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Welcome to Rooted in Wellness with me, Wellness Advocate and Holistic Nutritionist,
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Mona Sharma.
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Together we will take a journey to discover natural healing practices from imbalance to balance,
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guided by ancient wisdom and modern scientific insights.
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I was raised living summers on an ashram, so I learned early on that food is medicine,
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and your kitchen is your greatest source of health care and prevention.
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After facing two heart surgeries, anxiety and weight challenges, I discovered that just
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because your symptoms are common doesn't mean that they are normal.
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Together with some incredible guests, we will explore the power of our mind, body and
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soul connection, returning to our roots to rediscover our greatest well-being.
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What happens when you follow all the wellness rules, eat clean, meditate, take the right
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supplements and still feel off when brain fog burn out and inflammation persist, even
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though you're doing everything right.
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In today's episode, I sit down with my friend, Dr. Austin Pearlmutter, internal medicine
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physician and bestselling author of Brainwash to explore how disconnection from self, nature
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and community is at the root of so many modern health issues.
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We talk about neuro-inflammation, the true cost of processed foods, the role of stress
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and cognitive decline, and why healing sometimes means unlearning what we've been taught.
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If you've been chasing protocols but still don't feel like yourself, this conversation
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offers a grounded, empowering perspective on what it really means to heal physically,
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emotionally and energetically.
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Dr. Austin Pearlmutter is a board-certified internal medicine physician and internationally
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recognized educator on brain health, mental health well-being, and the mind-body connection.
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His work blends cutting-edge science with ancient healing principles to help people reconnect
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with their biology, their purpose and vitality.
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Hello, everyone who's joining us live with my new friend, the amazing Dr. Austin.
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Thank you for being with me today.
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Means a lot to me.
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I've been following your content, I think what you're doing is meaningful and what a great
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opportunity to have a conversation about things that matter.
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I feel the same about you and your mission and the education, the content that you put
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out for people, which I always say is so important when a doctor like you can make things
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so tangible and relatable is where impact really happens.
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So before we dive in, we're sharing just before we started about the intention behind
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this podcast, but rooted in wellness ultimately is about ancient wisdom in our modern world
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and how we can become more rooted.
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This is not only rooted in our health, but the feeling of being ourselves and in our
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life and in our happiness and also our inner wisdom, I think that we all have to heal.
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So I'd love to start off by asking you what helps you feel really rooted in your health
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and in your life.
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Well, I know we could go on many segues around the topic, but I think this is the topic.
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Something that I've recognized is as much research as people like me can do and educate
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on lifestyle factors and food, exercise and good sleep, none of that stuff actually really
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matters unless you're connected to something more.
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You know, if you put a human in a cage and give them the perfect diet and give them the
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hamster wheel to run on and even give them access to fresh air and sunlight, they would
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probably still be miserable because they're not connected to something more.
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And so I think that's really the core of this whole thing is as much as health and medicine
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seem like they matter and they absolutely do that is honestly a siloed from this connection
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to something bigger, some of that roots you to the bigger picture.
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It doesn't actually matter that much.
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So for me, I find that there are a couple of things.
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One is nature, specifically just getting outside of nature.
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I have some sections with a couple of hobbies.
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One would be mushroom forgery of all things, but just really anything that's outside in
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nature, getting to know the plants, they can know the trees.
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The other thing that is an exceptionally grounding thing for me is just anytime with my dog,
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which again, maybe sounds trivial, but he's a mentored oxen, he's amazing.
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And just like literally just watching him while he's sleeping or doing thing, it is this
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pure dissemination of just everything that is good in the world, you know, he's not trying
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to convince me of something, he doesn't have any ulterior motives.
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So spending time with him is something that any given damage, kind of how I start my
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day with a coffee on the couch with my dog and he's very excited first thing and then
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he goes back to sleep, but I'm still with him and his energy.
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And same to the end of the day, it's just time with him.
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Also, as a part of my way of Rachel, you know, just having the time to connect and to
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debrief after the day, to be in each other's company is strong around, but all the things
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that really work for me and I think getting back to the question itself, like this is the
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stuff without which all the other stuff doesn't actually matter.
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You have to have some sort of a source that grounds you to something bigger than just
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the work that you're doing or the food that you're eating or the sleep you are or not getting.
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So it's a great starting point.
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I love that you answer that and I think it's important that I own in on that question
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because every expert and doctor that's come on the show lists these beautiful practices
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and you can really feel into how it makes you feel during, you know, when I can see you
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outside with your mushrooms and with your dog and having your coffee and they're all
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practices that are free.
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And after 15 years of being in this practice, I feel, and I think this is such a big topic,
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maybe we should own on this in a little bit, but connection, I think what it does is
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it shifts the foundation or terrain, right, if the terrain is optimized, then everything
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else can work.
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Otherwise, we're constantly seeking things outside of ourselves to feel better and to
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heal.
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And I think we need to end that.
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We need to stop that.
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Thank you.
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Right.
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So I definitely do mindfulness meditation.
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I think all these things are really important too, but there's different ways to come
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at this.
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And so one of the ways is to exactly do so, try to bring in more external factors, right?
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And so eat more of the health of food, spend more time exercising, all that stuff really
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matters a lot.
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But what you're actually trying to do is wire yourself and wire your brain to a state
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of relative satisfaction, not towards pleasure, not towards dopamine boost, which is kind
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of the default.
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But to a state where you're able to experience life, not necessarily in a super happy way
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all the time, but in a way that you're excited and connected to the larger environment.
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And I actually think if you look at so many of the issues that surround us right now in
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the world, and I actually wrote a book about this with my dad called Brainwash, it is the
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detected from that, from the brain wiring that allows us to experience contentment and
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subtle action.
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That is such a problem.
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Is chasing down the short-term fix, the swipes, the food, the next episode of the TV show,
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it's actually at the very best, it's just an opportunity cost, meaning we don't do
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the healthy stuff.
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Not the worst, it's actually taking our brains away from a state where we're best able
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to enjoy our lives.
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So I think, again, we're getting at this point pretty early in the conversation, but
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you're absolutely right in terms of the way you're framing this.
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It actually leads me to the next question, you know, you talked to it, we're sharing
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our shared story of heart palpitations.
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And looking back at that time in my life, I had, I call it drifting.
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I drifted so far from the things that allowed me to feel connected and having purpose
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and just having these moments of connection or presence within my daily life.
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And I think that this is a phenomenon that's also happening right now with so many people
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because of the state of our world and the perpetual stress and busyness and overload and access
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to information and tragedy that's happening globally.
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So having conned through that journey yourself and your own healing and got the stress that
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you must have felt during medical school, do you notice now when you have drifted because
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I think a lot of people in wellness, we've really complicated things, people don't really
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recognize that they might have these practices every day that are actually uprooting them
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and causing them more physical, emotional or mental suffering.
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Do you notice when you drift?
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Yeah, there's some real interesting kind of irony, specifically in the wellness world,
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where I think there's a scenario of people flying themselves and where they associate themselves
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with a certain theme.
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So like now I'm going to be a happiness expert.
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And the access would be content or becoming an expert on happiness actually takes you away
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from happiness.
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Yeah.
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I think it's extreme when it comes to mindfulness.
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You know, in order for me to feel like I'm able to do the best job I can in the world,
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it requires me to do a lot of travel, a lot of speaking, a lot of, you know, waking up
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early, a lot of research.
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And all that is great in service of this larger goal of educating people on how they can
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reclaim their brain health.
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But I virtue of these things that I do, it can actually completely pull me out of mindfulness
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and good mental health.
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If you're traveling a lot and you're staying in hotels and you're not spending time with
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family and you're not outside, these are the things that we know help people to live
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long, healthy, happy lives.
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It isn't incidental that you don't really have all these, you know, centenarians from
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the blue zones on social media, talking about how to live along and healthy life.
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They're actually out doing it.
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Do I get it?
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There's a extreme irony here in that the more education and work you do to teach people
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who couldn't stop to do, the less your chances are of cheating that yourself.
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I definitely experience that.
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I find, you know, I don't want to say I've always been a workaholic, but I've always been
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a little bit obsessed with work in certain ways.
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And so, especially now, when I feel like there's so much opportunity to create positive
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change.
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There are a lot of conversations happening, some of which I'm part of at a large scale
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levels.
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And also, there are so many people who are just looking for ways to get their cognitive
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and mental health through lifestyle.
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So there's just all this stuff on the table.
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And so I want to do more research, I want to do more education, I want to do more collaborations.
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And I also recognize that the more I do all those things, the more it takes me away from
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the basics of the things that are necessary for me to feel content.
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So I definitely feel it.
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I feel it every day.
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I think there's a dynamic tension between a little bit of this feeling of anticipatory
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stress knowing that there is more done and the feeling of contentment that comes from
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saying, this is enough, and I'm always fighting that.
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And so I try to do things to bring myself back to that center.
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And I'll find sometimes, especially by Tom, let's say a ton of back-to-back interviews
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or spoken at a conference, doing a lot of lectures, or doing a lot of networking, I'll
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just come back to my hotel room and I'll just be so revved up.
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You know, it's almost caffeine, but because of the connections, not because of actual caffeine.
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And so I try to make use of that energy, but also recognizing that that's not an energy
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that allows me to get restful sleep.
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That's not an energy that allows me to long-term sustain my value of this community.
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And so finding ways to re-ground, to reconnect, have been essential, but I've not always
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been the best person to make that happen.
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Sometimes I just want to play in that energy and you know, do all the things for longer
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periods of time.
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That's such a great reframe.
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And what a beautiful journey, though, to be able to recognize that state by doing it
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in service, right?
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So I don't know about you, but I don't know.
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I used to have this.
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It was like an addiction to hypervigilance and being busy, because I thought that meant
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productivity and success.
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And now the hypervigilance comes, as you said, the anticipatory stress that I have.
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It's all really positive, but what I really want listeners to hear is hearing from practitioners
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like us.
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There's no arriving, right?
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It's recognizing when those emotions or those feelings where the symptoms from the
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body come up and just owning in on, OK, this is a season of my life, a week of my life.
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Now I know that I need to then get back into nature instead of dismissing the symptoms
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like we maybe would have done previously.
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So thank you for that, that's share.
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One other thing all there's that, which has been persistent revelation, I mean, I know
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it's true and that I remember it's true, is that by and large, the influences of other
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people in your life with the exception of a few close people in my circle are always
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pushing you towards productivity, towards externally validating stuff.
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And so the less you're aware of how you're being influenced, the more it just feels like,
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OK, of course, I'm going to do that next thing because that's what everyone around me
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is validating before.
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I mean, I have had a life in which I am persistently validated for doing more work, whether it's
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or otherwise.
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It's, look at this accomplishment that you have, and I think it takes a pretty big phase
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shift to say, actually, that is out of sync with what is best for me and what is best for
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my close relationships, and unless you're eagerly, if you're just out in the world allowing
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other people to direct you, you're going to find yourself earning out.
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And then you'll realize that all those other people who are directing you, we're just
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doing it kind of for what works best for their paradigm of reality.
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So it's not that you benefit at the end of the day or even they care that you're not
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doing your best.
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It's basically their insecure and their own productivity or whatever, and it just kind
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of has a ripple effect on going out into you.
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So I'm trying to be more aware of that, especially in the people I interact with, which is
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validating all these other ways of being that are equally important.
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I'm stuck in this.
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I mean, wellness has its own hamster wheel of, yeah, it can be in some ways equally toxic
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to what happens outside wellness.
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So you just have to be careful because humans have this natural tendency to slip into
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this external validating scenario, and just because you're doing it for the right reasons
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doesn't necessarily mean that your mental health's going to be okay.
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It isn't a wild to notice with, you know, when you're speaking in larger groups, this concept
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of stress now as the knit this new emotion, and if we're not having conversations like
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this, it's almost like we're giving each other permission to just live there instead
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of setting boundaries.
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And I think that the concept of setting boundaries for people is overwhelming or they feel
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like they're not doing a good job.
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But I think that moving forward, especially with, you know, the way that AI is going, the
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way how fast we're able to do things now, if we're not being firm on setting boundaries
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to empower ourselves to feel better mentally and emotionally, we're the only ones that
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can take charge of that.
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And I don't think it's not going to be written on any doctor's pad soon.
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Right up to is a really important point, just nobody is going to care more about you
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than you.
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You may have, maybe lucky, you may have a parent has spouse or somebody else in your
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life who just is so committed to your mental well-being.
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And phenomenal, that's the case.
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But there is this myth that like somebody else is going to save us.
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And whether that's a doctor like me or somebody else that's going to provide you with that
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amazing wisdom that you read in a book or something, the reality is that nobody else is
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going to care as much about your health as you are.
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And so if you're not the strongest advocate for your mental health and cognitive health,
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you got to expect that things are not going to go well because everyone else has an incentive.
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And I'm not saying that was just me.
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But like wellness companies have their own incentives to sell their products and it's
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creative incidentally, you get better along the way of doctors and clinics, they do care
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about your health, but they have other incentives too.
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So even though they're doing what they can, you have to meet the one advocating for actually
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I care about my health, I care about my mental health.
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I'm going to do something each day because the other piece of this is as it relates to
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cognitive health and mental health, the two areas that spend the majority of my time
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focusing on the majority of the variables that are going to determine whether our cognitive
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health is good long term.
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And the majority of the variables, lifestyle variables linked to mental health are things
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that we have to be in control of.
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They're not going to happen extra long.
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It means we have to wake up, maybe these decisions for ourselves and often in direct
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opposition to what we're being told, the signals we're being told, we're being told
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right now.
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Unless you're reading the news for five hours a day, you're not informed that you should
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just go on the news and let it run in the background.
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That's what's necessary.
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Require to us as citizens.
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And the reality is that news is one of the top sources of stress in America.
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And by the time you've seen the same news segment, three times, you're not learning any
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additional information.
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Absolutely.
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You just connect here in what society would have us do.
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The degree to which are surrounding people care about our mental health and what's necessary
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for us to do with our goal is to preserve our mental health and cognitive health, which
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together just they tend to be different paths.
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Oh my gosh.
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Yeah.
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Let's open this up to the impact of stress and that core root of inflammation, right?
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I know that you're going to say that some stress cognitively can be really beneficial
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for us.
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But one of the first things we learn in school with nutrition is that this chronic daily
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persistent stress is the source of inflammation in any part of the body.
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And you said to yourself that it's at the root of nearly every modern disease, including
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our cognitive decline and emotional disorders that so many people, it feels like they're
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on the rise.
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We're now learning that no neuroinflammation is linked to anxiety and like to depression
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and also linked to Alzheimer's.
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But day to day life, I can't tell you the amount of people that I meet with who suffer
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from brain fog also.
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And they're not looking at the source of stress or maybe social media or the news or
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these external stresses being the source of of what's causing them to feel inflamed.
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So can you expand on how this neural inflammation, brain inflammation can manifest and why it's
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overlooked?
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Yeah.
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And I'm going to rely on you to pull me back if we go too far into the leaves.
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I'm getting excited.
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So yeah, I will.
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Oh, does it get Rick sent back?
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You know, a lot of things have changed in the last 10,000 plus year and when you think
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about paleo and what paleo were represented, certainly our ancestors were doing certain things
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better.
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Like they were walking a lot more, but they were on average dying in paleolytic area at
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around age 33.
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And so now the average lifespan is I think 73 or so years old, which is much much better.
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So this is a dramatic increase in the number of years on earth.
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But what you see at that time span is even though we are living longer, we're not necessarily
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living better.
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And so I mean, some of the rates here, I guess would be that in America, 60% of Americans
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have or American adults have one or more chronic diseases and 40% have two or more.
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And then if you look at these rates of diseases, after age 65, about 29% of people have diabetes,
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49% have pre diabetes.
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If you live over the age of 55, your rate of getting dementia is now 42%, and if you
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look at this overall trends in the American public, what you see is around 90% of people
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have at least some elements of metabolic dysfunction.
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And as you alluded to before, you've got the majority of the top killers and contributors
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to disability on the planet, which are known to be inflammatory diseases.
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So putting all that together, what we're saying is we're living longer lives, but we're
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not necessarily optimizing the quality of our lives.
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And usually people will focus on whatever their most significant pain point is in terms
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of what brings them into the doctor's office, or really any office.
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So if it's a 75-year-old person, he might come in saying, my big issue is I have all this
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pain in mind.
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Right?
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I can't walk on it.
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And so we might get to the point of saying, oh, there is something going on in terms of
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your bones.
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There's some inflammation.
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And maybe this person will get to portray an anti-inflammatory medication like a non-steroidal
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anti-inflammatory medicine.
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I would be perfect.
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Right?
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We'd say inflammation is causing a problem in your knee.
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That's why you're here.
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Let's bring down inflammation, and you're going to feel better.
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But what most people don't understand is what inflammation looks like in the brain, and
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what metabolic disorder.
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Like in the brain.
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These are kind of the twin epidemics that we're experiencing right now in America that are
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driving us to worse, overall health.
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Metabolic dysfunction, we don't want to get into in too much detail as we can focus on
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inflammation.
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We're just appreciating that metabolism is how your body takes energy from the outside
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of the world, converts it into fuel for yourselves, and allows you to function, right, allows
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cells to live.
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If you cut off metabolism, you die instantly, because your cells require energy to function.
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And that energy comes from somewhere in the degree to which we're able to efficiently extract
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that energy, correlates with a degree of conditions like diabetes and heart disease.
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On the immune side or on the inflammatory side, which is where a lot of my research has
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been focused, is the understanding that when the immune system is put into a state of imbalance
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that we call inflammation, kind of a low-level background inflammation.
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That not only does that contribute to cardiovascular disease and diabetes and obesity in a shorter
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lifespan, but in the brain that inflammation is now recognized to be a principal driver
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of mental health issues, and say depression is the best example.
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We also have data for schizophrenia, for PTSD, and a host of other mental health issues.
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And then cognitive decline, so Alzheimer's disease, as well as the host of other neurodegenerative
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conditions.
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And as you mentioned, brain fog.
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So brain fog, super common thing.
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We're seeing a lot of people have brain fog in the context of what we're calling long
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COVID.
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And it's happening brain inflammation seems to be key to that.
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So all of this is to say, if we think about just keeping us from living long and healthy
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lives, not just long lives.
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We don't, at least I don't want to live 220 if the quality of my life is terrible.
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We want to have long and healthy lives, so it's on people called health span, the goal
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to optimize metabolism, to optimize inflammation by basically not getting rid of inflammation.
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We absolutely need it, but not having this chronic inflammation in the body.
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And the best way is to do that.
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Our through nutrition, through exercise, through stress mitigation, through better sleep,
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all these things that people are aware of, to kind of put a last point on this, because
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there's a lot to discuss in terms of mechanisms, what's activating inflammation, brain what
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cells in the brain get inflamed, is when we look at all of these major brain diseases, and
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here I'll just bring up depression and Alzheimer's.
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So Alzheimer's disease rates will total number of people expected to triple in the next couple
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of decades to about 150 million people around the world.
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When you look at depression, it's already around 300 million people around the world.
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When we look at the explanations for these conditions, if you go into a conventional medical
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doctor and say, what is causing depression, what is causing Alzheimer's, this may be
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as updated in the last little bit, but historically what we would see is that depression would
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say, well, from a mechanistic perspective, from a biological perspective, it seems to
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have something new with serotonin.
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So what we do for depression is we prescribe selective serotonin reuptaking inhibitors
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like prozac, SSR amaz, with the expectation that we're doing something to the serotonin
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system, and that's why people get better.
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When we look at Alzheimer's disease, one of the pathological features is a build-up of
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an amyloid plaque, and so we say, well, amyloid is causing the Alzheimer's, we should go
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after the amyloid with an anti-amyloid drug, and that should make people better.
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What we've seen in these conditions, in the case of depression, is this massive study
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that came out a couple of years ago showing that serotonin doesn't explain depression,
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when we look at all the data, it seems like serotonin is kind of a red hammer, that even
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the drugs that we use to treat depression don't seem to work by influencing serotonin
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signaling the way we thought.
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So when it comes to Alzheimer's disease, amyloid seems to be a downstream product of what
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goes wrong.
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An anti-amyloid drugs, of which there have been many major expensive trials, don't seem
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to significantly work to reverse the disease, or even to really slow the rate of decline
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without inducing a lot of side effects.
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So both things say, well, it doesn't seem like it's this one molecule.
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And one of the themes that's emerged in the research is maybe it's actually more related
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to something like metabolic assumption, to inflammatory dysfunction within the brain.
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Why that's exciting is not only would it help us to develop new therapeutics, right?
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It's one of the reasons, for example, why the keto diet is now being experimented with
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Alzheimer's disease.
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It's also one of the reasons why the Mediterranean pattern diet seems to be at the top of the
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list for treating and preventing depression.
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But it also helps us to understand where things went wrong.
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And so we can then look at the brain and say, hey, does inflammation play a role in depression?
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And if so, maybe instead of waiting until people get depressed and they're in the clinic
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and they're so depressed that we have to give them a drug, we should be talking about
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a preventive strategy to optimize the immune system, such that decreases the risk for
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a person developing depression.
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I think the health, cognitive health, anything brain related, there's been this really
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unhelpful scenario where we tend to like associate the disease with the person.
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So if a person asks me, say, oh, well, I have depression, oh, and tell anybody about
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it, because it's something that's wrong with me.
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And as we look at what's actually going wrong, we could say, look, there's a biological
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team that underlies this, meaning something has changed in your brain that it's making
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you feel depressed.
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And if that's the case, then we should be able to work backwards and say, well, what can
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we do for both you and other people to decrease the chances of this happening at scale?
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And so a lot of my research is focused on that specific topic around inflammation of the
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brain, saying, if inflammation we know is associated with all these mental health issues,
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with cognitive decline, with brain fog, with lower quality of life, with violent crime,
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with worse test taking, with lower IQ, all these things we really want to not have happened.
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What can it, should we be doing, should we be doing it right now, to both decrease our
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chances of getting depression in the first place, something that very few people ever talk
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about.
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It's like nothing until all of a sudden you have a mental health disorder, but also what
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lifestyle strategies could we be including in protocols for the management of depression?
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And so I've been, I've been in communication with several psychiatrists, and we've been
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talking about what that looks like, everything from understanding to being able to do a genetic
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testing, epigenetic testing, to see if certain people would benefit more from certain
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drugs, to understanding the microbiome of people with depression, if that influences inflammation,
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to appreciating that certain drugs, and in this category, I would use even psychedelics
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as a class, might be more beneficial to different people, depending on their inflammatory
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state before they start the treatment, and this has been shown that based on a person's
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levels of inflammation, they may be more or less sensitive to a standard antidepressant
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versus something like ketamine.
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So it's completely changing the game.
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What excites me is there's just so much new data coming out, but I think for many people,
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it provides a degree of hope, because you're no longer just saying there's this one thing,
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there's a drug forward where there isn't, and you're not saying this is, this is complicated
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stuff, but lifestyle really matters.
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Great.
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I feel like it is such an exciting time, and even with the awareness on metabolic health,
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on the rise of Alzheimer's, on the number of prescriptions that are being written for
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mental health issues and anxiety and depression, I feel like it's all happening so quickly
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now in the past few years.
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The unfortunate side to that is despite the rise of all these illnesses that you just
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painted such a terrifying picture of for the future, I don't think, no, but it's good,
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like this is the awareness that people need to have.
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I think education is going to empower people to take charge of their own health, and
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that's what we need to hear.
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When people are going to the doctors, though, and I just don't think that that prescription
451
00:27:47.520 --> 00:27:51.160
is coming with a protocol on, let's talk about optimizing your sleep.
452
00:27:51.160 --> 00:27:54.240
Let's look about at the stressors in your, in your, in your life right now.
453
00:27:54.240 --> 00:27:58.160
Let's look at the foods that you're eating or small sources of inflammation.
454
00:27:58.160 --> 00:28:02.480
So maybe for a listener, as can we just talk about what slow grade inflammation look
455
00:28:02.480 --> 00:28:03.480
like?
456
00:28:03.560 --> 00:28:08.560
But inflammation, and I know you'll agree, when it becomes systemic, it impacts the entire
457
00:28:08.560 --> 00:28:09.560
body, right?
458
00:28:09.560 --> 00:28:12.400
We tend to focus on the brain, the heart, and the gut microbiome.
459
00:28:12.400 --> 00:28:15.600
But when we understand that everything is connected, can we all assume that to some
460
00:28:15.600 --> 00:28:18.920
degree with all the kind of insult that we take in every day?
461
00:28:18.920 --> 00:28:20.920
Do we all have some degree of brain inflammation?
462
00:28:20.920 --> 00:28:21.920
It's a really good question.
463
00:28:21.920 --> 00:28:25.560
I want to come back to one thing you just mentioned, which is that when you go to the clinician,
464
00:28:25.560 --> 00:28:28.840
you know, they're not also going to have these protocols from what I found, and it may
465
00:28:28.840 --> 00:28:31.080
be kind of a newer generation of doctors.
466
00:28:31.080 --> 00:28:34.040
I do have protocols around the sleep and stress and all the other things.
467
00:28:34.040 --> 00:28:36.080
The problem is twofold.
468
00:28:36.080 --> 00:28:39.640
One is that if you're waiting until you have high blood pressure to see a doctor, it's
469
00:28:39.640 --> 00:28:43.280
going to be much harder to say, okay, look, change your diet, and it's going to fix things.
470
00:28:43.280 --> 00:28:47.120
And also people tend to have more difficulty with that, not just because they're biology
471
00:28:47.120 --> 00:28:50.640
to change, but because the way that their brains are structured, that change.
472
00:28:50.640 --> 00:28:52.920
So you know, I'll just make that happy.
473
00:28:52.920 --> 00:28:57.520
The other thing is that the amount of time that people have available to interface with
474
00:28:57.520 --> 00:29:02.240
their primary care doctor is 15 minutes, and there is no stereo based on current building
475
00:29:02.240 --> 00:29:07.000
models where you're going to have the opportunity to sit down and actually get into all of that
476
00:29:07.000 --> 00:29:08.000
stuff.
477
00:29:08.000 --> 00:29:11.240
So that's why I think the point that I would bring up time and time again is your best
478
00:29:11.240 --> 00:29:16.080
chance at becoming healthier, long-term, sustainable health is going to happen outside of the
479
00:29:16.080 --> 00:29:17.080
doctor's office.
480
00:29:17.080 --> 00:29:21.600
Don't wait until you get to the doctor to make these changes because they don't have
481
00:29:21.600 --> 00:29:25.160
the time to do what is necessary to fix all of these things.
482
00:29:25.160 --> 00:29:29.640
And more importantly, you need to be the person who is motivated to make these changes,
483
00:29:29.640 --> 00:29:30.640
right?
484
00:29:30.640 --> 00:29:34.480
I have told people, here's what you need to do, and I cared a lot, and they didn't care,
485
00:29:34.480 --> 00:29:38.040
and it never works out, because there's this massive gap.
486
00:29:38.040 --> 00:29:43.360
So anything a person can do to kind of develop this energy within themselves to say, I'm
487
00:29:43.360 --> 00:29:47.320
doing this for me, and I cared about this independent of what other people say.
488
00:29:47.320 --> 00:29:54.080
That's so, to go ahead and describe though, in terms of the chronic low level inflammation,
489
00:29:54.080 --> 00:29:55.480
there's a couple of incinerations.
490
00:29:55.480 --> 00:29:58.840
So one is what is actually causing the inflammation.
491
00:29:58.840 --> 00:30:02.800
I think that's really important, because if we start to understand, do I have risk factors
492
00:30:02.800 --> 00:30:07.240
or what causes it, that may be even more important in certain cases than actually measuring
493
00:30:07.240 --> 00:30:08.840
the inflammation.
494
00:30:08.840 --> 00:30:11.440
Usually we'll talk about low levels of inflammation.
495
00:30:11.440 --> 00:30:13.120
They're measuring things like CRP.
496
00:30:13.120 --> 00:30:18.400
They're also measuring sometimes the SR, which is a sedentation rate, and other inflammatory
497
00:30:18.400 --> 00:30:19.560
markers.
498
00:30:19.560 --> 00:30:23.440
There are some new labs that are being used, I'll just mention here in case anybody's
499
00:30:23.440 --> 00:30:29.400
has a condition, it's interesting, but something called the semi-commute inflammatory index.
500
00:30:29.400 --> 00:30:33.560
So basically, what you take is you take your platelets, multiply it by your neutrophils
501
00:30:33.560 --> 00:30:37.760
and you divide it by your lymphocyte count, things that you can get off of blood count.
502
00:30:37.760 --> 00:30:42.720
But these are all markers that can tell you if you have low level inflammation.
503
00:30:42.720 --> 00:30:46.800
Now, these are lab-based markers, and not everybody wants to get labs, and maybe not
504
00:30:46.800 --> 00:30:48.040
everybody has access to labs.
505
00:30:48.040 --> 00:30:52.800
So what are some of the things that might tell you that you have low levels of inflammation?
506
00:30:52.800 --> 00:30:56.480
One is, BMI is not a great tool, but it does give a sense.
507
00:30:56.480 --> 00:31:01.480
Specifically, if you put a lot of that around your belly, that can be a signal that you
508
00:31:01.480 --> 00:31:03.360
have low levels of inflammation.
509
00:31:03.360 --> 00:31:08.080
If you have ever been diagnosed with any form of metabolic disease, so type 2 diabetes,
510
00:31:08.080 --> 00:31:13.360
as well as pre-diabetes, we'll translate into significantly higher rates of having low
511
00:31:13.360 --> 00:31:15.200
levels of inflammation.
512
00:31:15.200 --> 00:31:19.360
Same with hypertension and general cardiovascular disease, these are signals.
513
00:31:19.360 --> 00:31:22.120
Other things would be a person's experiencing brain fog.
514
00:31:22.120 --> 00:31:23.880
That's interesting.
515
00:31:23.880 --> 00:31:29.560
So there's some really solid data around something called sickness behavior, which is a great
516
00:31:29.560 --> 00:31:33.360
way to connect inflammation in the body to inflammation in the brain.
517
00:31:33.360 --> 00:31:37.280
Sickness behavior is what happens when we come down with, let's say, the flu or a cold,
518
00:31:37.280 --> 00:31:41.960
some sort of viral illness, where anybody who's had this happen before, where they've
519
00:31:41.960 --> 00:31:46.400
been sick, they've been in bed, will recognize their thinking wasn't 100%.
520
00:31:46.400 --> 00:31:49.520
So you're probably not going to be able to do your taxes.
521
00:31:49.520 --> 00:31:51.920
You may not even be motivated to do that kind of stuff.
522
00:31:51.920 --> 00:31:55.040
You probably won't be as sharp and able to listen to your friends talk on the phone
523
00:31:55.040 --> 00:31:57.920
and respond to all the things they're concerned about.
524
00:31:57.920 --> 00:32:01.920
You may be having trouble just putting a basic sentence together, the reason is, because
525
00:32:01.920 --> 00:32:06.160
inflammation in your body is causing your brain to have trouble thinking.
526
00:32:06.160 --> 00:32:10.120
And a lot of this relates to the fact that inflammation is super costly.
527
00:32:10.120 --> 00:32:16.840
It takes the body a ton of energy, which connects the problem with immediately, to power inflammation.
528
00:32:16.840 --> 00:32:19.200
So you can look at it again two ways.
529
00:32:19.200 --> 00:32:21.400
One is to say, you're going to get the laps on.
530
00:32:21.400 --> 00:32:24.920
You're going to see our P level tested if it's above three, then maybe that's a concern.
531
00:32:24.920 --> 00:32:27.520
If it's below, you'd say maybe not super concerned.
532
00:32:27.520 --> 00:32:32.160
You're going to get other labs that correlate with inflammation, like a hemoglobin A1C,
533
00:32:32.160 --> 00:32:36.240
that's a diabetes lab, but it also correlates with inflammatory levels.
