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The 30/70 Rule: The Longevity Stack Your Doctor Hasn't Heard Of | Ben Greenfield — Transcript

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0:00Don't be a bubble boy. Many of the
0:02people watching you and I talking right
0:03now, they are subjected to common
0:06recommendations that this is the pill,
0:08this is the peptide, this is the
0:10injection. Nothing replaces the mild
0:13discomfort that comes from doing the
0:15work and subjecting yourself [music] to
0:17these small stressors throughout the day
0:19is probably one of the most powerful
0:20longevity hacks that you can implement.
0:23Beautiful. I I love that line. Don't be
0:25a bubble boy. And one of the most
0:26interesting people I've gotten to know
0:28over the past decade or so is Ben
0:30Greenfield.
0:31>> Ben Greenfield.
0:32>> Is [music] Ben Greenfield.
0:33>> Ben Greenfield.
0:34>> Ben Greenfield.
0:34>> Ben Greenfield. Longevity biohacking
0:37human performance expert. [music]
0:38>> You are an interesting [ __ ] guy. You
0:40do a lot of weird [ __ ]
0:42>> 13time Iron Man triathlete, personal
0:44trainer of the year, biohacker Ben
0:46Greenfield.
0:47>> Zack Afron just released a documentary
0:50on his life and that's why he's a truly
0:52extraordinary mind. If you look at a lot
0:53of these locations where there are
0:55centinarians or a disproportionately
0:57high number of people who live beyond
0:58100 years, they aren't doing a lot of
0:59red light beds and hyperbaric chambers
1:01and stem cell therapies and plasma
1:03feresis, but they are okay. So that that
1:06was interesting. So now let's go one
1:07layer deeper. There's a number that
1:09longevity researchers say predicts how
1:10long you'll live better than anything
1:12else. And most people have never heard
1:15of it.
1:15>> Yeah.
1:16>> What would be the tiniest things that
1:18would create the biggest impact?
1:20>> Right. Great question. could do all of
1:22this in under an hour a day.
1:23>> So if you look at longevity on a scale
1:25of 0 [music] to 100, how much of that
1:27scale is something that we can influence
1:29based on supplements and devices and how
1:32much is just the [music] way we live our
1:34life? I would say it's probably
1:36somewhere in the realm of now if there
1:39was one book by Ben Greenfield that you
1:42most want the audience here to read,
1:44what would be that one book?
1:45>> Curious George Goes to the Gym. No, I'm
1:48just kidding. I did not [laughter] write
1:49that. It probably would have been
1:50copyright infringement.
1:54>> Welcome to an episode of Extraordinary
1:56Minds. In this podcast, I choose to sit
1:58down with people who simply see the
2:01world differently. There's something
2:03about their world view. They question
2:05the traditional rules of society,
2:07whether it's about work or it's about
2:09eating or it's about exercise or it's
2:11about parenting. And then their life
2:14exemplifies this questioning. And
2:17through this process, they uncover new
2:19models, new ideas that the rest of us
2:21can choose to emulate or completely
2:24ignore. And one of the most interesting
2:26people I've gotten to know over the past
2:28decade or so is Ben Greenfield.
2:31About 8 years ago, I flew to Spokane,
2:35Washington to spend the day with Ben and
2:38to actually engage in one of his morning
2:41workouts and to observe how he ran his
2:44day. And a couple of things immediately
2:47stuck out to me about this man. Number
2:49one, this guy is funny as [music] hell.
2:54I mean, all of this literature we read
2:56that says that when you take care of
2:57your body, your mind is in a great state
3:00[music] then exemplifies that he's
3:01witty, he's funny, he's in perpetual
3:03good moods. We'd be having brainstorms
3:06over his product on Mind Valley, his
3:08course, the longevity blueprint. And
3:09[music] then in the middle of a busy
3:11working day, he would invite me to
3:13exercise with him in the snow, in the
3:16cold. And this [music] was the most
3:18brutal 60 minutes of exercise I'd ever
3:22done at that point.
3:23>> This is potentially [music] the hardest
3:26immersion I've ever done in something by
3:28a mind author. But it feels so good.
3:31>> But there was also these little touches
3:33about them that really [music] blew me
3:35away. I observed him cooking with his
3:38wife and kids. I observed them eating
3:41around a dinner table as a family
3:44starting with prayer. I observed how he
3:47was as a father [music] to his children.
3:49We'd go for his for walks, him with his
3:52two kids, me with my son. And I'd
3:55[music] observe as we did these walks
3:56how Ben would bend down, pick up what we
4:00would observe as a weed, and then stick
4:03it in his mouth because he understood
4:06the health benefits [music] of that
4:08particular plant. And I thought, wow,
4:10this is a man who truly lives
4:12extraordinary because he's bringing us
4:14back to what truly [music] matters. And
4:16listen, there are so much gimmicks and
4:20tech and [music] products about
4:22longevity out there. But what if the
4:25secret isn't that? It isn't the
4:28thousands of dollars you buy on the next
4:29biohacking device. What if the secret is
4:32understanding food, exercise, [music]
4:36ancestral wisdom, your spirituality, and
4:40your faith? Taking care of your family,
4:43being a good parent. That's what I love
4:46about Ben Greenfield. That's why his
4:48books are some of the most amazing books
4:50I've read. That's why his podcast is a
4:52podcast I take seriously. That's why
4:54Zack Afron just released a documentary
4:56[music] on his life. And that's why he's
4:59a truly extraordinary mind to learn
5:01from. Ben, welcome. Thank you. What a
5:05great introduction. I think we've
5:06established that being healthy and
5:07living a long time comes down to eating
5:09weeds and playing in the snow. You're
5:12aren't going to find that in many books,
5:13but it's the secret.
5:15So, so Ben, you were a homeschooled kid
5:17in Idaho, okay? Like chess club
5:19president, violinist, finished high
5:21school at 15. How did that kid end up
5:23doing 13 Iron Mans?
5:26>> Through a great deal of stubbornness,
5:28perseverance, and endurance, and the
5:29fact that I I actually got really
5:34interested in human science in college,
5:35and I wasn't interested in it at all, as
5:37you just alluded to. I was kind of more
5:39like fantasy fiction, like very like
5:41right brain, music, uh, creative arts
5:44and not really so much science, physics,
5:47chemistry, microbiology, organic
5:49chemistry, biochemistry, medicine,
5:51anatomy, physiology, all the things that
5:53I started to feed through the fire hose
5:55with in college. And what actually got
5:58me interested in that was sports. I
5:59played tennis in high school. I got
6:01decent at tennis. I wound up playing
6:03college tennis. And just the idea of
6:08asking myself, how can you get more out
6:10of the body, out of the brain, out of
6:11recovery, for performance, uh, for for
6:15muscle, for injuries, whatever. Kind of
6:17sucked me down that rabbit hole of the
6:20combination of physiology, biomechanics,
6:23medicine, and health. I studied it in
6:25college, and um, dude, I just like never
6:27looked back. Like this, this is all I've
6:28done.
6:29>> Now, you were a bodybuilder at one
6:30point, and in 2007, I believe you were
6:32America's fitness trainer of the year. I
6:34was. Yeah, I was a bodybuilder. Well, I
6:36played college tennis. I played uh club
6:39water polo. I played
6:42um played a lot of basketball. I wound
6:45up playing middle for the men's
6:46volleyball team. So, I did a lot of like
6:48power strength type of activities like
6:51>> and you did 120 races
6:55switched to the slow twitch endurance
6:57which is interesting. It's like two
6:58different body systems. So, if you look
7:00at my genetics and this is very easy.
7:01Anybody could do a salivary genetics
7:03panel and look at your propensity for
7:04fast twitch, slow twitch, muscle, fiber,
7:06type, power, strength, endurance. I'm
7:08like right in the middle. Kind of crappy
7:10at like everything, but if I try hard, I
7:12can be decent at a lot, right? But I'm
7:15never going to be like the world's
7:16biggest bodybuilder, the world's best
7:17endurance athlete, but because of that,
7:19I've dabbled in a lot of different
7:20sports. Yeah. Including bodybuilding,
7:22and as you just alluded to, a lot of
7:24triathlon and endurance sports, none of
7:26which, by the way, I profess to be the
7:29best way to get healthy. Why do you
7:31think Zack Afron choose to make a
7:33documentary about you?
7:35>> Zach has a passion for biohacking and
7:38health and longevity, as do many people
7:40whose career depends on on looking good,
7:43thinking good, memorizing scripts, uh
7:45having to take your shirt off on TV,
7:47like all of these things that require uh
7:50better living through science,
7:51especially if, as you need to do in
7:53Hollywood, you need to do it quickly,
7:55right? Like that's that's the thing in
7:57in television and film is in many cases
8:00you have to put on muscle or lose fat a
8:02lot faster than what the general
8:03population would even be capable of. So
8:06Zach and I met through that me actually
8:08helping him out with some some bodybased
8:10roles uh particularly for muscle gain.
8:12And then uh we just geeked out over the
8:14years on biohacking on health on
8:16fitness. We go on like medical tourism
8:18visits for things like stem cells and
8:20gene therapy. and uh he he wound up
8:23getting very interested in this
8:24documentary about all of that, but more
8:27importantly,
8:28how all of that is is empty and
8:31unfulfilling if you aren't also checking
8:34the box of what is arguably more
8:35important, faith, family, community,
8:38those things that we know deep down
8:40inside are are yes, woo and esoteric and
8:44and a little bit less sexy than I don't
8:46know like stepping into a gym with an
8:48oxygen mask on your face. But that
8:50really moved the dial and and I think
8:51that that was the the part of the
8:52documentary that appealed to to a lot of
8:54people including
8:55>> and that's the part I want to dive in
8:56deeper. So
8:59it reminds me I was having dinner with
9:00Gary Brea about a year ago. We were at
9:03the the house of this shake in Dubai.
9:06They were sponsoring this dinner for
9:08Gary Brea and Gary was answering
9:10questions and someone asked him what's
9:11the real secret to longevity? There are
9:13so many products and services out there.
9:15And Gary said, "Listen, it's just two
9:17things. Faith and community
9:19>> and the way you live life seems that you
9:23have a somewhat similar view."
9:25>> Yeah, absolutely. And and of course,
9:26there are subtle nuances, right? You
9:28could probably have a couple shots of
9:30whiskey when you wake up for breakfast
9:31and chain smoke cigarettes and have
9:32plenty of community and friends and
9:34faith and you might not live a long
9:36time. But but the idea that once you
9:39isolate for most confounding variables,
9:42including fitness, diet, etc., the
9:45quality and volume of love and
9:47relationships in your life still trumps
9:49everything. I mean, that's Harvard's
9:50longest running study on longevity,
9:52>> happy people study,
9:53>> right? Exactly. Um, so why is that?
9:57Well, you know, I I think there's a
9:59certain deal of of spiritual
10:03fulfillment, purpose, and meaning that
10:05comes from filling what many ancient
10:09philosophers would call the eternal hole
10:11in the soul with something that is truly
10:13eternal. Uh muscles and cars and money
10:15and houses and sex and fashion and all
10:18of these things that we tend to pursue
10:20that even go beyond Maslo's hierarchy
10:22are finite, right? They they aren't
10:25lasting, right? that your your the
10:27nicest car on the planet is going to be
10:28rusty in 100 years. And even if you do
10:30manage to live to 120, you're going to
10:32have some plaque in your brain and
10:34porous bones and, you know, stringy
10:36muscle and you're not aren't going to be
10:36able to dunk a basketball. You know,
10:38there's all these things that that you
10:40will eventually uh learn fall away. And
10:43yet, if you look at the one part of you
10:45that arguably, you know, and this this
10:47will vary occasionally depending on your
10:48religious or faith-based beliefs, the
10:51one part of you that will go on to exist
10:52for eternity or the one part of you that
10:54actually is eternal is your soul, your
10:57spirit. And so, if if you're going to to
11:01build that fitness, it would involve
11:04having something in your life that is
11:06eternal. And in my book, that's
11:08connection to people and connection to
11:09God, right? Like those are the two only
11:11eternal things in our lives that I can
11:13think of that that are just basically um
11:17immortal, sometimes untouchable,
11:19unfeillable, the idea of a spirit or a
11:21soul or a higher being. And yet it's
11:23those things that seem to produce the
11:25highest amount of purpose and
11:26fulfillment and longevity in people. So
11:27if you look at longevity, okay, let's
11:29say longevity on a scale of 0 to 100.
11:33How much of that scale 0 to 100
11:37is something that we can influence based
11:39on supplements and devices and how much
11:43is just the way we live our life without
11:46having to spend money on anything else
11:48other than our connection to people and
11:51uh our connection to our our mind and
11:53our body.
11:54>> Yeah. Obviously, no real data, at least
11:56that I know of that has ever put headto
11:57head any of those variables. I would say
12:00it's probably somewhere in the realm of
12:0330% lifestyle factors, right? Your
12:05supplements, your diet, your biohacks,
12:07etc. And probably 70% the shall we say
12:11natural free, easily accessible
12:14lifestyle and spirit-based practices.
12:16And the only reason that I that I say
12:18it's probably about a 3070 splint is or
12:21or split uh is that as I know you're
12:24very well aware of because you've even
12:25done events in places like Sardinia. If
12:27you look at a lot of these locations
12:29where there are centinarians or a
12:31disproportionately high number of people
12:33who live beyond 100 years, they aren't
12:35doing a lot of red light beds and
12:36hyperbaric chambers and stem cell
12:37therapies and plasma feresis, but they
12:40are outside a lot. They're in nature a
12:42lot. They're typically eating food that
12:43your great-grandparents would have
12:45recognized. they're around people, many
12:46of them have a faith-based practice. Uh,
12:49often that faith-based practice involves
12:51elements of fasting or caloric
12:53restriction or certain times of the year
12:54that there might be protein restriction.
