Speaker: [00:00:00] If I want to be good at public speaking, and I want more confidence, [00:00:05] it's very important to have high levels of dopamine, because
Speaker 2: that's the confidence. [00:00:10] Lucas Aoun is Australia's best known biohacker and men's health expert, breaking down cutting edge [00:00:15] science into real world tools for energy, focus, and hormonal dominance.
He's not just [00:00:20] leading the game. He's changing it. What
Speaker 3: is the single most [00:00:25] powerful non psychedelic compound that you've used to hack your [00:00:30] dopamine system?
Speaker: It's a medication that they use in Russia to treat neurasthenia, which is just [00:00:35] mental weakness, you know, not having a good adaptability. When I tried that, it literally blew me [00:00:40] away.
My energy was. Hyper elevated and just was in an incredible mood [00:00:45] and very, very confident. Is this legal worldwide?
Speaker 3: You're [00:00:50] listening to the human upgrade with Dave Asprey.[00:00:55]
Lucas, one of the reasons I want to have you on the show is aside from being [00:01:00] Australia's top biohacker you are willing to say things that are [00:01:05] maybe a little politically incorrect in the world of biohacking. Um, as [00:01:10] am I, right? It's like, what works is what works. It doesn't matter if it's cool or not.
So I [00:01:15] appreciate that about you. And so I want to be able to go deep on some biohacking topics and just
Speaker: compare [00:01:20] notes. What do you think? Yeah, man, that's, um, definitely right up my alley. I've always been really [00:01:25] passionate about exploring, you know, novel compounds, just digging deep into the [00:01:30] science and, and seeing the practical applications for different substances, [00:01:35] peptides, and eutropics.
I mean, I've, I've been obsessed with supplements for many, many years, like [00:01:40] yourself. So if you and Andrew Huberman were arm wrestling, who would win? Oh geez, that's [00:01:45] a, that's a tough one. Andrew definitely, he'd verse me there. Yeah, for sure.
Speaker 3: Yeah. [00:01:50] Okay. What if it was just like a mental match who would win?
Speaker: Um, yeah, definitely. [00:01:55] He's, he's, he's, he's breadth of knowledge is, is far superior.
Speaker 3: [00:02:00] I'm just messing with you on him. Like no matter how you answer that, you're screwed. So yeah, just kidding. And [00:02:05] you've, you've both been on the show. It's all, it's all good. What is the single most [00:02:10] powerful non psychedelic compound that you've used to hack your dopamine [00:02:15] system?
Speaker: Yeah, so. When most people think of dopamine, they think of the amino acids, the [00:02:20] precursors, L tyrosine, phenylalanine, and they use them as substrates, right? Like, they're [00:02:25] just basically building blocks. What I, when I was really obsessed with this topic, I [00:02:30] wanted to understand what was the rate limiting enzymes in the brain that actually [00:02:35] govern how much dopamine the brain actually synthesizes from [00:02:40] these precursors, like Tyrosine and phenylalanine.
And then I quickly [00:02:45] realized that it was all coming down to like this one key enzyme, which is the tyrosine [00:02:50] hydroxylase enzyme. And I was like, okay, how do I increase the genetic [00:02:55] expression of this enzyme in my brain so that every time I consume protein, [00:03:00] I'm actually ramping up the synthesis of dopamine.
And so [00:03:05] I was researching what can we do to up, upregulate that. Cordyceps did it, but not very [00:03:10] strongly. For Skolin, another nootropic, didn't really do it to a great, great extent. The one [00:03:15] that really stood out to me was Bromantane, which also goes as under the name as [00:03:20] Lidastin. And when I tried that, Dave, like it literally blew me away.
First of [00:03:25] all, I think I actually, funnily enough, entered into a state of like mild [00:03:30] hypomania because I was like, wow. Yeah, I was actually like sleeping [00:03:35] like five to six hours per night and my energy was hyper elevated and my [00:03:40] mood, I just was in an incredible mood and very, very confident and positive. [00:03:45] I am a baseline, but this was just amplified to another level.
And then I was digging, digging [00:03:50] deep into the research behind Bromantine. And if you look up, how they prescribed it [00:03:55] in Russia, it's a medication that they use in Russia to treat neurasthenia, which [00:04:00] is just mental weakness, you know, not having, um, good [00:04:05] adaptability. It's basically considered a synthetic adaptogen.
And, you [00:04:10] know, I only use like 10 milligrams, which is like a baby dosage to begin with. But I [00:04:15] actually realized like looking back and understanding What happens in the [00:04:20] brain when you actually microdose and, uh, stimulants and amphetamines, [00:04:25] there's, um, some crazy, crazy research where it actually massively [00:04:30] upregulates dopamine production.
It causes dopamine supersensitivity [00:04:35] in the long run, which was, um, yeah, bromantine was like a really powerful drug for me.
Speaker 3: [00:04:40] So bromantine is, uh, It's definitely working on the dopamine [00:04:45] receptors, and it has a cousin that works really, really well on [00:04:50] your refractory period as well, right?
Speaker: Yeah, that's the adamantane, [00:04:55] or amantadine, which is also really powerful.
[00:05:00] Adamantane
Speaker 3: is one of them that works very, very well, and strangely, it's related [00:05:05] to an Alzheimer's drug that's an interesting nootropic, which is memantine. So [00:05:10] there's all these Like cool little pharmaceutical drugs like that, that we don't [00:05:15] necessarily talk about that often. So you felt more [00:05:20] from Bramantine than you did from Modafinil, which is also [00:05:25] kind of helping on the dopamine system.
Speaker: Modafinil for me, yeah, like Modafinil is. [00:05:30] Definitely dopaminergic, but I found it, it was like so pronounced in terms of the wakefulness [00:05:35] components. So like that, like fatigue feeling just never really set in with [00:05:40] modafinil. So it just completely blunted the, the adenosines like sleepiness [00:05:45] feeling. Whereas Bromantane, I felt like it was actually changing [00:05:50] my behaviors in a way that made me like much more goal [00:05:55] oriented, much more like, confident, a bit more swagger, a bit more just [00:06:00] like, if we had to do like a social hierarchy contest, I think, I think [00:06:05] those that have really, really high dopamine, they, they tend to back themselves.
They're like really, [00:06:10] um, they feel like they can outperform anyone else. That was a sort of, um, [00:06:15] effect that I got from Bromantan. And that was, it literally set in after like two to three [00:06:20] days. So it was really, really powerful in that regard. It's interesting. I I
Speaker 3: haven't used it in a [00:06:25] long time. Russians make all the cool biohacking stuff, like the weird [00:06:30] drugs you haven't thought of, uh, the bioregulator peptides, which I know that you're into as well.[00:06:35]
Um, It's interesting. I, I'm going to have to experiment more because you said it, [00:06:40] it took about three days
Speaker: to get the experience or. Yeah. If you look at the half [00:06:45] life, if you look at the half life of bromantane, it's actually like 11, it's like [00:06:50] 11, 11 to 12 hours in men. And funnily enough, it has a different half [00:06:55] life in women, which I've never seen a drug.
It's not often that you see a drug [00:07:00] have such a differing effect in terms of half life in men and women. But if you [00:07:05] combine it with like. The precursors, which I know you've spoken about many times, tyrosine or [00:07:10] phenylalanine, and then the B vitamins, it really is just a [00:07:15] amplification of the dopamine axis.
Speaker 3: Alright, so this is pretty cool, and we just got really nerdy [00:07:20] in our first question on the podcast. And the reason that we'd want to increase [00:07:25] dopamine in the brain is, well, because dopamine motivates you to do [00:07:30] things that matter. So it's like a motivation hormone, but doing it in different parts [00:07:35] of the brain is also important.
If you upregulate dopamine in your limbic [00:07:40] system,
Speaker: what's going
Speaker 3: to happen?
Speaker: Yeah, so the limbic system, that's obviously regulating [00:07:45] our emotional responses to things. And so if we're, we're, If we're [00:07:50] upregulating the production in that area, that could obviously impact our behaviors in other ways, [00:07:55] maybe exacerbate more of like a fear, a fear based response.
Yeah, exactly, exactly [00:08:00] right.
