S1: In this episode of the Ben Greenfield Life podcast. How
S1: to get your body to sleep in later should you
S1: ice sore muscles? Do life wave patches really work? And
S1: much more.
S2: Faith, family, fitness, health, performance, nutrition, longevity, ancestral living, biohacking
S2: and a whole lot more. Welcome to the show.
S1: All right, folks. Well, here we are, yet another solo sode.
S1: And gosh, when I don't know what to talk about
S1: in the introduction to a podcast, I kind of feel
S1: like the conversation just tends to go towards what you
S1: have for breakfast this morning. So what the heck? Why not?
S1: I haven't talked about the recipe for the morning smoothie lately,
S1: so I'll fill you in on what happens to be
S1: in my morning smoothie right now. This is kind of
S1: similar to that YouTube channel. What is it? Can you
S1: blend that? Yeah, you would be surprised at the amount
S1: of things one can blend, especially in my little blendtec
S1: that I've been using lately. I burnt out my NutriBullet,
S1: so I've moved on to the Blendtec. Here is, uh,
S1: what my morning smoothie looks like right now. I fill
S1: the blender jar with ice, so we got all ice.
S1: I add one dropper full of Omega Organics vanilla. Stevia
S1: kind of sweetens the ice. And then about a teaspoon
S1: or so of Colima Mexican salt. Don't worry, I'll link
S1: to all my ingredients in the show notes at Ben
S1: Greenfield life.com/4 62. If you want to go get this
S1: stuff on, uh, on the internet and of course, support
S1: the show because I probably make like $0.05 if you
S1: go buy some stevia. So anyways, I put the stevia
S1: in there and I put the salt in there, and
S1: then I put a little bit of Ceylon cinnamon in there,
S1: which is like a blood glucose disposal agent. And then
S1: what I have been using shout out to the company,
S1: once upon a coconut, they sent me a bunch of these,
S1: these coconut water cans. Yeah. Coconut water has got a
S1: little bit of sugar in it, but it's mostly natural sugar.
S1: It's the same stuff I used to make water key
S1: for at home. By the way, water kefir is a
S1: fantastic digestive hack. If you don't know how to make
S1: that Google make your own coconut water kefir, it'll change
S1: your life and your poops anyways though. So I feel
S1: that that blender jar that's got the ice and the
S1: stevia and the salt and the cinnamon with coconut water.
S1: Not a lot of it because I like my smoothie
S1: super thick, like ice cream. Now I haven't blended yet
S1: because then I take that blender jar and I wander
S1: into the pantry where I add one scoop of the
S1: Kenyan vanilla protein five grams of the key on creatine,
S1: and I'll double that to ten grams if I'm going
S1: through a period of sleep deprivation or a or a
S1: tough period of training, I'll actually go closer to ten
S1: grams on the creatine. Interestingly, they just had a study
S1: that came out or a paper that just came out
S1: a couple of weeks ago that was talking about how
S1: there's a pretty strong argument that creatine should be considered
S1: what's called a conditionally essential nutrient for humans, meaning that
S1: recent advances in creatine nutrition and physiology suggest that the
S1: quantity of creatine your body naturally synthesizes is not sufficient
S1: to meet human needs. That doesn't mean you're not getting
S1: enough that you might need from, I don't know, like
S1: meat sources, for example. However, as a guy who workouts,
S1: as a guy who works out, if I can spit
S1: that out and, uh, who pushes my body, I like
S1: to add a little bit of extra creatine. All right.
S1: So we have that blender jar and now it's got
S1: the protein and it's got the creatine in it. Uh,
S1: now I will sometimes if I haven't been eating a
S1: lot of vegetables or whatever, I'll add a little scoop
S1: of greens to that. Like the organic greens or the
S1: athletic greens for example. I'll just grab whatever greens happens
S1: to be in the pantry, and then I wander back
S1: out to the blender, engine, fire up the blender and
S1: just smoke all those ingredients in the smithereens ice cream texture.
S1: And then I top my smoothie. What do I top
S1: that smoothie with these days? I top it with, uh,
S1: a little bit of, uh, shredded unsweetened coconut flake, some
S1: bee pollen. I recently had a podcast with a gal
S1: from Beekeepers Natural, uh, Carly Cramer, and we talked about
S1: all the benefits of bee pollen. So I put a
S1: ton of bee pollen, some coconut flakes. I usually like
S1: to crumble up a little bit of dark chocolate or
S1: a chocolate or these thing called a keto brick, which
S1: is like a coconut butter type of dark chocolate bar.
S1: It's fantastic. So I'll crumble up a little bit of
S1: that in there. Sometimes I will even use these new little, uh,
S1: they're called C60 gummies. C60 is a potent antioxidant, one
S1: of the anti oxidants that has been shown to decrease
S1: all cause mortality in humans and massive longevity increases. So
S1: sometimes I'll put some C60 in there as well. I
S1: get these little C60 gummies from this company called Purple Power.
S1: But anyways, I stir all of those toppings in and
S1: then I sit there and eat it with the spoon
S1: while I go through my morning emails. Now some of
S1: you might be screaming wipe and you don't do a
S1: raw liver smoothie anymore. Well, I actually should have told
S1: you back back with the ice part. I do put, uh,
S1: 2 to 4oz of frozen raw liver that I keep
S1: in the freezer, right in there in the smoothie. So yes,
S1: I do that. Not every day. About three times a week.
S1: Now put the liver in there. The reason I don't
S1: do it every day is because I tested my fat
S1: soluble vitamin levels, and they were getting a little bit high.
S1: So I backed the liver off just a little bit,
S1: particularly because I'm concerned about potential for vitamin A toxicity.
S1: Huge issue if you're eating polar bear liver, but still
S1: something to bear in mind if you're eating a lot
S1: of liver, test your fat soluble vitamins. So that is
S1: the smoothie in review. If you want to make this,
S1: I'll put the whole recipe at Ben Greenfield. Live Commodore 62.
