Pharmaphobic
Pharmaphobic is a bold and thought-provoking podcast that challenges the status quo of health and wellness in America. Hosted by Dan, a veteran-turned-fitness professional, and Janie, a physician assistant, this show dives into the deep-rooted issues within big pharma, big food, and the healthcare system. With a mission to uncover corruption and promote sustainable, long-term health solutions, Pharmaphobic is for those seeking better answers, curious minds ready to question the system, and anyone eager to take control of their well-being. Join Dan and Janie each week as they explore practical ways to thrive, share transformative health insights, and inspire change. Follow Pharmaphobic on your favorite podcast platform and be part of the movement toward real health and wellness.
Pharmaphobic
Ep. 60 - Health Maxing Gone Mad
Use Left/Right to seek, Home/End to jump to start or end. Hold shift to jump forward or backward.
We came across a viral “health maxing” video and couldn’t stop asking ourselves… is this where things are headed? Injecting everything, optimizing everything, chasing some version of “perfect” that doesn’t even feel human anymore.
We get into peptides, GLPs, and how quickly something that might have a purpose turns into excess. At what point does optimizing become overdoing it? And why does it feel like we keep skipping the basics in favor of shortcuts?
Then we shift into something way less complicated but way more impactful… breakfast. What actually works, why skipping it backfires for most people, and how starting the day with real food changes everything from energy to decision making.
It’s really just this question underneath it all… are we making health harder than it needs to be?
Contact Daniel and Janie:
Email: info@achievethelifestyle.com
Website: achievethelifestyle.com
Instagram: @achievethelifestyle
Contact Daniel and Janie:
Email: info@achievethelifestyle.com
Website: achievethelifestyle.com
Instagram: @achievethelifestyle
Pharmaphobic is powered by Achieve the Lifestyle, a company dedicated to helping you empower your health, redefine your lifestyle, and all for the health of it. You're listening to Pharmaphobic, where we challenge the state of health in America. I'm Janie, a physician assistant, and I've seen how healthcare keeps people dependent instead of truly healthy.
SPEAKER_01And I'm Ben, a veteran turn fitness pro here to uncover the truth and explore simple and sustainable health solutions. From big pharma to big food, we're exposing the conflicts of interest, keeping us sick, and finding better ways to take back our health.
SPEAKER_00No fluff, no gimmicks, just real talk, real solutions, and a little bit of fun along the way.
SPEAKER_01Miss Janie Brown. How are you doing?
SPEAKER_00Hi. Hi, I'm I'm Janie. I'm a co-host of this podcast.
SPEAKER_01But you're special.
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
SPEAKER_01So you're a special guest coach.
SPEAKER_00I'm your partner in life, not your special guest in life.
SPEAKER_01You were invited. It makes sense in my head, okay? You are special in my life.
SPEAKER_00Thank you. Okay.
SPEAKER_01I hope I got some points there for future use. Okay. We're gonna get right into this, guys. A little bit abbreviated episode. We're testing some stuff out. Um, health news. There's a video going viral right now. Um, it's this dude clavicular. I don't know. I don't know. I thought it was AI for a second. I'm like, this can't be real. No, the dude's real because then I saw another thing of him streaming. I guess he's a streamer, internet personality, whatever.
SPEAKER_00Is this truly what he does or is it a parody?
SPEAKER_01I I don't know. That's the thing. I don't know if it's a parody, if he's been satirical.
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
SPEAKER_01Or I I hope he is being satirical, but he's whatever it is, this video points to a growing problem. Yes. Right. So it's, you know, he wakes up, he's in some Miami apartment in the future, right? And he's like, Oh, I'm health maxing. So he goes to the bathroom and he's like trying to manage his the face, the shape of his face by hammering his little looks like a smooth meat tenderizer. Yeah, like a like hammering, slowly hammering his cheekbones. So yeah, face smashing because he's health maxing, right? First of all, this whole thing of using the word maxing for stuff. Oh my God, these kids, what are y'all doing? And then you got the adults talking like that. Anyway, he's health maxing, so he's taking that. Then he goes to the kitchen, he's gonna get breakfast. Nope. He's gonna take a red or true tide for appetite, appetite suppression. Then he's gonna take this other peptide for for leanness, and then this other thing. So he's injecting himself with stuff.