Speaker 3: But the drug that you're bringing to our attention here, bromantain, [00:08:05] it actually raises dopamine in the prefrontal cortex, [00:08:10] but not in the lymphic system. Which is really, really unusual. I hadn't known that [00:08:15] until we started talking about that. I was like, alright, I gotta look up my notes on this.
So is this [00:08:20] legal worldwide? Where does it come from? Where do we get it?
Speaker: Uh, well, I've actually, uh, I [00:08:25] use the second largest manufacturer of [00:08:30] nootropic may have come across that company. Oh yeah. Um, yeah, I, I like to get it from them. [00:08:35] They're, they're really high quality and they're all third party tested. I don't really trust the [00:08:40] Bromantine for many other, like any encapsulated Bromantine, I just don't trust [00:08:45] personally.
Just cause there's, I've, I've tried them and they just don't have that effect.
Speaker 3: Interesting. So [00:08:50] I'm just looking it up. How expensive is this stuff? Not terribly. In fact, I think I have some [00:08:55] from this vendor in my, like, big bag of stuff. It's 70 [00:09:00] bucks. It's, it's not bad at all. Okay. So, what are the bad things that could [00:09:05] happen if a listener says, Alright, I'm gonna see if I can increase my genetic expression of dopamine and take over the [00:09:10] world.
Speaker: Oh, geez. Well, I'd say, with dopamine, you have to [00:09:15] be careful that it's not over converting into norepinephrine or noradrenaline [00:09:20] because the excess production of dopamine you know, norepinephrine can lead to a [00:09:25] bit more anxiety, restlessness bit more irritability. Personally, I don't really [00:09:30] find that because I'm always taking things that boost GABA at the same time.
So I'm, I'm loading up on heaps of [00:09:35] taurine, you know, lots of magnesium, lots of things that act as like the [00:09:40] inhibitory neuro, Neurotransmitter. So I feel like the state of complete total [00:09:45] social dominance and productivity is high dopamine, high GABA, [00:09:50] moderately high acetylcholine, very low, very low [00:09:55] serotonin.
And that state for me creates this, like, I want to just get things [00:10:00] done. I want to build an empire, basically.
Speaker 3: Uh, [00:10:05] I, I love it. Word of caution for our listeners, if [00:10:10] something is good, it doesn't always mean that more is better, and you might want to [00:10:15] get some adult supervision, as in a friend or partner who's going to tell you if you're [00:10:20] acting a little bit wacky, because if you really crank up dopamine too much, [00:10:25] it reduces inhibitory control.
That's sex addiction, [00:10:30] stimulants, abuse, abuse. You can reach, like, bipolar like states of mania with [00:10:35] racing thoughts, you're overconfident, and, strangely, [00:10:40] it can make it worse if you have ADHD. Um, especially, [00:10:45] uh, when there's just too much noise in a chaotic environment. So, [00:10:50] tread cautiously when enhancing dopamine this dramatically, but we all need to know about the [00:10:55] tools.
And this is a, a really under respected tool, so thank you Lucas [00:11:00] for pointing that out. I, I really like this. Yeah, no, it's definitely an interesting [00:11:05] compound. Do you think you can rewire? Someone's brain for masculinity [00:11:10] and what would it look like if you could
Speaker: yeah, so when it comes to masculinity I think there's [00:11:15] a particular hormone that a lot of guys are confused about and that is DHT [00:11:20] Now, a lot of guys are under the assumption that DHT is something that [00:11:25] we need to block.
You know, we need to inhibit the production of DHT. We need to block [00:11:30] the 5 alpha reductase enzyme, but we've seen in [00:11:35] thousands of case studies and, and, and even on, um, you know, medical journals, [00:11:40] the ramifications, the implications of actually blocking 5 alpha reductase [00:11:45] in men can lead to anxiety, low mood.
It can lead to sexual [00:11:50] dysfunction. So I've always been under the premise that most guys [00:11:55] are already struggling with testosterone, right? Like we're in a testosterone epidemic, it's [00:12:00] declining, it's not getting any better. So therefore, why would we want to [00:12:05] then go ahead and block. The hormone that testosterone gets converted into, which is [00:12:10] DHT, which is three to 10 times more potent than testosterone itself.
Speaker 3: [00:12:15] We'd want to block it because we care about our hair. I know. [00:12:20] Or, I mean, there's two reasons that guys block DHT, right? One is you don't want to lose your [00:12:25] hair. And the other one is because of prostate enlargement. Right? So, so the, the [00:12:30] thing a lot of guys do, and I've gone through phases, this is before I really understood what was going on with my health.
This [00:12:35] is, you know, 15 years ago. Where I would have to take saw palmetto, where I'd have to pee a lot. [00:12:40] Right, because I had swelling in my prostate. Because, probably oxalate was the most likely thing that [00:12:45] was causing that. It hasn't been an issue, but if you keep taking saw palmetto, it can drop [00:12:50] your sex drive because it's dropping DHT.
And the idea is that your body makes [00:12:55] testosterone, and if it doesn't get sucked up by SHBG, then what's [00:13:00] left, some of it is active as it is, and some of it converts to estrogen, which you [00:13:05] don't want. Although you need some estrogen, not too much. And then some of it converts to [00:13:10] DHT, and if you get too much, it might be why you lost your hair, but it's probably your mitochondria anyway, not your [00:13:15] DHT.
If you don't have DHT, you're saying less
Speaker: libido, less [00:13:20] masculine traits. Exactly. I've seen, I've seen a number of guys who obviously have taken [00:13:25] finasteride or saw palmetto in high doses you know, reishi mushroom is another one at [00:13:30] high doses. Can be problematic for, for some guys if they have low [00:13:35] baseline DHT in the first place.
So if they're, if they're already moderately low [00:13:40] or just average for DHT and then they suppress it even further. Well, if you're [00:13:45] suppressing the 5 alpha reductase pathway, then testosterone is going to go down the estrogen [00:13:50] pathway. So you're going to be hyper accumulating more estradiol, which is, it's not a [00:13:55] bad thing, but some guys, That ratio really impacts them.
Speaker 3: I did not know [00:14:00] about reishi mushrooms having that side effect. They're generally good for the immune system, but I don't take that. I don't take them every [00:14:05] day by a long shot. Okay. So you'd raise DHT. I think you'd also want to raise [00:14:10] dopamine in those same men, right?
Speaker: Yeah. So the other, the other compound that [00:14:15] I'm, well, it's not necessarily a compound.
It's actually a herbal extract. That I'm a huge fan [00:14:20] of. It's actually one of Brazil's most famous aphrodisiacs. [00:14:25] Um, and this one's called Catwaba. Are you familiar with Catwaba? Absolutely. [00:14:30] Yeah. So, so Catwaba was actually the, is the very first product that I [00:14:35] decided to release and we've trademarked the name Catwa Pure.
Um, we spent like [00:14:40] over a year trying to find high quality Catwaba extract. Um, and [00:14:45] I played around with this. Five or six years ago, because some of the research early on was [00:14:50] suggesting that the Catwa beans, which are the alkaloids found within Catwaba, [00:14:55] actually possess mild dopamine reuptake inhibitory effects.[00:15:00]
So you look online, if you go on all these like crazy, like shaman [00:15:05] websites and shaman forums, you'll see that most guys are using Catwaba as like a [00:15:10] happy tea, as an aphrodisiac tonic. Um, what was your experience like? [00:15:15]
Speaker 3: I take it with rhodiola and tyrosine and others. I like to [00:15:20] manage my dopamine systems as well.
Um, I think a lot of advanced biohackers are like, life is better [00:15:25] when dopamine works. Um, it was a subtle effect on top of the stack that I [00:15:30] do, but I have a pretty comprehensive uh, pretty comprehensive stack. [00:15:35] You could say, do you know about
Speaker: cabergolene? Yeah. Yeah. Yep. The D2 agonist.
Speaker 3: Yeah. So that has [00:15:40] an effect on dopamine as well, but I don't take that every day.
That's like a micro dose every three [00:15:45] days. Uh, and for guys listening, yeah, we're getting super nerdy here. [00:15:50] Cabergolene. suppresses prolactin. And if you heard me talk about frequency of male [00:15:55] ejaculation and what it does to motivation, it drops testosterone and therefore DHT, [00:16:00] and it also raises prolactin, which makes you tired.
