Chris Barnes : The Truth About Your Genes, Health & Longevity

What if your genes aren't actually your destiny? Today, I'm joined by epigenetic longevity strategist Chris Barnes to explore how your everyday choices can influence your health, gene expression, and even how you age. This one might completely change how you think about your DNA. Chris, a huge welcome to the Habits of High Performers podcast. How are you doing, mate?

Absolutely amazing, James. So, so great to be here.

Now, I'm excited because we're going to talk about something that I would say arguably the listener has definitely heard about, but might not know a lot about. And I'm all about wanting to understand these things that we can do to shape our future health. And you really are a global expert in the world of epigenetics. So, people have heard this word before, epigenetics, but most people don't really fully understand it. If you had just 2 minutes, how would you explain it to my audience?

Absolutely. We just need to understand that epigenetics is measuring the little, little chemical stamps that get applied above our genes that then influence how our genes behave. So epigenetics is highly influenced by everything that we control on a daily basis and then the things that we don't control. So think how we eat, how we move our body, how we sleep, even how we think and how we deal with stress. All these inputs are signals into that chemistry above the gene that then creates little memory stickers around specific genes that can alter how the gene functions without actually altering the genetic material in the gene. So this is really fascinating because if you think of it like dial tones above the gene Epigenetics can turn the dial up on gene expression or turn it down. And this is really important because all the really favorable things that we do with really good diet, good mental biohacking, sleep principles are going to influence better genetic tone on those that turn down disease markers and can turn up the really protective pathways in our body. So yeah, epigenetics sits above the gene, influences how our genes express. And just think of it like little memory, memory stickers that get applied, and they're constantly getting applied with everything that we're doing on a day-to-day basis over the years. And, and we know that these can affect people with the wrong habits, but they can be reversed in a lot of the cases as well, just with good Good habits. And that's really empowering for people to understand that it is very dynamic. Epigenetics is very dynamic.

What I love about this is that we understand about the gene and that a lot of the things that are passed down to us, good and bad, are passed down through the genes. But probably up until the last 10 or 15 years, most of us have thought, I'm probably going to get that cancer, that diabetes, that cardiac issue, because granddad and dad and et cetera had that. But my understanding now is that actually, there's not a guarantee that you're gonna get those things. And in fact, you do have some say in it by influencing this gene expression.

Absolutely. So true. So many people in the past have believed that, yeah, genes are so much of your genetic destiny, and it's definitely not the case. Yes, we can inherit sets of genes from mum and dad, and if there is some vulnerable aspects there, it can definitely affect gene expression and then biology and then our health, right? Especially when it's combined with drinking and smoking and poor lifestyle habits. That's when it really compounds, when those signals come into poor, faulty programming. But just having them doesn't guarantee anything. Uh, genes are never 100% deterministic. We know that. It's a, it's a probability. High probability having risk genes. Some are more weighty than others, but many can be positively influenced with, with good diet, lifestyle, sleep, all the things that you and your guests have spoken about on your podcast over the years. Uh, so yeah, definitely not genetic destiny.

What are some of those potential, like, autoimmune diseases, um, or illnesses that a listener might go, hey, Actually, now that you say that, maybe I do have some of that in my genes. What are some of the most common ones? Hey, James here. I wanted to take a quick moment to let you know about something. Look, I get asked to deliver keynotes and workshops for teams and companies all over the world, from London to Antarctica, from America to Australasia, from armies to small businesses, to large corporates, to sports teams. But I go in and deliver keynotes around the mindset of high performers, around the habits of high performers, about how we navigate change, If you would like me to come and speak to your team or speak at your conference or deliver a bespoke workshop, please get in touch with my team. caroline@jjlaughlin.com will be able to help. I'll also make sure that we put that in the show notes.

