Biohacks to Boost Longevity | JJ Virgin DSH #1117

Summary

Digital Social Hour: Biohacks to Boost Longevity with JJ Virgin | Episode #1117

Released on January 17, 2025

In episode #1117 of Digital Social Hour, host Sean Kelly engages in a comprehensive dialogue with renowned health and fitness expert JJ Virgin. The conversation delves deep into the realm of biohacking, exploring strategies to enhance longevity and overall well-being. This detailed summary captures the essence of their unfiltered and insightful discussion.

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1. Understanding Biohacking and Its Priorities

JJ Virgin initiates the conversation by addressing the foundational aspects of biohacking. She emphasizes the importance of prioritizing primary health factors before delving into advanced biohacks.

“I think these things are super cool, but they have to be put into the right order. Sometimes people start to major in the minors before they've majored in the majored majors.”
— JJ Virgin [02:00]

Key Points:

• Foundation First: Focus on diet, exercise, sleep, relationships, and spiritual wellness before integrating advanced biohacks like red light therapy or cold plunges.
• Integrated Approach: Ensuring that basic health pillars are strong provides a stable base for more sophisticated interventions.

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2. The Impact of Diet on Longevity

A significant portion of the discussion centers around the detrimental effects of ultra-processed foods prevalent in the American diet compared to the fresher options available in Europe and Asia.

“Apparently 70% of our diet is now ultra-processed food.”
— JJ Virgin [02:32]

Key Points:

• Ultra-Processed Foods: Consuming high amounts leads to lower bone density and increased obesity rates.
• Cultural Differences: European and Asian diets showcase fewer processed foods, contributing to better overall health and lower obesity rates.
• Glyphosate Concerns: Exposure to pesticides like glyphosate remains a significant issue in North America, impacting health despite organic efforts.

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3. Fermented Foods and Traditional Diets

JJ highlights the benefits of fermented foods, drawing comparisons between Western diets and those of other cultures where fermentation is integral.

“Fermented food is such a big mainstay of their diet... in Asia, fermented foods are part of the culture.”
— JJ Virgin [06:41]

Key Points:

• Health Benefits: Fermentation enhances nutrient absorption and supports gut health.
• Cultural Practices: Countries like South Korea incorporate fermented foods like kimchi, which contribute to longevity and lower obesity rates.
• Personal Preferences: While initially challenging, incorporating fermented foods can lead to significant health improvements over time.

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4. Optimizing Sleep for Longevity

The conversation shifts to the critical role of sleep in maintaining health and boosting longevity. JJ shares practical tips and personal experiences related to sleep optimization.

“Don't eat two to four hours before bed... you want to hit a very... hormonal home run.”
— JJ Virgin [17:34]

Key Points:

• Sleep Hygiene: Avoiding late-night eating and maintaining a consistent sleep schedule are paramount.
• Technology Aids: Devices like the Eight Sleep mattress provide valuable analytics to monitor and improve sleep quality.
• Impact of Modern Lifestyles: The disruption of natural circadian rhythms due to artificial lighting and screen time negatively affects sleep quality.

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5. Sauna and Cold Plunge Benefits

JJ and Sean explore the benefits of sauna use and cold plunges as effective biohacks for detoxification and muscle recovery.

“Saunas can be amazing... it helps create that shiver response.”
— JJ Virgin [09:43]

Key Points:

• Detoxification: Sweating in saunas helps eliminate toxins stored in fat, while cold plunges aid in reducing inflammation and enhancing muscle recovery.
• Types of Saunas: Traditional fast-heat saunas versus infrared saunas, each offering unique benefits.
• Proper Timing: Integrating these practices thoughtfully within fitness routines to maximize benefits without hindering muscle protein synthesis.

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6. The Importance of Weightlifting for Women

JJ underscores the critical role of weightlifting in women's health, challenging societal norms that often prioritize slimness over strength.

“Weightlifting is the most important thing... women tend to eat less protein and try to shrink themselves.”
— JJ Virgin [12:18]

Key Points:

• Muscle Mass and Longevity: Maintaining muscle mass is directly correlated with reduced all-cause mortality.
• Combatting Sarcopenia: Preventing age-related muscle loss through regular strength training.
• Changing Cultural Perceptions: Encouraging women to embrace strength training over the pursuit of an often unachievable slim physique.

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7. Supplementation: Creatine and Detoxification

The discussion delves into the benefits of creatine supplementation and the necessity of regular detoxification to combat environmental toxins.

“Creatine is one of the greatest things on the planet... most people aren’t getting enough.”
— JJ Virgin [19:57]

Key Points:

• Creatine Benefits: Enhances energy production, supports muscle and brain health, and aids in combating jet lag.
• Supplementation Needs: Despite endogenous production, many individuals require additional creatine through diet or supplements to meet daily needs.
• Detox Strategies: Regular parasite cleanses and adopting traditional detox methods to eliminate heavy metals and other toxins from the body.

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8. Heavy Metals in Food and the Need for Detoxification

JJ elaborates on the pervasive presence of heavy metals in modern diets and the critical need for detoxification practices.

“You’re gonna find it everywhere... heavy metals are in everything.”
— JJ Virgin [35:26]

Key Points:

• Ubiquitous Contaminants: Heavy metals like mercury are found in various food sources, including fish, vegetables, and even meat.
• Health Implications: Chronic exposure can lead to severe health issues, necessitating regular detoxification protocols.
• Dietary Choices: Opting for cleaner protein sources and being mindful of vegetable consumption to minimize toxin intake.

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9. The Role of Community and Purpose in Aging

Sean and JJ discuss the significant impact of community engagement and having a sense of purpose on healthy aging, drawing inspiration from the Blue Zones.

