HealthCast Now - The Intersection of Health, Wellness & Circadian Optimization

Alex Fergus -Sleep Dive Part 1

To a lot of people, Alex Fergus is a health and fitness coach but before all that, he was first a typical rugby fan and a rowing competitor from New Zealand. His fitness enthusiasm eventually made him compete in the world of bodybuilding which gave him his fair share of awards and recognition.

Today, Alex will talk about one of FitFluential Radio’s favorite topics: Sleep. He’ll give us the low down on the science behind sleep, how we can optimize our sleeping habits, and his tips on how to reset your circadian rhythm.

"Too many people get caught up with short-term gains even if it comes at the expense of long term benefits and performance.” Alex Fergus

In this episode, you’ll learn:

• When it comes to weight training, people often sacrifice rest and recovery for short term benefits. Overtraining may lead to quick muscle gains and weight loss but the body will suffer in the long term.
• One of the dangers of overtraining is adrenal fatigue which can impair your body’s ability to produce testosterone for long term.
• Sleep is important for just about all the body's processes specially recovery.
• Melatonin is an important hormone not just for sleep but for overall health and wellness. Low melatonin correlates to chronic diseases which is caused by chronic sleep deprivation.
• Even acute sleep deprivation can have destructive effects on your body.
• People ruin their circadian rhythm by using their phones right before they sleep.
• Technology use or even streetlights can misalign your circadian rhythm.
• Even sleep aids aren't enough due to hormonal changes that occurred in your body brought upon by circadian misalignment.
• Being exposed to so much light increases cortisol in the body which in turn "alerts" the body to stay awake despite the sleeping time.
• One way to reset your circadian rhythm is by going to a nearby park for the weekend, leaving your gadgets in the car, avoid artificial light, use campfire, and sleep when you’re tired.

Key Takeaways:

• Light is important as soon as you wake up or within the first few minutes of waking up.
• Expose your body and eyes to AM sunlight. This signals the body to suppress melatonin and produce cortisol, getting you ready for the day right before you’ve even had breakfast.

Connect with Alex Fergus:

• Alex Fergus Official
• Alex Fergus Interviews
• Facebook

Mentioned in this episode:

• Sound Asleep Course

Rate, Review, Connect, Inspire

Stay updated on new episodes, guest interviews, and health, wellness, and fitness information and resources by subscribing to the HealthCastNow Podcast Show oniTunes. Every day we bring you actionable insight, demystified truth, and simple steps to help you navigate the complex, often confusing health, wellness, and fitness information and answer the questions you’ve been asking.

Visit HealthCastNow.Com or subscribe on iTunes today!

Dan Pardi is a health enthusiast, researcher, and entrepreneur who focuses on the idea of facilitating health behaviors in people. He also has a podcast show called Human OS and interviews health and wellness experts to discuss recent findings in the field of health sciences. In the last episode, Dan discussed the importance of sleep, the effects of light on our body, as well as the effects of chronic sleep deprivation.

In part 2 of our show, Dan talks about how people can filter blue light as well as emerging technologies that can help manage the body’s circadian rhythm.

“Put yourself in a learner mindset forever. Somebody who is healthy continues to learn so enjoy that.” Dan Pardi

In this episode, you’ll learn:

• Electromagnetic frequency of EMF also affects a person’s sleep cycle. EMFs come from common household devices such as smartphones, tablets, and WiFi modems.
• You can use different kinds of lenses or glasses to filter just the right amount of light in accordance to the time of day.
• Dan says the best type of health accessory is not the best and most advanced one but the one that most people will actually wear.
• The Mediterranean diet might actually be the healthiest diet on the planet.
• Lack of Sleep can affect even weight gain and let you acquire diseases such as Type 2 Diabetes.
• Some researchers say Fitbit usage might promote weight gain.
• Dan says his programs promote courses for people who want to know more about their health and how to improve their life.

Key Takeaways:

• Being involved in a health program isn’t about following doing what everybody else does but trying to find something that you’re gonna stick with for long term.
• Engage in the subjects related to the functioning of you and the functioning of you is related how well you are going to experience life.