12:56And once we put all of that together,
12:58like if you uh told me I had to go to a
13:01desert island and choose to bring the
13:02hyperbaric chamber and the red light and
13:05all the supplements or choose to bring a
13:07few friends, right, and some sunshine
13:09and and maybe a nice blanket that I
13:11could get some good sleep in and some
13:13good food, I'd totally choose the
13:14ladder.
13:15So Ben Greenfield owns a supplement
13:17company, but when I asked him how much
13:19of your long life you can actually buy,
13:22he said you can buy about 30%. His
13:25guess, supplements, devices, red light
13:27beds, you can buy that, but the other
13:3070% is free. Sunlight, minerals, sleep,
13:33other people. Now, Ben's done 13 Iron
13:37Mans. He was America's fitness trainer
13:39of the year. Zack Afron made a
13:41documentary about his life. He has
13:44simply put one of the most extraordinary
13:46minds in longevity. And I've watched him
13:49take a business meeting with me hanging
13:51upside down. I assumed that wasn't part
13:53of the protocol. He told me it's number
13:55three. Eating weeds is number one.
13:57Playing in the snow second. So I started
14:00asking him questions. If you earn an
14:03average salary and there's almost
14:04nothing left over, what do you actually
14:07do to live long and stay in your best
14:10health? He shared with me the one thing
14:13that charges your body like a battery.
14:15The thing that's actually draining it
14:17and even stopping your ability to
14:20procreate. We spoke about why you don't
14:22need a gym to build muscles. Why lifting
14:24doesn't make a woman bulky? What are the
14:26most important supplements to take? What
14:29is the minimum effective exercise, the
14:31best exercise you can do for precision
14:33results every two weeks? Then he said
14:36four words that hit me. Don't be a
14:39bubble boy. Pum encouraged me to drink
14:42wine. What he meant by that is that the
14:44longevity movement is actually forcing
14:47us to become wimps to be so sensitive to
14:50even a glass of alcohol that we can't
14:53function in normal human society. Ben
14:55that encouraged me to drink more wine
14:58which he does. We turned this whole
15:00conversation into a gorgeous podcast
15:01episode on longevity and produced a
15:03guide that you can download and follow.
15:06three tiers based on how deep you want
15:08to go from easy to advanced. The link is
15:12below. This is the extraordinary mind of
15:16Ben Greenfield and you get to peer into
15:18it and replicate some of his best
15:20strategies. Go check it out.
15:24>> So, if you had to describe your day,
15:27okay, to the the average person
15:28listening, now I'm talking here about
15:30the average person. I'm not talking
15:32about someone earning like a 100k a
15:35year. I'm talking about someone half of
15:37that, 50k a year,
15:38>> right?
15:39>> Okay. Um, very little disposable income,
15:42the average person and um let's say with
15:47a family or living solo.
15:49>> Mhm.
15:50>> And you had to give them advice on how
15:51they could start hacking their
15:54longevity. So improving their health
15:55span, not just living longer, but
15:57quality of life, but also improving
15:59what's going on in their mind. How would
16:01you ask them to structure their day?
16:04What would it be that would be the
16:06tiniest things that would create the
16:07biggest impact?
16:08>> Right. Great question. And of course,
16:10the first most important thing is don't
16:11think of yourself as average. That'd be
16:13one one big step. But but I I get the
16:15way you're framing your question. Um the
16:18I think the most important thing to
16:20understand is that we are electrical
16:22beings. We are electrical beings and
16:24that means that our cells operate at
16:26specific voltage potentials potentials.
16:28We we are like batteries to a certain
16:30extent when you look at it that way. And
16:33if you look at that battery of your
16:36cell, having a slightly negative
16:38internal charge, a slightly positive
16:40external charge is something that
16:42actually assists with everything from
16:44metabolism to productivity to creativity
16:48to sleep to recovery to gaining muscle.
16:51And if you look at a lot of the advice
16:54that's out there for being healthy, yes,
16:56you see eat a healthy diet. And yes, you
16:58see move your body, sometimes lift
17:00weights, uh go outside is often in
17:03there, but just the idea of thinking of
17:05your body as a battery is something
17:07that's less commonly addressed. So what
17:09do I mean by that? Um there are certain
17:12things you can do that would that would
17:14that would energize the battery and
17:15certain things you could do that would
17:16drain the battery. uh things that
17:18energize the battery, photon packets of
17:21light, particularly from the red light,
17:23infrared, near mid and far infrared
17:25light spectrum, which you can get that
17:28the sunlight, full spectrum light. So
17:31basically, even if you can't get a red
17:33light bed or red light panel or some
17:35wraparound red light device being in the
17:37sun for around 1 to two hours a day, you
17:40don't have to do it between the uh the
17:42the the gap of the highest UVA UVB
17:46radiation, which would be around 11:00
17:48a.m. to 400 p.m.ish, depending on where
17:50you live. But especially in the morning
17:52and the early evening hours, that's one
17:54way that you charge the battery. Another
17:55way that you charge the battery is that
17:57every time lightning strikes the surface
17:59of the planet or solar radiation
18:01bombards the surface of the planet, it
18:03collects negative ions and your skin is
18:06a receptor for those ions. Meaning if
18:09you connect what we would say transder
18:10dermally, right through the skin with
18:12the earth, you are actually absorbing an
18:15electron potential. Exactly. That's the
18:17name of earthing or grounding. And so a
18:20lot of uh you know fancy biohacking
18:23billionaires will use PEMF and all sorts
18:25of electrical devices to achieve this.
18:27But swimming in the ocean, walking on
18:29the beach, going outside and laying on
18:31your back in the backyard, which you can
18:32often combine with the sunlight I was
18:35talking about earlier, that would be
18:36another way to charge the battery. And
18:38then if I could name one more before
18:40naming a couple things that would drain
18:41the battery, it would be minerals and
18:43electrolytes. It is not expensive to
18:45like get some good salt that you put on
18:47your food and drink water that's
18:49preferably been filtered that's rich in
18:51minerals because that's what's going to
18:52carry a charge through your body. If you
18:54look at modern monocropping, modern soil
18:58and agriculture and farming practices,
19:00you often get produce that has been
19:02somewhat stripped of minerals. But the
19:04easy hack for that is to simply add
19:06minerals back in. Uh I was at your house
19:10last night for a party. you had meat
19:12presented and there was salt next to the
19:14meat and I salted every piece of meat
19:16that I had. And if you hadn't had that
19:17salt there nearby in my backpack, I
19:20always have really, really good salt
19:22because that's one of the ways that I
19:24keep my body charged. So, the earth, the
19:26sunlight, and minerals, those are all
19:27pretty inexpensive. And then from a
19:30draining standpoint, uh, well, first of
19:33all, you could simply not go outside in
19:35the sunlight, or you could constantly be
19:37wearing big built-up rubber sold shoes
19:39that are never allowing you to get in
19:41touch with the surface of the planet, or
19:43you could say eat a diet that's void of
19:45minerals. But then beyond that, a few
19:47other things that drain the battery are
19:49uh voluminous exposure to non-native
19:52electromagnetic fields. This would mean
19:54walking around all the time with your
19:56cell phone in your pocket uh with Wi-Fi
19:58on with Bluetooth on uh without it ever
20:00being in airplane mode. That is a small
20:02radio frequency emmitting device and
20:04there is not a free biological cost to
20:06having it on your body or near your body
20:09all the time.
20:10>> Something making me very aware that I
20:11have an iPad directly on my crutch as
20:13I'm interviewing you.
20:14>> Uh let's talk about that. Um
20:17so understanding the idea that your
20:19phone is emitting a signal. So, if you
20:21don't need to be using your phone and
20:22it's near or on your body, put it in
20:24airplane mode. I work on a laptop. My
20:26sons work on a laptop. I often remind my
20:28sons about this because I do want to
20:30have grandkids. And when you have a
20:32radiation emmitting device near your
20:34crotch,
20:35>> uh that can have an effect on your
20:37gonads, your reproductive organs. Uh so,
20:40it's a great contraceptive method, but
20:42also probably not the healthiest thing.
20:44And and [clears throat] that that would
20:45include things like bone density for the
20:46thighs. Oh, it's absolutely been shown
20:47to affect spermatogenesis. So,
20:50>> right. Uh, however, uh, for very
20:52inexpensively on Amazon, you can get
20:54anti-radiation pads designed for an iPad
20:57or a laptop. Uh, and we're talking about
21:00like a 30 or $40 budget. Or worst case
21:02scenario, you could put like a pillow in
21:04the back of your iPad.
21:05>> What's that?
21:06>> These are, uh, pads you put at the back
21:08of your phone.
21:08>> Yeah. Yeah. Exactly. You put it you put
21:10the pad in your lap before you put the
21:12laptop in your lap or the iPad in your
21:14lap. Yeah. And I I have one in my
21:15backpack over there.
21:16>> Um,
21:17>> and carrying phones in your pocket not a
21:19good thing. Uh if my phone is in my
21:21pocket, I have one of those radiation
21:23protective cases. There are companies
21:25like uh Wave Block, uh Defender Shield.
21:28There's a variety of different different
21:29places you can go that will get a little
21:31bit of a blocking case. You could also
21:33buy a like a freaking Faraday cage on
21:35Amazon and drop your phone into that.
21:37Um, but the idea is that if you look at
21:40the modern post-industrial electrical
21:43soup that we live in, being constantly
21:46exposed to that is something that is
21:48going to gradually drain the battery. To
21:50be more specific, it it opens up what
21:51are called voltage gated ion channels
21:54that allow for a calcium influx into the
21:56cell that slightly do what's called a
21:58depolarization of the cell. So you're
22:00you're constantly just like a little bit
22:02of a tight mode which of course
22:03contributes to stress, cortisol,
22:05predisposition to injury, but also
22:07drains that battery. I'm not telling
22:09people to like become a lite or go move
22:11in with the Amish, right? And and and
22:14completely give up your phone, your
22:15computer, but smart usage, right?
22:17Understanding its proximity to the body.
22:19And then I would say the one single most
22:22important place in your home to think
22:24about restricting electricity as much as
22:27possible would be in your bedroom where
22:29arguably you have somewhere around a
22:31third of your life where your nervous
22:32system has a chance to repair and
22:34recover. You don't need a Wi-Fi router
22:36in your bedroom. You don't really even
22:37need like a smart TV in your bedroom.
22:39Like like as many things as can be
22:40unplugged in your bedroom and as much as
22:42you can turn it into just like a dark
22:44cold cave the better. So in review, uh
22:48if someone has a limited budget, think
22:49of your body as a battery. Charge it up
22:51with sunlight, with proximity to the
22:53earth, with things like minerals and
22:55good clean water. And then avoid things
22:57that drain the battery, particularly
22:59nonprudent use of devices, and
23:03understand that there's not a free
23:04biological cost to constantly being
23:06immersed in a like Wi-Fi, Bluetooth,
23:08radio frequency infused environment. So
23:10this this this is really interesting and
23:12it sounds like everything you're saying
23:13is really about going back to the way
23:14our ancestors lived, right? The dark
23:18cold cave,
23:20smoke signals,
23:21>> sunlight, right? Minerals,
23:23>> right? Drinking from a stream.
23:24>> Yeah.
23:25>> But um but one thing you said brought up
23:27a really interesting memory and I think
23:28I shared this story with you. So
23:31after my first child was born with with
23:33my ex-wife, um we were trying for a
23:35second child and for five years we
23:37couldn't conceive. five years failure
23:40and when I went to the doctor the doctor
23:41told me that it was my swimmers and I
23:44kind of I felt really sad about that I
23:46felt okay like this is it like I'm not
23:47going to have another child and I love
23:49being a father then I was reading Tim
23:51Ferrris's book the 4-hour body and Tim
23:53Ferrris wrote about an experiment he did
23:55where he tested his his sperm and I
23:58believe if I recall the book well it was
24:0115%
24:02good quality 85% poor quality and he
24:05said he decided to try an experiment he
24:07took his phone out of his pocket and for
24:0930 days he wore his phone on his
24:10shoulder. No iPhone in the pocket and at
24:14the end of 30 days his sperm quality
24:15went up from 15% to 80%. So I decided to
24:19replicate it. I didn't expect it to work
24:20but you know so I did that for 30 days
24:24and I remember it was around mid January
24:26and then midFebruary and we conceived
24:30and my my little girl Eve who's now 12
24:32was born 30 days after that after 5
24:36years of trying
24:38>> that's that's super interesting now a
24:39couple things that come to mind first of
24:41all um you know proximity to the body
24:44definitely affects things like
24:45spermatogenesis and and even egg quality
24:49uh And then proximity to the body also
24:51affects the cellular activity of bone
24:53loss or bone growth. So paradoxically,
24:56you probably gain sperm and there is a
24:59potential for a slight loss of bone
25:00density on whichever shoulder it was
25:02placed because of decreased osteoplastic
25:04activity.
25:05>> So I realize this all sounds like one
25:07giant doom scroll, but I mean the
25:08takeaway message is phone in airplane
25:10mode if it's near your body if it can
25:11be. And then the the fertility thing
25:14that's a big deal now. A lot of people
25:17are interested in having children and
25:19yet sperm count and egg quality seems to
25:22be decreasing on an annual basis. That's
25:24multiffactorial, right? There there are
25:27the elephants in the room that a lot of
25:28people know about, right? Uh for
25:30example, sauna, hot tub, anything that
25:34would heat the testicles, would decrease
25:36fertility. Poor mitochondrial quality is
25:38another one. I mean, you have a massive
25:40concentration of mitochondria in your,
25:42as you call them, swimmers. And if you
25:44have low intake of some of the things
25:46that support that like antioxidants,
25:49co-enzyme Q10 would be another big one.
25:51Uh Jinseng even has some good studies
25:53behind it for supporting sperm quality
25:56or oi basically egg quality in women.
25:59That's another big one like like the
26:00mitochondrial health of your entire body
26:02reflects the mitochondrial health of
26:04anything related to sex and fertility.
26:07So that's another one to think about.
