The Melanie Avalon Biohacking Podcast Episode #333 - 2025 Best Of Part 1

TRANSCRIPT

(Note: This is generated by AI with 98% accuracy. However, any errors may cause unintended changes in meaning.)

As soon as you slip on a shoe with an elevated heel, you greatly compromise the function of one of our distinguishing features of our anatomy that allows us to run. 95% of the world's population absorbs more radiation than what Apple is telling you in that disclosure.


I don't eat any food at all that has seed oils in it. I stay away from it completely. I think it's one of the worst things in the food industry that you could possibly consume. Welcome to the Melanie Avalon Biohacking Podcast, where we meet the world's top experts to explore the secrets of health, mindset, longevity, and so much more.


Are you ready to take charge of your existence and biohack your life? This show is for you. Please keep in mind, we're not dispensing medical advice and are not responsible for any outcomes you may experience from implementing the tactics lying herein.


So friends, are you ready to join me? Let's do this. Welcome back to the Melanie Avalon Biohacking Podcast. Oh my goodness, friends, this is one of my favorite parts of the entire year. It is time for our annual best of episodes.


It is so surreal to record these episodes every year. It gives me a chance to revisit all the incredible guests I've had on the show, remember some of my favorite moments, and share them again with you guys.


I think you will love revisiting and also potentially finding new episodes that you might have missed. And words can just not describe my gratitude for all of you guys. I honestly could not do these shows without you.


So thank you so much for listening, for supporting, for being here. I have so many fun things coming in 2026. New Avalon X supplements, my Glow Coffee Line, I'm really excited about that. Make sure you get on my email list at glowcoffeeco.com for all the launch announcements and specials.


And also, I am continuing to develop my dating app. So many things. I wish all of you the happiest New Year's as well. And now without further ado, please enjoy these best of moments from the Melanie Avalon Biohacking Podcast 2025.


Alrighty, it is always the question of who do I start off the best of episodes with? And intuitively, I just knew that it had to be Ben Greenfield. He is one of the most legendary figures in the entire biohacking movement, and I have been following him for years and years.


Honestly, he is one of the first people who inspired me with everything related to biohacking. It was so surreal to finally have him on the show for his insane book, Boundless 2.0. And I say insane because it is so long.


It is like the Bible of biohacking and it covers all the things. There were so many things I wanted to talk about when I interviewed him. And one of my favorite moments was when Ben told me that I asked him something that he has never been asked before, ever.


What is that? That would be the topic of biohacking in the Bible. So without further ado, please enjoy this clip from episode 313 with Ben Greenfield. I've never been asked that question before. I think that, you know, in the Bible, there's a teacher named Paul.


He was a pretty great kind of Stoic philosopher and follower of Jesus. And, you know, he does acknowledge the benefits of physical training. And if you look at other passages throughout the Bible, it's kind of based on this idea that oftentimes taking care of our bodies is yoked to sobriety, discipline, perseverance, endurance, character, all those things that tend to spill into other aspects of life to make us people who are better equipped to serve our life's purpose.


And I think that if your goal when, let's say, training or biohacking is to be able to, and this would be my own purpose, to serve others and to serve God more fully. It's super meaningful. And then if the goal is just, you know, hey, I want to achieve immortality and like, you know, be God or somehow, you know, simulate God by hacking my own biology.


I think that's a different way to approach things. And I don't think it's as meaningful. And I don't think that's the way that to directly answer your question, like Jesus would have addressed biological enhancement versus like, you know, let's like tear your, take care of your human, you know, it's even referred to as like the temple in the Bible, like take care of your temple so that you're better able to achieve your purpose on this planet without waking up feeling sick and sore and low on energy and unable to love others as fully as you could with a really optimized biology.


Yeah, exactly. And I was raised Christian, so I was immersed in a lot of this. And I remember like the obvious, you know, the role or the verse about, you know, your body is your temple. And I think that relates to all of this.


And I remember when I first started following, because I found my way into the whole diet world, first with Atkins, low carb, and then fasting and all the things. And it used to, at the beginning, it really bothered my mom.


She would try to use this one Bible verse against me that was talking about people eating different things at the table. And I was like, mom, at this, in this verse, it's literally saying, like, accept everybody with what they're eating at the table.


So I just, I'm having flashbacks. That's actually really interesting that you bring that up. I didn't expect we'd be talking this much about the Bible, but like, you know, in the book of Romans in the Bible, it talks about not harshly judging others or even, you know, the way it phrases it is causing them to stumble by refusing to like socialize with them or hang out with them based on their dietary beliefs,


simultaneously being considerate of others when it comes to, in this case, their own dietary practices. Now, the reason that it's addressed in Romans is back to Paul, who wrote that book. He's specifically talking about the fact that the Jews had a bunch of these customs that everybody listening is probably familiar with, like don't eat shellfish and don't eat pork and don't touch the blood of an animal.


And all these things are very precise. And yet a lot of other people who would have been hanging around with them in that day, they didn't have these same dietary convictions. And basically what Paul was saying was, look, like if you're, let me give you an example.


Like if you're hanging around with someone and you're totally into, let's say, the longevity benefits of having a glass of wine every now and again, and yet the person who you're out at a restaurant with, or maybe who's over at your house for a dinner party, has a family history of alcoholism or a history of like father or mother abuse related to alcohol, or they have a lot of difficulty controlling themselves around alcohol.


Well, then the best move is to sacrifice your own dietary habits for that person and just, you know, whatever, have ketones that night. Or, you know, another example would be if, you know, you're going over to someone's house and they're plant-based and you're a carnivore, take one for the team, make that person feel really special, eat the wonderful whatever quinoa, you know, quinoa nut salad that they've made.


And just basically don't put your diet or your fitness or your biology above just accepting other people and making other people feel special and comfortable around you. Alrighty, I hope you enjoyed that clip from Ben.


And now to keep on with my radiant smiles, we next up have a woman who never fails to make me laugh and really contemplate the beauty of life. I'm a little bit obsessed with Jodi Wellman. In fact, tease her, she's going to be coming back on the show in 2026.


So if you have any questions for her, definitely send those to me. She is the author of You Only Die Once, which is a sparkling reflection on why you should appreciate every moment of life, why you should think about death, and how to live the most astonishingly alive life.


I love Jodi. So now please enjoy this clip from episode 310. I love all these topics so much that I'm like losing my breath. So that you're so right because anticipation in the School of Positive Psychology is one of the easiest ways to latch on to just happiness.


Because if you have something to look forward to, not only do you get to enjoy it, presumably when it shows up, but that you get to, ooh, you know, look forward to the trip or to the concert or to visiting your friends.


And research is actually clear too, that people actually enjoy the experience of anticipating a trip more than they often like the trip itself. Because like the trip is where the stupid stuff happens, right?


Like where you get a sunburn or where, you know, whatever happens. Whereas you get to fantasize about this amazing trip on the way. So that's where designing a life, again, I'll come back to your main point, which is that unless it feels like it's going to ruin your life, but having stuff that is on the horizon is the cheap and cheerful way to be like, ooh, like we're, oh, good.


