Straight Forward Supplementation for Brain Health

Introduction to Darren Peterson 0:00

Welcome to this episode of the Reverse Alzheimer's podcast. I'm your host, doctor Heather Sanderson, and I couldn't be more delighted to introduce you to Darren Peterson today. For more than 25 years, Darren has been a pioneer in the natural products industry. After co-founding an order, Dog Incorporated, a tech based company that provides supply chain services and solutions in the natural product industry. Darren then founded the supplement Manufacturing firm Life Seasons. This company was built on the principle that nature works and science proves it.

Live season supplements can be found in over 4000 retail locations across the US, and are sold internationally as well. In addition, Darren currently serves on the board of Apollo Health and Gems Development Foundation, where he's serving as president. He's also provided a vision to expand the Jim's mission, so that the citizens of South Sudan and other countries will have access to the basics of life and dignity that they deserve. Darren, thank you so much for joining us. Welcome. Thank you, Doctor Sanderson, for having me.

Of course. So you have worked with doctor Dale Bredesen for a long time, and he's obviously the the man to formulate these supplements. He knows a ton about reversing dementia and about creating and basically putting together the nutrients for that are the best ones for our brain health. So how did you guys start working together? How did you meet? You know, it's great. Great questions. It's kind of a long story, but, his book came out. We obviously, haven't crossed paths but are obviously interested in generally just helping people's, conditions or kind of their chronic diseases and things like that.

Read his book. We reached out to the current CEO, Lance, and Apollo, Lance Kelly and Apollo Health, and we just started kind of having a discussion, about what Dell's doing, what their mission and Apollo Health was. We were interested in just some of his protocol,

How Life Seasons Met Apollo Health 2:12

what he was doing from a supplementation, standpoint. And Lance brought up that one of the biggest challenges of the and protocol was the supplement regiment. And again, the supplements are only part of the protocol. Obviously, there's a lot of lifestyle changes and intermittent fasting and keto diets and things like that, but they literally all the different is they were running up against, you know, Dell's been at this for over 30 years. And as their eye was identifying certain nutrients that would be critical in helping people in either the reversal or the prevention of Alzheimer's.

Just the supplement side of it became almost overwhelming to, to for people staying on the regiment or on the protocol that that part of it. Well, life Seasons has already kind of taken that approach in the natural products industry. When it came to combining supplementation for specific chronic diseases and the synergistic benefit that can take place when combining certain ingredients. And so, Dell came out, visited our facility, met with our biochemist. He's very, very particular, as you know, and very, very passionate about people wanting to stay on the protocol and seeing the results that he knows can happen.

And so, you know, we took our current processes in place, combined those with Dell's vision, and came up with a solution that significantly facilitated, people's ability to adhere to the supplement protocol of Dell's overall Radisson Protocol red. I see that clinically with my patients, right? It's so many pills. So there's pill fatigue. Are there guys? You know there are. And then also it's just the logistics of it, right. Like if you're on curcumin and resveratrol and you know magnesium and this and that and all these different things and you've got it, you're running out of one this week and the next one next week.

And you've got to keep track of all of this. It simplifies it so much to combine these things. And then as you mentioned, I'm a you know I'm an Ascot. So I love and appreciate the synergy of especially herbs as they start to work together. But the nutrients as well. So getting that that kind of benefit of combining things and from multiple perspectives, even cost wise, you end up in less, there's less packaging, there's less shipping, there's less everything. Then you can start to combine these products.

So what's your break down for us? I know you guys have something for Recode and then something for people. Okay. So let our audience know. Like what? What are the options? Like if they go to your website, what are the options and kind of what are they do? How do they choose. Yeah. So I think the recode on the reverse reversal where people have progressed a little further in their disease, I think it's critical that they're working one with the physician to they've done their labs. Three it's kind of hit Apollo Health's a and is is basically identifying what contributing factors right.

Is it a trophic a trophic. Is it their blood sugar levels? Is it trauma, whatever it may be. And so what we've done is we've built kind of a core kit. This is on the reversal side that I think would be important to work with in conjunction with the physician. So there's a core kit, there's an Am and a PM morning drink. I think the other thing that we've done to help on that pill fatigue, as you've mentioned, is to change up the delivery forms a little bit. So it's not just so many pills, right? And in some ways in different delivery forms, you can actually expand and get more in there.

So we've actually developed the Am and the PM. We've broken that out. This is your morning balance and your evening balance. We've broken out those ingredients. That one are critical for the protocol overall.

