Stacking Biohacks: In Tune with Body and Mind – Rick Rubin #585
Rick Rubin’s Top Biohacks for Supercharged Creativity
[tldr]
- Music industry mogul Rick Rubin is the co-founder of Def Jams Recordings and renowned producer of household names like the Beastie Boys, Adele, Johnny Cash, Led Zeppelin, Justin Timberlake, and the list goes on.
- Rubin recently chatted with Bulletproof founder and CEO Dave Asprey about his favorite biohacks to think clearly and maximize his creativity.
- Keep reading to find out what Rubin does to stay on top of his game, as well as one big health challenge he’s faced along the way.
[/tldr]
Music industry mogul Rick Rubin is the co-founder of Def Jams Recordings and a renowned producer of household names like the Beastie Boys, Adele, Johnny Cash, Led Zeppelin, Justin Timberlake, and the list goes on. (And on, and on.)
In a recent Bulletproof Radio podcast episode (iTunes), Rubin chatted with Bulletproof founder and CEO Dave Asprey about his favorite biohacks to think clearly and maximize his creativity. Keep reading to find out what Rubin does to stay on top of his game, as well as one big health challenge he’s faced along the way.
A good night’s sleep is essential to creativity. Instantly download the Bulletproof Sleep Roadmap to feel refreshed and ready every morning.
Rick Rubin’s top 9 biohacks
1. Get distracted
When you’re in a creative rut or you need your brain to approach a problem differently, Rubin advises that you get distracted. “Something happens when we distract ourselves with a task that allows us to access a part of our brain that otherwise is engaged or is otherwise hard to access through some simple task,” he says.
Rubin suggests swimming, drawing, walking, or going for a drive as ways to distract yourself with intention. The best part of distraction? You can do whatever you want as long as it shifts your focus. Plus, it’s free!
2. Meditation for focus and patience
Creative endeavors often require intense focus and patience to stick with a work, tweaking until it is just right. That’s where meditation can help, says Rubin.
“[Meditation] develops your ability to focus in a deep way, in a deep and patient way,” says Rubin.
Rubin has several different types of meditation styles in his toolbox, each for different scenarios: Transcendental Meditation® for mornings, guided meditations for when he’s feeling down, and loving-kindness (aka metta) meditation during exercise or walking, among others.
He weaves meditation throughout his day, and it doesn’t always have to be a big production with a designated place and time. “I think any opportunity to meditate is good,” says Rubin. “There’s no bad version, it’s never too short, and it’s never too easy. If you decide to do a three breath meditation, it’s great.”
Related: 30-Day Meditation Challenge for Beginners (With Guided Meditations)
3. Cryotherapy
Rubin practices cryotherapy, or blasting yourself with cold air or water to lower your core temperature, around five times per week. He uses ice baths as an extension of his meditation practice. “An ice bath is very much a form of a forced meditation. I don’t know anyone who gets in the ice and is thinking about anything else,” says Rubin.
Ready to try an ice bath? Here’s how to do it:
- Fill your tub or a kiddie pool halfway with cool water.
Add a bag of ice (from the grocery store or gas station). - Get in slowly, submerging just your lower half at first.
- Stay in for a minimum of three minutes. You can take a break if you need to, but aim for three minutes total. As you repeat the practice, you can go longer and longer each time, working your way up to 15 minutes.
IMPORTANT: Make sure someone else is at home to check on you, especially if you’re just starting out with ice baths. Your body can go into shock if you submerge your whole body or if you stay in too long, especially when you’re first starting out. Also, if you have Raynaud’s disease (where your blood vessels constrict from cold), problems with circulation, or if you’re hypothyroid and do not tolerate cold, you can get the same benefits with a cold shower or an ice face bath.
Cryotherapy does so much more than just help you be in the present moment. Read this article for more benefits of cryotherapy.
