Boundless Life

https://bengreenfieldfitness.com/elle

I'll admit it: I have thyroid "issues". I've had them ever since I combined extreme ketosis (e.g. 90%+ fat based diet) for a full year, combined with hard and heavy training for Ironman triathlon. So in light of the fact that I've had to battle rock-bottom "T3" levels over the past several years, hypothyroidism is a topic near and dear to my heart. And I'm not alone. Over 200 million people worldwide and 20+ million Americans have some form of thyroid disease, but 60% are undiagnosed and unaware of their condition. Undiagnosed or mistreated hypothyroidism can put people at risk for serious conditions, such as: depression, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, type 2 diabetes, insulin resistance, cardiovascular disease, osteoporosis, gynecological issues (infertility/miscarriages/fibroids/PCOS etc.), hormonal imbalances, adrenal fatigue, anemia, and other diseases. My guest on today's show has written one of the most comprehensive resources I've ever read for deciphering the confusing world of thyroid hormones, and fixing your thyroid for good.

Her name is Elle Russ and her book is called "The Paleo Thyroid Solution: Stop Feeling Fat, Foggy, And Fatigued At The Hands Of Uninformed Doctors - Reclaim Your Health!". Elle is a writer, health/life coach, and host of the Primal Blueprint Podcast. She is fat becoming a leading voice of thyroid health in the burgeoning Evolutionary Health Movement (also referred to as Paleo, Primal, or Ancestral Health). Elle has a B.A in Philosophy from The University of California at Santa Cruz and is a certified Primal Health Coach. She sits on the advisory board of The Primal Health Coach Program created by Mark Sisson. Originally from downtown Chicago, Elle lives and plays in Malibu, CA. Elle wrote The Paleo Thyroid Solution after consulting with over two dozen endocrinologists, internal medicine specialists, and general practice MDs...only to find that her thyroid condition was getting worse - and nothing from doctors resembled a solution, or even hope. Exasperated and desperate, Elle took control of her own health and resolved two severe bouts of hypothyroidism on her own – including an acute Reverse T3 problem. Through a devoted paleo/primal lifestyle, intensive personal experimentation, and a radically modified approach to thyroid hormone replacement therapy...Elle fixed her thyroid. Her new book The Paleo Thyroid Solution dispels outdated, conventional thyroid wisdom still practiced by uninformed doctors, and instead provides the in-depth guidance necessary to solve hypothyroidism, achieve vibrant health, and optimize thyroid fat-burning hormone metabolism. It provides the only lifestyle and weight loss plan specifically targeted for maximizing thyroid hormone metabolism in harmony with paleo/primal/ancestral health principles. In The Paleo Thyroid Solution, you will learn:

• Primal/paleo protocols for naturally optimizing and even possibly reversing low thyroid function
• How to work with your doctor to get the correct blood tests to diagnose hypothyroidism and accurately interpret results
• How to work with your doctor to optimally treat hypothyroidism with thyroid hormone replacement
• How to find a good doctor or work with your current one to diagnose and treat Reverse T3 issues (including T3-only treatment)
• How to lose the insidious fat and weight gained from hypothyroidism
• An MD’s perspective on why and how some doctors are uninformed and still practicing outdated thyroid protocols (in-depth commentary from integrative physician Dr. Gary E. Foresman, MD)

During my discussion with author Elle Russ, you'll discover: -Why Elle call T3 the "hormone of life", and what happened to hers...[10:30 & 13:20]   -How to find a doctor who actually knows the right parts of your thyroid to test...[19:00]   -Why most thyroid supplements don't actually contain thyroid glandular or thyroid hormones...[23:53]   -The confusing hormone "reverse T3" and the ancestral reflex that causes your body to make it...[25:30]   -Whether body temperature tests really work, and if there any science to back them up...[38:10]   -What vitals you should track, such as heart rate and blood pressure, and the best way to do it...[44:20]   -What Elle thinks is the best natural over-the-counter (OTC) thyroid for people who want to "self test" and "self medicate"...[50:30]   -Why coconut oil can help to heal thyroid issues (and whether or not marijuana or CBD should be used)...[51:50]   -The best prescription form of thyroid hormone to use and what Elle personally takes...[54:55]   -The shocking link between chiropractors, acupuncturists and thyroid hormone...[68:27]   -What to do if you have tried everything and you're still having issues...[70:27]   -And much more!   Resources from this episode: -The FASTER ketogenic study Ben talked about -Book: The Paleo Thyroid Solution -NTH Yahoo Group -The Oura ring for tracking body temperature -Geratherm thermometer   Do you have questions, thoughts or feedback for Elle or me? Leave your comments at BenGreenfieldFitness.com and one of us will reply!

