Nourish Balance Thrive

I sit too much. When I'm not sitting at my desk, I'm sitting on my bike. As a mountain biker, I stand more than some cyclists, but still. The ways in which I move my body are predictable and very repetitive. I almost never move from side to side, and I expend vast amounts of energy spinning small circles with my feet. Have humans evolved to move like this? I doubt it. I know that if I'm not careful, I start to develop niggling lower back pain and piriformis syndrome.

Obstacle racing then, or at least the training for it, appeals to me because of the variety. The movement that elite Spartan racer Elijah Markstrom describes in this interview is a lot like what I think I need to do as a mountain biker looking to add variety to my workouts. James Wilson talked about similar exercises to improve strength and mobility previously on my podcast. When two people you respect talk about getting results using the same tactics, you're on to something.

Elijah Markstrom is a health nut and fitness enthusiast.

Elijah spends an absurd amount of time combing over research papers, listening to field relevant podcast and generally being a geek, so you don't have to! With a discerning eye for separating crap from gold, he combs the interwebs looking for answers to common and obscure questions in health. This way he can provide you with results oriented precision. Read Elijah's blog and you'll get access to stories about practical application of science related to health. The topics covered on this site range from ketosis to race reports.

Together with Philip Levi, Elijah hosts the Obstacle Order podcast.

0:00:43 As a runner, Elijah competed at state level.

0:02:29 He gains fat and loses muscle when he stops working out.

0:05:29 The Endeavour Team Challenge.

0:06:47 Spartan race.

0:07:48 Three classes: elite, competitor and open.

0:08:34 Three distances: sprint, super and beast.

0:09:08 BattleFrog.

0:16:57 Since recording this podcast, I've realised that there's a Pomodoro alarm built into my favourite app focus@will.

0:17:43 Endurance Planet podcast.

0:19:39 Cyclocross.

0:25:10 James Wilson.

0:26:37 Kettlebell windmill, swing and Turkish getup.

0:28:21 Plyometrics.

0:30:56 Rogue Fitness pull-up bar.

0:33:24 ReWild Yourself podcast by Daniel Vitalis.

0:34:03 MovNat.

0:36:58 John Mandrola.

0:41:19 The Obstacle Order on Facebook.

Did you know?

For personal care products, the European Union have banned 1,400 chemicals, Canada 600, and the US just 11.

Do you think the FDA is safety testing your personal care products?

They don’t.

If someone asked Dr. Walsh, “what is the most important thing to for your health other than being positive and happy,” it would be that you absolutely have to get toxic chemicals out of your life. There is a growing body of evidence that chemicals in our environment are contributing to to cancer, autoimmune disease, allergies and asthma, obesity, hormone issues, and more. She firmly believes this is one of the largest contributing factors to the plague of diseases we are facing today. Women, in particular, seem to be extremely vulnerable because of all of the personal care and cleaning products they come in contact with on a daily basis. Listen to this podcast and Dr. Walsh will show you how easy it is to get the chemicals out of your life while still feeling, looking, (and smelling) fantastic.

Julie Walsh is a Naturopathic Doctor & Mom of four adorable blue eyed kids. She knows a few things about health. Part of this is due to a formal medical education, but most can be attributed to her personal 20 year quest (or obsession) for "perfect health". It wasn't until she learned that perfection is the antithesis of health that I was actually able to help herself and other women achieve true well-being.

0:00:00    adoctorinthehouse.com

0:01:50    Dr. Walsh came to doctoring from the modelling industry.

0:02:24    EWG Skin Deep database.

0:05:30    Indicator species are animals that act as a “canary in the coal mine.”

0:06:11    Cancer is now the second leading cause of death in children aged 5-14 years.

0:09:17    NuvaRing prevents conception at .35 parts per billion.

0:10:53    Halifax project on gettingtoknowcancer.org.

0:11:19    The EU has banned 1,400 chemicals, Canada 600, the US just 11.

0:13:49    No federal law governing the personal product industry since 1938.

0:17:11    Step one is know what you're using.

0:17:58    Get rid of everything that is ranked higher than 2 in the EWG database.

0:20:21    The average woman puts on about 12 products on their body each day.

0:20:36    Please stop using perfume!

0:24:20    The Internet has created the era of information and confusion.

0:27:22    Essential Oils: I'm Calling Bullshit.

0:31:54    Beauty Counter.

0:38:23    Ask yourself: do I need it? Is it safe?

0:38:39    Biokleen Laundry Liquid and All Purpose Cleaner Concentrate.

0:41:04    Don't go crazy on this!

0:42:50    Fill out the contact form and claim a free prize.

Could you afford to spend $250,000 on an education? No, neither could I. How lucky are we then that people like Drs. Mike T. Nelson Ph.D. and Dr. Brad Dieter Ph.D are willing to distill what they've learned into a $250 training course? Over the past two years, I've done all kinds of biology, biochemistry, physiology, functional medicine, nutrition and fitness massively open online training courses and I've loved them all. Educators pour their heart and soul into these resources and we should take full advantage.

The Eat to Perform certification course covers the basic mechanisms of exercise physiology and the interactions between nutrition and human performance. The material is delivered via video and PDF and the exam is done online. A Facebook support group and lifetime updates are included in the price. Sign up now, it's a steal!

Dr. Tommy Wood, my wife and food scientist Julia, and I have got together to create a hypoallergenic MCT oil powdered with a special bionic fibre. Find out more at phatfibre.com and let me know what you think.

0:05:16 Brad realised his skill set wasn't clinical, headed into research.

0:05:34 He has done human and animal research, molecular biology, biostatistical analysis.

0:06:55 Optimizing Vitamin D for Athletic Performance.

0:07:54 Over supplementing is not the answer.

0:08:43 There's no way you can know what the problem is unless you do a test.

0:08:49 ETP training course with lifetime updates!

0:13:29 Brad's approach for competitive CrossFit.

0:13:44 He starts by listening and figuring out the weak link.

0:14:41 Fat loss is the secondary goal.

0:18:48 Exercise to drive adaptation, not burn calories.

0:20:35 Calorie in calorie out is wrong?

0:21:48 Minimal effective dose.

0:23:49 The more novel the stimulus, the lower the minimal effective dose.

0:24:53 Supplements: creatine, beta-alanine and caffeine.

0:25:21 Whey protein, doesn't have to be whey, e.g. Catabolic Blocker.

0:25:58 I've written a bit about beta-alanine.

0:26:31 Smart Drug Smarts podcast with labdoor.com.

0:27:28 How much protein? 1g per pound of lean body mass is a reasonable default.

0:27:59 Alan Aragon 1g per lb of goal body weight.

0:28:16 Casually Explained: Lifting.

0:28:59 Brad see the ketogenic diet as a tool.

0:32:52 Sea Otter Classic 2016 Cross Country - Professional.