Related: Cryotherapy for Better Skin and Hair
4. Let go of dogma and admit when something’s not working
Rubin struggled with his weight for years, and not because he lacked self-control or had a drive-thru habit. “I’ve tried to eat diligently my whole life. So, it wasn’t out of not doing the work. It was really out of bad information. I was vegan for 23 years thinking that was the healthiest diet I could have. And it was killing me.”
He sought out the medical advice of experts far and wide, including a highly respected Tibetan doctor who told him to start with bone broth. But he refused to drink it, because he was a “brainwashed vegan,” as he puts it.
He eventually started slowly adding animal protein like eggs and fish into his diet, which was the starting point to getting his health back on track. Once he changed his diet and got his sleep-wake cycles back to a healthy rhythm with the help of Dr. Phil Maffetone, an expert in human performance with a background in Chinese medicine, the weight started to come off.
It can be difficult to change your own mind once you’ve developed strong opinions about something, he adds “I feel bad because as a vegan, I was preaching veganism. It comes with the territory,” says Rubin. But being open to a new lifestyle literally saved Rubin’s life.
5. Cranial Electrical Stimulation (CES)
Rubin uses the Fisher Wallace Stimulator, a cranial electrical stimulation device, before bed each night. The Fisher Wallace uses gentle brain stimulation to help produce serotonin and other brain chemicals that alleviate anxiety, depression, and insomnia. Rubin uses it to shift his brain waves to a calm state just before sleep.
Related: How to Boost Your Alpha Brain Waves to Lower Stress and Improve Mood
6. Red light
Rubin uses intranasal red light every night, which is just as it sounds — a red light that shines up your nose. Benefits include:
- Increased energy
- Improved sleep
- Clearer thinking
- More stable moods
- Reduced headaches
- Improved immunity
He also wears blue-blocking glasses every evening, and has only red lights in his home. He also has a Sauna Space tent in his home which combines the detox benefits of infrared sauna with the benefits of red light, all in one.
7. Carbogen
Carbogen involves deep breathing a specific mix of carbon dioxide and oxygen without nitrogen for 10-15 minutes at a time. This allows more oxygen to cross the blood-brain barrier than you would get breathing room air, for brain repair and maintenance. Doctors use this method with children who suffer from brain injuries.
You can do this at clinics that offer carbogen therapy, or you can drop a couple thousand on a carbogen generator for your home. Rubin has also experimented with hyperbaric oxygen.
8. OURA Ring
Your sleep quality directly reflects how your body reacts to various inputs throughout your day (food, exercise, stress). Every morning, Rubin evaluates his sleep using the OURA ring app. The OURA is a ring that logs deep sleep, light sleep, REM sleep, timing, sleep latency, body temperature, and more.
9. Prayer
Rubin makes prayer a part of his life as much as he can. “I include prayer, and I look for opportunities to use prayer. So, for example, if we pray before meals, it’s a great opportunity because we know we eat a couple of times a day,” says Rubin. He uses basic daily functions like mealtime, bedtime, and wake time as standing reminders of prayer time.
To amp up your creativity, try one or two of Rick Rubin’s favorite biohacks at a time, and see if you notice a difference in your creative work. Does your muse come more easily? Do you slip into the flow state more readily than you did before? Every creative professional and hobbyist has his or her favorite routines that get the juices flowing. It’s up to you to find yours.
Carl’s Jr. Now Has CBD Burgers — Here’s Why Fast Food Edibles Won’t Work
If you happen to live in Denver, you could celebrate pot’s unofficial birthday (4/20) by grabbing a CBD burger at Carl’s Jr. They’re the first national food chain to offer cannabis-infused food, after all. But that’s probably not the best way to go (more on that in a minute).
The burger, fittingly called Rocky Mountain High: CheeseBurger Delight, will be offered at a single Denver location and only on April 20th, as a one-day test to see how the burger sells.
