Nourish Balance Thrive

Catherine Crofts is a New Zealand community-based clinical pharmacist who firmly believes in using the lowest dose of the least number of medications to treat disease. After 17 years of practice, she feels more like a “disease management specialist” than a health professional. Together with Caryn Zinn, Mark Wheldon, and Grant Schofield, Catherine is the author of Hyperinsulinemia: A unifying theory of chronic disease? Catherine blogs at Lifestyle Before Medication. Catherine will soon be known as Dr. Crofts after successfully defending her Ph.D. thesis where she analysed the oral glucose and insulin tolerance data of Dr. Joseph Kraft. Catherine will talk more about that work and why fasting insulin is a useless biomarker in the upcoming Keto Summit, in this interview we focus on the role of insulin resistance in dementia. Here’s the outline of this interview with Catherine Crofts: 0:00:42    Professor Grant Schofield and Dr. Caryn Zinn. 0:00:47    Dr. Joseph Kraft from Chicago. Book: Diabetes Epidemic & You. 0:02:37    Schizophrenia and bipolar disease. 0:03:41    Type 3 diabetes. 0:03:45    Alzheimer's dementia is very, very much a disease of diabetes and insulin and glucose. 0:04:00    Protein tangles within the brain. 0:04:03    Vascular dementia which is associated with the blood vessels. 0:04:25    Lewy body dementia which is another type of protein deposit. 0:04:32    Amyloid plaques. 0:04:42    Most people with dementia will have a mixed dementia. 0:04:53    CT scan of the brain. 0:06:04    Substantia nigra and movement problems. 0:06:13    Frontotemporal system system 0:07:11    Dr. Kirk Parsley talked about Professor Robert Sapolsky. 0:10:44    The Whitehall Study showed some people noticing cognitive changes starting at age 48. 0:12:15    Apolipoprotein E (APOE) gene. 0:12:21    Neurotransmitter acetylcholine. 0:12:28    Tau protein. 0:13:22    Large and small clumps of beta-amyloid might be protective. 0:13:51    Synaptic plasticity and PSA-NCAM 0:14:46    Type 2 diabetes is one of the biggest risk factors for Alzheimer's. 0:16:05    Insulin prevents a process called fibrinolysis. 0:17:30    GLUT1. 0:24:13    Glutamate can be a little bit toxic to the brain. 0:24:46    GABA is a calming neurotransmitter. 0:27:22    A ketogenic diet for dementia. 0:41:50    Keto Summit.

I couldn’t help laughing when former UFC fighter Kyle Kingsbury described the trouble he was having deadlifting 525 lb when 495 came so easily. 180 is a problem for me! The ketogenic diet has removed Kyle’s “low gear”, but the sacrifice is worth it because, in the ketogenic state, Kyle enjoys an enormous cognitive benefit and less systemic inflammation. Having suffered two orbital fractures that ultimately lead to his retirement, I wonder if Kyle is an example of how ketosis can help with traumatic brain injury. Do not supplement with raw potato starch! Kyle and his wife are yet further examples of people that didn’t do well supplementing with raw potato starch. Kyle noticed changes in his immune system that lead to an increase in sickness, and his wife Natasha gained body fat. Both were able to resolve those issues following Grace Liu’s plan that included psyllium, acacia, and inulin-FOS together with a bifidobacteria probiotic. Here’s the outline of this interview with Kyle Kingsbury 0:01:06    Kyle is 6'3.5", 235lb 20" neck! 0:02:20    He won his first two fights in under 30 seconds. 0:04:35    American Kickboxing Academy in San Jose: heavyweight champ Cain Velasquez, current middleweight champion Luke Rockhold, and current light heavyweight champion Dana Cormier. 0:06:27    Muay Thai. 0:07:15    Brazilian jiu-jitsu. 0:08:24    Book: Easy Strength: How to Get a Lot Stronger Than Your Competition-And Dominate in Your Sport. 0:08:40    Book: Primal Endurance: Escape chronic cardio and carbohydrate dependency and become a fat burning beast! 0:09:45    Podcast: Elite Spartan racer Elijah Wood. 0:10:16    Kyle has a one year old boy called Bear. 0:10:30    Carb backloading. 0:10:53    When Kyle deadlifts 495, reaching 525 shouldn’t be a problem, but it is on a ketogenic diet. 0:12:07    Ben Greenfield. 0:14:07    Keto has helped with sleep deprivation and shift work. 0:14:39    Podcast: Dominic D'Agostino on Tim Ferriss’s show. 0:15:25    Podcast: Kirk Parsley on sleep. 0:15:32    Keto Summit. 0:19:04    Grace Liu. 0:19:30    uBiome app. 0:20:51    Potato starch debacle. 0:22:28    Bionic fibre. 0:22:38    Bifidomax probiotic. 0:26:04    Podcast: organic acids. 0:29:05    Podcast: Endurance Planet. 0:29:50    Book: The Better Baby Book: How to Have a Healthier, Smarter, Happier Baby. 0:31:08    Supplement: carnitine. 0:31:12    Podcast: N-Acetylcysteine (NAC). 0:34:12    The Origin (and future) of the Ketogenic Diet on Robb Wolf’s site. 0:39:41    Book: Becoming a Supple Leopard 2nd Edition: The Ultimate Guide to Resolving Pain, Preventing Injury, and Optimizing Athletic Performance. 0:40:20    Podcast: Brad Dieter, Ph.D. 0:42:22    Ultra Adventures 50k run. 0:45:16    Podcast: Joe Rogan Experience #756 - Kyle Kingsbury. 0:46:52    Book: Feed Zone Portables: A Cookbook of On-the-Go Food for Athletes. 0:52:05    Paul Chek: “Sooner or later your health will be your number one concern.” 0:53:01    @Kingsbu on Twitter and Instagram. 0:53:08    Podcast: Mom's Garage (not released yet).

