Pharm To Function

03/14/2026

Cysteine = Gut Repair Powerhouse
Your intestinal lining rebuilds itself every few days — if it has the right fuel.

One of the strongest? Cysteine.
Found in eggs, grass-fed meat, wild fish, and raw dairy
📌 Activates stem cells that rebuild the gut lining
📌 Supports immune communication for faster repair
📌 Boosts glutathione (your master antioxidant)
📌 Helps the gut recover from stress, toxins, meds + inflammation
Add more cysteine-rich foods to your week and support your gut’s natural healing system from the inside out.
Your digestion (and energy) will thank you. 🙌

03/09/2026

Foods High in Glycine + Should You Supplement?
Most people don’t get enough glycine — even if they eat a high-protein diet.
Glycine is essential for collagen, detoxification, blood sugar balance, sleep chemistry, skin health, and longevity pathways.
Here's how to naturally boost your intake
⬇️Top Whole-Food Sources of GlycineHighest → moderate amounts
1. Collagen-rich cutsSkin-on poultryPork skinOxtailShort ribsShanksChicken wings / drumsticksBeef chuck roast
These contain the connective tissue where glycine is concentrated.
2. Bone broth (homemade or high-quality store-bought)
Rich in gelatin → high in glycine, proline & hydroxyproline for skin + joints.
3. Gelatin powder
Essentially pure glycine + proline. Add to tea, smoothies, or soups.
4. Fish skin & bone-in canned fish
Salmon skin, sardines with bones, mackerel.
5. Organ meats
Liver, heart, and kidney provide glycine + support methylation pathways.
6. Eggs
Especially the whites — contain glycine-rich proteins.
7. Legumes (moderate amounts)
Black beans, lentils, soybeans — not as high as collagen meats but still contribute.
Benefits People Notice With Higher Glycine Intake
Better, deeper sleep
Calmer nervous system
Improved skin texture (glycine = 30% of collagen)
Less visceral fat
More stable blood sugar
Lower inflammation
Better detox + glutathione support
Balanced methionine load (important if eating lots of muscle meat)

Glycine Supplement GuideTypical effective doses:
For sleep:
→ 3 grams 30–60 min before bed
For skin, collagen & longevity:
→ 10–15 grams/day (split AM + PM)
For metabolic support:
→ 3–5 grams with higher-carb meals to soften blood sugar spikes
Forms:Glycine powder (sweet, dissolves easily), Glycine capsules (require multiple caps to hit sleep dose), Collagen peptides or gelatin (indirect glycine sources)
When to avoid/adjust:
If you are highly sensitive to NMDA activity (rare), glycine might cause anxiety or headaches — usually resolved by lowering the dose.
Should you supplement?
Supplementing can be helpful if you:
Don’t regularly consume collagen-rich meats
Eat mostly muscle meat (chicken breast, steak, protein shakes)
Struggle with sleep
Want skin/joint support
Have blood sugar swings
Are focused on longevity pathways
Whole foods + glycine powder is the most effective combo.

03/02/2026

Want Better Endurance?
Train Your 3 Energy Systems (The Real Secret to Never “Hitting the Wall”)
Most people try to build endurance by running more miles, doing longer workouts, or pushing through fatigue.
But real stamina comes from training your energy systems, not just your willpower.
Your body has 3 engines, and when you train all of them strategically, you recover faster, perform better, and stop burning out.
Here's the breakdown ⬇️
1. Alactic System (0–10 seconds)Your explosive power engine.
Used for sprints, jumps, heavy lifts, fast punches, quick changes of direction. How to train it:
2–5 reps of heavy lifts (squat, deadlift, push, pull) 8–15 second sprints or explosive intervals. Full recovery between sets: 2–4 minutes. This increases your top-end power and helps you repeat it without gassing out.
2. Glycolytic System (20–120 seconds)Your high-intensity engine.
This is where the burn, lactate, and fatigue show up—and where you can dramatically improve your performance. How to train it:
20–40 second hard intervals (85–95% effort). Recover actively until your HR drops under ~130 bpmExercises: jump rope, pads/heavy bag, shuttle runs, high-rep bodyweight work. Training here improves lactate clearance, so you can stay strong when everyone else is slowing down.
3. Aerobic System (2 minutes–hours)Your endurance engine—and the one most people undertrain or ignore.Your aerobic system:recharges your explosive systems, helps you recover between sprints/rounds/plays, determines how long you can sustain effort before hitting the wall.
How to train it: Low-Intensity Steady State (LISS)“Nose breathing pace” or conversation pace45–90 minutes, 1–3 times per week
Examples: incline walking, cycling, light running, rowing. This builds the tank that supports everything else.
Why This MattersEvery sport — basketball, boxing, soccer, CrossFit, tennis, running — uses all three systems.
But each person has a dominant one depending on the sport and their genetics.
When you train all three together, you build:
better stamina
better recovery
stronger bursts of speed
more consistent performance
less fatigueless overtraining
more metabolic flexibility
This is how athletes perform at a high level deep into the 4th quarter, final round, or long-distance event.