The really common ones that I do see is relating to cognitive decline risk. A gene called APOE, apolipoprotein, plays a big role in fat metabolism. within the cardiovascular system and the brain. And the risk allele on this one is the 4, APOE4. And generally about 1 in 4 people in population carry one of these APOE4 alleles. So it's quite common, right? And this is really something that was super fascinating to me because I played 15+ years of contact sport, rugby league in Australia, and sustained many concussions over that career. And I know, like, all the people in rugby, rugby league, fighting who sustain these concussions, having one of these APOE allele, APOE4 alleles, increases the susceptibility to inflammation in the brain, neuroinflammation, and damage from those concussions. Nobody knows this, right? It's, it's never really taught to anyone. And I think, again, 1 in 4 players in, in that profession, how many people are sustaining really compounding head knocks over the years that lead to cognitive decline risks or mental emotional issues post-career as well? It's really important to know these because there's a lot of things. Even so, about 1 to 3% of people carry an APOE4 allele. That's the double, so they've inherited one from mum and dad. This greatly increases the risk of cognitive decline.

And when you say cognitive decline, are we talking things like Parkinson's, Alzheimer's?

We're talking, yeah, Alzheimer's dementia based on this. Yeah. And just having it doesn't guarantee, but the thing that does compound it, as we see, having that, and then as we age, because most genes naturally just decline in enzyme function with age. If you've got a high-risk gene, and then as you get older, it can decline, especially if you're not doing the things that you know can be really supportive for that. Exercise, sleep are 2 of the most powerful interventions for brain health, but even a diet that's really appropriate for that. Generally, with that type of genotype, eating less saturated fats is more supportive because part of the issue is an issue with transport and metabolism of fats. So really high saturated fat can actually amplify the impact on that and lead to more plaque buildup, cardiovascular system, brain, brain issues as well. So that would be one.

What I'm understanding as well though is that there's not really a, hey James, everyone should just do eat this, do that, take this supplement. It's like Everyone's specific and unique. And we should possibly, before we go down the path of buying all the supplements and doing all— is get a figure on what does our genome look like? What things from a genetic standpoint might we be susceptible to? Would that be a fair assumption?

It's the perfect assumption and one that, in my opinion, is the future of this precision-based approach to our own health and well-being. And performance. I've seen this over the, the 5 years I've been working in the genetic epigenetic space. There's so many variations in people's genetic material that makes them more susceptible or more sensitive to certain things in their diet— saturated fats, carbohydrates, right down to micro and macronutrient, uh, necessities. So some people just have a really high need for certain vitamins and minerals based on lower circulating levels or activation issues. Others just have very, very typical— to say that everyone should eat this way is not the best approach, in my opinion, with what I can see. And it can be detrimental to some. Like I said, if everyone just jumped on high-fat keto or carnivore because it was very popular, and I'm not saying it's not right for some people, But some people can be very, very wrong for, with, with the, the coding in their biology, they're just going to be creating a bigger problem down the line. I always approach an individual based on this principle of bio-individuality, which is everyone's unique. Let's have a look under the hood. What's your coding? What's your genetic blueprint? What do you need? Yes, there's, there's overarching benefits from eating a whole foods diet, less processed food.

Yes.

Less refined sugars, seed oils, all those kind of things are going to benefit most people. But when you come down to high performance, what's right for you, you need to treat you based on that bio-individual principle because you're going to get the best results.

And I think that word high performance, for some that might be athletes, but others it might just be a parent who wants to be healthy and energetic for their kids. It could be the CEO who wants to get to 62 or 65 and retire and still have 30 years of life and energy, right?

100%. 100%. And most of the people I'm working with are those really busy moms and dads that are running businesses, and they're tired, and they're, they're kind of borderline burnt out because the, the candle's burnt at both ends, and they don't understand how to fuel their body to the best of their their potential, and they really do need to have some more care with the, the things that they need on a day-to-day basis, from diet, getting enough downtime in there where their minds shut off so they can— they're not, not use up all their energy just through overthinking and never shutting off. And I see that a lot in the, in the people I work with, just burning too much energy in, in that constant grind and not actually just switching off and shutting off. Because it's full-on, right? Like when you've got 2, 3 children and you're running a business as well, it doesn't stop, does it?

