[Transcript] – How To Increase Free Testosterone, Elevating Deep Sleep Levels, Ideal Estrogen Levels For Women & Much More (Special Q&A Episode!).

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Transcripts

May 4, 2019

Podcast from: https://bengreenfieldfitness.com/podcast/lifestyle-podcasts/estrogen-levels-in-women/

[00:00:00] Introduction

[00:00:50] About this Podcast

[00:03:10] Podcast Sponsors

[00:06:06] Note from James: Audio Disclaimer

[00:06:48] What do you think of using the ChiliPad long term, particularly as it pertains to EMF and dirty electricity?

[00:10:33] Do you think Great Plains Lab's test for mycotoxins is not valid?

[00:11:08] You said a score of 3.8 for the TSH is good but not optimal. How do you figure out what your optimal levels should be?

[00:12:03] Is it true that if you take colostrum on an empty stomach, it won't raise your insulin-like growth factor (IGF)?

[00:12:47] What is the ideal estradiol post-menopause?

[00:16:11] How does a sense of spirituality and spiritual practice play into one's health and wellness?

[00:19:20] How would you increase free testosterone naturally?

[00:23:32] Podcast Sponsors

[00:26:26] How does ashwagandha play a role in cortisol and other adaptogens?

[00:28:20] How long would a dietary change take to see a change in the Omega 3 Index?

[00:31:52] What CGM (continuous glucose monitor) devices do you recommend?

[00:35:33] When is it optimal to test IGF-1?

[00:36:33] Should a microbiome be tested a certain time of day, fasted or unfasted, etc.?

[00:38:55] Is it true that it is difficult to test for parasites because the parasite releases an enzyme when the stool hits the air?

[00:39:21] Is it true that it is difficult to test for parasites because the parasite releases an enzyme when the stool hits the air?

[00:41:26] What are the key factors to getting quality deep sleep?

[00:45:31] Are people who follow a low-carb or ketogenic diet low in magnesium?

[00:48:57] How are you dealing with your high cortisol metabolism?

[00:50:45] Is a colonoscopy an effective means of “resetting” the microbiome?

[00:52:30] How do you treat someone with a common cold? If it develops into an infection, how do you naturally heal it sans antibiotics?

[00:59:59] Under what circumstances should one seek an antibiotic, even if they are determined not to use antibiotics?

[01:02:24] How to deal with fainting episodes related to stress?

[01:03:44] What about things like sauerkraut and kombucha in promoting microbiome health?

[01:07:07]  Thoughts on a 5-day fasting mimicking diet vs. a 3-day water fast?

[01:12:16] How can you deal with exercise-induced hypoglycemia when you're not diabetic?

[01:14:32] How do you mitigate the effects of a bad night of sleep?

[01:18:47] End of Podcast

Ben:  I have a master's degree in physiology, biomechanics, and human nutrition. I've spent the past two decades competing in some of the most masochistic events on the planet from SEALFit Kokoro, Spartan Agoge, and the world's toughest mudder, the 13 Ironman triathlons, brutal bow hunts, adventure races, spearfishing, plant foraging, free diving, bodybuilding and beyond. I combine this intense time in the trenches with a blend of ancestral wisdom and modern science, search the globe for the world's top experts in performance, fat loss, recovery, hormones, brain, beauty, and brawn to deliver you this podcast. Everything you need to know to live an adventurous, joyful, and fulfilling life. My name is Ben Greenfield. Enjoy the ride.

Oh, well, hello. I actually have a little bit of apology to make to you. I am not enamored with the audio quality of today's podcast episode, but the content is freaking through the roof. This is, actually, part two of the Precision Medicine Conference that I attended and spoke at down in Kentucky. I spoke, I gave a 90-minute presentation on blood and biomarker interpretation. If you missed that podcast episode, you go listen to it. It's over at bengreenfieldfitness.com/kentucky. That's bengreenfieldfitness.com/kentucky, not spelled with an “i,” spelled with an “e,” even though I said it Kentucky.

Today's episode, what we did the evening after I gave the presentation was myself and four other physicians sat down and did a really comprehensive Q&A from the audience. We did the Q&A during dinner. People are eating. There was silverware clanking. The audio wasn't great. We weren't hooked up [00:02:02] mic. It was just one camera with an audio feed. I thought, “What the heck? The information is so interesting that I think you're going to learn a lot.” We talked about nutrigenomics. We talk about genetic testing, the APOE gene for Alzheimer's. Man, we went deep.

Here's the thing, though. Whenever it's a podcast like this where you may have to turn up your volume or maybe make your ears a little bit more sensitive, this might not be one to listen to while you're panning away in the treadmill or working out the gym, maybe press, pause, and save this one for a walk or a time when you're able to focus a little bit more. I personally think the audio is not that great. But, again, I wanted to give you this information. I hope you find this helpful. Because there's going to be plenty of shownotes and links for you from this episode, you can go to bengreenfieldfitness.com/kentucky2, that's Kentucky, then, number 2, to listen or to read the comprehensive shownotes that I always create for you.

It's brought to you by Kion, by the way. Kion is my playground for creating amazing supplement formulations and everything that comes out of my crazy brain. You can get it at Kion. One of the cool things we have a lot of people like this, it's really popular, it's our Kion Daily Life bundle. You get a bottle of my amino acids which are perfect for muscle gain, fat loss, appetite control, sleep. Those things are like a Swiss Army knife for your body. Probably, our most popular product. You get our coffee and our bar. It's like turkey and cranberry. The bar is all chocolatey and coconutty, and salty. You dip that in a cup of the antioxidant-rich Kion coffee, I'm not kidding, it's like biscotti. I dip the bar in the coffee. If you haven't tried this, it's really good. It's like the old-school biscotti and your latte thing, but a healthy version of that. Then, we have our Kion Lean, which is, probably, one of the best ways that I found to manage my blood glucose. Especially, before carbohydrate-rich meal, I actually pop six of those a day now. It keeps my blood glucose super low. That's called the Kion Daily Life bundle. You get 10% off of that. Very simply, go to getkion.com, and you use code BGF10. The daily life bundle gives you coffee, bar, Aminos, and Lean. BGF10 is your code over at getkion.com.

This podcast is also brought to you by Organifi. I've talked about Organifi before on the show. Of late, I've been telling you a lot about their gold powder, which is like a golden milk latte. They also have this stuff called the Red Juice. It's a red juice powder. They put a ton of different immune boosting herbs in there. That also, actually, are herbs that have a little bit of an antioxidant and anti-aging effect as well, a ton of different polyphenols and flavonoids from dark rich berries and beets. It's relatively low sugar also, which is cool. You don't have to spike your blood sugar or suck down a bunch of fructose or make a big mess juicing and cleaning and blending. Just put this powder in water or a smoothie or almond milk or whatever, and boom, your daily boost is right there. It's amazing. They put a bunch of adaptogens in there. They've got reishi. They've got cordyceps. Cordysheps? Cordyceps. Eleven different superfoods. It's quick. It's easy. It's also not that expensive. It comes out to being $3 per juice. Considering you'd pay–what's a red juice out there, one of those juice bars now? It's like $11, $12. You could just literally get an [00:05:42] and put this stuff in there and get twice the amount for, literally, a quarter of the cost. You also get an additional 20% off. You go to organifi.com/ben. That's Organifi with an “i.” organifi.com/ben. Use code BENG20. That gets you 20% off of anything from Organifi.

James:  Hi, there. My name is James. I'm the editor and the producer of the podcast. Like Ben said in the intro to this show, the audio is a little bit wonky. There's only one microphone picking up pretty much everything. I did my best to get all of the extraneous noises, but in particular the questions that were asked by the audience were particularly difficult to hear. What I'm going to do is just listen to the questions and I will record them and insert them into the recording. Then, you'll hear the panel of experts answer the questions for you. Here we go. Enjoy it.

