If you’ve ever dipped a toe into the worlds of biohacking, veganism, or ultra-endurance sports, you know Rich Roll—the bestselling author and hugely popular podcaster. I know Rich from way back (before the wellness movement was a movement!) and I was so excited to catch up with him in LA this fall for a recent episode of his podcast.
We chatted for over two hours about so many of the things I know people in this community are all passionate about:
- how the American healthcare system has become the American sickcare system
- the future of health data
- how to look and feel as good in the second half of your life as you did in the first
I see so many women (and men) with joint pain, weight gain, brain fog, GI symptoms—usually with few explanations and a long list of meds. And because our healthcare system is so transactional and fast, there’s no time in a typical 10-minute primary care visit to put the pieces together. Women will go years with an undiagnosed autoimmune disease that—with the right treatment and lifestyle changes—can actually be reversed.
That’s exactly why I started Parsley Health; to put patients back in control of their health and get to the root cause of what I call FLC—“feel like crap”—syndrome.
I hope you’ll listen to the episode to hear our full conversation. In the meantime, here are 5 takeaways from our chat to inspire some action and get you on track as you think about your health goals for the year ahead.
Sushi is one of the highest blood sugar spiking meals you can eat.
Sad but true—and something I only learned after tracking my blood glucose with a continuous glucose monitor (CGM). Getting this kind of easily accessible, real-time data about our bodies is the future of health.
Be proactive about testing and collect as much data on your body as you can—if you haven’t tried a CGM, start by getting your A1C checked twice a year to monitor metabolic health. (I’m planning a newsletter for early next year about exactly what you should be tracking and—importantly—what to do with that data. Stay tuned!)
We are all battling gut dysbiosis.
We take antibiotics, we consume 60 pounds of added sugar per year, and nearly 75% of the food supply in the U.S. is ultra-processed frankenfoods.
Everyone always asks me about probiotics (you should take one!) but the truth is what you eat every day defines who lives and who dies in your gut. What we put in our mouths is the number one driver of gut health.
If you want to learn more about how critical gut health is to your mental function and digestive function—and actually do something about it in real-time—download my pre-recorded course Healing Your Gut Through Mind and Body.
It’s not enough to eat less of the bad stuff—you need to eat more of the good stuff.
Some biohackers profess that “a calorie is a calorie.” I deeply disagree. If the only thing in your life that matters is metabolism and weight, yes, a “calories in, calories out” approach can be effective. This is how so many people (temporarily) lose weight on GLP-1s—by eating less of the crap they were eating before.
When we think about overall health and well-being—cognitive function, bone health, the composition of your body, and your ability to live your life—no, a calorie is not a calorie.
If you’re fueling your body with toxic inflammatory fats (Americans eat a more than 20:1 ratio of Omega-6 to Omega-3 fatty acids, mostly from inflammatory seed oils, when we should be eating a 1:1 ratio), you are attacking your gut microbiome and creating immune system disarray.
If you don’t get the foundations right, none of the extras will matter.
Stem cell therapy, exosomes, peptides, HVOT…none of these“extras” will replace the basics. You cannot live on fast food, have a sedentary lifestyle, never exercise, and doomscroll into the night and expect these types of therapeutics to cure all your symptoms.
To be clear, some of these therapeutics are backed by really promising research. But I’ve rarely seen a shortcut work in the long run. Take peptides for example. Most peptides have not been studied as drugs, and while there is promising early research on the use of peptides for diabetes, Alzheimer’s disease, inflammatory diseases, and even sexual dysfunction, the jury is still out. (I do take 10g of marine collagen and 5g of creatine, but I don’t expect either of those things to replace my diet or exercise.)
HRT isn’t the only answer.
I’m a big fan of HRT—I think we’re prescribing it too little and too late. But HRT alone is not enough to keep you from feeling like crap as you age.
I’ve been talking a lot lately about my Brains, Bones, Booty Protocol, which addresses not only preventing dementia, osteoporosis, and sarcopenia, but how to take the opportunity to double down on your health in your 40s and beyond.
By taking care of your brain health (omega-3 fatty acids, methylated B vitamins, zone 2 cardio, meditation), bone health (high-impact exercise, strength training, foods high in calcium, potassium, and zinc) and metabolic health (1g of protein per pound of body weight per day) you set yourself up to avoid all the things that women are told are inevitable. Weight gain, brain fog, exhaustion, and bone density depletion do not have to be your future.
If you’re ready for more personalized support in getting to the root cause of your FLC syndrome, chronic symptoms, or want an action plan for how to look and feel your best in mid-life, set up a free consult call with Parsley today and use code RBMDCREW for $150 off your membership.