u/biohacker045

What's up everyone. New Rhonda pod out today. Here's what I learned She interviewed this guy named Richard Davidson. Big into meditation and mental training

1. Simply meditating for 5 minutes a day has benefits for inflammation. Lowers something called IL-6. 5 minutes... that's it. Everyone has 5 minutes. (timestamp)
2. 5 minutes per day of mediation also benefits the gut microbiome. They get into exactly how it does this during the episode. Something to do with "butyrate producing pathways". But I mean that's a pretty good deal. 5 minutes gets you lower IL-6, a healthier gut, and then obviously the mental benefits. (timestamp)
3. You don't have to choose between meditation and exercise. It's not one or the other. That's probably the most important point of this episode. You can do both at the same time. Just direct your mind where you want it to go rather than "being somewhere else" in the gym (timestamp)
4. More neuroplasticity isn't always better. It's all about what you do with it. He talks about in the episode how "neuroplasticity is neutral". So a simple example he gives... if you're in the gym working out increasing neuroplasticity, but you're filling your your mind with garbage (watching the news, scrolling between sets), that's not good. You're filling your plastic mind with crap (timestamp)
5. After age 70 or so, a purpose in life correlates with longevity. But the thing is you don't need some grand purpose. Find purpose in the little things. Maybe you walk the dogs, maybe you care for a sick family member. That's your purpose. It's all about viewing how what you do benefits someone else. (timestamp)
6. I thought this one was interesting... kinda niche but he talks about how asthma is a brain disease (or partly). Big idea is the brain and the body are connected more than people think. (timestamp)
7. Spending money on someone else will always make you happier. Do it more often (timestamp)
8. Meditation doesn't have to be done sitting still. Like I said a little bit ago, you can do it while hiking, walking, doesn't matter. Even heavy lifting is a form of meditation to a degree. It counts (timestamp)
9. Children absorb their parent's emotional state. The best thing you can do to help your kid is to fix your own problems, be calm, chill, and grounded. (timestamp)
10. This is kinda important, a lot of people start meditating and then stop because they get a little more anxious. That's supposed to happen. Or it can at least. Meditation can initially increase anxiety. It makes sense when you think about it. You're finally noticing all that crap in your mind you've been suppressing for so long. Of course you're gonna feel more anxious. (timestamp)

My biggest takeaways is there's really just no reason not to meditate for 5 min/day, something you can do in a quiet sauna

What's up everyone. New episode of Rhonda's pod. This was good. The guest is pretty big in the AI/healthcare space. Has some wild ideas. Gonna share my notes

1. Don't die for the next 10 years. But really. So his whole thesis is if you can make it the next 10 years, you'll add 50 years to your life. We're gonna reverse aging. We're gonna cure cancer. We're gonna to it all We are not that far off from every year you live adding another year to your life.. a lot closer than people think. - timestamp
2. Cancer will be 100% curable within the next 10 years. He really thinks that. There are already some pretty big advancements with immunotherapy but with the way AI is accelerating... "cancer will be 100% curable, probably within the next decade." direct quote - timestamp
3. It's bcoming malpractice for doctors not to use AI. I agree with him here. If you're like my general doc, it's like walking into the stone age when I go in for an appointment. Watching him poke his fingers at the keyboard taking 3 minutes to add one blood test to the list. It's laughable. seriously. Next time you need some sort of medical help, throw all the info into GPT Pro 5.6 or whatever the latest Pro model is from OpenAI. It might save your life. - timestamp
4. AI is going to drastically accelerate drug discovery. ok so what does that mean. Imagine a digital clone of yourself. He calls it a "digital twin." Can be used for clinical trials, testing drugs, exactly what works for you. Treatment on demand, personalized medicine, whatever you want to call it... it's happening - timestamp
5. Alright now into the practical. Start saving everything into a "personal database" today. All your health records. Blood test results. Oura ring data. Conditions. Your diet, supplements, whatever. Everything. Use Obsidian. It's an app. Then download OpenAI's Codex app (it's just the general ChatGPT app now for Mac). Now, every time you have a health related question, point it at your "personal database". It's getting to the point where this is like super doctor level and it makes sense to give it as much info as possible. Start now. - timestamp
6. This guy is a major AI bull. He said "the only threat to humanity is humanity." This is the counter argument to everyone who claims AI is gonna take over the world. You just gotta listen to this segment - timestamp
7. We are going to get to the point very soon in the hospital where there's a real-time AI monitoring system... bedside. Every drug interaction, every vital sign, every symptom .. it'l have that context and be "super doctor" level. - timestamp
8. The best AI models can now replicate a scientist's biological intuition. So here's what this means. It's that ability to connect the dots. See the pattern. That feeling when you see someone with symptom XYZ and know exactly what condition they have. 20 years of experience. GPT 5.5 Pro crossed that chasm. And because of this, the pace of medical innovation is going to drastically accelerate. - timestamp

