The Human Upgrade: Biohacking for Longevity & Performance

Latest Episodes:

Upgrade Intervention: Combat Cravings & Candida, Remove Toxins & Feel Your Best - Nadya Green : 1075 Aug 03, 2023

Show notes

Today's episode is a special intervention episode where I work with a member of the Upgrade Collective, my mentorship and membership group, to help them get closer to achieving their health goals. This conversation is all about investigating member Nadya Green’s struggle to lose weight despite following a low carb diet and cycle syncing her eating habits.

Nadya, originally from Russia, has spent her life pursuing an international career in the energy sector. She has worked as an engineer around the globe, including the UK, US, Australia, Egypt, Russia and now Sweden. Becoming a mom at 35 years old has made it ever so critical to be fit and to be able enjoy activities with her family, which is why biohacking and weight loss has become a centerpiece in her life.

We talk about her lab results that point to potential gut issues, estrogen dominance, and mineral deficiencies leading to her cravings, and why her carbophobia may actually be working against her goals. I share with Nadya tools and tips to illustrate all the different pathways that you can use to get the results you want. So, if you're looking at what could be holding you back in your weight loss journey, tune in to hear the advice I gave Nadya about where she could be going wrong, and what to do to help her feel her best.

Join the Upgrade Collective to get access to be in the live audience for all of my podcasts, with calls where we all get together and help each other biohack whatever needs biohacking, at ourupgradecollective.com.

00:01:35 — Why A Low Carb Diet Might Not Help Your Weight Loss Goals

• Nadya’s history with extreme fatigue, Hashimoto’s and carbophobia

• The impact of the keto diet long-term on metabolism

• Toxins related to PCOS and endometriosis

• Read: Smarter Not Harder

• Environmental & emotional causes of sugar cravings

• Symptoms of having active yeast in your gut

00:16:44— Combating Candida: Supplements, Medications & Lifestyle Solutions

• Exploring the different ways to combat Candida

• My hot take on pharmaceuticals

• How to support your detox pathways while on pharmaceuticals

• How Candida is related to a sensitivity to cow’s milk

• Limiting sugar without eliminating it

• Eating what you like in moderation and not being in a perfectionist trap

• Cycle syncing your cravings and carbs

00:32:05 — Eat to Feel Amazing: Spotlight On Protein & Minerals

• Protein types and amount recommendations

• The Bulletproof Diet: daveasprey.com/roadmap

• Why new mothers need to pay more attention to their mineral levels

• Tps for getting enough electrolytes and offsetting mineral deficiency

• Why I recommend eliminating dairy to combat fatigue or brain fog

• Helpful supplements for estrogen dominance

Resources

Dave Asprey’s NEW Book ‘Smarter Not Harder’ is out now: https://daveasprey.com/books

Biohacking Conference: https://www.biohackingconference.com/

Join the Upgrade Collective: https://www.ourupgradecollective.com/

The Human Upgrade is produced by Crate Media.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Finding Radical Wholeness With a Modern-Day Master - Ken Wilber : 1074 Aug 01, 2023

Show notes

Our guest today is a legendary thinker, author, and philosopher. Ken Wilber has spent decades understanding how humans are all interconnected with each other, decoding through dozens of beautifully written books, how we fit into the greater, massive, picture that is the expanding universe. He's an absolute pioneer, a visionary, and that barely scratches the surface of his work.

He joins Dave to outline his newest book—Finding Radical Wholeness: The Integral Path to Unity, Growth, and Delights—and offers up a supporting stream of consciousness which rivals any that you’d find, on any podcast, in depth of insight and emotional impact. His words resonate with a truth and wonder which will leave you inspired from beginning to end, and well beyond.

00:00:38 — Finding Radical Wholeness with Ken Wilber

• Ken Wilber’s Amazon Author Page

• Different ways to explain the general ideas of the world

• Read: Finding Radical Wholeness: The Integral Path to Unity, Growth, and Delights

• Achieving wholeness in our day-to-day

• Ken’s first experience of wholeness with the universe

• Does a dog have Buddha-nature?