S1: But you got ice salt, stevia, cinnamon. Uh, the key
S1: on vanilla protein powder. I think that's the best one. Uh,
S1: the key on creatine, a little bit of greens. And
S1: then for your liquid, use coconut water. You could also
S1: use coconut milk or bone broth if you wanted to
S1: blend that all up. And then add as a topping,
S1: unsweetened coconut flakes, a little bit of dark chocolate or
S1: a chocolate keto bar. Some pieces of that, a little
S1: bit of C60 purple power gummies and some bee pollen.
S1: And man oh man, that's a good smoothie. Still picking
S1: up bee pollen out of my teeth. All right, I've
S1: got some questions to go through in today's podcast. I
S1: also have a few news flashes that we're actually going
S1: to kick things off with. A quick reminder before we
S1: jump into the news flashes. Remember, as I told you to,
S1: I was blue in the face on the last podcast.
S1: Podcast for 61. Brand new Masterclass just came out. That's
S1: my brand new six week course where I had a
S1: team of video professionals and education experts follow me through
S1: living my life there at my house for a whole week.
S1: We broke down every aspect of life optimization and it
S1: goes into time, environment, space, mind, body, spirit, career, relationships, finances, capital,
S1: family completely proven done for you. Life design strategies. It's
S1: the ultimate life hacking guide to full body, brain and
S1: spirit optimization. So that is called the Ben Greenfield Life Masterclass.
S1: Now available. Kicking off with a six day free challenge
S1: with me at Ben Greenfield life.com/masterclass. All right so this
S1: is the part of the show we push my little
S1: button here. By the way did you guys know this
S1: entire thing is recorded on video. You can get the
S1: video version on YouTube. But I can actually press a
S1: little button change camera angles. Oh there we go. That's
S1: my good side. How do you like that? Hello, everybody.
S1: So anyways, uh, this is the part of the show
S1: where I go through some recent compelling news flashes and
S1: articles and journal research that I've come across in the
S1: week since the previous Q&A. Now, I've talked for a
S1: long time about the cheap, performance enhancing hack that is
S1: baking soda sodium bicarbonate. Arguably, some people use sodium citrate
S1: because you can get a little bit less of a
S1: gastric distress effect from sodium citrate, but nonetheless, sodium bicarb,
S1: also known as baking soda, the popular household product. And
S1: if you get the arm and hammer stuff, it doesn't
S1: have a lot of aluminum in it. You don't have
S1: to worry about that. Uh, the chemical formula of that
S1: of of baking soda is na HCO three okay. Na
S1: HCO three what is that? Sodium hydrogen. Carbon three oxygens. Right.
S1: It's it's an alkaline salt we would call it in chemistry.
S1: So again we, we call it baking soda. This sodium
S1: bicarbonate bread. Soda. Bicarbonate of soda. Cooking soda. Uh, you
S1: can find it in nature like in Mineral Springs. And
S1: of course, you can find it as the white, odorless
S1: and most importantly, extremely cheap and inexpensive powder at, uh,
S1: pretty much any local supermarket. So here is why I'm
S1: talking to you about sodium bicarbonate and its effects on
S1: exercise performance and just overall muscle performance, really. I mean,
S1: you don't have to be a pro athlete or something
S1: for for this to benefit you in your workouts and
S1: the way that you feel during the day, particularly if
S1: you tend to be a little bit acidic. So in chemistry,
S1: pH is a scale that's used to grade how acidic
S1: or alkaline a solution is. So if we have a
S1: pH of 7.0, that would be considered neutral like pure
S1: water in an ideal situation has a pH of 7.0.
S1: Anything lower than 7.0 would be acidic. Anything higher than
S1: 7.0 would be alkaline. So the pH of your body
S1: will vary depending on the part of the body that
S1: we're talking about. But your blood has a pH of
S1: about 7.4, right? Like slightly alkaline, while stomach acid is
S1: highly acidic pH of 1 to 3. Now, the pH
S1: of your body is very tightly regulated. Uh, that regulation
S1: is the acid base balance. It's controlled mainly by your
S1: kidneys and by your lungs. This is one reason why,
S1: if you are paying extra for some type of fancy
S1: alkaline water generator, you're probably going to better spend that
S1: money elsewhere. Not only because your kidneys and your lungs
S1: can maintain acid base balance pretty well, but also because
S1: two alkalis, the water and something like the average water
S1: alkaline machine like, I don't know, kangen or something like that,
S1: they have to pass the water over a metal plate.
S1: And so I have concerns about long term exposure to
S1: metal from these fancy alkaline water generators. I don't use one.
S1: So anyways, uh, when we're talking about this acid base balance,
S1: what happens is during anaerobic exercise where you're working at hard,
S1: your body's demand for oxygen exceeds the available supply of oxygen.
S1: When that happens, your muscles cannot rely on oxygen to
S1: produce adenosine triphosphate. ATP is your body's energy currency. So
S1: then what happens? Is your muscle switched to a different
S1: pathway the anaerobic pathway. So from the aerobic to the
S1: anaerobic pathway to make ATP. Now a major byproduct of
S1: the anaerobic pathway is hydrogen H+. A lot of hydrogen
S1: in working muscles will decrease right. Make more acidic the
S1: pH of the muscles creating that acidic environment and leading
S1: to that burning sensation that you feel. Remember, it's not
S1: lactic acid or lactate that causes the burning or the
S1: muscle fatigue. That's old school. It's a myth. As a
S1: matter of fact, a lot of lactic acid can get
S1: reconverted into sugar that can be then burnt to make
S1: energy to parts. A pathway in the body called the
S1: Cori cycle. Uh, and in fact, lactate may also help
S1: to reduce the accumulation of these hydrogen molecules in muscle.
S1: But as these hydrogen ions that that are what are acidic.
S1: Now here's how sodium bicarbonate could help. This sodium bicarbonate
S1: baking soda has an alkaline pH of about 8.4, and
S1: it can play a role in buffering excess hydrogen during
S1: anaerobic exercise. Now your kidneys actually produce their own bicarbonate
S1: HCO three that helps your body maintain proper pH levels.
