Should You Try Shamanism? Why Putting Skepticism Aside Can Be a Good Thing

August 16, 2018 by Dave Asprey

[tldr]

There are some things that science can’t yet explain, but they’re still worth trying. To be scientific about it, set aside your skepticism and pay attention to your personal experience or your own data.
Sensory deprivation, psychedelics, and shamanism can all increase your happiness and sense of connection with the world.
As long as you try biohacks safely and legally, they may be worth your time. At worst, you won’t get any effect — but the results may surprise you.

[/tldr]

The concept of shamanism — an ancient spiritual healing tradition — may seem a little unusual, especially if you’re skeptical about things that science can’t easily explain.

I understand the skepticism. As a former Silicon Valley engineer, I spent my days focused on technology and rational ways of thinking. I also weighed 300 pounds and was sick all the time.

I tried all the standard approaches to higher performance — exercising all the time, eating a low-fat, low-calorie diet, taking antibiotics for chronic sinus infections — and I realized that they just didn’t work.

So I took a rational approach: I consciously suspended my disbelief, and I began testing things outside the box to see what would happen.

It turns out a lot of things work, even though science hasn’t figured them out yet. If you approach something like shamanism thinking, “That doesn’t work because it can’t,” you’re actually being unscientific.

On the other hand, if you can leave behind your bias, open your mind to other points of view, and let experience be your guide, you might discover some pretty cool stuff.

I’ve worked with and interviewed several shamans. One is Shaman Durek, a Norwegian and Ghanese shaman. In a recent Bulletproof Radio [iTunes] podcast episode, he discusses shamanistic healing, which has a surprising number of similarities to Western psychology, but explained and viewed through a different lens.

I encourage you not to shy away from biohacks that seem “out there” to you. Enter them with an open mind and see what happens. At worst, they won’t do anything, but the results might surprise you.

Here’s a look at shamanism, along with two other unusual biohacks.

Shamanism for deep healing

Shamanism is the least scientifically-backed biohack on this list. If you live in the West, it’s probably also the most foreign to you in terms of approach and ideas. In my experience, shamanism can be quite powerful.

Shamans believe that there is a connected, universal energy that underlies all life. Shamans learn how to tap into and share that energy to help improve the world, whether it’s healing trauma, bringing about mental shifts for people, or creating greater openness and connection between human beings.

I’ve also had the pleasure of interviewing Alberto Villoldo, a psychologist and cultural anthropologist who has spent more than 25 years studying shamanic healing practices in South America. His Bulletproof Radio interviews [iTunes] are a fascinating look at shamanism.

After years of extensive neurofeedback and brain hacking, I’m quite sensitive to my mental state. I don’t have data to quantify it, but I can say that working with shamans has produced changes in my cognition that I can feel. I’m reasonably certain these changes are not a placebo effect.

Shamans work with emotion, trauma, limiting beliefs, and mental and energetic blocks — the sorts of things that most Western doctors don’t address. I’m not saying you should trade your doctor for a shaman, though.

Western medicine is tremendously valuable. But the average doctor in the U.S. is more likely to prescribe you a pill than attempt to heal the source of your trauma or mental block.

I encourage you to try shamanism, energy healing, sensory deprivation, psychedelics (legally and with the proper support), or any other biohack that seems out there to you. Enter it with an open mind and see what happens.

At worst, shamanism won’t do anything, but the results might surprise you. Here’s a list of accredited shamans.

Float tanks for theta brain waves and deep meditative states

Float tanks (also called sensory deprivation tanks) block out almost all input to your five senses. They’re single-person tanks that are lightproof, soundproof, heated to 98.6 degrees, and filled with magnesium-rich water that makes you float and leaves you feeling weightless.

The result is that you can’t see, hear, taste, smell, or feel in a float tank. You lose all sense of your body, as well as all sense of time, and you’re left with the sensation of existing in infinite and empty space.

Floating can be psychologically intense, especially if it’s your first time. Your mind will probably protest against the total lack of stimulation by trying to get you to leave the tank. Boredom, uncertainty, racing thoughts, maybe even panic — all of them tend to come up as you float. But if you wait them out, your mind will quiet itself eventually. That’s when floating becomes a powerful biohacking tool.

Float tanks and the brain

Your brain has electrical patterns called brain waves that run across its surface. If you’ve ever had an electroencephalogram (EEG), you’ve had your brain waves measured. Sensory deprivation tanks encourage two rare types of brain waves:[ref url=”https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11422837″]

Alpha brain waves. These are the brain waves that come up during meditation. They’re associated with feelings of peace and deep happiness.
Theta brain waves. Theta waves also increase during meditation.[ref url=”https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0304394001020948″] They promote a feeling of selflessness, as well as connection and oneness with everyone around you (we’ll talk more about that sensation later in this article).

The combination of alpha and theta waves is common in lifelong Zen monks.[ref url=”https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4302970/”][ref url=”https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19922249″] Alpha and theta are also the brain waves you learn to increase during 40 Years of Zen. Together, the two of them make you feel calm happiness and a sense that everything is connected.

You can find float tanks in most major cities. Book a 90-minute session or longer, and consider floating twice before you decide whether floating works for you. The first time it can be difficult to settle in because it’s such a foreign experience.

Psychedelics for a shift in perspective

Disclaimer: I’m not suggesting you take psychedelics. That would be illegal in most parts of the world, unless you can get into one of the clinical studies researching how psychedelics improve depression and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

For more information on those clinical trials and the risks of psychedelics, I suggest listening to the Bulletproof Radio podcast episode with Rick Doblin [iTunes]. He’s a psychedelic researcher with a great deal of insight into how psychedelics work.

Psychedelics (also called hallucinogens or entheogens) include psilocybin mushrooms, LSD, Ayahuasca, and DMT. They alter your perception of the world in colorful and sometimes profound ways. Psychedelics can also offer deep introspection and help you consider your sense of self and reality from a new perspective.

