BIOptimizers - Awesome Health Podcast (Wade Lightheart)
Explorez tous les épisodes de BIOptimizers - Awesome Health Podcast
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| 08 Apr 2021 | 127: Removing Fear from Allopathic Cancer Care through Holistic Support - with Cathy Biase | 00:40:11 | |
No one escapes the cancer conversation. Everyone gets touched by cancer at some point. The latest statistics say 1 out of every 2 of us will experience cancer either directly or through a loved one diagnosed with cancer. The word “cancer” brings immediate fear to people. Some don’t even want to speak the word and say “the c-word” or “the big-c” instead. Our guest Cathy Biase knows firsthand the fears people struggle through when they get a cancer diagnosis, go through allopathic treatments, and then return to their previous life once it’s over. Cathy has been through this herself, but she is also a Certified Professional Cancer Coach. She specializes in the functional application of nutrition to get to the root cause of health issues whenever possible to improve chronic disease. Cathy focuses primarily on helping people going through cancer care. Her goal is to optimize her client’s ability to heal and recover. Many of Cathy’s clients who are doing chemotherapy ask her if the chemo is working because they report that they don’t feel that bad. This is precisely what Cathy loves to hear because it captures what her mission is all about - helping people reduce their fears and getting through allopathic cancer treatments feeling better than expected. Cathy is the host of a radio show called The Health Hub that is also available as a podcast, where she and her guests talk about integrative health. Cathy also teaches at the Canadian School of Natural Nutrition. Cathy educates people on nutritional support for cancer patients, managing side effects of allopathic cancer care, and the Microbiome’s link to health and immunity. In this podcast, we cover:
The diagnosis that shaped her destiny Cathy spent the early years of her career working in business, including a small family business. Soon after that business was closed down, Cathy noticed a lump in her breast. She was quickly diagnosed with breast cancer. When Cathy went to her gym to tell them she would be pulling back her membership — something profound occurred: three people she knew at this gym strongly encouraged her not to give up exercise - despite the doctors’ advice to cut out her activity. Her friends said, “you are not going to do that. We need you to exercise. We want you to take these supplements.” Suddenly, Cathy had three people working with her in three different areas. This coaching made a significant impact on her, as her cancer treatments went incredibly well. Cathy noticed that many others who were getting chemotherapy along with her did not have as smooth of an experience. One lady ended up in the hospital, which prompted Cathy to analyze why her treatment went better than others. Cathy went back to school and earned a certification with the national association of professional cancer coaches. Her new journey to helping other people deal with cancer was underway. What does Cathy, the nutritionist, recommend for a cancer patient’s diet? Cathy understands that each person is unique and has unique needs. So she starts there. The foundation of her nutritional approach to cancer care is the microbiome. She helps educate her clients on what the microbiome is, how it affects your health, and how to take care of it. The microbiome is something doctors still are not attending to, and many are not any more knowledgeable about it than most laypeople. Cathy also gets her clients to increase their fiber intake, begin eating (or increase) the intake of fermented foods and add more color into their diet. She also likes to add probiotics if possible. Be sure to discuss these factors between the patient and their doctor before implementation. The proper time to eat is also a part of Cathy’s coaching. She also talks with each client about body cycles and circadian rhythms. There is so much more to Cathy’s cancer coaching - you need to listen to this episode to get all the nuggets of wisdom she brings to this topic. If you know someone facing a cancer diagnosis, please share this podcast episode with them. Cathy makes a difference in the lives of those she serves. Cathy also has a ton of tips on ways you can “stack the deck” in your favor to avoid a cancer diagnosis. Be sure to tune it. Wade asks all the right questions, and this conversation is quite encouraging despite the “scary” topic! Check out this episode - cancer coaching could save the life of someone you love. Episode Resources: Cathy’s Website 7 Day Plant-Based Immune Supporting Meal Plan | |||
| 28 Jan 2021 | 108: Playing Rugby at 54: How to Heal Naturally & Stay Active for Life | 00:58:29 | |
Dr. Aaron Tressler was a sickly child who experienced several injuries while playing sports as a young man. Growing up in Pennsylvania with wonderful parents, Aaron found his destiny when one of his baseball teammates introduced him to a chiropractor. Aaron’s healing results through the science of chiropractic care made such an impact on Aaron that he eventually became a chiropractor himself, thus launching his dynamic career. Today, Aaron is a chiropractor, entrepreneur, and health expert of 30 years. Owner of In8Life – Tressler Chiropractic, he specializes in revitalizing life to the fullest naturally with chiropractic care, nutrition, exercise, and mental strength. | |||
| 11 Nov 2021 | #167- A Pro-Aging Perspective on Bone Health- with Sarah Glicken | 00:43:34 | |
In this episode, we get the skinny on bone health from Sarah Glicken, who has a wealth of knowledge on this topic. Sarah co-founded the Los Angeles-based wellness center called OsteoStrong LA - a place where clients received attentive care and treatments that strengthen bones, joints, and muscles. Sarah is “pro-aging,” not anti-aging. She helps people age gracefully using technology, mindset, and supplementation and believes everyone deserves to live in a healthy body. She is a Certified Holistic Healthcare Coach and holds a Masters in Spiritual Psychology from the University of Santa Monica. She also is an entrepreneur who loves running a business that brings people hope and guides them to a healthier and happier place. In this podcast, we cover:
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| 18 Mar 2021 | 122: The Seven Paths to Sacred Rest - with Dr. Saundra Dalton Smith | 00:45:23 | |
“Why am I tired all the time?” That was the question Dr. Saundra Dalton Smith kept finding herself asking after working 15 years as a doctor while juggling her role as a mother of two toddlers. She was a burned-out working mom needing answers. In this episode, host Wade Lightheart asks some great questions covering a wide range of subtopics surrounding the topic of rest. Real rest. Dr. Saundra delivers, presenting an in-depth look at rest in seven distinct categories that fit our modern lives. She’s done the research, the polling, and the interviews over the years to bring together this vital information. Dr. Saundra is a Board-Certified internal medicine physician, speaker, and author. She is an international wellness expert featured in numerous media outlets, including Prevention, MSNBC, Women’s Day, FOX, Fast Company, Psychology Today, INC, and as a guest on Dr. Oz’s show. She is the author of numerous books, including her new book Sacred Rest: Recover Your Life, Renew Your Energy, Restore Your Sanity, including ground-breaking insight on the seven types of rest needed to optimize your productivity, increase your overall happiness, overcome burnout, and live your best life. In this podcast, we cover:
Breaking Down the Seven Types of Rest Dr. Saundra recalls when she began breaking down “rest” into a more granular, focused definition: she was working in internal medicine, and after fifteen years, she began to notice how patients would come in with the same complaints, year after year - symptoms like tiredness, brain fog, and mild depression. For years, the good doctor advised her patients to “get more sleep.” Or “you need better quality sleep.” After a decade and a half of listening to these complaints, Dr. Saundra began noticing her own struggles with tiredness - even after getting a good night’s sleep! At one point, she had the blue light blocking glasses; she knew all the latest techniques to enhance someone’s sleep quality - yet she still felt tired. This was the starting point when Dr. Saundra knew there was more to “rest” than just “better sleep.” She was doing a good job getting quality sleep, but she says, “I hadn’t taken into account that physical rest has multiple components to it.” Why Dr. Saundra Wrote an Entire Book on “Sacred Rest” These discoveries on rest took several years to find. Dr. Saundra had to work through things. She conducted her research while her patients provided feedback, as Dr. Saundra began trading notes with patients. The patients would come into her office and tell her what worked for them, and Dr. Saundra would share with them what she was finding, and a couple of months later, they would come back and provide further feedback. Comparing notes enabled Dr. Saundra to adjust and change things, and over time, figuring things out. Years of back-and-forth patient consultations, including polling and surveys of patients, combined with her research, revealed things that worked and things that didn’t work. The stunning conclusion for Dr. Saundra was that there are multiple ways to rest in seven different areas. And results are also based on the individual. A person’s likes, dislikes, and personality affect outcomes. What are your tendencies? How do you restore and recover? Dr. Saundra can help you find the balanced formula of work and rest (what she calls the “work-rest ratio.”) At the core; you are who you are. And once you find your formula for rest, you can get more rest than you thought possible in this hectic world - and enjoy life at your highest ability. Our host Wade was excited to pick Dr. Saundra’s brain on the topic of rest. So many people are struggling with lack of energy, feelings of overwhelm, and poor sleep quality. What can you do if this is you? Tune into this episode, and discover the seven paths to sacred rest! Dr. Saundra has done her homework! Episode Resources: Dr. Saundra’s website
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| 29 Oct 2020 | 084: Personal Tips from the UK's leading biohacker with Tim Gray | 00:59:49 | |
Today you are getting personal tips from the UK's leading biohacker: none other than Mr. Tim Gray. After years spent self-healing his body from chronic health conditions through biohacking alone, Tim embarked on a mission to educate and empower the masses. The Health Optimisation Summit, Europe’s largest health conference, was born.
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| 17 Nov 2022 | 205: The real meaning of success - with Larry Yatch | 01:10:32 | |
What is success? This is a question that entrepreneurs often ask themselves. Is it money? Power? Fame? While all of these things can be a part of success, they don't necessarily define it. Success for entrepreneurs is often about taking risks, pushing boundaries, and achieving goals that others thought were impossible. It's about having the courage to pursue your dreams and the tenacity to see them through, even when the going gets tough. Larry Yatch is an elite leadership strategist and the creator of the SEAL Success programs, a collection of skills-based training, workshops, and courses that enable high performers to find fulfillment, connect with their teams, and make a sustainable impact in their field. According to Larry, success it's also about surrounding yourself with a great team and creating an environment where everyone is working towards a common goal. When everyone is on the same page and working together towards a shared vision, amazing things can happen. The stress points of high performers As the world becomes increasingly technical, a recent trend has emerged that has created stress points for high performers. With platforms like zoom and management systems that are constantly changing, it can be difficult for individuals to keep up. This is especially true in fast-paced environments where there is little room for error. High performers are often under a lot of pressure to perform at their best, and this can lead to burnout. It is important for high performers to have a support system in place to help them cope with the stresses of their job. This could include things like:
When high performers are able to manage their stress levels, they are more likely to be successful in their field. The key to developing self-regulation Self-regulation comes from two parts of the brain that control all mental, physical, and emotional self-regulation. These two parts of the brain are just like every other part of the brain in that they either have clear, well-built neural pathways or they don't. If you want to build self-regulation, you need to create strong neural pathways and protect them. This can be done by starting early in life and building up these connections over time. Early childhood trauma is one way to do this, as it creates a drive to do something significant while also requiring significant self-regulation. Once you have built up these connections, you will have the ability to self-regulate in any situation. Knowing how self-regulation works will help you to better manage stressful situations and make better decisions. Creating a shared understanding of purpose within an organization The leader should ensure that each team member understands their individual purpose within the context of the team's purpose, and how that links to the overall organization's purpose. This hierarchy of purposes will help to ensure that everyone is working towards the same goal, and will make it easier for the leader to direct action and motivate employees. In addition, the leader should make sure that everyone understands how tightly coordinated action benefits not only the organization, but also each individual on a personal level. By doing this, employees will be more likely to buy into the mission and work together towards achieving it. In this Podcast you will learn:
And so much more. EPISODE RESOURCES: | |||
| 01 Jun 2021 | 138: She’s Pregnant! Here’s How to Reverse ‘Unexplained Infertility’ - with Kela Smith | 01:05:40 | |
She reversed her own infertility, along with many others. Kela Smith is on a mission to get 100,000 women pregnant. She’s capable of reaching that goal. So many women working with Coach Kela are now mothers and have had a baby (or multiple babies) after struggling with infertility for years. With so many couples out there still wrestling with infertility - they need to hear this podcast! Kela is now the CEO and Program Director of the Hormone Puzzle Society, a women’s health hub for fertility, hormones, and training those who want to become fertility coaches like Kela and spread joy to desperate couples. Kela still coaches alongside her team, helping women with hormone imbalances and other fertility issues. She coaches women on getting pregnant naturally while eliminating symptoms of hormone imbalances. For 20 years now, Kela has coached women wanting to get pregnant, so she knows her stuff! She holds four different qualifications as a Certified Holistic Health & Wellness Coach. Her unique Hormone Puzzle Method helps her clients learn how to cycle sync, which leads to pleasant periods, boosts fertility, higher “happy” hormones, hotter sex lives, and more creativity, productivity, and wellbeing for their career. Running her own virtual holistic health and wellness coaching practice has been a dream come true for Kela. If you share a similar vision of becoming a coach in health and wellness, Kela’s story will inspire you. And if you happen to be interested in fertility coaching, this podcast episode could change your life! In this podcast, we cover:
How long does Kela’s program usually take to succeed? When a woman struggling with infertility comes to see Kela, how long it will take for her to become pregnant depends on where she is starting. A woman who has never gone to a gym and eats whatever she wants starts at a much different place than someone who works out and watches what they eat. So ask yourself, where are you starting? Be honest with yourself and start there. Someone else starting may only need to make some tweaks here and there. Like, perhaps their diet needs a few simple adjustments? Maybe this person needs to incorporate a meditation practice? Simply adding a few healthy habits to their repertoire can be enough to get pregnant. Wherever you begin - start small. Give yourself some grace. This is not a contest. You don’t get a medal for doing this right. Getting started is the best thing. The old saying says it takes 21 days to create a new habit. Kela says putting her protocol together and making the new routine a practice typically takes 30 to 60 days. Kela’s fertility program typically runs for six months. Many find success in that timeframe. You will know what to do by then, but you can continue getting support from Kela if you need that. What the initial starting process look like with Coach Kela The first thing you do to become a client of Coach Kela’s is to opt-in to her website email list. She will then schedule a phone call with you. She listens to your specific situation, and then if one of her programs can help, she shows you how. If you qualify and get started, you will then undergo a comprehensive dried urine test, where Coach Kela looks at your hormones, what they’re doing over a 24 period, and how your body is metabolizing those hormones. If your partner needs testing, Coach Kela has a way to do an at-home semen analysis. Coach Kela analyzes the results. She reviews the data. Then you will fill out an in-depth health questionnaire. Then, you will receive a customized plan based on your medical history, lab work, everything. There is no guessing involved. Coach Kela sees precisely what is going on in your body and draws up a customized plan. You can do this program through one-on-one coaching or Kela’s group coaching program. Do you want to have a baby the natural way, but pregnancy eludes you? Do not let this moment pass by! Listen in as Coach Kela not only shares her fertility secrets, you will also hear two incredible testimonials of clients Kela helped get pregnant. One case involves a woman who stopped having a period at age 25 and didn’t menstruate for ten years! She’s a happy mom today, thanks to Coach Kela! Tune in or pass this episode along to someone who you know is grappling with infertility. Help make baby dreams come true!
Episode Resources: Check more about Coach Kela: bioptimizers.com/coachkela | |||
| 24 Oct 2024 | 271: DNA: Your Health Blueprint - with Elwin Robinson | 01:05:44 | |
Have you ever wondered why some people seem to effortlessly maintain a healthy weight while others struggle despite their best efforts? Or why do certain individuals experience anxiety and depression more intensely than others? The answer might lie within your DNA. The Impact of Genetics on Your Health Elwin Robinson's health journey is a testament to the powerful influence of genetics. While genetics can predispose us to specific health conditions, it doesn't mean we're destined to suffer. In his late twenties, Elwin experienced chronic fatigue, which he linked to both his genes and unhealthy lifestyle habits. His family history, marked by his father's chronic fatigue syndrome and his mother's passing from cancer, underscored the role genetics played in their health. Elwin embraced a healthier lifestyle, eliminating alcohol, smoking, and processed foods. He incorporated holistic practices like fasting, yoga, and detoxing into his routine. Despite these positive changes, he faced persistent health issues, including debilitating pain related to digestive problems. Genetic testing finally revealed his predisposition to conditions like sphincter of Oddi dysfunction and cholestasis. These conditions hindered his body's detoxification processes. Decoding Food Sensitivities Food allergies and intolerances can manifest in various ways, often with subtle, easily overlooked symptoms. Many individuals experience anxiety, depression, digestive discomfort, or even heart failure linked to undiagnosed food sensitivities. Elwin's experience exemplifies this. Even though genetic tests indicated no specific food allergies, Elwin's digestive issues worsened as he aged. Further genetic testing revealed that his food sensitivities were likely connected to bile toxicity and gut dysbiosis, not typical allergies. Genetic reports can pinpoint sensitivities to compounds like histamine, salicylates, and oxalates, often hidden triggers. These substances are found in healthy foods, including fruits, vegetables, and oils. The Genetic Roots of Mental Well-being Anxiety and depression are often perceived as purely mental health issues, but genetics can significantly influence our emotional experiences. For Elwin, chronic pain and unresolved health concerns fueled his anxiety and insomnia. Genetic testing revealed a genetic variant that slowed his body's breakdown of stress chemicals, shedding light on the biological underpinnings of his mental health challenges. This highlights the concept that some individuals may be genetically predisposed to anxiety and depression, making it more difficult for them to regulate their emotions. These individuals may benefit from personalized support, including specific nutrients and lifestyle modifications, to achieve mental balance. For instance, low levels of oxytocin (often called the "love hormone") can contribute to feelings of emotional emptiness and even trigger addictive behaviors like overeating. DNA's Influence on Weight Management If you've struggled with weight loss despite trying various diets and exercise plans, your genes may be playing a role. Historically, obesity rates were low, even when diets included sugar and saturated fats. This suggests that modern environmental factors, combined with individual genetic differences, contribute to the obesity crisis. Some individuals have a genetic predisposition to insulin resistance, making it harder to shed pounds. Others may experience hormonal imbalances that affect hunger, fat storage, and metabolism. Even variations in thyroid function, like suboptimal or undiagnosed hypothyroidism, can lead to unexplained weight gain. In this podcast, you will learn:
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| 06 Apr 2023 | 224: A Continuous Glucose Monitor - with Catherine Staffieri | 00:50:20 | |
A Continuous Glucose Monitor (CGM) is an important tool for those with diabetes, and those who want to monitor their health more closely. It is a small disc, approximately the size of a quarter, which contains a tiny sensor in the middle. This sensor is inserted into the back of the arm, and provides a continuous stream of glucose data 24/7. This data is then sent to an app, which then helps the user understand what their body is doing. This data is invaluable for people with Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes, who may have previously relied on finger pricks and lab draws to get their glucose levels. With a CGM, they can get a more in-depth understanding of how their glucose levels are fluctuating throughout the day, and make any necessary lifestyle or dietary changes accordingly. The data from a CGM can also be used to detect underlying health issues, such as inflammation and obesity, which can lead to chronic illnesses like heart disease. It is also beneficial for women who are going through hormonal changes, as the data can help them better understand how different hormones are affecting their glucose levels. Additionally, the CGM can be used to understand how different foods, sleep, stress and exercise affect glucose levels. For example, with a CGM, you can see how a high-intensity workout affects your glucose levels, or how a stressful day can cause a spike in glucose levels. Overall, the CGM is a valuable tool for those with diabetes, and those who want to monitor their health more closely. With the data it provides, users can make informed decisions about their lifestyle and diet, and potentially prevent further health issues down the road. How CGM can help us understand food Catherine Staffieri, a nutrition specialist and CGM expert, explains that glucose is a great source of energy for our bodies. In order to use it properly, our bodies must respond to it with the right amount of insulin. Insulin is a hormone that unlocks our cells so that glucose can enter. With insulin resistance, the cells don't recognize the key and the glucose is unable to enter the cells, leading to elevated glucose levels and inflammation. CGM can help individuals understand their own unique responses to different types of food. While the glycemic index can help us understand what makes a food good or bad, CGM can provide more detailed information about how our bodies are responding to particular foods. Additionally, CGM can help us understand the impacts of other lifestyle factors, such as sleep, stress, and exercise, on our glucose levels. For instance, CGM can help us understand what is happening when we experience a high-intensity workout or a lack of sleep. High-intensity workouts can cause our bodies to release glucose due to a lack of available energy, while a lack of sleep can lead to increased stress and higher baseline glucose levels. CGM can also help us understand how our meals are impacting our glucose levels. Eating too many carbohydrates or eating at the wrong time can cause an unexpected spike in glucose. Overall, CGM can be an incredibly valuable tool for understanding how our bodies respond to food and lifestyle factors. With the insights gained from CGM, we can make more informed decisions about what to eat and when to eat it, ultimately leading to better health. In this podcast, you will learn: EPISODE RESOURCES: We offer $25 off for the audience - use code BIO25 at nutrisense.io | |||
| 16 Feb 2023 | 217: Factors contributing to low thyroid function - with Elle Russ | 01:09:02 | |
Thyroid problems are a common yet often overlooked issue that can have a major impact on one's health and well-being. This was the case for Elle Russ, who experienced two bouts of hypothyroidism within 10 years. Elle is a #1 bestselling author, world-renowned thyroid health expert, and thought leader on confidence and self-esteem. She has written for Entrepreneur and has been featured in Success, HuffPost, Podcasting Magazine, Mind Body Green, Prevention, while offering affordable online courses and free masterclasses. Her hypothyroidism presented as menstrual irregularities, which her doctor dismissed and instead put her on birth control pills to mask the symptom. This decision was highly misguided as Elle soon experienced a host of other symptoms including acne, hair loss, rapid weight gain, fatigue, mood swings and constipation. It took E.R. 7 years to get properly diagnosed and treated for her thyroid condition because many doctors are uninformed about thyroid issues or unwilling to look into it further due to their ego or lack of time. What are some things that can contribute to low thyroid function? Elle states that: "Low thyroid function can have a wide range of symptoms, from fatigue and constipation to difficulty concentrating and mood swings. While the causes of low thyroid function can vary, some common factors can contribute to this condition." "First and foremost, diet plays a major role in maintaining healthy thyroid function. Eating a diet high in processed foods, sugar, and refined carbohydrates is not only unhealthy for your overall health, but it also disrupts the balance of hormones that your thyroid needs to stay healthy. Additionally, gluten sensitivity has been linked to hypothyroidism in some cases. Therefore, it is important to eat a clean diet consisting mostly of unprocessed whole foods such as fruits and vegetables." "Another factor that can contribute to low thyroid function is sleep deprivation or an irregular sleep cycle. Not getting enough sleep or having an inconsistent sleep schedule can disrupt hormone production and cause fatigue as well as other symptoms associated with low thyroid function. Therefore, it is important to maintain a consistent sleep schedule and get at least 8 hours of sleep each night." "Finally, having a strong support system is essential for maintaining healthy thyroid function. Having a “tribe” of supportive friends and family can help reduce stress and provide emotional support when needed. This can help keep hormones in balance and prevent the development of low thyroid function." The importance of Iodine in hypothyroidism Iodine is a key component in the production of thyroid hormones and is essential for the proper functioning of the thyroid gland. Without adequate iodine, hypothyroidism can develop due to decreased production of hormones. Historically, low levels of iodine were responsible for a phenomenon known as the “Goiter Belt” in the Midwest United States. This was due to a lack of iodine from ocean air, seawater, and food grown in that region. To combat this issue, people began taking iodine supplements which helped reduce the incidence of hypothyroidism in the region. Today, many people are deficient in iodine due to poor dietary habits and exposure to chlorine and bromine which can displace iodine from receptors. This can be particularly dangerous for those who swim frequently in chlorinated pools as chlorine can further deplete iodine levels. It is important to note that adults do not need fluoride in their toothpaste anymore, as it is not beneficial and may even be harmful. To optimize iodine levels, adults should consider taking a thyroid support complex that contains trace amounts of iodine. Alternatively, iodine can be obtained through food such as seaweed or cruciferous vegetables, although the jury is still out on whether raw or cooked vegetables are better. It is also important to note that if you have Hashimoto’s disease, taking high doses of iodine can cause negative detox effects and make the condition worse. In this podcast you will learn about:
And so much more. EPISODE RESOURCES:
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| 08 Jun 2023 | 232: From Survival to Thriving: Unleashing the Heart's Potential - with Chris Agafi and Madalina Petrescu | 01:19:05 | |
Dr. Madalina and Cris share their transformative journey and realization of the division between a mind-focused life and a spirituality-based life. They discuss their experiences of being caught up in external aspects while feeling internally unfulfilled. Dr. Madalina, a cardiologist, describes her previous life as a successful professional, always prioritizing others. She reveals that despite her achievements, she felt unhappy and lived in survival mode, driven by unconscious patterns such as workaholism, overachieving, and people-pleasing. This lifestyle led to a major injury, chronic pain, anxiety, depression, and an existential crisis. Eventually, she embarked on a spiritual journey, exploring books by Louise Hay and Wayne Dyer. She began making time for self-reflection and awareness, unraveling her unconscious programming. Dr. Madalina and Cris became passionate about integrating science and spirituality, understanding the importance of connecting with the heart and creating heart coherence. Cris, Madalina's partner, shares his experience of witnessing her struggle and feeling helpless during her crisis stage. However, he noticed positive changes in her as she started applying the concepts she learned from the books. This inspired him to join her on the journey of self-discovery. They both experienced the empowering effect of aligning with their authentic selves and changing their perception of life's events. Dr. Madalina and Cris emphasize the significance of the heart's electromagnetic field, which is five times stronger than that of the brain. They explain that individuals generate creative energy when in a state of flow, purpose, and heart alignment. Stress and negative emotions deplete this energy and constrict the heart's field. The couple expresses their passion for bridging science and spirituality, highlighting the interconnectedness of heart intelligence, mind, emotions, and physical health. They believe that by tapping into the simplicity and wholeness of the heart, individuals can experience transformative shifts, living from a place of truth and love. What is Anabolic Healing? Anabolic healing refers to the process of generating energy and promoting healing through intentional heart connection and cultivating positive emotions. It is based on the understanding that our hearts generate electromagnetic fields, influencing overall well-being. Flow, purpose, and heartfelt connection create coherent signals transmitted from the heart to the brain, leading to positive physiological responses. Stress causes the heart's electromagnetic field to shrink, triggering a survival mode that depletes energy and makes us reactive. This stress response negatively affects various body systems, including the cardiovascular and immune systems. Studies show that stress disrupts the brain's normal functioning, activating the reactive amygdala and inhibiting the conscious brain. Anabolic healing counters the negative effects of stress and promotes well-being. Intentionally connecting to the heart and cultivating heart-based emotions like care and gratitude generates coherent signals, fostering heart-brain coherence. MRI studies demonstrate increased activity in areas associated with conscious intelligence and creativity during this state. The reactive amygdala deactivates, reducing impulsive reactions. Anabolic healing also triggers the secretion of chemicals promoting relaxation, joy, and well-being. To integrate anabolic healing into daily life, adopt intentional practices prioritizing heart-centered living. Begin the day with practices like meditation or spending time in nature to connect with the heart, enhancing the electromagnetic field. These practices help discover and experience one's true self, enabling service to others and engaging with the world authentically. In this podcast you will learn:
And much more. EPISODE RESOURCES: | |||
| 01 Mar 2023 | 222: Detoxification: a vital step in balancing hormones - with Peter Kozlowski | 00:59:07 | |
The link between hormones and toxicity is an important one that is often overlooked. Hormone imbalances are becoming more and more common, and our toxic environment is one of the leading causes of these variations. It can have a wide range of symptoms, from low sex drive, to fatigue and depression. Dr. Peter Kozlowski uses a broad array of tools to find the source of the body's dysfunction: he takes the time to listen to his patients and plots their history on a timeline, considering what makes them unique and co-creating with them a truly individualized care plan. Dr. Kozlowski did his residency in Family Practice but started training in Functional Medicine as an intern. He trained in the clinics with leaders in his field, including Dr. Mark Hyman, Dr. Deepak Chopra, and Dr. Susan Blum. To identify the cause of the imbalance, a functional medicine doctor will look at five main areas:
Toxins are often overlooked, but they can have a major impact on hormone balance. Toxins such as heavy metals, mold, and glyphosate can be found in a variety of sources, such as fish, water, and air. These toxins accumulate in the body and disrupt the delicate balance of hormones. Mold toxicity can also cause hormonal imbalances and is often found in water-damaged buildings. Glyphosate, a chemical found in herbicides, is another common toxin and has been found in high levels in many people's bodies, even those who have been eating organic food for years. What is Functional Medicine? Functional Medicine is a medical practice that focuses on preventative care, looking at the root cause of illness and disease, and treating the body as a whole. It is a holistic approach that takes into account the patient’s lifestyle, environment, and genetic predisposition. Functional medicine practitioners use advanced testing to diagnose health problems, including hormone imbalances, blood sugar issues, adrenal fatigue, and other chronic illnesses. They use a personalized approach to health, looking at the body as a whole, rather than just treating individual symptoms. One of the main goals of Functional Medicine is to identify and address the underlying causes of a patient’s health issues. This may involve looking at the patient’s diet, lifestyle, and environment. For example, a practitioner may examine a patient’s diet to determine if there are any nutritional deficiencies or if the patient is consuming too many toxins. How to get proper detoxification? Detoxification is a process of removing these toxins from the body, and it is something that everyone should consider doing. Peter Kozlowski believes that heavy metal testing should be done as a routine pediatric visit at the age of 3 and that everyone should be tested for mold, glyphosate, and other toxins every 6 months or every year. He believes that these toxins are not only found in the environment but can also be passed to children through the umbilical cord during pregnancy. So, what is the best way to detoxify your body? According to Kozlowski, "the first step is to stop exposure to toxins, such as reducing the use of processed foods, lipsticks and mascaras, and other products that may contain toxins." Additionally, he recommends drinking half your body weight in water, exercising and sweating, using an infrared sauna, getting enough sleep, and managing stress in order to help the body detoxify. Kozlowski also recommends using the Environmental Working Group's website (ewg.org) to identify what toxins may be in your home and products you are using. Additionally, he recommends getting tested for heavy metals, mold, and glyphosate to get an accurate picture of what toxins are in the body. Finally, Kozlowski recommends searching for a certified functional medicine doctor on ifm.org to get a personalized detox plan. It is important to note that the amount of time it takes to detoxify the body will vary from person to person, and it may take up to 6 months to get the desired results. Kozlowski also recommends reading his books to be better informed and prepared for the detoxification process. In conclusion, detoxification is an important process for everyone to consider to rid their body of toxins. By following the steps outlined by Peter Koz, you can take the necessary steps to help your body detoxify and improve your overall health. In this podcast you will learn:
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| 02 Mar 2020 | 043: Getting Healthy With The Keto Lifestyle and Jessica Tye | 01:02:02 | |
There are many approaches to wellness, and today we are focusing on one practitioner’s journey of getting healthy with the keto lifestyle: Jessica Tye. Jessica is a Certified Nutritional Therapy Practitioner, host of the wellness podcast, Keto Lifestyle, and a true farm girl. She is passionate about helping people achieve positive results through nutrition and creating wellness habits. | |||
| 30 Nov 2023 | 239: Glyphosate's Impact on Women's Health - with Susana Puelles | 01:02:26 | |
In the realm of women's health, the significance of environmental factors affecting fertility and overall well-being has come to the forefront. Susana Puelles, a seasoned healthcare provider with over 25 years of experience, explores holistic approaches to address women's challenges, particularly regarding glyphosate exposure, aging, and infertility. Glyphosate, a key component in many herbicides, has infiltrated our environment, permeating our food and water sources. Susana Puelles emphasizes the multigenerational impact of this pervasive chemical, known for its herbicidal properties, potentially disrupting hormonal balance and leading to issues such as fibroids, cysts, endometriosis, and fertility challenges. The Western Approach and Birth Control Susana critiques the conventional Western medical model's response to women's health issues, involving prescribing birth control and hormone replacement therapies. This approach often provides temporary relief but fails to address the root causes, underscoring the need for a paradigm shift in women's healthcare. She elucidates the misconception around regular periods induced by birth control, emphasizing that what many perceive as a menstrual cycle is, in fact, breakthrough bleeding caused by hormonal withdrawal. Susana explains the broader impact of birth control, depicting it not only as a synthetic hormone but also as a steroid with potential long-term consequences. The Crucial Role of Functional Medicine and Holistic Approaches Functional medicine emerges as a beacon of hope in Susana's narrative. She underscores the significance of testing for glyphosate levels, metals, and other toxins, shedding light on the unseen disruptions in the body's detox pathways. Unlike its Western counterpart, functional medicine aims to uncover the factors clogging the system, paving the way for a more comprehensive healing approach. Exposures and Detoxification Susana simplifies the complex landscape of chemical exposures, focusing on three primary culprits: fluoride, aluminum, and glyphosate. She encourages individuals to regain control over their environments by eliminating these toxins from everyday products. Emphasizing the impact of these exposures on the gut, she stresses the need to prioritize gut health as a precursor to effective detoxification. Healing the Gut and Yoni Sync Healing the gut takes precedence in Susana's approach, which she likens to the epicenter of hormone production and overall well-being. By identifying and rectifying exposure issues, healing the gut becomes a foundational step in the journey toward hormonal balance and fertility. Yoni Sync, Susana's holistic herb company, embodies her commitment to merging traditional herbal wisdom with modern health needs. Developed through years of experience, Yoni Sync offers solutions for hormone imbalances, fibroids, and overall women's health. Susana stresses the importance of time in the healing process. While some individuals witness transformative changes in as little as three to four months, the average timeline hovers around six months to a year. She urges individuals to grant themselves the grace of time, challenging societal impatience that often accompanies fertility struggles. Beyond Quick Fixes and High-Risk Pregnancies Susana provides a nuanced perspective on In Vitro Fertilization (IVF), acknowledging its role as a valid option for many couples. However, she cautions against perceiving it as a quick fix, emphasizing the need for a holistic approach that extends beyond the immediacy of fertility treatments. The integration of natural methods, such as acupuncture and herbal support, can enhance the effectiveness of IVF while addressing underlying issues. As IVF becomes more prevalent, so do high-risk pregnancies. Susana sheds light on potential complications arising from assisted reproductive technologies, including pre-eclampsia, gestational diabetes, and cholestasis. Integrative support from healthcare professionals, including acupuncturists and herbalists, can play a crucial role in mitigating these risks. The Continuation of Care in the Postpartum Phase The journey doesn't conclude with childbirth. Susana emphasizes the importance of postpartum care, especially for women who have undergone high-risk pregnancies or fertility treatments. A holistic team, including acupuncturists, can provide ongoing support, addressing hormonal imbalances and aiding in the recovery process. In this podcast, you'll discover:
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| 24 Feb 2022 | 179: Sacred Birth/Sacred Death: Holistic Fertility & Hospice Care with Dr. Nathan Riley | 01:14:00 | |
How we enter this world and leave this world makes a huge difference. For most of the western world, we all experience a similar allopathic birth protocol in a sterile environment we call the hospital. Likewise, when we die, we often leave this world in an allopathic environment, like a hospital. Or an allopathic arrangement we call “hospice.” Unfortunately, there are many shortcomings and mistakes to be found in both the westernized practice of birthing babies and caring for people with terminal illnesses. Do you know what these shortcomings are? Many do not - as our western hospital system, and Big Pharma dominate the landscape so profoundly that most of us do not realize there are other ways to go about birthing and dying. Meet our guest today - Dr. Nathan Riley - a medical doctor specializing in OBGYN and hospice medicine. Dr. Nathan is also a holistic health practitioner with extensive training, including the Chek Institute. Through his holistic OBGYN practice - Beloved Holistics - Dr. Nathan offers a path of collaboration between himself, midwives, and health coaches. Dr. Nathan's generous heart thrives as a holistic OBGYN who brings to the table not only allopathic medicine but also functional medicine, Chinese medicine, herbalism, and Ayurveda. Based in Louisville, Kentucky - Dr. Nathan meets with patients locally and remotely to care for common OBGYN issues like pelvic pain, fertility issues, and abnormal periods. He is one of the most diverse, exciting guests to ever appear on the Awesome Health Podcast. His fascinating spiritual approach to death is worth a listen alone. However, you will be blown away by his OBGYN insights as well. But sure to hit that play button! In this podcast, we cover:
How we face (or not face) mortality in our modern age: At one point in the conversation, Dr. Nathan shared this about his father: “If you've lost anybody close to you, you realize that there's this transition - this transformation of spirit. Getting older and having to face our mortality is something that we all have to do.” “If we treat death as a medical process - that’s a failure of the modern medical model because we're not forced to contemplate our death.” “What happens is we're not forced to face mortality because we have this presumption that somebody's going to save us from this necessary transformation that happens at the end.” “For example, my dad - who died when I was in medical school from something called multiple myeloma - he was one of those rough and tough guys that didn't want to talk about emotions. He wasn't open to telling people he loved them…it was that generation of men that is emotionally unavailable.” “I worked with a palliative care group and he joined a palliative care group in my hometown of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and they got him to open up about things and to really kind of reconcile like hey - this is something that's going to happen, and it's not something to be afraid of.” “And so the sacred nature of death started to emerge, for me, and then I ended up in medical school and then into residency experiencing birth and realizing - wow - there's something magical here.” 1000 Births & 1000 Deaths Dr. Nathan says he has experienced at least one thousand births and one thousand deaths through his medical practice. Here is one big takeaway Dr. Nathan has found from this: “I've been to so many births and deaths - 1000 of each is what I tell people at least. I came to realize there's a spiritual component to this, and what a person needs from you during these scary times that are sacred rites of passage.” “These times can be blissful depending on how you approach it. As a doctor, what they need from you is somebody to see them and witness them. And then to acknowledge that we don't have a way of fixing this.” “We can't fix your pregnancy or your birth. Your birth is going to unfold whether you like it or not. And your death is going to unfold, whether you like it or not.” “So what I'm trying to illustrate is that [birth and death] are two sides of the same coin. [Birth and death] are both equally transformative in spirit.” Dr. Nathan’s unconventional medical practice is making waves in a good way. His unique perspective bringing birth (OBGYN) and death (hospice) together into one holistic medical approach offers many insights you rarely find in the specialist-obsessed allopathic healthcare model. Hit that play button and check out this dynamic doctor who offers spirituality and a refreshing level of respect to his patients. Episode Resources: Get 10% off of a consultation package of 10 hours or more using promo code WADE10 HERE Check out more about Dr. Nathan Riley at Beloved Holistics Nathan Riley OBGYN on Instagram | |||
| 18 Feb 2020 | 042: Essential Oils and Holistic Botanicals with Dr. Nick Berry | 01:02:18 | |
With CBD becoming extremely popular, are essential oils and holistic botanicals soon to follow? We explore this topic today on Awesome Health Podcast with Dr. Nick Berry. Dr. Nick is a holistic pharmacist, plant enthusiast and the founder of Essential Oil Wizardry. Essential Oil Wizardry offers over 300 different botanical extract products, powerful therapeutic formulas and elegant botanical perfumes, and also develops custom formulations for individuals and commercial brands. | |||
| 27 Nov 2019 | 035: Keto Diets, Training and Performance with Dr. Dominic D’Agostino | 01:33:48 | |
  Keto diets have been extremely popular lately, but how does being in ketosis impact our training and performance? The expert on these topics is Dr. Dominic D’Agostino. Dr. Dominic is a Professor in the Department of Molecular Pharmacology and Physiology at the University of South Florida, and Research Scientist at the Institute for Human and Machine Cognition (IHMC). He is well-respected in the science world as well as the performance industry having been featured on Tim Ferriss' podcast as well as having his research supported by the Department of Defense, the Navy SEALs, etc.
 35. Keto Diets, Training and Performance with Dr. Dominic D’AgostinoIn today's episode, we dig into Dr. D'Agostino's research plus his own personal experience and experimentation with keto diets and bodybuilding, including how he achieved his personal best deadlift while fasting! We also discuss what it means to be "fat adapted" and why our bodies can run on both ketones and glucose at the same time. Dr. D’Agostino says the idea is to adapt our bodies over time by training while we're fasting periodically; if we are training in a state of nutritional ketosis and occasionally consuming carbohydrates then our body recognizes carbs and as ketones both as fuel sources. One strategy to do this could be to eat a carbohydrate-based diet that is low enough to maintain optimal insulin sensitivity while including ketogenic nutrition, such as MCT oils or ketone supplements. But it's important to also do this without necessarily restricting carbohydrates to the point of entering ketosis. And we finish up with a chat about when it's beneficial to be on a keto diet as well as how often to follow a ketogenic protocol to get the full benefit. Dr. D'Agostino suggests we can achieve many of the metabolic benefits and anti-cancer benefits by going keto for just three to five days per month either through fasting or by going down to 500 calories per day. You’ll hear him explain the science behind these approaches plus much more on this fascinating and enriching conversation on today’s edition of the Awesome Health Podcast! Resources for this EpisodeRead the Episode Transcript :Wade Lightheart: Good afternoon, good morning and good evening. It's Wade T Lightheart here today with co-founder Matt Gallant. And a super special guest, Dr Dominic D'Agostino. I have been, you know, hoping for this interview for a long time. For those who don't know who Dominic D'Agostino is, he is one of the preeminent experts on ketogenic diets and ketosis. He works with the Navy seals and in a variety of projects that he's done, they're heavily research oriented and the benefits that this potential dietary practice can have both in performance applications as well as physical health issues, you know, related to cancer, things like that. Cognitive function, a bunch of different things. Dom is a professor at the department of molecular pharmacology and physiology at the university of South Florida and a research scientist at the Institute for human and machine cognition. His laboratory develops and tests metabolically based strategies for neurological disorders, cancer and for enhancing the safety and resilience of military personnel in extreme environments. His research is supported by the office of Naval research, department of defense, private organizations and foundations. He just recently came back from a trip from Australia where he was speaking literally in what, five cities in 11 days. And he was gracious enough to take the time to join us on the Awesome Health Podcast. So delighted to have you here. Dom, welcome to the show. Dominic D'Agostino: Great to be here. Thanks for having me Matt and Wade. Matt Gallant: As much as Wade is excited, I'm, I'm even more excited. You know, I've been a fan of your work since. I think I first heard you probably I think on the Tim Ferriss podcast which, which was very enlightening and I've been a longtime keto user and dieter for over 26 years on and off nonstop now for four and a half. And a BiOptimizers, you know, we have these, this three sided triangle of, you know, aesthetics, how we look, the performance and the health side. And I think you're one of the top guys in the world to talk about the performance side and the health side of keto. Cause most people talk more about the aesthetics, the fat loss and that, that component. But today I really like to dive into maybe we could start with some of your background and what you've been doing research wise and then we can get really into all of their current stuff you're doing in a run performance and help. So maybe give us a little bit of background as far as what you've been up to the last five, 10 years. First Quito and kettle research. Dominic D'Agostino: Yeah. for 10 years, well, this quickly, going back to 25 years ago, I was always interested in nutrition and I majored actually in as an undergrad in nutrition scientists and dietetics. And as I navigated my, you know, college career, I realized that there wasn't a whole lot of jobs in nutrition. So I kind of moved to majoring in biology too. And then I did my PhD actually in neuroscience and, and when I finished my pHD I was funded by the office of Navy research for my fellowship, a postdoctoral fellowship. And that was really to understand oxygen toxicity seizures as it pertains to the Navy seal dieter that's using a closed circuit rebreather that they use or operational conditions. There's a stealth component to this equipment. There's no bubbles when you dive underwater. A disadvantage would be that you're breathing high oxygen 100%, actually with a certain type of breather and it just did the be the seawater. Dominic D'Agostino: You can have a seizure and within 10 minutes some people you know can have that and there's really no way to predict or prevent them. So the first area of my research was developing different technologies that would allow us to understand sort of how the brain is working under these conditions. And if you understand the problem, then you can come up with a solution. But we didn't fundamentally understand the problem. So we developed things like microscopes and electrophysiology equipment and telemetry equipment and we adapted that for use inside a hyperbaric chamber. And then over, you know, five or six years, I started to realize that targeting brain energy metabolism and the neuropharmacology of the brain are two strategies to protect the brain under these extreme conditions. And I was sort of interested in antioxidants, loading up animals with antioxidants really did not seem to work much, although in theory it should have. Dominic D’Agostino: But then I started moving towards like coaxing our own bodies to be more resilient. And there was some studies that we've done with fasting rats for 24 to 36 hours and that actually had a remarkable effect at preventing the seizures and it was actually greater neuroprotection than the antiseizure drugs. So I began sort of became interested in how fast and could mitigate and be a mitigation strategy or counter measure against these types of seizures. And then discovered the ketogenic diet, which I thought of, sort of thought I knew, but I really didn't know the whole history of the ketogenic diet, you know, growing up you hear about low carb diets, Atkins diets and you know, I had interested in the ozone diet at one point and a little carb a little bit and I did it kind of on and off for different years. Dominic D’Agostino: But when I delved into the history of the ketogenic diet and met with the practitioners at major universities, like especially Johns Hopkins group I realized that this could potentially be, I could incorporate nutrition back into my research program and do sort of like a nutritional neuroscience project. I would just have to convince my program officer at the department of defense or Navy that, you know, this was a good strategy and the science was actually there like on PubMed, you know, I mean it was good peer reviewed studies sharing that independent of the etiology independent of the cause of the seizures. The ketogenic diet seemed to help across the board. So, and oxygen toxicity seizures are powerful. Tonic clonic seizures we think are being generated in the hippocampus, which was an area that I was studying and published on. And also maybe influencing the neuro control of autonomic regulation and actually did my PhD on respiratory neurobiology brain set. Dominic D’Agostino: So I had a sort of an understanding of, of sort of what was happening and, and a new understanding and appreciation for nutrition as a metabolic therapy. And and I was never taught anything about the ketogenic diet through my four years of training and two, two semesters actually, the advanced nutrition and graduate nutrition. I never even heard about the ketogenic diet being used, and it was like the standard of care for drug refractory epilepsy. So long story short the dietary approach wasn't, it didn't really grab the attention of the program officers. They wanted to see a ketogenic diet sort of in a drug. So I went down the path personally from a research perspective of just studying ketones and different formulations or ketones. But I also started doing the ketogenic diet myself to understand it from the implementation perspective. And, and, and not people weren't doing the ketogenic diet, the clinical ketogenic diet back when I started and maybe 2008, seven or eight. Dominic D’Agostino: But as I followed it, I realized after I got through the initial adaptation, I felt really good. And I I, prior to this, my, my meal frequency was five or six meals a day and I transitioned actually to eating less often and to the point where I adapted to doing intermittent fasting occasionally, once in awhile. And, and then as we developed ketone various ketone technologies, including ketone esters and ketone electrolyte preparations mixed with a MCT and started studying it, we realized that these are very powerful neuroprotective compounds that have a wide range of applications, not just oxygen toxicity seizures, but different metabolic disorders are highly responsive to nutritional ketosis. Some are the standard of care are the ketogenic diet, I should say, is the standard of care for things like metabolic disorders, like glucose transporter deficiency, other deficiency complex. We studied Kabuki syndrome, which is a genetic disease. Dominic D’Agostino: And we look at the role of ketone bodies as an epigenetic regulator activating some genes and silencing others that can impart their therapeutic effects. So, and then cancer too is another area. I've had three PhD students graduate under me training under me that actually focused on looking at the ketogenic diet to impact the growth and proliferation of cancer, metastatic cancer. We we're looking at cancer parts, which is muscle wasting associated with cancer. We're also looking at drugs like Metformin and other metabolic drugs that sort of target different pathways that overlap with the ketogenic diet. So, so I started studying it for something that was relatively esoteric to most people. Oxygen toxicity seizures are now, we now are studying, I would say probably close to a dozen different things including glucose regulation, you know, everything from ALS to angelman syndrome to Alzheimer's disease, Kabuki syndrome, glucose transporter syndrome a number of other kind of even more rare things that you may not have heard of. Dominic D’Agostino: And, and we're also, you know, developing forms of ketogenic compounds, diets, and also supplements that would allow the war fighter and potentially even the astronaut to implement some form of ketogenic nutrition to enhance performance and resilience in extreme environments. You know, so going back to the, the Navy project, I've continued to be funded by them, you know, for like almost 12 to 13 years now. And I continue to have projects and we've developed the animal work and now we're actually doing studies in humans. And, and now we've actually moved on to working with NASA where we, eh, we do experiments where we live in an undersea environment for an extended period of time in what's called saturation. And when you're in saturation, it takes a long time to decompress and to come up. So your body is an extreme environment, not just pressure, but higher ATA of oxygen, higher partial pressure of carbon dioxide too, which has an effect. Dominic D’Agostino: So we have projects where I look at the gut microbiome, psychological testing, body composition. We look at a number of other factors, you know that are influenced, you know, in these extreme environments, a lot of like psychological, what we call team-building or cognitive team cognition. So how the group works together and that can be impacted by our energy state, our metabolism, and our pharmacology. So we're looking at a whole suite of parameters of people in these environments. So we figure out where the detriment is. And then once we understand that, then we develop a sort of a lifestyle, which is micro focuses, nutrition and supplementation to basically enhance, you know, resilience in that environment. And that would be physiological resilience and psychological resilience. So that's, we're putting a lot of time and effort into that project now. Wade Lightheart: That's pretty exciting stuff. Yeah, no I just wanted to comment on that. And one of the things I think from a practical standpoint that I think people can relate to. And I'm curious about this one because I think as listening to you on Tim Ferris, you had gone an extended period time of fasting and were able to like do a ridiculous deadlifts set. Do you want to talk about that just, just briefly, cause I'm just, this is a curiosity component of I heard about it. I want to be confirmed that I heard it correctly. So I'll let you speak from the hearts because what it seems that you've been able to do is something that almost no one would believe possible. Dominic D’Agostino: Well, I, I don't, I don't think fasting or being in it, and I don't think the ketogenic diet has, some people didn't accuse diet will dramatically impair your strength and performance and once you're adapted, and I don't see that as being necessarily a problem if you have protein a equate for protein and total calories. So fasting is sort of like another thing, but also kind of similar in a fasting state. It after about the second or third day it gets hard around that time, but once your body adapts you actually feel better. Your energy level starts to get a little bit low. Towards day five or day seven in me. I haven't went beyond a seven day fast. And I realized that, you know, I wouldn't want to do a high volume workout during that time, but I realized that my, my overall strength just by how I felt really was not impaired much in a, I just wanted to, you know, kind of feel how the weight spell on my body and actually my inflammation was gone. Dominic D’Agostino: Like, I mean, I felt good in so many ways that I just kept adding weight. One 35 to 25, three 15 four or five, four or five easier than I expected. So I was like, okay, let me try five plates. And I did five and I was thinking maybe I should stop there and my body's sort of in a low energy state and I just kept going. I normally can do more, but I, I felt that the 10, I don't even think I got sore the next day. But yesterday actually I just, I got back from traveling in Australia and I picked up a stomach bug on the last day as I really didn't eat for about two or three days. And yesterday I just posted it on Instagram, Facebook, I deadlifted five plates for 15. And my body weight was really low to one 98. Dominic D'Agostino That's extremely low for me. I'd be, haven't been that low since I was a teenager and I was kind of in a backseat state again. And again, I don't for exercises, like if for things pressing movements, if I lose weight, my, my strength goes way down. But for things like deadlift, I always kind of feel strong in a semi fasted state. And I think I've mentioned this to Tim's brand and Tim friend told Tim and then he unexpectedly added it to that podcast and it's like, I don't, I don't, don't, it's like, no, no, I think it's, you've got to start off. That's how you engage people. So I requested it not, you know, I mentioned that, but he mentioned it and it's like, then I had to live up to it, then I had to actually go and do it. Wade Lightheart: That's a fascinating, it's the next fascinating segue cause it's a pattern interrupt for most people who think three or four hours without eating, they're going to die. Especially bodybuilding six times a day probably. Yeah, exactly. So it's a point of interest. I think that kind of, you know, creates another level of curiosity for people to find out, well, well how is that possible? What is this guy doing? You know? And, and it, I think it just adds a a level of verification about the efficacy of what you're doing and what you're promoting and, and, and how you're going about doing it. It also opens a door, I think, which Matt's going to dive into here about asking some very specific questions because as is, he'll reveal he's, he's been deep down the ketogenic adventure for as long as anybody I know. Matt Gallant: So, so I want to get into I guess some nerdy stuff and you know, one of the things I believe in, I'm curious what your thoughts on this phone is that if we look at health as a spectrum on one side you got, you know, sickness and then your death and that in the middle what people call normal. Wade Lightheart: And then at the very end of the other side you have peak performance, peak health. So what I've seemed to notice is that all the things that might fix health issues, you know, for that get us from no sickness to normal will typically also get us from normal to a peak state. And you know, I want to get into the neuro cognitive enhancements that happened with the ketogenic side and you really want to understand what's happening exactly, again on a brain level and on a nervous system level that is producing enhancements. Like why, why is ketones enhancing the cognitive side? Dominic D'Agostino: Yeah, that's a subject of intense research and numerous labs right now. We have garnered sort of a lot of information over the years. Well personally doing it myself and actually measuring my neurotransmitters and, and other blood markers of metabolic health and inflammatory health and neuroinflammation. Matt Gallant: So can I ask you, like what have you seen on a neurotransmitter level? Wade Lightheart: Yeah. And what tests are you running. Dominic D'Agostino I Oh, have different kits here in my drawers. I was going to say that for neurotransmitters, it's not a great test, but one of them that I did, and I did a couple ZRT labs has a urine neurotransmitter test. And I think when I did it down inside the habitat for the NASA emo mission, a couple of them for some reason didn't come out. But the things that came out and made a lot of sense you know, I've, I've done repeated measurements and my GABA to glutamate ratio is very high. It's on the order of two to three times outside the range of normal. So I tend to, at least in a ketogenic state, you make the neurotransmitter gamma-Aminobutyric acid GABA you make, it's a brain stabilizing your transmitter. You actually make that from an excited Tori neurotransmitter called glutamate through the an enzyme called glutamic acid decarboxylase and being in a state of nutritional ketosis with the diet and now we know with supplementation activates the GAD enzyme to convert more glutamate to GABA. Dominic D’Agostino: So you go from a a state of the brain that's hyperactive in the context of what we study. There's excitotoxicity, glutamate, excitotoxicity and it, I think it's in part therapeutic because you are reducing in neurotransmitter that's causing a neuronal hyperexcitability and making GABA, which I don't want to get too down in the weeds, but it mediates, it does chloride mediated post-synaptic inhibition, which it opens up an ion channel that hyperpolarizes the membrane potential of the cell. And when a membrane potential is hyperpolarized, it doesn't fire action potentials as fast. It's more, it's very stabilized. And if there's lots of glutamate excitatory, that will deep polarize the membrane potential and it comes closer to its threshold for firing. So it starts firing action potentials very fast. And if all your neurons are doing that, then you're like dumping glutamate, you're dumping potassium, you're dumping calcium potentially. And this can create a scenario where you have excited toxicity. So in a nutshell, what being in nutritional ketosis does is it changes the neuropharmacology of your brain to prevent you from entering that hyperexcitable state. And so that's one of about a dozen things. And I could go down that sort of list of that on a dozen different things. Another thing that we can, Matt Gallant: No, but that's, that's, that's fascinating. Cause I've done some tests and I'm on the slightly deficient side of, of GABA. So it's probably one of the reasons why I love keto in general and, and why I respond well in that I did not know it what you just reveal. That's fascinating. Dominic D’Agostino: Yeah, we've published that too actually in well it's been published in Humans. But we, we did it in a model of Angelman syndrome and we actually have an Angelman syndrome clinical trial at Vanderbilt right now because of, you know, some of this, the work that we did in preclinical models. Matt Gallant: So a question. I mean when obviously common belief is that the brain runs on glucose, what's your answer to people that go with that? Dominic D’Agostino: Well, you know, that's what I was taught, that that was part of my training in nutrition. You know, you never go below a 60 grams of glucose because that's what the brain's obligate requirement. But then because I got interested in fasting, I was thinking, well, like what does happen when you fast? And I was thinking you know, well, how can people, how can people fast and not go hypoglycemic? And then I started reading a work of Dr. George F Cahill from Harvard medical school where he facet subjects for 40 days. You know, towards the end of that, he injected them with insulin to push their glucose down farther. And it revealed that they were asymptomatic for hypoglycemia because they're the fact that their bodies are adipose was releasing for energy to be used by skeletal muscle and the heart, the brain really doesn't use these large fat molecules for fuel because of the blood brain barrier. Dominic D’Agostino: So the liver converts them to small water-soluble fat molecules. We call ketone bodies or fat derived molecules. And then the ketone bodies can largely replace glucose as an energy source. Although we still our blood glucose levels, they're very powerful homeostatic mechanisms that maintain our blood glucose levels. So glucose really doesn't change all that much. It'll go down to like maybe three millimole or something like that at the glycerol backbone of triglycerides. We'll make continue to make glucose. And then you have gluconeogenic amino acids, especially Alanine that gets released from muscle tissues and that becomes can become glucose. But the primary fuel for brain energy metabolism can switch to from glucose to ketone bodies. And I say that I say primary fuel because more than 50% of brain energy metabolism, it's kind of universally agreed that after prolonged fasting that we are using primarily ketones. And the same thing can happen with a, a strict clinical ketogenic diet. You're primarily running the brain off a ketone bodies. Matt Gallant: So, just to recap, your body has a lot of different ways to internally produce glucose, which is kind of a fascinating cause I've noticed that too, that even when you know, zero carbs, carb or fasting, that, you know, my blood glucose might drop as, you know, high seventies, but it's, it's, it's hard for me to go lower than that even if I'm zero carb and fasting and what not. So, yeah. Have you noticed too that the longer, and I've seen some interesting research recently on this that if you're, it'd been on keto for a long time. That seems to be another level of adoptation where even while you're exercising, the glucose is staying in the muscle. Like the body's actually not even touching some of the glucose, cause I've noticed that even in the last like year or so that I, I just seem to be holding onto more glycogen in the muscle than I used to, even when I'm doing all the same things. Dominic D’Agostino: Yeah. That'll be dependent to some extent on calories. So if calories are if you're, you caloric and you're not at a calorie deficit actually, well I'll come to that later. But if you are, if you do become at a calorie deficit and you're carb dependent, you lose glycogen really fast. If you do become calorie deficit and you're adapted to a ketogenic diet, you, you, you lose glycogen much slower because you are using fat for energy or more fat. The ratio is higher than the ratio of glucose you're using. So, but yes, I think Jeff Bullock has published on these two and athletes is that skeletal muscle glycogen, not liver glycogen, but skeletal muscle glycogen does not change that much. And athletes that are extremely carbohydrate restrictive with their diets, which is difficult for some people to believe. But once you understand metabolic physiology and that we've had adapted the skeletal muscle, the primary engine, you know, that's, that's burning and a substrate to using fatty acids for fuel that actually has a glucose sparing effect and the glucose sparing effect because you're using more fats as opposed to glucose will preserve muscle glycogen. Dominic D'Agostino: Over time there becomes a tipping point. And I think everybody's a little bit different. But I think the point is that, you know, athletes that are, that are adapted to nutritional ketosis really do have a remarkable ability to retain also glycogen. Matt Gallant: So one of the big concerns that some people have and Wade has this concern as well is the loss in kind of, let's just call it the, the last 10% like that peak, especially if you're more of a power athlete. What's your opinion on that? Is that something that if you're fat adapted for long enough that you can regain? What have you seen as far as peak performance, again from a sprinting, weight lifting, those types of athletic endeavors? Dominic D’Agostino: Yeah, these are really good questions. You know, I do believe I've seen enough data to suggest that if you are on a very carbohydrate restricted ketogenic diet and you push an athlete to two dates, extreme short bursts of, of output, total power output may be compromised would likely be compromised to some degree. If someone's on a very restrictive ketogenic diet if you don't add carbohydrates in. So I think, you know, there, there's a lot of nuances here but, but I think that if you take the average athlete who's carbohydrate adapted and adapt them to a low carbohydrate diet forcing their body to sort of burn preferentially more fat for fuel, they can get 80 to 90% of the benefits of low carb without compromising their glycolytic capacity. And you can do this simply by titrating in the carbohydrates back into the diet. Dominic D’Agostino: A tip, you know, low glycemic index carbohydrates, small amounts of carbohydrates will keep glycolytic pathway sort of open various enzyme systems like every big dehydrogenase complex. So that enzyme, the people who favor high carb diets will say, well, your pre-rebate dehydrogenate complex will be suppressed. You won't make as much protein and that the enzyme itself