0:34:27 Bonking is a system fail.

0:34:51 Metabolic flexibility.

0:38:17 Energy systems are not mutually exclusive.

0:43:28 Do whatever you're weakest at first.

0:44:04 Joe Friel on my podcast.

0:45:09 How much difference does programming make?

0:45:59 James Wilson on my podcast.

0:48:03 sciencedrivennutrition.com.

0:49:04 Science Driven Nutrition Facebook page.

"I'll sleep when I'm dead," so the lyric goes. If you don't sleep you will be dead sooner is more true to life:

Sleep improves everything. I mean, literally everything. I've not found a single thing that I can't tie to sleep being a major component of. And if you aren't sleeping well, you're just at risk for more of anything bad. Anything bad.

--Dr. Kirk Parsley, MD, sleep expert and advisor to the Navy SEALs.

Selling sleep should be like selling sex, so why is it so hard for people to do? Two reasons:

1. Humans are the only animals with electricity, and we've used it to maximal effect for disrupting our normal circadian rhythms. It's not that people won't sleep, the problem is they can't sleep.
2. Time is money and shift working is a sad fact of life.

The main thing you must do to get better sleep is appreciate its importance. I want you to buy into the idea of sleep and strive for it as you would any other goal. The rest is relatively straightforward, and that's what Kirk and I cover in this podcast interview.

Supraphysiological testosterone.

Dr. Tommy Wood and I are constantly exploring supplements that boost testosterone, it's one of our most frequently asked questions. Hormone replacement is usually not an option because almost everything you can think of is on the WADA banned substance list. What about herbs like Tribulus? Well perhaps, but neither herbs or HRT have the power of adequate sleep, and so that's where we always start.

During this interview, Dr. Kirk Parsley, a former Navy SEAL himself, tells the story of one officer that increased his free testosterone by 500% simply by getting off the sleep drugs like Ambien and getting proper sleep. Another 42-year old went supraphysiological (above normal levels) using sleep alone.

What supplement should you take for more testosterone?

Easy. Take a nap. Taking a nap is probably your best bet for enhanced recovery and learning too:

I recommend to everyone to take naps even if you sleep perfectly. I take a nap every single day and I have for years and years and years. But definitely if you sleep sub-optimally, which means either you don't get great quality sleep or you don't get quite enough sleep, a nap is probably the best mitigation tool. But for what I do and for what you do and for what a lot of people do, we're in a super, super informationally dense age where we're completely overwhelmed by information.

The beauty of a nap is that you can consolidate memories in a nap and you can form what's called durable track memories which means that it's going from your working memory to short term memory into your long term memory. And this is true for physical exercise, physical muscle memory like riding a bicycle or doing jiu-jitsu or boxing, playing the piano, whatever that requires some sort of physical movement to be memorized and to become sort of automated.

0:00:36 Kirk on Robb's podcast.

0:01:18 Robb and Kirk have attended multiple events together.

0:04:04 Like firefighters and pilots, SEALs are worried about losing their job.

0:04:57 Kirk was the SEAL confidant.

0:05:22 The SEALs can't be dependant on medicines or supplements.

0:05:41 Doctors learn how to classify and treat disease, not how to create health.

0:06:17 Normal symptoms (for an 80 year old).

0:07:02 As a physician to the SEALs, Kirk was able to get help from pretty much anyone.

0:07:56 9/11 happened and the SEALs started doing more work.

0:08:10 Now we have night vision.

0:08:22 Kirk investigated the idea of "adrenal fatigue", had some success with treatment.

0:08:58 Ambien doesn't help you get better sleep, it knocks you unconscious.

0:10:45 The SEALs kept asking for a supplement to save them the bother of shopping for individual supplements.

0:11:00 500% more free testosterone with better sleep!

0:11:11 No supplements, just sleep!

0:11:20 DHEA.

0:11:27 Zinc.

0:12:29 One 42 year old commanding officer developed supraphysiological testosterone by sleeping well.

0:12:53 Sleep decreases chronic inflammation and increases insulin sensitivity.

0:13:26 Kirk got out the military, started consulting.

0:13:59 This isn't just a SEAL problem.

0:15:45 Sleep improves everything.

0:16:28 Finding the most important thing is hard!

0:16:56 People are catching on.

0:17:15 The four pillars of health: Sleep, nutrition, movement, stress mitigation.

0:17:54 Sleep is not sexy.

0:19:39 Health optimisation to coin a phrase.

0:20:02 You don't have to be broken to get better.

0:21:10 Book: Textbook of Bio-Identical Hormones: Guiding Health in Uncertain Times by Edward Lichten, MD.

0:21:44 A protocol based on 98 lab markers.

0:21:57 If I can't say you have a disease, nothing is going to get covered by your insurance.

0:22:47 Trace elements, inflammation, AM cortisol.

0:23:12 Hormones and their precursors.

0:23:32 DHEA not sulfate.

0:23:56 Free androgen index.

0:24:11 In the 50s oestrogen wasn't high enough.

0:24:42 Kirk divides the year into quarters.

0:24:49 Q1 is lifestyle only.

0:25:28 No supplements until Q3.

0:25:56 No pharma until Q4.

0:26:08 Until you've idealized the lifestyle it's irresponsible to make any diagnosis.

0:26:20 Viagra for erectile dysfunction.

0:28:42 Somehow it's not ok to make money helping people.

0:29:28 Supplements are exactly that.

0:31:29 Zeitgeber.

0:32:04 Ultradian rhythm.

0:32:30 Suprachiasmatic nucleus.

0:33:10 Every single cell has a circadian clock.

0:34:14 Agile Health Coaching.

0:36:34 "Sleep hygiene" is a nebulous term.

0:37:23 Teaching yourself out of a job.

0:38:18 We used to use the sun.

0:38:26 Now we have electricity and time is money.

0:39:26 First step is value sleep.

0:40:22 Ganglion in the eye that do nothing except sense blue light/

0:40:38 Pineal gland.

0:40:42 Melatonin.

0:40:52 Adrenals keep us awake.

0:41:13 Aldosterone.

0:42:14 Wake and sleep promoting neurotransmitters.

0:42:33 That's 80% of circadian rhythm.

0:43:13 The neocortex allows us to interact with the environment.

0:43:35 GABA slows down the neocortex.

0:43:55 Altering the resting and or action potential of the neuron.

0:44:20 Feeling exhausted, having a second wind.

0:45:55 Sleep hygiene is simulating the light going away.

0:46:21 Body temp is a cue.

0:47:09 The bedroom is for sleep and sex only.

0:48:02 Dead man's handle metaphor.

0:49:53 Is the modern environment is survivable?

0:50:41 Distract yourself else your mind will go racing.

0:51:33 Notification hell.

0:52:15 People get freaked out without external stimulation.

