The Human Upgrade: Biohacking for Longevity & Performance

Latest Episodes:

Hacking Joy by Changing the World Around You - Ingrid Fetell Lee : 618 Aug 15, 2019

Show notes

In this episode of Bulletproof Radio, my guest’s groundbreaking work on the subject of joy reveals the hidden influence of our surroundings on our emotions and well-being.

Ingrid Fetell Lee is the author of “Joyful: The Surprising Power of Ordinary Things to Create Extraordinary Happiness” and founder of the blog/website, “The Aesthetics of Joy,” She empowers people to find more joy in life and work through purposeful and emotion-driven design of our environments.

“There's a whole field that has really been overlooked by mainstream psychology and by the sort of self-help industry that can help us use our environments to get more out of ourselves from an emotional perspective,” she says.

Our discussion explores happiness vs. joy and how to create more joy in your own life. We also look at the 10 elements of joy that resonate with nearly everyone. Afun and surprising finding shows that joy actually has a distinct shape! Ingrid explains how to recognize, feel and incorporate more joy into your everyday life. She takes us through the practice of joy spotting and how it “can be a reservoir for positivity in your life,” she says.

Ingrid’s decade of research into joy has yielded surprising results about how it shapes our internal and external lives. “There aretriggers or levers that we can build into our environment in an intentional way to influence our emotions from the outside in,” Ingrid says.

And, while you may be able to fake a smile, you can’t fake joy. Scientists actually look at certain facial muscles to determine joy. There’s one in particular that’s not under yourconscious control, so genuine joy shows up when the muscle is activated

We talk about that research and much more in the show today, along with surprising ways that joy can improve your outlook and daily performance.

Enjoy the show!

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Way Better Sex Without the Pill – Dr. Jolene Brighten : 617 Aug 13, 2019

Show notes

In this episode of Bulletproof Radio, I’m welcoming Dr. Jolene Brighten back to the show. She’s a functional naturopathic medical doctor and nutritional biochemist with a focus on women’s endocrine health. Dr. Brighten is recognized as a leading expert in post-birth control syndrome and the long-term side effects associated with hormonal contraceptives.

Her new book: “Beyond The Pill: A 30-Day Plan to Support Women on Birth Control, Help Them Transition Off, and Eliminate Symptoms of Post-Birth Control Syndrome” addresses the health risks of oral contraceptives and their connection to significant hormone dysfunction.

She and I talked on episode #415 about how women’s hormones affect all parts of their bodies and brains at different ages and stages of their lives, particularly after childbirth. In this conversation, we’re going in a different direction. We cover what happens to women’s body systems while they’re on hormonal birth control and then when they stop using it. There’s also research about what the pill depletes from women’s bodies. Essential supplementation is needed while taking birth control and also when stopping.

“There's a lot more going on with women's hormonal health that lends itself to this idea of, how crazy are we to give a medication, and to shut down a woman's reproductive system, and act like that's not going to have any long-term impacts, or any impact on her body as a whole?” Dr. Brighten says in our interview.

This is a must-listen episode for both women AND men. We get into alternative birth control methods—and how well they work. And why sex tends to get better when women go off hormonal birth control. The more we’re discovering about women’s hormones, the more important it is for us to understand how hormonal health is an integral part of women’s experience—both personally and within their relationships.

Enjoy the show!

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Sleep is the Boss of You – Matthew Walker, Ph.D. : 616 Aug 08, 2019

Show notes

In this episode of Bulletproof Radio, my guest is Matthew Walker, Ph.D., aka “The Sleep Diplomat.” When it comes to matters of sleep, he does not mince words: “We’re in the midst of a “catastrophic sleep-loss epidemic,” he says.

As a professor of Neuroscience and Psychologyat the University of California, Berkeley, and director of the Center for Human Sleep Science, his research examines the impact of sleep on human health and disease. He’s also the lead sleep scientist at Google.

His international best-selling book, “Why We Sleep: Unlocking the Power of Sleep and Dreams,” has sold more than 1 million copies worldwide and been translated into 34 languages. But be warned—the startling science he presents about sleep may keep you up at night.