02/27/2026

Herbs vs. Medications — Why It Matters
Your body is a network, not a set of switches. Herbs support systems. Medications target specific pathways.
Both have value — but they work very differently.
Learn how this distinction can change the way you think about stress, recovery, hormones, and long-term health:
👉 https://www.pharmtofunction.com/herbs-vs-medications-supporting-the-bodys-networks-vs-forcing-pathways

02/25/2026

Stress isn’t just emotional.
It’s metabolic.
When you’re under chronic stress, your cells feel it.
Hormones shift.
Energy drops.
Fat storage increases.
Recovery slows.
New research shows that stress and isolation directly change how your mitochondria — your cell’s power plants — produce energy.This helps explain why burnout feels physical, not just mental.
Calming stress chemistry starts with:
• Better sleep
• Regular movement
• Real food
• Meaningful connection

Healing your energy system heals the whole body.

02/23/2026

Butyrate: The Gut–Brain Connector That Shapes Mood & Cognition

Most people think of gut health as digestion.
But butyrate — a compound your gut bacteria produce from dietary fiber — is actually a communication signal to your brain. It influences mood, cognitive function, inflammation, and energy metabolism.
Why Butyrate Matters
Calms Brain Inflammation
Helps regulate the NF-κB pathway, reducing neuroinflammation — a contributing factor behind memory decline, brain fog, Alzheimer’s, and Parkinson’s disease.
Supports Mitochondrial Energy in the Brain
Butyrate may act as an alternative energy fuel when glucose metabolism is impaired, something that occurs early in cognitive decline.
Influences Neurotransmitters - Modulates GABA, serotonin, and dopamine, helping regulate mood, focus, anxiety, motivation, and reward processing.
Also increases BDNF, which supports synaptic plasticity, learning, and memory.
Communicates Through the Vagus Nerve
Signals travel from the gut to the brain via the vagus nerve, influencing mood regulation, immune function, and the stress response.

How to Increase Butyrate Naturally
Prioritize fermentable fibers (cooked/cooled potatoes, oats, rice, beans, green bananas)
Include fermented foods (kefir, sauerkraut, kimchi, yogurt)
Add prebiotics if tolerated (inulin, arabinogalactan, partially hydrolyzed guar gum)
Support microbiome diversity for more consistent production

Why This MattersIf you experience brain fog, mood fluctuations, low stress tolerance, or chronic gut issues, low butyrate production may be a contributing factor. Improving gut microbiome health can influence mental performance and cognitive aging through the gut–brain axis.

02/20/2026

“Going gluten-free” might be hurting your gut more than helping it…Many people cut gluten and feel better at first.
Then energy drops. Digestion worsens. Food sensitivities increase.
Why?
Because gluten often gets replaced with low-fiber, ultra-processed foods that starve the microbiome.
It's not just about what you remove.
It’s about what you replace.Real food. Real fiber. Real gut support.
👉 New blog up now.

Gluten isn’t always the problem. Learn how food processing, fiber loss, and microbiome health affect gluten tolerance—and why cutting gluten without replacing prebiotics can harm gut health.

02/18/2026

Your Willpower Isn’t Broken. Your Kitchen Is.
If willpower actually worked, no one would be struggling with food.Yet millions of intelligent, disciplined, motivated people can’t seem to “just stop” eating ultra-processed foods.
That’s not a character flaw.
That’s neuroscience.
Modern foods are not food anymore — they are dopamine delivery systems.They are engineered with precise combinations of sugar, refined carbs, industrial fats, salt, flavor enhancers, and textures that hijack the brain’s reward system. These foods light up dopamine circuits the same way addictive substances do.
Dopamine isn’t about pleasure.
It’s about drive. Motivation. Seeking. Compulsion.Once that system is stimulated:
• Cravings rise
• Impulse control drops
• Decision-fatigue skyrockets
• And “willpower” gets blamed
But here’s the truth most people never hear:
👉 The strongest form of willpower is not resisting temptation.
👉 It’s removing it.
Every time you see hyper-palatable food, your brain releases dopamine before you ever make a decision. The battle already started — and it didn’t start in your conscious mind.This is why the most effective long-term strategy isn’t motivation.
It’s environmental control.
When ultra-processed foods leave the home:
• Dopamine stimulation falls
• Cue-induced cravings weaken
• Appetite normalizes
• The nervous system calms
• Whole foods become rewarding again
You stop “fighting food” and start retraining your brain.This is not about restriction.
It’s about restoring sensitivity.And once the environment changes, behavior follows.Structure beats self-control.
Biology beats blame.
And healing starts in your home.