Host:  It's going to be great to have him up on the panel as well. You said you're talking with him a little bit. I know we have a lot of health care providers here. This is not about us as experts telling you anything. This is a discussion. If anybody has anything to add, we would love to hear it. I'm going to go ahead and go through some of your questions. We had a couple of questions, specifically, for Ben. Based on your presentation. “How does Ben feel about the ChiliPad long term, if you're sleeping on it 64 degrees, what about the EMF's? What do you think about the EMF's in ChiliPad?”

Ben:  How come they couldn't just stick to hair gel?

Host:  [00:07:22] type of question.

Ben:  Anytime you have something plugged in next to your bedside, you do need to be aware of any type of dirty electricity that might be kicking off. There are home meters you can use like an Acoustimeter, for example, to actually measure that. You can also hire a building biologist. I did a whole podcast with a guy named Brian Hoyer,  who did a building biology analysis of how much electricity [00:07:49] that's in it. In cases like a ChiliPad or any larger unit like that that plugs in next to the bedside. The ChiliPad, by the way, it's a mat that circulates cold water or hot water, whatever you want, underneath the top sheet with the idea being that if your [00:08:07] while you sleep, your deep sleep levels are enhanced, and your sleep latency and sleep efficiency is improved. What I have is a PowerStrip next to my bedside for a few things that I do plug-in and run during the night. I use one made by a company called Belkin.  It has its own built-in dirty electricity filter. That's what I do, is I just plug everything into that. Everything else in the bedroom is off. It's not as good as using a kill switch in your bedroom just turning everything off. Some people will literally just flip the breaker and turn everything off, or you get a kill switch installed. I use that dirty electricity filter and it does a pretty good job based of the measurements that I've done with it. That's the way that I do things. Then, some appliances like–what's another thing I sleep on? A BioMat, for example. That has its own dirty electricity filter built into it. A lot of companies these days in the biohacking sector, if you might call it. They do a pretty good job building in some dirty electricity filtration.

Bryan:  For building biologist, there actually are zero in the entire state of Kentucky. If you're at Kentucky, it's just frustrating because you have to bring someone on building your house. I have to bring somebody in. It's frustrating. If you're building a house or something that's probably worth it.

The Chilipad also, I had one. My wife and I, that's the one thing we probably argue about, most of the time, the temperature at night. Someone just asked if there's a Chilipad for two people. There's not. You'd have to get two different ones if you want two different temperatures. It produces it a little bit of sound, though. If you don't like sound, it's going to be annoying. I don't like sounds. It's what actually [00:09:51] Mike who likes a little bit of sound. So, in case you don't like noise [00:09:56] thinking about getting one.

Ben:  You can get a his and hers package. I've got one for Jessa. It's never been used, ever.

Participant:  Sounds complicated.

Bryan:  Do you like it, Mike?

Mike: I don't know. For me, I like the cooling aspect of it, but it's actually fairly thick. Whenever I'd sleep on my side [00:10:22] me because it was just too rough to sleep on.

Ben:  [00:10:27] over here.

Bryan:  It's very sensitive.

Mike: It's all you've got.

Ben:  It's good for me to [00:10:32].

Host:  There's been a couple more from Ben's presentations. Ben, do you think GPL's mycotoxins are not valid? You know what that means? [00:10:44]

Ben:  Clarification on that.

Participant:  Great Plains Lab's mycotoxin test and all?

Ben:  You mean if I think it's not valid?

Participant:  Yeah. You didn't mention that. I just want to know if you were familiar with it.

Ben:  The only reason I mentioned Cyrex as an option was because I was talking about food allergy testing, like if you want to get your array scores at once. Great Plains does good with mycotoxins. Yeah.

Host:  Just to do another one from Ben's. Ben, you mentioned 3.8 thyroid is normally viewed as good but not optimal, how do you figure out what your optimal level is from your lab result is and should be?

Ben:  What I specifically was talking about was TSH, in the range of 0.5 to 2, for thyroid stimulating hormone. I mentioned 3.8 as a value that would be considered normal, but that I would consider high. As far as ideal reference ranges, there's a lot of places that you can find them. Dr. Mark Hyman has a pretty good downloadable free PDF on his website. Dr. Bryan Walsh, who I mentioned during my presentation, most of his reference ranges are also very solid. If you go to just about any functional or integrative medical practitioner, or somebody practicing precision medicine like these guys, they're using reference ranges that are a little bit more appropriate, in my opinion, for not just absence of disease but actual health status.

Host:  Ben, you mentioned colostrum on your podcast. If you take colostrum on an empty stomach, my understanding is it won't raise your IGF. Is this correct?

Ben:  I've never heard that. If you take a baby mammal and give it colostrum, it grows. It's an anabolic. I don't think that if it's on an empty stomach versus not, there's any difference. There might be data I'm unaware of. Ultimately, colostrum is great for the gut. It's great if you have been on antibiotics. It's great if you have leaky gut. It's great if you're trying to put on muscle or increase growth factor or decrease inflammation in the gut. I don't use it year-round just because it is such a potent IGF precursor that you don't want to stay in that cause of state of anabolism.

Host:  There's a lot of questions for Ben. I'm going here for Mike. Mike, do you care to ask Ben what he thinks is the–

[Laughter]

Here's a question for you. What is the ideal estradiol post-menopause? Somebody asks, you talked about estradiol levels being 32 to in the hundreds premenopausal. But in post-menopausal someone asked that question. What about post-menopausal?

Ben:  Ideal is physiologic.

Host:  This is a great question. Physiologic, we know it should drop basically to zero. The debate here is that what do you do about that? Should you replace it so it doesn't [00:13:30]?

Mike: Yeah, try to replace it back to, basically, pre-menopausal levels if we're trying to do BHRT.

Host:  There's so much confusion around hormone replacement therapy, a lot of debate in general. The 2002 Women's Health Initiative study came out and at that point, a large percentage of people were on hormone replacement therapy, and after that, it plummeted. The primary research in that study basically said it increases your chances for breast cancer and many other diseases. But, on reanalysis, [00:14:00]

Mike: People that are actually involved in the primary study.

Host:  Even people who were involved in the primary study said there were a lot of problems with that study. This is a really complicated question.

Ben:  Correct me if I'm wrong. That wasn't BHRT. It wasn't [00:14:15].

Bryan:  There's some debate around [00:14:23] versus bioidenticals as well, but instead of giving you a five-hour answer there, what I would recommend and we'll give a short answer our opinions on here is the book, “Estrogen Matters.” It's a great entire book on that topic of hormone replacement therapy.

Ben:  Deep dive.

Bryan:  That's a great, big resource, deep dive. If you want a two to two-and-a-half-hour version, Peter Attia has a great podcast with the authors of that book. That's a great summary as well. You can listen to him. Two times being, it's a little over an hour. You can get into those. Our general philosophy is that if it does increase risk for some things like breast cancer, heart disease, which is just completely debatable. A lot of people say it decreases the risk for some of those things. That's all debatable. Even if it does increase it a tiny bit, maybe 1% or 2%, the quality of life that it gives women post-menopausal is probably worth that. It's a complex question and answer between a patient and a clinician. It's a lot of shared decision-making. How much is it going to increase or decrease my risk for these things? How much is it going to affect my quality of life? It's a difficult question. We, in general, probably do replace hormones for women because it just adds a lot of the quality of life and may or may not increase or decrease certain risks, based on all the studies that you were getting. That's one study, Women's Health and Health Mission. It's a big study, a lot of money behind it. It randomized placebo-controlled clinical trial, but there are other studies that contradict it. Read that book, “Estrogen Matters,” if you want a much longer answer on that. In general, we're not scared to replace hormones for post-menopausal. We think it really improves quality of life.

Ben:  Once you get horsehair, it's pretty [00:16:09].

Host:  Especially brown hair, yeah.

This is a great question. I just want to ask you and then let you dive in. How does a sense of spirituality and spiritual practice play into health and wellness? I'm going to limit you all by 60 seconds because that's such a big question. Perhaps, you have some summary thoughts on that?

