#26 Your mitochondria run the engine. MOTS-C keep it firing.

MOTS-C is a peptide your mitochondria actually produce — a native signal that tells your cells to pull in glucose, burn fat, and build new energy infrastructure. When that signal fades with age, the results are familiar: stubborn weight, sluggish energy, brain fog, and workouts that stop paying off.

This episode breaks down exactly how MOTS-C flips your body's master energy switch, AMPK, in plain English — no biology degree required. We cover who benefits most, from blood sugar swings and weight plateaus to athletic performance and longevity, and why women in menopause are finding it especially powerful without touching hormones.

We also answer the question everyone's thinking: are peptides even natural? Spoiler — your body's been making them all along.

By the end you'll know:

• Why mitochondrial decline tracks directly with aging and metabolism
• How to pair MOTS-C with training, nutrition, and sleep for compounding results
• Which labs and performance cues to track progress

This isn't a miracle. It's a map — rooted in how your cells already work.

MOTS-C just became available this month — it's next for Jess and I.  Get it on your list. 

Want to connect more with the hosts? We'd love it! Connect with Jess at B2BwithJess.com/peptides or on Instagram @JessB_LMT_NC. Grab your Blood Work & Peptides Mini Guide for free at drkylieburton.com. 

Ready to explore peptide therapy for yourself? Visit the company we recommend for pharmaceutical peptides and receive all the one-on-one support that comes included at drkylieburton.com

Want to offer peptide therapy in your business? Whether you're adding it to your existing practice or building something new, learn how to get started—and how we'll mentor you along the way—at drkylieburton.com

Legal Disclaimer: This podcast is for educational and informational purposes only and is not intended as medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always consult with a qualified healthcare provider before starting any new health protocol. Dr. Kylie Burton and Jessica Briecke are affiliates and may receive compensation for referrals. Individual results may vary.

You have the science. You have the tools. Now it's time to take the next step.

This is PepTalk: Peptides Unpacked—science made simple, results made real.

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:02

Peptides are powerful and often misunderstood. And we're here to change that. One conversation at a time. I'm Dr. Kylie Burton.

The MOTS C Shock: Aging And Metabolism

SPEAKER_00 0:12

And I'm Jessica Brigie. This is peptidoc. Peptides unpacked. Science made simple. Results made real. You know when you hear something and it like stops you in your tracks? Well, the first time I heard it, MOTS C. Levels in the blood drop significantly with age, and that decline tracks almost perfectly with the metabolic changes people experience as they get older. Jess, can you tell me what the heck that means when signals fade with MOTC?

SPEAKER_01 0:45

Yeah, it's it's it's a pretty big deal. It means a lot, actually. So MOTC is one of my favorites to talk about because this is not just putting something foreign, once again, like many of these other peptides into the body. It's a signal that your body already knows how to use, which is an important part to say again and again when it comes to peptides, that we're not just putting these weird man-made substances into our body. Um, and we're just helping this particular peptide, like many of them, speak up again.

SPEAKER_00 1:17

Okay, real talk. What the heck is MOTC? Break it down for me like I'm five years old.

SPEAKER_01 1:24

Our favorite. Let's talk to the kindergarten crowd, right? That's what I need. So every cell in the body has a control center. And if we go back to like biology class, we're gonna remember this. So I don't want to put anybody into like PTSD of biology class when they were suffering through learning all the parts of a cell.

SPEAKER_00 1:41

But the control, you know when you built those foam models of the cell? Do you remember? And then you have like all the organelles in there, like the Golgi apparatus, and and then you stick in the mitochondria, and there's one mitochondria. Nobody tells you that that's wrong and how important mitochondria are.

SPEAKER_01 2:01

Yeah. Also, I just want to say again, I'll remind you that you were in diapers when I was already hands-on with people. So we didn't have these like fancy little phone balls that we came to. I had to cut things out of like magazines and post it on a piece of paper and make a presentation, make it look like that.

SPEAKER_00 2:20

That's probably true too.

SPEAKER_01 2:24

Well, those cells in the body, this control center, is called the nucleus, if people don't remember that. And most peptides get their instructions on how to operate from that nucleus. And inside the cells, there's also this separate little powerhouse that you were just talking about called the mitochondria. So we're gonna think of that as like the tiny little engine room that's been quietly running your energy the whole time you've been walking this planet. So MOTS C is a peptide that comes from that engine room. It's not the main control center, like the nucleus, but that's what's gonna make it kind of one of its kind. So it is the engine, basically, in in the in the cell.

SPEAKER_00 3:09

Or if we were to think like a car engine, the engine runs the car, Mat C is the engine running the cell.

