The Detached podcast
Welcome to the podcast. This is a space where I get to vocalize my thoughts and dive deep into conversations with some truly remarkable individuals. It’s not about surface-level chit-chat—this is where we get into the real stuff. We talk about the things that matter: health, fitness, relationships, and the process of breaking free from the limitations we place on ourselves.
I don’t believe in small talk, because nothing meaningful ever comes from it. So, let's dig deep into the topics that can actually change your life. I want to bring you value, provoke your thinking, and help you see the world differently.
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Let's get into it.
Sophia
The Detached podcast
EP: 101 Why Men Are Becoming Infertile and What We Can Do About It -Lucas Aoun
Imagine a future where most Western men are completely infertile. According to Australian biohacker Lucas, we're just 33 years away from this reality if current trends continue. This revelation kicks off our fascinating exploration of the hidden factors decimating male fertility and hormonal health.
Lucas shares his remarkable journey from aspiring professional soccer player to becoming a pioneering voice in natural health optimization. His quest began with addressing his own acid reflux issues and evolved into a mission to help others reclaim their biological potential. Along the way, he discovered alarming connections between our modern environment and plummeting testosterone levels across the male population.
We dive deep into the invisible threats lurking in everyday products. From aluminum-based deodorants and chemical-laden moisturizers to fluoride in water and common mouthwashes that destroy beneficial bacteria, these seemingly harmless products are collectively disrupting our endocrine systems. Even more surprising is how these chemicals can feminize male physiology over time, similar to effects documented in amphibian populations exposed to xenoestrogens.
The conversation takes an unexpected turn when Lucas reveals his protocol for naturally boosting testosterone and fertility. His recommendation to apply ice packs to the testicles might raise eyebrows, but the clinical results speak for themselves, with couples conceiving after implementing this technique when nothing else worked. We explore the perfect formula for hormonal optimization: strategic cooling therapy, specific resistance training protocols, and targeted supplementation with compounds like boron, taurine, Tongkat Ali, and the fascinating "Cistanche in your pants."
For anyone concerned about declining energy, focus, or sexual performance, this episode offers actionable, evidence-based strategies beyond pharmaceutical solutions. Lucas's expertise shines as he explains how erectile dysfunction often signals deeper cardiovascular issues and how optimizing nitric oxide pathways can address the root cause rather than masking symptoms.
Ready to reclaim your hormonal health naturally? This conversation provides the blueprint, challenging conventional wisdom while offering practical solutions for thriving in our increasingly toxic world.
Lucas, welcome on to the podcast thanks, sophia, happy to be here and looking forward to chatting you know what I was like so excited to have you on the podcast because I have watched your stuff and I feel like you have such different insights in terms of you. You know how to really upskill yourself in terms of your health and longevity. I did see you claimed as being the best biohacker from Australia, so I want to see a bit of that today.
Speaker 2:Of course. Of course I guess that title came about through a lot of content that I was creating and just sharing, like you said, very novel, unique insights around health supplements, training, things like that and one of my main goals has always been to provide just very unique and cutting edge health information to the masses. So, yeah, super excited to chat.
Speaker 1:So where did that start? Because, like a lot of people that I find that end up being in the health industry often come from like maybe a poor upbringing in terms of their health and wellness or they've had like a bit of a reality health check like where did this start?
Speaker 2:yeah, for me it was actually with the the ultimate goal in mind, to become a professional soccer player. And funny, you mentioned Chelsea before because that was my.
Speaker 2:My dream goal was to to play for Chelsea no way um, and then I realized, like what it takes to actually make it as a professional soccer player, and it meant that I would have to sacrifice my education and learning and doing the things that I also liked at the time.
Speaker 2:So really my journey was just all centered around optimizing like athletic performance and optimizing soccer performance, so anything that could any nootropic or supplement that could help me read the game better, stay calmer under pressure, make better decisions. I was always very fascinated with how we can optimize the brain and I realized that the brain is very much like what I personally say like a computer where you can install certain programs and softwares and you can tweak neurotransmitters, increase dopamine, decrease serotonin, increase acetylcholine. And then I realized that that whole practice that I was enforcing and experiencing was a whole practice of biohacking, which is like being able to take control of your physiology, your psychology. And from there I just really just fell in love with anything that I personally learned, just sharing it. I just love the idea of sharing content, contributing to the world. If I know something that can benefit people, there's no point keeping it to myself. I just love sharing it. So that's what I've been doing up until now.
Speaker 1:What kind of household did you grow up in?
Speaker 2:Very, very supportive, very, very amazing parents. My father was a pharmacist and my mom was a drama teacher, so two extremes and they were very supportive, like, even though I didn't go down the route of becoming a pharmacist I became a naturopath instead my dad was still very supportive and yeah, they're amazing parents. And I also had an older brother who was not so much into health, more so into he's a musical freak, like a genius on the piano. He wrote like songs. He wrote 11 original songs by the age of 11, without knowing how to read or write music. So he was a musical freak. But, yeah, I really enjoyed my upbringing. I think I had a really fantastic, supportive family.
