Stem Cells 101: Your Complete Guide to Understanding Stem Cells and How Supporting Them Impacts the Health of Your Whole Body

Ever wonder why bouncing back from a hard workout or injury takes longer as the years go by — or why recovering from surgery or illness feels more challenging than it once did? The answer often lies in one of the body’s most powerful regenerative building blocks: stem cells. These microscopic “repair” cells are essential for recovery, repair, and even slowing aspects of the aging process. When they are plentiful, stem cells work tirelessly to regenerate damaged tissues, reduce inflammation, and rebuild muscle efficiently. 

The challenge is that stem cell levels decline significantly with age. By the time you reach your 30s, your stem cell reserves may have dropped by as much as 90%, and they continue to diminish over time. This steep decline impacts far more than your workout recovery — it weakens your body’s ability to heal injuries, repair damaged tissue, fight illness, and bounce back from illness.

With fewer circulating stem cells, the body struggles to keep up with the daily wear and tear of life, not to mention the added strain of illness, injury, aging, or chronic health conditions. As this gap between damage and repair widens, the body can no longer fully restore itself. The result is a gradual decline in overall health simply because it can no longer repair everything that needs fixing.

The good news is research has shown that if you can increase the number of circulating stem cells in your body, you can improve your body’s own ability to repair itself. Essentially, supporting your body’s built-in repair system.

This article will give you a clear understanding of what stem cells are, why supporting them matters, how aging affects them, stem cell therapy, and why a growing number of people, including health practitioners and biohackers, are turning to natural, plant-based stem-cell support as part of their health strategy.

What Are Stem Cells and How Are They Connected to Body Repair and Recovery?

To understand why stem cells matter so much for repair, recovery, and healthy living and aging, it helps to compare them with the other cells in your body.

Most of the cells you’re familiar with—known as somatic cells—are highly specialized. Each one is built for a single purpose and cannot change roles or replicate endlessly. These cells perform their specific function until they naturally wear out, at which point the body replaces them.

Stem cells, however, operate very differently. Stem cells are cells that have not yet taken on a specific role in the body. Because they are not specialized, they have two important abilities. First, they can make exact copies of themselves, maintaining the stem cell supply over time. Second, they can develop into many different types of cells, such as heart, lung, liver, skin, or brain cells.

In fact, every specialized cell in your body began as a stem cell before developing into its final form. Unlike somatic cells, which are limited to one function, stem cells can adapt to the body’s needs. They help replace cells that naturally wear out, support tissue repair after injury, and contribute to the ongoing maintenance of organs and systems throughout your body and throughout your life. 

When tissue in the body is damaged or needs repair, it sends signals to stem cells, which then tell the stem cells which part of the body needs repair. That’s when stem cells are released and migrate to the area that needs repair. This is when they become specialized. They can become a heart, lung, brain, or muscle cell, in addition to many other types of cells (see the chart below).

In essence, stem cells act as your built-in repair system. When your muscles, skin, heart, lungs, or other tissues or organs experience stress or damage, stem cells are activated and help repair damaged tissue, reduce inflammation, and can even merge with existing muscle fibers to support growth and strength.

By increasing the number of circulating stem cells in your body, you enhance this natural repair process—helping damaged tissue repair more efficiently, improving recovery from injuries, and supporting your body's ability to repair itself during illnesses or everyday stress.

What Stem Cells Do for Your Body: 

• Rebuild damaged tissue
  
  

• Keep blood, skin, and immune systems replenished.
  
  

• Help the brain regenerate through neurogenesis.
  
  

• Maintain bone, muscle, and cardiovascular resilience.
  
  

• Support immune modulation and inflammation balance.
  
  

Why Support Stem Cells? 

We take vitamins for our immune system. Omega-3s for inflammation and the heart.  Probiotics for the gut. Magnesium for the nervous system. Herbs for hormones, mood, or sleep. But your stem cells underpin every one of those systems. If your stem cells don’t work, no amount of supplementation can fully compensate. So why wouldn’t we support the system responsible for repairing all systems?

Watch the video clip below: stem cell scientist Christian Drapeau explains how stem cells repair our bodies.

How were stem cells discovered?

