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I think everybody needs to listen to
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this episode if they want to start 2026
00:00:04
properly. If there's one thing I've
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learned that's really stayed with me
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this year, it's from speaking to some of
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the world's leading minds about our
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brain, which might just be the most
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powerful asset that we all have. You
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know, if you listen to the Diary of a
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SEO, you're probably listening because
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you're trying to get something, whether
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it's information, inspiration, maybe
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entertainment, all of which because
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you're striving towards some kind of
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goal. And it's dawned on me this year
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because I've interviewed so many
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incredible neuroscientists that this all
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starts with having a healthy brain.
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Because all of our thoughts, our
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feelings, our relationships, our
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memories, our chance of having a future
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start in the brain. So, in this special
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Christmas episode, we're going to focus
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on the brain. How you can have the most
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fundamentally healthy brain so you can
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live the most fundamentally meaningful
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life. I've been through all the episodes
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where we've talked about the brain and
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I've looked at the moments that you
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shared and replayed the most. and the
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moments that added the most value to
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your life. And I've put all of them into
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this episode today.
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>> Do you remember the first time you saw a
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human brain?
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>> I do.
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>> Did it change how you think about your
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own brain?
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>> It changed my life because I was like, I
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want to study that. That is the coolest
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thing that I've ever seen in my whole
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life. It was life-changing.
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>> I say that because we, you know, at the
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start of this conversation, we said that
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most of us don't appreciate our brain. A
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lot of people don't even realize it's
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there. But the minute I had a brain scan
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one day, and that brain scan
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>> really changed my life because seeing my
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own brain for the first time,
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>> it was the push that I needed
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>> to start caring more about how my
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decisions and behaviors are impacting
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it. So, let's talk about how I can make
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that ball of tofu in my head, super
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healthy, big, fat, and fluffy. You you
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talked about exercise earlier on, but we
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didn't really dig dig into exactly what
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you mean by exercise cuz exercise, I
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think, is multifaceted in its
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definition. What kind of exercise should
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I be doing to make my ball of tofu in my
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head great?
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>> Yeah.
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>> Optimal.
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>> Mhm. Well, all the research shows that
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the best kind of exercise that you can
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do is anything that gives you aerobic
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activity that is getting your heart rate
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up. So that that goes for, you know,
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power walking will get your heart rate
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up. So soccer, so many different things.
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Name your activity. So many people want
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to say, "Oh, my favorite activity, will
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that work?" And I always just say, "Is
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it is your heart rate up when you're
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doing it?" If the answer is yes, then
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yeah, that that works great. We know
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that that level of aerobic activity is
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critical because that's going to release
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that growth factor maximally to get into
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your hippocampus. Uh that will grow
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those new brain cells. how much?
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>> So, um I have an answer to that. So, um
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we did two different experiments in my
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lab. One in um low fit people, people
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that are really not exercising very much
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at all, less than 30 minutes um um in
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the last three three weeks you you've uh
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moved your body. And um we asked what
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could we see any behavioral improvement
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in your memory function from your
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hippocampus or your uh ability to shift
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and focus attention if we ask you to
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move your body in an aerobic way for two
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to three times a week and we
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collaborated with a spin class. So
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clearly very aerobic. And what we found
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was in those people that did
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successfully do two to three times a
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week of 45minute aerobic activity, their
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mood got significantly better, their
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memory function got better, and their
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ability to shift and focus attention got
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significantly better. So that gives a
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little bit of a guideline for low fit
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people. Two to three times a week can
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start to give you some of those some of
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those cognitive changes. But you don't
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look low fit. So let me let me answer
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the question you're about to ask me with
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like what about me? I I exercise pretty
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regularly and um how much how much do I
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need? So to answer that question, we
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went to another spin studio and we said
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look, we're going to give you free
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classes. You could exercise as much as
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you want in this in this um at this
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studio and uh um go up to seven times a
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week. And the control was just stay the
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same. You know, you they were they were
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working out twice a week at at the
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studio
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>> and Troll was the other group that what
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you were testing them against.
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>> Yes. Exactly.
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>> And so what we found was
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basically every drop of sweat counted.
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The more you exercise, the more change
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in your brain. We noted both your
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hippocample function, prefrontal
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function, and mood. if you you were
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already getting benefit, you know,
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you're already going twice a week, but
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the more you did, the more brain changes
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you got. So that that doesn't give the
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formula that I would like, but we were
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heading in that direction, which is part
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of one of the questions that I want to
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answer. But I love to leave people with
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the idea that every drop of sweat counts
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for building your brain into the big fat
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fluffy brain that you really want.
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And then in the real world, again,
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making it super um real for people.
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>> Yeah.
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>> How how does that change how I show up?
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>> Yeah. if you allow it to should have a
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beautiful effect on your mindset. Um
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that your mindset around um
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how often should I take wake up and 30
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minutes early and do that walk before I
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start my day or uh accept the the
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invitation to go uh walk the dog with
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with a neighbor. Um it's not an
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obligation. It is something that you're
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doing for yourself. It is going to have
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direct benefits on that ball of tofu, as
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you call it, in your head. It's going to
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make it work better. And and I mean, I
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think the most immediate thing that I
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benefit from every single day is the
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mood boost that you get from that
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serotonin, dopamine, nor adrenaline that
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gets released every time you move your
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body.
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>> I always think that because obviously I
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do a lot of podcasting and it's I'm
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super reliant on my brain being attached
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to my mouth and sometimes I notice that
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it's not. You know what I mean? like
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sometimes I'm notic
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from from your and also I speak on stage
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sometimes. So I've often asked myself
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cuz I saw Tony Robbins
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>> the speaker one day on a trampoline
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before he goes up on stage.
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>> I ask myself okay should I be doing a
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workout in my green room before I go up
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on stage for a big talk or presentation?
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>> You think I should?
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>> Oh yeah absolutely. What's the basis of
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that in science and neuroscience?
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>> Uh it's the basis is that immediate
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effect. So there's three key effects
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that we know happen every time you move
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your body. First one is mood. You're
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going to get your dopamine, your
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serotonin up. Um second is focus and
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attention. So so a single workout isn't
00:07:02
going to make more synapses in your
00:07:04
prefrontal cortex, but the prefrontal
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cortex uses dopamine. And so um it's
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clear that even a single workout can
00:07:12
make your prefrontal cortex work better
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in terms of focus and attention. Also
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very important anytime you're speaking.
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And the third is reaction time. Your
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reaction time, you know, motor your your
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your working your motor cortex when you
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move your body. And your response and
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reaction time is significantly shorter
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after a even a single workout compared
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to if you just don't work out and sit
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sit um alone. So great great things to
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do. A great thing to do before you you
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stand up and speak.
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>> What about coffee?
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>> I I I'm trying to figure out if coffee
00:07:48
is good for my brain, bad for my brain.
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I've had a couple of mixed messages
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around the impact it might be having.
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>> Yeah. You know, caffeine is a stimulant
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and uh people respond to that kind of
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stimulant uh in different ways. Over
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stimulation with caffeine is is not good
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for your be able your ability to put
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words together. You know, this is where
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I turn to a a main theme in in my book
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healthy brain happy life with this which
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is self-experimentation
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for you. How what can you titrate your
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coffee to see what level of coffee is
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best for whatever your podcast or you're
00:08:29
giving a talk? The other thing that can
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work similarly to coffee that that I've
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started uh and that I do every morning
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is um hot cold contrast showers because
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that cold that you shower on yourself
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after the heat um stimulates adrenaline
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in you. a natural adrenaline. It wakes
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you up and okay, it was painful the
00:08:53
first kind of few times I tried it, but
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then you get addicted to it and I have
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forgotten to do it and gotten back in
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the shower just to douse myself with
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cold water because I feel better when I
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do that for for you know first thing in
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the morning. So, lots of different
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things that one can explore with. Okay,
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on the other side of the coin then, what
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are some of the central behaviors that
00:09:18
people do that destroy their brain?
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>> Well, sedentary behavior is one of them.
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Um, not getting enough sleep is
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critical. We haven't talked about sleep
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yet. Sleep is so important for normal
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functioning of the brain. I like to
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scare my students by saying that um you
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know in torture situations if you
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deprive a person of sleep for too long
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they literally die. They they they die.
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You cannot function if you are deprived
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of sleep for too many hours in a row.
