NBA Legend Chris Paul on Longevity, Nutrition & Staying Elite at 40

Summary

The Dr. Hyman Show

Episode: NBA Legend Chris Paul on Longevity, Nutrition & Staying Elite at 40
Date: April 8, 2026
Host: Dr. Mark Hyman
Guest: Chris Paul

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Episode Overview

In this compelling episode, Dr. Mark Hyman sits down with NBA icon Chris Paul to explore the intersection of elite athletic performance and holistic health. At age 40, Chris is defying expectations in a league dominated by youth, thanks to an evolved mindset, radical dietary shifts, and a relentless commitment to data-driven self-care. The conversation delves into Chris’s personal journey—from enduring family tragedy and learning work ethic at his grandfather's service station to becoming an outspoken leader on nutrition, longevity, and health empowerment for fellow players and his own community. The episode is rich with actionable advice, memorable stories, and insights that extend far beyond sports.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Foundation: Mindset, Work Ethic, & Family Legacy

Timestamps: 03:06–09:48

• The Power of Monotony and Hard Work:

  • Chris describes the importance of “falling in love with the monotony” (00:00, 05:27).
  • His family, especially his grandfather "Papa Jones," instilled relentless work ethic by making him earn rewards through real labor at the first Black-owned service station in North Carolina.
  • “As a kid, you don’t always understand why you’re doing these little tedious things... you don’t appreciate some of those things until you get older.” – Chris Paul (06:01)

• Transformative Family Loss:

  • The murder of his grandfather deeply marked Chris. He recounts scoring 61 points—one for every year his grandfather lived—the game after the funeral. (07:31)
  • “It was absolutely an out-of-body experience... I still have that basketball from that game.” – Chris Paul (08:23)

2. Defying Age in the NBA: Longevity, Nutrition & Turning Point Moments

Timestamps: 09:48–14:45

• Redefining Elite Performance at 40:

  • Most NBA players are retired by early 30s; Chris credits his drive, mindset, and health rituals for his longevity.
  • Emphasizes the myth that success is just about talent—hard work and daily habits matter most.

• From Junk Food to Plant-Based:

  • Early in his career, Chris fueled up “on crap”—fast food before practices and games. (10:02–11:25)
  • After repeated injuries, especially hamstring issues during high-stakes games, he started investigating root causes, leading to food sensitivity testing (2011) and eventually going fully plant-based in 2019.
  • “When you’re really good at something, you just think ‘I ain’t got to change nothing.’ What you realize is you don’t know what you don’t know.” – Chris Paul (10:42)

• Immediate Impact of Dietary Changes:

  • “Inflammation just disappeared for me... it was crazy.” – Chris Paul (12:58, 13:41)
  • Before changes, he experienced bloating, gas, and other gut issues during games; afterward, noticed improved recovery and less pain.

3. Food, Inflammation, and the Gut-Brain Connection

Timestamps: 14:45–22:28

• Food Sensitivities & Family Health:

  • Chris describes using food sensitivity testing to spot hidden triggers, discovering that shared snacks on NBA flights often made the “red” allergy list for teammates.
  • “People don’t realize your second brain is your gut... when your gut doesn’t feel well, it’ll change your whole day, your mood, attitude and everything.” – Chris Paul (18:40, 21:12)

• Intergenerational Habits & Food Culture:

  • He reflects on how diseases “passed down” in families are often more about inherited recipes and cultural norms than genetics.
  • “The thing that’s passed down from generation to generation is recipes... and habits.” – Chris Paul (21:11)
  • Sharing new knowledge with his family is vital—he credits his exposure to functional medicine and nutrition with giving him an “edge” that he wants to pass back.

4. Health Data, Function Health, & Empowerment

Timestamps: 22:28–37:33

• Data as Power:

  • As former NBA Players Association President, Chris led initiatives to provide former players with health insurance and access to individualized health data via Function Health.
  • “The biggest gift you can give someone is the gift of health... and knowing your information.” – Dr. Mark Hyman (26:46)

• Breaking Barriers for Black Men & Health:

  • Discusses the reluctance in Black communities—especially among men—to seek regular medical care.
  • “A lot of times, we don’t go to the doctor. You don’t want to know... it’s a scary thing. But when you find out, you can actually do something. It’s a relief.” – Chris Paul (23:07–24:15)

• Accountability and Community:

  • Inside teams, shared health goals and peer support—like choosing snacks together—make a difference.
  • Outside, Chris encourages his family and friends to use personal health data to make informed choices.

5. Rituals for Recovery, Performance, and Longevity

Timestamps: 37:33–48:19

• Daily Routine: Nutrition, Exercise, Recovery:

  • Highly structured training: strength workouts before practice, strategic meal timing, use of red light beds, saunas, and hyperbaric oxygen therapy.
  • “At my age... I need every little advantage... Now you’re playing against guys 15 years younger than you.” – Chris Paul (37:34)

• Hydration & Electrolytes:

  • Chris blames some past injuries on poor hydration; prioritizes electrolytes, not just water, during games. (38:09–38:52)

• Inflammation, Visible Changes, & Self-Reflection:

  • He notes dramatic changes in his own appearance—“I looked so much heavier before because my face was so much fuller. I know now that’s inflammation.” (39:02)

• Rest & Sleep:

  • Sleep is non-negotiable; he relies on napping and uses tech (Oura ring) to monitor quality.
  • “I’m a napper... On a game day, I allow myself two hours to nap. Phone on ‘Do Not Disturb.’” – Chris Paul (48:40–49:54)
  • The Oura ring even alerted him to an impending illness (COVID) based on body temperature data. (51:41)

• Mental Recovery & Technology Detox:

  • Likes the “disconnection” provided by recovery routines—no phones, just space to daydream and mentally reset. (46:34–47:46)

6. Giving Back: Food Access, Empowerment, and Role Modeling

Timestamps: 52:42–55:59

• Community Advocacy & Clean Eating:

  • Chris’s philanthropic focus is on kids—“They’re very open to learning, and sometimes kids are teaching their parents.”
  • He founded a snack company, Good Eat’n, to provide better options. “Why not have something that tastes good but has better ingredients?” – Chris Paul (54:06)

• The Challenge of Change:

  • Change starts small—“If you can at least enjoy the snacks you eat and know you don’t have all these different crap in them, that was the point.” (54:06–54:22)

7. Community & Accountability: Friendship, Group Challenges, and the Power of Doing it Together

Timestamps: 55:59–59:39

• Keeping Old Friends Engaged:

  • Chris values his lifelong group chat and discusses ideas for group health challenges: “It keeps everybody accountable... and it’s fun to do.” (57:01)

• Dr. Hyman’s Challenge:

  • Dr. Hyman recommends group anti-inflammatory challenges and tracking results as a way to make health a shared, motivating quest.

8. Final Reflections: Advice to the Younger Self

Timestamps: 59:39–61:43

• Would He Change Anything?
  • “I probably wouldn’t have done anything that different... But if I could do anything different, it’s not as much sugar... I didn’t know.” – Chris Paul (59:47–60:56)
  • Emphasizes living, learning, and the importance of progression over perfection.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On the key to longevity:

  “You have to fall in love with the monotony.” – Chris Paul (00:00, 05:27)

• On the real inheritance:

  “The thing that’s passed down from generation to generation is recipes and habits.” – Chris Paul (21:11)

• On transformation:

  “When I changed my diet, inflammation just disappeared for me. For me, it was crazy.” – Chris Paul (12:58)

• On cultural barriers:

  “Especially Black men, a lot of times we don’t go to the doctor. No… you don’t want to know. But when you find out, you can actually do something.” – Chris Paul (23:07–24:15)

• On friendship and accountability:

  “If you can teach kids different eating habits... sometimes kids are teaching their parents.” – Chris Paul (52:53)
  “We’re gonna figure it out. That’s gonna be a fun competition.” (58:01)

• On the irreplaceable value of health:

  “The thing that money can’t buy you is health... There’s nothing you can pay a doctor... that gives you a clean bill of health.” – Chris Paul (29:37)

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Important Timestamps

• Mindset & Family Legacy: 03:06–09:48
• Dietary Transformation, Injuries, Plant-Based Switch: 10:02–13:41
• Food Sensitivity Testing & NBA Team Culture: 14:13–15:45
• Gut Health, Cultural Habits, & Education: 18:40–22:28
• Function Health, Data Empowerment, & Family: 22:28–26:46
• Accountability, Longevity, NBA Players’ Health: 31:34–33:52
• Performance Rituals (Training, Recovery, Hydration, Sleep): 37:33–52:10
• Philanthropy and Food Access: 52:42–55:59
• Community Support and Group Health Challenges: 55:59–59:39
• Looking Back, Sugar, and Advice to Younger Self: 59:39–61:43

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Summary Takeaways

Chris Paul’s story is a masterclass in evolving from good to great, not just in basketball but in life. His commitment to data-driven self-responsibility, attention to gut health, and drive to educate and empower others shine throughout. The episode demonstrates:

• The impact of food choices and chronic inflammation on elite performance and everyday wellbeing.
• The importance of community, data, and accountability in making lasting change.
• Why the real inheritance isn’t genetics, but habits, recipes, and the power of mindset.

