← Extend Podcast with Darshan Shah, MD
Extend Podcast with Darshan Shah, MD
12. Kayla Barnes-Lentz: Female-Specific Health Approach, Reducing Toxins from Daily Products, Aligning Routines with Menstrual Cycles, Understanding Your Genetics + More!
01:38:19
What if you could get the full potential of your health by tailoring it to your unique genetic blueprint? Ever wondered how personalized wellness could transform your approach to health and well-being? In this episode of Extend with Dr. Shah, we dive...
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- [00:03]
A
Welcome to Xtend with me, Dr. Darshan Shah. A podcast dedicated to cutting edge science research tools and protocols designed to help you extend your health span. Having become one of the youngest doctors in the country at the age of 21 and trained and board certified at the Mayo Clinic, I've accumulated three decades of practice as a board certified surgeon and longevity expert. Over that time, I've discovered that a mere 20% of health knowledge yields 80% of the results. When it comes to your health span, we are living in a new era where we are creating a new healthcare system no longer focused on disease management, but achieving optimal health and vitality. Join me as I interview world renowned experts offering you a step by step guide to proactively avoid disease and most importantly, extend your health span. What if you could get the full potential of your health by tailoring it to your unique genetic blueprint? Ever wonder how personalized wellness could transform your your approach to health and wellbeing? In this episode of Xtend with me, Dr. Darshan Shah, we dive into this fascinating concept with biohacking expert Kayla Barnes Lentz, a pioneer in personalized health. Although our conversation will apply to both men and women, Kayla also shares her specific insights into the unique challenges women face from pcos and autoimmune conditions to endometriosis, menstrual issues and explain why a female specific approach is crucial. We discuss foundational health practices, nutrition, stress management, sleep and movement that are accessible to everyone and are the building blocks of long term well being. We also discuss advanced longevity services and modalities that supercharge your protocols towards optimal health. Kayla is a co owner of Live the Wellness Space, one of the country's most innovative precision medicine and biology upgrading clinics. Kayla is also the creator and host of the Longevity Optimization podcast and of which I was a guest and co founder of the Health Optimization Fund. Kayla, thank you for being on the show. Thank you for coming to xtend. I really appreciate you being here.
- [02:07]
B
Thank you so much for having me.
- [02:08]
A
Yeah, you know, I was really interested in having you because I see a lot of female patients and you are a subject matter expert in female longevity biohacking and that's kind of what you talk a lot about. I know it applies across men and women, but I feel like you have such an important message to the longevity community and specifically how to tweak that for the female audience, right?
- [02:32]
B
Yeah, absolutely. I mean, you know longevity is a new industry, right? We're all learning and I've been an N of one subject. But what I do know is that women, you know, I was telling you before the podcast, almost every woman that I've met, and I'm not being hyperbolic when I say this here in LA is dealing with something, everything from PCOS to autoimmune conditions to endometriosis. And women do have to take a different approach to their health. I mean, I love all the amazing men that are in the space and that are really just like paving the way, right? But the protocols that work for men, of course, you know, the foundation of health is the same for both men and women, but women need to take a slightly different approach. We have, you know, 28 day cycle that impacts us very differently than, than you men do, you know, so I'm excited to dive into what that looks like. But I mean, I'm just so excited about where we're at in terms of access to information. And not only is it a woman thing, but it's also, as you know, more than anyone, it's a very bio individual thing. So what can work for me might not necessarily work for everybody. And so it's, everyone needs to be their own n of 1, because that's how you're gonna get the best results.
- [03:40]
A
I talk about this all the time. I'm like, people love to quote studies and randomized controlled trials, and those are great and those are needed, but what you have to understand is the randomized control trials are telling you kind of what happened to most of the people, right? But when you consider yourself an n of 1, meaning you're one person, you can also fall away from what happened to most people and be on either side of that, right? You can be two standard deviations away. And so what works for most people might not work for you, right? And so it's so important to realize that.
- [04:14]
B
I mean, I know there's other even protocols. Like I've released all my labs publicly. And it's funny because I was going back in my social media archives and I started doing that in like 2020. So I've been releasing labs for a long time. But what I do on my protocol and what if you have the ability and we can talk about, you know, all of the things I told you. I got a hyperbaric chamber delivered yesterday. And I realize that's not accessible for everyone, but we both know that the biggest movers of health are the things we do every day, right? So we eat, we sleep, we breathe, and we move every day. So if you can optimize that. But for me, when we're talking about bio individuality. I start with my genetics, so I start with my genetic predispositions, which I'm not necessarily hearing a ton of people talk about in this, like, longevity optimization space. Because as an example, you know, I detox really well, but my husband doesn't. So I have a different, let's say, protocol for him based on the fact that he's gonna need more, you know, glutathione support or more sauna. So everything is super bio individual. And you don't even have to do all the testing that we're going to discuss today because you can also just do self reporting. How do you feel? You know, how did you sleep last night? Keep a journal or a log. So it can be super complex and, you know, a little bit more pricey, or we can keep it really simple.
- [05:28]
A
Yeah, it's so true. I mean, I think I love the Pareto Principle. 20% of the actions you can take will give you 80% of the result. And a lot of those actions are free. Right.
- [05:37]
B
I absolutely agree. I'm sure you know the founders of True Diagnostics, but we chat a lot, and I'm like, what's moving the needle the most? You know, and some of the services like you guys offer, plasmapheresis, you know, they've seen show up and is great, but it's nutrition, it's how your stress management, it's your sleep. It's all the boring things that are really difficult. That's why having a great level of discipline is required for optimal health. It's doing the things that you don't want to do now for. For future health, for future vitality, energy. But all of the biggest things are free or close to free.
- [06:12]
A
Yeah. And like you said, highlight the fact that those things are free and they have to be done consistently. Like, they have to become a part of a habit or a routine as well. Right.
- [06:22]
B
And, you know, I'm in my early 30s, so I'm a bit younger than some of the other people that are in the industry. But the way I think of it is I'm doing what I'm doing now is gonna benefit me in my 40s, 50s, 60s, 80s, 100. You know, because if you wa. Wait until we get older and we start to see either visible signs of aging or mental signs of aging. You know, we know that chronic disease and these health conditions develop over. And please correct me if I'm wrong, but like a decade. Right.
- [06:49]
A
Actually, it's like 20, 30 years sometimes.
- [06:51]
B
Okay. Even more.
- [06:52]
A
Right.
- [06:53]
B
So what you do today, and it's never too late and it's never too early to start that's gonna make such a difference in not only how you feel now, but in the future. So it's super exciting.
- [07:05]
A
It's so true. We're an incredible moment. And like you mentioned, the access to information now is so fantastic because we're not just being fed information by, you know, the media.
- [07:14]
B
Right.
- [07:15]
A
And our government is giving us all the wrong information. Like podcasts and books are just coming out that really break down the science for people and really get people to understand like what's going to move the needle. So with that, what do you think is the one thing that you wish everyone knew about optimizing their health and their longevity?
- [07:33]
B
Well, outside of what we just spoke about, that it's the things that are the hardest that are going to move the needle is that if you're a woman, you do need to take a slightly different approach. And one of the most significant things I'm looking at right now is our toxic burden. I think that that's so incredibly important. And we know that women leave the home with almost double the amount of toxins that men do. And that's in the form of personal care products and makeup and hairsprays and fragrance. So we one thing that if I'm speaking to the women is, you know, work on reducing your toxic burden because it can be a real game changer, you know, for your health as obviously you know this. But we are under a toxic burden that we've never experienced before. We were not built for this. We, our ancestors were not dealing with toxins in the food, the air, the water, the shower water, the carpet, the clothing. I mean, you know, I'm wearing an organic clothing top right now and I try to mostly go all organic clothes, but that's not even really something that's being spoken about, you know, these days. But toxins are just unfortunately it's like a full time job job to avoid them. But if you can start just making small changes, I think that's something that we are not talking about enough yet. But I think it's super important.
- [08:37]
A
Yeah, so true. And I think for me, I look at toxins as one of those root causes of bad health. Right. Yeah, it's, it's just like metabolic disease, mitochondrial dysfunction. Toxic exposure is right up there. And our toxic exposure leads to all forms of disease. Increased rates of cardiac events, increased rates of Alzheimer's disease, increase rates of what have you, metabolic syndrome, all of it. So really detoxifying your life as much as Possible should be a core routine. Right. Like added to nutrition, exercise, sleep, detoxification.
- [09:11]
B
Yeah. I mean, I do a test called the Total Toxic burden twice a year, and I think you're familiar with this test.
- [09:16]
A
I do it. I do it four times a year, actually.
- [09:18]
B
Love it. I mean, and if I had a higher toxic burden, I'd probably do it more. But I have one of the lowest toxic burdens. I don't know what you guys see, but I have zero toxins in the high range. I only have one toxin in the medium range, and that's almost unheard of these days. So the Total toxic burden combines several tests into one. It's looking at heavy metals, molds and mycotoxins, and then environmental toxins. I can look at this test and I can immediately tell you if you're drinking out of plastic or using a lot of plastic. Right. All of your habits are going to be shown and even things that you don't know that you're exposed to, like molds in the homes or if you're near even a toxic facility or using, you know, makeup products with some, you know, toxic ingredients. So I track these things and so I know what I'm doing works, which is really exciting. And then on top of that, you know, detoxification with things like sauna as well and sweating and exercise and all of those fun things that I'm sure we'll talk about.
- [10:08]
A
Absolutely. On that, I. We do therapeutic plasma exchange. And so we check that before and after the plasma exchange. And, you know, these toxins live in your plasma. And when you get the test done, you're seeing the toxins that your kidney is able to excrete. But it's incredible how much because it's a urine test. Right. That's what use the vibrant America one. Is that right? Yeah, it's a urine test. It's incredible to see the level of toxin elimination that your body needs if you're not someone like yourself. You know, the people have so many toxins like you're. You have. And I definitely want to hone in on this because I think this is a very important topic. But people have sometimes 10, 20 in the red range.
- [10:49]
B
Yeah.
- [10:50]
A
And then when we do the plasma freesis, we can get them down to, like, medium and get rid of some of them. But it just shows you the level of toxic exposure that we have now. It's unprecedented.
- [10:59]
B
It truly is. And, you know, people often think, they think their tests are going to come back and have, like, no toxins on their test. Right. Because they're doing a lot of things. But the problem is, is we just have literally unprecedented. They're everywhere. You know, my home, if I told you about it, like the amount of work that I've put in, everything from non toxic couches to all natural fiber, everything to organic, you know, bed 100% got certified organic. If you, if people can just start making these small tweaks. And I think optimizing your home environment is a really good place to start because you spend so much time there, right. And then you can even start in your bedroom because you should be spending seven to eight hours every night getting high quality sleep. So if you start small, because I don't want people to feel overwhelmed. I think in this longevity industry that we're in, we both know it can be really expensive, but I don't want people to feel like it's not attainable because it's really important that you just start and you start with the small things that you can really make a difference on. Because to me, you know, making this more accessible is so important because everybody deserves great health. In my heart, obviously I am a woman, so therefore I naturally focus on female health and longevity optimization. But it's also just, it makes me so sad because women just deserve to have optimal health. You know, we shouldn't have to struggle so hard to get pregnant. I mean, when we look at the fertility rates and the decline, it is just heartbreaking how many people that I know personally and that I know are out there based on the stats that are struggling with that today. And I am almost trying to be a testament to what's possible in terms of how far can we push this health optimization and yeah, really just explore the limits of how good we can feel and how doing all of these mundane and difficult behaviors actually works in the long run.
- [12:44]
A
Yeah, absolutely. And I think a key is to just get started, right. And then have the routines build up over time. With detoxification, I'm. It can get overwhelming for people, right, because there's like a million things that need to be detoxified. But like you said, focusing on the big things first makes a big difference. I also like to put a cadence in with my patients. I'm like, let's just detoxify one thing per week, right? So this week we're going to worry about the air in your bedroom. Let's get an air purifier. Next week we're going to worry about the water you're drinking from. Let's, let's get a water filter. I think if you have the thought that you can do this over time and not have to do it all at once is also very helpful. Right. To make it more accessible.
