#419 Harry Gray: 10 Actions You Can Take Today to Improve Your Health Forever

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10 Actions You Can Take Today to Improve Your Health Forever. I love these concepts and frameworks that. Really once you take the action, once you take the action right now, once you do the thing, you buy the tool or you invest in the framework, the path, it'll have a forever effect on your health.

And there are so many of these little things. And I've actually wanted to rewrite this article 'cause there's a few things that I would add in here. Um, so there might be like 10 to 12 action items here, but this article got a lot of great feedback. I had a lot of people DMing me, asking me for some more deeper recommendations on certain things that are included in here.

So I hope you guys find this useful. Before we get into the podcast, I just wanna give a quick shout out to Noble Origins. This is Brett and Mine supplement company. We've been working hard for two years on this brand and. We have put [00:01:00] together what we think is the best protein product on the market. Uh, this product has beef protein isolate in it collagen, colostrum, and an organ complex.

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Uh, there's so many incredible benefits of glycine, one of which, uh, which we actually talked about this on our most recent podcast with Allie Miller. Uh, glycine actually, uh, can help detox our body from glyphosate. So, so many great benefits from. Increasing and actually meeting your protein goals. We think that most people aren't hitting their protein goals, so just having a high quality form of supplemental protein is imperative.

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We're gonna have some new products coming here in the next few months, so stay tuned. All right, let's dive into this article. So I wrote this article I said back in August of 2022, but it, it has aged beautifully. Uh, truly. You know, I think that there's some aspects to this article that. It really speak to a lot of the evolution of what's happened in the health world.

This, this conversation that's gotten more nuanced, uh, more people are now caring about their health, uh, in different ways. And so the, the title of the article again is 10 Actions you Can Take Today to Improve Your Health Forever. And the first action that you can take today to improve your health forever is very simple.

Buy [00:03:00] a shower filter now. You're gonna find that some of these things, uh, might feel a little anti-climatic. They might seem a little simple, but once we get into the details, you're gonna realize kind of what I'm going for here. When I wrote this article, and one of the main themes of this article is reducing stress.

It's reducing the toxic load that you are being susceptible to, uh, made susceptible to throughout your week. And one of the things that I don't think a lot of people appreciate is just how. Often your body is coming into contact with different chemicals and different things that's causing it to go in defense mode.

That's why we see a, a large spike in autoimmune issues. That's why we see a large spike in people struggling with things like low energy, brain fog, fatigue. Um, there's, there's so many, um. Endocrine disruptors in our water, our food, uh, and I think a lot of people are seeing, even in like the fertility crisis and just hormone disruptions, we're seeing a lot of [00:04:00] stressors that are unintended.

They're environmental stressors, environmental toxins. These things aren't meant to be there. And a lot of people go about their day. They get used to baseline, they get used to normal and effectively they, they get used to a lower state of living. And so. When they go on vacation, when they go to a remote island on a camping vacation, and they get away from all the toxins that they're typically exposed to in a city, they get, they get away from the light pollution, they get away from the noise pollution, they get away from the air pollution, they get away from the water pollution.

They get away from the EMF pollution, and they notice that their body starts to respond better, and they notice that their body's ability to handle and hold stress becomes that much better and. If there's something powerful about the body system, you know, it's an electro mag. We are electromagnetic beings, we're, you know, full of electrons and, and, uh, our body's constantly looking for, uh, that homeostasis, just that neutral ground where it can [00:05:00] not only thrive, but defend off things that are, might cause it not to thrive.

And so one of the things that I think is in incredibly important is what can we do throughout our day and week that makes us healthier by default, without having to think any extra, without having to. Have any level of discipline to get yourself healthier. You don't need to go to the gym, you don't need to, you know, walk 10,000 steps in order to be healthier.

Like getting a shower filter is something that you order at once. You apply it, you, you install it and you're good. And so one of the reasons why the shower filter is my first one is because I don't think people realize how bad most water is. And one of the things about when you get in the shower, most people shower.

At a water temperature that creates water vapor. So if you're taking a hot shower, a warm shower creates that vapor. The vapor actually absorbs into the skin way faster, and it actually creates, uh, the chlorine, which is, you know, most water treatment plants for most cities. Most [00:06:00] uni, sorry, municipalities are using chlorine to, uh, disinfect and clean the water now.

Most people don't know that it's in your drinking water. It's in your water that you used to shower. Um, this is by all standards, uh, a measure that these cities are taking for sanitation. But I think there's a micro to, you know, I would say on a scale of acute toxicity, I think this is one of those things that you're coming into contact with toxicity at a low rate every single day, which for me, I think that that is something that should be.

Very alarming for people because if you're doing something every single day, like showering, and you're coming into contact with low levels of toxicity like chlorine, getting turned into chloroform, which chloroform is, um, you know, again, like a, uh, cleaning agent, it's something that people use in hospitals to, to clean and, um, yeah.