534
00:32:36.240 --> 00:32:40.760
And then the other way is to say, we're going to look at these other signals.
535
00:32:40.760 --> 00:32:47.240
So again, overweight or obese, these aren't perfect numbers because they come from BMI,
536
00:32:47.240 --> 00:32:50.520
but it's specifically a more kind of waist.
537
00:32:50.520 --> 00:32:55.080
If you have a higher waist to hip ratio, this is a sick, they have inflammation.
538
00:32:55.080 --> 00:32:57.360
If you've been diagnosed with metabolic disease, sure.
539
00:32:57.360 --> 00:33:00.160
But the brain fog, I think, is an important signal to you.
540
00:33:00.160 --> 00:33:04.800
All of this is to say, and the way that I structure this is, everybody should be focused
541
00:33:04.800 --> 00:33:08.080
on strategies to help to decrease chronic inflammation.
542
00:33:08.080 --> 00:33:13.320
But it may be different than a person has an autoimmune disease or they have an active infection.
543
00:33:13.320 --> 00:33:16.080
Their inflammatory levels will be way, way, way higher.
544
00:33:16.080 --> 00:33:20.400
And so we're differentiating here between something where it's an active, acute illness,
545
00:33:20.400 --> 00:33:25.320
like I need to go to the hospital because I'm very ill versus saying in the background
546
00:33:25.320 --> 00:33:30.640
of our lives, each day, there's kind of grading for it, and it's sapping or health.
547
00:33:30.640 --> 00:33:33.040
And that's what chronic inflammation is all about.
548
00:33:33.040 --> 00:33:34.400
Such a good point.
549
00:33:34.400 --> 00:33:38.440
And when I'm really hearing from you, ultimately, despite whether or not you're able
550
00:33:38.440 --> 00:33:40.840
to get your labs done, don't ignore your symptoms.
551
00:33:40.840 --> 00:33:45.480
If you have any type of inflammatory symptom, it's your body telling you that it's time
552
00:33:45.480 --> 00:33:50.560
to really tune in, before it turns into your body screaming, do you recommend genetic
553
00:33:50.560 --> 00:33:51.560
testing?
554
00:33:51.560 --> 00:33:53.320
For most people, I know genetics is a big factor for this.
555
00:33:53.320 --> 00:33:56.440
If I think about depression, depression runs in my family.
556
00:33:56.440 --> 00:34:01.400
And I think now we're also associating trauma with genetics and the ability to use up genetics
557
00:34:01.400 --> 00:34:03.160
to turn off those biomarkers.
558
00:34:03.160 --> 00:34:04.160
Do you recommend them?
559
00:34:04.160 --> 00:34:09.240
So in terms of testing, you know, being in the wellness space, I hear about lots of new
560
00:34:09.240 --> 00:34:10.440
tests, lots of events.
561
00:34:10.440 --> 00:34:11.440
So many tests.
562
00:34:11.920 --> 00:34:14.360
That's the only MRI.
563
00:34:14.360 --> 00:34:16.840
Should you get a finger stick for X, Y or Z?
564
00:34:16.840 --> 00:34:21.320
What I think would be, first thing is, if you're not getting regular preventive care,
565
00:34:21.320 --> 00:34:23.320
get your basic labs done, right?
566
00:34:23.320 --> 00:34:27.480
The cholesterol panel has some utility, you know, but I think it's really helpful to get
567
00:34:27.480 --> 00:34:28.480
the basic labs done.
568
00:34:28.480 --> 00:34:33.600
So get an A1 C done, get screened for type 2 diabetes, and pre-diabetes, super helpful.
569
00:34:33.600 --> 00:34:36.680
These are things that are covered under almost everybody's insurance.
570
00:34:36.680 --> 00:34:39.640
So there should not be much, but not a lot of expense.
571
00:34:39.640 --> 00:34:43.480
Beyond that, when we start to talk about what is the utility of additional labs?
572
00:34:43.480 --> 00:34:49.800
I think for metabolic dysfunction, there's definitely a good indication to get additional
573
00:34:49.800 --> 00:34:50.800
labs.
574
00:34:50.800 --> 00:34:54.080
You can get a fasting, at a slow level, you can get additional labs to look at whether
575
00:34:54.080 --> 00:34:56.480
there is metabolic inflexibility.
576
00:34:56.480 --> 00:35:00.880
So I do think people who are at high risk of that, we talk about some of those risk factors.
577
00:35:00.880 --> 00:35:01.880
I do think that's helpful.
578
00:35:01.880 --> 00:35:06.200
And the reason I would say that is because when you look at the combined total of people
579
00:35:06.200 --> 00:35:10.800
with type 2 diabetes and pre-diabetes, we're getting close to about a half of the American
580
00:35:10.800 --> 00:35:12.280
population.
581
00:35:12.280 --> 00:35:16.960
What's most concerning about it is that most of the people who have, for example, pre-diabetes
582
00:35:16.960 --> 00:35:18.120
don't know it.
583
00:35:18.120 --> 00:35:22.080
So this is something that at one point we could say, look, it's not a high utility to get
584
00:35:22.080 --> 00:35:25.280
that data because most people are going to benefit from it.
585
00:35:25.280 --> 00:35:29.400
I think at this point, most people really do need to know because there are so many people
586
00:35:29.400 --> 00:35:34.160
out there with metabolic dysfunction who would benefit from changing lifestyle before
587
00:35:34.160 --> 00:35:36.560
they develop full-blown type 2 diabetes.
588
00:35:36.560 --> 00:35:40.400
And by that, a lot of people are out there with type 2 diabetes and don't know it too.
589
00:35:40.400 --> 00:35:42.960
So I think getting some of those metabolic labs is helpful.
590
00:35:42.960 --> 00:35:46.960
An A1C level will not be perfect screen for diabetes or pre-diabetes.
591
00:35:46.960 --> 00:35:48.400
I guess that is a good screen for diabetes.
592
00:35:48.400 --> 00:35:52.440
It's a good starting off because it's usually covered by your insurance.
593
00:35:52.440 --> 00:35:57.280
When it comes to more comprehensive labs, I think that genetics, epigenetics, and so
594
00:35:57.280 --> 00:36:01.320
on is helpful if you're doing it the right way.
595
00:36:01.320 --> 00:36:07.200
One of the considerations I will bring up is getting a comprehensive set of labs,
596
00:36:07.200 --> 00:36:12.040
you know, whether it's genetics or just standard labs without a plan for how you're going
597
00:36:12.040 --> 00:36:15.080
to do anything with this can actually lead to a lot of problems.
598
00:36:15.080 --> 00:36:20.240
I know people who have their labs come back, it shows, for example, an increased risk
599
00:36:20.240 --> 00:36:26.200
of X, Y or Z because of their 23 and me shows that some sort of an esoteric lab was
600
00:36:26.200 --> 00:36:30.560
high or low and they say, I'm not a doctor, I have this, I'm really scared about it.
601
00:36:30.560 --> 00:36:31.640
What do I do?
602
00:36:31.640 --> 00:36:34.520
And then they go to their doctor and their doctor's like, oh, well, probably just shouldn't
603
00:36:34.520 --> 00:36:37.840
have had this done in the first place, it doesn't need anything probably.
604
00:36:37.840 --> 00:36:40.840
And now you just have created this doubt and concern.
605
00:36:40.840 --> 00:36:41.840
Right.
606
00:36:41.840 --> 00:36:46.320
So before you go in order, like a comprehensive lab panel, have a plan for what you're
607
00:36:46.320 --> 00:36:48.400
going to do with that data.
608
00:36:48.400 --> 00:36:54.920
Specific phonogenetics and epigenetics, I do think there is value in getting genetic testing,
609
00:36:54.920 --> 00:36:58.840
specifically if you have a family history or specific concerns.
610
00:36:58.840 --> 00:37:03.320
I mean, I think methylation of various vitamins becomes more interesting.
611
00:37:03.320 --> 00:37:08.080
I know several cases of people who have had some rare mutations that actually explain
612
00:37:08.080 --> 00:37:10.440
a lot of their symptoms and that has been helpful.
613
00:37:10.440 --> 00:37:14.800
But these are usually who are a little bit more dialed than in terms of now I have this,
614
00:37:14.800 --> 00:37:16.800
I can go see the specialist.
615
00:37:16.800 --> 00:37:22.040
Whereas most of my time recently is on epigenetic testing and just briefly on this.
616
00:37:22.040 --> 00:37:27.160
So you have, I guess each of us have roughly 20,000 genes.
617
00:37:27.160 --> 00:37:32.880
But you can have all of these different mutations within these single nucleotide polymorphisms,
618
00:37:32.880 --> 00:37:34.520
which is what genetic testing tells you about.
619
00:37:34.520 --> 00:37:40.040
So that's interesting, epigenetics tells you about how those genes are being used.
620
00:37:40.040 --> 00:37:44.000
It tells you about whether that gene is turned on or somewhere in between.
621
00:37:44.000 --> 00:37:48.400
And what we've seen just in the last couple of years are several companies that have been
622
00:37:48.400 --> 00:37:53.240
capable of with as low as a finger step of blood, which is great for people who don't like
623
00:37:53.240 --> 00:37:59.440
to do 12 tombs of blood with a phlebotomy sample can tell you about kind of your risk for
624
00:37:59.440 --> 00:38:03.360
tons of different issues, like hundreds of different lamps.
625
00:38:03.360 --> 00:38:07.880
And from that epigenetic data, they can actually give you data related to what you would usually
626
00:38:07.880 --> 00:38:09.360
have to get from your blood.
627
00:38:09.360 --> 00:38:13.280
So it can tell you about your lipid levels, can tell you about your inflammatory markers.
628
00:38:13.280 --> 00:38:14.280
I'm a little biased here.
629
00:38:14.280 --> 00:38:19.240
We've been working with a group called True Diagnostic, a providing this test that gives
630
00:38:19.240 --> 00:38:22.480
you access to all of these markers using a finger stick.
631
00:38:22.480 --> 00:38:27.040
And while it's still early, I think this is going to be the next frontier of what lab
632
00:38:27.040 --> 00:38:28.440
testing looks like.
633
00:38:28.440 --> 00:38:34.480
So to kind of consolidate all this, I am a proponent of more advanced lab testing.
634
00:38:34.480 --> 00:38:38.720
I do think you should not do it on your own unless you have a plan for how you're going
635
00:38:38.720 --> 00:38:40.480
to interpret that data.
636
00:38:40.480 --> 00:38:43.920
And I do think it should be a little bit specific to a person's needs.
637
00:38:43.920 --> 00:38:50.400
So you have a 20 or who's getting like comprehensive DNA testing, epigenetic testing, full body
638
00:38:50.400 --> 00:38:51.400
MRI.
639
00:38:51.400 --> 00:38:56.080
I wouldn't necessarily recommend that unless there's a specific plan for what you're doing
640
00:38:56.080 --> 00:38:57.080
with that data.
641
00:38:57.080 --> 00:38:58.080
Oh, my gosh.
642
00:38:58.080 --> 00:38:59.080
Thank you.
643
00:38:59.080 --> 00:39:00.080
Yeah, because it is overwhelming.
644
00:39:00.080 --> 00:39:03.520
There's so many tests or so much marketing that's happening right now in that world.
645
00:39:03.520 --> 00:39:08.960
But I think that the lens that I really appreciate is ultimately the more information that
646
00:39:08.960 --> 00:39:15.480
you have to really, you know, customize a protocol that's for you and your blueprint,
647
00:39:15.480 --> 00:39:18.680
use that as empowerment because what I see happening is a lot of people are doing these
648
00:39:18.680 --> 00:39:19.680
testings.
649
00:39:19.680 --> 00:39:23.160
I have some clients who've gone for full body MRIs and, oh, great.
650
00:39:23.160 --> 00:39:24.160
You don't have cancer now.
651
00:39:24.160 --> 00:39:25.160
We'll see you in a year.
652
00:39:25.160 --> 00:39:26.160
It's like, oh, shit.
653
00:39:26.160 --> 00:39:30.920
I've got to come back in a year and it's it's fear base that's it's this fear that's
654
00:39:30.920 --> 00:39:35.800
kind of instilled of prevention versus the empowerment that can come from knowledge.
655
00:39:35.800 --> 00:39:39.920
So understanding my constitution and this vessel that I have and what it actually needs
656
00:39:39.920 --> 00:39:44.920
according to my genetics and my current biomarkers, I think can be so empowering.
657
00:39:44.920 --> 00:39:49.320
And then we turned down the noise of looking for the protocol and the fix because we're
658
00:39:49.320 --> 00:39:52.040
so in tune with what our body actually needs.
659
00:39:52.040 --> 00:39:53.640
So thank you for that reframe.
660
00:39:53.640 --> 00:40:00.240
I think my perspective at this point too is that there is 95% plus and value that comes
661
00:40:00.240 --> 00:40:02.160
from doing the basics well.
662
00:40:02.160 --> 00:40:08.080
And then that incremental 5% is from really narrowing it on a person's issues, right?
663
00:40:08.080 --> 00:40:12.320
And so as I get people will push back on me and they'll say things like, you know, how
664
00:40:12.320 --> 00:40:16.720
can you recommend any sort of dietary intervention without knowing the person's labs?
665
00:40:16.720 --> 00:40:17.720
Yeah.
666
00:40:17.720 --> 00:40:18.720
Yeah.
667
00:40:18.720 --> 00:40:22.720
How I've been trading diet because some people, you know, may not be good metabolizers
668
00:40:22.720 --> 00:40:23.720
of X, Y or Z.
669
00:40:23.720 --> 00:40:24.720
Right.
670
00:40:24.720 --> 00:40:29.720
And I think this is actually the antithesis of what is helpful because the reality is,
671
00:40:29.720 --> 00:40:32.080
you know, you and I can have these conversations.
672
00:40:32.080 --> 00:40:33.760
People can ask specific questions.
673
00:40:33.760 --> 00:40:36.920
These are people who are informed who have already heard some of this stuff before.
674
00:40:36.920 --> 00:40:41.560
So if I talk about vitamins and methylated B, they'll be like, oh, yeah, I heard about
675
00:40:41.560 --> 00:40:42.560
this.
676
00:40:42.560 --> 00:40:45.440
My MTHFR is this and now that he can make some changes, great.
677
00:40:45.440 --> 00:40:49.160
If you look at what the general public in the United States eats, right, we're about
678
00:40:49.160 --> 00:40:51.400
30 people eat fast food every day.
679
00:40:51.400 --> 00:40:57.360
What is coming out from some of this complexity is that people are just more and more confused.
680
00:40:57.360 --> 00:41:01.040
So I'm supposed to do the Atkins diet or the South Beach diet or the Mediterranean diet.
681
00:41:01.040 --> 00:41:06.280
I saw this guy on TV who said, one is great, but told me plants are going to kill me.
682
00:41:06.280 --> 00:41:12.000
And the problem with that is that in the absence of consensus, we actually create more
683
00:41:12.000 --> 00:41:13.000
noise.
684
00:41:13.000 --> 00:41:17.640
So like, yes, it's really helpful to work with a qualified practitioner to do advanced
685
00:41:17.640 --> 00:41:21.240
lab testing if it's going to change what you do next.
686
00:41:21.240 --> 00:41:25.400
But it's not super helpful to tell a person like, don't make any lifestyle changes until
687
00:41:25.400 --> 00:41:30.720
you do this comprehensive set of labs that cost $4,000 a year because it just creates
688
00:41:30.720 --> 00:41:31.720
confusion.
689
00:41:31.720 --> 00:41:33.120
It creates fear.
690
00:41:33.120 --> 00:41:36.600
And the best data that we have right now from the things that are going to let you live
691
00:41:36.600 --> 00:41:42.320
a long and healthy life are not supplements are not advanced, you know, diagnostic tests.
692
00:41:42.320 --> 00:41:46.440
It is doing basic, healthy stuff, most of the time.
693
00:41:46.440 --> 00:41:50.560
And so I just don't want to lose that signal in the noise that is this heavily marketed
694
00:41:50.560 --> 00:41:55.840
wellness industry where we create a lot of fear-ongering or recreate confusion around
695
00:41:55.840 --> 00:42:01.200
what the actual data says in terms of what scientifically efficacious to promote all.
696
00:42:01.200 --> 00:42:09.920
I couldn't agree more.
697
00:42:09.920 --> 00:42:14.560
I have to pause this episode to share something that's completely transformed how I feel every
698
00:42:14.560 --> 00:42:17.840
single day and it all starts in my gut.
699
00:42:17.840 --> 00:42:22.360
I'm talking about Pendulum's metabolic daily and I'm genuinely obsessed.
700
00:42:22.360 --> 00:42:29.000
88% of Americans are metabolically unhealthy and so much of that comes down to our gut microbiome.
701
00:42:29.000 --> 00:42:33.920
If you're constantly battling afternoon energy crashes, sugar cravings and that sluggish
702
00:42:33.920 --> 00:42:38.400
feeling after meals, metabolic daily can change everything.
703
00:42:38.400 --> 00:42:40.560
This isn't your typical probiotic.
704
00:42:40.560 --> 00:42:43.920
It contains live acromasia, moonesophila.
705
00:42:43.920 --> 00:42:47.920
It's an incredible next generation strain that most of us are deficient in.
706
00:42:47.920 --> 00:42:52.760
It literally strengthens your gut lining and helps your body metabolize sugars and carbs
707
00:42:52.760 --> 00:42:54.960
so much more efficiently.
708
00:42:54.960 --> 00:42:57.560
What I love most is how it makes me feel.
709
00:42:57.560 --> 00:42:59.680
My energy is sustained throughout the day.
710
00:42:59.680 --> 00:43:04.640
I'm not constantly thinking about my next snack and I actually feel a little bit more full
711
00:43:04.640 --> 00:43:05.640
faster.
712
00:43:05.640 --> 00:43:09.840
It's like my body finally learned how to work with the food instead of against it.
713
00:43:09.840 --> 00:43:12.920
Plus my digestion has never been better.
714
00:43:12.920 --> 00:43:15.360
This at Pendulum apart is the science.
715
00:43:15.360 --> 00:43:20.800
They were founded by PhD scientists and doctors with the myoclinic as their first investor.
716
00:43:20.800 --> 00:43:26.400
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717
00:43:26.400 --> 00:43:28.520
in an oxygen-free facility.
718
00:43:28.520 --> 00:43:33.520
I'm so selective about supplements that I recommend and metabolic daily has earned a permanent
719
00:43:33.520 --> 00:43:37.280
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720
00:43:37.280 --> 00:43:43.520
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721
00:43:43.520 --> 00:43:44.920
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722
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That's PendulumLive.com with code Mona, your gut and your energy levels will thank you.
723
00:43:51.840 --> 00:44:01.640
A lot of the things that I'm hearing you've mentioned so far, they're things that are
724
00:44:01.640 --> 00:44:04.680
just foundational truths to human physiology.
725
00:44:04.680 --> 00:44:08.080
Things that we know that we've need that have stood the test of time.
726
00:44:08.080 --> 00:44:10.320
We're going to dive into those as a solution.
727
00:44:10.320 --> 00:44:16.680
Before we go there, let's just really zone in on the insults that do come from modern
728
00:44:16.680 --> 00:44:17.680
living.
729
00:44:17.680 --> 00:44:23.440
One of the most common complaints that I get from specifically women is brain fog.
730
00:44:23.440 --> 00:44:29.360
They're not understanding how specific foods or lifestyle practices could be causing them
731
00:44:29.360 --> 00:44:30.360
inflammation.
732
00:44:30.360 --> 00:44:33.880
It's almost like this brain body disconnect.
733
00:44:33.880 --> 00:44:39.440
How are some of the most common sources that you're seeing for this inflammation?
734
00:44:39.440 --> 00:44:40.440
Yeah.
735
00:44:40.440 --> 00:44:45.320
I think you're spot on, which is despite all the data to the contrary, many people still
736
00:44:45.320 --> 00:44:47.440
continue to live with the brain as separate from body.
737
00:44:47.440 --> 00:44:49.640
They'll say, oh, I'm having an issue with my gut.
738
00:44:49.640 --> 00:44:54.120
It doesn't influence my thinking or they'll say, I feel a little bit off.
739
00:44:54.120 --> 00:44:58.560
I feel low energy, but what does that have to do with my brain?
740
00:44:58.560 --> 00:45:02.160
I just need to eat some more sugar and then I'll have enough energy and I'll be good to
741
00:45:02.160 --> 00:45:03.160
go.
742
00:45:03.320 --> 00:45:08.760
The pathway is by which what happens in the body influences the brain include sensory
743
00:45:08.760 --> 00:45:09.760
data.
744
00:45:09.760 --> 00:45:12.600
I think that's the one that gets most often missed.
745
00:45:12.600 --> 00:45:16.200
What we consume through our eyes and through our ears has a direct conflict.
746
00:45:16.200 --> 00:45:21.680
You're noticed you're interestingly enough smells, but has a direct conduit into our brains.
747
00:45:21.680 --> 00:45:27.160
Probably the single most significant source of inflammatory stress in the American life
748
00:45:27.160 --> 00:45:34.520
that is at least undervalued is the news and content that we consume.
749
00:45:34.520 --> 00:45:39.240
Whether you're watching MSNBC or Fox, chances are we put in five to ten minutes, you're
750
00:45:39.240 --> 00:45:43.080
going to feel your heart rate start to go up, you're going to feel stress.
751
00:45:43.080 --> 00:45:45.640
The reason is that's because what the news is designed to do.
752
00:45:45.640 --> 00:45:51.640
It knows as to most people in the news and or in TV that negativity sells, right?
753
00:45:51.640 --> 00:45:53.600
So we have a negativity bias.
754
00:45:53.600 --> 00:45:57.560
We pay more attention to things that are scary because our brains say we don't want to
755
00:45:57.560 --> 00:45:58.560
die.
756
00:45:58.560 --> 00:46:01.280
So if it's scary, we'll make sure to take care of that first.
757
00:46:01.280 --> 00:46:06.040
So the content we consume through our eyes and through our ears is a major source of
758
00:46:06.040 --> 00:46:11.360
inflammatory stress because as you alluded to earlier, when we experience chronic stress
759
00:46:11.360 --> 00:46:14.560
in our brains, it actually promotes chronic inflammation.
760
00:46:14.560 --> 00:46:19.640
The pathways are a little bit nebulous, but it is because that initially stress lowers
761
00:46:19.640 --> 00:46:23.160
inflammation, chronic stress increases inflammation.
762
00:46:23.640 --> 00:46:28.960
Because what we consider here is from the framework of what we're putting into our bodies,
763
00:46:28.960 --> 00:46:33.360
are we giving our brains a danger signal, stress is a danger signal.
764
00:46:33.360 --> 00:46:36.480
It says there's something scary out there in the world that needs to be on guard.
765
00:46:36.480 --> 00:46:41.200
We don't care so much about how the duration of our lives, other than not dying right now.
766
00:46:41.200 --> 00:46:42.800
We don't care about happiness.
767
00:46:42.800 --> 00:46:47.360
We care about staying alive for the next ten minutes, few hours.
768
00:46:47.360 --> 00:46:51.800
Anything that creates a danger signal tells our brains to optimize towards the present.
769
00:46:51.800 --> 00:46:54.400
I think it's the expense of our future brains.
770
00:46:54.400 --> 00:46:58.720
So what we consume through our eyes, through our ears, and that also includes, unfortunately,
771
00:46:58.720 --> 00:47:00.920
conversations we have with friends and family.
772
00:47:00.920 --> 00:47:04.760
If you're engaging in a conversation with your spouse or partner right before you move
773
00:47:04.760 --> 00:47:09.080
to sleep out, whatever political thing you're talking about and that revs you up, that
774
00:47:09.080 --> 00:47:11.760
is a potentially inflammatory info.
775
00:47:11.760 --> 00:47:16.720
So bottom line here is to pay attention to what you consume through your eyes and through
776
00:47:16.720 --> 00:47:21.760
your ears because that has a direct conduit into your brain that means it's hugely underappreciated
777
00:47:21.760 --> 00:47:25.240
in source of inflammatory stress.
778
00:47:25.240 --> 00:47:29.080
The next big thing would be to talk about, kind of as we're moving down, what we take
779
00:47:29.080 --> 00:47:31.040
in through our nose and through our mouth.
780
00:47:31.040 --> 00:47:34.400
So the big one that most people pay attention to is the food that we eat.
781
00:47:34.400 --> 00:47:37.560
Absolutely, food is vital to this conversation.
782
00:47:37.560 --> 00:47:42.280
Most people eat what we would call a Western pattern diet or an ultra-process diet.
783
00:47:42.280 --> 00:47:46.960
There's tons of data showing that an ultra-process diet, which is rich in foods that have tons
784
00:47:46.960 --> 00:47:51.920
of ingredients on the back of the labels, high in sugar, high in salt, high in preservatives,
785
00:47:51.920 --> 00:47:54.960
correlates with every negative health thing you can think of.
786
00:47:54.960 --> 00:47:59.400
From dementia to depression, also cardiovascular disease, shorter lifetime.
787
00:47:59.400 --> 00:48:03.840
So ultra-process foods are an inflammatory stress on our body.
788
00:48:03.840 --> 00:48:08.440
So what we eat, certainly, huge part of the conversation, then what we breathe.
789
00:48:08.440 --> 00:48:12.960
And this is something that, similar to the news, most people are not nearly as aware as
790
00:48:12.960 --> 00:48:19.400
they should be because they eat three times a day, but you breathe 20,000 times a day.
791
00:48:19.400 --> 00:48:24.600
And unfortunately, all these tiny particles that are in the air than we breathe, they
792
00:48:24.600 --> 00:48:30.080
get exposed to the two tennis courts or so of service area within our lungs.
793
00:48:30.080 --> 00:48:34.680
And the very small particles can penetrate into our blood vessels where they cause local
794
00:48:34.680 --> 00:48:37.400
inflammation and systemic inflammation.
795
00:48:37.400 --> 00:48:42.120
And they've done studies where they looked at the inflammatory cells in the brain of dogs
796
00:48:42.120 --> 00:48:46.720
and children and adults in places with air pollution, and what you can see is higher
797
00:48:46.720 --> 00:48:50.760
there, the more the brain inflammatory pathways are up.
798
00:48:50.760 --> 00:48:57.680
So what we'll shift over into some positive things just to kind of round this out here.
799
00:48:57.680 --> 00:49:00.120
So we've covered the things you take in on the top.
800
00:49:00.120 --> 00:49:05.760
There's other stuff that influences inflammation, so exposure to certain infections, for sure,
801
00:49:05.760 --> 00:49:10.200
skin infections, the things that we put on our skin, absolutely other considerations.
802
00:49:10.200 --> 00:49:14.560
But really what you want to think about is anytime there is an opportunity for data to
803
00:49:14.560 --> 00:49:20.440
come in through the outside world into your brain, that is an opportunity for either inflammation
804
00:49:20.440 --> 00:49:24.280
or for kind of the stabilization of the immune response.
805
00:49:24.280 --> 00:49:29.000
So in a perfect world, we're trying to do everything we can to optimize those variables.
806
00:49:29.000 --> 00:49:34.000
I'm very cautious because sometimes when you go down this conversation saying, oh, well,
807
00:49:34.000 --> 00:49:35.120
the world is toxic.
808
00:49:35.120 --> 00:49:36.120
The world is inflammatory.
809
00:49:36.120 --> 00:49:39.240
I'm just not going to leave my bubble that's not the goal.
810
00:49:39.240 --> 00:49:43.360
The goal is to just do a bit better, and then when you do that, you're targeting brain
811
00:49:43.360 --> 00:49:47.680
fog, the mental health, the cognitive health, and just general matter of all your life.
812
00:49:47.680 --> 00:49:52.400
And smiling for two reasons, one, the first thing that you said wasn't toxic food.
813
00:49:52.400 --> 00:49:53.400
It's consumption.
814
00:49:53.400 --> 00:49:58.680
One of the best lessons that I learned from the ashram, and really from Ayurveda, is questioning
815
00:49:58.680 --> 00:50:03.160
what are you digesting, and just knowing we digest with all of our senses, what we watch,
816
00:50:03.160 --> 00:50:06.280
what we smell, what we eat, what we listen to, and what we put on our skin.
817
00:50:06.360 --> 00:50:09.680
And in my healing journey, when I went back to the ashram, there was no, it was a time
818
00:50:09.680 --> 00:50:13.080
where there was no social media, there's no more news, there was no more distraction.
819
00:50:13.080 --> 00:50:17.640
And when you have no external distraction, you're forced to tune in and you pay attention.
820
00:50:17.640 --> 00:50:21.280
And all of a sudden, you can kind of listen and tune into the symptoms, but also the quality
821
00:50:21.280 --> 00:50:22.880
of your thoughts.
822
00:50:22.880 --> 00:50:24.240
And what you're saying makes sense.
823
00:50:24.240 --> 00:50:28.600
And I really hope our listeners ask themselves that question, the water you digesting,
824
00:50:28.600 --> 00:50:30.080
what are you consuming?
825
00:50:30.080 --> 00:50:34.280
Because I don't think I've been brought to my knees so many times in the past year from
826
00:50:34.280 --> 00:50:37.240
the news and social media than ever before.
827
00:50:37.240 --> 00:50:40.240
And I think that if we're really going to guard our health, this is something that we've
828
00:50:40.240 --> 00:50:41.240
got a monitor.
829
00:50:41.240 --> 00:50:42.720
So you're totally right.
830
00:50:42.720 --> 00:50:48.640
And again, not to say that you don't participate, I think that's, I love sometimes where
831
00:50:48.640 --> 00:50:50.120
people do a lecture.
832
00:50:50.120 --> 00:50:55.720
And basically what they're saying is move off the grid and, you know, or help arm with
833
00:50:55.720 --> 00:51:00.120
like, to go to the llama and chickens.
834
00:51:00.120 --> 00:51:01.120
Everything.
835
00:51:02.120 --> 00:51:07.840
I don't think that's feasible, but I do think it is paying attention to the consumption
836
00:51:07.840 --> 00:51:13.600
because we're being that we consume changes us, you know, mentally, our brains are
837
00:51:13.600 --> 00:51:14.600
mental health.
838
00:51:14.600 --> 00:51:18.120
It's a reflection of what we eat, what we consume, what we breathe.
839
00:51:18.120 --> 00:51:24.120
And so the amazing opportunity here is that there's so many chances to build a better
840
00:51:24.120 --> 00:51:25.120
brain.
841
00:51:25.120 --> 00:51:29.040
And by doing so, I think clearer, feel better.
842
00:51:29.040 --> 00:51:35.200
And a lot of these things don't take some sort of, I mean, I don't have some crazy biohack,
843
00:51:35.200 --> 00:51:40.440
you know, it's more of the smaller things we do each day that can have such a compounding
844
00:51:40.440 --> 00:51:42.240
value to our long-term health.
845
00:51:42.240 --> 00:51:43.880
Yeah, I couldn't agree more.
846
00:51:43.880 --> 00:51:45.480
I think you nailed it also previously.
847
00:51:45.480 --> 00:51:48.680
You said when you speak to somebody who lives in a blue zone, they're not, they don't
848
00:51:48.680 --> 00:51:53.520
have a checklist of biohacking, the supplements, the things that they're taking, grams of protein,
849
00:51:53.520 --> 00:51:57.320
they're actually just in practice of living a high quality life with things that actually
850
00:51:57.320 --> 00:51:58.320
make them feel good, right?
851
00:51:58.320 --> 00:51:59.920
I think that's what we need to focus on.
852
00:51:59.920 --> 00:52:00.920
So thank you.
853
00:52:00.920 --> 00:52:05.560
I mean, I'll be excited if 40 years from now it turns out the biohackers live 200 and
854
00:52:05.560 --> 00:52:06.560
20.
