I'll get at Welcome to another installment of the show. It's Harps, it's Tiff, it's doctor Cam. For God's sake, Doctor Cam, do not continue the conversation that we were just having, especially seeing as it's Easter Monday. We'll start with you and we'll go backwards this time. How are you incredibly well?

I'll get at Welcome to another installment of the show. It's Harps, it's Tiff, it's doctor Cam. For God's sake, Doctor Cam, do not continue the conversation that we were just having, especially seeing as it's Easter Monday. We'll start with you and we'll go backwards this time. How are you incredibly well?

Thank you. I had a great little Easter egg hunt with my kids yesterday, and I was trying to reduce their chocolate load because the dietitian and me is still alive at times, and watching my children ply themselves with chocolate s difficult. So I got them some toys instead of eggs, and they were the win. It's like a little mini Christmas that worked.

Thank you. I had a great little Easter egg hunt with my kids yesterday, and I was trying to reduce their chocolate load because the dietitian and me is still alive at times, and watching my children ply themselves with chocolate s difficult. So I got them some toys instead of eggs, and they were the win. It's like a little mini Christmas that worked.

Well, well, good for you. How much how much do you just be the dad who's kind of a cool dad? And how much do you be the authoritative, fucking researcher, scientist, boring old fuck that goes that monitors everything.

Well, well, good for you. How much how much do you just be the dad who's kind of a cool dad? And how much do you be the authoritative, fucking researcher, scientist, boring old fuck that goes that monitors everything.

I monitor everything. It's just whether I say it. I definitely take it upon myself to educate my older one as much as I can about mate, but this is going to do that to your body? Right, But I'm not, you know, and I'm definitely not the parent that buys the slurpies as regularly, because I just I have this even though I used to drown myself and slaves at a job for my granddaddy had a service station and I had unlimited slurpy access when I was eight or nine.

I monitor everything. It's just whether I say it. I definitely take it upon myself to educate my older one as much as I can about mate, but this is going to do that to your body? Right, But I'm not, you know, and I'm definitely not the parent that buys the slurpies as regularly, because I just I have this even though I used to drown myself and slaves at a job for my granddaddy had a service station and I had unlimited slurpy access when I was eight or nine.

And you know, so look how you turned out exactly like IMN. If we're looking at you as an N equals one, everybody should do slurpies when they're young.

And you know, so look how you turned out exactly like IMN. If we're looking at you as an N equals one, everybody should do slurpies when they're young.

That's true. It's dangerous though, making assumptions from one to many. But I hear what you're saying, and I probably am a little bit paranoid about it. Probably the worst thing that happens is that I've got the knowledge. I know that it's unrealistic unless you're going to and I've got friends that have absolutely set their mark to say, I'll drive thirty kilometers rather than go to McDonald's three minutes down the road to make sure that we get some healthy food. Like I've got friends that do that, and I love and but I actually like going to Macis from time to time, you know what I mean, And the kids absolutely love it. So I don't know, I'm a little bit more realistic about it. As long as I'm as long as they feel safe, that's probably number one, and then the number two is moving as much as possible, So I try and keep them active and then do the food as I can.

That's true. It's dangerous though, making assumptions from one to many. But I hear what you're saying, and I probably am a little bit paranoid about it. Probably the worst thing that happens is that I've got the knowledge. I know that it's unrealistic unless you're going to and I've got friends that have absolutely set their mark to say, I'll drive thirty kilometers rather than go to McDonald's three minutes down the road to make sure that we get some healthy food. Like I've got friends that do that, and I love and but I actually like going to Macis from time to time, you know what I mean, And the kids absolutely love it. So I don't know, I'm a little bit more realistic about it. As long as I'm as long as they feel safe, that's probably number one, and then the number two is moving as much as possible, So I try and keep them active and then do the food as I can.

You and missus McDonald co parent strategically in that you have a certain role, she has a certain role, or is it more freestyle than that.

You and missus McDonald co parent strategically in that you have a certain role, she has a certain role, or is it more freestyle than that.

We're not together, so we definitely, we definitely have that's probably the we have the entire role when we've got the kids, essentially, But I would have to say that she is a very, very incredible human when it comes to doing all of the things and keeping track of all the things, just like many mums do. So what is she better at than you?

We're not together, so we definitely, we definitely have that's probably the we have the entire role when we've got the kids, essentially, But I would have to say that she is a very, very incredible human when it comes to doing all of the things and keeping track of all the things, just like many mums do. So what is she better at than you?

We're not going to ask the other way around, but what has she got you covered on?

We're not going to ask the other way around, but what has she got you covered on?

She is so immediately practical problem solving, sees the thing fixes that. She's an activator in our language, so she just takes action and is hyper practical in getting it done. I'll go into the theory of things and want to figure it out when she's already done four things already. So she's just got that. She's got an insane ability to just get things done and take action. And she's also she's got that abundance mentality as well, Like I'm a real I'm a bit of a scrooge. And she's very good at just always projecting we've got enough, like there's always enough for that, yet let's go do that, And she just makes it happen. She's magical at it. So I create that in my own way, but it's it's definitely a pretty powerful thing that she's got gone on there.

She is so immediately practical problem solving, sees the thing fixes that. She's an activator in our language, so she just takes action and is hyper practical in getting it done. I'll go into the theory of things and want to figure it out when she's already done four things already. So she's just got that. She's got an insane ability to just get things done and take action. And she's also she's got that abundance mentality as well, Like I'm a real I'm a bit of a scrooge. And she's very good at just always projecting we've got enough, like there's always enough for that, yet let's go do that, And she just makes it happen. She's magical at it. So I create that in my own way, but it's it's definitely a pretty powerful thing that she's got gone on there.

It's good that you have the self awareness and the objectivity and the you know, I guess the humility to go, well, she's better at some stuff than me, and that's just the truth. And I do this, which I do some stuff which is great, that some stuff not so much. Is there anything within the realm of parenting and I guess educating and forming and protecting your kids that you've changed your mind on over the journey, or that you've kind of changed your approach.

It's good that you have the self awareness and the objectivity and the you know, I guess the humility to go, well, she's better at some stuff than me, and that's just the truth. And I do this, which I do some stuff which is great, that some stuff not so much. Is there anything within the realm of parenting and I guess educating and forming and protecting your kids that you've changed your mind on over the journey, or that you've kind of changed your approach.

Yes, well, and I'd have to say that the understanding the kids biology is really really helpful for that. So just how I focus and what I hold as a standard as how you should act or how you should think or whatever it might be, is very different. So my brain and if I was in my natural state with people just like me, everything would be great. You've done that. What's the next thing that we're going to do now? Oh, what's the next progression that we're going to make? Oh, well done you. We're going to keep moving, We're going to keep going better. And oh, we've got to think about that. There's a really good growth opportunity in that. Let's discuss it, let's unpack it, let's make sure that we understand all of the things about it. That is an absolute nightmare for my oldest child because he's a little connector. Connectors are all about trust and connection and fun and variety. And so whereas I would think, oh, the most important thing is that he gets good grades at school, when in fact, now I know his lens for life is am I accepted? And do I feel like I belong? And if that happens, his homework is killer, all of his school work is amazing, all of his sport goes really well. He just needs to feel like he belongs. And so I'm just supporting him in making him feel like he belongs. Whereas I'm not trying to push him really hard with the academics. I'm not Essentially my focus is as much as possible, just do social stuff and then he feels really good and then he finds his own way to create the fun and joy. Whereas my second he's four, a bit more introverted, very practical with his hands, very connected and just onan some time. He's a little but he's got this activator streak, so he is like twice the size of his peers at KINDI. He is such a little beast, but he runs around just as fast as he's brothers or tries to. So he's ready made for the front, like the most mobile front ray you've ever seen. It's going to be amazing. So he's got a very different way of being and it's really about its connection, but it's doing practical things with our hands. So we're out in the garden playing with trucks and we're putting puzzles together. And whereas my oldest doesn't have any want for any of that stuff. He just wants to do things with his friends, place, sports, whatever it might be. And so just knowing that that's their preferences and putting them into situations where that can be them as much as possible, and pulling myself out of.