• Studying the work of D.T. Suzuki as a young boy

• Read: Essays in Zen Buddhism by D.T. Suzuki

• Oneness experiences as the core of spirituality

• Considering satori as the most precious gift that humankind has

00:18:09 — The Roles Biohacking & Brain Stimulation Play in Unity Experiences

• Electromagnetic brain stimulation for ultimate reality experiences

• How brain-mind machines work

• Tap Into Your Brain’s Full Potential - Patrick Porter, Ph.D. #869

• How Dave wrote The Bulletproof Diet in gamma state

• What the mind does vs. what the heart does

• Ken’s favorite advancements in technology

• Questions remain with regard to quantum unity

• Explaining the theta formless state

• The Science of Changing Your Mind - Dr. Joe Dispenza #980

00:38:10 — States of Emptiness & How To Get There

• Teachings of Nagarjuna

• Formulating the quantum principles

• Why all forms of thinking are incomplete

• The four-quadrant pronouns that make it all make sense

• Basic tenets of integral theory

• Shared objective views, social organism or a collective group

• Going deep with Ken Wilber

• Are we living in a simulation?

• Fourth and fifth states of consciousness

01:08:55 — This is Ken Wilber on Drugs & Nonduality

• Psychedelic experiences vs. mystical oneness experiences

• Drugs as a shortcut to masterful meditation

• Ken’s bad trip

• Stan Grof’s early LSD work

• The Birth of LSD with Dr. Stanislav Grof, Father of Transpersonal Psychology - #428

• Failures of the psychedelic revolution

• Dave’s hand in the ayahuasca boom

• Ken Wilber’s awe-inspiring perspective on nonduality

• Read: Finding Radical Wholeness: The Integral Path to Unity, Growth, and Delights

• Outline of Ken’s latest book

• Stages of operational thinking

• Introduction to systems theory

• Appreciating the psychosomatic analysis of Fritz Perls

Resources

Dave Asprey’s NEW Book ‘Smarter Not Harder’ is out now: https://daveasprey.com/books

Read: Finding Radical Wholeness: The Integral Path to Unity, Growth, and Delights

Read: Amazon Author Page

YouTube: Integral Life

The Human Upgrade is produced by Crate Media.

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Relieve Your Back Pain in 4 Steps! - Dr. Marcella Madera : 1073 Jul 27, 2023

Show notes

In this episode of The Human Upgrade you’ll meet a holistic neurosurgeon who’s evolving spine care away from cutting. Dr. Marcella Madera’s integrative approaches to spine problems pair science with holistic healing modalities. This means way better healing for you.

Dr. Madera’s innovations in spine treatments include the “Aqua Method,” where photobiomodulated platelet rich plasma meets functional tissue mobilization and movement. You’re going to get exciting new information about this effective form of regenerative medicine and find out if this treatment may be right for you. “It's a very nuanced discussion,” says Dr. Madera. “It's very patient specific. It's very injury specific.”

“The term Aqua really gives a description of what we're trying to create in the body and that is more fluidity,” she explains. “And also, water, aqua, is pure. It’s intense at times, depending on the form. And it is soothing at times, depending on the form. And that is how our treatment goes.”

Dr. Madera’s four-part system includes: Reveal, Restore, Revitalize, Revel. You could benefit whether you have an old or new injury, or chronic pain.

During this episode, she explains how each part is interconnected and helps you heal your spine, or even knee, problems. The Aqua Method’s three-day immersive experience includes a full team of experts focused on your biology, your energy and your state of mind.

Dr. Madera, a board-certified neurosurgeon, trained extensively in conventional medicine. Her expertise in spine care includes surgical treatments, approaches, and techniques for degenerative spine disease, spine tumors, and degenerative deformity.

She started a private practice in in Austin, Texas where she combines her technical spine care with stem cell treatments and holistic modalities like herbs, energy modalities, Chinese healing practices, autogenic training and diet modification.

More about Dr. Marcella Madera: She’s experienced in open surgery, minimally invasive surgery, endoscopic spine surgery, and regenerative/stem cell procedures. She’s been an assistant professor of Surgery at the University of Texas at Austin Dell Medical School. She also travelled throughout Europe and the U.S. to learn progressive endoscopic techniques and regenerative medicine practices. She completed a Spine Fellowship and faculty instructorship at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine.

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How to Control, Reframe and Change the Chatter in Your Head! – Ethan Kross, Ph.D. : 1072 Jul 25, 2023

Show notes

In this episode of The Human Upgrade you’ll find out how to harness the power of your inner voice to ease anxiety, improve physical and mental health, and deepen your relationship with others.

“The mind is flexible, if we know how to bend it,” says psychologist and award-winning professor Ethan Kross, Ph.D., founder of the Emotion & Self Control Laboratory at the University of Michigan.