26:08And then of course this whole idea of
26:11endocrine disruption based on plastic
26:13and microplastic exposure is an
26:16increasingly common problem also you
26:18know and kind of back to the you know
26:20the idea well what's what's the 8020
26:22what's the best thing that you can do
26:23few weeks ago a study came out that was
26:25looking at plastic exposure and what
26:28forms of exposure cause the biggest
26:29issues the most accumulation in human
26:31tissue and in the human gut
26:34>> and you can you can of course look at
26:35things like how much are you absorbing
26:37you know transermally through receipts
26:39at the gas station or how much are you
26:41getting say like breathing through the
26:42lungs while walking along the road uh
26:44especially in your places where there
26:45have been fires recently which release a
26:47lot of plastics into the air. How much
26:49are you getting from say like wearing
26:51synthetic clothing right which is
26:52another problem because there's
26:53transdermal exposure. But the number one
26:56thing that you should eliminate or
26:58restrict doing as far as the biggest
27:00source of plastics is food that has been
27:04stored and or heated in plastic. that
27:07that's like oral consumption of plastic
27:09is the number one contributor to
27:11microplastics. So that's a pretty easy
27:13switch. I mean switching out for Pyrex
27:16or glass containers instead of plastic
27:19uh going to your favorite coffee shop
27:21and this will become like brushing your
27:22teeth within 5 days of doing it with
27:24your own stainless steel mug that you
27:26have your coffee prepared in or that you
27:28have them prepare the coffee and then
27:29very quickly you pour it into there so
27:30your hot beverage is sitting for a
27:32shorter period of time in whatever cup
27:34that they give it to you in. uh and
27:36basically being cognizant of whether or
27:38not plastic has touched your food. Um I
27:42am increasingly opting for even uh metal
27:45or non-plastic or bamboobased
27:48uh silverware, right? Just just that I'm
27:50eating the food out of. So yeah, oral
27:53exposure is the biggest one to worry
27:55about. But now let's let's go to some of
27:56the interesting things we can add on top
27:58of that if one had a slightly higher
28:01budget. Okay. So, uh the first thing is
28:04what are the most essential tests today
28:08that will help us understand where we
28:10are longevity wise? A surge of blood
28:14testing companies have arisen in the
28:18past decade, right? You have the
28:20functions and the super power, I think
28:23one other company is called. You have um
28:27a lot of different clinics now sending
28:29out tests via like these things called
28:31tassos that you attach to your arm that
28:33will drip blood into a tube so you can
28:35do a blood spot test from your own home.
28:36So the idea of blood and biomarker
28:39testing is uh we're almost at the point
28:42now where it's like old news. A lot of
28:43people have access to that and it's
28:45good, right? You can get your your blood
28:48count, you can get your, you know,
28:49vitamin D, you can get your lipids, uh,
28:51you know, your red blood cells, white
28:53blood cells, a lot of things that are
28:54pretty important for just keeping your
28:55pulse on or keep keeping your finger on
28:57the pulse of a lot of the things that
28:59matter when it comes to health. But
29:01let's say that you wanted to dig a
29:03little deeper. Uh, if I could wave a
29:05magic wand, some of the things that I
29:07think would be really prudent for people
29:08to do, one would be to test your gut on
29:11an annual basis. And this is literally a
29:13stool panel. Um there are different
29:17panels that you can do. Uh for example,
29:20you could actually look at the the
29:21genetic composition of the gut. You
29:23know, you and I have a friend in uh in
29:24Seattle, Naveen Jane, right? Who runs
29:26this Viome company that does like a
29:28microbiome analysis of the gut. Um and
29:31there are many other companies that that
29:33will do that. Um and then kind of like
29:36predict what you should eat based on
29:37what the genetic composition of your gut
29:39is. Uh, I think that potentially if
29:42we're just going to like choose the
29:43lowest hanging fruit, something that
29:45would be very actionable would be a
29:48stool test that's just looking at yeast,
29:50parasites, fungus, bacterial balance.
29:52Like the the genomic analysis of the
29:54gut, the science behind it is young,
29:56very useful, but I would say if you're
29:59going to do anything, you know, there
30:00are there are companies like GOVA
30:02Diagnostics that just do a stool panel
30:04and hey, is there bad stuff? Is there
30:06good stuff? That's it. Uh, another
30:09really prudent test to do would be a
30:10hormone test, but not a bloodbased test,
30:12which is like a snapshot of your
30:14hormones, but a urinebased test, which
30:16is like a movie of your hormones,
30:18because it's done throughout the entire
30:19day. So, we're talking about things like
30:21testosterone, progesterone, estrogen,
30:24DHEA, and how
30:26>> a lot of the things that people are
30:27interested in.
30:28>> Are you in?
30:29>> It depends. So, the gut test is
30:31typically annually. I work with some
30:32people who travel a lot and who get
30:36exposed to a lot of different foods and
30:37environments, including freshwater
30:39environments, who typically need a gut
30:41test up to four times a year because
30:43they're just constantly changing,
30:44constantly needing like shift
30:45probiotics, shift regimens, uh, and
30:48sometimes shift diets based on what
30:50their microbiome is doing. Hormone
30:52analysis, usually it' be once a year,
30:54but if you're on testosterone
30:55replacement therapy or if you're on a
30:56woman and you're on hormone replacement
30:57therapy, you need to track that more
30:59intensively. That's like a quarterly
31:00basis type of thing. And then in
31:03addition to your hormone testing and
31:05your gut testing, a few other to think
31:06about would be a genetic test, right? I
31:08I mentioned how you could get a a
31:10genetic test of your gut, but just like
31:11an overall genetic test of your not
31:13necessarily your whole genome, but you
31:16can do a salivary analysis and find out
31:18certain SNIPS that would be the ones
31:20that would most predispose you to
31:22certain diseases like, you know, do you
31:24have poor glutathione production or, you
31:26know, or you have poor methylator? Are
31:28there are there certain things that are
31:29kind of like uh lowhanging fruit for you
31:31to address from a supplementation or
31:33lifestyle standpoint? That's a once in a
31:34lifetime test, right?
31:35>> Genetic test once in a lifetime.
31:37>> Yeah, genetic test once in a
31:38>> li test once a year. Blood test how
31:40often?
31:41>> Uh the blood test like if you're able to
31:44because they're increasingly affordable
31:46quarterly if you can
31:48>> and a urine test.
31:49>> Uh the hormone test would be either
31:51annually or if you're on hormone
31:52replacement therapy doing something like
31:54that quarterly. And then just a couple
31:55other ones to think about. Uh, one would
31:57be a really good food intolerance panel
31:59just to see what what type of foods you
32:01might be producing a immune-based white
32:04blood cell reaction to. And then the
32:07last one that I'd say from a testing
32:10standpoint would be a micronutrient
32:12analysis, which is going to take a
32:14deeper dive into the things that a basic
32:17blood panel won't test. So, we're
32:18talking about like fatty acids, amino
32:20acids, fungal markers, etc. So, if you
32:23do the math, that's like six different
32:24tests. Uh, but you know, all of that
32:27would have cost tens of thousands of
32:29dollars 20 years ago at like the
32:31Princeton Longevity Institute or
32:32whatever. And you can get a lot of what
32:34I just said like in the comfort of your
32:35own home now. And then the other side of
32:38the coin is the world of of like
32:41diagnostic technology to actually image
32:43certain parts of your body. And I would
32:45say the two that are not necessary.
32:50Okay, so we're beyond the realm of the
32:52basic getting into a little bit more of
32:53the expensive stuff, but still the
32:55valuable stuff would be a full body MRI,
32:58right? Which can look at bone quality,
33:00areas where you might have arthritis,
33:02areas where there could potentially be a
33:03growth, pockets of inflammation, etc.
33:06And then uh an evaluation of your
33:09cardiovascular health using something
33:11called a CT angography.
33:13And there are now more advanced AI based
33:16diagnostic imaging tools that will take
33:19a picture of your heart and then tell
33:22you not only if you have high amounts of
33:24plaque, but is that plaque stable? Is it
33:26unstable? Uh where does it reside? Is it
33:29something that you need to take action
33:30on? And the reason that's important, and
33:32you and I had a brief conversation about
33:34this earlier this week, is that you can
33:36actually have a good lipid panel or a
33:39bad lipid panel, but it doesn't
33:41necessarily reflect exactly what's going
33:43on in the tissue level. I have a pretty
33:45good lipid panel, but I I personally
33:47have actually a pretty high amount of
33:48plaque deposition, probably because I've
33:50scarred my heart from those years that
33:52we were talking about of like
33:53bodybuilding and iron man triathlon. And
33:56uh I would say any male with a family
33:59history of cardiovascular disease should
34:01start doing that pretty early in life.
34:03Like mid30s would be really good. Uh any
34:06male in general right around 40 to 45
34:09years old should start looking into
34:10doing a test like that every 3 to 5
34:12years. And then any woman who's
34:14permenopausal or beyond because your
34:16risk of a heart attack as a woman
34:18increases significantly in your
34:20post-menopausal years and catching that
34:22early is a good idea. So pictures of the
34:24heart would be a big one.
34:25>> When you have all of this test, what do
34:27you do with the data?
34:28>> It depends. So most of the blood tests,
34:31the stool test, the urine test, the food
34:33intolerance panels that I mentioned, you
34:35will typically, whether you go through
34:36your doctor or whether you DIY it and
34:38have these tests ordered to your house,
34:40receive a PDF or access to some kind of
34:42an online portal where you can download
34:43your results. And in the era that we
34:45live in, um you can use your own LLM to
34:48keep track of and help you to interpret
34:50those GPT or cloud and get it to to help
34:53help you understand the context of that.
34:55>> Exactly. Yeah. And and and there are
34:56apps now that can assist with that. And
34:58the same thing for a lot of these
35:00diagnostic tools like if you get a full
35:01body MRI, you know, companies like
35:03Prouvo have their own built-in app that
35:05allow you to go through your scores. If
35:06you get something like a clearly scan,
35:08which would be an AI based diagnostic
35:10imaging of the heart, you also get a
35:12report. And you know, 10 years ago, you
35:14would have taken these reports to your
35:15doctor or to a consultant and said,
35:17"Tell me what this is." Now, uh, with
35:19the right type of prompting, you can
35:21actually figure out a little bit more
35:23with AI. I think the only gap that
35:25exists there is that if you do have a
35:28medical team, if you do want a doctor to
35:30have access to your data, if you do need
35:31prescriptions that might be based on the
35:33information that you found, you can't
35:35even like legally or securely just like
35:37upload a bunch of stuff to Claude and
35:39GPT and then like give your doctor
35:40access to that. You you're not
35:42technically even supposed to be like
35:43emailing your doctor PDFs of your lab
35:45results. So um what what you're seeing
35:49now are some companies that will work
35:52with the doctor. So this would be like
35:54clinical management software for a
35:56medical clinic that will pull in labs,
35:58blood, biomarkers, wearables, etc. But
36:01in a HIPPA compliant or secure fashion
36:03where your doctor gets access to it, you
36:05get access to it, the doctor can write
36:07prescriptions and keep track of that
36:09data. So, it's kind of like the best of
36:10both worlds because then you have both
36:12AI and a medical team looking at your
36:15data. Um, it I I think it's it's it's
36:18not risk-free to Mickey Mouse and cobble
36:21together your own AI based system that's
36:23going to keep track of all your lab data
36:25unless you really know what you're
36:27doing. And then you're still at some
36:28point if you decide you're going to need
36:30a prescription or a medication like the
36:31doctor's going to need access to that
36:33data at some point in order to do that.
36:35So,
36:35>> okay. So, that that was interesting. So,
36:37now let's go one layer deeper. So now we
36:39understand the most affordable daily
36:42practices. We understand the basic tests
36:44we need to be looking at. Now one of the
36:46hottest topics I see spoken about every
36:48everywhere today is muscle protein and
36:53creatine.
36:54>> Yeah,
36:54>> let's talk about that for for now. Uh,
36:57I'm glad you asked that question because
37:00like everything or a lot of what we just
37:02talked about are kind of like in the in
37:05the sexy realm of like the biohacking
37:08and longevity industry. And a lot of
37:10people do want to like pop the pill to
37:12get dropped off at the top of Mount
37:13Everest, right? Sometimes that's
37:15spiritually with plant medicine.
37:17Sometimes it's from a fitness standpoint
37:20with some kind of exercise basement
37:22medic. Um, and sometimes it's it's um,
37:26you know, from whatever like a sleep
37:27standpoint by taking some mega drug
37:29instead of actually optimizing the sleep
37:31hygiene of your bedroom.
37:33The issue is that um, a lot of these
37:36shortcuts have biological costs
37:39associated with them, right? If you're
37:40taking Valium every night to sleep,
37:41you're eventually going to destroy some
37:42of your mitochondria and become
37:43dependent on it. If you rely upon
37:46psychedelics for a deep spiritual
37:48experience, you might get to the point
37:49where you just need to take drugs to
37:52ever talk to or feel God. Uh or if you
37:56um if you uh use some type of an
38:01exercise mimetic like I don't know a
38:02peptide like MC to burn calories, well,
38:05you're not actually going to build bone
38:06density or muscle or perhaps being able
38:08to, god forbid, run from a wild animal
38:10if you're getting attacked in a forest.
38:12So cellular resilience like being hard
38:16to kill is is something that you gain
38:20through muscle, right? When you look at
38:23grip strength, right? The idea that grip
38:24strength is correlated with longevity.