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It's that critical. Yet we don't we we
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happily, you know, watch too much
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Netflix at night and and and and get
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only 5 hours of sleep when we could have
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had eight. So um what's happening
00:10:02
exactly? Why is it so important? Well,
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there's um there's so many different
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things. I'm gonna I'm gonna say two. One
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is that we know that in regular um um
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healthy sleep, there is activity in the
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hippocampus that helps you strengthen
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the memories that you have formed in
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that previous day. It's called
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consolidation and it's so important. If
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you shorten that, if you don't get
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enough, you are not consolidating your
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normal everyday memories. And second, it
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is uh the time during sleep when all the
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metabolites, all that garbage that your
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brain is producing because all
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biological cells produce garbage, it
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gets kind of um cleaned up um through
00:10:45
the cerebral spinal fluid that that is
00:10:47
flowing through your brain. And if you
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do not get enough sleep, you build up
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garbage metabolites in your brain. It's
00:10:54
like you have a gunky brain. And do you
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feel like I feel like I have gunk in my
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brain when I don't sleep enough. That is
00:11:00
exactly what is what is happening.
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>> Well, when you think about um things
00:11:03
that we consume, you know, like food and
00:11:06
drink and alcohol and all these kinds of
00:11:09
things, is there is there anything that
00:11:10
if I'm trying to have an optimal brain,
00:11:12
I should be
00:11:12
>> Yeah.
00:11:13
>> having or not having?
00:11:14
>> Yeah. Well, so um I think the most
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evidence is around the benefit of the
00:11:22
Mediterranean diet which is basically
00:11:25
all healthy uh um kind of organic not
00:11:28
organic but nonprocessed is the word I
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was trying to think of things to eat
00:11:33
that are very very colorful. There is so
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much evidence about how good that is
00:11:39
generally for the brain that that is my
00:11:42
go-to. Like what should I eat? Well, is
00:11:45
it on the Mediterranean diet? If it is,
00:11:47
then go ahead. If it's too processed,
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>> only do it just a little bit.
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>> Is it true that if we have less friends,
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if we have less strong relationships, if
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we're lonely,
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>> then our brain will shrink and is more
00:12:00
prone to dementia and Alzheimer's and
00:12:03
things like that. Yes, we are social
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creatures and um there are uh really
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powerful studies that have shown the
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correlation between the number of social
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connections that we have including just
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saying hello to the barista at
00:12:18
Starbucks. It's not a close friendship
00:12:20
that you develop over 30 years. It's
00:12:23
it's just how many people you interact
00:12:25
with and greet and longevity. The more
00:12:29
people you are regularly interacting
00:12:31
with, the longer you are living overall
00:12:34
longevity. But if you go into brain
00:12:37
health, absolutely it's also very very
00:12:39
healthy for you. It also brings
00:12:42
happiness. So uh friend and colleague of
00:12:45
mine um Robert Wallinger uh studied um
00:12:48
what makes people happy. The study
00:12:50
started in the 20s, the 1920s and in
00:12:53
Harvard. And after all of those many
00:12:55
many many decades, the answer is what
00:12:59
brings happiness is the strength of your
00:13:02
social connections. So it makes you
00:13:03
happier. It makes you live longer and
00:13:05
and uh yes, loneliness on the on the um
00:13:09
flip side causes stress uh long-term
00:13:12
stress that that damages the brain and
00:13:14
uh yeah, in the long term can can make
00:13:17
it smaller and uh less healthy.
00:13:19
>> Here's the fifth most replayed moment.
00:13:21
When I asked you before this
00:13:23
conversation started rolling what you're
00:13:25
really excited about at the moment, your
00:13:27
response to me was there was a few
00:13:28
things, but one of them which lit up
00:13:30
your face was creatine.
00:13:32
>> Yes. And it's funny because
00:13:34
>> it lit up your face again.
00:13:36
>> Yeah. It's it's funny because creatine
00:13:38
has been around for I mean ever for
00:13:41
decades and it's always been in my mind
00:13:43
it was like one of those gym bro things.
00:13:45
I'm like I don't need to be swole.
00:13:47
>> Yeah.
00:13:48
>> I don't need creatine get get swole. And
00:13:50
you know this is this was the thought
00:13:52
for for many many years. And then over
00:13:55
the last five years or so,
00:13:59
the effects of creatine on the brain
00:14:01
started to really get my interest.
00:14:03
Anything that affects the brain, I
00:14:04
really become interested in. And so
00:14:07
that's kind of what did get me the most
00:14:09
excited about about creatine. But also,
00:14:13
I started doing a lot of resistance
00:14:14
training. And so I was like, "Okay, here
00:14:16
I am now. I'm like one of those gym
00:14:18
guys. I'm doing I'm doing the barbells.
00:14:21
I'm doing the, you know, the squats and
00:14:22
the deadlifts and all that and so, so
00:14:25
why not give myself some of the
00:14:26
creatine? Well, what is creatine, right?
00:14:29
Why is it important? You talked about
00:14:32
earlier, you know, why doesn't our body
00:14:35
just make more of these things that are
00:14:36
so beneficial? We do make creatine. We
00:14:39
make about, I don't know, our liver
00:14:41
makes about 1 to three grams a day of
00:14:43
creatine. And our brain also makes
00:14:46
creatine and those are the two organs
00:14:47
that make it. Creatine gets consumed by
00:14:52
other tissues like the muscle is
00:14:53
probably the one that's the greediest
00:14:55
because creatine is stored as
00:14:58
phosphocreatine but it's used to make
00:15:00
energy essentially. So it can increase
00:15:03
muscle mass, it can increase muscle
00:15:05
strength in combination with resistance
00:15:07
training because you're able to
00:15:09
regenerate and make energy faster. So,
00:15:13
for example, I became interested in it
00:15:15
after reading studies where people that
00:15:18
supplemented with creatine that were
00:15:20
engaged in resistance training were able
00:15:23
to gain more lean body mass. They were
00:15:25
able to gain more strength. It was
00:15:27
increasing their training volume. So,
00:15:29
you can do one to two more reps, right,
00:15:32
of of whatever exercise you're doing.
00:15:34
And it seems to decrease the recovery
00:15:36
time between those those sets as well.
00:15:39
So, you're able to increase your
00:15:40
training volume. Well, anything that's
00:15:42
going to in increase your training
00:15:43
volume is going to then have the
00:15:45
downstream effect of, you know,
00:15:47
increasing the adaptations like
00:15:48
increased muscle mass or increased
00:15:50
muscle strength. I started supplementing
00:15:53
with creatine about a year ago and I
00:15:56
started supplementing with it for that
00:15:57
reason, for the my training and I was
00:16:00
doing about five grams a day because
00:16:02
that was really what was shown to to be
00:16:04
beneficial for muscle health in
00:16:07
combination with resistance training.
00:16:08
And it's important for people to realize
00:16:10
that supplementing with creatine by
00:16:13
itself, without any type of resistance
00:16:15
training, isn't going to grow your
00:16:16
muscle. It's not going to make you
00:16:18
stronger. You have to put in the effort
00:16:20
because what creatine is doing, it's
00:16:23
helping you make the energy quicker,
00:16:25
right? And that and then being able to
00:16:28
make that energy quicker means that
00:16:29
you're able to then do that exercise
00:16:31
better, um, harder, more of it, right?
00:16:34
So, um, it's sort of sup supercharging
00:16:36
your exercise routine.
00:16:38
I had already been aware of the effects
00:16:40
on the brain. I thought maybe the five
00:16:42
grams a day would do that. So what are
00:16:44
the effects on the brain? Well, your
00:16:45
brain also consumes a lot of energy, you
00:16:48
know, needs a lot of energy. So it does
00:16:50
make its own creatine. But it turns out
00:16:53
if you can if you can give your brain
00:16:56
more of that creatine particularly under
00:16:59
a period of anything that's causing
00:17:01
stress. So let's say lack of sleep or
00:17:06
let's say emotional psychological stress
00:17:10
or in my case high cognitive load where
00:17:16
you're just every day learning concepts,
00:17:19
complex things. you're trying to
00:17:21
remember them. You're putting ideas
00:17:22
together and coming up with new
00:17:24
hypotheses and you know, you're just
00:17:26
you're just you're studying a lot and
00:17:28
it's very cognitively demanding and it's
00:17:31
it's a type of stress on your brain.
00:17:33
That's like my life, right? Um under
00:17:35
this condition of stress, depression is
00:17:38
another one that's a stress on your
00:17:39
brain or neurodeenerative disease,
00:17:42
that's a stress on your brain. So any
00:17:44
kind of stressful condition,
00:17:46
that's where creatine shines in the
00:17:49
brain. I would argue that um all of us
00:17:52
who who has the perfect amount of sleep
00:17:54
never has stress nobody, right? There's
00:17:56
always some sort of stress in the
00:17:58
background. So, um that's when I was
00:18:00
like, okay, so if you're the perfect
00:18:03
person, you have no stress, you get the
00:18:05
perfect amount of sleep every night,
00:18:07
your brain makes enough creatine to kind
00:18:09
of do what it needs to do. I know that
00:18:12
I'm constantly under stress. So, um I'm
00:18:15
like, okay, well, I think I need a
00:18:16
boost. And this is where a lot of very
00:18:18
interesting studies have come out of
00:18:20
many different labs. Um, some out of
00:18:22
Germany that looked at the dose of
00:18:24
creatine and how it increases creatine
00:18:27
levels in the brain. And this is why I
00:18:29
now supplement with 10 grams a day. So
00:18:32
the study out of Germany
00:18:34
found that five grams a day of creatine,
00:18:36
if you're supplementing with five grams
00:18:38
a day, your muscles are greedily
00:18:39
consuming it. Particularly if you're
00:18:41
working out, they want it. They want it.