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

I'll admit it: I have thyroid "issues". I've had them ever since I combined extreme ketosis (e.g. 90%+ fat based diet) for a full year, combined with hard and heavy training for Ironman triathlon. So in light of the fact that I've had to battle rock-bottom "T3" levels over the past several years, hypothyroidism is a topic near and dear to my heart.

https://bengreenfieldfitness.com/dom

A few months ago, I recorded a highly controversial ketosis interview with Dr. Richard Veech, in which Dr. Veech claimed that the form of ketones most people take to get into ketosis are actually quite dangerous.

Dr. Veech's solution was something called "ketone esters", which are extremely expensive, but, according to him, a far more natural, safe and healthy way to quickly get the body into ketosis - for anything from managing medical conditions, to improving cognition, to increasing endurance and beyond. In the video below, I actually experimented with these spendy ketone esters myself and, as you can see, the results were astounding...

After shooting this video, I took another bottle of ketone esters to a Tough Mudder event and recorded a crazy video on Snapchat during which I elevated both blood glucose by drinking 75 grams of pure glucose and elevated blood ketones by drinking a bottle of the ketone salts, and the results were equally as astounding, resulting in one of the fastest races of my life. But the question remains: are these fancy, expensive ketone esters actually far better than ketone salts? Are ketone salts, which is what most people use, actually going to result in long term health issues? In today's podcast, I bring on ketosis expert Dr. Dominic D’Agostino to get his opinion. Dominic is an Associate Professor in the Department of Molecular Pharmacology and Physiology at the University of South Florida Morsani College of Medicine. He is also a Visiting Senior Research Scientist at the Institute for Human and Machine Cognition (IHMC). His laboratory develops and tests nutritional strategies and metabolic-based supplements for neurological disorders, cancer inflammation and performance enhancement in extreme environments. His research is supported by the Office of Naval Research (ONR), Department of Defense (DoD), private organizations and foundations. He's also no stranger to this podcast, having been a previous guest in the episode "A Deep Dive Into Ketosis: How Navy Seals, Extreme Athletes & Busy Executives Can Enhance Physical and Mental Performance With The Secret Weapon of Ketone Fuel".

During today's discussion, you'll discover:

-The difference between a ketone salt and a ketone ester...[9:25]

-Three unique compounds you can "mix" with ketones to enhance deliverability, and the important difference between BCAAs and EAA's...[23:55]

-Why is it that some people, including Dr. Veech, believe ketone esters to be dangerous and MCT oil to block BHB absorption...[41:05 & 62:40]

-What Dominic has found by testing both ketone salts and ketone esters in his lab...[44:30]

-If there is actually any evidence of people experiencing medical issues with the use of ketone salts or esters...[47:50]

-The safety of using ephedrine for fat loss, and Dom's own experience with ephedrine...[60:05]

-Whether you can combine glucose with ketones to enhance performance...[65:40]

-Why the salts so much more expensive than the ester, and whether there are ways to make either that actually are cost effective...[72:15]

-And much more!

Resources from this episode: -My article and review of common ketone supplements such as Pruvit and KetoCaNa called "How To Get Into Ketosis" -The Metabolic Therapeutics Conference -NatureAminos amino acids supplement -Brain Octane -The HMB/ATP stack that Ben takes (and the study that discusses this approach) -Is It Possible To Be Extremely Active and Eat A Low Carbohydrate Diet? (my interview with Peter Attia)

Do you have questions, thoughts or feedback for Dominic or me? Leave your comments at BenGreenfieldFitness.com and one of us will reply!

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A few months ago, I recorded a highly controversial ketosis interview with Dr. Richard Veech, in which Dr. Veech claimed that the form of ketones most people take to get into ketosis are actually quite dangerous.

https://bengreenfieldfitness.com/gaines

Last month, I hopped on an airplane and flew down to Miami, Florida, where I underwent a special type of protocol that is technically called “extracorporeal shock wave therapy,” also known as “Audio Frequency Shockwave Therapy.”