Matthew has been featured on television and radio outlets, including CBS’s 60 Minutes, the National Geographic Channel, NOVA Science, NPR, and the BBC, as well as in national and international publications, and on numerous podcasts. His main-stage TED Talk—Sleep is Your Superpower—was one of the fastest to reach 1 million views within hours of release. It’s been viewed well over 5.2 million times as of this episode air date and continues to climb.

I was eager to have Matthew on the show to talk about our lack of sleep and examine sleep’s connection to health and brain function. Our conversation covers all that and much more. “There is no single system of the body or the brain that isn't optimally enhanced by sleep when you get it, or detrimentally impaired when you don't get enough,” he says.

Enjoy the show!

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Cut Your Cardio to 9 Minutes – CAR.O.L FIT AI : 615 Aug 06, 2019

Show notes

In this episode of Bulletproof Radio, the conversation gets right into how to hack your cardiovascular system with a personalized, high-intensity interval training bike that’s AI-powered.

You’ll find out that when it comes to cardio, it’s not about duration, it’s about intensity. And if you’re thinking, “I already knew that,” you might not know that the minimum effective dose of cardio is actually 40 seconds. Not all at once and not every day. And with AI helping out, your whole workout can be done in less than 9 minutes. Nowthat’sawesome.

“That intensity provides a very potent stimulus to your body, which releases chemicals that lead to a fitter, leaner, smarter you,” says Ratna Singh.

My guests are Ratna and Ulrich Dempfle, both serial entrepreneurs with a broad scope of experience across consumer brand consultancy, health care and start-ups.

Ratna co-founded and currently is the CEO of CAR.O.L, Cardiovascular Optimization Logic, in London. She’s a microbiologist by training but instead has spent all of her professional career in advertising and management consultancy in the UK and the U.S. She was McKinsey & Company's first entrepreneur-in-residence in Silicon Valley.
Ulrich co-founded and currently is the chief product officer and acting chief operating officer at CAR.O.L. He has experience in manufacturing and product development due to his mechanical engineering background. He’s led AI and machine learning initiatives and helped to develop the interactive exercise bike that is CAR.O.L.

Listen on to learn more about the science behind this “comically effective” cardio, how CAR.O.L fitness compares to training like HIIT and Tabata workouts, and why your cardiovascular health will thank you.

Enjoy the show!

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How to Show Up With Compassion & Kindness – Leon Logothetis : 614 Aug 01, 2019

Show notes

This episode of Bulletproof Radio features a guest who believes three small words can change the world: Go. Be. Kind. Leon Logothetis is a world-renowned motivational speaker, adventurer and philanthropist known as “The Kindness Guy.”

“Kindness is simply helping someone feel less alone,” Leon says. “That’s it. When you make someone feel like they matter, when you see someone, when you take someone's loneliness or depression and transform it by simply being kind, that's quite a profound way to be.”

What started as a travel adventure for him has become a kindness movement that’s been documented across five books, multiple television series, including Netflix and National Geographic International, as well as social media.

Leon posted on his Instagram: Happiness is the new rich. Inner peace is the new success. Health is the new wealth. Kindness is the new cool.

“We are on the verge of a spiritual evolution,” he says, “and these pillars are fundamental in our lives.”

Leon wants everyone to get in on the kindness action, and his latest book is a guide to doing just that: “Go Be Kind-A Life-Changing Little Journal: 28½ Adventures Guaranteed to Make You Happier.”

With humor and candor, Leon and I talk about how essential kindness is to human connection and how teaching empathy creates kind kids. You’ll also find out how to turn off your road rage and why taking a glitter bath is a great idea.

Enjoy the show!

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It’s Time for Us to Disrupt and Rebuild – Ankur Jain : 613 Jul 30, 2019

Show notes

This episode of Bulletproof Radio focuses on some different aspects of your life that may be influencing your overall health and making it tough for you to thrive day to day.

My guest is Ankur Jain, who asks, “What are the life needs that are hurting people the most today?” And in this episode, he gives some realistic—and doable—life hacks that you can check out today.

