The Detached podcast

EP 106 - Peptide Talk: From BPC to Retatrutide with Dave Catudal

• Sophia Delavari • Season 1 • Episode 106

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Dave joins us to unpack how family illness, grief, and a brush with cancer forged a playbook for durable health.

We dive into the moments that shifted everything: a rebellious teen turned trainer, a recovery path built on movement, nutrition, sleep, and love, and the uncomfortable truth that mindset shapes biology when action backs belief. Dave breaks down practical hormone literacy from his TRT journey, the real-world pros and cons of declining chemo, and the gritty process of building businesses across continents while protecting energy and focus. Expect concrete tactics for founders and high performers: time ROI, co-founder chemistry, and the thick skin needed to ship fast without breaking yourself.

Then we go deep on recovery design and peptides. Think everyday nervous system care you can actually do: PEMF sessions to enforce stillness, compression boots with binaural beats to glide from frantic beta to calm alpha, and simple grounding rituals that reset an overstimulated brain. On peptides, we keep it clear and responsible—BPC-157 for gut-driven inflammation, CJC with ipamorelin to nudge growth hormone, retatrutide’s surprising impact on appetite and cravings, and GHK-Cu for skin and hair—all framed by dosing discipline, timelines, and why education must outrun hype. If you’re trying to optimize in a high-pressure city, this conversation gives you a roadmap that balances ambition with regulation.

Feel free to DM to share your feedback on this podcast on instagram :

https://www.instagram.com/sophiadelavari/

And check out Dave's instagram and find his supplements on his instagram : 

https://www.instagram.com/davecatudal/?hl=en

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New Year, Guest Introduction

SPEAKER_03

Welcome back to another episode of the Detach Podcast. This is the first episode of 2026, and I'm really excited to have Dave Katoodle on. And I'm pretty sure I said your surname wrong because I've listened to you many a times, but I've orchestrated inside my head that your surname's Katoodle and I've gotten it wrong.

SPEAKER_00

That brings me back to the high school days. It's close enough. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03

Give it to me.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah. Give it to me. So when funny that you just said Catoodle. So I played rugby uh in in high school, but I wasn't one of those jacked rugby players. I was a skinny rugby player. So they called me noodle cadoodle.

SPEAKER_03

Oh, no way.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, yeah. So you brought back memories from high school. Thanks for that.

SPEAKER_03

I think your WhatsApp name needs to be changed.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah. Status update.

SPEAKER_03

So on today's podcast, I just really want to have a deep dive, natural conversation about everything health and wellness, especially because we're kicking off the year, right? And I think the the biggest trend that I see right now is peptides and uh you've been in the industry for many, many years in the supplement industry, and you've had so many highs, some lows, um, some also health defects along your career, which I think has become the foundation of your success as per se. Because when things are done through um experience, hardship, I think you do it with more quality and passion than anything else. So for the listener, I want them to really understand, you know, the grassroots story as to who Dave is and what kind of kid was he and where did he grow up.

Childhood, Family Health, And Loss

SPEAKER_00

Okay, well, getting right into it. Uh I I like that. So I never I never have issues telling my personal story because, like you said, it it does shape you, right? Um, and and when you go back and you look at, you know, kind of what your life has been like, and then you reflect on to where you are now, it is usually the hard things that have made us, you know, stronger and given us the resilience to push through, because the more hard things you go through, the more things you adapt, and then the the the more resilient you become. And I think that's a really important skill set to learn, albeit sometimes in a hard way. Uh so yeah, going back to my childhood, uh look, the interesting thing is I grew up in a very healthy family. Uh my family is, you know, if you saw a family photo, you'd be like, oh damn, the catchadals, not catudles. The catchadals. Like they're all pretty ripped, you know? Um, and we grew up that way. Uh, but the interesting thing is that I mean, we also grew up in a family that had a lot of cancer. So I tell this story a lot because it is the story of how Dave became, you know, Dave in the mission-driven person that I am uh today through the hardships. But my brother um had leukemia when he was young. So he was four years old. And I remember we were, well, I don't a hundred percent remember, but we have the pictures and it's just so obvious. We were at Disneyland with the family. And, you know, I was 10, my brother was four, and four-year-olds should be having fun at Disneyland, right? And the poor kid is like just sitting in his little stroller and just like looks exhausted, pale, you know. And um, and we brought him into the hospital and and immediately found out that he was very sick and he had leukemia. Uh so and the poor kid, but he's he's so tough now, as one becomes from these hard, these, these challenges. Um, but he fought leukemia for five years, which is I mean, imagine that how rough that is as a kid, right? So, anyway, so he he fought uh leukemia for five years. He's he's fine now. He's a celebrity trainer. He took over my uh my celebrity training business in LA. Um, and uh is that where you guys grew up, LA? No, Canada. Uh okay. We're a very Americanized Canadian family, though. Okay. All my siblings, all three, married Americans. So we're pretty much American now. Um we grew up in Montreal. Uh so anyway, so so he got sick, he fought it, he got cured, but th I believe three years after, so I'm now 16, uh, my father was diagnosed with very serious cancer, um, adenocarcinoma, so it's lung non-smoking lung cancer, which metastasized went to the brain, and he passed away within a year. Um so you know, within a couple years, you know, that this happens.

SPEAKER_03

How old were you at that stage?

SPEAKER_00

I was 17. Okay. So I was 17 when he passed away.

SPEAKER_03

That must have been so difficult.

SPEAKER_00

It were yeah, I mean, everything's already dramatic and hard when you're 17. Um, and and yeah, that really put put it over the edge. You know, I got into a quite a destructive path from uh to be fair, I was already on a little bit of a destructive path. Um, but when that happened, you know, thing it really shook me. Uh however, and I don't know how, but I had a massive wake-up call that I don't I don't really remember what this wake-up call was. It just happened where I went from being very destructive and very unhealthy to the complete opposite. Like I just I basically I found the gym and I found like my healing.