won't be as active. I think one way to keep that, that energetic path open is to periodically add some carbohydrates in, maybe in around your training. And that could be beneficial too. And also if you are, if you are a low carb athlete, when you fuel up intro workout, the type of workouts I do, I don't, I don't really have a fuel up if I, I work my workouts are like 15, 20 minutes or something. But for athletes that work out for like hours at a time to then introduce a sort of a, you know, a carb and a bat sort of supplement at the same time like MCT oil or maybe even mixed with some long chain fats but also a slower burning carbohydrate source after a certain point because you do get carbohydrate, you know it does become a limiting substrate under some conditions and I think each person is a unique metabolic entity. Dominic D’Agostino: I need to experiment, but like the take home messages that if you go on a super strict diet, your low end maybe knocked down a little bit. But if you learn how to use carbohydrates as a performance enhancing substance and you use it sparingly, then I think you can get the best of both worlds. From, from my perspective. Matt Gallant: Yeah, I've seen, I know some guys that have tested their, their, their ketones by doing some cyclical carb re feeds, intro workout, and you know, they've gone as high as like 80 grams on a leg day and had no changes. So they've been able to just maintain ketosis. And because obviously in a squat day, you know, the big deadlift day, you're just going to be burning that glucose in real time. Dominic D’Agostino: The keto community may like cringe at this, but I, I really believe that carbohydrates are a powerful performance enhancing sort of substrate. If you strip strategically and if you deliver a certain types of carbs. I mean, it could be any kind of carb. I mean, when I experiment, I'll use chocolate. I mean, I'll, she's like stuff like that. So it doesn't really have to be a particular kind of carbohydrates, but if you add also lots of water and sodium too, while you're delivering the carbohydrates your blood volume will go up. I mean, you'll notice things in the gym, you know the energy that you feel may just be due to the hyperhydration you get and it doesn't take much. So that's the key. You don't have to throw in like three, 400 grams of carbs and it can be as little as 30 or 40 grams of carbs. If you're a really big guy doing a long workout. Yeah, you might want to titrate, you know, 80 grams of carbs over that duration and maybe a little bit with a refeed. But it certainly doesn't take a lot of carbs to when you're talking about someone who's fat adapted and the, I think 30 grams of carbs for the typical, you know, one, one and a half hour workout, however long people work out these days. Matt Gallant: So you really open up a topic that I had in mindful on time, which is the idea of dual fuel, right? So the idea that you can both run on glucose and ketones simultaneously. I mean, I've done it personally many times. Can you, first of all, can we start with the physiology? Like, how, how is that happening? How is the body burning both glucose and ketones at the same time? Dominic D’Agostino: Yeah, there doesn't seem to be like, it's a strange question for me, like someone who studies physiology because I mean it's just, that's what the body does. But I know there's two camps out there who just kind of believed that, you know, we fuel off carbohydrates or refuel off ketones and fat. But your body has in your brain. We now know, has amazing metabolic flexibility. So if we adapt our bodies over time, and the best way to adapt is to train under specific metabolic conditions. So training while you're fasting periodically, I mean, some people cringe at that, but I think doing it occasionally is a good idea. Training in a state of nutritional ketosis occasionally throwing carbohydrates in so your body recognizes that fuel and to do that periodically. So I mean, I'm coming at a, at a neuroscience perspective because I, I believe a lot of our digital output and our brains are wired to our muscles. Dominic D’Agostino: So if our central nervous system is energized and we have good fuel flow to it, it's going to buy our muscles and can attract more muscle fibers so we can actually get stronger contractions and maintain that over longer periods of time. If we give, our brain has metabolic flexibility and we'll use whatever fuel is available. So glucose and, and ketone bodies we know it can use lactate to a little bit amino acids, but usually, you know, glucose or ketones. So it will use whatever's available and whatever's in the blood. So one strategy could be to do a carbohydrate-based diet that you know, low enough that you maintain optimal insulin sensitivity and then throw in ketogenic nutrition, which could be MCT oils or on supplements without necessarily restricting carbohydrates to the point where you are in ketosis. A MCQ oils can achieve that. Dominic D’Agostino: And also ketone supplements on the market can also achieve that. This is a new idea. But we do know that independent of a carbohydrate restriction, if you administer a ketogenic agent, whether it's a ketone salts, even MCTs or ketone esters, the body will use what's available. So if you elevate that substrate, interestingly, if your ketones are elevated, it seems to facilitate a glucose disposal into the tissue to although it, it kind of appears that because your blood glucose goes down when you administer acutely a ketogenic agent, some individuals, some labs believe that that's an increase in insulin sensitivity that's facilitating glucose disposal that could be happening. But I think when you orally administer a ketogenic compound through counter-regulatory mechanisms, we don't quite understand. There's a decrease in hepatic gluconeogenesis and thereby a paddock glucose output is reduced. We have not done a liver metabolics to figure out what's going on, but it kind of makes sense that it delivers, you know, seeing a high concentration of ketone bodies, it's going to want to spare glucose. Dominic D’Agostino: The glucose you have in your blood now is not like it's the glucose that your liver regulates. So your liver is the master regulator of the glucose that your peripheral tissues seats. So the glucose that's in your blood now, it might be from a couple of days ago, the glycogen that's stored in the liver a couple of days ago. So your liver is like the master regulator. It's why it's important to keep the liver healthy. And when the literacy is ketones, I think that it's a decreasing glucose output. This is important therapeutically for like type two diabetes and also, but it's also kind of important too from a fuel, a dual fuel perspective, which was the question I think people will ask, well what will happen if you throw ketones on top of glucose? You know, then you're just, you're creating this artificial scenario, which could be dangerous. But I believe that, well, we now have experimental data to show that the liver does a pretty good job at recognizing it. Dominic D’Agostino: You know, the, the level of ketones that you have and, and utilizing those fuels and people maybe look at exogenous ketones as an artificial fuel, but it's really just another energy source. I mean you could say that it's creatine, right? I mean, we take or we make creatine, we store it a little bit and when we drink it, we're getting super physiological levels. And from the literature all we can tell it's doing positive things. And I think ketones are kind of like it's good to make them through our own physiology because that forces adaptations and adaptations are necessary for the ketogenic process, that ketone transporter process going across biological membranes. And also with cell C ketones, you're also up regulating keto lit enzymes which allow cells to derive energy and ATP from the ketone molecules. And I think that happens faster when you do it naturally with the ketogenic diet or fasting. And then if you throw ketone supplements on, you know, sparingly. I don't, I don't use em today. I don't use them every day, but I think you can kind of gain, you can kind of gain the system a little bit and gain an advantage. I mean, what our research shows. Wade Lightheart: I can, I would echo that from just a clinical conspiracy, my own stuff. Matt, of course, has been on the ketogenic diet. I'm a, I'm a plant based guy and, but I have an extraordinary blood insulin response, you know, whether it's genetics or whatever. I, you know, when I measure myself, I'm often in a ketogenic state almost when we do our typical fasting on a HomeAway or that sort of stuff. But when I've added ketones, exogenous ketones that Matt's provided for me I, I noticed an instant cognitive performance benefit. Like it's like, okay, I'm a little sharper, everything's a little, little, little crisper and the endurance factor seems amplified for sure. So I, I would echo that just, and that's not very scientific, but it's certainly experimental. And I, and I'm curious, do you kind of do these experiments on your own and then start doing the data and kind of like hitting your bio feedback and then go, I didn't, let's dive into this and see if this is true. I'm just projecting. Or is it you come up with a theory you do in the lab and then you go the other way? I'm kind of curious which way you like to go. Dominic D'Agostino: Well that's a good question. It goes both ways sometimes. And when I got interested in fasting and I read the Cahill studies, then I was like, okay, I gotta do this myself. You know, I gotta, you know, I'm not going to do 40 days, but I'll do a week and see what happens and do the blood work and things like that. And basically all my health markers improved, kind of as you guys would expect. And you know, and as we develop things in the lab, like synthetic ketogenic agents, you know, we'll use them experimentally and sometimes I, you know, take a little myself through the years and, and so some of the things that we use are not, you know, they are experimental compounds right now, but they are tracked towards a clinical use. And once you tinker with these things, then you start to realize some of their potential, right? Their therapeutic potential because some of them like you can actually feel you know, quite remarkably with a acute administration and it's not acting like stimulant. It's not, you know, you're not mixing with caffeine, you're just, you're just elevating the level of available fuel that your brain sees and that has, that has an effect. Matt Gallant: I have a question on that. Cause I usually a twice a year we, we go and do some really extensive hardcore difficult brain training. It's about six hours a day of pushing your brain to its absolute limit, be the equivalent of probably running a couple of marathons a day. And I D I did the first couple of times without ketones and then we started adding like, you know, 30 to 60 grams of esters a day and that allowed us to just continue training cause usually your brain crashing by day three, day four, you know, Wade and I've gone through that. But with the, with the, with the testers, there was no crash. Like day four, day five, day six. I mean you're, you're kind of getting tired, but that's more of a nervous system, you know, but at the same time we were able to continue the training, but the thing that really blew my mind, and I don't understand the, what's going on was the recovery. Like yeah, it gave me a little more energy, but what I really noticed was one, it seemed like I needed almost less sleep taking that many ketones and that I just felt relatively fresh the next day. Again, even despite pushing myself. So from a recovery standpoint, like why, what's going on there? Dominic D’Agostino: Yeah, that's a good, interesting observation too. If you collected data on that, it'd be good to put that together. I, I guess going back to the experience that I can draw off of where I've quantified things to as much as possible would be the NASA extreme environment, mission operations NEMO 22 where a lot of people think I use ketone supplements like every day because we kind of, we're kind of like the people who brought them to market. It mean like Patrick Arnold actually had and you know, years ago and, and different companies or some now. But you know, I don't use ketone supplements every day, but I did during that mission, especially doing the EDAs, the extra vehicular activities and things like that. And for morning multidose and Europe day and and I experimented with in the past. And what I do consistently notice getting back to recovery is that if I'm in a state of deep ketosis I do tend to sleep a little bit less. Dominic D’Agostino: Like lately I've been sleeping like eight hours, sometimes not, but I could sleep about six and a half. And then my amount of deep and REM are the same. So the restorative sleep that I'm getting when my body is in a state of nutritional ketosis seems to be better. So if you have ketones, if your brain has ketones available we now know that the carbon backbone of those ketones are part of the biosynthetic process of making neurotransmitters. Like alpha-ketoglutarate for example, is the precursor to glutamate is the precursor to GABA. And this is called an anaplerotic pathway. So the try-carboxylic acid cycle or the Krebs cycle and the cycle of the NSX make you make the Murray Mallee etc. All these, the, we have demonstrated through metabolomics that these become elevated and you are sort of driving the biosynthesis of neurotransmitters by virtue of increasing TCA cycle intermediates. Dominic D’Agostino: So I believe that this is accelerated a bit because you have the substrate available, you have more precursors can make neuro-transmitters when you sleep. Also, if you're in a state of ketosis, our astrocytes, so we have neurons and we have astrocytes and there's other cells like, like oligodendrocytes and other. But if we just talk about, you know, the two main cells, neurons and astrocytes, the astrocytes tend to store energy in the form of glycogen. When you're on, when you're in a state of ketosis, the ketones will spare just as it does sparing muscle glycogen. The ketones will spare that glycogen in the astrocytes. And part of the restorative process of sleep is to restore the glycogen levels in the astrocytes. So because you're using ketones, you don't have to kind of restore a glycogen levels. So I think that's something. And also there's something called the glymphatic system. Dominic D’Agostino: So your brain has a system that is activated. It's activated all the time, but more so when you sleep and there are things ketones can enhance brain blood flow by 30% with an acute when you acutely elevate ketones with like different ketogenic competence. So I believe that that increase in blood flow and other other factors that are associated with ketosis will increase the glymphatic system performance, if you will. And we'll get a, and this needs to be tested. It's just my, my speculation is that you're enhancing astrocyte glycogen neurotransmitters synthesis and also the glymphatic activity while we sleep. Makes sense. That's a multi-day thing that you're doing. So you're looking at it. So sleep is what would be really important. Matt Gallant: It's critical and we're running dual fuel during that time. So like I'll, I'll, I'll eat a little more carbs. So actually running dual-fuel seems to help. Your thing it seems to help too is like I'll, I'm not a big branch chain amino or amino guy, but adding aminos. So I'm taking 60 grams of ketones, taking like 20 grams of aminos. Plus I'm eating carbs and a lot of good fats as well. And it just seems to help on a lot on all levels. One question that I've had in a, and I haven't seen too much research on this, but experientially I've certainly noticed that. What have you seen in terms of the types of fats and their ketogenic response? Cause for an example, like if I eat animal saturated fats and I measure my ketones, especially like things like pig fat or that it definitely seems to produce more ketones then, you know, monounsaturated, you know, like just different fats seem to produce a different ketone response. What have you seen around that? And, and do you think that's important? Dominic D’Agostino: Yeah, so that's an ongoing question in a ketogenic diet. Well, it should have been ongoing for like 20 years, but only recently are they kind of recognizing that, you know, different fats have different effects. It's not just like macronutrient profiles. And I think it people will have, people have different food sensitivities. So some people who have a dairy a mild dairy allergy, if they take a dairy-based spat it the, the activation of the sympathetic nervous system or various immune factors may actually prevent ketone production. You know, so that's, I found that mildly in myself. But I kind of going back to your observation, I think a fat in the form of butter, you know, a meat fat like pork fat be fat and to some extent maybe chicken fat, these all contribute to very stable, predictable ketone production and meat. And when I tried to sort of mimic that with more of a plant based, I could get my ketones elevated, but it's a little bit less predictable. Dominic D’Agostino: But I think that's primarily because of sort of the plants that I'm getting the fat from. Like nuts, like macadamia nuts and almonds and avocados. You're delivering fiber with it too. So sometimes I can get my ketones elevated to the same extent. And sometimes I think because the natural fibers that are in plants are maybe preventing the release of the fat. And it's going through me. I know if I like a lot of raw homage or something like that, I'm definitely not absorbing all those fats, you know. So if I eat an equivalent amount of fat from raw almond as opposed to pig fat and I acutely do it, I eat the meal and then measure fat. There you're keeping on production will be like proportional to the amount of fat that the liver is seen, dietary fat. So it's kinda hard to quantify that. I guess you could use plant oils and things like that, but Matt Gallant: It seemed that though of course there's the neutrogenomic aspect, there are certain certain genes that obviously seem to indicate better saturated fat breakdown and so on and so forth. So there's probably a pretty strong genetic component to that question. Dominic D'Agostino: Absolutely. And you know, I sh I would like to know more about that and I try to keep up on that as much as possible. I have my own 23andme data and just looking at, you know, putting it on different platforms. I kind of know what works me just through experientially and I know some people have, you know, they have different snips that prevent them from, from metabolizing fatty acids as efficiently as possible. And it may not be an honor off kind of thing, but on a spectrum, right. And some people are just poor oxidizers or metabolizers of fat, so they will if they eat a high fat diet of animal fat, they feel sick, they don't feel good and their triglycerides go up and then does it come down over time. And I would tell that person don't do an animal based. Dominic D'Agostino: You know, and some people feel really good on a, on a plant based diet and all their health markers improve. And you know, I don't know if they give the ketogenic diet enough time, but cause your body does need to adapt to that over time. But I'm not one or the other. But actually I probably eat an enormous amount of plants and I have lots of and I do believe that they should sort of be in the raw form as much as possible. A lot of broccoli, asparagus, cauliflower, things like that and a big salad pretty much every day. And then I add a fatty beef, chicken or a lot of fish and eat a lot of fish in our house to that salad typically. And then maybe add oil on top of that in the form of avocado oil, macadamia nut oil, olive oil. And then I mix MCT oil with the salad dressings too. So I find that the optimal way to get my ketones as high as possible. Matt Gallant: I mean, Wade is the king of the big ass salad. He is, you know, we had introduced me to that know 20 years ago when we were both living in Vancouver and a half to say. And usually I'll try to do at least one big, a solid a week that just like another energy component that I feel from, I don't know if it's a phytonutrients or what's going on exactly. But you know, it, it kicks her, it just kicks something in. So wait, I mean maybe talk about your big ass salad strategy. Dominic D’Agostino: Yeah, I'd like to hear that. I mean, from a, I'll add this real quick if you, cause there's a lot of people are carnivore now and they do one or the other, but if you put your meat, if you eat it with a salad, the fiber from the salad will delay gastric absorption. And also it's aiding your gut microbiome, especially if you have a diverse array of things in the salad. And that's actually enhancing. It's decreasing your glucose and insulin response to the protein. But but I also think it's promoting, you know, healthy digestion, optimal gut microbiome. So I'm just kinda throwing it out there because I dunno, I just posted something recently and someone said, I'm killing myself by eating plants or something because plants are trying to kill you. So it's like, Wade Lightheart: Yeah, that's a pretty extreme position that something Wade Lightheart: We have adapted convenience land. Like wow, I didn't know my salad was so dangerous. Yeah. I've, I've been a big proponent of, you know, there's this certain, you know, when I go, I go to obviously whole foods and things like that to the salad bar, especially when I'm on the road. That's my first stop. And there's something I, there's two things that I think are anecdotally interesting. One is I noticed they're at different times I'll be attracted to different colors. Like I like and, and, and I always indicate to me that there's some sort of mechanism that's letting me know that I need to get more beets today or I need to get more cabbage or whatever it happens to be that. And so I always find it interesting about the colors. The second thing that I've noticed, it was without a doubt, and I'll be going to whole foods right after this call in variably I make these giant sounds like I get the big green bowls at the whole foods that they have them and it's piled up and it's 30 bucks or whatever for my salad. Wade Lightheart: And every single time somebody in the lineup or the cashier will comment that and say, that looks amazing. And I find that's a very interesting response that it's so across the board that there's seems to be some sort of internal recognition that that's good or that's healthy or that's something that I'd like to try. You know, cause it's obviously a ridiculous salad, but I think there was a good point you brought up was the fiber relation to insulin response or the use of fats. And it's, I believe it's one of the reasons why I have such a great insulin response to spite the fact I'm on a plant based diet. I eat a ton of carbs. Yet when you do my testing, it's like, it looks like I'm on a ketogenic diet from a, from an insulin response. Any other comments on your work? Dominic D’Agostino: It doesn't surprise me. I mean, you know, all those vegetables are carbohydrates, right? So as you would expect an increase in glucose, but if you have a steak and then you have that same steak with a big salad you will have a less of a glycaemic response and less of a rise in insulin too because it's the fiber is delaying gastric absorption to some extent and just delaying the breakdown and release of amino acids into the blood. And and I think it's even more pronounced if you add back to that salad. I actually think of in ketogenic diet formulation, the vegetables are a way are a fat delivery vehicle. So you could lightly steam vegetables, saute them, and then add a lot of fat to that or a salad. You can add a significant amount that to that you can add up condos and nuts and olive oil or a mixed oil dressing and then deliver in a relatively small salad, you can deliver 50 or 60 grams of fat. Dominic D’Agostino: So that, that's, that's important clinically. And this, these approaches are now being used and to keep the genic diets that are having better outcomes as far as seizure controls or metabolic management of particular disorders. And it kinda goes against what was traditionally that the carbohydrates need to be below a certain level. You're adding a lot more carbohydrates in the form of these essentially non glycemic fats, but the fiber and the phytonutrients and other factors are greatly helping to actually induce and sustain ketosis. And you're actually probably significantly enhancing the nutritional status of that patient too by not, you know, eliminating plants, which some ketogenic diets do, but actually being very liberal with your plants consumption, which I think as our nutrition evolves, we need to start incorporating more plants into ketogenic diets. Wade Lightheart: Sounds like there might be an actual unification between ketogenic and plant based diet. Yeah, I'm on that. I'm on that train because you know, we're just into optimal. What is the optimal diet for any given person in there, any, any given lifestyle and something they can sustain. So yeah, great, great to hear that you're on the bleeding edge of that. Matt Gallant: Speaking of optimal diets, I mean when one thing I'll share is I optimize my big ass salad using VIUM data. So the VIUM data is, it got tests and you can send them a school sample and it tells you which foods you should eat, a lot of which food you should eat less of. So I decided, you know what, I'm going to build like a super salad kind of just with the foods that it's saying or should eat a lot of. Matt Gallant: So for example, watercress, rucola those came up because I, I guess I have the gut biome that breaks those foods down. So what was really fascinating was despite eating like two pounds of, it almost sounds about two pounds. I would just incinerate it, like almost nothing would come out and like even my weight would go down. It almost like it almost defied science in the sense that it's like, okay, I'm meeting two pounds, almost nothing's coming out and my weight would drop. And, but if we look at it from a gut biome perspective where they're eating all, like I'm feeding all the bacteria that I have and they're just devouring that food, then it does make sense. So I just wanted to share that anecdotal story cause it kind of surprised me so significantly. You know, it is to shift gears here. You know, to talk about a subject that I think is, is near and dear to all of our hearts, which has cancer. I lost one of my best friends and recently an Matt Gallant::Aunt and an uncle and I like Wade to share his story about his experience with this. And then I love to get into what you've seen as far as ketosis, ketones and cancer. But Wade, why don't you share your story? Wade Lightheart: Yeah. So for those who don't know my sister died at the age of 22. She got sick with Hodgkin's disease of formula lymphatic cancer and progressed over four years. When I was young, it had a big impact, got me into kind of physiology and exercise and performance. And I've been graced now to actually serve as an advisor for the American Anti-Cancer Institute. And we help people who are either going through cancer or recovering from cancer to, to, to make better nutritional solo selections and to prevent it in the future or to optimize their diet. So it's something I'm really, really passionate about. And I'm curious what you have kind of revealed, cause I think one of the, one of the things you talk about was the death at cancer. The, the powerful effects of both the ketogenic diet and its relation to the pre cancer prevention or even as an augmentation. What, what, of, what's kind of fueled that and what have you learned and how can people who may be in one of those situations, where would they go and how would they start researching and for the self to kind of create the best survival situation for them? Dominic D’Agostino: Yeah, that's a, well, it's kind of a long story, but I'll make it as short as possible. Some of the, some of the technologies that we developed for the office of Navy research allowed us to look at a variety of cell lines. And one of them was a equal glioblastoma, a cancer cell line. And I made two observations. One was that high pressure oxygen killed the cancer cells faster than normal healthy cells. And that was because cancer cells had a dysregulation in their mitochondrial function. And if you hyper oxygenate them, they divert more molecular oxygen to super oxide anion, which is the precursor free radical that can go on to other radicals that can basically trigger apoptosis and cells. So we observed this acutely and I thought it was interesting and nobody had observed it before because they didn't have a confocal microscope inside a hyperbaric chamber. Dominic D’Agostino: So so this was like, I was curiously interested in that. And also when I grew cancer cells under different substrates, including low glucose or high glucose in particular high ketones, the ketones suppressed the growth and proliferation of the cancer cell lines I was looking at. So I made, I made two observations studying a military project, which is oxygen and how high oxygen high ketones are bad for cancer. So, so a, a PhD student came along and actually this became a PhD. She's now Dr Angela Pop. And throughout her PhD studies in the lab, we observed that a ketogenic diet with hyperbaric oxygen therapy given three times per week suppressed the growth of a cancer in a particularly aggressive form of metastatic cancer, a model of metastatic cancer that we had in the lab. And you know, so it, it kind of begs the question then, how does a high fat ketogenic diet, how does that contribute to suppressing cancer growth? Dominic D’Agostino: And proliferation and it does it through a number of different pathways. One is that we understand now we actually did back, you know, in the 1920s and thirties, that cancer growth is primarily fueled by glucose and cancer cells preferentially use a higher consumption glucose than normal. Healthy cells do. And we can, we can use a fluorodeoxyglucose pet scan oncologists use a pet scan to image the location and aggressiveness of cancer, but they don't really use that information to target the cancer. But we can, we can share through our best imaging techniques that, that there are consumption of glucose a hundred times higher in certain cancers relative to the healthy tissue that's surrounding it. So it's out competing the healthy tissue to get the glucose. So it keeps a genic diet restricts glucose availability to some extent, right? We know baseline glucose doesn't change all that much unless calories are restricted. Dominic D’Agostino: But when you eat a ketogenic diet, there is a very minimal increase in blood glucose and insulin. When you eat at carbohydrate-based diet, there's a relatively high spike in glucose and insulin. Those spikes in glucose and insulin are abolished if not significantly attenuated on a ketogenic diet. So I think that's important. And, and really what's important, it's a suppression of the hormone insulin. That's how actually we make ketones. The ketogenetic diet works by suppressing the hormone insulin, maybe slightly increase in glucagon and that accelerates fatty acid oxidation in the liver. And that continual suppression of the hormone insulin is absolutely necessary for us to stay in a state of ketosis. Cancer cells are there, growth is driven by insulin. IGF1, PI3-kinase, AKT/mTOR pathway and a few other, you know, things related to that. So what the key to dining diet does is suppress insulin and insulin signaling. Dominic D’Agostino: IGF1, PI3-kinase, AKT/mTOR pathway is acutely and continually suppressed if you follow a ketogenic diet. So what that does is it takes the foot off the gas pedal of cancer growth. Most cancers are driven in growth and proliferation by this particular pathway. And that's why pharmaceutical companies are scrambling to develop drugs that target enter PI three kinase IGF one, things like that. So that the ketogenic diet does that naturally as this fasting, but that that can't be sustained. So what you do is create a scenario where you slow down cancer growth. The ketogenic diet is not going to cure cancer. So that's really important. But what you do is you see in some people it has actually, so I should kind of stop and there's anecdotal or it's an even case board, but most importantly it will slow cancer growth and make cancer a more vulnerable target for other modalities. Dominic D’Agostino: And those modalities could be chemotherapy, it could be radiation. We know from clinical data that chemo and radiation can be a lifesaving for many people there are things like advanced brain cancer and metastatic cancer where these things do not offer much of an advantage. But in the context that I keep a general diet, you may sensitize the tumor in a way or make it more vulnerable to make the cancer or the tumor solid tumor more sensitive to these modalities. And also immune based therapies to may work better in the context of the ketogenic diet where you are limiting glucose availability. So essentially what's that's doing? It's suppressing the glycolytic pathway. That's how cancer cells are primarily making energy, glutamine and glucose. When cancer cells do that, it activates a particular pathway called the pentose phosphate pathway. And that pathway develops, it generates reduced glutathione, and that reduced glutathione makes that cell like a super cell. Dominic D’Agostino: It can protect it against a chemo and radiation because it's, it's an endogenous antioxidant. If you inhibit the glycolytic pathway, you could do it with a Cuban drank diet. There are now drugs that inhibit glycolytic pathways. You crippled the cancer cells ability to defend itself by virtue of suppressing reduced glutathione. And so now that cancer cell becomes more vulnerable target, especially to modalities that kill cancer cells through an oxidative stress mechanism. And that could be various chemo drugs and also radiation. So I'm trying to keep it as simple as possible, but I think that the thing is that the, the, the ketogenic diet works through many different ways. I just described a metabolic way, but it also functioned that suppressing inflammation, which is a major driver of cancer. And then the ketone bodies themselves are epigenetic regulators by acting as class one and class two histone deacetylase inhibitors. So that's an intense area of focus now in our lab and other labs as ketones functioning as signaling molecules, even hormones, if you like, in ways that have anticancer effects by activating tumor suppressors and actually turning off or turning down a oncogenic drivers. So that's an area of intense interest right now that ketones functioning independent of metabolism as influencing various anti-inflammatory pathways. NF-Κb, NALP3 inflammasome, but also through epigenetic regulation. Matt Gallant: I'm gonna steal a question from Tim Ferris and see if your answers is different today, which is if you or a loved one had cancer, what would you do? Dominic D’Agostino: Find out what all the options are given the type of cancer if it's an option where, or if it's a type of cancer where the options are very limited in regards to the standard of care not being very efficacious, and if it's minimally efficacious, you have to evaluate the patient, you know, with their doctor, whether it's worth doing that. Right. So I guess the simplest thing to do is to use a what's called a glucose ketone index. So we know if we can normal glucose being five millimolar, say if we could bring our glucose down to say three millimolar and elevate our ketones to three millimolar, that would give us a glucose ketone index of one. So if our glucose stays at four millimolar and we get our ketones only at two millimolar, that would give us a glucose ketone index of two. Dominic D’Agostino: If you could maintain a glucose ketone index of one to two, even one to four, normal American is like 25, right? So if we can bring that down from 25, which is a glucose dominant metabolism to a glucose ketone index between one and four, again, which is glucose over ketones in millimolar concentrations. And in America we use milligrams per deciliter for some reason, but in millimolar concentrations, so get a GKI of one to four and that will slow cancer growth. Right? I think that's incredibly important. Evaluate the potential for drugs like Metformin. Metformin is available. You could jump online and probably get it. Metformin is when we started studying Metformin, there was maybe two or three clinical trials. Now there's about 200 clinical trials looking at the drug, Metformin as a means to enhance other cancer therapies. If you have, you know, type two diabetes, we know that it knocks down your chances of getting pancreatic cancer and type two diabetes population at least by like 50%. Matt Gallant: So what's the pathway? Cause I've been using Metformin now for a few months. What's the pathway that Metformin works on cancer? Dominic D’Augstino: Yeah, so that's another area of intense investigation. My PhD student studied it and we know that it it actually impairs the complex one of the mitochondria, which actually triggers more oxidative stress in the cell. And it may be partial to stimulating more oxidative stress in cancer cells, which could trigger apoptosis potentially. But without a doubt like it works by probably suppressing the hormone insulin to some extent and knocking down AMP kinase, maybe suppressing, enter. I think it works not just through one mechanism, but it's, it is an interesting drug that it probably works through several mechanisms. In synergy. It probably also has at higher doses a mild calorie restriction effect because people who take it tend to reduce their appetite a little bit. Dominic D’Agostino: They lose a little bit of weight. Some people there's speculation that influences the gut microbiome but it does seem to mimic many of the metabolic aspects of the ketogenic diet. So so net form in, I think a patient could add that in, titrate it to a dose that tolerable to them, which is somewhere usually between 1000 milligrams to 2,500 milligrams, and then maintain that glucose ketone index that could be done with a combination of intermittent fasting, well formulated ketogenic diet, and potentially ketone supplementation. So that's three different ways to achieve that glucose ketone index. And you know, exercise is critically important, right? So maintaining your metabolic machinery, but your skeletal muscle. So resistance training combined with, you know, moderate, low to moderate intensity cardiovascular training to that can help sort of optimize your metabolism. It's not one or the other. Dominic D’Agostino: I think both forms of exercise are really important. Getting outside natural light I think is really key. Getting light in the morning, reset your circadian rhythm, getting activity throughout the day, sleep, optimizing your sleep is probably incredibly important. You know, biofeedback, meditation your faith, people, relationships, sort of that. So all these things I would categorize as press and now we can talk about therapies that would be pulse. So all the press therapies create an environment to slow down or stop the cancer growth. And the pulse therapies are things that can help sort of eradicate or slowly attack the tumor. And that could be chemotherapy, radiation, immune based therapies, standard of care. We tend to focus on things that are more non-toxic. So hyperbaric oxygen therapy by itself does not have an impressive anticancer effect, if at all. But in the context of the things that I just talked about, then that can make the tumor vulnerable to hyper oxygenation. Dominic D’Agostino: So hyperbaric auctions, their therapy reverses tumor hypoxia at least when you're giving it. And that can kick on tumor suppressors and actually deactivate oncogenes. And if given three days per week, Monday, Wednesday, Friday, one hour at 2.5 at atmospheres of oxygen, you know, we have found experimentally that works in animal models, the translation to humans, that's my best guess. That would work. I don't think it needs to be done five days a week as a use it for wound healing. I think Monday, Wednesday, Friday, I think that day off in between for the adaptation is necessary. Another thing is intravenous vitamin C, I don't want to come off as a quack said that IB, vitamin C works. But there are peer reviewed scientific publications and registered clinical trials right now showing that vitamin C can enhance different cancer therapies, particularly chemo radiation I think maybe and maybe some immune based therapies too. Vitamin C if given in high concentrations as an IB increases vitamin C, becomes a pro oxidant at a very high level. Dominic D'Agostino: It's an antioxidant at lower levels. At a high level, it becomes a pro oxidant and can drive things like the Fenton's reaction, which can actually increase oxidative stress in cancer cells. Especially in cells that have like a high turnover where you're releasing a lot of heme and in the presence of heme iron and oxygen vitamin C becomes a pro oxidant that can have a very powerful anticancer effect, but only in combination with these other things. Wade Lightheart: What would constitute a high concentration? And, and is it like whole vitamin C or just ascorbic acid? Dominic D’Agostino: Ascorbic acid with the not oral vitamin C. Wade Lightheart: How much, what kind of dosages are we talking about here on the vitamin C though? Dominic D’Agostino: So typically you have to get your blood levels like towards a millimolar concentration and at that concentration, so that would be anywhere between 25 grams. Dominic D’Agostino: And I just met with a doctor that was using like 150 grams, but I think usually about 50 grams is going to be a lot. And when you get vitamin C up to that, you know, millimolar concentration, it's functioning as a glucose antagonist. Right? So the vitamin C uses the same transporter as glucose and it's sort of blocking the transporter. Not only is it blocking the transporter and kind of restricting glucose availability to the cell, but as vitamin C gets into the cell, it's, it's having that imparting that pro-oxidant effect. But anywhere between 25 to maybe 75 grams I think would be safe. Anything higher than that, I'm not sure it's safe. But I personally had 50 grams I think. And is there some interesting effects from that. I was just using that, you know, just to test it, to see what it felt like when you get vitamin C, one of the issues is when you do get it, you have [inaudible] shortly after you do these IVs. Dominic D’Agostino: So a lot of people asked you to be do it right before a hyperbaric chamber. And it's hard to do that cause you don't want to get in a chamber for yourself. Matt Gallant: What else would you add as far as pulse? Dominic D’Agostino: Well, there's a lot of experimental drugs that are coming online now that are targeting cancer metabolism. So, they have been around for a while. One is 2-Deoxy-D-glucose, and that's actually used, it's a glucose analog that blocks glycolysis and it's being used experimentally as a ketogenic diet in a pill for epilepsy, and I think, and some cancer trials now it might be like a phase three cancer trials. So that's 2-Deoxy-D-glucose. There's 3-Bromopyruvic, which is a bit controversial. The drug tripping over the truth talks about this molecule and the history behind it at, at Johns Hopkins. Dominic D’Agostino: So now I believe, you know, it's in clinical trials, it's also a glycolytic inhibitor. Low-Nitrosamine is one. And then Lew Cantley Cornell has sort of developed a company that's developing these PI 3-kinase inhibitors and he's published some work on it. And interestingly the PI 3-kinase inhibitors and this little complex, it influences counter-regulatory mechanisms that actually elevate insulin. And that can be that can negate the effects of the drug the anticancer effects. But what he found is that when the pediatric kinase inhibitors are combined with a ketogenic diet, that sort of unmet the ketogenic diet that thereby suppressing the hormone insulin under conditions of insulin suppression with a who ketogenic diet PI 3-kinase inhibitors are remarkably effective. And they may be the most important class of chemo or I wouldn't call them chemo drugs cancer targeting drugs that we have on the market. And I think it's interesting that they work really only in the context of a low carb ketogenic diet. So I think, you know, you have to look at the the ClinicalTrials.gov lists, what novel trials are ongoing. And I don't know now if that's going to be available to patients, but it's being tracked in that direction. Wade Lightheart: I think one of the exciting things that you're actually eliciting here is the role of solving and addressing dietary components as a, as a methodology to, you know, accelerate or advance maybe drug treatments that someone would be doing in that case. And that's, that's an area that I'm very passionate about. Because I think what happens is with the typical cancer patient, it's like they focus all on the drug stuff, but almost nothing on the lifestyle. You know, people in the holistic thing that's focusing almost completely on the lifestyle stuff but not on the drugs. And I think really both people would benefit from sharing their information, data and patterns to create a a more holistic and unified approach from, you know, when you're in a cancer challenge, I mean it's a life and death situation. You want to bring every resource you can to the table. Wade Lightheart: And I think it's, it's great a salute. The fact that you're bringing attention to that, especially in the circles that for a lot of cases, avoid those conversations around diet with the kind of, the negligent of nutritional training that medical doctors have, which blows me away. You know, these very accomplished, very intelligent people and they're there. There's no attention to diet in regards to people's cancer treatment, which to me seems completely insane. Matt Gallant: The diet or even all the, you know, things like Hyperbaric Chambers, biohacking and all the things that we do. So yeah, I mean, as guys come in from the bodybuilding universe, we all know the power of stacking. So yeah, bringing that mindset and that strategy to, to me aid to any health problem, I think you're going to achieve far more success than trying to just have one single minded approach. Just like they do in Las Vegas, you want to stack the odds in your favor and just do every possible advantage. Dominic D'Agostino: Yeah, it makes sense. If you take a multifaceted approach, then you don't have to use an astronomically high dose for a particular agent, right. Because you can use many things synergize together so that can, and many things can counter regulate some of the side effects like keto, if you employ the ketogenic diet, that greatly reduce it. The side effects of some chemotherapeutic agents and we know by Valter Longo is work and at least that half dozen publications now, fasting prior to chemo can dramatically decrease the nausea to side effects. Even the pro inflammatory, you know, storm that the body has you know, that attacks your healthy tissue. So when you fast, and I don't, I don't advocate fasting loosely, it needs to be done under really tight take conditions. But you can mitigate with a ketogenic diet. When you do that, that's really setting the stage for these other therapies to work better. I mean you're really, you're making the tumor more sensitive to that modality by crippling its antioxidant capacity. But you also may be sort of up-regulating some of the transporters to may take up more of the drug. So investigators are looking at that too. So maybe you might be like sort of saturating the tumor if you deliver a drug in a site specific way when in a fasting state. Matt Gallant: You're a wealth of knowledge and we could probably keep going for at least another 12 hours before we run out of questions. I would love to probably have you back as a guest in the relatively near future. Wade, any final comments before we wrap up? Wade Lightheart: Yeah, I guess the big thing is where do you see the future of this going? Dominic with your research and then I know you're kind of dealing with kind of extreme conditions with, you know, health challenges and also, you know, a security force type of stuff, people in extreme conditions. Where do you see this going and how do you see this kind of spiraling down to the general population or people who are certainly on the cutting edge or of of bio bio hacking or biological optimization, which is what we're entails. How do we optimize the biology for the performance that we want to get? What do you see happening in the next say 5, 10, 20 years? Dominic D’Agostino: I think it will and I hope it will continue to explode. I mean, in 2008, it was a little blip on Google and a little blip on PubMed. And then there was an explosion of the research and I think the actual peer reviewed research was driving interest in these ketogenic diets. And I think it helps to have, you know, podcast celebrities like, like you guys, you know, Tim Ferriss and other people have sort of helped sort of cross promote it in different ways. But I think the science as it's emerging now and there's a lot of studies and progress will drive interest and sort of legitimize the diet, not just for epilepsy but all these emerging applications. And you have athletes in the field, you have people like Jeff Volek and Steve Finney studying it for athletics. Even strength training, two studies are being done. Dominic D’Agostino: I think it's going to, I think people will see it as an important tool that can be used continuously, if not intermittently. Maybe. I think intermittent use of the ketogenic diet and normal healthy person has so many benefits. And and even I think our military personnel, we had a, a weight problem in the military even, you know, type two diabetes problem. And I think that can be addressed with low carbohydrate nutrition. I think our nutrition was really favor and processed carbohydrates and sugars and that's contributing to the problem. So I think first and foremost is appreciation. That our bodies can be fueled off fat and ketones in a healthy way, and that we need to minimize and start to decrease sugar and processed carbohydrates. And, and also this idea that Akita genic diet is not necessarily just bacon and eggs and lard or dairy high dairy fat, that it's, it can be rich in fibers, vegetables enrich and, and phytonutrients and things like that. So the advancement and the evolution of ketogenic diets changing from highly restrictive diets to diets that can be formulated and engineered in ways that optimize our nutritional status or phytonutrients. And you know, and, and the, the sort of knowledge we get on the different types of fats and different protein sources will all be incorporated into the knowledge of ketogenic diets and they can be formulated and even customized and personalized to the patient, perhaps even based on their new genetic profile. Wade Lightheart: Real quick on that one, one segment of that, I'd like to kind of just as a, as a someone who say, Hey, I'd like to do the ketogenic diet. I'm on our follow intermittently or periodically. What do you think could be the beneficial time? Like how many, how long does a say it? Say it says I'm on like a cell phone, I'm falling my typical diet up, I moved to a ketogenic diet, say on a per annual basis. How long do you think that duration should be in order to elicit the benefits and then how frequently would I kind of draw back to that? Dominic D'Agostino: That's a good question. I think some of that, you know, Valter Longo has this fasting modified diet and the idea is to do it for five days out of the month where you, it's it's a calorie restricted diet that sort of puts you in a, in a state of ketosis, but it's more of a, a plant derive it's powders and stuff all mixed together. But I think one can achieve many of the metabolic benefits, the anticancer benefits and sort of the autophagy benefits by employing nutritional ketosis for just three to five days per month. And it doesn't have to be fasting. I think they could just knock their calories down to maybe 500 calories a day and just do a calorie restricted, well formulated ketogenic diet, which could be a salad with some fish in it by the nutrients, olive oils, things like that. And just have that as a single meal, you know, one day per week for five weeks and and just moderate the calories to like 500 calories. And in towards the end of that week, you'll accumulate a significant calorie deficit that will trigger many of the, the signaling and metabolic pathways that we know are associated with many of these benefits, including, you know, activating autophagy, activating anti-cancer pathways that could potentially help purge our body's a precancerous cells and also stimulate and maybe revive our immune system to. Wade Lightheart: That's great. Matt, you got any other words you'd like to throw in here? No, but where can people kind of keep up to date? What's your social media? Dominic D’Agostino: Yeah. I think, I never know them off hand, but I think I said that too. But the one stop shop, like for all our information would be ketonutrition.org. We have a blog and we post like once every two weeks or so. And we have, I, we don't have, we don't sell any products but we have products on there that we'd like and we support and that we've tested and we have I have my podcasts on there, I have a scientific publication, stuff like that. So, and you can also email us through that if you have any questions too. And I try to try to handle as many as I can. Wade Lightheart: Dom, you are a wealth of information and you know, we were excited to do this interview. We're excited to bring you back because I just, every time you answer a question it just, it just triggers off another array in my own mind. And I could see Matt kind of lit up the same way. So hopefully we'll get you back really soon. I also want to, I also want to thank you for doing the work that you're doing. I think you're providing an extraordinary service to mankind and thankfully through podcasts and this kind of dispersion of information you're providing options and, and, and opportunities for people who may not have access to this ingredient, but could actually save their life or certainly let them live at a higher quality of living. So thank you for that. We can't wait to publish out. I know you'll probably get a lot of questions and stuff. We will put everything in the show notes, all of the points that you brought forth, and if anything else comes up, let us know. We'll be happy to do that. I guess in closing, I want to thank everybody for joining us today on this podcast, a checkout Dom stuff. It's fascinating. Go to his website, ketonutrition.org. It's been a great podcast. Thank you Matt. Thank you, Dom for joining us today. It's another day and Awesome Health world and so happy to have you here and keep the message flowing. | |||
| 07 Jul 2022 | 190: Optimizing Vitality - with Owen McKibben | 00:30:45 | |
Owen McKibben is the number 1 Men’s Health cover model in world history having been on the cover 17 times, but he doesn’t just live to look good, he lives to feel good and help others feel good, too. In this episode you will learn:
The Work of Being in Shape “Being in shape takes no amount of skill. It just takes hard work. And I’m all about hard work,” says Owen. The parts of hard work that he focuses on a daily basis include, waking up early, doing at least 5 things that are physically challenging, mix resistance with cardio in short bursts, learning about what your brain and body need in order to fuel them appropriately, and all around showing up. “It’s about doing what other people don’t want to do, and doing it consistently. Push yourself harder, and it makes success easier.” On Pain and Winning “Pain can be overcome with the mind. You don’t need expensive equipment, you don’t need to eat all of the time, and you just gotta put some hard work in and do it consistently over and over again and build yourself up.” Owen talks about the difference he sees in the way he trains now compared to when he was in his 30s. He said that training then was about going all in and doing it all day. Training now is about efficiency and compound movements, eating less and having a better relationship with food. It’s about knowing how to win the first 5 minutes of the day and giving your brain and body what it needs to perform at a super high level so you can defy the odds that pain often brings. Listen as Wade and Owen talk about how the body building industry has changed to be more about the way you build, and how you can build a more vital way of life. As Owen says, “If your brain feels good, your body’s gonna follow.” Episode Resources: Get Owen’s book here www.kidsinthehouse.com/expert/parenting-advice-from-owen-mckibbin | |||
| 19 Nov 2020 | 090: Heal Your Eyesight with Jake Steiner | 00:49:24 | |
Can you heal your eyesight? Our guest has and he's helping tens of thousands of other people do the same. Jake Steiner is a (semi-retired) stock trader and investor. His personal passion is understanding human eyesight - and has spent the past 20 years in vision biology science, exploring natural myopia control. Jake hosts the Web’s largest vision improvement communities with many tens of thousands of participants and has written over 1,200 articles on vision biology and myopia control. | |||
| 09 Feb 2023 | 216: The transformative capacity of tonic herbs - with Brandon Gilbert | 00:50:44 | |
The power and transformative capacity of tonic herbs are far-reaching, yet often overlooked. However, with the growing interest in holistic healing, more and more people are becoming aware of the potential benefits that tonic herbs can offer. Tonic herbs are a type of herbal medicine that is believed to have an overall positive effect on the body by strengthening its energetic systems. Tonic herbs are often used to support one’s overall health and well-being, enhance mental clarity and focus, and relieve stress. It can also boost:
The above motivated Brandon Gilbert, an experienced herbalist, to study Eastern philosophy from the age of 14. Brandon is a serial entrepreneur, who started first business in 2006. After going deep in the alternative health field to resolve own health issues, he felt motivated to share his views and experiences with a larger audience. So he created a YouTube channel HyperionTv.com in 2009, built up a following and then launched Hyperion Herbs in 2010 - “because the world's best herbs and teas should be easy for anyone to obtain”. Medicinal mushrooms everyone should be taking According to Brandon Gilbert some of the most popular tonic herbs include:
He also advises us to be mindful when purchasing these products since not all products are equal. He suggests that we look for products that are made from the fruiting body of the mushroom, which has been grown on wood and is an extract (rather than just a powder). Understanding the traditional roots of herbalism Brandon also emphasizes the importance of understanding the traditional roots of herbalism. He explains that Chinese medicine was not unified until after World War II, and herbalism was a separate branch with its competing schools, philosophies, and languages. He stresses that it’s disrespectful to lump all Asian healing practices into one category since they are all distinct and different when explored in depth. For Brandon himself, practicing internal arts – such as Tai Chi – has been one of the most profound forms of holistic healing he’s ever experienced. It has helped him to become more resilient against stressors by softening his body while also making it stronger, increasing flexibility, improving digestion, reducing inflammation and allowing him to eat whatever he wants without requiring external sources for support. Overall, tonic herbs have been used for centuries and are known to be powerful tools for healing and transformation. With the right information and guidance, they can be an effective means of improving one’s overall health, vitality, and well-being. In this podcast you will learn:
EPISODE RESOURCES: HyperionHerbs.com | |||
| 01 Sep 2020 | 67: How to Address Leaky Gut with Matt Gallant | 01:05:05 | |
Do you know how to address leaky gut? You may have heard the term or may even be dealing with it yourself, but is there a way to potentially eliminate it? Matt Gallant, my Bioptimizers co-founder and biohacking genius, joins us to talk about his latest research and findings on gut health and leaky gut. | |||
| 17 Oct 2019 | 003: Fats That Heal, Fats That Kill, with Dr. Udo Erasmus | 01:32:39 | |
Dr. Erasmus is the pioneer on healthy fats and has been for 30 years. He was researching this topic before any of us had an even heard the term “healthy fats”. He’s a Hall of Fame member of the Canadian Health Food Association (CHFA), and you’re about to find out why. Today we talk about why and how his journey into the world of fats began, why omega 3s, omega 6s and omega 9s are important and what you can start doing today to improve your health and well-being through healthy fat choices in your diet. Listen in for all of that and more on this edition of the BiOptimizers’ Awesome Health show. More About Awesome Health with Dr. Udo ErasmusDr. Erasmus journey began in his mid-30s. He was working as a pesticide sprayer, and was being careless as he sprayed lawns wearing only rubber boots and a bathing suit. As he worked, the spray would drift back onto him and his skin. After three years of doing this he was poisoned. Things got serious when he went to the doctor and asked what she could treat him, she said nothing. That was the day he realized his health was his responsiblity and if he didn't care about it then no one would. With his scientific background, he knew cancer was in his future so his initial thought was to undo what he had done to get poisoned. He started looking at nutrition and disease, in particular oils. While doing so he realized they are the most sensitive of all of our nutrients, they are easily damaged by light, oxygen and heat. His research led him to the realization that more health issues stem from oils than any other part of nutrition. He also could see the opposite is true: more benefits will come from adding undamaged oils to our diets. About this same time it was established that omega 3s are essential nutrients, our bodies can't make them so we have to consume enough to be healthy and stay healthy. If we don't get them our health deteriorates, and if we don't get adequate amounts over a long enough period of time we will die. He discovered 99% of the population doesn't get enough omega 3s. Udo's oil came out of that along with his now world-famous book, Fats That Heal, Fats That Kill. Also on our episode he explains why omega 3, 6 and 9s are important. Dr. Erasmus says fats hold more physical keys to health than anything else. They are so sensitive, yet our oil industry damages 1% of the molecules and tells us it’s fine. While 1% doesn't sound like a lot, it actually is. For example if you take 1 tbsp of an oil and 1% of it is damaged, that means 60 quintillion molecules are damaged! The fats we take in are so vital because numerous different mechanisms use essential fatty acids. Some become hormones that regulate cell activity, which is a big issue. Every cell in the body needs these hormones to regulate their activity, and the essential fatty acids are critical to the creation and proper function of these hormones. Essential fatty acids are also made into DHA: DHA is needed for brain function, vision, sperm formation.They are also turned into powerful antioxidants (which protect our bodies from tissue damage), and some are turned into very powerful anti-inflammatory molecules. One of the biggest issues is that omega 3s are very chemically active and go rancid easily, which is why we refrigerate these oils and shouldn’t use them for frying. It's also why they are so beneficial for our bodies and why they increase our energy levels. The energy we live on comes from oxygen reacting with fuel molecules. Are You Deficient In Omega 3 or Omega 6 Essential Fatty Acids?So how do we know if we are deficient in omega 3s or omega 6s? Dr. Erasmus has the answer. He says few people are deficient in omega 6 since it's in so many of our cooking oils, but it comes with toxins because of the processing. 99% of the population gets omega 6s with toxins and 99% of the population gets too little omega 3s for optimum health. Every cell in our bodies needs both so when we aren’t getting enough the symptoms are widespread: lower energy, increased inflammation, slower recovery and healing times, etc.. Research now shows when we increase omega 3s in the diet (non-toxic and non-damaged omega 3s) we can improve every major degenerative condition of our time. The improvements include:
We also decrease symptoms in autoimmune disorders. We even tan better and burn less! Dr. Erasmus says omega 3 and omega 6 deficiencies are the most widespread deficiencies of our time. Since most of us are deficient Dr. Erasmus goes on to specify how we can use fats and add them to our diets to be healthier. In general, he recommends eating the freshest food possible. The short story is fried foods and fried oils fry our health. Our food is most nutritious if we eat it raw, fresh, whole and organic, and we should only cook something if we need to kill bacteria in it. By eating mostly raw, fresh, whole and organic foods we are living in line with nature. It’s when we change the way we eat that we get degenerative diseases, what we used to call diseases of civilization. He has found the biggest issue in nutrition and disease is the processing, so to make the shift into whole, fresh, organic and raw foods we should give ourselves a transition time of anywhere from six months to two years. And in that time we can fundamentally go from more processed to less processed by first boiling food rather than frying it, then going from boiled to steamed, steamed to blanched and finally blanched to raw. On this episode he also describes his typical diet on any given day, what he keeps in his fridge, and what happened to the North American’s average diet in 1979 that caused the the population to go from 25% overweight to 65% overweight. You’ll also hear why he's been driven to find total harmony for humans since the age of 6, and much more on today’s edition of BiOptimizers’ Awesome Health podcast with Dr. Udo Erasmus! Episode Resources | |||
| 06 Oct 2020 | 077: The Benefits of Micro Workouts with Brad Kearns | 01:06:57 | |
What are the benefits of micro workouts? Can brief, intense bursts of exertion be more beneficial than longer types of physical activity? Here to answer those questions and more is none other than Brad Kearns. On this episode of Awesome Health Podcast, Brad tells us about being passionate about what we do at any stage of our lives and about how getting older helped him make the transition from ultra-competitive athlete to a more holistic and well-rounded person. | |||
| 27 Oct 2022 | 202: Energy, Lifestyle and Nutrition Choices - with Ari Whitten | 01:00:56 | |
The Energy Blueprint (TEB) system is a comprehensive lifestyle and supplement program which has helped more than two million people experience optimal health, better performance, and more energy. Ari Whitten is the founder of TEB and for more than 25 years he has been dedicated to the study of human health science. The blueprint includes programs and supplements to help you make the necessary changes to improve your energy levels. It also has a book called “Eat for Energy”, which focuses on how nutrition ties into mitochondrial health. What are the consequences of poor gut health on human energy levels? The human body is designed to produce abundant energy, but when something goes wrong with the mitochondria it can slow down or even shut off energy production. This can lead to a variety of health problems, including chronic fatigue, obesity, type 2 diabetes, cancer, brain fog, and depression. To understand why this happens, we need to look at the mismatch between our modern lifestyle and what our biology is designed for. Our bodies are not well-adapted to:
This mismatch can lead to a variety of physiological problems that result in low energy levels. There are many things we can do to improve our gut health and address these mismatches. Eating a healthy diet, getting enough exercise, and reducing exposure to environmental toxins are all important steps in improving our overall health and restoring normal energy levels. What is the difference between energy production and cellular defense? The mitochondria are the powerhouse of the cell, responsible for energy production. However, they also have a second role that is just as important: cellular defense. The mitochondria are exquisitely sensitive environmental sensors, constantly taking samples of what is going on inside the body and determining if it is safe to produce energy. If they sense danger signals from various stressors like:
they will turn down the dial on energy production and shift resources towards cellular defense. This process is akin to breaking a bone and getting a cast: the body will atrophy muscle tissue that isn't being used. In the same way, unless you give your body the signal that you need mitochondria to survive (through hormetic stress), they will atrophy. This decline in mitochondrial function has massive implications for your energy levels and many other How does bodybuilding compare to other forms of exercise? Bodybuilding is a unique form of exercise that offers a variety of benefits compared to other forms of exercise. For one, bodybuilding helps to build muscle mass and decrease body fat, which can improve athletic performance. Additionally, bodybuilders gain a deep understanding of how the human body responds to different interventions through their personal experimentation with their own bodies. This knowledge is invaluable for health experts who want to optimize the human body for maximum benefit. In this Podcast you will learn about:
And so much more. EPISODE RESOURCES: You can find his podcast, programs, and supplement formulas at www.theenergyblueprint.com Breathing For Energy webinar opt-in: Double Your Energy (supplement) webinar opt-in: | |||
| 08 Dec 2020 | 095: Health Optimization Medicine (HOMe) with Dr. Ted Achacoso. I part | 01:01:53 | |
Today we have the internationally-known creator of the Health Optimization Medicine (HOMe) model with us - he is also one of the foremost experts in holistic health and anti-aging. He is none other than the legendary Dr. Ted Achacoso. Dr. Ted is an anti-aging physician with a tri-continental practice in Health Optimization Medicine (HOMe), a clinical framework that he pioneered to include health management in a disease management practice. | |||
| 13 Oct 2020 | 079: Why It Pays to Play with Darryl Edwards | 01:18:11 | |
Ever wonder why it pays to play? Darryl Edwards joins us to talk about this very topic on episode 79 of Awesome Health Podcast. Darryl is a movement coach, author of the best-selling book “Animal Moves” and a leader in the area of creativity and innovation in fitness and health. He developed the Primal Play Method™ as a way to make physical activity both healthy and fun for people of all fitness levels and abilities. | |||
| 15 Jul 2020 | 058: The Power of Nootropics with David Tomen | 02:01:16 | |
David Tomen knows firsthand the power of nootropics. He’s considered by many to be the foremost nootropics expert in the field. He's the author of Head First as well as the founder of the Nootropics Expert web site, a site devoted to optimizing your brain with nootropic supplements. He joins us today to talk about the power of nootropics from stacking to dosage, and much more. | |||
| 08 Jun 2021 | 140: Comedy & Free Speech in a Politically Charged World - with Brent Pella | 01:03:14 | |
Laughter is the best medicine - something biohackers should take seriously. The healing power of laughter is why our host Wade T. Lightheart invited comedian Brent Pella to show that comedy is a great stress release. Studies show a correlation between laughter, healing, and health. That’s why comedy is essential to Wade. When he is with friends, comedy is a big part of their relationship. And in his spare time, Wade enjoys looking up his favorite comedians on YouTube. But Wade is troubled by what’s happening these days with Big Tech censorship. America’s 1st Amendment is under attack by both politicians and by corporations. ‘Wokeism’ dramatically influences the nation’s culture - Generation Z is learning to devalue free speech and to be easily offended. Political correctness is impacting the comedy industry in dramatic ways. As a comedian, Brent Pella knows firsthand what the atmosphere is like out in the field. He’s found success on YouTube - Brent’s comedy videos have received over 100 million views. However, in this episode, he shares how one of his episodes got banned by YouTube. The reason they gave him for the ban will disturb you. Where is comedy going in all this? Brent is the perfect guest to help us navigate the comedy scene. His resume includes features on MTV, Funny or Die, WorldStar Hip Hop, BroBible, The Chive, Unilad, 9Gag, LadBible, and more. Trained in both the UC-Berkeley and famous Groundlings improv/sketch comedy programs in Los Angeles - Brent makes people laugh across North America at colleges and comedy clubs. Brent was born and raised in Davis, California, and a former athlete who played basketball in college. He won’t let go of his dream to play in the NBA. In this podcast, we cover:
What does it take to be a comedian? Brent says there are two traits needed to become a comedian - stubbornness and stupidity. In his own words: “It's stubbornness. You have to be so stupid to want to be a comedian. You have to be so dumb to think, “I’m going to go out there, and all those people are going to pay me attention and be quiet while I talk. And they’re going to laugh at me and give me what I need. It’s very selfish. “So, the courage comes from stepping onto the stage - beyond that; you have to be an idiot. I say that with a lot of love.” “The number one fear for people in America is public speaking. To want to do that for a living and make money is something you have to have the courage for at the end of the day.” “I think the courage and stubbornness for me came from my competitive side because I played sports my whole life, basketball in college, and I still do. So, I think it clicked for me within the first couple of years in LA, where I was like, ‘Oh, I’m back on the court.’ Know what I mean? Like everybody around me are my friends, but they’re also ‘the other team.’ “For me, it was that competitive sports side of myself that flipped a switch.” “Removing the President from Twitter is nuts!” Brent and Wade talk about comedy’s relationship with social media, and YouTube specifically, where Brent found an audience. While discussing the state of comedy, free speech, and censorship, of course, former President Donald Trump came up. Here’s a portion of what Brent had to say: “Regardless of whether or not you love Trump, I’ll make fun of the guy until the day I die. All politics aside, removing the President from Twitter is nuts. So, when that happened, I was like, ‘Oh, this will never get better.’ This is either going to stay how it is, or it's going to get worse very slowly. “How I see it is that many people are going to start alternative social media sites, and I pray it will balance the power out. But Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube are so deeply rooted in power grabs and monopoly mindsets that I predict they will do everything in their power to ensure that there is never a level playing field. Playing dirty, buying people out and then dropping the company completely, which they’ve done before.”
“I will assume that happens, but I am rooting for the good guys here. I see little sites popping up here and there that are like new types of social sites, new types of interaction places...I have high hopes that the playing field will balance out, and more people will put content on different platforms. As the whole blockchain world starts to be more incorporated, I think this will create new avenues for creators to get their content to people.” Free speech is not only crucial to comedy - the health and wellness community needs to be able to communicate freely as well. This refreshing and amusing conversation between two people passionate about health and freedom of artistic expression will make you think and laugh. When comedy and health combine, the synergy between the two is fascinating. Laughter is medicine - enjoy some chuckles at no charge!