Imagine your name is Bob. You’re 47 years old, you have a beautiful wife, two wonderful kids, a lovely dog and a career you enjoy. Life is great is except for the nagging pain in your right pinky finger. It started as a minor irritation but now has gotten to the point where it’s affecting your work and your sleep. As you lay tossing and turning one night, all you can think about is the pain. Then suddenly you decide it’s time to get up and take action. You kiss your wife and sneak out the bedroom. The dog is confused and follows you downstairs and into the kitchen. You open up the lid of your laptop and open a new browser window. Google appears. What are you going to search for? Doctor [Your Name Here] Ultrawellness? Optimal Health Nutrition Coach? Of course not. You’re going to search for “right pinky finger pain” or some variation of those words. So why is then that so many practitioners, good ones, create websites that are all about themselves? You know the site I mean. The one with the picture of the practitioner on the front page, possibly wearing a white lab coat and a stethoscope around their neck. There’s a list of credentials and a longer list of health complaints the practitioner "specialises" in. The list includes virtually every condition known to man. Think about Bob reading that page. Is he going to be excited? Now imagine Bob’s delight as he discovers your series of articles talking about the most common root causes of right pinky finger pain and what you can do about them. Bob is so delighted with what he’s found that he wants to wake his wife to share the good news. "Finally! Someone that understands me" is what Bob is thinking. Being specific about who we’re talking to is something we’ve done by accident at Nourish Balance Thrive. I’m a master’s athlete whose health fell apart in pursuit of the upgrade to pro mountain biker racer. Not everyone we work with is a mountain biker, but everyone is an athlete (even if they won’t admit it). Starting a new health coaching business is about more than being a great practitioner. Of course, you must be qualified to help people, but if you’re not specific with your marketing, you’ll end up helping nobody. You only have to walk down the street anywhere in the US to recognise how many people need help with their diet and lifestyle, but did you know that 50% of naturopaths never see a patient? 60% of acupuncturists go back to a previous career after less than three years of work? And yet at the same time, as of last year, there were three billion people online, and we know that there's another three billion people that are coming in the next five years or so depending on what study you read. There is no shortage of people that need your help. This is but one of the many lessons I’ve learned as a result of completing the Practitioner Liberation Project. Listen to this interview with gut health guru and marketing conversion expert Jordan Reasoner to discover some of the others. Click here to sign up for Jordan’s webinar. Here’s the outline of this interview with Jordan Reasoner 0:02:12    Jordan's story. 0:03:44    Book: Breaking the Vicious Cycle: Intestinal Health Through Diet. 0:04:48    Jordan had a parasite called Strongyloides stercoralis and took a medicine called Ivermectin. 0:05:37    SCD Lifestyle will become healthygut.com 0:05:56    Their list now has 250,000 members. 0:08:14    We both did the Kalish Mentorship. 0:08:33    One email, Jordan and Steve were booked out for a month, 600 clients in the next year. 0:09:32    The gut wizard: Brie Wieselman, L.Ac. 0:13:44    50% of naturopaths never see a patient 0:13:49    60% of acupuncturists go back to a previous career within three years. 0:25:41    1.5M people in the US alone with Rheumatoid arthritis. 0:26:14    1.7B people on Facebook. 0:29:53    Start with the thing that you're passionate about. 0:32:38    Ask yourself who you want to work with. 0:38:10    500 practitioners in the PLP. 0:45:57    WeScribeIt. 0:46:47    The Essential Keto Cookbook. 0:49:33    Business supports systems.