“I think the exercise, the community, that make the biggest difference of all.”
— JJ Virgin [26:24]

Key Points:

• Blue Zones Insights: Communities with strong social ties and active engagement tend to have higher longevity rates.
• Purpose-Driven Life: Maintaining a sense of purpose fosters mental and physical health, contributing to longer lives.
• Cultural Reverence for Elders: Unlike in Western societies, elders in Blue Zones are revered and remain active participants in their communities.

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10. Critique of Big Pharma and Modern Treatments

JJ offers a critical perspective on the use of pharmaceuticals like GLP-1 agonists (e.g., Ozempic) for weight management, advocating for more nuanced approaches.

“They are taking a huge sledgehammer to hit an ant... the way we’re using them is a problem.”
— JJ Virgin [31:53]

Key Points:

• Overreliance on Medication: Pharmaceutical interventions often address symptoms rather than root causes, leading to long-term dependency.
• Need for Balanced Approaches: Combining medications with lifestyle changes can offer more sustainable health improvements.
• Metabolic Health: Addressing foundational issues like insulin resistance and inflammation is crucial for effective weight management and overall health.

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11. Personal Stories and Experiences

Throughout the episode, both Sean and JJ share personal anecdotes that illustrate the challenges and triumphs in their health journeys.

“I was on Freaky Eaters... addict to raw meat.”
— JJ Virgin [34:00]

Key Points:

• Overcoming Food Addictions: JJ recounts her experiences assisting individuals with severe food addictions, emphasizing the importance of personalized interventions.
• Travel and Health: Discussing the impact of frequent travel on health, JJ highlights strategies like creatine supplementation to mitigate jet lag and maintain well-being.
• Early Career Insights: JJ reflects on her pioneering role in the fitness and nutrition industry, advocating for innovative approaches despite limited initial support.

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12. Future Projects: "Powerful Aging"

As the episode concludes, JJ reveals her upcoming project focused on empowering women to age gracefully and maintain strength.

“I am working on my powerful aging book... especially for women to lift weights and build muscle.”
— JJ Virgin [37:34]

Key Points:

• Empowering Women: The book aims to provide practical strategies for women to embrace strength training and muscle building as part of their aging process.
• Comprehensive Program: Includes case studies, coach training, and new product lines to support women in achieving optimal health and longevity.
• Community Focus: Continuing the theme of community and purpose, the project seeks to build a supportive network for women pursuing powerful aging.

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Conclusion

Episode #1117 of Digital Social Hour offers a wealth of knowledge on biohacking and longevity, guided by JJ Virgin's expertise and Sean Kelly's insightful questioning. From foundational health practices to advanced biohacks, the conversation provides actionable strategies for listeners striving to enhance their longevity and overall well-being.

For more information and to stay updated on upcoming projects, visit JJ Virgin's Website and follow her on her latest ventures into powerful aging.

Transcript

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[C]

CT mobile.com we had juice, we had cereal with milk. You know, Choosy's mother's chose Jeff. All that garbage.

[D]

Yeah, yeah. Milk is an interesting one. I remember growing up, they said it was good for your bones and everything.

[C]

Oh, yeah. Except that if you look at the research on milk and bone density, people who drink more, well, milk have lower bone density because the acidic nature of the milk.

[D]

Wow. It's acidic.

[C]

Yeah.

[D]

All right, guys. J.J. virgin here getting ready for the movie premiere. Biohack yourself, right?

[C]

Yeah.

[D]

Big deal.

[C]

The Oscars of Longevity, they're calling it.

[D]

Yeah, I'm really excited. It looks like you got the top of the top people.

[C]

Oh, I was looking at the list. I'm like, first of all, you know, we are. They used to call us the health mafia. It's a tight little crew of people. So it's like, all your friends are there. So super fun, right?

[D]

Yeah. Biohacking was when it first came out, people were making fun of it. Right. It was kind of looked down on.

[C]

And now I think they were just making fun of Dave.

[D]

Dave got a lot.

[C]

I can. I can rib Dave.

[D]

Yeah. Yeah. Dave was like the forefront of it, right. Ten years ago.

[C]

Yes, he was. It was longer than that. Yeah.

[D]

When did you get into it?

[C]

I would not call myself really a biohacker. Okay, so here's the thing. This is my take on it. I think these things are super cool, but I think they have to be put into the right order. And I feel that sometimes with biohacking, people start to major in the minors before they've majored in the majored majors. So you shouldn't be worried about. Are you getting the red light therapy you need if your food sucks? Right. Or you're not exercising, you're not sleeping well. So I think Everything has to be put into place. And first you focus on food, exercise. I'm big on exercise. Sleep, relationships, spiritual wellness. Then let's focus on sauna and red light and cold and all that. And I do all the stuff, but again, I see people doing that stuff and they've like, they're eating ultra processed food.

[D]

Yeah, well, that's most of the American diet, right? Ultra processed food.

[C]

Apparently 70% of our diet is now ultra processed food.

[D]

That's disgusting.

[C]

Isn't that crazy? And you go, we were in Europe this summer. We were walking through a supermarket. My husband goes, you know, you need to take a video of this because there's no. We had to go in the back of the supermarket to find the ultra processed food. Everything was in refrigerators. Everything was fresh. It was completely different. And you walk around the streets in other countries and you, you know, you don't see 40% obesity and 70% overweight or obese.

[D]

Right.

[C]

So, like, cause and effect, maybe. Plus, they're walking.

[D]

Yeah. Yeah. That's interesting. I wonder why Europe's just healthier than us overall.