Yes, well, and I'd have to say that the understanding the kids biology is really really helpful for that. So just how I focus and what I hold as a standard as how you should act or how you should think or whatever it might be, is very different. So my brain and if I was in my natural state with people just like me, everything would be great. You've done that. What's the next thing that we're going to do now? Oh, what's the next progression that we're going to make? Oh, well done you. We're going to keep moving, We're going to keep going better. And oh, we've got to think about that. There's a really good growth opportunity in that. Let's discuss it, let's unpack it, let's make sure that we understand all of the things about it. That is an absolute nightmare for my oldest child because he's a little connector. Connectors are all about trust and connection and fun and variety. And so whereas I would think, oh, the most important thing is that he gets good grades at school, when in fact, now I know his lens for life is am I accepted? And do I feel like I belong? And if that happens, his homework is killer, all of his school work is amazing, all of his sport goes really well. He just needs to feel like he belongs. And so I'm just supporting him in making him feel like he belongs. Whereas I'm not trying to push him really hard with the academics. I'm not Essentially my focus is as much as possible, just do social stuff and then he feels really good and then he finds his own way to create the fun and joy. Whereas my second he's four, a bit more introverted, very practical with his hands, very connected and just onan some time. He's a little but he's got this activator streak, so he is like twice the size of his peers at KINDI. He is such a little beast, but he runs around just as fast as he's brothers or tries to. So he's ready made for the front, like the most mobile front ray you've ever seen. It's going to be amazing. So he's got a very different way of being and it's really about its connection, but it's doing practical things with our hands. So we're out in the garden playing with trucks and we're putting puzzles together. And whereas my oldest doesn't have any want for any of that stuff. He just wants to do things with his friends, place, sports, whatever it might be. And so just knowing that that's their preferences and putting them into situations where that can be them as much as possible, and pulling myself out of.

It as much as possible.

It as much as possible.

That's probably the biggest thing that I've learned, because I know that if I didn't know that, I'd just be I'd be logicing and strategicizing them into death. Like I know, it's just not their natural state.

That's probably the biggest thing that I've learned, because I know that if I didn't know that, I'd just be I'd be logicing and strategicizing them into death. Like I know, it's just not their natural state.

Do you think that, like knowing, for example, that your older kid loves to just belong and be part of something and be accepted, Like, would that come down to even say, we're sports where you would maybe consciously steer him away from kind of standalone sports like you're a runner or you're a tennis player, and into like team sports.

Do you think that, like knowing, for example, that your older kid loves to just belong and be part of something and be accepted, Like, would that come down to even say, we're sports where you would maybe consciously steer him away from kind of standalone sports like you're a runner or you're a tennis player, and into like team sports.

It's so interesting in that having this awareness it has not even been thought of as a possibility because he shows zero interesting. But if he was my kid, I'd be like, mate, we've got to go to swimming because I love swimming. I love following a black line for a good portion in my childhood. He's not interested at all. He just wants to push people into pools and bomb them, you know, And that's yeah, that's a kid. But I wasn't that interested in that. I wanted to swim as fast as I could and track all of my times. So because I've known about that since he was about three. Because we can measure kids from too and up. It's I've just allowed him to gravitate, but it's often a bit like socker. He loves and then he's enjoying cross country only because there's a whole group of them that run together. Anything where there's people he's into. But to send him on a run by, he just wouldn't do it. He he just doesn't have any inclination. But if you say, hey, your friends are going, he's like one hundred percent every time like that, and just knowing that that's not a deficit, but just if he's socially satisfied, it makes him happier. That's probably the big thing in my mind because I would think, oh, man, what's wrong with this kid? He can't do anything by himself. But it's just not the way that he's built. And a lot of personal development, self development help, self help stuff is all about you've got to grit through it yourself or its like no, just be around people that want to do it too, And it's really easy now all of a sudden, So there's Yeah, that's been an interesting experience.

It's so interesting in that having this awareness it has not even been thought of as a possibility because he shows zero interesting. But if he was my kid, I'd be like, mate, we've got to go to swimming because I love swimming. I love following a black line for a good portion in my childhood. He's not interested at all. He just wants to push people into pools and bomb them, you know, And that's yeah, that's a kid. But I wasn't that interested in that. I wanted to swim as fast as I could and track all of my times. So because I've known about that since he was about three. Because we can measure kids from too and up. It's I've just allowed him to gravitate, but it's often a bit like socker. He loves and then he's enjoying cross country only because there's a whole group of them that run together. Anything where there's people he's into. But to send him on a run by, he just wouldn't do it. He he just doesn't have any inclination. But if you say, hey, your friends are going, he's like one hundred percent every time like that, and just knowing that that's not a deficit, but just if he's socially satisfied, it makes him happier. That's probably the big thing in my mind because I would think, oh, man, what's wrong with this kid? He can't do anything by himself. But it's just not the way that he's built. And a lot of personal development, self development help, self help stuff is all about you've got to grit through it yourself or its like no, just be around people that want to do it too, And it's really easy now all of a sudden, So there's Yeah, that's been an interesting experience.

It's incredible that the same people can produce kids that are so bloody different.

It's incredible that the same people can produce kids that are so bloody different.

Mhmm, yeah, yeah, well that's right, so bloody confusing every parent is it doesn't matter he talks, everyone's making it up. Yeah, everyone's just having a crack the best they can. And this has definitely given me a lot more structure to those things there.

Mhmm, yeah, yeah, well that's right, so bloody confusing every parent is it doesn't matter he talks, everyone's making it up. Yeah, everyone's just having a crack the best they can. And this has definitely given me a lot more structure to those things there.

And t if what's your parenting style with Lunar and Bear? I mean, very relaxed.

And t if what's your parenting style with Lunar and Bear? I mean, very relaxed.

They are the boss of me, and I smothered them and I'm a bit needy and I require a lot of validation from them.

They are the boss of me, and I smothered them and I'm a bit needy and I require a lot of validation from them.

Who requires the most attention.

Who requires the most attention.

Both of them equally, really in very different ways.

Both of them equally, really in very different ways.

And do they get bizre of course, everybody, we're talking about a dog and a cat, not too actual humans if you're somewhat new to the show, and.

And do they get bizre of course, everybody, we're talking about a dog and a cat, not too actual humans if you're somewhat new to the show, and.

Some very woke names though. If if they were lunering Bear, yeah that's right.

Some very woke names though. If if they were lunering Bear, yeah that's right.

Yeah, imagine having a kid called Beert. That's kind of cool. Bear of course being the cat, Luna of course being the fucking world famous whippet. Shall I have her own TV show coming out soon? Do they get jealous of each other?

Yeah, imagine having a kid called Beert. That's kind of cool. Bear of course being the cat, Luna of course being the fucking world famous whippet. Shall I have her own TV show coming out soon? Do they get jealous of each other?

Yeah?

Yeah?

Yeah, and they like their classic siblings. They're at each other all the time. And then when I'm busy. If I walk out and go look for them now, they'll be kiled up on a blanket together. But when I'm around, they just beat each other up all the time.

Yeah, and they like their classic siblings. They're at each other all the time. And then when I'm busy. If I walk out and go look for them now, they'll be kiled up on a blanket together. But when I'm around, they just beat each other up all the time.