Connect with Dan Pardi:

• Dan’s Plan
• Facebook
• Twitter
• Human OS Radio

Rate, Review, Connect, Inspire

Stay updated on new episodes, guest interviews, and health, wellness, and fitness information and resources by subscribing to the HealthCastNow Podcast Show oniTunes. Every day we bring you actionable insight, demystified truth, and simple steps to help you navigate the complex, often confusing health, wellness, and fitness information and answer the questions you’ve been asking.

Visit HealthCastNow.Com or subscribe on iTunes today!

Dan Pardi is simply what you may call a bonafide health enthusiast. He was always interested in health sciences but focused more on sports science when he got injured in highschool, as a way to know more about his body and fix it himself. He became involved in what he calls a Lifestyle Intervention Research where studied the health behaviors of groups of people which eventually lead to him starting Dan’s Plan, a program that aims to help a person to have an optimal and healthy lifestyle.

Today we’re going to talk about a known subject in FFR: the effects of light on sleep and our body’s circadian biology.

“There's no part of the body that goes untouched when you're not getting adequate sleep.” Dan Pardi

In this episode, you’ll learn:

• About 10-15 years ago, topics on microbiota and circadian biology were all about nutrition and exercise and we’re just now seeing how other factors such as sleep and light exposure affect human health.
• Sleep is not something people should overlook. Shrugging sleep off will cause detrimental effects on our health.
• One bad night isn't that bad but chronic lack of sleep, such as when you have sleep disorders, can have devastating effects to our health.
• Certain apps can help remove or reduce blue light from your devices.
• Light coming thru the eye is what mostly controls the master clock in the body.
• Light inside the house can have an effect on what of time your brain thinks it is and can lead to circadian misalignment.

Key Takeaways:

• Most people have legitimate sleep issues but they can be fixable without the need of medication just by getting the right information.
• We're always going to be learning, there's always more information out there. We can't use that as an excuse to not do what we do know to be healthy now.

Connect with Dan Pardi:

• Dan’s Plan
• Facebook
• Twitter
• Human OS Radio

Mentioned in this episode:

• IFTTT App

Rate, Review, Connect, Inspire

Stay updated on new episodes, guest interviews, and health, wellness, and fitness information and resources by subscribing to the HealthCastNow Podcast Show oniTunes. Every day we bring you actionable insight, demystified truth, and simple steps to help you navigate the complex, often confusing health, wellness, and fitness information and answer the questions you’ve been asking.

Visit HealthCastNow.Com or subscribe on iTunes today!

Dr. Kirk Parsley Sleep and Optimal Health & Wellness - Part 2

In the last episode, we introduced you to Dr. Kirk Parsley, former Navy Seal, doctor, and expert sleep optimization practitioner. Dr. Kirk has helped thousands of patients achieve better health, wellness, and performance by optimizing their sleep naturally. Today, we discuss sleep routines and rituals, why many men find it easier to fall asleep quickly versus women, how sunrise light can impact your overall sleep quality, and how Vitamin D, magnesium, and other naturally derived or supplemented vitamins and minerals can impact the quality of your sleep.

“Your sleep routine has to be ritualized.” Dr. Kirk Parsley

In This Episode You Will Learn:

• What is “sleep pressure” and how is it different for men and women?
• The direct link between light from sunrise, vitamin D, magnesium and sleep optimization.
• What is “bright light therapy” and how can it impact your sleep/wake cycle?
• What is the “ultradian rhythm.”
• What are the ingredients in Dr. Kirk’s sleep remedy supplements and how he feels about supplement usage?

Mentioned in This Episode:

• D Minder App

Connect with Dr. Kirk Parsley:

• Doc Parsley’s Website
• Doc Parsley’s Sleep Remedy Supplements

The Takeaway:

For health, longevity, and performance, you don’t need strict workout programs or exercise regimes. You really only need to be active and optimize your sleep.

