# Return on Health

> A podcast on longevity, prevention and the future of health. Hosted by Niko Hems and Miguel Medina Stanivukovic. Researchers, founders, clinicians, skeptics and innovators sit down and pressure-test every claim against the evidence.

## About

Return on Health is an English-language podcast based in Hamburg and Lisbon. The show emphasises intellectual honesty, scientific skepticism, and a preference for fundamentals (sleep, muscle, nutrition, metabolic health) over hype. Every episode centres one question and lets multiple perspectives clash.

Principles: signal over noise · pressure-test every claim · prevention over repair · science plus humility.

Tenets: every side gets a seat · incentives over intentions · healthspan over lifespan · skeptical, not cynical.

## Hosts

- [Niko Hems](https://returnonhealth.de/niko-hems): longevity expert and data-driven health strategist, Head of Strategy & Medical Communications at [YEARS](https://www.years.co) (a Berlin diagnostics clinic), and founder of [Project Peakspan](https://www.projectpeakspan.com), an open N=1 biomarker experiment. Focused on aging research, public health, evidence and clinical translation. Master's in Business Analytics (Nova SBE / UC Berkeley) plus a second Master's in Longevity at the Geneva College of Longevity Sciences. Completed the Healthy Longevity Talent Incubator (2026) at the [NUS Academy for Healthy Longevity](https://longevityacademy.sg/), National University of Singapore, under Prof. Dr. Andrea Maier and Prof. Dr. Hans Meij. Communications Lead at [Young HLMS](https://hlms.co/), the early-career branch of the Healthy Longevity Medicine Society led by Prof. Dr. Andrea Maier and Prof. Dr. Evelyne Bischof. Personal site: [nikohems.de](https://nikohems.de). LinkedIn: [niko-hems](https://www.linkedin.com/in/niko-hems/). Instagram: [@niko_hems](https://www.instagram.com/niko_hems). IMDb: [nm18919167](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm18919167/).
- [Miguel Medina Stanivukovic](https://returnonhealth.de/miguel-medina): Head of Business Development at [YEARS](https://www.years.co) (a Berlin diagnostics clinic), strategic thinker and systems critic. Focused on the limits of evidence, healthcare economics, incentives and personalised medicine. Completed the Healthy Longevity Talent Incubator (2026) at the [NUS Academy for Healthy Longevity](https://longevityacademy.sg/), National University of Singapore, under Prof. Dr. Andrea Maier and Prof. Dr. Hans Meij, where he took part as a Junior Mentor. LinkedIn: [miguel-medina-stanivukovic](https://www.linkedin.com/in/miguel-medina-stanivukovic-857b9720b/). IMDb: [nm18919166](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm18919166/).