- [13:23]
B
Absolutely. I mean I've like, I even have put out, you know, for free, just like my, I call it Healthy Home Optimization checklist. And it's, it's long, it's like 20 pages. Right. But it, you go one page or half a page or two items at a time. And I think, you know, of course financial resources is part of it, but just do it really slow. I love the. Do you like the Environmental Working Group?
- [13:44]
A
I go to their website all the time.
- [13:46]
B
Yeah.
- [13:47]
A
So you can look up all your products there.
- [13:48]
B
Exactly. Yeah. So for women, it's like look at the Skin Deep database and just start switching out like one product when you go to buy another one, just get a healthier version.
- [13:58]
A
You know what I find too, like, people are scared. Like the products that are detoxified are going to be more expensive, but a lot of times are actually cheaper than some of the products out there.
- [14:07]
B
Absolutely. And I kind of say this, and I know that this isn't going to be common, but I mean I have like in my house, we by far outside of, of course rent in Los Angeles, the biggest expenses are health. Right. So the food that we eat. We have zero budget for alcohol. We have zero budget for nightclubs. And you know, I think we need to reframe what we call fun in our society. Like people have asked me, aren't you bored or are you not having fun in life or are you not enjoying life? I am so fulfilled. I love waking up feeling great, not having a hangover, not have spent 300. I don't even know how much it costs to drink alcohol, but it's a lot, right? It's like hundreds of dollars possibly.
- [14:46]
A
I mean, in Los Angeles. Yeah. I mean going out for a night and getting even a bottle of wine is sometimes over, you know, hundreds of dollars. And I think a cocktail, last time I checked is like 15, $20 at some restaurants. It's ridiculous, right?
- [14:58]
B
I mean, so just I take all of those resources and I put it into the one body that we have. Right. Like everything else we can get more of, but we can't get more of this body. So I think just reframing, I think here in the US too, because we know that our food costs are some of the lowest. Right. But our medical costs are the highest. And we think that everything that we need should be covered by insurance. But unfortunately that model is just simply not for health optimization, disease prevention. You know, places like your clinic and other clinics are amazing resources and that's where you're going to get the best care and really get to the root cause. So.
- [15:35]
A
Yeah. And you have a clinic as well, right?
- [15:37]
B
I do, yeah.
- [15:37]
A
Where's your clinic?
- [15:38]
B
It's in Ohio, actually, which is my hometown, Cleveland. Cleveland.
- [15:42]
A
What's the name of it for people.
- [15:44]
B
In Ohio called Live L Y V. Yeah, exactly. If you're in Ohio, I mean, we really built it to be a place that you could get things that you can't get anywhere else in Ohio. Right. So la, we're really blessed here. I mean, still, like, you guys are definitely. I'm very familiar with all the clinics and you guys are definitely like leading the charge. But yeah, in Ohio, if you're there, it's, you know, we have a lot of functional medicine practitioners and I've learned so much from them. We have medical doctors on staff and it's just the best feeling and I know you can relate is watching people get better.
- [16:12]
A
Absolutely. You know, the problem with the medical system is it's really just for sick people. Right. And the 90% of us that are not in a state of terminal illness or needing the emergency room, it's really not built to keep you healthy. Like, you go there once you have a diagnosis and then you start getting treated by then it's been 30 years of you developing these diagnoses. Right. And so I think people just need to reframe health as not something that the western medical system gives you. Yeah, there needs to be a new system. So clinics like yours and mine, I think it's the future.
- [16:44]
B
Yeah. And even just people really, you know, taking control of your own health, like, don't just take, don't take a diagnosis, you know, as, as a be all end. All right. Because we do that, like, I mean, Hashi, for example, you know, our providers are helping to put it into remission or, you know, really just revert, reverse it. So it's. There's so much that can be done. I'm not saying that's in every single case, of course, but there is a lot that can be done just by improving your health status and figuring out what works best for you.
- [17:13]
A
Yeah, I mean, definitely Hashimoto's a perfect example of that is usually due to an overabundance of poor lifestyle activities. Right. And so the western medical way of treating that is with drugs. And really you can be in a lower dose of medications if you address the lifestyle factors first.
- [17:31]
B
Yeah, absolutely. So yeah.
- [17:33]
A
Virtually every disease, too, you could think of, probably. Truly I can apply to for sure.
- [17:37]
B
And I love too, just the. The concept of figuring out why, right? Like, why do you have this? And I think that is so powerful because when you start to peel back those layers, you figure out why. And it's usually obviously a multi factorial issue, but it's still. For me, everyone always is like, oh, you do so much testing, right? You do. I've been doing full body MRIs for years and I've done the, the clearly soft plaque analysis and I do grail and thousands of biomarkers. I know everything pretty much that there is to know. And people are like, doesn't that worry you? Because if you find something, I'm like, oh, absolutely not. Because the best time to find it is when it's early, right? Like if I start, you know, thankfully I haven't. But the second, if I see my thyroid markers going up, I'm changing everything. I'm figuring out what it is and I'm going to reverse that because I know I can. And when you know more, you know you can do better, right?
- [18:28]
A
Yeah. Living under this ignorance is bliss. Doesn't work because you can find these diseases developing very, very early in your biomarkers and your blood tests. And when you address them early, you can reverse them completely if you wait till it's too late. It takes a lot to move the needle again.
- [18:46]
B
Yeah, absolutely. And also if you catch them early, you can do a lot of just these free things, right? Like change your nutrition, upgrade your environment a little bit, really focus on sleep. I mean, I think. I don't know if this is a real quote or not, so don't quote me, but I've heard that the CEO of Netflix said that his biggest competitor was sleep.
- [19:04]
A
That's terrible. I mean, but true.
- [19:06]
B
But true, right? I mean, you cannot let Netflix steal your sleep. Like, it's absolutely not okay.
- [19:13]
A
Oh, my gosh, that's horrible. But it has stolen my sleep sometimes. So I've taken the TV set out of the bedroom completely. So the only place to watch Netflix is in the living room. I barely watch any TV anymore now anyway.
- [19:25]
B
Yeah, I didn't even. I didn't have a television at all. But prior to getting married. But definitely, I will say the trade off of, like, getting married for the TV is well worth it. Yeah, I think, you know, getting married was one of the best things actually that I've ever done for my health because as a woman, I have that, like, safety. And we know in all the studies that having a strong sense of community and loving others and them loving you is so helpful. So. But now we have a tv. But I did make him not make. I asked him to turn on the red feature. So now our TVs like, red. And so now the whole. Yeah, the whole house is red. At sunset, red lights go on and the TV is now red.
- [20:01]
A
So I didn't know TVs have a red feature.
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B
Yeah, well, we have Apple TV. And if you go into, like, accessibility features and color tint, it's actually kind of like. I learned this from Ben Greenfield. But the red light phone trick, have you done that? Or like. Yeah, so it's like that with the tv.
- [20:15]
A
So the TV also has that feature. I have no idea. Yeah, we use red lights at our house, too. At, you know, right at sunset, everything turns red and it's actually lovely in the home with the red light. Yeah.
- [20:27]
B
So much more relaxing.
- [20:28]
A
Exactly.
- [20:29]
B
Bright lights and watching scary stuff before you go to bed.
- [20:31]
A
Exactly.
- [20:32]
B
Nothing like doing a big anxiety, you know, kicking cortisol release before you try to head to bed.
- [20:38]
A
I know, right? I want to dive into some of the protocols that you use, Kayla, because I know you have quite a few protocols. And by the way, can I link to that in the show notes, the. Your. Some of your protocols and also the. The detox checklist for the house?
- [20:51]
B
Yeah, absolutely. It's all on my website.
- [20:53]
A
That's fantastic. So we'll definitely link to that. That's so helpful. But I would love to kind of hear your protocol. When someone kind of comes to the clinic for the first time, how do we start with them and how do you kind of move them through the process? Because there's a lot to talk about. And, you know, we have our protocol that we use at our clinic, and I'd love to hear kind of what you're doing.
- [21:11]
B
Yeah, absolutely. Well, from a general, you know, new patient, at our clinic standpoint, it really could depend because I always say, like, everyone, for example, is so excited about biological age.
- [21:21]
A
Right.
- [21:21]
B
Which, I mean, I've been doing for so long. But you have to see the. What's the saying? You have to see the forest, the trees. You can't miss the rocks. Right. So if someone comes in with a ton of symptoms, that's going to look a little bit different from. For them. But I'm going to talk about kind of what I've done, because mine's like A to Z everything. So things that I test on, let's say a quarterly basis, are the total Toxic burden. So. Well, first let's start at genetics because I think genetics and please like chime in with, you know, what you guys.
- [21:47]
A
Do or what you, which genetic tests do you guys use?
- [21:49]
B
I've done about six genetic tests but we mostly do three by four now because it's very user friendly, it's super easy to read and it's not going to give you every single genetic variation. It's just going to say, hey, these are the biggest pieces to focus on, like if you have, you know, mthfr, if you detox poorly. So first I did my genetics and I figured out my genetic predispositions. It's funny because everything that I'm genetically predisposed to, I have none of. Right. I'm genetically predisposed to being a little bit more overweight, which I am not. You know, I'm genetically predisposed to having, you know, potentially cardio cardiovascular issues, which I have none. So.
- [22:24]
A
But see that's perfect though for you to say that because I think people should understand that your genetics are not your destiny and with your healthy lifestyle you've been able to overcome these genetic.
- [22:33]
B
Predispositions at literally everything. I mean, I think that they say, you know, genetics are like what, 10% of the overall equation. 90% of that is lifestyle and environment and our epigenetics which then, you know, turn on or off those genes. So but regardless, I still, you know, wanted to see what my genetics said and so started there and then after that I think the gut is the foundation of health. So I had, had, I'll talk a little bit more about that. But one of the best like gut tests. So we do the GI effects by Genova. Do you guys like that?
- [23:04]
A
It's one of the ones that we use as well. Yeah.
- [23:06]
B
So I had zeros across the board with 1, 2 with dysbiosis. So optimize my gut and as you can, you can probably confirm this is like also very rare. So rare, so rare. So I then later, more recently I had a breast explant, actually I had implants and we can talk about that if you want, but I didn't have breast implant illness. I didn't have any symptoms. I just got them out because A, I didn't want to develop any and B, I wanted to breastfeed my children that I want to have soon naturally. And then I had antibiotics and that's been a fun experiment to see what happens. Right. Because it did take a toll on my gut, no doubt because I have the before and then I Have the right after. So now I'm on another gut protocol, but optimizing the gut, right? And it's so, it's so complex to optimize gut health properly. You know, there's been so many brands that are probiotics that have sent me requests to do brand deals and I've turned on every one of them because I can't in good conscience recommend a one size fits all probiotic. You know, as you see, if you do something like the GI effects, it not only is, you know, what good bacterias do you need, what bad bacterias you need to reduce, but then it's also, do you have parasites, do you have pathogens, do you have viruses? And through a lot of my interviews on my podcast, talking to medical doctors about this, these viruses and pathogens can also lead to autoimmune conditions. So you want to of course eradicate them so everybody's will look a little bit different. But I would say getting a gut test and working on that, whether it's reducing the bad bacterias, because ideally, what do we want to do? We want to reduce the bad bacterias, get rid of any viruses or pathogens or parasites, and then we want to balance the dysbiosis, right? Bring up the good guys, bring down the bad guys, and then you want to seal the gut with and you know, ensure that you have great, no intestinal permeability or you know, leaky gut, as we know. So that's, that's like the gut health. But I have seen so many times, you know, it bothers me so much when women are marketed these skin creams, right? Like skin creams. Amazing for, you know, keeping supple skin or anti aging. That's amazing. But the acne thing really bothers me because this is a signal, this is a warning sign that something's going wrong. Right. So we have found and it's not always this, but if you balance the gut, so many things improve your mood because we know that our gut has neurons and the gut and the brain directly communicate. It improves. Brain fog can lift, obviously GI symptoms. Like things we've normalized, right. People think that like bloating all the time and not going to the bathroom enough or going too much, these are all not normal symptoms. So when you optimize the gut, that will help. And a lot of times to people's skin improves.