The Information Age brought with it’s ugly stepsister named Confusion. Never was this more true than for the information and misinformation surrounding vitamin D, sunscreen, and cancer. Not getting burned makes intuitive sense, but will slathering on the sunscreen cause vitamin D deficiency? Could vitamin D deficiency be causing the cancer that the sunscreen is supposed to be protecting against? How much of a concern is skin cancer anyway? Do we need to worry about toxic chemicals in sunscreen? What type of sunscreen is best? Join Dr. Tommy Wood and me in this podcast interview for everything you need to know about to protect your skin in the performance and longevity. Also check out our article: Optimizing Vitamin D for Athletic Performance. When Tommy and I recorded this podcast I was using the Badger brand suntan cream, since then I’ve switch to using Rocket Pure. Here’s the outline of this interview with Dr. Tommy Wood 0:04:19    What is vitamin D (25-OH-D)? 0:05:37    Made using UVB radiation from the sun. 0:06:18    The standard reference ranges for blood levels of 25-OH-D are controversial. 0:07:49    Vitamin D affects calcium absorption, vitamin K2 controls where that calcium goes. 0:09:25    No sunscreen provides 100% block. 0:09:51    UVA is the type of radiation we’d like to avoid. 0:11:16    In studies, the use of sunscreen didn't reduce blood 25-OH-D levels. 0:11:59    Real-world application of sunscreen is less than in studies. 0:12:50    You need need a lot less light to make vitamin D than you do to burn. 0:13:20    Do not get burned! 0:13:34    Don't avoid sunlight either! 0:14:08    Childhood exposure to burning increases risk over a lifetime. 0:15:45    Three types of skin cancer. 0:16:50    Melanoma is the worst. 0:18:14    Risk is dependant on skin type and exposure. 0:20:15    We're now indoors all the time, then we go on holiday for 2 weeks. 0:21:06    Dark skin people living far from the equator are at risk of vitamin D deficiency. 0:22:08    Endogenous vitamin D synthesis is rate-limited, taking a supplement is not. 0:23:31    25-OH-D deficiency is associated with autoimmunity, but the supplement doesn't fix the disease. 0:24:14    There may be something special about sun exposure. 0:26:12    The SPF system is flawed. 0:28:19    Buy factor 20 and re-apply. 0:29:58    Chemicals in suntan cream. 0:31:39    Endocrine disrupters. 0:32:22    Beware rodent models with unrealistic dosing. 0:33:04    Zinc or titanium dioxide are probably best. 0:35:09    The UK love their fragrances. 0:36:37    The skin microbiome. 0:38:04    Can the zinc and titanium become systemic? 0:38:58    Titanium is not inert. 0:41:06    Very small amounts are absorbed and we probably don't need to worry about it. 0:41:44    Again, some flawed rodent models out there.

I asked David Aiello, President BioAdvantex Pharma Inc.: of all the molecules, why study and productise N-acetylcysteine? “That makes me think of another question, why did you marry that woman? You become fascinated with something, and your mind sees forward. I saw this as a huge business and scientific project with such a broad scope to help people. We didn't even understand the scope way back then.” Paracetamol-induced acute liver failure. In the US and UK, paracetamol (acetaminophen) toxicity is the most common cause of acute liver failure. When taken in normal therapeutic doses, paracetamol is safe. The cytochrome P450 enzymes convert approximately 5% of paracetamol to a highly reactive intermediary metabolite, N-acetyl-p-benzoquinoneimine (NAPQI). Under normal conditions, NAPQI is detoxified by conjugation with glutathione. In cases of overdose, the pathways become saturated, leading to more NAPQI. Liver supplies of glutathione become depleted, and NAPQI remains in its toxic form in the liver, reacting with cellular membrane molecules, resulting in widespread damage and death of liver cells. Beyond Paracetamol Overdose. Paracetamol is not the only thing that can cause oxidative stress and cell death. Inflammation and oxidative stress are almost synonymous, and we measure both in the testing we do. Urinary P-Hydroxyphenyllactate on an organic acids test is a marker of cell turnover, and 8-Hydroxy-2’-deoxyguanosine (8-OHdG) is a marker of oxidative damage to the guanine of DNA. Enter N-acetylcysteine. The availability of the sulfur-containing amino acid cysteine is known to be the rate-limiting substrate for glutathione resynthesis. L-cysteine is not safe to take as a supplement in high doses, what you want is the N-acetylcysteine (NAC) form. NAC doesn’t encapsulate well because the minimum effective dose is too big to fit into a capsule, and even if it did fit, the molecule would oxidise and fall apart. David's team at BioAdvantex have solved these problems by creating PharmaNAC, a large effervescent tablet sealed into a nitrogen filled blister pack. It's important to understand that exercise is itself an antioxidant and athletes should proceed with caution before supplementing with antioxidants without testing. Context matters. Here’s the outline of this interview with David Aiello 0:00:35    David was trained in immunology at the Stanford Herzenberg Lab. 0:01:03    He wanted to create a product that was relevant, made the right way and given at the right dose. 0:01:34    BioAdvantex have done 12 or 13 clinical trials in breathing, immunity, oxidative stress and mental health. 0:02:46    NAC is the standard of care of acetaminophen toxicity. 0:03:19    80,000 people every year are affected. 0:03:54    NAPQI. 0:04:13    Making glutathione requires glycine, glutamate and cysteine. 0:04:28    Almost every protein is less than 2% cysteine by weight. 0:05:56    You don't want L-cysteine. 0:07:30    NAC is easily oxidised. 0:08:55    Hydrogen sulfide is one of the degradation products of NAC. 0:09:20    Humans can detect H2S at 6 ppb. 0:09:31    There are 7 other degradation pathways. 0:11:43     NAC placebo pills. 0:13:42    Tomato paste rich in lycopene protects against cutaneous photodamage in humans in vivo: a randomized controlled trial. 0:15:51    Taking NAC is NOT like pouring water on the fire. 0:18:56    There's about a three-hour gap between when you take cysteine, and when it shows up in your blood, then there's about another three-hour gap until an increase in glutathione. 0:20:07    The liver is main store of cysteine, and also there’s cysteinylglycine in the blood. 0:28:30    Logging food and supplement intake. 0:29:05    Grace Liu. 0:29:10    GAD1 mutation. 0:29:47    The cystine-glutamate antiporter (xCT). 0:35:18    Depression, ruminations and PTSD.