In a Johns Hopkins study, 70% of people who took psilocybin for the first time ranked it as one of the top five most meaningful experiences of their lives, on par with the birth of a child.[ref url=”https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16826400″]

In another study, a single dose of psilocybin triggered long-term changes in people’s openness score — how willing they are to consider new ideas.[ref url=”https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3537171/”] Increased openness also links to greater creative potential.[ref url=”https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1467-6494.1992.tb00970.x”]

Just two doses of psilocybin, paired with psychotherapy sessions each time, also reversed treatment-resistant depression, and the results were still going strong when researchers followed up 6 months later.[ref url=”https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5813086/”]

Psychedelics can create the same feeling of connection that floating does. It’s the experience of oneness with the world around you, and a sense of perspective that extends beyond yourself. That said, psychedelics can also be very psychologically intense. If you try them, make sure you’re in a place where they’re legal, and learn about set and setting — how to make your trip as safe and pleasant as possible.

How to Treat and Prevent Runner’s Knee Naturally

August 15, 2018 by Team Asprey

Runner’s knee is a blanket term for common knee issues that people who run regularly may struggle with. It’s important to know which injury you have before you treat it.
Knee pain after running is often caused by muscle weaknesses or imbalances.
Runner’s knee can be painful—but it also can be easily prevented with the right shoes and exercises
With the right icing, supplement, and stretching routine, it’s possible to treat runner’s knee at home—and get back to hitting the pavement pain-free

There are plenty of reasons to enjoy running — it gets your endorphins going, it’s a great way to enjoy the outdoors, and (when done the right way) can maximize your endurance and transform your body.

But if you’re dealing with runner’s knee, running? Yeah…not so enjoyable.

Runner’s knee is super common — so if you’re hitting the pavement on a regular basis, you’re bound to deal with it at one point or another. But what, exactly, is runner’s knee? What symptoms should you be on the lookout for? And — most importantly — how can you prevent and treat it so you can spend more time running and less time dealing with knee pain?

What is runner’s knee?

First things first — what, exactly, is runner’s knee?

“Runner’s knee is basically a general term which encompasses multiple diagnoses,” says Trent Nessler, PT, MPT, DPT, National Director of Sports Innovation at Select Medical and creator of the Run Safe Program™.

If you’re dealing with knee pain, it’s important to understand exactly what’s going — that way, you can apply the right knee stretches to get you back on track (pun intended).

Here are some of the most common diagnoses that fall under the “runner’s knee” umbrella.

Patellofemoral Pain Syndrome (PFPS)

Patellofemoral Pain Syndrome (PFPS), also known as runner’s knee, describes pain in the front of the knee, behind the kneecap. The kneecap, or patella, and femur connect to form the third joint of the knee, called the patellofemoral joint.

“In this joint, the patella rides in a groove in the femur,” says Nessler. “In some runners, the patella moves too much in that groove and causes pain.”

This can be caused by overuse, a muscular imbalance or tightness, poor hip-knee alignment, and even flat feet.

“[In] some cases, the under surface of the kneecap becomes worn and develops a rough surface. When this is the case, you typically hear crepitus (grinding) under the kneecap as you move your knee from flexion to extension,” explains Nessler.

IT Band Friction Syndrome

The second type of repetitive strain injury also described as runner’s knee is illiotibial band syndrome, also known as IT band syndrome and IT band friction syndrome, or ITBS or ITBFS, for short. The illiotibial band, a thick band of connective tissue, runs from the outside of the hip to the outside of the knee and helps keep the knee joint stable. ITBFS occurs when it becomes tight or inflamed.

The pain shows up on the outside of the knee, as the knee moves from a flexed to an extended position. If the pain kicks in 5-10 minutes into your run, this is a good sign that you have ITBS.

More women than men experience IT band syndrome, and it affects just as many veteran runners as beginners.

It’s important to rest (as in take a break from running) as soon as ITBS shows up, so that the problem doesn’t become chronic.

Patellar Tendonitis

“[Patellar tendonitis] occurs on the front of the knee on the patellar tendon. When this tendon becomes inflamed (known as tendonitis), it will become painful on the anterior aspect of the knee during squatting motions, ascending/descending stairs and prolonged sitting,” says Nessler.

Meniscal Pain

“The meniscus are the shock-absorbing structures of the knee. Minor tears or wear and tear can cause pain. This will be more of a deep pain in the knee and you may or may not be able to…touch it,” says Nessler. “If you can touch it, it [may] be on the inside (medial meniscus), outside (lateral meniscus) or posterior medial (back inside of the knee).”

Fibular Head Instability

“This is less common, but seen in some cases. [Fibular Head Instability] is felt on the outside of the knee and is commonly misdiagnosed as IT Band Friction Syndrome,” says Nessler. “The fibular head is held in place by the annular ligament. If this ligament is torn, then the fibular head will move back and forth during running causing the bursa in this area to become inflamed.”

How to prevent runner’s knee

A lot of runners deal with runner’s knee — but that doesn’t mean you have to. There are plenty of steps you can take to make sure your runs don’t leave you with aches and pains in the knee region.

Get the right shoes…

When it comes to running, not all shoes are created equal. “Poor shoes or being fit with the wrong shoe can significantly alter force attenuation during running,” says Nessler. “Absorbing shock (or force) is vital to preventing shin splints and runner’s knee.”

If you want to keep runner’s knee at bay, it’s important you get the right shoes for you — and the only way to determine the right shoe to maximize your performance? Getting a proper running evaluation.

“When we assist a runner in choosing a shoe, we typically do a running assessment,” says Nessler. “Using a 3D wearable sensor, we have the athlete run in three different types of shoes. This system will provide us with right and left IPA (initial peak acceleration — how well you control the foot into the ground), right and left ground reaction force at midstance, and stance time on the right and left. This allows us to directly see how well they are controlling the forces through the lower limb and which shoe provides them with the optimal performance.”

A running evaluation will give you key insights into how you run — and those insights will help you choose the right shoes to stay pain-free during your runs.

…and replace them often

You might have the perfect running shoe — but even the perfect shoe has an expiration date.

“Another problem we see with shoes is runners will use the same pair for a year or two. With time and an increase in mileage, the shoes begin to wear down and they lose some of their elastic properties, which results in less shock absorption,” says Nessler.

