Vitality Unleashed: The Functional Medicine Podcast

The Silent Energy Thief: How to Reverse Your "Suffocating" Liver Using Ozone, NAD+, and 2026 Science

• Dr. Kumar from LifeWellMD.com • Season 1 • Episode 214

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Are you waking up tired even after a full night's sleep? You might be battling a silent "energy thief" living right inside your abdomen.

In this eye-opening episode, we expose the silent crisis of Metabolic Dysfunction-Associated Steatotic Liver Disease (MASLD)—formerly known as fatty liver. This isn't just about weight; it is about a metabolic traffic jam that is suffocating your cells, draining your battery, and aging you prematurely.

We are moving beyond the standard "eat less, exercise more" advice and diving into the 2025 breakthroughs in regenerative medicine. Discover how NAD+ therapy is refueling your cellular engines and how the controversial yet powerful Ozone therapy is being used to lower inflammation and signal your body to repair itself.

In this episode, you’ll discover:

  • The "Suffocating" Liver: Why your unexplained fatigue and brain fog are actually symptoms of a metabolic engine failure.
  • The NAD+ Connection: How replenishing this vital coenzyme helps your liver switch from "storage mode" to "burn mode."
  • Ozone Therapy Explained: Why controlled oxidative stress (hormesis) might be the key to waking up your body’s internal antioxidant system.
  • The Protocol: How to combine these advanced therapies with lifestyle changes to not just heal, but upgrade your biology.

Stop ignoring the fatigue. It’s time to clear the traffic jam and reclaim your high-performance life.

🚀 Ready to reverse the damage and upgrade your health? Connect with Dr. Kumar to learn more about personalized regenerative protocols. 👉 Visit: lifewellmd.com 👉 Book your consultation today!

Disclaimer:
The information provided in this podcast is for educational purposes only and is not intended as medical advice. Always consult with a qualified healthcare professional before making changes to your supplement regimen or health routine. Individual needs and reactions vary, so it’s important to make informed decisions with the guidance of your physician.

Connect with Us:
If you enjoyed today’s episode, be sure to subscribe, leave us a review, and share it with someone who might benefit. For more insights and updates, visit our website at Lifewellmd.com.

Stay Informed, Stay Healthy:
Remember, informed choices lead to better health. Until next time, be well and take care of yourself.

SPEAKER_00:

We are diving deep today into one of the most critical and maybe one of the most overlooked health crises of our time: metabolic dysfunction-associated stetotic liver disease. Now you probably know it by its old name, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease or NAFLD.

SPEAKER_01:

And we really have to start right there. That correction is so important.

SPEAKER_00:

It is.

SPEAKER_01:

The clinical community is shifting its terminology for a very good reason. We're moving from no FLD and its more severe form, NASH, to May SLD and MASH.

SPEAKER_00:

And this isn't just semantics, right?

SPEAKER_01:

No, not at all. It really reflects the true nature of the disease. This is a systemic metabolic failure. It is not a problem that's, you know, just isolated to the liver, and it is incredibly common around the globe.

SPEAKER_00:

That's our mission for this deep dive to get past the old thinking and really understand the actual mechanics of MASLD. We're going to explore the systemic causes, the foundational strategies that major guidelines endorse, and critically the advanced integrative strategies. We're talking about the kind of work done at specialized practices like Dr. Kumar and the team at LifeWellMD.com that look to restore true cellular function. We've pulled our sources from new clinical guidelines, large meta-analyses, detailed studies on lifestyle, and even on really innovative therapies like NAD4V and medical ozone.

SPEAKER_01:

Okay, so let's unpack that systemic nature you mentioned. This condition, it really illustrates a fundamental failure in how the body manages energy. The liver in this whole equation is actually the victim. It's not the primary culprit.

SPEAKER_00:

Okay.

SPEAKER_01:

And here's what's fascinating and where the real urgency lies for you, the listener, it's the cardiovascular link. For people with mayas LD, the leading cause of death isn't liver failure.