I'm really looking forward to that class or I'm looking forward to that brunch or I'm looking forward to that trip. If you are the type of person where plans make you feel like all the spontaneity has been zapped out of your life, then I will just ask you one question and say, hey, that's cool.


Like we're not trying to make life worse. Are you doing enough things though? Because if you're already Mr. or Mrs. Spontaneous or like, hey, I'm cool, like on the weekend or at least a few nights a week or to the degree that I feel alive, I am going out and seeing some friends or I am going and taking that sound bath class or I am going and learning something new that I would say like, rock on, good for you.


Then don't plan a darn thing if it makes you feel trapped. However, this is where I'm just going to sort of do that. There is often a trade-off because a lot of people will say, like I'll do workshops and they're like, yeah, I don't really want to feel constricted.


And I'll say, hey, I totally get you. What feels worse for you in all honesty? Is it that feeling constricted or at the end of a month, say feeling like, ooh, or the end of a summer sometimes? Cause some of us still think of things in the time space of like this summer, because growing up, it's always this block of time, or like the holidays between the end of the year and New Year's, like quote unquote,


if you feel like I didn't really do anything or I feel like I squandered it back to that word of squandering. If you're feeling squanderlicious, like you're squandering a lot, that's where it might be like one of those things about you might need to eat your veggies.


You might need to, okay, fine, reluctantly plan a couple things in the calendar because at the end of that month or summer or holiday or whatever, you're going to end up feeling like, okay, at least I went and I saw the Nutcracker, you know, or I went and I did get to go and do that hike rather than not doing it at all, because life will pass us by.


It's just designed to do that. Does that make sense? It's like sometimes diagnose the problem. Like if you're like, no, I'm fine. I don't need to plan anything and I'm doing enough things. Well, then keep trudging on, babe.


Now on a more somber and serious note, I was so incredibly honored and very nervous about the next episode. Dr. Amani Balor is a renowned Syrian pediatrician and human rights activist. She managed an underground hospital known as the Cave in eastern Ghouta during the Syrian civil war.


She did this as a woman, which is very controversial over there, and her incredibly inspiring work is featured in the Oscar-nominated documentary, The Cave, which came out in 2019. Dr. Blore was also awarded the Council of Europe's Human Rights Prize in 2020 for her humanitarian work.


Reading her book, watching the documentary really, really blew me away when it comes to the horrible things happening in the world and the incredible souls who are working to make change. And what was really special about this interview was she said it was actually the first podcast that she did since the fall of the Assad regime in late 2024.


And so it was basically her first happy podcast. In this clip from episode 286, we talk about what happened when Dr. Balor went to the Oscars and how her clothing choices were received. And we talk about how that superficialness compares to the overwhelmingly necessary, serious, inspiring work that she's doing.


So here is her call to action. When I went to the Oscars and that a little bother me because some people and some Syrian people actually criticize the way that I wear, I mean, I went there because I wanted to highlight the Syrian issue to tell more people, you know, because it's a very big event.


So I wanted to tell more people about Syria, what's happening there, to get help from them to the Syrian people. That was very important to me. I want for, you know, a humanitarian reason. So I didn't expect people to look at me and what I wear.


It's, you know, it's an event for the, you know, actors, how, and people look at them. But it's not about me. I mean, I went with a documentary film. It's real. So I expect people to hear what I say, to listen to me, to watch their documentary and take their responsibility as humans, you know, to help other people.


I don't care about how I look and about, you know, anything else. So yeah, I have the right to wear what I want and I expect everyone to respect other people's choices, how they wear, how they look. It's not something, you know, it's not our business.


I love this so much. That is so incredible. It's a little bit ironic, you know, that you were going to the Oscars and the Oscars are known. They're known for being, you know, all of this focus on what people are wearing.


So I applaud you for just being you and everything that you just said. Yeah, I agree. I think people should wear whatever they want to wear. And then speaking of you were there to, you know, speak all of this truth.


You also spoke a few times in front of the UN Security Council. And you talk about how one of the times you spoke, the ambassador for the regime was actually there. And you talk about how you weren't afraid.


What was that experience like? And where did that confidence come from? Especially after I left Syria, I want to tell everyone about Syria. I want really to talk to media, to everyone, because there is a lot of suffering inside Syria and no one cares.


No one helps them. And I couldn't imagine that I will stay for six years under siege with many, many children and women and no one protect them. I mean, huge bombing and preventing food. I mean, in this time, I mean, there's a lot of food here.


So why don't no one helps these people? It was very important to me to speak up and to talk loudly. When I was invited to speak in the Security Council, I said, of course, I will do that. And, you know, I felt like I'm right and have the right to talk.


And, you know, I talk on behalf of all these oppressed people. So I, you know, I felt like I'm strong more than the members of the Security Council. Really, I just wanted to shout and to say everything I witnessed.


I briefed the council twice, so I can't explain how frustrated and disappointed I was after that. Because, you know, nothing happened, nothing changed. And yeah, Syria continued to be under bombing. And now most of Syria is destroyed, actually.


People are under bombing for 14 years. People are still suffering. Nearly, there were 2 million people living in camps, very, very bad circumstances. And now, after Syria is free, and many people went back to their homes.


And by the way, the international community did nothing to free Syria. Actually, the Syrian people who freed their country, actually, they are who freed the detainees and the prison people who were torturing or being tortured for many, many years.


The international community did nothing for them. The Syrian people who fled their country. And still, you know, there's a big suffering. And I call the international community now to take their responsibility and to do what they didn't do before.


I mean, Syria still needs help. There's now also nearly a million people living in the camp because there were no homes for them. Their houses are destroyed. So they have nowhere. I mean, Syria is very now in very bad situation, still need help.


You can't imagine the situation of the public hospitals there. They had nothing because this regime, I mean, they steal everything, the corruption there, there's nothing for the people. If someone needs to do a surgery, can you imagine?


The doctors there and the hospital asked the patient to bring everything, even the gloves for the surgeon. Have to bring everything and come and then they discuss with the surgeon how much they have to pay.


So it's a very bad situation. Prices are expensive, dog get recipient, the food is expensive. So yeah, people are still suffering. So I call the international community to help. I mean, Syria still needs help.


You didn't do anything to help them. You didn't do enough. And I think it's their responsibility to help at least the children. So I wish they can do something now. All right. Next up, we have a dear friend of mine, Ian Clark.


He is the founder of Activation Products, which makes, among other things, a variety of cold-pressed therapeutic oils for health. He is a fascinating character with a massive audience because of how deep he goes into the science of these oils.


And I've hung out with him many times in real life. He kind of reminds me of Dumbledore from Harry Potter, both in looks and in his just complete wisdom. I really like this clip from the episode because there is so much controversy out there about seed oils, and Ian provides a little bit of a different, more nuanced perspective.


As you will soon learn, yes, seed oils can be therapeutic, but there are a lot of things you have to consider for that. And even that said, there is a certain percent that you should cap your intake at.


And by the way, teaser, best of part two, we will be having Dr. Kate Shanahan on to talk about the problems with seed oils. Without further ado, please enjoy this clip from my conversation with Ian Clark on episode 291.