What that's about. So enough about parenting and steering your kids toward team sports or single sports, and parenting a dog and a cat. I wanted to actually talk to you today about how to keep our brain working as well as it can for as long as we can doc being as my brain is now sixty one. So there's a little bit of self interest in this. Of course, you can't be objective about yourself because I'm me, But I feel like anyway as objective as I think I can be, I feel like my brain works I was going to say better, Maybe not, but at least as well as when I was thirty. And I think maybe that's true, maybe it's not, but definitely there's not a If there is cognitive decline, I can't sense it. Maybe you two can, but I can't. But I feel like my ability to remember things and articulate things and focus and pay attention and you know, study and all of the things that I'm doing is at least as good as it was. Maybe a little bit better. But I feel also like I consciously do that, like I train my brain kind of like I train my body. I'm quite methodical and systematic about consciously learning and keeping those cognitive wheels turning and exposing myself to new ideas and new concepts and constructs, and you know, even down to teaching myself a new term or phrase or word every day or second day that I want to weave in at some stage in the next conversation or so. So tell us about when does our brain to start to slide typically, and what are some of the things that we can do to maintain improve cognitive function over the lifespan. I know that's I know we could do a serieses on this, but let's just maybe hit some of the high points.

What that's about. So enough about parenting and steering your kids toward team sports or single sports, and parenting a dog and a cat. I wanted to actually talk to you today about how to keep our brain working as well as it can for as long as we can doc being as my brain is now sixty one. So there's a little bit of self interest in this. Of course, you can't be objective about yourself because I'm me, But I feel like anyway as objective as I think I can be, I feel like my brain works I was going to say better, Maybe not, but at least as well as when I was thirty. And I think maybe that's true, maybe it's not, but definitely there's not a If there is cognitive decline, I can't sense it. Maybe you two can, but I can't. But I feel like my ability to remember things and articulate things and focus and pay attention and you know, study and all of the things that I'm doing is at least as good as it was. Maybe a little bit better. But I feel also like I consciously do that, like I train my brain kind of like I train my body. I'm quite methodical and systematic about consciously learning and keeping those cognitive wheels turning and exposing myself to new ideas and new concepts and constructs, and you know, even down to teaching myself a new term or phrase or word every day or second day that I want to weave in at some stage in the next conversation or so. So tell us about when does our brain to start to slide typically, and what are some of the things that we can do to maintain improve cognitive function over the lifespan. I know that's I know we could do a serieses on this, but let's just maybe hit some of the high points.

Okay, So your brain tissue is mirroring in many ways your muscular mass and also your metabolism and your life course. So generally, as humans, we're developing and getting stronger up until our late twenties, and then at thirty we plateau for a period and then we start declining forty five maybe fifty five just depends on where you're at. But from forty onwards, you could say roughly there's a one to two percent decline in muscle mass, muscle strength going downs a lot faster if you're not maintaining it metabolic rate. And also your brain tissue. But it's not all of your brain tissue. It's particular regions of your brain. Because there's two parts of your brain tissue. Why there's white matter and gray matter. There's obviously a lot more than that, but well, it's a white matter and gray matter. Gray matter is like the little layer of AI that connects everything together and makes all the magic happen. And the white is like the all of the the power lines and the connective connective tissues that makes the gray matter work. It like it gives you all. It provides transport for all of the ideas to meet the gray matter, and then the gray matter does its magic. So the areas of the brain that you've really got to be maintaining, your prefrontal cortex, your hipp A campus are two. We can talk about those prefrontals, your virtual work bench. That's where you're taking on new information, you're comprehending it, you're interacting. Then you're communicating that to your hipp A campus. Your hipp A campus holds it in short term memory, and then it's also informing your memory. It's informed by your it's connecting with your amignal as well, and talking like helps you remember things that were emotional, and then it sends it off to another place to go into long term memory or sometimes it's held in the HIPO campus for quite a while too. So those two tissues, prefrontal cortex thinking and calculating and then your memory are two really really important regions, and they are the two regions that seem to decline. And when we're talking about brain matter and it declining one to two percent, we're often talking about those areas and so what then, So there's a couple of things that go along with this. One is that there is because your brain is plastic, how you use your brain essentially directs traffic around your brain. So if you're using it lots and using it creatively, you start branching. You maintain the branches that you have, and you also create new branches, which is very very important. That's why you were talking about that. But then it's just like exercise training. If you just train and you're definitely putting force on your check because you're doing chest press, But then you don't fuel yourself and you don't have any blood flow going to that part of you, to your muscle tissue. You haven't got enough protein, you don't got enough carbohydrates, you don't have good blood flow, you don't have any rest. Then you end up not getting any stronger even though you're directing these muscles. Hey, you need to be stronger through bench press, because that's the instruction. If you don't have the supportive elements that then creates the growth of that muscle and helps the recovery, then you don't get it. And this is where there's You can be a very active mind all day long, but if your brain, if your body is physically inflamed, if it's not transporting blood to your brain, well, we know that how well blood flows through your brain, particularly these regions, really determine whether it's in good health or not. And there's a number of factors that drive great blood flow. It's are you stimulating the production of new brain cells as well through exercise that the blood flow is in formed by the nutrients that you have. How much you can open up your blood vessels and allow that blood to flow the exercise is another component to that as well, how well are you sleeping, what's the background level of stress in your life, Because if you've got background stress like chronic pain, or if you've got even depression anxiety, if you've got if you're sitting down all day, if you're in an environment physically that's not helpful, like there's lots of chemicals in the air, then all of those things which destroys brain tissue. And so you've got this so that out of all of that, can maintain, if not increase the size of these areas your prefront of cortex Shiper campus. You can absolutely increase them even into your seventh, eighth, ninth decade of life. So you can, if you provide the right environment, you can significantly enhance these regions of the brain. Second, and so that's going to come from using your brain for creative endeavors. And it's also about making sure you've got the raw materials and the state within your system that allows your blood vessels to open right up to provide the right nutrients to antioxidize the stress, to help you grow, to provide the nutrients that you need to rebuild those tissues as well. And while i'm here, there was a really good example of the mental side of things that you're talking about. There's a cracking book that completely changed the way that I look at exercise and actually got me into brain health because that I was halfway through writing a brain health book before I found personalization and it all got too complex and what John J. Rady. He wrote a book called Spark, and it essentially talks about how the brain can essentially supported directly by exercise. But one of the examples that they gave was around neuroplasticity. There was a nun who always throughout her life was in the top or in the ninetieth centile for intelligence and vocabulary and memory and all of these incredible things all the way through to when she died, and then she donated her body and brain for science after she passed on, and when they opened her up, it turned out that her hippo campus was completely riddled with Alzheimer's. But because she was every week every day she was journaling or like living the nun life, like having little word quizzes, and she was actively using her brain to expand it and grow it. Her brain over the course of her life said oh, I can't get my memory if I go to the hipp of campus anymore, I have to create a new pathway. She'd actually created a alternative pathway for her brain to access all of these memories, while her Hippo campus, which would normally be the seat of her memory, was completely destroyed. But because she was so active in using it, her brain found a way. And so this is the importance of what you were speaking about, is that you want to be engaged with, you know, finding the difficulty in life and working through it, you know, engaging in relationships. That's often where you can get yourself exposed to so much of the deepest stuff. It can be, you know, finding new creator of things to learn, just engaging with passions, whatever it might be. Absolutely essentially, and it's one of those things if you don't if you don't use it, you lose it. It's a very very real for the brain activity. And then we can we can talk about the physical aspects of that as well. Well.

