Boost Health

Special guest Dr. Lance Dodes joins me on episode 59 of the Boost Health Podcast!  I recently read several of his books about addiction and was blown away. The mainstream understanding of addiction is completely wrong!  We talk about the true definition of addiction, the difference between physical dependence and addiction, if addiction has anything to do with disease or genetics, how you know if you have an addiction, if drug addictions can be swapped with non drug addictions, why rehab clinics and AA have such low success rates, short term and long term strategies for addiction and much more!Resources discussed in this episode:The Heart of AddictionBreaking AddictionThe Sober TruthDr. Dodes’ WebsiteTrainingBoost Online CoachingPlease click the link below to your favourite podcast app to listen in or watch the show on BOOST Health TV

Time For Fitness At HomeCovid-19 is keeping us all at home.  Many places around the world have closed down non-essential in person services.  Schools, offices, restaurants, shops, and gyms have shut their doors. The goal for everyone now is to prevent the spread of this pandemic and stay away from each other.   At first blush it seems that maintaining wellness balance would be challenging, if not impossible in these times. I think, however, this situation provides a very unique opportunity to improve our health as many of us have more time at home now. Kids’ activities, job travel, parties, etc. are being cancelled. How we use this new found time at home is up to us.  Instead of filling it with news, social media, and Netflix marathons, let’s work on our fitness.  If you haven’t already discovered how wonderful training at home can be, then this is a huge opportunity for you. At Home Workout Benefits * Exercise whenever it is convenient for you * No travel to and from gym (more time saved)* Don’t have to leave your kids/family* Equipment is always available* No sweat residue from the person who was on the equipment before you* Save money (no gym fees)* Good role modeling for your kidsIn 2010 my wife and I were moving, starting new roles at our jobs, and expecting our first child.  We knew getting out to the gym was going to be more challenging than ever before.  With this in mind we decided to build our own gym at home. It honestly has been one of the best investments we have ever made. Be it bad weather, need for child care, or time of day, the typical workout disruptors are no match for the home gym.  Personally, the only missed workouts I can recall in the last 10 years since building our home gym are if I was sick.So what does a home gym look like?  You can actually get a pretty decent workout without any equipment at all, and if you are willing to invest a fairly small amount, you will have everything you need for a very thorough fitness program.  Also you can build your gym slowly, piece by piece, as funds allow and as you get stronger.Note: At the time of the writing of this post suppliers of strength equipment seem to be out of stock of many of their products.  Dumbbells are disappearing from Amazon seemingly as fast as toilet paper. Building a home gym appears to be quite popular at the moment with most commercial gyms closed.5 Home Gym Setup Options* No Equipment – There are lots of excellent strength and cardio exercises that can be performed with just your body as equipment. Best if you are just beginning strength training and want to see if you will stick with it.* Just Dumbbells – Simply adding a few pairs of dumbbells can make your workouts much more dynamic.  Adjustable weight dumbbells are great for home gyms as they have a smaller footprint and are cheaper. Best for low budget and little space.* Dumbbells Plus – Several key accessories that can be added to dumbbells to add more exercise variety and function are: * Adjustable bench * Suspension straps*

I am very excited to launch this episode with special guest Jacob Schoen.  I first heard Jacob on Ben Greenfield’s podcast back in 2017.  Immediately after hearing the show, I put my foam rollers and smashing devices in the corner to sit for an entire year.  We talk about why I did this and why it helped, what ELDOA is, how to “create space” in a joint, why L5-S1 is still the most important ELDOA exercise, why we should look at our bodies (especially the fascia) as intelligent systems, why creating sliding surfaces may be better than rolling or smashing, when to do ELDOA exercises and how long to hold them, and much more!Resources Discussed:shiftsportwellness.comeldoa.comlegacyperformwell.comhttp://guyvoyer-do.comPlease click the link below to your favourite podcast app to listen in or watch the show on BOOST Health TV