[C]

You know, food laws. Have you seen the information online where they show foods that have been banned in Europe? I mean, just the glyphosate issue alone.

[D]

Is that US only or is that everywhere? You think, though?

[C]

Glyphosate?

[D]

Yeah.

[C]

Glyphosate I think is in Canada as well. I think Canada. Anything bad we've done, Canada's kind of gotten a lot of it too. But you can just tell the difference. We're so careful about what we eat here, and then we go overseas. And I go, why do I feel so much better here in Europe or in Asia than I felt in the US? Even though I'm doing all the right things in the US you just can't avoid it. I mean, think about it. If you're eating organic in the US you still have glyphosate and all the crap in the soils. Because water flows, air blows. Right, right. You can't get away from it 100%.

[D]

You got to be careful with the bread here. Right.

[C]

I just don't eat bread.

[D]

Not at all?

[C]

No.

[D]

Wow. Bread's so good, though.

[C]

I grew up outside of San Francisco. Like, I was born in San Francisco. Sourdough is in my DNA. Man, sourdough is so good.

[D]

My fiance makes it from scratch. So maybe that's the way to do it. Right?

[C]

That is the way. Well, what you do is you get Einkorn wheat. That is that special non hybridized wheat. What they did Was they, they genetically engineered the wheat to dwarf it, to concentrate the gluten and to be able to produce a lot more of it. And so if you get Einkorn, which you actually can do, I've literally ordered sourdough einkorn pizza crusts from Etsy.

[D]

No way.

[C]

Yes, yes. Isn't that wild?

[D]

They sold food on Etsy.

[C]

I thought, I know, it's crazy. I'm. And I, of course, from the business side, I'm like, how's this woman making money sending me a 20 pizza crust? Like this is. This is a really hard labor. But yeah, Einkorn wheat. That's the deal.

[D]

Einkorn wheat, yeah. Because all the other. I remember growing up, they said like, whole grain was good for you.

[C]

Think about the things they said were good for you. I mean, when I grew up, I was raised on pop tarts. I literally, my nickname was Poppy. We had juice, we had cereal with milk. You know, Choosy's mothers chose Jeff. All that garbage.

[D]

Yeah, yeah. Milk is an interesting one. I remember growing up, they said it was good for your bones and everything.

[C]

Oh, yeah. Except that if you look at the research on milk and bone density, people who drink more milk have lower bone density because of the acidic nature of the milk.

[D]

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[C]

Yeah, it reports the kidneys as acidic. Now if you did say Greek style yogurt and fermented, it. It's different. Fermenting fixes a lot of things. That's why sourdough bread is so awesome. Especially if you do einkorn wheat.

[D]

Yeah, I had Sean O'Meara on. He talked about fermented foods.

[C]

Yeah. It's one of those things that if you go into any other culture, you will see. Like, we spent two summers ago, we were in Seoul, South Korea, which is a fantastically cool place. First of all, I saw one. I didn't. My husband saw one. Overweight person. I like, saw. Everyone is in sh. Walking. They're 90 years old, they're walking, they're at the gym. It's crazy. But they all have. Fermented food is such a big mainstay of their diet. But you think of any other culture and fermented foods are part of it, just not us.

[D]

Wow. Yeah. Kimchi, right?

[C]

Yeah.

[D]

You don't like kimchi, do you? I do.

[C]

Really?

[D]

But it had to. It wasn't at first. I had to force myself.

[C]

Yeah.

[D]

One of those type of things.

[C]

But it's a lot. A lot of things are like that. Like, no one likes Brussels sprouts the first time they eat.

[D]

Yeah. Yeah. Sometimes you just gotta, you know, eat some veggies. Just force yourself.

[C]

Well, and you will over time. Like, green tea was not one of mine. I lived in Japan for a while and it's like, at first I went, this is disgusting. You lived there long enough, you're like, this is amazing.

[D]

Yeah. I love me some green tea. But did you see the study on the tea bags, how they're toxic, the plastic ones?

[C]

Yeah. So just get yourself the really nice little ball. Put the green tea leaves in there. Or what I've been doing is just pick tea. Pique tea. P I, C, P I, K U.

[D]

E. I haven't heard of that one.

[C]

Yeah, well, what they did was they went. I don't know if they're Japanese or Korean, but they basically found the best green tea out there with the highest polyphenol catechin content. And then they make it into little powdered ones that you can add in.

[D]

Wow.

[C]

I love that.

[D]

I'm definitely gonna buy that. Yeah. I'm big on tea. I just found out with band aids. Did you see this?

[C]

No.

[D]

So Band aids are toxic now. So they're getting into your bloodstream when you put the band Aid on. Yeah. So I just had to buy organic band aids.

[C]

Wow.

[D]

Yeah.

[C]

We have really, really messed things up.

[D]

Yep. It's super concerning. Even your toilet paper, you know, there's so many things you gotta look out for these days.

[C]

Yeah.

[D]

It's crazy. Dishwashing pods.

[C]

Yeah. Well, I mean, we do everything. Everything we can control. But the problem is we travel 70% of the time. So I try to control my environment at home. But here's the reality of all of that. You could be doing everything as great as possible. You are still going to have toxins. And we are bombarded with things that our body was never built to handle. Like you think back of 10,000 years ago. They didn't have any of these forever chemicals. To me that the thing that's not a biohack, that's a non negotiable is sauna.

[D]

I use it almost every day.

[C]

I actually have two.

[D]

Wow.