Speaker 1:Did you have quite a healthy lifestyle? Because I believe in Australia. You're 5am up in the morning running around. I feel like Australia is quite supportive of health.
Speaker 2:They're pretty big on, yeah, health and fitness. It's definitely not the sort of culture to stay up late during the. During the weekdays everyone sort of gets up early, like 5, 5, 30, they go to the gym, they do their the run clubs. They're pretty big in Melbourne, um, shout out to South Era run club. There's a pretty famous run club there.
Speaker 2:Um, but yeah, in terms of that sort of lifestyle, I mean, I actually had, um a health issue when I was younger as well, so I had a um, had really bad reflux, and I thought I was lucky because my dad was a pharmacist and so I had unlimited access to all you know medications, medications and and vitamins and whatever. And so my dad, unfortunately, he prescribed, well, he, he recommended that I use those stomach acid medications, the PPIs, proton pump inhibitors, um, and I thought I was lucky because that would basically enable me to eat whatever I wanted. You know, if you can just suppress the symptoms, um, so that was all like pretty much going against the whole philosophy of like naturopathy, which is, get to the root cause, and they're so fixated on the gut as well, like they're very much, you know, obsessed with learning about the gut. So, yeah, it's been a really interesting upbringing. How?
Speaker 1:has that impact in your life. When you were having acid reflux Like were you not being able to reach your true potential.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah. So it definitely affected me with um around soccer. So, like I used to and I used to be that guy in in the team who would prepare meals from, you know, from the age of like 16, 17, I'd have this massive bowl of potatoes with a little bit of olive oil and salt and I used to have that like before soccer training and even before games, and so I used to have to be really strict with my nutrition to avoid getting the reflux Cause. In the end, I just said I don't want to be on the medications, like most people. Most people don't want to be on medications.
Speaker 2:So it actually influenced me to become more, like, obsessed with understanding biology and physiology, understanding how food impacts our overall wellbeing. Um, and then that sort of led into like, how can I be a great educator for men looking to optimize their hormones naturally without going on testosterone? And that's what I'm, that's something that I would say I'm pretty well known for today is like teaching men hey, you know, these are the best foods for testosterone. This is going to support fertility because, you would also know, testosterone levels are on a massive decline and fertility both men and women is women is is tanking across the board.
Speaker 1:So, yeah, it's been a fascinating journey what did your father think at the time? Because obviously, being a pharmacist, you know everything's medication. When he saw the direction of your career, did he have any question marks around it?
Speaker 2:he always said he's like are you prepared to work in a clinic and make 50 000,000 Australian dollars a year? And I remember him saying, like that's probably the maximum amount that you'll make as a naturopath. And I heard him say that. But deep down I knew I was capable of achieving so much more and fortunately, I put myself in a very uncomfortable position and I started creating content from a very uncomfortable position. And I started creating content from a very young age and I was creating I would stay back after uni and I would just design Instagram posts, design static posts, and then I also eventually started my own YouTube channel, which was a big, a big milestone for me, and so that that really led to like just being immersed in seeing what it's like to actually make money passively.
Speaker 2:So I used to wake up. I used to, even though I was still at university. I'd wake up and I'd see, like that I'd sold like two courses, which is the equivalent of like $400, plus I'd make money through my affiliate income as well, and so before I'd even left the house, I've already made a thousand dollars, and so for me I was so proud of that because then it felt like it just took, took the pressure off a lot. Yeah, felt like I'd already like now I get to just study and I've already, you know, made made money for for the day, so it was a really interesting concept. Back then I felt a level of security from a pretty young age.
Speaker 1:How important is financial security for you in terms of being able to follow your passion?
Speaker 2:It's a great, it's a really great question, I think it's. It definitely enables me to have that flexibility and freedom, so being able to choose what I decide to work on and it also opens up possibilities, like I get the chance to like, if I want to build and develop a new supplement, I have that capacity, whereas when I first started, you know, I didn't have that opportunity. I didn't have that opportunity. I didn't have that um, like capacity to do that. So I'd say it's the main thing is that it's opened up opportunities and it's, yeah, enabled a lot of freedom.
Speaker 1:When you talked about uh health decline in terms of testosterone, I did see on a podcast that you mentioned in 33 years' time, men in Western society are going to be infertile. That's a large statement.
Speaker 2:It is a staggering statistic for most people, but yeah, based upon the current trends in terms of sperm counts and sperm motility and even testosterone levels, what's happening is they're actually reducing the, the blood test reference range. They're actually reducing it down. Compared to like 50 years ago, it used to be a lot higher, so they just know that the average, like testosterone levels in across the population is actually decreasing dramatically. So it is something that men need to, like, I guess, pay attention to, and it can be a little bit tricky, though, like because there's not many people, not many doctors, are really prolific about. Here's what you should do to optimize testosterone naturally, and so that's where I've sort of not as a doctor, but as a naturopath stepped in and been like this is what you guys need to focus on.