Rate, Review, Connect, Inspire

Stay updated on new episodes, guest interviews, and health, wellness, and fitness information and resources by subscribing to the HealthCastNow Podcast Show oniTunes. Every day we bring you actionable insight, demystified truth, and simple steps to help you navigate the complex, often confusing health, wellness, and fitness information and answer the questions you’ve been asking.

Visit HealthCastNow.Com or subscribe on iTunes today!

On today’s episode, Kevin is joined by former Navy Seal Specialist Dr. Kirk Parsley. Dr. Kirk shares his interesting story on how many people in and out of the military share similar sleep patterns – particularly people who are serial entrepreneurs, CEO’s, and shift workers. He explains how he started his journey into functional health and medicine as well as why his medical practice currently focuses mostly in helping people achieve optimal sleep hygiene and sleep quality.

Dr. Kirk shares a wealth of knowledge and understanding about the traditional medical field, functional medicine, as well as his time working in the Navy Seals. Today, he shares some of his advice, suggestions, and tips on how improving your sleep, sleep quality, and sleep hygiene can help you improve your overall health and wellness, allow your body to repair after a strenuous workout, and fight off many diseases.

“Overtraining and under recovering are two sides of the same coin.” Dr. Kirk Parsley

In This Episode You Will Learn:

• Kirk’s journey from Navy Seals training to traditional medical school, functional health and sleep optimization.
• How sleep affects the adrenal and hormonal functions within your body.
• Why he believes robbing yourself of sleep or using sleep aids is interfering with the most anabolic period of your life.
• Sleep deprivation increases your risk of virtually every disease.
• How Dr. Kirk helps CEO’s and entrepreneurs develop a better sleep routine.
• Kirk explains that sleep hygiene is about two things: the production of melatonin to decrease the sympathetic tones of adrenal hormones, and decreasing interaction within your environment.
• How brain stimulating activities affect your sleep quality.

Mentioned in This Episode:

• Change or Die book by Alan Deutschman

The Takeaway:

“Sleep deprivation increases your risk of every disease you can imagine.” – Dr. Kirk Parsley

Connect with Dr. Kirk Parsley:

• Doc Parsley’s Website
• Doc Parsley’s Sleep Remedy Supplements

Rate, Review, Connect, Inspire

Stay updated on new episodes, guest interviews, and health, wellness, and fitness information and resources by subscribing to the HealthCastNow Podcast Show oniTunes. Every day we bring you actionable insight, demystified truth, and simple steps to help you navigate the complex, often confusing health, wellness, and fitness information and answer the questions you’ve been asking.

Visit HealthCastNow.Com or subscribe on iTunes today!

Jerry Brainum - Lessons from 30+ Years of Bodybuilding, Weight Training and Nutrition - Part 2

Jerry Brainum has spent most of his life lifting or writing. He is known to be one of the most credible sources of information when it comes to supplementation and training and has made use of his knowledge by writing thru various fitness magazines and articles on the internet.

In part 2 of our interview, Jerry tells us his thoughts on the need to supplement, the supplement companies he recommends, what he thinks of steroids and competitive sports, and why he thinks certain supplements only work due to a placebo effect.

“There are some bad supplements and there are some bad companies but there are also some really good stuff that can really aid your health and fitness regime.” Jerry Brainum

 In this episode, you’ll learn:

• Two reasons why people use supplements: To supplement nutrients you’re not getting in your diet and as ergogenic aides.
• Vitamin D is a must-have supplement as 90% of the world suffers from deficiency.
• Supplementation is necessary since very few people follow a well-balanced diet.
• Steroids can be good or bad depending how much people use. Technically speaking, you cannot compete in professional bodybuilding without using anabolic steroid drugs.
• Even elite athletes, with topnotch physical levels of strength and endurance, can fall victim to health problems due to excessive steroid intake.
• Minimize the damage done due to steroid intake by cycling and regular blood testing.
• The largest users of anabolic steroids aren’t athletes but recreational users.
• Growth hormones only boosts muscle growth a little bit. Cortisol, on the other hand, actually spikes muscle growth according to recent studies.
• Growth hormones + anabolic steroids or testosterone + insulin = Synergy for a tremendous anabolic effect.
• SARMS or Selective Androgen Receptor Modulators sold online mostly come from sources with questionable quality control processes.