Simplifying the Bredesen Protocol 6:12

But morning that are going to be more energizing, so to speak, in those in the evening that will help you get better sleep. We know that good sleep is part of doctor reticence, protocol, and also the way that we've made it so that they can, maintain their ketosis through the evening. So there's not a ton of sugar and different things like that. So there's a morning and an evening drink that they take. They can just open it up, put it in water, put it in something that's the foundation there. And then with that, there's also supplementation of a thousand DHEA with an EPA of 600mg.

Then there's an antioxidant, a probiotic and a multivitamin. Now, the great thing about all this is all of this has been considered. So people aren't getting any toxicity levels of one mineral or vitamin or another, like not too much selenium or chromium or whatever. And so that's your core kit that all patients there are wanting to kind of reverse that. If it kind of progressed in Alzheimer's. And then from there, the blood tests that they take will identify subtypes. And then we've built out the individual subtypes.

Sometimes that's two different subtypes or three different subtypes. So we've simplified the process so much. And and again these are patients that are already struggling with difficulty in cognition. Right. And trying to remember when to take things and how many. And did I take this and what or anything we can do to simplify that process and help them on that protocol. I think and that's what we accomplished. And that's what I was really willing to. So that's on the reversal side. So that's huge, because I certainly see that the people who don't get the benefit of the reticent protocol are the ones that just can't implement.

And we're talking about people who have cognitive decline and this is a complex protocol, even for someone with full cognitive capacity. So I'm pleased that we can simplify adds a tremendous amount of value and accessibility. So it's really exciting. And then what about on the pre-Code side? So on the prevention side. Yeah. And again, to your point, this is all about compliance, right? Dallas Protocol is a little bit complex. But when when people are compliant we've all seen the results of it. So again that's reversal.

That's the record side of it. On the preventative side, we actually work with Dale in Alzheimer's is is, as I understand from Dell, actually begins much, much earlier than it manifests itself. Sometimes it starts 20 years earlier until you're starting to see the symptoms associated with it. So anything we can do to supply our brain with antioxidant capacity, inflammation issues, any nutrients that can help us function better. I mean, it's clearly we live in a time in day where there is far more demand, that is taking place with, you know, electricity, you know, back, you know, when.

But just working longer hours, you know, all our technology, there's just much more being placed, more demands. And unfortunately it's kind of a supply and demand issue. We're not supplying the body with the nutrition and the nutrients that it needs. So we created a line of supplements called neuro Q neuro Q and that was a part of that formulation has 5 or 6 key ingredients that are in that formulation. And we can break those down and go through those. And then we're okay. You want to go through those okay.

So great. So one of the first things we put in there, it's it's been clinically studied for years and years and years, particularly in Germany. It's actually a prescribed drug in Germany is just ginkgo biloba. And, the clinical trials are anywhere from 120mg to 240mg. And the thing I like about gingko and why I like it is a base and a formula, and why dal, it's critical that the nutrients actually get to the extremities and the destination that you're wanting to deliver those at the cellular level.

Right? So you know, if you're not getting those nutrients at the cellular level, then what good is it putting in all the rest of the, you know, the ingredients in there? So gingko has a really cool impact at the same level to a lot to make the elasticity of the cellular wall and kind of a long gated, I always kind of say kind of like the weeny balloons. It can take your, your, red blood cell and kind of a long gate. It make it elasticity. And so it literally can get to the extremities, particular brain.

Some of the benefits of gingko and these are all kind of extremity issues is it works with neuropathy, impotence for men, which is again blood flow to the extremities,

Preventive Brain Health and Neuro Q 11:00

but also has been shown to show a significant benefit by providing oxygen and key nutrients at the cellular level to the extremities of the body. So we put a clinically studied amount of gingko kind of as its base. Then one of the other things that we put in there is first, the title searing we put is, you well know, it's a faster lipid. It's been very effective and shown huge benefits for the brain. We put 100mg of that. And there are some other products out on the marketplace. Have that plus the neuro factor, which, helps you increase the Bdnf, to the brain.

So we put again gingko phosphate. Serine. We put the neuro factor, product in there as well, the coffee fruit extract. And then we come in and we do turmeric which has been shown to, it's an it's a great antioxidant benefit, but also for inflammation. Right. Healing takes place when inflammation decreases. You always kind of want to get that inflammation down first and then start providing the nutrients to help with aiding the body. And then let's see what else we put in there. Go to Kola which is started to show some recent benefits and go to Kola.