So this is a [00:16:05] pharmaceutical you can use that stops prolactin from falling, and [00:16:10] it's a dopamine D2 agonist. So it increases libido. [00:16:15] And the reason you want to have high libido is that that same stuff that gives you a [00:16:20] libido, it's called chi or life force energy, depending on what your practice is, basically [00:16:25] desire to do stuff.
It's not about bedroom activity as it is [00:16:30] about, like, I'm going to go change the world activity.
Speaker: I'm really glad you mentioned that, Dave. I've heard you talk about that [00:16:35] before. I really do believe that that pathway, that access is literally the [00:16:40] same access for like, yeah, like you said, life force beyond just.
Bedroom [00:16:45] performance, like if a guy's libido is good, generally speaking, that it can translate [00:16:50] to, you know, life motivation, achieving goals. Getting after things. And also [00:16:55] it helps with that. Like if, if a guy has anhedonia, which is a blunted pleasure [00:17:00] response, I think that, that can also, that ties in very closely with that libido [00:17:05] motivation axis as well.
So, uh, you're a huge fan of Ashwagandha, right? [00:17:10] Uh, yeah. So. Many people, if, if anyone's listening to this podcast and they haven't heard me talk [00:17:15] about the dangers of ashwagandha, this would be like podcast number 50, where I've [00:17:20] mentioned it. So you've obviously heard about it, Dave. I mean,
Speaker 3: I've been talking about it [00:17:25] as well.
Yeah. That stuff, occasional use for sleep. Yes. Daily use. Like if you want to not care about [00:17:30] anything, it's the great one for you.
Speaker: Yeah, yeah. The, um, the anhedonia [00:17:35] response, like basically we'll just sum it up to the audience. A long story [00:17:40] short is that we believe that ashwagandha desensitizes a particular serotonin receptor [00:17:45] that sort of gatekeeps how much serotonin your brain [00:17:50] manufactures or produces, which is the 5 HT1A receptor.
And if you look, if you [00:17:55] actually look really, really far back into some of the animal studies, you'll actually see that There's a [00:18:00] rat study that shows that ashwagandha can actually cause a [00:18:05] brain change in a similar way to what SSRIs can do. And if [00:18:10] anyone's ever used SSRIs, they'll know that most of them can make people feel [00:18:15] numb.
Emotionally, you know, blunted and their pleasure response is basically gone. [00:18:20] So, yeah, it's a powerful anti stress herb, but again, there's so many other great [00:18:25] anti stress compounds to be used in replacement of ashwagandha without the side [00:18:30] effects. They just made it illegal as in Denmark or Finland or something because of that?
Yeah, [00:18:35] that was also due to the, um, potential liver toxicity as well. Component and, [00:18:40] but I think, um, like let's say we wanted to suppress [00:18:45] cortisol. I mean, there's so many incredible ways to do so. Like how [00:18:50] many,
Speaker 4: I
Speaker: know,
Speaker 3: like just take a bunch of [00:18:55] theanine And honestly, suppressing cortisol is kind of dumb.
[00:19:00] Right. I agree. Can we talk about that? You want to, this is a very counterintuitive point. But I [00:19:05] think you, you know, I might have the same wavelength. Same
Speaker: wavelength.
Speaker 3: Yeah.
Speaker: I think the suppression [00:19:10] of cortisol is a problem if we're doing it all the time, because cortisol [00:19:15] actually gives us a similar effect to what dopamine does.
It actually Gets, you know, [00:19:20] like it actually helps us get things done. And that's probably why a lot of people like coffee.[00:19:25]
Speaker 3: Does coffee raise [00:19:30] your cortisol that much? I imagine, I don't get a huge spike from it. There's some, but less than [00:19:35] exercise, I mean. Not really for me. Nah, nah. Coffee's very mild in that [00:19:40] regard. And you want in the morning, you have a dopamine increase, which [00:19:45] Sunlight helps a lot with that, so they're just waking up.
You must have a cortisol response and [00:19:50] an adrenal response before you get out of bed. And this is by design, so you have enough [00:19:55] blood pressure when you stand up, otherwise you pass out and then something eats you. So it's a survival [00:20:00] thing. So morning cortisol increase is beneficial for your immune [00:20:05] function, for your cognitive function, for getting up and caring about your life.
So [00:20:10] that's when you'd want to have coffee, and a cortisol rise then sets your circadian rhythm, [00:20:15] right? So, you don't want to suppress that, but if it's elevated when it's time for [00:20:20] bed, you might want to, and then you could use Asperganda if it's occasional. But, if it's [00:20:25] regular, then you could still set the cycle, but you don't want to use that same stuff, you want to pick something else.
[00:20:30] And, like, I mentioned Theanine, what other thing did you use in the evening to lower [00:20:35] cortisol?
Speaker: Oh, you've got so many great compounds. I mean, you've got glycine, three to [00:20:40] five grams. You've got taurine, three, three to six grams. You've got a one [00:20:45] that I've used sort of sparingly, which is really, really powerful is [00:20:50] microdosing ciproheptidine, also known as periactin.
It's a great compound. really [00:20:55] powerful antihistamine. It's not natural, like it's a, it's a pharmaceutical drug, [00:21:00] but, um, it's at one milligram, which is a quarter of the tablet, [00:21:05] um, ciproheptadine can really powerfully lower, like, [00:21:10] not just cortisol, but also adrenaline and, and all the other fight or [00:21:15] flight sort of related, you neurotransmitters.
So that's one that I have used. Yeah,
Speaker 3: [00:21:20] that's an interesting thing. I have not played with that [00:21:25] drug. I don't know if you can get it in the U. S. It's called the Cyproheptadine. [00:21:30] A lot of people have had Benadryl, right? Really, really common thing. It knocks [00:21:35] you on your butt. And this is also an antihistamine kind of like Benadryl, uh, [00:21:40] Benadryl's an H1 blocker, this is an H1 blocker.
Problem with Benadryl is we've now [00:21:45] proven that people who use Benadryl a lot, especially for sleep, over time, are [00:21:50] much more likely to get cognitive dementia as they age. It's not good for you. But, [00:21:55] I don't know if the same is true for this one, do you?
Speaker: A lot of the [00:22:00] dirty effects of Benadryl do sort of cross over a little bit with Superheptadine, [00:22:05] although if we're using 1mg as like a Sunday reset, which is a [00:22:10] protocol that I've implemented for many, many years, is like on Sunday night, I [00:22:15] need a super sleep.
And a super sleep for me is just like a boosted sleep. [00:22:20] You've probably got Delta Sleep Inducing Peptide for that. You've probably. Played around with some other things, [00:22:25] but um, yeah, Cipreptidine at one milligram. Yes. It's anti [00:22:30] cholinergic. So then therefore when I wake up the next day, okay, no [00:22:35] problem. Just take some alpha GPC and some eggs, eat some eggs.
So the anti [00:22:40] cholinergic effect is basically eradicated. And then the, remember [00:22:45] that actually ciproheptadine is, was, is one of the world's first [00:22:50] ways to actually counteract serotonin syndrome. So it's actually first [00:22:55] line treatment against serotonin syndrome. So ciproheptadine is a really [00:23:00] powerful way to actually suppress serotonin.
Speaker 3: Oh, so that might be really useful if [00:23:05] you were dumb enough to use, um, um, magical blue compounds that we all like, [00:23:10] methylene blue, with psychedelics, that can cause serotonin syndrome, which can be really [00:23:15] deadly. So if, if you're out there, maybe at Burning Man in another few weeks [00:23:20] here, and you're doing methylene glue, or an SSRI, and you kick some [00:23:25] mushrooms, and your blood pressure and heart rate goes through the roof, you can literally blow a gasket.
So [00:23:30] this would be one of the ways, along with benzodiazepines, to protect yourself.
Speaker: Yeah, exactly. And the [00:23:35] serotonin syndrome, I've actually had a few friends that have accidentally induced that, and you're probably the [00:23:40] same as well. And it's, it is actually a really serious issue. It can happen with [00:23:45] 5 HTP as well.
Tryptophan, not so much, but yeah, people need to be [00:23:50] really careful with serotonin syndrome. Like you said at the start, Too much of [00:23:55] anything is, is not good.
Speaker 3: And if you don't have the right medications, you literally, if your blood [00:24:00] pressure, your heart rate's 180, blood pressure's going up, you've done psychedelics and some kind of serotonin thing, you go to the [00:24:05] hospital and like, give me IV dents or diazepines.