Key Takeaways:

• Can you use anabolic steroids safely? It's a question mark. It's a necessary evil in pro sports.
• You don't need drugs unless you're planning to compete. For aesthetic reasons, nutrition and hard work is enough.
• Placebo effect: if you think something's gonna work it probably will.

Connect with Jerry Brainum:

• Applied Metabolics
• Subscribe to Jerry’s newsletter!
• Facebook

Mentioned in this episode:

• Jarrow
• NOW Foods
• Doctor’s Best
• Life Extension
• Natural Anabolics book by Jerry Brainum

Rate, Review, Connect, Inspire

Stay updated on new episodes, guest interviews, and health, wellness, and fitness information and resources by subscribing to the HealthCastNow Podcast Show oniTunes. Every day we bring you actionable insight, demystified truth, and simple steps to help you navigate the complex, often confusing health, wellness, and fitness information and answer the questions you’ve been asking.

Visit HealthCastNow.Com or subscribe on iTunes today!

Jerry Brainum - Lessons from 30+ Years of Bodybuilding, Weight Training and Nutrition - Part 1

Jerry Brainum was a competitive bodybuilder who trained alongside the likes of Arnold Schwarzenegger. He started working out as young as 11 years old and has trained consistently for over 54 years. Anyone who has read fitness and bodybuilding magazines in the past 35 years will surely recognize him. He wrote and edited for various mainstream fitness magazines such as Muscle and Fitness, Men’s Fitness, and Ironman magazine.

In part 1 of our interview, Jerry tells us his illustrious career as a pro bodybuilder and writer, the many pro athletes he worked and trained with, and his opinions on mainstream fitness gurus as well as what most bodybuilders and fitness enthusiasts overlook when it comes to training.

“There are too many self-appointed experts out there. Throw a few technical terms out and people think you know what you're talking about.” Jerry Brainum

In this episode, you’ll learn:

• The internet is generally good for information but was abused due to broscience or people who pretend to be experts and hand out information based on little to no evidence.
• Jerry recommends a high protein diet for muscle building. One gram of protein per pound of bodyweight is what works for most people.
• Proper bodybuilding nutrition programs vary from person to person. There’s no cookie-cutter way.
• Lab tests are important when it comes to customizing a nutrition program. It’s important to get the whole metabolic picture.
• The amount of sleep people get correlates with mortality rates. More sleep = longer life; Less sleep = shorter lives.
• Sleep is a core factor when it comes to cutting fat, building muscle, and maintaining proper hormonal balance.
• Overtraining and poor form gets people off track.
• Jerry recommends a style of training called Periodization where a person divides training for different phases.
• Books, good Youtube videos, and a personal trainer are better than relying on what popular fitness magazines tell you.
• When you pick a trainer, be on the lookout for certifications, experience, and reputation specially when it comes to previous clients.

Key Takeaways:

• People without sleep for long term are basically killing themselves. Chronic sleep deprivation is a lot like being a chronic smoker.
• Training is an individual response: There's easy and hard gainers. It has to be basically matched to the way your body responds.
• Magazines are poor source of information. It's a case of the blind leading the blind. The information is so bad it's actually almost dangerous to trust what you read in magazines these days.

Connect with Jerry Brainum:

• Applied Metabolics
• Subscribe to Jerry’s newsletter!
• Facebook

Mentioned in this episode:

• Charles Glass
• The M.A.X. Muscle Plan book by Brad Schoenfeld
• Science and Development of Muscle Hypertrophy book by Brad Schoenfeld

Rate, Review, Connect, Inspire

Stay updated on new episodes, guest interviews, and health, wellness, and fitness information and resources by subscribing to the HealthCastNow Podcast Show oniTunes. Every day we bring you actionable insight, demystified truth, and simple steps to help you navigate the complex, often confusing health, wellness, and fitness information and answer the questions you’ve been asking.

Visit HealthCastNow.Com or subscribe on iTunes today!