- [25:46]
A
Yeah, gut health is so important. It should be more foundational. And you know, it's never been foundational in western medicine. You never talk about gut health at all. The most you talk about gut health is just when you're treating a disease and using colonoscopy to see if you have a colon cancer. But other than that, there's nothing really spoken about, about your microbiome. Now it's getting more, I think it's being taught more now in medical schools. But still, there's still a lot of science that needs to be done as well for on gut health, I think. But you're absolutely right. Maintaining good gut health is first and foremost and can lead to clearing up of a lot of symptoms. I'm just curious as to, you know, that kind of brings up the nutrition topic. Right. And I would love to hear your thoughts. Thoughts on optimal nutrition.
- [26:27]
B
I think we've made nutrition so incredibly complicated for no reason.
- [26:32]
A
Exactly.
- [26:33]
B
It's like vegan versus carnivore versus this and it's just wild. And at the end of the day I just focus on eating whole foods. So single ingredient foods. I eat zero packaged foods. Because we know, we definitely, I think the ultra processed foods are now like 70% of Americans diet. And we obviously have processed foods which are just like the combining of foods, not as bad. A lot of things can be processed. But when we get into the ultra processed foods with these fillers and preservatives and all of these different additives, I completely stay away from that. So I just eat single ingredient foods. For me, I do, I eat red meat a couple times a week. I eat a lot of wild caught seafood. So I love things like scallops and wild caught salmon. And it's just very simple. I avoid all added and refined sugars completely. It's just a very natural diet and whatever that looks like. I eat a lot of organic dark leafy greens. It's just balanced. I have a little bit of a what I would call like a smart carb in like the form of a vegetable with a lot of protein. I think protein for women is incredibly underrated. I mean, I think, you know, the what I would recommend or what I do for protein is you know, like point eight grams to one. I am trying to still put on more muscle and let's definitely talk about that because women and muscle is like an interesting conversation. But I think hitting your minimum required protein intake, let's just, let's just call it 100 grams a day or something. But you can do 1 pound and 1 gram of protein if you want to figure it out that way. Or 0.8 to 1 pound per body weight. And I think lots of organic leafy greens that get you fiber and it gets you a bunch of antioxidants and then just great high quality protein sources. For me, I actually try to avoid pesticides as much as possible. So you know, glyphosate is a known carcinogen I believe, and even labeled as such in California, which is great. And so I try to avoid that those types of just sprays as much as possible. So I do organic or farmer's market. It's great because we have amazing grocery stores here, like really healthy ones that I love. But I actually love even more than that going to the farmer's market because the nutrient content of foods is higher when it's freshly picked.
- [28:38]
A
Right.
- [28:38]
B
So the longer it's away from the vine then the, the more reduction in the nutrients. So every piece of food that I put into my mouth I think about how is this benefiting me or is it a detriment to my health? So we know that food is so much more than just calories. It's information and as cliche it is. But like when your mom said you are what you eat, you truly are. Do you want to be a bag of Doritos or do you want, or do you want to be, you know, grass fed steak and blueberries or wild caught salmon? I mean, I think if I'm looking for optimal performance, longevity, health span extension, I'm doing the grass fed steak or the wild caught salmon and the blueberries. So I mean, to wrap it up, I think, yeah, super high quality protein, hitting all of your requirements for that. And you're also going to be so much more full if you're having a protein forward diet, you're just naturally not going to be as hungry, you're not going to want to snack. And if you get a high quality sleep the night before, because we know even one night of poor sleep can increase the hunger hormone ghrelin. So I get a good night's sleep and then I eat a lot of protein and organic greens and I love bone broth. That's really great for gut health. Love a good smoothie with a bunch of really low sugar smoothies but a bunch of like powders and creatine in there, which I think is great for women. But that's pretty much my nutritional philosophy. I mean, what do you think about that?
- [29:55]
A
I think that's exactly right. You hit the nail on the head when you said we've totally overcomplicated nutrition and it's also become very religious.
- [30:02]
B
Yeah.
- [30:03]
A
You know, and I think the religious fanatic belief that there's one Diet that works for everybody is. It's just crazy and you gotta find what's gonna work for you. Right. I think there's. You mentioned the Carnivore diet. I feel like that could be great for some people, and for some people it could not be. It's a great intervention sometimes if you're having gut issues and you need to, you know, basically do a massive elimination diet, but it's not very sustainable for everybody. Right. It's just one of those things that are helpful to know about, but also try to do what's the most sustainable thing for you. And if the carnivore diet is sustainable for you, fine, you know, you can continue down that path. And the same exact thought process for me goes with like veganism. Right.
- [30:43]
B
It's.
- [30:44]
A
It's also hard to get the right amount of protein that you want to get. And obviously, like, if you have ethical and moral concerns about eating meat, then obviously you're going to stick to veganism or vegetarianism. But other than that, I feel like not overcomplicating it and starting with protein, adding your fiber and vegetables in and then making your carbohydrates kind of like an afterthought in your sugar and afterthought is the best way to go. This is most. I can simplify it and that's going to help most people. That's where we start. And then we use testing as well to just kind of see what, what is our gut doing, what are the micronutrients doing, et cetera.
- [31:16]
B
Yeah, I love that. And to speak on it from a woman's perspective for a moment, you know, we have these different phases. So we have our follicular phase, our ovulation, our luteal phase. So I want to first start by saying, do not focus on eating for your cycle if you're not just mastering the basics of eating a really high quality diet, right? Because adding in layers of like, you know, I eat a little bit more red meat during, you know, the menstruation, because that makes sense, right? We're losing blood and then so I'm eating a little bit more red meat in the luteal phase. I have a little bit more carbohydrates, so that's great. But, and I have, you know, a couple posts and stuff on that, but I wouldn't start there. I would definitely start with mastering the basics. And I'll talk to you a little bit about the Carnivore diet. And I know that it's very popular right now. And I've done every diet. You know, I started changing. I studied nutrition when I was in college. I learned about Mark Hyman back, you know, 15 years ago. So I was reading Dave Asprey's books back then. That's how he got interested in all this stuff. You know, I wanted, I started change my diet and I'm like, whoa, this is. I feel so much better. But I've done veganism, raw vegan, I've tried everything. And I did carnivore for a while too. And look, I felt amazing. Hair looked great, everything was great. My body composition was incredible. But you can't fly blind here. So what did I do? I started to look at my labs and my labs were telling me a different story. So my, you know, advanced cardiovascular markers, things like apob, tmao, of course we have ldl, hdl, triglycerides. My ratio was actually great apob. But APOB and TMAO and some of these other cardiovascular markers started to go in the wrong direction. And I'm not. When you talk about it being a religion, right. The problem with that, and I've never been like that because I don't want to be this, like in a dogmatic situation where I can't change my mind because my brand's built on that, because I tried it and felt great, but my labs were going in the wrong direction. And if I want to really have great longevity and health span, these are things we have to pay attention to. So if you're going to do an extreme diet like either of these diets we've talked about, either veganism or carnivore, then you really should be looking at your labs to make sure that you're not running yourself into a hole.
- [33:24]
A
Absolutely. It's a whole n of one thing, right? You have to see how is this particular intervention affecting you and track it over time. I've been dissecting the science of NAD for over three years now. And I want to tell you what I use for optimizing my own mitochondrial health. If you want to support healthy aging at a cellular level, truniagens NR is scientifically proven to increase NAD levels, a critical coenzyme for energy production and overall cellular health. It's my favorite supplement for boosting nad, improving how your body handles stress, optimizing your recovery, and supporting longevity. Whether you're looking to stay sharp, feel more energized, or simply age better, Truniagen NR is my go to solution. The other things I worry about with a carnivore diet is the lack of fiber and lack of intestinal motility for a long period of time. We know that low fiber intake leads to more colon cancer as well. And there's also some nutrient deficiencies that can happen as well that you have to monitor for. And I worry about the same things with the vegan diet. Right. There's not enough protein intake sometimes it's hard to get, you know, the right amount of protein sometimes. And also you're missing out on some essential amino acids too. So you got to monitor that as well. So for most people, like there's a bell shaped curve and you're going to land somewhere in the middle. Right. And so I think it's important to recognize that and go with, go with your biomarkers as well, for sure. Let me ask you a little bit on the sleep topic as well. I know you're a big fan of monitoring sleep because I read your article in Aura that came up on my app when I know. So I was like, I, I'm interviewing her tomorrow. That's amazing.
- [35:06]
B
I love. And you know, it's so funny because I've opened the OR app tens of thousands of times in my life. I've had one for like six years and I knew that they were doing a feature on me, but it was so fun to open up and see myself in that, like literally.
- [35:18]
A
You must have got a million texts that day from all over the world.
- [35:20]
B
Yes, I did. I got a lot of screenshots of that app because all of our friends, you know, are wearing an OURA ring. So.
- [35:26]
A
Yeah. So just on tracking in general, tell me your thoughts around it and then let's dive into sleep a little bit as well. Just in big picture, what, what do you recommend most people consider for tracking on a day to day basis?
- [35:37]
B
Yeah, so I have a quite a few small things that are very, you know, affordable that I track at home. So of course I'm looking at my body composition. Not even so much weight. Right? I mean, yes, I know my weight, but I'm looking at my muscle mass, my bone density or bone weight, water mass, and overall body composition because I, I want to have more muscle. Of course, because we know that as we age it gets harder to put on muscle. So I'm looking at body composition, you know, on a daily basis. I look at grip strength. At home we know that grip strength is an indicator of longevity. I'm at about 99 pounds, which is like in the 99th percentile for my age and gender.
- [36:12]
A
How often do you measure that? You have a dynamometer at home I do.
- [36:15]
B
Yeah, I do that once a week. So on a daily basis I do the OURA ring sleep tracking. So that's really easy. And if I'm wearing a continuous glucose monitor, of course I track that on a daily basis. And then on a weekly basis I do the grip strength, I do lung health. So I have a spirometer at home where I'm just testing the strength and health of my lungs. And then I have a blood pressure cup. So I also do my blood pressure once a week. So that's just, you know, a few. And you can get these things on Amazon for like between $30. The scale is a little bit more like 100 or 200, depending on which one you get. But those are things to measure at home. And then we can get into like, what labs? I kind of mentioned the gut test and the toxin testing. But I do a lot of stuff on a quarterly basis and then an annual basis.
- [36:54]
A
So yeah, no, that's perfect. I think the combination of tracking certain metrics at home combined with the laboratory work is definitely the way to go. And it's so funny because I have those same three items, a blood pressure cuff, a barometer, I have it like on the table and I just do them all at the same time. Yeah, I'll do them every couple of weeks because I. I'm tracking the trend. Right. It's all about knowing which way you're trending and that way you can pick stuff up early. On the sleep aspect now let's focus in on that. What are your, what have you done that's most impacted your sleep?
- [37:26]
B
Yeah, and you know, I have about a 95 sleep score on Aura. And for the record, as far as I know or does not let you get 100. So. Whoop. I've kind of heard it's a bit different over there. Whoop users, I think if Brian Johnson.
- [37:39]
A
Must be using a whoop because he has 100 sleep score, he says, yeah.
