Nitric Oxide: The Hidden Key to High Performance, Longevity & Leadership

Guest:

Dr. Nathan Bryan

Host:

Melissa Aarskaug Episode

Overview:

Think aging is just a slow decline you can’t control? 
In this powerful episode of Executive Connect, Dr. Nathan Bryan a global leader in molecular medicine and nitric oxide research explains why that belief is outdated and how nitric oxide might be the hidden key to health, performance, and longevity. Dr. Bryan breaks down the science of nitric oxide in plain language, showing how it impacts energy, brain function, cardiovascular health, and even leadership performance. He reveals the surprising habits that silently deplete this essential molecule and shares practical steps you can take right now to restore it. Whether you’re leading a team, training like an athlete, or simply want to feel sharper and stronger at any age, this conversation is packed with science-backed insights you can immediately apply to extend your health span and live at your peak.

Timestamps:

00:00 – Rethinking Aging: Why It’s Not Just About Your Birthday
02:15 – Dr. Bryan’s Journey into Nitric Oxide Research
05:00 – What Nitric Oxide Actually Does in the Body
08:30 – The “Holy Grail” of Longevity & Human Optimization
11:00 – Habits & Lifestyles That Deplete Nitric Oxide
14:30 – Simple Practices to Restore Nitric Oxide Naturally
18:00 – Energy, Focus & Leadership: The Daily Benefits
21:45 – How Athletes Leverage Nitric Oxide for Performance
25:00 – Longevity vs. Health Span: What Really Matters
28:30 – Practical Takeaways for High Performers
32:00 – Final Insights & Where to Learn More

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Episode Transcript

(00:00):
I know about prize, it just been awarded for the discovery of Nitrocoxide and I was introduced to this new side.

(00:05):
We knew a lot, but there was still so much that we didn't know, like how does the human body make it?
Once it's produced, where does it go? What does it become? Perhaps most importantly, how do we restore the natural production of Nitrocoxide?
What are professionals doing wrong? Where are we missing the mark?
First, you have to read the book, it tells the story of Nitrocoxide, a secret of Nitrocoxide, and bring the science to life.

(00:25):
If you're a high-performing athlete, number one, you have to get rid of fluoride in your toothpaste.
Number two, our antiseptic mouthwash. And then third is get off an essence.
We got to avoid sugar. Sugar's a toxin, sugar's the enemy, sugar's the poison.
How do you personally define thriving and life in leadership?
I think I would answer that question by having the liberty to do what I want to do, when I want to do it, and with whom I want to do that.

(00:51):
Most of us are taught that aging is inevitable, that fatigue, brain fog, and decline just come with a territory.
But what if your real biological age isn't tied to your birthday, but your biochemistry?
Today, we're joined by Dr. Nathan Bryan, a global leader in molecular medicine and nitrocoxide research.

(01:15):
We're talking about how you can extend your impact, upgrade your performance, and possibly add a decade or more to your health span all by getting your chemistry in check.
Welcome Dr. Nathan.
Wow, thanks. Great to be with you.
Now let's start with your journey.
What led you to dedicating your life to nitrocoxide research?

(01:41):
And why is this such a game-changer for human health?
Well, I think God has a sense of humor.
I got a degree from biochemistry from the University of Texas at Austin, and once I got a degree, I swore I'd never want to deal with nitrogen-based chemistry again.
Fast forward 30 years, and here we are, was still deep in the research of nitrogen-based chemistry, specifically nitrocoxide.

(02:03):
Now, I was a student at LSU School of Medicine.
I was working on a PhD in molecular and cellular physiology, and I know about prize.
It's just been awarded for the discovery of nitrocoxide, and I was introduced to this new science.
I mean, we knew it was important.
You know, had a chance to interact and meet the guys who want to know about prize for the discovery of microcoxide as a sigma molecule.
And just, you know, back then, we knew it was an important molecule, and so there was, we knew a lot, but there was still so much that we didn't know.

(02:30):
How does the human body make it?
Once it's produced, where does it go?
What does it become? How does it signal?
Perhaps most importantly, how do we restore the natural production of microcoxide?
And, you know, one of the Nobel Prize winners told me, isn't it, if you can figure that out, you'll change the world.
You know, change the landscape of medicine, health care.
I love it, and God does have a sense of humor.