0:52:51 Men tend to ruminate on the future, women look back on everything that went wrong.

0:54:41 Make a list.

0:54:54 You will be better after sleep!

0:55:40 Don't look at the clock

0:57:46 There's no evidence of vitamin D at night causing a problem.

0:59:16 Sleep Cocktails is changing name.

0:59:42 All the SEALs got off Ambien

1:00:08 Vitamin K2.

1:03:59 Book: Take a Nap! Change Your Life by Mark Ehrman.

1:05:13 Double your learning speed with naps.

1:09:47 Can you have too much sleep?

1:12:09 Kirk's website.

1:13:12 sleepcocktails.com

Ketogenic junk food is coming, and it threatens to send the second low-carbohydrate revolution to the same place the first one ended up. That would be a terrible shame because high-fat, low-carb, moderate protein diets have so much to offer for weight loss, metabolic syndrome, athletic and cognitive performance, possibly even cancer.

What can we do? Learn to cook. Prioritise food preparation. Just eat real food.

Jeremy Hendon is an author, speaker, entrepreneur, digital nomad, friend, mentor and co-author of The Essential Keto Cookbook. I wrote the foreword to the book, and the day before Jeremy and I recorded this interview, my wife Julia made two of the recipes.

Pork and Cashew Stir-Fry

INGREDIENTS

• 1/2 lb (225 g) pork tenderloin, sliced thin
• 1 egg, whisked
• 1 bell pepper, diced
• 1 onion, diced
• 1 cup (140 g) cashews
• 1 Tablespoon (5 g) fresh ginger, grated
• 3 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1 teaspoon (5 ml) Chinese chili oil (see page 185 for recipe) (optional)
• 1 Tablespoon (15 ml) sesame oil (optional)
• 2 Tablespoons (30 ml) tamari soy sauce
• Salt to taste
• Avocado oil to cook with

Kale and Chives Egg Muffins

INGREDIENTS

• 6 eggs
• 1 cup kale, finely chopped
• 1/4 cup (17 g) chives, finely chopped
• 1/2 cup (120 ml) almond or coconut milk
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 8 slices of prosciutto or bacon (optional)

0:00:52 Jeremy has been travelling with his wife Louise in China, Portugal, Taiwan, Thailand, Scotland, France, US.

0:03:04 The Hendons are really good at distilling things down.

0:03:47 It's better to establish a base, cook for yourself.

0:04:35 In Thailand they cook in coconut and olive oil.

0:04:49 Tea eggs.

0:05:08 It's hard to get vegetables in northern Thailand.

0:05:33 You may run out of willpower.

0:06:09 Telling a server that you have an allergy is a good way to make sure you don't eat anything you'd rather not.

0:06:30 Vacuum sealer bags.

0:07:01 It makes more sense to take your time for other reasons.

0:07:40 Observing modern culture.

0:07:54 The Essential Keto Cookbook: 124+ Ketogenic Diet Recipes (Including Keto Meal Plan & Food List).

0:08:09 Working coffee shops and wifi in the apartment.

0:08:15 Going through phases of working hard.

0:08:32 Coworking space.

0:08:48 Internet in Thailand is 200M down 100 up.

0:09:12 Louise is a great photographer.

0:09:29 The photos were taken abroad.

0:11:13 It's hard to remember that you're always going to be ok.

0:11:48 The risk afford certain privileges.

0:12:06 The Anxiety Podcast — Less Anxiety. More Life.

0:12:56 Nobody seems to have a good answer for stress.

0:13:23 A lot more stress working as an attorney.

0:13:43 Jeremy loved working with Goldman Sachs.

0:14:43 Serotonin binding to 5-HT4 receptor causes anxiety, tachycardia and cortisol production.

0:15:52 Jeremy has been low carb since 2004.

0:16:20 Was running 60 miles a week.

0:16:52 If you're trying to lose weight, low carb is the default thing to try.

0:17:18 Lots of people have been asking for this book.

0:17:48 Debug Me. My talk at QCon SF.

0:19:41 More and more executives are discovering the keto diet.

0:20:15 Younger people seem more up for it.

0:20:34 Louise loves keto.

0:20:54 As do older women.

0:23:19 The ketogenic diet is a hormetic stress at first.

0:23:53 There are other stressors that might make it an inappropriate time to transition to a ketogenic diet.

0:24:42 Switching back and forth.

0:24:52 Breaking Through Plateaus and Sustainable Fat-Loss with Jason Seib.

0:26:07 AltShift Facebook group.

0:26:47 Lactate dehydrogenase is part of anaerobic glycolysis.

0:27:01 I said 20 minute I meant second.

0:27:44 Leptin and Hyperpalatable Foods with Stephan Guyenet.

0:28:25 Good Calories, Bad Calories: Fats, Carbs, and the Controversial Science of Diet and Health by Gary Taubes

0:30:24 Initially I lost a lot of weight on a ketogenic diet, but how much of that was muscle?

0:30:52 Jeremy turned up at our house looking shredded.

0:30:59 14 day cycle.

0:31:27 Not being hungry during calorie restriction

0:33:42 Overfeeding studies show subjects gain muscle as well as fat.

0:34:59 If bodybuilders are doing it, it warrants further investigation!

0:36:05 Creating huge calorie deficits on the bike.

0:37:03 DXA scan.

0:37:41 Keto junk food.

0:39:12 Ketogenic paleo?

0:39:54 All popular diet books are paleo, even they don't say so.

0:42:32 Pork and cashew stir fry.

0:43:37 Overlooking vitamins.

0:44:10 Cronometer.

0:45:00 The recommended daily allowance (RDA) mean almost nothing.

0:45:28 Getting sufficient magnesium can be hard.

0:45:30 Possibly calcium.

0:46:06 Spectracell test.

0:46:24 How to Measure Your Metabolism with Organic Acids.

0:46:36 NutrEval test.

0:46:56 Alkaline phosphatase.

0:48:08 Artificial Intelligence for blood chemistry interpretation.

0:48:36 The Secret of Good Health Coaching with Bryan Walsh.

0:50:22 Daniel Amen.

0:50:30 Watson.

0:53:37 Functional blood chemistry analysis.

0:55:18 MediChecks UK.

0:55:38 Theranos.

0:56:57 Kale and chive egg muffins.

0:57:31 The book is top 600 in kindle books.

In my early twenties, I tore a carotid artery out of my neck in a motorcycle accident. The emergency procedure that followed undoubtedly saved my life and from that point forward I had no time to listen to people complaining about the limitations of the nationalised health care that exists in the UK. In my thirties, the same system of evidence-based medicine let me down badly, and in the end, it was a chiropractor who describes himself as "the least evidence-driven person he knows" that turned my life around.

Now I'm slightly confused. I am aware that the evidence-based system has a lot to offer, but I don't feel I can use it effectively without the assistance of someone like Dr. Tommy Wood. Why?

