Nourish Balance Thrive

Back on the podcast today is our favourite neurologist, writer, podcaster, speaker and banjo player, Josh Turknett, MD. Josh’s many current projects include his Brainjo neuroscience-based educational courses, the Intelligence Unshackled podcast, and his virtual neurology practice.  He has recently authored two new books, Keto for Migraine and The Laws of Brainjo, with more on the way later this year.  On this podcast, Josh talks about his working theory of cognitive decline and how to best avoid it. He calls it the Demand Driven Decline Theory and explains why we need to build up our brain’s ability to repair and recover while also mitigating cognitive damage. Josh shares the best strategies to do this, and it’s simpler (and more fun) than you think.  Here’s the outline of this interview with Josh Turknett: [00:00:33] Previous podcast with Josh on unschooling: How to Support Childhood Cognitive Development. [00:00:44] Masters of Scale Podcast; episode with Nancy Lublin from the Crisis Text Line. [00:02:20] Supporting cognitive function as we age. [00:02:31] Podcast: The Postmenopausal Longevity Paradox and the Evolutionary Advantage of Our Grandmothering Life History, with Kristen Hawkes. [00:08:52] Modern hunter-gatherers and cognitive decline. [00:11:26] Podcast: How to Win at Angry Birds: The Ancestral Paradigm for a Therapeutic Revolution, with Josh Turknett, 4-quadrant model. [00:13:20] Cognitive activity protective against neurodegenerative disease; The nun study: Iacono, D., et al. "The Nun study: clinically silent AD, neuronal hypertrophy, and linguistic skills in early life." Neurology 73.9 (2009): 665-673. [00:15:19] Cognitive reserve. [00:16:03] Rats in enriched environments have structurally superior brains; Study: Torasdotter, Marita, et al. "Environmental enrichment results in higher levels of nerve growth factor mRNA in the rat visual cortex and hippocampus." Behavioural brain research 93.1-2 (1998): 83-90. [00:16:40] Auditory training program with rats reversed over 20 auditory processing deficits in the adult brain; Study: de Villers-Sidani, Etienne, et al. "Recovery of functional and structural age-related changes in the rat primary auditory cortex with operant training." Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 107.31 (2010): 13900-13905. [00:17:21] Intelligence Unshackled Podcast: Pioneer of Plasticity Dr. Michael Merzenich. [00:22:54] Maintaining cognitive activity as a predictor of physical activity; Study: Cheval, Boris, et al. "Relationship between decline in cognitive resources and physical activity." Health Psychology (2020). [00:25:29] Demand-driven decline theory. [00:26:20] Retiring earlier associated with higher mortality; Study: Wu, Chenkai, et al. "Association of retirement age with mortality: a population-based longitudinal study among older adults in the USA." J Epidemiol Community Health 70.9 (2016): 917-923. [00:27:00] “Widowhood effect” - 66% increased chance of death in the first three months after your spouse dies. Study: Moon, J. Robin, et al. "Short-and long-term associations between widowhood and mortality in the United States: longitudinal analyses." Journal of public health 36.3 (2014): 382-389. [00:29:56] The "better off dead" rule.  [00:32:32] Why the young are protected from cognitive decline: early demands on the nervous system. [00:37:57] How schools may undermine cognitive development. [00:40:03] What to do: recreate the demands on the nervous system of youth. [00:45:06] Book: The Laws of Brainjo: The Art & Science of Molding a Musical Mind, by Josh Turknett. [00:48:19] Teaching children - what should learning look like? [00:54:15] Book: The Gardener and the Carpenter: What the New Science of Child Development Tells Us About the Relationship Between Parents and Children, by Alison Gopnik. [00:56:34] jturk.net. [00:56:45] Derek Sivers. [00:57:27] Transitioning to a virtual clinic.

Years ago, my own gut problems motivated me to seek answers outside the existing medical establishment, and with the help of my wife Julie I was able to get my diet and health back on track. Having now worked with thousands of athletes on their own health challenges and performance goals, it’s clear there are specific pitfalls that can accompany a high-level training regimen. On this podcast, NBT Scientific Director and coach Megan Hall is with me to discuss the latest science and clinical practice on the athlete’s gut. She talks about the importance of having a healthy GI system, why athletes struggle in this area, and specifically what to do when problems arise. We also discuss what I did to regain my own gut health. Be sure to see the end of the show notes for the outline Megan wrote to prepare for this podcast. It’s an excellent resource for anyone seeking solutions for their own gut problems. Here’s the outline of this interview with Megan Hall: [00:00:54] Podcast: Microbiome Myths and Misconceptions, with Lucy Mailing. [00:01:40] The importance of gut health. [00:03:13] Podcasts focusing on gut health, with Michael Ruscio, Jason Hawrelak, and Lauren Petersen. [00:03:51] Study: Lupien-Meilleur, Joseph, et al. "The interplay between the gut microbiota and gastrointestinal peptides: potential outcomes on the regulation of glucose control." Canadian Journal of Diabetes (2019). [00:04:12] Gut-muscle axis; Studies: Ticinesi, Andrea, et al. "Aging gut microbiota at the cross-road between nutrition, physical frailty, and sarcopenia: is there a gut–muscle axis?." Nutrients 9.12 (2017): 1303; and Lustgarten, Michael Sandy. "The role of the gut microbiome on skeletal muscle mass and physical function: 2019 update." Frontiers in Physiology 10 (2019): 1435.  [00:05:43] Why athletes struggle with gut health; Studies: Costa, R. J. S., et al. "Systematic review: exercise‐induced gastrointestinal syndrome—implications for health and intestinal disease." Alimentary pharmacology & therapeutics 46.3 (2017): 246-265; and Clark, Allison, and Núria Mach. "Exercise-induced stress behavior, gut-microbiota-brain axis and diet: a systematic review for athletes." Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition 13.1 (2016): 43. [00:06:59] Article: de Oliveira, Erick P. "Runner's diarrhea: what is it, what causes it, and how can it be prevented?." Current opinion in gastroenterology 33.1 (2017): 41-46. [00:07:27] The 3 main causes of exercise-induced diarrhea: GI ischemia and reperfusion, mechanical and nutritional. [00:13:25] UCAN SuperStarch. [00:15:03] FODMAP fibers can increase gut symptoms; Study: Lis, Dana M., et al. "Low FODMAP: a preliminary strategy to reduce gastrointestinal distress in athletes." Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise 50.1 (2018): 116-123. [00:17:30] Exercise-induced endotoxemia and ischemic injuries; Lipopolysaccharide (LPS) [00:18:08] Podcast: A Statin Nation: Damaging Millions in a Brave New Post-health World, with Malcolm Kendrick. [00:19:05] Nutrition and immune system in athletes; Studies: 1, 2, 3, 4. [00:20:03] Common gut symptoms we see. [00:21:37] Nutrient deficiencies and overloads: zinc, magnesium, iron. [00:22:27] Iron overload impedes cardiovascular benefits of exercise; Study: Rossi, Emilly Martinelli, et al. "Chronic Iron Overload Restrains the Benefits of Aerobic Exercise to the Vasculature." Biological Trace Element Research (2020): 1-14. [00:25:08] Hepcidin; exercise increases hepcidin, which can lead to iron deficiency; Study: Goto, Kazushige, et al. "Resistance exercise causes greater serum hepcidin elevation than endurance (cycling) exercise." Plos one 15.2 (2020): e0228766. [00:27:55] What to do about GI symptoms. [00:28:07] Dr. Josh Turknett’s 4-Quadrant Model, described in this podcast: How to Win at Angry Birds: The Ancestral Paradigm for a Therapeutic Revolution. [00:28:19] Dietary manipulations; Autoimmune Protocol (AIP). [00:29:30] How Chris fixed his gut. [00:30:07] Book: The Paleo Diet for Athletes by Loren Cordain, PhD. [00:32:41] Lundburg rice tests for arsenic. [00:32:59] Training fuel: Carb + protein + fat vs. simple carbs alone. [00:37:18] Ultramarathon runners still in ketosis with up to 600g carbohydrate per day; Study: Edwards, Kate H., Bradley T. Elliott, and Cecilia M. Kitic. "Carbohydrate intake and ketosis in self-sufficient multi-stage ultramarathon runners." Journal of Sports Sciences 38.4 (2020): 366-374. [00:38:00] Team Sky’s James P Morton on promoting endurance training adaptation in skeletal muscle by nutritional manipulation; Study: Hawley, John A., and James P. Morton. "Ramping up the signal: promoting endurance training adaptation in skeletal muscle by nutritional manipulation." Clinical and Experimental Pharmacology and Physiology 41.8 (2014): 608-613. Also see article: The IRONMAN Guide to Ketosis, by Megan Hall and Tommy Wood. [00:38:24] “Sleep-low” strategy; Study: Marquet, Laurie-Anne, et al. "Enhanced endurance performance by periodization of carbohydrate intake:“sleep low” strategy." Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise 48.4 (2016): 663-672. [00:40:23] Probiotics; Study: Wosinska, Laura, et al. "The Potential Impact of Probiotics on the Gut Microbiome of Athletes." Nutrients 11.10 (2019): 2270; Serum-derived Bovine Immunoglobulin in SBI Protect. [00:40:57] Testing if all else fails: blood, stool, Organic Acids Test (OAT). [00:43:05] Basic blood chemistry tests for gut health. [00:47:32] Gut microbiome testing; Onegevity Gutbio test. [00:48:44] Treatment for gut pathology. [00:49:08] Jason Hawrelak’s Probiotic Advisor. [00:49:48] Podcast: How to Manage Stress, with Simon Marshall, PhD. [00:50:52] Dietary fat causing intestinal permeability. [00:52:04] Blog post: Is a high-fat or ketogenic diet bad for your gut? by Lucy Mailing. [00:54:44] Getting enough calories. [00:55:00] Relative Energy Deficiency in Sport (RED-S); Podcast: How to Identify and Treat Relative Energy Deficiency in Sport (RED-S), with Nicky Keay. [00:55:10] Studies on the detrimental effects of energy deficiency in athletes: 1. Torstveit, Monica Klungland, et al. "Within-day energy deficiency and metabolic perturbation in male endurance athletes." International journal of sport nutrition and exercise metabolism 28.4 (2018): 419-427 and 2. Fahrenholtz, Ida Lysdahl, et al. "Within‐day energy deficiency and reproductive function in female endurance athletes." Scandinavian journal of medicine & science in sports 28.3 (2018): 1139-1146. [00:56:35] Study: Hough, John, et al. "Daily running exercise may induce incomplete energy intake compensation: a 7-day crossover trial." Applied Physiology, Nutrition, and Metabolism 45.4 (2020): 446-449. [01:00:18] Fiber - timing and type. [01:02:27] Orthorexia. [01:05:02] Only 12% of Americans are metabolically healthy; Study: Araújo, Joana, Jianwen Cai, and June Stevens. "Prevalence of Optimal Metabolic Health in American Adults: National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2009–2016." Metabolic syndrome and related disorders 17.1 (2019): 46-52. [01:06:40]  Become an NBT Patron and gain access to the Elite Performance Members Club Forum. [01:07:05] Megan's outline for this podcast.