“This means that more of the ground reaction force at heel strike and midstance is absorbed at the foot and ankle and then at the knee…The more miles you put on the shoe, the less elastic recoil the shoe has — which can increase [the] potential for overuse injury.”

How often you need to replace your shoes depends on how often you run, but if you’re approaching the 500-mile mark, it’s definitely time for a new pair of kicks.

“Running shoe manufacturers vary on their recommendations, but most will tell you that you should replace your running shoes anywhere from every 300 to 500 miles,” says Nessler.

Strengthen your lower body and core

If you want to keep your knees feeling good during and after a run, work on strengthening your lower body — and that includes your core.

“Weakness throughout the lower kinetic chain can add to an increase risk for runners knee,” says Nessler. “If you address the most common physical weaknesses seen in the majority of runners [which occur in the lower body and core]…most will not only have a dramatic reduction in runner’s knee, but will [also] have a reduction in all lower limb injuries.”

In between runs, make sure you’re incorporating functional exercises like squats, lunges, and planks to strengthen your lower body and core — and to keep runner’s knee at bay.

How to treat runner’s knee

Obviously, preventing knee pain before it happens is ideal — but if you’re already dealing with knee pain while running (or pain after running), it’s all good. With a few small tweaks to your routine, like incorporating runner’s knee exercises, you can deal with your runner’s knee pain and get back to enjoying your runs.

Ice it up with cryotherapy

If you’re dealing with knee pain from running, your first line of defense? It’s ready and waiting in your freezer.

Icing your knee is a must to manage pain related with runner’s knee. “Swelling and pain inhibit strength…the longer the pain and swelling persist, the more it will impact strength,” says Nessler.

Depending on the kind of pain you’re dealing with, Nessler recommends two icing strategies.

If you’re dealing with patellar tendonitis, IT band friction syndrome, or fibular head instability, try an ice massage. Fill a paper or Styrofoam cup with water. Pop it in the freezer and once it’s frozen, peel half the cup away. Rub the exposed ice on your knee for 5 minutes. “[The ice massage] will create a layer of water between the skin and ice. This conducts the cold much better but can only be used for tissues that are close to the surface of the skin [like the above conditions],” says Nessler. Do the ice massage 3 to 5 times per day until your knee pain subsides.

If you’re dealing with PFPS or meniscal pain, Nessler recommends going the more traditional route and using an ice bag for 15 minutes 3 to 5 times a day until pain subsides.

You can also go the high-tech approach and immerse yourself in whole body cryotherapy, which will help eliminate swelling and inflammation, and also help with the pain.

Ibuprofen and NSAIDs can tamp down inflammation and help with pain, but they also wreak havoc on your gut. Check out the article below for natural pain relievers, like curcumin, that work just as well as Advil.

Take collagen protein powder

If you’re dealing with runner’s knee (and the pain that goes with it), try adding grass-fed collagen peptides into your morning coffee or smoothie. Studies show that collagen protein powder can support joint health and reduce knee joint symptoms, including knee pain.[ref url=”https://nutritionj.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12937-016-0130-8?utm_campaign=B2B+Website&utm_medium=email&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-8boAuPkblnh0HOMhfQk99V4tjBBfFKPMleWTkA7yq7T8edePwyz0iYKfdhzXSbTKHekqMS0lblBSQD0JK3Q3F_VwOChg&_hsmi=25837964&utm_conten”]

Stretch

If you’re dealing with runner’s knee, arguably the best thing you can do to treat it and manage the pain? Stretch.

Grab a vibrating foam roller (“The vibrating roller facilitates greater relaxation of the muscle and a more comfortable stretch through greater ranges of motion and aids in recovery following a hard run,” says Nessler) and go through Nessler’s recommended stretch routine on non-running days or after a hard run.

IT band stretch

Lying in the indicated position, slowly roll the foam roller from the TFL (from the crest at the hip) down along the IT band to the knee. At the same time, move the leg in an adducted position while bringing the hip toward the floor.

Hip flexor/quad stretch

Lying in the prone position, keeping your abs tight, roll the foam roller from the anterior hip down along the quad. You can increase the stretch to the quad by flexing the knee during the motion.

Hamstring/glute stretch

Lying in a long sit position, roll the foam roller from the glute along the entire length of the hamstring. To facilitate hamstring stretch, keeping your knee straight, abs tight, bring your butt to the ground and slowly flex forward while keeping your chest up.

Calf stretch

Sitting in the long sit position with your knee straight, roll the foam roller from the back of the knee to the Achilles tendon. To facilitate the stretch, as you roll down the calf, slowly dorsiflex (bring your foot up) while keeping your knee straight.

Biohacker Meets Spirit Hacker: Shaman Durek #517

August 14, 2018 by Dave Asprey

Today’s guest is known as Shaman Durek and he is a third generation shaman who has devoted decades to the study and practice of becoming a thought leader and spiritual enthusiast for people all over the globe.

Durek acts as a bridge between the spiritual and physical planes, and applies ancient spiritual wisdom to help bring success, happiness and healing into clients’ lives.

In this podcast episode, we talk about visiting hospitals around the world, communicating with the organs in the body (which he demonstrates during the podcast), why he calls himself a spirit hacker, and much more.

Enjoy the show!

Watch

Follow Along with the Transcript

Biohacker Meets Spirit Hacker: Shaman Durek #517

Links/Resources

Website: Shamandurek.com
Instagram: @shamandurek
Twitter: @ShamanDurek
Podcast: Ancient Wisdom Today

Show Notes

The difference between a shaman and a spirit shaman 00:09:20
The firewalls that stand in our way 00:10:50
The ancient abilities that we modern human are not tapped into 00:12:20
Why western science doesn’t understand and can’t explain shamans 00:14:10
How your organs communicate 00:19:30
How a shaman would handle bipolar disorder 00:25:00
Using shamanic powers to win at poker? 00:32:50
Being shown what cities like Las Vegas are doing to people 00:34:15
What it is like to die 00:39:05
Human beings are creators 00:44:15
The movement that opens up your body’s energy 00:57:20
How to know if there is a spirit in your house 01:12:50
Poltergeists just want love 01:17:20

Go check out “Headstrong” and “The Bulletproof Diet” on Amazon and leave a review!