SPEAKER_00He has testosterone. You have testosterone for muscle for collagen production.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, no food, just that. So it just I'm I wanna think he's being he's being satirical.
SPEAKER_00He's I think he is because then he goes and like does some like yoga crunches on his um patio or his balcony, but he's wearing pants with a belt. Did you see that? Yeah, and then he takes a shower.
SPEAKER_01Yep.
SPEAKER_00Why why do you have a belt on? I think he's well I have one thing, he ain't got no booty, so that's why he's got a belt on.
SPEAKER_01That's possible. His pants aren't falling off. Anyway, but it's just pointing to this thing that's going on now where I'm like, you know what? I think we are about to fall off the deep end, we're going there. And it's funny how we can never just do a moderate amount of stuff. We, as in human beings, as in the population. So the peptide thing is obviously really to all the rage. Okay. Full send. So if one peptide's good, we're gonna do 25 peptides 25 times a day.
SPEAKER_00Has it been fully tested for long-term effects? Who cares?
SPEAKER_01A lot of these, so you get into BPCs, CJCs, TBs, you get into all these peptides that are going around the way, and I kind of separate those, even though the GLPs are peptide as well, and the trizeptides and the red or true tides, those are peptides as well. I I make a clear distinction between them because the BPCs, CJCs, TBs, they're clearly indicated for temporary use, some of them, at least the BPCs, it's mostly when you're managing injuries and that sort of thing. And the side effect listing on them so far is significantly less than the GLPs.
SPEAKER_00Did you see that with um, I think it was just um Ozimpic and Wagoe, because this that's semaglutide, they both are, that the FDA uh issued a warning or uh issued a fine. I can't remember who makes them. Um is it Norvo Nodis? I can't remember. Norvois.
SPEAKER_01Ozimpic is Norvonotis.
unknownYeah.
SPEAKER_00Because they did not, they withheld adverse effects when they released it.
SPEAKER_01Stop it. Are you serious?
SPEAKER_00Yes. No, so so listen, but they fined them. So they basically did this. Give me your wrist. They find them like millions, which this stuff's making.
SPEAKER_01I think that they can handle that. Yeah, this this is millions a year.
SPEAKER_00It's like you you were bad, but proceed.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_00And the thing is, is that these whole list of full effects um aren't known commonly to people, or they're kind of told briefly. And then again, like we talked about in last episode, people have this disconnect where, yeah, that sounds bad, but that won't happen to me, you know. So anyway, go ahead.
SPEAKER_01I didn't know that. And now it's just funny to me.
SPEAKER_00Well, it it just I was talking to some of my coworkers yesterday about this because I'm like, okay, so they find this company, but what did they do for the people who have been affected? Because there's lots of lawsuits.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, there's about two billion dollars worth of lawsuits, right?
SPEAKER_00But so many people have been harmed. Because how many people have had adverse effects, but they don't have the time, money, or knowledge to know that they can sue or that they can do anything. I have a patient who had a small bowel obstruction because of the GLP. She's not suing anybody. Well, she might be taking action against a local hospital who missed it, but anyway. Um I've also had patients who've had pancreatitis because of it. I've had patients who um gastroparesis. Gastroparesis, and it's just now think what are we doing?
SPEAKER_01Think about this. Two billion dollars worth in lawsuits for companies that are going, the projections are trillion dollar valuations on the back of these products.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. So anyway.
SPEAKER_01So two billion dollars is like, here you go, get off my back. Yeah, you know, it's like they peel a 20 off their big ass bank roll and be like, here you go, get off my back.