I am super excited to launch this episode with special guest Dr. David Minkoff!  I think everyone will learn a lot in this episode about protein and take away actionable steps no matter what type of diet you are on. We dig deep on the topic of protein and we discuss why most of the patients he sees are low in at least 1 essential amino acid, his thoughts on plant-based nutrition, the difference between protein digestion and utilization, the problem with whey protein, the problems with the Impossible burger, how to properly detox, fasting, alcohol, CBD, and much more!About Dr. Minkoff:Dr. David Minkoff graduated from the University of Wisconsin Medical School in 1974. He was inducted into the Alpha Omega Alpha Medical Fraternity with high academic honors. He is board certified in pediatrics, completed a fellowship in Infectious Diseases, and served as co-director of the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at Palomar Medical Center in San Diego, California. Dr. Minkoff also has extensive post-graduate training in Complementary and Alternative medicine, and cofounded LifeWorks Wellness Center in 1997 with his wife, Sue. In the year 2000, he co-founded BodyHealth, a nutrition company that offers a unique range of dietary supplements to the public and practitioners, including a breakthrough product that the body utilizes over 99 percent for protein synthesis, PerfectAmino.Dr. Minkoff is passionate about fitness, is a forty-two-time IRONMAN finisher, and continues to train on a regular basis. He and his wife reside in Clearwater, Florida.He is also the author of awesome new book titled “The Search for the Perfect Protein: The Key to Solving Weight Loss, Depression, Fatigue, Insomnia, and Osteoporosis” which I noticed has perfect 5 star rating on AmazonResources Discussed In This Episode:The Search For The Perfect ProteinBodyHealth WebsiteLifeWorks Wellness CenterAT Kearney ReportDr. Jeff SpencerGeneva ION PanelDr. Loren Cordain Dr. Minkoff on Ben Greenfield’s ShowSupport BOOST Health on PatreonPlease click the link below to your favourite podcast app to listen in or watch the show on BOOST Health TV

Today’s show features a focus on running form with special guest David Jacquier of Joint Dynamics.  If you are interested in any aspect of running from preventing injury, to being faster and more efficient, this show is for you!  Get your notepads ready because David shares a ton of super helpful information.  I can honestly say I think about running completely different now after talking with him and he has actually made running fun for me again.  We cover gait analysis, shoes, injuries, mobility, strength training, cadence, the thoracic spine, if foot strike is important, common mistakes many runners make, running music, easy running cues for your head, shoulders, arms, hands, torso, hips, knees, legs, feet, and lots more!If you learn one thing from this show it is that you shouldn’t try to change your run form with a 2 minute YouTube video on foot striking.  There is some serious science to running properly.  David has me excited about running for the first time in a long time!  I hope you enjoy this episode and it helps you be a better runner.Resources discussed in this episode:Joint DynamicsGray InstituteReady to Run Book by Dr. StarrettBOOST Health Patreon PageExtra BOOST Strength Training GuideStudies discussed in this episode:A meta-analysis on the UpToDate website noted that nearly half of runners in the US are injured at some point and that the knee is the most injured area.  A 2018 study in the American Journal of Sports Medicine followed 300 male and female runners for two years. They found that 73 percent of women and 62 percent of men were injured during the period and 56 percent were injured more than once.A sports medicine expert named Dr. Jordan Metzl was interviewed on the Runners World site and he noted that repeat injuries are a huge problem for runners and that the biggest cause of running injuries is not doing enough strength work.Please click the link below to your favourite podcast app to listen in or watch the show on BOOST Health TV

