Innate Biology produces supplements to mimic the same cellular benefits you would get from fasting, without having to fast. Their formulation uses a unique combination of natural human molecules and has been clinically shown to produce the same anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, and cardioprotective benefits of fasting — so you can live life and thrive. Sibling founders Dr. Chris Rhodes and Caitlin Beatty share their journey to unleashing a healthier life below.

Using fasting as a roadmap to optimal human functionality we’re decoding and recreating our body’s innate “bio-programs” for cellular health and regeneration with the world’s first fasting mimetic supplement.

Dr. Chris Rhodes, CEO of Innate Biology

We’ve all explored ways to enhance our own health, whether diet, exercise, food, or drug — can you tell us what you are working on and how that led you to found Innate Biology? 

I’ve spent the majority of my scientific career studying human fasting at the University of California at Davis and can say first hand that fasting is one of the most powerful nutritional interventions out there for increasing human health. I can also say as someone who spent two years practicing alternate-day-fasting, that it can be a pain in the butt (if not impossible) to actually put into long-term practice and it’s definitely not for everyone.

While I felt the physical benefits of fasting, I also experienced a lot of social isolation and missed out on a lot of experiences that actually make life worth living. Until one day my sister (and now COO) asked me, “What’s the point of living longer if it means you have to live less?” and that was the big inspiration for me that there had to be a better way to get these amazing health benefits without sacrificing life in the process. And thus Innate Biology was born. Using fasting as a roadmap to optimal human functionality we’re decoding and recreating our body’s innate “bio-programs” for cellular health and regeneration with the world’s first fasting mimetic supplement. 

What breakthrough did you achieve during SOSV’s IndieBio program?

Our biggest accomplishment was pulling off a clinical study at UC Davis during the tail end of the pandemic. We were able to show that supplementing with our fasting mimetic was able to mimic the anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, and cardioprotective effects of fasting in human subjects even when they were eating. Best of all, supplementing with the fasting mimetic was able to increase plasma cholesterol efflux ability, which is the golden standard clinical marker of cardiovascular disease and directly related to the prevention of arterial plaque formation. Having clinical data showing that the fasting mimetic works to fight against the negative effects of eating and move a validated clinical disease marker was a huge win for us.

How does Innateness support human health over the long term?

Innate is a really unique company that takes a widely overlooked and undervalued approach to solving human health:  actually studying humans! Our fasting mimetics are designed exclusively from human research and are made of the same natural human molecules that the body produces during a prolonged fast. 

By recreating the regenerative and protective state of fasting through supplementation we are providing people with a whole host of beneficial effects from autophagy to cognitive boosts to reductions in cellular inflammation. Even better, we’ve shown that our fasting mimetic combination can provide holistic long-term benefits and extend the lifespan of model organisms by a whopping 96%.

Tell us about your team

We have a really robust team of scientists, serial entrepreneurs, academic professors, and business advisors in the supplement space. I’m a PhD in Nutritional Biochemistry and a nutrition influencer on TikTok with over 150K followers (@thatnutritiondr; like, follow, subscribe!). Our COO (and my sister), Caitlin Beatty, has years of startup experience in biotech and athletics (she’s a national champion in both field hockey AND tennis; nbd). Our third co-founder, Dr. Angela Zivkovic, is a PhD in Clinical Nutrition and a tenured professor in UC Davis’ nutrition department providing both academic expertise and clinical research capabilities to Innate.

Can you share how you are taking Innate to market?

We’re going to market as a direct-to-consumer e-commerce brand and leveraging my TikTok following as our early adopter customer base to drive enthusiasm and awareness around the brand. Our fasting mimetic is just our first product, with more supplement formulations on the way based on data from our clinical trials. We’re also teaming up with Hatch San Francisco which has done some legendary brands (SmartWater, Smashmallow, and Krave Jerky) to develop our visual identity and unique market positioning. 

What does the future Chris say to the current Chris? 

I would hope that I say something useful like, “Buy more Dogecoin!”, but in all honesty it would probably be something more cryptic and Yoda-esque like, “How is a raven like a writing desk?” just so I could laugh at my past self scrambling around trying to find the answer to life in a Lewis Carol quote.