If you like today’s episode, check us out on Apple Podcasts at Bulletproof.com/iTunes and leave us a 5-star, positive review.

Natural Anxiety Relief: 7 Ways to Treat Anxiety Without Medication

August 14, 2018 by Dave Asprey

Anxiety is a problem that is plaguing more and more people. Nearly 40% of Americans say they are more anxious than last year. To treat their anxiety, millions are turning to medication. Roughly 8 percent of Americans — that’s 27 million people — take anti-anxiety pills to calm their nerves. While there’s a place for these drugs, they do carry health risks, and they don’t always get to the root cause of the issue. Read on to find out how to treat anxiety naturally, without medication, for a sense of calm and happiness in the long term.

The drawbacks of anti-anxiety medication

Anxiety is when you feel so much fear and worry that it starts to interfere with your day-to-day life. The most common medications prescribed for anxiety are SSRIs (Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors). These work by increasing the amount of serotonin in the brain. Serotonin is a chemical messenger that carries signals between brain cells.

While SSRIs are a safer choice than older anti-anxiety medications, they still carry health risks and can cause some unpleasant side effects.[ref url=”https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC181155/”]

“I see a lot of anxiety in my practice, and many of my patients are on psychiatric medication that isn’t helping, and may even be harming them,” says Ellen Vora, MD, a holistic psychiatrist.

When taking SSRIs, some people experience:

Weight gain
Decreased sexual desire
Insomnia
Nausea
Dry mouth
Dizziness
Headaches
Skin rashes
Diarrhea

You can also build up a tolerance to anti-anxiety medication, which means your brain doesn’t respond as well to the drug. You either need to up your dosage or switch to a different medication.

The best natural anxiety remedies

If you’d rather not take drugs, there are natural alternatives that offer a longer term solution to calming anxiety without the unwanted side effects.

“Anxiety is a disorder not just of the mind, but of the body too,” says Vora. “You can make certain changes to your diet and lifestyle to reduce anxiety, which are safer and often more effective than medication.”

Read on for seven ways to treat anxiety without drugs.

Fix your gut

Did you know that your gut and your brain are constantly talking to each other? Numerous studies point to a strong link between what’s going on in your gut and various mood and behavioral disorders including anxiety, depression, and neurodegenerative diseases.[ref url=” https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4662178/ “][ref url=”http://advances.sciencemag.org/content/2/1/e1500997 “][ref url=”https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0924933816008464”]

When your gut bacteria is out of balance or your stomach is irritated, your gut sends signals to your brain via the central nervous system (CEN), triggering changes in your mood. So making sure your gut flora is balanced and thriving will have a direct impact on your anxiety levels. You could say that a healthy stomach equals a calm mind.

Ways to heal your gut:

Quit sugar — bad bacteria go crazy over sugar and feed off of it.
Choose a variety of low-toxin, anti-inflammatory foods to ensure no one bacterial strain wins over the other.
Add Brain Octane oil, an upgraded form of MCT (medium-chain triglycerides) oil to your Bulletproof Coffee or to food — these fats are strong antifungals, antibacterials, and antivirals.
Load up on prebiotic foods like sweet potatoes, dark chocolate, and coffee. Prebiotic foods feed beneficial “good mood” gut microbes.
Add collagen peptides to your daily routine — collagen heals the gut lining, making it easier for your body to absorb nutrients from food.

Work out regularly

“Lots of research is coming out now that argues that cardio exercise can be as effective as medication for anxiety,” says Linda Burdett, a psychotherapist who specializes in cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT).

Exercise releases various neurotransmitters (aka chemical messengers) including endorphins — these attach to your brain’s opiate receptors, lowering your perception of pain and flooding your brain with feelings of euphoria. [ref url=”https://europepmc.org/abstract/med/15518309″] One study found that working out increased levels of GABA (Gamma-Aminobutyric Acid), a neurotransmitter that calms nerve activity.[ref url=”http://www.jneurosci.org/content/36/8/2449.short”] You can take GABA as a supplement to ease your anxiety, but a run around the block carries more health benefits.

Studies show that aerobic exercise like jogging, swimming, and walking, performed at moderate intensity, is best for lowering anxiety. Aim for a 15- to 30-minute session, three times a week.

Change the way you think

According to CBT, anxiety is driven by negative thinking — thoughts that enter a person’s mind automatically, influencing how they feel.

Cognitive behavioral therapy teaches people to become aware of this thinking, so that they can challenge their negative thoughts and change them. This helps people develop a more positive mindset, explains Burdett.

The goal is for you to become aware of these automatic negative thoughts and learn to question them when they come up, leaving you with a more realistic outlook. Doing this actually rewires your brain — the more you practice thinking in a different way, the more you strengthen new neural pathways.[ref url=”https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19622682″]

One strategy is to write down a negative thought when it comes up, and ask yourself a series of questions, challenging the validity of the thought.

For example, if you think, “I have no friends, nobody likes me,” you’d then ask yourself:

How does this thought make me feel? (“Anxious, lonely, depressed”)
What is the evidence for this thought? (“Jane didn’t call me today”)
What’s an alternative way of looking at the situation? (“Jane’s just busy — she has three kids and a fulltime job. We’ve been friends for 10 years, she clearly values our friendship.”)

If you’re feeling anxious about something, you can change your perspective and calm your mind using a CBT worksheet like this one.

Tapping to ease anxiety

You can lower your anxiety right here, right now using the Emotional Freedom Technique, aka tapping. With EFT, you tap seven acupressure points in a specific sequence, while thinking about a negative experience. The goal is to change the way your body responds to a bad memory.

When you think about the upsetting memory, like a car crash, or being bullied, you start to feel anxious. What’s happening is the neurotransmitters serotonin and dopamine get disrupted in the brain, while cortisol and adrenaline — your stress hormones — start to rise.

When you pair a stressful memory with a soothing action like tapping, you tell your body the memory is no longer a threat in the present.

Tapping works for most stress-related issues and various mood disorders, including anxiety, depression, and pain.[ref url=”https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26894319 http://www.explorejournal.com/article/S1550-8307(16)30106-9/fulltext”]

Learn more about tapping and try out a tapping exercise to lower anxiety here.