- [37:42]
B
No, he does use a whoop. And I, I haven't used a whoop. So I won't speak too much on what their criteria is, but I don't know a single person that's ever got 100 sleep score, activity score. I get 100 all the time, but sleep no go. So, yeah, I think for my personal sleep routine, it's really extensive, but it really comes down to a few big things. Wind down routine. So as you and I were talking about the red lights, really just getting rid of all that blue light works. But it was just so much blue light on a daily basis. And that reduces our melatonin production, which is what makes us more sleepy. So I think actually starting in the morning, right? So viewing morning sunlight, that's been incredibly popularized now, but getting the sun into the eyes and because our ancestors, they would wake with the sun and fall asleep with the sun. So the sun actually, based on what wavelengths that it's mostly emitting, can help our bodies understand what time it is. So in the morning, you know, we still have, I think about 50% red and infrared light, which a lot, I don't think a lot of people know that, but you can get, I mean, of course you can buy red light panels, which I have, but you can also get red and infrared light from the sun. So in the morning, getting up and getting between 10 and 30 minutes of sunlight in the eyes, it's going to tell your brain it's morning wake up. It'll not only give you a little bit energy, but it'll help you later in the day. Just speaking on sunlight, I also watched the evening sunset because again, it's anchoring that circadian rhythm. Our home, we actually picked it because one, it gets a lot of sun exposure, but two, I can see the sunset. So viewing the sunset is also helpful. And then the red lights at night. So if you don't want to go out and buy all red lights, you can either just buy, you know, really cheap ones online and just as soon as sunset happens, turn on the red lights, do the red light phone trick and potentially put it on your TV as well. But that's going to be a protocol that is really going to help you with your sleep. I don't watch anything anxiety inducing, More relaxation, some breath work before bed. We know that eating timing is so important. So I actually stop eating at 5:30, but at least three to four hours prior to bed because if you're digesting a big meal, you're not going to get into those really deep restorative stages of sleep as much as you would otherwise. So timing of when you eat, super helpful. And then your temperature. So I mean I keep my room at about 65 degrees. We know that while we sleep, our temperature drops down naturally. But also if you're being disturbed by a super hot room, you're gonna have sleep disturbances and wake up. So keep my room cool. I think EMF management at night I try to make my room, and specifically my bed as low emf, toxin, everything as possible. So I can really regenerate. So we have timers, they're just cheap off Amazon that you can have the WI FI switch off completely. I have an EMF blocking Faraday cage around my bed. I've had it for like four years, but people think it's a canopy or. But it's, it's basically woven with silver, so it further blocks EMFs. So I'm literally sleeping in.
- [40:24]
A
Where can you get that from?
- [40:26]
B
I got mine from Safe Living Technologies.
- [40:28]
A
Okay, and what are those costs approximately?
- [40:30]
B
They're kind of expensive. I think it's a couple thousand dollars. But, you know, I know that you can get cheaper ones out there. So just like look up, you know, EMF Faraday cage. Because I know that there's cheaper options on the market. But that website's actually great too, because there's even things like EMF blocking paint these days that you could, you know, coat your room in. So it blocks out. You know, living in la, even though our WI fi is off, it doesn't mean that the neighbor that's like 20ft away, their wi fi is still on. So that's where the EMF blocking cage comes in.
- [40:58]
A
So when you're. Sorry to ask you more questions on this. I'm so, I'm so curious. When you're in your bed and you have this Faraday cage on and you turn on your phone, you pick up no WI FI signals.
- [41:07]
B
There's no signals. I have an EMF meter. And also it also significantly drops it down. There's like, no, there's no pickup of any EMF inside. So there's the canopy, but then there's also a blanket that kind of attaches. So you have, we have something under the bed that is EMF blocking. So it kind of, what's the best word? It's like fully blocking. So it's connecting so the EMF can't get up from.
- [41:29]
A
Fascinating. Yeah, yeah. Because I have an EMF meter at home and just walking around the bedroom, like I picked up so many things, I. Even when they're turned off, they're emitting emf. And so you have to actually unplug them from the wall. Yeah, and so that's, that's really interesting that the Faraday cage like fully blocks it. That would be a really great way to prevent EMFs. Of course. And what are some of the negative effects of emf?
- [41:52]
B
Well, I mean, it's so controversial still, right? I mean, because everyone's saying that it's non ionizing, you know, like Bluetooth headphones, like AirPods for example, but I mean, it's actually a light spectrum which is so Interesting. And based on what I've had conversations about, again, I can't cite, like, specific studies about this, but we. We're not built to be experiencing EMFs. I mean, I've talked to some amazing cancer doctors, and it's one of the first things that they recommend reducing. Right. I mean, even on the phone, you know, warnings itself, it says, don't put the phone on your ear, on your head. So. And why is that? Because it's emitting these EMFs, and they're not natural to us. We see that the effects are not great. And it's interesting because, you know, I. I'm such a nerd. I have, like, wired headphones, and when you talk about Bluetooth headphones, so many people say, you know, it's weird. I get headaches and I have migraines every time I wear them. But, I mean, are you familiar with any, like, solid research these days on emfs?
- [42:49]
A
I think there's more. The Environmental Working Group actually has a whole site on EMF research. Yeah. So they're constantly updating it. And I'm getting more and more convinced that EMF is definitely something that we need to be avoiding. And I think it's hard, right? Like, we're in this EMF society now. There's WI fi everywhere. But doing exactly what you said, which is why I'm so interested in the Faraday cage, is where do you spend the most time? It's in the bedroom at night, sleeping. You're there for eight hours, hopefully every single night. That's one third of your day. That can be, like, fully. You know what I mean? That can be fully. You can be EMF free. Right. And so that's so powerful.
- [43:22]
B
Yeah, absolutely. So we have the EMF cage, and we'll have to stay in communication because I feel like we need some really solid research on EMFs, because otherwise everyone thinks, like, oh, it's not a big deal because there's no specific study saying this is what it's doing to your health. But all the experts and I mean, I know just by limiting EMFs, I feel much better.
- [43:40]
A
Well, being in the Western medicine world, you know, like you said, oncologists immediately recommend to go EMF free, you know, as much as possible. So there's something there for sure. And like you said, phones definitely have a warning label on them that say, do not hold near your. Near your ear. Which is so weird because they are phone. And you see people walking around with them next to their ear all the time.
- [44:00]
B
Yeah, I know, I know.
- [44:01]
A
And then The Bluetooth headphones didn't really solve that problem either.
- [44:04]
B
No, I mean, to me it's just almost like common sense also, like something communicating through your brain all day cannot be a good thing.
- [44:11]
A
That's true.
- [44:12]
B
So for me, yeah. So we have the EMF blocking cage. I have a got certified organic mattress. We know that VOCs, you know, emitting these compounds essentially into the air and into your sleeping environment can also not only be harmful, but be disruptive to sleep. So there's a lot of different brands out there for organic mattresses. But I do like got certification and so I have that. Then I have a grounding pad on my bed. So I'm getting grounded throughout the night, which I love. And it's an interesting process. You actually plug it into the wall to be grounded. Have you ever used any of these?
- [44:45]
A
Yes, I have one too.
- [44:45]
B
Yeah. Oh, do you have one on your bed or just in the house?
- [44:48]
A
I have one in the house and I do. I kind of use it as a stretching mat at night before, before I go to bed. But I think under the bed would probably be even better. Eight hours of grounding.
- [44:57]
B
Exactly. Yeah. So we have the grounding mat and then we have, you know, 100% God certified sheets. So super low tox environment, completely black in there. So we blackout shades. If you can't do that, just do, you know, an eye mask. I got a weighted eye mask. That's been really nice.
- [45:12]
A
I was interesting.
- [45:13]
B
I was very surprised. I swear it's really improved my sleep. I've been using it for about the past last week.
- [45:17]
A
I have a weighted blanket I use in the winter.
- [45:19]
B
Yeah.
- [45:20]
A
And that also you see a measurable difference in deep sleep with a weighted blanket. For me.
- [45:24]
B
Yeah. I mean, I love that. Again, it's what. So for me, I don't love weighted blanket because I feel a little bit trapped for some reason. I sleep. My husband, it was so funny when he first saw me sleep. Like, I sleep almost like, you know, I'm in like. But it's good sleeping posture. So I'm not, I don't move around or anything at night. I've really just like trained myself. And so the wind down routine, the early stopping of eating, the temperature. Yeah. Reducing EMFs in whatever way that could be unplugging it. It could be, of course, not only even having your phone on airplane mode, but in another room. Go back to like an old school alarm clock. But you must certainly want to have the most restorative sleep possible and you want to feel, feel great when you wake up, right?
- [46:03]
A
Absolutely, absolutely. Was there a time when you weren't sleeping so great and you did specific actions that you were tracking through aura that helped you get sleep better? Or have you always just been a great sleeper?
- [46:13]
B
I've always been a pret sleeper. The other thing is too, is actually tiring yourself during the day. Right. Like, so I work out, you know, five days a week. So I'm being super productive and I'm tiring myself out. I think a lot of people deal with ruminating thoughts too. So just maybe keeping a notebook next to you and just jotting down those thoughts so you're not thinking about them or doing a breath work or a meditation. So I've always had good sleep. So my husband, we do some supplement protocols for him. Some like glycine, some apigenin, some L theanine. We have the chewable gaba. I interviewed a couple of pharmacists and they said that the chewable form is the best. So I create these little like sleep stack tins for him and so he just has them ready to go. So that really has helped his sleep quality. And then consistency, you know, I mean, that's like so important. So I go to bed every night at 8:30 and I wake up naturally between 4:30 and 5:30 every single day. And so I love that. But you, if you're going to bed at a varied hours, you're never going to get a good sleep schedule and your circadian clock is just going to be totally thrown off. So that's the other big one, is consistency.
- [47:17]
A
Yeah. And I found that in the past when I was watching TV before bed, my sleep time was completely inconsistent. So there would be many sleepless nights or I would have insomnia some nights. And just like you said, having a bedtime that you stick to every single night, even on the weekends, is so important. You can wake up later on the weekends if you want, but getting to bed on the same time is. Is incredibly important.
- [47:39]
B
Yeah. And once you do it for a week or so, you're just like, I'm naturally tired at 8:30. I'm getting like, you know, I'm getting sleepy. And that's because it's so consistent, like there's no variation. And I know that might sound difficult, but I mean, for me it just feels the best.
- [47:54]
A
Yeah, no, absolutely. Let's move on to talking about your exercise routine. You say you go to the gym five days a week.
- [47:59]
B
Yeah. Well, some sort of activity. Five days a week. Yeah.
- [48:02]
A
Okay. And you're female, so I'm sure you're doing some female focused kind of training, right? Or, and you mentioned a couple times that there's some things that females need to consider with their training routines and also their supplementation protocol. So I'd love for you to kind of talk about your protocol and what, what do you do specifically that's different maybe from what a male would do to, to really optimize for being female?
- [48:24]
B
Yeah, I'll start with that and then I'll talk about what I'm doing because I have a couple different goals, right. I have like adding in muscle mass goal, I have a general fitness goal, I have VO2 max goals and then I have my low level movement goal. So in terms of what to do specifically for a woman. So we know in our luteal phase, which is the second half of our cycle, the energy can be reduced, right? We can feel a little bit more sluggish. It's right before we start menstruation. So for me, I usually program lighter workouts in, in the second half. I feel much better in the follicular phase, you know, right after menstruation and even around ovulation. So a lot of times I'm doing my most high intensity and like hitting new PRs during that time, which is a lot of fun. And it's not the same for everyone. Right. Like also women have a lot of variation in their cycle or can have a lot of variation in their cycle. And so it's important just to again, look at your own data. So I do integration with natural cycles with my OURA ring and that's what I'm currently using for pregnancy prevention until next time next month when I switch and want to be, you know, in the conception phase. But if you integrate an aura ring with something like natural cycles, it's going to show you what phase you're in. So it'll say, okay, you're in your follicular phase, you're in your ovulation phase, or you're getting ready to ovulate, or you just ovulated, then it'll tell you that you're in your luteal phase. So it's really important, I think, for women to also document how they're feeling. Because some women, it's not always one size fits all. As a general rule of thumb, we can say probably around, you know, right after menstruation you're going to be pretty strong, right around ovulation, you're going to be your strongest. And then the luteal phase, you'll Be strong until the, the late luteal and then you'll probably want to take it a little bit easier, maybe walking, maybe lower, lower intensity exercises. But again it's. Everyone is so unique. So that's what I would do for females. Also things like cold plunging. I completely lay off the second half of my cycle because I want my progesterone to rise. I don't want to add, you know, additional stressors. We know that they're hermetic stressors which are great because they can increase our capacity for stress over time. But I don't want to put too much stress on my body with laying exercise and sauna and cold therapy and all these things as a woman, whereas you as a man, you know, your levels are pretty stable on a 24 hour clock. But women just have a lot of other considerations. So that is recommendations for exercise from a female standpoint. But what I do, so of course I want to look at what are the potential things that could kill me, right? So cardiovascular disease, falling and you know, getting an injury because I don't have enough muscle mass. So I program my workouts around that. So I do Carol Bike. Have you ever heard of a Carol bike?
