oh, cancer. There’s never been a case of people getting cancer from growth hormone, you know, and the nice thing about, and I’ll talk about this, they, um, secreted dogs to stay what your own is. You can’t really overdose,

Ryan Lester

Right. Because of that, that negative feedback loop. Exactly. And these peptides very, the body recognizes them as same, right. They’re produced in the body. So they’re very, very accurate. They’re very potent at stimulating the pathways and they’re off target effects are really minimal. So side effects really, really minimal, very safe for the most part. Um, so, uh, yeah, exactly.

Kent Holtorf, M.D.

That’s a common thread with the peptides, which are nice. And I think that’s great because, you know, especially with the growth hormone, I was like, Oh, bodybuilder bodybuilder. It’s like, no bodybuilders don’t want that so much, unless they’re low because they can’t overdose. They can’t overdo it. Right. So that’s nice. Um, so w what else do you do, uh, I think is, is a bang for your buck, a peptide or a, or works really well for longevity anti aging?

Ryan Lester

Sure, sure. So a piddle on, uh, is, is definitely one of the most exciting peptides for longevity. Um, and so it, it, uh, it’s derived from, um, it’s a peptide that was derived from the pineal gland in the brain. Uh, and it, it, uh, it really, it activates telomerase, which is an enzyme that, you know, helps modulate those caps on the ends of the chromosomes. So, but it does a lot of other stuff that a little more sure. So, um, the telomeres are on the ends of the chromosomes and, uh, um, we know that as telomeres shorten over time, as we age, it increases the likelihood of DNA damage, um, which is part of the aging process. And so this telomerase enzyme helps protect those caps. Okay. And so that’s what happens on a biological level. Um, and remember most of the studies on this one come out of dr. [inaudible] lab in st. Petersburg, Russia. Um, and, and he’s done a lot of studies in both rodent models and humans. I mean, he’s, he’s done longterm observational and placebo controlled studies in, in folks older than 60. And he, and he monitored them for six to 12 years. I mean, really some robust studies.

Kent Holtorf, M.D.

Yeah. And I really liked the one where it’s, uh, it’s funny. Um, you use the European pur, uh, pronunciation, uh, a piddle on a at battalion, you know, I don’t know.

Ryan Lester

Yeah. There’s so many pronunciations. Yeah.

Kent Holtorf, M.D.

We use that along with, um, by Mulan, they, they gave it to people who have significant cardiovascular disease older than 65 followed them for, you know, it’s 12 years, 15 years. And what they found was that the people on the treatment and the only really did very short doses of it and that their cardiovascular, uh, basic function got better and they live longer at [inaudible] and less cancer. And like the ultimate anti-aging and like, you know, are taking it like just the, a piddle on, or a battalion, like raises the melatonin levels to, you know, younger levels. It’s kind of like the ultimate anti-aging peptide.

Ryan Lester

And I think, yeah, it really is. Um, his results were really impressive for 4.1 times reduction in mortality rate in that study, eight times improvement in physical work capacity, um, 80% increase in bone density, uh, 56% memory improvement, um, 67% survival, um, 65% increase in subjective wellbeing. I mean, that’s huge, um, 28% lower mortality. Uh, so yeah, it was, it was really, uh, the, the results were pretty, uh, incorrect.

Kent Holtorf, M.D.

Yeah. So you figured there’s 65 starting, so they’re like 75 and all these things, better wellbeing, cardiovascular function. They’re living life. Yeah. Versus in the nursing home. Yeah. No, it’s like whatsoever.

Ryan Lester

Yeah. And they documented, um, improved skin elasticity, better youthful appearance. I mean, these people looked better, felt better and they were just more resilient.

Kent Holtorf, M.D.