The system is in crisis.

The system is in crisis in part because of the sheer volume of evidence being generated, much of which is unreproducible or misappropriated by vested interests. Building a meta-analysis atop of this shoddy foundation does little to clarify the situation.

Animal and cell models.

Are used as supporting evidence but frequently what happens outside of the body or in another animal has little or nothing to do with what happens in humans in a real-life setting. The models are becoming cheap enough for scientists to make multiple attempts at finding the "correct" answer, and much of the data are never published.

Lies, damned lies, and statistics.

You cannot prove something to be true using statistical methods.

Science advances one funeral at a time.

Handing out a grant to the young and inexperienced is a risky thing to do, and so inevitably the money follows experience. But imagine if your entire life's work was based on ideas that were later shown to be wrong. Would you come clean?

In this candid interview with Dr. Tommy Wood.

Tommy talks about the limitations of the evidence-based system, but his intention is not to throw science under the bus. Rather, he wants us all to understand the limitations and proceed with caution. As a scientist that does peer review for a living, Tommy's goal is to leave science in better shape than he found it.

Since recording this interview, we have adopted the Agile Scrum sprint system of health coaching.

And it's going great! We're excited about the new system, and the first health sprints are underway. I'm still very keen to know what you think about the idea, so please complete the one question (three clicks total) survey I mention in the show.

0:00:15 The main paper from Tommy's PhD thesis: Treatment temperature and insult severity influence the neuroprotective effects of therapeutic hypothermia.

0:01:28 Newborn babies with brain injury.

0:02:20 The cooling is only 2 or 3 degrees.

0:02:33 What's the best temperature?

0:03:28 Figure 1: Hemispheric area loss after moderate hypoxia-ischaemia.

0:04:01 Richard D. Feinman: "Nobody loses an average amount of weight."

0:04:49 Tommy may sound anti-science, but this is what he does for a living and he hopes to leave science in a better state than when he left it.

0:06:04 People are selective about the studies they choose to dismantle.

0:06:39 The Cochrane Collaboration.

0:07:04 Cochrane do systematic reviews and meta-analysis.

0:07:37 The meta-analysis is only as good as the studies on which it's based.

0:08:13 Publication bias is a problem.

0:08:58 Anyone can learn how to do a Cochrane review.

0:09:32 Questionable discussion: Effects of low-carbohydrate diets v. low-fat diets on body weight and cardiovascular risk factors: a meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials.

0:09:55 Tommy's letter: The cardiovascular risk reduction benefits of a low-carbohydrate diet outweigh the potential increase in LDL-cholesterol.

0:10:47 Self-appointed expert that cannot be wrong.

0:12:11 The are a number of different funding sources.

0:13:20 It's less risky to give money to the more experienced.

0:13:35 Max Planck: "Science advances one funeral at a time."

0:14:29 We don't know what people are doing but not publishing.

0:15:04 Cell and animal models enable you to make multiple attempts without publishing.

0:15:31 Statistics never prove anything to be true.

0:15:51 The emphasis is on new things that sound sexy.

0:16:30 One editor questioned Tommy's animal model when a human trial was underway.

0:17:30 Papers are retracted from big journals.

0:18:27 In finance this is called backfitting.

0:19:05 How can we expect the animal model to translate to humans?

0:19:34 Most animal models don't reflect what happens in humans at all.

0:20:03 1,026 experimental treatments in acute stroke.

0:20:58 Tommy's study was a model of something that we know works in humans and other animals.

0:22:17 Because he started with the basics, Tommy is confident this work will extrapolate to humans.

0:22:59 Should consumers of science be interested in cell and animal models?

0:23:06 Tommy finds it very difficult to get excited about a mouse study.

0:23:13 There are some genetic mutations that cause Alzheimer's very young.

0:23:29 These do not translate well into humans.

0:23:48 Genomic responses in mouse models poorly mimic human inflammatory diseases.

0:24:54 The immune system is particularly complex and difficult.

0:25:41 Don't take supplements based on studies done in rats!

0:26:01 Spirulina for detox.

0:26:48 This is not even remotely close to what's going on inside a living human.

0:27:30 It's easier than ever before to get access to the science.

0:29:06 As a computer scientist, I've never done science.

0:29:43 Spend time on the basics.

0:30:28 Abraham Lincoln? "Give me six hours to chop down a tree, and I will spend four hours sharpening the axe."

0:31:17 Dr. Dan Kalish describes himself as not being evidence-driven but he still gets fantastic results.

0:31:47 Do we need to be 100% evidence-based?

0:32:04 Why Most Published Research Findings Are False.

0:32:33 Evidence based medicine: a movement in crisis?

0:32:48 Evidence-based as a starting point, not a wall of protection.

0:33:54 Anecdote is the lowest form of evidence.

0:35:52 There's no protocol for debugging a computer program but there is a system.

0:37:06 Our plans are evidence-based, but some of the newer supplements lack data.

0:37:57 My swipe file is getting out of control.

0:38:59 Gary Ralston Consulting.

0:39:07 Agile project management.

0:39:28 Could the same system work for health coaching?

0:39:53 The traditional Waterfall model.

0:41:23 Please let me know if this is a good idea.

0:41:57 I've been using Zoom.

0:42:18 Our kanban board has four columns, Todo, Doing, Review, and Done.

0:47:11 Podcast on organic acids.

0:47:49 The year one cost of our programme costs around $8,000. For the performance and longevity orientated, the cost per year thereafter is about $5,000.

0:51:18 The stool tests are not perfect, sometimes the Doctor's Data test comes up trumps, sometimes BioHealth is best.

0:51:29 The GI-MAP™ stool test.

0:51:44 Our programme is about the cost of a mountain bike.

0:52:09 But the testing will make you faster!

0:52:49 If you're not completely happy in 8 months I will refund all of the money you spent on my time.

0:55:16 Initial round of testing and then we retest.

0:55:38 This adds accountability.

0:56:24 Agile also adds accountability.

0:57:58 My last round of testing found a blasto infection, yeast and clostridial overgrowth, b6 and carnitine deficiency.

0:58:36 How long does insulin resistance takes to happen?

0:58:55 Insulin resistance can start in your 20s and 30s.

0:59:38 Total maintenance costs.

1:00:10 $1,500 a year on supplements.

1:01:02 The people spending the most money are also the most engaged.

1:01:36 Trying too many things at once can be a problem.

1:02:19 We concentrate on teaching.

1:03:27 Podcast on the FDN training course.

1:03:57 Chet Morjaria: Coach and Director of Editorial at Breaking Muscle.

1:04:03 The best coach should be trying to work herself out of a job.

1:05:20 Getting people to pay for all of my time can be challenging.

1:05:44 The tests are more expensive on directlabs.com.

1:06:21 You can't make a living selling supplements.