That's right. Well, and it's actually, there's a tremendous amount of accuracy in that statement because the seed oil that is produced in the world is what I now know to be adulterated seed oils. It's very damaged.


It is extremely inflammatory to the body. It is the worst thing you could put in your system. And it's laced in everything. Like all the packaged foods, even like organic hummus is full of adulterated seed oils that is produced totally incorrectly.


And the science is out there. You should never have more than 1% of your nutritional intake with seed oils. 1% is the max. As soon as you go over 1%, you got a problem. And there's a massive difference between adulterated seed oils and unadulterated seed oils.


So unadulterated simply means that it's not damaged at all. And it comes from very specific therapeutic seeds. Our number one seller in the seed oil world is black cumin seed oil. It's also referred to as black seed oil.


And that has major health benefits, both externally and internally, because it's a whole body tonic. And it goes in the body and cleanses and nourishes the entire body. And you only take one teaspoon a day.


And you wait till the end of a meal. And you put it in your mouth. It's a spicy taste. You lean your head forward just a little bit to keep the seed oil in your mouth. You swish it for a minute and then swallow it with a little bit of water.


And it tastes wonderful when you do that. If you just swallow it straight, it's not the most pleasant thing. And if a person has a sore throat, they gargle with it and swallow it one teaspoon. And it gets rid of the sore throat very, very quickly.


But it has multiple applications externally, everything from aches and pains that go away to all kinds of skin issues like psoriasis, eczema, acne, dry skin, lesions, abrasions, all that kind of stuff is soothed immediately with the black cumin seed oil.


So it's therapeutic because it's in a whole different world. I don't eat any food at all that has seed oils in it. I stay away from it completely. I think it's one of the worst things in the food industry that you could possibly consume.


To clarify, when you said not more than 1%, is that all seed oils, adulterated and unadulterated, or just adulterated? Well, no, that's just all of the above. Even therapeutically, you wouldn't want to go over 1% because your body doesn't even need that for nutrition.


Yes, it has nutrients in it, but it's not meant for that. Like we have an amaranth seed oil. Amaranth seed is an ancient grain. And when you extract the oil from that, it's very difficult to do. We have a technology that does that in its purest form.


We don't use any hexanes or solvents or anything like that. This is a mechanical press technology that no one else has. And when you do that, you only have one dropper and you're going to get so much energy from that.


It's like, I don't even understand the mechanics of it because I didn't think you could get energy from oil, but you do. And that particular oil is a major energy thing. It also works wonders on the skin because it's got 8% squalene in it.


So that's a very therapeutic oil. And that is only one ounce bottle that you buy it. And it lasts a long time. So, you know, there's that and there's coriander seed oil for gut health. And that's another just one dropper only of that.


So it's very small amounts and your body will just love it. All right, staying in the friend zone. Now we have Brad Kearns. Can you hear the smile in my voice? I love Brad. He is one of my dearest friends, never fails to make me laugh.


I've had him on the show multiple times, and it was an honor to have him on for his and Mark Sisson's newest book, Born to Walk, which will completely change your entire perspective on running, walking, and shoes.


In this clip, we talk about all the misconceptions surrounding persistence running and hunter-gatherers, as well as misconceptions about marathons, how we are using our endurance gifts wrong today, and some problems with shoes.


So please enjoy this clip from my conversation with Brad Kearns from episode 288. The persistence hunter, here's one of the big flaws and misinterpretations. And we have a section in the book called Professor Sisson's Evolutionary Anthropology 2.0 class.


When you glorify persistence hunting, what you see, for example, there's a documentary on YouTube called The Great Dance, and it's the first known filmed account of humans doing persistence hunting. So what we've done for 2 million years is now available for your viewing pleasure on YouTube, award-winning documentary.


What the Kung Bushman did in the documentary is they tracked a kudu antelope in 109 degree heat in the Kalahari desert for four hours. And finally, the antelope just succumbed to exhaustion. And it was just standing there.


It couldn't go any further. And they ceremonially, you know, drove the spear through the heart and then carried it back to camp. And so the humans were able to outlast even the most amazing endurance creature, the antelope, with this, you know, long distance run over many miles.


But if you look at the big picture, what persistence hunting is, is mostly teamwork and using our superior brains to trick and wear out these beasts and take them down. It is absolutely not running and running and running day after day, putting in 50 miles a week and 40 miles a week like modern day runners talk about in order to prevail at the top of the food chain.


And we can easily reference this because if you go out on your next hunt, when you get invited to the Texas Hill Country with some of your health optimization people and they say, hey, we're going to go hunt, they're usually taking a gun or a bow and arrow, and there's no way you're going to chase down an antelope and spirit or a deer or whatever.


And so it was all about, we have this, the longest dashed word in the book. It's walking, scouting, foraging, hiking, climbing, sprinting, jogging, walking, outthinking. That is our genetic heritage, not amazing endurance machines that can run and run all day in the 109 degree heat.


And furthermore, when the bushmen got their score and carried it back to camp, they were stoked for weeks and they didn't have to wake up the next day and go run an easy six miles like a modern day marathon training person thinks is the necessary approach.


So it's very much these endurance genetic gifts exist, but we're using them wrong. Here's some since I'm on the roll here. We know we stand upright. So that's the biggest one, right? We're bipedal instead of quad.


And so we're way faster naturally as soon as we stood up off the ground a couple or five million years ago. We have narrow hips, we have sweat glands, we have this obscure nucle ligament that's up by the head that allows the head to be stabilized while we're running at speed.


And we have a big toe, which is one of the primary evolutionary adaptations along with the Achilles tendon. There's a primatologist named Bill Sillers that we quote in the book, and he says, the Achilles tendon is a distinguishing evolutionary feature from our ape cousins.


I should repeat that. The distinguishing feature is the Achilles tendon by science. And so if you think of how freaking important the Achilles tendon is to our existence as humans and our evolution and our branching off from the gorilla and the chimps who have no Achilles tendon.


And when you see them at the zoo and they hustle across the camp, they're running with this stiff leg thing that dramatically slows them down. And so just to conclude my rant here, if the Achilles tendon is so important, as soon as you slip on a shoe with an elevated heel, you greatly compromise the function of one of our distinguishing features of our anatomy that allows us to run.


Alrighty, in a slightly different topic, I was so incredibly thrilled to interview our next guest. That is Ryan Matthew Cohn and Regina Marie Rossi. They are co-founders of the Oddities Flea Market, and you might know them from the Discovery Channel show Oddities.


I had them on for their fascinating book, The Witch's Door, a memoir and collection of stories about the crazy things they have collected over the years. They've got a bit of a fancy for the weird and esoteric in life, which I completely identify with.


In today's clip, we talk about the difference between being a collector versus a hoarder, which is something I now think about a lot, as well as minimalism versus maximalism. Please enjoy this clip from our conversation from episode 289.


You and me both. And you know, it's funny. I had a conversation with a good friend of mine this morning about this very topic where, you know, I have a couple antique shows that are coming up this spring.


Spring is actually one of my favorite times of year because all the people on the East Coast that have squirreled things away for the whole winter because there's mostly, you know, everything's shut down.


