Urolithin A: The Human Data on ‘Anti-Aging’ (Mitophagy, Inflammation, Muscle — What Actually Changes)
The Energy Code
Why supplement instead of eating pomegranate
Mike describes how supplementation bypasses inconsistent gut conversion and yields higher plasma levels than food.
In this Energy Code Deep Dive, Dr. Mike Belkowski and moderator Don Bailey break down a 2024 systematic review, “Targeting Aging With Urolithin A in Humans," that focuses on human supplementation studies, not “eat pomegranate and hope.”
You’ll learn what Urolithin A is (and why your gut bacteria can make results wildly inconsistent), why it’s tied to “geroprotection,” and what the clinical evidence actually supports so far: dose-dependent anti-inflammatory signals, changes in mitochondrial/autophagy gene markers, and some improvements in strength/endurance — with a reality check on what didn’t move (ATP max, broad physical function, microbiome composition, body comp, cardiovascular markers in short windows).
Bottom line: promising, practical, but still early.
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Article Discussed in Episode:
Targeting aging with urolithin A in humans: A systematic review
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Key Quotes From Dr. Mike & Don:
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“It’s like giving two people the same coffee beans, but one of them doesn’t own a coffee grinder!”
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"It may be improving the ‘quality control and efficiency settings’ more than raw peak horsepower.“
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“So it’s like tuning the car so it runs smoother; not necessarily making the top speed higher.”
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"It’s not a ‘lose 20 pounds and become a triathlete’ pill.”
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Key points-
Urolithin A is a gut-derived metabolite from ellagic acid foods (pomegranate, walnuts, berries), but many people don’t convert well. So food intake ≠ reliable levels.
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Supplementation “skips the gut lottery” and produces higher, more consistent plasma levels than food sources.
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The systematic review included 5 human studies / 250 healthy participants with 10–1000 mg/day for 28 days to 4 months.
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Biggest consistent theme: dose-dependent anti-inflammatory effects (some markers improve more at 1000 mg/day over 4 months).
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Mitochondria story is nuanced: it may improve gene expression signatures related to mitochondrial activity, autophagy, and fatty-acid oxidation—more “quality control” than peak power.
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What it didn’t reliably do: increase maximal ATP production, consistently boost biogenesis/dynamics markers, change gut microbiota composition, or meaningfully affect body metrics/cardiovascular outcomes in short trials.
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Muscle outcomes: some gains in specific strength/endurance measures (e.g., torque metrics; certain fatigue tests), but not universal (e.g., handgrip and broad function didn’t consistently improve).
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Safety in these studies looked clean (no serious adverse events attributed), but the overall conclusion remains: promising—but the human aging evidence is still young and needs longer/larger trials.
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Episode timeline0:27 — Welcome + urolithin A is trending + episode topic
0:45 — Don’s moderator frame: “does it work / worth it?”
1:04 — Paper ID (2024 systematic review; human supplementation)
1:25 — What urolithin A is + “gut lottery”
2:02 — Why supplement (higher/consistent levels vs food)
2:24 — Why it matters: mitophagy / healthier aging angle
3:05 — What’s included (5 studies, 250 people; 10–1000 mg; 28d–4mo)
3:34 — What improved (inflammation signals, gene markers, some strength/endurance)
4:06 — What didn’t (max ATP, microbiome, broad health/body metrics)
7:02 — Dosing/PK basics (peak ~6h; half-life ~17–22h; plateau ~7d)
7:40 — Safety summary
8:06 — Practical take + “promising but early” conclusion
- Dr. Mike's #1 recommendations: Deuterium depleted water: Litewater (code: DRMIKE)EMF-mitigating products: Somavedic (code: BIOLIGHT)
Blue light blocking glasses: Ra Optics (code: BIOLIGHT)
Grounding products: Earthing.com -
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