Ben:  Absolutely. We know that meditation and yoga, and a lot of these things, can actually change epigenetic expression. It lowers plasma cortisol, it can improve sleep cycles. Even stepping back and looking at it apart from biological effects, we know that a gratitude practice will increase your level of empathy towards others. We know that in the Blue Zones, almost every single one has some prevalence of a belief in a higher power or some spiritual practice. Maybe, spiritual practices are also tied into things like fasting and meditation, and some type of routine. In my opinion, the healthiest people on the face of the planet are people who are not only healthy in body but also their spirit. I think, the spiritual just cannot be [00:17:27].

Bryan:  You go through four years of medical school and you get zero, not just training, but zero thoughts on this, in general. It's such a disservice because it's a huge part of most people's life. In general, growing up and then after during adult. It is extremely important. For our patients, we try to address this and we try to encourage it as much as possible. We don't push in certain religion or spiritual belief, but it can make a tremendous difference in health. It's not just saying that from an ancient standpoint, saying that even in the Blue Zones, there's a great amount of evidence but there's a lot of science behind it, and what it does to your [00:18:07].

Mike: I can't summarize any better than that. I can tell you that it's my personal experience. Finding a meditative practice and finding a mindfulness practice [00:18:18] in the last 10 years. It definitely changes the way that I view the world, the way that I interact with people, the way that I interact with [00:18:30] with Alzheimer's. People who have negative outlook in life, they [00:18:39]. Basically, meditation will improve your outlook in life. Then, that actually allows [00:18:46] people. Some thinks this is a little thing that's missing that's why they're not getting better. Meditation and physiology may actually vary with people.

Bryan:  I think, sometimes physicians, when they deliver bad news, they almost curse patients and tell them they have a certain amount of time to live and things like that. [00:19:06]

Mike: I never tell patients that they will not recover, ever. That's my primary rule. I don't know. I'm not a God. If you'll tell patient that he might not recover, he might not recover.

Host:  Here's a question. I think Ben has multiple podcasts on [00:19:28] one that you haven't released yet. Here's what I'm going to do for this question, I'm going to have to give you [00:19:34], that's it. The question was you were talking about testosterone, free testosterone versus total level of testosterone. So, the question, how would you increase, you talked about, the percentage of testosterone being over 2%? If someone wanted to do that naturally, how would they increase their free testosterone?

Ben:  Avoid heavy amounts of endurance exercise instead do spurts of [00:20:02]. I would say optimize libido by prioritizing some type of regular sexual experience. You want to make sure that you're sending your body that signal, at least, on a weekly basis that you're trying to maintain fertility. Also, keep your libido up. It creates a positive feedback. Then, I would say there's a third thing. It's that as you learn to balance testosterone, it's a lot of times, not bioactive, especially if it's about the sex hormone binding globulin not the albumin. One of the best things you can do is make sure that you control your cortisol and your stress, so you're not on a regular SHBG.

Host:  Mike?

Mike: I would say decrease insulin resistance. The best way to do that is to exercise, that Ben already mentioned. Also, decrease simple carbohydrates in your diet and increase healthy fatty acids. It's going to decrease your insulin resistance and improve the percentage of testosterone balances in sex hormone binding globulin and also, your testosterone production. Hence, it's a [00:21:23]. JOOVV Light, definitely, has proven by shining Joovv light on your testicles [00:21:34] improve your testosterone production.

Bryan:          [00:21:44] sleep here.

Mike: Yeah, sleep is huge. Well, basically, stress, carbohydrates, or insulin resistance can [00:21:53]. If you can manage your stress, everything else will get better. Going back to you, Bryan.

Bryan:  I think [00:21:59] talked about endurance. You both doing endurance events in the past, I have to [00:22:06] the effect on testosterone levels.

Ben:   Well, as Mike's testosterone has ever been was low fat diets and body building and raising animals.

James:  Someone is asking about the research that's been done on the JOOVV light. Here's Ben's answer.

Ben:  There is some [00:22:26] research on the activity of Leydig cells in the testes. All the human stuff is anecdotal. But anecdotal is anecdotal. It's still an example, like personal experience. It helps quite a bit, with not just testosterone, but also just general blood flow and capillarization to your genitals, et cetera.

Bryan:  [00:22:46] there are some studies. If you email me, I'll send you those.

Host:  Ben, you also once mentioned that product that cools, like ice pack.

Ben:  Something that's called Primal Jet Pack. It's an ice pack literally designed to cool balls and increase testosterone via that method, which is funny because you get it and it's just like a regular ice pack in your testes. It says, “pour to your balls.” I'm sure their markers are green on that.

[Laughter]

Mike:  [00:23:20]

Participant:  Do they have small, medium, and large?

Bryan:  [00:23:27]

Ben:  I want to rudely interrupt today's show to tell you about Four Sigmatic. These are mushroom products. When I want a pick-me-up but I don't want a cup of coffee, I take two packets of their chaga, which also keeps me from getting sick. It's one of the best ways to elevate your immune system function, based on some of the proteins that are in the chaga elixir they make. Then, I add one packet of their lion's mane, which is like a pencil sharpener for your brain. It increases BDNF, your brain derived neurotrophic factor, when you have pack of the lion's mane. My kids, actually, have a packet before they go to school every day. The lion's mane-chaga blend is a really, really great way to boost cognitive function, to start your day. They have a lot of other mushroom products. The other one I use a lot of is their reishi, before a nap to relax myself. That thing is also wonderful. I always have a pantry full of, at least, their chaga, their reishi, and their lion's mane. Those three alone are really, really good mushroom extracts. They're giving all the listeners 15% off of all of their wonderful, wonderful elixirs. They even have a chocolate over there. Their chocolate's really good too. It's very simple. You go to foursigmatic.com/bengreenfield. foursigmatic.com/bengreenfield will automatically get you 15% off of all the fine, fine fare from Four Sigmatic.

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Host:  Someone asks about ashwagandha. How does ashwaganda play a role in cortisol and other adaptogens? Anybody wants to take that?

Ben:  Pretty simple. Adaptogenic herbs is going to increase cortisol when it's low and decrease it when it's high. Best [00:26:48] adaptogenic herbs is that it adopts to the state that your body is [00:26:52]. Reishi mushroom extract to put some people to sleep and to give some people amounts of energy. It just depends on what your body needs at the time.

Bryan:  The adaptogens, they never quite make sense to me. It's hard to wrap your mind around that. Things like chaga, ginseng, ashwagandha, great adaptogens.

Host:  This person is asking me how does it play a role in cortisol.

Bryan:  I don't know if we fully understand. There are some studies in the wraps where they look at ashwagandha and it chipped down some stress mechanisms and pathways in the brain. That probably is how we're working. Regardless of how we're working, it does seem to have a positive effect on cortisol. Adaptogens like mushrooms, the most mushroom, ginseng, ashwagandha, are great. Do you have anything to add, Mike?

Mike:  Everybody responds differently. Some people respond better, some people will respond to ashwaganda better. For example, why I don't really feel any pick up from ashwagandha but I'll go pick up rhodiola.

Bryan:  Did you say rhodiola?

Mike:  Rhodiola, yes.

Ben:  I think, I've seen some information wide at me but I cannot recall. Dr. Shawn Talbott, T-A-L-B-O-T-T, he's got some really good online resources and a good book on the exact mechanism of ashwaganda for adaptogens. Take a deep dive in his work.

Host:  Here's interesting question, how long would a dietary change take to see a change in the omega 3 index? [00:28:27]

Ben:  [00:28:39] if you'll eat a lot of fish and very low omega 6, within three months, you will change your omega 3 index.

Mike:  It's going to be different from person to person because it depends on how long your red blood cells sync your system how long you've been here. I think three months is good. To truly change over the cell architecture [00:29:02].

Ben:  [00:29:05] testing.

Mike:  For testing, serum testing, you're going to be looking RBC [00:29:12].