SPEAKER_00It's like we get caught up with, oh, they got fined. Oh, all these lawsuits, all these headlines and that. But we don't take a step back and think, we as people, we as the population are being taken advantage of. No doubt. Because we're just this drug is rolled out, it's promised, and but hey, it's gonna cause these really bad things. But now, as we've seen with a lot of celebrities who are taking it, that heroin chic, be super skinny. We're now being conditioned. Health is making yourself smaller. You are not healthy unless you are a small size, you are not healthy unless you look like you have TB.
SPEAKER_01And all of a sudden the 90s are back.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. And so it's just this is crazy. We as people, how are we not outraged by this? How are we not outraged that this company that you know, big pharma, save us, right? You guys are giving us hope. You guys are giving us drugs to help with our ailments. We trust you, and you withhold information from us because it could impact the bottom dollar for you. Why are we not mad?
SPEAKER_01Well, like oh, it it does more good than it does harm. Yeah, okay.
SPEAKER_00Um for people who truly need it, but how many people who are on it that don't truly need it? It's a lot.
SPEAKER_01Uh don't ask me because I don't think anybody needs that track. No, not a single nobody needs that track.
SPEAKER_00Stance also hasn't worked with patients with a BMI of 70.
SPEAKER_01Um, so you know what? That's fine. Where does this conversation start and end for a permanent solution to that problem?
SPEAKER_00What do you mean?
SPEAKER_01What what do we need to do? I don't care what you jump on. What do you need to do to solve this problem permanently? You need to lift weights, you need to eat real food, you need to manage your lifestyle. So if we're going there anyway, why are we taking this detour into stuff that's gonna give us all these side effects and stuff? Like quit playing. Get to what to what actually does it. You know what I mean?
SPEAKER_00It's because, like in the movie Wally, when we're in spaceships and we're all in chairs because we're so fat and we can't move around, this is gonna make us smaller.
SPEAKER_01Oh, so the chair has to work less so we can be, oh God.
SPEAKER_00And then less material for the spacesuits.
SPEAKER_01Well, if if going back to this clavicular video, no, because going back to it, that this video, it kind of what I see is a glimpse into a future where everything, you know, you see the apartment, it's all like this sanitized kind of look, right? And and then he's doesn't have any food on the counter, nothing, no pictures on the wall, anything, it's all hypersanitized. And then he's doing all these peptides to kind of I'm health maxing. And I'm just like, okay, now we have these peptide influencers, people that are taking all these cows, oh, this one's for my skin health. Oh, this one's for my uh whatever hormone, this one's for leanness, this one's for that. And it's like, bro, we are now you're injecting yourself five, six times a day with a bunch of stuff. Just eating real food and lifting some damn weights, my guy.
SPEAKER_00And what is this obsession obsession with looking perfect? And who determined what perfect is?
SPEAKER_01Well, you know what? I put that in there. Um altering physical appearance, this obsession, but it's all surgical interventions and somebody that makes fake stuff and fake fillers for your lips, and fake fillers for your cheeks, and fake fillers for your butt, and fake fillers for your uh boobs and all this stuff, is telling people that this is what looks good. And really, if you have eyes to see and you see these people that are doing this, you know they don't look quite right.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, they don't look quite right. I do a lot of pre-ops for um uh some local plastic surgeons, and I just it hurts my heart when people come in for plastic surgery. I die a little bit each time. I need to get out of this anyway. Um just because they're altering how they look, they're not happy with how they look or they think they need to look a certain way, and it's just heartbreaking because why do you what's going on inside that you feel like you have to distort how you look so much?
SPEAKER_01Or why do you think that to this clearly unnatural level, right?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, like because you look at these people and you can plastic surgery. Yeah, because all so especially down here with the the facelift and then the cheek the cheek fillers and then removal of the buccal fat, you all start to look the same. All of you do, and you start to look more like a cat.