It puts people asleep [00:07:00] in, in hospitals. So yeah, it's very, very highly potent and, uh, our bodies react to it in a very negative way when we're not intending to be be consuming chloroform. So one of the things that I, I wanna draw attention to here is if you're taking a 10 minute shower and it's on high, and you're taking in some of those water vapors, those water vapors are going directly into your bloodstream.

It's not passing your gut lining. It's not passing, you know, when if you drink tap water, it's going through your mouth, it's going through your gut lining. There's a chance that it's, you know, getting somewhat filtered through that process of going through your stomach acid with a shower filter. It's not going through that process.

It's not going through the digestive process. It's going right into your body, into your bloodstream. And so there isn't as good of a filtering system at that point. And so I think it's really important to note that. And so. The practical tip here is 100%. Just get the shower filter. They're usually pretty cheap.[00:08:00]

The one that I recommend, uh, comes from, uh, organic Jaguar. He has, unfortunately, his product is so good that he's stocked out regularly, but his product is incredible. It's a high quality shower filter. It does the job. And what I love about. Non-toxic living is, you know, that one setup. You set it up once and you're good to go.

Um, organic Jaguars is great. He's friends with, uh, Santa Cruz Medicinal. Those guys do an amazing job just creating and educating people on content. And I love their shower filter. The, the shower filter that organic Jaguar has. Um, if it's in stock, it's an incredible one. There's a few other ones out there that I can link to in the show notes, but, um, that's a great one and um, highly encourage you guys to check that one out.

Um. And so, yeah, this is a, this is a simple win. Like I, I don't know if you need to hear much more than that. Like, reducing your exposure to chlorine and other byproducts that are in water. You know, like chlorine, chlorinated water can have [00:09:00] incredibly negative effects. Like some of them, uh, include higher rates of bladder, kidney, and rectal cancer.

Uh, THMs, which is what. Most, uh, municipal water, uh, is, um, creating, you know, in the, in the form of something like chloroform. THMs is kinda what the, the chemicals are called. Um, they can be linked to spontaneous abortion and other birth defects. So if you're someone who's thinking about having a kid highly, highly, highly recommend getting a shower filter.

This is a basic, I think this is a no-brainer, uh, money well spent. Um, even if there's. 1% ROI, I think is worth it. So that's one that I think is, is worth it right off the get go. I had a bonus in here. Uh, this is, this is one of the ones that I added since writing the article. I think an air filter is a close second in terms of just, uh, improving your toxic load at such a easy and effortless way.[00:10:00]

And so recently, you know, a few months back we had. Mike Feldstein on the podcast. He's the founder of a company called Jasper, and they create these industrial grade air filters. Like we had him on the podcast and he was in the podcast studio measuring the air quality, and he was amazed. He was like, man, the air is so still in here.

There's a lot of, um, you know, mycotoxins mold in the air. There's, um, different, uh, particles that are, uh, interacting with us right now that he was measuring and they're having a negative effect. The CO2 is having a negative effect. On our ability to continue the conversation in a way where we feel good.

You know, if you're sitting in a space that's, um, high in CO2, it, it really taxes your energy. And so one of the things he was saying was how much, uh, PE people come back to him and report to him once they try this air filter. They report incredible sleep quality. And so he was saying that high CO2 results in impaired sleep, worse test [00:11:00] scores, uh, reduce brain cognition, so.

I really think like from just a simplicity standpoint, if you can get one or two of these tools that you know, they're just kind of playing defense for you in your house, in the space where you're spending most of your time. Like if you're sleeping eight hours and maybe at home for another three hours, four hours throughout the day, you know, you're spending like about half your time in this one space.

I think it's good, um, at the very least to consider some of these measures that can help you play a little bit of defense from some of the stressors that might otherwise be in the space. So. Um, you know, air quality incredibly important. Um, the big things on that is in my opinion, is really the CO2. I think that that's what, um, the Jasper does a good job of cleaning.

Uh, one of the things that I noticed when I got one, whenever I cooked, and this was something that came up in the podcast, whenever I cook, there's these particles that get thrown into the air and the jasper goes from green, which the green mode is when it's kind of in, uh, not neutral, but it's, the air quality's decent and.[00:12:00]

When it goes red, which is every single time that I cook, it goes red and the thing ramps up and, and picks up speed to really start filtering the air. And it's incredible. Just noticing when the air, the air quality starts getting bad is almost, you know, 90% of the time is after cooking. And that was what, that's what Mike said.

And, um, you know. A lot of people don't realize this, but you know, the grease, the smoke and the gas that comes off of your cooking materials, it can really be toxic to, um, to you. So I think that this is another no-brainer. Um, you know, the sleep quality aspect of this feels like something that everyone should be in tune with.