S1: It's one of the main buffering substrates in your body
S1: because it can accept a hydrogen ion. Just everybody. Thinking
S1: back to the painful memories from high school chemistry probably
S1: know this. A bicarbonate can accept the hydrogen ion, and
S1: that would increase its pH to make it less acidic. Now,
S1: during exercise, bicarbonate and other buffering agents can work to
S1: pull hydrogen out of working muscle and into the bloodstream,
S1: allowing the muscle to return to a less acidic state,
S1: allowing you to have less burn and a lower rating
S1: of perceived exertion, and able to maintain longer or more
S1: intense bouts of exercise. Now, does this actually flesh out
S1: in the literature? Absolutely. Scientists have been looking into sodium
S1: bicarb and how it affects exercise performance for decades. I
S1: think it goes back to more than 80 years ago.
S1: Supplementing with sodium bicarb has been shown to enhance speed, power,
S1: work capacity, time to failure. It's particularly beneficial for muscle endurance,
S1: which makes sense because that's when lactic acid can accumulate
S1: and hydrogen ions build up. Uh, there was one pretty
S1: big study review that found with supplementing with sodium bicarbonate
S1: significantly increases muscular endurance and performance in both small and
S1: large muscle groups. And it's especially beneficial during repeated bouts
S1: of high intensity exercise. And we're even talking about things like,
S1: you know, MMA, jiu jitsu, boxing all the way to,
S1: you know, triathlon between about one and seven minutes in duration. Now,
S1: a lot of these type of studies have also been
S1: able to show direct performance improvements in things like races
S1: right there. There was one that showed a 1.5 second
S1: performance improvement in the last 1000m of a 2000 meter
S1: rowing event. 1.5 seconds for 1000m is a lot. So
S1: in terms of interval training, because a lot of lactic
S1: acid and hydrogen ions accumulate during interval training, it's no
S1: surprise that when they've looked into running, cycling, rowing, swimming,
S1: Olympic weightlifting and CrossFit that they have found significant improvements
S1: in workload and a significantly greater time to exhaustion with
S1: a decreased rating of perceived exertion. When sodium bicarbonate is
S1: used to load prior to those type of high intensity
S1: interval training, type of workouts or competitions. However, when we
S1: look at strength, the research is a little more mixed.
S1: There are some meta analyses and studies that show significant
S1: improvements in muscle strength. When sodium bicarbonate is supplemented in
S1: the hours leading up to the strength performance, there are
S1: others that show that it doesn't have as much of
S1: an effect, but nonetheless, we know that sodium bicarb, for
S1: the most part, seems to have a beneficial impact on
S1: most forms of exercise. Now, the amount that you find
S1: recommended and used in a lot of these studies, whether
S1: it's a capsule or a tablet or just plain old
S1: baking soda powder, is about 0.3g/kg taken in the 1
S1: to 2 hours leading up to exercise. You can do
S1: the math yourself if you know how much you weigh
S1: in kilograms. You know I'm about I'm around 70kg a
S1: little bit more. And so for me, a 0.3g/kg roughly,
S1: let's say about 23, uh, grams, uh, which is what
S1: I would take for the 1 to 2 hours leading
S1: up to exercise, 23g of baking soda, a lot of
S1: baking soda, admittedly, but the idea is if you split
S1: that into very small doses, you can avoid the gastric distress.
S1: I don't know if anybody's done this is reminiscent of
S1: this the drink a gallon of milk challenge where this
S1: would be popular at the average, uh, fraternity or dorm room.
S1: I remember doing this in college. You're challenged to drink
S1: an entire gallon of milk without throwing up, and you
S1: got to do it in an hour. Uh, I actually
S1: passed that test the very first time I did it, uh,
S1: by splitting. The entire gallon of milk into equal 60
S1: or equal 60 gram portions, small allotment and drank a
S1: tiny bit each minute. Sodium bicarb is similar if you
S1: take a little bit like, say, every 15 minutes, you
S1: sip some water that has another, say, four grams of
S1: baking soda dissolved in it, and you're drinking that leading
S1: up to the competition, or the race, or the event
S1: for which you want to use sodium bicarb, it can
S1: be very effective. I actually add a little bit of
S1: sodium bicarbonate to my morning big Mason glass jar of water,
S1: just for the alkaline effect that I get from that.
S1: It's not near the amount that you need for performance
S1: enhancing benefits, but it kind of kicks off my day
S1: with a little bit of alkalinity, and then I can
S1: drink little sips leading up to a weight training session
S1: or a high intensity interval session. And again, if you
S1: take it in the 1 to 2 hours, that 0.3g/kg
S1: of baking soda and you split it into small portions,
S1: you can get the organic benefit without the stomach distress.
S1: The only reason that I bring all of this up
S1: to you is because I was reminded of the benefits
S1: of sodium bicarb, and wanted to rehash those with you
S1: because of a recent study that came out in the
S1: Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research. That was a randomized,
S1: double blind, placebo controlled study. Brad Schoenfeld, excellent researcher, was
S1: involved with that. And what they did was they took
S1: 19 resistant train men, and they took that 0.3g/kg of
S1: sodium bicarb. They actually had another group take a placebo,
S1: sodium chloride, which doesn't have an effect. They follow this
S1: exact protocol 1 to 2 hours prior to exercise. And
S1: they found that the sodium bicarbonate ingestion, compared to the
S1: placebo elicited an organic effect on muscular endurance, muscular power,
S1: and muscular velocity. In this case, they were using the
S1: bench press exercise. I read this and of course it
S1: indicated what I just explained the attenuation of the suppressive
S1: effects of acidosis on muscle contractility, and I thought I
S1: should remind my listeners about this cheap performance hack because
S1: it works well. I wish more people knew about it.
S1: And I love stuff like this that is affordable. It's
S1: kind of like reversing cramps, right? You don't have to
S1: buy the expensive, you know, electrolyte tablets or, you know,
S1: the fancy powders or anything like that. If you're out
S1: in a race or a marathon or a triathlon and
S1: you cramp up, it's simply the taste of something very
S1: bitter or sour or salty that reverses the cramp. There's
S1: not even enough time from the taste to the reversal
S1: of the cramp to show that it's the absorption of, say,
S1: like the electrolytes into the muscle that's getting rid of
S1: the cramp. It's just the taste of something. It's called
S1: an inhibition of the alpha motor neuron reflex. It cause
S1: your body to release that cramp. So you have to
S1: if you have a cramp, you just have to taste
S1: something super salty. So, for example, people are selling like
S1: overpriced pickle juice and electrolyte tablets and all these different
S1: things that you can, you can chew on, but you
S1: could literally let's say you're going to a marathon and
S1: you're concerned about cramping. Stop at McDonald's or whatever. Grab
S1: those little yellow mustard packets. Right. You take one of
S1: those and you just squirt it in your mouth that
S1: taste that like bitter, salty substance, right when you start
S1: to cramp and it gets rid of that. All right.
