MindHack Podcast

#085 Dr Beth McDougall: Body Intelligence The Science of Healing Yourself

Cody McLain

Your Body's Secret "Source Code" That Big Medicine Doesn't Want You to Access! Dr. Beth McDougall exposes the hidden intelligence within you that conventional doctors miss entirely. After solving thousands of "impossible" health cases over 25+ years, she's uncovered the shocking truth about your body's "pristine blueprint" – an energetic template that could transform how you heal forever.

Beth McDougall, MD is contributing to an emerging medical paradigm at the intersection of medicine and contemporary physics and  describes health in the larger context of our relationship to the life force that informs, animates, and connects us all. Thinking about health in this larger context provides solutions for reversing disease, slowing aging, and optimizing our lives.

From Defeating Her Own Lyme Disease to Running San Francisco's Most Elite Health Clinic! Get the same actionable strategies Dr. McDougall uses with her high-performance clients. Learn the simple body-listening technique that outperforms expensive medical tests, and unlock your body's natural healing superpowers that could add decades of vibrant health to your life!

ℹ️ About the Guest

Dr. Beth McDougall, pioneering physician and medical detective, joins us today. Follow her @bethmcdougallmd on Instagram where she shares cutting-edge insights on health optimization. Her latest book "Your Pristine Blueprint" reveals how our bodies contain an encoded intelligence that can revolutionize healing when properly accessed. As Chief Medical Officer at JYZEN, she's collaborated with top biophysicists to create what many consider the most comprehensive bio-optimization center in the world.

👨‍💻 People & Other Mentions



[00:00:00] Beth: I like people to have a really close relationship with themselves. Actually start their day with some self communion in a way, you know, in a quiet space where you're meditating and grounding your energy and you know, just tuning in and listening.

[00:00:28] CODY: Welcome to The Mind Hack podcast, where we explore the psychology of self-improvement and mindset to help you live a happier and more fulfilled life. I'm your host Cody McLean, and today I'm excited to be joined by Dr. Beth McDougall, a pioneering physician who's challenging everything we think we know about healing and humid potential known as a medical detective.

[00:00:49] CODY: She spent over 25 years cracking the code on complex health conditions that traditional medicine couldn't solve, including her own battle with Lyme disease. Now as co-founder [00:01:00] and Chief Medical Officer of Jain, a cutting edge medical and human performance center, San Francisco, she and her team combine modern physics with medicine to unlock what she calls our pristine blueprint, essentially the source code for optimal human performance.

[00:01:16] CODY: What makes her work fascinating is how she bridges the gap between hard science and the mind body connection, showing us how our thoughts and beliefs literally shape our physical reality. Whether you're dealing with health challenges, looking to optimize your performance, or you're just curious about the frontiers of human potential, you're in for a mind expanding conversation.

[00:01:38] CODY: So without further ado, please welcome Dr. Beth McDougall.

[00:01:43] Beth: Yeah, thank you

[00:01:43] CODY: so much. Happy to be here. You know, it seems like most of us treat our bodies like cars that need fixing, and when something breaks, we take it to the auto mechanic. , but in your work, it suggests that there's a deeper intelligence within [00:02:00] us that knows exactly what we need.

[00:02:02] CODY: What is it about our modern approach to health and medicine that you feel isn't serving us well?

[00:02:09] Beth: Well, it's not only our approach to medicine, but it is also our relationship with ourselves and our, our kind of alignment with ourself and understanding when we deviate from a place of good health, that's the time to act.

[00:02:26] Beth: But, you know, western medicine is really about one symptom, one Dr. Usual pharmaceutical solution to that, you know, one problem, here's, here's a quick fix, like a bandaid solution as opposed to. Asking the deeper questions that would involve kind of combing through the person's history and lifestyle and, you know, or activities to find out like how this originated and, you know, when was the last time they felt well and, and then what was going on in their life when their health deviated from that.

[00:02:56] Beth: And, and, uh, you know, what were they doing? What, [00:03:00] where were they working? Were they satisfied with their life and their relationships? Or were they under a lot of stress? How were they eating? You know, were they exercising, et cetera? Were they getting good sleep at that point? Um, you know, so, so it's just, just right now, the way that Western medicine is designed where you have these 12 minute appointment times in like managed care situations, it's just, it's just like, yeah, just tell me what's wrong.

[00:03:25] Beth: Here's a pill, you know? And then don't have time to kind of do that deep digging. And what I tend to attract after 26 years of, of, you know, being in here in the trenches, helping people tease . Like, you know, teasing apart a health situation and really searching for underlying factors, I've been able to unwind complex conditions.

[00:03:46] Beth: So I tend to attract those individuals with complex situations that have yet to be helped by the current type of approach. Right.

[00:03:56] CODY: And it seems like in modern health, a lot of the [00:04:00] responsibility for this type of proactive, uh, healthcare lies in the hands of the patient. And it seems like there aren't enough, uh, approaches or, or there aren't enough perspectives from doctors.

[00:04:11] CODY: Uh, there's, there's very few. There's like Dr. Peter Atilla who really, who really touts this, this Healthcare 2.0 where we need to take this proactive approach and looking at how do we prevent these types of diseases from actually occurring instead of just treating the, the side effect. As I understand it from a lot of your work as a, a medical doctor, you've created this idea of a pristine blueprint and I'm wondering if you can share exactly what that means and break that down.

[00:04:41] Beth: Absolutely. Yeah. So, so when you're, when first you, you go all the way back when the sperm penetrates the egg, there is literally a flash of light that that is released and a sound. And my sense is that we, that moment [00:05:00] imprints into the almost fluid nature of space time that we live within and that lives within us.

[00:05:09] Beth: So we are part of this kind of interconnected matrix that is, you know, we're derived from, and. It's without us, it's within us and it's almost like a fish to water. We're not aware that we're, we're, we're existing in this, in this actually fluid kind of matrix so that a moment of our conception imprints kind of information into that.

[00:05:36] Beth: That's based on our unique genetics as well as some other factors that we can delve into. But, but that produces a three-dimensional blueprint that will guide the kind of the laying down of the cells and the differentiation of the cells as we're developing as an embryo. And then later, you know, will become the template that orchestrates our [00:06:00] exquisitely complex physiology.

[00:06:02] Beth: I mean, you look at the fact that we have 37 trillion cells each with millions of chemical events happening every second in a coordinated manner. Now, at this moment in our history, we still don't have. An explanation for how that level of coordination is happening. And not only that, do we have this complex system that's incredibly well coordinated.

[00:06:25] Beth: When you study contemporary new thinking in physics, there is this phenomenon in the universe called the lighthouse frequency. And our entire universe and all of physical creation is literally flickering in and out of existence trillions of times a second, you know, it's, it's here and then it's going into anti-matter and coming back and back into anti-matter and back.

[00:06:49] Beth: And so how is that, you know, that we feel like these solid beings, uh, when we're really forming and annihilating. And so it's, we are organizing along [00:07:00] this kind of information template that's geometrical and frequency and, and really is guiding our physical form as well as our physiology. And so my sense is, is that this template.

[00:07:13] Beth: The resonance of our physical form with this template is really what determines health. Um, and the, our resonance with it, our ability to be formed and reformed. Every 36, you know, trillionth of a second, can be contaminated as we go through life. You know, like that the information blueprint can become not itself contaminated, but like the transfer of information can become compromised by misinformation.

