Bulletproof Radio

In this episode of Bulletproof Radio, my guest, Dr. Caroline Leaf, has been changing lives through her research into the human mind-brain connection for nearly four decades. “We’ve been sold such a lie that your brain controls you,” she says. The brain isn’t a generator, it’s a responder, so it has to be stimulated. We have the power to change the environment in which the brain thinks, feels and chooses. Dr. Leaf talks about how we can all use self-awareness to better understand and strengthen our minds. Her new book, Cleaning Up Your Mental Mess: 5 Simple, Scientifically Proven Steps to Reduce Anxiety, Stress and Toxic Thinking, shows you ways to use your mind to biohack your brain.It may look different for everyone, but she believes wholeheartedly in our abilities to change through understanding our minds and fostering self-awareness. We can build up our brain health, resilience and strength. Dr. Leaf developed a five-stop process called Neurocycle to help us get there. “The five st

This episode of Bulletproof Radio goes deep into the dragon psyche. No, not “Game of Thrones,” but specifically our inner dragons. “A dragon is an issue you're dealing with, that your brain is listening to, but it's not helping you,” says brain expert Dr. Daniel Amen.These dragons are the ones that “breathe fire on our emotional brain,” like anxiety, depression, grief, loneliness and more (you can find out what yours are at www.knowyourdragons.com).As a physician, double board-certified psychiatrist, professor, and author of 30 books, Dr. Amen has a lot to share about taming the beasts that beset us.  In his newest book “Your Brain is Always Listening: Tame the Hidden Dragons that Control Your Happiness, Habits and Hang-ups,” he talks about those dragon origin stories, their triggers, your reactions and how to tame them.He has a lot of tips for how we can step outside of our mind to distance ourselves from the dragon’s fire, like tuning into your pleasure centers, and how to guide your min

Cool Facts are quick hits of new human and world science curated into short bursts of information just for you. This fun compilation publishes one Friday a month. Enjoy!Here’s the current lineup for episode #8:Butter texture has changed in Canada.Sleep affects teenagers' mental health.Memories leave unique fingerprints in your brain.EPISODE SPONSOR: ChiliSleep water-based mattress toppers are customizable, climate-controlled sleep solutions. Go to https://www.chilitechnology.com/ASPREY for special discounts.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

In this episode of Bulletproof Radio, my guest is an engineer with expertise in metabolic dysfunction. Josh Clemente co-founded Levels Health, a company that has designed a biowearable continuous glucose monitoring device.The idea of using blood glucose, which is a marker for how much of the most common energy is available in the blood right now and how good is your body at regulating it, is a real-time feedback thing. It's really powerful.When he was working at SpaceX, he discovered his metabolic dysfunction and high glucose levels were making him feel like garbage. He read about continuous glucose monitoring, and shortly thereafter found out he was borderline pre-diabetic, despite being a CrossFit trainer at the time and having a healthy diet.Over 120 million people in the U. S. have prediabetes or diabetes, and most American adults don’t know even they’re prediabetic. Most people don’t know their glucose levels unless they find out at an annual doctor’s appointment. Using Levels technology, we can change t

Fasting is about way more than what we do and don’t eat, it’s about dedicating time and energy to our full mind and body health. In this episode of Bulletproof Radio, I’m talking more about fasting with Dr. Will Cole, a leading functional medicine and nutrition expert and senior clinic director at Cole Natural Health Centers in Pittsburgh. His newest book, “Intuitive Fasting: The Flexible Four-Week Intermittent Fasting Plan to Recharge Your Metabolism and Renew Your Health”, presents ways to fast that are flexible and fulfilling for the needs of each unique person.“I want people to actually get to the place where they are guided by their intuition,” says Dr. Cole “Where they can hear that still small voice of that knowingness of what their body needs and what their body doesn't need, at any given moment.”Each person will react differently to different kinds of fasting. To find a practice that works for you, you’ve got to invest for the long run (not just as a fad). We’re often dr

Dr. Mark Hyman has been on Bulletproof Radio multiple times, because he’s got a lot to teach us about food, the food industry and how to be healthy in a world full of conflicting information and unhealthy choices.In this episode, we talk about his newest book based on a Pegan Diet (Vegan+Paleo). He’s literally bridging the gap between the “right” and “wrong” sides of eating that often surround diet culture.For decades, the diet wars have pitted advocates for the low-carb, high-fat paleo diet against advocates of the exclusively plant-based vegan diet and dozens of other diets, leaving many people bewildered and confused. Dr. Hyman wants us to know that although there are foundational principles for what we eat, there’s not a one size fits all diet, which he talks about in his newest book: “The Pegan Diet: 21 Practical Principles for Reclaiming Your Health in a Nutritionally Confusing World.” “Everybody's fighting with each other and we're fighting the wrong person,” Dr. Hyman says. “We should be fig

Every time I talk to James Altucher, I’m in awe of whatever new thing he’s working on. He’s started and led more than 20 companies (17 of which failed) and is currently an investor in and advisor to over 30 more—from tech to energy to healthcare to biotech.How does this entrepreneur, angel investor bestselling author, chess master, cryptocurrency expert, and stand-up comedian master so many different fields? James wanted to go beyond the hard-set boundaries of the 10,000 hours rule, so on today’s episode of Bulletproof Radio, we talk about what he calls the “10,000 experiment rule.” As many of us are constantly changing jobs, careers and interests, James says that experimentation can lead you down the quickest path to success, whether it’s for two or 20 different careers. He writes all about it in his latest book “Skip the Line: The 10,000 Experiments Rule and other Surprising Advice for Reaching your Goals.”“The 10,000 hours rule, it's crippling,” James says. “It takes 20 years. But if you could re

In this episode of Bulletproof Radio, Dr. Sophia Kogan is back on the show to share brand new research about women’s hair loss and thinning.Dr. Kogan is co-founder and Chief Medical Advisor at Nutrafol. The company creates supplements to decrease shedding and increase hair growth. Several of the products are designed specifically for women’s physiology.Her new study is important because women are about four times more susceptible to hair loss than men. Women not only have different hormonal pathways and factors that contribute to what they need for hair growth, but they also have phases in their lives, like menopause or pregnancy, that make them more susceptible to hair loss. “This is the first study that came out on women in menopause or who are going through hair thinning,” she says. Stress is another major factor that contributes to hair thinning and lossStress effects our hair throughout our entire lifetime, but during this past pandemic year, it’s been worse than ever. When we’re suff

Welcome to part 6 (of 6) of our Bulletproof Radio Sexual Energy Series! We’re bringing you lots of new information about sexual health, wellness, research, devices, and performance. We’re combining that with special offers, discounts and all kinds of resources on the Dave Asprey blog. Be sure to scan the show notes below for details!In this episode of Bulletproof Radio, we’re talking about how you can protect yourself from EMFs (electromagnetic fields or radiation), with technology much more advanced than wrapping yourself in tinfoil.This is related to sexual energy in ways you might not expect. When I was writing “The Better Baby Book” more than a decade ago, I reviewed a lot of literature that looked at reproductive wellness and EMFs. It became very clear that you don't want to have EMFs near your ovaries or your testes if you want to have healthy kids. And the science has only become clearer since then. And even if having kids isn’t on your radar yet, protecting all of your private parts should b

Welcome to part 5 (of 6) of our Bulletproof Radio Sexual Energy Series! We’re bringing you lots of new information about sexual health, wellness, research, devices, and performance. We’re combining that with special offers, discounts and all kinds of resources on the Dave Asprey blog. Be sure to scan the show notes below for details!In this episode of Bulletproof Radio, I’m talking about female sexual wellness with Dr. Somi Javaid. She’s a leading obstetrician and gynecologist who’s been practicing for over 15 years. She’s considered to be a pioneer in the fields of menopause and sexual medicine treatment.Dr. Javaid founded a different healthcare clinic model just for women called HERmd in Cincinnati. With a suite of services and options, she aims to close the gender gap in healthcare and empower women to take control of their sexual health.She’s a fierce advocate for making sure women get the care and treatment that they need, and that shapes how she works. However, it’s rare and hard to find effec

Welcome to part 4 (of 6) of our Bulletproof Radio Sexual Energy Series! We’re bringing you lots of new information about sexual health, wellness, research, devices, and performance. We’re combining that with special offers, discounts and all kinds of resources on the Dave Asprey blog. Be sure to scan the show notes below for details!In this episode of Bulletproof Radio, my guest is Justin Lehmiller, Ph.D., one of the leading experts on human sexuality and author of the popular blog “Sex and Psychology.” He’s been named one of 5 "Sexperts" You Need to Follow on Twitter by Men's Health and one of the "modern-day masters of sex" by Nerve. He’s also a social psychologist and Research Fellow at The Kinsey Institute who’s published more than 50 academic works on topics like casual sex, sexual fantasy, sexual health, and friends with benefits. “Sexuality is so much more complex than we think that it is,” Justin says. “There's more fluidity than people might realize or like to believe.”H

In this episode of Bulletproof Radio, we’re taking a look at penises in the animal kingdom and the lessons we can learn from them. Some shocking. Some entertaining.This fascinating topic is based on the book, “Phallacy: Life Lessons from the Animal Penis,” by health, medical and science writer Emily Willingham, Ph.D. She’s also a research scientist specializing in the biological sciences. The richly illustrated “Phallacy” explores the historical and contemporary context of the penis and all the hype–and oddity–that surrounds it. In her book and in our interview, she answers a range of fun and serious questions about animal and human penises and their relationship to reproduction, pleasure and even power. “When you look at the animal kingdom, one of the lessons we learn is that it's not our most impressive organ,” Emily says. “It would be great for people to be able to relax a little bit about theirs, I think.”By breaking down the penis to its biological origins, Emily reminds us the penis wasn’

Welcome to part 2 (of 6) of our Bulletproof Radio Sexual Energy Series! We’re bringing you lots of new information about sexual health, wellness, research, devices, and performance. We’re combining that with special offers, discounts and all kinds of resources on the Dave Asprey blog. Be sure to scan the show notes below for details!Did you know that 40% of men notice problems with their erections even before their 40th birthday? In this episode of Bulletproof Radio, my guest, Dustin Wolff, talks about a new at-home device that can put an end to those problems. Dustin, co-founder of Launch Medical, has been leading clinics that perform acoustic wave therapy (also called shockwave therapy) for years. This type of therapy helps men with penile performance issues. After treatments, which can include just a few times to several months, things work noticeably better than they did before. But not everyone who may need a boost is getting it.“It's still one of those things that is cost-prohibitive or there'

Welcome to part 1 (of 6) of our Bulletproof Radio Sexual Energy Series! We’re bringing you lots of new information about sexual health, wellness, research, devices, and performance. We’re combining that with special offers, discounts and all kinds of resources on the Dave Asprey blog. Be sure to scan the show notes on the episode #787 web page for details!Kim Anami can read someone’s sexual energy as soon as they walk in the room. In this episode, she shares how you can best access, dive into and embody your own sexual energy (and how it will transform your life). As a holistic sex and relationship coach, Kim approaches and opens our minds to sex in both the physical realm and beyond. She runs her own online sex and relationships school, where she talks about the importance of doing the work to further connect ourselves with ourselves and our partners.“That's really what my work is trying to gear people toward is having these life-changing, cataclysmic therapeutic, deep, powerful, even, psychedelic type

Cool Facts are quick hits of new human and world science curated into short bursts of information just for you. This fun compilation publishes one Friday a month. Enjoy!Here’s the current lineup for episode #7:Fasting changes your circadian rhythm.Fasting may help treat breast cancer.Body temperature controls REM sleep.Psychedelics offer new hope for depression.A new hormone fights obesity.EPISODE SPONSOR: ChiliSleep water-based mattress toppers are customizable, climate-controlled sleep solutions. Go to https://www.chilitechnology.com/ASPREY for special discounts.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

In this episode of Bulletproof Radio, my guest is Sam Qurashi, a self-professed “unorthodox psychologist” who walked away from a psychiatric residency at an addiction hospital because he wanted to help people in a different way. He’s actively working to change people’s interactions with the external world.Sam’s now a writer and entrepreneur with a following of more than 700K (and rapidly growing) on Instagram. He shares thoughts, concepts and questions we can ask ourselves to interrupt the psychological patterns that keep us trapped in mental loops of our own design. “The best way to trigger a change is to create an interruption, but how do you create an interruption that does not cause stress?” he asks. “How do you create an interruption that is gentle, that is a way to get people to reflect?” His framework for growth and change requires that we question ourselves and consider a model of learning he’s developed called liminalism. He looked at the common approaches people have about learni

In this episode of Bulletproof Radio, Lutheran Pastor Nadia Bolz-Weber shares her relationship with religion that’s refreshingly frank.Nadia, a former addict and stand-up comedian, founded the House for All Sinners & Saints church in Denver, Colorado, in 2008. She led the congregation for a decade, then retired from church leadership to continue her work as a public theologian. She’s also the author of three New York Times bestselling books in which she considers the nature of sex, pleasure, spirituality–and even shame.She explores and embraces a pretty expansive worldview. I find her fascinating–from her “Sarcastic Lutheran” social handles to "The Confessional" podcast she hosts–and wanted to get her unique perspective on fasting, lack and going without.On Fasting: “My own profound experience of fasting actually isn’t part of the Christian tradition,” Nadia explains. “It's just 48 hours of prayer and fasting, and I'm outside on the ridge of this mountain, not a mountain, but the hills. Wit

My new book on fasting is different than any book you've ever read about fasting. Here's what you'll learn in "Fast This Way: Burn Fat, Heal Inflammation, and Eat Like the High-Performing Human You Were Meant to Be:"A breakdown of fasting myths.The most current scientific research on fasting in an accessible, easy-to-understand way.Hacks you can do during a fast that are fully backed by science.Steps to follow to make your fasting a positive experience, yet I'm straight with you about the stressors.Why women's fasting looks different than men's and why it's so important to know the differences.How to choose the best fasting style for your personal biology.What supplements can help support your fast.An exploration of spiritual fasting, the magical side of fasting and what it can do to make you a better person.And much more!As a FREE gift for anyone who wants to learn more about fasting, I'm hosting a two-week Fasting Challenge that begins Jan. 25.You're welcome to join any time. Go to fastthiswa

In this episode of Bulletproof Radio, my guest Steven Kotler believes there’s a formula for the impossible and that the answer lies in our biology. He’s spent a lifetime researching and looking for ways to achieve his own peak performance, and today we get his advice on how you can achieve yours. In Steven’s newest book, “The Art of Impossible: A Peak Performance Primer” he’s combined neuroscience and decades of research to make a playbook for extreme performance improvement and an exploration of the frontiers of human possibility. He lays out four components to maintaining peak performance: motivation, learning, creativity and flow.He’s a New York Times-bestselling author, an award-winning journalist, and has been nominated for two Pulitzer Prizes. He’s also the executive director of the Flow Research Collective, an institute that researches the neuroscience of flow states and trains individuals to harness their own flow-state, so they can achieve more, faster.“One of the qualities of a f

In this episode of Bulletproof Radio, the focus is on inflammation and how it’s related to fasting, cancer and even Covid. If you want to know how your immune system works, Dr. Miriam Merad most definitely is the expert to ask. So I did. She’s an internationally acclaimed physician scientist who’s doing groundbreaking research on how our immune system fights common and recurring infections. Dr. Merad leads the Precision Immunology Institute at the Icahn School of Medicine (PrIISM) at Mount Sinai, New York. Her research lab recently found that fasting reduces inflammation and improves chronic inflammatory diseases without affecting the immune system’s response to acute infections. However, our immune systems respond differently to stressors like fasting, diets and levels of activity. “We are not all equal,” says Dr. Merad. “So, we have to really understand that it’s important to stratify people, and this stratification comes from teamwork with computational and quantitative immunologies and