There isn’t a single person history can point to as the discoverer of stem cells. Instead, our understanding emerged gradually, shaped by many scientists across generations. In the late 1800s, researchers such as Theodor Boveri and Valentin Häcker introduced the term “stem cell” to describe cells that give rise to others. In the early 20th century, scientists studying blood formation proposed that a common cell might produce all blood cells. That idea gained strong experimental support in the 1960s, when Canadian researchers Ernest McCulloch and James Till demonstrated that specific bone-marrow cells could both renew themselves and generate different blood cells. Later breakthroughs, including the isolation of human embryonic stem cells by James Thomson in the 1990s, built on this foundation. In 2002, stem cell scientist Christian Drapeau was the first to propose and publish the hypothesis that stem cells constitute the “repair system” of the body in his peer-reviewed Medical Hypotheses article. Together, all of these pioneers and their contributions formed a long, collaborative scientific story that explains what stem cells are, what they’re capable of, and why they matter.

Bone Marrow Adult Stem Cells: Discovering Their Real Capabilities

For years, science primarily recognized bone marrow stem cells for their critical role in the constant renewal of red blood cells, white blood cells, and platelets, as well as the regeneration of bone, ligaments, tendons, and connective tissue. 

However, groundbreaking discoveries in the early 1970s revealed that mesenchymal adult stem cells (MSCs)—a specific type of adult stem cell found in bone marrow—have far greater potential. 

These versatile cells can transform into a variety of cell types, including those found in the heart, brain, liver, pancreas, muscle, and many others. This discovery solidified the understanding that bone marrow stem cells are not just blood-cell factories but are the cornerstone of the body’s system of repair and renewal.

Mesenchymal adult stem cells are leading the way in groundbreaking research on tissue regeneration, muscle repair, and the treatment of age-related conditions.

Unlike somatic cells, which are specialized and fixed in their function, mesenchymal stem cells have the unique ability to differentiate into a wide range of cell types. This means they can repair and regenerate tissues in critical systems, such as the immune and cardiovascular systems, as well as those of the brain, skin, liver, and muscles. 

Even with these discoveries, researchers still didn’t have a way to “track” these cells to "see" how they did what they did and how far-reaching their impact on our bodies was. This all changed with the help of an unusual discovery in the ocean.

How a Jellyfish Helped Us Discover More About Stem Cells

For most of scientific history, the body’s internal repair system remained invisible simply because we lacked the tools to see it. Just as bacteria could not be discovered until the invention of the microscope, stem cells could not be truly understood until a groundbreaking new scientific tool emerged: green fluorescent protein (GFP), a naturally glowing molecule found in the jellyfish Aequoria victoria. When researchers learned how to insert the GFP gene into stem cells, they could finally track these once-invisible cells as they left the bone marrow, migrated through the bloodstream, and entered tissues throughout the body. The discovery was so transformative that its pioneers received the 2008 Nobel Prize in Chemistry.

With GFP-tagged stem cells, scientists observed something astonishing: after injury or stress, fluorescent stem cells rapidly appeared at the damaged site and transformed into specialized cells—liver, heart, muscle, retinal, kidney, pancreatic, lung, skin, and even brain cells—directly disproving old beliefs that specific tissues, especially the brain, could not regenerate. For the first time, the body’s natural repair system was made visible, revealing that adult stem cells constantly mobilize, respond to damage, renew old tissues, and rebuild us from the inside out. This discovery reshaped modern biology and opened an entirely new understanding of how the body heals itself.

What are the different types of stem cells?

There are several types of stem cells you’ve probably heard of, each with unique properties, uses, and origins:

• Embryonic stem cells (ESCs): Found in early-stage embryos, these cells are pluripotent, meaning they can transform into any cell type in the body. ESCs are not present after birth and are typically obtained through medical interventions, such as, in vitro fertilization (IVF).

• Adult stem cells: These can also be called Mesenchymal or endogenous stem cells. They occur naturally in all living organisms. These stem cells are found in reservoirs in the red bone marrow, fat, and blood, but are also present in almost all tissues, including skin, liver, lungs, brain, heart, and muscle. These stem cells have the unique ability to replicate and differentiate into other cell types with different functions. 

• Umbilical cord and placenta stem cells: Derived from newborns’ umbilical cord or placenta, these cells are also considered adult stem cells. They are also multi-potent and show promise for therapeutic applications. These are being used to treat various conditions in humans through injections.

• Induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs): These are adult stem cells—usually skin cells—pulled from a patient and then genetically reprogrammed to behave like embryonic stem cells. These stem cells can transform into any cell type. However, this is an evolving science; because of the risk of tumor formation, iPSCs are still in the experimental phase. 

• Muse cells or X cells: Muse cells are a unique, but rare (1-6% of all adult stem cells), stress-resistant type of adult stem cell found in both bone marrow and adipose tissue. They are pluripotent cells that can transform into any cell type needed, making them powerful agents of repair. These resilient cells thrive even in challenging environments, supporting the survival of damaged or injured tissues. 