I felt like this is actually a refreshing podcast and quite different than the typical health advice we hear form her, Peter, Huberman etc. First hour is very entertaining. Fun to think about this stuff

I mean it's gotten to the point where I trust GPT Pro (5.6) more than any doctor I visit. It's $200/month, but well worth it

My top 10 takeaways about slowing aging from Rhonda Patrick's new episode with Steve Horvath

What's up boys. New Rhonda Patrick episode out today. This is not one to miss. She interviewed Steve Horvath. This guy is a straight up legend in the field of aging. Created the Horvath Clock (biological age clock). These are my takeaways. The good stuff first. How to actually slow down aging.

1. Take the multivitamin. It's the easiest thing you can do. Rhonda takes ONE from Pure Encapsulation (not in the episode but she's mentioned it before). Over like 3 years it slows brain aging by a solid amount. (the study was 3 years in duration - so this compounds). There's just no reason not to do this. (timestamp)
2. Omega-3. This actually slows epigenetic aging. And you don't need a crazy amount (1g/day will do it). Now here's the thing... when you add vitamin D, it slows aging even more (something about the combo working together). But wait... there's more. Yeah boy. When you add resistance exercise, it slows aging even more. So that 1,2,3 combo right there is gold. (timestamp)
3. This was actually pretty mind-blowing. Eat your vegetables. They talked about one study in the episode where vegetable intake correlated with a lower biological age more strongly that exercise (-0.3 vs -0.1). Now I have no idea what those numbers really mean, maybe someone can elaborate. But regardless that's wild. Smoking is in the opposite direction (+0.4). Micronutrient smoothie every day. Spinach, blueberries, protein powder, raspberries, water, you're good to go. It's a massive lever to pull. (timestamp)
4. Vitamin D. If you're deficient, you are aging faster. And so many people are deficient. like more than half of you reading this. All it takes is a supplement. Then you remove that aging accelerator. (timestamp)
5. Ok so if you're super obese, and you lose a ton of weight (they talked about this one study that used GLP-1s for this), you will actually reverse your biological age. Kind of starting to believe there's no reason not to take a GLP-1 if you're obese and have been struggling to lose weight for a while. Positives of weight loss outweigh any possible negatives. (timestamp)
6. Alright so as I'm typing this out, I'm realizing it's really the simple things. That's where the data is. They talked about Bryan Johnson's claim that he reversed his age by 5 years in 7 months. Direct quote from Steve. "I would have the hardest time believing it." They obviously didn't call him out by name, but the logic is that all these anti-aging interventions, whatever it be, work best when you start from a bad baseline (you're obese, vitamin D deficient, don't exercise). You won't get reversal if you start from a healthy standpoint. You might slow your pace of aging, but you won't actually reverse your biological age. (timestamp)
7. Friends. Don't forget them. You can take all the supplements, never drink, exercise all you want, but there's legit data that friendships and social connections slow aging. Call your people. Hang out with them. (timestamp)
8. Exercise. 10,000 steps a day isn't going to slow your aging clock. Sorry. You need the hard stuff. Increase your VO2 max. Then you have a chance at slowing your pace of aging. (timestamp)
9. Ok so if you go get a biological age test, there are 4 primary clocks they use (Horvath, PhenoAge, GrimAhe, DunedinPACE). They all measure something different. But what to look for is something called "Illumina Array" (like make sure what you're purchasign is using that - then you're good). Honestly this doesn't interest me as much, but you can actually measure this stuff now. (timestamp)
10. Smoking, obesity. These are major aging accelerators. That's kind of a big point of this episode. The things that slow your aging most (and even reverse it) are removing the accelerators.