Microbiome researcher and scholar of integrative gut health Lucy Mailing, PhD. is back on the podcast with me today. Lucy just completed her doctoral degree at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where she studied the effects of diet and exercise on the gut microbiome in states of health and disease. She has authored numerous peer-reviewed journal articles and recently won the Young Scientist Award at the International Scientific Conference on Probiotics, Prebiotics, Gut Microbiota, and Health in 2019. On this podcast, Lucy discusses her recent talk at the 2020 IHH-UCSF Symposium on Nutrition and Functional Medicine. The topic is myths and misconceptions about the microbiome - and some of these are quite surprising! We discuss gut testing methods and why some are better than others. Lucy explains why you consider skipping probiotics after a course of antibiotics and shares what to do instead to support repopulation of a healthy microbiota. She also discusses some of the best and worst gut-health supplements. Here’s the outline of this interview with Lucy Mailing: [00:00:30] Why care about the gut microbiome? [00:01:37] Previous podcast with Lucy: How to Optimise Your Gut Microbiome. [00:03:52] Unschooling and self-directed learning. [00:04:40] Book: The Carpenter and the Gardener by Alison Gopnik. [00:05:45] Podcast on unschooling: How to Support Childhood Cognitive Development, with Josh Turknett, MD. [00:06:16] Lucy speaking at UCSF: Microbiome Myths & Misconceptions (on Facebook). Slides from her talk. [00:07:46] Lucy's talk at the Ancestral Health Symposium 2019: Modulating the gut microbiome for health: Evidence-based testing & therapeutic strategies. [00:09:06] Myth: Culture-based stool testing is accurate. [00:11:00] Companies currently using 16S: Thryve and BiomeFx. [00:11:28] Podcast: How to Use Probiotics to Improve Your Health, with Jason Hawrelak. [00:12:16] Diagnostic Solutions GI-MAP. [00:14:34] Metagenomics; Onegevity. [00:14:56] Doctors Data and Genova have now added PCR (polymerase chain reaction) to their tests. [00:15:33] Parasites Blastocystis and Dientamoeba fragilis. [00:17:35] Jason Hawrelak’s course: Blastocystis & Dientamoeba: Gastrointestinal Pathogens or Commensal Symbionts? [00:17:39] Blastocystis.net. Book: Thoughts on Blastocystis, by Christen Rune Stensvold. [00:18:45] Gut dysbiosis is driven by oxygen leaking into the gut; Study: Rivera-Chávez, Fabian, Christopher A. Lopez, and Andreas J. Bäumler. "Oxygen as a driver of gut dysbiosis." Free Radical Biology and Medicine 105 (2017): 93-101. [00:19:04] Blastocystis might buffer oxygen influx, preventing the overgrowth of other pathogens. Study: Tsaousis, Anastasios D., et al. "The human gut colonizer Blastocystis respires using Complex II and alternative oxidase to buffer transient oxygen fluctuations in the gut." Frontiers in cellular and infection microbiology 8 (2018): 371. [00:19:40] Blastocystis colonization correlates with a higher bacterial diversity; Study: Audebert, Christophe, et al. "Colonization with the enteric protozoa Blastocystis is associated with increased diversity of human gut bacterial microbiota." Scientific reports 6 (2016): 25255; And the opposite result: Nourrisson, Céline, et al. "Blastocystis is associated with decrease of fecal microbiota protective bacteria: comparative analysis between patients with irritable bowel syndrome and control subjects." PloS one 9.11 (2014). [00:20:02] Myth: We know what a “healthy” gut microbiome looks like. [00:20:06] Lucy's blog on the elusive “healthy microbiome”: A new framework for microbiome research. [00:22:43] Microbial signatures of dysbiosis. [00:26:06] Myth: Everyone needs comprehensive gut testing. [00:27:37] Ivor Cummins and Malcom Kendrick podcasts: Should You get a CAC Heart Scan or Not? Part 1 and Part 2. [00:28:14] Myth: Breath testing is a reliable way to test for SIBO. [00:28:27] Lucy's blog posts on testing for SIBO: What the latest research reveals about SIBO and All about SIBO: Small Intestinal Bacterial Overgrowth. [00:29:40] Culture-based testing methods underestimate the number of bacteria in the small intestine by about a hundredfold; Study: Sundin, O. H., et al. "Does a glucose‐based hydrogen and methane breath test detect bacterial overgrowth in the jejunum?." Neurogastroenterology & Motility 30.11 (2018): e13350. [00:30:53] Orocecal transit time ranges from ten to 220 minutes; Study: Connolly, Lynn, and Lin Chang. "Combined orocecal scintigraphy and lactulose hydrogen breath testing demonstrate that breath testing detects orocecal transit, not small intestinal bacterial overgrowth in patients with irritable bowel syndrome." Gastroenterology 141.3 (2011): 1118-1121. [00:32:43] SIBO might not produce enough hydrogen to result in a positive breath test. Sundin, O. H., et al. "Does a glucose‐based hydrogen and methane breath test detect bacterial overgrowth in the jejunum?" Neurogastroenterology & Motility 30.11 (2018): e13350. [00:34:36] Myth: Most bloating, distension, gas is from SIBO (and we neeed to kill the overgrowth). [00:34:45] Small intestinal dysbiosis, not bacterial overgrowth is what underlies a lot of gut symptoms; Study: Saffouri, George B., et al. "Small intestinal microbial dysbiosis underlies symptoms associated with functional gastrointestinal disorders." Nature communications 10.1 (2019): 1-11. [00:36:09] Mark Pimentel's research group. [00:37:04] How to support the gut ecosystem; serum bovine immunoglobulins (SBI). [00:38:25] Orthomolecular SBI Protect. [00:38:38] Myth: A high-fat diet is bad for the gut. [00:38:52] Misconceptions from the scientific literature on high-fat diets. [00:39:54] Diet alters the gut microbiome composition within 48 hours; Study: David, Lawrence A., et al. "Diet rapidly and reproducibly alters the human gut microbiome." Nature 505.7484 (2014): 559-563. [00:41:06] The Hadza hunter-gatherer microbiota cycles with the seasons; Study: Smits, Samuel A., et al. "Seasonal cycling in the gut microbiome of the Hadza hunter-gatherers of Tanzania." Science 357.6353 (2017): 802-806. [00:42:41] Ketones may support gut barrier function. Study: Peng, Luying, et al. "Butyrate enhances the intestinal barrier by facilitating tight junction assembly via activation of AMP-activated protein kinase in Caco-2 cell monolayers." The Journal of nutrition 139.9 (2009): 1619-1625. [00:44:45] Myth: More exercise is always better.  [00:46:05] Zinc carnosine may reduce exercise-induced gut permeability; Study: Davison, Glen, et al. "Zinc carnosine works with bovine colostrum in truncating heavy exercise–induced increase in gut permeability in healthy volunteers." The American journal of clinical nutrition 104.2 (2016): 526-536. [00:46:45] Myth: You should always take probiotics after antibiotics. [00:47:51] Probiotics can delay the restoration of the native microbiota after antibiotics; Study: Suez, Jotham, et al. "Post-antibiotic gut mucosal microbiome reconstitution is impaired by probiotics and improved by autologous FMT." Cell 174.6 (2018): 1406-1423. [00:49:20] A better strategy: supporting the gut epithelial cell with butyrate; Study: Rivera-Chávez, Fabian, et al. "Depletion of butyrate-producing Clostridia from the gut microbiota drives an aerobic luminal expansion of Salmonella." Cell host & microbe 19.4 (2016): 443-454. [00:51:37] Myth: Prebiotics work the same for everyone and always feed good bacteria. [00:52:45] Blog post: Resistant Starch: Is it Actually Good for Gut Health? [00:53:12] Cooking food affects microbiome; Study: Carmody, Rachel N., et al. "Cooking shapes the structure and function of the gut microbiome." Nature Microbiology 4.12 (2019): 2052-2063. [00:54:27] Variable glycemic responses to Fructooligosaccharide (FOS) and Galactooligosaccharide (GOS); Study: Liu, Feitong, et al. "Fructooligosaccharide (FOS) and galactooligosaccharide (GOS) increase Bifidobacterium but reduce butyrate producing bacteria with adverse glycemic metabolism in healthy young population." Scientific reports 7.1 (2017): 1-12. [00:55:32] Myth: All herbal antimicrobials are safe and effective. [00:56:13] Grapefruit seed extract inhibits a broad spectrum of bacteria and is toxic; Study: Heggers, John P., et al. "The effectiveness of processed grapefruit-seed extract as an antibacterial agent: II. Mechanism of action and in vitro toxicity." The Journal of Alternative & Complementary Medicine 8.3 (2002): 333-340. Presentation by Jason Hawrelak, PhD: Phytotherapy in the Treatment of Dysbiosis of the Small and Large Bowel. [00:57:03] Herbs that have been found to be useful: Atrantil, Iberogast, triphala. [01:00:44] Current projects: blogging, consultation, creating training courses. [01:03:02] Lucy’s website, support Lucy’s work on Patreon.

Kristen Hawkes, PhD is a Distinguished Professor at the University of Utah, where she has taught in the Department of Anthropology for over four decades. She is also a collaborative scientist with the Yerkes National Primate Research Center and has authored over 120 scientific publications. She lectures internationally on our grandmothering life history and menopause as a uniquely human evolutionary advantage. On this podcast, Dr. Hawkes discusses the grandmother hypothesis and the environment that likely propelled human evolution. When savanna youngsters couldn’t yet manage to feed themselves, grandmothers were there to help forage,  supporting dependent grandchildren as their own fertility was ending. In the meantime, still-fertile females could invest less in each offspring and have more babies sooner. More robust older females could subsidize more descendants, favouring mutations that enhanced postmenopausal longevity. The research of Dr. Hawkes and her colleagues can help us better understand the critical role of intergenerational support, and how modern individualism has caused us to veer off track. Here’s the outline of this interview with Kristen Hawkes: [00:01:22] Becoming interested in grandmothering. [00:04:17] James O'Connell, Kim Hill, PhD, Eric L. Charnov. [00:16:00]  The economics of the grandmother role. [00:17:10] Chimpanzee babies learn to forage and feed themselves while nursing; Studies: Bădescu, Iulia, et al. "A novel fecal stable isotope approach to determine the timing of age‐related feeding transitions in wild infant chimpanzees." American journal of physical anthropology 162.2 (2017): 285-299; and Bray, Joel, et al. "The development of feeding behavior in wild chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes schweinfurthii)." American journal of physical anthropology 165.1 (2018): 34-46. [00:20:01] Book: Life History Invariants: Some Explorations of Symmetry in Evolutionary Ecology (Oxford Series in Ecology and Evolution), by Eric L. Charnov. [00:22:19] Mathematical biologist Peter Kim.  [00:26:33] Why humans are unique amongst primates: Slower development and earlier weaning. [00:31:49] Cognitive neuroscientist Barbara Finlay. [00:34:28] Anthropologist Sarah Hrdy; the cognitive ecology of human babies. [00:36:14] Nancy Howell, demographer for the Harvard Kalahari Project. [00:38:18] Life expectancy statistics based on an average; childhood and infant mortality historically skews results. [00:38:33] Demographic studies of foraging populations; Books: Ache Life History: The Ecology and Demography of a Foraging People (Foundations of Human Behavior) by A. Magdalena Hurtado and Kim Hill;  Demography of the Dobe !Kung (Evolutionary Foundations of Human Behavior), by Nancy Howell; Demography and Evolutionary Ecology of Hadza Hunter-Gatherers, by Nicholas Blurton Jones. [00:39:27] Life expectancy data, by country; Study:  Oeppen, Jim, and James W. Vaupel. "Broken limits to life expectancy." (2002): 1029-1031. [00:42:36] Estrogen and hormone replacement therapy. [00:44:35] Estrogen is converted from DHEA, DHEAS after menopause. [00:47:17] High testosterone is missing among the Ache of Paraguay; Study: Bribiescas, Richard G. "Testosterone levels among Aché hunter-gatherer men." Human Nature 7.2 (1996): 163-188. [00:48:36] Evaluating menopausal symptoms in different populations; Lynnette Leidy Sievert. [00:52:16] Having a grandmother vastly increases chances that a child will survive. [00:53:51] Female fertility begins to decline in late 20s. [00:54:11] Utah Population Database for Utah demographic information. [00:56:12] Book: Mothers and Others: The Evolutionary Origins of Mutual Understanding, by Sarah Blaffer Hrdy. [01:00:07] Cognitive skills: orangutans, chimpanzees and human children; Study: Herrmann, Esther, et al. "Humans have evolved specialized skills of social cognition: The cultural intelligence hypothesis." science 317.5843 (2007): 1360-1366. [01:02:34] The Infant Cognition Center at Yale;  Babies prefer individuals who help to one who hinders another; Study: Hamlin, J. Kiley, Karen Wynn, and Paul Bloom. "Social evaluation by preverbal infants." Nature 450.7169 (2007): 557-559. [01:03:51] We're all grownup babies; Book: The Scientist in the Crib: What Early Learning Tells Us About the Mind, by Alison Gopnik. [01:14:40] Books by Barbara Ehrenreich: Natural Causes, Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America,   and Bright-Sided: How Positive Thinking Is Undermining America. [01:18:50] Cooperation because of self-domestication; Book: The Goodness Paradox: The Strange Relationship Between Virtue and Violence in Human Evolution; Study: Hare, Brian, Victoria Wobber, and Richard Wrangham. "The self-domestication hypothesis: evolution of bonobo psychology is due to selection against aggression." Animal Behaviour 83.3 (2012): 573-585. [01:19:07] Books: Survival of the Friendliest: Understanding Our Origins and Rediscovering Our Common Humanity, by Brian Hare and Vanessa Woods; Dognition assessment and analysis. [01:20:55] Bonobos exhibit delayed development of social behavior; Study: Wobber, Victoria, Richard Wrangham, and Brian Hare. "Bonobos exhibit delayed development of social behavior and cognition relative to chimpanzees." Current Biology 20.3 (2010): 226-230. [01:21:57] Bonobos prefer individuals who hinder over those that help; Study: Krupenye, Christopher, and Brian Hare. "Bonobos prefer individuals that hinder others over those that help." Current Biology 28.2 (2018): 280-286. [01:27:22] You can contact Kristen at the University of Utah, Department of Anthropology.

World champion triathlete Lesley Paterson and performance psychologist Simon Marshall, PhD are the forces behind Braveheart Coaching and the authors of The Brave Athlete. I managed to pin them down for an interview after participating in the last event of their 5th annual Braveheart Highland Games Triathlon Camp, recently held in San Diego, California. Their following for this event has been growing in popularity and appeals to athletes from all over the world and of all ability levels. On this podcast, Lesley and Simon give us the insider’s view of organizing a weekend training camp for triathletes. They fill us in on their latest creative endeavours, including screenwriting and their new podcast with XTERRA. We also talk about fun and adventuring, and how to prevent rewarding experiences from becoming predictable. Here’s the outline of this interview with Lesley Paterson and Simon Marshall:  [00:00:00] Previous podcast with Lesley: Off Road Triathlon World Champion Lesley Paterson on FMT and Solving Mental Conundrums; Previous podcasts with Simon: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8. [00:00:11] Braveheart Highland Games Triathlon Camp. [00:08:07] The investigative health hustle. [00:13:22] Brad Stulberg, author of Peak Performance and The Passion Paradox.  [00:15:40] Writing screenplays. [00:20:47] Article: Chinese Researcher Who Created Gene-Edited Babies Sentenced To 3 Years In Prison. [00:21:23] The role of cheating in sport. [00:23:38] Recommended films: Jo Jo Rabbit, Parasite, Leave No Trace. [00:26:02] New podcast projects with XTERRA. [00:29:36] The rise of Tough Mudder and obstacle course racing. [00:29:45] Dr. Mark Falcous at University of Otago in Dunedin, New Zealand; studying the warriorization of sport. [00:31:32] Article: Why Do Rich People Love Endurance Sports? [00:33:01] Article: Kids’ Gaming Obsession Isn’t Really About the Games. [00:35:21] Paula Reid - adventure psychologist. [00:37:13] The fun scale in adventuring. [00:40:03] Mood change during exercise; Study: Magnan, Renee E., Bethany M. Kwan, and Angela D. Bryan. "Effects of current physical activity on affective response to exercise: Physical and social–cognitive mechanisms." Psychology & health 28.4 (2013): 418-433. [00:41:56] The deficit model of happiness. [00:43:40] Hedonic adaptation. [00:45:35] Preventing hedonic adaptation. [00:47:59] XTERRA Podcast Powered by Braveheart.