Stem cells remain at the forefront of cutting-edge science as researchers discover more about what they can do through stem cell treatments and uncover more about the power of our own adult stem cells within our bodies. 

Why does repair and recovery slow as we age, if our stem cells are so powerful?

As we talked about earlier, mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) in the bone marrow play a crucial role in repairing muscle and tissue, so it’s natural to wonder why recovery slows with age. The reason is not a loss of MSC effectiveness, but a loss of MSC availability — driven by the gradual decline of red bone marrow, the very tissue that produces them.

Our red bone marrow shrinks over time and is replaced with fat-rich yellow bone marrow (which produces fewer stem cells), and your circulating MSC supply drops dramatically. By your 30s, roughly 90% of your MSCs have already been depleted. This transition happens rapidly in the long bones of the arms and legs — reaching nearly complete conversion by age 25 — and more slowly in other bones such as the ribs, sternum, shoulders, hips, spine, and skull.

When circulating MSCs decline, the body becomes less able to repair and recover from injury or illness, clear lingering inflammation, and restore damaged tissue. Over time, this diminished regenerative capacity contributes not only to decreased stamina but to widespread, subtle declines in tissue repair and health throughout the body.

This is why increasing the number of circulating stem cells becomes so valuable to your health and recovery, as you age. Even with a smaller overall reservoir, boosting MSC release can yield meaningful benefits. Unlike somatic cells, stem cells can multiply. This means that when stem cells receive a “signal” to release and mobilize to a tissue somewhere in the body that needs repair, they can also be signaled to multiply. Supporting MSC release becomes a proactive strategy for maintaining performance, recovering more efficiently, and sustaining an active, resilient lifestyle well into later years.

How Do You Boost Your Circulating Stem Cells for Faster Repair and Recovery After Injuries or Everyday Wear and Tear

Now that you understand how essential adult stem cells are for helping your tissues and organs repair, recover, and renew after damage or injury, the next natural question is how to unlock their full potential. Even though your stem cell supply declines with age, finding effective ways to mobilize and increase these cells can give your body a significant advantage in both recovery and long-term regenerative strength.

How do you make this happen? Can you boost your stem cells in a practical, effective, and sustainable way? The answer is YES.

You have three options: stem cell injections, stem cell supporting activities, and/or plant-based stem cell support. You can do them separately or combine them to increase their effectiveness. 

Understanding Stem Cell Injections

You’ve likely heard about stem cell injections and how they can directly increase the number of stem cells circulating in the bloodstream. These procedures typically involve harvesting stem cells from the patient’s own body—usually from bone marrow or adipose tissue—or using donor stem cells. Donor-derived cells are collected from sources such as umbilical cord or placental tissue, offering a rich supply of pluripotent or multipotent stem cells that have a high capacity for differentiation.

Once injected, these stem cells can transform into virtually any type of cell, allowing them to repair a wide range of tissues throughout the body. For chronic conditions or significant injuries, stem cell injections may be a viable, even transformative, option. However, injections are expensive and tightly regulated in the U.S. (you can read more about FDA regulations here). Because of this, many people find they are not a realistic option—especially not as something done regularly. Treatments can range anywhere from $2,000 to $20,000 or more per injection. And these aren't typically covered by insurance.

While injections can be powerful, for the average person, frequent stem cell injections simply aren’t financially or logistically sustainable, making them impractical for consistently boosting circulating stem cells.

Stem Cell Supporting Lifestyle Activities

You can also support your body’s natural stem cell activity by combining healthy lifestyle practices with targeted therapies. Activities such as regular vigorous exercise, cold therapy (like ice baths), red light therapy, pulsed electromagnetic field (PEMF) sessions, fasting, and stress-reducing practices like meditation have been shown in research to enhance circulation, reduce inflammation, and encourage stem cells to mobilize and function more effectively. Read our full article on this to learn more about the research on these activities and supporting stem cells.

How do you increase your stem cells every day and naturally with plant-based products?

Stem cell researcher and STEMREGEN founder Christian Drapeau was the first to identify unique plants that support the natural function of adult stem cells. He proposed the groundbreaking hypothesis that stem cells serve as the body’s innate “repair system,” publishing this idea in the peer-reviewed journal Medical Hypotheses in October 2002. He later expanded on the concept in his influential book, Cracking the Stem Cell Code (2010, updated in 2021), becoming the first scientist since the early 1900s to name a newly recognized bodily system. Drapeau now holds nine patents related to stem cells and has spent more than 23 years researching how stem cells function and how to enhance the body’s innate repair mechanisms—the very foundation of regenerative medicine.