1:06:23 More recently I've been charging $250 an hour for my time, but I don't bill for as much time as I spend.

1:07:00 We do lots of work on the backend but I only bill for 30 minutes of my time.

1:08:04 Dripping tests onto people.

1:08:29 If you'd like to do just one test, please order it soon!

1:10:23 We haven't made any money but we are having fun.

Imagine you're in the pub and you've just bumped into your friend Mario Roxas. Mario happens to be a naturopathic doctor and the director of research and development at Thorne, the Rolls Royce of supplement companies. Wouldn't you want to know what supplements Mario takes? Me too, and so I couldn't resist making that my first question.

But what is it that makes Thorne Research different? Why not buy your supplements from Costco? Two reasons: research and quality. Thorne employ a team of medical and naturopathic doctor scientists that spend their time studying the scientific literature on the lookout for evidence supporting the decision to manufacturer a specific supplement. Secondly, there's quality. Thorne cater to the sensitive customer likely to experience allergic reactions. The raw materials used to make a supplement originate from trusted sources, but Thorne validate the content of all their supplements no less than three times during the manufacturing process. Surprisingly, the FDA laws only require a supplement manufacturer to list the ingredients they added to the supplement, and there's no guarantee that one or more of the raw ingredients used are free of potential allergens like lactose even though they're not listed on the label.

Are big supplement companies any different from big pharma?

Allopathic medicine is often accused of being bought, but what makes alternative any different? Are the naturopathic doctors simply prescribing Meriva in place of Humira? I would argue no, absolutely not, and the proof is in the name supplement. As Mario points out, supplement is the perfect word. You can't supplement your way out of a bad diet or lifestyle, and so the supplement is but one tool in the extensive chest of a good functional medicine practitioner.

Three years ago I had never taken a nutritional supplement.

Now I have a cupboard full of them. The reason is simple: they work. I used to take regularly chlorpheniramine for allergies. Killing off overgrowths of opportunistic pathogens and parasites with herbs like oregano and noni got me most of the way there, now I stay symptom-free by regularly supplementing with methyl-folate. The supplement didn't just mask my symptoms; it corrected a deficiency and as a result, my red blood cells have become normal sized.

Adverse events?

Do you know of someone who had a serious adverse event as the result of taking a nutritional supplement free of contaminants? I don't think this happens very often, if at all. Please let me know in the comments section below.

0:00:42 Mario became interested in supplements whilst a resident at the National College of Natural Medicine.

0:02:12 Thorne Research are the Rolls Royce of supplements.

0:02:58 Mario takes the Basic Nutrients 2/day multivitamin.

0:03:15 Together with LipoCardia®, CoQ10, fish oil and NiaCel®.

0:03:58 Whey protein in a smoothie.

0:04:35 Interview with Bob Rountree on mitochondrial health.

0:05:15 Supplement design starts with research.

0:06:09 Thorne has a team of scientists and doctors, NDs, MDs and PhDs.

0:07:48 The product development cycle for nicotinamide riboside lasted two years.

0:08:43 Two years is a long time for a supplement.

0:09:30 When asked about supplements, what does Mario tell his friends?

0:09:37 Focus on the basics first, e.g. food.

0:10:12 Supplement is a perfect word.

0:10:41 Omega-3 fatty acids are important.

0:10:54 Also probiotics.

0:11:01 Things to help with digestion, e.g. enzymes.

0:11:25 Added fibre.

0:11:46 Chronic inflammation, curcum is helpful, e.g. Meriva-SR®.

0:13:08 What's the difference between a $60 per month Thorne multi vs. a $10 Costco multi?

0:13:45 Thorne use a capsule and there's multiple capsules.

0:14:03 The capsules easier to absorb.

0:14:23 Thorne uses no unnecessary additives, fillers or flow agents.

0:15:03 No tablets because binders.

0:15:54 There's nothing toxic about magnesium stearate, but it can interfere with absorption.

0:18:15 Flow agents and fillers may be a proxy for quality, but the type of ingredients used is probably more important.

0:18:43 The supplement manufacturer are only required to list on the label the things that they put in.

0:22:16 Thorne products are hypoallergenic.

0:23:23 The most expensive supplement is the one you don't absorb.

0:23:41 Methylcobalamin is an absorbable form of B12.

0:24:16 Originally I was iron deficient, I found out the hard way that cheap iron supplements don't work.

0:25:14 Are supplements hard on the liver?

0:25:54 By using the most bioavailable forms, the liver is unburdened of the job of conversion.

0:26:14 Some, like Meriva-SR®, are hepatoprotective (protective of the liver).

0:29:01 In the case of Meriva, the main ingredient is manufactured by a third party.

0:29:04 But even so, the raw material goes into quarantine.

0:29:27 Thorne evaluates through it's own lab to verify identity.

0:30:06 Every lot goes through at least 3 and sometimes 4 rounds of verification.

0:31:51 In house manufacturing provides a level of control.

0:32:33 If the manufacturer knows you don't have a QA department, what incentive do they have to deliver the goods?

0:32:47 Thorne calls this "trust but verify".

0:33:19 The certificate of analysis (COA).

0:34:58 The COA shows what's in the product, and details of potential contaminants. Here's an example for the AM part of the EXOS multivitamin.

0:36:51 The only way to make money selling supplements on Amazon is buy large quantities and then let Amazon do the fulfillment.

0:38:10 Thorne has been clamping down on Amazon sellers.

0:39:26 Thorne do keep track of adverse events.

0:39:58 This is part of FDA compliance.

0:40:17 Majority are upset stomach.

0:41:09 New IBD digestive support supplement EnteroMend®, Meriva, Boswellia, Aloe, partially hydrolyzed guar gum and glutamine

0:45:49 MCT powdered with bionic fibre.

0:47:52 Ketos OS gave me diarrhoea, KetoForce was fine (but tastes awful).

0:48:29 Creating palatability can cause problems with allergens.

Three years ago I went through round after round of blood testing until eventually I realised that the doctor was following a procedure laid out in a flow chart. Heck, he even showed me the flow chart. Two months and thousands of dollars of insurance deductibles later I was no closer to understanding the underlying cause of my fatigue, insomnia, brain fog and other symptoms.

My doctor seemed somewhat willing to run any blood test I wanted but he held the results very close to his chest. Everything was normal, and the Google searches I made in an attempt to understand better my results yielded nothing useful. It's not that sodium and potassium on a blood chemistry don't mean anything, they do, it's that you won't ever be able to figure it out without some help.

When I finally admitted defeat and looked outside the network of doctors willing to accept the insurance that was costing me a fortune and getting me nowhere fast, I found someone who wanted to run a urinary organic acids test.

What is an organic acid?