And then we use a proprietary ingredient out of Japan which a lot of us know that they are dealing with Alzheimer's, probably more so than any country in the world. Just with the aging population. There are about a ten to a 15 year older population than us, and it's really becoming a significant challenge over there in that country. But they've done recent studies on propolis and some of the benefits that it has for brain. So we combine those ingredients, together and come out with our product called Neuro cue.

So great. That's so exciting. So whenever we're talking about supplements, there's always this question of like, do they work? And you're, you're pointing to science that shows that, yes, there are clinical trials. Are there studies that have shown that this supports spring beauty and ask, like you said, brain derived Netflix factor, which helps to create neurogenesis, growth and success. Now how do we know? Right. Like in the supplement industry, it's not super well regulated. How do we know if we're getting a good high quality product versus like one that just has grass clippings on it?

Yeah. So I and it's funny is that I use grass clippings as well. You're right. The barrier to entry into the natural products industry is, is way too low, and it's too easy to get in there, I would say. And there is a lot of disparity between there's there's some bad apples and they create a bad name for all of us in here. But I think those, those. So let me just walk you through a little bit of our process. But I think any reputable company in the industry, the vetting process that, you know, our products are sold in Whole Foods natural grocers by vitamin cottage sprouts.

Some of these specialty retail stores that people don't realize is the barrier to entry there. And the vetting process is pretty extensive. We have to source every ingredient. We have to show origin, what country they came from. We have to show all of our key Q and A are testing or quality control. They've got to vet our testing process. So, every ingredient and you're right, there is a variety. But every product that comes into live seasons goes through a microbial, micro microbial. My saying that right. Microbial.

So that's the is going through to testing for all sorts of variety of contaminations issues and so forth and so on. We do an ID testing. We do a metals testing. We, we do it on the raw ingredients coming in. It goes through a quarantine process. We test it through the the mixing and the blending process. And then we also do it on the, finished products testing. We also have. And one of the things that Dell was really impressed with is we have one of three individuals that can actually look at is a botanist that can actually look at the ingredients and look for the active constituent in there, but it can also look for contamination and it can identify it.

In fact, the FDA came to our lab and was looking around at testing and and they he was explaining what he did. And it was like, there's no way you can do that. And he says, I'll tell you what. You pick any ingredient out of here. I'll test it. I'll tell you what it is just by identifying it and so forth. Anyways. Well guess what? He is now training the FDA on how to identify contaminations and active constituents inside specific ingredients. So, there is a lot of more process than I think we get credit for going through.

I think one of the things we've started doing, and I know the consumers wanting this more and more and more, they've been accustomed to the rigorous testing that pharmaceutical companies have done, which is impressive. And, I know there's a lot of testing that goes through to assure quality, safety and so forth. We have started doing double blind, placebo controlled studies on our finished products. So neuro Q is an example of a product that's had clinical trials. On this particular product, we've seen the benefit and the increase.

So I think that's starting to build confidence with physicians and with the consumers to start and have clinical trials, unfinished natural products, not just pharmaceuticals. So, oh, exciting to tell me a little bit more about that child, but what were you measuring and what did they find? So so there was three different things that were there was processing speed, memory.

Quality Control and Clinical Trials 17:00

There was 1 to 3 processing C cognitive. And so what we did is they took the prior to a 90 day trial on this, and we did a CNS vital signs test based on some of their functionality and their ability. There's 3 or 4 different areas that they're testing. Then we had them take the product. We incorporated 3 or 4 of Doctor Edison's lifestyle changes incorporated with it. Now we have ran a study in Japan, Independent that on the product by itself. So we have two clinical trials under acute one in Japan with 100 patients.

Here was about 30 patients with some of Doctor Edison's, lifestyle changes. And we had like over a 41% increase in processing speed. We had a 30% increase in overall memory. It was it was just we were so excited about the results. Just from that clinical trial that, it's just been exciting to see how people are benefiting from it. So that's amazing. And I think also to, you know, so much of my job, I think Doctor Edison's job, our, you know, our collective job is to change the narrative. Right? Because so many people are told there's nothing you can do if you're struggling with cognitive decline.