Made with two beef patties, Pepper Jack cheese, fries, pickled jalapeños and CBD-infused Santa Fe Sauce, the burger costs… wait for it… $4.20.
For those unfamiliar with CBD, no, this burger won’t get you high. CBD (or cannabidiol) is completely non-psychoactive. You can read all about CBD here.
CBD oil is one of the buzziest wellness trends this year, and food companies are adding it to everything right now. So it only makes sense that Carl’s Jr. would get in on the game. While their heart is in the right place, there are more effective ways to hop on the CBD train (assuming you want to take that ride).
What’s wrong with a fast-food CBD burger?
If you really want to reap the benefits of CBD, like increased alertness, and fewer symptoms of anxiety, depression, and chronic pain, a fast-food rendition probably isn’t the way to go.
Why?
Fast food is made from highly processed, industrialized ingredients, and loaded with added sugar, salt, and unhealthy fats that keep them shelf-stable. Cook them at extremely high temperatures, and you’ve got the makings of an inflammation-causing meal that also elevates blood pressure.
Just one fast-food meal wreaks havoc on your metabolism and circulatory system, leaving you bloated, tired, anxious, and cranky[ref url=”https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/wellness/sneaking-a-little-junk-food-doesnt-mean-all-is-lost/2018/02/26/828b75fa-1b36-11e8-9de1-147dd2df3829_story.html”] – not exactly the calm and cool state you’re looking for with your CBD fix.
The best ways to consume CBD oil on 4/20
For a better way to celebrate 4/20 and satisfy your munchies, check out these sweet and savory CBD oil recipes that will actually help you chill. They include tea and coffee lattes, CBD gummies, brownies, and even guacamole, all made with clean ingredients.
A few favorite Bulletproof MCT recipes:
Keep in mind when cooking that CBD oil should never be put over direct heat, or cooked at a high heat. According to personal chef and Epicurious editor Joe Sevier, warming the oil will increase its effectiveness, but overheating it will make it 1) taste “absolutely foul,” and 2) lose terpenes, compounds that magnify the plant’s therapeutic effects.
If all this talk of burgers has you craving a Rocky Mountain High CheeseBurger Delight right now, who can blame you? You can make your own version at home with this Bacon-Wrapped Burger recipe. Then whisk CBD oil into an aioli to drizzle over your burger.
Or, you can vaporize pure CBD oil to increase its bioavailability from 6 percent to 31 percent.[ref url=”http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/2937482/”]Just know that it’s harder to control dosage this way and instead of feeling more alert, you might knock yourself out, since higher doses lead to sleepiness.
And that could make you miss your 4/20 celebration altogether.
Disclaimer: Federally, CBD is a Schedule I drug in the U.S., regardless of state laws, and a Schedule II drug in Canada.
Insta-Mom Turns Vegetables into Kid-Friendly Food Art That’s Almost too Gorgeous to Eat
Laleh Mohmedi takes “playing with your food” to a whole new level. In an effort to get more whole foods in her son’s diet, this Instagram mom turned his meals into jaw-dropping works of art.
Mohmedi’s food art journey started on a whim. After making healthy pancakes for her son, Jacob, she plated them to look like a lion. “He loved it,” she writes, and she began posting pictures of her creations on a personal Facebook page.
“I had such a positive response that I thought I would create an Instagram account to inspire other parents to get creative in the kitchen,” Mohmedi says. Out of healthy fare like vegetables, eggs and salmon she’s crafted everyone from “Game of Thrones” heroes and Snoop Dogg to Smurfs, Spongebob, and Winnie the Pooh. She even includes tutorials on how to create them in your own home. You know, if you have an hour or three to spare before dinner.
Mohmedi turned her food art process into nutrition lessons with her son, Jacob. “We would talk about how kale was a superfood,” Mohmedi says. “He would ask why, and I would say ‘because superheroes love eating it’ — that was a winner for him!”
Mohmedi’s food art uses clean eating choices like fresh produce, wild-caught salmon, and rice, plus no refined sugar or preservatives. She also uses vegetable-based dyes or powders like activated charcoal to give dishes a more vibrant look.
Check out some of her latest and greatest creations below, plus swaps you can make to give them a more Bulletproof spin:
Po from Kung Fu Panda
Try it with wild-caught salmon.
Tyrion Lannister
Use shirataki or kelp noodles, plus mashed white sweet potato.
Pua from Moana
Swap in cauliflower fried rice and white mashed cauliflower (thoroughly squeeze out any liquid before pureeing).
Toy Story Toast
Use keto bread and raw, full-fat, pastured cheese.
The Grinch
Substitute mashed sweet potato and steamed spinach, plus pastured chicken.
Snow White
Prep coconut flour pancakes and use low-fructose berries like blueberries, raspberries, or blackberries.
Chuckie from Rugrats
Try it with mashed cauliflower and veggies like celery, carrots, and avocado.
Abu from Aladdin
Use mashed white sweet potato and trade the mushrooms for sliced olives.
For more food art inspiration from Mohmedi, check out her Instagram account here.
How to Improve Memory: The Scientific Approach
[tldr]
- This article covers several science-backed ways to improve your memory and get rid of brain fog. The good news is that most of them are lifestyle-based, and you can start them today for free.
- Exercise is one of the best ways to improve memory, especially if you do a workout that boosts brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF).
- Dual N-back training, a special type of brain training you can do for free online, improves working memory and also raises IQ.
- Supplements like forskolin and bacopa improve memory as well.
[/tldr]
Memory is a valuable part of high performance. Improving your memory will help you learn faster, and getting rid of brain fog will make you more effective at work. Memory will even improve your social skills, especially if you’re prone to forgetting names or faces.
And, of course, taking care of your memory wards off cognitive decline as you age, keeping you mentally quick and independent well into the golden years of your life.
There are a few different ways to improve your memory and keep it strong. The good news is that the most powerful ones are lifestyle-based, and you can start them today for free. Download this printable checklist on the best ways to improve your memory.
Science-backed ways to strengthen and improve memory
Exercise improves memory a lot
Working out is one of the best ways to improve memory, as well as just about every other aspect of your body and brain.
Exercise of any type — strength training, endurance training, yoga, swimming, and so on — improves memory in healthy adults, young and old[ref url=”https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29108442″]. It decreases depression-related memory impairment, too (and it relieves the depression itself)[ref url=”https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5554572/”].
Working out also helps stabilize neurodegenerative diseases like dementia and Alzheimer’s[ref url=”https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20182027″].
There are a couple reasons exercise is so good for your brain. The first is neuroplasticity: working out makes your brain adapt to new situations or information better and helps it recover from stress faster[ref url=”https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5554572/”].
In rats, exercise specifically strengthens brain pathways in the hippocampus, the part of your brain that controls memory[ref url=”https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5808288/”]. And considering how good exercise is for memory in humans, working out may do the same for you.
If you aren’t sure where to start with exercise, try the 30-Day Bulletproof Body Workout Plan. It comes with a meal plan, workouts, and a complete day-by-day schedule, and it’s free.
Dual N-back training permanently improves working memory (and raises IQ)
Dual N-back training is a particularly intense type of brain training that challenges your working memory (short-term memory), as well as your problem-solving skills.
It permanently improves working memory and fluid intelligence (your ability to problem solve, and a central part of IQ) after just a few sessions[ref url=”https://www.pnas.org/content/early/2008/04/25/0801268105.abstract”][ref url=”https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0160289610001091?via%3Dihub”][ref url=”https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/5454984″].
These results set it apart from other brain training techniques in a major way. Most brain training makes you better at brain training, but the benefits don’t apply to general ability in the rest of your life. Dual N-back training does — your memory and fluid intelligence become better overall, and the results seem to be permanent[ref url=”https://www.pnas.org/content/early/2008/04/25/0801268105.abstract”][ref url=”https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0160289610001091?via%3Dihub”][ref url=”https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/5454984″].