Eat more high-quality fat

If you find yourself feeling shaky and tired, or your moods are up and down between meals, you may not be eating enough high-quality fats. Fat keeps you full for longer and maintains steady blood sugar, so you won’t be left battling the “hangries” and energy dips throughout the day. You’ll feel your moods start to stabilize and your anxiety start to drop.

“When we don’t have enough fat in our diet, our brain gets the signal ‘not enough’ and it freaks out,” says Vora. “Adequate fat allows your brain to calm down and relax, knowing it has what it needs.”

Load up on good fats like grass-fed beef, high-quality dark chocolate, avocado, MCT oil, and pastured egg yolks.

Add minerals for more calm

Minerals are an easy and affordable way to lower your anxiety.

Minerals like magnesium and sodium help control neurons and regulate blood sugar. But you’re likely not getting enough minerals from your diet alone. Even when you eat a nutrient-dense diet, soil depletion and monocropping — when one crop is grown on the same land year-after-year — mean your vegetables aren’t absorbing enough minerals from the soil.

“Mineral deficiency taxes our adrenals and makes it hard for our bodies to keep up with the demands of the day,” says Vora.

If you’re deficient in magnesium, and 80% of people are, you might feel anxious, tired, have trouble sleeping, and get migraines.[ref url=”https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28445426 “] The good news is that magnesium supplements are cheap and easy to find. Learn more about how to find the best magnesium supplement for your body.

Also make sure you sprinkle your meals with high-quality sea salt or mined pink Himalayan salt, which contains about 80 trace minerals, including potassium, calcium, magnesium, iodine, iron, and zinc.

Practice mindfulness meditation

Meditation reduces anxiety at the neural level, by firing up specific areas of the brain that calm your nervous system. In a 2013 study, people with everyday anxiety were taught mindfulness meditation — when you pay attention to your breath and body, and accept your thoughts and feelings without judging them.[ref url=”https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4040088/ “] After four 20-minute classes, the researchers scanned participants’ brains, and found that meditation activated parts of the brain related to executive function — your ability to think rationally and plan ahead — and emotional awareness.

Nearly 50 other studies have found that mindfulness meditation can improve anxiety, along with other psychological stresses like depression and pain.[ref url=”https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamainternalmedicine/fullarticle/1809754″]

You can learn more here about how to meditate more effectively.

Follow this simple mindfulness meditation routine:

The great thing about mindfulness meditation is that it can be done anywhere — on the train, at your desk, or while cooking dinner. But when you’re first starting out, it helps to find a quiet spot where you won’t be easily distracted.
Once you’re sitting comfortably, gently watch as you breathe in and out. It may help to close your eyes, but whatever works best for you. Allow your breath to rise and fall, and simply observe it.
Thoughts will come up, and that’s okay. The goal with mindfulness meditation isn’t to suppress thinking — you merely allow the thoughts to pass by without judgement, so you can return to your breath and the present moment. Notice the feeling of the floor beneath you, or the sounds outside. You’re fully in the moment, simply enjoying breathing and being present.

4 Natural Remedies That Fight Inflammation

August 13, 2018 by Dave Asprey

[tldr]

There are two types of inflammation: acute and chronic.
Acute inflammation is short-term and your body’s first response to injury; chronic inflammation is longer-term and occurs when your immune system can’t eliminate the problem.
Causes of chronic inflammation include: inflammatory foods, toxin build-up, stress, and a gut imbalance.
Chronic inflammation puts you at risk of serious diseases including cancer, heart disease, diabetes, and Alzheimer’s.
There are safe, natural remedies that can reduce inflammation as effectively as over-the-counter painkillers. These are curcumin, ginger, stephania, and boswellia.

[/tldr]

By now you’ve no doubt heard about inflammation, and you know that too much of it isn’t good for your body. It’s the reason why you’re adding anti-inflammatory superstars like turmeric to your Bulletproof Coffee, right? But what is inflammation exactly? What role does it play in disease? And most importantly, what can you do right now to lower it? Read on to find out the best natural remedies for keeping your inflammation levels in check.

What is inflammation?

Your body is a miraculous vessel — it knows just what to do to heal itself. If you scrape your knee or if you come down with a virus, your immune system sends white blood cells and chemicals to the injured area to kill the invader and get to work repairing any damage. That’s inflammation — your body’s way of protecting itself from something it deems dangerous or foreign.

If you get a splinter in your toe, and it starts to swell up — that’s a sign of inflammation, and it’s a good thing. Other signs of inflammation include redness, pain, and heat. Your body creates this type of inflammation — known as acute — quickly, and it usually lasts for just a few days.

When inflammation becomes an issue

But there are times when inflammation becomes harmful. When your body can’t break down certain invaders — like some viruses or a food you’re sensitive to — the inflammation will continue, and only get worse over time. This is known as chronic inflammation.

Chronic inflammation comes on slowly and can stick around for months, and even years.

“What’s happening in the body is that under certain conditions, inflammatory chemicals are released from immune cells, or other cells in the body, and these chemical messengers travel throughout the body causing irritation wherever they go,” says functional medicine expert Susan Blum, MD, founder and director of BlumHealthMD and Blum Center for Health.

The main causes of chronic inflammation are:

Inflammatory foods: Eating too many inflammatory foods, such as sugar and processed vegetable oils, and not enough anti-inflammatory foods, like vegetables, high-quality protein, and omega-3 fats. Read more about cleaning up your diet here.
Lingering infection or injury: When acute inflammation fails and your immune system is unable to heal an infection or injury.
Gut imbalance: Too much bad bacteria and not enough good bacteria in your gut is a huge driver of inflammation (more on that below).
Stress: Your nervous system helps manage inflammation in the body.[ref url=”https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S156607021400006X”] “When you have long-term, ongoing chronic stress, your stress hormones (think cortisol and adrenals) can get out of balance, allowing inflammation to get out of control,” says Blum.
Toxins: Toxic buildup from high-mercury fish, plastics and BPA-lined cans, and pesticides and herbicides. “These toxins are cumulative and fat soluble and can stay in the body for a long time,” says Blum. “They end up in fat cells and trigger the release of inflammation.”
Autoimmune disorder: When your immune system attacks healthy cells and tissue by mistake, releasing inflammation. That’s what leads to autoimmune digestive conditions like Crohn’s and ulcerative colitis.