SPEAKER_03

Those destructive behaviors and like that kind of era that you went through, how long was that period?

From Destruction To Discipline

SPEAKER_00

Uh again, to be fair, I I always feel like I was a pretty disruptive teen. Uh so probably starting at like 12, I was not an easy-to-manage kid. Looking back at it, I realized that it that was probably acting out from trauma from watching my brother basically, you know, not know if he's gonna make it week to week. So my teen years, I do believe that that rebelliousness, that uh that destructiveness, I do believe now looking back, that that was probably a result of not knowing how to deal with the pain that I went through watching my brother be sick. Uh but when my father passed away, that was like like something in my brain just like just twisted uh in a positive way. And I got into health. I I literally like everything from that just changed, and I I just started going from destructive to super obsessed with with just shaping my routine around being healthy, which I realized now is be I needed to be empowered. I felt so out of control that the one thing I could control was my routine, my diet, my exercise, going running, like getting my high through exercise, um, building my body, which made me feel strong and feel powerful. Um, and and that really put me on a completely different trajectory.

SPEAKER_03

When you talk about destruction, what does that look like for you?

SPEAKER_00

Really? I mean, look, just imagine all the really all the really bad things you can do as a kid, as far as, you know, you get arrested a couple times, sometimes in your front yard of your house. Um, and your mother gets tired of that. Um, and I know my mother's watching this, so God bless her. She's incredible. Uh, the patience, my goodness, that woman has. Um just, yeah, really. Um I mean, anything I could anything I can do to give me that adrenaline rush, I would do. So I started motocrossing. Um I was not a professional snowboarder, but a competitive snowboarder. And what that really meant was I would go and break myself. You know, I went through multiple surgeries, multiple broken bones, including one on my mother's birthday, probably two. Um, and and just you know, just being totally out of control. Uh, lots of drinking, lots and lots. Um, medicating my ADHD with not doctor-prescribed substances. Uh, so yeah, just that.

SPEAKER_03

Interesting. Because, you know, obviously being here in Dubai, I feel like children are uh way more sheltered, I would say, to being exposed to the kind of destruct mass destruction that you would see in other parts of the the world as per se. So um I think obviously being here in the Middle East, maybe we do stuff in other destructive ways, or there's opportunity to lean into the more healthy highs that we feel, like ice bats, or you know, like or maybe do in high adrenaline sports, for example, you know.

SPEAKER_00

So it works. That definitely takes care of the of that that need for that that you know that hit.

SPEAKER_03

Would you go back and change any of those destructive behaviors from your past?

SPEAKER_00

Really good question. Um for myself, no, because I think they were really important to put me in very, very scary positions and then to get out of those positions, and you actually learn to trust yourself a lot from that. Um I did a lot of things that were, you know, absolutely reckless and and whatnot. But looking back now, it also helps you gain a sense of what you are capable of and limits that you can push, which is really important skill set to learn. Because if you stay in your comfort zone, you don't grow, right? So from that perspective, I wouldn't change anything. For the pain that I put on my mother and father, yes, I would change that because that was just a not a nice thing to do.

SPEAKER_03

What other lessons has it taught you in your adulthood?

Questioning Authority And Building Grit

SPEAKER_00

Um I think one of the main things is like this might sound a little bit okay. So authority, right? Just because someone says something or what you should do, you know, it doesn't necessarily mean you should do it, right? You need your own free will, you need to make your own decisions. Um and so challenging authority to a certain degree, respectfully, is important as an adult because we get fed so much, like through marketing, through, you know, what whoever is pushing in a narrative a narrative. It's important for us to be able to have critical thinking and say, wait a minute, how does this feel to me? Right. So I do think that questioning that and and going beyond your comfort zone and pushing limits allows you to, especially when you're an adult and you're more centered and you're more, you have more common sense, right? And you're, you know, you're less dopamine driven, um, just more responsible in general, uh, you can make better decisions, but you're making them from a place where you still feel like you have to question these things. I don't know if that makes sense, but I looking back, I think questioning, like even in the school system, right? So when someone's trying to teach you something, it's okay, you have to finish it like this, you know, and exactly this many words on this. It's like, well, what if I bent that a little bit? What if I got more creative and went outside the lines? What if I wrote 200 words more than you're saying is the maximum? Where's where's the problem with that, right? So I think little things like this, um, kind of testing those limits, really allow you to excel more and not worry so much about staying in some little box.

SPEAKER_03

So I did listen to a podcast with you, and you you spoke about how your thoughts kind of became your reality, especially when it came to your illness. I want you to kind of unpack that a little bit where you told yourself that I'm pretty sure you were saying like how you were treating your body, you're gonna get sick in a sense.

SPEAKER_01

Oh, interesting. Wow. Great question. Uh so you wanna dive into that?

SPEAKER_03

Yeah, because I I wonder, do you believe that that's really true? That what you tell yourself is what you become 100%.

SPEAKER_00

So I truly, I mean, we're all master manifestors, uh, whether we know it or not, right? So you're either a conscious manifestor or you're unconscious. And and we all fall into a spectrum of that. Sometimes you create things in your life that you didn't even know you created, and they're not beneficial, at least in that moment you don't think they are. Um But yes, I I fervently believe that we create our own reality 100%. So whether you're super healthy and thriving in a loving relationship, that is not luck. That is not chance, that's something you've built. That's something you've I mean, call it manifesting, but manifesting usually takes a lot of work as well, right? You have to back it up with action. Um But when so yeah, this ties in well to how you started. When I got sick, it was just not a surprise. Like, I so I'll give you a little backstory. So I was at Wakestock, I forget which year it was 2003, maybe or four. I was 23. And um I was competing at a wakeboard uh event like 10 hours from my house, and I went jogging in the morning, and I was like, ow, ow, ow, like jogging on the beach. I'm like, something hurts, something hurts. I'm like, hey, tough it out. You know, you got a big wakeboard competition for three days. Um, and then, anyways, after the competition, I I was just in pain for three days. Um, and then I went to the hospital right away, and they they basically they're like, You like let's do a biopsy, they did a biopsy, and they're like, You have testicular cancer. And I remember at that time, I was like, that's so obvious, you know, like that I got sick. Because think about it this way my little brother, innocent kid, never did anything wrong. He gets sick. My father never smoked in his life, never drank in his life, a role model of a human. Um, incredibly like very successful, had a great job, amazing, loving relationship, and he gets sick. And here I am, some little not nice word, a teen that was not a good person at the time.

