Pushing the Boundaries of Conventional Medicine with Caspar Szulc #544

November 15, 2018 by Dave Asprey

Caspar Szulc is the co-founder and president of Innovative Medicine—a company that has been dreaming big for over a decade, making a positive change in people’s lives by going against conventional health-care industry thinking.

The mission of Innovative Medicine is to go beyond the mainstream approach to incremental change and take a vertical leap toward exponential progress by leading the way in unifying and personalizing the field of medicine.

In this episode, Caspar dives into some interesting ideas and products including Nadovim, which is the first physician-formulated and comprehensive NAD+ supplement for focus, concentration and cognitive function.

Enjoy the show!

Follow Along with the Transcript

Pushing the Boundaries of Conventional Medicine with Caspar Szulc #544

Links/Resources

Website: innovativemedicine.com
Facebook: facebook.com/InnoMedicine
Instagram: @innovativemedicine
Twitter: @InnoMedicine
YouTube: youtube.com/InnovativeMed
Vimeo: vimeo.com/innomedicine

Show Notes

There is a crisis of energy out there 00:06:05
The various ways to consume NAD 00:15:00
Two ways that you can feel NAD 00:21:20
A story from an older woman who started using NAD 00:22:45
The natural cycle of NAD 00:25:25
Sleep is incredibly important 00:27:15
Alzheimer’s and NAD 00:30:10
What is polymorphism? 00:34:15
Our approach is to address root causes 00:38:30
We live in a society that is bogged down with stressors 00:46:50
Sitting on your shoulders is the most complicated object in the known universe 00:57:45

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.

3 Reasons to Eat Like Your Grandma, Not Like a Caveman

November 15, 2018 by Dave Asprey

[tldr]

Your grandma had the right idea when it came to food. Organic, local, grass-fed, wild-caught, pastured, pesticide-free, nutrient-dense — Grandma did it all before it was trendy, and you could learn a thing or two from her.
Grandma focused on eating small amounts of the highest-quality food possible, because food was expensive. She also ate only a couple times a day, because she didn’t have access to convenience food.
Grandma said to never leave the table without finishing your vegetables. It’s good advice — vegetables, herbs, and spices are packed with polyphenols, compounds that help your cells run at full power.
Grandma always took her cod liver oil. That’s because she didn’t have modern omega-3 supplements. Even so, she knew that omega-3s were important for being strong, and she made sure she got them every morning.

[/tldr]

Your grandma ate like a badass.

That’s not something you hear every day, but it’s true. Grandma grew up eating all organic food. Her meat was grass-fed. Her fish was wild-caught. Her pastured eggs had deep orange yolks, and she probably knew the farmers who grew her pesticide-free produce. I bet she ate plenty of organ meats, too.

Grandma knew how to eat based on hundreds of years of accumulated knowledge. All that wisdom started to fade away after World War II, when agriculture became a massive industry in the United States. The “direct from the source,” small batch days of buying from your local grocer or farmer disappeared. Instead, food companies focused on making foods as cheap and tasty as possible, and people began changing their diets without considering the possible downsides.

Today, those downsides are clear: widespread obesity, disease, and even fundamental changes in our genetic structure; it turns out the food you eat impacts your kids, and even their kids, at a genetic level.

The good news is that people are shifting back toward eating like Grandma did. In his recent Bulletproof Radio podcast episode [iTunes], ButcherBox founder Michael Salguero talks about the movement back to quality food from small farmers:

“People are looking for humanely-raised, antibiotic and hormone free, pasture-raised meat,” Salguero says. “And there are lots of small farmers that need a lot of help…[We want to] get the farmer enough money that they can make a living, and also treat the animal well and the environment well.”

Companies like ButcherBox are bringing quality food back to the mainstream (by the way, ButcherBox delivers top-notch grass-fed meat to your door every month, and I’ve partnered with them so you can get a discount on grass-fed meat and (some) free bacon). These companies are having trouble keeping up with demand, because more and more people are starting to see that modern diets don’t work. You’re better off eating like your grandma. Here’s how to do it.

1. Eat small amounts of good food

Grandma ate small and infrequent meals of very high-quality food, because food was expensive and she was busy working, without access to modern convenience snacks.

Dr. Barry Sears is one of the leading experts on how nutrition affects your hormones and genetics. He says that the best way to test whether your diet is working for you is to pay attention to how soon you get hungry after a meal.

If you feel satisfied for five hours after a meal, it means your metabolism is running well, and you’re eating the right things for your hormones and genetics. Leaving lots of time between meals also gives your body the opportunity to dip into your fat stores for energy, which helps you stay lean.[ref url=”https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5803575/”] The key is to eat wholesome, nutrient-dense food.

You may have heard about Chinese Food Syndrome, the phenomenon where you eat takeout and you’re hungry an hour later. That’s the opposite of what grandma would do; you overload on refined carbs, cheap ingredients, preservatives, and low-quality, oxidized oils, and you end up with energy swings and cravings, even if you eat a lot.

Pass on the refined junk and opt for a small amount of high-quality food, eaten a couple times a day. You’ll know you’re on the right track when your sensation of hunger starts shifting to “I could eat,” instead of “I need to eat right now or I’ll pass out.”