Dr. Jason Fung - Deep Dive - Using Fasting / Intermittent Fasting for Optimal Health, Wellness and Longevity with Dr Jason Fung - Part 2

Jason Fung is a world leader when it comes to weight loss and fasting. He is a firm advocate of fasting as a means of not just weight loss, but also healing and detoxification. He is also the author of the popular diet books The Obesity Code and The Complete Guide To Fasting.

In part 2 of our episode, Jason shares his opinions on people who should and shouldn’t fast, how hunger is just all in the mind, a few tips on how to get started with fasting, and why he thinks the food industry is promoting bad eating habits.

"Nothing bad happens when you don't eat for 24 hours.” Jason Fung

In this episode, you’ll learn:

• Blood sugar doesn't necessarily plummet when you fast.
• Fasting specifically targets the hormones that affect weight.
• Food companies promote more meals a day aka snacking because they sell snack foods.
• Those who are pregnant, malnourished, have eating disorders, and people with a BMI below 20 shouldn’t fast. Everybody else can fast regardless of gender.
• Fasting is a stressor and increases cortisol the same way as exercise but fasting is a low-level stress compared to exercise. It might increase cortisol but not as much as you do when you train hard.
• Hunger is lowest at 8 am if your circadian rhythm is aligned properly. It’s because your body has done its job in burning the extra fat and other junk protein to prevent you from getting hungry the moment you roll out of bed.
• The feeling of hunger gets lower during an extended fast and the body gets used to it. Day 2 is the worst day but the body will adjust accordingly as the fast progresses.
• Fasting keeps metabolic rate high and actually helps reduce hunger in the long term.
• Fasting saves you money and time, different compared to other diets that promote a “buy this, cook that” kind of technique.
• Fasting becomes easy once you do it on a regular basis.

Key Takeaways:

• Fat is merely stored food energy. You want to use it; you want to eat it.
• Fasting is infinitely flexible. You can choose to tweak your fast the way you find it easy or how your body responds.

Connect with Jason Fung:

• Twitter

Mentioned in this episode:

• The Obesity Code book by Jason Fung

Rate, Review, Connect, Inspire

Stay updated on new episodes, guest interviews, and health, wellness, and fitness information and resources by subscribing to the HealthCastNow Podcast Show oniTunes. Every day we bring you actionable insight, demystified truth, and simple steps to help you navigate the complex, often confusing health, wellness, and fitness information and answer the questions you’ve been asking.

Visit HealthCastNow.Com or subscribe on iTunes today!

Dr. Jason Fung - Deep Dive - Using Fasting / Intermittent Fasting for Optimal Health, Wellness and Longevity with Dr Jason Fung - Part 1

Jason Fung is an author and nephrologist, a doctor who specializes in kidney health. He is considered one of the world’s leading experts when it comes to weight loss and reversing diabetes by way of fasting. For the first few years of practice, Jason was like most doctors when it came to treating patients – conventionally oriented.

During this time, he had plenty of patients who had obesity as the primary cause of their kidney issues. He realized in order to treat their kidneys, he had to treat their diabetes and for that to happen, his patients had to lose weight. And so began his interest in fasting and its many benefits beyond weight loss.

Today, Jason gives us his expert opinion on what fasting is, why he thinks fasting should be something people naturally do, and why he suggests weight management is not just about calories.

"Fasting is really the oldest dietary intervention in the book.” Jason Fung

In this episode, you’ll learn:

• A diet focused on a “calories in, calories out” approach is bound to fail. Obesity has little to do with calories as it does with carbohydrates and insulin sensitivity.
• The body cannot sense calories as compared to how it can sense carbs and hormones and obesity is largely a hormonal issue.
• A kale salad will have a different effect on your hormones particularly insulin as a plate of cookies with the same calories. Eating a kale salad everyday will give you different results vs if you eat a plate of cookies every day.
• Insulin is the hormone that tells the body we're eating now. Insulin also tells liver to make glycogen, the storage form of sugar.
• Fasting won’t make you lose muscle. The body burns “junk” protein and burns it away when you fast. This is why fasting is also considered a type of detox regimen.
• When you break your fast, the body starts to break down old nutrients and build new ones. You're basically giving your body a renovation.
• If there's a deficit in calories, the body reduces energy expenditure which makes calorie cutting ineffective.
• Fasting on a regular basis helps prevent diseases as it helps burn junk inside the body and turn them to fuel.
• If you keep insulin levels high all the time you're telling your body to keep the energy going in which is why the whole “eat 10 small meals a day” fad is only a short-term solution to weight loss.
• A lean person who fast will burn more protein than fat than an obese person for obvious reasons.