Chris’s message is clear and actionable: No matter your starting line, you can always pivot towards greater health, and in doing so, uplift not just yourself but your entire circle.

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Summary prepared for listeners who wish to glean the lessons and actionable wisdom from Chris Paul and Dr. Hyman in this episode, without missing any key insights or the soul of the conversation.

Transcript

[Chris Paul]

You have to fall in love with the monotony. When you're really good at something, you just think, I ain't gotta change nothing. What you realize and you learn is that you don't know what you don't know somewhere. This became a mindset not just in sport, but whatever I do.

[Dr. Mark Hyman]

If you have a million dollar racehorse, you're not gonna feed at McDonald's. Inflammation is sort of the enemy of the athlete, right? The more inflammation you have, it's gonna affect your performance, your recovery, your longevity, everything.

[Chris Paul]

2019 is when I went plant based to see the way inflammation disappeared. For me, it was crazy. People don't realize your second brain is. But what I learned is that the thing that's passed down from generation to generation is recipes and habits. The thing that money can't buy you is health.

[Dr. Mark Hyman]

Today I'm joined by NBA legend Chris Paul.

[Podcast Producer/Host]

He is one of the greatest point

[Dr. Mark Hyman]

guards of all time.

[Podcast Producer/Host]

At 40 years old, he is redefining elite performance by mastering the data of his own health. Living a long and healthy life isn't about chasing shortcuts. It's about focusing on small daily habits that support the body at the cellular level. Circulation, recovery, repair of your cells, which are the foundation of long term health. And one ritual I built into my own routine is using an infrared sauna. Infrared works differently than nutritional sauna. Instead of just hitting the air, it uses light energy that's absorbed into the body's tissues. In many ways, our bodies are like solar panels. We're designed to receive and use this kind of energy. And the research suggests that infrared may help support circulation, improve mitochondrial activity, and the body's own natural repair processes, all of which play a role in how we age. It can also promote sweating, which supports the body's natural detox pathways while gently increasing your heart rate and your circulation. For me, it's become a longevity ritual that I try to do a whole bunch of times a week. And that's why I like Sunlighten. They've spent more than 25 years developing infrared technology designed to deliver precise wavelengths the body can absorb efficiently. Try it today and visit sunlighten.com and use the code HYMAN to save up to $1,600. That's right, $1600. That's Sunlighten. S U-N-L-I G-H-T-E-N.com and use the toad Hyman. Circadian disruption affects all of us most. Modern lighting misaligns our internal clocks and quietly doses us with junk light. That signals the Brain to stay alert long after our biology is preparing to rest. I felt this myself for years. The vague sense of being off even when everything else in my routine was dialed in. Chorus, the makers of Oyo created a smarter solution. Their circadian lighting shifts gradually throughout the day to support your natural rhythm. In the evening, it removes blue wavelengths so your body can do what it

[Dr. Mark Hyman]

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[Podcast Producer/Host]

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[Dr. Mark Hyman]

All right, Chris, welcome to podcast.

[Chris Paul]

Yes sir. Thanks so much for having me.

[Dr. Mark Hyman]

Yeah, thanks for being here. You know, people know who you are generally and if they don't, you're a basketball player. If you're somebody listening health and doesn't know anything about basketball. Yeah, this guy's one of the OGs.

[Podcast Producer/Host]

And people think that success like you

[Dr. Mark Hyman]

have is sort of just talent that you're born with or that it's just kind of lucky. But you know, you talk a lot about how it's just a lot of hard work and we were just chit chatting. You said you were in the gym at 7 this morning. You're on the court 8:30, you've been working all morning.

[Podcast Producer/Host]

You have to do the hard work

[Dr. Mark Hyman]

to actually make something yourself in life, right?

[Chris Paul]

Absolutely. You know, it's funny having kids, right? I have a 16 year old son, a 13 year old daughter. I think people see you now a lot of times and don't realize. I'm sure my kids can't imagine me when I was their age. Right. I'm sure it's hard for them or they probably don't even want to think about me when I was their age. But you don't always just have it right like some people have talent. But I think you have to be coached and you have to be nurtured and sometimes it comes from loss, comes from defeat and you just never know what's going to happen in your life to make you have that drive and that want to. I knew I wanted to make it to the NBA when I was a kid. Didn't know I wanted to Play football, million other kids. Exactly, exactly. But. But once you get there, my son

[Dr. Mark Hyman]

wanted to be one of those guys.

[Chris Paul]

Right. And. But once you get there also, I didn't know I wanted to be 21 years. Yeah, right. Because there's been a lot of heartache along that process, but somewhere. I can't even point out what year it was. Obviously there's been a lot of setbacks here and there, but somewhere it was just this became a mindset. Yeah. The mindset that not just in sport, but whatever I do. Yeah.

[Podcast Producer/Host]

Well, you know, I was so touched

[Dr. Mark Hyman]

by like reading about your story with grandfather Papa Jones, who's. It was the first black owned service station in North Carolina. And he worked really hard and he didn't have a lot of employees. He was the guy who ran the station and you were his employees. Probably didn't get paid, but, you know, and you had to show up and change the oil and change the tires and do the work. And that ethic, you know, of just showing up day after day, doing the hard things is what actually makes people have a life that. That it's worth. Worth living in a way.

[Chris Paul]

It's the things that you don't think about. Right. Like you have to fall in love with the monotony. And going to that service station, whether I wanted to or not, I had to. If I wanted a new pair of shoes, my granddad was like, you gonna come work for it? And it just instills something different into you. And as a kid, you don't always understand why you're doing these little tedious things. Right. It's almost like that Karate Kid movie where he keeps making him put his jacket up. Keeps making him put his jacket up.

[Dr. Mark Hyman]

Like the details you talk about over and over again.

[Chris Paul]

So it's. If you have your kids making their bed up every day and they get up and they about to run out the house and you like, you ain't made your bed up. Right. You don't appreciate some of those things until you get older.

[Dr. Mark Hyman]

Maybe you could share the story of when your grandfather died. He was 61. It was a big influence on your life. And you had to play a game that next day. You know, it just shows. Sort of like the story of your. Your mindset.

[Chris Paul]

November 14, 2002. It's crazy. It's been that long. I signed my letter of intent to go to Wake Forest. It was a huge day for me and my family. My granddad was there. Took off a Wake Forest hat and gave it to me and put on. I Put the hat on. And that night me and my granddad went to go see waight play, just me and him. I always say that I knew my brother went back to school. My parents were probably at home, but it was just me and my granddad because his wife, my grandmother, had passed away when I was seven. And that was on November 14th. We go to the game on the 15th. I'm at a high school game, a Friday night, watching the football team play, and I get a phone call from my parents. My brother called first to tell me that he was coming back home. And I was like, what you mean you're coming back home? And he said my granddad was sick. As I was going to the car, a cousin stopped me and told me that they had found him murdered. And November 19th ended up being the funeral. And the 20th was the first game of my senior year.

[Dr. Mark Hyman]

Wow.

[Chris Paul]

And I scored 61 points in that game. And my grandfather was 61 when he died.

[Dr. Mark Hyman]

Well, you threw away the last. You could have got the last shot, but you.

[Chris Paul]

Yeah, I had 59. I had 59. My career high up to then was like 34.

[Dr. Mark Hyman]

Wow.