Episode Resources: Brent’s Main Website: www.brentpella.com Brent Pella on YouTube Brent Pella Comedy on Facebook Brent Pella on Twitter Brent Pella on Instagram Brent Pella on LinkedIn | |||
| 30 Mar 2023 | 223: Diet culture - seeking a quick fix - with Molly Carmel | ||
Diet culture is a pervasive phenomenon in our society today, characterized by an obsession with weight loss, body size, and appearance. It is an insidious and dangerous cycle of unhealthy behaviors and attitudes that can have a profound impact on an individual’s mental and physical health. At its core, diet culture is an abusive relationship between an individual and a billion dollar marketing mechanism that profits off of the insecurities and vulnerabilities of people who are trying to lose weight. Diet culture perpetuates the idea that we must look a certain way to be accepted, and it creates a cycle of intermittent reinforcement and learned helplessness, where individuals are constantly seeking a quick fix and are left feeling hopeless when they fail to attain the “ideal” body. The roots of diet culture can be traced back for generations, with women in the 1940s being told to starve themselves with diets consisting of only vodka and broccoli. Over time, this harmful message has become even more pervasive, with children as young as five being taught to be conscious of their body size and appearance. This is evidenced by the prevalence of fast food advertisements, which have been shown to have a greater influence on children’s food choices than the advice they receive from parents or health professionals. Difference between Constant and Intermittent Reinforcement Humans are naturally drawn to rewards and reinforcement, so it’s no surprise that these concepts are used in a variety of ways. One of these ways is the difference between constant and intermittent reinforcement. Constant reinforcement is when a reward is given every single time, while intermittent reinforcement is when a reward is given only sometimes. Both types of reinforcement can be used in different contexts, such as in the example of diet culture. Diet culture uses intermittent reinforcement to try to keep people in its cycle. The idea is that people will continually try to get the same result (losing weight) with each diet, but only sometimes reap the desired reward. This intermittent reinforcement can lead to a feeling of learned helplessness, where people become desensitized to the harmful means they are using to try to lose weight. Constant reinforcement, on the other hand, is used as a reward system, such as when a parent compliments their child every time they do something right. This helps the child to understand what behavior is expected of them and reinforces it in a positive way. In this podcast, you will learn:
EPISODE RESOURCES: Website: mollycarmel.com Tiktok: @realmollycarmel | |||
| 07 Sep 2022 | 197: Kid’s Nutrition - with Serenity and Joe Carr | 00:42:01 | |
When it comes to the kid's nutrition, there are a lot of present-day challenges that parents face. These challenges can include:
Serenity and Joe Carr set out to change this parental uncertainty: they wanted their baby girl, Della, to grow up healthy and strong. That's when they decided to start their company, Serenity Kids. Serenity Kids creates baby foods that are designed to mimic the nutrients present in breast milk. The baby food is made from pasture-raised meats, organic vegetables, and oils. Serenity has been eating a paleo-style diet for four years and credits it with helping her become healthier. In this podcast, we cover:
And so much more. How might a baby's health be affected by a diet high in sugar and low in fat? Serenity explains that a baby's health can be affected by a diet high in sugar and low in fat in several ways: "It's pretty scary what you'll find in baby food these days. With all the processed junk that's out there,"
If you are struggling to find the right formula for your child or want to give your child the best nutrition out there, this is the perfect podcast for you to listen to. Episode Resources: www.myserenitykids.com
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| 02 Sep 2021 | 160: Clean Your Body, Mind, & Soul Through Detoxification - with Dr. Alejandro Junger | 00:54:46 | |
Here’s why many doctors are NOT healthy... Not all medical professionals live a healthy lifestyle. The long hours filled with stress coupled with diets supplied by hospital cafeterias and vending machines are a toxic combination. Our guest, Alejandro Junger, knows this firsthand. Dr. Junger’s life didn’t start that way. He was born and raised in Uruguay, and he describes his childhood as being closely connected to the natural environment. Some of his most vivid memories are of his father at the local market teaching young Alejandro how to pick out fruits and vegetables through touch and smell. His youth was spent “in the moment.” But when Dr. Junger moved to New York for postgraduate training in internal medicine, he experienced a blast of culture shock. Suddenly, he was working long hours with little time to cook his food. Naturally, he ate from the food sources at the hospital where he worked. Hospital food has never been known for its health benefits. These drastic lifestyle changes wreaked havoc on Dr. Junger. As a workaholic, he lost touch with his body, mind, and spirit and became afflicted with irritable bowel syndrome, allergies, and depression. Through a series of events along life’s road, Dr. Junger’s well-being was holistically revived - his story is incredible. Be sure to tune in and hear how Dr. Junger’s open mind led him to shift his medical career from allopathic healthcare to a medical practice heavily influenced by Eastern medicine. Becoming a patient inside the same healthcare system he worked in was a wake-up call. Dr. Junger became a functional doctor who incorporates Ayurveda and is now an expert in gut health and nutrition. Today, Dr. Junger is known as “The Father of Detox.” His Clean Program is followed by people worldwide, including dignitaries, A-List celebrities, and media personalities.
In this podcast, we cover:
Physical, Mental, & Emotional Toxicity are ONE During this episode, here is a snippet from Dr. Junger: “In Ayurvedic medicine, thousands of years ago, they did not distinguish between mental, emotional and physical toxicity. They’re all called under an umbrella name - AMA. Some say A-M-M-A. This is a Sanskrit word that encompasses toxic elements. And they include mental, emotional, and physical factors. Now, what is the relationship between them? Ultimately, we’re just energy. Whatever vibration your physical body is, it will attract thoughts and emotions as a means average. Are you going to help them be released? “You need to make this available for everyone.” Dr. Junger: “I started doing the detoxification with my friends, family, and then my patients. Over time, as I started getting lots of good results, people said, ‘you need to scale up. You need to make this available to everyone. That is when my program became a company.” “The program is a set of things that you do. It involves food, supplements, and activity that creates the conditions for your body to work its detoxification system at maximum efficiency for optimal health.” “Functional medicine talks about the seven systems. The communication system, hormones, nerves, cardiovascular system, transport system, defense, repair system, and immune system have to be equalized because any system will affect other systems. Imagine one system messing up the other six. Balancing them helps 60% of the people I see with all their health problems.” “It’s about decreasing the workload of the digestive system and decreasing the need for the body to keep on the inflammatory system. By reducing the workload of the digestive system during breakfast and dinner, replacing solid meals with liquid that’s easier to digest, a shake in the morning and night and a solid meal at midday, eliminating all the foods known to cause all kinds of reactions, acidity, mucus, and eliminating allergic foods - doing this for 21 days plus certain supplements to enhance liver detoxification - the results are unbelievable.” Dr. Junger’s message to the world is you can find health and wellness again through detoxification. You need someone to show you how to do it effectively. Dr. Junger has a proven detoxification process. Tune in and discover how to clean your body, soul, and mind in 21 days. (Or start with his 7-day program if you only have a week.) Check out this episode - time to remove toxins and feel fantastic!
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| 18 Jan 2022 | 175: Take a TRIPP to Digital Psychedelic Wellness with Nanea Reeves | 01:34:48 | |
“Let’s stop calling it ‘mental health’ and just call it ‘health’” Our guest on the show, Nanea Reeves, has the credentials to speak on the future marriage of VR and mental healthcare with her 15-year resume in digital distribution, video game technologies, and mobile application development. She was also an early investor in Oculus. But that’s not all! - Nanea is also the CEO and Co-Founder of TRIPP. This award-winning wellness platform that uses scientifically based, researched technology applications that address mental health issues with non-chemical digital alternatives. | |||
| 02 Feb 2021 | 109: Sweating Your Way to Health Using Sauna Therapy - with Brian Richards | 01:06:39 | |
Brian Richards is the founder of SaunaSpace - a company dedicated to bringing the world quality infrared sauna products. Based in Columbia, Missouri, SaunaSpace uses advanced, lean manufacturing practices that provide quality crafted goods at a fair price. In this episode, you will hear about Brian’s personal quest for better health as he found himself struggling with insomnia, acne, and adrenal fatigue in his early twenties. While searching for answers, an alternative medicine doctor recommended Near Infrared (Nir) Sauna Therapy. Intrigue, Brian quickly discovered one problem: he couldn’t find a Nir sauna. Thus began his incredible personal journey from a sickly millennial to an amazingly healthy entrepreneur who is spreading Nir Sauna Therapy’s health benefits. | |||
| 18 Aug 2022 | 196: How to Optimize Healing After Surgery - with Daniel Barrett | 01:05:06 | |
In today's world, several options are available to help optimize the healing process after surgery. Something truly works for everyone, from traditional Western medicine to more holistic approaches. However, there is only one thing at the core of optimizing recovery after surgery: proper nutrition. Dr. Daniel Barrett is a board-certified plastic surgeon in Beverly Hills, California. His passion is providing natural results with minimal downtime, utilizing holistic approaches. And he has seen firsthand how vital nutrition is for a healthy healing process after surgery. Dr. Barrett has observed that patients who are well-nourished before surgery tend to heal better and have fewer complications than those who aren’t. This led him to develop detailed protocols for the patients that focus on optimizing their nutrition before and after surgery. In this podcast, we cover:
And so much more. How does nutrition affect surgical outcomes? Patients who are well-nourished before surgery tend to have less bleeding, less pain, and a quicker recovery. Dr. Barrett tells his patients that they need, “at least 20% more calories to heal after surgery”.. Nutrition is essential for giving your body the extra energy it needs to heal after surgery. One simple way to improve post-surgical outcomes is to ensure that patients get enough magnesium. Magnesium helps with muscle spasms, pain, and sleep. Intermittent fasting and gut health Dr. Barrett is also passionate about intermittent fasting and gut health. He believes that more people should be aware of the benefits of these practices, as they can help with weight loss, anti-aging, and retaining beauty. Barrett himself actually began practicing intermittent fasting and taking probiotics after struggling with his own food sensitivities. He noticed a dramatic improvement in his allergies and has only two moderate sensitivities remaining. Episode Resources: Website | |||
| 13 Jul 2023 | 235: Breaking Free: Conquering Sugar Addiction - with Jenn Edden | 00:58:36 | |
Jenn Edden, the founder of the Sugar Freedom Method, has experienced firsthand the struggles and challenges associated with sugar addiction. Her personal journey and dedication to helping others break free from the grip of sugar have made her a respected figure in the field of health and wellness. The Grip of Sugar Addiction Growing up, Jenn realized that her affinity for sugar went beyond a mere preference—it had a powerful hold on her. She observed how different individuals had varying sensitivities to sugar, much like how some people handle alcohol differently. This led her to delve deeper into the addictive nature of sugar and its impact on our physical and emotional well-being. According to Jenn, sugar addiction is not just about its addictive properties but also its emotional connection. She often compares sugar to a class 5 drug, placing it alongside cocaine and heroin. She believes that if sugar were to be introduced today, it would be classified as a highly addictive substance due to its physiological and psychological effects. Jenn's own struggles with sugar addiction and her pursuit of better health led her to explore various avenues, including seeking medical help, hiring experts, and experimenting with different approaches. Frustrated by the lack of sustainable solutions, she decided to take matters into her own hands and developed what is now known as the Sugar Freedom Method. The Sugar Freedom Method Unveiled The Sugar Freedom Method, a 6-step plan, combines Jenn's extensive knowledge of biochemistry and her experiences with multiple health practitioners. Through this method, she aims to empower individuals to break free from sugar addiction and take control of their health. One key aspect of the Sugar Freedom Method is understanding one's own body and its unique sensitivities. Jenn emphasizes that everyone's body is different, and what works for one person may not work for another. By encouraging individuals to listen to their bodies and pay attention to how certain foods affect them, she helps them develop a personalized approach to managing their sugar intake. Contrary to popular belief, Jenn asserts that not all sugars are created equal. She cautions against overconsumption of fruit sugars, as they can still have negative effects, particularly for individuals with gut issues or Candida. The method teaches individuals to recognize how different sugars, even those from seemingly healthy sources like fruit, can impact their bodies and contribute to imbalances. The Sugar Freedom Method does not advocate for complete elimination of all carbohydrates or sugars. Instead, it focuses on reducing and managing sugar intake based on individual needs and sensitivities. The Freedom to Choose and Be Informed Jenn believes in giving individuals the freedom to make choices while ensuring they are informed about the effects of certain foods on their bodies. The Sugar Freedom Method has helped numerous individuals regain control over their health and break free from the vicious cycle of sugar addiction. Jenn's personal journey and commitment to sharing her knowledge and experiences serve as an inspiration to many who are seeking a path towards a healthier and more fulfilling life. In this podcast you will learn:
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| 13 May 2020 | 049: How Algae Can Boost Your Immunity with Catharine Arnston | 01:13:36 | |
A healthy immune system is always important, and here to tell us how algae can boost your immunity is Catharine Arnston. Catharine had a 30-year career as an international attache as well as being a publisher of an international magazine and founder of three start-ups. But all of that changed when her younger sister was diagnosed with breast cancer. Her sister’s oncologist told her to switch to an alkaline diet because it would help her heal. Catharine put everything on hold to help her sister and in the process Catharine discovered algae. | |||
| 11 Feb 2021 | 112: Powerlifting for The Chosen Ones - with Juan Salgado | 00:33:16 | |
In this episode, our host Wade T. Lightheart, Co-Founder of Bioptimizers and former competitive bodybuilder, talks to a young, up-and-coming fitness trainer named Juan Salgado, CEO of The Chosen Ones training group. Juan’s passion for training traces back to when he was eight years old. Juan loved basketball back then and was extremely competitive even at that young age. So competitive that he organized his first training group for basketball at eight years old. He wanted to win so bad and determined his team was not practicing enough to win a championship. So Juan, the second-grader, went to Barnes and Noble, read a book on basketball drills, then after the next practice, asked all the parents if they would drop their kids off at the park for two extra practices per week. Juan hosted the exercises and found his training to be more fun than the actual games. | |||
| 17 Oct 2019 | 013: How to Protect Yourself From EMFs with Nick Pineault | 00:38:40 | |
Today Nick shares his background in alternative health, as well as what he's discovered about EMFs through his own personal experimentation. You'll hear him explain exactly what EMFs are, and why we should pay attention to these silent, odorless electronic radiation waves. He'll clue us in on how to know if we are being impacting by EMFs and how to protect ourselves on episode 13 of Bioptimizers' Awesome Health. In this episode of Awesome Health, you'll also hear:
More About Awesome Health with Nick Pineault For the last five years Nick Pineault and his wife/business partner have been writing daily newsletters documenting their health experiments. He researches topics and reports his findings back to the people on his email list. Recently one of those topics was whether or not cell phones cause any physical harm, like brain cancer. He had heard from some experts that this was the case, but then he heard other experts say cell phones are fine. Based on his 10+ years as a health journalist he's found that when there are two strong opposing sides the truth is in the gray area in between them. And that's the case with cell phones and EMFs. Despite that gray area, many countries are taking action to reduce levels of EMFs. These countries (not the US and Canada) have decided that even though there isn't conclusive evidence cell phones are harmful they are taking precautionary steps in case it is proven otherwise. As of now there isn't a lot of testing for cell phone or other devices that emit EMFs, there's no FDA regulation or pre-market testing like there is with pharmaceuticals and supplements. What Are EMFs and What Are Some of Their Potential Side Effects? Before we jumped too far down the rabbit hole, I asked Nick to explain what EMF is exactly. EMF stands for electromagnetic fields, and these are the fields that are emitted when a signal is transmitted and received from one device (like a cell phone or laptop, etc.) to a cell phone tower. Nick goes to explain that EMFs do impact you, even though you don't necessarily feel them or hear them, and you don't see them. Because EMFs are silent and invisible many people think it's a non-issue, but that's not what Nick has discovered in his research. EMFs are becoming more and more of an issue as the list of our smart devices grows. The fact is any kind of smart device from a laptop to a cell phone to a Bluetooth transmitter (even your smart toaster!) all emit EMF signals and receive them. As these signals are sent and received it actually increases the levels of EMFs around us, something that has come to be called electrosmoke. As those levels increase more people are experiencing side effects from EMFs. Some of those symptoms include overall fatigue, headaches, tingling in fingers, and poor sleep. The last one impacts many people because they sleep with their phone next to their bed or even under their pillows. In fact, the teenagers who keep their phones under their pillows are experiencing severe insomnia at the right of 1 out of every 2 kids. Ways to Protect Ourselves From EMFs Which of course begs the question - what are ways to protect ourselves from EMFs? Now that we know what they are EMFs are and what their potential side effects are also, Nick gave us some practical advice on how to lessen our exposure. One simple thing you can do is to create distance between the source of the EMFs and yourself. One foot between you and your EMF-emitting device reduces EMFs by 80% and two feet or more reduces that number to nearly 95%. When you're sleeping if you want your phone nearby, just turn airplane mode on when you sleep. And if you can, it's even better to put your phone in another room. You'll know you're getting better rest because you will remember your dreams. Another of Nick's suggestions is to get a wired headset to talk on your phone and holding the phone a foot away as you use it. It must be a wired headset and not a Bluetooth one because Bluetooth also emits EMFs. According to Nick's research, some Bluetooth headsets have been shown to produce even more EMFs than a cell phone. You can also get a landline too and you can set your phone to transfer the call to your landline when your cell is in airplane mode. How to Reduce EMFs From Your Laptop Another EMF-emitting device many of us have is a laptop, and a lot of us use them by holding them directly on our laps. Instead of exposing our bodies to EMFs this way, we should put the laptop on a desk in front of us. He also recommends using your laptop like you would a desktop. Put it on a desk and sit a little further away from it. You can follow in his footsteps by getting a laptop desk and a standing desk for using your laptops. This will remove 95% of the problem! Although not many studies have been done on the harm laptops cause when held on our laps there was one that reported men who used their laptops for four hours on their laps had a 25% reduction in sperm mobility. While it was a small sample size the results are worth noting. You can also buy programs like Daily Blanket or any of the Defender Shield products (the Defender Pad is for laptops and tablet-type devices). A final suggestion from Nick is to connect your laptop using an Ethernet connection and you'll stop EMF transmissions from your laptop all together. We continue on the topic of EMF blocking devices, including whether there are any legitimate cell phone case blockers and if there is any benefit to EMF harmonizers. And we finish with a discussion on grounding/earthing, and why you should use a 3-prong plug for your laptop. Nick has many insights on those topics, and you'll have plenty of practical knowledge and tools at your disposal for combating EMFs after you listen to episode 13 of Bioptimizers' Awesome Health!
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| 20 May 2020 | 050: How to Adapt and Evolve with Tom Terwilliger | 02:00:33 | |
To be successful in any part of our lives we must learn how to adapt and evolve, like our guest for today's show. Tom Terwilliger is the master of adapting, evolving and reinvention. He went from winning Mr. America and competing in Mr. Olympia twice to being a personal development guru working with T. Harv Eker and writing best-selling books. Today we talk about what he's learned on his amazing journey including how he built his own mental toughness and the power in making a choice. | |||
| 18 Nov 2021 | #168 - Dr. Susan Brown from Alkaline for Life | 00:38:46 | |
| 17 Oct 2019 | 011: How to Retrain Your Brain in 7 Days, with Dr. James Hardt | 01:12:48 | |
Dr. James Hardt of the Biocybernaut Center is here to tell us how his trainings reconfigure your brain for the better, and what the benefits of this training are for your business and your personal life. I also share my personal experiences with his alpha training, and the impact its had on me. In this episode of Awesome Health, you'll also hear:
More About Awesome Health with Dr. James Hardt I had the pleasure of recording this show live from the Biocybernaut Center in Sedona, Arizona. A few years ago I came here and had an amazing transformation in my capacity to think, as well as a profound spiritual opening. Dr. James Hardt is the founder of this center and we've become friends since my initial visit. James' resume is impressive and clues you in on who he is and how he's become the pioneer in brain retraining. He holds a B.S. in Physics from Carnegie Institute of Technology, and an M.S. and Ph.D. in Psychology from Carnegie-Mellon University and he has done post-doctoral training in Psychophysiology at the Langley Porter Psychiatric Institute at the University of California at San Francisco. He has dedicated his life in the research and development surrounding brain wave training. And it all began when he was a physics major at Carnegie Institute of Technology. He came out of the student union after lunch one day and there was a sign advertising Dr. Joe Kamiya speech on brain waves and consciousness. The speech started in ten minutes and James didn't have a class - it was the perfect set up and he attended. The talk was beyond fascinating for James, and after it was over he approached Dr. Kamiya. James was going to be in San Francisco that summer and asked if he could get in touch with Dr. Kamiya. When the doctor said he was too busy, Joe offered to write Dr. Kamiya a letter with big spaces where he could add his reply if he wanted to so they could correspond. Between that fateful talk by Dr. Kamiya and his summer in San Francisco, James read everything he could on brainwaves. He explains how they were discovered: in 1908 an Austrian psychiatrist named Hans Berger was conscripted into Austria's military services. During one of the country's skirmishes his horse was shot and fell on Dr. Berger's leg and broke it. While he was recovering, he spent many long months in a military hospital. When he got home to Austria months later, his sister showed him her diary in which she had written every detail of everything that had happened to him! Being a scientist, Dr. Berger started thinking there might be something to all of this ESP nonsense he had been hearing about. He had also heard about electric waves in the body so he went looking for electrical waves in the brain, thinking that would be the basis for ESP. With the primitive technology available to him he only found one, which he called alpha. It's the not the fastest or slowest, but it's the biggest. While he could never link alpha waves to ESP, he kept his discovery of the waves he did find a secret for 10 years! The Benefits of Alpha Training: Increased IQ, EQ, Creativity and IncomeWe change gears and dig deeper into the benefits of retraining your brain, why you should do this and the value it holds for you. According to James, your brain waves rule your life, everything from your emotions, aspects of your body's performance, your thoughts. A great example of this is the first alpha training level, it has been shown to raise your IQ by 12 points. When it comes to EQ or emotional intelligence, the same training raised men's overall points by 12 again, and women's by about 9. This matters because EQ has a direct correlation with a person's success: 60-70% of a person's success is attributable to their EQ. In every country and every profession a person's success is significantly related to their EQ. Statistically, for every 1 point increase in a person's EQ their income goes up $1,300 according to Emotional Intelligence 2.2. The other area receiving an extremely positive impact is creativity: it has been measured to increase by 50%! For example, one man who participated in the alpha training had started his own creative company. In a typical year about he produced about 80 images that were good enough for production. In the 6 weeks following his alpha training, he made 110 images! So instead of 80 per year, he created 110 images in the six weeks after his alpha training. So whether it's IQ, EQ, artistic creativity, scientific creativity, or athletic creativity, increased alpha will give you a boost in performance. James explains alpha waves do this because they create an experience of oneness. Increasing Your Alpha Waves, and What Blocks Those Waves in Everyday LifeClearly a boost in alpha waves is important, so I asked James to give us some ways to boost them and tell us what may be blocking them in our everyday lives. Going back to the discussion about EQ levels and income levels, James says the 12 point increase from their alpha training would net men almost 1/3 of a million dollars more. Women would net over a quarter of a million dollars more from the alpha training's EQ boost. I saw this firsthand in my own life. When I attended alpha training for the first time, I went with a business partner of mine. We both found our ability to communicate and hear each other after the training transformed in both our personal and our business relationship. It was easier to see each other's points of view, so much so it generated an extra 7 figures in 18 months in our business! And we did it without killing ourselves in the process, we did it with a greater ease than we could have before the training. However, there are things we do in our day to day lives that decrease or block those alpha waves. James and his team send guidelines to his clients on how best to prepare before coming for their alpha training, and these guidelines are a good rule of thumb to avoid blocking alpha waves. Those guidelines are getting enough sleep (8 or 9 hours a night), eliminating alcohol, caffeine, onions and garlic. Personally, I could feel and understand the effects of garlic, onions and caffeine on my body after the alpha training. Also on this episode we talk about the awareness alpha training brings to people's lives, including a remarkable and profound impact it has had on a community of Canadian aboriginals. James also brings up the subject of forgiveness and its importance, what the shared feedback process is all about, and how he found his spiritual calling after he was accidentally left in the closet of Joe Kamiya's lab! These are just a small sampling of the subjects we cover in this remarkable and transformative conversation on episode 11 of the Awesome Health podcast.
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| 18 Apr 2024 | 256: Break Free with Muscle Mom - with Amy Fox | 01:00:23 | |
Tired of the relentless cycle of yo-yo dieting? Ready for a healthier, sustainable fitness and nutrition path? Fitness coach Amy Fox, founder of the Food and Mood Cafe, shares her expertise on becoming a "muscle mom" — moving past the limitations of restrictive diets and excessive cardio workouts. Embrace strength training Amy stresses the significance of maintaining muscle mass through weight training. Contrary to popular belief, it doesn't lead to excessive bulkiness but rather aids in sculpting a lean, toned body. Amy recommends a balanced diet over extreme restrictions. Savor your favorite meals while keeping a predominantly healthy eating routine. Slowly incorporate resistance training and up your protein consumption to facilitate muscle development and fat reduction. Many women encounter psychological hurdles in muscle-building, including impatience and the gravitation towards strict diets. Amy's coaching aims to navigate these obstacles, promoting a sustainable weight management mindset. Long-Term Health Focus Adopt lifestyle alterations such as ceasing to eat post-dinner and moderating alcohol intake to enhance sleep and overall well-being. Amy advocates for moderate alcohol consumption, noting its detrimental effect on weight loss ambitions. The Food and Mood Cafe offers a nurturing environment with easy access to dietary advice and mutual accountability. Access practical resources such as meal plans, recipes, and live support, making healthy living accessible and economical. Sleep and Stress Prioritization Incorporate habits like magnesium supplementation, early hydration, journaling, and stretching or yoga before bed to improve sleep quality and reduce stress. Recognize the importance of quality sleep in achieving your fitness goals. In summary, say goodbye to yo-yo dieting and embrace a healthier, more sustainable approach to fitness and nutrition with Amy Fox's tips for becoming a "muscle mom." By incorporating weight training, balancing nutrition, overcoming psychological obstacles, focusing on long-term health, joining a supportive community, and prioritizing sleep and stress management, you can achieve your fitness goals and beat yo-yo dieting for good. In this podcast, you will learn about:
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| 16 Feb 2021 | 113: How This NFL Star Became a Yogi & Cannabis Advocate - with Eben Britton | 01:30:39 | |
Eben Britton was a seven-year-old boy watching the news one day at his grandparents when he distinctly recalls seeing the local news covering the NY Jets and Giants at training camp. Eben felt something—like a seed planting in his heart. He told himself that he would one day be “one of those warriors.” Over time, Eben grew to be six feet, six inches tall, and weighed at one point 325 pounds. He ultimately became a gridiron gladiator, getting drafted by the Jacksonville Jaguars and playing six seasons, including two years with the Chicago Bears. Those six years took a toll on Eben physically. He suffered through a lot of pain and had to retire at age 28. But this is where Eben’s story is just beginning. | |||
| 05 Nov 2020 | 086: The Transformative Journey of Grief with Jasmin Jenkins | 00:49:52 | |
Grief equates to sadness for most of us, but can we go further with it and actually experience the transformative journey of grief? Our guest is here to tell us how. Jasmin Jenkins is an Integrative Grief Guide and the founder of Fall Up, a community created to support people navigating the spectrum of grief. In her work, she brings her clients into the invitations within their grief journeys and supports them in co-creating a healing process through the transformative journey of grief. | |||
| 03 Feb 2022 | 177: Slay Your Demons & Reinvent Yourself with Doug Bopst | 01:06:19 | |
For those haunted by a dark past - here’s proof you can turn your life around - starting today! One of the biggest takeaways from our guest’s story is this: whatever secrets are in your past do not dictate your future (unless you allow it.) Doug Bopst is a good example. He went from being a drug addict, drug dealer, and convicted felon to one of America’s top fitness trainers. He entered prison obese and unable to do one push-up. He left prison with a passion for exercise, and this positive focus proved to be a crucial turning point. But how did Doug do this? So many other drug dealers end up dead or in prison for life. Or, they get out but return to crime, never reaching their full potential. Why did Doug’s story turn out differently? How did he end up writing three books, becoming a public speaker and a fitness guru? This former junkie, dope dealer, and out-of-shape fast-food addict became a clean, fit, upstanding citizen through a remarkable journey you will have to hear to believe. Be sure to tune in to this episode as Doug pours his heart out, hoping that one person out there will find hope and strength through his story. Doug is indeed an award-winning personal trainer, author, and host of the Adversity Advantage Podcast - a show that’s on a crusade to inspire others to overcome adversity and become the best version of themselves. He’s a great communicator in front of the camera, with appearances on NBC’s ‘Today Show,’ Men’s Health, Forbes, Rich Roll’s podcast, Impact Theory with Tom Bilyeu, The Skinny Confidential Him and Her podcast, Bulletproof Radio with Dave Asprey, The Be Well by Kelly podcast with Kelly LeVeque, The Blonde Files podcast with Arielle Lorre and more. A short documentary covering his story called ‘From Felony to Fitness to Free’ has been screened at The Reel Recovery Film Festival in Los Angeles and New York City. In this podcast, we cover:
How Jail Saved Doug’s Life Doug shares his complete story - why he got arrested, what happened when he stood before the Judge and his experiences inside the prison. Doug says, “When I walked through the gates of the jail, I cried because I didn’t want to go in, and when I left, I cried because I didn’t want to leave.” “Crazy, right?” “On top of all that panic, fear, anger, uncertainty, and depression - all these emotions, I had a horrific opiate addiction going into jail. So my first few weeks behind bars, I detoxed cold turkey from oxycontin.” Yikes. Doug and Wade talk more about how rough it is for someone to detox cold turkey off of hard narcotics. “Sitting in discomfort” - how Doug’s growing comfort level with pain was critical to his transformation: Doug tells Wade at one point: “I think for many other people struggling with addiction and me, we use substances to numb pain. We use substances to get rid of any feelings of discomfort we’re feeling at that moment. Like when someone feels stressed out from work, and they go home and drink a bottle of wine that night to forget about that day.” “I was that guy who was completely uncomfortable feeling any kind of discomfort, so fitness gave me a positive outlet to take that discomfort I was feeling and change my state of mind - get out of my head and turn it into something positive.” “When I was in jail, I would go for a walk. Then, I could process my thoughts.” “Use fitness to change your state of mind.” What an inspiring episode! Many people die of shame after making some poor decisions in their life. Doug Bopst proves you don’t have to stay stuck in the past, wallowing in guilt. Instead of replaying your past over and over again, discover how fitness and spirituality can pull anyone up out of the mud, clean them up, and set them on a new life path of success. Check out this episode - tune in and turn your tragedy into triumph! Episode Resources: Check out more on Doug Bopst Doug Bopst Amazon Author Page Doug Bopst on Facebook Doug Bopst on LinkedIn Doug Bopst on Instagram Doug Bopst on Twitter | |||
| 06 Feb 2024 | 247: Longevity Journey: Unveiled Path - with Chris Burres | 01:26:31 | |
In the realm of longevity, journeys often unfold unexpectedly, exemplified by Chris Burres, a prominent figure in the supplement space and fervent advocate for extending human lifespan. His trajectory from a carbon nanomaterial scientist to a pioneering figure in longevity is testament to life's serendipitous pathways. Longevity, the pursuit of a longer and healthier life, has captivated human imagination for centuries. In our quest to unravel the mysteries of aging and extend the human lifespan, individuals like Chris Burres have emerged as trailblazers, reshaping the landscape of longevity science. Through his experiences and insights, we embark on a journey that illuminates the complexities and possibilities of living longer and better. The Unforeseen Path Chris Burres' journey into the world of longevity began unconventionally, driven by chance encounters and unexpected opportunities. Seven years ago, if someone had told him he would become a key figure in the supplement space and a beacon of longevity expertise, he would have dismissed it as implausible. Yet, life's twists and turns led him down a path he never envisioned, ultimately transforming him into the Chief Scientist of a groundbreaking supplement company. Initially immersed in the realm of carbon nanomaterials, Chris Burres found himself at the forefront of a scientific breakthrough with the discovery of a remarkable molecule known as ESS60. Despite its industrial applications, the molecule's potential for enhancing human health remained unexplored until groundbreaking research revealed its unexpected benefits. Contrary to initial concerns about toxicity, studies demonstrated that ESS60 extended the lifespan of test subjects by a staggering 90%, sparking intrigue and curiosity. The Leap into Supplements Despite reservations about venturing into the supplement industry, Chris Burres and his business partner were propelled by a shared conviction: the pursuit of excellence. Motivated by a desire to provide consumers with high-quality products, they embarked on a journey to harness the potential of ESS60 for human health. The decision to enter the supplement space was not without challenges, yet the promise of making a meaningful impact outweighed the uncertainties. As Chris delved deeper into the realm of longevity, he encountered a diverse array of perspectives and approaches. From the intricacies of calorie restriction to the potential of emerging technologies, the quest for longevity is characterized by ongoing exploration and experimentation. Drawing inspiration from renowned scientists like Dr. David Sinclair, Chris embraced the notion of reaching a terminal velocity of aging, where medical advancements outpace the progression of age-related decline. Conclusion In the pursuit of longevity, every individual's journey is unique, yet interconnected by a shared aspiration for a longer and healthier life. Through Chris Burres, we gain insight into the transformative power of perseverance, curiosity, and innovation. As we continue to unravel the mysteries of aging, let us embrace the journey with optimism, knowing that the pursuit of longevity is not merely a destination but a remarkable voyage of discovery. In this podcast, you will learn about:
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| 04 May 2023 | 228: How to heal the worst menopausal symptoms naturally - with Esther Blum | 00:55:40 | |
In this episode, we talk to Esther Blum, who is the bestselling author of Cavewomen Don’t Get Fat, Eat, Drink and Be Gorgeous. She currently maintains a busy virtual practice where she helps women balance hormones, lose stubborn body fat, and treat the root cause of health struggles. Esther received a Bachelor of Science in Clinical Nutrition from Simmons College in Boston and is a graduate of New York University, where she received her Master of Science in Clinical Nutrition. She says the best way to heal the worst menopausal symptoms naturally is by using a combination of dietary changes, lifestyle modifications, and natural hormone therapy. Dietary changes should focus on eating a nutrient-dense diet with plenty of protein and healthy fats, such as butter, beef, fish, eggs, cold-water fatty fish, and coconut oil. Additionally, adding liver and organ meats, as well as brain, heart, and kidney, can help nourish the eggs and support fertility. Lifestyle modifications, such as spending time outside in nature, can help reduce stress and improve hormone balance. Finally, natural hormone therapy can help reduce symptoms such as hot flashes, night sweats, irritability, brain fog, exhaustion, anxiety, depression, and vaginal dryness. This can include the use of bio-identical hormones such as progesterone, DHEA, and testosterone, as well as vaginal estrogen and DHEA. It is important to work with a functional medicine practitioner to monitor hormone levels and ensure proper dosage. Benefits of Hormone Therapy Hormone therapy can be beneficial for women throughout the different stages of their reproductive years. It can help to regulate hormones, reduce symptoms of menopause such as hot flashes and night sweats, reduce the risk of osteoporosis, reduce the risk of heart disease, improve libido, and improve mood. It can also be used to offset the decline of progesterone and estrogen, balance out hormone levels, and reduce the risk of developing certain diseases. Additionally, hormone therapy can be used to improve fertility and egg quality. What are some things that can help optimize hormone levels As women enter menopause, hormone levels can become unbalanced and can cause a wide range of unpleasant symptoms. To help optimize hormone levels, Esther Blum, a best selling author and clinical nutritionist, suggests a few simple strategies. First, Blum recommends using vaginal estrogen. This helps to prevent the thinning of the vaginal walls and can maintain collagen and elastin, as well as lubrication which can prevent pain during sex. Blum also suggests utilizing progesterone in the second half of the cycle to help balance hormones and reduce symptoms like heavy periods, fatigue, and brain fog. Blum also notes that DHEA and testosterone can help to balance hormones. To get the most benefit, it’s important to monitor hormone levels to determine when to bring in these hormones. She suggests working with a practitioner to determine an individualized hormone plan. Blum also recommends a high fat diet with animal fats, beef, fish, eggs, and cold-water fatty fish. This can help to nourish the eggs, liver, and other organs, promoting fertility. In addition to these strategies, Blum stresses the importance of reducing stress levels and taking time for self-care. This can help to support hormonal balance and overall health. By utilizing these strategies, women can take steps towards optimizing their hormone levels, reducing menopausal symptoms, and promoting overall health and well-being. In this podcast, you will learn about:
and so much more. EPISODE RESOURCES:
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| 02 May 2024 | 258: Explore Spirit Gym - with Paul Chek | 02:03:50 | |
In the realm of holistic health and spiritual enlightenment, Paul Chek stands out as a seminal figure. His journey from a farm on Vancouver Island to becoming a renowned holistic health practitioner is both fascinating and inspiring. With over 40 years of clinical experience and a wealth of knowledge from athletic pursuits, spiritual exploration, and deep introspection, Chek introduces the transformative Spirit Gym series — an odyssey into the realms of mind, body, and spirit. Journey from Farm to Fitness Raised on a 142-acre farm, Chek developed a profound connection to nature and an understanding of the interconnectedness of all living beings. His diverse athletic background, spanning boxing to motocross racing, coupled with a transformative realization about diet's impact on well-being, laid the foundation for his holistic approach to health. As a trainer for the Army boxing team, Chek recognized the limitations of conventional fitness methods. By integrating massage therapy and holistic health practices, he addressed the root causes of injuries and enhanced the overall well-being of his athletes. This approach set the stage for his holistic health practice, encompassing sports massage therapy, neuromuscular therapy, and functional medicine. Spirit Gym: Gateway to Transformation At the core of Chek's teachings is the Spirit Gym series, an exploration of consciousness, spirituality, and human experience. Drawing on decades of experience and research, Chek explores the connections between belief systems, emotions, and physical health. He shares insights from his personal journey, offering lessons for those seeking spiritual growth and health improvement through practices like meditation, plant medicine healing, and clairvoyance. In the Spirit Gym series, Chek transcends conventional spirituality, offering a holistic approach to personal growth and self-realization. By exploring the nature of God, consciousness, and life's purpose, he encourages participants to confront their realities and view challenges as opportunities for growth. In Conclusion: Embracing the Journey Paul Chek’s Spirit Gym series exemplifies the transformative power of holistic health and spiritual exploration. Through his insights, anecdotes, and practical teachings, Chek invites us to embark on a journey of self-discovery, healing, and transformation, fostering a deep connection between mind, body, and spirit and opening a world of limitless possibilities and profound fulfillment. In this podcast you will learn about:
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| 20 Nov 2019 | 034: How to Get Your Best Sleep with Matt Gallant | 00:57:29 | |
 Sleep is absolutely critical to being healthy. But do you know how to get your best sleep? Answering that question and SO much more is my dear friend and business partner, Matt Gallant. We start the show by talking about how he got interested in the topic of sleep. When he was in his mid-20s he wanted to do it all: he wanted to record an album, learn all about marketing, work out at the gym and he had a full-time job. So he decided he would cut back on sleep. And he took the resistance training approach by doing it in small increments. He shaved off 15 minutes at a time and thought his body would adjust if he did this gradually. He eventually got down to 5 hours of sleep and experienced some side effects when he did: he had to be pristine with the food he was eating and keeping himself hydrated or his body would completely crash. Matt also shares another story about his experiences with sleep that showed him it's the quality of sleep we get more so than the quantity. We explore that story, plus Matt’s best sleep hacks. At night, Matt recommends wearing glasses from True Dark or Swannies about 2 hours before bed to help your body block out any type of light that might keep you awake. He also recommends using a program called f.lux on your computer, which lessens the amount of blue light emitted by your computer. Iris is a similar program that Matt likes best. As far as actual sleep, you want to keep your bedroom cool at night (16-18 degrees C or 60-64 degrees Fahrenheit). But you also want to keep your mattress cool because otherwise your body heat gets trapped underneath you and you will sweat. The sweat will dehydrate you which leads to poorer sleep and waking up tired. Matt gives us his specific tech recommendations for greater sleep on today’s show before we dive into which supplements can enhance your sleep, and how they work plus the reason 15 minutes of meditation before bed can help you fall asleep faster. You’re going to hear those fascinating topics, and you’ll hear Matt explain why he’s not a fan of melatonin. Join us for this illuminating discussion on sleep. Resources: True Dark glasses Swannies glasses f.lux Iris chili pad Tim Ferriss The Ooler sleep pad EMF shielding tech Faraday cage Oura ring Dreem headband Delta sleeper EarthPulse Dream Tea from Anima Mundi Magnesium Breakthrough Read the Episode Transcript :Wade Lightheart: Good afternoon. Good morning and good evening. It's Wade T Lightheart at the Awesome Health Podcast and I got my good friend, buddy, business partner and co experimenter Matty G. How's it going today at the biOptimizers extreme lab? Matt Gallant: It's going great man. Always, you know, I always love talking about health with you and I think we're going to be sharing some more deep gold today. Wade Lightheart: So I'm excited about today's podcast because we're going to talk about something that we've been in I think a circuitous conversation for I think almost the entire time that we've known each other for around 20 years, certainly 15 very deep. And that is sleep. And for those who don't know the statistics and what's happening, sleep issues is one of the biggest issues in America today and is expanding worldwide. And there's a variety of reasons for that, why that is. We're gonna dive into that. If you're struggling for sleep, you definitely want to listen to this podcast because of all the people I've met in the health industry, I don't know anybody that has gone as deep in sleep is Matty G and we've had a lot of discussions about it's, I'm a guy that wants to sleep the the, you know, for years I was like, if I could just throw sleep away, I'd be, I'd be happy. Wade Lightheart: When we started out, Matt was like, no, you need us. Like he wanted to get as much sleep as possible. But now we've both come for circle on this where we're kind of in what is the optimal sleep amount? How do you get there? Why are we in trouble for sleeping? How important is sleep and where does sleep play as far as hormone optimization, brain functioning, recovery from training. What are the hacks? What are the tricks? What are the tips? And Matty G, if he doesn't know all of them, he knows everybody who does know all of them and he's probably tried more of them than anybody on the planet. So Matty G, Mr sleep, where are we going? What are we doing? How are we, what, what's happening today? Matt Gallant: I will start with the story of how I really started to understand the need for sleep and the importance of it. So at the time I was 25 years old, maybe 24, I was living in Moncton were Wade and I are from, and you know, I had the same mentality that you have. I'm like, you know what, I, I want to work like a hundred hours a week. I want to record an album, I want to learn marketing, I want to work, you know, literally 80 hours in the gym. I don't really have time for sleep. So, so again, like little, I was working 80 hours at the gym at a four 40 hour job, plus 40 hours of personal training clients. I'm recording a hard rock album in the studio and then I'm spending about 15 to 20 hours learning about marketing. So I did the math. It was like a hundred to 105 hours plus I was training twice a day. Matt Gallant: So in order to do all of that, I'm like, okay, I got it. I started cutting sleep. At the time I was probably sleeping, you know, normal seven hours. I'm like, okay, here's the plan. I'm going to start cutting my sleep by the 15 minutes slices and keep going down. My body will adapt. I was thinking like like resistance training and all adapt to the, to the stress, so you know things were going decently. When I got to about five hours, there's an interesting oxide effects that started happening. One of them was my hypersensitivity to water and food, so literally that's how I really got into water because if I was dehydrated like a micro amount, like I had to literally like be drinking water all the time. If I dehydrated even like a little bit, I immediately just kind of crash. Right? Same thing with food, it's like any food that my body wasn't really happy with. Matt Gallant: I would crash so I had to eat like flawlessly and be drinking water all the time. It otherwise it just crash. Then I kept going and then I finally crashed and burned at around like I think four hours or three hours and 45 minutes. You know, I, I just pulled the plug on the experiment and then I read a book called power sleep, which, you know, started educating myself about the need of it and the power of it and then kind of went the other way. It took me about two months to recover, you know, it was like nervous. It was pretty deep nervous system burnout and I was sleeping eight, nine hours now. So for the longest of time I was the kinda guy that, you know, needed eight, nine hours and whatnot and I didn't understand the quality of sleep is really what matters, which is what we're going to be talking about today. Matt Gallant: Not, you know, everybody's heard you gotta sleep eight in a seven to nine hours, which may be true for some of you, but I think in my opinion, the quality's really the key. So another story four and a half years ago, I, I crashed in a different way. I went on a big European tour for business, came back my testosterone at crashed an all time low and my body fat was at the highest that I've recorded it on a DEXA. And I realized right then that my S and I, and I've got an oura ring. So it was kind of like this, this convergence of all these events. And on the oura ring I was getting zero to 15 minutes of deep sleep at night. Like I was basically having no deep sleep. So that's when I realized that my sleep was garbage. Matt Gallant: You know, typically I would wake up at that time in the morning, I'd be really tired and you know, dehydrated. And even though was sleeping like eight and a half, nine hours, I felt like I've slept for, and of course the oura ring validated the, the the data, the experience. So that was the turning point and I realized, you know what, in terms of up leveling me as a human being, probably the number one thing, like the one thing that would improve my body fat composition, improve my brain, improved my ability as a, as a businessman improve myself in relationships was sleep. Like I realized right then it was a huge kind of revelation that if I slept better like every part of my life would improve and it has. So for me sleep is, you know, very close. It's hard to say which one is number one, a number two, but I'm going to make this bold statement. The top two things in my opinion you can do to buy, to biologically optimize yourself as a human being is high quality sleep and resistance training. I think those two, you know, in terms of improving across the board are the top two things. I'm just a lot of other things you can do, but if you sleep well, do resistance training, I think your quality of life, your health span and probably your lifespan will, will have a big impact. Wade Lightheart: You know that you make a couple of interesting observations with that conclusion. If you look with the advent of electricity and the advent of technology, particularly computers, digital screens, television and blue light, and the shifting of circadian rhythms, which is plays a big point in that this is the one area of humanity where we've have, I'd say civilization has throttled the endocrine system or the normal patterns. It's not normal for all this light to be present at night and over, you know, literally billions of years. Every creature is, is running on a circadian rhythm that is related to a light cycle, which there's a hormone cascade, there's an energy cascade, there's an awareness cap, there's this, there's just so many things that are tied to that. And so all of a sudden with the civilization, we've accelerated that curve. And then the other part of that is over the last, particularly the last hundred years and even more so, maybe the last 50 with, I would say with the beginning of the remote control in cars, we really don't push our physicalities that much. I mean, if you'll think back to the great statues in history, the Greeks and the Romans have these, you know, really idealistic bodybuilder type bodies. It's obvious that people were walking around looking like that to be the Wade Lightheart: Inspiration for those artists to develop those Herculean like qualities. And if you look at the population today, Herculean qualities is something that's only reserved for Olympic athletes, for professional athletes and the general population is anything but so based on all that what have you learned? What are the big, what are the things that mess people up first? Let's start there. What are the big don'ts or the things that people might not think of that are really affecting their quality of sleep and their quality of their life? Matt Gallant: I'm going to get into that, but I just want to answer the why first. It was really quick. No, why is sleep so critical? So first of all, let's look at it from a physical level. So your growth hormone, all you're, you're this, there's a whole prolactin cycle. That's where your GH gets released. Thus when most of your testosterone gets produced prolactin. Matt Gallant: Yeah. So it's this whole cascade that starts with the melatonin and then it triggers your prolactin is another hormone in the body. So, but what matters is the healing hormones though, the fat burning hormones, the muscle building hormones all getting released in that cycle. So if you're having no deep sleep or not enough, you're basically not producing these really powerful anabolic healing, anti aging hormones that you know we want. It's critical. So that's the first piece. The second thing, which gets produced typically during REM sleep, which is the end of your sleep cycle, the bulk of it is your neurotransmitters. So that's what allows you to feel good, to be happy for your brain, to function, for you to think that's when that happens. Then there's also memory consolidation. You know, when you're moving things from short term memory to long term memory, a lot of that also happens during the, the light sleep cycles as well as during your REM. Matt Gallant: So basically, and then let's talk about weight gain. You know, let's and grill in, all of these things get thrown out. So if you have a bad night's sleep, your hunger is going to be typically out of control. So the odds that you're going to snack and cheat, you know, your blood glucose is going to go up. So like literally if you, if you want to gain fat, like if your goal is to gain fat as easily as possible, if you have bad sleep, that's the formula. So, and I really feel that, you know, the weight gain, the fat gain epidemic that we have in around the world, a lot of it is being driven by poor sleep. And, and that's just again, just, it's just a physiological reality. So if we just look at all of these and pretty much every part of your body gets negatively affected, even your DNA. Matt Gallant: I read some recent research like a month ago where one night of bad sleep like four hours, you know, affected all of these epigenetics. So, eh, the, the consequences are extreme. Now let's the shift over to the fundamentals of how to maximize sleep quality. And it's really about eliminating the five sleep disturbances. If, if you just eliminate these disturbances, your sleep quality is going to transform. So the first one is light. You mentioned light. So let's just explain a little bit why light is so critical and there's so many components to light. We'll get deeper into it. But the big picture is as, as you said, that we're not programmed. Like I've got this massive light shining in my eye right now. Plus I've got two computer screens, plus I've got this other light. So I've got like four sources of blue light that are completely unnatural hitting my eyes. Matt Gallant: It's, and it's hitting my brain. So, and this is fine at this time of the day, but if I, let's say I had all of these things on and it's 11:00 PM, I'm going to be wired. And like I know I think a lot of night hours, you know, and, and I'm one of them right in the chronotype call them, call us wolves. We are hypersensitive I think to blue light more than other people cause I used to be able to like, you know, work on the computer till three, 4:00 AM and it's like I just wouldn't get tired. And I think this, the light is just stimulating my brain. So that is telling my brain that it's still daytime. Right. And like you were saying back in the day where it was candles or no, you know, just no light. As soon as it would get dark, our brains, it's like okay let's start shutting things down. Matt Gallant: Let's start priming the melatonin and then you'd get tired and go to bed, prolactin cycle, all of these things. So light is probably one of the biggest disturbances. Now let's talk about the basics, which is managing light during sleep. So you want your room like pitch, pitch black, dark as possible, you know, and if you're living in a city, it's even more important now for those of us. And I used to wear a sleep mask and then I found out that your skin has these photo receptors. In other words, when you're, when the light hits your skin, it will disrupt your melatonin production. So even having a mask, even those protecting your eyes and it does help, it's not going to be as good as a pitch black room. So that's light. Now that's not enough. We'll get back to light in a second and just want to cover the other four. Matt Gallant: So second is heat and this is very well researched. I mean I read that in power sleep back a long time ago. We sleep best in a cold room, especially our, it's important that our heads get. And then there can be heat disturbances where your is touching the mattress. And I'll talk about that in a second. The third one is blood flow restriction. That's another one. This is where a bad mattress comes to play because if you're lying on your side, like I'm a side sleeper. If you're a back sleeper, this is not as critical. But if you're a slide size sleeper and you have let's say wide shoulders and you don't have a good mattress, the blood flow gets trapped in your shoulder, in your arms, and then your body's going to toss and turn because your body knows, okay, there's not enough blood flow, it's time to move and you're going to move. Matt Gallant: So, and you can track that with a lot of these apps that'll tell you how many times you've tossed and turned. Fourth is noise, noise will disrupt your sleep. And you know, of course there's ways to mitigate that. And fifth is electrical magnetic disturbances. So wifi signal, cell phone signals, Bluetooth, all of these waves that are flying all over the place as we speak will disrupt your sleep. So what our goal is to, to use technology and tools to minimize the disturbances of those five things. The more we can do that, the better sleep gets. Wade Lightheart: You bring up something really important there about, I mean, there was really no way out of the technological advancement that's going in. Of course there's a lot of concerns with things like 5g being rolled out across the world and how that's going to have profound effects perhaps on our, on our biology. And there's a lot of people in the area that are concerned about it. Some people say it's unwarranted, some people say it's the worst thing for humanity coming. What are some of the things that you do specifically to mitigate these areas of your life? Like what, or like, okay, we've got the five main things. What can a person today go out and do in regards to that? And then we'll kind of get into some of the more advanced tax after that. So what are, what are the go-tos for, for Matty G. Matt Gallant: All right, so let's start with each one and I'll give you kind of my list of hacks. So let's start with light. Wade Lightheart: Get a pen and paper. Folks are gonna want it. You're going to want to write fast and furious cause Matt, by the way, Mat, how much money have you spent in total on your sleep systems? Matt Gallant: It's, it's around 30 grand. I mean, and I could add a couple of more devices on top of that movie, which would take people over 40 so, and you think it's one of the more valuable things that you've spent money on for sure. Right? Yeah. Like I, you know, if again, the way I look at it is if I'm 10% more effective, which, which I feel a more than 10%, but if I was 10% more effective, it's an incredible ROI. If my health span improves 10% or my lifespan improves. Like if I look at it from any of those three perspectives, it's a no brainer ROI. You know, people spend so much money on cars and these, these deep dish, the right appreciating assets where I think in this case it's like it's a compound health benefits. So your number one asset is health. Matt Gallant: And again, to me this and resistance training on the top two things. So speaking of lights, the first thing is let's talk when you wake up. Okay. So our bodies had these circadian rhythms. And one of the things that surprised me how effective it is is when you wake up, and this is a really huge travel tip to this, so we'll talk about how to reset your circadian rhythm when you travel. But this is the first thing that you do. So you wake up, you want to blast your eyes with blue light. Now you have two options. One, you can go outside and you know, go stare at the sun but get sun hitting your eyes. That's the natural organic way. And for those of us that live in, you know, one day or it's winter time and you don't want to do that. Matt Gallant: There's a device called re timer. It's not Australian company and he's these, it's kind of like these white glasses that literally blast your eyeballs with blue light. There's also the human charger, which are these EarPods like earbuds that blasts your brain with light. So the best time to use that is in the morning. Like, as soon as you wake up and let's say you want to start waking up earlier, if you wake up and okay, the first time's going to be tough, but if you wake up and blast yourself with light, like it's amazing how tired you get around, you know, 16 hours later. It's like, it tells your body this is the beginning of the day. So in terms of hacking your circadian rhythm, whether you're traveling or you want to just kind of start shifting your, your, your wake up time, I think it's incredible. It's very, very impactful. Matt Gallant: Now let's shift to the end of the night. So before you go to bed, probably around two hours is probably optimal. So as you want to go to bed until 11 was around 9:00 PM, you would put on blue light blockers. I'm a fan of the, the probably the most intense ones. The best ones is true dark. The, the red ones. This is a company that Dave Asprey's invested in great glasses. I mean, they're the most intense. The only thing is you're going to watch TV. It's like if they're so intense, it's hard to read. The more stylish ones, I would probably start the Swannies from James, my friend James Swanwick. And those are really good for like going out and you know, the block most of the pool. So that makes a big difference. That is, especially if you're using technology like TV or computers or your phone or your iPad, those will have an impact. Matt Gallant: Now if you're using your phone or your computer, you know, I use something called the, it's called, there's flux, which is really good, but I use a nuts by the way, is a, is a computer program that will actually change the screen color so you're not getting as much blue light. Yep. Now there's another one called Iris, which I think is better. It's a little more, a little more control and a little more aggressive. He's got all, all kinds of options. So I use that. So either flux or Iris and, and on your phone there's also built in like it'll start shifting and you can hack your phone where I'll show you what it looks like. So you see my phone, if I triple click, it becomes red. So this is more aggressive and, and you know, you can search on how to create tense in your phone and then you can control it with the home button. Matt Gallant: So those are all the things I do to, to manage, mitigate light in my room. I had double blackout curtains cause one was still literally the light coming here and there. I just put two layers of 'em and it solved the problem. So that's the light equation. Second is heat. You know, obviously if you're living in, if it's winter time in Canada, you don't need to worry too much, you know, it's going to be pretty chilly. But for those of us that are in summer or in hot climates, I live in Panama. You know, AC is mandatory, but that's not enough because going back to when I used to wake up tired, I was, I was sleeping in AC, I was losing around four to five pounds of water from going to bed to wake up. Like I would weigh myself for bed and wake myself. That's a lot. Wade Lightheart: I think a lot of people don't realize how dehydrated they can become sleeping. It's not, I mean, I watched that fluctuation as a way to monitor my own health to see how much water I lose in a particular leaving. For me, it's somewhere between two and three pounds is generally where I'm at from breathing. But if you go beyond that, I know that I've got some, there's some, there's some challenges. Matt Gallant: Well, you're going to wake up dehydrated if you're dehydrated, you're tired. Right? I mean, you know, you know any top water experts in the planet, he knows, he knows. He knows this as much or more than anyone else. I mean, you know, your brain, everything drops. You're dehydrated. So the answer is the chilly pad and you know, God blessed Tim Ferriss for talking about this on think it was you know, eight or tools of Titans is in that book. Matt Gallant: You gotta love Timmy. Yeah. Tim. Tim delivers the chilly pad is this machine and then they got a new version called the OOLER that they just released. So it's this machine that you put distilled water in it and it cools the water and then pushes the water in this thin layer, a thin mattress that you put underneath your bed sheets. So all that heat that would typically get trapped because again, the room can be 16 degrees Celsius, which this is pretty much what I sleep in. But you're still sweating where your body's touching the mattress, your body's trapping the heat, the chilly pad or the OOLER solves that issue cause it's getting, you know, you can control the temperature, you put it where you're comfortable and it'll prevent the sweat from happening. So now I'm losing like one to one and a half pounds of water while I'm sleeping. So that's a big reason why I'm not as dehydrate. Wade Lightheart: Quick, quick question on the chilling effect and it's power. Cause I, I grew up in as we both did in freezing cold new Brunswick. And when I was a kid, there used to be frost on my bed sheets on certain mornings and, and, and, and I, I can recall that the total label being frozen, going to the bathroom. So extreme cold. Is there an optimal level of cold? Like have they done research on, on how cold is optimal? Like is there a point where there's a benefit and a point where there's a liability? Do we know what that is? Are people doing Wim Hof sleeping? What's the, what's the deal? Matt Gallant: Um yeah, it's between you want your room to be between 16 and 18 degrees Celsius. That's, that's optimal. Cause your head needs to be above one degree core than the rest of your body. Matt Gallant: And it'll, it'll do that. So here's a trick too. Like I go in my room, I turn on my AC about four hours before I go to bed. So I walk in my bedroom, it's just super cold. Cause if, you know, if I go to bed and I turn on my AC at that point, I mean it, you know what I mean? It's gotta be still warm for about another hour. So if you want to fall asleep faster, that's one of the things now and another, does that change? Wade Lightheart: Just a quick question on that, cause that's the thing is important, but you live in Panama, which your base temperature on any given day is in the, in the high 20s or you know, low 25 celcius here with, with, yeah. With high humidity though as well on top of that. So if you're living in a colder climate, does that variance differ for people? Do we know, uh, is there any cause, is it the, is it the absolute temperature that's important? Or is it the variance from kind of your waking state energy? Matt Gallant: It's the absolute temperature. Now the difference is your metabolic rate, you know, and I'll give you an example. So I do a massive reef eat on Sundays, on Sundays. My body temperature is one to one and a half degrees hotter than if I'm fasting. Fasting like my second day of fasting. Like my body's dropped one degree. So second, you know, at that point probably go like more like 17 degrees or 18 degrees and I'll adjust chilly pad versus on spike day it's 16 degrees and I dropped my chilly pad down to like 14 cause otherwise to counteract that thermic effect. Correct. And you know, like men typically run a little hotter. You know, if you have a really fast metabolism, the more food you eat, women tend to run a little cooler. Matt Gallant: So there, there is those adjustments and that's the cool thing with the chilly pad. You know, if you're, if you're a couple you can get a couple versions so you can control her side and your side so you can adjust the temperature accordingly. But as far as what the research has shown, it's 16 to 18 degrees in the room regardless of where you're at is optimal temperature. Got it. One more thing too that I experimented with. It was kind of an accident. So I had these, these ice best, okay. There's these cool fat burning vests. You know, we'd be, we do a whole episode on, you know, we're in fat loss hack, so I was using it for fat loss. And, and you know, this is a well researched thing where you lose body heat with, you know, eater cryo or ice baths, but use these vests that you could wear that have you put them in the freezer and you put them on and it's really cold. Matt Gallant: So you know, you lose some body temperature. So when I use those, and I have even this cryo helmet that you also put in the freezer and it was recommended by our friend Katrine and you put these on. So when I was wearing these my deep sleep went up a pretty significant amount. So when I do that, I don't do it every night just cause you know, it's a little bit of a hassle. But when I do do it, my deep sleep goes up. It's almost like it's priming my body. It's like the, the, the temperature drop before bed would probably kicked start the prolactin cycle again. I don't know the exact science. All I can tell you is that the ring the data said, yeah, it's improving your deep sleep. Wade Lightheart: So, so what a cheap hack would be to take some bags of frozen peas and strap them together, a duct tape and kind of create a little helmet. Would that be the cheap, would that be the cheap, the cheap pack versus the cryo helmet Matt Gallant: And then the cool vest? Yeah, and I've seen what's interesting too, I've seen recently they did a research where like a hot bath also improved. So it seems that you're kind of, and that's more of a relaxation thing. So I think it's hitting different mechanisms like the heat. It's probably relaxing your nervous system. Wade Lightheart: Well also if you're doing a hot bath with magnesium as a big fashion term, we'll get into magnesium in an upcoming podcast. Cause I know we're going to go deep on that. But maybe the most important mineral to mankind is magnesium. So let's, but anyways, I'm diverting of course. Matt Gallant: So yeah, so that's the heat components. Next is the blood flow restriction. So that's really the mattress. Now I, I spent like months doing research on mattresses and the conclusion is you want up, especially if you're a side sleeper, you really want a memory foam because you want even weight distribution. Let me explain. If you have a hard mattress and you're a side sleeper and like let's say you have like wide shoulders or you're a woman wide hips, what's going to happen first of all is you're going to sleep like this, right? Cause I'm not going to sink in enough and it's going to tilt my body. So you're gonna have a spine curve which you don't want. And second of all, it's gonna really trap the blood in my shoulder. So it's a multitude of issues. Plus some people say that Springs are creating other sets of problems because of the waves and it's hitting this praying. Matt Gallant: So anyways, I'm not going to get too deep in the spring problems, but the point is you want to kind of sink in and how perfect with distribution. Now the rule of thumb is if you're, if you're really tall and you're light, then you don't need to sink in that much. If the heavier you are the diff, the softer you want your phone, right? So there's a company called Essentia, Canadian company. They're available in the States as well and they make a memory foam mattress out of a tree sap. Now you know there's other mattress companies like Tempur-Pedic but they're using oil based materials to make the mattress. And there's pretty significant offgassing that happens for petroleum based products is what you're meaning is petroleum base oil base. So for the first six to 12 months there's a pretty significant offgassing that happens, which you know, I wasn't interested in. Matt Gallant: Plus they tend to trap heat a little more. So that's why I went with Essentia. Now send you has all these different grades of softness or you can get a custom made mattress, which I did cost about 10 grand. And what's cool with the custom made is, you know, my wife got her side optimized for her shape and weight and I got mine optimized. So you know, personally, certainly improved and minded as well. So that's the blood flow component. Next is noise. Now you kind of have two options here. Either you go with white noise, which is what I do, which is not the best, but you know, if you're sleeping in a city, for example, I'm in Panama, you know, we'd notice how noisy you can get here. You know, it's the only alternative. So I had the AC running, I have an air purifier running and I had the chilly pad running. Matt