Podcasts about bdnf

In this episode of the Health Optimization Medicine Podcast, Dr. Ted Achacoso, Dr. Scott Sherr, Dr. Allen Bookatz, Dr. Jup Kuipers, and Jodi Duval take a deep dive into the gut-brain-microbiota axis. Moving past the simplistic, pathogenic "pill-for-an-ill" approach of conventional psychiatry and the mainstream hype around over-the-counter probiotics, the faculty breaks down why establishing enteric safety must always precede biochemical optimization. Join us as we delve into: The Tripartite Axis: How the enteric microbiota, gut barrier, and central nervous system communicate at a molecular and metabolomic level to dictate brain state and mood. Epigenetic Signaling: How gut microbes act as active metabolic factories, fermenting dietary fibers into short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) like butyrate that cross the blood-brain barrier to upregulate BDNF and support synaptic plasticity. The IDO Serotonin Hijack: How gut-driven inflammation activates indolamine 2,3-dioxygenase (IDO), shunting tryptophan down the kynurenine pathway to produce neurotoxic quinolinic acid instead of serotonin and melatonin. The Microglial Fire: How circulating cytokines cross the blood-brain barrier at the circumventricular organs, placing the brain's microglia into an active defense state that triggers cognitive fatigue and brain fog. The 3-Phase Gut-Brain Protocol: Why seeding probiotics into inflamed soil fails, and how to logically sequence clearing overgrowth, rebuilding mucosal integrity with L-glutamine, and seeding validated strains. This episode is for you if: You are running on high-dose over-the-counter probiotics for mood issues but feeling no relief or worsening symptoms. You want to understand the exact cellular and biochemical mechanisms connecting leaky gut to leaky brain and psychiatric distress. You want a practical, clinically sequenced blueprint to restore gut barrier safety before attempting to optimize your neurochemistry. You can also find this episode on… YouTube: https://youtu.be/A43LDN6FgvA  Find more from Health Optimization Medicine and Practice (HOMeHOPe): Website: https://homehope.org/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/homehopeorg/ HOMeHOPe Conference 2026: https://homehope.org/homehope-conference-2026 Use PODCAST10 to get 10% OFF your purchase of the Clinical Metabolomics Module at https://homehope.org/products/clinical-metabolomics Find more from Troscriptions: Website: https://troscriptions.com/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/troscriptions/ Use POD10 to get 10% OFF your Troscriptions purchase at https://troscriptions.com/collections/our-products

Two out of three Alzheimer's patients are women, and for decades that gap was written off as a side effect of living longer. The newer neuroscience tells a more specific story: menopause is not a reproductive event, it's a neurological one, and the pathology begins 20 to 30 years before the first symptom. In this episode, Louisa breaks down why the female brain loses its primary protection around 40, what actually drives the disease, and the seven evidence-based protections that can change the trajectory. She starts with the estrogen shield, the four things estrogen does in the female brain that nothing else replicates: it drives mitochondrial biogenesis, suppresses amyloid plaque formation, upregulates antioxidant enzymes, and maintains white matter integrity. You'll hear why estrogen doesn't decline smoothly but swings wildly through perimenopause before dropping roughly 80% by postmenopause, what PET scans already show in women in midlife, and why a 2021 paper by Mosconi and colleagues named menopause the single strongest predictor of Alzheimer's brain changes, stronger than age, stronger than family history. Then she turns to what you can do about it. You'll learn why resistance training, not cardio, produces the irisin and BDNF cascade that targets the exact pathological hallmarks of Alzheimer's, and why two sessions a week was enough to preserve the brain regions the disease hits first. She covers the glymphatic system that clears amyloid and tau only during deep sleep, and why 70 to 80% of women in perimenopause lose exactly that sleep at exactly the wrong moment. She walks through the HRT timing fork, 32% lower risk when therapy starts within five years of menopause versus 38% higher when it starts after 65, the MIND diet's 53% risk reduction, the omega-3 dose most women get wrong by a factor of five, and the cortisol crisis that runs like a thread through every mechanism in the episode. It's not a death sentence. It's a timeline, and there is a window where the right information changes the outcome. To sponsor an episode- https://open.substack.com/pub/neuroathletics/p/sponsor-tne *Reduce your risk of Alzheimer's with my science-backed protocol for women 30+:* https://go.neuroathletics.com.au/youtube-sales-page Subscribe to The Neuro Experience for evidence-based conversations at the intersection of brain science, longevity, and performance. _____ *TOPICS DISCUSSED* 00:00 Intro: Two Out of Three Alzheimer's Patients Are Women 00:37 The Estrogen Shield and the Four Things It Does in Your Brain 02:13 What Happens to the Brain When Estrogen Drops 03:01 The Reframe: Menopause Is a Neurological Event, Not a Reproductive One 03:31 Why Women Develop More Tau Than Men 04:15 The 20-Year Head Start: It Begins in Your 30s and 40s 05:02 When the Silent Window Collides With Perimenopause 05:44 The Symptoms Women Are Told to Dismiss 06:42 The Diagnostic Gap and the APOE4 Risk 08:59 Protection 1: Why Resistance Training Beats Cardio 09:31 Irisin, BDNF, and Fertilizer for Your Neurons 10:37 The Brain-Scan Proof: Two Sessions a Week 11:16 Why Chronic Cardio Can Work Against Your Brain 13:36 Protection 2: The Glymphatic System and Deep Sleep 14:53 How Your Brain Cleans Itself Overnight 15:56 The Sleep Collision That's Specific to Women 16:37 Why Deep Sleep Beats Total Hours 18:41 Protection 3: The HRT Timing Window 18:56 32% Lower vs 38% Higher: Same Therapy, Opposite Outcomes 20:56 The 2002 Data Still Driving the Wrong Advice 21:05 APOE4 Carriers and the Largest HRT Benefit 23:19 Protection 4: The MIND Diet and a 53% Lower Risk 24:20 The Omega-3 Dose Most Women Get Wrong 25:17 Berries, Anthocyanins, and the Foods to Cut 27:38 The Cortisol Crisis: The Thread Through Everything 28:58 The Estrogen and Cortisol Feedback Loop 30:18 The "Healthy" Routine That's Quietly Hurting Your Brain 31:08 Seven Layers, One Message: This Is Preventable _______ *Thank you to our sponsors* Function Health: https://functionhealth.com/LouisaNicola - Use code NEURO25 for a $25 credit Timeline (Mitopure): https://timeline.com/neuro - Use code NEURO for a discount IQBAR: Text NEURO to 64000 for 20% off all IQBAR products plus FREE shipping (Message and data rates may apply) Cozy Earth: https://cozyearth.com - Use code NEURO for 20% off _______ I'm Louisa Nicola - clinical neurophysiologist - Alzheimer's prevention specialist - founder of Neuro Athletics. My mission is to translate cutting-edge neuroscience into actionable strategies for cognitive longevity, peak performance, and brain disease prevention. If you're committed to optimizing your brain- reducing Alzheimer's risk - and staying mentally sharp for life, you're in the right place. Stay sharp. Stay informed. Join thousands who subscribe to the Neuro Athletics Newsletter → https://bit.ly/3ewI5P0 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/louisanicola_/ Twitter : https://twitter.com/louisanicola_ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Broadcast from KSQD, Santa Cruz on 7-16-2026: Dr. Dawn dissects a June 2026 JAMA Internal Medicine paper that claimed simultaneous flu and COVID vaccination in veterans reduced cardiac events, arguing the retrospective natural-experiment design cannot support causal conclusions. The 20% versus 2% dropout rates between groups signal fundamentally non-comparable populations, and the divergence in cardiac events starting within a month of vaccination is clinically implausible—suggesting an X-factor other than vaccine effect is driving the numbers. Dr. Dawn delivers a pointed critique of a major chain pharmacy—part of a vertical healthcare monopoly—for creating deliberate friction around controlled-substance prescriptions through claims of stock shortages, unnecessary prior authorizations, and phantom "clarification" requests. She acknowledges the real paperwork burden of DEA compliance (quarterly reporting, six-month inspections, legitimate-need documentation) but argues chains are pushing pain patients away rather than doing due diligence, while independent pharmacies are closing at alarming rates in California. Following up on last week's Kampo medicine caller, Dr. Dawn reports research on Goshajinkigan showing it suppresses voltage-gated sodium channels at the motor end plate, functioning as a muscle relaxant used clinically in Japan for low back pain, extremity numbness, and chemotherapy- and diabetic-induced neuropathy. An emailer asks about a case report of an 80-year-old woman with 10-year Alzheimer's whose function dramatically improved after 5g oral psilocybin (Enigma strain), regaining conversation, continence, and autonomous dressing. Dr. Dawn notes plausible mechanisms (neuroplasticity, anti-inflammatory action, elevated BDNF) but cautions the diagnosis was clinical rather than confirmed with imaging or CSF markers, and recommends the emailer pursue exercise and sleep optimization for word-finding difficulties instead. An emailer asks how to reassure her chemically-hypersensitive adult son that their remediated apartment is safe. Dr. Dawn recommends commercial ERMI (Environmental Relative Moldiness Index) testing along baseboards where spores concentrate, plus urine mycotoxin testing on the parents themselves to demonstrate objectively low exposure levels. Drosophila fruit-fly males produce sperm longer than their own 2mm bodies—40 times longer than human sperm—with thousands packed inside. Fluorescent-dye imaging shows the sperm remain unusually still and coordinated, moving in synchronized slow waves like flocking birds or kelp in tides, preventing tangling. A Washington University study of 154,000 UK and 10,000 US participants used nine blood biomarkers to calculate biological age, finding people born in the 1990s show accelerated biological aging compared to those born three decades earlier. The gap between biological and chronological age correlated with increased risk of lung, colon, and uterine cancers—all rising in younger populations. A University of Pennsylvania study of 493 mouse litters found germ-free mice had shorter reproductive lifespans, more ovarian scarring, and accelerated loss of primordial follicles. Introducing gut bacteria at birth or weaning reversed these effects, as did supplementation with short-chain fatty acids alone (butyrate, isobutyrate, acetate). Dr. Dawn suggests ghee as a readily available butyrate source for those interested in the theoretical fertility-preservation benefit.

Welcome back to Season 16 of the Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast. I'm Andrea Samadi, and this is where we bridge neuroscience, social and emotional learning, and human performance so we can create measurable improvements in our well-being, achievement, leadership, productivity, and results. In this episode 403 The Movement Loop: How Movement Activates the Brain for Learning, Adaptation & Performance we will cover: ✔ Why movement is the biological input that prepares the brain for learning, adaptation, and performance. ✔ How Dr. Chuck Hillman's groundbreaking neuroscience research explains what happens inside the brain during and immediately after exercise. ✔ Why even one bout of physical activity can improve attention, executive function, and learning readiness. ✔ How Paul Zientarski translated neuroscience into practice through Naperville Central High School's internationally recognized Zero Hour PE Program. ✔ The science behind brain activation, neuroplasticity, positive stress, and cognitive reserve. ✔ Why movement isn't a break from learning—it's preparation for learning. ✔ How teachers, coaches, parents, and workplace leaders can use movement to improve focus, decision-making, creativity, and performance. ✔ How to apply the Movement Loop in everyday life using practical strategies you can begin today. ✔ Why movement is the input, adaptation is the process, and performance is the result. If you're just joining us, Season 16 explores Phase 3 of the Brain's Operating System for Human Performance—the Movement Loop. This season asks one central question: How does movement change the brain, adaptation change the body, and together create measurable improvements in performance? If you'd like the full overview of the five-phase framework, I encourage you to start with Episode 402. In Episode 402[i], we introduced Phase 3 of the Brain's Operating System for Human Performance—where we introduced The Movement Loop. We discovered one powerful idea. Movement is the input. When you move, your body sends a powerful biological signal to the brain that says: "Prepare. Activate. Adapt." Adaptation is the process. With movement, repetition, and recovery, the brain and body strengthen, rewire, and become more efficient. Performance is the output. The changes become visible in everyday life—clearer thinking, better decisions, stronger health, and improved performance. Then the loop begins again. Today we're asking the next question. Why does movement come first? Not simply because exercise is good for our bodies. But because movement is one of the most powerful biological signals we can send to the brain. Before we can focus... Before we can learn... Before we can adapt... The brain must first be activated. That's why movement isn't the outcome. It's the beginning. When we first interviewed Dr. Chuck Hillman on Episode 123[ii], (back in April 2021) I wanted to understand how his neuroscience research inspired Paul Zientarski's revolutionary Zero Hour PE Program at Naperville Central High School. It was Naperville's extraordinary performance on the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) that caught the eye of Dr. John Ratey. Naperville District 203 entered the international comparison as if it were its own "country" and ranked #1 in the world in science and #6 in the world in math. Those results made Dr. Ratey ask, "What are they doing differently?" That question ultimately led him to Naperville, (IL) where he discovered Zientarksi's Zero Hour PE initiative and made it the opening case study in  his book Spark. We will cover this story on our next episode Then years later, we revisited that conversation in Episode 397[iii] through the lens of motivation—exploring how movement increases engagement and helps us want to move more. But looking back through the lens of Phase 3, I realized I had been asking the wrong question. The bigger question isn't whether movement motivates us. The bigger question is: What happens inside the brain the moment we begin to move? That's the question we're answering today. And it's the reason movement sits at the beginning of the Brain's Operating System for Human Performance. Let's begin where every performance story begins... with movement. As we begin Phase 3, Dr. Chuck Hillman's research helps us understand why movement is the first step in the Movement Loop. In our interview, he mentioned that his lab has consistently demonstrated that even a single bout of physical activity can improve attention, cognition, and academic performance. But what fascinated me most wasn't simply that exercise works. It was why it works. Listen carefully as Dr. Hillman explains how movement acts as a positive biological stressor that prepares the brain for learning. EP 403 — Clip 1 Summary Movement is the First Signal As we begin Phase 3 of the Brain's Operating System, the first question is simple: Why does movement come first? Dr. Chuck Hillman has spent his career studying how physical activity changes the brain—from childhood through older adulthood. His research doesn't just focus on exercise, but on understanding how different life experiences shape brain health across the lifespan. One insight from our conversation completely changed how I think about movement. Dr. Hillman explained that even a single session of exercise can improve attention, cognition, and academic performance in children. His team is now studying why that happens, exploring how exercise acts as a positive stressor that activates biological pathways supporting brain function. But what struck me even more was why he chose to study children in the first place. Rather than waiting until someone reaches their 60s and begins experiencing cognitive decline, his goal is to help children build a stronger brain from the very beginning—to create what he calls a cognitive reserve that may protect brain health throughout life. That idea captures exactly what Phase 3 is all about. Movement isn't simply something we do to stay fit. It's one of the earliest investments we can make in the future health and performance of our brain. ______ This is the first piece of the Movement Loop. Movement isn't valuable because we eventually become fitter. This is what many of us used to think? I can't be alone in this…I used to move for fitness alone. Until I studied the brain…and learned that: It's valuable because it immediately changes the state of the brain. Before learning improves... Before memory improves... Before performance improves... The brain has to be activated. That's exactly what movement does. Key Takeaways from Dr. Hillman There are three ideas I'd like all of us to remember from this first clip. Movement is Information The Neuroscience Every movement you make sends information throughout your nervous system. As your muscles contract, they don't just move your body—they communicate with your brain. Your heart pumps faster, blood flow increases, oxygen and glucose are delivered more efficiently, and neurons begin communicating more actively. Movement also changes your brain's neurochemistry. Exercise increases the release of neurotransmitters like dopamine, norepinephrine, and serotonin, which help regulate attention, motivation, mood, and learning. At the same time, it stimulates the production of growth factors such as brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), which supports neuroplasticity—the brain's ability to form and strengthen new neural connections. That's why I like to think of movement as sending a message to the brain: "Wake up. Pay attention. Get ready to learn." Movement isn't simply burning calories. It's providing your brain with the biological conditions it needs to perform at its best. Stress Isn't Always Harmful The Neuroscience When we hear the word stress, we usually think of chronic stress—too much cortisol, too little recovery, and the negative effects that follow. But the brain actually needs short, manageable challenges to become stronger. Exercise is an example of what's often called eustress, or positive stress. When you exercise, your body briefly increases stress hormones like cortisol and activates your sympathetic nervous system. At the same time, it stimulates beneficial signaling molecules and growth factors that help the brain adapt. Dr. Hillman's research explores how these temporary changes—including biomarkers like cortisol and salivary alpha-amylase—may help explain why even a single bout of exercise improves attention and cognition. The important point is that the stress is temporary. When it's followed by recovery, your brain and body adapt. Without recovery, stress becomes harmful. With recovery, stress becomes the signal that drives growth. That's why adaptation sits in the middle of the Movement Loop. The challenge isn't the goal. The adaptation is. Activation Comes Before Performance The Neuroscience One of the biggest misconceptions about learning is that we can simply decide to pay attention. The brain doesn't work that way. Before the prefrontal cortex—the part of the brain responsible for focus, planning, decision-making, and executive function—can perform well, it must first be activated. Movement helps create that activation. Exercise increases cerebral blood flow, raises arousal to an optimal level, and improves communication across large-scale brain networks involved in attention and cognitive control. Think of it like warming up an orchestra before a concert. Before the musicians can perform together, they first need to tune their instruments. Movement helps the brain tune itself. That's why research consistently shows improvements in attention and executive function immediately after moderate physical activity. Performance doesn't begin when you sit down to work. Performance begins the moment you prepare your brain. That's why movement sits at the beginning of the Movement Loop. One final thought Movement isn't magic. It changes the brain because it changes the brain's biology. It increases blood flow. It changes neurochemistry. It activates neural networks. It stimulates neuroplasticity. And when those changes are repeated over time—and supported by recovery—they become adaptation. That's why movement is the input. Adaptation is the process. Performance is the result. TIPS to IMPLEMENT So what can we do with this research? Here are three simple ways to put the Movement Loop into practice this week. ✅ 1. Move with purpose. Before asking your brain to perform... Prepare it. Take a 10–20 minute walk. Ride your bike. Do a short workout. Climb the stairs instead of taking the elevator. Don't think of movement as taking time away from your work. Think of it as the first step toward doing your best work. I always park my car at the back of the parking lot, not afraid add bits of movement into the day. ✅ 2. Prepare the brain before expecting learning. Whether you're a parent... A teacher... A coach... Or a leader... Create opportunities to move before asking people to think. Movement isn't a reward after learning. It's preparation before learning. I discovered this one early on with this podcast. I can't focus on this topic, without moving first. ✅ 3. Start measuring brain performance—not just physical performance. The next time you move, don't just ask: "How many calories did I burn?" Ask: Did I think more clearly today? Did I focus more easily? Did I feel more energized? Did I recover better tonight? Am I becoming more resilient? Those are the real returns on your investment. Movement for me, is at the root of each of these questions. If I lacked movement (and sometimes I can't fit it in) I'll notice it show up in one of these questions, and know how important it is to get it back on track. Final Reflection Remember... Movement is the input. It's what we do. Every step you take sends a message to your brain: "Prepare. Activate. Adapt." The more consistently you send that signal, the more opportunities your brain and body have to change. Over time, those changes become visible. You think more clearly. You learn more effectively. You recover more efficiently. You perform at a higher level. But here's the part I find most fascinating. When I look at the Movement Loop... I don't stop at Performance. I look at the final circle. Confidence. Because confidence is what keeps the loop alive. I'll be the first to say I can't always do this. Something gets in the way. It's not always easy to move. Some days we're busy. Some days we're tired. Some days we simply don't feel like it. But every time you complete the loop, you collect another piece of evidence. "I showed up." "I felt better afterward." "I handled that challenge differently." "I'm becoming stronger than I was yesterday." Those moments become evidence. Evidence builds confidence. And confidence makes it easier to begin again tomorrow. That's how lasting change happens. Not through one workout. Not through one perfect week. But by repeating the loop. Again. And again. And again. Because every movement today is an investment in the person you're becoming tomorrow. Movement is the input. Adaptation is the process. Performance is the result. And confidence is what inspires us to begin again. Clip 2 Summary Brain Activation Creates Readiness to Learn Paul Zientarski explains how Naperville Central High School achieved remarkable academic results through its Zero Hour PE Program and the use of heart rate monitoring. His work around getting students to move was inspired by Dr. Hillman's research. In this clip, Paul Zientarski describes how Dr. Chuck Hillman's research transformed physical education from something schools did for physical health into something they could use to improve learning itself. The research that ignited him showed that after just 20 minutes of walking, students demonstrated measurable increases in brain activation and performed better on cognitive tasks. For Paul, this wasn't simply evidence that exercise works. It explained why movement belongs at the beginning of the school day. Movement wasn't taking time away from learning. It was preparing the brain to learn. Looking at this through the lens of the Movement Loop, we can now see what was happening biologically. Movement activated the brain. An activated brain was better able to pay attention. Better attention improved learning. Repeated learning created adaptation. And over time, those adaptations translated into stronger academic and life performance. That's why movement is the first step in Phase 3. Key Takeaways ✔ 1. Brain activation is the bridge between movement and performance. Movement doesn't improve learning—or performance—directly. It first changes the brain into a state that's ready to focus, solve problems, make decisions, and learn. Whether you're in a classroom, on the athletic field, or leading a team at work, performance begins with brain activation. ✔ 2. Readiness comes before instruction/teaching/learning. One of Paul Zientarski's greatest insights was that not every student needed more movement. Sometimes they needed more recovery. By monitoring students' heart rates, he learned to recognize when a student was physiologically ready to learn and when the brain and body needed time to recover. That's a lesson for all of us. Teachers can observe energy before beginning a lesson. Coaches can balance challenge with recovery. Leaders can recognize when their teams need a reset before asking for peak performance. The question isn't simply, "What am I teaching?" It's, "Are people ready to learn?" ✔ 3. Small actions create lasting adaptation. One walk. One movement break. One active lesson. One walking meeting. None of these seem significant on their own. But repeated consistently, they become the biological signals that drive adaptation. Small actions, repeated often, create lasting change. ✔ 4. Performance begins long before the moment that matters. A student's success doesn't begin when they open the exam. An athlete's success doesn't begin when the whistle blows. A leader's success doesn't begin when the meeting starts. Performance begins much earlier— when we prepare the brain to perform. ✔ 5. Movement isn't a break from work. It's preparation for better work. Whether you're teaching a lesson... Coaching a team... Leading a meeting... Or solving a complex problem... Movement should be viewed as part of the performance process—not time taken away from it. Tips to Implement Prepare the brain before expecting performance. Before teaching... Before coaching... Before presenting... Before solving difficult problems... Ask one question: "Is the brain ready to perform?" Sometimes the best way to improve performance is to begin with five to ten minutes of purposeful movement. Build movement into the rhythm of the day. Instead of viewing movement as a separate activity, make it part of how you work and learn. Teachers can begin lessons with movement. Coaches can use dynamic warm-ups with a cognitive focus. Leaders can replace one seated meeting each week with a walking meeting. Movement becomes the signal that says, "It's time to focus." Balance challenge with recovery. Paul didn't simply encourage students to move more. He also recognized when they needed recovery. High performance isn't created by constant effort. It's created by alternating challenge with recovery. That's true in classrooms. It's true in sports. And it's true in the workplace. Think beyond fitness. Don't ask, "How do I fit exercise into my day?" Instead ask, "How can movement improve everything I do afterward?" That one shift changes movement from another task on your calendar... into the first step toward better thinking, better learning, better leadership, and better performance. Closing Reflection Every time we move... We send a message to the brain. "Prepare. Activate. Adapt." That's why movement isn't just something we do for our bodies. It's one of the most practical performance tools available to teachers, coaches, leaders, parents, and anyone who wants to think more clearly, learn more effectively, and perform at a higher level. Because in the end... Movement is the input. (What we do.) Adaptation is the process. (How the brain and body change.) Performance is the result. (What we're capable of becoming.) Paul Zientarski didn't change physical education at Naperville HS. He changed the purpose of physical education. Instead of asking, "How do we build fitter students?" he helped us ask, "How do we build brains that are ready to learn?" EP 403 Review and Conclusion As we review and close out this episode, I'd like to leave you with one final thought. When we first interviewed Dr. Chuck Hillman, I was fascinated by what exercise did for the brain. When we interviewed Paul Zientarski, I was inspired by how he translated that research into a school that changed lives. But looking back through the lens of Phase 3, I realize they were teaching us something even bigger. They were teaching us where human performance begins. Not with talent. Not with intelligence. Not with motivation. It begins with a biological signal. Movement. Every step you take... Every walk... Every workout... Every hike... Every time you choose to move... You're telling your brain: "Prepare. Activate. Adapt." That's the first instruction your brain receives. From there, everything else becomes possible. Movement activates the brain. An activated brain pays attention. Attention makes learning possible. Learning creates adaptation. Adaptation improves performance. And performance builds confidence. Confidence is what inspires us to move again tomorrow. That's the Movement Loop. A Personal Journey This season has become personal for me. For years, I interviewed experts and shared their research. Over the past year, I began testing these ideas (their research) in my own life. Not to become a better athlete. Not to chase perfect numbers on my wearable device (as much as I would like to have them). But to see whether the neuroscience actually showed up in everyday life. It did. The more consistently I moved... The more consistently I recovered... The more my brain and body adapted. My recovery improved. My resting heart rate dropped. My hikes became easier. My thinking became clearer. Those weren't isolated improvements. They were evidence that the Movement Loop was working. And with every small improvement... my confidence grew. Not because someone told me I was improving. Because I could see it. I could measure it. I could feel it. That confidence became more than the result of movement. It became something I began carrying into other areas of my life. Into my work. Into my relationships. Into the challenges I was willing to take on. And that's when I realized something... Confidence doesn't end the Movement Loop. It becomes the beginning of another part of the Brain's Operating System. But... that's a conversation for another episode.   Your challenge for the week So before our next episode, I'd like to leave you with a simple challenge. Don't focus on changing your life overnight. Just begin the loop. Tomorrow morning... Before work... Before studying... Before an important conversation... Move. Even if it's just for ten or twenty minutes. Then ask yourself one question: How did that movement prepare my brain today? Start paying attention. Notice your focus. Notice your energy. Notice how you think. Because once you begin looking for the changes... You'll start seeing them everywhere. Write down what you notice…because if you don't write things down, you won't remember that the change occurred.   Looking ahead In our next episode, we'll continue exploring Phase 3 with one of the pioneers in this field, Dr. John Ratey, author of Spark. If Dr. Hillman showed us that movement activates the brain... Dr. Ratey helps us understand why exercise has been called "Miracle-Gro for the brain" and how movement literally changes the brain's ability to learn, adapt, and grow. We'll continue building the Movement Loop... one step at a time.   Until next time... Remember... Movement is the input. It's what we do. Adaptation is the process. It's how the brain and body change. Performance is the result. It's the measurable improvement we experience in our thinking, learning, health, leadership, and daily lives. And perhaps most importantly... Confidence is what keeps the loop alive. Because every step you take today is building the brain you'll depend on tomorrow. By the end of this season, my hope is that we don't just understand the neuroscience of human performance—we put it into practice. That we begin moving with purpose. That we notice how our brain and body respond. That we embrace adaptation as part of the process. And that we experience measurable improvements in our thinking, learning, health, leadership, and everyday performance.   I'm Andrea Samadi, and this has been the Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast. I'll see you next time.   EP 403: How did movement prepare my brain today? EP 404: How did today's movement help my brain learn? EP 405: How did recovery help my brain adapt? EP 406: How did attention improve my performance? EP 407: How will I keep the loop going?   RESOURCES:   Full interview Dr. Chuck Hillman https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ip5s2iDFLE&list=PLb5Z3cA_mnKhiYc5glhacO9k9WTrSgjzW&index=88   Full interview Paul Zientarski https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UHYNEhxkxfE   Paul Zientarski's clip https://www.youtube.com/shorts/DmtkP_licdA   REFERENCES:   [i] Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast EPISODE 402 “Phase 3 Intro: How Movement Builds the Brain https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/movement-loop-how-everyday-action-rewires-your-brain-and-boosts-performance/   [ii] Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast EPISODE 123 https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/northeastern-university-professor-chuck-hillman-phd-on-the-impact-of-exercise-on-the-brain-and-learning/   [iii] Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast EPISODE 397 https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/move-to-learn-how-movement-activates-the-brain-and-fuels-motivation/                                

Durante años hablamos del ejercicio casi exclusivamente en términos de calorías, peso corporal y apariencia física.Pero hoy sabemos que el movimiento tiene efectos mucho más profundos.En este episodio converso con la nutrióloga deportiva Paulina Castro sobre algunas de las ideas más interesantes que la ciencia está revelando sobre el ejercicio y la salud.Exploramos temas como:• El músculo como órgano endocrino• Mioquinas y salud metabólica• BDNF, cerebro y neuroplasticidad• Ejercicio, memoria y aprendizaje• La verdad detrás de la “tonificación”• Entrenamiento de fuerza y sobrecarga progresiva• Salud ósea y prevención de osteoporosis• Recuperación, adaptación y descanso• Sueño y rendimiento físico• Cómo incorporar el movimiento incluso si nunca te ha gustado hacer ejercicioUna conversación para quienes quieren dejar de ver el ejercicio únicamente como una herramienta para bajar de peso y comenzar a entenderlo como una de las intervenciones más poderosas para proteger la salud física, metabólica y cognitiva a lo largo de la vida.

This episode is not about scaring you. Fear does not produce good health decisions. It produces paralysis, or overreaction, and neither of those is what I am after for you.This episode is about something different. It is about helping you understand that what your body is doing right now, however subtle it feels, is communicating something about your future. And that the gap between where you are today and where you could be in ten years is significantly influenced by what you do in the window you are currently in.Today I am getting concrete. Three areas where waiting carries the highest cost. Three areas where earlier action produces outcomes that later action simply cannot replicate. Autoimmunity. Hormonal and metabolic dysfunction. Brain health.Inside this episode, we cover:Why autoimmune disease does not begin at the diagnosis, and what research shows about the window that precedes itThe three-hit model of autoimmune development, and why two of the three hits are modifiableHow the metabolic mess becomes the immune mess, and what that chain reaction actually looks likeWhy the word "just" has cost more women more years of their health than anything else: just hormones, just stress, just aging, just perimenopauseThe actual physiology of how adrenal strain, cortisol dysregulation, gut compromise, and sex hormone decline create one tightening knot over timeWhy brain reserve is the area I feel the most urgency about, and what is actually happening underneath before the symptoms appearThe glymphatic system, estrogen, insulin resistance, and BDNF: what these have to do with your cognitive futureThree patient stories: one autoimmune, one hormonal and metabolic, one brain health, all with the same throughlineGenetics loads the gun. Lifestyle pulls the trigger. That is true for all three of these areas. And none of them are outside your influence, especially in the window you are currently in.This is not just about feeling better now. The person you will be at 60, 70, 80, the function you will have, the clarity, the independence, the capacity to show up fully for your life. That future is being shaped by the inputs happening right now.Share this episode with one woman who has a family history that scares her. Family history is information. It is not a sentence. But only if you act in the window it opens.Your next steps are below:✨ Free Guide: 9 Hidden Signs Your Metabolism Is Stuck in Survival Mode www.drkaceywallace.com/hiddenmetabolicmess✨ Adrenal Optimization Test (see your cortisol rhythm + DHEA clearly) www.drkaceywallace.com/innercalm✨ Hair Tissue Mineral Analysis www.drkaceywallace.com/htma✨ The Anchored Journey (application)https://anchoredtowellness.com/anchored-journey✨ Get the book: You Are Not Fine www.youarenotfine.com✨ Dr. Kacey's Corner Newsletterwww.drkaceywallace.com/newslettersignupSupport the show

 Mushrooms for Sleep and Cognitive Support: Jim LaValle, a clinical pharmacist, author, and board-certified clinical nutritionist, details Wakunaga/Kyolic's new Specialty Series mushroom products and related health strategies. He reveals a sleep formula with reishi, L-theanine, valerian, and Aged Garlic Extract aimed at calming stress and supporting better sleep. The formula for cognition includes lion's mane for memory support and aronia berry antioxidants. He also emphasizes Aged Garlic Extract's heart benefits. 