Um. He was, Mike was saying that a lot of Jasper users use the Ora ring, and they've seen scores on average go from 60 to 90, so 30 point increase out, and that's out of a hundred. So [00:13:00] it go, you go from like 60% sleep quality to 90% sleep quality. That's anecdotal. But I think that, you know, it's, it's, it's helpful to know like what are people actually seeing, um.

He said that in tests Jasper dropped airborne particle counts by 95% in under an hour. So not only is the air filter working, but it's highly effective. Um, yeah, and I think this is, this is one of my favorite lines from that podcast was Mike saying this is like the laziest way to get healthy. And I think it's a perfect frame for kind of like what I'm talking about here in this article is like, how can we be as lazy as possible and get as health, get to a point where we're being as healthy as possible?

And so I think that these air filters, the shower filters is just such a great starting point. And um, yeah, just reducing that stress load is so imperative. I mean, most people when they're talking about chronic stress, inflammation. Or when they're, sorry, when they're talking about inflammation, a lot of times they're just talking about [00:14:00] chronic stress.

You know, like Brett struggled with ulcerative colitis for a long time. He was in, in college, um, living, you know, lifestyle was not ideal. Uh, there were certain things that he was eating. He was predisposed to, um, his stomach flaring up, stomach inflammation, um, or colon, colon inflammation. And, um. Yeah, I think like a lot, a lot of things can help in that, but if you can kind of just set the baseline at a higher point by having some of these defenses in place, it can be a really powerful tool.

So enough on that, let's get to 0.2 on things that you can do today to make yourself healthy forever. Um, thing number two is read at least one page out of a book each day. And. It's another one. It's like, dude, I can't believe you're actually giving this advice. It sounds so dumb. So easy. So simple, but hear me out.

So one of the pieces of data that I was pulling on here, it talked about the cognitive and stress [00:15:00] benefits from reading. And so reading engages the imagin. Can lower stress. And in a 2009 study from University of Sussex, just six minutes of reading led to a reduced stress of 68%. So that's more than listening to music or taking a walk.

Uh, reading regularly is linked to slower cognitive decline and a reduced risk of dementia and participants who engaged in the mentally stimulating tasks like reading throughout life at a much lower rate of mental decline. I think in a world where too, where we're so plugged in to our devices, being able to unplug and simply reset our imagination, uh, re reset our dopamine faculties by just plugging in and just reading is such a huge leg up.

And something that I think if you're doing it on a daily basis, a little bit of reading is one of those things where maybe you [00:16:00] start with just doing a simple page. Um, throughout the day, and then you compound to 10, 15, 20, and that reduced stress load that we're just talking about six minutes equates to 68% reduction in stress.

That that's a massive decline. And I think for people who are juggling a lot of different things, it can seem like, oh man, it's just like one extra thing to add to my to-do list, but six minutes is nothing. I mean, that is literally the equivalent of, you know, doing the dishes or. You know, you basically taking a shower.

I mean, it, it is really not that, that much extra in your day. And so I think if there's one piece of encouragement here, it's that just a little bit can go very, very far. And that's another reason why I included this so high on this list is, you know, if you can reduce your stress by 68%. Get yourself in a better head space.

Like how much better is the rest of your life? How much better is, you know, all the things downstream of you deciding to be a little bit more aware, get [00:17:00] a little bit more plugged into how you're actually feeling getting into that mental state. So, um, you know, I think that, you know, keeping a book on your nightstand, just opening it up right before bed or right, right when you get up, is a huge leg up.

Uh, to everyone, including myself, who, you know, sometimes first thing in the morning or last thing at night, you're just grabbing for the phone. So I think a, a tip within this tip is, you know, keep your phone outside of your bedroom and replace it with a book. Like it's such a no-brainer. And, um, yeah. I just wanna add one thing to this too.

During COVID, one of my goals was to read, simply read a page day. And I actually, I think this is, this, um, post was inspired by this. And so I started reading Tim Ferriss's book, tools of Titans, and through that. So basically like tools, the Titans, he's interviewed, so Tim Ferriss has interviewed some of the most amazing people on his podcast, and he diluted down each interview into a short, short chapter on each person that he's had on the show.

And what I found interesting was usually the chapters were about two to three pages, and every single day I was focused on [00:18:00] just reading one of those chapters, and it was so simple, but so satisfying in terms of the, again, like I don't think you could quantum. Quantify it as 68% reduction in stress, but it gave me that renewed feeling of fulfillment, going deeper.

And you know, there's plenty of things that I gained just through that consistency of that practice. So, um, I think reading a, a page of a book per day, there's so many mental benefits and, and spiritual benefits to that, that it makes so much sense. Uh, number three. Invest in a water filter for drinking water.

Now this is very similar to the, the first tip, so I'm gonna be quick here, but there's so many new studies coming ar coming out around how drinking water in most cities is really, really contaminated. Uh, you know, I live in the city of Austin. There. Might not be a worse city in the US than Austin for, uh, tap water.