Now I have serotonin syndrome, they'll know what to do. [00:24:10] And if you're at a festival or something, they're very familiar with this because [00:24:15] it's one of the risks of that kind of stuff. But there's another [00:24:20] compound. Sort of related that might be useful for your super sleep deck and you [00:24:25] might already use it, but let's talk about it because we're like going deep on cutting edge stuff.[00:24:30]
Have you played around with amanita
Speaker: strains of mothrax? [00:24:35] That, that's one that's on my to do list. My, my massive to do [00:24:40] list. It's a, it's a musk, musk mole is the active constituent in Amanita. [00:24:45] Yes. Yeah. Where, where, where should I get it from? I don't know if I've never actually tried [00:24:50] it.
Speaker 3: You can buy extracts online.
I'm not sure if the company that sells [00:24:55] it would want me to, uh, to share it. It's a company [00:25:00] that has methylene blue. Uh, and makes a really cool nasal spray [00:25:05] with some nicotine stuff in it. So, you know, I'm talking about, but I'm not going to name them because I [00:25:10] think that'd be a member. And this is actually not illegal.
So, Amanita are [00:25:15] the famous red and white mushrooms. They are not psychedelic classically. I got [00:25:20] interested because where I used to live on Vancouver Island. The, uh, the [00:25:25] First Nations people up there, um, indigenous people, they know how to [00:25:30] deal with cold, dark, shitty winters, because that's how it is up there.
[00:25:35] So, seasonal affective disorder is a thing. And so is just blah, and [00:25:40] so is cold. So, they would take amanita, and they would cook it down [00:25:45] into like a, a gel, like a jelly, and they'd eat a tablespoon of that every day. And then they don't care about [00:25:50] cold, and they don't care about darkness. Which is kind of a big deal.
So I have like a [00:25:55] 3x extract. You take a dropper full before bed, and it works the, uh, [00:26:00] Muscarinic receptors, which is something that the drug you talked about does, and [00:26:05] you get really interesting dreams And it's a different quality, but a good [00:26:10] quality of sleep. So if you're trying to like figure out, okay, I want to [00:26:15] increase, we'll say masculinity, like we talked about before.
So, you're going to take your testosterone, you're going to take the other [00:26:20] substances that you like, and you're going to improve the quality of your sleep, quality of your dopamine. [00:26:25] And so, this might be a tool you put in there. Men and women can both use Amanita, of [00:26:30] course.
Speaker: I know there's a, there's another herb that's really famous, uh, it's really renowned for [00:26:35] increasing flying dreams.
Have you heard of that? It's asparagus. Is [00:26:40] this the African
Speaker 3: dream root or something different?
Speaker: It's um, I know that one, [00:26:45] but there's another one. I think it's asparagus root. It's, there's a particular type of [00:26:50] asparagus that's known to create like flying dreams. I've never actually tried it though. [00:26:55]
Speaker 3: That sounds kind of interesting.
I'm up for that. You know, I, I imagine some [00:27:00] people are going, what are these guys going on about? Well, what's happening here is the [00:27:05] quality of your experience of reality is incredibly affected by your [00:27:10] neurochemistry and your mitochondrial biology. And so like, what are the obvious things? It's [00:27:15] serotonin, it's dopamine, it's adrenaline, it's noradrenaline and their metabolites [00:27:20] and their precursors.
And if you get those right, And you have enough electrical activity in [00:27:25] your cells because we took care of your mitochondria. Your experience of sleep, [00:27:30] your experience of wake, your experience of intimacy, they're completely like on a different planet, [00:27:35] right?
Speaker: Yeah, this is a not, this is a big reason why I'm a big advocate for An [00:27:40] organic acids test.
Um, that's something that I, I recently did one and my, I [00:27:45] was actually really happy with where everything was at. Like all of my [00:27:50] neurotransmitters were exactly where I wanted them to be. And this is, this comes back to the principle [00:27:55] of something that I've been trying to educate people about, which is cosmetic [00:28:00] neurology, which is the ability to actually hack in neurotransmitters.
I know you've [00:28:05] spoken about that extensively, but it's like, hang on a second. If I want [00:28:10] to be good at public speaking and I want more [00:28:15] confidence, it's very important to have high levels of GABA [00:28:20] and reduce glutamate and it's also important to have high levels of [00:28:25] dopamine because that's the confidence.
So it's like, how do I actually [00:28:30] manipulate my brain to actually create the state that is most likely to elicit [00:28:35] the best possible outcome?
Speaker 3: What would happen if you got to choose your state? And you [00:28:40] put yourself in the ideal state for the activity you were in. And it's really funny [00:28:45] because let's say that you're about to go out on a hot date with someone new.
[00:28:50] Okay, you're going to brush your teeth, you're going to hopefully shower, unless you're a vegan, it doesn't matter then because [00:28:55] you're not going to be able to get it up. Then there's all these things that, and if you're a woman, you're [00:29:00] going to your hair and put on whatever the office is like, like, we all know we prepare our state, right.[00:29:05]
And you're not going to get shitty drunk ahead of time. And like, you're, you're going to do everything you can to make it like, [00:29:10] put on a good first impression. And if you're going to go to the gym, you take a pre workout, but if you're [00:29:15] going to go on stage or you're going to focus on writing or creating nothing.[00:29:20]
Right. And shouldn't we apply the same standard to our morning or to whatever we're [00:29:25] doing that matters? I believe that really deeply and it's changed my whole life and I know you do [00:29:30] too because we've talked about this stuff, which
Speaker: is something I really respect. On the exact same wavelength, we've, [00:29:35] I foresee the body in the exact same way.
It's like, [00:29:40] you have like toggles and you can either turn things up or turn things [00:29:45] down and you can program your body in a way that's best appropriate for a [00:29:50] certain activity or task. Like for example, you said on a first date, [00:29:55] I actually formulated. A protocol to impress on the [00:30:00] first date you're such a nerd man alright tell me about [00:30:05] it so it did it did it well [00:30:10] actually there was one time when I formulated a protocol and I was actually so witty and [00:30:15] sarcastic to the point where she.
She laughed so much that [00:30:20] she spat her alcohol into the other, into the other girl's glass. [00:30:25] So I clearly think it was a, it was a good, a good stack for me because I was really, [00:30:30] really disinhibited. For me, I personally find Dave, if I'm extremely [00:30:35] disinhibited and I have this and I put, put my guards, Pull my guards down, [00:30:40] shields off.
Like that is the absolute best version of me that I want [00:30:45] someone to see because when I'm inhibited and I can be inhibited from taking [00:30:50] things that boost glutamate, if I've had five, I've had MSG the following day, [00:30:55] like I'm terrible.
Speaker 3: It ruins my brain and my day. [00:31:00] MSG is absolutely neuroactive. Good. Yeah. So initially that makes it for worse of a day.
[00:31:05] In fact, yeah. If I was to go on a date. And you gave me MSG by the end of the day, I would just [00:31:10] be like, uh, like literally face falls down. But then,
Speaker: but then [00:31:15] that means that their experience of you was, you only get one shot, your [00:31:20] own, your only first impressions are made within zero point. Unless
Speaker 3: you, you fix your refractory period in a [00:31:25] second.
Speaker: Yeah, well, you could, you can make up for it in that regard. [00:31:30] I think the, um. The first impression idea is like, for me, there's certain [00:31:35] herbs that can like make me feel very disinhibited. The cat's waba is one of [00:31:40] them because it's like a outgoing, it's actually known as the tree of togetherness [00:31:45] in Brazil.
They call it like the tree of togetherness. So for me, it actually had that [00:31:50] effect. What do you think is the most overhyped supplement
Speaker 3: stack in the bioaccurate world right now? [00:31:55]
Speaker: Uh, I, I would have to say number one, apple cider vinegar gummies. [00:32:00] If you've seen those. Yeah. I had glucose goddess on and she was like,
Speaker 3: I tested them.
[00:32:05] They're junk.
Speaker: Yeah. They, and then there's, I mean, this is pretty controversial, [00:32:10] but athletic greens. Um, yeah, that's [00:32:15] controversial. I think just cause the dosages, like the proprietary blends, people are [00:32:20] confused whether or not it has.