Drapeau discovered that, just like there are certain plants which have long been known to support the immune system, there are also plants capable of supporting the body’s repair system by increasing the number of circulating stem cells released from the bone marrow (clinical trials have shown up to 10 million per dose). His work has taken him around the world in search of natural plants and bioactives that promote stem cell release. While some may dismiss these ingredients as “just plants,” they often do so without understanding the depth of research behind them—or the precision involved in how, when, and where they are harvested or the potency of the extract. Drapeau’s research focuses on identifying and measuring which ingredients have the strongest measurable effects on stem cell release and migration. These findings were used to develop the STEMREGEN® product line. 

STEMREGEN’s ingredients have been extensively researched, including multiple randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled human clinical trials documenting their ability to support stem cell release and migration (you can explore some of these studies here and here).

STEMREGEN® products are crafted with meticulous attention to detail. Drapeau sources ingredients from specific regions known to yield the highest bioactivity, relying on wild-harvesting practices and careful processing to preserve each plant’s potency. His decades of exploration include connecting with local communities, studying ancient uses of these botanicals, and identifying biochemical variations tied to geography, harvesting timing, and preparation methods. STEMREGEN® also has a strong commitment to quality when it comes to their ingredients and manufacturing (read STEMREGEN’s detailed commitment to quality and what that means). They follow strict Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP), use only organic or wild-harvested ingredients, and cutting-edge science to bridge the wisdom of nature with modern regenerative research—supporting your body’s natural ability to repair, renew, and thrive. You can explore additional research on STEMREGEN® products here and here.

Although other natural “stem-cell enhancers” have appeared on the market, many simply borrow from Drapeau’s early discoveries, using similar-sounding ingredients without replicating the rigorous research or understanding the nuances of stem cell biology. Some products even use ingredients with the same name and assume they have the same effect on stem cells. In reality, differences in where an ingredient is grown and how it is processed can significantly influence how it supports the body’s stem cells. These formulas may look comparable on the surface, but they lack the depth of testing and development that Drapeau pioneered. STEMREGEN® remains unique in that it is formulated, developed, and continuously researched by the scientist who helped establish the entire field of natural stem cell support.

STEMREGEN® offers a line of products that support stem cells using natural plant extracts and bioactives (natural compounds found in small amounts in plants and certain foods, such as fruits, vegetables, nuts, oils, and whole grains). 

The STEMREGEN® Products are plant-based formulations—Release, Mobilize, and Signal. These products target different parts of the natural stem cell repair cycle. Together, they support the body’s innate repair capacity. STEMREGEN RELEASE is their core product. Drapeau’s research shows that taking two capsules of this blend of plant extracts and bioactives puts an average of 10 million additional stem cells into circulation. That’s 300 million over a 30-day period. This product has been found to help stem cells increase in numbers for up to 6 hours after taking it, allowing for faster muscle recovery, enhanced repair, and keeping your body in a state of renewal.

STEMREGEN’s three-step protocol includes all three products. It works by releasing more of your own stem cells into circulation (Release & Sport), improving microcirculation so those cells can reach damaged tissues (Mobilize), and clearing inflammatory “noise” so stem cells can accurately home in on where repair is needed (Signal) — enhancing your body’s natural, built-in repair system without injections. (STEMREGEN’s Sport is NSF certified for professional athletes and contains NO performance-enhancing compounds–compliance with World Anti-Doping Agency)

Here’s a closer look at some of the ingredients in these products—and the science behind them. 

SeaStem (Seabuckthorn Extract)

Harvested from the Tibetan Plateau, this is a uniquely sourced extract of sea buckthorn, rich in polyphenols and anthocyanidins, which have been documented to support the release of stem cells from the bone marrow. 

Drapeau chose this sourcing location because he found that sea buckthorn berries grown in harsh climates at high altitudes have the highest effect on supporting stem cells. His research showed that it increased the number of stem cells circulating by 43%. The larger sea buckthorn berries from warmer climates near the ocean showed little to no impact on stem cells.

Aphanizomenon flos-aquae (AFA)

AFA is a blue-green algae growing naturally in Klamath Lake, Southern Oregon. AFA is known for its effects on the immune system and for supporting mental energy and clarity. The research shows that AFA extract increases the number of circulating stem cells by 25%. 