SPEAKER_01Lip fillers that you can barely close your mouth, Botox out to where your forehead shows no expression. Then we got the fake boobs. Here's the thing there is such a thing as aging gracefully, right? And the thing is, when you've gotten that much work done, it might look cute for two minutes. I don't think it does, but in my opinion, it might look cute for two minutes, but as you start aging, it's like you go from being 45 to being 75 in two minutes, because that stuff obviously doesn't look natural. And the older you get, the worse it looks.
SPEAKER_00Plus, like with lip fillers and you just making your lips bigger and bigger and bigger. It reminds me of this thing I read a long time ago about um baboons of how like you know, big lips are attractive because it looks like the butt or like a swollen genitalia in baboons? Baboons, because have you seen a baboon's butt?
SPEAKER_01You're right, right?
SPEAKER_00And so it's just like I don't know, I just think about that because I learned about that like from like a science class I took a long time ago for animal behaviors, and I'm just like, y'all gain your lip fillers, look like a baboon butt.
SPEAKER_01Either we're making a parody of ourselves, man. It it's it's bad. And this video, I think he's be he's satiring, he's he's kind of pointing to this future where everything's fake, pretty much, you know, and there's no joy, there's no joy in that. Um, and I think this video fits it perfectly. Um, but just giving you some food for thought with this, no joy and no inner peace.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, and it guys, just man. Why like just you're always like nothing's good enough, you're always trying to seek something better. And it's just like, why don't why can't you be happy with where you are? Why can't you be grateful with what you have?
SPEAKER_01Yeah, and your health issues are due to something that you're not on this mentality. That's the mindset, right? Instead of being like, yo, I'm doing too much, I need to do less of this and more of this stuff that all humans should be doing. But I'm over here fine trying to find my answers in synthetics, like you're putting your hope in in paper mache type of thing. You know what I mean? It's just, it's sad. It's sad to see. And I hate that we're jumping off the deep end where we find something that's potentially good and then we turn it into something that's to our detriment, meaning things like BPC seem to be really good, BPC 157, right? And injury healing and all this stuff, shortening injury uh recovery time, and that sounds great, right? But here we are jumping on 25 other peptides too to freaking health max. Come on now, guys, calm down.
SPEAKER_00So, some especially with peptides, they were likely all started for like good reason, like to truly help people. Because even the GLPs initially were for um diabetes. No, before diabetes for um Alzheimer's as its original use, right? And then they found which the fact that it helps with blood sugar and weight loss, then with lifestyle and improving of insulin resistance help prevent Alzheimer's?
SPEAKER_01Right.
SPEAKER_00So anyway, um but it's like we we see it's the same thing with Viagra. Originally it was for blood pressure, now whether that was for like a really truly helpful reason, and then they found that when men took it for blood pressure, what happened? Oh, guess what? We can make a lot of money off of it.
SPEAKER_01A lot more money, right?
SPEAKER_00Um and if you don't believe me, then if you have your script for Viagra, Cialis, why is there a warning that it could drop your blood pressure? So anyway, guys, what are we doing, bro?
SPEAKER_01AI, same thing. A little AI is good. No, let's make everything AI.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, let's let AI everything. So when you use AI to think for yourself, bad. When you use it to optimize what you're already doing, it could be useful, right? When you use these health hacks, peptides, cold plunge, um what else? Vibration plates, uh red light therapy, red light therapy, all that stuff. When you use it to take care of your health while you do nothing, bad. If you're doing all the things and you're able to do these things to optimize, okay.
SPEAKER_01Insanity has ensued and it will ensue. And here's the thing, we're just scratching the surface, it's gonna get way worse. If people are on 25 peptides and they're building all these Instagram followings, telling people about how much you're injecting themselves with stuff to health max, soon there's gonna come a bigger influencer and he's gonna be on 50 peptides, right? And that's the way we're just jumping off the deep end with it. That's where we're going with it. Guys, our people, the people we want to talk to, are people that know when you see this that you're like something's not right, something it just don't smell right. So I'm gonna go in this opposite direction.
SPEAKER_00I find it very attractive, and I don't mean attractive in like a sexual sense, but I find it very attractive when I see an older person who's in shape, you know, maybe has like some wrinkles on their skin, but they seem just like vibrant and just alive. Do you know what I mean? I find that I'm attracted to that. I'm like, I want to be like that. Like they they seem to be vibrating like with this, this, you know, this life because they're taking care of themselves. Now, when I see a a person who has like they can't move their face, they're rail thin, and their their eyes are dead, and they're probably sedated with some Xannies.
SPEAKER_01It's like they're coming to you for another script.
SPEAKER_00Like, I just like I'm that's not attractive. Now, maybe you look great in pictures, but how do you move through life?
SPEAKER_01Yeah, quality of life.
SPEAKER_00And what's more important?
SPEAKER_01Yeah. I think you start, and everybody loves this when you hear people of that live till 95 and they're still playing golf type of thing. And it's like, oh, you look at their life and they've been active all their lives, they've tried to eat well all their lives, they've had good relationships, you know, and they kept that energy, right? It's just a better way to wrap it up. You're like, oh, I'm 95 years old, I'm playing golf, and it was like, Lord called me home. I just, oh, oh my God, oh, I'm oh, it's over. Okay, going home, you know, versus I'm all, you know, dealing with all this illness from all this other stuff. But don't worry, I was health maxing because I was on 50 peptides and it didn't help me live a great life any damn way. Now, not to say some of these, the BPCs and the TBs, they have their use. But remember, it's like, hey, I injured something, I jump on the BPC for a little bit while I'm healing this, boom, I'm off it. I'm done with it. This isn't a permanent solution type of thing.
SPEAKER_00To get back to the quality of life that I wanted, not to help sustain the suboptimal life because it feels more comfortable and better. And now let's take a quick break. Have you heard about collagen and how amazing it is for your skin, hair, nails, digestion, and joints, but have no clue which one to choose? I've been there. A few years ago, I stumbled upon Bub's Naturals, and let me tell you, I've been hooked ever since. Here's why I swear by them. Bub's Naturals keeps their quality standards sky high from the start to finish. Their collagen blends perfectly in coffee or really any other beverage you love. Plus, they've got convenient to go packs so you can stay on track wherever life takes you. And it doesn't stop there. They'll donate 10% of all of their proceeds to charities that support veterans. How awesome is that? Oh, and they've leveled up their electrolytes too. The mixed berry, that's my absolute favorite. It's light, refreshing, and not overly sweet. What sealed the deal for me? Their electrolytes are NSF certified, made right here in the USA, and just like their collagen, every purchase helps give back. So do your body a favor, head to BubNaturals.com and use my code Jane20 at checkout for 20% off every time you order. Tired of looking like you lost a fight with a powdered donut every time you work out? Yeah, I was too. That's why I ditched the messy chalk and switched to chocolates. Chocolate is a new, clean, residue-free grip enhancer that goes on in seconds and lasts for hours. No clouds, no cleanup, just a rock solid grip. Whether you're crushing it in the gym, dominating on the pickleball court, or hanging on a rock face like Spider-Man, chocolates has your back. I even hit my 350-pound deadlift PR at SummerStrom using chocolates, locked in, zero slip, total confidence. Ready to level up your grip game? Head over to chocolates.com and use code Jane Brown to snag 10% off your order.
SPEAKER_01So guys, just don't do it. Uh just don't jump off the deep end with this stuff.
SPEAKER_00Well, it all comes down to whether it's now or 50 years from now, it all comes down to the basics. Like we as humans aren't ever going to evolve past the need for sleep, certain micronutrients that we've evolved to need. We need protein, we need fat, we need social connections, we need water.