Okay, So your brain tissue is mirroring in many ways your muscular mass and also your metabolism and your life course. So generally, as humans, we're developing and getting stronger up until our late twenties, and then at thirty we plateau for a period and then we start declining forty five maybe fifty five just depends on where you're at. But from forty onwards, you could say roughly there's a one to two percent decline in muscle mass, muscle strength going downs a lot faster if you're not maintaining it metabolic rate. And also your brain tissue. But it's not all of your brain tissue. It's particular regions of your brain. Because there's two parts of your brain tissue. Why there's white matter and gray matter. There's obviously a lot more than that, but well, it's a white matter and gray matter. Gray matter is like the little layer of AI that connects everything together and makes all the magic happen. And the white is like the all of the the power lines and the connective connective tissues that makes the gray matter work. It like it gives you all. It provides transport for all of the ideas to meet the gray matter, and then the gray matter does its magic. So the areas of the brain that you've really got to be maintaining, your prefrontal cortex, your hipp A campus are two. We can talk about those prefrontals, your virtual work bench. That's where you're taking on new information, you're comprehending it, you're interacting. Then you're communicating that to your hipp A campus. Your hipp A campus holds it in short term memory, and then it's also informing your memory. It's informed by your it's connecting with your amignal as well, and talking like helps you remember things that were emotional, and then it sends it off to another place to go into long term memory or sometimes it's held in the HIPO campus for quite a while too. So those two tissues, prefrontal cortex thinking and calculating and then your memory are two really really important regions, and they are the two regions that seem to decline. And when we're talking about brain matter and it declining one to two percent, we're often talking about those areas and so what then, So there's a couple of things that go along with this. One is that there is because your brain is plastic, how you use your brain essentially directs traffic around your brain. So if you're using it lots and using it creatively, you start branching. You maintain the branches that you have, and you also create new branches, which is very very important. That's why you were talking about that. But then it's just like exercise training. If you just train and you're definitely putting force on your check because you're doing chest press, But then you don't fuel yourself and you don't have any blood flow going to that part of you, to your muscle tissue. You haven't got enough protein, you don't got enough carbohydrates, you don't have good blood flow, you don't have any rest. Then you end up not getting any stronger even though you're directing these muscles. Hey, you need to be stronger through bench press, because that's the instruction. If you don't have the supportive elements that then creates the growth of that muscle and helps the recovery, then you don't get it. And this is where there's You can be a very active mind all day long, but if your brain, if your body is physically inflamed, if it's not transporting blood to your brain, well, we know that how well blood flows through your brain, particularly these regions, really determine whether it's in good health or not. And there's a number of factors that drive great blood flow. It's are you stimulating the production of new brain cells as well through exercise that the blood flow is in formed by the nutrients that you have. How much you can open up your blood vessels and allow that blood to flow the exercise is another component to that as well, how well are you sleeping, what's the background level of stress in your life, Because if you've got background stress like chronic pain, or if you've got even depression anxiety, if you've got if you're sitting down all day, if you're in an environment physically that's not helpful, like there's lots of chemicals in the air, then all of those things which destroys brain tissue. And so you've got this so that out of all of that, can maintain, if not increase the size of these areas your prefront of cortex Shiper campus. You can absolutely increase them even into your seventh, eighth, ninth decade of life. So you can, if you provide the right environment, you can significantly enhance these regions of the brain. Second, and so that's going to come from using your brain for creative endeavors. And it's also about making sure you've got the raw materials and the state within your system that allows your blood vessels to open right up to provide the right nutrients to antioxidize the stress, to help you grow, to provide the nutrients that you need to rebuild those tissues as well. And while i'm here, there was a really good example of the mental side of things that you're talking about. There's a cracking book that completely changed the way that I look at exercise and actually got me into brain health because that I was halfway through writing a brain health book before I found personalization and it all got too complex and what John J. Rady. He wrote a book called Spark, and it essentially talks about how the brain can essentially supported directly by exercise. But one of the examples that they gave was around neuroplasticity. There was a nun who always throughout her life was in the top or in the ninetieth centile for intelligence and vocabulary and memory and all of these incredible things all the way through to when she died, and then she donated her body and brain for science after she passed on, and when they opened her up, it turned out that her hippo campus was completely riddled with Alzheimer's. But because she was every week every day she was journaling or like living the nun life, like having little word quizzes, and she was actively using her brain to expand it and grow it. Her brain over the course of her life said oh, I can't get my memory if I go to the hipp of campus anymore, I have to create a new pathway. She'd actually created a alternative pathway for her brain to access all of these memories, while her Hippo campus, which would normally be the seat of her memory, was completely destroyed. But because she was so active in using it, her brain found a way. And so this is the importance of what you were speaking about, is that you want to be engaged with, you know, finding the difficulty in life and working through it, you know, engaging in relationships. That's often where you can get yourself exposed to so much of the deepest stuff. It can be, you know, finding new creator of things to learn, just engaging with passions, whatever it might be. Absolutely essentially, and it's one of those things if you don't if you don't use it, you lose it. It's a very very real for the brain activity. And then we can we can talk about the physical aspects of that as well. Well.

I think I don't know when did Norman Deutge write The Brain That Changes Itself? Was that about the eighties or nineties?

I think I don't know when did Norman Deutge write The Brain That Changes Itself? Was that about the eighties or nineties?

Was in the nineties, Yeah, Yeah.

Was in the nineties, Yeah, Yeah.

He kind of opened the door on kind of neuroplasticity and stuff.

He kind of opened the door on kind of neuroplasticity and stuff.

Didn't he That's right exactly, Yeah, he was. That was the seminal work in many ways that really brought it to the world.

Didn't he That's right exactly, Yeah, he was. That was the seminal work in many ways that really brought it to the world.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, that's that's amazing about that.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, that's that's amazing about that.

None.

None.

So like if we just had to and I know there's no everyone, there's no three step plan or five step plan, but if we had to go, okay, mate, what are kind of five pillars or six or three? It doesn't matter of optimizing our brain, so using it as you know, so learning like journaling like she was doing, or like may perhaps doing a degree when you're older, or you know whatever, exposing yourself to new ideas, doing research, writing a book, being creative, whatever. So and then what would where would sleep rank? Would that be next?

So like if we just had to and I know there's no everyone, there's no three step plan or five step plan, but if we had to go, okay, mate, what are kind of five pillars or six or three? It doesn't matter of optimizing our brain, so using it as you know, so learning like journaling like she was doing, or like may perhaps doing a degree when you're older, or you know whatever, exposing yourself to new ideas, doing research, writing a book, being creative, whatever. So and then what would where would sleep rank? Would that be next?

Or that?

Or that?

Would that be above that?

Would that be above that?

I think they're I think they're those. I would say you could put them into two camps. One is the physical aspects of things, one's the psychological aspects of things. And I think, uh, sleep is I mean, sleep is where you're you're releasing very very important chemicals and compounds and hormones that specifically regrow the mile and sheet on your brain, which is the part of the nerve cell that makes the signal fire very very quickly. Without that, everything grinds to a whole and things aren't in real good shape. It's where you're doing all of the recovery. The memory consolidation. So when you're having dreams, you're consolidating memories from the day before. If you don't have that, your memory just starts really suffering. But also you'll as you sleep more, your cortisol levels rise, which specifically degrades areas of the prefrontal and hippocampus that are really important for emotional regulation for all of those memories, and you enhance all of the emotional centers and the noise that they make, which make you more reactive. And so if you lacking sleep, you're still going to have a really strong brain. It's going to be really strong at being really coarse and intolerance. You'll just be very very good at that. So if you have a goal of being incredibly intolerant, get less sleep, you know, and you can train your brain to be a less pleasant person. There's no doubt about that. So that's another option too. So it's quite sorry.

