Biohack Like a Woman – Aggie Lal : 1126
18 Jan 2024 · 79 min
This is a podcast episode titled "Biohack Like a Woman – Aggie Lal : 1126" recorded in January 2024. It features a conversation between Dave Asprey, the host of the Human Upgrade podcast, and Aggie Lal, a bestselling author and health coach. They discuss biohacking specifically tailored for women, covering topics such as hormonal cycles, recovery, cold exposure, birth control, and the unique physiological and psychological aspects of women's health. The episode also includes sponsored product advertisements related to health and wellness.
Chapters
You're listening to the Human Upgrade with Dave Asprey, formerly Bulletproof Radio. You're listening to the Human Upgrade with Dave Asprey. Today we're going to talk about how to biohack like a girl. I mean, like a woman. Wait, what's the title? It's how to Biohack Like a Woman. And I said that on purpose to trigger some of you out there, because if you can be triggered, it's a new year. And it's a new year where if you can be triggered, you're carrying around a loaded gun. And that's rude and illegal in some places. So you probably should see your therapist already. But here's the deal. I have a guest for you today who I've worked with for several years. Her name is Aggie Lal. She's a public figure, bestselling author, health coach. You might have seen her on TV. TEDx speaker. And she started the Travel Her Shoes blog more than 10 years ago and got sick from all that travel. Who would have thought? Because it turns out airplanes are horrible environments and so are hotel rooms. Any business traveler, man or woman, understands that kind of life. Yes, you see a lot of places, but man, the circadian disruption, the constantly changing foods, it'll trash you. So she turned to biohacking and had great results. Started the Higher Self Academy, which teaches women with courses on health, personal development, and she hosts the Biohacking Bestie podcast. And I love what she's doing, so much that I wrote the foreword for her new book, which is called Biohack Like a Woman.
Yes. Thank you. Thank you.
Welcome, Aggie. I'm so happy to have you here.
Thank you for having me, Dave. I've been a fan of the podcast and yourself, so this is a great honor. Thank you for having me.
Now, let's see. I was on your show a couple times and we had a couple clips that went really viral where you would ask challenging questions about kale and things, and people would become outraged at straight talk about kale. So it's always, it's always fun and I love it.
I love that you have no filter and I love that you started with this whole, like, title, because it was a. It was a big discussion whether we say biohack like a woman or biohack like a girl. And I think I really wanted to own the word woman. I think it's this big pressure to be a girl.
Hold on, you can't own the word woman. That. That's not for any one person to own. It's much Greater than all of us.
That's true. But like own it as in like own that, like, that I am one. Because I think up until this point I'm, I'm not super young, let's be honest. I'm 36. I kind of felt like, oh, a woman sounds old, right? Because it's this pressure for all of us females to be girls, you know, because we're, it's cute and innocent, whatever. And so when I ask my audience, what do you think of Biohack like a woman, it's like, oh, it sounds really old, like we're going through menopause. I'm like, that's so funny. But if you ask a 25 year old man if he's a man or a boy, he would get offended by the word boy. He would want to be asked, called a man.
Also ask him, ask him. He wants to find a good girl or he wants to find a good woman to spend his life.
Very true. Right? Yes. And so I realized that part of this title is me healing the word woman for myself.
Oh, Aggie, that's so cool. I've watched your personal development path for a while and we've sat down and chatted about this stuff off camera. And, and like you're, you're doing something publicly that a lot of people are struggling with, to do privately or with a therapist or something like that, where you're claiming your space in the world. Right. And acknowledging, you know, the full extent of, of your power. And it's something that men and women go through and it's, it's something that I've gone through in, in the course of my career, in my life. The, the thing that I found was holding me back was I felt like shit all the time. It's hard to like step into the bigness of your future. Like, I can't even step out of bed today because I'm just so freaking tired. And it sounds like you really got there.
And it's funny because I heard you say that about danger coffee in the past, but it didn't land until recently, which was like, I, you know, I was into travel and like, become the best version of yourself. And I thought it would be so easy for everyone to just go after their dreams. And then I got really sick and I was like, wow, without the biology, we're not going after any dreams because we can't even think outside of our body. And so that was like a big realization that people aren't really lazy or it's not like they're not Motivated. They just sick on so many levels. And that was what got me really into, like, spreading, trying to spread biohacking with the mainstream, because I realized a lot of people are intimidated by it, but it's the mainstream that needs it the most, you know, not the people that go to Erwin already.
It's funny. Since the early days of. Of biohacking, 60% of biohackers have been women. And I've. I've said this for a long time, women are actually better biohackers than men on average. And I believe, and you might, you know, fault me for saying this or something, but as a guy, most of us are sort of conditioned, especially by high school coaches and whatever. Like, if it's not bleeding and you can still walk, you're probably fine. And that's like a guy thing. And like, okay, like, no bones are sticking out. Like, let's just push. And of course, that's why a lot of guys are, you know, I pushed hard, and then now I'm, you know, 45, and I have serious injuries that won't heal, and my shoulders are trashed, and I need a new hip, and I wish I'd have been nicer to my body later. So I think with women, though, you are more in tune with your bodies because they change more than guys do. You have cycles that we don't. And so that means that you grew up with an awareness that some days you're more focused than others. Right. And I don't think we teach young men that, even though we also have our days where we're stronger and weaker. So just there's an awareness of the state of the body that a typical woman is more likely to have than a typical man. Do you think there's some truthfulness to that?
100%. And I think, you know, I live between LA and Bali. And so us in general has a very strong masculine energy, which is power through, Shut up, keep going. You know, it's kind of like, achieve, go for it. Which is very strong masculine energy. And so it's very different to the energy that I have in Bali, which is people do things very slowly and they're very patient. And it's like, oh, it just doesn't align today. So we're going to do it in the future one day. And so at the beginning, I was. Was really annoyed by all the locals in Bali. I'm like, oh, they're just so. You're not doing anything. And, you know, they taught me the beauty of being, you know, the beautiful feminine energy of Just like, let things happen sometimes, you know, you don't have to really fight for everything. And so I think bringing that feminine energy into biohacking would be super beautiful, which is not always pushing through, you know, the pain or, you know, 40 minutes in the cold plunge or whatever it is that, you know, men love to push themselves to.
It's like three to six minutes is ideal.
But, like, there's so many crazy people that I feel like the harder, the better, the more pain. I mean, I've been there. I felt like, oh, if I'm doing a workout and, you know, it doesn't feel like I'm dying, then it's probably not working.
Or, you know, it's true. And, and it's funny what biohacking does. It gives you more energy, more power, more capacity. Um, but you can still hit the wall. It just means that you've moved the wall out a long distance. You can get a lot of speed before you hit the wall. And women will typically hit the the wall. When it comes to over fasting, over ketoing, over training, you know, you're going to feel differences. If you go zero carb for a month or start over fasting four to six weeks, you're going to start feeling something's not right. My cycle isn't where it was. Your body will give you feedback sooner. Guys. It's more like six, eight, ten weeks. And we don't feel it the same way you do. But first, for both men and women, it's my sleep quality just went to hell, my heart rate variability dropped. And if we don't have that data or we ignore it, then we're like, well, it's probably because I didn't exercise enough. I'll work out even more. Or I'll be even more keto, right? Or I'll be even more vegan, right? Yes, you can do. Or the honey might not be vegan enough. So you have to go one step further down, right? So all of that happens. But then for, for you, you kind of know what your body does in a typical month, right?
And I mean, we have the fifth vital sign, which you guys don't, you know, and so I see so many fitness experts saying, you know, this is the best workout plan on the planet. Oh, by the way, I haven't had my period in 10 years, but, you know, this is really good for you. And I'm like, well, hang on a second. Oh, yeah, like, is that a big, like, warning sign? So I realized that it's like, it's the best Feedback if you're period is late or painful or, you know, you're not thriving, you know your diet isn't good for you, which you guys don't have that feedback, it's going to take much longer for you.
Our feedback is one that we don't really talk about. It's you wake up and you don't have a kickstand, right. Your cortisol is high, your testosterone is dropping, and it's so predictable. Like, you can tell what someone's labs are going to be based on what their practices are and if they describe as a woman, here's how I'm feeling. Oh, let's see. How's your sleep? How's your exercise? Oh, you're not eating enough calories. When's the last to be on some protein? And so it's funny, we have these, like, best practices are getting adequate animal protein. But adequate is different for a woman versus a man. Right? And the amount of stimulus it takes to get your system stressed is different than a man. But we both need stressful stimulus and we both need recovery. You probably need more recovery than an average man.
And yeah, that women live in our heads. And, you know, we like, you know, we 80% of autoimmune diseases are women because we're just like, hyper vigilant and super worried about everyone around us. And, you know, we're. I mean, I'm polished. I was brought up by my mom up until this point. We go for Christmas and I was like, you know, make a plate for Jacob and do this and do that. You know, it's like, I'm like, no, he's an adult. He's gonna be okay. But it is a big focus on, like, serve the men and put everyone else needs in front of your own. And it's still the culture in a lot of countries. So that makes us just forget how to connect with our body and just ask ourselves, like, how do I actually feel, you know?
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So let's start there in specific advice for women so self care. How does a woman learn to put recovery and rest first instead of last?
That is a very good question. It's so tricky because I think what we understand as recovery is not exactly what mainstream understand as recovery. Sure like being watching Netflix on a couch. It's great but at the same time like actual active recovery which could be still going for a walk it doesn't need you have to veg out on the couch. For me that just means saa going for a long walk playing with Peanut my self pleasure practice as well.
These are tell me Peanuts your dog not the name of your self pleasure.
Practice I want to yes Peanut is my dog.
Just making sure.
So like things go viral and you're like okay what is she talking about? She has pleasure with peanuts. No Peanut is the name of a dog. So yeah so like all of the things that just make you Feel, like, good, you know, and, yeah, I think as long as it feels good, and it's just, you know, not another piece of cake, I think. Whatever that means to you. You know, for me, even, like, writing the book was a part of a recovery. You know, I would wake up in the morning and connect with that creative energy. Like, I, I. I'm so glad I'm done. But then on the other hand, I'm like, oh, dang, I missed those mornings, waking up at 5 and just writing.
What's the difference in your recommendations for cold exposure for women versus men?
Okay, so this is a really good one. I think it. It's really tough because obviously, when I first got into biohacking, I did everything you did, and, you know, you always said, like, you always did say, you know, fasting, you know, f know women, it's different. I'm like, no, I'm just gonna go, you know, I want to go harder. I don't have to, like, listen to that part. So I was, like, the worst. You know, I was a vegan biohacker.
Oh, well, I still accept you.
Yes. And so I was like, you know, I'm just gonna do everything he says, but, like, I'll just adjust it to my part. Didn't quite work. So fasting was, like, one of great examples. I would fast every day. Like, completely wrong. I would also do cold exposure. We have a. We have a cold plunge at home. We have one in. In Bali. So I would do it every day because, you know, I like to push myself. I have that, like, in me to, like, don't be weak now. I don't do it before my. About eight days before my period, and usually just tend to do it around my ovulation, which is day 14 or right before. So, like, day 8 till 10 to 14.
Got it. So you don't do it in about the week or so before your period.
Yeah, so I basically, I cut down on fasting, I cut down on. On cold exposure, and I cut down on pushing myself, and I just kind of focus on, like, a recovery. Right. So we're more lunar as women, so this is, like, a time for me to just step into that, like, softer.
So be kind to your body when your body's under more stress than normal. Who would have thought, right? And it's the same thing for guys. We don't have that kind of stress. But if you're recovering from a cold or on the edge of getting one or you flew around the world twice in a week, and you get home, maybe you don't need to do an extended CrossFit workout and two hours of cold therapy or whatever you thought was going to make you stronger. That's actually when, when anyone, man or woman, needs to recover. And so are you in a state to receive a strong stimulus so that you can, you can recover? Well, it turns out all of us can have times where we want to be in the state, but we're not. It's just you can predict it more easily because you have that window. And when you're not in that window before your period, if you're feeling like crap, are you going to go do a cold plunge and heavy workout or are you going to recover?
No, no, I'm going to recover. And you know, you did say that in all of your books, so. But like, it just, people don't like I wasn't. No, it's like, you know, like you're not quite ready to like receive it until actually it lands and then it's like, holy. I'm like, oh no, he knows that already, never mind. But yeah, it's really, really important.
I mean, I, I might know it, but there's, you know, there's things I don't experience, at least not in this life because I am a man. So having your perspective on it is, is really important. And there's less research. I mean, let's face it, most research, if you take all of the research since 1900 or so that we pay attention to, there's a lot of 21 year old white college students who are men who were the test dummies until probably the early 90s where we started including women in different races and things. So we would understand, oh my gosh, women are not little men. So medically we have all sorts of biases. And in the world of biohacking, especially with the later stuff, the best practices are out there because more than half of biohackers are women. And we talk, right? And men talk with women, women talk with men. And you know, I'm here at my house, I have all the stuff that said upgrade labs. Like I can't afford the full on cryo giant walk in chamber that does your face. So I have a cheap cold plunge, which is not as good, but it's good enough for home use. But when I'm in it with my girlfriend, I stay in longer and it's okay, right? And so she'll.
You stay longer in the, in the cold plunge?
Yeah, I'll stay longer in the cold plunge. Right. So she might get after 90 seconds and I'll stay in for three or four minutes.
Oh, I say, okay, cool. I was like, I thought he's gonna get it.
Yeah. And, and then of course, if she tries to get out early, I just make fun of her. I'm kidding. You know, you don't do that because there is a part of all of us when you get in that's like, jump out. This is bad, right? But all of us want to have the strength to overcome that. But it literally could be you just needed 30 seconds, right? So just, you know, pushing yourself to, to keep up with, with your partner is probably not a good idea. Likewise, if you're a guy, you know, hopping out before you got the stimulus you needed might not be a good plan. But you both needed to be in the cold plunge, right? You both needed to be in the sauna, you both needed to go exercise. But the same number of plates on, on the, the barbell. If you're still using concentrated rocks and barbells and you haven't gone to upgrade labs, fine, whatever. But like, we're just not the same. But, but the idea that we need to do about the same stuff at different volumes and sometimes on different days, I feel like there's so much in common. From a mitochondrial perspective, but from a stress hormone perspective, men and women are a little different. Can you walk me through why that is? It's.
I. So first of all, I just want to say I love that you brought that up because I. There is this another school of women out there that just say, like, you know, never drink a sip of coffee because it's too bad, you know, as a woman, it's too much for your adrenals, you know, don't do any exercises. And it's just kind of like, no, I want to enjoy the benefits of fasting. I want to enjoy the benefits of coffee. Cheers.
Yeah, I'm sorry, if you can't have a cup of coffee, something's wrong with your adrenals. Unless you have a problem with metabolism. Caffeine, like a genetic thing in your liver. Other than that, a cup of coffee for women. If you look at all of the studies that look at reduction in all cause mortality, women need polyphenols too. And caffeine is good for men and women. And so.
Exactly. So I think it's like, been like there is like, know, there's the school that kind of tells women that we need to do the exact same thing as men. There's another school that says, you know, basically, don't leave your couch and just Be super gentle. And I think just like kind of like meeting in the middle and realizing like literally what you just said, we do need to cold plunge, we do need caffeine, we do need sauna. We do need to lift weights and heavy weights to the point of like, okay, this is, you know, I'm about to break, um, so I can get stronger. I just don't want it to, you know, you just have to do it at the right time. Watch your hrv, do it at the right time of your cycle, et cetera, et cetera, right? And it's like, don't do a fasted workout if you're lifting weights. Like the, the basics that a lot of people overlook. It's a more interesting question that you ask about, like, why is it that we have to be more careful as women, right? We, you know, we're the carriers of the species. Obviously for us any sort of food restriction means okay, it's not safe to have a baby and we immediately lose our period. But I think it's, there's this deeper level of emotional and spiritual and psychological level why women tend to have all the autoimmune diseases. And why is it that we, we don't almost like metabolize stress as, as well. Like we hold on to things. You know, it's like I can see in my relationship with my fiance, you know, I say something and just like three days later I'm like, babe, you know that he's like, yeah, he already forgot, like it's not in his body. And I think this is all correlated to like holding onto things and just not letting go.
There's definitely some psychological and emotional and spiritual components to it. And there's also just a question of where does your DHEA come from? Right. And men can make stress hormones in our gonads and women don't, especially post menopause. It can be very, very different. And I mean you're now a middle aged woman and so.
Thanks Dave.
I was hoping to get you spitting right when I said that. But you're, you're not. Well, you are facing at some point, most likely, unless we biohack this menopause at some point. And I've, I've done so much work with perimenopause women over the years on tuning biohacks for that. And it's rough because they change on a monthly basis. But if you have the practices that are in your book, you've already established what your body feels like at different at different times. So if your cycle is late or early, you can still adjust what you're doing. But there's a huge number of women, you know, that are, I'm going to call them with great respect, are wise women. You might also call them elders, but literally we need our elders. I learned all of biohacking from people in their 70s when I was in my 20s. That's why I can do what I do. So women in menopause, how much of your book talks about them?
I didn't actually focus much on menopause because when I originally wrote the book, it was 600 pages because I wanted to include everything. And then I got a little hint of like, this is not a textbook. And I think a big part of we talked about in my podcast. And you made me cry when I said that because I'm not a doctor. And I think this have this deep rooted belief that my sister was the smart one. I was trying so hard to make this book like I know my shit. So I wrote 600 pages of like, you know, I know everything. And people are like gently like, okay, Aggie, like no one's actually going to read it because this is a textbook and if you want to write a book, it has to be more of a storytelling. So what's your goal? And my goal was, which I shared with you earlier, to get biohacking into mainstream. You know, it's like that's why this whole thing of why biohacking bestie. Because I was like, okay, people know the science and where to find it. Like you can Google it, you can come to your podcast, you can read your books.
But it's Google's a pool of medical information at this point. You can't Google it, but you can use any other search engine.
Yes. And so I realized that it's like, okay, like I. How can I like make it as simple as possible? And that was really hard. Even right now when I sit with it, I was like, I have this like deep fear. I was like, is this book, you know, it's not covering everything I wanted just because it's already 300 pages. I wanted to keep it not overwhelming. And I say that in the book. An over my overwhelmed woman doesn't buy a hack, you know, like a confused customer doesn't buy. And I think people when it's like too much information, they just don't do anything. And so I think maybe the next book, you know, would be, definitely would include those women. I started to biohack my mom.
Will you work on another book that's for women who are either in perimenopause or menopause, actually.
So it's funny that you say that, but we, I have an online course and we just extended to menopause because that has been the biggest feedback. Women are being told it comes from lack of fertility. Then they're being told that, you know, they can't get pregnant. I send them to your book. And then, you know, a lot of them in their late 30s already have signs of perimenopause. We're entering it way sooner. Yeah, very, very common. And so I was like, oh, well, like it's kind of like my age group already. And so the more we can delay it, the better. And so we started like I have a science team that's helping me research certain things. And I was like, oh, there's actually so much you can do. But one thing at a time. I focus on how to live according to your cycle. Then I'm going to have a baby and then I'm going to focus on.
Maybe the next one. And I've had several just top notch experts on women's hormones and perimenopause on the show. I'm thinking like Sarah Gottfried, Anna Kabeca come to mind.
Oh, I love.
Yeah. And many others. Yeah.
But I don't know if you know. So those who don't don't know the story. With me and Dave, I lived in Santa Monica for about five years. So I would go to, I would walk to Bulletproof Cafe and what Upgrade Labs Cafe it's called now.
It was. That's the sign from the cafe behind me on the wall because we shut the cafe down and yeah, that's the sign.
Oh, good. Because I moved out. I'm now in West Hollywood, so I don't care anymore. But it used to be my thing and I even looked, I remember to that point I was so obsessed with bulletproof coffee and you know, the vibrating plate that I remember when I was sitting there and I was like, I need to find an apartment walking distance from where I am. And I did. And we're like two minutes away. And so I would like run into you and be like super shy. But I was just like, hi, Dave, I love all your books. Da, da da. And then we ended up meeting at an event. And I don't know if you remember, but once I got a hold of you, I was like, dave, I want to have babies later. How do I delay my perimenopause? I was like, now that I have access to you, that was the first question I asked. It Was really, really interesting. What you shared.
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It's kind of funny because you know, I'm a fat computer hacker formerly, right? And people like, well, what business do you have as a non medical professional, you know, CIS white male to talk to women about their health. And to that I usually just say, how dare you label me without asking.
Which makes me laugh, which triggers them.
Even more, of course, because they're not people who are actually interested in the answer to the question. But the reality is that the mother of my children couldn't have children, and I really wanted to take care of her to the best I could, which is something a lot of guys like to do. We like to take care of the women in our lives. Like, so I learned and, like, I studied and we had kids as a result of all this, you know, biohacking and fertility knowledge that are healthy and.
Beautiful, you know, so that's like. It's. It's.
It's like it's a thing. Like, men and women do it together, and we can support each other in biohacking. Now, here's a part of that. What can men do to support the women in their lives in their biohacking better?
First of all, understand this, what cycle is. So a lot of times, you know, a big part of what I do is teaching women about their cycle. And the number one feedback from men is like, but what about men? I'm like, why can't you learn about your woman's cycle? You're more most likely going to be with a woman in a relationship. Wouldn't be your superpower to know what, like, you know, there are only four phases. Not that complicated. Nothing harder than a guy educating a woman about her cycle and say, hey, babe, is that day 21? Oh, how about we just slow down today?
How about I hide today?
But okay, no, that's like day 26. Just like. But what we actually do is my. My wildest dream is we were working on an app for men which would link to female. So basically, as a woman, we're going to have cycle bestie, which is going to help you track your cycle. And then men will have a mirror app. So they will see the day that the woman is in, and they will be able to see exactly what day she's in and how. What's the best way to support her?
Have it send a text message to the guy every morning that's like, watch out today or do this today.
Yeah, that's the plan.
We would love to have that. And it's kind of funny.
Instruction manual for your girlfriend.
My girlfriend was like. And yeah, because I'm kind of dating someone, in case you didn't notice, but she actually was like, you're getting an app to track my cycle? And I'm like, this is such a cool thing. So, yeah, so I. I want to know, because it Totally directs how I communicate with her and what I plan. Right?
Yeah.
So it's. It's actually really cool. So that's one thing. We can know your cycle. And by the way, guys, if you don't want to have kids, knowing her cycle is pretty important because there's really about five days that women can get pregnant the rest of the time. No. And unfortunately, or fortunately, depending on whether you're Mother Nature or not, during those five days, women are insanely attractive and insanely horny. Because when you're ovulating, you're like, I need it. And guys are like, why is she so attractive? And then that's why half of unplanned pregnancies happen. So if you know about that, if you want babies, that's the time. If you know about that, you don't want babies, you could practice extra care during that time.
Yep, yep, yep. So that's basically the vision for. For Psycho Bestie, which is helping, like getting men on board. You know, it's like, it's. It almost feels like for a woman, like it's. It's our job and we need to figure it out. And it's. It's almost like in. In silence and almost in shame. You know, when I ask a woman, I don't know, a single woman who ever walked through the restaurant holding her tampon without hiding it, you know, we all need to change the tampon when we go out for dinner. And it's always like deep in the sleeve and we're always embarrassed. And I was like, why don't we just own it? But why is it just considered shameful or embarrassing to go change your tampon in a restaurant or in a public place? And so I think we're entering this new era where men are. Are here to celebrate women and want to know more.
Couldn't women just take the birth control pill? Cause it's so much easier.
Yeah, no, I think it's a great idea actually. Now that you brought that up, tell.
Me, talk to me about biohacking for women and the birth control pill.
So we're not here to judge people for their choices. I know that sometimes birth control can be the best thing that you can do because, you know, we're all in situationships or other things that are not serving us and our. The goddesses that we are. But in reality, I was never informed about the side effects of birth control. And that's the biggest thing. As long as it's an informed decision. You know, you do you. It's your body. But My decision about taking birth control was not an informed one. It was just presented as a candy or kind of like, oh, you know, you're not going to have a period. This is great. No one made me understand that, you know, ovulation is our superpower. We actually get stronger, our bones get stronger. We. It helps us with insulin, you know, resistance during ovulation. So also, we're more attractive and we're more likely to get a, you know, raise at work. So. Yeah, like, you're losing on all of that. Yeah, I mean, these are the. There's studies for that. So. Yeah, no one ever told me, like, hey, this is the birth control. You're not going to ovulate for years, which means that your body won't regenerate naturally every month. And so that's. That's a big one. Apart from the fact that, you know, synthetic birth control makes a lot of women depressed, suicidal, like it did for me. And, you know, Ricky, like, who came on my podcast, created such a beautiful documentary.
She was on mine.
She's coming on my book launch.
I met her at Burning man years ago, and that's how I got her on the podcast.
Yeah, she's.
She's.
Oh, she's so good. She wrote a little endorsement for the book. She's like, yeah, let's just get women off first control. Like, yay. But also, I totally get it. It might not be the solution for every single woman out there.
Maybe not every single one. I think it's one of the biggest crimes against women is hormonal birth control.
100%.
Having access to birth control is absolutely necessary, and I think it's a human right. But selling something that increases risks of all kinds permanently and changes your psychology and changes your mate selection without telling you that is unethical. And so, you know, throughout the course of my life, I've been familiar with this for a very long time because of my work and longevity, even in my early 20s. And so whenever I was. Was dating someone, I'd be like, you know what? I really care about you. Like, even. Even though we're not gonna have any kids, I would really like for you to be as healthy and as powerful as possible. Like, let's look at the literature and see what happens. And they're like, I didn't know I was doing this to myself. And I'm like, that's great. You know, it's your choice. And then if they go off birth control, then I smell different, then they break up with me. Oh, wait.
I mean, it is A thing. I don't know if it was true for you, but it is a thing. Even co producer Abby Epstein had that situation where the moment women get off birth control, the pheromones change and they no longer attractive. One thing that I. Because my question was like, let's get women or off birth control. But the question is hormonal birth control.
Birth control good. Hormonal birth control not good.
Yeah. Yes. Thank you for correcting me. That's right. And so we were thinking, like, what can I do? Because the reason why we're on birth control in the first place is not because we can get pregnant for only five days. Most women have very irregular periods, and so it's really hard for them to track those five days, you know, and it's that ovulation window changes. And so one of the big missions with the book is to help women support that cycle naturally. You know, I'm working with Sean. Well, on a supplement that will work on like female mitochondria to. Would actually help you get your period way more regular.
Aren't all mitochondria female, are they?
No, no. As a for. No, no, no. I just meant for like, for women.
I was like, I'm teasing it. Mitochondria always pass down from the woman's line. There's only like, there's like seven women who have all mitochondria on the planet. They're the great great. Or nine, I think. Nine women.
Oh, no way. I didn't know that.
The nine daughters of Eve that tracks the source of mitochondria for all humans.
Oh, I didn't know that. So we're all kind of related.
Yeah, but it's only the women pass on mitochondria, guys. We don't get to do that.
Oh, interesting. Yeah. So that's basically what we have been working on because I. I realized, like, for most women with the amount of to toxins that we're consuming, they don't have regular periods. They will get pregnant if they just, you know, rely on their, you know, tracking their cycle and you have to really actively detoxify. And, you know, I just, I got a real annoyed because I just posted, you know, if you're using drugstore makeup and, you know, not detoxifying actively, you know, it's probably not a good idea for your hormones. And, you know, there's a skin care expert that said, no, no, no, all skincare is good for you. And I was just like, the mainstream misinformation is driving me crazy. Like, it's just Mad.
It's just so. It's so broken in the mainstream and it. I still feel like we're encouraging women to cut calories, to lose weight. What happens in a woman's body when she under eats calories and exercises?
I mean, so I think even if you don't try to lose weight, it's the, the, the, the message is so strong for women that I shared with you on my podcast that like, we under eat just because we think it's more feminine. You know, just like smaller meals, smaller bites, avoiding steaks or meat. Right. Like, I think we not only don't eat enough calories, we most. We don't eat enough fat and enough protein. Like, if I look at, you know, I worked with so many women right now, and it's incredible. It feels like, can you write down everything that you ate today? And it's usually just processed carbs or carbs and sugar. You know, very little healthy fats, very little protein. And so we like, scared to eat normal meals because of societal standards. And just like, I'll just have a smoothie or I'll just have a latte and I'll be fine. So I think it's just like, there's a lot healing that needs to happen because the moment we don't have enough calories, we not only have massive hormone disruptions, you know, there is a big psychological, like, refeeding syndrome that happens as well, you know, when we just basically start to eat the yo yo diet, right? So we. You under eat and then you have a very unhealthy relationship with food where you will get hungry after a while, you know, and leptin ghrelin gets all confused. And, you know, all of a sudden I had that I could never feel full on a vegan diet. I was just like, I had to tell myself, okay, time to leave the kitchen. But I could never feel full. And I always can. I always felt hungry. It's like, it was so hard, you know, and it's. There's this moment in the book where I mentioned that I was listening to your interview with Dr. Mike Hyman, and you said, if you can't fast for 12 hours, like, there's. You don't have metabolic flexibility. And I'm like, what? What's that? I remember thinking that, and I'm like. And I tried like, fasting for like, till 12, and I was just like, oh, my God, I feel like I'm dying. Like, what is. How can people do it every day? And so it's. Yeah, that was like a Big turning point, actually, that interview of yours and you saying that, that I was like, oh, shit, maybe my diet isn't that good because I just genuinely, my, I had stomach pains, like, I couldn't go without.
You know, when I was a vegan too, I bought bowls like, like as big as my upper body to try and get, like, enough salad in there. And I would just, like, chop up all these veggies. It was ridiculous. These giant red salad bowls from one of those. I forget the name of that fancy kitchen place, like William Sonoma. And I'm like, it takes so long to chew that much food. I'm like, I'll put it all into a blender and, And I'm doing like a gallon of blended veggies with coconut oil and all that other crap in there. And I was never full. Like, just constant aching hunger. I think that, that women, that, that creates more stress in women's bodies than it does in men's because you're more sensitive to a lack of, of calories, lack of nutrients, because it affects your monthly cycle, and for guys it affects longer cycles. Does that sound.
Yeah.
Real?
100%. And I think, you know, even up until this point, you know, we still get shamed for eating full meals, like in the restaurant when, you know, sometimes my fiance loves, Prefers sometimes a sweeter breakfast. So he would order waffles and I would order a steak. And the waiter comes, so it's like, oh, steak for me. He's like, oh, wow. Such a small girl and you eat so much, you know, I don't give a F. But, like, most women get a little intimidated by it because it's like, it's so common.
Waiters actually say that. Really?
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Just be like, like such an ugly waiter and there's nothing you can do about it or anything like that. It just feels like this is like a smarmy response to that.
No, but I, I, if you're, if you're a woman in your 20s and 30s, I'd say you probably have to eat a little bit more than your boyfriend. You have so much more at stake. Your fertility is at stake. Like, you need that fat. I was like, I just don't understand. Like, if anything, we should normalize women eating more, not less.
I've never been attracted to women who only eat like two bites of salad because you know what they do? They eat half my steak. Oh, I'll just have a bite. And I'm like, like, I needed two steaks and I only ordered one because I was being Polite. And now I'm just like, I just ordered, like, hey, can I have the steak? And then another side of steak on the same plate? And they're like, what? Like, I don't want all the other crap beans or whatever. Just put two steaks on a plate and whatever veggies I actually want to eat that you serve, which isn't probably that many. And. And then. And I've done that on dates too, and I'm like, sorry, I'm gonna eat the big steak. Because I. I don't have the brain and body that I want if I don't eat enough steak. And if that's an issue, like, it's probably not a good match. Fortunately, I find that that eliminates 80%.
Of women in the US for you.
I don't think it does.
Like, you're happily in a relationship.
I think it does. I don't know. I've been on a good number of dates. Maybe it's just because of, you know, a function of who I am in the world. But, yeah, I. I can't imagine a guy being, like, bothered by a woman nourishing herself. And.
And if.
If you're a guy and a woman you're seeing actually wants to eat and it. And it turns you off. Dude, get a therapist. Like, seriously, you have seated psychological issues, and you need to deal with those right now.
I mean, because it's like. I think it comes, like, the. The hunger for life and that. I think a lot of boys or men, Children, are intimidated by strong women. And there's something powerful about eating a good meal. You know, it's like claiming your power back and just saying, hey, I'm hungry. I'm gonna eat. And I think a lot of men can be intimidated by it.
I guess we'd have to bring on men of different ages and perspectives to know if that's real. There's. It's funny. There's this balance, and it's like, me.
In my 20s on Raya. I think it's very different now because it's like, people are waking up. But, you know, 10 years ago, it wasn't exactly the case.
I think 10 years ago, we. We had more of that. And. And. And there's a difference between a. A healthy woman and then, like, an angry woman, right?
Yes. Oh, let's talk about that. Because that's. Actually.
I spend a lot of time. I hang out with people of all different ages. I have a bunch of friends in their 30s, mostly because they have much better parties than my friends in their 60s. And 70s, no offense. Some of my 60 year old friends are really good partiers, but I'm somewhere in the middle of that range. So when I'm talking with them, women are clear. And we have been for whatever hundreds of thousands of years. Men are generally a physical threat, right? Like because we're bigger. And like most women I know have had at least one really negative experience with a man who was stronger. Right. That's to totally acknowledge that. And many, many men have had an experience of having their character assassinated. Like a, basically an angry person who had a vendetta who was willing to lie. So guys are afraid, like can't ask her out because she might have been educated, that if she felt uncomfortable and asked her out that it was harassment. Like I know a place, they were teaching this in a school. So guys are like, if I say the wrong thing, I can have my, I could lose my job and you know, my reputation. So they're locked in. And women are like, I could have my physical safety. And they're locked in, right? So then it comes down to learning how to feel safe in your body if you're a man and if you're a woman. So then you're like, oh, I can feel someone who feels safe and I can feel that I feel safe. And then you can have a conversation and like, hey, like would you, you be interested in talking about going out sometime? And if they're like, no, then they didn't feel threatened and you didn't feel threatened and we're all good. But I think that takes growing up. What do you think?
Yeah, well, and no, and I, I actually mentioned that big part of why we store fat is not feeling safe in our bodies. You know, it's really, it's a big like safety suit that we put on. And so when we don't feel safe, we project that sense of unsafety onto everyone around us and everyone is, you know, a potential threat. And a lot of women live in that state. You know, I have been harassed multiple times. Once with a knife in Brazil, recently in Bali, walking late at night.
Yeah, you're not a big person. What do you like four feet tall?
Pretty much. So, you know, so interesting. I was actually, it was a missing part of the chapter in the book and I was recording a voice note because sometimes I go for walks and just like voice not what I want to say because I have such good ideas. And then when you sit in front of the laptop, it's not exactly, doesn't flow every time. And I was like recording a Voice about, like, all women and the feeling of safety and how so much more important is for us to nurture that and not rely on our partner. Because I think then we're just in a very codependent relationship. You need to find that safety within you. And then this guy comes up and he starts harassing me. I. On a bike, which was super intimidating, but all in the voice notes.
Oh, wow.
Yeah. And so I actually sent it to my fiance after I was like, you won't believe it. As literally as I'm leaving, leaving this voice note, it's there. But that made me realize how, you know, and then doing Aya and just kind of having this realization that we live in this. This feel, you know, we feel like, like prayer a lot of times. And that makes us feel like we're constantly running from instead of kind of just stopping and just like, okay, cool. I need to own that feeling.
It. It's interesting that. That you're saying, don't rely on your partner. I mean, I. I've learned in. In studying just a lot of relationship stuff over the last few years. Like, one of the biggest things a man can do is bring a feeling of safety to a woman. Right.
So I think what's. I guess, different or what. Where the. Where There's a small shift that's happening in some circles, which is coming from a place of like, how. What if I can be a whole person? And what if I can have that sense of safety within myself? What if I have this sense of structure and direction within me? And so then that I allow my partner to also have tap into his feminine, which is emotions and being in tune with who he is and how he feels. And so we don't come from a place of codependency and wanting. Like, the other person needs to be those things for me. But I can come from a place of like, well, we're a whole person and we just love each other. It's unconditional love. Because I don't want you to provide this sense of safety for me. I can get that myself. And when you do, it feels so good because I feel like you just do it out of a place of love, not out of place of responsibility.
That's beautiful. The idea that you're capable of feeling safe on your own makes you independent and strong. And when I look at biohacking and there are some people out there who've kind of tried to drive a wedge in and be like, biohacking is entirely different for men and women. I'm like, that's funny because it's always been for both the definition of change the environment around you and inside of you to have control of your own biology. One of the biggest variables in the environment around you is your partner or maybe partners. Right. And then it's your close community of friends and it's your family.
That is the next book, Dave. Honestly, that, that is. I don't know what the title would be, but this is your next book.
I could write it.
Change the environment around of you. Partner insight. Yeah.
Right. So you, you find a good partner and then, yes, you're capable of creating safety. I would argue in my experience, for most women, generating internal safety is more work than it is for men. Like, you don't naturally walk into a room and know the three people you have to kill first if necessary, do you? I do. Automatically I walk in the door and I know exactly. And I don't have to think about it really. I'm not hyper vigilant either. I used to be. But I know absolutely, without any doubt whatsoever who's a threat and I know exactly what I would do if necessary to stop them. Because that's my job as a man. And it doesn't cost me anything to do that. It is natural. It's my job to spot the tiger and it's your job to feel the world and to help me do that because that's more work for me. I can do both, but one of them doesn't take me any time. Right?
Yeah.
So to be a highly integral person, it's nice to have both abilities in yourself. And it's nice to be lazy and be like, you know what, my partner is probably going to notice something that I don't notice. And my. And likewise, you know, the guy might notice there's a car speeding towards us that you might not see. Right?
No, I think it's. And again, I think this is like a new shift in relationships and why there have been so many divorces because I think for a guy, if you're the provider, like it feels good. But then after 30 years, when your woman, when you feel like you have to provide now you're expected to provide. You feel used. Right. And doesn't feel good anymore.
Right.
Like you want to be. Be appreciated for it and it should never be taken for granted or respected. Right.
So taking partner for granted, it doesn't work. You're totally right. And, and I agreed. A helpless woman, not so attractive. Right. And a helpless man, not so attractive. So it's like.
Or a man who's not connected with his feelings. And he's like, he doesn't know what he really wants and it's just like very heady. Like that's not attractive either. Like you want to have a guy who's connected with his heart. You know, it's like it leads from his heart, not from his head. Like that's just very, you know, 20th century.
It's funny that we're getting into this, you know, and we're talking about biohacking for women. And since your hormonal and health profile as a woman affects your psychology, it affects your feeling of safety in the world, it affects your mate selection and it affects how you interact with your mate. Right. Like I don't know how to separate that. All of the stuff in your book ends up being reflected first in yourself and second in your primary relationship. And then it kind of ripples out from there. Which is why like biohacking starts in the cells, even the subcellular components, and it works its way up. Right.
And yeah, yeah.
So I, I love that any woman who reads your book is going to become healthier, more electrically able to make energy, which means more able to sense the environment around her, more able to take action and to take, to not be reactive but to choose in action than to be proactive. And so that's why biohacking is so important. And if you're over fasted and you talk about a lot about how to women over fast, how to avoid it, you're not going to be able to show up that way. It's like, how do you show up in that powerful way as a partner? I think that's cool. And, and it's, it's maybe not fully reflected in here because there isn't a chapter on like pick a guy who you know is a good partner because you'll be less stressed and vice men. But it seems obvious, but it's kind of part of the thing.
I mean. Yes. And I think everything comes like kind of what we started with the conversation, what you said about danger coffee here. Like when people have power, they can become dangerous. And I think I had that realization. When women feel good, I don't need to tell them what they need to do. Like I don't need to motivate them to live their best life. I don't need to motivate them to change the world for the better. They will, you know, they just have to feel good in their bodies. But we're so, we're in zombie like state that, you know, back in the day I would Try to motivate them and convince them and this. And it just doesn't work. You just have to help people feel good in their bodies. And once that veil of brain fog lifts, people do incredible, beautiful things. And you know, I say in the book that there is. There's this softness that only women can birth into this world, but we're tired and we're over committed and we don't really feel seen because we don't see ourselves. We need to bring that main character energy into our life. And I think you even taught me this. And I think I want to just acknowledge one thing, that big part of why I really appreciate this friendship is because, you know, even though biohacking is mostly male dominated, at least, you know, the top biohackers are male. You always were the one that was.
I don't know, man. I think Sarah Gottfried, Anna Kabeca, Dr. Molly of Women biohackers, who I think just took offense.
There, there are. But when you see people that are actually, you know, biggest podcast, biggest, you know, biggest stages, like it is, there's.
Some bio out there, no doubt about it.
Yeah. And so, like, it's not about getting offended, it's about just recognizing, like, okay, well, women are biohacking. They're not exactly represented on stages, perhaps. And so what can we do to change that? And I think you were the person that was pushing me and reminding me of my power. It's like, you can do it. You're smart enough, you're big enough. Your last text to me is like, come on, you're big enough. You don't need to play small. And I really want to acknowledge that, that it's like, no, you always made space. And I felt super supported without ever any expectation. And I think this is my promise that I want to make more space for women in their 20s, in their 30s, that are. Want to enter that space, that are young, that feel intimidated by smart guys, that use fancy words and, you know, and they just want to do whatever they can. Um, and that's my biggest wish for biohacking is to be mainstream, you know, for women that don't have access to healthcare because they need it the most.
You know, I love it if everything that I write is written. If, if only I'd have known that when I was 16 or 19, it would have been so much easier. I would have suffered so much less. And I probably been a lot nicer to a lot more people too. And I'm finding now I have kids who are teenagers and like, dad just Tell us what to do. Make it really simple. Like, guys, I wrote like eight books on this. Those are already really simple compared to this whole universe of info that I'm trying to compress here. And then I'm finally getting to the point where, well, tell me what you want to do. Do you want to be smarter? Do you want to have more muscle? Because I can tell you the top two things for each of those, but without even a goal. So I love that you're zooming in on women and you're saying, let's make it easy at this age or at that age so that it becomes simpler and simpler. I believe that biohacking is disrupting mainstream medicine and it's making some people uncomfortable. Like Peter Attia.
Yeah, I saw that.
It's so amusing. I mean, this guy's a surgeon. The kind of cut and burn style gets really unhealthy. And now he's like, I'm a longevity doctor. But biohacking won't work because no one will ever live longer than they already do. And you should take statins and you should lift a lot of weights and, and maybe some rapamycin. And that's your longevity strategy. And I'm like, this is so 1990s. Like, it's. So the anti biohacking movement comes from threatened doctors, when there's literally tens of thousands of doctors are listening to this episode right now who are going to order your book and recommend it to their patients. So if all these, like, functional medicine doctors, many of whom are women, right. And they're out there and they're working on making a whole new reality where biohacking disrupts traditional medicine. Right. And so the more traditional you're trained, like a surgeon or something, the more likely you are to just not see the world that's coming. And the world that's coming is that we as men and women, we know the manual for our own body and we only go to the doctor if we got in a car accident. And which point. Hospitals are great. Do you agree with that?
Yeah, 100%. Like I said, like, it's, it's not relying on healthcare anymore to go for advice how to stay healthy and live longer. You know, this is just like disease management, right? And so like, we don't ever want to even, you know, we shouldn't go there with. Unless it's a life threatening emergency. But sadly, most people get their information of what to eat and what to do from their doctors. You know, I have a lot of friends that had cancer and they haven't been recommended to eat healthier. You know, they just like continue eating your pasteurized cheese and white bread and, and whatnot. Doesn't really matter. You know, it's just, it's scary. It's, it's really annoying and it's, there's like this, this big anger in me on so many levels because we have put so much trust to these people. But then I realized that not really exactly educated because it's biohacking such a. Its own thing.
You know, almost you get these like registered dietitians coming after you on social media.
Yep, I do too.
I love them. The people who literally are in charge of school lunches and they're the people who put a soda machine and McDonald's at hospitals and they make hospital food and they're like the most blind people, most programmed people I've ever seen. And at this point it's like everyone knows that they make shit food. And there's a new wave of like early 20 to 30 year old holistic dietitians and they sound a lot more like nutritionists and they're totally messing with all the old people who are the ones who are trolls going, I'm a registered dietitian and how dare you not eat soybean oil? And you're like, dude, you are. Your days are numbered. Right? So yeah, be grateful when they come after you because they're actually raising their hand to be the first to be fired.
I remember when I had a car accident. Speaking of hospitals, I survived a very, very dangerous car accident. I didn't wear a seatbelt. I was driving for 100 miles an hour in the middle of the desert and we rolled over three times. And I just remember that after I woke up, the first thing I got was ice cream and jelly because it has collagen.
Wow.
So I can feel my bones. And I'm like, really? I still remember that. It was like 15 years ago. It's just like, it isn't that crazy. How am I supposed to recover? It's no protein, no, no fat.
They, they just, it's almost like they willingly want you to stay in the hospital longer. I don't understand. I.
As if there was an interest for them that you stay in hospitals longer. Weird.
I had abdominal surgery with a robot about, oh, two weeks ago. I had a really tiny hernia. I didn't even know when I got it, but I was like, I should get that fixed. And the surgeon, who's really good, but he's like, oh yeah, you should have this pre surgical drink and the surgery is like at 2 in the afternoon or something says, just drink it at 8 in the morning. And I look at it, it's from insure, and it's got 50 grams of maltodextrin. So you're gonna drink this and your blood sugar's gonna go up to like 250, even if you have a good metabolism. But by the time you're in for surgery, it's gonna crash and you're gonna be at like 75 blood sugar. And I thought to myself, fuck that. So I might have just had a couple tablespoons of raw honey, a little closer in and some ketones, and I did just fine. But the fact that doctors are recommending like, oh, and it had canola oil and some other bad sweeteners. You're just like, this isn't okay for humans. So in your book, you talk a lot about nutritional recommendations for women. And in our show today, I want you to just give me the top line things that you've discovered women need.
Don't count calories. Always focus on nutrients, like how nutrient dense focus food is. And, you know, just making sure that it's. It's. If you, even if you can't afford organic, you can afford something that's a little bit more local and seasonal. That is. Tends to be more full of nutrients. Chew your food, it's a big one, especially if you're not supplementing digestive enzymes. I. I know that most women don't even digest the food that they're getting. They're not absorbing the nutrients that they need to be. Avoid all the anti nutrients. Everything that's making you sick, essentially. Big for women, personally, for me in the journey was eating organ meat. I think it has to be a part of you if you're trying, if, if you're planning on staying fertile, eating organ meat is a very big part of what you should do.
Are you like Liver King, like eating balls and stuff like that?
No, I eat beef liver. Super inspired by Weston Price and he's work.
And that's the most important one, right?
Yeah. So beef liver, like, you can have it in supplements. If you can't say that stands the taste. My mom makes the most delicious pasta.
Everyone from Eastern Europe says that. And the rest of the world is like, that's crap. And having been married to someone from the Czech Republic, dude, that liver does not taste good. I'm sorry, what?
No. Oh, my God. You need to come over to Poland one day and I'll make you beef liver.
All right.
Because it's really good. But like, just like coming back to the basics, right? Just like unprocessed foods and making sure you eat it enough fats and protein. And it's not enough to eat protein for dinner. Like it's 30 grams of protein at, at every meal. Because it's just like. Yeah.
Have you seen the recent studies about doing way more than 30 grams of protein?
You mean per meal?
Yeah.
Well, so it's, it's really tricky because my question is how much do you actually can absorb? Right. And what happens with undigested protein in your, in your colon?
Yeah, it's, it's the same thing here. Undigested protein typically turns to ammonia, which wreaks havoc in, in your gut.
So it's like. So my question is, do you need to have more than 30 grams or do you keep 30 grams, you know, focus on fats and just have a lot of digestive enzymes to actually be able to absorb all the protein that you're having.
The new study, this, this just came out like in the last couple weeks, and it, it actually reflects something that I've been discovering over the last year or so. We know that there's a window, like Gabrielle Lyon talks about this. About 30 to 50 grams are about what we believed you could use. So someone did a study. It probably was in men. I don't, I don't. I would just guess that. I don't remember off the top of my head, but they did a hundred grams of protein and at every meal. Yeah. And. Oh, wow. Looked at what happened and they found that if you ate more protein, that muscle synthesis was higher for the next 12 hours. And essentially the protein was. Got utilized if you could digest it. So study didn't exist. But a couple years ago, I was like, I'm only eating sometimes one or two meals a day. How the hell am I to get 200 grams of protein? Yeah, it's not possible unless I'm going to go over 50, because then you'd have to do four meals to get. So I said, I'm just going to do a hundred grams of protein a meal. It. It seems to work.
I look all right.
I'm, I, I got leaner from it and I actually measured liver function, ammonia and all that. Just take your digestive enzymes. It works just fine.
Yeah, so that would be my, like, my biggest thing is, like, a lot of people are so scared, I guess, because we have a very different audience and I work with women that never even heard of digestive enzymes, and most of them can't Even digest enough protein they're eating. But I. I probably eat more than a hundred grams, so I'm like 100 pounds myself. I definitely eat more than 100 grams of protein, but I take digestive enzymes.
You'll be able to tell, though. Although, look at that. Wow, you're ripped. Slight difference in genetics, if you are. If you're eating too much protein and not digesting it, there's a very clear sign. And bodybuilders, the real aggressive ones, who eat incredible amounts of protein, they all know what the gym smells like, because undigested protein will destroy your farts. And I've heard, I don't know if it's true, that women sometimes fart, so.
No, we don't.
Yeah, I didn't think so. But if it did happen, and you had to blame the dog, you didn't digest your protein is what I'm saying.
Yeah.
Right. So if that's happening, take digestive enzymes.
I love that you actually bring that up, because I think it's like, people get, like, so funny, especially women, when it comes to, like, smells and analyzing your poop and analy, you know, like, not using. I don't use a deodorant. And people like, oh, that's so gross. I'm like, yes, if I start to stink, it's the best biofeedback, that it's time to change my diet, like, and so I can't tell. Deodorant.
Deodorant is for people who are unhealthy.
Yeah.
It also usually disrupts your endocrine system or gives you toxic metals. So if you need deodorant, even the.
Healthy ones, they're not worth it. Yeah.
And if you're healthy, you'll actually smell good. Like, you smell like a healthy person, which isn't unpleasant to other people.
Yeah. And all the pheromones are out. You know, you're not blocking them or covering them. So. Yeah. If. Especially for a woman, I think it's just like. Yeah. If you have smelly farts and smelly poop and you can't smell yourself, you know, then this is a little hint that perhaps your diet should be changed.
Yeah, absolutely. Oh, I found the study. Here's what it says on Science Direct. It says the anabolic response to protein ingestion during recovery from exercise has no upper limit in magnitude and duration in vivo in humans. Wow. Amazing claim. That was in Cell Reports Medicine. So, like, this is kind of a big deal. So what that means is for men or women listening, if you're working to get 1 gram per pound of body weight. And you recommend that in your book, right?
Yes, yes, yes.
And this is of animal protein. If you're only going to eat two meals a day, depending how much you weigh, you might need 60 grams of protein per meal. It'll work if you take enzymes.
Yes. And that's, I guess it's like the biggest part of it is also like making sure that you. It's the minimum 30 grams. Right. So that it's at least 30 grams at every meal. That, that you don't go, you know, without that.
How many women do that? Not that many. Like, oh, I'll just have an egg. I'm like, that's not going to work. And then a lot of times and, and you've felt this too, when you were 25 and doing, you know, your influencer stuff, you could probably just eat, you know, I'll just have some avocado toast and whatever and you're fine, right? Yep. And all of a sudden you realize it doesn't work as well. And then, you know, we go through all these like early 30s problems because we didn't know how to do it in our 20s. And if you'd have done it right in your 20s, you would have stayed like you were in your, until you were 40. So it's like we, we lose so much of our capacity because we just didn't have good information. So.