Key Takeaways:

• Fasting isn't going to make you tired. When you want more energy you should fast.
• Eating and fasting must be kept in balance.
• Fasting preserves lean body mass much better than caloric restriction.

Connect with Jason Fung:

• Twitter

Mentioned in this episode:

• The Complete Guide to Fasting book by Jason Fung

Rate, Review, Connect, Inspire

Stay updated on new episodes, guest interviews, and health, wellness, and fitness information and resources by subscribing to the HealthCastNow Podcast Show oniTunes. Every day we bring you actionable insight, demystified truth, and simple steps to help you navigate the complex, often confusing health, wellness, and fitness information and answer the questions you’ve been asking.

Visit HealthCastNow.Com or subscribe on iTunes today!

Tommy Wood is the chief medical officer of Nourish Balance Thrive, a company that developed a science-based, personalized support program to help clients regain their optimal performance through various lifestyle changes.

Before he found the path to fitness and wellness, Tommy’s idea of a health routine involved lots of TV time and a pack of cookies. He escaped that life when he went to college to get a degree in biochemistry, worked as a traditional doctor of medicine, and obtained a PhD in physiology and neuroscience. He has since worked with many clients and helped them get their lives back.

Today, Tommy shares his thoughts on the importance of sleep, what he thinks real food should be made of, and why getting a six-pack now might not be great for long-term.

"It's very difficult to do circadian rhythm and sleep by brute force.” Dr. Tommy Wood

In this episode, you’ll learn:

• If a client hits a plateau, it's usually the environment than exercise and diet.
• Circadian rhythm is important for long term wellness. It's not just about avoiding blue light, but also getting a lot of sunlight during the day.
• It's important to have a tailored fit into your wellness routine.
• Eating seasonally is eating the way the body is designed to eat. Where you are and what grows locally there tell you what you should be eating.
• Be your own health advocate and watch out for biased articles or studies.
• Even Olive oil products can be adulterated and become unhealthy for consumption. Do your research and make sure it's all made of olive oil.
• If you are trying to get a certain performance in a certain sport, then some form of excess training is fine, but what you may be training might not be good for you in the long term.
• Tommy shares what The Upside Down Movement Pyramid is all about.
• Strength and muscle mass are some of the best predictors of longevity.
• When it comes to following advice from someone in social media, be careful. What someone projects and what's going on under the hood is not the same thing.
• Looking online for answers or being part of a community is okay, but don't forget to have personal connections outside the internet. The earlier you build these relationships, the better.

Key Takeaways:

• You’re better off being strong and healthy for 70-80 years rather than have a six-pack now and go down from there.
• Anything that doesn't come in a package or cook from a single ingredient is real food. If it comes in a box, don't buy it.
• When you spend so much time on social media, you won't get deep connection or purpose you need for long term health. Find some human interaction.

Connect with Dr. Tommy Wood:

• Nourish Balance Thrive official
• Nourish Balance Thrive podcast
• Facebook
• Twitter

Resources Mentioned:

• The Great Upside-Down Movement Pyramid blog
• Doug McGuff
• Neuro-Mass book by Jon Bruney

Rate, Review, Connect, Inspire

Stay updated on new episodes, guest interviews, and health, wellness, and fitness information and resources by subscribing to the HealthCastNow Podcast Show oniTunes. Every day we bring you actionable insight, demystified truth, and simple steps to help you navigate the complex, often confusing health, wellness, and fitness information and answer the questions you’ve been asking.

Visit HealthCastNow.Com or subscribe on iTunes today!