[00:07:46] Beth: And so misinformation can come in the form of the energetic signatures of things that we encounter during life. So the toxins, the pathogens, the, the collective [00:08:00] signatures of traumatic experiences and all of that. So everything in the physical world. It has a signature associated with, it has an energetic signature that is comprised of, of frequency and geometry, actually.

[00:08:17] Beth: And it is the, what makes that substance the thing? Um, because it is, uh, what, what is, what is the blueprint from which that substance is created and out of the, the vacuum, which is really not empty, the, the physical space that we live within.

[00:08:37] CODY: I agree with that in that in some ways, and, uh, we, we are the universe, you know, we are the universe looking at itself and there is a frequency that occurs.

[00:08:47] CODY: There is a connection and a disconnection that often takes place in our own human experience. And I, I suppose so to, to try to break down what you're saying. What you're saying is that every one of us has a [00:09:00] particular frequency. We, we often kind of become out of tune to that frequency. Is that, is that one way of looking at it?

[00:09:09] Beth: Yes, exactly. Cody, it is true. And, and so that's kind of what I was saying in the beginning is that in a perfect world, you know, we would become very familiar with our unique signature. You know, we would become familiar at a state, at a point in our lives where our health is at a high level. We would really kind of mark that of like, okay, this is what it feels like to be in residence.

[00:09:32] Beth: This is what feels right and good. And so, and your goal is to stay there. You know, as you evolve and change in age and, you know, go through different stages of life. The goal is to, to kind of keep that high benchmark of like, this is how I want to feel. I want to have this level of vitality, this level of mental clarity, this, this kind of fast clip to my metabolism.

[00:09:57] Beth: This. Um, you know, kind of [00:10:00] feeling of, of ease and, and effortless kind of, uh, you know, movement of energy throughout my system. Like, you know, I want to, I want to sleep well. I want to be able to move well, I want to be able to think clearly. Like, these are the things that you, that, that should be, you should settle for nothing less.

[00:10:18] Beth: And so then if that is your goal, you, you pay attention to subtle deviations from that goal. You know, where unfortunately Western medicine, you know, you could be feeling quite sick, you know, quite off from that high, you know, benchmark. And then they could be like, well, we're not seeing anything in these basic tests we've done.

[00:10:40] Beth: I guess we'll just kind of watch it wait, or, you know, they'll see something subtle even in the gross measurements that they're taking, and they'll be like, they don't know what to do about it. So they're like, let's just keep an eye on this over time. How in invariably if the person doesn't do something, it's going to get worse.

[00:10:58] Beth: So, so instead, [00:11:00] you know, I like people to have a really close relationship with themselves. Actually start their day with some self communion in a way, you know, in a quiet space where you're meditating and grounding your energy and you know, just tuning in and listening. And then as you're going through your, out your day, kind of checking in with yourself, okay, how do I feel after I just ate that?

[00:11:25] Beth: Um, I haven't had anything to drink for a while. How, how do I feel like, should I drink some water? Like, you know, just after you've interacted with someone, after you've eaten something, after you've had a busy workday, like, you know, you've done a workout even before you're about to work out. Am I ready to lift heavy weights today?

[00:11:44] Beth: Like, is that what my body's really up for today? Or would it be better for me to do some stretching and something lighter, or, you know, so you're. You're in constant communication with your body so that you can stay in tune. And so a lot of times, you know, if someone is [00:12:00] feeling like, Hmm, I have a little tickle in my throat, I have a little scratch here.

[00:12:04] Beth: I'm gonna start taking, I'm gonna, I'm gonna kind of bow out of that evening commitment. I'm gonna take some extra supplements right now to, to boost my immune system and, and maybe make some hot tea and like, you know, whatever. And then they're not gonna catch the cold where the next person ignores that and, and they just cascades in, in a bad direction.

[00:12:24] Beth: But really you have to be in tune with yourself in order to catch it.

[00:12:28] CODY: It sounds like you're talking about interception, right? Which is our ability to be connected to our body, the sensations, what our body's telling us.

[00:12:40] Beth: Absolutely. Right. And I think that is a skill we all can develop. You know, it's something that some people have to a greater degree than others, but like, I think

[00:12:49] Beth: Every one of us is capable of having it. It's a survival tool. So we were evolved to have that. It's just that so many of us are in our heads, or we're so busy, or we're on our [00:13:00] phones and we're just not paying attention. So it does require intentionally checking in, but I think we all have that capacity.

[00:13:08] CODY: I love that you're doing this.

[00:13:09] CODY: It's not something that is, is really looked at, is not really studied that often. And so, uh, really your work, it kind of bridges, uh, like modern physics with, with ancient healing. And I, I believe you've mentioned in your book this, this concept of a unified field. Uh, I'm, I'm wondering how does this invisible or, or field, or this force, how does it influence our, our health and our life?

[00:13:35] CODY: Well, we couple to the field

[00:13:38] Beth: and that it, it, it influences every aspect of our health and every aspect of our life. And not only our life, but the life of all material reality. We are derived from the field. Like I said before, the field, you know, we exist within the field, but the field exists within us and everything is derived from the field there.[00:14:00]

[00:14:00] Beth: You know, a really good paper was just published by um, this Herman that, that talks about how mass emerges from the field and he re he writes the math around how that occurs. It is all this one fabric of energy and information and it's incredibly dense with energy and our bodies. Couple with that, I really like to feel that every Adam couples with it.

[00:14:27] Beth: 'cause you look at it like an atom, for example, the nucleus of a particular atom is spinning. The atoms are spinning and there's, they spin in forever. You know? And where is the energy coming from? That's, that's, that's, that's allowing for that. You think about a nuclear reaction, like the amount of, of energy that's released when you split that atom.

[00:14:49] Beth: Is it extraordinary? Right. Well, our body coupled with the field, we think we get all the energy we need in our bodies, you know, to fuel [00:15:00] all of the, the, you know, trillions upon trillions of chemical reactions that are happening. We think we get that from the food we eat and the air we breathe. But when you really break it down, you don't like, that would be, that's just not possible.

[00:15:15] Beth: We cannot possibly eat enough. And so we, we are literally coupling, it's almost like plugging into an outlet, coupling with the field itself. When you look at the field, it's basically the same patterns. Ratios an organization that occurs across all scales. The field is fractal in nature. So at the smallest scale of our known physical reality, the plunk scale, how the plunks are organized, and how the size of the plunk and the number of plunks it takes to make a proton, for example, those ratios, those scaling ratios translate up the [00:16:00] entire scale to the universal scale.

[00:16:02] Beth: And then our physical bodies are part of that inseparable fabric were made of atoms, we're made of molecules. And even the organization of all of those within our system is really, truly inseparable from the organization of the universe at large. And so our resonance with this blueprint, which is this geometrical, you know, kind of vibratory template of information.

[00:16:31] Beth: Is going to determine how exactly we're coupling with the field, you know? So as we age and we get contaminated with misinformation, that affects our field coupling and how much energy we can extract from the field to kind of be an anti and traffic force, you know, to keep our physiology organized and in this complex physiology.

[00:16:56] Beth: So really, truly, I'm so interested in the [00:17:00] longevity because we now know that we have chronological age and we have biological age. And regardless of what our chronological age is, we can change our biological age. We can reverse age, you know, by . Doing the things we need to do to enhance our resonance with this feel and really enhance the coupling.

[00:17:23] Beth: So we're, we're basically enhancing our resonance with this template of information that is orchestrating our physiology and that allows more seamless transfer of the almost infinite energy in the field to translate into our physical form to fuel our physiology. So energetics within the body is, is truly kind of the holy grail, right?