I sit too much. When I’m not sitting at my desk, I’m sitting on my bike. As a mountain biker, I stand more than some cyclists, but still. The ways in which I move my body are predictable and very repetitive. I almost never move from side to side, and I expend vast amounts of energy spinning small circles with my feet. Have humans evolved to move like this? I doubt it. I know that if I’m not careful, I start to develop niggling lower back pain and piriformis syndrome. Obstacle racing then, or at least the training for it, appeals to me because of the variety. The movement that elite Spartan racer Elijah Markstrom describes in this interview is a lot like what I think I need to do as a mountain biker looking to add variety to my workouts. James Wilson talked about similar exercises to improve strength and mobility previously on my podcast. When two people you respect talk about getting results using the same tactics, you’re on to something. Elijah Markstrom is a health nut and fitness enthusiast. Elijah spends an absurd amount of time combing over research papers, listening to field relevant podcast and generally being a geek, so you don’t have to!  With a discerning eye for separating crap from gold, he combs the interwebs looking for answers to common and obscure questions in health. This way he can provide you with results oriented precision. Read Elijah’s blog and you’ll get access to stories about practical application of science related to health. The topics covered on this site range from ketosis to race reports. Together with Philip Levi, Elijah hosts the Obstacle Order podcast. Here’s the outline of this interview with Elijah Markstrom 0:00:43    As a runner, Elijah competed at state level. 0:02:29    He gains fat and loses muscle when he stops working out. 0:05:29    The Endeavour Team Challenge. 0:06:47    Spartan race. 0:07:48    Three classes: elite, competitor and open. 0:08:34    Three distances: sprint, super and beast. 0:09:08    BattleFrog. 0:16:57    Since recording this podcast, I’ve realised that there’s a Pomodoro alarm built into my favourite app focus@will. 0:17:43    Endurance Planet podcast. 0:19:39    Cyclocross. 0:25:10    James Wilson. 0:26:37    Kettlebell windmill, swing and Turkish getup. 0:28:21    Plyometrics. 0:30:56    Rogue Fitness pull-up bar. 0:33:24    ReWild Yourself podcast by Daniel Vitalis. 0:34:03    MovNat. 0:36:58    John Mandrola. 0:41:19    The Obstacle Order on Facebook.

Could you afford to spend $250,000 on an education? No, neither could I. How lucky are we then that people like Drs. Mike T. Nelson Ph.D. and Dr. Brad Dieter Ph.D are willing to distill what they’ve learned into a $250 training course? Over the past two years, I’ve done all kinds of biology, biochemistry, physiology, functional medicine, nutrition and fitness massively open online training courses and I’ve loved them all. Educators pour their heart and soul into these resources and we should take full advantage. The Eat to Perform certification course covers the basic mechanisms of exercise physiology and the interactions between nutrition and human performance. The material is delivered via video and PDF and the exam is done online. A Facebook support group and lifetime updates are included in the price. Sign up now, it’s a steal! Dr. Tommy Wood, my wife and food scientist Julia, and I have got together to create a hypoallergenic MCT oil powdered with a special bionic fibre. Find out more at phatfibre.com and let me know what you think. Here’s the outline of this interview with Dr. Brad Dieter, Ph.D 0:05:16    Brad realised his skill set wasn't clinical, headed into research. 0:05:34    He has done human and animal research, molecular biology, biostatistical analysis. 0:06:55    Optimizing Vitamin D for Athletic Performance. 0:07:54    Over supplementing is not the answer. 0:08:43    There's no way you can know what the problem is unless you do a test. 0:08:49    ETP training course with lifetime updates! 0:13:29    Brad's approach for competitive CrossFit. 0:13:44    He starts by listening and figuring out the weak link. 0:14:41    Fat loss is the secondary goal. 0:18:48    Exercise to drive adaptation, not burn calories. 0:20:35    Calorie in calorie out is wrong? 0:21:48    Minimal effective dose. 0:23:49    The more novel the stimulus, the lower the minimal effective dose. 0:24:53    Supplements: creatine, beta-alanine and caffeine. 0:25:21    Whey protein, doesn't have to be whey, e.g. Catabolic Blocker. 0:25:58    I've written a bit about beta-alanine. 0:26:31    Smart Drug Smarts podcast with labdoor.com. 0:27:28    How much protein? 1g per pound of lean body mass is a reasonable default. 0:27:59    Alan Aragon 1g per lb of goal body weight. 0:28:16    Casually Explained: Lifting. 0:28:59    Brad see the ketogenic diet as a tool. 0:32:52    Sea Otter Classic 2016 Cross Country - Professional. 0:34:27    Bonking is a system fail. 0:34:51    Metabolic flexibility. 0:38:17    Energy systems are not mutually exclusive. 0:43:28    Do whatever you're weakest at first. 0:44:04    Joe Friel on my podcast. 0:45:09    How much difference does programming make? 0:45:59    James Wilson on my podcast. 0:48:03    sciencedrivennutrition.com. 0:49:04    Science Driven Nutrition Facebook page.