[C]

I have the fast heat one. So we'll do the fast heat one where you can get in for like 10 to 15 minutes. It goes up to 180 and then cold plunge. And then we have the sunlighten so that we can do the infrared because the infrared apparently penetrates deeper where these toxins store in your fat. Which is why people going on a weight loss diet better be good detoxifiers because if not, they are making themselves sick.

[D]

Really?

[C]

Yeah. Well, think about if you store all your toxins in your fat and you are not a good detoxifier and maybe you do something like a juice cleanse. So now you don't even have the amino acids on board that you need to conjugate those toxins when they get freed up and get them out of your body. So now you're speeding up the toxic release, but you're not eliminating it.

[D]

Wow.

[C]

Big problem.

[D]

It's in your body still.

[C]

Yeah. So that's where, that's where saunas can be amazing.

[D]

Right. Because it gets out through your sweat. Right.

[C]

You're going to poop it, pee it or sweat it.

[D]

Interesting. Yeah, I use the infrared almost every day.

[C]

Yeah. Good, good.

[D]

I don't know if that one's better than the, the 200 degree hot.

[C]

Oh my gosh. There's such an argument over the both of these. It's, it's. I think they're probably all great. I think probably just the research is more done on all these finished hot saunas. I do both of them.

[D]

Yeah.

[C]

It seems like there's. It makes a lot of sense with the infrared and the being able to penetrate at a lower heat. So I just both plus that fast heat one because you know, if you turn your sauna on and takes a while. Yeah, yeah. So if I forget to do that, I can jump in my fast heat one.

[D]

Is that the one where your head's sticking out of it?

[C]

Yeah. So what my husband does is he puts this thing around his neck and a hat on. I don't. Because I then Will have to blow dry my hair. He puts this hat on, neck thing, and that will make it even better.

[D]

Okay. Yeah, I'm not on the plunge wave yet. You think it's worth looking into plunges?

[C]

I think there's some definite benefits to it. So the benefits for it, number one, it can beige your white fat. So we have white fat and brown fat. Brown fat's what the babies have where they shiver and it's very thermogenic and easy to burn. So for someone, this is not you and definitely not your problem, but someone who says. Who has more visceral adipose tissue, more fat around their organs, more damaging fat, and having trouble to lose it, that's where it could be helpful because it helps create that shiver response. I also love hormetic stresses that help your body handle things like. Like, this is why I love weight training. You go teach your body. I can do hard things and recover. So I hate cold plunging. I hate being cold. I lived in Florida. I lived in Palm Springs before that. Like, I don't like being cold, but I can get in there for a couple minutes. It's great for recovery. But you have to be careful where you do it, because if you go and do a really heavy weight training session and then go to cold plunging, you're basically going to block that inflammatory response in the muscle protein synthesis. So you don't want to do, oh, wow. Yes. So it's like. And that's the challenge of, like, okay, where do you put it into your routine? Because muscle protein synthesis can go on for a while. But what I do is I'll do it in the morning pre going to the gym.

[D]

That makes sense. How important is weightlifting for women, you think?

[C]

I think weightlifting is the most important thing. I think weightlifting and creatine and protein for women are the trifecta of what they have to do. Because women. Women tend to eat less protein. They tend to try to shrink themselves and be small. Right. Thankfully, we're starting to move out of that and favor strong over skinny. But I'll tell you, back when I was growing up, I've. This is the same weight, literally. I put my cheerleading outfit on and it still fit. This is like the weight I was in high school. I was not quite as ripped in high school, but I was working out with the high school football team because they had no gyms for the girls. And because I was 6ft tall, they're like, you should be a model. So I go to the modeling agency in San Francisco and they go, you need to lose £20. So I came home and I put myself on a diet and I dropped 10 pounds. And thankfully my coaches were like, first of all, my. I couldn't do a thing, you know, in terms of. I was doing track and gymnastics, I couldn't. I was like, my performance tanked. But my coaches were like, are you anorexic? You know, because, I mean, I. I looked like one. And I just realized at that time I could be strong or I could be skinny, but I couldn't be strong and skinny. And so I picked the strong. And I think of so many of my friends over the years, it's. Skinny is celebrated in, you know, the female physique.

[D]

Yeah, for sure.

[C]

Right. And no one ever wanted to get bulky. I used to do nutrition consulting for the models down in south beach and go to all the modeling agencies, and they, like, would not lift weights.

[D]

Damn.

[C]

Because they had to stay a certain size, a certain weight they were weighed in. So, you know, we have to get past all of this. But sarcopenia is a real scary problem. Having low muscle mass relative to your weight, it's a big deal. And Starting around age 30, we lose up to 1% of our muscle mass each year. Twice as much strength, three times as much power. And your strength is directly correlated with all cause mortality. And the way we test that is grip strength. People with the lowest grip strength have the highest risk of death.

[D]

Really?

[C]

Yep.

[D]

Grip strength.

[C]

Grip strength.

[D]

I never, never realized how important that was.

[C]

Yeah, well, grip strength is a proxy for overall strength. It doesn't mean. Like, I was doing a podcast yesterday and the guy goes, yeah, so I've been doing that. You know, those hands. That's not the point. If your grip strength's low, that means you need to be doing pull ups and farmer's carries and the things that make you have to use this functionally because you're not training to get better at training. Yeah, right.

[D]

I had the same issue. I was super skinny. And growing up, like, super skinny. I was a distance runner. I was like 140, 150 pounds, six foot five.

[C]

Wow.

[D]

I couldn't even do a pull up or a push up in high school. I was that weak.

[C]

Wow. Wow.

[D]

Yeah. So I had to train myself. Now I could do like 50 push ups and a few pull ups.

[C]

What about that Grandma? That's doing 1564 push ups in an hour.

[D]

I didn't see that.