You can download software to do dual N-back training for free online. Check out this article for the details. You can also learn more about dual N-back training in Game Changers.
Memory-enhancing supplements
Most research on memory-improving supplements looks at people with dementia or Alzheimer’s disease, and while a fair number of supplements help with dementia, they won’t necessarily enhance your memory if you’re in good cognitive shape.
That said, there are a couple supplements that work for healthy adults:
- Bacopa monnieri is an herb that improves several aspects of cognition. Human trials have found that Bacopa enhances memory, attention, mood, and stress response[ref url=”https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22747190″]. Take 750 mg of Bacopa daily, with a fat source so you absorb it properly.
- Artichoke extract and forskolin work together to improve learning and short-term memory. Forskolin increases cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP), a molecule that activates memory formation and learning pathways in your brain[ref url=”https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16924422″]. Artichoke extract inhibits PDE4, an enzyme that breaks down cAMP, which enhances forskolin’s benefits and boosts your learning and memory even more[ref url=”https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5750604/”]. There haven’t been specific studies on this combination, but it’s popular with brain hackers; try it yourself and see if you feel a difference. You can get it in the right doses from Smart Mode.
Get your omega-3s
Your brain has one of the densest concentrations of omega-3 fats in your body, so it’s no surprise that eating plenty of omega-3s improves memory and overall brain function.
Omega-3s seem to be particularly good at preventing or reversing cognitive decline. People with mild cognitive impairment (the precursor to dementia) saw significant improvements in memory when they took a daily fish oil supplement[ref url=”https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22932777″].
DHA and EPA, the two animal-based omega-3s, also improve memory in both healthy adults and people with dementia[ref url=”https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4364972/”].
Aim for 1000-2000 mg of DHA and EPA omega-3 fatty acids per day. Good sources of DHA and EPA include wild fatty fish (Alaskan salmon, sardines, anchovies) and grass-fed beef and lamb.
A lot of companies promote nuts, seeds, and other plants for their omega-3 content. The trouble is that you have to convert ALA (the plant version of omega-3s) into DHA and EPA, which your body struggles to do. You only end up using about six to ten percent of the omega-3s from plants[ref url=”https://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/Omega3FattyAcids-HealthProfessional/”]. The one exception is algae, which is a plant source of DHA. Other than that, stick to omega-3s from animals, fish oil, or krill oil.
Hack your sleep
Sleep is also essential for memory. Your brain does most of its repair and cellular cleanup during deep sleep. It also encodes memories from the previous day. Insufficient or low-quality sleep will hurt your memory a lot, while good sleep will enhance it.
A single night of sleep deprivation makes you the equivalent of legally drunk– your brain works as if you have a blood alcohol content of 0.05-0.10[ref url=”https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1739867/pdf/v057p00649.pdf”]. Missing out on sleep for a single night also causes beta-amyloid plaques (the plaques that build up and cause memory loss in Alzheimer’s disease) to accumulate in your brain[ref url=”https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5924922/”].
On the other hand, consistent quality sleep improves both short-term and long-term memory, as well as overall cognitive function[ref url=”https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16318592″][ref url=”https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3768102/”][ref url=”https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3413705/”].
You often hear that you have to get eight hours of sleep a night, but quality is actually more important than quantity. Try these sleep hacks to maximize the amount of time you’re in deep, brain-restoring sleep each night. You’ll wake up feeling great, and your memory will be better, too.
With these habits and supplements, you can improve your memory and keep it strong your entire life. For more biohacks, you can also check out Head Strong; it contains dozens of tools that upgrade your mitochondria, the power plants of your cells, to activate untapped brain energy and enhance your overall cognition.
The Miracle of Overcoming Near-Death to Impact Millions – Hal Elrod #584