Speaker 3: I, I didn't, I thought your [00:32:25] opinion wasn't that controversial. So, I mean, they're, they, they spend a lot of money on advertising, [00:32:30] but.
Most of the, the top people I know are like, it's, [00:32:35] it's a supplement, like it, or the money it's, it's a lot. But I [00:32:40] don't like to, to pick on anyone unless it's like, just a real obvious scam. And I don't think it's one of [00:32:45] those. I just like, it's very expensive for what it is, put it that way.
Speaker: Well, well, [00:32:50] because we're like extreme biohackers, we would rather formulate our own [00:32:55] greens, right?
Like you, we, we DIY. So like for us, it's like, [00:33:00] we'll just do it ourselves and we'll just make, we'll do the chlorella spirulina and we'll, we'll leave [00:33:05] out the ashwagandha and we'll just, we'll build it ourselves. But, um, I [00:33:10] mean, in terms of. Yes, overrated supplements at the moment. I mean, I think [00:33:15] calcium, calcium supplements are pretty overrated.
Most people just [00:33:20] need more vitamin K2 and vitamin D, like you'd probably agree there, [00:33:25] except for if it's calcium diglucorate. Calcium diglucorate is exceptional. Yeah, [00:33:30] I've, I've read about
Speaker 3: that in two of my books now. Although I will warn you if [00:33:35] you take too much calcium D glucarate, and guys, uh, it, I have this section [00:33:40] in, this is the Smarter Not Harder, the book before, maybe the current one, I talk about these three [00:33:45] special kinds of calcium, calcium D glucarate is fantastic for getting rid of synthetic [00:33:50] estrogens, as you know estrogens, But it also gets rid of your estrogen.
So if you're a guy and [00:33:55] you take a lot of it, you can have zero estrogen, you need some estrogen for libido [00:34:00] and for cardiac cardiac protection. And if you're a woman, it's probably gonna be really helpful unless [00:34:05] you're low on estrogen during sudden cardio cycle. But it helps with microplastics. You [00:34:10] probably should be taking calcium gluc rate at least some of the time.
So, but that's still. [00:34:15] There's some text with that, right?
Speaker: Yeah, I'll also, yeah, emphasize that as well. Guys that [00:34:20] I've worked with, I've put them on protocols and it's boosted their testosterone. And they, but they [00:34:25] don't want to use an aromatase inhibitor to lower estrogen. Well, then I always start with like calcium [00:34:30] deglucrate because I've seen it slash estradiol on blood tests.
And if that doesn't [00:34:35] work and that's not bringing it down enough, Then I might consider doing a high dose [00:34:40] zinc because that obviously has aromatase and inhibitory properties. And then there's, [00:34:45] um, some other sort of, uh, flavones that can be as well. There's a really good one [00:34:50] for
Speaker 3: that. So all the guys in my family have mandribs universally.
If I had my [00:34:55] grandfather, I'll be passed in 20 years ago. He, towards the end, was like, you know [00:35:00] what, these things hurt, I can't, no, I understand what happened, and he's like, I'm gonna get a, a, a bro, and he actually, like, [00:35:05] had something that would hold his man dudes up, and I was really ashamed of mine, [00:35:10] uh, when I was younger and I understand now, I have genetics where my body consumes a lot of [00:35:15] zinc, so I'm low on zinc, which would have been helpful, and I do [00:35:20] aromatase quickly, So I figured out a while ago, I have not had surgery, um, to [00:35:25] reduce those, and I don't have any mandus.
Look at the cover of, of my latest book. I look like, better than I've [00:35:30] ever looked in life. I do calcium e glucarate, um, not every day, but [00:35:35] enough. And if I stop taking it, and for a long enough period of time, [00:35:40] and I have inflammation, I grow little You little nips. I'm like, oh, I should go [00:35:45] back on calcinoglucorate or I'll add a little bit of crizin.
But if I take them all the time, [00:35:50] libido goes down. So you can totally manage something that is a sign of excess [00:35:55] estrogen, in my case, it was zinc plus calcinoglucorate, like you're talking about, and [00:36:00] occasionally a little bit of. Yep. Kristin, I don't think dim works.
Speaker: EIM, which is another [00:36:05] thing that people try to eat.
I'm not a fan of DIM as well. Um, there's a, there's a saying, don't be a [00:36:10] dim wit, um, , because, uh, dim, dim at high [00:36:15] dosages can block the androgen receptor. So why, why would you want to take something that blocks the [00:36:20] androgen receptor?
Speaker 3: You kind of want your androgen receptors to work so you can have testosterone.[00:36:25]
You take testosterone?
Speaker: No, I, I, I've, um, I'm hovering [00:36:30] around 900 to 950 nanograms per deciliter total [00:36:35] testosterone pretty much year round um, with my, my stack. [00:36:40] What's your free tealiput? It's um, hovering around 600 as [00:36:45] well, so it's, it's pretty high.
Speaker 3: Interesting, there's some other number, at least, maybe it's an [00:36:50] American thing cause, cause there's uh, I don't know.
It's like 20 is the [00:36:55] number that we're looking for. This is like a Ben Beekman number. Or pkg per
Speaker: [00:37:00] mL? Yeah, that's gotta be what it is. So to [00:37:05] total test. Yeah. My total test is like 29. Oh, okay. So let's say the [00:37:10] 900 is not your total. Your total is 2, 900. Oh, no, no, no, no. My total test is, is [00:37:15] 900, 900 to 950 nanograms per deciliter.[00:37:20]
That's making some sense. Okay, cool. Got it. If I was at [00:37:25] 2, 900 G's, I would be a specimen. I'd be the Hulk. Yeah.
Speaker 3: You'd be a specimen and probably like, you [00:37:30] know, looking at every doorknob, like it was, uh, I don't know. [00:37:35] I don't think any one of us want to go there. Got it. So, and your age [00:37:40] was I'm 29. 29. Okay.
So you're still where you really should be making it around [00:37:45] 35. It starts to go down and it doesn't always, but you're doing fantastic. [00:37:50] Like if, if we were to draw a curve of 29 year olds on the planet, you're in the top 1 percent of [00:37:55] successful testosterone producers, I would say.
Speaker: Yeah. I would say like the reason why I was really [00:38:00] obsessed with testosterone is because I saw the relationship between.
Dopamine and testosterone. [00:38:05] When I, and when I went on the quest to like maximize dopamine, when I did blood [00:38:10] tests, I was noticing that my testosterone kept creeping up as well. So I'm like, this is because [00:38:15] it's suppressing prolactin and also because it's stimulating [00:38:20] GNRH release as well. There may be a, another
Speaker 3: thing going on, and that's when you [00:38:25] do stuff that matters in the world, your testosterone goes up, like, look, I brought [00:38:30] home carcass of animal to woman, your testosterone goes up [00:38:35] just by doing things that help your woman, like, like, we're, we're wired that way.
Mother Nature did [00:38:40] that. So increasing dopamine may have direct effects. It may also just have [00:38:45] like, I did it and then the testosterone goes up like the, you know, the, the Victor [00:38:50] Superman pose and all the other stuff. There's something to that. I don't know.
Speaker: I think the, it's the [00:38:55] accomplishment of effortful tasks releases testosterone.
And it's like, because [00:39:00] testosterone is the hormone that like Huberman says, makes effort feel [00:39:05] good. The, like if you are successful and you are cool, Doing something that achieves [00:39:10] a goal that, that contributes to humanity, like in a meaningful or positive [00:39:15] way. Yes, it makes sense for your testosterone to, to rise.
So[00:39:20]
Speaker 3: we're talking about like [00:39:25] supplements that are a scam. I have a controversial one. Collagen [00:39:30] protein.
Speaker: In terms of
Speaker 3: controversial. I made collagen into a [00:39:35] billion dollar business at bullet through. Yeah. But there's a downside and, and [00:39:40] the nuance always gets missed. So, 15 20 grams a day, [00:39:45] this is good for you.
I went on the Dr. Auto Show talking about it. Uh, I remain a [00:39:50] fan, um, of collagen in general, not endorsing any one brand that I used to work with or [00:39:55] anything like that. But, some people do this thing that [00:40:00] biohackers always do, some good, more better. So then, they say, I'm gonna [00:40:05] slam 100 grams of collagen, it'll work.
