Nourish Balance Thrive

In this episode I was lucky enough to be joined by Roland Schoeman, the current world record holder in the 50m freestyle. In 2004 he won Gold, Silver and Bronze at the Athens Olympics. Roland is 33 years old and will be 36 at his 5th Olympics in Rio. Roland will be taking three tests to get a better understanding of how well his body is responding to his enormous training load. In this first of a series of interviews, we talk about stress, hormones, neurotransmitters, recovery, ketogenic diets, GI pathogens and more! [00:00:09] Introduction to Roland Schoeman [00:00:37] About Nourish Balance Thrive [00:01:06] Roland's background [00:02:35] Aging has forced careful attention to recovery [00:02:56] Ben Greenfield 7 Signs Your Cortisol and Adrenals are Broken [00:03:48] Saliva Adrenal hormone testing [00:04:33] What we really use the stress response for in modern life [00:05:15] The problem of excessive stress [00:05:34] Roland has a swim and strength training coach, but that's it [00:05:59] Roland's anti-doping stance [00:06:37] Resistance stretching and Capoeira [00:07:29] Enlightened self-interest [00:07:58] We assume that the pros have access to the best but it's not necessarily true [00:09:19] Chris was forced into the system of testing by a huge deterioration in health [00:09:51] Stress puts long term building projects on hold [00:10:21] Roland tracks HRV using Sweetbeat [00:11:11] HRV and readiness to train are sometimes discordant [00:13:10] Having the data can sometimes be your downfall [00:13:32] Sleep should be really easy [00:13:56] Low libido, sugar cravings, uneven energy [00:14:32] Excited about training since fixing adrenal insufficiency [00:15:04] Travelling makes sleep really hard [00:15:29] Do sleeping pills help you sleep or knock you unconscious? [00:15:53] Low resting heart rate and parasympathetic nervous system [00:16:35] Licorice extract inhibits the breakdown of cortisol to cortisone [00:17:43] Adjusting cortisol should only be attempted with a lab result, and even then with caution [00:18:37] Robb Wolf [00:19:05] Genova Diagnostic Organix urine test [00:19:22] L-Tyrosine and 5-HTP, dopamine and serotonin [00:20:31] The Australians have banned the use of sleeping pills [00:21:56] Checking blood glucose [00:22:35] Roland has worked with Kim Swanwick [00:22:50] Blood glucose cortisol connection [00:23:37] Blood glucose poor sleep connection [00:24:21] Fixing sleep with diet [00:24:33] Optimal blood glucose is usually 80-90 mg/dL but there are many exceptions [00:25:30] Fasted morning glucose is of particular interest [00:25:56] Keto adaptation [00:26:24] Roland's experience working with Prof. Tim Noakes [00:27:36] You must train like you race [00:28:20] The Real Meal Revolution [00:29:07] Roland's keto adaptation was painful [00:29:46] Tons of energy, BUT only with loss of top end power [00:30:55] Roland abandoned the ketogenic diet and currently eats quinoa, rice, yams [00:31:57] Mountain biking is almost completely aerobic and lends itself to ketosis [00:32:44] Open water swimmers might benefit [00:32:54] Any event lasting more than 9 minutes is 99% aerobic according to Phil Maffetone [00:33:23] Supplementation during a swim workout [00:34:16] Protein shake and amino acids immediately post workout [00:34:33] Definite improvement in recovery [00:34:50] Needing to eat immediately post workout is a sign your workout was glycolytic [00:36:10] Not just for Olympians! [00:36:23] Paying attention to your body [00:36:36] Coeliac and gluten sensitivity [00:37:12] Increased period of stress leads to suppress immunity leads to infection [00:37:54] Roland's digestion is stellar, but he's always looking to do better [00:38:52] H. pylori and protein digestion [00:39:37] Stool antigen testing [00:40:06] The combination of lowered immunity and pathogens is a dangerous one [00:40:52] Swimmers might be at particular risk as many pathogens are waterborne [00:41:19] We're only looking for milliseconds here [00:41:58] More about the Organix test [00:42:08] Carbohydrate and fatty acid metabolism [00:42:17] Neurotransmitter turnover [00:42:19] Methylation, phase