S1: So I'm all about I'm all about hacking when it
S1: comes to some of these cheap performance aids. Matter of fact,
S1: if you like this stuff, great book I'm taking my
S1: sons through right now. It's called Early Retirement Extreme, Early
S1: Retirement Extreme. And that book is all about, as the
S1: name implies, how to kind of like bootstrap yourself and
S1: engage in financial independence and many retirements throughout the course
S1: of your life. It's written by Jacob Fisker. Everything from
S1: how to tie to forks together with the rubber band
S1: to make a whisk, to the economic tables for walking
S1: versus running, versus cycling versus driving versus carpooling. It's all
S1: in there. And because my dear, sweet sons are gearing
S1: up here to finish high school and go on a
S1: gap several months of travel throughout the world, I'm trying
S1: to teach them a lot about financial independence. As a
S1: matter of fact, we have a Greenfield family constitution, and
S1: in the Greenfield Family Constitution, one thing that's written in
S1: there is that when a greenfield, uh, child is 16
S1: years old or older, they must begin to pay for
S1: things like their car insurance, their cell phone bill, uh,
S1: and just about any aspect that would involve costs of
S1: daily living. Uh, mom and I will still feed and
S1: clothe our sons to a certain extent, but they are
S1: expected to pitch in with the daily household expenses once
S1: they're 16. I think that's great in terms of of
S1: building a lot more ownership and independence and education into
S1: an adolescent's upbringing. And so they're going through that book,
S1: Early Retirement Extreme. Uh, and of course, they're they're drinking
S1: baking soda and pickle juice and eating mustard packets. What
S1: a silly what a silly question that would be. Let's
S1: go ahead and move on to Zeit. Gamers hate the gamers. Uh,
S1: this is something that I was reminded of when I
S1: was reading, uh, in the Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine,
S1: a paper entitled Early Time Restricted Eating at. Dancers sleep
S1: in late sleepers. A pilot randomized control trial. So what
S1: this looked at is very, very simple. People who were
S1: who were sleeping in and let's say you don't want
S1: to be sleeping in, you would rather get out of
S1: bed earlier. You have a problem with sleeping in. You
S1: sleep through the alarm. You use the snooze button quite
S1: a bit. You're just wired up. That way. You don't
S1: wake up like a Navy Seal at 4:30 a.m.. You
S1: like a nice lazy morning where you're crawling out of
S1: bed at 7 a.m. when the rest of the world
S1: has seemingly passed you by already. But maybe you don't
S1: like that. Maybe you want to start getting up earlier. Well,
S1: what they found in this particular study was that by
S1: shifting the feeding earlier called early time restricted eating, you
S1: could actually phase shift your sleeping in backwards and get
S1: up a little bit earlier, meaning that if you're going
S1: to do intermittent fasting, you take that compressed feeding window,
S1: you start it earlier and you end it earlier. What
S1: they found in this case was that by shifting breakfast
S1: into an earlier time frame, they were able to actually
S1: get people to wake up an hour earlier because food
S1: is a cue that can jumpstart the circadian rhythm. So
S1: this is important because it's related to this entire concept
S1: of what are called Zeit givers. Zeit givers. So Zeit
S1: Gaber comes from a German word that means time giver
S1: or synchronizer. So in sleep science and in neurobiology, a
S1: Zeit giver is an environmental or an external cue that
S1: can influence your circadian rhythm, which is the internal body
S1: clock that runs over about a 24 hour period of time. Now,
S1: that body clock can sync up with external cues. One
S1: very popular one is, of course, sunlight. You're no doubt
S1: aware of the benefits for sleeping well later on in
S1: the day of getting sunlight earlier in the day, and
S1: the sunlight would would definitely be one of those insight givers. Now,
S1: these these circadian rhythms and processes that go on in
S1: our bodies operate on internal clocks, your hormones, your immune system,
S1: your digestion, every organ you have all run on some
S1: sort of timing system, but there's a master clock inside
S1: the body. It's called the suprachiasmatic nucleus, the skin that
S1: keeps your circadian rhythms organized. So it's like an orchestra conductor.
S1: Its job is to keep all your biological clocks aligned
S1: and in sync with a 24 hour day. Now, when
S1: all the clocks are coordinated and they're getting these consistent
S1: external cues, the white guys are causing your body to
S1: work like a symphony and play in tune and in time. Now,
S1: light like I mentioned, particularly sunlight is the sun's most
S1: powerful influencer. By the way, I'm recording this podcast for
S1: you at about 11 a.m. in the morning in Spokane, Washington,
S1: where it's dark and dreary and gray and raining outside.
S1: And it has been all morning. However, here on my desk,
S1: I don't think you can see it with the camera
S1: because it's behind the camera. But I have one of
S1: these seasonal Affective disorder blue light producing boxes that's blasting
S1: me with the equivalent. Not quite the equivalent, but but
S1: but something similar to sunlight while I'm inside, keeping myself
S1: awake and alert and ensuring that I'm not going to say, uh,
S1: get tired way too late in the day because I've
S1: been in darkness earlier in the day. I also having
S1: the cans installed above me in my office here, a
S1: bulb called the Awake and Alert Bulb. It's a biological
S1: LED bulb made by the company. Um, I think it's
S1: called Biological Sciences. Makes that one. So anyways, I'm using
S1: light right now to keep me awake and alert and
S1: ensure that tonight I'm able to get tired at a
S1: natural time because I'm keeping my my skin cued in
S1: to the proper clock using the zeitgeist of light. This
S1: is the same reason that I avoid a lot of
S1: these blue lights at night. If you were to walk
S1: into my office at night, it would look like a
S1: Amsterdam nightclub. It's all lit up with red light. That's it.