Back on the podcast with me this week is sleep expert, Greg Potter, PhD. Through his articles, podcasts and live talks, Greg is helping an international audience understand the critical role sleep plays in health and wellbeing. Most recently, Greg has been studying the impact of circadian rhythm disruption, including sleep duration and meal timing, on the development of common cancers. In this interview, Greg and I discuss Alexey Guzey’s scathing critique of Matthew Walker’s book, Why We Sleep. We also talk about some of the biological processes affected by sleep restriction, including cognition, immune health, athletic performance, and appetite. Greg shares some of the ways poor sleep is associated with cancer formation, including the damaging effects of sleep restriction on DNA and metabolism. Here’s the outline of this interview with Greg Potter: [00:00:09] Greg's 4-part series of articles on sleep: 1. Having trouble sleeping? A primer on insomnia and how to sleep better; 2. Sleep-maintenance insomnia: how to sleep through the night; 3. Sleep-onset insomnia: how to get to sleep fast; 4. Sleep for athletes: are athletes a different breed? [00:00:28] Greg's previous podcasts: How to Entrain Your Circadian Rhythm for Perfect Sleep and Metabolic Health; Morning Larks and Night Owls: the Biology of Chronotypes; What to Do When You Can’t Sleep; Better Sleep for Athletes. [00:01:11] 2020 Metagenics International Congress on Natural Medicine. [00:03:36] Book: Why We Sleep, by Matthew Walker, PhD. [00:03:38] Article: Matthew Walker's "Why We Sleep" Is Riddled with Scientific and Factual Errors, by Alexey Guzey. [00:04:12] Book: Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman. [00:10:23] Dimensions of sleep; Article: Buysse, Daniel J. "Sleep health: can we define it? Does it matter?." Sleep 37.1 (2014): 9-17. [00:12:34] The transtheoretical model of behavior change. [00:16:34] Stephan Guyenet’s Red Pen Reviews. [00:18:40] Chronotypes and the Sentinel Hypothesis. [00:19:39] Are people not sleeping enough? [00:21:56] Sleep duration in the US might be increasing; Study: Basner, Mathias, and David F. Dinges. "Sleep duration in the United States 2003–2016: first signs of success in the fight against sleep deficiency?." Sleep 41.4 (2018): zsy012. [00:26:12] People overestimate their sleep duration; Study: Lauderdale, Diane S., et al. "Self-reported and measured sleep duration: how similar are they?." Epidemiology (2008): 838-845. [00:28:29] Insulin sensitivity and testosterone higher after extended sleep; Killick, Roo, et al. "Metabolic and hormonal effects of ‘catch‐up’sleep in men with chronic, repetitive, lifestyle‐driven sleep restriction." Clinical endocrinology 83.4 (2015): 498-507. [00:29:00] Plasma IL-6 higher after sleep restriction; Study: Pejovic, Slobodanka, et al. "Effects of recovery sleep after one work week of mild sleep restriction on interleukin-6 and cortisol secretion and daytime sleepiness and performance." American Journal of Physiology-Endocrinology and Metabolism 305.7 (2013): E890-E896. [00:29:25] Better cognitive function with more sleep; Study: Kazem, Yusr MI, et al. "Sleep deficiency is a modifiable risk factor for obesity and cognitive impairment and associated with elevated visfatin." Open access Macedonian journal of medical sciences 3.2 (2015): 315. [00:29:37] Effects of sleep on appetite; Study: Al Khatib, H. K., et al. "The effects of partial sleep deprivation on energy balance: a systematic review and meta-analysis." European journal of clinical nutrition 71.5 (2017): 614-624. [00:30:02] Sleep extension and exercise performance; Study: Mah, Cheri D., et al. "The effects of sleep extension on the athletic performance of collegiate basketball players." Sleep 34.7 (2011): 943-950. [00:32:45] Assessing current sleep status. [00:33:11] Podcast with Ashley Mason: How to Use Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Insomnia. [00:36:14] WHO (five) Well-Being Index; Short Form 12; Short Form 36. [00:38:55] NBT’s Health Assessment Questionnaire. [00:39:57] Sleep and all-cause mortality. [00:46:56] Sleep restriction leads to worse performance; Van Dongen, Hans, et al. "The cumulative cost of additional wakefulness: dose-response effects on neurobehavioral functions and sleep physiology from chronic sleep restriction and total sleep deprivation." Sleep 26.2 (2003): 117-126. [00:47:31] Josh Turknett's 4-Quadrant Model; Podcast: How to Win at Angry Birds: The Ancestral Paradigm for a Therapeutic Revolution. [00:48:30] Sleep duration and cancer. [00:49:20] Short sleep duration associated with cancer among asians; long sleep duration associated with colorectal cancer; Study: Chen, Yuheng, et al. "Sleep duration and the risk of cancer: a systematic review and meta-analysis including dose–response relationship." BMC cancer 18.1 (2018): 1149. [00:51:02] Sleep deprivation and DNA damage: Study: Cheung, V., et al. "The effect of sleep deprivation and disruption on DNA damage and health of doctors." Anaesthesia 74.4 (2019): 434-440; and Carroll, Judith E., et al. "Partial sleep deprivation activates the DNA damage response (DDR) and the senescence-associated secretory phenotype (SASP) in aged adult humans." Brain, behavior, and immunity 51 (2016): 223-229. [00:51:16] Article: Seyfried, Thomas N., et al. "Cancer as a metabolic disease: implications for novel therapeutics." Carcinogenesis 35.3 (2014): 515-527. [00:56:22] Matthew Walker's website. [00:59:47] Greg’s website; Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn. [01:02:55] Sleepio. (SHUTi no longer available).