855
00:52:06.560 --> 00:52:10.600
But right now the best thing to me is exactly what you just said, which is the people
856
00:52:10.600 --> 00:52:15.640
who do the best are the people for whom what we would call biohacking is just life.
857
00:52:15.640 --> 00:52:17.360
They're not going to go home.
858
00:52:17.360 --> 00:52:21.440
They're just moving because they need to for a work or for a pleasure, you know, they're
859
00:52:21.440 --> 00:52:25.000
not trying to get a certain amount of sunlight through a sun lamp.
860
00:52:25.000 --> 00:52:26.000
They're just outside.
861
00:52:26.000 --> 00:52:30.960
It doesn't mean that we don't need the other stuff, but I think that there's a, there's
862
00:52:30.960 --> 00:52:37.480
a real risk or liability when we try to extract individual perceived truths from something
863
00:52:37.480 --> 00:52:38.480
bigger.
864
00:52:38.480 --> 00:52:43.600
So for food, there's been such a movement to say, well, this is the nutrient in this
865
00:52:43.600 --> 00:52:44.600
superfood.
866
00:52:44.600 --> 00:52:50.600
And if we just take a big dose of that, it provides them 10 times the value, like not exactly,
867
00:52:50.600 --> 00:52:51.600
right?
868
00:52:51.600 --> 00:52:57.960
You've been doing the actual thing, you know, a two minute high intensity exercise or
869
00:52:57.960 --> 00:53:02.360
you could say, well, I'm going to go on a 20 minute walk because that's actually enjoyable
870
00:53:02.360 --> 00:53:04.400
and that's what people have done historically.
871
00:53:04.400 --> 00:53:08.640
So point here being the further you get from the real thing, the more risk there is, I
872
00:53:08.640 --> 00:53:10.360
think to not actually getting the value.
873
00:53:10.360 --> 00:53:11.360
Yeah.
874
00:53:11.360 --> 00:53:15.040
And I really hope for listeners to like, I think you deserve a shout out to be able to
875
00:53:15.040 --> 00:53:19.680
turn down the noise on other people dictating what you should be doing and having the courage
876
00:53:19.840 --> 00:53:24.560
to just tune into what you know to be inherently true for your body and how you feel.
877
00:53:24.560 --> 00:53:28.920
And maybe one day it is a really hard hit workout and another day, it's simply a walk with
878
00:53:28.920 --> 00:53:33.600
a friend or a dog and just understanding that the value can be equal on your body.
879
00:53:33.600 --> 00:53:38.240
If it's what your body actually needs, I really hope that the future of medicine is about
880
00:53:38.240 --> 00:53:42.680
acknowledging that whether we're calling it nervous system regulation or optimizing
881
00:53:42.680 --> 00:53:47.160
the terrain of our body or just bringing our body back into coherence.
882
00:53:47.160 --> 00:53:51.920
I think it's this coherent state that we need to feel first in order for all the other
883
00:53:51.920 --> 00:53:55.920
modalities to eventually work and food is very important.
884
00:53:55.920 --> 00:53:59.960
But I just think the way that we've built up our food system and the world of processed
885
00:53:59.960 --> 00:54:04.760
food and what we're calling healthy food is our ancestors wouldn't recognize that at
886
00:54:04.760 --> 00:54:05.760
all.
887
00:54:05.760 --> 00:54:06.760
It's not even real food.
888
00:54:06.760 --> 00:54:07.760
So it's not food.
889
00:54:07.760 --> 00:54:08.760
Yeah.
890
00:54:08.760 --> 00:54:14.120
We are just kind of shout out to the research team that I'm working with here because one
891
00:54:14.120 --> 00:54:17.720
of the things that we're doing at this company, Big Bowl Health and the number of is that
892
00:54:17.720 --> 00:54:22.320
we're trying to actually understand what is in our food and why does it matter that we
893
00:54:22.320 --> 00:54:27.320
eat real food as opposed to just assuming like there's a nutrient in it that matters.
894
00:54:27.320 --> 00:54:30.960
We're doing, we're actually in the process right now, I've put it together, what I think
895
00:54:30.960 --> 00:54:34.720
will be one of the largest kind of grand and minus trials ever done on the food.
896
00:54:34.720 --> 00:54:37.160
And we're looking at this plant called Himalayan Targaryen.
897
00:54:37.160 --> 00:54:38.160
Yeah.
898
00:54:38.160 --> 00:54:40.160
I was going to say your part of this is great.
899
00:54:40.160 --> 00:54:44.600
Yeah, we've been, we've been studying it for about five years, but it's been, it's been
900
00:54:44.600 --> 00:54:48.360
basically eaten for like 3,000, 4,000 years.
901
00:54:48.360 --> 00:54:52.360
And the idea of you're being, you know, it's one thing to say food is medicine.
902
00:54:52.360 --> 00:54:53.960
A lot of people talk about that.
903
00:54:53.960 --> 00:54:54.960
Great.
904
00:54:54.960 --> 00:54:57.280
So certain foods are better than other foods, but then why?
905
00:54:57.280 --> 00:55:02.040
And so there's a lot of push facts, some of it quite valid, which is, you know, to not
906
00:55:02.040 --> 00:55:06.360
over index toward saying, oh, we just eat some blueberries and it cures everything.
907
00:55:06.360 --> 00:55:07.360
Yeah.
908
00:55:08.360 --> 00:55:10.480
But we need some science behind it.
909
00:55:10.480 --> 00:55:14.680
It can't just be there's antioxidants, more antioxidants are better because that's
910
00:55:14.680 --> 00:55:19.320
actually not been the case when they study items and antioxidants, people have worse issues.
911
00:55:19.320 --> 00:55:20.320
Yeah.
912
00:55:20.320 --> 00:55:23.520
So we're trying to do what I believe, again, will be one of the largest analyses ever
913
00:55:23.520 --> 00:55:28.760
done on a specific plant to better understand what does it do in real humans compared to
914
00:55:28.760 --> 00:55:33.920
a placebo looking at hundreds, thousands actually of different markers across metabolism
915
00:55:33.920 --> 00:55:39.440
of the immune system because the reality of it is, you know, we live in these silos where
916
00:55:39.440 --> 00:55:44.240
one group of people would say food is everything, you know, don't touch a pharmaceutical, it's
917
00:55:44.240 --> 00:55:45.240
all about food.
918
00:55:45.240 --> 00:55:47.480
And then the other group of people would say it's all about drugs.
919
00:55:47.480 --> 00:55:51.240
If you want to change your diet, great, but it's not really going to make much of a difference.
920
00:55:51.240 --> 00:55:52.520
That's conventional medicine.
921
00:55:52.520 --> 00:55:56.600
All my doctor friends would say, yeah, you should eat less processed foods, but the reality
922
00:55:56.600 --> 00:55:58.480
is nobody's going to make the change.
923
00:55:58.480 --> 00:56:00.280
So we'll just prepare you the drug.
924
00:56:00.280 --> 00:56:05.880
And I think the bridge here is to say what's actually in a food, you know, how do we understand
925
00:56:05.880 --> 00:56:11.360
the specifics beyond just the macronutrients, the micronutrients of what isn't a food and
926
00:56:11.360 --> 00:56:12.840
how it changes us.
927
00:56:12.840 --> 00:56:18.600
And as that kind of magic is allowed to percolate out into the world, I quote, it will dissolve
928
00:56:18.600 --> 00:56:24.080
some of this artificial boundary with the idea that like it's only drugs or it's only nutrition
929
00:56:24.080 --> 00:56:29.040
because the reality is that a food is packed full of all these different molecules.
930
00:56:29.040 --> 00:56:33.480
It's kind of dark matter of food that we're only just starting to understand, but that's
931
00:56:33.480 --> 00:56:40.520
why a single nutrient from a food is different from eating the food in its natural state.
932
00:56:40.520 --> 00:56:45.760
And I think it's so fundamental to this whole field of nutrition to actually get data
933
00:56:45.760 --> 00:56:48.520
that we're not just saying, well, our ancestors ate the food.
934
00:56:48.520 --> 00:56:49.520
Therefore, it's good.
935
00:56:49.520 --> 00:56:51.320
You need to be able to touch modern science.
936
00:56:51.320 --> 00:56:52.320
Oh, yeah.
937
00:56:52.320 --> 00:56:53.320
Shout out to Big Bold Health.
938
00:56:53.320 --> 00:56:59.520
That tartarie buckwheat flour makes really yummy pancakes that my kids absolutely love.
939
00:56:59.520 --> 00:57:01.360
I love that you're part of that.
940
00:57:01.360 --> 00:57:04.360
And I love, I want to stay tuned on that.
941
00:57:04.360 --> 00:57:06.080
And something that you just gave me goosebumps.
942
00:57:06.080 --> 00:57:10.000
So the food that we're consuming is actually changing who we are.
943
00:57:10.000 --> 00:57:14.880
It's not just physically, but it's emotionally and cognitively, too, like it becomes us.
944
00:57:14.880 --> 00:57:19.520
So with that consumption, can you share more about what the science is showing, like to
945
00:57:19.520 --> 00:57:20.520
your point?
946
00:57:20.520 --> 00:57:25.640
We keep hearing about ultra-processed foods and we know that they're toxic, but for an
947
00:57:25.640 --> 00:57:29.880
everyday person, we see these foods being sold everywhere globally.
948
00:57:29.880 --> 00:57:33.480
So there's already a sense of trust in what the government is putting out for us.
949
00:57:33.480 --> 00:57:34.840
Well, it can't be that bad.
950
00:57:34.840 --> 00:57:39.080
So for people, can you paint a picture of what happens physiologically for people who can't
951
00:57:39.080 --> 00:57:42.080
see what it does to our guts and to our brain?
952
00:57:42.080 --> 00:57:46.280
Yeah, I think this gets to a point that we already have talked about a little bit, which
953
00:57:46.280 --> 00:57:51.080
is this perceived disconnect between what happens in the body and what happens in the brain,
954
00:57:51.080 --> 00:57:55.320
where it's, you know, I've got my brain, I've got me, I've got my identity, and that's
955
00:57:55.320 --> 00:58:00.440
separate from the food that I eat or how I experience today that the version of me that
956
00:58:00.440 --> 00:58:03.400
wakes up today is the same me that wakes up tomorrow.
957
00:58:03.400 --> 00:58:09.080
And that's just not how biology works, but the problem is because our perceived seed of
958
00:58:09.080 --> 00:58:14.400
ego and identity is in the head in the brain with what some people will call the mind.
959
00:58:14.560 --> 00:58:19.840
We have that that is a static thing and everything else happens external to that, but clearly
960
00:58:19.840 --> 00:58:20.840
it changes, right?
961
00:58:20.840 --> 00:58:26.520
Like if you wake up some days, you're feeling more optimistic or more excited about the
962
00:58:26.520 --> 00:58:27.520
day.
963
00:58:27.520 --> 00:58:31.440
Other days, maybe you're feeling more sad or just more generally low energy.
964
00:58:31.440 --> 00:58:36.600
And so sometimes we have a sense as to why that might be the case, you know, goes out
965
00:58:36.600 --> 00:58:39.760
and drinks a ton of alcohol and they wake up the next day and they feel hungover, they'll
966
00:58:39.760 --> 00:58:42.040
say, oh, it's because I drank the alcohol.
967
00:58:42.040 --> 00:58:46.040
But they'll make this connection, which was I adjusted a bunch of poison and now my
968
00:58:46.040 --> 00:58:48.160
brain and what we are having to process it.
969
00:58:48.160 --> 00:58:53.120
Interestingly enough, levels of hangover, the subject and feeling of hangover correlates
970
00:58:53.120 --> 00:58:55.720
directly with levels of inflammation in the blood.
971
00:58:55.720 --> 00:58:58.400
So that's a great connection, which is I'm feeling off.
972
00:58:58.400 --> 00:59:00.640
I'm not feeling super great about the day.
973
00:59:00.640 --> 00:59:03.280
It's actually inflammation driving.
974
00:59:03.280 --> 00:59:07.920
So we have these kind of specific examples where a person let's say, some over or persons
975
00:59:07.920 --> 00:59:12.000
really hungry where they feel like, oh, I'm angry because I haven't eaten anything
976
00:59:12.000 --> 00:59:14.360
for the next day where we start to make those connections.
977
00:59:14.360 --> 00:59:18.360
But if you follow that thread, all the way to the start, which you recognize is that
978
00:59:18.360 --> 00:59:24.160
your brain and everything it does is a function of what we consume, meaning all the arm
979
00:59:24.160 --> 00:59:29.120
brain, which are mostly fat, if you were to strip out the water, that has to come from
980
00:59:29.120 --> 00:59:30.120
somewhere.
981
00:59:30.120 --> 00:59:34.880
And because our brain cells, one of the most common fats is actually an omega-3 fat
982
00:59:34.880 --> 00:59:35.880
cult.
983
00:59:35.880 --> 00:59:39.560
Of course, I had to say, you know, I've asked it or DHA, and that is something that really
984
00:59:39.560 --> 00:59:43.040
can't synthesize and high amounts in our bodies.
985
00:59:43.040 --> 00:59:44.800
It has to kind of come from dying.
986
00:59:44.800 --> 00:59:48.800
We need to lease the precursor EPA, but also DHA from our diet.
987
00:59:48.800 --> 00:59:53.160
So we say, okay, well, structurally our brains are made from our food.
988
00:59:53.160 --> 00:59:57.560
So is it true that different foods have different effects on how our brains are built?
989
00:59:57.560 --> 01:00:00.640
And therefore, that have an effect on how we think and feel.
990
01:00:00.640 --> 01:00:04.840
The answer is, yeah, like if you were to deprive somebody of key nutrients, their brain
991
01:00:04.840 --> 01:00:06.840
health would drop off dramatically.
992
01:00:06.840 --> 01:00:13.720
There are deficiency, for example, vitamin B1, where a person view is private vitamin B1,
993
01:00:13.720 --> 01:00:16.400
will develop alter mental state.
994
01:00:16.400 --> 01:00:21.160
And these are scenarios, basically, in which we say clearly certain nutrients program and
995
01:00:21.160 --> 01:00:24.360
build our brains to where they're more or less functional.
996
01:00:24.360 --> 01:00:28.760
So to put this into context that I think people can understand it, it's why am I thinking
997
01:00:28.760 --> 01:00:30.360
and feeling the way that I am?
998
01:00:30.360 --> 01:00:32.080
Just ask the question, right?
999
01:00:32.080 --> 01:00:33.840
What are the answers a person's going to get?
1000
01:00:33.840 --> 01:00:37.360
Well, it's sunny out, so I'm happy, or just got a promotion at work.
1001
01:00:37.360 --> 01:00:41.280
So I'm happy, or I want some sad news, so I'm sad.
1002
01:00:41.280 --> 01:00:47.040
But really what you're experiencing is the biological output of your brain state, overlaying
1003
01:00:47.040 --> 01:00:49.360
with inputs.
1004
01:00:49.360 --> 01:00:52.560
And we have agency over what inputs we're putting in.
1005
01:00:52.560 --> 01:00:56.720
So there's a reason why people who consume a certain dietary pattern, like a Mediterranean
1006
01:00:56.720 --> 01:01:00.840
diet, are at a lower risk of developing depression and dementia, because they're building
1007
01:01:00.840 --> 01:01:03.440
and programming their brain towards a better state.
1008
01:01:03.440 --> 01:01:07.040
What I find really interesting and I wrote an article about it recently is, is it possible
1009
01:01:07.040 --> 01:01:11.880
that their personality traits can be influenced by things that we consume?
1010
01:01:11.880 --> 01:01:17.120
So thinking about, you know, open-mindedness, consciousness, extroversion, agreeableness
1011
01:01:17.120 --> 01:01:22.440
and the big five personality traits, there's now some data suggesting that the microbiome
1012
01:01:22.440 --> 01:01:25.360
and the food that we eat can change some of these traits.
1013
01:01:25.360 --> 01:01:31.440
We already have data, for example, with ingestion of psilocybin, showing more kind of open-mindedness.
1014
01:01:31.440 --> 01:01:37.600
And if that's what it means is that what we eat is capable of fundamentally altering
1015
01:01:37.600 --> 01:01:42.000
what we define as ourself, right?
1016
01:01:42.000 --> 01:01:46.560
So then maybe it does matter a little bit more, not just about eating the right nutrients,
1017
01:01:46.560 --> 01:01:50.720
but paying attention to where these plants come from, where these animals coming from,
1018
01:01:50.720 --> 01:01:55.720
because the next step, if you keep going down this rabbit hole, is to know that the quality
1019
01:01:55.720 --> 01:02:00.000
of the food we eat is a reflection of the quality of what our food ate, meaning if you eat
1020
01:02:00.000 --> 01:02:04.040
an animal protein, how that animal live, did they live well?
1021
01:02:04.040 --> 01:02:05.440
What nutrients were in the animal?
1022
01:02:05.440 --> 01:02:06.440
Did you eat a plant?
1023
01:02:06.440 --> 01:02:09.160
What was the soil like that the plant lived in?
1024
01:02:09.160 --> 01:02:13.920
Because soil nutrient transfer from the soil to the plant to the animal to the human may
1025
01:02:13.920 --> 01:02:18.880
actually have a lot more to do with our own health than just saying, I ate some kale or
1026
01:02:18.880 --> 01:02:24.240
a piece of steak, there's this data transfer between systems that's actually reprogramming
1027
01:02:24.240 --> 01:02:25.240
us.
1028
01:02:25.240 --> 01:02:28.320
And so this gets me to one last point, and then I'll stop this kind of.
1029
01:02:28.320 --> 01:02:30.560
No, this is great.
1030
01:02:30.560 --> 01:02:36.440
There's, you know, we are a reflection of what we consume, and we're not separate from
1031
01:02:36.440 --> 01:02:37.440
nature.
1032
01:02:37.440 --> 01:02:41.560
It's not like you can take a human, and they can thrive in isolation.
1033
01:02:41.560 --> 01:02:47.520
We talked earlier about eating the connection, but if you're not eating plants that are
1034
01:02:47.520 --> 01:02:48.840
healthy plants, you're not.
1035
01:02:48.840 --> 01:02:53.800
You're not eating animals that are healthy animals, you're not a healthy person.
1036
01:02:53.800 --> 01:02:57.360
It turns out that one of the reasons for this, because there are these tiny molecules
1037
01:02:57.360 --> 01:03:02.520
within our food, that program the immune system at a relative state of inflammation, and
1038
01:03:02.520 --> 01:03:06.240
because that has an effect on mental health, on brain health, it becomes a whole lot more
1039
01:03:06.240 --> 01:03:11.160
relevant to think about how the entire ecosystem is wrapped together.
1040
01:03:11.160 --> 01:03:15.800
So like, our health is planetary health, they aren't these separate themes.
1041
01:03:15.800 --> 01:03:20.560
As much as people want to create an extract with exact levels of all of the vitamins,
1042
01:03:20.560 --> 01:03:23.640
you know, the green drink, where you're going to get exactly what you need, so you're
1043
01:03:23.640 --> 01:03:24.640
going to be healthy.
1044
01:03:24.640 --> 01:03:28.520
The real conversation is there's no human health without planetary health.
1045
01:03:28.520 --> 01:03:29.520
Yeah.
1046
01:03:29.520 --> 01:03:33.600
So eventually, the scenario where everything is interconnected, what we define is our own
1047
01:03:33.600 --> 01:03:39.200
identity, doesn't end where our skin ends, right, because it also incorporates the microbiome.
1048
01:03:39.200 --> 01:03:43.880
And if it incorporates the microbiome, some of which comes from our food to microbiome,
1049
01:03:43.880 --> 01:03:48.680
that incorporates the soil health, you know, so the bottom line here is it is all interconnected
1050
01:03:48.680 --> 01:03:53.400
food is a major driver of what makes us who we are, and we change day to day depending
1051
01:03:53.400 --> 01:03:54.640
on what we can assume.
1052
01:03:54.640 --> 01:03:59.200
And what freedom is there in that understanding we change day to day, because I feel like
1053
01:03:59.200 --> 01:04:02.960
often when we think about anything to do with the brain, it's about routine and structure
1054
01:04:02.960 --> 01:04:06.200
and finding something that works and doing that habitually, and then we figure out what
1055
01:04:06.200 --> 01:04:08.360
works for us and we stick with it.
1056
01:04:08.360 --> 01:04:12.800
But when we look at the connection, the beautiful connection to nature that you painted, nature's
1057
01:04:12.800 --> 01:04:15.560
always changing and evolving.
1058
01:04:15.560 --> 01:04:18.880
And when I'm working with my clients, I'm helping them understand the information that
1059
01:04:18.880 --> 01:04:23.160
comes from food, even at different times of the year, it's designed to help our immune
1060
01:04:23.160 --> 01:04:29.120
system thrive and communicate to our gut microbiome in a different way, like if we could just
1061
01:04:29.120 --> 01:04:33.840
paint that picture for people to understand like the awe that could come when you're choosing
1062
01:04:33.840 --> 01:04:38.520
the foods to eat instead of the distraction of survival.
1063
01:04:38.520 --> 01:04:41.480
And then you take on so much more ownership for what you're consuming.
1064
01:04:41.480 --> 01:04:44.000
And I think that it's that connection that is everything.
1065
01:04:44.000 --> 01:04:45.800
So I really love that you're owning it on that.
1066
01:04:45.800 --> 01:04:49.720
And I also love that you're, and this is exactly what I love for this podcast, you're
1067
01:04:49.720 --> 01:04:55.600
emerging science with some, another concept in Ayurveda, which is about understanding
1068
01:04:55.600 --> 01:05:01.520
the seasons and when we think about consumption and specific ingredients for our bodies and
1069
01:05:01.520 --> 01:05:04.760
how personalized they should be and can be.
1070
01:05:04.760 --> 01:05:08.200
And the fact that you can kind of notify it with science, there's a concept of eating
1071
01:05:08.280 --> 01:05:14.280
such thick food, so foods that are high in vibration and high in energy that are grown in
1072
01:05:14.280 --> 01:05:20.040
the sun, access to air and water and the prana, the energy from that, the life force energy
1073
01:05:20.040 --> 01:05:24.520
that then gets digested within our body and you do feel the difference.
1074
01:05:24.520 --> 01:05:27.880
And my hope is that for listeners, you go away and this could be on vacation, a healthy
1075
01:05:27.880 --> 01:05:33.200
vacation when there's no alcohol, but you're having these high pranic, high vibrational inputs
1076
01:05:33.200 --> 01:05:34.200
for your body.
1077
01:05:34.200 --> 01:05:35.520
And then you feel the difference.
1078
01:05:35.520 --> 01:05:39.200
And the second you feel that difference, that's the driver for change.
1079
01:05:39.200 --> 01:05:40.440
I totally agree with that.
1080
01:05:40.440 --> 01:05:41.760
You have to feel something.
1081
01:05:41.760 --> 01:05:45.360
And I think that's where we've lost a lot of the drive and modern medicine.
1082
01:05:45.360 --> 01:05:50.480
It's just this sterile thing, which is do this and it's fine to fix your issues.
1083
01:05:50.480 --> 01:05:54.880
I mean, we know, for example, people see both factors huge, that if you get something
1084
01:05:54.880 --> 01:05:59.680
that has no real reason to have a value for them in terms of the biology, then a huge
1085
01:05:59.680 --> 01:06:04.160
percentage of people will still get better because they feel like they're consuming something
1086
01:06:04.240 --> 01:06:05.520
that is a value to their health.
1087
01:06:05.520 --> 01:06:10.880
They have this sense as in a camp, they, you know, how important this whole thing is,
1088
01:06:10.880 --> 01:06:16.320
we'd be tethered to something that connects us to this bigger picture and feel that what
1089
01:06:16.320 --> 01:06:18.480
we're doing makes sense for our health.
1090
01:06:18.480 --> 01:06:22.480
There's, there's been correlates what you're describing that I'm a big fan of, which is
1091
01:06:22.480 --> 01:06:25.840
the reason why nature exposure or time in nature matters for health.
1092
01:06:25.840 --> 01:06:29.600
There's a lot of research around this, primarily out of Japan where they've been studying
1093
01:06:29.600 --> 01:06:32.720
forest failure or shinryoku, but some of it in the States.
1094
01:06:32.720 --> 01:06:36.960
And one of the things that's emerged from this is not only do people in hospitals get better,
1095
01:06:36.960 --> 01:06:41.920
if they have windows facing nature faster than people who don't have that exposure.
1096
01:06:41.920 --> 01:06:46.480
So there's something about nature there, but when people then put them outside,
1097
01:06:46.480 --> 01:06:48.560
it changes the way their brain function.
1098
01:06:48.560 --> 01:06:53.680
So it changes the way they think, it changes the activation of this default mode network.
1099
01:06:53.680 --> 01:07:01.120
And one of the studies that I really love is how basically being exposed to all inspiring nature
1100
01:07:01.120 --> 01:07:06.240
in stills and people pro social behavior, it connects them more with other people and with nature.
1101
01:07:06.240 --> 01:07:09.680
And I think that's that's what for me a lot of the science has brought up.
1102
01:07:09.680 --> 01:07:13.600
I mean, science is cool just because it's great to learn new things.
1103
01:07:13.600 --> 01:07:19.040
But if you think any field of modern science now, whether you go into the brain or the microbiome
1104
01:07:19.040 --> 01:07:23.600
or the immune system, which you recognize as if you get deep enough into it,
1105
01:07:23.600 --> 01:07:28.240
it's just this whole universe of complexity and amazing insights,
1106
01:07:28.240 --> 01:07:31.040
many of which we still have to fully parse out.
1107
01:07:31.040 --> 01:07:33.680
And then you start to say, well, I have my problems.
1108
01:07:33.680 --> 01:07:38.080
Things are wrong and all the other things are not necessarily going exactly the way I want to
1109
01:07:38.080 --> 01:07:40.000
like, but there is something bigger there.
1110
01:07:40.000 --> 01:07:41.760
There's something that connects us all.
1111
01:07:41.760 --> 01:07:44.880
And I think one of just, I guess this is more of a psychological concept.
1112
01:07:44.880 --> 01:07:48.480
This isn't going, this isn't a medical degree piece of information.
1113
01:07:48.480 --> 01:07:53.920
But one of the things that feels like it's really true now is the extent to which everyone
1114
01:07:53.920 --> 01:07:57.680
senses that they're on their own, trying to succeed on their own
1115
01:07:57.680 --> 01:07:59.680
and at the expense of other people.
1116
01:07:59.680 --> 01:08:03.040
So if one person succeeds, another person has to fail.
1117
01:08:03.040 --> 01:08:08.160
And I think that this concept is actually so detrimental
1118
01:08:08.160 --> 01:08:12.240
because what it does is it puts us all into our own little silos
1119
01:08:12.240 --> 01:08:14.800
of defining what success is in life.
1120
01:08:14.800 --> 01:08:20.000
And as we've been talking about this a lot, the thing that provides value
1121
01:08:20.000 --> 01:08:25.440
and the thing that provides context for all that we do is a sense of connection to scale.
1122
01:08:26.320 --> 01:08:31.520
And you know, I'm not, you're advocating for religion or spirituality necessarily.
1123
01:08:31.520 --> 01:08:35.760
But one of the things that gives us is a sense of connection to something bigger than ourselves.
1124
01:08:35.760 --> 01:08:39.600
You can get this, you can look outside at night and it's dark and you see the stars.
1125
01:08:39.600 --> 01:08:44.400
It's hard not to kind of put all of our issues in the perspective.
1126
01:08:44.400 --> 01:08:48.320
But I think this is a huge issue that's come up where we
1127
01:08:48.320 --> 01:08:52.880
over focus on the number of lights on a photo, the amount of money that we're making,
1128
01:08:52.880 --> 01:08:54.560
not to say that these things don't matter.
1129
01:08:54.560 --> 01:08:57.840
I guess the lights on the photo doesn't, but the amount of money can matter.
1130
01:08:58.480 --> 01:09:00.400
But why of the whole thing?
1131
01:09:00.400 --> 01:09:02.480
Like why are we doing this at all?
1132
01:09:02.480 --> 01:09:05.040
Right? Is it to get the new cars, to get the bigger house?
1133
01:09:05.680 --> 01:09:11.360
And the connection piece, I think, is something that is kind of progressively being lost,
1134
01:09:11.360 --> 01:09:17.600
which is there's something more than just our own, you know, self achievement
1135
01:09:18.240 --> 01:09:24.160
because that is literally the only thing that I ever see on LinkedIn or on Instagram or in
1136
01:09:24.160 --> 01:09:26.080
forums or all these other publications.
1137
01:09:26.080 --> 01:09:30.320
It's all, look at what this person did and there's so much better for doing it on their own
1138
01:09:30.320 --> 01:09:33.200
without any help. It's like, that's not the goal.
1139
01:09:34.400 --> 01:09:37.680
There's this problem, I'll just, the closest I was, which is if you
1140
01:09:37.680 --> 01:09:40.480
walk a basketball, then if you want to go far, go together.
1141
01:09:40.480 --> 01:09:44.320
And I feel like that's kind of a piece of this whole thing, which is we've got to find a way
1142
01:09:44.320 --> 01:09:46.080
to reconnect some of this deeper stuff.
1143
01:09:46.080 --> 01:09:49.520
Otherwise, it's everyone just spiraling out and controlling isolation.
1144
01:09:49.520 --> 01:09:55.120
It's so well said. These are such overlooked contributors to poor health, but also a sense
1145
01:09:55.120 --> 01:10:00.400
of unhappiness and even the loneliness that you mentioned and the connection to mortality.
1146
01:10:00.400 --> 01:10:06.080
And what I think about the people that I've worked with, I can see there's a transition that
1147
01:10:06.080 --> 01:10:11.760
happens from healing and what they need to do to heal every single day becomes and it feels like
1148
01:10:11.760 --> 01:10:17.360
this incredibly, you know, it's a place of solitude and this selfish journey where you're all
1149
01:10:17.360 --> 01:10:21.200
on around, we're all suffering, we're all trying to figure it out. It feels really, really hard
1150
01:10:21.200 --> 01:10:26.560
and we're just, we're void of that sense of what we used to do, which was the living outside
1151
01:10:26.560 --> 01:10:31.600
in nature and nature being part of us, reliant on nature, but also in community where we did
1152
01:10:31.600 --> 01:10:37.120
things together. And I love hearing this from you also because we're showcasing that as a
1153
01:10:37.120 --> 01:10:42.400
proponent for healing and optimal brain function also for a future. We're keeping these like,
1154
01:10:42.400 --> 01:10:47.920
these, this truth alive, the sense of wisdom alive that needs to be part of the conversation with
1155
01:10:47.920 --> 01:10:52.480
with modern medicine. So thank you for doing that. And I think that this also ties into point
1156
01:10:52.480 --> 01:10:57.520
that you brought up with psilocybin and plant medicine, right? In terms of rejuvenation for
1157
01:10:57.520 --> 01:11:03.520
the brain, but I think the reason why it's also catching on for so many people is when we experience
1158
01:11:03.600 --> 01:11:07.920
hopefully with, you know, with a practitioner with guidance with somebody who's working with you
1159
01:11:07.920 --> 01:11:12.720
on coaching and integration afterwards, I'd, you know, I think a lot of people are jumping on this
1160
01:11:12.720 --> 01:11:17.600
bandwagon without understanding the full truth. But what I think that's happening in these moments
1161
01:11:17.600 --> 01:11:22.240
and whether it be with ketamine therapy or with psilocybin, and you can maybe put a scientific lens
1162
01:11:22.240 --> 01:11:28.800
on this, but we pull out of our mind, we pull back from the limitations of our intellectual brain.
1163
01:11:28.800 --> 01:11:33.040
And it's like the reminder of the awe and the wonder that exists beyond us. And I think that it
1164
01:11:33.040 --> 01:11:38.480
feels so good to remember what that feels like. And even me talking about it right now, it's like,
1165
01:11:38.480 --> 01:11:44.320
oh, it just turns down the noise of all the suffering and the congestion that I feel every single day
1166
01:11:44.320 --> 01:11:49.520
and thinking about what I need to do and the stresses of the world and anxiety and life and living.