00:18:43
after about five grams a day, especially
00:18:45
over a few months, like you're you're
00:18:47
saturating your muscle and that's
00:18:49
enough, right? Anything above that kind
00:18:52
of spills over to the brain. And so they
00:18:54
what this German study found was that 10
00:18:57
grams of creatine increased creatine
00:18:59
levels in several different regions of
00:19:01
the brain. And that was probably the
00:19:02
most exciting, you know, I would say
00:19:04
evidence that supplementing higher than
00:19:06
five grams a day was actually doing
00:19:08
something in terms of getting creatine
00:19:09
into the brain.
00:19:11
There have now been a variety of studies
00:19:13
that have looked at different outcomes,
00:19:15
right? So, if you supplement with 10
00:19:18
grams of creatine or even go higher than
00:19:20
that, like 20 grams of creatine, how
00:19:22
does that affect cognitive function,
00:19:23
right? And so, um some of these studies
00:19:26
have been been done by uh Dr. Darren
00:19:28
Kandow. He's um at the University of
00:19:30
Regina in Canada and it's looked they've
00:19:33
looked at things like sleep deprivation
00:19:36
and it's been found that if you take
00:19:38
someone and you sleep deprive them for
00:19:41
21 hours and give them about 25 to 30
00:19:45
grams of creatine, it completely negates
00:19:49
the cognitive deficits of sleep
00:19:51
deprivation. Actually, not only does it
00:19:54
negate the cognitive deficits of sleep
00:19:56
deprivation, it makes people function
00:19:59
better than if they were well-rested.
00:20:03
That's where I was like, wait a minute,
00:20:06
there's many times when I'm traveling,
00:20:07
I'm jet-lagged. Uh lots of times when
00:20:10
I'm sleepd deprived and I have to be
00:20:11
doing a podcast or a presentation,
00:20:13
whatever. And in those situations, I go
00:20:17
up from my 10 grams to more like 20
00:20:20
grams. Today, for example, I wasn't
00:20:23
really sleepdeprived, but you know,
00:20:26
there's a lot of high cognitive demand.
00:20:28
This is a long podcast. There's all that
00:20:30
stuff. And so, I went up to 20 grams
00:20:32
today on my creatine. And I well, I will
00:20:35
say even at the 10 gram for me, we were
00:20:38
talking about this with respect to being
00:20:40
in ketosis.
00:20:42
I don't feel that mid-after afternoon
00:20:44
crash when I have the creatine, not
00:20:47
being on a ketogenic diet, not being in
00:20:48
ketosis. It's very clear for me and I've
00:20:51
done this where sometimes I only do five
00:20:53
grams and then if I do that I'll notice
00:20:56
I'm like why am I tired right now? So
00:20:58
there's something interesting and maybe
00:20:59
it's placebo. I'm going to throw that
00:21:02
out there. Very possible. But I don't
00:21:04
know maybe the creatine is again it's
00:21:06
able to regenerate that energy quicker
00:21:09
and so that's also beneficial for the
00:21:10
brain. And now I I would say all these
00:21:13
creatine researchers a lot of them are
00:21:15
shifting to the brain. It used to be all
00:21:16
muscle focused and now people are super
00:21:19
interested in what creatine is doing to
00:21:22
the brain, especially if you're
00:21:23
supplementing with more of it. And you
00:21:26
know, this is important for people that
00:21:27
are under a stressful situation, but
00:21:30
also for vegans because creatine is
00:21:32
found in food, mostly in animal products
00:21:35
like meat and poultry and fish, dairy. A
00:21:37
lot of vegans don't eat that. And I've
00:21:39
had so many of my vegan friends,
00:21:42
I've got them on the creatine, and it's
00:21:44
changed their lives. I mean, they're
00:21:46
like, "This is like incredible." You
00:21:48
know, can you imagine someone who's not
00:21:49
getting any creatine from their diet cuz
00:21:51
they eat no meat and all of a sudden
00:21:53
they start supplementing with 5 10 grams
00:21:55
of creatine and it's like they have
00:21:57
energy. Some people say they they
00:21:59
require less sleep, which is kind of
00:22:01
interesting. That's kind of a comment
00:22:03
I've heard many many times from people
00:22:04
is that it's like their brain doesn't
00:22:06
need as much sleep. They have more
00:22:08
energy. So, um, I've been a big fan of
00:22:11
the creatine, um, not only for the
00:22:13
muscle especially because, you know,
00:22:14
working out is something that's very
00:22:16
important, but for the brain as well.
00:22:19
I always thought of creatine as
00:22:21
something that you you took and you kind
00:22:22
of had to load up on and then over a
00:22:24
couple of weeks or months, the effects
00:22:25
would kick in. But you're telling me
00:22:27
that if I had creatine in the morning,
00:22:29
that same day, I would experience
00:22:31
potentially improved cognition if I have
00:22:34
a big enough dose.
00:22:35
>> Yes. So, um, great question. A lot of
00:22:38
studies that have been done that you're
00:22:40
referring to have been done in the
00:22:42
context of exercise and muscular
00:22:45
performance. And the reason why people
00:22:49
have to load up on like they do a
00:22:51
loading phase, let's say 20 grams and
00:22:53
then they go down to this sort of
00:22:54
maintenance phase of 5 g is because it
00:22:58
takes I don't know, I think it's about a
00:23:00
month or so before you can saturate your
00:23:03
muscular stores of creatine. And then
00:23:06
>> what does that mean? It means that um
00:23:08
the creatine which is actually stored in
00:23:10
your muscle as phosphocreatine is there
00:23:12
and ready to be used to make energy. So
00:23:16
so it takes again it takes about a month
00:23:20
or so to do that unless you are really
00:23:22
giving your muscles a high dose, right?
00:23:24
So the five grams a day it only it can
00:23:26
only do it for so many days and then
00:23:29
finally you get saturated. When you do
00:23:30
this loading phase you kind of just
00:23:32
accelerate that whole process. And so
00:23:34
that's why when people are doing these
00:23:36
experiments where they want to test the
00:23:37
effects of creatine, they want they want
00:23:39
the participants to have really high
00:23:41
levels of creatine in their muscles
00:23:42
quick because they don't want to do a
00:23:44
month-long experiment, right? They want
00:23:45
the experiment to be like a couple of
00:23:47
weeks or a week. So that was kind of the
00:23:49
whole concept behind this loading phase.
00:23:51
If you're not someone who's going to
00:23:54
some kind of competition, you know, like
00:23:56
your CrossFit games or something, you
00:23:58
don't really need to do that loading
00:23:59
phase if you've already been
00:24:00
supplementing with five grams a day for
00:24:02
like a month. When it comes to the
00:24:04
brain, what's happening if you get above
00:24:07
that 5 g, that's pretty much all
00:24:09
consumed by the muscle. You're having
00:24:12
some leftover in circulation and the
00:24:14
brain takes it up and it takes it up,
00:24:16
right? When it re what it really shines
00:24:19
is under that stressful condition, which
00:24:21
again for me, I feel like every day is
00:24:23
this is is like cognitively demanding
00:24:26
for me because I'm constantly, you know,
00:24:28
learning new material or learning new
00:24:30
information or working on things, right?
00:24:31
And so there's a lot of cognitive stress
00:24:33
on my brain. And so I feel like I'm
00:24:35
constantly under that stress. And that's
00:24:37
where getting the creatine in your brain
00:24:39
helps you make that energy quicker. And
00:24:41
so that's why like I've done I've had,
00:24:43
you know, been jetlagged and have have
00:24:45
to give a talk at you, you know, like
00:24:47
5:00 a.m. in the morning, my my
00:24:48
biological time after not getting sleep.
00:24:50
And I've done like 25 grams of creatine.
00:24:53
And it it's insane how much it helps me.
00:24:56
Again, it could be placebo because I'm
00:24:57
anticipating that effect, which is fine.
00:24:59
Placebo is a real thing. It's great. I'm
00:25:01
all about it. But there's some evidence
00:25:04
also that this works, right? That the
00:25:07
creatine is helping with under that
00:25:08
sleep deprivation and that stressful
00:25:10
condition.