Basically, although the physician on today's podcast will be able to explain the nitty-gritty science behind it, this technique uses mild acoustical waves to “shock” a male or female's genitals either A) back to life in the case of things like low libido, erectile dysfunction or small size or B) turn one into the equivalent of, pardon the expression, a sex machine with more blood flow, bigger size, better orgasms and much more. Let's just say I was pretty pleased with my own personal results, so pleased in fact, that I decided to get the doctor who oversaw my procedure onto a podcast. Whether you're a guy or a girl, if you're interested in enhancing your sex life, building new blood vessels, or fixing libido and sexual issues, this is a must listen. Dr. Richard Gaines, MD, FAARM, ABAARM, is the Chief Medical Officer at an age management medical practice company called HealthGAINS. He is a leading practitioner of the rapidly evolving science of "physician-guided age management", and has been administering bioidentical hormone therapy since 1993. After a distinguished thirty-year career as a physician and health-care executive, Dr. Gaines became president and chief medical officer of the age management medical practice HealthGAINS, which he founded in 2005. He graduated from Boston University School of Medicine in 1981, completed his internship at Tufts University School of Medicine and his residency at Harvard Medical School and earned a fellowship in cardiac and obstetric anesthesia at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. He subsequently served as a physician at Huntington Memorial Hospital and as an anesthesiologist at Harvard Community Health Plan and Sheridan Healthcorp.

Dr. Gaines is also a member of the following professional organizations: -ACAM – The American College for Advancement in Medicine -A4M – The American Academy of Anti-Aging Medicine -IFM – The Institute for Functional Medicine -AMMG – Age Management Medicine Group His professional certifications include: -Fellowship in Anti-Aging and Regenerative Medicine (FAARM) from the American Academy of Anti-Aging Medicine. -Board certification from the American Board of Anti-Aging & Regenerative Medicine (ABAARM). -Certification as a Functional Medicine Practitioner with advanced training at The Institute for Functional Medicine. Hormone Replacement Therapy

Dr. Gaines is a pioneer in the use of hormone replacement therapy, or HRT for both men and women. Before dedicating himself to helping men and women be healthier, happier, and more vital from their 30s to their 40s and beyond through HRT, Dr. Gaines worked as an anesthesiologist. For three decades he was a board certified anesthesiologist at some of the most well-known hospitals in the country, and he maintains that specialty to this day. Most notably related to today's podcast, Dr. Gaines is the creator of something called "Gaines Enhancement", which is one of the only drug free, surgery free male enhancement procedures that not only provides effective treatment for erectile dysfunction (ED), but that can also increase both the length and girth of the penis.

During our discussion, you'll discover: -

The shocking number of guys who take Viagra, Cialis or some other kind of ED med...[10:25]

-Aside from the exorbitant cost, are there any known deleterious side effects to Viagra...21:25[]

-The fascinating history of the use of sound wave therapy and pulse wave therapy in medicine...[25:45]

-How this same technique can be used to significantly decrease risk of heart attack...[31:40]

-Whether the GainsWave therapy is any different than a "pump" that many men use...[46:00] -The "P-shot" and "O-shot" that Dr. Gaines injects into the genitals of men and women...[50:55]

-How what Dr. Gaines does is any different than a company like, say, Cenegenics does...[52:53]

-And much more!

Resources from this episode: -The GainsWave website (if you want to go to Miami, Florida and have the protocol done by Dr. Gaines, simply mention this podcast or "Ben Greenfield" to save 5% off your entire protocol and any follow-up procedures you decide to get done - from P-shots to sound wave therapy and beyond.) Do you have questions, thoughts or feedback for Dr. Gaines or me? Leave your comments at BenGreenfielFitness.com and one of us will reply!

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Last month, I hopped on an airplane and flew down to Miami, Florida, where I underwent a special type of protocol that is technically called “extracorporeal shock wave therapy,” also known as “Audio Frequency Shockwave Therapy.”

https://bengreenfieldfitness.com/hardertokill2

Our ancestors crossed the Alps in animal skins and colonized the New World in loin cloths. They evaded predators and built civilizations with just their raw brainpower and inner grit.