[Chris Paul]

Right. So it was absolutely a out of body experience. But we were actually playing against my mom's old high school and all my family was in town for the, for the funeral. And Yeah, I had 59 points. I drove, made a layup and got fouled. Knew I had 61 and I didn't want to score anymore. So I walked to the free throw line and threw the ball out of bounds. And my dad was my assistant coach. And I remember just walking off the court, falling in his arms. So it's definitely one of the most memorable experiences I've ever had in sport.

[Dr. Mark Hyman]

Yeah, I got the chills. Cause you know, it's like your grandfather was playing through you right then, right?

[Chris Paul]

No question. I still have that basketball from that game. It's in a trophy case at my parents house. But my granddad was everything, right. Especially at that age for me. Right. Cause I lost my grandmother when I was 7. And you got kids, anything, you got kids, you got grandkids coming up. July. Yeah, Congrats. Congrats. Because to think of me, right, being seven when I lost my grandmother and 17 was when my grandfather was murdered. My mom lost her mom and dad. Right. And I'm so blessed to still have mom and dad. And now to see my parents and specifically my dad as a grandfather, the way he is to my son. And I just thought about this. My son is 16, right around that age That I was. Which is to watch that relationship and that dynamic makes me understand how it was with me and my granddad.

[Dr. Mark Hyman]

Yeah. So beautiful. That mindset and that determination, those values that he taught you every day, working in the station and doing things he did sort of helped you in your career. I mean, you, you put your head down, you work hard, and you become who you become and have an incredible longevity. In the NBA, most people are out by the time they're in their late 20s, early 30s. And you're pushed up on 40.

[Chris Paul]

Yeah, I ain't pushing up. I'm there. I'm 40.

[Dr. Mark Hyman]

Oh, you're 40?

[Chris Paul]

I'm 40.

[Dr. Mark Hyman]

Oh, damn.

[Podcast Producer/Host]

I thought you were 39.

[Chris Paul]

Okay, I'm there.

[Podcast Producer/Host]

I'm sorry.

[Chris Paul]

I'm there. Yeah, I'm there.

[Dr. Mark Hyman]

Yeah. So you're like in the Tom Brady zone now. And you know, you, you, you kind

[Podcast Producer/Host]

of, in the beginning of your career,

[Dr. Mark Hyman]

you kind of had your head down, brought talent, worked really hard, but you were eating crap like you were sharing with me before you would stop before the games in New Orleans and get a McDonald's meal and then before your practice and just kind of running on crap. Right.

[Podcast Producer/Host]

And you can kind of get away

[Dr. Mark Hyman]

with that for a bunch of years. Like, you can do that when you want to have longevity. You can't really do that as an athlete. You can't fill your body with crap. If you have a million dollar racehorse, you're not going to feed at McDonald's, right?

[Chris Paul]

Yeah, it's going to be hard. Yeah, it's going to be hard.

[Dr. Mark Hyman]

When was it like that kind of moment where you're like, oh, wait, I got to. If I want to have longevity in my job that I love. When was the moment you realized you had to focus and take care of your health?

[Chris Paul]

It's funny because when you're really good at something, right? Like, when you're really good at something, you just think like, I ain't got to change nothing. Right. I can just keep doing what I've been doing. Yeah. And what you, what you realize and you learn is that you don't know what you don't know. When I first came into the NBA and we practiced in Oklahoma City, we used to practice at this junior college. I think it was a junior college. It was called Southern Nazarene University because we had got displaced because of Hurricane Katrina. Yeah, right. So every day on the way to practice, I would stop by McDonald's and I'd get a McGriddle combo.

[Dr. Mark Hyman]

Mayor say, I don't know what that is, but.

[Chris Paul]

Oh, a McGriddle. McGriddle is fire. It's almost like two pancakes.

[Dr. Mark Hyman]

Oh, eggs and pancakes.

[Chris Paul]

No, no, no, no, no. McGriddle. I get a sausage McGriddle. Right? So it's almost like two pancakes and then sausage in between. Right, Right. Wow. Relax. I would get a hash. It come with a hash brown and a large orange juice, and I usually get an extra hash brown. And it was. It was pizza at night. It was all these different things, me and my brother living together.

[Dr. Mark Hyman]

Yeah.

[Chris Paul]

Yeah. It worked. Well, you. You. You think it's working, which it is, right? We winning games, you playing at a high level. I would.

[Dr. Mark Hyman]

When you're young, you can get away with stuff, but if you want. Want to Keep going for 20 years, you can't do that.

[Chris Paul]

I had. I had to change. I had to change.

[Dr. Mark Hyman]

So you had that. That injury. Would you take us back? That injury, that day that you kind of had that hamstring injury, what happened and how it made you kind of shift your mindset to actually focus on your health a little bit?

[Chris Paul]

So I started doing food sensitivity back in 2011. Right. And so I had some injuries here and there, and I was like, man, what is going on? Why do I keep getting injured? And I'm one of those people that I'll try whatever I was eating, right? I felt like I was hydrating all these different things. So I got hurt my first year in Houston in a very critical game in Game 5 of the Finals.

[Dr. Mark Hyman]

Right.

[Chris Paul]

Western Conference finals. And then I hurt my hamstring again next year. And I was like, man, what, what, what? I got to do, what I got to do. I got to change something.

[Dr. Mark Hyman]

And then what did you shift?

[Chris Paul]

Yeah. So that summer 2019 is when I. I went plant based. I needed to try and see what that did differently for my body. And I tell you, when I say the body is amazing, it's crazy. And what I've learned is too much of anything can be bad for you. Right. But if you can try different things or whatnot, just so that you can see what the body is capable of. Yeah, right. And what works for you and what doesn't work for you, you should absolutely do that. So on that journey for me and getting a chance to see the way, inflammation just disappeared for me and all of that, so it was. It was crazy.

[Dr. Mark Hyman]

That's powerful. Inflammation is sort of the enemy of the athlete. Right. The more inflammation you have, it's going to affect your performance, your recovery, your longevity, everything. So. And most People don't realize the diet that most Americans eat is super inflammatory. And it's driving not just, you know, obesity and diabetes and heart disease, but it just makes people feel bad and makes people function less poorly, make people have brain fog and be sore and achy and all the things that, you know, it sort of are subtle, that people don't really think about are related to food. But when you change your diet, you notice it. But you, you, you changed your diet in 2011 from the Food sensitivity. You didn't notice a big change then or you did?

[Chris Paul]

I did. I did notice a big change then.

[Dr. Mark Hyman]

But it was more dramatic when you had the.

[Chris Paul]

Yeah, it was a lot more dramatic. But what happened was I did the food sensitivity year in and year out. But what started changing, the very first time I did it, I had 27 reds and yellows. So anyone who doesn't know when you do a food sensitivity test, they test basically your allergens against like 200 different foods and all this stuff. So you get these red, yellows and greens back. I had 27 red, yellows.

[Dr. Mark Hyman]

And it was stuff you're eating all the time.

[Chris Paul]

Yeah. And we usually do it every six months or whatnot. And so then it changed. Right. Because as an athlete, as a, as a player, everybody on the teams. So when we get ours back, you're hoping you don't have but so many reds and yellows because you want to

[Dr. Mark Hyman]

be able to eat whatever you want.

[Chris Paul]

Exactly. And so what was funny is being on a team with DeAndre Jordan and Blake Griffin. Right. It's crazy. These little snack. Well cookies that used to be on the plane.

[Dr. Mark Hyman]

Oh man.

[Chris Paul]

Is sort of just what you eat when we flying and playing cards. But I remember one year that was sort of one of the ingredients was on all of our like red and yellows. So we would get on the plane and grab em. Just throw it to the other guy. Right? Just throw, just throw them at each other. Just messing with each other. Cause you know you couldn't have them. Yeah, it's cool when you have accountability partners too. Doing that as a team and sort of knowing what other guys could do or whatnot, it sort of holds you accountable. So I enjoyed it.

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[Dr. Mark Hyman]

Yeah, I mean that's powerful. I think you know what you're talking about is, is, is actually a food sensitivity. Not true. Allergy test. And what happens is if you're eating crap in, your gut becomes affected and you get what we call leaky gut. And then food proteins leak in, it creates inflammation and it can affect performance recovery, just how you feel. And most people don't realize that. And so, I mean, I created something called the 10 day detox diet, which essentially gets rid of all the most common allergens and inflammatory foods. And like in 10 days, people get rid of 70% of the symptoms from all kinds of conditions just by a very short window of time. And you were saying like when you did this initially started seeing all this sort of mucus come out, all this stuff happen when you change your diet and got healthy.