“I’ll sleep when I’m dead,” so the lyric goes. If you don’t sleep you will be dead sooner is more true to life: Sleep improves everything. I mean, literally everything. I've not found a single thing that I can't tie to sleep being a major component of. And if you aren't sleeping well, you're just at risk for more of anything bad. Anything bad. --Dr. Kirk Parsley, MD, sleep expert and advisor to the Navy SEALs. Selling sleep should be like selling sex, so why is it so hard for people to do? Two reasons: Humans are the only animals with electricity, and we’ve used it to maximal effect for disrupting our normal circadian rhythms. It’s not that people won’t sleep, the problem is they can’t sleep. Time is money and shift working is a sad fact of life. The main thing you must do to get better sleep is appreciate its importance. I want you to buy into the idea of sleep and strive for it as you would any other goal. The rest is relatively straightforward, and that’s what Kirk and I cover in this podcast interview. Supraphysiological testosterone. Dr. Tommy Wood and I are constantly exploring supplements that boost testosterone, it’s one of our most frequently asked questions. Hormone replacement is usually not an option because almost everything you can think of is on the WADA banned substance list. What about herbs like Tribulus? Well perhaps, but neither herbs or HRT have the power of adequate sleep, and so that’s where we always start. During this interview, Dr. Kirk Parsley, a former Navy SEAL himself, tells the story of one officer that increased his free testosterone by 500% simply by getting off the sleep drugs like Ambien and getting proper sleep. Another 42-year old went supraphysiological (above normal levels) using sleep alone. What supplement should you take for more testosterone? Easy. Take a nap. Taking a nap is probably your best bet for enhanced recovery and learning too: I recommend to everyone to take naps even if you sleep perfectly. I take a nap every single day and I have for years and years and years. But definitely if you sleep sub-optimally, which means either you don't get great quality sleep or you don't get quite enough sleep, a nap is probably the best mitigation tool. But for what I do and for what you do and for what a lot of people do, we're in a super, super informationally dense age where we're completely overwhelmed by information. The beauty of a nap is that you can consolidate memories in a nap and you can form what's called durable track memories which means that it's going from your working memory to short term memory into your long term memory. And this is true for physical exercise, physical muscle memory like riding a bicycle or doing jiu-jitsu or boxing, playing the piano, whatever that requires some sort of physical movement to be memorized and to become sort of automated. Here’s the outline of this interview with Dr. Kirk Parsley 0:00:36    Kirk on Robb's podcast. 0:01:18    Robb and Kirk have attended multiple events together. 0:04:04    Like firefighters and pilots, SEALs are worried about losing their job. 0:04:57    Kirk was the SEAL confidant. 0:05:22    The SEALs can't be dependant on medicines or supplements. 0:05:41    Doctors learn how to classify and treat disease, not how to create health. 0:06:17    Normal symptoms (for an 80 year old). 0:07:02    As a physician to the SEALs, Kirk was able to get help from pretty much anyone. 0:07:56    9/11 happened and the SEALs started doing more work. 0:08:10    Now we have night vision. 0:08:22    Kirk investigated the idea of “adrenal fatigue”, had some success with treatment. 0:08:58    Ambien doesn’t help you get better sleep, it knocks you unconscious. 0:10:45    The SEALs kept asking for a supplement to save them the bother of shopping for individual supplements. 0:11:00    500% more free testosterone with better sleep! 0:11:11    No supplements, just sleep! 0:11:20    DHEA. 0:11:27    Zinc. 0:12:29    One 42 year old commanding officer developed supraphysiological testosterone by sleeping well. 0:12:53    Sleep decreases chronic inflammation and increases insulin sensitivity. 0:13:26    Kirk got out the military, started consulting. 0:13:59    This isn't just a SEAL problem. 0:15:45    Sleep improves everything. 0:16:28    Finding the most important thing is hard! 0:16:56    People are catching on. 0:17:15    The four pillars of health: Sleep, nutrition, movement, stress mitigation. 0:17:54    Sleep is not sexy. 0:19:39    Health optimisation to coin a phrase. 0:20:02    You don't have to be broken to get better. 0:21:10    Book: Textbook of Bio-Identical Hormones: Guiding Health in Uncertain Times by Edward Lichten, MD. 0:21:44    A protocol based on 98 lab markers. 0:21:57    If I can't say you have a disease, nothing is going to get covered by your insurance. 0:22:47    Trace elements, inflammation, AM cortisol. 0:23:12    Hormones and their precursors. 0:23:32    DHEA not sulfate. 0:23:56    Free androgen index. 0:24:11    In the 50s oestrogen wasn't high enough. 0:24:42    Kirk divides the year into quarters. 0:24:49    Q1 is lifestyle only. 0:25:28    No supplements until Q3. 0:25:56    No pharma until Q4. 0:26:08    Until you've idealized the lifestyle it's irresponsible to make any diagnosis. 0:26:20    Viagra for erectile dysfunction. 