Season 16, Episode 402 explores the Brain's Operating System for Human Performance, focusing on Phase 3: movement, adaptation, and performance. Andrea Samadi explains how movement triggers neurochemicals and blood flow, recovery enables adaptation, and measurable performance follows. The episode shows how consistent, purposeful movement plus prioritized recovery creates lasting biological change—improved sleep, lower resting heart rate, higher VO2 max, and clearer thinking—and offers simple strategies to build the movement loop into daily life. EP 402 — Introducing Phase 3 Movement, Adaptation & Performance Watch Andrea teach this episode on YouTube https://youtu.be/Btaihnb5HPs   On EP 402, We'll Cover: Why movement is the missing link in human performance—and why the brain evolved to move before it learned. The Brain's Operating System for Human Performance—how the first three phases connect to create lasting change. The Movement Loop—my new framework explaining how movement leads to adaptation and ultimately performance. The science of adaptation—why the workout isn't what changes you, but the body's response during recovery is. My personal performance experiment—how tracking recovery, resting heart rate, heart rate variability, VO₂ Max, sleep, body composition, and biological age revealed measurable evidence of neuroscience in action. How the world's leading experts helped build this framework—and how their research fits together into one repeatable system. A preview of Phase 3—what you'll learn from Dr. Chuck Hillman, Dr. John Ratey, Kristen Holmes, Dr. John Medina, Jason Whitrock, and the bonus episodes throughout this season. Practical strategies you can begin using immediately to help your brain learn more effectively, your body adapt more efficiently, and your performance improve over time. Opening Welcome back to Season 16 of the Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast. I'm Andrea Samadi, and this is where we bridge neuroscience, social and emotional learning, and human performance so we can create measurable improvements in our well-being, achievement, leadership, productivity, and results. Seven years ago, when we launched this podcast, I started with one simple question: If results matter—and they matter now more than ever—how exactly are we using our brain to create those results? This question stemmed from the fact that very few of us were ever taught how the brain actually learns. How motivation begins. How emotions shape decisions. How relationships influence performance. Or how movement changes the brain. That single question has taken us on an incredible journey through neuroscience, psychology, education, leadership, and human performance. But something unexpected happened along the way. I thought I was collecting interviews. Instead... I discovered that I was uncovering a system. Looking back now, over the past 7 years, I realized every expert was describing the same mountain (or obstacle to overcome) but just from a different side (or with a different strategy). One explained motivation. Another explained attention. Another explained learning. Or repetition. Another explained recovery. Another explained movement. None of them contradicted each other. They completed each other. That was the moment I realized... I wasn't collecting interviews. I was assembling a blueprint. A Personal Discovery But there was still one question I couldn't answer. How would these ideas actually work together in everyday life? Could they work for anyone? Not a pro athlete who has all day to train, but a regular person, like me, who was determined to improve their health, well-being and productivity and results. That's when I stopped being just the interviewer... and participated in the experiment. Over the past year, I wasn't trying to become younger. I think our 50s, 60s and beyond, are an incredible time to practice and perfect our health beyond what we might have been able to do without as much effort in our 40s or younger. Looking back, I can honestly say that I wasn't trying to lower my resting heart rate. It just started to show up in my data when I did certain things, in a certain way. I wasn't trying to improve my WHOOP age (with my wearable device) or optimize my daily recovery score. I was simply trying to answer another question. If movement really changes the brain... Could I actually measure this? Can how much I move improve my data, and can I move too much (push too hard) and measure that as well? So I began paying much closer attention to my own data, and looking at what it meant. Not because I wanted better numbers. Well I did want better numbers, but I also wanted evidence. Something that could be replicated for others. There's lots of ways to measure our data with wearable devices. I used the Whoop wearable, something I have been wearing for the past 5 years. I was focused on my daily recovery. My resting heart rate. Heart rate variability. VO₂ Max. Sleep (specifically how much stress I had while sleeping), REM sleep, and restorative sleep. Body composition (how much fat and how much muscle) Then I looked at my hiking performance (did I need to run fast with a weighted vest to get zone 4 and 5), or could I walk along the canal with my dogs, and get my heart rate up that high without having to drive to the mountain. I looked at how high my heart rate went up with strength training. Week after week... Month after month... A pattern began to emerge. The improvements weren't random. They were connected. When I moved consistently...some easier workouts walking with one or two harder push hiking days, with some days at the gym on the stair climber, and others on the elliptical. My recovery improved. My resting heart rate dropped. My biological age became younger. My body became stronger. My mind became clearer. Long hikes felt easier. The numbers weren't the story. Adaptation was. For the first time, I wasn't just reading neuroscience week after week. I was watching it happen inside my own body. And that's when something clicked. Movement starts the change. Recovery allows the change. Adaptation becomes the change. And performance is simply the evidence that the change occurred. That realization became the foundation for everything you're about to hear this season. The Brain's Operating System As I reviewed hundreds of conversations with world-leading researchers over the past seven years, I realized these ideas weren't isolated discoveries. They fit together. Like pieces of one much larger puzzle. Today, I call that framework... The Brain's Operating System for Human Performance. It's built on five interconnected phases. Each one depends on the one before it. Phase 1 — Regulation & Safety[i] Before the brain can learn... it must first feel safe. Phase 2 — Neurochemistry & Motivation Meaning creates motivation. Motivation creates action. Action begins change. Phase 3 — Movement, Adaptation & Performance Movement changes the brain. Adaptation changes the body. Together they create lasting performance. Phase 4 — Perception & Social Intelligence Understanding ourselves. Understanding others. Building trust. Strengthening relationships. Phase 5 — Integration & Meaning Where knowledge becomes wisdom. Experience becomes insight. Performance becomes purpose. Performance doesn't begin at the finish line. It begins with the foundations. And every phase strengthens the next. Why Phase 3 Matters For decades we've treated learning as though it happens inside classrooms... inside books... inside meetings... inside our heads. But evolution tells a very different story. The brain didn't evolve to sit still. It evolved to move. Movement came first. Learning followed. Every step we take increases blood flow. Releases powerful neurochemicals like BDNF. Sharpens attention. Improves executive function. Creates the biological conditions for learning. Movement isn't simply exercise. It's the input that begins one of the most remarkable biological cycles in the human body. The Power of Loops I had to create another loop to show how this works. Nature rarely works in straight lines. Our hearts beat in rhythms. Our lungs breathe in cycles. Sleep follows repeating stages. The seasons repeat. Life itself is built on loops. Human performance is no different. The greatest mistake we've made is thinking performance is a destination. Or an end result that we will celebrate when we get there. Neuroscience shows us it's actually a cycle. One that repeats every single day. I call it... The Movement Loop. One of the biggest shifts I've made while building this framework is changing the way I think about exercise. Most of us think the workout is the goal. Or we think “I've got to go the gym” and I'm not sure about you, but my old way of thinking used to be something along the lines of “to burn fat, or calories, or so I can create a deficit with the workout.” But Neuroscience—and exercise physiology—tell us something very different. The workout is only the beginning. Think of it by looking at the movement loop. Movement is the Input Every system begins with an input. For our bodies, that input is movement. Whether it's a walk around the neighborhood, a strength-training session, a yoga class, or a hike in the mountains, movement sends a message to the brain and body. It says: "Something is being asked of you." The brain responds immediately. Blood flow increases. Attention sharpens. Neurochemicals like BDNF are released. The nervous system begins preparing for change. Movement isn't what changes us. Movement is what tells the body that change is needed. Adaptation is the Process This is where the real transformation happens. Not while we're exercising. But afterward. During recovery. While we sleep. While proteins rebuild muscle. While neural pathways strengthen. While the cardiovascular system becomes more efficient. While the brain reorganizes itself through neuroplasticity. Adaptation is the body's remarkable ability to respond to the demands we've placed upon it. If we repeat the right inputs consistently, the body doesn't simply recover. It becomes more capable. This is why recovery isn't the opposite of growth. Recovery is the process that makes growth possible. Performance is the Output Performance is simply the visible result of this successful adaptation. It's thinking more clearly during an important meeting. Remembering information more easily. Feeling stronger day to day. Recovering faster after stress. Leading with greater confidence. Sleeping more deeply. Seeing your resting heart rate decline. Watching your VO₂ Max improve. Noticing your biological age become younger. Performance isn't one great day. Or one workout. It's the evidence that your brain and body have adapted over time to your repeated efforts. Then the Cycle Begins Again The beautiful part is that the process never ends. Today's performance becomes tomorrow's starting point. As you become more capable, your brain and body are ready for the next challenge. So you move again. You recover again. You adapt again. You perform at an even higher level. This is why I call it The Movement Loop. It's not a one-time event. It's a lifelong cycle of growth. Every walk. Every workout. Every good night's sleep. Every recovery day. Every healthy habit. You're sending your brain and body another message: "I'm becoming a little more capable than yesterday." That's how sustainable human performance is built. Not through one extraordinary effort. But through thousands of ordinary repetitions that, over time, create extraordinary results. Movement The body moves. The brain responds. ↓ Brain Activation Blood flow increases. BDNF and other neurochemicals are released. The brain becomes ready to learn. ↓ Attention Executive function improves. Focus sharpens. Mental readiness increases. ↓ Learning New neural pathways strengthen through repetition and experience. Knowledge becomes skill. ↓ Recovery Sleep, regulation, and restoration allow the brain and body to rebuild. Recovery isn't the opposite of growth. Recovery is what makes growth possible. ↓ Adaptation The nervous system becomes more efficient. The cardiovascular system becomes stronger. Metabolism improves. The brain becomes more resilient. The body becomes more capable. ↓ Performance Performance isn't a single event. It's a capacity. The ability to think clearly. Learn faster. Recover better. Move more efficiently. Lead with greater confidence. ↓ Confidence Success reinforces belief. Belief increases motivation. Confidence encourages us to move again. And the cycle repeats. The Movement Loop doesn't end with performance. Performance creates confidence. Confidence inspires more movement. And every repetition builds a stronger brain and a stronger body. Throughout this phase we'll explore every step of this loop with some of the world's leading experts.   Movement changes the brain. Adaptation changes the body. Performance changes your life.   The Experts EP 403 — Dr. Chuck Hillman & Paul Zientarski Movement is the Trigger We'll discover why exercise is one of the most powerful ways to prepare the brain for learning through BDNF, executive function, cognition, and academic performance. Key takeaway: Every adaptation begins with movement.   EP 404 — Dr. John Ratey The Brain Adapts We'll revisit the groundbreaking work from his book Spark to understand how exercise literally rewires the brain through neuroplasticity and prepares us for learning. Key takeaway: Exercise changes the brain before it changes performance. EP 405 — Kristen Holmes Adaptation Happens During Recovery We'll explore why sleep, recovery, nervous system regulation, and capacity building determine whether the body actually adapts. This is also where I'll share my own WHOOP data—including recovery trends, resting heart rate, and biological age—to show how adaptation becomes measurable. Key takeaway: Recovery builds capacity. Consistency creates adaptation. EP 406 — Dr. John Medina Learning Creates Better Performance Attention, memory, and learning science come together to explain how movement-supported learning becomes real-world performance. Key takeaway: What we learn shapes how we perform. EP 407 — Jason Whitrock Adaptation Changes the Body We'll explore metabolic health, brain energy, body composition, VO₂ Max, and performance capacity while connecting the neuroscience of movement with measurable physiological adaptation. This is where I'll bring together my own data on muscle gain, fat loss, cardiovascular fitness, and healthy aging. Key takeaway: Movement changes the brain. Adaptation changes the body. Together they transform performance. Bonus Episodes Throughout Phase 3 I'll also be sharing several bonus episodes using my own health data as a living case study. We'll explore: Why recovery is built—not found (so we need to build it into our day strategically). The story behind my resting heart rate. How adaptation changed my body. How it works when you Move Today so you can become Younger Tomorrow. Restorative Sleep Sleep Stress These episodes connect neuroscience to real-world data and show what happens when consistent habits become measurable biological change. Because neuroscience isn't just something we study. It's something we can measure. It's something we can experience. And ultimately... it's something we can use to become healthier... stronger... more resilient... and more capable throughout every stage of life. Key Takeaways for Today Movement is the input. (what we do) Every meaningful change begins with movement. It prepares the brain for learning by increasing blood flow, oxygen, and neurochemicals like BDNF that support attention, learning, and neuroplasticity. The actions we choose every day that provide the brain and body with a stimulus for change. Movement Exercise Walking Strength training Recovery habits Nutrition Sleep Adaptation is the process. The workout doesn't change you. Your body's response during recovery does. Every period of quality sleep, recovery, and restoration is an opportunity for your brain and body to become stronger and more efficient.          Adaptation — What Happens         The brain and body respond to those inputs by becoming more efficient and more capable. Neuroplasticity Increased BDNF Stronger neural pathways Improved cardiovascular fitness Muscle repair and growth Better metabolic health Nervous system regulation Performance is the output. High performance isn't something we find—it's something we build. Every repetition of the Movement Loop increases your capacity to learn, lead, recover, and perform.           Output — The Result          The measurable improvements we experience because of adaptation. Better focus Faster learning Higher energy Greater resilience Lower resting heart rate Improved VO₂ Max Better body composition Higher performance Greater healthspan What gets measured becomes visible. Tracking meaningful metrics—such as recovery, resting heart rate, VO₂ Max, sleep, or body composition—helps you see adaptations that would otherwise go unnoticed and reinforces the habits creating them. Your brain and body are one interconnected system. Better thinking, stronger physical health, emotional resilience, and sustained performance all emerge from the same biological process of movement, adaptation, and continuous growth.   Tips to Implement This Week ✓ Move with purpose every day. Aim for 30–60 minutes of purposeful movement—whether it's a brisk walk, strength training, cycling, yoga, or hiking. Remember, consistency matters more than intensity. Every movement is a signal to your brain and body to adapt. A walk after dinner, when kept consistent, can have an incredible impact on your overall health improvement. You don't need to go all out for results to show up. Start paying attention to your body's signals. You don't need a WHOOP or smartwatch to begin. Simply notice how you feel before and after movement. Ask yourself: Do I think more clearly? Is my mood better? Do I have more energy? Am I sleeping better? Your body is always giving you feedback. Learn to listen. ✓ Protect your recovery. Treat tonight's sleep as part of today's workout. Prioritize restorative sleep, manage stress, and allow your brain and body the time they need to repair, rebuild, and become stronger. We are all at different stages here. This one is always a work in progress for me. I ran into someone I used to see every Saturday on the hiking trails this morning, and I asked him where he had been, or if he was hiking at a different time. I used to see him like clockwork and I noticed he wasn't there as usual. He told me that he was protecting his sleep, and worked out indoors more when the weather was getting hot. In order to beat the heat in AZ, early mornings are the best time for this, but this guy knew to protect his recovery. I thought it was brilliant that he was able to practice what he knew to be important. ✓ Measure one meaningful metric. Choose one health measure—such as your resting heart rate, sleep quality, daily steps, recovery score, or VO₂ Max—and observe how it changes over time. You're not looking for perfection; you're looking for patterns that reveal adaptation. I'll share what I noticed over time on our bonus episodes by watching certain metrics. This has been one of my biggest discoveries. For years I assumed harder was always better. But when I compared my data…you can see 2 of my data charts in the show notes. I found something surprising. A long hike and a morning walk created very different responses. My hikes pushed my cardiovascular system into higher heart-rate zones. My walks kept me primarily in Zone 1 while reducing stress and supporting recovery. Both improved my health. They simply trained different systems. Instead of asking… “Was today's workout hard enough?” Ask… “What system am I training today?” ✓ Move before you think. Before beginning a challenging project, studying for an exam, or making an important decision, spend five to ten minutes moving your body. Then notice how your focus, mood, creativity, and mental clarity improve. ✓ Think in loops, not isolated workouts. Instead of asking, "Did I exercise today?" ask yourself: "How did I support tomorrow's brain today?" Every walk. Every workout. Every healthy meal. Every recovery day. Every night of restorative sleep. Each one is another step around the Movement Loop—helping your brain learn, your body adapt, and your performance improve over time. Review & Conclusion Review and Conclude EP 402, Phase 3: Movement, Adaptation & Performance. As we close today, I hope you're (like I did) beginning to see movement differently. Not simply as exercise. Or to burn calories. Not simply as another item on your to-do list. But as the biological signal that tells your brain and body it's time to grow. Throughout Phase 3, we'll discover that movement does far more than strengthen muscles. It sharpens attention. It accelerates learning. It builds resilience. It strengthens the nervous system. It improves recovery. And over time, it transforms both the brain and the body through the remarkable process of adaptation. This season isn't about becoming an elite athlete. It's about becoming someone who understands how lasting performance is built. Together, we'll explore one simple but powerful truth: Movement is the input (what we do) Adaptation is the process (what happens when we do it) Performance is the output (what we get from doing it) Then the cycle begins again. That's the Movement Loop. Every walk. Every workout. Every night of restorative sleep. Every healthy choice. Every recovery day. Each one is another opportunity to build a stronger brain, a healthier body, and a greater capacity to learn, lead, and perform. Because when movement changes the brain... the brain changes the body. And when the brain and body begin working together... performance is no longer something we chase. It's something we build— one movement, one recovery, one adaptation, one day at a time. Next week, we'll begin our journey around the Movement Loop with EP 403, revisiting Dr. Chuck Hillman and Paul Zientarski, where we'll discover why every lasting transformation begins with movement—and why a single step today can change the trajectory of our brain, our health, and our performance tomorrow. Thank you for joining me, and I'll see you next week. RESOURCES: Phase 1 Anchor Episodes Episode 384 — Dr. Baland Jalal Curiosity, Sleep & Imagination → How curiosity, sleep, and imagination prepare the brain for learning and creativity. Episode 385 — Dr. Bruce Perry Trauma, Rhythm & Relational Safety → Why regulation and safety are the foundation for learning and performance. Episode 386 — Thoryn Stephens Biometrics & Performance → Turning HRV, sleep, and metabolic data into actionable performance strategies. Episode 387 — Dr. Sui Wong Lifestyle Medicine & Brain Health → How autonomic balance and healthy habits build long-term brain resilience. Episode 388 — Rohan Dixit HRV & Self-Regulation → Developing nervous system awareness through real-time biofeedback and HRV. Phase 2 Anchor Episodes Episode 393 — Bob Proctor Belief → Why our beliefs determine the actions we take and the results we create. Episode 394 — Dr. Caroline Leaf Thought Patterns → How our thoughts shape neurochemistry, behavior, and long-term performance. Episode 395 — Dr. John Medina Attention & Reward → Why attention determines what the brain values, remembers, and learns. Episode 396 — Dr. Anna Lembke Neurochemistry & Reinforcement → How dopamine reinforces behavior and why sustainable motivation matters more than borrowed dopamine. Episode 397 — Dr. Chuck Hillman Movement & Brain Activation → How physical movement prepares the brain for learning, focus, and performance. Episode 398 — Dr. Friederike Fabritius Neuroleadership & Energy → How to manage brain energy and sustain high performance over time. REFERENCES: [i] Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast EPISODE 384 “How Learning Begins in the Brain: Sleep, Safety and Curiosity (Revisiting Dr. Baland Jalal) https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/hypnagogic-genius-capture-your-best-ideas-at-the-edge-of-sleep/    

In this episode, Dr. David Jockers shares what happened when he went 48 hours without food and breaks down the incredible changes your body experiences during a fast. You'll learn how fasting shifts your metabolism, lowers insulin, and activates fat-burning and ketone production.   Discover how extended fasting supports your brain, boosting clarity, balancing neurotransmitters, and increasing BDNF to enhance focus, creativity, and strategic thinking.   Explore the deeper benefits of fasting on your gut and cellular health, including autophagy, stem cell regeneration, and growth hormone release, which promote anti-aging, gut repair, and overall resilience. In This Episode:  00:00 Ketones Boost Brain 00:27 Podcast Welcome And Support 01:01 Health Coaching Offer 05:06 48 Hour Fast Overview 05:29 12 Hour Detox Window 06:45 14 To 16 Hour Fat Burn 08:07 16 To 20 Hour Microbiome Shift 09:35 20 To 24 Hour Brain Ketones 12:39 24 To 36 Hour Gut Reset 14:38 36 To 48 Hour Autophagy 17:53 Why Fasting Matters Today 18:36 FAQ: What To Drink 20:54 Electrolytes And Cravings 22:48 Exercise While Fasting 24:00 Meds And Supplements 26:08 Hydration And Wrap Up 26:53 Final Podcast Outro Boost your focus and energy without caffeine or nicotine with Ultra Pouches! These plant-powered pouches deliver clinically proven nootropics and adaptogens like Affinity PX, L-theanine, Alpha GPC, and vitamins B6 & B12 for smooth, lasting mental clarity. Use promo code JOCKERS at takeultra.com to get 15% off your order   Boost your resilience and combat stress with Purality Health's premium Ashwagandha formula. This powerful adaptogen helps restore balance, improve energy, and reduce anxiety, all while supporting your overall wellness. Purality Health's unique Mycel Liposomal technology ensures maximum absorption for fast and effective results. Don't just take our word for it—try it risk-free for six months and experience the benefits for yourself! Visit renewyourhair.com/drj to claim your exclusive offer and start feeling your best today.   "Between 12 and 16 hours of fasting, your body shifts into a powerful fat-burning mode by lowering insulin and unlocking stored energy." ~ Dr. Jockers   Subscribe to the podcast on: Apple Podcast Stitcher Spotify PodBean TuneIn Radio     Resources: Use promo code JOCKERS at takeultra.com to get 15% off your order Visit renewyourhair.com/drj to claim your exclusive offer Connect with Dr. Jockers: Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/drjockers/ Facebook – https:/www.facebook.com/DrDavidJockers YouTube – https://www.youtube.com/user/djockers Website – https://drjockers.com/   If you are interested in being a guest on the show, we would love to hear from you! Please contact us here! - https://drjockers.com/join-us-dr-jockers-functional-nutrition-podcast/ 

Discipline Drives Longevity PodcastFIVE PRIMARY POINTS of the PODCAST* Blood Flow Restriction (BFR) Training Builds Muscle with Less Joint Stress* Low-load, high-repetition resistance exercise combined with blood flow restriction can produce muscle growth comparable to traditional heavy lifting while using only about 20–30% of maximal weight.* BFR may be particularly valuable for older adults, injured athletes, and people with joint pain because it minimizes stress on the joints while preserving or increasing muscle mass. Emerging evidence also suggests it increases brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), a protein linked to brain health.* Regular Sauna Use May Be a Powerful Vitality Enhancer* Frequent sauna bathing is associated with substantially lower risks of cardiovascular disease and dementia, while also lowering blood pressure, improving vascular function, and enhancing immune cell activity.* Heat therapy may also reduce muscle loss during periods of immobilization, making it a promising non-pharmacologic strategy for healthy aging.* Cold Exposure Improves Resilience and Metabolic Health* Cold exposure acts as a controlled stressor that reduces inflammation, decreases oxidative stress, activates metabolically beneficial brown fat, and improves autonomic nervous system function.* Regular cold showers or ice baths may enhance recovery, improve stress resilience, and support long-term cardiovascular and metabolic health when practiced appropriately.* Maintaining an Ideal Weight Is Essential for Long-Term Vitality* Excess body weight increases the risk of diabetes, cardiovascular disease, osteoarthritis, and cancer.* The podcast emphasizes a simple principle: eat less and eat less often. Intermittent fasting can be an effective, low-cost strategy for weight management and may provide additional benefits for brain, liver, gut, and metabolic health, although total calorie reduction remains the primary driver of weight loss.* Environmental Stressors Can Complement Exercise for Better Health* Heat, cold, and BFR training represent forms of “environmental training” that challenge the body in ways conventional exercise alone cannot.* The overarching message is that strategically applying these evidence-based stressors—along with maintaining a healthy weight—can improve physical vitality, preserve muscle, enhance cognitive health, and ultimately support better performance and healthier aging.Copyright VyVerse, LLC. All Rights Reserved. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit vitalityexplorers.substack.com/subscribe

Fifty years ago the U.S. government classified it alongside heroin: no accepted medical use, high potential for abuse, illegal in most of the world. The peer-reviewed data now coming out of Johns Hopkins, Imperial College, and Nature tells a different story, one that has some of the most credentialled neuroscientists alive rethinking how the brain heals. In this episode, Louisa breaks down exactly what psilocybin does to your neurons, why it works where antidepressants stall for decades, and where the research is heading right now. She walks through the default mode network, the self-referential system that turns rigid and hyperactive in depression, and the 2024 Nature study that described psilocybin's effect on it as "massive" disruption. You'll hear how a single dose drove a measurable jump in dendritic spine density within 24 hours, why psilocin binds the TRKB receptor 300 times more strongly than any conventional antidepressant, and how Robin Carhart-Harris's head-to-head trial against escitalopram produced more than double the remission rate. Then she turns to addiction, where psilocybin-assisted therapy reached an 80% smoking abstinence rate at six months in the Johns Hopkins pilot, more than double the best medication available today. She covers the risks the drug-war narrative leaves out, the hard contraindications around psychosis and cardiac history, the April 2026 executive order that accelerated federal review, and why the quality of the subjective experience, measured on the Mystical Experience Questionnaire, may matter to the outcome as much as the molecule itself. You'll also hear about the desynchronization event and what fills the space when the network goes offline, BDNF and how it stacks up against high-intensity exercise, the alcohol and opioid data, HPPD, Australia's 2023 reclassification, Oregon and Colorado's state access frameworks, and why set and setting may be active ingredients in how the treatment works. Fifty years ago the U.S. government classified it alongside heroin: no accepted medical use, high potential for abuse, illegal in most of the world. The peer-reviewed data now coming out of Johns Hopkins, Imperial College, and Nature tells a different story, one that has some of the most credentialled neuroscientists alive rethinking how the brain heals. In this episode, Louisa breaks down exactly what psilocybin does to your neurons, why it works where antidepressants stall for decades, and where the research is heading right now. She walks through the default mode network, the self-referential system that turns rigid and hyperactive in depression, and the 2024 Nature study that described psilocybin's effect on it as "massive" disruption. You'll hear how a single dose drove a measurable jump in dendritic spine density within 24 hours, why psilocin binds the TRKB receptor 300 times more strongly than any conventional antidepressant, and how Robin Carhart-Harris's head-to-head trial against escitalopram produced more than double the remission rate. Then she turns to addiction, where psilocybin-assisted therapy reached an 80% smoking abstinence rate at six months in the Johns Hopkins pilot, more than double the best medication available today. She covers the risks the drug-war narrative leaves out, the hard contraindications around psychosis and cardiac history, the April 2026 executive order that accelerated federal review, and why the quality of the subjective experience, measured on the Mystical Experience Questionnaire, may matter to the outcome as much as the molecule itself. You'll also hear about the desynchronization event and what fills the space when the network goes offline, BDNF and how it stacks up against high-intensity exercise, the alcohol and opioid data, HPPD, Australia's 2023 reclassification, Oregon and Colorado's state access frameworks, and why set and setting may be active ingredients in how the treatment works. *Reduce your risk of Alzheimer's with my science-backed protocol for women 30+: * https://go.neuroathletics.com.au/youtube-sales-page Subscribe to The Neuro Experience for evidence-based conversations at the intersection of brain science, longevity, and performance. _____ *TOPICS DISCUSSED* 00:00 Intro: A Schedule I Drug That's Making Neuroscientists Rethink the Brain 00:39 The Default Mode Network and Your Sense of Self 02:49 How Depression Locks the Brain Into a Rigid Loop 03:23 Where SSRIs Stop Short of the Problem 04:44 The Brain Imaging Data: "Massive" DMN Disruption and Reorganization 06:58 Confirming It in Drug-Naive Brains 08:04 The Rewiring: How Psilocybin Changes Neural Architecture 08:35 Dendritic Spines and Synaptic Density 09:39 How Chronic Stress Shrinks Your Neural Connections 10:16 One Dose, More Connections in 24 Hours (Neuron 2021) 11:02 BDNF, TRKB, and a Signal 300x Stronger Than Antidepressants 13:21 Psilocybin vs the Gold-Standard SSRI 14:37 Double the Remission Rate: The Numbers That Matter 15:53 Side Effects, Durability, and Treatment-Resistant Depression 16:39 The Addiction Breaker: 80% Smoking Abstinence at Six Months 17:36 Alcohol, Opioids, and the Shared Architecture of Addiction 19:10 The Dark Side: Real Risks and Hard Contraindications 22:35 The Policy Earthquake: Executive Orders and FDA Breakthrough Status 24:37 Why It Actually Works: Set, Setting, and the Mystical Experience 26:57 Bringing It All Together _______ *Thank you to our sponsors* Function Health: https://functionhealth.com/LouisaNicola Use code NEURO25 for a $25 credit BASED Bodyworks: https://basedbodyworks.com/ Use code NEURO for 20% off (plus a free toiletry bag with any set) BioOptimizers: https://www.bioptimizers.com/neuro Use code NEURO for 15% off IQBAR: Text NEURO to 64000 for 20% off all IQBAR products plus FREE shipping (Message and data rates may apply) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Get AudioBooks for Free Best Self-improvement Motivation A Simple Way to Create BDNF | Brain Health Motivation Discover simple ways to boost BDNF, support brain health, improve memory, enhance learning, and unlock greater mental performance and focus. ⁠We Need Your Love & Support ❤️ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Get 3 Audiobooks Free -

Únete a nuestra comunidad El Mapa de la Ansiedad en Skool: https://www.skool.com/elmapadelaansiedad Un espacio con cursos, recursos y una comunidad donde compartir, aprender y sentirte acompañado en el camino de comprender y manejar la ansiedad. En este episodio de La Teoría de la Mente, nos adentramos en una de las áreas más prometedoras de la salud mental actual: los biomarcadores. ¿Y si pudiéramos entender mejor la ansiedad y la depresión no solo a través de lo que sentimos o pensamos, sino también observando señales biológicas del cuerpo y del cerebro? Durante décadas, el diagnóstico de los trastornos mentales ha dependido principalmente de entrevistas clínicas, cuestionarios y la experiencia del profesional. Todo esto sigue siendo esencial, pero la investigación científica está abriendo una puerta fascinante: la posibilidad de contar con indicadores medibles que nos ayuden a comprender qué ocurre en el organismo cuando una persona sufre ansiedad, depresión o estrés crónico. En este episodio exploramos qué son los biomarcadores y por qué podrían cambiar la forma en que entendemos la salud mental. Hablamos del cortisol, una hormona clave en la respuesta al estrés, y de cómo su alteración puede estar relacionada con el agotamiento emocional, la hipervigilancia, la ansiedad mantenida y ciertos estados depresivos. También profundizamos en el papel de la inflamación, especialmente en las citocinas proinflamatorias, y cómo estas señales del sistema inmunitario podrían influir en el cerebro, el estado de ánimo y la sensación de amenaza interna. ️ Además, nos acercamos al mundo de la genética y a genes que han sido investigados por su posible relación con la vulnerabilidad emocional, como el 5-HTTLPR o el BDNF. ¿Estamos determinados por nuestros genes? ¿O más bien hablamos de predisposiciones que interactúan con nuestra historia, nuestros vínculos, el estrés y el entorno? También hablamos de la neuroimagen, de regiones como la amígdala y el hipocampo, y de cómo las imágenes cerebrales pueden ayudarnos a observar patrones asociados al miedo, la memoria emocional y la regulación del estrés. Todo esto apunta hacia un futuro en el que los tratamientos podrían ser más personalizados, ajustando mejor la intervención psicológica, médica o terapéutica a las necesidades de cada persona. Y, por supuesto, respondemos a una pregunta muy actual: ¿sirven de algo las mediciones de estrés de los móviles, relojes inteligentes y pulseras de actividad? ⌚ Hablamos de la variabilidad de la frecuencia cardíaca, también conocida como HRV, y de cómo puede ofrecernos pistas sobre el sistema nervioso autónomo, aunque siempre con cautela y sin convertir los datos en una nueva fuente de obsesión o ansiedad. Este episodio es una invitación a mirar la salud mental desde una perspectiva más amplia, integrando cuerpo, cerebro, emociones, historia personal y tecnología. Porque quizá el futuro no consista en sustituir la escucha clínica por análisis de sangre o algoritmos, sino en sumar herramientas que nos permitan comprender mejor el sufrimiento humano. ¿Te imaginas un futuro donde la ansiedad y la depresión puedan diagnosticarse y tratarse con mayor precisión gracias a señales biológicas? Ese futuro quizá no esté tan lejos. Nuestro nuevo libro: www.elmapadelaansiedad.com Visita nuestra página web: http://www.amadag.com Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Asociacion.Agorafobia/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/amadag.psico/ ▶️ YouTube AMADAG TV: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC22fPGPhEhgiXCM7PGl68rw

Discover the powerful connection between your brain and your body! Host Gerianne DiPiano is joined by fitness coach and sports psychology expert Kathrine "Kat" Bright to break down the science of neuro-fitness; the revolutionary approach of blending physical movement with mental challenges to delay brain aging, sharpen your memory, and improve your balance. From the biochemical magic of "brain fertilizer" (BDNF) to easy, everyday "exercise snacks" you can do while brushing your teeth, this conversation is packed with actionable advice to keep your mind and body resilient at any age. Tune in to learn how you can start training your brain like an athlete today. Kat Bright is a NASM certified personal trainer with over 20 years experience, an frequent contributor to the Love, Mia Vita blog. To connect with Kat and check out her podcast, visit her site here: https://www.kat.fit/ For more information on women's health advocacy, visit the FemmePharma website www.femmepharma.com

Most people think learning ends when school does.But what if lifelong learning could be the key to protecting your memory, sharpening your focus, and supporting long-term brain health?In this episode of the Kwik Brain podcast, I break down why learning just 10 minutes a day can help strengthen your brain, build cognitive reserve, and protect against age-related decline.I also share why this mission is deeply personal to me, from my own traumatic brain injury as a child to watching my grandmother struggle with Alzheimer's.We talk about how learning creates new neural pathways, why novelty and challenge matter for neuroplasticity, and how small daily learning habits can improve not just your intelligence, but also your resilience, adaptability, and quality of life over time.In this episode, you will learn:✅ Why continued learning helps protect the brain as you age✅ How neuroplasticity allows your brain to grow at any stage of life✅ What cognitive reserve is and why it matters for memory and resilience✅ Why 10 intentional minutes a day can make a real difference✅ Five simple ways to stimulate your brain through daily learning✅ How reading, language learning, and curiosity improve focus and mental flexibility✅ Why social learning can strengthen both your brain and your relationships✅ How learning new movement patterns can boost BDNF and support neuroplasticity✅ Why it is never too early or too late to start training your brainThis is about protecting your brain in a simple, practical way.Because the more you keep learning, the more you keep your mind active, resilient, and engaged.

