High Performance Health

Dr James Nicolantonio, internationally respected scientist and expert on health and nutrition talks with Angela about immunity,  why and when intermittent fasting works and the importance of natural nutrition and balance. He explains the differences between the adaptive and innate immune system and how you can strengthen your own immune system through natural health and nutrition. He shares great content on what you should be removing from your diet and how refined sugars and carbohydrates impact the body along with the negative role of seed oils and the positive role of organ meats as part of your diet.   KEY TAKEAWAYS The immune system is traditionally referred to as innate and adaptive elements The innate is an immediate response using white blood cells, macrophages and natural killer cells that attack the virus in a pro-inflammatory way. Your T cells and B cells adapt to destroy a virus in a focused way and are part of your adaptive system. The better adaptive immune response in memory to viruses the better you can deal with similar viruses when you meet them in the future Children have a better T and B cell response along with a higher innate response. Salt is used by our bodies to fight viruses but sugar dampens the body’s immune response. People with metabolic syndrome  are 3.5x more likely to have poor outcomes from Covid You can fix the markers for poor metabolic health very quickly by removing refined sugar and refined carbohydrate intake People who are at a high weight with more fat will benefit from fasting more. Studies show that moderate exercise 3 to 5 days a week reduces the risk of upper respiratory infections An excess intake of sugar will lead to insulin resistance increasing VLDL which will increase triglycerides in the blood. Good amounts of omega 3 in your tissues means when there is inflammation your body can convert the omega 3 into resolvins and protectins. Remove refined carbs and sugar along with including organ meats as part of your diet to achieve better health.   BEST MOMENTS ‘It’s important to keep your omega3 and omega 6 balanced’ ‘Minimise or eliminate the consumption of omega 6 seed oil’ ‘You can’t fix your age but you can fix your vitamin D levels’   VALUABLE RESOURCES High Performance Health podcast series\ Transform your sleep DNA optimization High Performance website  The Immunity Fix by James DiNicolantonio and Siim Land Dr James Dinicolantonio Instagram     ABOUT THE HOST Angela Foster   Angela is a Nutritionist, Health and Performance Coach. She is also the Founder and CEO of My DNA Edge, an Exclusive Private Membership Site giving individuals the tools and bio hacks needed to optimise their genetic expression for optimal health and performance. After recovering from a serious illness in 2014, Angela left the world of Corporate Law with a single mission in mind: To inspire and educate others to live an energetic, healthful and limitless life. Angela believes that we can truly have it all and has spent the last 5 years researching the habits and routines of high performers, uncovering age-old secrets, time-honoured holistic practices and modern science to create a blueprint for Optimal Human Performance.   CONTACT DETAILS Instagram Facebook LinkedIn High Performance Health FB Group                      

Dr Cate Shanahan is the best-selling author of  ‘The Fatburn Fix’ and ‘Deep Nutrition’ and a leading authority on nutrition and metabolism. Her passion is helping people to feel their best through a healthy diet and she shares great content on the changes to our diet and why it’s worth looking at traditional diets to understand more about how and what a healthy human diet looks like. In a world where often the information we access is not complete, this is a great opportunity to understand more about creating a starting point for a healthy human diet.   KEY TAKEAWAYS Previously the shared foundations for a healthy diet were eating fresh food in season, working with processes in nature and using all parts of an animal. Every organ has a different nutritional value Seed oils are an industrial product and most people now have no or very little animal fats in their diet. Globally people have moved from not just eating an inadequate diet to eating toxic fat calories. Fats become the outer membranes of your cells and your mitochondria If your parents and grandparents ate well then you can have genetic momentum We have been discouraged from thinking about traditional diets because of the fats. If you want a healthy gut biome get rid of seed oils in your diet and you will immediately start to notice the difference. Not everyone’s metabolism is functioning properly. The most common hunger experienced by people with weight issues is hypoglycaemic because your body needs calories, this is dangerous hunger and needs to be resolved. People come into the world with different genetic momentum.   