He’s the founder and CEO of Kairos, a venture fund that’s supporting the creation of startup companies that tackle the world’s greatest challenges. Since 2012, Kairos has helped launch and grow more than $6.5 billion dollar’s-worth of companies that address problems in healthcare, housing costs, student debt, transportation networks, childcare, elder care, and burnout and retention.

Ankur is on the forefront of tackling these problems for millennials, as well as even younger generations, because he sees an urgency in the mounting financial, work and general life pressures facing them.

40% of millennials have zero savings
80% of all income from millennials now is just consumed by housing, food, transportation, healthcare, and childcare. The remaining 20% for about half of millennials is going to just student loans.
60% of Americans in general can't afford a $1,000 emergency expense

“These markets we're talking about—housing, childcare, healthcare—are the largest industries in the world,” Ankur explains. “They're antiquated. They're not built for the financial realities of our generation. It's time, just like any other antiquated sector, for us to go disrupt it, and go rebuild it for a way that works.”

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Your Microbiome May be Misbehaving – Naveen Jain : 612 Jul 25, 2019

Show notes

In this episode of Bulletproof Radio, my guest is an entrepreneur, a visionary who seeks to solve some of our world’s biggest obstacles through creative innovation and collaboration, and also my good friend—Naveen Jain.

Naveen has an interesting perspective that’s changing a lot of minds and a lot of microbiomes: He believes science is asking the wrong questions about gut health, especially in relation to the chronic diseases that are plaguing so many people. The focus on “what organisms are in the gut “is stalling us; the focus on “what those organisms are producing”—now that gets us closer to real answers.

“The body doesn't care who is doing it, what it cares about is what is being done to it,” Naveen says. “And if you can figure out what these organisms are producing that's being absorbed in the human body, we will be able to actually do something about it. Because then, it becomes math and chemistry. Once you know the biochemical activities of the chemicals that are there, you can adjust those chemicals.”

We’re going to get into some new science about how people can change their gut bacteria and know what's going on. You’ll learn that you actually want more species—and a more diverse set of species—in your gut. It will improve your health and will probably make you live a lot longer.

And by the way, Naveen’s a regular on Bulletproof Radio, most recently on episode: #541: From Inside Your Gut to Outer Space: Moonshots with Naveen Jain. You can hear my other conversations with him on episode #452: Listen to Your Gut and Decide Your Own Destiny and episode #382: The Microorganisms in Our Body That Keep Us Alive. I always get great feedback from listeners about our conversations, so I’m always happy to talk to him again about more gut health.

A Bit More About Naveen:

He is the founder of several successful companies, including Viome (that I talk about a lot), Moon Express, Bluedot, TalentWise, Intelius and InfoSpace. He’s also atrustee of the board at the X PRIZE Foundation, an organization that since 1994 has designed and launched 17 prizes for industry changing technologies in the domain areas of Space, Oceans, Learning, Health, Energy, Environment, Transportation, Safety and Robotics. Naveen is the title of the Women’s Safety X PRIZE, that empowers women around the world.
He just launched a brand-new podcast called Moonshots with Naveen Jain. “Intellectual curiosity is what moves humans forward and humanity forward,” he says—and he’s hosting conversations with the world’s leading thinkers and entrepreneurs to bring their insights and ideas to you.

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Every Little Enzyme Does Its Magic – BiOptimizers : 611 Jul 23, 2019

Show notes

In this episode of Bulletproof Radio, I’m welcoming back Wade Lightheart and Matt Gallant. They are the “we fix digestion” guys who co-founded BiOptimizers.

Wade is a former three-time Canadian natural bodybuilding champion. Matt is an experienced strength and conditioning coach for professional athletes, a self-defense instructor, and has been formulating supplements for more than a decade.

Last summer, we discussed enzymes and digestive health. You’ll definitely want to catch episode #515—How to BiOptimize Your Gut & Digestion. And today, we’re going to talk more about the power of enzymes and their role in a ketogenic diet.

