Over at the great longevity and medical advice forum, Longecity.org, the commenter Turnbuckle outlined an idea that deserves a Nobel Prize in medicine because it has the greatest quality that any idea, of any type, can have, which is that it just flat out works.
His hypothesis is that many age related diseases – everything from weaker eyesight, arthritis, to muscle wasting, to reduced kidney function, to general lethargy – are frequently caused by, or, are exacerbated by older bodies becoming overburdened with weak mitochondria.
In order to correct this accumulation of bad mitochondrial function to improve overall health even into older ages he created a supplement protocol that greatly enhances the normal mitochondrial fission/fusion cycle that the body uses to destroy weak mitochondria and generate stronger ones.
During mitochondrial fission the body breaks mitochondria into two strands at which point the body searches for weak strands to destroy.
Afterwards mitochondrial fusion occurs which recombines the remaining strands of mitochondria into new ones that are healthier than before.
Turnbuckle, and other commenters at the site, have used to good effect a supplement stack that more efficiently accelerates this fission/fusion cycle of destroying weak mitochondria and replacing them with stronger ones.
I know this works because I have been trying myself (with very good results) a variation of Turnbuckle’s fission/fusion supplement stack for over two years, even though I am only in my mid-30s and Turnbuckle is over 60.
My most up-to-date supplement formula for 1 day of fission is –
500 mgs of Nicotinamide Mononucleotide (NMN)
600 mgs of Nicotinamide Riboside (NR)
1 gram of Alpha Ketoglutaric Acid (AKG)
20 mgs of Pyrroloquinoline (PQQ)
I then do a moderate amount of weight training on fission days after taking these supplements because exercise helps the body target weak mitochondria for destruction.
My supplement formula for 1 day of fusion is –
1 gram of AKG
20 mgs of PQQ
50 mgs of Sulforaphane (From the supplement produced by Thorne Research)
1 gram of yellow mustard seed extract (which chemically activates the sulforaphane)
Usually I do not do weight training on fusion days.
I alternate between one day of fission and then one day of fusion two or three times a week, two weeks in a row, once every three to four months.
Turnbuckle uses only 1 gram of NR to promote mitochondrial fission, but I cut the amount of NR and added NMN because NMN reaches different parts of the body that NR cannot reach, such as muscle tissue.
My thinking is that by combining NR with NMN I can get fission more broadly promoted across more of the body than with just NR.
Turnbuckle also uses stearic acid to promote mitochondrial fusion, but I use sulforaphane (activated by mustard extract capsules) to promote fusion instead.
The reason is that sulforaphane is able to cross the blood brain barrier, which stearic acid cannot do.
Sulforaphane has also demonstrated some very interesting anti-cancer properties, including the ability to harm cancer stem cells which are usually involved in cancer recurrence.
The only downside is that sulforaphane can reduce blood pressure, so it shouldn’t be used in combination with blood pressure lowering medications.
But since I don’t have a blood pressure problem I go with sulforaphane since it seems to have more benefits than stearic acid.
Otherwise my fission/fusion cycle is the same as Turnbuckle’s.
I have nothing but positive results to report from using this fission/fusion cycle.
It is great for weight loss. I don’t need to eat as much as I did before I started mitochondrial fission and fusion. This indicates that my body is using energy more efficiently. In fact, it is difficult to eat more than I need to. Overall it cuts my food intake (without any feeling of hunger) by about 20% to 25% whenever I am on the cycle. The effect is long lasting enough that months after I finish a cycle I am still eating about 15% to 20% less than previously.
It is great at getting rid of body fat that I never seemed able to eliminate with exercise alone.
I also keep muscle toned with less exercise than before I had ever heard of mitochondrial fission/fusion when I exercised for longer periods of time.
Energy and sleep all seem better, even when I have been off the cycle for months.
Turnbuckle also has a stem cell rejuvenation cycle using C60 oil which also seems to work well according to those who have tried it but he doesn’t recommend it for anyone under 65 because it could exhaust one’s native stem cell pool early.
As for the mitochondrial cycle, he doesn’t recommend anyone with any recent wounds to use it until after the body has healed normally.
He also doesn’t recommend it for anyone with a virus problem or cancer.
Viruses replicate faster under conditions of mitochondrial fission.
However, I think one might be able to keep this under control for most viruses by using certain anti-viral supplements.
The most effective anti-viral supplement that I am aware of is lomatium root extract. If one takes lomatium capsules on fission days the anti-viral effects of the supplement should be able to disrupt viral replication.
Other anti-virals that one could possibly combine with a fission and fusion cycle are olive leaf extract, PABA, and oregano oil capsules.