No. Collagen above about 20 grams a [00:40:10] day Because of hydroxyproline converts into oxalate. It's [00:40:15] not good for you. And oxalate is something I wrote about in the [00:40:20] Bulletproof Diet, but it's, I think I under indexed on how important it is direct in [00:40:25] certain foods. So, your body can remove 200 milligrams a day of this, but if you have [00:40:30] toxic mold exposure, or you eat anything that is considered a superfood, [00:40:35] like almonds, raspberries, kale, of course, spinach, like all those [00:40:40] things.
then what you end up doing is you end up getting up to like a gram a [00:40:45] day. And if you're taking a lot of excess collagen, it is not good for you. 20 grams a [00:40:50] day is good, but no more, because if you do that, you just add to the oxalate load. And when it [00:40:55] comes to mitochondrial function, we have studies showing that microscopic, razor sharp calcium [00:41:00] crystals of calcium oxalate from your diet, they directly cut the [00:41:05] mitochondrial membrane, so you have less energy.
And they cause systemic calcification and [00:41:10] inflammation. And one of the hallmarks of aging is cellular stiffening, which is [00:41:15] caused by oxalate. So I think you have oxalate poisoning from superfood zealotry. [00:41:20] And like, I don't eat brown rice. I don't eat whole grains, but I'm going to eat some sort [00:41:25] of white flour.
Only in Europe or Dubai, it's going to be white flour, not whole [00:41:30] wheat because of oxalate and changing that one thing has made a big [00:41:35] difference. Transcribed And I can feel the difference. If I do two scoops of collagen, it's even better. Stiffness in the morning. I [00:41:40] do one scoop, it's just fine.
Speaker: Why would the body convert [00:41:45] hydroxyproline into oxalate?
Like, what is the evolutionary advantage of that? That's why I'm, [00:41:50] that's what I'm thinking.
Speaker 3: That is a really interesting question. I wonder if it's microbial. I don't think [00:41:55] it is. Like it doesn't
Speaker: make sense that why would the body have a pathway for that? It [00:42:00] doesn't, because hydroxyproline is good for cartilage and things like that.
But [00:42:05] why would the body do that? Is it because excess hydroxyproline?
Speaker 3: Oh, [00:42:10] it's because we need a glyoxylate. It's a central metabolite for lots of amino [00:42:15] acid processing. So we have to make it. And if you have extra, it goes to oxalate [00:42:20] because that's the only way we get rid of it. So we prioritized acute [00:42:25] survival over long term damage, which is what mother nature does in everything.
That would make [00:42:30] so much
Speaker: sense, wouldn't it? How many people do you think, I mean, with the, with the oxalates, I know you've heard, I know you've spoken about it [00:42:35] a lot and I've, I've liked all of your kale posts every single time you do it. I [00:42:40] share it because I'm, I love those. I love it. How you keep just bashing it into the [00:42:45] vegans.
But like, how many people do you think are really suffering from oxalate issues? [00:42:50] And they're just not aware of them.
Speaker 3: Wow. It is that big of a deal, and [00:42:55] I did not, I did not know this when I wrote The Bulletproof Diet, and I keep referencing that because [00:43:00] more than a million people have read that book, and it's, it's changed a lot of the way that, that we talk about [00:43:05] some more health things, um, including cyclical ketosis.
In first chapter, I'm like, here's what [00:43:10] to watch out for in plants, lectins, and Dr. Gundry's done a great job of talking [00:43:15] even more about that. Look at histamine in food as something that matters. And then look at [00:43:20] mycotoxins and look at oxalates and look at omega six oils as these are, and [00:43:25] they'll affect you differently.
But since that time, uh, Sally Fallon came [00:43:30] out with a book that went really deep in science on the rate of oxalate excretion. [00:43:35] Here's what's weird. We had abundant like thousands of papers [00:43:40] on oxalate before 1955. It was everywhere because we [00:43:45] used it in bars to clean things. We used it in farming. You cure, [00:43:50] you cure, uh, lamb skins and leather with oxalate in old process.
So you [00:43:55] stick your hand in there and literally you would crystallize inside your body. It was pretty [00:44:00] brutal. So we understood this and then it went away. And then we started eating all these [00:44:05] weird, fresh fruits that only, or fresh vegetables that only came about because [00:44:10] of refrigeration. Before that you have to pickle it and fermentation gets rid of.
a [00:44:15] lot of oxalate. So our levels went up and up and up, but when you're [00:44:20] young, you don't experience oxalate very much. And there's a reason for [00:44:25] that. The reason is that when you're young, your tissues have not been [00:44:30] saturated with these microscopic glycerin crystals, so your ability to handle it is higher, your kidneys work [00:44:35] better.
Oxalate, 70 percent of kidney stones, are caused by [00:44:40] not by phosphate. So you just realize, oh, it's a thing. Thing that accumulates [00:44:45] in the body over time, slowly. It's like, I can eat a handful of almonds, doesn't cause any [00:44:50] trouble. But then, ten years later, it does cause trouble because you kind of fill it up.
So, [00:44:55] it is reversible, and I know that I had way too much oxalate, and I managed to reverse it. [00:45:00] Takes about 18 months to 2 years to get it out of your tissues. When I do that, I have [00:45:05] zero pain anywhere in my body. That used to just be chronic. It's also elevated in [00:45:10] autism
Speaker: and ADHD. I wasn't aware of that statistic around, was it, the body is capable of [00:45:15] removing about 200 milligrams per day.
And that's in a [00:45:20] body that's, that's not compromised, though, like in a normal, [00:45:25] normal healthy
Speaker 3: feeling rate of excretion. And we're talking one [00:45:30] spinach kale almond milk smoothie as a gram. And there's a case report of a guy [00:45:35] who died after 10 days of green smoothie clenches of massive kidney failure. [00:45:40] 10 Like it's that big of a deal and he probably had other issues to be perfectly honest, [00:45:45] but like, yikes.
So a lot of people they're waking up, like, I have all these GI problems. [00:45:50] I'm not in problems with my, my poop. I'm having joint pain, I'm having skin issues. I'm [00:45:55] having crunchy stuff around my eyes. I'm just in the deep. It's directly [00:46:00] correlated with oxalate. I've got it out of my body. I don't eat it. I have none of that.[00:46:05]
Speaker: Yeah, that's super. It makes sense why so many people respond so well to like the [00:46:10] carnivore diet. Like surely most of the benefit of the carnivore diet then is just the [00:46:15] removal of oxalates. I believe it's a major
Speaker 3: part of it, but it's, I can't say most [00:46:20] because you're also removing about a hundred other plant toxins.
And for some people, [00:46:25] it's nightshades and oxalate for some people. It's primary. Oxalate, but if you [00:46:30] go from high oxalate to zero oxalate, the body will start releasing and actually get worse. [00:46:35] So people who go on carnivore and experience a really bad first week, [00:46:40] that's probably also oxalate before it starts getting better.
But it's, it's, you can [00:46:45] use biohacking to make yourself better with that. And the answer there is lots [00:46:50] of potassium, citrate. Buns of lemon juice. I did two ounces or more of lemon [00:46:55] juice a day for two years. And eventually you just get it out, but it [00:47:00] takes a while. And man, I love not having anything hurt.
The places where I've had [00:47:05] three surgeries on my yi, I've had a joint rebuilt on my foot, zero pain at all. [00:47:10] But if I go out there and I eat a big handful of walnuts, chocolate, raspberries, even [00:47:15] sweet potatoes, which I've been a fan of, they're very high. I don't need that stuff. I am golden. [00:47:20] And that's what we're talking about.
I think. And I, I feel like with the kind of [00:47:25] biohacking that you do and that I do, there's probably some ways to block it and some ways [00:47:30] to be able to, to think. But I just want people to know, you get to choose your state. On the pain you [00:47:35] have, dopamine levels, your testosterone levels. What do you know about biohacking
Speaker: for women [00:47:40] specifically?
Well, when it, when it comes to women's health, usually, um, I'm like [00:47:45] referring on to female, like female practitioners who are like, well, better, better versed than, [00:47:50] than I am. But in terms of their let's just look at like the calorie intake [00:47:55] side of things during their period. I think the most obvious one is like around when they're [00:48:00] getting there.