S1: Same thing with the bedroom. It's all red incandescent light. Uh,
S1: I use a red light headlamp. When I travel to
S1: get around the hotel room, I wear a red blue
S1: light blocking glasses in the evening. And so that's because
S1: I'm aware of this powerful zeitgeist or this light. So
S1: morning light will signal your brain to kick start cortisol
S1: production and to stop melatonin production. That lets your body
S1: know that day has started. As a matter of fact,
S1: if you were using melatonin to sleep, uh, whether one
S1: of these high dose melatonin suppositories that have become very
S1: popular of late, thanks to my friend Doctor John Lawrence,
S1: shout out to my dose. And I use those things
S1: when I travel to over-the-counter melatonin supplements, which of course
S1: are available in the US, not in many other countries,
S1: because melatonin is technically a very powerful hormone. But if
S1: you take too much melatonin, a lot of people know
S1: who use melatonin. One of the best ways to get
S1: melatonin and the drowsiness from it out of the system. Very.
S1: Quickly is to get exposed to massive amounts of blue
S1: light early in the day. So morning light like I
S1: mentioned it kicks off cortisol production. It stops melatonin production.
S1: And that doesn't matter whether you're programmed to be a
S1: night owl or an early bird. Okay. Now what happens
S1: here is that, well, light is a very powerful cue.
S1: There are other cues. And that study that I mentioned
S1: earlier uses one of them food. So if you eat
S1: and particularly if you eat a meal that contains about
S1: 30 to 40g of protein earlier in the day, you're
S1: going to shift your biological clock backwards. Okay. This would
S1: be a reason that if you were to travel to
S1: a new time zone or a new location, skipping breakfast
S1: sometimes isn't the best idea. If you're trying to get
S1: on the time zone of that region. Like my family
S1: and I just got back from Europe, and even though
S1: typically when I'm in the US, I'll wait until ten,
S1: 10:30 a.m. sometimes have that glorious morning smoothie that I
S1: described to you earlier in this podcast when I'm traveling,
S1: I'm usually, you know, I get out of bed, I
S1: do some stretching, some prayer, some breathwork, sometimes going a
S1: quick walk, and then I'm not like doing like, you know,
S1: big gym sessions and fasting, especially the first few days
S1: that I get to where I'm going. Instead, I have
S1: a nice protein rich breakfast with some eggs and some nuts,
S1: and maybe a little bit of sourdough bread and butter
S1: and olive oil and some fruits, typically around like 8
S1: to 9 a.m. around in that time range, because I
S1: want to get my body on that clock, on that
S1: new clock as quickly as possible. Similarly, if I arrive,
S1: let's say, into Tokyo, Japan, on a flight from Seattle,
S1: a redeye at 3 a.m., I am not going to
S1: go to my hotel and start munching on nori and
S1: rice and and natto or something like that. I'm going
S1: to wait. Even if I'm hungry. I'm going to wait
S1: until 8 or 9 a.m. to eat because I want
S1: my body to get get on that natural clock as
S1: soon as possible. Another good argument for not eating on
S1: an airplane, or perhaps just using like ketones and amino
S1: acids when on an airplane. So food is another way
S1: that you can cue your body's sleep cycles. Exercise is
S1: another okay, exercise helps to coordinate or entrain your circadian clock.
S1: And it can also we know this lessen the negative
S1: effects of disrupted sleep pattern. So if you are in
S1: a sleep deprived day, you can actually help yourself out
S1: by doing little micro workouts or particularly in aerobic exercise
S1: or a short micro like a 5 to 10 minute
S1: more intense workout spread at different intervals throughout the day
S1: can help with sleep deprivation. Now creatine, by the way,
S1: which I mentioned earlier, fantastic for sleep deprivation at slightly
S1: higher dosages 10 to 20g and then nad an NAD
S1: patch and NAD suppository and nad give or oral NAD supplementation.
S1: Also fantastic if you're sleep deprived, so exercise helps with
S1: melatonin production later on in the day. There's some evidence
S1: that shows that two compounds in the body, the hormone
S1: and neurotransmitter serotonin and neuropeptide Y, are also regulated. Their
S1: release is regulated by exercise that helps your body clock
S1: function more properly. But exercise has just like light and
S1: just like food, the ability to be able to phase
S1: shift your circadian rhythm. For example, if you have a
S1: hard time falling asleep at night, working out in the
S1: morning or the early afternoon can shift your circadian rhythm forward,
S1: signaling your body to produce your sleep hormone melatonin earlier
S1: in the evening. Okay, similarly, if you find yourself, uh,
S1: sleeping in later than you would like to well, if
S1: you do start getting up a little bit earlier, eh,
S1: get exposed to a lot of natural light, sunlight or
S1: these blue light box boxes earlier in the day. B
S1: have a protein rich breakfast earlier in the day, c
S1: do an exercise session earlier in the day, and gradually
S1: you can start to phase shift your circadian clock in
S1: the direction that you want to bring it. Similarly, if
S1: you're getting up way too early and feeling sleepy way
S1: too early in the evening, and that's affecting you, particularly
S1: from a social standpoint, you can actually wait until later,
S1: like mid-morning or even noon to eat, to exercise, to
S1: get exposed to a lot of blue light or sunlight.
