The New Peptide Science: Reversing Skin Aging, Senescent “Zombie” Cells, Collagen Breakdown & Inflammation — Dr. Alessandra Zonari
Optimal Protein Podcast with Vanessa Spina
Release Date: 12/20/2025
2025's Biggest Body Recomposition, Fat Loss & Protein Breakthroughs
Optimal Protein Podcast with Vanessa Spina
Timeline Mitopure Gummies — The #1 Urolithin A supplement for energy and healthy aging, now in delicious strawberry gummies. Get 20% off at In today’s episode, I’m continuing our Best of 2025 series with a powerful follow-up to Friday’s episode. Instead of an interview, this is a curated masterclass pulling together the most important breakthroughs of 2025 in body recomposition, fat loss, and protein metabolism — especially for women navigating perimenopause and midlife metabolic change. You’ll hear standout moments from conversations with , and , alongside a solo deep dive into...
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A Personal Announcement + The 5 BIGGEST TAKEAWAYS & Studies From 2025!
Optimal Protein Podcast with Vanessa Spina
Study takeaways start at 18:00 mark Timeline Mitopure Gummies — The #1 Urolithin A supplement for energy and healthy aging, now in delicious strawberry gummies. Get 20% off at In this special end-of-year solo episode, Vanessa shares a brief personal announcement, followed by the five biggest scientific takeaways from 2025 that reshaped how she thinks about fat loss, longevity, and metabolic health. This episode highlights the studies and expert conversations featured on the Optimal Protein Podcast that had the most meaningful impact this year — including new research on autophagy...
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Gut Health, Hormones & Midlife Weight Gain — What Women Need to Know: Cynthia Thurlow, NP
Optimal Protein Podcast with Vanessa Spina
Timeline Mitopure Gummies — The #1 Urolithin A supplement for energy and healthy aging, now in delicious strawberry gummies. Get 20% off at In this episode of the Optimal Protein Podcast, Vanessa is joined by Cynthia Thurlow, nurse practitioner, bestselling author, and women’s health expert, for a deep dive into why fat loss and muscle maintenance become more challenging during perimenopause and menopause. Cynthia explains how hormonal shifts drive anabolic resistance, reduce blood flow and nutrient delivery to muscle, and accelerate changes in body composition. We discuss how to adapt...
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The New Peptide Science: Reversing Skin Aging, Senescent “Zombie” Cells, Collagen Breakdown & Inflammation — Dr. Alessandra Zonari
Optimal Protein Podcast with Vanessa Spina
Timeline Mitopure Gummies — The #1 Urolithin A supplement for energy and healthy aging, now in delicious strawberry gummies. Get 20% off at What if the real driver of skin aging isn’t wrinkles or sun damage — but “zombie” senescent cells hiding in your skin? In this episode of the Optimal Protein Podcast, Vanessa sits down with Dr. Alessandra Zonari, PhD — a stem cell biologist and longevity scientist — for a fascinating deep dive into the new peptide science behind skin aging, inflammation, and biological age. BOOST YOUR COLLAGEN & ELASTIN with RED LIGHT THERAPY!...
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Why You Can’t Diet Forever: Study Results From 10,000 People Who Kept the Weight Off
Optimal Protein Podcast with Vanessa Spina
Timeline Mitopure Gummies — The #1 Urolithin A supplement for energy and healthy aging, now in delicious strawberry gummies. Get 20% off at Why do so many people lose weight — only to regain it later? In this episode of The Optimal Protein Podcast, Vanessa Spina sits down with Dr. Holly Wyatt, physician, endocrinologist, and longtime researcher with the National Weight Control Registry (NWCR) — the world’s largest and longest-running study of people who have lost weight and kept it off. Building on the audience-favorite episode with Dr. James Hill, this conversation focuses on...
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BREAKING NEWS EXPLAINED: Your Metabolism Isn’t “Capped” — What the New Study REALLY Shows
Optimal Protein Podcast with Vanessa Spina
Timeline Mitopure Gummies — The #1 Urolithin A supplement for energy and healthy aging, now in delicious strawberry gummies. Get 20% off at For nearly a decade, many of us have believed that calorie burn eventually plateaus—that once you move enough, your body quietly compensates and stops burning more energy. That belief has shaped how we diet, how we train, and even whether we bother moving more at all. But a brand-new 2025 human study challenges that idea in a way that could completely change how you approach fat loss, daily movement, and exercise. In this Friday recap episode of...
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BREAKING: Your Body Burns More Calories Than We Thought — Dr. Howard on the Groundbreaking Study Rewriting Metabolism
Optimal Protein Podcast with Vanessa Spina
Timeline Mitopure Gummies — The #1 Urolithin A supplement for energy and healthy aging, now in delicious strawberry gummies. Get 20% off at In today’s episode, Vanessa sits down with Dr. Howard, the lead author of a brand-new PNAS study that is challenging one of the most widely accepted ideas in human metabolism. For years, many scientists believed that our bodies operate within a fixed daily calorie “budget,” and that after a certain point, increasing activity doesn’t increase total calorie burn. But Dr. Howard’s new research suggests the story may be far more dynamic...