Gallant: So it kind of creates this ocean of white noise, you know, cause all three of them, I mean kind of produce level of white noise and there's white noise machines that you can buy as well. And they do a good job of kind of hiding background noise, I think optimal. And when I go back to my parents' house, it's like there's no noise. And I think that makes a big difference. Right? Does ignore cars, there's no nothing, no technology earplugs can help a lot. I think your plugs have another set of benefits where you're hearing your breath and when you hear your breath, it has this calming, hypnotizing, a brain swelling effect. And we know that from meditation, just, you know, classic meditation, just focus on your breath and we have earplugs like you're hearing yourself breathe. And I think that that has a big impact on latency, which is how fast you fall asleep as well as cutting off the noise. Matt Gallant: So when I travel and I don't have all my gadgets, I, I'll, I'll use earplugs. And by the way, as far as the earplugs, my favorite ones, they're like almost like a wax based thing. So you don't put it inside the canal. Yeah, put, it's like a put that you put on top and you just smash it in again. That was another Tim Ferris. Not with a hammer by the way. You just, with your thumb, your thumb, you just kind of press it in and it does the same effect without kind of, sometimes you'll push the wax in or whatever and I don't like those, those old school cheap foam ones. So yeah, those, that's the noise component. Now electromagnetic disturbances is the last one. That your only option if you're living in technology is a fair day cage, which I, which I have one. So there's a website called less emf.com and they sell EMF shielding materials. Matt Gallant: So they have one that looks like a mosquito net. It looks pretty cool. It was a little worried when I bought it. I'm like, is this going to look really bad? But it looks like those, you know, African mosquito nets and it blocks, you know, all the waves from hitting, you know, hitting your body cause they're gonna I'm in a penthouse, you know, if I pull up my phone I think there's like 15 wifi I can find on my phone. So all of these are hitting me, you know, plus all the other waves that you know, self waves. And that said you got 5g coming. So sleeping in a Faraday cage cage, probably a smart move. Now for those of you that live out in the countryside and you can shut all your technology down in your house, I mean that would be the ultimate, you know, or if you're building a house from scratch. And when I, when I do build, you know, my next house or build the house, you, you can actually put all the shielding in the walls so you can actually build like a Faraday cage, you know, in the walls themselves. It's just absorbing all of the waves. Uwhich would probably be the, the ultimate. Wade Lightheart: That's great. I think that's really important of course. If you're living in a city and so for example, I spent a few months last year in Venice, California, which is like just an electromagnetic crazy zone. I think the leveraging technology yeah. Is really, really important. Or if you're, you're in a city, I think also there's just a subjecting to light light and noise is usually pretty significant. So putting in some of these little even little things is, is really key. So one of the things I think is important to reveal to people is what are the key components, cause I know you're a real data component. I think one of your stains is data shapes destinies. And you've literally tested all of the sleep technology. What are you using for data collection? What do you think of the best data collection devices about monitoring your sleep so that you get out of the realm of out of the realm of opinions and theories as you like to say? And where does someone get that or what should they look for for S for these types of things? Matt Gallant: Yeah, so probably the most popular one is the oura ring, which I'm wearing right now. So it's, it's a, you know, three to 400 bucks depending on which model you get. That's the one I started this journey with around four years ago. I bought it as soon as it came out. And you know, it's really, it was really good data. Now, about a year ago I bought was called dream D R E M and we'll get all this stuff in the show notes. Yeah. It's a headband that is measuring the EEG. So I used to wear the zeal. Kendra was a predecessor, like a great product way back in the day, right? Even in a business or whatever. Right. So the dream is kind of new version of it. And the thing is with sleep, like the oura ring, and I think they've done as good a job as you can using what I would call secondary metrics. So the primary metric would sleep is your brain waves, right? That's how you directly measure your, your sleep. Now the oura is using heart rate, heart rate variability, motion, body temperature. So those, what I mean by secondary metrics, the primary metric is your brainwaves. The dream measures all of the secondary plus the primary. So you, you know the oura. As much as I like it, it cannot match the accuracy of a dream in terms of the precise sleep cycles. Here's what I can tell you. The oura. And I, and I've talked to other people that have compared the data and actually look at sleep labs as well. Matt Gallant: The oura ring will actually be accurate at tracking the overall deep and REM. So let's say your overall combination of the two is four hours. Now the, the oral might say, okay, you had two and a half hours of REM and 90 minutes of deep. Okay. Now on the dream is going to also give you a say four hours of the two, but typically the oura is under measuring deep sleep and over measuring rep versus the dream. It will be more accurate on, on the, on the deep sleep. Now the one thing I love about the aura that you don't get from the dream is your readiness score. So your readiness score is basically how fried you are, is giving you a really good, accurate measurement of your nervous system. And you know, it's really powerful. I'll give you an example. Like recently my heart rate went up like 10 to 15 beats. Matt Gallant: My heart rate variability crashed and I knew there was something going on. So, you know, I, I hired Katrine who's one of the people we've worked with for health. And you know, I, I had had an infection, so I had had an issue that I had to deal with. So it's really good for that. It's good for measuring. If you're over-trained, you know, and you know, classically the two measure over training, if your heart rate goes up 10 beats per minute over three days you're over-trained that was the classic tool. But now with their, where the oura ring, we can really see, you know, a lot faster when that happens. And you can adjust your training accordingly. You know, just maybe take it easy. It doesn't mean you don't train, but you might not go do squats and dead lifts and sprints that day. Matt Gallant: You'll, you'll do more of an active recovery type of workout. So those are the tools to, to measure sleep. And you know, all the things that I've done have improved. Now don't forget things compounds. So you might do one thing and improves your deep sleep like 20%. You do another thing that's another 20%. No, you had 44%, you do another 20%. Now you know, you're, you're at 70 ish percent. So keeps compounding. And that's how, you know, an average now went from like zero to 15 minutes of deep to probably like 75 to 90 minutes. And then my REM is usually like two to three hours. So that's what I've found. Now I'd like to shift over and talk about other techs to improve and, and hack your sleep. So the first one is the nano V. The nano V is a machine that you put distilled water in it and hits the water with a very precise signal. Matt Gallant: You breathe that water in and it starts repairing your DNA. Okay. It's improving, scald the protein folding in your body. Now for sleep, what I've noticed is if I use it for like 90 minutes, my HRV will will go up significantly. It'll actually improve it by, you know, 15, 10 to 20 measurements on the HRV, which is pretty significant. So in terms of of restfulness and quality of sleep, it definitely makes an impact. Then I use what's called the Delta sleeper every night. You put this on your carotid artery, you can actually put it on your forehead as well, and it's sending the Delta pulse for like 20 minutes and it shuts off. So in terms of falling asleep or shifting you into Delta faster, it's a great little, you know, one else thing. And if you wake up during the night, you just hit the button and then you'll fall asleep faster. Matt Gallant: So I'm a big fan of the Delta sleeper. The next one is the earth pulse. So it's another PEMF device and you put these under your bed and you can control the, the frequency. So you gotta be careful. This thing is really potent, is very powerful. You know, when I first got it, like has like four built in programs and a level one program one and two completely wreck my sleep program. Three and four were great. So four is like just pure Delta and you know, three kind of brings you down and brings you back up and you gotta you know, you gotta control, you can control the, the strength of it, you know, for me, you know, I'm kind of a maximalist in nature and extremists. I started really high, but I found that, you know, dropping it to like 30 to 50% work better than like 80 to a hundred are going. Matt Gallant: It's a really strong, it creates a pretty strong field. So I like that. The vice, it's a good one. Then. what else do I use tech wise? That's pretty much it on the tech side. We can shift over to supplements unless you have any other thoughts. Let's, let's talk about supplements because I think you've kind of cracked the code on some powerful integrations around that. Okay. So first, you know, it's all about controlling brainwaves and your transmitters for the most part. So lavender oil pills are really powerful to increase alpha. So lavender oil and L-Theanine have been scientifically shown to increase alpha, which means that you're going to slow your brain waves down for those and listen to our other podcasts that when I just did around your nervous system. We talk a lot about this stuff and the issue is a lot of people are kind of stuck in beta and for the people that had a hard time falling asleep, that's what's going on. Your brain is just stuck in beta, which is a high fast brain wave and then it takes you a long time to shift it down. Wade Lightheart: For people are listening. That's like if you're the type of person that can't shut the brain off at night, the thoughts are still into this and that and the other thing, chances are that means you're, you're in a, in a, in a high beta state. Matt Gallant: Yeah. Your brain is kind of stuck there. Yeah. It's kind of like the beach ball of death that comes up on your computer just keeps spinning and spinning and you know, you can't get that, you know, that conversation in your head or that, that deadline that you have or that that conversation or relationship issue. Matt Gallant: Now you can hack that with meditation. I mean, which is a great pre bed ritual is you know, meditate for like 15-20 minutes, which slows your brain waves down. Then you go to bed. So that, that's a really good, good tip. But as far as supplements go, the lavender oil and the L-Theanine will both hack that and L-Theanine is probably one of my favorite supplements for sleep dosage wise. I would start at 200 milligrams and if, you know, I'll go up to like 600 sometimes. If I want a plane, I'll tell you about my plane stack. Right now it's 800 milligrams of L-Theanine and about 50 to a hundred milligrams of CBD. If it's legal where I am, I'll pass out like, you know, and you can dose a little bit of melatonin with that. I'll talk about melts on a second cause I'm not a huge fan of melatonin but that, you know, and I don't sleep easily on planes. Matt Gallant: I usually just pass out with that dose. Now typically though, it's more like two to 400 milligrams of both evening and around one or two Lavela oils. So if you're GABA deficient, GABA supplementation can be powerful. You can use, you know, GABA doesn't absorb that well, but it's an option. There is a Philippian route which also hits the GABA pathways. That is another option. And you know, I want to try injectable GABA so I'm, I'm the stream and the extreme optimizer here at BiOptimizers and I haven't tried it yet, but it is on my agenda to, to experiment with actually injecting GABA straight in. Cause when you take it orally, the absorption rate is really low. Wade Lightheart: I think for people just as a commentary,uif you're a coffee drinker, caffeine drinker, I think theming is a great, you're probably going to get even more benefits. It seems to be really works counter counter counter balances. The caffeine like L-Theanine is present in a lot of teas and not so much things like coffees or some of the more darker caffeinated and I'm a big tea fan. I'm going to get a topic about that one day. Umhe other thing is I think holy basil, if you're GABA deficient the L-Theanine, holy basil. Umhe Athenian holy basil combo is, is great to, to throw in there with, with your CBD. And a lot of people get a lot of power out of that. Matt Gallant: Yeah. yeah, I have not tried to obey as well. I'll, I'll add that to my experimentalists. Now. CBD works well the, for most people will disrupt your sleep. So, you know, personally Wade Lightheart: It'll make you dopey in a lot of cases, but not improve your sleep. And there's a difference there. It's kind of like if you're, and that, I think that's a difference between pharmaceutical sleeping, pharmaceutically enhanced sleeping, which you pass out and go out. But the quality of that sleep is often countering. And of course we w in on the extreme cases, I think it's Roseanne Barr, and when she kind of went on that crazy street, she was on a heavy tranquilizer called Ambien, which a lot of people use for sleeping, which has all sorts of serious negative consequences about what happens when you don't sleep properly. So I think that's the difference between chemicalized nation asleep, which is just looking at the sleep as an overall result as opposed to optimization sleep, which is what you're into by using elements that are natural and indigenous to our bodies and using those in a constructive optimized way. Matt Gallant: Yeah. Now I'm really excited about CBG and CBN. I actually ordered some, and this should be arriving any day cause for sleep. They're supposed to be even way more effective than CBD. So you know, we'll, we'll talk about in a future podcast. Haven't tried it, read the research. I'm excited we're come back. Some other things ashwagandha, a gram of that can work really well. One to two grams of reishi can work really well, but one of my favorites and you know, we are really excited and pumped to be releasing this product is two to four caps of Magnesium Breakthrough. So one to two grams of a blend of magnesium. So like the glycinate is a great one to help trigger sleep and improve sleep. The L-Threonate will actually be really good for your brain. So we have this seven magnesium blend that releasing very, very soon in the next couple of weeks. And you know, we've been experimenting with it. So two to four caps of that should move the needle on your sleep. Wade Lightheart: Especially well, especially if you're deficient. So you know, it's the most common mineral deficiency in the world and magnesium's responsible for 350 different known chemical reactions and it's one of the things that they put Epson salts for example, or actually magnesium salts in are used to calm and tone and magnesium is essential for relaxing muscle tissue both stride at muscle and smooth muscle has a very powerful effect. And if you're deficient in it and almost every North American is because it's a ratio between calcium and magnesium, magnesium is the control on a two to one ratio. You have two parts, calcium, one part magnesium. And we have a very high calcium, a component in her diet. And it's interesting, it's like when you have high calcium in your diet, it actually creates bone loss. It creates muscle cramping. It creates dis balances in the chemical processes. Wade Lightheart: And I've seen literally dozens and dozens of my clients who had trouble sleeping. We just add magnesium to their diet and that's it. All of a sudden, or people who suffer from cramping. And that's other big issues, particularly people get older in combination with dehydration. They cramp at night time. They wake up, they're very stiff because they're not only dehydrated but their D, magnesium and magnesium. And I used to use the word, so you want to not just, you don't want to be de magged, you want to be defragged. So the bottom line is, is a magnesium is super, super powerful for people. It's one of the reasons we've done so much research on. I mean, there's like 30 different types of magnesiums. We found the seven best, which we'll talk about in another podcast as you said. So I carry on with this Matt Gallant: Yes, we're ready. We're here the last 90 seconds. I'm gonna go rapid fire. There's a great tea called Dream Tea from a company called Anima Mundi. It's a blend of herbs, really big fan of that. Put your pajamas on. Ah, let me talk about melatonin really fast. Melatonin is a hormone folks like to me, I look at melatonin as seriously as I do testosterone, you know, and like in Canada for an example, like you can't, you can't buy that. And, and that's true for a lot of countries. So melatonin, I only use it when I travel. If I want to reset my circadian rhythm, that's the only time. And when you do you want to microdose like people will wreck their melatonin production by just going to crazy dosages. And what we found is that microdosing melatonin, if you go to use melatonin, like 0.3 milligrams is all you need is kinda like a little kickstart. Matt Gallant: And again, I'm not a fan of it. I only use it when I travel or when I want to reset my circadian rhythm. Otherwise I strongly recommend you stay away from it. Next thing is five HTP that hits the serotonin pathway that can have a positive impact on sleep. Some people. And the last thing I will share is a human growth hormone product or secretagogue you want to use before sleep. I have not experimented with these yet, but a lot of people report much improved deep sleep. I am planning on experimenting with a growth hormone, secretagogue very soon. Wade and I at BiOptimizers several years ago we did have a growth hormone releasing supplement. And I mean the, the dream, like it was affecting sleep. I didn't have the tools to measure it back then. But man, the visibility boost is a great product. It's insane. They shut the labs down. Unfortunately we couldn't find the sources of the, of the ingredients, so we had to stop it. But that, that was powerful. It was very interesting, very interesting product. So anyways, so I think that summarizes all the sleep things and again, you know, he, brain physiology is very unique and you need to experiment and find what works for you. And that's where the data comes in with the dream or the aura. So you know, you've got to try things one at a time and see what works. Wade Lightheart: So what we're going to do, folks is we're going to actually put this all together in a little book for you at the BiOptimizers sleep optimization handbook, which will be put together with all of these components, these hacks, we will be upgrading it, but you're going to be able to get a copy of that in the very near future. If we don't have it right here on the show notes, you'll be able to go to the BiOptimizers site. Check that out, download it as part of your biological optimization program. I want to thank you for joining us. Check out the show notes. Come back to the podcast, hit your comments, hit the likes. We love to hear that it helps us get the message out about biological optimization. I want to thank our guest today, the radical edge biological optimization maximization experimenter himself, fresh in the labs and Panama, Matty G. Thanks for being here and I'm delighted that you're coming onto the show more often because you're very knowledgeable in a course. A, if it's bleeding and it's the edge, you're there Matt Gallant: Awesome. A great, great fun. We'll be back soon talking about some more great stuff. So have a great day. Everybody. | |||
| 20 Oct 2022 | 201: Stress Relief: Learn How Your Diet Can Help - with Trudy Stone | 00:42:42 | |
Stress is a part of life, but it doesn't have to control you. There are ways to turn stress into a superpower. Trudy Stone, a stress management expert, has developed a system to help her clients rise above stress. This podcast will talk about the different ways that stress affects our bodies, and how we can use Trudy's system to turn stress into our own personal superpower. Effects of Stress One of the ways that stress affects our bodies is by affecting our memory. When we are under stress, the part of the brain responsible for memory and learning (the hippocampus) is affected. This is why it is important to take care of our brains during times of stress. Another way that stress affects our bodies is by causing cravings for sugar and fat. This is because our hormones get out of balance when we are stressed, and this can lead to weight gain. Additionally, stress can also cause digestive problems, as it slows down or shuts down digestion. How can diet help reduce stress levels? When it comes to stress, we often think of it as an emotional response. And while it is true that stress can be caused by psychological factors, there is also a very real physical component to it. When we are stressed, our bodies release hormones like adrenaline and cortisol. These hormones cause our blood sugar levels to rise and can lead to health problems like diabetes. Diet can play a role in reducing stress levels. Eating foods that are high in protein and complex carbohydrates can help stabilize blood sugar levels. In addition, consuming plenty of fruits and vegetables provides the body with the vitamins and minerals needed to cope with stress. Turning stress to your advantage Though stress is a normal part of life, it can actually be a tool for growth. Trudy Stone, an author of "The Stress Management Habit", believes that stress can be used to our advantage by learning to lean into it and frame it in a positive light. For example, when she was working in the corporate world, she had a boss who was never satisfied with her work. Rather than getting stressed out and anxious, she took a walk and asked herself what she could learn from the situation. This led her to realize that her boss was giving her yet another reason to leave the job - which ultimately led her to start her own business helping others live healthier lives. In this podcast, you will learn about
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| 19 Jan 2021 | 105: Turning Limitations into Unlimited Opportunities - with JJ Virgin | 01:05:59 | |
“[The pandemic] is the biggest freaking wake-up call we’ve ever had in our lifetimes. Prevention freaking matters.” JJ Virgin is a prominent TV and media personality. Her resume includes co-host of TLC’s Freaky Eaters, two years as the on-camera nutritionist for Weight Loss Challenges on Dr. Phil, and numerous PBS appearances, Dr. Oz, Rachael Ray, Access Hollywood, and the TODAY Show. JJ is the author of four NY Times bestsellers: The Virgin Diet, The Virgin Diet Cookbook, JJ Virgin’s Sugar Impact Diet, JJ Virgin’s Sugar Impact Diet Cookbook and Warrior Mom: 7 Secrets to Bold, Brave Resilience, She also hosts the popular Ask the Health Expert podcast, with over 8 million downloads and growing. And also regularly writes for Rodale Wellness, Mind Body Green, and other major blogs and magazines. | |||
| 04 Aug 2022 | 194: Optimizing Balance And Preventing Falls - with Chris Wilson | 00:53:51 | |
Have you ever realized how much of your balance relies on your feet? This is because of something known as the brain balance connection. The brain balance connection refers to the relationship between the balance nerve in your foot and preventing falls in older adults. This connection is based on neuro balance therapy, which is a new approach to improving balance and preventing falls. This week I am joined by lifelong fitness and health advocate, Chris Wilson. With nearly 25 years of experience in the fitness industry, Chris has worked with some of the biggest names in the fitness industry, including Charles Poliquin, Ben Prentice, Lloyd Weinstein, Jay Cutler, Aaron Reed, and John Hansen. Chris is a strength coach and VP of Content at Critical Bench Publishing. He is also a Certified Personal Trainer (NASM), Specialist in Sports Nutrition (ISSA), Certified Balance and Stability Instructor (ASFA) and a Certified Kettlebell Instructor (RKC). In this podcast, Chris Wilson will cover topics related to fitness, health, and aging and how he got into the fitness industry and found his passion for helping others. He talks about how he started working with people who were post-stroke or had paralysis and how he wanted to help them live better. In this podcast, we cover:
The Deep Peroneal Nerve Did you know that people over the age of 50 are at a greater risk for falls and injuries? One way to help prevent these falls is by improving the number one balance nerve in your foot. The Deep Peroneal Nerve starts outside the knee area and goes down to the end between your big toe and second toe. This particular nerve is often associated with something called “foot drop.” Foot drop happens when an individual has difficulty lifting their foot due to weakness or paralysis. As a result, they may drag their toes or catch their foot when walking, leading to slips and trips. Improving nerve function in your feet can help improve balance and thus prevent falls. Daily Movement Prevents Cognitive Decline And Physical Deterioration. Chris believes that maintaining daily movement is the key to preventing cognitive decline and physical deterioration as we age. He also talks about how a sedentary lifestyle can lead to balance problems and falls in older adults. He recommends finding ways to stay active throughout the day to keep your brain-body connection strong. Episode Resources: neurobalancetherapy.org | |||
| 14 Apr 2022 | 186: A Body of Light - with Matt Maruca | 01:16:16 | |
This episode will expand your appreciation of light beyond a mere tool of vision. In this episode you will learn:
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| 17 Oct 2019 | 001: The Awesome Health Formula, with Matt Gallant | 01:38:02 | |
Welcome to the inaugural BiOptimizers’ Awesome Health podcast! For our first show I’m excited to bring you Matt Gallant.
On this edition of the Awesome Health podcast we break down what the Awesome health formula is, why each piece is important and why we started this podcast in the first place. Listen in for all of that and more on this episode of the BiOptimizers’ Awesome Health show. More About Awesome Health with Matt Gallant The first product Matt and I created together made money from day one, so it made sense for us to continue creating products and supplements. The real turning point for me, however, was when I dieted for 11 months and then competed in back to back to back competitions. First I was in the Western Canadian, which I won. I then went to the Nationals and won, before competing in the Mr. Olympia contest. This was a pivotal time for me not just because I won but because of what I had to sacrifice for those wins. The last 6 months before the competitions were very painful for me. I didn't want to sacrifice my health for my performance, and so I made a deep commitment to find a better way and to share it with everyone. After the event I looked at what happens to athletes after their careers, not just body builders but all athletes in a variety of sports. I discovered their physicality often gives out and it's assumed that that will happen. But I thought what if we could explore and experiment with high performance techniques and tools that have been tested at extremes with athletes and apply them universally? Those questions eventually led to the products, supplements, and programs we offer today - as well as this podcast. Before Matt and I explain what the AWESOME health formula is, we talk about how to know you've reached optimal health. If you go back to childhood, you never worried about running out of energy or just getting through the day. But along the way most people start to feel tired, or have digestive issues or gain weight which they can't lose. All of these are symptoms of the body not functioning at its ideal level. And the truth is if you want to play at a global level you have to be in awesome health. Great health means you have more energy, more endurance and better mental performance for yourself, your work and your personal life. What Is A.W.E.S.O.M.E. health?So what is awesome health exactly and what's the formula behind it? Matt and I break down what each letter stands for and why it's important. Air: This is about oxygen and breathing practices. Certain breathing techniques have been shown to increase oxygen levels in the blood, and fight off all kinds of things while building your immune system. Breathing can be done consciously or unconsciously, which is why I think it gets overlooked. Personally I got into meditation in 1996 and got a teacher in 2000. In the East the breath doesn't start with the inhale, it starts with the exhale. They believe the expulsion is where breathing starts. I learned how to deeply exhale: if you force the breathe out that forces the carbon dioxide out which allows for a deeper inhalation. Listen to today's show to hear this example and the 10-10-10 technique used for better cardiovascular health. Water: Matt explains how water helped him while he was experimenting with sleep deprivation, and we discuss why water isn't just water! Dr. Gerald Pollock has proven that water has four phases: solid, liquid, gas and crystal. It's the only substance that exists like this in nature, in 4 stages. The crystal idea is very interesting. I think there's been a lot of debate about water because most people don't think about water as a crystal, as a storage unit. The human body is mainly water and our body's well-being is determined by how hydrated we are, and the quality of that hydration. If you think of water like a DVD: you can program the disc with a horror movie, an educational workshop, or whatever you want. That DVD is going to play a different thing depending on what it is programmed with. Personally I've experimented with over 150 different systems, and out of those I have found we all need to filter our water. there's a lot of medical drugs in the tap water in North America, plus fluoride and chlorine. You want to keep those things out of your body! For example, fluoride is a chemical disruptor. The CDC has published data correlating the rise in obesity with a rise in fluoridated water. If you can't lose weight your water may be a big factor in why, the fluoride changes your hormones, as does chlorine. These also impact your thyroid's function and your body's good bacteria. In terms of how much you should drink, start off by taking a drink every 5-10 minutes, it's not about how many glasses you drink every day. 95% of the people who would come into my clinic were dehydrated. Give yourself the time to develop a good water habit, it may take a little while to reset your thirst mechanism because for most people it is broken. This explains why a lot of people are actually thirsty when they think they are hungry. Exercise: Moving on to exercise, people often ask me what the best exercise is and I tell them you have to find exercise you love to do. We've created a world where we don't exercise! We've forgotten how our bodies don't work right if they aren't moving and moving frequently. Matt suggests reframing exercise as movement and find what you love to do. Is it golf? Bicycling? Tennis? Rock climbing? Yoga? Be sure you do it regularly and consistently. Never miss a workout, otherwise your mind will tell you it's okay to miss one and then it's okay to miss two, three and more. Matt also explains momentum and how to build it, why this relevant to your movement and exercise routine, and why hiring a trainer changes everything for you. Remember this is is a lifestyle choice, it's not just for a wedding in a month or swimsuit season coming up. Having a coach can help you through the rough parts, until you love going to the gym or working out. The bottom line is until you love it you haven't arrived yet psychologically. And that should be your goal, to get to the point where you love exercise and movement, keep experimenting with different types of exercise and coaches/trainer until you get there. Sunlight: Nothing works without the sun! The planets don't move, the materials on Earth don't exist and we as humans don't exist. Both Matt and I have experimented with living in rainy, cloudy places versus really sunny and warm environments. There's data now showing sun impacts your moods, your digestion, how your body looks, and how all of it changes based on your exposure to light. I believe we are on the cusp of some amazing breakthroughs in light technology. Matt says we get much more than just Vitamin D from the sun, much of which we don't even understand yet. He knows this because he has experimented with taking Vitamin D supplements versus getting twenty minutes of sunlight. The sunlight led to increased testosterone, his fat loss doubled, and his muscle building changed significantly, none of that happened with Vitamin D. Most people are scared of the sun, but it's about finding the optimal dose. Be sure you are getting in the sun 4-5x a week for 15-20 minutes at a time, and you'll get what you need. I also discuss our exposure to blue light from technology today, and how our indoor lifestyles are affecting our well-being. Optimizers: We started a company based on this because we've been looking at optimization all of our lives! The reality is if you want more energy and get to the next level in your life you have to look at how you optimize areas of your life? Start with air, water and sun first. When those are working, you will want to optimize more which means enzymes. Enzymes are the first part of the optimizers. On this episode, I explain how this is relevant to people with all sorts of health issues from skin conditions to depression to blood sugar-challenged people. When we could see the different applications of enzymes for people, this is when optimization started to explode for us. It's important to remember optimizers are co-partners with probiotics, probiotics are single units of living organisms inside your body. Matt explains this on a deeper level and how we went from the body building paradigm to the biological optimization paradigm. They've been so impact for him that he would part with any of his other supplements before he parted with enzymes! He says it's not about what you're eating, it's about what you are breaking down, absorbing and assimilating. You could be eating the best food in the world but if you have a shortage of enzymes your body won't break your food down, that leads to health issues and digestive problems. In fact, data is showing our thoughts are being controlled by our gut, so if you have a shortage of good bacteria it can lead to decreased mental health, emotional well-being and physicality. The point is these are essential and critical! I also talk about how bad bacteria can actually cause you to eat bad foods. Mental beliefs and attitudes: This is about examining your own perceptions, our social conditioning and what we are subjecting ourselves to every day. This is one of the greatest things you can explore, and also one of the most limiting! The challenge here is we tend to hang around people who have similar beliefs and attitudes. My spiritual teacher says we are all crazy but we don't know it because we hang around people with the same craziness! Often when we're exposed to new beliefs we are resistant to them. So it's both a challenge and an opportunity. We're hoping we challenge you on upcoming episodes, not because we want to convince you of something but because we want you to try something new and find the fun in experimenting. In ancient times debates and discussions weren't looked at as an opportunity to win, but as chance for people to learn and create a "metamind" that bridges cultures and social environments. Matt adds his own thoughts on the subject. He believes the #1 attitude to incorporate is to be open-minded, be flexible and adaptable. He says he holds everything he knows to be provisional knowledge, and that most of what he believes today is wrong on some level! He knows that tomorrow, next week, next year or 10 years from now new info will reveal what he believes today to be obsolete. Nutrition is an amazing playground for this: what we thought was true 20 years ago is not true. So don't be dogmatic, be flexible and adaptive to potential new mindsets and new attitudes, which will open you up for new perspectives. I talk about Darwin's quote: he didn't say survival of the fittest, he said survival of the most adaptable. Those parts of nature that adapt the fastest and most effectively are the ones that survive. Take a look around us today and you'll see how this is true. Things require different adaptations then they did 50 years ago! We have to become flexible and experimental as a species or we're going to get left behind. Personally, this was difficult for me, I was rigid and dogmatic but I realized the results I got, while they were impressive, would only take me so far. So I had to challenge my beliefs. Both Matt and I know that you can't argue with your results. Your life is a collection of the beliefs and attitudes you have. If you accept that then you can change things and get yourself different results. And since you are here listening then you are one of the people who wants to make changes! Etc: This stands for education, testing and coaching. What we mean by this is check out some of our stuff, apply it and see how it affects you. Get coaching: you'll never get as far as possible as fast as possible without coaching. This is the triangle of courage and honesty! To truly further your education it takes more energy and resources than what you have on hand right now. You've got to get definitive data on where you are at, things like your hormones, your body fat, your endurance levels, etc. Your numbers don't lie! But when you accept your numbers, then you can fix them. Coaching plays a pivotal role in helping you acknowledge and then change your numbers. A great coach is interested in one thing and one thing only: the methodologies to activate the genius and greatness within you. Their job is to encourage you, to expose yourself to challenges and to stop seeing every challenge as a pass/fail. To get to the next level of health you're going to need coaching, your coach will help you find a methodology for you and to do it faster. This podcast is about being virtual coaches and mentors for you. We're transferring our knowledge, our passion and our experiences to you. We're excited to continue being here with you and bringing on people we know, like and trust to serve you on your journey. And if you have a guest suggestion let us know, we'd love to hear from you! Thanks for joining us on the BiOptimizers' Awesome Health podcast.
Episode Resources
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| 17 Jun 2020 | 054: Maintaining Brain Health For Men and For Women, with Dr. Sarah McKay | 01:40:17 | |
As we age we don't have to lose our cognitive function, but is maintaining brain health for men different than it is for women? Our guest for today's Awesome Health Podcast explains some of the keys to cognitive fitness, and if differences in genders are social, behavioral or biological. Dr Sarah McKay is a neuroscientist and science communicator. She's also the author of The Women's Brain Book and is the director of The Neuroscience Academy. She is exceptional at translating brain science research into simple, actionable strategies for peak performance, creativity, health and wellbeing for men and for women. | |||
| 21 Jan 2021 | 106: Meet the ‘Muscle Maven’ Who Thinks You Should Eat Organ Meat - with Ashleigh Van Houten | 01:01:36 | |
Ashleigh Van Houten grew up as the only girl in a household of brothers, which lead her to watch a lot of wrestling and Arnold Schwartzenegger movies as a kid. She also liked watching the world’s strongest man competitions. From an early age, Ashleigh found herself intrigued by displays of strength and seeing what the human body can do. Along the way, Ashleigh became an author, speaker, podcast host, and self-proclaimed muscle nerd. She wrote a cookbook called It Takes Guts and is the host of the Muscle Maven Radio podcast. | |||
| 07 Jan 2021 | 103: Exciting BreakThroughs in Gut Health with Tina Anderson & Kiran Krishnan | 01:15:00 | |
In this episode, we talk with two former members in the drug industry who experienced firsthand the “kabuki theater” endless loop of research (that didn’t accomplish much) along with the troubling practice of hard-selling drugs to doctors’ offices. Meanwhile, they both witnessed friends and family members take six to twelve prescriptions, yet seeing little to no improvement. Fed up, our two guests did not grow discouraged, jaded, or give up. Instead, they became leaders in microbiome health and gut supplementation. Tina Anderson is a former trial lawyer specializing in settling cases through mediation, bringing both sides together. Mediation is her passion. So is her family, which is why she left the high-stress job behind to start a business with her husband, creating a unique supplement containing the super probiotic strains of renowned researcher Dr. Simon Cutting. Tina is now a wellness evangelist, helping people live their best physical and emotional lives. Kiran Krishnan is a research microbiologist whose focus is the human microbiome and wellness. His expertise is in the newest frontier in microbiology: gut commensal spore bacteria. Kiran is a frequent lecturer worldwide and as a guest on various radio and satellite podcasts. He also speaks frequently at autism conferences. Kiran established the Clinical Research Organization, where he conducts human clinical trials in human nutrition for over 17 years. Kiran began his rigorous research in the fields of molecular medicine and microbiology at the University of Iowa. | |||
| 15 Jun 2023 | 233: Quantum energy: revolutionizing healing and wellness - with Rob Rene | 00:53:20 | |
Quantum energy has emerged as a captivating concept in the realm of health and wellness. Its potential to revolutionize the way we approach healing and vitality has sparked curiosity and excitement among individuals seeking alternative solutions. In this podcast, we delve into the fascinating world of quantum energy, frequencies, and the transformative effects they can have on our well-being. To comprehend quantum energy, it is essential to recognize that the human body is composed of energy that interacts with various frequencies. Quantum energy solutions, like the ones discussed here, aim to harness and utilize these frequencies for the betterment of our health. While the term "quantum energy" may have different interpretations, it serves as a bridge between traditional understanding and innovative approaches to well-being. The Journey to Quantum Energy For Rob, the journey to quantum energy began with a life-altering event: an accident that shattered his dreams of becoming a professional runner. The physical and emotional challenges he faced during recovery led him down a path of exploration, questioning the conventional medical system and seeking alternative solutions for health. Through research and personal experiences, Rob became aware of the transformative potential of quantum energy and its ability to help people overcome their reliance on pharmaceutical drugs. A Holistic Approach Quantum energy solutions adopt a holistic approach to well-being by addressing the interconnectedness of the mind, body, and spirit. These solutions often involve the use of skin patches that emit healthy frequencies combined with intentions and uplifting messages encoded into them. The intention is to create a powerful tool for supporting health and wellness, incorporating elements from both science and spirituality. Questioning the Status Quo One key aspect of quantum energy is the importance of questioning the status quo in healthcare. While conventional medicine and healthcare professionals play vital roles, individuals are encouraged to take an active role in their own health journey. This involves asking questions, seeking second and third opinions, and exploring natural health alternatives. Quantum energy solutions can complement traditional approaches and provide a fresh perspective on healing and well-being. The Power of Intention and Frequencies Quantum energy solutions leverage the power of intentions and frequencies to positively impact the human body's energy field. By creating a healthy frequency on a skin patch and infusing it with intentions and meaningful messages, these solutions aim to support pain relief, enhance vitality, and promote overall wellness. The unique combination of intention, frequency, and positive messaging sets quantum energy solutions apart from conventional treatments and invites individuals to explore new possibilities for healing. Quantum energy presents a captivating frontier in the world of health and wellness.While its definition may vary, the concept of quantum energy resonates with individuals seeking transformative solutions beyond traditional medicine. By embracing the interconnectedness of mind, body, and spirit, and harnessing the power of intentions and frequencies, quantum energy solutions offer a promising path toward improved well-being. As more people embrace this approach and combine it with informed decision-making, the potential for personal growth, healing, and vitality becomes even more profound. In this podcast you will learn:
And so much more. EPISODE RESOURCES: https://qestrong.com/ - COUPON CODE bioptimizers for 15% off https://www.myfaithandhealth.com/
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| 30 Jun 2022 | 189: Optimizing Your Brain with Nootropics - with Greg Gostincar | 00:43:22 | |
Nootropics are any natural or synthetic substance that may have a positive impact on mental skills. Greg Gostincar, a certified brain health professional, has devoted his life to helping health-conscious professionals achieve peak brain and mental performance by using effective science-based techniques combined with the power of nature. Everyone can benefit from nootropics, though everyone responds to them in different ways – it’s not a one-formula fits-all scenario. Things you’ll learn in this episode:
Brain Habits Our habits in our daily life determine how our brain functions. Greg said, “It was my lifestyle that made things problematic.” But it’s always possible to improve both our habits and our brain optimization. “Those simple, simple hacks had the biggest impact on me.” Some of these simple hacks work hand in hand with the supplements that Greg researches and works with. Optimizing sleep, light, nutrition, exercise, and brain games are enhanced by the nootropics stack that can be applied to individuals. “I noticed people mainly search for shortcuts and pills. That’s true for the majority of people. But you know how important it is to optimize your lifestyle, not just take the right supplements. I think both those things go hand in had, so the idea is to have this system in place and then give those personalized plans with specific hacks that can optimize different brain regions or can help people optimize if they have any kind of problems. We really wanted to understand to get the whole picture before we give any recommendations.” Prevention of cognitive decline is something you can do now, and we can motivate that change before it’s too late. As you listen to Wade and Greg, be open, and you might find you can unlock even more potential within your brain. Episode Resources: Brain assessment
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| 13 May 2021 | 133: Dynamic Thrust: Chiropractor “Adjusts” Career, Becomes Elite Podcaster - with Jesse Chappus | 00:56:04 | |
Are you thinking about changing careers? He went to chiropractic school, studying medical science for years. Then, he opened his own business, running a chiropractic clinic. Most people at that point would coast for the rest of their life. Stay in their comfort zone and enjoy the “nice income” of a chiropractor, and chill till retirement. That’s the conventional plan for most chiropractors. You can’t blame them. After devoting so much time, energy, and finances to a career like chiropractic care, who wants to start over in a new field? Jesse Chappus, that’s who. Jesse is an “outside the box” thinker. After only four and a half years working as a chiropractor, he knew that he had not yet found his ultimate career path. His passion for health and wellness was evident to his patients, yet Jesse wanted to somehow help more people in a way that felt better aligned with his personality and skills. While his chiropractic business steadily grew, Jesse enjoyed listening to podcasts. What he didn’t realize is that seeds of destiny were being planted every time he hit play. This episode is fantastic for budding entrepreneurs in the health and wellness space. Or people not yet in the health and wellness space wanting to pivot their career in this direction. Listen in as Jesse shares how he made the dramatic career change from chiropractor to full-time podcaster. You get the full story - no sugar coating: the financial “tightness” at the beginning, his transition, and how Jesse grew his Ultimate Health Podcast over time to be one of the most listened to health and wellness shows on the internet. As a lifelong learner, Jesse continuously researches the most current information on nutrition and natural health. In this episode, our host Wade Lightheart also gets Jesse to share some of his perspectives on health and wellness. Jesse is a former long-distance runner and cyclist who now enjoys focusing on shorter, more purposeful exercises to accommodate his current lifestyle as a busy dad. In this podcast, we cover:
How does it feel to do what you love for a living? What are the mental health benefits? Jesse said: “It’s huge for me. I get to learn about what I would be learning about anyways (as a chiropractor.) I prepare for interviews intensely, going really in-depth with my questions. I interview a lot of authors in the health and wellness space. I soak up their books. Then I have these incredible conversations where I pick people’s brains, and I get to continue to learn. That is so phenomenal.
Everything is so aligned with what I do. It’s hard to put into words. I get to learn and make money doing something I love. Plus, I get to help people at the same time! I am so grateful for this. It was just something that came together organically. Me and my wife doing what we were passionate about as a career. All I can say is just ‘gratitude.’ Even the way we make revenue with our business is just beautiful. We’re sharing products that we use and love. That’s how we generally make money is through sponsorships and affiliate links. We help people and make money doing that. It’s a win-win-win-win all around. I’m very grateful!” Testing the Extremes and Coming Back to the Middle Wade is a big believer in pushing the limits for a short period of time for learning purposes but then pulling back to the center to regain equilibrium. Wade asks Jesse, “What are some of the extreme things you’ve done in experimentation that taught you a lesson, and then you pulled back from the adventure or the dysfunction or the breakdown and centered back in the middle? Jesse: “I mentioned earlier about diet. I’ve experimented with diets across the board - from raw food to keto. And then I’ve come back to the middle. That’s where I am now. Again, it’s not sexy to talk about, but I like eating organic, whole foods. I’m just eating clean foods all the time. It’s a default. There’s no choice in the matter for me. “We talked before about having too much on my plate when I was building the show with my wife. I was working all day and even between patients working on the show and then coming home at night and pushing it till maybe 11 pm working on the podcast. Then, waking up and doing it all over again. On the weekends, I was doing most of the traveling to meet my girlfriend (now my wife.) I was redlining - pushing real hard.. Now, I can look back at that time and see the importance of balance. Now I'm lucky enough to be in a position where I can say “no” to many things and go all-in on the show. I’m so big on focusing on what you do well, what you love to do. I've been an advocate of that for years. I’m a big fan of focus. If I had to pick one word in business that I would stand behind, it’s focus.” Jesse Chappus' inspiring story provides hope for those feeling like something is missing in their career. Wade describes it like “your music is missing a bass guitar.” Do you feel like something isn’t quite right with your career or life? If you’re seeking to enter the health and wellness space, be sure to tune in to this episode. Successful podcasters in the health and wellness space like Jesse are some of the happiest people you will ever meet. Whatever new career path you want to take - go for it! But listen to what Jesse has to say first! Episode Resources: Ultimate Health Podcast website Ultimate Health Podcast on Instagram Ultimate Health Podcast on Facebook Ultimate Health Podcast on YouTube | |||
| 23 May 2024 | 261: Exploring Neurofeedback Potential - Andrew Hill | 01:16:06 | |
In the expansive realm of mental health and cognitive enhancement, neurofeedback emerges as a particularly promising approach to brain training. It offers exciting possibilities for optimizing brain function and mental well-being. But what is neurofeedback, and how does it work? Join us on a journey through the brain's intricate pathways, guided by insights from Andrew Hill, a pioneer in the field. Introduction to Neurofeedback Neurofeedback's origins trace back to the early 20th century with the discovery of the EEG (Electroencephalogram), which laid the groundwork for understanding brain waves. By the mid-1960s, the foundations of modern neurofeedback were established. This technique trains the brain's electrical activity through operant conditioning, similar to how a baby learns through exploration and feedback. To fully understand neurofeedback, one must first grasp the basics of EEG and the brain's complex structure. EEG measures the brain's electrical activity, providing insights into its function. The cortex, with its six layers of tissue, serves as the command center for processing information. Different brainwave frequencies, from Delta to Beta, reflect various states and functions of the brain, revealing its inner workings. Exploring Brainwave Frequencies Each brainwave frequency has its significance. Delta waves, linked to deep sleep, facilitate memory consolidation. Theta waves promote insight and creativity, although excessive Theta can cause distractibility. Beta waves are associated with focused attention but can become intrusive in excess, leading to OCD-like behaviors. Neurofeedback sessions are personalized experiences, tailored to individual goals and brainwave patterns. Through Quantitative EEG (QEEG), individuals can compare their brainwave patterns to those of age-matched peers, identifying unique traits. These sessions, typically lasting 20-30 minutes, gradually train the brain to regulate its activity, enhancing executive function, creativity, and emotional regulation. Despite its potential, neurofeedback faces skepticism from traditional medical and pharmaceutical industries, due to historical controversies. However, advancements in technology have made neurofeedback more accessible and effective in treating various conditions, facilitating broader acceptance. Dr. Barry Sterman's groundbreaking research inadvertently discovered neurofeedback's potential in reducing seizures. Despite early successes, funding challenges and skepticism slowed its widespread adoption. Andrew Hill's pioneering efforts have sought to unravel the mechanisms behind neurofeedback's effectiveness, pushing the field forward. The Future of Neurofeedback As research progresses, the future of neurofeedback looks promising. Current efforts aim to deepen our understanding of its mechanisms and enhance efficacy. Remote neurofeedback programs offer tailored brain training from home, supported by coaches and personalized protocols. Future advancements may include longitudinal brain data tracking and intelligent avatars for testing interventions, heralding a new era of personalized brain optimization. In essence, neurofeedback holds the key to unlocking the mind's potential, offering a pathway to enhanced cognitive function and mental well-being. As we delve deeper into the brain's mysteries, the possibilities appear limitless, ushering in a brighter future for humanity's most complex organ. In this podcast you will learn about:
EPISODE RESOURCES: BIOptimizer250 will take $250 off any Peak Brain program: peakbraininstitute.com Instagram: andrewhillphd.com - for the neurofeedback coaching and podcast. | |||
| 10 Sep 2020 | 70: Living The Ultra-Spiritual Life with JP Sears | 01:00:44 | |
One of my favorite online comedians, JP Sears is here to talk about his comedic parodies of living the ultra-spiritual life, and also health and his creative process. JP is an active comedic YouTuber with over 300 million video views; he's also a standup comedian, an emotional healing coach, author, and speaker. He is also the host of his new podcast, The Awaken With JP Sears Show. You'll hear JP share his humor, his wisdom and much more when you join us for episode 70 of Awesome Health Podcast! | |||
| 05 Aug 2020 | 061: Regenerative Farming with Jennifer Maynard | 01:11:58 | |
Regenerative farming: what is it and why does it matter? Our special guest today will explain all! Joining us is Jennifer Maynard, who has 20+ years of experience in biotech and pharmaceutical medicine. But she believes in food as medicine, which led her to found Greater Greens and Nutrition for Longevity. Today we're talking about some of the issues around commercially-grown products, the risk of malnutrition, and how important food is in its natural state to support all of us in living healthy lives. | |||
| 18 Jan 2024 | 243: Exploring Indoor Air Pollution: Insights from Michael Rubino | 00:45:43 | |
In today's world, where technology enables precise health tracking, a crucial element often remains overlooked: the air quality within our homes. In a thought-provoking discussion with Michael Rubino, an expert in the construction industry, we explore the hidden dangers of indoor air pollution, especially the silent threats posed by mold and bacteria. Air Quality: An Overlooked Frontier Despite technological progress, the air we breathe is often neglected. It is a significant avenue for diseases, including the transmission of infections like Covid-19. Michael Rubino's career in construction exposed him to the health impacts of mold and bacteria. His experiences led him to develop processes for healthier living environments. Understanding Environmental Health Impacts Individual reactions to environmental issues like mold vary. Mold exposure can cause a range of health problems, including respiratory issues, mycotoxin illness, brain fog, and chronic fatigue. Rubino advocates for detailed dust testing using PCR technology. This helps identify specific mold or bacteria species and their abnormal levels. He emphasizes addressing mold issues at their root, including careful removal and repair. Construction methods for mold resistance depend on geographical factors. Rubino recommends using non-porous materials and proper waterproofing to minimize moisture absorption. New homes are not immune to mold issues, which can arise from materials exposed to soil and moisture. It's important to address vapor barrier issues and proper sealing around pipes. Balancing Energy Efficiency and Air Quality Energy-efficient homes can lead to decreased ventilation and increased indoor air pollution. It's crucial to balance energy efficiency with good indoor air quality to prevent health problems. To improve indoor air quality, ventilate by opening windows, use dehumidifiers to control moisture, clean environments regularly, and consider effective air purifiers. Michael's company, HomeCleanse, has grown from a local business to a nationwide leader in addressing environmental contaminants, collaborating with over 250 doctors to understand the impact of environmental factors on health. HomeCleanse reviews testing data from homes and individuals to identify correlations. They offer customized solutions based on these results, aiming to improve overall environmental quality. This has led to success stories of individuals recovering from health issues by improving their living environments. This conversation underscores the importance of ensuring our homes are safe and healthy spaces. In this podcast, listeners will learn about:
EPISODE RESOURCES: AWESOMEHEALTH - 10% off all tests at TheDustTest.com | |||
| 17 Oct 2019 | 010: Holistic Health Mastery, with Ronnie Landis | 01:15:30 | |
Ronnie is a former martial arts expert and Olympic hopeful who changed paths in his 20s to pursue holistic health through vegan and raw foods. He has become a master in this arena and he's here today to talk about the turning points in his journey, and his top three recommendations to start making changes to your health. Join us on this edition of BiOptimizers' Awesome Health podcast to hear those topics, and more. More About Awesome Health with Ronnie Landis Today Ronnie is a savant and master of his holistic health craft, but his passions began elsewhere when he was a child. From the age of 4 he was raised as a martial artist. He recalls his first conscious memory being Bruce Lee's movie, Enter The Dragon. Not surprisingly, Ronnie grew up to pursue a career in Taekwondo and basketball. He was an Olympic hopeful for Olympic-style Taekwondo and would later walk away from a try-out with the Golden State Warriors (a National Basketball Association team in the U.S.). What drove him to pursue excellence in both of these arenas was the exploration of his potential as a human. These two passions consumed him until he was 19 when he began considering the health aspect of performance. He understood his eating habits were not sustainable (he was eating crap, he admits) and his body was starting to experience some wear and tear from his athletic pursuits. He re-evaluated his food and lifestyle choices, turning to organic food. Then slowly he started to get into whole foods, grass-fed chicken, raw milk, etc. The Power of Plants and Raw FoodsA few years later he realized his dharma was to be a role model for plant-based nutrition, which came about when he had his second knee surgery. A lot of light bulbs went off at the time - he realized performance was important but so was recovery. After his two knee surgeries, he didn't know how he was going to pursue his athletic career and was riding on faith. Then his awareness shifted to the power of plants in the human body. He started eating more fruit and vegetables, and going to the farmers markets. He became educated on raw food nutrition, the biggest epiphany for him as well as the practice of barefoot grounding. When switching to 100% plant foods and raw, he noticed within 30 days he could run 5 miles in the hills without pain - something he had been scared to do for years because of his knees! On a visceral level, he understood his path and his life could change; he felt the reality of living a vegan and raw food diet. He went away from his athletic pursuits and passed on a try-out with the Golden State Warriors. Instead, he was going to become the biggest speaker on the importance of a raw and vegan diet. That was nearly 20 years ago and he's been pursuing that path ever since. Ronnie's Deep Dive Into The Raw and Vegan Lifestyle I wanted to know if there was a person or event that shifted him from exploration into deep dive mode on raw and vegan food as a lifestyle. Ronnie says he began exploring what was out there, going to YouTube and studying the people in this arena. He followed Paul Chek's work and then Marcus Patrick, who has since become a good friend of Ronnie's. Ultimately though, his biggest catalyst was David Wolfe. Ronnie knew if he wanted to master this way of living he had to follow the masters, and David is one of them. About two years after pursuing this way of life, Ronnie went to an event in San Francisco and met David. While that was an incredible experience, what was even more powerful for him was meeting so many people in this industry and discovering the power of the community. To this day many of the people he met there are his closest friends. I asked him if this event in San Francisco was the turning point for him that solidified his desire to be a speaker for the raw and vegan movement. He said absolutely, it was like a veil was lifted for him! He felt inspired and grounded in his direction and saw a new level of his potential. He knew he could be in front of crowds and host events, too. It awoke a reality and he saw this was a career he could follow. For Ronnie, after this event, the logical next step was to write a book. His first book was a little pamphlet-type publication called Activating The Superhuman. He calls it his permission slip to follow the book-writing path. That first book eventually became The LiveIt! Lifestyle: Dropping Diets Forever book. Next he wrote The Life Food Peak Performance System. After those books, he wrote The Holistic Health Mastery Program. This book has also become an online holistic health course. It is an all-encompassing and comprehensive online video-based course that covers the spectrum of raw living food nutrition, plant-based nutrition, superfood nutrition and tonic herbalism. It goes into topics like detoxification strategies, hormone balancing, and neurological health among others. Where to Start On Your Health Journey I asked Ronnie what three things he would do differently if he were starting over, and what his recommendations would be for someone just beginning to change their diet and pursue a healthier way of living. Here's what he said: 1. Water. He starts people on water and this makes the most amount of shifts. Raw living foods are rich in water so when someone drinks more water or eats a cucumber, celery, fruit or other water-rich food they tend to feel better. Their brain is clearer, their blood sugar improves as does any cardiovascular issues they may have. Everything is like fish flakes in the water tank, and unless you clean the water the fish flakes (aka our food) doesn't work as well. Personally, he's a spring water enthusiast but as a general rule he says to find the best water you can given your circumstances. Then start your day by drinking 1 liter of water every morning to flush out byproducts and acid crystals. By doing so you are freeing up the impactions that have built up through dehydration in the intestines, this helps flush yourself out and then hydrate again before eating your breakfast. 2. Healthy digestion. From his experience, everyone who has grown up on an American lifestyle of diet and medical treatments (like antibiotics) has had or has a dysbiosis if they haven't healed it. But Ronnie says if you give up processed food and factory-raised animal products, your body will start to alert you to what it is sensitive to and what it is not. It'll show you if you have an immune compromise or a digestive compromise. An example of this is constipation. If you have elimination issues like Ronnie did, then you know that transit is blocked up and something is out of balance in your digestion. A healthy elimination process is 3-4 times a day, based on what he has learned in his research and what he experienced after he healed his gut. 3. Add organic, living foods to your diet. After giving us his top three recommendations for shifting your health, Ronnie and I also discuss the mistakes he has made personally. That discussion leads to an immeasurably valuable lesson from him about recognizing if you have an unhealthy addiction to anything, whether it be food, alcohol, intimacy, relationships, finances, etc. Finally, we wrap up with a few questions including the most interesting health field he is studying right now, the newest health practice he is doing and his daily routine. You'll hear the full details on those fascinating subjects, and more on episode 10 of BiOptimizers' Awesome Health podcast!
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| 03 Jun 2021 | 139: Get Better Sleep Using High Tech ‘Thermal Regulation’ - with Matteo Franceschetti | 00:39:33 | |
“Why is Elon Musk taking us to Mars, but we are still expected to spend 8 hours a day on a dumb piece of foam?” That is the question posed by this episode’s guest - Matteo Franceschetti - a dynamic Italian entrepreneur who is disrupting the global sleep industry. He’s on a quest to crack the code for a perfect night’s sleep using big data. How Matteo and his business partner collect that data is where things get fascinating. A former lawyer, Matteo is now CEO of Eight Sleep. A company focused on using technology to help people optimize their ‘sleep fitness’ and efficiency. Matteo was a serious tennis player during his teen years. As an athlete, that period of his life is when he started to get obsessed with physical recovery and rebounding faster after a grueling tournament or injury. After becoming a “boring business lawyer” for two large firms, Matteo caught the entrepreneurial bug, which naturally led to working long hours. Once again, his bent toward efficiency prompted him to ask, “why do I have to sleep eight hours? Can I sleep less and recover faster?” If you think humans “need” 8 hours of sleep to be at an optimal level of health, Matteo’s discoveries through research and data may surprise you. “Eight hours is what our body needs today because there is no technology enhancing our recovery. Elon Musk is taking us to Mars, but I still spend a third of my life on a piece of foam. We have technology everywhere. We are using technology to conduct this interview. But we spend a third of our life, eight hours every single day on something that hasn't changed for 4,000 years.” You won’t fall asleep listening to this exciting conversation between Matteo and our host Wade T. Lightheart. However, you may start sleeping like a baby after hearing the many hacks and tips on getting better sleep revealed in this episode. In this podcast, we cover:
A sneak peek behind the curtain: Matteo reveals the co-founder of 8 Sleep is “kind of a genius” who can “build a space shuttle in the garage.” So he builds the latest technology, and then Matteo serves as the “guinea pig” who tests out the equipment. Matteo is always sleeping on something that the company will be releasing in a couple of years. He tests it and gives feedback to his team. The engineers then iterate until the product is consumer-ready. What does this technology monitor while you are sleeping? 8 Sleep technology can monitor everything about your heart rate - your HRV (Heart Rate Variability). Their tech is “semi medical-grade accurate,” meaning it is within one heartbeat per minute, compared to medical-grade EKG - but you don’t have to wear anything. You go to bed as you do now, and then you have this incredible data at your fingertips (on the app.) 8 Sleep technology also monitors your entire respiration. In the future, the tech will be able to track snoring and sleep apnea. Everything about your sleep gets observed - like when you toss and turn or when your sleep stages occur - everything - with no need for charging batteries or wearing anything during the night. Matteo describes the 8 Sleep product as “the Lamborghini of beds.” And you can give this sleep technology a test drive for 100 Nights with a risk-free, no-questions-asked full refund policy behind it. Time to put those sleepless nights to bed using modern technology. Matteo and his team at 8 Sleep are doing incredible work. His team includes professors from Stanford and Harvard. Tune in and tune up one of the essential parts of your day - sleeping! Listen to this episode and start sleeping better than ever! You deserve to wake up each morning feeling refreshed. Episode Resources: | |||
| 01 Jul 2020 | 056: The Importance of Heavy Metal Detoxing with Wendy Myers | 00:47:56 | |
So many people today feel exhausted, even with a great diet and exercise. Our guest was one of them, nothing helped her feel better until she learned the importance of heavy metal detoxing. Wendy Myers, heavy metal expert and best-selling author, joins us for episode 56 of Awesome Health. Today, we talk about her work as a heavy metal expert and functional diagnostic nutritionist began and why doing a heavy metal detox should be a part of everyone’s ongoing health regimen. | |||
| 25 Aug 2020 | 65: Being a High Performance Entrepreneur with Jag Chima | 00:45:16 | |
Entrepreneurship is a demanding path, and no one knows this better than our guest Jag Chima. On being a high performance entrepreneur, Jag tells us exactly what it takes during episode 65 of Awesome Health Podcast. | |||
| 23 Feb 2023 | 218: Thyroid Hormones and their vital role in the body - with Sara Banta | 00:50:13 | |
Hypothyroidism is a condition where the thyroid gland fails to produce enough hormones to regulate the body’s metabolism. Common symptoms of hypothyroidism include:
Iodine deficiency is the number one predictor of hypothyroidism. Iodine is an essential element required by the thyroid to produce thyroid hormones. When there is inadequate iodine, the thyroid cannot produce these hormones and hypothyroidism can result. This can be especially dangerous for infants, as an iodine deficiency during the early stages of life can lead to cognitive and physical impairments. Iodine deficiency can be caused by an inadequate intake of iodine-rich food, eating a diet high in goitrogenic foods, or drinking contaminated water. It can also occur due to a lack of iodine in the soil and iodine depletion in the environment. What are the different hormones involved in the thyroid? Thyroid hormones play an important role in the body’s endocrine system and affect many different bodily functions. So, what are the different hormones involved in the thyroid? the hypothalamus, pituitary gland, and thyroid all work together to regulate thyroid hormones. The hormones that the thyroid produces are thyroxine (T4) and triiodothyronine (T3). T3 is the active form of the hormone, while T4 is the inactive form that needs to be converted by the liver into T3 for it to be used. Both T3 and T4 are formed from the element iodine, so iodine deficiency can lead to hypothyroidism. Stress can also lead to thyroid disorders. This is because the hypothalamus-pituitary-thyroid access (HPT) and hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal access (HPA) can convert T4 into reverse T3 during periods of heightened stress. This has the effect of slowing down the metabolism and further aggravates the symptoms of thyroid dysfunction. What does Sara think about conventional beef and pork? Sara is a passionate advocate for healthy living and healthy eating, and she believes that conventional beef and pork are not the healthiest options. For one thing, Sara points out that conventionally raised beef and pork have been fed estrogen and GMO grains, which can have detrimental effects on your health. Additionally, these meats often contain toxins from radiation, halogens, fluoride, bromide, and chlorine, which can further impede the liver's ability to detoxify any medication taken for thyroid issues. Sara recommends looking for wild animal proteins such as bison, lamb, and wild fish instead. She strongly believes that these proteins, when sourced from organic, sustainable sources, are much healthier alternatives and can improve your overall health both mentally and physically. She points out that wild animal protein is much easier to cook and doesn’t have to be as expensive as many people might think. To further emphasize the importance of these proteins, Sara reminds us that we are what we eat and our diet plays a big role in our overall health. Sara also advises paying attention to the foods your family consumes to ensure everyone is eating nutritionally. She encourages her clients to look for signs that their bodies might be reacting positively or negatively to certain foods and adjust their diet accordingly. Finally, Sara emphasizes the importance of teaching your children why it’s important to eat healthily so that they can own their behavior and have control over their health. In this podcast you will learn about:
EPISODE RESOURCES: www.acceleratedhealthproducts.com/awesome Use a coupon code AWESOME5 | |||
| 04 Mar 2021 | 118: Microdosing Medicinal Mushrooms to Help You THRIVE - with Jeremy Abramson | 00:52:19 | |
Jeremy is a high-energy coach who helps executives and entrepreneurs unleash their full potential. He is building a global reputation as an expert in mindful movement, mindset, mushrooms, and brain chemistry. His Thrive University podcast is where people find inspiring and empowering messages. Before impacting the health and wellness space, Jeremy hit a low-point when his Honda CRV became his home for nine straight nights. He had four hundred dollars to his name at that point. He fought through the struggle and found his purpose and now helps other people rise above mediocrity — and medicinal mushrooms play a role in that process. In this episode, you will find out how a total newbie can safely begin microdosing medicinal mushrooms for greater creativity, awareness, and spirituality. | |||
| 06 Jul 2021 | 147: Born to Rewild: Renewing Your Health Through “Nature Connection” - with Shawn Slade | 00:51:28 | |
Time to step out of the digital realm and plant your bare feet in some lush grass. While working indoors, particularly at a computer hour after hour - you can easily spend too much time in the “digital world” and not enough time in your natural, physical environment. If you wonder why this matters, let me ask you this: how do you feel these days? Are you anxious? Burned out? Do you have mysterious ailments that your doctor says are stress-related, yet gym workouts, a better diet, and medications are not improving the way you feel? Perhaps it’s time to take a walk on the rewild side. Our guest today offers a new approach to health coaching that involves getting back in contact with nature. Shawn Slade explains why “nature connection” is a growing therapeutic practice - offering those willing to dip their toes into a nearby lake this amazingly restorative experience that leads to happiness and a serene sense of overall well-being. In this podcast, Shawn reveals expertise in nature contact, ecotherapy, ecopsychology, and rewilding. Shawn began his career as a traditional health coach and then shifted into nature connecting - he is now an emerging scholar in nature contact, nature connection, and human health. As a lifelong scholar, Shawn holds degrees in business and economics (2006), political science (2008), a Master of Science (2014). He is currently a Ph.D. candidate in health promotion at Western University in London, Ontario. Shawn is also a serial entrepreneur. He is the co-founder of Booch Organic Kombucha and does research consultations for Exercise is Medicine Canada. He is also a nutrition and weight loss instructor for Canfit Pro, a part-time professor of health promotion at Fanshawe College. Shawn delivers numerous speaking engagements with ACSM, CSEP, and other academic conferences and trade shows.
