WEBVTT - Eat More. Sleep Colder. Lift Heavier. 0:00:10.287 --> 0:00:14.807 You're listening to a Mama Mia podcast. Mamma mea acknowledges 0:00:14.847 --> 0:00:17.567 the traditional owners of land and waters that this podcast 0:00:17.647 --> 0:00:23.887 is recorded on. Eat more protein. How about some salmon 0:00:23.927 --> 0:00:26.527 with that egg? How about some cottage cheese with that steak? 0:00:26.927 --> 0:00:29.527 How about you sprinkle some creatine all over that thing? 0:00:29.807 --> 0:00:32.447 What about protein powder and your protein powder for a 0:00:32.567 --> 0:00:35.927 morning smoothie full of fiber? And while we're at it, 0:00:36.247 --> 0:00:39.047 how many supplements? There's too many supplements? Should I, in 0:00:39.087 --> 0:00:43.087 fact rattle when I walk? Speaking of walking? Is walking enough? 0:00:43.487 --> 0:00:46.567 Counting my steps? Is that just propaganda? Now? And if 0:00:46.647 --> 0:00:48.327 I manage to get to the gym, what should I 0:00:48.327 --> 0:00:51.607 do there? For decades it's been burned, baby burn, and 0:00:51.647 --> 0:00:55.407 now it's lift, baby lift. Does it feel suddenly like 0:00:55.447 --> 0:00:57.967 there's a set of new rules that no one sent 0:00:58.047 --> 0:01:00.687 you that you just get glimpses of them yelled at 0:01:00.727 --> 0:01:04.527 you through your phone? One hundred grams of protein, bitch 0:01:04.727 --> 0:01:06.847 as you scroll past a twenty eight year old with 0:01:06.887 --> 0:01:10.527 fluoro athlesia and a neutrib bullet. Well, you'd be right. 0:01:11.127 --> 0:01:14.527 The rules are new because the old rules they were 0:01:14.527 --> 0:01:19.047 written for men, sweat, sprint, starve, And they were also 0:01:19.167 --> 0:01:22.407 written by the toxic body culture we were so surrounded 0:01:22.407 --> 0:01:24.927 by as we came of age. It was invisible to 0:01:24.967 --> 0:01:29.927 the naked eye, size zero, low rise genes, thigh gaps, 0:01:29.927 --> 0:01:34.247 crash diets, and the endless comparison game. Now we've woken 0:01:34.327 --> 0:01:37.207 up in what feels like a second puberty, and we've 0:01:37.287 --> 0:01:41.687 only just barely started to understand our bodies. They can 0:01:41.727 --> 0:01:46.847 feel like angry strangers. Hormones are fluctuating, sleep is elusive. 0:01:47.247 --> 0:01:50.327 Joints ache for no reason, and we're told it's just 0:01:50.367 --> 0:01:54.607 the beginning. What wants work doesn't work anymore. What once 0:01:54.647 --> 0:01:58.207 felt intuitive now feels like guesswork. The new rules are 0:01:58.287 --> 0:02:02.647 kinder but also confusing. Move your body more, but don't 0:02:02.647 --> 0:02:05.727 overdo it. Eat red meat, but not too much, because 0:02:05.927 --> 0:02:08.807 your heart gets some sun for vitamin D, but also 0:02:09.487 --> 0:02:13.527 that face from those raisor rays. Sleep more, meditate, fix 0:02:13.607 --> 0:02:17.287 your nervous system, add magnesium, track your cycle. Cut out 0:02:17.327 --> 0:02:20.487 sugar but not fruit or is it fruit too? If 0:02:20.487 --> 0:02:23.047 we decode it. If we find the new rules and 0:02:23.087 --> 0:02:26.047 write them down, learn to live by them, can we 0:02:26.167 --> 0:02:30.167 change what's coming? Protect our minds and our bodies from age, 0:02:30.487 --> 0:02:34.647 from wrinkles and falls, forgetfulness, aches and pains and the 0:02:34.727 --> 0:02:41.607 soft stand up grunt? Can eggs really do all that? Hello, 0:02:42.167 --> 0:02:47.207 I'm Holly Wainwright and I am Mid, Midlife, Midfamily, mid 0:02:47.327 --> 0:02:51.087 lifting my tiny pink weights. Does it feel like you 0:02:51.207 --> 0:02:54.647 hit a certain birthday with a zero and everyone starts 0:02:54.767 --> 0:02:58.007 yelling at you about protein and dumbbells. Well, if it 0:02:58.007 --> 0:03:01.167 feels like that, you're right, because that's what happens. And 0:03:01.247 --> 0:03:03.807 for this last episode of Mid for season five, we 0:03:03.847 --> 0:03:07.047 wanted to ask someone smart to tell us exactly why 0:03:07.087 --> 0:03:11.207 that is, And so we found called Louisa Nicola and 0:03:11.367 --> 0:03:14.287 asked her what she thought of all the things midwomen 0:03:14.287 --> 0:03:17.527 are told to do. Why Louisa, Well, because she is 0:03:17.567 --> 0:03:22.167 an Australian neurophysiologist and human performance coach who's living in 0:03:22.207 --> 0:03:24.567 the US and working there at the moment, right at 0:03:24.567 --> 0:03:28.607 the forefront of all the science about longevity and health 0:03:28.687 --> 0:03:32.487 and performance and exercise and food. She used to be 0:03:32.687 --> 0:03:37.167 a world championship triathlete, representing Australia at all kinds of 0:03:37.207 --> 0:03:41.687 major international events before a serious injury stopped her athletic 0:03:41.727 --> 0:03:44.167 career in its tracks. But that also set her on 0:03:44.207 --> 0:03:47.407 the path to understand what she calls brain training and 0:03:47.447 --> 0:03:52.087 become an expert in basically telling us normies what athletes 0:03:52.287 --> 0:03:55.727 and high performance people know to be true. One of 0:03:55.767 --> 0:03:57.567 the things we're going to talk to Louisa about today 0:03:57.647 --> 0:03:59.727 is how to care for our brains as we age. 0:04:00.087 --> 0:04:02.047 But we are going to talk to her two about 0:04:02.047 --> 0:04:03.647 our bodies because that is one of the things that 0:04:03.687 --> 0:04:07.207 everybody's always talking to us about. What are the things 0:04:07.487 --> 0:04:11.887 to prioritize to live better longer? To be honest, the 0:04:11.967 --> 0:04:14.927 priorities she told me were a serious surprise. So here 0:04:14.967 --> 0:04:17.847 we go. This is your Nobs guide to the new 0:04:17.927 --> 0:04:20.327 rules of a better life. But before we get started, 0:04:20.367 --> 0:04:23.847 I need to make this clear. The information discussed in 0:04:23.887 --> 0:04:27.927 this episode is not intended to replace professional medical advice. 0:04:28.487 --> 0:04:34.007 Supplement availability, safety, and regulation vary between countries, including Australia. 0:04:34.447 --> 0:04:37.287 You always need to seek guidance from your GP or 0:04:37.327 --> 0:04:41.007 a pharmacist and ensure that any therapeutic goods are listed 0:04:41.007 --> 0:04:44.927 on the Australian Register of Therapeutic Goods before you go 0:04:45.247 --> 0:04:48.247 near them. And if you listen to this conversation and 0:04:48.287 --> 0:04:51.407 you wonder, oh, I thought you might mention this supplement 0:04:51.567 --> 0:04:54.327 or this supplement, because I see them everywhere, there is 0:04:54.367 --> 0:04:56.567 a good reason why not, and that is because here 0:04:56.567 --> 0:04:59.887 in Australia we're actually pretty lucky that our regulations are 0:04:59.927 --> 0:05:02.487 really tight about what you can and can't talk about 0:05:02.527 --> 0:05:05.527 and promote. So if there are a few gaps here, 0:05:05.607 --> 0:05:07.887 that's why. But I still think you are going to 0:05:07.967 --> 0:05:14.887 find this conversation with Louisa Nicola really really interesting. Protein, sleep, exercise. 0:05:15.047 --> 0:05:20.847 Oh my, Louisa, I'm just so happy to be talking 0:05:20.887 --> 0:05:24.127 to you today because as a woman of my age, 0:05:24.207 --> 0:05:27.967 I'm kind of completely overwhelmed by all the stuff I'm 0:05:27.967 --> 0:05:31.087 being told to do and knowing what's real, what's helpful, 0:05:31.127 --> 0:05:34.087 what's not. And then if i am, I know a 0:05:34.127 --> 0:05:36.807 lot of other women are right, and I'd like to 0:05:36.887 --> 0:05:39.967 start with a big gun. So if there's one thing 0:05:40.087 --> 0:05:42.007 we can advise a woman who's in her kind of 0:05:42.087 --> 0:05:44.887 let's say she's in her forties, that her relationship with 0:05:44.967 --> 0:05:47.847 fitness is pretty typical, which is that maybe she goes 0:05:47.847 --> 0:05:50.247 and fits and starts. She might stick to a gym 0:05:50.287 --> 0:05:52.127 regime for a while and then drop out of it. 0:05:52.167 --> 0:05:54.367 She's had times in her life when she's been fitter 0:05:54.487 --> 0:05:56.367 and times in a life where she's been less. So 0:05:57.407 --> 0:06:00.407 what is the one thing we can advise this woman 0:06:00.487 --> 0:06:03.727 to do to change the quality of the next twenty 0:06:03.807 --> 0:06:05.527 years or so, what would it be. 0:06:07.167 --> 0:06:10.647 Well, first of all, Holly, thank you for how you're 0:06:10.687 --> 0:06:15.367 definitely tapping on something that is becoming quite an epidemic. 