0:28:42    Somehow it's not ok to make money helping people. 0:29:28    Supplements are exactly that. 0:31:29    Zeitgeber. 0:32:04    Ultradian rhythm. 0:32:30    Suprachiasmatic nucleus. 0:33:10    Every single cell has a circadian clock. 0:34:14    Agile Health Coaching. 0:36:34    “Sleep hygiene” is a nebulous term. 0:37:23    Teaching yourself out of a job. 0:38:18    We used to use the sun. 0:38:26    Now we have electricity and time is money. 0:39:26    First step is value sleep. 0:40:22    Ganglion in the eye that do nothing except sense blue light/ 0:40:38    Pineal gland. 0:40:42    Melatonin. 0:40:52    Adrenals keep us awake. 0:41:13    Aldosterone. 0:42:14    Wake and sleep promoting neurotransmitters. 0:42:33    That's 80% of circadian rhythm. 0:43:13    The neocortex allows us to interact with the environment. 0:43:35    GABA slows down the neocortex. 0:43:55    Altering the resting and or action potential of the neuron. 0:44:20    Feeling exhausted, having a second wind. 0:45:55    Sleep hygiene is simulating the light going away. 0:46:21    Body temp is a cue. 0:47:09    The bedroom is for sleep and sex only. 0:48:02    Dead man's handle metaphor. 0:49:53    Is the modern environment is survivable? 0:50:41    Distract yourself else your mind will go racing. 0:51:33    Notification hell. 0:52:15    People get freaked out without external stimulation. 0:52:51    Men tend to ruminate on the future, women look back on everything that went wrong. 0:54:41    Make a list. 0:54:54    You will be better after sleep! 0:55:40    Don't look at the clock 0:57:46    There’s no evidence of vitamin D at night causing a problem. 0:59:16    Sleep Cocktails is changing name. 0:59:42    All the SEALs got off Ambien 1:00:08    Vitamin K2. 1:03:59    Book: Take a Nap! Change Your Life by Mark Ehrman. 1:05:13    Double your learning speed with naps. 1:09:47    Can you have too much sleep? 1:12:09    Kirk’s website. 1:13:12    sleepcocktails.com

Ketogenic junk food is coming, and it threatens to send the second low-carbohydrate revolution to the same place the first one ended up. That would be a terrible shame because high-fat, low-carb, moderate protein diets have so much to offer for weight loss, metabolic syndrome, athletic and cognitive performance, possibly even cancer. What can we do? Learn to cook. Prioritise food preparation. Just eat real food. Jeremy Hendon is an author, speaker, entrepreneur, digital nomad, friend, mentor and co-author of The Essential Keto Cookbook. I wrote the foreword to the book, and the day before Jeremy and I recorded this interview, my wife Julia made two of the recipes. Pork and Cashew Stir-Fry INGREDIENTS 1/2 lb (225 g) pork tenderloin, sliced thin 1 egg, whisked 1 bell pepper, diced 1 onion, diced 1 cup (140 g) cashews 1 Tablespoon (5 g) fresh ginger, grated 3 cloves of garlic, minced 1 teaspoon (5 ml) Chinese chili oil (see page 185 for recipe) (optional) 1 Tablespoon (15 ml) sesame oil (optional) 2 Tablespoons (30 ml) tamari soy sauce Salt to taste Avocado oil to cook with Kale and Chives Egg Muffins INGREDIENTS 6 eggs 1 cup kale, finely chopped 1/4 cup (17 g) chives, finely chopped 1/2 cup (120 ml) almond or coconut milk Salt and pepper to taste 8 slices of prosciutto or bacon (optional) Here’s the outline of this interview with Jeremy Hendon 0:00:52    Jeremy has been travelling with his wife Louise in China, Portugal, Taiwan, Thailand, Scotland, France, US. 0:03:04    The Hendons are really good at distilling things down. 0:03:47    It's better to establish a base, cook for yourself. 0:04:35    In Thailand they cook in coconut and olive oil. 0:04:49    Tea eggs. 0:05:08    It's hard to get vegetables in northern Thailand. 0:05:33    You may run out of willpower. 0:06:09    Telling a server that you have an allergy is a good way to make sure you don't eat anything you'd rather not. 0:06:30    Vacuum sealer bags. 0:07:01    It makes more sense to take your time for other reasons. 0:07:40    Observing modern culture. 0:07:54    The Essential Keto Cookbook: 124+ Ketogenic Diet Recipes (Including Keto Meal Plan & Food List). 0:08:09    Working coffee shops and wifi in the apartment. 0:08:15    Going through phases of working hard. 0:08:32    Coworking space. 0:08:48    Internet in Thailand is 200M down 100 up. 0:09:12    Louise is a great photographer. 0:09:29    The photos were taken abroad. 0:11:13    It's hard to remember that you're always going to be ok. 0:11:48    The risk afford certain privileges. 0:12:06    The Anxiety Podcast — Less Anxiety. More Life. 0:12:56    Nobody seems to have a good answer for stress. 0:13:23    A lot more stress working as an attorney. 0:13:43    Jeremy loved working with Goldman Sachs. 0:14:43    Serotonin binding to 5-HT4 receptor causes anxiety, tachycardia and cortisol production. 0:15:52    Jeremy has been low carb since 2004. 0:16:20    Was running 60 miles a week. 0:16:52    If you're trying to lose weight, low carb is the default thing to try. 0:17:18    Lots of people have been asking for this book. 0:17:48    Debug Me. My talk at QCon SF. 0:19:41    More and more executives are discovering the keto diet. 0:20:15    Younger people seem more up for it. 0:20:34    Louise loves keto. 0:20:54    As do older women. 0:23:19    The ketogenic diet is a hormetic stress at first. 