- [50:58]
A
Yes, but tell everyone, tell the audience. Yeah.
- [51:00]
B
So Carol bike is an AI powered fitness bike. It looks kind of like a peloton, but it actually increases resistance based on your own personal best. So I'm doing three Carol Bike workouts a week and I'm doing the rehit Highest intensity for VO2 max improvement. So some sort of high intensity cardiovascular workout. I would say, depending on the duration of it, you know, one to three times per week is really important because we want to keep our cardiovascular health and our VO2 max high. We know that it's another longevity linked contributor. So I'm doing that. I do strength training about three to four days a week and it just depends on if I'm doing more full body stuff. But I do, when I strength train, I put my all into it. I hate wasting time. So I go in and my workouts are only about 45 minutes, but I am going like full throttle, like literally to failure. So I think that's really important because I'm getting the max benefit in the shortest amount of time. So I'm doing that three to four days a week.
- [51:55]
A
And how many reps and sets are you doing and how many different exercises?
- [51:59]
B
So it depends on what the day is. I'm doing really just like an upper lower split right now. So I'm only usually doing about four different exercises. And I'm doing, depending on the exercise, anywhere from 5 to 12. And it just really depends. Lower body, I'm doing a slightly lower amount of exercises. Upper body, I'm doing slightly more. And again, everybody's goals are different. You know, for me, I have a different goal than, you know, potentially another woman. So it really again is varied, but I do very slow, very focused mind muscle connection because I just want to get the most out of it and really strain the muscle as much as I can for hypertrophy or growth in the long run. And then low level movement stuff I just am in love with. I live up in the hills, great for just walking, amazing views, but lots of like, let's call it that zone two cardio. Right. Because I'm in the hill so it's hard. And I'm hitting about 15, 000 steps every day.
- [52:53]
A
Amazing.
- [52:53]
B
So I plan for some of that. So all my calls I do on a walking treadmill. Inside I take a long walk in the morning while I get the morning sunlight. And then me and my husband get to connect and we do about a 50 minute walk at night all through the hills. So I'm getting about, yeah, anywhere, 15,000 plus steps. So lots of low level movement mixed with some high intensity stuff and cardiovascular training and the strength training. And I think, I think we're getting past this now. But I think a lot of women have not pushed themselves in training necessarily as much as they could or should because they're worried about becoming bulky. But I mean, just we'll say this, I know tons of women that work out incredibly hard, even harder than me. None of them are bulky. They're all toned, as we want to call it. And you do that by adding muscle and adding strength and adding power. And not only is it going to work from a physique standpoint, but when we get older and we have to pick things up and put things into an overhead bin, that's what we're training for. You know, we're training for life. And a lot of these movements, especially like compound exercises like, you know, deadlifts and squats are really great because women lose bone density at a pretty significant rate, especially around menopause. Right. And we need strong bones. So by really loading the spine with squats and deadlifts, I mean, I always keep those in my protocol because I want to have great bone density as I age.
- [54:13]
A
Absolutely, yeah. The stimulus for bones to stay strong. A lot of people used to think you have to drink milk to keep your bones strong. It's not that you have to do strength training. That's what's going to keep your bones strong.
- [54:22]
B
Yeah.
- [54:22]
A
And so getting your head wrapped around that is very important. And on the, your strength training protocol, just to get into a few more like, specifics on it, are you supplementing with your protein creatine as well?
- [54:34]
B
So I take 5 grams of creatine every day. I usually put it in my smoothie or in a water, and I'm always hitting my protein. So minimum, I'm getting 100 grams of protein a day.
- [54:43]
A
Got it. And are you timing it before, after workouts? How are you doing that?
- [54:46]
B
So I think for me, and again, every woman's different, but because, you know, women can be a little bit more susceptible to stressors, I like to have a little bit of protein before my workout. So I'm not compounding stressor on stressor on stressor. So, you know, I think that's really beneficial. Of course, you can also do it right after your workout if you prefer, be fasted. But I like to have a little bit of protein in the morning. I have about 20 or so grams of protein in the morning before my workout, and then I actually have my morning, so my eating window is pretty early. So then I have my morning breakfast after my workout, so I'm getting protein before and after. And then I have also an early dinner. I eat twice a day and then a small snack.
- [55:23]
A
Got it, got it. Wow. Lots of great information there. And I think, you know, this protocol would also work for men as well. But I do like kind of how you change your protocol based on what the cycle that you're in. And I think that's an important fact to touch on because you do want to protect against stress. You do want to protect against overtraining, specifically. You're saying the luteal phase of your. Of your cycle, right?
- [55:46]
B
Yeah, yeah, exactly.
- [55:47]
A
And then do you recommend that all women take creatine?
- [55:50]
B
You know, of course, to each their own. But I think it's an amazing supplement. I mean, I would love your opinion, but it's not only great for our muscles, and I think it's really been, you know, programmed or thought of as like the bodybuilding supplement, but it's also great for our brain. So I think it's. It's a good supplement. I think you shared a post the other day, actually, and my videographer sent it to me, and I think you said there were three foundational supplements. It's vitamin D and fish oil and magnesium. Is that what you said? It's that's exactly what I would say, you know and. But I would also say creatine should be up there too.
- [56:21]
A
Exactly. It's like you can't just do. Those are three that I think everyone needs but there's actually like four or five that I think are super foundational.
- [56:29]
B
Yeah.
- [56:29]
A
And then there's a few others and we could. Let's talk about supplements a little bit because now's a good time to talk about that. Since we're talking, I have about six to eight supplements I consider foundational and I would love to compare lists. So tell me, tell me your list.
- [56:42]
B
Well, honestly the three are yours. You know, so a great high quality fish oil. Super important. We know it's anti inflammatory. The omega 3 is magnesium. I think it's what 80% of Americans are deficient in. Magnesium. I like a full spectrum magnesium. So it has multiple different forms because optimizers. Yep, exactly. Love them. So I mean because if you're deficient in one form, you're going to be deficient in most forms and unfortunately the quality of our soil has just decrease so much. That's a whole different conversation. But that's why I try to do direct from the farmers or regenerative farming so I can get more nutrients and minerals from my food. And then we talked about vitamin D. I mean I love my Vitamin D is 86.5 and it stays there. It, it does not dip below like ever. 75. And I think that's also an issue because what the standard range is, you can be 30 or 25. This is not acceptable.
- [57:31]
A
No, I mean the standard range is basically when you're in disease state of vitamin D pretty much you have to be My, my goal is 50 to 80, but I'm fine with people being 80 up to 100.
- [57:41]
B
Yeah, I definitely don't want to go above 100 but I mean 75 to 85 is usually where I find myself and I feel great. And we know that vitamin D is so beneficial for so many things.
- [57:51]
A
Especially taking the D3K2.
- [57:53]
B
Oh yeah.
- [57:54]
A
For sure. To protect against calcifications.
- [57:56]
B
Yeah. To really drive it into the bones.
- [57:58]
A
Where it should go. So super important beyond those three, what are you taking?
- [58:02]
B
So very again, unique. So I'm currently doing a gut gut protocol. So I'm doing some gut supplements. Some things that I like for, you know, I think for everybody. I love me dopier. Do you like your lithium? A for mitochondrial. So I think that's one that a lot of people could benefit from. We know you know Mitochondria creates our energy, so better mitochondria. That's also why I do red light therapy and I do, I would say probably a lot of your guys's therapies are also working on mitochondria. Right. Because that's so important. So I think your lithium A is a great one. I do some shots of olive oil. High quality olive oil. It's not necessarily a supplement, but I love that.
- [58:36]
A
Yeah. So you just take a shot?
- [58:37]
B
Yep, yep. Just a shot.
- [58:39]
A
Once a day. Twice a day.
- [58:40]
B
I do it once a day. I use a lot of olive oil and cooking too. So I cook all of our meals at home. There's only two places I even eat in all of L A Erewhon.
- [58:48]
A
Yes.
- [58:49]
B
And this restaurant in Beverly Hills called Matthew. So okay. Grass finish Wagyu. Yes. So they have amazing bone broth also, but I'm very picky. If you have any other recommendations, my husband would love to expand our restaurant possibilities.
- [59:04]
A
Yeah, I go down to sweet grains a lot.
- [59:06]
B
Okay. Yeah.
- [59:07]
A
All their vegetables and their produce that they get are locally sourced and so, you know, it's kind of like eating a salad at a farmer's market, you know, and so an organic fish, organic meats. It's, it's very clean. That's what I love about it. And yeah, the portion size is good. Good too.
- [59:23]
B
Yep, absolutely. So going back to supplements, I'm currently taking a prenatal, which I've been on, and my husband's actually been on the men's version for over a year. I use Wenatal, if you're familiar. So they have methylated B vitamins, which, you know, Anyone with any MTHFR genetic mutations definitely should consider methylation, which is.
- [59:42]
A
Like 20% of people I'm finding as empty MTHFR.
- [59:45]
B
Yeah. So methylated B vitamins, really, really great. So all my B vitamins look very good too. And it has a variety of other. I think it has. I can't think of all the ingredients in it, but has a variety of other fertility promoting ingredients in good quantities and it's a really high quality supplement. So I'm taking that and I'm also taking stem regen right now. Are you familiar with this?
- [60:06]
A
What is that one?
- [60:07]
B
It's a plant based. And this is again for me because I had the explant not too long ago. It's a plant based, like stem cell provoker, essentially. It's probably not the right terminology, but it's supposed to help you just release more stem cells. It's really interesting. I Heard about it from Dave Asprey, actually.
- [60:20]
A
Ok.
- [60:21]
B
So I'm taking that and then all of my nutrients that I take personally are all custom for me based on a Nutri eval. So I do, you know, obviously, you know, the Nutri valve. So it's a blood and urine sample and it actually shows me what I need personally. So I'm doing a little bit of vitamin C right now. I've recently increased my omegas, which of course are super important. And I'm also taking a little bit of zinc. So that's my, you know, my personal protocol. And then I have a lot of other stuff that's like longevity stuff. Right. So we have like spermatine in there and we have. I have an entire section of nad. It's like a whole shelf. So NMN and NR and all these different options. So I do that and trying to think what else I'm taking at this exact moment. I think like, give or take, that's about it. Yeah, but what do you. What else are your other foundational.
- [61:07]
A
I think you've hit on all of them, actually. I take a true Niagen supplement for nr.
- [61:11]
B
Yeah.
- [61:12]
A
On a daily basis. I find, you know, very few supplements that I actually feel a difference. And yeah, I feel like urolithin and NR are definitely two of the ones that I definitely increase my energy level. You get better workouts at the gym. Creatine, super important. I actually take 8 grams of creatine. There's some research on creatine at 8 grams reducing your risk of Alzheimer's disease. So. Yeah. Even for women too. So if you can pump it up a little bit more past five, I feel that that might be beneficial. Some people can't do it because they get a little upset stomach, but you can slowly ease upwards on the creatine as well. And that's pretty much my stack as well.
- [61:46]
B
Yeah.
- [61:46]
A
And then for multivitamins, I don't really take a multivitamin because I do the Nutrival test and I don't. I'm pretty good. But, you know, after I travel or after I've been working out really hard for a long period of time, sometimes I do feel I'm probably nutrient deficient. And so at those moments I'll take like a greens powder or something just to supplement that as well. Or get an iv.
- [62:07]
B
Yeah, both great options. I've been taking novos too.
- [62:10]
A
Yeah.