[00:17:51] Beth: It's like the hallmark of how youthful our body is. Like if there's really good energetics. And so what is that? [00:18:00] You know, what contributes to that? Well, and we've been talking on about all these esoteric things, you know, but, but truly it's like the mitochondria and how well the mitochondria are functioning.

[00:18:11] Beth: So those are the little energy. Organelles within, within our cells, and each of our cells differ as to how many mitochondria they have. Um, some have hundreds and some have tens of thousands. So you've got 37 trillion cells, you know, each with somewhere between multiple hundreds to tens of thousands of mitochondria.

[00:18:34] Beth: That's a lot of mitochondria. And so they are, you know, taking glucose and oxygen and running it through a series of steps to produce a TP. And I think that, you know, the mitochondria are these really fascinating organelles that when you really kind of dive deeply into studying them, they have these proton routers that are, that are circulating at the speed of a jet engine.

[00:18:59] Beth: [00:19:00] Each mitochondria has multiple proton routers. You know, they are literally these kind of free energy engines within our cells. And sadly, . They become damaged, you know, and, and then that we have the aging of the mitochondria that occurs from free radical stress and all of that. And we then age because our mitochondria age and we develop health problems because our mitochondria become less functional and are not producing enough energy to, you know, kind of, kind of optimize the functionality of each cell type.

[00:19:37] Beth: So whatever we can do to optimize mitochondrial health, we will ultimately optimize cellular energetics and kind of the, the energy transfer from the field of energy to our physiology. And so there's a lot of things that people can do. You know, just like, for example, when I talk about cell types that have more [00:20:00] mitochondria versus others, like, you know, the two types of cells in the body that had the most would be the neurons in the brain and the muscle cells.

[00:20:08] Beth: The muscle cells and the neurons have. Tens of thousands of mitochondria per per cell. And so anything you can do to enhance your muscle mass and the health of your muscle cells is going to ultimately help you have healthier mitochondria. For one, you're gonna have more mitochondria. The more muscle mass you have, the more mitochondria you will have.

[00:20:36] Beth: And it enhances the birthing of new, more pristine mitochondria, more muscle mass, you know, better cardio, respiratory fitness that's gonna enhance your mitochondria. And then there's like things you wouldn't expect, like practices like going outside in the morning, like right when the light is cresting, the horizon and the the light wavelengths of [00:21:00] red and near infrared light are predominating at that time and allowing those wavelengths to come in through your eyes.

[00:21:08] Beth: That has been shown to be incredibly helpful for the mitochondria in many ways. Like not only the mitochondrial energetics in terms of their ability to produce a TP, but also helps catalyze the mitochondria's role in the, in our steroid biosynthesis in the body. So the very first step of steroid hormone biosynthesis takes place in the mitochondria.

[00:21:37] Beth: So it's where the body will take cholesterol and convert it into pregnenolone. That happens in the mitochondria, and it happens in response to wavelengths of light coming in through your eyes. So red light in your infrared light. The other thing that comes in through the sun, um, you know, into the body and [00:22:00] helps the mitochondria is, is infrared light.

[00:22:04] Beth: So infrared light will, which also comes from the earth. Will help structure water that is produced by the mitochondria. So water in the, in the chemical reactions that occur in the mitochondria. Water is a byproduct and the infrared energy from the earth and being outside and being, you know, being in the, in the sun will, will structure that water and kind of actually enhance mitochondrial, uh, energy production by virtue of, of moving the enzyme complexes within the mitochondrial cell membrane closer together, uh, so that this electron transport chain process in the mitochondrial will function more efficiently.

[00:22:47] Beth: So it's, so anything you can do for mitochondrial health, you know, is gonna help you age better and have a better relationship with the field. The other things you can consider doing would be some of those, [00:23:00] the, the hormetic. Stressors that, you know, maybe you've learned about in the biohacking space or heard about now 'cause they're becoming very popular.

[00:23:08] Beth: But, um, the red light near and for red light beds, we have three of them in my center here. 'cause I've blown away by the research on these because you, the, again, the red light near and for red light, you know, has, is so beneficial for the mitochondria. A lot of times in disease processes and because of toxins in the environment, one of the critical enzymes in the mitochondria gets blocked by, uh, either nitric oxide or uh, some chemicals.

[00:23:36] Beth: And that will diminish energy production in the mitochondria. But the red light and near infrared light wavelengths will kick the toxin or the nitric oxide off that cytochrome oxidase enzyme, allowing it to function more efficiently again. So it kind of re restores more optimal energy production in the mitochondria.

[00:23:57] Beth: And. [00:24:00] Even cold plunging, for example, you know, or cryotherapy, like it has been shown to be good for mitochondrial health. But again, these are hormetic stressors, which means that not enough is not gonna do much for you, but too much is gonna be detrimental. And so there's this kind of, you know, bowel shape curve phenomenon where like the right dose is important.

[00:24:22] Beth: That's true for exercise as well. Um, even, you know, intermittent fasting can be helpful, but again, it's a stressor. So, you know, you've gotta find like how many hours of intermittent fasting is really right for you and your body without producing excess stress in the system. And, um, yeah. So I can talk about mitochondria forever, but like you.

[00:24:47] CODY: Yeah, I can tell. Yes, yes. Um, I, I, I love what you're doing at, at, at zen and, uh, you're, it seems like you're, you're really trying to combine like, cutting edge, uh, technology to see how can we [00:25:00] improve our, our long-term human health prospects. Uh, in, I actually, in my house, I have what I call my mindset room.

[00:25:06] CODY: Every time I have people over it, I have to, it's, everybody loves to see it. I have a, a Japanese hot soak tub, I have a coal plunge, and then I have a infrared sauna. And, uh, I, I have a routine where I, I use them on a pretty regular basis. And you, you certainly mentioned light. I know huberman is, is big on getting that morning light.

[00:25:25] CODY: I'm, I'm not sure if it's a correct substitute, but when I get in the hot soak, first thing in the morning, I put on, I have a JoVE red light, and I, I shine that. I'm not sure if that is a, is a proper . Object instead of getting, say, a, a 10,000 lux light instead. Um, but, uh, I'm also curious about some two other things that, that one thing that you mentioned is, uh, but l actually before I get to that, I wanna bring up this aspect, uh, this CEO of, uh, function Health, which is a online platform.

[00:25:55] CODY: They, they do blood tests and, and kind of health analysis. He re [00:26:00] recently did some kind of plasma infusion and I think it's, uh, for typically those with some kind of health condition. I'm wondering if you know anything about that or if you can say anything about these, these really kind of. Really far reaching types of, of medical things that we can do from, from plasma.

[00:26:18] CODY: And then we, we've seen all the, all the tech CEOs doing, uh, also like, like blood transfusions. So I, I don't c can you share some of what are, what are the most cutting edge types of things that we might do? Uh, and what's your perspective on that?

[00:26:33] Beth: Okay. Well, there's a lot of different things, kind of, of this nature.

[00:26:36] Beth: So you've got, uh, plasmapheresis and a lot of people that are sick, uh, with autoimmune diseases, neuroinflammatory diseases, a lot of inflammation in the body. They'll go towards something like this, which is where the, the, your blood, you've got a catheter in both arms. Blood will be rounded out of one catheter, be filtered and then [00:27:00] routed back in.

[00:27:01] Beth: And that filtration process can pull out kind of autoantibodies. Bound to their protein. So it's kind of auto-antibody complexes, and that can be really, that can really turn things around for someone that has an autoimmune neurological disease or you know, some sort of other type of autoimmune disease.