0:06:15.887 --> 0:06:19.807 We all are inevitably going to face the decline of 0:06:20.247 --> 0:06:23.967 estrogen and progesterone somewhere throughout our life. I think what's 0:06:24.007 --> 0:06:27.847 happening now is menopause is really at the spotlight. It 0:06:27.967 --> 0:06:30.847 is gaining a lot of traction. And this is really 0:06:30.967 --> 0:06:33.327 due to the fact that we had a lot of 0:06:33.927 --> 0:06:39.047 misinformation around menopause and estrogen, etc. And this is now 0:06:39.167 --> 0:06:42.007 causing a lot of women in midlife and even at 0:06:42.007 --> 0:06:46.167 the age of forty to start rethinking their decisions. So 0:06:46.527 --> 0:06:48.367 to cut a long story shot, because I know we're 0:06:48.367 --> 0:06:52.487 going to evolve throughout this conversation, and to answer your question, 0:06:52.647 --> 0:06:55.887 what can a woman do right now to improve the 0:06:55.927 --> 0:06:57.767 next twenty years of her life? Well, look, she can 0:06:57.807 --> 0:07:01.367 do many things, Okay, but let's talk about what actually 0:07:01.487 --> 0:07:04.647 happens at this stage of life in the fourth decade. Well, 0:07:05.607 --> 0:07:09.967 the transition into many menopause comes at around a decade 0:07:10.047 --> 0:07:12.607 prior to the menopause onset. So if we're thinking it 0:07:12.727 --> 0:07:16.247 around the average age, maybe forty two forty three is 0:07:16.287 --> 0:07:20.447 the onset of perimenopause. When we start to see the 0:07:20.487 --> 0:07:24.327 decline of estrogen and progesterome, we need to start thinking 0:07:24.567 --> 0:07:30.767 about what is actually happening, because in my opinion, menopause 0:07:30.807 --> 0:07:36.127 doesn't just happen to your ovaries. It's a neuroendocrine malfunction. Really, 0:07:36.647 --> 0:07:38.407 we have a lot of things that happen to our 0:07:38.447 --> 0:07:40.927 brain and as a result of that, we then go 0:07:41.007 --> 0:07:45.327 through a cascade of issues ranging from bone mineral density. 0:07:45.487 --> 0:07:47.687 We see a decline in that, we see a decline 0:07:47.727 --> 0:07:52.207 in bone mass, in strength, in muscle mass, in cognitive functions, 0:07:52.247 --> 0:07:54.807 and these are the things we need throughout our lifespan, 0:07:56.167 --> 0:07:59.007 throughout my work and through what I do for a 0:07:59.047 --> 0:08:02.647 living and what I research, which is Alzheimer's disease. What 0:08:02.727 --> 0:08:05.967 I can safely say is the one thing you should 0:08:06.007 --> 0:08:11.247 do right now in your forties is practice good exercise. 0:08:11.607 --> 0:08:14.927 You mentioned people. You know some women go through stages 0:08:14.967 --> 0:08:17.687 of they're really motivated, they go to the gym for 0:08:17.727 --> 0:08:20.167 a week, and maybe they go off the gym. And 0:08:20.247 --> 0:08:23.127 what we know is that consistency is key, right because 0:08:23.127 --> 0:08:25.567 if we're going to build a good foundation for our 0:08:25.607 --> 0:08:29.207 body when we're eighty and when we're ninety, even in 0:08:29.207 --> 0:08:32.607 in your sixties and seventies. Really it's got to be 0:08:32.807 --> 0:08:38.327 consistent effort, consistently going to the gym, consistently putting in work, 0:08:38.567 --> 0:08:42.047 and if you have to follow a structured program from 0:08:42.087 --> 0:08:46.327 a personal trainer, I think that's actually becoming more of 0:08:46.367 --> 0:08:49.607 a need these days just to really get the foundation set. 0:08:50.367 --> 0:08:52.767 So what we keep being told right now is to 0:08:52.887 --> 0:08:56.087 forget the hardcore cardio that we might have been doing 0:08:56.127 --> 0:08:59.207 to chase a dress size in our twenties and focus 0:08:59.287 --> 0:09:02.567 on weights. Is it that simple and is that the 0:09:02.607 --> 0:09:04.207 shift we should definitely make. 0:09:04.927 --> 0:09:07.447 It's not that simple, But let me tell you there 0:09:07.527 --> 0:09:10.407 is a need for everything, every part of exercise. When 0:09:10.447 --> 0:09:14.607 we are looking into the scientific literature, we're usually separating 0:09:14.607 --> 0:09:18.927 exercises into three buckets. Right, We've got strength training, We've 0:09:18.927 --> 0:09:23.567 got cardiovascular training, which is your zone too easy, long 0:09:23.967 --> 0:09:28.287 long runs, long swim sessions, et cetera, cardio if you will, 0:09:28.647 --> 0:09:31.727 and then we've got this high intensity training. Right, So 0:09:31.807 --> 0:09:34.087 if we look at across the board, what is going 0:09:34.127 --> 0:09:36.567 to give you the biggest bang for your buck it 0:09:36.647 --> 0:09:41.327 would be strength and that's because we lose strength and 0:09:41.407 --> 0:09:44.247 muscle mass at a very rapid rate. It comes on 0:09:44.887 --> 0:09:50.327 in the fourth decade, right, and we females need more 0:09:50.687 --> 0:09:53.007 strength if we had to, we still need to work 0:09:53.007 --> 0:09:57.087 on our cardiovascular fitness. Right. When we're looking at cardiovascular fitness, 0:09:57.647 --> 0:10:01.167 we're also taking into account that we're training the powerhouses 0:10:01.167 --> 0:10:04.207 of ourselves, which is called the mitochondria. We've got more 0:10:04.247 --> 0:10:07.687 mitochondria than men. So a lot of this marketing what 0:10:07.727 --> 0:10:10.927 you're seeing when you're talking about zone two training, which 0:10:10.967 --> 0:10:14.327 is dubbed out you should be doing cardio at least 0:10:14.367 --> 0:10:18.727 three hours a week. That's really looking at males. Women 0:10:19.007 --> 0:10:23.567 should actually be prioritizing strength. And when I say strength, 0:10:23.607 --> 0:10:28.487 I'm talking about weights, so resistance training and then high 0:10:28.527 --> 0:10:32.127 intensity training. That's like when you're going hard out, not 0:10:32.287 --> 0:10:37.527 hit training, but high intensity, hard out efforts, and then cardio. 0:10:38.087 --> 0:10:41.087 I've heard you rail against the little pink weights we all. 0:10:40.967 --> 0:10:45.687 Have, Yes, it's you want I try and say women 0:10:45.727 --> 0:10:48.247 should move away from the pink weights because listen, it's 0:10:48.247 --> 0:10:51.367 not doing you anything. You're actually wasting your time if 0:10:51.367 --> 0:10:56.807 you're at the gym lifting small lightweights. If we want 0:10:56.887 --> 0:11:00.727 to prevent sycopenia, which is age related muscle loss. If 0:11:00.727 --> 0:11:04.727 we want to enhance our metabolic rate and glucose metabolism, 0:11:05.727 --> 0:11:10.527 we need to without being too scientific, but we need 0:11:10.567 --> 0:11:16.127 to trigger mechano receptors in muscle fibers, right, and that 0:11:16.287 --> 0:11:20.447 is triggered when we lift heavy. To improve our muscle 0:11:20.527 --> 0:11:23.247 mouse increase our muscle musk, we have to lift heavy. 0:11:23.567 --> 0:11:27.167 You're not going to get anything from lifting these two 0:11:27.287 --> 0:11:30.247 kilo dumbbells, which are often painted pink. 0:11:31.087 --> 0:11:33.087 Okay, let's get a bit more serious. I think we'll 0:11:33.127 --> 0:11:35.447 come back to exercise in a while. So women in 0:11:35.447 --> 0:11:39.447 my age, apparently we cannot eat enough protein. It's just protein, 0:11:39.487 --> 0:11:42.527 protein protein. You can't buy cottage cheese anywhere in the 0:11:42.527 --> 0:11:44.487 shops at the moment because the older women have eaten 0:11:44.487 --> 0:11:47.527 it all. Eat eggs, fish, meat, eggs and fish more 0:11:47.567 --> 0:11:50.927 and more. I wonder if what we're being told is right. 