Most of us have heard that we need to exercise more, but today, exercise physiologist Dr Stacy Sims digs into what kind of training actually moves the needle for women — and why longer, slower workouts may be leaving results on the table. We get into the real difference between high-intensity interval training and sprint interval training, why the Norwegian 4x4 is one of the most efficient tools for building VO2 max, how to structure a full week of training across just three days, and why your wearable's heart rate zones are probably misleading you more than helping you. WHAT YOU'LL LEARN Why high-intensity and sprint interval training are not the same thing — and why the distinction matters What the Norwegian 4x4 actually is and why it's so effective for VO2 max How to combine strength, sprint, and cardio work into just three sessions a week Why resistance training and high-intensity work should be prioritised over Zone 2 if you're short on time The truth about BDNF, brain health, and why you need both a seed and the miracle grow Why wrist-worn heart rate monitors consistently fail during high-intensity efforts What Zone 2 actually is — and why most people are training too hard to be in it Why 10,000 steps is a marketing figure, not a science target Why "Zone Zero" has no basis in exercise physiology VALUABLE RESOURCES Watch the full podcast here: https://youtu.be/2SWU8_KDFmc Take the BioSyncing Quiz to help you understand what's actually happening in your body — and how to fix it.

In this episode the guys break down five popular exercises that are almost always done wrong and sending people backward — jump boxes, hip abduction machines, circuits, renegade rows, and ultra high rep training. They also get into the science behind why ketone IQ works (mitochondrial efficiency, BDNF, and clean ATP production with no stimulants), Sal taking his wife to see the horror movie Obsession and deeply regretting it, the SpaceX IPO and the 4,000 new millionaires it will create overnight, 24 Hour Fitness removing basketball courts to add more weight room space, Jacob Collier and the guys' appreciation for elite musical talent, and Mind Pump offering 80% off select programs to high school coaches and teachers. Then they coach live callers submitted through mplivecaller.com.   Mind Pump Fitness Coaching: [ https://mindpumpfitnesscoaching.com 1.9 NASM CEUs   MAPS Anabolic Relaunch: https://mapsanabolic.com Code: ANABOLIC for 50% off through the end of the month. Includes updated female blueprints, masterclass videos and three days of live coaching with Cole.   High school coaches and teachers: Email ann@mindpumpmedia.com to get 80% off six curated MAPS programs for your students.   SPONSORS   Ketone IQ:  https://ketone.com/MINDPUMP 30% off subscription orders plus a free gift with your second shipment. Also available at Target stores nationwide.   Manukora Manuka Honey: https://manukora.com/MINDPUMP Code: MINDPUMP for up to 31% off plus $25 in free gifts with the Starter Kit (MGO 850+ honey jar, 5 travel sticks, wooden spoon and guidebook).   LMNT (electrolytes): ttps://drinklmnt.com/MindPump Free 8-count sample pack with any purchase. No-questions-asked refunds on all orders.   LINKS   Submit a live caller question: https://mplivecaller.com Mind Pump Store: https://mindpumpstore.com Maps Fitness Products: https://mapsfitnessproducts.com Instagram: @mindpumpmedia   0:00 - Intro 2:32 - 5 exercises that are almost always done wrong and sending you backward 3:12 - Jump boxes: the right way vs. how everyone actually does them 10:35 - Hip abduction machines: why they're not building your glutes 16:00 - Circuits: the one thing they're actually good for and why everyone misuses them 20:13 - Renegade rows: they're anti-rotation training, not a back exercise 21:31 - Ultra high rep training: when it stops being hypertrophy and becomes cardio 24:42 - Ketone IQ deep dive: BDNF, mitochondrial efficiency and why it's not a stimulant 27:15 - Sal takes his wife to see the horror movie Obsession and deeply regrets it 34:17 - SpaceX IPO and the 4,000 employees about to become overnight millionaires 39:46 - 24 Hour Fitness removing basketball courts to expand the weight room 44:13 - Mind Pump offers 80% off programs for high school coaches and teachers 54:18 - Caller: Katie (Maryland) training during a high risk pregnancy with placenta previa 1:08:29 - Caller: Karen (UK) 60 day check-in on MAPS Strong with shoulder injury and a cut plan 1:23:13 - Caller: Bianca (Texas) burned out teacher eating 1750 calories and getting nowhere 1:37:02 - Caller: Alyssa (Michigan) 60 day check-in rebuilding after overtraining and period loss  

Ketamine Therapy, MDMA, Psilocybin, and the Science of Psychedelic Assisted Healing Most people struggling with depression, anxiety, and trauma have never felt safe in their nervous system, and the treatments they have been prescribed are making that worse. This episode breaks down the neuroscience of psychedelic therapy, why ketamine is the safest and most accessible starting point, how MDMA triggers a BDNF dependent pathway that repairs trauma all the way down to the epigenetic code, and why your antidepressant may be blocking the very brain states required for real healing. -Watch this episode on YouTube for the full video experience: https://www.youtube.com/@DaveAspreyBPR -Order Dr. Rabin's Book ‘A Simple Guide to Being Alive': https://apolloneuro.com/pages/a-simple-guide-to-being-alive Host Dave Asprey sits down with Dr. Dave Rabin, MD, PhD, a senior research scientist at the Florida Institute for Human and Machine Cognition, Executive Director of The Board of Medicine, and co-founder and Chief Medical Officer of Apollo Neuroscience. Dr. Rabin received his MD and PhD in neuroscience from Albany Medical College and specialized in psychiatry at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. He has spent 20 years studying chronic stress and non-invasive therapies for treatment-resistant illness, and his primary research on MDMA assisted therapy for severe PTSD has demonstrated that trauma can be reversed at the epigenetic level, offering a genuine path to a cure. His upcoming book A Simple Guide to Being Alive publishes June 1, 2026 and is a science-backed manual for anyone who has ever felt overwhelmed by the modern world. Dave and Dr. Rabin break down why nearly 50% of people prescribed psychiatric medication never achieve remission, why SSRIs and SNRIs physically block the brain states required for emotional healing, and why the FDA rejected MDMA therapy after three trials showed an 88% response rate. They dig into the exact BDNF pathway that makes MDMA and ketamine so transformative, how psychedelics amplify safety learning in the amygdala at the molecular level, and why trauma passes down up to 14 generations through epigenetic code that can now be measured and repaired. They also cover why your breathing rate at the doctor's office is already a stress signal nobody is reading, how your smartphone puts your nervous system into a chronic fear state before you even get out of bed, and why ketamine is the right starting point for anyone curious about psychedelic therapy right now. You'll Learn: Why nearly 50% of psychiatric patients never get better and what treatment-resistant actually means How ketamine therapy works, why it is legal in every state, and why it is the safest place to start The exact BDNF pathway through which MDMA repairs fear extinction in the amygdala How MDMA assisted therapy produces measurable epigenetic repair of the cortisol receptor gene damaged by trauma Why SSRIs and SNRIs block the insula mediated brain states required for real emotional healing Why combining serotonergic psychedelics with SSRIs puts you at risk of life-threatening serotonin syndrome Why trauma passes down up to 14 generations and what you can do to stop the cycle now Why smartphones put your nervous system into a toxic overstimulation state before the day even starts How the FDA rejected MDMA therapy after 88% of patients responded and who paid to make that happen Thank you to our sponsors! - Qualia | If you want to take the guesswork out of maintaining high NAD+ levels as you age, go to www.qualialife.com/daveNAD to get clinically proven Qualia NAD+ backed by a 100 day money back guarantee and code DAVENAD at checkout gets you an extra 15% off. - iRestore | Reverse hair loss at www.irestore.com/DAVE and get exclusive savings on the iRestore Elite, use code DAVE - OneSkin | For a limited time, try OneSkin with 15% off at oneskin.co/DAVE. - LMNT | Right now you can get a free 8-count Sample Pack of LMNT's most popular drink mix flavors with any purchase at drinkLMNT.com/dave Dave Asprey is a four-time New York Times bestselling author, founder of Bulletproof Coffee, and the father of biohacking. With over 1,000 interviews and 1 million monthly listeners, The Human Upgrade brings you the knowledge to take control of your biology, extend your longevity, and optimize every system in your body and mind. Each episode delivers cutting-edge insights inhealth, performance, neuroscience, supplements, nutrition, biohacking, emotional intelligence, and conscious living. New episodes are released every Tuesday, Thursday, Friday, and Sunday (BONUS). Dave asks the questions no one else will and gives you real tools to become stronger, smarter, and more resilient. Keywords: Dave Rabin, Dr. Dave Rabin, Apollo Neuroscience, A Simple Guide to Being Alive, ketamine therapy, MDMA assisted therapy, psilocybin therapy, psychedelic assisted therapy, treatment-resistant depression, treatment-resistant mental illness, BDNF pathway, fear extinction amygdala, vagus nerve activation, trauma epigenetics, cortisol receptor gene, epigenetic repair, serotonin syndrome, SSRI alternatives, MDMA BDNF, ketamine BDNF, nervous system safety, autonomic nervous system, parasympathetic nervous system, generational trauma, trauma self-trust, MAPS MDMA trial, FDA MDMA rejection, pharmaceutical interference MDMA, breathing rate stress, smartphone nervous system, Apollo Neuro wearable, Board of Medicine, theboardofmedicine.org, insula cortex, psychedelic safety protocol, ketamine legal therapy, MDMA 88 percent, bottom-up learning psychedelics, trauma fractured self-trust, 14 generations trauma, stress breathing range Resources: • Order Dr. Rabin's Book ‘A Simple Guide to Being Alive': https://apolloneuro.com/pages/a-simple-guide-to-being-alive • Purchase Dr. Fotuhi's New Book The Invincible Brain: https://a.co/d/0iHCgPpL • Get My 2026 Clean Nicotine Roadmap | Enroll for free at https://daveasprey.com/2026-clean-nicotine-roadmap/ • Dave Asprey's Latest News | Go to https://daveasprey.com/ to join Inside Track today. • Danger Coffee: https://dangercoffee.com/discount/dave15 • My Daily Supplements: SuppGrade Labs (15% Off) • Favorite Blue Light Blocking Glasses: TrueDark (15% Off) • Dave Asprey's BEYOND Conference: https://beyondconference.com • Dave Asprey's New Book – Heavily Meditated: https://daveasprey.com/heavily-meditated • Join My Substack (Live Access To Podcast Recordings): https://substack.daveasprey.com/ • Upgrade Labs: https://upgradelabs.com Timestamps: 00:00 – Trailer 01:34 – Dave Rabin Introduction 05:01 – Psychedelics and Psychiatry 08:35 – Psychedelic Safety and Dosing 14:53 – Serotonin Syndrome Warning 21:17 – Vagus Nerve and Safety 27:36 – Smartphones and Chronic Stress 34:18 – Defining Trauma 38:00 – Trauma and Epigenetics 40:23 – MDMA Cortisol Gene Repair 44:44 – Therapy vs. Medicine Alone 49:15 – FDA MDMA Rejection 55:35 – Ketamine Personal Experience 59:15 – Closing and Book Recommendation See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

What if a single peptide could reset thousands of the genes that age you? GHK copper has been quietly running most of your regenerative biology since the day you were born. And by 60, more than half of it is gone.In this deep dive, Dr. Joy Kong, the Stem Cell Queen and a triple board-certified regenerative medicine physician, walks through the science of GHK copper: a naturally occurring three-amino-acid peptide bound to a copper ion, first identified in 1973 by Dr. Loren Pickart, who observed aged liver cells regaining youthful function after exposure to young human plasma. The episode covers GHK copper's two primary mechanisms (copper delivery and gene-level bioregulation capable of shifting thousands of human genes back toward youthful expression) and its application across skin remodeling, wound healing, hair growth, neuroprotection (BDNF support, neural inflammation, anti-anxiety effects), ATP production, mitochondrial function, and stem cell reactivation. Dr. Joy reviews practical methods including topical formulations, subcutaneous injection, microneedling combinations, cost considerations, stability with other actives like vitamin C, and the protocols she uses in her own clinical practice at Chara Health in Los Angeles.GHK copper is one of the few peptides shown to switch dormant stem cells back into active proliferation, support the brain against oxidative damage, and rebuild skin from the dermis up. It works at the gene level, which is what makes it different from nearly every other anti-aging compound on the market.If you've been curious about peptides but overwhelmed by the marketing, this is the breakdown to start with.✨ Shop CharaOmni, my stem cell skincare line: https://www.charaomni.com/ Dr. Joy talks about:00:00 What GHK-Cu Does in the Body01:15 GHK-Cu Discovery: Dr. Loren Pickart, 1973, and Why Levels Crash by 6002:10 The Two Mechanisms: Copper Delivery and Genetic Bioregulation03:45 GHK-Cu for Skin, Wound Healing, and Hair Growth05:55 GHK-Cu for the Brain: BDNF, SOD1, and Anti-Anxiety Effects07:25 GHK-Cu for ATP, Mitochondria, and Stem Cell Activation08:40 Topical, Subcutaneous, and Microneedling Protocols11:15 Cost, Stability, and the Vitamin C InteractionAdditional Resources✨ Visit My Clinic: Chara Health

Bpk. Andrew S (TB) 2 Korintus 12:7Dan supaya aku jangan meninggikan diri karena penyataan-penyataan yang luar biasa itu, maka aku diberi suatu duri di dalam dagingku yaitu seorang utusan Iblis untuk menggocoh aku, supaya aku jangan meninggikan diri.

Episode 399 reviews Phase 2 of Season 15 and introduces the Motivation Loop — the sequence of meaning, belief, attention, action, reward, and recovery that drives sustained effort. The episode explains common loop breakers (loss of meaning, negative thoughts, distracted attention, too much challenge, poor recovery, and no visible progress) and how to diagnose which link is failing. Practical takeaway: identify your gap, reconnect purpose, protect attention, celebrate small wins, and balance challenge with recovery to keep motivation alive. In This Episode 399, We Will Cover: ✅ The Motivation Loop — what it is, why it matters, and how it influences behavior, focus, effort, and achievement. ✅ What Keeps the Loop Alive — the role of meaning, belief, attention, action, reward, recovery, and growth. ✅ What Breaks the Loop — how loss of meaning, negative thoughts, distraction, lack of progress, poor recovery, and burnout weaken motivation. ✅ The Neuroscience of Motivation — why the brain repeats what it rewards and how dopamine reinforces behavior. ✅ The Difference Between Challenge and Burnout — finding the sweet spot where effort creates growth instead of exhaustion. ✅ My Personal Motivation Loop Story — how I watched my own loop begin to break in real time while pushing too hard with hiking and what I learned from it. ✅ How to Repair a Broken Loop — practical strategies to restore motivation before burnout takes hold. ✅ The Anterior Mid-Cingulate Cortex (AMCC) — the brain region associated with persistence, self-regulation, resilience, and doing hard things. ✅ Why Doing Hard Things Grows the Brain — how meaningful challenges strengthen the neural circuits responsible for sustained effort. ✅ Finding Your Gap — using our Brain's Operating System framework to identify where your system may be out of alignment. ✅ The Biggest Lessons from Phase 2: Neurochemistry & Motivation — insights from Bob Proctor, Dr. Caroline Leaf, Dr. John Medina, Dr. Anna Lembke, Dr. Chuck Hillman, and Friederike Fabritius. ✅ What's Next — a preview of Episodes 400 and 401 on Leadership and Trust, and our transition into Phase 3: Movement, Learning & Cognition. Key Question of the Episode "When motivation begins to disappear, have we lost our drive—or is there simply a broken link in the loop?" Aha Moment The goal isn't to push harder. The goal is to identify the broken link, repair it, and keep the loop alive. EP 399: The Motivation Loop: What Keeps It Going—and What Breaks It? Welcome back to the Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast. This week, we're wrapping up Phase 2: Neurochemistry and Motivation. Over the past several months, we've explored some of the most important drivers of human behavior, attention, effort, learning, and performance. Through the work of Bob Proctor, Dr. Caroline Leaf, John Medina, Dr. Anna Lembke, Chuck Hillman, and Friederike Fabritius, we've been focused on one fundamental question: What drives sustained effort and forward movement? Today, I want to zoom out and connect everything we've learned into one simple framework: The Motivation Loop. More importantly, we'll look at: What keeps the loop going What causes it to break How we can strengthen it over time And why doing hard things may actually help grow parts of our brain responsible for persistence and self-regulation. The Brain's Operating System of Human Performance Before we dive into the Motivation Loop, let's remember what we've covered so far. One of the biggest insights from neuroscience is that high performance doesn't happen in one part of the brain. It happens through a sequence. Just like a computer has an operating system, our brains have an operating system for learning, achievement, and human performance. Over the past several months, we've been building that system one phase at a time. Phase 1: Regulation & Safety REGULATE The first question we asked was: "Is the nervous system safe enough to learn?" Before motivation... Before focus... Before performance... The brain must first feel regulated. Through guests like Bruce Perry, Kristen Holmes, Antonio Zadra, and Sui Wong, we learned that: Sleep matters Recovery matters Rhythm matters Our Stress levels matter A dysregulated brain struggles to learn. No regulation. No learning. Phase 2: Neurochemistry & Motivation ENGAGE Once the brain is regulated, we move to the next question: "What drives behavior, focus, and sustained effort?" This is the phase we've just completed. We explored: Dopamine Belief Thought patterns Attention Reward Burnout Energy And perhaps the biggest lesson from this phase was: The brain repeats what it rewards. This became the foundation of what I've called: The Motivation Loop: What Keeps the Loop Going? Looking at this graphic, notice the green side first. The healthy loop begins with: Meaning and Purpose When we know why something matters, effort becomes easier to sustain. This was Bob Proctor's message and the message that launched author Simon Sinek's entire career (Knowing Your Why). People can tolerate enormous challenges when the goal is meaningful. Example: Learning a New Skill Imagine someone deciding to learn a new language. At first: Progress is slow. Mistakes are frequent. The work feels uncomfortable. But they have a purpose. Maybe they want to connect on a deeper level with family. Maybe they want to travel. Maybe they want a new career opportunity. Purpose keeps them engaged long enough to continue with the hard work.   Belief Shapes Thought If I believe I can improve, my thoughts become more constructive. This was Dr. Caroline Leaf's work. Our thoughts influence our neurochemistry. Positive thoughts don't guarantee success. But they keep us moving toward it. Attention Drives Growth This was John Medina's contribution. Attention determines what the brain decides matters. The brain learns what we repeatedly focus on. What we attend to, we strengthen. Action Creates Progress Once attention is focused, behavior follows. We study. We practice. We train. We learn. Reward Reinforces Behavior This was Dr. Anna Lembke's work. The reward doesn't have to be huge. Sometimes it's simply noticing progress. The brain says: "That effort produced a result." And the loop continues. Example: Exercise A person begins walking 20 minutes every day. Week 1: No major changes. Week 2: Energy improves. Week 3: Sleep improves. Week 4: Resting heart rate begins dropping. The brain notices progress. The effort feels worthwhile. The loop strengthens. The behavior repeats. We have spent a lot of time on understanding how to keep the loop from breaking. How the Loop Breaks Now let's look at the red side. How the loop breaks. The loop rarely breaks all at once. Usually one link weakens first. Then the others follow. Loop Breaker #1: Loss of Meaning What Happened? A student studies only to pass a test. The test ends. The reason disappears. Motivation disappears. The loop breaks because there is no longer a compelling "why." What Could Have Prevented It? Reconnect to purpose. Instead of: "I have to study for this test." Shift to: "I'm building skills for the future version of myself." Bob Proctor taught us that goals are not just about achievement. They're about growth. Loop Repair Ask: "Why does this matter beyond today?" When meaning returns, motivation returns.   Loop Breaker #2: Negative Thought Patterns What Happened? Someone starts a health journey. After a difficult week they think: "I'm failing." "Nothing is changing." "I'll never get there." Their attention shifts toward evidence of failure. The loop weakens. What Could Have Prevented It? Focus on progress instead of perfection. Dr. Caroline Leaf would remind us that thoughts influence neurochemistry. A better question might be: "What is improving that I haven't noticed yet?" Loop Repair Look for small wins. Better sleep More energy More consistency Better habits Progress fuels dopamine. Dopamine fuels effort.   Loop Breaker #3: Distracted Attention What Happened? You sit down to work. A text arrives. Then email. Then social media. Then another interruption at your office door. Attention becomes fragmented. Learning slows. Progress slows. Reward disappears. What Could Have Prevented It? Protect your attention. John Medina taught us: Attention determines what the brain decides matters. Loop Repair Create: 30-minute focus blocks Phone-free work periods (with notifications turned off) One-task-at-a-time sessions The brain rewards completion. Not multitasking.   Loop Breaker #4: Too Much Challenge What Happened? This one surprises many people. Doing hard things strengthens the brain. But doing impossible things breaks the loop. A person starts: A new diet A new exercise plan A new business A new habit And tries to change everything at once. The challenge becomes overwhelming. What Could Have Prevented It? Start smaller. The AMCC grows when challenges are difficult but achievable. Loop Repair Ask: "What's the smallest difficult thing I can consistently repeat?" Not: "What's the hardest thing I can do today?"   Loop Breaker #5: Poor Recovery/Low Energy   What Happened? This is actually my hiking example that I've mentioned previously. Everything was working. My recovery improved. My WHOOP age improved 6.4 years younger than my actual age. My fitness improved- v02 max increased. Then I increased the challenge. Longer hikes. More strain. More effort. But not enough recovery time in between. I could actually see the reward disappearing in real time. The effort at the end of these longer hikes felt exhausting instead of energizing. I know that doing difficult things makes my brain stronger, but I was close to giving up on something I really enjoyed. What Could Have Prevented It? Recovery needed to increase alongside challenge. The mistake wasn't hiking, or making the hike more challenging. The mistake was believing: More is always better. Loop Repair Alternate: Hard days Easy days Increase recovery as strain increases. As Friederike Fabritius taught us: Performance isn't built through effort alone. It's built through effort and recovery. Once I put more attention on recovery before pushing again, the broken motivation loop repaired, and the end of those difficult hikes became energizing again (with the right amount of rest).   Loop Breaker #6: No Visible Progress What Happened? A salesperson makes: 50 calls 100 calls 150 calls No results. The brain begins asking: "Why bother?" The reward disappears. What Could Have Prevented It? Measure leading indicators instead of outcomes. Instead of focusing only on sales: Track: Calls completed Meetings booked Relationships built Skills improved Loop Repair Celebrate effort metrics. Not just outcome metrics. The brain needs evidence that effort matters. Also, if the strategy you are using is not yielding results, try a different one. Ask others who are having success, what they are doing, and how they are getting results. Once you can identify where your loop is breaking, fixing it requires doing something that you were not doing before.   The Big Lesson Every loop break in this phase points back to one question: What link failed? Was it: Meaning? Thoughts? Attention? Progress? Recovery? Challenge? Because the loop rarely breaks all at once. Usually one link weakens first. And the good news is: If you can identify the broken link, you can repair the loop. What About Doing Hard Things? One of the most fascinating concepts we explored this phase was the work surrounding the: Anterior Mid-Cingulate Cortex (AMCC) This area of the brain appears to play an important role in: Persistence Self-regulation Attention control Doing things we don't feel like doing Research suggests this area strengthens when we repeatedly choose meaningful challenges. Not impossible challenges. Not burnout. Not exhaustion. Meaningful challenges. Example Choosing: The workout you don't feel like doing. The difficult conversation you've been avoiding. The presentation that makes you nervous. The study session when you'd rather scroll your phone. Every time we choose effort over comfort, we may be strengthening the neural systems responsible for persistence and researchers also would say, the will to live. The Secret to Keeping the Loop Going After everything we've learned this phase, the answer is surprisingly simple: The loop stays alive when effort feels worthwhile. That means: ✅ Meaning ✅ Purpose ✅ Focus ✅ Progress ✅ Recovery ✅ Challenge But not too much challenge. Because challenge without recovery becomes burnout. And recovery without challenge becomes stagnation. The sweet spot lies in the middle. Instead of blaming ourselves, we can start diagnosing the system to build a stronger, more resilient version of ourselves. How to Use the "Find Your Gap" Framework Whenever you feel: Stuck Unmotivated Burned out Distracted Overwhelmed Plateaued Ask yourself: Which phase is broken? Because the problem is rarely "everything." Usually it's one phase creating a bottleneck for the others.   Phase 1 Gap: Regulation & Safety Ask: Am I sleeping well? Am I recovered? Is stress overwhelming me? Is my nervous system regulated? Signs This Is Your Gap Anxiety Exhaustion Brain fog Poor sleep Irritability Example A teacher can't focus. They assume they need more motivation. But they're sleeping 5 hours a night. The real gap isn't motivation. It's regulation. Solution Fix: Sleep Recovery Stress management First.   Phase 2 Gap: Neurochemistry & Motivation Ask: Do I still know why this matters? Am I seeing progress? Has the reward disappeared? Have I lost momentum? Signs This Is Your Gap Procrastination Lack of drive Loss of enthusiasm Feeling stuck Example This was your hiking example. You still had the ability. You still had the discipline. You simply stopped feeling rewarded by the effort. Solution Repair the Motivation Loop: Reconnect to purpose Reduce challenge temporarily Improve recovery Look for progress   Phase 3 Gap: Movement, Learning & Cognition Ask: Am I moving enough? Am I physically engaged? Am I learning new things? Is my brain being challenged? Signs This Is Your Gap Low energy Mental sluggishness Poor concentration Feeling mentally flat Example Someone spends 10 hours at a desk. Their motivation is fine. Their sleep is fine. But they're sedentary. Movement is the missing ingredient. Solution Move first. The research from Chuck Hillman and John Ratey suggests movement often improves: Attention Mood Learning Memory   Phase 4 Gap: Perception, Emotion & Social Intelligence Ask: Am I seeing this situation clearly? Am I understanding others? Do I feel connected? Signs This Is Your Gap Conflict Miscommunication Isolation Emotional reactivity Example A leader thinks: "Nobody supports my vision." But the real issue is communication. The gap isn't motivation. It's perception. Solution Improve: Listening Emotional awareness Perspective-taking Relationships   Phase 5 Gap: Integration, Insight & Meaning Ask: Does this align with who I want to become? Am I moving toward something meaningful? Do I have clarity? Signs This Is Your Gap Success without fulfillment Feeling lost Lack of direction Constantly chasing goals Example Someone has achieved everything they wanted professionally. But they still feel empty. The gap isn't performance. It's meaning. Solution Reconnect with: Values Purpose Identity Contribution to the World. The Most Powerful Question At the end of every week, ask: "Where is my gap?" Is it:

How to Reverse Cognitive Decline, Grow Your Hippocampus, and Protect Your Brain from Alzheimer's Disease with Nutrition, Exercise, Sleep, and Stress Reduction Your brain is physically shrinking right now, and most people have no idea it's happening. In this episode, you will discover the exact mechanisms behind cognitive decline, why brain fog is always treatable, and the proven strategies to grow your brain back, protect your memory, and slash your Alzheimer's risk regardless of your genetics. -Watch this episode on YouTube for the full video experience: https://www.youtube.com/@DaveAspreyBPR Host Dave Asprey sits down with Dr. Majid Fotuhi, a neuroscientist and neurologist who earned his PhD from Johns Hopkins University and his medical degree from Harvard Medical School. He currently serves as an adjunct professor at the Mind/Brain Institute at Johns Hopkins while also teaching at George Washington University and Harvard Medical School. With 37 years of experience in clinical practice, teaching, and neuroscience research, Dr. Fotuhi pioneered the Brain Fitness Program, a multidisciplinary approach to cognitive performance and brain vitality at any age that has produced measurable results documented in peer-reviewed journals. He is the author of three books including the bestselling The Invincible Brain and one of the world's leading experts on neuroplasticity, hippocampus growth, and successful aging. If anyone has earned the right to tell you your brain can get better, it is him. Dr. Fotuhi and Dave break down why Alzheimer's is not a single disease but a soup of modifiable problems, why your lab results can show "normal" while your brain is starving, and how the five pillars of brain health connect directly to longevity, mitochondria function, and human performance. They also get into the brain effects of GLP-1s, the therapeutic promise of psychedelics like psilocybin and ketamine, the role of nootropics and supplements like B12, lithium orotate, and CoQ10, and why your VO2 max may be the single most important number for brain aging. . You'll Learn: Why 97% of Alzheimer's cases involve multiple modifiable causes and what to do about each one How to physically grow your hippocampus through exercise, meditation, and nutrition Why "normal" lab ranges are actively harming millions of people and what optimal actually looks like The 7 everyday things that are shrinking your brain right now How stress, loneliness, and isolation cause measurable brain atrophy Which supplements including B12, lithium orotate, CoQ10, and nootropics support long-term brain health Why VO2 max predicts brain aging better than almost any other marker What psychedelics like psilocybin and ketamine actually do to your brain according to a Johns Hopkins neurologist How the APOE4 gene affects Alzheimer's risk and why exercise can erase that risk entirely Why mitochondria health is the foundation of both brain function and longevity Thank you to our sponsors! - Viome | Check it out at viome.com and use code 10DAVE for 10% off. It's time to stop guessing and start knowing your body. - BrainTap | Go to http://braintap.com/dave to get $100 off the BrainTap Power Bundle. - Pique | Go to Piquelife.com/dave for 20% off. - BodyHealth | Visit BodyHeath.com and use code DAVE20 for 20% off your first purchase Dave Asprey is a four-time New York Times bestselling author, founder of Bulletproof Coffee, and the father of biohacking. With over 1,000 interviews and 1 million monthly listeners, The Human Upgrade brings you the knowledge to take control of your biology, extend your longevity, and optimize every system in your body and mind. Each episode delivers cutting-edge insights inhealth, performance, neuroscience, supplements, nutrition, biohacking, emotional intelligence, and conscious living. New episodes are released every Tuesday, Thursday, Friday, and Sunday (BONUS). Dave asks the questions no one else will and gives you real tools to become stronger, smarter, and more resilient. Keywords: Majid Fotuhi, Dr. Majid Fotuhi, The Invincible Brain, brain health, cognitive decline, Alzheimer's prevention, hippocampus, neuroplasticity, brain fog, memory loss, APOE4, brain shrinkage, B12 deficiency, lithium orotate, CoQ10, nootropics, VO2 max, mitochondria, longevity, anti-aging, biohacking, brain optimization, sleep optimization, stress reduction, functional medicine, human performance, psilocybin, ketamine, GLP-1, semaglutide, telomeres, BDNF, brain training, cognitive performance Resources: • Learn More About Dr. Fotuhi's Work At: https://drfotuhi.com/ • Purchase Dr. Fotuhi's New Book The Invincible Brain: https://a.co/d/0iHCgPpL • Get My 2026 Clean Nicotine Roadmap | Enroll for free at https://daveasprey.com/2026-clean-nicotine-roadmap/ • Dave Asprey's Latest News | Go to https://daveasprey.com/ to join Inside Track today. • Danger Coffee: https://dangercoffee.com/discount/dave15 • My Daily Supplements: SuppGrade Labs (15% Off) • Favorite Blue Light Blocking Glasses: TrueDark (15% Off) • Dave Asprey's BEYOND Conference: https://beyondconference.com • Dave Asprey's New Book – Heavily Meditated: https://daveasprey.com/heavily-meditated • Join My Substack (Live Access To Podcast Recordings): https://substack.daveasprey.com/ • Upgrade Labs: https://upgradelabs.com Timestamps: 00:00 – Trailer 00:59 – Intro 03:00 – Cannabis & Nicotine 04:15 – Understanding Alzheimer's 05:38 – Five Pillars Explained 07:55 – Best Cognitive Training 09:08 – Brain Size & Growth 12:36 – B12 & Lab Ranges 17:48 – Head-to-Toe Evaluation 24:17 – Sex & Brain Health 25:43 – Loneliness & Isolation 33:59 – ApoE4 Genetics 35:28 – Alzheimer's Declining 48:44 – Lithium & Brain 59:38 – VO2 Max & Fitness 1:06:42 – Psychedelics 1:09:38 – GLP-1s & Brain 1:12:38 – Closing & Action Steps See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

