GLP-1 Alone Isn't enough - MOTS-c Is the Missing Metabolic Link
26 Dec 2025 · 18 min
Lindsey Burwell explores MOTS-c, a mitochondrial peptide that activates AMPK and may reduce liver damage when stacked with GLP-1 drugs. Preclinical studies show it suppresses fibrosis markers and improves metabolic health. She uses 10 units daily on a 5-on-2-off schedule.
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Welcome to the Biohack Method. I am Lindsey Burwell. I break down the science, cut the fluff, and give you real tools to optimize your body with peptides, transdermal patches, and root cause biohacking that actually works. Welcome back to the Biohacked Method podcast. This is Lindsay Burwell, and I don't know about you, but this holiday season is flying by. Like, I can't even believe Christmas is in like, what, nine days or something like that? So I think it's also been hard because it's been literally 80 degrees here in Arizona. My family flew into town and we have been legit, like laying by a pool and swimming and tanning. And I'm like, I don't know if it's Christmas or if it's June. I don't know if Santa is coming on a sleigh or a, like a snow or a ski. And I'm like, what is happening? Honestly though, I'm kind of loving it. I myself have been taking the tanning peptide and laying out, getting a little pre winter tan. So we're not mad about that. But no, I'm so pumped because we actually just launched a new peptide in the natural peptide space. And I want to do a little deep dive on this because it is, I think, going to be one of the most popular peptides going into 2026, specially stacked with some of our current ones. So if you really care about energy, if you really care about metabolism, if you really care about feeling incredible every day, which I feel like would be everybody, then I want you to listen to this whole podcast because it's going to have so many good nuggets on what it is, how to use it, and really exactly what it's activating inside of your body. One thing I want to also call out is if you're new here, we work with research peptides and we also offer what is called the Peptide Portal. This is our little portal infrastructure that has been built for peptide users and communities so you could talk and connect with other people who are utilizing peptides, whether they are the same ones you're using or maybe they're different ones that you can learn from. We also have all of the science and research on every single peptide protocol that we work with. So nice little deep dive. So if you're like, what is this one? What does this one do? And then we have some other different tools just to help you maximize your results. Because what I have noticed in the peptide space is you have kind of two options. A, you can Go to a doctor and you can get the pharmaceutical peptides or you can go on the black market if you will and get research peptides. With research peptides you get zero support. You get the peptide, you get the vial, you don't get anything else because really they're just for research purposes only. There's no support. You don't know what you're dosing, you don't know how to mix it. You got to kind of do all that research yourself, which for some people that's great. Or you know, there's the go to a doctor, you get a prescription and maybe sign up for their concierge type, you know, weight loss program. And so something that I have always felt on mission about is to provide kind of a middle ground where you know, you're, you don't have to go to a pharmacy, but you're not just getting research peptides, you're able to get a little layer of support. And so that is what the peptide portal is. And what I'm even more excited about with this portal is that we did hire on a new nurse practitioner who offers not just messaging support but one on ones. If you want to have a full like peptide dosing strategy session, that one is just so great so you know exactly what you're doing. And then she also offers a four month biohack program where this includes weekly accountability calls to make sure you're staying on track with your goals. If any adjustments or dosing changes need to happen, she can support you on that. We can do labs, we can, you know, really do anything that we need to to really make sure that you are getting the best bang for your buck. So make sure to check those out if you are a client, if you're not, just know that there are different layers of support if you are thinking about peptides and you can always message us or email us if you have any questions on the details of each. But with that said, let's kind of dive into MOT C because this truly, like I said, I think is going to be a big player in the peptide world moving into 2026. And I want you to think of Mot C and we're calling this the Mitochondria Protoc protocol because literally what it does is it makes your, the mitochondria, which is the energy houses of your cells, basically superhumans. It, it biohacks them up and it makes them supercharged. And I always say like, I want you to think of your body not like a gut, not like a metabolism, not like a Brain, not like a liver. Don't like isolate your body out, right? I want you to think of your body ultimately just as a group of trillions of cells. You basically are just a bunch of a bunch of cells. And the energy house of those cells is what is called the mitochondria. So MOT C basically goes in there and it recharges the mitochondria. So I want you to think about your life and maybe there's been times where you're going hard, hard, hard. And like especially getting into the new year, a lot of us will tend to get on that, like eat less, eat cleaner, eat or go harder, work out harder, or work out more mentality. But maybe it's not about going harder, but it's about helping your cells remember how to function. And that's literally what MOT C is going to do. So MOT C has become honestly one of my favorite peptides. And I think it's the most underrated too, because it's not just another peptide made in the