In this podcast, we cover:
“A lot of research shows nature to be a saving grace for many people.” Several published research papers provide evidence of nature’s therapeutic power. One of the most vital benefits of nature contacting, or rewilding, is stress reduction - something many people deal with now thanks to our modern, fast-paced world and the added stresses from the pandemic. Lockdowns, fear, economic pressure, isolation, loneliness, and depression reached epidemic proportions aside from the virus. When humans are working on a computer or digging a ditch, or whatever task they focus on, the brain goes into the beta brainwaves, which help us focus. But as we all know, you cannot maintain focus indefinitely. People need time to relax. Nature connecting puts our brains in the alpha brainwave or the gamma brainwave, which are much more calm and relaxed. Shawn goes into a lot of the science backing the practice of nature connecting, including how rewilding drops our cortisol levels. Question: What’s the next cool thing in the health industry? Answer: Nature-based interventions. Shawn knows the positive impact connecting with nature brings to the soul, as he experienced a “vision quest” out in the woods for three days that significantly changed his life. (He shares that experience here, and it involves a wolf. You don’t want to miss that.) Shawn talks about how nature exploration leads to self-discovery, sparking your creativity and gets you excited about life. With the spark nature provides us at a soul level, you can ride that wave to more happiness and health. Even city dwellers can receive rewilding benefits through small doses of experiencing nature. Shawn is so passionate about nature connecting. He had to defend his doctoral dissertation paper on this very topic the next day! What benefits await you when you begin exploring nature? Tune in to this episode and discover the ways of rewilding. Shawn is about to become a professor of nature connection. You can’t get more authoritative on a topic than that. Listen to one of the top experts on the planet - find out which health and wellness surprises you can find at your nearest park, beach, or forest.
Episode Resources: | |||
| 27 May 2021 | 137: Fix Your Fatigue & Enjoy Exceptional Energy - with Dr. Evan Hirsch | 00:56:30 | |
If you struggle with fatigue, this is the most important thing you need: Fatigue can be a complex puzzle to “figure out.” To solve your lack of energy riddle, you need a meticulous, thorough, medically trained specialist who loves taking comprehensive deep dives into each patient’s health to find the answers that will restore their energy. That is what the patients of Dr. Evan H. Hirsch get: a caring doctor with the determination of a bulldog. Hirsch leaves “no stone unturned” while working with his patients. Finding the cause(s) of fatigue takes time and requires a curious mind willing to consider multiple possibilities that may not fit inside the box of conventional medicine. In this eye-opening episode, Dr. Hirsch points out that prescription pharmaceutical side effects are the “number three killer in the U.S.” Taking your fatigue issues to a “functional medicine doctor” like Dr. Hirsch might be the answer to your fatigue battle.
Dr. Hirsch does not want to only “manage symptoms” like many general practitioners. That’s why he founded the International Center for Fatigue. Hirsch knows from experience how debilitating fatigue can be. He suffered from severe fatigue for five years before achieving resolution using a set of methods that are now helping many people who follow the Fix Your Fatigue program he pioneered. Hirsch is also the author of the book Fix Your Fatigue: The four-step process to resolving chronic fatigue, achieving abundant energy, and reclaiming your life! Suppose you are a doctor who needs some tips to transition your practice to the virtual, online world. In that case, Dr. Hirsch also consults with licensed, functional medicine providers desiring a more digital service experience for patients. Board-certified in integrative medicine, when Dr. Hirsch isn’t helping patients, you can find him singing and dancing in musicals (wow) and playing basketball with his family. In this podcast, we cover
You won’t believe how many chemicals hit you daily. Fatigue is a matter of deficiencies and toxicities, meaning you need a trained professional like Dr. Hirsch to help you replenish the deficits and get rid of the toxic junk accumulating in your body. We get exposed to 84,000 different chemicals regularly. Most of these chemicals are not adequately studied - things like pesticides, herbicides, insecticides, and plastics, which are all around us. Dr. Hirsch shares that one thing he was doing years ago that led to his fatigue syndrome had to do with his extensive traveling by car across the country. He always had a plastic water bottle with him that was cooking in the sun on these trips. Dr. Hirsch ended up with too much plastic in his body. Plastic in the body is not something people knew about until recently. The good news is Dr. Hirsch shares how you can detox plastics out of your body. Mold: the silent fatigue devil. Many folks suffering from fatigue do not realize that mold is behind their lack of energy. Mold is a huge problem. Half of the world’s buildings have water damage, and most of those structures have mold. Most people don’t think they have a mold issue because they have never seen mold in their house. They forget that their childhood home had a flooded basement at one time. Or they had a leaky roof or a broken pipe at some point. Few GPs receive training in molds during medical school, so they do not consider it a diagnosis. Mold symptoms generally resemble fungal symptoms: rashes, itching in the anus and ears is common. These symptoms often get worse after eating sugar. The worst sign of all is brain fog, which can get pretty nasty if untreated. Mold is just one of many causes of fatigue discussed by Dr. Hirsch in this episode. You can get them all by listening to this exciting conversation. Finally, a doctor who takes chronic fatigue seriously and works hard to find a solution for patients. Not just shrug his shoulders because he’s overwhelmed by the complexity of the issue. Don’t miss this episode! Take advantage of the information offered here so you can overcome your struggles with fatigue. Are you tired of feeling tired all the time? Tune in! Let’s restore your energy.
Episode Resources: Dr. Hirsch main website: www.FixYourFatigue.com | |||
| 24 Nov 2020 | 091: Terminating the Toxins In Your Life with Aimee Carlson | 00:56:03 | |
Do you know if there are toxins in your walls or in your shampoo? Terminating the toxins in your life is what our guest does: Aimee Carlson is the toxin terminator! Aimee has spent the last 7 years removing hidden toxins from her own home to be free of chronic disease, and she has helped hundreds do the same. Today she joins us for the Awesome Health Podcast, and she’ll share how she started this terminating toxins quest and the top toxins to look for in your home. | |||
| 23 Nov 2021 | 169: How This Doctor Reversed Her MS and Recovered - with Dr. Terry Wahls | 01:07:34 | |
What a remarkable story. Twenty years ago, our guest took a walk with her wife when her left leg suddenly stopped working correctly. The leg inexplicably lost most of its strength, causing Dr. Terry to hobble home confused. The next day, our guest was in a neurologist’s office and heard these life-changing words: “Terry, this could be bad. Or, really, really bad.” Over the next two weeks, Dr. Terry went through a battery of tests. During those two long weeks, she kept thinking about what her neurologist said - and prayed for a fatal diagnosis to avoid a life of disability. Finally, the diagnosis came in: multiple sclerosis. Within three years, Dr. Terry found herself in a tilt-recline wheelchair, unable to sit up at her desk. This rapid deterioration occurred despite seeing the best specialists and taking the newest, cutting-edge medications. Whether listening or watching on YoutTube, Dr. Terry’s story on what happens next is jaw-dropping. Listen to get inspired. If you know someone with MS, please share this interview with them. Because everything Dr. Terry shares is science-based. Fortunately for her (and ultimately for all of us), being a doctor with MS was a blessing in disguise. This enabled her to begin using the research skills she developed in her medical career to explore multiple sclerosis and search for possibilities. During her journey, Dr. Terry became a functional doctor through the Functional Medicine Certified Practitioner program. She is also a longtime clinical professor of medicine at the University of Iowa, conducting clinical trials. In 2018, Dr. Terry won the Institute for Functional Medicine’s Linus Pauling Award for her research, clinical care, and patient care. She is also the author of The Wahls Protocol: A Radical Way to Treat All Chronic Autoimmune Conditions Using Paleo Principles, and The Wahls Protocol: Cooking for Life. How did Dr. Terry go from being in a wheelchair to riding her bike to work each day? How did she overcome MS and restore her health? Tune in and find out! In this podcast, we cover:
A Funny Moment that Shocked Her Doctors For a long time during her illness with MS, Dr. Terry saw her neurologist every six months. As her condition turned around and she found herself in a much better place, Dr. Terry called her neurologist’s office. “There’s been a big change! I should really see a physician.” Wanting to see her that day, Dr. Terry said, no, I want to come on Friday. Despite their protests, she waited till Friday. “So I walk in, and I’m not in my tilt recline wheelchair. I’m in the waiting area, and the nurse comes out. She’s got a chart, and she’s looking around, and I realized she is looking for me.” “So I stand up and go, ‘Hey, Cindy! Over here!’ She is like, ‘Oh my God, you’re walking!” My physician is thrilled, and he says the same thing, ‘Oh my God! You’re walking!’” Those Who Disrupt the Status Quo Face Ridicule and Criticism Over the time since she defied her prognosis and went on to clinically test her theories and positively change the lives of others suffering from MS, plenty of tomatoes get hurled at Dr. Terry. Here is a snippet of what Dr. Terry said about her critics: “Anyone who is truly innovative is going to draw ire because it’s very uncomfortable to have to abandon constructs of how you understand the world.” “I don’t want to do that. You don’t want to do that. None of us do. So I don’t think it’s possible to have innovation without facing ridicule and rejection at first.” “And then your new ideas either pan out or are suppressed. So you keep doing the experiments.” One of the most profound episodes of the Awesome Health Podcast, Dr. Terry’s personal story from an MS diagnosis back to feeling good again, is truly astonishing. But what makes this even more startling is the fact that this happened to a medical doctor, a clinical professor, who has gone on to show the medical community a whole new way of looking at MS. Many people get results through Dr. Terry’s breakthrough work and will continue to do so as she continues her research at the University of Iowa. Check out this episode - discover a groundbreaking approach to multiple sclerosis. Episode Resources:Check out more about Terry Wahls, MD FREE GIFT: Pick up a one-page handout for the Wahl’s Diet Clinical Trial in Sage Journals Terry Wahls M.D. on YouTube Dr. Terry Wahls on Instagram Terry Wahls MD on Facebook Dr. Terry Wahls on Twitter Read The Episode Transcript:
1 00:01:24.930 --> 00:01:25.140 Oh. 2 00:03:43.620 --> 00:03:44.700 Wade Lightheart: hi Terry how are you doing. 3 00:03:45.150 --> 00:03:46.320 Terry Wahls: Excellent how are you. 4 00:03:46.860 --> 00:03:52.530 Wade Lightheart: Excellent i'm so excited to have you here today it's so great, for you, James Where are you calling in from. 5 00:03:53.370 --> 00:03:55.170 Terry Wahls: A client from iowa city iowa. 6 00:03:55.560 --> 00:03:59.040 Wade Lightheart: Okay okay so great, where the papers have been published. 7 00:04:01.260 --> 00:04:17.310 Wade Lightheart: But I had the pleasure of reviewing beforehand before we get started, I just want to go through a couple of quick things is there any particular areas that you'd like to talk about today, or is important to kind of cue you up to mention. 8 00:04:18.210 --> 00:04:20.730 Terry Wahls: US remind me who your audiences. 9 00:04:21.030 --> 00:04:24.900 Wade Lightheart: So our audience is people who are looking at. 10 00:04:26.190 --> 00:04:35.640 Wade Lightheart: We call biological optimization they're leveraging technology and nutritional supplementation exercise fitness all that sort of stuff to address. 11 00:04:36.150 --> 00:04:42.720 Wade Lightheart: How do they improve their health, how do they you know live a healthier life, a better life that sort of stuff and we bring different people from. 12 00:04:43.350 --> 00:04:50.820 Wade Lightheart: Every possible background to address the importance of diet, nutrition and how they can improve the quality of their life or their family members. 13 00:04:51.420 --> 00:05:15.510 Terry Wahls: Okay, so our recent research will be launching another study here shortly we're very close to having that approved in, then I have a seminar next year and so it's a four part series and get the whole seminar or they could just get the last one, which is all about healthy aging. 14 00:05:16.530 --> 00:05:17.280 Wade Lightheart: Oh wow. 15 00:05:20.910 --> 00:05:21.360 Wade Lightheart: and 16 00:05:23.820 --> 00:05:28.530 Wade Lightheart: will probably going to your story, because I think it's super inspirational and. 17 00:05:28.890 --> 00:05:32.460 Terry Wahls: Oh yeah I should tell my story people yeah so how much time do we have. 18 00:05:32.730 --> 00:05:39.510 Wade Lightheart: Well, the year actually the defining component on it so that was my next question is, do you have any hard stops there, and like. 19 00:05:39.900 --> 00:05:46.170 Terry Wahls: I probably do so let me look at my calendar now because my team keeps this going. 20 00:05:47.430 --> 00:05:52.680 Terry Wahls: So it looks like 1230 is absolutely hard stop. 21 00:05:53.430 --> 00:06:00.030 Wade Lightheart: Okay, great well let's get you guys are two hours difference in iowa then over here on the west coast right. 22 00:06:01.350 --> 00:06:03.570 Terry Wahls: yeah, it is now 11. 23 00:06:04.290 --> 00:06:05.220 Terry Wahls: Before four. 24 00:06:05.640 --> 00:06:16.440 Wade Lightheart: Perfect alright, so I will do my little razzle dazzle introduction and then we'll get into we'll get into this as soon as you're ready to go. 25 00:06:17.310 --> 00:06:17.850 Wade Lightheart: Okay. 26 00:06:18.300 --> 00:06:19.980 Terry Wahls: I get settled, we are good. 27 00:06:20.700 --> 00:06:21.210 Okay. 28 00:06:22.530 --> 00:06:33.900 Wade Lightheart: Okay, for our recording team, we will start the podcast here in 321. 29 00:06:34.710 --> 00:06:51.810 Wade Lightheart: Good morning, good afternoon and good evening it's way too light heart from by optimizer with another edition of the awesome health podcast and today we have Dr Terry walls joining us, and this is a really exciting and important. 30 00:06:53.400 --> 00:07:09.000 Wade Lightheart: audio recording video recording if you're watching it on YouTube because Dr Terry walls has a very unique story, first of all, she is in the Institute of functional medicine certified practitioner in a clinical professor of medicine at the University of iowa. 31 00:07:09.270 --> 00:07:22.560 Wade Lightheart: where she conducts clinical trials in 2018 she was awarded the Institute for functional medicines Linus Pauling Award for her contributions and research clinical care and patient advocacy. 32 00:07:23.040 --> 00:07:29.160 Wade Lightheart: she's also a patient with the secondary progressive multiple sclerosis sclerosis sclerosis sorry. 33 00:07:29.760 --> 00:07:38.250 Wade Lightheart: I have a hard time saying that sometimes we're going to say that again she is also a patient with secondary progressive multiple cirrhosis. 34 00:07:38.640 --> 00:07:47.310 Wade Lightheart: Which couldn't find her to a tilt recline wheelchair for four years walls restored her health. 35 00:07:47.730 --> 00:07:56.790 Wade Lightheart: Using a diet and lifestyle program she designed specifically for her brain and now pedals her bike to work every. 36 00:07:57.210 --> 00:08:09.870 Wade Lightheart: Each day she's the author of the walls protocol a radical new way to treat all chronic autoimmune conditions, using Paleo principles and the cookbook the walls protocol cooking for life. 37 00:08:10.350 --> 00:08:25.050 Wade Lightheart: learn more about her Ms clinical trials at http PS, you know that colon slash slash walls w H l s dot lab diet you I O w a.edu. 38 00:08:25.560 --> 00:08:40.680 Wade Lightheart: Forward slash.we will have the links to this, I just had a chance there, Dr Terry to look at that trial and it's extraordinary you have an extraordinary story, I mean you know I had. 39 00:08:41.610 --> 00:08:56.520 Wade Lightheart: Some a relative that suffered from multiple sclerosis, and it is a very progressive in kind of depressing condition of it's in so many people suffer suffer from it. 40 00:08:56.970 --> 00:09:06.450 Wade Lightheart: I was actually Member when I was in elementary school, we did fundraising for multiple sclerosis research, and I remember I. 41 00:09:06.780 --> 00:09:15.780 Wade Lightheart: raised a bunch of funds and I got this little green little puppy dog as a prize for my for my work is again, I was very proud of that, because that was the first time I was. 42 00:09:16.170 --> 00:09:31.590 Wade Lightheart: introduced to the importance of research around degenerative conditions, and you have kind of spearheaded not only your own recovery, but also some extraordinary research in this area, can you talk about your journey that led you to this. 43 00:09:31.830 --> 00:09:32.220 sure. 44 00:09:33.360 --> 00:09:47.520 Terry Wahls: So when I was 20 years ago i'm out walking with my wife and my left leg gross week on dry unit a humble home next day, I see the neurologist who says, you know Terry this could be bad or really, really bad. 45 00:09:48.240 --> 00:10:01.080 Terry Wahls: So the next two weeks, while i'm thinking going through the workup I think about bad in really, really bad I, and I don't want to be disabled so actually i'm praying for a fatal diagnosis. 46 00:10:02.100 --> 00:10:09.630 Terry Wahls: Two weeks later, I hear multiple sclerosis, I see the best people take the no drugs three years later I hear totally fine wheelchair. 47 00:10:10.530 --> 00:10:26.400 Terry Wahls: I take my de Santo infusions than ties IV infusions nothing helps I am too weak to set up at my desk my zingers do the trigeminal neuralgia electoral jolts of pain, are more frequent more severe more difficult to turn off. 48 00:10:27.870 --> 00:10:33.090 Terry Wahls: Fortunately i'm a physician, so I go to the basic science, I began reading. 49 00:10:34.140 --> 00:10:47.910 Terry Wahls: And experiment, the based on what i'm reading I developed theory that mitochondria are a big driver, particularly in the more progressive decline and so At first I work on supplements. 50 00:10:49.200 --> 00:11:01.350 Terry Wahls: speed of my declined slows, then I discovered study using electrical stimulation muscles I convinced my physical therapist so let me try that my test session hurts like hell, but when it's over I feel great. 51 00:11:02.520 --> 00:11:15.450 Terry Wahls: I, and so my therapist lets me add East him to my workouts I discovered the Institute for functional medicine, I take their course on neuro protection, I have more supplements that i'm taking. 52 00:11:16.770 --> 00:11:31.170 Terry Wahls: In, then I have a really big Aha and sort of in retrospect wait i'm like dear God how That takes me so long to think about this i'm like what if I redesign my Paleo diet that i'd been following for last five years. 53 00:11:32.520 --> 00:11:40.350 Terry Wahls: Based on all the science i've been reading the nutrients that i've said, are important if taking supplements, what if I figure out where they are in the food supply. 54 00:11:41.370 --> 00:11:43.020 Terry Wahls: So redesign my Paleo diet. 55 00:11:45.120 --> 00:12:01.440 Terry Wahls: And it's stunning three months later, my zingers of 27 years are gone my fatigue is gone and my physical therapist says Terry you're getting stronger it begins advancing exercise. 56 00:12:03.090 --> 00:12:03.600 Terry Wahls: and 57 00:12:04.620 --> 00:12:07.680 Terry Wahls: Three months after that I am walking without a cane. 58 00:12:09.000 --> 00:12:10.560 Terry Wahls: Three months after that. 59 00:12:15.240 --> 00:12:15.570 Terry Wahls: I. 60 00:12:17.190 --> 00:12:18.150 Terry Wahls: got on my bike. 61 00:12:19.290 --> 00:12:25.860 Terry Wahls: For the first time in six years with my son zach jogging alongside in the left my daughter's tab on the right. 62 00:12:27.240 --> 00:12:29.310 Terry Wahls: And my wife behind. 63 00:12:30.900 --> 00:12:43.140 Terry Wahls: I biked around the block for the first time, you know everyone's crying my kids are crying my wife's crying i'm crying if you could see my face you'd see that i'm crying because that. 64 00:12:45.090 --> 00:12:56.460 Terry Wahls: That was the moment where I understood that the current understanding of multiple sclerosis was incomplete and who knew how much recovery might be possible. 65 00:12:57.660 --> 00:12:58.140 Terry Wahls: and 66 00:12:59.760 --> 00:13:02.070 Terry Wahls: You know it's about five months after that. 67 00:13:03.780 --> 00:13:13.170 Terry Wahls: Then I completed an 18.5 mile bike ride with my family and once again roll cry you know my kids are crying my wife's crying i'm crying. 68 00:13:13.980 --> 00:13:30.840 Terry Wahls: If this really transforms how I think about disease and health, it will transform the way I practice medicine and it transforms the focus of my research, I and we've done five clinical trials. 69 00:13:32.010 --> 00:13:46.560 Terry Wahls: We hopefully we'll be talking about most recent one we've got a couple more trials that will be getting launched here momentarily I and i've gone from being this. 70 00:13:48.570 --> 00:13:56.070 Terry Wahls: sort of unusual eccentric person that was roundly condemned by many in the Ms community. 71 00:13:57.540 --> 00:14:02.400 Terry Wahls: To be now are respected dietary intervention research. 72 00:14:03.930 --> 00:14:18.720 Terry Wahls: In the Ms community and really changing the whole discussion that diet and lifestyle are in should be an essential part of the care plan for me every Ms patient. 73 00:14:20.190 --> 00:14:28.500 Wade Lightheart: is profound first off your story is incredible and I can see why that would be activating so emotional because you know. 74 00:14:29.040 --> 00:14:39.990 Wade Lightheart: there's two two parts to it, one you're not just someone with a diagnosis you're someone with a medical background, so you understand the progressive degeneration, and what that's going to look like over a period of time. 75 00:14:40.590 --> 00:15:02.070 Wade Lightheart: Based on prior research, you were of all the medications the interactions the contraindications all that sort of stuff and then you go off and kind of do some your own experiments and start reversing what is generally believed to be a and reversible condition is that not. 76 00:15:02.220 --> 00:15:04.140 Terry Wahls: Correct no absolutely and. 77 00:15:04.650 --> 00:15:13.380 Terry Wahls: I want to be clear at the time that I was doing all of this, all of my physicians my primary care doc's all of the various neurologists i've seen. 78 00:15:13.770 --> 00:15:26.490 Terry Wahls: were very clear MS is a progressive disease, the whole point three says Wayne and I was thrilled to take these incredibly toxic compounds that I knew had at a rate of causing. 79 00:15:27.990 --> 00:15:36.150 Terry Wahls: leukemia to percentage time you took it because I was, and I was already seriously disabled I didn't want to become even more disabled so. 80 00:15:36.600 --> 00:15:51.450 Terry Wahls: I was happy to take very toxic drugs that may be very l in an effort to slow my decline, because this was all about slowing the decline it as I improve, so my my face pain is gone first time in 27 years. 81 00:15:52.140 --> 00:16:00.090 Terry Wahls: My fatigue is gone first time in seven years i'm walking again around the hospital and then around the block. 82 00:16:02.220 --> 00:16:09.930 Terry Wahls: But you know I don't know what it means, and in part of what you you do when you have a progressive neurological disorder. 83 00:16:11.490 --> 00:16:24.090 Terry Wahls: Is you learn to let go of the future right and take each day as an adult and that's a very healthy coping strategies so here I am. 84 00:16:25.140 --> 00:16:36.750 Terry Wahls: i've let go the future I don't know what it means i'm clearly at a different place than I was a month ago, or ios six months earlier but I don't know what it means I don't know. 85 00:16:38.070 --> 00:16:39.330 Terry Wahls: You know I didn't know what it means. 86 00:16:41.370 --> 00:16:42.780 Terry Wahls: until the day I rode my bike. 87 00:16:43.620 --> 00:16:44.310 Wade Lightheart: mm hmm. 88 00:16:44.940 --> 00:16:54.510 Terry Wahls: And that's when I understood in my heart and my bones, that the current understanding of Ms was wrong and that. 89 00:16:57.000 --> 00:17:03.240 Terry Wahls: I was recovering and who knew how much recovery might be possible. 90 00:17:04.770 --> 00:17:18.150 Terry Wahls: You know i'll to note sort of funny story I in this happened, the month previous pay and seen my neurologist you know access home every six months. 91 00:17:18.630 --> 00:17:33.000 Terry Wahls: And I called the office to say you know there's been a big change I should really see a physician, so they were happy to see me that day as well, oh no, I want to come on Friday so know if there's a big change, we should not wait till Friday Friday i'll be fine. 92 00:17:34.680 --> 00:17:40.740 Terry Wahls: So you know I go in I i've walked in so i'm not in my total Klein wheelchair i've seen in the office. 93 00:17:41.340 --> 00:17:54.240 Terry Wahls: In the waiting area and my the nurse comes out and she's got a chart she's looking around and I realized oh I bet she's looking for me and i'm not in the wheelchair, so I stand up go hey. 94 00:17:55.620 --> 00:17:57.750 Terry Wahls: Cindy over here, and she goes. 95 00:18:01.320 --> 00:18:04.140 Terry Wahls: And I was like oh my God you're walking. 96 00:18:05.730 --> 00:18:09.990 Terry Wahls: And so yeah I see my position is like oh my God you're walking. 97 00:18:11.130 --> 00:18:22.680 Terry Wahls: he's thrilled you're showing what I might East him, you know what i'm doing he still the startup got to get your MRI and see what's going on and. 98 00:18:23.760 --> 00:18:28.830 Terry Wahls: we're both quite surprised there's no change on the MRI and it comes back and says, you know. 99 00:18:30.000 --> 00:18:35.880 Terry Wahls: Of course there's no changing them right, these are old lesions they haven't been active in a long time to still that active. 100 00:18:37.080 --> 00:18:42.360 Terry Wahls: But what you clearly have done is you have rewired your brain. 101 00:18:43.380 --> 00:18:55.950 Terry Wahls: You are we miley and the MRI can't capture that but your body clearly has rewired in re function your brain and your spinal cord. 102 00:18:56.700 --> 00:19:12.300 Wade Lightheart: Can you explain to our listeners just what multiple sclerosis is so that they understand what it what it what it is what and then this breakthrough that you've. 103 00:19:12.300 --> 00:19:14.400 Wade Lightheart: Experienced why that's so profound. 104 00:19:14.850 --> 00:19:31.740 Terry Wahls: So it's a autoimmune process where your immune cells are attacking your spinal cord in your brain first we said it was just the installation the mile and part now realized in fact that they're killing all sorts of parts of your brain astrocytes have been damaged. 105 00:19:33.000 --> 00:19:43.290 Terry Wahls: glial cells are being damaged neurons are being damaged axon to being damaged there are these acute inflammation episodes so as a call to relapses that gradually improve. 106 00:19:43.980 --> 00:20:05.520 Terry Wahls: In addition, in the background, this is slow, steady deterioration brain bind spinal cord shrinkage that is lit that is associated with that cognitive decline we're seeing disability that from which people do not recover so and I clearly have a lot of fatigue. 107 00:20:06.600 --> 00:20:18.180 Terry Wahls: Had was being to have some cognitive decline in you know, had had severe severe disability, I could not sit up in a regular chair like I am right now, at that point. 108 00:20:20.310 --> 00:20:21.300 Terry Wahls: And so. 109 00:20:23.310 --> 00:20:28.650 Terry Wahls: What what my neurologist said very clearly is I had rewired. 110 00:20:32.580 --> 00:20:39.810 Terry Wahls: My brain and my spinal cord we didn't really have the technology that could have measured mile and production. 111 00:20:41.490 --> 00:20:55.530 Terry Wahls: And so unfair, unfortunately, we had not sent me over to the neuro ophthalmologist to get something called flicker fusion if we had the product if they had done that previously and now. 112 00:20:56.040 --> 00:21:07.110 Terry Wahls: They probably would be able to measure the remote island nation there, and my optic nerves, but you know we didn't have it, because there's no reason to think you know it's going to be any modulation occurring. 113 00:21:07.560 --> 00:21:24.300 Wade Lightheart: Right and that's an important distinction, I think, for people to recognize is now that you've you've demonstrated that it's possible well, we can start designing divine developing and designing trials about how to measure this to see which might well. 114 00:21:24.870 --> 00:21:30.870 Terry Wahls: Right and that the end that's what we're doing so, the next trial that we're doing. 115 00:21:32.160 --> 00:21:36.840 Terry Wahls: Well, maybe talk about the trial that we just published and then we'll talk about the next one. 116 00:21:36.870 --> 00:21:40.290 Wade Lightheart: yeah let's let's do that let's we're getting ahead of ourselves here because it's so. 117 00:21:40.290 --> 00:21:51.690 Wade Lightheart: exciting I just read through this trial now basically if you want to kind of outline what you've been able to put forth here in this in this discovery or. 118 00:21:52.230 --> 00:21:55.080 Terry Wahls: The sequence of doing research ghost. 119 00:21:55.440 --> 00:22:07.980 Terry Wahls: Typically, like this, an interesting case study, then an interesting case series about a intervention that may be changes it leads to an unexpected outcome. 120 00:22:08.670 --> 00:22:17.730 Terry Wahls: We then did what's called a single arm safety and feasibility study so and that was my chair medicine that got me to do this. 121 00:22:18.420 --> 00:22:29.430 Terry Wahls: We wrote up a protocol that outlined what I did for myself and then we enrolled 20 folks with secondary and primary progressive Ms. 122 00:22:29.790 --> 00:22:40.350 Terry Wahls: Sure, expect any of them to get any better, and the fact of all you can do is hold them flat, as a group that would be an amazing home run and anybody improve that would be studying. 123 00:22:41.850 --> 00:22:54.570 Terry Wahls: So we enrolled them we showed that people could implement it if the big the big side effect weight was if you're overweight or obese you lost weight get back to a healthy weight. 124 00:22:56.280 --> 00:23:10.260 Terry Wahls: And I had to file reports every three months about the weight loss that was occurring fatigue reduced quality of life, improved in half of our folks motor function walking function improved. 125 00:23:11.280 --> 00:23:17.730 Terry Wahls: So 50% of the people start to see improvements in motor function function that that's really quite remarkable. 126 00:23:18.210 --> 00:23:23.610 Terry Wahls: cognition improved depression declined anxiety declined. 127 00:23:24.090 --> 00:23:30.870 Wade Lightheart: Now, where was in that trial, where you just measuring dietary changes or Where are you adding the. 128 00:23:30.870 --> 00:23:31.800 Terry Wahls: stimulation well. 129 00:23:31.920 --> 00:23:32.490 Terry Wahls: You know. 130 00:23:33.330 --> 00:23:47.400 Terry Wahls: We, the program was to do could they do everything that I did so there was diet, there was meditation those exercise electro stimulation and supplements very complicated. 131 00:23:48.480 --> 00:23:50.760 Terry Wahls: In severely criticized I might get. 132 00:23:51.750 --> 00:23:53.070 Terry Wahls: Really criticize because. 133 00:23:53.460 --> 00:23:56.850 Terry Wahls: Well, if it works, who knows what the mechanism is and i'm like. 134 00:23:57.330 --> 00:24:06.360 Terry Wahls: Who cares cares first, you have to show, can they do it, and do you heard them and does it work, then you could do follow up studies to figure out the mechanisms. 135 00:24:06.840 --> 00:24:25.800 Terry Wahls: Yes, so so get that first study, then we got some again it was a small small study funded by my friends and Canada, the next study again small pilot study now randomized and simplified so it's just a diet. 136 00:24:26.970 --> 00:24:34.320 Terry Wahls: And we did relapsing remitting folks we looked at fatigue, quality of life and motor function so again people could do it. 137 00:24:35.460 --> 00:24:43.110 Terry Wahls: Safe and less fatigue higher quality of life better motor function. 138 00:24:44.490 --> 00:24:46.440 Terry Wahls: Then we did a comparison of. 139 00:24:47.910 --> 00:24:55.800 Terry Wahls: The Paleo diet, the ketogenic diet to usual diet and again showing that people could do it, it was safe well tolerated. 140 00:24:57.540 --> 00:25:01.320 Terry Wahls: The next study, which is a study that you read. 141 00:25:02.490 --> 00:25:10.620 Terry Wahls: Looked at the low saturated fat diet, which is a swank diet and that was the only other diet that was out there for. 142 00:25:11.970 --> 00:25:14.730 Terry Wahls: people with MS and the modified Paleo diet. 143 00:25:16.320 --> 00:25:32.790 Terry Wahls: We had a 12 week observation phase where we looked at people's all of the measures over that baseline period that run in period to see if they were stable or not, and they were then we randomize them. 144 00:25:34.080 --> 00:25:38.280 Terry Wahls: To either the low saturated fat diet, or the modified Paleo diet. 145 00:25:39.480 --> 00:25:48.840 Terry Wahls: They came back at 12 weeks repeated all the measures and came back again in 12 weeks repeated all the measures, so we had 12 and 24 weeks worth of intervention. 146 00:25:50.640 --> 00:25:55.500 Terry Wahls: were able to show is both sides were associated with a significant reduction fatigue. 147 00:25:56.880 --> 00:25:59.040 Terry Wahls: And improvement in quality of life. 148 00:26:00.270 --> 00:26:15.660 Terry Wahls: was being and they're really pretty cool in at 12 weeks at 24 weeks walls had greater poverty reduction in some measures and higher quality of life than swank and some measures. 149 00:26:17.010 --> 00:26:18.090 Wade Lightheart: Now that's physical abuse. 150 00:26:18.120 --> 00:26:20.520 Wade Lightheart: that's the reduced fat the saturated. 151 00:26:20.550 --> 00:26:20.910 Right. 152 00:26:22.170 --> 00:26:26.610 Wade Lightheart: And why is it, why is that do you understand why that mechanism is. 153 00:26:26.790 --> 00:26:35.010 Terry Wahls: Well, so let's first think about what the two diets have that similar and what is different. 154 00:26:35.070 --> 00:26:36.330 Wade Lightheart: Uniform I love that pro. 155 00:26:36.390 --> 00:26:40.650 Terry Wahls: Okay, so what's similar we had. 156 00:26:41.790 --> 00:26:55.830 Terry Wahls: Increased fruits and vegetables in both walls had more fruits and vegetables and swag, but we also increase fruits and vegetables, compared to baseline in there was less sugar less hydrogenated fats. 157 00:26:57.120 --> 00:27:01.350 Terry Wahls: So less of those are harmful fats in both that. 158 00:27:02.580 --> 00:27:14.520 Terry Wahls: Now what is different yeah actually you're both walls and sway had a so the swank group had on average about 10 grams of saturated fat. 159 00:27:15.810 --> 00:27:26.130 Terry Wahls: The walls had on average 16 grams of saturated fat so both diets are relatively low in saturated fat swank being a little more so than the walls. 160 00:27:27.570 --> 00:27:47.790 Terry Wahls: The walls group had more fiber had more fermented foods, I had little more structure the vegetables more green green leafy vegetables more sulfur rich vegetables more deeply colored vegetables and probably a greater variety of fruits and vegetables and a greater variety of meats. 161 00:27:49.980 --> 00:27:59.010 Terry Wahls: What are the market as well, we were working on a grant that will get submitted tomorrow that's going to look at. 162 00:28:00.120 --> 00:28:15.090 Terry Wahls: Changes in the microbiome well between the running face, that is, the observation face in the diet intervention face, so we can see how that changes both the swank died in the walls night we'll get some biomarkers. 163 00:28:16.110 --> 00:28:22.980 Terry Wahls: In terms of the essential fatty acid metabolism and neural filaments a marker of. 164 00:28:24.990 --> 00:28:36.780 Terry Wahls: of brain cell damage in osteopontin a marker of metabolism and of inflammation and actually also. 165 00:28:37.980 --> 00:28:39.300 Terry Wahls: bone metabolism as well. 166 00:28:41.310 --> 00:28:52.650 Terry Wahls: And will correlate changes with dietary changes and changes with clinical outcomes as well, so we'll begin to tease out. 167 00:28:54.000 --> 00:29:05.220 Terry Wahls: what's the mechanism of diet that yo it diet is is a huge driver in changes in the microbiome so so my interpretation is. 168 00:29:07.650 --> 00:29:11.880 Terry Wahls: We ever genetic vulnerability, we have our existing microbiome. 169 00:29:13.380 --> 00:29:19.920 Terry Wahls: In the two of them interact to create more inflammation at the higher risk of autoimmunity and accelerated aging. 170 00:29:21.480 --> 00:29:28.530 Terry Wahls: You change your diet you fertilize and starve out different populations of the microbiome. 171 00:29:29.700 --> 00:29:42.480 Terry Wahls: And so, should I or I path deciding we starve out disease, promoting microbes fertilize health marine microbes who then as they eat up the food that we eat create. 172 00:29:43.800 --> 00:29:51.300 Terry Wahls: The these anti inflammation compounds that get into our bloodstream and have a favorable impact on our physiology. 173 00:29:52.350 --> 00:30:02.970 Wade Lightheart: You know it's interesting that you've discovered that because we've been in digestive health research, we have a partnership with birch University in Croatia and we develop. 174 00:30:03.900 --> 00:30:11.970 Wade Lightheart: A variety of probiotic agents in order to elicit the same effects, and we do all kinds of interesting tests we add vitamins to them, we give them. 175 00:30:12.270 --> 00:30:23.370 Wade Lightheart: Different types of food we blast them with EMF waves, sometimes we do we'd all kinds of things to do this research to see and we've come to the same conclusion that if you can. 176 00:30:23.940 --> 00:30:30.210 Wade Lightheart: feed the good guys and starve the bad guys we see positive progressive changes. 177 00:30:30.720 --> 00:30:38.460 Wade Lightheart: That enhance well being enhanced health or like vitality immune system response these type of things and it's really exciting. 178 00:30:38.880 --> 00:30:44.610 Wade Lightheart: That you've done this in a disease state because we're obviously we're in health promotion. 179 00:30:45.540 --> 00:30:54.000 Wade Lightheart: we've got a recent book called from sick to superhuman and our goal is to promote the individuals, the therapies, the research. 180 00:30:54.540 --> 00:31:06.210 Wade Lightheart: That it takes people who might have a diagnosis that says here's what it's going to be it's the end of the line for you it's going to be progressive degenerative you're going to take these toxic chemicals and drugs and whatever and then. 181 00:31:06.600 --> 00:31:25.140 Wade Lightheart: you're going to kind of waste away to say hey no, you know what there are other options that you can take and experienced a higher quality of life, at best, or worst and maybe even recover from your condition or or delay it's it's a you know its destructive nature. 182 00:31:25.620 --> 00:31:31.020 Terry Wahls: You know it my clinical practice in our clinical research week we talked a lot about. 183 00:31:32.220 --> 00:31:51.300 Terry Wahls: Maintaining your locus of control reflect on are you doing all that you can to have the best life today and in the future, and so I just think that is so important to remind people that you always have choices. 184 00:31:52.740 --> 00:31:59.700 Terry Wahls: That you know what i'm eating is a big choice, yet, so I can eat. 185 00:32:00.720 --> 00:32:06.660 Terry Wahls: food that is delicious and health, promoting work eat food that is delicious and disease, promoting. 186 00:32:10.860 --> 00:32:11.880 Wade Lightheart: it's very simple. 187 00:32:13.500 --> 00:32:25.080 Wade Lightheart: I want to talk about something that I think is really important, before we get into some more topics and you mentioned meditation and you, you mentioned. 188 00:32:25.920 --> 00:32:30.690 Wade Lightheart: kind of letting go of the future, in other words just dealing with things as they come up, which is. 189 00:32:31.110 --> 00:32:45.720 Wade Lightheart: kind of mindful Buddhist almost practice of being in the moment and seeing the moment unfold into that and not getting ahead of yourself or behind yourself What role do you think that played in maybe. 190 00:32:46.950 --> 00:33:03.300 Wade Lightheart: How you approach this discoveries that you made management of kind of you know, negative thinking or you know that sort of like how important was that do you think to your recovery or your your your discoveries. 191 00:33:03.630 --> 00:33:09.570 Terry Wahls: You know what else diagnosed my children are quite small five and eight. 192 00:33:10.680 --> 00:33:30.360 Terry Wahls: And at the time that I was diagnosed, I was still athletic still skiing biking and hiking with them, but very quickly, I cannot do that you know, I was having to reimagine parenting and as having to reimagine my life, each year, as more functions were being taken away. 193 00:33:31.410 --> 00:33:31.980 Terry Wahls: I. 194 00:33:32.040 --> 00:33:34.320 Wade Lightheart: Is what was that, like just. 195 00:33:34.470 --> 00:33:36.570 Wade Lightheart: From an emotional and psychological level. 196 00:33:37.980 --> 00:33:38.310 Terry Wahls: well. 197 00:33:40.470 --> 00:33:43.410 Terry Wahls: It was certainly incredibly challenging. 198 00:33:44.550 --> 00:33:45.030 Terry Wahls: i've. 199 00:33:46.110 --> 00:34:07.860 Terry Wahls: All my life I struggled with depression and, as a young person I had made the astute observation that for me if I was athletic my mood was much, much better I and so that drove me to get into biking hiking running. 200 00:34:08.940 --> 00:34:16.350 Terry Wahls: martial arts and then, as I was losing that it's like you know that was very, very tough. 201 00:34:17.610 --> 00:34:19.590 Terry Wahls: And thinking about. 202 00:34:23.040 --> 00:34:30.120 Terry Wahls: Is sort of very depressed out looking at okay how bad could this be was I going to be filtered Bob. 203 00:34:31.140 --> 00:34:35.190 Terry Wahls: Was I going to have cognitive issues and then. 204 00:34:36.480 --> 00:34:40.140 Terry Wahls: yeah you know within three years, you know, should I was wheelchair bound. 205 00:34:42.270 --> 00:34:46.170 Terry Wahls: In the average it's 15 years, so I was. 206 00:34:48.840 --> 00:34:51.090 Terry Wahls: extremely difficult. 207 00:34:52.830 --> 00:34:55.440 Terry Wahls: But I also fortunately. 208 00:34:56.550 --> 00:34:57.690 Terry Wahls: was impressed by. 209 00:34:58.740 --> 00:35:00.300 Terry Wahls: Victor frankel's book that. 210 00:35:01.380 --> 00:35:10.110 Terry Wahls: Between every event in your life and your response to it there's a space in that space, you can make a choice and it's the choice that defines your character. 211 00:35:12.720 --> 00:35:22.440 Terry Wahls: And so my choice was Okay, you have two young kids who are watching what you're doing and my choice to give up. 212 00:35:23.580 --> 00:35:31.680 Terry Wahls: And succumb to my depression and the dark thoughts that I had would be modeling on life is tough you you give up. 213 00:35:32.760 --> 00:35:37.170 Terry Wahls: Or, I could make the choice of i'm going to do all that I can. 214 00:35:38.280 --> 00:35:47.820 Terry Wahls: In which was, I want to keep working out whatever my limited workout is going to be every day i'll keep going to work in they're going to have to have chores. 215 00:35:49.050 --> 00:36:06.660 Terry Wahls: You know I grew up on a farm I understood that chores were really very beneficial for children and young people growing up, and so my wife right said, your kids will have to have chores and, of course, as I became more disabled like it yep they have chores and they have. 216 00:36:08.640 --> 00:36:13.680 Terry Wahls: It really is real work that needed to happen, I and so. 217 00:36:14.940 --> 00:36:22.980 Terry Wahls: that's sort of would chuckle like Okay, I guess, God heard me and I said, my kids need to have chores and saw to it that they were going to have chores. 218 00:36:25.020 --> 00:36:31.260 Wade Lightheart: Viktor frankl has impacted so many people in the book man's search for meaning I think it's. 219 00:36:31.650 --> 00:36:32.700 Terry Wahls: Really striking found. 220 00:36:33.270 --> 00:36:44.340 Wade Lightheart: I want to extend one other piece to this because, to your partner and i'm sure you had plenty of candid discussions inside of that what was like that for you and what was your best. 221 00:36:45.660 --> 00:36:46.830 Wade Lightheart: Observation of what that. 222 00:36:46.830 --> 00:36:47.940 Wade Lightheart: was her. 223 00:36:49.170 --> 00:36:50.640 Terry Wahls: Well, I remember. 224 00:36:52.710 --> 00:37:11.310 Terry Wahls: She worked really hard at getting me to get to go out and do things so she loves mountain biking and took me in my wheelchair out to the park set set me up under the tree well she what mountain biking so. 225 00:37:12.900 --> 00:37:22.860 Terry Wahls: much bigger deal for her, and then it came back and helps me walk down to the water's edge and. 226 00:37:24.090 --> 00:37:25.140 Terry Wahls: got in the water, but. 227 00:37:27.720 --> 00:37:39.000 Terry Wahls: You know, a wonderful commitment just another example, all that she had done for me and then, when she was out mountain biking in the winter. 228 00:37:40.620 --> 00:37:42.690 Terry Wahls: She broke her ankle. 229 00:37:43.800 --> 00:37:46.020 Terry Wahls: It would have to have so. 230 00:37:47.940 --> 00:37:52.110 Terry Wahls: After our two kids were going off to Sweden. 231 00:37:53.280 --> 00:38:05.310 Terry Wahls: For a week to be with friends, so we sent sent them off we showed them that you know jack and I would be fine jack header surgery to have her ankle set and the pins set. 232 00:38:06.390 --> 00:38:06.990 Terry Wahls: And i'm. 233 00:38:08.100 --> 00:38:11.940 Terry Wahls: taking care of jack getting her her pain pills. 234 00:38:12.960 --> 00:38:15.150 Terry Wahls: And our friends were bringing over. 235 00:38:16.170 --> 00:38:23.040 Terry Wahls: takeout for us so so we could eat and the week that we had planned to have off with each other. 236 00:38:24.210 --> 00:38:30.540 Terry Wahls: While the kids were in Sweden, of course, was quite different was giving her pain pills were watching. 237 00:38:32.010 --> 00:38:33.660 Terry Wahls: netflix movies. 238 00:38:35.100 --> 00:38:39.810 Terry Wahls: And I just felt immensely grateful that I could finally be taking care of her. 239 00:38:41.790 --> 00:38:42.600 Wade Lightheart: You know. 240 00:38:44.190 --> 00:38:57.120 Wade Lightheart: One of the things that i've noticed, I went through a tragedy at an early age, my sister was diagnosed with hodgkin's disease and progressively until she died at age 22 she was four years, my senior and the striking. 241 00:38:59.070 --> 00:39:10.410 Wade Lightheart: component of being subjected to a serious medical condition and all of its dire consequences and everything that kind of disrupts the natural flow of life. 242 00:39:11.040 --> 00:39:27.480 Wade Lightheart: There is this other side of it, where you see the outpouring of love and connection and humanity and kind of the noble aspects that inspire all of us to you know it's. 243 00:39:27.930 --> 00:39:37.860 Wade Lightheart: I call it the sublime or to see that there are other energies or forces beyond our intellect that have that define what it is to be a human. 244 00:39:38.940 --> 00:39:47.070 Wade Lightheart: And there's these beautiful little moments, whether that's in the patient rooms, or maybe with a nurse or a doctor. 245 00:39:47.490 --> 00:39:56.460 Wade Lightheart: or a loved one or a friend, where they going above and beyond in the care of either the extended family or with the individual and. 246 00:39:57.420 --> 00:40:16.620 Wade Lightheart: it's if you've been in that situation it's hard to describe it's transcendent because you just see pure kindness and pure love and concern for other people and it's it's inspired me in my own life to continue to advocate you know. 247 00:40:18.030 --> 00:40:26.130 Wade Lightheart: Then commit to helping other people live a healthier and better life, because I saw the impact that well your health isn't a guarantee and your life isn't a guarantee at a very early age. 248 00:40:27.330 --> 00:40:31.500 Wade Lightheart: How has this situation with yourself. 249 00:40:32.520 --> 00:40:35.790 Wade Lightheart: Inspired you your research and what. 250 00:40:35.820 --> 00:40:46.050 Wade Lightheart: We see happen as a way of you know, providing hope and opportunity for more of those moments for other people. 251 00:40:46.800 --> 00:40:56.550 Terry Wahls: You know, when I had my remarkable recovery my chair of medicine at the university called me and told me first to get a case report written up. 252 00:40:57.720 --> 00:41:03.060 Terry Wahls: In like on myself so yeah yeah this is your job, your assignment for the years right I got that done. 253 00:41:04.260 --> 00:41:12.360 Terry Wahls: Then, my got that published he called me back and say okay Now I want you to safety and feasibility study testing out this Protocol. 254 00:41:13.590 --> 00:41:24.360 Terry Wahls: You know there's and I said well that's not the research that I do it goes i'll get you the mentors that's your assignment and that's what you'll do so I saluted that Okay, Sir, and. 255 00:41:25.410 --> 00:41:41.550 Terry Wahls: Then, as people at the university some books were intensely critical, but what I was doing I in as I published my research and published my book, and my Ted talk I got all sorts of hate mail immense criticism. 256 00:41:42.810 --> 00:41:46.110 Terry Wahls: And so I do these interviews had say well. 257 00:41:47.400 --> 00:41:58.350 Terry Wahls: You know, obviously, obviously I want you to do what you think is ethically right, but I will tell you that I remember what it's like to be disabled. 258 00:41:59.700 --> 00:42:17.160 Terry Wahls: And that I need to tell people what my story was and the research that i'm doing, and they can decide how comfortable, they are with eating more vegetables meditating exercising asking for physical therapy in work with your medical team. 259 00:42:18.810 --> 00:42:21.300 Terry Wahls: And i'll keep putting that information out there. 260 00:42:22.320 --> 00:42:34.020 Terry Wahls: And so many times, I was you know ripped to shreds called unprofessional in dangerous in worse, and I would just call me set you know. 261 00:42:34.470 --> 00:42:45.930 Terry Wahls: Absolutely do what you think is ethically right, and I am i'll be to do what I think is ethically right absolutely I will disclose my conflicts of interest, I will disclose. 262 00:42:46.650 --> 00:42:59.670 Terry Wahls: Where the researcher that a caution people to work with they're treating physicians and they can decide how dangerous vegetables are how dangerous meditation is it how dangerous exercises for that. 263 00:43:01.290 --> 00:43:11.010 Terry Wahls: I just call me state those things, and then you know people would have their intense reaction like yo ever wonder I just saying like. 264 00:43:11.520 --> 00:43:27.180 Terry Wahls: Well, and how would you feel if I came started saying I could do all these things to treat rheumatoid arthritis and say, well, if that got my rheumatoid arthritis patients eat more vegetables to meditate exercise, I would say hello yeah. 265 00:43:30.330 --> 00:43:33.150 Wade Lightheart: i'm gonna ask I just a big thing because we're living in. 266 00:43:34.380 --> 00:43:46.020 Wade Lightheart: An interesting time right now, and there is a significant condemnation of certain narratives around medical and i've been following. 267 00:43:47.370 --> 00:43:51.810 Wade Lightheart: The weinstein's I don't know if you know who they are their evolutionary biologists. 268 00:43:52.380 --> 00:43:59.310 Wade Lightheart: That were essentially kicked out of evergreen university and ended up starting their own podcast because they were willing to challenge. 269 00:43:59.790 --> 00:44:05.370 Wade Lightheart: Some of the negative criticism that was directed towards the research and and heather and. 270 00:44:06.210 --> 00:44:13.620 Wade Lightheart: And Brett the husband and wife team they go through the science currently with the pandemic that we're dealing with today. 271 00:44:14.070 --> 00:44:24.930 Wade Lightheart: And they take it apart like reasonable rational scientists with skepticism and scientific method night as a non scientist person or I don't have a medical background. 272 00:44:25.260 --> 00:44:38.310 Wade Lightheart: I find it very refreshing to be able to kind of borrow on their intellectual acumen and they're structured thinking to go through this, and they also have received extreme levels of criticism. 273 00:44:38.790 --> 00:44:58.230 Wade Lightheart: And i've interviewed a number of doctors, who have made breakthrough discoveries we've had them on the podcast and variety of conditions and they to get subjected, particularly to very vicious attacks from their peers, why is that do you think is something threatening about it or. 274 00:44:58.950 --> 00:44:59.550 Terry Wahls: Explain. 275 00:44:59.610 --> 00:45:00.750 Terry Wahls: The biology of what. 276 00:45:00.810 --> 00:45:05.880 Terry Wahls: That happens i'm going to invite you to reflect pretty carefully we'll talk about this. 277 00:45:07.560 --> 00:45:09.240 Terry Wahls: sensory input, as it comes up. 278 00:45:10.860 --> 00:45:30.900 Terry Wahls: to buy spinal cord and brain is an overwhelming by him of information so at various points, the amount of information that gets through keeps getting cut down to smaller and smaller amounts so that my vision my hearing my sensory my sense of space. 279 00:45:32.100 --> 00:45:41.040 Terry Wahls: Is a tiny fraction less than half a percent of what's coming in and that and as infants, we learn to do that, so we can. 280 00:45:42.180 --> 00:45:56.880 Terry Wahls: cope, we can feed ourselves interact with the world on on just a tiny amount of information in we learn to do that in our social constructs first in our family unit in our expanded. 281 00:45:57.990 --> 00:46:03.930 Terry Wahls: universe of friends colleagues in our educational life and then in our work life. 282 00:46:05.070 --> 00:46:16.470 Terry Wahls: And so we we learned to interact with a tiny amount of information for my relationship with my my spouse my kids my family. 283 00:46:17.580 --> 00:46:32.670 Terry Wahls: I, and so is information that comes in that doesn't conform to my understanding of the world, it doesn't get to my cortex it doesn't get to my higher and say it's been pruned out and then what apply does get to my cortex I ignore it. 284 00:46:33.960 --> 00:46:36.240 Terry Wahls: Because it doesn't it doesn't match my to save the world. 285 00:46:37.470 --> 00:46:40.380 Terry Wahls: And then I may ridicule it I may push back. 286 00:46:41.490 --> 00:46:50.520 Terry Wahls: And then occasionally there's enough information that I realize maybe I need to change my understanding of the world. 287 00:46:51.990 --> 00:47:03.870 Terry Wahls: And we will do that with minus eight of my best friend my spouse my kids my work environments my professional environment until mindset of the world is somehow shatter. 288 00:47:05.610 --> 00:47:25.950 Terry Wahls: So of course our anyone who is an innovator, who thinks of something really new and different is going to face that kind of resistance, the innovators, in order to be successful, have to be okay with being ridiculed rejected potentially burned at the stake mm hmm. 289 00:47:27.330 --> 00:47:31.110 Terry Wahls: And you know part of the reason that I think i've been successful. 290 00:47:32.130 --> 00:47:54.930 Terry Wahls: And wanting to hang in here with this is that I had this internal moral obligation, because my own experience, the other reason that i'm successful is i'm a lesbian, and so I had to as part of my evolution as a emotional adult is it to let go of societal expectations of May I finally. 291 00:47:56.190 --> 00:48:02.550 Terry Wahls: Let all of that roll off my back and became comfortable with who, I am in my family structure. 292 00:48:03.750 --> 00:48:12.090 Terry Wahls: In being able to eventually get comfortable with that I think has made it easy for me to let the criticism that i've gotten. 293 00:48:12.960 --> 00:48:25.050 Terry Wahls: and probably another thing that's helpful is I am sort of clueless My family has found it far more stressful for the amount of criticism i've gotten over the years that I have because I just. 294 00:48:26.640 --> 00:48:27.690 Terry Wahls: focused on. 295 00:48:27.810 --> 00:48:28.590 My. 296 00:48:30.780 --> 00:48:36.060 Terry Wahls: You know my work my family what i'm doing and i'm oblivious to the world. 297 00:48:38.580 --> 00:48:46.590 Terry Wahls: And so i've i've learned to pay more attention to the world professionally but i'm still more oblivious than many of my colleagues. 298 00:48:49.200 --> 00:48:55.590 Wade Lightheart: it's a very important distinction, I think, for people to understand that. 299 00:48:57.120 --> 00:49:00.180 Wade Lightheart: Much of our world, I think it was. 300 00:49:02.970 --> 00:49:05.070 Wade Lightheart: reminded Maharishi that says. 301 00:49:06.180 --> 00:49:10.170 Wade Lightheart: there's no sense of being upset of the world, because the world he perceived doesn't actually exist. 302 00:49:13.980 --> 00:49:14.280 Wade Lightheart: enough. 303 00:49:14.640 --> 00:49:25.380 Wade Lightheart: That you brought this up is on Sunday, I was at my meditation Center and the monk was giving a discussion about the. 304 00:49:25.890 --> 00:49:30.360 Wade Lightheart: amount of information that's coming into our nervous system and how much is if it's actually filtered out. 305 00:49:30.930 --> 00:49:45.150 Wade Lightheart: And the component of meditation is to increase in open up one's awareness, to increase the opportunity for us to expand our consciousness or awareness into other areas, yet we live in a world today. 306 00:49:46.230 --> 00:49:59.400 Wade Lightheart: Which is fascinating because we've never had more information coming through to us yet specialization has increased as society. 307 00:50:00.300 --> 00:50:10.500 Wade Lightheart: improves and technological innovation so, for example, 100 years ago I needed to know how to chop wood and I needed to know how to farm and I needed to know how to maybe. 308 00:50:11.490 --> 00:50:23.910 Wade Lightheart: Properly hunt or clean animals and how to fix my house and it was a very more rural setting and today, you can have a job in in an urban area let's say as a cashier. 309 00:50:24.570 --> 00:50:30.750 Wade Lightheart: And you literally don't have to know anything other than how to punch numbers into the code and what's up and so. 310 00:50:31.170 --> 00:50:39.210 Wade Lightheart: The the interesting component as we've developed so much technologically we in and we get so much more information there's almost like. 311 00:50:39.630 --> 00:50:57.990 Wade Lightheart: As a response there's a drilling down to narrowness do you think that is something that needs to be identified in the medical community or do you think there's a way that we can cultivate innovation in geniuses in a way that doesn't. 312 00:50:59.130 --> 00:51:03.360 Wade Lightheart: draw the ire of people who are performing functions within that field. 313 00:51:04.590 --> 00:51:05.310 Terry Wahls: I think. 314 00:51:06.510 --> 00:51:17.370 Terry Wahls: Anyone who's truly innovative is going to draw the ire because it's very uncomfortable to have to abandon my constructs of how I understand the world. 315 00:51:18.450 --> 00:51:34.950 Terry Wahls: None of us want to do that I don't want to do that, you don't want to do that, we won't easily do that, so I don't think it's possible to have innovation that without facing ridicule and rejection at first and then either your ideas pan out. 316 00:51:36.240 --> 00:51:37.740 Terry Wahls: Or the suppressed. 317 00:51:39.690 --> 00:51:46.530 Terry Wahls: And so you keep doing the experiments, I have. 318 00:51:48.420 --> 00:52:01.260 Terry Wahls: A unique story, you know it actually the university's sort of commented on this, because most of my research has been funded by philanthropic gifts. 319 00:52:02.730 --> 00:52:05.640 Terry Wahls: From people whose lives, I have touched. 320 00:52:06.660 --> 00:52:14.370 Terry Wahls: Who then afterwards, who happen to have money, and so you know I believe what you're doing a turtle like to support your research. 321 00:52:15.990 --> 00:52:34.260 Terry Wahls: And so here's a gift for your next project, and so the second time that happened, but we got a six figure donation to my research lab the dean of the College called me and I had a meeting I thought your God yo who have I pissed off now. 322 00:52:36.990 --> 00:52:37.380 Wade Lightheart: Of course. 323 00:52:37.410 --> 00:52:38.430 Terry Wahls: And it was like. 324 00:52:39.870 --> 00:52:43.620 Terry Wahls: This has never happened at the University of iowa So what are you doing. 325 00:52:45.030 --> 00:52:59.850 Terry Wahls: And you know we continue to have some remarkable philanthropic support, which is a that has allowed me to invest it to do some really interesting and small projects and now we'll be doing this much larger project. 326 00:53:01.770 --> 00:53:02.730 Terry Wahls: Because. 327 00:53:04.080 --> 00:53:25.110 Terry Wahls: i've made a diff I have a protocol that has had some dramatic impact on people who have resources, then, to come back to me in my lab say you know what we like what you do a talk to us about some ideas and we think we'd like to give you another larger gift. 328 00:53:27.090 --> 00:53:28.050 Terry Wahls: And so. 329 00:53:29.100 --> 00:53:46.470 Terry Wahls: That allows me in some ways to be vastly more innovative than folks who have to write grants that have to convince their peers have a newly innovative idea who can't accept new big innovations, they can accept small incremental. 330 00:53:47.490 --> 00:53:48.630 Terry Wahls: Partial ovations. 331 00:53:49.290 --> 00:53:51.030 Terry Wahls: You know and and what i've done. 332 00:53:51.960 --> 00:54:07.050 Terry Wahls: With my multi multi modal studies was a huge big innovation that was completely utterly rejected by all the NIH folks in 2010 when we're writing those grants. 333 00:54:08.370 --> 00:54:15.960 Terry Wahls: But now you're in 2011 these multimodal studies are being done, and our work has been cited. 334 00:54:17.100 --> 00:54:17.550 Terry Wahls: Beautiful. 335 00:54:18.000 --> 00:54:30.570 Wade Lightheart: I was also listening to Eric weinstein that's brett's brother he runs a podcast called dark horses and advanced physicist a super genius and he was sharing how. 336 00:54:31.200 --> 00:54:45.240 Wade Lightheart: Many of the current research grant organizations are stifling a lot of the development of science and what he felt that there was between him and his brother and a sister they had three. 337 00:54:47.220 --> 00:54:57.330 Wade Lightheart: Human human transformational discoveries that was essentially being suppressed, and he says, well, if you do the math of how many other researchers that could be. 338 00:54:57.690 --> 00:55:04.080 Wade Lightheart: Situated in this, I think a lot of people and, and this is what I love about alternative funding. 339 00:55:04.560 --> 00:55:14.610 Wade Lightheart: That the NIH over the last 30 years I think has given out somewhere around $3 trillion in research grants, but they develop they define what gets. 340 00:55:15.360 --> 00:55:23.940 Wade Lightheart: What gets accepted and what doesn't but now there's these other funding options that you kind of illustrated with yourself that are allowing researchers to maybe go outside of. 341 00:55:24.330 --> 00:55:34.890 Wade Lightheart: The normal parameters using science, but to kind of create exponential growth, do you see that as the future for research that you're doing or expanding teachers in the field. 342 00:55:35.040 --> 00:55:38.190 Terry Wahls: So, so I think that peer review. 343 00:55:39.270 --> 00:55:41.550 Terry Wahls: incremental approach has certainly. 344 00:55:42.780 --> 00:55:48.180 Terry Wahls: hugely deepen understanding of physiology in very wonderful ways. 345 00:55:51.030 --> 00:56:11.820 Terry Wahls: The ability to do what i'm doing his also ultra understanding in really profound ways I in that as been on the basis of this philanthropic gifts because we've made an impact on the lives of people have to have a lot of money. 346 00:56:13.560 --> 00:56:28.710 Terry Wahls: And you know when i'm in these meetings with my other scientific colleagues who are doing dietary research in there right yeah i'm writing grants, along with them and sore they were talking about the issued struggles to get through to peer reviews. 347 00:56:29.940 --> 00:56:33.210 Terry Wahls: To do the innovative work I and. 348 00:56:34.470 --> 00:56:43.680 Terry Wahls: When I reflect on what i'm going to be able to launch into next because i've had i'm so blessed to have this philanthropic support. 349 00:56:46.800 --> 00:56:53.910 Terry Wahls: And I think the bigger breakthroughs will come through from folks who have access to philanthropic support. 350 00:56:54.630 --> 00:56:57.420 Wade Lightheart: know, can you talk about what's coming down the pipe for. 351 00:56:57.450 --> 00:56:57.870 yeah. 352 00:56:59.370 --> 00:57:00.000 Terry Wahls: it's very exciting. 353 00:57:01.200 --> 00:57:12.660 Terry Wahls: So again, this is from a grateful patient who really believes in what we're doing we're going to enroll people. 354 00:57:13.680 --> 00:57:32.370 Terry Wahls: with multiple sclerosis relapse remitting who want to do a dietary approach they'll need to be agreed to be randomized between a ketogenic diet, a modified Paleo diet and dietary guidelines will give them support. 355 00:57:33.750 --> 00:57:43.860 Terry Wahls: over that time period, we will follow them over two years we will be measuring did they actually implement the diet. 356 00:57:44.310 --> 00:58:00.450 Terry Wahls: What what are they eating so will will know about dietary adherence we will know about clinical outcomes in terms of walking function vision function hand function will understand patient reported outcomes in terms of mood. 357 00:58:03.570 --> 00:58:11.610 Terry Wahls: Processing speed or memory fatigue, quality of life, we will have biomarkers as well. 358 00:58:13.200 --> 00:58:13.740 Terry Wahls: and 359 00:58:15.930 --> 00:58:34.380 Terry Wahls: This will be the first time that will have had a study of this size for two years, that will be able to look at changes in clinical outcomes changes in biomarkers whilst be looking at myelination along the way. 360 00:58:35.610 --> 00:58:36.180 Terry Wahls: as well. 361 00:58:37.680 --> 00:58:46.350 Terry Wahls: And we're will be freezing microbiome specimens will be freezing blood specimens so at the end. 362 00:58:47.400 --> 00:58:55.200 Terry Wahls: We will ask bill to write another grant to go back and say let's look at the molecular mechanisms of what is going on and why. 363 00:58:56.250 --> 00:58:59.820 Terry Wahls: So this will be absolutely transformational. 364 00:59:01.440 --> 00:59:05.910 Terry Wahls: A smaller study that may be even more transformational in some ways. 365 00:59:05.910 --> 00:59:08.640 Terry Wahls: Ways it may be looking at an. 366 00:59:10.380 --> 00:59:21.510 Terry Wahls: An online course that we've created that teaches people through virtual technology such as this, how to improve diet. 367 00:59:22.770 --> 00:59:24.600 Terry Wahls: Stress reduction and exercise. 368 00:59:25.620 --> 00:59:30.060 Terry Wahls: In these supplemental non diet not exercise things that you can be doing. 369 00:59:31.710 --> 00:59:44.310 Terry Wahls: And we'll see that impact on MS patients with we're so that cities approved, we are talking now with our cancer Center and. 370 00:59:45.600 --> 00:59:57.690 Terry Wahls: We anticipate having it studied in cancer we're also talking to rheumatology folks and saying this in rheumatology patients as well, so if we can show anticipate that will we will build a show. 371 00:59:58.170 --> 01:00:10.590 Terry Wahls: That we can teach these concepts online and have improvement in dietary intake improvement in patient reported outcomes Now this is. 372 01:00:12.120 --> 01:00:13.020 Terry Wahls: The sky's the limit. 373 01:00:14.550 --> 01:00:19.170 Terry Wahls: We can transform more lives, this can be. 374 01:00:22.050 --> 01:00:26.130 Terry Wahls: expanded its it has no limits. 375 01:00:27.180 --> 01:00:34.080 Wade Lightheart: You know, this is one of the beauty beautiful things about the Internet and the distribution of information is once. 376 01:00:35.190 --> 01:00:45.750 Wade Lightheart: A demonstrated will protocol breakthrough can be developed, you can share that with a wide variety of people who might not have both the medical. 377 01:00:45.750 --> 01:00:54.000 Wade Lightheart: Or you know the or the even the knowledge of that by you know hey they find out about it, they can experiment they take it to their professional medical science said hey i'd like to. 378 01:00:54.570 --> 01:00:58.920 Wade Lightheart: i'd like to experiment with this on our own, on my own Is that what you anticipate happening. 379 01:00:59.310 --> 01:01:03.930 Terry Wahls: Well, what we certainly anticipate is that this makes it so much more available to. 380 01:01:04.950 --> 01:01:12.090 Terry Wahls: Rural communities to small small communities that don't have access to professionals that could. 381 01:01:13.050 --> 01:01:35.760 Terry Wahls: say a dietitian or to those populations, for whom transport into a clinic is a huge difficulty because of their motor disabilities or access to transportation, so I think this makes it so much more readily available and it's standardized is the education. 382 01:01:37.110 --> 01:01:38.730 Terry Wahls: So I mean, I think this will be. 383 01:01:40.020 --> 01:01:42.960 Terry Wahls: You know, huge huge huge technology. 384 01:01:44.370 --> 01:01:56.910 Terry Wahls: You know that the next the other studies that were the grant next grant that i'm writing and we'll see if I can get this funded by grants or, if not we'll be going back through philanthropic support. 385 01:01:58.230 --> 01:02:03.810 Terry Wahls: When can people stop the disease modifying drug treatment, but when can you do a point is that appropriate. 386 01:02:04.620 --> 01:02:14.550 Terry Wahls: So there are a couple of studies that are underway, now that are randomized and you stop where you stay on there's no intervention to make it more likely that the stoppers will do okay. 387 01:02:15.060 --> 01:02:31.740 Terry Wahls: um so of course you know you know me i'm like well there's a lot we can do to make it more likely that if you stop you're going to be okay, and so we're working on designing studies that could make it more likely that the stoppers will in fact be okay. 388 01:02:32.310 --> 01:02:50.220 Wade Lightheart: that's a that's a really huge piece, because I guess once a once a person has a diagnosis and is going by standard Karen is on a pathway through their physician, many of the physicians are remiss to kind of stop that because of the you know the the legal and. 389 01:02:50.610 --> 01:02:52.740 Wade Lightheart: Well, that would be so. 390 01:02:52.920 --> 01:03:10.500 Terry Wahls: The current standard of care for an autoimmune disease is once you're on a disease modifying treatment you're on that the rest of your life or maybe until you're in your 60s, I should, is there a way to identify who could be weaned off safely. 391 01:03:11.700 --> 01:03:20.400 Terry Wahls: And so I think that's a really important question i've been talking with my neurology colleagues who agree like yep that's a really important question. 392 01:03:20.790 --> 01:03:27.990 Terry Wahls: we've been working on that study design and we will be putting that grant forward. 393 01:03:29.040 --> 01:03:30.060 Terry Wahls: very excited about that. 394 01:03:31.320 --> 01:03:32.070 Wade Lightheart: So. 395 01:03:33.120 --> 01:03:48.480 Wade Lightheart: i'm gonna i'm gonna invite you know that you can you said that you had to give away the future but i'm going to ask you, what do you see happening in the future, so I could ask you to go out there, what would you like to see happen or what would you like to see. 396 01:03:49.620 --> 01:03:55.800 Wade Lightheart: come out of your research your work and that of your colleagues in this area, what do you, what do you hope to happen. 397 01:03:56.220 --> 01:03:57.420 Terry Wahls: Well, you know, I think. 398 01:03:59.040 --> 01:04:14.850 Terry Wahls: What I see is more dietary multimodal interventions that there is a greater recognition that human physiology is incredibly complicated that single drug based steps. 399 01:04:15.630 --> 01:04:31.200 Terry Wahls: compounds that impact our physiology in one pathway very effectively is not going to restore health, but if we're going to restore health we're going to have to work on a comprehensive multimodal support. 400 01:04:31.860 --> 01:04:41.460 Terry Wahls: and that it will make it even more complicated and messy is that if I were to do a multimodal intervention that addresses diet lifestyle exercise. 401 01:04:42.360 --> 01:04:53.670 Terry Wahls: I need to allow for self determination, because if i'm going to have you adapt this multimodal stuff for the next year or two years. 402 01:04:54.420 --> 01:05:06.240 Terry Wahls: I need to design a method of support that gives you autonomy to select elements of what is the meditative practice you gonna do what is the exercise gonna do what is. 403 01:05:07.110 --> 01:05:16.500 Terry Wahls: The dietary plan that the menu of what I offer that you can do so that we're designing a lifestyle intervention that. 404 01:05:17.040 --> 01:05:30.780 Terry Wahls: meets my targets but you've had autonomy and design it what to meet your needs and your family needs that's messy complicated hard science to do that we're going to have to work out. 405 01:05:32.340 --> 01:05:44.490 Terry Wahls: But I think it's really arbitrary say you got to do ballet as your workout you're going to have to do the modified Paleo diet, as your workout and you're going to have to do a mantra based meditation meditation. 406 01:05:47.100 --> 01:06:00.840 Terry Wahls: That doesn't allow for autonomy that's going to make it much harder to adapt this new behavior and sustain if we can personalize this for that you have a variety of acceptable. 407 01:06:01.890 --> 01:06:08.640 Terry Wahls: strategies that you could use to hit the targets that we lay out, I think that would be more successful. 408 01:06:09.930 --> 01:06:14.400 Terry Wahls: My team and I are thinking deeply about how we could design that. 409 01:06:16.500 --> 01:06:34.260 Terry Wahls: What are the parameters that could work in what are the standardized target so it's reproducible science, this will be messy it'll be difficult, and I think one of the reasons i'm so innovative is I don't have a PhD I have an md. 410 01:06:35.460 --> 01:06:54.540 Terry Wahls: I have a depth of clinical experience I have ideas now hire my PhD say Okay, we take these ideas we're going to keep working on it till we come up with a rigorous approach that's reproducible that honors the basic framework that i've laid out yet and. 411 01:06:56.490 --> 01:07:01.890 Terry Wahls: My pitch, these are coming along they're like okay Okay, I think we can do this. 412 01:07:05.310 --> 01:07:09.150 Terry Wahls: You know I realized, now that if i'd had my PhD. 413 01:07:10.860 --> 01:07:29.430 Terry Wahls: I wouldn't be as innovative I would be more in this yet the the the intervention has to be exactly this intervention and we're not going to allow for any patient autonomy and self determination, because that is how research is done. 414 01:07:30.030 --> 01:07:32.250 Terry Wahls: Correct that is not how life is lived. 415 01:07:32.550 --> 01:07:39.450 Wade Lightheart: Right PhD research is you're controlling all the parameters in life it's impossible to control all the parameters essentially. 416 01:07:40.320 --> 01:07:53.070 Terry Wahls: So if we're going to ask someone to do this for a year or two years, we need to think about that self determination aspect, a little bit more. 417 01:07:54.510 --> 01:08:03.630 Wade Lightheart: last question before you we go you've been so generous with your time and your information, your research, and I know there's going to be some listeners here they're going to wonder about this. 418 01:08:04.710 --> 01:08:13.170 Wade Lightheart: would like for you to speak to someone who might have multiple sclerosis or someone who might know some with multiple sclerosis. 419 01:08:13.650 --> 01:08:26.700 Wade Lightheart: or looking at options, what would you say to them as someone who has you know, been subjected to the to the diagnosis saw the degeneration and found a way to turn it around and doing research, what would you say to that person. 420 01:08:28.350 --> 01:08:41.400 Terry Wahls: So I had really profound disability and profound levels of pain and was able to have a dramatic impact by addressing what was under my control. 421 01:08:42.570 --> 01:08:56.220 Terry Wahls: And then, working with my position to adjust my medications appropriately we seen that in others, and of course we don't know for you what level of recovery might be possible. 422 01:08:57.630 --> 01:09:08.010 Terry Wahls: But, are you doing all that you can, in terms of improving your diet, adding a stress reduction practice thinking about movement practice. 423 01:09:09.270 --> 01:09:15.960 Terry Wahls: We, we have a variety of tools that can help you in that journey would love to be support. 424 01:09:18.630 --> 01:09:36.630 Terry Wahls: it's not just Ms it's part of the proteome it's other autoimmune conditions there's so much that can be done to slow your decline and often rest in reverse the disability we'd love to help you in we could. 425 01:09:38.460 --> 01:09:47.130 Terry Wahls: We have a variety of resources for you at Terry walls that calm try, while still be a challenge COM. 426 01:09:49.350 --> 01:09:58.710 Wade Lightheart: Dr dairy walls it's an honor and a privilege for you to join us today on the awesome health podcast and I am inspired by your story. 427 01:09:59.220 --> 01:10:10.650 Wade Lightheart: and your research and your work and i'm wishing you continued success in this journey, I know you're making a big impact for a lot of people and that's a very noble cause, thank you for your effort. 428 01:10:12.120 --> 01:10:13.710 Terry Wahls: Much love to you and your team as well. 429 01:10:15.450 --> 01:10:22.920 Wade Lightheart: There you have it folks another edition of the awesome health podcast just absolutely remarkable work about what's possible. 430 01:10:23.160 --> 01:10:35.580 Wade Lightheart: actually know, we believe that you can go from six to superhuman Dr Terry walls is someone who has is a living example of the possibilities of great diet. 431 01:10:36.390 --> 01:10:45.780 Wade Lightheart: meditation and an iron will to discover the possibilities of human physiology Thank you so much for joining us today, we appreciate. 432 01:10:46.590 --> 01:10:57.540 Wade Lightheart: You listening, if you like it, you can share it and, of course, check all of the information on the show notes, if you or someone you love is suffering from one of these autoimmune conditions like multiple sclerosis. 433 01:10:57.840 --> 01:11:06.000 Wade Lightheart: Make sure that you check out Dr Terry walls and her research thanks so much for joining us today i'm at light heart from by optimize there's see you next time. | |||
| 20 Jul 2021 | 151: Secrets to Transformational Weight Loss for Career Women - with Nagina Abdullah | 00:58:12 | |
Attention Women Who Work 60+ Hours & Have Children: You Can Look & Feel Better Than Ever If you are a smart, ambitious, upwardly-mobile woman working as a corporate executive or a business owner - you understand how precious time can be. Having an exciting career brings some fantastic benefits to a woman’s life. However, when it comes to looking and feeling your best physically, finding the time to do that can be challenging. Gym workouts, crazy diets, meal prep, eating healthy at restaurants - your career throws many obstacles at you when it comes to staying in shape and feeling good about wearing that sexy dress. And then there is the baby factor. Many successful women experience the “ticking biological clock” in their 30s - they want to have a child! Maybe two or three! Which is such a life-altering thing to do. One of the areas of life that get cut out in the career mom routine is paying attention to their physical fitness. Unfortunately, when this occurs, many smart and savvy career ladies feel unhappy with their appearance, which causes cascading results like avoiding social invitations because you don’t have any outfits you feel good in or simply not feeling good in general. The adverse effects of obesity are well documented. What if you could lose 40 pounds while working 60+ hours per week? You absolutely can. In this episode, our guest is health coach Nagina Abdullah. In this exciting conversation, Nagina shares how she lost 40 pounds in 7 months while working full time as a mom. Nagina has already taught 700 other women how to do this as well. The testimonials show that Nagina’s approach to looking and feeling great fits perfectly with a career woman’s lifestyle because it doesn’t require hours in the gym. Be sure to listen in as Nagina shares her secrets to boosting your metabolism using some simple things in your kitchen cabinet. Nagina’s expertise has been featured on FOX NEWS, TIME, Health.com, People.com, and Business Insider.