- [62:12]
B
So in novos, you know, it has some really great, like longevity. Lithium actually is one of the ingredients in there and that's been Shown, you know, to help with biological age. So I take a lot, but I don't want to feel like overwhelming because for me I have like what I say, I have my core, right. And then I have my things. I'm working on stack, which is like the gut health and some other recent tests. And then I have the longevity supplementation.
- [62:34]
A
So that's exactly how I think about it too. And whenever I interview a patient, you know, one of the things we talk about before we talk about any supplements is I try to assess where they are on the bell shaped curve of what their supplement tolerance is. And what I mean by that is, is this someone that's like, I don't want to take supplements at all, like don't even recommend a supplement. And then I know I have an uphill battle just to convince them to do vitamin D3K2 because their vitamin D level is low. Right. But then you also have people that are like, I'm a biohacker, I want to be on every single supplement that might even have a minuscule benefit. Then I have to walk them back a little bit, you know, because number one, they'll get supplement fatigue. Number two, there's a lot of supplement to supplement interactions as well that you have to worry about. So I think having like that middle ground and then having options of additional longevity supplements is a really good way of thinking about it.
- [63:20]
B
Definitely. And I'm cycling and changing out my supplements all the time. So I'm doing more testing, I'm seeing what I'm deficient in that and I like this option. And for people, it's not perfect science, but Chronometer, if you can't afford the testing and you can't, you know, really dial in your supplement routine, you can plug in everything you're eating and turn on the, the micronutrients. So you'll get your macros like proteins, fats, carbs, but you also get your micronutrient take things like vitamins and minerals. So if you really want to do that on a lower budget, you can plug it into Chronometer and it'll give you at least an idea.
- [63:50]
A
And that's an app on your phone. And you know, I've noticed too, a lot of apps now are utilizing AI so you can take a picture of your food. I mean it's incredible. And it's actually I' tested a couple of them. They're not too far off. I mean, so directionally you know where you're at for the day.
- [64:04]
B
I think levels just rolled out something like that they did.
- [64:06]
A
Yeah. Levels also added that in.
- [64:08]
B
I need to try that feature.
- [64:14]
A
If you're looking for the best in fitness equipment on the market, I found it for you. I've recently joined IFIT as their chief science advisor and I want to tell you why. Their commitment to science and research is commendable and I see them doing more to incorporate it into their devices than any other brand out there. So whether you're aiming to crush your cardio goals or build serious strength, ifit's cutting edge treadmills, bikes and strength machines are designed to bring the gym to you. With world class trainers and interactive workouts built into every machine. Ifit doesn't just keep you moving, it keeps you motivated. So if you're looking to elevate your home gym experience with the best in Fitness tech, choose iFit.
- [64:51]
B
Foreign.
- [64:56]
A
A is one of my favorite supplements for boosting mitochondrial health. I recently returned from a two week international speaking engagement tour and I can tell you that without my timeline, I would not have made it. If you're looking for a boost in your energy at a cellular level, Timeline's Urolithin A is the secret to unlocking your mitochondria's full potential. It's backed by excellent science. Urolithin A is a compound that helps improve muscle strength and endurance, giving you that extra edge when you want to feel and perform your best. Whether you're pushing it in the gym or just want more energy throughout the day, Timeline has you covered. Try urolithin A today and take your energy to the next level because feeling good starts at the level of the mitochondria. Go to timeline.com to get some today. You know, speaking of levels and continuous glucose meters, I'm a huge fan. I don't necessarily think you have to wear one forever.
- [65:49]
B
Yeah.
- [65:49]
A
But I do think, you know, everyone should wear one for at least two to three months to understand what their personal biology's relationship is to food. Right?
- [65:58]
B
Yeah.
- [65:58]
A
And individual foods. I. You discover so many things, right?
- [66:01]
B
Oh, yeah, yeah. I mean, I started wearing a glucose monitor back in the day when you had to like get a prescription. It was like on your health record that you, you know, needed a Dexcom, which is hilarious. And it was like a thousand dollars a month. That's how long I've been doing these. And levels is great. You know, it's a very easy to use, easy to understand, but everyone, again, is bio individual. And you can eat a sweet potato and I can eat a sweet potato and it can have two completely different impacts. And I think it is very important for people to see what is their blood sugar when they wake up. I mean, you know, that could just. By decreasing that, if it's getting, you know, up in the hundreds or 110, that's a problem. So you can then take action on it. So again, it's like more information the better because you can take better action on those issues.
- [66:45]
A
Exactly. And more information the better. And the more information you have more frequently the better. Like, I think getting your blood test done once a year, no one should do that. Everyone needs to really think about that. Things change directionally on even a daily basis. So at least quarterly, I believe blood tests should be like you said, you did quarterly as well. Right. Should be part the of the routine. You don't have to do the full panel every quarter, but at least the basics. You should get every quarter, right?
- [67:10]
B
Totally. I'm going to do something really interesting. So when I get pregnant, and I don't think this has been done yet, but I'm going to do testing every two weeks and I'm going to really like, I feel like we need to know what's going on inside of a woman from all of these. I'm going to look at NAD levels, I'm going to look at biological age, I'm going to look at, you know, 150 different blood biomarkers. And I'm not going to do that for every pregnancy, but I'm the first one. That's what I'm intending on doing.
- [67:34]
A
That's gonna be incredible data. I can't wait to see that, you know.
- [67:39]
B
I know I'll have to send it to you.
- [67:40]
A
Yes, I would love to see it because I, I wonder what it, I wonder what like even your methylation test will do, you know, and speaking of pregnancy, you know, I, I've talked to a few women that are trying to get pregnant. I'm like, you need to go get your methylation age done and get your true age test done because this is when you want to make sure that you are optimized animal. Right. You want to be at your lowest biological age before you, before you're getting pregnant because. And your husband too, because you're going to pass along the methylation patterns of your partner and your DNA as well to your infant. So this is when both of you want to be the most healthy.
- [68:16]
B
Absolutely. And my husband. And your microbiome. Right, the mother's microbiome. So, you know, my husband and I did all this very comprehensive fertility testing. And as I mentioned I'm 30, 43, and all of the doctors. So I went to Cedars and I did, like, everything from ultrasound to all, of course, AMH and LH and FSH and every lab marker. And then I also went to a more natural fertility doctor. Both of them were blown away at my fertility status. I mean, it's like early mid-20s level of fertility. And again, we got to try to get pregnant and see how it goes. But, I mean, it's a testament to everything I've been doing. And then I had my husband do the same thing. He also is, like, you know, top 1% of motility and the size and the shape and all of these different factors because of the lifestyle.
- [69:00]
A
Absolutely.
- [69:00]
B
It's the toxic burden that's low. It's the gut health that's good. It's just working out, eating right, sunlight, movement, good sleep. And it's really sad where we're at with fertility these days. And I mean, what do you think it is? Do you think it's the toxic burden? I think it's. It's, you know, a lot of these just factors that are being put on woman, women that we don't really know are happening.
- [69:25]
A
Well, and it's a male and female problem.
- [69:27]
B
Totally.
- [69:27]
A
Like, the sperm motility and sperm number has gone down in the last decade. I think it was like something like 50%. It's ridiculous. And I think it is exactly what you mentioned is the overall lifestyle. It's a combination of toxic exposure, nutrition, sleep, movement, stress. Like, all those things affect fertility. We know this. And. And there's a lot of research to back this up as well. So when you improve the lifestyle factors, just like everything else in our biology, your fertility gets better. Right. And so you really need to look at that holistically. A lot of people go to a fertility doctor and, like, the first thing they get is just a bunch of medications that they're put on. Right. And there's little discussion about lifestyle interventions, but I feel like 90% of the intervention should be the life lifestyle.
- [70:11]
B
I mean, yeah, absolutely. And it's not easy. You know, I feel like I've been prepping to be a mom for the last decade. Right. So I've been doing this stuff for so long. We opened the clinic four years ago, and I was doing all this stuff even well before that. So I've been living like this for, like, over a decade. And I feel so blessed because I started so young.
- [70:29]
A
Yes.
- [70:29]
B
And I was just obsessed with it. But it's, again, never too late to start Making changes. And if you want to have a baby, you know, you have to prep, I would say probably like for a. You don't have to do this. But ideally, if you can start a year prior to wanting to conceive, work on your microbiome, work on, you know, methylation and your biological age and have your partner do the same, it's definitely, you know, 50, 50 there. And both need to be really optimal. I helped my husband actually when we met and started dating. He was on a very small dose of testosterone, but we knew we wanted a baby. So I was like, hey, will you please get off this testosterone? He did it, no problem. And his testosterone went down. He was at like 7:16, went down to about 5:50. Just natural decline after getting off the testosterone. And I put him through this really vigorous detox, lifestyle change, sleep. He's doing cold exposure, doing, you know, hard workouts. And his Testosterone is now 916 naturally.
- [71:21]
A
Incredible. I mean, I mean, that is awesome.
- [71:23]
B
It's amazing. He's so excited and as am I and you know, but it's just, it's really a testament. Fortune magazine recently did an article on my husband and I and like our house and the fact that I asked him for labs before we went on our first date. He sent me all of his labs. I sent him a gut test, a genetic test, a total tox burden, like an entire panel from LabCorp. He did them all. This was all before.
- [71:47]
A
Before your first date? Oh my God, that's amazing. And he was like, cool with this.
- [71:52]
B
He loved it. I mean, look, I knew when we had our first date in hyperbaric chamber, he was either going to be in or out real fast because it's just something you either love or you're not interested in. So I love it. But yeah, doing health together is so much fun.
- [72:05]
A
It really is. I totally agree with that. And surrounding yourself with people that want to go on this journey with you because you learn so much from each other and you help each other out with your individual health journeys as well. So I always tell my clients and my patients that, you know, one of the first things we need to do is get you in the mindset of health. And so I want to talk to you about that as well, because I feel like the mindset needs to be first before you do any particular interventions. And part of that mindset is surrounding yourself with like minded individuals. Another one is having a growth mindset, knowing that things can change and also becoming an expert at forming habits. Right. I think a lot of us don't know how to form good habits and what. There's actual science behind this. And so that's kind of the conversation I have around mindset of Health. And I would love to hear your conversations you have around this because maybe I can add a few other tips.
- [72:52]
B
I love that. So when I started posting on Instagram, actually my page is, I would say 75, like what I'm doing, health optimization, longevity. But a decent part of it is these, like text posts about mindset, because there you can't really have one without the other. You have to believe that you deserve all of these things or else you're. I always say you can't outperform your level of self esteem. Right. And so if you don't believe that you deserve good health, what are you going to put in all this work and all these different therapies to be able to get it? Of course not. So I agree with mindset completely. It's a very difficult one. Right. You know, so for me, I always tell people that they should write down their purpose. So why are you doing all these things? If you don't know your why, you're never gonna. There's plenty of days I don't want to go to the gym, you know, but I go because I know my purpose. So I want to, you know, be a great leader in my business. I want to show up for my family, I want to show up for my husband. I want to have energy. I want to live a long time so that I can be there for my children and grandchildren. So write down your purpose and all the reasons that you want to be improving your health. I think that's super, super key. And then when it comes to habits, it's habit stacking. You know, we know that the science says it doesn't work if you go and change. Everything works for like a week and then it completely just falls off. So start something small and attach it to something else you're already doing. So let's say you make coffee every single day, which most people do well. Do a breath work session while you're making that coffee. It's these really small, very manageable things. Two minutes of meditation you can do. 25 minutes of meditation you probably can't do. So just start with these really small pieces and then add on. And also I always say one win leads to many wins. Right? So if you can have one win in the beginning of the day, and that could be a workout that's going to change the trajectory of your entire day. You're like, oh, I worked out. I feel great because your mood's elevated, your dopamine is higher, your serotonin is increased, your blood flow is much stronger. So you're gonna be like, you know what? I am gonna eat healthy today because I already did this one thing that I won. So mindset most certainly cannot be removed from this equation. I think really digging deep, knowing that you're worth it, and then writing down and having that available as to why you're doing it is really, really critical. But I would love to hear what you would say about it.
