Over 40 Fitness Hacks
The Brain-Boosting Magic Of Polysaccharides
In this episode of the Over 40 Fitness Hacks podcast, host Brad Williams interviews Dr. John Lewis, an expert in nutrition and dietary supplements, focusing on the benefits of polysaccharides for brain health. The conversation starts with Dr. Lewis sharing his personal journey, which began with sports and bodybuilding and evolved into a research-focused career at the University of Miami. His interest in nutrition and dietary supplements led him to groundbreaking research on polysaccharides found in aloe vera and rice bran, significantly influencing his career and life.
Dr. Lewis explains how polysaccharides, a complex form of sugar, are different from simple sugars like fructose and sucrose. While simple sugars can harm health, polysaccharides provide numerous health benefits, particularly for brain function and potentially in the prevention of diseases like Alzheimer’s. He emphasizes the importance of understanding the different types of sugars and how complex sugars found in natural sources, like plants and mushrooms, can be beneficial. Brad relates this to his own experience as a personal trainer, where he’s learned to move beyond the simplistic categorization of sugars and focus on overall health and longevity for clients over 40.
The episode highlights the potential for polysaccharides in improving cognitive health and the importance of expanding one's understanding of nutrition as part of a comprehensive fitness and wellness plan.
Boost Your Brain and Immune System with Aloe Plant Polysaccharides
In this episode of the Over 40 Fitness Hacks, Brad Williams interviews Dr. John Lewis, focusing on brain health, immune system function, and the benefits of polysaccharides, particularly from rice bran and aloe vera. Dr. Lewis shares how meeting key figures like Dr. McDaniel and hearing patient stories, such as Barbara's, reshaped his career, leading him to study the powerful effects of polysaccharides.
Dr. McDaniel's discovery of polysaccharides' impact on immune signaling, especially for those with HIV, Alzheimer's, and other diseases, was transformative. Polysaccharides, he explains, act like immune system conductors, communicating with the body's organs to enhance immune responses, reduce inflammation, and promote healing.
Dr. Lewis highlights a groundbreaking clinical trial he conducted on Alzheimer's patients using a formula containing these polysaccharides. The trial showed significant cognitive improvements, a result unheard of with current FDA-approved drugs. He also shares the story of Barbara, a thyroid cancer patient who, after being given six months to live, extended her life by nine years, largely credited to a rice bran product.
Throughout the conversation, Dr. Lewis emphasizes the promising potential of polysaccharides, not only in aloe vera and rice bran but also in other sources like lion’s mane mushroom, which has gained popularity due to its high polysaccharide content.
Immunity and Vitality After 40: The Power of Polysaccharides, Vitamin D, and Magnesium
In this episode of the Over 40 Fitness Hacks podcast, host Brad Williams interviews Dr. John Lewis, a nutrition specialist, focusing on the importance of supplements for people over 40. Dr. Lewis emphasizes the role of polysaccharides in supporting immune function, reducing chronic inflammation, and stimulating adult stem cell production. He also highlights the importance of vitamin D, especially for middle-aged and older adults, citing that 70% of Americans are deficient. Magnesium is another key supplement he recommends due to its essential role in cellular function.
Dr. Lewis explains that polysaccharides, which are derived from sources like aloe vera and rice bran, are crucial for immune support and are often missing from typical diets. He shares that his supplement, Daily Brain Care, concentrates these polysaccharides in a convenient powder or capsule form. He stresses that his formula is suitable for people of all ages, including those following keto or carnivore diets, without disrupting ketosis.
Throughout the discussion, Brad shares his own experience with vitamin D and magnesium supplements, noting improvements in energy, sleep, and blood pressure. Dr. Lewis also addresses the need to stay open to different nutritional approaches and explains the difference between using nutrition to support the body’s natural functions versus treating disease.
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John E. Lewis, Ph.D. is the Founder and President of Dr Lewis Nutrition®.
Dr. John E. Lewis has spent most of his career developing a unique approach as someone who “walks the walk” through all of his combined professional and personal experiences to attaining optimal health through nutrition, dietary supplements, and exercise. Throughout his research career, he has evaluated many different nutritional approaches to enhancing well-being, particularly for brain health, immune function, and counteracting aging. He can separate fact from fiction regarding how to utilize nutrition and dietary supplements to help you achieve and maintain optimal health. If you need a trusted source of information, products, and services, then look no further than Dr. Lewis and how he can help you achieve your health-related goals.

Professional Career
Dr. Lewis is past full-time Associate Professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine and the Founder and President of Dr Lewis Nutrition®. He is a Diplomate, Faculty Member, and Advisor of the Medical Wellness Association. He has been the principal investigator of over 30 different studies on human health in his research career. During that time, he either directly raised or indirectly supported raising over $23 million in grants, gifts, and contracts for research studies and clinical trials and educational programs for medical students. In addition to his research, Dr. Lewis has been an invited national and international lecturer and guest speaker at conferences and as a guest on television shows. He is a well-known author with over 180 peer-reviewed publications in some of the world’s leading scientific journals. He has also mentored many different students, from undergraduates to post-doctoral trainees, in not only how to conduct clinical research but to apply the principles of health promotion into daily practice.
For more information about Dr. Lewis’s career, including his scientific publications, please see his academic CV here.

Research Interests
Much of Dr. Lewis’s research has focused on evaluating the effects of nutrition, dietary supplements, and exercise on various aspects of human health. He and his colleagues have been continually searching for ways to help people achieve and maintain health through natural treatments that align with our physiology. A primary stimulus for the origin of Dr Lewis Nutrition®occurred after Dr. Lewis ran his landmark study on how an aloe polysaccharide multi-nutrient complex improved cognitive and immune functioning after 12 months in persons with moderate to severe Alzheimer’s disease, leading to the creation of the dietary supplement, Daily Brain Care. Daily Brain Care showed clinically and statistically significant improvements in cognition according to the ADAS-cog cognition score and statistically significant improvements in inflammation (according to TNFα and VEGF), immune function (according to the CD4/CD8 ratio), and adult stem cells (according to CD14+ cells). His seminal publication from the study in the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease not only spurred him to leave academics and pursue a science-based business career, but also enabled him to be selected for a widely-acclaimed TEDxMiami talk.

Founding Dr Lewis Nutrition®
While Dr. Lewis still maintains an academic affiliation, he chose to leave a full-time research career to pursue his true passion of helping people achieve health through nutrition, dietary supplements, and exercise. His research in brain health and immune function was key in the creation of Daily Brain Care, but afterward he chose to shift into business where the opportunity to reach a larger audience is greater. Dr Lewis Nutrition® is the vehicle through which Dr. Lewis leverages his many years of personal and professional work to spread a message of health that is so desperately needed, particularly for those who are afflicted with an all-too-common chronic disease, e.g., neurodegeneration, immune dysfunction, or cardiac and metabolic disorder. Dr. Lewis will continue to be a thought leader to help people utilize the power of nutrition and dietary supplements and learn how to take control of and optimize their health.
Dr. John E. Lewis embodies the model of optimal health by eating a whole-food, plant-based diet for over 27 years, taking key dietary supplements, such as Daily Brain Care, and through a rigorous, daily exercise training program. He has a passion for helping others to improve their health, and he will continue to study the application of nutrition and dietary supplements for the benefit of mankind.