Bryan:  The fish, the dietary change that you should do, I think, you probably all know the acronym SMASH fish. Those are great fish. If you wanted your dietary is actually adding a supplement, SMASH fish, sardines, mackerel, your cold-water fish just at the bottom of the food chain. They're not predators. [00:29:33] by accumulation of some heavy metals. Sardines, mackerel, anchovy, salmon, and herring. Either of the great choices of these [00:29:41] a very specific region too. It's the same in wild versus farm can be different. The quality of source of your fish, your dietary change or your supplement also makes a big difference. The omega 3, I think, sometimes people get a cheap omega 3. They could potentially do more damage than good. It's important thing about the quality of its source.

Mike:  That's an extremely important point.

Ben:  [00:30:17] this coming up to be a SMASH algorithm, but I throw a row and krill in there too. SMASH and [00:30:26].

Bryan:  So, KRISMASHO.

Ben:  SMASH and [00:30:29]

[Laughter]

Ben:  It is very important to realize that omega 6 is also required to our body. Omega 9 required for our body. A lot of people say, “I'll eat only fish [00:30:46] omega 6's.” Then, when I look at their blood chemistry, they have put a large amount of omega 6's, they have pretty low–I'm sorry–omega 3's, they have very low omega 6's. Then, decided it cannot work. Your cell requires all three of them to function correctly.

Bryan:  We don't always talk about that because this isn't a standard American diet. [00:31:10]. We are actually seeing people go too far.

Ben:  That's not yet. I've seen a couple of places, people are really, really dedicated eating a lot of fish, a lot of fish oil. Their omega 3s were out of the chart, and omega 6 very low.

Bryan:  Practically not good.

Ben:  Correct. They get so hard on omega 6.

Host:  Obviously, the group we have here, the questions I've got, this could be a group that could be so [00:31:37].

Ben:  Yeah, major component in your mitochondria membrane, called the [00:31:41] depends in this so-called parent essential oil that you can get from borage seed oil, rose oil, flax, chia, including those two.

Host:  CGM device, Continued Glucose Monitor, as far as commercially available, CGM devices, do you have any recommendations in general?

Ben:  There's one that's recommendable.

Host:  Dexcom. Do you mean Dexcom?

Ben:  There's one, probably FreeStyle Libre a lot of people use, but accuracy is very questionable. I like the Dexcom series. Dexcom G6, gold standard.

Host:  Does anybody here [00:32:22]?

Participant:  I like the G6 because that's what they recommended. I'm glad to see that it's just a factor of norm, because it's a lot more convenient.

Ben:  I wear it on the arm. I get the skin patches from Amazon that allowed to stay down warm. I also put on top of that a special skin adhesive. I just generally don't have any issues. When I wear it on my belly where I might squash it or anything like that. I could just [00:32:54].

Participant: [00:32:56] entrance. There was no question, I don't eat nothing. I guess, that's [00:33:04]

Host:  We were talking about that earlier today. Somebody brought that up. When did you have to have your in your insurance? If you will just buy this cash price per year, it costs $4,000 to $5,000 to all the monitoring and the sensors and things like that.

Female:  For me, I guess I still [00:33:25], my doctor just brought a prescription for continuous monitor. I told [00:33:34]. I was shocked and [00:33:40]. It was shocking to me that there's not a whole lot of red tape right now. I don't know if it will be as more patients are getting on them and they've seen the cost. It may be that will change in the next year. It's just there is a monitor about how it needs to be written because the transmitter on the desktop has to be replaced every three months. Sensors, there's three every month. That the only learning curve I see is how easy it's written for prescription standpoint.

Host:  I guess, that's so if you actually have the diagnosis of diabetes. It's usually pretty good because there's so many complications with that. If you didn't have the monitor like [00:34:26] tricky issue because if we were [00:34:29] we have some these ordered for our patients, someone that is really a difficult insulin resistance. Probably good even if they were of diabetes for a few months to see how they respond to food, or [00:34:39], they were just showing us what happens to the glucose after the [00:34:41]. If you just wanted to do that, it's difficult. It's expensive for you to quit diabetes on someone's chart. It may affect some long-term care insurance, health issues. Does anybody have any ideas on how to maybe just cash or other diagnosis here? We haven't figured out [00:35:01]

Participant:  I will say Costco. I read an article that Costco has made a deal with Dexcom where cash price is much lower than anywhere else for cash. It's still much cheap. He wore mine for a while because I had to change [00:35:16]. There's a two-week period where the old [00:35:19] work, just to see it for 10 days. We did that.

Host:  Body system.

Ben:  You eat a lot of M&Ms for three months then go to your doc.

Participant:  I don't think it's [00:35:32].

Host:  Question from Utah about IGF testing. Someone asked, when is it optimal to test IGF-1, on the day after a hard workout or fasting or yoga, or all of those, then take the [00:35:52]?

Ben:  I believe [00:35:55] with IGF-1 is the fasted blood.

Mike:  I think that's the benefits of knowing the range, in terms of trying to capture something higher than anabolic state vs catabolic state. If you are going to get into that, there would be [00:36:15]. From my experience, typically, it tracks fairly well with its own system. The higher your insulin, the higher your IGF-1. Most patients have [00:36:25] much concern. [00:36:28]. In that case, it could be [00:36:30] of the catabolic and the anabolic state.

Host:  Going along the lines of testing, should a microbiome test be done at a certain time of day, without exercise, prior to exercise, is there anything like that, the microbiome setting?

Ben:  Microbiome changes really fast; but typically, [00:36:49]

Host:  We have our Ph.D. nutritionist, an expert at microbiome. Do you have any thoughts on the microbiome? How quickly that changes in testing in general?

Participant:  If you're going to test it, and I hope that we figure out the specifics around the testing and how useful that is and how to tweak the microbiome to improve health outcomes, that it be consistently. Whether it's first thing in the morning, end of the day, or for a woman, the same time within the cycle.

Mike:  Let's say we're more active in the morning than at night. We know [00:37:22] I think you actually come to that. I guess, [00:37:27] day, last meal or last food.

Ben:  Most research on microbiome is loss exercises, chronic [00:37:35]. I doubt that you haven't got a hard workout versus an easy workout the day prior, for a good test is going to change that much.

Host:  Anybody else [00:37:45] if you just read it. We all look at the data on exercise and athletes in microbiome. I don't have a harder time sorting out what is causal and what's correlation, which comes first, exercise or microbiome, so I'm not sure exactly how much it matters. Morning tests, but the safest thing is to test the same time. I'm actually going to be doing a lot of tests [00:38:07] $300 or so per time. She's probably going to test them multiple times over the course of a month. If you're going to test every few months because specific thing they're trying to change. Like for us, if you're deficient in vitamin B6, we know that's produced by certain microbes in your gut, if you're trying to correct that and you're testing every few months, it makes sense to test during the same time in similar conditions, in my mind. I've got exactly zero science to back that up, but it makes sense to test at the same time.

Host:  How about supplementation prior to? If you're checking your magnesium or B vitamins the day before the test, if you'd only take magnesium at night or B vitamins in the morning, or whatever, should you not take the supplement for a day or two before the test?

Ben:  [00:38:55] four days.

Host:  Four days? Stop supplements.

Ben:  Right. [00:39:00], I do recommend four days.

Host:  These are great questions. These are difficult questions. Just to be super clear, I just want to point out, a lot of these questions answer we're giving you our opinions. They're also taking all the research we've read and making some educated guesses. I don't want to confuse us with hard science and randomize [00:39:20]. These are our opinions based on our reading of the literature. Question about parasites. Someone said, “My understanding is it's difficult to test for parasites since they release an enzyme once the stool hits the air. This enzyme dissolves the parasites. Is this correct?”

Ben:  I think the best way [00:39:52].

Participant: What was your answer?

Ben:   I think when you do the three-day [00:40:00]. You freeze it.

Participant:  [00:40:09]

Ben:  Well, that's one thing you're supposed to do. All the test instructions are in there.