Speaker 1:So what would be the reasons for this to happen now? Why do you think people are becoming more infertile?
Speaker 2:Yeah, there's a range of different factors in our environment. One of them is just the harsh environment that many people live in is just the harsh environment that many people live in Pollutants, toxins, you know. Environmental chemicals, forever. Chemicals, you know, you got guys using aluminium-based deodorants, you know, smothering their body in creams that contain xenoestrogens, which make men less manly, essentially Like it. Actually, there's even some research that you know some of these chemicals can transform male frogs more towards like feminine, like female frogs, which is pretty crazy. Um, so there's a lot of different factors in our environment. And then add to that you've got the emf, so electromagnetic frequencies, you've got like 5g. You've got, um, highly stressful lifestyles, minute like poor quality sleep.
Speaker 1:Here's another one I just want to put you back on the moisturizer side of things. I'm like I got a second. Don't go too far ahead. What kind of moisturizer should a man use? If this is an issue that they're facing, what's the solution here?
Speaker 2:and, to be honest, so if you're, it's actually really difficult for men to know which ones to select, because even the ones that say natural, you know, or like no fragrances, they will still contain chemicals that are like problematic. And if their liver is not like optimal which most people have compromised liver functioning because just the lifestyle we live it basically takes the load. So therefore the liver has to detox these chemicals that are found in like moisturizers, maybe even like shampoos and conditioners. There's things that are really problematic For a guy if he looks at the label, like he's not exactly going to know how to read each ingredient.
Speaker 2:But thankfully we've got things like Chachipiti now, like you can just take a photo, put it onto Chachipiti and ask Chachipiti are any of these ingredients problematic? Could they possibly impact my hormones? And there'll be in vivo studies. There'll be minimal human like. There'll be minimal human clinical trials. But personally, if something is making a rat less like, if it's, if it's affecting a rat in a in a negative way, I'd rather not use it by self.
Speaker 1:Yeah, okay, so to go back to stuff that's making men infertile, what else?
Speaker 2:The other one I would say a big one is like vitamin D deficiency, and that's problematic because, again, we're told to use sunscreen all the time, avoid the sun. This is problematic again because we're seeing a global decrease in vitamin D levels and that's because, obviously, we're inside yeah, sunscreen, things like that and we know that vitamin D is actually it's actually considered to be a hormone. So vitamin D is incredibly important for turning on and off genes that are responsible for reproductive capacity. Vitamin D is essential because it actually helps to convert cholesterol into pregnenolone, which is our mother steroid that actually then gets converted into the other steroid hormones. So I think, yeah, vitamin D deficiency and a host of other nutrients and minerals are also playing a role.
Speaker 1:Deficiency and a host of other nutrients and minerals are also playing a role. So vitamin D is there any kind of timing when you should take vitamin D oral supplements? You know IVs like what's the best method here?
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah. So this is a good one, because a lot of people struggle to know, you know, when should they be using vitamin D? And you hear a lot of doctors saying you know, it's completely fine, just take it before bed. Now, taking vitamin D before bed is not recommended because, if you think about it like logically, doesn't really make sense anyway. Yeah, the sun doesn't stay up when you're asleep like it goes down.
Speaker 2:So the first thing you want to prioritize is taking vitamin D in the morning with your first meal that contains a little bit of fats. It could even just be like a teaspoon of extra virgin olive oil or coconut oil or just something, some degree of healthy fat. And so the vitamin D itself is. Usually people can get away with just like 1,000 to 2,000 IU of vitamin D, but for most people they need about 5,000 IU international unit combined with at least like 80 to 100 micrograms of vitamin K2. So vitamin K2, it works synergistically. It helps to minimize calcium deposits in the bones. It helps to. It also has some interesting effects on hormones as well. In men and I don't think a lot of guys are familiar with the research behind how vitamin K2 can actually inhibit an enzyme called aromatase. So that's the enzyme that actually converts testosterone into estrogen. So vitamin K2, like all the other fat-soluble vitamins, can actually help to do that as well.
Speaker 1:Okay. So if I was deficient in vitamin D now, would you prescribe me what would be the best method for me?
Speaker 2:Yeah, so if you told me you were deficient in vitamin D, I would basically want to look at the blood test results and then prescribe accordingly, which is the evidence-based practice. Yeah, would probably be 5,000 IU for about eight to 10 weeks and then retest your vitamin D levels and see how well did Sophia convert that vitamin, utilize, assimilate and convert that into the active form? Um, and then, yeah, just keeping an eye on that, like twice a year.
Speaker 1:Vitamin D is one that you want to keep an eye on, know once or twice a year yeah, so when it comes to, obviously, sun exposure, essentially, then, you mentioned about sunscreen and how that's stopping our possibility to absorb vitamin D, right, um, what's your thoughts on sun exposure then, and how important is the first thing? In the morning time, I see a lot of this sun exposure. Andy Huberman tends to talk about it a lot.