(02:51):
That is for certain.
If you would have told me 10 years ago, I'd be living in Texas.
I would have laughed at you.
But here I am, an official longhorn, and loving every minute of it.
So, let's talk nitrocoxide and the rapidly aging executive that is,
burnt out stress out, all the things.

(03:12):
Tell me a little bit about how nitric oxide levels relate to aging, and what does that mean for high performers
under ongoing, never stopping, constant stress.
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(03:36):
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Well, look, nitric oxide controls and regulates everything we know about longevity, health, human optimization.
And so, when you look at what this molecule is and does, I mean, it's a gas that's produced by the lighting of the blood vessels,
it's produced by our immune cells to keep, you know, to kill off invading pathogens.

(03:57):
And it's a neurotransmit in the central nervous system.
So, if you lose the ability to produce microcoxide,
you have poor mitochondrial functions, your energy production capacity of the cell decreases.
We have less stem cells in circulation, so we don't heal, we don't repair and replace dysfunctional cells.
And then our telomeres get shorter, and we know that shorter telomeres equal shorter lifespan.

(04:20):
So, we have to be able to maintain adequate nitric oxide production to live longer, healthier lives,
and optimize our performance in any age.
Yeah, and I have to believe that there is a major link between stress, inflammation,
and how we're depleting our energy and immunity, and probably mental clarity these days

(04:42):
when we're constantly on and never stopping.
No, that's right.
There's a clear connection between stress, nitric oxide deficiency, and the hallmarks of chronic disease.
So, when we're stressed, we're always in this fight or flight mode,
and we don't rest and digest and balance our autonomic nervous system.
We get an up-regulation of cortisol.

(05:03):
We balance out that cortisol curve and it leads to inflammation, oxidative stress, and immune dysfunction.
And we know that when you become nitric oxide deficient,
if you look at, for instance, dementia, malcognitive impairment, even erectile dysfunction,
when we talk about performance, cognitive performance, sexual performance, or even athletic performance,

(05:26):
we have to have adequate blood supply.
We've got to be able to dilate the blood vessels of the brain, of the sex organs, or skeletal muscle,
or hard, if you're going to exercise.
We have to be able to deliver oxygen to individual cells.
We have to optimize mitochondria, so the mitochondria can take that oxygen
and make cellular energy or ATP.
And so, then we've got to suppress the inflammation, oxidative stress, and immune dysfunction.

(05:49):
And nitric oxide does all that.
Dylates the blood vessels, improves tissue oxygenation, and produces mitochondrial biogenesis.
Improves the efficiency of oxygen utilization in the mitochondria.
And it mobilizes stem cells, so we've got more stem cells in circulation, and it inhibits oxidative stress.
And then it corrects the immune dysfunction that we see in chronically ill patients.

(06:11):
So it really is the holy grail in medicine, in longevity, and human optimization.
Now, I'm curious.
What is the biggest myth about longevity that you wish people in leadership, heavy leadership roles
or the C-suite really understood?
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The biggest myth is that if you're a for-profit company, if you're driven strictly by profits, you've missed the mark.

(07:20):
And I think successful companies shouldn't focus strictly on profit.
That's why I turned from a research scientist, a professor of molecular medicine into a founder and a CEO and executive,
because I'd been in really bad organizations where the leadership was strictly defined and motivated by profits.

(07:42):
And how do we make more money?
And I think you lose your purpose.
And I think what I've learned from that is, let science lead the way.
When you're an executive in a company, number one, you have to develop a strategy and a mission.
And you have to bring people together that drink the Kool-Aid.
They believe what you're doing, they've bought in, and then you've got to put the right people in there to execute your strategy.

(08:08):
And for us, nitric oxide is the guiding principle.
And we develop products that, and we want to if you can make nitric oxide, we do it for you.
And so our products work.
And so we're not driven by profits.
We're driven by constant innovation, delivering products that work.
And number one, our main motivation was to maintain the integrity of the field.

(08:31):
Because there's these companies out there who are selling so-called nitric oxide products.
And I give emails and phone calls and texts every day from people who buy those products and go,
Nathan, we hear you talking about nitric oxide all the time for the past decade.
But you know what, I've been taking a nitric oxide product and it hasn't helped me.
So nitric oxide doesn't work for me.