S1: So you can you can toy around with this and
S1: use any trick that you like. Uh, you know, for example,
S1: if I'm planning on going to Vegas for a couple
S1: of days and I'm going to see a fight and
S1: I might go out to dinner after the fight, and
S1: I definitely don't want to wake up at, you know,
S1: 4 or 5 or 6 a.m. sometimes in a couple
S1: of days leading up to a trip like that, I'll
S1: actually start to eat breakfast later, exercise later, get exposed
S1: to light later, sometimes wear my blue light blocking glasses
S1: until 10 or 11 a.m. in the morning and begin
S1: to shift my body circadian rhythm forward so that when
S1: I get to Vegas and I go out to a
S1: fight at night and have dinner, etc., I can sleep
S1: until 8 a.m. and my eyes won't pop open at
S1: 4:00 Am, ready to go, you know, hit the gym. So, uh, anyways, uh,
S1: light exercise and food are three of the biggest temperature
S1: is also kind of sort of circadian clock. It's not
S1: as powerful as the others, but your body temperature does
S1: tend to be higher during the day. And then gradually
S1: decrease in the evenings. And so if you keep your
S1: home thermostat set at a consistent temperature, let's say like
S1: 72 degrees, that signal might be lost. And that could
S1: disrupt your sleep by not allowing your body temperature to
S1: properly drop at night. So keeping your bedroom cool at
S1: like 6065 degrees is optimal for good sleep. And you can,
S1: if you want to start to fall asleep earlier and
S1: hence wake up a little earlier, you can start to
S1: lower your nighttime body temperature earlier in the evening, like
S1: right after dinner. Take a lukewarm shower all often. Go
S1: jump in the cold plunge. Some people say that the
S1: noradrenaline or the epinephrine, or the excitatory neurotransmitter released from
S1: jumping in a cold plunge, could disrupt sleep later on.
S1: I find that I'm pretty cozy, pretty settled down by
S1: the time I get into bed, even if I'll jump
S1: in the cold pool after dinner. I don't stay in
S1: there a long time. I don't get into full on
S1: shivering cold thermogenesis, but cooling the body pre sleep helps
S1: to send the body a message that it is approaching
S1: sleepy time now. There are also sleep systems. I don't
S1: know if the eight sleep has this built in. I
S1: haven't looked into that one. I don't have that particular mattress.
S1: The last time I looked into it a you couldn't
S1: disable the Wi-Fi and I get a little bit concerned
S1: about too much EMF in the bedroom. But up until
S1: recently I was using the sleep Me, which is the
S1: cooling system that circulates cold water under the bed, but
S1: that can be programmed to switch to warm water during
S1: the time period for which you want to start waking up. Similarly,
S1: I'm now using a different unit because sleep me, they
S1: went through new ownership and I was having difficulty getting
S1: parts replaced, etc. so now I have this unit called
S1: a bed. Jet does the same thing, but with air
S1: it's like a air conditioning heating unit for your bed,
S1: and a little tube goes right underneath the sheet towards
S1: the bottom of your feet. It even comes with special
S1: sheets that will fill up with the heat or the cold,
S1: depending on what function you have. But I have that
S1: set to go cold at night, so it's blowing about
S1: 68 degree cool air. I have about 70% intensity cooling
S1: myself at night, but then at about 5 a.m. in
S1: the morning, it starts to gradually increase the temperature of
S1: the air. And so I'm using temperature as a way
S1: to gradually wake myself up and keep my circadian rhythm
S1: shifted right where I wanted it to. Now, if I
S1: didn't want to get up at five, I want to
S1: start sleeping in my lazy but want to get up at,
S1: I don't know, 630 then I could actually reset that
S1: temperature adjustment on the bed jet. Or if you're using
S1: a sleep me something like that to start to get
S1: warm closer to say 6 or 6 15 or 630.
S1: So it's very interesting how you can use temperature to
S1: a certain extent as well. So anyways, uh, that recent
S1: study that showed that you could actually take a late
S1: sleeper and get them to wake up earlier by using
S1: food as a circadian timer and by, for example, not
S1: skipping breakfast, but eating a protein rich breakfast a little
S1: bit earlier in the day has something to it. So
S1: hopefully you understand a little bit more about how light
S1: fibers work. Hopefully you have a new word that you
S1: can throw around at your next cocktail party, and I
S1: hope that can also help you if you're trying to
S1: to phase shift your own, uh, circadian rhythms. Okay. All right.
S1: Next up, this is actually hot off the presses. And
S1: this is really interesting because, uh, you may or may
S1: not be aware, but there's like this debate going on
S1: right now about whether or not you should ice a muscle,
S1: whether or not you should ice a muscle or ice
S1: the body. The the general idea is that even though
S1: we were taught, at least I was back in exercise
S1: physiology and athletic training when I was going to college
S1: at University of Idaho, the acronym Rest, Ice, compression elevation,
S1: or Rice right? Rice treatment is a common approach for
S1: treating the acute phase of sports injuries and even inflammation.
S1: And the hypothesis that's been bandied about is that unfortunately,
S1: by icing or by getting a muscle cold, you are
S1: shortening or restricting the body's natural inflammatory processes, not allowing
S1: the body to mount its own natural response to this
S1: hermetic stress. And thus you are going to recover more
S1: slowly if you get cold after workout or if you
S1: ice an injury. Now, regarding getting the cold after workout,
S1: I've talked until I'm blue in the face. I suppose
S1: pun intended, about the fact that those studies have all
S1: been done at temperatures that get the muscle core temperature
S1: at about one Celsius or below, indicating that if you're
S1: concerned about a cold bath or a cold soak or cryotherapy,
S1: or cold shower, or an ice bath making you not
S1: get the benefits of your workout, you only need to
S1: be concerned about that if you're staying in there and
S1: it's really cold for like ten, 15, 20 minutes, or
S1: if you're shivering excessively when you get out. If it's
S1: just like a quick dip to make sure you're not
S1: pitting out and sweating at work and your dress shirt,
S1: you know, an hour later after your workout, no problem
S1: at all. If it's just taking a quick cold shower
S1: after an early evening workout, back to the zeitgeist or
S1: as a temperature to make sure that your temperature and
S1: your core temp comes down properly for sleep. Later on, fine.