This is too cold to, you know, set up outside or there's not a lot of indoor antique shows. You start preparing for the spring to come where there's like shows in Massachusetts and New York. And my basement and my studio have gotten so overrun with things that I'm going to be bringing there that I started to teeter on the fact that perhaps I'm becoming a hoarder.


I had to ask myself this question this morning, but I think that there is a distinction between the two things. A collector is someone that collects things. There's sometimes not a rhyme or a reason, but a collector versus a hoarder.


A hoarder is someone that can't get rid of something. So you could have a whole house filled with things and they can't get rid of it. That's where I think I differ. I'm able to, you know, buy something, live with it for a little while and then at some point resell it.


Because at the end of the day, these things, as much as I love them, they're very beautiful to look at. And I love compiling this massive collection. They're all investments. And so I have to treat them as such.


And, you know, if I'm buying a new collection, I'll sell something to afford it, basically. So you can't keep everything. A lecture minds, a hoarder minds. I don't think that they're thinking, I can't keep everything.


Yeah. And I think that also, like, I think you can be a hoarder of just about anything. And I don't know, maybe we are hoarders to a certain degree. Maybe Regina's not. I am. I should speak for myself.


You know, we have, I don't know how many thousands of objects squirreled into this house right now, but it's many. What would be the hardest thing to get rid of? I don't think that there is one, to be honest with you.


You know, I think I've come to this point in my life where I don't mind getting rid of things anymore. I don't want to get rid of all of it at once. I think that would be the shocking thing. So if you were to ask me that question again, I would say to relinquish myself of the whole collection.


That would be tough. To get rid of a piece here, a piece there. For the right price, I'll get rid of just about anything, including a limb. Really? One of my own. You heard it here, folks. Oh, my goodness.


Regina, is there anything that would be difficult for you to get rid of? No. No. I'm not emotionally attached. I'm just not. I see everything as a whole. And I think that is because I'm not a maximalist like Ryan is.


So for example, we're in the cottage. We were explaining that earlier off the camera, how we have the three properties. And so we have this adorable little cottage that we usually have a tenant. But I decided that I needed my own space to kind of create my own little world.


And that was kind of to get away from the house and all of its things because it does overwhelm me. So my cottage is very different. Now, does it have artwork and really cool things? Of course, but it's just more me.


It's just, what would you say, Ryan? I don't know. I think that Regina tends to cater to maximalism or maximalists. I think a lot of the people that we deal with on an everyday basis are maximalists, including myself.


But Regina is, I think you have, I think you have tendencies, but I think that you like a slightly less chaos. I do. So I like to come to the cottage and just sort of chill out here because the house can be very overwhelming.


It can be. Yeah, I was listening to one of your recent or one of your interviews and you were mentioning that Regina was on like a minimalist spur. Would you identify as a minimalist? I don't buy as many pieces of art and objects as Ryan does.


But like, of course, if we're going to talk about clothes and shoes, that's a different story. So that's where Ryan's giving me a look right now. Only because today was one of those days where like, if you're married, you're like, oh, God, can I answer the door?


Because I knew I was getting like, you know, 10 packages. Yeah. Yeah. I was just about to say, like, I was, I'm actually expecting a package. I didn't mention it to you. And it's coming in. I was like, man, I already just got a package, but that was free.


That was like just catalogs from an auction house sending me them. But then I'm like, oh, shit, I'm like getting this piece. What is Regina going to say? And then in the meantime, Regina got like five packages.


So you and me both. I'm the exact same way. It's like, I'm doing this thing right now. Clearly, I need to get skills from you guys about not being, having attachment. The thing I've been implementing is throw one thing away every day.


And that's like helping me clear out things, but I'm so bad with ordering the dresses and shoes. It's so bad. All right, friends. Up next is a topic that I know a lot of people struggle with, and that is burnout.


It was an honor to have Candy Weens on the show for her mind-blowing book, Burnout Immunity. And in this clip from our conversation from episode 285, we talk about what burnout actually is, how it relates to your job, and why some people get it and not others.


Burnout, it's characterized as a psychological syndrome that is caused by chronic stress at work. That's how the majority of researchers who've been looking at this stuff for 40 or 50 years or so, they all agree that it's primarily, burnout is primarily a psych, it is a psychological syndrome, but it's primarily, if not, some researchers actually argue that it's only caused by stress at work.


I and some of the more contemporary researchers are really pushing that to say, well, actually, you know, so much of our capacity to deal with stress at work, it has to do with how much capacity is drained from us because of the stress we experience outside of work.


In other words, you know, our lives are not two separate things, work and home life. So all of that, it almost doesn't matter. But think of it as when you are feeling burned out, you start to notice that things are getting at a stress level that's just not sustainable and not sustainable to a point where it's affecting your physical, mental, emotional health, relationships, and all the other things in your life.


Think of it as it is primarily caused by what you're experiencing in the workplace. So like the volume of work, the deadlines that you have imposed on you. But it's not just that. It's not just workload and deadlines.


It's also what's the community like that you work in, the environment, the culture. Do you feel like there's a sense of fairness? Do you feel like you're fairly paid for the hard work and the talent and the creativity that you bring to your job?


It also has a lot to do with your perception of the values that your organization has compared to the values that you personally have. If there's a major mismatch between your organization's values and what you personally value, that's going to cause a lot of stress.


Like sometimes that's even the worst kind of stress people can feel at work. And that can quickly lead to burnout. So organizations primarily cause it. But what I was fascinated by is that, okay, so if that's what the researchers are saying, that the workplace and the work environment, job demands, that's the thing that causes burnout, then what is that role of the person, the individual, those of us who are in that environment?


Why is it that some people don't get burned out? You know, almost every study, it shows like 40% of the people in this group were burned out and 20% of this group was burned out. Well, what about the other 60% or 80% that are not burned out in that same environment?


So it's not always just the environment. What I have to say about it, and my research really shows us that it's the interaction between who we are at our core, our personality, our temperament, all of our past life experiences that we bring to our job.


It's that intersection between who we are as a person and what we want and need out of a job and what we want and need out of a work environment compared to what we're actually getting from that work environment.


Okay, friends, it is a true honor to introduce our next guest. He is a dear, dear friend, Blaza Guilla. He's a renowned Harvard psychologist and one of the forefront leaders in all things dialectical behavior therapy, as well as borderline personality disorder.


He's besties with Jewel and works with her on the Innocent Lives Foundation. And she wrote the foreword to his newest book, and yes, this man has a lot of books, called I Hate Myself. It's all about the concept of self-hatred.


In this clip from our conversation from episode 301, we talk about what actually causes self-hatred. I will just say Blaise, like I said, is a dear friend, a fellow wine lover. We've had many long conversations.


He's even come to Atlanta and seen a show with me. And he is one of the most inspiring people I have ever met. He's doing incredible things for our world's mental health and wellness. And I cannot thank him enough.


I think that that's such a fundamental question. I mean, I don't know that self-hatred exists in dolphins, for instance, or ants. You know, I mean, you know, do they, you know, do they feel, you know, like judged?