BEST MOMENTS ‘There is so much missing from the information we are learning’ ‘There is no disease that isn’t made worse by seed oils’ ‘You can raise your kids to eat a healthy diet, we have so much power to change our children’s lives’   VALUABLE RESOURCES High Performance Health podcast series\ Transform your sleep DNA optimization High Performance website  Deep Nutrition: Why Your Genes Need Traditional Food by Catherine Shanahan The Fatburn Fix by Catherine Shanahan Dr Cate website   ABOUT THE HOST Angela Foster   Angela is a Nutritionist, Health and Performance Coach. She is also the Founder and CEO of My DNA Edge, an Exclusive Private Membership Site giving individuals the tools and bio hacks needed to optimise their genetic expression for optimal health and performance. After recovering from a serious illness in 2014, Angela left the world of Corporate Law with a single mission in mind: To inspire and educate others to live an energetic, healthful and limitless life. Angela believes that we can truly have it all and has spent the last 5 years researching the habits and routines of high performers, uncovering age-old secrets, time-honoured holistic practices and modern science to create a blueprint for Optimal Human Performance.   CONTACT DETAILS Instagram Facebook LinkedIn High Performance Health FB Group                  

Angela is joined by functional diagnostic nutritionist and medical exercise specialist, Jenn Pike who discusses the importance for women in understanding their four-phase cycle and how in doing this they can empower their health. When women learn to optimise their hormones and achieve the right balance they are able to achieve more and Jenn and Angela discuss the role that functional testing plays in understanding where you are and what you may need to adjust to achieve optimal and enduring health.   KEY TAKEAWAYS The cycle is made up of 4 very distinct phases and you can be different in each phase. The four-phase cycle is in sync with the lunar cycle. Muscle is an endocrine organ with secretions that are communicating with other organs in the body. When you begin taking a contraceptive you stop ovulation The chemical progesterone is a level of mimicry in the body that is nothing like the hormones produced naturally. Synthetic hormones impact your gut microbiome. If girls had been educated about what was actually happening and to understand it’s an amazing and special part of being female they would be empowered. Every time a woman is put on a form of medication because of her period it’s like putting a mask over her face she is silenced The transition to puberty and the transition to menopause should be a beautiful thing. There are many different approaches before medication should be considered. When you are going into menopause look at the fundamentals of whether your blood sugar is stable. There are so many things you can do and functional testing can be really beneficial for women. 3T3 is what your body uses for regulating your cardiovascular, circulatory, neurological and other systems.   BEST MOMENTS ‘The ovaries are like the final frontier they get all their messages from further upstream’ ‘Women have been unprepared and uneducated for so long’ ‘You need to become a lioness for your health and roar’   VALUABLE RESOURCES High Performance Health podcast series\ Transform your sleep DNA optimization High Performance website  Jenn Pike website The Simplicity Sessions   ABOUT THE HOST Angela Foster   Angela is a Nutritionist, Health and Performance Coach. She is also the Founder and CEO of My DNA Edge, an Exclusive Private Membership Site giving individuals the tools and bio hacks needed to optimise their genetic expression for optimal health and performance. After recovering from a serious illness in 2014, Angela left the world of Corporate Law with a single mission in mind: To inspire and educate others to live an energetic, healthful and limitless life. Angela believes that we can truly have it all and has spent the last 5 years researching the habits and routines of high performers, uncovering age-old secrets, time-honoured holistic practices and modern science to create a blueprint for Optimal Human Performance.   CONTACT DETAILS Instagram Facebook LinkedIn High Performance Health FB Group            

Dr Michelle Braude author of  ‘The Food Effect Diet’ and ‘The Food Effect Diet Vegan’ is passionate about food and cooking working with her clients to make sure they can enjoy their food whilst achieving their weight loss goals. Working with a combination of science, choice and taste she has created the Food Effect Plan, a diet that is healthy and sustainable and has great results. Michelle shares some great advice in this episode from the importance of portion control to the benefits of whole grains, why starting the day with apple cider is beneficial and how to make your weight loss permanent.   