0:23:53    There are other stressors that might make it an inappropriate time to transition to a ketogenic diet. 0:24:42    Switching back and forth. 0:24:52    Breaking Through Plateaus and Sustainable Fat-Loss with Jason Seib. 0:26:07    AltShift Facebook group. 0:26:47    Lactate dehydrogenase is part of anaerobic glycolysis. 0:27:01    I said 20 minute I meant second. 0:27:44    Leptin and Hyperpalatable Foods with Stephan Guyenet. 0:28:25    Good Calories, Bad Calories: Fats, Carbs, and the Controversial Science of Diet and Health by Gary Taubes 0:30:24    Initially I lost a lot of weight on a ketogenic diet, but how much of that was muscle? 0:30:52    Jeremy turned up at our house looking shredded. 0:30:59    14 day cycle. 0:31:27    Not being hungry during calorie restriction 0:33:42    Overfeeding studies show subjects gain muscle as well as fat. 0:34:59    If bodybuilders are doing it, it warrants further investigation! 0:36:05    Creating huge calorie deficits on the bike. 0:37:03    DXA scan. 0:37:41    Keto junk food. 0:39:12    Ketogenic paleo? 0:39:54    All popular diet books are paleo, even they don't say so. 0:42:32    Pork and cashew stir fry. 0:43:37    Overlooking vitamins. 0:44:10    Cronometer. 0:45:00    The recommended daily allowance (RDA) mean almost nothing. 0:45:28    Getting sufficient magnesium can be hard. 0:45:30    Possibly calcium. 0:46:06    Spectracell test. 0:46:24    How to Measure Your Metabolism with Organic Acids. 0:46:36    NutrEval test. 0:46:56    Alkaline phosphatase. 0:48:08    Artificial Intelligence for blood chemistry interpretation. 0:48:36    The Secret of Good Health Coaching with Bryan Walsh. 0:50:22    Daniel Amen. 0:50:30    Watson. 0:53:37    Functional blood chemistry analysis. 0:55:18    MediChecks UK. 0:55:38    Theranos. 0:56:57    Kale and chive egg muffins. 0:57:31    The book is top 600 in kindle books.

In my early twenties, I tore a carotid artery out of my neck in a motorcycle accident. The emergency procedure that followed undoubtedly saved my life and from that point forward I had no time to listen to people complaining about the limitations of the nationalised health care that exists in the UK. In my thirties, the same system of evidence-based medicine let me down badly, and in the end, it was a chiropractor who describes himself as “the least evidence-driven person he knows” that turned my life around. Now I’m slightly confused. I am aware that the evidence-based system has a lot to offer, but I don’t feel I can use it effectively without the assistance of someone like Dr. Tommy Wood. Why? The system is in crisis. The system is in crisis in part because of the sheer volume of evidence being generated, much of which is unreproducible or misappropriated by vested interests. Building a meta-analysis atop of this shoddy foundation does little to clarify the situation. Animal and cell models. Are used as supporting evidence but frequently what happens outside of the body or in another animal has little or nothing to do with what happens in humans in a real-life setting. The models are becoming cheap enough for scientists to make multiple attempts at finding the “correct” answer, and much of the data are never published. Lies, damned lies, and statistics. You cannot prove something to be true using statistical methods. Science advances one funeral at a time. Handing out a grant to the young and inexperienced is a risky thing to do, and so inevitably the money follows experience. But imagine if your entire life’s work was based on ideas that were later shown to be wrong. Would you come clean? In this candid interview with Dr. Tommy Wood. Tommy talks about the limitations of the evidence-based system, but his intention is not to throw science under the bus. Rather, he wants us all to understand the limitations and proceed with caution. As a scientist that does peer review for a living, Tommy’s goal is to leave science in better shape than he found it. Since recording this interview, we have adopted the Agile Scrum sprint system of health coaching. And it’s going great! We’re excited about the new system, and the first health sprints are underway. I’m still very keen to know what you think about the idea, so please complete the one question (three clicks total) survey I mention in the show. Survey: The scrum and sprint Agile methods are applicable to health coaching. Here’s the outline of this interview with Dr. Tommy Wood 0:00:15    The main paper from Tommy’s PhD thesis: Treatment temperature and insult severity influence the neuroprotective effects of therapeutic hypothermia. 0:01:28    Newborn babies with brain injury. 0:02:20    The cooling is only 2 or 3 degrees. 0:02:33    What's the best temperature? 0:03:28    Figure 1: Hemispheric area loss after moderate hypoxia-ischaemia. 0:04:01    Richard D. Feinman: “Nobody loses an average amount of weight.” 0:04:49    Tommy may sound anti-science, but this is what he does for a living and he hopes to leave science in a better state than when he left it. 0:06:04    People are selective about the studies they choose to dismantle. 0:06:39    The Cochrane Collaboration. 0:07:04    Cochrane do systematic reviews and meta-analysis. 0:07:37    The meta-analysis is only as good as the studies on which it's based. 0:08:13    Publication bias is a problem. 