Prepare to rethink surgery, healing, anesthesia, and recovery. This episode gives you a complete, high-performance playbook for surgical preparation and accelerated healing, built on biohacking, functional medicine, neuroprotection, and mitochondrial resilience. You will learn how to recover up to three times faster, protect your brain from anesthesia related inflammation, and enter any procedure with the stability and metabolic readiness of an elite performer.
Host Dave Asprey talks with Dr. Cameron Chesnut, a facial plastic surgeon trusted by the world’s high performers. Patients travel from every corner of the globe for his minimally invasive results that look natural, rejuvenated, and untouched. He is known for progressive regenerative medicine techniques, brain safe anesthesia protocols, advanced postoperative recovery strategies, and a personal commitment to performance readiness that mirrors the mindset of elite athletes. His methods bridge functional medicine, metabolism, supplements, sleep optimization, nootropics, and regenerative science to transform the entire surgical experience.
Listen to the FULL-LENGTH version of this episode on your favorite audio platform:
-Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-human-upgrade-biohacking-for-longevity-performance/id451295014
-Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2mkB9OoukPVKCTKSuAIgCq
Together, they reveal how to avoid the hidden pitfalls that create postoperative brain fog, inflammation, mitochondrial dysfunction, and slow recovery. You learn how to work with your anesthesiologist, avoid harmful drug combinations, and stack ketones, fasting, NAD, glutathione, stem cell rich fat grafts, IV therapy, and hyperbarics for rapid healing. Dr. Chesnut explains why fillers migrate, why general anesthesia often disrupts cognition, how exogenous ketones stabilize neurons, and how regenerative peptides, ketosis, circadian timing, and nutritional density shift the biology of recovery.
You’ll Learn:
• How Host Dave Asprey prepares his brain and mitochondria before anesthesia
• Why standard anesthesia protocols increase neuroinflammation and cognitive dysfunction
• How to use ketamine and dexmedetomidine instead of benzos, opiates, and amnesia drugs
• Why fillers migrate and how regenerative fat grafting outperforms traditional filler
• How exogenous ketones enhance neuronal stability during anesthesia
• Why hyperbarics, red light, PEMF, and IV therapy shorten recovery time
• How peptides like BPC, GHK copper, and TB4 support tissue repair
• Why metabolic health, carnivore leaning nutrition, and real protein accelerate healing
• How nicotine influences angiogenesis and when it can help
• The real difference between healing fast and healing well
• How to structure your recovery environment for sleep optimization and better outcomes
• Why elite performers treat surgery like an athletic event and prepare the same way
• How to talk to your surgical team so your biology stays protected and optimized
Thank you to our sponsors!
-Essentia | Go to https://myessentia.com/dave and use code DAVE for $100 off The Dave Asprey Upgrade.
-ECHO Water | Go to http://echowater.com/dave and use code DAVE10 for 10% off your ECHO Flask.
-ARMRA | Go to https://tryarmra.com/ and use the code DAVE to get 15% off your first order.
-Caldera + Lab | Go to https://calderalab.com/DAVE and use code DAVE at checkout for 20% off your first order.
Timestamps:
0:00 – Trailer
2:05 – Pre-Surgery Optimization
5:41 – Stem Cells and Fat Transfer
9:28 – Brain Safe Anesthesia
15:43 – Propofol Alternatives
21:06 – Non Opioid Pain Control
27:22 – Recovery Protocols
29:11 – Xenon Gas Insights
31:02 – Racetams and Brain Protection
33:18 – IV Glutathione
43:24 – Ketones for Surgery
44:06 – Growth Hormone and Peptides
55:57 – Nicotine and Healing
58:37 – Surgical Lighting
1:05:23 – Filler Migration
1:15:18 – Final Takeaways
Resources:
• Cameron’s Clinic: www.clinic5c.com
Connect with Dave Asprey!
Website: https://daveasprey.com
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@daveaspreyofficial
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dave.asprey/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Daveaspreyofficial/
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YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/daveaspreybpr
The Human Upgrade Podcast: https://www.instagram.com/TheHumanUpgradePodcast/ https://m.facebook.com/Thehumanupgrade/
Danger Coffee: https://dangercoffee.com/DAVE15
Dave Asprey’s BEYOND Conference: https://beyondconference.com/
Dave Asprey’s New Book – Heavily Meditated: https://daveasprey.com/heavily-meditated/
Dave’s favorite supplements: https://www.shopsuppgradelabs.com/discount/DAVE15
Upgrade Collective: https://www.ourupgradecollective.com
Upgrade Labs: https://upgradelabs.com
40 Years of Zen: https://40yearsofzen.com