That when they're menstruating is, is when they need to up their calories. Usually [00:48:05] they get different types of cravings. And I mean, this is again, probably an adaptive [00:48:10] response. The body's wanting more nutrients during a period when it's losing [00:48:15] nutrients. But in terms of balancing their hormones, I would [00:48:20] say most.
Women should focus on optimizing [00:48:25] thyroid hormones before they try and optimize the sex steroid hormones [00:48:30] because it's such a misunderstood sort of pathway and [00:48:35] most like T3, free T3 levels is so incredibly important [00:48:40] for so many things.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I feel like it's also true for men [00:48:45] as 26 and I'd hit that 300 pounds and.
My thyroid was [00:48:50] almost undetectable, and my testosterone was lower than my mom. And, well, when you get your [00:48:55] energy back, energy is more important than sex hormones. It's the survival bit. Get your [00:49:00] energy back, the body may start making sex hormones, but you probably want to supplement both. [00:49:05] When it comes to women and biohacking, I think the most [00:49:10] important piece of information I have, and I've written a book on fertility, like I've gone really deep [00:49:15] on female hormones and all that, Um, it's at around [00:49:20] 35.
Women, some, they start to hit the wall, like, like, what is wrong with me? And [00:49:25] it's because your body makes stress hormones, cortisol, [00:49:30] and adrenaline. These are necessary and useful, right? But it [00:49:35] also makes counter stress hormones. And these are things like [00:49:40] progesterone, pregnenolone, and DHEA. And at 35, and specifically between 35 and [00:49:45] 45, your production of those goes down.
So if cortisol and adrenaline are [00:49:50] energizing, but aging and stressful, and you make their counterbalance [00:49:55] very well before you're 35, you can have resilience. But since you [00:50:00] keep making your stress hormones, but your counterbalance production goes away, you should know [00:50:05] that about 35, if you're a woman, your job is to measure [00:50:10] progesterone, pregnenolone, and DHEA and start supplementing those so you have your counter [00:50:15] stress hormones the way you did when you were 25.
And if you do this, you'll have [00:50:20] much, much easier perimenopause, probably months later. And when you go into [00:50:25] perimenopause, for God's sake, get on bioidentical hormone replacement therapy right away so you reduce your [00:50:30] risk of everything bad that happens when you age. And you'll probably have a [00:50:35] much higher chance of staying married.
Because perimenopause destroys a lot of relationships. [00:50:40] It really does. And it's no one's fault. It's just a stressful time. And it's stressful [00:50:45] because you don't have counter stress hormones. There, that's my masterclass for women in biohacking and hormones. [00:50:50] So
Speaker: it's so, so important the count of regulatory hormones, DHEA, [00:50:55] pregnanolone, progesterone.
Progesterone is strongly GABAergic as well. So it [00:51:00] offsets the anxiety and the irritability that comes with like low, low [00:51:05] progesterone. Um, and so like the. If we look at ways to actually [00:51:10] upregulate progesterone production, a lot of it actually does come from having high levels of [00:51:15] T3. So that's why I think like T3 actually helps with the synthesis [00:51:20] and production of, they work sort of hand in hand in the body, but yeah, you're spot on, like [00:51:25] completely, fully agree with that.
What is one supplement ute again? [00:51:30] Okay, so for me, the one supplement that I would never use again would have to [00:51:35] be ashwagandha. I mean, you've heard Never even once? No, because [00:51:40] like, if I look at the, what am I trying to achieve by using ashwagandha, [00:51:45] I can achieve in other ways. and without the side effects and the risks.
So [00:51:50] it would have to be, yeah, ashwagandha or reishi mushroom. Reishi, [00:51:55] and I've, I've recommended reishi to, to guys a long, long time ago when I [00:52:00] didn't actually realize how potent anti androgenic reishi mushroom [00:52:05] was. The guys that I recommended to that, they, they were not happy. They were not happy [00:52:10] because they, they reported feeling just, just really like not, not [00:52:15] themselves.
Speaker 3: I'm going to watch out for Reishi. I'd use it briny and stuff. I don't use it very often. I just [00:52:20] get attracted to it. And I've learned over the years, I started out with like [00:52:25] spreadsheets. If it's my, my early twenties, I'm going to figure all this out. And I have [00:52:30] everything laid out for morning kind of middle of the day, yiking.
And I [00:52:35] know ensues as I reach, my body doesn't want that one. I'll just take it. I want that one. That cures an intuition. [00:52:40] Animals do this all the time. Like I want that blade of grass, not that one. So I've learned to honor that. And I just don't [00:52:45] feel attracted to Reishi. If I was to think of the one [00:52:50] supplement I would never use again,
Speaker: it's something called Inosine.
Do you know this one? [00:52:55] Inosine? I N O S I N E? Inosine? Yeah. I think I've tried [00:53:00] it like once or twice, but isn't it a purine, purinergic sort of [00:53:05] amino acid? It
Speaker 3: is. It's a hypoxanthine plus ribose, and it's [00:53:10] powerful because it's neuroprotective and it supports the mitochondria, but it [00:53:15] raises uric acid. Oh. And? I took this for three days [00:53:20] and I got gout and it took me a little bit.
What is going on? There's this weird, spiky [00:53:25] feeling in my arm. My right knee swelled up in a way that felt really familiar. And I [00:53:30] realized when I was like 19, I had gout and I didn't know it because there's a weird autoimmune [00:53:35] thing with gout and it's entirely different than the kind of pain you get from oxalate.[00:53:40]
I know where oxalate deposits and by living, my knees doubled in size. And I'm [00:53:45] like, what happened? Because of my bioreactor, I stopped Inazine. And I don't need a high [00:53:50] purine diet, but I do take about a glam of mixed organs. My company [00:53:55] makes a thing like that because it's good for basically, nutrients.
[00:54:00] That was crazy. So I actually because I have a fully stocked pharmacy at home, [00:54:05] I'm like, oh, I have some olive purinol, and I turned it around in a week, but it was [00:54:10] brutal. So that's a supplement. I would not mess around with my purine levels. It's [00:54:15] just not worth it to you, Vymazine, so that would be out of, out of my thing.
It's taken a while to [00:54:20] clear all the uric acid out of the joint. It
Speaker: was, it was pretty, pretty gnarly. Damn. [00:54:25] Damn. I, I think, um, I'd say, like, probably, like, less than 5 percent of [00:54:30] your audience will even have heard of Anacin. It's a very, it is a very [00:54:35] rare one, isn't it? Like, not many people would even know it.
Speaker 3: It is a rare one, but, like, if anything is gonna increase [00:54:40] mitochondrial function, I'm probably gonna try it. I'm not, that's just how. How [00:54:45] my brain works.
Speaker: Let's um, I mean, I'm curious to hear about, like, in terms of mitochondrial [00:54:50] supplements, I mean, you've spoken heavily about PQQ, Coenzyme Q10, D ribose. [00:54:55] Which ones, do you still take all of these today?
I'm actually curious. Oh, [00:55:00] absolutely. Uh, I
Speaker 3: take all of those today. Um, I still believe [00:55:05] PQQ is mostly a scam. Uh, because if you have stomach acid present, it [00:55:10] crystallizes out. I wrote about this in one of my books. So, I used to make a [00:55:15] lipostomal form that was awesome, but it's very hard to do that. So, what you can do [00:55:20] is either take it on an empty stomach, or take it with a little bit of baking soda, just to keep the pH [00:55:25] where it needs to be so your cells can actually get use of it.
There's also things like acetylcarnitine [00:55:30] is like a very well known mitochondrial fatty acid oxidation, [00:55:35] uh, enhancer. So like that's
Speaker: something that I do on a regular basis. There's [00:55:40] actually, there's one that I really, I'm actually super excited to share with you. Dave, it's, it's a [00:55:45] type of inositol. I don't know if you've heard of it before, but it's called inositol [00:55:50] tris pyrophosphate, ITPP.
Oh, interesting. I know [00:55:55] my own inositol and inoctitol, but that's Say it one more time. [00:56:00] Inositol Tris Pyrophosphate, so ITPP. This one [00:56:05] here, you're going to be, you're going to be blown away by what this one does. Basically, what happens in the [00:56:10] body is normally red blood cells only release about 25 percent of their [00:56:15] stored oxygen during each circuit around the body, but ITPP [00:56:20] actually increases this figure by about 35%.