William Shaw, Ph.D., is board certified in the fields of clinical chemistry and toxicology by the American Board of Clinical Chemistry. Before he founded The Great Plains Laboratory, Inc., he worked for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Dr Shaw describes organic acids as "the stuff of metabolism". Organic acids are surrogate markers that give valuable clues about what's going on inside your body.

Finally, I had a window on what was really going on.

I don't think anyone expected me to look at the result as a patient, but that's what I did, and I was excited because now my searches started yielding useful information. Take for example vanillylmandelic, a breakdown product of epinephrine and norepinephrine, also known as adrenaline. Low levels of vanillylmandelic indicate little activity of a hormone that acts increases blood pressure, respiration rate, heart rate, increases glucose, and dilates the pupils, all for the purpose of enabling you to quickly and safely get out of a potentially life-threatening situation. Sounds a lot like adrenal fatigue, huh?

But there probably wasn't anything wrong with adrenal glands.

In addition to low vanillylmandelic, I had (and have) high levels of HPHPA (3-(3-hydroxyphenyl)-3-hydroxypropionic acid), a metabolite created by certain Clostridia species of bacteria (C. sporogenes, C. caloritolerans, C. botulinum & others). HPHPA looks enough like dopamine to downregulate the activity of the enzyme dopamine-beta-hydroxylase, but not enough to have the other biological effects, leading to a derangement of neurotransmitter balance.

Your gut can mess with your brain!

The fix?

A high end probiotic containing 50-100 billion CFU of Lactobacillus rhamnosus.

I've honed in just one example of problems that can be revealed and fixed easily using organic acids. Besides offering the most complete and accurate evaluation of gut yeast and bacteria, the test also provides information on important nutritional markers, glutathione status, oxalate metabolism, and much more.

By all means, order an organic acids test for yourself, and I will help you understand the results but know that this test is a single tool in our chest that includes other tests and diet and lifestyle modification. Book a free consultation and Amelia will walk you through the testing process.

0:00:16 Dr William Shaw, Ph.D is the founder of Great Plains lab.

0:00:23 Formerly a clinical chemist and toxicologist at the CDC.

0:00:46 Using mass spectrometry on urine would allow Dr. Shaw to measure virtually anything in metabolism.

0:01:33 Dr Shaw has been highly motivated from the beginning.

0:02:00 It's rare for someone to do an organic acids test and not find something significant.

0:02:59 Organic acids are the stuff of metabolism.

0:03:50 The metabolites from bacteria and other microorganisms have a profound impact on human health.

0:04:49 The Great Plains OAT measures the complex balance of man and microbiome.

0:05:09 The wrong microorganisms can harm mental health.

0:05:34 Once you have the results, you can manipulate them.

0:05:47 The OAT takes out the guess work.

0:06:29 Why are GPs not running the OAT?

0:06:50 The OAT is complex.

0:07:24 A one day seminar is usually enough to cover the basics.

0:07:37 The insurance has become very tightfisted.

0:08:13 Even if you have to pay out of pocket, the test is not that expensive.

0:09:08 The OAT covers all systems of the body.

0:09:49 Mass spectrometry is the truth machine.

0:10:08 Mark Newman on my podcast.

0:11:04 The Khan Academy organic chemistry.

0:11:19 Metabolic Fitness Pro.

0:11:57 Dr Shaw has taught the grandson of Krebs.

0:12:26 My OAT result.

0:12:51 The GP has a lot more markers than the Genova equivalent.

0:13:10 Whenever you buy an OAT, you're buying some of Dr Shaw's experience.

0:13:56 The reference ranges come from healthy volunteers.

0:14:25 There's a statistical analysis, the ranges are based on the vast majority.

0:14:50 Only healthy individuals are included.

0:15:21 The Genova test use the conjugate base name.

0:16:10 Nobody is writing junk about organic acids, that makes research much easier.

0:16:44 The GP OAT has the most comprehensive coverage of the gut microbiome.

0:17:08 Some of the metabolites produced can affects neurotransmitters.

0:17:43 Marker #16 HPHPA.

0:18:15 HPHPA is very similar to dopamine.

0:18:23 This interferes with the conversion of dopamine to epinephrine and norepinephrine.

0:18:26 Most people have an equal amount of dopamine and epinephrine and norepinephrine

0:18:52 The clostridia inhibit dopamine beta dehydrogenase.

0:19:49 Markers #33 and #34.

0:20:12 High levels of dopamine are a problem.

0:20:29 Dopamine causes oxidative stress and can kill neurons.

0:21:01 10x my result have been seen in autism and schizophrenia.

0:21:32 The oxidative metabolite is called dopachrome.

0:22:29 Elevated HPHPA may start with GI symptoms.

0:22:42 Later this could become depression or obsessive compulsive behaviour.

0:23:20 The peripheral nervous system uses norepinephrine.

0:24:27 Norepinephrine is what you need at the start of a race.

0:25:18 OAT is almost like cheating.

0:26:10 The clostridial species are usually easily treatable with probiotics with lactobacillus.

0:27:19 L. rhamnosus.

0:27:42 Cresol has the same effect on dopamine but is toxic in its own right and can be smelled on the breath.

0:28:44 Cresol is made by C. diff.

0:29:04 14,000 people die of C. diff infection each year.

0:29:39 Cresol is common in anorexia.

0:30:36 We've tested for the A&B toxins in stool.

0:32:00 I've always had a yeast problem.

0:32:18 D-Arabinitol is different from D-Arabinose.

0:33:06 I have an overgrowth of Candida that can easily be treated.

0:33:22 Coconut oil or caprylic acid.

0:33:31 Nystatin.

0:33:43 Chronic fatigue, fibromyalgia.

0:34:00 Sugar craving!

0:34:39 Evidence yeast can metabolize ketones.

0:35:11 Dr Shaw thinks that the ketones will not be fuelling the yeast.

0:35:27 Markers #47-49 carnitine deficiency.

0:36:13 Carnitine shuttles fatty acids into the mitochondria.

0:37:05 Fats are oxidized with less energy yield in the peroxisomes.

0:37:56 The GP test has 9 yeast markers, I'm used to seeing one.

0:38:08 Candida can metabolize isocitrate into oxalate.

0:38:44 Dr Shaw discovered that this week!

0:38:59 The research will take time, a year or longer before anything is in print.

0:39:20 Marker #21.

0:39:57 Candida metabolize isocitrate into oxalate and that's the connection between the yeast and kidney stones. Oxalates are also capable of crystallizing anywhere in the urinary tract, blood vessels, the blood brain barrier, the thyroid, liver and muscles.

0:40:44 Oxalates may turn out to be more important than cholesterol.

0:42:10 High oxalate foods, spinach and soy, nuts and berries.

0:42:29 300mg Calcium and 150mg magnesium citrate can be protective.

0:43:02 Great Plains have just started DNA testing and they look at oxalate metabolism SNPs.