No, 100%.

You get up and it's go, go, go. And then you're in your business and then you come home and it's go, go, go. All of that is expending energy.

And the brain itself, you're right, just thinking or making decisions, the brain consumes, I think it's roughly 20% of the body's energy, but it's quite small in comparison to the size of our body. So, we do need that downtime. Now, I'm very keen to know how simple is it for me to go, I want to get a test or multiple tests done to give me where I'm at, what my genes look like, et cetera. What does that look like?

So simple and accessible these days. You can order it online. Within 4 weeks, you'll have your test completed and the results back. And then the information there to ideally, I would say, have, have somebody experienced in this space help interpret it because there's so much value there. And sometimes it's missed when, if it's not housed in, in the right report or format. And there's so much information in there that can support so many different systems in your body, but it's so simple to do. And it's, it's something when we're talking genetics, that data is not changing no matter what, what happens in your lifestyle. So it's a resource that you can get now and it's going to serve you for the years to come. You can always refer back to and look at, oh, if you're finding that your digestion's becoming a little bit affected down the line, you can look into genes that affect gut motility and microbiome status. Or if you feel that you're just not sleeping well, then you look into genes that affect sleep and melatonin production. It's, it's a wonderful thing. I, I recommend every single person does this type of testing at some point, ideally sooner than later, because then you can understand what are the things you need on a day-to-day basis from food, micronutrient, lifestyle perspectives. It teaches you a lot about your own traits and personality. There's a lot of genes that are associated with just more rumination, more anxiety, more Uh, up and down moods. If you know you've got a high— higher dial tone for certain things like mood issues, then you can support them better with the right types of activated multivitamins, balance your blood sugar better, breathwork, meditation, all these things, exercise that really support better mood, better mental resilience.

If I wanted to do that today, like I want to get the test done today, where would you say we go to do that? And I'll make sure we put this in the show notes because there's going to be a listener right now going, I want to do it.

Oh, absolutely. Please reach out, uh, directly to me at Chris Barnes Wellness. I, I, we can support people all over Australia, but even in New Zealand. I've got clients that I work with in New Zealand. It's, it's a matter of just jumping on, starting that process. We have a test sent to you within a few days, and then, yeah, it's a saliva sample, really non-invasive. There's other types of testing that we can do that go even deeper than genetics, and that's epigenetic testing. That one's a blood, blood test, and, and that's going deeper into the cellular expression of genes, looking at all those little stamps and stickers I mentioned at the start to see how we're doing from a micronutrient perspective. We actually start to measure the levels of vitamins, minerals, amino acids, even down to mitochondrial function, energy production, Brain markers, and then also, which a lot of people are really interested in, biological aging markers, how your organ systems are aging, even the pace of aging. You can start to measure more live speedometer of your aging now. And these are all estimates, uh, but they're good just to give you a benchmark. Yeah, I agree. Some people, yeah, some, some people really thrive on data and they love All the testing. Others just want to go, okay, what do I need to support my, my own health and, and energy and, and great mental acuity on a day-to-day basis from diet, supplements, lifestyle? And then how is all of that conveyed into what's playing out in my body? Is all of the, the training, the supplements, the breathwork, the The ice baths, the sauna that I'm doing actually leading to better markers associated with aging and longevity. And if you're doing all that and they're not, maybe all of that isn't the right fit. Maybe you need to regress a bit of it and do a little bit less.

Yeah.

Because it's easy to, to get drawn into doing everything right. All the health tech, all the, the supplements, peptides, Everything. And sometimes it might be a bit overkill for some people. Maybe you don't need all of that. What, what you actually might need is to go and lay on the beach and get a bit more downtime, or to switch off your phone and switch off the data and just go and be, and, or go, go play with the kids in the park for a while. Sometimes that, that's more beneficial for some people than extra, extra things. Like too much sauna, too much ice bath, because all those hormetic stressors, right?