(08:51):
And I go, "Whoa, whoa, whoa, that's a very dangerous interpretation."
Nitric oxide always works.
Now what done work for you is that company.
What done work for you is that product.
If you take a product and we generate nitric oxide, or we naturally improve your ability to produce nitric oxide,
you will see the effect.
You will perform better at cognitive.

(09:12):
Your brain will be on.
You'll perform better sexually when the blood vessels improve sexual function.
If you're a high performing athlete, you're going to be more well trained.
Because nitric oxide optimizes the efficiency of oxen utilization.
So you can go longer, stronger, faster.
So everything we know about that.
So what my philosophy is, and our philosophy at Brighton Therapeutics is,

(09:35):
look, just do the right thing.
If you do the right thing, the cash register rings.
But people get stressed out about profits, especially publicly traded companies
who are always constantly figuring out how to maintain shareholder buy-in
and maintain good share prices.
And that's why I've avoided private equity, I've avoided venture capitalists.
And I don't suffer from those same type of stresses or pressures.

(10:00):
Yeah, I love what you're saying.
I was thinking about, I'm an athlete.
I always looked for my competitive edge that I could find
with when I was running competitive leaders playing sports.
But let's talk about stamina, recovery.
What is the how behind it?
Like how does nitric oxide give leaders an edge in decision-making

(10:24):
and their focus and their performance?
What's the how behind that?
The how is really perfusion.
So for any organ to work properly, including the brain,
we have to adequately perfuse certain retres of the brain.
Right?
So our executive function, our memory recall, our cognitive function,
when we're on, we've got to dilate blood vessels and recruit capillaries

(10:46):
and perfuse certain retres of the brain to allow us to be on.
And that's dictated and controlled by the production of nitric oxide.
And you can see this in any patient with a neurological disease,
whether it's ADHD, obsessive-compulsive disorder, addictive disorders,
dementia, mild cognitive impairment, and Alzheimer's,

(11:07):
that the common denominator in all those is there's a lack of regulation
of blood flow.
We call it focal ischemia or hypoxia in the brain.
We're not dilating the blood vessels.
We're not fully oxygenating that part of the brain and it doesn't function.
So then we lose our cognitive ability.
And in the earliest stages of that through, you know,
spec schemes or functional MRI is looking at cerebral blood flow,

(11:29):
that's really the first indication.
That's why we call it vascular dementia at later stages,
because it's a vascular disease and it's a metabolic disease.
And nitric oxide controls the vascular and the metabolic aspects
of cognitive performance.
And really that's how we, you know, those are the high performers.
The ones that can adequately produce nitric oxide and can

(11:51):
refuse the brain and get glucose into the cell and there might
a comrade work to produce cellular energy.
Those are your high performance and it's not just the executives.
It's the athletes and anyone that's considered high performing in any industry.
I'm curious with, you know,
I've seen a lot of younger people having heart attacks or strokes

(12:15):
and I'm curious for say a 45 year old CEO,
what's the difference between health span and lifespan
and why should CEOs care about that right now?
Well, look for me personally, you know,
we have such a short time on earth, right?
So every day I want to wake up and be better than I was yesterday

(12:37):
and just really do the best I can to leave a lasting impact.
But if I stress about things and I'm not healthy,
I'm not going to be able to live in my full potential.
And so you're seeing these people who don't know how to deal with stress.
And number one, they're overweight.
They're metabolically unfit.
Nine out of 10 Americans are metabolically instead of two out of three Americans
have an unsafe elevation and blood pressure.

(12:58):
And so again, if you, if you lost the ability to produce nitric oxide,
you can't dilate blood vessels.
You become hypertensive.
You can't get glucose into the cell.
You develop insulin resistance and then platelets become hyperactive.
Your blood vessels start to clog up and the plates,
platelets are the plaque ruptures and platelets clot.
And you develop a heart attack or stroke.
So that entire sequence of a vent which puts people at risk for heart attack and stroke

(13:22):
because they have underlying cardiovascular disease
that may be symptomatic or asymptomatic in some cases.
You know, can all be mitigated by focusing on nitric oxide.
Stop doing the things that disrupts its production
and then start doing the things that we've proven to clinically activate
and stimulate and restore nitric oxide production.
I love it.

(13:42):
I think of, and maybe this is just how my brain works.
I think of my health like a hamster wheel.
And each one of those reels is something like sleep,
a nutrition, an exercise.
I'm curious about, you know, what are professionals doing wrong?
I know it's not just sleep.
It's just not diet.