0:44:33 Vitamin B6 deficiency causes oxalate production.

0:45:09 People with high oxalates should supplement with 100 mg per of B6.

0:45:53 Dr Shaw needs to write the manual.

0:46:54 Narrowing down a list of possibilities to a list of probabilities.

0:47:23 Order a Great Plains OAT.

0:47:45 There are currently 75 markers, more soon.

0:48:36 Great Plains are working on a test for jet fuel toxicity.

0:49:19 The Dreamliner has separate air system.

0:50:05 The Great Plains webinar archive.

0:50:59 The low cholesterol problem.

The autoimmune paleo diet described in Eileen Laird’s new book reversed occult blood found on my stool test result and brought my Hs-CRP blood test for inflammation back into the normal range. I was already eating a paleo-type diet before I made the switch to AIP, and with hindsight I suspect that seeds, nuts and eggs were the main foods still causing me problems. I’m not alone, and process of eliminating common food allergens and then doing careful reintroductions is frequently helpful for the athletes that we work with.

We’ve recommended Sarah Ballantyne’s book to hundreds of people. My mother in law owns two copies and lends them to strangers all the time. No doubt it’s a fantastic book, but sometimes I feel badly for burdening people with the task of reading it, especially if they’re not feeling good. You’ve probably noticed that most of the volume of any book comprises of the argument to support the prescription. What if you don’t care about the argument?

Just tell me what to do.

Eileen's new book: A Simple Guide to the Paleo Autoimmune Protocol does exactly that. You can read it in a couple of hours and know exactly what you should do next. Most people think of AIP as a diet but that’s not true, AIP is a lifestyle and the important lifestyle factors are described succinctly in Eileen’s book.

Eileen Laird is an amazing women: deep tissue massage therapist, outdoors lover, author and podcast host. Eileen has been using autoimmune paleo diet (AIP) to successfully manage her once debilitating rheumatoid arthritis.

Getting help.

In this episode, Eileen is interviewed by the women who introduced me to AIP. Julia is my wife, and a food scientist, and I’ll be forever grateful to her for enabling me to execute the dietary rules so effortlessly, something she now teaches other people professionally. Are you struggling to make AIP work? Book a month of coaching with Julia. Julia doesn’t do food allergy testing or chronic food logging. Instead, she teaches via the phone or Skype and then follows up on a three-day food diary stored in Google Docs.

0:00:20    Eileen's book: A Simple Guide to the Paleo Autoimmune Protocol (AIP).

0:00:38    AIP was originally an elimination diet.

0:00:51    Nightshades and eggs were a problem for people with autoimmunity.

0:01:15    The second phase is reintroduction.

0:01:41    Seeds and spices.

0:01:58    People are started to appreciate the lifestyle component.

0:02:18    Sleep, stress, self-talk.

0:02:51    The goal is to live the best life possible with autoimmunity.

0:03:03    Who is AIP for?

0:03:39    Do you need a diagnosis?

0:04:17    Over 100 autoimmune diseases are classified.

0:04:33    Multiple sclerosis (MS), rheumatoid arthritis (RA), lupus.

0:04:41    Diabetes.

0:04:46    Skin diseases.

0:04:57    Eczema is an immune reaction.

0:05:05    Lichen planus.

0:05:52    Sometimes a diagnosis is hard to make.

0:07:06    If you've already tried paleo and there are lingering symptoms then AIP can help.

0:07:53    Eileen was healthy, active, fit.

0:08:35    Woke up one day with pain

0:08:51    Same problem on both sides is classic RA.

0:10:12    Eileen has been lucky in not needing medication.

0:10:36    Eileen reclaimed joy in her life within a few months.

0:11:08    Now back to working full time and hiking.

0:11:41    Eileen took things in steps.

0:11:58    Tried vegetarian and veganism.

0:12:18    Paleo is a good starting point for people intimidated by AIP.

0:13:07    Eileen waited 5 months on paleo before going full AIP.

0:13:47    Bland food is not sustainable!

0:14:06    Now there are lots of good resources.

0:14:39    Dairy, even the best dairy were a problem.

0:15:28    AIP can be complex, how can we make it simpler?

0:16:12    Book: Better Than Before: What I Learned About Making and Breaking Habits--to Sleep More, Quit Sugar, Procrastinate Less, and Generally Build a Happier Life.

0:17:36    Planning is essential.

0:17:49    Out of sight, out of mind.

0:18:28    Household support is important.

0:19:01    Angie at Autoimmune Paleo.

0:20:08    AIP is not supposed to be forever but the reintroduction phase can be hard.

0:22:12    The reintroduction of eggs was important to Eileen.

0:23:33    Reintroduction requires patience.

0:23:44    Being the focus of a science experiment  is incredibly empowering.

0:24:20    If you get it wrong, you've got to back to square one, another 30 days.

0:25:01    Symptoms are the guide.

0:25:47    Until you clear some of the inflammation, everything is noise.

0:26:40    Struggling emotionally is a consideration.

0:27:12    Eileen reintroduced at six weeks.

0:27:28    Some wait a year.

0:27:36    You should reintroduce! AIP is not necessarily healthier.

0:28:14    There's a risk of disordered eating.

0:28:51    Don't let your food become another stressor.

0:29:46    I don't have any emotional connection to food.

0:30:03    But I hate feeling like crap!

0:30:22    It's not orthorexic to want to feel good.

0:30:57    We've been doing modified AIP for nearly 3 years.

0:31:10    I go back to AIP after hard training or racing.

0:32:03    Qualify using the Bristol Stool chart!

0:32:31    People want meal plans but Julia hates to produce them.

0:32:58    Encouraging people to take ownership.

0:33:16    Book: The Paleo Approach: Reverse Autoimmune Disease and Heal Your Body.

0:33:30    Why another AIP book?

0:33:38    Eileen enjoys making complex information accessible.

0:34:19    Phoenix Helix blog.

0:34:36    The book is a simple package and is for people thinking "just tell me what to do!"

0:36:12    Sometimes we feel bad about burdening people with the AIP Bible.

0:37:16    Eileen wrote the book with people with autoimmunity in mind.

0:37:35    But her family understood AIP in a way they hadn't previously after reading the book.

0:38:09    The book is unintimidating.

0:39:25    What about AIP as a healing diet (without autoimmunity).

0:39:53    Eileen thinks it's a great reset diet.

0:40:10    Reintroductions are typically very successful.

0:40:15    We use a combination of AIP plus supplements to address the specific problems that we find on lab tests.

0:40:59    What are the other things apart from diet?

0:41:11    People frequently focus exclusively on diet.

0:41:43    The lifestyle factors are equally important.

0:42:00    AIP dieters are perfectionists.

0:42:26    Diet is a good place to start.

0:42:34    Sleep is likely to improve after you change your diet.