02/16/2026

What if everything you thought you knew about salt was incomplete?
For decades we’ve been told:
“Salt = high blood pressure → heart disease.”
But emerging science shows a different story. Salt isn’t just sodium chloride on your plate — it’s an essential mineral signaler that helps regulate:
• fluid balance
• nerve conduction
• digestion
• metabolic signaling
• cardiovascular stability
New research and clinical perspectives suggest:
• both too much and too little sodium can be harmful
• metabolic context matters (insulin levels, potassium, diet quality)
• potassium balance often predicts cardiovascular risk better than sodium alone
That’s why blanket “eat less salt” advice may fail — especially when sugar, insulin resistance, and processed foods drive the real metabolic stress.
If you want a more physiologically grounded way to think about sodium, potassium, and health, this article breaks it down clearly:👉 https://www.pharmtofunction.com/rethinking-salt-why-its-time-to-update-our-sodium-dogma
And for a deeper dive check out the book The Salt Fix.

02/13/2026

Are cravings, energy crashes, and stubborn belly fat really about willpower — or are they about biochemistry?
Refined sugars and ultra-processed carbs drive hyperinsulinemia, increase salt sensitivity, promote sodium retention, and amplify cardiovascular and metabolic strain.
Taming the metabolic impact of sugar isn’t just about cutting sweets — it’s about supporting the systems that regulate insulin, liver metabolism, inflammation, and glucose disposal.
Here are supplements supported in clinical and functional literature that can help modulate sugar metabolism, reduce post-meal glucose spikes, and improve insulin signaling.
Sugar-Taming Support List
L-Carnitine — supports fatty acid oxidation and may improve fatty liver and hunger control
Glycine — an amino acid that can blunt metabolic harms of sugar and support better insulin response
EPA/DHA (Omega-3s) — improves insulin sensitivity and may help reduce visceral fat
Turmeric (curcumin) — anti-inflammatory and may support glycemic control
Berberine — comparable to metformin in glucose lowering and insulin sensitization
Gymnema sylvestre — helps curb sweet taste preference and supports glucose regulation
Milk Thistle — liver support to improve detoxification and glucose metabolism
Korean Ginseng — supports energy metabolism and insulin sensitivity
Ginkgo biloba — enhances microvascular flow and may support cognitive energy during metabolic stress
These strategies don’t replace whole-food choices, but they support the physiology behind insulin, liver function, inflammation, and glucose balance — especially when paired with a lower-sugar, whole-food diet.Explore quality supplement options here:
https://us.fullscript.com/welcome/pharmtofunction

02/11/2026

Your muscles don’t stop working with age.
They stop responding.
After midlife, muscle becomes less sensitive to the two signals that maintain it:
protein and exercise.
This is called anabolic resistance. It means the same protein intake and activity level that once maintained muscle no longer delivers the same signal.
Aging weakens the response.
Inactivity amplifies it.
Low or poorly distributed protein fails to overcome it.This is why many adults lose muscle, strength, and metabolic health despite “eating healthy.”Muscle loss is not just about calories.
It is a signaling problem.And it can be reversed.The solution is not eating less.
It is restoring the anabolic signal.
• Progressive resistance training
• Daily movement
• Higher total protein
• Adequate protein per meal
• Leucine-rich, high-quality sources
When muscle receives a strong enough signal, it responds at any age.I break down the physiology and a practical framework in today’s article:
Why Aging Muscles Stop Responding to Protein (And How to Reverse It)

Why do muscles stop responding to protein with age? This article explains anabolic resistance, how aging and inactivity blunt muscle protein synthesis, and why higher, well-distributed protein and resistance training are essential to preserve muscle, metabolism, and long-term health.

02/10/2026

Watched Cooked by Michael Pollan and honestly… I loved how it was presented.
What really stuck with me was his observation that we’ve become deeply disconnected from our ancestors when it comes to cooking. Fire, fermentation, slow preparation, shared meals — these weren’t trends, they were foundational skills passed down through generations.
Somewhere along the way, convenience replaced connection.
And I can’t help but feel this disconnect goes beyond food — into self-care, daily rituals, and even wisdom that used to be handed down, not outsourced.
Highly recommend this series if you want to rethink your relationship with food

Explored through the lenses of the four natural elements _ fire, water, air and earth _ COOKED is an enlightening and compelling look at the evolution of wha...