0:08:58    Anyone can learn how to do a Cochrane review. 0:09:32    Questionable discussion: Effects of low-carbohydrate diets v. low-fat diets on body weight and cardiovascular risk factors: a meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials. 0:09:55    Tommy’s letter: The cardiovascular risk reduction benefits of a low-carbohydrate diet outweigh the potential increase in LDL-cholesterol. 0:10:47    Self-appointed expert that cannot be wrong. 0:12:11    The are a number of different funding sources. 0:13:20    It's less risky to give money to the more experienced. 0:13:35    Max Planck: “Science advances one funeral at a time.” 0:14:29    We don't know what people are doing but not publishing. 0:15:04    Cell and animal models enable you to make multiple attempts without publishing. 0:15:31    Statistics never prove anything to be true. 0:15:51    The emphasis is on new things that sound sexy. 0:16:30    One editor questioned Tommy’s animal model when a human trial was underway. 0:17:30    Papers are retracted from big journals. 0:18:27    In finance this is called backfitting. 0:19:05    How can we expect the animal model to translate to humans? 0:19:34    Most animal models don't reflect what happens in humans at all. 0:20:03    1,026 experimental treatments in acute stroke. 0:20:58    Tommy's study was a model of something that we know works in humans and other animals. 0:22:17    Because he started with the basics, Tommy is confident this work will extrapolate to humans. 0:22:59    Should consumers of science be interested in cell and animal models? 0:23:06    Tommy finds it very difficult to get excited about a mouse study. 0:23:13    There are some genetic mutations that cause Alzheimer's very young. 0:23:29    These do not translate well into humans. 0:23:48    Genomic responses in mouse models poorly mimic human inflammatory diseases. 0:24:54    The immune system is particularly complex and difficult. 0:25:41    Don't take supplements based on studies done in rats! 0:26:01    Spirulina for detox. 0:26:48    This is not even remotely close to what's going on inside a living human. 0:27:30    It's easier than ever before to get access to the science. 0:29:06    As a computer scientist, I've never done science. 0:29:43    Spend time on the basics. 0:30:28    Abraham Lincoln? “Give me six hours to chop down a tree, and I will spend four hours sharpening the axe." 0:31:17    Dr. Dan Kalish describes himself as not being evidence-driven but he still gets fantastic results. 0:31:47    Do we need to be 100% evidence-based? 0:32:04    Why Most Published Research Findings Are False. 0:32:33    Evidence based medicine: a movement in crisis? 0:32:48    Evidence-based as a starting point, not a wall of protection. 0:33:54    Anecdote is the lowest form of evidence. 0:35:52    There's no protocol for debugging a computer program but there is a system. 0:37:06    Our plans are evidence-based, but some of the newer supplements lack data. 0:37:57    My swipe file is getting out of control. 0:38:59    Gary Ralston Consulting. 0:39:07    Agile project management. 0:39:28    Could the same system work for health coaching? 0:39:53    The traditional Waterfall model. 0:41:23    Please let me know if this is a good idea. 0:41:57    I've been using Zoom. 0:42:18    Our kanban board has four columns, Todo, Doing, Review, and Done. 0:47:11    Podcast on organic acids. 0:47:49    The year one cost of our programme costs around $8,000. For the performance and longevity orientated, the cost per year thereafter is about $5,000. 0:51:18    The stool tests are not perfect, sometimes the Doctor’s Data test comes up trumps, sometimes BioHealth is best. 0:51:29    The GI-MAP™ stool test. 0:51:44    Our programme is about the cost of a mountain bike. 0:52:09    But the testing will make you faster! 0:52:49    If you're not completely happy in 8 months I will refund all of the money you spent on my time. 0:55:16    Initial round of testing and then we retest. 0:55:38    This adds accountability. 0:56:24    Agile also adds accountability. 0:57:58    My last round of testing found a blasto infection, yeast and clostridial overgrowth, b6 and carnitine deficiency. 0:58:36    How long does insulin resistance takes to happen? 0:58:55    Insulin resistance can start in your 20s and 30s. 0:59:38    Total maintenance costs. 1:00:10    $1,500 a year on supplements. 1:01:02    The people spending the most money are also the most engaged. 1:01:36    Trying too many things at once can be a problem. 1:02:19    We concentrate on teaching. 1:03:27    Podcast on the FDN training course. 1:03:57    Chet Morjaria: Coach and Director of Editorial at Breaking Muscle. 1:04:03    The best coach should be trying to work herself out of a job. 1:05:20    Getting people to pay for all of my time can be challenging. 1:05:44    The tests are more expensive on directlabs.com. 1:06:21    You can't make a living selling supplements. 1:06:23    More recently I've been charging $250 an hour for my time, but I don't bill for as much time as I spend. 1:07:00    We do lots of work on the backend but I only bill for 30 minutes of my time. 1:08:04    Dripping tests onto people. 1:08:29    If you'd like to do just one test, please order it soon! 1:10:23    We haven't made any money but we are having fun.