Yeah. People would probably do it, even if it, you know, you actually died sooner, but you look better. Uh, Hey, I’m in LA. So that’s, you know, uh, but, but you actually get the best of both worlds. I mean, it’s one of those things that I’ve never say everyone should take this, you know, X, Y, Z, but, um, it’s close to one of those things that I don’t, I’ve never seen a side effect from it. Um, I’ve love it as a magical sleep cocktail. Um, the Italian, uh, with Delta sleep, inducing peptide, and, uh, like some, some sort of growth hormone booster and people that can’t sleep. It like myself. It’s just like, Oh my God, I’m sleeping. You know, it’s not like a sleeping pill. We’re also just fall asleep, which is over two weeks, you noticed that like, kind of getting deep sleep and I’m dreaming again. And it kind of changed for me. I used to have nightmares all the time. Uh, it’s also when I had Lyme though, so I can’t say it was just that, but, uh, I have nice dreams now, you know, instead of waking up stressed in fight or flight. So I, I love that pen.

Ryan Lester

So that’s fascinating. You’ve seen good results with that with DSIP Delta sleeping,

Kent Holtorf, M.D.

I think. Yeah. They’re great together. And I think the nice thing is with the peptides is really nothing you can give it with, you know?

Ryan Lester

Yeah. Certainly the safety profile is one of the biggest advantages.

Kent Holtorf, M.D.

Yeah. And like with the key before, you know, a thousand times a dose and no negative effects, which is like probably most of the peptides, um, you know, try that with anything else, Tylenol water, um, you know,

Ryan Lester

Yeah. They certainly seem to be safer than most medications and most supplements, to be honest.

Kent Holtorf, M.D.

Yeah. Yeah. Um, so what, what else do you generally use them all in combination?

Ryan Lester

So it really depends on the client’s goals, you know, what do they want? And then we kind of reverse engineer the plan from there. So if they’re focusing more on body composition, more muscle, less fat, um, the GHR [inaudible] really, uh, with of course hormone optimization, um, are, are really the go they’re a, if they’re looking for more anti-aging longevity, we might do, um, uh, more of a piddle on stack with some other, um, uh, supplements. Um, um, someone who’s looking for more, you know, cognitive enhancement, um, unfortunately, you know, cerebral license is, is recently off the table. Um, but boy, did that have some promising? Yeah, I’m hoping so

Kent Holtorf, M.D.

Well, yeah, we’ll have it as an oral supplement in two weeks, uh, which has shown to, um, uh, studies showing changes to EEG. So it works each capsules about two and a half cc’s of the injectable. Oh, okay. Okay. Yeah. Great, great. Well that out. Cause I, uh, when we couldn’t get that, like I was calling Russia, you know, trying to get it from myself, but, um, it’s it’s yeah, the peptide world’s very strange right now. No one knows kind of like what’s going to happen, but, um, uh, yeah. And it’s really nice that you can, they all dovetail together, you know?

Ryan Lester

Yeah. They, they really can be stacked, uh, um, quite well. And the impact is huge. Yeah.

Kent Holtorf, M.D.

And, um, so mitochondria.

Ryan Lester

Yeah. So Motsee is really our go to for this it’s a, it’s a mitochondrial derived peptide. Most of the studies are in rodents. Um, but it just seems to, I mean, ultimately mimic the effects of exercise. Um, so it increases mitochondrial turnover, mitochondrial production, uh, it improves this pathway called amp kinase, which really is a master regulator of, of both glucose regulation and insulin sensitivity and fat metabolism. Um, it improves, uh, bone density, um, reduces fat accumulation. So this is a really a, an impactful peptide for, for fat loss and weight loss. Um, there’s a study showing increased endothelial function and vascularity to heart tissue. Um, this is a really exciting one.

Kent Holtorf, M.D.

Yeah. That’s huge. And I like that. It’s like the Jack size. Yeah. I took my shot, you know?

Ryan Lester

Yeah. Hey, I, uh, I mean, I’m just one of those people who absolutely loves to exercise too. So even if it didn’t have any effects, I’d be doing it anyway. Yeah. It’s, uh, it’s just, it is what it is.

Kent Holtorf, M.D.