00:25:11
>> I was reading about a study in 2025
00:25:13
where they
00:25:15
gave creatine to people that had
00:25:17
depressive symptoms alongside CBT
00:25:19
training. And the people that had
00:25:21
creatine and the cognitive behavioral
00:25:23
therapy training experienced a greater
00:25:25
improvement in their depression symptoms
00:25:27
than those who just received the
00:25:29
cognitive behavioral therapy, which is
00:25:32
which is incredible.
00:25:34
>> It's fascinating. I mean, depression is
00:25:36
a type of brain stress, right? I mean,
00:25:38
we know inflammation plays a role in in
00:25:41
depression. We know oxidative stress
00:25:43
plays a role in depression. And there
00:25:46
have now been some animal studies that
00:25:48
have shown creatine is somehow having an
00:25:50
anti-inflammatory effect. I that hasn't
00:25:52
all been worked out. So I don't know if
00:25:54
it's all just the energy component of
00:25:57
it. It could also be this other sort of
00:25:59
newly identified role that creatine is
00:26:02
playing in sort of having an
00:26:04
anti-inflammatory effect. And I don't
00:26:06
know much enough about that. I don't
00:26:07
know that there's enough even known
00:26:09
about that. But I do know that it
00:26:10
exists. And it's fascinating because
00:26:12
again I think where creatine really
00:26:15
shines in the brain and it's been shown
00:26:17
study after study is under some kind of
00:26:19
stressful condition depression or sleep
00:26:21
deprivation or there's a new study that
00:26:24
came out it was published I don't know a
00:26:26
month ago or so showing that it was a
00:26:29
very small pilot study and I want to
00:26:30
caveat this there was no placebo control
00:26:34
but it did show that giving people with
00:26:37
Alzheimer's disease creatine I believe
00:26:39
it was 20 grams a day did improve their
00:26:42
cognition. And so again, this is a whole
00:26:45
new field where now we're looking at
00:26:47
creatine in the brain, not just the gym
00:26:50
bro Bros and not just the muscular
00:26:51
effects, but in the brain and how it's
00:26:54
affecting the brain and being beneficial
00:26:56
for cognition, for brain aging, for
00:27:00
depression.
00:27:01
>> Here's the fourth most replayed moment.
00:27:04
One of the most inspiring and I think
00:27:06
liberating things that I've heard in
00:27:07
your work is this idea of
00:27:09
neuroplasticity. Because if you're if
00:27:12
the brain can physiologically change
00:27:14
based on what I'm doing, then it means
00:27:16
that who I am now, my identity, that 16
00:27:18
that 19-year-old who's sleeping in the
00:27:19
mummy thing with the ferret isn't who I
00:27:21
always have to be. I can literally
00:27:23
change. Um, we've spoken a little bit
00:27:26
around like what causes the motivation
00:27:28
to actually change, but knowing that
00:27:29
there's a my brain will actually change.
00:27:31
Those two things are really inspiring
00:27:34
for me because it means that whatever
00:27:35
rut I'm stuck in isn't necessarily a
00:27:37
permanent one. Now, you said that the
00:27:39
motivation to change comes from fear.
00:27:41
>> Well, in my case, it took a a fear
00:27:44
circumstance, fear of becoming a
00:27:47
permanent failure.
00:27:48
>> Yeah.
00:27:48
>> To motivate immense change. And um uh
00:27:52
that was that circumstance. I I do
00:27:54
believe however that the best work, our
00:27:57
most creative and best work comes from a
00:28:00
love of craft. But sometimes in order to
00:28:03
find what you truly love, you have to be
00:28:06
scared into setting off on a path to
00:28:08
find it. So neuroplasticity
00:28:11
is absolutely real. But if the question
00:28:14
is can a person change, can you learn
00:28:17
new things? Can you unlearn certain
00:28:19
patterns? Can you overcome traumas at
00:28:22
any age? The answer is absolutely
00:28:25
categorically yes. How? Well, it's very
00:28:29
clear that as a child until about age
00:28:32
25, more or less just passive experience
00:28:35
will shape the brain for better or
00:28:37
worse. After about age 25, and again
00:28:40
these are not strict cut offs,
00:28:43
we can change our brain. But what's
00:28:45
required is a marketked shift in the
00:28:47
neurochemical environment under which
00:28:50
something happens. So one of the reasons
00:28:52
why any traumatic event will forever be
00:28:55
remembered although by the way you can
00:28:57
remove some of the emotional load of
00:28:58
that trauma does not have to be
00:29:00
traumatic forever
00:29:02
is because when we see or experience
00:29:05
something very intense of a fearful
00:29:07
nature there is the release of certain
00:29:10
what we call neurom modulators things
00:29:12
like epinephrine adrenaline and other
00:29:15
neurom modulators that cause a state
00:29:18
shift in our broad body and brain And
00:29:21
the nervous system recognizes this as
00:29:23
unusual and as a consequence in the
00:29:25
subsequent days there's reordering of
00:29:27
the connections so that the brain can
00:29:30
prepare for that event should it happen
00:29:32
again. This is why we have what's called
00:29:34
one trial learning. You go to a certain
00:29:36
location, something terrible happens
00:29:38
there, you will forever associate that
00:29:40
location with something terrible. But
00:29:42
there are tools, therapy and other tools
00:29:45
that can allow the emotional load to be
00:29:48
removed from that so that you could go
00:29:49
to that location and feel calm, no fear
00:29:52
whatsoever. The good news is you can
00:29:54
also learn anything you want to learn
00:29:56
provided there's a shift in this
00:29:58
neurochemical environment. This is why
00:30:00
when we are very interested and focused
00:30:02
on something, two of the main
00:30:04
requirements for neuroplasticity, we
00:30:06
have to be alert and we have to be
00:30:07
focused. We can't learn passively as
00:30:09
adults. We can't just play um you know a
00:30:13
a lecture about AI and large language
00:30:16
models or neuroscience in the room and
00:30:18
then it just the knowledge doesn't just
00:30:20
sink in by osmosis.
00:30:22
But if we pay attention and we're alert
00:30:24
when we pay attention
00:30:26
there's a shift in the neurochemicals
00:30:28
associated with that attention. What we
00:30:30
call the catacolamines. It's three
00:30:32
molecules dopamine, epinephrine and
00:30:34
norepinephrine. All which cause an
00:30:36
increase in alertness. all which cause
00:30:38
an increase in focus, a tightening of
00:30:40
our visual field and our auditory field.
00:30:42
So like cones of attention is one way to
00:30:44
think about it. And then it sets in
00:30:46
motion a bunch of biological processes
00:30:48
such that if we get adequate sleep that
00:30:50
night, maybe the next night as well,
00:30:53
there's reordering of neural connection
00:30:54
so that that knowledge, that new
00:30:56
experience is consolidated in your
00:30:59
brain. You are forever changed as a
00:31:01
consequence of that experience. So when
00:31:04
we hear that the brain is constantly
00:31:06
changing, everything that we encounter
00:31:08
changes our brain, that's not true. Why
00:31:11
would the brain change unless it needed
00:31:12
to, right? As a child, the brain is
00:31:14
basically a template for change. It's
00:31:16
it's trying to understand the
00:31:17
environment and make predictions. And so
00:31:19
that's true. Neuroplasticity is is a
00:31:23
cardinal feature of of childhood and
00:31:25
adolescence and the teen years. Just
00:31:27
think about the music you listen to when
00:31:28
you were a teen. No other music will
00:31:30
ever have as much significance. And
00:31:32
that's because as a teen your body is
00:31:33
flooded with hormones and neurom
00:31:35
modulators that the amount of meaning
00:31:37
that comes from now seemingly trivial
00:31:40
events when you're a teenager or
00:31:41
adolescent is immense. That song meant
00:31:44
so much and it's because of the
00:31:45
neurochemical meu it creates in you. But
00:31:48
as an adult it takes a stronger stimulus
00:31:50
as we say. The nervous system is very um
00:31:53
efficient in that way. It doesn't change
00:31:56
unless it has to and it always changes
00:31:59
if it needs to in order to keep you
00:32:01
safe. This is why there's an asymmetric
00:32:03
influence of fear as opposed to um just
00:32:06
interest in terms of what will shift our
00:32:08
brain. But it's nice to know that love
00:32:13
and excitement and appreciation are very
00:32:16
strong stimula for changing the brain.