lab. MOD C is a mitochondrial encoded, which is crazy because it actually means it comes from the mitochondria themselves, like the cells, power plants. It's not just like a lab made peptide. So I want you to think about this for a second. So your mitochondria, they don't just make energy, they actually send messages to the rest of your body about how to adapt, how to survive and how to perform, especially under stress. And MOT C is one of those messages. Okay, so I kind of also like to describe it as a exercise mimetic. So wait, wait a second, let me explain this a little bit more. And a mitochondrial sparkle arc plug. It basically tells yourselves like, hey, act like we've been training really hard and working out really, really hard. Now adapt, burn fuel even better and get even more efficient at metabolizing that fuel. So that's literally what Mati is doing. It's saying, hey, just FYI, we have just trained for a marathon. I want you, I want you to adapt, I want you to burn better and I want you to get more efficient. And that's, it's doing that even when you haven't even been going hard. So that's what's so cool like that. It's basically that exercise memetic and that mitochondrial spark plug powerhouse together into this peptide. Here's kind of another like simple way that I was like telling a friend on how to understand MOT C. So imagine two people. There's one who trains consistently, recovers really well and adapts right? Just keeps on going. And then you have another friend who does the same exact training, but feels so inflamed, insulin resistant and just so tired. Like after that workout, they need a nap. The difference isn't willpower, it's cellular signaling. MOT C helps shift your cells into that athlete like state where fuel is burned more clean, insulin sensitivity improves, meaning you can metabolize carbs better, you're in more of a fat burn, your mitochondria work more efficiently and stress doesn't wreck your system. And this is why I seriously say like Motsi doesn't just force energy, it really restores that adaptability. And that is so big because sometimes it is the stress inside our body. We're like, oh my God, I'm doing all the things right. But it's that cortisol, it's that stress where your body is not able to maximize on all the good work you're doing. Here's another really fun thing because you know how much I love the liver. If you've been around here for a second, my daughter even like side note, told her teacher, yeah, I don't know what my mom does for work, but something with the liver. And it's probably because I do so many detox workshops and we're always talking about how important the liver is. But here's, so here's what's so fun. There's actually a direct link between MOT C and our liver. And there's actually a cool study that highlighted this. So in 2024, there's a paper in the Cell Reports that showed Mot C actually reversed NASH in mice. So that's non alcoholic fatty liver. And this is what's crazy. So less liver fat, less inflammat cell death, less fibrosis. So less scar tissue. Then here is another study in 2025, Scientific Reports showed that Motsi combined with exercise improved diabetic liver fibrosis by activating something called the key. It's KEAP1 and the NRF2 antioxidant pathway. And then it's also been shown to shut down the tgf, which is a pro fibrotic signaling. So what does this mean? It basically means better mitochondrial functioning, stronger antioxidant defenses, less scarring, healthier liver tissue. Like you guys, this is next level metabolic support. It's so crazy. Like I'm, I really do truly like, side note, believe the root of all hormonal imbalance, imbalances, metabolism imbalances, all of this is coming from our liver detox Pathway errors and sugar metabolism. And if we can support those, like, everything will heal itself. I truly have believed that just from my own research, my own, you know, experience working with at this point, thousand of clients. Like, it really is so powerful and rooted into both of those. Okay, so let's talk about Motsi and kind of like what I'm doing personally with it. So in my own peptide stack right now, I am personally taking 10 units of moths daily. I'm doing this five days on and two days off. And I'm kind of doing it like, make my liver and muscles act like an athlete type shot. I'm like, this is for my liver, this is for my muscles also too. Like, I have felt a little rundown just with holiday, the hustle, all the things I'm working on, like within my work and just also trying to show up as a mom, as a friend, as a wife, Just be there for everyone, right? I have felt a little run down. And so I'm just really trying to do everything I can can to boost my cells, support my body so I don't burn out, so I don't hit the SOS red light where I'm like regretting life. I've also, side note, been doing a little bit more breath work. I just tried to sound bath for the first time. Just being more mindful of like, our bodies can go pretty hard, but they also do need rest. And so I've been doing that and then adding in Motsi and I mean, I've been a, I've been a marathon. I, I just did a half marathon on Saturday actually. Training for a high rocks again. The holidays got multiple businesses taking off right now. Kids with all the activities, family with all the things happening. So I would say this is a pretty, pretty sick stack if it, if I weren't to say so myself. But I kind of going back to like Motsi again. Like, what am I using it for? What am I doing it for? I like to kind of think of Motsi this way. So like, if gop, if those type of peptides, like retatrutide, terzepatide, if they're good at draining stored fat, then Mots C is making sure my liver knows how to burn that fat fuel cleanly. Okay, that is so huge. Like, literally so huge. It's like turning on an engine instead of just dumping gas all over the tank. Okay, Huge, huge, huge distinction. So because fat loss without metabolic flexibility, it can truly leave you like exhausted, fat flat, inflamed. And