It’s like, if I’m on that cliche, I think every minute I’m like, I’m the serverless like brig, why am I here? Yeah. And then, but then when you get done, you’re like, Oh my God.

Ryan Lester

So glad I did it. Yeah, exactly.

Kent Holtorf, M.D.

Tomorrow. And then it’s like, uh, you know, so I’m like your standard person, you know, and, uh, I gotta stop eating Gigi fruits for, for breakfast. Uh, but, uh, yeah, it’s all good, but it, it’s nice that you can do this with safety, you know, and combined with, uh, sounds like you do a hormone optimization. What hormones do you find they work well?

Ryan Lester

Yeah. So, you know, the, the, um, really the most impactful hormone for both sexes is testosterone is, you know, um, so, uh, we, we use that quite a bit. Certainly. Um, uh, estrogen, progesterone, testosterone. Those are the, those are the main ones. Absolutely. Thyroid is the master regulator. Right. So incredibly important to, uh, to make sure that’s in a, in a healthy state. Um, so yeah, if it’s appropriate, then we’ll, we’ll certainly boost up. Yeah.

Kent Holtorf, M.D.

And I found like, you know, you talk about testosterone. I mean, huge

Ryan Lester

Reality, especially I think, you know, for men. Oh, absolutely.

Kent Holtorf, M.D.

The problem is when they check the blood levels, one, you look, so you take 95% of the people they’re considered normal. And if you look at someone 10 years ago and they make 95% normal that 10 years ago it was here, it was higher. And then 10 years before that it was even higher. But now people that would have been low are now normal, you know? Exactly. And so, and there’s also studies showing that they get, they have less receptors and they get testosterone resistance. So the argument is, well, you should maybe make them above the range. You know, it’s like saying, well, this is normal. 

So it was cancer. So it was heart disease, then don’t do anything. Right. So I’ve had so many people like with so many symptoms of the testosterone and, but they come back at like 800, right. You know, the top of the range and you know, what do you do on, so I’ll give, let’s give you a trial, a shot, their erectile dysfunction goes away. Their quality of life. They’re just alive. Again, like you need to stop giving it to them. But if some doc someone complains and, uh, you know, someone who hasn’t read the literature looks at that deal, looks at that, uh, uh, chart. They’re going, Oh, you overdosed this guy. Well, you know,

Ryan Lester

Yeah. That’s a great point. Yeah. It’s a great point. You know, the last few decades we’ve seen significant reductions in free testosterone levels in males. Um, and we’re not exactly sure what’s going on, but it definitely seems to be these endocrine disrupting chemicals are probably playing a huge role.

Kent Holtorf, M.D.

Yeah. And, uh, I’m sure you’ve seen it kids 1820, 25. They’re like 200. They’re like a, you know, 60.

Ryan Lester

Yup. Yeah. It’s a, it’s pretty, uh, it’s pretty shocking. Um, but the, the impact of testosterone on both males and females, particularly as we get older is just incredible.

Kent Holtorf, M.D.

And yet all the estrogenic, you know, plastics, peptic, pesticides, BPA avid on thyroid testosterone. I mean, they have fish now that there’s no more males, so, um, we’re going to be a planet of females.

Ryan Lester

Yeah. It’s a

Kent Holtorf, M.D.

Insert joke here. Are we in trouble? Yeah. But yeah, it’s it, it’s bad. S you know, too much estrogen is not good for men. I mean, it, you know, cause a lot of health problems. Um, and, uh, so yeah, so we’ll, we’ll what else do you guys do with, so you do a, usually the hormones, the peptides are, they pretty are, they’re pretty much a core, um, with that. And what else for anti-aging.