[Chris Paul]

So when I first did it 2019, I say, like I said, I said I went cold turkey or cold tofu or whatnot to watch my body transform. I would sit the first three days or so I would like literally just be sitting there and my nose would start running, nose would start running. And that was literally like the mucus like leaving my body. I think one of the biggest things that I learned what you just said was people don't realize you're second brain is your gut. Yeah, right. And when you're growing up and especially being African American and you seeing people with high blood pressure, gout. My family's from the south, right. Like I'm from North Carolina, but my dad was born and raised in South Carolina and my parents noticed. I will never forget going to visit my family in South Carolina when I was like, we would always go every summer, but I might have been around like 6, 7 years old and one of like my great uncles, you know, you know, your kids and you going to see like your grandparents, your grandparents, brothers and stuff like that. And I never forget walking in and looking down and seeing his foot. His foot was huge, swollen, swollen. But as a kid and I got an older brother, you know, we like, what, what, what? You know, like your kids, you don't know. Right. And so then when you get a little older and your parents explain to you what gout is and all this different types of stuff, all diet related. It is diet related, but it also comes from education. Right. I think also food deserts, you know, what people are exposed to and not having those different options and all of that in different inner cities and all this stuff. But I think the thing that I've tried to do and why I've been so grateful for function, especially with my family is that I'm 0.00001% of my family that's gotten the opportunity to life that I live, the exposure that I've gotten, the fact that I was introduced to the food sensitivity test and to able to learn all this. I try to bring what I get informed about back to my family.

[Podcast Producer/Host]

Yeah.

[Chris Paul]

Because our culture and everything in our family, we all say I got this different disease or whatever going on because my mom had it or because my aunt had it or because this person had it. And what I learned is that the thing that's passed down from generation to generation is recipes.

[Dr. Mark Hyman]

Recipes. And habits.

[Chris Paul]

And habits. Yeah. Exactly. And it's crazy because for me, when I talk about my first six years in the NBA. Right. And nothing against all of this stuff. Right. Cause you don't know what you don't know. But I didn't even know unsweet tea existed. I didn't even know there was a such thing as unsweet tea. First of all, I don't drink that. But I grew up. It's sweet tea. Right? Give me sweet tea. Give me. Like, you don't understand all the sugar, all these different things. Right. And so just like with money, what I learned is that I have to budget. I have to budget. Right. And food and all that should still be fun.

[Dr. Mark Hyman]

Yeah.

[Chris Paul]

Right. Like, food should still be an experience. But what I learned is I have to budget with different things that I eat or what I may want to eat. Because that gut thing, when your gut doesn't feel wet, well, it'll change your whole day. It'll change your whole mood, attitude and everything.

[Dr. Mark Hyman]

Probably affects your game too.

[Chris Paul]

Yeah, Yeah. I used to get, like bloated sometimes during games, right?

[Dr. Mark Hyman]

Oh, that's.

[Chris Paul]

And just like, like real gassy and like burping and all this different type stuff. But you don't realize that's from a lot of the stuff that you consuming,

[Dr. Mark Hyman]

and it affects your promise. You know, I think you mentioned functions for people listening. You're talking about Function Health, which is a company that gives you access to all your personal health data. And you're head of the NB Players association for a long time and advocating for players. I mean, they were in the 60s. They were making nothing and they were taking advantage of. And so you, you know, you've really been one of the leading players in the last decade, taking care of other players.

[Chris Paul]

Yeah.

[Dr. Mark Hyman]

And one of the things you did was sort of partner with Function Health to help get access to data for players so they would know what's going on in their body and they would know what's going on with their health. Like, and just like you've done with your. Your test and your. You said your family's getting to actually understand this. What are you finding out about your family and what are they kind of

[Chris Paul]

Lear, man, tell you true is really cool to find out the information that I'm finding out about functional health because I'm one of two boys. Right. I have an older brother. Yeah. Having a wife now having a daughter also. Right. So one of the most interesting things to me was that the women that do the functional health, you have to do it twice. You have to get blood work twice. One when you're on your cycle, one when you're off. Right. And that just shows, like, women dealing with a whole lot of things. Right. Like serious, like hormones and all these different types of things. So, yeah, my wife, to find out some of the information that she found out that the thing that I appreciate so much about function, health, and especially people in general, but especially like black men, a lot of times we don't go to the doctor. No. Right. Because you don't want to know. Right? You don't. It's a masculinity thing. It's a scary thing. I think for me, a lot of times it's been like, just scared. Yeah, right. Like you don't know what you're going to find.

[Dr. Mark Hyman]

Right?

[Chris Paul]

Exactly. But when you find out you can actually do something. Yes, yes. It's actually a relief when you know and you change something and you like, oh, this will help me. Yeah, this will help me. And I told a story one time before about my dad. I never Forget my dad, 60th birthday. My dad had just turned 60 and I had did a partnership with just egg, right. So my parents, my family, everybody, you know, eating just egg and stuff. And so my dad, I don't think people realize how just subtle changes of not so many juices and all of that and just consuming water. What that'll change for you. So my dad just being around and all that stuff, he made a few subtle changes. And my parents are sort of at that age and back home where unfortunately they're constantly at funerals. At funerals or friends are sick and diagnosed with this or that. My dad called me and I was on a 405 driving, and my dad was crying. And so I pulled over, I said, dad, what's going on? This was on FaceTime.

[Dr. Mark Hyman]

And he said, you're on FaceTime when you're driving.

[Chris Paul]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. I answered. I answered. Right. But now in cars, I got the little thing so you can put the phone over there. But I pulled over more so because my dad was like crying and I called, I said, dad, what's wrong? He said he went to the doctor, you know, for his checkup. Cause it was his birthday and his doctor asked him what he was doing differently. He said, your numbers, your bible, all this stuff looks so much better.

[Dr. Mark Hyman]

Yeah.

[Chris Paul]

And I think my dad was just so emotional because like I said, for him at his age and having a lot of friends that he's losing and stuff, and it just shows you, you know, my biggest maybe flex is that I have my family. Right. And selfishly, you want them around what exactly? I want them around even if they want to be hard headed about certain things or whatnot. I've had that conversation with them. I said, you know what, at this point, it's not even about you. It's about the fact that I don't know what I would do without you. Right. So that's why function, health and making sure that we give everybody and anybody opportunity to be better.

[Dr. Mark Hyman]

It's true. It's like, you know, the biggest gift you can give someone is the gift of health. Health and knowing your information. People are scared about it, but people don't realize that over 90% of your health is determined by what you do, your choices that you make. Like we talked about earlier about your food choices and exercise. You tell your dad, we want to golf, you got to exercise, keep moving. And people don't realize that you can modify these things. You find your tests are not fixed, they're actually changeable. Whether you've got diabetes or whether you've got high blood pressure or you've got

[Podcast Producer/Host]

low vitamins, or you've got that hormones

[Dr. Mark Hyman]

that are off, you can fix everything. And that's the thing that, you know, you learn with function is you actually have a roadmap on what to do.

[Chris Paul]

Exactly. And even for me, being a professional athlete for all these years, since I was, Since I was 19, there's a part of you that feels like invincible. Yeah, right. Like, oh, that's what happened to them. That ain't gonna happen to you. I'm telling you, after 35 and then especially at 40, at 40, I'm, I'm at the age where I've lost people that I know or people that have different, you know, sickness, disease and all this stuff. So it becomes really real.

[Dr. Mark Hyman]

And what did you, what did you notice and find out that you didn't know about yourself from, from testing?

[Chris Paul]

I had really bad gut issues. Right. And I Think that's from stress. Yeah. Right. And that is the, the biggest marker. Right. One of the things that's a, That's a great question you just asked me. Because when you asked me, I'm like, well, there's a whole lot of things.

[Dr. Mark Hyman]

Yeah.

[Chris Paul]

But one of the things that I try to play. Pay a. Attention to is cortisol.

[Dr. Mark Hyman]

Yeah.

[Chris Paul]

Right. And that's one of those things that.

[Dr. Mark Hyman]

It's your adrenals. Yeah.

[Chris Paul]

Like stress levels. You can become stressed thinking about being stressed. Yeah.