Do the zebra that, you know, walking around the plains of the Serengeti sort of think, you know, like my stripes aren't as nice as the other ones. And so I hate myself. You know, I just don't think that that construct exists anywhere other than in the human mind and that the sense of flawedness, the sense of not enoughness, it really is created in the context of relationship with other people.


And I think it's accelerated and magnified because contemporary social media markets to self-hatred. You know, you're not tall enough, pretty enough, you know, light-skinned enough, you know, thin enough, smart enough, strong enough.


You know, but if you buy my product, you know, you'll be magnificent and you'll be adored. So we're marketing to not enoughness. And I just, it's hard for me to think about how it would exist in the absence of other people.


Yeah, like I wonder we need to find some, not that I would wish this on somebody, but somebody like who grew up on an island by themselves and like see and then psychoanalyze them. You know what? I think, you know, I don't know that we have to necessarily go that far because I've been thinking about this so much in recent times, you know, and I grew up in South Africa.


You know, I was speaking with a woman who had grown up in rural South Africa in the Zulu tribe. And, you know, I was talking to her about this concept of self-hatred. And she thought I was alien, you know, and said, what are you talking about?


You know, and I said, well, you know, do people hate themselves? But, you know, these are societies where there's individuals are supported by the entire clan and they tend to connect more than compare.


Because I think self-hatred is also magnified through comparison and that comparison leads to more self-hatred and connection is the antidote to a certain extent. And so I don't think that we have to go, I mean, it's an interesting thought experiment, but I think I would bet that in societies that are less affected by social media, that are more clan-based and kind of more less nuclear family and more village family,


that we'd probably find much less self-hatred. All right, friends, ready for something fun? We have up next Bert Ward. Bert Ward is the original Robin from Batman and Robin, true story. I definitely recommend checking out the entire episode if that is at all of interest to you because he shares some wild stories from Set Life, like mind-blowing stuff of what they did.


And he came on the show primarily for his non-GMO pet food called Gentle Giants. He is doing incredible things for the health of animals. And in this clip from episode 293, we talk about how dogs can be worn down daily by factors such as what we feed them, how often we feed them, and even the height of the dish we feed them from.


Bert and his wife care so much about dogs. They live with dozens and dozens of rescues and have saved so many throughout the years, and it was so inspiring to connect with him. Please enjoy this clip from episode 293.


April 28th, my wife and I received four awards. We received two awards from the White House. One was the President's Volunteer Service Award for having rescued more than 15,500 dogs in the last 30 years.


Actually, we stopped counting 10 years ago. I couldn't keep count. I don't know how many we've had, but I know it's obviously a lot more than 15,500. But I use that number because that's the number we actually counted to.


And the second award we got from the president was the president's lifetime achievement award for what we interpret to be the success we've had in helping animals live longer by our feeding care program, by our food, by dissemination of information.


And then those two awards and the other two awards we got from the United Nations, my wife, Tracy, and I were individually awarded their humanitarian award for the efforts we've made with animals. And it's wonderful.


Don't misunderstand me. That was a lifetime achievement. It's fantastic. But the greatest gift we have is to see dogs living longer and healthier. And when I get people that call me and you can tell in their heart, they are so thankful in the letters we get saying, you know, you changed my dog's life.


You changed my life. You know, I had a guy that wrote to me. Actually, I never even spoke to him. I wouldn't even know how to reach him, but he sent me an email years ago and he says, my German shepherd, Bigrig, has been eating your food for 15 years.


He just died. He was 23 years old. 23 years old for a German shepherd and never had a sick day in his life. Exact words. And we see it here, you know. And of course, dogs eventually will die. But in our case, do you know what happens?


It's like they're not dying from pain or illness. They'll go to sleep and they just don't wake up. And it's because they're so old, like finally, you know, their bodies give out. But what an amazing long life they've had.


And, you know, it's funny, the only complaints we've ever gotten from somebody call and complain, they say, you know, you and your wife were so nuts for dogs and cats and other animals. Why don't you do something for humans?


Okay, they'll do that, right? And I'll say, well, no, wait a minute here. If I help you keep your dog or cat living an extra 10 years longer, don't you think I've done something for you as well? Oh, well, I guess you put it that way.


Yeah, I guess I'd have to say so. This is real. This is how we live every day. And when you feed your dogs, yes, I didn't get into it. Elevate their food and water dishes. There's a specific height for every dog.


A specific height. And you say, well, why is that? And there's a bunch of reasons. One reason is, okay, is because when you see these TV commercials and a big dog coming over and eating from a bowl on the ground, okay, because of leaning down to get the food like that, the dog could accidentally get air into their stomach, which is bloat, which can be followed by torsion, which kills up to 10% of the dogs in America every year.


It's a deadly condition. And you've only got, if it happens, you've got 35 to 40 minutes to get your dog to an expert surgeon. Your vet most likely can't even do the surgery. And you're looking at an emergency clinic fee of about $5,000 to $10,000 to save the dog's life.


Plus, they go through agonizing pain trying to save that animal. Okay. So you don't want that to happen. It's entirely avoidable. Of all the dogs we've had here, not one of the thousands upon thousands of dogs ever got bloated and ever had to go to the hospital.


Ever. Because we know how to avoid the deadly condition. And one of the ways is elevating your food and water dishes. Another thing is people say, well, why is it so important besides that to elevate?


And I said, because do you know what the greatest stress on a dog's body is? And they'll say, oh, I don't know, running, playing, worrying, barking. No, the answer is the greatest stress on a dog's body or cat is digestion.


Digestion. And when you feed an animal like the world feeds dogs and cats twice a day, you're shortening their life by a minimum of five years. An animal should not have to wait 12 hours to eat between meals.


We feed our dogs a minimum, and I've got 50 in my house. So if my wife, who cares for them by herself, can feed 50 of them a day, whoever your listeners are, they can feed their dogs five times a day, just like my wife does.


Smaller, more frequent meals. And also, something else, dogs' bodies wear out much faster than human bodies because we're designed better than dogs. And you see, over 90% of dogs die of cancer. So in the way I'm going to describe what I'm going to tell you, most people would never even get to this point because their dog will already have died of cancer because of feeding food with GMOs in it, okay?


Okay. And being exposed to pesticides and stuff like that. But for the ones that can get beyond the killer of cancer, and certainly the ones that are on our food, all right, the next level up is that their bodies just wear out.


They just wear out. Okay. And when a dog can't get up very easily or can't get up anymore and it starts peeing and pooping on itself, that's when people take it to their vet to be euthanized, even though mentally the dog is perfectly alert, perfectly alert.


And sadly, that dog has trusted you and loved you its entire life. It would never believe that you would put it to death. What an incredible injustice. Doesn't have to happen. Okay, so why? We don't prematurely wear our dog's body.


How do you avoid that? Well, think about it. When a dog comes over and has to lean down to the floor or even to a small raised thing and get food and come up and chew and swallow, then lean down to get more food, come up, chew and swallow, then lean down to get the water, come up and swallow.


You're prematurely wearing the dog's body out. You need to conserve energy. And anything you conserve will last longer. This comes from living with animals, Melanie. It's not something we read in a book.


Not something we ever knew. Nobody ever taught us this. It comes from daily caring for 50 dogs in your house. Friends, I am so excited about our next guest for three reasons. One, he is one of the doctors and podcasters I have been following for the longest of all podcasters and doctors.