(14:03):
Like where are we missing the mark?
And where is the real room for improvement today?
As far as lifestyle, the lifestyle equation, I guess is what I'll call it.
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(14:48):
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Well, I think the American lifestyle is probably the most,
why not probably it is the most unhealthy.
I mean, we have the sickest people on the planet with the most advanced nation on Earth.
And yet we have the sickest people.
So we may not be living longer, I think,

(15:11):
but the quality of the life, even extending life.
And I think probably over the past 30, 40 years I've seen data
where we're actually not living longer.
In fact, this may be the first generation
where we're not going to live, you know,
where our kids aren't going to live longer than us.
We're on a negative decline here.
But I think it's, there's a look,
we live in a toxic world, the food we eat is depleted of any nutrients.

(15:33):
We're exposed to toxins and then we're,
we don't get enough exercise, we stress too much, we don't get enough sleep.
And everything that I've just talked about,
depletes the body's ability to produce micro-coxid,
and that's the earliest event in the onset progression of chronic disease.
But you know, it starts in the mouth,
you know, fluoride in your toothpaste.
Anything that kills the microbiome,

(15:54):
two out of three Americans use mouthwash every day,
destroying the microbiome, the oral microbiome,
decreasing nitric oxide production,
we see their blood pressure do level.
And then things like an acids, you know,
people who are eating, especially these executives,
they eat on the run, develop heartburn,
take proton puppet inhibitors, your polysac,
your privacy, your nexium,
and now those drugs completely shut down

(16:15):
nitric oxide production,
leading to a 40% increase in heart attack, stroke, and Alzheimer's.
That's indisputable data that was published over the past five years.
And then sedentary lifestyle, too much stress,
not getting enough sleep.
I mean, it's a recipe for disaster.
So for me personally, I've made a conscious decision.
I don't worry about things I can't control.

(16:38):
And then I try to get a good seven, eight hours,
nine hours is optimal for me.
If I can get eight hours, I'm pretty good.
But you know, wake up in the morning,
start my day in prayer and gratitude,
and you know, I'm in infrared sauna to detox,
develop my strategy for the day,
make sure that my day is completely planned.
And I go about my day,
but that's every day, you know, my creature have had it,

(16:59):
but I do those same things and it hasn't felt me in 51 years now.
I love it.
And I love that you mentioned that because I think that's such an important,
man, it's an important nugget because most busy executives,
they wake up, they grab their phone, they react right away.

(17:22):
Every single day, it's like, I have 20 emails, I have a global company,
you know, I got to hit this time zone first before they go to bed.
And so I love what you said.
I just have to reiterate that because I started that practice.
I would say about five years ago where I wake up without my phone,

(17:44):
I lay in bed, I work my plan,
I set and gratitude in prayer,
exercise, I work my day versus my day working me.
And I find that I'm less stressed.
Now, flipping that upside down when I travel for work,
and I'm away from my process,

(18:07):
I'm waking up and I'm on my phone, I'm reacting to the day,
I'm eating more, I'm sleeping less, I may be drinking more.
And so I think there's so much wisdom behind that,
really working your day,
getting it organized, setting and gratitude,
like I do three things I need to accomplish today,
three, not 500,

(18:28):
and three things I'm grateful for.
And simple things like eight hours of sleep,
or when my husband brings me morning coffee,
I'm always grateful for that when I don't even have to ask.
And so I think there's so much beauty in that,
it's simple but it's so true.
So I want to pivot a little bit and,

(18:50):
you know, biomarkers or everything these days.
So are there any specific biomarkers at home tests?
Like what's the secret on where executives
and what executives should be monitoring to track their longevity?
Well, specifically as it relates to nitric oxide,

(19:11):
we know they're biomarkers,
they're symptoms that show up or manifest as a result
of loss of micrococytal production.
And there's a hierarchy.
So number one, you start to develop a reptile dysfunction.
Right, if you can't dilate the blood vessels of the sex organs,
you can't get in gorge when that's both in men and women,
for example.
So we call that the canary and the coal mine.
If you've got in the thevil dysfunction
and the astrobed of the sex organs of the pelvic region,

