In this episode I was lucky enough to be joined by Roland Schoeman, the current world record holder in the 50m freestyle. In 2004 he won Gold, Silver and Bronze at the Athens Olympics. Roland is 33 years old and will be 36 at his 5th Olympics in Rio. Roland will be taking three tests to get a better understanding of how well his body is responding to his enormous training load.

In this first of a series of interviews, we talk about stress, hormones, neurotransmitters, recovery, ketogenic diets, GI pathogens and more!

[00:00:09] Introduction to Roland Schoeman

[00:00:37] About Nourish Balance Thrive

[00:01:06] Roland's background

[00:02:35] Aging has forced careful attention to recovery

[00:02:56] Ben Greenfield 7 Signs Your Cortisol and Adrenals are Broken

[00:03:48] Saliva Adrenal hormone testing

[00:04:33] What we really use the stress response for in modern life

[00:05:15] The problem of excessive stress

[00:05:34] Roland has a swim and strength training coach, but that's it

[00:05:59] Roland's anti-doping stance

[00:06:37] Resistance stretching and Capoeira

[00:07:29] Enlightened self-interest

[00:07:58] We assume that the pros have access to the best but it's not necessarily true

[00:09:19] Chris was forced into the system of testing by a huge deterioration in health

[00:09:51] Stress puts long term building projects on hold

[00:10:21] Roland tracks HRV using Sweetbeat

[00:11:11] HRV and readiness to train are sometimes discordant

[00:13:10] Having the data can sometimes be your downfall

[00:13:32] Sleep should be really easy

[00:13:56] Low libido, sugar cravings, uneven energy

[00:14:32] Excited about training since fixing adrenal insufficiency

[00:15:04] Travelling makes sleep really hard

[00:15:29] Do sleeping pills help you sleep or knock you unconscious?

[00:15:53] Low resting heart rate and parasympathetic nervous system

[00:16:35] Licorice extract inhibits the breakdown of cortisol to cortisone

[00:17:43] Adjusting cortisol should only be attempted with a lab result, and even then with caution

[00:18:37] Robb Wolf

[00:19:05] Genova Diagnostic Organix urine test

[00:19:22] L-Tyrosine and 5-HTP, dopamine and serotonin

[00:20:31] The Australians have banned the use of sleeping pills

[00:21:56] Checking blood glucose

[00:22:35] Roland has worked with Kim Swanwick

[00:22:50] Blood glucose cortisol connection

[00:23:37] Blood glucose poor sleep connection

[00:24:21] Fixing sleep with diet

[00:24:33] Optimal blood glucose is usually 80-90 mg/dL but there are many exceptions

[00:25:30] Fasted morning glucose is of particular interest

[00:25:56] Keto adaptation

[00:26:24] Roland's experience working with Prof. Tim Noakes

[00:27:36] You must train like you race

[00:28:20] The Real Meal Revolution

[00:29:07] Roland's keto adaptation was painful

[00:29:46] Tons of energy, BUT only with loss of top end power

[00:30:55] Roland abandoned the ketogenic diet and currently eats quinoa, rice, yams

[00:31:57] Mountain biking is almost completely aerobic and lends itself to ketosis

[00:32:44] Open water swimmers might benefit

[00:32:54] Any event lasting more than 9 minutes is 99% aerobic according to Phil Maffetone

[00:33:23] Supplementation during a swim workout

[00:34:16] Protein shake and amino acids immediately post workout

[00:34:33] Definite improvement in recovery

[00:34:50] Needing to eat immediately post workout is a sign your workout was glycolytic

[00:36:10] Not just for Olympians!

[00:36:23] Paying attention to your body

[00:36:36] Coeliac and gluten sensitivity

[00:37:12] Increased period of stress leads to suppress immunity leads to infection

[00:37:54] Roland's digestion is stellar, but he's always looking to do better

[00:38:52] H. pylori and protein digestion

[00:39:37] Stool antigen testing

[00:40:06] The combination of lowered immunity and pathogens is a dangerous one

[00:40:52] Swimmers might be at particular risk as many pathogens are waterborne

[00:41:19] We're only looking for milliseconds here

[00:41:58] More about the Organix test

[00:42:08] Carbohydrate and fatty acid metabolism

[00:42:17] Neurotransmitter turnover

[00:42:19] Methylation, phase I & II detox, i.e. liver function

[00:42:39] CDC Forth Report

[00:43:15] Sulfur containing amino acids and B vitamins

[00:43:33] Bacterial and yeast overgrowths, clostridial species

[00:44:17] The metabolite indican is from the bacterial breakdown of protein

[00:44:50] Dr Dan Kalish

[00:45:25] All the collection is done at home, no need to visit the doctor

[00:46:18] All the tests cost about $1,000

[00:47:29] Symptoms are usually the last thing to show

[00:47:48] Elevated oxidative stress, athletes, phospholipid bilayer, red blood cells, anemia

[00:48:51] How Nourish Balance Thrive works

[00:49:04] The bulk of our inventions are diet and lifestyle based

[00:49:23] Diet, rest, exercise (more is not more), stress reduction

[00:49:47] 400% increase in testosterone, 700% increase of DHEA

[00:50:18] Addressing root causes is far more effective than supplementation

[00:50:45] Supplementing with steroids doesn't make sense for anyone

[00:51:11] Topical hormone supplements are particularly troublesome

[00:51:37] Downregulating sensitivity and production

[00:52:23] Next time we will be reviewing Roland's food diary with our food scientist Julia Kelly