He has changed my life personally so much. I can't even describe the wisdom and peace he has brought to me and so many other people when it comes to gut health. And he has become a dear, dear friend.


And thirdly, he is just truly changing the health of everyone's digestive health for the better. I'm talking about Dr. Michael Rouschau. In this clip from episode 309, we talk about the three types of probiotics that you can potentially benefit from, because I know there is a lot of confusion about all the probiotics out there.


Dr. Rousseau knows what to do. Two things. A quick overview on those types of probiotics. And then secondly, just quickly touch on chronic infections more as like a public service announcement, because I think there's some elements here that are not very well understood, but they plague people and can for many, many years of their life.


So let me just start with the easier one, the probiotics, because there's a dizzying array of different formulas out there. The thing I would like consumers to know is that, and this is more so my heuristic, but I think it's just a reasonable read of the science that's been published and trying to give people some practical usage guides.


You have three different formula types. The first are blends of lactobacillus and biferobacterium species. So there might be anywhere from 5 to 15 different species. When you look on the label, you'll see lactobacillus acidophilus, biferobacterium lactis, bifrobacterium brevis, you know, lactobacillus rhamnoses.


That's the one. It's the most traditional, has the longest standing track record and the most research. Second is actually a fungus, a healthy fungus, Saccharomyces bilardi. There's another sort of sister called Saccharomyces cerebriciae, but one or both is another type of probiotic that is very, very helpful, especially for, but not limited to, antibiotic-associated diarrhea.


And then third, like you were saying with the z-biotic, are the soil base that has different bacillus species, bacillus coagulans, bacillus lichenformis, bacillus clossi. And the way I look at probiotics is any one of these three is a great starting point.


If you're on no probiotic, try one, see how you do, give it a few weeks and you'll have your answer. Either things are improving or they're not. If you've used a probiotic and seen little benefit or partial benefit and you want to try to have the strongest probiotic approach, what we've been doing in the clinic and advocating for is what we've also termed triple therapy probiotics, where you use all three together in a clinical dose.


And we see this recurring theme in many areas of medicine and healthcare that multiple supports for the same thing are better than just one support, right? You just mentioned a number of antioxidants a moment ago.


Three antioxidants is better than one. NAC plus glutathione plus, you know, let's say NAD. Three antihistamines is better than one. Three antimicrobials, let's say, in treatment of SIBO or H. pylori, two or three antibiotics or herbal antimicrobials typically work better than one.


So we're just simply applying that same concept of probiotics so that people don't need to do things like rifaxamin or zifaxin for SIBO or fluconazole or whatever it is, nystatin for fungus, so as to try to get as much possible out of the probiotic intervention.


Okay, friends, we have an incredible guest up next. Dr. Heather Sanderson came on the show for her book, Reversing Alzheimer's, which if you are at all concerned about brain health, you need to read this book now.


Of course, if you have family members or personal experience with Alzheimer's, the book is a complete game changer. And just in general, it is amazing for learning how to prevent cognitive decline. In this clip from episode 323, we talk about whether or not Alzheimer's is actually reversible, is amyloid plaque the cause, and if not, what is causing it?


I think that this idea that reversing Alzheimer's is controversial, I think that that's going to be very short-lived. I see it all the time, right? And Alzheimer's, how we define that is somewhat controversial.


And I hope that that controversy, you know, resolves itself. But my, what people think of as Alzheimer's. So like when you say the word dementia, there's not this emotional kick to it, right? But you say Alzheimer's and it puts the fear of God in people.


And that's because of strategic marketing, right? There is a reason that that happens to us. And the diagnosis of Alzheimer's for many years was clinical. You didn't know until autopsy if there were amyloid plaques present, but you could still have dementia, right?


You could have this age-related memory loss that someone diagnosed as Alzheimer's. I mean, to this day, we see people come in with an Alzheimer's diagnosis from a neurologist who very clearly have Lewy body, right?


And so there's a lot of, and there's a lot of overlap, right? You can have Parkinson's and Alzheimer's. You can have Lewy body and Alzheimer's. You can have frontotemporal dementia and amyloid plaques that are associated with Alzheimer's.


And amyloid plaques are absolutely 100% correlated to Alzheimer's, right? You see that people with APOE for status, they have increased risk of creating amyloid, increased risk of getting Alzheimer's, right?


There is definitely a connection between these things, but I don't accept that amyloid alone is the cause of Alzheimer's, right? And what I think it's more interesting to ask the question, what is causing the neurodegenerative process?


Now, your question, like reversing Alzheimer's, is this controversial? What I will say is that in my clinical practice at Marama, in my coaching programs, I have seen people who are diagnosed by a neurologist with Alzheimer's who have measurably significantly improved their memory and their cognitive condition.


And that, to me, is enough to say we're reversing Alzheimer's. We are not curing Alzheimer's. So I want to be super clear about that. So we are reversing the disease process. We see in Bredesen's studies that he's published, we've seen that there's actually growth of the brain matter itself.


Like on imaging, you see an increase in brain volumes. We see a reduction or a resolution of the phosphorylated tau in the system. And then we get these cognitive measurements that people are significantly improving.


Plus, we get to see them and we get to hear, I got my husband back. I got my mom back. She's having regular conversations again. She's able to dress herself again. These are the things that really matter to people.


And amyloid is part of this equation. It's part of the conversation, but it's not the entire conversation. We're really good at getting amyloid out of the body, out of the brain, but it doesn't lead to cognitive improvement.


It doesn't lead to what matters most to people. That doesn't reverse Alzheimer's. That doesn't even improve it. It just slows the process of degeneration. What we are doing is we are changing the signaling in the brain from microglial activation, from defense and from attack mode, from that fight and flight mode, right?


From getting out of that mode that's going to lead to more inflammation to leading to a, we're orienting towards healing, towards repair, towards connectivity between the neurons, synaptogenesis. And that's when we see these better cognitive outcomes.


Okay, friends, it is a true honor to introduce our next guest, who is a dear, dear friend and my business partner for my Avalon X EMF blocking products. I'm talking about R Blank. He is a legend in the world of EMF blocking.


And what I love about him is he is all about the science. Nothing woo-woo, just the hard science and the hard facts. His company, Shield Your Body, makes products that block or reduce exposure to EMF, and he came on the show for his new book, Empowered.


You can get my EMF-free air tubes that I created with R at avalonexemf.us. So definitely check that out. That's avalonxemf.us. In today's clip from our conversation from episode 327, we talk about the problems with phone safety limits when it comes to EMF exposure, what changes may or may not happen in the industry, and other concerns with regulations.


The safety limits are vastly inadequate. So that's a starting point. If we are to, for the moment, just assume that these safety limits were adequate. There are a lot of problems with this regulatory regimen, the way it is enforced.


So a lot of people think that when you hear that cell phone radiation is federally regulated, that that means the government is testing this stuff. And the government is not testing this stuff. Apple has hired a lab.


That lab is working for Apple to perform these tests. So these are not being monitored by the federal government or any kind of neutral third-party arbiter. And so that creates the landscape in which this stuff can be gamed.