0:11:51.967 --> 0:11:54.887 Look, I actually thought it was and I still do. 0:11:54.967 --> 0:11:59.687 I think that bare minimum, every single individual, but mainly women, 0:11:59.927 --> 0:12:02.527 should be having at minimum one hundred grams of protein 0:12:02.567 --> 0:12:05.567 a day. In it it varies right, because we should 0:12:05.727 --> 0:12:08.367 be eating around one point six to one point eight 0:12:08.367 --> 0:12:12.007 grams perk of body weight. So you know, if you're 0:12:12.607 --> 0:12:17.087 seventy kilos, then literally just seventy kilos, you literally multiply 0:12:17.207 --> 0:12:21.167 seventy by one point six and that's how much protein 0:12:21.207 --> 0:12:23.007 you should be having a day, and that varies. 0:12:23.167 --> 0:12:25.567 What does that much protein actually look like? 0:12:25.847 --> 0:12:29.487 To be honest, it's quite difficult for a lot of women. 0:12:29.487 --> 0:12:32.127 It's quite difficult for me to hit my protein goals 0:12:32.167 --> 0:12:35.367 every day. But it looks like having one hundred and 0:12:35.407 --> 0:12:39.607 fifty grams of chicken breast for lunch, another one hundred 0:12:39.607 --> 0:12:42.407 and fifty grams of chicken breast or similar for dinner, 0:12:42.927 --> 0:12:45.407 having two to three eggs in the morning. 0:12:45.767 --> 0:12:47.407 So the protein is key. 0:12:47.687 --> 0:12:51.687 Protein is key. However, I just interviewed one of the 0:12:52.047 --> 0:12:55.967 biggest scientists in protein, so he was actually responsible for 0:12:56.007 --> 0:12:59.927 the twin study that was actually documented on Netflix, and 0:13:00.007 --> 0:13:03.007 he said something really interesting to me. He noted that 0:13:03.567 --> 0:13:07.607 muscle mass is actually muscle mass, and strength is actually 0:13:08.247 --> 0:13:12.527 ninety percent resistance training and ten percent protein. So I 0:13:12.727 --> 0:13:15.247 was even fed this lie. I was even fed this 0:13:15.287 --> 0:13:19.407 lie that we needed we needed so much protein to 0:13:19.567 --> 0:13:21.407 gain muscle mass. But it turns out that if you're 0:13:21.407 --> 0:13:25.247 not actually stimulating the mechana receptors. As I mentioned earlier, 0:13:25.527 --> 0:13:28.087 if you're not even lifting heavy, but you're meeting your 0:13:28.127 --> 0:13:32.367 protein requirement needs, it doesn't even matter. But I just 0:13:32.407 --> 0:13:36.247 want to add on top of that as well. Protein 0:13:36.367 --> 0:13:41.687 also has other wonders where you can increase your metabolic 0:13:41.767 --> 0:13:43.567 rate by eating it. So it takes a lot to 0:13:43.647 --> 0:13:47.167 digest protein. So once you eat protein, you're also burning 0:13:47.207 --> 0:13:51.287 calories and it keeps you full of for longer if 0:13:51.287 --> 0:13:54.247 you can try and prioritize at least one hundred grams 0:13:54.287 --> 0:13:54.607 a day. 0:13:55.087 --> 0:13:57.767 Okay, that's good, sensible advice, good for me to know. 0:13:58.007 --> 0:14:01.247 I want to ask you about something else, vitamin D sunshine. 0:14:01.367 --> 0:14:03.847 I'm also being told lots of vitamin D. 0:14:04.287 --> 0:14:09.367 Vitamin D is really interesting, right we call it vitamin D, 0:14:09.567 --> 0:14:14.487 but it's a hormone synthesized by the sun. Right now, 0:14:14.527 --> 0:14:17.367 I live in the US, I live in New York, 0:14:17.487 --> 0:14:20.407 so a lot of people in the US are actually 0:14:20.527 --> 0:14:25.967 vitamin D deficient. So we measure it over here with 0:14:26.367 --> 0:14:30.567 nanograms per deesoleader. And what we are trying to and 0:14:30.607 --> 0:14:33.327 you can do the conversions in Australian metrics, and so 0:14:33.367 --> 0:14:37.767 what we're trying to get everyone too is around sixty 0:14:38.087 --> 0:14:42.447 nanograms per deesoleader, but the average is around twenty nanograms 0:14:42.447 --> 0:14:47.767 per desoleader. This doesn't mean that you are sun deficient, right, 0:14:47.807 --> 0:14:50.327 