Yes.

Yeah, we have to just be very mindful sometimes that all of that is an input and it's a load, and all of it coming in might be tipping us out of the balance that we're so, so much striving to achieve. I love that.

And I think it's interesting, I went down probably 4 years ago, really deep channel with a health coach, and he was phenomenal. I was wearing all the wearables you could imagine and taking a ton of different supplements and doing different tests. And it was very exciting and I'd learned a lot, but it got to the point where I was like, this is all too much. And I've probably just pulled right back. But to me, data is everything. I'm all about using health insurance where needed to get the right data so we can go and get the scan done or whatever it might be to go, hey, this is what it looks like, this is what we're dealing with. But I've never done this. So, I definitely would love to do that. And the blood one, Being in New Zealand, can I work with you from here on the blood side of things?

Certainly can.

Okay.

Yeah, absolutely. I work with an international provider, uh, and they do ship to New Zealand as well. And this is really exciting, James. One of the, the companies I'm working with in Australia now as well that really specialize in measuring blood epigenetics, and they're now customizing supplementation based on those markers formulated specifically for you, the individual, not just an overall general supplement that benefits most. It's basically measuring those. Okay, what do you need? And then formulating a custom supplement for you on a daily basis. And this is again just the future of medicine, right? It's doing away with something that I'm sure you've probably been there. I know I'm Definitely there and have been there in the past. Cupboards full of supplements, hundreds of different supplements, because that's good for this and that's good for that. And we end up just in this overwhelm, and, and many just sit there. Some we take and they're not actually supportive for what we need. Some— and this is something I've personally experienced— I've tipped myself out of balance just because I thought I should be taking this today. Didn't actually need it, actually made me feel worse.

Yeah. When you look at Bryan Johnson, I mean, I was very curious about his journey from the beginning, and obviously wants to live essentially forever. But I look at his life and I'm like, that doesn't look fun. That doesn't look like living. That looks like a prison. And his complexion, I mean, I look at his complexion, I'm like, that doesn't look like vibrant, vital health to me. It looks like someone who needs some sunlight and some regular food. You need treats, I think, to be happy internally and externally as well. So, what I'm hearing from you is we don't need to be in a prison, but we do need to get a baseline. And from that baseline, we can actually do a few small things that can make quite a significant difference over time.

100%. I am very, very much a believer that true health is never found in extremes. And life's here to be enjoyed. And, and sometimes eating, eating a treat meal or whatever that may be for you is something that you should truly do without guilt and fear. And look, I'm definitely not speaking against Brian because I think he's done a wonderful thing to help awareness and promotion for all of these great technologies. But I do feel they— that he and, and some people miss the mark with the different layers of what optimal true health is. And, and it's not always just in measuring the data and, and the very physical aspect of our being. There's, there's all the other wonderful connection with people, the, the things that we experience beyond just the, the diagnostic side of things. And, and sometimes that is sharing a glass of wine with a really great friend or company or do eating something that may not be the best for us, but it might be very good for us in that moment because it's raising our vibration and, and connection and love. And all those different things are harder to measure than just in, in diagnostics and blood tests. And I think you, you nailed it on the head, having a A benchmark is so important. Otherwise, there's so much guesswork. And for 20, 20-plus years of my life and career, it was so much guesswork.

Hmm.

I was, I was guessing with clients, trying to find the right training protocols when I was working, running gyms, the right diet for them. You, you do it, you see how they feel, how they respond. Now you can get a better gauge on, okay, what would be the right balance for that client based on what their genes are saying? And, and you can really just save a lot of time to, to get there with the information that's available for now. And it's something that— sorry, mate.

No, go ahead.