And so I think it's really important to go check out. There's a, a website and a resource. It's called the Environmental Working Groups [00:19:00] tap Water database. Go Google that. I'll link to it. There are this, this is one of those things that I'm almost even. Concern to link it because I know people will go down this rabbit hole and realize like, wow, I did not think that my tap water was that contaminated.

But it, it is, there's hundreds of chemicals, heavy metals and radioactive substances in the US drinking water. Not to mention things that you don't necessarily wanna be coming into contact with. Like, you know, the level of, um, hormones and birth control that's in the, the tap water that's really, really potentially harmful for your health.

And so, um. You know, often at levels, uh, these are at levels that scientists consider, um, unsafe. And so in 2019 there was a peer reviewed study that estimated that the mixture of contaminants could contribute to over a hundred thousand cancer cases nationwide. That's just from tap water. Um, then we're, you know, we move into the.[00:20:00]

The category and topic of forever chemicals pfas. And in 2023 there was a geological survey that studied and said that about 45% of US tap water contains pfas. So 45% of tap water contains these harmful forever chemicals, and I think for anyone who's paying attention at home. You can either choose to pass, you can freak out, and let this be a stressor in your life where you're panicking about the water that you're drinking.

Is it good? Is it bad? Or you can take the action of just getting a countertop. Water filter or getting a reverse osmosis for under your tap. That's one that I was in an apartment a little while back. They had the reverse osmosis and you don't even have to think about it. It's a pretty big financial investment.

So obviously this is coming from a place of, you know, someone willing to make an investment into their, their health like this, but [00:21:00] for something that you're consuming daily, like shower water. Or drinking water, it just makes so much sense to make this type of investment. Um, I have been using, uh, a few, I've used a few different brands.

I like the, um, Burke, um, but some stuff has recently come out about that not being an effective water filter. So, um, I don't have any new recommendations. I've been using the Burkey, um, you know. Guilty is charged. I've been using the, the water filter that people have been saying isn't as good as it claims to be.

Um, I found it to be successful, but I do think that there's better options out there. Um, so I might have to do a follow up on this one, part two on just a better water filter or, or just do a review of like 10 of 'em and, and see if I can get some testing done to see if, see what the contaminant levels are in, in, uh, each water filter.

So. Let's put a pin in that. I'll do a, a part two of this where I review 10 water filters, um, and see which one's the best. So stay tuned. [00:22:00] I'll do the, I'll do like an actual research on that one, uh, which will be good. Love that. Alright, uh, number four on our list of things that you can do today that will improve your health forever.

Uh, this one again is super boring. Uh, go to bed before 10 o'clock. There's some crazy data out there that. Um, most adults need at least seven hours of sleep. Um, if you're getting less than seven hours of sleep, you are increasing your risk of obesity, high blood pressure, diabetes, coronary heart disease, stroke, and all cause mortality.

Um, sleep deprivation also impairs cognitive performance. So if you wanna be good at your job, get enough sleep. So one thing that I found interesting was. This is a fascinating study outta the uk. So 88,000 adults found that falling asleep between 10 and 11:00 PM was associated with the lowest rates of cardiovascular disease compared with the window, uh, compared with this window.

Uh, the sleep onset after midnight increased cardiovascular risk by 25% [00:23:00] while sleeping before 10:00 PM increased risk by 24%, which I found interesting. Uh, so I guess it's, it's speaking to the disruption in circadian rhythm where. For the most part, the sun is down for at least an hour by 10 o'clock, uh, or two.

And for most people, that's really the window when you should be feeling naturally tired from, you know, your hormones being aligned with needing to sleep. Uh, and so I. I think that 10 to 11 window is great. I prefer, you know, trying to get to bed by nine, wake up by five or six. Um, I find that to be successful for me.

But there's a lot of things here, um, baked into this that I think are really important. One is, uh, exposure red to, um, red and blue light. So if you're someone who's sitting inside all day under, um, ultraviolet, um, light. Or sorry, um, incandescent light bulbs. Uh, and you're somebody who's not getting enough steps, not going outside, not getting UV exposure, not getting a, a broad spectrum [00:24:00] of all the different UV lights, red light, uh, specifically.

Um, and you're getting more blue light exposure 'cause you're staying inside. I highly recommend, uh, just trying to at least get the first part of your circadian rhythm right, which is getting to bed. And waking up at the right time and then start to figure out, okay, I need to get outside more, I need to get more sun exposure.

Um, these things are, are basic, uh, tools. Um, and, you know, a hundred, 200 years ago, you, you wouldn't have had to even say this. It's actually interesting. I think, um, you know, before the light bulb was invented, people were getting an average of 10 to 11 hours of sleep, which is, seems like insane by today's standards, but 10 to 11 hours of sleep.