(19:33):
then you've got in the thevil dysfunction.
It's a systemic disease.
Number two, your blood pressure starts to go up.
Because if you're not dilating the blood vessels
through the production of nitric oxide,
you've got that same volume of blood going through smaller pipes
and simple laws of physics tell us the pressure has to come up.
And so two out of three Americans have an unsafe
elevation in blood pressure.
Number three, you start to get insulin resistance

(19:55):
because you need nitric oxide to get glucose into the cell
when insulin binds to the insulin receptor.
And nine out of 10 Americans are metabolically unfit.
Number four, you start to develop exercise in tolerance.
If you can't walk up a fight of stairs
or do 20, 30 minutes of moderate physical exercise
without getting winded and test chest tightening
in that then your nitric oxide deficient.

(20:16):
And then you start to lose your mental edge.
You develop mild cognitive impairment.
You're not as sharp as you were.
You're making poor decisions as an executive.
And eventually if not corrected, then let's dimension
and eventually Alzheimer's.
So those are the physical symptoms that we keep an eye on.
In terms of biomarkers, blood biomarkers,
we see see reactive protein go up.

(20:38):
We see triglycerides go up.
We see ferritin levels go up.
And we see glucose and insulin on the rise.
And so all of those metabolic biomarkers
or biomarkers of inflammation cannot be corrected
by restoring the natural production of nitric oxide.
In fact, one of my patents is number two.
My patent one is on a method of reducing inflammation.

(21:00):
37% reduction in C-reactive protein after 30 days
and the other is lowering triglycerides.
27% reduction in triglycerides and patients
who have triglycerides greater than 150.
Just in 30 days.
So if we're restoring nitric oxide production,
we're balancing our metabolism,
we're overcoming insulin resistance,
we're normalizing blood flow, blood pressure,

(21:20):
reducing inflammation, I mean all the good things
that we look for in longevity and human optimization.
It's interesting.
I think about inflammation.
And I think, I mean, I'm no doctor.
I'll have to ask you these questions.
But it seems like most of the disease is all centered
around inflammation in our body.

(21:41):
I think of all the, you know, even acne, right?
Even all of them that I can think of as we're talking,
they all seem to come from inflammation.
So you'd think if you can decrease the inflammation,
you could easily increase your health, I would think.
For sure.
Now, like inflammation is necessary.

(22:02):
And if we get an infection or we get a cut,
you know, we need that acute inflammatory response to go
and, you know, number one, isolate that source of infection
and then bring our immune cells in and then repair
and regenerate the tissue.
All of that is controlled by an acute inflammatory response.
It's bringing the fire trucks to the fire.
We need that.

(22:23):
Now, the problem is is when we have uncontrolled inflammation
and that's the driver of, you know, chronic disease,
all chronic disease.
But, you know, all that can be explained by nitric oxide.
So in that whole process,
if we lose the production of nitric oxide,
then if we get, you know, exposed to a virus or a bacterium
or we have an injury,

(22:44):
we don't have good mobilization of our immune cells to go
because, you know, we've got, you know,
if you order something on Amazon and the cargo is on the truck,
but there's a traffic jam, you know,
you're not going to deliver that cargo,
which is the oxygen, the nutrients for that cell to do its job.
So nitric oxide dilates those blood vessels,
clears the traffic jam,
so now you can get the immune cells to the side of infection

(23:04):
or the side of injury in the body.
And then we start to get oxidative stress.
And then that's when the inflammation,
inflammation is driven by a lot of oxygen radicals.
And then our immune cells become confused
and we develop immune dysfunction.
But if we can just give nitric oxide and restore nitric oxide,
we decrease inflammation,
we inhibit oxidative stress
and we correct the immune dysfunction

(23:26):
that you see in every single chronic disease.
And it doesn't matter if it's Alzheimer's, cardiovascular disease,
autoimmune disease, kidney disease,
pulmonary disease, liver disease, it's all the same.
It's the hallmarks of chronic disease.
Yeah, and I'm thinking, you know,
I've had some discussions with my baby boomer friends
and others and, you know,

(23:47):
it seems like they have one thing
and then they have another thing and then another thing.
It's kind of like this chain reaction these days
and they all seem like they're autoimmune diseases
or issues and, you know,
this pill needs that pill and that pill needs this pill
and them together is,
so how, like, if someone's out there