Inflammation and disease

When your body constantly pumps out inflammatory chemicals, you become chronically inflamed, putting you at risk of serious illnesses like cancer, heart disease, Alzheimer’s, asthma, diabetes, and gut problems.

“Chronic inflammation happens when your immune system gets stuck in the ‘on’ position and keeps churning out chemicals that make you sick,” says Kellyann Petrucci, a leading naturopathic physician and nutritionist. “I compare it to a forest fire that never goes out.”

Inflammation can cause or worsen numerous ailments and diseases, including:

Gut problems: What you choose to eat plays a big role in whether or not you develop inflammation. The gut microbiome controls 70% of your immune system function, which means 70% of inflammation in the body, says Blum. “Making sure your gut microbiome is balanced and healthy is critical,” says Blum. “This is why healing the gut is always the first step in my functional medicine practice for people with inflammation.”

Certain bacteria in the gut can cause inflammation.[ref url=”https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3257638/ “] Too much of this bad bacteria, and not enough good bacteria, can cause serious digestive conditions including SIBO (small intestinal bacterial overgrowth), dysbiosis (overgrowth of harmful bacteria) and leaky gut (when cracks develop in your intestinal lining, allowing toxins, bacteria, and undigested food to pass through and enter your bloodstream).

Heart disease: Inflammation can cause and worsen atherosclerosis — the buildup of fatty plaque in the arteries. Your body views this plaque as a threat, and builds a wall to keep the flow of blood from the fatty deposits. Leukocytes (aka white blood cells) and other inflammatory cells collect in the plaque.[ref url=”https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5808208/ “] But the wall sometimes breaks down, releasing the plaque into the blood and causing blood clots. It’s these clots that cause most heart attacks and strokes.[ref url=”https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18039117″]

You can check whether you have arterial inflammation by testing your levels of C-reactive protein (CRP) — a marker of inflammation. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1110260814001173

In one study, men with higher levels of CRP — more than 2 milligrams per liter (mg/L) — had three times higher risk of heart attack and two times higher risk of stroke than men with the lowest inflammation.[ref url=”https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9077376/”]

Cancer: Back in the 1800s, a scientist named Rudolf Virchow first found immune cells in tumor samples. Since then, multiple studies have shown that chronic inflammation can lead to cancer. People with chronic inflammatory bowel diseases like Crohn’s and ulcerative colitis, for instance, have a five- to seven-fold higher chance of developing colon cancer.[ref url=”https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2700422/ “] [ref url=” https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2803035/ “]The longer that you have chronic inflammation, the higher your risk is of developing cancer. For people with colitis, they would need to have had the condition for at least 8 years to increase their risk of colon cancer.[ref url=”https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1374843/”]

Best natural remedies for inflammation

A lot of mainstream doctors recommend nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDS) like aspirin and ibuprofen to manage chronic inflammation and pain. While there’s certainly a place for these drugs, they don’t target the root cause of the inflammation; they simply mask the symptoms. NSAIDS also wreck your gut and increase your risk of heart attack and stroke.[ref url=” https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3607744/ “][ref url=”https://www.fda.gov/Drugs/DrugSafety/ucm451800.htm”]

There are safer, natural remedies for inflammation that have been shown to work as well, and sometimes even better, than NSAIDS. You can use the following herbs on their own, but they’re even more powerful when taken together:

Curcumin

Many people think turmeric and curcumin are the same thing — they’re not. Curcumin is the bioactive, anti-inflammatory compound in turmeric that gives the plant its healing properties. Ayurvedic and Chinese medicine have used turmeric for centuries — dating back at least 4000 years — and now it’s used as a herbal medicine to treat illnesses like asthma, urinary tract infections, skin cancer, and rheumatoid arthritis.[ref url=”https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK92752/”]

Curcumin is one of the safest and most powerful anti-inflammatories out there — it works by blocking the production of inflammatory cells and proteins. Studies show curcumin can treat a range of inflammatory conditions.[ref url=”http://69.164.208.4/files/Anti-inflammatory%20Properties%20of%20Curcumin,%20a%20Major%20Constituent%20of%20Curcuma%20longa:%20A%20Review%20of%20Preclinical%20and%20Clinical%20Research.pdf “] These include:

Arthritis
Post-surgery inflammation
Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) and inflammatory bowel disease (IBD)
Pancreatitis
Cancer

Curcumin is also a powerful pain-reliever, and reduces pain as effectively as and, in some cases, even more than acetaminophen, ibuprofen, and other over-the-counter painkillers, without the harmful side effects.[ref url=”https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5003001/”]

Curcumin makes up just 2 percent of the turmeric root, so when choosing a supplement, make sure you pick curcumin, and not powdered turmeric root.

Your body can’t easily absorb curcumin, so combine your supplement with oil, since curcumin is fat-soluble (i.e. it dissolves in fat and is stored in your body’s fat tissue).

Piperine (black pepper extract) is a proven way to increase curcumin’s bioavailability — one study showed it improved absorption by 2000%.[ref url=”https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9619120 “] Because piperine isn’t Bulletproof, choose newer curcumin formulas that have shown just as high absorption without using piperine.[ref url=”https://nutritionj.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/1475-2891-13-11″]

Ginger

If you like to drink lemon ginger tea when you have a sore throat, you’re doing yourself some favors — ginger is a powerful anti-inflammatory and pain reliever. Many of this flowering plant’s benefits are thanks to a potent antioxidant compound called gingerol.[ref url=”https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25230520″]

Studies show that ginger extract can de-activate NF-kB, a signalling pathway that links inflammation with various diseases, including cancer, diabetes, Crohn’s disease, and Alzheimer’s.[ref url=”https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19061005 “] [ref url=”https://www.nature.com/articles/nri.2017.142”]

Ginger can also reduce muscle soreness after working out. In one study, people who took 2 grams of ginger a day felt a significant reduction in muscle pain after 11 days.[ref url=”https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20418184″][ref url=”https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20418184″]

Avoid powdered ginger — it spoils and develops mold easily. Studies have found immune-system suppressants in ginger mold.[ref url=”https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15771190″] So buy it fresh, or store the powder away from heat, light, and moisture. You can also buy a ginger root supplement — dosage is between 1 and 4 grams a day, depending on what you’re using it for.[ref url=” https://www.uofmhealth.org/health-library/hn-2095001″]

If you’re looking to ease joint pain: peel and mince 1-2 tbsps of ginger and mix with enough Brain Octane Oil — a purified form of saturated fatty acids called medium-chain triglycerides (MCTs) — to form a paste. Warm the paste on the stove and apply to joint for 15 minutes (you can use a wrap if you want support.)