Speaker 2:I'm a big fan of that. I think, um, yeah, if you can wake up and get bright light preferably from the sun, first thing in the morning, amazing. If not, then you can just use a light box like these, which is what I've been doing, because I get up before the sun rises and I'll just yeah, what time do you get up at?
Speaker 2:um, back in Australia is like, yeah, 5, 30 ish, 5, 15, and here it's pushed back a bit because I'm still a little bit jet lagged yeah not not fully adjusted to the routine here, but yeah, in terms of first thing in the morning, what people need to understand is the reasons why we want that bright light exposure first thing in the morning, and the main reason is because it actually helps to give us a cortisol boost.
Speaker 2:So cortisol is our stress adrenal hormone, but cortisol's one of its main functions in the morning is actually to mobilize energy reserves, so basically freeing up fatty acids and mobilizing glycogen into blood glucose. So the benefit of that is that you're getting a boost in blood sugar, you're getting an increase in heart rate, an increase in blood pressure all the things that you need to get out of bed and get your day started be productive. The other advantage of getting that bright light in the morning is that it actually helps to train our circadian rhythm so that we're actually able to generate a sufficient amount of melatonin in the evening. So it actually helps to support sleep that night as well.
Speaker 1:So that's something I usually encourage so waking up naturally with the sun or with a light box, when you have days where you don't go out in natural sunlight, can you see the difference in between natural sunlight and artificial light? Personally speaking?
Speaker 2:uh, personally I I prefer the sun. Yeah, like I much prefer the sun. Also being slightly dark helps, because I don't get burnt as easily. But yeah, I definitely. The other unique benefit from the sun is that you actually synthesize more melanocortin, which is another anti-aging, protective hormone, a protective pathway, and then you also get the added benefit of you get a good dopamine boost from the vitamin d as well so you get a good kick of energy. It's really great for, like, seasonal affective disorder. Um yeah, things like that so seasonal affective disorder.
Speaker 1:Have you ever had this before?
Speaker 2:I've personally never never really had it, but I know people that have, yeah, suffered from it yeah, I, genuinely speaking.
Speaker 1:This is the reason why I moved to Dubai. Really like, uh, being being at home in Ireland, I don't know, having dark mornings all the time, like I just don't think I adapt. Well, I can see like how the difference in my mood in being in a sunny country all the time Like my effects. I feel so depressed in countries that are grey and dark and cold. Do you think someone can be programmed out of that?
Speaker 2:I think it's possible to like if you change your environment. Like what you said, I'm very similar in terms of whenever I try and set up my office, my desk, I'm always trying to be like up against the window and I if I had a, I'll show you later, but I just set up my treadmill desk in the Airbnb that we're staying at. It's just a tiny little Airbnb just for now and I've just set up the treadmill. I bought a treadmill and I bought a desk just for the short-term Airbnb. So I've got the desk facing out to the glass and for me, the reason why I have that there is because the light actually helps my productivity in a very dramatic way. I feel more focused, more alert, my mood's better, I feel like when I can see out and I've got a nice view, it absolutely helps my productivity. I feel like there's infinite possibilities when I see like a big view where.
Speaker 1:I can see out it's yeah, what are the things that destruct your productivity?
Speaker 2:Yeah, okay, that's a really good question. Um, probably when there's, probably when there's. If I can't train, you're probably similar If I can't do my workout. Get movement in exercise yeah, massively affects my focus. There's something really crazy that happens to me as soon as I get back from the gym. So I would actually love to do a blood. I would love to. I know it's not possible, but I would really love to be able to slice open my brain and see what neurotransmitters, what ratios they're in as soon as I get back from the gym.
Speaker 2:Because as soon as I get back from training, I'm in this like heightened, really productive state that lasts about two to three hours, where I just feel like everyone needs to get out of my way and I just just leave me to it. Get out of my way, don't. Don't distract me, cause I'm I'm about to bang out eight hours of work in two hours, cause that's the speed at which I'm working at is usually extremely fast. Post-workout Of course there's there's a lot of adrenaline, usually extremely fast. Post workout Of course there's a lot of adrenaline. There's a lot of cortisol. You're very heightened. My nervous system is if you looked at the arousal scale, arousal would be super high. So then, arousal works well when you're doing things that you know how to do. It doesn't work so well when you don't really know what you're doing. But for me it's like if I need to smash out emails um, film youtube videos and create content, those two to three hours post gym is just these goals, my haven yeah, no, I get that, I totally get that.
Speaker 1:So, to come back to the whole infertile conversation that we were just having, what are other things as well that are impacting people's infertility, and also the modern design of life, where life is becoming so complex, like what are the things that are really getting in our way?
Speaker 2:yeah, I'd say in terms of the um, pollutants and toxins, things like um, even just the drinking water that people are using, so relying on.
Speaker 1:I don't know what it's like I'm surprised you're in dubai. I'm really surprised you're in dubai because I nearly feel like our environment, the design is, nearly goes against everything that you're practicing and preaching.
