#46 - Chris Masterjohn, Ph.D.: Navigating the many pathways to health and disease - NAD and sirtuins, methylation, MTHFR and COMT, choline deficiency and NAFLD, TMAO, creatine, and more

Listen to this episode from The Peter Attia Drive on Spotify. In this episode, Chris Masterjohn, entrepreneur, independent researcher, and doctorate in nutrition, elucidates the latest research on the risk and benefits of NAD supplements, and shares his personal intuition on the topic. We also dive deep into choline deficiency and its role in the rising prevalence of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease. From there, Chris enlightens us on the importance of methylation, a simple yet profoundly important biochemical process affecting our physical and mental health. He also describes the variations of the genes MTHFR and COMT, enzymes which play important roles in methylation and which have profound impacts on our well-being.   We discuss: Chris’s background, falling in love with biochemistry, and decision to pursue research over medicine [7:45]; Choline: what it is, why it is important, and how a deficiency can cause non-alcoholic fatty liver disease [11:45]; NAFLD: increasing prevalence and potential causes [25:00]; TMAO: Should we be worried about the TMAO content in choline and our foods? [39:15]; Types of fatty acids: How they may predispose us to different types of illnesses [53:30]; Why don’t we see low VLDL in patients with NAFLD? [59:45];<