What Most Midlife Peptide Stacks Are Missing
A clinical perspective on stress and mitochondrial resiliency
That time I didn’t sleep for months 🫠
During my recent move to Arizona, I was more burned out than I realized. It was a massive life change layered on top of years of high output. Add to that years of high volume travel, lots of attention online and high demand from all angles. It’s good problem to have to be sought after, but even good stress adds up, and my body was letting me know. My poor central nervous system was SHOT.
My training had become completely inconsistent after years of escalating chronic pain. My sleep was in complete shambles to the point that I didn’t get a complete night’s sleep for months on end. Recovery was not happening. And not to be dramatic, but I was honestly concerned I was going to have a heart attack from the stress load.
So I stopped, reassessed and simplified.
I decided to only focus on the basics. Walking, sitting in the sun, petting my dogs, cancelling all speaking engagements and podcast invites, quit posting on Instagram for nearly 6 months and completely called my energy back to ME alone. Everyone else was on their own until I got to sleeping again though the night.
During this energy recall I cut my supplement stack WAY back and kept only what I believed actually mattered. One of the few things I stayed consistent with was Urolithin A.
I kept it in because I knew I was asking more of my mitochondria during this high stress period. More sun, more heat, more outdoor movement, more metabolic demand. If I was going to push output, I wanted to be sure that the cleanup side of the equation was working.
That distinction matters more than most biohackers and peptide peddling influencers realize. You can’t push a system indefinitely without supporting the pathway and the turnover on the back end.
The Real Physiology Problem
Most conversations about energy, aging, and recovery focus on stimulation. How to get more drive, more output, more performance.
Clinically, what I see far more often is an infrastructure problem.
Mitochondria are not static power plants. They are dynamic, stress-responsive organelles that need to be maintained, recycled, and replaced over time. When that renewal process slows, damaged mitochondria accumulate. Those dysfunctional mitochondria produce less ATP and more inflammatory signaling.
That background noise shows up as fatigue, poor recovery, joint pain, brain fog, and the vague sense that things are harder than they should be.
Mitochondrial burnout is one of the core drivers of inflammaging, the chronic low-grade inflammation associated with aging. It’s not caused by laziness or lack of willpower. It’s actually caused by declining cellular turnover.
Why Common Approaches Fall Short
Most biohacking health strategies are built around adding MORE.
More training.
More supplements.
More peptides.
More metabolic signaling.
Peptides and hormones send messages, they are the signals. Strength training provides mechanical stimulus and the “spark”. Protein supplies building blocks. Sunlight is the catalyst to make it all run.
If something is working you just need to add more and try harder, right?
That’s not how I do things.
If you keep stimulating mitochondria without supporting turnover, you create congestion. Cells are asked to perform with damaged machinery. Over time, that leads to diminishing returns and, in some cases, feeling worse despite doing everything “right.”
This becomes especially relevant in midlife, particularly for women.
Estrogen is a mitochondrial hormone. As estrogen declines, mitochondrial efficiency declines with it. That doesn’t mean hormones stop working. It means the environment they act on is less resilient.
Pushing harder is rarely the solution in midlife. Supporting the foundation and chilling out is usually more impactful in the long run in my clinical opinion.
Old Biology, Modern Stress
Humans evolved with cycles of stress and recovery that naturally activated cellular recycling pathways. Scarcity, movement, temperature shifts were the hormetic pulses. Those signals are largely absent in modern life. Now it’s just chronic emotional stress non-stop, toxic burden we can’t escape and a world telling us to grind harder.
At the same time, we expect high output, fast recovery, and resilience well into midlife. Throughout most of human history we would be dead by midlife. Now we are expected to “biohack”.
That mismatch matters.
Because when the stress environment changes but the biology does not, the system starts to break down in predictable ways.
Mitophagy as Infrastructure, Not a Biohack
Mitophagy is the process by which damaged mitochondria are identified and removed so new, functional ones can take their place. It’s cellular housekeeping.
Supporting mitophagy is not necessarily about reversing aging. It’s about restoring a biological process that modern living blunts and aging well.
This is why Urolithin A has quietly become common in advanced performance and peptide circles. When you stimulate mitochondrial output without cleanup, you eventually hit a wall. Urolithin A is the cleanup crew.
Urolithin A is a postbiotic. It’s not a hormone. It’s not a stimulant. It does not build muscle or burn fat. Its role is to support mitochondrial cleanup so other interventions can actually work.
In practical terms, exercise and protein provide stimulus and raw material. Peptides and hormones send signals. Mitophagy clears out what is no longer functional so those signals land on cells that can respond. This is why I say Mitopure® with Urolithin A is my secret to any successful “stack”.
Where Mitopure® Fits
There are very few clinically validated sources of Urolithin A. Mitopure® was developed after more than 15 years of research as a standardized, patented form that could be studied in humans.
Mitopure® is produced through a controlled process that allows for consistency and clinical validation. Human studies have shown it supports mitochondrial function and in aging populations.
This is not a replacement for strength training, adequate protein, or hormones when those are appropriate. It’s the foundational layer that supports these other interventions.
Form and quality determine whether you are getting a biological effect or expensive hope. Mitopure® Gummies are a practical option for people who want something simple they will actually use. They are vegan, sugar-free, non-GMO, and NSF certified and delicious, which honestly removes a lot of friction.
Final Thoughts
When I stripped everything back during that high-stress season I kept what protected the foundation. Mitopure® Gummies with Urolithin A stayed because it supports a process most people ignore until it fails.
Longevity is not always about doing more. It’s about making sure the systems that allow adaptation are working optimally.
Don’t let another year go by feeling less than your best. You can try Mitopure® Gummies with Urolithin A and get 35% off your one month subscription while this offer lasts.
And if you need me, I’ll be healing in the desert and soaking up the sun. Our mitochondria charge up and LOVE the sun 🌞