1167
01:11:49.520 --> 01:11:54.080
But do you think that plant medicine is going to be a big part of the future when we're thinking
1168
01:11:54.080 --> 01:11:58.320
about brain health and rejuvenation also for the future when it comes to aging?
1169
01:11:59.280 --> 01:12:05.040
I hope so. And I mean, clearly, it's been part of our past for thousands of years. It's been
1170
01:12:05.040 --> 01:12:09.920
a central part of ceremonies across the world for rituals and for mental health. You know,
1171
01:12:09.920 --> 01:12:14.400
it's the irony of all the sudden we discovered these things in the last couple of decades. No,
1172
01:12:14.400 --> 01:12:19.840
we did not. Been around for a long time. But I think based on the research that I'm aware of,
1173
01:12:19.840 --> 01:12:23.920
and I'm actually involved with a group doing some work on iOS right now and looking at the
1174
01:12:23.920 --> 01:12:28.080
influence on epigenetics, microbiome, and the needs of some. I think a couple of
1175
01:12:28.080 --> 01:12:33.760
one is the current solutions to mental health are woefully inadequate. They just, they're nowhere near
1176
01:12:33.760 --> 01:12:39.040
good enough. And part of this is because as much as there are people who benefit from a targeted
1177
01:12:39.040 --> 01:12:45.920
medication, like a tricyclic antidepressant to an SNNRI or an SSRI, that the issue isn't that the
1178
01:12:45.920 --> 01:12:51.760
neurochemistry gets out of one or gets out of whack for most people. It's not like you are doing great
1179
01:12:51.840 --> 01:12:56.720
and then randomly your serotonin levels got a little bit out of whack. And therefore,
1180
01:12:56.720 --> 01:13:02.560
the solution is to take this medication. There is something about our world that leads to hundreds
1181
01:13:02.560 --> 01:13:07.200
of millions of people feeling depressed. And you could say, okay, that's just environmental,
1182
01:13:07.200 --> 01:13:12.960
you know, people have bad jobs, people are stressed about the news. And even that, we could say,
1183
01:13:12.960 --> 01:13:17.040
well, then we should do something about the way that we interface with the world. But the thing
1184
01:13:17.040 --> 01:13:24.320
about psychedelics that excites me most is that nothing else, no pharmaceutical, provides perspective
1185
01:13:24.320 --> 01:13:28.880
in the way that these molecules do. I think there is still some significant resistance
1186
01:13:28.880 --> 01:13:34.640
because of concern for side effects. What I would say is, I mean, this isn't an exact
1187
01:13:35.200 --> 01:13:41.360
emission that we should be using more psychedelics, but it is saying that based on the available
1188
01:13:41.360 --> 01:13:46.720
research and the degree to which value could be created from more widespread adoption of psychedelics
1189
01:13:46.800 --> 01:13:52.160
versus side effect risk. I think it's a no there that we should be far more willing to take
1190
01:13:52.160 --> 01:13:56.960
some of these risks because there is a huge opportunity cost to allowing hundreds of millions
1191
01:13:56.960 --> 01:14:01.520
of people to continue to experience four men's oil without providing them with solutions.
1192
01:14:02.160 --> 01:14:06.080
So what happens in the brain, the psychedelics, it's a little bit different if you look at
1193
01:14:06.080 --> 01:14:10.560
ketamine, it's associated with anesthetic versus psilocybin, which is all kind of based around
1194
01:14:10.560 --> 01:14:16.960
a DMT molecule, similar to what you would see in other kind of classic psychedelics.
1195
01:14:16.960 --> 01:14:23.200
So partially, and I have lost, but also in LSD. What you have with the psychedelics that are
1196
01:14:23.200 --> 01:14:29.200
these classic psychedelics, these drug domains is, in essence, a major perspective shift that seems
1197
01:14:29.200 --> 01:14:33.280
to occur in part by providing the default mode network, which is the part of the brain that
1198
01:14:33.280 --> 01:14:39.040
is responsible for remediation, just playing stuff over time and time and time. And I think what
1199
01:14:39.040 --> 01:14:45.200
is so valuable about psychedelics, compared to almost everything else, is that
1200
01:14:45.200 --> 01:14:51.840
how therapy, all these other modalities, you slowly get to a new state of understanding.
1201
01:14:51.840 --> 01:14:57.600
Maybe they are breakthroughs, but it's more just the nudge is towards a more homeostatic place
1202
01:14:57.600 --> 01:15:02.240
where you're better able to deal with the world. With psychedelics, you see in real time how
1203
01:15:02.240 --> 01:15:07.600
distorted your view of the world is relative to what is true. And I think for people who have
1204
01:15:07.600 --> 01:15:13.760
used psychedelics, maybe they can agree or not, but I think there are truths that are exposed
1205
01:15:13.760 --> 01:15:19.920
that you don't doubt. It's just, this is reality. And then you come back to a world in which
1206
01:15:19.920 --> 01:15:24.880
you've convinced yourself that that doesn't matter and that what really matters is a social media
1207
01:15:24.880 --> 01:15:30.480
post, even though not really influenced a psychedelic, you would recognize how trivial all that is.
1208
01:15:30.480 --> 01:15:35.520
Now beautiful the world is. And I think really what happens is in order for us to function in
1209
01:15:35.600 --> 01:15:40.560
modern world, we're not capable of handling the amount of data that psychedelics give us.
1210
01:15:40.560 --> 01:15:47.440
Like we have to be super narrow and our brains and essence create a reality that works with
1211
01:15:47.440 --> 01:15:52.560
the constraints of what this world requires. It creates a reality where it's normal to care
1212
01:15:52.560 --> 01:15:58.160
to the extent that we care about. Like what car do we drive or to, you know, it's normal to
1213
01:15:58.160 --> 01:16:04.400
be stressed 24 or 7 about the news because obviously everybody else is and so we should be too.
1214
01:16:04.400 --> 01:16:09.280
And if you really question it at all, it's hard to move forward with anything. It's like,
1215
01:16:09.280 --> 01:16:13.680
I don't know at my time concerned about these things. I want to just be out of nature. I want to be
1216
01:16:13.680 --> 01:16:19.040
connected to the people I care about. So I think more of that would absolutely benefit society.
1217
01:16:19.040 --> 01:16:24.240
The question is, how do you do it in a way that preserves safety and doesn't lead to a similar
1218
01:16:24.240 --> 01:16:28.480
scenario as to what happened a couple of decades ago where psychedelics were criminalized because
1219
01:16:28.960 --> 01:16:32.160
it was concerned about something, exactly sure, but something.
1220
01:16:32.160 --> 01:16:37.120
I really hope it goes in that direction. Also, I think it's a modality that can be really powerful
1221
01:16:37.120 --> 01:16:42.560
when done correctly. And I love the picture that you painted. And I can speak from experience too
1222
01:16:42.560 --> 01:16:48.480
whenever I've done psilocybin with guidance. Do you know what truth comes to me every time?
1223
01:16:48.480 --> 01:16:55.040
It's like this memory of, oh, it's you or your healer. It's like, oh, I, I can heal. I can heal
1224
01:16:55.120 --> 01:17:00.080
myself. I just, I forgot. And I love it. And I'm laughing about it now because it's such a beautiful
1225
01:17:00.080 --> 01:17:05.600
reminder. And when I remember that, it brings back a joy for life. And I think that in this world of
1226
01:17:05.600 --> 01:17:11.280
wellness, that's so full of doom and gloom. And I wanted to talk about the deep stuff and the
1227
01:17:11.280 --> 01:17:16.240
the symptoms and what you're seeing in research today. Because I think the education again is what
1228
01:17:16.240 --> 01:17:20.560
it's going to drive people to change. But I think that you've done such a great job. And this is why
1229
01:17:20.560 --> 01:17:26.320
I adore you as a doctor for painting the beautiful lands that comes on the other side of all of
1230
01:17:26.320 --> 01:17:32.560
that and tuning into the sense of connection and trust and intuition. So as we want things down,
1231
01:17:32.560 --> 01:17:38.000
you're so great at speaking to high yield investments for everyday living for your brain health
1232
01:17:38.000 --> 01:17:42.480
and for your mental health. So for people inspired by this conversation, if you were to think about
1233
01:17:42.480 --> 01:17:47.760
these daily high yields, what are some of your favorites? Yeah. And let me preface what I'm about to say
1234
01:17:47.760 --> 01:17:50.560
by saying, you don't have to do all these things. You don't have to do any of these things.
1235
01:17:50.560 --> 01:17:54.320
You know, these are just things that research would suggest are really valuable. So
1236
01:17:54.880 --> 01:17:58.880
if your goal is to improve your brain function, I think the most important thing you can do is
1237
01:17:58.880 --> 01:18:04.480
prioritize your sleep. The reason I say that is because a lot of the things like diet and exercise
1238
01:18:04.480 --> 01:18:09.840
are things that are going to be maybe slightly unpleasant for certain people who are not used to it.
1239
01:18:09.840 --> 01:18:14.560
So if you don't exercise, me telling you you should exercise for brain health, it's true that
1240
01:18:14.560 --> 01:18:19.760
you will be healthier. Your brain will function better. But it's not necessarily true that if you
1241
01:18:19.760 --> 01:18:24.000
are not an exercise or you're going to let's say you're going to love your routine, right?
1242
01:18:24.000 --> 01:18:29.040
It takes some time to get into it. Similarly with food, I get the junk food tastes good. So me telling
1243
01:18:29.040 --> 01:18:33.040
you you should eat a minimally processed diet. You should be using a lot of olive oil. You should
1244
01:18:33.040 --> 01:18:38.080
be eating only whole grains. You know, you should be eating clean proteins. It's like, yeah, at some
1245
01:18:38.080 --> 01:18:43.200
point you may get to the point where like if you're like me and you drink something with adding sugar,
1246
01:18:43.200 --> 01:18:46.880
you say, oh, I don't want that. That doesn't make me feel good. But it's not going to happen overnight.
1247
01:18:46.880 --> 01:18:50.640
Always sleep. You're going to feel better the next day. You want to think better. You want to
1248
01:18:50.640 --> 01:18:56.320
make better decisions. And so I would say of any of the things focusing on getting better sleep
1249
01:18:56.320 --> 01:18:59.840
tonight. We could talk about some of the steps for that. But I think it's just a great starting point
1250
01:18:59.840 --> 01:19:04.880
to get your brain on side. So you're thinking better, making better choices. And that way it'll
1251
01:19:04.880 --> 01:19:10.240
be easier to do all the other things. Other things I would say if you would be for stress,
1252
01:19:10.240 --> 01:19:15.840
social media, all these other things. A test of time is a tool I did all with my dad. So it stands
1253
01:19:15.840 --> 01:19:21.360
for time restricted, intentional, mindful, and enriching. And that means that as you're going
1254
01:19:21.360 --> 01:19:26.800
about to your social media or your digital content exposure, use these principles. So instead of
1255
01:19:26.800 --> 01:19:31.600
saying I'm going to watch TV for indefinite or undefined amount of time, saying I will give myself
1256
01:19:31.600 --> 01:19:35.520
30 minutes to watch the show. It's time restricted, just like you would do for food.
1257
01:19:35.840 --> 01:19:40.720
Beautiful. I until it's you choosing the material that you're consuming as opposed to
1258
01:19:40.720 --> 01:19:45.520
it choosing you, which everyone knows the scenario where you go on social media and you don't even
1259
01:19:45.520 --> 01:19:50.240
remember why you're there and you scroll for 10 minutes. That is non intentional. The other
1260
01:19:50.240 --> 01:19:56.480
piece of this is the mindfulness piece. And as we've spoken about news, stressful, social media,
1261
01:19:56.480 --> 01:20:02.640
stressful being aware of how you're feeling as you're engaging with the content is what mindful
1262
01:20:02.640 --> 01:20:08.160
digital consumption is about. And some people will benefit from just setting a timer for like five
1263
01:20:08.160 --> 01:20:12.800
minutes, goes off every five minutes. Oh, five minutes and I'm actually getting really stressed.
1264
01:20:12.800 --> 01:20:16.720
Therefore no longer mindful. And I want to set this aside. But I think that's where the time
1265
01:20:16.720 --> 01:20:21.120
restricted piece really comes in. And then he is the enriching and it's basically meeting
1266
01:20:21.120 --> 01:20:26.880
am I getting more value from this or is it getting more value from me? We know that social media,
1267
01:20:26.880 --> 01:20:31.760
that the newest TV in general, it's all designed to capture our attention. Usually it's the
1268
01:20:31.760 --> 01:20:37.360
seller stuff that we don't want. But also the way it captures our attention is to stress us out.
1269
01:20:37.360 --> 01:20:41.600
So if you don't want them, it was enriching. And let's be honest, who spends 20 minutes on
1270
01:20:41.600 --> 01:20:46.800
social media and walks away saying, what a good use of time. I've really on the world with a
1271
01:20:46.800 --> 01:20:55.200
positive one. Then that's the indicator. Test the time is specific to the digital content.
1272
01:20:55.200 --> 01:20:59.200
One other domain that I've spent a lot of time focused on recently is the air quality piece.
1273
01:20:59.200 --> 01:21:06.000
Because as I live to move on, it's huge mess. I mean, this has been really profound research
1274
01:21:06.000 --> 01:21:10.480
in the top medical journals around the United States and around the showing that what we
1275
01:21:10.480 --> 01:21:16.400
agree influences our health, influence inflammation, it alters with capitalism, people who breathe
1276
01:21:16.400 --> 01:21:21.280
more fluid air, gain weight, have more infertility, live shorter lives, have more cardiovascular
1277
01:21:21.280 --> 01:21:26.240
disease, have more lung issues. If your children, they have developmental issues, they have decreased
1278
01:21:26.320 --> 01:21:31.120
IQ, more violence in school. So the list goes on and on. Then you say, well, what do you do about that?
1279
01:21:31.120 --> 01:21:36.960
Most of us spend the majority of our time indoors. This is a double-edged sword. So we should be
1280
01:21:36.960 --> 01:21:41.920
spending more time outside usually. But since we're inside, we can do a lot to improve the quality
1281
01:21:41.920 --> 01:21:46.720
of our air because that's where we spend the majority of our time. So some high yield tips,
1282
01:21:46.720 --> 01:21:50.640
which I don't know. Your listeners, your viewers might not be thrilled with these.
1283
01:21:50.640 --> 01:21:54.480
Don't use incense in the home. It's my next question. You're talking to people in LA too,
1284
01:21:54.480 --> 01:22:00.480
or we are big fans of Palo Santo and White Sage. That's great, but just go to their map for your
1285
01:22:00.480 --> 01:22:04.880
health. It's like smoking. You can be a fan of cigarettes, but just don't put it in the bucket
1286
01:22:04.880 --> 01:22:09.520
of saying it's good for you. Makes sense. Here, it's a thing. Just me a little bit more specific.
1287
01:22:10.080 --> 01:22:14.720
You can use incense. You can use polosando. You can use anything that smokes. But if you do that,
1288
01:22:14.720 --> 01:22:18.880
you should just be aware that if you're breathing in the smoke, it's like breathing in a cigarette
1289
01:22:19.040 --> 01:22:23.840
for sure. It's not good for your cold. So if you're going to use the incense, use it in a ventilated
1290
01:22:23.840 --> 01:22:31.280
room, meaning open the windows, run an air purifier, and rise its whole outside, not such a big deal.
1291
01:22:31.280 --> 01:22:36.560
Same thing with like scented candles, candles in general. I know they're very popular. I would say
1292
01:22:36.560 --> 01:22:43.360
scented candles are worthy of a one. Yeah, endocrine disruptors. Right. Yeah, so they're
1293
01:22:43.360 --> 01:22:48.320
very concerned. But the other piece of this is the sense that you're smelling are by and large
1294
01:22:48.320 --> 01:22:53.840
synthetic. They're not right. Most candles are made from paracene wax, which comes from petroleum.
1295
01:22:53.840 --> 01:22:59.360
So if you are going to use a candle, I would say the best is beeswax, beeswax unscented,
1296
01:22:59.360 --> 01:23:04.880
then soy, and then a standard paraffin candle. But if the candle is smoking or sputtering,
1297
01:23:04.880 --> 01:23:09.040
you'll see sometimes if the weight is too long, it'll be sputtering and it'll be throwing off smoke.
1298
01:23:09.040 --> 01:23:13.120
These are other things to just consider. You want your weight level at the top of the candle.
1299
01:23:13.120 --> 01:23:18.400
So some basics there. And then the last kind of grouping of things I would say to a woman
1300
01:23:18.400 --> 01:23:23.520
would be air fresheners and cleaning products, air fresheners for sure. And they clean
1301
01:23:23.520 --> 01:23:28.240
the product. There's an actual utility. Most people want to clean their homes. That's great.
1302
01:23:28.240 --> 01:23:34.640
But air fresheners are packed with synthetic chemicals. And even if you want to say,
1303
01:23:34.640 --> 01:23:39.760
look, we don't know conclusively if they're bad for us, about a third of people have a significant
1304
01:23:39.760 --> 01:23:45.600
sensitivity to fragrances. And there's a reason why that is happening. And it's because our brains
1305
01:23:45.600 --> 01:23:52.240
are incredibly sensitive to certain sense. It turns out these air fragrance molecules that are in
1306
01:23:52.240 --> 01:23:57.440
the plugins and the weights and all these other things. There's a whole part of the aisle and
1307
01:23:57.440 --> 01:24:02.160
they're in your safe way of grocery store for air fresheners. I would say there's really none of them
1308
01:24:02.160 --> 01:24:07.120
that I'm convinced are a good idea. Whether it's the dangly tree that goes into your rear view mirror
1309
01:24:07.200 --> 01:24:12.400
or the worst. I won't say any but the plugins. So definitely remove. And then the last few
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01:24:12.400 --> 01:24:19.120
of this is when you can optimize ventilation and purification in your home, the basics here
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01:24:19.120 --> 01:24:23.840
would be if you have windows and you're not actively having like a wildfire outside, open your
1312
01:24:23.840 --> 01:24:28.800
windows, especially while you're cooking, then in terms of the purification and ventilation inside,
1313
01:24:28.800 --> 01:24:34.640
if you have a HVAP, make sure you're using it. Keep it the fan on, certainly. And if not,
1314
01:24:34.720 --> 01:24:40.160
or in addition to that, air purifiers can do a great job. Please mention your science back to your
1315
01:24:40.160 --> 01:24:49.040
purifier. Last week, the company is it's called light and air. And I won't go into too many details,
1316
01:24:49.040 --> 01:24:53.760
but I was just super frustrated because I was reading all of these publications talking about why
1317
01:24:54.320 --> 01:24:59.520
air purification is so important. And all of the purifiers I looked at were just gimmicky.
1318
01:24:59.600 --> 01:25:04.800
Like they did perform to the level that was necessary to give the health benefits. So we just
1319
01:25:04.800 --> 01:25:10.240
designed one that did all of that. So we built it from best specs for HEPA 14. So if you're
1320
01:25:10.240 --> 01:25:15.200
familiar with HEPA 14 is the highest level. And we built it so that it's like industrial levels for
1321
01:25:15.200 --> 01:25:20.080
cleaning for a larger room, which you know, we have, I don't know, like five other air purifiers,
1322
01:25:20.080 --> 01:25:24.080
and we tested them all out. And it doesn't mean that the other ones don't work. It's just that
1323
01:25:24.080 --> 01:25:29.600
there's this massive gap between what you actually need for purification to get the value
1324
01:25:29.600 --> 01:25:34.560
and the way that they're mostly being sold. You know, you get these tiny hands that look nice,
1325
01:25:34.560 --> 01:25:39.360
but they don't actually execute on me. So on Instagram, I want people to check it out,
1326
01:25:39.360 --> 01:25:46.000
breathe like in. And your dad put a video up moving closer to the device with incense and I gasped.
1327
01:25:47.520 --> 01:25:51.840
Because I'm one of the first things I do is an audit of my clients has is going through personal
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01:25:51.840 --> 01:25:57.600
care products and cleaning products and detergents and in all of those things. So that was such great
1329
01:25:57.600 --> 01:26:02.480
awareness. Do you use essential oils? Are you fan of organic essential oils? So this is a
1330
01:26:02.480 --> 01:26:07.520
contentious question. Right. There are some data suggesting that various essential oils
1331
01:26:07.520 --> 01:26:14.480
actually improve cognition. Yeah. Rosemary. Seed oil oil. I would say to be cautious. And the
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01:26:14.480 --> 01:26:20.960
reason I would say that is twofold. One is certain essential oils, even if they're actually safe
1333
01:26:20.960 --> 01:26:26.480
as an essential oil can react with molecules in the atmosphere to create additional air periods.
1334
01:26:26.480 --> 01:26:32.880
So like, I'm in a sense, which is very popular in cleaning products and like can actually react
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01:26:32.880 --> 01:26:39.120
with ozone to create formaldehyde, which is a carcinogen. So this is one consideration. The other
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01:26:39.120 --> 01:26:44.480
thing is again, essential oils, who knows, depending on the brand, how they're actually making it and
1337
01:26:44.480 --> 01:26:49.440
what the vessel is, the vehicle for these central oils. When you aerosolize these products,
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01:26:49.440 --> 01:26:54.720
you can actually create some significant inclusion. So a couple of things I'd just say on that.
1339
01:26:54.720 --> 01:27:01.680
And one is, I think this is a quality thing. So certain essential oils are far less kind of
1340
01:27:01.680 --> 01:27:06.960
modified than others. It's just the essential oil and the vehicle as opposed to a synthetic set of
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01:27:06.960 --> 01:27:12.800
oils. The other one would be, and this is kind of a deep cut, but using purified water. And the
1342
01:27:12.800 --> 01:27:18.800
reason for that seems to be that when you aerosolize a tap water, it actually increases particular
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01:27:18.800 --> 01:27:24.560
matter quite dramatically. And it hasn't really been studied to the extent that we know exactly
1344
01:27:24.560 --> 01:27:29.120
what is in that particular matter. But some of it does seem to be heavy metals and other things
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01:27:29.120 --> 01:27:33.200
that you don't necessarily want in your air. So if you are going to use oils, if you're talking
1346
01:27:33.200 --> 01:27:37.920
about something like a fuser, I think going with purified water is important. And again,
1347
01:27:37.920 --> 01:27:43.680
looking at better essential oils. I do think in the spectrum, while there are certain oils that
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01:27:43.680 --> 01:27:47.840
have been studied and aren't breathing in some of those senses, or for example, we know like
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01:27:47.840 --> 01:27:52.960
cedar oil, which is an oil that comes from cedar trees may be calming. One of the reasons why
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01:27:52.960 --> 01:27:58.080
we're outside breathing these molecules and people seem to do better. While that may be good,
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01:27:58.080 --> 01:28:03.280
what does seem to be the case is that we get very quickly into an unregulated space where there's
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01:28:03.280 --> 01:28:07.680
not a lot of insight into what's going into those products. And you are breathing them in,
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01:28:07.680 --> 01:28:12.560
kind of by definition, you're smelling something. It means that you're being exposed to the volatile
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01:28:12.560 --> 01:28:19.680
organic compounds in that. So I will say a caution here, which would be to be specific, to be
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01:28:19.680 --> 01:28:26.560
working only with essential oils that you trust the brands. And also in the spectrum, I would say
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01:28:26.560 --> 01:28:33.600
simmering herbs and spices on the stove top. So probably a lot. So much safer. It will infuse
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01:28:33.600 --> 01:28:38.560
your entire house. And I'm going to add in, I didn't grow an herb garden inside your house.
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01:28:38.560 --> 01:28:43.680
The aroma from that will smell amazing. Add some more green plants to your house. If
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01:28:43.680 --> 01:28:48.000
something is not safe to ingest and look at all the cleaning products, my gosh, all the caution
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01:28:48.000 --> 01:28:52.080
labels that are on that. Chances are they're probably not safe to you. So I love that you, I think
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01:28:52.080 --> 01:28:57.440
we've gone full spectrum on the consumption aspect. And I'm so grateful for that because I think
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01:28:57.440 --> 01:29:01.840
that we have to instead of just owning it on one area, just understanding just as you spoken to
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01:29:01.840 --> 01:29:06.240
today, everything is connected. So thank you so much for your time. I could talk to you for hours
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01:29:06.320 --> 01:29:10.560
and hours. Can you tell me, tell people where to find you? Yeah, thank you so much for the
1365
01:29:10.560 --> 01:29:14.960
conversation. I'm glad we have to talk about so many things. The places to find me would be,
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01:29:14.960 --> 01:29:19.520
if you're interested in the research study, would be big bold health.com or at big bold health
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01:29:19.520 --> 01:29:26.560
on social media. My website is austinprometer.com on social act doctor austinprometer. And then
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01:29:26.560 --> 01:29:31.840
as you mentioned, like an air or breathe like in on social is the new company for air quality.
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01:29:31.920 --> 01:29:35.680
So all of the places that I spend time and places that I'll be, I mean,
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01:29:35.680 --> 01:29:40.160
adding you have some phenomenal educational content on YouTube also in small bite-sized
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01:29:40.160 --> 01:29:45.920
peeps pieces for people. So check them out there also and enclosing two rapid fire questions.
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01:29:45.920 --> 01:29:50.720
Tell me, what is your favorite ancient healing remedy? Oh, my favorite ancient healing remedy.
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01:29:51.200 --> 01:29:55.680
I think that's that's that's tricky. I mean, I guess it's just meditation. Obviously,
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01:29:55.680 --> 01:29:59.520
I've been around for a couple thousand years. I have a meditation practice every morning. It's
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01:29:59.520 --> 01:30:04.560
not super long. Just mindful paying attention to my breath. But it's been definitely one of the
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01:30:04.560 --> 01:30:10.080
most powerful things in terms of a daily practice. That is a helps me to maintain my mental clarity.
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01:30:10.080 --> 01:30:13.360
Beautiful. And what's something about modern medicine that you're excited about?
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01:30:14.320 --> 01:30:20.000
A lot of things. A lot of things. I think that's we've covered some of them. I'm really optimistic
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01:30:20.000 --> 01:30:25.040
about what epigenetics represents. Super excited about that. I'm really excited about
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01:30:25.120 --> 01:30:28.880
flying modern medical techniques, the understanding mental health conditions,
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01:30:28.880 --> 01:30:34.960
and starting by all based on what type of depression do they have? Not just starting to press,
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01:30:34.960 --> 01:30:39.360
but is this inflammatory? Is this metabolic? Is this neuroplastic? And then how does that change?
1383
01:30:39.360 --> 01:30:46.480
Are we undergo treatment so that people get better outcomes? I think there is a lot of potential
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01:30:46.480 --> 01:30:52.720
around the layering in of AI to better people's health outcomes. With the caveat here,
1385
01:30:52.720 --> 01:30:57.680
there's a lot of potential downside to what that represents as well. But I think the concept
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01:30:57.680 --> 01:31:03.200
of using large data sets and large language models to help people understand what's really going
1387
01:31:03.200 --> 01:31:08.960
wrong is amazing. One of my former co-residents at Oregon Health and Science University published
1388
01:31:08.960 --> 01:31:16.960
a paper looking at a comparison between Harvard doctors and TAPGPT finding that the AI model was
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01:31:16.960 --> 01:31:23.040
better able to diagnose people's symptoms than either the doctors or the doctors plus the AI.
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01:31:23.040 --> 01:31:28.160
And so while it's query and while there's lots of concern around what AI represents,
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01:31:28.160 --> 01:31:32.240
I think especially for people who have been struggling for a long time and haven't gotten
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01:31:32.240 --> 01:31:38.320
a correct diagnosis, this is an amazing opportunity to leverage technology to create better.
1393
01:31:38.320 --> 01:31:42.800
So those are a couple things that you asked for. No, I love it. And this is where the excitement
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01:31:42.800 --> 01:31:47.360
comes in. Like I really am excited about the world of science in the future. But you've mentioned
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01:31:47.360 --> 01:31:52.720
so many beautiful, kind of just traditional healing modalities that all of our ancestors practice.
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01:31:52.720 --> 01:31:56.880
And thank you for being the doctor that has encouraged to really bridge the science with the
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01:31:56.880 --> 01:32:02.560
soul and translating data in a really comprehensible, tangible way. It's been so great to talk to you
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01:32:02.560 --> 01:32:06.400
today. And I can't wait to have you back. I'm so excited for everything that you're growing.
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01:32:06.400 --> 01:32:10.480
And I'm excited to create some content on how to clean up our home. Thank you for that.
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Fantastic. Thank you so much.
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01:32:12.240 --> 01:32:21.440
Beautiful. Thank you, Dr. Austin.
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00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:09.800
Welcome to Rooted in Wellness with me, Wellness Advocate and Holistic Nutritionist,
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00:00:09.800 --> 00:00:11.120
Mona Sharma.
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00:00:11.120 --> 00:00:17.240
Together we will take a journey to discover natural healing practices from imbalance to balance,
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00:00:17.240 --> 00:00:21.960
guided by ancient wisdom and modern scientific insights.
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00:00:21.960 --> 00:00:27.960
I was raised living summers on an ashram, so I learned early on that food is medicine,
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00:00:27.960 --> 00:00:32.360
and your kitchen is your greatest source of health care and prevention.
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After facing two heart surgeries, anxiety and weight challenges, I discovered that just
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because your symptoms are common doesn't mean that they are normal.
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Together with some incredible guests, we will explore the power of our mind, body and
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00:00:46.280 --> 00:00:51.320
soul connection, returning to our roots to rediscover our greatest well-being.
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What happens when you follow all the wellness rules, eat clean, meditate, take the right
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supplements and still feel off when brain fog burn out and inflammation persist, even
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though you're doing everything right.
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In today's episode, I sit down with my friend, Dr. Austin Pearlmutter, internal medicine
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physician and bestselling author of Brainwash to explore how disconnection from self, nature
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and community is at the root of so many modern health issues.
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We talk about neuro-inflammation, the true cost of processed foods, the role of stress
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and cognitive decline, and why healing sometimes means unlearning what we've been taught.
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If you've been chasing protocols but still don't feel like yourself, this conversation
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offers a grounded, empowering perspective on what it really means to heal physically,
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emotionally and energetically.
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Dr. Austin Pearlmutter is a board-certified internal medicine physician and internationally
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recognized educator on brain health, mental health well-being, and the mind-body connection.
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His work blends cutting-edge science with ancient healing principles to help people reconnect
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with their biology, their purpose and vitality.
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Hello, everyone who's joining us live with my new friend, the amazing Dr. Austin.
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Thank you for being with me today.
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Means a lot to me.
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I've been following your content, I think what you're doing is meaningful and what a great
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opportunity to have a conversation about things that matter.
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I feel the same about you and your mission and the education, the content that you put
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out for people, which I always say is so important when a doctor like you can make things
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so tangible and relatable is where impact really happens.
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So before we dive in, we're sharing just before we started about the intention behind
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this podcast, but rooted in wellness ultimately is about ancient wisdom in our modern world
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and how we can become more rooted.
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This is not only rooted in our health, but the feeling of being ourselves and in our
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life and in our happiness and also our inner wisdom, I think that we all have to heal.
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So I'd love to start off by asking you what helps you feel really rooted in your health
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and in your life.
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Well, I know we could go on many segues around the topic, but I think this is the topic.
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Something that I've recognized is as much research as people like me can do and educate
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on lifestyle factors and food, exercise and good sleep, none of that stuff actually really
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matters unless you're connected to something more.
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You know, if you put a human in a cage and give them the perfect diet and give them the
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hamster wheel to run on and even give them access to fresh air and sunlight, they would
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probably still be miserable because they're not connected to something more.
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And so I think that's really the core of this whole thing is as much as health and medicine
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seem like they matter and they absolutely do that is honestly a siloed from this connection
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to something bigger, some of that roots you to the bigger picture.
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It doesn't actually matter that much.
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So for me, I find that there are a couple of things.
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One is nature, specifically just getting outside of nature.
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I have some sections with a couple of hobbies.
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One would be mushroom forgery of all things, but just really anything that's outside in
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nature, getting to know the plants, they can know the trees.
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The other thing that is an exceptionally grounding thing for me is just anytime with my dog,
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which again, maybe sounds trivial, but he's a mentored oxen, he's amazing.
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And just like literally just watching him while he's sleeping or doing thing, it is this
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pure dissemination of just everything that is good in the world, you know, he's not trying
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to convince me of something, he doesn't have any ulterior motives.
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So spending time with him is something that any given damage, kind of how I start my
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day with a coffee on the couch with my dog and he's very excited first thing and then
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he goes back to sleep, but I'm still with him and his energy.
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And same to the end of the day, it's just time with him.
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Also, as a part of my way of Rachel, you know, just having the time to connect and to
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debrief after the day, to be in each other's company is strong around, but all the things
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that really work for me and I think getting back to the question itself, like this is the
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stuff without which all the other stuff doesn't actually matter.
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You have to have some sort of a source that grounds you to something bigger than just
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the work that you're doing or the food that you're eating or the sleep you are or not getting.
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So it's a great starting point.
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I love that you answer that and I think it's important that I own in on that question
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because every expert and doctor that's come on the show lists these beautiful practices
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and you can really feel into how it makes you feel during, you know, when I can see you
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outside with your mushrooms and with your dog and having your coffee and they're all
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practices that are free.
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And after 15 years of being in this practice, I feel, and I think this is such a big topic,
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maybe we should own on this in a little bit, but connection, I think what it does is
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it shifts the foundation or terrain, right, if the terrain is optimized, then everything
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else can work.
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Otherwise, we're constantly seeking things outside of ourselves to feel better and to
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heal.
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And I think we need to end that.
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We need to stop that.
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Thank you.
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Right.
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So I definitely do mindfulness meditation.
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I think all these things are really important too, but there's different ways to come
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at this.
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And so one of the ways is to exactly do so, try to bring in more external factors, right?
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And so eat more of the health of food, spend more time exercising, all that stuff really
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matters a lot.
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But what you're actually trying to do is wire yourself and wire your brain to a state
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of relative satisfaction, not towards pleasure, not towards dopamine boost, which is kind
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of the default.
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But to a state where you're able to experience life, not necessarily in a super happy way
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all the time, but in a way that you're excited and connected to the larger environment.
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And I actually think if you look at so many of the issues that surround us right now in
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the world, and I actually wrote a book about this with my dad called Brainwash, it is the
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detected from that, from the brain wiring that allows us to experience contentment and
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subtle action.
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That is such a problem.
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Is chasing down the short-term fix, the swipes, the food, the next episode of the TV show,
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it's actually at the very best, it's just an opportunity cost, meaning we don't do
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the healthy stuff.
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Not the worst, it's actually taking our brains away from a state where we're best able
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to enjoy our lives.
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So I think, again, we're getting at this point pretty early in the conversation, but
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you're absolutely right in terms of the way you're framing this.
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It actually leads me to the next question, you know, you talked to it, we're sharing
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our shared story of heart palpitations.
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And looking back at that time in my life, I had, I call it drifting.
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I drifted so far from the things that allowed me to feel connected and having purpose
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and just having these moments of connection or presence within my daily life.
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And I think that this is a phenomenon that's also happening right now with so many people
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because of the state of our world and the perpetual stress and busyness and overload and access
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to information and tragedy that's happening globally.
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So having conned through that journey yourself and your own healing and got the stress that
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you must have felt during medical school, do you notice now when you have drifted because
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I think a lot of people in wellness, we've really complicated things, people don't really
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recognize that they might have these practices every day that are actually uprooting them
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and causing them more physical, emotional or mental suffering.
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Do you notice when you drift?
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Yeah, there's some real interesting kind of irony, specifically in the wellness world,
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where I think there's a scenario of people flying themselves and where they associate themselves
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with a certain theme.
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So like now I'm going to be a happiness expert.
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And the access would be content or becoming an expert on happiness actually takes you away
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from happiness.
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Yeah.
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I think it's extreme when it comes to mindfulness.
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You know, in order for me to feel like I'm able to do the best job I can in the world,
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it requires me to do a lot of travel, a lot of speaking, a lot of, you know, waking up
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early, a lot of research.
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And all that is great in service of this larger goal of educating people on how they can
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reclaim their brain health.
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But I virtue of these things that I do, it can actually completely pull me out of mindfulness
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and good mental health.
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If you're traveling a lot and you're staying in hotels and you're not spending time with
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family and you're not outside, these are the things that we know help people to live
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long, healthy, happy lives.
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It isn't incidental that you don't really have all these, you know, centenarians from
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the blue zones on social media, talking about how to live along and healthy life.
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They're actually out doing it.
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Do I get it?
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There's a extreme irony here in that the more education and work you do to teach people
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who couldn't stop to do, the less your chances are of cheating that yourself.
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I definitely experience that.
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I find, you know, I don't want to say I've always been a workaholic, but I've always been
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a little bit obsessed with work in certain ways.
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And so, especially now, when I feel like there's so much opportunity to create positive
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change.
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There are a lot of conversations happening, some of which I'm part of at a large scale
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levels.
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And also, there are so many people who are just looking for ways to get their cognitive
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and mental health through lifestyle.
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So there's just all this stuff on the table.
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And so I want to do more research, I want to do more education, I want to do more collaborations.
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And I also recognize that the more I do all those things, the more it takes me away from
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the basics of the things that are necessary for me to feel content.
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So I definitely feel it.
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I feel it every day.
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I think there's a dynamic tension between a little bit of this feeling of anticipatory
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stress knowing that there is more done and the feeling of contentment that comes from
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saying, this is enough, and I'm always fighting that.
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And so I try to do things to bring myself back to that center.
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And I'll find sometimes, especially by Tom, let's say a ton of back-to-back interviews
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or spoken at a conference, doing a lot of lectures, or doing a lot of networking, I'll
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just come back to my hotel room and I'll just be so revved up.
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You know, it's almost caffeine, but because of the connections, not because of actual caffeine.
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And so I try to make use of that energy, but also recognizing that that's not an energy
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that allows me to get restful sleep.
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That's not an energy that allows me to long-term sustain my value of this community.
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And so finding ways to re-ground, to reconnect, have been essential, but I've not always
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been the best person to make that happen.
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Sometimes I just want to play in that energy and you know, do all the things for longer
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periods of time.
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That's such a great reframe.
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And what a beautiful journey, though, to be able to recognize that state by doing it
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in service, right?
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So I don't know about you, but I don't know.
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I used to have this.
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It was like an addiction to hypervigilance and being busy, because I thought that meant
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productivity and success.
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And now the hypervigilance comes, as you said, the anticipatory stress that I have.
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It's all really positive, but what I really want listeners to hear is hearing from practitioners
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like us.
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There's no arriving, right?
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It's recognizing when those emotions or those feelings where the symptoms from the
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body come up and just owning in on, OK, this is a season of my life, a week of my life.
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Now I know that I need to then get back into nature instead of dismissing the symptoms
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like we maybe would have done previously.
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So thank you for that, that's share.
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One other thing all there's that, which has been persistent revelation, I mean, I know
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it's true and that I remember it's true, is that by and large, the influences of other
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people in your life with the exception of a few close people in my circle are always
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pushing you towards productivity, towards externally validating stuff.
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And so the less you're aware of how you're being influenced, the more it just feels like,
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OK, of course, I'm going to do that next thing because that's what everyone around me
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is validating before.
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I mean, I have had a life in which I am persistently validated for doing more work, whether it's
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or otherwise.
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It's, look at this accomplishment that you have, and I think it takes a pretty big phase
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shift to say, actually, that is out of sync with what is best for me and what is best for
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my close relationships, and unless you're eagerly, if you're just out in the world allowing
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other people to direct you, you're going to find yourself earning out.
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And then you'll realize that all those other people who are directing you, we're just
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doing it kind of for what works best for their paradigm of reality.
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So it's not that you benefit at the end of the day or even they care that you're not
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doing your best.
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It's basically their insecure and their own productivity or whatever, and it just kind
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of has a ripple effect on going out into you.
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So I'm trying to be more aware of that, especially in the people I interact with, which is
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validating all these other ways of being that are equally important.
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I'm stuck in this.
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I mean, wellness has its own hamster wheel of, yeah, it can be in some ways equally toxic
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to what happens outside wellness.
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So you just have to be careful because humans have this natural tendency to slip into
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this external validating scenario, and just because you're doing it for the right reasons
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doesn't necessarily mean that your mental health's going to be okay.
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It isn't a wild to notice with, you know, when you're speaking in larger groups, this concept
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of stress now as the knit this new emotion, and if we're not having conversations like
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this, it's almost like we're giving each other permission to just live there instead
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of setting boundaries.
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And I think that the concept of setting boundaries for people is overwhelming or they feel
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like they're not doing a good job.
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But I think that moving forward, especially with, you know, the way that AI is going, the
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way how fast we're able to do things now, if we're not being firm on setting boundaries
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to empower ourselves to feel better mentally and emotionally, we're the only ones that
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can take charge of that.
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And I don't think it's not going to be written on any doctor's pad soon.
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Right up to is a really important point, just nobody is going to care more about you
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than you.
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You may have, maybe lucky, you may have a parent has spouse or somebody else in your
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life who just is so committed to your mental well-being.
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And phenomenal, that's the case.
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But there is this myth that like somebody else is going to save us.
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And whether that's a doctor like me or somebody else that's going to provide you with that
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amazing wisdom that you read in a book or something, the reality is that nobody else is
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going to care as much about your health as you are.
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And so if you're not the strongest advocate for your mental health and cognitive health,
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you got to expect that things are not going to go well because everyone else has an incentive.
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And I'm not saying that was just me.
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But like wellness companies have their own incentives to sell their products and it's
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creative incidentally, you get better along the way of doctors and clinics, they do care
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about your health, but they have other incentives too.
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So even though they're doing what they can, you have to meet the one advocating for actually
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I care about my health, I care about my mental health.
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I'm going to do something each day because the other piece of this is as it relates to
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cognitive health and mental health, the two areas that spend the majority of my time
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focusing on the majority of the variables that are going to determine whether our cognitive
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health is good long term.
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And the majority of the variables, lifestyle variables linked to mental health are things
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that we have to be in control of.
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They're not going to happen extra long.
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It means we have to wake up, maybe these decisions for ourselves and often in direct
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opposition to what we're being told, the signals we're being told, we're being told
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right now.
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Unless you're reading the news for five hours a day, you're not informed that you should
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just go on the news and let it run in the background.
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That's what's necessary.
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Require to us as citizens.
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And the reality is that news is one of the top sources of stress in America.
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And by the time you've seen the same news segment, three times, you're not learning any
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additional information.
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Absolutely.
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You just connect here in what society would have us do.
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The degree to which are surrounding people care about our mental health and what's necessary
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for us to do with our goal is to preserve our mental health and cognitive health, which
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together just they tend to be different paths.
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Oh my gosh.
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Yeah.
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Let's open this up to the impact of stress and that core root of inflammation, right?
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I know that you're going to say that some stress cognitively can be really beneficial
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for us.
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But one of the first things we learn in school with nutrition is that this chronic daily
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persistent stress is the source of inflammation in any part of the body.
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And you said to yourself that it's at the root of nearly every modern disease, including
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our cognitive decline and emotional disorders that so many people, it feels like they're
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on the rise.
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We're now learning that no neuroinflammation is linked to anxiety and like to depression
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and also linked to Alzheimer's.
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But day to day life, I can't tell you the amount of people that I meet with who suffer
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from brain fog also.
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And they're not looking at the source of stress or maybe social media or the news or
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these external stresses being the source of of what's causing them to feel inflamed.
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So can you expand on how this neural inflammation, brain inflammation can manifest and why it's
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overlooked?
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Yeah.
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And I'm going to rely on you to pull me back if we go too far into the leaves.
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I'm getting excited.
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So yeah, I will.
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Oh, does it get Rick sent back?
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You know, a lot of things have changed in the last 10,000 plus year and when you think
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about paleo and what paleo were represented, certainly our ancestors were doing certain things
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better.
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Like they were walking a lot more, but they were on average dying in paleolytic area at
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around age 33.
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And so now the average lifespan is I think 73 or so years old, which is much much better.
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So this is a dramatic increase in the number of years on earth.
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But what you see at that time span is even though we are living longer, we're not necessarily
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living better.
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And so I mean, some of the rates here, I guess would be that in America, 60% of Americans
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have or American adults have one or more chronic diseases and 40% have two or more.
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And then if you look at these rates of diseases, after age 65, about 29% of people have diabetes,
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49% have pre diabetes.
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If you live over the age of 55, your rate of getting dementia is now 42%, and if you
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look at this overall trends in the American public, what you see is around 90% of people
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have at least some elements of metabolic dysfunction.
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And as you alluded to before, you've got the majority of the top killers and contributors
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to disability on the planet, which are known to be inflammatory diseases.
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So putting all that together, what we're saying is we're living longer lives, but we're
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not necessarily optimizing the quality of our lives.
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And usually people will focus on whatever their most significant pain point is in terms
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of what brings them into the doctor's office, or really any office.
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So if it's a 75-year-old person, he might come in saying, my big issue is I have all this
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pain in mind.
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Right?
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I can't walk on it.
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And so we might get to the point of saying, oh, there is something going on in terms of
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your bones.
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There's some inflammation.
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And maybe this person will get to portray an anti-inflammatory medication like a non-steroidal
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anti-inflammatory medicine.
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I would be perfect.
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Right?
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We'd say inflammation is causing a problem in your knee.
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That's why you're here.
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Let's bring down inflammation, and you're going to feel better.
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But what most people don't understand is what inflammation looks like in the brain, and
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what metabolic disorder.
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Like in the brain.
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These are kind of the twin epidemics that we're experiencing right now in America that are
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driving us to worse, overall health.
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Metabolic dysfunction, we don't want to get into in too much detail as we can focus on
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inflammation.
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We're just appreciating that metabolism is how your body takes energy from the outside
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of the world, converts it into fuel for yourselves, and allows you to function, right, allows
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cells to live.
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If you cut off metabolism, you die instantly, because your cells require energy to function.
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00:20:32.160 --> 00:20:36.800
And that energy comes from somewhere in the degree to which we're able to efficiently extract
343
00:20:36.800 --> 00:20:41.520
that energy, correlates with a degree of conditions like diabetes and heart disease.
344
00:20:41.520 --> 00:20:45.200
On the immune side or on the inflammatory side, which is where a lot of my research has
345
00:20:45.200 --> 00:20:51.240
been focused, is the understanding that when the immune system is put into a state of imbalance
346
00:20:51.240 --> 00:20:56.640
that we call inflammation, kind of a low-level background inflammation.
347
00:20:56.640 --> 00:21:01.520
That not only does that contribute to cardiovascular disease and diabetes and obesity in a shorter
348
00:21:01.520 --> 00:21:06.720
lifespan, but in the brain that inflammation is now recognized to be a principal driver
349
00:21:06.720 --> 00:21:10.440
of mental health issues, and say depression is the best example.
350
00:21:10.440 --> 00:21:15.040
We also have data for schizophrenia, for PTSD, and a host of other mental health issues.
351
00:21:15.040 --> 00:21:20.680
And then cognitive decline, so Alzheimer's disease, as well as the host of other neurodegenerative
352
00:21:20.680 --> 00:21:21.680
conditions.
353
00:21:21.680 --> 00:21:23.200
And as you mentioned, brain fog.
354
00:21:23.200 --> 00:21:25.640
So brain fog, super common thing.
355
00:21:25.640 --> 00:21:29.000
We're seeing a lot of people have brain fog in the context of what we're calling long
356
00:21:29.000 --> 00:21:30.000
COVID.
357
00:21:30.000 --> 00:21:35.120
And it's happening brain inflammation seems to be key to that.
358
00:21:35.120 --> 00:21:40.440
So all of this is to say, if we think about just keeping us from living long and healthy
359
00:21:40.440 --> 00:21:42.120
lives, not just long lives.
360
00:21:42.120 --> 00:21:46.800
We don't, at least I don't want to live 220 if the quality of my life is terrible.
361
00:21:46.800 --> 00:21:51.360
We want to have long and healthy lives, so it's on people called health span, the goal
362
00:21:51.360 --> 00:21:57.600
to optimize metabolism, to optimize inflammation by basically not getting rid of inflammation.
363
00:21:57.600 --> 00:22:02.000
We absolutely need it, but not having this chronic inflammation in the body.
364
00:22:02.000 --> 00:22:03.360
And the best way is to do that.
365
00:22:03.360 --> 00:22:06.880
Our through nutrition, through exercise, through stress mitigation, through better sleep,
366
00:22:06.880 --> 00:22:12.240
all these things that people are aware of, to kind of put a last point on this, because
367
00:22:12.240 --> 00:22:16.480
there's a lot to discuss in terms of mechanisms, what's activating inflammation, brain what
368
00:22:16.480 --> 00:22:22.680
cells in the brain get inflamed, is when we look at all of these major brain diseases, and
369
00:22:22.680 --> 00:22:24.920
here I'll just bring up depression and Alzheimer's.
370
00:22:24.920 --> 00:22:30.240
So Alzheimer's disease rates will total number of people expected to triple in the next couple
371
00:22:30.240 --> 00:22:33.400
of decades to about 150 million people around the world.
372
00:22:33.400 --> 00:22:37.400
When you look at depression, it's already around 300 million people around the world.
373
00:22:37.400 --> 00:22:41.600
When we look at the explanations for these conditions, if you go into a conventional medical
374
00:22:41.600 --> 00:22:45.520
doctor and say, what is causing depression, what is causing Alzheimer's, this may be
375
00:22:45.520 --> 00:22:50.080
as updated in the last little bit, but historically what we would see is that depression would
376
00:22:50.080 --> 00:22:54.960
say, well, from a mechanistic perspective, from a biological perspective, it seems to
377
00:22:54.960 --> 00:22:56.640
have something new with serotonin.
378
00:22:56.640 --> 00:23:00.320
So what we do for depression is we prescribe selective serotonin reuptaking inhibitors
379
00:23:00.320 --> 00:23:04.800
like prozac, SSR amaz, with the expectation that we're doing something to the serotonin
380
00:23:04.800 --> 00:23:06.920
system, and that's why people get better.
381
00:23:06.920 --> 00:23:11.520
When we look at Alzheimer's disease, one of the pathological features is a build-up of
382
00:23:11.520 --> 00:23:15.640
an amyloid plaque, and so we say, well, amyloid is causing the Alzheimer's, we should go
383
00:23:15.640 --> 00:23:19.640
after the amyloid with an anti-amyloid drug, and that should make people better.
384
00:23:19.640 --> 00:23:23.920
What we've seen in these conditions, in the case of depression, is this massive study
385
00:23:23.920 --> 00:23:28.040
that came out a couple of years ago showing that serotonin doesn't explain depression,
386
00:23:28.440 --> 00:23:33.440
when we look at all the data, it seems like serotonin is kind of a red hammer, that even
387
00:23:33.440 --> 00:23:37.680
the drugs that we use to treat depression don't seem to work by influencing serotonin
388
00:23:37.680 --> 00:23:39.040
signaling the way we thought.
389
00:23:39.040 --> 00:23:45.120
So when it comes to Alzheimer's disease, amyloid seems to be a downstream product of what
390
00:23:45.120 --> 00:23:46.120
goes wrong.
391
00:23:46.120 --> 00:23:51.240
An anti-amyloid drugs, of which there have been many major expensive trials, don't seem
392
00:23:51.240 --> 00:23:57.360
to significantly work to reverse the disease, or even to really slow the rate of decline
393
00:23:57.360 --> 00:23:59.840
without inducing a lot of side effects.
394
00:23:59.840 --> 00:24:04.080
So both things say, well, it doesn't seem like it's this one molecule.
395
00:24:04.080 --> 00:24:08.320
And one of the themes that's emerged in the research is maybe it's actually more related
396
00:24:08.320 --> 00:24:13.200
to something like metabolic assumption, to inflammatory dysfunction within the brain.
397
00:24:13.200 --> 00:24:17.320
Why that's exciting is not only would it help us to develop new therapeutics, right?
398
00:24:17.320 --> 00:24:22.080
It's one of the reasons, for example, why the keto diet is now being experimented with
399
00:24:22.080 --> 00:24:23.080
Alzheimer's disease.
400
00:24:23.560 --> 00:24:27.400
It's also one of the reasons why the Mediterranean pattern diet seems to be at the top of the
401
00:24:27.400 --> 00:24:29.880
list for treating and preventing depression.
402
00:24:29.880 --> 00:24:33.360
But it also helps us to understand where things went wrong.
403
00:24:33.360 --> 00:24:38.080
And so we can then look at the brain and say, hey, does inflammation play a role in depression?
404
00:24:38.080 --> 00:24:42.080
And if so, maybe instead of waiting until people get depressed and they're in the clinic
405
00:24:42.080 --> 00:24:45.360
and they're so depressed that we have to give them a drug, we should be talking about
406
00:24:45.360 --> 00:24:50.760
a preventive strategy to optimize the immune system, such that decreases the risk for
407
00:24:50.760 --> 00:24:52.360
a person developing depression.
408
00:24:52.360 --> 00:24:58.000
I think the health, cognitive health, anything brain related, there's been this really
409
00:24:58.000 --> 00:25:03.960
unhelpful scenario where we tend to like associate the disease with the person.
410
00:25:03.960 --> 00:25:07.800
So if a person asks me, say, oh, well, I have depression, oh, and tell anybody about
411
00:25:07.800 --> 00:25:10.000
it, because it's something that's wrong with me.
412
00:25:10.000 --> 00:25:13.840
And as we look at what's actually going wrong, we could say, look, there's a biological
413
00:25:13.840 --> 00:25:17.480
team that underlies this, meaning something has changed in your brain that it's making
414
00:25:17.480 --> 00:25:18.480
you feel depressed.
415
00:25:18.480 --> 00:25:22.120
And if that's the case, then we should be able to work backwards and say, well, what can
416
00:25:22.120 --> 00:25:27.040
we do for both you and other people to decrease the chances of this happening at scale?
417
00:25:27.040 --> 00:25:31.520
And so a lot of my research is focused on that specific topic around inflammation of the
418
00:25:31.520 --> 00:25:36.240
brain, saying, if inflammation we know is associated with all these mental health issues,
419
00:25:36.240 --> 00:25:40.600
with cognitive decline, with brain fog, with lower quality of life, with violent crime,
420
00:25:40.600 --> 00:25:45.840
with worse test taking, with lower IQ, all these things we really want to not have happened.
421
00:25:45.840 --> 00:25:50.400
What can it, should we be doing, should we be doing it right now, to both decrease our
422
00:25:50.400 --> 00:25:54.560
chances of getting depression in the first place, something that very few people ever talk
423
00:25:54.560 --> 00:25:55.560
about.
424
00:25:55.560 --> 00:25:59.320
It's like nothing until all of a sudden you have a mental health disorder, but also what
425
00:25:59.320 --> 00:26:04.480
lifestyle strategies could we be including in protocols for the management of depression?
426
00:26:04.480 --> 00:26:09.440
And so I've been, I've been in communication with several psychiatrists, and we've been
427
00:26:09.440 --> 00:26:14.080
talking about what that looks like, everything from understanding to being able to do a genetic
428
00:26:14.080 --> 00:26:18.560
testing, epigenetic testing, to see if certain people would benefit more from certain
429
00:26:18.560 --> 00:26:25.000
drugs, to understanding the microbiome of people with depression, if that influences inflammation,
430
00:26:25.000 --> 00:26:30.560
to appreciating that certain drugs, and in this category, I would use even psychedelics
431
00:26:30.560 --> 00:26:35.800
as a class, might be more beneficial to different people, depending on their inflammatory
432
00:26:35.800 --> 00:26:40.640
state before they start the treatment, and this has been shown that based on a person's
433
00:26:40.640 --> 00:26:46.600
levels of inflammation, they may be more or less sensitive to a standard antidepressant
434
00:26:46.600 --> 00:26:48.320
versus something like ketamine.
435
00:26:48.320 --> 00:26:50.640
So it's completely changing the game.
436
00:26:50.640 --> 00:26:55.120
What excites me is there's just so much new data coming out, but I think for many people,
437
00:26:55.120 --> 00:27:01.040
it provides a degree of hope, because you're no longer just saying there's this one thing,
438
00:27:01.040 --> 00:27:04.840
there's a drug forward where there isn't, and you're not saying this is, this is complicated
439
00:27:04.840 --> 00:27:07.440
stuff, but lifestyle really matters.
440
00:27:07.440 --> 00:27:08.440
Great.
441
00:27:08.440 --> 00:27:13.120
I feel like it is such an exciting time, and even with the awareness on metabolic health,
442
00:27:13.120 --> 00:27:18.640
on the rise of Alzheimer's, on the number of prescriptions that are being written for
443
00:27:18.640 --> 00:27:23.320
mental health issues and anxiety and depression, I feel like it's all happening so quickly
444
00:27:23.320 --> 00:27:25.240
now in the past few years.
445
00:27:25.240 --> 00:27:30.360
The unfortunate side to that is despite the rise of all these illnesses that you just
446
00:27:30.360 --> 00:27:35.360
painted such a terrifying picture of for the future, I don't think, no, but it's good,
447
00:27:35.360 --> 00:27:37.920
like this is the awareness that people need to have.
448
00:27:37.920 --> 00:27:41.480
I think education is going to empower people to take charge of their own health, and
449
00:27:41.480 --> 00:27:43.200
that's what we need to hear.
450
00:27:43.200 --> 00:27:47.520
When people are going to the doctors, though, and I just don't think that that prescription
451
00:27:47.520 --> 00:27:51.160
is coming with a protocol on, let's talk about optimizing your sleep.
452
00:27:51.160 --> 00:27:54.240
Let's look about at the stressors in your, in your, in your life right now.
453
00:27:54.240 --> 00:27:58.160
Let's look at the foods that you're eating or small sources of inflammation.
454
00:27:58.160 --> 00:28:02.480
So maybe for a listener, as can we just talk about what slow grade inflammation look
455
00:28:02.480 --> 00:28:03.480
like?
456
00:28:03.560 --> 00:28:08.560
But inflammation, and I know you'll agree, when it becomes systemic, it impacts the entire
457
00:28:08.560 --> 00:28:09.560
body, right?
458
00:28:09.560 --> 00:28:12.400
We tend to focus on the brain, the heart, and the gut microbiome.
459
00:28:12.400 --> 00:28:15.600
But when we understand that everything is connected, can we all assume that to some
460
00:28:15.600 --> 00:28:18.920
degree with all the kind of insult that we take in every day?
461
00:28:18.920 --> 00:28:20.920
Do we all have some degree of brain inflammation?
462
00:28:20.920 --> 00:28:21.920
It's a really good question.
463
00:28:21.920 --> 00:28:25.560
I want to come back to one thing you just mentioned, which is that when you go to the clinician,
464
00:28:25.560 --> 00:28:28.840
you know, they're not also going to have these protocols from what I found, and it may
465
00:28:28.840 --> 00:28:31.080
be kind of a newer generation of doctors.
466
00:28:31.080 --> 00:28:34.040
I do have protocols around the sleep and stress and all the other things.
467
00:28:34.040 --> 00:28:36.080
The problem is twofold.
468
00:28:36.080 --> 00:28:39.640
One is that if you're waiting until you have high blood pressure to see a doctor, it's
469
00:28:39.640 --> 00:28:43.280
going to be much harder to say, okay, look, change your diet, and it's going to fix things.
470
00:28:43.280 --> 00:28:47.120
And also people tend to have more difficulty with that, not just because they're biology
471
00:28:47.120 --> 00:28:50.640
to change, but because the way that their brains are structured, that change.
472
00:28:50.640 --> 00:28:52.920
So you know, I'll just make that happy.
473
00:28:52.920 --> 00:28:57.520
The other thing is that the amount of time that people have available to interface with
474
00:28:57.520 --> 00:29:02.240
their primary care doctor is 15 minutes, and there is no stereo based on current building
475
00:29:02.240 --> 00:29:07.000
models where you're going to have the opportunity to sit down and actually get into all of that
476
00:29:07.000 --> 00:29:08.000
stuff.
477
00:29:08.000 --> 00:29:11.240
So that's why I think the point that I would bring up time and time again is your best
478
00:29:11.240 --> 00:29:16.080
chance at becoming healthier, long-term, sustainable health is going to happen outside of the
479
00:29:16.080 --> 00:29:17.080
doctor's office.
480
00:29:17.080 --> 00:29:21.600
Don't wait until you get to the doctor to make these changes because they don't have
481
00:29:21.600 --> 00:29:25.160
the time to do what is necessary to fix all of these things.
482
00:29:25.160 --> 00:29:29.640
And more importantly, you need to be the person who is motivated to make these changes,
483
00:29:29.640 --> 00:29:30.640
right?
484
00:29:30.640 --> 00:29:34.480
I have told people, here's what you need to do, and I cared a lot, and they didn't care,
485
00:29:34.480 --> 00:29:38.040
and it never works out, because there's this massive gap.
486
00:29:38.040 --> 00:29:43.360
So anything a person can do to kind of develop this energy within themselves to say, I'm
487
00:29:43.360 --> 00:29:47.320
doing this for me, and I cared about this independent of what other people say.
488
00:29:47.320 --> 00:29:54.080
That's so, to go ahead and describe though, in terms of the chronic low level inflammation,
489
00:29:54.080 --> 00:29:55.480
there's a couple of incinerations.
490
00:29:55.480 --> 00:29:58.840
So one is what is actually causing the inflammation.
491
00:29:58.840 --> 00:30:02.800
I think that's really important, because if we start to understand, do I have risk factors
492
00:30:02.800 --> 00:30:07.240
or what causes it, that may be even more important in certain cases than actually measuring
493
00:30:07.240 --> 00:30:08.840
the inflammation.
494
00:30:08.840 --> 00:30:11.440
Usually we'll talk about low levels of inflammation.
495
00:30:11.440 --> 00:30:13.120
They're measuring things like CRP.
496
00:30:13.120 --> 00:30:18.400
They're also measuring sometimes the SR, which is a sedentation rate, and other inflammatory
497
00:30:18.400 --> 00:30:19.560
markers.
498
00:30:19.560 --> 00:30:23.440
There are some new labs that are being used, I'll just mention here in case anybody's
499
00:30:23.440 --> 00:30:29.400
has a condition, it's interesting, but something called the semi-commute inflammatory index.
500
00:30:29.400 --> 00:30:33.560
So basically, what you take is you take your platelets, multiply it by your neutrophils
501
00:30:33.560 --> 00:30:37.760
and you divide it by your lymphocyte count, things that you can get off of blood count.
502
00:30:37.760 --> 00:30:42.720
But these are all markers that can tell you if you have low level inflammation.
503
00:30:42.720 --> 00:30:46.800
Now, these are lab-based markers, and not everybody wants to get labs, and maybe not
504
00:30:46.800 --> 00:30:48.040
everybody has access to labs.
505
00:30:48.040 --> 00:30:52.800
So what are some of the things that might tell you that you have low levels of inflammation?
506
00:30:52.800 --> 00:30:56.480
One is, BMI is not a great tool, but it does give a sense.
507
00:30:56.480 --> 00:31:01.480
Specifically, if you put a lot of that around your belly, that can be a signal that you
508
00:31:01.480 --> 00:31:03.360
have low levels of inflammation.
509
00:31:03.360 --> 00:31:08.080
If you have ever been diagnosed with any form of metabolic disease, so type 2 diabetes,
510
00:31:08.080 --> 00:31:13.360
as well as pre-diabetes, we'll translate into significantly higher rates of having low
511
00:31:13.360 --> 00:31:15.200
levels of inflammation.
512
00:31:15.200 --> 00:31:19.360
Same with hypertension and general cardiovascular disease, these are signals.
513
00:31:19.360 --> 00:31:22.120
Other things would be a person's experiencing brain fog.
514
00:31:22.120 --> 00:31:23.880
That's interesting.
515
00:31:23.880 --> 00:31:29.560
So there's some really solid data around something called sickness behavior, which is a great
516
00:31:29.560 --> 00:31:33.360
way to connect inflammation in the body to inflammation in the brain.
517
00:31:33.360 --> 00:31:37.280
Sickness behavior is what happens when we come down with, let's say, the flu or a cold,
518
00:31:37.280 --> 00:31:41.960
some sort of viral illness, where anybody who's had this happen before, where they've
519
00:31:41.960 --> 00:31:46.400
been sick, they've been in bed, will recognize their thinking wasn't 100%.
520
00:31:46.400 --> 00:31:49.520
So you're probably not going to be able to do your taxes.
521
00:31:49.520 --> 00:31:51.920
You may not even be motivated to do that kind of stuff.
522
00:31:51.920 --> 00:31:55.040
You probably won't be as sharp and able to listen to your friends talk on the phone
523
00:31:55.040 --> 00:31:57.920
and respond to all the things they're concerned about.
524
00:31:57.920 --> 00:32:01.920
You may be having trouble just putting a basic sentence together, the reason is, because
525
00:32:01.920 --> 00:32:06.160
inflammation in your body is causing your brain to have trouble thinking.
526
00:32:06.160 --> 00:32:10.120
And a lot of this relates to the fact that inflammation is super costly.
527
00:32:10.120 --> 00:32:16.840
It takes the body a ton of energy, which connects the problem with immediately, to power inflammation.
528
00:32:16.840 --> 00:32:19.200
So you can look at it again two ways.
529
00:32:19.200 --> 00:32:21.400
One is to say, you're going to get the laps on.
530
00:32:21.400 --> 00:32:24.920
You're going to see our P level tested if it's above three, then maybe that's a concern.
531
00:32:24.920 --> 00:32:27.520
If it's below, you'd say maybe not super concerned.
532
00:32:27.520 --> 00:32:32.160
You're going to get other labs that correlate with inflammation, like a hemoglobin A1C,
533
00:32:32.160 --> 00:32:36.240
that's a diabetes lab, but it also correlates with inflammatory levels.
534
00:32:36.240 --> 00:32:40.760
And then the other way is to say, we're going to look at these other signals.
535
00:32:40.760 --> 00:32:47.240
So again, overweight or obese, these aren't perfect numbers because they come from BMI,
536
00:32:47.240 --> 00:32:50.520
but it's specifically a more kind of waist.
537
00:32:50.520 --> 00:32:55.080
If you have a higher waist to hip ratio, this is a sick, they have inflammation.
538
00:32:55.080 --> 00:32:57.360
If you've been diagnosed with metabolic disease, sure.
539
00:32:57.360 --> 00:33:00.160
But the brain fog, I think, is an important signal to you.
540
00:33:00.160 --> 00:33:04.800
All of this is to say, and the way that I structure this is, everybody should be focused
541
00:33:04.800 --> 00:33:08.080
on strategies to help to decrease chronic inflammation.
542
00:33:08.080 --> 00:33:13.320
But it may be different than a person has an autoimmune disease or they have an active infection.
543
00:33:13.320 --> 00:33:16.080
Their inflammatory levels will be way, way, way higher.
544
00:33:16.080 --> 00:33:20.400
And so we're differentiating here between something where it's an active, acute illness,
545
00:33:20.400 --> 00:33:25.320
like I need to go to the hospital because I'm very ill versus saying in the background
546
00:33:25.320 --> 00:33:30.640
of our lives, each day, there's kind of grading for it, and it's sapping or health.
547
00:33:30.640 --> 00:33:33.040
And that's what chronic inflammation is all about.
548
00:33:33.040 --> 00:33:34.400
Such a good point.
549
00:33:34.400 --> 00:33:38.440
And when I'm really hearing from you, ultimately, despite whether or not you're able
550
00:33:38.440 --> 00:33:40.840
to get your labs done, don't ignore your symptoms.
551
00:33:40.840 --> 00:33:45.480
If you have any type of inflammatory symptom, it's your body telling you that it's time
552
00:33:45.480 --> 00:33:50.560
to really tune in, before it turns into your body screaming, do you recommend genetic
553
00:33:50.560 --> 00:33:51.560
testing?
554
00:33:51.560 --> 00:33:53.320
For most people, I know genetics is a big factor for this.
555
00:33:53.320 --> 00:33:56.440
If I think about depression, depression runs in my family.
556
00:33:56.440 --> 00:34:01.400
And I think now we're also associating trauma with genetics and the ability to use up genetics
557
00:34:01.400 --> 00:34:03.160
to turn off those biomarkers.
558
00:34:03.160 --> 00:34:04.160
Do you recommend them?
559
00:34:04.160 --> 00:34:09.240
So in terms of testing, you know, being in the wellness space, I hear about lots of new
560
00:34:09.240 --> 00:34:10.440
tests, lots of events.
561
00:34:10.440 --> 00:34:11.440
So many tests.
562
00:34:11.920 --> 00:34:14.360
That's the only MRI.
563
00:34:14.360 --> 00:34:16.840
Should you get a finger stick for X, Y or Z?
564
00:34:16.840 --> 00:34:21.320
What I think would be, first thing is, if you're not getting regular preventive care,
565
00:34:21.320 --> 00:34:23.320
get your basic labs done, right?
566
00:34:23.320 --> 00:34:27.480
The cholesterol panel has some utility, you know, but I think it's really helpful to get
567
00:34:27.480 --> 00:34:28.480
the basic labs done.
568
00:34:28.480 --> 00:34:33.600
So get an A1 C done, get screened for type 2 diabetes, and pre-diabetes, super helpful.
569
00:34:33.600 --> 00:34:36.680
These are things that are covered under almost everybody's insurance.
570
00:34:36.680 --> 00:34:39.640
So there should not be much, but not a lot of expense.
571
00:34:39.640 --> 00:34:43.480
Beyond that, when we start to talk about what is the utility of additional labs?
572
00:34:43.480 --> 00:34:49.800
I think for metabolic dysfunction, there's definitely a good indication to get additional
573
00:34:49.800 --> 00:34:50.800
labs.
574
00:34:50.800 --> 00:34:54.080
You can get a fasting, at a slow level, you can get additional labs to look at whether
575
00:34:54.080 --> 00:34:56.480
there is metabolic inflexibility.
576
00:34:56.480 --> 00:35:00.880
So I do think people who are at high risk of that, we talk about some of those risk factors.
577
00:35:00.880 --> 00:35:01.880
I do think that's helpful.
578
00:35:01.880 --> 00:35:06.200
And the reason I would say that is because when you look at the combined total of people
579
00:35:06.200 --> 00:35:10.800
with type 2 diabetes and pre-diabetes, we're getting close to about a half of the American
580
00:35:10.800 --> 00:35:12.280
population.
581
00:35:12.280 --> 00:35:16.960
What's most concerning about it is that most of the people who have, for example, pre-diabetes
582
00:35:16.960 --> 00:35:18.120
don't know it.
583
00:35:18.120 --> 00:35:22.080
So this is something that at one point we could say, look, it's not a high utility to get
584
00:35:22.080 --> 00:35:25.280
that data because most people are going to benefit from it.
585
00:35:25.280 --> 00:35:29.400
I think at this point, most people really do need to know because there are so many people
586
00:35:29.400 --> 00:35:34.160
out there with metabolic dysfunction who would benefit from changing lifestyle before
587
00:35:34.160 --> 00:35:36.560
they develop full-blown type 2 diabetes.
588
00:35:36.560 --> 00:35:40.400
And by that, a lot of people are out there with type 2 diabetes and don't know it too.
589
00:35:40.400 --> 00:35:42.960
So I think getting some of those metabolic labs is helpful.
590
00:35:42.960 --> 00:35:46.960
An A1C level will not be perfect screen for diabetes or pre-diabetes.
591
00:35:46.960 --> 00:35:48.400
I guess that is a good screen for diabetes.
592
00:35:48.400 --> 00:35:52.440
It's a good starting off because it's usually covered by your insurance.
593
00:35:52.440 --> 00:35:57.280
When it comes to more comprehensive labs, I think that genetics, epigenetics, and so
594
00:35:57.280 --> 00:36:01.320
on is helpful if you're doing it the right way.
595
00:36:01.320 --> 00:36:07.200
One of the considerations I will bring up is getting a comprehensive set of labs,
596
00:36:07.200 --> 00:36:12.040
you know, whether it's genetics or just standard labs without a plan for how you're going
597
00:36:12.040 --> 00:36:15.080
to do anything with this can actually lead to a lot of problems.
598
00:36:15.080 --> 00:36:20.240
I know people who have their labs come back, it shows, for example, an increased risk
599
00:36:20.240 --> 00:36:26.200
of X, Y or Z because of their 23 and me shows that some sort of an esoteric lab was
600
00:36:26.200 --> 00:36:30.560
high or low and they say, I'm not a doctor, I have this, I'm really scared about it.
601
00:36:30.560 --> 00:36:31.640
What do I do?
602
00:36:31.640 --> 00:36:34.520
And then they go to their doctor and their doctor's like, oh, well, probably just shouldn't
603
00:36:34.520 --> 00:36:37.840
have had this done in the first place, it doesn't need anything probably.
604
00:36:37.840 --> 00:36:40.840
And now you just have created this doubt and concern.
605
00:36:40.840 --> 00:36:41.840
Right.
606
00:36:41.840 --> 00:36:46.320
So before you go in order, like a comprehensive lab panel, have a plan for what you're
607
00:36:46.320 --> 00:36:48.400
going to do with that data.
608
00:36:48.400 --> 00:36:54.920
Specific phonogenetics and epigenetics, I do think there is value in getting genetic testing,
609
00:36:54.920 --> 00:36:58.840
specifically if you have a family history or specific concerns.
610
00:36:58.840 --> 00:37:03.320
I mean, I think methylation of various vitamins becomes more interesting.
611
00:37:03.320 --> 00:37:08.080
I know several cases of people who have had some rare mutations that actually explain
612
00:37:08.080 --> 00:37:10.440
a lot of their symptoms and that has been helpful.
613
00:37:10.440 --> 00:37:14.800
But these are usually who are a little bit more dialed than in terms of now I have this,
614
00:37:14.800 --> 00:37:16.800
I can go see the specialist.
615
00:37:16.800 --> 00:37:22.040
Whereas most of my time recently is on epigenetic testing and just briefly on this.
616
00:37:22.040 --> 00:37:27.160
So you have, I guess each of us have roughly 20,000 genes.
617
00:37:27.160 --> 00:37:32.880
But you can have all of these different mutations within these single nucleotide polymorphisms,
618
00:37:32.880 --> 00:37:34.520
which is what genetic testing tells you about.
619
00:37:34.520 --> 00:37:40.040
So that's interesting, epigenetics tells you about how those genes are being used.
620
00:37:40.040 --> 00:37:44.000
It tells you about whether that gene is turned on or somewhere in between.
621
00:37:44.000 --> 00:37:48.400
And what we've seen just in the last couple of years are several companies that have been
622
00:37:48.400 --> 00:37:53.240
capable of with as low as a finger step of blood, which is great for people who don't like
623
00:37:53.240 --> 00:37:59.440
to do 12 tombs of blood with a phlebotomy sample can tell you about kind of your risk for
624
00:37:59.440 --> 00:38:03.360
tons of different issues, like hundreds of different lamps.
625
00:38:03.360 --> 00:38:07.880
And from that epigenetic data, they can actually give you data related to what you would usually
626
00:38:07.880 --> 00:38:09.360
have to get from your blood.
627
00:38:09.360 --> 00:38:13.280
So it can tell you about your lipid levels, can tell you about your inflammatory markers.
628
00:38:13.280 --> 00:38:14.280
I'm a little biased here.
629
00:38:14.280 --> 00:38:19.240
We've been working with a group called True Diagnostic, a providing this test that gives
630
00:38:19.240 --> 00:38:22.480
you access to all of these markers using a finger stick.
631
00:38:22.480 --> 00:38:27.040
And while it's still early, I think this is going to be the next frontier of what lab
632
00:38:27.040 --> 00:38:28.440
testing looks like.
633
00:38:28.440 --> 00:38:34.480
So to kind of consolidate all this, I am a proponent of more advanced lab testing.
634
00:38:34.480 --> 00:38:38.720
I do think you should not do it on your own unless you have a plan for how you're going
635
00:38:38.720 --> 00:38:40.480
to interpret that data.
636
00:38:40.480 --> 00:38:43.920
And I do think it should be a little bit specific to a person's needs.
637
00:38:43.920 --> 00:38:50.400
So you have a 20 or who's getting like comprehensive DNA testing, epigenetic testing, full body
638
00:38:50.400 --> 00:38:51.400
MRI.
639
00:38:51.400 --> 00:38:56.080
I wouldn't necessarily recommend that unless there's a specific plan for what you're doing
640
00:38:56.080 --> 00:38:57.080
with that data.
641
00:38:57.080 --> 00:38:58.080
Oh, my gosh.
642
00:38:58.080 --> 00:38:59.080
Thank you.
643
00:38:59.080 --> 00:39:00.080
Yeah, because it is overwhelming.
644
00:39:00.080 --> 00:39:03.520
There's so many tests or so much marketing that's happening right now in that world.
645
00:39:03.520 --> 00:39:08.960
But I think that the lens that I really appreciate is ultimately the more information that
646
00:39:08.960 --> 00:39:15.480
you have to really, you know, customize a protocol that's for you and your blueprint,
647
00:39:15.480 --> 00:39:18.680
use that as empowerment because what I see happening is a lot of people are doing these
648
00:39:18.680 --> 00:39:19.680
testings.
649
00:39:19.680 --> 00:39:23.160
I have some clients who've gone for full body MRIs and, oh, great.
650
00:39:23.160 --> 00:39:24.160
You don't have cancer now.
651
00:39:24.160 --> 00:39:25.160
We'll see you in a year.
652
00:39:25.160 --> 00:39:26.160
It's like, oh, shit.
653
00:39:26.160 --> 00:39:30.920
I've got to come back in a year and it's it's fear base that's it's this fear that's
654
00:39:30.920 --> 00:39:35.800
kind of instilled of prevention versus the empowerment that can come from knowledge.
655
00:39:35.800 --> 00:39:39.920
So understanding my constitution and this vessel that I have and what it actually needs
656
00:39:39.920 --> 00:39:44.920
according to my genetics and my current biomarkers, I think can be so empowering.
657
00:39:44.920 --> 00:39:49.320
And then we turned down the noise of looking for the protocol and the fix because we're
658
00:39:49.320 --> 00:39:52.040
so in tune with what our body actually needs.
659
00:39:52.040 --> 00:39:53.640
So thank you for that reframe.
660
00:39:53.640 --> 00:40:00.240
I think my perspective at this point too is that there is 95% plus and value that comes
661
00:40:00.240 --> 00:40:02.160
from doing the basics well.
662
00:40:02.160 --> 00:40:08.080
And then that incremental 5% is from really narrowing it on a person's issues, right?
663
00:40:08.080 --> 00:40:12.320
And so as I get people will push back on me and they'll say things like, you know, how
664
00:40:12.320 --> 00:40:16.720
can you recommend any sort of dietary intervention without knowing the person's labs?
665
00:40:16.720 --> 00:40:17.720
Yeah.
666
00:40:17.720 --> 00:40:18.720
Yeah.
667
00:40:18.720 --> 00:40:22.720
How I've been trading diet because some people, you know, may not be good metabolizers
668
00:40:22.720 --> 00:40:23.720
of X, Y or Z.
669
00:40:23.720 --> 00:40:24.720
Right.
670
00:40:24.720 --> 00:40:29.720
And I think this is actually the antithesis of what is helpful because the reality is,
671
00:40:29.720 --> 00:40:32.080
you know, you and I can have these conversations.
672
00:40:32.080 --> 00:40:33.760
People can ask specific questions.
673
00:40:33.760 --> 00:40:36.920
These are people who are informed who have already heard some of this stuff before.
674
00:40:36.920 --> 00:40:41.560
So if I talk about vitamins and methylated B, they'll be like, oh, yeah, I heard about
675
00:40:41.560 --> 00:40:42.560
this.
676
00:40:42.560 --> 00:40:45.440
My MTHFR is this and now that he can make some changes, great.
677
00:40:45.440 --> 00:40:49.160
If you look at what the general public in the United States eats, right, we're about
678
00:40:49.160 --> 00:40:51.400
30 people eat fast food every day.
679
00:40:51.400 --> 00:40:57.360
What is coming out from some of this complexity is that people are just more and more confused.
680
00:40:57.360 --> 00:41:01.040
So I'm supposed to do the Atkins diet or the South Beach diet or the Mediterranean diet.
681
00:41:01.040 --> 00:41:06.280
I saw this guy on TV who said, one is great, but told me plants are going to kill me.
682
00:41:06.280 --> 00:41:12.000
And the problem with that is that in the absence of consensus, we actually create more
683
00:41:12.000 --> 00:41:13.000
noise.
684
00:41:13.000 --> 00:41:17.640
So like, yes, it's really helpful to work with a qualified practitioner to do advanced
685
00:41:17.640 --> 00:41:21.240
lab testing if it's going to change what you do next.
686
00:41:21.240 --> 00:41:25.400
But it's not super helpful to tell a person like, don't make any lifestyle changes until
687
00:41:25.400 --> 00:41:30.720
you do this comprehensive set of labs that cost $4,000 a year because it just creates
688
00:41:30.720 --> 00:41:31.720
confusion.
689
00:41:31.720 --> 00:41:33.120
It creates fear.
690
00:41:33.120 --> 00:41:36.600
And the best data that we have right now from the things that are going to let you live
691
00:41:36.600 --> 00:41:42.320
a long and healthy life are not supplements are not advanced, you know, diagnostic tests.
692
00:41:42.320 --> 00:41:46.440
It is doing basic, healthy stuff, most of the time.
693
00:41:46.440 --> 00:41:50.560
And so I just don't want to lose that signal in the noise that is this heavily marketed
694
00:41:50.560 --> 00:41:55.840
wellness industry where we create a lot of fear-ongering or recreate confusion around
695
00:41:55.840 --> 00:42:01.200
what the actual data says in terms of what scientifically efficacious to promote all.
696
00:42:01.200 --> 00:42:09.920
I couldn't agree more.
697
00:42:09.920 --> 00:42:14.560
I have to pause this episode to share something that's completely transformed how I feel every
698
00:42:14.560 --> 00:42:17.840
single day and it all starts in my gut.
699
00:42:17.840 --> 00:42:22.360
I'm talking about Pendulum's metabolic daily and I'm genuinely obsessed.
700
00:42:22.360 --> 00:42:29.000
88% of Americans are metabolically unhealthy and so much of that comes down to our gut microbiome.
701
00:42:29.000 --> 00:42:33.920
If you're constantly battling afternoon energy crashes, sugar cravings and that sluggish
702
00:42:33.920 --> 00:42:38.400
feeling after meals, metabolic daily can change everything.
703
00:42:38.400 --> 00:42:40.560
This isn't your typical probiotic.
704
00:42:40.560 --> 00:42:43.920
It contains live acromasia, moonesophila.
705
00:42:43.920 --> 00:42:47.920
It's an incredible next generation strain that most of us are deficient in.
706
00:42:47.920 --> 00:42:52.760
It literally strengthens your gut lining and helps your body metabolize sugars and carbs
707
00:42:52.760 --> 00:42:54.960
so much more efficiently.
708
00:42:54.960 --> 00:42:57.560
What I love most is how it makes me feel.
709
00:42:57.560 --> 00:42:59.680
My energy is sustained throughout the day.
710
00:42:59.680 --> 00:43:04.640
I'm not constantly thinking about my next snack and I actually feel a little bit more full
711
00:43:04.640 --> 00:43:05.640
faster.
712
00:43:05.640 --> 00:43:09.840
It's like my body finally learned how to work with the food instead of against it.
713
00:43:09.840 --> 00:43:12.920
Plus my digestion has never been better.
714
00:43:12.920 --> 00:43:15.360
This at Pendulum apart is the science.
715
00:43:15.360 --> 00:43:20.800
They were founded by PhD scientists and doctors with the myoclinic as their first investor.
716
00:43:20.800 --> 00:43:26.400
They're the first company in the U.S. to bring live acromasia to market using DNA sequencing
717
00:43:26.400 --> 00:43:28.520
in an oxygen-free facility.
718
00:43:28.520 --> 00:43:33.520
I'm so selective about supplements that I recommend and metabolic daily has earned a permanent
719
00:43:33.520 --> 00:43:37.280
spot in my routine and recommendation to my clients.
720
00:43:37.280 --> 00:43:43.520
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721
00:43:43.520 --> 00:43:44.920
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722
00:43:44.920 --> 00:43:51.840
That's PendulumLive.com with code Mona, your gut and your energy levels will thank you.
723
00:43:51.840 --> 00:44:01.640
A lot of the things that I'm hearing you've mentioned so far, they're things that are
724
00:44:01.640 --> 00:44:04.680
just foundational truths to human physiology.
725
00:44:04.680 --> 00:44:08.080
Things that we know that we've need that have stood the test of time.
726
00:44:08.080 --> 00:44:10.320
We're going to dive into those as a solution.
727
00:44:10.320 --> 00:44:16.680
Before we go there, let's just really zone in on the insults that do come from modern
728
00:44:16.680 --> 00:44:17.680
living.
729
00:44:17.680 --> 00:44:23.440
One of the most common complaints that I get from specifically women is brain fog.
730
00:44:23.440 --> 00:44:29.360
They're not understanding how specific foods or lifestyle practices could be causing them
731
00:44:29.360 --> 00:44:30.360
inflammation.
732
00:44:30.360 --> 00:44:33.880
It's almost like this brain body disconnect.
733
00:44:33.880 --> 00:44:39.440
How are some of the most common sources that you're seeing for this inflammation?
734
00:44:39.440 --> 00:44:40.440
Yeah.
735
00:44:40.440 --> 00:44:45.320
I think you're spot on, which is despite all the data to the contrary, many people still
736
00:44:45.320 --> 00:44:47.440
continue to live with the brain as separate from body.
737
00:44:47.440 --> 00:44:49.640
They'll say, oh, I'm having an issue with my gut.
738
00:44:49.640 --> 00:44:54.120
It doesn't influence my thinking or they'll say, I feel a little bit off.
739
00:44:54.120 --> 00:44:58.560
I feel low energy, but what does that have to do with my brain?
740
00:44:58.560 --> 00:45:02.160
I just need to eat some more sugar and then I'll have enough energy and I'll be good to
741
00:45:02.160 --> 00:45:03.160
go.
742
00:45:03.320 --> 00:45:08.760
The pathway is by which what happens in the body influences the brain include sensory
743
00:45:08.760 --> 00:45:09.760
data.
744
00:45:09.760 --> 00:45:12.600
I think that's the one that gets most often missed.
745
00:45:12.600 --> 00:45:16.200
What we consume through our eyes and through our ears has a direct conflict.
746
00:45:16.200 --> 00:45:21.680
You're noticed you're interestingly enough smells, but has a direct conduit into our brains.
747
00:45:21.680 --> 00:45:27.160
Probably the single most significant source of inflammatory stress in the American life
748
00:45:27.160 --> 00:45:34.520
that is at least undervalued is the news and content that we consume.
749
00:45:34.520 --> 00:45:39.240
Whether you're watching MSNBC or Fox, chances are we put in five to ten minutes, you're
750
00:45:39.240 --> 00:45:43.080
going to feel your heart rate start to go up, you're going to feel stress.
751
00:45:43.080 --> 00:45:45.640
The reason is that's because what the news is designed to do.
752
00:45:45.640 --> 00:45:51.640
It knows as to most people in the news and or in TV that negativity sells, right?
753
00:45:51.640 --> 00:45:53.600
So we have a negativity bias.
754
00:45:53.600 --> 00:45:57.560
We pay more attention to things that are scary because our brains say we don't want to
755
00:45:57.560 --> 00:45:58.560
die.
756
00:45:58.560 --> 00:46:01.280
So if it's scary, we'll make sure to take care of that first.
757
00:46:01.280 --> 00:46:06.040
So the content we consume through our eyes and through our ears is a major source of
758
00:46:06.040 --> 00:46:11.360
inflammatory stress because as you alluded to earlier, when we experience chronic stress
759
00:46:11.360 --> 00:46:14.560
in our brains, it actually promotes chronic inflammation.
760
00:46:14.560 --> 00:46:19.640
The pathways are a little bit nebulous, but it is because that initially stress lowers
761
00:46:19.640 --> 00:46:23.160
inflammation, chronic stress increases inflammation.
762
00:46:23.640 --> 00:46:28.960
Because what we consider here is from the framework of what we're putting into our bodies,
763
00:46:28.960 --> 00:46:33.360
are we giving our brains a danger signal, stress is a danger signal.
764
00:46:33.360 --> 00:46:36.480
It says there's something scary out there in the world that needs to be on guard.
765
00:46:36.480 --> 00:46:41.200
We don't care so much about how the duration of our lives, other than not dying right now.
766
00:46:41.200 --> 00:46:42.800
We don't care about happiness.
767
00:46:42.800 --> 00:46:47.360
We care about staying alive for the next ten minutes, few hours.
768
00:46:47.360 --> 00:46:51.800
Anything that creates a danger signal tells our brains to optimize towards the present.
769
00:46:51.800 --> 00:46:54.400
I think it's the expense of our future brains.
770
00:46:54.400 --> 00:46:58.720
So what we consume through our eyes, through our ears, and that also includes, unfortunately,
771
00:46:58.720 --> 00:47:00.920
conversations we have with friends and family.
772
00:47:00.920 --> 00:47:04.760
If you're engaging in a conversation with your spouse or partner right before you move
773
00:47:04.760 --> 00:47:09.080
to sleep out, whatever political thing you're talking about and that revs you up, that
774
00:47:09.080 --> 00:47:11.760
is a potentially inflammatory info.
775
00:47:11.760 --> 00:47:16.720
So bottom line here is to pay attention to what you consume through your eyes and through
776
00:47:16.720 --> 00:47:21.760
your ears because that has a direct conduit into your brain that means it's hugely underappreciated
777
00:47:21.760 --> 00:47:25.240
in source of inflammatory stress.
778
00:47:25.240 --> 00:47:29.080
The next big thing would be to talk about, kind of as we're moving down, what we take
779
00:47:29.080 --> 00:47:31.040
in through our nose and through our mouth.
780
00:47:31.040 --> 00:47:34.400
So the big one that most people pay attention to is the food that we eat.
781
00:47:34.400 --> 00:47:37.560
Absolutely, food is vital to this conversation.
782
00:47:37.560 --> 00:47:42.280
Most people eat what we would call a Western pattern diet or an ultra-process diet.
783
00:47:42.280 --> 00:47:46.960
There's tons of data showing that an ultra-process diet, which is rich in foods that have tons
784
00:47:46.960 --> 00:47:51.920
of ingredients on the back of the labels, high in sugar, high in salt, high in preservatives,
785
00:47:51.920 --> 00:47:54.960
correlates with every negative health thing you can think of.
786
00:47:54.960 --> 00:47:59.400
From dementia to depression, also cardiovascular disease, shorter lifetime.
787
00:47:59.400 --> 00:48:03.840
So ultra-process foods are an inflammatory stress on our body.
788
00:48:03.840 --> 00:48:08.440
So what we eat, certainly, huge part of the conversation, then what we breathe.
789
00:48:08.440 --> 00:48:12.960
And this is something that, similar to the news, most people are not nearly as aware as
790
00:48:12.960 --> 00:48:19.400
they should be because they eat three times a day, but you breathe 20,000 times a day.
791
00:48:19.400 --> 00:48:24.600
And unfortunately, all these tiny particles that are in the air than we breathe, they
792
00:48:24.600 --> 00:48:30.080
get exposed to the two tennis courts or so of service area within our lungs.
793
00:48:30.080 --> 00:48:34.680
And the very small particles can penetrate into our blood vessels where they cause local
794
00:48:34.680 --> 00:48:37.400
inflammation and systemic inflammation.
795
00:48:37.400 --> 00:48:42.120
And they've done studies where they looked at the inflammatory cells in the brain of dogs
796
00:48:42.120 --> 00:48:46.720
and children and adults in places with air pollution, and what you can see is higher
797
00:48:46.720 --> 00:48:50.760
there, the more the brain inflammatory pathways are up.
798
00:48:50.760 --> 00:48:57.680
So what we'll shift over into some positive things just to kind of round this out here.
799
00:48:57.680 --> 00:49:00.120
So we've covered the things you take in on the top.
800
00:49:00.120 --> 00:49:05.760
There's other stuff that influences inflammation, so exposure to certain infections, for sure,
801
00:49:05.760 --> 00:49:10.200
skin infections, the things that we put on our skin, absolutely other considerations.
802
00:49:10.200 --> 00:49:14.560
But really what you want to think about is anytime there is an opportunity for data to
803
00:49:14.560 --> 00:49:20.440
come in through the outside world into your brain, that is an opportunity for either inflammation
804
00:49:20.440 --> 00:49:24.280
or for kind of the stabilization of the immune response.
805
00:49:24.280 --> 00:49:29.000
So in a perfect world, we're trying to do everything we can to optimize those variables.
806
00:49:29.000 --> 00:49:34.000
I'm very cautious because sometimes when you go down this conversation saying, oh, well,
807
00:49:34.000 --> 00:49:35.120
the world is toxic.
808
00:49:35.120 --> 00:49:36.120
The world is inflammatory.
809
00:49:36.120 --> 00:49:39.240
I'm just not going to leave my bubble that's not the goal.
810
00:49:39.240 --> 00:49:43.360
The goal is to just do a bit better, and then when you do that, you're targeting brain
811
00:49:43.360 --> 00:49:47.680
fog, the mental health, the cognitive health, and just general matter of all your life.
812
00:49:47.680 --> 00:49:52.400
And smiling for two reasons, one, the first thing that you said wasn't toxic food.
813
00:49:52.400 --> 00:49:53.400
It's consumption.
814
00:49:53.400 --> 00:49:58.680
One of the best lessons that I learned from the ashram, and really from Ayurveda, is questioning
815
00:49:58.680 --> 00:50:03.160
what are you digesting, and just knowing we digest with all of our senses, what we watch,
816
00:50:03.160 --> 00:50:06.280
what we smell, what we eat, what we listen to, and what we put on our skin.
817
00:50:06.360 --> 00:50:09.680
And in my healing journey, when I went back to the ashram, there was no, it was a time
818
00:50:09.680 --> 00:50:13.080
where there was no social media, there's no more news, there was no more distraction.
819
00:50:13.080 --> 00:50:17.640
And when you have no external distraction, you're forced to tune in and you pay attention.
820
00:50:17.640 --> 00:50:21.280
And all of a sudden, you can kind of listen and tune into the symptoms, but also the quality
821
00:50:21.280 --> 00:50:22.880
of your thoughts.
822
00:50:22.880 --> 00:50:24.240
And what you're saying makes sense.
823
00:50:24.240 --> 00:50:28.600
And I really hope our listeners ask themselves that question, the water you digesting,
824
00:50:28.600 --> 00:50:30.080
what are you consuming?
825
00:50:30.080 --> 00:50:34.280
Because I don't think I've been brought to my knees so many times in the past year from
826
00:50:34.280 --> 00:50:37.240
the news and social media than ever before.