SPEAKER_03

Had the be world in my head.

Manifesting, Illness, And Testicular Cancer

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, I had some worse words, so I'm trying to censor that. Um doing all the wrong things, um you know, uh taking all the things you can drink or or whatever. Um and I'm like, of course I'm gonna get sick, right? And like it just it just made sense, right? If two healthy good people get sick, what about a guy who's just been off the rails for you know his entire teenage years? Um so yeah, so that that but I knew I had also given it to myself because I'd been thinking that the whole time. I'm like, if my brother got sick and my father gets sick, I'm like, I'm gonna get sick. Um I guess in hindsight, thank goodness it happened when I was like like that age, because I was, I mean, still 23. So I by 23, I'd been a personal trainer for five years. So I became a personal trainer at 18, became like a fitness model at uh 19, maybe 20. Um, so I was three years, yeah, a good three years of competing. I was a Canadian national champion at one point, and um, and so I felt like very fortified. You know, I felt very confident, overly confident, uh, delusionally confident. And so when I, you know, found out I had cancer, I was like, okay, uh that's obvious, but I wasn't worried at all. I'm like, take it out, let's go, like, let's move on. Um, I I didn't do chemo and radiation.

SPEAKER_03

Oh, wow.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03

So And how did that go for you?

SPEAKER_00

I mean, it worked out well, in my opinion. Um again, I I I had, I thought I knew so much about nutrition and the power, the healing power of the body, um, you know, supporting your metabolism and and in inflammatory uh processes and uh, you know, boosting your immune system. I would that's actually what got me into the supplement passion because I was taking these mushrooms and I was taking, I was on a keto diet for two years from Dr. Dom D'Agostino. I don't know if he's still doing his thing, but he was excellent back in the day. Um and um and yeah, so I I basically declined chemo radiation against all doctors' orders. Uh, but again, because we're having this very open podcast, which I appreciate. Looking back, I thought it was because I was like super tough and like super cool. And now looking back, I realize I didn't do chemo and radiation because I didn't want to look sick. Um and that really now I'm only real I only realized that a couple years ago. I was like, wow, I'm like, I probably said no and made myself feel all strong and cool about it. But it was probably just because I knew if I had done chemo and radiation, I would look and feel sick because I saw what it did to my father. Um in part, of course, there was other things at play.

SPEAKER_03

Uh so yeah, so that was and uh uh that stage when you found out to when obviously it was gone, what kind of period of time was that? How long?

SPEAKER_00

See, if you're gonna get cancer, testicular is a pretty easy one because you you know, you you take it out. Yeah, right? Um, so so yeah, it was like like that. And I made a decision in that moment. Like once it was out, I said, I'm healthy. Yeah, it's gone. Yeah, there's no more cancer.

SPEAKER_03

How did life look like after that? Did you change anything?

SPEAKER_00

Oddly enough, no.

SPEAKER_03

But did you change the way you thought about things?

SPEAKER_00

Yes, that put me onto a very serious path of going deeper into understanding the power of the mind. That's that started my whole path of the power of the mind. Um, and manifesting and all that comes with it. But definitely like, okay, you create your reality. Like, fact. I just saw it. You know, I was like, I did that to myself, I made myself sick, I decided that I'm no longer sick, moving on. Um, but that definitely put me into a mindset of like, okay, if you can do that, what else could you do?

SPEAKER_03

In response to that, what was it like around that time frame? As in who did you have around you? Did you have any mentors? Did you have anyone who kind of uplifted you in a sense to think a little bit differently, differently? Or did you have people Russian chaos? No. How was it?

Spiritual Detours And Finding Drive

SPEAKER_00

I I mean I went through phases, but I went through like a very, very uh like Buddhist type phase. Like I was following Ojo. I don't know if you know Ojo, I was following Ojo for a long time. Um explain that to the listener. Uh yeah, so Ojo is basically like an Indian spiritual guru um who's sits in a we very interesting place between like spiritualism and and religion because he's not religious, but he the spiritu he's like a spiritual rebel, basically, which I resonated with. I I thought that was great. Um, you know, he's like a guru that loves to say the F-word.

SPEAKER_03

I like it.

SPEAKER_00

Exactly. Like he likes he likes to shake you, you know?

SPEAKER_03

He likes he likes to really I like that because you you're saying things with passion. Yeah, man.

SPEAKER_00

He like there was there was just something about him that resonated. So I was like reading all the Ojo books. Um and then I went, I moved, ended up moving to Bali. So I lived in Bali for a while, which was, you know, and I was like, I shaved my head and I was like wearing, you know, white and I was meditating like multiple times a day. Um and uh and then that phase kind of tapered out um because I was very disconnected with reality at that point. Like I was like, I don't want to be successful, I just want to be healthy, I just want to be chill. Um but that was against my nature, you know? That was super against my nature, which was really weird. It was very paradoxical because I was like, this is really nice, but at the same time, like, I'm really missing something. Uh it was the drive. It was the drive. Yeah. So then I moved to Thailand. Um, and then Thailand I found the drive back. I got the drive back. I ended up writing a book, um, got right back into like fitness and nutrition, and um that led me to start my first supplement brand.