Sorry. Yeah. Yeah. And, and it's something that is just so accessible now. It wasn't as accessible 10 years ago, but it is now.

We're fortunate and it's so affordable in a lot of ways too, in terms of, it's not going to cost us $10,000 to do these tests. It's like, it's very affordable. The other thing I was thinking about recently, so my CRP levels, I came back from Europe and I had really awful kind of bowel challenges that I've never had before and did all the tests you could possibly do in that realm. And my CRP, like inflammation levels are at like 9. So, they're not off the charts, but they're higher than they should be. So, if I was to come to you, where would you start with me? Would we get our base levels and then we'd start looking at why My inflammation markers are high?

Absolutely. CRP, C-reactive protein, is a really strong indication that there's, there's a trigger within your body, and then the liver's releasing these inflammatory cytokines. We want to know, okay, what that is. Is it something that you're eating on a day-to-day basis? Is it something in your, in your gut? You mentioned your gut was off. Is it microbiome bacterial? Is it parasitic? Is it leaky gut? Is it, is it something else within your body? When, when I work with a client and we map out their genetics, we look for sensitivities to certain foods that we eat. So gluten sensitivity, lactose, all these things. Then I go even beyond that. We look at how well do we detox? Because some people just genetically had some strong roadblocks when it comes to producing detoxification enzymes, glutathione, really sensitive to heavy metals and environmental toxins. So we get a really good picture. Okay, what are the, what are the pillars that could be leading to the, the way that you're feeling? And then we, we know that you've got high CRP in your blood. We would look at your epigenetics, what's playing out in there, because we can look at, uh, Forever chemicals, we can look at lead and glyphosate in the genetic level. So, marks that would represent that there was some degree of exposure for some time in your system, whereas blood is more immediate.

Yes.

Epigenetics is a longer window of that because it takes longer for those little stickers to get placed and stored. Compared to you could, you could eat something that morning, go have your blood tests. What you ate triggered—

Yeah.

An allergy or a histamine reaction. CRP rises up 12, 24 hours. It may have come back down a bit if that was just an initial trigger. If there's something else internally causing it, then yeah, you want to dive deeper. My job as a An epigenetic longevity strategist is to look for those clues and pathways in the genetics, in the epigenetics, blood sometimes. We, if we need to, we'll do a microbiome check as well to look at the balance of your bugs in your tummy. And then we've got this whole picture and I can go, okay, this is, this is why I feel that you're dealing with these. Let's change your diet. Let's change your supplements. Might be the environment. Are you exposed to something in your environment that's triggering inflammation? For a lot of people, it's mold exposure. I don't know what New Zealand's like for mold, but yeah, you're lots— yeah. Lots of it. So many people are silently impacted by this, and it's not widely, widely recognized by a lot of practitioners, but it's horrendous. I, I see so many people in devastation states of health just because they're living in mold and they're just chronically inflamed. You talk about CRP, it'll send it through the roof. It'll create anxiety, mental, emotional issues in people. It's really quite impactful for so many people. Yeah.

When you think about, you know, people in general, what are the 3 biggest health mistakes that you know, people consistently make?

Thinking that the one-size diet is the right diet for everyone, because we're never really taught that everyone's uniquely different. They need uniquely different requirements. Trying to out-supplement health issues. I do feel that We are kind of moving towards like natural, natural medicine, which is a great thing, but oversupplementation— people are taking so many different supplements and without any real clarity.

Mm-hmm.