I recently had one of my corporate wellness clients ask me to do a presentation on sleep and stress as that was a common theme issue with folks in their office.  I agreed and started digging into the research, like I always do, to make sure I was bringing the latest and greatest.  I started noticing a lot of crossover with these and the topics of routine and productivity.  I realized that they all actually work in feedback loops with each other.  According to the businessdictionary.com a feedback loop is defined as “a channel or pathway formed by an ‘effect’ returning to its ’cause,’ and generating either more or less of the same effect.”  Consider productivity and stress for example.  Good productivity generates lower stress, which generates more productivity, and so on. This would obviously be a good feedback loop to be stuck in.  But you can also get stuck in a poor feedback loop.  Using productivity and stress again, you could have a high amount of stress which could cause low productivity, which in turn could cause more stress, and so on.  Interestingly you can apply this type of better makes better and worse makes worse feedback loop to any arrangement of the topics of sleep, stress, productivity, and routine.  With this in mind I will cover the latest and greatest research in each of these topics with regard to your health.  As we go through each you will notice the common ground and why getting one area under control can help prevent a domino effect in other areas.SleepEven as we are learning more and more about the importance of sleep on overall health and longevity, it seems to still be grossly underestimated.  I get lots of giggles when I say my bedtime is 8:30.  Why is that?  Why is it silly or uncool to go to bed early?  Nobody laughs when I say I woke up at 5am.  That is tough.  That is cool.  I think we need to remove this shame around getting to sleep early and getting enough sleep.  The old saying, “I will sleep when I am dead” is similar to the Marlboro man ads in my opinion.  We used to think that they were tough and cool but now realize they are killing us.  Sleep is important, sleep is cool, and as we will discuss, more quality sleep will make you live longer.2 Sleep SystemsBefore we dive into all the amazing research on sleep to get you inspired to sleep more, it is important to understand how our sleep systems work.  2 major systems in our body cause sleepiness: homeostatic and circadian.The homeostatic system basically works on time that you are awake creating more sleepiness.  Your brain builds up a chemical called adenosine that makes you sleepy the longer you go without sleep.  Basically being awake longer creates a drive to get more sleep and balance out your system.  It should be noted that caffeine temporarily blocks adenosine, hence the lack of sleepiness when you drink coffee.  Also exercise increases adenosine.  As many of you know I recommend getting some sort of exercise in daily, and now we can add good sleep quality to the list of reasons why.The circadian system works with the sun’s day-night cycle and it is linked with our biological rhythm. Biological clocks are part of this circadian system as our innate timing device.  These clocks are found in nearly every tissue and organ in our bodies for regulating timing and rhythm.  All of these individual clocks are managed by a master clock in our brain which is a large group of 20,000 neurons.  The main cue for influence of our circadian rhythms is light...

Symptoms Of Low TestosteroneI have had the topic of testosterone on my list of podcast topics for a long time.  When a friend of mine reached out recently for some advice about reduced testosterone, I decided this would be a good time to bring it up on the show and dig into the research. According to a 2006 study in JAMA, the symptoms of low testosterone include:Decreased muscle mass* Decreased bone mineral density* Increased fat mass (especially in the abdomen)* Insulin resistance* Decreased libido* Low energy* Irritability* DysphoriaFor my friend it has been a complex cocktail of intense endurance training, low body mass, and too little calorie intake that has likely brought about this unfortunate low level of testosterone.  This dangerous combo is not uncommon in endurance athletes as we will discuss later.  That said, anyone who is exercising so intensely that they are overtraining, could be at risk for hormonal imbalance like this.  On top the symptoms mentioned above, my buddy also mentioned he had:* Poor workout recovery* Digestive issues * Poor sleepHe is a young man so this is obviously a bit scary for him to be going through.    He is working with a doctor on getting his testosterone back to a safe level and he has agreed to join us on a future episode to share his experience and what strategies were helpful.  In the meantime I have put together 11 tactics to improve testosterone levels naturally:1.  Not Just For The FellasFor you ladies that think testosterone is only important for men, think again.  A 2015 study in The Lancet Diabetes and Endocrinology mentions that testosterone is an essential hormone for women (not just men) and is critical for many functions including cardiovascular, cognitive, and musculoskeletal health.In a 2011 study in Sports Medicine, strength training and acute endurance training increase testosterone in men and women.  The authors mention that having enough testosterone is critical for men and women in the health of the reproductive system, muscle growth and the prevention of bone loss.  They also mention that chronic training or overtraining can cause a decrease in testosterone.A 1998 study in the European Journal of Applied Physiology and Occupational Physiology found that concentrations of total testosterone were increased in men and women with resistance training 2-3 times per week.  The testosterone levels were noted to be significantly higher after 6 and 8 weeks of training over the 8 week study period.2. Full Body Strength TrainingAs discussed previously, strength training is a great way to increase your testosterone levels.  The actual strength training program itself can make a difference in how much testosterone is increased.  As I mentioned in my article on Full Body Strength Training versus Split Group Strength Training, a 2016 study in Biology of Sport found that a full body workout will actually increase testosterone more than a split group workout.  This makes sense intuitively if you think about it. What is going to ramp up your hormones more?  Will sitting on a bench doing bicep curls or performing a squat with overhead press create a bigger hormone response?

Anyone who has switched to a plant-based diet has heard the normal set of questions and remarks from friends, family, and co-workers: “How do you get enough protein?”  “What about fish?”  “What about eggs?” “What about dairy?”“How do you get enough calcium?”  “I don’t think I could live without my _____.” “I am just not sure if this type of eating is really for me.”  “I exercise a ton and feel like I would need more calories than I could get from just plants. “These are not bad questions and comments.  They were things that I thought about before I started on this journey myself over 5 years ago.  You can’t help but have these feelings and concerns when you have eaten completely different for your entire life.  It is totally normal to wonder if you will be able to perform at the same level with such a major shift in diet.Since I am often asked how I get enough nutrients to keep and put on muscle while training aggressively in both cardio and strength disciplines, I decided to finally go ahead and break it down for a day.  I am not suggesting this is the holy grail of nutrient breakdowns, in fact I even highlight a few opportunity micronutrients for myself. Instead, my goal is to show that plenty of nutrients can be acquired through plant-based nutrition, even for athletes. I am not a calorie counter or macronutrient obsessor, but I do have a few simple self-induced nutrition rules that I follow:  * I fast every night for at least 12 hours* I fast once per week for 24 hours * I only eat plant-based whole foods* I eat when I am hungry if it has been more than 2 hours since I ate last and I am not fasting* I make sure to eat fruit, vegetables, healthy fat, protein, and carbs with each meal* I supplement daily with B-12, a multi-vitamin, 5 grams of master pattern aminos, and 5 grams of creatine First let’s take a look at dietary reference intakes to establish a goal.  This  Dietary Reference Intake Calculator (DRI) is on the USDA website and was created by the Health and Medicine Division of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine.  It appears to be a purely scientific tool to help healthcare professionals recommend general nutrition guidelines based on age, gender, height, weight, and activity level.  It doesn’t seem to be tainted with any obvious influence from big agriculture like other tools.  For example the Choose My Plate tool still has “dairy” as it’s own category along with fruits, vegetables, grains, and protein.   What is dairy doing there?  I think we all know.  Anyway the DRI seems free of this kind of influence so I decided to use it for reference with my plant-based diet to see how I was doing. So I put in my inputs into the DRI calculator: Gender – MaleAge – 40Height – 6 feet and 0 inchesWeight – 174 poundsActivity Level – Very active (highest level)

For my listeners and readers outside of the US, don’t worry it has the option to do the calculator in metric system units as well.