[Dr. Mark Hyman]

Like, seriously, like, stress is what happens between your ears. Really? Stress is what happens between your ears. And it registers in your body.

[Chris Paul]

Yes. You think about your heart and how all this stuff can be affected. And I think for me, knowing the different gut issues that I've had have been somewhat stress related. And it's trying to simplify things if you can. Right. Because the hustle and bustle of life, we all want to work, we want to do this, you want to do this, you want to do this. And so I found that I have to sometimes say, let's take a break, slow down, slow down, let's chill, let's reset, let's make sure I get around my family. Because trying to be everything for everybody, it'll run you ragged. And what you learn too is everyone thinks that money is everything. Right. And there's a lot of things that can come with it, but it can't buy you happiness, it can't buy you peace, it can give you convenience and all these different things. But the thing that money can't buy you is healthy health.

[Dr. Mark Hyman]

That's right.

[Chris Paul]

And when you see that, when you see this person that has all this wealth, you know, get sick or whatnot, there's. There's nothing you can pay a doctor or something like that. There's no pill or anything like that yet that you can buy. And it says, give me a clean bill of health.

[Dr. Mark Hyman]

Well, it's mostly what we do to ourselves. I mean, that's, that's what you've learned for yourself, is if you want to have a long career in basketball, you've got to take care of your health. And it's not just exercising. It's what you're eating, it's what you're putting your body, it's the supplements you're taking. And you, you only can know what to do if you actually get data. Right.

[Chris Paul]

Yeah. And I just thought about something when you said that too, which you also realize is that it's really an individual journey. Right. As much as, like, I love Being on a team and being together, it's an individual journey because no matter if it's your. Your spouse, your partner, whatever it is, you can't make that person get up and exercise. Right. You can't pass, like, some of your heart to that person. Right.

[Dr. Mark Hyman]

I did lock my mother in my house once for three months, and I made her eat everything I gave her. She lost like 30 pounds. She reversed her heart failure, her lungs got better, she was able to get off her oxygen. It was pretty amazing. But I made her go on an exercise bike because she.

[Chris Paul]

I might have to find out what she used.

[Dr. Mark Hyman]

Well, she couldn't drive, she was really sick, and she couldn't go anywhere, so she just had to eat what I gave her.

[Chris Paul]

And how was she like afterwards?

[Dr. Mark Hyman]

Not health, but emotionally, she was so much happier. She could live on her own again. She was functioning, of course. Then when she went to back live on her own, she started bad habits again. She wouldn't listen to me.

[Chris Paul]

Right. But at least that was something she got a chance to see. Yeah.

[Dr. Mark Hyman]

I mean, but you know, it's. It's. The thing is you. You know, when people know the data and information, there's things that they can do. And so whether it's your dad making those changes after learning his lab data and getting insights about his health that he wouldn't have known, or you're making changes that improve your performance and health and wellbeing, or, you know, giving this gift is a powerful gift.

[Chris Paul]

Information is king.

[Dr. Mark Hyman]

And you're doing this for the NBA players, too. So how do you imagine them using this? Because you mentioned a lot of guys just don't pay attention to their health.

[Chris Paul]

And it's. Yeah. So I'll tell you one of the things that I'm probably most proud of as the president of the union, the time that I was there, was that we're the only sports league that has health insurance for retired players.

[Dr. Mark Hyman]

That's right.

[Chris Paul]

Right. Only sports league that have that. And so retired players, every so often in different regions, we have, like, clinics that players can show up and go to. And there have been a number of players who have been to these clinics, and they found out different things. The legend, Tiny Archibald, I'll never forget, when he went, he found out that he had a heart condition. Right. And because of that, they were able to save him.

[Dr. Mark Hyman]

Yeah.

[Chris Paul]

Right. And so for all the different players in the league to be able to use function, it is a. It's a tool. Right. It's a.

[Dr. Mark Hyman]

Are you hearing stories from them?

[Chris Paul]

Not Yet a lot of guys are kind of private with their things. But you will. You will at some point. Because, you know, the average career for NBA player.

[Dr. Mark Hyman]

Ten years.

[Chris Paul]

No, not even close. It's like three and a half.

[Dr. Mark Hyman]

Really?

[Chris Paul]

Yeah. Because a lot of times people see the stories of, you know, myself, Kyle Lowry, LeBron, all this stuff.

[Dr. Mark Hyman]

Michael Jordan.

[Chris Paul]

Yeah, yeah. But you don't see the guys who come in for a year and then they go overseas for the time period that guys are in the league. The fact that you get a chance to get exposed to function, health. Right. If your career is on the shorter side, at least you've been exposed to this. Right. Talking about, like how I was exposed to the food sensitivity test. Right. Once guys get exposed to it. Right. And it's something that guys can do. Because there's a lot of things that when you're in the NBA, you'd be like, oh, yeah, we just get this because we in the NBA.

[Dr. Mark Hyman]

Right.

[Chris Paul]

You want to find those different things that more of the masses can lean into. Yeah, right. Yeah.

[Dr. Mark Hyman]

It's only a dollar a day. So most people, not everybody. Most people can afford a dollar a day for their health.

[Chris Paul]

And that's what I'm saying. So. So that's why this is such a game changer, because it is for more people. Yeah.

[Dr. Mark Hyman]

And it gives, you know, as we're functioning as becoming, you know, a more mature company, we're actually building more intelligence into the product. And so it gets smarter and smarter and smarter, and we're able to guide people on actually what to do. So it's sort of like, you know, supports them in decision making about their own health, helps them work with their doctor better. It really creates an ecosystem where they can actually change their health and see the change over time. And I think we never had that before. You had to go to the doctor, you had to get insurance, but people wouldn't go. And it's empowering people in a way that we never had before. And you can see this with your own family. They're probably finding out all kinds of stuff they didn't know about themselves. And they're able to say, oh, wait a minute, I can do something about it.

[Chris Paul]

And the fact that you get to go to your phone and you can look at it and you can see it and you can check what's going on, and you don't have to wait a week or two weeks for the doctor to tell you this is what's going on with you. And the fact that you can communicate and talk with somebody to tell you how to get better at it. Because. Because there's a lot of things that, the things that I learned about food. Right. When I said I went plant based. Right. I started learning about all types of stuff that I had no clue about. Right. Like I grew up in North Carolina. Like my snacks was Little Debbie's oatmeal cream pies. Right. And then being out here in California.

[Dr. Mark Hyman]

Little Debbie's. Yep.

[Chris Paul]

Yeah. And then being out here in California and my kids growing up asking for seaweed. Yeah. Asking for seaweed. And they coming up to me, they breath smell like the ocean. Right. It's just, it's different. But you don't know what you don't know. And so like you said, the information that function is able to give you is amazing. Yeah.

[Dr. Mark Hyman]

Was there anything in your results that were surprised you that you were like, hey, I didn't know this and I would never have found this out.

[Chris Paul]

I'll be very honest with you. When you first get your results back, it's a lot. It's a lot. A lot. It's a lot. It's kind of scary, right? Because I'm a self diagnosed hypochondriac. Right. So when I see the different levels or whatnot, and they say this marker right here should be here, I'd be like, oh, I'm dying. Yeah, I'm dying. I'm dying. I already know I'm dying, you know,

[Dr. Mark Hyman]

but I just scored 42 points. But I'm dying.

[Chris Paul]

Right, right, right. But to not just get the results. Right. Because there's sometimes like people will give you results and be like, here it go. All right. And then you like, what do I do with this? What am I supposed to do? And so to have someone that can

[Dr. Mark Hyman]

coach you more supportive.

[Chris Paul]

Yeah. Yes. The support, the support is necessary. To be like, this is probably just like this because you were doing this. Right. Or have you eaten a lot of this? Yeah.

[Dr. Mark Hyman]

Or have you had too much tuna fish and you didn't know that sushi or mercury's really high. Exactly.

[Chris Paul]

Mercury, really high.

[Dr. Mark Hyman]

You know, I think you mentioned people don't have a dashboard for their health. Like they, they can go on their phone and they can look at their bank account.

[Chris Paul]

Yep.

[Dr. Mark Hyman]

They can check their stocks or whatever, but they can't have a dashboard for their health. But now, now people can.

[Chris Paul]

Yeah.