SPEAKER_03

Wow. So I do believe you did set up a construction company or there was something to do with construction. So I know there's been multiple little startups and like journeys and businesses that have dissolved, and I can imagine you've had to have some identities dissolve along with it as well. So I love that. I I I want to get a greater understanding as to like how do you start your first business? How did that even come about? And did you really trust yourself when you started?

Early Entrepreneurship And Learning By Doing

SPEAKER_00

Love the questions. Um, so I've I've never really had a job. Like my mother laughs. She's like, You have so many business cards, but you've never really had a job. I remember I had one job at a gas station, I got fired because I left, I did the night shift. And I remember I I left at like midnight and just closed the shop and went to a bar with my friend. Came back and my manager was there. It's like you're fired. So that was probably my last real job, to be honest. And I was probably 18. And then after that, I realized like jobs are just not for me. I don't want to work for someone. However, I did start landscaping, like, you know, just getting paid cash under the table. And then I found right away, I'm like, ooh, I love this. I love being outside. I love mowing lawns. I love building, you know, uh retaining walls. I love building driveway, like, you know, doing paving and all that. So I worked for one year for a company, and then the next year I started my own. Like just no idea what to do. I used my mom, bless you, mom. I used my mom's SUV, put a trailer hitch on it, and pulled a trailer with my construction equipment, like my four lawnmowers, like shovels, a digger and all that. Um, I was literally using her SUV to run my business. Um, and and that actually got pretty popular. I hired some friends uh and no accounting, no idea what to do. Like I didn't even know what standard wages were. I just paid my friends whatever we made. So at the end of the month, it was really no extra money. You're just kind of living. Um, but we got like we grew. Like we ended up having like two trucks of our own, not Mama's SUV anymore. Um, probably had, you know, 12 lawnmowers and had like, you know, construction equipment. We were doing driveways, we were doing retaining walls in people's backyards. Um, and that again just led to me realizing like you can just do it. You can just do it. You know, you can you can learn something and then you can just do it yourself. Um, and I think that put me on the path to entrepreneurialism that and I just never looked back. That, and of course being a personal trainer, because that was all in Canada. You have two seasons. In the winter, you we were shoveling snow. In the summer, we were doing construction, and I was always mixing that in with personal training.

SPEAKER_03

So tell me this then. After that first business, what was the second business then? Supplements?

SPEAKER_00

No, I mean, there was a lot of like freelance stuff, like, you know, consulting. Because after that, I moved to after Canada, after I had cancer, I moved to LA. Uh, moved to LA, became like you know, celebrity trainer, just training, you know, people in the industry as well as some celebrities. Um I got very into hormones. So I have to take testosterone uh because testicular cancer, like, you know, there were the my body doesn't produce testosterone anymore. So I became a specialist in hormones um through solving my own problem. Worked with some really brilliant hormone doctors in LA, um, which upped my knowledge to a totally different level. Um, and then I started helping people with their hormone issues as well. Um, so I guess like freelance consultants was kind of my my position for a while. Um and then the next real business that I had, yes, was my supplement business. I mean, in between then there was multiple small things. Um, but yeah, I started a business called Transend, um, which specialized in cortisol management, which was a big topic of mine, um, and metabolic health. So I that I started that when I was living in Thailand between there and Hong Kong, um, as I lived in Hong Kong training uh private clients, and um, and that business brought me to Dubai.

SPEAKER_03

Amazing. So let's get into the whole topic of like hormones, right? So should people wait to be reactive to a de health defect when it comes I love how you say health defect. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00

So it's like there's something wrong.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah. Because we all wait until something's wrong. Until we then and then we're like, okay, fine, because we love to wear the badge of honor of like, okay, we're fine, we'll get on with things, you know, just pull up my big pants.

SPEAKER_01

Sure.

SPEAKER_03

So yeah, what's what's your thoughts on this? Being reactive or being preventative.

SPEAKER_00

I mean, ideally we're never reactive, right? But the reality is we're all so go, go, go. Usually we don't stop until something tells us to stop, or we don't reflect until something really goes off. Um, that's not the ideal way to do things, but it is the nature of, you know, most modern society, right? We're all guilty of that to some degree. Um being proactive, being preventative is absolutely the way to go. Uh, and that's where, of course, you know, the pillars, your diet, your exercise, your sleep, and your relationship. I I call it your love relationship, but that's a love relationship with either yourself or your loved ones or whoever else. It's like, what's your level of love in your life? Because if you don't have much of that, there's a good chance you're you're um you're basically in in sympathetic activation. Um there's a lot of safety around love.

Hormones, TRT, And Coaching In LA

SPEAKER_03

So obviously being in Dubai, right, we see a lot of disconnection, we see entrepreneurship, silo workers that we tend to pull ourselves away from, say, our tribe or family or natural habitat. So what should we do to really retain that loving relationship here in Dubai or as a solo entrepreneur? What what are some of the things that you would recommend doing?

SPEAKER_00

I mean, some of the things that I've so I'll talk from a position of like what works for me and then what I see as kind of a collective. Um and I'll start with the collective. So what I love about UAE is it is the most collaborative place I have ever lived, and I've lived in a lot of different places. Um it's just a different vibe. And anyone who lives here knows what I'm talking about. And anybody who's visited here and usually is like, I'm gonna go check out Dubai, and then they're like, I think I should probably move to Dubai. Once they see what this place is like, like the run clubs in the morning, you know, the entrepreneur meetups, you know, the the the social clubs where you just get together and talk about your ideas and share instead of trying to, you know, make someone feel like all their ideas are not as developed as yours. Um it's incredible. It's remarkable. It it it's it's it's it's really unlike anything I've experienced. So that community aspect is a great way for people to feel that togetherness, that sense of belonging. Because at the end of the day, as you know, like part of the human need is is um like collaboration, not necessarily collaboration, but like sense of belonging, right? It's like think back to the prehistoric days where you know the Neanderthal days is where if you were a solo, you probably wouldn't make it, right? You needed to group together to really survive. So UAE really brings people together and gives you that sense of like herd safety. And I think that's beautiful.