I mean it can, but it could mean that you 0:14:50.367 --> 0:14:56.087 are magnesium deficient. So I've had private clients and patients 0:14:56.447 --> 0:14:59.727 who we've worked on their vitamin D levels and we've 0:14:59.727 --> 0:15:02.487 brought their vitamin D levels up just by supplementing them 0:15:02.607 --> 0:15:07.567 with magnesium alone, because we need magnesium to make vitamin D. 0:15:08.087 --> 0:15:14.007 So vitamin D is extremely, extremely important. It's involved in 0:15:14.727 --> 0:15:17.527 many and zomatic processes in the body. So if you 0:15:17.567 --> 0:15:20.407 want vitamin D deficient, and it's so easy to get tested, 0:15:20.487 --> 0:15:24.007 just go to the GP, get a blood test and 0:15:24.167 --> 0:15:26.847 you will see if you're vitamin D deficient or not. 0:15:27.167 --> 0:15:30.647 How would you feel if you were vitamin D deficient? Like, 0:15:30.727 --> 0:15:32.207 how would you know if you were? 0:15:33.247 --> 0:15:36.927 That's a thing you wouldn't know. It could present as 0:15:37.167 --> 0:15:40.607 dry skin, it could present as fatigue. It could present 0:15:40.767 --> 0:15:43.367 as going to the gym and not getting that not 0:15:43.407 --> 0:15:47.047 being able to lift heavy fast enough. But it's not 0:15:47.767 --> 0:15:50.327 like a you can't get a headache and think, oh 0:15:50.327 --> 0:15:51.527 I'm vitamin D deficient. 0:15:52.247 --> 0:15:54.447 Yeah right, okay, And a few of those things you 0:15:54.567 --> 0:15:57.607 just said are often symptoms that menopausal or perimenopause or 0:15:57.607 --> 0:15:59.287 women living with anyway. 0:15:58.927 --> 0:15:59.847 I know right. 0:16:02.487 --> 0:16:05.167 After this break, Louise and Nicola and I discussed what 0:16:05.367 --> 0:16:08.727 might feel like the most elusive part of this whole thing. 0:16:09.487 --> 0:16:09.927 Sleep. 0:16:12.167 --> 0:16:15.127 All right, I want to ask you about sleep, because 0:16:15.167 --> 0:16:18.207 that's another thing we're being told is so important. And 0:16:18.247 --> 0:16:20.767 we all know that that's true, of course, but sleep 0:16:20.847 --> 0:16:24.087 hygiene is such a buzz term right now. Lots of 0:16:24.127 --> 0:16:27.367 products we can buy to optimize our sleep and measure 0:16:27.407 --> 0:16:30.687 our sleep and see how it's going. Sleep often becomes 0:16:30.727 --> 0:16:33.847 a really big problem for women around this phase of life. Anyway, 0:16:34.167 --> 0:16:37.247 We've got the anxious two am wake up that would 0:16:37.247 --> 0:16:40.407 be very familiar to lots of our listeners. How important 0:16:40.807 --> 0:16:41.607 is sleep? 0:16:42.647 --> 0:16:47.807 So sleep is incredibly important. We go through many things 0:16:47.887 --> 0:16:50.367 during sleep. Sleep is not just this thing that happens 0:16:50.447 --> 0:16:54.807 right during sleep. We go through two different phases. We 0:16:54.927 --> 0:16:57.127 go through non REM sleep, and then we go through 0:16:57.167 --> 0:17:00.887 REM sleep. During the non rapid eye movement sleep, we 0:17:00.967 --> 0:17:05.127 go through a period which is stage three deep sleep. 0:17:05.847 --> 0:17:08.847 And I can't tell you how important this stage is 0:17:08.887 --> 0:17:10.607 to get into and to stay into. 0:17:11.087 --> 0:17:11.287 Right. 0:17:11.607 --> 0:17:13.527 We don't want to just get into deep sleep for 0:17:13.727 --> 0:17:16.167 ten minutes out of the night. We really want to 0:17:16.207 --> 0:17:19.367 be spending maybe at least three hours of deep sleep 0:17:19.607 --> 0:17:23.407 at night. I track my sleep, you know, rigorously, using 0:17:23.447 --> 0:17:26.527 three different types of monitors, and I can tell you 0:17:26.527 --> 0:17:31.087 even sometimes I am experiencing fluctuations in my sleep. So 0:17:31.607 --> 0:17:35.287 during deep sleep, what happens is we activate this system, 0:17:35.447 --> 0:17:38.127 which is called the glymphatic system, and this is like 0:17:38.167 --> 0:17:40.807 a washing machine in your brain. What happens is all 0:17:40.807 --> 0:17:43.927 of the cerebral spinal fluid goes through your brain and 0:17:43.967 --> 0:17:46.727 cleans out all of the debris throughout the day. I'm 0:17:46.807 --> 0:17:49.887 talking amyloid beta that builds up during the day. We've 0:17:49.887 --> 0:17:53.287 got toxins, we've got oh the burdens. Apparently now we've 0:17:53.327 --> 0:17:57.647 got microplastics in our brain, which was actually stated first 0:17:57.647 --> 0:18:02.087 in an Australian study. So sleep is so important and 0:18:02.127 --> 0:18:04.367 there's so many things that we can do to improve 0:18:04.927 --> 0:18:07.287 both the quality of our sleep and the quantity of 0:18:07.327 --> 0:18:12.887 our sleep. However, we now know that consistency and regularity 0:18:12.887 --> 0:18:15.807 of sleep is more important than quantity and quality. So 0:18:16.047 --> 0:18:18.207 going to sleep at the same time every day and 0:18:18.247 --> 0:18:19.887 waking up at the same time every day, which is 0:18:19.927 --> 0:18:23.367 so hard, right, I travel like every three weeks for work, 0:18:23.447 --> 0:18:27.127 so that's incredibly hard for me. But maintaining a regular 0:18:27.447 --> 0:18:30.207 sleep and wake up time and actually doesn't matter whether 0:18:30.247 --> 0:18:35.167 you're sleeping twelve pm till eight am, all right or 0:18:35.287 --> 0:18:38.607 ten pm till six am is based on your chronotype. 0:18:38.607 --> 0:18:41.447 And you can take a chronotype quiz online. Just type 0:18:41.487 --> 0:18:44.327 it in. Take a quiz figure out whether you're an 0:18:44.327 --> 0:18:47.087 early bird or a night owl, and you can go 0:18:47.127 --> 0:18:48.887 to sleep at whatever time that you like. 0:18:49.207 --> 0:18:51.647 There used to be saying that, like the hours before 0:18:52.607 --> 0:18:55.527 midnight are worth more than the sleep you get after. 0:18:55.927 --> 0:18:58.447 Is that true? No? 0:18:58.847 --> 0:19:00.967 I thought that was true as well. But I sit 0:19:01.007 --> 0:19:03.247 on the board with one of the most well known 0:19:03.287 --> 0:19:07.207 sleep doctors and we had dinner probably i would say, 0:19:07.247 --> 0:19:09.207 two months ago, and I brought this up with here 0:19:09.287 --> 0:19:11.847 and he slammed the table. He's like, stop saying this, 0:19:11.927 --> 0:19:14.487 And he explained it to me that it's built on chronotypes. 0:19:14.887 --> 0:19:17.607 Tell me what your sleep hygen looks like to get 0:19:17.647 --> 0:19:19.807 the kind of sleep that you do, Oh, tell me. 0:19:21.847 --> 0:19:24.927 So it's really important for me to be able to 0:19:25.967 --> 0:19:28.447 bring my nervous system down prior to sleep. So a 0:19:28.447 --> 0:19:31.367 lot of people, if you work in a sleep lab right, 0:19:31.447 --> 0:19:35.167 for example, and you get a patient, you're often asked 0:19:35.207 --> 0:19:37.567 two things. Do you have problem falling asleep or trouble 0:19:37.607 --> 0:19:42.207 staying asleep? And it varies across the board. So for me, 0:19:42.527 --> 0:19:44.527 I sleep first of all, i sleep in a pitch 0:19:44.647 --> 0:19:48.567 black room, so I've got blackout curtains. I wear religiously 0:19:48.607 --> 0:19:51.407 an eyemask every night. Even though I've got blackout curtains, 0:19:51.407 --> 0:19:53.927 i still wear an eye mask. I sleep on a 0:19:53.967 --> 0:19:57.487 temperature controlled mattress, and i know not everyone can do that, 0:19:57.567 --> 0:20:00.047 but it's a bit fancy, but it basically I have 0:20:00.087 --> 0:20:02.567 an app on my phone and I can control the 0:20:03.167 --> 0:20:05.567 temperature of the bed, so it goes cold and then 0:20:05.687 --> 0:20:09.287 hot and all throughout the night. I have said it 0:20:09.487 --> 0:20:16.567 at around fifty nine degrees fahrenheit, but it's actually separated 0:20:16.647 --> 0:20:21.087 into cycles, so it matches. It knows Louisa's in deep sleep, 0:20:21.127 --> 0:20:23.207 so I'm going to bring the temperature of the bed down. 0:20:23.847 --> 0:20:26.607 Louisa is in light sleep, so I'm going to bring 0:20:26.647 --> 0:20:28.487 it down. I'm going to bring it up a bit more, 0:20:28.647 --> 0:20:31.367 and I've got an alarm on it. I'm like, well, bed, 0:20:31.967 --> 0:20:35.647 wake me up at seven am, so it starts to 0:20:35.727 --> 0:20:38.327 heat up at six point thirty in the morning because 0:20:38.407 --> 0:20:42.087 heat is actually what wakes us up. Well, heat and light. 