Speaker 2:I know, I know well, the way I mean. I'm here for a number of reasons. One of them is to obviously expand my, my reach and my network, and also being very central in the world gives me the capacity to go to Europe and go to different parts of the world very easily. But yeah, I know you mean it's very it can be a very like synthetic and fabricated society that it is, you know, in a sense here. But in terms of like drinking water, I actually haven't even looked at the stats on Dubai's tap water, but I can't imagine it would be that super clean.
Speaker 1:Or you can't drink tap water. I hope I haven't been drinking tap water.
Speaker 2:I haven't. I haven't. Back in Australia, the tap water is very like, very bad. So we just get a reverse osmosis filter system installed. Once we get our long-term airbnb, our long-term rental, we'll probably end up like optimizing the waters like to a high level. But um, what? What is the water quality like here in terms of tap water?
Speaker 1:oh well, you just can't drink it, because the sand that comes out into the water it's not um, it's not filtered at all at all. No, you can't drink it at all. Right, yeah, so there you go. But so if I was to wave a magic wand and have the perfect recipe when it comes to water, what would that be?
Speaker 2:So the perfect recipe for water itself would be just like a highly filtered, you know, just remineralized, you know, high quality water. For me personally, it's like San Pellegrino in the glass bottles Big fan of those. But in terms of, yeah, what people don't realize is that in certain countries, what happens is there's micro amounts of, like heavy metals, you know, lead, arsenic, cadmium. The fluoride is a big problem in Australia. Yeah, because we know that fluoride is a neurotoxin as it builds up in the body.
Speaker 1:And what exactly does that do over the accumulation of time?
Speaker 2:Yeah, so over time the fluoride exposure can lead to like neurodegeneration, so it can actually impair the pineal gland. It can actually accumulate in the pineal gland, which is a part of the brain that actually secretes melatonin, so it can have a disruptive effect on sleep in the long run and then also it can have deleterious effects on even blood sugar control. I've seen some research looking at how fluoride can induce type 2 diabetes in rats not in humans, but in rats. So for me I'm like I don't really want fluoride. For anyone who's proactive about their health, they should stay clear of fluoride.
Speaker 1:When we talk about fluoride as well. What about toothpaste and mouthwash and all these things? What's your idea around this?
Speaker 2:Yeah, so mouthwash is a.
Speaker 2:I'm glad you brought that up, because mouthwash contains some chemicals that can kill off a lot of the bacteria in the mouth. Some chemicals that can kill off a lot of the bacteria in the mouth and there's actually been evidence showing that using mouthwash can actually kill off the beneficial bacteria that actually helps to synthesize nitric oxide or nitric oxide, and nitric oxide is a gas that's produced in our bodies. It's incredibly important for blood flow and circulation, both in men and women, and a lot of guys that go to the gym, that train, will know the benefits of nitric oxide because that's what gives them the pump in the gym and makes them feel like swole and full. It's a highly desirable state for a lot of guys and I'm sure some women as well, like they want to get that the glute pump going. So I'd say the impact of fluoride I think it's the low level exposure that's chronic. That's when it starts to accumulate. If you're having it every now and then, like maybe once a month, twice a month, probably not going to have much of an effect.
Speaker 1:But the fact that they put, you know, the poison symbol on toothpaste means that you actually need to be pretty careful yeah, it's an interesting topic to discuss because even I went to the dentist and she just said, literally taking mouthwash is just like masking, it's just masking, basically an internal issue in terms of it should just say there's no use to mouthwash. This is my actual the dental nurse that I work with. Um, and I was so surprised by that because I actually don't think anyone is really that aware of these things. Um, yeah, so just to go back to even um pollution how do we protect ourselves from pollution, even air quality?
Speaker 2:Yeah, that's a really important one. One of the biggest things that people can focus on to protect themselves from harmful chemicals in our environment is actually to make sure that their liver is functioning optimally, and one of my favorite supplements to actually support liver health is actually an ingredient that's called Tudka. It's a type of bile acid and it's been documented to support it actually reduces elevated liver enzymes.
Speaker 1:How do you spell that?
Speaker 2:It's spelled T-U-D-C-A. It can be Tudka or. Tudka.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's a bit of a. It actually stands for toroxydase T-U-D-C-A. It can be Tudka or Tudka. Yeah, it's a bit of a. It actually stands for toroxydisolic acid or something like that. A bit of a mouthful, and so basically, tudka. The benefit of Tudka is that it helps to. It acts as it's a bile acid. It helps with bile flow and bile is incredibly important. It's our body's way of breaking down fats. But also bile is incredibly important as a to help with bowel, bowel movements and to also help with like healthy quality stool and and you know so, tutka is one of my favorite supplements. Looking at around 500 milligrams to 1,000 milligrams per day, that works really well to protect our bodies against the harmful exposure of pollutants. It's even used to post-alcohol consumption. If people are drinking alcohol on a Saturday night, then on a Sunday morning they can use Tutka to help repair any damage as well.