He’s one of the world’s leading experts in controlling the conscious mind. He studies the ways in which your inner voice impacts your health, performance, decisions and relationships. He explores how people manage their emotions in order to better understand self-control. In particular, the conversations you have with yourself directly impact every part of your health and life.

He explain that your inner voice functions to do things like this:

Keep information active in your mind
Coach you through problems
Simulate and plan ahead
Tell you stories

That inner voice can be a powerful tool, giving you creativity, connection and definition. However, when the voice turns to negative and disorienting self-talk (chatter), it can create chaos and overwhelm by zooming into our problems, making you lose perspective.

Ethan’s pioneering research mixes behavioral and brain research to get at the “why” behind human nature. He uses insights from his research to give people science-based tools they can use to change their behavior, be used in relationships, support a career move, improve physical performance, decrease stress, increase productivity and be used to reach life goals. You’ll use new tools like mental time travel, tough love and introspection.

In this conversation about his book, “CHATTER: The Voice in Our Head, Why It Matters, and How to Harness It,” you’ll learn:

How social media plays a part in our chatter
How to zoom out with a flexible mind, changing thoughts and distancing ourselves
How to use tough love
How to teach your kids about chatter from a young age
How to help your friends with their own chatter (and what makes it worse)

With Ethan’s experience studying the conscious mind for 20 years, you can learn how to turn negativity into an awesome tool that helps you master your own self-talk.

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Particle Size Matters: Masterclass in Using Silver for Biohacking - Steve Revelli : 1071 Jul 20, 2023

Show notes

Today, on The Human Upgrade, we talk to Steve Revelli about the long history and bright future of using silver nanoparticles as a biohacking silver bullet. Steve's background is in science and education, now serving as the QA Manager at American Biotech Labs, LLC, the brand which produces Silver Biotics—a long-time resident of my own medicine cabinet.

The conversation covers the difference between pathogenic bacteria and probiotics, how silver under a concentration of 40 parts per million can target harmful bacteria while leaving healthy probiotics intact, the importance of nanoparticle size, antibiotic resistance, animal and agricultural applications, and so much more.

You will learn how they use silver in the world of medicine (because they actually do and have for more than a hundred years) and how/when to use it yourself, whether topically, supplementally, or otherwise. This, my free-thinking friends, is a masterclass in using silver for biohacking.

00:03:06 — Retelling the Long Story of Silver

• Historical meaning of “born with a silver spoon”

• Microbial elements of AG404–why it works

• Chemistry deep dive, searching for missing electrons

• Why doesn’t silver attack healthy cells?

• Differences between prokaryotic cells

• More is not always better

00:11:22 — Delivery Systems to Improve Your Health

• Importance of nanoparticle sizes in effective use

• One warning: avoiding high salt

• Using AG404 in nasal spray during air travel

• Other off-label uses for Silver Biotics

• Silver particles for immune support

• Topical use for fighting infection

• 70-year medical history of using silver for burns

• Using a vertical sprayer for delivery

• Code: DAVE for 30% off at silverbiotics.com

00:27:09 — Cosmetic Benefits & Antibiotic Resistance

• New formulations from Silver Biotics

• Wrinkles, acne, cuts, scrapes, etc.

• Facial serum vs. skin cream

• Fighting antibiotic resistant bacteria

• Pet care and successful applications in agriculture

• Safety an ingestion cycles

• Turning blue from silver toxicity

• Relieving bacterial burden from your sinuses

• Code: DAVE for 30% off at silverbiotics.com

Resources

• Shop: Use code DAVE for 30% off at silverbiotics.com

• Instagram: @silverbiotics

The Human Upgrade is produced by Crate Media.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Let Them Eat Dirt: Biohacking Family Nutrition - Andrea Bemis : 1070 Jul 18, 2023

Show notes

Today, we're delving deep into the importance of dirt, not just as soil beneath our feet, but as a key factor in regenerative agriculture and biohacking. Our guest, Andrea Bemis, is an expert in sustainable organic farming and a passionate advocate for nurturing healthy babies and children. Together, we explore the power of the family dinner and the significance of avoiding harmful chemicals and additives in the food we provide for our kids.

Andrea Bemis, the brilliant mind behind the farm-to-table blog "Let Them Eat Dirt," joins us as our special guest. She has authored remarkable books, "Dishing Up the Dirt" and "Local Dirt," which provide invaluable insights into creating a healthy and nourishing food environment for children. Through our shared belief in empowering kids to make healthier choices, we aim to guide parents away from the junk and chemicals that can harm their children's well-being and towards more sustainable, locally sourced and economical options.