I & II detox, i.e. liver function [00:42:39] CDC Forth Report [00:43:15] Sulfur containing amino acids and B vitamins [00:43:33] Bacterial and yeast overgrowths, clostridial species [00:44:17] The metabolite indican is from the bacterial breakdown of protein [00:44:50] Dr Dan Kalish [00:45:25] All the collection is done at home, no need to visit the doctor [00:46:18] All the tests cost about $1,000 [00:47:29] Symptoms are usually the last thing to show [00:47:48] Elevated oxidative stress, athletes, phospholipid bilayer, red blood cells, anemia [00:48:51] How Nourish Balance Thrive works [00:49:04] The bulk of our inventions are diet and lifestyle based [00:49:23] Diet, rest, exercise (more is not more), stress reduction [00:49:47] 400% increase in testosterone, 700% increase of DHEA [00:50:18] Addressing root causes is far more effective than supplementation [00:50:45] Supplementing with steroids doesn't make sense for anyone [00:51:11] Topical hormone supplements are particularly troublesome [00:51:37] Downregulating sensitivity and production [00:52:23] Next time we will be reviewing Roland's food diary with our food scientist Julia Kelly

In this episode, Julie and me were lucky enough to be joined by biochemist, Silicon Valley executive, professional pilot and Certified Functional Diagnostic Nutrition practitioner Toréa Rodriguez. We discuss how Hashimoto’s thyroiditis grounded her dream job, her experience working with Chris Kresser and what exactly she's doing now to get back on track. Toréa has opened up a list for you to sign up to work with her. 05:20 Initially decided against the endocrinologist 06:00 A completely natural approach didn't work 06:27 Elevated antibodies diagnosed Hashimoto's 07:00 Toréa has a massive amount data from blood work on her thyroid 08:00 Symptoms are the last thing to show 08:25 The lab work reveals issues before they become a real problem 09:00 The benefits of functional medicine 09:33 Sensitivity is a current limitation of hormone testing 10:21 Started synthetic meds 11:00 Wasn't feeling any better, lab results still abnormal 11:21 Trial and error titration 11:45 Frustration 12:00 Treat the symptoms, if that doesn't work we'll cut it out 13:00 Toréa has spoke to many people that have had a thyroidectomy 13:20 Chris Kresser 13:43 Understanding the complexity of the condition 14:45 Dividing complexity 15:13 Health care vs disease care 16:19 Kresser ran lots of labs and spent two hours doing the interpretations 16:50 Adrenal fatigue, iron deficiency anemia 17:00 Granola bars and a vegetarian diet weren't cutting it 17:30 Put onto a strict Paleo reset diet and reintroducing meat 17:49 Within 30 days felt so much better 18:00 The transition from vegetarianism 18:41 Resilience 19:31 Vegetarianism seemed like a healthy choice 19:52 Hypoxia 21:00 Oxygen deliverability is a deal breaker 21:24 Why Toréa is no longer working with Kresser 22:00 Dr Cowan in San Francisco 22:26 Being the middle man didn't work 22:50 Quit being a pilot 23:00 Stable results were still elusive 23:36 Glandulars didn't work 24:00 Alan Christianson NMD 24:30 The role of diet in treating Hashimotos 24:50 Tried reintroducing dairy didn't work completely 25:21 Gluten is definitely a no no 25:42 Now eating an autoimmune protocol 26:00 Skin is clearing up within a week 26:15 What is AIP? 26:30 The Paleo Mom, The Paleo Approach 27:00 Leaky gut 27:45 Great book for maximizing nutrient density 28:00 Functional Diagnostic Nutrition 28:30 Which tests to run first 29:00 Diet, rest, exercise, stress reduction and then supplements 29:22 BioHealth 205 Adrenal Stress Profile 29:39 Toréa has struggled to make progress with adrenal fatigue 30:00 Is running further tests to uncover hidden root causes 30:45 Root causes vs symptoms 32:00 The importance of gut health 32:15 Women and Hashimoto's 33:00 Women's hormones are more fragile 33:45 Sara Gottfried 34:30 What you can do to help yourself 35:00 Nurturing 35:00 Take time for yourself 36:00 Falling down the hormonal flight of stairs 37:00 Toréa has the knowledge AND the time to take care of you 39:00 Getting started with lab testing