AMPK: Flipping The Energy On Switch

When Signals Fade With Age

SPEAKER_01 3:17

Pretty much giving it the instruction on how to how to operate, right? And giving it the the zoom, right? It's communicating in its own language. Yeah. So MOTC is one of the messages that the engine room is going to send out. Specifically, it's activating in the body something called AMPK. So I don't want people to get like bogged down by these letters and names and sign stuff, but I just want you to have you will hear other people talk about this. Um, but I like to think of AMPK like it's the body's master on switch for energy. So when AMPK gets the signal, your cells start taking up glucose better. It starts burning fat more efficiently for energy and building new mitochondria. It's kind of a cascade of really good things that we need in order to function. And your body does this on its own? It does. When you exercise, yes. When you fast, it does, which we should be fasting during the night, right? Most of us go into a fast. Your body naturally ramps up MOTC when it needs to perform. So the issue is that when we age, these levels drop down, and that signal gets quieter, we start to see it in how our metabolism shifts, how our muscles respond, how our energy feels. So a lot of us are just accepting of we're just getting older, but really some of these things that we're feeling is a signal that has been fading because we're getting older and not producing it as much.

SPEAKER_00 4:47

You know, a lot of people will say in the functional medicine space that they heal the cells. They're focusing on healing the cells. And if you're explaining MOT C to me correctly, MOTC is a requirement to heal the cells.

SPEAKER_01 5:02

It is. It's a requirement to heal the cells. It's a requirement for the cells to function, all cells, because the mitochondria isn't is everywhere, right?

Who Benefits: Metabolism, Weight, Longevity

SPEAKER_00 5:12

Yes. Cells like may are the baseline of our entire existence. It's what we are. Everything is made up of cells, just different kinds of them, but we are an entire structure of cells, right? Okay, explain to me who is this peptide actually for, like, who should be paying attention right now besides everybody because we all have cells. Well, yeah, specifying a little bit.

SPEAKER_01 5:35

Basically, everyone. Well, just kind of like how I feel about the GLP microdosing.

SPEAKER_00 5:40

Like, dang, we got GLPs, we gotta do it. T A1, BPC, all right, MOTC. They're just you really want to feel better longer. You have to have these. These are the things. Maybe you cycle then, maybe you know, you figure out your your cadence to it, but dang, these are so cool. I know.

SPEAKER_01 5:58

Well, to be to all right, get serious for a moment. If you're dealing with blood sugar issues, if you're struggling with weight that's just not responding like it used to, if you're feeling like your metabolism slowed down and you really don't understand why, MOTC is really worth kind of understanding because it directly improves how your body handles glucose and burns fat. So if you are in the longevity space, this is really fascinating. So we're talking about muscle preservation, reduced inflammation, better physical capacity as you age. And research has shown improvements in physical function across all age groups, not just the older adults that are losing the signaling. So your mitochondria matters at every stage in age.

SPEAKER_00 6:46

Now, a side note here, I was listening to somebody on um something about their mitochondria. That's what the topic was. And they said, you know, people who are coming in, like my my little kids, when they hit 18 or above, because really you can't you don't want to use peptides before they're 18, correct? I'm understanding that rightly correct. Once they hit 18, like they're gonna have these peptides to be fueling their cells, fueling their mitochondria in a much different way than we've ever been able to. And they hypothesized that they'd be able to live better longer, meaning live till like 150. Where we think 70, 80, 90 is getting old. Now you're gonna live double the timeline, feeling better than ever, because you don't have the cell breaking down like it does for us. Because now these things are available, these things we call peptides.

SPEAKER_01 7:42

There'll be people that'll say, I don't want to live that long. Okay, I get it, I know the world is crazy right now. But for as long as you are on this planet, let's live well, let's be strong, let's feel good, you know.

Big Longevity Claims And Caution

SPEAKER_00 7:53

Yeah, when when you said it like if you're in the longevity space, longevity means live better longer. Right, exactly. And yeah, you you want to feel good no matter if you're 17, if you're 37, if you're 47, if you're 77, or if you're 107. You won't, you don't want to not experience life at every stage and experience life in the best way. So MOTC, cellular energy in the form of mitochondria and fueling your cellular engines, communicating, communicating everything effectively in your cellular engines. What about women going through menopause? Because I feel like that comes up a lot.

SPEAKER_01 8:37

It does. Um, and it's been specifically studied there. So menopause brings a wave of metabolic changes. Most of us that have started to experience it, whether it's through the natural aging process or through maybe some sort of surgical procedure they've had to have. Um a lot of the things that we see is things like insulin resistance, a weight shift, bone density changes, cardiovascular risk is there. But MOTC has been shown is showing to have some real promise in that context. So for women who can't or don't want to do hormone therapy, having another tool in this conversation is really gonna matter here.