S1: If you're doing a 19 minute ice bath after a
S1: big weight training workout. Yeah, that probably will kind of
S1: blunt some of the satellite cell proliferation and, and the mitochondrial, uh,
S1: gains that you might be looking for from a workout
S1: like that. But this, uh, this latest, uh, paper actually
S1: looked at whether icing would or would not promote muscle
S1: regeneration after an injury. Okay. So this was a research
S1: that was done, uh, by, uh, Professor Arakawa, Takumi and Nagata. Etsuko, uh,
S1: over in Kobe and their assistant, Professor Kawashima. Masato I
S1: believe I pronounced all of those properly. If I did not, uh,
S1: then you can just put me on a Japanese game
S1: show and Marge can call the embassy. Yeah, old SNL joke,
S1: for those of you who might have watched that episode anyways. Uh,
S1: so applying ice to muscle damage in a small percentage
S1: of muscle fibers in rats is what they wanted to
S1: look at. They've actually shown applying ice to muscle damage
S1: in a small percentage of muscle fibers in rats may
S1: promote muscle regeneration. So why is this important? Well, basically
S1: what they did was they took these animals, these rodents,
S1: and they anesthetized them. Then they took the muscle and
S1: they clamped it between a forceps to induce injury. Obviously
S1: not something one could ethically do in a human study,
S1: hence the use of rodent models. Now they attached a
S1: 500 gram weight to this forceps that induce an injury
S1: that affected 20% of the total number of fibers in
S1: the muscle and what they what they hypothesized and how
S1: they planned for this study was they were inducing a
S1: similar degree of injury that would occur after sports exercise,
S1: like vigorous exercise in the weight room or long distance
S1: marathon running. So they were actually planning ahead. They weren't
S1: just like, you know, throwing darts at these mice and
S1: injuring them and putting them under ice. They're actually trying
S1: to make it pretty similar to what a human muscle
S1: would experience during an average, tough human workout. They then
S1: did icing, so they did three 30 minute icing sessions
S1: per day, each icing session about 90 minutes apart. Also,
S1: that's a pretty similar protocol to what some physical therapists
S1: or physicians might recommend to you. And then they looked
S1: at muscle regeneration, and they demonstrated that skeletal muscle regeneration
S1: was actually promoted by icing. And they found this by
S1: showing significant differences in the size of regenerating fibers in
S1: the cross-sectional area of muscle in the injured rodents that
S1: were iced versus the ones that were not iced. So
S1: why would this happen? How would this happen? Why is
S1: this important? Well, let me explain. And this actually is
S1: pretty important. Macrophages are immune cells that orchestrate the repairing
S1: process of injured muscle. Pro-inflammatory macrophages accumulate in a damaged
S1: site right after you injure something okay. And they express
S1: this this uh, almost like a gas. It's called inducible
S1: nitric oxide synthase might be an enzyme, but I'm calling
S1: it a gas because I just want you to think
S1: about this in terms of like a muscle blowing up
S1: like a balloon. Now that has the side effect, the
S1: disadvantageous side effect of expanding the injury side, this inducible
S1: nitric oxide synthase. What happens when you ice is it
S1: reduces the accumulation of these pro-inflammatory macrophages and prevents the
S1: expansion of the muscle. In other words, icing attenuates the
S1: recruitment of these pro-inflammatory macrophages to the injury site. And
S1: that keeps the macrophages from swelling up the muscle to
S1: the extent to where the injury hangs around. Now the
S1: positive effects of icing. This is why it's important. They
S1: had yet to be elucidated until now right. Nobody was
S1: really sure why icing actually works to help an injury
S1: to heal faster. It turns out that because the influx
S1: of this nitric oxide synthase, this inducible nitric oxide synthase,
S1: causes the muscle to swell and expands the injury size
S1: that icing directly keeps that from occurring. And furthermore, the
S1: advantages of icing an injured muscle like that outweigh any
S1: disadvantages of, say, like the inflammation not being allowed to
S1: occur or the muscle not being able to mount its
S1: own anti-inflammatory response. So ultimately, after reading this study, I
S1: am I'm I was already convinced, but I'm still convinced
S1: that icing and when it comes to icing and injury,
S1: the pros outweigh the cons and you are not going
S1: to be injured for a longer period of time because
S1: you iced, and that in fact, you would actually accelerate
S1: tissue regeneration by doing something like icing. All right, well,
S1: I've got one other thing that I need to talk
S1: to you about, so. Here we go. Oh, and by
S1: the way, I'm going to link to all these studies
S1: and resources if you go to Ben Greenfield life. Com
S1: slash 462 for 62. All right. I have been approached
S1: by a a shockingly high number of individuals about these
S1: patches called life wave patches. They call them stem cell patches. Uh,
S1: and they're about the size of a quarter. You stick
S1: them on your skin. And what they say is that
S1: they activate your stem cells. I get a message a day,
S1: it seems, on Instagram or Facebook or Twitter or a
S1: text from somebody like, what do you think about these patches? Now?
S1: Half the time people who ask me are actually selling
S1: them because lifeways is a multi-level marketing company. Now, multi-level
S1: marketing company does not mean that they make a bad product, however,
S1: and this is coming from a guy who used to
S1: like help out some of these companies. I was a
S1: spokesperson for a couple of them. The problem is that
S1: baked into the economic model is an overpriced product, because
S1: you have to figure out a way to be able
S1: to pay the down lines. And a lot of times
S1: you're paying more for a product that may still be
S1: a good product, but that isn't the best use of
S1: your money. However, when it comes to these patches, I mean,
S1: I had a big eyebrow raise because I'm like, activate
S1: your stem cells. How the heck is it going to
S1: do that? I thought maybe it was one of these
S1: like magnets or subtle energy devices or quantum devices. Not
S1: that I have anything against any of those, but the
S1: research is a little weak, right? Like it's a lot
S1: of anecdotal data. It's it's a it's a lot of, uh,
S1: you know, how you feel, loosey goosey. But but there
S1: are some papers on PubMed when you look up these
S1: life wave patches. Uh, no clinical trial listings that appear
S1: on the clinical trials website, and no papers that seem
S1: to provide concrete evidence of any type of of effect,
S1: like one that I found was looking at, you know,
S1: they they claim increases endurance. They did a test on
S1: collegiate cross-country runners. Uh, the energy patches had no effect
S1: on any substrate utilization or anything like that. No performance
S1: enhancing benefits during exercise that again, that doesn't mean they
S1: don't work. But I wanted to look more into what
S1: these patches actually are. So apparently they focus on something
S1: called GCHQ copper peptide. That's a very popular peptide. A
S1: lot of people are smearing it into their skin for
S1: better skin. I put it in my hair for for
S1: hair growth. If you're watching the video right now, yes,
S1: that's where these long flowing locks are coming from. Is
S1: GCHQ copper peptide added to my hair? Uh, a lot
S1: of people use it as an injectable into an area
S1: to decrease inflammation or to improve muscle healing. And I
S1: actually do happen to know that the Dalton size, which
S1: is the size by which a peptide is measured, is
S1: small enough for GSK copper peptides, where it actually can
S1: be absorbed transdermal. So if these patches actually have GCHQ
S1: copper peptide on them, then potentially you could be absorbing
S1: some of that through your skin. And getting a good effect. Unfortunately,
S1: when when I look at, uh, like this guy David Schmidt,
S1: who's the inventor of this life wave X 39 patch, uh,
S1: you know, basically he's more talking about something called phototherapy
S1: than about the patch itself. And I know there's probably
S1: some people who sell these things that are probably trying
S1: to jump through the podcast right now screaming at me
S1: that I'm describing them the wrong way. But apparently it's
S1: a transdermal delivery of GCHQ copper peptide. If I understand
S1: properly what these things are doing, and I'm looking at
S1: the I'm going to pull up the page for them.