SPEAKER_03

Do you ever experience social exhaustion though? Because you know, look, I I I'm guilty of this. Like, I think you know, living in a city that's overstimulated and also when you're online a lot, you may feel very overstimulated. That when it comes to socializing, it's like the social exhaustion. Yes.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, that's that's real. That's like I'm supposed to go out after this, and I'm like, uh, can't do it. You know, can't do it, can't social again.

SPEAKER_03

Do you wrestle with yourself?

SPEAKER_00

Oh yeah.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00

Oh yeah. Espe especially in the social. Like, I should go out more. You know, like 2026 year, like it's the year. I'm I'm gonna go out more. And then you're like, oh man, like, do I really not want to? Or am I not doing it because I need to not do it? Right. That's kind of like the the question I'm asking myself. Like, do I need the recovery from the social stimulation? Or am I just being, you know, am I talking myself out of something that could be great? I'm still wrestling with that.

SPEAKER_03

Have you wrestled with that your whole life?

Proactive Health And The Four Pillars

SPEAKER_00

Not as much as I have since being a business owner. Being a business owner really makes you I mean, you have to prioritize where your energy goes because it's everywhere, because you're needed in a million places. But socializing, socializing, productive socializing, right? You know, not just gonna go to a bar and start chatting people up or have a coffee, you know, just to talk about life. In business, everything has to, I mean, if you're spending that time, for me right now, there has to be an ROI. And I know that probably sounds super selfish, or but like you have to time manage. So if I'm doing something social, usually it's like, okay, well, how am I either adding value to this group or how am I, you know, help furthering my mission to build? Um, then there's playtime socializing, which is totally fine and always important. Uh, but yeah, that happens less than you probably want. Okay.

SPEAKER_03

So what makes a good founder when we talk about business?

SPEAKER_00

There's a lot of things. Um, because I've known truly great founders that are super different. So my superpower as a founder is speed. It's speed. Like I do everything faster, I get more done. But I've met people who are way more chill than me, super more methodical, more calculated, and they get incredible amounts done, just in a very different way. So one thing you definitely need as a founder, though, is like thick skin. You gotta be you you have to be tough because you're gonna have so many challenges and so many fires to put out. And and I I'm not here to talk anyone out of being a founder. It's it could be the greatest blessing and the biggest challenge of your life, but like make no mistake. Uh it's a lot. That's a lot.

SPEAKER_03

Do you think it's important to have a co-founder in a business?

SPEAKER_00

I do. Why? I I've I used to be a solo founder all the time. Like everything I did, I did myself. I had an idea. Part of that was the speed thing again, is like I I from idea to execution is like seconds. And if if someone's not there or someone can't keep up, it's like I need to do this alone. However, I've found that when you can balance that out with a co-founder who has a completely different skill set but complements your superpower and that you can bring out their superpower, that's when you can create, you know, billion dollar businesses. Or that's when you can create in the most conducive environment to really bringing something to life that matters.

SPEAKER_03

If you were to go back in time now and give that solo entrepreneur advice, what would you tell him?

Community, Belonging, And Social Overload

SPEAKER_00

Oh, that's a really good question. Because there's so many things like cash flow management, taxes, all important things. Uh but no, the the main thing I think would be um that's a really good question. Because I almost want to say find yourself someone who shares the vision with you. But that's just been my experience because I've done it alone and I wouldn't want to do it alone. Um, again. And I'm I'm so thankful I'm I'm in I'm in two businesses right now, but my new supplement brand uh have the most incredible co-founder who is like my balancer, you know. I'm like the high energy ADHD, you know, kind of like super scrappy founder. And he's also a super scrappy founder, but he's corporate and he's always chill, you know. And every problem that I come up with, he's like, we got a solution for that, you know, like just relax. So we have a great balancing act. Um, and he's built incredible business as well. So yeah.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah. So for your 2026 goals, right? What kind of person do you have to be and act like to see yourself as a successful Dave at the end of 2026?

SPEAKER_00

Another great question. Um I I think I'm happy with where I've gotten to as far as my professional life. I'm like, okay, like I've I've accomplished a lot that I thought I couldn't accomplish. Like five years ago, let's say 10 years ago, if you would ask me if I'd be here now, I'd be like, no, I don't see that happening. Uh or I don't know how that would happen, right? Um but sorry, what was the question? That's my ADHD.

SPEAKER_03

What kind of person would you have to act like this year to be the successful Dave DNA?

SPEAKER_00

Yes, great question. Um, so to ref like at the end of 2026, to reflect on, you know, what made Dave, like what what really brought the best out of me? And I would say it's not like goal-oriented as far as like you know, revenue figures or business development. It's more the one thing in my life, health and well-being-wise, that I am completely neglecting, it I shouldn't say completely neglecting, as the biggest area for improvement is nervous system health. Because I'm high energy go, go, go from the minute I wake up until I go to bed. And it's seven on seven. I I don't really take breaks. Uh, it's very infrequent. So my if I look back at 2026, it's like I would allocate time, real time, to my own nervous system well-being. Because I also know that that will make me a better entrepreneur. It'll make me a better partner, you know, to my fiance. It'll make me it just, it'll just improve me in every way. So that's the one thing that I don't want to look back at the end of 2026 and be like, you could have worked harder on that.

SPEAKER_03

So, what would you do for your nervous system in order to settle it and make it healthier by the end of the year?