[00:27:21] Beth: Um, so that's one thing. When you said when people are sick, I would say that's probably what they're going for. Now, this is other, other concept that's a little bit different. Um, well, let me just first say with the first thing, you're, you're also ending up taking out quite, not only antibodies in general, but but some of the blood proteins.

[00:27:37] Beth: So then something has to be placed back in. And so typically the way it's done is that the person is having albumin replaced and sometimes they're having pooled immunoglobulins. So immunoglobulins are your antibodies, and they have it pooled from thousands of people in this kind of pooled immunoglobulin kind of mixture.[00:28:00]

[00:28:00] Beth: And people get IV IG afterwards to kind of replenish what's been taken out. Now another practice that like, some of that's more extreme, that some of the, like, you know, really, really extreme biohackers are doing is called like Young Blood . And so they're basically, they're filtering their own blood and then they're kind of replenishing it with kinda matched controls.

[00:28:27] Beth: Um, and I'm not a big fan of that at either of those first two things, except for when medically necessary because you are putting the energetic signature of another person's products in your system. So to me it runs contrary to my instincts. Uh, so what I'd prefer instead, something we do a lot at Jaen is to do a process called Ebo two.

[00:28:57] Beth: So this is where you're using, you're putting a, [00:29:00] a, an IB in both arms and you're running your blood through a dialysis filter. Then you're ozonating it, oxygenating it, exposing it to light wavelengths, and it goes back in the other arm. So it's a slightly different type of filtration process. You're not pulling all of your own antibodies out or your urin protein or anything like that.

[00:29:23] Beth: But what it tends to pull out are lots of inflammatory intermediates. Um, yes, some antigen antibody complexes, fibrin, um, toxins. And then the, the, you know, the blood, like I said, is, is ozonated oxygenated exposed to light wavelengths and that process kills pathogens. So you're, you're kind of filtering and killing pathogens at the same time, and, but you're not adding any, any foreign blood products.

[00:29:55] Beth: That, that has been an a literal game changer for a lot [00:30:00] of my patients that have, let's say, long covid covid vaccine reactions, multi infectious disease that has not been well-treated in other ways, people with chronic inflammatory problems. Yeah. So it's been, it's really been a gr a great thing for a lot of people.

[00:30:19] Beth: I actually have had, uh, people with profound cognitive decline that have a lot of toxic exposure and I've done that procedure and it's just like brought the lights back on, you know, in their brains, uh, amongst other things that I'm doing with them. But it is a really good thing to do.

[00:30:36] CODY: Do you also, I I assume that you also do, uh, IV therapy.

[00:30:40] CODY: I know personally, I've, I've experimented with, with NAD, BPC 1 57 TB 500. Um, do you do any of these in, in what situations would you typically, uh, prescribe a IV therapy for a patient? Well,

[00:30:52] Beth: I do a lot of NAD IVs, uh, find them to be so beneficial, uh, because they are, [00:31:00] NAD is, is an energy catalyst, let's say.

[00:31:04] Beth: It's an energy energetic molecule that declines with age and it's absolutely required for, for HP synthesis. And when it given intravenously, you can more, most easily replenish your intracellular stores of NAD and it's been shown to trigger something called mitophagy, which is where the body will edit a repair damage mitochondria and replace them with new mitochondria.

[00:31:32] Beth: And so it's so helpful for . People that just feel like their energy's declined with time or they're, they've had mental slowdown or memory, cognitive decline, memory loss. Um, it's really good for people, of course, with like chronic fatigue syndrome or even it's just a preventive measure, you know, for people that are really interested in longevity.

[00:31:54] Beth: But it's, it, people do vary in terms of how much they feel the [00:32:00] difference from it, but a lot of people, it's like their favorite thing to do. Like it isn't the game changer for them.

[00:32:06] CODY: Am I correct, if I recall correctly though, that the one potential downside with NAD is that it, it lowers your body's own production of NAD?

[00:32:15] CODY: Uh, is that, is that, is there any truth to that? I really don't think so,

[00:32:18] Beth: and I think that it is good to always re be replenishing precursors. So it is good to, you know, the oral NED is not so well absorbed, but it is good to cont to, to kind of preventively supplement NED precursors, like N-M-N-N-M-R, niacinamide, these kind of things can help just to keep that, that's the, the stuff from which the body will use to make NEB.

[00:32:44] Beth: And you mentioned peptides, a couple of peptides like the TB 500 and, and the BBC 1 57. We do a lot of peptide work and find it to be so beneficial, you know, 'cause there's different peptides for different situations. There's BBC 1 57 is, [00:33:00] you know, stands for body protection compound. And it's really helpful for speeding up soft tissue healing.

[00:33:06] Beth: It's great for people that are really sore after workouts or someone who's had a surgery or someone who had an injury, you know, or someone who just wants to work out at a high level all the time and kind of keep their, their body in good working order. So I'd love that. . One of my favorites. And then TB 500 is also good for bodi healing can be good for regrowing hair.

[00:33:30] Beth: And then we have a whole family of peptides in the area of improving how the brain makes growth. Hormone growth hormone is an important hormone that declines with age quite dramatically. And uh, I, you know, in the olden days of my career of bio being a bioidentical hormone specialist, I did replenish some growth hormone.

[00:33:53] Beth: But there was, I was an instinctive kind of, I wasn't so gung ho on it. And I think [00:34:00] that's because there can be some possible downsides from growth hormone supplementation itself that we do not see. When we're working with peptides. So peptides that just enhance and optimize the brain's own production of growth hormone keeps the growth hormone levels physiological.

[00:34:17] Beth: So you're not having side effects from potential super physiological levels of those. And so it's just been so helpful for people that feel like their body composition is shifting as they age. You know, maybe they're having a harder time putting on lean muscle. They're having, uh, you know, more fat deposition and they really wanna reverse that body composition shift.

[00:34:40] Beth: So love those peptides. There's good peptides for the brain. Um, we do a lot with Cmax and LAN and also with cerebral lysin for people that have had brain injuries or strokes or, you know, traumatic brain injuries for a car accident. Um, so we use that a lot. And then we use also, [00:35:00] um, peptides for mitochondrial health.

[00:35:03] Beth: Um, motzi, for example, and peptides that are good for skin and list goes on. , there's quite

[00:35:10] CODY: a few. In particular, just, just going back to the human growth hormone, I, I know that Brian Johnson did a, a round, so if, if, if you're not familiar with Brian Johnson, he is a ex founder of a big company and he is really touting himself as being at the cutting edge of doing every treatment and therapy possible to extend his life like the maximum.

[00:35:29] CODY: And he has this thing called, called the Blueprint that he details his routine, all of his supplements. And it's, it's a pretty, uh, insane, but also incredible. And I think there, there's things that we can learn from, from some of the things that he's doing. Uh, I know one of the experiments he tried was human growth hormone, but he stopped that.

[00:35:47] CODY: He's, he noted, uh, intracranial pressure and a few other side effects. And as well, like, uh, you know, I think some people will take it to improve sleep. It can improve muscle mass if you're working out at, at the gym. [00:36:00] But there can be some really weird side effects like, uh, some, some that I remember of, of like, it can actually grow like, like.

[00:36:05] CODY: Part, your, your face might actually physically change. I'm not sure how, how, how often that is.