Ryan Lester

Yeah. So these, these thymus peptides, um, are, are, I mean, fondness and alpha one specifically, um, this is, this was isolated from tissue in the fi the thymus gland. Um, and so this is actually one of the few that is FDA approved for various cancers, various infections. Um, it’s actually in phase two trials for HIV, um, cancers, hepatitis B, hepatitis C. Um, but it really is a very potent regulator of a certain part of the immune system, the T cells. And these are responsible for fighting off viruses bacteria, um, which right now is, is a, is a big deal with COVID. Um, also increases development of, of B cells to plasma cells, which make antibodies. 

Um, we know that’s incredibly important for, uh, for ongoing, um, uh, immune strength, um, reverses immune suppression caused by conditions like chronic inflammatory response syndrome, uh, has been shown to inhibit cancer growth and inhibit viral replication. So this one right now is, um, I, our, our whole team that appear on his, on this for COVID. Um, and, uh, now there’s, there’s not a ton of, uh, conclusive evidence that it’s it’s, it’s, uh, it’s treating COVID, but there is, there is a study or two that is showing some, some reduced mortality in people with severe COVID infection. So, um, it’s, uh, it’s incredibly helpful. Yeah.

Kent Holtorf, M.D.

Well there is. And, but God forbid you put it up on the internet, you know, it’s, if you mentioned anything other than a vaccine, you get a letter from the FTC, just we got, well, I just, from I, you know, and there’s studies showing, just giving everyone vitamin D yeah. Probably stop the whole pandemic in two months, but, um, yeah. Well, w with the famous sins, yeah. Time and outfits approved about 30 countries for infections cancer, um, all these things and yeah, cause it raises kind of there’s like th one is stuff inside the cell teach you to step outside the cell, uh, using their balance. But as you get older, you lose your biomass. And so you start getting too much teach to not have .

And also with any chronic illness, stress, we think of stress lowering inflammation, but it actually does this. Um, and so, you know, time is the beta for remodulating as well. Uh, and then BBC will, uh, you know, lower T H two. And we’re finding just when we do these big labs on people that so many conditions have the same underlying immune dysfunction pattern, like mitochondrial function, whether it’s, and, you know, doctors who don’t want to know, uh, say, Oh, chronic fatigue syndrome, it’s all made up it’s in their head. Like, well, we can pick it out on a blood test about 70, 80% of the time and how sick they are. So how is that? You know, but they look also just like autistic, uh, same, same pattern. So, uh, uh, yeah, the, the modulation is the key, which also goes along with inflammation. 

Absolutely. And you mentioned to make antibodies to, if you have low T H one eye, as you get older, you can’t make antibodies. So if you raise [inaudible], you can make antibodies with the general I teach too. So it’s, it’s interesting. And like, we’ll give, um, like all the famous ones are similar, but they do different things and like thymus and beta for, uh, more of a modulator. Uh, we give it a boost, STEM cells and things, and, uh, we give it IV and we’ll find fentanyl patients, or those are my bad, but Oh my God, my pain is gone, you know? Cause it just lowered all, all their inflammation. Um, wow. Yeah. So, yeah. And, uh, Mentia way about the thymus and beta for fragment. I don’t know if you’ve heard of that, but it’s the active fragment that’s orally absorbable and systemically, um, and just the sub maybe get another base of who can’t do shots, whatever.

Ryan Lester

Yeah, yeah. I’ve heard a bit about it. Yeah. Yeah.

Kent Holtorf, M.D.

So we, we, uh, love this stuff. I mean it, you know, peptides and, uh, doing degree STEM cells, X state saved my life, you know, so, uh, but, uh, awesome. So, um, it sounds like you kind of have this, this fall program. Well, what, what, what is your typical patient?

Ryan Lester

I would say our typical patient is, um, someone who, gosh, I have patients from 28 to, to, to 80. So certainly the age changes, but I would say this, this is somebody who’s generally pretty healthy, um, uh, might be losing, you know, might be looking to change their body composition. Um, typically they’re things are going pretty well though. And so they’re really kind of looking for that edge, um, whether it be cognitive enhancement or, um, just to kind of optimize, you know, kind of they’re really doing well and they just want to further enhance their performance, whether it be at work or in relationships or, um, everything, you know, so, um, I would say our, our clients are, are pretty high performing and, uh, they’re, they’re a lot of fun to work with.