[Dr. Mark Hyman]

And that, that's the beauty of this. And it's, it's continuous over time. It's just like you don't check your bank account. One say, oh, I'm Good. I'm checking the rest of my life. You keep checking, make sure you're okay. And it's the same thing with your health. You gotta keep, keep after it.

[Chris Paul]

And to get the information. And even me being a professional athlete, feeling like I know so many different things. I have a nutritionist, her name's Mary, who works with me. Me, Right. Who coaches me on my results and all these different things and try to figure out how I can make it more performance based and all this stuff. And it's been amazing for me because. Right. Like saying I'm 40, at my age, at 40 day, over 35, I need every little advantage that I can get, every little edge that I can get. And so now you're playing against guys

[Dr. Mark Hyman]

15 years younger than you.

[Chris Paul]

Exactly, exactly. I mean, I'm paying attention to what I eat. So if game is at 7 o', clock, I know my pregame is usually three hours before. Right. 4 o', clock, I usually eat my pregame meal. Then an hour before the game I have a snack. Right. And so game will start, halftime, I have another snack. Cause people don't realize the game is three hours long. Right. So one of the things that I didn't like to do early in my career is, and I'm sure there are plenty of people like this in the world, like when you're exercising, you don't like to drink.

[Dr. Mark Hyman]

No.

[Chris Paul]

Right, right. You don't like to drink. But I actually, in my brain, I've, I've blamed a few of my injuries on hydration.

[Dr. Mark Hyman]

Being dehydrated.

[Chris Paul]

Yeah, Yep. On being hydrated.

[Dr. Mark Hyman]

Dehydrated.

[Chris Paul]

Yep. Had one of my trainers, you know, in the past few years or whatnot, whenever I come out the game, I'd be like, give me my drink, even if I don't even ask for it. Yeah, right. Because you have to for that amount of time that you're playing.

[Dr. Mark Hyman]

And having electrolytes too.

[Chris Paul]

Exactly. That's the other thing too. I think a lot of times people think you're just drinking water. No, you need electrolytes because you have to replenish. Right. And so all of that stuff, when I became a lot more intentional and dialed in with that changed everything.

[Dr. Mark Hyman]

And you said you noticed, you mentioned earlier, we're chatting, you said when you change your diet, like your face looks different, it's swollen or puffy. Less inflammation in your body, better recovery, less injuries.

[Chris Paul]

I'll tell you this, talking basketball, I was a real live killer when I played in New Orleans. Right. Like I downhill. That was before I had knee surgery and all that stuff. But it's so funny for me to look at pictures of me back then. Right. And in weight, I may have been lighter. I think I was, but I looked so much heavier because my face is so much fuller. And like you said, like, I know now that that's inflammation. Yeah, that's inflammation.

[Dr. Mark Hyman]

And so that's something you can pick up on the blood test, too.

[Chris Paul]

You pick that up on the blood test. But I think what happens and why, like, I'm not a hoarder of information. If I learn something, I want nothing more than to pass it to the next person. But people will be like, yo, man, you don't hurt? You don't ache, right? Like, how. How are you still playing? They'd be like, man, if I go out and play right now, I. I hurt so bad. But it's because I found the different things for me, that.

[Dr. Mark Hyman]

Recovery.

[Chris Paul]

Yeah, recovery. And I eliminated as much inflammation as possible. And then when I make choices, Right. That I know could possibly cause some inflammation, then I try to take the proper steps or whatnot to get rid of.

[Dr. Mark Hyman]

Yeah.

[Chris Paul]

You know, to adjust it.

[Dr. Mark Hyman]

So what's it like an average day for you look like when you're playing in terms of how you take care of your body, what you eat and how you rest, how you recover from games? Kind of walk us through it. Because, you know, it's unusual.

[Podcast Producer/Host]

I mean, you know, Tom Brady played,

[Dr. Mark Hyman]

but, you know, he's quarterback and he's just.

[Podcast Producer/Host]

He's.

[Dr. Mark Hyman]

He's. He gives a few seconds of intense.

[Chris Paul]

Exactly. I'm running up and down the floor.

[Dr. Mark Hyman]

You're like, going, going, going, right?

[Chris Paul]

Yeah.

[Dr. Mark Hyman]

And I love Tom, He's a friend, but like.

[Chris Paul]

Yeah, it's like. And I'm having to guard these point guards, right? Who 19, 20 years old, and all that stuff like that. That's real shifty and all this stuff, but real shifty. And it's. That's the competitiveness that comes in. And that's what makes me so. On given days. I mean, at one point, I felt like I was having digestion issues. So I wake up in the morning, I have celery juice, Right. I gotta do that. And then, you know, when I was with the Clippers, what I would do is I would leave. We practiced, I think, at like, 11. So say practice at 11. I mean, I'm out of my house. Cause it would take me 40 minutes to get to the practice facility. I would leave my house around 6, 6:30. Yeah. I'm up early. I'm up early and I'm gone. I get to the arena and my trainer Donnie, we would be in the gym and we would lift. Like that's the other thing that I. The older I got, the more I lifted. Yeah, right. Like, that's the thing that I'm sure, you know, as far as, like muscle mass and all that stuff. The older you get, the more days, like the days you take off the body, you know, you don't use it, you lose it.

[Podcast Producer/Host]

Yeah.

[Dr. Mark Hyman]

And when you're younger, you kind of got a lot of hormones going on. And then when you're older, you gotta. I know, I'm 66.

[Chris Paul]

I get it. Yeah, you gotta, you gotta keep.

[Dr. Mark Hyman]

I gotta get after it every day.

[Chris Paul]

Yeah, exactly. So I'm at the gym, Donnie, Me and my trainer, we lift in probably like 7:30 to 8:45 or so. And then I would go eat, I would go make sure I get my protein and all that stuff in before practice. Cause Practice is at 11. And then I would. I would usually be on the court maybe like around 9:30.

[Podcast Producer/Host]

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[Dr. Mark Hyman]

just a quick jolt.

[Podcast Producer/Host]

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[Dr. Mark Hyman]

So we'll be at breakfast like with the protein, because being vegan, it's a little more challenging to get proteins that actually build muscle. You need to come different combinations of amino acids and things. So how do you work around that?

[Chris Paul]

I mean when I was fully plant based I would do that, but because I've started to incorporate like fish and all these different things, it would vary, you know what I mean, on given day, like maybe smoked salmon and things like that. So do that in the morning and then after prac. Well, practice. After practice is over. I'm laughing because I've had so many different stages of my career. Yeah, right. It was when me and my brother just lived together.

[Dr. Mark Hyman]

Yeah. Eating pizza.

[Chris Paul]

It was me and my girlfriend. Right. Yeah. Then she became my wife. Then we had one kid, then we had two kids. So now like when practice get over, dad starts. Right. Dad starts. So now is go home, eat lunch. Well, after practice, depending on what I have on my schedule that day. Do you like the red light beds, the trifecta beds or whatnot?

[Dr. Mark Hyman]

Red light beds?

[Chris Paul]

Yeah. Yep. So I would do that before or after practice. And I usually try to do a sauna.

[Dr. Mark Hyman]

Sauna.

[Chris Paul]

Sauna, like 20 minutes. Yep.

[Dr. Mark Hyman]

In cold plunge. You use like hyperbarics too?

[Chris Paul]

Yeah, I've done. I've done hyperbarics. That's crazy. I need to go back. I ain't did that probably in the last month.

[Dr. Mark Hyman]

It helps recovery too.

[Chris Paul]

Absolutely. I used to have one I have one in my house. Like the one where you zip the blow up one. They actually got the ones here in Beverly Hills where like two people, three people can go in.

[Dr. Mark Hyman]

Big hard ones.

[Chris Paul]

Yeah, yeah. You can actually like watch TV in them and stuff.

[Dr. Mark Hyman]

That's right.

[Chris Paul]

I'm open to all the different things, right. But what I, what I try to do is there's so much monotony in life, right. Like with drills and all this stuff. So with my recovery, I try to, to change things up, right. Like, so some days I'll do cold tub, some days I'll do cold tub, hot tub, contrast, Right. So someday it'll be massage, right. So just depending on how I feel.

[Dr. Mark Hyman]

Why, why pick once you do more the same day.