[00:36:10] Beth: Well, that's, that's a tough thing to accomplish. I mean, there is, there is a, there's a disorder called acromegaly where a person overproduces growth hormone, you know, just . Genetically, and so then they tend to have like a jaw that keeps growing in a nose, et cetera.

[00:36:25] Beth: Um, that would be hard to, to accomplish exogenously. But, but I do feel that, um, yeah, it's just, it's a growth hormone and it is indiscriminate. So if you had a cancer, you know, you could potentially increase the growth of that. So that's why instinctively I steered away from growth hormones, uh, use, you know, recommending that for patients.

[00:36:48] Beth: And there were only like a few kind of like specific cases where someone had very, very, very low documented levels and problems related to that, that I used it, or someone had had like [00:37:00] pituitary injury in their pituitaries incapable of producing growth hormone at all, you know? Then of course you needed to use it.

[00:37:06] Beth: But in most people, I've stayed away from that and now it's so nice to have what I feel is a much safer way of approaching it. It's like you're getting your brain to make it on its own and you cannot really force it to make more, you know, than it should. That feels comfortable to me, and it is a known fact that growth hormone declines with age and, and kind of maintaining healthy hormone balance as you age is just so important for health and longevity.

[00:37:36] CODY: And one of the things I've noted, I know Dr. Rhonda Patrick has talked a lot about he heat shock proteins, the, the sauna usage and all of the benefits and, uh, along with like human growth hormone, that one of the side effects is that it increases fasting glucose levels. And I, I wear, uh, uh, glucose sensor and, you know, Dexcom and also, uh, freestyle Libre, they've come out with ones that are over the counter.

[00:37:58] CODY: And it's really interesting that [00:38:00] when I get into like the hot soak or, or the cold plunge, I will instantly see my glucose spike to a very high degree. And I, I, I am pretty sure that's correlated with a spike in human growth hormone. Can you speak on that? Does, does sauna usage, uh, coal plunge, if you're familiar, does this also raise human growth hormone for a short period of time?

[00:38:20] CODY: And is that healthy?

[00:38:21] Beth: Yes. The, the, the sauna therapy will raise growth hormone. There's really good data on that. and it, but it requires it kind of optimal dosing of sauna therapy in order to accomplish that. So, you know, it's like 20 minutes at 80 degrees Celsius, uh, you know, frequency minimum four times per week.

[00:38:42] Beth: Like that's what's been shown in the studies to bump up growth hormone production. And again, this is bumping up your own natural growth hormone. You're not gonna get super, super physiological levels of growth hormone from doing a hormetic stressor like a [00:39:00] sauna. So I, I actually think that the mechanism, you're, the result you're seeing where you're seeing a spike in your blood sugar is not via, it's not because of the growth hormone increase, it's because of the cortisol increase.

[00:39:15] Beth: So stre, like it's interesting, sauna therapy, red light therapy, exercise, fasting, um. Uh, cryotherapy, uh, you know, we can come up with a list of including many other things. These are called hormetic stressors. And that what that means is that they are, they're a stress, and the stress needs to be dosed properly because it's a stress.

[00:39:41] Beth: So if you're doing it too much or for too long, you have too much stress happening in your body, now your body will release cortisol in response to that stress. Now. So cortisol's not all bad, some cortisol's good, you know, so you, you, the, the idea is too little. Exposure to those kinds of [00:40:00] stressors aren't gonna do anything for you beneficial or otherwise.

[00:40:04] Beth: The re too much is detrimental. Like if you spend over 20 minutes in the red light, that's bad. It's like the, there's a point of diminishing return and the light becomes detrimental in the tissues and can produce some effects that you're not looking for. So, . In a sauna for example, or a cold plunge, especially contrast therapy where you're going from one to the other, you are going to be producing a stress.

[00:40:31] Beth: And so in response to that stress, your cortisol will go up and you're, and your, and even the initial stages of the stress is, nor it's, it's adrenaline that goes up. Imagine you get out of the sauna and you hop in the cold plunge and you released a bunch of adrenaline into your system, right? And adrenaline will, norepinephrine will go to the liver and break down glycogen storage and, and raise up your blood sugar.

[00:40:56] Beth: Like that's just how it works, , you know? And [00:41:00] so it's not like we should see that temporary spike in your blood sugar as necessarily so bad. It's just like, okay, how does your body handle that? Like, do you, um, make enough insulin in the right way to bring it right back down? You know, in a way it's almost like exercising a muscle.

[00:41:18] Beth: It's not necessarily a bad thing. Um, but heat shock proteins are interesting 'cause they, we also, uh, I I would have to get back into my deep dive science on, on sauna therapy. Um, but I do believe that there is a triggering also of insulin, independent glute proteins on, on your cell membranes that can improve overall your body's ability to handle blood sugar and to, to route sugar from your bloodstream into your, into your cell.

[00:41:48] Beth: So it can be used as a substrate.

[00:41:50] CODY: Well, well, speaking on that, so what I find with, with glucose, so I'm, I'm, I'm super health conscious and one of the issues that I've, I've continued to have is I have a high fasting glucose level, [00:42:00] and I know that the, there there is, there's the test. I forgot what's the three letter acronym that tests your 90 day average glucose level?

[00:42:08] CODY: A1C and my A1C is normal. I I, for, for a while I thought just based on my fasting glucose, I thought it was pre-diabetic, but it seems like I'm, I'm normal from that perspective. And it seems like my fasting glucose, it'll hover anywhere from like 99 to like 1 0 5 when I'm sleeping. And I'm trying to work on getting that down.

[00:42:26] CODY: I know that there's the prescription medication that one can take, uh, if you're pre-diabetic, but then there's also things like berberine. But I'm, I'm wondering what advice would you give to me or anyone else that is trying to improve their, their insulin?

[00:42:40] Beth: Great question. 'cause it sometimes is very nuanced and so what I would encourage you to do is to have like a really thorough workup.

[00:42:50] Beth: So like, for example, at Zen we do that. So we would do a whole different, we'd gather data in many different ways. So one, we would [00:43:00] recommend the classic test, like the insulin, the glucose, the hemoglobin A1C. The inflammatory markers, the liver enzymes, the, the, the lipid panel because it, you know, that would give us, start to give us some clues like, okay, is there evidence of insulin resistance?

[00:43:16] Beth: Here you can have a very normal hemoglobin A1C and have the beginnings of pretty profound insulin resistance. So what that means is your blood sugar is, it goes to a certain point, your body has to release insulin to bring it back down. And insulin works by binding two receptors on your cell membranes, which literally indirectly opens a door that then allows glucose to leave the bloodstream and go into your cells.

[00:43:41] Beth: So some people with time will develop something called insulin receptor resistance, where the insulin doesn't work as well at the receptor site. Literally doesn't, looks like a key in a lock, just doesn't fit and doesn't open that door as well over time. So we would kind of do the basic things there.

[00:43:57] Beth: Then we may want to do what is considered more of a [00:44:00] functional test. So we would put a catheter in your arm. Draw your blood for insulin and glucose, give you a sugar solution to drink, and then see your, check your blood through that same catheter at different time points in two over two hours. So that we're looking at how high does your blood sugar go?

[00:44:20] Beth: And then how much insulin is produced by your pancreas in order to bring that down, how long does it stay up and you know, and then when does that insulin and glucose go back down to normal? Like what is that process like? And then we would also recommend you do some metabolic testing. So metabolic testing is where we would have you come on in fasting and we would do what's called a fasting metabolic rate.