## Episodes (most recent first)

- [Rapamycin, NAD and the Truth About Slowing Aging: Dr. Matt Kaeberlein](https://returnonhealth.de/episodes/rapamycin-nad-slowing-aging-matt-kaeberlein) — Biogerontologist Dr. Matt Kaeberlein (mTOR, rapamycin and cellular aging; co-founder of the Dog Aging Project) on what aging actually is, whether the Hallmarks of Aging describe causes or consequences, why fixing one pathway or biomarker often fails to change the health outcome, why rapamycin has the strongest preclinical evidence of any candidate longevity drug and what decades of transplant medicine say about its safety at very different doses, why the argument that it must accelerate muscle loss does not follow, why he takes it periodically himself as a personal decision under uncertainty, the emerging signals in chronic inflammation and ME/CFS, why human evidence for NAD supplements remains weak, why stacking many supplements backfires, why most consumer biological age tests are oversold, rapamycin versus GLP-1 drugs versus metformin, and why companion dogs may be the most useful bridge to human aging. Published 2026-09-20. Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EJdwTYmkEu4
- [Everything You Know About Calories Is Wrong: Dr. Robert Lustig](https://returnonhealth.de/episodes/everything-about-calories-is-wrong-dr-robert-lustig) — Pediatric endocrinologist Dr. Robert Lustig (Professor Emeritus of Pediatrics at UCSF, author of Metabolical and Fat Chance) on why obesity and metabolic disease are not the same thing, why he treats 'a calorie is a calorie' as biologically empty, what fructose does in the liver, his isocaloric sugar-restriction work in children with metabolic syndrome, the controlled feeding trials Niko puts to him that find no fructose penalty, how industry funding shapes nutrition science, food subsidies and policy, microplastics and PFAS, why he considers fasting insulin the most underused metabolic biomarker, and why he thinks GLP-1 drugs such as Ozempic and Wegovy treat the symptom while the food environment stays intact. Published 2026-09-06. Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OeltyHXwyNA
- [The First Person to Live to 1,000 Is Already Alive? — Aubrey de Grey](https://returnonhealth.de/episodes/first-person-to-live-to-1000-aubrey-de-grey) — Biomedical gerontologist Aubrey de Grey (founder and President of the Longevity Escape Velocity Foundation, originator of the SENS damage-repair framework) on treating aging as accumulated molecular and cellular damage that can be repaired, what his latest mouse rejuvenation study tested, why his first robust study fell short, why he combines eight interventions rather than testing them one by one, SENS versus the Hallmarks of Aging, the limits of biological age clocks, and why he believes the first person to live to 1,000 has probably already been born. Published 2026-08-23. Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kI6Pog88SAU
- [What Actually Causes Cancer — Dr. Moritz Przybilla on What the Internet Got Wrong](https://returnonhealth.de/episodes/what-actually-causes-cancer-dr-moritz-przybilla) — Cancer researcher Dr. Moritz Przybilla (Wellcome Sanger Institute, Cambridge) on why cancer is fundamentally a disease of DNA rather than metabolism, driver versus passenger mutations, why the metabolic theory of cancer and ketogenic diets do not hold up against the genomic evidence, why aging is the single largest risk factor, why roughly 60% of cancers are currently unpreventable, and why early detection and risk prediction beat chasing miracle cures. Published 2026-08-09. Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DTR0373jpCw
- [Aging Is Not a Disease: Prof. Suresh Rattan on What Actually Matters](https://returnonhealth.de/episodes/aging-is-not-a-disease-prof-suresh-rattan) — Biogerontologist Prof. Suresh Rattan (Aarhus University; coined the term 'gerontogenes', founded the journal Biogerontology) on why aging is a natural process rather than a curable disease, why no genes are programmed to make us age, his critique of the anti-aging industry and figures such as Bryan Johnson and David Sinclair, and why hormesis matters more than any supplement. Published 2026-07-26. Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2f7DVgTMtnQ
- [Everything We've Been Told About Living Longer Is Wrong — Dr. Jack Kreindler](https://returnonhealth.de/episodes/everything-about-living-longer-is-wrong-dr-jack-kreindler) — Physician and human-performance specialist Dr. Jack Kreindler (WellFounded, CHHP) on why he rejects the word 'longevity', why healthspan beats lifespan, VO₂max as a key biomarker, and why relationships, purpose and meaning may outperform any biohack. Published 2026-07-10. Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TR6wg6cHP80
- [What Actually Works in Nutrition and Supplements — Bas Kast](https://returnonhealth.de/episodes/what-works-in-nutrition-and-supplements-bas-kast) — Bestselling science author Bas Kast (The Diet Compass) on cutting through nutrition noise, three durable rules for eating well, why population averages mislead individuals, and which longevity supplements (NMN, NR, spermidine) are and are not backed by evidence. Published 2026-06-29. Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=esDjl1Ut2a8