Speaker 1:What's your thoughts on alcohol and fertility?
Speaker 2:That was one that I didn't mention before, and the reason why I didn't mention that is because, personally, I don't drink alcohol at all and I know there's probably a lot of people that listen to your podcast that are similar. But for those that do drink alcohol, it's not beneficial for fertility and it's also not beneficial for sleep, even though some people might think that alcohol is good for sleep. It actually increases your body temperature, it affects REM sleep, and alcohol does something that most men would be frightened to learn it can actually increase the conversion of testosterone into estrogen because it increases aromatase, so it's going to increase their chances of, you know, gynecomastia, which is man boobs, and then also it will compromise their ability to perform in the bedroom as well.
Speaker 2:So, you know, erection issues, which is, you know, really common as well.
Speaker 1:Okay, when we talk about erection issues and libido issues that people tend to face, I think the statistics are quite high now in terms of people's sexual ability to get an erection. Do you have any recent researches that your studies, that you've analyzed?
Speaker 2:Yeah, so looking at the frequency, so it's pretty staggering to hear about how many young men are relying on like Viagra or Cialis any sort of PDE5 inhibitor, cialis any sort of PDE5 inhibitor. So one thing I want to point out here, and this is really important, is that erectile dysfunction could be a marker of something more serious, as an underlying issue, and it can actually be a good proxy to assess whether or not a man is on his way towards cardiovascular disease, because cardiovascular health can actually determine and affect blood flow. Which makes sense, it's your heart and your blood vessels, and so if you can't generate sufficient amounts of nitric oxide which is what I mentioned before, which is why mouthwash is not good for men if they want to perform in the bedroom.
Speaker 2:So it's actually a good proxy to see whether or not a man is on his way towards cardiovascular disease or if he's got plaque building up already. So in terms of the frequency, I mean like the number of men that are suffering from erectile dysfunction, it is strikingly very, very high, and a lot of them. The other thing is, the ego gets in the way of big time when it comes to reporting on statistics and like mentioning in surveys whether or not a guy actually struggles, because of course a guy never wants to admit. Like you know, I can't, can't perform in the bedroom it's something.
Speaker 2:So therefore, I think the statistics, even though they're already really high, I think it'd be even higher if people were actually honest yeah so what can someone naturally do to increase their libido? So there's a few things guys can do, um. So the first one that I'd like to point out is focusing on like aphrodisiac foods, so strawberries asparagus. Strawberries, asparagus. You've got oysters, pomegranates, arugula, rocket. These are going to be beneficial. Certain types of herbs. So one of my favorite herbs is actually a herb that's really famous in Brazil.
Speaker 1:It's actually I'm not surprised.
Speaker 2:The Brazilians know how to have fun, so they have pioneered and actually been using a really famous herb called Catuaba and, funnily enough, catuaba was the very first product that I decided to release and we spent nine months talking to different suppliers in Brazil to find the highest quality Catuaba. And Catuaba is actually translates to what gives strength to the man, and it's also known as the tree of togetherness to, you know, enhance romantic intimacy. Interestingly, catuba works not only on blood flow, but it also works on the brain, and this is what I want to really point out for your listeners is that libido and being in the mood really does start from the brain, and it's actually. It's a cocktail of certain neurotransmitters that actually determines whether or not a guy is even interested or not, and the certain neurotransmitters and hormones that govern that. One of them is dopamine. So dopamine is really important for the desire, so like the want, and acetylcholine is incredibly important for actually sustaining an erection.
Speaker 2:So this is where the catawaba, that herb that I've talked about, it's actually considered to be a herb that actually uplifts and boosts dopamine, and it does it in a way that's very sustainable, whereas if you look at some of the pharmaceutical options to boost dopamine, like the amphetamines you know they're. They have side effects. They can actually lead to vasoconstriction the opposite of vasodilation. They can be problematic. For most people there's side effects affecting sleep. So the good thing about catuaba is it works on the dopamine system for guys, naturally increasing dopamine, putting them more in the mood. And then if you combine that with things that boost blood flow so, like we said before, pomegranates, spinach, beetroot, foods that actually increase nitric oxide then you've got the dopamine, you've got the blood flow and then hopefully there's some connection and intimacy, emotional chemistry between the partner where they make you, you know she makes them feel safe and you know, just a nice environment for that.
Speaker 1:Um, that's going to be incredibly important for, you know, libido so when we talk about testosterone, what's your your thoughts on TRT? And I feel, like most guys now, they just want to inject at any age now and I don't know what's the longevity and the consequence for the future of these guys who go on too early.
Speaker 2:Really, really glad you brought that up, because TRT is a shortcut for a lot of guys. Having said that, I'm not against TRT. There's a cohort of the population for guys, maybe above 30, 35. Let's say they've already had kids, they're not worried about fertility and they want to maintain high testosterone and they're living a very stressful lifestyle. They've got businesses to run people here.