[00:44:46] Beth: You know, a resting metabolic rate. So you'd be coming in in the morning before you've had coffee or food, and you would lay on a table calmly and we would put a mask on you and we'd be collecting the breath that you're exhaling. And we'd be able to tell [00:45:00] how many calories you're burning at rest and what

[00:45:03] Beth: Fuel you are preferentially burning at rest. What's your fat burning capacity, for example? And then we'd have you come back on a different day and we would have you do a VO two max test. So VO two max is where you're, you're on a, you're, you're exercising and you're either on a treadmill or a bike and you're breathing through a mask.

[00:45:24] Beth: And then we're collecting the breath and we're, we're analyzing the gases in your breath as you're advancing the levels of exertion. You're probably familiar with this, but, and then, we'll, we're usually a person at low levels of exertion is burning fat. Then at higher levels of exertion, we'll begin burning carbohydrates and at higher levels of exertion still, they'll begin burning lactate.

[00:45:46] Beth: And so we're looking at what points of heart rate and, you know, kind of exertion. Do you flip fuel source? Do you flip preferential fuel burning? And then we would like to look at your kind of continuous glucose [00:46:00] monitor and your AA ring data. And then from all of that, we would crunch that together and say, okay, you are not, you don't have enough muscle mass on your body in order to handle your blood sugar properly.

[00:46:15] Beth: And that's why you know, you have this higher le level than normal. Or we would say something completely opposite, like, you are not eating enough food and therefore your body is under stress and there, and when you're sleeping, your body is stressed. And so then you wake up in the morning, your body's already released cortisol, which has raised your blood sugar and that's why you have a high kind of resting blood glucose fasting.

[00:46:44] Beth: And, and so there's so many different things that we can kind of tease out of that, that kind of, kind of a mixture of all that data.

[00:46:51] CODY: I love that, that you use data from more than just one or two. You don't just use a blood test. You'll, you'll do a BO two max test or you'll [00:47:00] look at my AA ring or other data that, that I can provide.

[00:47:03] CODY: So to really make a holistic diagnosis and a plan as to what, what I or somebody else could do in a situation. Um, and so I know that you've mentioned, uh, things of you, you treat long-term diseases, you, you treat, uh, chronic diseases. What kind of, uh, equipment and what types of situations do you, uh, most commonly treat now that you've been practicing for so long?

[00:47:27] Beth: I started out in me in practice in 1998 and kind of delved into bioidentical hormones and, and I was one of the first crop of doctors that was trained in functional medicine. So I kind of treated routine, like kind of more . You know, basic issues from a functional medicine perspective and lots of people that needed some hormone balancing and natural neurotransmitter balancing gut work, things like that.

[00:47:52] Beth: Then I ended up getting Lyme disease in 2004, and I'd already been diagnosing Lyme disease, but I typically would refer them away to other [00:48:00] doctors that specialized in that, and then I would co-manage them. And then I got Lyme disease and had to kind of figure out how to kind of get through it on my own, 'cause the things that were being recommended to me weren't working.

[00:48:11] Beth: And I learned a lot in the process. And so then I started seeing a lot of people with Lyme disease and then I kind of ended up delving deeply into, uh, physics and biophysics. And that gave me some extra tools to, to like, uh, you know, diagnose things a little more, uh, accurately. And then there was some more tools in my toolbox for treating.

[00:48:34] Beth: So then I ended up just kind of getting people coming that were just more complex in general neurodegenerative diseases, kind of autoimmune diseases, you know, multi infectious disease, you know, Lyman co and viruses and mold and blah, you know, all together . So it was, it was, uh, I just became over time better or otherwise just, you know, the one in the practice that could treat the more complex conditions and stuff [00:49:00] like that.

[00:49:00] Beth: And I loved doing the simpler thing, , but I just don't see them as much anymore 'cause they go to other people. But yes, so my specialty really is to, you know, kind of look at a complex situation and just kind of gather data from multiple different streams and a really careful history and intuition as well.

[00:49:17] Beth: And then kind of like determine like, you know, what are the underlying factors that kind of led to this? How do I begin unwinding that? And by, by treating those underlying factors, be they. You know, infections or toxic accumulation or mitochondrial slowdown or, um, you know, food in compatibilities in the diet or, um, hormone imbalances or, um, you know, vitamin deficiencies or nutrient deficiencies or, or a combination of all those things.

[00:49:46] Beth: And so then I moved my practice of then 23 years or so into a larger center, which is zen And I, you know, that I co-founded with some other people because [00:50:00] I, you know, was learning so much more about, more and more about biophysics and physics and like, there are so many devices that are now thankfully becoming really popular in the biohacking space.

[00:50:15] Beth: That are really rooted in physics. You know, we're treating with light and we're treating with information signatures and pulsed electromagnetic fields and infrared ozone cells and blah, blah, blah. You know, and so I wanted a larger center so I, it could encompass all of these things. And I've been told by people in the field that this is the largest array of bio optimization technologies under one roof in the world.

[00:50:39] Beth: So it's a, it's a really special center here. And it's not just the stuff that makes it special, it's the people. 'cause we have, you know, multiple doctors and we have neuroscientists and physiologists and, and, you know, physical therapists and chiropractors and deep tissue massage people and people. And we're all really intuitive and like [00:51:00] really kind of, you know, speak really like to talk with people and kind of like spend time and like gather information from just, you know, speaking with people.

[00:51:08] Beth: So it's a, it's a privilege to just, you know, kind of be around such an extraordinary group. But what's happened. It's allowed me to get much better results than I could even get before. You know, for example, collaborating. Collaborating with a neuroscientist is just like in, it's invaluable because she does 19 channel quantitative EEG brain mapping on people, which can right away, you know, when necessary.

[00:51:33] Beth: But it, you know, when we collaborate it's like we can tell the brain inflamed is there low voltage? Is there evidence of like limbic system, uh, you know, kind of overdrive, anomic nervous system imbalances? Is there evidence of like brain trauma? You know, how, and we would approach that in different ways.

[00:51:51] Beth: Sometimes someone is fatigued and kind of has brain fog and sometimes it's 'cause their brain's inflamed and sometimes it's because it's low voltage and it's like so great to be [00:52:00] able to take a look and check it out. 'cause you have different ways of approaching, uh, both of those. Um. So it's allowed, as you can imagine, like, you know, if the autonomic nervous system is balanced and the person's not stuck in fight or flight, well then their liver's gonna detox better, their gut's gonna work better, their hormones will be more easy to balance, you know, et cetera, et cetera.

[00:52:22] Beth: So it's just, it's really a pleasure to, you know, be able to collaborate there. And then, like we are just talking about all the testing we do, you know, for metabolism. And we're living in an era of metabolic dysfunction being epidemic in the United States. That is the root of, you know, the pre-diabetes, diabetes, heart disease, cognitive decline.

[00:52:45] Beth: Alzheimer's is diabetes of the brain, you know, and even cancer. So it's absolutely essential. Now you know that we have the ability to crack the code. You know, we have the, the ability. To, [00:53:00] to collect all this data so that we can, you know, figure out precisely what to recommend. You know, this is the diet for you, the number of calories, the ratios of macronutrients, and this is the way that this data is suggesting your body needs to train in order to kind of turn this around.

[00:53:18] Beth: And of course that's better done when combined with hormone therapy and mitochondrial upregulation and peptides and all of that, you know, so at the end of the day, what it, what it really comes down to is being guided. You know, 'cause like biohacking is one thing where you've got these bright people that are in there just experimenting, like Brian Johnson takes that to the S degree, right?