I think they're I think they're those. I would say you could put them into two camps. One is the physical aspects of things, one's the psychological aspects of things. And I think, uh, sleep is I mean, sleep is where you're you're releasing very very important chemicals and compounds and hormones that specifically regrow the mile and sheet on your brain, which is the part of the nerve cell that makes the signal fire very very quickly. Without that, everything grinds to a whole and things aren't in real good shape. It's where you're doing all of the recovery. The memory consolidation. So when you're having dreams, you're consolidating memories from the day before. If you don't have that, your memory just starts really suffering. But also you'll as you sleep more, your cortisol levels rise, which specifically degrades areas of the prefrontal and hippocampus that are really important for emotional regulation for all of those memories, and you enhance all of the emotional centers and the noise that they make, which make you more reactive. And so if you lacking sleep, you're still going to have a really strong brain. It's going to be really strong at being really coarse and intolerance. You'll just be very very good at that. So if you have a goal of being incredibly intolerant, get less sleep, you know, and you can train your brain to be a less pleasant person. There's no doubt about that. So that's another option too. So it's quite sorry.

I was just going to say it's quite ironic sometimes when you talk about or people are talking about elite operators in the Special Forces and how they've got to like perform under pressure and do all of these incredible things and all the like the Navy seal training and the special operators and those all those people who qualify for those roles and go through this, you know, quite inhumane training, but to try to see how people can perform in the worst, the worst of the worst psychological, emotional, physiological, environmental kind of situations. But so you want these people that are almost superhuman, but you're doing all this ship which really degrades performance, right.

I was just going to say it's quite ironic sometimes when you talk about or people are talking about elite operators in the Special Forces and how they've got to like perform under pressure and do all of these incredible things and all the like the Navy seal training and the special operators and those all those people who qualify for those roles and go through this, you know, quite inhumane training, but to try to see how people can perform in the worst, the worst of the worst psychological, emotional, physiological, environmental kind of situations. But so you want these people that are almost superhuman, but you're doing all this ship which really degrades performance, right.

Yeah, well that's right, And and I think we may have even mentioned this last time, that psychological override is exactly what you need from those people, and it's this is something that we can all generate as well. Yeah, but it's only for acute periods of time, and then they give them some recovery, you know, it's it's never Yes, they're they're making them do it for years on end. So any stress is good as long as you can appropriately recover from it. And yeah, but yes, there's and then the belief that you can keep going is a very very important thing to instill. And this is where that if you're constantly exposed to those types of beliefs, then you're more likely to think them. Your physiology is likely to match that. Whereas if you're constantly listening to that you're no good and you've got limitations and whatever, it might be as well, and that's where your thoughts will go to as well. This is where that plasticity is an absolute weapon, good and bads depending on your exposure in the environment. So you've got to be just like you are, actively focused on how do I want my brain to grow and develop? You know, do I want it to be more creative? Do I want it to know more stuff? Or do I want to just focus on all of the stress in my life? And in both instances you'll create a brain that does that.

Yeah, well that's right, And and I think we may have even mentioned this last time, that psychological override is exactly what you need from those people, and it's this is something that we can all generate as well. Yeah, but it's only for acute periods of time, and then they give them some recovery, you know, it's it's never Yes, they're they're making them do it for years on end. So any stress is good as long as you can appropriately recover from it. And yeah, but yes, there's and then the belief that you can keep going is a very very important thing to instill. And this is where that if you're constantly exposed to those types of beliefs, then you're more likely to think them. Your physiology is likely to match that. Whereas if you're constantly listening to that you're no good and you've got limitations and whatever, it might be as well, and that's where your thoughts will go to as well. This is where that plasticity is an absolute weapon, good and bads depending on your exposure in the environment. So you've got to be just like you are, actively focused on how do I want my brain to grow and develop? You know, do I want it to be more creative? Do I want it to know more stuff? Or do I want to just focus on all of the stress in my life? And in both instances you'll create a brain that does that.

I always think, you know, I can't get another body, this is this is a silly thing. But I think I can get more money, I can get another job. I'll probably even get more friends. I could start another you know, all of these things that if the worst came to the worst, you could start again. Kind but with your body, you know, of course, like it's pretty resilient kind of, but it's the one thing that you really can't replace. So I'm always thinking and I won't be optimal. But I go, well, what what would optimal look like for my brain or for my mind, or for my posture, or for my spine, or for my energy levels or for my body composition, or like how do how do I work best? And what do I need to do more of and less of to make me work better? Yeah, and so like these questions around and again, especially like within your work, we know that different people need different things, even if they're chasing the same outcome. But other than other than doing a deep dive into your research, which is definitely not the worst idea, but for people just here right now thinking where do I start?

I always think, you know, I can't get another body, this is this is a silly thing. But I think I can get more money, I can get another job. I'll probably even get more friends. I could start another you know, all of these things that if the worst came to the worst, you could start again. Kind but with your body, you know, of course, like it's pretty resilient kind of, but it's the one thing that you really can't replace. So I'm always thinking and I won't be optimal. But I go, well, what what would optimal look like for my brain or for my mind, or for my posture, or for my spine, or for my energy levels or for my body composition, or like how do how do I work best? And what do I need to do more of and less of to make me work better? Yeah, and so like these questions around and again, especially like within your work, we know that different people need different things, even if they're chasing the same outcome. But other than other than doing a deep dive into your research, which is definitely not the worst idea, but for people just here right now thinking where do I start?

Like it?

Like it?

So I start to optimize me?

So I start to optimize me?