S1: It says activate your stem cells. Patented phototherapy is designed
S1: to elevate a peptide known to enhance stem cell activity.
S1: It doesn't even say if it has a copper peptide
S1: in there or not. But apparently when light interacts with
S1: this patch, it's either causing a release from the patch
S1: of GSK copper peptide or causing your body to release
S1: its own GCHQ copper peptide. It's unclear which. Now, interestingly,
S1: GCHQ copper peptide can be activated by light. I've talked
S1: before about the benefits of putting GSK copper peptide transdermal
S1: into your hair after your derm roll, and then exposing
S1: your head to infrared light, or injecting it subcutaneously into
S1: an injured area, and then exposing that injured area to
S1: sunlight or infrared light. So, I mean, there is something
S1: to the idea of activating GSK copper peptide with light.
S1: There's also something to the idea of the transdermal, uh,
S1: absorption of GSK copper peptide. And again, like it's used for,
S1: for anti-aging for skin. I've seen nerve regeneration uh, research
S1: on it, wound repairing, antioxidant production. It seems to be
S1: an anxiolytic. So anti-anxiety effects. And so when you actually
S1: look at dosing for GSK copper peptide, it appears that
S1: about 1 to 2mg daily is what is required to
S1: get a lot of these systemic healing and skin rejuvenation
S1: and hair growth type of effects. So 1 to 2mg
S1: of GSK copper peptide daily. Now how much does that cost.
S1: Well I went ahead and look this up. So a
S1: 50 milligram bottle that you get on. Sciences or some
S1: other peptide website of GSK copper peptide. And remember we're
S1: looking at one maximum of two milligrams per day that
S1: you need 70 bucks 70 bucks. So if I'm doing uh,
S1: 50mg can last me 50 days. I got I'm going
S1: to pay $70 for about 50 days worth of copper peptide. Okay.
S1: Now when I look at these life wave patches, let's
S1: say they actually have a copper peptide in them, and
S1: they are increasing it in the way that they're claiming
S1: to increase it. Well, it looks like they're $150 for
S1: 30 patches, which if you're putting on one patch every
S1: day is $130 for, uh, I'm sorry, 150, $150 for
S1: a month. And if you look at HK copper peptide
S1: for a 50 day supply, it's $70. So we're talking
S1: about like less, significantly less than half the cost. If
S1: you just buy JJK copper peptide yourself. So I mean, like,
S1: I don't know, maybe there's the convenience of the patch. Um,
S1: maybe there's something else going on here that that that
S1: I don't understand, but I don't. I guess I don't
S1: get why you wouldn't just, like, save a ton of
S1: money and just get, like, JJK copper peptide and use
S1: that as an injectable or as a transdermal rather than
S1: spending a bunch of money that I suspect a great
S1: deal of is being spent to support a multi-level marketing website.
S1: Because the first thing I hear from people is, yeah,
S1: these are really great. The second thing is you're going
S1: to make a lot of money with these things. Uh,
S1: and my spidey sense is always just kind of get
S1: activated when I hear that. So anyways, nothing against people
S1: who sell or use these life wave patches. I'm just like,
S1: I don't know, you could probably, you know, be thrown
S1: in a couple of really great steak dinners each month
S1: if you were to just buy straight copper peptide yourself,
S1: which I don't sell, by the way. I don't sell
S1: JC copper peptide. I'm just I'm just saying I feel like, um,
S1: you know, it's something that you should take into consideration. Now,
S1: I did find one other study that says double blind
S1: Testing of the life wave x 39 patch to determine
S1: copper peptide production levels. And they did show a significant
S1: increase in the HK copper peptide concentration present in the
S1: blood as a result of wearing the life wave x
S1: 39 patch for one week. Uh, and so there there
S1: is something going on. And I suspect they actually have
S1: added GSK copper peptide to the patch. And then there's
S1: some sort of form of phototherapy worked into the patch
S1: where you're getting light absorption that activates the GSK copper peptide.
S1: Certainly if that's the case, great. But I could do
S1: the same thing with injectable GSK copper peptide or transdermal
S1: GSK copper peptide for a fraction of the cost, combined
S1: with exposure to infrared light, infrared, sauna or sunlight. Just saying.
S1: So anyways, since everybody's been asking me, that's my take
S1: on the x 39 patches. I don't think they necessarily
S1: don't work, I just think you might be wasting your money.
S1: So anyways, I am actually running out of time on
S1: today's show and that is just about everything that I'm
S1: going to have the time to be able to cover. Uh, however,
S1: if you have your own questions or comments or feedback
S1: for me, if you'd like to add anything yourself, you
S1: can always go to Ben Greenfield life.com/4 62. That's Ben
S1: Greenfield life.com/4 62. And leave your own questions your comments
S1: your feedback. You can leave the show a rating or review.
S1: And I know we didn't get to a ton of
S1: listener questions. Uh, but uh, that question, by the way,
S1: was responding to a Robbie who wanted me to look
S1: into this company called Life Waves. That actually was a
S1: listener question that I replied to technically. So anyways, uh,
S1: I hope this has been helpful for you. Again, the
S1: show notes are Ben Greenfield life.com/4 62. Remember to check
S1: out the new masterclass at Ben Greenfield life.com/masterclass. Have an
S1: amazing week.
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