00:32:19
From everything we know about
00:32:20
neuroscience, it's clear that doesn't
00:32:23
matter if you're 90 years old, 70 years
00:32:26
old, 50 years old, if you want to learn,
00:32:28
you can learn. And that learning occurs
00:32:30
through neuroplasticity, which is the
00:32:32
reordering of neural connections,
00:32:34
strengthening of certain connections,
00:32:35
weakening of others, and in some rare
00:32:37
cases, the addition of new neurons. But
00:32:40
you absolutely can change your brain,
00:32:41
but you have to pay attention to the
00:32:44
thing you want to incorporate into your
00:32:46
brain. You have to be alert while you do
00:32:48
that. And then you absolutely have to go
00:32:50
get some rest because it's during sleep
00:32:52
and during meditative states and during
00:32:55
rest that the actual rewiring of the
00:32:57
brain occurs.
00:32:59
>> You know, every once in a while you come
00:33:00
across a product that has such a huge
00:33:02
impact on your life that you'd probably
00:33:04
describe as a gamecher. And I would say
00:33:09
for about 35 to 40% of my team, they
00:33:12
would currently describe this product
00:33:14
that I have in front of me called Ketone
00:33:16
IQ, which you can get at ketone.com,
00:33:19
as a game changer. But the reason I
00:33:21
became a co-owner of this company and
00:33:22
the reason why they they now are a
00:33:23
sponsor of this podcast is because one
00:33:26
day when I came to work, there was a box
00:33:27
of this stuff sat on my desk. I had no
00:33:29
idea what it was. Lily in my team says
00:33:31
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00:33:33
I went upstairs, tried it, and quite
00:33:35
frankly, the rest is history. in terms
00:33:37
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00:33:40
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Game changer. So, if you want to give it
00:33:44
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00:33:46
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00:33:53
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00:34:00
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00:34:04
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00:34:08
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00:34:56
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MMA, but watching that abroad usually
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traveling. I've just spent the last 2
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and Europe and now back here in the
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there are so many different shows that I
00:35:16
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00:35:18
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00:35:19
through Asia and I was in Koala Lumpur
00:35:21
one day, then the next day I was in Hong
00:35:22
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Indonesia, all of those countries had a
00:35:25
different streaming provider, a
00:35:26
different broadcaster. And so in most of
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those countries I had to rely on
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ExpressVPN who are sponsor of this
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00:35:58
Here is the third most replayed moment.
00:36:00
For those people who have just clicked
00:36:01
to listen to this conversation, can you
00:36:04
tell them the mission you're on and why
00:36:07
it's so important?
00:36:09
>> Yeah. Well, thanks so much for having
00:36:10
this conversation with me. I think that
00:36:12
illustrates the problem, right? someone
00:36:14
as informed as you don't know anything
00:36:15
or never heard of nitric oxide. So,
00:36:17
>> it's important for us to just make a
00:36:18
distinction between um like nitric gas
00:36:22
that people, you know, inhale and that
00:36:25
used if you played like uh some of those
00:36:27
racing car games, you press a button and
00:36:28
the car goes really fast. If you
00:36:29
>> That's nitrous nitrous.
00:36:32
>> These are two separate things.
00:36:33
>> No, very Yeah, very good point. So, this
00:36:34
is not nitrous oxide. Nitrous oxide is I
00:36:39
mean a medicine is a dental anesthetic,
00:36:41
right? It's a gas. It's called laughing
00:36:42
gas. That's N2O. That's the chemical
00:36:45
formula. What we're talking about is
00:36:47
nitric oxide or NO. One nitrogen, one
00:36:50
oxygen. This molecule is is foundational
00:36:53
for human health and longevity. So
00:36:56
nitric oxide is a gas. It's a naturally
00:36:57
produced molecule. It's a signaling
00:36:59
molecule in the human body. And so it's
00:37:01
it regulates things like blood flow and
00:37:04
oxygen delivery. And it mobilizes our
00:37:05
own stem cells to help us recover and
00:37:07
repair and replace dysfunctional cells.
00:37:10
it uh improves energy production inside
00:37:12
the cell and it regulates blood flow. So
00:37:15
nitric oxide is a gas. It's produced in
00:37:17
the endthelium. So the endothelium is
00:37:18
the single layer of cells that line
00:37:20
every blood vessel throughout the body.
00:37:23
So the function of these endothelial
00:37:25
cells is to regulate vascular tone and
00:37:28
to regulate you know solute exchange and
00:37:31
extravisation or transport of molecules
00:37:34
across that endothelial layer. And so
00:37:36
when your endthelial cells can no longer
00:37:38
make nitric oxide gas, they no longer
00:37:40
dilate. So the blood vessels become
00:37:43
constricted. You start to get
00:37:45
inflammation. You get stiff arteries,
00:37:47
plaque deposition, and that's what
00:37:49
starts cardiovascular disease
00:37:51
orthoscerosis.
00:37:52
>> So let me get this straight. I'll repeat
00:37:54
back to you what I think I understand
00:37:55
about nitric oxide. And you tell me if
00:37:57
it's accurate. So this nitric oxide is a
00:38:00
chemical that is in all the blood cells
00:38:03
of my body and it allows my blood cells
00:38:06
to basically expand open up so blood can
00:38:09
flow through there. So if I
00:38:11
>> it dilates it dilates the smooth muscle.
00:38:14
So it's not affecting
00:38:15
>> the cells per se but it's dilating the
00:38:17
smooth muscle that surrounds the blood
00:38:19
vessels which leads to re relaxation and
00:38:21
dilation.
00:38:22
>> Fine. So my blood cells would then
00:38:23
expand
00:38:24
>> your blood vessels
00:38:24
>> and more blood would go through there.
00:38:26
But if I'm deficient, that mechanism
00:38:28
doesn't work and my blood cells wouldn't
00:38:31
expand ultimately expand through the
00:38:33
relaxation of the muscles.
00:38:34
>> That's right.
00:38:35
>> And therefore, I would have higher blood
00:38:37
pressure, which can lead to a series of
00:38:40
downstream diseases and consequences.
00:38:42
And so when we look at the graph that I
00:38:44
showed a second ago where we're seeing
00:38:46
for anyone that can't see this graph
00:38:47
because you're listening on audio, we're
00:38:49
seeing
00:38:52
nitric oxide levels in young people up
00:38:54
to the age of roughly around 20 are
00:38:57
optimal. And then from about 30 to 70,
00:39:00
there's this tremendous sort of 80 90%
00:39:02
drop. in terms of chronic disease that
00:39:05
is downstream from me losing nitric
00:39:07
oxide level. Can you give me a bit of a
00:39:09
menu of chronic disease that is
00:39:11
associated with this nitric oxide
00:39:14
deficiency?
00:39:15
>> Yep.
00:39:17
We've touched on them. So erectile
00:39:18
dysfunction. So in erections in both men
00:39:21
and women are dependent upon dilation of
00:39:23
the blood vessels to get engorgment to
00:39:25
get increase in blood flow. And that's
00:39:27
what an erection is. And we call that
00:39:29
the canary in the coal mine because for
00:39:31
years people thought it was a lifestyle
00:39:33
disorder. Right.
00:39:34
>> Well, erectile dysfunction.
00:39:36
>> Yeah. But now it's recognized that it's
00:39:37
a symptom of loss of nitric oxide and
00:39:41
really an accelerated form of
00:39:42
cardiovascular disease,
00:39:44
>> high blood pressure, metabolic disease,
00:39:46
and diabetes. And then the other one is
00:39:48
uh obviously Alzheimer's because
00:39:50
Alzheimer's is a vascular disease. And
00:39:52
nitric oxide corrects every single thing
00:39:54
we know about Alzheimer's. It improves
00:39:57
blood flow to the brain. It improves
00:39:59
glucose uptake. So, it overcomes the
00:40:01
metabolic aspect of Alzheimer's. It
00:40:03
reduces inflammation. In fact, a number
00:40:05
of my patents on a method of reducing
00:40:07
inflammation. It inhibits the oxidative
00:40:10
stress we see in in Alzheimer's and
00:40:11
neurological disease. And it prevents
00:40:13
the immune dysfunction. And when you do
00:40:15
that, when you restore blood flow and
00:40:17
you get nutrients and oxygen in and you
00:40:19
take out the metabolic waste products,
00:40:20
there's no misfolding of protein. So,
00:40:22
you don't get the amaloid plaque, you
00:40:24
don't get the tangles. So this simple
00:40:26
molecule nitric oxide gas I'm absolutely
00:40:30
convinced will eradicate and cure
00:40:32
Alzheimer's
00:40:33
>> really
00:40:33
>> because it it addresses every
00:40:35
physiological root cause of Alzheimer's
00:40:38
>> if you can get it administered
00:40:39
therapeutically to patients early enough
00:40:43
or
00:40:44
>> no I think that's a very key because the
00:40:46
success or failure of any clinical trial
00:40:49
any drug in any clinical trial is
00:40:51
dependent upon the design of the
00:40:52
clinical trial and what patients at what
00:40:54
stage of disease that you enroll these
00:40:56
patients. So what are the inclusion
00:40:58
criteria and what are the exclusion
00:40:59
criteria
00:41:01
and there's a stage in every disease
00:41:04
whether it's heart disease, kidney
00:41:06
disease, Alzheimer's where you've
00:41:08
reached a point of no return. There's
00:41:10
really no medical therapy that's going
00:41:11
to reverse that disease because it's
00:41:13
progressed to a state that's
00:41:14
irreversible. So I think what we try to
00:41:17
do is take
00:41:19
take patients early in the process what
00:41:21
we call vascular dementia mild cognitive
00:41:23
impairment early Alzheimer's because
00:41:25
what I want to be able to demonstrate is
00:41:27
two things number one can we stop the
00:41:30
progression of disease once it's started
00:41:33
can we stop the progression and then
00:41:35
number two is we want to enroll patients
00:41:38
far enough along to where we can show
00:41:41
regression so can you move can you move
00:41:43
the needle back and so That's a very
00:41:46
kind of a specific and finite patient
00:41:48
population. When you design a clinical
00:41:51
study, number one, at the at the
00:41:53
absolute worst, we want to stop
00:41:54
progression. At the absolute best, we
00:41:56
want to show that we can regress
00:41:58
disease. And that's the goal of therapy
00:42:01
is that you understand the mechanism of
00:42:02
disease to the extent that you can treat
00:42:05
it, you can prevent it, you can reverse
00:42:07
it, and you can cure it. When I think
00:42:09
about the role that food plays in my
00:42:11
nitric oxide production, what should I
00:42:15
be eating to increase um my nitric oxide
00:42:19
levels or to keep them at a healthy
00:42:20
level?