- [75:03]
A
Yeah, I love you. I love it that 25% of your posts around mindset. I mean, it is that important.
- [75:09]
B
It is.
- [75:10]
A
You're over percent 100 overall health journey. Mindset always comes into play. Right. And so I'm totally on board with that. And yeah, I mean, I think beyond learning how to form habits with some of the tools you mentioned, I'm a big believer in becoming the CEO of your own health and taking personal responsibility for your own health. Even though I'm here for you as a physician checking your biomarkers, you need to understand what at least 10 of them mean and why they're important, and you need to follow them yourself, even if it's like low tech, writing it down in a, in a grid book or a spreadsheet. Like, you need to have some personal responsibility for tracking your health the same way you do your balancing your checkbook, for example. Right. And so I really try to get people to take some personal responsibility, but I empower them to do that as well. And on personal responsibility, too, I say you need to educate yourself on health. And so, you know, I listen to probably two to four podcast episodes a day because I'm constantly self educating, you know, and I feel like almost everyone needs to pick at least one health podcast that they're listening to even once a week. Right? Yeah, it's so. It's so beneficial. Like this particular conversation you and I are having, there's so much information in this. Someone's going to pick up at least one thing, probably 30 things that they can do. Right. And I feel like you learn so much, and this is unfiltered information. This is not information that's given to you by, you know, the government or the, the media that's been filtered through, like, a lot of money being donated to them by big food companies. Right. Or big pharma. And so getting good information is also very important too. So those are kind of the things that we work through with our clients and combine the Things like what you talked about, thinking that you deserve it, knowing that you deserve it, and having growth mindset. I think it's are super important.
- [76:56]
B
Yeah. I mean, you know, you can write the most incredible plan for one of your patients, but that doesn't mean they're going to do it. So progress is still going to be zero percent, even if you did your job, if you're not going to stick to it and have consistency. I mean, with all this stuff, it's all consistency.
- [77:11]
A
Right.
- [77:11]
B
Everybody's always like, what supplements are you taking? And what IV therapies. Look, I mean, I've probably done enough NAD for a small village. Right? But it doesn't matter because that's not where you need to go right now. You have to focus on the hard things. You have to focus on the basics. Go to bed earlier tonight. Go to bed 30 minutes earlier if you're listening to this podcast and do that for the next week and get yourself with a good spot with your sleep, and it will change everything. And focus on. I love supplements. Look, we. We love all this stuff. My house is like a clinic, basically. I have like a. A mini, you know, next health in my house, basically. And that's great, but that is not where you need to start because though even those things are a lot easier. It's much easier to lay down in a hyperbaric chamber. Right. For an hour. But that's not what's going to really make the largest impact in the long term for my health.
- [77:57]
A
Yeah, absolutely. You got to do the big rocks first, and then you can fill in the pebbles with. With other things. So let's talk about your house a little bit more. You have a lot of cool stuff at your house. I do. What is your kind of biohacking center in your house look like?
- [78:10]
B
Yeah, so, so much fun stuff. We have a sauna, of course. So I think, like, sauna is required these days for just overall house health.
- [78:17]
A
It's a necessity. It has to be a part of almost everyone's routine. And there's saunas everywhere now. Like, you can find them in your gym, in your local health facilities, and there's also businesses that just have sauna. And I think it's a necessity, too, because of the severe amount of toxins that we live under. Right?
- [78:33]
B
Yeah.
- [78:33]
A
And our mitochondrial health is suffering. And so sauna's gonna help you in multiple ways. So. Sorry to interrupt you, but I get on a soapbox about sauna.
- [78:40]
B
No, I mean, I love it. We. I mean, I love the dialogue dialog.
- [78:43]
A
Do you have an infrared sauna or.
- [78:44]
B
A. I actually have a combination sauna. So I have a heavenly heat sauna. And I've loved this brand for a long time because they don't use any of the wood glue, so there's no VOCs being emitted. But it's. It has infrared and traditional in one sauna. I'm literally obsessed with it.
- [78:59]
A
That is amazing.
- [78:59]
B
It's so nice because we know that a lot of studies on sauna are from the more Finnish traditional saunas, but we also know infrared's great. So I have a sauna in the house.
- [79:09]
A
And just real quick on the infrared sauna, does it do near and far infrared lights?
- [79:14]
B
Yeah, it does. And the newest model, this is a game changer, but they're actually figured out a way to put red light panels because we know the infrared heat is different from inside the actual sauna. It's. It's very difficult. I was talking with the owner, but. Because they get you hot if you put it all the way in there. But anyways, it'll have actual red light panels inside. So then my routine can be a little bit shorter.
- [79:35]
A
Yeah. And how hot does it get?
- [79:37]
B
So it can go up to about 200 if I'm doing the traditional sauna and it has the rocks and all of that. But then the infrared only goes up to think about 150.
- [79:47]
A
Right. And can you do them both at the same time?
- [79:49]
B
You can.
- [79:50]
A
Wow.
- [79:51]
B
It's. I love it. So sauna is a huge one. I do that at least five days a week for about 25 minutes per session.
- [79:57]
A
Okay. So you're. You do it five days a week, 25 minutes. Are you doing it right before bed?
- [80:01]
B
I actually do it right after my workout now. Got it. So there's a lot of, you know, research showing that it can extend the benefits of exercise, doing it right after. So that's when I'm doing it nowadays. And I can. If we want, we can walk through my morning routine, but it comes right after that. So I love sauna. I have a cold plunge, which I love that as well. So I mentioned I don't do cold plunge in the second half of my cycle anymore, but I do cold plunge. I would either do it in the morning before my workout because we know it can give you better endurance and you also don't necessarily want to do it right after your workout because it can minimize gains. But I do mine midday. So I'm working from home, and I love it midday because it's like a midday energy burst, you know, So I love doing cold plunge, you know, and I do it about 55 degrees Fahrenheit and I do that for three to five minutes during my, what I call midday routine. I have a morning routine, midday routine, evening routine. So the sauna, the cold plunge. I just got a hard shell hyperbaric chamber. It's 2.0 ATA. I'm. I'm so excited.
- [80:56]
A
That's amazing.
- [80:57]
B
Yeah. So I will probably be doing a loading dose of hyperbaric. So I'm going to do 40 sessions. Love your input here too. If you have any other recommendations. 40 sessions, one hour sessions, five days a week to get 40 sessions in. And then I'll do maintenance of like probably two to three sessions a week.
- [81:13]
A
Okay.
- [81:13]
B
What do you think about that?
- [81:14]
A
I think that's a good protocol. Yeah, definitely. I, I do think that doing a loading amount of sessions is a good idea. So I'm glad he told you to do that as well. So that's, that's fantastic. What's the atmospheres of this hyperbaric chamber?
- [81:26]
B
So I know it's 2.0.
- [81:28]
A
Okay, good.
- [81:28]
B
So it's pretty good. I just got. It's literally still in a box outside and it's being installed tomorrow morning. So that's my newest toy.
- [81:35]
A
Exciting.
- [81:35]
B
I'm so excited. Yeah. And then I'm gonna do this little like a four water trick with drinking the water. So we were talking about this before, But I drink a 4 water. It's like oxygenated, so 40 parts per million. I'm gonna do the ofor water in the cold plunge. This is gonna sound so much right now, but do the four water in the cold plunge, soak in that, get the transdermal absorption of the oxygen and then go in the hyperbaric chamber and then just really press it in. So, so excited.
- [81:59]
A
Amazing.
- [82:00]
B
Yes.
- [82:00]
A
That's a 4O water. Oh, 4 water.
- [82:02]
B
Yeah. So it's a. It's. They classified as medical grade water, which is amazing because it is so pure and then restructured and then the hyper oxygenated. So I'm gonna do that. I also have a nanov. Do you. Do you know about nan?
- [82:14]
A
Yes. We have a nanovie as well.
- [82:15]
B
Oh, amazing. So great for reducing oxidative stress. Can help help with protein folding. It's like one of my favorites because it's so easy to do. So I have it on my desk in my. I just do nanov like all day. I mean I don't think you can really overdose on it. So just keeping my nasal cannula while I'M doing my working and love that. So that's another. This is a clinical device. So you know, if you're here in la, you can come to Next Health and use it. We have one at Live also, but they're a little pricey. So not necessarily a home home device. I have a PEMF machine. So I have. This is also a clinical grade device and there's at home units, things like companies like higher dose have a at home pmf. But this one, you really feel it like this is pretty. Have you used like PMF from like Pulse or anything?
- [82:58]
A
I have a higher dose one at home, but yeah, I haven't got to.
- [83:01]
B
Come use it because this is.
- [83:03]
A
You actually feel it super.
- [83:04]
B
Oh major. It's amazing. So we also have PEMF in the clinic and we've had people come in and this is just anecdotal data, but you know, with either a torn, let's say peck or an old injury. And the pemf, the feel it concentrated and isolated in that area. One time we had someone come in with a concussion and I've never had anyone ever say that they felt it in their brain except this one patient and they had just had a concussion. So it can, you know, help with inflammation. I talk, I think about pmf, like grounding on steroids.
- [83:31]
A
Right.
- [83:32]
B
So you're getting all those benefits of grounding. Again, you can just do grounding and it's free. So and grounding, making contact with the earth, lots of different benefits. I've seen some great even research on like diabetic non healing wounds and healing with grounding. So we have PEMF. So I sit on that for at least 30 minutes a day. It's part of my morning routine. So I wake up, it's still dark. So I sit on PEMF until the sun comes up and I do my morning reading and get all of those, you know, healing frequencies. And then what else do we have? We have. I have an ozone machine at home, so.
- [84:03]
A
You do?
- [84:03]
B
Yeah. So I can do ozone water. I can do rectal ozone. That's. That's an interesting one. I can do limb bagging if I needed it. But yeah, I have an ozone generator at home that I really love. I have a V light. So that's intranasal red light.
- [84:19]
A
Sure.
- [84:19]
B
So helping with the mitochondria in the brain, I have of course six red light panels or something like that. So do the front and back red light therapy. I'm doing that three times a week for about 20 minutes per session. I have me do red light.
- [84:32]
A
Okay.
- [84:33]
B
But yeah, I do the front and back. Really, like full body coverage. And I'm doing it three times a week. Week, and then about 20 minutes per session.
- [84:39]
A
Okay.
- [84:39]
B
I also have at the house compression therapy with balancer. So this one is just like a rental because it's very much so clinical grade. Have you used a balancer pro before?
- [84:49]
A
No, I haven't, no.
- [84:50]
B
It's amazing. It's like, it's called the big big squeeze. So it goes all the way up with the jacket and it feels just amazing. You could do like a Normatec or, you know, different version if you wanted. But yeah, we have that at the house right now. It's unbelievable, believable, like, just great for lymphatic drainage. But for lymphatic drainage, you could do like rebounding. You could do dry brushing. There's a lot of things that are very low cost that is like mimicking this. I mean, this is my personal life. It's my professional life, it's my whole life. So having all this stuff is a bit rare, but of course, very high quality air filtration in, like, every single room. And I think that's. That's about it. We have the EMF blocking cage, a lot of smaller devices. Like, actually I have a WAVI too. So that's like, like basically EEG for your brain, which is interesting. So I pop that on from time to time. I have smaller devices like vagal nerve stimulator, stuff like that. But yeah, it's a little, little baby clinic over there.
- [85:44]
A
Yeah, that's. That's amazing. And like you said, this is your life. So not everyone needs to do all this stuff. Not at all. Yeah, you're testing this before you introduce it to patients. I kind of have, you know, and I get sent stuff by companies all the time. I don't have time to use all of it that I get sent. And so. So I just want people to know out there that you don't need all of this, but this stuff is out there. And once you get your big rocks in place, right, get your nutrition, your sleep, your extra exercise, all that to a point where you feel like you've made major progress, you're in a good path, then it's good to start, like, looking into some of these things one at a time and adding them to your lifestyle. And like you said, there's a free version of all of this. Literally, you don't have a cold plunge. You can just take a cold shower.
- [86:21]
B
Actually, Absolutely cold showers, actually. Maybe Even harder, you know, in terms of like, pain because it's moving all over. And at least when you get in the cold tub, it, you know, stabilizes. But yeah, I agree. I mean, red light, you could just get it from the sun, the pemf, you just do grounding. It's so many free ways to get a lot of the same benefits.
- [86:40]
A
Right, Exactly. You mentioned your morning routine. I would love to hear your morning routine. You mentioned a few parts of it, but go for it.
- [86:45]
B
Yeah.
- [86:45]
A
So, morning routine. I'm so sorry to interrupt you, but a morning routine for me has been a cornerstone of changing my entire health around. Like, it all happened during my morning routine. And so for me, it was so critical. I read this book by Hal Elrond called Miracle Morning.
- [87:00]
B
Oh, yeah?
- [87:01]
A
Yeah. And you know, a lot of that is like mental work, visualization, things like that. But it started with that, then I just kept building on it. Habit stacking.
- [87:08]
B
Yeah.
- [87:09]
A
And that's what really got me healthy from being in a state of really bad health. So I love hearing people's morning routines. So go for it.
- [87:17]
B
I love that. Well, I always say too, you know, set the day before, set your mind before the day sets it for you. Right. So if I do all of these amazing things to not not only help my mental state, but also like my physical state, how much more powerful am I going to go into the day? You know, you're running a business, I'm running business. Like, we have to be primed and ready physically and mentally. So obviously my morning starts the night before without very high quality sleep and going to bed early. So. So I wake up naturally. Yeah. Around somewhere around 5, 5:30, somewhere around there. Sometimes a bit earlier. It's too early for the sun to be out. So I do have like a luxe lamp that sometimes I use. But these days I've just been waking up, go right to PEMF and grab a glass of water with some minerals or element in there because PEMF actually likes the minerals too, because it even helps, you know, increase the benefits. Sit on pemf. And I actually read the Bible. I read the Bible and pray, but that could be anything. That could be meditation, it could be breath work, anything you want to do. It could be a gratitude journal. I mean, I always say we can't be grateful and hateful at the same time. So setting that type of mood in the morning is so critical. So do my pemf. Or you could do grounding as soon as the sun comes up, which is about a half an Hour after I wake up, I go out and I get morning sunlight right into the eye. So I take a walk, about a 20, 30 minute walk. I'm getting sunshine and I'm seeing nature and I'm moving my body and then I go to the gym. So from time to time I work at home, but I'm actually working out at high mitt. Have you been there?
- [88:48]
A
Yeah.
- [88:48]
B
Yeah. So it's a, it's a great gym. It's not a lot of people, which is what I love. I don't know if they'll love that. But I go get my workout.
- [88:55]
A
It's big too. It's like a huge gym.
- [88:57]
B
Yeah. So I always go to like the third floor. You know, it's like kaleidoscope looking equipment up there.
- [89:03]
A
It's really cool.
- [89:04]
B
It's so cool. So then I go to the gym. My workout's about, you know, 45 minutes or so. I come home, I do sauna right away and then I do get out. I do my red light right after that, take a shower and then it's usually, it's usually about two hours since I woke up by them. I have. Sorry. And I also eat like a small shake before I go to the gym.
- [89:26]
A
Got it.
- [89:27]
B
And then I go to the gym and then come home, do my red light and then I take my shower and then I eat my breakfast and take my morning supplements. I do my measurements. So I look at things like blood pressure and weight and you know, all the lung measurements we talked about and the grip strength and then I really just start my, start my day. So it's quite a bit though in the morning. And then my midday routine is like nanovy, the walking cold plunge. So I hit those three things throughout the day. And then at night I have my walking routine with my husband, my wind down routine. So it's kind of like a multi thing throughout the day. That's when I'm gonna put my hyperbaric chamber sessions is in the evening. But yeah, that's pretty much my morning routine.
- [90:05]
A
That's awesome. How long does that routine take you?
- [90:08]
B
About two hours.
- [90:09]
A
Yeah.
- [90:10]
B
Yeah.
- [90:10]
A
But I think it's so powerful, like you fit so much into that two hours that you've done more than a lot of people do in a week in two hours. Right. And so I think it's incredibly powerful how being in that two hour routine and repeating it over and over and over again like your biological age is what now?
- [90:26]
B
It's actually 12 years younger.
- [90:28]
A
Yeah, 12 years younger.
- [90:29]
B
Yeah. I'm excited to see what happens with pace and all of that, like as I get into pregnancy and all these different testing. But yeah, the last one I did, it's about 12 years younger, which is, which is great. And I mean, I feel that too. You know, the thing about biological age that I, I love, it's an exciting tool. But I'm sure you would agree some of our, you know, clients at the center, they only want to focus on that. It's like, well, hold on a second. Because you need to add on muscle mass right now. You need to work on your bone density, you need to fix your gut health. And sometimes the things that you would do to improve, let's say, muscle mass, you know, let's say you're increasing your calor and you have to add on muscle, that's actually going to negatively affect your biological age. So it's like what, you use the term rocks. That's exactly what I say. You got to move the biggest rocks first. Right. So it's, it's a never ending and always evolving, you know, morning routine and just overall daily protocol. But that's what I'm doing now, that's like working best and I feel amazing. And the other thing I would say is like we could work more hours, but it's like, what are you getting out of those hours? So when I do a morning routine like that, I'm just, just bursting with energy. I'm super happy, very motivated, and so then I can be so much more efficient in the work that I'm doing versus just waking up right away and then immediately looking at my phone, checking notifications, putting out fires.
- [91:41]
A
Right? Absolutely. You know, I've did a couple of like experiments about not doing my morning routine. And those days definitely don't go as well. Right. It's. They, it adds so much to your day to have some sort of ritual at the beginning of the day that's not looking at your phone the first thing, right?
- [91:56]
B
Yeah, I mean, yeah, it's just, it's. And look, we both probably have days that we have to look at our phone early and this is life and we have to be flexible. But for the most part, it'll be a game changer. Just do three small things. I think if you do a gratitude practice in the morning, get some morning sunlight and drink some high quality water with electrolytes and do some sort of movement. It can be so simple. Body weight, some push ups, just get the blood flowing. I mean, that's so much better than just rolling out of bed and going to hit the computer work.
- [92:24]
A
Exactly. Absolutely. And I think when you start with small, your natural psychology will just tell you that you want to do a little bit more. Right. You're not just going to do one push up, you'll probably do five. But as long as you can get that first one in, at least you have the opportunity to do more. It's when you don't get the first one and you don't show up that the rest of it doesn't happen.
- [92:43]
B
I mean, I couldn't agree more. And I think with health in general, it's kind of that snowball effect, right? Like, you do something, you feel better and then you want to do more. So it's really just like getting started. And I always say too, like, there's some days where I'm just like, I don't want to go to the gym. Right. But then I think about what would my life look like if I only did the things I wanted to do. Sure, my life would be a disaster. I would not be where I'm at. I would not have the husband or the family, any of the things that I, I wanted in life. I wouldn't have them if I only did what I wanted to do. Because as humans, we're wired to do the least and reap the biggest benefit. Right. Or the best reward. So, of course, it seems better to sit on the couch and eat chips and like, walking to the fridge from the couch is not a workout. That's not an exercise. You have to go do things and push your body and be grateful that we even can. That's such a blessing. When I go to the gym, I just think about how excited I am that I get to do this right. I get to move my body, I get to push my body. I'm in great shape and I'm getting in better shape every day. So, yeah, I, I think attitude, mindset.
- [93:44]
A
Is a big part, big part of this. Wow. So much great information. Thank you for sharing so much with us.
- [93:51]
B
Absolutely.
- [93:51]
A
Yeah. I would love to hear more about, like, what you're doing next with your clinics, with just everything that you're doing. You're.
- [93:58]
B
Yeah.
- [93:58]
A
You're in such a great path at such a young age. I'm so, it's so inspiring, you know, and I think you, I think for young people, too, to have someone like yourself, you know, you're, you're, you're young, you haven't had children yet, but you've still led a very clean and lifestyle that has got you to this point of just incredible health. Right? And I think that's so inspiring for young people to kind of look up to you and say, if I want to be kind of at this state of health in my 30s, I need to start young at 20s, right? Yeah, absolutely. And I feel like, you know, when I was in my 20s, the last thing I thought about was my health. You know, I just went to the gym to get muscles so girls will look at me and that's it. That was my health. So, yeah, I mean, it's, it's so great that you're doing all of this and putting the message out there.
- [94:41]
B
Absolutely.
- [94:42]
A
So what's next?
- [94:43]
B
A lot of fun stuff. You know, I'm excited to continue to build like my platforms. So I did my first ever long form YouTube video the other day. It took, it was just in my morning routine and it took from 9:30 to 3:30pm it was way longer than I even had any idea. But leaning into that, you know, I'm talking with a couple different publishers potentially. I actually wrote a book. It's been done. But just figuring out how and what way I want to put that out. So that's exciting.
- [95:09]
A
Can you tell us the title?
- [95:11]
B
It's going to be so basic, but I think just Female Longevity.
- [95:13]
A
I love it, I love it.
- [95:14]
B
I love simple things, like, just simple, straight to the point. Who knows, maybe they'll say you need to come up with something more witty. But. And maybe I'll do that. But yeah, it's all going to be on Female Health Optimization, the protocol. Because we've talked about so much today, but we've only covered like two of the tests that I've taken, so there's so many other ones.
- [95:30]
A
Right.
- [95:30]
B
Talk about all that, why and what women should do in different decades of life too. Because I'm in my 30s, but what that looks like in your 40s or 50s or beyond is different. So, yeah, book and clinic is, I mean, doing great. We are, you know, building out our executive team, which is exciting. I've been, you know, co owner but also have been serving as the CEO, which I'm going to be, you know, moving out of that role probably because I want to have babies very soon and it requires, as you know, a lot of work and I've spent a lot of hours working. So, yeah, just looking to continue to grow and we're going to open one in Columbus, Ohio, which is close to Cleveland, and just continue that and putting great information out to the world that I hope can help women and just further the conversation around longevity.
- [96:13]
A
Yeah, I love it. I love everything you're doing. Where can people find you?
- [96:16]
B
Kayla barnes.com K A Y L A B A R N E s dot com. I recently got married and legally my last name is Kayla. Kayla Lentz is my name. But. But I gotta figure out what I'm gonna do with that on social media now. So yeah, Kayla Barnes.com and also I have a podcast that you have to come on. So I mostly interview medical doctors and PhDs. We're talking about discourse around longevity, a lot of female longevity. I've interviewed many amazing doctors on like menopause and perimenopause and just female health in general. So that's also a place definitely, if you're a woman and you want to learn more about female health, you can check it out. It's longevity optimization with. With Kayla Barnes lens. Kayla Barnes lens.
- [96:54]
A
I love it. And then what about your Instagram handle?
- [96:57]
B
Just Kayla Barnes K A Y L A B A R N E S.
- [97:00]
A
Yeah, you're gonna have to do something about the new.
- [97:02]
B
I don't know what to do. It's so difficult.
- [97:04]
A
Yeah, maybe you can add it as like the end part of it.
- [97:07]
B
So the same I put it. So it's at Kayla Barnes as a handle and then I put Kayla Lentz in the title. But also someone has Kayla Lentz Instagram handle. If you're listening to this, we will acquire it from you.
- [97:20]
A
Love it. Love it. Well, thank you so much for coming on.
- [97:23]
B
Thank you so much for having me.
- [97:24]
A
What a great conversation. Thank you.
- [97:25]
B
Absolutely.
- [97:29]
A
Thank you so much for listening to the podcast today. Please remember to subscribe if you like this episode and give us a good review and share a link with your friends. It really helps to support all of our efforts. I also want to remind you that the information shared on this podcast podcast is for educational purposes only and is not intended to replace professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Please consult with your healthcare provider or physician before making any decisions or taking any action based on what you hear today, especially if you have any underlying health conditions or on any medications. Your doctor knows your personal health situation the best and it's always important to seek their guidance. Sam.