[00:53:42] Beth: Got the average person that's, you know, learning about these things and trying to on for size and all. And that's great. And there's a lot of pitfalls. I. And you know, it, the way that they're going about it and the way they're combining and stacking things may not be the shortest way [00:54:00] to get to their goal , you know?

[00:54:03] Beth: So it nice to somehow be, to sometimes be guided by, uh, people who are in the trenches doing it all the time with lots of different kinds of people that have different goals and different problems, and can advise appropriately.

[00:54:17] CODY: Right? And even in the peptide community, I, I've seen, you know, there are so many online places that you can buy, uh, peptides and it just says not for human consumption on the side.

[00:54:28] CODY: You know, that's not a prescription. And you'll hear about some side effects that seem really scary of like somebody had to go to, to the er. And, uh, really I think a, a lot of that is like the, the ingredients are not pharmaceutical grade that people are really making these, these experiments with themselves.

[00:54:45] CODY: It

[00:54:45] Beth: can be a contamination and some, some, uh, you know, bacterial. Byproducts of lipopolysaccharide and you know, things that can cause inflammation in the body and things like that. So you have to be really careful, especially, especially [00:55:00] when you're injecting something. And I'll tell you it's not totally straightforward, you know, to reconstitute these peptides on your own and figure out what the dose is.

[00:55:10] Beth: Like, you know, we have medical backgrounds here and the nurses have very, very extensive backgrounds and sometimes we have to kind of put our heads together and be like, okay, like exactly how much is it that we need, you know? So there's a lot of room for human error, let's just say that.

[00:55:25] CODY: And I just wanna touch on something that you mentioned, uh, earlier in the beginning, uh, regarding, uh, muscle mass in that, in relation to longevity.

[00:55:34] CODY: And so, uh, if we have more muscle mass, there's a correlation that it increases our basal metabolic rate and the higher metabolism is, is not a. In line with longevity, if I understand it correctly. Um, so is there like a, um, as you mentioned, I know that there's a bell curve for everything. Um, but in relation to our resting metabolic rate and also, uh, our [00:56:00] telomeres, can you just speak on a little bit about how our metabolism impacts our, our longevity or might have any impact on telomeres and how we might, um, seek to increase our telomere length, if that's just NAD or if there's something else along, along the lines of that.

[00:56:15] Beth: Yeah, but you said something that, um, increased metabolism is not good for longevity. Can you just say more about that? So I know I'm responding appropriately

[00:56:25] CODY: as I understand it, that our, our, I mean obviously you're the doctor, so I have a, a base understanding of this, but is that we, when we have a higher metabolic rate, our body, uh, produces new cells at a higher rate.

[00:56:38] CODY: And in, in the case of like the benefits of intermittent fasting, part of the benefits is that our cells, uh, go into starvation mode where instead of creating new cells and replicating with, replicating with errors, of course that cause the aging is that they go and they start repairing themselves. Yeah,

[00:56:54] Beth: I mean like, like intermittent fasting can stimulate mitophagy and [00:57:00] autophagy.

[00:57:00] Beth: So the body will go in and kind of like, you know, find those senescent cells that are like the zombie cells that are producing kind of non-beneficial chemicals that are there excreting into their environment that can have deleterious effects on the neighboring cells and even encourage some of the neighboring cells to become senescent.

[00:57:19] Beth: So the, the, the intermittent fasting when done properly in the right dose. So back to dose, you know, in terms of how many hours you're fasting within a day, you know, can be, can be helpful, but if you overdo it. It can cause stress. And then that releases the cortisol, which is a catabolic hormone that can break your tissues down and also raise your blood sugar and desensitize your insulin receptors by virtue of, you know, that.

[00:57:49] Beth: So it's, it's all about right thing, right dose. Right. And so I'd sure, I think, you know, there's limits to, to benefits of muscle mass. Like if [00:58:00] you see like a steroid guy that's just like, can barely move 'cause he's just so humongous, like there's some downsides to that I'm sure. Um, but for the most part we see the opposite as we age, is that people lose muscle mass.

[00:58:15] Beth: And anything you can do to maintain not only the amount of muscle mass you have, but the health of the muscle cells is going to be good for longevity. So, and that's not necessarily exercising, overdoing exercise, right? Like, 'cause that can have the downsides then, 'cause it's a stressor. But, you know, eating the right amount of protein, particularly at the right times of day, doing the right amount of, um, resistance to training, to, to maintain muscle mass and muscle cell health is really good for longevity because it enhances your mitochondrial number and mitochondrial function.

[00:58:56] Beth: And you can almost think about your muscle cells. [00:59:00] Collectively as like an endocrine organ that sinks glucose out of the bloodstream. So for example, someone who has a, you know, a high fasting blood sugar, probably one of the most impactful things they could ever do, you know, to, to bring that blood sugar down.

[00:59:17] Beth: I mean, there's other factors too. So like I would love to tease it, you know, out those factors in your case. But one thing that is usually beneficial for most people with a higher blood sugar is to put on more muscle mass. 'cause then they sink in. I don't know, you know, we've never gotten to see to do testing on, so, yeah.

[00:59:36] Beth: So in your case it might be something completely different. Like, for example, can I share from my personal health? I never like sugar. And then I, and then I decided at one point in my life that I felt better when I didn't eat. I never had, I haven't eaten gluten since I was like 1822 I guess. And um, and at one point I decided in general I felt better if I didn't eat grains.

[00:59:57] Beth: So, kind of by default, I ended up [01:00:00] becoming like a carbohydrate restrictor. Um, and over time, and then at one point, you know, and then I went through an early menopause and I started putting little belly fat on and, you know, and then I, I love exercise, I eat beautifully. And I was like, why does this happening to me?

[01:00:16] Beth: I don't even eat that much. So then I was like, you know, maybe I'll try intermittent fasting on for size. So then I was intermittent fasting, not eating breakfast, felt amazing doing that. Lost belly fat initially. That was the greatest thing to do. And then my other two meals were kind of like my typical, like, you know, protein, veggies, little bit of healthy fat, occasional fruit, rarely occasional.

[01:00:39] Beth: And then I, it backfired, like, you know. Then I started putting the belly fat back on and then some, and then I did all my metabolic testing I described for you. And it was super clear I was not eating enough to replenish my muscles. And I was not burning as much fat at rest as, as I [01:01:00] should, because overall I wasn't eating enough.

[01:01:03] Beth: So I think what was happening to me is that I was releasing cortisol, especially through the night. Um, and that was a, that was showing up in my low HRV on my AA ring. And then I, you know, had a, just slightly higher cortisol and then a higher insulin because of it, and developed a tiny bit of insulin resistance.

[01:01:25] Beth: Thankfully, I've been able to turn that around a lot by focusing a little bit more on muscle building, less on cardio over time. And I don't intermittent fast as often or for as long, and I eat more carbs in addition to my protein and vegetables, and it's just, that's kind of the ticket that worked. So it's sometimes counterintuitive.

[01:01:49] CODY: And, and there's so much of an impact that our, our food consumption has, and we may try, uh, paleo, which I, I was trying that for a long time. And there's, there's certain biomarkers that we have to [01:02:00] pay attention to, otherwise we might not even know that, that there's, there's parts of our diet that are inherently bad with us.

[01:02:06] CODY: And I, I know I did online a, a food allergy test with Everly well, uh, before, and it gave me like a list of 30 things. Like apparently I'm mildly allergic to, uh, quinoa, uh, uh, black seeds. Uh, so, so I try to omit them where I can, um, while also realizing, I mean, it's, I, I don't have any kind of noticeable reaction, but I can also recognize that we can end up having reactions to things that cause inflammation and it's not visible to us.