Speaker 2:Um, being on testosterone can actually be very beneficial, but it's the guys that go on trt, maybe in their 20s, where there are other strategies to optimize testosterone, like the stuff that I mentioned. Um, and if any guy actually wants to look at my full protocol to maximize testosterone, naturally, there is a. I'm so glad that we got this domain name. It's called trtfreecom. So we actually built out like what I would say is the world's best resource for men looking to optimize testosterone naturally. So that's trtfreecom and that basically maps out everything a guy can do to optimize without needing. So that's trtfreecom, and that basically maps out everything a guy can do to optimize without needing to go on TRT. So TRT my thoughts are yeah, cohort, certain cohort. If they've already had kids, that don't really care about fertility, it's going to be very beneficial and it's also beneficial only if they've tried all the other natural strategies first and they've failed. That's where it can be beneficial.
Speaker 1:What are all the natural strategies? Give me a list.
Speaker 2:All right. So we've got a few things. The first one is one that I've actually spoken about a lot on different podcasts and I've actually on YouTube. It's now gone viral. It's about a particular strategy. Different podcasts and I've actually on YouTube it's now gone viral. It's a. It's about a particular strategy that guys can implement and that is for them to ice their testes. I know it's it sounds crazy, but it's um applying an ice pack up against the testes, not not directly, obviously, up against the underwear and this cooling effect actually helps to increase fertility in men and it also has a beneficial effect on testosterone. So the strategy and the protocol is they should do it three times a day for 10 to 15 minutes.
Speaker 1:I can only imagine now dating a guy and he's like like, hold on a second.
Speaker 2:I have to take a 15 minute break here yeah, so it's like a, he's a bit of a, it's a funny one that I bring up. But I mean I've consulted, number a number of couples and obviously they're looking to to conceive, and from no other interventions all I've did, all I've suggested, is for the guy to ice three times a day and like after eight to 10 weeks he's come back and told me like she's fallen pregnant.
Speaker 1:No way.
Speaker 2:So the fertility aspect is very, very promising and we'll do the opposite of that. The opposite of icing is using a sauna. That's bad. Using a sauna for a guy, heating up the testes, that will cause infertility, because that actually decreases sperm count. It decreases sperm motility. So this is one thing guys need to be really conscious of If their testes are too hot, that actually really massively affects fertility that's interesting that you say that, because eye spots now are starting to become um.
Speaker 1:For females in general, it's having effects on their menstrual cycle, depending on the degree of the heat or, sorry, the cold, how cold the water is um. So it's interesting that you say that now.
Speaker 2:It's an opposite effect on men yeah, yeah, because physiologically speaking, you look at male anatomy male anatomy, the test is outside the body because they need to be kept cooler than their core body temperature. But interesting what you said about it affecting the menstrual cycle. I think ice baths can be problematic because they're very stressful on the nervous system and then it's not a blanket. Yeah, everyone should be using an ice bath. If some people are sensitive to the extreme cold, like my girlfriend for example, she really struggles with ice baths. It will actually send her into a bit of a trauma shock response that actually lasts for many hours after. For some people it can be, you know, quite intense for their nervous system and that's why I think you just got to pay attention to your biofeedback markers, your things like your HRV, heart rate variability. You know menstrual cycle things like that as well.
Speaker 1:So what are the other things there for testosterone to boost it? Nashlee.
Speaker 2:Yep, so we've got. So I mentioned the icing one because that's like out of the box. You know it's a free intervention, doesn't cost the guy anything to earn an ice pack.
Speaker 1:I don't know what kind of visuals are going to use now for this.
Speaker 2:Like for real on instagram now on that one, but go on um. So the second thing that I'd mention is some degree of heavy weight training. So we're talking like five to eight reps on like um, squatting, deadlifting, bench press, any sort of like resistance training, which is again the opposite of what a lot of guys think would be beneficial, which is, you see guys that are running like 10, 15, 20 kilometers. You know they're doing like three of those a week. Like that will tank testosterone because it increases cortisol dramatically. That's not beneficial. What we need to be doing is activating like the large muscle groups and doing very explosive activities. So that can even be like HIIT training, so like being on the rower, sort of high rock style workouts.
Speaker 1:Which has gone crazy, and everyone's probably tanking their testosterone now.
Speaker 2:So like doing the extreme overreaching overtraining can be detrimental, but I think doing at least three to four weight sessions per week is going to be beneficial.
Speaker 1:Anything else to add to the stack?
Speaker 2:A range of different supplements. So we'll go through the list and this is where I've specialized. I was, like, obsessed with supplements because I used to work in my dad's pharmacy, so, and I've also consulted companies to help formulate products, and I've also. One of my long-term goals is actually to bring forward new ingredients to the supplement industry, like that's where I want to, that's where I want to leave my mark. A few really great supplements and they're pretty cheap. First one is boron. So boron at about 10 milligrams per day doesn't matter, preferably in the morning, doesn't need to be with food. That's beneficial. Second one is an amino acid called taurine. You may have heard of taurine. You've probably seen some content of me talking about it yeah, I have for sure.