38:26It's not because people who like for
38:28some reason have ungodly strong hands
38:30live a long time. It's because the
38:32things that they're doing throughout
38:33their life that got them those strong
38:34hands lend themselves to longevity. And
38:37usually that is picking up and setting
38:39down heavy things or hanging from
38:40objects or carrying things around. So
38:44muscle certainly is one of those ways to
38:46maintain youth. Like there is
38:47correlation between
38:50not so much muscle quantity even though
38:52that plays a mild role but muscle
38:54quality, muscle function, the amount of
38:56power that a muscle is able to produce
38:57particularly. Um you and I work together
39:00on a program for mine valley called the
39:02longevity blueprint. And you'll notice
39:05in that program, if if you were to ever
39:07dive in and use it, that the exercise
39:10components in it involve both moving
39:12fast and moving slow when it comes to
39:14how you're moving in a loaded or weight
39:16training environment. Because moving
39:18slowly can build joint stability and
39:20help with hypertrophy or the growth of
39:22new muscle fibers. But then moving
39:24quickly and powerfully, you know, under
39:26lighter loads like kettle bell,
39:27calisthenics, etc., is what allows you
39:29to build more of the the functional, you
39:31know, wiry explosive muscle. So, when
39:34when you look at muscle, I would say
39:36it's possibly one of the most underrated
39:40organs when it comes to longevity, uh,
39:43being functional, avoiding injury, and
39:46I'm glad that you couched creatine and
39:48protein in with this discussion because
39:49they're probably two of the safest and
39:52most proven and potent tools that we
39:54have in our toolbox for building muscle,
39:56right? Lifting weights, of course, is
39:58important. Most people, I think, are um
40:02are undereating protein.
40:05>> What do you think are the biggest
40:07mistakes people are making right now?
40:09The biggest misconceptions about
40:11building muscle cuz cuz I hear this. I
40:14just want to list what I hear.
40:16>> Too much protein is bad for me.
40:18>> I'm a woman. Muscles are going to make
40:20me bulky.
40:21>> Mhm.
40:21>> What about endurance? Where does that
40:23fit in? Mhm.
40:24>> Um I can take the pain.
40:27>> Mhm.
40:28>> Um three times a day a week in the gym
40:32versus people who argue for one day a
40:34week in the gym and then 6 days
40:36recovery. These are all questions that
40:38keep coming up in our community. So I'm
40:40curious for you to just
40:41>> expose us to the truth. So, first of
40:43all, um when it comes to building
40:46muscle, there are many ways to do it.
40:49And uh all of them are pretty effective.
40:53And I'm going to differentiate between
40:55building muscle and building strength,
40:57right? So, if you want to get strong,
40:59you need to lift heavy objects. If you
41:01want to build muscle, you simply need to
41:03get a muscle fatigued. And you can get a
41:04muscle fatigued by doing 50 push-ups or
41:08bench pressing 500 lb. Like, it doesn't
41:10it doesn't matter. like if the muscle
41:11gets fatigued, it will grow, right? So,
41:14you don't technically even need to go to
41:15a gym to build muscle if you have access
41:17to a pull-up bar and you can do like
41:19some push-ups and some air squats. Like
41:22the the idea of high load, low rep or
41:26low load, high rep, they're they're
41:28pretty much equal when it comes to
41:32building muscle. Now, of course,
41:34strength, power, things like that, like
41:36it's entirely different discussion, but
41:38that's the first thing is as long as
41:39you're pushing a muscle close to
41:41failure, you're going to build muscle.
41:44Um, now, one mistake that people make is
41:46they really don't push the muscle to
41:48failure, especially if they're using
41:50light weights. Like, you do actually
41:52have to make the muscle get to the point
41:54where it's nearly exhausted to build
41:55muscle. uh protein is in the case of
42:00healthy individuals with properly
42:02working kidneys not going to be an issue
42:04and neither is creatine for the kidneys.
42:06There are some people who have a kidney
42:07disease or in some cases have even had a
42:11kidney removed who don't process protein
42:14and sometimes have a delotterious
42:16response to the creatinine that creatine
42:19breaks down into. That's a very small
42:21subset of the population. Um the protein
42:24requirements for example in the US are
42:27to get around 0.55 g per pound. If you
42:31actually look at studies on protein
42:33especially in people who are lifting and
42:35trying to build muscle you can get up to
42:382.0 g per pound and still be able to
42:41utilize that. Most of the people who I
42:42work with are 0.8 to 1.2 g of protein
42:46per pound of body weight and the kidney
42:49function is just fine. And we still do
42:50the blood testing and look at markers
42:52like
42:53>> there's nothing to worry about.
42:54>> Yeah. Like glarular function and
42:56inflammation like you can actually see
42:57what's going on from a kidney level.
42:59>> So So let's say a male who weighs 150
43:02lbs. 150 g of protein at minimum if
43:05they're weight.
43:06>> That'd be a gram per pound. Yeah. You
43:08wouldn't want to cut under 0.8. And that
43:11that could include supplementation.
43:12>> And is it if they go up to 200 grams,
43:15right? So
43:16>> yeah, absolutely.
43:17>> That's even better or it makes no
43:18difference? Uh well it depends if so if
43:22if you look at protein intake what
43:24you're doing is you're supplying amino
43:26acids that contribute to what is called
43:28MPS muscle protein synthesis and small
43:32surges in muscle protein synthesis that
43:34occur throughout the day is the best way
43:36to build muscle. So the other are diets
43:38like the warrior diet where you're just
43:39eating once per day that kind of flies
43:41in the face of what a lot of the
43:42research says about muscle protein
43:44synthesis. So small surges of protein
43:47throughout the day that at the end of
43:49the day add up to, for example, for 150
43:52lb person, 150 to 200 g of protein is a
43:55good way to do things. The the issue a
43:57lot of people run into is like, well,
43:59how do I get that much protein in
44:00without doing a bunch of meal prep or
44:02without just like getting full on
44:03chicken and turkey and fish and steak
44:05and whatever? Supplements count, right?
44:07So you can you can use whey protein. You
44:10can use combinations of rice and pea and
44:13hemp protein. You can use amino acids.
44:15There's a lot of ways to fill in the
44:16gap.
44:17>> Okay. So, question on that. I've I I
44:18have vegan friends uh who do not take
44:20whey protein. They they take plant-based
44:22protein. Um but I understand that
44:24plant-based proteins are not as quality
44:27as animal-based proteins.
44:29>> They're they're lower in the essential
44:31amino acids, particularly leucine, which
44:34is the most anabolic amino acid. So,
44:36you've got a few options if you're not
44:38eating animal-based proteins, um
44:40including something like whey. Option
44:43number one, and this is based on
44:44research that's about 5 years old, is if
44:46you take a protein digesting enzyme. If
44:49you look at the label of a digestive
44:50enzyme and you see the word protease on
44:52there, that means that it has protein
44:54digesting enzymes in it. When you
44:56consume your plant-based protein powder,
44:58it increases the amino acid score of
45:01that plant-based protein. mixing plant
45:04protein
45:08plant proteinbased smoothie. You throw a
45:10handful of digestive enzymes into the
45:12smoothie and that helps to break down
45:14the the protein into more amino acids.
45:16Um the other way to do it would be to
45:21use essential amino acids as a way to
45:24fill in the gap. Um and most of those
45:27are vegan. and they're often derived
45:29from like like col similar sources as
45:31you get from collagen. Um and then like
45:35probably the least effective but still
45:37pretty effective would be supplementing
45:38with leucine or dilucine just to get
45:40that that one anabolic essential amino
45:42acid that you're most
45:43>> and so you're saying if you're taking
45:44plant-based protein supplement with
45:45leucine as well.
45:46>> Exactly. And as far as women are
45:48concerned, um
45:51bulkiness in women is typically not an
45:54issue if a unless a woman is a over
45:59consuming calories, in which case you
46:02will gain muscle and gain bulk the same
46:03as a man would if you're over consuming
46:05calories. And by overconuming calories,
46:07that's typically caloric surplus of 300
46:10to 500 extra calories per day to start
46:13to get bulky as a woman if you're
46:14lifting weights. So, if you're burning
46:182,200 calories per day as a woman, which
46:21is a lot, but let's say you're doing
46:22that cuz you're super physically active
46:24and you're consuming 2400 calories per
46:27day. So, you're at a 200 calorie per day
46:29excess, you're not going to get that
46:31bulky. Um, you might gain a little bit
46:33of extra muscle, but it's not even
46:34something that's going to show. You're
46:35probably
46:36>> 21 extra muscle. It's just going to
46:37increase her basal metabolic rate. So,
46:39in the end, it's a good thing.
46:40>> I personally think to a certain extent a
46:42little bit extra muscle is sexy. Yeah.
46:44And then and then the other thing is
46:46that uh when you see women who are bulky
46:48bodybuilders or for example
46:51crossfitters, you also have two things
46:53going on. A massive volume of training
46:56way over and above what the average
46:57woman is going to do and or the use of
47:00performance-enhancing drugs that are
47:01highly anabolic. Uh it's not just men
47:03who will use things like testosterone or
47:05Andro like women will use those as well.
47:08So it's it's pretty rare that you that
47:11you see a woman
47:12>> the average woman weight training
47:14who's weight training. Yeah. And
47:15honestly, like most women would benefit
47:17from lifting slightly heavier weight,
47:18>> but we'll get stronger and healthier.
47:19Okay. So, now let's come to this. Andrew
47:21Huberman in his podcast um on negative
47:24effects of alcohol said that alcohol
47:27will reduce muscle protein synthesis by
47:29as much as 25%. So, if you're working
47:31out and you're also drinking, probably
47:33not the best idea.
47:35>> Right. Right. Um, so a few things to
47:39think about with alcohol in the in the
47:40way that it's burnt as a substrate, as a
47:43fuel, it's preferentially consumed as a
47:46fuel. And so let's say that you've
47:48worked out and you're going to have a
47:49meal and you have a glass of wine or a
47:51beer or maybe a cocktail with that meal.
47:53Your body is going to assimilate alcohol
47:55preferentially over and above amino
47:57acids from something like protein. So
47:59having alcohol in a post-workout
48:00scenario would be the least favorable
48:03for muscle protein synthesis. Now then
48:05if you dig into the details of something
48:07like the catabolic effects of alcohol,
48:10the problem with taking all the studies
48:13on alcohol and lumping them together is
48:15that you're not differentiating between
48:17the effects of an average of seven
48:18drinks a week being seven beers on a
48:22Saturday night bender or like I do a
48:25glass of organic red wine at night with
48:28dinner with the family, right? like
48:30basically drinking in what we might even
48:33call like a Mediterranean fashion, like
48:35small amounts, not becoming inebriated
48:37with people versus very large amounts
48:40that create
48:42drunkenness, but social jet lag on the
48:44weekends.
48:45>> I would say probably
48:4775% of the time I have a small glass of
48:50wine with dinner. And if you look at
48:53what wine or alcohol in general does, it
48:56is, and I would agree with this, a
48:58poison, right? It is a it is it is a
49:00stressor. It is a toxin. Uh but so are
49:04many of the compounds that we find in
49:06the plant kingdom. When you have kale,
49:08when you have sourdough bread, when you
49:09have legumes, like you are consuming
49:11lectins and you are consuming uh gluten
49:13and you're consuming like phytic acid
49:15inhibitors and all sorts of things that
49:17present a mild stress to the body.
49:19You're also doing that when you
49:20exercise, when you sauna, when you cold
49:22plunge, when you're in the sunlight
49:24under UVA and UVB radiation. The way
49:26that the body responds to small doses of
49:29a stressor that it can handle is it
49:30typically induces cellular resilience.
49:32Right? So I get out of the sauna and as
49:35long as I'm not in there for too long
49:37and becoming electrolyte depleted, I
49:39produce more heat shock proteins. I
49:40produce more cold shock proteins after
49:42the cold. If I stay in the cold too
49:43long, I might produce excess cortisol,
49:45but a small amount is pretty good for
49:47me. If I have a couple slices of a slow
49:49fermented sourdough bread, well, I'm
49:51getting a little bit of gluten, but most
49:52of it has been predigested. And there
49:55are studies that even show that
49:56completely avoiding gluten in people who
49:58don't have ciliac disease can increase
50:00gluten sensitivity because your body's
50:01just never getting exposed to it. In the
50:03case of alcohol, you see an upregulation
50:07of antioxidants like glutathione
50:11peroxidase and superoxide dismutase and
50:14all these things that we actually like
50:15go out to the supplement store and buy.
50:17Like your cells can make them
50:19themselves. And yes, your cells can
50:21become overloaded upon exposure to
50:23ethanol, but small amounts induce this
50:27cellular antioxidant response that may
50:31lend itself to longevity, but at least
50:34is not worse for you than not drinking
50:36alcohol at all. Unless you have
50:38something like non-alcoholic fatty liver
50:40disease or, you know, some some
50:41condition that predisposes you.
50:43>> So, you're saying a little bit of
50:44alcohol
50:45>> in the form of something such as a
50:46healthy organic red wine is actually
50:48good. And you're saying a little bit of
50:49gluten, even if you're gluten sensitive,
50:51is actually good.
50:52>> Micro doing yourself with hormetic
50:54stressors throughout the day is probably
50:57one of the most powerful longevity hacks
50:59that you can implement. And what I mean
51:01by that is little bit of thermal stress,
51:04some sauna, some cold, a little bit of
51:06mechanical stress from lifting weights,
51:07a little bit of cardiovascular stress
51:09from some type of, you know,
51:11high-intensity interval training
51:12program, a little bit of UVA and UVB
51:14radiation, uh, a little bit of fasting
51:17and calorie depletion based stress,
51:19maybe a glass of wine towards the end of
51:21the day. Like if you add up like my
51:24typical day, I probably have like 10 to
51:2612 different small stressors that I'm
51:28giving my body a chance to bounce back
51:29from throughout the day.
51:31>> I see.
51:31>> And like if if you think about it,
51:34Vision, like that's kind of like the
51:35opposite of being a bubble boy, right?
51:37Like if you just like constantly protect
51:39yourself from all these different
51:40stressors and you don't drink alcohol,
51:41you don't go out in the sun, you never
51:43push yourself to failure when you're
51:45lifting weights and you know, you're
51:47always careful not to get like too
51:48breathless on the exercise bike, like
51:50you're never actually becoming a a fully
51:53resilient human.