EWOT for Stroke Recovery: The Affordable Alternative to Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy Brad Pitzele did not set out to become an oxygen therapy equipment maker. He set out to survive. After years of battling significant health challenges, conventional medicine had given him answers that kept failing him. He tried around 200 treatments. Some helped. Many did not. Then he found EWOT Exercise With Oxygen Therapy, and something finally shifted. Brad’s journey is not the same as a stroke. But what he discovered about oxygen, inflammation, and cellular energy maps directly onto one of the most stubborn obstacles stroke survivors face: the feeling that the brain has gone offline, that the body is running on empty, and that the path back is either impossibly expensive or simply does not exist. In Episode 407 of the Recovery After Stroke podcast, Brad shares what EWOT is, why it works, and why he now makes affordable EWOT systems through his company, One Thousand Roads, specifically so survivors do not have to remortgage their homes to access oxygen-driven recovery. What Is EWOT? EWOT stands for Exercise With Oxygen Therapy. The concept is straightforward: you breathe high-concentration oxygen through a mask while exercising even lightly, and that combination pushes oxygen into parts of the body that normal breathing cannot reliably reach. Most people assume oxygen therapy means a hyperbaric chamber: a pressurized tube, a clinic, a course of treatments costing tens of thousands of dollars. Hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) is effective. Brad describes it as “a heroic treatment.” But it is also inaccessible for most survivors, financially and logistically. EWOT operates on a related principle without the chamber. The key mechanism is not about oxygenating red blood cells; they are already carrying close to their maximum load under normal breathing. The target is the blood plasma. Plasma does not carry oxygen efficiently under resting conditions, but during exercise, even light exercise, blood pressure and circulation increase enough to force dissolved oxygen into the plasma. That plasma can then reach the micro-capillaries, the tiny vessels that feed tissues deep in the body, including areas of the brain that become inflamed and oxygen-starved after a stroke. The Post-Stroke Energy Problem One of the most commonly reported and least-explained symptoms after stroke is fatigue that does not go away, no matter how much a survivor rests. Most survivors are told that is just part of it. Brad’s framework centres on mitochondrial dysfunction. Mitochondria are the energy-producing structures inside cells. After stroke, the cells in and around the affected area are often not dead; they are in a kind of low-power state. Brad describes it as a “brownout”: the lights are on, but dimly. The mitochondria are not producing energy at full capacity, and one significant reason for that is insufficient oxygen supply to the tissue. “The cells that are offline after a stroke are not all dead. Some of them are just starving. Oxygen is part of what feeds them back.” — Brad Pitzele, Episode 407 When EWOT increases plasma oxygen during exercise, it can reach those inflamed, under-oxygenated micro-capillaries that larger vessels cannot access. The result, for some survivors, is a gradual improvement in energy, cognition, and physical capacity, not because the therapy is miraculous, but because it addresses a specific physiological deficit that conventional post-stroke care often does not target. EWOT vs. Hyperbaric: What’s the Real Difference? The honest answer is that EWOT and hyperbaric oxygen therapy are not equivalent. HBOT delivers oxygen under pressure, which drives it into tissue more forcefully. For certain conditions, particularly in acute or severe cases, hyperbaric oxygen has a stronger evidence base.  But for many stroke survivors in the subacute or chronic phase of recovery, access is the defining variable, not theoretical ceiling. A home-based hyperbaric unit costs $50,000 to $75,000. A clinical course can run to $60,000 or more. EWOT systems are available for under $2,000.  The question Brad puts to survivors is not “which is better in a lab?” It is: “Which one can you actually do, consistently, at home, over the months and years that brain recovery requires?” Consistency matters more than peak intensity in long-term neurological recovery.  Starting EWOT With Deficits EWOT does not require running on a treadmill. The exercise component can be a stationary bike, a recumbent bike, or simple seated leg movements with one limb strapped in. The goal is to raise circulation enough to push oxygen into the plasma, not to hit a cardiovascular fitness target. For survivors exploring this option, Brad’s team has built a specific resource at onethousandroads.com/stroke-recovery with a listener discount of $100 to $500, depending on the package. There is also a broader introduction to EWOT at onethousandroads.com/pages/exercise-with-oxygen-therapy. Recovery Is Possible — And It Does Not Have to Be Expensive If this episode resonated with you or if you want to explore more conversations about recovery options that do not require a second mortgage, Bill’s book, The Unexpected Way That A Stroke Became The Best Thing That Happened, is available at recoveryafterstroke.com/book. And if the Recovery After Stroke podcast has been useful to you, you can support it financially at patreon.com/recoveryafterstroke. Every contribution helps keep the show going and these conversations accessible to survivors around the world. This blog is for informational purposes only and does not constitute medical advice. Please consult your doctor before making any changes to your health or recovery plan. EWOT for Stroke Recovery: The Affordable Alternative to Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy Why pay $60,000 for hyperbaric oxygen? EWOT brings oxygen therapy into your living room — and could help the brain cells that are only offline. One Thousands Roads Exercise With Oxygen Therapy (EWOT) YouTube Channel Highlights: 00:00 Introduction and Background 05:37 Challenges in Stroke Recovery and Treatment Options 13:45 Understanding Oxygen Therapy and Its Mechanism 15:51 Oxygen Toxicity Explained 19:24 The Importance of Oxygenating Blood Plasma 24:53 Oxygen and Mitochondrial Function 31:16 Adapting Exercise for Stroke Survivors 38:27 Cost and Accessibility of Oxygen Therapy Devices Transcript: Introduction – EWOT for Stroke Recovery Brad Pitzele (00:00) like many of your listeners, when you have a medical issue that isn’t treated by traditional medicine and you’re desperate to get your life back, you’ll try just about anything. You, the lens it goes through is like, Well, how bad can this hurt me? BIll Gasiamis (00:15) Welcome back to Recovery After Stroke. I’m your host, Bill Gassiamas. Today’s guest is Brad Pitzele, founder of 1000 Roads, who overcame significant health challenges of his own and along the way discovered the science behind exercise with oxygen therapy. In this conversation, we get into how increasing oxygen saturation in the blood, specifically in the blood plasma, can help reach the inflamed microcapillaries. That are blocking oxygen delivery to cells in the recovering brain. We talk about mitochondrial dysfunction, post-stroke fatigue, and why Ewatt is worth understanding as an accessible alternative to hyperbaric oxygen therapy. Before we get into it, if you’ve found value in this podcast and want to support it financially, you can do that at patreon.com/slash recovery after stroke. And if you haven’t yet read my book, The Unexpected Way That a Stroke Became the Best Thing That Happened, it is available at recovery after stroke dot com slash book. Here’s my conversation with Brad. BIll Gasiamis (01:19) Brad Pitsley, welcome to the podcast. Brad Pitzele (01:22) Thank you so much. BIll Gasiamis (01:24) Thanks for reaching out and ⁓ connecting with me to educate me on another thing that I can bring to stroke survivors that could potentially help them in the rehabilitation side of their brain. The the thumbnail that people found on YouTube is probably gonna have E W O T on it somewhere. E what. And it sounds something like something out of that ⁓ space war out of out of what is it? Brad Pitzele (01:53) Star Wars. Star Wars. BIll Gasiamis (01:54) Star Wars. Like the Ewok, right? And it doesn’t really mean anything to me. But before we descri tell people what Ewok is, ⁓ tell me a little bit about your background, the work that you do and how it is you came to be on the podcast today is for s for for the specific discussion that we’re gonna have. Brad Pitzele (01:58) Yep. Sure. ⁓ yeah, so I ⁓ I I’m an e recovering engineer. I like to joke. I spent my first decade of my life engineering. later on in life, I left engineering and went into different pursuits and I became chronically ill, had a variety of medical issues, ⁓ cancer, autoimmunity, and eventually Lyme disease. And I was in really bad shape. And a doctor recommended I look into either hyperbaric oxygen or this exercise with oxygen therapy, EWAT, that almost no one had heard of, and I’d never heard of it. ⁓ I I I had tried like everything to get better at this point. I was many years in special diets, ⁓ all sorts of supplements and ⁓ all sorts of modalities and things. And nothing really worked. There was nothing in a matter of fact, some of the medications I took actually gave me cancer. So it kind of forced me on this road to try something different. ⁓ and eventually I found my way back to health through exercise with oxygen when so many things weren’t working. ⁓ and actually later paired that with ⁓ red light therapy. ⁓ and along the way I started because I’m an engineer and I’m inquisitive, I like It was Lyme disease is kind of a do-it-yourself disease. ⁓ so I started digging in and pouring into research, not just on Lyme disease, but autoimmunity, ⁓ chronic illness, ⁓ trying to figure out what the heck was going on with me. And so ⁓ what I found about exercise oxygen therapy along the way was really fascinating to me. and about a year into using it, I went back to that same doctor and he was kind of shocked. At my turnaround, and he was like, What did you use? Did you do oxygen? And I said, I did. And he was like, Who’d you buy it from? I want to tell my patients about it. And I said, I didn’t buy it, Doc. I actually ended up making my own. And he was kind of surprised by that for obvious reasons. And then he said, Well, gosh, would you consider making it for my patient? And so, my patients, and so that’s how we got into this business back in two thousand eighteen. We launched one thousand roads to kinda make exercise with oxygen therapy accessible to people who are dealing with chronic health conditions. BIll Gasiamis (04:39) Okay. And it stems from science, right? There’s scientific data that backs up this exercise with oxygen therapy. Before you go into that a little bit, we don’t have to go deep into it, but we can just ⁓ chat about it. ⁓ when I talk to stroke survivors, they get stuck always with what should I do? What should I do? What should I do? They want the The blue pill, take that one, everything gets fixed. I mean, stroke is not like that, right? And it’s and it’s stroke is also a you’re on your own kind of thing. Because once you get out of the acute phase, once you get sent home, the ⁓ follow up and the medical fraternity doesn’t have a system to kind of say to you, we can’t help you. Speak to that guy. ⁓ that guy might not be able to help you, but but there’s a guy over there. Brad Pitzele (05:09) Yeah. Challenges in Stroke Recovery and Treatment Options BIll Gasiamis (05:33) Like there’s none of that. And stroke survivors need podcasts. They need ⁓ people selling all sorts of crazy stuff that they will almost try almost all the time. They’ll try everything. And then they’ll pick and finally stumble into one that helps and gets them a result. But before we talk about all of that, what I want to do is also go back to what you said about ⁓ a year later, you went to your doctor, he was stunned at the result. We can’t put that down just to eat what? We can’t put that down just to exercise with oxygen therapy. Give me the brief steps on the other things that you also attended to because people miss that. Brad Pitzele (06:15) Yes. Yeah. I well, here’s what I’ll tell you. I started I started to get arthritis in my hands in like 2010 or eleven. and then I started taking traditional drugs for it. And one of the side effects of the drugs is higher risk of cancer and specifically melanoma, which I developed in two thousand thirteen, I wanna say, maybe two thousand fourteen. And that kicked me off the traditional medical path. ⁓ to your point, you don’t you don’t in the stroke recovery, there’s not a traditional path. There it was a traditional path, but it was clear that it was a you know it was a choice between cancer and autoimmunity, and neither one seemed great to me. ⁓ from there I tried so many things, Bill. I did s I actually made a list recently and looked at it because I had it like just off the top of my head, I came up with 200 different things I did try. We’re talking special diets. Eating all sorts of weird, strange things, all sorts of supplements, antibiotics, because it’s Lyme disease, herbal protocols, ⁓ ozone treatments, sa various different types of saunas, ozone sauna, infrared sauna, ⁓ heat steam saunas, ⁓ colonics, coffee enemas, ⁓ weird stuff, you know, you’d never think you’d do. I mean BIll Gasiamis (07:39) You are committed Brad Pitzele (07:42) ‘Cause like many of your listeners, when you have a medical issue that isn’t treated by traditional medicine and you’re desperate to get your life back, you will you’ll try just about anything. You the the lens it goes through is like, Well, how bad can this hurt me? Like like ’cause I know where I’m going right now. For me at least it was a I was just like this gradual step down. It was like I knew like I I couldn’t do this. I had a young family. so, you know, that doctor, I remember him saying, like, look, Brad, we’re trying all these things, we’re gonna get you on thyroid medications and get that right, and we’re gonna do this. ⁓ there on that list of 200, there were about eight things that gave me any kind of benefit that I could identify. ⁓ But I remember he’s like, Brad, we’re gonna take out the big dog. We’re gonna do this ozone treatment. And it’s a special kind where we remove the blood from your body, we inject ozone, put it through UV light, and put it back into your blood. And this helps everyone. Like if nothing else works, this helps, but it’s really expensive. So we’re saving it, kind of. So he he did it. He’s like, do a course of three of them. And he’s like, You might feel bad after it the next day because it kills a bunch of stuff and might you might feel toxic. Or you might feel better. We’re not sure. And give it a few days. And like I did all three of them, I never noticed a difference. And it was ⁓ the most depressing, scary part was like going through that. So when he said go do oxygen, I was like, Okay, like I’ve done everything else. I’m just gonna check the box so the doctor knows that’s not gonna work, so we can go try to find something else. ⁓ And I didn’t believe it was gonna work. I I you know, I didn’t jump on the the bandwagon gung-ho. I was, you know, kind of kicking and screaming. And that was part of the reason I built my own, is because at the time they were so expensive and the they were five to twenty-five thousand dollars. And I was like, I just can’t spend, you know, ten thousand dollars on an experiment. I just can’t do that. ⁓ And he also suggested maybe hyperbaric and that was like fifty or seventy-five thousand dollars. And I was like, geez, if I knew this was the the blue pill, as you said it, if I knew this was the blue pill, I’d go mortgage the house and I’d go do it because like then I could work full and I could do all the things, I could be present for the family, but ⁓ I couldn’t. BIll Gasiamis (10:05) And and and you know what? And it’s not, and and the reason it’s not for a lot of people is because you need to have penumbras the brain from a stroke survivor perspective that are recoverable and that you can bring back to life that are offline, not dead by ⁓ cell death because of the stroke. And there’s no diagnostic process in the majority of the people I’ve spoken to, you can’t diagnose somebody and then work out whether they’re a candidate, and that really Brad Pitzele (10:20) Yeah. Right. BIll Gasiamis (10:33) Pisses me off to somebody gonna have to spend 50 grand to find out if they’re gonna get a result, right? The s the guys that who I’ve interviewed about hyperbaric oxygen therapy, ⁓ Viv clinics, ⁓ those guys will do a thorough diagnostic beforehand to determine whether somebody is a candidate. And whatever that costs, even if it’s five grand, I don’t know what it does cost, but even if it’s five grand, at least you can go, you’re not a candidate, don’t spend any more money. Brad Pitzele (10:38) Yeah. Right. higher yes, you have a higher level of certainty before you spend the money. BIll Gasiamis (11:04) Yeah. And if you do do it, you’re doing it for the other ⁓ non-brain related benefits that you’re gonna get from hyperbaric oxygen therapy. And that’s totally up to you. But it’s not the thing to supposedly fix the arm or the leg that doesn’t work, or to ⁓ repair the damaged cells in your brain. So that part really frustrates me. And if I’m gonna spend that much money, then there’s the opportunity cost as well. It’s like Brad Pitzele (11:33) Yes. BIll Gasiamis (11:34) Now I can’t spend that somewhere else. Brad Pitzele (11:36) Exactly. That was me too. It was like you you knew you had and I was like, man, if I spend this kind of money on it and it doesn’t work, like nothing’s worked for the last, I don’t know, almost ten years at this point. Like how many of these shots do I have in the cannon, right? Like you you know, now I’m I’m depleted and I’m still sick. And that’s even i and you know this, when you’ve got a chronic health condition, sometimes the psych psychology of it all is just as hard as the condition. And If you’re like, wow, now I don’t have money. I feel trapped. There’s nothing I can try. Then hope starts to dwindle. And I say like hope is is like the most potent weapon in recovering from a chronic health condition. It’s a double-edged sword because like you’re s afraid to get hope up because you’ve been let down. But it’s also the thing you need. You ha like when when you start losing hope, and I and I’ve been at that point, it just gets incredibly dark. ⁓ and incredibly scary. so I I think that was part of it. I just wouldn’t allow it. It was the financial part. I you’re right. You only have so many shots out of the bow. But it was also like if it doesn’t work and I am depleted financially you know, I don’t like that that brings me to a a level of hopelessness I I’m not sure I can confront. BIll Gasiamis (12:53) Yeah. And then in order to get back up, you’re getting back up, you’re financially depleted, you’re energetically depleted, your health is depleted. And it’s like, my God, that is a that is like the lowest place that you can find yourself and to get back up is a lot harder. And yet people have still done that, but I know the task is harder. I’ve been in a similar sort of situation. Brad Pitzele (13:12) Yeah. We all love we all love reading that inspirational story. No one wants to live it if they can avoid it, I’ll tell you. Understanding Oxygen Therapy and Its Mechanism BIll Gasiamis (13:23) Avoid it. Yeah, a hundred percent. ⁓ so so you’ve tried all this stuff, you’re unwell, and then somebody says to you, try oxygen. Now, what I imagine when I hear oxygen is get a can from the local gas supplier, ⁓ pop pot in a tube, put it on the back of your chair, wheelchair. You know, I’ve seen a lot of older guys who have got it, and then they’ve got oxygen attached to their face and they’re breathing in oxygen. What specifically did your doctor tell you to get and if you didn’t get what he suggested, like w what did it look like for you? Brad Pitzele (14:00) Yeah, so the challenge with bottled oxygen is number one, it’s almost impossible to get. number two is when you exercise, you can take in a massive amount of oxygen, and that’s part of what makes the the therapy really cool. So y you and I sitting here, maybe we’re taking in three liters of oxygen a minute, okay? ⁓ three liters of air a minute, maybe something like that. ⁓ When you’re exercising, you can easily take in 50 or 60 liters. So it’s a massive multiplier. So you need something that’s going to give you a large amount of oxygen. Now, there’s two ways you can get oxygen in your home. One is that bottle you mentioned, and then you’re always refilling it, and you can imagine lugging one of those things around. ⁓ the other way is there’s a device called an oxygen concentrator, and all you do is you plug it into the wall. And it turns the it purifies the oxygen in the room. So, you know, at sea level, the oxygen in the room has 21% oxygen and it can purify it to 93%. Now, the challenge with these devices is they put out either five or ten liters of oxygen in a minute. So not enough to exercise with. If you were to try to exercise with it, you would also be sucking in this air at 21% and diluting it. ⁓ and so what you do is you take this device and you fill a large reservoir, it’s about a thousand liters, ⁓ and you fill it up. using this device and then you hook up a hose with a mask on it and then you breathe through the mask while you do a fifteen minute exercise session. BIll Gasiamis (15:41) Okay. A reservoir, ⁓ water tank. Oxygen Toxicity Explained Brad Pitzele (15:45) It well it it’s like it looks like a big pillow. So it’s like six you know, two meters by two meters, sort of ⁓ big pillow, six feet by six feet for us still on Imperial. And you fill it up so a thousand liters and it’s you know it’s it’s thin film and so it’s not a a rigid body of something, and then yeah, it’s a bag. BIll Gasiamis (16:06) It’s a bag. Like a bagpipe, a massive bagpipe. Brad Pitzele (16:10) There you go. BIll Gasiamis (16:12) Okay. Okay. W I’m sure there’s an image of that, right? We’ll put it on the screen. People can see it while we’re talking about it, trying to work out what it is. Okay. So this thing is something that you accessed and you used specifically for yourself, how many years ago? Brad Pitzele (16:16) Yeah. Yeah. I’ve s I’ve been using it for a decade straight now. BIll Gasiamis (16:33) Okay. This stuff’s been around for about a decade. This Brad Pitzele (16:37) It’s well, the the research on it goes back to the nineteen sixties and seventies. This it’s really fascinating. actually some of the early research goes back to the turn of the ⁓ twentieth century, the nineteen hundreds. So in the early nineteen hundreds, a gentleman named Otto Warburg won a Nobel Prize for proving that he could turn any cancer or any regular cell into a cancerous cell by depriving it of oxygen. ⁓ and so there’s this really well-established linkage between oxygen and cancer. Even today, a ton of research on that. So in the 1960s and 70s, there was a a German physicist and prolific inventor named Manfred von Arden. Now, and he started to want to do research on Otto’s work, and he he actually started doing research on exercising with oxygen as an anti-cancer protocol. And some of the research he found was really fascinating. what without getting overly technical, basically it our circulatory system, obviously, this is really relevant to stroke, ⁓ people deal in strokes, is as you get down into the the end runs of your circulatory system, there’s capillaries and they’re like thinner than a human hair. And this is where your nutrients and your oxygen are actually exchanged with the cell. And what he found is as we age naturally this inflammation builds up on the lining of our capillaries. And it actually causes the capillaries to swell shut so that now none of your red blood cells can get by. Now, I mean, this is how exquisite our body is designed. ⁓ our capillaries are actually thinner than a red blood cell. So under the most healthy of conditions. A red blood cell actually needs to fold up like a taco to get into our capillaries and deliver that oxygen in the last mile of our circulatory system. So any swelling in that capillary can cause a blockage. And now all the cells downstream are not getting oxygen and in a sufficient quantity. And so they kind of go into what they what he kind of referred to as like a brownout, right? Like it’s a low energy state. They’re doing anaerobic respiration to get some energy. Maybe some of the smaller red blood cells might squeak by here and there and give a little bit, but they’re not getting the full oxygen they need. And what he found is by doing this procedure, just a few times he had very elderly people with very inflamed ⁓ capillaries. He was able to re-establish normal blood flow. And the reason is is oxygen is incredibly anti-inflammatory. ⁓ and a lot of research on that we can go into a little bit later. The Importance of Oxygenating Blood Plasma So, number one, it causes this anti-inflammatory reaction inside these inflamed capillaries to reopen them. But it also does something really amazing that he discovered is when you’re doing this procedure, ⁓ it causes the oxygen to not just attach to our red blood cells like it always does, but it also saturates our blood plasma, which is this clearish liquid that our red blood cells ride on. And Our blood plasma is a thousand times thinner than a red blood cell. So if you imagine these blockages, red blood cells are not getting through, but obviously the blood plasma can get through as long as it’s like as thin as water. So as long as there’s any opening there, and it can immediately deliver oxygen downstream, both to cause an anti-inflammatory impact in the capillaries, but also to all those cells that are starving. And so you can obviously, as we’re talking through this, you can kind of see how this fits folks who are dealing with various different strokes ⁓ and how that can help them as well. BIll Gasiamis (20:32) Yeah. Okay. I d before we spoke I did a little bit of research and found ⁓ as well that there’s some there’s a lot of relevant data with regards to oxygen and ⁓ increasing the oxygenation in the blood. you so tell me a little bit about oxygen. I I don’t understand exactly what that is. I’ve heard of people becoming ill. Because of too much oxygen, ⁓ ill because of not enough oxygen. So what is what what is becoming ill of too much oxygen and why is ninety nine percent saturation not that? Brad Pitzele (21:18) Yeah, yeah. ⁓ good question. So oxygen toxicity can occur if you get too much oxygen under certain circumstances. So if you’re in a hyperbaric chamber too long, it can cause oxygen toxicity. And basically that’s when oxygen gets trapped in your bloodstream and it can’t get out. and You can actually get it without hyperbaric. So hyperbaric is oxygen under pressure. You can get it at normal barracks. So if you were just sitting on the couch breathing oxygen, you could eventually get oxygen toxicity. Now, it would take over twenty-four hours. So if you were breathing just pure oxygen, no exercise, sitting on your couch for 24 plus hours, it starts to get into the risky zone. When you’re doing exercise with oxygen, that’s actually one of the cool things about it that because of the synergies of exercise and oxygen, it’s impossible to get oxygen toxicity for two reasons. one is that reservoir is only a thousand liters. it’s not a high enough dose that you could get a oxygen toxicity. It is a massive dose, it’s about the same amount of oxygen you take in in a day, and you can take it in in 15 minutes, but it’s not more than. And the second reason, even if we could make our reservoir 10x, 100x, and you could exercise nonstop, you still couldn’t get oxygen toxicity because when you’re exercising, your body produces a massive amount of carbon dioxide gas. And that goes into our bloodstream and it increases pressure in our circulatory system. And that actually forces the oxygen out of the circulatory system and into the cells. So it works as a protectant as well from oxygen toxicity. So that’s oxygen toxicity. It’s a real risk. ⁓ Most of the time it’s a very controllable risk. You know, if you’re doing hyperbaric, they’re gonna keep you in there for so long so that you’re not gonna be at risk generally. ⁓ if you’re assigned to do oxygen while you’re stationary at home, they have protocols to make sure you’re not doing it, you know, twenty-eight hours nonstop sort of thing. ⁓ or they have you wear a cannula where where you’re also taking in air and it’s diluting it. ⁓ and in exercised oxygen therapy, it’s not really possible because of the massive amount of carbon dioxide. ⁓ now, not enough oxygen. So if you if you want to measure your oxygen in your blood, the way they normally do it is a device called the pulse oximeter. You can get one for 20 bucks off Amazon. What it does is it looks at how much how many of your red blood cells are saturated with oxygen. And what you’re gonna find in most folks. Is it’s close to a hundred percent. It’s ninety-eight percent, it’s ninety-six percent, ninety-seven percent. ⁓ there’s not a lot of room in our blood for more oxygen. So that’s why it’s important that ewak can actually oxygenate our blood plasma. The same with hyperbaric does the exact same thing, it oxygenates our blood plasma. So BIll Gasiamis (24:26) Okay. I think before you go on, that’s the key ingredient. It’s oxygenating the plasma as well. Where where previously you’ve got let’s say ninety seven, ninety eight percent saturation of your red blood cells. What we’re doing is adding that little bit of extra oxygen into the space where the plasma is. That’s kind of the key difference. Brad Pitzele (24:36) Yes. And there’s two reasons why it’s important. so normally, just for comparison, you and I sitting here, maybe 2% of all the oxygen in our blood is in our plasma, so it’s not very much. ⁓ but under these conditions of IWAT and hyperbaric, we can saturate that blood plasma. And it’s important for two reasons. One, obviously, it increases the oxygen carrying capacity of the blood, but that’s the more minor one. The more major one is that the blood plasma can get into let’s just say the nooks and crannies, smaller spaces in our body where inflammation is blocking off access of red blood cells to downstream cells. And so it can deliver a dose of oxygen where it normally is not able to get. BIll Gasiamis (25:40) You you’ve spent a lot of time on this topic by the sound of things. ⁓ and that’s really awesome. So before we talk about how to actually use a device, how to get a device, how to how to behave while you’re using a device, I wanna understand like how Oxygen and Mitochondrial Function Brad Pitzele (25:52) Yeah. BIll Gasiamis (26:02) How you notice the difference in yourself? Because a lot of people ask me what I did in my own stroke recovery. And Brad’s experience is going to be different from the stroke survivor’s experience. My experience was ⁓ I’ve got nothing from the doctors other than let’s monitor your bleed, let’s give you brain surgery. I mean, that’s not nothing. That’s amazing. Like I’m very Brad Pitzele (26:05) Yeah. Yes. BIll Gasiamis (26:31) Grateful for all of that. That removed the the blood vessel that was leaking that was going to potentially kill me. ⁓ so the immediate risk was gone. And then what what I mean I I got nothing is the specialists did their specialty and then I got nothing because they don’t do nutrition, they don’t do exercise, they don’t do meditation, they do brain surgery. And it’s really important for stroke survivors to understand that when you go to a doctor, a neurologist, whoever. Brad Pitzele (26:55) Yeah. BIll Gasiamis (27:00) They do a specific thing, and once they’ve done it, they can’t do anything else. And you need to get over the fact that you ⁓ might feel disappointment at the at that I don’t know where to go next, and they don’t know where to send you. Okay, they’re not trained and they cannot legally send you elsewhere. That’s why you’re kind of on your own. So I did meditation, I did nutrition, I did all this kind of stuff and Brad Pitzele (27:16) Yeah. BIll Gasiamis (27:27) Somebody who’s interviewed you is Dave Asprey. I would I’ve been following Dave Asprey and a whole bunch of other guys ⁓ probably since around 2012, 2013. And what I learned was how do I reduce the inflammation in my brain? And I had that one area of inquiry, the one area of inquiry that I could personally impact positively by taking out inflammatory foods from my diet. And before that it was, you know, ⁓ processed white bread, it was alcohol, it was cigarettes, ⁓ it was all the stuff that you get in a packet that doesn’t really help to nourish the body, right? So I went back to basics. We’ll call it just for the simplicity of the explanation, we’ll call it protein, ⁓ vegetables and basic carbohydrates like rice or potato. And then what I found was that inflammation decreased, and that was a game changer in how I experienced my brain. And it was a game changer in how quickly I improved neurologically. But just so that people know, it wasn’t the be all end all, it didn’t remove the damaged cells that still are in my head that mean I experienced my the left side of my body in a completely different way than my right side. I’ve got numbness, proprioception issues. I’ve got ⁓ tingling, I’ve got burning, I’ve got ⁓ spasticity, you know, the muscles are tight. So all that stuff is still there. But I have a better experience of the rest of my body and brain because of the things that I took out. But what I didn’t have was the link between exercise, which I do, light exercise, because I’m a stroke survivor. I can’t. use the left side of my body like I used to. so I would do exercise ⁓ like riding an electric bike because it’s easier to pedal, like walking and like doing very light weights at the gym. ⁓ but I didn’t have that oxygen part of the the therapy. And that’s kind of why I interviewed the guys about hyperbaric to understand how oxygen supports how mimicking i a hypoxic brain in the chamber supports ⁓ so how how does like what’s the next part like how does that support the brain to heal let’s give stroke survivors an understanding so that they can kind of grasp that I know we spoke about how oxygen gets into the ⁓ into the red blood cell we spoke about how it gets into the plasma but like Brad Pitzele (30:15) Yeah. BIll Gasiamis (30:20) Why is that the next step? Brad Pitzele (30:21) What’s it too? Yeah. It’s a good question. I think you’re right. I you know, we don’t I will say we don’t try to go out and pitch like exercise with oxygen therapy is a panacea or it’s everything for everyone. Even the name of our company, ⁓ one thousand roads, is about paying homage to everyone’s own healing journey and recognizing everyone’s unique journey. So I’ll say that, but So I’ll say that, but what I found about oxygen was in IWA in particular. What was fascinating to me was for me when I was dealing with Lyme disease, which similar to folks who are dealing with the stroke, there’s a variety of different symptoms and s from different causes. And I was trying to treat all these things with different protocols, different supplements that and I found that when I started digging into oxygen, I was shocked at how many of them came back to it. So when you have A stroke, often there’s a lot of ⁓ emerging research about mitochondrial dysfunction. And this is interestingly, mitochondrial dysfunction. Now ten years ago when I was researching it, no one heard of it or cared about it. And it’s really burst onto the scene because you’re gonna find it ⁓ At the heart of so many chronic health conditions, right? ⁓ you’re gonna it’s actually they’re looking at it in cancers, ⁓ chronic illnesses of all sorts, Alzheimer’s, all sorts of cognitive and ⁓ autoimmune conditions, etc., etc. So ⁓ you have this disrupted mitochondria, right? So there was a period of time when your cells were not getting enough energy, whether it was a hemorrhagic stroke and Blood wasn’t being delivered to those cells, so no nutrients, no oxygen, or an ischemic stroke where they were just cut off ⁓ because of a clot or whatnot. And so they were not getting nutrients. In each of these cases, what happens immediately when the cell runs out of oxygen, like I was talking about that brownout, it goes from aerobic respiration to anaerobic respiration. And anaerobic respiration, ⁓ it’s It only can produce 5% of the energy as aerobic. So the cell is in a low energy state, which is the first problem, which means it doesn’t have energy to repair, it doesn’t have energy to take out the trash, detoxify. so it’s kind of stuck. But also ⁓ it creates a lot of metabolic waste. So it creates lactic acid, it creates free radicals, all these things produce more inflammation, like you were talking about. So Now we’ve got these mitochondria, which are dysfunctional. They don’t have the energy to repair. They don’t have the energy to take out all these dead cells or ⁓ you know, all these other byproducts of the immune system and the natural kind of response to this damage, which then leaves more of it hanging around to produce more damage, and they’re producing more damage themselves. So it’s kind of like this swirl, and it’s ⁓ you know, it’s a downward swirl, if you will. ⁓ so When you can re-oxygenate the mitochondria, the first thing you’re doing is you’re giving them the energy to do whatever it is they need to do. ⁓ and that can be the immediate like feeling sharper, like, ⁓ I feel like I can get my thoughts together quicker. ⁓ it can be, ⁓ I feel like I’m more in control of my emotions. And I I don’t feel like sometimes I have a disproportionate emotional response to something. It can be I I don’t have that brain fog. ⁓ you know, that sort of thing. Or I literally have energy. So our brain actually consumes like 20% of all the oxygen in our body. And it’s only like two percent of the mass. So it’s like punching 10x its weight, right? So when your body starts running low on oxygen, it starts conserving. And the one of the things it tells you to do is like cool it, like stop using your muscles. You’re tired. You need to just sit there and veg out. BIll Gasiamis (34:06) Mm-hmm. Brad Pitzele (34:27) while our mitochondria try to catch up. And so that’s often that chronic fatigue that folks with a variety of health conditions, including stroke, feel, which is their bodies like, stop using energy, we don’t have enough. We need to redeploy it for something else more pressing. And so When you can reestablish normal oxygenation, it improves energy. ⁓ it improves sleep, it improves memory. and the the cells have energy to start repairing and detoxifying. ⁓ and then obviously I always think it’s cool because we’re pairing it with oc with exercise. And there’s so much research on the benefits of exercise. You mentioned it was so important, Bill, in in your healing journey. And you know, we know how important exercise is for a stroke survivor. Well, now we’re pairing it with oxygen and we’re using that exercise to catapult more of that oxygen around the body through the circulatory system while your blood vessels are dilated and opening up. So if you’re still dealing with blockages in your microcirculation, which most stroke survivors are. You’re opening them as wide as they they naturally can at that moment, and that’s when we’re feeding more oxygen to them. So it works it kind of hand in hand in that respect. BIll Gasiamis (35:48) All right. Now one glitch. Stroke survivors often are struggling to get into the physical recovery, right? Because the body goes offline, one of the legs doesn’t work, one of the arms doesn’t work. It’s a real challenge, right? So how how can we benefit from that even though we are at just after the acute phase where there is not a lot of capability for Brad Pitzele (36:00) Yes. It’s perfect. Yeah. BIll Gasiamis (36:17) physicality and I I say that so that the stroke survivors listening know that what I’m leading to is that early on it’s probably harder to do ⁓ physical therapy, exercise, et cetera. But again, with time and hope, all of those things can improve. Right. So I I wanna put that out there for stroke survivors, but also like it’s a can it’s a it’s a constraint. Brad Pitzele (36:48) Yeah. And you know, because a lot of our customers are dealing with chronic illness, this is a question that’s not uncommon is like, yeah, but I can’t I’m not out here to run a mile, Brad. I’m like eighty years old and I’m sick or whatever it is. The really ⁓ the really cool thing about ⁓ Ewatt is that it will meet you where you are at. So there is something all of us can do. The goal is to increase your heart rate and your circulation. Cost and Accessibility of Oxygen Therapy Devices and breathe the oxygen. So there’s a few ways you can do it. you know, it doesn’t have to be banging it out on a treadmill trying to get your seven minute mile. ⁓ you don’t need to do that. We have folks, you know, depending on where they are, you can start with slow walking on a treadmill. You can start with calisthenics. You can start with stretching. ⁓ gentle aerobics in your living room. You can start by, you know, lifting weights. You could be sitting and lifting weights with the the hand that’s not. We have folks, and this is probably not so much for ⁓ stroke survivors, but maybe jumping on a ⁓ a rebounder, like a little trampoline if you’ve got the balance one with the handle. ⁓ we have people using under-the-desk pedal bikes, the ones you can get for $49 on Amazon while you’re sitting. BIll Gasiamis (38:03) Beautiful. Brad Pitzele (38:04) while you’re sitting in a chair. And then for the folks who can’t do any of that, we have we even have them doing what I call passive Ewatt, which is they will breathe the oxygen while they get in like a an infrared ⁓ sauna blanket. So infrared sauna will increase your heart rate. And so you will get some benefit out of it. And what normally happens, the the really cool thing about exercising with oxygen is The first thing folks notice, the very first benefit most folks notice when they start doing is the exercise is easier. So I always describe this like if you were ⁓ jogging on a treadmill at, I don’t know, pick a number, you know, four miles an hour and you put the mask on, you wouldn’t feel like you were getting the same exercise at four miles an hour. You you crank it up to four and a half, and then later you crank it up more. And Your endurance actually improves much more quickly than if you were just doing exercise alone. ⁓ and there’s a ton of actually research on you know Olympic athletes using it for performance enhancement, which is not what we’re using for in this, but it’s kind of a nice little side effect. So we have folks who come to us who who are out of condition. We’re not talking about the physical disabilities, but out of condition, we’re like, I couldn’t do. And they’re shocked at what they’re doing and they come back and tell us in three months, look what I’m doing, sort of thing. ⁓ But it will meet you where you’re at. So if you want to do passive Ewatt, you can do that for a while as you’re working and as you start to feel better. Then maybe you’re using the under desk pedal bike. And as you’re getting your balance back and feeling better, maybe it’s a a real stationary bike later or walking on a treadmill and so on and so forth. ⁓ the goal isn’t to bust hump and like try to, you know, get a new record. As a matter of fact, I find that for most folks that sets you back. You wanna kind of you wanna do within an envelope that you’re comfortable with because If we work out too hard, also we set ourselves back because in most chronic health conditions and in stroke, additionally, we talked about this fatigue that’s due to an energy deficit. So if you go out there and overwork, you’re just putting your body in more of a deficit and potentially putting it in more of an inflammatory environment. And we’re trying to do this at a level that’s in you know anti-inflammatory and helping you recover. BIll Gasiamis (40:30) I love that. I love your whole explanation. So in my what I was hoping was you were gonna say that I could just sit there and almost do nothing ⁓ as a stroke survivor, where I’m completely in in just, you know, like week three of the acute after the acute phase, and fatigue is a massive issue and energy is a massive issue, and I’m barely able to stay awake, ⁓ and all of that stuff. And then ⁓ you could do just I hope you I was hoping you were gonna say, But you said the equivalent of ⁓ chair yoga, you know, where all I had to do was just move an arm or move a leg and do something just to get me physically going and then it would benefit. That’s what I love about it. The under-the-leg pedal bike, ⁓ under-the-desk pedal bike is one of the best things because you can strap in your leg with the deficits if you have a leg that has deficits, and you can do all the or the majority of the pedaling with the other leg, which is strapped in. Brad Pitzele (41:07) Mm. BIll Gasiamis (41:29) And you don’t you’re not gonna fall over ’cause you sit in in a chair. ⁓ probably you’re doing it inside your house so the the temperature, the weather is always perfect and ⁓ and you don’t have to door for long, right? You only have to door for a few minutes to start with. Brad Pitzele (41:45) And you’re pulling that other leg around and it’s starting to fire inside here and rebuild those connections. And and as you know, exercise increases ⁓ brain drive neurotrophic factor, which is a growth factor in our brain for BIll Gasiamis (41:51) Mm. Brad Pitzele (42:00) neuroplasticity. So you’re getting you’re getting all of these benefits. So you to your point, for someone who’s if it’s my right leg’s not working and I’m strapped in and my left leg’s doing it, my right leg is firing and it’s firing those neurons at the exact time you have that B D N F as it’s called. So BIll Gasiamis (42:17) BDNF’s amazing. And I also interviewed ⁓ recently a gentleman who ⁓ had spoken about ⁓ Jack Clifford on episode 402 who spoke about kind of ⁓ a protocol that enables you to regenerate blood vessels around the area that’s injured ⁓ to increase the oxygenation and the blood flow ⁓ to potentially those areas where ⁓ brain is offline, not dead. ⁓ so all of these things, ⁓ the previous episode that I recorded with Jack, your episode right now, like all are things that you can do that support brain health, brain recovery, ⁓ overcoming all the some of the challenges that stroke causes. And what I love about this specifically is that you can do it from your house. and you don’t have to go anywhere, but there is a cost. So let’s talk about the cost a little bit because I I want to mention it because of the massive difference to hyperbaric, which can cost up to sixty grand if you go on the right protocol. And ⁓ that’s unattainable for most people, let alone a stroke survivor who just lost their ability to earn ⁓ and may not have sixty grand to splash. Brad Pitzele (43:48) Yeah. BIll Gasiamis (43:48) ⁓ so what is the cost of getting a machine, setting it up and putting it in your house? Brad Pitzele (43:54) Yeah. So we sell two different machines. ⁓ we have one machine that’s eighteen hundred and ninety-nine dollars and the other one that’s twenty-four ninety-nine. ⁓ that’s everything you need to get going other than the exercise equipment. and the machines last a long, long time. I think I You know, I think we actually we’ve been in business since 2018 and we had our first customer come back and tell us they wore out their machine like this year. So I have to stop saying we’ve never had one wore wear out yet. So we’ve had one. ⁓ so it it’s one of I think that’s one of the things that’s great about it is it’s something you can do in your house. It’s something that doesn’t take a lot of time. When I was dealing with my chronic health issue, I was joke around about the ceremonies of counting pills and doing this modality and doing that. And they all in stroke survivors, I think, recognize the same thing. It starts to crowd out your life. And then eventually you kind of throw your hands up. You’re like, I it might be helping, but I just don’t have four hours a day for all this stuff. Like I just I need to go on and and live my life too. So it’s something that ⁓ it’s 15 minutes. You do it three to five times a week in your home. ⁓ it’s a one time expense and then it’s you know, it’s something you’ll have for many, many years. BIll Gasiamis (45:12) I love it. Where are you located? Brad Pitzele (45:15) We’re in a Dallas, Texas area. BIll Gasiamis (45:17) Okay. And are these things easy to get and distribute throughout the United States and other places in the world? I don’t know I’ve never heard of it before. So are there other people around who who sell a product that’s similar or can you access them easily? Brad Pitzele (45:35) Well, we do ship worldwide. ⁓ we ship with US power, so people get a power converter we’ve sold to the UK, to Australia, to all over Europe, Asia, ⁓ South America, ⁓ and of course across North America as well. So ⁓ they’re readily accessible. Kind of our mission was You know, when the doctor asked me if I’d make him first patients, I I I I thought about what you were saying about how like spending sixty grand to find out if something’s gonna work. And I felt like I was taking advantage a lot when I was very ill. So we wanted to make something that was accessible to people who are chronically ill. They might not have the ability to earn money. They’re on a fixed in like I have a I guess a deep personal experience and empathy there sort of thing. So ⁓ that’s yeah. So we ship worldwide. BIll Gasiamis (46:27) Yeah. If somebody wanted to reach out to you just to get more information, to have a chat with you, to look at your website, where would they go? Brad Pitzele (46:35) They would go to 1000roads.com slash stroke recovery. We do. And you can find it at the bottom of that webpage, but it’s 1000 Roads HQ. BIll Gasiamis (46:42) And you have a YouTube channel. Okay. What kind of ⁓ things can people find on the YouTube channel? Brad Pitzele (46:56) you can find everything about protocols, benefits, ⁓ how to use it. ⁓ we hit have some customer testimonials and parts of that. ⁓ just talking about the science of it, people’s experience with it, et cetera, et cetera, different use reasons people use it. BIll Gasiamis (47:17) I think it’s very important to bring information like this to stroke survivors so that they can access things in their own home that’s going to make their life better. I wrote a book, The Unexpected Way That a Stroke Became the Best Thing That Happened, for the explicit reason to give people like a path forward, a journey forward as to how to ⁓ s how to kind of obtain the silver lining in stroke recovery. And when I wrote it ⁓ in 2018, when I started writing it, something like that, 2018, 2019, I was lacking a lot of the extra pieces that I could put into ⁓ the mindset chapter, for example, or the exercise chapter, or, you know, the nutrition chapter. And In the last five or six years, I’ve been picking up those pieces to sort of attach to those chapters because they’re really relevant. And with the exercise chapter, I think this protocol was the one thing that was missing because I made the point of how important exercise was. I didn’t make the point of how you can exercise and get more bang for your buck during that exercise by Increasing the amount of oxygen that you were getting into your ⁓ bloodstream. How would I have known that if I hadn’t come across the science, which I hadn’t? Plus, there’s only so much you can put in each chapter, but this is the perfect addition. Like, and I love it. So I can go on and on about how much I think this is amazing. Brad, I really ⁓ want to thank you for reaching out and joining me on the podcast. Thanks for the work that you do. I’m glad that you’ve been able to get your health back and now you’re helping other people. Brad Pitzele (49:06) Thank you so much, Bill. I appreciate you having me on. BIll Gasiamis (49:08) Well, that’s it for another episode of the Recovery After Stroke podcast. I hope you enjoyed this episode. Might be worth listening to it again. The science here is worth sitting with, oxygenating the blood plasma, reopening inflamed microcapillaries, giving mitochondria what they need to shift out of that low energy state. And the fact that it can be done at home at a fraction of the cost of hyperbaric oxygen therapy makes it worth knowing about. If you want to learn more, or explore the equipment, head to 1000Roads.com Stroke Recovery. Brad has arranged a discount for listeners of this show of between one and 500 dollars, depending on the package you choose. This episode pairs well with the episode 402 with Jack Clifford, which covers a protocol for regenerating blood vessels around the injured area of the brain. The two conversations complement each other. Worth going back to if you haven’t heard it yet. Now, if this episode was useful, please share it with someone who could benefit. And my book, The Unexpected Way That a Stroke Became, the Best Thing That Happened, is available at recoveryafterstroke dot com slash book. And if you’d like to support the show financially, I would love it if you could. You can go and do that via patreon.com/slash recovery after stroke. I’m Bill Garciamas. Thanks for listening. See you on the next episode. The post Brad Pitzele – How Exercise With Oxygen Therapy Brings Hyperbaric-Style Benefits Home appeared first on Recovery After Stroke.