I would say, when it comes to if you're taking care of all the things, let's say that let's just leave your psychology for a moment and let's go to the physical side of things. Number one, get more sleep. Getting more sleep or get an appropriate amount of sleep so that you wake up refreshed. So the first thing that you can do we did a whole episode on this last time, is get consistent with your sleep and make sure that you're in bed for over seven hours like that is the first goal. Even if you're not sleeping perfectly, just be in bed lying on your back. You are more rested and more likely to recover lying on your back than you are up and around. So number one sleep, Number two is well, it's a movement of your body. I would say, obviously you can hydrate along with that too. Hydration is going to be very important. But moving your body and the reason that moving your body is so key. Firstly, your brain does best when the blood flow is better. So and as soon as you start exercising, you actually start creating compounds in your body and in your brain that open up the blood vessels that allow you to generate more blood flow out to the areas of your brain that need it. And if you get blood flow, it means you maintain those tissues. Now, what's interesting, there's also chemicals that are released from your from your muscles, and those chemicals specifically trigger It's called what they call it in the spark is miracle grow or ultimate fertilizer. For your brain, it's called brain derived neurotrophic factor. Anything that stimulates brain growth will stimulate brain brain derived neurotrophic factor. When you exercise. It's like sprinkling fertilization on the key areas of your brain that normally degrade. And we know that if you exercise. It's a really great study looking at seventy year old who exercise forty five minutes a day, three three times per week and are going at a walk. It's about seventy percent of the via t MAC So a stiff walk for forty five minutes three times a week, their brain volume this is at seventy five brain volume increased one to two percent over the next twelve months, whereas their counterparts who didn't exercise decreased one to two percent. So that's a three to four percent differential in the size of your brain if you don't do exercise versus you don't. So just by moving your body and increasing your circulation, you train your system to improve your blood flow. Better blood flow also, and then particularly because you're using fuel, it makes you more inchulin sensitive. Inchulin resistance, which is the poor poor management of blood sugar that is one of the quickest ways to degrade your neural tissue and also to damage neural tissue as well. So regulating blood sugar level, so if you can't even get up for walking right now, Just start walking for ten minutes after every meal, and you'll regulate your blood sugar levels better. We I mean. Then also there's a motivation piece as well to say, yeah, I'm going to do this exercise. I'm going to tell my brain that I can do it. And so not only are you increasing blood flow, not only are you providing more miracle grow for your brain, but you're also then saying, I want to think this way. If you're going to grow new brain cells, grow them with the along the lines of I can do this like firm up that belief. So you've got this really amazing stacking idea of if I'm exercising, telling myself I'm great. Plus, not only am I getting blood blow, I'm getting bead blood sugar, better blood sugar management. I'm also creating my own antioxidants which decrease damage to the brain as well, and I'm increasing protection of my brain. And then I'm coupling that with a psychological exercise. I'm growing my brain exactly the way that I want to. And evolutionarily, why would we walk, why would we run? It was for something important. The only time we would spend energy was for something important, so our brain its memory picks up. So if you exercise and then try and remember stuff, you'll remember it better because your body says, whatever I just ran for, I need to remember this. So there's a whole lot of things just by getting out and just even simply walking but for a period of time forty to forty five minutes, and then as you increase that intensity, it's good lifting weights. There's also a different pathway of benefits as well that increase brain growth and the factors that support that too, so stronger and fitter, fantastic and even more flexible, so stretching mobility, and this is where yogic practices. Stretching generally, it particularly combined with breathing mind body connection, significantly increases the immune system, significantly decreases stress. It also unwinds the tension in muscle and fashia, and if that's unwound, then you don't have signals going from your body up to your brain to say there's something wrong. It actually decreases the stress and the signaling of stress that goes to your brain, so it can focus on the stuff that it wants to do, not on managing stress. So the whole gamut of movement is going to powerfully, directly grigrow your brain. And the best story that I know about this, and then I'll switch to the next one, is the Sea Squirt. I don't know if any ever heard of the Sea Squirt. This is the story in Sparking, a great book John J. Rady. Anyway, I don't make money off the sales of these books. I just loved it. The sea squirt starts with four hundred neurons when it's a mobile little thing. These are like those those little things that attached to the coral and they open and shut their mouth. At the start of their life, they're like a little sport, and then they have a little brain and they're motoring around. As soon as they find a nice bit of coral or rock to patch onto, they do that. They latch on. And then the first thing that they do when they are no longer going to move for the rest of their life is it consumes its brain. So the neurons that was useful during movement are now no longer useful, and our brain is very much the same. If you are increasing sedentary activity, if you are not using your brain to progress your passions, and use your natural strengths and various things like that. Then your brain will consume itself and then it will have less capacity. So there's a very direct correlation. If you use it, it gets bigger and stronger, and if you use it in the right way, even better. Again, but if you don't use it, it will disintegrate. And if you don't use your muscles, it will disintegrate as well. And so wow, we've now got this dom to pause there or you're going to keep rolling? No, great, all right, very good, and then we'll go. I'm just conscious that I love Tata chatting about this stuff. So the next thing is food. The food that you eat really matters. So obviously your brain matter. It's not just making, it's not just magicing itself into life. It is actually comprised of fuels. And so when you particularly in this where amiga trees, amiga threes are a very important part of the outer lining of your sheet, the milin sheath, and that's what makes the neurons very flexible as they develop. So if you've just got a diet really rich in saturated fats, the way that the neurons develop is more stiff because saturated fats are harder and stiffer, whereas amiga threes make them very flexible and pliable, so they have a better chance to survive as they grow. But it's also a very important constituent as part of that tissue. We also know that antioxidants, like in your fruits and vegetables and your supergreens and all of those types of things. They are absolutely pivotal in reducing stress that comes from just thinking. You know, there's oxidative stress, and that can degrade your brain tissue. So they go in there and they reduce that. They can also protect little baby neurons as they're growing and protect the particular regions of your brain. Hydration is going to be very very important, and there are a lot of other nutrients as well that are going to be key for proper brain functioning. Your B vitamins, and there's big differences in the way that we process and produce dopamines and are adrenalines, these focus hormones, and understanding the nutrients that are appropriate for that is very helpful. But B vitamins, Vitamin B, you know, generally all of the essential vitamins and minerals are also key for this brain tissue as well. So and we know that as soon as you start eating foods that are charred, lots of high sugar, high saturator fats, highly processed, that brings in its own damaging compounds into the brain and then it reduces the ability for the tissues to grow. And as I say this, I just almost want to vomit. You know about me talking about junk food at the start of the session, But you know, this is just the reality of things. You get about moving and a lot of those evils are managed a little bit. So, but essentially, the more of that food that you put in, the more strain you put onto your system, the worse it's going to go. So this is where some individuals will do really well with six meals per day because their brain is just firing along at such a speed that those regular meals actually bring them down into rest and calm, whereas another person, their brain doesn't operate firing along, It works along steadily and rhythmically. And they also have that We often find those individuals have blood sugar issues and so they need to have less frequent meals with lighter dinners for example, so and more plant based. So there's different meal frequencies. But this is also another very important part of our system and that this is where mindfulness comes in as well. So we've got exercise and food and sleep, but then also the practice of active recovery throughout the day, so mindful practices. But it's a regulation of the sympathetic and power sympathetic nervous system. Now, for general people out there, sympathetic is there's something that I've got to be up for, so i mobile all my energy, I get really alert, and I'm firing into things. I've got to take care of all of this stuff, so my brain's going to be alert and firing. Or when you're running away from something or just running, generally there's sympathetic nervous system, whereas parasympathetic is I'm chill, I'm calm, I'm eating, I'm digesting, I'm feeling good. And everyone knows when you try and combine both of those things, you get a stitch. If you're trying to rest and digest while you're trying to run, you get a stitch. So this is you can't have both of those systems working together. So one of the biggest things about our brain is that if you're using it all day long, and overcaffeinating, which is essentially just turning allowing your brain to dial up its energy and it's not adrenals to stay focused. If you don't get an appropriate amount of recovery, this is where you can degrade your brain as well, just by overuse of it. And everybody knows this. It's just like, oh, I just feel so flattened at the end of the day between six and eight, my brain is completely dead. I can't do anything with it. I've got no tolerance for the kids. And this is essentially with maybe overcaffeinated. We've pushed too hard, we've been on alert, too worried, too panicked about our life or whatever it might be, all day long, putting on a mask at work to say, oh, I'm totally competent and amazing at everything. This is very, very draining for the brain. And we see for some individuals, you know, you can tell by the way that I speak. It's for individuals like me that are one hundred percent on all of the time. The rest and recovery, like mindful practices like breathing, like yoga, like meditation, all of these are absolutely key at particular times in the day. And that particular time differs for different people to allow your brain to recover, to refuel. Otherwise, the stress that you place on your brain can degrade the tissue as well. So that's for to start with. And then you know your relationships, your environment, your work. If they're not aligned with who you are, or if you're not growing through those, then there's just background stress as well, and we can talk about those another time. They would be the they'd be the few keys that I'd be focusing on straight away.