0:20:42.167 --> 0:20:44.647 But it's like when the sun comes up, it warms 0:20:44.647 --> 0:20:47.527 your body, which then releases quartersole, and quartersole is what 0:20:47.607 --> 0:20:50.527 wakes you up. Right, So I've got the bed to 0:20:50.607 --> 0:20:52.527 heat up half an hour prior to waking. 0:20:53.127 --> 0:20:55.647 Look that sounds awesome. Do you use mouth tape? I 0:20:55.647 --> 0:20:57.007 see mouth tape everywhere. 0:20:57.687 --> 0:21:01.407 I sometimes do. I don't think it plays as big 0:21:01.407 --> 0:21:03.167 of a role as what we think. I think that's 0:21:03.167 --> 0:21:06.447 more in line with the beauty hacks. If you will, so, 0:21:07.047 --> 0:21:09.207 I don't mouth theare but I also don't mouthbreak. 0:21:09.967 --> 0:21:12.567 So if I don't have a temperature controlled mattress and 0:21:12.607 --> 0:21:15.327 perfect blackout, the best thing I can do to get 0:21:15.327 --> 0:21:18.087 myself in a good place for sleep is to wind down. Yes, 0:21:18.447 --> 0:21:22.007 we've all heard no phones, no blue light, how long 0:21:22.047 --> 0:21:25.247 before bed? And also I hear the longevity guys saying 0:21:25.487 --> 0:21:27.647 you should stop eating a long time before you go 0:21:27.727 --> 0:21:29.687 to sleep. Does that make a big difference? 0:21:30.887 --> 0:21:34.847 So when we eat, it raises our core body temperature. Now, 0:21:35.167 --> 0:21:37.327 in order to fall asleep and stay asleep, our core 0:21:37.367 --> 0:21:39.727 body temperature needs to drop at least two degrees. This 0:21:39.847 --> 0:21:42.807 is why I sleep on a temperature controlled mattress. You 0:21:42.847 --> 0:21:44.807 don't want to be eating too close to bedtime. I 0:21:44.927 --> 0:21:47.327 usually say, make sure you've had your last meal an 0:21:47.407 --> 0:21:50.367 hour and a half to two hours prior to going 0:21:50.407 --> 0:21:53.967 to bed, and that's to allow for digestion, right, anything 0:21:53.967 --> 0:21:59.287 above that, right, I mean, Brian Johnson is having his 0:21:59.407 --> 0:22:01.247 last meal at eleven am, and I think that's just 0:22:01.567 --> 0:22:05.687 really really poor education and marketing for the world. That is, 0:22:06.007 --> 0:22:10.287 in my opinion, stupid. So I think that's in line 0:22:10.327 --> 0:22:11.047 with females. 0:22:11.167 --> 0:22:14.367 So it's also that realistic to most people's lives. 0:22:14.447 --> 0:22:17.687 Let's be honest, and I really want the women listening 0:22:17.767 --> 0:22:21.207 to understand that we are not men, all right, So 0:22:21.727 --> 0:22:24.727 if you hear a male say something, it might be 0:22:24.807 --> 0:22:27.087 great for us, right, but we have to do we 0:22:27.127 --> 0:22:30.247 have to dig a little bit deeper, and women just 0:22:30.327 --> 0:22:33.807 need more fuel in different ranges of you know, different 0:22:33.807 --> 0:22:36.767 stages of our lives. So I don't think that's correct. 0:22:37.327 --> 0:22:40.607 But I also don't think eating at ten pm and 0:22:40.607 --> 0:22:42.247 then going to bed at ten thirty is correct. 0:22:42.287 --> 0:22:44.767 So, just while we're on what you were just saying 0:22:44.767 --> 0:22:47.007 about the men, do you think that one of the reasons. 0:22:47.007 --> 0:22:49.487 It can feel that the health advice coming at women, 0:22:50.007 --> 0:22:53.527 particularly women going through hormonal changes, feels like a lot 0:22:53.687 --> 0:22:55.807 is because we're sort of waking up to the fact 0:22:55.807 --> 0:22:58.247 that a lot of the medical conventions we've been sold 0:22:58.767 --> 0:23:02.007 about what's good for us, we're all about men. And 0:23:02.087 --> 0:23:04.727