SPEAKER_00:

It's cardiovascular disease.

SPEAKER_01:

It's cardiovascular disease.

SPEAKER_00:

So why is that? What's the connection?

SPEAKER_01:

Well, it's because the underlying drivers of mayas LD, things like chronic inflammation and insulin resistance, they're the exact same forces that destroy your blood vessel walls and drive heart disease.

SPEAKER_00:

Okay, so let's zero in on those core drivers then, especially insulin resistance, because that seems to be the engine of the whole problem. Can you explain what that fatty flood looks like at the cellular level?

SPEAKER_01:

Sure. Think of insulin resistance as a broken gatekeeper. When your body starts resisting insulin signals, your fat cells, your adipose tissue, they just start breaking down fat at an uncontrolled rate. It's a process called lipolysis. Okay. And this just floods your bloodstream with huge amounts of excess free fatty acids and something called kilomacron remnants. It's like a metabolic sewage system just backing up.

SPEAKER_00:

And where does all that metabolic debris go?

SPEAKER_01:

Aaron Powell Straight to the liver. The hepatocytes, which are the main liver cells, are just forced to absorb and process all of these lipids. And when they can't handle the sheer volume, they start to accumulate the fat.

SPEAKER_00:

Aaron Powell And that's the steatosis part, the fatty liver. Trevor Burrus, Jr.

SPEAKER_01:

That's the steatosis. And that accumulation triggers intense cellular stress.

SPEAKER_00:

Aaron Powell Which then quickly snowballs into a state of chronic oxidative stress. We saw some really compelling data showing that people with MAZ have a significantly decreased ability to fight all that cellular damage.

SPEAKER_01:

Aaron Powell Exactly. The body's own antioxidant defense systems are just they're overwhelmed, they get depleted. We see key antioxidant enzymes, the little workhorses of cellular cleanup. Trevor Burrus, Jr.

SPEAKER_00:

Like superoxide dismutase.

SPEAKER_01:

Superoxide dismutase, glutathione peroxidase, GST, catalase, all of them are significantly reduced. They're basically running on empty.

SPEAKER_00:

So those are the defenses collapsing. What's the damage signal that goes up? What can we measure?

SPEAKER_01:

Aaron Ross Powell The damage signal is a process called lipid peroxidation. And we see a massive spike in a specific marker called melondialdehyde or MDA. MDA. Yeah, and this marker essentially tells us that the cellular membranes, the protective walls of your cells, are being chemically damaged by free radicals. They're effectively rusting from the inside out.

SPEAKER_00:

And it's so important for you to know that if you have abnormal blood work, these are the signs of that metabolic pile-up. You'll see things like elevated cholesterol, high triglycerides, and of course those elevated routine liver markers.

SPEAKER_01:

SGPT, SGOT, GGT.

SPEAKER_00:

Right. And as we learn, the state of those antioxidant enzymes, GST and catalase specifically, can actually be used by an advanced practitioner as a direct surrogate marker for the degree of oxidative stress you're facing.

SPEAKER_01:

And this deep understanding of the cellular mechanics is exactly why we need a multi-layered, comprehensive management plan. You just can't treat the liver in isolation.

SPEAKER_00:

Absolutely. So let's transition to the foundational management, the actionable steps that clinical guidelines universally endorse. If you are struggling with Mass LD, the most critical step you can take today, non-pharmacologically, is weight management. It is. If you are overweight or obese, the sources are very clear. Losing just 10% of your body weight has a significant positive impact on the liver structure.

SPEAKER_01:

Aaron Powell And that loss has to be driven primarily by diet. We're not talking about just generic calorie counting. We're talking about shifting your entire metabolic landscape. The literature strongly supports adopting a traditional anti-inflammatory diet.

SPEAKER_00:

Aaron Powell Specifically the Mediterranean diet.