For those with cancer the fission/fusion cycle is not recommended because mitochondrial fission temporarily increases glycolosis throughout the body and glycolosis can benefit existing cancer cells.
However, the fusion part of the cycle might be beneficial as a cancer prevention protocol or to help those with cancer in combination with other treatments.
Mitochondrial fusion is known to be harmful to cancer cells because it disrupts glycolosis, which cancer cells need to compensate for having reduced access to oxygen.
Turnbuckle mentioned on the C60 thread for stem cell rejuvenation (see here and here) that senescent cells can be eliminated with a variation of his mitochondrial fission cycle. He also says that this same fission protocol can be turned into a cancer preventative one by biasing the supplements from fission to fusion.
Senescent cells, by the way, are not the same as cancer cells. Senescent cells are old cells that functioned properly but which have been programmed to be destroyed by the body, whereas cancer cells are malfunctioning. Usually there are millions of sensecent cells in the body for every individual cancer cell. Although they are not the same type of cells, an excessive accumulation of sensecent cells can indirectly create an environment where cancer can develop.
Therefore it makes sense to periodically clear out senescent cells with senolytic supplements like fisetin and apigenin during a senolytic/fission cycle and then use a fusion cycle as part of anti-cancer protocol.
The way to know if senescent cells or cancer cells are being destroyed is if flu like symptoms develop. Flu like symptoms indicate those cells are being killed off by either the fission or fusion supplements and the immune system is working to clear them out of the body.
If one does not get any flu like symptoms then one probably had few senescent or cancer cells to begin with.
Based on what Turnbuckle has mentioned I have created my own senolytic and cancer prevention protocol as follows.
Because I eat lots of red meat, and because Western diets for the past couple of decades have been far, far too high in iron fortified foods (especially in cereals) I use 500 mgs of IP6 four to five times a week on an empty stomach in the morning and donate blood three times a year in order to keep my iron levels at lower, healthier, levels (See the comments from Longecity commenter Dorian Gray here and here about the many health benefits of maintaining lower iron levels).
Also, every two weeks I will combine 1000 mgs of IP6 with 1000 mgs of myo-inositol for three days because the combination of IP6 and myoinositol is harmful to the signalling of cancer cells. The reason for not taking myoinositol every week is that it can lower testosterone levels if used excessively, but for cancer prevention using it briefly every 2 weeks should not have any noteworthy sideffects.
After I donate blood I wait two weeks for my blood cell count and iron levels to return to normal.
Then I use 1000 mgs of IP6 and 1000 mgs of myo-inositol a day for three days.
After that I try three days of fusion followed by one day of senolytic/fission, then two days of fusion and one day of fission and end with four days of fusion. The idea is to use this fission/fusion cycle after I have donated blood and my iron levels are lower because cancer benefits from high levels of iron. By using the cycle after donating blood, when iron is low, the fusion cycle is occurring at a time when its anti-cancer effect should be maximized.
The modified fission/fusion supplement list is –
Senolytic Fission –
1 gram of Tributyrin (a more stable and bioavailable version of sodium butyrate)
1 gram of Fisetin
1 gram of AKG
1 gram of Quercetin
10 mgs of Bioperine (to enhance the absorbtion of quercetin, apigenin and fisetin)
250 mgs of Pterostilbene (a better absorbed relative of resveratrol)
100 mgs Apigenin
Tributyrin, fisetin, and apigenin all promote the activity of anti-cancer genes such as P53 and P21, in addition to promoting other anti-cancer activities and their demonstrated senolytic properties. Unfortunately, fisetin and apigenin both encourage fission so it is better if they are sandwiched between fusion processes.
Quercetin synergizes the anti-cancer effect of fisetin and apigenin.
AKG helps protect DNA from damage from excessive methylation and synergizes with the P53 anti-tumor gene. AKG is often deficient in cancer patients, but shouldn’t be used more than occasionally throughout the year because the body needs some degree of methylation for various processes such as the citric acid cycle. One will know if they are taking too much AKG if they suddenly get a craving for lemonade, or anything tangy.
Bioperine should also only be used occasionally because although it can enhance the absorption of supplements it can also make it easier for the body to absorb pollutants that are otherwise blocked from entering the body in the intestinal track.
Pterostilbene also promotes mitochondrial fission.
The modified fusion supplement list is –
1 gram of Tributyrin
1 gram of Curcumin
1 gram of Quercetin
10 mgs of Bioperine
50 mgs of Sulforaphane
1 gram of Mustard Seed Extract (to activate the sulforaphane)
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