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Shocking New Research on Creatine & Collagen: What Women Need to Know - Benefits, Dosing & More!
Optimal Protein Podcast with Vanessa Spina
In today’s episode, Vanessa reveals the shocking new human research on two of the most powerful and science-backed supplements for women’s fat loss, muscle tone, metabolic health, skin rejuvenation, and longevity: creatine and collagen. You’ll discover why creatine is no longer just a gym supplement, and how groundbreaking new data shows collagen may actually influence biological age. This episode is packed with cutting-edge insights every woman needs to hear. Timeline Mitopure Gummies — The #1 Urolithin A supplement for energy and healthy aging, now in delicious strawberry gummies....
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Is Intermittent Fasting Sabotaging Your Muscle? The Truth About IF, Carbs & Recovery- Dr. Cas Fuchs
Optimal Protein Podcast with Vanessa Spina
NEW! Support your strength and muscle goals with PUORI Creatine+ — a clean, effective creatine monohydrate supplement enhanced with taurine. Get 20% off at In this science-packed episode, Dr. Cas Fuchs breaks down the surprising ways intermittent fasting, under-fueling, cold plunges, and low glycogen can quietly sabotage your muscle, strength, and body recomposition goals. We uncover the truth about IF for active women, what really matters for protein timing and distribution, how carbs impact strength performance, and why ice baths may be blunting your gains. If you want evidence-based...
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Why I Quit Intermittent Fasting & Lost 13+ Lbs of Fat — What I’m Doing Instead
Optimal Protein Podcast with Vanessa Spina
🔥 BLACK FRIDAY IS HERE — 30% OFF SITEWIDE! My biggest sale of the year is live! Get 30% OFF all Tone Devices, red light panels, masks, and more at KetogenicGirl.com with code BF2025. 👉 In this episode, Vanessa reveals why she quit intermittent fasting after nearly a decade — and how she went on to lose 13+ pounds of fat by switching to a completely different approach that’s supported by new human research. You’ll learn why many popular fasting “benefits” were based on rodent data that doesn’t translate to humans… what the latest clinical trials show about IF, fat...
info_outlineTimeline Mitopure Gummies — The #1 Urolithin A supplement for energy and healthy aging, now in delicious strawberry gummies. Get 20% off at timeline.com/vanessa
What if the real driver of skin aging isn’t wrinkles or sun damage — but “zombie” senescent cells hiding in your skin?
In this episode of the Optimal Protein Podcast, Vanessa sits down with Dr. Alessandra Zonari, PhD — a stem cell biologist and longevity scientist — for a fascinating deep dive into the new peptide science behind skin aging, inflammation, and biological age.
BOOST YOUR COLLAGEN & ELASTIN with RED LIGHT THERAPY! Save 25% on all Tone Lux Red Light therapy with the code HOLIDAY25! Learn more about the TONE LUX Crystal red light therapy mask and the brand new accessory the TONE LUX CONTOUR for the neck and décollete
You’ll discover:
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What senescent “zombie” skin cells actually are — and why they don’t just age themselves, but affect the surrounding tissue
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How inflammation in the skin can quietly accelerate collagen breakdown and visible aging
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Why skin aging speeds up during fat loss, perimenopause, and menopause
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How scientists are now measuring the biological age of skin, not just how it looks
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The surprising role of peptides in signaling skin cells to behave more youthfully
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Why some common “anti-aging” approaches may miss the real drivers of aging
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What makes lip skin biologically different — and why it tends to age faster than the rest of the face
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Why nighttime repair, autophagy, and even red light therapy may matter more than you think
This conversation goes far beyond skincare routines. It explores the mechanisms of aging at the cellular level, how lifestyle choices influence skin health, and why skin may be one of the most overlooked markers of longevity.
If you’re interested in skin health, peptides, collagen, inflammation, fat loss, or aging well, this episode will completely change how you think about your skin.
Mentioned in this episode:
OneSkin is powered by the breakthrough peptide OS-01, the first ingredient proven to reduce skin’s biological age. I use the OS-01 Face and Eye formulas daily—they’ve transformed my skin’s smoothness, firmness, and glow. Visit oneskin.co/VANESSA and use code VANESSA for 15% off your first purchase.
Vanessa discusses how red light therapy supports mitochondrial health, muscle recovery, circulation, and skin health as part of an evidence-based approach to fat loss and metabolic optimization. Explore the Tone LUX red light therapy collection at 👉 Use code HOLIDAY25 for 25% off HERE
Get my free NEW high-protein keto guide: The Keto Reset eBook
Free high-protein keto guide: The Keto Reset eBook
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🎙 The content in this podcast is for informational purposes only and not nutritional or medical advice. Always consult your healthcare provider before making major dietary or lifestyle changes.