And it's like we're not interested. I, I watched your document, I watched your interview with Brian Johnson and how he said like he's really having a hard time spreading information about Dr. Colonel. Right. And he said like people are not interested. And I think in our 20s we just, you know, we take health for granted. It's really hard to get people to get mildly interested. And so a big part of what I do, you know, with those trying to do fun reels and kind of like appeal to Gen Z is make them fall in love with taking care of them body. But you just have to speak their language. And it's like, it's how you get hotter or this is how you get fitter, you know, because if you tell them like you're gonna live longer in your 20s, you don't care. Like you feel like I have 60 years, you don't have a perspective. And then closer to your 30s, you're like, oh no, this is awesome, I don't want to go.
That's why back when I was running bulletproof, it was like the state of high performance and even the whole biohacking movement is, it's language that's accessible for people in their 20s. Right. Because I was so frustrated. I'm like the only 26, 27 year old going to these longevity anti aging meetings and all the members and attendees are like 60 and they're giving me like all the tools to turn my brain on and like, like it was so cool and no one would ever come because it was for old people. Like this is stupid, this is for powerful people. And that was why I recharacterized like epigenetics and longevity as biohacking because it's the element of control. And right now the people who feel the most out of control are women, especially young women. It's like, hey, how about you have some control back and read Aggie's book and now that you're in charge of yourself, you know, maybe, maybe you'll pick up the right guy if you're looking for one, or maybe you'll get a promotion. And like those things happen because you're more in your body because your body works better. And we know this to be true. So you've, you've learned, you've, you've gone down this path, you know, you've, you've gotten sick, you've gotten well, you've tried all the things and now you put them in a really cool book and you've now written what it says, one of the best books on biohacking for women, especially women who are in their fertile years, I'm going to say. And next up, I, I suspect is the Fertility Pregnancy book. I know when you go to study and then, then after that you can write the book on.
I'll just copy paste the Better Baby book and just rewrite this like face rewrite.
Actually, let me ask you a final question before we, we wind up here.
Yeah.
When I wrote the Better Baby Book, I, I actually reread it recently. I'm like, you know, I nailed this like same, but I was a little bit too low carb for women and maybe a little too high in oxalates. Like the sweet potatoes versus rice. If I'd have rewritten it, I'd have said do more white rice and less sweet potatoes because of oxalates. How big of a deal do you think oxalates are for women?
I think it, it's kind of a little to me personally, like coffee. It's like, I think some women can have oxalates and they feel fine.
And I know most do when they're young.
Yeah, yeah. And so Dr. Lara, who's head of my medical research. That was the biggest change for her health, removing oxalates. Like she was like chronically sick and unwell and didn't even couldn't get through her university. So it, it's like with everything, like the whole idea of biohacking, there's no one size fits all. And I think it's just like monitoring. Like I'm, I feel good after sweet potatoes. I do love my eggplant as well. And so I have a lot, quite a few anti nutrients here and there and I, I'm able to metabolize them well but I see how they compound. Like if I go to Europe, I have to many peppers and tomatoes in Greece and then I'm like, oh yeah, my gut feels it for sure. So it's, it's like it's just finding that sweet spot and seeing how your body responds to it. I don't think it's like a, you know, everyone should remove them because it really depends on. Yeah, on you.
It does depend on you and it depends on long term effects as well. And I, the reason I was asking is I've seen so many women who are saying I have interstitial cystitis, I have problems, frequent bladder infections, you know, frequent UTI issues and they stop oxalates and like it goes away in a week. And even vulvodynia, which is a really, really painful condition where you get oxalate crystals in your, in your vulva and like you can't even wear underwear when, when you have that. And it's like it's related to these classes of food. So I, I always say, well look, you know, you could probably pound spinach and kale smoothies. I did. It didn't have any problems until it started causing major problems because they build up over time. So I was kind of curious where you were and it sounds like you have a moderation and like we can all handle some oxalates. It's just for me, for years I was like all about the almonds, raspberries, spinach, kale, beets, like all the highest things. And I know that.
Yeah, like that's being vegan for you, you know?
Yep. So I wanted to get your take on that specialized biohacking question for women. Anything else about your book that you want people to know?
Yeah, actually I, super randomly as I was, the book was getting ready and it had a bit of a, bit of a delay. I ran in Bali into these two guys who are one of the first people in the world to create AI brains. So they take all of the information that you have, but then they add personality based on interviews like this one. So they listen and they are able to pick up the personality. And so they were the ones that kind of put to put together this AI Aggie, for the book. So it comes with a little chat. So anything that if you just can't be asked to read this book, you can just scan the QR code at the front and just ask the AI, like what's the most important points in the book? And the AI will tell you, so you don't even have to read it. So it's just a little bit more interactive. So nice.
Aggie, thanks for continuing to spread the biohacking message because it really matters and it matters no matter what age you are. It matters whether you're a man or whether you're a woman. The deal is you need to be in control of your own biology, which allows you to be better at dealing with all the other people around you. So thanks again.
Thank you for having me and thank you for always just being so welcoming and open to new people in the industry. It means a lot.
So you're very welcome. The book is Biohack like a woman. You can can buy it online and anywhere books are sold. Right? You have distribution for this?
Yes, yes.
Beautiful.
So anywhere you can think of or there. Thank you, Dave.
Got it. All right, thanks. Upgrade Collective. You're listening to the Human Upgrade with Dave Asprey.
The Human Upgrade, formerly Bulletproof Radio, was created and is hosted by Dave Asprey. The information contained in this podcast is provided for informational purposes only and is not intended for the purposes of diagnosing, treating, curing, or preventing any disease. Before using any products referenced on the podcast, consult with your healthcare provider carefully, read all labels, and heed all directions and cautions that accompany the products. Information found or received through the podcast should not be used in place of a consultation or advice from a healthcare provider. If you suspect you have a medical problem or should you have any healthcare questions, please provide promptly call or see your healthcare provider. This podcast, including Dave Asprey and the producers, disclaim responsibility for any possible adverse effects from the use of information contained herein. Opinions of guests are their own and this podcast does not endorse or accept responsibility for statements made by guests. This podcast does not make any representations or warranties about guest qualifications or credibility. This podcast may contain paid endorsements and advertisements for products or services. Individuals on this podcast may have a direct or indirect financial interest in products or services referred to herein. This podcast is owned by Bulletproof Media. A Human Upgrade, formerly Bulletproof Radio, was created and is hosted by Dave Asprey. The information contained in this podcast is provided for informational purposes only and is not intended for the purposes of diagnosing, treatment, treating, curing or preventing any disease. Before using any products referenced on the podcast, consult with your healthcare provider carefully read all labels and heed all directions and cautions that accompany the products. Information found or received through the podcast should not be used in place of a consultation or advice from a healthcare provider. If you suspect you have a medical problem or should you have any healthcare questions, please promptly call or see your healthcare provider. This podcast, including Dave Asprey and the producers, disclaim responsibility for any possible adverse effect effects from the use of information contained herein. Opinions of guests are their own and this podcast does not endorse or accept responsibility for statements made by guests. This podcast does not make any representations or warranties about guest qualifications or credibility. This podcast may contain paid endorsements and advertisements for products or services. Individuals on this podcast may have a direct or indirect financial interest in products or services referred to herein. This podcast is owned by Bulletproof Media.
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