Just a few years back, I can't remember which version of the iPhone it was, but Apple had to stop selling it briefly because it was emitting too much radiation. This was after they had those tests. Those tests said it was fine.


They were released to the market. It was after all of that happened. They had to acknowledge that, ah, you got me. Right. And so then it turns out that they were able to fix the problem with a software update.


Right. So they didn't even need different hardware. They updated all the phones of, again, I forget which iPhone it was, that model, they updated them with software and they emitted less radiation. And that's just using the iPhone as an example.


In France, a few years back, the federal government decided to test 300 models of cell phones. And I have links to all of this in the book, in Empowered. But they decided to test 300 models of cell phones.


And they found 88% of them emitted more radiation than the manufacturer had said. And several emitted more radiation than was legally permitted and had to be recalled from the market. So we see that these companies lie, which shouldn't surprise any modern consumer.


But now let's assume that not only these inadequate safety standards are somehow adequate, and B, these lying companies aren't lying. C, SAR is based on, in the United States, right, a standard SAR test, the kind that the FCC is requiring from these laboratories, is based on how much a model of a human absorbs, right?


So they don't actually expose a human to this radiation and measure how much it's heating their tissue. They expose a model called SAM, which is something specific absorption mannequin, I think, is what Ams stands for.


And SAM approximates the body of a 6'4, 220-pound man. And what that means is if you are smaller than a 6-foot-4, 220-pound man, you are absorbing more radiation than Sam. Now, Melanie, let me ask you, it's been a while since I've seen you.


Are you smaller than a 6'4 ⁇ , 220-pound male? Just a little bit, yeah. Okay, so you absorb more than Sam. In fact, 95% of the world's population is smaller than Sam. And so 95% of the world's population absorbs more radiation than what Apple is telling you in that disclosure.


Wow. Yeah, that's really, really upsetting. And this is the part I really do like about this. The next paragraph, it says, to reduce exposure to RF energy, use a hands-free option such as the built-in speakerphone, headphones, or other similar accessories.


And then it says cases with metal parts may change the RF performance of the device, including the compliance with RF exposure guidelines in a manner that has not been tested or certified. I just think if Apple is putting in here, it's basically recommending to use to not use it up against your head, in my opinion, when I read this.


I just feel like if they're putting it in there, that that says something, the fact that it's in there. And I think it also says something. Two leading underwriters for Lloyds of London are refusing to insure cell phone companies against future health claims.


Oh, wow. That's really interesting. Yeah, because they consider it obvious that this is going to happen at some point. You know, what I think is amazing, right? So this to me is really short-sighted.


There is so much within industry, there is just so much opposition to acknowledging these health risks. But even if everyone knew these health risks, people would still be buying phones, right? They'd be maybe demanding safer phones, I would hope.


They'd maybe be using them a bit less, I would hope, but they'd still be buying phones, right? I mean, people still buy cigarettes, and those don't add any economic value. Wireless technology forms the entire foundation and structure of the modern life and the modern economy.


This technology is not going anywhere, but they just, so they're reacting out of, to me, a fear that is so fundamentally irrational, it can be hard to accept at times. Up Next Friends is one of the most personal episodes I have ever done in my entire life.


That's because it's with one of my best friends of my entire life. It was an honor, a joy, a pleasure, and a fun time having Carmen and me on the show. He's my best friend from film school, and he recently released his film Plain Clothes, which stars Tom Blythe, went to Sundance, and was in theaters nationwide in October.


We talk about an array of personal and inspiring things, and in this clip from episode 325, we talk about some funny stories that happened while we were doing student films together at USD. Honestly, it was hard to pick out this clip because once I started listening, I just wanted to keep listening because I have so many incredible memories from Carmen throughout my life.


I'm so proud of him for plain clothes. It is killing it with both the critics and the audience. And you just wait. He has so much more to come in store. I love you so much, Carmen. We're not giving the full context of like the situation we were in.


Listeners, we were in the Vagabond Inn, which was right outside of US campus, which is a vibe. For context, it's where in Thelma and Louise, Thelma or Louise, I can't remember which one, has an evening with Brad Pitt in the Vagabond.


Wait, stop. I didn't know that. Yes. What? Did I know that then? That specific Vagabond that we were shooting in. So basically that. That one? Yeah, that location. Not that room, but that location. Yeah.


What? Did they tell us? Wait, I didn't. What? I think they shot in the lobby too. No, they did tell us. They did tell us. That was like part of like the thing. And they were like, so all the students, they had, at the time, USC had a deal with the Vagabond where they, we could like shoot in their rooms, but we only got like, you know, four hours or something wild like that.


Do you think they still do that? I hope so because I thought it was such a fun, that was the best group project I've ever done in my life. I mean, I would agree. Because we were all in it together. And like, actually, we all had to actually do it.


We're not like most group projects where I don't know if you were this person, but I felt like I was always making the presentation at the end. Were you or no? Like I was doing all the things. And it's like, you don't know if it's because you're kind of a control freak and you're like mandating that versus you just have to because people are lazy, but yes.


Yeah, but that was a fun group project. I hope they still do it. But yeah, no, we, so we were in this motel in LA shooting these short films and we had really great actors in ours. Remember Adam and Lily, I think?


Yeah. I still have. I remember like we bought this amazing dress and Lily wanted it and I kept it. Whoa. I forgot about that. But that was a good claim. You workrode as well and production design? I mean, I guess so.


I think so. Which brings us to the story. We didn't see much of the world, sadly, because of my extreme close-ups. Yes. Yes, exactly. So the story is, and I have like another story about the Vagabond too, but so basically, I'm going to, no, I'll tell it, I'll tell a clipped version.


Okay. So in any case, I was production designer and we were doing a, I don't even know what it was. It was like, what era was it? 19, do we know? We were in the 20s. We were in the 20s. I don't know where, and I was in the 20s immersed.


Yes. So the goal was to turn this vagabond motel in 20 whatever, 11, 10, 10, 10, into like 1920s. So a few things. One, Carmen and I, I remember we went to Bed Bath and Beyond and we bought everything, like everything we could ever want.


I feel like it was a lot of money on the card. I just remember like buying it all and thinking in my head, we're going to be returning all of this. I think we bought like $800 worth of stuff at Bath and Beyond.


I think it was close to a, yeah. I think it was close to a thousand. We were like, we were scared. Yeah. So we bought all the things. Then we outfitted the room. We made it look like epic, in my opinion.


And then Carmen, Carmen as the director of photography. Literally every shot is like an insane close-up and you saw none of my beautiful production design, which I then had to return to fit back at the odds.


Yeah, I remember at one point we didn't even see the bed. We were like, why, why are we, why do we not see the bed? So that's my story about Bet Beth and Beon. Yeah. And then later I actually, for Carmen's birthday, I threw him a surprise birthday party and I rent, I say rented, I rented, I rented.


Do you rent hotel rooms? I guess so. You rent a hotel room. I rented. I rented a hotel room and I threw a surprise birthday party and we had a party at the Vagabond. For my 21st. Yeah. Did I surprise you for it, right?