SPEAKER_01:

Aaron Powell The Mediterranean diet, yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

Trevor Burrus Why that one in particular? What's the magic there?

SPEAKER_01:

Aaron Powell Because it just hits the sweet spot. It's high in healthy, monounsaturated fats. It prioritizes fish for those omega-3s, lots of vegetables, high fiber whole grains, and it's naturally low in inflammatory red meats and processed foods. It's a systemic anti-inflammatory eating pattern.

SPEAKER_00:

Aaron Powell But the single most potent lever from what we analyzed in the research is sugar restriction, specifically fructose.

SPEAKER_01:

Oh, absolutely. Fructose from processed foods and sweetened drinks puts a massive, massive strain on the liver.

SPEAKER_00:

Aaron Powell We found a really striking example in the sources, a study where they restricted sugar intake in adolescent boys to less than 3% of daily calories.

SPEAKER_01:

And the results were incredible.

SPEAKER_00:

They showed significant measurable improvement in hepatic steatosis, the actual fat content in the liver in just eight weeks.

SPEAKER_01:

Eight weeks. That finding is so profound because it shows you just how quickly the liver can start to heal when you remove that specific metabolic stressor.

SPEAKER_00:

So you take out the bad stuff. What about adding in good stuff?

SPEAKER_01:

You have to. You consciously increase beneficial things. Omega-3, polyunsaturated fats, which help reduce fat synthesis in the liver, and high fiber foods, which are critical for optimizing your gut health.

SPEAKER_00:

And we can't forget movement. This isn't just about burning calories, is it?

SPEAKER_01:

Not at all. Guidelines recommend a minimum of 150 minutes of my intensity activity per week. But the crucial detail, the one that often gets overlooked, is incorporating resistance training.

SPEAKER_00:

Muscle building exercise.

SPEAKER_01:

Muscle building exercise at least two days a week. That resistance training piece is so critical because your skeletal muscle is the single largest site for glucose disposal in your entire body.

SPEAKER_00:

So building muscle directly improves insulin sensitivity.

SPEAKER_01:

It directly improves insulin sensitivity, which is the foundational metabolic failure we are trying to fix. That's true metabolic protection.

SPEAKER_00:

Now, for those whose condition is more advanced or maybe who have specific comorbidities like MSH, there are established pharmacological tools.

SPEAKER_01:

Yes, there are. For non-diabetic MH patients, vitamin E is often used. We saw one study that highlighted vitamin E achieved a significantly higher rate of improvement compared to a placebo. We're talking 43% versus 19%.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, big difference.

SPEAKER_01:

A huge difference. Pyoglitosone is another conventional option. But the true game changer right now is the rapidly evolving class of incretin-based therapies, like semaglutide. They target the metabolic dysregulation itself, leading to weight loss and improved liver health markers.

SPEAKER_00:

So we've got foundational management, we've got targeted pharmaceuticals, but for many people, especially those who optimize their lifestyle but still face this chronic, low-grade cellular inflammation, those conventional methods might not restore full health. That's right. And that brings us to the future of intuitive wellness, addressing the chronic cellular failure itself.

SPEAKER_01:

Precisely. Let's start with targeted nutritional compounds. We already mentioned omega-3 fatty acids. Meta-analyses confirm they consistently improve liver enzymes, like ALT and AST, and reduce the actual fat content in the liver.

SPEAKER_00:

And then there's the compelling case for choline and beta. These are what we call lipotropic nutrients.

SPEAKER_01:

They help the liver process fat.

SPEAKER_00:

Exactly. And a high intake of these nutrients, which you find abundantly in whole foods like eggs, lean meats, and dairy, was associated with an incredible 81% reduction in hepatic steatosis in one study. They help the liver package and export fat instead of just letting it build up.

SPEAKER_01:

Then if we move further into specialized therapies, NAD5E therapy has gained significant traction. NAD plus air, or nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide, is a master coenzyme. It's essential for life.