Um. And you know, I think that like naturally the light pollution in most cities causes people to sleep shorter, causes us to have a higher inclination, sleep less, be more exposed to stressors. Because we're sleep deprived. We don't, we don't have that renewed energy. We don't have that restfulness. [00:25:00] And so there's a lot of things that I think are underpinning people's health that can be tied back to how much sleep are you getting and circadian rhythm, again, like it, it really does, uh, start and end with our exposure to.

Um, time as it relates to light. And so if we're getting up early and getting sunlight on our skin and in our eyes early in the morning, that sets off a cascade effect of how our hormones are interacting and unlocking throughout the day. And so if you get that initial sunlight, that means that your body is, um, gonna start unraveling this cascade of hormones throughout the day so that you're timed up to be tired again late at night.

Now, one thing that you can do is get some, um, blue light, blue light blocking glasses that can help you, um, with some wind down time if you're someone who struggles, um, you know, to get to bed relatively early. Another thing too, is just getting off your phone. Uh, highly recommend cutting off caffeine before noon.

These [00:26:00] are, again, this is nothing groundbreaking, but, uh, th these are things that will have a dramatic shift in your health over time. And if you're someone who's sitting here going, you know, I'm just looking to lose weight. I'm looking to, I look better. I think this playbook that I'm laying out here is kind of a feel better playbook before you start to worry about the aesthetic.

And I think it's important because once you start feeling better. You're in, you're just naturally inclined to have more energy. You want to go get that workout in, you want to go do hard things. You want to go push yourself more. So this is that feel better playbook. Um, and very simply, I think that is the way to go.

You know, we're out here trying to live longer, live better lives. Um, you know, vanity, uh, works for some people, but I think it's also, you know, a short term, uh, fix for a lot of people's health. Health concerns. And a lot of people who look great on the, in, on the inside, they're struggling. And so, um, and I mean that from a biological standpoint, not a spiritual standpoint, but maybe from a [00:27:00] spiritual standpoint too.

Um, so, you know, I think that doing some of these fixes that are more geared towards how you feel is really important. And so that leads me to number five, which is meditate for three minutes every day. I think meditation, particularly on things that, you know, like for me, the word meditation has evolved over time.

You know, three years ago I was someone who is more of a meditator from the school of like stoicism, uh, philosophy based meditation. And now I would say meditation for me is like, uh, meditating on the word of God. Uh, reading scripture and sitting there and just thinking, ruminating on, you know, what is.

What are, what are the, the spiritual nutrients that I need, uh, to be meditating on, thinking on, uh, to see change in transformation happen in my life? And I think it's a powerful tool to listen to God, uh, listen to the immutable word of God that has transcended generation after generation. This is, you know, [00:28:00] from my standpoint, uh, the, you know.

Objective truth. And, and this truth can speak into our lives as we ruminate on it more, as we understand it more as we grow, uh, in our spiritual walks. And so I think, you know, these, these seeds can get planted, um, through seeds of growth can get planted through meditating on, uh, different. Piece of scripture.

And I think that there's a powerful practice here. So when I wrote this article back in 2022, that's not what I was intending to steer people towards. I was steering people just towards the art of meditation, quieting your mind, simplifying your thoughts, being aware of your thoughts. I think that's a beautiful practice.

That is part of what I'm talking about now. Now the other part of that, you know, the, the first part of that meditative practice is kind of being aware, identifying your thoughts, almost. Coming to neutral and, and draining some of those negative thoughts. And the second part of the meditation is actually filling your mind up.

[00:29:00] So the first part, draining down, coming down, auditing, coming to an awareness of how you're feeling, how you're thinking, how you're showing up in the world. And then the second part of that is being reinforced with positive thinking through. The spiritual truth of scripture. And so I think there's a powerful form of meditation here that we could go much, much deeper on.

But I'll just leave you guys with this. You know, there's over 200 studies on meditation that have found mindfulness-based therapy effective in reducing stress and different psychological distresses. So. I found meditation to be a huge beneficial, um, hugely beneficial for me. Um, even before I was, um, you know, thinking about it through the lens of like, what does this mean for my spiritual practices?

From a, a Christian believer standpoint, meditation was something that kinda gave me peace of mind, gave me a rhythm, a spiritual rhythm to come back to. I think that's great. And if you're early on or somebody who you know, is listening to this and going, [00:30:00] man, I'm, I'm not totally there yet. Just still meditate.

I think that there's still a lot of power in, you know, understanding kind of how the mind is, um, being exposed to the world and how your mind is interacting with, you know, different thoughts, different interpretations of things that are happening around you. It can be very, very, very powerful. Just got a notification here.

All right, number six, uh, keep a simple food journal. Now I'm not gonna expand too much into this. We've actually done a full podcast, Brett and I, on keeping a food journal. Uh, if you're somebody who's struggling with. You know, putting on muscle, losing weight, you want to pay more attention to what's happening with your body from a physiological standpoint, like, Hey, I'm sensitive to these foods, or like, I don't understand if I'm sensitive to these foods or not.