827
00:50:37.240 --> 00:50:40.240
And I think that if we're really going to guard our health, this is something that we've
828
00:50:40.240 --> 00:50:41.240
got a monitor.
829
00:50:41.240 --> 00:50:42.720
So you're totally right.
830
00:50:42.720 --> 00:50:48.640
And again, not to say that you don't participate, I think that's, I love sometimes where
831
00:50:48.640 --> 00:50:50.120
people do a lecture.
832
00:50:50.120 --> 00:50:55.720
And basically what they're saying is move off the grid and, you know, or help arm with
833
00:50:55.720 --> 00:51:00.120
like, to go to the llama and chickens.
834
00:51:00.120 --> 00:51:01.120
Everything.
835
00:51:02.120 --> 00:51:07.840
I don't think that's feasible, but I do think it is paying attention to the consumption
836
00:51:07.840 --> 00:51:13.600
because we're being that we consume changes us, you know, mentally, our brains are
837
00:51:13.600 --> 00:51:14.600
mental health.
838
00:51:14.600 --> 00:51:18.120
It's a reflection of what we eat, what we consume, what we breathe.
839
00:51:18.120 --> 00:51:24.120
And so the amazing opportunity here is that there's so many chances to build a better
840
00:51:24.120 --> 00:51:25.120
brain.
841
00:51:25.120 --> 00:51:29.040
And by doing so, I think clearer, feel better.
842
00:51:29.040 --> 00:51:35.200
And a lot of these things don't take some sort of, I mean, I don't have some crazy biohack,
843
00:51:35.200 --> 00:51:40.440
you know, it's more of the smaller things we do each day that can have such a compounding
844
00:51:40.440 --> 00:51:42.240
value to our long-term health.
845
00:51:42.240 --> 00:51:43.880
Yeah, I couldn't agree more.
846
00:51:43.880 --> 00:51:45.480
I think you nailed it also previously.
847
00:51:45.480 --> 00:51:48.680
You said when you speak to somebody who lives in a blue zone, they're not, they don't
848
00:51:48.680 --> 00:51:53.520
have a checklist of biohacking, the supplements, the things that they're taking, grams of protein,
849
00:51:53.520 --> 00:51:57.320
they're actually just in practice of living a high quality life with things that actually
850
00:51:57.320 --> 00:51:58.320
make them feel good, right?
851
00:51:58.320 --> 00:51:59.920
I think that's what we need to focus on.
852
00:51:59.920 --> 00:52:00.920
So thank you.
853
00:52:00.920 --> 00:52:05.560
I mean, I'll be excited if 40 years from now it turns out the biohackers live 200 and
854
00:52:05.560 --> 00:52:06.560
20.
855
00:52:06.560 --> 00:52:10.600
But right now the best thing to me is exactly what you just said, which is the people
856
00:52:10.600 --> 00:52:15.640
who do the best are the people for whom what we would call biohacking is just life.
857
00:52:15.640 --> 00:52:17.360
They're not going to go home.
858
00:52:17.360 --> 00:52:21.440
They're just moving because they need to for a work or for a pleasure, you know, they're
859
00:52:21.440 --> 00:52:25.000
not trying to get a certain amount of sunlight through a sun lamp.
860
00:52:25.000 --> 00:52:26.000
They're just outside.
861
00:52:26.000 --> 00:52:30.960
It doesn't mean that we don't need the other stuff, but I think that there's a, there's
862
00:52:30.960 --> 00:52:37.480
a real risk or liability when we try to extract individual perceived truths from something
863
00:52:37.480 --> 00:52:38.480
bigger.
864
00:52:38.480 --> 00:52:43.600
So for food, there's been such a movement to say, well, this is the nutrient in this
865
00:52:43.600 --> 00:52:44.600
superfood.
866
00:52:44.600 --> 00:52:50.600
And if we just take a big dose of that, it provides them 10 times the value, like not exactly,
867
00:52:50.600 --> 00:52:51.600
right?
868
00:52:51.600 --> 00:52:57.960
You've been doing the actual thing, you know, a two minute high intensity exercise or
869
00:52:57.960 --> 00:53:02.360
you could say, well, I'm going to go on a 20 minute walk because that's actually enjoyable
870
00:53:02.360 --> 00:53:04.400
and that's what people have done historically.
871
00:53:04.400 --> 00:53:08.640
So point here being the further you get from the real thing, the more risk there is, I
872
00:53:08.640 --> 00:53:10.360
think to not actually getting the value.
873
00:53:10.360 --> 00:53:11.360
Yeah.
874
00:53:11.360 --> 00:53:15.040
And I really hope for listeners to like, I think you deserve a shout out to be able to
875
00:53:15.040 --> 00:53:19.680
turn down the noise on other people dictating what you should be doing and having the courage
876
00:53:19.840 --> 00:53:24.560
to just tune into what you know to be inherently true for your body and how you feel.
877
00:53:24.560 --> 00:53:28.920
And maybe one day it is a really hard hit workout and another day, it's simply a walk with
878
00:53:28.920 --> 00:53:33.600
a friend or a dog and just understanding that the value can be equal on your body.
879
00:53:33.600 --> 00:53:38.240
If it's what your body actually needs, I really hope that the future of medicine is about
880
00:53:38.240 --> 00:53:42.680
acknowledging that whether we're calling it nervous system regulation or optimizing
881
00:53:42.680 --> 00:53:47.160
the terrain of our body or just bringing our body back into coherence.
882
00:53:47.160 --> 00:53:51.920
I think it's this coherent state that we need to feel first in order for all the other
883
00:53:51.920 --> 00:53:55.920
modalities to eventually work and food is very important.
884
00:53:55.920 --> 00:53:59.960
But I just think the way that we've built up our food system and the world of processed
885
00:53:59.960 --> 00:54:04.760
food and what we're calling healthy food is our ancestors wouldn't recognize that at
886
00:54:04.760 --> 00:54:05.760
all.
887
00:54:05.760 --> 00:54:06.760
It's not even real food.
888
00:54:06.760 --> 00:54:07.760
So it's not food.
889
00:54:07.760 --> 00:54:08.760
Yeah.
890
00:54:08.760 --> 00:54:14.120
We are just kind of shout out to the research team that I'm working with here because one
891
00:54:14.120 --> 00:54:17.720
of the things that we're doing at this company, Big Bowl Health and the number of is that
892
00:54:17.720 --> 00:54:22.320
we're trying to actually understand what is in our food and why does it matter that we
893
00:54:22.320 --> 00:54:27.320
eat real food as opposed to just assuming like there's a nutrient in it that matters.
894
00:54:27.320 --> 00:54:30.960
We're doing, we're actually in the process right now, I've put it together, what I think
895
00:54:30.960 --> 00:54:34.720
will be one of the largest kind of grand and minus trials ever done on the food.
896
00:54:34.720 --> 00:54:37.160
And we're looking at this plant called Himalayan Targaryen.
897
00:54:37.160 --> 00:54:38.160
Yeah.
898
00:54:38.160 --> 00:54:40.160
I was going to say your part of this is great.
899
00:54:40.160 --> 00:54:44.600
Yeah, we've been, we've been studying it for about five years, but it's been, it's been
900
00:54:44.600 --> 00:54:48.360
basically eaten for like 3,000, 4,000 years.
901
00:54:48.360 --> 00:54:52.360
And the idea of you're being, you know, it's one thing to say food is medicine.
902
00:54:52.360 --> 00:54:53.960
A lot of people talk about that.
903
00:54:53.960 --> 00:54:54.960
Great.
904
00:54:54.960 --> 00:54:57.280
So certain foods are better than other foods, but then why?
905
00:54:57.280 --> 00:55:02.040
And so there's a lot of push facts, some of it quite valid, which is, you know, to not
906
00:55:02.040 --> 00:55:06.360
over index toward saying, oh, we just eat some blueberries and it cures everything.
907
00:55:06.360 --> 00:55:07.360
Yeah.
908
00:55:08.360 --> 00:55:10.480
But we need some science behind it.
909
00:55:10.480 --> 00:55:14.680
It can't just be there's antioxidants, more antioxidants are better because that's
910
00:55:14.680 --> 00:55:19.320
actually not been the case when they study items and antioxidants, people have worse issues.
911
00:55:19.320 --> 00:55:20.320
Yeah.
912
00:55:20.320 --> 00:55:23.520
So we're trying to do what I believe, again, will be one of the largest analyses ever
913
00:55:23.520 --> 00:55:28.760
done on a specific plant to better understand what does it do in real humans compared to
914
00:55:28.760 --> 00:55:33.920
a placebo looking at hundreds, thousands actually of different markers across metabolism
915
00:55:33.920 --> 00:55:39.440
of the immune system because the reality of it is, you know, we live in these silos where
916
00:55:39.440 --> 00:55:44.240
one group of people would say food is everything, you know, don't touch a pharmaceutical, it's
917
00:55:44.240 --> 00:55:45.240
all about food.
918
00:55:45.240 --> 00:55:47.480
And then the other group of people would say it's all about drugs.
919
00:55:47.480 --> 00:55:51.240
If you want to change your diet, great, but it's not really going to make much of a difference.
920
00:55:51.240 --> 00:55:52.520
That's conventional medicine.
921
00:55:52.520 --> 00:55:56.600
All my doctor friends would say, yeah, you should eat less processed foods, but the reality
922
00:55:56.600 --> 00:55:58.480
is nobody's going to make the change.
923
00:55:58.480 --> 00:56:00.280
So we'll just prepare you the drug.
924
00:56:00.280 --> 00:56:05.880
And I think the bridge here is to say what's actually in a food, you know, how do we understand
925
00:56:05.880 --> 00:56:11.360
the specifics beyond just the macronutrients, the micronutrients of what isn't a food and
926
00:56:11.360 --> 00:56:12.840
how it changes us.
927
00:56:12.840 --> 00:56:18.600
And as that kind of magic is allowed to percolate out into the world, I quote, it will dissolve
928
00:56:18.600 --> 00:56:24.080
some of this artificial boundary with the idea that like it's only drugs or it's only nutrition
929
00:56:24.080 --> 00:56:29.040
because the reality is that a food is packed full of all these different molecules.
930
00:56:29.040 --> 00:56:33.480
It's kind of dark matter of food that we're only just starting to understand, but that's
931
00:56:33.480 --> 00:56:40.520
why a single nutrient from a food is different from eating the food in its natural state.
932
00:56:40.520 --> 00:56:45.760
And I think it's so fundamental to this whole field of nutrition to actually get data
933
00:56:45.760 --> 00:56:48.520
that we're not just saying, well, our ancestors ate the food.
934
00:56:48.520 --> 00:56:49.520
Therefore, it's good.
935
00:56:49.520 --> 00:56:51.320
You need to be able to touch modern science.
936
00:56:51.320 --> 00:56:52.320
Oh, yeah.
937
00:56:52.320 --> 00:56:53.320
Shout out to Big Bold Health.
938
00:56:53.320 --> 00:56:59.520
That tartarie buckwheat flour makes really yummy pancakes that my kids absolutely love.
939
00:56:59.520 --> 00:57:01.360
I love that you're part of that.
940
00:57:01.360 --> 00:57:04.360
And I love, I want to stay tuned on that.
941
00:57:04.360 --> 00:57:06.080
And something that you just gave me goosebumps.
942
00:57:06.080 --> 00:57:10.000
So the food that we're consuming is actually changing who we are.
943
00:57:10.000 --> 00:57:14.880
It's not just physically, but it's emotionally and cognitively, too, like it becomes us.
944
00:57:14.880 --> 00:57:19.520
So with that consumption, can you share more about what the science is showing, like to
945
00:57:19.520 --> 00:57:20.520
your point?
946
00:57:20.520 --> 00:57:25.640
We keep hearing about ultra-processed foods and we know that they're toxic, but for an
947
00:57:25.640 --> 00:57:29.880
everyday person, we see these foods being sold everywhere globally.
948
00:57:29.880 --> 00:57:33.480
So there's already a sense of trust in what the government is putting out for us.
949
00:57:33.480 --> 00:57:34.840
Well, it can't be that bad.
950
00:57:34.840 --> 00:57:39.080
So for people, can you paint a picture of what happens physiologically for people who can't
951
00:57:39.080 --> 00:57:42.080
see what it does to our guts and to our brain?
952
00:57:42.080 --> 00:57:46.280
Yeah, I think this gets to a point that we already have talked about a little bit, which
953
00:57:46.280 --> 00:57:51.080
is this perceived disconnect between what happens in the body and what happens in the brain,
954
00:57:51.080 --> 00:57:55.320
where it's, you know, I've got my brain, I've got me, I've got my identity, and that's
955
00:57:55.320 --> 00:58:00.440
separate from the food that I eat or how I experience today that the version of me that
956
00:58:00.440 --> 00:58:03.400
wakes up today is the same me that wakes up tomorrow.
957
00:58:03.400 --> 00:58:09.080
And that's just not how biology works, but the problem is because our perceived seed of
958
00:58:09.080 --> 00:58:14.400
ego and identity is in the head in the brain with what some people will call the mind.
959
00:58:14.560 --> 00:58:19.840
We have that that is a static thing and everything else happens external to that, but clearly
960
00:58:19.840 --> 00:58:20.840
it changes, right?
961
00:58:20.840 --> 00:58:26.520
Like if you wake up some days, you're feeling more optimistic or more excited about the
962
00:58:26.520 --> 00:58:27.520
day.
963
00:58:27.520 --> 00:58:31.440
Other days, maybe you're feeling more sad or just more generally low energy.
964
00:58:31.440 --> 00:58:36.600
And so sometimes we have a sense as to why that might be the case, you know, goes out
965
00:58:36.600 --> 00:58:39.760
and drinks a ton of alcohol and they wake up the next day and they feel hungover, they'll
966
00:58:39.760 --> 00:58:42.040
say, oh, it's because I drank the alcohol.
967
00:58:42.040 --> 00:58:46.040
But they'll make this connection, which was I adjusted a bunch of poison and now my
968
00:58:46.040 --> 00:58:48.160
brain and what we are having to process it.
969
00:58:48.160 --> 00:58:53.120
Interestingly enough, levels of hangover, the subject and feeling of hangover correlates
970
00:58:53.120 --> 00:58:55.720
directly with levels of inflammation in the blood.
971
00:58:55.720 --> 00:58:58.400
So that's a great connection, which is I'm feeling off.
972
00:58:58.400 --> 00:59:00.640
I'm not feeling super great about the day.
973
00:59:00.640 --> 00:59:03.280
It's actually inflammation driving.
974
00:59:03.280 --> 00:59:07.920
So we have these kind of specific examples where a person let's say, some over or persons
975
00:59:07.920 --> 00:59:12.000
really hungry where they feel like, oh, I'm angry because I haven't eaten anything
976
00:59:12.000 --> 00:59:14.360
for the next day where we start to make those connections.
977
00:59:14.360 --> 00:59:18.360
But if you follow that thread, all the way to the start, which you recognize is that
978
00:59:18.360 --> 00:59:24.160
your brain and everything it does is a function of what we consume, meaning all the arm
979
00:59:24.160 --> 00:59:29.120
brain, which are mostly fat, if you were to strip out the water, that has to come from
980
00:59:29.120 --> 00:59:30.120
somewhere.
981
00:59:30.120 --> 00:59:34.880
And because our brain cells, one of the most common fats is actually an omega-3 fat
982
00:59:34.880 --> 00:59:35.880
cult.
983
00:59:35.880 --> 00:59:39.560
Of course, I had to say, you know, I've asked it or DHA, and that is something that really
984
00:59:39.560 --> 00:59:43.040
can't synthesize and high amounts in our bodies.
985
00:59:43.040 --> 00:59:44.800
It has to kind of come from dying.
986
00:59:44.800 --> 00:59:48.800
We need to lease the precursor EPA, but also DHA from our diet.
987
00:59:48.800 --> 00:59:53.160
So we say, okay, well, structurally our brains are made from our food.
988
00:59:53.160 --> 00:59:57.560
So is it true that different foods have different effects on how our brains are built?
989
00:59:57.560 --> 01:00:00.640
And therefore, that have an effect on how we think and feel.
990
01:00:00.640 --> 01:00:04.840
The answer is, yeah, like if you were to deprive somebody of key nutrients, their brain
991
01:00:04.840 --> 01:00:06.840
health would drop off dramatically.
992
01:00:06.840 --> 01:00:13.720
There are deficiency, for example, vitamin B1, where a person view is private vitamin B1,
993
01:00:13.720 --> 01:00:16.400
will develop alter mental state.
994
01:00:16.400 --> 01:00:21.160
And these are scenarios, basically, in which we say clearly certain nutrients program and
995
01:00:21.160 --> 01:00:24.360
build our brains to where they're more or less functional.
996
01:00:24.360 --> 01:00:28.760
So to put this into context that I think people can understand it, it's why am I thinking
997
01:00:28.760 --> 01:00:30.360
and feeling the way that I am?
998
01:00:30.360 --> 01:00:32.080
Just ask the question, right?
999
01:00:32.080 --> 01:00:33.840
What are the answers a person's going to get?
1000
01:00:33.840 --> 01:00:37.360
Well, it's sunny out, so I'm happy, or just got a promotion at work.
1001
01:00:37.360 --> 01:00:41.280
So I'm happy, or I want some sad news, so I'm sad.
1002
01:00:41.280 --> 01:00:47.040
But really what you're experiencing is the biological output of your brain state, overlaying
1003
01:00:47.040 --> 01:00:49.360
with inputs.
1004
01:00:49.360 --> 01:00:52.560
And we have agency over what inputs we're putting in.
1005
01:00:52.560 --> 01:00:56.720
So there's a reason why people who consume a certain dietary pattern, like a Mediterranean
1006
01:00:56.720 --> 01:01:00.840
diet, are at a lower risk of developing depression and dementia, because they're building
1007
01:01:00.840 --> 01:01:03.440
and programming their brain towards a better state.
1008
01:01:03.440 --> 01:01:07.040
What I find really interesting and I wrote an article about it recently is, is it possible
1009
01:01:07.040 --> 01:01:11.880
that their personality traits can be influenced by things that we consume?
1010
01:01:11.880 --> 01:01:17.120
So thinking about, you know, open-mindedness, consciousness, extroversion, agreeableness
1011
01:01:17.120 --> 01:01:22.440
and the big five personality traits, there's now some data suggesting that the microbiome
1012
01:01:22.440 --> 01:01:25.360
and the food that we eat can change some of these traits.
1013
01:01:25.360 --> 01:01:31.440
We already have data, for example, with ingestion of psilocybin, showing more kind of open-mindedness.
1014
01:01:31.440 --> 01:01:37.600
And if that's what it means is that what we eat is capable of fundamentally altering
1015
01:01:37.600 --> 01:01:42.000
what we define as ourself, right?
1016
01:01:42.000 --> 01:01:46.560
So then maybe it does matter a little bit more, not just about eating the right nutrients,
1017
01:01:46.560 --> 01:01:50.720
but paying attention to where these plants come from, where these animals coming from,
1018
01:01:50.720 --> 01:01:55.720
because the next step, if you keep going down this rabbit hole, is to know that the quality
1019
01:01:55.720 --> 01:02:00.000
of the food we eat is a reflection of the quality of what our food ate, meaning if you eat
1020
01:02:00.000 --> 01:02:04.040
an animal protein, how that animal live, did they live well?
1021
01:02:04.040 --> 01:02:05.440
What nutrients were in the animal?
1022
01:02:05.440 --> 01:02:06.440
Did you eat a plant?
1023
01:02:06.440 --> 01:02:09.160
What was the soil like that the plant lived in?
1024
01:02:09.160 --> 01:02:13.920
Because soil nutrient transfer from the soil to the plant to the animal to the human may
1025
01:02:13.920 --> 01:02:18.880
actually have a lot more to do with our own health than just saying, I ate some kale or
1026
01:02:18.880 --> 01:02:24.240
a piece of steak, there's this data transfer between systems that's actually reprogramming
1027
01:02:24.240 --> 01:02:25.240
us.
1028
01:02:25.240 --> 01:02:28.320
And so this gets me to one last point, and then I'll stop this kind of.
1029
01:02:28.320 --> 01:02:30.560
No, this is great.
1030
01:02:30.560 --> 01:02:36.440
There's, you know, we are a reflection of what we consume, and we're not separate from
1031
01:02:36.440 --> 01:02:37.440
nature.
1032
01:02:37.440 --> 01:02:41.560
It's not like you can take a human, and they can thrive in isolation.
1033
01:02:41.560 --> 01:02:47.520
We talked earlier about eating the connection, but if you're not eating plants that are
1034
01:02:47.520 --> 01:02:48.840
healthy plants, you're not.
1035
01:02:48.840 --> 01:02:53.800
You're not eating animals that are healthy animals, you're not a healthy person.
1036
01:02:53.800 --> 01:02:57.360
It turns out that one of the reasons for this, because there are these tiny molecules
1037
01:02:57.360 --> 01:03:02.520
within our food, that program the immune system at a relative state of inflammation, and
1038
01:03:02.520 --> 01:03:06.240
because that has an effect on mental health, on brain health, it becomes a whole lot more
1039
01:03:06.240 --> 01:03:11.160
relevant to think about how the entire ecosystem is wrapped together.
1040
01:03:11.160 --> 01:03:15.800
So like, our health is planetary health, they aren't these separate themes.
1041
01:03:15.800 --> 01:03:20.560
As much as people want to create an extract with exact levels of all of the vitamins,
1042
01:03:20.560 --> 01:03:23.640
you know, the green drink, where you're going to get exactly what you need, so you're
1043
01:03:23.640 --> 01:03:24.640
going to be healthy.
1044
01:03:24.640 --> 01:03:28.520
The real conversation is there's no human health without planetary health.
1045
01:03:28.520 --> 01:03:29.520
Yeah.
1046
01:03:29.520 --> 01:03:33.600
So eventually, the scenario where everything is interconnected, what we define is our own
1047
01:03:33.600 --> 01:03:39.200
identity, doesn't end where our skin ends, right, because it also incorporates the microbiome.
1048
01:03:39.200 --> 01:03:43.880
And if it incorporates the microbiome, some of which comes from our food to microbiome,
1049
01:03:43.880 --> 01:03:48.680
that incorporates the soil health, you know, so the bottom line here is it is all interconnected
1050
01:03:48.680 --> 01:03:53.400
food is a major driver of what makes us who we are, and we change day to day depending
1051
01:03:53.400 --> 01:03:54.640
on what we can assume.
1052
01:03:54.640 --> 01:03:59.200
And what freedom is there in that understanding we change day to day, because I feel like
1053
01:03:59.200 --> 01:04:02.960
often when we think about anything to do with the brain, it's about routine and structure
1054
01:04:02.960 --> 01:04:06.200
and finding something that works and doing that habitually, and then we figure out what
1055
01:04:06.200 --> 01:04:08.360
works for us and we stick with it.
1056
01:04:08.360 --> 01:04:12.800
But when we look at the connection, the beautiful connection to nature that you painted, nature's
1057
01:04:12.800 --> 01:04:15.560
always changing and evolving.
1058
01:04:15.560 --> 01:04:18.880
And when I'm working with my clients, I'm helping them understand the information that
1059
01:04:18.880 --> 01:04:23.160
comes from food, even at different times of the year, it's designed to help our immune
1060
01:04:23.160 --> 01:04:29.120
system thrive and communicate to our gut microbiome in a different way, like if we could just
1061
01:04:29.120 --> 01:04:33.840
paint that picture for people to understand like the awe that could come when you're choosing
1062
01:04:33.840 --> 01:04:38.520
the foods to eat instead of the distraction of survival.
1063
01:04:38.520 --> 01:04:41.480
And then you take on so much more ownership for what you're consuming.
1064
01:04:41.480 --> 01:04:44.000
And I think that it's that connection that is everything.
1065
01:04:44.000 --> 01:04:45.800
So I really love that you're owning it on that.
1066
01:04:45.800 --> 01:04:49.720
And I also love that you're, and this is exactly what I love for this podcast, you're
1067
01:04:49.720 --> 01:04:55.600
emerging science with some, another concept in Ayurveda, which is about understanding
1068
01:04:55.600 --> 01:05:01.520
the seasons and when we think about consumption and specific ingredients for our bodies and
1069
01:05:01.520 --> 01:05:04.760
how personalized they should be and can be.
1070
01:05:04.760 --> 01:05:08.200
And the fact that you can kind of notify it with science, there's a concept of eating
1071
01:05:08.280 --> 01:05:14.280
such thick food, so foods that are high in vibration and high in energy that are grown in
1072
01:05:14.280 --> 01:05:20.040
the sun, access to air and water and the prana, the energy from that, the life force energy
1073
01:05:20.040 --> 01:05:24.520
that then gets digested within our body and you do feel the difference.
1074
01:05:24.520 --> 01:05:27.880
And my hope is that for listeners, you go away and this could be on vacation, a healthy
1075
01:05:27.880 --> 01:05:33.200
vacation when there's no alcohol, but you're having these high pranic, high vibrational inputs
1076
01:05:33.200 --> 01:05:34.200
for your body.
1077
01:05:34.200 --> 01:05:35.520
And then you feel the difference.
1078
01:05:35.520 --> 01:05:39.200
And the second you feel that difference, that's the driver for change.
1079
01:05:39.200 --> 01:05:40.440
I totally agree with that.
1080
01:05:40.440 --> 01:05:41.760
You have to feel something.
1081
01:05:41.760 --> 01:05:45.360
And I think that's where we've lost a lot of the drive and modern medicine.
1082
01:05:45.360 --> 01:05:50.480
It's just this sterile thing, which is do this and it's fine to fix your issues.
1083
01:05:50.480 --> 01:05:54.880
I mean, we know, for example, people see both factors huge, that if you get something
1084
01:05:54.880 --> 01:05:59.680
that has no real reason to have a value for them in terms of the biology, then a huge
1085
01:05:59.680 --> 01:06:04.160
percentage of people will still get better because they feel like they're consuming something
1086
01:06:04.240 --> 01:06:05.520
that is a value to their health.
1087
01:06:05.520 --> 01:06:10.880
They have this sense as in a camp, they, you know, how important this whole thing is,
1088
01:06:10.880 --> 01:06:16.320
we'd be tethered to something that connects us to this bigger picture and feel that what
1089
01:06:16.320 --> 01:06:18.480
we're doing makes sense for our health.
1090
01:06:18.480 --> 01:06:22.480
There's, there's been correlates what you're describing that I'm a big fan of, which is
1091
01:06:22.480 --> 01:06:25.840
the reason why nature exposure or time in nature matters for health.
1092
01:06:25.840 --> 01:06:29.600
There's a lot of research around this, primarily out of Japan where they've been studying
1093
01:06:29.600 --> 01:06:32.720
forest failure or shinryoku, but some of it in the States.
1094
01:06:32.720 --> 01:06:36.960
And one of the things that's emerged from this is not only do people in hospitals get better,
1095
01:06:36.960 --> 01:06:41.920
if they have windows facing nature faster than people who don't have that exposure.
1096
01:06:41.920 --> 01:06:46.480
So there's something about nature there, but when people then put them outside,
1097
01:06:46.480 --> 01:06:48.560
it changes the way their brain function.
1098
01:06:48.560 --> 01:06:53.680
So it changes the way they think, it changes the activation of this default mode network.
1099
01:06:53.680 --> 01:07:01.120
And one of the studies that I really love is how basically being exposed to all inspiring nature
1100
01:07:01.120 --> 01:07:06.240
in stills and people pro social behavior, it connects them more with other people and with nature.
1101
01:07:06.240 --> 01:07:09.680
And I think that's that's what for me a lot of the science has brought up.
1102
01:07:09.680 --> 01:07:13.600
I mean, science is cool just because it's great to learn new things.
1103
01:07:13.600 --> 01:07:19.040
But if you think any field of modern science now, whether you go into the brain or the microbiome
1104
01:07:19.040 --> 01:07:23.600
or the immune system, which you recognize as if you get deep enough into it,
1105
01:07:23.600 --> 01:07:28.240
it's just this whole universe of complexity and amazing insights,
1106
01:07:28.240 --> 01:07:31.040
many of which we still have to fully parse out.
1107
01:07:31.040 --> 01:07:33.680
And then you start to say, well, I have my problems.
1108
01:07:33.680 --> 01:07:38.080
Things are wrong and all the other things are not necessarily going exactly the way I want to
1109
01:07:38.080 --> 01:07:40.000
like, but there is something bigger there.
1110
01:07:40.000 --> 01:07:41.760
There's something that connects us all.
1111
01:07:41.760 --> 01:07:44.880
And I think one of just, I guess this is more of a psychological concept.
1112
01:07:44.880 --> 01:07:48.480
This isn't going, this isn't a medical degree piece of information.
1113
01:07:48.480 --> 01:07:53.920
But one of the things that feels like it's really true now is the extent to which everyone
1114
01:07:53.920 --> 01:07:57.680
senses that they're on their own, trying to succeed on their own
1115
01:07:57.680 --> 01:07:59.680
and at the expense of other people.
1116
01:07:59.680 --> 01:08:03.040
So if one person succeeds, another person has to fail.
1117
01:08:03.040 --> 01:08:08.160
And I think that this concept is actually so detrimental
1118
01:08:08.160 --> 01:08:12.240
because what it does is it puts us all into our own little silos
1119
01:08:12.240 --> 01:08:14.800
of defining what success is in life.
1120
01:08:14.800 --> 01:08:20.000
And as we've been talking about this a lot, the thing that provides value
1121
01:08:20.000 --> 01:08:25.440
and the thing that provides context for all that we do is a sense of connection to scale.
1122
01:08:26.320 --> 01:08:31.520
And you know, I'm not, you're advocating for religion or spirituality necessarily.
1123
01:08:31.520 --> 01:08:35.760
But one of the things that gives us is a sense of connection to something bigger than ourselves.
1124
01:08:35.760 --> 01:08:39.600
You can get this, you can look outside at night and it's dark and you see the stars.
1125
01:08:39.600 --> 01:08:44.400
It's hard not to kind of put all of our issues in the perspective.
1126
01:08:44.400 --> 01:08:48.320
But I think this is a huge issue that's come up where we
1127
01:08:48.320 --> 01:08:52.880
over focus on the number of lights on a photo, the amount of money that we're making,
1128
01:08:52.880 --> 01:08:54.560
not to say that these things don't matter.
1129
01:08:54.560 --> 01:08:57.840
I guess the lights on the photo doesn't, but the amount of money can matter.
1130
01:08:58.480 --> 01:09:00.400
But why of the whole thing?
1131
01:09:00.400 --> 01:09:02.480
Like why are we doing this at all?
1132
01:09:02.480 --> 01:09:05.040
Right? Is it to get the new cars, to get the bigger house?
1133
01:09:05.680 --> 01:09:11.360
And the connection piece, I think, is something that is kind of progressively being lost,
1134
01:09:11.360 --> 01:09:17.600
which is there's something more than just our own, you know, self achievement
1135
01:09:18.240 --> 01:09:24.160
because that is literally the only thing that I ever see on LinkedIn or on Instagram or in
1136
01:09:24.160 --> 01:09:26.080
forums or all these other publications.
1137
01:09:26.080 --> 01:09:30.320
It's all, look at what this person did and there's so much better for doing it on their own
1138
01:09:30.320 --> 01:09:33.200
without any help. It's like, that's not the goal.
1139
01:09:34.400 --> 01:09:37.680
There's this problem, I'll just, the closest I was, which is if you
1140
01:09:37.680 --> 01:09:40.480
walk a basketball, then if you want to go far, go together.
1141
01:09:40.480 --> 01:09:44.320
And I feel like that's kind of a piece of this whole thing, which is we've got to find a way
1142
01:09:44.320 --> 01:09:46.080
to reconnect some of this deeper stuff.