(24:10):
and they're in that space where they had some of the issues
that you're talking about,
let's talk about what they can do
and maybe the top three changes
that somebody could make today to boost their nitric oxide levels.
Well, that's, it's a very good question
and it's a very well defined answer

(24:31):
because we've been setting this for the past 25 years.
So number one, you have to get rid of fluoride in your toothpaste
and the other problem is 73% of the municipalities in the US
put fluoride in the drinking water.
And why do they do that?
Well, because it's anti-bacteria,
you want to kill the bacteria in the pipes
that you're cooking in, you're drinking in the water
and that you're even bathing in,

(24:51):
but that fluoride is antiseptic.
It kills the bacteria on your body, in your body.
You drink it, it's in the foods that you're cooking in
and it's shutting down your thyroid function.
It's a neurotoxin and it's antiseptic.
I mean, we have to give it a fluoride.
Fluoride is a toxin that lowers IQ by as much as seven points
in young kids.
So that's number one, switch your toothpaste.

(25:13):
I developed a fluoride-free, really nitric oxide, biome, targeted
toothpaste called cardio smile,
and it's changing people's lives.
Number two are antiseptic mouthwash,
two out of three Americans get up every morning
and they're on a atomic bomb in their mouth killing all the bacteria
creating a sterile environment.
We've shown that that shuts down nitric oxide production,

(25:34):
their blood pressure goes up,
they lose the protective benefits of the exercise.
And then third is get off an acids.
Autoimmune disease is caused
from insufficient stomach acid production
because we need stomach acid to break down proteins
into amino acids.
If we don't have stomach acid,
we're absorbing undigested peptide fragments
across the lining of the gut
and our body develops an antibody response

(25:56):
from immune reaction to it.
And we develop foodborne allergies,
immune dysfunction,
and that's autoimmune disease.
And many doctors call it idiopathic fibromyalgia,
but you know, are some type of syndrome
that they can now treat with a drug.
But the problem is, you know,
use the hamster wheel as a metaphor.
And I think that's the metaphor of big forma
because you know, big form is a for-profit business.

(26:19):
It's the biggest industry in the history of the world.
It's multi-trillion dollar annualized industry.
They're the best at it because they get you on that hamster wheel
and they treat you with one drug.
That drug causes a side effect.
They get them out treat with another drug.
And that drug causes a side effect.
And you know, in for-profit business,
the number one rule is get as many customers as you can
and keep them as long as you can.

(26:40):
And big form is the best in the business of them.
To our own demise, right?
It's not, it's very healthy financially,
but it's the most unhealthy thing for us as humans.
Yeah, I agree.
I've seen people ping pong around to doctors
with different medication and then they die shortly after.
And so I often wonder what could we-

(27:01):
No, I tell people, fire your doctor.
Look, if you took your car to a mechanic
and it kept breaking down, that's very simple.
You would fire that mechanic because he has not fixed the problem.
If you've got a doctor and you still feeling bad
and every time you go back,
you put you on different medication
or he's not making you better, fire that doctor
and go find somebody who understands your symptoms

(27:22):
who can take the time to listen to you,
do an inventory of the drug therapy you're taking
and talk about, how do we get people off drugs?
Because most doctors like, okay, if that don't work
or you don't get better, come back,
I'm gonna put you around the drug.
And then you look up, you're 50 years old
and most people are on half a dozen,
sometimes a dozen, 18 different medications
and they wonder why they feel bad.

(27:44):
Yeah, so true.
I'm thinking about my own family.
The healthiest people in my family
don't see a doctor, but occasionally.
And they aren't on any medication.
So we've solved that.
And I'm thinking in my brain as a traveling executive.
You know, I've stressed and I over-trained sometimes

(28:08):
because I'm an athlete at heart.
I'm curious how nitric oxide effects are,
like, how to travel stress
and overtraining effect nitric oxide levels
and long-term health?
Well, it's all about recovering.
So number one, it's about giving them out of connery
and what they need and improving the efficiency

(28:29):
of mitochondria.
So if you overtrain, you know, it's all about,
in terms of recovery, it's lactic acid buildup.
So when you, when you, your mitochondria aren't functional,
they start to get into this.
When you push past that anaerobic threshold,
then you start to get lactic acid production.
That makes muscle soar you over-training and you recover slowly.