Participant:  I just heard the need that [00:40:18]. It's interesting because probably 95% of our patients comes back and they have no parasite. I'm like, “There's no way.” When you deal with parasite cleanse. I'm just wondering if the validity of that– [00:40:36]

Ben:  Do you do it one-day, or do you do three-day testing?

Participant:  Three day.

Ben:  Really?

Participant:  Yeah. The same times. I like to test with so many evidences, because it gives you tons of information. I just find it interesting that so many people don't have parasites, yet, when you put them on a parasite cleanse, within nine days they start releasing parasites.

Bryan:  It's a great observation. In every test that we do with medicine, we think about test, being similar to a pregnancy test. If it's a positive or a negative. [00:41:11]. It's a good point.

Host:  Okay. There's one that we could talk for a long time on because I think you have a podcast on this. Top three tips here. What are key factors to getting quality deep sleep? Deep sleep. It looks specified, deep sleep.

Ben:  If you can get the right amount of [00:41:50] I think you covered pretty much everything. 10,000-word article on my website published last week. Get it on my website. Do search for deep sleep. I have a dozen articles on it. Top three, I think would be cold. Making sure you sleep in a cold environment, and even lower in the core temporary bed, not even having meal [00:42:09] set. Number two, we've talked about this on the podcast yesterday. That hasn't been released yet but higher amounts of CBD oil. Some kind of CBD supplement in a range of 60 to 100 milligrams of CBD. Let me think. Probably, a third, I would say, if you have some good comfortable sleep phones or headphones, or any of these binaural beats. They're designed for deep sleep, insomnia quite a bit. Those are three, in my opinion.

Host:  What kind of headphones are we talking about?

Ben:  It's called SleepPhones.

Host:  I saw this but isn't it require to connect to your phone?

Ben:  Yeah.

Host:  I'm just looking for some Bluetooth or something.

Ben:  I wouldn't be wearing Bluetooth all night.

Mike:  You can go to airplane mode.

Ben:  Try [00:43:00]. They have a separate CD for sleep. I found it's very, very useful.

Bryan:  [00:43:07] sleep, Ben?

Ben:  Yeah, louder than you [00:43:12] sleep. It's very helpful.

Host:  [00:43:18]?

Ben:  [00:43:22] headphones. You have speaker on either side of the bed [00:43:27].

Bryan:  Do you have something [00:43:30]?

Mike:  Yeah. I was just going to say exercise routine. I think it's important to optimize your deep sleep, as well as avoiding alcohol. I think it's extremely important.

[Cross talking]

Mike:  Ben mentioned it frequently. I think there's something that had to be said, fasted period prior to bed time. [00:43:54] greater than three to four hours. Actually, the longer you can make that period, the better. I think you've heard of intermittent fasting phase. A fact is that everyone is pushing their feeding time to later of the day. But, realistically, if we'll optimize sleep or optimize insulin resistance [00:44:14] earlier today. You should wake up right outside and then you should eat, and then you should stop eating sooner in the day, [00:44:20] Realistically, that's harder to do, socially with family, and everything like that. In terms of deep sleep, in terms of insulin resistance, in terms of your circadian rhythm, all of those things are benefits [00:44:31] a longer fasting period prior to sleep.

Ben:  Also, there are different reasons why people are not sleeping? [00:44:39] about that stuff. A lot of people have a lot of anxiety and stress. At the same time, you think about all the issues [00:44:49] some problems in CBD oil we'll find [00:44:53]. Sleep hygiene is very, very important.

Mike:  Some people have melatonin and cortisol imbalances that need to be addressed. There are tons of different reasons you don't sleep. It's huge aspect of life. Just like cardiovascular disease, there's not a single problem [00:45:08.13] reduce your risk. Just same with sleep, there's not a single thing that we can tell you to [00:45:13].

Ben:  Then, [00:45:15] this time, but blue lights are destroying [00:45:19]. We really have blue blockers [00:45:21] There is sunset to allow you also and build up [00:45:25] If you're chronic, you're [00:45:27] poisoned by blue light, then, it will take some time for you [00:45:29]

Host:  Do you find those patients that are low carb or ketogenic have deficiencies in magnesium? Any other questions that are here too, but I guess this is an experience question. You find people on a low carb or ketogenic diet are deficient in magnesium. Now, I [00:45:48] a little bit at this question. I'm assuming [00:45:51] okay. Leafy greens are really high in magnesium, a lot of vegetables are high in magnesium.

Ben:  Well, it depends on what kind of ketogenic diet you eat. If you have bacon and eggs in your meal, then, you probably will be. At the same time, you can get [00:46:05] ketogenic diet, then you'd probably not.

Host:  Anything more? Perhaps, I could

[Cross talk]

Ben:  I observed that you guys are [00:46:16].

Bryan:  Magnesium, you get in liver, in organ meats. There are a lot of great sources of magnesium that often aren't plant-based, but also [00:46:29] I haven't seen that at all low magnesium. Has anybody seen that? The person ask that question out of experience.

Participant:  I see more [00:46:40]. It can fix your digestion too, right?

Host:  You're saying it's more of a digestion issue?

Participant:  Yeah.

Host:  It's more of your magnesium [00:46:52]

Ben:  I think, one issue too is that glycogen carries a certain amount of electrolytes in water. Once you dumped a lot of glycogen, you dump a lot of minerals, and people get keto food, et cetera. That actually can be helped quite a bit with electrolyte supplementation. All minerals, not just magnesium. They all take a little bit [00:47:13]

Bryan:  [00:47:13] take your analysis. [00:47:18] so to call, and having some issues with cramps at nights and things. Female who started ketogenic diet. My assumption which I'm trying to create right now is it was more related to glycogen depletion to dehydration. Maybe some minerals [00:47:30] with magnesium. It was really probably more dehydration than anything else. Chris, you say there are patients [00:47:36]?

Chris:            No, I asked the question [00:47:38]

Participant:  I'm on the same line. We use a lot of no salt with potassium fluoride along with sea salt, the supplemental water. I haven't really seen a lot of [00:47:53]. There's one who've I recommended that. I haven't seen that many other places. They are harmed in using their salt.

Mike:  Potassium fluoride, specifically.

Participant:  Yeah. All that is potassium fluoride. You cannot even begin to scratch the surface if you buy a potassium supplement, with the amount of levels that's in no salt, which is a huge amount. We don't [00:48:18] into that water. It seems to really make a big difference for energy level. I also want to make sure that we're not [00:48:24] that's harmful. I recommend it to everybody that I work with if they're doing ketogenic diet.

Bryan:  [00:48:30] good renal pump and there's a water-soluble thing [00:48:32]

Ben:  [00:48:33].

Host:  Those were incredible questions. I'll probably have more. One of the questions–we're like total geeks about this, if you know what I'm talking about. What other questions do you have? Do you have any specific comments on the things that we said that you may disagree with, or see contradictory evidence? Because not everything in the world could be wrong. We're learning.

James:  Here, someone is asking Ben about some comments that he made recently about having high cortisol metabolism, and what he's doing about that if he's following a ketogenic diet.

Ben:  I haven't followed a strict ketogenic diet for years. I have a pretty simple protocol. I just don't eat many carbohydrates at all until the very end of the day. I do carb refeed at the end of the day, restore with my glycogen levels for the next day's work out. I test my ketones. It really takes a couple of hours before you can get back to the ketosis. That works well for me. I have some clients I coach who aren't as physically active for me. Sometimes, they just have a Saturday or Sunday, where they're doing most of their carbs. I'm just having one day and staying in it [00:49:42] ketosis otherwise. It all depends on activity levels and circumstances.

Host:  Is there any merit to the low-carb [00:49:50]?

Ben:  [00:49:55] is used. For gut, honestly, on two levels. Number one, stress about eating on having more approach to the diet. Then, B, the glucose deprivation to a certain extent. We just touched on a lot of the electrolyte depletion can occur as result for that.