In this podcast, we cover:
The Pressure to Have Kids & Stay In Shape at the Same Time Nagina is part of the Indian culture, where there is still a lot of pressure to have children. Most cultures still have this pressure to some degree. When asked about her experience as a successful corporate executive who wanted to become a mother, Nagina said, “ I just wanted to indulge in being a new mom and taking care of my baby and learning from it. I was on full leave with my company, and I pretty much had nothing else to do except focus on being a mom. It was heavenly. I loved it.” “Then, after three or four months, I started to feel good again. I started to feel “back to normal” and just went with my body and didn’t put any pressure on myself. Then when I felt healthy and was ready to work again, I had a lot of energy.” But this is where so many women end up gaining significant amounts of weight over time. They feel “back to normal” after maternity leave, but their diet and lack of exercise prevent them from losing their pregnancy weight. So, many women will want another child and often give birth to a second child around 16 months later. After the second maternity leave, they go back to work with even more weight than after the first child was born. As you can see, this is a typical cycle of weight gain that leads many women to an unhappy place physically. “I didn’t enjoy having this physical weight slow me down,” said Nagina. A super-fit in her thirties can end up looking much different after two or three children. This profile is the type of woman Nagina works with to help them regain their youthful figure. Professional women are smart - but they still need help and accountability Women executives and entrepreneurs are intelligent and hard working. However, career women are not immune to the food temptations and stress eating that afflicts everyone. Eating out with colleagues is something people expect. What can you eat and lose weight out at a bar? These ladies don’t know what choices to make on the menu. Accountability is a significant factor in Nagina’s coaching - and a key component to her client’s successful results. Once the accountability component to her coaching service was established, Nagina’s coaching took off. Clients began sending her before/after pictures. She then began creating online group programs. Nagina also has higher-end programs for super busy women who are physicians and entrepreneurs. Nagina has a 58-year-old client who recently lost 55 pounds in the last eight months! Another client is a professional woman in her forties, and she dropped 25 pounds as a mother of three kids. She’s now feeling great! It would be best to tune into the entire episode to discover the weight loss secrets for career women that Nagina has to offer. She can teach you how to eat delicious foods and still lose weight without insane amounts of time spent on exercise. If you’re a career woman who is unhappy with your weight and want to feel good again, check out this episode!
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| 02 Nov 2021 | #166 - This Heart Surgeon Uses Regenerative Biologics for Peak Health - with Jason Chiriano | 00:46:31 | |
They say when you only have a hammer - everything looks like a nail. This expression doesn’t apply to our guest today. He has a toolbox full of healing modalities that are cutting edge, tested, and, here’s the best part: proven to work! First of all, Dr. Jason Chiriano has an extensive resume as a surgeon: President of the Southern California Vascular Surgery Society, and a Fellow in the American College of Surgeons. If you need vascular surgery, he’s your man! But what makes Dr. Jason so unique is that his resume continues into the exciting field of regenerative biologics (a.k.a. regenerative medicine.) Buckle up as Dr. Chiriano shares why he started the Vivalife Healing Centers - a destination for those suffering from chronic ailments who cannot find results in the allopathic matrix. Dr. Chiriano’s approach to healing includes powerful, non-invasive regenerative-based treatments, including omniwave sonic therapy, stem cells, brainwave activity, IV therapy, photobiomodulation therapy, sound vibrations, and electromagnetic field therapy. If you are suffering from a chronic ailment or want to learn about the compelling field of regenerative biologics, be sure to tune into this episode!
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| 17 Oct 2019 | 018: From Life as an Addict to Life Stylist with Luke Storey | 01:16:07 | |
And he's here today to share his stories, insights and wisdom on this episode of Awesome Health. In his former life Luke worked with bands like Aerosmith, but today he's a world class biohacker who does speaking engagements, retreats and intensive workshops on spiritual pursuits and healthy living. Join our conversation to hear all the details and some fascinating stories on today's Awesome Health podcast. In this episode of Awesome Health, you'll also hear:
More About Awesome Health with Luke Storey Luke Storey is a former fashion stylist who now helps people style every aspect of their lives from the spiritual to the physical. He spent 17 years in the "Hollywood machine" helping everyone from musicians to actors to celebrities look good for the camera. All the while he pursued spirituality, metaphysics and health in his own life. Three years ago he decided to launch his podcast and retire from the fashion world to start new as a life stylist. He came up with the term life stylist because it's similar to his former work as a fashion stylist except it is curating a different look, practices and principles for someone on a deeper level. I was curious how those two separate worlds collided for him - what led him from one into the other? As a result of his childhood traumas he developed a lot of pathologies; physically he was malnourished and became addicted to drugs and alcohol. At 19 he moved to Hollywood as a musician and got into the music industry. In one sense he was living a dream life style: he was just out of high school, moved to Hollywood and started hanging out with musicians and playing in bands with his musical heroes. It was exciting and fun. But he was also addicted to drugs and when he got access to some of the more dangerous drugs it got really dark during the following 5 or 6 years. At one point he realized he was facing a painful and imminent dead end of a life. It was then he decided to sober up, and he checked himself into rehab. While in rehab he had a profound spiritual experience that rendered him sober from that day forward (22 years ago). That spiritual transformation was so profound he became obsessed with understanding it. He also began exploring recovery and how its different elements played out in every area of his life from sex to money to relationships, etc. He looked deep into all of his false coping mechanisms and behaviors. From there he was quickly thrust into the Hollywood fashion scene. He was only a few months clean and sober when he was hired by Aerosmith's stylist, an old friend of his, to be her assistant. Aerosmith was public about their sobriety and were in the midst of an enormous comeback back then. They were the first inspiration for him, and he took that inspiration forward into his fashion career. Fashion Styling by Day, Spiritual Pursuits by NightCelebrities and artists would later come to him to be styled, he says to them it may have just been playing with clothes but to him it was a heart-based service. He recalls his intention was more broad and deep than picking the right shoes for someone. Luke attributes his success to his ability to access empathy, compassion and relatability and helped his clients to feel safe. He laughingly describes how his fittings were probably very different than a lot of others! He would bring someone in and give them green juice and talk to them about meditation and medicinal mushrooms. So it was a double life in a sense, but he never pushed his beliefs on anyone else. However, if they asked for help or there was a window of opportunity he would share. For the most part he lived it on the inside and after work he'd run off and hang out with his sober buddies, do his recovery work and go to retreats, and dive deeply into meditation and the like. His earlier point about addiction made me curious so I asked him how did addiction arise for him? Was there a hole was he trying to fill or was there another reason for addiction in his life? Luke shares he was sexually abused a few times when he was very young, 5 or 6 years old, and then later when he was older around 11 or 12. When it happened the first time he felt immensely ashamed and isolated because he didn't know how to tell the adults in his life. Immediately following that first incidents of abuse he had lots of behavioral problems at school: he picked on other kids and got kicked out a lot. He lived in northern California at the time, where a lot of the hippies from the Haight-Ashbury culture had also moved so there was an abundance of drugs available. He basically self-medicated to get through school and handle his feelings from being sexually abused. But there were also a lot of consequences from that self-medication, including legal ones like going to jail at 14. Reaching Rock Bottom and Rising UpAfter his heartfelt share, I asked Luke to tell us what his breaking point was: what made him say he needed to turn his life around? There were some drawn out experiences as well as a couple of major points. The more drawn out experiences were being addicted to crack and heroin. He says there's no way to go on a crack run and wake up the next day saying you are fine, you don't have a problem. The amount of shame that goes along with it is too great, the people you are with and the environments you are in just contribute to that shame, too. That began to wear him down. And being addicted to heroin is no party either. The periods he was able to stay off of heroin became shorter and shorter. The first time he realized he was physically addicted he then went off of it for about a year, but the times in between using soon became shorter. Each time he'd say he'd do it just this once and then he'd be hooked again. Then he'd get off and be clean for 9 months, before using again. Then it would be six months in between using and then a few months and then a few weeks. Luke continues by describing the two pivotal moments that helped him turn his life around including a mushroom trip and what finally convinced him to enter rehab. You'll hear those two moments as well as how he got into biohacking and his transition into and out of vegetarianism. We wrap up the show with a discussion about what he suggests doing if you are struggling and want help, and what he would like to be remembered for. Join us to hear all the details on this episode of Awesome Health with life stylist Luke Storey. Episode Resources
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| 03 Mar 2022 | 180: The Power of Yoga Nidra with Nadine Kenney Johnstone | 01:02:15 | |
As a business owner, wife, mother, and professor, Nadine Kenney Johnstone was busy! She thought she was doing everything right for her health until she found the power of yoga nidra. Before discovering this type of meditation, she ate nourishing, healthy foods, got good sleep, and exercised. But, she still felt she wasn’t at her best and she saw her relationships weren’t at their optimum, either. She felt distracted and like she wasn’t fully present with the two people she loves most in the world: her husband and her son. She wanted to change that, she wanted to embrace each moment of life fully for How Nadine found yoga nidra and deep rest: That was when she found yoga nidra. Yoga nidra is a Sanskrit term that refers to a meditation practice which induces deep, conscious relaxation. It’s been scientifically proven that one hour of yoga nidra is the equivalent of several hours of sleep! It profoundly impacted Nadine. Soon she was prioritizing rest, which led her to actually being more productive and creative in her work. In fact, yoga nidra was so helpful for her that she wanted to share the message with others and she became a certified yoga nidra instructor. She practices it with all of her clients, whether virtually or in person at her writing retreats. How Nadine supports women writers: Nadine talks more about what it’s been like to host retreats since the pandemic and what she includes in her retreats. She holds an MFA in Fine Arts, has taught English and creative writing at the university level, “I love talking about journaling so I’m a writer and a writing coach; I help women, develop and publish their books.” More About Nadine’s writing retreats: This also led her to create writing retreats. Although they were held virtually in the initial stages of the pandemic, they are back in person now and she notices some similarities in the women who attend. “We had an in person retreat in November and the women who came to it were working women who just felt like they couldn't juggle it at all, and they couldn't handle it all. Not because they're not completely competent, but because we can only hold so much.” “They were coming in feeling very overwhelmed and completely exhausted mentally - the pandemic lead to great decision fatigue. Every decision felt like life or death, so they were just completely decision- Nadine goes on to explain how women ultimately change their lives at the end of her retreats: “By the end it's this real game changer where the women feel so good that they go, I have to live my life, a different way.” In this podcast, we cover: - What brain wave state is the “super power of yoga”?One trick to remind yourself you don’t always have to be productive. She also explains the need for rest and why we often have no problem running for 25 minutes on a treadmill, but it’s much more of a challenge for us to spend 25 minutes in a meditative practice like yoga nidra. Finally, Nadine walks us through the stages of yoga nidra, and we dive deep into the topics of surrender and being deeply rested (and why it’s more than just getting adequate sleep). Tune in to hear her powerful experiences and wisdom on this edition of Awesome Health. Resources:
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| 09 May 2024 | 259: The Link: Health and Productivity - with Cory Holly | 03:06:25 | |
In a world rife with distractions, demands, and existential contemplations, Cory Holly emerges as a beacon of wisdom, merging health consciousness with a deep understanding of the human condition. His journey, characterized by curiosity, skepticism, and steadfast commitment to wellness, provides invaluable insights into the complex relationship between health and productivity. Curiosity and Existential Inquiry At the heart of Cory Holly's philosophy is a profound curiosity about existence itself. He explores questions concerning reality, the essence of being, and the existence of a higher power. Through existential inquiry, he examines life’s complexities, seeking meaning and purpose amidst chaos. Noting the widespread prevalence of disease and pathology in society, Holly places a strong emphasis on health. He prioritizes understanding how to maintain and enhance both the physical body and mind, recognizing the fundamental connection between health and overall well-being. Holly's approach involves challenging societal norms, authority, culture, and beliefs. He stresses reliance on tangible, material aspects of reality and maintains a healthy skepticism towards baseless claims and assertions. Through skepticism and critical thinking, he sifts through the deluge of information to find truth. Clarity of Vision and Purpose Cory Holly advocates a three-step process for success: developing a clear vision, understanding the steps necessary to achieve goals, and actively pursuing those goals. He champions purpose-driven living, aligning actions with values and aspirations to maximize fulfillment and productivity. Holly finds joy and fulfillment in sports and physical activities, considering them vital for self-expression and personal growth. He views these pursuits as valuable lessons in discipline, patience, and resilience—qualities essential for success in any field. Reflecting on pain, suffering, and mortality, Holly embraces the inevitability of death. He emphasizes acceptance, rationality, and the minimization of suffering while maximizing personal growth and well-being. By recognizing life's impermanence, he fosters a deeper appreciation for the present moment. Role of Consciousness and Responsibility Exploring the complexities of consciousness, free will, and responsibility, Holly acknowledges the significant role of conscious choice in shaping actions and behaviors. He advocates for personal accountability and autonomy, recognizing the influences of genetics, environment, and past experiences. Holly values intellectual pursuits, as evidenced by his extensive reading and study across various disciplines. He emphasizes rationality, reason, and evidence-based thinking as crucial tools for navigating life and understanding reality. Purpose of Sharing Knowledge Cory Holly shares his insights to reach a broader audience than possible through traditional lectures alone. He believes in the transformative power of ideas and the importance of effectively applying knowledge to achieve tangible results. Merely acquiring knowledge is insufficient; it is critical to apply it effectively to achieve desired outcomes. Holly encourages individuals to transform knowledge into action, leveraging it to enhance their lives and accomplish their goals. Holly recognizes that some questions may remain unanswered and that seeking absolute answers can be futile. Instead, he embraces uncertainty and focuses on what can be known and understood. Philosophy of Non-violence He advocates for minimizing violence and harm, believing that humanity's higher nature seeks peaceful solutions and coexistence. Cory advises that an excessive focus on unprovable concepts can distract from personal well-being. He encourages prioritizing tangible, evidence-based approaches to self-improvement. Autonomy and Self-reliance He emphasizes personal responsibility, autonomy, and self-reliance, urging individuals to take ownership of their decisions and actions. Cory champions cooperation based on mutual respect and understanding, emphasizing the importance of minimizing violence for survival and fostering harmonious relationships. He questions the nature of consciousness and stresses the importance of living in the moment, urging individuals to cultivate awareness and mindfulness. In conclusion, Cory Holly's holistic approach to health and productivity transcends conventional boundaries, blending philosophical inquiry with practical wisdom. By integrating physical fitness, mental well-being, and existential reflection, he provides a roadmap for optimal health and purposeful living. As we embark on our own journeys, let us embrace his insights and strive for a balanced synthesis of health, productivity, and existential fulfillment. In this podcast, you will learn about:
EPISODE RESOURCES: CSNA Education Program (BIOptimizers Special International) | |||
| 04 Jul 2024 | 266: Path to Pain-Free Yoga - with Yogi Aaron | 01:09:35 | |
Yogi Aaron's journey in the yoga world began in the mid-1990s, a time when the practice was gaining traction globally. Practicing alongside notable individuals like Wade Morrison and witnessing the rise of brands such as Lululemon, Yogi Aaron has seen the yoga community evolve over the years. He takes pride in Lululemon's international success, particularly given its Canadian roots. Born into a "hippy dippy" family, Aaron's early years were steeped in alternative spiritual practices, including time spent at a spiritual healing center in Vancouver. This background clashed with his Christian evangelical upbringing, creating an internal conflict that would later shape his approach to yoga and spirituality. Challenges and Transformations As Aaron aged, he noticed his body tightening and saw yoga as a solution for maintaining mobility. Initially, his practice focused on physical stretching and hardcore power yoga. However, a pivotal moment came when Wade Morrison commented that Aaron lacked true practice. This critique pushed Aaron to seek a deeper understanding and more profound guidance in yoga. Aaron's yoga practice not only improved his physical flexibility but also enhanced his mental focus, helping him manage his attention deficit disorder. His formative years at a boys' boarding school in Alberta, filled with outdoor activities, had taught him the importance of managing his energy effectively. Despite early improvements, Aaron faced worsening back problems due to incorrect adjustments and stretching practices in yoga. These injuries led him to delve deeper into yoga beyond physical postures, exploring its spiritual dimensions. He studied with various influential yoga teachers, including Rod Stryker, Rajmani Tigunait, and Alan Finger, embracing the deeper, spiritual aspects of yoga. This journey took him beyond physical poses to a greater understanding of energy management and enlightenment. Innovations in Yoga Practice Aaron's commitment to yoga, despite significant injuries, led him to question traditional practices and seek new understanding. He discovered muscle activation techniques, which provided profound insights into biomechanics and muscle function. This newfound knowledge transformed his approach to yoga, shifting the focus from traditional stretching and alignment practices to proper body mechanics and muscle activation. Recognizing the need to challenge misconceptions in the yoga world, Aaron began to understand his body's pain and stiffness, particularly in his hamstrings. This exploration led him to integrate muscle activation techniques into yoga, aiming to replace traditional stretching with muscle activation. Aaron discovered that muscle tightness, such as in the hamstrings, is a protective mechanism due to other muscles not contracting properly. True mobility and stability, he realized, come from muscles contracting and shortening correctly, not lengthening. To bring this biomechanical awareness into yoga, Aaron developed the A.Y.A.M.A. (Applied Yoga Anatomy and Muscle Activation) method. His teachings emphasize the importance of proper body mechanics and muscle activation for true mobility and stability. Aaron's Blue Osa Yoga Retreat & Spa serves as a sanctuary for yoga teachers, individual retreat-goers, and hosts his yoga teacher training sessions. To distance his yoga retreat from his previous naked men's yoga group, he rebranded himself from Aaron Star to Yogi Aaron. He leverages online platforms like YouTube and the Yogi Club to provide content and courses on becoming pain-free. Commitment to a Pain-Free Life A key message in Aaron's teachings is the importance of finding a real teacher who challenges and inspires growth. Despite facing resistance and skepticism from the yoga community due to his unconventional views on stretching, Aaron remains steadfast in his mission. His book "Stop Stretching" and his teachings aim to help people live pain-free lives. For those interested in exploring Yogi Aaron's innovative approach to yoga and mobility, his website, yogiaaron.com, serves as a comprehensive hub. Here, visitors can access his book, podcast, and free resources, including a "7 Days to Becoming Pain-Free" series. Aaron's commitment is clear: to help anyone who comes into his space live their best pain-free life. In this podcast, you will learn about:
And much more. EPISODE RESOURCES: | |||
| 21 Oct 2021 | #164 - A Truly Holistic Approach to Wellness - with Aleks Rybchinskiy | 00:50:56 | |
Meet Aleks Rybchinskiy. This young man and his partner Sara offer one of the most holistic wellness services available today. Aleks is a co-founder of Primal Fusion, which takes “holistic wellness” seriously. In this episode, you will discover the exciting health education and holistic wellness therapies offered at Primal Fusion. Aleks points out that Primal Fusion does not do any intentional marketing. Instead, the business is growing through word-of-mouth referrals because of Aleks and Sara’s truly holistic approaches to their clients. Aleks specializes in wellness education and primal integration for optimal living as a co-founder of Primal Fusion. He is a Master CHEK Practitioner and Neurosomatic & Holistic Therapist with over 15 years of clinical experience. Alex works with celebrities, pro athletes, and “regular” folks from all walks of life. | |||
| 15 Dec 2022 | 209: The testosterone pandemic and how toxins are ruining men's health | 01:09:38 | |
Testosterone levels are plummeting worldwide and it's having a major impact on men's health. From decreased cognitive function and sex drive, to increased risk of cardiovascular disease: low testosterone is a real crisis that needs to be addressed. So what's behind this testosterone pandemic? According to Dr. Tracy Gapin, an expert on the topic, there are several factors at play including toxins in the environment and our modern lifestyle. For example, the rise of desk jobs and sedentary lifestyles has taken a toll on men's health, leading to lower testosterone levels. Additionally, exposure to toxins like EMFs and pollutants can also disrupt hormone levels contributing to the problem. Dr. Tracy Gapin is board certified by the American Board of Urology and is a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons. In 2017, Dr. Gapin founded Smart Mens Health, focused on optimizing male performance. He offers a personalized path to helping men maximize sexual health, testosterone levels, and prostate health. Things that can affect testosterone levels Many things can affect testosterone levels, but one of the most significant is the presence of toxins in the body. These toxins can come from many sources, including the environment, food, and even personal care products. One of the most common ways that toxins can affect testosterone levels is by binding to sex hormone binding globulin (SHBG). SHBG is a protein that attaches to hormones like testosterone, and when it does so, it prevents them from being able to enter cells and have their desired effect. This can lead to a decrease in overall testosterone levels. Testosterone levels versus free testosterone Testosterone levels and free testosterone are two very important things to consider when thinking about a man's health. Testosterone is the main male sex hormone, and it is responsible for many things, including muscle mass, bone density, and sex drive. Free testosterone is the active form of testosterone that is not bound to proteins in the blood and can thus enter cells and have a cellular effect. Low levels of testosterone can lead to many problems, such as low energy levels, decreased sex drive, erectile dysfunction, weight gain, and cognitive decline. It is thus important to maintain healthy levels of both testosterone and free testosterone to maintain optimal health. How can men increase their free testosterone As a man, you want to have high levels of free testosterone. This is the testosterone that is not bound to proteins in your blood and is available for your body to use. There are several things you can do to increase your free testosterone levels. First, avoid toxins as much as possible. Endocrine disruptors can interfere with testosterone production and lower levels of free testosterone in the blood. Try to avoid plastics and eat organic foods whenever possible. Second, exercise regularly. Exercise helps to increase testosterone production and can also help to lower SHBG levels. Strength training is especially beneficial for increasing testosterone levels. Third, get enough sleep. Sleep is important for overall health and well-being, and it is also crucial for testosterone production. Finally, try supplementation. Zinc, magnesium, and vitamin B6 are all nutrients that have been shown to boost testosterone levels. You can find these nutrients in supplement form or foods like oysters, dark chocolate, pumpkin seeds, and spinach. In this podcast, you will learn about:
And so much more. EPISODE RESOURCES: Website - $500 OFF Coupon Code: himmodel
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| 01 Dec 2020 | 093: The Importance of Muscle Hydration with Ryan Spratt | 00:52:35 | |
Have you ever considered the importance of muscle hydration? After today's episode you definitely will! Our guest, Ryan Spratt, is the Co-Founder of IQBody and the inspiration behind the WAVE5 muscle hydration system. As a muscle therapist and personal trainer, Ryan wanted his clients progress beyond their sessions. This desire inspired him to create a portable muscle-care system and a “how to” library to target muscle and joint pain. | |||
| 10 Nov 2020 | 087: Being Digitally Mindful with Colleen Hayes | 01:14:43 | |
Technology is everywhere, all the time and that can make being digitally mindful increasingly difficult. Someone who has simplified this is Colleen Hayes and her app, Prezence. Colleen is a Boston-based technology and mindfulness expert who specializes in being digitally mindful. She is an advocate for intentional breaks from technology as a source of finding balance, and created the Prezence APP to inspire authentic human connection both online and offline. | |||
| 24 Jun 2021 | 145: Burned Out Lawyer Mom Transforms Her Life Through Biohacking - with Angela Foster | 00:56:14 | |
When two biohackers get together, the conversation is a fascinating and educational experience. In this episode, Wade sits down with fellow biohacker Angela Foster, who was, in a previous life, a corporate attorney in London working a crazy amount of hours. She was driven, ambitious, talented, and made partner by age 30. Can you relate to the hard-driving corporate ladder climber? Soon after her overachieving run, dreams of becoming a mom kicked in. Of course, being a type A, high achiever, Angela thought she could have it all - the high-pressure career in corporate law and the “super mom,” picture-perfect life with her children. The ticking biological clock, along with a sudden physical and mental illness, knocked Angela off the hamster wheel. Burnout threw her into a hospital bed. Her entire journey is an incredible story to hear - Angela was at one point on several psychiatric medications for bipolar disorder. Angela realized that recovering from burnout was going to require two things: patience and perseverance. She also figured out how she needed to make a dramatic career pivot - from attorney to biohacker coaching. Although she was great at being a lawyer, Angela discovered that practicing law was not her passion. Through her physical ordeal and learning how biohacking could help her recover and feel good again, Angela found her calling: coaching high achieving women how to stay healthy and energized while balancing a successful career and love-filled family life. Angela is a sought-after speaker to large corporations. Her talks inspire corporate executives to optimize the health and wellness of their employees. Angela is also the host of a top-rated alternative health podcast called the High-Performance Health Podcast.
In this podcast, we cover:
She thought she was bulletproof. Perhaps you are a high achiever and can relate to Angela’s story? At one point, after having her first child, Angela was diagnosed with postnatal depression. Here is how Angela responded to this news at that point in her life: “I’m bulletproof. That’s exactly what I thought because I always achieved whatever I wanted. I was like, ‘this doesn’t happen to me.’ The doctor says, ‘You need to sleep more, take naps in the day when the boys are asleep. I said, ‘No. I don’t need that. I’ve run all these deals. I know what it’s like not to sleep. I’m fine.” “That was crazy.” “So I carried on. But then my husband took some time off, and then I couldn’t get out of bed till like three o’clock in the afternoon. It was like everything hit.” “I called the doctor and, as a type-A personality, I said, “You need to run some tests. Because I can’t get out of bed, I must be anemic. Can you check my iron levels, please?” “After the tests, the doctors told me again that I have postnatal depression. I denied it until it finally took me out.” Angela’s Spirituality as a Key Component to Burnout Recovery She was suffering from severe mood swings related to the bipolar diagnosis and subsequent medications prescribed. Angela realized that her ability to stop taking medication would be a process - patience and perseverance are needed. Angela knew she needed to first get “sustainable” on medication before successfully dropping it. She determined that spirituality would be required to smooth out her mood swings. The problem was the topic of spirituality caused internal struggles for Angela due to her strict Catholic upbringing. Her father was Lebanese and a strict Catholic. Angela figured out a path that led her away from that religion, yet she became more spiritual than ever. As she developed her spirituality aside from her Catholic dogma, she noticed that her mood swings became much more manageable. As she transitioned off the medications, she figured out that the bouts of depression that occur every time she lowered the dosage were a natural part of withdrawal symptoms. Today, Angela is pleased with her spiritual progress, as she is now medication-free. However, she knows her spirituality is still a work in progress. There is so much more to Angela’s remarkable transformation. If you are suffering from burnout or mental health issues, work/life balance struggles, or feel like you’re going through the motions in life, you must tune in to Angela! She’s a living example of someone who has hit rock bottom, used pharmaceuticals at one point for years, and then was able to walk away from those medications. Check out this episode - biohacking can break through your burnout!
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| 19 Aug 2021 | 157: From Juvenile Delinquent to Radically Loved: A Meditative Journey - with Rosie Acosta | 01:45:33 | |
Her childhood was filled with danger, confusion, and angst. Picture East LA in the 1990s - neighborhoods filled with gang violence. Police were overstepping their authority, creating fear and mistrust. Drive-by shootings. Riots. Burning buildings. All the media portrayals from that era were very real for Rosie Acosta in those days. Growing up in such a harsh environment took a toll on this episode’s guest. By the age of fifteen, Rosie found herself standing before a judge, facing severe penalties for a surprisingly bold and brash crime. Her youth had plenty of anxiety and confusion. Because she witnessed people getting stabbed, shot, and beat up on the street, Rosie had PTSD. She also knew nothing about health and nutrition in her young life. Living on the “McDonald’s Diet,” Rosie was over two hundred pounds at one point, living a life of quiet desperation. Confusion followed Rosie around like a dark cloud, mainly due to the spiritual mixed messages and failures she witnessed happening inside her community growing up. (Rosie shares her childhood in detail with Wade during the first part of the episode. Wade’s attention is riveted to her compelling story. Don’t miss it.) But then, one day, her mother left some brochures on her bed, and that’s when Rosie’s journey took a spiritual turn that changed everything. (You will hear her powerful story about how meditation and yoga transformed her soul to a place of Radical Love.) Today, Rosie is a yoga and meditation teacher and a holistic health coach who works with a wide range of students. Her clients range from East LA residents to Olympic athletes, NFL champions, NBA All-Stars, and military veterans who have seen combat. Rosie is on a mission to help others overcome adversity, anxiety, and low self-worth and replace those negatives with radical love. She has been featured in Yoga Journal, Well + Good, Forbes, and the New York Post. If you want to feel radically loved, hit that play button. In this podcast, we cover:
The Power of Intention At one point, Rosie says, “I do believe in the power of intention and the power of belief. Also, the right people are coming in at the right time.” “The moment that I started to bring my awareness to feeling good and focusing on my body and my health, everything else started to fall into place.” “I started getting different job opportunities. I ended up working as a hair salon manager for this celebrity hairstylist. Here I was 19 years old and an ex-criminal - yet I got asked to run a million dollar business.” “Now, he didn’t need to know my colorful past. At the time he offered me the job, I was working at another salon, and he recruited me because he heard that I was doing a great job.” “So that’s all it took - one opportunity. One person believed in me and gave me that sort of positive feedback. At the time, I was still learning more. I got more into nutrition and health. I got off the McDonald’s diet. I started eating organic foods. I read the China Study. I went deep into wellness. I made a new set of friends.” “My world started to expand. I started to see the difference in putting your energy into things that were making you better. I felt better. I started attracting people in my life that were also doing the same type of work that wanted to be better as well.” One thing Rosie loves about yoga is THIS Another snippet of Rosie’s wisdom: “One of the main things I like about yoga is cultivating discernment.” Wade asks, “What does that mean to you?” Rosie: “For me, it means knowing what to do when you’re off of the safety of your cushion. Because I know what to do when I’m on my mat. I know what to do when I’m on my cushion. That’s easy for me. I’ve been doing it for years now, almost two decades. That’s easy.” “But taking that and actually going out into the world and being a kind, compassionate, present human, that’s a different story. There are so many variables thrown into that, which are happening simultaneously. Discernment means to know the difference between knowing what’s going to serve the highest good.” “Sometimes things that you may not think are going to serve your highest good serve do serve your highest good.” “It’s difficult to navigate a world that’s full of impermanence. It’s difficult to navigate a world that’s constantly changing.” Wade and Rosie then go into more conversation about impermanence and our mortality. Death is a topic that is kept tidy and tucked away in western culture. But Wade brings up the eastern view of death, and Rosie expands on our impermanence and how we struggle by clinging to this material world. This turns out to be one of Wade’s most in-depth interviews - a conversation that goes deep into the spiritual realm of our existence. Rosie’s clients see firsthand how physical transformation leads to spiritual transformation. Or, at least it should. The person must be mindful to include spirituality into their life for a complete sense of wholeness. Can you feel the radical love? Tune into this episode and tap in! Episode Resources: | |||
| 27 Apr 2023 | 227: Laziness as a key to success in biohacking - with Dave Asprey | 01:23:53 | |
Dave Asprey is a renowned entrepreneur and author, who has dedicated his life to understanding the complexities of consciousness and how it can be used to enhance our lives. This is why he created the concept of biohacking, which incorporates neuroscience, bodybuilding, and cognitive enhancement. He is a believer in the power of the mind and its influence on reality, and has come up with the concept of the “meat operating system”. This system is a measure of the reaction time of your brain to reality, and most people have a delay of a third of a second before the brain gets the first electrical signal that a sound happened. He also believes that certain things can be manipulated by the body to make them look attractive. Asprey’s philosophy on life is to find the best technique and to only work hard if you have the best tools. He believes that in many cases, laziness can be beneficial as it can lead to more efficient ways of doing things. The Meat Operating System and Laziness Principle Dave Asprey believes that laziness is an important part of life. He argues that laziness is not necessarily a bad thing, and is in fact necessary for success. According to Dave, our bodies have evolved to manipulate us into taking the easier path, which explains why it can be so hard to choose the harder one. He believes that our biological system is driven by the desire to conserve energy and avoid suffering. The idea of the "meat operating system" is something Dave talks about a lot. He explains that our brains can measure the reaction time of our brains to reality and that, on average, it takes about a third of a second for the brain to register a sound. This means that there is a delay in how we perceive reality. He goes on to say that this delay can be manipulated by our bodies to make certain things look more attractive or appealing, so that we will act on them. Dave has coined the term "Slope of the Curve Biology" to explain that more isn't necessarily better when it comes to things like weight training and cardio. He believes that intensity is more important than volume, and that the rate at which you turn on and off a stressor is just as important. The idea of laziness is something that Dave has been studying for decades. He believes that it is important to find the best tools for the job, and to only work hard when it is absolutely necessary. He encourages people to be proactive and to find the best path for success rather than relying on hard work alone. Dave Asprey's thoughts on laziness are an interesting take on a commonly misunderstood concept. He encourages us to be mindful, to find the best path for success, and to recognize the importance of laziness in our lives. Spirituality and Physicality in Biohacking According to Dave, biohacking is all about taking control of your biology and improving your performance. This is a process that involves many different aspects, ranging from physical and mental health to cognitive enhancement and even spiritual growth. Dave believes that these different aspects are all connected and that you need to consider them all when looking to improve your overall well-being. The spiritual side of biohacking is often overlooked, but Dave believes that it is essential for achieving true transformation. The spiritual aspect of biohacking involves understanding the body’s operating system and its connection to consciousness. He points out that the body’s operating system does not understand negatives, and so it is important to focus on the positive aspects of life. He also emphasizes that one of the most important aspects of biohacking is to remove triggers, which can be anything from stress to negative beliefs. This is key in order to sense reality more clearly and accurately. Dave also believes that the spiritual side of biohacking involves understanding the power of attraction. He believes that the body has an innate ability to make certain things look attractive, as this helps with the survival of the species. He notes that this can be seen in the attraction to certain body shapes or curves, and that it is not logical, but rather an instinctive response. Dave also believes that physicality is key when it comes to biohacking, and that the right exercise, nutrition, and supplements are necessary for achieving optimal performance. He recommends taking anti-aging techniques and using them in combination with cognitive enhancement, neuroscience, and bodybuilding, in order to get the best results. He also encourages people to put the right mitochondrial formulas in place in order to create energy, and to be mindful of the fact that our bodies are designed to conserve energy in order to survive. The future of Biohacking and AI Dave also believes that the future of biohacking and AI is a bright one. Asprey believes that with the advances in technology and the growing interest in biohacking, new opportunities are opening up for people to explore and improve their lives. With AI, he sees the potential to further optimize and automate processes, allowing people to work smarter, not harder. Asprey also believes that biohacking and AI are closely intertwined, and that understanding and harnessing this relationship is key to unlocking the potential of both. He believes that AI can be used to help people identify their triggers and shut them down, so they can better recognize their intuition and figure things out more quickly. In addition, Asprey believes that AI can help people better understand their own consciousness and the consciousness of the world around them. In this podcast, you will learn about:
And so much more. EPISODE RESOURCES: SMARTER NOT HARDER book - available February 28th, 2023 everywhere! | |||
| 13 Jul 2021 | 149: Question Everything in the Sick Care Matrix - with Dr. Igor Gary Shlifer | 01:28:49 | |
From Russia with Love This episode’s guest is Dr. Gary Shlifer. Born in the former Soviet Union, Dr. Gary emigrated at age three to the United States with his parents, who somehow escaped the totalitarian communism embedded in the country at that time. His parents fell in love with America right away, finding a haven for liberty, free speech, and an environment that fostered new ideas. Not only are Dr. Gary’s parents politically brave - but they are also intellectually brave. Both were already physicians when they left Russia, and both of their healing careers greatly influenced Dr. Gary. They started teaching Gary at an early age to “question everything,” which is what Gary proceeded to do as he entered medical school. A story Dr. Gary shares here is how he won the award for “the biggest complainer” towards the end of his medical residency. Why? Because Gary questioned everything. He asked a lot of “why” questions, and sadly, the medical “powers that be” labeled him a “complainer.” His commitment to living life questioning everything is why Gary became a D.O instead of an M.D. If you don’t know what studies are required to become a Doctor of Osteopathy, listen to this episode. As someone who questions everything, Gary forsakes the group-think, herd mentality of the allopathic healthcare industry. Instead, he carves out a more individualistic, unconventional, preventative-focused medical practice. Becoming a D.O. is a crucial part of his journey. Early in his training, Dr. Gary displayed a gift for making personal connections with patients. His bedside manner is top-notch, which also makes him a fun and informative podcast guest. Dr. Gary is a board-certified internal medicine physician specializing in preventative care, nutrition, metabolism, and anti-aging medicine. He grew up in the San Fernando Valley, where he now practices medicine today. Through his companies and community outreach, Dr. Gary promotes healthy living, eating, and lifestyle practices.
In this podcast, we cover:
Why D.O.’s bring more to the patient’s table Dr. Gary attended the Arizona College of Osteopathic Medicine in Glendale. He looks back now on his training and realizes that particular schooling opened his mind to things like meditation, manipulative medicine, and herbal medicine - many different modalities he includes in his patient care today. Dr. Gary says, “That made me more open-minded, and I think it (D.O. training) makes osteopathic physicians more open-minded. Some of the stuff that’s considered fringe or “woo-woo” or whatever you want to call it is actually a part of our training. Some doctors end up going that path. There’s a lot of functional medicine doctors that are osteopaths.” Sometimes a doctor with D.O. training ends up following a traditional M.D. path. Dr. Gary says, “that’s okay.” He elaborates, “We need doctors and more healthcare providers. It’s not about poo-pooing one or the other. It’s just about understanding that there is a system in place. And this system is driven to make doctors into employees that follow rules that make money for insurance companies and other big corporations.” “And then there are a few of us that are like, ‘let me do it my way.’” Dr. Gary’s Covid Treatment During the pandemic, Dr. Gary has been out there promoting the well-known preventative supplementation that many allopathic care professionals have downplayed or flat-out ignored: vitamin D3 with K2 along with Zinc supplements. Vitamin C is also one of Dr. Gary’s main recommendations for Covid. Together, these protocols have proven to be effective for his patients. On the podcast, he says, “It’s been overwhelmingly proven that if your Vitamin D is greater than 30 or even closer to like a physiological level of 45, you don’t go to the hospital.” Dr. Gary tells our host Wade Lightheart that these supplements are not promoted because they are incredibly cheap. In other words - there’s no money to be made in promoting them or drugs like Ivermectin (which is also cheap). “What we’re talking about here cuts into that bottom line,” said Dr. Gary. He didn’t hold back, going on to say, “That’s why Dr. Fauci doesn’t want to talk about it because it gets in the way of his money-making.” You can tell Dr. Gary truly cares about his patients. He's a maverick in the medical field, not afraid to speak his mind AND question everything. That’s why you don’t want to miss this episode. Biohackers, alternative medicine geeks, and people fed up with traditional medicine should tune in because Dr. Gary has a lot to say about finding real, lasting health and wellness. Stop managing your symptoms and listen to what Dr. Gary has to offer! Check out this episode - questioning the healthcare system could change your life!
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| 10 Aug 2023 | 237: Understanding the Spike Protein and Its Impact on Health - with Sara Banta | 00:59:40 | |
Over the last few years, the spike protein has become a hot topic of discussion due to its association with COVID-19 and the various strains of the virus. This glycoprotein is responsible for the virus's ability to infect human cells, leading to a chain reaction of events in the body. In this podcast, we will delve into the spike protein, its interaction with human cells, and the potential effects it may have on our health, as discussed by Sara Banta, a health expert. The Spike Protein and Human Cell Interaction The spike protein of COVID-19 is composed of two subunits, S1 and S2. The S1 subunit contains the receptor binding domain, which attaches to the human angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) receptor found on the surface of human cells. Once attached, the virus starts sending messages into the cell, disrupting its normal function. Effects on Health The spike protein's interaction with human cells can lead to a range of health issues and symptoms. Sara Banta highlights some unexplained health conditions that have emerged, such as weight gain and the recurrence of previously in-remission conditions like rheumatoid arthritis and cancer. Insulin Resistance and Toxicity Insulin resistance and toxicity are two major factors that accelerate the aging process and are linked to various metabolic diseases. The spike protein appears to impact insulin regulation, potentially leading to exaggerated insulin responses to certain foods, causing unexplained weight gain and other health complications. Impact on Fertility and Hormonal Imbalance The spike protein's interference with the ACE2 receptor can disrupt hormonal balance, leading to fertility issues, hormonal imbalances, and oxidative stress. Fertility rates have also shown a decline, with many individuals reporting water retention and weight gain, possibly linked to the spike protein's effects on the endocrine system. The Role of Iodine in Combating the Spike Protein Iodine is a crucial element that plays multiple roles in the body, including supporting thyroid function, detoxifying the body, and regulating estrogen production. Additionally, iodine appears to induce apoptosis, the body's natural process of eliminating weak and diseased cells. Thus, iodine supplementation may aid in reversing damage caused by the spike protein and detoxifying the body from radiation and heavy metals. Other Supplements to Support Health Various supplements can help combat the spike protein's impact and support overall health. Some of these include calcium d-glucarate to aid liver detoxification, magnesium for relaxation and sleep, and serrapeptase, a proteolytic enzyme that can break down spike protein components. Copper and the Importance of Liver Health Copper depletion caused by the spike protein and processed food diets can lead to an increase in uric acid and fatty liver disease. Copper plays a crucial role in many enzymatic reactions and is essential for overall health. Ensuring adequate copper levels is vital for maintaining a healthy liver and combating various health issues related to the spike protein. In this podcast we will learn about:
And so much more. EPISODE RESOURCES: @acceleratedhealthproducts https://www.acceleratedhealthproducts.com/awesome - use code AWESOME10 for 10% off
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| 17 Aug 2021 | 156: Using AI to Predict & Prevent Health Issues - with Noosheen Hashemi | 01:33:29 | |
She’s applying artificial intelligence to healthcare in groundbreaking ways. At the age of 22, Noosheen Hashemi launched her career at Oracle. Those days during the 1980s were exciting times. Oracle the company experienced exponential growth - Noosheen was one of the power brokers who helped Oracle double its revenues for five straight years. Noosheen moved from Oracle in the mid-90s to a fintech company that was instrumental in bringing financial, educational content to companies like E-Trade and Charles Schwab during the dot com heyday. After this dot com was sold, Noosheen started a family and a couple of foundations who began investing in many companies, which involved Noosheen working closely with nonprofits and think tanks. During those think tank years, Noosheen “became very wonky.” Her interest in the government's ability to solve problems (and create problems) took off. With a deep interest in creating lasting change for the betterment of humanity, and after careful, systematic research, Noosheen decided to “bet on herself” by starting her own tech company: January AI. There are reasons why Noosheen pursued the private sector to make a difference. She shares with Wade those reasons in this episode. Listen as she shares how her multiple careers prepared her to lead today’s brand new seed-stage precision health tech company that’s got people talking. Wait till you hear what January AI offers - user-friendly AI that helps prevent, predict, and postpone chronic disease. Diabetes is where Noosheen’s company is already making waves - did you know 80% of the population is prediabetic and doesn’t know it? Are you? Tune in and discover how AI can help you predict and prevent future illnesses. In this podcast, we cover:
Do you have diabetes? January AI started with a focus on diabetes for a good reason - far too many people end up with one type of diabetes or another at some point in life. In her conversation with Wade, Noosheen says we should think about diabetes as a spectrum. We all are on a metabolic health spectrum, some more healthy than others. The healthier side of the spectrum is where a person has better metabolic fitness. They can go from fasting to feeding quickly as their body makes speedy adjustments. This person has enough insulin to process glucose. According to Noosheem, 34 million Americans have diabetes, and 88 million have prediabetes - many of them don’t know this. Why is this possible? Because with no symptoms and no testing, how else would someone be able to know they are prediabetic? While Noosheen goes into further detail on this situation, she points out a test you can pick up at a local store that provides a quick and easy way to tell if you are prediabetic or not. Here is a glimpse of AI helping people live healthier lives: Here is Nooshen describing how January AI works with the average user: “We look at what you have been doing and eating. We create a behavioral model and a biological model of your body. This is the core data that tells us what you’re going to do next.” This provides a “prediction ability” that the AI service can use for your benefit. Noosheen explains, “For biohackers, instead of putting things through your beautiful body that you fine-tuned so much, why don’t you instead put this info through the AI, and let the AI tell you how you’re going to respond. Why eat this? After only four days of training, you can take off the CGM, and the AI will continue to predict for you.” “The AI tells you which pizza you should eat, this pancake vs. that pancake, this grocery item vs. that grocery time. You can compare graphs to decide what you should do. You can compare any two grocery items or recipes. We have 2 million recipes in our database. How will you respond to eating this or that? Our AI will tell you.” “It will tell you how many minutes you have to walk to get back into a healthy blood sugar range after eating. So, if you eat a huge meal, you need to walk an hour and a half, for example. If it’s Saturday and you don’t have an hour and a half, it tells you the price of walking in minutes. To get your blood sugar back in the healthy range, it guides you. The AI can tell if you have been fasting for 15 hours. It makes recommendations as you go, like ‘maybe you should drop that particular yogurt because it has a high glycemic index. Instead, why don’t you shift to this yogurt instead?” “We train people’s pallets over a period of time to move to lower glycemic foods without making it so extreme.” Wade’s questions took a deep dive into some topics surrounding AI and the future of healthcare. As a Silicon Valley veteran of almost four decades - Noosheen provides many glimpses into what awaits us as AI technology marries healthcare. Episode 156 is one fascinating interview you don’t want to miss. Noosheen says “singularity” is inevitable - possibly as soon as 2030. Are you ready for the “brave new world” of futuristic healthcare technology? Find out by listening! Episode Resources: Check out more about Noosheen Hashemi & January AI | |||
| 31 Dec 2019 | 037: Strength Training and Conditioning With a Pro, with Aaron Wellman | 01:30:08 | |
What would strength training and conditioning with a pro be like? How do workouts of professional football players differ from the non-pros? Aaron Wellman knows, he's been with the New York Giants since 2016 as their head strength coach and has significantly decreased the number of season-ending injuries for the team. Before joining the Giants, he spent 20 years in the collegiate Division I level, including Indiana University, Notre Dame and Michigan. Today on Awesome Health, he tells us some of the basic tenants he has found that make the most difference to the players on his team. We talk about a typical week in the life of an NFL professional strength and conditioning coach. Aaron says his team practices Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and they play Sunday. Monday is a weight training day, and Tuesdays are their days off. Saturdays are walkthrough days to prepare for the game on Sunday.