[Chris Paul]

No, that's a long day. I know that's a long day. But the other thing that the days or whatnot, what's really nice about the, the sauna or the red light bed, all these different things is, is the time without your phone, right. The time to connect. The time to just sort of be. Be in daydream. I sort of talk about this all the time. As far as like kids with phones or iPads is. Growing up, when we were in the car with our parents and we would be riding in the backseat and our parents would be listening to whatever they wanted to listen to, you would catch yourself just looking out the back window, right. And the trees just going by. And then you just start daydreaming about any and everything.

[Dr. Mark Hyman]

Like a meditation.

[Chris Paul]

Almost Exactly. And with the speed of life and everything going on in the world now, where it's always an app, there's always a show, there's always something, there's very few. Time for us to be. Yeah, disconnect. And so I find in those times it gives me an opportunity to.

[Dr. Mark Hyman]

Well, that's how you focus and be so focused as you are to succeed at something. Because you can't be on your phone all the time if you want to be an elite athlete.

[Chris Paul]

Right.

[Dr. Mark Hyman]

Or you want to be successful at anything in life.

[Chris Paul]

Yeah, anything in life. But that's what basketball always has been. And it's been a safe haven and just sort of a happy place. So when you can get out there on the court, a lot of guys probably don't even think about it. Yes, you love playing basketball, but what it is is you love of being and not being on your phone and someone asking you for something or doing something like that.

[Dr. Mark Hyman]

You don't even have your phone on the court.

[Chris Paul]

Exactly.

[Dr. Mark Hyman]

They probably lock it in the locker room, don't they? So, Chris, I want to ask you also about sleep, because, you know, you can work out, you can eat well, but you're on the road all the time. Different cities, different time zones, playing at different times, and all the circadian rhythms get screwed up. How do you. How do you handle taking care of your sleep?

[Chris Paul]

Man, sleep is everything. And I don't have my Oura ring on now, which is crazy.

[Dr. Mark Hyman]

But

[Chris Paul]

I think about sleep, that's just as important as the diet and the food and everything. And what's interesting is that I'm a napper, right?

[Dr. Mark Hyman]

That's good.

[Chris Paul]

I'm a napper. And let my family tell you, they probably say I'm narcoleptic, but because of the days, the days are so long and I'm up so early. You know, when you play in the NBA, you're on these planes and you get out of this high intense game and then you fly and land at 2am Then you got practice at 10, right? So I don't get eight hours every night. No. But when I do get home or whatnot, and I'm sitting there, I will nap. I will fall asleep. I find time to do that because

[Dr. Mark Hyman]

napping is a very good power skill if you can do it.

[Chris Paul]

Yeah, yeah, I have to. Especially in season. On a game day. On a game day, I allow myself two hours to nap. To nap, to nap. Go into a room. Phone, go on. Do not disturb. I want the lights dark, right? Like you constantly learning stuff.

[Dr. Mark Hyman]

Little tricks.

[Chris Paul]

Yeah, little tricks. But even my wife, right? Because I played six years away. Like, six years I lived away from my family. One year in Oklahoma City, three years in Phoenix, one year in Golden State, and then one year in San Antonio, right? So my wife, now, she's like. She would always sleep with the TV on, right? But she would do that because she's home alone. She said she's hearing things, right? Like, just the anxiety of. Exactly. So she would sleep with the TV on. And since this season, when I've been back home, like, I'll tell her, I'd be like, okay, we gotta cut that off. Because I heard that, like, when you're sleeping, Even if the TV's on, it's like doing something to your brain and all that. So y' all see, just last night I woke up in the middle of the night, I was like, cut that damn tv, right? But the sleep thing is so important. And I tell you this with aura, which has been amazing because you can

[Dr. Mark Hyman]

see what affects it.

[Chris Paul]

You can see what it affects you tells you. Your deep sleep tells you all of these different types of things. And so we had a playoff game, 20, 21. We were playing against the Clippers, ironically, when I was with Phoenix. And this was like game six, the game that could take us to the NBA Finals. And the funniest thing about aura is, I mean, I would be on the bus headed to a game, and it'd say, like, you should be winding down right now. And I'm like, winding down.

[Dr. Mark Hyman]

I'm winding up.

[Chris Paul]

I got to get up.

[Dr. Mark Hyman]

I got 30 points, I gotta score.

[Chris Paul]

Yeah, I got this game going on, but one of the best games I ever played in my career. I woke up that morning and, you know, like, when you get a good night's rest, it'll tell you, give you a score. It'll give you a score, and it'll usually give you a message. Mine that morning said, bring it on.

[Dr. Mark Hyman]

Bring it on.

[Chris Paul]

I'll never forget it. It said, bring it on. My aura ring told me when I was about to have Covid.

[Dr. Mark Hyman]

Wow.

[Chris Paul]

Yeah. Yeah. I missed two games in a playoff series because that was the year that Covid was going on. But my aura ring was telling me that my body temperature was elevated, heart rate. Sleep is. Is everything. And you, in my profession, you also have to be able to function on little sleep. Little sleep.

[Dr. Mark Hyman]

Kind of like a doctor.

[Chris Paul]

Yeah, exactly. Exactly. No, seriously. And I know pretty high functioning people that don't always get a whole lot of sleep. And I've never been. I don't. Eight, nine hours. Who doing that? That's not me. I'm not gonna lie. I try.

[Dr. Mark Hyman]

But when you do, you take the time to really do it and you see the difference in, like when you bring it on, when you had a good score, you got 41 points.

[Chris Paul]

Yes. And I believe in napping.

[Dr. Mark Hyman]

Napping. All right. That's the trick, folks. Nap if you can, when you can.

[Chris Paul]

Yeah.

[Dr. Mark Hyman]

You do a lot of sort of nonprofit work, too, and food access and try to help people. Maybe share a little bit about that because I think it's, you know, you're trying to give back in a way to help empower people around their health.

[Chris Paul]

I'm always trying to give back, to empower. But also a lot of things that our foundation do. We start with kids, right? We start with kids because kids, they're very open to learning. Right? They're very open to learning. If you can introduce things to kids. Sometimes people don't realize, but kids are teaching their parents things. Even think about technology, social Media and all that stuff, like kids are teaching their parents. So if you can teach kids different eating habits or different things like that. Which is already changing, Right. As far as, like, snacks or whatnot. So my snack company, Good eating. Right. Like, the. The whole purpose of that was to lead with taste, obviously. But there are clean ingredients.

[Dr. Mark Hyman]

That's right.

[Chris Paul]

Right. So if you can start with that. Because obviously food, like breakfast, lunch, and dinner or whatever, it's hard to change that aspect. But people in general, like, if we were sitting here talking, I should have brought the snacks anyway. But people just find themselves snacking. Right. So when we talked about budgeting. Right. So if you can at least enjoy the snacks that you eat and know that you don't have all these different.

[Dr. Mark Hyman]

Crap in them.

[Chris Paul]

Crap in them. That was the whole point of me starting my snack company, because, like I said, I'm a snacker. Right. I like food. And so I wanted to make sure that at least when you're doing that, you're not feeling guilty and feeling bad that you're putting junk into your.

[Dr. Mark Hyman]

Yeah, I saw some of those cook recipes. They were kind of interesting. The ingredients were pretty clean, but they were, like. You'd think they wouldn't be. Right. Like ragers or like cookies and cream popcorn.

[Chris Paul]

Exactly, exactly. And that's because I'm like, wait a minute, Chris. Wait a minute.

[Dr. Mark Hyman]

And I checked it out. I was like, all right.

[Chris Paul]

Well, that's because. Right. Like, I mean, if I said, like, these kids are still eating Doritos and Cheetos and stuff like that every day. You know what I mean? Like, why not have something that. That tastes good, but have better ingredients than that?

[Dr. Mark Hyman]

And are kids liking it?

[Chris Paul]

Love it.

[Dr. Mark Hyman]

Yeah.

[Chris Paul]

Love it.

[Dr. Mark Hyman]

That's amazing.

[Chris Paul]

Wow.

[Dr. Mark Hyman]

And how do you think about the next phase of your life?

[Chris Paul]

Yeah, I'm excited about it. I have a production company. I have the snack company. I have a lot of other things that I want to continue to work on. But the thing that I'm most excited about is being present with your family. Exactly. Being present for my family, even for my friends. Right. Like, I'm so grateful for the life that I've been able to enjoy and play for all of these years. But I haven't been able to show up for friends, for my family, for them for a very, very long time. So I'm really excited about that.