Kent Holtorf, M.D.

And don’t you think it’s, it’s kind of nice because I mean, with standard medicine, it’s like, okay, yeah, this problem going in there, [inaudible] go to the cardiologist, you know, uh, go and gastroenterologist or whatever, and no one’s looking at the underlying commonality and mechanisms. Right, right. And, but like, all these things you’re saying is that it’s not a freak out when someone comes in 28 year old seventies, 96 year old it’s the same mechanisms are looking at. Absolutely. Absolutely. And I, and I think it’s powerful that we’re getting at the core instead of just trying to treat something symptomatically.

Ryan Lester

Yeah. Yeah. The, the traditional medical model is very stovepipe, you know, it’s very, um, uh, it’s, it’s, it’s, it’s too, it’s too narrow minded. The human system is complex. Um, it’s an unpredictable and it cannot be reduced to certain, you know, a plus B equals C. I mean, it really is a complex system and it needs to be interpreted that way.

Kent Holtorf, M.D.

Yeah. Yeah. And I think it’s, you know, when we started, it was, I gave myself, it’s like ingrained, don’t go to these anti-aging, uh, alternative, which I don’t think, you know, what is alternative me? It’s called, Oh, no evidence. I mean, all of these conferences are so much more evidence-based than you go to the university conferences. It’s just like a drug rep, you know, telling you here’s this. So it’s where the action is. Right.

Ryan Lester

I certainly am enjoying the sandbox that’s for darn sure.

Kent Holtorf, M.D.

Yeah. Yeah. That’s awesome. And, uh, and so you’re there in Austin. How many people do you work with is a clinic there?

Ryan Lester

Yep. So we have a, we have a clinic in downtown Austin. Um, uh, we have a small team about, uh, well, we have it, we have a clinic in Austin. We also have a center in Asheville, North Carolina, where it started. Um, but our, our, our main, uh, center is in Austin. Um, and we have a team of, uh, 10, 10, 15 people throughout both centers. And

Kent Holtorf, M.D.

So what happens like, um, uh, whatever, a person that has

Ryan Lester

Bunch of issues, whether young, old, uh,

Kent Holtorf, M.D.

They come in, they see you, what, what happened?

Ryan Lester

Yeah. So, so typically we, we really just try and get on a phone call with them and just talk to them. So people can go to my website, elevate with ryan.com and we can get on a call and just kind of talk about your goals and what you’d like. And, uh, and, and from there, we’ll kind of determine if we’re a good fit. Um, and, um, yeah, I mean, we, we, we really are big on data, so we’ll get blood work, we’ll get genetics where we, uh, our programs are very, um, genetics base. So we do use, um, probability based lifestyle guidance, uh, from, from genetic

Kent Holtorf, M.D.

Is the way the feature and, you know, studies or studies that I tell people you’re not a study, you know, it’s like, Hey, the studies say you should be better, you know, but they’re not. And so, um, but I didn’t mean to interrupt you. Um, and, uh, and so, okay. Uh, what else happens?

Ryan Lester

Um, so yeah, uh, genomics are a big part. And then, uh, once we collect everyone’s data, we’ll bring them into the center for the evaluation and we do some nervous system assessments as well. We can do some brain mapping. Um, we do some functional movement assessments. Um, uh, we’re really trying to get a comprehensive picture of the, of the person and the individual and their goals, um, because it’s all, it’s all related. It’s very dynamic. Uh it’s uh, it’s it’s, it’s great.

Kent Holtorf, M.D.

Yeah. And I think it’s where that, uh, like a sick person has almost everywhere. Every area is sick, right. It’s like they don’t have some select, like, you know, the, you know, sometimes, but, you know, we see these kind of multi-system areas, everything’s a vicious cycle, right. It takes one area, it fixes the other. Um, and then that gets better and better. But if you don’t address the other areas, then that one area, it never gets fixed no matter how hard he is found in that one.