But things have changed and now comfort is king. Today we live in the thrall of constant climate control and exercise only when our office schedules permit. The technologies that we use to make us comfortable are so all encompassing that they sever the biological link to a changing environment. Now we hate the cold and the heat. We suffer from autoimmune diseases. And many of us are chronically overweight. Most of us don't even realize that natural variation - sweating and shivering - is actually good for us. The new book What Doesn’t Kill Us: How Freezing Water, Extreme Altitude and Environmental Conditioning Will Renew Our Lost Evolutionary Strength uncovers how just about anyone can reclaim a measure of our species' evolutionary strength by tapping into the things that feel uncomfortable. When we slightly reimagine how how our body fits into the world and then we can conditioning ourselves to find resilience in unfamiliar environments. The feeling that something is missing from our daily routines is growing and has spawned a movement. Every year, millions of people forgo traditional gyms and push the limits of human endurance by doing boot camp style workouts in raw conditions. These extreme athletes train in CrossFit boxes, compete in Tough Mudders and challenge themselves in Spartan races. They are connecting with their environment and, whether they realize it or not, are changing their bodies. Perhaps no one exemplifies this better than Dutch fitness guru Wim Hof, whose remarkable ability to control his body temperature in extreme cold has sparked a whirlwind of scientific study.

Because of him, scientists in the United States and Europe are just beginning to understand how cold adaptation might help combat autoimmune diseases and chronic pains and, in some cases, even reverse diabetes. My podcast guest on todays show, award winning investigative journalist Scott Carney, dives into the fundamental philosophy at the root of this movement in three interlocking narratives. His own journey culminates in a record bending, 28-hour, climb up to the snowy peak of Mt. Kilimanjaro wearing nothing but a pair of running shorts and sneakers. Scott is an investigative journalist and anthropologist whose stories blend narrative non-fiction with ethnography. He has been a contributing editor at Wired and his work also appears in Mother Jones, Foreign Policy, Playboy, Details, Discover, Outside and Fast Company. He regularly appears on variety of radio and television stations from NPR to National Geographic TV and has had academic work published in Nature and SAIS Journal. He holds a number of academic appointments including as a Senior Fellow at the Schuster Institute for Investigative Journalism.  In 2010 he won the Payne Award for Ethics in Journalism for the story “Meet the Parents” which tracked an international kidnapping-to-adoption ring.

His first book, The Red Market: On the Trail of the World’s Organ Brokers, Bone Thieves, Blood Farmers and Child Traffickers, was published by William Morrow in 2011 and won the 2012 Clarion Award for best non-fiction book. His second book A Death on Diamond Mountain: A True Story of Obsession, Madness and the Path to Enlightenment came out with Gotham Books in 2015. In 2015, Scott founded WordRates, a website that aims to add transparency to the business of journalism with Yelp-esque reviews of magazines and editors. He first traveled to India while he was a student at Kenyon College in 1998 and spent six years living there. Along the way, he learned Hindi and twice drove a motorcycle across the country. In 2004 he received a MA in anthropology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He currently lives in Denver, CO.

During our discussion, you'll discover: -The shocking story of the huge number of people Scott has found who have died during meditation experiences...[10:25 ]

-What Scott experienced when he first met Wim Hof...[9:55 & 15:00]

-The Native American who hung out in the dead of winter in the Boston area wearing nothing but a loincloth...[25:32]

-The #1 food item you can consume that will inhibit your body from converting white fat into metabolically active brown fat...[32:22]

-Scott's "power pushups" and 15 minute daily workout...[48:40]

-What was the hardest part of the Laird Hamilton underwater workout for Scott...[58:30]

-The new, little-known synthetic thyroid hormone that activates brown fat tissue...[62:55]

-The crazy things heat acclimatization can do for soldiers...[70:15]

-And much more...

Resources from this episode: -Book: What Doesn’t Kill Us: How Freezing Water, Extreme Altitude and Environmental Conditioning Will Renew Our Lost Evolutionary Strength -Book: A Death on Diamond Mountain: A True Story of Obsession, Madness and the Path to Enlightenment -Book: The Red Market: On the Trail of the World’s Organ Brokers, Bone Thieves, Blood Farmers and Child Traffickers -Book: The Paleo Manifesto by John Durant -Book: Deep Nutrition by Cate Shanahan -Book: The Oxygen Advantage -The story of Samoset the Indian -My podcast with James Nestor -My podcast with Wim Hof -My podcast with Laird Hamilton -The HRV NatureBeat app that Ben describes and uses each morning -Rise Of The Sufferfests documentary

Do you have questions, thoughts or feedback for Scott or me? Leave your comments below and one of us will reply!