StemAloe

StemAloe is extracted from a unique species of aloe grown in Madagascar. It's indigenously known as vahona and has been used for centuries for a wide variety of health benefits. 

There are over 128 species of aloe in Madagascar, and Drapeau’s research found that only StemAloe (Aloe macroclada) increases circulating stem cell counts by an average of 53%, the highest of all aloe species. His research shows it increases circulating stem cells by 80%. This is a protected aloe, and Drapeau had to collaborate with local researchers and farmers to access it.

Combining STEMREGEN Products With Other Treatments

Stem cell support integrates remarkably well with many evidence-based biohacks, functional-medicine treatments, wellness practices, and stem cell supporting therapies. Stem cell support isn’t a standalone strategy—it’s an amplifier. When your body’s innate repair system is functioning at its best, every therapy, biohack, and wellness practice you engage in has the potential to work more effectively.

Functional Medicine Treatments

Supporting stem-cell activity can enhance the results of detoxification programs, gut-healing protocols, mitochondrial support plans, immune-modulation therapies, and hormone-balancing strategies. When the body can repair more efficiently, these treatments tend to work better and deliver greater, more sustained improvements.

Skin Treatments & Anti-Aging Therapies

Regenerative skin and anti-aging treatments—such as microneedling, lasers, red light therapy, exosome facials, PRP, and hyperbaric oxygen—work by creating gentle micro-injuries that signal the body to repair tissue. Higher stem-cell activity often leads to more noticeable and longer-lasting results, and to faster recovery, since the body can respond more robustly to these treatments. Read our article about skin treatments and stem cells.

Popular Biohacks

Many commonly used biohacks naturally complement stem-cell support, and research is showing they also support stem cells. PEMF, cold exposure, sauna, breathwork, red light, grounding, and ozone treatments all help create a healthier internal environment—one with better circulation, reduced inflammation, and improved cellular energy. These are the very conditions in which stem cells thrive. Read our article about stacking therapies and stem cells.

Stem Cell Supporting Lifestyle Practices

Core wellness habits—including meditation, fasting, sleep optimization, low-carb cycles, and regular movement or mobility work—also enhance stem-cell activity by lowering systemic inflammation, improving metabolic efficiency, and increasing growth factors involved in repair. When you add STEMREGEN products to these practices, they can increase their effectiveness.

Stem Cell Injections

For those who choose stem cell injections, supporting your body before and after treatment can help create an environment where those cells are more likely to function effectively. Using STEMREGEN® products to support stem cell release and circulation—alongside complementary practices such as red light therapy, PEMF, and meditation—may help improve signaling, circulation, and recovery, allowing injected stem cells to integrate more efficiently with the body’s natural repair processes.

Conclusion: Understanding Stem Cells Changes How You See Your Health

When you understand stem cells, you begin to understand the real architecture of repair inside the human body. These cells aren’t external therapies or futuristic add-ons — they are already inside you, acting as your innate repair system in the same way your immune system defends you and your cardiovascular system sustains you. Every aspect of your health, from muscle recovery to brain function to inflammation balance, is influenced by how well your stem cells can respond, multiply, and mobilize where they’re needed. Stem cells support your body’s ability to repair during illness, stress, or injury, no matter your age, and they are the foundation of your day-to-day renewal. However, aging naturally reduces your stem cell supply, the gap between damage and repair widens, and your body simply cannot restore itself at the same pace.

This is why increasing the number of circulating stem cells becomes so profoundly important. More stem cells in motion means more repair happening everywhere — in tissues, organs, muscles, nerves, and systems you don’t consciously feel but rely on every day. When your stem cell activity is strong, your entire body becomes more resilient. You recover faster. You repair more fully. You maintain vitality rather than slowly losing it.

Supporting this system is not complicated or extreme. You can support your body’s natural repair capacity through lifestyle choices, evidence-based wellness practices, stem cell injections, and STEMREGEN’s targeted plant-based formulations that help release more of your own stem cells, guide them into circulation, and clear the signaling pathways that direct them to damaged tissues. This is where the STEMREGEN approach fits in — not as a replacement for your body’s biology, but as a way to strengthen what is already yours. By enhancing stem cell release, improving microcirculation, and reducing inflammatory “noise,” these formulations support the full repair cycle your body performs every day.

At its heart, this article shows one simple truth: when you support your stem cells, you support everything your body is trying to do to stay healthy. This is the foundation of longevity, recovery, and resilient health — and it starts with understanding the remarkable repair system you’ve had within you all along.

 Learn more about stem cells and STEMREGEN products.