I feel like I ha I wake up and have low energy and brain fog every single day. I don't know what's happening. A food journal will help you figure out some of the sequences and some of the rhythms of. What you're eating, when you're eating it, and how it's affecting you from an energy standpoint. And I think one of the things that I've learned through food journaling, it doesn't [00:31:00] take a lot of time to implement the scale and practice.

And you'll eventually log up to three, four weeks of data that speak to what's actually happening with your health. Um, I would pair getting a simple food journal with getting blood work. There's plenty of great companies out there. Um, I've used, I today, literally today, got my blood drawn from a company called Superpower.

Love them. Um, so a food journal can go great with something like blood work because let's say you get your blood drawn every six months. You keep a food journal. In between that time period, you start to develop an understanding of what your habits actually are. You're the type of person who's eating foods that might have some level of a micro infl inflammatory marker to them, to your genetics.

So you're eating nightshades. They're causing you to have some low level of inflammation. You didn't realize that before. You're able to identify that simply through a food journal. That's one instance of a food journal working for you. Another is maybe you aren't timing your meals properly, you're [00:32:00] somebody who's eating late at night or not eating enough protein or not, um, you know, getting enough calories.

Like for most women, we had, um, man, I, uh, I think it was maybe Jake Thomas on the podcast, he was talking about how most women aren't eating nearly enough calories and how it's negatively affecting their health. And I'm like, man, that is like so fascinating because, um. I think like for the most part, uh, people don't really realize how undereating can have the same negative impact that overeating can have.

And, uh, it's more of the hidden, you know, biomarkers, you know, your hormone levels and, and things like that, that are being affected as is, as opposed to overeating, which also affects your hormone levels. But, uh, you know, it's a little bit more noticeable if you're healthy or unhealthy if you're overeating.

So, um. All that to say a food journal is one of these things. It feels, it feels a little monotonous. It feels like maybe something that's a little bit type, a little bit too much of a [00:33:00] chore, but I can't recommend it enough. If you're somebody who's looking to just really dial it in and really start to see like, all right, my health isn't where I want it to be.

I need to make these changes in the next six months. I want to make these changes in the next six, six months, I'm gonna commit in a big way to making a change. I'm gonna get my blood drawn. I'm gonna keep a food journal for six months, and then I'm gonna get my blood drawn again, and I'm gonna have all this data to then go back to the drawing board and say, this is how I've been approaching my health.

What do I need to change? How has, how have these changes actually impacted my health? You'll see that in the blood work. From there, you just get really good live data to just constantly tweak, constantly incorporate back into your health protocols. And then from there, a simple food journal is just something that's a tool in your tool belt and you don't need to just keep doing it.

So highly recommend that if you're somebody who's just getting started or somebody who's struggling with some food sensitivities, things of that nature. Number seven, uh, this is one that I think [00:34:00] is imperative for most people to pay attention to because I think it ties together a lot. Around meditation, lowering stress, being active, and overall just like increasing your activity level, getting sunlight exposure.

So in, in improving your circadian rhythm, improving digestion, uh, these are all things that happen when you, uh, increase the amount of steps that you're getting per day. So I think that. If you can shoot for 10 to 15,000 steps per day, um, this is, again, insanely basic, insanely generic advice, but I, I just wanna reinforce it.

I've probably given it a thousand, this piece of advice a thousand times on the podcast. But this is just the practical framework for things that you can do today to improve your health forever. Get those extra steps in and you'll see a, a marked increase in, um, your overall mood. Uh, decrease in the amount of stress that you're feeling or the perceived stress that you're feeling.[00:35:00]

I think you'll see that your overall thoughts are improved. Uh, you'll have better, uh, exposure to the sunlight, which will improve your vitamin D levels, which will improve your hormone levels. There's so many things that I could tie back to. A positive health outcome from just getting more steps outside.

And so this is a no-brainer for me in terms of including it on this list, and I don't wanna spend too much more time. Um, other than saying that this is such a simple way to improve your lifespan, like from a mortality reduction standpoint, I don't know if there's a better thing to do than applying, getting more steps a Harvard.

Chan school study analyzed, uh, in 2019. It analyzed 17,000 older women found that taking 3000 steps per day had a lower risk of premature death than those taking 2000 steps. Um, benefits increased with more steps, but leveled off around 7,500 steps. Um, participants walking [00:36:00] 7,500 steps had the same mortality risk as those walking 10,000.

Okay, so. What's being said there is if you're, if you're getting a basic level of movement and steps throughout the day, 3000 steps is like a mile and a half. That's really not that much. Um, but if you're going out there getting the steps in getting 2, 3, 4, 5 miles per day, that will have such a compounding effect over time.

