In the sixth episode of The Healing Terrain, Dr. Drew Kidder is joined by Dr. Darren Schmidt to discuss mitochondrial function and where it belongs in a clinical protocol.
The conversation covers what inhibits mitochondrial function, how binders work, why drainage pathways must be open before deeper detoxification begins, and the sequence that follows.
Why Mitochondrial Function Comes First
Dr. Kidder opened with, "Organ systems don't fail, they fail first because they lack energy. And that energy comes from mitochondria."
Dr. Schmidt identified toxins and organisms as the primary inhibitors of that energy production. He also described the practitioner shift he expects to follow.
"I have kiddingly and not so kiddingly said that the doctor of the future is going to be an MD. The doctor of today is an MD, but not a medical doctor, a mitochondrial doctor."
Clearing Before Building
Asked where a practitioner should begin, Dr. Schmidt described order rather than a specific intervention.
"A good place to start looking at improving health is to clean the body out. And that's true for anything. If you're going to clean, make your house better, step one is to clean it. If you have a pond with no fish, clean it and then put the fish in there. Clean the bad stuff out, put the good stuff in later."
He clarified that nutrients are not being deprioritized, only sequenced.
"You can put good stuff in now. But the effects aren't as great if your body's battling these toxins and inhibited from normal function."
Why Toxic Burden Is Systemic, Not Local
Dr. Schmidt addressed the tendency to treat a finding as isolated to one organ or tissue.
"You can't just say somebody has mercury in their thyroid, or you can't just say that there's an organism in their finger. If they have mercury in the thyroid, why not everywhere?"
He connected that to scale.
"In those 35 to 40 trillion cells in the body and the hundreds to thousands of mitochondria in every cell, any organ, gland, or cell in the body is not going to function properly. Bottom line, period."
Because mitochondria are present in nearly every cell, a burden reaching them is not confined to a single site.
A Century of Mitochondrial Research
Dr. Schmidt traced the science back further than most current discussions of it.
Lactic acidosis was part of the standard medical curriculum in the 1930s.¹ "Back in the thirties, every doctor of medicine and every student of medicine learned about lactic acidosis, and they're trying to fix it with minerals, and they're trying to do all these things to fix it. And they weren't very successful."
Mitochondrial function was understood later, and the two turned out to be connected. "Now we know that both lactic acidosis and mitochondrial dysfunction happened at the same time."
He set the starting point in 1929 and named the researchers behind it, including Cori, Otto Warburg, and Hans Krebs.²,³,⁴,⁵
"Tons of Nobel prizes. This is the foundation of healthcare. And a lot of that was actually lost after 1961. Because of World War II and the power of the pharmaceutical companies after that, we went so drug-based in the 60s, 70s, 80s."
Nutrition returned to the conversation in the 1990s. Dr. Kidder noted that the modalities now grouped under longevity and biohacking, including red light therapy, support a mechanism documented for a century.
What Interferes With Mitochondrial Function
Dr. Schmidt grouped mitochondrial stressors into chemicals, metals, and radioactive elements, and described the downstream effects: blocked or unproduced enzymes, slowed circulation, and stagnation of interstitial and lymphatic flow.
"So the cells then end up with these toxins. And they can't dump them, they can't get cleaned."
He included organisms in the same category, noting that bacteria and viruses produce their own chemicals and form biofilm that further slows circulation.
"It's just a mess. It's a toxic soup. Clean it all out, that's the solution."
He also described revising his own approach. Earlier in his career, he matched a specific mineral or agent to a specific metal. "No, it's just like doing an overall series of binders. And keep it really simple, but you gotta stick with it, get through it, crack it."
How Binders Work
Dr. Schmidt gave a direct definition of a binder and the route it follows.
"A binder grabs on the toxins and holds onto them, and then your body gets that out of the body."
"Ideally, it's going through the liver, gallbladder, and intestines. Some will go out the kidneys, but the liver is stronger. The kidneys are a little bit fragile."
Dr. Kidder connected that back to mitochondrial function, noting that the liver and kidneys require working mitochondria to perform that clearance. Dr. Schmidt added that nutrient support matters alongside binding, and referenced MitoActive with CoQ10 as an example of supplying the mitochondria directly.*
Why Drainage Comes Before Detox
Dr. Schmidt defined drainage and identified the organs involved.
"Drainage is the process that the body naturally goes through to detoxify itself. And the main organs would be colon, liver, kidneys, and of course the lymphatic system."
He listed lungs, skin, and sinuses as secondary routes of excretion, and said congestion in any of them is worth addressing directly.
He then stated the sequencing rule.
"When the drainage organs are working well, then you can take the next step. Then you can start some of the organism cleansing and heavy amount of detox, et cetera. But if you don't have good drainage, then you're going to get stuck. You're going to be miserable."
Dr. Kidder described the same failure differently. "You can't detoxify. You're gonna keep on flushing that plugged toilet and cause overflow."
What Practitioners Get Wrong
Asked what mistakes he sees, Dr. Schmidt pointed to reliance on therapies that do not produce results. He distinguished between approaches that do not work at all and approaches that work but are less effective than available alternatives.
His recommendation was directed at practitioners rather than patients.
"Practitioners just need to keep up with the latest and greatest information and be able to change their mind and be able to drop some supplements and add on new supplements for their patients."
Listen to the Full Episode
Why Every Protocol Starts With Mitochondria is available on Dr. Talks, Apple, Spotify, and YouTube.
References
1. Glancy B, Kane DA, Kavazis AN, Goodwin ML, Willis WT, Gladden LB. Mitochondrial lactate metabolism: history and implications for exercise and disease. J Physiol. 2021;599(3):863-888. doi:10.1113/JP278930
2. Gerty Cori - Facts. NobelPrize.org. Nobel Prize Outreach. Accessed August 25, 2026. https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/medicine/1947/cori-gt/facts/
3. The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 1947. NobelPrize.org. Nobel Prize Outreach. Accessed August 25, 2026. https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/medicine/1947/summary/
4. Otto Warburg - Facts. NobelPrize.org. Nobel Prize Outreach. Accessed August 25, 2026. https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/medicine/1931/warburg/facts/
5. Hans Krebs - Facts. NobelPrize.org. Nobel Prize Outreach. Accessed August 25, 2026. https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/medicine/1953/krebs/facts/
*These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. These products are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.