SPEAKER_00:

It powers our cellular energy factories, the mitochondria.

SPEAKER_01:

It powers the mitochondria, and it plays a direct role in DNA repair. NAD5E infusions are designed to replenish your NAD levels, which supports metabolic function and enhances overall cellular resilience, and that is precisely what MA cell D patients are missing.

SPEAKER_00:

It's key for our listeners to know that while this is a really potent therapy and it's generally considered well tolerated in the short term, it absolutely requires professional oversight. It's a treatment designed to hit a very specific cellular target.

SPEAKER_01:

Which leads us perfectly to medical ozone therapy. Now, this sounds counterintuitive, right? We've just spent all this time talking about oxidative stress.

SPEAKER_00:

Right. So why would we intentionally introduce a reactive substance like ozone?

SPEAKER_01:

It's the concept of ustress, the good kind of stress.

SPEAKER_00:

Okay, explain that.

SPEAKER_01:

Correct. Ozone therapy utilizes what's called a hormetic mechanism. Think of it like a dose of exercise for your cells. Exercise is a stressor, but it's a moderate controlled one.

SPEAKER_00:

Okay, that makes sense.

SPEAKER_01:

If the dose of medical ozone is precise and low, it induces a moderate fleeting oxidative stress, the uterus, that doesn't cause damage. Instead, it triggers the body's powerful internal defensive pathways to switch on.

SPEAKER_00:

So it's like we're forcing the body to fix the very problem that MISLD causes. What are those pathways it turns on?

SPEAKER_01:

Aaron Powell The mechanism is molecular and it's highly targeted. Low-dose ozone strongly activates the NRF2 pathway.

SPEAKER_00:

NRF2.

SPEAKER_01:

NRF2. It's the master switch for your cellular defenses. When it gets activated, it ramps up your body's innate production of all those depleted antioxidant enzymes that we mentioned earlier, glutathione, peroxidase, catalase, and so on.

SPEAKER_00:

Aaron Powell So instead of just relying on an external supplement, we're forcing the body to replenish its own internal stores, which has to be a much more effective long-term solution.

SPEAKER_01:

Aaron Powell It is. And simultaneously, ozone inhibits the NFEB inflammatory pathway. Now this is key because NFE is the pathway that drives chronic cellular inflammation, which is the link between the fatty liver and the cardiovascular damage.

SPEAKER_00:

Aaron Powell So it's a two-pronged attack.

SPEAKER_01:

It's a two-pronged attack on metabolic dysfunction.

SPEAKER_00:

Aaron Powell So what does the evidence show for ozone and the liver specifically? I know a lot of the published data is from animal models, but what are we learning from them?

SPEAKER_01:

We're seeing some really encouraging, consistent results. For instance, studies on obese rats using ozonated olive oil showed it significantly reduced liver weight and suppressed hepatic triglyceride accumulation. It basically started reversing the core feature of the disease.

SPEAKER_00:

And I saw there was a longer-term study on zebra fish using ozonated sunflower oil that was equally impressive.

SPEAKER_01:

It was. It showed the least fatty liver change, protection of vital organs, and it effectively countered age-associated dyslipidemia, that abnormal blood lipid profile. It lowered total cholesterol, triglycerides, and the bad LDLC, while elevating the protective HDLC.

SPEAKER_00:

And it seems to protect against acute injury, too.

SPEAKER_01:

Exactly. Ozone exposure in animal models has been shown to have a beneficial effect on acute liver injury by decreasing oxidative stress and controlling that inflammatory process. It reduces overall cellular degeneration and necrosis. It's really systemic protection.

SPEAKER_00:

That is compelling. But let me just, you know, introduce a note of conversational friction here. Since much of this advanced, fascinating evidence is still in animal models, is the primary hurdle to mainstream adoption just the need for more large-scale placebo-controlled human trials?