1143
01:09:46.080 --> 01:09:49.520
Otherwise, it's everyone just spiraling out and controlling isolation.
1144
01:09:49.520 --> 01:09:55.120
It's so well said. These are such overlooked contributors to poor health, but also a sense
1145
01:09:55.120 --> 01:10:00.400
of unhappiness and even the loneliness that you mentioned and the connection to mortality.
1146
01:10:00.400 --> 01:10:06.080
And what I think about the people that I've worked with, I can see there's a transition that
1147
01:10:06.080 --> 01:10:11.760
happens from healing and what they need to do to heal every single day becomes and it feels like
1148
01:10:11.760 --> 01:10:17.360
this incredibly, you know, it's a place of solitude and this selfish journey where you're all
1149
01:10:17.360 --> 01:10:21.200
on around, we're all suffering, we're all trying to figure it out. It feels really, really hard
1150
01:10:21.200 --> 01:10:26.560
and we're just, we're void of that sense of what we used to do, which was the living outside
1151
01:10:26.560 --> 01:10:31.600
in nature and nature being part of us, reliant on nature, but also in community where we did
1152
01:10:31.600 --> 01:10:37.120
things together. And I love hearing this from you also because we're showcasing that as a
1153
01:10:37.120 --> 01:10:42.400
proponent for healing and optimal brain function also for a future. We're keeping these like,
1154
01:10:42.400 --> 01:10:47.920
these, this truth alive, the sense of wisdom alive that needs to be part of the conversation with
1155
01:10:47.920 --> 01:10:52.480
with modern medicine. So thank you for doing that. And I think that this also ties into point
1156
01:10:52.480 --> 01:10:57.520
that you brought up with psilocybin and plant medicine, right? In terms of rejuvenation for
1157
01:10:57.520 --> 01:11:03.520
the brain, but I think the reason why it's also catching on for so many people is when we experience
1158
01:11:03.600 --> 01:11:07.920
hopefully with, you know, with a practitioner with guidance with somebody who's working with you
1159
01:11:07.920 --> 01:11:12.720
on coaching and integration afterwards, I'd, you know, I think a lot of people are jumping on this
1160
01:11:12.720 --> 01:11:17.600
bandwagon without understanding the full truth. But what I think that's happening in these moments
1161
01:11:17.600 --> 01:11:22.240
and whether it be with ketamine therapy or with psilocybin, and you can maybe put a scientific lens
1162
01:11:22.240 --> 01:11:28.800
on this, but we pull out of our mind, we pull back from the limitations of our intellectual brain.
1163
01:11:28.800 --> 01:11:33.040
And it's like the reminder of the awe and the wonder that exists beyond us. And I think that it
1164
01:11:33.040 --> 01:11:38.480
feels so good to remember what that feels like. And even me talking about it right now, it's like,
1165
01:11:38.480 --> 01:11:44.320
oh, it just turns down the noise of all the suffering and the congestion that I feel every single day
1166
01:11:44.320 --> 01:11:49.520
and thinking about what I need to do and the stresses of the world and anxiety and life and living.
1167
01:11:49.520 --> 01:11:54.080
But do you think that plant medicine is going to be a big part of the future when we're thinking
1168
01:11:54.080 --> 01:11:58.320
about brain health and rejuvenation also for the future when it comes to aging?
1169
01:11:59.280 --> 01:12:05.040
I hope so. And I mean, clearly, it's been part of our past for thousands of years. It's been
1170
01:12:05.040 --> 01:12:09.920
a central part of ceremonies across the world for rituals and for mental health. You know,
1171
01:12:09.920 --> 01:12:14.400
it's the irony of all the sudden we discovered these things in the last couple of decades. No,
1172
01:12:14.400 --> 01:12:19.840
we did not. Been around for a long time. But I think based on the research that I'm aware of,
1173
01:12:19.840 --> 01:12:23.920
and I'm actually involved with a group doing some work on iOS right now and looking at the
1174
01:12:23.920 --> 01:12:28.080
influence on epigenetics, microbiome, and the needs of some. I think a couple of
1175
01:12:28.080 --> 01:12:33.760
one is the current solutions to mental health are woefully inadequate. They just, they're nowhere near
1176
01:12:33.760 --> 01:12:39.040
good enough. And part of this is because as much as there are people who benefit from a targeted
1177
01:12:39.040 --> 01:12:45.920
medication, like a tricyclic antidepressant to an SNNRI or an SSRI, that the issue isn't that the
1178
01:12:45.920 --> 01:12:51.760
neurochemistry gets out of one or gets out of whack for most people. It's not like you are doing great
1179
01:12:51.840 --> 01:12:56.720
and then randomly your serotonin levels got a little bit out of whack. And therefore,
1180
01:12:56.720 --> 01:13:02.560
the solution is to take this medication. There is something about our world that leads to hundreds
1181
01:13:02.560 --> 01:13:07.200
of millions of people feeling depressed. And you could say, okay, that's just environmental,
1182
01:13:07.200 --> 01:13:12.960
you know, people have bad jobs, people are stressed about the news. And even that, we could say,
1183
01:13:12.960 --> 01:13:17.040
well, then we should do something about the way that we interface with the world. But the thing
1184
01:13:17.040 --> 01:13:24.320
about psychedelics that excites me most is that nothing else, no pharmaceutical, provides perspective
1185
01:13:24.320 --> 01:13:28.880
in the way that these molecules do. I think there is still some significant resistance
1186
01:13:28.880 --> 01:13:34.640
because of concern for side effects. What I would say is, I mean, this isn't an exact
1187
01:13:35.200 --> 01:13:41.360
emission that we should be using more psychedelics, but it is saying that based on the available
1188
01:13:41.360 --> 01:13:46.720
research and the degree to which value could be created from more widespread adoption of psychedelics
1189
01:13:46.800 --> 01:13:52.160
versus side effect risk. I think it's a no there that we should be far more willing to take
1190
01:13:52.160 --> 01:13:56.960
some of these risks because there is a huge opportunity cost to allowing hundreds of millions
1191
01:13:56.960 --> 01:14:01.520
of people to continue to experience four men's oil without providing them with solutions.
1192
01:14:02.160 --> 01:14:06.080
So what happens in the brain, the psychedelics, it's a little bit different if you look at
1193
01:14:06.080 --> 01:14:10.560
ketamine, it's associated with anesthetic versus psilocybin, which is all kind of based around
1194
01:14:10.560 --> 01:14:16.960
a DMT molecule, similar to what you would see in other kind of classic psychedelics.
1195
01:14:16.960 --> 01:14:23.200
So partially, and I have lost, but also in LSD. What you have with the psychedelics that are
1196
01:14:23.200 --> 01:14:29.200
these classic psychedelics, these drug domains is, in essence, a major perspective shift that seems
1197
01:14:29.200 --> 01:14:33.280
to occur in part by providing the default mode network, which is the part of the brain that
1198
01:14:33.280 --> 01:14:39.040
is responsible for remediation, just playing stuff over time and time and time. And I think what
1199
01:14:39.040 --> 01:14:45.200
is so valuable about psychedelics, compared to almost everything else, is that
1200
01:14:45.200 --> 01:14:51.840
how therapy, all these other modalities, you slowly get to a new state of understanding.
1201
01:14:51.840 --> 01:14:57.600
Maybe they are breakthroughs, but it's more just the nudge is towards a more homeostatic place
1202
01:14:57.600 --> 01:15:02.240
where you're better able to deal with the world. With psychedelics, you see in real time how
1203
01:15:02.240 --> 01:15:07.600
distorted your view of the world is relative to what is true. And I think for people who have
1204
01:15:07.600 --> 01:15:13.760
used psychedelics, maybe they can agree or not, but I think there are truths that are exposed
1205
01:15:13.760 --> 01:15:19.920
that you don't doubt. It's just, this is reality. And then you come back to a world in which
1206
01:15:19.920 --> 01:15:24.880
you've convinced yourself that that doesn't matter and that what really matters is a social media
1207
01:15:24.880 --> 01:15:30.480
post, even though not really influenced a psychedelic, you would recognize how trivial all that is.
1208
01:15:30.480 --> 01:15:35.520
Now beautiful the world is. And I think really what happens is in order for us to function in
1209
01:15:35.600 --> 01:15:40.560
modern world, we're not capable of handling the amount of data that psychedelics give us.
1210
01:15:40.560 --> 01:15:47.440
Like we have to be super narrow and our brains and essence create a reality that works with
1211
01:15:47.440 --> 01:15:52.560
the constraints of what this world requires. It creates a reality where it's normal to care
1212
01:15:52.560 --> 01:15:58.160
to the extent that we care about. Like what car do we drive or to, you know, it's normal to
1213
01:15:58.160 --> 01:16:04.400
be stressed 24 or 7 about the news because obviously everybody else is and so we should be too.
1214
01:16:04.400 --> 01:16:09.280
And if you really question it at all, it's hard to move forward with anything. It's like,
1215
01:16:09.280 --> 01:16:13.680
I don't know at my time concerned about these things. I want to just be out of nature. I want to be
1216
01:16:13.680 --> 01:16:19.040
connected to the people I care about. So I think more of that would absolutely benefit society.
1217
01:16:19.040 --> 01:16:24.240
The question is, how do you do it in a way that preserves safety and doesn't lead to a similar
1218
01:16:24.240 --> 01:16:28.480
scenario as to what happened a couple of decades ago where psychedelics were criminalized because
1219
01:16:28.960 --> 01:16:32.160
it was concerned about something, exactly sure, but something.
1220
01:16:32.160 --> 01:16:37.120
I really hope it goes in that direction. Also, I think it's a modality that can be really powerful
1221
01:16:37.120 --> 01:16:42.560
when done correctly. And I love the picture that you painted. And I can speak from experience too
1222
01:16:42.560 --> 01:16:48.480
whenever I've done psilocybin with guidance. Do you know what truth comes to me every time?
1223
01:16:48.480 --> 01:16:55.040
It's like this memory of, oh, it's you or your healer. It's like, oh, I, I can heal. I can heal
1224
01:16:55.120 --> 01:17:00.080
myself. I just, I forgot. And I love it. And I'm laughing about it now because it's such a beautiful
1225
01:17:00.080 --> 01:17:05.600
reminder. And when I remember that, it brings back a joy for life. And I think that in this world of
1226
01:17:05.600 --> 01:17:11.280
wellness, that's so full of doom and gloom. And I wanted to talk about the deep stuff and the
1227
01:17:11.280 --> 01:17:16.240
the symptoms and what you're seeing in research today. Because I think the education again is what
1228
01:17:16.240 --> 01:17:20.560
it's going to drive people to change. But I think that you've done such a great job. And this is why
1229
01:17:20.560 --> 01:17:26.320
I adore you as a doctor for painting the beautiful lands that comes on the other side of all of
1230
01:17:26.320 --> 01:17:32.560
that and tuning into the sense of connection and trust and intuition. So as we want things down,
1231
01:17:32.560 --> 01:17:38.000
you're so great at speaking to high yield investments for everyday living for your brain health
1232
01:17:38.000 --> 01:17:42.480
and for your mental health. So for people inspired by this conversation, if you were to think about
1233
01:17:42.480 --> 01:17:47.760
these daily high yields, what are some of your favorites? Yeah. And let me preface what I'm about to say
1234
01:17:47.760 --> 01:17:50.560
by saying, you don't have to do all these things. You don't have to do any of these things.
1235
01:17:50.560 --> 01:17:54.320
You know, these are just things that research would suggest are really valuable. So
1236
01:17:54.880 --> 01:17:58.880
if your goal is to improve your brain function, I think the most important thing you can do is
1237
01:17:58.880 --> 01:18:04.480
prioritize your sleep. The reason I say that is because a lot of the things like diet and exercise
1238
01:18:04.480 --> 01:18:09.840
are things that are going to be maybe slightly unpleasant for certain people who are not used to it.
1239
01:18:09.840 --> 01:18:14.560
So if you don't exercise, me telling you you should exercise for brain health, it's true that
1240
01:18:14.560 --> 01:18:19.760
you will be healthier. Your brain will function better. But it's not necessarily true that if you
1241
01:18:19.760 --> 01:18:24.000
are not an exercise or you're going to let's say you're going to love your routine, right?
1242
01:18:24.000 --> 01:18:29.040
It takes some time to get into it. Similarly with food, I get the junk food tastes good. So me telling
1243
01:18:29.040 --> 01:18:33.040
you you should eat a minimally processed diet. You should be using a lot of olive oil. You should
1244
01:18:33.040 --> 01:18:38.080
be eating only whole grains. You know, you should be eating clean proteins. It's like, yeah, at some
1245
01:18:38.080 --> 01:18:43.200
point you may get to the point where like if you're like me and you drink something with adding sugar,
1246
01:18:43.200 --> 01:18:46.880
you say, oh, I don't want that. That doesn't make me feel good. But it's not going to happen overnight.
1247
01:18:46.880 --> 01:18:50.640
Always sleep. You're going to feel better the next day. You want to think better. You want to
1248
01:18:50.640 --> 01:18:56.320
make better decisions. And so I would say of any of the things focusing on getting better sleep
1249
01:18:56.320 --> 01:18:59.840
tonight. We could talk about some of the steps for that. But I think it's just a great starting point
1250
01:18:59.840 --> 01:19:04.880
to get your brain on side. So you're thinking better, making better choices. And that way it'll
1251
01:19:04.880 --> 01:19:10.240
be easier to do all the other things. Other things I would say if you would be for stress,
1252
01:19:10.240 --> 01:19:15.840
social media, all these other things. A test of time is a tool I did all with my dad. So it stands
1253
01:19:15.840 --> 01:19:21.360
for time restricted, intentional, mindful, and enriching. And that means that as you're going
1254
01:19:21.360 --> 01:19:26.800
about to your social media or your digital content exposure, use these principles. So instead of
1255
01:19:26.800 --> 01:19:31.600
saying I'm going to watch TV for indefinite or undefined amount of time, saying I will give myself
1256
01:19:31.600 --> 01:19:35.520
30 minutes to watch the show. It's time restricted, just like you would do for food.
1257
01:19:35.840 --> 01:19:40.720
Beautiful. I until it's you choosing the material that you're consuming as opposed to
1258
01:19:40.720 --> 01:19:45.520
it choosing you, which everyone knows the scenario where you go on social media and you don't even
1259
01:19:45.520 --> 01:19:50.240
remember why you're there and you scroll for 10 minutes. That is non intentional. The other
1260
01:19:50.240 --> 01:19:56.480
piece of this is the mindfulness piece. And as we've spoken about news, stressful, social media,
1261
01:19:56.480 --> 01:20:02.640
stressful being aware of how you're feeling as you're engaging with the content is what mindful
1262
01:20:02.640 --> 01:20:08.160
digital consumption is about. And some people will benefit from just setting a timer for like five
1263
01:20:08.160 --> 01:20:12.800
minutes, goes off every five minutes. Oh, five minutes and I'm actually getting really stressed.
1264
01:20:12.800 --> 01:20:16.720
Therefore no longer mindful. And I want to set this aside. But I think that's where the time
1265
01:20:16.720 --> 01:20:21.120
restricted piece really comes in. And then he is the enriching and it's basically meeting
1266
01:20:21.120 --> 01:20:26.880
am I getting more value from this or is it getting more value from me? We know that social media,
1267
01:20:26.880 --> 01:20:31.760
that the newest TV in general, it's all designed to capture our attention. Usually it's the
1268
01:20:31.760 --> 01:20:37.360
seller stuff that we don't want. But also the way it captures our attention is to stress us out.
1269
01:20:37.360 --> 01:20:41.600
So if you don't want them, it was enriching. And let's be honest, who spends 20 minutes on
1270
01:20:41.600 --> 01:20:46.800
social media and walks away saying, what a good use of time. I've really on the world with a
1271
01:20:46.800 --> 01:20:55.200
positive one. Then that's the indicator. Test the time is specific to the digital content.
1272
01:20:55.200 --> 01:20:59.200
One other domain that I've spent a lot of time focused on recently is the air quality piece.
1273
01:20:59.200 --> 01:21:06.000
Because as I live to move on, it's huge mess. I mean, this has been really profound research
1274
01:21:06.000 --> 01:21:10.480
in the top medical journals around the United States and around the showing that what we
1275
01:21:10.480 --> 01:21:16.400
agree influences our health, influence inflammation, it alters with capitalism, people who breathe
1276
01:21:16.400 --> 01:21:21.280
more fluid air, gain weight, have more infertility, live shorter lives, have more cardiovascular
1277
01:21:21.280 --> 01:21:26.240
disease, have more lung issues. If your children, they have developmental issues, they have decreased
1278
01:21:26.320 --> 01:21:31.120
IQ, more violence in school. So the list goes on and on. Then you say, well, what do you do about that?
1279
01:21:31.120 --> 01:21:36.960
Most of us spend the majority of our time indoors. This is a double-edged sword. So we should be
1280
01:21:36.960 --> 01:21:41.920
spending more time outside usually. But since we're inside, we can do a lot to improve the quality
1281
01:21:41.920 --> 01:21:46.720
of our air because that's where we spend the majority of our time. So some high yield tips,
1282
01:21:46.720 --> 01:21:50.640
which I don't know. Your listeners, your viewers might not be thrilled with these.
1283
01:21:50.640 --> 01:21:54.480
Don't use incense in the home. It's my next question. You're talking to people in LA too,
1284
01:21:54.480 --> 01:22:00.480
or we are big fans of Palo Santo and White Sage. That's great, but just go to their map for your
1285
01:22:00.480 --> 01:22:04.880
health. It's like smoking. You can be a fan of cigarettes, but just don't put it in the bucket
1286
01:22:04.880 --> 01:22:09.520
of saying it's good for you. Makes sense. Here, it's a thing. Just me a little bit more specific.
1287
01:22:10.080 --> 01:22:14.720
You can use incense. You can use polosando. You can use anything that smokes. But if you do that,
1288
01:22:14.720 --> 01:22:18.880
you should just be aware that if you're breathing in the smoke, it's like breathing in a cigarette
1289
01:22:19.040 --> 01:22:23.840
for sure. It's not good for your cold. So if you're going to use the incense, use it in a ventilated
1290
01:22:23.840 --> 01:22:31.280
room, meaning open the windows, run an air purifier, and rise its whole outside, not such a big deal.
1291
01:22:31.280 --> 01:22:36.560
Same thing with like scented candles, candles in general. I know they're very popular. I would say
1292
01:22:36.560 --> 01:22:43.360
scented candles are worthy of a one. Yeah, endocrine disruptors. Right. Yeah, so they're
1293
01:22:43.360 --> 01:22:48.320
very concerned. But the other piece of this is the sense that you're smelling are by and large
1294
01:22:48.320 --> 01:22:53.840
synthetic. They're not right. Most candles are made from paracene wax, which comes from petroleum.
1295
01:22:53.840 --> 01:22:59.360
So if you are going to use a candle, I would say the best is beeswax, beeswax unscented,
1296
01:22:59.360 --> 01:23:04.880
then soy, and then a standard paraffin candle. But if the candle is smoking or sputtering,
1297
01:23:04.880 --> 01:23:09.040
you'll see sometimes if the weight is too long, it'll be sputtering and it'll be throwing off smoke.
1298
01:23:09.040 --> 01:23:13.120
These are other things to just consider. You want your weight level at the top of the candle.
1299
01:23:13.120 --> 01:23:18.400
So some basics there. And then the last kind of grouping of things I would say to a woman
1300
01:23:18.400 --> 01:23:23.520
would be air fresheners and cleaning products, air fresheners for sure. And they clean
1301
01:23:23.520 --> 01:23:28.240
the product. There's an actual utility. Most people want to clean their homes. That's great.
1302
01:23:28.240 --> 01:23:34.640
But air fresheners are packed with synthetic chemicals. And even if you want to say,
1303
01:23:34.640 --> 01:23:39.760
look, we don't know conclusively if they're bad for us, about a third of people have a significant
1304
01:23:39.760 --> 01:23:45.600
sensitivity to fragrances. And there's a reason why that is happening. And it's because our brains
1305
01:23:45.600 --> 01:23:52.240
are incredibly sensitive to certain sense. It turns out these air fragrance molecules that are in
1306
01:23:52.240 --> 01:23:57.440
the plugins and the weights and all these other things. There's a whole part of the aisle and
1307
01:23:57.440 --> 01:24:02.160
they're in your safe way of grocery store for air fresheners. I would say there's really none of them
1308
01:24:02.160 --> 01:24:07.120
that I'm convinced are a good idea. Whether it's the dangly tree that goes into your rear view mirror
1309
01:24:07.200 --> 01:24:12.400
or the worst. I won't say any but the plugins. So definitely remove. And then the last few
1310
01:24:12.400 --> 01:24:19.120
of this is when you can optimize ventilation and purification in your home, the basics here
1311
01:24:19.120 --> 01:24:23.840
would be if you have windows and you're not actively having like a wildfire outside, open your
1312
01:24:23.840 --> 01:24:28.800
windows, especially while you're cooking, then in terms of the purification and ventilation inside,
1313
01:24:28.800 --> 01:24:34.640
if you have a HVAP, make sure you're using it. Keep it the fan on, certainly. And if not,
1314
01:24:34.720 --> 01:24:40.160
or in addition to that, air purifiers can do a great job. Please mention your science back to your
1315
01:24:40.160 --> 01:24:49.040
purifier. Last week, the company is it's called light and air. And I won't go into too many details,
1316
01:24:49.040 --> 01:24:53.760
but I was just super frustrated because I was reading all of these publications talking about why
1317
01:24:54.320 --> 01:24:59.520
air purification is so important. And all of the purifiers I looked at were just gimmicky.
1318
01:24:59.600 --> 01:25:04.800
Like they did perform to the level that was necessary to give the health benefits. So we just
1319
01:25:04.800 --> 01:25:10.240
designed one that did all of that. So we built it from best specs for HEPA 14. So if you're
1320
01:25:10.240 --> 01:25:15.200
familiar with HEPA 14 is the highest level. And we built it so that it's like industrial levels for
1321
01:25:15.200 --> 01:25:20.080
cleaning for a larger room, which you know, we have, I don't know, like five other air purifiers,
1322
01:25:20.080 --> 01:25:24.080
and we tested them all out. And it doesn't mean that the other ones don't work. It's just that
1323
01:25:24.080 --> 01:25:29.600
there's this massive gap between what you actually need for purification to get the value
1324
01:25:29.600 --> 01:25:34.560
and the way that they're mostly being sold. You know, you get these tiny hands that look nice,
1325
01:25:34.560 --> 01:25:39.360
but they don't actually execute on me. So on Instagram, I want people to check it out,
1326
01:25:39.360 --> 01:25:46.000
breathe like in. And your dad put a video up moving closer to the device with incense and I gasped.
1327
01:25:47.520 --> 01:25:51.840
Because I'm one of the first things I do is an audit of my clients has is going through personal
1328
01:25:51.840 --> 01:25:57.600
care products and cleaning products and detergents and in all of those things. So that was such great
1329
01:25:57.600 --> 01:26:02.480
awareness. Do you use essential oils? Are you fan of organic essential oils? So this is a
1330
01:26:02.480 --> 01:26:07.520
contentious question. Right. There are some data suggesting that various essential oils
1331
01:26:07.520 --> 01:26:14.480
actually improve cognition. Yeah. Rosemary. Seed oil oil. I would say to be cautious. And the
1332
01:26:14.480 --> 01:26:20.960
reason I would say that is twofold. One is certain essential oils, even if they're actually safe
1333
01:26:20.960 --> 01:26:26.480
as an essential oil can react with molecules in the atmosphere to create additional air periods.
1334
01:26:26.480 --> 01:26:32.880
So like, I'm in a sense, which is very popular in cleaning products and like can actually react
1335
01:26:32.880 --> 01:26:39.120
with ozone to create formaldehyde, which is a carcinogen. So this is one consideration. The other
1336
01:26:39.120 --> 01:26:44.480
thing is again, essential oils, who knows, depending on the brand, how they're actually making it and
1337
01:26:44.480 --> 01:26:49.440
what the vessel is, the vehicle for these central oils. When you aerosolize these products,
1338
01:26:49.440 --> 01:26:54.720
you can actually create some significant inclusion. So a couple of things I'd just say on that.
1339
01:26:54.720 --> 01:27:01.680
And one is, I think this is a quality thing. So certain essential oils are far less kind of
1340
01:27:01.680 --> 01:27:06.960
modified than others. It's just the essential oil and the vehicle as opposed to a synthetic set of
1341
01:27:06.960 --> 01:27:12.800
oils. The other one would be, and this is kind of a deep cut, but using purified water. And the
1342
01:27:12.800 --> 01:27:18.800
reason for that seems to be that when you aerosolize a tap water, it actually increases particular
1343
01:27:18.800 --> 01:27:24.560
matter quite dramatically. And it hasn't really been studied to the extent that we know exactly
1344
01:27:24.560 --> 01:27:29.120
what is in that particular matter. But some of it does seem to be heavy metals and other things
1345
01:27:29.120 --> 01:27:33.200
that you don't necessarily want in your air. So if you are going to use oils, if you're talking
1346
01:27:33.200 --> 01:27:37.920
about something like a fuser, I think going with purified water is important. And again,
1347
01:27:37.920 --> 01:27:43.680
looking at better essential oils. I do think in the spectrum, while there are certain oils that
1348
01:27:43.680 --> 01:27:47.840
have been studied and aren't breathing in some of those senses, or for example, we know like
1349
01:27:47.840 --> 01:27:52.960
cedar oil, which is an oil that comes from cedar trees may be calming. One of the reasons why
1350
01:27:52.960 --> 01:27:58.080
we're outside breathing these molecules and people seem to do better. While that may be good,
1351
01:27:58.080 --> 01:28:03.280
what does seem to be the case is that we get very quickly into an unregulated space where there's
1352
01:28:03.280 --> 01:28:07.680
not a lot of insight into what's going into those products. And you are breathing them in,
1353
01:28:07.680 --> 01:28:12.560
kind of by definition, you're smelling something. It means that you're being exposed to the volatile
1354
01:28:12.560 --> 01:28:19.680
organic compounds in that. So I will say a caution here, which would be to be specific, to be
1355
01:28:19.680 --> 01:28:26.560
working only with essential oils that you trust the brands. And also in the spectrum, I would say
1356
01:28:26.560 --> 01:28:33.600
simmering herbs and spices on the stove top. So probably a lot. So much safer. It will infuse
1357
01:28:33.600 --> 01:28:38.560
your entire house. And I'm going to add in, I didn't grow an herb garden inside your house.
1358
01:28:38.560 --> 01:28:43.680
The aroma from that will smell amazing. Add some more green plants to your house. If
1359
01:28:43.680 --> 01:28:48.000
something is not safe to ingest and look at all the cleaning products, my gosh, all the caution
1360
01:28:48.000 --> 01:28:52.080
labels that are on that. Chances are they're probably not safe to you. So I love that you, I think
1361
01:28:52.080 --> 01:28:57.440
we've gone full spectrum on the consumption aspect. And I'm so grateful for that because I think
1362
01:28:57.440 --> 01:29:01.840
that we have to instead of just owning it on one area, just understanding just as you spoken to
1363
01:29:01.840 --> 01:29:06.240
today, everything is connected. So thank you so much for your time. I could talk to you for hours
1364
01:29:06.320 --> 01:29:10.560
and hours. Can you tell me, tell people where to find you? Yeah, thank you so much for the
1365
01:29:10.560 --> 01:29:14.960
conversation. I'm glad we have to talk about so many things. The places to find me would be,
1366
01:29:14.960 --> 01:29:19.520
if you're interested in the research study, would be big bold health.com or at big bold health
1367
01:29:19.520 --> 01:29:26.560
on social media. My website is austinprometer.com on social act doctor austinprometer. And then
1368
01:29:26.560 --> 01:29:31.840
as you mentioned, like an air or breathe like in on social is the new company for air quality.
1369
01:29:31.920 --> 01:29:35.680
So all of the places that I spend time and places that I'll be, I mean,
1370
01:29:35.680 --> 01:29:40.160
adding you have some phenomenal educational content on YouTube also in small bite-sized
1371
01:29:40.160 --> 01:29:45.920
peeps pieces for people. So check them out there also and enclosing two rapid fire questions.
1372
01:29:45.920 --> 01:29:50.720
Tell me, what is your favorite ancient healing remedy? Oh, my favorite ancient healing remedy.
1373
01:29:51.200 --> 01:29:55.680
I think that's that's that's tricky. I mean, I guess it's just meditation. Obviously,
1374
01:29:55.680 --> 01:29:59.520
I've been around for a couple thousand years. I have a meditation practice every morning. It's
1375
01:29:59.520 --> 01:30:04.560
not super long. Just mindful paying attention to my breath. But it's been definitely one of the
1376
01:30:04.560 --> 01:30:10.080
most powerful things in terms of a daily practice. That is a helps me to maintain my mental clarity.
1377
01:30:10.080 --> 01:30:13.360
Beautiful. And what's something about modern medicine that you're excited about?
1378
01:30:14.320 --> 01:30:20.000
A lot of things. A lot of things. I think that's we've covered some of them. I'm really optimistic
1379
01:30:20.000 --> 01:30:25.040
about what epigenetics represents. Super excited about that. I'm really excited about
1380
01:30:25.120 --> 01:30:28.880
flying modern medical techniques, the understanding mental health conditions,
1381
01:30:28.880 --> 01:30:34.960
and starting by all based on what type of depression do they have? Not just starting to press,
1382
01:30:34.960 --> 01:30:39.360
but is this inflammatory? Is this metabolic? Is this neuroplastic? And then how does that change?
1383
01:30:39.360 --> 01:30:46.480
Are we undergo treatment so that people get better outcomes? I think there is a lot of potential
1384
01:30:46.480 --> 01:30:52.720
around the layering in of AI to better people's health outcomes. With the caveat here,
1385
01:30:52.720 --> 01:30:57.680
there's a lot of potential downside to what that represents as well. But I think the concept
1386
01:30:57.680 --> 01:31:03.200
of using large data sets and large language models to help people understand what's really going
1387
01:31:03.200 --> 01:31:08.960
wrong is amazing. One of my former co-residents at Oregon Health and Science University published
1388
01:31:08.960 --> 01:31:16.960
a paper looking at a comparison between Harvard doctors and TAPGPT finding that the AI model was
1389
01:31:16.960 --> 01:31:23.040
better able to diagnose people's symptoms than either the doctors or the doctors plus the AI.
1390
01:31:23.040 --> 01:31:28.160
And so while it's query and while there's lots of concern around what AI represents,
1391
01:31:28.160 --> 01:31:32.240
I think especially for people who have been struggling for a long time and haven't gotten
1392
01:31:32.240 --> 01:31:38.320
a correct diagnosis, this is an amazing opportunity to leverage technology to create better.
1393
01:31:38.320 --> 01:31:42.800
So those are a couple things that you asked for. No, I love it. And this is where the excitement
1394
01:31:42.800 --> 01:31:47.360
comes in. Like I really am excited about the world of science in the future. But you've mentioned
1395
01:31:47.360 --> 01:31:52.720
so many beautiful, kind of just traditional healing modalities that all of our ancestors practice.
1396
01:31:52.720 --> 01:31:56.880
And thank you for being the doctor that has encouraged to really bridge the science with the
1397
01:31:56.880 --> 01:32:02.560
soul and translating data in a really comprehensible, tangible way. It's been so great to talk to you
1398
01:32:02.560 --> 01:32:06.400
today. And I can't wait to have you back. I'm so excited for everything that you're growing.
1399
01:32:06.400 --> 01:32:10.480
And I'm excited to create some content on how to clean up our home. Thank you for that.
1400
01:32:11.040 --> 01:32:12.240
Fantastic. Thank you so much.
1401
01:32:12.240 --> 01:32:21.440
Beautiful. Thank you, Dr. Austin.