Speaker 2:So the beneficial thing about taurine is it actually helps to act as an antioxidant in the testes and it also protects against BPA, so plastic exposure. The third supplement that I'd recommend looking into is a particular herb from Malaysia, and that herb is called Tonka Ali.
Speaker 1:I had that on my list to ask about this.
Speaker 2:So Tonka Ali, also known as Uricoma longifolia, or also known as Ali's rod, that's what they call it no way.
Speaker 1:That's hilarious.
Speaker 2:He's at about 100 milligrams once per day. Of 100 to 1 extract Can do some pretty remarkable things, particularly when stacked with like boron. And then the third herb that I'm a big fan of is one that's really famous in traditional Chinese medicine. It's called cistanche. Oh, I haven't heard of one.
Speaker 2:Cistanche. It has another saying. It's a really famous saying. Genghis Khan, apparently, was using cistanche to populate I don't know what percentage of Asia, so it's massively beneficial for fertility. Um then, the other saying is cistanch in your pants. So there's a saying like that yeah, that's interesting.
Speaker 1:So just I have another last question um syllogic yes tell me about that had some this morning.
Speaker 2:Okay, so I have syllogic almost yeah.
Speaker 1:I'm saying it wrong.
Speaker 2:Yeah, the best way to remember is like Shilajit, the shit's legit. Okay.
Speaker 2:That's what we say in slang in Australia. So Shilajit is a resinous mineral exudate that's actually found in the Altai mountains and a lot of Sherpas actually use it to enhance their climbing performance and their athletic performance at low oxygen conditions and environments. So translate that to like somebody trying to perform, you know, like, let's say, max out there or do a VO2 max, an exercise where, like you're really gasping for air. Shilajit actually helps with boosting ATP production. It also really helps with mitochondrial function and the other beneficial effect is that one of the key compounds, folvic acid, that's found in shilajit can help to detoxify heavy metals from the body as well, so it can have a beneficial effect on testosterone, energy, dopamine. I'm a big fan of Shilajit.
Speaker 1:So all those, the cocktail of the whole list for testosterone, taking them naturally. How often and how regularly should people be taking supplements? Do they need to cycle on, cycle off, or is it very individualized per each supplement?
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's a great question because they're not supplements you want to take ongoingly without taking a break. It's really important to implement a cycling protocol, so usually what I recommend for most guys is a six-week on, two-week off protocol.
Speaker 2:But of course when guys come to me they've got their blood test results, then I'll have a look at it and prescribe more more of like a sniper rifle tailored approach. But in general for most guys a six week on two, week off or eight week on two um three week off protocol can work pretty well, because the whole point with cycling is so that your body doesn't become too, um, adapted to the, the substance, um, and just in general it's a good thing to give your body a bit of a break as well is there any like?
Speaker 1:I know you said two weeks. Um, you know, I think everyone's obviously individualized. Should there be longer periods or like. Is two weeks a minimum, maximum, like? What's your thoughts on this?
Speaker 2:Yeah, so depending upon, let's say, they've been using it for like six weeks on and then they haven't really noticed any benefit. Sometimes we may need to extend that out. But it also comes back to some of the blood test biomarkers. So things like the liver enzymes, sometimes even iron, can take a hit. Kidney function sometimes depending upon certain herbs. So it really does depend upon the individual.
Speaker 1:Right, I have one last question. It's a traditional podcast question. So, because the podcast called the detached podcast, what would you detach yourself away from? That's limiting you today?
Speaker 2:it's a good question, probably the the judgment of what other people think of like. Maybe because there's some content pieces that I put out that I still, even to this day, even though I've posted over a thousand YouTube videos and over a thousand Instagram posts, I still think about some people from many, many years ago that I was even at, like high school, and I still think about what are they going to think of this content piece, and so I would love to free myself and detach from which I know I could do probably like that, but just fear judgment.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I always think when you fear other people's comments like this, I identify. Would I actually take advice from them? Would I get take really good life advice from these people? Do I really care about these people and what they have to say, and would they give me a good strategy plan for my future?
Speaker 1:probably not, and if it's a no, then it's like, okay, well then, let me park that, let me stick that in the rubbish can and move on. You know so, um, but it's, it's quite common. You're not, you're not a robot and I can imagine from the content that you are pushing out, it's quite common. You're not a robot and I can imagine from the content that you are pushing out, it is quite.
Speaker 1:You've a lot of new ideas and things that people can be quite skeptical around as well, because the old methods, and doctors that are out there tend to have a level of superiority when it comes to biohacking, so I can imagine it is a challenge that you're facing.
Speaker 2:Yeah, no, you hit the nail on the head there, that's exactly right. But yeah, it was a pleasure chatting. It was a lot of fun to be on the podcast.
Speaker 1:Thank you so much for being on.
Speaker 2:Thanks, Sophia.