Disclaimer:  Sauna bathing may not be appropriate for you.  Please check with your doctor before beginning any sauna bathing program.I started my career in wellness and fitness as a personal trainer while I was still in university.  I had the opportunity to work at several different gyms while I was in school and one of them didn’t have saunas in the locker rooms.  It was a new gym with all new equipment and the footprint was enormous so it was not a capital issue or a space issue.  The owner told us that he didn’t put saunas in because there wasn’t enough research on benefits. I remember hearing our members complain about the lack of saunas and that some of them may go to a different gym because of this. I didn’t really get the whole sauna thing to be honest.  It seemed like a “lazy” way to burn calories instead of just hitting the treadmill or going for a bike ride.Fast forward to 5 or 6 years ago and I started hearing about cold thermogenesis and heat therapy from more and more wellness experts.  I did the cold shower and cold pool swimming thing off and on.  But never really stuck with it and the research on benefits was only ho hum in my opinion.  Heat was a bit scary to me though.  I had once over heated very badly playing golf on a super hot and humid Kansas day.  Before you laugh I was actually sprinting as fast as I could with a push cart around the entire course attempting to get a workout in and the temperature was over 100 degrees Fahrenheit.  The course was also extremely hilly so I was getting a pretty intense workout.  I made it to hole 16 and started to feel dizzy, high heart rate, and nausea.  Basically classic symptoms for heat stroke.  I had to quit golfing and the office sent a cart out to get me with a large ice water.  I remember struggling to drive home. I had a terrible headache and nausea for the rest of that day and it took most of the following day before I felt normal again.  Ever since this incident I have felt more susceptible to heat exhaustion. Riding around Hong Kong in the summer time has been tricky as it can get extremely hot and humid here.  Even early in the morning before the sun comes up it is like riding in an oven.  So when I initially heard some of the benefits of sauna, I just figured it wasn’t for me.But then I heard about some incredible longevity benefits of sauna from Dr. Rhonda Patrick and I was intrigued.  If you watched or listened to my show last week (Episode 50 on fasting) you know I am very interested in longevity and am doing everything I can to make the environment for my cells a happy and healthy one.  When I heard Dr. Patrick talk about heat shock proteins and aging I figured I had to at least give sauna bathing a try.  We are very fortunate to have a decent gym, pool, and saunas at our building here in Hong Kong.  I have been using it almost daily for the last few weeks and am totally addicted.  I will talk more about my routine and anecdotal findings at the end of the show.  After we review these 11 Science-Backed Health Benefits Of Sauna, I think you will understand why I am hooked.1. LongevityA 2015 study in JAMA Internal Medicine is one of the most exciting findings sauna bathing research.  They looked at over 2000 middle-aged Finnish men (42-60 years old) for an average period of 20 years and found that the more sauna sessions they did per week, the lower their risk was for sudden cardiac death, coronary heart disease,

Disclaimer:  Fasting is not appropriate for everyone.  Please check with your doctor before beginning any fasting program.

Over the last few years I kept hearing about the benefits of intermittent fasting like reduction in body fat, better insulin resistance, reduced inflammation, etc.  Since I had already been doing an overnight fast of 16 hours for several years, I felt like I had already ticked that box.  Then I started hearing that there are some other very exciting benefits of fasting kick in at around the 24 hour mark. 

Fasting isn’t anything new of course.  Yes it is a bit trendy now with all of the health benefits coming out in research, but it has been used for centuries.  In fact Hippocrates, widely regarded as the “Father of Medicine”, is one of first physicians to be documented as a supporter of fasting as he felt it helped the body heal itself.  This was over 2,000 years ago!

Google “fasting” and you will bombarded with articles and websites on intermittent fasting and weight loss.  There is seemingly not as much love for prolonged fasting of 24 hours or more.  Maybe because a 24 hour fast sounds very difficult.  I know it did for me.  It took me years of hearing the benefits before I summoned the energy to give it a try. Also I have noted there is a funny thing with fasting terminology.  Some say 24-48 is prolonged or long term and others say this is a short fast or even intermittent.  It seems that most of the research journals describe prolonged fasting as 24 hours or more, and as such this is the definition I will use.  And my focus with prolonged fasting is not weight loss or six pack abs.  It is all about longevity.

Here are the tips, benefits, and what to expect for your first 24 hour fast:

1. It Is All About The Autophagy

The most exciting to me is the process of cell turnover called autophagy.  This is basically a spring cleaning for your cells where your body gets rid of dysfunctional cells (like cancer cells) and creates new ones!  With a history of cancer in my family this really got me fired up to give it a try. I recently heard Dr. Stephen Cabral call prolonged fasting (fasting 24 or more hours) the “fountain of youth”.  He uses it in his practice as a tool to help patients heal themselves from the inside.  

A  2010 study in Autophagy showed a large amount of autophagy in fasting mice, especially between 24 and 48 hours of fasting. 2018 article on MIT website showing that stem cells in intestine can double in regeneration with 24 hours of fasting in study on mice. As we get older our bodies natural ability to do autophagy cell cleaning can be reduced and this can lead increased risk of cancer and Alzheimer’s.  Basically we need to give our bodies an occasional dedicated rest from eating so it has time to get rid of the cellular trash.

2. Build Up With Intermittent Fasting First

If the prospect of not eating for an entire day sounds scary to you at first, it was for me, then you can slowly work you way up to a 24 hour fast with intermittent fasting.  There are various types of intermittent f...