Ryan Lester

Yeah. It really speaks to the complexity of the human system. Cause it really is all related.

Kent Holtorf, M.D.

It’s something you do some great work now, uh, you have your own to kind of website. Are you all individual or

Ryan Lester

No? So, I mean, I have a website certainly just for health coaching. Um, and then also anybody who’s interested in working with me, I’ll, I’ll bring them into, um, kind of the appear on realm and, uh, and then hopefully work together. Um, but we have a, you know, certainly appear on has as a, a big website and all of our information on there as well.

Kent Holtorf, M.D.

And how often do you see patients? Just

Ryan Lester

So most of my clients are virtual they’re either. Um, uh, most of them are out of state or out of the country. Um, some are local, um, but I typically see anywhere two to five new clients a month. Um, and then a majority of my established clients are ongoing. I’ll meet with them every couple of weeks or every month for a year. And our programs are a minimum 12 months because it takes, it takes a lot of work to make significant changes for some. So we won’t do anything shorter than 12 months.

Kent Holtorf, M.D.

Well, you know, uh, what a different model than standard medical care. Um,

Ryan Lester

Yeah, that’s what I love about it.

Kent Holtorf, M.D.

Yeah. It’s just a, I’m just thinking about it. You know, people are just used to being thin, loved their doctor or they now they’re starting not to, but, uh, you know, they get eight minutes out. Here’s any depressant go. They don’t care. What happens if you call, if, if, when you, you know, lose a limb or whatever. Um, but yeah, I think the world’s changing for the better. And you guys sound like you’re on the forefront.

Ryan Lester

Well, we’re certainly trying to, yeah, that’s awesome. That’s awesome. Thanks.

Kent Holtorf, M.D.

I think you’ve given some great information and, uh, uh, yeah, you guys are on the cutting edge and this really shows how medicine can actually change. And I, I did a, a piece called 17 years ahead because the annals of internal medicine, uh, found that it takes on average, a proven new therapy to get accepted. The mainstream medicine takes on average 17 years. Yeah. So, you know what we kind of say, we’re doing only know, it’s like, Oh, what are you, uh, integrative functional. Like, I don’t know what to call ourselves saying. I just think we practice better medicine, you know? And we, we crunch that 17 years to, you know, to very short where it doesn’t take that long. And, uh, it sounds like you’re doing such a great service. I imagine some great stories and, uh, people that you helped. And so a lot of grateful people that whose lives have changed forever. Right.

Ryan Lester

Well, we’re, we’re certainly trying and it’s, uh, it’s, it’s a, it’s been a pleasure. I’ll tell you being in this, in this world. Cause it’s so different than the last, you know, 10 or so years that I was in traditional medicine. So it’s separate.

Kent Holtorf, M.D.

Yeah. Because you were doing ER ortho. Yeah. I mean that’s like standard, you know, algorithmic, absolutely. No thinking and more and more now that’s what it is like you, you, uh, you know, ER, you better do this, this, this, this, or you brought up in front of the front of the board, like there’s no thinking and doctors should get replaced with artificial intelligence or put their symptoms in there and you need to do this where, what you’re doing. I think what we’re doing is, is very different and that, because not just algorithmic based and, and we’ll interview doctors at working, um, interview, like what’s the protocol when there isn’t a protocol. 

Yeah. It’s it’s concepts. Right. And the way doctors are trained now they memorize, they go give me the, give me the protocol, memorize it in an hour, you know? Yeah. There is none and they freak out. Yup. So human system just does not work like that. Yeah. It’s interesting. So anyways, I could talk to you forever and yeah, I enjoyed the chat because I, I mean, I love this stuff and uh, saved my life and say wonderful things. So I thank you for taking the time and I think great some great information for all the viewers and appreciate it. Likewise. Thanks for having me. Great to have fun in Austin. Thank you. Take care. Alright. Bye. Bye.