I recommend this one. the first part is kind of technical as they talk a whole lot about aging clocks- but an hour in is when they get into the interventions for slowing aging. And this is where the science is. No BS.

What's up boys. Brand new episode of Rhonda's pod out today with Kelly Starrett. This guy is a legend. Here's what I learned. My top 10 takeaways

1. Sit on the floor. Yeah that's right. Sit on the floor. Especially as you get older. Getting up and off the ground becomes so important and a surprisingly large number of people have trouble. Also makes your hips way more mobile (and if you sit working all day, you have tight hips) - timestamp
2. Do the couch stretch. Ok this is pretty hard. I read about this in his book Deskbound a while back (he recommends doing it for 2 minutes for every hour you spend sitting - so quite a lot of time). Basically kneel facing a wall with your shin running straight up behind you, bring the other leg forward into a tall lunge, then try to stand your torso upright and squeeze the back-leg glute. Most people can't do it. Their hips are too tight from sitting. - timestamp
3. Pain doesn't mean you're injured. Everyone reading this right now probably has some sort of tweak. Mobilize, foam roll, stretch. The thing is we sit all day long, then try to hit the gym and go hard. It just doesn't match up. - timestamp
4. Stop sitting for 8 hours a day. If you sit for more than 6 hours a day, you're considered sedentary... and that's an independent risk factor for cancer (even if you exercise), You need a workstation that "invites movement". I have a standing desk. Got rid of my chair entirely after reading one of Kelly's books years ago. It's easy to stand all day because I have 2 footstools where I'm constantly shifting my feet (think how easy it is to stand at a bar where they have that thing to put your feet), and a desk mat too. Some people use a stool to kind of perch back on. - timestamp
5. One simple test to see how mobile you are: the sit and rise test. So lower yourself to the floor cross-legged, then basically reverse and get back up... all without using your hands or knees. You should be able to do this no problem. (it's actually kind of hard) - timestamp
6. Most people warm up in the gym all wrong. He has this great framing... if you were about to fight someone, what would your warmup look like? Probably not chilling on the astroturf in the back of the gym scrolling your phone while you foam roll your back. You'd get sweaty, explore some end ranges, basically the complete opposite. That's how you should warm up. - timestamp
7. Your range of motion is the one part of your physiology that doesn't have to decline with age (but neglect almost guarantees that it will ... and everyone neglects it). Strength does, cardiorespiratory fitness does. But your range of motion doesn't have to. - timestamp
8. A big part of this pod focuses on kids sports. I don't have a kid. But in general... kids need way more sleep than they're getting, they need way more free play, and they should avoid specializing in one sport for as long as they have to. (highly recommend listening to this one if you have a kid - kelly is writing a book on it) - timestamp where they start talking about youth sports
9. Hang for 3 minutes a day. get a pull-up bar for your house and just hang as often as you can. If you don't wanna do that, just get into the downward dog yoga position. This basically counters that rounded shoulders forward position everyone is in all day at a desk - timestamp
10. Breath holds. Do them. Great for your nervous system before you start training. He explains it better than me but basically it improve CO2 tolerance. If you're on the Peloton or something warming up, just hold your breath for 10 seconds or so and repeat. - timestamp

All in all, solid pod.

Oh forgot one - do more "movement snacks", exercise snacks, whatever you want to call them. Just short bouts of vigorous movement. IIRC, Rhonda said just 9 minutes per day is assoc. with about a 50% lower all-cause, cancer, and cardiovascular-related mortality. Like sprint up the stairs, chase your dog, stuff like that. This is even more important if you work at a desk all day. - timestamp