[C]

Oh, my gosh. It was all over social. So funny. She's like, you know, grandma, she's 70. Anyway, she. She's the one that did the plank. She planked for like a couple hours.

[D]

What?

[C]

Yeah, and then she did. You gotta check this woman out. Then she did. So this is what's so crazy. She does 1564 push ups in an hour or something like that. And of course the comments in the feed are like, her forms off. I'm like, that's what you have to say? Her form's off?

[D]

Yeah. She might be on some hormone therapy or something too.

[C]

Well, I would hope she's on hormone therapy. I think that's another big one for women when they go through menopause. But she didn't look like she was on hormones like steroids. Now you can tell the difference. I can show you a picture of me standing next to Ms. Mrs. Olympia. Go. Oh, you know, is that, where's the difference?

[D]

Is that where you draw the line? Steroids?

[C]

Well, steroids are like the antithesis of healthy.

[D]

Right?

[C]

Like, you know, want to rip tendons. Steroids.

[D]

Yeah. The long term effects don't seem to be worth the short term results.

[C]

No, not at all. I mean, ak Flo Jo, you know.

[D]

No, Yeah. I think I could get on board with like testosterone and stuff, you know?

[C]

Well, when you get to the point where you actually need it, which is years down the line.

[D]

Yeah.

[C]

Men tend to have a big drop in testosterone naturally in their late 50s. Anything prior to that, you gotta look at what the heck's going on in life that's doing that. Is it the estrogens from the plastic? Is it the tremendous amount of stress? So stress and toxins, those two things. Think about 10,000 years ago, you were under either acute stress and you died or you made it through. There wasn't chronic stress and you didn't have the toxins.

[D]

Wow.

[C]

So these two things are destroying men's testosterone?

[D]

No, EMF and WiFi back then too.

[C]

Well, and also just think of what that did with sleep.

[D]

Yeah.

[C]

I mean, basically you had to follow a circadian rhythm.

[D]

Sun goes up and down, Right. That's when they slept back then.

[C]

Yeah.

[D]

Now people are staying up till midnight, 2:00am yeah. That can't be good. I got an eight sleep mattress.

[C]

Oh, I, I'm so interested in that.

[D]

It's been really useful. I love it. My sleep was terrible at first, but now I'm getting like above 90 every night.

[C]

Wow. So what does it do?

[D]

It gives you analytics to like, you fall asleep, it tells you how long you snored, it tells you how long you're in REM sleep, deep sleep, all that. And then you could see patterns. So, like, you kind of log what you eat before you sleep, and then it'll be like, oh, maybe you shouldn't eat that before you sleep because your sleep was worse. So.

[C]

Well, the biggest thing is don't eat two to four hours before bed.

[D]

Right.

[C]

And longer is better.

[D]

Yeah.

[C]

You don't want to get to the point where you're hungry, going to bed, because that's going to be a problem too. But, like, you want to hit a very. I call it the hormonal home run. Meal before bed of protein, fat, fiber. But if you can do it two to four hours before because you don't want to be dealing with as you were getting ready for bed. And our cortisols drop so our melatonin can come up, which is then basically telling your pancreas, you know, your organs, we can sleep. So you're not producing insulin. So most people before bed, they eat like a high carb hit, but they don't have the insulin for it. So now they have elevated blood sugar, which is how you'll wake up in the morning and your aura ring will go, looks like you ate late last night. What the heck happened?

[D]

Yeah.

[C]

Right? You can't produce growth hormone, so you need to stop eating a couple hours before bed.

[D]

Makes sense. Sleep, super important. I remember when I was younger, I could get away with sleeping like four or five hours, but these days it's tough.

[C]

You could get away with it, but it doesn't mean it was good for you.

[D]

Right. But these days I feel a difference. Like, it's noticeable, you know?

[C]

Yeah.

[D]

Like if I podcast on a day where I didn't sleep well the night before, I notice how off I am.

[C]

It's non negotiable. That's why I was stressed about this. It was like, oh, it's at a studio. I'm like, I was looking at my sleep hours when I was flying in. My flight came in early because I was like, I'm very careful about sleep, especially when I travel.

[D]

Yeah.

[C]

But I have a hack for jet lag that's been amazing, which is creatine.

[D]

That helps with sleep.

[C]

So here's what's super cool. I found this out. I was looking at how they were using it in periods of sleep deprivation with, like, Navy SEALs. I thought, well, I mean, what's sleep deprivation? Jet lag totally is a nightmare for this. And so last summer I had all these crazy trips back and forth, like Europe, us, Europe, US and over to Canada. That was like, just big swings. And I used creatine the whole time. I basically tripled my dose because I take it every day. No jet lag at all. And I've always thought of myself as a. You know, I suffer from jet lag. I also stopped the. I suffer from jet lag. I'm like, I don't do jet lag. And. But creatine changed everything.

[D]

Interesting. Yeah, I don't take any right now. Maybe I should look into it.

[C]

I think creatine is one of the greatest things on the planet.

[D]

Wow.

[C]

Well, first of all. So here's the reality with it. Most studied supplement ever. You know, totally safe, but our body produces a gram of it every day in our liver and kidneys. And then we need to consume one to two more grams a day. We have 120 to 140 grams stored in our body, and so we turn over, like, you know, three grams or so a day. It's needed to produce energy to produce ATP in the body, 95% in the muscles, 5% in the brain. But there's really cool research now on it for TBIs and cognition and mood. But the reality is something like 65% of us are not getting enough dietarily because you'd have to eat a pound of meat that's basically super rare or two pounds that are well cooked. So most people are just not getting it.

[D]

Yeah. Wow.

