Ben Greenfield: Your Boundless Potential For Happiness And Longevity

Apr 28, 2020

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I catch up with the biohacking king of the universe Ben Greenfield on the wondrous occasion of the release of his incredible new book called Boundless. This is a 670-page monstrosity that covers all aspects of healthy living, peak performance, and how to attain the ultimate goal of healthspan - living a long, happy, productive life.

But don’t be intimidated by its length and the wide variety of subjects covered - have fun with it! Take advantage of the variety in the different sections, flip through the book, and start reading whatever title piques your interest the most. “Hidden Variables That Make or Break Your Mind, Body, and Spirit,” and “How To Burn Fat Fast Without Destroying Your Body,” and “Maximize Your Symmetry and Beauty” are just a few examples of the wide-ranging and fun topics Ben covers in the book.

At the time of this recording, the main subject on everyone’s mind was the quarantine, so we talk a little about how Ben is making the most of this time at home. He’s pretty used to it, since he was homeschooled from kindergarten through 12th grade, and he shares the reason why his children elected to opt out of traditional school and start homeschooling, or “unschooling” as he calls it. Unschooling is a simple concept: pay attention to a child’s interests and passions, and then surround them with as many life-based experiences as possible to allow them to pursue those passions. Ben is adamant about not pushing his kids to go to college, but he still is preparing them for any and all options through fun but rigorous at home curriculum. His intention is for them to really experience the things they are interested in, and if college is one of those things, then they’ll be prepared for all the standardized tests and applications too...basically, Ben’s kids are hardcore training, unschool style!

Speaking of hardcore training, Ben shares how Boundless came about: “About three years ago, I started to pivot from a real focus on performance and focus on anti-aging and lifespan.” Of course exercise is important and key to longevity, but we know by now that overdoing it will never do you any favors. Pushing your body is just that - pushing - and hitting the pause button frequently enough in your life is integral to a long and healthy life. So Ben recommends you don’t focus too much on killing it every single day when it comes to your workouts. He’s a big fan of a simple but vigorously paced walk, as walking at a pace that gets your heart rate up is one of the easiest workouts you can do, and one that won’t put too much stress on your body. Ben also describes a few other easy exercises you can do for longevity, and we get into a discussion about the limitations in aging.

Ben then shares some of his thoughts on vegetables (eat them) and I bring up a podcast he did with previous guest Dr. Saladino. Ben also brings up an interesting point: “You can disable every plant defense mechanism through fermenting, soaking, sprouting, and other ancestral preparation tactics.” He also points out that plant foods in older cultures were not just considered cultural staples but medicinal staples as well - things that could provide some amount of antioxidant protection or something like digestive enzyme support.

Along with relaxing the breaks on intense exercise, Ben has also been more relaxed about his diet. He’s a fan of consuming, “a wide variety of foods, preparing them properly, and also paying attention to the enjoyment derived from gathering this wide variety of food as well.” I bring up Dr. Bruce Lipton’s work and Ben agrees that since your perspective has a powerful effect on your body, it’s incredibly important to not use up “excess time” with activities that are ultimately, not worth it. Ben asks: “What good is it to live until you’re 100 if 30 years of that life is spent in hyperbaric oxygen chambers and with laser lights in your office, taking all sorts of supplements? All this time spent trying to live a long time is time spent away from the family. At a certain point, you have to make sure you’re using your time responsibly.”

Enjoy this (walking) podcast episode with Ben Greenfield and be sure to check out his book, Boundless.

TIMESTAMPS:

Boundless is Ben’s new book with many interesting chapters such as dig deeper about sleep, how to fix jet lag, and how to burn fat fast without destroying your body, and many more. [04:34]

Social ties to the community are very important. This experience of staying home has been a drastic change. [09:09]

Things may change for the better. [14:30]

Brad and Ben discuss the need to restructure the educational process. [16:58]

Kids are individuals. They have different interests to which their education should be directed. [18:58]

It’s still important to satisfy the core curriculum, however. [23:46]

There are five core skills you should be attaining: reading well, expressing thoughts in writing, persuasion, math and arithmetic, and finally logic. [27:01]

Ben’s book was originally looking at anti-aging and has evolved into a worldwide study of how people are living a healthy life. [30:06]

Is there a tradeoff between maximizing your health span and trying to perform great things in athletics and other aspects of life? [36:37]

Walking is always one of the best life-enriching exercises. Ben talks about other important exercises for longevity. [40:06]

Be aware and learn about what exercises are beneficial but don’t overdo. [45:35]

It’s good to have goals for maintaining fitness. [48:10]

What are the limitations of aging? Are there concessions we make? [49:51]

The carnivore diet is okay, but we still need vegetables, according to Ben. [52:32]

What is a special Greenfield family dinner like? [57:46]

It feels really good to eat healthy rather than putting junk into your body. [59:09]

Seeking a balance of all this information takes a lot of work. You can think yourself into sickness. [01:00:03]

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