254 The Gut Microbiome-Inflammation Connection and Accelerated Aging with Martha Carlin
Growing Older Living Younger: About longevity, wellness, healthspan,
Release Date: 02/16/2026
Growing Older Living Younger: About longevity, wellness, healthspan,
In this conversation with Dr. Gillian Lockitch, Dr. Natalya Borakowski explains the neurological remodeling and hormonal shifts that occur during perimenopause and menopause — and why these changes can trigger identity disruption and appearance anxiety. You’ll learn how understanding the biology behind midlife can restore self-trust, reduce fear, and support aging youthfully. Midlife often arrives with an unexpected sense of instability. Women describe feeling anxious, self-critical, emotionally reactive, or disconnected from their reflection — even when medical tests show nothing...
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THIS Flashback Friday EPISODE OF GROWING OLDER LIVING YOUNGER focuses on food addiction, in particular addiction to sugar and refined carbohydrates.Today’s Featured Expert is Dr. Vera Tarman, author of Food Junkies: Recovery from Food Addiction, cohost of the popular Food Junkies Podcast and founder of the Facebook group called “I’m Sweet Enough: Sugar-Free for Life.”We discuss the reality and the pathophysiology of sugar addiction, how to know whether you have an addiction and the impact that corporate sponsorship of research and disease-focused organizations have on the...
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Why does weight loss feel harder with age—even when we “do everything right”? In this episode, award-winning health journalist Julia Belluz challenges the calorie-centric narrative of weight control and explains how metabolism, hormones, food environments, and ultra-processed foods shape how—and why—we eat. This conversation reframes weight, aging, and health through evidence rather than diet dogma.For decades, we’ve been told that weight control is simply a matter of discipline: eat less, move more, and the scale will comply. Yet for many people—especially as they age—this...
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Flashback Friday re-post of most popular episodes THIS EPISODE OF GROWING OLDER LIVING YOUNGER focuses on improving your cognitive functioning through playing computer brain training games.Today’s Featured Expert discussing the neuroscience of cognitive training and the Lumosity brain training program, is Bob Schafer, President of Lumos Labs Medical, and Chief Science Officer at Lumos Labs (Lumosity)We discuss the neuroscience of cognition and Lumos Labs Human Cognition Project, how the Lumosity platform is built around training cognitive skills through engaging digital games, what you, the...
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Back pain is one of the most common causes of reduced mobility and loss of independence as we age. In this episode, spine surgeon Dr. Gbolahan Okubadejo explains the causes of back and neck pain, when conservative treatment is appropriate, and when spine surgery may become the best option for restoring mobility and quality of life. Chronic back and neck often trigger fear. Many people assume pain is inevitable, that surgery always leads to long downtime, or that recovery means permanent limitation. In this episode, we explore modern advances in spine care, recovery, and how the right...
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EPISODE 147 OF GROWING OLDER LIVING YOUNGER focuses on protecting eye, brain and overall health with the antioxidant carotenoid pigments, especially lutein, zeaxanthin and meso-zeaxanthin, as determined in the Central Retinal Enrichment Supplementation Clinical Trials (CREST). Download my free that explains the wellness benefits and food sources of these protective nutrients. To tell us how key nutrients can protect our eyes from macular degeneration, and help preserve memory and mental acuity, I talk with today’s Featured Expert, Professor John Nolan. He is a Fulbright Scholar, and a...
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Modern medicine excels at treating disease, less so at prevention. In this episode, we explore how wearable technology powered by artificial intelligence is bringing together Western physiology biometrics and Traditional Chinese Medicine to support true preventive health. Ryan Yuen shares how continuous monitoring of subtle body signals can help identify imbalance long before symptoms appear—and what this means for healthy longevity. Aging well is not about acccepting decline—it’s about identifying early warning signs and supporting body balance before disease is established....
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THIS EPISODE OF GROWING OLDER LIVING YOUNGER focuses on ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder) in older adults. Today’s Featured Expert is Kathleen Nadeau, PhD. We discuss how unrecognized ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder) may impact healthy aging and perhaps be confused with dementia in an older person; and whether there are alternative strategies to medication Speaker BioDr. Kathleen Nadeau is an internationally recognized authority on ADHD across the lifespan and is the author of 15 books related to ADHD. Her most recent book, Still Distracted After All...
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Dementia is one of the greatest fears associated with aging—but what if it didn’t have to mean loss, disappearance, or despair? In this deeply moving episode, author and arts innovator Marilyn Raichle shares how walking toward her mother, rather than away, transformed dementia into a journey of presence, creativity, connection, and joy. This conversation offers a profoundly human reframe of memory loss and aging. For many people, dementia is equated with the loss of self, meaning, and value. Families are often advised—explicitly or implicitly—to disengage emotionally, preparing for...
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What if the way you age isn’t determined primarily by your genes, your diet, or even how much you exercise—but by how intelligently you manage your thoughts, emotions, and everyday habits? Many of us make well-intentioned health plans that never quite stick—despite knowing what we should be doing. This episode explores why behavior change is so difficult, how unconscious programming shapes daily habits, and what science reveals about making lasting change without burnout or deprivation. Today’s guest brings a powerful framework—Lifestyle...
info_outlineWhat if stubborn weight gain, brain fog, poor sleep, and chronic inflammation aren’t “just aging”—but signals from your gut that started decades earlier? Today’s conversation challenges the myth of inevitable decline and shows how understanding your microbiome can make your chronological age truly just a number. After 40, many people find that diets stop working, digestion becomes unpredictable, hormones feel out of control, and inflammation quietly creeps in. This episode explains why gut healing becomes harder with age, what’s actually changing biologically, and how restoring gut resilience can transform metabolism, hormones, and healthy longevity.
Today’s guest brings a rare blend of microbiome research, systems thinking, and real-world clinical insight to guide us. Martha Carlin is a pioneering citizen scientist and microbiome systems researcher. She is the founder and CEO of The BioCollective, collaborating with institutions including Caltech, the University of Chicago, and University College Cork. Her work focuses on how gut microbes drive inflammation, insulin resistance, and chronic disease as we age. Martha’s mission began personally—after her husband’s Parkinson’s diagnosis—leading her to leave a corporate career to investigate healing at the root: the gut.
Episode Timeline:
00:00 — Aging symptoms, gut health, and the microbiome
03:30 — Why gut issues worsen after 40 and why aging conversations miss the microbiome
05:10 — Martha’s personal journey into microbiome science after Parkinson’s diagnosis
08:45 — Antibiotics, missing microbes, and early Parkinson’s gut research
12:30 — What biologically changes in the gut with age
15:40 — Endotoxins, gram-negative bacteria, and chronic inflammation
18:20 — Constipation as an early warning sign, not a nuisance
21:00 — Surfactants, cleaners, bile acids, and hormone recirculation
23:40 — Soil microbiomes and what agriculture teaches us about gut healing
26:30 — Food quality, seed oils, and modern processing challenges
28:40 — Beet kvass and fermented foods for nitric oxide and gut support
30:20 — The estrobolome, cortisol, insulin, and hormone–gut feedback loops
33:00 — Practical first steps to restore gut resilience
36:30 — Common mistakes: extreme diets, fasting, and overcorrection
39:10 — Women, cortisol, and metabolic backlash
41:40 — Listener guidance: simple daily changes that matter most
43:30 — Guest resources
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