[C]

I'm a big meat eater, but still, I also don't like rare meat.

[D]

Yeah. I just saw some video, like, the best way to cook meat, and he was saying medium rare or something.

[C]

Yeah, the. The less cooked, the better.

[D]

Yeah.

[C]

You know, then you just have to make sure you're doing parasite cleanse periodically.

[D]

Right. Yeah. It was Paul Saladino. He said medium rare is the best because you start cooking out all the nutrients. Right.

[C]

Yeah. Well, it's. It's interesting. The minute I did this, I did a podcast interview with the guy who created creatine HCl, which creatine monohydrate. They all talk about it being the most studied and the best absorbed. The reality is 15% of it's absorbed and the rest is not. So it creates some bloating. He was telling me about how we needed to eat for creatine. So we got to dinner and they have carpaccio. So, like, you know, two servings of carpaccio, I'll eat carpaccio, but I don't like. I don't. I like meat pretty well cooked, which is not the best way to eat it. The best way to eat it is, you know, as rare as possible. So to his point, yes.

[D]

That's good to know. Yeah. Just got a parasite cleanse like you said. I'm on right now.

[C]

Actually, here's the thing. You have to do that periodically. I actually have a very cool friend who works with a medical school in Africa. And so they test your blood. He'd be a great. He tests your blood and stool, sends it to Africa, and then they give you a mixture of these African plant juices. Juices to kill off this stuff.

[D]

Wow.

[C]

It got rid of my. My son had Lyman bartonella, which can be impossible to get rid of. Gone.

[D]

That's not.

[C]

Tastes nasty. Really nasty. But if you think about it, like, doesn't that make sense where they're dealing with all of these different types of things in Africa and this is what they use?

[D]

Yeah. I love how he just gets right to the root cause of it too. He's like, oh, you have this. Yeah, let me find out what kills.

[C]

Exactly. Then they give you exactly what you need to do.

[D]

Yeah, I try to do a cleanse like twice a year because, oh, man, those are strong.

[C]

Well, I mean, you think about it, there's no way you're not getting hit with this stuff. How could we not?

[D]

Yeah.

[C]

I mean, not eating as much. I used to eat a lot of sushi, came back from Japan and was kind of obsessed with it and not eating as much. But then you look at what they do in, in Japan is they're eating a lot of wasabi with it. Like a ton. Right. And then some ginger for digestion. Things that are going to help digest it and kill things off.

[D]

Oh, I didn't even look at it that way, but that makes sense.

[C]

The wasabi is there for a reason. Like you look at these, these cultures and the foods they have and anything from the kimchi to the wasabi, they're there for a reason.

[D]

Yeah. Where's been your favorite places to travel for, like, food wise and health wise?

[C]

I loved Korean food. Oh my gosh, it is amazing. I love Korean.

[D]

Korean barbecue.

[C]

I also. Oh, it's the best. And Istanbul, I love Turkish food. Istanbul's amazing food. Oh, Turkish food.

[D]

I never had it.

[C]

Oh, you can have it here.

[D]

You can. What is it? Like, what are some comments?

[C]

Like Mediterranean food?

[D]

Oh, maybe I have.

[C]

It's. It's like Greek food.

[D]

Okay.

[C]

It's along the kebabs and stuff.

[D]

Yeah, Yeah, I might have had it then.

[C]

Yeah.

[D]

Yeah. I love traveling for food. It's like my favorite part of traveling, actually.

[C]

Me too. Oh, Spain. This summer we went to Spain. It's like a meat fest there. Yeah, yeah.

[D]

You're big on meat.

[C]

I've always felt healthier. It's funny, for a brief time, I grew up in Berkeley, so for a brief time I had to be a vegan. And I remember at one point, and I was working out a ton and my body fat sits really low and it was double what it normally is. And I know because we were in a PhD program and we had to test all of our body fats. And I was like, what has happened here? During my little trial in veganism, But I was so sick. Sick all the time.

[D]

Wow.

[C]

Yeah. So finally. But this one doctor who was a client of mine took my blood and he goes, you can either come into the hospital, check you in, or you can go eat a chicken. It was that bad.

[D]

Damn.

[C]

And I was doing all the things, I was mixing all the things. I mean, I think you can do this if you're very committed, but like, it's a lot of work. You better be a very good food biochemist. And you need to supplement, Right?

[D]

Brian Johnson's pulling it off, but he's got the money to be able to do that.

[C]

Yeah, but I still don't really understand why he's gone with that dogma. It doesn't make sense to me. What I love about Brian Johnson, first of all, is that he's sharing everything. But also that when you come down to it, what does he find out? Diet, exercise, sleep, relationships.

[D]

Right.

[C]

You know, sunshine, meditation.

[D]

Well, yeah, just study the blue zones. They all do that, right?

[C]

Yeah.

[D]

Why would you try to do something else if it's interesting when you look.

[C]

At the blue zones, though? Because first of all, I don't buy the, the plant based thing because, you know, I haven't seen in Italy where they're plant based, or Greece, you know, it's like everyone does some dairy and some meats, cured meats and that kind of stuff, fish. But I think with the blue zones, when you really look at what are the common factors, it's not diet. Diet as in whole foods. It is, they're not eating processed foods. But what it seems to be is that as you age, you have an elevated status in the community as an elder. Right. Like you look at the US as you age, you're considered, you get invisible, you're put into like a liability at that point, you know, who's gonna take care of granny? Right. But in the blue zones, you're revered and you're active and you're still doing stuff, you're still you know, these people all seem to live in hilly areas where they're walking around. Right?

[D]

Yeah.