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Our ancestors crossed the Alps in animal skins and colonized the New World in loin cloths. They evaded predators and built civilizations with just their raw brainpower and inner grit.

This is a special Premium audio episode. Click here to activate a Premium subscription to the BenGreenfieldFitness show and access this and over 300 additional hidden audios, videos, pdf's and more!

In this episode, Ben answers questions covering tips for longevity, overcoming internal resistance, and what drives him to the next level. 

 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

https://bengreenfieldfitness.com/whoop

My guest on today's show - Will Ahmed - grew up loving sports and exercise. Many of his childhood heroes were athletes. He was recruited to Harvard and became Captain of the Men’s Varsity Squash Team. As a D1 athlete, he was amazed by how little he knew about his body. He would train for 3 or more hours a day with his teammates without knowing what gains he made. He was surrounded by athletes, himself included, who overtrained, misinterpreted fitness peaks, underestimated recovery and sleep, and got injured. Being prepared for game day often seemed…random.

So he became inspired by a simple idea: Humans, especially athletes, could optimize their daily performance. Optimizing performance was not a random sequence of events and decisions, but rather a systematic approach to understanding your body. At Harvard, he met with cardiologists and physiologists. He read over 300 medical papers because he became obsessed with understanding the human body. What he learned was amazing: There are secrets that your body – your physiology – is trying to tell you. These secrets can help prevent overtraining and injury, they can detect fatigue and even sickness, and, sure enough, they can be used to optimize human performance. But few actually monitor those metrics. He partnered with his co-founder John Capodilupo, who was studying math and statistics at Harvard before dropping out to found a self-quantification company called "WHOOP", and also partnered with Aurelian Nicolae, a graduate from Harvard with a gift for mechanical prototyping and engineering. They then spent the past 4 years building a technology called "the WHOOP System". They assembled a scientific and performance advisory board and now work alongside our team of 50 engineers, designers, and data scientists in a downtown Boston office overlooking Fenway Park. They've been fortunate to work with many of the best athletes in the world. What they've discovered has amazed Will, and we talk about it all on today's show. Self quantification can transform your life and induce effects like positive behavior change, fitness improvements, injury reduction. Will believes that the data he's collecting on athletes is unprecedented, both in its sophistication and scale, and that no physiological studies have ever occurred on this magnitude. WHOOP benefits from the fact that athletes also have tangible performance data (wins/losses, batting average, time trials, etc) across sports. They want to share this data: the unbelievable correlations between physiology and performance; the approach to health monitoring and the different ways to interpret or action your body’s feedback. Beyond building a product that people love, Will and the team at WHOOP hope to advance human knowledge with our discoveries.

During our discussion, you'll discover:

-The key defining characteristics that set WHOOP apart, including skin conductivity, accelerometer data, and continuous HRV monitoring...[13:25]

-Why WHOOP is the only company to measure the activity and fluctuations of the cardiac autonomic nervous system, particularly as it relates to recovery, training status, and training readiness...[13:57]

-The actual hard data being collected by the WHOOP, and HRV, pulse oximetry, temperature, respiration, etc.)...[15:30 & 24:30]

-Why the WHOOP uses a combination of PPG (photoplethysmography) sensors (4 LEDs and 1 Photodiode) along with 3-axis accelerometer, capacitive touch sensor, ambient temperature sensor...[18:17]

-How coaches and trainers can use WHOOP to monitor the sleep, training and recovery status of a large number of athletes and clients...[20:00, 30:00 , 35:50 & 47:50]

-Why the WHOOP has 90% sleep/wake accuracy compared to gold-standard sleep labs...[22:10]

-How the WHOOP sleep coach automatically calculates sleep needed based on your sleep baseline, any sleep debt that has accumulated over the last few nights, and any naps taken for that day...[39:15]

-The technology the WHOOP uses to tell you how much sleep you need and to give you a picture of when you should go to bed based on your habitual sleep efficiency and desired wake up time...[40:15]

-Why athletes like Lebron James and Michael Phelps are using the WHOOP...[59:15]

-And much more...

Resources from this episode: -WHOOP (use code GREENFIELD for $50 off at checkout) -How A Bear Attack Affects Your Sleep Do you have questions, thoughts or feedback for Will or me? Leave your at https://bengreenfieldfitness.com/whoop and one of us will reply!

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.