Why Big Pharma Hates Nitric Oxide (And How to Use It Anyway) : 1302
The Human Upgrade with Dave Asprey
Dave Asprey
4.6 • 7.3K Ratings
🗓️ 17 July 2025
⏱️ 57 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
If you care about longevity, brain optimization, sexual performance, or metabolism, this molecule changes everything. Host Dave Asprey sits down with nitric oxide pioneer Dr. Nathan Bryan to reveal why this overlooked molecule controls your blood flow, mitochondrial energy, neuroplasticity, insulin response, and even your libido. You’ll learn how nitric oxide acts as a master switch for human performance and why the medical system has ignored it for decades.
Watch this episode on YouTube for the full video experience:
https://www.youtube.com/@DaveAspreyBPR
Dr. Nathan Bryan is a world-renowned expert in nitric oxide biochemistry with over 20 years of clinical research, multiple patents, and collaborations with Nobel Prize-winning scientists. His groundbreaking work forms the foundation for modern functional medicine protocols targeting blood flow, metabolism, cognitive enhancement, and mitochondrial upgrades.
You’ll learn:
• How nitric oxide drives mitochondria, metabolism, and human performance
• Why most nitric oxide supplements fail and how to spot real ones
• The critical role nitric oxide plays in brain optimization, libido, and insulin signaling
• How poor oral health, statins, and PPIs can kill nitric oxide production
• What nitric oxide has to do with sleep optimization, aging, and disease prevention
• How to stack nitric oxide with fasting, ketosis, nootropics, red light, and supplements
• Why “Smarter Not Harder” starts with nitric oxide fueled upgrades
This episode is essential listening for anyone into biohacking, cold therapy, functional medicine, or RFK-style medical freedom. You’ll walk away with practical tools to boost nitric oxide naturally, prevent dysfunction, and optimize your biology whether you’re on a carnivore diet or just looking for an edge.
Dave Asprey is a four-time New York Times bestselling author, founder of Bulletproof Coffee, and the father of biohacking. With over 1,000 interviews and 1 million monthly listeners, The Human Upgrade is the top podcast for people who want to take control of their biology, extend their longevity, and optimize every system in the body and mind. Each episode features cutting-edge insights in health, performance, neuroscience, supplements, nutrition, hacking, emotional intelligence, and conscious living.
Episodes are released every Tuesday and Thursday, where Dave asks the questions no one else dares, and brings you real tools to become more resilient, aware, and high performing.
Get Nitric Oxide products for 10% off with code ‘Dave’: https://bit.ly/Nitric-Oxide-Product
SPONSORS:
- Leela Quantum Tech | Head to https://leelaq.com/DAVE for 10% off.
- Timeline | Head to https://www.timeline.com/dave to get 10% off your first order.
Resources:
• Nathan’s Website: https://www.n1o1.com
• Nathan’s YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCtftGy8e0r9DO8ActcyGi4w
• Dave Asprey’s Website: https://daveasprey.com
• Danger Coffee: https://dangercoffee.com/DAVE15
• Dave Asprey’s BEYOND Conference: https://beyondconference.com
• Dave Asprey’s New Book – Heavily Meditated: https://daveasprey.com/heavily-meditated
• Upgrade Collective: https://www.ourupgradecollective.com
• Upgrade Labs: https://upgradelabs.com
• 40 Years of Zen: https://40yearsofzen.com
Timestamps:
• 00:00 Trailer
• 01:03 Intro
• 01:15 Why Medicine Ignores Nitric Oxide
• 01:59 What Nitric Oxide Does in the Body
• 04:46 How the Body Makes Nitric Oxide
• 07:12 Diet’s Impact on NO Levels
• 13:28 Why Most NO Supplements Fail
• 19:32 Personalized Biohacking with NO
• 22:33 How Medicine Misses the Mark
• 30:40 Oral Health and Nitric Oxide
• 31:30 Mouthwash Kills Your Microbiome
• 32:28 The Problem with Fluoride
• 33:25 Better Toothpaste for NO
• 33:49 NO’s Role in Energy and Healing
• 34:17 Blood Pressure and NO
• 35:29 NO and Sexual Performance
• 37:09 NO and COVID Recovery
• 40:50 Brain Fog and NO Deficiency
• 49:01 Carnivore, Sugar, and NO
• 50:11 Why You Still Need NO Supplements
• 54:19 Final Takeaways
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | You've talked about nitric oxide at things like libido, things like energy, brain function. |
| 0:05.5 | Is it one of the master switches for our metabolism? |
| 0:07.9 | If you want to heal and regenerate and optimize your human performance, |
| 0:12.0 | nitric oxide's really at the top of the list. |
| 0:14.1 | Dr. Nathan Bryan is one of the world's leading experts on nitric oxide. |
| 0:17.7 | A molecule your body can't live without. |
| 0:19.8 | He's the scientist behind hundreds of |
| 0:21.5 | studies, multiple patents and game-changing breakthroughs that are reshaping how we think about heart |
| 0:26.1 | health, energy, and performance. We know that 50% of the men that are given Viagra for the past 26 years |
| 0:31.7 | don't respond with better erections because these drugs aren't affecting nitric oxide production. |
| 0:36.5 | If we give nitric oxide and restore the body's ability to produce nitric oxide production. If we give nitric oxide |
| 0:37.9 | and restore the body's ability to produce nitric oxide, blood sugar comes down, insulin comes down |
| 0:42.6 | because we're potentating the effects of insulin and overcoming insulin resistance. Do we have any |
| 0:47.0 | evidence that increasing nitric oxide helps in real time with brain fog or does it take a while? |
| 0:53.5 | You're listening to The Human Upgrade with Dave Asprey. |
| 0:59.6 | I'm looking to define the master switches in biohacking. |
| 1:04.3 | And I look at things like mitochondrial function and I look at things like blood flow or |
| 1:09.3 | electrical capacity and things like that. And you've talked about nitric oxide at things like blood flow or electrical capacity and things like that. |
| 1:11.7 | And you've talked about nitric oxide at things like libido, things like energy, brain function. |
| 1:17.5 | Is it one of the master switches for our metabolism? |
| 1:20.2 | It's what we call foundational. |
| 1:21.7 | You know, it's not a panacea, it's like an end-all-b-all-cur-all. |
... |
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