KEY TAKEAWAYS With the food effect diet, you can have what you want You will lose weight but the focus is on healthy eating and because it’s enjoyable it is sustainable as a lifestyle. People don’t always distinguish between healthy eating and healthy eating for weight loss Portion control is important even with healthy foods. Having two snacks is important and the mid-afternoon snack prevents overeating at dinner. You should aim to stop eating around 3 hours before sleeping A large part of the issues associated with gluten are actually about eating white refined bread and products filled with fats and sugars Whole natural foods are the key to a healthy diet A good quality probiotic has lots of benefits. Apple cider vinegar has been shown to have lots of benefits in terms of gut health, inflammation, helping with digestion. The Food Effect diet is completely balanced so whatever meals are selected there is no need to count calories or macros. In the attack phase, the intake is around 1,400 calories a day Sticking to the right foods is more important than counting calories. Stress is a huge factor, with higher cortisol levels leading to retention in fats.   BEST MOMENTS ‘I’ve made the diet  so it’s perfectly balanced and there is no need to count calories or macros’ ‘Lower and fat-free dairy always has a higher protein content than full fat equivalent ‘With The Food Effect Diet, you can have what you want’   VALUABLE RESOURCES High Performance Health podcast series\ Transform your sleep DNA optimization High Performance website  The Food Effect website The Food Effect Dr. Instagram     ABOUT THE HOST Angela Foster   Angela is a Nutritionist, Health and Performance Coach. She is also the Founder and CEO of My DNA Edge, an Exclusive Private Membership Site giving individuals the tools and bio hacks needed to optimise their genetic expression for optimal health and performance. After recovering from a serious illness in 2014, Angela left the world of Corporate Law with a single mission in mind: To inspire and educate others to live an energetic, healthful and limitless life. Angela believes that we can truly have it all and has spent the last 5 years researching the habits and routines of high performers, uncovering age-old secrets, time-honoured holistic practices and modern science to create a blueprint for Optimal Human Performance.   CONTACT DETAILS Instagram Facebook LinkedIn High Performance Health FB Group                                  

In this episode, Angela is co-hosting with Mindset Expert, Colin Hiles as they discuss how changes in life not only require a huge amount of individual effort but also the need for a positive mindset if they are to be successful. Colin shares great content about how status, certainty, autonomy, relatedness and fairness form a foundation that can help you to understand more fully your emotions and how they influence and impact on you. Currently, we are all moving through unprecedented times and this is a great opportunity to reflect on how change can work if you develop a positive mindset.   KEY TAKEAWAYS Your status is your importance compared to others. Often we link our identity to the labels that we have. Certainty is the ability to predict the future and anticipate change Autonomy is a sense of control over events and the need to feel you have some sort of choice. Relatedness is a sense of safety and belonging to a tribe or group. Fairness is about the fair exchange between individuals and is deeply rooted within us all. When you change status, you can experience a feeling of being lost and unsure of who you  are. Humans are social beings and there is a need to be connected to others. When you are trying to create change in your life it takes a huge amount of effort. All achievements are difficult at the start, messy in the middle and beautiful at the end Everyone has a negative bias but paying attention to strengths and little wins can help to keep a positive bias When you ask good questions, you drive the brain to work for you in a better way Many things we can do that will make us feel better don’t take very long   BEST MOMENTS ‘Good questions are really the answer’ ‘Where focus goes energy flows’ ‘It’s good for humans on a chemical level to be connected’   VALUABLE RESOURCES High Performance Health podcast series\ Transform your sleep DNA optimization High Performance website    ABOUT THE HOST Angela Foster   Angela is a Nutritionist, Health and Performance Coach. She is also the Founder and CEO of My DNA Edge, an Exclusive Private Membership Site giving individuals the tools and bio hacks needed to optimise their genetic expression for optimal health and performance. After recovering from a serious illness in 2014, Angela left the world of Corporate Law with a single mission in mind: To inspire and educate others to live an energetic, healthful and limitless life. Angela believes that we can truly have it all and has spent the last 5 years researching the habits and routines of high performers, uncovering age-old secrets, time-honoured holistic practices and modern science to create a blueprint for Optimal Human Performance.   CONTACT DETAILS Instagram Facebook LinkedIn High Performance Health FB Group                            

Angela is with the Managing Director of Sunlighten UK and infrared expert, Joie Risk discussing the many health benefits of infrared saunas. With technology that brings near, mid and far-infrared light therapy to a sauna, detoxification, relaxation, improved cardiovascular function and circulation along with pain relief and reduced inflammation are all possible benefits with regular use. This is a great opportunity to hear about how infrared light therapy can help the body in a variety of ways and what to consider if you are looking to invest in an infrared sauna for yourself.   KEY TAKEAWAYS In an infrared sauna, you can benefit from different wavelengths Infrared is completely natural and a part of sun’s light with near, mid and far-infrared. Far infrared reaches the furthest into the body and raises the core temperature of the body Increasing circulation, improving circulation and will bring pain relief. The mid-range infrared will reduce inflammation aiding muscle recovery work. Near-infrared supports improvements in immunity helping to renew mitochondria and improves skin. The protocol you chose will be influenced by what you want to achieve. Sunlighten have six pre-set programs for detoxification, relaxation, cardiovascular, weight loss, anti-ageing and a programmable custom program. It’s a passive and positive way to gain many health benefits and an amazing way of stacking your hacks because you can multi-task when you are in the sauna. Sunlighten are specialists in infrared saunas and this is an investment for the future because not all saunas are the same. Improvements in sleep are a hidden benefit of the infrared sauna and BDNF is also enhanced by regular sauna use.   BEST MOMENTS ‘The sauna helps my circadian rhythm, sleep and lowers stress’ ‘The health benefits of the infrared sauna are incredible’ ‘We’ve seen many people with significant improvements to skin conditions such as eczema’   VALUABLE RESOURCES High Performance Health podcast series\ Transform your sleep DNA optimization High Performance website    ABOUT THE HOST Angela Foster   Angela is a Nutritionist, Health and Performance Coach. She is also the Founder and CEO of My DNA Edge, an Exclusive Private Membership Site giving individuals the tools and bio hacks needed to optimise their genetic expression for optimal health and performance. After recovering from a serious illness in 2014, Angela left the world of Corporate Law with a single mission in mind: To inspire and educate others to live an energetic, healthful and limitless life. Angela believes that we can truly have it all and has spent the last 5 years researching the habits and routines of high performers, uncovering age-old secrets, time-honoured holistic practices and modern science to create a blueprint for Optimal Human Performance.   CONTACT DETAILS Instagram Facebook LinkedIn High Performance Health FB Group                                    

Angela talks with world-renowned expert on biological and holistic dentistry, Dr Kelly Blodgett about why you cannot divorce your teeth from the rest of your body and how oral health impacts on the whole body. They discuss the impact of processed convenience foods and what really happens to mercury fillings in the mouth along with what causes colouration in teeth. With all teeth originating from the same tissue that forms the central nervous system issues with oral health have far-reaching consequences for the rest of the body so getting the right balance with good dental health is vital to all of your body.   KEY TAKEAWAYS Biological and holistic dentistry is about systems versus symptoms People often observe major shifts in their health after dental procedures The culture of a family can affect dental health and it’s not just how you are eating but how often you are eating. There is no known safe level of mercury and mercury fillings produce mercury vapour. Lemon water is a strong acid and can’t be in your mouth for any amount of time without causing issues with your teeth. Compress drinking into a small amount of time to aid oral health Modern convenience foods are all pre-macerated Our access to processed foods is phenomenal with foods already in a bottle or a bag, pre-chewed and full of acid, sugar and preservative. Teeth colouration is influenced by surface-based staining and the colour of the dentin underneath. Darker colouration in teeth dentin is usually down to diet and biochemistry in your early years growing up. All teeth are formed from the same tissue as the central nervous system. When you remove a tooth there is a change to the energetic flow through the energy meridians of the body. Red light therapy is an effective way to support recovery after dental surgery so that no narcotics or anti-inflammatory prescriptions are required. On a daily basis, you should find time to be reflective – when you are able to be in a parasympathetic state your teeth are able to detox themselves. Getting a balance in energy is critical to your dental health.   BEST MOMENTS ‘People are chronically exposing themselves to garbage and thinking it’s normal’ ‘Find a dentist who is willing to listen to you, to understand what your truth is’ ‘Your tooth is a living body part’   VALUABLE RESOURCES High Performance Health podcast series\ Transform your sleep DNA optimization High Performance website  Blodgett Dental Care Dr Kelly Blodgett Instagram   ABOUT THE HOST Angela Foster   Angela is a Nutritionist, Health and Performance Coach. She is also the Founder and CEO of My DNA Edge, an Exclusive Private Membership Site giving individuals the tools and bio hacks needed to optimise their genetic expression for optimal health and performance. After recovering from a serious illness in 2014, Angela left the world of Corporate Law with a single mission in mind: To inspire and educate others to live an energetic, healthful and limitless life. Angela believes that we can truly have it all and has spent the last 5 years researching the habits and routines of high performers, uncovering age-old secrets, time-honoured holistic practices and modern science to create a blueprint for Optimal Human Performance.   CONTACT DETAILS Instagram Facebook LinkedIn High Performance Health FB Group                                  

Angela is with Leigh Ewin breath worker and passionate advocate for cold work. Leigh discusses the science behind cold training and shares great advice on how anyone can get started on the journey to reconnect body and mind. He also talks with Angela about the importance of breathwork in living a healthier and happier life explaining how faces are an amazing breathing infrastructure and if you learn how to make breathwork a part of your daily routine you can make a positive change to physical and mental pain, stress and anxiety influencing your outcomes every day.   KEY TAKEAWAYS The contrast shower is great for drainage of the lymphatic system. Cold showers are something you need to build a tolerance for so begin with a warm shower and finish with it being cold as this builds brown fat. Brown fat is a fuel source for our body to use, it actively seeks out the white fat stores and breaks it down for energy. Time your recovery from the cold to measure your response and progress. If you are in a fasted state while cold it turbocharges your fat burn. In the cold being able to control your breath means you can control your response and the actions of your body and nervous system. It’s all about calming the breath and committing to entering the water. Wim Hof breathing as a daily practice can be done at the start of the day as it creates an alkaline state in the body. Calming the nervous system before sleep will mean that you will achieve good sleep. The quality of your sleep is affected by how you are breathing as you go into the sleep cycle. Once you understand the principles of breath work you can experiment with it.   BEST MOMENTS ‘You need to surrender to the process’ ‘Building brown fat prepares you for cold exposure in nature and for wild swimming’ ‘Understanding CO2 is a game-changer’   VALUABLE RESOURCES High Performance Health podcast series\ Transform your sleep DNA optimization High Performance website  Leigh Ewin website   ABOUT THE HOST Angela Foster   Angela is a Nutritionist, Health and Performance Coach. She is also the Founder and CEO of My DNA Edge, an Exclusive Private Membership Site giving individuals the tools and bio hacks needed to optimise their genetic expression for optimal health and performance. After recovering from a serious illness in 2014, Angela left the world of Corporate Law with a single mission in mind: To inspire and educate others to live an energetic, healthful and limitless life. Angela believes that we can truly have it all and has spent the last 5 years researching the habits and routines of high performers, uncovering age-old secrets, time-honoured holistic practices and modern science to create a blueprint for Optimal Human Performance.   CONTACT DETAILS Instagram Facebook LinkedIn High Performance Health FB Group                            

In this fascinating episode, Angela talks with Adam Schaeuble who turned his life around with a complete transformation across health, business and relationships and now coaches others on the importance of setting a framework for the day and how to set and achieve goals that will change your life. He explains exactly how he structures each day and the role positive affirmations play in creating the right mindset -one that every day looks for opportunities to progress and celebrates the progress that is being made towards set goals.   