They're, they're taking things because they, they know that generally it's a good thing, but they're megadosing things and never in, in a normal diet would be— would we be consuming 5,000, 10,000 RDI of certain isolated nutrients, right? Like, every— everything that's going into our body is having an effect. Cause and effect, right? Same with the prescription drugs. Natural vitamins are no different. They may be a little bit safer, but like, they're upregulating genes, they're downregulating genes as well. So for some people taking— if, for example, there's a a gene called COMT, which affects how we clear adrenaline and dopamine out of our brain. Some people that are slow don't deal well with high stimulants and high, uh, nutraceuticals that drive adrenaline. So taking supplements, which a lot of supplements have tyrosine and phenylalanine, which naturally increases adrenaline, it actually makes people more anxious and more stressed. because they can't clear these things out. You want to have a plan and approach based on your biology for supplementation. And definitely less is more. I've learned this personally the hard way. Less is definitely more. And having days off supplements is really great as well. You don't have to always be taking high doses and lots of supplements every single day. Start to get more in tune with, with your own body, your biology, how you feel. If you're feeling really good, When you wake up, you might not need 20 or 30 tablets that you normally take. Uh, so just get a bit more, yeah, get a bit more strategic with what you're taking, why you're taking things, and do you actually still need to be taking them?

Do you find people are going to large language models like ChatGPT and Claude or whatever they might use and kind of trying to use them as their epigenetic longevity strategist? And what's the implications if people start doing that?

They certainly are. I see this day in, day out with clients I work with, and they're coming to me very informed in many aspects. And I think it's a great thing because there's so much information there, but it's also really important to make a point that it's drawing a upon a massive data set of information itself. And when, when we're talking genetics, it can be very confusing and misleading. And, and I've seen this personally in the work because I, I, I personally use it as well because it's phenomenal, but it also has a lot of errors and, and makes a lot of errors. And, uh, because a lot of different labs, when we're talking genetic tests, use similar markers that they interchange the markers. So you could say, bring me up the information on this gene, this MTHFR gene, homozygous, or you might put the codes in, but it could completely give you the opposite of what you've put in there. And then if you're not aware of that, you'll run off and start supplementing that way or changing your supplement routine or your lifestyle based on false information.

Yeah.

So you just want to make sure that the information you are getting through Claude or chat Is legitimate and correct.

Yeah, that's why, like, from when it comes to health, I do go to ChatGPT and discuss and get informed, but I know I've been misinformed in the past. And so, I'm a big believer in find the very best expert that you can who has spent their life going deep on this one thing and work with them because they're going to fast-track and get the right information and ultimately get me the result I want.

Absolutely. And that just makes sense, right? Like leverage AI because it's a wonderful thing and it can be such a benefit, but truly understanding based on training at this point will trump it. I know that as it learns and gets better trained, I guess the discrepancies will reduce and it will get better, but you still want to make sure you're getting the right information. Otherwise, you Especially with your health, right? You could be taking something you don't actually need or could actually be very wrong for what you need.

Totally. Yeah, like turmeric's one I hear everyone saying, you must take it, you've got to take it. I'm like, well, maybe I do, maybe I don't. Like, I'd rather know if I need it because otherwise, what's the point?

Look into your genetics and find out how well you clear certain byproducts with that because turmeric's a wonderful thing for inflammation, but for some, it may not be the right thing as well.

Yeah, and I'd rather know. So, knowing what you know about epigenetics, how has that informed your daily living, like your habits, your routines, your rituals? What has changed since you started to get really deep in this field?

I've really made a big point of mentally checking in with myself a lot more because I know how much of our language and our beliefs and our thoughts feed back into that same system as well.

Yep.

So it's made me a lot more mindful and conscious of, of doing exercises on a daily basis, meditation to calm my mind. Naturally, I've got a fairly active mind that jumps around a fair bit and a lot of things going through it on a day-to-day basis. So I really need to calm that down to make sure that I'm conscious and aware of the thoughts I'm having. Are they positive? Are they growth mindset focused, less than limiting beliefs? Because I know that if I'm not in check of those and I'm using the wrong language and I'm constantly ruminating about negative loops or anything like that, it's going to be feeding back in and shaping my epigenetics, which is then going to lead to pathways, epigenetic pathways, which will be more influenced to, to think that way and focus that way. Because that's, that's how neuroplasticity works. Epigenetics works as well. That's one of the big changes. And then just doing the things that I know support optimal genetic expression, epigenetics, and, and their daily rituals that I do every single day— getting up, getting natural light, First thing before I look at my screens, before I do anything, getting, getting water, getting hydrated, doing my morning meditation. If I'm really good, I'll factor in a bit of breathwork there. That's another thing that really, really helps my physiology and my biology. But all these things, I just know that they're not necessarily glamorous by any means, but I know that they're supporting better biology and better genetic expression. And, if I do that consistently, then the system has to shape more favorably and hopefully lead to better health, healthspan.