2. Don’t leave the table until you’ve finished your vegetables

Grandma always ate her veggies, and she probably lectured you about doing the same. She knew what she was talking about. Vegetables, herbs, and spices are packed with polyphenols, powerful compounds that help your cells run at full power.

Right now, as you breathe, you’re flooding your body with oxygen, which your mitochondria (the power plants of your cells) latch onto and use to make energy. Your mitochondria leave behind free radicals, the part of the oxygen that they can’t use.

You want some free radicals, but too many of them will cause inflammation and slow your energy production to a halt.[ref url=”https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8862535″] That’s where vegetables can help: the polyphenols in veggies bind to free radicals and deactivate them before they can sabotage your mitochondria.[ref url=”https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27738491″]

The Bulletproof Diet Roadmap has a list of the best vegetables to eat. As a rule of thumb, the more vibrant a vegetable’s color, the more polyphenols it contains. Dark greens, deep reds and purples, bright yellows — these are all signs of high polyphenol content. Coffee, tea, dark chocolate, and fresh herbs and spices are all exceptional polyphenol sources as well.

3. Take your teaspoon of cod liver oil

Grandma said you don’t leave the house until you take your cod liver oil. Of course, Grandma said that because she didn’t have purified fish oil, or it’s more potent cousin, krill oil.

Even so, Grandma had the right idea. Fish oil is rich in omega-3s, one of two types of unsaturated fats that your body needs and can’t produce. The other one is omega-6 fatty acids, which you find in nuts, seeds, meat, and vegetables. Omega-6s are the building blocks of inflammatory hormones, while omega-3s are the building blocks of anti-inflammatory hormones. Both are necessary for your body to run properly; the key is getting them in the right ratio.

Ideally, your omega-6 to omega-3 ratio should be between 1:1 and 3:1. That is, for every 3 grams of widely available omega-6 you eat, you want 1-2 grams of hard-to-get omegas. This ratio will control inflammation and help your cells run at full power.

The average American has an omega-6 to omega-3 ratio that’s closer to 15:1, which is way too high.[ref url=”https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12442909″] There are two ways to find balance:

Get lots of omega-3s. Grandma used cod liver oil. You can use krill oil or fish oil, or you can eat lots of fatty, wild-caught fish. Make sure the fish is low-mercury. Salmon, anchovies, and sardines are all good options.
Avoid omega-6s. Vegetable and seed oils are by far the most common source of omega-6s. It’s also relatively new, because it requires refining machinery and industrial presses to separate out inedible compounds from the oil. Grandma didn’t have vegetable oil. She cooked with butter or lard, both of which are saturated fats. Saturated fats are better for cooking anyway, because they’re heat-stable and won’t break down into advanced-glycation end products, inflammatory and carcinogenic compounds that form when you cook with vegetable oil over high heat.[ref url=”https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5502035/”]

Learn more here about finding the right ratio of omega-3 and omega-6 fats

Grandma was smarter than we gave her credit for. Take a page or two out of her book; you’ll be amazed by how much better you look and feel.

And speaking of books, my advice to eat like Grandma comes straight out of my new book, Game Changers. In it, I share the tools and wisdom that world-class thought leaders, innovators, and mavericks use to kick more ass at life. Pick up a copy of Game Changers here.

5 Reasons Why You Are Not Getting Pregnant

November 15, 2018 by Team Asprey

[tldr]

Not getting pregnant can be an emotionally painful, stressful experience for both you and your partner.
If you’ve been trying for 6 months to get pregnant, see your doctor. If you’re in your mid- to late-thirties or older, don’t wait as long.
Reasons why you are not getting pregnant: You’re not tracking your ovulation, you’re having sex at the wrong time, you’re stressed, you’re not eating enough of the right foods, and your thyroid is out of whack.
It takes about 3 months for your hormones to balance themselves after following the above issues.
If you still are not getting pregnant, ask your doctor for a full hormonal panel.

[/tldr]

You’re ready to have a baby, but after months of trying you’re not getting pregnant. It can be an emotionally painful, stressful experience, for both you and your partner. The good news is, there are things you can do to boost your fertility and increase your chances of conceiving. Read on for the reasons why you may not be getting pregnant, and how to change that.

Reasons you are not getting pregnant

You’re not tracking your ovulation

The first thing I ask my patients is how long they’ve been trying to get pregnant. If you’re in your late-twenties or early-thirties, and you’ve been trying to get pregnant for 6 months without success, see your doctor. If you’re in your mid- to late-thirties and early-forties, you don’t want to wait that long.

The second question I ask is whether you’ve been tracking your ovulation — this is key. Ovulation is the point in your cycle — typically mid-way — when your ovary releases an egg.

There are many misconceptions here, so let’s clarify. An egg lives for 12-24 hrs. Most women release only one egg at a time. However, as you get older and the “clock starts ticking,” it’s more common for more than one egg to get released. That’s why older mothers have a higher chance of twins!

The two eggs could be released on the same day from each ovary, but you could also release one egg and then a second egg a day or two later from either the same ovary or from the other ovary. This can give you a “fertility window” of up to 5 days per cycle. And since healthy sperm can survive up to 5 days in the female reproductive tract, many fertility doctors extend the “window” to 7 days.

Tracking your ovulation so you know WHEN it’s happening is therefore crucial. It’s not unusual for women to miss their ovulation window because they are either not tracking it correctly, or because they ovulate early or late in their cycle. Without a proper tracker and an ovulation kit to test your urine, you won’t know. You can track your cycle using a period tracking app like MyFLO or Period Calendar, and I strongly recommend you buy an ovulation test kit from the drugstore for at least 3 consecutive months. The money spent on the ovulation test kit will be far less than what you might spend on lab tests, supplements, herbs, or fertility treatments.

You’re not timing sex

Given the above information about ovulating, when should you have sex? If you are in your twenties or early thirties, and likely releasing only one egg at a time, you should be having sex every other day, starting 4 days before your ovulation, the day of your expected ovulation, and 2 days later. So if your ovulation happens on day 14 of your cycle, you’d have sex on day 10, 12, 14 and 16.

If you are in your mid-thirties or older, you may be releasing two eggs, at least during some of your cycles, so you want to boost your chances of getting pregnant on the 3 days following your first expected ovulation. So with a 28-day cycle, and possibly ovulating on day 14, and 15 or 16, you would have sex on day 10, 12, 14, 16, 18.

The reason you have sex every other day is because with a “day of recovery”, a man’s sperm count rises. And a higher sperm count means better chances of getting pregnant.

If your cycles are irregular, and/or you have anovulatory cycles, it’s best to consult with a fertility doctor because the simple math above just won’t do it in your case.

You’re stressed

You can still bleed every month when it’s your period, and not ovulate. This is typically due to a hormone imbalance — you’re lacking the right mix of hormones to create a healthy egg. Sometimes a hormone imbalance is hereditary — if your grandmother and mother have a history of miscarriages or struggled to get pregnant, it’s possible you might run into similar challenges.

But the biggest reason — other than hereditary hormonal imbalances — for not ovulating properly is stress. When you’re stressed, you don’t get enough sleep, and without good sleep, you produce fewer sex hormones like estrogen and progesterone. Instead, your body ramps up production of other hormones like cortisol (the stress hormone).

Cortisol signals to your body that this isn’t a good time to get pregnant. You can have a woman who is desperate to get pregnant, yet her body is saying “absolutely not.” The human body hasn’t changed significantly in 50,000 years — back then humans were living in caves, or on the savannah. When food was scarce, or your life was at risk, you were less likely to get pregnant — your body needed to know it could support a pregnancy and produce breast milk to feed a baby. Not much has changed — high cortisol tells your body now is not a good time to get pregnant.

So how do you lower stress when life is so busy and you’re under so much pressure? You start small. You don’t need to completely makeover your life, move to the country, and meditate five hours a day. Instead, small changes, over an extended period of time, have a cumulative effect.

Here are some ideas:

Go to bed earlier: If you are always tired around 8.30-9pm, then listen to your body and allow yourself to begin your bedtime routine even if it seems “too early”.

Protect yourself from too much blue light exposure: When you work on your laptop at night or scroll through Instagram on your phone, you’re exposing yourself to blue light. Too much blue light suppresses melatonin — the hormone that tells your body when it’s time to sleep. Shut down all electronic devices two hours before bed, and switch to a red bulb in your bedside lamp. Read here for more ways to protect yourself from junk light.

Learn to say no: If you’re someone who likes to say yes to everything, especially to helping others, you may want to pull back a little. If you volunteer every weekend, volunteer every other weekend, at least while you’re trying to get pregnant.
Get support: If you already have another child, look into getting some support. You could hire a mother’s helper — typically young babysitters who can help you run errands or play with your older children so you can get things done, or simply rest. The bonus? They’re typically more affordable than nannies. Or arrange for another parent to pick up your child from daycare once or twice a week, so you can use that time to meditate, do yoga, or go for a walk

Making some simple tweaks to your day can have a huge impact on your stress levels overtime.

You’re not eating enough good fats and protein

You need good fats and high-quality protein to build hormones.

Fats like omega-3s and saturated fat help your body produce sex hormones like testosterone and estrogen — these hormones keep you fertile.[ref url=”https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4763493/”] The best sources of fat are:

Grass-fed butter
Coconut oil
Olive oil
Raw nuts
Grass-fed beef and lamb
Wild-caught fish (avoid species high in mercury like fatty tuna — too much mercury and other environmental toxins can hurt your fertility.)[ref url=”https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28844822″]
Krill oil supplements

Protein is also key to creating quality eggs. One study looked at women undergoing IVF at the same clinic. Those who ate a moderate amount of protein (more than 25% of their daily calories) had more embryos to transfer and two times the pregnancy rates than those eating less than 25% of protein. Cutting down on carbs also boosted fertility. The women with the highest pregnancy rate (80%) ate more than 25% protein and ate less than 40% of carbs.[ref url=”https://www.fertstert.org/article/S0015-0282(12)01583-X/fulltext”]

Learn here about the best sources of protein

If you’re a vegetarian — and a lot of women are — it’s likely you aren’t getting enough fat and protein. Vegetable protein isn’t as efficient as animal protein at building hormones. Animals eat grass — they take the plant and convert it into a more a sophisticated protein. Humans aren’t so good at doing this. Same goes for omega-3 fats from fish, versus from plant sources like flaxseed oil and chia seeds.[ref url=”https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2621042/”]

If you’re vegetarian, you want to supplement with digestive enzymes and probiotics and prebiotics — anything that will help you better digest vegetable protein.

Your thyroid is out of whack

If you are not getting pregnant, you want to check your thyroid levels. Your thyroid produces hormones that regulate almost all of your bodily systems, including your menstrual cycle and mood.

Ask your doctor for a full thyroid panel. You want to get the TSH (thyroid stimulating hormone), T3, and T4 tests. TSH is secreted by the brain, and its job is to tell the thyroid gland to make the right amount of thyroid hormones. A lot of physicians will only test for TSH — if the test comes back normal, doctors assume your levels of thyroid hormones must be normal.

But I see more and more clients whose TSH is fairly normal, yet their actual thyroid hormones are low. That’s why I test TSH along with T3 and T4 so I can get a full picture and I know for sure whether the thyroid is producing what’s needed for pregnancy. A lot of health care plans won’t cover expanded thyroid tests. T3 and T4 each cost around $30 each. Women will spend a lot of money on supplements, herbs, and ovulation kits, yet they often don’t think, “Am I getting the right tests?”

Most women walk around with levels of T3 and T4 that are too low. Even if your tests come back with a “low normal”, you should start supplementing with thyroid medication. If your doctor isn’t onboard with doing the extra tests, find another doctor. Even very small doses of supplemental thyroid hormone can make a huge difference.

You can boost your thyroid with iodine — a mineral that’s necessary to make thyroid hormone. Make sure you supplement under the supervision of a doctor or a naturopath, since too much iodine can also cause problems. To test your iodine levels at home, put two drops of liquid iodine on the inside of your forearms and let it soak in. You should see a dark brown stain on your skin. Let that dry, and check back after 12 hours.

If it’s more pale or completely gone, you have an iodine deficiency, and it’s time to supplement. If it’s completely gone after 24 hrs, your levels are low but not dangerously so. Even then you should have a blood test to see what your actual iodine levels are and see if supplementation is needed.

Another healthy activity that “steals” iodine is exposure to strongly chlorinated water. If you swim in a public pool even once a week on a regular basis, it is slowly lowering your iodine.

What to do next

It takes about 2 to 3 months for your hormones to balance themselves, when following the above guidelines. If you still haven’t become pregnant after 4 months or so, take the next step and order a full hormonal panel.

At a minimum you want your estrogen, progesterone, testosterone, LH, FSH, vitamin D levels, DHEA, CRP, homocysteine, ferritin, iron, and iodine levels checked. Your best chance, however, to have the correct lab tests done and save time and money is to work with a fertility doctor who will guide you through this process and monitor your results. Someone should be in charge of fitting the pieces of the puzzle together. Otherwise it’s much more difficult to understand what the obstacles might be that are keeping you and your partner from realizing your dream of having a family.

13 Fitness Tips That Are Sabotaging Your Diet and Exercise Goals

November 14, 2018 by Team Asprey

[tldr]

Carbs are evil. Only work out in the morning. Fat turns into muscle. All of those fitness tips are totally false.
New research squelches black-and-white thinking and reveals what you should really know about diet and exercise.
Below, fitness experts and celebrity trainers weigh in on fitness tips about losing weight, counting calories, and hitting your long-term goals.

[/tldr]

What do all of these statements have in common?

Morning workouts are the best workouts.
If you want to lose weight, count your calories.
Fat is evil. Carbs are also evil.

Answer: They’re totally bogus.

Google “fitness tips” and you’re bound to find 1 million falsehoods just like these. They’re based on old science and black-and-white thinking.

Below, certified personal trainers and fitness professionals weigh in on 13 fitness tips that are doing more harm than good.

You’ll also find out how you can create sustainable lifestyle changes that make you feel better than ever.

Ready to bust some myths and learn how to hit your fitness goals? Keep reading for fitness advice you can actually use.

13 fitness “tips” that you should abandon right now

1. There’s only one ideal time of day to work out.

Some studies say that morning workouts offer more benefits for heart health, metabolic function, and hormone response than afternoon workouts.[ref url=”https://www.scitechnol.com/2324-8602/2324-8602-1-109.pdf”] [ref url=”https://www.physiology.org/doi/abs/10.1152/jappl.2001.91.1.91″] If you’re intermittent fasting, working out in the morning can help you reap the extra fat-burning benefits of fasted exercise.[ref url=”https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/british-journal-of-nutrition/article/breakfast-and-exercise-contingently-affect-postprandial-metabolism-and-energy-balance-in-physically-active-males/9DAC8DE59DEEF7926E81FF2BB2C5B7EB”]

So, should you only exercise in the morning? Nope.

Studies show that it’s not when you hit the gym that matters — what really matters is how consistent you are.[ref url=”https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22531613″] [ref url=”https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9526893″] According to Kyra Williams, NASM-certified online personal trainer and nutrition expert, “The best time to workout is the time it fits best into your schedule.”

In fact, you can reap more benefits when you work out based on your biological clock. According to Dr. Michael Breus, clinical psychologist and sleep expert, your body’s natural circadian rhythms translate into four “chronotypes,” or behaviors that define early risers and night owls. If you thrive in the morning, you should go for a run in the evening — and if you’re a night owl who wants to relax before bed, you’ll benefit the most from evening yoga.[ref url=”https://medium.com/@thesleepdoctor/there-is-a-best-time-to-exercise-for-health-and-performance-c7af7aa079bd”]

You can read more about the importance of finding your chronotype in “Game Changers,” Bulletproof Founder Dave Asprey’s new book, and listen to their conversation on this episode of the Bulletproof Radio podcast.

So, If you’re not a morning person, it’s not because you’re lazy — it’s just your biology. (Just don’t exercise within 2 hours of bedtime — that will mess with your sleep quality.)

2. You can’t lose weight without exercise.

You hit the gym 2 – 3 times per week, but the scale isn’t budging. What gives? Exercise benefits your entire body, but it’s not the only way to cut back on pounds. Your diet is more important.

You can’t outrun the effects of inflammatory foods like refined carbohydrates and sugar. If you’re eating pizza every night and starting your mornings with a bagel and fruit juice, it’s going to change your body composition — no matter how hard you hit the treadmill. Learn more about how to lose weight based on your body type.

Food can impact your weight in more insidious ways, too. Studies also show that resisting temptation all day can lead to willpower fatigue, which means you’re more likely to make unhealthy decisions[ref url=”https://www.apa.org/helpcenter/willpower.aspx”] — like bingeing on a tray of cookies after a day of eating lettuce greens.

If you feel excessively restricted on your diet, it’s time to change the game. Your food should make you feel satisfied, nourished, and content. That’s why the Bulletproof Diet is filled with nutrient-dense foods that make you feel great and taste delicious, like grass-fed steak and rich, decadent coffee.

This isn’t to say you should forget about the gym. Exercise fills in the gaps in your diet and builds muscle, which boosts your brain health and cellular function.[ref url=”https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2095254614001161″] [ref url=”https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1540458/”] But if you’re exercising to lose weight, remember: Abs aren’t built in the gym — they’re built in the kitchen.

3. The longer your gym session, the fitter you are.

You don’t have to clock in hours at the gym to be lean, strong, and fit. Science says you can even get results from a 13-minute workout, as long as it’s intense and takes your muscles to exhaustion.

The duration of your workout isn’t as important as the quality of your sweat session. High-intensity interval training (HIIT) is one of the most impactful ways to work your entire body, build muscle, and improve your cardio. Learn more about the benefits of HIIT.

You can also make your gym sessions more by following a fitness plan. According to Lacey Stone, celebrity trainer and health and wellness expert, “If you don’t have a plan, you are lost. You can’t make your goals happen if you are all over the place.”

Download The Bulletproof Exercise Roadmap now

For individualized guidance and accountability, Stone recommends working with an experienced fitness professional you trust. Just keep in mind that not all trainers are created equal.

You wouldn’t ask any old stranger to work on your car, right? You’d look them up ahead of time. The same attention to detail should apply to your body. Research your trainer to learn about their certifications, experience, and methodology, whether you’re following for a workout plan or taking a group fitness class.

4. Muscle turns into fat, and fat turns into muscle.

Nope. Muscle and fat are two separate tissues in your body. They don’t magically turn into each other, just like you can’t turn that donut into a salad.

“Muscle fibers simply get smaller if they are not used,” says Franklin Antoian, personal trainer and founder of iBodyFit.com. “Fat gets burned away as energy when you work out. Muscle is created by eating the right foods after a hard workout.”

What are the right foods? High-quality carbs to replenish your muscles and protein to stimulate muscular growth and repair. Learn more about the best pre- and post-workout meals to fuel your sweat session.

5. Lifting weights make you bulky.

Lifting weights is good for the body, regardless of your gender — and no, you won’t bulk up just because you hit the squat rack. Resistance training improves your mood, increases your metabolism, reduces insulin sensitivity, supports brain health, reduces pain, and burns fat.[ref url=”https://journals.lww.com/acsm-healthfitness/FullText/2015/07000/BUILD_MUSCLE,_IMPROVE_HEALTH___BENEFITS_ASSOCIATED.6.aspx”]

“If you’re not taking in massive amounts of protein, you’re not going to gain weight,” says Ramsey Bergeron, a certified personal trainer and owner of Bergeron Personal Training. “If you want to be the house, you have to eat the house.”

If you want to upgrade your performance in the gym, check out this list of workout supplements that actually work.

6. Artificial sweeteners are better than regular sugar.

You might think that diet soda is good for your waistline because it’s zero-calorie. But in reality, artificial sweeteners are just as bad as regular sugar because they’re carcinogenic, wreck your gut bacteria, and perpetuate your sugar addiction.

Instead, try these alternative sweeteners that are natural, well-studied, and just as sweet. And if you just can’t ditch that diet soda, try switching to sparkling mineral water. Learn more about soda replacements in this episode of the Bulletproof Radio podcast.

7. You have to change everything at once.

It’s great to feel passionate about a new diet or fitness class. But that doesn’t mean you have to completely reinvent yourself in order to hit your goals. That’s not sustainable, and it’s not realistic.

According to Stone, lasting change happens with consistent effort, whether that’s 100 percent effort or just 75. If you go all-out and try to completely reinvent yourself all at once, you risk burning out.

“It’s like getting a promotion at work and then stopping working. If you want to be a boss, you have to be the boss,” she says.

So, how do you make that change last? Bergeron recommends making three small changes and sticking with them for a while. Then, make three more.

That might mean cutting back on alcohol, taking a walk during your lunch break, and only eating out once a week. Then, once those changes become a habit, find new actions you can make that support your fitness goals.

8. You have to be fit to go to the gym.

This is a classic example of a self-fulfilling prophecy. You stand in your own way with this line of thinking. It’s like saying you have to be the CEO to go to work, or you have to be a Michelin-star chef to cook your own food. See how silly that sounds?

Bergeron has his clients come up with a personal rebuttal book to fight this circular logic. Here’s an example:

I’m too tired to go to the gym. There are plenty of workouts you can do at home.
I don’t have time to make dinner. It’ll take at least 30 minutes to go to a restaurant and wait for your food anyway. These easy keto dinners take 30 minutes or less to make.
I’m not motivated to exercise. Follow a fitness plan so you know exactly what to do every day of the week. Work with a personal trainer who you trust and can hold you accountable. Or take a walk outside. Getting some movement (and sunshine!) is better than nothing at all.

“Stop making excuses about being busy,” Stone says. “Beyonce is pretty busy, too. And she’s got two kids. So shut up and do it.”

9. Calories in, calories out is the best way to lose weight.

Also known as the CICO diet, “calories in, calories out” is an old school of thought that says in order to lose weight, you need to eat fewer calories than you consume each day.

In reality, it’s not that simple. Calories are just numbers that define a unit of energy. They’re numbers. They don’t determine the way food makes you feel.

Your diet’s balance of carbs, fats, and proteins and the quality of your food matters more than the number of calories you consume. If you’re eating in a calorie deficit, but you feel like crap because you’re only eating kale and cayenne, you’re not giving your body the fuel it needs to keep your systems running at their peak.

Case in point: In “The Bulletproof Diet,” Asprey consumed between 4,000 to 4,500 calories per day and didn’t exercise. According to CICO, he should have gained tons of body fat. Instead, he lost weight and developed a six-pack.

Why? His diet primarily consisted of healthy fats, organic vegetables, and high-quality proteins — without a diet shake in sight. He lost weight because his body switched to burning fat for fuel, and he eliminated inflammatory foods.

Bergeron doesn’t believe in CICO. He says it’s more important to know how different macronutrients affect your body and find the right balance for you. “That’s why I don’t advocate just ketogenic across the board,” he says. “If someone is doing a lot of activity and they need to use carbohydrates, that’s great. Take them in, but don’t overindulge in them.”

Learn more about how to find your ideal carb intake. To take a deep-dive into the idea that not all calories are created equal, read Asprey’s reply to Time magazine.

10. Carbs are evil.

Carbohydrates have a bad rap. They play an important role in your body: they provide your body with glucose, which is your main energy source when your body isn’t burning fat for fuel.

Most people perform better with some carbs in their system, which is why the Bulletproof Diet advocates carb cycling. The thing is, not all carbs are the same. A plate of broccoli will give your body more fiber and nutrients than a few slices of refined white bread.

“You have to look at your net carbohydrates, which ultimately is your effect on the blood sugar. Fibrous carbs are good for you — anything else depends on your activity level,” Bergeron says. Learn more about how to calculate net carbs.

11. It’s better to eat small meals throughout the day.

Science flips back and forth on this fitness tip. Some research supports the idea that you should eat six or more meals per day.[ref url=”https://jandonline.org/article/S2212-2672(14)01764-X/abstract”] Other studies say that eating more than three times per day will wreck your waistline.[ref url=”https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28701389″]

Everyone is wired differently, and the amount of food you eat is super subjective. It all depends on a mix of factors like your genes, your energy levels, and what you’re putting in your mouth.

To find out what works for you, start by cutting out the stuff that spikes your blood sugar and makes you hungry in an hour. That means refined carbohydrates and sugar. (Learn more about insulin spikes in this episode of the Bulletproof Radio podcast.)

You’re going to feel hungry again if your “small meal” is a sad salad with a few lettuce leaves and celery sticks. But if you fill your plate with nutrient-rich vegetables, high-quality protein, and plenty of tasty fats, you’ll feel satisfied and full. Check out this list of keto lunch recipes for tasty inspo like steak Cobb salad, keto low-carb chili, and chicken fajita lettuce wraps.

There’s also lot of benefits to intermittent fasting, a type of diet where you eat within a specific timeframe. “Your body can’t store calories and burn them at the same time,” says Bergeron, who keeps his feeding window between 8 to 12 hours a day. “If you’re just eating all day, you’re never really in a burning state.”

Biohackers use different styles of intermittent fasting to enhance mitochondrial health, lower blood sugar levels, and promote autophagy — the process your body uses to clean up damaged cells and toxins. Try it for yourself and see how you feel.

12. X type of workout is better than Y.

It’s tempting to think that one type of workout will completely transform your body. In reality, it’s not that easy.

“Different workouts have different methodologies and different objectives,” Bergeron says. “Until you’ve tried one, you don’t really know what its effect will have on your physiology.” That’s why it’s valuable to try different styles of exercise to find what makes you feel motivated, challenged, and happy.

HIIT has tons of benefits, but you don’t have to do it at the gym. Take a boxing class. Run a few sprint sets with your friend. Take a dance class. Look for workouts that get your heart rate up and incorporate periods of intense activity with periods of rest.

Don’t dismiss low-impact workouts like meditative yoga and walking, either. These workouts have their own specific benefits, like reducing stress levels and building stronger joints. They can absolutely benefit your long-term fitness goals — and it’s fun to try new things.

“Find something that motivates you to really challenge yourself and push to do something out of this world,” Bergeron says.

13. This diet doesn’t work.

You tell your friends you’re swearing off bread. You purge your house of every tempting candy bar. You start drinking water by the gallon. But the scale doesn’t budge because dieting doesn’t work — right?

“You didn’t gain 40 pounds overnight,” Bergeron says. “Think about how long your fitness level has been where it’s at and how long it took you to get there.” Instead of feeling disappointed because you aren’t getting quick results, focus on the smeller steps you’re taking to reach your long-term goal.

And remember that you can measure progress in ways beyond the scale, too. If you wake up feeling energized, refreshed, and focused, you’re doing something right.

Conversely, if you’re unhappy and feeling restricted, it’s time to hack your diet. Increase your carb intake, try new ingredients, or try intermittent fasting and see how you feel.

There’s also a chance something in your body is out of whack. Check out these medical tests you can get from your doctor to get a bird’s eye view of your gut health, hormone levels, and other important variables for weight loss.

And if you’re craving something “off-limits,” be kind to yourself. It’s almost impossible to stick to your diet 24/7, especially around the holidays. Just get back to your normal way of eating as soon as possible, don’t punish yourself, and pay attention the way those “off-limits” foods make you feel.

Want to bust even more myths? Check out the real science behind the top 10 claims from What the Health. Ready to upgrade your life in 30 days? Check out the Bulletproof 30-Day Upgrade printable.

Why Quality Meat Matters for You and the Planet – Michael Salguero #543

November 13, 2018 by Dave Asprey

Mike Salguero is CEO and founder of ButcherBox, the first delivery service dedicated to providing 100 percent natural, grass-fed beef, organic chicken and heritage pork to consumers.

ButcherBox began in 2015 and today, delivers natural, organic meats directly to consumers’ doors nationwide through a simple monthly subscription service. All ButcherBox products align perfectly with a Bulletproof diet because they are humanely raised and free of antibiotics, hormones, and GMOs.

Mike is on this episode of Bulletproof radio to discuss the mission of the company and how they plan to make natural, organic meats available to everyone.

Enjoy the show!

Follow Along with the Transcript

Quality Meat Matters for You and the Planet – Michael Salguero #543

Links/Resources

Website: butcherbox.com/bulletproof to get $20 OFF + Free BACON
Facebook: facebook.com/getbutcherbox/
Instagram: @butcher_box
Twitter: @Butcherbox
Pinterest: pinterest.com/Butcher_Box
YouTube: youtube.com/Getbutcherboxbeef

Show Notes

How Mike first got his hands on grass-fed meat 00:06:25
It’s really hard to be a small farmer 00:15:00
Every cow starts out the same way and then it is all economics 00:16:15
The amount of life that is in good soil 00:22:00
Dave’s experience with eating vegetarian in Tibet 00:22:30
Recovered vegetarians 00:24:20
What should we call people who care about the meat they eat? 00:27:25
In defence of the meat industry 00:28:15
Would you eat algae fed beef? 00:33:00
Why you don’t want to burn your bacon 00:37:20
Two types of slaughterhouses 00:40:40
Why Mike believes that you can run a business ethically 00:49:40

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.

How Long Are Leftovers Good For? What You Should Know Before Meal Prep

November 12, 2018 by Dave Asprey

[tldr]

Meal prepping and storing leftovers is a great way to reduce waste and minimize decision fatigue.
Some people are more sensitive to the histamines released by food as it sits in the fridge. As a rule of thumb, eat your leftovers within 3 – 4 days.
Store food in a super-cold fridge with as little air in the container as possible. For the freshest food, stash it in the freezer.

[/tldr]

I’m all about streamlining your life to minimize decision fatigue. It’s the first law I talk about in my new book, “Game Changers”, and it’s part of the reason people love Bulletproof Coffee: When you don’t have to think about what to have for breakfast, you can focus on being productive and present all morning long.

What about your other meals, though? If you’re tired of wondering what to have for dinner, meal prep sounds like a dream. You cook once, and boom — your fridge is stocked with flavorful dishes like a gift from the food gods.

The problem is that not all food keeps well in the fridge. By the end of the week, your leftovers might make you feel bloated, foggy, and definitely not Bulletproof. If you want to learn how to meal prep like a pro, check out this beginner’s guide.

I’m going to answer a more pressing question: How long do leftovers last?

How long are leftovers good for?

Short answer: It depends. That sounds like a cop-out, but in reality, there are tons of variables that impact food freshness, like the way you store your meals and the quality of ingredients you use. Plus, some people are just more sensitive to leftovers.

Why? As food sits in your fridge, it releases compounds called histamines. Histamines can cause serious brain fog and fatigue, and at high concentrations, they lead to food poisoning.[ref url=”https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S096399699600066X”] [ref url=”https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s000110050463″] Learn more about histamines in fermented foods.

People have different levels of histamine sensitivity. That’s why one person can polish off that chicken that has been sitting in the fridge since Sunday without a problem, but another person can’t even stomach the thought.

Your best bet is to follow the FDA’s guidelines for safe food storage. As a rule of thumb, the colder your fridge, the longer your food will last. Anything that has been sitting in your fridge longer than 3 – 4 days is probably suspect.

How to preserve your leftovers

Think of storing leftovers as playing a game. Your goal is to minimize the surface area that has been exposed to bacteria, air, heat, and light. You want to reduce oxidation, the natural reaction that takes place when oxygen hits food. Oxidized food smells weird, tastes funky, even turns a different color.[ref url=”http://shelflifeadvice.com/faq/what-oxidation-and-how-does-it-alter-food-products”]

Oxidation doesn’t necessarily mean your food is rancid — but it speeds up the spoilage clock. It’s also why leftovers don’t taste as good as a freshly made meal. Whenever you store leftovers, leave as little air in the container as possible.

Here’s a quick-and-dirty look at preserving common prepped foods:

Anything high in protein: Slice it when you’re going to use it. If you slice a hunk of roast beef on day one, you’re going to create way more surface area than if you just leave it whole and slice it throughout the week.
Soups and stews: To minimize oxidation, store in a container with as little air as possible. Transfer it to a smaller container as you use it throughout the week.
Salads: Layer wet ingredients like grape tomatoes and cucumber on the bottom of the container. Stack dry ingredients like lettuce greens on top. Check out this rainbow mason jar salad for a good example.
Individual ingredients: Whether you’re dicing sweet potatoes for a recipe later in the week or slicing carrots for grab-and-go snacks, keep them in an airtight container and use them within 3 – 5 days.

Use your freezer

When it comes to storing leftovers long-term, the freezer is your best friend. If you make a big batch of chili or soup, let it cool completely, then freeze individual portions. The night before you want to eat it, put the container in your fridge to thaw. You’ll know it’s fresher than the stuff hanging out in the back of your fridge.

The same idea applies to vacuum sealing individual cuts of meat. Portion out your protein, vacuum seal it, and freeze for easy access to fresh meat. Check out this list of quick keto dinner ideas that take 30 minutes or less.

Heads up: The texture of some foods will change after a stint in the freezer. Don’t freeze crunchy ingredients like cucumber unless you like watery mush. Dishes made with coconut milk (or dairy, if you tolerate it) might separate when reheated.

The bottom line is, if you want to keep food for several days in the fridge, you’re simply not likely to feel as good on the fourth day as you do on the first and second day. To stay on the safe side, use leftovers within 3 – 4 days, and don’t be afraid to use your freezer.

Not sure how to use up those leftovers? Check out the Bulletproof recipe page for inventive ways to use prepared ingredients. This festive holiday plate is satisfying any time of year, and you can add your favorite vegetables to this chicken keto ramen or Paleo Buddha bowl.

Get on
“The Inside Track”
with Dave

See What Trouble Dave’s Getting Into on Social

Start hacking your way to better than standard performance and results.

Pushing the Boundaries of Conventional Medicine with Caspar Szulc #544

Follow Along with the Transcript

Links/Resources

Show Notes

Reasons you are not getting pregnant

You’re not tracking your ovulation

You’re not timing sex

You’re stressed

You’re not eating enough good fats and protein

Your thyroid is out of whack

What to do next

13 fitness “tips” that you should abandon right now

1. There’s only one ideal time of day to work out.

2. You can’t lose weight without exercise.

3. The longer your gym session, the fitter you are.

4. Muscle turns into fat, and fat turns into muscle.

5. Lifting weights make you bulky.

6. Artificial sweeteners are better than regular sugar.

7. You have to change everything at once.

8. You have to be fit to go to the gym.

9. Calories in, calories out is the best way to lose weight.

10. Carbs are evil.

11. It’s better to eat small meals throughout the day.

12. X type of workout is better than Y.

13. This diet doesn’t work.

Follow Along with the Transcript

Links/Resources

Show Notes

How long are leftovers good for?

How to preserve your leftovers

Use your freezer

Get on “The Inside Track” with Dave

See What Trouble Dave’s Getting Into on Social

Start hacking your way to better than standard performance and results.

Get on
“The Inside Track”
with Dave