Stephania Root

Stephania tetrandra is a plant native to China and Taiwan. It might not be a household name in the U.S., but it’s one of the 50 fundamental herbs used in Chinese medicine. In traditional medicine, stephania is used to treat all kinds of ailments including asthma, edema (excess fluid in tissues), indigestion, wounds, and headaches.[ref url=”http://ugcdskpdf.unipune.ac.in/Journal/uploads/CH/CH100008-A-3.pdf”]

Studies show it’s a powerful anti-inflammatory root. Stephania reduces production of inflammatory cytokines — small proteins that can cause and worsen inflammation.[ref url=”https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2365809/”]

Tetrandrine, a chemical compound of stephania, could also treat cancer. Research shows it can reduce the number of cancer cells, helps clean out damaged cells, and reverses tumor cells’ resistance to multiple chemotherapy drugs.[ref url=”https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27027348 “][ref url=”https://www.ejcancer.com/article/S0959-8049(01)00356-2/abstract “][ref url=”https://www.cancerletters.info/article/S0304-3835(08)00250-4/abstract”]

Stephania is typically taken as a tincture or in powder form. Follow the recommended dosage printed on the label.

Boswellia

Boswellia — also called Indian frankincense — is extracted from the boswellia serrata tree, native to India. Traditional ayurvedic texts prize boswellia for treating numerous conditions including arthritis, heart disease, fevers, and bronchitis.

Boswellia is also — you guessed it — a potent anti-inflammatory and painkiller. Research has singled out at least four acids that give boswellia resin its anti-inflammatory properties.[ref url=”https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0367326X12002857?via%3Dihub”] Studies show these acids keep inflammatory cytokines in check.[ref url=”https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3309643/ “] They can also prevent cancer growth — studies show boswellia acids attack breast cancer cells and suppress tumor growth in pancreatic cancer.[ref url=”https://bmccomplementalternmed.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/1472-6882-11-129 “][ref url=”https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/ijc.25966”]

Boswellia can also be used to treat inflammatory digestive conditions like Crohn’s and ulcerative colitis. In a 2001 study, 90% of people with chronic colitis saw an improvement in various targets including their stools and tissue damage after taking 900mg of boswellia a day for 6 weeks.[ref url=” https://www.thieme-connect.de/DOI/DOI?10.1055/s-2001-15802″]

Boswellia can also improve osteoarthritis — an inflammatory condition when the cartilage between joints wears down. In one study, people with osteoarthritis in their knee said they felt less pain after taking boswellia for eight weeks. They also said they could walk further and that their knee joint was more flexible.[ref url=”https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0944711304701890?via%3Dihub”]

Boswellia is typically taken as a capsule or pill, and dosage varies depending on the brand and what you’re hoping to treat.

This Is Your Brain on Coffee (Plus, a Caffeine Effects Timeline)

August 13, 2018 by Team Asprey

After water, coffee is the most popular drink in the world. It improves your focus, mood, reaction time, and mental resilience.
The caffeine in coffee blocks adenosine receptors in your brain, keeping you from getting sleepy and enhancing your ability to concentrate.
Coffee also increases dopamine, giving you a mood boost and further improving your cognition.
Coffee lasts about 12 hours. Read on for a detailed timeline of how it benefits your brain, hour by hour.

More than 2 billion people start their day with coffee every morning, including about 85% of Americans.[ref url=”http://www.ncausa.org/Industry-Resources/Market-Research/National-Coffee-Drinking-Trends-Report”][ref url=”https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4462044/”] Coffee is the second most popular beverage in the world (after water), and caffeine is by far the world’s most popular drug.[ref url=”https://www.jyi.org/2007-november/2007/11/10/caffeine-understanding-the-worlds-most-popular-psychoactive-drug”] Coffee has numerous benefits — thanks to the effects of caffeine and other compounds. It makes you sharper, faster, stronger, and more mentally resilient.[ref url=”https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4462044/”][ref url=”https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29474816″][ref url=”https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2891534/”]

But how does coffee actually work its magic? Let’s take a look at the neuroscience of coffee’s benefits: what it does to your brain, when the effects of caffeine kick in, and how long they last.

How much coffee (and caffeine) is too much?

There is such a thing as too much coffee and caffeine. Most of coffee’s benefits happen below 300 mg of caffeine a day (for reference, an average cup of coffee has roughly 95 mg of caffeine).

If you drink too much caffeinated coffee, a lot of its benefits flip on their heads. Heightened mood gives way to irritability, focus devolves into jitteriness, and calm productivity becomes stress and anxiety.[ref url=”https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2257922/”]

To maximize coffee’s benefits and minimize caffeine’s side effects, a good rule of thumb is to stick to 1-3 cups of coffee a day. After that, switch to decaf.

Now let’s talk about how coffee impacts your brain.

Caffeine and adenosine: why coffee wakes you up

When caffeine reaches your brain, it competes with a neurotransmitter (brain chemical) called adenosine.

Adenosine is an essential part of your sleep cycle. It builds up in your brain when you’re awake, gradually slowing down your mental function. By the end of the day, you’ve accumulated enough adenosine that your brain activity is low and you start to feel sleepy. During sleep, your brain breaks down adenosine. When enough of it is gone, you wake up and start the cycle again.