51:54>> Beautiful. I I love that line. Don't be
51:56a bubble boy.
51:57>> Don't be a boy.
51:57>> So now two two important questions.
52:00>> Creatine and casein. I'm seeing that
52:03creatine is becoming one of the hottest
52:05topics in longevity. It's become
52:07literally a joke. But what is the right
52:09amount? 5 g, 20 g. And then on casein,
52:12there was a study I just read about that
52:14said that if you take 40 g of casein,
52:16which is a slow acting protein, before
52:18going to bed, you see muscle gains of
52:20around, I believe in that study, 22%
52:23overnight increase in in nighttime
52:26muscle synthesis. What are your thoughts
52:27on this? Yeah, creatine is probably one
52:31of the better studied and proven to be
52:34safe supplements that you can use. And
52:37interestingly, most of the studies are
52:39done on creatine monohydrate which is
52:40relatively inexpensive and newer forms
52:43of creatine like you know creatine HCL
52:45and other versions. Uh you don't
52:47necessarily need to spend extra money on
52:49creatine. It's a very simple molecule.
52:51It's simply broken down into uh
52:54phosphate that is used to replenish.
52:56>> How much should you be taking?
52:57>> Well, for strength, for power, um, and
53:01to just basically keep your endogenous
53:03creatine levels topped off, around 5
53:05grams a day is what's been most studied.
53:09You can make a case that because they're
53:10getting less creatine from their diet
53:12that plant-based eaters might need a
53:14little bit more. And then if you look at
53:16some of the newer data uh on for example
53:20uh cognitive performance in the face of
53:22sleep deprivation
53:24um or um there there's there's uh
53:29basically like a a mental edge that you
53:33can get from creatine supplementation in
53:36higher doses that you don't necessarily
53:39get from 5 g. That's typically in the 10
53:41to 20 g range with the caveat that it
53:44can pull some water into the bowels. And
53:46so if you're doing like 20 grams of
53:49creatine a day and you don't want like
53:50disaster pants, then you would want to
53:52split it into like four or five g
53:54portions. Casein compared to something
53:57like whey protein does result in a
54:01longer sustained bout of muscle protein
54:04synthesis. And this is why it kind of
54:07similar to like collagen was for a while
54:09is something that people who want to
54:11just like make as many gains as possible
54:13bro will like take before bed at night.
54:16Um the issue with casein is it also
54:20presents like digestive issues for a lot
54:22of people. So uh and I would fit into
54:25that bucket. So casein for me is is a
54:27nonoption. I'd rather take something
54:28like collagen or essential amino acids
54:30before bed if I want to maintain muscle
54:32protein synthesis during sleep. But you
54:34are right like it is compared to whey
54:35like a slower release protein.
54:37>> Now let's talk about body recomposition,
54:38right? Like putting on muscle while
54:41losing fat.
54:42>> Yeah.
54:43>> I've heard people say that you can't do
54:45this. You got to bulk up, you know, eat
54:47beyond your your um um your average
54:50calorie range when you're putting on
54:52muscle
54:53>> and then starve, right? Cut your
54:56calories by about 25% so you lose fat.
54:59>> But is there a method where we can do
55:01body recomposition together? putting on
55:03muscle while burning fat.
55:06>> Yeah, that bulk cut cycle that you
55:08referred to as like the traditional way
55:10to do things even came out of the
55:11bodybuilding industry, right? Like get
55:12big, eat a bunch of food, and then like
55:14burn some fat.
55:15>> Um, it's actually it's a little bit
55:17difficult on the body that approach
55:19because it's very similar to like yo-yo
55:21dieting. You produce a hormone called
55:23leptin that's responsible for appetite
55:25regulation. And the more that you like
55:28gain weight and then lose weight in
55:29significant amounts throughout the year,
55:31the more leptin dysregulation that you
55:33can induce. So it starts to throw off
55:35things like appetite. Sometimes you
55:36begin to get have a harder and harder
55:37time losing fat. Um, this is interesting
55:40because the Journal of Strength
55:42Conditioning Research just did a a
55:43pretty good paper on body recmp. And it
55:47turns out that if you are eating a
55:50calorie deficit on multiple days of the
55:53week, which is what you normally do to
55:55lose fat, but at the same time you are
55:58protein overfeeding, like protein
56:00hyperconumption. We were talking about
56:02like around 0.8 g per pound being like
56:05the bottom end of that protein
56:06overconumption. Somewhere in that range
56:08of 0.8 to 1.2 to grams of protein per
56:11pound of body weight even if you're at a
56:13caloric deficit lends itself to body
56:17recmp without having to go through bulk
56:19cut cycles.
56:20>> So an example
56:25of this like if you kind of want the
56:27best of both worlds some of that data
56:29from the protein overfeeding even in
56:32caloric deficit literature and then also
56:35some of the literature on fasting. A
56:36perfect scenario here would be something
56:38like a 52 cycle, right? So, let's say
56:41you are pushing, you're lifting weight,
56:42you're on some kind of a split that has
56:44you in the gym for five days of the
56:46week. And maybe two days are a little
56:47bit easier, maybe a little bit more
56:48cardio, mobility, sauna, cold plunge,
56:51whatever. On those five days of the week
56:53where you're exercising, you're eating
56:56to some amount of caloric excess, right?
56:58And and kind of like I was mentioning
57:01with with women for bulking um even in
57:04men somewhere in the range of about 300
57:06to 500 additional calories per day is a
57:09way to bulk without putting on excess
57:11fat, right? And on all those all all
57:14those days you're you're protein
57:15overfeeding, right? So so you're hitting
57:170.8 g per pound plus of protein. And
57:20then on the other two days of the week
57:22where you have lower amounts of physical
57:24activity, you're eating to caloric
57:26balance or even at a caloric deficit,
57:28right? So those might be considered your
57:29cutting days if we want to call them
57:31that. But then the protein intake stays
57:33constant, right? So your total amount of
57:35calories from carbs and fats is going to
57:37go down, but your total calorie intake
57:39or your gram intake for protein is just
57:41like staying even throughout the entire
57:43week.
57:44>> Uh there's not even a name for this
57:47system, but but basically the diet that
57:50I just described is just a 52 diet and
57:53the idea about five times a week.
57:55>> Okay. Now, what about intermittent
57:57fasting? if you add that as well.
57:59>> So intermittent fasting is not gonna
58:02have a significant effect on body recmp.
58:05Um, but the the deal with intermittent
58:08fasting is
58:10>> you see a good response to weight loss
58:14in people who intermittent fast until
58:16you put it head-to-head with uh calorie
58:21control in which subjects who simply
58:23eat, let's say, 2,000 calories per day
58:26but don't intermittent fast, don't have
58:28a compressed feeding window, just like
58:30eat ad libidum throughout the day, 2,000
58:32calories. And then the people who
58:34intermittent fast do the same thing but
58:36only have those calories between like
58:389:00 a.m. and and 6:00 p.m. or whatever.
58:42There's no difference between the two
58:44groups when it comes to body recmp or
58:46fat loss. But for most people,
58:49intermittent fasting just makes it
58:51harder to overconume calories because
58:54you've given yourself a limit. You've
58:56given yourself
58:56>> But will it if feeding window
58:59>> if you're trying to gain muscle? Is that
59:00a good idea? If you're trying to gain
59:02muscle and you exercise in the morning
59:04in a fasted state while you've been
59:06intermittent fasting and your goal is to
59:08gain as much muscle as possible, you
59:10will experience a slight amount of
59:12catabolism that could slow muscle
59:15growth. Now, a lot of that can be combed
59:18by making sure that during the time from
59:20you when you finish lifting to whenever
59:22you're done with your compressed feeding
59:24window, uh you're actually eating enough
59:26calories and eating enough protein. But
59:28the hack for this is to increase your
59:32pool of amino acid availability during
59:36the morning workout. What I'm describing
59:37to you is exactly what I do cuz I
59:38intermittent fast almost every day. So I
59:41don't like to do a hard workout with
59:44food in my stomach. I like some of the
59:46potential longevity enhancing benefits,
59:47the autophagy that occurs with
59:49intermittent fasting. So I'm 12 to 16
59:51hours every day, but right before my
59:53morning workout, I take 20 gram of
59:56essential amino acids. So that's keeping
59:58me from any catabolism that could occur
1:00:00during the morning workout and then
1:00:01going through the rest of the day. I'll
1:00:03have my total gram intake of protein,
1:00:05the 20 grams that I had before the
1:00:07workout count for that. But it's that
1:00:10mild anabolic stimulus. So you could do
1:00:12that, you could do leucine, dilucine,
1:00:13just something that stimulates MPS. So
1:00:15>> So what do you take before your workout?
1:00:17>> Uh I take a shot of ketones and I take
1:00:2020 grams of essential amino acids
1:00:21pre-workout every day.
1:00:22>> 20 grams in what form?
1:00:24>> Yep. Uh um when I travel capsules
1:00:27because TSA doesn't like the powder and
1:00:29at home I take the powder. So I just
1:00:31have like so back at my hotel here in
1:00:34London I have just like a a big bottle
1:00:36of essential amino acids and one capsule
1:00:38is one gram and it sounds like a lot but
1:00:40I take 20 of those capsules before my
1:00:42workout and then at home one scoop of
1:00:45essential amino acids is five grams and
1:00:47I do four scoops pre-workout.
1:00:49>> I see. Okay. That's incredible. That
1:00:51that's an incredible way of body reccom.
1:00:53Love this.
1:00:54>> Yeah.
1:00:54>> Ben, let's talk about V2 max in zone 2.
1:00:57Okay. There's a number that longevity
1:00:59researchers say predicts how long you'll
1:01:00live better than anything else and most
1:01:03people have never heard of it.
1:01:05>> Yeah. V2 max or maximum oxygen
1:01:07utilization. And it's a funny story
1:01:09because I used to actually have a
1:01:10physiology lab and we'd bring people in
1:01:12there and put a mask on them and it
1:01:14collects your carbon dioxide that you
1:01:17produce, the oxygen that you consume.
1:01:19And typically you would wear a mask like
1:01:22that during what's called a graded
1:01:24exercise protocol, which is a ungodly
1:01:27difficult test where you're you're
1:01:29exercising at higher and higher
1:01:30intensities until basically you fall off
1:01:31the back of the treadmill and you
1:01:33measure what's the maximum amount of
1:01:34oxygen that you're consuming. And that's
1:01:38dictated by a few different factors as
1:01:40you can imagine like the actual capacity
1:01:42of your lungs themselves, right? How
1:01:43much can you breathe in? How good is
1:01:45your body at grabbing oxygen from those
1:01:48red blood cells as they move through the
1:01:50body and utilizing them for ATP? And
1:01:52then how efficient is your is your
1:01:54vascular system, right? Like how much
1:01:55can your blood pump with each beat of
1:01:57the heart?
1:01:59All of those factors are somewhat
1:02:01trainable, right? There's this myth out
1:02:02there that V2 max is just like so
1:02:04genetic and you can barely increase at
1:02:05all and you can actually increase V2 max
1:02:07dramatically. Uh as far as like research
1:02:10proven ways to increase V2 max, uh the
1:02:14gold standard would be what's called a
1:02:164x4 protocol where you exercise at your
1:02:19maximum sustainable pace for around 4
1:02:22minutes. Technically, if you look at the
1:02:24literature, it's like 4 to 6 minutes,
1:02:26but we're just going to use four minutes
1:02:27for simplicity sake.
1:02:29>> You recover or you do very easy exercise
1:02:31for 4 minutes. And you repeat that four
1:02:32times through 4x4 protocol. Okay.
1:02:35>> And you will need to do that once every
1:02:372 weeks to maintain V2 max. This is not
1:02:40a daily thing
1:02:42>> to maintain it or to increase it.
1:02:43>> To maintain it.
1:02:44>> To maintain it.
1:02:45>> To increase it, you look at more of a
1:02:46weekly protocol for for a 4x4. Now, one
1:02:49thing to remember is this is maximum
1:02:51sustainable pace. So that means if you
1:02:53get on a bicycle and your cadence is 60
1:02:57RPM and by the end of the 4 minutes your
1:02:59cadence is 40 RPM, that wasn't a maximum
1:03:01sustainable pace, right? So, think of it
1:03:04as like 85 to 90% intensity. Now, should
1:03:08that be too long or too hard?
1:03:10>> Let's go deep into the 4x4 protocol. How
1:03:12does that work? How many seconds of
1:03:15pushing? Seconds of rest in the first 4
1:03:17minutes.
1:03:18>> 4 minutes the whole time you're pushing.
1:03:21>> Okay.
1:03:22>> And 4 minutes. Let's say if you're on a
1:03:24bike, you're doing really easy pedaling
1:03:25or you're not even on the bike. You're
1:03:26just like getting off and walking around
1:03:28the room and waiting for the next round.
1:03:29>> So, you are pushing like the whole time.
1:03:31Yeah. Okay. Yeah. Um,
1:03:33>> but it's about 80 to 90%.
1:03:34>> Yeah. About 80 to 90%.
1:03:35>> And then how how long is the break?
1:03:38>> One:1 work to rest ratio.
1:03:40>> So let's say you're going to do four
1:03:42rounds of four minutes, you're
1:03:43recovering for 4 minutes between each.
1:03:44If you're going to do
1:03:45>> five rounds of 5 minutes, you're going
1:03:47to recover for 5 minutes.
1:03:48>> You're doing about 32 minutes for the
1:03:49entire process.
1:03:50>> Yeah. You can get in between about 30 to
1:03:5340 minutes once every one to two weeks.
1:03:54>> That's the most effective.