Founder Traits, Co‑Founders, And Balance

SPEAKER_00

I mean, and this this is a open tip to anyone as well. I mean, we are in a very busy city, right? So I would love to say I'm gonna spend more time in the mountains, you know, or more time in the river fishing like I used to. Uh, but those things aren't here, right? And yes, you can escape, you know, go to the dolomites, go to the Alps or whatever. Uh, but realistically, you're just coming back into the into the jungle, right? So it's daily habits. That's what I'm looking at. It's like, how can I construct daily habits in my day that I know my calendar is going to be booked from morning to evening? But how do you slot in your own chill into that? And that's what I'm I'm trying to engineer right now. You know, so I'm I'm working on like I just bought a P E M F mat. Do you know what that is? So I just bought one of those. Um for the listener, can you explain the benefits of this? So P E M F is pulsed like electromagnetic frequency. And it this also has like, it has like some red lights and has like some gemstones, and like I don't know if you're into that, but I don't even know if I'm into that yet. Uh, but I'm laying on this mat and I'm like, I feel better. You know, I do, I feel something. Uh, but more it's the stillness. It's the it's the ritual of laying on this mat that I'm not on my phone. I'm not trying to close sales, I'm not trying to grow the brand. So that's one thing. I have my compression boots, uh, which is like super zen for me. I put on binaural beats. If anyone doesn't know what binaural, do you know so if the listeners don't know what binaural beats are, please look into it. If you have like a high energy output, busy mind. Binaural beats is like a frequency, you have to wear headphones, a frequency that goes in one ear, and in this ear, it's slightly different frequencies, and your brain detects the different frequencies and basically auto-tunes and tries to calibrate, and that's very, very soothing. So you can bring your like your brain waves from hyperactive beta, which I'm in right now, um, to a more chill alpha and maybe even theta. And just by doing that, you you like everything in your body just starts to heal faster. So highly recommended.

SPEAKER_03

Have you used a Satori bed? I have not. So they use very similar uh similar equipment and super cool. Honestly, like it's a it there's a company here in the UAE called Greenie, Shattered Greenie. All right, no, love it. Um but these beds are incredible and like honestly, uh they're very expensive. But um But if it's healing, yeah, I'm in. Yeah. Yeah. I think uh yeah, you wake up and you just you nearly fall asleep on the bed. So is this like the P-E-M-F or is this like some kind of two like it's the binary uh binereal beats you'll you'll have inside, but then also the bed itself, it kind of massages you.

SPEAKER_00

Okay, I'm sold. I'm sold, yeah. I'm in. Yeah, so things like this though. So I'm basically building like a little mini recovery section in my house because I just know that if it's not like I try to tell myself, can I go to this like recovery center today? I'm gonna go to this sauna, I'm gonna go to this and chill. It's like, oh, I got work and there's transit time, and there's this and that. Put it in your house if you can. Uh, even if you have a tiny little apartment, like put the leg compressor boots, sit on uh on your couch and put them on, put on binaural beats. So we can all do it. Um, and and that would be that that's the direction I'm going in is like create that space, that healing, regenerating, nervous system calming space. Create that space in your personal space. Um, and then there's no excuse not to do it.

SPEAKER_03

I need to feel there's that like a bit of a separation in between, say, the country liver to this, the city like environment, the person who lives right in the middle where the bird cleave is, right? For an example, we have to pay so much attention to our living environment and how to curate these spaces to disconnect, right? So I do think probably the country liver must look at us and think, you guys are nuts. Yeah. Why are you doing this? Oh my god. So, how important is it for the city liver to orchestrate a life that helps them to get those natural elements back in their life?

2026 Focus: Nervous System Health

SPEAKER_00

I think it's the most important thing we can do. Like all things equal, if you have your, you know, your diet, your exercise, your sleep, you know, this is the most health-enhancing habit you can build is how do I bring the chillness of the nature to me in the city? Like once you crack that, you're gonna start to get a lot better. Yeah. So that that need that is extremely important. And I do think being in UAE, we have access to these experiences that allow that to be possible, right? So one of the challenges of living out, you know, in the countryside is there's nothing really around you, right? So the accessibility is hard, but you're in the nature, it you you have all that. But in the city, and thank goodness we have access to that, but you have to use it. So yeah, I think it's it's in everyone's best interest who's living the high pressure life like we are. If you're in Dubai, you're probably not here to chill, right? You're probably here to hustle. Um, it it is um it's it's a game changer to create these habits in your life that you're doing the sauna session, you know, or or the ice bath, um, or or you're you have the compression boots at home, or you're listening to Biaural Beats, or you're connecting with your community, you know, and having that sense. And then maybe go walk on the beach, you know, ground yourself barefoot, take your shoes off. If you're on the beach, take your shoes off, you know, go walk on the sand. Um, we rented bicycles the other day at Kite Beach and just biked around and then walked barefoot on the sand, like very grounding. Uh, it took 45 minutes. I didn't check my phone. I wanted to, but I didn't. And that's something that we could all greatly benefit from.

SPEAKER_03

So as we talk about natural elements in order to be able to enhance our health and our well-being, let's talk about peptides because I feel like that's the cherry on top. And I want the listener to understand what are peptides and what kind of person could use peptides.

Daily Recovery Habits And Tools

SPEAKER_00

Love it. Um, peptides are exciting. They really are. Um I took my first peptide in 2001, completely wrong. Uh, I was injecting peptides into my biceps and triceps because I wanted bigger arms. Um, don't do that. Listeners, do not do that. Uh so I've learned a lot about peptides over the past 22 years. Um who are they for? I like to think in a perfect world, they're for those who have their foundation, right? You have your healthy habits. You're not just taking it as a as a shortcut, right? You're optimized and you've worked to be optimized and you want to further optimize. That's probably the ideal setting for peptides. However, I've seen incredible life changing results from someone who couldn't get their habits together, talking more specifically for weight loss and addiction, actually. And then they found peptides, and peptides are like a signal, right? So you inject a peptide or you take a capsule of certain peptides. And it it signals your body processes to undergo, right? You have healing peptides like BPC157. Its job is regeneration, right? Reduce inflammation. You have metabolic peptides, redachrutide, you know, uh, Monjaro, uh, truseptide, uh, these are sending signals into your body for better glucose management, metabolic enhancement. Um, so every peptide has a different role. Again, ideally, you're an optimized person with your structure and you're using them to further optimize. However, if you're just a beginner, it's not to say you can't touch them. It just means inform yourself because it's not a supplement, but there are very specific doses, very specific doses. There are very specific protocols. There's very specific times you can take it for safely. So you need to really educate yourself on this. It's not like you go from zero to peptide, you know? Going from zero to whey protein or zero to creatine, fine. But going zero to peptide, like slow down, you know, educate yourself. Um, that is that's kind of the way I view peptides, is they're they're changing the field of functional medicine. They're changing the field of um, you know, optimization. They really are. But they're coming out so fast and people are adopting them so quickly that the rate of adoption has far exceeded the rate of education, right? So people are taking peptides that they have no idea what they're doing. Not the person doesn't know what they're doing, but they don't know what the peptide is doing inside their body. So we need to um we need to really focus on the education part.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah. Could you share your stack? Can I? Can you?

SPEAKER_00

I'm I'm totally fine sharing. Um so I I started a chat on a chat group on WhatsApp actually about all things peptide supplements. So uh please join after. Um so what is my stack? I'll start with what I've been taking for the longest. Uh for many, many years, CJC and uh ipomerelin. On and off, on and off, on and off, right? That's to stimulate growth hormone. Um I personally don't take it at night. Most people take it at night and they think it helps them or they feel it helps them sleep. I don't. I have cortisol issues, um, and I feel the best if I take it first thing in the morning.

SPEAKER_03

So that's what are some of the side effects of that?

SPEAKER_00

Um these are relatively low side at the prescribed dose, um at the therapeutic low dose. Um I mean, CJC and and um um and ipomerelin, it could be see, it could stimulate you, which it does to me. I find them energizing, whereas some people find they get the best sleep of their life with it. Um there really is not many side effects on these ones, except possible water retention a little bit. Um, you can get, you know, a little irritation around the injection site, something like that. But very these are very low side effect ones. Um as we get more high-tech, they get a little the side effects could come up with different ones. So I've been taking those for a long time. BPC 157, of course. I know I know my business partner and I, we started a business that sells BPC 157.

SPEAKER_03

You it's oral supplements, right? It is. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah. So BPC is one of the few peptides that is completely bioavailable as oral. It was first discovered in our gastric juice in our in our gut, and it was designed for the gut. So, you know, there's a misconception where people think that if if it's a peptide, it can't be consumed oral. That is true in 99% of the cases. But when it comes to BPC, that's just not true. It is designed for your digestive system. It is designed to resist enzymatic breakdown. Uh so oral BPC 157, in my experience, has been far superior to injectable BPC 157.

SPEAKER_03

So, on a supplement basis, how often and how regularly should be you be taking these supplements as an oral supplement? And also, what is the effect time? Do we see immediate effects?

SPEAKER_00

Great question. So, with oral BPC, the main pathway that it works on so profoundly is relieving inflammation through healing gut damage. So if anyone has ulcers or ulcerative colitis or sensitive digestion, a lot of people have gut damage, they don't even know it. It manifests as many different symptoms, right? It could be constipation, it could be uh, you know, skin issues, could be even liver congestion. Um so BPC really that that's its role is healing the gut lining. Um and we see some people who they take one dose and their heartburn's gone, you know, they take one dose and they start to feel like, oh wow, like like I'm I'm something has gotten better. Now, usually, like I took it, it took me about three to four weeks of taking BPC every day for my elbow issues to go away. I thought my elbow issues were elbow issues. My elbow issues were actually inflammation issues caused by gut issues. So I healed the gut, I healed the elbow. Wow. Um which uh injectable didn't work for me.

SPEAKER_03

So And when you were doing the injectables, were you doing it com it to directly to the site?

Nature In The City And Grounding

SPEAKER_00

No, that is still questionable. In my, again, in my research and speaking with a lot of very, very skilled uh practitioners, doctors who have been doing this for a long time, site injecting is marginally effective. There's possibly a bigger risk of injuring yourself by injecting into that site than there is just because BPC works systemically, right? So whether it goes into the upper thigh fat or abdominal fat, its role is the same. Its role is angiogenesis, the creation of more blood cells, um, and and relieving inflammation, among other things, but it's gonna get to your system, you know, systemically.

SPEAKER_03

Okay, so you take BPC 157.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, so uh CJC, epimeralin, cycling on and off for many years. BPC, um I take low dose redistrutide.

SPEAKER_03

I did hear you say this.

SPEAKER_00

Yes, I take low dose red atrutite. I have nothing to hide. Uh no, no, no. I'm I'm on the journey to optimization, right? I want to find out how do I feel better? How do I feel like I'm you know constantly improving um with in in a way that I feel the risk management is is is is there, right? Um so I'm taking 1.5 to a maximum of two milligrams of retitrutide once a week. Now, and early on when I first started taking it, I was taking like three and a half, four, and I lost too much weight. Like I couldn't eat. I just wasn't hungry. Um, and I didn't take it to lose weight, right?

SPEAKER_03

So when you first started to take that, because obviously your appetite is whipped away from you. And I with an ADHD brain, you know, I know what you guys tend to be like quantum tea, you know, dopamine, like any sort of pleasure. And we do see this through food a lot of the time as well. So what was it like when you turn the noise off?