[C]

So I think it's the exercise, the community that make the biggest difference of all. I think you could probably eat a bunch of ultra processed food, but have an amazing community, have a purpose. And I'm not saying to do that. Right.

[D]

Well, that purpose is huge because they've done studies on brains. When people retire and how fast they age.

[C]

Oh, my dad died when he retired.

[D]

Right. When he retired.

[C]

It was like pretty closely afterwards. He always was talking about his ship coming in and, you know, then the, the company sold and. And that's when everything went downhill. You know, then he retires and he's gone.

[D]

Yeah. Because not having that drive, waking up every day, like something to work towards is.

[C]

Can you imagine? Like what? Like, I look at this, I go, why would you want to retire?

[D]

Yeah.

[C]

I have so many things. I'm, I'm more interested in stuff now than I was 20, 30 years ago.

[D]

100. Yeah. And people face their whole lives around retirement.

[C]

Well, that's because they're doing something they hate, which is, to me, I believe that we have choices in all of this. And I don't think that comes from an entitled position. I think that, you know, because I basically have, have earned everything that I've gotten from scholarship to college on down. But I think that you, you go and choose what you'd love to do. You can do that.

[D]

Yeah.

[C]

And then whatever you're doing, like, go for it, be the best at it.

[D]

You know, you can monetize almost any passion these days.

[C]

Right.

[D]

With social media, like, you'll find people that are interested in what you're doing. I've seen the craziest things.

[C]

Well, when I started, there was nothing. There was no career path in what I was doing at all. Like, when I first started, I was teaching aerobics at an aerobics studio. Someone wanted me to come to their house. I came to their house. I started helping people work out at their houses. Me, as far as I can tell, been talking to Mark about this. Mark Sisson and Body by Jake and me, I think, were the first personal trainers.

[D]

Wow.

[C]

And then there wasn't anyone doing that. And then for nutrition, you had to be a dietitian and work in a hospital. So it's like all this stuff. I just started doing it because that's what I wanted to do. And I didn't want to have to wear a suit and go to an office and work 9 to 5. I knew that would Suck the life out of me.

[D]

Yeah. You're one of the first trainers ever. That's crazy.

[C]

Isn't that funny?

[D]

Yeah. I thought that would have been around for a while for some reason. 80s 80s. Wow, that is fascinating. Yeah. Now there's a whole new wave of biohackers and energy healing, all this new stuff, Right?

[C]

Well, energy healings, a whole have been around for a long, long, long, long, long, long time.

[D]

Yeah, that's eastern. Yeah. But now it's coming to the western.

[C]

Yeah.

[D]

Which is exciting.

[C]

Thank God.

[D]

I like eastern philosophies.

[C]

Yeah. Well, when you think about, especially living in Asia was quite eye opening to how things are and how different it is and. And so many of these things that we've done for, you know, hundreds if not thousands of years that all of a sudden they're like, there's not a clinical trial. It's like, well, yeah, these trials. How arrogant, man.

[D]

This Ozempic stuff is crazy to me.

[C]

Well, so I have a different thought on all of that. So first of all, it really depends on how you're looking at this. So I think GLP wants, here's the reality. We are now over 70% of the population is overweight or obese. You could look at it and go, is it the ultra processed foods, is it the stress? Is the sedentary lifestyle? Because only 20% of American adults are meeting the CDC guidelines for exercise. And the CDC guidelines for exercise, come on. Right. Those are the lowest end. Is it the toxins? All these different things. But we are where we're at and we're in a metabolic hole. You have 93% of the population now who's considered metabolically unhealthy. When you get to that point, you get weight loss resistant, where it's really hard for you to get out of that hole. Right. You're hungry all the time, you can't access stirred fat for fuel, et cetera. Now you have. And if you've got fatty liver, if you've got insulin resistance, if you've got obesity, your chances of being GLP1 deficient or GLP1 resistant, just like you become insulin resistant, are probably 100%. So you have a whole group of people who are insulin resistant. Hungrier, Right. A lot of food noise. And now you can say just exercise and eat less. I wish it could be that easy, but I think we have to give them a life raft to get them out of the hole. And the challenge with Ozempic and Moonjara, all the different big pharma names for it, Is they are taking a huge sledgehammer to hit an ant. Instead of giving a little bit of a dose, just a leg up, just a little life raft, they're like sending in, you know, a big, huge military boat. Right. So if we could use these things in small amounts and only use them if people are willing to commit to and track eating optimal protein. Starting to move now. Some of them can't lift weights. I'm working with someone who's 385 pounds. They were like, just have them lift weights. I'm like, walking 3,000 steps a day was putting them over, like, you know, so you have to just meet people where they are and give them some tools to get them through this. But if you have something that can turn off the food noise, improve insulin sensitivity, and drop the inflammation overnight and give them a little bit of a hand to get past it. If we'd use these correctly, it would be a game changer. The way we're using them is a problem.

[D]

That makes sense. Yeah. They're giving heavy doses, more of the.

[C]

Microdose, without the guidance, without saying, hey, you know, like, when I was on Freaky Eaters, we had a gal who'd had bariatric surgery, and she was addicted to ice cream bars. And we had, like, the craziest stuff we had to give her. She was eating ice cream bars every hour. She'd wake up all night long eating ice cream bars because because of her gastric bypass, she could only eat an ice cream bar an hour. That was. Her whole diet was crazy. Why am I bringing this up with you? The. What was I talking about? How to get on the ice. The oic. I don't remember.

[D]

Anyway, I didn't even know that was a show. Freaky Eaters.

[C]

Freaky Eaters.

[D]

So it's just people eating freaky things.