[Dr. Mark Hyman]

And that's a hard thing. You know, success always comes with a price. Right. You've got to work hard. You got to do a lot, and, you know, your job entails a lot of travel, which means being away from your family, and that's gotta be one of the hardest parts. And.

[Chris Paul]

And people don't realize that, but it's so much gratitude. It's been an unbelievable journey. And my family, everybody's been able to go on this ride with me, but now, you know, it's time to do something different.

[Dr. Mark Hyman]

And one of the things I want to sort of touch back on what you said, which I think is really important, is the power of community and doing things together, whether it's your teammates, whether it's with your family. You know, you kind of were chatting on another podcast about this group of friends you had since you were a kid, and you have a group chat, and they know you not as Chris Paul, the NBA player, but, like, just as dude.

[Chris Paul]

It was like, you know, you know, to speak on that. My homies, my fellows. Group chat back home. My boy John John. I think it was John John or Petey, probably like a week ago, which I need to follow up with them because we talked about it, but then nobody put it in motion. We said we was going to do something for like a month. We was going to make a month challenge of. But because everybody's body type is different, we was going to do, like, a body fat loss or something like that. Right. And yeah, and we said we was gonna do that, but nobody followed up, which just. I need to follow up. Yeah. Because that's. That's fun to do because Keep each other accountable. Yeah, it keeps everybody accountable. And my homies, I love y' all to death, but everybody definitely got different body types.

[Podcast Producer/Host]

Yeah, well, you know, as you get

[Dr. Mark Hyman]

older, it's like you don't pay attention.

[Chris Paul]

No, no, no. Very different body type. And everybody makes sure they tell each other in the chat just about every other day. But we can't just do body fat because a couple of them, they got a lot to lose. They got a lot to lose. I'm excited about doing this challenge with them because we said we was going to do. And I don't know that you might know how to. Like, how do we make it competitive for all of us if we all.

[Podcast Producer/Host]

Well, you just say.

[Dr. Mark Hyman]

You just say the percent. Like, the percent amount of. But the thing is, you're not going to lose a lot because you won't win the contest because you're already.

[Chris Paul]

You got to figure out how to make it make it competitive. Now. They can't just win just because they. No, no, no, no. My cousin Rod. My cousin Suit. Well, suit. Nah.

[Dr. Mark Hyman]

But yeah, you can figure that out because it's percent of change. Right. It matters like how, where you start, like how much can you improve. But if you're already really good, it's hard to get that extra edge. Right. If you like get that extra 0.1 second, 100 yard dash is not easy.

[Chris Paul]

We gonna figure it out. That's gonna be a fun competition to do with this. Yeah.

[Dr. Mark Hyman]

Well, actually I created a program that's like, we do a group program, we call it the 10 day detox. But you can do it from, for a month. And essentially it's, it's where people eat an anti inflammatory diet. For a month.

[Chris Paul]

Yeah.

[Dr. Mark Hyman]

And they get reset and all their numbers get better. You can do function before and after and you can compete on, you can even compete on that.

[Chris Paul]

I'm gonna put that in the chat, dude. Yeah, I'm gonna put that in the

[Dr. Mark Hyman]

chat, get them all function. $365.

[Chris Paul]

I'm gonna put it in the chat because that's actually been some of the, the coolest days for me. Right. Like my homies that I'm talking about, my fellows group chat. I never get to see them. We usually go on a trip once every summer, usually every season I try to bring them out to a game. But they have lives, they have things going on. But it'd be so dope when one of the guys or something put in the chat or we all get on FaceTime and we look at, I remember we looked at my cousin Rod one time, we was all on FaceTime and his face had just looked so different. We was like, yo, what you got going on over there? He was like, man, I've been basically doing like a detox or something like that. So. So to have real friends that you can encourage to do things like that because these are my like real friends since we were, since we were younger and some of them have had different health issues. And when you find out these guys like they in the hospital, you like what? Yeah, you know they're in the hospital.

[Dr. Mark Hyman]

Don't take care of yourself. It catches up fast.

[Chris Paul]

Yeah. So I'm gonna definitely put that in the group chat.

[Dr. Mark Hyman]

So just everybody gotta remember it's really about, you know, know, doing it together. Right.

[Chris Paul]

Health and enjoying life and enjoying experiences. And the only way we get a chance to do that is with our health.

[Dr. Mark Hyman]

Last question is, Chris, you're looking back to your 22 year old self and you're giving him some advice. What would you, what would you advise him to do?

[Chris Paul]

Ooh, I'm Looking back at my 22 year old son, you know what? I honestly, I probably wouldn't have did anything that different. Right. And I say that because I've learned.

[Dr. Mark Hyman]

You would have Krispy Kremes and McGriddles.

[Chris Paul]

Yeah, yeah. I had to. Right. I had to. And nothing against it or whatnot, but I've met like kids that have never had a cheeseburger or never had a. Well, not a cheeseburger, but hamburger because I don't like cheese anyway. But they've never even experienced any of those things. Right. So the things that I've gotten a chance to eat and understand, like, I learned, I Learned a lot. 22. Where was I? I was still playing in New Orleans at the time. Maybe, maybe not. As man, my chef used to make this Krispy Kreme bread pudding. Whoa. That's what I'm saying. I can't say that I wouldn't.

[Dr. Mark Hyman]

It's definitely on the Dr. Hyman diet.

[Chris Paul]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. But probably at that age, what I, what I would have done, honestly, if I could do anything different.

[Dr. Mark Hyman]

Yeah.

[Chris Paul]

It's not as much sugar. Yeah. Because I didn't know sugar. Yeah.

[Dr. Mark Hyman]

Sugar is the most inflammation and everything

[Chris Paul]

that I had then. Right. Like I, I was man to think about what I would have like for dinner. Right. Like I would have, you know, like fried chicken, sweet tea, finished with that Krispy Kreme bread pudding. And then while I was chilling, watching games at night, I'd go in there and get me a honey bun, you know what I mean? Mess around, probably double back, go get me an oatmeal.

[Dr. Mark Hyman]

Thank God you were running up and down the court all day. You would have been 2, 300 pounds.

[Chris Paul]

Absolutely.

[Dr. Mark Hyman]

Absolutely amazing. Well, Chris, thanks for being an example for how to take care of yourself and how to give back to the world and taking care of the players and telling the world about why it's important for everybody to take care of their house. So thank you so much.

[Chris Paul]

Much thank you.

[Podcast Producer/Host]

If you love this podcast, please share

[Dr. Mark Hyman]

it with someone else you think would also enjoy it. You can find me on all social media channels at Dr. Mark Hyman.

[Podcast Producer/Host]

Please reach out.

[Dr. Mark Hyman]

I'd love to hear your comments and questions. Don't forget to rate, review and subscribe to the Dr. Hyman show wherever you get your podcasts. And don't forget to check out my YouTube channel at Dr. Mark Hyman for video versions of this podcast and more. Thank you so much again for tuning in. We'll see you next time on the Dr. Hyman Show. This podcast is separate from my clinical practice at the Ultra Wellness center, my work at Cleveland Clinic, and Function Health where I am Chief Medical Officer. This podcast represents my opinions and my guests opinions. Neither myself nor the podcast endorses the views or statements of my guests. This podcast is for educational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional care by a doctor or other qualified medical professional. This podcast is provided with the understanding that it does not constitute medical or other professional advice or services.

[Podcast Producer/Host]

If you're looking for help in your

[Dr. Mark Hyman]

journey, please seek out a qualified medical practitioner. And if you're looking for a functional medicine practitioner, visit my clinic Clinic the Ultra Wellness center at ultrawellnesscenter.com and request to become a patient. It's important to have someone in your corner who is a trained, licensed healthcare practitioner and can help you make changes, especially when it comes to your health. This podcast is free as part of my mission to bring practical ways of improving health to the public, so I'd like to express gratitude to sponsors that made today's podcast possible. Thanks so much again for listening. Do you have a question about my favorite books, supplements or recipes? Then sign up for my free Marks Picks newsletter at Doctor Picks, where I'll share all of this information with you and so much more. You'll get emails from me every Friday with recommendations on things that have helped me on my health journey and I hope they can help you too. Thank you so much again for tuning in. We'll see you next week on the Dr. Hyman Show.