00:42:22
>> I think it the same answer is for that
00:42:25
too. It's it's not so much what we
00:42:27
should be eating, it's what we should
00:42:28
not be eating.
00:42:29
>> Okay,
00:42:30
>> so we we'll we'll cover those step by
00:42:32
step. Number one, you have to avoid
00:42:33
sugar and high glycemic index foods
00:42:38
because sugar is a toxin. It's a poison.
00:42:40
And let's think about what sugar is. So
00:42:43
when we eat sugar or drink sugar
00:42:46
beverages, right? Whether it's sucrose,
00:42:48
whether it's fructose, whether it's high
00:42:50
fructose corn syrup, the end result
00:42:52
inside the human is we see an increase
00:42:54
in glucose. So elevation in blood sugar
00:42:58
or blood glucose is diabetes, right? And
00:43:02
now there's continuous glucose monitors
00:43:04
that you can get anywhere and everybody
00:43:06
does this. So if you eat something and
00:43:08
it causes an increase in your blood
00:43:10
sugar, blood glucose, then you should
00:43:12
avoid that because glucose as the name
00:43:14
implies is glue, right? It's sticky. And
00:43:17
if we if you have a soda and you spill
00:43:19
it on your countertop, you come back the
00:43:21
next day, it's sticky, right? Well,
00:43:23
that's what happens inside the body.
00:43:25
That sugar sticks to everything. It
00:43:26
sticks to proteins. It sticks to
00:43:28
enzymes.
00:43:29
>> And it lowers nitric oxide production.
00:43:31
>> Absolutely. That's why diabetics have a
00:43:34
10 times higher incidence of heart
00:43:36
attack, stroke, all cause mortality
00:43:37
mortality. That's why they develop neur
00:43:40
neurological or peripheral neuropathy.
00:43:42
That's why they have non-healing wounds.
00:43:44
There's no nitric oxide. That's why
00:43:46
they're developing diabetic retinopathy,
00:43:48
macular degeneration, pancreatitis. I
00:43:51
mean, all of that can be traced back to
00:43:53
a lack of nitric oxide production
00:43:55
because the sugar is stuck to the
00:43:57
enzyme. The sugar destroys the oral
00:43:59
microbiome and completely changes the
00:44:02
the ecology of the bacteria and
00:44:04
completely shuts down nitric oxide
00:44:05
production. Right? But I think to answer
00:44:08
your question, what should we be eating?
00:44:10
I think you've got to eat a balanced
00:44:12
diet in moderation. You know, Americans
00:44:14
are overfed. All you got to do is walk
00:44:15
around and see the the epidemic of
00:44:18
obesity. good high quality protein, good
00:44:21
quality fats, and little or no carbs.
00:44:24
And it's really that simple.
00:44:27
>> Here's the second most replayed moment.
00:44:29
When you think about behaviors and
00:44:31
habits that are popular and trendy at
00:44:33
the moment, are there any that stand out
00:44:35
to you as being particularly good for
00:44:37
the brain or particularly bad for the
00:44:39
brain? Cuz I had a couple come to mind
00:44:42
that I wanted to throw at you. I mean,
00:44:43
one of them that's exploding in the UK
00:44:45
at the moment is paddle, which is kind
00:44:49
of I think you call it pickle ball here.
00:44:52
Good for my brain, bad for my brain.
00:44:54
It's so good for your brain because
00:44:58
it's working your cerebellum. And I told
00:45:02
you that because yours was sleepy
00:45:05
and as you activate this and you do that
00:45:08
with coordination exercises, it then
00:45:10
activates your frontal loes. Does that
00:45:12
mean that people that are uncoordinated
00:45:14
have a cerebellum issue?
00:45:16
>> Yes.
00:45:16
>> Oh, really?
00:45:19
>> Okay.
00:45:19
>> And the more you do it, the better
00:45:21
coordination you develop.
00:45:25
>> And that's why coordination exercises
00:45:28
for kids. So, we talked about kids is
00:45:32
you want to do that with them early.
00:45:35
Play sports, but not sports where
00:45:37
they're going to get a head injury,
00:45:39
right? I mean, we have to be smarter
00:45:41
than we are. Um, but when I was young,
00:45:46
my mother, who's now 93, was the
00:45:52
pingpong champion in the neighborhood,
00:45:55
and she was really good, and she never
00:45:57
let us beat her until we could
00:46:00
>> and but she was always encouraging.
00:46:05
I've got um I was looking then as you
00:46:08
were speaking about different trends at
00:46:10
the moment that are either good or bad
00:46:11
for the brain and one big trend at the
00:46:13
moment is neuroplasticity training. Lots
00:46:16
of people are doing games and using
00:46:18
other things to like there's apps you
00:46:20
can get that are neuroplasticity
00:46:22
training apps. Does any of that stuff
00:46:23
work?
00:46:24
>> Some of it
00:46:25
>> some of it works. And if you're so for
00:46:28
example, if you're doing memorization
00:46:30
games, do them while you're on the bike.
00:46:36
Now, not in the street, but if you're on
00:46:38
a stationary bike and
00:46:41
you're doing those games, it's been
00:46:45
found that exercise
00:46:48
increases blood flow to the hippocampus,
00:46:53
meaning you're more likely to remember
00:46:55
it and you're strengthening your brain
00:46:58
in the process. So, exercise with new
00:47:01
learning,
00:47:03
stunning. So if I want to learn
00:47:05
something, I should do it while walking
00:47:08
or moving in motion,
00:47:10
>> right? So if you're listening to a
00:47:12
language app, for example, do it while
00:47:14
you're walking.
00:47:15
>> Mindfulness and meditation, good or bad
00:47:17
for the brain.
00:47:18
>> Great. I published three studies on a
00:47:21
condundolini yoga form of meditation
00:47:23
called kin crea. It's a 12minute
00:47:27
meditation. I always say it's the
00:47:28
perfect ADD meditation because it's only
00:47:30
12 minutes. And for 12 minutes you do
00:47:33
this. Sa
00:47:35
m saw
00:47:37
saw.
00:47:39
It's two minutes out loud, two minutes
00:47:41
whispering, four minutes silently to
00:47:44
yourself.
00:47:46
2 minutes whispering, 2 minutes out
00:47:47
loud, you're done. Satan ma, birth,
00:47:51
life, death, reborn. Birth, life, death,
00:47:54
reborn. But the one we studied is sat na
00:47:59
ma. And so if they look it up, kitin
00:48:03
crea um activates your cerebellum,
00:48:08
activates your frontal loes, calms down
00:48:11
your emotional brain. People who did
00:48:15
that for 12 minutes for 8 weeks, their
00:48:20
resting frontal lobe function was
00:48:22
stronger.
00:48:25
So simple.
00:48:27
>> What the hell is going on there?
00:48:29
I think it's the focused attention plus
00:48:33
you're doing a coordination meditation s
00:48:36
no s
00:48:40
>> loving your job good or bad for the
00:48:42
brain
00:48:43
>> absolutely great for your brain if
00:48:48
you're learning new things people who
00:48:50
are in a job that does not require new
00:48:54
learning have a higher incidence of
00:48:56
Alzheimer's disease So if you're
00:48:58
stagnant in your work, you have a higher
00:49:00
risk of
00:49:01
>> Alzheimer's. And like if I just read
00:49:03
brain scans all day, well, I know how to
00:49:06
do it. I'm not learning anything new.