1:03:56>> That's the gold standard. The second
1:03:57most effective is sprints with short
1:04:01recovery periods. So if you wanted to
1:04:04increase, let's say, your mitochondrial
1:04:05density, you would do like 20 to 30
1:04:07second sprints with luxuriously long
1:04:10rest periods, like like a 1 to four work
1:04:13to rest ratio where you're going hard
1:04:15for 30 seconds and then recovering for
1:04:17say 2 minutes. Whereas for V2 max,
1:04:19you're going to go hard for like 30
1:04:21seconds and then recover with a 2:1 work
1:04:24to rest ratio for like 15 seconds. And
1:04:26that's anywhere from 6 to eight times
1:04:28through. Obviously,
1:04:31depending on the way that you look at
1:04:32it, like it doesn't take as long, but
1:04:33it's more difficult for me to put you on
1:04:36a bike and you need to just go 30
1:04:37seconds balls to the wall, then you only
1:04:39get 15 seconds of recovery and you got
1:04:41to do that, let's say, six times
1:04:42compared to like four minutes and I get
1:04:44a full 4 minutes of rest. But for
1:04:47someone who is time compressed, that
1:04:49brief bout of sprints works pretty well
1:04:52at increasing V2 max. The um
1:04:56>> so protocols that may not have may not
1:04:59have a a a runway to to to sprint on,
1:05:02right?
1:05:02>> I know you live in a farm in Idaho.
1:05:05Bicycle, elliptical trainer, rowing
1:05:07machine,
1:05:08>> rowing machine. So again, the same
1:05:09timing, 4 minutes, 4 minute rest. 4
1:05:12minute 4 minute rest. Yep. Okay.
1:05:13>> Yep. Yep. Exactly. And then for the
1:05:17sprint protocol, let's say you're going
1:05:18to do like six 30 secondond sprints with
1:05:2015-second recoveries, the frequency
1:05:23increases two to three times per week to
1:05:25increase V2 max once a week to maintain
1:05:28V2 max. Right? So, as you're cutting
1:05:30down the time period and maybe not doing
1:05:32the 4x4, your frequency goes up. But if
1:05:34you have less time available to be at
1:05:36the gym or whatever, it's pretty good
1:05:37pretty good technique. The third
1:05:40technique is thermal stress. Thermal
1:05:43stress operates on a different mechanism
1:05:46when it comes to increasing V2 max.
1:05:48Meaning if you get into the sauna and
1:05:50let's say you do 200 degrees and you're
1:05:53in there for 20 to 30 minutes, you
1:05:55increase,
1:05:57which is a red blood cell precursor that
1:05:58helps your body make new red blood
1:06:00cells, which increases the part about
1:06:02carrying the oxygen through the body. So
1:06:04that's you would increase V2 max like
1:06:06indirectly, but but it'd be a good one
1:06:08to throw in there if you're just trying
1:06:09to do everything you can to increase V2
1:06:11max. And then the last one that has um
1:06:15some decent research behind it, but is
1:06:18probably the least effective of
1:06:19everything that I've just talked about
1:06:20is inspiratory muscle training, right?
1:06:23Because if you think about one of the
1:06:24three parameters that affect V2 max
1:06:26being your lung capacity, if you're able
1:06:28to train inspiratory volume and just get
1:06:31more lung in, more more air in when you
1:06:33breathe, you can increase V2 max. An
1:06:35example of that would be um like that
1:06:39training mask or a power lung or an
1:06:42Aerofit or any of these devices that
1:06:44basically force you to breathe in and or
1:06:46out against resistance. Mhm.
1:06:49>> Not [clears throat] as effective as a
1:06:50lot of people would really like them to
1:06:51be because they seem like they, you
1:06:53know, just like running up a mountain
1:06:54with a mask on your face would do
1:06:55everything for you, but still pretty
1:06:56effective when it comes to training the
1:06:57inspiratory and expatory muscles, which
1:06:59kind of like indirectly increases V2
1:07:01max. Okay, so let's put this together,
1:07:03right? We spoke about we spoke about
1:07:06lifting weights. Now we're talking about
1:07:08V2 max. For the busy man or busy woman,
1:07:11what would you say is the minimum
1:07:13effective dose that they would commit to
1:07:16exercise in a in the course of a week to
1:07:19not just sustain where they are, but to
1:07:20get progressively better every week
1:07:22>> for V2 max or just for everything?
1:07:24>> For both for muscle and V2 max.
1:07:26>> Yeah, for for everything basically.
1:07:28Think about it this way. And and this
1:07:30sounds like a lot, but you could do all
1:07:32of this in under an hour a day. You want
1:07:34to do full body strength training to
1:07:37failure as we established earlier either
1:07:39with body weight or with weights. You
1:07:42can do it faster with weights because
1:07:43you have to do fewer reps. That's twice
1:07:45a week for 20 to 25 minutes that you're
1:07:48able to do that. That would be like
1:07:49deadlift, chest press, overhead press,
1:07:52row, pull down, leg press type of thing.
1:07:54Um and then
1:07:55>> twice a week twice a week.
1:07:57>> Twice week for about an hour each twice
1:07:58a week for for 20 to 25 minutes. Yeah.
1:08:02For minimum effective dose. Yeah. Yeah.
1:08:04And then power training. This would be
1:08:06like the quick explosive calisthenic
1:08:07type of stuff. You can get away with a
1:08:09couple of sessions a week for 15 to 20
1:08:11minutes. This would be like kettle bell
1:08:13swings, sprints, clap push-ups, medicine
1:08:15ball throws, anything like that. Okay.
1:08:18>> Um and then number three would be uh
1:08:22your V2 max. And as we've established,
1:08:24if even if you can do just like once a
1:08:26week of a 4x4, that's pretty good,
1:08:28right? So, you're tacking another 25 to
1:08:3140 minutes on top of that. Uh, and then
1:08:34the four that we didn't talk about yet,
1:08:37one would be your ability to tolerate
1:08:39lactic acid. And this can be done within
1:08:414 minutes. This would be like 20 seconds
1:08:43hard, 10 seconds easy, eight times
1:08:45through.
1:08:45>> And what is that? What is that?
1:08:46>> That is your ability to buffer lactic
1:08:49acid. And it is a component of fitness.
1:08:52And what you're doing is like getting on
1:08:54a bicycle and exercising hard for 20
1:08:56seconds, then 10 seconds of recovery,
1:08:58and you're just doing that eight times
1:08:59through. There's an actual name for
1:09:00that. It's called set.
1:09:02>> It it allows your body to burn lactic
1:09:05acid by either getting it out of the
1:09:07muscles more quickly and buffering it or
1:09:09converting it back into
1:09:11>> eight times. So yeah, two. So what
1:09:14you're saying is that we can get away
1:09:16with getting progressively better
1:09:18healthwise with twice a week. So
1:09:21[clears throat] that's an hour combined
1:09:23strength training. Okay. One time a week
1:09:25power training and then twice a week
1:09:28calisthenics
1:09:31>> almost. And
1:09:31>> so that's about 2 and 1 half hours a
1:09:33week.
1:09:33>> Twice a week strength training.
1:09:34>> Okay.
1:09:35>> Twice a week very short plyometric
1:09:37powerbased training. 15 to 20 minutes.
1:09:39>> Give us an example of what that looks
1:09:40like.
1:09:40>> That would be like uh 10 sets of 10
1:09:43kettle bell swings.
1:09:44>> Okay.
1:09:45>> For example, very simple example. Um and
1:09:48then um once a week V2 max,
1:09:51>> right? Like the 4x4 protocol,
1:09:53>> right?
1:09:54>> Twice a week that 4minute lactate
1:09:56threshold protocol. And again, once you
1:09:58have all this written down, it' be like
1:09:59brushing your teeth. It actually is in
1:10:00the longevity blueprint, by the way.
1:10:02>> Um and then um once a week, something to
1:10:06train the mitochondria. And this is very
1:10:08short sprints followed by luxuriously
1:10:10long rest periods. This would be about
1:10:1115 to 20 minutes, like five 30 second
1:10:13sprints with two-minute recovery
1:10:15periods. And then the last two would be
1:10:18mobility like stretching the body which
1:10:20can be accomplished with just brief
1:10:22stretch breaks throughout a workday. Uh
1:10:24you could do it like I do it where I
1:10:25just wake up and I listen to something
1:10:27spiritually positive and uplifting for
1:10:28about 20 minutes in the morning and I
1:10:30stretch while I'm doing that. And then
1:10:32the very last one would be fat burning
1:10:33capacity. And fat burning capacity very
1:10:36similar to mobility could be a something
1:10:38that you sprinkle throughout the day by
1:10:40just being mildly physically active
1:10:41throughout the day. walking pad for a
1:10:43desk is a perfect example of that. Or B,
1:10:46having one point during the week, let's
1:10:48say a Saturday or Sunday, where you go
1:10:50on a long hike or a bike ride, or you
1:10:52just move your body for a long period of
1:10:54time, preferably without eating many
1:10:56calories, and you just train your body
1:10:58how to go aerobically and burn fat. So,
1:11:01in summary, you've got a couple of brief
1:11:04strength training sessions to failure
1:11:05per week of 20 to 25 minutes. You have a
1:11:08couple of power training sessions of 10
1:11:10to 15 minutes. You have two lactate
1:11:12threshold training sessions of 4
1:11:14minutes. You have a mitochondrial
1:11:15training session that's typically going
1:11:17to take about 15 to 20 minutes. You have
1:11:19one V2 max session, probably one of the
1:11:21harder sessions of the week or the every
1:11:23two weeks, that's 25 to 40 minutes in
1:11:25length. You move your body and stretch
1:11:27throughout the day or do 15 to 20
1:11:29minutes of mobility in the morning. And
1:11:31you do one long fasted fat burning
1:11:33session on the weekend. That's going to
1:11:35be an hour and a half or two. And once
1:11:36you sit down and do the math, you come
1:11:39out to an average of about an hour a day
1:11:41if you do that.
1:11:42>> That's beautiful. That's beautiful.
1:11:44Okay. So, now I want to talk about like
1:11:46mind and cognition cuz one thing I
1:11:47noticed about you is you're incredibly
1:11:49sharp. Okay. So, we were talking about
1:11:51taking
1:11:52>> the focus pills. This is a this is a
1:11:54supplement um
1:11:55>> co-ounded by me and Sean Wells.
1:11:57>> My head.
1:11:58>> Okay. So, this is this contains alpha
1:12:01GPC and parazantine.
1:12:03>> That's it. Just those two. It also
1:12:05contains elyroine.
1:12:06>> Yeah.
1:12:07>> Um peak ATP.
1:12:09>> Yep.
1:12:09>> And ltanine.
1:12:11>> Okay.
1:12:11>> Okay.
1:12:12>> So, how this started was I had
1:12:15>> Is this a dose or are you like triple or
1:12:16double or four is the dose? Four is the
1:12:19dose. So, Sean Wells, the scientist
1:12:20behind this, he's very, you know, he's
1:12:22very particular about dosage. He hates
1:12:24it when supplements um actually try to
1:12:28underdose.
1:12:29>> Yeah.
1:12:29>> Right. So, he wants people to experience
1:12:31the full dose. Could I get a glass of
1:12:32water? Oh, actually you can get me that
1:12:34can of DASH.
1:12:38So what happened was I was going through
1:12:41severe ADHD, couldn't stay focused on
1:12:44work, got distracted quite a bit and um
1:12:48I met Sean. Sean was speaking at one of
1:12:50my events and he told me try these two
1:12:52things, Perisentine and Alpha GPC. So I
1:12:54started using it and I found that my
1:12:57mornings just got so much better. So I
1:12:59asked him could you So I bought these as
1:13:00individual pills and I would mix it
1:13:02together. Then he said try adding
1:13:04elenine as well to the mixture for flow
1:13:07states for creativity.
1:13:08>> Yeah. And elenine kind of knocks the
1:13:10edge off of uh any stimulant. Like if
1:13:14you put like 100 milligrams of elenine
1:13:18>> Yeah.
1:13:18>> uh into coffee or have it along with
1:13:20coffee like it knocks off some of the
1:13:22jittery edge. You can take elenine
1:13:23before you go to bed. Um so that's good
1:13:26that you add it in there. And I'm a huge
1:13:27fan of parisanthine by the way.
1:13:30>> Yeah.
1:13:30>> Yeah.
1:13:31Cousin of caffeine. Uh it gives you a
1:13:34lot of the focus and cognitive
1:13:37throughput
1:13:40that you turn the caffeine towards
1:13:41normally but without the jitteriness and
1:13:44interestingly without uh the
1:13:46delletterious effect on sleep
1:13:48architecture. So I've taken parisanthine
1:13:50like before an evening dinner party and
1:13:52sleep just fine. Right. Whereas
1:13:54caffeine, you know, you're looking at
1:13:55sometimes 6, 8, 10 hours in the body,
1:13:58uh, which which which affects sleep.
1:13:59>> Yeah. So, yeah.
1:14:00>> Yeah. Yeah. And I And so I invented this
1:14:02also because I uh I was watching this
1:14:05incredible talk by the neuroscientist
1:14:07Jack Aaloca.
1:14:08>> Mhm.
1:14:09>> Three years ago, and he was talking
1:14:10about caffeine, you know, and the the
1:14:13negative effects of caffeine are often
1:14:15not really spoken about. And so I also
1:14:18decided to do this to cut back on my
1:14:20four cups of coffee a day.
1:14:21>> Yeah. But anyway, what we're going to
1:14:23see is
1:14:23>> Ven and I are going to see how this
1:14:25affects our moods as we're doing the
1:14:27podcast. Okay? And hopefully it makes
1:14:29the podcast better.
1:14:30>> Hopefully we don't get in a crappy mood
1:14:32during the rest of this podcast. So
1:14:33>> other than parazantine, other than alpha
1:14:35GPC, by the way, have you done alpha
1:14:37GPC? Is that something you you do?
1:14:39>> Yeah, absolutely. Yeah.