I was surprised. Yes, I was especially surprised because you showed up in a brown wig. Like, how did I get you there? I don't know. I don't have that. That part of the memory is like gone from my head.


I think you drove me and I remember you had a wig, a brown wig. I did. For reasons we will not share. I was wearing a brown wig. You looked amazing in it. You looked amazing in it. Actually, I don't think I did really, though.


I don't think I needed a different wig. It was very Italian. I don't know why. I'm Italian. We had the most. Okay, so my two follow-up. Okay, so I have three vagabond moments. One was the filming the film, the grift, which did we win?


I don't think so. We did not. Wait. We didn't know what we didn't film the grift. We filmed the title was something else. Logan's script was called A Grim Situation. Oh, Grim. Oh, sorry. Sorry. Sorry.


Yes. A Grim Situation. My bad. Yes. We, we, we did not. I don't know if you win. Do you win? I think I'm pretty sure we did not win. I just, I, like, I have a feeling, like a memory that we didn't win.


So like the audience award or something? I don't know. Like, who's judging? I don't. I don't know if there was an award. We didn't win, though. I'm pretty sure. I had fun. Remember, we color corrected it until like three in the morning?


We went. Oh, color correcting? Yeah, we color corrected it until like three in the morning. In any case, it was an experience. So that was Vagabond Experience One. Vagabond Experience Two was I threw the surprise birthday party for Carmen, which was very epic.


At the end, it was just me and you left in the hotel room. And no subway. And no subway. Yeah. I will just share. We, we went and like at one point got we went and got subway. Carmen was out like hanging with friends and I was like by myself with the subway and I was doing a low carb diet at the time.


So I ate all the meat from the sandwiches and Carmen came back and I had his sandwich for him, but it had, it's like I ate all the meat in it. Sorry. No meat. But so I was so I would I would do it again.


I would do it all again. It was such a good. Yeah. And then we had to clean it up the next day. Remember? Like. Oh my God. Yes. Did we sleep there? Did we like? We did. We did. Oh my God. That's so fun.


All right. It's always a question of what clip do I end these episodes with? And I just knew it needed to be Benazzotti. Benazzotti is also a dear friend. He's been on the show multiple times. I've been on his show.


He's the founder of Keto Camp and he came on for his newest book, which yes, became a New York Times bestseller, Metabolic Freedom. And the reason I really wanted to showcase this clip was he talked about a study in the show and on the podcast about whether or not our metabolism actually slows down as we age.


I even talked about this study later on the Intermittent Fasting Podcast because it is that mind-blowing. Basically, things are not what you think. And then as a bonus in this clip, we also talk a little bit about ketosis and the role of it when we are born.


Without further ado, please enjoy this fabulous clip from my conversation with Benazzotti on episode 302. You referenced a study in the book that I just found completely fascinating and shocking. In fact, I became a little bit obsessed with it.


I like tracked it down and read the whole thing. And then on an episode of the Intermittent Fasting Podcast that we were recording, I talked all about it and like said how I learned it from your book.


And it is, okay, so the study was called Daily Energy Expenditure Through the Human Life Course. And you talk about it in the book, but basically people think that our metabolism slows down like drastically with age.


And this study is fascinating. So as you mentioned in the book, you talk about how after age 60. So basically from age 20 to 60, it doesn't really slow down like people think. And then after 60, it's like less than 1% every year, which I just think is a complete paradigm shift.


What did you think about this concept of the metabolism slowing down and what this means? Yeah. Well, first of all, I have to say, I could see why you're so successful as a podcast host. You're such a great, you prepare.


I'm really impressed with the questions and the amount of research. I could tell you actually read the book. So I want to just say good job, first and foremost. That study is a great study. And I'll unpack it for your audience because I love that study.


It's probably the best study ever done on the metabolism. It's a 2021 Duke study. And for so many years, I hear people say, I have such a slow metabolism. Once I hit 40, my metabolism slowed down. Once I hit 50, my metabolism slowed down.


And I thought, is that really true? Well, this study had 6,600 people in it. And it wasn't just a U.S. study. It was a worldwide study. Multiple countries were involved. And out of those 6,600 people, the age range, Melanie, was between one-year-old, a one-year-old, several one-year-olds, to 95.


So age one to age 95 and everything in between. And they used a very sophisticated, what's considered the gold standard metabolism testing to measure their metabolism. And to your point, the study said between the ages of 20 years old and 60 years old, there are no significant changes in the metabolism.


Once you reach 60 years old, there's a 0.7% decline in the metabolism every year at that point. Now, that might sound like bad news if you're listening to this and you're 65 or 75 or about to turn 60, but the study said the main reason why the metabolism starts to decline after 60 is loss of muscle mass.


This means if you're 30, 40, 50 right now listening to this and you start building lean muscle mass and preserving that, or if you're over age 60 and start building lean muscle mass, you could be 75 years old and have the same metabolism as when you were 25 years old.


So that's super amazing. And yeah, I love that study. I'm glad you brought that up. It's so fascinating. Actually, when we were talking about it on the intermittent fasting podcast, I turned it into a guessing game.


I was like, I was like with my co-host, I was like, okay, guess what happens to the metabolism between like age zero to one and then age, you know, one to 20? Because apparently from age zero to one, it's like just rapid, you know, rapid increase and then increasing more as well from like one to 20 and then just not really changing that much, which, and it points out as well that sex wasn't a factor.


Cause I think people often think, oh, like, you know, women's metabolisms are more, you know, thrifty or, you know, that there's more of a concern there. But it said that sex didn't make a difference.


Pregnancy didn't make a difference in the metabolism. Yeah, and up to 60. And then like you said, when it is going down, it's not even necessarily inherently the metabolism. It may be that muscle, which we can, you know, people can really support.


I just want everybody to read this study. That means all of your excuses are not valid. I know, I know. They're like out the window. And also, thank you so much for the kind words. I just, I just really adore talking with you.


Speaking of actually that, that first phase, so that age, you know, right when we're born and our metabolism is rapidly increasing, something else you point out in the book is that we're born in the state of ketosis.


Is that correct? When we're born? Yeah. So babies that are breastfed are actually in ketosis. The reason why is because breast milk has saturated fat, has cholesterol. And then the argument is, but yeah, Ben, there's sugar and lactose.


True, but the baby, and there are studies, I have three of them in the book, that studies show the baby is so efficient at using the sugar, it naturally goes in and out of the state of ketosis. Sugar burning, fat burning, sugar burning, fat burning.


And it's because those ketones help the neurological development of that baby's brain. So yes, we are naturally born in a fat burning state. Oh my goodness, friends, what a whirlwind that was. I hope you enjoyed that just as much as I did.


It is truly stunning the array of guests I've had on the show, and I could not be more grateful and honored. Thank you so much for being with me here on this journey in 2025. Get ready next week for part two of the best of episodes, and I hope you all are having the most sparkling of holidays.


Thank you so much for listening to the Melanie Avalon Biohacking Podcast. For more information and resources, you can check out my book, What, When, Why, as well as my supplement line, Avalon X. Please visit melanieavalon.com to learn more about today's guest and always feel free to contact me at contact at melanieavalon.com.


And always remember, you got this.