Motsi really can help kind of prevent that crash. So it's just, I think it's a powerhouse, guys. Again, I'm going to say it one more time. 20, 20, 26. Keep your eyes on MOT C because it's coming in hot. Here's a little more science too, because I have some friends that are like, well, what's the science? What's the science? So here's a little science. We won't get too boring with it. But one of Matz's biggest superpowers is AMPK activation. This is so big. So if you've ever fasted or exercised, you have activated ampk. It's the master switch that tells your body to burn fat and improve insulin sensitivity, increase mitochondrial efficiency. And in a landmark study in 2015, MOT C improved insulin sensitivity and reduced fat gain by up to 35% in a diet induced obesity models. And another study showed it improved skeletal muscle glucose uptake and prevented hormone related metabolic dysfunction, reducing fat accumulation by 20 to 30%. At the cellular level, Motsi directly regulates antioxidant metabolic genes. And basically that just means you're going to be more resilient, lex oxidative stress load on your body and a better response to stress in general. So it's not like a stimulation type peptide. It's really more of like your, it's a peptide to help your body adapt, adapt to stress, like adapt and go. Adapt and go. Because we have so many clients on GLP peptides, which is amazing, I want you to kind of think of this as like a power pack stack and this is how you can kind of do it. So if you're using like a GLP1, a tirzepatide or retatrutide, you're already kind of shifting your appetite, your blood sugar, gastric emptying and fat mobilization. But this is the part most people miss that GLPs mobilize fat. They don't improve mitochondrial efficiency, they do not support liver fat oxidation and they don't activate ampk. And that's where Motsi can be like so brilliant with fat with the GLP1. So think here's kind of like how they can work together, right? So GLP1 that's going to drain the tank, Mot C is going to burn the fuel cleanly. So GLP1 is going to improve appetite, but Mot C is going to improve the metabolism. So GLP is going to help you lose fat, but MOT C is going to help you process and break down that fat and the GLP again. It's going to help with blood sugar, but Motsi improves insulin sensitivity. So what I like to tell clients is GLP make weight loss possible, but Motsi really makes weight loss healthy. So this combo should feel really clean, strong. You're going to feel more energized, more stable, and instead of maybe sometimes people have that little bit of a GLP crash, right, this is going to prevent that. It's just so awesome. Okay, one more stack that I'm kind of like obsessing over is MOT C with NAD plus. So you actually can combine both those together. And here's kind of the interesting thing that will happen. So NAD that is going to fuel your energy production. But MOT C flips the metabolic switch. So instead of just pushing for energy, you're upgrading the system that makes it. This is why people most often describe Motsi as a feeling. They're like, I just feel clean, I feel steady, I feel strong, I feel grounded. They don't feel wired, they don't feel buzzy, they don't feel forced. So I really just. Ultimately, you guys think that this peptide is so powerful and it's really going to be for those who like, might feel metabolically stuck, who maybe are like losing weight but feel tired, maybe they have some insulin resistant or blood sugar issues, they want to start supporting liver health and they, they are currently on a GLP and want to stack something with it. Complimentary. And maybe for people who want longevity, not just for fat loss. Right. It's really for people who want their bodies to work better and not just smaller. And I want to say that again, MOT C is for people who want their bodies to work better, not just be small. We're talking health span, we're talking longevity. This is absolutely huge. So if there's one thing I want you to take home from today, it's this. Your body already knows how to adapt. Sometimes it just needs the right signal. And Mon C is one of those signals. It doesn't override your biology, it reminds it. And in a world where everyone is pushing harder, restricting more and freaking burning out, I've been there. Supporting your mitochondria might be the most intelligent move you can make. Okay, so if you have any questions, if you're curious, you know, for more information, definitely feel free to reach out if you want support. You're currently on peptides. You can absolutely have access into the peptide portal. You don't need to purchase peptides in order to do that. Just let us know. And I'm just going to end with saying this information in this podcast really is just for educational purposes only. So this is not medical advice. Peptides are research compounds. They are not FDA approved treatments and they are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease. Always consult with a licensed medical provider before starting, stopping or combining any peptide, medication or supplement. And no, I am not a medical doctor, I do not provide medical care, I do not diagnose treat conditions and I am not responsible for any actions that listeners choose to take or not take with this information. The use of peptides is at your own risk and any decisions made from this content are for sole the sole responsibility of the listener. I just take what has worked for me, what has worked with clients I've worked with as well as just my own research and use the platform just to share from my heart what I've seen and what has worked. So if you have any questions at all, please feel free to reach out and I hope you all have an amazing day. We'll catch you on the next podcast. Take care. That's it for today's episode of the biohack Method. If this lit something up in you, do me a favor, share it. Tag me at Lindsey Berwick Wellness and drop a review. 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