Sulforaphane, Detox Pathways, and the Science of Microplastic Removal Microplastics are building up inside your brain, blood, and reproductive tissue, and most detox protocols do nothing to remove them. This episode gives you the cellular science behind why toxins accumulate, which three detox pathways control your ability to excrete them, and what the latest research shows actually moves microplastics, heavy metals, BPA, and benzene out of your body.. -Watch this episode on YouTube for the full video experience: https://www.youtube.com/@DaveAspreyBPR -For next week, 25% off all Mara Labs products when you go to www.mara-labs.com/DAVE and use code DAVE at checkout. After June 11th, the code will return to the standard 15% off. Host Dave Asprey sits down with Dr. John Gildea, a Johns Hopkins-trained PhD with 60 scientific publications and over 20 NIH-funded studies, and David Roberts, co-founder of Mara Labs and co-creator of BrocElite, the only naturally derived stable form of sulforaphane available in a capsule. Together they bring decades of research-backed biohacking and functional medicine insight into one of the most pressing longevity conversations of our time. They break down the lysosome, your cell's built-in incinerator, and explain exactly why it gets clogged with microplastics, advanced glycation end products, and other toxins that won't break down. New research shows that sulforaphane triggers a process called lysosomal surface translocation, which releases those trapped particles so your body can finally excrete them. An in-house Mara Labs study confirmed the excretion pathway: microplastics come out in feces. In the original study, the individual measured the highest microplastic levels ever recorded, and a repeat study a year later showed dramatically lower baseline microplastic levels, suggesting consistent use compounds the benefit over time. You'll Learn: Why microplastics accumulate inside lysosomes and what sulforaphane does to release them How the three detox pathways, glutathione, glucuronidation, and sulfation, work together to remove every major class of toxin What an in-house study revealed about how and where microplastics actually leave the body How toxic estrogen metabolites form and why sulforaphane is the most effective natural tool to reroute them Why berberine supports sleep optimization, ketosis, and blocks a cancer growth pathway most drugs cannot touch How sulforaphane boosts BDNF and neuroplasticity at the cellular level What microplastic sources in your home, including your dryer, rugs, and receipts, are doing to your toxin load daily Why losing weight releases stored toxins and what to take to protect your brain and metabolism during fat loss How sulforaphane activates the same AMPK longevity pathways triggered by fasting without restricting food Thank you to our sponsors! - iRestore | Reverse hair loss at www.irestore.com/DAVE and get exclusive savings on the iRestore Elite, use code DAVE - HeartMath | Go to https://www.heartmath.com/dave to save 15% off. - Timeline | Go to timeline.com/dave and you'll get an additional 20% off your first month - Our Place | Stop cooking with toxic cookware and upgrade to Our Place today. With a 100-day risk-free trial, plus free shipping and returns, you can experience this game-changing cookware with zero risk. Visit: fromourplace.com/DAVE Use code: DAVE for 10% off sitewide Dave Asprey is a four-time New York Times bestselling author, founder of Bulletproof Coffee, and the father of biohacking. With over 1,000 interviews and 1 million monthly listeners, The Human Upgrade brings you the knowledge to take control of your biology, extend your longevity, and optimize every system in your body and mind. Each episode delivers cutting-edge insights inhealth, performance, neuroscience, supplements, nutrition, biohacking, emotional intelligence, and conscious living. New episodes are released every Tuesday, Thursday, Friday, and Sunday (BONUS). Dave asks the questions no one else will and gives you real tools to become stronger, smarter, and more resilient. Keywords: Dr. John Gildea, David Roberts, Mara Labs, BrocElite, sulforaphane, microplastics, microplastic removal, lysosome, lysosomal surface translocation, detox pathways, glutathione, glucuronidation, sulfation, Nrf2 pathway, AMPK, TFEB1, BDNF, neuroplasticity, heavy metals, BPA, benzene, estrogen metabolism, toxic estrogen, xenoestrogens, berberine, BerbaLite, ResveraLite, c-Myc, cancer and estrogen, sleep optimization, ketosis, broccoli sprouts, isothiocyanates, PEITC, watercress, phase two detox, microplastic excretion, indoor air quality, HEPA filter, dryer lint microplastics, BPA receipts, endocrine disruptors, fat loss and toxins, autism and sulforaphane, ADHD and focus, vivid dreams and BDNF, fasting mimicry, anti-aging, biohacking, longevity, functional medicine, supplements, human performance, brain optimization, metabolism, cellular detox Resources: • For next week, 25% off all Mara Labs products when you go to www.mara-labs.com/DAVE and use code DAVE at checkout. After June 11th, the code will return to the standard 15% off. • Get My 2026 Clean Nicotine Roadmap | Enroll for free at https://daveasprey.com/2026-clean-nicotine-roadmap/ • Dave Asprey's Latest News | Go to https://daveasprey.com/ to join Inside Track today. • Danger Coffee: https://dangercoffee.com/discount/dave15 • My Daily Supplements: SuppGrade Labs (15% Off) • Favorite Blue Light Blocking Glasses: TrueDark (15% Off) • Dave Asprey's BEYOND Conference: https://beyondconference.com • Dave Asprey's New Book – Heavily Meditated: https://daveasprey.com/heavily-meditated • Join My Substack (Live Access To Podcast Recordings): https://substack.daveasprey.com/ • Upgrade Labs: https://upgradelabs.com Timestamps: 0:00 – Trailer 1:55 – Intro & Context 4:48 – Microplastics & Sulforaphane 12:39 – Broccoli Sprouts Formulation 15:20 – Lab Origin Story 26:01 – Reducing Toxin Exposure 37:06 – Estrogen, Hormones & Berberine 52:46 – Autism, ADHD & Brain Health 59:01 – Wrap-Up See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Can lifting weights slow how fast your brain ages?A new study used brain scans to measure exactly that. The results show that resistance training is a uniquely beneficial tool for brain health that works through different pathways than cardio.Lifting weights can make the brain test younger on functional MRI, and the benefits may keep compounding even long after you train. Learn what brain age measures, why the prefrontal cortex matters for Alzheimer's and cognitive aging, the muscle-to-brain signaling system activated by strength training, and how heavy lifting compares to moderate intensity for protecting the brain after 40. Plus a quick self-check for strength-related dementia risk, especially after 40. Enroll in Eat More Lift Heavy, the 26-week coached program where adults over 40 build the nutrition and training skills to lift heavy, build muscle, lose fat, and stay strong and sharp for decades. Timestamps:0:00 - Lifting weights and brain aging 0:47 - Dementia risk and strength training over 40 3:58 - Aerobic exercise and the hippocampus 6:00 - Prefrontal cortex and muscle signaling 7:48 - Recent study and brain age scans 10:21 - Brain age gap and dementia risk 11:30 - Results across both lifting intensities 13:12 - Myokines, irisin, and BDNF 16:57 - How to build skills for lifting weights 18:30 - Lifting protocol for brain health 20:45 - Entry points for new lifters 24:15 - Grip strength and dementia risk

If you feel like your attention span has shortened or your brain can't keep up, I've got something for you! In this episode, we explore FOCUSED, the peptide-based formula that rebuilds the chemistry behind concentration, memory, and mental performance. Learn how ginkgo improves blood flow and oxygen delivery to the brain, bacopa raises BDNF to enhance learning, phosphatidylserine lowers cortisol to stabilize focus, and carotenoids like lutein and zeaxanthin protect neurons from oxidative stress.   Hosted by Leanne Vogel.   Root Cause Group (address the root of your health issues): https://p.bttr.to/3SqUExb    Change your metabolism with peptides: https://www.healthfulpursuit.com/make      Peptide quiz (let me help you pick a peptide that'll work): https://www.healthfulpursuit.com/quiz    Enjoy today's show. Thanks for listening!  

I sat down with Dr. Courtney Conley and what she told me stopped me cold…your walking speed can predict dementia up to seven years before the first cognitive symptom appears, which is why scientists are arguing it should be added to blood pressure and temperature as the sixth vital sign. We got into the mechanism behind it: BDNF, hippocampal neurogenesis, and why 4,000 steps a day can cut dementia risk by roughly 50% and I walked away convinced this is the most under-prescribed medicine of the 21st century. CLICK HERE TO BECOME GARY'S VIP!: ⁠https://bit.ly/4ai0Xwg⁠ Get Courtney Conley's book, “Walk”: ⁠https://amzn.to/4dLseJK⁠  Connect with Courtney Conley Website: ⁠https://bit.ly/434xEux⁠  YouTube: ⁠https://bit.ly/4o5GFNx⁠  Instagram: ⁠https://bit.ly/4wXIrEn⁠  Facebook: ⁠https://bit.ly/3RAfaj4⁠   TikTok: ⁠https://bit.ly/4x2eHGK⁠  X: ⁠https://bit.ly/4fMRNwv⁠  LinkedIn: ⁠https://bit.ly/3RR5LUe⁠  Thank you to our partners A-GAME: “ULTIMATE15” FOR 15% OFF: http://bit.ly/4kek1ij AION: “ULTIMATE10” FOR 10% OFF: https://bit.ly/4h6KHAD AIRES: "ULTIMATE20 " FOR 20% OFF: https://bit.ly/4a3Duze BAJA GOLD: "ULTIMATE10" FOR 10% OFF: https://bit.ly/3WSBqUa BODYHEALTH: “ULTIMATE20” FOR 20% OFF: http://bit.ly/4e5IjsV COLD LIFE: THE ULTIMATE HUMAN PLUNGE: https://bit.ly/4eULUKp CYMBIOTIKA: "ULTIMATE10" FOR 10% OFF: https://bit.ly/4tjyluP GENETIC METHYLATION TEST (UK ONLY): https://bit.ly/48QJJrk GENETIC TEST (USA ONLY): ⁠https://bit.ly/3Yg1Uk9 GOPUFF: GET YOUR FAVORITE SNACK!: https://bit.ly/4obIFDC H2TAB: “ULTIMATE10” FOR 10% OFF: https://bit.ly/4hMNdgg HEALF: 10% OFF YOUR ORDER: https://bit.ly/41HJg6S PEPTUAL: “TUH10” FOR 10% OFF: https://bit.ly/4mKxgcn SNOOZE: LET'S GET TO SLEEP!: https://bit.ly/4pt1T6V WHOOP: JOIN & GET 1 FREE MONTH!: https://bit.ly/3VQ0nzW Watch  the “Ultimate Human Podcast” every Tuesday & Thursday at 9AM EST: YouTube: ⁠https://bit.ly/3RPQYX8⁠ Podcasts: ⁠https://bit.ly/3RQftU0⁠ Connect with Gary Brecka Instagram: ⁠https://bit.ly/3RPpnFs⁠ TikTok: ⁠https://bit.ly/4coJ8fo⁠ X: ⁠https://bit.ly/3Opc8tf⁠ Facebook: ⁠https://bit.ly/464VA1H⁠ LinkedIn: ⁠https://bit.ly/4hH7Ri2⁠ Website: ⁠https://bit.ly/4eLDbdU⁠ Merch: ⁠https://bit.ly/4aBpOM1⁠ Newsletter: ⁠https://bit.ly/47ejrws⁠ Ask Gary: ⁠https://bit.ly/3PEAJuG⁠ Timestamps 00:00 - Intro of Show 01:25 - Same school, same degree: the human biology connection 04:29 - Pain to purpose: why modern shoes are built on a flawed premise 07:25 - Walking as the most under-prescribed medicine & the 7,000-step sweet spot 08:16 - Why your foot doesn't need arch support & can adult mechanics change? 13:10 - Micro walks: the 5-minute prescription for chronic pain & depression 18:21 - What gait analysis looks at & exchanging function for fashion 20:27 - The big toe chain reaction: how shoe width controls your knees, hips, and ankles 25:44 - Toe strength, foot awareness drills & preventing non-contact athletic injuries 31:54 - Where to start: building your walking baseline & post-meal blood sugar 37:00 - The 24-hour shoe clock: a realistic footwear rule 40:45 - Walking speed as the 6th vital sign, dementia risk & the soleus "second heart" 49:14 - Walking as a physiological necessity, ankle mobility & aging in place 58:55 - ​What does it mean to you to be an Ultimate Human? Disclaimer: This podcast is for informational purposes only and does not provide medical advice. It is not intended for diagnosing or treating any health condition. Always consult a licensed healthcare professional before making health or wellness decisions. Gary Brecka is the owner of Ultimate Human, LLC which operates The Ultimate Human podcast and promotes certain third-party products used by Gary Brecka in his personal health and wellness protocols and daily life and for which Ultimate Human LLC and / or Gary Brecka directly or indirectly holds an economic interest or receives compensation.  Accordingly, statements made by Gary Brecka and others (including on The Ultimate Human podcast) may be considered.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this Her Stack series episode, I open up about maternal mental health, postpartum anxiety, and the invisible biological load mothers carry long after the six-week checkup is over. This episode is not just for the newly postpartum mother. It is for the mother whose kids are four, eight, fifteen, and still asking herself why she does not feel like herself. I share why motherhood structurally changes the brain, hormones, and nervous system, and why so many mothers are left feeling anxious, foggy, depleted, or unlike themselves without ever being properly screened or supported. I walk you through the science of the postpartum neurosteroid withdrawal, the gray matter changes that persist for years, and the five-system map underneath maternal brain fog. Then I break down the full four-pillar protocol I use with my one-to-one clients: foundational nutrition, lifestyle and biohacking tools, the supplement layer including some of the most under-discussed compounds for the maternal brain, and the advanced peptide layer including Semax, Selank, NAD+, and bioregulators. This is the episode every mother needs. Send it to one. Join The LongHer Life for women-specific guidance on peptides, hormones, and longevity. I TALK ABOUT:  02:00 - My free peptide masterclass for moms next week 04:10 — Why maternal mental health is not just a six-week postpartum issue 06:30 — The numbers every mother should know (and the screening gap that explains everything) 08:20 — How pregnancy structurally changes the brain (Nature Neuroscience, 2017) 11:40 — The neurosteroid withdrawal nobody warned you about, and the FDA's $34,000 drug that proves it is real 13:50 — Pillar 1: DHA, protein, ferritin, blood sugar stability, and methylated Bs for the maternal brain 22:40 — Pillar 2: Protected sleep cycles, morning sunlight, vagal nerve activation, and red light to the brain 28:00 — Yoga nidra and NSDR as the workaround for mothers who cannot engineer a protected sleep cycle 32:45 — Simplifying routines, meals, outfits, and planning to reduce mental load 35:00 — Co-regulation: Why one hour of real adult conversation is medicine 38:40 — Creatine for maternal mental health, depression support, and cognitive fatigue in sleep-deprived moms 40:50 — Saffron and inositol for postpartum mood, anxiety, racing thoughts, and the "can't shut off the brain" symptoms 42:15 — Magnesium L-threonate, glycine, vitamin D, and low-dose methylene blue for sleep, brain fog, mitochondrial support, and nervous system balance 45:25 — Why peptides are an advanced layer and should come after nutrition, lifestyle, and supplement foundations 46:10 — Semax and Selank for anxiety, cortisol support, BDNF, dopamine, brain fog, memory, and maternal brain support 50:00 — NAD+ and bioregulators (Cortagen, Cerluten, Epithalon) for maternal energy, neuronal support, circadian rhythm, melatonin, sleep, and long-term brain health 58:15 — Why postpartum anxiety and depression need different kinds of support, and why SSRIs work for some mothers and not others 1:00:00 — Why lingering symptoms matter and which labs mothers should check RESOURCES: Labs to ask your provider for: TSH, free T3, free T4, reverse T3, ferritin, vitamin D, DHA panel Join The LongHer Life for women-specific guidance on peptides, hormones, and longevity. Free Peptide Masterclass for Moms: Join the waitlist for the next live class. The Her Stack Planner: The first peptide tracking journal built around female biology. Crisis support: 988 in the US, 988 in Canada PRODUCTS MENTIONED: Supplements DHA (omega-3) Creatine monohydrate Saffron (Crocus sativus extract) Inositol (myo + d-chiro blend) Glycine Magnesium L-threonate (BiOptimizers code: BIOHACKINGBRITTANY) Vitamin D Lion's mane mushroom Bacopa monnieri Methylated B vitamins (methylcobalamin, methylfolate, P5P) Methylene blue (low dose, pharmaceutical USP only) Peptides Semax Selank NAD+ options NOVOS code: BIOHACKINGBRITTANY Nuchido TIME+ code: BIOHACKINGBRITTANY Nasal spray (Synchronicity Health code: BIOHACKINGBRITTANY) Bioregulators Cortagen Cerluten Epithalon LET'S CONNECT: Instagram, TikTok, Facebook Shop my favorite health products Listen on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, YouTube Music

In Episode 44 of Pursuit of Balance, Corey breaks down how exercise directly and indirectly improves mental health — and why "the best path to the mind is through the body." This isn't your typical mental health awareness conversation. Instead of journaling, breathing, and bubble baths, Corey gets into the actual mechanisms behind why training works — and the indirect benefits most people don't realize they're signing up for when they commit to a real fitness routine. What we cover: -Why exercise is technically a stressor (and how that actually builds stress resilience) -BDNF and why post-workout is one of the best times to learn -How aerobic training recalibrates your HPA axis and stress threshold -Vagal tone, HRV, and what your nervous system is trying to tell you -The neurotransmitter cocktail behind the runner's high -The biggest mistake people make when joining a gym (and why "trying it out" is the worst strategy) -Identity shifts, community, healthy competition, and structure as mental stabilizers -Why hard training leads to better sleep — and why productivity beats busyness -The role of light exposure and outdoor training in mental health -Why exercise rivals SSRIs for treating depression and anxiety

