Can you really build more muscle just by rethinking how you dose leucine and essential amino acids? Dr. Daniel A. Traylor, Ph.D. — co-founder and principal scientist of LEUVATE™ — reveals the science behind protein quality, muscle protein synthesis, and why older adults may need twice the protein dose to get the same results as younger people.

We dig into mTORC1 signaling, sarcopenia, the 30g protein absorption myth, GLP-1 drug effects on muscle, and the clinical trial data behind LEUVATE™. If you care about muscle, longevity, or protein strategy, this one is loaded.

Daniel A. Traylor, Ph.D. is an Assistant Professor of Health Sciences at DePaul University in Chicago and Owner, Co-Founder, and Principal Scientist of LEUVATE™. His research explores how protein quality, amino acids, and exercise interact to influence muscle adaptation, recovery, and physical function across the lifespan. He is the co-inventor of LEUVATE™ — a precision-engineered leucine-enriched nutritional formula validated across multiple peer-reviewed human clinical trials.

• 3:36 — Can you really only absorb 30g protein at once?
• 9:16 — Sarcopenia: the muscle-loss crisis in aging
• 16:01 — mTORC1 and what triggers muscle protein synthesis
• 20:46 — Why older adults may need twice the protein dose
• 30:26 — The origin story of LEUVATE™
• 34:01 — Leucine: the master switch for MPS
• 37:56 — How leucine acts as a dimmer on mTORC1
• 53:21 — GLP-1 drugs, muscle loss, and amino acid needs
• 1:06:36 — LEUVATE™ vs whey: MPS data and ongoing trials
• 1:17:01 — How leucine-enriched EAAs signal differently in the gut
• 1:27:11 — Protein spiking and supplement quality red flags

• LEUVATE™
• Dr. Traylor email

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In this solo episode, Dr. Mike T. Nelson introduces the concept of coaching leverage—the idea that effective coaching means multiplying physiological impact by a client's realistic ability to change.

• Why sleep is a physiological powerhouse but a coaching nightmare
• The coaching leverage formula: physiology × psychology
• Why protein ranks #1 (score: 81) and sleep ranks #8 (score: 20)
• How to stop majoring in the minors with your clients
• The eight interventions inside the Flex Diet Certification
• Why following a proven system beats reinventing the wheel

The Flex Diet Certification closes tonight (Monday, June 22, 2026) at midnight Pacific. Get details here.

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In this episode of the Flex Diet Podcast, I sit down with Dr. Sara Campbell, Ph.D., Associate Professor at Rutgers University, for a conversation about the bidirectional relationship between exercise and the gut microbiome.

Dr. Sara Campbell returns to discuss her lab's cutting-edge research on the bidirectional relationship between exercise and the gut microbiome — including why consumer gut tests oversimplify a complex ecosystem, how antibiotics devastate exercise capacity in animal models, and why single-microbe probiotics miss the bigger picture of functional guilds. She also shares new findings on short-chain fatty acids, amino acid metabolomics after antibiotic treatment, and the emerging neuromuscular junction hypothesis.

In this episode you'll learn:

• Why consumer gut microbiome tests are misleading and what functional guilds tell us instead
• How antibiotics devastate exercise capacity and the surprising metabolomic changes they cause
• The current evidence on probiotics for exercise performance and why single strains fall short
• What short-chain fatty acids do for gut health and exercise, and the emerging neuromuscular junction hypothesis

Find Sara here:
Rutgers Faculty Page
Google Scholar: Sara Chelland Campbell

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The Flex Diet Podcast is brought to you by the Flex Diet Certification. Learn more at miketnelson.com

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