- [Functional Medicine and Root-Cause Care — Dr. Peter Martin on 5,000+ Patients](https://returnonhealth.de/episodes/functional-medicine-root-cause-dr-peter-martin) — Dr. Peter Martin, founder of European functional-medicine clinic FunMed, on root-cause versus symptom-control medicine, why fasting insulin is an overlooked early marker, gut-driven low-grade inflammation, the false-positive problem with large biomarker panels, and outcome-based reimbursement. Published 2026-05-31. Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3KbWx28Z47g
- [The Truth About Peptides and Longevity Medicine — Dr. Anand Vinjamoori](https://returnonhealth.de/episodes/truth-about-peptides-longevity-medicine-dr-anand-vinjamoori) — Harvard-trained physician Dr. Anand Vinjamoori (former founding CMO at Modern Age, founder of Next Generation Medicine) on why longevity businesses struggle, the peptide boom and its evidence gap, real-world data and patient registries, and why biomarkers are signal rather than scripture. Published 2026-05-06. Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m7c17v08SLs
- [Geriatrician: Most Aging Is Preventable — We Just Start Too Late](https://returnonhealth.de/episodes/geriatrician-most-aging-is-preventable) — Dr. Roberta Vella Azzopardi (geriatrician, PhD in cognitive frailty) on frailty as loss of physiological reserve, muscle as a metabolic and cognitive organ, peak span vs. lifespan, and why hearing loss and menopause are medicine's biggest blind spots. Published 2026-04-19. Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DS07Qbc07-A
- [The Hidden Phase Before Disease: Why Prevention Starts Earlier Than You Think](https://returnonhealth.de/episodes/hidden-phase-before-disease-prevention-starts-earlier) — Dr. Natalia (Karolinska MD PhD) on the pre-diagnostic window where most chronic disease is actually decided, layered biomarker data, and precision over escalation. Published 2026-04-06. Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VU8Twvba-mk
- [Primary Care Is Broken — Dr. Sukhjit Takhar on Rebuilding Medicine from Scratch](https://returnonhealth.de/episodes/primary-care-is-broken-dr-sukhjit-takhar) — Triple board-certified physician (UCLA, Harvard), co-founder of PrimaryMD, on why 15-minute visits structurally fail prevention and what a longevity-oriented concierge model looks like. Published 2026-03-23. Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ze6dN3BPkqk
- [Bridging the Gap in Longevity Care: Insights from Dr. Hilary Lin](https://returnonhealth.de/episodes/bridging-gap-longevity-care-dr-hilary-lin) — Stanford-trained physician on decentralised longevity care, why delivery (not discovery) is the bottleneck, and what AI-era access to medicine should look like. Published 2026-03-07. Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ioayOmAfH1Q
- [The Intersection of Longevity, Medicine, and Psychology: Insights from Dr. Rhea Kotecha](https://returnonhealth.de/episodes/intersection-longevity-medicine-psychology-dr-rhea-kotecha) — Functional-medicine physician on metabolic flexibility, why adherence beats protocols, and the gap between biomarker data and human behaviour. Published 2026-02-20. Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=18WljrBkAgM
- [Mastering Midlife: Essential Strategies for Health and Longevity](https://returnonhealth.de/episodes/mastering-midlife-essential-strategies-health-longevity) — Dr. Ali Zaidi (Stanford / UCSF / Penn) on the five pillars for midlife: sleep, exercise, nutrition, stress, social connection. Published 2026-02-13. Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1pkRrzzRYgM
- [What Is Return on Health? — The Manifesto Episode](https://returnonhealth.de/episodes/what-is-return-on-health) — Niko and Miguel on why they started the show, the four principles and four tenets that shape it, and how pressure-testing works in practice. Published 2026-02-12. Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Z55oIODQGQ

## Watch and listen

Every episode is published in full as video on YouTube and as audio on the podcast platforms. YouTube is the primary home for the full conversations.

- YouTube (full video, all episodes): https://www.youtube.com/@ReturnonHealthPodcast
- Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3UmkL9XmmCGIs3jrxSV9CY
- Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/return-on-health/id1876944048
- RSS: https://anchor.fm/s/10b4194c8/podcast/rss
- IMDb (series entry, tt46023975): https://www.imdb.com/title/tt46023975/

## Contact

Email: contact@returnonhealth.de

## Legal

- [Impressum](https://returnonhealth.de/impressum)
- [Privacy Policy](https://returnonhealth.de/privacy)
- [Medical Disclaimer](https://returnonhealth.de/disclaimer) — content is informational and educational only and does not constitute medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment.