The Genius Life 30: Coffee Enemas and Other Biohacks | Ben Greenfield

Ben Greenfield is a fitness expert, triathlete, blogger, and the host of the Ben Greenfield Fitness podcast, one of the top health podcasts there is! He's the ultimate human guinea pig, integrating all means of cutting edge (even untested!) tactics to attain optimal wellness. He also loves to put coffee up his butt.

What you'll learn from this episode:

• The potential benefits of red light photobiomodulation.

• How Ben is able to stay so lean all year round (and why he thinks it may not be ideal from a longevity standpoint).

• Why Ben is currently obsessed with giving himself coffee enemas (along with a step-by-step process for the non-squeamish).

• The protocol Ben is currently observing to detox his liver.

• The cutting edge technology Ben uses for everything from better sleep to improved productivity to rapidly healing like Wolverine.

• And much more!

Resources from this episode:

Ben Greenfield Fitness

Ben Greenfield Fitness Podcast

Get Kion

Ben at Instagram

Ben at Facebook

Ben at Twitter

Ben at YouTube

Why a High-fat, Ketogenic Diet Chock Full of Saturated Fat, Coconut Oil & Butter Could Be Destroying Your Brain (& What to Do about It), The Ben Greenfield Fitness Podcast with Max Lugavere

How to Detox Your Liver: A Complete Guide to Purifying the Body with Liver Flushing by Dr. Irina Matveikova, Conscious Lifestyle

Spartan World Championship

How to Easily Get Your Blood Tested Without Spending Tons of Money or Visiting a Fancy Longevity Institute by Ben Greenfield, Ben Greenfield Fitness

Everything You Need to Know About Ayurvedic Medicine, The Ben Greenfield Fitness Podcast

Panchakarma: The Complete Ayurvedic Detoxification Process by Vedic Sage

The Kion Coffee Enema: Everything You've Always Wanted to Know about Coffee Enemas (but Were Afraid to Ask) by Ben Greenfield, Ben Greenfield Fitness

Physiology of Peristalsis by Richard Bowen, Colorado State University

Ben's Instagram post detailing his liver detox regimen and how to make kitchari.

Bulletproof Ground Coffee

Ironman Triathlon

Biohacking Your Manhood: The Proven Habits, Foods, Exercises, Workouts, Nutrients & Tools That Boost Testosterone & Drive by Ben Greenfield, Ben Greenfield Fitness

I Put a Giant Red Light on My Balls to Triple My Testosterone Levels by Ben Greenfield, Men's Health

Change Your Schedule, Change Your Life: How to Harness the Power of Clock Genes to Lose Weight, Optimize Your Workout, and Finally Get a Good Night's Sleep by Suhas Kshirsagar and Michelle D. Seaton

Ben Greenfield's Morning Routine by Ben Greenfield, Ben Greenfield Fitness

Squatty Potty

Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World by Cal Newport

Shining Laser Lights on Your Balls & Beyond: Photobiomodulation 101 -- How to Use near Infrared & Red Light for Collagen, Thyroid, Muscle, Skin & More, The Ben Greenfield Fitness Podcast with Justin Strahan and Scott Nelson

Full Body LED Red Light Therapy by Joovv

Limitless & Lucy -- Your Ultimate, Done-for-You Guide to Nootropics, Smart Drugs & Psychedelics by Ben Greenfield, Ben Greenfield Fitness

Is Nicotine Healthy, How Long Does Stem Cell Therapy Last, A New Way To Fast & Much More, The Ben Greenfield Fitness Podcast

Qualia Mind Nootropic

Evening Blue Light Is Wrecking Your Health (Here's What to Do About It) by Max Lugavere

Sunlight Makes You Skinny & Blue Light Makes You Fat: 11 Ways to Biohack Light to Optimize Your Body & Brain by Ben Greenfield, Ben Greenfield Fitness

Lighting Science LED Bulbs

Clear Incandescent Bulbs

The 30-Year-Old Scientist Phenom Who Runs a 2:30 Marathon, Deadlifts 420 Pounds & Drinks Hydrogen Enriched Water, The Ben Greenfield Fitness Podcast with Tyler LeBaron

Molecular Hydrogen Institute

The Most Powerful Cellular Exercise Machine That Exists, How It Works & Exactly How to Use It, The Ben Greenfield Fitness Podcast with Emilio Palafox

FlexPulse Portable PEMF System

ICES DigiCeutical M1 Model System -- use code: BEN for $100 off

PulseCenter XL Pro

US Stem Cell Clinic

The Single, Most Comprehensive Stem Cell Procedure Known to Humankind: How a "Full Body Stem Cell & Exosome Makeover" Works, The Ben Greenfield Fitness Podcast with Dr. Harry Adelson and Dr. Amy Killen

Docere Clinics

A Deep Dive Into HRV: The Myths & Truths of Heart Rate Variability Testing, The Ben Greenfield Fitness Podcast with Dr. James Heathers

Could This New Ring Be the Final Frontier in Self Quantification, Biohacking, Sleep Tracking, HRV, Respiration & More?, The Ben Greenfield Fitness Podcast with Petteri Lahtela

Oura Ring (use coupon code "Greenfieldoura" and you'll get $50 off your purchase and free shipping within the USA)

NatureBeat Heart Rate Variability Tracker app for ioS or Android

Reishi Tea

BioMat Infrared Sleep Mat

How to Use Space-Age Technology to Banish Heavy Legs Forever, Run Faster, Increase Nitric Oxide Production, Enhance Flexibility & More, The Ben Greenfield Fitness Podcast with Gilad Jacobs

NormaTec Recovery Boots

The Master Key System by Charles F. Haanel

Too Busy to Fit a Solid 30 Minutes of Training into Your Day? Then Go for Bite-Size Chunks Instead and Join the Time-Poor Who Thrive on Exercise Snacking by Dr. Michael Mosley, The Daily Mail

The Genius Life 20: The Hidden Secret To Getting Everything You Want | Craig Clemens

11 Ways to Biohack a Hotel Room, Stay Healthy When You Travel & Keep Globetrotting from Slowly Killing You by Ben Greenfield, Ben Greenfield Fitness

The Last Resource on Sleep You'll Ever Need: Ben Greenfield's Ultimate Guide to Napping, Jet Lag, Sleep Cycles, Insomnia, Sleep Food, Sleep Supplements, Exercise Before Bed & Much, Much More by Ben Greenfield, Ben Greenfield Fitness

Mindfold Sleep and Relaxation Eye Mask

The ChiliPad Cube

The Non-Tinfoil Guide to EMFs: How to Fix Our Stupid Use of Technology (& The Real Research on WiFi Health, Cell Phones, Dirty Electricity & More), The Ben Greenfield Fitness Podcast with Nicolas Pineault

SleepStream 2 Sound Therapy

Genius Foods: Become Smarter, Happier, and More Productive While Protecting Your Brain for Life by Max Lugavere and Paul Grewal M.D.

Join my mailing list and get access to the free PDF of 11 supplements that can help boost your brain function!

The Genius Life 29: CBD Benefits and Buyer's Guide | Gretchen Lidicker

Gretchen Lidicker is the health editor of the hugely popular wellness site mindbodygreen and the author of the new book CBD Oil, Everyday Secrets: A Lifestyle Guide to Hemp-Derived Health and Wellness. She has worked on the academic and clinical side of integrative medicine for many years. Originally from Sedona, Arizona, she has a B.S. in biology and earned her master's degree in physiology with a concentration in complementary and alternative medicine from Georgetown University.

What you'll learn from this episode:

• The key differences between cannabis, marijuana, hemp, tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), and cannabidiol (CBD).

• The potential benefits of CBD, including its implications for autoimmunity, anxiety, cancer, and pain.

• The ubiquitous endocannabinoid system (ECS) and the role it plays in your health.

• Why you might want to give CBD a try even if you, like me, have never enjoyed the high from marijuana.

• What to look out for when buying CBD-infused products, including specific brands to check out—along with an official dosing guide.

• And much more!

This podcast is sponsored by my friends at Four Sigmatic (check out my interview with founder Tero Isokauppila in episode 12), who make a wide range of coffees, elixirs, and teas using mushrooms like chaga, reishi, lion's mane, and more. Go to foursigmatic.com/max to save 15 percent off of everything!

Resources from this episode:

CBD Oil, Everyday Secrets: A Lifestyle Guide to Hemp-Derived Health and Wellness by Gretchen Lidicker

Mindbodygreen

Gretchen's website

Gretchen at Instagram

What's The Real Difference Between CBD & THC? Here Are All Your Cannabinoid Questions, Answered by Gretchen Lidicker, mindbodygreen

Hemp vs. Marijuana: What Makes Hemp Different from Marijuana?, Ministry of Hemp

What's the Difference Between CBD Isolate and Full Spectrum CBD? by Aaron Cadena, Medium

4 Things to Look for When Buying CBD Medical Hemp Oil by Maryam Henein, Honey Colony

CBD Products Are Everywhere, but Is CBD Legal? Not Exactly by Cole Kazdin, Vice

Drug Scheduling, United States Drug Enforcement Agency

The Genius Life 26: Fixing Anxiety and Depression With Food | Drew Ramsey, MD

How Your Genes Influence Your Response to Cannabis, Weedmaps

Have You Heard Of The Endocannabinoid System? It Rules Your Anxiety, Headaches & Pain by Gretchen Lidicker, mindbodygreen

The Science of the Endocannabinoid System: How THC Affects the Brain and the Body, Scholastic

7 Things You Probably Didn't Know about the Endocannabinoid System by Tyler Strause, Medium

Unlocking the Secrets of the Microbiome by Jane E. Brody, The New York Times

Why the U.S. Made Marijuana Illegal by Becky Little, History

Scientists Genetically Engineer a Form of Gluten-Free Wheat by Yasemin Saplakoglu, Scientific American

3 Supplements mbg's Health Editor Keeps on Hand to Fight Inflammation by Gretchen Lidicker, mindbodygreen

The Surprising Way CBD Affects Your Brain Health by Gretchen Lidicker, mindbodygreen

Short Answers to Hard Questions About the Opioid Crisis by Josh Katz, The New York Times

Studies on CBD and Cancer, Project CBD

Understanding CBD: The Calming and Sleep Promoting Benefits of Cannabidiol by Michael J. Breus, The Sleep Doctor

Challenges and Barriers in Conducting Cannabis Research, The National Academy of Sciences

Coca-Cola Is Eyeing the Cannabis Market by Jen Skerritt and Craig Giammona, Forbes

PTSD and Pot: The Fight to Get Veterans Some Weed by Thor Benson, Rolling Stone

Dr. Kerklaan CBD Topicals

CW Hemp: Charlotte's Web Hemp Extract CBD Oil

Lord Jones

2Rise Naturals

7 Science-Based Benefits of MCT Oil by Sharon O' Brien, Healthline

Genius Foods: Become Smarter, Happier, and More Productive While Protecting Your Brain for Life by Max Lugavere and Paul Grewal M.D.

Join my mailing list and get access to the free PDF of 11 supplements that can help boost your brain function!

The Genius Life 28: Fat Loss Secrets from the Doctor Who Tried Everything | Paul Grewal, MD

Paul Grewal, MD is a board-certified internal medicine physician and co-author of the New York Times Best Seller Genius Foods: Become Smarter, Happier, and More Productive While Protecting Your Brain for Life. He is a renowned expert on preventative health, with a focus on reversing diseases like type 2 diabetes, helping patients achieve weight loss goals, and hormone health.

What you'll learn from this episode:

• Labs you can use to assess how your metabolic engine is running.

• Why yo-yo dieting and counting calories only set you up for failure immersed in the modern food supply—and how Paul personally learned this the hard way.

• What Paul thinks of cholesterol-lowering drugs called statins, which are a $25 billion-a-year business.

• The number one thing you can do in the gym for better bone mineral density.

• What it was like for Paul to spend months and months of his life co-writing a book with yours truly.

• And much more!

This podcast is sponsored by Bonafide Provisions, purveyors of "obsessively crafted, traditionally made" organic and restorative bone broth. Head over to bonafideprovisions.com and use the code GENIUSBROTH to save 20 percent off your first order!

Resources from this episode:

Genius Foods: Become Smarter, Happier, and More Productive While Protecting Your Brain for Life by Max Lugavere and Paul Grewal M.D.

Paul at Instagram

Paul at Facebook

Paul at Twitter

Hyperinsulinemia: Is It Diabetes? by M. Regina Castro, MD, The Mayo Clinic

CrossFit Hoboken

Paleo Diet: What Is It and Why Is It so Popular?, The Mayo Clinic

Yo-Yo Dieting Isn't Just Counterproductive—It Could Put You at Risk by Carrie Dennett, The Washington Post

A1C Test, The Mayo Clinic

Metabolic Syndrome Symptoms and Causes, The Mayo Clinic

LDL & HDL: Good & Bad Cholesterol, CDC

Detoxing Your Liver: Fact Versus Fiction, Johns Hopkins Medicine

What Are the Liver Enzymes ALT and AST? by Charles Daniel, Verywell Health

The Ketogenic Diet: A Detailed Beginner's Guide to Keto by by Rudy Mawer, MSc, CISSN, Healthline

Cortisol—Its Role in Stress, Inflammation, and Indications for Diet Therapy by Dina Aronson, MS, RD, Today's Dietician

Skinny Fat: The Hidden Dangers of Being Thin and Flabby by Alexandra Sifferlin, Time

5-Week Program for Progressive Overload by Maik Wiedenbach, Muscle & Fitness

Alan Thrall at YouTube

Dennis Hoop Integrative Fitness Training

To Lift or Not To Lift: Why Runners Should Strength Train by Michael Yessis, Runner's World

The Hidden Health Risks of Jogging by Jonathan Wells, The Independent

Kyphosis Symptoms and Causes, The Mayo Clinic

10 Natural Ways to Build Healthy Bones by Franziska Spritzler, RD, CDE, Healthline

How 'Hyperpalatable' Foods Could Turn You into a Food Addict by George Dvorsky, io9

Continuous Glucose Monitoring—The First Four Weeks by Justin Lawler, Medium

If It Fits Your Macros by Brian Williamson, Ketovangelist

Intermittent Energy Restriction Improves Weight Loss Efficiency in Obese Men: The MATADOR Study by N.M. Byrne, A. Sainsbury, N.A. King, A.P. Hills & R.E. Wood, International Journal of Obesity

A Review of the Carbohydrate-Insulin Model of Obesity by K.D. Hall, European Journal of Clinical Nutrition

Genetic Study Supports Carbohydrate-Insulin Model of Obesity by Dr. David Ludwig, Medium

Do Carbs Drive Obesity? With Evidence Inconclusive, Debate Continues by Andrew D. Bowser, Clinical Endocrinology News

Use Carbs to Fuel Your CrossFit Workouts by Paul Salter, MS, RD, Bodybuilding.com

The Genius Life 13: The Power of Time-Restricted Eating aka Intermittent Fasting | Satchin Panda

Redmond Real Salt

Exogenous Ketones (Use code THEGENIUSLIFE at checkout for 15 percent off!)

Paul and Max on The Today Show

Arrival

Harrison's Principles of Internal Medicine by J. Larry Jameson, Anthony S. Fauci, Dennis L. Kasper, Stephen L. Hauser, Dan L. Longo, and Joseph Loscalzo

Join my mailing list and get access to the free PDF of 11 supplements that can help boost your brain function!

The Genius Life 27: What's the Deal with Chickpea Pasta? | Betches

Aleen Kuperman and Samantha Fishbein are the brilliant and hilarious minds behind Betches, the wildly popular blog and viral social media empire that covers everything from politics to celebrities to health and wellness. They are the co-hosts of Diet Starts Tomorrow, a health-focused podcast that has featured some of the top names in wellness (including yours truly).

What you'll learn from this episode:

• How Samantha and Aleen went from writing a private blog to running a thriving media empire with millions of followers and subscribers.

• The three health secrets they've learned over dozens of interviews with best-selling authors and industry experts.

• Why you're more likely to feel creative at home versus in the office.

• The truth about healthy-labeled products like chickpea pasta.

• How much salt you should really be using in your cooking.

• And much more!

This podcast is sponsored by my friends at Four Sigmatic (check out my interview with founder Tero Isokauppila in episode 12), who make a wide range of coffees, elixirs, and teas using mushrooms like chaga, reishi, lion's mane, and more. Go to foursigmatic.com/max to save 15 percent off of everything!

Resources from this episode:

Betches

Diet Starts Tomorrow

When's Happy Hour?: Work Hard so You Can Hardly Work by Betches

I Had a Nice Time and Other Lies...: How to Find Love & Sh*t like That by Betches by Betches

Nice Is Just a Place in France: How to Win at Basically Everything by Betches

Betches at Instagram

Samantha at Instagram

Aleen at Instagram

Betches at Facebook

Betches at Twitter

The Genius Life 20: The Hidden Secret to Getting Everything You Want | Craig Clemens

Trudeau Toss and Chop Salad Tongs

Mueller Large 5L Salad Spinner Vegetable Washer

Trader Joe's

Whole Foods

Erewhon Natural Foods

From House of Worship to House of Sin: The History of Chelsea's Limelight Building by Priya Krishna, Curbed New York

Like Sweetgreen? Avoid this Toxic Ingredient by Max Lugavere

The Genius Life 21: The Healing Power of... Meat? | Crosby Tailor

Fairway

Costco

Instacart

Butcher Box

Thrive Market

Amazon

The Coconut Cult

U Up?

Cornell University

Runaway Jury

Careers At Betches

The Bachelor

Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury

The Doors of Perception by Aldous Huxley

Aldous Huxley's Wife Wrote This Letter about Injecting Him with LSD Right Before He Died by Tyler Fife, Plaid Zebra

The Tibetan Book of the Dead by Padmasambhava

The World's Most Extraordinary Homes

City in the Sky

Emirates' World's Longest Flight: How Do You Survive a 17-hour Flight? by Denise Hassanzade Ajiri, The Christian Science Monitor

The Genius Life 7: Why You Probably Need to Eat More Salt | James DiNicolantonio, PharmD

Redmond Real Salt

How You Can Protect Your Skin from Your Phone: An Interview with Dr. Murad by Yi-di Ng, Female Magazine

Meet The 'Huge Fatty Salad,' Your Brain's New Best Friend by Kristen Aiken, HuffPost

Dr. Atkins' Diet Revolution by Robert C. Atkins

Siete Family Foods Creates Grain-Free Tortillas and a Recipe for Success by Ana Sofía Peláez, NBC News

Genius Foods: Become Smarter, Happier, and More Productive While Protecting Your Brain for Life by Max Lugavere and Paul Grewal M.D.

Join my mailing list and get access to the free PDF of 11 supplements that can help boost your brain function!

The Genius Life 26: Fixing Anxiety and Depression With Food | Drew Ramsey, MD

Drew Ramsey, MD is a psychiatrist, author, and farmer. He is a leading voice in the mental health conversation and one of psychiatry's leading proponents of using nutritional interventions. He is an assistant clinical professor of psychiatry at Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons. His recent book is called Eat Complete: The 21 Nutrients That Fuel Brainpower, Boost Weight Loss, and Transform Your Health and he is the creator of the Eat to Beat Depression e-course (use code MAX15 for 15% off).

Drew Ramsey, MD is a psychiatrist, author, and farmer. He is a leading voice in the mental health conversation and one of psychiatry's leading proponents of using nutritional interventions. He is an assistant clinical professor of psychiatry at Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons. His recent book is called Eat Complete: The 21 Nutrients That Fuel Brainpower, Boost Weight Loss, and Transform Your Health and he is the creator of the Eat to Beat Depression e-course (use code MAX15 for 15% off).

What you'll learn from this episode:

• What the emerging world of nutritional psychiatry encompasses, the growing body of evidence surrounding its efficacy, and how Drew came to embrace it as his calling.

• The surprising food that might well be considered nature's most potent multivitamin.

• The benefits of certain psychiatric drugs under specific circumstances—and why we should never place a stigma on people who use them.

• The pros and cons of the conversation surrounding veganism.

• CBD, THC, psilocybin, social media, and why we're all so anxious these days.

• And much more!

This podcast is sponsored by Bonafide Provisions, purveyors of "obsessively crafted, traditionally made" organic and restorative bone broth. Head over to bonafideprovisions.com and use the code GENIUSBROTH to save 20 percent off your first order!

Resources from this episode:

Eat Complete: The 21 Nutrients That Fuel Brainpower, Boost Weight Loss, and Transform Your Health by Drew Ramsey M.D.

The Happiness Diet: A Nutritional Prescription for a Sharp Brain, Balanced Mood, and Lean, Energized Body by Tyler G. Graham and Drew Ramsey M.D.

Fifty Shades of Kale: 50 Fresh and Satisfying Recipes That Are Bound to Please by Drew Ramsey M.D. and Jennifer Iserloh

Eat to Beat Depression e-course (use code MAX15 for 15% off)

Drew's website

The Brain Food Blog

Drew Ramsey at Instagram

Drew Ramsey at Facebook

Drew Ramsey at Twitter

The Genius Life 3: The Antidepressant Foods | Felice Jacka, PhD

A Randomised Controlled Trial of Dietary Improvement for Adults with Major Depression (The 'SMILES' Trial) by Felice Jacka et al., BMC Medicine

World's First Clinical Trial Shows Diet Fights Depression by Max Lugavere

Nutritional Psychiatry: Where to Next? by Felice N. Jacka, EBioMedicine

Understanding Atypical Depression: This Type of Depression Can Make You Feel so Tired That You Don't Want to Get out of Bed by Chris Iliades, MD, Everyday Health

Exercise and Pharmacotherapy in the Treatment of Major Depressive Disorder by B.M. Hoffman, M.A. Babyak, W.E. Craighead, A. Sherwood, P.M. Doraiswamy, M.J. Coons, and J.A. Blumenthal, Psychosomatic Medicine

Brain Food: The Surprising Science of Eating for Cognitive Power by Lisa Mosconi

Antidepressant Foods: An Evidence-based Nutrient Profiling System for Depression by Laura R. LaChance and Drew Ramsey, World Journal of Psychiatry

Zinc: An Antidepressant by Emily Deans M.D., Psychology Today

10 Best Food Sources of Zinc by Kelly Kennedy, RD, Everyday Health

Consider the Oyster: Why Even Strict Vegans Should Feel Comfortable Eating Oysters by the Boatload by Christopher Cox, Slate

The Complicated Life of Cedar-Apple Rust, the Alien Fungus by Katie Burke, The UnderStory

'Forest Bathing' Is Great for Your Health. Here's How to Do It by Qing Li, Time

Anxiety vs. Depression: How to Tell the Difference by Kathleen Smith, PhD, Psycom

11 Ways to Stop a Panic Attack by Ana Gotter, Healthline

Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) Symptoms and Causes, The Mayo Clinic

The Internet Apologizes: Even Those Who Designed Our Digital World Are Aghast at What They Created. A Breakdown of What Went Wrong—from the Architects Who Built It by Noah Kulwin, NYMag

Can Marijuana Trigger Schizophrenia? by Ingrid Blaufarb Hughes, Psychology Today

Studies on CBD and Schizophrenia, Project CBD

Avolition in Schizophrenia: Symptoms, Causes, and Treatment by Susan York Morris, Healthline

Patients Are Experimenting With Ketamine to Treat Depression by Ryan Loughlin, Wired

The Life-Changing Magic of Mushrooms by Olga Khazan, The Atlantic

Differences between EPA, DHA, and ALA, Always Omega-3s

What Are the Real Differences Between EPA and DHA? by Barry Sears Ph.D., Psychology Today

Vitamin B12 Fact Sheet, National Institutes of Health

Folate and Choline Interplay Investigated by Robert A. Jacob, Agricultural Research [via USDA]

Magnesium Fact Sheet, National Institutes of Health

Phytonutrients Reduce Blood Pressure & Inflammation, Dr. Axe

Is Veganism Good for Everyone? by Drew Ramsay

Genius Foods: Become Smarter, Happier, and More Productive While Protecting Your Brain for Life by Max Lugavere and Paul Grewal M.D.

Join my mailing list and get access to the free PDF of 11 supplements that can help boost your brain function!

The Genius Life 25: The Anti-Alzheimer's Foods | Martha Clare Morris, ScD

Martha Clare Morris is the co-author of Diet for the MIND: The Latest Science on What to Eat to Prevent Alzheimer's and Cognitive Decline and the Director of the Rush Institute for Healthy Aging and the MIND Center for Brain Health at Rush University in Chicago. She is the Principal Investigator of multiple studies that investigate dietary risk factors for the development of Alzheimer's disease, cognitive decline, and other common chronic conditions of older people.

What you'll learn from this episode:

• What the MIND (Mediterranean-DASH Intervention for Neurodegenerative Delay) Diet is and how has it been instrumental in slashing the risk of Alzheimer's disease in those following it by up to 53 percent.

• The vitamins that directly protect neurons and are associated with slower cognitive decline and lower risk for developing Alzheimer's disease.

• The specific foods endorsed by the MIND diet, along with Dr. Morris' methodology for including them.

• A trick to incorporate healthy but calorie-dense nuts into your diet so you aren't tempted to overconsume them.

• Why it was so hard to get research funding when Dr. Morris began her work, and what voters can do to ensure there's funding for her work to continue.

• And much more!

This podcast is sponsored by my friends at Four Sigmatic (check out my interview with founder Tero Isokauppila in episode 12), who make a wide range of coffees, elixirs, and teas using mushrooms like chaga, reishi, lion's mane, and more. Go to foursigmatic.com/max to save 15 percent off of everything!

Resources from this episode:

Diet for the MIND: The Latest Science on What to Eat to Prevent Alzheimer's and Cognitive Decline by Dr. Martha Clare Morris

Rush Institute for Healthy Aging

MIND Center for Brain Health at Rush University

Dr. Morris' published research work at ResearchGate

Dr. Morris at Twitter

Saturated Fat Could Be Good for You, Study Suggests by Ingrid Hagerup, ScienceDaily

Vitamin E Fact Sheet, National Institutes of Health

The Use of Vitamin E in the Treatment of Mild Cognitive Impairment and Alzheimer's Disease by N. Farina, D. Llewellyn, M. Isaac, and N Tabet, Cochrane

The MIND Diet: A Detailed Guide for Beginners by Keith Pearson, PhD, RD, Healthline

High Anthocyanin Intake Is Associated With a Reduced Risk of Myocardial Infarction in Young and Middle-Aged Women by Aedin Cassidy, Kenneth J. Mukamal, Lydia Liu, Mary Franz, A. Heather Eliassen, and Eric B. Rimm, Circulation

One Serving of Leafy Greens a Day May Slow Brain Aging by 11 Years, Rush University Medical Center

Genius Foods: Become Smarter, Happier, and More Productive While Protecting Your Brain for Life by Max Lugavere and Paul Grewal M.D.

Join my mailing list and get access to the free PDF of 11 supplements that can help boost your brain function!

The Genius Life 24: The Guy Who Became Obese on Purpose | Drew Manning

Drew Manning is a personal trainer, fitness expert, and the host of The Fit2Fat2Fit Experience podcast. Wanting to better understand the needs and struggles of his overweight clients, Drew decided to walk a mile in their shoes. He became temporarily obese, gaining 75 pounds in just over six months. Then he set out to lose the weight, realizing profound truths about how we lose weight, especially when contending with the modern food supply.

What you'll learn from this episode:

• How, at eight percent body fat, Drew followed through with a "crazy idea" to gain 75 pounds in six months as a way to empathize with his overweight clients—and two-thirds of adults in the United States.

• What Drew did to gain those extra pounds and then lose them over the course of another six months.

• The cheap, unhealthy meals and snacks Drew ate growing up in a family of 11 kids, and what it was like to revisit them with an adult's metabolism.

• What Drew noticed about his energy level, sleep habits, and the extra effort it took to do everyday things he took for granted on his climb toward obesity.

• Why Drew is glad he was talked out of living overweight for a year, the health problems he encountered just from six months of approaching obesity, and what he learned about developing an emotional connection to unhealthy food and the willpower required to reject it.

• And much more!

This podcast is sponsored by my friends at Four Sigmatic (check out my interview with founder Tero Isokauppila in episode 12), who make a wide range of coffees, elixirs, and teas using mushrooms like chaga, reishi, lion's mane, and more. Go to foursigmatic.com/max to save 15 percent off of everything!

Resources from this episode:

Fit2Fat2Fit: The Unexpected Lessons from Gaining and Losing 75 lbs on Purpose by Drew Manning and Bradley Ryan Pierce

The Fit2Fat2Fit Experience podcast

Fit to Fat to Fit on A&E

Fit to Fat to Fit on Lifetime

Fit2Fat2Fit at Instagram

Fit2Fat2Fit at Facebook

Fit2Fat2Fit at YouTube

Fit2Fat2Fit at Twitter

The Esalen Hot Springs in Big Sur

Burning Man

Super Size Me

A video showing Drew's typical daily diet while gaining weight.

8 Steps to Reversing Diabesity by Mark Hyman, MD

Coffee: Should You Drink It? by Max Lugavere, Facebook

F2F2F Keto Diet with Drew Manning

Genius Foods: Become Smarter, Happier, and More Productive While Protecting Your Brain for Life by Max Lugavere and Paul Grewal M.D.

Join my mailing list and get access to the free PDF of 11 supplements that can help boost your brain function!

The Genius Life 23: The Benefits of Going Gluten Free | Nicole "NOBREAD" Cogan

Nicole Cogan is the founder and CEO of NOBREAD, a guide to gluten-free recipes and restaurants with product features, travels, and wellness tips that was inspired by the discovery nine years ago that she is allergic to all things gluten. Nicole demonstrates daily that you don't have to let such an allergy keep you from enjoying everything the world has to offer.

What you'll learn from this episode:

• How Nicole kept careful track of restaurant meals on a spreadsheet as a personal way to dine out with financial clients on Wall Street without causing a scene when it came time to order—and without getting sick.

• How this Excel spreadsheet evolved into NOBREAD as a way to help others on a similar path during a time when "gluten-free" wasn't yet a familiar concept in the mainstream.

• How gluten sneaks into weird places you wouldn't expect—like the vinegar sometimes used to make rice sticky for sushi.

• How Nicole finally discovered her allergy to gluten after a childhood and young adulthood spent in and out of hospitals.

• How Nicole recommends you might pinpoint and eliminate gluten and other trouble substances from your diet if you suspect you suffer from an allergy or more severe condition like Celiac disease.

• And much more!

This podcast is sponsored by my friends at Four Sigmatic (check out my interview with founder Tero Isokauppila in episode 12), who make a wide range of coffees, elixirs, and teas using mushrooms like chaga, reishi, lion's mane, and more. Go to foursigmatic.com/max to save 15 percent off of everything!

Resources from this episode:

NOBREAD

Nicole at Instagram

Nicole at Twitter

Avra

The Genius Life 13: The Power of Time-Restricted Eating aka Intermittent Fasting | Satchin Panda

House

Celiac Disease: 14 Things You Need to Know by Jessica Migala, Health

Enjoy Life Foods

Nature's Path Honey'd Corn Flakes

Erewhon Natural Foods

Great White Venice

Four Cafe

Moon Juice

Bluestone Lane

Genius Foods: Become Smarter, Happier, and More Productive While Protecting Your Brain for Life by Max Lugavere and Paul Grewal M.D.

Join my mailing list and get access to the free PDF of 11 supplements that can help boost your brain function!

The Genius Life 22: How to Eat and Live Like a Rockstar | Matt Nathanson

Matt Nathanson is a platinum-selling recording artist with a number of hit songs under his belt including Come On Get Higher, Faster, Headphones, and more. His new album, Sings His Sad Heart, is due October 5th. Aside from being a mega musical talent and genuinely good guy, he wields a fierce intellect that you'll experience in this wide-ranging interview.

What you'll learn from this episode:

• Matt's secret obsession with health and the impact food has on his happiness and creativity.

• How to cultivate love and empathy for yourself and others and why these two emotions are not just the keys to a better work, but a healthier body.

• How Matt is raising his daughter to appreciate quality nutrition in all aspects of life (not just food).

• Why he considers news media to be a form of empty calories.

• Why eating well on tour is so much easier now than it used to be.

• And much more!

This podcast is sponsored by my friends at Genuine Health, a Toronto-based supplement company committed to helping others achieve optimum health—naturally. Check out what they can do for you here and use code MAXL20 to save 20 percent off!

Resources from this episode:

Pre-order Matt's new album: Sings His Sad Heart

Matt's website

Matt's music

Matt at Instagram

Matt at Facebook

Matt at Twitter

The Gluten-Free Folk Singer by Matt Rodbard, Food Republic

The Beginner's Guide to Intermittent Fasting by James Clear

Shingles, Mayo Clinic

There But For the Grace of God, Go I, Quote Investigator

A Brief History of USDA Food Guides

Economic Inequality: It's Far Worse Than You Think by Nicholas Fitz, Scientific American

Naval Ravikant: The Angel Philosopher on Investing, Making Decisions, Happiness and the Meaning of Life, The Knowledge Project Episode 18

6 Keys for Narcissists to Change Toward the Higher Self by Preston Ni, Psychology Today

Genius Foods: Become Smarter, Happier, and More Productive While Protecting Your Brain for Life by Max Lugavere and Paul Grewal M.D.

Join my mailing list and get access to the free PDF of 11 supplements that can help boost your brain function!

The Genius Life 21: The Healing Power of... Meat? | Crosby Tailor

Crosby Tailor is a low carb dessert chef, wellness expert, and fitness model with an incredible intuition for nutrition, exercise, and self experimentation. He returns to the show (check out his last appearance here) to discuss, dissect, and mythbust current dietary trends including the carnivore diet, veganism, the ketogenic (keto) diet, and fruitarianism.

What you'll learn from this episode:

• What the carnivore diet is, what research suggests about its health benefits, and my informed guess about why this extreme diet might actually be working.

• The ins and outs of veganism and how to approach such a diet in a way that minimizes the chances of digestive mishaps.

• If you need to attain perpetual ketosis for the ketogenic diet to work.

• Crosby's daily routine that helps him hover around eight percent body fat while maintaining high performance in the gym.

• How you might determine which diet is right for you.

• And much more!

This podcast is sponsored by my friends at Four Sigmatic (check out my interview with founder Tero Isokauppila in episode 12), who make a wide range of coffees, elixirs, and teas using mushrooms like chaga, reishi, lion's mane, and more. Go to foursigmatic.com/max to save 15 percent off of everything!

Resources from this episode:

Tailord Life

Crosby at Instagram

Crosby at Twitter

The Genius Life 12: How to Use Mushrooms for Better Health | Tero Isokauppila

Structure and Function: Heat Shock Proteins and Adaptive Immunity by Babak Javid, Paul A. MacAry, and Paul J. Lehner, The Journal of Immunology

Shawn Baker's Carnivore Diet

Hormesis: 4 Ways Stress Makes You Stronger by Dennis Buckley, Natural Stacks

Mikhaila Peterson: Can The Carnivore Diet Cure Chronic Suffering?, Josh Peck Disclosure

The Evidence for a Vegan Diet by James McWilliams, The Atlantic

Sarcopenia: 10 Keys to Keep Your Muscle Mass Up as You Age, Dr. Axe

The Health Advantage of a Vegan Diet: Exploring the Gut Microbiota Connection by Marian Glick-Bauer and Ming-Chin Yeh, Nutrients

Enzymedica Digest Gold with ATPro, High Potency Enzymes for Optimal Digestive Support

The Ketogenic Diet: A Detailed Beginner's Guide to Keto, Healthline

Hacking Your Sweet Tooth with Crosby Tailor, Bulletproof Radio 355

Next|Health

Bulletproof Coffee

In Vitro Evaluation of Antifungal Activity of Monolaurin Against Candida Albicans Biofilms by Dalia Seleem et al., Peer J

Monolaurin: Benefits, Dosage, and Side Effects, Healthline

Polar Minerals, Premier Research Labs

The Genius Life 7: Why You Probably Need to Eat More Salt | James DiNicolantonio, PharmD

Inside the Strange World of 'Fruitarians,' Who Only Eat Raw Fruit by Emily Marthe, Broadly

trusii H2 (Hydrogen Water)—use code CROSBY for 30 percent off!

Genius Foods: Become Smarter, Happier, and More Productive While Protecting Your Brain for Life by Max Lugavere and Paul Grewal M.D.

Join my mailing list and get access to the free PDF of 11 supplements that can help boost your brain function!

The Genius Life 20: The Hidden Secret To Getting Everything You Want | Craig Clemens

Craig Clemens is one of the most successful advertising copywriters in the world. He's created videos views by hundreds of millions of people online using a unique form of messaging that we're going to dive into today. He's built many of the most successful consumer brands in the health space and he's even the guy responsible for naming this podcast The Genius Life!

What you'll learn from this episode:

• Simple ways to supercharge your communication skills and powers of influence regardless of your profession.

• How to grab attention and ensure your message is heard by your intended audience rather than skipped over in favor of the next convenient distraction.

• The value of social proof—why it's so important for you to leave ratings and reviews on social media for, say, your favorite podcasters and content creators.

• How to write an "about me" page that people will actually care about (and how not to write one).

• A story Craig has never told anyone (not even his parents) about how he really passed his high school English class.

• And much more!

This podcast is sponsored by my friends at Genuine Health, a Toronto-based supplement company committed to helping others achieve optimum health—naturally. Check out what they can do for you here and use code MAXL20 to save 20 percent off!

Resources from this episode:

Golden Hippo

Craig at Medium

Craig at Instagram

Craig at Twitter

The Genius Life 2: The 1 Hack That Changes Your Life | Sarah Anne Stewart

5 Steps That Took Tai Lopez From Rags To Riches by Brian Rashid, Forbes

Every James Bond Opening Sequence, Ranked by Jeremy Glass, Thrillist

The Dark Knight Rises Opening Scene

The Sam Markowitz Group

Julius Dein at Instagram

Double Your Dating by David DeAngelo

Catch Him and Keep Him by Christian Carter

John Carlton

Yanik Silver

Why it Pays to Be Hungry by Les Brown, Goalcast

Eugene Schwartz's 8 Rules of Great Copywriting, Mindvalley Insights

Getting Everything You Can Out of All You've Got: 21 Ways You Can Out-Think, Out-Perform, and Out-Earn the Competition by Jay Abraham

The Pomodoro Technique: The Acclaimed Time-Management System That Has Transformed How We Work by Francesco Cirillo

Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion by Robert B. Cialdini

The Gary Halbert Letter

Opportunity by Eben Pagan

Genius Foods: Become Smarter, Happier, and More Productive While Protecting Your Brain for Life by Max Lugavere and Paul Grewal M.D.

Join my mailing list and get access to the free PDF of 11 supplements that can help boost your brain function!

The Genius Life 19: How to Lose Weight and Get in Shape | Sal Di Stefano

Sal Di Stefano is a co-host of top health and fitness podcast Mind Pump Radio. He's a certified personal trainer and gym owner with more than 20 years of experience helping thousands of clients to lose weight and get in shape.

What you'll learn from this episode:

• How much protein you really need to grow and maintain lean mass, and the importance of protein consumption timing.

• Why traditional split routines might not be an efficient use of your time in the gym, and what Sal claims is a much better alternative.

• How steady state cardio like running on a treadmill can actually cause your body to lose muscle and put on more fat.

• Fasting as it pertains to weight training.

• Separating muscle building myths from reality.

This podcast is sponsored by my friends at Four Sigmatic (check out my interview with founder Tero Isokauppila in episode 12), who make a wide range of coffees, elixirs, and teas using mushrooms like chaga, reishi, lion's mane, and more. Go to foursigmatic.com/max to save 15 percent off of everything!

Resources from this episode:

Sal's Blog

Sal at Facebook

Sal at Instagram

Mind Pump Radio

Mind Pump TV

Free Mind Pump Resources

Recipe: How To Make Bulletproof Coffee, Bulletproof Blog

Cardio Sucks for Fat Loss by Sal Di Stefano

7 Signs and Symptoms You Have Leaky Gut Syndrome by Dr. Axe

A Complete Guide On Prohormones, Consumer Health Digest

IIFYM - Counting Your Macros Is F*CKING Up Your Health! | Nutrition Facts + Advice (Jason Phillips)

Mind Pump Radio Episode 620: Chris Kresser on the Chronic Disease Equation, the Potato Hack for Fat Loss

Resistance Training Exercises: Benefits, Definition & Examples

Mind Pump Radio Episode 497: Reverse Dieting to Speed Up Metabolism (Kimera Quah)

The Myth of Optimal Protein Intake by Sal Di Stefano, Mind Pump

Mind Pump Radio Episode 336: The Benefits Of Fasting

What Are Branched-Chain Amino Acids? by Dr. Mercola

MAPS Split

15 Fitness Tips From 1800s Bodybuilder Eugen Sandow That Are Still Good Today by Jake Rossen, Mental Floss

Why Can't I Gain More Muscle? by  Jeremiah Bair, Mind Pump

Genius Foods: Become Smarter, Happier, and More Productive While Protecting Your Brain for Life by Max Lugavere and Paul Grewal M.D.

Join my mailing list and get access to the free PDF of 11 supplements that can help boost your brain function!

The Genius Life 18: How to Have a Better Memory | Jim Kwik

Jim Kwik woke up in the hospital after suffering head trauma in kindergarten and thereafter experienced profound learning difficulties to the point that he was called "the boy with the broken brain" by his classmates. He's since dedicated his life to learning any available mental trick to overcome his difficulties, and his passion and expertise in the realm of memory have led to him becoming the go-to instructor for people who want to remember better.

What you'll learn from this episode:

• How Jim overcame problems with what he calls a horrible memory and problems reading to now reading five books a week.

• Genetics and biology are only responsible for a third of our memory; two thirds are in our control—and a big part of this is our diet.

• How Jim stopped being shy and introverted to going on to speak at some of the top conferences around the world.

• How to easily memorize all ten of the Genius Foods featured in my book so you can head to any supermarket without a shopping list and stock up on all the foods that you need to build your best brain yet.

• The mechanics of voluntary thought and a framework to enjoy learning, reading, and understanding so you can be more effective in your personal and professional life whether you're a student, performer, executive, or mom trying to remember what to pick up from the grocery store!

• And much more!

This podcast is sponsored by my friends at Genuine Health, a Toronto-based supplement company committed to helping others achieve optimum health—naturally. Check out what they can do for you here and use code MAXL20 to save 20 percent off!

Resources from this episode:

Kwik Brain Podcast

Kwik Learning

Jim Kwik’s website

Jim Kwik at Facebook

Jim Kwik at Instagram

Jim Kwik at Twitter

The Power of Positive Thinking by Dr. Norman Vincent Peale

Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill

How to Finish One Book a Week by Jim Kwik, SuperheroYou

"We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking that we used when we created them." -Albert Einstein

The Confidence/Competence Loop by Kevin Eikenberry, Leadership & Learning

Start with Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action by Simon Sinek

Berkshire Hathaway Star Followed Warren Buffett's Advice: Read 500 Pages a Day by Kathleen Elkins, CNBC

Will Smith and Jim Kwik Talk Running and Reading

Kwik Brain 012: 3 Hacks For Rapid Reading (How to Reduce Subvocalization)

The Genius Life 10: How to Become a World-Changing Innovator | Melissa Schilling

Can Language Skills Ward Off Alzheimer's? A Nuns' Study by Tiffany Sharples, Time

Brain Tip of the Week: Build A Memory Palace by Jim Kwik, SuperheroYou

The Daniel Plan: 40 Days to a Healthier Life by Rick Warren and Dr. Daniel Amen

"Memory Hacks" Part I: The Baker/baker Paradox by Ryan Nguyen, The Almost Doctor's Channel

Kwik Brain 016: My Morning Routine (How to Jumpstart Your Brain & Day) by Jim Kwik

Genius Foods: Become Smarter, Happier, and More Productive While Protecting Your Brain for Life by Max Lugavere and Paul Grewal M.D.

Join my mailing list and get access to the free PDF of 11 supplements that can help boost your brain function!

The Genius Life 17: How to Achieve Massive Success and Real Impact | Tom Bilyeu

Tom Bilyeu is the host of the wildly successful Impact Theory, where he interviews some of the highest performers of our time. He also hosts the offshoot shows Relationship Theory, with his lovely wife Lisa, and Health Theory, where he interviews the top minds in health. Tom is also a founder of Quest Nutrition, which experienced 57,000 percent growth within its first three years in spite of Tom having no food industry experience before launch.

What you'll learn from this episode:

• The mindset and tactics that Tom used to achieve massive success in the health industry—which you can apply to any industry.

• The only thing that matters in life to Tom (and how he came to discover that it's not money).

• Why intelligence for many of us (myself included) is context-dependent.

• Tom's health journey: coming from a morbidly obese family and emerging from a run of yo-yo dieting to ultimately find the eating style that worked for him to become lean and stay that way.

• How the self-described "dumb and lazy" Tom came to embrace the idea that humans are built for adaptation.

• And much more!

This podcast is sponsored by my friends at Four Sigmatic (check out my interview with founder Tero Isokauppila in episode 12), who make a wide range of coffees, elixirs, and teas using mushrooms like chaga, reishi, lion's mane, and more. Go to foursigmatic.com/max to save 15 percent off of everything!

Resources from this episode:

Tom's website

Impact Theory

Relationship Theory

Health Theory

What to Eat to Improve Your Memory | Max Lugavere on Health Theory (One of my favorite interviews!)

Quest Nutrition

Tom Bilyeu at YouTube

Tom Bilyeu at Facebook

Tom Bilyeu at Instagram

Tom Bilyeu at Twitter

The Power of Now: A Guide to Spiritual Enlightenment by Eckhart Tolle

Einstein Wrote Tesla A Letter For His 75th Birthday; Here's What It Said by Luke Miller, Truth Theory

Plasticity of the Human Brain by Dr. Arno Villringer, Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences

10 Solid Reasons Why Yo-Yo Dieting Is Bad for You by Matthew Thorpe, Healthline

Peter Attia

Dominic D'Agostino

What is Hedonic Adaptation and How Can it Turn You Into a Sucka?, Mr. Money Mustache

Impact Theory Comics | It's Coming

Becoming Anti-Fragile With Tom Bilyeu—Genius Network

Genius Foods: Become Smarter, Happier, and More Productive While Protecting Your Brain for Life by Max Lugavere and Paul Grewal M.D.

Join my mailing list and get access to the free PDF of 11 supplements that can help boost your brain function!

The Genius Life 16: The Nutrient That Makes Your Skin and Brain Younger | William Sears, MD

Dr. William Sears, MD is a Harvard-trained pediatrician who's written more than 40 best-selling books—including The Baby Book, which has sold more than a million copies—and countless articles on nutrition, parenting, and healthy aging. His most recent book is The Dr. Sears T5 Wellness Plan: Transform Your Mind and Body, Five Changes in Five Weeks.

What you'll learn from this episode:

• How consuming astaxanthin—a novel antioxidant pigment found in marine animals and algae—helps protect your cells from the inside out, benefiting everything from your skin to your eyes and brain.

• The different type of omega-3s that are commonly found in the diet.

• The difference between triglyceride forms of omega-3s versus their phospholipid counterparts found in krill oil and foods like salmon roe.

• Why you're only as healthy as your cell membranes and how to ensure they possess the important property of fluidity.

• Where Dr. Sears ranks my book among the 42 he's read about the brain.

• And much more!

This podcast is sponsored by my friends at Four Sigmatic (check out my interview with founder Tero Isokauppila in episode 12), who make a wide range of coffees, elixirs, and teas using mushrooms like chaga, reishi, lion's mane, and more. Go to foursigmatic.com/max to save 15 percent off of everything!

Resources from this episode:

The Baby Book, Revised Edition: Everything You Need to Know About Your Baby from Birth to Age Two by William Sears, Martha Sears, Robert Sears, and James Sears

The Dr. Sears T5 Wellness Plan: Transform Your Mind and Body, Five Changes in Five Weeks by William Sears and Erin Sears Basile

Ask Dr. Sears

The Dr. Sears Wellness Institute

Dr. Sears at Facebook

Dr. Sears at Instagram

Dr. Sears at YouTube

Dr. Sears at Twitter

All About Astaxanthin, Dr. Sears Wellness Institute

Nutrex

Natural Astaxanthin: Hawaii's Supernutrient by William Sears

Wild Salmon vs. Farmed Salmon (from my Instagram page)

12 Frequently Asked Questions About the Vegetarian Diet, Ask Dr. Sears

What You Should Know About Fatty Acids, Dr. Mercola

Health Benefits of Docosahexaenoic Acid (DHA) by L.A. Horrocks and Y.K. Yeo, Pharmacological Research

DHA with Michael Crawford (Video), The Mother and Child Foundation

Health Benefits of Omega-3, Dr. Sears Wellness Institute

Vital Choice Wild Alaskan Sockeye Salmon Oil, Omega-3

Testa Vegan Algae Oil, Omega-3

Health Benefits of Antioxidants, Dr. Sears Wellness Institute

Cell Membrane Fluidity (Video), Khan Academy

The Omega-3 Effect: Everything You Need to Know about the Supernutrient for Living Longer, Happier, and Healthier by James Sears, Bill Lands, and William Sears

Benefits vs. Risks of Omega-6 Fatty Acids, Dr. Axe

How to Optimize Your Omega-6 to Omega-3 Ratio, Healthline

Diet and Lifestyle Change Gave Dr. Sears Renewed Health by Linda Arrandt, Simple + Well

The Official Site for PAC-MAN

Clean 15 vs. Dirty Dozen, Environmental Working Group

Unlocking the Secrets of the Microbiome by Jane E. Brody, The New York Times

NDD (Nutrition Deficit Disorder), Ask Dr. Sears

Louis J. Ignarro, The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 1998

Endothelial Pharmacy (Video), Dr. Sears Wellness Institute

5 Health Benefits of Nitric Oxide Supplements, Healthline

Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor (VEGF), Health Encyclopedia, University of Rochester Medical Center

8 Ways to Increase BDNF and Keep Your Brain from Aging, Bulletproof

The Scoop on Comfortable Poop by Dr Poo, Ask Dr. Sears (Free Ebook)

Genius Foods: Become Smarter, Happier, and More Productive While Protecting Your Brain for Life by Max Lugavere and Paul Grewal M.D.

Join my mailing list and get access to the free PDF of 11 supplements that can help boost your brain function!

The Genius Life 15: Healing Traumatic Brain Injury with Food | Cavin Balaster

Cavin Balaster suffered a traumatic brain injury (TBI) seven years ago that led to a diffuse axonal injury (DAI), putting him in a coma with a less than 10 percent chance of recovery beyond a persistent vegetative state. But he woke up and recovered in a remarkable way: claiming to owe much of his success to the power of food. He is the author of How to Feed a Brain: Nutrition for Optimal Brain Function and Repair, which is the culmination of the nutritional tools he learned through this journey, and host of The Adventures in Brain Injury Podcast, where he interviews doctors, practitioners, researchers, and others involved in neurorehabilitation and brain function.

What you'll learn from this episode:

• What it's like to live through a severe traumatic brain injury, and what lies on the long road to rehabilitation.

• What intestinal permeability is and how gut health played a crucial role in Cavin's recovery.

• How Cavin now works with the medical teams of TBI sufferers to modify their diets in accordance with his research.

• The role that fish oil played in Cavin's recovery and how it helps brain health in general.

• The benefits of the ketogenic diet for someone recovering from a traumatic brain injury.

• And much more!

This podcast is sponsored by my friends at Genuine Health, a Toronto-based supplement company committed to helping others achieve optimum health—naturally. Check out what they can do for you here!

Resources from this episode:

How to Feed a Brain: Nutrition for Optimal Brain Function and Repair by Cavin Balaster

The Adventures in Brain Injury Podcast

FeedaBrain.com

Cavin at Instagram

Cavin at Twitter

Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI), Johns Hopkins Medicine

Understanding Diffuse Axonal Injury, Brainline

The Truth About Hospital Food, Plus What to Eat at the Hospital, Dr. Axe

Dr. Thomas Culleton

7 Signs and Symptoms You Have Leaky Gut Syndrome, Dr. Axe

Dr. Datis Kharrazian

All Health Begins in Your Gut! by Cavin Balaster, FeedaBrain.com

What Is the Anti-inflammatory Protocol and What Is It Used For? by Joy Y. Kiddie, BetterByDesign Nutrition

Kettle & Fire Bone Broth

9 Ways to Boost Glutathione, Dr. Axe

DHA and Your Brain by Monica Reinagel, Scientific American

Keith Norris at Paleo f(x)

Omega-3s and Traumatic Brain Injury Treatment by Cavin Balaster, FeedaBrain.com

Ketogenic Diet Benefits by Cavin Balaster, FeedaBrain.com

Coursera

What is Homeostasis?, Scientific American

Primal Fat Burner, Paleo or Ketogenic? Clarifying the Similarities and Differences by Nora Gedgaudas, Primal Body, Primal Mind

Snowboarder Kevin Pearce on Olympic Brain Injuries and the Benefits of Yoga by Maggie Parker, Paste

Love Your Brain

The Crash Reel

The Ghost in My Brain: How a Concussion Stole My Life and How the New Science of Brain Plasticity Helped Me Get it Back by Clark Elliott

Genius Foods: Become Smarter, Happier, and More Productive While Protecting Your Brain for Life by Max Lugavere and Paul Grewal M.D.

Join my mailing list and get access to the free PDF of 11 supplements that can help boost your brain function!

The Genius Life 14: How to Heal Trauma, Fix Back Pain, and Poop Better | Aaron Alexander

Aaron Alexander is an accomplished manual therapist and movement coach with over 13 years of professional experience. He is the founder of the Align Movement, an integrated approach to functional movement and self-care that has helped thousands of people out of pain and into health. He also hosts the top-rated Align Podcast featuring the biggest names in movement and wellness.

What I discuss with Aaron in this episode:

• Why we shouldn't so easily dismiss our own instincts when technology disagrees with how we feel.

• The dangers of doing Kegel (or really any) exercises in the wrong position and how we can ensure we're properly poised to reap their rewards.

• The numerous benefits of human contact once it's unwrapped from the societal hangups that equate it with sex.

• Common complaints of people in search of body work and potentially physiological origins of anxiety.

• The biological consequences of carrying feelings of guilt, hate, and anger.

• And much more!

This podcast is sponsored by my friends at Genuine Health, a Toronto-based supplement company committed to helping others achieve optimum health—naturally. Check out what they can do for you here!

On this episode of the show, Align Podcast host Aaron Alexander and I talk about everything from the mingling worlds of technology, health, and wellness to movement—particularly why so many people are having knee and lower back problems (including me)—to digestive health to touching and why so many of us are starving for oxytocin.

There's a Nap for That

Kicking off our conversation, Aaron wins the hearts of naturists worldwide when he says fewer clothes correlate to greater health and that he personally tends to feel better when he spends more time (and with more skin) exposed to the sun. Meanwhile, I'm told by certain members of my audience that I need to assemble a less revealing wardrobe if I want to be taken more seriously. So it goes.

While Aaron admits that hormone levels and other labile biomarkers associated with "better" might not be quantifiable without further technical scrutiny, there are drawbacks to relying too much on technology for feedback about what our instincts are already trying to tell us.

"I think having those time slices and having some sort of structure and awareness and being able to check back at what you're doing through periods of change is important," says Aaron. "I think it's also really important to be able to just introspect and look in and be flexing that muscle—and really looking into how do you actually feel as opposed to always looking at your ring on your finger or your necklace or whatever to determine if you feel okay."

We look to apps to tell us how we'll we've slept when maybe we should be looking toward naps if we're feeling drowsier than usual. An app could be spitting out virtual miles of incorrect data if it's in need of an update or some other unknown variable enters the picture. The worst thing a nap is liable to do is make you miss a few hours of questionable daytime television.

Where the Sun Don't (Usually) Shine

Naturists will be further encouraged by Tao of Sexology author Dr. Stephen Thomas Chang's advice to regularly expose the perineum to the sun, but Aaron has some practical advice for those of us who want to maintain this more delicate part of the anatomy without the risk of scorching.

"You can be strengthening and balancing that space—that pelvic floor—just with the way that we're sitting," says Aaron. "Oftentimes we end up being folded over in hunched over positions that end up putting our pelvic floors in a state of compensation, and those muscles are crucially important. It's the foundation of our visceral system—the foundation of our organs."

Being able to contract and engage these muscles keeps our organs functioning properly, allows us to use the restroom on our own timetable, and gives us greater control over sexual function. Enlightened men and women may already be familiar with the benefits of Kegel exercises in strengthening the pelvic floor, but Aaron stresses the importance of proper posture when engaging in them.

"Kegel exercises can actually be deleterious for you if you're in a compromised position," Aaron says.

For instance, if you're on your morning commute and hunched over the steering wheel of your car, or sitting at your computer reading these podcast show notes, doing Kegel exercises can actually strengthen this dysfunctional position. Aaron recommends yoga postures—like sukhasana (easy) or padmasana (full lotus)—as great ways to ensure we're properly aligned before engaging in these exercises.

"Just sitting down, people can pull their butt cheeks back and get yourself on the front edge of your sit bones—the ischial tuberosities—and then from there you'll feel your lower back and your whole spine starts to be able to stack on top of your pelvis," Aaron says. "From that position, now you're safe to do any kind of Kegel."

Similarly, deep squats help increase range of motion and pressure regulation.

The Stigma Behind Human Contact

The health benefits of regular human contact are numerous, but often swept under the rug by societal hangups tying such contact to sex. Being hugged and supported or using massage to work the pain out of trouble areas shouldn't automatically signify lascivious intent.

"When people end up having pain in a certain part of their body, they literally create disassociation around that part," says Aaron. "So they have trouble being able to visualize that place. They won't be able to draw a picture of the place in their body that they have pain because they create a separation. So that disassociation—that's a lot like what we do with emotional trauma…'That was super painful; I don't think I have the tools to address that. Let's just chop it out.' But you didn't chop it out. It's still there. You're just carrying it as baggage. And it slowly accrues—accumulates...until at some point, you pop."

Listen to this full episode to learn more about how Aaron feels about solar-powered testosterone generation, the permanent damage Aaron suffered by bodybuilding to cope with trauma as a teenager, becoming aware of patterns we've each exhibited, what it's like to bond in a desert sweat lodge, the importance of challenging our own narratives, the most common complaints of people seeking body work, the potentially physiological origins of anxiety a lot of us experience, hot yoga versus meditation, the baggage we carry when we can't forgive, how labels only serve to separate and disconnect us, religion as spiritual scaffolding, the silent epidemic of modern lower back pain, ways we can overcome gluteal amnesia and other dysfunctional positions we acquire over time, and lots more.

Resources from this episode:

Align Therapy

Align Podcast

Aaron at Facebook

Aaron at Instagram

Aaron at YouTube

Aaron at Twitter

Align Podcast 161: Max Lugavere II: Genius Foods, Power Language, Nutritional Psychiatry (My appearance on Aaron's podcast)

How do you say labile?

The Tao of Sexology: The Book of Infinite Wisdom by Stephen Thomas Chang

Kegel Exercises: Benefits, Goals, and Cautions, Healthline

How to Do the Yoga Easy Posture (Sukhasana) by Larry Payne and Georg Feuerstein, Yoga for Dummies

How to Do the Yoga Full Lotus Posture (Padmasana) Correctly by Doug Swenson and David Swenson, Power Yoga for Dummies

Massage: Get in Touch with Its Many Benefits, Mayo Clinic

In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts: Close Encounters with Addiction by Gabor Mate

Onnit

After Sweat Lodge Deaths, Fewer Tourists with Spiritual Needs by Marc Lacey, The New Yorker

Plantar Fasciitis Symptoms and Causes, Mayo Clinic

The Brain-Gut Connection, Johns Hopkins Medicine

Why Do People Even Like Hot Yoga? by Amy Marturana, Self

12 Ways to Be Happier

Dr. John Demartini

Alan Watts

Jiddu Krishnamurti

One Love by Bob Marley

When to Worry about Low Back Pain—and When Not To! What's Bark and What's Bite? by Paul Ingraham, PainScience.com

Ancient Ruins of Tiwanacu and PumaPunku, World Mysteries Blog

Get Stronger By Greasing the Groove by Brett McKay, The Art of Manliness

What is Gluteal Amnesia? by Cathe Friedrich

Your Body Language May Shape Who You Are by Amy Cuddy, TED Talk

5 Blue Zones Where People Live the Longest, Healthiest Lives by Jamie Ducharme, Time

Physics of Poo: Why It Takes You and an Elephant the Same Amount of Time by David Hu and Patricia Yang, The Conversation

Genius Foods: Become Smarter, Happier, and More Productive While Protecting Your Brain for Life by Max Lugavere and Paul Grewal M.D.

Join my mailing list and get access to the free PDF of 11 supplements that can help boost your brain function!

The Genius Life 13: The Power of Time-Restricted Eating aka Intermittent Fasting | Satchin Panda

Satchin Panda is a professor in the Regulatory Biology Laboratory—aka Panda Lab—at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies in La Jolla, California. His research concerns understanding the molecular mechanism of the biological clock and the part it plays in overall health, as detailed in his book The Circadian Code: Lose Weight, Supercharge Your Energy, and Transform Your Health from Morning to Midnight.