I would say, when it comes to if you're taking care of all the things, let's say that let's just leave your psychology for a moment and let's go to the physical side of things. Number one, get more sleep. Getting more sleep or get an appropriate amount of sleep so that you wake up refreshed. So the first thing that you can do we did a whole episode on this last time, is get consistent with your sleep and make sure that you're in bed for over seven hours like that is the first goal. Even if you're not sleeping perfectly, just be in bed lying on your back. You are more rested and more likely to recover lying on your back than you are up and around. So number one sleep, Number two is well, it's a movement of your body. I would say, obviously you can hydrate along with that too. Hydration is going to be very important. But moving your body and the reason that moving your body is so key. Firstly, your brain does best when the blood flow is better. So and as soon as you start exercising, you actually start creating compounds in your body and in your brain that open up the blood vessels that allow you to generate more blood flow out to the areas of your brain that need it. And if you get blood flow, it means you maintain those tissues. Now, what's interesting, there's also chemicals that are released from your from your muscles, and those chemicals specifically trigger It's called what they call it in the spark is miracle grow or ultimate fertilizer. For your brain, it's called brain derived neurotrophic factor. Anything that stimulates brain growth will stimulate brain brain derived neurotrophic factor. When you exercise. It's like sprinkling fertilization on the key areas of your brain that normally degrade. And we know that if you exercise. It's a really great study looking at seventy year old who exercise forty five minutes a day, three three times per week and are going at a walk. It's about seventy percent of the via t MAC So a stiff walk for forty five minutes three times a week, their brain volume this is at seventy five brain volume increased one to two percent over the next twelve months, whereas their counterparts who didn't exercise decreased one to two percent. So that's a three to four percent differential in the size of your brain if you don't do exercise versus you don't. So just by moving your body and increasing your circulation, you train your system to improve your blood flow. Better blood flow also, and then particularly because you're using fuel, it makes you more inchulin sensitive. Inchulin resistance, which is the poor poor management of blood sugar that is one of the quickest ways to degrade your neural tissue and also to damage neural tissue as well. So regulating blood sugar level, so if you can't even get up for walking right now, Just start walking for ten minutes after every meal, and you'll regulate your blood sugar levels better. We I mean. Then also there's a motivation piece as well to say, yeah, I'm going to do this exercise. I'm going to tell my brain that I can do it. And so not only are you increasing blood flow, not only are you providing more miracle grow for your brain, but you're also then saying, I want to think this way. If you're going to grow new brain cells, grow them with the along the lines of I can do this like firm up that belief. So you've got this really amazing stacking idea of if I'm exercising, telling myself I'm great. Plus, not only am I getting blood blow, I'm getting bead blood sugar, better blood sugar management. I'm also creating my own antioxidants which decrease damage to the brain as well, and I'm increasing protection of my brain. And then I'm coupling that with a psychological exercise. I'm growing my brain exactly the way that I want to. And evolutionarily, why would we walk, why would we run? It was for something important. The only time we would spend energy was for something important, so our brain its memory picks up. So if you exercise and then try and remember stuff, you'll remember it better because your body says, whatever I just ran for, I need to remember this. So there's a whole lot of things just by getting out and just even simply walking but for a period of time forty to forty five minutes, and then as you increase that intensity, it's good lifting weights. There's also a different pathway of benefits as well that increase brain growth and the factors that support that too, so stronger and fitter, fantastic and even more flexible, so stretching mobility, and this is where yogic practices. Stretching generally, it particularly combined with breathing mind body connection, significantly increases the immune system, significantly decreases stress. It also unwinds the tension in muscle and fashia, and if that's unwound, then you don't have signals going from your body up to your brain to say there's something wrong. It actually decreases the stress and the signaling of stress that goes to your brain, so it can focus on the stuff that it wants to do, not on managing stress. So the whole gamut of movement is going to powerfully, directly grigrow your brain. And the best story that I know about this, and then I'll switch to the next one, is the Sea Squirt. I don't know if any ever heard of the Sea Squirt. This is the story in Sparking, a great book John J. Rady. Anyway, I don't make money off the sales of these books. I just loved it. The sea squirt starts with four hundred neurons when it's a mobile little thing. These are like those those little things that attached to the coral and they open and shut their mouth. At the start of their life, they're like a little sport, and then they have a little brain and they're motoring around. As soon as they find a nice bit of coral or rock to patch onto, they do that. They latch on. And then the first thing that they do when they are no longer going to move for the rest of their life is it consumes its brain. So the neurons that was useful during movement are now no longer useful, and our brain is very much the same. If you are increasing sedentary activity, if you are not using your brain to progress your passions, and use your natural strengths and various things like that. Then your brain will consume itself and then it will have less capacity. So there's a very direct correlation. If you use it, it gets bigger and stronger, and if you use it in the right way, even better. Again, but if you don't use it, it will disintegrate. And if you don't use your muscles, it will disintegrate as well. And so wow, we've now got this dom to pause there or you're going to keep rolling? No, great, all right, very good, and then we'll go. I'm just conscious that I love Tata chatting about this stuff. So the next thing is food. The food that you eat really matters. So obviously your brain matter. It's not just making, it's not just magicing itself into life. It is actually comprised of fuels. And so when you particularly in this where amiga trees, amiga threes are a very important part of the outer lining of your sheet, the milin sheath, and that's what makes the neurons very flexible as they develop. So if you've just got a diet really rich in saturated fats, the way that the neurons develop is more stiff because saturated fats are harder and stiffer, whereas amiga threes make them very flexible and pliable, so they have a better chance to survive as they grow. But it's also a very important constituent as part of that tissue. We also know that antioxidants, like in your fruits and vegetables and your supergreens and all of those types of things. They are absolutely pivotal in reducing stress that comes from just thinking. You know, there's oxidative stress, and that can degrade your brain tissue. So they go in there and they reduce that. They can also protect little baby neurons as they're growing and protect the particular regions of your brain. Hydration is going to be very very important, and there are a lot of other nutrients as well that are going to be key for proper brain functioning. Your B vitamins, and there's big differences in the way that we process and produce dopamines and are adrenalines, these focus hormones, and understanding the nutrients that are appropriate for that is very helpful. But B vitamins, Vitamin B, you know, generally all of the essential vitamins and minerals are also key for this brain tissue as well. So and we know that as soon as you start eating foods that are charred, lots of high sugar, high saturator fats, highly processed, that brings in its own damaging compounds into the brain and then it reduces the ability for the tissues to grow. And as I say this, I just almost want to vomit. You know about me talking about junk food at the start of the session, But you know, this is just the reality of things. You get about moving and a lot of those evils are managed a little bit. So, but essentially, the more of that food that you put in, the more strain you put onto your system, the worse it's going to go. So this is where some individuals will do really well with six meals per day because their brain is just firing along at such a speed that those regular meals actually bring them down into rest and calm, whereas another person, their brain doesn't operate firing along, It works along steadily and rhythmically. And they also have that We often find those individuals have blood sugar issues and so they need to have less frequent meals with lighter dinners for example, so and more plant based. So there's different meal frequencies. But this is also another very important part of our system and that this is where mindfulness comes in as well. So we've got exercise and food and sleep, but then also the practice of active recovery throughout the day, so mindful practices. But it's a regulation of the sympathetic and power sympathetic nervous system. Now, for general people out there, sympathetic is there's something that I've got to be up for, so i mobile all my energy, I get really alert, and I'm firing into things. I've got to take care of all of this stuff, so my brain's going to be alert and firing. Or when you're running away from something or just running, generally there's sympathetic nervous system, whereas parasympathetic is I'm chill, I'm calm, I'm eating, I'm digesting, I'm feeling good. And everyone knows when you try and combine both of those things, you get a stitch. If you're trying to rest and digest while you're trying to run, you get a stitch. So this is you can't have both of those systems working together. So one of the biggest things about our brain is that if you're using it all day long, and overcaffeinating, which is essentially just turning allowing your brain to dial up its energy and it's not adrenals to stay focused. If you don't get an appropriate amount of recovery, this is where you can degrade your brain as well, just by overuse of it. And everybody knows this. It's just like, oh, I just feel so flattened at the end of the day between six and eight, my brain is completely dead. I can't do anything with it. I've got no tolerance for the kids. And this is essentially with maybe overcaffeinated. We've pushed too hard, we've been on alert, too worried, too panicked about our life or whatever it might be, all day long, putting on a mask at work to say, oh, I'm totally competent and amazing at everything. This is very, very draining for the brain. And we see for some individuals, you know, you can tell by the way that I speak. It's for individuals like me that are one hundred percent on all of the time. The rest and recovery, like mindful practices like breathing, like yoga, like meditation, all of these are absolutely key at particular times in the day. And that particular time differs for different people to allow your brain to recover, to refuel. Otherwise, the stress that you place on your brain can degrade the tissue as well. So that's for to start with. And then you know your relationships, your environment, your work. If they're not aligned with who you are, or if you're not growing through those, then there's just background stress as well, and we can talk about those another time. They would be the they'd be the few keys that I'd be focusing on straight away.

