What if there was an exogenous ketone that didn't go through the liver, didn't cause the GI distress of other ketones, and delivered bioidentical BHB directly to your cells?
In this episode, Lisa sits down with Mike Chesne, founder of Tecton and retired US Army Special Forces combat medic, who spent 25 years in special operations before developing R3HBG — a patented ketone molecule that's categorically different from everything else on the market.
Mike's journey from battlefield medicine to biotech is extraordinary. After suffering multiple traumatic brain injuries from IED blasts during nearly three years of combat, he went through brain injury rehabilitation and discovered the neuroprotective potential of ketones. He asked one question that changed everything: "If I had been in ketosis when I got blown up, how much better would my outcome have been?"
That question led him to Oxford University, to Dr Kieran Clarke's lab, and eventually to designing his own molecule — drawing it on a napkin and spending over a decade turning it into a manufactured, FDA-reviewed product.
In this deep-dive episode we cover:
- Mike's military career and the brain injuries that changed his path
- The DARPA project that spent $10 million searching for a supplement to boost performance and cognition by 30%
- Why the brain in Alzheimer's and TBI can't access glucose but can still take up ketones
- R3HBG explained: how lipase (not alcohol dehydrogenase) breaks it down, and why that matters
- The differences between BHB salts, R-1,3-butanediol, the original ketone ester, and R3HBG
- The NLRP3 inflammasome and how BHB blocks the inflammatory cascade driving neurodegeneration
- HDAC inhibition and how BHB switches on your body's own antioxidant and longevity genes
- NDI #1354 and what FDA New Dietary Ingredient acceptance means
- The GLP-1 agonist connection for weight management and metabolic health
- Therapeutic dosing for cognition, endurance, and recovery
- Mike's vision to license R3HBG to every ketone company willing to use it
- Lisa's experience using ketones with her mother's brain injury and cancer recovery
This is the most comprehensive ketone science episode we've ever produced.
TECTON KETONES: Use this link for a discount https://tectonketones.com/discount/TAMATI
While you're optimising your brain and metabolic health, give your body foundational support with Re:juvenate Pro, my advanced cellular health and longevity formula (https://shop.lisatamati.com/pages/rejuvenate), and explore my full curated range of anti-aging and longevity supplements at shop.lisatamati.com.
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