Menopause, Metabolism, And MOTS C

SPEAKER_00 9:16

Oh, that's cool. If you're not wanting to do the HRT, or maybe you want to shift over to something new, yeah. And give your body something new to think about and to utilize. You know, I keep coming back to what you said at the top when I want when you so I'll stay here for a second. Peptides are not foreign. I think that's what people are getting scared of. And then the whole term natural versus man-made explain this.

Natural Vs Synthetic: Peptides Explained

SPEAKER_01 9:42

Okay, so the most important people that thing that I want people to walk away with is that your body isn't a stranger to these molecules, they're peptides, they're communicators. It's how your cells talk to each other, and they are really like the text messages of your biology. So MOTS C is your mitochondria that's been sending you texts your whole life. What we're doing with pharmaceutical grade peptides under proper guidance is making sure that the message is still getting through clearly. That's all that's happening. But when we talk to your point about something foreign in our body and people hear the term synthetic, in theory, they're synthetic because these are made in a lab. However, they are made to match our own biology. So molecule for molecule, they are meant to be the bioidentical hormones. Correct. Insulin, which people don't realize is a peptide, is a peptide and a hormone. It's both. But we have people whose lives depend on this synthetic version of insulin in their body. This is exactly the same thing. So we are matching something that our body would normally be making to help us with a whole bunch of different things. So not to be afraid, but just think of them as text messengers that are telling our body all the many jobs that it has to do. And if those signals are missing, if those texts are, you know, sitting out there somewhere in the land of not communicating, not getting through, we're in trouble.

SPEAKER_00 11:18

Yeah. You know, I'm I immediately think about running a business and the constant like text messages we're constantly sending, uh, whether it be between me and you or you know, me and our our assistant, you have the same assistant as I do. If without that communication, without that was text, like that quick ability to just shoot off a little information, um our businesses wouldn't run the way that they run.

SPEAKER_01 11:41

Yes, it wouldn't be efficient, they wouldn't be quick, they wouldn't be healthy.

Peptides As Biology’s Text Messages

SPEAKER_00 11:53

That's what peptides are. They're your text messages communicating. Hey, cells, speed up your metabolism so you can lose weight. Uh hey, thyroid, maybe you should warm my body up because I should be, you know, it shouldn't be cold right now. These are the messaging systems behind all of the other chemical reactions that are taking place. Right.

SPEAKER_01 12:15

Exactly.

SPEAKER_00 12:16

Text messages of your biology need to go on a shirt. Yeah, I love that. I think it should or a hat.

SPEAKER_01 12:25

Well, if today's conversation it sparked something for you, if you're curious about peptides, if you want them for your metabolism, your energy, longevity, you want to live longer better, maybe you just want to have a better understanding of them. That is what Kylie and I do. I love having these conversations. I spend a ton of time learning about peptides so I can teach them to other people and also making sure that people have safe, responsible access to getting them. So if you want to find me, you can find me on Instagram, jessb.talkshealth, or you can come and find me to get started on your journey, b2bwithess.com backslash peptides, where here you're going to find resources, education, and and other safe sources.

Personal Protocols And Next Steps

SPEAKER_00 13:18

My passion is really understanding and helping people that understand the science, not just behind peptides, but how to understand the science between between your blood work and solving those blood work concerns with peptides. So you can go grab your mini blood work and peptide guide at drkylieburton.com. You can also get started using your peptides at drkylieburton.com. And if you would like to implement this into your own practice or start a business with the peptides, you can learn and find more about that at drkylieburton.com. Take a big deep breath because I the more I learn about peptides, the more I'm like, I just want to try them all. I want them all too. So right now I'm on BPC 157 and methylene blue. I think the next one I think I'm gonna try Mod C, but I hope it's on ejection. I hope there's uh options for it. Okay, I'll see.

SPEAKER_01 14:19

Maybe this maybe this is the one where you get brave and you try an injection.

Pick One Peptide And Begin

SPEAKER_00 14:23

Yes, maybe. If you are like me and just want to try them all, we'll start with one thing, pick it, move forward, and then we can transition through them all. Um, if you're like Jess and want to have a specific goal, she started with GLP1s, I did BPC 157. You can't go wrong with whatever you're going to start trying. Just pull the trigger, go do the thing. If you're on something and you want to switch over, we highly recommend you do that too. And uh we welcome everybody. We welcome all you peptide lovers, we welcome all you peptide fence sitters, and we welcome all you peptide naysayers, because we were going to convince you that when peptides are done right, they are powerful. This is pep talk, peptides unpacked.