00:49:10
So I do that,
00:49:13
but I also am writing about something I
00:49:16
don't know about. Um, or I'm learning
00:49:20
something new.
00:49:22
>> What if you're working with
00:49:24
>> I'm sorry.
00:49:24
>> I love the job, but I'm working with
00:49:26
>> Bad for your brain. Chronic stress
00:49:30
increases cortisol. And I think
00:49:33
everybody should sort of know their
00:49:34
baseline cortisol level
00:49:38
and cortisol shrinks the hippocampus
00:49:42
and puts fat on your belly. So that's
00:49:45
two very bad things for your brain.
00:49:48
>> Breath work. That's a big trap.
00:49:49
>> Excellent. Excellent. You want to break
00:49:51
a panic attack?
00:49:53
The 15-second breath. 4 seconds in, hold
00:49:58
it for a second and a half. Eight
00:50:00
seconds out, hold it for a second and a
00:50:04
half. You just do that four or five
00:50:07
times, your whole nervous system will
00:50:11
calm down. And the research shows take
00:50:14
twice as long to breathe out as you
00:50:18
breathe in. That's why 4 seconds in, 8
00:50:21
seconds out.
00:50:22
>> It shifts your nervous system, doesn't
00:50:24
it?
00:50:24
>> Yes. It increases something called
00:50:26
veagal tone.
00:50:27
>> Okay. Some bad things then. Social media
00:50:29
usage. Chronic social media usage. Good
00:50:31
for the brain, bad for the brain.
00:50:33
>> Because you're constantly comparing
00:50:35
yourself to people who aren't real.
00:50:38
>> What about workcoholism and hustle
00:50:40
culture?
00:50:41
>> So,
00:50:44
I love my work.
00:50:47
Am I addicted to it? I don't know. But I
00:50:50
love it.
00:50:55
When they say people are workaholics and
00:50:57
it's bad for the brain, it's they're
00:51:01
working
00:51:02
with
00:51:05
or doing something they don't like or
00:51:08
doing it for the money but without
00:51:12
other purpose.
00:51:14
>> Microplastics, that's a big
00:51:15
>> awful for the brain. One of the major
00:51:18
causes of hormone disruption and cancer.
00:51:24
and other environment.
00:51:25
>> Thank you for not giving me a plastic
00:51:26
water bottle. Yeah,
00:51:27
>> it's okay. Imagine imagine if we did
00:51:30
that when we spend a long a lot of time
00:51:31
these days talking about the
00:51:33
microplastics and other environmental
00:51:34
toxins that I think people are becoming
00:51:36
more aware of now which is good noise
00:51:39
pollution
00:51:40
bad for the brain and if if it hurts
00:51:44
your hearing hearing loss is actually
00:51:47
one of the risk factors for Alzheimer's.
00:51:50
Why is that? I did a I did a
00:51:52
>> Because you're not getting input, right?
00:51:54
>> And if you're not getting appropriate
00:51:56
input,
00:51:58
your brain starts to atrophy.
00:52:02
And if you don't hear what other people
00:52:06
are saying and you have a lot of ants,
00:52:09
you have a high negativity bias is you
00:52:12
can actually begin to get a bit paranoid
00:52:15
and fill in the empty spaces with
00:52:18
negativity.
00:52:19
I just bought some new Apple AirPods and
00:52:22
when I connected them to my phone, it
00:52:24
said, "You want to do a hearing test?"
00:52:25
So, I did the hearing test and then I
00:52:27
asked my girlfriend, I said, "You should
00:52:28
do this hearing test as well." Cuz I
00:52:29
needed something to compare it to. And I
00:52:31
was a little bit shocked. Um, it said I
00:52:34
hadn't lost any hearing yet, but my
00:52:36
hearing was significantly not as good as
00:52:38
hers. And I remember thinking, gosh,
00:52:42
you know, this is, but I didn't have any
00:52:43
idea that it was linked to Alzheimer's
00:52:45
at all. So now I've turned down the
00:52:47
volume for the first time in my life
00:52:49
because I think your hearing declines
00:52:51
regardless really of what you do with
00:52:53
age anyway. Um but as you said earlier
00:52:55
like starting from a better baseline
00:52:56
when you're talking about the brain
00:52:58
reserves is really the game I think with
00:53:01
aging. My last point is uh my last
00:53:05
question is a bit of a
00:53:07
seems to be uncorrelated but the world
00:53:09
is heading towards a world that's driven
00:53:11
by artificial intelligence. It's like
00:53:14
all the all the rage at the moment if
00:53:15
you log on the internet. People talking
00:53:17
about they're going to lose their jobs.
00:53:19
All of these new tools that allow us to
00:53:21
optimize our lives in a variety of
00:53:22
different ways. When you think about the
00:53:24
world of AI that we're heading into,
00:53:26
there's so many ways that I imagine it's
00:53:28
going to make your job easier as someone
00:53:30
who's doing scans of brains and so on.
00:53:34
But do you think artificial intelligence
00:53:35
is going to be good or bad for our
00:53:36
brains?
00:53:40
I think in the short run it's going to
00:53:41
be bad because
00:53:45
your brain is going to do less and
00:53:48
that's bad for the brain. I I think it's
00:53:52
fascinating to watch what's going to
00:53:54
happen. And ultimately, in the words of
00:53:58
my friend Byron Katy, argue with
00:54:01
reality, welcome to hell.
00:54:04
We need to figure out how to use it to
00:54:07
enhance our lives rather than to steal
00:54:11
brain development.
00:54:13
>> Here's the first most replayed moment.
00:54:15
There was a study done in 2007 that
00:54:18
showed Can't even say it.
00:54:20
>> Curcumin.
00:54:21
>> That shows curcumin upregulates anti-
00:54:26
oxidant defenses and downregulates
00:54:28
oxidative stress.
00:54:30
>> Yeah. There was a study done in 2016
00:54:32
which is a meta analysis of random
00:54:35
control trials found curcuminium
00:54:37
comparable to ibuprofen in terms of pain
00:54:40
relief.
00:54:41
>> Yeah, there there's a lot of work on
00:54:44
kurcamin and turmeric. As I said, a lot
00:54:46
of people get confused because they
00:54:47
think the it only works if you absorb it
00:54:49
into the blood and I'm saying that
00:54:51
actually you don't. What you do is you
00:54:54
work with the microbiome to make it
00:54:56
useful. And there's early preclinical
00:54:59
studies taking place around the impact
00:55:01
it can have with cancers. And there's
00:55:03
promising but early studies showing the
00:55:05
impact that curcumin that comes from
00:55:07
turmeric can have on brain health.
00:55:08
>> Yes. Well, that's uh focus is switching
00:55:11
on to the blood supply to the brain.
00:55:15
What we call the vascular effects on the
00:55:18
brain. And there's something that we
00:55:20
used to call the blood brain barrier
00:55:22
which you've probably heard of which is
00:55:24
seen to be the place where the barrier
00:55:27
that stops a lot of stuff entering the
00:55:29
brain and potentially upsetting it. We
00:55:31
now know this bloodb brain barrier is a
00:55:34
very dynamic interesting interface
00:55:37
between the brains tissue and the rest
00:55:41
of us. It's now called the
00:55:43
neurovvascular unit, NVU.
00:55:46
And it is so exciting. And the more we
00:55:50
look at it so far, the more we find that
00:55:53
the things that help the neurovvascular
00:55:56
unit, the bloodb brain barrier are
00:55:58
plants. And we have green tea. And you
00:56:02
know we can if you if you really want to
00:56:05
help um our brain health regular
00:56:09
drinking of green tea you know
00:56:12
is has been shown to be really useful.
00:56:14
Not that rather than the supplement by
00:56:16
the way is the drink that you have um oh
00:56:19
I put it in here right so we can make
00:56:22
it.
00:56:24
So as you make that can you explain to
00:56:26
me why green tea is a good idea
00:56:31
>> because it contains a number of again
00:56:34
polyphenols
00:56:35
>> and polyphenols are those
00:56:36
>> are these colors
00:56:37
>> these colors yeah
00:56:38
>> in this case it's green obviously and me
00:56:40
green tea is just the smoked unprocessed
00:56:43
part of the tea leaf so it's a plant
00:56:46
called chameleia senses um
00:56:53
so this is nice Japanese teapot. That's
00:56:56
the sort of thing you'd have green tea
00:56:57
in. And these are the mugs, but we've
00:56:59
filled these up already with uh ginger
00:57:02
and cinnamon. So, let's let's leave it
00:57:05
for a moment, but we can while it's
00:57:07
sitting there for a while. There are a
00:57:09
number of these polyphenols in green tea
00:57:11
that seem to be particularly
00:57:15
effective in modulating that barrier. We
00:57:17
talked about the neurovvascular unit
00:57:19
between the brain and the rest of us.