Yeah, it makes sense. My understanding when you're sharing that is your thoughts, they shape a lot of the chemicals in our bodies. So, when we're having negative, worried, anxious, stressful thoughts, That actually creates like a cocktail of chemicals. And the opposite must be true then of blissful thoughts as well.

Absolutely. Because epigenetics in essence is measuring all those signals, right? The cells, the genes inside the cells are receptive to all that cocktail you mentioned of stress hormones, Are they feeling safe? Are they feeling threatened? And, and because we know that in really stressful situations, chronic infections that last a long time, like the cells themselves go into like a protective state. Cell danger response is what it's called. Nothing is going to thrive when a cell is fearful and protective, right? You think that energy production is going to go down. Neurotransmitter balance, digestion, any wherever it's affected is going to get compromised. So I think if you're constantly filling your mind with abundant thoughts and great connections and loving connections, laughter, joy has to shift the biology, right? And those and your cells and the epigenetic expression has to be more favorable because you feel better, right? Generally, if you feel better, then yeah, you just function better.

Absolutely. And, a lot of people will share advice around cold plunges in the morning and hot saunas. And, I did the cold plunge thing for a while, quite a while, about 6 years ago. And now, I couldn't think of anything worse. I'm like, no, I'm not touching that thing. I don't like it. It actually Pisses me off. It doesn't set me up with joy. I would rather meditate. I would rather a warm shower. I would rather a massive long walk of 20,000 steps than a 5-kilometer run. I just know what makes me feel good. So when people are being advised by all these health gurus in their workplaces and their mates who are, the harder you work and the more tin you lift at the gym, longer you're going to live. What's your advice to them?

Do you find out what truly makes you feel the best from a supplement perspective, a food perspective, a movement? Everyone's going to have their beliefs about you should be doing ice bath 5 or 6 days a week, sauna. You shouldn't do ice baths in the evenings. It's going to affect your sleep. I know people that do ice baths in the evening and they sleep like a baby.

Yeah.

You need to find out what's going to work with your rhythm because you, you are uniquely different in so many aspects and you're going to respond differently to other people. Don't just blindly follow somebody else's recommendations. Find out, is it suitable for you based on what your biology needs? But then see how you feel, get more intuitive. With your body. And I think this is one of the biggest skills that high performers and everyone should develop, is that intuitive nature with your body. When you eat something, how do you feel? Do you feel bloated and heavy and fuzzy? Maybe that food isn't the right food for you. If you eat and you feel energized and, and really light, and your energy levels are really sustained throughout the day, probably the right way to do it. As well. So do, do you find out what works for you. And it might sometimes go against the grain a little bit, but that's fine. Because if you're feeling good, more than not, I can assure you that your biological markers and your epigenetic markers are probably going to reflect that as well. And if they don't, and you feel great, then who am I to say change? Because I think feeling great is a wonderful compass. for health and longevity.

Yeah, I'm with you on that. And it's interesting, there's only in my— I've just turned 40, but only in my mid to late 30s could I start to actually realize that that food I ate 30 minutes ago actually makes me feel like crap. Now, before that, I was oblivious. Now, I'm like, oh, geez, the bowl of fries, actually, I feel gross after that. Or, I used to eat a lot of Haribo and they call them snakes in the airplane, like the old—

Yeah, the other ones. Yeah.