SPEAKER_01:

Aaron Powell That's a very fair point. And yes, the research often lags behind clinical application, especially in the integrative world. However, the known mechanisms are strong. And practitioners who specialize in this are using it within defined safety parameters, often to target a key root cause that conventional medicine can overlook.

SPEAKER_00:

And that would be the gut liver axis.

SPEAKER_01:

The gut liver axis. We know the translocation of gut-derived toxins to the liver is a massive inflammation trigger in MASLD.

SPEAKER_00:

So how does ozone address that root cause?

SPEAKER_01:

This is where a specific application, rectal ozone insufflation or O3RI, is used. This local application has been shown in studies to powerfully and positively modulate the gut microbiota.

SPEAKER_00:

So it acts like a prebiotic.

SPEAKER_01:

It acts like a prebiotic, increasing beneficial microorganisms like lactobacillus and bifidobacterium, while reducing harmful metabolites like TMA and TMAO. When you restore that gut microbial homeostasis, you reduce the inflammatory burden that is constantly hitting the liver through the portal vein.

SPEAKER_00:

That truly highlights the power of an integrative approach. You're using a local therapy to provide a systemic fix by healing the gut. And we're even seeing potential for combining these, right? Like using low-dose ozone with a compound like resveratrol.

SPEAKER_01:

Absolutely. Combining them is synergistic. They both target that beneficial NRF-2 signaling axis. So when you hit the master defense switch with multiple well-chosen modalities, you can amplify the therapeutic effect without increasing toxicity.

SPEAKER_00:

Now safety is paramount with these kinds of powerful modalities. If our listeners are considering exploring ozone therapy, what are the hard boundaries they need to know about?

SPEAKER_01:

They absolutely must understand that ozone is highly reactive and must never be inhaled. Inhalation causes severe respiratory damage. It can lead to coughing, nausea, or headaches. This is a medical procedure that requires a strict protocol and professional administration.

SPEAKER_00:

And who needs to just steer clear entirely?

SPEAKER_01:

Those who are pregnant, people with chronic lung conditions, or those with specific metabolic deficiencies like glucose 6 phosphate, dehydrogenase, G6PD deficiency. They must avoid ozone therapy. A thorough medical screening by a specialized practitioner is completely non-negotiable.

SPEAKER_00:

This has really shown that MASLD isn't a simple disease at all. It's a complex, systematic failure of metabolic regulation and cellular resilience, and it's driven by chronic oxidative stress. Reversing it requires a personalized approach that goes way beyond generic diet advice.

SPEAKER_01:

It really demands specialized expertise that can integrate that foundational management, cutting-edge diagnostics, and these innovative forward-thinking cellular strategies. The goal is complete wellness and longevity, not just managing a single lab marker.

SPEAKER_00:

And if you are looking for a comprehensive strategy to reverse this silent epidemic, one that combines advanced diagnostics, lifestyle optimization, and innovative cellular treatments like NAD, IV, or ozone therapy, we want you to reach out to the experts who specialize in this. Dr. Kumar and the team at LifeWellMD.com have the expertise to help you identify and resolve these cellular root causes. They can help you start your wellness journey today through either telemedicine or in-office consultations. Call them today at 561-210-9999 to take that crucial next step.

SPEAKER_01:

And as we close, just remember this MASLD is an indicator that your overall cellular resilience is compromised. The goal of integrated medicine here is not just to fix the liver on paper, it's to restore the underlying metabolic flexibility and health of every single cell in your body.

SPEAKER_00:

That leads perfectly to our final provocative thought for you to consider. Given the absolute strength of the association between MASLD and long-term cardiovascular risk, how might proactively managing your metabolic and oxidative stress markers today prevent a catastrophic future health complication in your most vital organs, including your heart?

SPEAKER_01:

Use the knowledge you gain today to act.

SPEAKER_00:

Take that next step toward comprehensive health management. That number again is 561-210-9999. Or you can visit lifewellmd.com. We'll see you on the next deep dive.