Leave an Amazon Rating or Review for my New York Times Bestselling book, Make Money Easy! Check out the full episode: https://greatness.lnk.to/1815DM Your child's brain is already losing connections. Not because something's wrong. Because of pruning. The brain cuts whatever isn't being used. Dr. Baland Jalal says the window is real, and what you do in it matters. Affection first. Hugging and physical touch trigger oxytocin and neuropeptides that directly support neuroplasticity. It's not soft parenting. It's brain science. Then real stimulation. Not screens. Screens wire dopamine addiction loops. The stimulation that builds the brain is social. Learning to read faces, pick up on emotional cues, engage with other humans. Dr. Jalal admits COVID isolation left him socially handicapped. His mirror neurons went quiet. And finally: let them run. Cardiovascular exercise produces BDNF, what he calls "fertilizer for the brain," which grows new synapses. The last one is easy to miss: convey passion. Kids catch it from the adults around them. Sign up for the Greatness newsletter: http://www.greatness.com/newsletter Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Your relationships are reshaping your biology in ways that diet and exercise alone cannot fix, and the science behind it will change how you think about longevity, metabolism, and what it actually means to be healthy. Watch this episode on YouTube for the full video experience: https://www.youtube.com/@DaveAspreyBPR Host Dave Asprey sits down with Dr. Molly Maloof, a physician and one of the most innovative voices in personalized medicine, functional medicine, and human performance. Since 2012, she has advised or consulted for over 50 companies across digital health, consumer health, and biotechnology. She pioneered a course on healthspan at Stanford University and founded Adamo Bioscience, a company dedicated to unlocking the science of love as a pathway to healing and human connection. Dr. Maloof brings a rare combination of clinical depth, biohacking credibility, and entrepreneurial range to one of the most overlooked conversations in longevity. Together, Dave and Dr. Maloof dig into the neurobiology of love and attachment, the hormonal drivers of the sex drive and pair bonding, and how chronic isolation wrecks your metabolism at the cellular level. They explore the cell danger response and how toxic relationships, mold exposure, and trauma can lock your cells into a self-protection mode that blocks healing. They also cover psychedelics as hormetic tools, oxytocin as nature's medicine, the placebo response, peptide therapy for mitochondrial repair and anti-aging, and why regenerative medicine is about to rewrite the rules of human lifespan. If you are serious about biohacking your body from the inside out, this episode is essential. You'll Learn: Why human connection is a biological necessity, not a lifestyle preference, and what isolation does to your mitochondria and metabolism How the three neurobiological drives of sex, romantic love, and attachment are wired into your hormones and what happens when they go wrong What the cell danger response is, why it gets stuck, and which peptides, supplements, and therapies help break the cycle How oxytocin drives wound healing, immune function, and the placebo response Why psychedelics work as hormetic love drugs and how they reproduce the neurobiology of romantic love The top peptides for mitochondrial repair, brain optimization, and telomere biology Why Dave and Dr. Maloof believe we have already reached longevity escape velocity How AI is accelerating precision medicine, protein folding breakthroughs, and the future of anti-aging therapeutics Why fasting, breathwork, neurofeedback, and somatic therapies all converge on the same biological reset mechanism How to build the adaptive capacity and bioenergetic reserves to bounce back from anything Thank you to our sponsors! - Danger Coffee | Grab yours at DangerCoffee.com and use code DAVEPOD at checkout for 15% off. - Amp | If you're ready to make fitness fit into your life, go to amp.ai to check it out - Puori | Go to Puori.com/DAVE or use code DAVE at checkout to get 32% off your Puori Fish Oil subscription. You save more than $18 - Our Place | Stop cooking with toxic cookware and upgrade to Our Place today. With a 100-day risk-free trial, plus free shipping and returns, you can experience this game-changing cookware with zero risk. Visit: fromourplace.com/DAVE Use code: DAVE for 10% off sitewide Dave Asprey is a four-time New York Times bestselling author, founder of Bulletproof Coffee, and the father of biohacking. With over 1,000 interviews and 1 million monthly listeners, The Human Upgrade brings you the knowledge to take control of your biology, extend your longevity, and optimize every system in your body and mind. Each episode delivers cutting-edge insights inhealth, performance, neuroscience, supplements, nutrition, biohacking, emotional intelligence, and conscious living. New episodes are released every Tuesday, Thursday, Friday, and Sunday (BONUS). Dave asks the questions no one else will and gives you real tools to become stronger, smarter, and more resilient. Keywords: Dr. Molly Maloof, Adamo Bioscience, Stanford University, personalized medicine, functional medicine, healthspan, longevity, biohacking, human performance, anti-aging, regenerative medicine, longevity escape velocity, cell danger response, mitochondria, mitochondrial health, oxytocin, vasopressin, dopamine, serotonin, neurobiology of love, attachment theory, pair bonding, sex drive, hormone replacement therapy, testosterone, estrogen, menopause, andropause, libido, female sexual dysfunction, relationship biology, social health, isolation, community, co-regulation, trauma healing, psychedelics, MDMA, psilocybin, ibogaine, ayahuasca, hormetic stress, social hormesis, neurofeedback, 40 Years of Zen, breathwork, nervous system regulation, HPA axis, cortisol, mast cell activation, histamine, long COVID, mold exposure, phospholipid therapy, glutathione, vitamin C, BPC-157, TB500, SS31, epothilone, SELANK, SEMAX, BDNF, telomere biology, telomerase, peptides, GLP-1, placebo response, wound healing, metabolism, continuous glucose monitoring, gut health, AI, precision medicine, supplements, brain optimization, neuroplasticity Resources: • Grab Molly's Book The Spark Factor: https://www.amazon.com/Spark-Factor-Supercharging-Optimizing-Feeling/dp/0063207206 • Learn More About Dr. Molly's Work: https://drmolly.co/ • Visit Your Healthspan Journey: https://yourhealthspanjourney.mystrikingly.com/ • Get My 2026 Clean Nicotine Roadmap | Enroll for free at https://daveasprey.com/2026-clean-nicotine-roadmap/ • Dave Asprey's Latest News | Go to https://daveasprey.com/ to join Inside Track today. • Danger Coffee: https://dangercoffee.com/discount/dave15 • My Daily Supplements: SuppGrade Labs (15% Off) • Favorite Blue Light Blocking Glasses: TrueDark (15% Off) • Dave Asprey's BEYOND Conference: https://beyondconference.com • Dave Asprey's New Book – Heavily Meditated: https://daveasprey.com/heavily-meditated • Join My Substack (Live Access To Podcast Recordings): https://substack.daveasprey.com/ • Upgrade Labs: https://upgradelabs.com Timestamps: 00:00 – Trailer 00:28 – Intro 01:39 – COVID Isolation & Its Effects 03:11 – Science of Love & Hormones 04:24 – Psychedelics & Love Chemistry 09:22 – Cell Danger Response 11:07 – AI, Tech & Human Connection 13:20 – Social Connection as Medicine 20:50 – Placebo, Care & Psychedelics 24:49 – Altered States & Healing Modalities 30:09 – Peptides & Longevity Drugs 35:44 – Mast Cell & Personal Health Challenges 43:46 – Regenerative Medicine & The Future 46:17 – Longevity Escape Velocity 50:05 – Outro See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Does GABA Actually Help With Sleep? What the Research Says for Brain Injury Recovery Someone in our community recently asked me about GABA for sleep. They’d seen it recommended online, understood that sleep was critical for their recovery, and wanted to know whether the supplement was worth exploring or just noise. It’s a genuinely good question. And it deserves a proper answer. In this post, I’m going to walk you through what GABA is, what the clinical research actually shows about its effect on sleep, why the blood-brain barrier debate matters (and why it might not derail the whole argument), and what the evidence says about the relationship between sleep and brain recovery. By the end, you’ll have enough to have an informed conversation with your medical team. I’m not a doctor. I’m a three-time haemorrhagic stroke survivor who has spent years researching the science of brain recovery and interviewing hundreds of clinicians and survivors on the Recovery After Stroke podcast. What I offer is a careful read of the evidence, not a clinical prescription. What Is GABA and Why Does It Matter for Sleep? GABA (gamma-aminobutyric acid) is the brain’s primary inhibitory neurotransmitter. If your nervous system were a car, GABA is the brake pedal. It reduces neuronal excitability, quiets cortical arousal, suppresses the brain’s primary arousal centre (the locus coeruleus), and modulates the HPA axis, the stress-response system that drives cortisol. Most sedative medications work by amplifying GABA activity. Benzodiazepines, for instance, bind to GABA-A receptors to increase chloride channel opening, producing their calming effect. GABA isn’t doing something unusual here – it’s doing something fundamental. The question with supplemental oral GABA is more specific: Does taking GABA as a capsule or powder actually produce meaningful neurological effects? What Does the Research Show? Finding 1 — Oral GABA Reduces Sleep Latency (and EEG Can Measure It) A 2015 clinical trial published in the Journal of Nutritional Science and Vitaminology by Yamatsu and colleagues used EEG measurement, actual brainwave monitoring, rather than self-reported sleep questionnaires. One hundred milligrams of oral GABA shortened sleep latency (time to fall asleep) by 5.3 minutes compared to placebo. That might sound modest. But for someone lying awake for 30–40 minutes each night, it’s a meaningful shift. Crucially, this was objective neurophysiological data, not a survey response. (PMID: 26052150) Finding 2 — A 90-Day RCT Showed Improved Sleep Efficiency and Mood A 2024 randomised double-blind placebo-controlled trial published in the Journal of Dietary Supplements (Guimarães et al.) gave 200 mg of GABA daily for 90 days to sedentary overweight women also undergoing an exercise program. The GABA group showed significantly improved Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) scores, significantly reduced depression scores, and improved heart rate variability, a marker of parasympathetic nervous system activity. The HRV finding is particularly interesting. It suggests GABA may be doing something broader than simply reducing sleep latency – it appears to support the overall physiological state that makes rest restorative. (PMID: 38321713) Finding 3 — But a High-Dose RCT Found No Effect Here’s where intellectual honesty matters. A 2023 Dutch RCT (de Bie et al.) published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition gave participants 500 mg of GABA three times daily, 1,500 mg/day total, and found no significant effect on self-reported sleep quality. Fasting plasma GABA wasn’t significantly elevated either, raising real bioavailability questions at that dose. This isn’t a reason to dismiss GABA entirely. It is a reason to pay attention to the dose. The evidence base supports 100–300 mg, not 1,500 mg. Higher is not better, and the non-linear dose response is clinically important. (PMID: 37495019) The Blood-Brain Barrier Debate — and Why the Gut May Be the Point The most common objection to oral GABA supplementation is this: GABA is a zwitterion at physiological pH, meaning it has low lipophilicity and poor predicted ability to cross the blood-brain barrier via passive diffusion. So if it can’t get into the brain directly, how does it produce neurological effects? The emerging explanation involves the gut-brain axis. The enteric nervous system, your gut’s own neural network, has GABA receptors. When oral GABA activates these enteric receptors, it can signal the brain via vagal afferents without needing to cross the BBB at all. Think of it as a side door rather than the front entrance. Supporting this: a 2024 RCT (Li et al.) found that a probiotic strain engineered to increase gut GABA production significantly improved objective sleep duration as measured by wearable devices, alongside reduced cortisol and suppressed HPA axis activity. The mechanism wasn’t direct CNS access – it was gut-brain signalling. (PMID: 39385735) The BBB debate doesn’t negate the clinical effect. It changes how we understand the mechanism. Why Sleep Is Not Optional in Brain Recovery This is the part that I think gets underweighted in recovery conversations — and the research is unambiguous. A 2026 large retrospective cohort study (Muhtar et al., Sleep Medicine) matched over 35,000 stroke patients and found that post-stroke insomnia was associated with a 29% higher risk of post-stroke cognitive impairment and a 30% higher risk of all-cause dementia. The association with Alzheimer’s disease was also significant. (PMID: 41924789) A 2024 observational study from Monash University and Alfred Health (Smith et al.) found that in stroke rehabilitation patients, poor sleep quality was significantly associated with higher fatigue severity and lower salivary BDNF gene expression. BDNF (brain-derived neurotrophic factor) is one of the primary molecular drivers of neuroplasticity. Less BDNF means a less receptive environment for the neurological rewiring that rehab is trying to build. (PMID: 38802847) And then there’s the glymphatic system: the brain’s waste-clearance mechanism that is most active during deep sleep. Poor sleep means reduced clearance of metabolic byproducts, including proteins associated with neurodegeneration. This is not a theoretical risk. It is an active, ongoing process. Sleep is not passive recovery. It is one of the primary mechanisms of recovery. What to Do With This Information Here are three practical steps if you’re exploring GABA for sleep: 1. Measure your sleep baseline first. Use the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (freely available online) before you make any changes. Understanding whether you’re struggling with latency, duration, or quality will determine what you actually need to address. 2. If you trial GABA, choose the right form and dose. Look for PharmaGABA — naturally fermented GABA, derived from Lactobacillus hilgardii, which has the strongest clinical evidence base. A dose of 100–300 mg taken 30–60 minutes before bed is consistent with the positive studies. Avoid very high doses; the null result at 1,500 mg/day is important context. Important drug interaction note: If you are taking benzodiazepines, anticonvulsants (gabapentin, pregabalin, valproate), or any other GABAergic medication, discuss GABA supplementation with your prescriber before adding it. The additive sedative effect is a real risk. The same applies if you drink alcohol regularly. 3. Don’t skip the foundation. Sleep hygiene interventions, consistent sleep and wake times, a dark and cool room, and no screens in the 60 minutes before bed, are consistently among the highest-leverage sleep interventions in the literature. GABA may provide a genuine incremental benefit. But it cannot compensate for a fundamentally disrupted sleep environment. The Bottom Line The evidence for GABA and sleep is more substantive than I expected when I started researching it. The EEG data is real. The 90-day RCT showed meaningful clinical outcomes. The gut-brain axis mechanism is biologically plausible and now has direct RCT support. And the consequences of poor sleep in neurological recovery are not trivial – they are quantifiable, significant, and, to a degree, addressable. GABA is not a guaranteed fix. Individual responses vary. The research is not yet definitive at the level of large multi-centre trials in neurological populations. But as one tool in a comprehensive approach to sleep quality alongside good sleep hygiene, appropriate medical support, and consistent rehabilitation, the case for cautious exploration is reasonable. The next step is a conversation with your neurologist, GP, or rehab physician. Take the research with you if it’s useful. Research References All studies cited in this post are retrievable via PubMed: Yamatsu et al. — GABA sleep latency EEG clinical trial (2015) — PMID: 26052150 Guimarães et al. — GABA 200mg RCT, sleep efficiency + mood (2024) — PMID: 38321713 de Bie et al. — GABA high-dose RCT, null sleep result (2023) — PMID: 37495019 Li et al. — Gut-brain GABA axis and sleep RCT (2024) — PMID: 39385735 Muhtar et al. — Post-stroke insomnia and cognitive decline cohort (2026) — PMID: 41924789 Smith et al. — Sleep, BDNF, and fatigue in stroke rehabilitation (2024) — PMID: 38802847 This post is for educational purposes only and does not constitute medical advice. Always consult a qualified healthcare professional before making changes to your supplementation or treatment plan. If you or someone you care about is recovering from a stroke, brain injury, or any neurological condition, the Recovery After Stroke podcast and this blog exist for you. Subscribe on YouTube @BillGasiamis, or visit Recovery After Stroke to find episodes, resources, and community. The post GABA, Sleep, and Brain Health – Neurological Recovery appeared first on Recovery After Stroke.