Join us as we share our tips and tales from our own dinner tables, and our top strategies for nourishing your children with whole foods that taste good, too. Welcome, Andrea, to The Human Upgrade.

00:02:07 — Avoiding Processed Foods: Dangers of Heavy Metals & Artificial Sweeteners

• How processed foods can change brain chemistry

• The mistake parents of young children make when it comes to food

• Tips for getting kids to eat diverse foods and flavors

• Logistics of living on a farm

• Benefits of buying from a CSA

• The Baby Food Facts Report findings on sweeteners in baby food

• Heavy metals in baby food

00:21:01 — Healthy, Fast & Economical Recipes for Kids

• Most economical ways to make healthier baby food at home

• Recommended cooking oils for kids and why

• Being mindful of how much kids are snacking

• Not forcing your kid to eat when they’re not hungry

• Andrea’s fast recipe ideas

• How salt impacts babies’ digestive system

• Read: Nourishing Traditions by Sally Fallon

00:43:45 — Andrea’s Favorite Sweetener & Farm Life Insights

• Andrea’s favorite sweetener for kids

• Pros and cons of kale

• Finding quality bacon

• The most difficult crops to grow

• Teaching your kids where food really comes from

• Why small farms are so incredibly important & economical

Resources

• Website: dishingupthedirt.com

• Instagram: @andreabemis

• CSA: gotumbleweed.com

• Read: letthemeatdirtkids.com

The Human Upgrade is produced by Crate Media.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

What Happens in the Gut, Starts in the Mouth – Naveen Jain : 1069 Jul 13, 2023

Show notes

Today, a dear friend of the show and someone who's disrupted a huge part of the healthcare industry joins us for an informative chat on the critically important oral microbiome—and from a wider perspective—how and why the human body gets sick.

Naveen Jain, founder of Viome—a data company that’s changing the world of health and wellness—goes deep on the latest in anti-aging, what's going on in your mouth and how that affects everything else in your body, the perils of mouthwash, the future of AI-powered analytics, business building with the right priorities in mind, and a whole lot more.

And it all comes right back to the base definition, the core understanding, of what biohacking is—using the information and technology around us to live a longer and healthier life. Naveen’s company, Viome, is doing just that. You won’t want to miss this exclusive look into the future—for your own long-term health, or for that of society as a whole.

00:01:44 — What Is It About the Human Body That Causes Us To Be Sick?

• Fundamentally changing the way we look at the body

• Dave’s homemade mouthwash and why he stopped using it

• Power of individuality when it comes to health and longevity

• Different impacts of foods on identical twins (Research)

• What happens in the gut, starts in the mouth

• The signals chewing your food sends to your body

• Why a healthy oral microbiome means healthy sex

00:09:33 — Viome: Supercharging Human Data Analytics

• Reading out the transcript from your body

• Determining a diet-based source of bad breath

• Viome’s biomarkers and aging score

• Looking at RNA va. DNA

• Shop viome.com and use code DAVE10 to save 10%

• Pooling the data from 550,000 samples analyzed

• Custom-made diet recommendations for your genetics

• Affordability of Viome testing kits

• Predicting mouth and throat cancer at a 95% rate

• Personalized oral microbiome toothpaste gel

00:24:13 — Longevity & Lifespan: Our Health Is Our Wealth

• Increasing our healthspan—adding truly viable years

• Dave calls out the lifespan cowards

• Choosing how and when we die: the ultimate goal for society

• Naveen shares 5 ways to live a long and healthy life

• Nutrition, getting the right fuel for the car

• Stress management, escaping fight-or-flight mode

• 40 Years of Zen neurofeedback therapy

• Why you should quit your shitty stressful job

• Smarter Not Harder by Dave Asprey

• Prioritizing exercise, 30 minutes a day

• Getting proper sleep, quality vs. quantity

• Sleep with Dave: 14-day sleep challenge

00:37:35 — A Message for the World’s Wantrepreneurs

• Find a purpose and live 10 to 15 years longer

• Focus on helping people live better—not making more money

• Parasitic nature of modern commerce

• Amazon’s quality spiral and the race to the bottom

• Impacting the world in your uniquely powerful way

• Our success will never be defined by how much money we made

Resources

Instagram: @viome

Instagram: @naveenjainceo

Viome: viome.com (Code DAVE10 to save 10%)

Website: naveenjain.com

The Human Upgrade is produced by Crate Media.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

You Control Your Own Karma! – Sadhguru : 1068 Jul 11, 2023

Show notes

IN THIS EPISODE OF THE HUMAN UPGRADE™️...