1:14:41>> How do you take parantine and alpha? The
1:14:42way that I think about alpha GPT or GPC
1:14:46is it fits into a similar category as
1:14:48like acetylcholine,
1:14:50phosphotyoline,
1:14:52cytooline. Think of choline as like
1:14:55gasoline for the brain, right? It's not
1:14:57necessarily going to directly increase
1:14:59something like neuroplasticity or
1:15:01neurogenesis or you know formation of
1:15:04creative thoughts or focus or whatever,
1:15:05but it's going to allow what you might
1:15:07co-consume with the choline precursor to
1:15:10work better. So parisanthane is
1:15:12certainly speeding up neural activity,
1:15:14but then when you combine that with
1:15:15something like alpha GPC, it's like
1:15:17you're pressing down the gas pedal
1:15:18harder in your car, but simultaneously
1:15:20ensuring that the gas tank is topped
1:15:22off. So that's why if you look at a
1:15:24neutropic or a smart drug blend or
1:15:26anything, a having some source of
1:15:29choline along with it is a good idea. So
1:15:30you're replenished in the gas tank. And
1:15:32then in the case of something like uh
1:15:34theineine being a perfect example uh
1:15:37other examples would be um rodeiola um
1:15:42ashwagandha anything that is a little
1:15:46bit adaptogenic right and kind of like
1:15:48make sure that you're not getting too
1:15:49jittery or allow whatever neural output
1:15:51that you're getting to be sustained
1:15:53longer without too much of like an up
1:15:55down peak crash type of effect is a good
1:15:57idea. So, if you're formulating
1:16:00a neutropic or or a smart drug or
1:16:02anything like that, you basically want
1:16:04something that turns the brain on,
1:16:05something that gives the brain gasoline,
1:16:07and something that's a little bit of a
1:16:08modulator should you get too jittery. In
1:16:10in Zen, what we put, so this is what um
1:16:13I take after lunch. This is eltenine,
1:16:16lemon balm, epigenine, radio prime,
1:16:18which is radiola cranulata, and and
1:16:22magnolia extract.
1:16:23>> Yeah.
1:16:23>> So, I take this one after lunch to get
1:16:26into a creative state. But more like
1:16:27like a even kill that would that would
1:16:31almost be something that you could use
1:16:33like before an afternoon meditation
1:16:35session or nap or something like that.
1:16:36>> Exactly. It goes great with meditation.
1:16:38Yeah. Now in your case if you had to
1:16:41describe supplements you take for your
1:16:44brain. Okay. For focus, for creativity,
1:16:47for flow states and then supplements you
1:16:49take for longevity. What would be your
1:16:52essential recommendation list?
1:16:54>> Sure. Um, for longevity, the main things
1:16:58that you're looking at are um, in my
1:17:02opinion, if we're going to identify the
1:17:04top two, DNA repair and mitochondrial
1:17:07health. So, there are 12 different organ
1:17:10systems that will age um, as you grow
1:17:14older. And to target every single one
1:17:17requires a a pretty significant stack. I
1:17:20mean, you're looking at like certuins
1:17:21like rveratrol and you're looking at DNA
1:17:24repair compounds like uh uh NAD. Um
1:17:28you're typically looking at supporting
1:17:29like antioxidant systems using
1:17:31glutathione immune system supporting
1:17:32NAD. Um, but I would say from a
1:17:35longevity standpoint, if you're just
1:17:36going to choose a few, um, something
1:17:40that will either increase NAD or
1:17:43decrease the rate at which NAD breaks
1:17:45down because NAD is so critical for both
1:17:47ATP production and DNA repair. So this
1:17:50would include uh NR nicotenomide
1:17:54ribocide, NN nicotenomide monucleotide,
1:17:57NAD nicotenomide addinine ducleotide or
1:18:01any of these things that are typically
1:18:03marketed as like like a like an NAD type
1:18:05of precursor
1:18:06>> between NRN and NAD
1:18:08>> for oral. Um
1:18:11the research goes back and forth on on
1:18:13on which one is superior. Um,
1:18:18when it comes to intravenous
1:18:19administration, there has yet to be
1:18:22proven that there's a really good
1:18:23cellular uptake receptor for NAD. So, I
1:18:25would say if you're going to get an IV,
1:18:27NR would win out.
1:18:28>> But in case you're taking a
1:18:29>> I personally use an oral version of NAD.
1:18:33Um, and I found a few different
1:18:35companies that have decent versions. Um,
1:18:38but it's it's not going to be that
1:18:40different from NR or NMN. So, basically,
1:18:42whatever you can get access to. And that
1:18:44that would be one for longevity. I would
1:18:47say a couple other major ones to think
1:18:49about for longevity for mitochondrial
1:18:52support. Some form of co-enzyme Q10,
1:18:55either CoQ10 or ubiquininal or
1:18:57ubiquinone or something that's going to
1:18:59allow you to basically support
1:19:01mitochondrial autophagy and
1:19:02mitochondrial health. Um, and then you
1:19:05have the actual mitochondrial membrane.
1:19:07And that's kind of where peptides fit in
1:19:09pretty well. Like there's a few peptides
1:19:10that specifically support the
1:19:11mitochondria in a pretty powerful way.
1:19:13Uh yes, sourcing is difficult. In some
1:19:17cases, you need to go to the gray market
1:19:18or research use only websites. And um
1:19:21the ones that I think would be best to
1:19:25look into when it comes to human
1:19:26longevity, particularly from a
1:19:27mitochondrial standpoint, would be SS31,
1:19:31MOT C, which is MOTS- C and Epalon,
1:19:35right? Th that would be kind of like the
1:19:36holy trilogy for mitochondrial support.
1:19:39And then the last thing I'd think about
1:19:40is if you're going to use NAD, combine
1:19:43it with what would be called a certuin,
1:19:45which is a co-actor that NAD works with
1:19:48to help repair DNA. This would be very
1:19:50similar to like Dr. David Sinclair's
1:19:52work using something uh like like a a uh
1:19:55I believe he used NN and resveratrol,
1:19:58right?
1:19:58>> He says he mixes resveratrol with yogurt
1:20:01because you got to take it with
1:20:02something fatty, right?
1:20:03>> Exactly. Exactly. Very very similar with
1:20:05CoQ10. Yeah. You got to fit you got to
1:20:07consume CoQ10 with something that's fat
1:20:09soluble as well. Um and and so that that
1:20:12would be an example for longevity
1:20:14>> that would would you recommend
1:20:15resveratrol?
1:20:16>> Yeah. Yeah. Resveratrol is good. There
1:20:19there's there's a um certuin that is
1:20:24arguably 10 plus times stronger than
1:20:26rveratrol which you can find. It's
1:20:28called terostelbean spelled like
1:20:30pterodactyl. Pt e r o s t i lb b. Teros
1:20:35still bean um that I think is superior
1:20:37to his veratrols. If you're gonna stack
1:20:39something with NAD um you know and David
1:20:42Sinclair is brilliant by the way and I
1:20:44maybe he did look into teri I don't know
1:20:46but it's it's a little harder to get a
1:20:48little more expensive maybe that's why
1:20:49resveratrol has kind of dominated the
1:20:50conversation but terostopian is really
1:20:52good also as are just like wild
1:20:54blueberries and and a rainbow of colors.
1:20:57And then you also asked me about uh
1:21:00brainbased support supplements in
1:21:02addition to longevity support. You know,
1:21:04some of the things that we discussed
1:21:05that are in this focus supplement that
1:21:06you and I just took are pretty good. Um
1:21:10there are others that I think uh offer
1:21:12some benefit. Nicotine is a hot topic
1:21:14these days. It does provide some
1:21:17cognitive support. uh unfortunately it's
1:21:19highly addictive and the delivery
1:21:21mechanism is often rife with artificial
1:21:23colors and sweeteners and microplastics
1:21:25and so if you can find a good clean
1:21:28nicotine supplement it's a decent
1:21:30cognitive aid but if you want to be as
1:21:32safe as possible just get a patch and
1:21:34wear a patch like on your abdomen during
1:21:36the day for transdermal delivery and
1:21:38then you don't have to worry about a lot
1:21:39of the crap that's in the gum and stuff
1:21:41like that
1:21:42>> and so I want to I want to ask you about
1:21:43what I'm seeing David Sinclair recommend
1:21:46online to get your thoughts okay so This
1:21:48is what he's recommending online. Uh
1:21:50NAD+, we've covered that. Every morning
1:21:53he takes one gram of NMN, the direct
1:21:55precursor of NAD+. So we spoke about
1:21:57that.
1:21:58>> Yep.
1:21:58>> And one gram of resveratrol mixed into
1:22:00yogurt. The fat in yogurt is not
1:22:02optional. As resveratrol is fat soluble.
1:22:06>> Yeah.
1:22:06>> Okay. And then um
1:22:08>> so far so good.
1:22:09>> So far so good. Right. Okay. Now the
1:22:12next one is that I'm seeing recommended
1:22:14by a ton of people is um so this is
1:22:16Seamlan. Simlan is an Estonian
1:22:18biohacker.
1:22:19>> I know Seam. Yeah.
1:22:20>> Yeah.
1:22:20>> So, this is what Seam recommends as his
1:22:24top five. Okay.
1:22:26>> And I want to get your thoughts on this.
1:22:28Omega3.
1:22:29>> Mhm. Okay.
1:22:30>> Yes. No.
1:22:31>> Uh let's take them one by one. Omega-3
1:22:33fatty acids.
1:22:35>> Yes. Uh particularly if you're eating a
1:22:37lot of seed oils because your omega 6
1:22:39omega-3 balance will be thrown off. But
1:22:40the one thing to understand about
1:22:42omega-3s is they're very fragile.
1:22:43They're prone to rancidity, oxidation.
1:22:46So, if you're consuming an omega-3 fatty
1:22:48acid, the way that it gets shipped to
1:22:51your house, the storage conditions, and
1:22:53the amount of heat and light that it's
1:22:54been exposed to is important. So,
1:22:57>> brand you recommend
1:22:58>> sourcing is important when it comes to
1:22:59omega-3 fatty acids. Nordic Naturals is
1:23:03one good brand.
1:23:04>> Uh Dr. Jeffrey Bland, the father of
1:23:06functional medicine, has a good facility
1:23:08up in Alaska where he's getting salmon
1:23:11that's pretty good. I have a company
1:23:13called Keon and we harvest very clean
1:23:16anchovies off the Peruvian c uh coast
1:23:19and package those with aazanthin and
1:23:21rosemary as a
1:23:22>> find keon
1:23:23>> uh just the web just kio n supplements.
1:23:26Yeah, it's like get keon.com.
1:23:28>> Okay. The second one is aanthin.
1:23:30>> Yeah. Yeah. Which I just mentioned is is
1:23:32an antioxidant. But asanthin is actually
1:23:35pretty interesting. I think I think it's
1:23:36underestimated. As a matter of fact, Dr.
1:23:38Sandre Kaufman who is a brilliant
1:23:41physician who I've interviewed a couple
1:23:43of times. She has a whole book where she
1:23:45rank prioritizes all these different
1:23:46longevity compounds from CBD to NAD to
1:23:50aazanthin. Aisan was towards the top of
1:23:52the list. And what's interesting is that
1:23:55it is a skin protective from ultraviolet
1:23:58radiation. I used to megaose with it
1:24:00before I'd race Iron Man triathlons to
1:24:02protect my skin from the heat. I have a
1:24:04bottle in the refrigerator and I don't
1:24:06take it regularly just because there's
1:24:08only so many things that that I that I
1:24:10take and I eat a lot of uh fish that's
1:24:12pretty high in asisanthin. But if I ever
1:24:14get sunburnt or someone in the house has
1:24:16had excess sun exposure, I'll give them
1:24:18a high dose of asisanthin. Meaning like
1:24:2040 grams of asisanthin.
1:24:21>> Okay. Okay. The other three on his list
1:24:23are glycine, collagen, and vitamin D3
1:24:27and K2.
1:24:28>> Yeah. So, so glycine is interesting for
1:24:31a couple of reasons. First of all, fun
1:24:33anecdote about it is it can actually
1:24:34decrease your body's core temperature if
1:24:36you take 3 to five grams before sleep.
1:24:39Interesting anecdote number two is that
1:24:42it can combat some of the effects of
1:24:44seed oil and arachidonic acid
1:24:46consumption. Meaning that if you I don't
1:24:49know have a cheat meal and go out for a
1:24:50pizza, glycine can actually help out
1:24:52with some of the effects of that.
1:24:53Spiralene is is very similar in that
1:24:55respect. And then the most interesting
1:24:56thing about glycine is a lot of people
1:24:58are concerned back to the protein thing
1:24:59about excess mTor activation uh and too
1:25:02much of an amino acid called methionine
1:25:04potentially increasing aging and or risk
1:25:07of cancer which is a it's a viable
1:25:09concern. But glycine methane ratios can
1:25:13help to balance that out. And so if you
1:25:16let's say use the example of someone
1:25:18eating a carnivore diet and they're
1:25:20getting like whatever like three ribe
1:25:21eyes a day and eating massive amounts of
1:25:23muscle meat, they're consuming a lot of
1:25:24methionine. But if you look at the organ
1:25:27meats, uh you know, liver, heart, um
1:25:30pancreas, uh bone marrow, etc., those
1:25:33are richer in glycine, right? And so it
1:25:35comes down to like this whole like
1:25:37ancestral phenomenon of nose toail tail
1:25:39eating being a good idea if you're going
1:25:41to consume meat because you're actually
1:25:43decreasing the potential lifehortening
1:25:45effects of excess methionine intake. So
1:25:48collagen is okay. Um a recent study
1:25:51about 3 weeks ago came out indicating
1:25:53that it's higher in muscle protein
1:25:55synthesis potential than previously
1:25:57thought. It's still a somewhat
1:25:58incomplete protein. Um but it's not bad.
1:26:01I I I would rank like actual whole food
1:26:03protein sources at top tier, then
1:26:05essential amino acids and then collagen
1:26:07after that and vitamin D3 K2. Uh the
1:26:11reason that those are often taken
1:26:12together is that vitamin D taken in
1:26:14isolation is not absorbed very well and
1:26:17can pull calcium into the arteries
1:26:19contributing to some of the
1:26:20calcification that we were talking about
1:26:22earlier. When taken with K2, that effect
1:26:25seems to decrease.