When I analyzed the responses to your most significant health challenges, it became clear that one of the top barriers to achieving health goals is consistency. We live in an imperfect world where the wind isn’t always at our backs and progress doesn’t always match effort. How can we maintain good habits when life is unpredictable, or when the journey doesn’t meet our expectations? In this interview, Dr. Simon Marshall, PhD and I talk about some of the ideas and situations that cause us to get derailed when working toward long-term goals. We discuss planning ahead for the inevitable imperfect days, coping with injury, and using behavioural principles to overcome the all-or-nothing mentality that keeps us stuck. If you find this podcast helpful, you’ll love Simon’s new training course, Nudge Tactics for Health Coaching where he teaches the new behavioural science on how people make decisions about their health.  Here’s the outline of this interview with Simon Marshall: [00:01:17] Behavioural consistency, expectations. [00:01:34] Expectancy Theory of Motivation. [00:03:36] Permission to be imperfect. [00:04:32] Catastrophizing. [00:07:00] Cheat days. [00:08:24] Traffic light analogy. [00:13:07] Coping with injury successfully. [00:14:20] Appraisal process. [00:15:42] Investigative health hustle. [00:18:13] Delusion funnel. [00:19:09] Symptom journal. [00:20:40] Book: The Brave Athlete: Calm the F*ck Down and Rise to the Occasion, by Simon Marshall and Lesley Paterson. [00:21:03] Performance profile. [00:23:40] Behaviour change when busy. [00:25:36] Biology of motivation; creating momentum. [00:26:29] PowerDot muscle stimulation. [00:26:53] Study: Paillard, Thierry, et al. "Effects of two types of neuromuscular electrical stimulation training on vertical jump performance." The Journal of Strength & Conditioning Research 22.4 (2008): 1273-1278. [00:27:28] Habit stacking. [00:28:40] Essentialism; Book: Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less, by Greg McKeown. [00:30:00] forum.nourishbalancethrive.com.

At NBT, one of the first things our clients do is complete a food diary. This helps us quickly identify any problems with macronutrients, micronutrients, and meal timing. What we’ve seen over the years is that few people - even those eating a Paleo-type diet - are consuming enough protein. This can have immense consequences on longevity, blood glucose management, and maintaining a healthy weight. In this interview, NBT Scientific Director Megan Hall and I talk about the importance of getting adequate dietary protein. Megan discusses the current recommended daily allowance (RDA) of protein compared to optimal levels needed to support muscle mass and strength as we age. We talk about protein myths and misconceptions and outline protein requirements for specific populations, including athletes and those following weight-loss diets. Here’s the outline of this interview with Megan Hall: [00:02:16] Why protein is so important. [00:02:28] Muscle mass and strength as a powerful predictor of longevity; Studies: 1. Rantanen, Taina, et al. "Midlife muscle strength and human longevity up to age 100 years: a 44-year prospective study among a decedent cohort." Age 34.3 (2012): 563-570; 2. Srikanthan, Preethi, and Arun S. Karlamangla. "Muscle mass index as a predictor of longevity in older adults." The American journal of medicine 127.6 (2014): 547-55; 3. McLeod, Michael, et al. "Live strong and prosper: the importance of skeletal muscle strength for healthy ageing." Biogerontology 17.3 (2016): 497-510; 4. Burd, Nicholas A., et al. "Dietary protein quantity, quality, and exercise are key to healthy living: a muscle-centric perspective across the lifespan." Frontiers in nutrition 6 (2019): 83. [00:05:30] Glucose disposal. [00:06:22] Maintaining a healthy weight; Protein leverage hypothesis. Study: Simpson, Stephen J., and David Raubenheimer. "Obesity: the protein leverage hypothesis." obesity reviews 6.2 (2005): 133-142. [00:07:38] Dr. Ted Naiman; Protein dilution. [00:08:18] Protein recommendations; Current RDA vs. optimal intake. [00:11:02] How protein is prepared matters; Study: Pennings, Bart, et al. "Minced beef is more rapidly digested and absorbed than beef steak, resulting in greater postprandial protein retention in older men." The American journal of clinical nutrition 98.1 (2013): 121-128.  [00:13:00] Fasting and protein restriction could be detrimental for older population. [00:13:43] Protein needs for athletes. [00:15:06] Protein needs for individuals following weight loss/calorie deficit diets. [00:16:02] Ideal timing for protein intake. [00:16:25] Protein spread evenly throughout the day is ideal; Study: Areta, José L., et al. "Timing and distribution of protein ingestion during prolonged recovery from resistance exercise alters myofibrillar protein synthesis." The Journal of physiology 591.9 (2013): 2319-2331.  [00:16:46] Leucine threshold; 3 grams is required to stimulate mTOR. [00:17:56] Myths about protein consumption. [00:18:28] Effect of protein on kidneys; high BUN blood marker. [00:19:42] Effects of high protein diets on bone health. [00:20:31] Myth that mTOR stimulation is bad. Study by Valter Longo: Levine, Morgan E., et al. "Low protein intake is associated with a major reduction in IGF-1, cancer, and overall mortality in the 65 and younger but not older population." Cell metabolism 19.3 (2014): 407-417.  [00:22:50] Book: The Good Gut: Taking Control of Your Weight, Your Mood, and Your Long-term Health, by Justin Sonnenberg and Erica Sonnenberg. [00:24:25] Myth: Animal protein is bad for the environment. [00:24:36] Podcast: Kale vs Cow: The Case for Better Meat, with Diana Rodgers. [00:24:59] Podcast: The Serengeti Rules: The Quest to Discover How Life Works and Why It Matters, with James Estes, PhD. [00:26:00] Myth: BCAAs are necessary. [00:26:34] Myth: Too much protein will kick you out of ketosis; Video: Dr. Benjamin Bikman - 'Insulin vs. Glucagon: The relevance of dietary protein'. [00:29:31] Myth: the body can only use 20-25g of protein at a time; Study: Schoenfeld, Brad Jon, and Alan Albert Aragon. "How much protein can the body use in a single meal for muscle-building? Implications for daily protein distribution." Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition 15.1 (2018): 1-6. [00:31:20] What we often see with our NBT clients. [00:33:12] How Megan and Chris gets their protein throughout the day. [00:36:05] Keeping quick protein around and ready to go. [00:36:43] High vs. low quality protein; plant protein vs. animal protein. [00:41:00] Arsenic in baby food made from rice; Report: What’s in my baby’s food? [00:42:49] Resistance exercise as a critical part of healthy aging. [00:44:29] Podcast: How to Get Motivated, with Simon Marshall, PhD. [00:46:18] Eat the protein first for glucose regulation and appetite control; Study: Nesti, Lorenzo, Alessandro Mengozzi, and Domenico Tricò. "Impact of nutrient type and sequence on glucose tolerance: physiological insights and therapeutic implications." Frontiers in endocrinology 10 (2019): 144. [00:47:26] NBT on Patreon.

