THE TOP 10! Mind-blowing Metabolism Science Breakthroughs in the Last Year

Get ready for a rapid-fire, high-yield rundown of my 10 favorite original research findings published in top journals over the past year!

We’re living in an extraordinary moment — a time when cutting-edge technologies are fueling scientific breakthroughs at a pace we've never seen before. If you know me, you know one of my favorite things to do is distill these discoveries into something digestible yet nuanced, so we can share in the awe of biology, metabolism, and the magic happening inside our bodies.

But today’s letter is a little different. This is a rapid-fire, high-yield rundown of my 10 favorite original research findings published in top journals over the past year — spanning brain health, mental health, the microbiome, heart and muscle function, and more. Each one comes with its own full-length content, so if one or more of the below 10 spark your curiosity, you’ll have ample opportunity to dive deeper. Let’s roll.

1. How Chronic Stress Hijacks Your Brain — and What to Do About It

New neuroscience research published in Nature reveals a how chronic stress can cause depression. In a nutshell, chronic stress (but not short-term, acute stress) it disrupts a critical cellular cleanup process called autophagy in a brain region known as the lateral habenula. Autophagy is like your brain’s janitor crew, and the lateral habenula can be thought of as your brain’s depression center. Under persistent stress, the autophagy janitors go on strike from this key brain region and trash piles up inside neurons. Specifically, receptors for the brain’s main “GO” signaling, the neurotransmitter glutamate, build up unchecked, making neurons in the depression center hyper-excitable. The result? A brain stuck on high alert, amplifying distress and fueling depressive symptoms. The study shows that different antidepressants like ketamine and paroxetine (an SSRI), as well as the drug rapamycin, each restore autophagy in the lateral habenula — offering a shared, cellular-level mechanism for their mood-stabilizing effects.

But here’s the empowering part: autophagy isn’t set in stone. It’s influenced by your sleep, stress management, exercise, social connection, and nutrition. Supporting your cellular cleanup systems with simple, daily actions can lower chronic stress and support brain resilience. Depression isn’t just psychological. It’s also biological. And by understanding the mechanism, we unlock new strategies to heal — not just with willpower, but with science.

2. MPO: The Biomarker in Fat that Wrecks your Blood Vessels

Obesity isn’t just a number on a scale. It’s a biological stressor — one that assaults your blood vessels from both sides: inside and out. New research published in Cell Reports Medicine reveals that a measurable biomarker and inflammatory enzyme called myeloperoxidase (MPO) may be a missing link connecting excess fat tissue to oxidative stress, impaired vascular function, and heart disease. MPO can attack blood vessels from within the inside of blood vessels, harming the endothelial lining and oxidizing LDL particles, and from surrounding fat tissue in a sort of metabolic pincer maneuver that blocks fat browning and energy-burning and suppresses the hormone adiponectin, leading to stiffer, less flexible, and less healthy arteries.

But here’s the good news: MPO is measurable, modifiable, and meaningful. You can test it. You can influence it. Zinc, taurine, certain probiotics and even melatonin may reduce MPO — but the most impactful approach is improving your metabolic health through fat loss, sleep, exercise, and clean nutrition. Oh, and yes — seed oils make a cameo in this video in a nuanced and proactive way.

3. Microscopic Brain Tunnels Could Help Prevent Alzheimer’s & Parkinson’s

Could your brain be hiding tiny sci-fi-like tunnels that help protect it from Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s? According to new research published in Neuron, it’s not fiction — it’s biology. These structures, called “tunneling nanotubes,” are microscopic bridges between neurons and microglia, the brain’s clean-up and support cells. Researchers found that microglia use these nanotubes to suck toxic proteins (like tau, associated with Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of dementia, and α-synuclein, associated with Parkinson’s disease) out of neurons. But that’s not all. These nanotubes also let microglia deliver fresh, healthy mitochondria — like battery packs for your neurons — improving neuron metabolism and keeping the brain healthy at the cellular level.

While protocols to increase nanotube formation to potentially improve brain aging are at the frontier of science, the study offers a clear takeaway: mitochondrial health matters. That means the real power is in your daily habits — movement, sleep, clean nutrition, and occasional ketosis, which can all support mitochondrial health and cognitive resilience.

4. Can Inflammation Cause Anxiety?

Anxiety can be triggered by many things — but what if it’s not just your thoughts that make you anxious? Groundbreaking new research published in Cell shows that inflammatory molecules like IL-17 can directly affect the brain’s anxiety center, the basolateral amygdala, amplifying anxious states. In fact, when researchers injected IL-17 into the brain, mice became visibly more anxious. And chemically turning “on” or “off” the neurons in the basolateral amygdala “anxiety center” that harbored IL-17 receptors turned anxiety “on” or “off,” respectively.

In brief, the way it works is that this inflammatory molecule acts itself as a neurotransmitter, binding its receptors and making neurons in the anxiety center jumpier and more excitable. It’s just like if you’re feeling anxious and someone taps you on the shoulder, you’re more “excitable” — more likely to jump. It’s similar with your neurons — and IL-17 is one chemical making that happen.

The flip side? IL-10, an anti-inflammatory molecule, calmed that anxiety down by dampening neuron activity. Thus, inflammatory and anti-inflammatory molecules act as neurotransmitters and are engaged in a tug-of-war that influences your mental state.

This has real-world consequences. Your diet, gut health, electrolyte balance, and lifestyle choices can influence levels of inflammatory signals like IL-17. Western diets and inflammatory conditions ramp it up. The message? Mental health is metabolic health. Your immune system and your brain are in constant conversation — and by reducing inflammation through smarter choices, you’re not just taking care of your body... you’re calming your mind.

5. The Olive Compound That Boosts Muscle Performance

New research published in Cell Metabolism reveals that a powerful compound found in olives and olive leaves — oleuropein — may enhance muscle performance and combat age-related muscle loss by unlocking mitochondrial energy production. At the molecular level, muscle contraction depends on calcium signaling, not only to trigger movement via actin and myosin, but also to activate mitochondria, the cell’s power plants. Calcium flows into mitochondria through a gateway protein called the mitochondrial calcium uniporter (MCU), assisted by a key regulator called MCUR1. As we age, MCUR1 levels decline — and with them, muscle mass and function.

Here’s where it gets exciting: scientists screened >5,500 natural compounds and discovered that oleuropein activates MCU, enhances calcium entry into mitochondria, and revs up energy production. In mice, it improved endurance and reduced fatigue. In older mice, it even increased muscle mass. So, it is possible that this compound in olives might also be defending your mitochondria from age and future-proofing your muscles. Well – if so – olive my dreams are coming true.

The rest of this letter reviews picks 6 - 10:

6) Poison Might Be Powering Your Cells

7) Can a Virus Cause Food Addiction?

8) Ketones Take Out the Trash

9) How Stress Starves Your Gut — and What You Can Do About It

10) Can a Keto Diet Help Prevent Colon Cancer?