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, that's a good way to put it, turn the noise off. Um so I just want to touch on that for a sec. A lot of people who have taken these GLP wands or advanced third generation, which redotite is, uh, works on three different pathways. Um, a lot of people find that their addictions become much more manageable if not gone completely. Um, I love red wine. I love it. Um, I used to drink at least, you know, two, three glasses of wine a week, sometimes more. Um, but never more. Never I mean, I haven't been drunk in years, but like just, you know, a nice little red wine. I can't drink wine anymore. I just don't even want it. Like, so I've definitely see that effect as well. I know some people who have started and they quit smoking. Um, it there's something, and I don't understand the mechanism. I'm not going to claim to understand it, but there is something within this compound that turns you said the noise, right? It does turn off that noise. Um, so that's where I feel there's an application for these types of peptides for someone who may not already be optimized but struggling with something. Maybe this peptide can turn down that noise and turn them on to healthier habits, thus putting them onto a healthier trajectory. Again, I don't know if this is I've I've heard it enough times to know that it's a thing, but I don't understand the mechanism. I just know that once I started taking red, I was like, nope, mine, not interested. Strange.

Peptides 101: Promise And Caution

SPEAKER_03

Interesting. So another one, I think it's uh G-H-K-C-U, you're taking it as well.

SPEAKER_00

So I only started that about four weeks ago. Um, for almost no other reason than like I don't do anything for my skincare. Uh like I don't have like even soap, basically. Like I have like natural soap that you can also, it's a long story, but I use um what's it called? Like, you know, the um castile soap, like for face, for hair, for everything. Um I don't have skin cream at home. I don't use it. I don't put I haven't worn deodorant since I was 23 years old. So I'm a little bit over-obsessed, probably, in the skin barrier stuff and chemicals going in. Um, but I don't do anything for my skin. That's why I'm saying. So I found, you know, GHKCO. I'm like, maybe I'll start taking that. And like right away, I was like, oh my goodness. Like darker hair. I'm like, slightly better skin. I was like, this this is legit.

SPEAKER_03

So how often are you taking it?

SPEAKER_00

Um I'm taking two milligrams now. I was initially taking a little bit too much. I started at five, backed it down. Um, two milligrams three to five times a week.

SPEAKER_03

Are you injecting stomach or the leg?

SPEAKER_00

Leg. Okay. Because it burns. Yes, it's got some spice to it. So yeah, I I prefer upper thigh. Yeah. Um I'm also taking uh well, I'm what else am I taking? Uh I'm looking at my fridge now for my bottles.

SPEAKER_03

You know what? I'm just thinking, yeah, I open your fridge and I'm like, wow, this looks like a science experiment.

SPEAKER_00

Yes, yes, it it's it's always looked like that in some shape or form, right? I have a lot of supplements that I keep in my fridge because I I I think freshness is a thing, right? So certain supplements, I'm like, you're better in the fridge. So vitamin D, for example, and soft gels, keep that in the fridge. Uh my astaxanthin, keep that in the fridge. Um you don't have to. I'm this is an obsessed thing. You probably don't need to. Um I'm taking I just started MOT C.

SPEAKER_03

Oh, wow.

SPEAKER_00

Not sure how I feel about it yet.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah. I know a few people who are on it right now that some people are saying, look, they feel fantastic. Um yeah, other people have had some. I'm gonna give it some more time.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah. I'm gonna give it three, four weeks and and just see. Yeah. Yeah. But also it's not I'm not trying to judge like how do I feel instantly is like I'm looking at the research and it's not that exciting. It's not compared to some of the others. For me, BPC is the king. The because that's your foundation, right? You relieve the inflammation, you you increase your regeneration capacity. Like everyone should be taking BPC in my experience, in my opinion.

SPEAKER_03

So, Dave, the last question on the podcast I normally ask everyone is what would they detach themselves away from that's limiting them today?

SPEAKER_00

What would they detach themselves from that's limiting them today?

SPEAKER_03

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00

Like what would my advice to be?

SPEAKER_03

So could know yourself. So is there a habit that's currently limiting you today? Is there something that's getting in the way of yourself? What's the obstacle that Dave's facing right now?

SPEAKER_00

Well, there's two things. One, I've already talked about nervous system regulation. I need to focus on that. And number two, this is a recurring theme, is is content.

SPEAKER_01

Oh wow.

SPEAKER_00

I need and I want, and I have to reframe that in a little bit. Yeah, I was just gonna say, you don't need I want. I want to be a better and a more prolific creator because I have so much information that I want to share. And my and I and I enjoy speaking, right? I I used to, you know, teach do seminars, like uh part of my one of my side hustles. Um and I just I love educating, I love teaching, I love sharing with people what I've learned and what's worked for me and what I've seen work for other people, uh, which is why I started my WhatsApp chat group. But I'm like, Dave, that's only halfway there. You're still not doing it, right? So content in my house, along with my little recovery section, I'm also working on putting a content section so I can have no excuse, but I have like you just go, you turn on the mic, you turn on the thing, and you and you, and you teach. And you just do what you do. I don't want to entertain, I'm not here to do that. I'm I'm but I feel like it's a shame for me not to share more about what I've learned. Absolutely.

Dave’s Peptide Stack And Protocols

SPEAKER_03

I think because of the rise of peptides and everything now, I think there's a like you said, there's a gap in the market where people are applying it, but they don't have the education behind it. So if you have the education, we need to share it as much as possible because I think people need to be aware of this. But with all that being said, I want to say that any kind of information that we did share on the podcast as well, try back it by a doctor as well. Because when we see and when we talk about peptides and what we're currently taking, it's not a cutie cutter or cookie cutter approach where it's not one size fits all. So um yeah, I just want to say thank you so much for sharing all your knowledge today.

SPEAKER_00

It's my pleasure. That was a great conversation.

SPEAKER_03

Thank you.