“Well, the thing with enzymes,” Matt says, “is if you take them empty stomach, they become metabolic. If you take them with food, they're digestive. … When we're eating, the food needs to be broken down either into glycogen, amino acids, or fatty acids. That's what we need, and that’s what our bodies run on. And if we can't do that, then we can have health issues.”

So, take a listen as the conversation touches on how essential enzymes are to your microbiome. We talk bile, poop, stomach acid, glucose absorption, fat cells and inflammation. Activated charcoal, probiotics and carbs get a mention, too.

I’m convinced that enzymes matter for making you who you are.

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Curb Your Adrenaline, Improve Your Health – Dr. Michael Platt : 610 Jul 18, 2019

Show notes

In this episode of Bulletproof Radio, I asked Dr. Michael Platt to come on the show to discuss all things adrenaline.

Dr. Platt is board certified in Internal Medicine and has nearly four decades of experience working with patients in varied clinical settings from medical groups to elder care medicine to health research. He’s currently the president of Platt Wellness Center in Rancho Mirage, California, where he specializes in bio-identical hormones, hormone balancing and the causation of illness.

We talk about his focus on treating health conditions caused by excess adrenaline, which can include fibromyalgia, autism, ADHD, bipolar disorder, depression, anger, weight gain, and addictions, among others—and how progesterone plays a major role in the solution.

“What people don't understand is that the primary reason why the body releases adrenaline is to provide fuel to the brain,” says Dr. Platt. “You can see from a survival standpoint, the body always wants to make sure the brain has enough fuel. It's normal for people to release adrenaline at certain times, but I use the term adrenaline dominance to indicate where those people have excess amounts of adrenaline, to the point that it actually has clinical consequences.”

Our conversation covers an assortment of questions, such as:

Is adrenal fatigue real?
Can post-partum depression be eliminated with progesterone?
Is fibromyalgia pain a build-up of lactic acid in the muscles?
Is ADHD really about interest, rather than focus?
Should you be intermittent fasting if you have excess adrenaline?
Can you control adrenaline by controlling insulin?
Does blocking adrenaline prevent or eliminate stress?

Listen on to find out some interesting answers to these and many other questions during our discussion. Enjoy the show!

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The Ball is in Your Court: Biohacking with The Bryan Bros. : 609 Jul 16, 2019

Show notes

In this episode of Bulletproof Radio, you’ll meet tennis phenoms Bob and Mike Bryan, aka The Bryan Bros. Born three minutes apart, the twins have been in sync ever since—both on and off the court. They are American professional doubles tennis players, gold-and bronze-winning Olympians, and are the most successful tennis duo of all time.

The two have won a record number of tour titles (118 at the time this episode airs) and have been finalists on 58 other occasions. They have a career Super Slam and 16 Grand Slam titles overall, which is more than any men's team in the Open Era.

The twins’ parents began coaching them at the age of two. The brothers turned pro in 1998 after attending Stanford University and winning two NCAA championships. Since then, they have amassed 118 ATP Tour Titles together, including a record 18 Grand Slams. Their Gold Medal win the 2012 Olympic games made them the only team in ATP history to hold all four Grand Slam titles and an Olympic Gold medal. The Bryans also have achieved the ATP Tour year-end No. 1 ranking for a record 10 years, and Mike recently celebrated his 500th week at No. 1 on the ATP Tour doubles rankings.

Their success is the result of a combination of hard work, mutual respect, and a passion for the game of tennis. (It also helps that one of the twins has a 140 mph lefty serve!)

But both Mike and Bob have suffered injuries that threatened to end their careers, including Bob’s recent hip surgery. At the age of 40, no one thought they would come back and continue to win, but they have—several times over. They’ve changed up their training regimen and put serious focus on recovery.

“You've got to set these goals and really work every day to do it,” Bob says. “It's being professional in every aspect of your life. I'm trying just to dial on the health as best as I can because when I'm done, I want to be able to play with my kids. I want to be able to walk down the street and not be limping or needing metal on every joint. That's my goal: to retire healthy but keep playing as long as we can.”

Today’s episode is going to be a good one as we talk about all the ways these professional athletes biohack to their advantage, how music keeps them in sync, and how they are helping at-risk kids.

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