So the way I look at it [00:56:25] ITPP. It is, it is used by it's, it's used in horse [00:56:30] racing because it's, it massively improves endurance. ITPP [00:56:35] basically feels like EPO in a capsule. Like, [00:56:40] that's my subjective experience with it. It's a little known
Speaker 3: [00:56:45] noble gas. That has effects on perspiration. Know what I'm talking [00:56:50] about?
Speaker: Um, not chlorine dioxide. Not nitric [00:56:55] oxide. Xenon. Oh, xenon. Yep, yep, yep, yep. [00:57:00]
Speaker 3: I, I wrote about this in, uh, I think my longevity book. But it's very hard to get. [00:57:05] I just got a tank of xenon. Nice. [00:57:10] And, uh, it's used as a surgical anesthetic at high doses, uh, which I wouldn't want to do. It also can make you trip [00:57:15] balls.
But, Uh, very low dose, carefully controlled, [00:57:20] it raises the amount of red blood cells like EPO, in fact [00:57:25] some people just climbed Everest using that to precondition. So this [00:57:30] is something, if you had a great anesthesiologist, they would give you that instead of propofol [00:57:35] or something else, but it's one of those things that should be standard of care because there's no downside, only [00:57:40] upside.
from a neurological perspective, but instead they give you bad drugs like [00:57:45] propofol.
Speaker: Oxaloacetate? You're, you're a clinical guy? No, [00:57:50] but I'm pretty sure HMB, hydroxymethylbutyrate, gets converted [00:57:55] into oxaloacetate. You wouldn't get the same benefits, but is [00:58:00] oxaloacetate used interchangeably with like malic acid or some of these other things?
Oh [00:58:05] no, not at all. Okay.
Speaker 3: So in the Krebs cycle in our mitochondria. [00:58:10] when we're making energy. The very last step before we [00:58:15] inject another bit of food with the acetyl CoA, it's oxaloacetate. [00:58:20] So if there's any mitochondrial loss along the way, [00:58:25] then you're gonna run out of the thing that primes the pump for the next trip around.[00:58:30]
So you take straight oxaloacetate, and I used to make a product called [00:58:35] called Ketoprime when I was a bulletproof. Now I use a product called Benadine and it's [00:58:40] direct oxaloacetate. And you put that under your tongue. I've seen it like [00:58:45] reverse headaches. I've seen it just get rid of migraines. [00:58:50] It works for athletic performance.
And it's an off label [00:58:55] European treatment for Glioblastoma, that's a [00:59:00] mitochondrial brain cancer. Wow. So, you use that and [00:59:05] glioblastoma, which is hard to treat, can shrink or even go away. Just by fixing [00:59:10] mitochondria via oxaloacetate by just priming the pump to keep working. You and your mitochondria [00:59:15] are getting shitty broken.
Imagine a diesel vehicle and there's smoke coming out [00:59:20] all over the place. It's not converting fuel into motion very well. [00:59:25] With. You're saying, well, any of that smoke that comes out, don't worry about [00:59:30] it. I can always put something in. So the end to always turn over, even if it would have failed and [00:59:35] that can resuscitate mitochondria.
So that can be really helpful, but it will drop you out of [00:59:40] scotosis. And there's also with them or rotate ever in the boat. Yes. And I'd seen right about [00:59:45] that too. Um, we're talking about Taurine and then the stuff I put in Dane for [00:59:50] coffee, humic and fulvic acid are mitochondrial enhancer. So like, that's kind of [00:59:55] on my list of things I do almost every day.
Speaker: Yeah, I can't wait for you to try the [01:00:00] ITPP, the inositol tris pyrophosphate. Once you see some research on it, you'll be, [01:00:05] I can almost guarantee you're going to want to release it to the market because it's, it's [01:00:10] unbelievably effective. It's completely different to like myo inositol, but it's, [01:00:15] it's, Honestly, like the endurance, the mental [01:00:20] clarity, it's really, really good.
It's going to work
Speaker 3: like intermittent hypoxic training. Yeah. It, [01:00:25] it makes your hemoglobin let go of oxygen more easily. And I do [01:00:30] intermittent hypoxic training at Upgrade Labs. Okay, this is a cool supplement. I'm going to
Speaker: play around with this. [01:00:35] Yeah. Yeah. Definitely. 250 milligrams sublingually is what I use three [01:00:40] times a week.
So I do 250 milligrams sublingually Monday, Wednesday, Friday. Okay. [01:00:45] Okay. And I've also done it before jumping into my hyperbaric chamber as well, [01:00:50] and gee, I just feel amazing, amazing from that. Wow,
Speaker 3: it seems like it would [01:00:55] probably work when you're climbing. Mount Everest or when you're at altitude or [01:01:00] something like that as well.
Well,
Speaker: actually they actually injected it [01:01:05] into like mouse, so basically what happened is it increases [01:01:10] maximal exercise capacity in normal mice as well as [01:01:15] mice with severe heart failure as well. So literally improving endurance [01:01:20] in severe heart failure. So I'm looking here. It says not approved
Speaker 3: for human [01:01:25] use.
But I'm like, hold on a second. I don't seek approval from anyone [01:01:30] for what I do for my body because I don't have a daddy out there anymore because I'm a [01:01:35] blown ass adult. And I wish it would just get over that idea. I [01:01:40] do not seek or require approval to take care of my biology. I like knowledge and [01:01:45] advice and recommendations.
I'll even pay for them. But especially if it's a [01:01:50] regulatory body with a history of fucking the planet with an injection that was untested, I [01:01:55] do not want their approval. It means it probably doesn't work and isn't in my interest until [01:02:00] proven otherwise. That's just my take on things. What do you think?
Speaker: Oh man, I'm very, very, [01:02:05] very similar mindset, Dave.
You know, you know how I operate as well, so. It's how it is. [01:02:10] Um,
Speaker 3: but that said, if anyone's looking at using ITPP, it looks really [01:02:15] interesting. Risks, potentially, like hyperoxia, which could be bad. I mean, it's actually
Speaker: literally [01:02:20] used, there's a, there's another name that they use for ITPP. [01:02:25] It's called OXO 111, and it's studied to treat tumor breakdown.
[01:02:30] Like to reduce tumor growth in humans. So it has been used medically?
Speaker 3: [01:02:35] Oh, it has been, yeah. Wow, that's a cool find. Thanks, man. I'm gonna check that out. [01:02:40] Where can people find your website and all that kind of stuff? Give me your Bidirt.
Speaker: On YouTube, just, [01:02:45] uh, search Boost Your Biology. I've just uploaded over a thousand videos there.
I'm just [01:02:50] continuing to go there. And then, Instagram as well. Uh, they can just search my name, Lucas, L U C [01:02:55] A S, and the surname's A O U N, and it's Ergogenic Health. I was [01:03:00] obsessed with the word ergogenic from like, when I was 17, so I made that my brand name. Just [01:03:05] stayed with it. I gotta ask you this.
Speaker 3: Your last name, Ergogenic.
Is [01:03:10] missing some consonants. It's all vowel. A O U N. [01:03:15] How do
Speaker: you pronounce that properly? It's, um, Oun. Like, [01:03:20] uh, but I just make it easy for people and just say Oun. Like O W E N. So it's like [01:03:25] noun but without the first N.
Speaker 3: And, and is it different if it's like an [01:03:30] Australian?
Speaker: Yeah, or in the Middle East, in, in [01:03:35] Lebanon, it's, yeah, Aoun.
Aoun.
Speaker 3: Oh, is it, it's a Lebanese name, probably. Okay, [01:03:40] got it. I was like, I know I'm going to say that, like, with some nuance, Rob. But, alright, Aoun. I got it. [01:03:45] Alright, Lucas, Aoun. Thanks, man. You guys, Urgeon and Kel, Boothcare Biology. [01:03:50] And if you're looking for, like, an up and coming biohacker who's, Got that [01:03:55] level of curiosity and self experimentation.
You know, I see a lot of the stuff that motivated [01:04:00] me motivating you. It's like, I want to show up to this. I don't feel good. I mean, you be myself all the time. [01:04:05] So keep doing it, man. I appreciate
Speaker: it. Awesome, man. Looking forward to attending the [01:04:10] conference that you're hosting next year in Austin, Texas. See you next time [01:04:15] on [01:04:20] Podcast.