1:26:26>> I see. So take vitamin D3 with
1:26:28>> vitamin D3, K2, and technically
1:26:30magnesium. And that's like the holy
1:26:31trilogy of keeping your vitamin D levels
1:26:33topped off. Yeah.
1:26:34>> Wow. Okay. So, I did not know that. That
1:26:35that's fascinating. So, always take
1:26:38vitamin D3 with
1:26:40>> K2. Y.
1:26:41>> Now, the final one, uh, this comes from
1:26:42Sean um Sean Wells, the guy who is the
1:26:45co-founder, the supplement scientist,
1:26:46the guy who's the co-founder of these
1:26:48brands.
1:26:48>> He said one of his favorite supplements
1:26:50is dihydroourberine
1:26:52>> for burning fat. What are your thoughts
1:26:54on that? It doesn't burn fat indirectly.
1:26:57When we talk about or it doesn't burn
1:26:58fat directly, I should say when we talk
1:27:01about burning fat, a lot of times you
1:27:03see anything that stimulates or raises
1:27:06metabolic rate as being something that
1:27:07directly burns fat. Coffee is a perfect
1:27:09example that it actually increases fat
1:27:11oxidation. EGCG from green tea increases
1:27:14fat oxidation. Um that m peptide that I
1:27:17talked about that speeds up fat
1:27:19oxidation a little bit. So anytime we're
1:27:20talking about something that speeds up
1:27:21the metabolism, that's to increase fat
1:27:23oxidation. But then the other component
1:27:25is that if you are able to put your body
1:27:28into a state where it can grab more fat
1:27:30out of storage tissue and burn that as
1:27:32energy, that's more of like an indirect
1:27:34way to lose fat. You're not directly
1:27:36speeding up fat oxidation. You're just
1:27:37making more fat available. Anything that
1:27:40increases insulin sensitivity is going
1:27:43to do that. And so um uh there are
1:27:47certain compounds of the plant kingdom
1:27:49that affect blood glucose stability and
1:27:51insulin sensitivity. If I go out in my
1:27:54backyard and eat weeds, uh, which we've
1:27:57already established that I do every once
1:27:59in a while, and we would go to you where
1:28:00you and me worked out, which people saw
1:28:02in the video earlier, and we were to
1:28:04like bend down on the ground and pick up
1:28:06this little leaf that grows on that
1:28:08property that you saw called organ grape
1:28:10leaf, and you were to pull that up and
1:28:12carve the root. It's dark yellowish
1:28:14orange root. And it's very similar to
1:28:16something like bearbrain or dihydro
1:28:18bearbrain in that it is an insulin
1:28:20sensitizing agent that indirectly
1:28:22increases fat burning by controlling
1:28:24blood glucose stability. Uh many bitter
1:28:27elements in the plant kingdom do
1:28:29something similar and if you were to
1:28:30taste bear brain it'd be very bitter
1:28:32because the bitter receptors in your
1:28:33small intestine help to induce that
1:28:35insulin sensitivity. So something like
1:28:37uh bittermelon extract which you'd see
1:28:40consumed in some areas of China and
1:28:42Okinawa like that's what they would use
1:28:44for blood glucose stability. Uh other u
1:28:47other examples would be any type of
1:28:49vinegary medium such as the bitters in a
1:28:52cocktail or a shot of apple cider
1:28:54vinegar before a meal. headtohead. When
1:28:56you look at a lot of these different
1:28:58compounds that increase blood glucose
1:29:00stability and insulin sensitivity,
1:29:04dihydroarbine actually does rank towards
1:29:06the top. So, it's pretty good. Um, and I
1:29:09believe Sean is is was responsible for
1:29:11developing that molecule. And it's a
1:29:13good one. Yeah. I mean, so good that
1:29:15like you wouldn't want to take it before
1:29:16a workout cuz you'd risk going
1:29:17hypoglycemic. Like, it's that powerful.
1:29:20Yeah.
1:29:20>> Wow. Okay. Okay. So, um, what is your
1:29:24feedback or your words of advice to our
1:29:26audience before we wrap up?
1:29:28>> Well, we've covered a lot. I should
1:29:30establish that I'm not a doctor, so
1:29:32don't misconrue anything that you and I
1:29:34have said as medical advice. If you were
1:29:37going to, I think, walk away from our
1:29:41interview
1:29:43thinking about anything, it would be
1:29:46what I said about stressing the body.
1:29:49Because again, vision like highly
1:29:52intelligent people,
1:29:55many of the people watching you and I
1:29:56talking right now who are very keen
1:29:58about health and very interested in all
1:30:00of these developments, they are
1:30:02subjected to common recommendations that
1:30:05this is the pill, this is the peptide,
1:30:08this is the injection. Nothing replaces
1:30:10the mild discomfort that comes from
1:30:13doing the work and subjecting yourself
1:30:15to these small stressors throughout the
1:30:17day. So
1:30:19yes, focus on faith and spirituality,
1:30:22purpose, fulfillment, those things that
1:30:24we know trump everything.
1:30:27Focus on stressing your body with UVA,
1:30:30with UVB, with sunlight, with small
1:30:32amounts of radiation, with lifting heavy
1:30:34things, with eating a wide variety of
1:30:36plant compounds, maybe a glass of wine
1:30:38every once in a while. Don't be a bubble
1:30:40boy, right? And then the icing on the
1:30:43cake is all the sexy stuff that
1:30:45everybody's talking about now, like
1:30:46plasma feresis and stem cells and
1:30:48peptides. Like, yeah, there's been
1:30:50people living a very long time before
1:30:52any of that stuff came into development.
1:30:54So, just think about the things that
1:30:56you're going to choose as the highest
1:30:57tier options. Focus on those first.
1:31:00Understand that yes, there's a certain
1:31:01amount of blood, sweat, and tears and
1:31:02hard work involved with anything. as you
1:31:05saw from Vision getting his butt kicked
1:31:07out in the snowy landscape of Washington
1:31:10State. Like Vision knows how to do hard
1:31:11work. He lifts weights. He doesn't just
1:31:13like inject stem cells and and and do
1:31:16the crazy stuff. And so that would that
1:31:18would be the main thing that I'd want
1:31:19people to take away,
1:31:20>> you know. And there was one thing I
1:31:21learned from you on that cold day in
1:31:23Washington State and it took me a while
1:31:24to actually start bringing it into my
1:31:26life and that is the importance of daily
1:31:30movement and exercise. when I actually
1:31:32started
1:31:34ensuring that my work calendar and and I
1:31:36and I run as a CEO a pretty big
1:31:39operation, you know, and as a result, my
1:31:42work day was slammed 9:00 a.m. to 7:00
1:31:45p.m. And I loved my work, but it was
1:31:48hard to fit in gym time.
1:31:49>> Yeah.
1:31:50>> But when I started blocking out gym and
1:31:54making it non-negotiable my on my
1:31:56calendar, no matter how busy I am, 400
1:31:58p.m. I'm in the gym with my personal
1:32:00trainer. What I noticed, Ben, was was
1:32:02the most insane thing. I started
1:32:05sleeping better. My moods were better
1:32:08the next day. My body got so much
1:32:11better. And all of this led to better
1:32:13cognition, better thinking, better
1:32:15confidence, and I just got so much more
1:32:18productive at work. You know, sometimes
1:32:20there are those things we do that take
1:32:22up time, but they buy us so much more
1:32:24time. and a 1 hour workout, not by
1:32:29myself, but with a good personal trainer
1:32:31that really pushes you.
1:32:32>> That's one of those things that I felt
1:32:34an hour of input was creating maybe
1:32:36four, five hours of additional
1:32:38productivity.
1:32:39>> Yeah. Sharpening the axe.
1:32:40>> Yeah. And you were the guy who gave me a
1:32:42glimpse of that lifestyle when in the
1:32:44middle of a brainstorm, a strategy
1:32:46meeting, you're like, we're going to go
1:32:48exercise. Ben, the final question in the
1:32:50final five minutes that that that we
1:32:52have is this. You are a man of faith.
1:32:55And one of the things I really
1:32:56appreciate about you is that you don't
1:32:58just speak about the body. You're so
1:33:00conscious about your faith, about your
1:33:02soul, about your mind. What practices do
1:33:05you bring in healthwise that are about
1:33:09prayer, faith, or um meditation?
1:33:13>> Yeah, the spiritual fitness piece is of
1:33:15course important as we've established
1:33:17earlier. Uh, for me, Boots on the
1:33:20Street, what that looks like is like I
1:33:23was just talking about, I get up in the
1:33:24morning and I usually listen to the
1:33:27Bible and I listen to it for about 20
1:33:29minutes. I have this program called the
1:33:31Daily Audio Bible and it's like some Old
1:33:33Testament and some New Testament and
1:33:35some Psalms and some Proverbs and this
1:33:37guy that he just has a really beautiful
1:33:39voice that's not grading and he says a
1:33:41prayer at the end and that's how I start
1:33:44my day. And I'm usually like stretching
1:33:46and foam rolling and stuff and just
1:33:47listening. And then at some point right
1:33:51after that, I drop to my knees and I
1:33:53pray for about 5 minutes. And that's
1:33:55just connection to my creator to ask for
1:33:59any help that I need throughout the day
1:34:00to offer up gratefulness, etc. Then I go
1:34:03to work for a little while and then at
1:34:047:00 a.m. I gather the whole family. And
1:34:06the whole family does anything from
1:34:08meditation to breath work to journaling
1:34:10to huddling together to gathering to
1:34:13just being together for the morning. And
1:34:14we all pray together. And that's every
1:34:16morning at about 7:00 a.m. And then at
1:34:20700 p.m. I lead the family in music
1:34:23before dinner and we sing songs and we
1:34:26pray and we talk about the day and we
1:34:29have a father-son book club. So I bring
1:34:30my sons through a chapter of the book
1:34:32that we're working through for that
1:34:34week. And then we have just a wonderful,
1:34:38glorious family dinner together, which I
1:34:39kind of consider to be part of the
1:34:41spiritual component based on what we
1:34:42were talking about earlier. And then at
1:34:45night, we all gather in our bedroom and
1:34:50we memorize a verse from the Bible,
1:34:53usually like Psalms or Proverbs or
1:34:55something that's really like uplifting
1:34:57that can program our brains to be
1:34:58thinking of something positive during
1:35:00the night while we're sleeping. And then
1:35:02my sons go to bed and my wife and I hang
1:35:04out for a little while and then the last
1:35:06thing that happens when our heads hit
1:35:07the pillow is my wife and I pray
1:35:09together before we fall asleep at night.
1:35:11So it's kind of like little doses
1:35:13throughout the day. Uh but I mean from a
1:35:16very practical standpoint like that's
1:35:17exactly what it looks like.
1:35:18>> So beautiful. And when I visited you in
1:35:20Spokane, I witnessed you do this with
1:35:23your family. Beautifully touching. And
1:35:25you know, one of the things that I
1:35:27really measure a man on is his quality
1:35:30as a father. I believe um truly great
1:35:34men are protectors, are honorable, are
1:35:37men of character and take care of women
1:35:40and take care of their children and I've
1:35:43witnessed that in you and that's one of
1:35:44the reasons I have such great admiration
1:35:46for you.
1:35:47>> Thanks, man. Thanks. That means a lot
1:35:48coming from you.
1:35:49>> Thank you, Ben.
1:35:50>> Thanks, man.
1:35:51>> Yeah. So, um, where can we find out more
1:35:54about you?
1:35:55>> Oh, man. I'm not difficult to hunt down.
1:35:57Uh, ben greenfieldlife.com is my
1:36:00website. Uh, and, um, pretty much
1:36:05everything you can find is a hub from
1:36:06there.
1:36:07>> Yeah.
1:36:07>> And, um, and of the supplements that you
1:36:09mentioned, um, I, you know, one, one
1:36:12thing I appreciate about you is you
1:36:13don't come here to pitch your stuff.
1:36:14You're very casual about it. But, Keon
1:36:16is an incredible brand. uh of the
1:36:18supplement stacks that you mentioned,
1:36:20which ones are available on Keon?
1:36:22>> Essential amino acids,
1:36:26creatine, and omega-3 fatty acids.
1:36:29>> Okay. And we're going to put those that
1:36:30link directly below. And where can they
1:36:32watch a documentary about you with by
1:36:33Zack?
1:36:34>> Thanks for asking. Uh boundless.com
1:36:38uh is the website for the film if you
1:36:40want to learn more and watch the
1:36:41trailer. And a week from when you and I
1:36:43are talking right now, it will hit
1:36:45Amazon and Apple TV.
1:36:47>> Incredible. Yeah.
1:36:48>> Now, if there was one book by Ben
1:36:50Greenfield that you most want the
1:36:52audience here to read based on the topic
1:36:54we just discussed, what would be that
1:36:56one book?
1:36:56>> Curious George Goes to the Gym. No, I'm
1:36:59just kidding. I did not write that. It
1:37:00probably would have been copyright
1:37:01infringement. Uh I I recently completely
1:37:05updated and revised the book Boundless
1:37:07and it's it's pretty up to date. So,
1:37:08it's kind of the Bible of biohacking. I
1:37:10know it's big. You don't have to read
1:37:11the whole thing at once. Uh but that
1:37:13would be it.
1:37:13>> Yeah. By the way, it's a beautiful book.
1:37:15I keep it on my coffee table. It's a
1:37:17decorated piece of art. Thank you. I've
1:37:19yet to go through it, but I've gone
1:37:20through your course on Mind Valley.
1:37:21>> Yeah. Getting it through osmosis every
1:37:23time you walk by your
1:37:24>> Exactly. I put my hand on it and I just
1:37:26absorb your wisdom.
1:37:28>> Yeah. [laughter]
1:37:29>> Thank you, Ben.
1:37:30>> Yeah, man. [music]

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