That's amazing. A couple of specific questions. One and there's no I know there's no answer to this, but a guideline or your thoughts on caffeine consumption. Yes, very good, and I know it depends on weight and genetics, and that's fine.

That's amazing. A couple of specific questions. One and there's no I know there's no answer to this, but a guideline or your thoughts on caffeine consumption. Yes, very good, and I know it depends on weight and genetics, and that's fine.

Easy one. It's easy one. You wait, wait two to three hours after you wake up. A lot of people say ninety minutes. Cubanman says ninety minutes. I like the first coffee at around about ten as a rule, and this is for most people. This is because you naturally so the starting at ten. If you are drinking coffee all day long, I'll take eight o'clock. But a couple of hours ninety minutes after you wake up, and then you've got to stop at one to two pm. Generally, if you are relying on coffee to stay awake, then your energy sucks. All coffee's doing is it says, oh, no, you're not tired. You can keep going, and then it makes you more alert at the same time, even if you've got less energy. So you might have less energy, but your brain says, no, I feel good, so that it creates some psychological resilience to allow you yourself to keep going. But it's artificial, and it will mean that you crash harder at the end. Because caffeine stays in your body for at least eight hours, can be up to twenty four hours with half life and things like that. You want to make sure that you are eight hours clear from your bedtime when you have your last coffee. Generally, caffeine itself is not bad. It depends on a source. You know. Having caffeine tablets is very different to the caffeine and green tea, where there's some balancing agents and adaptogens that actually smooth. Caffeine by itself constricts your art trees and makes you more attentive. Caffeine and green tea opens up your ar trees to create better blood flow, but also creates attention. And so it's a calm focus. And that is flow, that is happiness, that is love, is calm attention. So anything that's supporting you to be calm and attentive is great because that's where that's where the magic is going to be, and that's where the right rhythms through the day is going to have a big impact as well.

Easy one. It's easy one. You wait, wait two to three hours after you wake up. A lot of people say ninety minutes. Cubanman says ninety minutes. I like the first coffee at around about ten as a rule, and this is for most people. This is because you naturally so the starting at ten. If you are drinking coffee all day long, I'll take eight o'clock. But a couple of hours ninety minutes after you wake up, and then you've got to stop at one to two pm. Generally, if you are relying on coffee to stay awake, then your energy sucks. All coffee's doing is it says, oh, no, you're not tired. You can keep going, and then it makes you more alert at the same time, even if you've got less energy. So you might have less energy, but your brain says, no, I feel good, so that it creates some psychological resilience to allow you yourself to keep going. But it's artificial, and it will mean that you crash harder at the end. Because caffeine stays in your body for at least eight hours, can be up to twenty four hours with half life and things like that. You want to make sure that you are eight hours clear from your bedtime when you have your last coffee. Generally, caffeine itself is not bad. It depends on a source. You know. Having caffeine tablets is very different to the caffeine and green tea, where there's some balancing agents and adaptogens that actually smooth. Caffeine by itself constricts your art trees and makes you more attentive. Caffeine and green tea opens up your ar trees to create better blood flow, but also creates attention. And so it's a calm focus. And that is flow, that is happiness, that is love, is calm attention. So anything that's supporting you to be calm and attentive is great because that's where that's where the magic is going to be, and that's where the right rhythms through the day is going to have a big impact as well.

See if I think you and I need to get some grown tea.

See if I think you and I need to get some grown tea.

I drink green tea sometimes, do you.

I drink green tea sometimes, do you.

Yeah, we're going to go. But I've got one random a rando. Here's a rando for you. I don't know if you even know the answer to this or you have any insight into this, but a bloke that Tiff knows and I know, whose name may or may not be the crab, who is a walking experiment who's been experimenting on himself in a million different ways for about forty years, has taken to recently the bloke that doesn't smoke. Should I say this, Oh fuck it, throw him under the bus. No, yeah, he's quite open about it. No, we're not talking steroids or anything like that. But he's taken to wearing a seven milligram nicotine patch on his shoulder every day because he's been researching all the cognitive and eutropic benefits of nicotine, which I've had a bit of a scoot around myself. There's I'm not saying it's healthy or good for you, but there does seem to be something in it. So what are your thoughts.

Yeah, we're going to go. But I've got one random a rando. Here's a rando for you. I don't know if you even know the answer to this or you have any insight into this, but a bloke that Tiff knows and I know, whose name may or may not be the crab, who is a walking experiment who's been experimenting on himself in a million different ways for about forty years, has taken to recently the bloke that doesn't smoke. Should I say this, Oh fuck it, throw him under the bus. No, yeah, he's quite open about it. No, we're not talking steroids or anything like that. But he's taken to wearing a seven milligram nicotine patch on his shoulder every day because he's been researching all the cognitive and eutropic benefits of nicotine, which I've had a bit of a scoot around myself. There's I'm not saying it's healthy or good for you, but there does seem to be something in it. So what are your thoughts.

Well, it's a it's a central nervous system stimulator. It's activating your sympathetic nervous system, which is great because it makes you focus, it makes you attend to better things, but it still requires rest. So it's good. And it's not one of the strategies that I go for with people.

Well, it's a it's a central nervous system stimulator. It's activating your sympathetic nervous system, which is great because it makes you focus, it makes you attend to better things, but it still requires rest. So it's good. And it's not one of the strategies that I go for with people.

But I suggesting it at all anyone.

But I suggesting it at all anyone.

No, no, no. But at the end of the day, like anything that makes you feel more weight, just by putting a chemical into your body is just signaling to your brain pay attention. That's it. And probably one of my most favorite experiments of all time, and this won't take too long, is people that have been given dopamine pills, and they're people that aren't given dopamine pills and people that are. So they put these people in a sweatsuit. This like rubber suit that's mega hot, and they essentially wanted them to exercise until they lost as much. Just exercise as much as they can until they overheat. That was the goal of the study. And what they found is that people normally would get to about thirty eight degrees and say I'm out. This is dangerous. I feel terrible. I've almost passed passed out off my bike. Then people are given dopamine don't mean reuptake inhibitors, which has similarity to some medications that we provide children. By the way, I just note that, And then they made them do the experiment again. They got to forty degrees of body temperature, that's almost hospitalization fever, and they said, how are you feeling? Oh great, I could keep going, but they had to stop them because it was now going to be very, very dangerous their health. Because when you've got enough dopamine, you just go whatever I'm doing, this is the best. You feel so good that you don't experience the pain. And so anything like caffeine, like nicotine, like any name your drug that stimulates your brain that puts you into action, there is a cost to you spending that energy and that cost must be repaid in nourishment, in rest and recovery. So if you're going to start playing with those things, then make sure that you have got your rest and recovery on lock. Otherwise you don't get the benefits of all of this extra attentive. Like, that's the crazy thing about it.