(28:49):
But if we're optimized in nitric oxide,
we're basically extending that oxygen
gradient in the tissue.
Nitric oxide leads to mitochondrial biogenesis,
so we're having more mitochondria per cell
generate more energy with less oxygen.
So you don't get the lactic acid buildup
and you recover better.
Number one, you're going to get a much better workout.
It's going to be harder to overtrain

(29:09):
because you become more efficient at creating
cellot energy with the oxygen.
And then you're just going to get good circulation,
good blood flow, adequate oxygen delivery.
But without nitric oxide, you're not going to get
adequate oxygen delivery, you're not going to get adequate
ATP production from that oxygen.
And you're going to overtrain and you're going to have poor recovery.

(29:32):
I love that.
I always tell myself after I travel, Melissa,
rigorous self-care, rigorous self-care,
rest in relaxation.
So, you know, look, it's tough.
You know, last year I traveled 160,000 air miles
and I spent over 200 nights in a hotel.
But you know, rather than when you go and when I land,
no matter where I am in the world, I go to the gym.

(29:53):
Because if I'm traveling, you know, 14, 16 hours across the world
or four hours or three hours, you know, in the US,
you know, human nature is to go take a nap and rest, right?
But I have enough discipline out of where
because I know if I do that, it's going to ruin my entire day.
So I immediately go to the gym and I usually stay
in places where there's an infrared sauna or a sauna

(30:14):
where I can train, I can do cardio, I can sit in a sauna
and detox and spend time alone and, you know, in prayer
and developing my plan for the day.
But then, you know, you try to eat healthy
but sometimes it's hard to eat healthy.
So traveling a lot is, you know, it's taxing,
but, you know, you have to have the discipline

(30:36):
to make the right decisions.
You know, you are either one could survive this.
Yeah, I agree.
I think that's discipline's key to all the things we want in our life.
Tell me what your, what breakthroughs are you most excited
about right now as it relates to nitric oxide?
You know, I'm excited about our drug therapy program.

(30:58):
You know, we've had products, consumer products on the market
for a number of years now and, you know,
with the market leaders, our products produce nitric oxide
and, you know, we're certainly the market leaders in that.
But for me, getting in this field 25 years ago,
my whole purpose was to understand the mechanism of disease
to the extent that you can develop rational therapies.

(31:19):
And so even though our consumer products
are highly successful, highly efficacious,
you know, being an academia,
being a professor of medicine at a medical school
for a number of years,
our whole mission was to develop a double drug therapies,
safe and affect them drugs.
So we've got a drug that we've developed
in nitric oxide releasing drug for a Schema Card disease,
which I think is going to transform the treatment

(31:41):
and care of patients with a Schema Card disease.
Number two, we've got a drug we're developing for Alzheimer's.
And I'm absolutely convinced that nitric oxide
will cure and eradicate Alzheimer's.
And we're developing that.
We've met with the FDA.
We're hopefully designed those trials
and get that, you know, this clinical trial started here
in the next two years or so.
And then we make a topical drug for diabetic ulcers,

(32:03):
non-healing wounds.
In 65,000 Americans die in nursing homes every year
from wounds, non-healing wounds
that get infected in the dive substances.
And to me, that's unacceptable because nitric oxide,
we haven't seen a wound that we haven't been able
to heal with nitric oxide.
And then, you know, Alzheimer's, again,
it's correcting the root cause of dementia

(32:24):
in Alzheimer's, which is overcoming the vascular
and the metabolic phenotypes
of mod cognitive impairment, dementia in Alzheimer's.
So that's what, you know, gets me up every day motivated
to make sure that, you know, we accomplish this
because when we do this, when we get these drugs on the market,
it's gonna change the world and health here's gonna be better for it

(32:46):
because number one, the drugs are safe
because what we do isn't pharmacology.
We're not making synthetic compounds
that are in him about chemical reactions,
which is what most drugs are.
We utilize the principles of restorative physiology.
We give the body what it needs, the body heals itself.
And so, there is no safety issue
because this is an actually produced molecule.