Photobiomodulation Stroke Recovery: How Laser Therapy Is Restarting Damaged Brains After Stroke For seven years, a woman lived unable to remember faces. She had developed prosopagnosia, a condition that turned every person she met into a stranger, no matter how many times they had been introduced. She kept notes. She took photographs. She built systems to compensate for what her brain could no longer do on its own. Then she sat down for a single laser therapy session with Dr. Robert Hedaya. One session later, the problem was gone. “I can remember the face of the person I worked with this morning and his wife and the dimple on his face,” she told him, describing something she hadn’t been able to do in nearly a decade. What Dr. Hedaya witnessed that day and what he now works to replicate for stroke survivors, people living with aphasia, early dementia, and Parkinson’s, is the result of a therapy called photobiomodulation. And the principle behind it may fundamentally change how you understand your own recovery ceiling. Your Neurons May Not Be Dead. They May Just Be Stuck When a stroke occurs, conventional medicine draws a clear line. Tissue that is destroyed is gone. Deficits that persist beyond the early recovery window are considered permanent. Survivors are told, sometimes gently, sometimes bluntly, that they have plateaued. Dr. Hedaya challenges that directly. In his clinical experience, there is often a population of neurons that survived the stroke intact but are no longer functioning. They are alive. Their cellular architecture is preserved. But they have lost their energy supply, specifically, the ability to produce ATP, the molecule that powers every cellular process in the body. Without energy, these neurons go quiet. They stop firing. From the outside, this looks like permanent damage. But it isn’t. It is dormancy. This mirrors the concept of the chronic penumbra explored in hyperbaric oxygen therapy research, where viable tissue sits in a suspended state, waiting for conditions to change. Dr. Hedaya’s approach is different in method but identical in premise: the brain has not finished recovering. It is waiting for the right signal. Photobiomodulation provides that signal. What Photobiomodulation Actually Does “After the first laser treatment, the problem was gone. Gone. She told me — I can remember the face of the person I worked with this morning.” — Dr. Robert Hedaya Photobiomodulation, also called transcranial laser therapy, delivers precise wavelengths of near-infrared light to targeted areas of the scalp. The photons penetrate through the skull, meninges, and tissue to reach dormant neurons, where they act on the fourth complex of the mitochondrial electron transport chain, the site where nitric oxide accumulates and blocks ATP production. The photons dislodge that nitric oxide. The mitochondria resume normal energy output. The neuron now has what it needs to resume its function. The downstream effects are significant: new synapses form through a process called synaptogenesis, brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) is produced, inflammation decreases, and misfolded proteins associated with cognitive decline begin to clear. Given energy, the brain begins repairing itself, not because the laser forces it to, but because the cells already know what to do. They were just waiting for the fuel. How QEEG Makes It Precise Not every stroke survivor responds to the same laser parameters or needs treatment in the same regions. This is where Dr. Hedaya’s approach clearly separates from consumer LED helmets or generic light therapy devices. Before any laser is applied, he conducts a quantitative EEG, a brain mapping process that measures electrical activity at 19 points across the scalp. Unlike a standard EEG, which relies on a clinician reading scrolling waveforms visually, QEEG uses AI to analyse thousands of data points and reverse-engineer the source. The result is a functional map: which networks are underperforming, which are overactive, and where pathways between regions have broken down. This is paired with a neuroquant MRI that measures 30 to 40 distinct brain structures volumetrically. Together, they function as a GPS triangulating exactly where the laser should be directed, at what wavelength, power, pulse frequency, and joule delivery for each individual patient. These parameters are adjusted as the patient responds, session by session. This level of precision is what distinguishes clinical photobiomodulation from anything available over the counter. A half-watt LED helmet delivering diffuse light through hair and scalp is not the same intervention. Depression After Stroke – And the Whole-Body Connection Roughly 30% of stroke survivors experience depression in the aftermath. This is not simply an emotional response to a difficult event – it is a physiological outcome with identifiable drivers that conventional psychiatry often does not investigate. Dr. Hedaya’s model, which he calls whole psychiatry, treats post-stroke depression as a downstream expression of broader disruption: hypothyroidism, hormonal imbalance, B12 deficiency, elevated mercury from dietary sources, gut dysbiosis, chronic inflammation, and unresolved neurological stress all play measurable roles. In one of his current stroke cases, treating low thyroid function triggered seizure sensitivity because post-stroke tissue is more vulnerable to excitatory input. That kind of complexity is precisely why a comprehensive functional evaluation must precede treatment. For survivors too depleted to engage with lifestyle changes, Dr. Hedaya will now often begin with laser therapy directly. Once cellular energy is restored, the motivation and capacity to make further changes typically follow. The jump-start, he has found, enables everything else. Is Recovery Still Possible After a Plateau? If you have been told you have reached your ceiling, the core message of this episode is worth sitting with: the plateau is often not a biological fact. It is frequently the consequence of underlying conditions that haven’t been identified, and dormant tissue that hasn’t been activated. “The brain is incredibly plastic,” Dr. Hedaya says. “When you challenge it and give it everything it needs, nutrients, light, hormones, and remove the toxins, great things can happen. There is hope. There is so much hope.” His practice, the Whole Psychiatry and Brain Recovery Center, offers initial consultations via Zoom for those who cannot travel to New Jersey. For survivors with a local physician willing to collaborate, educational consultation is also available. Reach Dr. Hedaya at wholepsychiatry.com. If this episode opened something up for you, Bill’s book – The Unexpected Way That A Stroke Became The Best Thing That Happened follows the full arc of what recovery can become when you stop accepting the ceiling and start questioning it. Find it at recoveryafterstroke.com/book. If the Recovery After Stroke podcast has supported your journey, you can support the show at patreon.com/recoveryafterstroke. This blog is for informational purposes only and does not constitute medical advice. Please consult your doctor before making any changes to your health or recovery plan. The Laser That Restarts Brains – Dr. Robert Hedaya on Photobiomodulation, QEEG, and Whole Psychiatry After Stroke A laser pointed at the right spot in your brain can restart neurons that stopped working. Dr. Robert Hedaya explains how and who it can help. Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy – Dr. Amir Hadanny Highlights: 00:00 Introduction – Photobiomodulation Stroke Recovery 01:09 Dr. Hedaya’s Medical Journey 07:55 Transition to Functional Medicine 10:31 Photobiomodulation Stroke Recovery Applications 19:21 Understanding Laser Mechanisms 24:36 Jumpstarting Healing with Laser Therapy 29:48 Understanding EEG vs. QEEG 34:10 Addressing Depression Post-Stroke 39:38 Holistic Approaches to Recovery 46:20 Patient-Centered Care and Follow-Up 51:38 The Role of Spirituality in Healing Transcript: Introduction – Photobiomodulation Stroke Recovery Dr Bob Hedaya (00:00) After the first laser treatment, the problem was gone. Gone. She told me, she said, my God, I can remember the face of the person I worked with this morning and his wife and the dimple on the face. And I said, what are you talking about? She says, have prosopagnosia. I said, says, can’t remember faces. I have to write down everything that I do and take pictures of everything and every person. I said, my God, it’s gone, gone. that’s when I went home that night and I was like, this doesn’t make any sense. How could this be? There’s nothing about a neurological condition being turned around in one minute. It makes no sense. Dr. Hedaya’s Medical Journey Bill Gasiamis (00:41) Welcome everyone to the Recovery After Stroke podcast. I’m Bill Gasiamis and my guest today is Dr. Robert Hedaya, a board-certified psychiatrist, functional medicine practitioner, and the founder of the Hull Psychiatry and Brain Recovery Center in New Jersey. Dr. Hedaya trained at Georgetown and the National Institute of Mental Health. And over the course of his career, he moved from conventional psychopharmacology into functional medicine after discovering of what was driving his patient’s symptoms had nothing to do with their medications and everything to do with their biology. In more recent years, Dr. Hedaya has added a tool that very few practitioners anywhere in the world are using, QEEG, guided transcranial photobiomodulation. That’s laser therapy, precisely using a functional brain map to reactivate neurons that survived the stroke but stopped working. In this conversation, we get into the science behind photobiomodulation and what it actually does inside the cell. How QEEG brain mapping removes the guesswork from treatment, why post-stroke depression is so often mismanaged, the role of nutrition, hormones, and toxin load in recovery. and why Dr. Hedaya believes the plateau most survivors are told about is not the biological sealing they’ve been led to believe it is. Now, before we get into this episode, if you found this podcast helpful in your recovery, my book, The Unexpected Way That a Stroke Became the Best Thing That Happened goes deeper into the tools and mindset shifts that support long-term recovery and personal transformation. You can find it at recoveryafterstroke.com/book. And if this show has supported you, you can support it at patreon.com/recoveryafterstroke. Now let’s get into it. Bill Gasiamis (02:38) Dr. Hedaya. Welcome to the podcast. Dr Bob Hedaya (02:41) Thank you. Pleasure to be here. Bill Gasiamis (02:43) It is a very good pleasure to have you here as well. The reason being is because I, what we’re going to discuss, but B the way that you came to be on my podcast was through somebody who listens to my podcast, reaching out and saying, need to have this gentleman on your podcast. And I get that a lot. And sometimes it’s like, thank you for the referral, but maybe that’s not for me, but this is definitely for me. Can you give me a little bit of. Dr Bob Hedaya (03:01) Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Bill Gasiamis (03:13) background for people who are listening to understand how it is that you and I came to be on the podcast today, but more importantly, like your medical journey to today. Dr Bob Hedaya (03:26) Well, so first of all, I ⁓ was treating a woman who was, let’s say, about 50 years old. She had several strokes. And her husband looked me up, and they came here for treatment. in New Jersey. And ⁓ she had significant improvement in her ability to speak over a short period of time. That’s a little. kind of summary of the situation, but it was ⁓ profound. She still has work to do, a lot of work to do, but she’s doing it and she’s progressing nicely. So that’s, he basically, I guess, decided this needs to get out. And so he contacted you, et cetera, et cetera. In terms of my journey, ⁓ that could take a few hours. So let me try and summarize it. I will say I basically went to medical school, took off six months to study medicine on my own after two years because I really, lot of reasons, but one of them was I just was memorizing things and I didn’t really understand what I was doing. And so I took off six months and I really learned about the human body. I studied, I had a schedule, a very fixed schedule, about 10 hours a day of studying and exercise and eat. was very, you know, I was young and regimented. And I had six books, six subjects that I wanted to get through and I did. And I learned all about the body and different parts of the body, how they interact with each other. And also I was able to understand and predict even certain kinds of processes and problems in the body. So that was an integrative experience, which ⁓ later really served as the foundation for what I do. Fast forward, I was going to be a surgeon, decided to be a psychiatrist instead, because I was fascinated by by the human mind. And what happened was I was trained at Georgetown National Institute of Mental Health in Washington, DC. And then I was in practice for about a year. And I was treating a woman who had panic attacks. And they weren’t getting better after a year. And panic attacks are pretty easy to treat. And so I was like, what’s going on here? She paged me one night after a year, Saturday night. And I remember I had a little beeper, you know, and I went to find a phone booth and, hey, Joanne, what’s going on? It’s midnight, right? She’s talking to me, I’m having a panic attack. And I mean, I still remember the anguish in her voice. You know, it was really, really, really rough to listen to. So Monday morning, I went into the office very early and I’m like, I’m missing something. What am I missing? So I found I had one piece of blood work. had a blood count and the size of her red blood cells was large. and I had seen that and didn’t know what it meant and ignored it. Very little. It wasn’t very large. It was just a little bit out of the norm. And I was trained in hospitals. know, in hospitals, you don’t worry about the little things. You worry about the train wrecks, right? So you never really learn what the little things mean. So here was a so-called little thing and it was ruining her life. Meanwhile, I did some research. It was a B12 deficiency. I gave her B12 injection. And with the first injection, her panic was gone. Transition to Functional Medicine I mean, gone, gone, gone. And I was like, whoa, what else am I missing? Because psychiatry, neuropsychiatry, it’s a revolving door. You go to this doctor, you take these meds, you do this therapy. That works for a while, then you go somewhere else. I figured I’m missing a lot of stuff. And basically, ended up learning. I didn’t know it was called functional medicine, but I ended up learning functional medicine on my own. Wrote a book, got introduced. to Jeff Bland at IFM. contacted me and took formal training and then, you know, that was what I was doing. And I did that, ⁓ put out a second book ⁓ and that was a best seller. And ⁓ the book was called the Anti-Depressant Survival Program. But really it was functional medicine psychiatry or whole psychiatry, which I like to call it. But it’s functional medicine psychiatry, but the publisher wanted… you know, a nice fancy title that would, know, so they decided to call it the Anti-Depressant Program, you know, survival program. Anyway, the best seller and we had thousands of phone calls, we had a lot of publicity and I couldn’t obviously see everybody. So I picked people who had treatment resistant depression and people who had the resources and the motivation or the support to be able to do what they needed to do. And I just treated them with functional medicine. And at this time, you’ve got to realize I was a psychopharmacologist. I was also trained as a psychopharmacologist. So I was doing a lot of psychopharmacology. I mean, a lot. And now I’m doing functional medicine on everybody. And after about three years, I’m noticing that I’m not actually doing that much psychopharmacology anymore. And everybody’s getting better. And the diabetes is going away. and osteoporosis is going away and one woman’s MS lesion in her brain went away and I’m like, what’s going on here? You know what? I might be lying to myself. So maybe I’m paying attention to the positive cases and I’m ignoring the negative. So I hired a statistician to go over all my cases over the course of this period of time, it two or three years. Ended up in 23 cases of treatment resistant depression. ⁓ I wasn’t lying to myself. Every single person went into recovery, not partial remission, not 50 % better, fully recovered by 10 months, every single one. And I was just blown away that, you know, I mean, I was blown away before, but then it was like, well, you’re not really lying to yourself. So that’s what I was doing until 2014 when I retired. I had actually an inaccurate diagnosis. I retired and… turned out it was incorrect. So it was actually really good to be retired, although I missed it terribly, really missed medicine terribly. But it gave me some time. And this is where this kind of starts to relate more to your audience. ⁓ I’m sitting on a hammock for six hours reading a book. Well, you can’t do that when you’re in practice. Bill Gasiamis (10:07) Good thing to do. Yeah. Photobiomodulation Stroke Recovery Applications Dr Bob Hedaya (10:13) That doesn’t happen. So but I was you know in retirement, so I’m reading this book and put two and two together over the course of time and I learned about laser which which they were using in Russia in 1980s and learned how the laser worked and And I was like whoa this could really help the brain and Then I was thinking now. I’m not in practice right, but I’m then I’m thinking but how would I know where to? point the laser in the brain for a patient. And then I keep reading in the book, and then they start talking about in the next chapter about quantitative EEG. And I’m like, oh, that’s how I would know. So I spent the next three years or so actually studying these methodologies. And then in 2017, I want to say, or 2018, I treated my first patient who had early dementia. published this case actually. I was treating her for early dementia. And I had treated her for six months with functional medicine, know, hormones and treating infections, et cetera, et cetera. And she really was much better. And then I was ready to do my first quantitative EEG. And she’s doing much better. She still has some symptoms. And I do the QEG. And actually, if I could share my I don’t know if I can, Okay, so basically what I just sent you is ⁓ how her brain looked after six months of functional medicine, right? So I was shocked because I thought her brain would look much better. And then I said, okay, let’s do the laser. So I knew where to point it because the QEG and this was the shocker. With the first laser, she had a problem. before the laser treatment of facial blindness. I don’t know if you know what that is. It’s people who can’t remember faces. They just met someone, they can’t remember the face. It’s called prosopagnosia. She had acquired it seven years earlier. Bill Gasiamis (12:11) I do. Yeah. Dr Bob Hedaya (12:21) After the first laser treatment, the problem was gone. Gone. She told me, she said, my God, I can remember the face of the person I worked with this morning and his wife and the dimple on the face. And I said, what are you talking about? She says, have prosopagnosia. I said, what? What is proto-diagnosia? I don’t know what that is. She says, can’t remember faces. I have to write down everything that I do and take pictures of everything and every person. I said, my God, it’s gone, gone. that’s when I went home that night and I was like, this doesn’t make any sense. How could this be? There’s nothing about a neurological condition being turned around in one minute. It makes no sense. But then I realized, I reasoned it out, realized, well, she had a population of neurons that were kind of alive, but they were not really functioning. And then I kind of jump started them with the laser and they went about their business and did their job. Bill Gasiamis (13:19) I love it. So, that’s a contrast on what you’re doing as in psychiatry, because psychiatry from, you know, my understanding is, you know, if you, if you speak to somebody who’s been through psychiatry and you ask them, how’s your condition or how is your situation or what has improved, very few people can say, ⁓ well, I’m, I’m better. I’ve overcome it. We’ve moved beyond the resolve that Dr Bob Hedaya (13:27) Yeah. Bill Gasiamis (13:47) Nobody really does that. They kind of just continue to go through the motions of another appointment, another medication, another adjustment in the amount of medication, et cetera. And what you said also seems a little bit ridiculous and kind of too quick. How do you get that kind of a solution that’s meant to take ages? You’re supposed to go through the typical times and it’s supposed to be costly and Dr Bob Hedaya (14:06) Too quick. Bill Gasiamis (14:16) unattainable and all these things. And it makes people feel sometimes I know stroke survivors who come across promises like that from other ⁓ people who talk about ⁓ perhaps ⁓ non-studied, ⁓ no scientific background kind of solutions to stroke and then kind of give everyone a blanket. If we do this, we’ll fix your stroke deficits, which is not true. ⁓ And then And then it leaves people feeling like they got ripped off. If they paid money, it leaves people lost for hope that there is no hope, cetera. And we kind of find ourselves in a, okay, desperate, what do we do now situation, right? And that’s kind of why I got excited when your patient’s husband reached out and said that we should chat. And I had a bit of a look into the kind of work that you do. ⁓ Functional medicine, I’ve heard about heaps. Dr Bob Hedaya (15:00) Hmm. Bill Gasiamis (15:14) And I love that it’s merged with psychiatry because when I started my journey in 2012, overcoming the first brain bladed and the second brain blade six weeks later, I went into functional medicine study to find out not formally, but I started doing what I didn’t know at the time was studying functional medicine and understanding like how I can decrease the inflammation in my brain. and provide the right environment for healing. And the first thing I came across was a book by somebody that you’re gonna know, Mark Hyman. And the book was, ⁓ the book was, ⁓ Eight Fat Get Thin. I read it, not wanting to get thin, I read it ⁓ because it ticked the boxes for the diet that I was gonna use to reduce inflammation in my brain. Dr Bob Hedaya (15:54) Okay. Bill Gasiamis (16:12) And the side effect was I thin. I wasn’t going for that because I was taking medication. was taking ⁓ dexamethasone, which made me put on weight and made these like all these types of ⁓ terrible side effects, but it was helping reduce the inflammation in my brain. So I, I was happy to have it, but I needed to achieve the same outcome as dexamethasone. Dr Bob Hedaya (16:13) I’m kidding. Bill Gasiamis (16:41) or a similar outcome as dexamethasone on a permanent basis without taking dexamethasone to improve the situation in my brain. And then I started to realize that I had a lot of power and I was ⁓ only not guided properly because my physicians, my doctors weren’t able to offer advice in that space. And had I not been the curious kind of guy that I was, I never would have come across Dr. Hyman and some other amazing guys who wrote books at around about that time that were similar in nature. so you’re, and then, and then a little while later, I found there was a Tasmanian, ⁓ psychiatrist, forget her name, but I have her book on my shelf upstairs who wrote a book about, ⁓ psychiatry and food and, the link between food and a good psychiatric outcome. Dr Bob Hedaya (17:15) huh. Bill Gasiamis (17:39) in the brain. And I just thought, okay, there’s much, much more that needs to happen here. Now, this the connections, there’s a lot of connections here. So recently on my YouTube channel, somebody left a comment I wanted to know about red light therapy, and will it help their brain? And I’m like, I have no idea. But let me do some research. I went on to PubMed, I found some articles and wouldn’t you believe it, there is a whole bunch of ⁓ proper data that Dr Bob Hedaya (17:40) You know what? Come on. Bill Gasiamis (18:08) suggests that there is a benefit. The only challenge that I always have with all of these potentially beneficial interventions is there’s no diagnosis done in the first place to determine whether somebody actually is eligible for a particular intervention. And what it sounds like you’re able to do is the diagnostics part and determine their eligibility. Tell me a little bit about why that is important. Dr Bob Hedaya (18:35) Right. Okay, so let me back, I wanna back up, because you said something very important, then I wanna reiterate it. I just gave you before a case of a woman who in five minutes, her problem was gone, right? Not, people should not think that’s the norm, okay? Not the norm. Occasionally it happens, I have a guy who had a head injury and had light sensitivity and confusion in certain situations with light, and one treatment, boom, gone. Understanding Laser Mechanisms People, you know, I have cases like that, but most of the time this is a gradual process. So people should not think it’s a cure-all for everybody. We do have to know who it’s good for. So what we do diagnostically before we do this is I will look at their brain, you know, obviously take some history and all of that business, but we do a quantitative neuroquant MRI. So we look at the different structures inside the brain. You know, we look at… Bill Gasiamis (19:32) Lovely. Dr Bob Hedaya (19:32) 30, 40 different structures. And then we also do a quantitative EEG, which is an electroencephalogram. We measure the electricity in the brain in 19 different places. And then there’s this really AI that takes all this data and it reverse engineers it. It’s called the inverse solution. And you can actually see the pathways, all of the pathways in the brain and the surface areas of the brain. And you can look at that, correlate that with the person’s symptoms. with the neuroquant MRI, it’s like a GPS, right? A triangulation of information and then assuming there’s not a mass or an aneurysm or some reason not to do the laser like an overactive brain or something like that, then we could consider using the laser. And then we also know where we want to do it based on the symptoms, based on the QEG, based on the neuroquant. We will decide what we’re going to target. And then we combine that, sometimes, not always. Bill Gasiamis (20:05) Hmm. Dr Bob Hedaya (20:31) with neurofeedback so we can exercise the areas that we want to exercise or calm down the areas that we want to calm down. And sometimes with hyperbaric oxygen, things like that. And hormones, using hormones or things like that. Bill Gasiamis (20:42) Yep. Hyperbaric oxygen has been a topic that I’ve discussed as well on the podcast and the people that I spoke to about hyperbaric oxygen and guys, I can’t remember right now, but I’ll put a link in the show notes for anyone listening so that you can go and find that episode and have a listen to it. Basically, what I loved about their approach was that they did a massive amount of diagnosis beforehand to determine where the penumbras were and then target those penumbras while the person was in the chamber. by getting them to do certain exercises that would activate those areas and therefore be targeted. So it sounds like the laser therapy is similar. Tell me about the laser. What kind of a laser is it? How does it get targeted to a specific spot? And what does it do when it goes there? I mean, I imagine it just doesn’t point there and go, I’ll illuminate that and it’ll be better. How does it actually work? Dr Bob Hedaya (21:18) Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Okay, so the laser, there are a bunch of different parameters that we have to adjust for each person. So it’s the frequency, how fast is the wavelength? What’s the wavelength? How many times per second is it pulsed? 10 times per second, 40 times per second, 50 times per second. Is it a 8, 10 nanometer wavelength or is it a 1064 wavelength? How many joules are we delivering? you know, where are we delivering it? So there are lots and lots of parameters to adjust, right? ⁓ What does it do? So simple, the first thing that it does, it does many, many things, right? But the very, very first thing it does is it actually releases ATP, the energy molecule, from your mitochondria. So it basically, the photon goes to the fourth channel, the fourth complex in the mitochondria, bumps off the nitric oxide, and that opens the flow of ATP. Well, if your brain, if your neurons have energy, they say, ⁓ energy, ⁓ well, we know what to do with energy. Let’s fix the puddles. Let’s build the roads. Let’s make the connections. Let’s do whatever we got to do. So now you’re getting energy flow. You also get synaptogenesis. You build new synapses. You get production of brain-derived neurotrophic factor. Bill Gasiamis (23:01) Wow. Dr Bob Hedaya (23:05) You get reduction of inflammation, get reduction of tau proteins and misfolded proteins. ⁓ You get, subjectively, get cognitive enhancement. aphasia, you know, people can start to speak. I mean, I can tell you one story. We used to shave people before doing the laser because I wanted to… Remember, you got a skull, you got the skin, you got all this stuff, right? How are you going to get the light into the brain, right? So we know that only about Bill Gasiamis (23:31) Mmm. Dr Bob Hedaya (23:35) 2.6 % of the light goes through the skull and the meninges and all the layers, right? So we used to shave people because I want to get the hair out of the way, right? At least get rid of some of it. So I had this woman who came to me, this is probably seven years ago, I guess. And at that time, I would not use the laser until I had done functional medicine on the patient. Because I figured, you know, let’s get the terrain straight. the nutrients, the hormones, get rid of the infections, get rid of the toxins, then we’ll apply the sunlight to the brain, to the plant, right? That was my logic. I thought that made perfect sense. So this woman came to me. She was 70 years old, obese. The husband wanted me to give her the laser. She wouldn’t change her diet, not an iota. High blood pressure, obesity. She could not speak. She would not take a medicine. She would not… Bill Gasiamis (24:04) Mm-hmm. Mm. Jumpstarting Healing with Laser Therapy Dr Bob Hedaya (24:33) Like, you name it, non-compliant all the way. Maybe you could say a word or two, that was it. Her husband begged me. I said, listen, it’s a waste, okay? It’s just a waste. I can’t ask her to shave her head. It’s not gonna work. I’m not doing it. He did not stop. So finally, I said, okay, fine, I’ll do it. So I was in my office and I’m making the laser plan. And I’m just writing, and something pops out of my mouth, God, I need a miracle. So I go into the laser room, and I start doing the laser. She starts talking. I have tears. He has tears. She starts talking. So by the end of like 20 sessions, I’m sitting with her having a 45-minute therapy session, because it turns out she was really severely abused when she was young. ⁓ She’s having a whole conversation with me. Turns out she’s psychotic also now. She’s also a psychotic and we didn’t know. So she needs to take some medicine for the psychosis because in the middle of the night, she’s going around with a baseball bat and she wants to like do, and she wouldn’t take medicines, I had to stop the laser. But that was an amazing thing because that was one, but with aphasia, typically it’s more gradual, much more gradual. But I have had a couple of patients where, and a woman came from Chicago and she just started talking also. So everyone’s different. You can’t necessarily come into this expecting that kind of thing is wonderful when it happens, but you Bill Gasiamis (26:14) Yeah. I love the fact that you can intervene with a laser, but also people can intervene with all the things that you said that that patient wasn’t doing beforehand. And that you that’s the top of the hierarchy of how you approach healing the brain is you do all those things. And then you supplement with ⁓ with a therapy like laser or whatever. And you kind of combine that and you make Dr Bob Hedaya (26:25) Yeah, yeah, you got it. Bill Gasiamis (26:42) like the, you make a soup of amazing things that all come together at the same time to support you together. And laser is just one of those things, but all the hierarchy like is so important because Dr Bob Hedaya (26:48) Yeah. It’s all important, all important. But I will tell you this. I have come to the point now where I believe that like people come to me and they don’t want to do anything and I’m like, okay, because I can jumpstart you, assuming you’re a good candidate. I can jumpstart you with the laser. I could just jumpstart you and then once I’ve jumpstarted you, say, ⁓ yeah, okay, I’ll do this. ⁓ okay, I’ll do a little of this. I’ll do a little. Because I’m bypassing everything and I’m giving you energy. Right? And so if you have energy, then, you know, there’s a lot that you can do that you couldn’t do before. So I kind of switched my model, really, only because of the accident of this guy who insisted I give his wife the laser, you know. Bill Gasiamis (27:30) Yeah. That’s not a way to go. mean, ⁓ there isn’t one way to solve a problem. there’s probably many iterations of, know, like how you can put that particular, like intervention together for a person that could specify for that individual, we’re going to go down this approach for you. You were going to go down this approach to get you going. Since you have all these, ⁓ challenges and energy is difficult. Maybe we’ll go directly with the laser and then Dr Bob Hedaya (27:46) Bye. Mm-hmm. Bill Gasiamis (28:09) We give you the skills, the energy, Dr Bob Hedaya (28:09) That’s right. That’s right. Bill Gasiamis (28:12) the training, the coaching, the support to implement the rest of the stuff that you need to implement to continue providing the right ⁓ space for your brain to heal in ongoing so you’re not just relying on laser. Dr Bob Hedaya (28:14) Yeah. ⁓ Yeah, yeah Yeah, if someone comes to me post stroke for example and the laser is appropriate I’m not gonna say well, we’ll get around to laser in six months. I’m not gonna do that They need relief they need help if it can help them Let’s do that. Let’s jump on that and you know, and then is the other stuff we need to do will do it And there’s usually stuff to do ⁓ But I want to get the healing remember the laser is healing It’s clearing out proteins, reducing inflammation, increasing blood flow, synaptogenesis, doing all these good things over the course of time. So you really want to get that process going, I feel, as soon as you can. then, okay, now you can work on the diet that’s going to take some time, check the hormones, make sure there’s no infections, toxic element, you know, all that functional medicine stuff. Maybe you need some medication for depression, you know, it’s having a… a phaser or a stroke or a head injury or some of things like this, they turn your life upside down better than I know. It’s ⁓ incomprehensible, really. Bill Gasiamis (29:26) Yeah, really. Yeah, really challenging. With a laser, how much laser for how long, how often? Understanding EEG vs. QEEG Dr Bob Hedaya (29:37) Great question. So let me say a couple of things. First of all, we have laser and then we have the LED helmets, right? You’ve read about and read the helmets, right? So there are a lot of studies on the helmets. There’s a question of whether they’re really having a direct effect because for a few reasons. Number one, it’s LED, it’s not a laser. Number two, the voltage is so low, if you’re only getting 2.6 % through and it’s so low to begin with, what do you think you’re actually delivering into the tissue? know, it’s hard to imagine that you’re delivering much. there, know, Henderson, I think, wrote an article where he showed there’s no penetration into the brain. But the studies do show cognitive benefit. So it could be an indirect effect or, you know, all the studies are done by the companies that make the… the helmet, there could be some bias. I don’t know the answer there. The laser ⁓ itself is more potent, so we’re doing, say, 30 watts. So the equivalent of a 30-watt light bulb, right? They might be doing half a watt, a very, very, very dim light bulb. We’re doing 30 watts. Now, we’re targeting the area or areas that we want to hit. Now, it goes through 2.6. Bill Gasiamis (30:34) devices. Dr Bob Hedaya (31:03) 5 % of it goes through. And then of course it’s going to be diffused, right? And it’s going to hit the surface tissues more. 1064 will penetrate deeper into the brain, but you don’t really have to go that deep because there’s downstream effects that happen, right? So we really, and then we adjust the parameters depending on how someone does. for example, you know, I had a woman who I was treating And actually it was the patient who her husband contacted you. I was treating her with a certain amount of energy and then after about five sessions I went up, I doubled the energy and boom, she had a response. But we have no way of knowing that’s what she needed. It’s all a calculation. But she, you know… Bill Gasiamis (31:39) Yes. Dr Bob Hedaya (32:00) Whatever it is, the thickness of the skull or the membranes or whatever it is, that’s what you needed and that’s what worked. Bill Gasiamis (32:06) Yeah. Tell me about ⁓ QEEG. So let’s dive deeper into it a little bit because we kind of glossed over it. I think it’s important to discuss how it’s different from EEG, ⁓ what EEG is and then what the Q adds to EEG. Dr Bob Hedaya (32:24) OK, so the EEG, imagine somebody, you put a cap on, and it has all these electrical wires that are measuring the electricity that comes, that’s on your scalp. It’s coming from your brain, but it’s measured at the scalp. And each one is measuring the energy from that spot, comparing it to other spots. And then you might, your viewers might remember. all those squiggly lines, you’ll see like 19 or 20 squiggly lines and you’re like, what is this spaghetti? I don’t know what this is. And I mean, even in medical school, we looked at it and our eyes would glaze over because who knows what it is. So the neurologists look at it and they’ll scroll through it and look for certain patterns to see is there a seizure or is there area of damage where there’s a lot of slowing like the frequency of the electricity slows down if there’s tissue damage, right? And they look visually to see what they can find. But we know with AI, you can get the patterns that you can determine. There’s no way the human mind, the human eye, a trained eye, I don’t care how long you’ve been looking at EEGs, there’s no way you can extract this data that we now extract. So the quantitative is actually looking at the quantity of this, what’s going on here versus the quantity of electricity that’s here versus what’s here versus what’s here. And then all of that is calculated and they say, ⁓ well, if this is high and this is here and this is low here and this is this, well, that means they’re coming from this deeper place here and that’s under functioning. And, you know, that’s done over thousands, thousands of points in a very short order, very short order. It’s amazing. I can’t imagine practicing without this. So now I can look at the thalamus. I can look at the putamen. Addressing Depression Post-Stroke Bill Gasiamis (34:07) Mm-hmm. Dr Bob Hedaya (34:17) In my office, I can do these tests in my office. If a patient is my patient, I can send the QEG to their home and do it in their home. And I get this imagery that’s immensely better than a spec scan. It’s not an MRI, an MRI structure. This is function. Okay, this is function. It tells us how different parts are functioning. Bill Gasiamis (34:40) What’s lighting up? What’s not lighting up? What could be lighting up better? What’s not going to light up anymore? Dr Bob Hedaya (34:45) What’s the information flow? How is the flow going from here to here? How about this network? Is this network working? Is this network overworking? Is it underworking? How about the neuron populations that are firing when I’m relaxed? How are they doing? How about the ones when I’m thinking? How about the ones when I’m thinking fast? How about the populations when I’m emotional? We can look at all those populations and see what’s going on with those populations. And then we can actually target them. train them, et cetera. And then we have that data that we treat, and then we measure and see is it getting better? Do we need to change the protocol? It’s not helping, it is helping, et cetera. Bill Gasiamis (35:29) Yeah. with stroke, so many things come from stroke that people are not equipped to handle. You know, firstly, all of the, ⁓ the parts relating to, ⁓ simply the person discovering them, they’re, they’re immortal after all, you know, you become a mere mortal immediately and you kind of work out the most terrible thing that could have happened to me happened. My brain is injured and all these things go away. Right. And then. Unfortunately, like I think it’s 30 % the studies of people who experienced stroke will then also experience depression. Like as if recovering from stroke isn’t enough and all the deficits that you also have to recover from depression. What’s it like? How can that be supported with this particular method, this approach that we’re discussing here today? Dr Bob Hedaya (36:28) So ⁓ kind of separate from stroke, ⁓ treat treatment resistant depression with laser all the time. With stroke, we use the laser, but you have to watch the QEG to make sure you’re not getting overstimulation, number one. Number two, I learned this with the patient that referred me to you, ⁓ that after, put us in touch, there was actually a central Bill Gasiamis (36:44) huh. for us in touch. Dr Bob Hedaya (36:58) hypothyroidism, meaning the low thyroid function, right? And we had to treat that, but the problem was as we treated that, there was a supersensitivity and because the tissues after stroke are more vulnerable to seizures, the patient actually had a seizure. She was actually having seizures we didn’t know, mild seizures. And then when we treated the thyroid, then we actually ended up having seizures. now we have to support, you need thyroid function to be good in order to not be depressed, right? If you have low thyroid, you’re much more likely to be depressed in the face of a stroke or other stresses. So we were kind of a little bit of a bind there because we went and treated, but it’s too sensitive. So anyway, we’re actually threading that needle nicely and we’re moving slowly and carefully and keeping, there’s no seizure activity now. But you have to treat the depression because of the depression itself. Bill Gasiamis (37:29) Yep. Dr Bob Hedaya (37:55) is a big problem because you know to recover from stroke, man, you gotta work hard. You gotta keep a good attitude. gotta have your eye on the ball. There’s no room for like… I’m going to give up. There’s no room for that. I mean, of course you feel it and I mean, it’s all natural feelings, but you have to really be determined and that’s essential. so with depression that is ⁓ really can get in the way. So we treat it. The laser can treat it. Sometimes pharmacology, sometimes therapy, sometimes yoga, know, hyperbaric, all these things that we do with the nutrition, making sure the hormones are right. All these things work together, you know. Bill Gasiamis (38:14) Yeah. I love all of those things that you mentioned. And then all of a sudden you just throw in yoga. mean, it just, it’s so counterintuitive, isn’t it? When you have a conversation about all these acronyms and all these tests and lasers and all that kind of stuff, and then you just throw in yoga casually like that. It’s, and we underplay it, but it’s such a massive thing in the picture of what creates the environment for a good recovery, but also I love that you mentioned the thyroid in that conversation as well about depression and what can also be a trigger to depression and people may have depression, never check their thyroid and not know that it’s a thing. Now I’ve had thyroid surgery, have ⁓ half of my thyroid removed because I had a massive ⁓ goiter on one side and that was such a difficult thing to discover and have to go through 16 months after brain surgery. but they only discovered it after my brain surgery when they did a chest x-ray, because I wasn’t recovering properly and they found that I had this goitre which would have been there for a long, long time impacting my health and all sorts of things. And I make that point because often people who have had a stroke and can’t speak, for example, have aphasia, ⁓ or their arm doesn’t work or the leg doesn’t work properly, will say, I just wanna fix this thing. If I could speak, Dr Bob Hedaya (39:40) No. Holistic Approaches to Recovery Bill Gasiamis (40:09) everything’s better, but they’ve never looked at the other things that may be contributing to keeping the speech at a level which is not good enough for them, for example, to be comfortable with. And it’s like this one track mind, I’ll just get my speech back, I’ll get my speech back, you what do I need to do? Or make it go, get back for me. There’s often no looking into the other things that might be causing depression, for example. Dr Bob Hedaya (40:31) Thank you. Bill Gasiamis (40:38) After stroke, know for a fact that the gut gets impacted ⁓ very dramatically from a stroke and the gut is highly linked to ⁓ mood and how you feel. And nutrition is what supports the gut to feel better and taking out things from the diet that are ⁓ making the gut sluggish and not work appropriately will ⁓ improve your mood and how you feel. It’ll make a difference and Dr Bob Hedaya (40:59) Okay. Yeah. Bill Gasiamis (41:08) and it’ll add to one of those little tools that supports depression and makes depression less impactful and you have less swings, et cetera. And that’s kind of the point that you’re making is that you don’t just turn up and do psychiatry. We’re gonna do psychiatry, treat you pharmacologically and then send you on your way and then see you in six, 12, eight months again or whatever and then just repeat the process again. It’s a whole, know, holistic is the word that you hear, but it is a broader conversation that people need to be having. And that sounds like what you guys do. It sounds like the conversation doesn’t encompass, it encompasses everything. It doesn’t just focus on one intervention. Dr Bob Hedaya (41:56) That’s why I call it whole psychiatry. But it really should be whole neuropsychiatry or whole brain or, you know, but it’s whole body, whatever you want to call it. It’s really more than the body because obviously the social connections play a big role as well, you know. So yeah, everything you’re saying is 100 % true and it’s all real. Everything you’re saying is real. Everything you do. mean, simple things going back to the B12. You you need B12 to… Bill Gasiamis (41:58) Yeah. Dr Bob Hedaya (42:26) remyelinate your neurons. need to keep the mercury, by the way, got to keep the mercury levels low. know, the mercury, if you’re eating tuna fish or swordfish and you have high mercury levels, know, the mercury will actually prevent you from making new branches. The mercury actually will bind on tubulin, which is like a brick that you need to build new roads. And it will prevent the tubulin from building new roads in your brain. So here you are working hard trying to… Bill Gasiamis (42:28) Mmm. Dr Bob Hedaya (42:54) do things and you’re a can of ⁓ whatever tuna fish with loads of mercury two, three, four times a week. Well, that’s not working, you know. So that’s why you really want to look at the whole thing. It’s a lot. It’s really a lot. You know, it’s a big program, but you you take, take steps. Everybody has different needs or not everybody has to do everything. Bill Gasiamis (43:04) Yeah. Yeah. Not everybody needs to do everything to achieve significant results, but it’d be amazing to be able to find the things and target those, the ones that you’re to get the most bang for buck on. So you’re to putting time and effort into things that are not getting results. For example, an led hat from, uh, Amazon for $9 that you put on your head. And it’s basically just a red light hat. It’s not really doing the thing, right? Dr Bob Hedaya (43:32) Hmm. Ha ha ha. Bill Gasiamis (43:49) And that’s kind of why I started to have that conversation and do a little bit of research in what they, know, what’s medically known as or scientifically known as photo bio modulation, you know, the idea is great, but then it came to me from somebody who I imagine was looking at a seven or eight or $9, $10 cap with red lights that put on the head and they Dr Bob Hedaya (44:00) Right. Bill Gasiamis (44:15) paid money for a cap and hoping for an outcome and they didn’t get an outcome and then they’re wondering why. I suggest when people are looking into those topics, is gonna go and have a look at the science, what it says about the nanometers of the type of light that you need to be experiencing, how, where, who, and always do these things with medical supervision. It really challenges me when I find out people do things like, know, methylene blue was a thing. Dr Bob Hedaya (44:44) Right. Bill Gasiamis (44:45) uh, very recently and people will just go get a bottle of Methylene blue from somewhere and just start taking it and have no idea what they’re doing and, and, and, know, what they could hope for. They could be making things worse than for themselves and actually making themselves, um, like make things a lot harder for themselves. So, uh, my point is this all needs to be done under medical supervision. Typically when you, somebody reaches out to you, how do you begin the conversation and then how does that person engage with you? And then what happens after they’re treated? Because often I know from my experience with all my neurologists, et cetera, very rarely do I see anybody a second time, six months, 12 months, 18 months, five years down the track. You usually go in, they patch you up, they send you home, you get back to your life and then maybe you do one MRI. Dr Bob Hedaya (45:36) Really? Bill Gasiamis (45:44) ⁓ for a few years after brain surgery just to make sure that everything’s stable. But that’s about it. Nobody follows up with you. Dr Bob Hedaya (45:52) No, it’s a whole different ball game with us. No. So what we do first is ⁓ if someone will contact us through the website, which is wholepsychiatry.com, they will actually fill out a form. And if we feel that it looks like we might be able to be helpful to them, then we will send them a welcome letter. And then they will have the opportunity to meet with our new patient coordinator at no charge. Patient-Centered Care and Follow-Up and she’ll talk with them for 15 to 30 minutes and kind of tell them what’s going on and see if they, you know, the fit is good, et cetera. And then they have an opportunity if they want to meet with me on Zoom for 15 to 30 minutes and ⁓ I’ll figure out, can I help them? Can I not help them? Is it a good fit, et cetera? And then if it looks like, you know, green light and they decide they want to move forward and it makes sense, then we’ll schedule an evaluation. The time duration of the evaluation depends on what kind of patient. It could be a couple of hours, could be four and a half hours. But usually for neurological patients, straightforward, it’s a shorter evaluation. And before the evaluation, we’ll collect the neuro-quant and the QEG and the old records, et cetera. And then I will go through all of that data plus lab data that we collect. And I will then have an idea. Okay, what’s going on here? Now there’s all these things. There’s digestion, there’s nutrition, there’s immune function, inflammation, toxins, hormones, all the hormones, structural issues, chiropractic issues, traumatic brain injury, cardiovascular issues, et cetera. We look at all of that and then to see what are the players here and spiritual, social resources, connectivity. We look at all of this. And then we have a whole picture of what’s going on. And then we can figure out, okay, how do we want to approach this? And sometimes we approach it very lightly. Say we just start with the laser, that’s it. Or sometimes somebody says, no, I want to really get in there and fix everything that’s wrong. Okay, well, we identified these five or six things that need correction. So let’s stage this in order. And that’s what we’ll do. And everyone’s different. And then we have follow-up depending on what we need in two weeks, in a month, six weeks, not usually six weeks. Once things are stable, it could be every two, three months or four months. But in the meantime, I’m in the boat rowing, paddling with them. That’s the way I do it. I treat people, really, I try to treat people just like I would want to be treated myself, like I would want my family to be treated. I do the very best. I love what I do, you know what I mean? I just love what I do and I try to do the best, highest quality. And it’s not that I’m perfect, not that I don’t make mistakes, ⁓ not that I know everything because that’s for sure that I don’t, but that’s my approach. So I try to be in the boat with the patient. As long as the patient’s paddling, I’m paddling just as hard, if not. Bill Gasiamis (49:02) Yeah, it sounds like at least if things, if you don’t make the right approach initially, there’s a whole bunch of tools and resources and things that you can kind of focus on. And one of the things you mentioned, again, you glossed over it, but I love that you do this is spiritual. Like it might be a spiritual journey that the person needs to take. And it’s so overlooked because people, you know, do have… Dr Bob Hedaya (49:22) yeah. yeah, yeah. Bill Gasiamis (49:30) existential crisis after a stroke. it’s like a spirituality helps somehow for a lot of people ease, heal that, ⁓ help people move through, you know, the weeds and come out into the opening and then kind of see the opportunities and where they need to go next. And people don’t need to engage with somebody like you to go on a spiritual journey. That might just be something they’ve ever looked and they can just go, you know what, I’m going to pick up the Bible or ⁓ I’m going to learn about this particular ⁓ spiritual journey or whatever and go through it and do whatever it is that they need to do to kind of start beginning the healing journey in their own special unique way. It’s really important that spirituality gets addressed and it’s not glossed over. And I’m not saying that you did or I did or we do, but in the back of the minds, stroke survivors may not consider that being important. The Role of Spirituality in Healing Dr Bob Hedaya (50:31) Yeah, first of all, I’m passionate about spirituality. I mean, passionate because the truth, in my opinion, is that consciousness, your level of awareness is really consciousness is the foundation, the substrate of everything that exists. The material is an outflow from consciousness. So I could talk about this forever. Not everyone is oriented this way. So, you know, I just saw a businessman, very successful businessman ⁓ last week. He doesn’t want to just, you know, get me back online. OK, I don’t want to hear this mumbo jumbo and I just can’t. I don’t want to delve into it. Just get me better. know. But other people are like, I want to find the meaning, you know, and it’s very important. to find the when I think generally for most people finding the meaning in it is critical. And I’ll say one thing, my mother, may she rest in peace, was in the emergency room, probably 25, 30 years ago, I don’t know, something was wrong, she was in the emergency room for seven, eight hours or whatever, and some guy comes by and says, ma’am, can I get you a sandwich? And she says, oh yeah, please, please get me a sandwich. He gets her a tuna fish sandwich, whatever it is, right? He leaves. She’s so grateful. She’s so grateful that she volunteers in the hospital for 20 years. Okay? This guy has no idea what he did and all the people that he helped through her, right? So you’re, you you and you’re not just you, but we, each of us in our small minds, we have no idea. the impact we have on other people. So if it’s important to a person to have a meaningful life, understand that you don’t have to be running a company. You can smile at a stranger, change their day. There are things that you can do and you have an impact. Now, that’s a small consolation when you’re dealing with a stroke, obviously, but that’s when you kind of want to work to a meaningful ⁓ attitude and a good attitude. So yes, the spirituality is… many people very important. Bill Gasiamis (52:54) David who brought us together ⁓ wanted me to meet you so I could interview you. that part of the role that he played in what happened to his wife ended becoming something that helped other people. Isn’t it interesting? The whole journey started on. Dr Bob Hedaya (53:15) Exactly. Bill Gasiamis (53:20) He contacted me because he wanted to make something good come of what happened to his wife, which I’m sure his wife was also interested in. And he said, you need to get Dr. Hedaya on because we need to share more information, make this stuff aware. so, and I’m like, well, that’s perfect. Of course I do. Whoever comes to me with that kind of information because they want to help other stroke survivors because he’s hoping that other caregivers that are in his shoes have a better outcome. They have more support. They have more information. They have more tools. Dr Bob Hedaya (53:27) Mm-hmm. Bill Gasiamis (53:50) That’s the spiritual journey. You don’t have to call it ⁓ Christianity, Judaism. You don’t have to call it something. You don’t have to label it, but that is what spirituality looks like in practice. Dr Bob Hedaya (53:56) Right. Right. That’s exactly it. That’s exactly it. And it gives me chills because, you know, I know his wife is suffering, you know, and ⁓ but she’s making really great headway, but it’s hard, you know. But look at look that he’s reaching out and he cares enough about other people and to and make her journey and what she’s gone through and what she’s learned be useful to other people. That’s it. That’s just beautiful. I mean, that that speaks volumes about him and her. Bill Gasiamis (54:32) It does absolutely and her and your work because your work is not unique. You’re not the only one doing this kind of work. I think there’s only kind of a small percentage of ⁓ medical professionals in the field that are practicing in this way. And hopefully that continues to grow. ⁓ If somebody wanted to, well, somebody lots of people are listening to this today. If anyone wanted to reach out ⁓ who thinks, you know, that they might be able to ⁓ benefit from or go down this kind of approach. How should they go about that? What questions should they be asking of you, et cetera? Like how do they begin? Because this is a different conversation than I have ⁓ neurological injury, have aphasia. It needs to be positioned differently, this conversation. Dr Bob Hedaya (55:29) Tell me what you mean. I’m not really clear what you’re saying. Bill Gasiamis (55:33) If somebody wants to find a clinician who practices the way that you practice, you guys, for example, you know, you know, who thinks about the brain in a different way. What, what should they be looking for and what. Dr Bob Hedaya (55:38) Aha, I see, I see. I would say that they should go to the website for the Institute for Functional Medicine. And there’s a tab. This is find the practitioner. And make sure you look for a practitioner that is certified, fully certified. And then investigate the practitioners who are in your area and see if they experience. in this area. there are not I’m not aware of, there’s a guy somewhere in the Midwest here who’s using a laser, I believe. And then maybe other people that I don’t know about using lasers, but I’m not aware of anybody that I could say, go see this person for this quantitative EEG guided transcranial photobiomodulation. I’m not saying that that is readily available. It’s not. But the whole functional medicine thing, there are a lot of practitioners. And I think that’s the way to go there. Just do your homework. Bill Gasiamis (56:48) Yeah. Yeah. Cool. Your organization is whole psychiatry and the brain recovery center. Is that right? Okay. So the psychiatry part of it, ⁓ people might be listening and going, well, that doesn’t apply to me, the specific word specifically doesn’t need to apply to an individual to engage with you because, we’re not just dealing with the psychiatry part of somebody’s recovery. Dr Bob Hedaya (56:56) Yeah. Right. Thank you. No, no, we’re dealing, we treat psychiatric, but we treat neurological. You know, I started as a psychiatrist. was, you know, certified by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology, but I was doing psychiatry. then, you know, just following, you know, learning and whatever, I ended up, you know, doing some neurology here. And so, but we didn’t change the name to the whole neuropsychiatry and brain recovery. Maybe we should, or maybe the whole brain recovery center or something like that. So, you we do both, no, and if, and if, I can’t be helpful, of course, I’m going to tell people this, we really don’t want to waste people’s time, energy, money, et cetera. ⁓ But it’s, it’s been, you know, I have to say an amazing journey. And I would say when you follow for me, this is me, my life, following my passion of learning about the brain and understanding the brain and Bill Gasiamis (57:45) Yeah. Dr Bob Hedaya (58:14) looking for the fundamentals of how do things work and just there’s a common sense in medicine. I looked at the laser when I was reading that book and I was like, wow, ATP in the brain, that could really help the brain. How would I

If you can travel to central Indiana for treatment, book a free consultation with my team at AlphaOmega Wellness: https://consult.alphaomegawellness.co...May is Mental Health Awareness Month, but as an ER doctor who has treated over 800 patients with severe depression, anxiety, and trauma, I need to tell you a hard truth: we've been getting it wrong for 50 years.When you are experiencing the fog, the dread, the heaviness, and the racing thoughts, it is not an abstract problem. It is not a willpower problem. It is a measurable, biological, structural problem in the physical organ inside your head.In this podcast, I break down the critical difference between "mental health" and "brain health." I explain the neuroscience of chronic stress, how it physically shrinks your prefrontal cortex and hippocampus, and why the molecule BDNF is the key to getting unstuck. If therapy and antidepressants haven't worked for you, it's because they aren't targeting the structural layer of your brain.