 So there are four days of physical activity out of the seven, which means these athletes' nutritional needs are very different from the general public's needs. This is pretty obvious, but what wasn't so obvious initially was how the physical impact of the game on Sunday was affecting his players' ability to stay at a healthy weight. A lot of his guys were losing weight during the season, and it was from the blunt force trauma of the hits they were giving and receiving during their games. That was one of the tenants he found to make the most difference: adjusting the players' nutritional needs. Another was adjusting their sleep, players can volunteer to wear sleep trackers and share it with their coaches but it cannot be mandated they do so. There are about 20 guys on his team who wear trackers and talk to him about their sleep, how deep their sleep is and how much REM sleep they are getting, details like that and he helps them adjust as needed. Aaron breaks down the other tenants he has found to be most valuable, including different recovery modalities and why strength training and conditioning matters to the longevity of a player's season and career. We wrap up with Aaron sharing his experience adopting a keto lifestyle, his thoughts on how it might (or might not) benefit professional athletes, and what the future of strength training and conditioning will look like. Join us to hear strength training insights and more from Aaron Wellman on this edition of the Awesome Health show! ResourcesAaron Wellman Read the Episode Transcript :Wade Lightheart: Good afternoon, good morning and good evening wherever you are. It's Wade T Lightheart from the Awesome Health Podcast and oh boy - I have been waiting for this interview for quite a while. We have the head strength coach with the New York giants, Mr Aaron Wellman and before we get introduced to the cause I want to talk about, he joined the Giants back in 2016. He did a lot of changes to the off season in season training routines. He's got a 20 year career at the Division 1 college level. He's a graduate of Indiana university, spent three years as a full time assistant strength and conditioning coach for the Hoosiers, and was probably involved with football, baseball and softball teams as well as developing individual nutrition programs for student athletes for the Giants. He was assistant director of strength and conditioning coach for the university of Notre Dame and he's the, he was the director of strength and conditioning, the university of Michigan and implemented athlete monitoring systems including GPS and neuromuscular fatigue assessments. I'm very curious about that. He has a wife and a son and a daughter. And what's an interesting, he follows a ketogenic cyclic or a cyclic ketogenic diet and he's always looking for ways to upgrade that. Aaron, welcome to the show. Aaron Wellman : Yeah, great, great introduction Wade. Appreciate you having me on. Wade Lightheart: Well, I see I'm fascinated by this interview. So for, for people who don't know, I studied exercise physiology back at the university in new Brunswick. I was a good athlete, not a great athlete and thought well maybe I'll get an opportunity to be a strength and conditioning coach. Life took me in a different direction and I ended up, you know, owning a supplement company. But today I'm excited because I want to know just the process first of how you got to become a strength and condition coach. So walk me backwards, like was you on an athletic career or is this something you always wanted? How'd that begin? Aaron Wellman : Yeah, I've always been involved in athletics and I think to your point, I wasn't a great athlete. I was a good high school athlete, played small, division three, college football. And I think a lot, I think a lot of coaches, particularly strength coaches, are guys who really weren't, weren't the best athletes but really had to work. And, and so we developed our own kind of training methodologies and, and really researched ways to get stronger ways to get faster and I think, and then, and then we grew to love that. We love the application. Then it's kind of let us, you know, just intimately down this path and the athlete development. And so I grew up as an athlete and, and got done play as I mentioned, division three, college football, Manchester university, little school in Indiana. And then from there decided I did an internship, had an internship experience at the university of Notre Dame my junior year in college. Aaron Wellman : And, and that's when I really got the bug for performance and, and really everything related to performance nutrition included and decided to go get a master's degree and became a graduate assistant at Indiana university with their football team and strength conditioning and really kind of gone from there. That was, I was hired in December of 1996 at Indiana. And so my career began there and as you mentioned, spent 20 years at the Division 1 level at six different universities. I've been very fortunate. You know, I think that, you know, luck has a lot to do with it and the people you surround yourself with. So a lot of people have helped me get where I am today, but I also like to think there's a lot of hard work that goes involved with it. There's a lot of hours just like any other profession that you want to get to the top of. And but it's, it's something that I'm not, I, I'm a continual learner, a lifelong learner, and I'm still learning every single day on the job. Right. And still making mistakes. I just like to think that after 20 years my mistakes are fewer and far between or less intense. And then they were, you know, 20 years ago. Wade Lightheart: So tell me, you know, at what would be.. I'm going to start, go right into this and then I'll ask some other specific questions. Is what is a day in a life of a strength coach at the professional level, which you are. Cause I mean it's very hard to kind of get into a professional team, especially one as well known as the Giants or something like that. I mean, I can't imagine the amount of hoops you got to jump through to get that position and also how demanding that position is. So walk us through, what's it like in the day of a life of a strength coach or as a week or how does that schedule workout on a year? So I'd be, I'm fascinated with this topic. Aaron Wellman : Yeah. And so we're in an end season right now, we're in week 11 of the NFL season. We began a Mar players reported the camp July 22nd, 23rd, something like that. And so we're pretty much seven days a week. From the beginning of the season to the end. We just had a five weeks a week. I got a Sunday off and, and we'll get some time post-season. But, but as you mentioned, it's a busy schedule, but it's just like, you know, I don't look at it as having to get to work every day or having to go to work every day. I look at, I have them get to work and I say I say this all the time that I've got the best job in the world. Not only do I get to pursue my passion, but I get to do it here in New York city with the New York Giants. And so I'm very fortunate. Aaron Wellman : I don't take, I don't take the position for granted. Certainly there's a lot of other people in the world who've worked as hard who are much more intelligent than I am, who can put together training programs that communicate with athletes who, who won't get this opportunity. So as you mentioned, there's, there's been some, some key points in my life that have kind of led to this. But, but a day is typically this, and I'll, I'll kind of walk you through the week. And so Sunday is obviously game day for us. And typically we will get to the stadium four to five hours prior to the game starting and players will start arriving and we'll just go through and players have some of their own routines or warm up routines and work systems with that. From, from early on in the locker room to pregame warmups all the way through the end of the game and part my staff, our director of performance nutrition, part of his role is, is that fueling process which begins, which you know, obviously doesn't just begin on game day, but since we're talking game, they begins that morning with the pregame meal and continues on through the conclusion of the game and really post game, you know, as you know, you're well aware of what they consume immediately. Aaron Wellman : Post-Game post-activity to begin the recovery process for the next week is critical. So, so we kind of oversee all that. We get through the game and certainly guys are banged up. It's an NFL game. There's, it's not a contest for, it's a collision sport. And so there's bumps, bruises, and he'd come out, some guys banged up. And so we get that injury report typically late at night. So I'll look over that and kind of prepare for the next day for the workouts. And so Monday, Monday our players are all in, every player. We all lift weights, we train, we meet, they watch film - our biggest hurdle on Mondays is administering a workout. And we do, we do our lower body workout on Monday. Some, some of the surprising and I think we can make arguments both ways for Tuesday's - a player day off, one day week has to be off for the players and across the NFL, most teams take Tuesday off and that's kind of, it's kind of been done for a long time and that's the standard most teams set. Aaron Wellman : So Monday, Monday's a big training they force cause there's, there is no practice, there are no other competing physical demands on Monday with, except for the weight training. So we get as much, we can't out them. But like I said, the, the biggest hurdle is, is these guys are banged up. So, so Monday becomes a day where we have to find a lot of alternative methods of training for certain guys. And so we get, we get the whole team in the weight room, practice squad included and certainly, and first thing I do when I get on Monday mornings, I look at all of our external loading variables from the game. We need primarily GPS variables. Wade Lightheart: What is a GPS variable? Can you explain that to people? Aaron Wellman : Global position systems we use every, every NFL city. It was outfitted with, with a radio frequency devices that determine max velocities on players, distance ran. Aaron Wellman : We look at number of plays, things like that. And so just, just markers, general markers of external loading from the game. Right. and so that's the first thing I do Monday morning. Who, who had the most plays on offense, on defense, on special teams, what kind of velocities that we hit that they, one of our receivers who they knew maximum velocity, where we know that there's going to be more eccentric stress on the arm stress from that we know there's going to be greater time to recover from that. And so, so we kind of, I kind of get a general gestalt overview of, of the entire team. And so I'll, I'll sit for the first two or three hours in the morning. Our first group comes in about eight o'clock and so Monday mornings, early morning we, I cover the data and I start making adjustments based upon the previous science into report and the numbers that, the number of plays and the, and the demands of the game the day before and kind of making just some best guesses on how certain guys are going to feel when they come in. And so when they come to the room, I try to have some alternative plans for those players. And I, and right when they come in the room, I grab them and we talk it over and we find out where they are physically from the game. And so that, that's, that's the, that's the challenge on Monday. How do we, how do we make it any efficient training day without setting back their ability to recover and working around any physical anomalies that have presented themselves from the previous day game. Wade Lightheart: That's got to be, I mean, now you've got all of the starters and all the backups and then you also have the practice team. Are you in charge of both sets of those? Aaron Wellman : Yeah, so we, so NFL teams have 53 active players and 10 practice squad. As we've got about 63 guys that come in that day. And yeah, so we oversee the training program of all those players and, and a lot of my time during the week and we individualized training programs. I mean that's, you know, not only by position but by chronological, chronological age within the position, previous injury history. And as I mentioned how many snaps were played on a Sunday. And so a lot of planning, the planning of the training program takes a lot of time throughout the week for, to individualize for that number of athletes. Wade Lightheart: There's so many variables here that you're dealing with. My mind is going off like all these different things. What is some of the differences that you notice between say the positions and then the effects of age as people go are, are ways of mitigating it? Cause we hear these stories, you know, with people like I, I saw an interview with James Harrison of course was the oldest linebacker ever was spending like $350,000 on his recovery program as he aged, you know, Tom Brady with the TV 12 story and all the stuff that he's got going on there. We do know of particularly in, in such a, as you say, a collision sport as the NFL age plays a big role in how successful they can. How does that, how do you deal with that or how do you manage that? Or what typically, do you see where athletes have a hard time keeping pace with the kind of level that you have to maintain rational level? Aaron Wellman : Well, the first part of the question positionally we see, we see the, well, we, when we turn the skill positions, the wide receivers and demons or backs certainly have a large amount of neuromuscular fatigue following games, but that net fatigue is built differently for those guys that's built through high speed running, through high intensity accelerations, high-intensity decelerations. Whereas linemen the offense alignment, the defensive line with some of the linebackers, they engage a little bit that high-intensity acceleration, but a lot of their fatigue stems from blunt force trauma, right? Just, just physical contact with the opponent, physical contact with the ground. And so, you know, as we know neuromuscular fatigue results every bit as much from blunt force trauma as it does from trauma sustained through heavy East center contractions of musculature evolved with high-intensity excels and decels and sprints. And so, so that's, that's a big difference. Aaron Wellman : So you see kind of a couple of different kinds of fatigue that come into the room on a Monday following a game, right? Age wise, you know, it's, it's I think all of us can attest, all of us that have grown older over the age of 40 can attest that our ability to recover just is diminished as we age. And so that's just, that's just part of the game. And the NFL is a young man's game. But we do have certain positions where we have 20 year olds and we have 35 year olds playing the same position. And so those 35 year olds training protocol is going to be completely different on a Monday following of game than, than the 20 year old. Also we see as we age, our ability, just the overall training program, our ability to maintain maximum spring diminishes, but it doesn't diminish edit as quickly as our ability to express force fats. So our rate of force developments are our speed and power diminishes a much faster than our maximum strength. We can hold on to those qualities longer. So again, you may have in season around season you have a young guy where the window of adaptation for maximum strength is still open and we can still gain somewhere that for the older athletes is closed down and now the window is becoming greater for rate of force development activities for power and speed activities simply because of the age of that athlete. Wade Lightheart: Yeah, that's what they, you know, of course they'd talk about that in boxing. It's like the, the powers is the last thing to go, but it's the speed, you know, and it's like, it's always a challenge with the, with the older athlete is, is the brain fires. But it's like the brain writes a check that the body can't cash. They're just that microsecond slower there that, you know, they're, they're half step behind a person. And of course that's the difference in that sport. Aaron Wellman : I mean this is when we lose our ability to move as athletes, we lose our ability as athletes. I mean that's, this is a movement game sure. There's a lot of strength and power involved in this, but, but simply being strong and powerful won't keep you performing at a high level. And, and the older guys are talking about and they, they, these are still the elite of the elite, but relative to younger guys, that's when you can see some of those detriments. Wade Lightheart: I, I was watching Shannon Sharpe on the Skip Bayless show and he was talking about his own career as he, he, his, he aged and it was dawning on him. He's like, yeah, yeah, I can't do this as fast as I used to or I can't recover as fast he said. He remembers that dawning on him and, and, and the impact on his psychology and how he approached the game stuff. So how do you approach the game with, Wade Lightheart: As people agent, how do you think that applies to maybe the real world if you know people who are just looking for maximum performance? Because right now we see this, there's this, all this energy particularly with males. And the biohacking stuff is like, how do I be a superman at 45, 50 years old? Right. And, and, and they're, you know, using some of the technologies that were developed in pro sports and stuff like that. Well, what's your real world experience in the bottom line? Aaron Wellman : Right. Yeah. I mean, I think there's a lot of crossover between a real world athletic population and real world, real world general population. I'd say, I still think the two biggest levels we can pull as athletes and non-athletes alike are nutrition, sleep. I don't think, you know, there, there's, there's, we talked about in training, there's very few absolutes, but there are fundamentals, right? And I think that's the same across the population is that there are very few absolutes, but the fundamentals are those two big levels of nutrition, sleep. You've got to make sure we're taking care of those first. Right. then, then after that, now that we can get into intricate details, but I would say that with an older athletes, they don't handle volume of training as well as younger athletes do. And again, I think that's a generalization we can make to a 40 year old bodybuilder versus a 20 year old bodybuilder, a 40 year old cyclist versus a 20 year old cyclists. Aaron Wellman : I think, I think those are, I think that as we age, our athletes can handle intensity and they need the intensity because when one of our athletes changed directions on the field, he's going to put three to five times body weight on single leg and have to change the rest and go the other way. So the training has to be intense to support the physical demands associated with playing the game, right? But the volume of training is what we have to be very careful of not only what we do in the weight room, but what we do in a conditioning setting and, and quite frankly, how much they do within a practice. And so, so we're always tracking and keeping an eye, particularly on an older players or guys who have have a significant injury history. Now they all have injury histories because it's football and we know that the greatest predictor of future injuries, previous injury, right. And so and so we keep a close eye on these guys and we, it compounds that risk with age. But, but, but the, but the volume lever in addition to nutrition, sleep is critical for those guys. Wade Lightheart: And with that, when you talk about nutrition and you talk about sleep, what are some kind of basic tenants that you've, you've found that make the difference, if you will? Aaron Wellman : Yeah, I think, and again, not now. I think there's a delineation between athletes and general public, right? Primarily with nutrition, right? The nutrition that I need for my daily job tasks and performance is different than what our athletes need. And we, and we just like, we have a whole spectrum of ages and abilities and recoverability within a position group, we have a whole spectrum of nutrition practices and education within a position group within the team. Because you've got several players who look, if we can just get them to have something for breakfast prior to practice, that's a win. Right? Right. And we have other guys on the complete opposite of the spectrum where they're, they're dialed in completely and they're just looking for what's one more thing I can add or what do I need to change my diet to give me a one percentage? Aaron Wellman : Right. And so to speak in general terms on athletes, it's tough because we have all, we have a broad range of number one education in nutrition depending on what college they went to. How much, you know, and a lot of, and a lot of times athletes, we've heard Kobe Bryant talked about this, is that, you know, as you age in your career, the nutrition is the one thing that I haven't locked in. And that's my, that's the last level I've gotten. I'm going to pull it now I'm older. Whereas if these athletes focus on this early on we don't have to wait until they're 35, 36 years old to pull that level. But yeah, so that's so, so we've got a lot, we have the nutrition, it's kind of meeting guys where they are and then moving them forward from that point. Wade Lightheart: That's great. Now I suspect also the calorie requirements of these types of athletes must be significantly higher than the general population. What would you say would be, or, or, or the variants between, I can imagine what an NFL lineman that over 300 pounds and you know, involved in hundreds of collisions every day, like what's his nutrition requirements to say someone like a speedster on the outside would, would, would they be significantly varied. Aaron Wellman : Yeah, significantly different just for simple, simple math of thermodynamics of just maintaining body weight. Right. So a 300 pound or that, that's 20% body fat, that has 240 pounds of lean body mass. It needs significantly more calories simply to maintain his weight and then 185 pound defensive back that we have. Right. But you mentioned something critical that, that I didn't have a great understanding of till I say five, six years into this profession, was that the blunt force trauma requires increased caloric needs. Wade Lightheart: Wow. Wow. And what, is there a like a kind of a scale about how much damage they have and how much food they'll need, you know, there probably isn't an order? Aaron Wellman : The only way to determine that as it's a real look at creating a kinase levels, which we don't look at because it requires a blood drop, but it hasn't been looked at in Division 1 football, creating kinase levels. And this has been a study well over 10 years ago where they looked at creating kinase before training camp at the end of training camp, then about every three weeks throughout the season. And they saw me creating kinase three weeks into camp, but really leveled off as the season went. However, it's anecdotally, right? We see this all the time every year with players who say, I don't know why I can't put the weight on. I don't why I can't keep weight on where they feel like they're doing less activity in season because we practice on it. I didn't even get through. I only got to Monday and we haven't got it right. Wade Lightheart: Yeah, we were all, we're all on Monday for pizza! Aaron Wellman : We practice Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and they play Sunday. So, and then Monday's a weight training day, Tuesdays - day off, Saturdays kind of a walkthrough day. So you've got four days of physical activity out of the seven. And so they feel like, jeez, I'm in the off season, I'm training five, six days a week. And it's easy for me to gain weight. Well in season that blunt force traumas added, added to that, that, that that is an increased caloric demand that must be accounted for with these guys. And we don't, you know, most of our athletes aren't. And we've got a Pratik Patel, our director of performance nutrition, he's outstanding. Best I've ever been. He does a great job, but even with that, we don't count macronutrients with our players. Because they're not that as interested in, we're trying to make healthy choices. And so we, we add and delete things from the diet, from the menu, from their post-workout shake as we see fit. Aaron Wellman : And and then you'll have certain guys who maybe you're a practice squad player and maybe someone gets hurt. Now you're called up tags a roster. Now your workload doubles, right? Well, your caloric demands increase too. And players have to understand that. And conversely you're a starter, you get injured and you're in a walking boot for three weeks. We'll look ahead and start caloric demands. Right now our core demands decrease. We cannot put on body weight coming back from a three week lower body and drusen. Now we have to focus in and educate them on taking some things out of their diet. And so it's a constant educational process. Wade Lightheart: You're constantly just readjusting to, you know, wow, that's, it's a, it's an incredible amount of work. You mentioned sleep. We'll get to Tuesday and Wednesday and beyond. What's the, the sleep requirements I think is fascinating. And I know Matt, my co-founder, he's, he's so far gone on sleep. What are you noticing as far as requirements for sleep? Is there variance between athletes and, but what are kind of the bedrock of things that you've observed as far as sleep or grade recovery? Aaron Wellman : Yeah, great question. And again, I think that there's individual various with, with all of these things, right? Some guys do great on seven hours and they've done very well on seven hours for five, six years, all through college and through their NFL career. Other guys, when they get seven hours, really feel rundown and require 8 to 10. A lot of our guys are able to take naps. You know, they're usually doing a long day. They're still done out of the building by five o'clock. And a lot of our guys would go home and take a nap from 5.30 to 6-6.30 and then, and then be in bed by 11. So I think guys handle it to varying degrees. But inevitably, if we're going to, if that's a lever that we think is important and we do nutrition, sleep, again, that has to be talked about every day. Wade Lightheart: Do you do you mind, do you have devices that you monitor the sleep cycles for people like you? Do you have technology that attracts deep sleep, REM sleep, all that sort of stuff? Aaron Wellman : Yeah, we used to. And the collective bargain room, the players used to have, have outlawed the players can do it on their own. I'll say that if they, if they are interested in their own sleep, we will, we will get them sleep trackers and they'll be able to do that and we'll point them in the right direction. We cannot provide a sleep tracker and then look at the data every day. Wade Lightheart: Oh, I see. Because that could, that could be a way of tracking them outside of work, I guess. Did they go to sleep at 3 in the morning or did they go to sleep at 11 or something? So they don't want to necessarily reveal that unless the player's comfortable doing that. Aaron Wellman : Right. I mean, I think they look at it and rightfully so. I was a freshman on their privacy. However, we do have 10 to 20 guys on the team who has sleep tracking devices who track their sleep each night. And again, it's, it's a conversation, Hey, how'd you sleep last night? And then they'll, they're happy to come in and, and have that conversation. Talk about how much deep sleep they've gotten, REM sleep they've gotten and that we make, try to make the adjustments and make some recommendations on how to improve those areas. Wade Lightheart: So we got to Monday, what happens after Monday? So we've done the individual workouts for people and made the adjustments based on injury or damage or how much load that they had. So let's take us through the rest, the next parts of the week for you. Aaron Wellman : Yeah, so as I mentioned, Tuesday's a day off, right? The day off for the players. So they offer us, so, and typically on Mondays we're going to be in here and I'll back up. We're going to be in here 6.30 on a Monday morning. Oftentimes we may not get home from a Sunday night game. If we have a, we may have a West coast Sunday night game and we may land at 7:00 AM as coaches. If that's the case, then we go on the bus and come right to the facility and just start work. So we, you know, whatever sleep we get on the plane is our sleep for the night. But on a home game, you know, we're in at 6.30 or 7 Tuesdays. They offer the players, that's the day for them to any, any appointments. They have any errands they need to run. Aaron Wellman : You know, guys on the team are married and have kids and they want to take their kids to school and spend, have lunch with their wife. And those are all great things. We do have a mandatory treatment session for guys that are injured. And so those guys will have to be here with our medical team to get evaluated, to have to get treatments. We give our players the option. If they want to get their Wednesday upper body lift in on Tuesday, they're welcome to do that. So, so the guys that want to work can still come in and work. But there is nothing mandatory on Tuesday. It's a time for them to get, stay out of the building, to rest, relax, to recover. A lot of them have own recovery modalities at home. They may get a massage. You may see guys come in and do a little sauna session or cold tub-hot tub contrast bath, some infrared light, an infrared light bed session. Aaron Wellman : So there's a lot going on on Tuesday and some guys take advantage of that day and some guys just use it to rest, relax and relax our mind at home. And then Wednesday now, now we're back at it and a players would start arrived in the building at 6.30 or 7 in the morning. We bring our offensive linemen and defensive linemen and all of our big skill and big scale determine big scope for us means linebackers, tight ends and our long snappers, our fullbacks running backs. Those guys come in and out. Now they do the lower body session, primarily lower, a little bit upper on Monday. Now they're heavier. Upper body session is on Wednesday and Wednesday, Wednesdays and upper body lift. It's a little bit of a hip mobility works and thoracic spine mobility work. You know, some proprioceptive activities to try to try to get on the front end, some ankle injuries. Aaron Wellman : It's about a 45 minute workout and those guys can come in and they have to be in the room by 7 o'clock that day. So you, we, again, we have guys on their own. A lot of guys like to come in at 6, workout, and they like to get in the sauna or they like to eat breakfast at 6.45 and watch some films. So we're available as a staff. Our staff usually gets in about 5 o'clock in the morning on Wednesday. We have a weight training session, we have team meetings, position meetings. We're on the field around 11 o'clock on Wednesday. They also have the opportunity to live post practice if they choose to. So the guys that don't lift in the morning, a lot of guys, you know, and, and we're fine with that because as much as we talk about sleep it would be contradictory for us to say, Hey look, sleep's important, but being here at 6, right? Aaron Wellman : So guys get enough sleep and our morning people that come in the morning, guys that aren't and want us to get another half hour sleep - great. We'll let, we'll get your way. Training session and post practice and we're usually done with the physical part of the day by 2-2.30, then we have, we have position meetings and staff meetings and typically my staff and I will get out of here around 5.30 or 6 on Wednesday night. So I'm at 5 out of here, 5.30 or 6 on Wednesdays, Thursdays kind of re repeat of Wednesday except a different position group list. So all of our skill players are wide receivers or defensive backs and our kickers and quarterbacks all get their second way training session on Thursday. And again, it's an upper body weight training session. We'll do it. Just a touch, you know, I spoke before about volume and how, how important is to manage volume, but also we want, we want, you know, this, this concurrent approach to workouts where yeah, we're developing max strength but we're also touching some power and certain guys aren't going to ever hit max strength throughout the week and older and older athlete for example, he will be geared more towards rate of force development activities, maybe some single leg activities if we've detected some asymmetries between the lower limbs, right and left. Aaron Wellman : So we do just a touch of explosive work on Thursdays. And when I say touch, I mean three sets of three sets of two of some explosive lower body activity. And again, that varies by individual, right? We've got, we've got an individual who's got some chronic knee tendinopathies or hip issues or low back issues that exercise changes, but inevitably we want to hit a rate of force development, higher velocity power movement on that Thursday. Okay. Just brief three sets of two. And then, and then we're on in quarterbacks, always looked after practice on Thursday. We don't want to fatigue upper body musculature prior to an on the field practice where they require a lot of throwing. So our quarterbacks always come in post practice on Thursday and again, kind of same thing, practice lifting meetings, staff meeting at the end of the day. And again for us as as a strength set, another coaching staff there, continued on into the night right there. Aaron Wellman : They're working on, on the, the tactical aspects of the game, preparing for the next opponent which requires firm mark and, and a lot of things. So those guys may be here till 9, 10, 11 o'clock at night. Our strength conditioning staff, which we try to put things to bed by 5.30 or 6 and, and get out of the building. Friday now are our big scale offensive defense. We'll, I'm going to have now looked at Monday, Wednesday and Friday they come back in for their third lift of the week, much briefer, 30 minutes, upper body lift, primarily nature some work for some core work. And then they're out of there in about 30 minutes. All of our players do have mandatory weigh in. We weigh in every Friday. So that we're tracking body weights. We also track body fats on a number of guys. Wade Lightheart: Do you use the DEXA scan for body fat? Aaron Wellman : We don't, we use a bod pod and we use combination bod pod and calipers. We don't use DEXA. Wade Lightheart: Can you explain why you don't use DEXA and you use the bod pod cause they have DEXA as being advertised as used in the NFL. So I'm curious about that. Aaron Wellman : Yeah. So at the NFL combine they do two measures. They do actually a bod pod and DEXA. And so every, every athlete becomes the NFL combine. I get both measures on so we can kind of see the differences between the two. Wade Lightheart: What do you see the difference? What do you see the difference between, what do you see in the difference between the bod pod and could you explain to people what the bod pod is? Aaron Wellman : Yeah, the bod pod is a really, looks like an egg shaped device, a big oval. Aaron Wellman : And the player sits in there with limited clothing and usually just compression shorts. And I'm kind of a tight beanie on to cover the hair. And it's about two 45 second measurements. And it really the calculation that uses Boyle's law of gas exchange to the terminal to differentiate lean body mass from fat mass. And the DEXA and the, the drawbacks of the bod pod are you shouldn't really should eat or drink too much within two hours of the measurement. If you do a workout and the surface of the skin is warm or damp, it does impact the reading. And so, so the drawbacks are typically that lends itself to our players having to do it first thing in the morning prior to eating, prior to physical activity. It takes about five minutes total from the time you begin an individual till the time they get out of the bod pod. Aaron Wellman : And so the number of players you can give in that short window prior to breakfast and practices is limited. Right? DEXA we can give an anytime a day. We can differentiate lean body mass from fat mass. We can look at bone mineral density, a lot of different things. The, the reason why we don't have DEXA and a lot of teams are going to the NFL combine is simply because state laws in New Jersey require us to have an extra technician or on the DEXA machine. Most States don't. The strength conditioning coach of the director of performance nutrition is performing DEXA stands. So that's, that's kind of the limitation for us. I think we'll work towards that. Wade Lightheart: Um, but right now do you see a difference between the two as far as readings? Are there variance between the two? Aaron Wellman : Yeah, there, there is a lot of variants and I haven't ran a statistical analysis on what that exact variance is, but you can kind of go down and listen. Typically DEXA measures body fat percentage a bit higher than a bod pod does. At least from the data that I've been able to look at from the NFL combine. Wade Lightheart: That's pretty much what we've seen. Also, like I've noticed it seems almost everybody comes out a little higher on DEXA than they anticipate. I don't know if that's a variance within the DEXA or it's actually it's more accurate in determining maybe fat a little bit lower or like brown fat or things like that. Aaron Wellman : Yeah, it's tough to say. I think you know, the validity is the validity on all. You know, we have so many technologies coming up that the validity is so critical to these, but with the body, with the, with the bod pod or any of these other measures, if it's the validity is a little bit off. If the equity's a little bit off, that the reliability is good, meaning meaning we take five measures, the reliability between measures. So if, if you've lost 2% body fat and indicates a 2% loss, even if the body fat, the absolute percent is a little bit off, we leave to know the athletes leaner or he's gained body fat or lost body fat. So that's, that's important. Wade Lightheart: Yeah, you're, you're, you're long as you can track the variance. That's the most important part in changing. And then you say you still use calipers as well? Aaron Wellman : Yeah, it was. So we still use calipers and we ISAK as a certification, so we're able to differentiate fat mass from bone mass, from lean muscle mass. Again, that, and again, the benefits of calipers are if you get an experienced person with calipers, it's fairly accurate. If you eat breakfast before, it's okay if you just worked out before, it's okay. The downside is, is the athletes who have larger skin folds, particularly in the abdominal areas, that's, that's tough when you have 320 pound line when you're trying to skin falls on the abdominal region, those guys generally have higher skin folds. If you're doing skill guys and and linebackers that are fairly, I mean our SCO guys are 5% body fat, 6% body fat. That's a pretty easy skinfold. Wade Lightheart: Oh yeah. There's not much there. Right. That's, that's, that's, well now when it comes to the training you mentioned, I think that's kind of interesting you're doing, I don't know if this is all a lot of, but you're mentioning like doing to set or to rep exercises as power step or what would you say is different about say how you train an NFL athlete versus how someone who's just trying to be bigger or leaner in the gym, what, what is the biggest difference between those? Aaron Wellman : Yeah, I mean I, I think, I think there's a lot, I think as an NFL athlete they're wired differently than the general population, right? Yeah. Yeah. When I say wired, I mean just, just neurologically neuromuscularly the ability to produce high levels of, of neuromuscular contraction a very short amount of times to produce fluid athletic movement. That's, those statements can't be made about most of the general general population. Certainly there are people in general population and we may term fast-twitch and more explosive than others, but we're talking about the elite of the elites. And so a lot of our athletes as high school athletes never had to train and they were still the best athlete on the field. Wade Lightheart: Right? There's just genetically superior, right. Aaron Wellman : Yes, genetically superior. And so and then in college they had to train because it was mandatory, but they didn't have to train extremely hard to be extremely disciplined eating because again, they were the best athlete on the field. Now, now in the end, now you're in the NFL, now there's a bunch of guys like you. Wade Lightheart: Yeah, everybody. Aaron Wellman : Everybody. But it's all relative. Right now in the NFL pond, there are some big fish. They're just outliers. But generally now you come to the NFL. If you want to have a long productive career, now you've got to dial some of these things in more. But again, it's like in your career as a bodybuilder, a career as a power lifter, as we come more advanced in training, you know, a power lifter may may only need to use 80 to 85% of his one rep max because he can call upon so many fibers. Right? And if he consistently trains higher than that, there's a, there's a certain level and now not only a central fatigue, but peripheral fatigue associated with training though. So neuromuscular fatigue our athletes are much the same way. They've got such high outputs that we don't need to see. Aaron Wellman : We don't have to see high outputs in the weight room as well. Their outputs, particularly in season, all their highest outputs are going to occur on Sunday. Right. And so what we do in a weight room is, is the things that we're doing here are means of supporting those outputs. You know, traditionally, you know, I spent 20 years in college and a lot of times in college our wide receivers and kind of our skilled players really don't see the value in training their lower body. All I have to do is run. I don't want to get tired. And one of the things you see in the NFL is those guys have an appreciation and will say, look, I have to train my lower body. They, they may not understand the implications of why they have to, but they understand that I feel better and I'm a better player when I do. Aaron Wellman : And how we explain to how we reconcile it is again, if I'm a, if I'm an Olympic sprinter and I'm spraying to full speed, I've got three to five times body weight every stride. So a 200 pound athletes, 600 a thousand pounds on every foot contact. So the weight training is a means of just supporting their, their position, specific demands on the field, right? Are stronger athletes will recover faster at a given workload than our weaker athletes. Because if you take those same athletes and we, you and I both undergo whatever 20 hard changes direction in the right leg, in 20 on the left leg and the same sprint distance at the same velocities, and I'm a stronger athlete, I can support those and recover quicker from those. It doesn't cause the muscle as much muscle damage and myself as it does. Does that make sense? Wade Lightheart: Yeah, that's, that's, that's that's an interesting point. Aaron Wellman : And, and so that's kind of how we explain that. Look, look, we're not, I'm not suggesting as a strength coach that if we improve your squat max by 20 pounds, you're going to be faster athlete. You're already a fast athlete. What I am suggesting is by getting stronger and maintaining your strength at season, we will support performance the entire 17 weekend FLCs right? And so, so that's kind of, that's, that's the angle with training training guys at this level. Right? And, and so it's so much different than general population, right? In general population, their workout is, they're tested today. Right? That's it. And so they, they have to recover from that. And, and of course stress that we know is stress. So psychological stress, emotional stress, physical. We only have one bucket to recover from stress. So the, the, the a 45 year old man or woman who doesn't like their job and spends 12 route hours at their job as a lot of stress from that. And it's tough to recover and just like an NFL player recovering from a game, but what the games are, are physically the most demanding days of the week. And, and so everything we do supports their ability to perform on those days. Wade Lightheart: That's, that's a pretty interesting. Now on the recovery side of things, what are some of the, the things that you guys utilize or leverage to kind of, cause it seems like recovery is such a big factor on that. I met, I think a lot of people are familiar, I remember years ago here in Vancouver I believe the Vancouver Canucks is one of the first teams to start using hyperbaric chambers and things like that. And it's kinda like, to me that was kind of when biohacking, if you will for quote unquote started to creep into professional sports. That was quite a long time ago. What are some of the things that you can talk about that, that teams are using in the NFL or the Giants are using or that sort of stuff, which are kind of common that definitely make a difference for them cause people would like if it makes different at that level it's tried, tested and true and I can trust that in my own life. Aaron Wellman : Yeah. And again, it's again, once the two biggest levers are pulled, we've got to pull those first nutrition and sleep right beyond that. Okay. I think there's, there's as much individuality with recovery modalities as there are with training modalities. Wow. you'll have certain players who love the cold tub. Other players got the cold tub and said, I just feel stiff for the next 24 hours now again. And I've found that the really high wire fast-twitch athletes don't do well in cold tubs. Um you know, and I always go back to this, I mean recovery, when all the dust settles, when we look at recovery, what, what systems in the body mediate the recovery response, primarily mediated by the autonomic nervous system, right? The sympathetic and parasympathetic branch. So if we take a sympathetic dominant athlete and put him in a cold tub and produce a higher level of sympathetic dominance and make the parasympathetic system withdrawal even more, is that what's best for them? So a lot of our players intuitively would just say, coach, you know, I, I, I just don't, I've never liked the cold tub. Okay, let's try something different. Right? So, so how can we leverage parasympathetic nervous system to promote that, to promote that recovery response? And so I think there's some, some general modalities and most teams use and most seems to have a hot tub and a cold tub. We have a sauna here. There's a lot of good evidence research on sauna use. Wade Lightheart: Do you use infrared or high temperature or combination? Aaron Wellman : We use, right now we have high temperature. Wade Lightheart: Yeah. Cause that's what kind of creates the shock proteins that seems to be temperature. Wade Lightheart: I appended on that. I know Dr Rhonda Patrick is talked about it extensively and she says the heat's a big factor. Aaron Wellman : Yeah, heat is a huge factor and actually you can, you can seem like he shock proteins and cold too. And Rhonda talked about that and I think the difference between infrared and high heat saunas is the duration you have to be in it. So an infrared sauna may take 45 minutes to to get the same response as opposed to 25 in a high heat sauna. We also have a near infrared light bed that I don't know if you, I don't know if it goes red. Wade Lightheart: The red belt chargers? Yeah. Those are great. Those are amazing. I was just on one a little bit ago. My skin is still a little red cause it was built in with a suntanning set. Aaron Wellman : It's phenomenal. I feel amazing on that thing. Our players love that. Our players love it. Pre-Practice pre-workout. They also love it post-breaks and post workout. And we've got a lot of coaches who, who use that as well. And I think right now that's probably the most utilized recover modally we have in the building is the infrared light light therapy. Some teams have sensory deprivation or float tanks. I'm sure you're familiar with those. We do not have one. But again, it's, it's what, you know, what are we doing that we're promoting a person but static response, right? I think if you're, if you're eating well and sleeping well and you focus on breathing, some breath work, some meditation, I think that can be just as powerful as any other recovery modality. Wade Lightheart: So the big thing is just flipping people, you want people flip that as sympathetic to parasympathetic. Is that the, is that the goal that you're after? Aaron Wellman : Yeah, and I think you'll hear people say, well, what if you're, what if you're too parasympathetic dominant? Okay, okay. We don't see that too much. Right. You know, when we, when you look at just some subjective markers of, of what sympathetic and parasympathetic dominance looks like. Most of our guys are, you know, strong guys to compete in a violent sport and a context sport and, and ufollowing games or practices. We just want to promote that relaxation response. Right? For some guys that might be, might be going out to dinner with their wives, other guys may be a hot tub, other guys that might be a and might be some breath work, some meditation. Ubut again, I think the, the, the responses of these modalities are as individualized as anything else. Aaron Wellman : I think when we, you know, in college we used to make like all of our players get in the cold tub after training camp practices. I mean, whenever you do, whenever you, it'd be like programming a weight training program for the masses and you're going to capture 30 to 40% of those and probably do what's about right for that. But the other 60 are going to respond to you. They're not respond or respond unfavorably to your recommendations. And I think, I think that's what, that's what, in my opinion, a good performance programs from, from great performance programs is that ability to, how much going to individualize not only the training response and the dose of loading we're getting our athletes, but then also on the backend, how do we individualize that recovery response to do what's best for that athlete. Wade Lightheart: That's it. That's fantastic. So what, any, any other recovery modalities that you find helpful? Aaron Wellman : You know, there's a lot out there. All right. I mean, a lot of our guys have their own, I mean, just touch physical touch, massage. Yeah. We offer, we offer massage store athletes. We offer breathwork and meditation for athletes. We offer acupuncture to our athletes. A light bed therapy, sauna, hot tub, cold tub. I think that's about it and a lot of our guys, but you have guys who have hyperbaric chamber. Yeah, yeah. You mentioned the term biohacking. A lot of guys on their own like this and, and so even some of the stuff, the science isn't strong on, right. But the placebo effect is so powerful that if you that if you feel better it works. Wade Lightheart: Right. So, so, so would you say that these high, many of these high performance athletes seem to have a better awareness of their biofeedback than say general population? Aaron Wellman : I think they do by large,I think they do. I've had athletes really high level skill players who, and I, and one of the things that differentiates NFL programs or my program in the NFL from colleges is I think in the NFL we really lock arms with our athletes, right? In college we have 18 to 22 year olds and we're making best practice decisions in the NFL. We're making best practice decisions, but I'm also going to lock arms with the athletes. Okay. Let's talk about how you feel in the field. What I can do to help you improve in those areas where you feel like you're deficient, you are running a running back to when he plans off his rifle. It doesn't feel as powerful as when he just left for example. But I've had these high level sprint athletes, skill athletes, they can describe what they're feeling. Aaron Wellman : They don't know what it is, but they're just, they're describing part of their anatomy that bothers them at high speeds for any, and they can point right to it and they can tell you exactly when it hurts. They don't know why it hurts. And then, and then if we dig, and if we worked with these guys, if we dig and dig and dig, we can usually figure this thing out. But they are so perceptive with how their body feels. Now, some guys are really perceptive to a fault, right? Right. They're going to, they're going to perceive everything and everything's a problem. But other guys are perceptive and just, Hey, look, how do I fix this? And, and, and we, we help them correct that. But, but I, I think you're right. I, I would, I would generally say that these, these athletes are much more in tune with their body. It's just like having a Indianapolis race car versus, you know, a 1970 Corvette you just driving around on the weekends. Wade Lightheart: You know, this brings up another topic on performance I think is I'm curious about and that is one of the things that you hear them talking about in sports is an athlete's vision. Their ability to see the field or see how plays are developing or are accompanied. And then I know a recent trend in the NHL is goalies taking different vision training. There was about four or five, four years ago there was a, a bunch of second string goalies that all became starters cause they went to these particular visual training stuff. Do you guys do any training on that or is that an end season or an off season thing or do you have any experience with that? Aaron Wellman : Yeah, that's a great question. I am not an expert in that area. We do, we have, we have several modalities. They would fall into the category of quote unquote vision training. Like a lot of things. I think that the evidence is strong for some and completely lacking for others. You know, there, there's a company that makes these glasses that kind of like stroke glasses where they flash in and out. So you can see. And so Claire, my stand Clare, my catch balls. So is it, is it the glasses or is it the extra half hour a day you spend catching balls that you didn't do before? Right. So I think, I think, you know, I like to refer to myself as an open minded skeptic. Wade Lightheart: Okay. Aaron Wellman : I don't have any answers. Right. You know, I have more than I used to. I don't, I don't have all the answers, but I am open to the idea that much of this stuff works, that we've only discovered maybe one or 2% about human performance and the things that we can do to improve. So, so I don't discount anything. And particularly the athletic things that works in when it works. I just don't know how many of these devices are, are validated and if we were to, would, would stand up to kind of a double blind placebo controlled trial. And I don't think a lot of them have been undergone this scrutiny. Wade Lightheart: Couple more questions around the training. So two things that come to mind is one of the things I'm so impressed about just, well just this sheer athletic ability of the NFL. I mean, I, I watch it. It doesn't matter who's playing, if I'm into the teams, just, just watching some every day that I watched that game, I'm, I'm just blown away by what somebody does on that field. You know, it's just mind boggling. But two of the things that I think is pretty interesting is the grip strength. Wade Lightheart: That some of these athletes have enabled to grab a one handed catch and you know, like, you know, hold onto the ball with a 300 pound man slamming the ball directly. That's a, that's a fascinating thing. And then the other piece I'd like to look at is the training in the off season. How that differs from in season? Aaron Wellman : Yeah. So the grip strength priests, do we train grip? Yeah, we do. I would never be I would never say the reason why they're able to do this cause we do grip training, right? These guys, again, are, are wired completely differently than the general population. And I've seen guys with their five foot 10 with enormous hands, right? And so obviously you're building to hold on the ball. Largely can be predicted by hand size with these players. And, and again, these, these guys physically physically are different, are mentally different, are, I mean they're, they're the elite of the elite, right? They're the Navy seals of the military, right? These, these guys are the best of the best. And so they are wired completely differently. So we do, we do a lot of group training, particularly with our offensive and defensive linemen because they're, they're handing in combat athletes essentially. Aaron Wellman : But what you're referring to are some of these catches, some of these skill guys are making. And it's, it's really a, it is a grip strength thing. It's a skill because they practice these don't, let's not underestimate the impact skill has on this, right? So big hands and strong hands doesn't mean you can make one handed catches. Correct. If it did, then we would just get bigger, recruit players with the biggest hands and train their grip and we'd move making these miraculous sketches. So skill is always going to trump strength and speed and power and so, and these guys put enormous amounts of time practicing one hand to catch. This isn't, this isn't an anomaly that you see on game day. I mean it's uyou know, the balls thrown outside the framework of the body and they've got to go get it. And that's, that's something that's a skill that has to be practiced and learned just like any other skill. Wade Lightheart: Well, and now going into off season training, how, how does that change change for your athletes and how much do you interact with the athletes? Cause you know, maybe they're not even in the city that you're in or they're outside or new people are coming in from other programs and all that sort of stuff. So what goes on there? Aaron Wellman : Yeah, it's a great question. And it's one that's, it's, it's a, it's one, it's a difficult obstacle with our yearly calendar here in the NFL. So I'll, and I'll kind of walk you through a week. Our last game was December 29th if you're not a playoff football team, the players usually there's a meeting the next day and I'm, I'm allowed to give them a 14 to 15 week. It's about a 14 week off season program. Ours is about 160 pages long. It got nutrition, all their speed work, their conditioning, all their weight training broken up by position. We'll have 10 to 20 guys who want individualized training programs. So we do that for them. But dictate that we, we are not to contact our athletes and have a conversation with regards to train. Right? So essentially an athlete may leave and you may not see him or, or speak with him regarding training for 14 weeks. Aaron Wellman : That's a huge obstacle. Right? Wade Lightheart: Can they reach out to you guys? Aaron Wellman : They can reach out to us. Uwe cannot, we cannot initiate the conversation. Our, our training facility is open every day throughout the off season. And our players can come in and train. We cannot,umandate they come in. We cannot mandate what they do when they're in the room. We cannot conduct the workout. We can simply supervise for safety, right? If the guy's bench press and we can spot and make sure he's not hurting. So, but we can't say, Hey, let's, let's do four sets today or five, or let's do this exercise. Uso they, so when they come in, our athletes bring in their off season program and work right off of that. Uthe other thing we cannot do is, is,uyou know, the, the weather in New Jersey in January, February is not sunny and nice. Aaron Wellman : So you're not going outside to run. So we have an indoor facility. Our athletes can go in there and run, they can use the facility. We can't go in there with them. Right. So, so we're loping hamstring. So, so the focus is on the player to, to quote unquote be a professional and take care of their body. And so, and that, that period goes from the end of the, the from the last game of the season until the beginning of a, what we term the off season program, which would be around the middle of April. Right? And so in the middle of April arise, most of our players come back, and again, this is not a, the off season program is not mandatory. It's an optional program. However, most guys are back and, and really the first two weeks of that program, I get the players. It's strength and conditioning. Aaron Wellman : I give them two hours a day, I give them four days a week. And that's kind of our time too. And then when they come back, you know, kind of put yourself in our place. When these guys come back, you're trying to program running loads, sprint distances to get them ready for two weeks from now when the coaches get them. But what you don't have is information on what they've done for 14 weeks. Right? So consequently you get a mixed bag, right? You got our guys, our guys are great, very professional. So they're all going to have done something. But some of them have been running four days a week for the last four weeks. Some have run one or two days a week, some have done high-speed runnie, some have just, you know, stable condition. And so the first week we're really trying to feel out where we are as a team. Aaron Wellman : If day one becomes heavy sprint work, we're going to have problems. Yeah. Right. Those, those, those chronic loads, chronic running loads have not been established with the athletes. And, and there's a, there's a lot in the research on these acute to chronic workload ratios. But it's common sense that, and I, and I use the analogy of, of being in the sun with our players. So there's no problem with being in the sun for three hours unless you've not seen sunlight for the previous eight months. Now you're gonna have a problem. Right. But if you, but if you go in the sun 10 minutes today, 20 minutes tomorrow, and that's no different with training and with sprinting that, you know, if you haven't sprinted for 14 weeks and we bring you back when we do ten one hundred yard sprints, certainly there's going to be a price to pay for that. Aaron Wellman : Yeah. And so, so we're very careful. We almost under-traine them in week one because we really don't know what we're getting and we just, all season program is only eight weeks long. We just can't afford to have the soft tissue injury. And for a guy to miss four or five, we should try. And so we're, we try to be very smart. We try to meet them where they're at. I have several conversations, just honest conversations. Talk to me about how you've trained particularly the last four weeks. Have you followed the program we've given you? Well, no, I did this. Okay. And so it kind of gives us an indication on where our players are and we want that. We want that communication to be open and honest. I, if you've done nothing, tell me. Tell me. You've done nothing. So it's so that I can make the best decisions for you. That's all. That's what this is, is that how do we put our players in a position to have, to have a long career, to stay healthy, to perform every Sunday. And how do we serve our players to meet their needs. Wade Lightheart: So for our younger listeners who may be aspiring to a career in professional sports or professional football, what would you say is maybe some of the patterns that you've observed or like early on that translate well to become a professional. And what would you say, would you say the most successful professionals or the people who have the longest careers or more durable careers are the most reliable? What would you say that they do different than say people who don't seem to make that cut? Cause I mean the average NFL career is what, three and a half years now. And then when you had some of these guys that are in for 10, 12, 15 years, what do you think is the difference as a, as a coach or a player? Well as a, as a, as a player, as an athlete per say, and then I'll take both sides of the coaches. Interesting as well as an athlete. Aaron Wellman : I mean, obviously you have to have the innate ability and genetic potential. And I don't like the word genetic potential because I think you can overcome genetics, but, but, but if you look across the board, the majority of our players are genetically wired a little bit different. I've said that several times and it's just so true. And so that, that's step one. And, and so from a young age, and you can see those genetic, I've got a 15 year old son, but when he was eight on the basketball court, you can see the eight year olds who are a little bit different than the other eight year olds. Um and so I think certain, certainly often, I mean all the cliche things up because like, like I said, I've been in college for 20 years of several different levels of college football and the guys that are consistently high character players who are disciplined with their work ethic and discipline. Aaron Wellman : To me that word is thrown out a lot, but that's, that involves everything from a college athlete, making sure he's a class on time from taking it from taking notes in class to how they handle their sleep, how they handle the nutrition. You know, in college we would get the players for eight hours a week in the off season as certain condition coaches. Well what about the other 160 hours a week, right? So you can be really great in those eight hours, but if you're not living clean and the other 160 you're just not going to make the progress. And it's no different as a 45 year old or a 30 year old or 50 year old who wants to get in shape in the gym, what you're going to work out maybe hour, hour and a half a day, maybe five days a week. So five to eight hours again, the other 160 become a part. Aaron Wellman : How are you sleeping? How are you eating? How are you spending your time? Who are you spending your time with? Right? Those are all, because when I was in college, I would have NFL Scouts come in and they wouldn't ask me about that. They'd ask about 40 times and all that. And that was a very quick conversation. The conversation was what kind of guys, what kind of kid is he? Is he a hard worker? Does he, when the training session is over, does he stay after and do extra? Right. How many times has he been in trouble for not going to class? So we're, we're gathering information on who you are as a person. And so the, you know, and, and I think we can probably, you can look at ESPN 30 for 30 (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/30_for_30) and a lot of athletes who had the ability and had all these, the physical requirements necessary to be an all or an all American and did, why didn't they will most, most of the great fairs and history of and character failures, right? Aaron Wellman : From athletes to politicians. Where is it? It's a, it's a character failure. So that's an important part of it. And then when they get to our level, I think it's, you know, now, now they've done the required work and now they're an NFL football player and now it becomes, as you mentioned before, the average NFL career, and you mentioned three and a half years. I think that's about right. It's somewhere around there. How do you take care of your body now? Right? Because now, now requires more than, more than you've done in college, right? You're eating, your nutrition program has to be a little bit better, right? You have to pay a little bit more attention to recovered because every year you get older, a risk goes up. Every year you accrue another injury. Again, risk goes up. So, so longevity at this level is, but it's a lot of the same things. Aaron Wellman : I mean it's, it's that, but it's also character and your work ethic at this level, right? We talk about being a professional. Being a professional means you're taking care of your body. You're, you're here on time, you're here to work. You watch extra film. I mean, what do you do? What in, in our profession, it's, I tell young guys, given a profession that what you do off the job will determine how far you go on the job. We're all going to be in the building for that, for a set amount of hours in a day. Right? But what do you do? What do you listen to on the way home or you listen to podcast and as a, as a young coach, are you listen to podcasts? Are you just listening to radio? Right? On the weekends you watch a Netflix? Are you watching training documentaries? Right? You know, I mean, how do you spend your free time and how does that contribute or detract from the goals that you have set for you? Wade Lightheart: Yeah, that focus is a big factor, I think. And, and, and, and in a competitive sport and you're at the very elite of the elite every, every half hour makes a difference. Right? So you're, you're never off. Speaking on recovery and training things, I think this is a big topic and one I think that interesting enough, the, the NFL brought to attention and there's a lot of people is concussions and how that impacts people and their functionality and recovery. And what are some of the things that you could share around concussions of how you go and approach that when an athlete has a concussion, what are some of the common recoveries? Because it turns out that concussions are much more prevalent than they originally thought to the general population, let alone an NFL football player where the risk is extraordinary high because just because of the nature of the sport. What, what are you guys doing around that? Aaron Wellman : Yeah. The talk around concussions is as you mentioned, much more frequent today than it was five, 10 years ago. And I think, I think that's a good thing. I think bringing awareness to that as a good thing because ultimately what we care about is our players. Health number one, health always comes first as coaches, it should be just the same oath of physicians take a do no harm. Right. And so the player's health comes first. Performances is a second. So, so that's always in the conversation now as a strength conditioning coach. And I'll be honest with you, that is, that is a hot topic that I don't get involved in too much. Wade Lightheart: I see. It's more the medical side, the staff. Yeah. Yeah. Aaron Wellman : So that's a medical side and I think that's, I think, yeah, I think that's how it should be. I don't think that coaches, strength coaches, performance coach should, should, should get involved in that. I think that should be medical experts making this decision on what's absolute best for that players, that player, excuse me. And we jumped in when they give us the green light to say, okay, he's good to start training again. So I see you know, that that's one that, that that I don't touch. And, and again, if it was my son, I would want a medical expert, not a coach or even a strength coach overseeing that I'd want, I'd want the experts in the field working with him doing the cognitive testing and giving us the green light when he is healed enough to return the train. Wade Lightheart: Um so one other question I want to be mindful of your time is so someone who is aspiring to be a coach, maybe they're listening to this and saying, you know, what is, how did you track through this? Wade Lightheart: You know, getting your own education and then getting started in a university, you know, athletic program and working your way all the way up to the New York Giants, which is kudos to that. There's a lot of people that like to be in that position. That's a hard go. You get there. That's a lot of hours and effort. What, what were the key points that allowed you to make that trajectory? Aaron Wellman : Yeah, I think my, my start in it. I would say that the, I dunno if I earned it any more than anyone else. I think I got lucky at the beginning. I started with a handwritten note to a football coach at Indiana university named Cameron. And uyou know, this was in 1996 and the handwritten note he responded to and I interviewed and I got a graduate assistant position from that point on though, I like to think that certainly there's more luck involved, but, but I like to think that a lot of us create our own luck through. Aaron Wellman : And let me say this, that football was like a lot of other business. It's a people business, which means, which means that, and I probably undervalued that, to be honest with you, my first 10 or 15 years, it's a people business requires great communication and great collaboration. My, my track into this, I think if you look back, I mean, and I quite honestly, I tried to talk people out of the profession only. And the reason why I do that is not because I, I love the profession. It's plan A and I have no plan B. So I am, I love what I do. I wouldn't want to do anything else. I try to talk people out of it. So I don't want our, I don't want our profession devalued. Right. And I want, I want to make sure the younger generation coming in understands the a, the enormity of the impact you can have on the lives. Aaron Wellman : Particularly at the high school and college though. Cause the high school strength coaches are doing some of the best work in the country. Yeah. Right. In the formative years of the athlete. You know, just building the work ethic and the, and the character of these players. But I don't want to devalue our, our profession. I want people to understand that it's a certain type of person that gets into this and I think you have to understand, it's like every profession, why are you doing this? Is it because you just like to lift? Is it because you like to play football because your career is over? Or are you really doing it to pour into the lives of young men? Right. And again, that's something that took me some time to figure out. And when you discover why you're doing it, it really doesn't matter if you have to work 16, 18 hours a day because you've got work. Aaron Wellman : If you've got to work seven days a week, eight hours a day because you're, you're living out the goals for your life, you're living out why you want to do it. And, and so that's your why. How are you going to, how are you going to insert yourself in the lives of these guys? And so for me, it was, I've always been, I, and I tell my wife, you know, the the a man's ability to suffer I think is so critical, right? And so my ability to work, you know, and I was up at for 15 years up at 3:00 am most days a week and then in the office by 3.30 or 4. And not because I wanted to be the first one that I was because I still to this day I have a really passion for learning and that gives me an hour on the front end of the day where I can do some research and get and get ahead of a little bit. Aaron Wellman : And I think the field is so saturated now with strength coaches, trainers, performance centers that how do you, how are you going to differentiate yourself as someone getting into this field from, from everyone else. And that one thing I've tried to do is consistently learn. And so I did a master's degree in, in sports science at Indiana university. I got hired full time. They would pay for schooling. So I did a master's degree in nutrition science. In 2014 I started a PhD, finished that in 2018 and so how do we consistently learn and, and consistently improve our program and ultimately not for the, not for our sake or to have more letters after her name, but for the sake of our athletes. Right. The more when I live at my knowledge, all I do is limit the ability of my assets. And so, so for me it's, it's, it's learning everything I can consistently trying to put together constantly the best program for athletes. Aaron Wellman : And I think, and I think that's, that's a challenge, right? That's a challenge to do every day. And so that's why the, the, the young men and women get into the profession. There's a lot of great young strength coaches, but I just want them to understand the value of this profession and the impact they can have on lives. And let's look, let's not take this lightly as a coach or as a teacher, as a high school teacher. These are, these are, these are great professions where you can make a lifelong impact on, on young men and women. Wade Lightheart: I love that. That's, that's, that's a great message. Before we wrap up now, any, any new things or any things that you want to give a shout out to in regards to your own work or how you go about things or anything else that you want to mention that we haven't covered? Aaron Wellman : No, I don't think so. You know, I'm a, again, for me it's just about our athletes and what can I do every day and in these, whatever, 12 to 14 hours, I'm here and then, and then when I leave here it's trying to be the best dad I can be with my two kids and husband and my wife. And if, if that's the focus I don't have time for, for much outside. Wade Lightheart: I forgot to ask one, one other question in that was, I found this fascinating is that I believe you follow a cyclic ketogenic diet. And so I'd like to just inquire and I think we're going to get you back to kind of dive deeper on that cause it's, it's a passion of my co-founder Matt. Do you see the ketogenic diet being something applicable inside of speed and power sports? Cause that's kind of the knock that a lot of people think about it or, and, and why have you incorporated that in your own life? Aaron Wellman : Yeah, I think again, I'm, I know enough about nutrition to be dangerous. Certainly not the authority. Right? But I, here's what I, here's my opinion on this right now. And, and as long as you'll allow me freedom to change my opinion a year from now is that learn more and sure. And progress. Wade Lightheart: I think that's a very empowering, I think that's a very powerful statement is that you stay flexible. I think you said an open minded skeptic, which I thought was really a great way. Yeah. Aaron Wellman : And, and you'll hear a lot of people, I think the reaction is saying no. And speed and power sports that are typically characterized by anaerobic activity. There is no place for the ketogenic diet. I think it can be done. I think it's very difficult because I think the, the amount of time it takes to adapt and athlete would have to be really, really interested. For lots of reasons and maintaining a ketogenic diet for a long time for him or her to adapt in a high intensity repeated sport. I really believe that. I think, I think it's maybe easier in some endurance sports, long distance sports. Have we said that? Can it be done? I think it absolutely can be done. I just don't know that the, the interest in the athletes is high enough where they can become completely quote unquote fat adapted and that's their primary source where they're not. Aaron Wellman : You know, my first introduction to ketogenic diet was we had a player at Indiana and he said, coach, I'm on a ketogenic diet and I said 'you are'? And I knew what it was and this was 20 years ago. And he said, I said, what are you eating? He said, I'm all, it means ice cream and bananas. And I said, hold on, I cream and bananas. He said, yeah. And so that, that kind of, that gives you an indication of some of the, you know, the education and ideas of, of some people who read some things. Right. Certainly it's much more prevalent now than it was 20 years ago. But I, so the short answer is I believe you're, I believe where athletes can do with it. I think it's very difficult for them, for people to stay on it that long and maintain that state to, to see the performance and gains. And I don't know, quite honestly, I don't know if performance will be better in our sport. I think you can probably be maintained if you're really diligent, but I don't know if that would be better. Wade Lightheart: Right. And then for your own self though, you've incorporated, and what are the reasons that you've found that a applicable for you? And what are the benefits that you've noticed and maybe how long it took you to adapt to that diet? Aaron Wellman : Yeah, I mean, I, I first started really dabbling in ketogenic diet in 1997. Wow. Yeah. A guy named Dan Duchaine wrote a book called Body Opus (https://www.amazon.com/Underground-Bodyopus-Militant-Weight-Recomposition/dp/0965310701). I'm sure you're familiar. And so that was a very stringent program, not only with the, with the five days a week of, of ketogenic type eating, but the two days a week where, where he would go on a higher carbohydrate. And there was, there was 24 feedings over 48 hours. And so just to, just to, but at that time I was in graduate school and I had, that was my life. Right? And so I did that for eight to 10 weeks. And so that's when I first got introduced. And, and I've always, since then, I've always been fairly low. I would characterize myself as low carbohydrate, low, a hundred grams a day. And then when I run across Dom D'Agostino research, Wade Lightheart: Just had him on the podcast a couple weeks ago, just had him, great researcher. Fantastic. Aaron Wellman : And this was early 2012 or 13. And the health, you know, as we age, I just think the health benefits as we age, when, when you combine some, a ketogenic type approach with some, with some restricted time restricted eating that's, and I've tracked macronutrients on almost every day of the year from probably 12 to 14 years, right? Of what I have my own personal diet and a lot of people think that's too much to do and that's just, I'm just interested in doing, I'm interested in how I feel. I'm interested in what blood work looks like. I'm interested in my blood glucose readings, my ketone readings several times a day, depending on what the item on. That's just one of my, it's one of my interests. And so, so the ketogenic diet for me, so lately I've been doing a cycle of ketogenic diet as you mentioned, and that that involves, I've done it both ways where one day a week is a primarily a higher carbohydrate day and I try to minimize fat as much as I can on that day. Aaron Wellman : Or I'll do a, I'll cycle in and out of it on a daily basis with a, you know, 40 to 50 gram carbohydrate feeding immediately post workout. And then, and then be right back into ketosis by by the time I go to bed at night. So these are just things I enjoy and I, I think that the bottom line is I've stuck with it because I feel great. Right? I feel great doing it. And, and the research and I think that there's so much research out there and there's, so depending on what you read, people get overwhelmed. But I think with making decisions on what's best and so I've kind of taken everything, I've read everything, I've researched how I felt, both, both subjectively and objectively through blood work can really develop what I think is best for myself. Wade Lightheart: How long did it take you to kind of go through the adaptive phases? Cause I know there's like a couple week adjustment, then like a three month adjusted. And then Matt, the co-founder, he, he said that he found another adjustment about a year later about how quickly he got back to ketosis when he does you know, in big ingest of carbs, he'll still be in ketogenic, you know, he'll still be in ketosis the day after he's right back in. Have you noticed similar type things or what's been your own experience? Aaron Wellman : Yeah, I haven't, it's a great question. When I first started, like I said in the late nineties or I had a hard time because I was primarily, and I think the, the amount of carbohydrates you take on a chronic basis and when we switch and say, I'm gonna, I'm gonna go to this ketogenic approach. I think your previous history of carbohydrate intake really determines how quickly you're going to adapt. And so the first time I had a hard time, but then as a really low carb eater for several years, when I went back to it, it was fairly easy. And within two, I, you know, I never had the, I never had the, you know, I've heard this term keto flu. I've heard, I never experienced that. I felt great immediately. Digestive issues cleared up immediately. I felt, you know, we described this thing as a, you know, some brain fog and, and I had mental clarity quicker. Aaron Wellman : And so I adapted fairly quickly now. I didn't start producing ketones that quickly. That took me, you know, it took me a month or two if I really get consistent ketone ratings and then really about a year before I could start eating carbs and getting back into ketosis quickly. Right. so I, I think that I, I would echo similar to what Matt said with regards to the ability to return to ketosis fall into carbohydrate feeding. And again, that is a one experiment, but I think, but I think we all, all of us should be doing experiences to find out what's best for each one of us. Wade Lightheart: That's great. One last thing. Do you ever do any testing on genetics or epigenetics or methylation in regards to various athletes and how well they do on different diets or foods that you do avoid or allergy testing or anything like that? Aaron Wellman : We don't do that specifically. We do have a partnership with quest diagnostics and they run a a panel called blueprint for athletes and our athletes have, it's not mandatory, but they have the option to do that four times a year. We're testing, not methylation, but vitamin status, food allergies markers of muscle damage or we're doing that and it's more of a it's more of a basic, basic labs that you would, you would associate with athletic performance than it is with, with longevity and methylation and, and things like that. But, but our athletes have the ability, have the option to do that is to choose. Wade Lightheart: One last question and that would be, do you, where do you see kind of the future of training with all the tech coming and all this kind of like where do you see things say maybe in 10 years as a strength coach, what do you, what do you anticipate will be more integrated or coming down the pipe? Aaron Wellman : Yeah, I think, I think too, I think it's hard to say in 10 years because I think we've made so many strides in the last two. I think there are things that are happening now that no one saw five years ago. I think, I think two things I think, and this, I don't want to sound contradictory, but I think here are my two thoughts on this that I think the pendulum will swing back a little bit. We're developing all this tech and there's a lot, we get a lot of streams that day that come in. I think the pendulum will swing back. We will, as coaches or performance staff say, okay, here are, here are the big rocks for us. Here are the three or four data inputs that we want to look at, give us, are our biggest predictors of whether it's injury risk or performance. Aaron Wellman : And we're going to put our focus here, but I also think as we go, I mean, I think you're gonna see a lot more, you know, right now we go into practice, we slide a GPS in their global position system unit in New Jersey and we track what they do on the field. I think 10 years from now, those things, if an athlete wants to have it embedded, that they're going to have them embedded, and we're going to, we're going to track everything so that, so the biggest, you know, we talk about external loading of athletes and take a college athlete, for example, who is on a big campus and has five classes and walks three to four miles a day, but it's not quantified, right? Right. So all we're doing as far as performance goes is, is we're quantifying their weight training session. Aaron Wellman : They're conditioning their practice, right? We're not quantifying the three miles they walk to get to class every day. We're not quantifying the emotional stress from a relationship that just ended. We're not quantifying the, the mental stress from academics and from exams clarsity at this level. The, the amount of social stress involved with being an NFL athlete and they media requests and things like that. And I think the, the ultimate goal, and I know for me, and I've said this before, the ultimate goal is to quantify every physical variables done through the day. Overlay that with the sleep and all the internal stress and the internal response to that and have a score at the end of the day on how what we've done. Right. And so, and to track that, and I think that that would obviously be you know, kind of like the Holy grail of player monitoring. And I think that, I'm not saying that's going to be done, but I think it's certainly will be available within the next 10 years. Wade Lightheart: Yeah. I think that's where we're heading. And I know a lot of the quote unquote biohackers that we work with, they're, or they're already are great, you know, they got the trackers, they've got the sleep devices, they're monitoring, they got all the data points, they're implanting this stuff, they got all the Fitbit, they got everything going on and it's fascinating, you know? Yeah. And our ability to get real raw world data on a like just ongoing basis. I think we'll probably switch things more than we can anticipate. So great point. Aaron, this is just been so fun. I mean, I can't believe you've been so free with the information. I really appreciate you coming on here. I know there's going to be so many people inspired by what you're doing and that you took time out of your super busy day to do that. Thank you so much from everybody at BiOptimizers, and our listeners. We really appreciate you coming on here and I want to thank you and wish you guys the best of luck this season and beyond and with your own career and let us know if there's anything biOptimizers can do for you. Aaron: Thanks, Wade. It's been a pleasure. I appreciate it. | |||