(33:07):
We're just giving back and actually produce molecules.
So we don't worry about safety.
Obviously, the doses we're given is extremely safe.
So we just gotta dial in the right amount of nitric oxide
for each indication and then we'll change the world.
And you know, that's what I'm excited about.
- I love it.
So if you could create a longevity stack for executives,

(33:28):
what would that look like?
- Well, all I know is what works for me.
And so I'll tell you what I do.
You have to get sleep.
If you don't get good night's sleep
and you wake up rested and ready to go,
then nothing else matters.
So sleep, sleep is key.
You know, for me, six to eight hours as I deal,
I have to get at least six hours of sleep

(33:49):
or I'm not top of my game.
And then make time.
If you wait till you have time to do these things,
you'll never have time.
So what I have to do is make time.
Similar to you.
Similar morning, I wake up really early
because if my work day starts at 7 30 or 8,
I've got to get up at 5 because I've got three hours of stuff.

(34:10):
I have to get done.
I sit in a sauna for 30 minutes and 170 degrees.
I open my hollow app.
I read scripts, try to do prayer and start my day.
What's my strategy?
What I'm going to do and I plan it out.
And then typically I'll sometimes I'll go in a cold plunge
so I'll go from 170 degrees to 37 degrees for three minutes.

(34:31):
And then I watch the sun come up.
And that resets your circadian rhythm.
I walk barefoot on the ground to get electrons
to this whole concept of grounding.
I do an 18 hour fast every day.
That completely changes your metabolism.
Eat my last meal at six and typically try not to eat till
noon the next day.
You know, obviously that's difficult sometimes

(34:52):
because of which time zone I mean.
But and then I exercise.
You know wake up every morning and I exercise.
I take my nitric oxide products.
I know always at least do a hundred pushups and a hundred squats
every day.
Then sometimes I'll go to the gym.
But you know, those are the must.
Those are the you know, the non-negotiables.

(35:13):
And it works for me.
You know, I travel all over the world and you know,
gone a lot, you know, been an enormous stress.
I've been sued by competitors.
You know, the stresses and the pressures of leading
a global multimillion dollar organization is,

(35:34):
you know, it's not for the faint of heart.
So you have to you have to be fit mentally fit spiritually fit
and physically fit to to rise to the challenge every day.
I love it.
Now if you could tell you're I love this question.
I'm I have to ask it for you.
If you could tell your younger self one thing about health and

(35:54):
success, what would it be?
Well, the younger self, you know, we got to avoid sugar.
Sugar's a toxin.
Sugar's the enemy.
Sugar's the poison.
So, you know, anything that leads to an increase in blood sugar
is extremely damaging and is going to, you know,
shorten your life, shorten your health span.

(36:15):
You know, I got away with it early on because when we grew up,
we were fit. We were outside running.
And so if you're burning those calories and utilizing that
and burning it, then it's not stored as fat.
And if you consume sugar, then, you know, you kind of dampen
that that glucose tolerance to that curve.
And so your body takes it in.
You don't store this fat.
But, you know, for the average American who's again,

(36:38):
metabolically unfit overweight, hypertensive, you know,
just simply eliminating sugar and staying active.
But, you know, 18 hour fast, balanced diet and moderation,
elimination of sugar or, you know, high glycemic index foods
is really a bit of gain change.
I love it. Such good insights.
Okay, final question for you.

(37:00):
How do you personally define thriving and life and leadership?
You know, I think I would answer that question
by having the liberty to do what I want to do
when I want to do it and with whom I want to do it.
I love it, autonomy.
Thank you so much for being here.

(37:22):
So incredibly insightful.
For those who want to take a deeper dive and learn more about you
and your company, what is the best way for them to connect with you?
You know, first, you have to read the book.
This tells the story of nitric oxide.
So in 30 minutes, we can't tell the whole story.
But this is my book.
I just published in February,

(37:44):
Secretive Nitric Oxide,
bring the science to life.
You can find it at nathensbook.com or anywhere books are sold.
Brian Therapeutics.com is our, you know, company website.
You can find our consumer products at n101.com.
It's the letter n, number one, letter o, number one.
And I encourage you to subscribe to my YouTube channel,

(38:06):
Dr. Nathan S. Brian Nitric Oxide,
where we educate and form, bring you the latest science,
practical information on Nitric Oxide
and really practical applications you can,
you can really adopt immediately to improve your nitric oxide production.
And then I'm on Instagram, Dr. Nathan S. Brian linked in,
and I'm searchable and most searching.
I love it.

(38:29):
Thank you so much for being here and sharing your time and knowledge
with our listeners.
That's the Executive Connect podcast.
Thank you.
Thank you.