0:42:48    Worry about the things that you can change.

0:43:03    Meditation works wonders.

0:43:29    Even 5 minutes a day can make a difference

0:43:40    Yoga, being outdoors in nature.

0:43:54    Heart beat slows, tightness softens.

0:44:54    Circadian rhythm is very important.

0:45:07    Setting a bedtime and awakening time reduced RA inflammation.

0:45:28    People are harder on themselves than they need to be.

0:45:41    Ask yourself, would you talk to someone else like that?

0:47:11    Eileen's podcast.

0:47:26    Eileen felt like her joints were on fire, hence the Phoenix.

0:47:49    The podcast is in iTunes.

0:48:00    Recipe roundtable on Eileen's blog.

Run a blood test, find low levels of a hormone. Prescribe synthetic version of said hormone. Two weeks later your patient is back with a slightly different set of symptoms. Run another blood test, prescribe another hormone. If there's too much, block it, if there isn't enough, just add more. Rinse and repeat for hypothalamic pituitary adrenal, thyroid and gonadal axes. Refer out to a gastroenterologist for chronic diarrhoea. Gastroenterologist diagnosis is "irritable bowel syndrome", says it's nothing to do with diet, suggests colonoscopy, anti-inflammatory drugs, possible surgery.

This sounds like a parody.

But this is what happened to me, and it's still happening to other athletes. Finding a better solution inspired me to quit my day job as a computer programmer at a hedge fund and start a new business with my wife (a food scientist) and a medical doctor.

2015 was our first full year in practice.

At the time of recording, we've helped over 600 athletes with their diet and lifestyle. We've gotten great results and get tremendous satisfaction from each and every success story that we receive. Our success has been in large part due to the significant research and development efforts of our new Chief Medical Officer Dr. Tommy Wood, and by the tireless efforts of our single employee and registered nurse, Amelia Luker.

Our gross revenue was nearly $500,000.

Unfortunately, Julia and I only took home $90,000 of that as profit, and that's with both of us working full-time. If I hired two members of staff to replace us at the going market rate, we'd be making a significant loss. Health coaching is hard because not only do you have to be a great practitioner, you must also be a good business person and marketing expert.

On the plus side.

Quitting my job has enabled us to move from a condo on a busy main road in Oakland, to a small house amongst the trees in a town called Bonny Doon, not far from Santa Cruz, in California. I get a quarterly email from the recruiter at Google, but if I were to go down that route I'd be leaving to commute to an office before my daughter got up in the morning, and I'd be lucky to get home before she went to bed at night.

I don't wish to be mean but…

I could train a monkey to run a blood test and prescribe a hormone. Doctors are being made prisoner to a system that prevents them from making proper use of their education and spending an appropriate amount time with their patients. People don't even know how much their health insurance costs and half the time it doesn't cover what they need. I'm still slightly angry about the current standard of care, and I'm looking forward to being made redundant; I rather miss computer programming.

Are you a financially successful health coach?

Please let me know in the comments section below.

0:01:09 Was it fun?

0:01:33 It was a shock to the system.

0:02:04 The sudden changes are stressful.

0:02:48 We were living in Oakland.

0:03:04 Quitting my job enabled us to move to Scotts Valley.

0:03:44 We've bought a house in Bonny Doon.

0:04:10 Ours is the only WiFi signal.

0:04:46 We can grow our own food.

0:04:57 Starting a business is a double edged sword.

0:05:27 Looking after a 2 year is hard!

0:05:46 Cheating at parenting.

0:06:29 Working at home I get to see my daughter all day long.

0:07:29 I'm still slightly angry.

0:07:50 I've stopped doing free consultations now, but you can still do one with Amelia.

0:08:25 Run a blood test, find low hormone, prescribe the hormone, rinse, repeat.

0:08:44 Nobody is doing the proper investigation.

0:09:38 The low hormones are symptoms.

0:10:55 We're waiting to be replaced.

0:11:14 Julie feels the same about saturated fat.

0:11:58 Tommy is planning on doing another residency.

0:12:21 Tommy is now our Chief Medical Officer.

0:12:55 We hope that the people we help go on to spread the word.

0:13:54 All diseases are complex with many underlying causes.

0:14:41 One over the treatment is not necessarily the cause.

0:15:42 Julie doesn't do diet plans, instead she teaches.

0:16:33 Everyone else wants to hold the cards close to their chest.

0:17:09 You can check your own blood glucose.

0:17:24 By now you should have done a Google search for 8-Oxo-2'-deoxyguanosine.

0:18:15 Is this working?

0:19:13 We have more follow-up calls then we have time to publish.

0:19:56 Of course it worked!

0:20:43 We don't have a magic formula yet.

0:20:59 We've tested 605 athletes as of yesterday.

0:21:42 At this point, our programs don't resemble anything we've been trained in.

0:22:21 Social isolation with Bryan Walsh.

0:22:35 Our gross revenue for 2015 was nearly $500,000.

0:23:11 Mark Newman of Precision Analytical.

0:23:44 There's almost no markup on our tests, we're passing those on at cost.

0:23:59 Most of our money comes from selling our time.

0:24:20 We do make some money from selling supplements.

0:24:54 Amelia ships all the supplements.

0:25:20 Making money selling supplements requires the economy of scale.

0:25:52 Bob Rountree talked about NiaCell® (nicotinamide riboside).

0:26:17 Between the two of us we took home $90,000 before tax.

0:26:54 In a way, we have achieved the four-hour work week.

0:27:26 I should have a master's degree by now.

0:28:05 If you really want to get better as a practitioner you must continue your education.

0:28:35 My education is problem driven.

0:28:47 I'm racing pro again this year.

0:29:06 Computer programmers are lazy.

0:29:54 I take the same approach with my training.

0:30:46 Necessity is fantastic teacher.

0:31:17 I won the series points competition at our local cyclocross races in the elite men category.

0:32:13 The Colnago days.

0:32:57 NorCal cross is bumpy.

0:33:25 Now I can sleep after a bike race.

0:33:41 The sugar monster has slayed.

0:34:08 Tommy is a big fan of carb cycling.

0:34:42 The average power in cross is meaningless.

0:35:05 I've been supplementing with exogenous ketones.

0:35:24 Volek showed no difference in glycogen.

0:35:48 Carb cycling made no difference to me.

0:36:38 My path is becoming a theme.

0:37:17 Know who you want to help!

0:37:29 The Practitioner Liberation Project.

0:38:00 I haven't done all of the course.

0:38:10 The most important lesson is be specific.

0:39:14 The people we work with are exactly like me!

0:40:41 We haven't borrowed any money.

0:41:18 Our Concierge Clinical Coaching group.

0:42:12 Now I can answer questions without going bankrupt.

0:42:59 My education is now available for $99 a month.

0:43:55 Please let me know if you found this helpful in the comments section below.