KEY TAKEAWAYS Every day I asked myself what I was doing to move towards my goals. Having a mindset that enables you to have an assessment routine and celebrate your progress is key. I set goals and implement them every single day. The key component is the action, setting in motion what you’ve put out there to attract. The perspective from which we measure our progress is key. An affirmation should be positive, in the present tense and make you feel excited. With affirmations, you need to have an emotional connection. An affirmation at the beginning of the day should mean you are focused throughout the day on finding opportunities to make progress. Revisiting the affirmation at the end of the day is about being accountable. Every day won’t be perfect but you can do something every day that consistently moves you towards your goals. You can move forward by doing just one thing. Journaling can help you to really reflect and be accountable. Movement, meditation and learning time should be a part of each day.   BEST MOMENTS ‘I asked myself, how can I regain control of my life?’ ‘You are placing the order for the life of your dreams’ ‘If an affirmation doesn’t connect or make you feel positive it should be replaced’ ‘My life is exciting and it’s a life I’ve constructed for myself’   VALUABLE RESOURCES High Performance Health podcast series\ Transform your sleep DNA optimization High Performance website    ABOUT THE HOST Angela Foster   Angela is a Nutritionist, Health and Performance Coach. She is also the Founder and CEO of My DNA Edge, an Exclusive Private Membership Site giving individuals the tools and bio hacks needed to optimise their genetic expression for optimal health and performance. After recovering from a serious illness in 2014, Angela left the world of Corporate Law with a single mission in mind: To inspire and educate others to live an energetic, healthful and limitless life. Angela believes that we can truly have it all and has spent the last 5 years researching the habits and routines of high performers, uncovering age-old secrets, time-honoured holistic practices and modern science to create a blueprint for Optimal Human Performance.   CONTACT DETAILS Instagram Facebook LinkedIn High Performance Health FB Group

In this episode, all about mushrooms, Angela talks with Neil Thenier founder of Wild Kingdom Extracts and mushroom forager. They discuss the medicinal properties of mushrooms, how they can be used to help you relax and boost your immune system. Neil shares great content on the properties of individual mushroom varieties and how they can support and boost functions in the body. Neil also explains the role of pine pollen to modulate and bring balance along with how mushroom blends can be used regularly to maintain health and modulate the body.   KEY TAKEAWAYS Mushrooms were the gateway for me in understanding how to positively interact with the ecosystem and be a part of it rather than just showing up and taking from a place Mushrooms work really well with other homoeopathic medicines. Mushrooms have a synergetic effect when taken together. Chaga mushrooms are great anti-inflammatory and full of anti-oxidants.   Mushrooms don’t have subtle flavours so beginning slowly and building can be the best way to start taking them. Reishi mushrooms have a long history in Chinese medicine and is known for its properties supporting longevity. You can take Reishi extract at night time to aid good sleep Lion’s Mane mushrooms have been proven to improve REM sleep and there is positive research on the benefits of taking Lion’s Mane extract. It’s important to track yourself and how you are feeling when taking any mushroom extracts. Pine pollen can modulate testosterone in both men and women, it is rich in naturally occurring DHA. It can modulate according to what the body needs restoring balance. In the same way, mushrooms can help us they also help the environments they grow in. If you open yourself to the ecosystem then you can access your own ecosystem more fully.   BEST MOMENTS ‘Mushrooms are still very new in the Western World’ ‘Turkey tail is an immune-supporting mushroom’ ‘Mushrooms have plant intelligence that regulates what’s going on in the body’   VALUABLE RESOURCES High Performance Health podcast series\ Transform your sleep DNA optimization High Performance website  Wild Kingdom Extracts   ABOUT THE HOST Angela Foster   Angela is a Nutritionist, Health and Performance Coach. She is also the Founder and CEO of My DNA Edge, an Exclusive Private Membership Site giving individuals the tools and bio hacks needed to optimise their genetic expression for optimal health and performance. After recovering from a serious illness in 2014, Angela left the world of Corporate Law with a single mission in mind: To inspire and educate others to live an energetic, healthful and limitless life. Angela believes that we can truly have it all and has spent the last 5 years researching the habits and routines of high performers, uncovering age-old secrets, time-honoured holistic practices and modern science to create a blueprint for Optimal Human Performance.   CONTACT DETAILS Instagram Facebook LinkedIn High Performance Health FB Group