Adenosine binds to receptors on your brain cells, much like a lock fits into a key. Here’s where things get cool: caffeine looks almost identical to adenosine — it’s like a near-perfect duplicate key — so it can also bind to adenosine receptors. But caffeine doesn’t activate the receptors; it fills them up so adenosine can’t get in. When caffeine is locked into your receptors, adenosine can’t bind to them and make you sleepy. The result is that you feel more alert.[ref url=”https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20164566″]

This mechanism also explains why you’re better off avoiding caffeine as the day goes on. Blocking adenosine is great in the morning, when you want to feel sharp. But if you drink caffeinated coffee too close to bed (say, after 2PM), it’ll interfere with your sleep.

It’s important to note that caffeine isn’t stopping your adenosine production, which is why drinking coffee in the morning won’t mess with your sleep-wake cycle. You’re still producing all your normal adenosine; you just can’t feel its effects because caffeine temporarily blocks them.

Coffee and dopamine: why coffee makes you happier

Coffee also makes you happier. Caffeine seems to take partial credit, but there’s something else in coffee specifically that promotes happiness: coffee outperforms both tea and pure caffeine in boosting mood, to the point where it significantly decreases risk of depression.[ref url=”https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/mnfr.201500620″]

Coffee increases the neurotransmitter dopamine, and specifically dopamine that binds to D2 and D3 receptors, which are involved in mood, feelings of pleasure, and alertness.[ref url=”https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4462609/”][ref url=”https://europepmc.org/abstract/med/605627″]

The other stuff in coffee: chlorogenic acid and antioxidants

Coffee is one of the best dietary antioxidant sources.[ref url=”https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2841576/”] A study in Japan found coffee makes up 47% of people’s daily polyphenol intake[ref url=”https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4473170/”] — and that number is probably higher in the US, considering Americans drink about four times as much coffee as Japanese people do. These antioxidants reduce your risk of chronic degenerative diseases and keep your brain sharp as you age.[ref url=”http://jn.nutrition.org/content/134/3/562.short”]

Coffee is packed with a variety of beneficial compounds:

Cafestol and kahweol are potent anti-inflammatories.[ref url=”https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15225655″][ref url=”https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3153489/”] Kahweol also strengthens your bones by blocking osteoclasts, compounds that break down bone cells.[ref url=”https://www.jstage.jst.go.jp/article/jphs/118/4/118_11212FP/_article”]
Chlorogenic acid significantly increases fat loss and stabilizes both blood sugar and blood pressure.[ref url=”https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16820341″][ref url=”https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18035001″]
Hydroxycinnamic acids are powerful plant compounds that protect against oxidative stress and damage.[ref url=”https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3730368/”]

Caffeine sensitivity and genetics: why coffee affects people differently

How is it that your friend can drink endless coffee, while you get wired off decaf?

The answer lies in your genetics. Genes play a huge role in how quickly you metabolize caffeine. There are several gene mutations that affect how you break down coffee, which explains why there’s so much variation in how coffee and caffeine affect people.[ref url=”https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/3838675″] These are the “coffee” genes:

CYP1A2 is an enzyme in your liver that breaks down caffeine. How much CYP1A2 you make depends on your CYP1A2 gene, which varies widely between people.[ref url=”https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21357676/”][ref url=”http://medicine.iupui.edu/clinpharm/ddis/”]
AHR is a gene that turns CYP1A2 on and off, meaning even if you have a CYP1A2 gene variant that makes you metabolize caffeine very quickly, it won’t turn on often if you have an AHR variant that isn’t particularly active.[ref url=”https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21357676/”]

Age also plays a role in caffeine sensitivity. Your caffeine metabolism slows down as you get older, although according to research, many people don’t feel much of a difference.[ref url=”https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/3126525″]

Coffee timeline: The effects of caffeine minute by minute

Now that you know what coffee does to your brain, let’s talk about how quickly the effects of caffeine take hold, and how long they last. Here’s a timeline of your brain on coffee, starting from your first sip.

0 minutes: You take your first sip of coffee. The caffeine almost immediately starts making its way into your bloodstream, moving toward your brain.

10 minutes: The first molecules of caffeine hit your brain and start binding to adenosine receptors. You already feel more alert.[ref url=”https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0278584608002030?via%3Dihub”]

30 minutes: The effects of caffeine and chlorogenic acid work together and begin to suppress your appetite, especially if you’re drinking a lighter roast that’s higher in chlorogenic acid.[ref url=”https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28446037″][ref url=”https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4033978/”] You also begin to burn fat more efficiently.[ref url=”https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/7369170/”][ref url=”https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17882140/”] (Think of it as extra fat-burning credit if you’re doing a ketogenic intermittent fast, like Bulletproof.)

45 minutes: Caffeine absorption peaks. Your reaction time speeds up and you become more efficient at doing simple work, although your focus stays the same for complex tasks.[ref url=”https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20182035″]This is a great time to warm up your brain with easier tasks: Check and write emails, plan your schedule, and work through the basic things on your to-do list while caffeine is on your side.

60 minutes: Altered adenosine leads your brain to release dopamine, giving you a boost in mood.[ref url=”https://europepmc.org/abstract/med/605627″]

2-8 hours: After its peak, caffeine gradually breaks down. During this period you feel sustained, even energy, making it a good time to tackle the harder tasks of the day. How quickly you metabolize caffeine depends on your genetics. If you find you crash during this time, you may be particularly caffeine-sensitive. Try switching to green tea in the morning, which provides a steadier, gentler lift without the crash. (Try: How to Make the Perfect Bulletproof Matcha Latte)

12 hours: You’ve metabolized enough caffeine that you probably feel close to normal (unless you’re a very slow metabolizer). Your adenosine is kicking back in, and you’re starting to wind down for the evening. Caffeine’s effects have mostly worn off.

Basically, coffee has three main phases. For hours 1-2, you feel sharp and are better at simple tasks; for hours 2-8, you have steady, calm focus that’s great for carrying you through the work day; by hour 12, you’re back to baseline.

While normal coffee is great, Bulletproof Coffee will give you an even bigger performance boost. You can find the original Bulletproof Coffee recipe here and learn about the unique benefits of Bulletproof Coffee.

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