Host:  I think, Ben, you said, you talked about some of your client. It's important to note that nobody else has been rebuilt. His diet that works for him, there's not going to be very [00:50:25] great experience, but we all have to think about [00:50:38] level compared to a Pro-Spartan racer. It's going to be different. It's a great guideline, but it's good to have a guide or at least be tested [00:50:38] talked about before to really measure yourself and figure out what works best for you as well.

James:  Someone is now asking about a colonoscopy, if that's the best way to reset the microbiome.

Ben:  I don't think [00:50:54] unless you take antibiotics [00:50:58]

Mike:  There is what's called biofilm. If you've ever had a really dirty dish, that you have to scrub the hell out of it to get the crap off. That's biofilm, right? It bugs in your colon. The bugs in your colon are basically inside that biofilm. As that whatever the specific thing you're taking to, whether it's a–

Bryan:  Nit Citrate or whatever. The giant gallon of whatever it is. That is not going to dissolve biofilm. It's not a surfactant, is what I'm getting at. It is going to basically clean up all the large piece of poo. Use the biofilm, just happy as ever–

Ben:  I have pretty significant microbial diversity. I do a coffee enema one to two times a week. When I travel, a lot of times, I'll do a glycerol [00:51:54] constipation or anything like that. Zero issues with microbial diversity. If you weren't concerned about that. It's pretty simple to actually do a probiotic enema. You can take probiotics, gluten, coconut water, let it ferment for about six hours and literally just infuse and hang it upside down for about 20 minutes or some kind of inverted position. You can actually do a little bit of [00:52:19] repopulation using that approach.

Host:  We just saw someone now, “Oh, my god,” when you said that.

Ben:  [00:52:27] your butt.

Host:  I have a two-part question, maybe three part. What would you do for a patient who gets a common cold? Is it personalized based off of their DNA and their blood and all that? Or, is it if you have a common cold, here's what you need to eat and supplement with or medicine, is the first part? Third part is if it develops into an ear infection, or a sinus infection, or a bronchial or whatever, how do you naturally heal it without antibiotics?

Bryan:  Common cold usually is a viral infection. Supplement it, you should get better if you want to support your system in general. There are so many things [00:53:22] about. Supporting your immune system with adaptogens like [00:53:27], vitamin C. A lot of medical doctors may preclude that, but there's pretty good evidence on high-dose vitamin C. For myself, personally, if I wake up and I'm ordering that as my HRV [00:53:39] down to 40's and [00:53:40] in the 50's. [00:53:43] that I'm going to be feeling bad.

Ben:  Your temperature is raising.

Bryan:  I'm going to take a lot of vitamin C and I'm going to just simply take a rest. Take it easy. Don't stress your body out. It's telling you it's going to be busy fighting this off so you're going to give us some time and some support. That would be my general advice. I'm just well. I need sleep, rest, take it easy.

Mike:  [00:54:06] not to take any oxidants, vitamin C.

Ben:  [00:54:14] Then, I do chaga. Then, I do sauna. I hydrate myself. [00:54:35] Chaga, sauna, electrolytes, vitamin B, vitamin C. All those are spot-on. Only other ones I throw in there that I've found to be very effective. Zinc lozenges, dissolving those so that you get some [00:54:55] absorption, like four to six lozenges per day. Bee propolis, which is very, very effective. Then, finally, oil of oregano. I know it's a lot of stuff, but I would say those would be the biggies out there in terms of the home first aid kits for colds.

Mike:  Go ahead. Let me add, [00:55:18] antibiotics for sinusitis and ear infections as virtually [00:55:23]. Majority of sinusitis is not bacterial base. It's virus base in the first place. Antibiotics are not improving things. If anything for ear infections, antibiotics might decrease it about 12 hours. When you compare that to the risk of your gut and altering your microbiome, causing dysbiosis, that's [00:55:42]. In fact, I just had bilateral ear infections, I fought to the nails, an awkward moment, because I think that's excruciating data.

Host:  Mike, you said there's nobody that you have to pop a little bit of it about 12 hours. It's important to know the risks and benefits. If it's a few hours of [00:56:01], you have to compare that to the problems that it causes. There's a great website called [00:56:10]. It talks about the antibiotics for, maybe, ear infection or sinusitis, or even meningitis. They talked about the downside. There's a harm also. Even though, maybe, you've got a little bit [00:56:25], the harm that you get is much greater.

Mike:  Let's also be clear too that there are times when antibiotics, while we spend a lot of our time talking about how bad antibiotics are for you, sometimes patients [00:56:35]

Bryan:  It saved millions of lives.

Mike:  It's extremely important. The problem is the pendulum swung all the way towards antibiotics for convenience its providers and patient comfort. It doesn't have enough conversation about what are the risks.

Bryan:  Yeah, it could be placebo. I've had infections for weeks. I got antibiotic and I'm sure in a day or two, it's like almost [00:57:00]

Host:  It's a valid experience, but if you look at all the data, [00:57:06] if you look at all the [00:57:08] things like ear infection. It may reduce like to simply five days to four and three-quarters days. [00:57:15] 12 hours [00:57:16]. It's a really small window that it actually helps. What happen a lot of times, I'm sure there's people [00:57:23] already.

Mike:  That's not to say that it didn't have a value [00:57:31] or antibiotics that not necessarily improve your experience. It is definitely a patient in a situation.

Bryan:  The problem with your experience is, also, there's a time. The time is an issue. You may have a little bit of benefit. What you may not have associated with antibiotics is take one course of antibiotic, [00:57:50] anxiety and depression next year increases by 17 to 24%. Two courses increased 40 to 45%. If you felt anxious six months later, you're not associating that with antibiotics. You incorporate that part of the experience into the equation. A lot of problems from some antibiotics are going to be too poorly unrelated to when you take it. That's why the studies on this [00:58:13] important two things that may not [00:58:16] experience.

Ben:  The best way to prevent colds is to take cold showers every morning. I swear by it. I have not got a cold for three years. This is how I'm doing that.

Bryan:  [00:58:31] is very, very cold.

Ben:  It's actually [00:58:39] two to three weeks out of every month. I'm on the road, all over the place. [00:58:42] about two times in the past five years. I'm cold shower at morning and off [00:58:47]

Participant:  I love my hot showers, but it killed me with [00:58:50] when we're getting ready because he's out there and I'm like, “Good God. He's out there. It's freezing cold. He's out there with his little [00:58:57] things out swimming against the current.” I think I would already have been frozen. It's funny to me because I had a car run for Christmas. For those you don't know, I work for the Kentucky Castle. I'm very busy. I do not have time to get sick. I have a very low immune system, so sometimes I feel like I always take antibiotics to prevent, but also [00:59:18] It's like [00:59:18] subjection but I've never had issue three to six months. I'm still coughing for my last. [00:59:23] I go to Matthew to tell me that I'm getting sick, dah, dah, dah, dah, dah. Take this amount of vitamin C. That's not what I wanted to hear. I need a prescription pad thing. Let me get in there, buy, get a shot. Let's kill this now. I do the vitamin C. I will say that it worked and I felt better without having to go through the whole. I will say, I was against it at first. Yes, it did. I didn't have to go to the doctor [00:59:49] pack or anything like that. I just had to do just as Matthew said. I'm just [00:59:53] can handle taking it. Do it.

Host:  You have questions?

Female:  I do.

Participant: Whenever I feel like I'm getting sick, I've never had the flu, sinus infections and I get strep throat and maybe someone ins this room got strep throat, I'm going to get it. But, I try to fight it with my own immune system beforehand and I take certain vitamins and tea. But, you say like sometimes you need an antibiotic and I guess in what certain circumstances as an individual who doesn't want to take antibiotics should think, “Okay, maybe I should go–“

Ben:  [01:00:40].

[Cross talking]

Participant:  I haven't had it in years but that's just an example of something that I do tend to catch if someone nearby has it. I guess what I'm asking is in what circumstances should you say, “Okay, I should go see someone for antibiotic,” as opposed to trying to take care of this myself?