Basically get your affairs in order. It's a slippery slope downhill. And when we see clinical trials that are done, and especially when you have multiple sites, right, there's 100 people in Japan and there's people in the US, and you can replicate this across different geographies or across different populations, different genetics, different providers. When you can show that this works over and over and over again, we start to chip away at that narrative so that when someone starts to notice some cognitive decline, they say, okay, I better do something, versus I need to hide this. I need to be fearful.

I can't let anybody know there's nothing that can be done. So it's just really fun and exciting for me to hear that there's more and more research out there, and we're all hoping to, you know, just turn the tide on that story. I want to talk a bit more about kind of this whole Covid 19. You know, we've just been through Covid and hopefully we're sort of coming wrapping that up. But this really shifted the public's perception of like how we use supplements where they fit in terms of health care solutions, especially for complex issues.

So tell me a little bit about what you've learned there. So I mean, yeah, we've seen significant shifts in people's acceptance. There. Adoption of utilizing vitamins, minerals, supplements, herbs and protocols, particularly with Covid 19. Is it related to that, virus? I mean, obviously the elderberry, the D, the C zinc, I mean, that became part of almost any physician's protocol, and where supplements and things were growing at maybe at a compound annual growth rate of 6%. Yeah. Even in the middle of it, it was like 44%.

So it was almost 8 to 10 fold of consumers looking for supplements as a possible way to help them with, you know, a complex issue that they were dealing with. Covid 19. Quercetin has kind of become more of an accepted or popular, urban in, you know, you're a naturopathic doctor. So, I mean, we both share that belief that the body is the greatest healer, that it is, and there is. And I think by providing and helping that body get into balance or providing it the nutrients it needs and the body can do what it needs to do to heal itself.

Right. And so that's how we kind of look at every one of our formulas. We've done a clinical trial on our diabetics or glucose stability for blood sugar issues. I think people are starting to have more and more confidence and trust as a result of Covid 19 when it comes to not that it's a cure all, not that it needs to replace pharmaceutical, but can we work together in conjunction, to achieve kind of more of a personalized and optimal health? I think that's becoming more and more acceptable. And I think more and more doctors are turning to supplement.

And particularly what I would say on the preventative side, at least, and in some, in some acute situations, I'm I'm not anti pharmaceutical. I think in acute and trauma situations. But I do feel like pharmaceutical has overreached a little bit. And sometimes you're a little quick to go to pharmaceutical drugs for maintenance and sometimes even preventative of chronic diseases when we can help

Supplements, COVID, and Integrative Care 22:00

the body work through lifestyle changes and supplementation, get back into balance and let it take care of itself before we need to go so quickly to pharmaceutical drugs. So and enjoy a lot less risk. Right. And apps. Absolutely. I should not every time is a is an herb less risky than a pharmaceutical? Not 100% of the time. But working with a trained provider where you can kind of evaluate that risk benefit analysis and, and maybe prevent the side effects of a medication or, needing to go on something like that.

I had a long conversation with a patient about about cholesterol medications, about statins, and when that was most appropriate and what other what other options there are. And there are a ton of them. So is yeah, in fact, one of my favorite. It's funny you bring that up. I don't take it. I right now I'm not needing to have supplementation manage my overall cholesterol health. But we have a cholesterol product. It's probably my favorite because of the results that we're seeing. And I would put it up against any statin drug, any stat drug, head to head in its ability to manage and get overall cholesterol health.

Because it's not just lowering, as you know, your LDL levels. Cholesterol is critical for hormone production and all sorts of things there. I think it's just the approach, right? I think sometimes we get a little myopic on what we think, instead of looking in kind of a holistic approach to the body and how these things and, and we're all our body is all connected. It's not isolated. So when you work on one aspect of the body, you're actually connected throughout. And I think we need to consider that when we're addressing chronic diseases.

So focus on creating balance. Know a complex system here it from your perspective, this idea of of conventional medicine working with more natural or functional medicine providers and where you see sort of the nutraceuticals and supplements being adopted and, and what that looks like to you. Yeah, you can say you need to have both. Or are they starting to integrate a little bit better? I think they're starting to integrate a little bit better. I think Doctor Bateson is a prime example of that. Right.

Here's an individual that went to looking for that monotherapy, right. That silver bullet drug to cure Alzheimer's and dementia. And I think his wife, who is a naturopathic doctor, I ate it, said, basically said, you know, del, you're going to come full circle and realize that lifestyle changes in nutrition are going to be a big part of this. So and he would admit, he did come full circle. But again, it has its place. Pharmaceutical does an acute trauma, things like that. But I don't think it needs to be our go to.