| 20 Apr 2023 | 226: IZOD Method and Biohacking - with Mike Van Thielen | 00:57:00 | |
The concept of biohacking is gaining traction as more people become aware of the benefits of optimizing their health and longevity. Mike Van Thielen, a life coach and author, has developed a method called the Isolation Method to help people reach their peak performance potential. Van Thielen emphasizes that in order to optimize health and performance, people must first address the basics – diet, physical activity and grounding. He notes that in order to get the most out of biohacking, the body must be in an optimal state, free from systemic inflammation and other conditions that can hold back performance. Van Thielen stresses the importance of understanding the exponential nature of aging. He explains that the aging process accelerates as people get older and that this acceleration requires an exponentially greater effort to counteract. He suggests that people begin to focus on their biological age rather than their chronological age in order to better understand the effects of aging on the body. How to sort out the legitimate biohacking tools from the sketchy ones "When it comes to sorting out the legitimate biohacking tools from the sketchy ones, it is important to do your own research and testing." Van Thielen said: "Start by looking into the ingredients and research that supports the product. Ask questions and look for reviews. If you can, try out the product yourself or get feedback from others who have used it." "It is also important to look at the potential risks associated with a product before using it. Some products may have side effects that could be dangerous to your health. Do your research and talk to your doctor if you are unsure." "Finally, consider your budget. While some products may be very expensive, there are also affordable options available. Cold showers, saunas, and cryotherapy are all inexpensive ways to biohack." What are the benefits of being in the zone? Mike Van Thielen believes that being in the zone can provide significant benefits, such as freeing up valuable time, being more focused and effective, and being able to complete tasks in a shorter amount of time. He also believes that it is important to have foundations in place and to be guided in the right way in order to get the most out of being in the zone. He also emphasizes the importance of avoiding distractions and utilizing various techniques, such as the Pomodora technique, and taking advantage of natural substances, such as Bio Citro, to help get into the zone. Finally, he cautions that bio-transformation, which is the merging of technology with the human body, can be used for both good and bad purposes, and should be monitored closely. In this podcast, you will learn about:
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| 10 Dec 2019 | 038: The Power of Magnesium with Matt Gallant | 00:53:17 | |
Did you know magnesium is needed to perform 300 different bodily functions? That is the power of magnesium. In today's episode with Matt Gallant, we will talk about some of those functions, why we need different types of magnesium for different parts of the body and why we created a special magnesium blend to address these needs. Different types of magnesium are generally used by different parts of your body. For example, magnesium chelate is really important for muscle building recovery and health. Magnesium citrate helps with counteracting some obesity issues and it can help with arterial stiffness in people who are healthy and in those who are overweight. Magnesium biglycinate or glycinate is great for sleep, and it may also help with stomach acid (meaning it can aid in digestion). It may also be helpful in reducing heart disease, Type 2 diabetes as well as osteoporosis. Magnesium taurate is also very beneficial for the heart and for reducing muscle cramping and migraines. Magnesium malate may also help with some of those same issues plus it can alleviate depression and anxiety. Malate is also good at removing aluminum from the body, so it can aid in detoxing as well. Another magnesium we talk about is magnesium L-threonate, it helps with memory, cognitive functioning in the short and long-term as well as overall mental ability. And finally, the last magnesium we recommend is magnesium orotate, which is very helpful for the heart and is especially useful for metabolic improvements. We also share a few studies that show the power of magnesium and how truly beneficial it is for a healthy, functioning mind and body. One particular study followed 4,000 people for 20 years and found that people with the highest magnesium intake were 47% less likely to develop diabetes. Today we also discuss some at-home options for increasing your levels of magnesium like bathing in Epsom salts and more intense, even experimental options that are out there. We share our personal experiences with intravenous magnesium, and how we have brought all 7 types of magnesium together in one special combination for you. Join us to hear these cutting edge insights and more on this episode of Awesome Health! Episode ResourcesRead the Episode Transcript :Wade Lightheart: Good afternoon, good morning and good evening wherever you are. It's Wade T Lightheart back with the Awesome Health Podcast. And I got Matty the mad scientist with me today, my co founder, co-conspirator, co-creator co everything. And uh, we're excited today because we're going to reveal something that happened to me a number of years ago. Basically I made a profound discovery crisis is an awesome, awesome opportunity for those who don't know in Japan they write crisis and opportunity actually together in Kaishu script. And so it says danger, proceed with caution, but there's always opportunities within it. And one of the things when you're on the leading edge, the bleeding edge, um, and pushing your body to the max pushing your lifestyle, the maximum as a high performer in variably, I don't know, a high performer that doesn't run into trouble somewhere at some time. It's just, it's just the nature of revs engines at high level. Wade Lightheart: A couple years ago, I fell into a that doing more than I thought possible writing checks my body couldn't cash and just burning it to the absolute max. And I did this for years. Running a bunch of different companies, working day and night, sleeping crazy hours, traveling around, burnt myself to a crisp. Literally, I was at a restaurant in Panama. I was listening like some that's like my best friend. We were living literally five minute walk from each other in, in, in, in about six months. I saw him five times and on the fifth time he's like, dude, what's, what's going on? And I said, Matt, I'm living in hell. And the crazy thing is is, well, let's see. He's like, okay, yeah, I can see that you're struggling. I see you are not quite yourself. Well, what's going on? I said, it's like I can't function. Wade Lightheart: It's like my brain isn't working. This distress of my decisions, I'm having emotional reaction. He goes, okay, well let's go look you up on a brain machine and tell them. Now, Matt, you're an expert in, I would say a in a, in a really great experiment on brainwave function, neurological activity. We both dove deep into that and I knew I wasn't like there was something seriously wrong with me, not just physically. I was lethargic in the gym. But like mentally I was just struggling. What happened when I, when we, when you hooked you up to your, to your lab, your lab tests. Matt Gallant: I have a medical grade neurofeedback device that measures the electrical activity in someone's brain. And part of what gets revealed is the amount, you know, like basically the voltage in someone's brain. And at that time, uh, Wade had around a quarter of the electricity of, uh, my 78 year old friend, uh, who I've seen his brain waves. So, you know, Wade was like maybe one or two levels away from being brain dead essentially. Wade Lightheart: I had the brain of a 280 year old. So, uh, something you don't want to look into. And so of course, uh, you know, the crisis opportunities, like, okay, what do, what do we got to do about this? How do we go about this? And obviously I went off and hired a naturopathic doctor to do a bunch of tests and uh, looked and I, one of the things that I was suffering from was extreme levels of adrenal fatigue. I had been using a variety of stimulants in order to sustain the output. And those work for a while, you know, it's kinda like you, you burn the candle at both ends. And it turned out I was suffering from a condition. It's actually according to American psychological at one of the six leading causes of death. And I, I felt like how I felt like I was gonna die and it turned out I probably actually was well on my wave to setting myself up for a problem. Wade Lightheart: So one of the key elements that I did, obviously I had to change to make some lifestyle changes, but I had to start addressing some of the deficiencies that my, uh, desire or my excess type of lifestyle would contribute to. And the reality is, is one particular nutrient that was super deficient and was my road to recovery is I had to take massive doses of a, of a nutritional supplement that virtually 80% of Americans are deficient in. They don't have it. Uh, and almost everybody doesn't get enough that's deficient just for basic functions. We're not even talking about optimal functions. We're not talking about super optimal function. Matt Gallant: And let's face it, we're BiOptimizers all about like optimize levels, not normal levels, you know, cause again with bioptimization spectrum, yeah, most people, you know, people want to stay normal. That's cool. We're not into that. We're into becoming super humans as you know, in whatever shape, way or form that means for you. And in order to do that, you need to be at optimal levels. So it's very different than, than normal levels. Wade Lightheart: I want to talk about something really important and when we get into this and how important are key elements to a dietary facts. I'm going to share a story, uh, that might seem unrelated, but it is. And that is at the turn of the century, there is a variety of, uh, conditions in North America related to iodine. Remember, we're not talking about iodine today, but I'm going to tell you this story cause this is mindblowing. So there was an iodine deficiency ramping across North America. They started looking at it and they started adding iodine to salt. Here was the crazy result. The average IQ increase in America because of iodized salt increased by 15 points, 15 points just because people were deficient in iodine. I was deficient in this element that we're going to talk about today. And I've come full circle from the moments of hell to the moments of super optimization. I'm so grateful for it and that's why I'm so excited and that's why we're here to talk about this today because I don't know what the potential results are free people out there, but I think it might be the biggest breakthrough in nutrient. Uh, I would say optimization that I've seen in the industry and it doesn't cost that much. That's the best part. It and, and its effects are not only short lasting, but I think it's certainly something that's gonna have a big impact for people over the long term, maybe as effective as what iodine did a hundred years ago. Matt Gallant: So as Wade was going through that experience, um, simultaneously I went through my own, you know, we'll just call it if Wade was, you know, at 12,000 RPM in the red in the, you know, the engine's about to blow. I was probably in the yellow, you know, and the symptoms of that. For an example, I remember I had to give up coffee because I would drink coffee. I would instantly feel fried, like frazzled, like my nerves, my nerves were raw and my nerves felt, you know, frazzles the most accurate description I can come up with. So, and then three different help experts, including Charles Paul, Dr. Joseph Mercola and a friend of mine, all revealed a protocol that we're gonna share with you today that's inspired me to go hog wild. So this was like three months, I think before Wade kind of hit rock bottom. Matt Gallant: And so I get on this protocol and I go hog wild with it, which we're going to reveal. And it was probably you, you know, like there's a lot of supplements, especially when it comes to minerals and vitamins. You don't feel them right? Like, you know, it makes sense. The, the science makes sense and theoretically makes sense. So you, you take them. But this, in terms of feeling it, I just, I was feeling it heal my nervous system. I was feeling myself a shift from fight or flight. And again, when I did a great podcast on healing the nervous system, the parasympathetic and sympathetic. So I was feeling myself shift over from being trapped in sympathetic and certain moving into the healing mode. My sleep improved, my mood improved and I just became like super chill, you know, like just relaxed, which was, you know, it's a sign that you're in a parasympathetic versus when you're, you know, intense and angry and frustrated and irritated and discontent. Matt Gallant: That's, you know, you're in fight or flight. So all of that happened relatively fast. I think it was around two months and you know, it kept getting even better the third month. And then that's when you kinda hit bottom and I said, Hey man, this, you know, this has worked really wonders. And then Wade, you got on this protocol and then you, you know, healed in, in a relatively short amount of time, especially considering how fried you are at that time. Um, you, you made a very quick comeback. Wade Lightheart: Yeah. And that I was really grateful for it. Now it's hard to believe that this one thing could make such a big difference. I mean I did a bunch of things, but we did the testing and stuff in that, the one factor that that changed everything was this particular, um, element, this ingredient. Matt Gallant: I think we've teased them enough I think. I think right now, you know, there's, there's a lot, I feel like we're strippers, just this keep teasing here. They were ready to, to reveal the goods. Um, but before we do, you know, it's this, this nutrient, I got to say when the deeper I went into the research, the more my mind blow and what we're talking about is magnesium. So you've probably heard of magnesium. I mean, you know, it's been something you heard in school and chemistry class and you know, the importance of it. I remember hearing a long time ago. Okay, those 300 different things in the body. But yeah, it's, it's just incredible what it does. Now going back to Wade's story and my story, there's something that I had learned relatively recently about magnesium that blew my own mind. I didn't know this, which is that when you're stressed, okay, you start leaking magnesium at an accelerated rate, your body starts expelling and losing magnesium. Matt Gallant: Now what then does this, there's a numbness, a second order of a consequence, the less magnesium that you have, the more stressed you feel, and then you lose more magnesium. So it's this vicious cycle that Wade went through and I went through that, you know, leads to some level of burnout, of feeling stressed out, feeling overwhelmed. So you know, the antidote, the answer is, you know, taking enough of the right magnesiums and that's what we're going to be talking about. Uh, today is really about the right blends of magnesium, how much to take, how long to take it, and what you can expect. Wade, thoughts? Wade Lightheart: Well, you know, it's funny cause when I went through that piece in diagnose I was all turned on and I had a recollection of a lecture I went to at uh, Bulletproof the Bulletproof conference with Charles Poliquin and Charles Poliquin was a strength coach and he died not that long ago. Matt Gallant: Probably the greatest strike coach. Wade Lightheart: Yeah. He coached gold medalist and I think in, it's over 28 different sports. Matt Gallant: 400 Olympians, I think 400 metal winners. I don't know these guys. Wade Lightheart: Yeah. Professional athletes of all different fields. He was really far ahead. He used to read all these different research journals and you learn different languages to learn a different biases of cultures. It was a very interesting person. He looked amazing and it's unfortunate he died so soon. However, one of the things that made him unique is he athletes undergrowth a disproportionate amount of stress than the regular population. They are continually red line, especially to think about an Olympic athlete or a professional athlete. And one of the things that he talked about is even at a professional athlete and Olympic athlete is another level beyond a professional athlete on, on, on their ability to perform on demand because of professionals doing it over, over, over at an Olympic athlete. And he, one of the things that he said that he was using it's like specifically and in massive quantities was was magnesium but not just one magnesium. Wade Lightheart: He was using different magnesiums for different components of the brain. There were things for brain, things for your heart, things for uh, energy production inside the body, things for recovery, things for cramping, all of these issues. And he had actually broken down magnesium into a bunch of different types and was using supplementation because it's virtually impossible. It is virtually impossible regardless of any diet that you're following to get all of the magnesiums. And one of the things that's happening today in the world of testing and stuff is we're now able to drill down a little deeper instead of just protein, fats and carbohydrates. Well, it's now we've taken minerals and vitamins and supplements nce and we're able to drill down to the different components of those, which ones are more utilizable by the body, which ones are more available to the body, which ones have performed different functions inside the body. Matt Gallant: It's a great segue into talking about like the different types of magnesiums and what they do. Um, and the essence is this. Different magnesiums tend to go to different parts of the body and affect them. So if you just taking one type or even two types of magnesium, there's a lot of your organs in different parts of your body, including maybe your brain or your heart that are deficient. So what's the answer is to have a wide variety of different types of magnesium. So magnesium chelate is really important for muscle building recovery and health. Magnesium citrate helps with some of, you know, counteracting some of the obesity issues and it can help with arterial stiffness with healthy, even overweight individuals, magnesium biglycinate or glycinate, essentially the same thing. Um, that's a great one for sleep, and sometimes it also helps with, you know, stomach acid. So on the digestive side it can have some positive benefits. Wade Lightheart: It's, it's also used for heart disease type 2 diabetes to assist in breaking down sugars. And it's a key component in osteoporosis as well. Matt Gallant: Yeah, magnesium malate - some people believe it's the most bioavailable and it can help with migraines, chronic pain and depression and just, just the research there that we're going to get into around magnesium and anxiety and depression is just, it's just mind blowing. Wade Lightheart: Last thing, one thing on the, on the, on the malate, it's also good for removing aluminum from the body. So if you're looking for detoxification, it's a, it's a, it's a great one for that as well. Matt Gallant: Magnesium L-threonate. Um, L-threonate, which is the one you use for brain. I've used a lot of it. It's one of my favorites. Uh, it seems to help with working memory, mental ability, functioning capability, long and short term. Wade Lightheart: And in my, in my own situation that was the, that was the one that was really a big game changer for me on the cognitive side, on the sleep side. I was so stressed out, I wasn't sleeping. It was part of the reason why I was getting so, uh, reduced. And my naturopathic doctor, she recommended that I take massive quantities of this in particular because of the brain. And one of the things that I noticed if you're struggling with memory, that's, that was the one I couldn't remember anything. And when you're, and that one literally my, my memory came back cause I generally have an extraordinary memory and uh, it really made a big difference for me when I was taking L-threonate. Matt Gallant: Well what happens when you're stressed out? It blows out your hippocampus, which destroys your short term memory. So you know, that was just another side effect of the vicious cycle that you were trapped in. And you know, I might as well reveal this right now. I'm the best stack that like, cause I'm about four and a half years ago, I was noticing that my short term memory was starting to decline. And you know, at the time I'm 38, I'm like, you know, this, this is not good. So I started taking um, magnesium and fish oil, which we're going to get back into, you know, uh, you on DHA essentially you can get it from plant-based as well from the allergies. We'll get back to that. But that and Lion's Mane, which is a mushroom that helps increase BDNF in the brain, brain drive and trophic factors that stack from memory. Matt Gallant: And again, it's, it's one of those things that it builds up and it gets better and better. Like you'll notice it in about 30 days and then 90 days it gets better in six months. And now, I mean, it feels like my short term, just my memory in general is as good as I was probably as a, as a teenager before I started using drugs. So there you go. You know, definitely works. Um, next is magnesium Taurates, which is probably the best one for the heart. And one study noted this complex magnesium Taurate made us have considerable potential as a vascular protective nutritional supplement. So that's a really good one for your vascular system. Wade Lightheart: It's also, it's also for people who suffer from migraines. Um, that one is a really great one. And for women who are suffering from PMs, cramping. So I have a lot of women that reach out to me and that my naturopathic doctor who happens to be a female, she's like, this is the one that females typically respond best to. Or also athletes who are dealing with a lot of cramping issues. Matt Gallant: Yeah, that's awesome. And uh, the last one we recommend is magnesium Orotate, which is very helpful for the heart, but the, it's really the number one use magnesium for metabolic improvements. So far on the athletic side, if you're working on hard, uh, you want better performance, better recovery energy, and that'll help because magnesium is involved and helps the mitochondria produce more ATP, which is where your energy comes from. So this magnesium seems to hit that pathway significantly. Like you know, and I remember that. I think the first time I heard about magnesium was back in our body building days Wade and you know, we had the big stack magazines, you know, they were talking about magnesium for, for strife and for working out. And I remember when I did my loading phase of magnesium, like I added two, three, four reps on everything. I think in like two weeks. I, you know, it was, it was a huge jump in performance in the gym. So I mean, what have you noticed in terms of the benefits from an athletic side in terms of working out or recovery? Wade Lightheart: Well, you know, particularly with Orotate as well, um, it's really good for blood sugar. It's, I find it's great for handling food, uh, food cravings or sugar cravings if my magnesium levels are high. If I'm taking math, like I actually, cause I eat a lot of carbs, but I notice when I take my magnesium in the mornings, uh, my first milk, cause sometimes I'll, I'll have tea, any caffeine subject can diminish your magnesium supply. Just so you know, and I, and I, and I also, because I eat such a rich of vegetable diet, I tend to get a lot of calcium and calcium and magnesium work in a ratio. So if I take my magnesium, I don't have the sweet sugar cravings. When I, when I don't take my magnesium, if I forget for what he was on or I'm on the road and I forgot my magnesium, okay, uh, I get those sugar cravings. Wade Lightheart: But the other thing is what I find, I don't get cramping either. A, I that the tightness in the muscles, uh, firing as well is if I get, if you're sweating, one of the things for athletes who are sweating, particularly, you know, people who are on quarter the field for hours at a time, the drop in magnesium is one of the reasons why they start losing the pop. They start, they start to, you know, slow down. It's, and if you see those fourth quarters in the NFL, often times it's not just dehydration, it's the key loss of magnesium in those cases. And in a worst case situation and you see this with a long distance runners and endurance people or athletes that get heart rhythms like a, they get the heart rhythm gets disrupted or they have an irregular heartbeat. You're seeing it more and more in athletic performance that's directly related to magnesium and Orotate as the probably the best one to deal with those things. Matt Gallant: Yeah. So you know, and just to kind of add to what you've said, like in terms of athletic performance, um, in terms of moving beyond just magnesium, your magnesium, we just highlight how critical it is. Couple of things you are there, things you want. One is potassium, um, which I, I don't think I've shared in this podcast, but what I do, I have this pitcher of, of water and I put about a quarter teaspoon of cream of tartar inside of it with salt so I can absorb more. And it just got my blood work done and my potassium was like kiddo, really up there where you want it. Um, I mean you don't, you don't want it too high but quarter teaspoon and they'll give you the dose. And then enough calcium, cause you know, if you're cramping or your muscles not firing, you're either missing your calcium, the potassium or the magnesium and calcium. Matt Gallant: You don't need that much. Like, you know, eating cheese, like a little bit of cheese twice a week. Most people just have an overload of calcium in their body. And in what way? To share really cool story in a second. But like I said, right now there's kind of an overdose of calcium and most people's diet you don't need that much. So I don't think people need to be concerned too much with that. I think it's more to the magnesium that people are really deficient in. And then again, the potassium. So you know, using salt, especially like Himalayan salt, sea salt, I mean they just load it in your food unless you have really, really high blood pressure. Um, but you want to be able to, to retain water. Okay. If I don't, especially like I'm on keto, so if I'm not eating enough salt, I just lose water like crazy cause I don't have the carbs to hold it in. So that's one of the things. But Wade, why don't you share your story about when you went to Bali and you did the intravenous magnesium because I've done it too, but I think think it's a really powerful, um, story, Wade and I have a really powerful theory or an exciting theory about magnesium and calcium. So Wade, go ahead. Wade Lightheart: So one, so as being, the radical experiment is there, once I've found out that I had magnesium deficiency, I was like, okay, what else can I do? And I found out there is a way that you can do it intravenously. And so I happened to have, I went to Bali and had a naturopathic physician who would use this actually, he was a special forces person and they used to do a magnesium for, for special forces people who are in extreme cases of stress and distress. They would do this. And so what they did, you kind of dose up and obviously don't do this at home, get a doctor to supervisor. You could really mess yourself up if you took too much. But basically you take this, you put an intravenously and they start dripping it into your system. Now what starts to happen? First off, there's a general sense of regular like relaxation and then it kinda hits pretty much. Wade Lightheart: It gets, you get so relaxed, it kind of gets hard to move around if you have to go to the bathroom or something. You're getting kind of feel a little jelly. Uh, I mean this is super physiological doses of magnesium. But then what happens is where you've got little alleys or calcium buildups in the body, it starts to burn. And I literally started to get burning inside my brain where I had calcium deposits built up in the brain tissue. I had like cold shoulder injuries from way back in the day when I was benching too much weight, too fast, um, that would literally start to burn. Uh, and so what I believe is that the, and this is theory theoretical, is that the magnesium as it went through the body, was finding these places where the calcium was up, bonding with the calcium and dissipating the calcium in those particular pieces. And I've done that a whole bunch of times ever since. And I can tell you every single time I get burning in some area of my body. Matt Gallant: Yeah. And the last in the last hardcore brain optimization brain training we did, we were doing, it was a blend of different vitamins and amino acids, but there was a very high dose of magnesium and the doctor that was injecting that says, uh, that's going to hit you right in the genitals. And yeah. You know, I don't think I did as high a dose as you did. Um, I mean it was kind of a nice warm, uh, pleasant feelings. So that was my experience injecting my knees. Matt Gallant: You know, I am the extreme optimizer, the mad scientist. So it, it, I wouldn't be doing myself a service. I wouldn't be authentic Matt Gallant: unless I've revealed another way to load magnesium, which, you know, only the crazies will be excited about. And I haven't done this yet. I have researched it. Um, there is a doctor that uses a protocol and again, you know, try to set your own risks, make sure you talk to your doctor, if you're doing crazy experiments, but it's rectal magnesium loads. And the, the issue with like doing a crazy amount, uh, orally is that the magnesium pulls water. That's not a big problem. You know, you get just a flushing effect and you go to the bathroom and you know, it ends there. In fact, some of them, there's, there's other magnesium's yeah. That I've used for flushing. Like let's say you're doing a fast and you really want to do kind of an intestinal cleanse. There's, there's special magnesiums that like really pulled the water in. Matt Gallant: And you know, we've, we're a fan of minimizing that. But when you start getting past like two grams at a time, that's typically when you start getting some flushing effects. So let's say you want to load like five grams at a time, then that's when, um, you would basically prepare the magnesium with water and basically do an enema and your body's just going to absorb it. So it was probably the second best way after injections. And again, I haven't done this yet but probably will very soon. So anyways, again, just wanted to share that cause I know some people like crazy experiments. Wade Lightheart: I know another thing that you were a big fan of is floating in magnesium, salt pools and one of the big things, Joe Rogan is a big fan of that as well. And the magnesium is a great way just lying in a pool of mags, which has been known for a long time. Wade Lightheart: Magnesium salts also as a way of get it externally. It doesn't have the internal benefits but it does have a general relaxation effect. Matt Gallant: Yeah, I'm a huge fan. Um, I mean and again for those of us that don't have float tanks at home, you can buy like Epson salts, get in, get into the bathtub or you know, hot tub or whatever you have and throw it in there and, and get, you know, cause you will absorb some, uh, through the skin and it will have some effects. So yeah, I'm a huge fan. It's a great thing to do before bed to relax or yeah, floating to me is still my, like my number one favorite. Biohacks so to speak, uh, to, to, to relax and to heal the nervous system and get me out of fight or flight. So anyways, let's jump into some mindblowing research on magnesium. Matt Gallant: Um, so on the aquatic side, there was athletes supplementing with magnesium for four weeks. They had faster running, cycling, swimming times during a triathlon and they experienced reductions in insulin, which, you know, when your insulin goes down it, there's almost every part of the body. There's this, uh, you know, yin and yang. So the yin and yang would insulin is glucagon. And when you release glucagon, you burn, you're in fat burning mode periods. So anything you can do to reduce insulin is a, also reduction in stress hormone levels. Um, now on the mood side, this is where, and I experienced the effects of this. Like I really did. Um, I went from kind of being kind of stressed out to being a level of chill that, you know, you know, haven't smoked weed in a long time, but when I used to, um, you know, that it was almost like that level of chill, you know, and it was like all the time. Matt Gallant: It wasn't, I wasn't high after taking pills. I was like in a permit chill zone. So in terms of magnesium, um, it's been linked to like magnesium deficiencies have been linked to depression, increased risk of depression, uh, and then supplementing with the mineral, there's been a lot of reduction in the symptoms of depression. Sometimes in some cases it can be dramatic. Um, now in randomized controlled trials in depressed older adults, 450 milligrams improved mood as effectively as an antidepressant drug. I mean, think about that. That's, that's incredible. So, and that's, that's a relatively low dose in our opinion. So four 50 can replace antidepressants. That's pretty exciting. One study follows 4,000 people for 20 years and found that the ones with the highest magnesium intake were 47% less likely to develop diabetes. So we're talking massive beneficial effects on blood sugar and insulin. I mean that, that alone in terms of weight loss in terms of health is again, incredible. Matt Gallant: Then there was one study that found that 450 milligrams per day increased, experienced a significant decrease in blood pressure in both the systolic and diastolic. Um, again, more research on prevailing insulin resistance and many people would, metabolic syndrome are deficient. So metabolic syndrome is a term for people that you know, don't seem to be responding to normal weight loss parameters. Like the, maths not making sense, you know, they're, they're not eating that much or direct resizing. They're, they're not, um, you know, they're insulin resistant. Like there's, there's a whole set of things that makes up metabolic syndrome, but again, people that are deficient in magnesium seem to, to show that another study shoot insulin, uh, improvements in insulin resistance. But another study found that it reduced insulin resistance and blood sugar levels even in people with normal blood levels, which means that it will help you again burn more body fat. And we'd mentioned this earlier, that magnesium has been shown to improve mood, reduce water retention, aka bloating and other symptoms in women with PMs. So, I mean that's just a quick, quick overview of, you know, there's hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of studies, but I just wanted to highlight that, you know, this is the mineral that can drop your stress, improve your blood sugar, improve your brain, improve your athletic performance, improve your sleep, improve your PMs symptoms. I mean, there's almost no part of your body that it doesn't have a positive impact on. Wade Lightheart: And also just increase your capacity to handle things like caffeine because pretty much everybody is pounding caffeine these days. It's a big trend. And you know, I think one of the things that's really important is now you're able to enjoy a coffee or a caffeinated beverage without any of that, that edginess that kind of comes associated with it or the, you know, the frying feeling, if you will. Matt Gallant: Yeah. So let's talk about the protocol. Um, so I want to share, I'm going to share again, it was, you know, in three people that you trust and respect. Tell you more or less the same thing. I always think that is a sign from the universe. So Poliquin's protocol was around five grams of magnesium a day and 20 grams of fish oil. You know, uh, Mercola was very similar. Now Mercola hit his, what he's saying is that the magnesium can help counter counteract a lot of the negative consequences of the EMF cause the electromagnetic frequency pollution from cell phones and wifi. What we know now is that it opens up what's called the calcium gates in the cells. So you're basically like leaking calcium. And if you think about aging, aging, like most of the negative consequences, whether you're talking about heart disease or arthritis, is that calcification of the body, right? Matt Gallant: The body's hardening in all the wrong places. So you don't want to be, you don't want your cells to be leaking calcium. So he's a big proponent of magnesium to help counteract a lot of those side effects. And then the other guy, uh, it was, uh, a mutual friend of Wade's. His, his approach was to heal the nervous system. So that's where he was coming from. So all three guys again had a very similar protocol which was around three to five grams of magnesium a day with a big essential oil loading protocol. Now if Wade is vegetarian, and Wade I want you to share your favorite vegetarian oil sources because I think there's some synergy between the magnesium and again, essential fatty acids. Wade Lightheart: Yeah, I do believe that's true. Um, for those of you who have checked out some of our podcasts, there's two particular ones. I'm going to refer you to dr Udo Erasmus, "Fats that heal, fats that kill", he's kind of the guy that put fats back on the map. He's a friend of mine here in Vancouver, world renowned guy, great guy. He talks about the relationship and how important that is and and providing, you know, your three sixes and nines, you can get them from plant sources. You just, the threes are a little bit tough, so you've got to watch that and make sure that you get an a balances. The other one is Ian Clark's Activation oils. I think some of the best liquid oils I've ever taken. I, I was always someone that struggled with oils, taking oils probably from my bodybuilding days where we had to, I'm a literally cut fats out of my diet for about 10 years and got to super physiological low body fat levels, which depleted my myelin sheath and nervous system. Wade Lightheart: So again, on the extreme side, again, you know, feeling the burn. But yeah, I use those oils. I like to, I like to take my magnesium with my essential oils in the morning. Uh, they're great. And again, with oils, I mean it like everything cheaper is cheaper. Like go with the best stuff, go with the products are out, you can and if you're a vegetarian, uh, definitely you want to supplement your diet with a, you know, either the Udo's oil or the Activation oil inside it. There's a, uh, there's another company out there. It's, I think it's an MLM company called doTERRA. They have an essential, and I, I'm not getting anything from any of these, just so you know, they have an essential, uh, a plant based essential fatty acid, which is a combination of a bunch of different essential oils. That's really good as well. So the vegetarian one from those guys is fantastic and I've, I felt benefits on all of those products and I use them. Uh, I stack, I take a little bit of each one, uh, every day. Matt Gallant: Yeah. And another great source for vegetarians that want the DHA, which is really the key one for the brain is Algae, right? So either, you know, E3Live is a great one and they have BrainON, which is specifically, it's an Algae that these spin to remove the cell walls that crosses the blood brain brain barrier. I'm a, I'm a fan of that product as well, even though I am a, I'm not vegetarian, but um, yeah, so the Algae, another good service. Now, if you're not vegetarian, I'm a fan of krill oils. Probably. Um, my favorite source and you know, I'll, I'll usually stack that with the fish oil, but curls my go-to and uh, again, I'll sack that official. Now let's talk about dosage. Um, in my opinion, you start with 500 milligrams, maybe two or three times a day, which will give you about one and a half grams a day. Matt Gallant: And that's a really, you know, it's a good dose. Uh, and it's a tolerable dose. Yeah. I'd be surprised if you have any digestive distress. Um, you can also start with about five grams of fish oil and then you start ramping it up. So you go from, you know, half a gram to a gram. Um, where I went the highest was six grams a day. That was a little too high. Yes. You know, I was, I was definitely having watery stools at that point. So for me, if I'm really pushing the dose, it's around, you know, four or five grams. And the thing is we recommend you do a loading phase of 60 to 90 days and once you're loaded then you go back to like a gram, a gram and a half, maybe two grams a day, depending how intense your life is. Cause you know, keep in mind like if you're training hard, you need more minerals, you're burning up more things, you know, you're, you're, you're using up, um, you're sweating minerals, you're sweating salt through sweating, magnesium, you're sweating, all of these things, you're burning them up at a higher rate. So what have you found works for you in terms of dosage? Wade Lightheart: Orthomolecular nutrition, um, which was developed by Abram Hoffer and um, Linus Pauling and Hawkins way back in the 70s, they developed a way of doing things. It was kind of what Matt's referring to. This isn't something that we've just cooked up at a, our ideas, what they did is they would always keep titrating up, bringing up the dosage until you break what's called the gastrointestinal barrier. That's where you get the runs. That's where you get the watery stools. So start at that half gram. And what I did is when I first started out get this [inaudible], I went to eight and a half grams per day before I started getting stills. That's how deficient I was. My body just started stacking. And then after about three weeks, I got the runs one morning on my, on my dosage, and I was like, okay. So at that point, what I did is I tapered down to six. Wade Lightheart: I went about another month. And keep in mind though, I did do the intro. I, I, during that time I went and did the, uh, the, um, IV drip of magnesium. And when I did that in combination, I went from six down to four and I've stayed around for ever since. And I take it every single day. And, uh, if I go for a long, like sometimes I do these long walks or I do an intense, like I'll do like a four hour work, four hour walk in the heat or whatever. I'll, up it a little bit and I don't get any, uh, digestive stuff. Now that's me in particular. Um, each person is going to different, you can do what's called a SpectraCell analysis. So we talked about this on another podcast with dr Maximus and everybody should do this test. Wade Lightheart: Um, it's a test where they spin your blood and they can tell how well you absorb a particular, uh, nutrients. So for example, Matt, myself, and let's say you the listener, we could all take the same amount of magnesium, but we will not absorb the same amount of magnesium. And we're also, Matt and I are taking, uh, we're taking one of our, you know, well-known products, which is Masszymes, which in order for you to get your minerals, you need minerals to get your proteins, proteins to get your minerals, minerals to get your vitamin. And most people are deficient in enzymes. So I would recommend also adding in enzymes or Masszymes product. And on top of that, because that's going to also assist an absorbent. And if you can take it with a meal or, Wade Lightheart: or, or with the protein drink or, you know, breakfast and stuff like that, I usually have it with my breakfast every morning. And I like it that way. And then also for my lunch.. Matt Gallant: So Wade and I, we, we were kind of guys that just follow our passion and, and we, you know, we, we, I'm passionate about things that work and from the beginning of BiOptimizers, you know, just to give you some backstory, and I don't think we've ever shared this publicly, so if we share bits of it, but Wade and I were doing this, this incredible protocol with very high dose enzymes, very high dose probiotics. This is before we ever created any products. And we were so blown away by the results that we said, you know what, let's create a better version of those products because they work, they're incredible. Let's build a better version and share it with the world. Matt Gallant: And that's what we've done with magnesium. So again, Wade and I, I've been using magnesium now for about two years. Um, again, using these protocols and you know, like I, I've got to think like five different types of mag, like five different types of magnesium downstairs that I have to pop in and, and take and you know, and one of them as three and you don't want, as you know, that's just what I have to do to get all the magnesiums that I want. Um, the other issue too with a lot of magnesium blends, and I don't know why they don't do this, but they don't put the cofactors. There's a couple of things that you can put into magnesium that will actually help absorption. So what way did I have done? We have a combined all seven magnesiums that we talked about earlier along with the cofactors and we've created a product called Magnesium Breakthrough. So we're really excited to share this with you. I think it's going to become the magnesium of the health industry. We haven't seen anything like it. There's some magnesium of act three, some have four, but I haven't seen any with all seven. So we're super excited to be bringing this to you. I think that's going to be one of the most impactful supplements you've ever felt, specially if you're stressed out. And again, it's one of these things too. If you're training hard, you'll see some incredible results in the gym. Wade Lightheart: Yeah, pretty exciting. The other thing I also want to add to that is like all of our products, we have the 365 day your Money Back guarantee. If you don't, if you don't feel the difference taking this, if you don't say, this is awesome, I feel awesome, I can feel the difference. You just reach out to us and call us and we just give you your money back. We, there's nothing more expensive than a product that doesn't work and then there's nothing that feels better than a product that delivers on what you want. And one of the things that we represented by optimizers is over delivering on the promises that we make and removing all the risk of purchasing with us because we were not in the business of selling products. We're in the business of creating relationships with people who want to optimize their health, live long, live strong for a long period of time. Wade Lightheart: So, you know, I simple sale or something like that. That's not what we're interested in. We're interested in being your GoTo advisors, your health advocates, to bring you the latest research. What we've been doing, what we've blown up on, what we've learned as well as the experts who can, who are influencing us and our decisions. And if we can make a product that will enhance people's lives better than other people, we do it. If we can't make a product that's better than anything on the market, we refer you to the people that, that we do check our podcasts. That's what we're into. We don't make everything, but what we do make is absolutely fantastic. And for those of you who have tried our products and are with us, we want to thank you and enjoy it. And I think this is going to be another element that you're going to add to your repertoire that's going to make a big difference for you and your family over the decades. Matt Gallant: Yeah. So the website is a magnesiumbreakthrough.com. And you know what's really nice about magnesium is even if you're on a tight budget, uh, you know, you can get a really positive effect for around a dollar a day. So, you know, even if, again, if you're cash strapped, I think it's probably one of the biggest bang for the bucks in terms of cost to benefit ratio. And you know, going back to the BiOptimizers triangle, which is the aesthetics, the performance in health, um, everything that we do is moving, you know, one, two or all three of those such triangles sides further out. And you know, for those of you that are into high-performance and whether that's, you know, business pushing your brain or at why I performance, um, you have to make sure, and again listen to our nervous system projects cause we went pretty deep, but you have to make sure that you're, you're balancing or managing the fight or flight response. Matt Gallant: If you're just trapped in that side and you're going to burn out and really your performance then starts dropping and your help starts dropping. So that's why the magnesium blend, Magnesium Breakthrough, you know, you're keeping yourself out of fight or flight, you're, you're, you're pushing your body into parasympathetic, just using this miserable. So that allows you to keep training harder without burning out or working harder without burning out. I think, you know, way you would have had this product back when you were in your, you know, super intense work zone, you probably would have avoided, you know, being almost clinically brain dead on a EEG machine. Wade Lightheart: Yeah. And that's a, that's the thing, you know, um, you always have to be kind of humble enough to say, well, what if maybe I should give it a shot? Um, the reality is is I'm probably not gonna change my hard wiring. I've, you know, I've been an extreme athlete virtually all my life. I was, you know, from hockey and violence, sports like that, and then that transit into kind of extreme levels of bodybuilding at the high levels. And now we're at extreme business building and, and as you age, things happen in your body, changes happen. And sometimes deficiencies can kind of go undetected too. You kind of fall off the cliff or life changes. You go through a divorce, you go through a business stress, um, maybe someone in your family gets sick, maybe you end up traveling a lot, and there's these little points, these spikes that are the pieces that puts you over the top. Matt Gallant: And oftentimes it's for those high performers out there, you kind of think that you can gut it out. Um, so I do recommend, uh, getting a net naturopathic doctor. Do your regularly regular testing, look at your, your blood, look at your results. And what's interesting when you add products like magnesium, like are digestive enzymes. Everything else just seems to work better. So a, we're pumped and we're excited about this. I think it's a, we're for all those guys that are like us who have been, you know, we've got half a dozen bottles of magnesium in our cupboard. Uh, it's nice to just be able to throw all of those in, you know, uh, in the garbage and just have one bottle. And I've got that covered every day. And that's, that's one of the beauties, you know, it's also about efficiency. And effectiveness. And so when you look at the price invested for your magnesium, instead of buying five bottles of all these different ones, you can just buy one bottle or three bottles and you're good to go. Matt Gallant: Yeah. Our philosophy when we create products and Wade alluded to it, we're either the first in class meaning you know, we're creating a new type of product or we're the best in class. And you know, magnesium was a lot of magnesiums out there. But again, you will not find one that has seven magnesiums plus the cofactors in this ratio. Cause you know, one of the things we did, we optimize it to minimize the water flushing. So the ratio of the magnesiums that we put in, we're again designed to minimize that water flushing so that you can push the dose if you want you to get. Again, there is a point where it'll happen, but it's, it's a lot higher than what you would normally experience. So again, the website's magnesium breakthrough. Uh, we want to thank you for spending your valuable time with Wade and I, and we'll be back soon with some more cutting edge bleeding edge information. Wade Lightheart: Thanks so much and have yourself an awesome day. | |||
| 20 Aug 2020 | 64: Retraining Your Brainwaves for Your Best Health with Patrick Porter | 01:04:58 | |
How does retraining your brainwaves for your best health work? Here to tell us is our guest on today's show, Patrick Porter, PhD. He is blazing the trail in the brainwave entrainment world. He and his team of scientists and mindfulness experts have created BrainTap, an app with over 1,000 guided-audio programs designed to help users find their ideal health through sleeping better, achieving and maintaining weight and health wellness and revitalizing their cognitive performance. | |||
| 22 Dec 2020 | 098: Better Health Through Blue Light Reduction with James Swanwick | 01:04:54 | |
If you’re aiming for better overall health through blue light reduction there are many options on the market. But which is the best and most effective? Our guest today, James Swanwick, has created the foremost blue light blocking glasses in the marketplace today. James is an Australian-American investor, entrepreneur, speaker, former SportsCenter anchor on ESPN, host of The James Swanwick Show podcast and the author of The 30 Day No Alcohol Challenge. | |||
| 25 Feb 2021 | 116: Is Your Sunscreen Causing Health Problems? - with Guerry Grune | 01:06:45 | |
His 22-year-old surfing buddy came down with melanoma, and that is when Guerry knew he needed to find a better way to protect skin from the sun. Guerry (pronounced “Gary”) began researching sunscreen products and was appalled by what he found - all the available sunscreens pretty much sucked. In fact, it was worse than that: sunscreen products still are not doing what they say they do and are counterproductive - even causing some shocking health problems. Except for one brand - a sunscreen Guerry developed through his knowledge and research. | |||
| 17 Oct 2019 | 019: How to Pivot and Find Your Calling with Adam Markel | 01:00:20 | |
Adam Markel is an expert at personal and professional reinvention and transformation. He's also the best-selling author of Pivot, and is the perfect example of someone who walks his talk. On today's episode, Adam tells us about his previous life as a lawyer who built a massively successful business and then pivoted to become the CEO of one of the most successful personal development companies in the world. Later he again pivoted to run his own organization helping people make their own conscious pivots, which is what he does presently. He goes into detail about what it was like to make those pivots, what resilience means to him, and the power of our daily rituals. Hear from Adam on those topics and more on this edition of Awesome Health. In this episode of Awesome Health, you'll also hear:
More About Awesome Health with Adam Markel We start off with his back story: careers are very different now versus a few decades ago. Hardly anyone gets a job with a company and spends their entire career with that same company, people reinvent and transform themselves over the course of their lifetime. And Adam is no different. I was curious to know how he got into transformation as a profession, and that is where we start our conversation. In short, Adam says the back story is pain. That pain for him was waking up in the morning and feeling dread. He would have no desire to get out of bed, he was a little emotionally and physically exhausted but more than that he had no enthusiasm for the work he was doing. He was successful by the conventional definition of success: he had plenty of money, he had a business of his own that included two law offices in two states and he was married to his college sweetheart and they have four healthy kids. Yet he woke up every day feeling something was off, something wasn't right. There were signs along the way, but it was a gradual process. Inside he felt like a failure, despite the outward appearance of success. He describes failure as being successful without the feeling of fulfillment. A Midlife Calling, Not a Midlife CrisisThis feeling continued until he ended up in the hospital. He and his wife were headed to his son's baseball game one Saturday afternoon. Suddenly he pulled off to the side of the road because he was sweating profusely, his heart was racing and he couldn't catch his breath. The next thing he knew he was on a gurney in the emergency room waiting for a doctor; Adam truly thought he wasn't going to see his kids again. He was so angry at himself for letting this happen, his inner critic was berating him for getting into this position. When the doctor walked in he told them straightaway Adam wasn't having a heart attack, he had an anxiety attack. The most important part of that conversation though was the doctor telling Adam he might not be so lucky next time; the doctor told Adam needed to figure out what was going on and fix it. A few hours later Adam left the hospital, thanking God he had been given a second chance and a reprieve. So how did he make the transition? Often we create our own "golden handcuffs" and build a career path, and a way of living that seems too hard to steer away from but Adam made a conscious pivot after his medical scare. He felt the hold of the golden handcuffs, and looked at making changes. He made a way to be at home and/or closer to home more often. But six months later on a cold and rainy night, he got home at night dripping wet and realized he missed the kids going to bed again. He'd missed another chance to read his kids a bedtime story, and he could see it written on his wife's face. He walked straight up to her and said "If I keep doing what I am doing you are going to be a widow." That realization hit home in a big way. His wife didn't remind him of all the golden handcuffs, she smiled and said "We will figure it out." For the next 2.5 years that is what they did; they created a Plan B. Instead of having a midlife crisis, he and his wife were able to plan for a midlife calling. Rituals Determine The Quality of Our LivesI asked him to go into more detail on those 2.5 years, and specifically asked him to tell us about his rituals and how those determine the quality of life. Up until that point he had created rituals that had helped him build the life he had, but now it was time to change those rituals to support a new life. Too often this is a point people miss: how difficult it is to let go of those old rituals and replace them with new ones to support a new life. He is a firm believer in replacing the negative with the positive, yet we rarely talk about how to do this. One of his rituals was to be a workaholic; he would do anything to be successful in his law practice, he says he was a beast! So he had to soften himself and look at where he was willing to burn relationships or not care enough about them more than he cared about money and power. He says he was addicted to control, that was also one of his rituals and it is something he works on to this day. Adam goes on to tell us what that looks like exactly, how his daughter's advice in Paris woke him up to his next pivot and why it isn't stress that kills but the lack of recovery from stress that is so detrimental. You'll hear that plus Adam's daily rituals and his advice if you are struggling on today's Awesome Health podcast.
Episode Resources | |||
| 10 Jun 2021 | 141: Agenda-Free Info on Covid & Blood Pressure - with Dr. Sanjay Gupta | 01:17:52 | |
In this era of medical misinformation and propaganda, we need a voice of reason. We found one! Our host Wade T. Lightheart was super excited to have Dr. Sanjay Gupta back on the Awesome Health Podcast because Dr. Gupta is one of the most outstanding communicators for sharing medical information with the public. He has a real knack for presenting scientific knowledge in a simple, straightforward style. Dr. Gupta advocates for the public to have free access to reliable, jargon-free health information. He delivers once again! Every time he comes on the show, Dr. Gupta brings level-headed health knowledge, tips, and hacks to help you be healthy and stay healthy. He is a cardiologist whose specialty is providing patients with non-invasive cardiology and imaging services. This is a timely podcast, as over half the conversation focuses on the coronavirus pandemic and the resulting mRNA vaccines. Wade asks the doctor some good questions about what’s happening out there with the virus and the subsequent vaccines. Dr. Gupta doesn’t flinch - he provides straightforward, transparent, honest answers that do not have any hidden agendas. The other half of this conversation focuses on blood pressure. As a cardiologist who believes in prevention, not just reacting to symptoms, Dr. Gupta reveals some fascinating aspects of blood pressure that many lay people don’t know. If you are getting older or deal with blood pressure issues, this information is something you don’t want to miss. Here’s a quick overview of what you’ll get... In this podcast, we cover:
We should never have a society where people are afraid to ask questions. This is Dr. Gupta’s foundational philosophy with his medical practice. His commitment to patiently answering questions for his patients is more robust now as Covid brought new challenges. Here’s some more on this from Dr. Gupta: “This is a fundamental problem. It’s clear to me that people are getting sicker. Why? Is it the food? Ingredients in the food? How do we sort out the experiments needed to determine these answers? The problem is this propaganda today. We should never be afraid to ask questions. The answers should be found in properly designed experiments geared to answer our questions.” “However, unfortunately, that isn’t allowed to happen because the minute you say something, you get branded anti this or that.” “I think the point is simple: you should be able to ask questions. Then you design an experiment that answers important questions.” “For example: if you have a population of a billion people vaccinated, and then we start seeing things like more chronic fatigue syndrome, or more migraines, or whatever, how do you determine what’s going on? It’s going to be difficult to tease out.” Dealing with Covid as a young person vs. an older person At one point in his conversation with Wade, Dr. Gupta said, “This is why the younger, healthier, more independent will cope fine both with some of the social distancing and social isolation. But the older population, the people who have the most chance of suffering if they get the virus, also struggle more with the mental consequences of being trapped in their house. Suppose a vaccination program offers you some hope that you can get out of the house. For an 80-year-old person, quality of life is more important than the length of life. Most 80 year olds will say they want some quality in my last few years. So why deprive them of that?” “That’s why it was important to come up with something like a vaccination program, which gave people hope that they would be okay going out.” “We won’t know if the vaccines or social isolation and lockdowns are what’s working. How do you tease out whether the effectiveness is from the vaccination or the lockdown as things are opening up? It will be interesting to see what happens.” This is so refreshing to listen to a caring doctor who doesn’t like hype or manipulating people. He wants to give you honest facts about Covid and heart disease - not sensationalistic anecdotes. Dr. Gupta keeps it real, and he uses science, level-headedness, and open-mindedness to help people get answers. And the talk about blood pressure is eye-opening. For example, if a BP reading happens to be on the higher side, you don’t have to panic. Retake your BP again 30 minutes later. That higher score might be because you’re nervous about seeing the doctor. Check out this episode - some Covid clarity and heart health hacks could be good for you!
Episode Resources: Dr. Sanjay Gupta’s two main websites: drsanjayguptacardiologist.com | |||
| 29 Dec 2022 | 211: Alternative solutions to medication - with Jason Dean | 00:57:23 | |
Germ theory is a widely accepted concept that states that microorganisms, such as bacteria and viruses, are responsible for causing disease. This theory was first proposed by Louis Pasteur in the mid-19th century and has since been widely accepted by the medical community. However, there is an alternative to germ theory known as terrain theory which suggests that it’s not necessarily germs that cause disease but rather how well one manages their internal environment. Terrain theory Terrain theory is a holistic approach to health that takes into account the multiple layers of a person’s physical, mental, and emotional well-being. Terrain theory is based on the idea that it takes time to build up health and that people should not expect fast results. At the core of Terrain theory is an understanding of how toxins can affect the body. Dean believes that when toxins enter the body, it will try to push them out through cellular exhaust. Dean also emphasizes the importance of personal development and mindset when trying to achieve good health outcomes. He believes that having positive relationships with family members and friends can help reduce stress levels which in turn helps promote healthy living habits. How the media influenced people's minds about our health. Current media coverage of the Coronavirus pandemic has been a mixed bag. On one hand, it has brought attention to the seriousness of the virus and its effects on people’s health and lives. On the other hand, it has created a lot of confusion and misinformation about how to prevent and treat it. Dr. Jason Dean is an expert in natural health care who has seen first-hand how this pandemic has changed his practice and that of his colleagues across the country. He highlights how African countries have not had as severe an impact from Covid-19 because many take preventative anti-malarial medications which help to protect against parasites, something mentioned in The Merck Manual which states “parasites are believed to be responsible for some cases” of Covid-19. He also speaks about how the virus has changed the face of healthcare, not just in natural health care, but also in terms of medications and treatments. He points out how blood pressure medications may need to be altered due to clogged systems from the virus, and that there is still no long-term research on the effects of it. Dr. Dean believes that this pandemic has changed our world before our eyes, and we must continue to be adaptable in order to stay safe. In this Podcast you will learn about:
And so much more. EPISODE RESOURCES: Social Media:
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| 03 Dec 2020 | 094: Emotional Eating and Healing Yourself with Amber Romaniuk | 00:51:55 | |
Is there a link between emotional eating and healing yourself? Our guest says yes and has invested years of her life and thousands of dollars uncovering it. Amber Romaniuk is an emotional eating, digestive and hormone expert who helps professional women achieve optimal health through mindful eating and self-care. Her podcast “The No Sugarcoating Podcast” has over half a million downloads, over 200 episodes and is listened to in over 82 countries. | |||
Welcome back to the BiOptimizers’ Awesome Health podcast! For our third show I’m delighted to bring you the one and only, Dr. Udo Erasmus.
Matt and I started the journey that created BiOptimizers about 13 years ago. He was a personal trainer at that time, and was also learning about online marketing. He approached me about creating an online product, which led to supplements and more products later on. Our partnership was born.