Mike:  [01:01:19] someone who you trust the opinion.

Participant:  Thank, God, I work for you.

[Laughter]

Participant:  I would say, [01:01:27] I think that's important for all of us. I observed a lot of parents [01:01:48] up to two weeks and sure enough on that two-week mark that fever stops and [01:02:14].

Mike:   It's great to communicate that you're not expecting a prescription [01:02:17].

James:  This is a question regarding how to deal with fainting episodes that are related to stress, best ways to deal with those or to prevent them.

Ben:  I'm coming from the standpoint of improving vagal nerve tone and there are a variety of methods that you can use to do that. There are devices like Vagal Nerve Stimulators, Fisher Wallace's Circadia or the [01:02:50] device or the LightPro or any of these light sound therapy devices that assist with vagal nerve tone. Also, practices that we've traditionally used to manage stress in health: chanting, singing, humming, meditation, yoga, cold disclosure particularly cold water, [01:03:13] that quite a bit. But, there's a lot that you can do for vagal nerve tone. I have a podcast about 32 ways to stimulate your vagus nerves, check out all that stuff. But, yeah, I think one of the biggest ones actually kill two birds one stone as the doctor over here would lead to the immune systems of cold exposure and getting your face underwater and doing like a cold-water face down or a cold shower today really help with vagal nerve tone. As matter of fact, that's one of my top ways to improve heart rate variability.

Participant:  You talk a lot about the chaga tea, what about the kombucha sauerkraut? Is that a really good [01:03:54]?

Bryan:  Actually, the back table there is sauerkraut [01:04:02]. What I find it with each meal if I learned actually go over some of the foods that we were eating and talk about the nutrient density and what they do for you and we didn't do that [01:04:11].

Mike:  Sauerkraut is excellent, kombucha, I think that is a little less density but it's still very low risk.

Ben:  It depends like if you got yeast or fungal issues, if you have mold or mycotoxin sensitivity you can have a pretty pronounced histamine response to a lot of those foods. I feel pretty good on some foods like sauerkraut, [01:04:49], kimchi. I feel like crap when I drink a lot of kombucha so maybe with these fermented you have to experiment with what your body feels and in my opinion, if you do have any issues with some type of bacterial overgrowth, sometimes the cons outweigh the pros. Same can be said for either a genetic-based histamine intolerance or histamine sensitivity brought on by mold and microtoxin exposure. So, it's kind of a deep rabbit hole. Ferments, I think sometimes get put on a pedestal and a lot of people use them [01:05:25] feeling worse on them so there are some people who just have to use like a probiotic strain like a probiotic supplement that's a not histamine producing probiotic or they need to just do [01:05:35] based ferment or not kombucha-based. There are so many bacteria in lot of these compounds you do need to pay attention to what your body feels.

Mike:  [01:05:48]

Bryan:  [01:06:02] your microbiome health in just probiotics there's also prebiotics. There's this concept that is there any dysbiosis that's where stuff doesn't change overnight and sometimes it does take really aggressive with prebiotic penetration or provide IV administration to change that and also lifestyle factors as well. There's just so much that goes into it and I think it's hard to–it's great when you drink kombucha you feel better but if your inflammation is truly [01:06:36] it may take a little bit of a deeper dive to figure out what it is.

Mike:   [01:06:45] do the testing, read the science, probably make good decisions [01:06:49]

Ben:  [01:06:59]

James:  Now, a gentleman is asking the panel their thoughts on a five-day fasting mimicking diet versus a three-day water fast.

Bryan:  The great thing about the fasting mimicking diet [01:07:22]. We can't argue the result of those science. Three-day water fast I think is really great as well but that's hard, that's difficult. I think if you can do that your position. So, if you're doing that and you're kind of monitoring and watching yourself, I think that's a great way to really stimulate some massive autophagy [01:07:41] as well.

Mike:  I don't think it's clear that there's more autophagy with one or the other. We don't really have a way to measure autophagy so we have to sort estimated. My best guess, in terms of estimation, is looking at ketones if you're coming from an [01:07:57] state going into a [01:07:59] state secondary to fasting. If I were you and you're trying to [01:08:02] ketone response the fastest and [01:08:13].

Ben:   We're all different that's why there's precision medicine. You got to measure your response. What works for me, what works for them, does not work for you and vice versa. You have to measure it yourself, [01:08:38].

Bryan:  It's dependent on your goals as a person too. Like my father and I, we both do the fasting protocol to estimate our autophagy. I'm probably going to be more of a faster than working diet and maybe have some bone broth [01:08:59]. I'm not as concerned about going deeper even if I'm 20 years younger than he is. For him it's probably a little more important to get more intense but I'm still trying to perform and do certain things [01:09:16]. Some people have trouble keeping weight on those people who are on a fasting mimicking diet than a guy maybe a little more muscle sparing and just water.

[01:09:32] For Ben: Are you still doing the NAD injection that burns for 15 minutes?

Participant:  Yeah. Ben, are you still doing that NAD injection that burns for 15 minutes?

Ben:  No. Very uncomfortable. I switch to patches. [01:09:50] six hours. You can still deliver like 500 milligrams just spread over six hours you still have to go to the clinic to sit there under an IV for six or eight hours or whatever. I am a fan of based on [01:10:05] pretty good effects on your body, on your mitochondria [01:10:21] I feel pretty good when I made my NAD stuff, my system, my sleep cycle, my energy levels, a lot. [01:10:31]

Participant:  Through a doctor?

Ben:  Yes. I get it from the NAD [01:10:38]. I've messed around NAD injection, NAD supplementation. Right now, I do an NAD patch once a week which is about 500 mg and then I drink that [01:10:54] tea pretty much every day. I put this powder [01:10:58].

Participant:  Do you recommend it to our clients now, the patch?

Ben:  Clients who want to use NAD that don't want to get stuck with an IV. Yeah.

Host:  Any others?

James:  This question is about exercise induced hypoglycemia that is not for a person who is diabetic. How to deal with it?

Ben:   Eat during exercise like [01:12:35] don't eat right before. Wait till you get 20, 30 minutes before the session and use some kind of bar or [01:12:43] for something else but generally you go up, you eat your pre-workout meal, you start to work out, you get that hyperglycemic drop from the insulin release from the meal you had. I experiment with this a lot. I was just racing triathlon with three workouts a day; you just don't eat before the workout. Save your meals [01:13:03].

Participant:  [01:13:06]

Ben:  During exercise, no. That's the least of your worries.

[Cross talk]

James:  This question is for the panel. He's asking if they have ever had consistently bad sleep because of their work schedule and family obligations and stuff like that and what they do to counter it and get the best of sleep possible?

Ben:  Based on the evidence that I've seen a few things that I'm going to get to the effects of lost time sleep, number one, brief spurts of high-intensity interval training. We're talking about 5-10 minutes brief spurts high-intensity interval training. Blast yourself large amounts of artificial light like blue light in the morning to reset your circadian rhythm and you can do the same with sunlight or blue light blocks or any of these devices like the HumanCharger or Re-Timer to reset your circadian rhythm and can do sleep on set at earlier time. Regular mealtime, don't skip breakfast, they'll also be a good circadian cue. And then, other than that light and exercise and meal timing, those are really some of the biggies when it comes to renormalizing sleep architecture.

Mike:  There are times in your life with young kids and other times, it's just not going to be optimal. I think it's important to talk to people about not freaking out about that. We do whatever we can mitigate it but don't call it extra cortisol slide–

Host:  [01:16:08] Monster drinks.

[Laughter]

Host:  I got to go all in.

Bryan:  I mean, there are. There's a little bit of chemistry that goes into like night shifts or other times if you have to be up during day you had a bad night shift or even like just thinking about the half-life some things like coffee. People drink coffee a lot to combat the effects of a lost night sleep but then you get a half-life of maybe six hours so then hardly sleep the next night. So, this may not be like a common thing you may hear but a little bit of nicotine gum potentially instead of coffee to get a half-life of one or two hours.