I just finished Born to Walk by Mark Sisson. In this episode, I review this book and share some insight's from Sisson's book. Most people underestimate walking—not just as a gentle activity but as a powerful tool for transforming your health, mind, and spirit. Mark Sisson's latest insights in Born to Walk challenge everything you think you know about exercise, revealing why walking, not running, is the secret to longevity, mental clarity, and fat loss. If you're tired of injuries, burnout, or simply seeking a sustainable way to improve your well-being, this episode is your ultimate game-changer.Discover how chronic running can do more harm than good, including its hidden risks like joint damage, hormonal imbalances, and even heart issues. Sisson breaks down the counterintuitive science: why long-distance running often preserves fat rather than burns it and how excessive stress from exercise hampers fat metabolism and muscle growth. You'll learn why elite long-distance runners tend to be naturally skinny and how that differs from the rest of us trying to shed pounds.We break down the surprising power of walking—an activity so simple, yet so scientifically proven to boost brain function, elevate mood, and ignite creativity. Hear about the revolutionary hormone BDNF, which grows your brain's capacity, and how walking can increase your IQ, sharpen decision-making, and even prevent diseases by up to 32%. You'll discover the unique cognitive benefits of walking in nature, including how it stimulates ideas, reduces depression, and fosters happiness—without any stress or side effects.This episode reveals why walking is the most accessible, free, and effective lifestyle habit you can adopt today. It's perfect for busy people, those healing from injury, or anyone eager to optimize health without risking burnout. Whether you're looking to improve fat burning, enhance mental clarity, or simply reconnect with your body and spirit, walking provides all that and more—long-term, sustainable, and enjoyable.Join us as we explore the anatomy of the ideal movement routine—why 80% of your training should be gentle walks and why the 10% of high-intensity effort is enough for real gains. And if you're wondering how to get started, Sisson shares practical tips for integrating walking into your daily routine, even with a busy schedule or family commitments. Plus, learn how walking can deepen your connection with loved ones and elevate your overall quality of life.This episode isn't just about exercise; it's a call to reclaim your health with the simplest, most effective movement: walking. It's time to slow down, enjoy nature, and unlock the full potential of your mind and body—one step at a time.Are you ready to redefine wellness? Hit play and start walking your way to a healthier, sharper, happier you.

Lee Carroll returns to the Mycopreneur Podcast to discuss his novel research into Ergothioneine as a support framework for psychedelic therapy and neuroplasticity. Lee unpacks complex concepts like the BDNF pathway, cellular phosphorylation, and the transformative power of hydrogen sulfide at the cellular level in digestible phrasing for non-clinicians. This episode is brought to you by Real MushroomsPlease rate and review this episode on whichever platform you're listening Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Your biological age can drop by over three years in just eight weeks, and the tools to do it are already in your kitchen. This episode breaks down the cutting-edge science of methylation, polyphenols, Yamanaka mimetics, and epigenetic reprogramming that is rewriting what we know about anti-aging, longevity, and human performance. -Watch this episode on YouTube for the full video experience: https://www.youtube.com/@DaveAspreyBPR Host Dave Asprey sits down with Dr. Kara Fitzgerald, ND, IFMCP, a leading voice in functional medicine and epigenetic aging research. Her award-winning clinical studies published in Aging (2021, 2023, and 2025) proved that targeted diet and lifestyle interventions can measurably reverse biological age on validated epigenetic clocks. She is the author of Younger You, an IFM faculty member and Certified Practitioner, and one of the most rigorously credentialed researchers working at the intersection of functional medicine, nutrition, and longevity science today. Together, they go deep on Yamanaka factors, the Nobel Prize-winning discovery that can wind back a 90-year-old cell to its 20s, and the emerging class of compounds called Yamanaka mimetics, polyphenol-based supplements that may replicate some of those same cellular rejuvenation effects without the risks. They cover why polyphenols do the heavy lifting in biological age reversal, how AI is accelerating longevity research, and why the dark matter of nutrition may matter more than macros, carnivore protocols, or ketosis for long-term health. They also get into oxalates, mitochondria, fibroids, ovarian rejuvenation, and why the original Horvath clock may be more relevant than scientists thought. This is essential listening for anyone serious about biohacking, longevity, supplements, functional medicine, anti-aging, brain optimization, human performance, and using smarter not harder strategies to take control of your biology. You'll Learn: How diet, supplements, and meditation reversed biological age by over three years in eight weeks in a randomized controlled trial What Yamanaka factors are and why scientists are calling partial cellular reprogramming the future of anti-aging Which polyphenols do the heaviest lifting for epigenetic rejuvenation, including EGCG, urolithin A, rosemary, marjoram, and yarrow Why the Horvath epigenetic clock may actually be touching on programmatic aging rather than just exposomic wear and tear How AI is unlocking patterns in longevity data that no human researcher could find alone The problem with high-oxalate superfoods and how to get polyphenol benefits without the inflammatory downside Why ovarian rejuvenation may be the highest-leverage Yamanaka application for women's longevity and brain health How compounds like AKG, sodium butyrate, and forskolin may act as Yamanaka mimetics already available today What the PRC2 polycomb clock reveals about programmatic aging and why it matters more than second-generation clocks Why perimenopause does not have to be painful, and how functional medicine addresses it at the root Thank you to our sponsors! - Screenfit | Get your at-home eye training program for 40% off using code DAVE at https://www.screenfit.com/dave. - Viome | Check it out at viome.com and use code 10DAVE for 10% off. It's time to stop guessing and start knowing your body. - STEMREGEN | Go to stemregen.co/dave30 Use code DAVE30 for 30% OFF your next order. - Caldera + Lab | Go to https://calderalab.com/DAVE and use code DAVE at checkout for 20% off your first order. Dave Asprey is a four-time New York Times bestselling author, founder of Bulletproof Coffee, and the father of biohacking. With over 1,000 interviews and 1 million monthly listeners, The Human Upgrade brings you the knowledge to take control of your biology, extend your longevity, and optimize every system in your body and mind. Each episode delivers cutting-edge insights inhealth, performance, neuroscience, supplements, nutrition, biohacking, emotional intelligence, and conscious living. New episodes are released every Tuesday, Thursday, Friday, and Sunday (BONUS). Dave asks the questions no one else will and gives you real tools to become stronger, smarter, and more resilient. Keywords: Kara Fitzgerald, biological age reversal, epigenetics, DNA methylation, Yamanaka factors, polyphenols, EGCG, urolithin A, anti-aging, longevity, biohacking, functional medicine, supplements, mitochondria, epigenetic clock, cellular reprogramming, AKG, sodium butyrate, methylation, Steve Horvath, Vittoria Sebastiano, coleus, perimenopause, ovarian rejuvenation, pluripotent stem cells, PRC2, dark matter of nutrition, TRIM study, dihydroxyflavone, BDNF, Prenuvo, chemical cellular rejuvenation Resources: • Learn more about all of Dr. Fitzgerald's work at: https://www.drkarafitzgerald.com/ • Get My 2026 Clean Nicotine Roadmap | Enroll for free at https://daveasprey.com/2026-clean-nicotine-roadmap/ • Dave Asprey's Latest News | Go to https://daveasprey.com/ to join Inside Track today. • Danger Coffee: https://dangercoffee.com/discount/dave15 • My Daily Supplements: SuppGrade Labs (15% Off) • Favorite Blue Light Blocking Glasses: TrueDark (15% Off) • Dave Asprey's BEYOND Conference: https://beyondconference.com • Dave Asprey's New Book – Heavily Meditated: https://daveasprey.com/heavily-meditated • Join My Substack (Live Access To Podcast Recordings): https://substack.daveasprey.com/ • Upgrade Labs: https://upgradelabs.com Timestamps: 0:00 – Trailer 1:28 – Explaining Study 3:45 – What Is The Diet 6:49 – Age Reversal 8:17 – Polyphenols vs. Supplements 9:27 – Food vs. Supplement Dosing 12:41 – Oxalate & Polyphenol Trade-offs 18:41 – Yamanaka Factors Explained 28:59 – Chemical Cocktails 32:15 – PRC2 Clocks & Programmatic Aging 40:28 – Seasonal Eating 43:40 – Carnivore Diet: Short vs. Long Term 45:31 – Inuit Diet 46:39 – Flavones & Brain-Crossing Compounds 48:50 – Why Only Men in the Study? 51:05 – Women, Perimenopause & the Protocol 53:20 – Fibroids & Gaps in Women's Research See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Louisa Nicola is a neurophysiologist, performance specialist, and founder of Neuro Athletics, a company focused on brain optimization and neurophysiology for elite performers. A former professional triathlete, Nicola's early career in endurance sport shaped her belief that peak performance is driven as much by the brain as by the body. Her transition from elite competition to neuroscience was fueled by a desire to understand the neurological foundations of reaction time, resilience, recovery, and long-term cognitive health. Through Neuro Athletics, she works with professional athletes, sports organizations, executives, and high performers to implement measurable brain-based training protocols. Her work includes cognitive performance testing, visual processing and reaction training, nervous system regulation, and concussion recovery strategies. Nicola emphasizes objective brain metrics over subjective feedback, bringing scientific rigor to performance optimization. She is also the host of The Neuro Experience podcast, where she interviews leading neuroscientists, physicians, and longevity experts. A significant focus of her public work centers on Alzheimer's prevention and cognitive decline. Nicola advocates for early baseline testing, cardiovascular and metabolic health, strength and aerobic training to increase BDNF, sleep optimization, inflammation reduction, and lifelong cognitive engagement. She frequently highlights the disproportionate risk women face in Alzheimer's disease and calls for greater awareness around hormonal and midlife cognitive vulnerability. Nicola frames brain health as a lifelong discipline, connecting elite performance principles with long-term cognitive resilience and positioning brain optimization not as a reactive measure, but as a proactive strategy beginning in early adulthood. Shawn Ryan Show Sponsors: Head to https://Superpower.com and use code SRS at checkout for $20 off your membership. Unlock your new health intelligence. 100+ biomarkers. Every year. Detect early signs of 1,000+ conditions. #superpowerpod If you're serious about selling to the Department of War, go to https://SBIRAdvisors.com and mention Shawn Ryan for your first month free. Live better longer with BUBS Naturals. Get 20% OFF on collagen, MCT creamers, and more with code SHAWN at https://bubsnaturals.com/srs Louisa Nicola Links: IG - https://www.instagram.com/louisanicola_ Website - https://www.neuroathletics.com.au X - https://x.com/louisanicola_ YT - https://www.youtube.com/@LouisaNicola LI - www.linkedin.com/in/louisanicola Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This podcast episode of Next Level Healing features Dr. Tara Perry speaking with fitness industry expert Kevin Steel, PhD, about the transformative benefits of exercise for brain health, anti-aging, and overall well-being.Kevin Steel brings decades of experience in health and fitness, having completed multiple Ironman competitions and holding a PhD in exercise physiology with a subspecialty in nutrition. He spent his career working with everyone from corporate executives to athletes, eventually becoming director of education research and member services for the world's largest health club company. The conversation centers on Steel's assertion that exercise is like a miracle drug - "if science could put it inside a pill, people would be lined up around the block, willing to pay anything to get it". He emphasizes that only 7% of chronic diseases are genetic, meaning 93% are lifestyle-related and preventable. Key benefits of exercise discussed include:Brain Health: Regular exercise regenerates neurons and expands gray and white matter in the brain [13:52]. It stimulates brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), which acts like "fertilizer for your brain" [15:32]. Exercise can reduce amyloid plaques associated with Alzheimer's and dementia [13:52].Mental Health: Steel references Dr. John Ratey's book "Spark," which demonstrated that exercise therapy can achieve the same or better results than pharmaceutical drugs for treating anxiety, depression, and stress [21:12] [21:38].Physical Health: Exercise improves cardiovascular function, blood pressure, insulin sensitivity, and can even reverse type 2 diabetes when combined with healthy eating [18:58] [16:32] [18:01].Children's Health: A study in Naperville, Illinois showed that structured exercise programs eliminated ADHD symptoms in children, allowed them to go off medications like Ritalin, and dramatically improved academic test scores [23:05] [23:34] [23:44].Steel advocates for a whole food, plant-based diet, noting concerns about hormones and antibiotics in mass-produced animal products [34:11]. He emphasizes that exercise doesn't require expensive equipment - simple activities like walking 30 minutes daily cost nothing but provide significant health benefits [29:33].Despite these proven benefits, only 26% of American adults exercise regularly, and only 18-20% belong to health clubs [28:34]. Steel attributes this partly to doctors receiving little education about exercise science in medical school, leaving patients without specific guidance when told to "eat better and exercise" [30:53] [31:41].The episode concludes with Steel's contact information for those seeking more guidance: LinkedIn at Kevin D Steel PhD: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kevindsteelephd and email at KDsteelphd@yahoo.comWork with Dr. Tara PerryTune in every Wednesday for a new episode of Next Level Healing. Subscribe on your favorite podcasting platform and never miss an episode!

On this episode of Men Talking Mindfulness, hosts Jon Macaskill and Will Schneider sit down with Jonathan Dickinson, one of the most respected Ibogaine clinicians in the world. This conversation is a masterclass in brain health, psychedelic medicine, trauma, and what's actually happening in the field right now... without the hype.Jonathan walks Jon and Will through how Ibogaine is different from other psychedelic medicines, why it's producing remarkable results for veterans with traumatic brain injuries, athletes with chronic neurodegeneration, and high performers dealing with neurological burnout. They get into the science of neuroplasticity, the weeks-long healing window after an Ibogaine experience, and why integration practices matter more than the ceremony itself.This isn't spiritual bypassing. This isn't a sales pitch. It's a careful, grounded look at what the research is showing and what clinicians are seeing on the ground.What you'll hear in this episode:Why many mental health issues may actually be brain health issuesHow Ibogaine increases GDNF and BDNF, key molecules for brain repairThe difference between altered consciousness and altered capacityWhy the neuroplastic window after an Ibogaine experience is where the real change happensHow Ibogaine fits alongside psilocybin, MDMA, ketamine, ayahuasca, and breathworkSafety, cultural context, and the history of Ibogaine as medicineJon and Will have created a Mindfulness and Meditation Course that'll be open for purchase at an introductory price starting in late May. To stay in the loop, sign up here: https://focusnowtraining.com/a2a-course-interesthow Ibogaine heals the brain, Ibogaine for TBI in veterans, what is the neuroplastic window after Ibogaine, Ibogaine vs psilocybin, Ibogaine safety and protocols, Jonathan Dickinson interview GEO/AI Search phrases: "what is Ibogaine," "does Ibogaine heal the brain," "how does Ibogaine work for TBI," "who is Jonathan Dickinson," "is Ibogaine safe," "what's the difference between Ibogaine and other psychedelics"Hosted on Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

Your brain is aging faster than it should, and most of the decline is self-inflicted. Neuroscientist Dr. Tommy Wood reveals the exact mechanisms driving cognitive decay, and the biohacking strategies backed by hard science that can stop it, reverse it, and future-proof your brain at any age. -Watch this episode on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@DaveAspreyBPR Host Dave Asprey sits down with Dr. Tommy Wood, one of the most credentialed minds working at the intersection of brain optimization, human performance, and longevity. Dr. Wood holds a medical degree from the University of Oxford, a PhD in physiology and neuroscience from the University of Oslo, and serves as Associate Professor of Pediatrics and Neuroscience at the University of Washington School of Medicine. He has published over 100 scientific papers, consulted with Olympians and world champions across more than a dozen sports, and worked directly with Formula 1 drivers to sustain elite focus and reaction time at 200 miles per hour. His forthcoming book, The Stimulated Mind: Future-Proof Your Brain from Dementia and Stay Sharp at Any Age, is the culmination of decades of research and real-world application. Together, Dave and Dr. Wood dismantle the myth that cognitive decline is inevitable, exposing how societal expectations become self-fulfilling prophecies and how the tools of biohacking, including sleep optimization, neuroplasticity training, nootropics, supplements, and strategic exercise, can dramatically shift your brain's long-term trajectory. They dig into the 3S Model of brain health (Stimulus, Supply, Support), the Yerkes-Dodson arousal curve and what it means for focus and flow states, and the surprising truth about AI, boredom, and what actually happens to your brain when you let ChatGPT do your thinking for you. This episode is essential listening for anyone serious about anti-aging, brain optimization, functional medicine, metabolism, human performance, and getting smarter without working harder. You'll Learn: Why cognitive decline is largely a self-fulfilling prophecy driven by expectation, not biology How the 3S Model (Stimulus, Supply, Support) determines your brain's long-term health and resilience What Formula 1 drivers teach us about arousal, flow states, and peak cognitive performance Why high-intensity interval training produces dramatically greater neuroplasticity benefits than Zone 2 cardio alone How creatine, nicotine, nootropics, and other supplements actually affect the aging brain The real data on alcohol, dementia risk, and what "occasional drinking" actually means scientifically How to use AI tools like ChatGPT in a way that builds brain function instead of destroying it Why boredom is a neurological necessity and how chronic low-level stimulation is quietly eroding your cognition What mitochondria and lactate signaling have to do with BDNF and long-term memory How resistance training, coordinative movement, and blood flow restriction each deliver separate and distinct cognitive benefits Thank you to our sponsors! - KILLSwitch | If you're ready for the best sleep of your life, order now at https://www.switchsupplements.com/and use code DAVE for 20% off - Neuronic | Go to www.neuronic.online Code DAVE for $100 off - Danger Coffee | Grab yours at DangerCoffee.comand use code DAVEPOD at checkout for 15% off. - Suppgrade Labs | Grab your DAKE and Minerals 101 duo at shopsuppgradelabs.com and use code DAVEPOD for 15% off today Dave Asprey is a four-time New York Times bestselling author, founder of Bulletproof Coffee, and the father of biohacking. With over 1,000 interviews and 1 million monthly listeners, The Human Upgrade brings you the knowledge to take control of your biology, extend your longevity, and optimize every system in your body and mind. Each episode delivers cutting-edge insights inhealth, performance, neuroscience, supplements, nutrition, biohacking, emotional intelligence, and conscious living. New episodes are released every Tuesday, Thursday, Friday, and Sunday (BONUS). Dave asks the questions no one else will and gives you real tools to become stronger, smarter, and more resilient. Keywords: Tommy Wood, The Stimulated Mind, brain health, cognitive decline, dementia prevention, neuroplasticity, brain optimization, biohacking, Dave Asprey, human performance, longevity, 3S model, brain stimulation, headroom, cognitive reserve, BDNF, lactate, Zone 2, HIIT, resistance training, blood flow restriction, sleep optimization, nootropics, creatine, nicotine, acetylcholine, supplements, ADHD, arousal curve, flow state, Formula 1, anti-aging, mitochondria, metabolism, AI and the brain, ChatGPT, digital dementia, boredom, neurogenesis, hippocampus, white matter, IGF-1, osteocalcin, alcohol and dementia, TMS, TDCS, vagal nerve stimulation, near infrared light, functional medicine, cognitive stimulation, stereotype embodiment theory Resources: • Learn More About Tommy And His Work At His Website: https://www.drtommywood.com • Get My 2026 Clean Nicotine Roadmap | Enroll for free at https://daveasprey.com/2026-clean-nicotine-roadmap/ • Dave Asprey's Latest News | Go to https://daveasprey.com/ to join Inside Track today. • Danger Coffee: https://dangercoffee.com/discount/dave15 • My Daily Supplements: SuppGrade Labs (15% Off) • Favorite Blue Light Blocking Glasses: TrueDark (15% Off) • Dave Asprey's BEYOND Conference: https://beyondconference.com • Dave Asprey's New Book – Heavily Meditated: https://daveasprey.com/heavily-meditated • Join My Substack (Live Access To Podcast Recordings): https://substack.daveasprey.com/ • Upgrade Labs: https://upgradelabs.com Timestamps: 00:00 — Trailer 01:28 — Guest Intro: Dr. Tommy Wood 03:37 — F1 Drivers & Arousal Optimization 09:01 — Brain Headroom & the 3S Model 13:14 — Brain Stimulation Tech (TMS, TDCS) 17:50 — Cognitive Decline & Aging 20:55 — Alcohol & Brain Health 24:10 — ADHD & Brain Chemistry 26:53 — Nicotine & Cognitive Enhancement 33:25 — Creatine for the Brain 35:12 — Zone 2 vs. High-Intensity Exercise 39:19 — Strength Training & Brain Benefits 43:12 — Boredom & Cognitive Resilience 45:06 — AI & Brain Health 52:49 — Future-Proofing Your Brain See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Zone 2 cardio might be the most undersold workout for women over 35, and the science behind it will completely change how you think about exercise. In this episode, Alisha Carlson breaks down why this low-intensity training approach builds the single most powerful predictor of how long you will live: your VO2 max.If you have ever pushed hard in the gym and still felt like your body was fighting you, this episode is for you. Alisha unpacks how hormonal changes in perimenopause affect your stress response and why high-intensity-only training can actually work against women over 35. Then she lays out exactly how Zone 2 cardio supports hormonal balance, blood sugar regulation, cortisol management, and brain health using evidence-based research you can act on today.Whether you are navigating perimenopause, dealing with stubborn energy crashes, or just done with approaches that leave you exhausted, this episode gives you a smarter framework for fitness that works with your biology, not against it.WHAT YOU WILL LEARN:- What Zone 2 cardio is and exactly how to find your zone using the simple talk test- Why VO2 max is the strongest predictor of longevity and how dramatically it can be improved at any age- How declining estrogen in perimenopause affects your cortisol response and why that makes high-intensity-only training backfire- The cortisol-belly connection: why chronically elevated stress hormones promote visceral fat storage in women over 35- How Zone 2 training improves insulin sensitivity and blood sugar regulation, especially for women in perimenopause- The BDNF connection: why aerobic exercise at Zone 2 intensity is one of the best tools for protecting brain health and reducing dementia risk- How to stack Zone 2 with strength training for the best metabolic and longevity outcomes- The identity shift that makes sustainable fitness finally possible for women who are done starting overTHIS EPISODE IS FOR YOU IF...- You are a woman over 35 who trains hard but still feels exhausted, inflamed, or stuck- You are navigating perimenopause or menopause and noticing your body responding differently to exercise- You struggle with belly fat, poor sleep, or blood sugar crashes despite consistent effort- You have been stuck in all-or-nothing fitness cycles and want a sustainable, non-diet approach- You want evidence-based strategies that work with your hormones, not against themIf today's episode shifted something for you, there is a next step waiting. We are building a focused, affordable micro course for women over 35 who want to build a sustainable fitness foundation that actually works with their hormones, not against them. Zone 2, strength, nervous system regulation, blood sugar management: all of it in one place, without the overwhelm.Join the community now to be the first to know when it launches and get access to the founding member offer.facebook.com/groups/thestrongherwaysisterhoodReady to go deeper right now? Explore the Fit + Fueled coaching program at strongherway.com/fitandfueled or connect on Instagram @thestrongherway.

In this episode, we unpack ENERGIZED, the amino acid chain-based system that restores natural energy production at the cellular level. You'll learn how ginseng and whey amino acid chains increase mitochondrial efficiency, balance dopamine and norepinephrine for sustained motivation, and improve oxygen use, all without overstimulation or crash. We'll dive into the research behind PGC-1α activation, BDNF increases from natural coffee-fruit caffeine, and why most energy problems are signaling problems, not caffeine deficiencies. ENERGIZED teaches your cells how to make energy again!   Hosted by Leanne Vogel.   Coaching with Leanne: https://www.healthfulpursuit.com/coaching    Customize your ENERGIZED Kit: https://makewellness.com/Leanne/Shopping/ItemList?SharedCartId=21524&CategoryId=0      Let me help you put together a kit of bioactive amino acid chains that work for you, your goals, and your body: https://www.healthfulpursuit.com/quiz    Enjoy today's show. Thanks for listening!  

Get AudioBooks for Free Best Self-improvement Motivation Boost BDNF Naturally: Simple Brain-Enhancing Method Discover a simple way to increase Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor. Improve memory, focus, and brain health with easy daily habits. ⁠We Need Your Love & Support ❤️ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Get 3 Audiobooks Free -

GLP1s are all the rage, yet the side effects can be dangerous, including sarcopenia (muscle loss) are not always understood or even addressed, so in this episode we help you understand that muscle health MATTERS, far more than you likely know. Because your muscles are "the organ of longevity", the secret to aging well, living well, getting and staying lean, and maintaining vitality is to preserve and build your muscles.AND this can be done without expensive injections, dangerous side effects, or--great news--expensive gym memberships!Dr. Alan Jones is a health sciences PhD and former pharma executive turned highly credentialed expert in muscle health and longevity, and he shares the science we ALL need to know, including...how simple daily movements can redefine your health span and are your best ally in preventing frailty, chronic disease, fat gain, and even cognitive decline.how losing muscle does not have to be an inevitable part of aging., Each of us has the power right now to transform our bodies, our brains, AND our lifespan.how powerful signals—called myokines—improve everything from bone density to mental clarity.how resistance training, high-protein diets, and even simple "exercise snacks" can revitalize your health at any age..how natural, safe alternatives to GLP1s like bioactive peptides ARE available....and affordable.If you want to live longer, healthier, and more independently...If you want to think more clearly and eliminate brain fog...If you want to lose weight and get stronger... listen now!Timestamps04:25 - The epidemic of muscle loss and social media noise05:50 - Hollywood's atrophic trend and social norms shift06:12 - Scientific insights from Dr. Alan Jones' background08:00 - Dr. Jones' switch from pharma to muscle health advocacy13:10 - Defining sarcopenia and its types 14:55 - How medications like statins impair muscle health15:49 - Consequences of muscle loss: frailty and chronic disease16:14 - Sedentary lifestyles vs. active roots17:24 - Debunking the myth that aging causes inevitable muscle atrophy18:24 - How exercise and diet influence muscle and metabolism19:41 - Myokines explained: myostatin and beneficial muscle-secreted compounds20:37 - The neuroprotective role of BDNF and organ crosstalk21:53 - How muscles communicate with bones, liver, and heart25:50 - Practical resistance exercises and "exercise snacks"30:00 - The power of intentional movement and everyday activity32:12 - Strength training benefits for appearance and health34:05 - Muscle's influence on fat burning and metabolic health34:15 - Muscle's role in preventing osteoporosis via myokines36:20 - Organ crosstalk and cellular communication complexity39:00 - Dangers of improper use of GLP-1 drugs and alternative solutions44:14 - How resistance training impacts aging signs and facial aging45:07 - The anti-aging effects of muscle training49:23 - Risks of rapid weight loss on drugs like Ozempic54:49 - The importance of proper peptide use and natural options66:43 - How bioactive peptides and food sources support muscle and health69:28 - The critical role of sleep timing and quality in agingResources:Bioactive Peptides: https://meet.makewellness.com/peptide-science?referral=amyludwig

Do you have a habit like smoking or late night snacking that you want to kick, but no matter what you try, you just can't seem to quit? The answer isn't weakness, and it isn't a lack of motivation. It lives in the 88% of your brain you're not consciously controlling, and therapeutic hypnosis (hypnotherapy) may be one of the most underestimated tools available to change it.On Salad with a Side of Fries, host Jenn Trepeck and guest Rita Black, a leading clinical hypnotherapist and author, pull back the curtain on hypnosis and hypnotherapy for weight loss, smoking cessation, and breaking stubborn subconscious patterns. If you've ever asked yourself why you can't stop doing something you genuinely don't want to do, this conversation was made for you.What You Will Learn in This Episode:✅ How hypnotherapy works by relaxing the critical filter between your conscious and subconscious mind, making it easier to adopt new habits and beliefs rather than fighting against deeply embedded patterns.✅ Why willpower represents only 12% of your mental power, and how your subconscious patterns from night eating to emotional eating are running the show, whether you realize it or not.✅ How adopting an apprentice mindset and shifting your identity from "dieter" to "learner" can reduce shame, break the start-over-Monday cycle, and create sustainable behavioral change.✅ Three practical self-hypnosis techniques you can use today: the identity shift, the Movie Theater mental practice method, and aversion therapy tools that interrupt dopamine-driven cravings before they take hold.The Salad With a Side of Fries podcast, hosted by Jenn Trepeck, explores real-life wellness and weight-loss topics, debunking myths, misinformation, and flawed science surrounding nutrition and the food industry. Let's dive into wellness and weight loss for real life, including drinking, eating out, and skipping the grocery store.TIMESTAMPS:00:00 Rita Black, clinical hypnotherapist and expert in hypnosis for weight loss and smoking cessation05:05 Rita shares her personal story of overcoming addiction through hypnotherapy and becoming a non-smoker10:04 The difference between stage hypnosis and therapeutic hypnosis: entertainment versus real behavioral change14:25 How hypnotherapy relaxes the critical filter so the conscious and subconscious mind can finally align19:36 The ringing phone analogy: why dopamine and expectation drive food cravings and night eating23:06 Three self-hypnosis tools to start using today. Step one: identity shift28:43 Step two: mental practice31:36 Step three: aversion therapy33:45 Understanding your inner critic, inner rebel, and inner coach and how inner communication drives choices37:35 How to choose the right hypnotherapist: finding a specialist with lived experience and strong reviewsKEY TAKEAWAYS:

Welcome back to Embody Radio! Today's episode is one of those "nerdy girl deep dives" that I've been so excited to share with you. I sat down with David Watumull, a researcher and formulator who has spent over two decades in the astaxanthin space, starting all the way back in the algae ponds of Kona, Hawaii as a high schooler, and working his way through pharmaceutical-grade research and development.   If you've never heard of astaxanthin, or if you've heard of it but kind of wrote it off as "just another antioxidant," this episode is going to change that for you. We get into the weeds on what makes astaxanthin structurally different from other antioxidants (spoiler: it actually spans the entire cell membrane like a bridge, while things like vitamin C just sit on the outside), how it fights free radicals without becoming a pro-oxidant itself, and why it matters for literally everyone, not just people who are "old enough to worry about aging."   We cover a LOT of ground in this one: What oxidative stress actually is (explained like you're five) and why modern life accelerates it How astaxanthin works upstream of inflammation like a thermostat, not an on/off switch The connection between oxidative stress and brain fog, mood, sleep, joint pain, and skin health Why your 3pm energy crash might be a bigger red flag than you think How astaxanthin crosses the blood-brain barrier and promotes neuroplasticity and BDNF production The NIH Interventions Testing Program results Astaxanthin's role as "internal sunscreen." What that means and what it doesn't Why it pairs so well with omega-3s, creatine, and other longevity supplements Dosing guidance David's personal story from the algae ponds to pharmaceutical research to launching AX3   I've been personally taking astaxanthin for about a month now, and I'm noticing calmer mental energy, better recovery from training, and significantly improved REM and deep sleep. This one is backed by over 4,000 peer-reviewed papers and 100+ human clinical trials, so we're not just vibing here, there's real science.   If you want to try AX3 for yourself, use code EMBODY at ax3.life for a 20% discount. This is one of those foundational supplements I think more of us should be prioritizing.   Fitness, health, and holistic wellness for $22/month Interested in a luxury 1:1 online health coaching experience? Look no further than FENIX ATHLETICA, where we fuse science and soul for life-long transformation (inside AND out). For the high-achieving hot girls that want to recover better, support glowier skin, and promote longevity through better cellular health, get 20% off your first order of Mitopure and make wellness easier than ever. Follow me on Instagram Follow EMBody Radio on Instagram

 Whether you feel stuck in your career, your relationship, your friendships, your habits, your overall life, it can feel hopeless. It can feel confusing. It can feel really, really frustrating. In my over 400 conversations with experts on this podcast, the topic of feeling stuck or how to make the right decision or how to get out of a slump comes up so, so often. So I decided to put together the ultimate unstuck toolkit, which covers everything you need from all angles (neuroscience, behavioral patterns, relationship patterns) to help you gain motivation, clarity, and finally feel like you are able to move forward.