I've got Performance Psychologist Simon Marshall, PhD. with me today to talk about motivation. Our analysis of thousands of responses to the most significant health challenges you've been facing suggests that this is a crucial factor for many people. You know what you want to do, and you're well aware of why you want to do it. So why does your motivation fall apart when it's time to get up early from a warm bed or when you're offered that glass of wine you know you shouldn't have? In this interview, Simon explains why forming new habits can be so difficult, and what you can do instead to adopt behaviours that support your health goals. This show is full of actionable steps you can take - simple strategies to arrange your environment, adjust your routine, and plan ahead for challenging moments. If you find this podcast helpful you’ll love Simon’s new training course, Nudge Tactics for Health Coaching where he teaches the new behavioural science on how people make decisions about their health.  Here’s the outline of this interview with Simon Marshall: [00:02:53] Motivation vs. commitment. [00:04:47] Motivational contagion. [00:05:41] There is no try, only do. [00:07:39] Counting; limited channel capacity. [00:09:41] Sleeping in running gear. [00:10:40] Strengthening relationship between intention and action; implementation intentions. [00:12:31] Creating habits. [00:12:43] Book: The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business, by Charles Duhigg. [00:13:14] Trigger, routine, reward. [00:16:31] Substituting the routine. [00:17:23] Manipulating the trigger (stimulus control). [00:19:30] The function of habits. [00:21:40] Habit stacking. [00:23:09] Start small. [00:23:54] Expectancy theory; Victor Vroom, PhD. [00:25:00] Instrumentality. [00:25:43] Goal disengagement: knowing when to quit. [00:29:59] Habit prioritization strategy; planning ahead. [00:33:55] Accountability challenges; forum.nourishbalancethrive.com. [00:34:20] Social conformity as motivation. [00:36:23] Loser avoidance bias. [00:38:04] forum.nourishbalancethrive.com.

Dr. James A. Estes, PhD is a researcher, author, and professor of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology at the University of California, Santa Cruz. For the past 50 years, he has been studying the ecology of coastal marine communities and keystone species. He has authored nearly 200 scientific publications with a primary focus on sea otters and their impact on surrounding sea life. He currently oversees research projects in the Aleutian Islands, central California, the Channel Islands, and New Zealand.  In this interview, Dr. Estes describes the massive ecological shift that can be observed when reducing the numbers of a single critical species. He shares the moment he recognized the cascading effects resulting from diminished sea otter populations in the Aleutian Islands, which then spurred decades of research. He also discusses the effect humans have had on the balance of the Earth’s ecosystems with industries including the fur trade, whaling and agriculture.  Here’s the outline of this interview with James Estes: [00:00:25] Dr. Estes: background and interest in ecology. [00:06:31] Bob Paine; Aleutian Islands. [00:13:27] 1960 paper: Hairston, Nelson G., Frederick E. Smith, and Lawrence B. Slobodkin. "Community structure, population control, and competition." The american naturalist 94.879 (1960): 421-425. [00:15:54] Book: Serendipity: An Ecologist's Quest to Understand Nature, by James A. Estes. [00:16:24] Starfish experiments; The Serengeti Rules documentary on PBS Nature and the BBC. [00:24:35] Bob Paine's foundational paper (1966): Paine, Robert T. "Food web complexity and species diversity." The American Naturalist 100.910 (1966): 65-75. [00:27:00] James’ 1974 paper: Estes, James A., and John F. Palmisano. "Sea otters: their role in structuring nearshore communities." Science 185.4156 (1974): 1058-1060. [00:31:48] Otters become victim to Killer Whales; Study: Estes, James A., et al. "Killer whale predation on sea otters linking oceanic and nearshore ecosystems." science 282.5388 (1998): 473-476. [00:36:45] Megafaunal collapse hypothesis leading to the trophic cascade. [00:37:40] Book: The Evolution of Everything: How New Ideas Emerge, by Matt Ridley. [00:39:38] Study on whaling industry: Springer, Alan M., et al. "Sequential megafaunal collapse in the North Pacific Ocean: An ongoing legacy of industrial whaling?." Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 100.21 (2003): 12223-12228. [00:45:31] Tony Sinclair; The invasion of rinderpest into East Africa. [00:47:52] Book: The Serengeti Rules: The Quest to Discover How Life Works and Why It Matters, by Sean B. Carroll. [00:48:14] Effects on the ecosystem when wildebeests repopulated. [00:50:35] Bison in Yellowstone and their impact on their environment; Study: Geremia, Chris, et al. "Migrating bison engineer the green wave." Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 116.51 (2019): 25707-25713. [00:56:31] Chris Wilmers, Terrie Williams at UC-Santa Cruz; Puma Project. [00:58:19] Short version of the documentary: Some Animals Are More Equal than Others: Keystone Species and Trophic Cascades (20 min). [01:00:00] Curiosity Stream.