00:57:22
And um there's all sorts of reasons why
00:57:25
regular consumption of green tea seems
00:57:27
to be linked to less of this sort of
00:57:30
trouble.
00:57:30
>> What what sort of trouble?
00:57:32
>> The dementia type problems, the
00:57:33
cognitive decline as they get older.
00:57:36
>> Do they find that in cultures where they
00:57:37
drink a lot of green tea, they have less
00:57:39
dementia?
00:57:39
>> Yeah. But that doesn't mean there's a
00:57:41
cause and effect. So you need a few
00:57:42
other things to establish that. What
00:57:45
we're finding is that other plants have
00:57:48
very likely powerful effects in this
00:57:50
area. And I mentioned the rosemary. Now
00:57:52
all you need to do to appreciate
00:57:55
rosemary is to press it and sniff.
00:57:59
>> Oh, it smells so good. Really nice.
00:58:02
>> That's not just nice because what you're
00:58:04
doing there is you're inhaling volatile
00:58:06
oils,
00:58:07
>> the things that give the smell.
00:58:09
>> And when you're inhaling,
00:58:11
they're literally going into your brain
00:58:14
because part of the brain actually
00:58:16
reaches the outside world. It's called
00:58:18
the alactory lobe. And when you inhale
00:58:21
something, it literally moves into the
00:58:23
brain and from there into the lyic
00:58:26
system. Remember there's a line in a
00:58:29
Shakespeare play called Hamlet Ailia
00:58:32
the young lady says rosemary that's for
00:58:36
remembrance
00:58:38
>> because everyone knew that this improved
00:58:40
cognitive functions and when I was in
00:58:43
working on our campus in Maryland we
00:58:45
actually did a clinical trial with
00:58:47
rosemary in people with struggling with
00:58:50
their crosswords you know as they get
00:58:52
older and found that although it wasn't
00:58:54
a conclusive study there were pointers
00:58:56
to it's improving cognitive or
00:58:58
performance in those people and there's
00:59:01
been other studies since that re that
00:59:03
reinforce that. I would say that
00:59:05
rosemary is one of the ones to watch in
00:59:08
terms of long-term brain health. There's
00:59:10
another remedy called GKO that a lot of
00:59:13
people know about which is used as a
00:59:15
prescription medicine in Europe uh for
00:59:18
cardiovascular problems and that's been
00:59:20
shown to be likely useful and using the
00:59:24
same sort of mechanisms as as we've seen
00:59:26
here and with the green tea. I'll check
00:59:30
it here. Yeah, that looks all right.
00:59:36
You see, it's more yellow than green,
00:59:38
but uh
00:59:40
and this is flavored with a little bit
00:59:42
of mint to make it a little more
00:59:44
agreeable. Sometimes people find green
00:59:46
tea is not their favorite taste. Green
00:59:49
tea is rich in polyphenols, um which are
00:59:52
linked to benefits ranging from heart
00:59:54
and brain health to fat loss and cancer
00:59:56
prevention.
01:00:00
>> It's got a nice minty flavor.
01:00:03
>> Yeah.
01:00:04
>> You can live with that, couldn't you?
01:00:05
>> Yeah. Yeah,
01:00:06
>> my girlfriend again, she she's all over
01:00:07
this stuff. She's always bloody right.
01:00:09
>> Well, you know that learned that lesson
01:00:11
a long time ago.
01:00:12
>> I know, right? Like I say it all the
01:00:13
time on this podcast, but she's always
01:00:14
like 2, three years ahead of what then
01:00:17
someone really, really smart comes and
01:00:19
tells me and I spend those two or three
01:00:21
years in denial. I'm like, what the
01:00:22
is she like doing over there? Don't get
01:00:24
me started on cacao. If you start
01:00:25
talking to me about cacao, no, no, no,
01:00:27
no, no. She's been telling me
01:00:29
>> I'm gonna I'm gonna nail this because
01:00:31
there's a lot of people listening who
01:00:32
will want to hear this.
01:00:33
>> Okay,
01:00:34
>> Coco. Yeah,
01:00:35
>> chocolate, dark chocolate is a medicine.
01:00:39
End of
01:00:41
one of the best medicines around is 50 g
01:00:45
or 100 g of 75% or more dark chocolate.
01:00:49
Do you know what I've just realized? My
01:00:51
girlfriend, she's going to live till
01:00:52
she's 150 because she all she eats 90%
01:00:56
or something 80% dark chocolate. She
01:01:00
drinks green tea all day. She has
01:01:04
the ginger and cinnamon drinks all day.
01:01:08
She eats the the full rainbow.
01:01:10
>> She should be stepping in for you.
01:01:12
>> I know. I I know. Exactly.
01:01:14
>> No, Coco. Seriously,
01:01:18
brain health as well,
01:01:20
>> cardiovascular health.
01:01:22
>> I mean, they just they do studies where
01:01:24
they've put coco into volunteers. That
01:01:27
means students usually um you know so
01:01:29
young kids and they were able to show
01:01:32
changes in the blood flow within minutes
01:01:37
certainly within an hour of eating cocoa
01:01:41
>> beneficial changes in your blood flow.
01:01:43
>> They call it the heart medicine.
01:01:45
>> Yeah. No heart circulation brain.
01:01:49
>> So she's um my girlfriend's very
01:01:51
spiritual. She runs a business called
01:01:52
Bali Breathwork. Um #ad if I have to say
01:01:55
that. But in her business, one of the
01:01:57
things she does at the very start of the
01:01:58
session with women all over the world
01:02:00
that come to her retreats is she makes
01:02:02
cacao for them. And
01:02:05
you notice instantly how people change
01:02:08
when they've had a hot cup of cacao.
01:02:10
It's and and she says it like almost
01:02:12
brings out their heart. And I guess
01:02:14
that's because of the circulation
01:02:15
reasons. Yes,
01:02:16
>> it is. But it also of course we know it
01:02:19
contains a few other beneficial
01:02:21
stimulate stimulating effects sort of
01:02:23
similar to the effects with coffee which
01:02:26
in certainly as I've already said is a
01:02:27
medicine as well. Uh but cocoa and
01:02:30
chocolate does have a uplifting effect
01:02:33
which is why we love it. So
01:02:35
>> and we have to be clear here we're not
01:02:36
talking about hot chocolate that comes
01:02:38
from a packet or something necessarily.
01:02:40
>> We would like it to be as dark as
01:02:42
possible.
01:02:43
>> Okay. Sorry,
01:02:44
>> the less sugar, the less fat. Um, so we
01:02:48
talk about 75% cocoa solids, you know,
01:02:50
so it's dark chocolate and it tastes a
01:02:53
bit more medicinal, doesn't it? It's not
01:02:54
as sweet. Um, but I'm saying to many of
01:02:57
my patients, take 50 g a day. It's a
01:03:00
medicine.
01:03:02
>> Damn, she's right. My fridge is full of
01:03:05
dark chocolate. I tend to avoid it, but
01:03:07
the drawer of my fridge has all of her
01:03:09
dark chocolate in, and it's she she
01:03:11
likes it 90%. If she can get a 90%
01:03:13
she'll take it.
01:03:14
>> Yeah. 90% is quite good now.
01:03:17
>> Yeah.
01:03:17
>> Yeah.
01:03:18
>> Having a look at the green tea.
01:03:23
There was a study done in 2008 which
01:03:25
supports how it improved cognitive
01:03:27
function, memory, attention accuracy and
01:03:30
um long-term consumption associated with
01:03:32
lower risk of cognitive decline and
01:03:34
Alzheimer's disease according to the
01:03:36
Journal of Nutritional Biochemistry in
01:03:38
2011.
01:03:39
It's nice to have somebody else just say
01:03:41
what you said.
01:03:42
>> Yeah, but it's it's ex exactly. I didn't
01:03:45
realize that. I didn't I had no idea.
01:03:48
I had no idea.
01:03:50
All those times I turned it down when
01:03:52
she offered it to me.
01:03:54
>> You can't say sorry.
01:03:55
>> I have literally literally I've got a
01:03:57
Wow. heart health, brain function, fat
01:04:01
burning and metabolism, cancer
01:04:03
prevention, early evidence, blood sugar
01:04:05
and insulin sensitivity, gut and oral
01:04:07
health.
01:04:12
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01:04:14
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01:04:15
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01:04:17
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01:04:19
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01:04:22
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01:04:27
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01:04:30
each other. At the end of every episode,
01:04:31
the guest I'm interviewing leaves a
01:04:33
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01:04:35
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