What you'll learn from this episode:

• Dr. Panda's research supports what intermittent fasting proponents have been saying for years: when we eat may be every bit as important to our well-being as what we eat.

• The negative effects on our health we risk by not sleeping enough, and how we can live a lifestyle that supports ideal, genetically governed circadian rhythms for optimal wellness.

• The practical implications of time-restricted feeding and why it may be smarter to skew your feeding window earlier in the day.

• What could explain a recent food hangover I had recently the morning after consuming a late meal.

• The potential benefits of exercising at a moderate intensity before eating in the morning.

• And much more!

This podcast is sponsored by my friends at Genuine Health, a Toronto-based supplement company committed to helping others achieve optimum health—naturally. Check out what they can do for you here!

Resources from this episode:

The Circadian Code: Lose Weight, Supercharge Your Energy, and Transform Your Health from Morning to Midnight by Satchin Panda

Panda Lab

Satchin at Twitter

myCircadianClock App

Diurnal Transcriptome Atlas of a Primate Across Major Neural and Peripheral Tissues

by S. Panda et al., Science

Salk Institute Honored with Historic Gift from Family of the Late Francis Crick, Salk News

Simulated Night Shift Work Induces Circadian Misalignment of the Human Peripheral Blood Mononuclear Cell Transcriptome by Laura Kervezee et al., Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences

The Emerging Roles of Melanopsin in Behavioral Adaptation to Light by Megumi Hatori and Satchidananda Panda, Trends in Molecular Medicine

Q&A: Why Is Blue Light before Bedtime Bad for Sleep? by Jessica Schmerler, Scientific American

Fasting, Circadian Rhythms, and Time Restricted Feeding in Healthy Lifespan by Valter D. Longo and Satchidananda Panda, Cell Metabolism

A 12-Hour Window for a Healthy Weight by Gretchen Reynolds, The New York Times Magazine

National Sleep Foundation's Updated Sleep Duration Recommendations: Final Report by Max Hirshkowitz et al., Sleep Health

Meal Timing by Rebecca Shern, Minimal Wellness

A Comprehensive Beginner's Guide to the Ketogenic Diet, Ruled.Me

High Carbohydrate Diets and Alzheimer’s Disease by Samuel T. Henderson, Medical Hypotheses

7 Ways a Keto Diet Is Perfect for Menopause by Anna Cabeca, Dr. Axe

Exercise Before Breakfast 'is Better than after a Meal,' Finds Study by Hilary Duncanson, The Independent

How to Break Your Daily Caffeine Habit and Use Coffee Strategically by Kevin Purdy, Fast Company

Circadian Variation in Gastric Vagal Afferent Mechanosensitivity by Amanda J. Page et al., Journal of Neuroscience

Ghrelin: Much More than a Hunger Hormone by Geetali Pradhan et al., Current Opinion in Clinical Nutrition & Metabolic Care

LEAP2 Is an Endogenous Antagonist of the Ghrelin Receptor by Xuecai Ge at al., Cell Metabolism

The Role of Leptin and Ghrelin in the Regulation of Food Intake and Body Weight in Humans: A Review by MD Klok et al., Obesity Reviews

Time-Restricted Feeding Study Shows Promise in Helping People Shed Body Fat by Adam Pope, University of Alabama at Birmingham News

The Case for a Breakfast Feast by Roni Caryn Rabin, The New York Times

Effects of Caffeine on the Human Circadian Clock in Vivo and in Vitro by Kenneth P. Wright Jr. et al., Science Translational Medicine

NFL Teams Play Better at Night, Study Suggests, Because Of Circadian Rhythms by Ben Renner, StudyFinds

Seasonal Variations in Serum Vitamin D According to Age and Sex by Behzad Heidari and Maryam Beygom Haji Mirghassemi, Caspian Journal of Internal Medicine

Another Case Against the Midnight Snack, Salk News

Frequent Extreme Cold Exposure and Brown Fat and Cold-Induced Thermogenesis: A Study in a Monozygotic Twin by Maarten J. Vosselman et al., PLOS One

Cold Exposure as a Potential Therapy for Type 2 Diabetes, Medical News Bulletin

Genius Foods: Become Smarter, Happier, and More Productive While Protecting Your Brain for Life by Max Lugavere and Paul Grewal M.D.

Join my mailing list and get access to the free PDF of 11 supplements that can help boost your brain function!

The Genius Life 12: How to Use Mushrooms for Better Health | Tero Isokauppila

Tero Isokauppila is a Finnish foraging expert, self-experimenter, founder of medicinal mushroom company Four Sigmatic, and one of the smartest cacao experts I know. He is also the author of Healing Mushrooms: A Practical and Culinary Guide to Using Mushrooms for Whole Body Health.

What I discuss with Tero in this episode:

• Mushrooms have been used for culinary and medicinal purposes for centuries, and there are likely thousands of undiscovered species that could provide us with yet-untold benefits.

• Tero Isokauppila didn't start medicinal mushroom company Four Sigmatic as a fad -- he comes from a multi-generational line of mushroom foragers. He's got fungi in his blood!

• The three criteria of adaptogens and how they were discovered by the Cold War era Soviet Union looking for an edge in optimizing human performance.

• The mysterious properties of not-quite-plant, not-quite-animal fungi.

• Why coffee and chocolate work well in combination with mushrooms.

• And much more!

This podcast is sponsored by my friends at Genuine Health, a Toronto-based supplement company committed to helping others achieve optimum health—naturally. Check out what they can do for you here!

I've been a fan of mushrooms my whole life—from big portobellos that my family and I would throw on the grill every summer drenched in salt, pepper, and extra virgin olive oil to the raw, sliced mushrooms I drop into a salad. They have a flavor and texture that are at once highly amenable to whatever they're being eaten with, but also retain a delectable taste all their own.

The research on the health benefits of mushrooms is just as compelling. Mushrooms are the fruiting bodies of a large family of organisms from the fungi kingdom, distinct from the animal and plant kingdoms but just as wide and diverse. In fact, there are 22,000 mushroom species that we know of, but it's estimated there are likely 140,000 distinct species on Earth. Of the known mushrooms, about five percent are of either culinary or medicinal use to humans, but if that proportion holds true for the vast number of unexplored mushrooms, this implies there are 6,000 mushrooms out there that could provide us with yet-untold benefits.

On this episode of the show, I'm joined by someone who knows a lot about the medicinal power of mushrooms: Four Sigmatic founder Tero Isokauppila, author of Healing Mushrooms: A Practical and Culinary Guide to Using Mushrooms for Whole Body Health.

Why Mushrooms?

Four Sigmatic (discount code MAX gets you 15% off!) is well-known for making mushroom coffee, mushroom tea, mushroom superfood blends, mushroom hot cacao, and even mushroom lemonade with charcoal and chaga. Which might lead some less enamored of such fungal splendor to wonder: what's the obsession with mushrooms?

"I first fell in love with normal, good old culinary mushrooms," says Tero. "I grew up in Finland. My mom took me out foraging. My mom taught physiology and anatomy and taught me about nutrition in general. [We've had] a family farm for quite a few generations, and my great-great grandfather started an environmental school where we also forage for mushrooms.

"As I was playing soccer and running, I got into all kinds of performance-boosting things beyond just your classic creatine and whey protein that worked, but I wondered 'What's the next level? And the next next level? And the next, next, next level!' And I discovered this mushroom called cordyceps that is shown to improve the maximum oxygen intake, and there's also pretty fascinating studies on ATP production that it can improve 18 percent or more of just how we produce energy in our cells and the mitochondria, so that got me deeper into the world of medicinal mushrooms."

Other benefits of cordyceps include fatigue reduction and up to 10 percent increase in lactic acid threshold in the body—especially helpful during high-intensity workouts. Cordyceps are also the only fungi in a category of herbs known as adaptogens.

What Are Adaptogens and Beta-Glucans?

"Adaptogens" is a word that gets thrown around a lot on the herbal medicine market today, but Tero defines them by these three criteria:

1. They are safe and non-addictive.

2. They are non-specific—meaning they'll work in multiple parts of the body.

3. They have the ability to modulate—that is, they'll help normalize bodily parameters against pathological conditions.

In the 1940s, the Soviet Union became the first nation to understand the role adaptogens can play in stress reduction thanks to the work of Dr. Nikolai Vasilievich Lazarev. While adaptogens may not have helped the Soviets win the Cold War, they're a great way to bolster the body's own ability to heal.

Beta-Glucans are immunity-boosting complex carbohydrates that are found in many bacteria, plants, and fungi—reishi being one reliable source.

"Most of the research is around cancer, autoimmune [diseases], and diabetes," says Tero, "because those are the big problems in our society. But I think just for general health, I look at them like chlorophyll. You want to have greens in some form every day. You want to have polysaccharides in one form or the other every day. You don't need a lot—it's a really important building block and something our body's very quick to handle."

Culinary and Medicinal Mushrooms

Not quite plant and not quite animal, mushrooms occupy a pretty unique place in the biosphere. Sometimes even scientists can't help but wax poetic on their qualities, as we see from the opening to this paper from Shu Ting Chang and Solomon P. Wasser in the International Journal of Medicinal Mushrooms:

"Mushrooms are part of fungal biota characterized by wonder. They rise up from lignocellulosic wastes: yet they become so bountiful and nourishing. Mushrooms are environmentally friendly. They biosynthesize their own food from agricultural crop residues, which would otherwise cause health hazards."

When was the last time you saw a scientist use the phrase "characterized by wonder" in a paper? I can't help but think Amber Rae would approve.

While fungi are less studied than the other kingdoms, it's understandable: they're bountiful almost beyond comprehension. "If you think of all the varieties of plants," says Tero, "there's six times more fungi than there are plants."

While some mushrooms overlap the boundary between culinary and medicinal categories, it's helpful to know the difference.

"Culinary mushrooms are good for fiber, some level of iron, copper, potassium, B vitamins, D vitamins -- pretty much the only non-animal based source of vitamin D is in mushrooms because they share a lot of the DNA with animals, so they have the same way of getting it from the sun. So mushrooms build vitamin D in their skin the same way humans do.

"Medicinal mushrooms have a lot of those same properties, but they also have this intelligence—ninja skills—very specific compounds that can potentially help penetrate the blood-brain barrier or they could help ATP production. They could help improve the gut biome. They have these stronger skills. They tend to be more bitter; they tend to grow on trees, whereas culinary mushrooms tend to grow on the ground. A lot of the benefits of the medicinal mushrooms come from the trees themselves."