And I just would go through a bag in like 5 minutes, right? Gone. And then I'd feel like crap. I'm like, but in my younger years, I never noticed it. So, I'm starting to listen a lot more, that's for sure. But I really want to do this baseline. So, I'm going to make sure we get in touch after the show and get these markers. And I'm going to encourage everyone who actually cares about themselves and their families to do this test because I hear also, like, all too often, my clients will say, James, I'd die for my kids. And I'm like, that's awesome. But would you live for your kids? And they're like, what do you mean? I was like, well, you said you'd die for them. And that's amazing because you'd do anything for them. But if you're eating crap, drinking too much booze, smoking, vaping, not moving your body, and you die at 61, and they could have had another 30 years with you, Would you live for them? Would you go to the doctor and get your mole check done? Would you go and see Chris and get your epigenetics and your genetic genome tested and then make some simple changes to live for your kids rather than die for your kids? So, it's the big call to every person that's listening right now. Do the right thing by you and the people that you love and go to the link that's in the show notes and get curious about what Chris does and what it might do for you and your life. ChatGPT can't do the test for you. Claude can't take a sample of your blood and give you that. You need to work with professionals. So, it's just my call to all of you to do something today for your health, whether it's call Chris or go and see your GP, do something.

Powerful, mate. Absolutely. The support is there to map out what you need and also, Be more proactive with your health to hopefully avoid any down or declining health in the future. But you need to do the work. This only works if you do. You can get the genetics and the bloods and everything done. You got to do the work. You got you need to change your habits. This is the perfect podcast for that. But start daily habits, exercise, eating a little bit better. You don't have to flip your whole. lifestyle instantly, but just little habits every day, just, just 1% changes over the space of 6 to 12 months can be game-changing for people. I lost my dad too young at 65. Didn't know what I know now. He didn't understand the benefits of those things. Fairly inactive, uh, diet, drinker, weekend smoker. But yeah, that was the culture in, in many men in his era. And yeah, I just wish I had been able to get him kind of more in tune with kind of what I know now and what's available for people now, because it's too young to go anytime in your 50s, 60s, or 70s. I think people have a great opportunity now to really thrive through to 80, 90, 90 plus, doing those, those little things on a daily basis, still enjoying the things that you love. You don't have to, to be so rigid. And I, I really dislike rigidity in, in this space because I, I feel that you still do have balance to enjoy a piece of cake at a birthday and have a burger if you like a burger, or have a glass of wine if you love a glass of wine every now and then. But the principle is small amounts of those and just do the really powerful things on a day-to-day basis. You're allowed to have a few treats here or there. But that message is wonderful, mate. And I really do encourage any of your audience to get a lot more curious with your own biology because, yeah, you'll be surprised once you do understand how you operate better. And then putting those interventions in there, you'll feel so much better.

Yeah, that's what we want to do. When we feel better, we enjoy life more. People enjoy being around us more. We do better work. We enjoy our relationships at a deeper level. We tend to be more successful, I think, when we feel good. So, I'm a big believer in the work you do. I think it's just so vitally important. And I just hope that people actually press pause right now, go to the link, and actually get curious and see what you're about, and maybe even drop you a line and go, Chris, I want to know what's going on inside my body. I'll be your first one from the show to get in touch.

Wonderful, man. I'd love to take you through it.

Yeah, it'll be great. And for those that are listening, I'll share my journey. I'm pretty open with my health and have been for a number of years on the pod. So, whatever Chris finds, good, bad, indifferent, and then what we do to adjust it, I'll share the journey and you guys can follow along or maybe even join along.

Wonderful. Awesome.

Chris, thank you so much for joining me today, and I deeply appreciate what you're doing.

James, absolute pleasure, mate. Thank you so much for having me.

No, all awesome. We'll talk very soon. We'll get you back on the show again.

Love that. Love that.

Cheers, my man.