And I think more and more medical doctors, after 20, 30 years of practice, they're going, you know what? I got into this to really help bless people's life, get them better. And and I'm not quite getting the results that I really, really want to provide for my patients. And we clearly understand across the country that people are dissatisfied with the current health care system. Right? I mean, I don't think there's anybody to talk to that wouldn't agree for one reason or another. And I think what physicians are starting to do is are starting to look outside their current regimen, their current process.

And going says, you know, is there a potential where nutraceuticals can come in and play a role and play a part in conjunction? And we've seen that with Dallas. He's incorporated that into his protocol. We're currently working with three of the top neurologist in the country out of Cedars-Sinai and I and Beverly Hills, who for ICI and other issues that they like. They went to a pharmaceutical company and they said, you know what? We have seen the effects of over prescribing antibiotics for UTIs and things like that.

It's probably destroying the lining. And the I mean, that this over prescribing, you know, polypharmacy type of mentality, I think we're starting to see the public demand different. And I think the doctors are starting to be amenable to provide that. So I think the two are coming together. That's how I see it. And they have their place. So when you have a system that's not working right, people's needs aren't being met. They're not. And especially in the case of complex chronic disease, where the conventional system just is not meeting the needs of the consumers, of health care consumers.

And so having, not only are individuals with health care concerns concerned about this, right. And looking for options, but now the doctors as well are starting to orient in that direction. What can we do that's creative and outside of the box to get more actual help? Yeah. No. And it's it's it's really starting to happen. I, I think the delivery systems I think there's, there's some things we're working on that's obviously different than drinks and gummies and things like that. But we got to make it easier for the consumer and also kind of more personalize it versus generalize it.

We're all unique. We all have different needs. Some of us are on different prescription drugs than others. And so there isn't a one size fits all. And so I'm excited about the future because I think the supplement industry that's been a little bit underserved or disregarded, I think it's starting to find its footing, starting to find its own. And I think the credibility is starting to gain traction. And I think as that happens, the technology and delivery methods and personalization,

Precision Medicine and Closing Thoughts 27:30

personalized medicine will come into play much more so in the future. Vision precision medicine precision that's down loves that word precision medicine. And it really it is much more precise. It's much more sophisticated as well. Right. Instead of saying okay, you have these symptoms, we're going to give you this drug that has single molecule. If it's been patented, that makes somebody bit funny. We say, okay, let's, let's take this complex system and use it and create solutions that match the complexity of the problem.

And then that's when we get to see traction and results and people responding so well. Yeah. And it's fun because, you know, people say what's greater than your health, right? And people brain health in particular. Absolutely. There's no question about it. So yeah. So exciting. I can't thank you enough for what you were doing right here. Like you're deep in the weeds of logistics and sourcing and manufacturing and, that it's just a big project. And it's part of the it's just this whole picture of support that our patients need.

And so I'm very grateful to you for what you're doing and how you're contributing to this work. And, hope to see you doing lots and lots more of it. Well, thank you, doctor science. It's it's a pleasure. It's, I get a lot of joy and happiness out of helping people live life to its fullest. We in no way should somebody's health condition prohibit them from being able to fulfill their dreams, their mission, their desire. And so our whole goal at life seasons, in conjunction with Doctor Paradis and other medical doctors like you or passion about it, is to remove those barriers of health to where they can go on and enjoy life.

How it was and intended to be, you know, lived. And what greater thing can we be a part of than that? So amazing. Tell us where we can find out more. I guess, for Doctor Brodersen, I mean, Apollo Health ecom, neuro KubeCon. We'll talk a little bit about the neuro Q product. And we you can go to Live seasons.com. That's probably the best place to go live seasons.com and that's where you'll find out more about our products. So sorry I'm not I'm not the best salesperson in the world. That's not my intent.

But I want to be able to find out more because this is a high quality products that can really help people. I've seen it myself, and so I want everyone to know how to simplify, how to get the, you know, the logistics sorted because it can feel very overwhelming, especially on a summit like this one where there's seven days of tons of information and I just what you offer is so straightforward and doable and also has high impact. So I'm glad that everybody can go to Live seasons.com and learn more about Darren.

And also that collaboration with Doctor Bredesen and and get the benefits of all of that, especially if you feel overwhelmed by pill fatigue. So thank you. So much, Dan, for sharing your time and expertise and again, for doing the work you do. Okay. Thank you. Appreciate. Yeah.