Give your ears a listen to this entire episode to learn more about Tero's top seven mushrooms, why Otzi the Iceman (the well-preserved mummy of a man who was murdered 5,300 years ago) was probably carrying medicinal mushrooms at the time of his death, why coffee and chocolate are ideal candidates to combine with mushrooms, fungi Tero recommends avoiding, why Tero prefers wild mushrooms over cultivated mushrooms, and much more.

Resources from this episode:

Tero's website

Four Sigmatic (15% off discount code automatically applied!)

Healing Mushrooms: A Practical and Culinary Guide to Using Mushrooms for Whole Body Health by Tero Isokauppila and Four Sigmatic

Mushroom Academy

Facebook 'Shroom Club

Tero at Instagram

The Genius Life 4: Fat Loss and Inflammation Hacks | Crosby Tailor

The Green Dawn of Adaptogens: Performance Herbs from Back in the USSR, Supplements in Review

Effects of Beta-Glucans on the Immune System by Dalia Akramiene et al., Medicina

The Role of Culinary-Medicinal Mushrooms on Human Welfare with a Pyramid Model for Human Health by Shu Ting Chang and Solomon P. Wasser, International Journal of Medicinal Mushrooms

The Genius Life 11: How to Quiet the Inner Critic and Experience More Wonder | Amber Rae

The Maitake Mushroom: A Powerful and Promising Medicinal, Mushroom Appreciation

5 Surprising Facts About Otzi the Iceman by James Owen, National Geographic

Medicinal Mushrooms: Ancient Remedies Meet Modern Science by Paul Stamets and Heather Zwickey, Integrative Medicine: A Clinician's Journal

How to Make a Decoction, WikiHow

Guide to Making Tinctures, Mountain Rose Herbs

The Ghrelin Gremlin, or Why You Can’t Always Trust the Body’s Wisdom by Kelly McGonigal, Psychology Today

What Is Candida and What Does It Have to Do with Toxic Mold Exposure?, Surviving Toxic Mold

Mushrooms Are Full of Antioxidants That May Have Anti-Aging Potential by Matt Swayne, Penn State

Genius Foods: Become Smarter, Happier, and More Productive While Protecting Your Brain for Life by Max Lugavere and Paul Grewal M.D.

Join my mailing list and get access to the free PDF of 11 supplements that can help boost your brain function!

The Genius Life 11: How to Quiet the Inner Critic and Experience More Wonder | Amber Rae

Amber Rae is is an author, artist, and speaker who has been described by mindbodygreen as "The Brené Brown of wonder." Her new book is Choose Wonder Over Worry: Move Beyond Fear and Doubt to Unlock Your Full Potential, and I personally think it would look beautiful on your coffee table after you've absorbed its life-changing insights.

What I discuss with Amber in this episode:

• How we can use wonder rather than fear as a guide to extract what worry is trying to tell us.

• The three steps for pushing past fear.

• Amber's method for conversing with the many faces of worry.

• Why Amber's process for writing a book may widely differ from that of most other authors.

• How we can change our own narratives to overwrite the negative conditioning of external forces—like the advertising industry that preys on our sense of "not enough."

• And much more!

This podcast is sponsored by my friends at Genuine Health, a Toronto-based supplement company committed to helping others achieve optimum health—naturally. Check out what they can do for you here!

As human beings, we second guess ourselves constantly. Whether we're creators exposing our chosen form of expression to criticism from the world at large or accountants quadruple-checking receipts for missed deductions at tax time, self-doubt just seems to be part of our DNA. Unexamined, this self-doubt amounts to worrying that stifles us from doing our best work and living our best lives.

But what if worry exists for a reason? What might we learn from it if we dig deeper and let wonder, rather than fear, be our guide? Choose Wonder Over Worry: Move Beyond Fear and Doubt to Unlock Your Full Potential author Amber Ray introduces us to the many faces this worry wears and helps us understand how to confront them constructively and make use of what they're trying to tell us—without being dissuaded from what we really want to accomplish in life.

Worry vs. Wonder

It's no secret that growth to any degree comes from stepping outside whatever we perceive as the comfort zone, and the biggest obstacle to taking this step usually comes from within—in the form of worrying. Everybody knows what it's like to ponder getting better acquainted with the unfamiliar only to hear the nagging voice in the back of our head warning us of what awaits if we fail.

The initial voice of curiosity urging us to ponder the possible is what Amber calls wonder. The inner-ruminating, anxious, and fearful voice begging us to reconsider is worry.

"I remember I walked into an art gallery in lower Manhattan," says Amber. "And when I looked at the mixed media art lining the walls, there was this voice inside of me that said, "It's time to make some art." That was wonder. And then very quickly, another voice said, "Art? Who the hell are you to make art? You didn't go to art school! Like, are you kidding yourself? Come on. Art doesn't make money.

"And you know it took me a while to realize that because often we think, okay, worry is bad, fear's bad, let's make it go away. But that's actually not the aim. It's how do we have a relationship with it? And so what I realized later was that worry, even in that art gallery, was trying to protect me and keep me safe. That seemed unknown, scary, dangerous, unlikely to lead to me being a thriving human, and so worry was chiming in to say, 'Hey! Alert! Danger! I don't know how I feel about this!' But the invitation is that we get to know the two voices and we learn how to work with them and have a relationship with these various internal emotions."

Three Steps for Initiating a Relationship with Worry

"[Worry and fear] are here to keep us safe," says Amber. "We've evolved with them in our brain to protect us from danger. But any time we're doing something new, novel, meaningful, interesting—something that is unknown—it's going to trigger some of those emotional sensations or those voices."

Having a relationship with these emotions rather than letting them boss us around is key—but where do we begin? Amber recommends these three steps.

1. Name it. Psychotherapist Dr. Dan Siegel coined the term name it to tame it, and that's what Amber considers the first step. It's specifying what kind of worry has shown up and giving it a label to pinpoint the problem it's trying to solve. In herself, Amber identified 27 different kinds of worry, including The Perfectionist, Envy, Shame, and Not Enoughness. Amber jokes that her friend calls this "Multiples of Personality Order."

2. Talk to it. Amber demonstrates: "As I was writing this book, so many times The Perfectionist would come up and be like, 'Hey, this isn't very good. People aren't going to like this. People are going to judge you.' And I would then talk to that voice. I'd say, 'Okay. Hey, Perfectionist. I see you hanging out here. What is it that you want me to know?' And The Perfectionist would be like, 'Well, you know, I just want this to be really good. And I want a really high-quality end product.' And I'm like, 'Great! Me, too.
   We have the same goal! Amazing!"

3. Make a request. This is the part where you recognize the validity of what the named worry is trying to tell you, and you politely request that it buzzes off to let you solve the problem. Here's how Amber might make such a request: "'I need to get really messy and create a lot of shitty first drafts before I get to high-quality work. Can you go get a massage while I get back to work?' And then perfectionism sort of releases its grip."

Amber stresses that this is a process she does with pen and paper and not out loud in public.

Rewriting the Narrative

We all have some idea of who we are and how we fit into the world, and we may even believe we have sole authorship of this narrative. But as much as we might hate to admit it, large chapters of the story were created by others before we even knew there was a story being written. Parents, teachers, friends, significant others, and bosses are just a few who, if they don't have entire chapters dedicated to them in your narrative, have at least scribbled significant notes in the margins. Sometimes the narrative even comes with irritating advertisements that fall on the floor every time you turn a page.

"I started my career in the advertising industry," says Amber, "and I remember one meeting where the CEO called us in and there was this new product for men to shine their shoes. And he's like, 'So, let's make men feel insecure about their shoes and then they'll buy the product.'

"So everything is around 'how do we tap into people's insecurities or sense of not enoughness in order to design products so that they buy them?'"

Becoming aware of an undesirable part of our narrative is an important first step in overwriting it. The second step is to question it and try to identify where it came from. Once we understand its origin story, we can decide if it's something that should remain in place or be torn out entirely and replaced with something better.

It might seem excruciating to sort through our narrative and deal with the emotions that will inevitably get stirred up in the process, but it's actually a shorter option than letting them linger and affect the entirety of our story.

As neuroanatomist and My Stroke of Insight author Jill Bolte Taylor discovered, it only takes 90 seconds to really feel the physiological impact of an emotion, examine it in the moment, and decide if it's something you need to keep reliving, or if it's something you can let go.

"It's like 90 seconds versus 10 years," says Amber. "It's not what happens and what we feel; it's the story we create about what we feel that prolongs."

Listen to this entire episode to learn more about ways to cultivate wonder, what it means to be a wonder junkie, the effect wonder can have on our physiology, how Amber's writing process probably differs from that of other authors you may recognize, how Reese's Peanut Butter Cups got smeared across the pages of my own narrative, and much more.

Resources from this episode:

Choose Wonder Over Worry: Move Beyond Fear and Doubt to Unlock Your Full Potential by Amber Rae

Amber's website

Amber at Instagram

Amber at Twitter

mindbodygreen

The Gifts of Imperfection: Let Go of Who You Think You're Supposed to Be and Embrace Who You Are by Brené Brown

Dan Siegel: Name it to Tame it

Contact by Carl Sagan

The Evangelist Behind Seth Godin's Speedy Publishing by Tim Donnelly, Inc.

The Genius Life 10: How to Become a World-Changing Innovator | Melissa Schilling

Quirky: The Remarkable Story of the Traits, Foibles, and Genius of Breakthrough Innovators Who Changed the World by Melissa A. Schilling

The Strategies That Helped Me Write 3 Books in 3 Years by Ryan Holiday

5 Life Lessons from the Book Journey by Amber Rae

This Yoga Nidra Routine Will Make You Feel Like You Got a Full Night's Sleep by Julie Hand, Bulletproof Blog

Headspace: Meditation and Mindfulness Made Simple

The Soul of Money: Transforming Your Relationship with Money and Life by Lynne Twist

The Life-Changing 90-Second Secret by Alex Myles, Elephant Journal

My Stroke of Insight: A Brain Scientist's Personal Journey by Jill Bolte Taylor

Genius Foods: Become Smarter, Happier, and More Productive While Protecting Your Brain for Life by Max Lugavere and Paul Grewal M.D.

Join my mailing list and get access to the free PDF of 11 supplements that can help boost your brain function!