[C]

It was sort of like my Strange addiction meets. Oh, God. What was that other show? A Hoarders.

[D]

Hoarders.

[C]

And it was people who were totally addicted to a specific food, could not give that up. And so a lot of people who wrote in it was french fries. There was also. There was someone who was addicted to maple syrup. He put it on everything. There was someone who was addicted to corn starch. I mean, just. She had pica, but I mean, just weird stuff. So it was me and a psychologist, Dr. Mike Dow, who would go in and intervene on this. It was before I understood, really, the whole TV contract deal. And I'd signed this deal, and I was, like, ending up in the craziest places, like, at A motel, like, you know, stuck for weeks. I go, please cancel this.

[D]

That sounds crazy.

[C]

Out of this.

[D]

Were you guys able to help any of them or.

[C]

Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. Some we could. Some, you know, some probably need a lot more help than that. But what we would basically do is shock therapy. Like the guy that had the maple syrup addiction, we took him to a dialysis unit and showed him what it would be like with. If you had.

[D]

That's a lot of sugar, right?

[C]

Oh, my gosh. Maple syrup on everything.

[D]

Yeah, that's on every hundreds of grams of sugar a day, probably.

[C]

Terrible.

[D]

Damn. Yeah. I wonder if it's like trauma thing. They get tied to a certain food so they just associate it with good memories.

[C]

There's so many different reasons this could be. One of the things I was doing was genetic testing at the time just to see, like, did they have the super taster gene, what was going on. We had one guy, one guy who was addicted to raw meat. Here's the crazy thing. So he had one guy who would only eat meat, one guy who was addicted to raw meat. And both of them had the best, best profiles for their blood. So I was like, you know, trying to make this case. I'm like, everything looks perfect here. You know, like early carnivore diet. The only thing I could show is I did a parasite test, I did a whole gut microbiome, not pretty at all. And. And that's my thing. I think diets can be amazing tools and you have to look at, what are you doing, why are you doing this diet? What's the outcome you're looking for and then what's the next step? Because this might be something that's going to help you get through like a food elimination process, get rid of food allergies, whatever the thing is, but it won't be the thing you need to do long term, like you might do. I think the carnivore diet's an amazing elimination diet. And it shuts off a lot of the noise and takes out a lot of the decisions.

[D]

Right.

[C]

And then at some point come back in and let's get in some plants for the polyphenols, you know, in the fiber.

[D]

Yeah. How do you feel about fruits?

[C]

I think berries are amazing. I think fruit's amazing. I'm not a fan of fruit juice. You basically unwrapped the fruit and made it a soda. I'm not a fan of dried fruit. You basically turned it into candy or syrup, you know.

[D]

Yeah.

[C]

So. But fresh fruit, frozen fruit, peaked at the Height of season, you still have to. Fruit's not a free food.

[D]

Yeah.

[C]

You know.

[D]

Yeah, I'm a fan of fruit. I've been. I've been toning back on vegetables, though. I used to eat a lot of vegetables, but just like, now they're finding heavy metals and all this stuff in them.

[C]

It's like, you're gonna find heavy metals. So, you know, I'm in the supplement industry, and we have to report heavy metals on shakes and things. And it's like. Well, if you went and outlined all the food, you'd see that it's in everything, which is why we need to be doing detoxification on a regular basis.

[D]

You know, so it's even in meat and stuff, too. Wow.

[C]

You're gonna find it everywhere.

[D]

Yeah. Because it's in the soil, right?

[C]

It's in the soil. It's in. It's in all the different critters. So if it's like, wherever it is, whoever's got it, if it's in the soil, if it's in the plants, it's in the algae. Wherever it is, it's gonna come.

[D]

Damn.

[C]

So I don't know that you're gonna be able. I mean, look at. Look at, like, swordfish and the amount of heavy metals. Mercury and swordfish. Yeah.

[D]

I had to stop eating swordfish.

[C]

I stopped it years. That used to be my favorite thing.

[D]

I used to love it at Costco. My mom would buy it.

[C]

Never, never touch it. I pretty much. It's like wild salmon and halibut and scallops.

[D]

Yeah. I had to stop tuna, too.

[C]

Yeah. I. I literally got. So there was a while. I was traveling, I was doing PBS shows, and I. So I was taking the little aseptic pack tuna because it was like one of the ways to get quick protein on the road. And I jacked my mercury levels.

[D]

I could see that. That happened to Tony Robbins, too. I think he's eating a lot of sushi. He almost had mercury poison. He might have had mercury poison.

[C]

He did.

[D]

Yeah, he did. Yeah. I used to eat sushi all the time. Those sushi buffets.

[C]

Because it's so easy.

[D]

Yeah.

[C]

You know, so easy and healthy and simple. And I. I love. I love wasabi.

[D]

Fresh wasabi, though. Fresh wasabi.

[C]

Not the fake stuff. Oh, yeah, no, yeah, that fake fall stuff. No, no, gross.

[D]

People don't even know real wasabi, but just fresh wasabi.

[C]

And I would just do hand rolls with fresh wasabi and fish and, you know, seaweed. That's it. No rice.

[D]

I love that. Well, jj, what are you working on next and where could people find you?

[C]

I am working on my powerful aging book. That is my, my big, big thing I'm totally fired up about on my podcast. It's not that's going to be a year out. Right now we're doing the case studies so we have people going through the program. I'm training coaches in it. I'm working on a brand new product line around it. So everything so that women especially will lift weights, build their muscle age powerfully instead of a crazy.

[D]

I love it. We'll link your podcast in the description. Yeah, thanks for coming on.

[C]

Thank you.

[D]

Yep. Thanks for watching guys.

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