[01:02:33] CODY: And I think that's one of the biggest things that if we can really find out what those things are, that we can improve our brain health and clear a lot of these, these overall long-term health issues that we end up having. And so I know that we, we completely went off script and just really, I just love talking about the, these tangible aspects of what we can do in health and, and this biohacking space.

[01:02:53] CODY: Uh, but I'd love for you as we, as you wrap up to really explain or, or just, or to share if there's any [01:03:00] actionable steps that, that people can take or your simple practices. But, but actually on top of that, I have a separate question is, is that, so I know I've worked previously with Ageless rx, um, or, or ageless.com, and they're an online clinic that will, will do prescriptions like pres prescribing NAD and sending it over to the mail.

[01:03:18] CODY: I Is your clinic, is that something that you only do in person or do you have plans to, to offer kind of remote or, or, or telehealth type services?

[01:03:26] Beth: We definitely do telehealth. Mm-hmm . We do telehealth, but we love to see people in person the first time if we can. That gives us more prescription rights, you know, and like also it's just you, you learn a lot being in person with somebody.

[01:03:42] Beth: It's not mandatory, but it is, it is really helpful.

[01:03:45] CODY: And so for people who can't visit your clinic, what, any kind of simple practices that you might recommend or that you most commonly prescribe to patients, whether it's like exercise more or, or, or eat better, what would you typically prescribe or share most of the time?[01:04:00]

[01:04:00] Beth: Uh, it is a lot. Um, but I would say, uh, you know, and these are generic recommendations, but, um, since you said exercise, I would say that perfect world, on average, you would want to either work out your entire body twice a week or if you're in, in terms of weight training, or if you are breaking it into body part, like, you know, butt and, and thighs or whatever, you know, you're then four times a week so that you're doing like, you know, kind of the whole body twice each ti you know.

[01:04:36] Beth: Twice a week. So, and, and that's very broad because like what are you doing in the gym and all of that. But I would say, you know, where you are, hopefully with the right guidance, lifting weight and carefully over time, expanding on the amount of weight that you can lift like that is going to with time, you know, over time help you main build and maintain healthy [01:05:00] muscles.

[01:05:01] Beth: And then, um, learn what your zone two cardio zone is. Heart rate, zone is, that's a, you know, you've probably heard that's the heart rate where you can exercise and still hold a conversation. You know, go on a hike with a friend or you know, take a gentle bike ride or you're in the gym and you're on the treadmill or you know, you're doing the stair climber or whatever you're doing, you know, where you could have a conversation but you're getting, you're getting your heart rate up, you're getting your blood rates, blood circulating.

[01:05:30] Beth: Like that's a really important thing to do at least a few times a week. Then I think two sessions in a week, 20 minutes of, um, intermittent, you know, high intensity interval training. And these are very short intervals where you're taking your heart rate up, um, into the higher zones. And then you're, you're recovering in a rest period after that, you know, at a much lower heart rate zone.

[01:05:56] Beth: And you're maybe doing, um, that for 20 minutes [01:06:00] and you're, you're covering like, you know, six, eight, birth some high activity. And then, so that would be the exercise, I would say. And then for, for diet, there's no one diet that's right for everyone, but I would focus on protein with, you know, over time. And it doesn't have to be animal protein, but it's easier if it is, but it doesn't have to be.

[01:06:22] Beth: So, you know, plant-based protein can work, but you're ideally focusing on getting a gram of protein for every pound of optimal body weight you would like to be. It's hard to do. Sometimes it requires some supplementing with some, you know, like, like freeform amino acids or essential amino acids. That can be really helpful.

[01:06:45] Beth: Um, but anyway, protein forward diet tends to work for most people. And then, uh, I personally love people to include lots of, of vegetables, like lots of living foods, [01:07:00] you know, like five servings a day of vegetables, one or two pieces of fruit perhaps. Um, fats are very important, so you wanna make sure you're including fats and you're eating healthy fats.

[01:07:13] Beth: And unfortunately, uh, you know, there's a lot of unhealthy fats in the food supply in, in, in the United States in particular. So you ideally are avoiding seed oils such as sunflower, seed oil, sunflower, uh, safflower oil, corn oil, cotton seed oil, and including instead. Olive oil, butter, ghee, some coconut oil, and um, high quality avocado oil.

[01:07:45] Beth: But I would rather see that a person doesn't do that and instead just will eat some avocado. And then if you're going to consume nuts and seeds, ideally you would do that raw or soak, [01:08:00] sprouted, dehydrated at a low temperature, um, so that you're not ruining the oils in the seeds, in the nuts. And then I think we covered it there.

[01:08:10] Beth: In terms of carbohydrates, like starches, you know, root vegetables or grains, I think there's a lot of variability. Um, some people have food allergies, some people don't. You know, some people are sensitive to gluten, some people aren't. Some people are like. Young athletes. Others are sedentary aging office workers.

[01:08:32] Beth: You know, like you may be pregnant, you may be nursing, you may be like, whatever. So you've gotta figure out like kind of, that's the area that differs most from person to person, depending on what their life is. Like, what's the stage of their life, and you know, what works for their biochemistry. So you've gotta kind of figure that out for yourself, or get some advice from a doctor or use some labs to help you figure it out anyway.

[01:08:54] Beth: Then I think meditating every day is a really important thing, so that you can kind of [01:09:00] develop that relationship with yourself, get in tune with your unique signature, your pristine blueprint, and understand when you deviate from that, and then kind of watch your mindset and you know, really work on your mental, emotional health.

[01:09:17] Beth: I think that probably out of everything we've just spoken about, you know, that's one of the most important things right there, you know, that's gonna help us resonate more precisely with our pristine blueprint if we, if we do a lot of energetic maintenance and keep our positive mind that, you know, thinking thoughts that generate higher vibration emotions, uh, is gonna be very good for our health.

[01:09:40] Beth: And then prioritize sleep. Make sure you get good quality sleep and do what you have to do in order to ensure that and track it. 'cause it's very helpful to know and troubleshoot your lifestyles and then drink enough water. I think that that's one of the most important things that [01:10:00] you can do as well, is to drink half your body weight and ounces of pure structured water every day.

[01:10:08] CODY: Wow. There, there's, there's so much more. Way more than two or three, but I, I love it. And,

[01:10:13] Beth: and one of thing, spend time outside. Spend time in Asia, and, uh, definitely let light come into your eyes

[01:10:21] CODY: and I'm sure we could talk for another hour. I, I would love to talk for another hour, but, uh, outta respect for you, I would, I'll end this conversation, but it's, it was incredible.

[01:10:30] CODY: I love how we, we really touched on the, we, we started in the frequencies, but then we went to the tangible aspects of, of medicine, and there's so much more that I, I would love to talk about. But for anyone who wants to dive deeper into these ideas, you can find Dr. McDougall's book Your Pristine Blueprint online, and then she also does amazing work at Jasen in San Francisco.

[01:10:53] CODY: I'll put links to everything that we talked about, including how to connect with Dr. McDougall in the show notes. Uh, thanks for listening to another [01:11:00] episode of The Mind Hack podcast. This conversation resonated with you. Please share it with someone who might need to hear it. Until next time. I'm Cody McClain and you've been listening to Mind Hack.

[01:11:08] Beth: Thank you so much, Cody.