Sadhguru, a yogi, mystic, visionary and spiritual master who spreads wisdom around the world, clarifies the meaning of karma (no, it’s not a checklist of good and bad deeds) and explains how much you’re in charge of your own karma.

His most recent book, “Karma: A Yogi’s Guide to Crafting Your Destiny,” breaks down the ways in which karma frames our lives.

“It’s time to unpack the most overused, abused and yet indispensable world in the spiritual vocabulary of the world,” says Sadhguru in his book. “It is time to examine how karma is connected to some of the most vital areas of human inquiry: the meaning of life and above all, how to live it.”

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Happiness Starts with Your Brain Type! – Dr. Daniel Amen : 1067 Jul 06, 2023

Show notes

IN THIS EPISODE OF THE HUMAN UPGRADE™...

“Americans are the unhappiest they have been since the Great Depression,” says Dr. Daniel Amen. But he’s determined to change that.

He’s a physician and double board-certified psychiatrist who looks at happiness as a brain function. After studying more than 200,000 brain scans of people from 155 countries, Dr. Daniel Amen discovered five primary brain types and seven neuroscience secrets that influence happiness.

“I wanted to spend my time and energy and research on happiness because, ultimately... happiness is a moral obligation because of how you impact other people,” Dr. Amen says. “The big central point [is] the brain is the organ of happiness, and if your brain is not healthy, you are not likely to be happy.”

What makes you happy? The answer lies in knowing your specific brain type and how it’s being influenced by seven specific chemicals.

Happiness originates in distinct brain regions: pleasure in the orbitofrontal cortex; motivation and habit formation in the basal ganglia; and mood and cognitive flexibility in the brain stem.

You may be one or a combination of these five primary brain types: (take this brain assessment to find out yours)

Balanced: you have a very healthy brain

Spontaneous: you have low dopamine

Persistent: you’re often worried, rigid, and inflexible

Sensitive: you need other people and isolation is hard

Cautious: yourGABA levels are low

Learn more about brain types and what actually boosts your happiness according to neuroscience in Dr. Amen’s book, "You, Happier: The 7 Neuroscience Secrets of Feeling Good Based on Your Brain Type.”

“Happiness comes from moving your life forward toward your life goals with meaning and purpose, based on your values, despite whatever obstacles are in your way,” Dr. Amen says. “A happy life doesn’t focus on the past with regret or look to the future with fear.”

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You’re Not Crazy, Toxic Mold Exposure Is Poisoning Your Brain - Brian Karr : 1066 Jun 29, 2023

Show notes

If you have all sorts of unexplained health problems in your home, where you work, or where you go to school, symptoms can be very different. One person's gaining fat, another person's always tired, other people have dark circles, emotional irregularity, sudden weight gain, onset of allergies that no one can explain, on and on.

In the episode today, you learn the smarter, not harder, ways to deal with toxic mold exposure in your environment from one of the world’s leading experts on the matter.

Our guest is Brian Karr. He's a second-generation indoor environmental consultant and he works with hypersensitive individuals with complex medical conditions. He's the co-founder of We Inspect, an environmental testing company which works to help people understand mold, mycotoxins, and even bacterial toxins that exist in your homes. He takes time to explain what's (usually) there, why it’s important—even down to the genetic level—and what it's doing to you.

Go back to the definition of biohacking… The art and science of changing the environment around you and inside of you so that you have full control of your own biology. If your environment is moldy and has biotoxins, maybe you don't have control of your biology—the mold does.

Brian's become a go-to guy for medical doctors across the country, helping more than 5,000 people as sensitive as I used to be to create healthier living environments. You're going to learn a lot in this episode, even if you're saying… Well, I don't have a mold problem. You'd be very surprised.

00:17:00 — Meeting the Mold (and Brian) Head On

• Dave’s younger years battling his own health

• The xenoestrogen that took over his life

• Brian Karr’s background and introduction

• We Inspect environmental testing company

• Moldy Movie: moldymovie.com

• How Brian married into the business and fell in love

• Building an infrastructure to serve the country

• Betsy Maldonado’s story

00:15:02 — We Inspect: Spotlighting Innovation & Access

• We Inspect’s process—what’s unique and special?

• Most mold is hidden out of plain sight