For me, ketone esters, like we talked about, if I have a bad night's sleep because my one-year-old is up and then I have to do something where I got to be the next afternoon, instead of coffee, I try the ketone esters, a little bit of nicotine gum, it's got shorter [01:17:04].

Mike:  I know it's the same thing but instead of doing that, I exercise, which is basically giving me the same response. Exercise gets ketone production, getting some stimulation just like you would get from nicotine just from exercise. So, similar sorts of stuff.

In terms of how we manage it from a lifestyle standpoint to decrease the risk associated with it, the thing that I'm most convinced about is to not alter your diet and the rest of your lively habits outside of your circadian rhythm. So, if you are all up all night for whatever reason, don't eat that while you're up all night. So, stay to your regular eating schedule. Don't change it for being up all night or whatever is altering your rhythm. Try to stick to your regular daily habits in terms of eating, exercise and the rest of your sleep as best you can outside at that time. I think, that that in the long run is the best shot not seeing the negative effects of not getting enough sleep.

Ben:  A lot of this stuff works for jet lag too. This is probably my last [01:18:07] with my kids before I get them down the bed for the night. Drink a cup of coffee, smoke a cigarette, takes in the bath, [01:18:16] and you're good to go. [01:18:22] artificial light.

[Laughter]

Mike:  No smoking cigarette. I know it.

Host:  Alright. We'll be here a little while longer if you have questions. So, thanks for coming. This has been a lot of fun for us. We'll be here if you still have any questions.

Ben:  Thanks, guys.

[Applause]

Alright, folks. I know the audio wasn't the greatest on this episode but I really hope you got a lot out of it. I'll put all the shownotes including links to the websites of all the different doctors and the Kentucky Castle where this thing was recorded and the original episode where I spoke leading up to this particular Q&A. I'll put all that over at bengreenfieldfitness.com/kentucky2. That's bengreenfieldfitness.com, Kentucky, number two. Thanks for listening. Have an amazing week. I hope this has been helpful for you. I love you. Mwah. Later.

Well, thanks for listening to today's show. You can grab all the shownotes, the resources, pretty much everything that I mentioned over at BenGreenfieldFitness.com, along with plenty of other goodies from me, including the highly helpful “Ben Recommends” page, which is a list of pretty much everything that I've ever recommended for hormone, sleep, digestion, fat loss, performance, and plenty more. Please, also, know that all the links, all the promo codes, that I mentioned during this and every episode, helped to make this podcast happen and to generate income that enables me to keep bringing you this content every single week. When you listen in, be sure to use the links in the shownotes, use the promo codes that I generate, because that helps to float this thing and keep it coming to you each and every week.

 

 

The “Kentucky Castle” is a unique destination hotspot with a full biohacking facility, sauna, farm-to-table restaurant, precision medicine arm, hemp farm, horse facilities, and much more. It is owned by one of the physicians who hosts the “Wild Health” podcast, on which I was recently a guest. 

Recently, at the castle, I had the pleasure of giving a talk on how to hack your biology and get the most out of the genetics you were born with.

Afterward, I took part in a Q&A with several of the physicians in attendance at the conference. On today's podcast, part two of this two-part series (click here to listen to part one), you'll get to sit in on this very interesting discussion. Enjoy!

Questions and topics covered in the session…

-Follow-up questions for Ben from his presentation…6:48

  • Q: What do you think of using the ChiliPad long term, particularly as it pertains to EMF and dirty electricity?
  • Q: Do you think Great Plains Lab's test for mycotoxins is not valid?
    • A: They're legit.
  • Q: You said a score of 3.8 for the TSH is good but not optimal. How do you figure out what your optimal levels should be?
  • Q: Is it true that if you take colostrum on an empty stomach, it won't raise your insulin-like growth factor (IGF)?
    • A: I've never heard that. Colostrum is an anabolic.

-What is the ideal estradiol post-menopause?…12:45

-How does a sense of spirituality and spiritual practice play into one's health and wellness?…16:12

  • Changes epigenetic expression, improves sleep cycles
  • Gratitude changes level of empathy toward others
  • Blue zones have strong beliefs in a higher power, meditation, etc.
  • Medical students are not trained in the efficacy of spirituality
  • Physicians “curse” patients; “so much time left to live”

-How would you increase free testosterone naturally?…19:19

  • Avoid heavy amounts of intense exercise (HIIT)
  • Prioritize sexual experience; send body the signal you're maintaining fertility
  • Decrease insulin resistance; increase healthy fatty acids
  • JOOVV light
  • Get adequate rest
  • Stress management
  • Primal Jet Pack

-How does ashwagandha play a role in cortisol and other adaptogens?…26:30

-How long would a dietary change take to see a change in the Omega 3 Index?…28:25

-What CGM (continuous glucose monitor) devices do you recommend?…32:05

-When is it optimal to test IGF-1?…35:40

-Should a microbiome be tested a certain time of day, fasted or unfasted, etc.?…36:30

-Is it true that it is difficult to test for parasites because the parasite releases an enzyme when the stool hits the air?…39:30

-What are the key factors to getting quality deep sleep?…41:40

-Are people who follow a low-carb or ketogenic diet low in magnesium?…45:30

-For Ben: How are you dealing with your high cortisol metabolism?…48:56

  • “I haven't followed a strict ketogenic diet for years.”
  • Carb refeed at the end of the day

-Is a colonoscopy an effective means of “resetting” the microbiome?…50:45

-How do you treat someone with a common cold? If it develops into an infection, how do you naturally heal it sans antibiotics?…52:36

-Under what circumstances should one seek an antibiotic, even if they are determined not to use antibiotics?…1:00:00

-How to deal with fainting episodes related to stress?…1:02:25

-What about things like sauerkraut and kombucha in promoting microbiome health?…1:03:45

  • Sauerkraut is good; approach kombucha with caution

-Thoughts on a 5-day fasting mimicking diet vs. a 3-day water fast?…1:07:10

  • Solid science behind the fasting mimicking diet
  • Fasting mimicking diet is more realistic in its feasibility (water fast is very difficult)

-For Ben: Are you still doing the NAD injection that burns for 15 minutes?…1:09:32

-How can you deal with exercise-induced hypoglycemia when you're not diabetic?…1:12:15

-How do you mitigate the effects of a bad night of sleep?…1:14:30

-And much more…

Resources from this episode:

–JOOVV light (use code: BEN for a free gift at checkout)
–ChiliPad
–My podcast on Building Biology
–Dirty electricity filters
-Book: Estrogen Matters
–Primal Jet Pack
–Ashwagandha supplement
–Ginseng
-Four Sigmatic (Receive a 15% discount using code: BENGREENFIELD)
-Article: Deep Sleep Decoded: Everything You Need To Know To Increase Your Deep Sleep Percentages
-Books by Dr. Shawn Talbott
–Cod liver oil
-Podcast: 32 Ways to Stimulate Your Vagus Nerve, Fine-Tune Your Nervous System & Self-Hack Your Hormones
–Dexcom G6 glucose monitor

Episode sponsors:

–Kion: My personal playground for new supplement formulations. Attention Ben Greenfield Fitness listeners: receive a 10% discount off your entire order when you use discount code: BGF10.

–Organifi Red Juice: Enjoy all the benefits of the 11 superfoods and their micronutrients that help increase resting metabolism, support cardiovascular health, and remove toxins to turn back the hands of time! Receive a 20% discount on your entire order when you use discount code: BENG20

–Four Sigmatic: I’ve been using Four Sigmatic products for a while now and I’m impressed by the efficacies of their mushroom products. I use them. I like them. I support the mission! Receive 15% off your Four Sigmatic purchase when you use discount code: BENGREENFIELD

–Harry's Razors: Try the shaving company that’s fixing shaving. Get a $13 value trial set that comes with everything you need for a close, comfortable shave when you go to harrys.com/greenfield

 

 

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