So, um, highly encourage that. I think it's incredibly practical. It's simple and it's something you just have to make time for. You can have it stack. You can listen to a book, you can listen to a podcast. Listen to this podcast. Uh, there's so many things that you can do. Have phone calls with people. Uh, just go outside, get a few extra steps per day.

You will not regret it. Um, number eight is just the very simple, uh, fact of just including strength training. Most people, you know, they, they'll do their cardio machines. They'll maybe walk, uh, they'll do yoga class and they'll forget that strength training is really. [00:37:00] One of these things that if you can add, if you can add or maintain your muscle mass through your thirties, forties, and fifties, you're lowering, you're lowering your all cause mortality by 10, 20%.

Um, you know, here there's a longevity study that I was looking at, you know, 16 studies found that people who performed muscle strengthening exercise had a 15% lower risk of mortality, uh, than those who did not. Uh, so just doing 30 to 60 minutes of strength training weekly can lead to a 10 to 20% reduction in your all cause mortality.

Now, what does that strength training need to look like? I think it doesn't need to look like anything crazy. You can do a bunch of body weight squats, pushups, pull-ups. Uh, I, I love dips, Bulgarian split squats, uh, deadlifts, um, lunges. I like hitting the. Uh, skier, the assault bike. These things are, you know, you do [00:38:00] five, 10 minutes of 'em in a circuit for 20, 30 minutes.

You're good, you're getting a good sweat. You're probably burning 400, 500 calories in a 30 minute session. Um, and then the strength training component, I think, you know, trying to work on some isometrics, trying to work on, um, some just, uh, very simple compound movements where you're doing progressive overload training.

You know, you're working at. Increasing by two and a half to 5% each time you get in the gym. So you do some bench press, some squats, some overhead press, some deadlifts. Uh, you work on just simply trying to increase by 2% each time. You're gonna see a massive increase in your mood, uh, your longevity, uh, you know, the data is there.

You know, there's 16 studies saying that you're gonna live 10 to 20%, or that you're gonna lower your risk 10 to 20%. Uh, of all cause mortality, you know, it's, it is very powerful and, and what really it speaks to is strength training. When you're strength [00:39:00] training, you are taxing your nervous system. You're also, uh, increasing your bone density.

What people, most people don't realize is, um, yeah, when you're, when you're lifting, you're, you're creating micro stresses throughout the body and it's, it's causing, uh, a lot of cellular reproduction, uh, cellular repair. A lot of that is, uh, originating in, uh, your bones. And so when you get to 50, 67 years old and you've been strength training for a while, your bones.

Are more resilient. They're used to turning over and repairing cells. They're used to creating these cells that create longevity. And so I think one of the, the, the sneaky benefits is just, you know, you, you, your body gets used to building and repairing itself as you build. Muscle you build, uh, strength in the gym.

Very simple. Uh, again, this is nothing groundbreaking, but it's something that I included in this article article because it's something you can do today that will improve your health health forever. And 30 to 60 minutes really isn't that [00:40:00] much. So go out there, get it done. Uh, if you need any recommendations for workouts, uh, I'm happy.

To, I'll actually go, go about and do that. I'll, I'll put together a simple, uh, you know, week long workout plan in the links in the bio so you guys can check those out. All right, we've got two more here. Uh, number nine is limiting ultra processed foods and choosing real foods health risks of ultra processed foods.

Uh, in Harvard's 30 year cohort study of 114,000 adults, participants who consumed the most ultra processed foods had a 4% higher risk of all cause mortality and an 8% higher risk of death from neurodegenerative diseases. Um, you know, I think that. One of the things that we haven't really fully come to grips with, I think we're starting to with.

Recent administrative, administrative changes in the government, uh, with people like RFK Jr. Callie means, um, you know, some people that we've had on the podcast, um, like Marty McCarey, people are actually implementing some of these changes, like [00:41:00] getting rid of food dyes. This is, this is incredible progress.

Getting rid of high fructose corn syrup. I think this is a massive leg up. You know, you see the, this renaissance of brands and restaurants starting to cook with. Actually healthy oils, they're getting rid of seed oils. And we're starting to see processed foods actually start to become incrementally healthier, which is great.

Um, because processed foods right now are incredibly toxic. Incredibly toxic and poisonous. And I say that knowing that, you know, a lot of people are consuming these things because they're cheaper and more affordable, and they can't really afford to necessarily eat a Whole Foods diet, uh, seven days a week.

And so, um, you know. I, I think it's just important to be aware, you know, when you do have the options to make those choices, um, if you can, eliminating the stuff that's causing negative health effects is always the right way to go. So, um, nothing groundbreaking here. I think one of the things, you know, again, a 15% [00:42:00] increase in all cause mortality from ultra processed foods just feels like something that should wake you up.

It should be alarming. You know, if you're, if you're, you know, thinking about having kids, thinking about having a family, you have a family. These, these are stats that should cause some level of habit change, habit formation, you know, even if it's getting rid of one processed food meal per week and replacing it with a whole food meal, that is a step in the right direction.

So if you're sitting, sitting here going, man, I eat, um, I eat out all the time. I eat from, from the gas station all the time. I'm getting a bunch of ultra processed foods. You know, don't panic. Uh, you can make changes and your body responds quickly. These bodies that we have are very adapted. They're very responsive.

If you give them the right level of stress, healthy stress, they will respond positively. And I think that if you focus on removing some of these toxins that we've talked about, like, you know, in the water, in your clothes, the, um, air toxins through a water or through an air filter, sorry. Um, that's helping.

But ultimately. [00:43:00] Food and what you eat on a daily basis is really gonna make a massive difference, particularly in terms of like energy levels. Like I think one of the biggest shifts for me was just realizing how much energy was being taxed outta my system by eating processed foods. And then I went on, uh, animal-based keto diet and realized, whoa, like.

I didn't need coffee anymore. I was getting more sunlight. I wanted to work out more. There was just all these cascading effects and so much of it was just linked to the quality of the food that I was eating. So, um, even from a dollar for dollar standpoint, you know, if it's more expensive to eat Whole Foods, I do think that there's a positive, um, return on those dollars for.

Eating whole foods, like more energy. Like what does that equate to? It could equate to a lot of things, but you know, if you're someone who's out in the working world and needing creative ideas, needing creative inspiration, needing to push long, hard hours, um, I would bet that eating Whole Foods is gonna have a longer, more sustainable, um, impact for you from a health [00:44:00] standpoint.

Um, closing thought here. So this is a last point. Number 10, spend time outdoors in natural light. I'd already talked about this, but. Just getting outside, getting that circadian rhythm dialed in, um, 10 to 30 minutes of stone exposure each day. Uh, at the bare minimum. I mean, if you're working a corporate job and you're staying inside all day while the sun is up, just try to go outside for lunch.

10, 30 minute walk, that's all you need. I mean, preferably you're going way longer, but if you're having to do this dance of being in a city or being in a place where you know that the environment isn't perfect, try to just, uh. Set your lifestyle up so that you can make these changes and you can start to incorporate some natural rhythms to your life that make you feel really, really good.

And so getting on, getting outside, getting on a walk, getting natural light exposure, these are all things that are gonna benefit lowering stress. They're gonna help your ability to manage, uh, different areas of your life. They're gonna help you sleep better. They're gonna help you. Um, digest, uh, maybe some of [00:45:00] the less healthy food choices that you make, like, uh, it's gonna help suppress your appetite, uh, so you're not constantly hungry.

It's like there's this kinda like delicate dance that's going on here between these 10, these 10 recommendations that I've made. They're all playing into lowering your state of stress, lowering your state of inflammation, making you more aware about the food that you're putting into your body, and as a result.

You are feeling healthier, you're feeling the compounded momentum of being a healthier person and what that can do in your life. So that is it for today, folks. Um, thank you again for listening to another episode of the Meme Mafia Podcast. We appreciate you guys listening and staying true to the Meme Mafia.

Um, I'm gonna link this article here that I wrote. Uh, it's gonna have some links in it and it's gonna have some studies. Uh, some links to products that I like, products that I use. So if you're someone who's sitting here going, man, I really just wanna buy one of these things and see if they work, see if it actually has an effect, um, go check out that article.

I'd also say too, you know, just from the standpoint of setting [00:46:00] expectations, a lot of these things, it's gonna be pretty tough to measure the change. It's not like, Hey, I put 50 pounds on my squat and now I can jump higher. So give it some time, um, make one or, or all of these changes and just see like the momentum stack and if there's anything else that I could say.

It's just, it's just, you know, commit to this way of life and know that even if it's difficult to measure some of the success that you might be having from, you know, getting a, a shower filter, getting a water filter, getting an air filter. Getting to sleep sooner. Like all these things are gonna have a positive effect.

It's just a, a matter of how much, um, of an effect they're having. And I would bet for most people that there'll be a noticeable difference. Um, you know, especially when it comes to, you know, circling back to the first point, it's like your shower filter. What I noticed is, you know, a lot of skin issues that I was having, dry skin, itchy skin, uh, [00:47:00] it was linked to having.

No, no filter on that coordinated water that was coming onto my skin. And lo and behold, as soon as I get a shower filter, you know, my scalp is not itchy, itchy anymore. My skin feels, uh, like it's less dry. So there's lots of benefits, I think, to considering some of these changes. And I hope you guys go about, uh, making some of 'em.

And if you do, please reach out. I'd love to hear it. But for now, that is it. Thank you guys for listening and to Megan next week for another episode of the Meat Mafia Podcast. If you haven't already, go leave a review for us on YouTube, Spotify, or Apple, wherever you stream the meat mafia, and thank you so much.

We appreciate you guys for listening, and we'll see you next week.