SPEAKER_01We need the chew on food.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. All these basic things. It's it's not that you yeah, we we need these things. We need to, we're sustained by these things, sustained by these things. Either if you believe in evolution, we evolve to this, or we are put on this earth by God with all this stuff that we need, but then man is creating things. Man, you're not the creator. So the things that you create to sustain life are not. Going to truly sustain life.
SPEAKER_01Um, it's a synthetic, it's a copy, it's an imitation, it's uh and I'm not saying that what's the word that I'm looking for here? It's like the fake version of the real thing.
SPEAKER_00And I'm not saying that just because man created medication, you should never take medication. That's not what I'm saying. But it shouldn't substitute you doing what you need to do. I had this conversation with some friends, how I talked about on a previous podcast how if you know you have chronic health issues and you're not changing your lifestyle, that is neglect of your own health. And the thing I was telling my friend was I find it odd how we, because this friend has a very similar lifestyle to Dan and I, we probably take better care of our health than somebody who actually has a medical reason to take better care of their health, which is probably why we don't have a medical reason to need to take care of our health, but we do it from a like a preventative stance. And because we truly understand the quality of life that this work yields us. Now, if you have a chronic health issue for whatever reason, it's not like I'm not saying like you're bad, but if you need a medication to put out a fire, fine. But equally start to take ownership of your health. Because if you don't, through lifestyle, you're just gonna need more and more and more medications. And then that is a very poor existence and it gets very messy at the end.
SPEAKER_01Okay. Move it on. Let's talk about something that truly is health maxing. I'm talking about breakfast.
SPEAKER_00Oh, most important meal of the day.
SPEAKER_01Most important meal of the day.
SPEAKER_00Forgot we were gonna talk about this.
SPEAKER_01Um, here's why we're gonna talk about breakfast.
SPEAKER_00That's why I kept going off on tangents because I thought that that was our only topic. I was like, I gotta stretch this out.
SPEAKER_01And I'm over here looking at you like, hurry up, trying to get to the meat and potatoes of the show, which is breakfast. And meat and potatoes are very good options for breakfast. Okay, let's talk about this. Why have breakfast? Because here's the thing, here's where this stems from. I was having a conversation with a client, um, older person, uh in his 70s, and he asked me about breakfast. And I train him somewhat early, like 9 a.m. ish, usually when he trains, nine, depending on the day. And sometimes he's just dragging it. He's like, I'm tired today. And my question is always, Did you have breakfast today, kind sir? The answer is always no. But one day, recently, he's just crushing it. I'm like, yo, that's a PR. Oh, let's get on this chest for that's a PR. He's like, he's like, yo, like feeling really good. He's hyped up. I'm like, Did you have breakfast today? And he starts laughing. Because he did. He told me he had uh I had a protein shake with this stuff that I put in it, and I had some eggs. There you go, there's your answer. Now you got energy to come in here and kick. But okay. Older people of his age, 70s, they grew up with the classic food pyramid, eat grains first, all this sort of thing. But they also have this mindset that breakfast, like, no, I don't eat breakfast. I just skip it and get to work. It's not a good thing. And if they do eat breakfast, guess what they're eating?
SPEAKER_00Oatmeal.
SPEAKER_01Oatmeal pure carbohydrate. So he's asking me, what should I be eating for breakfast? Because this is what I what I was thinking about having. It's oatmeal, and then I put granola in it, and then I put fruit in it. Like great. But oatmeal, granola, fruit, that's all carbohydrates. Fat, protein with it. You know, so now you're throwing this big old bowl of oatmeal and granola, and if it's ready to eat um oatmeal that you microwave, it's got a bunch of added sugars in it and a bunch of stuff. So we're just throwing this carbohydrate bomb into an empty stomach that you woke up with, and you're gonna get a huge blood sugar spike. There's no proteins or fats to kind of stave that off. So that's problematic breakfast, right?
SPEAKER_00The only good thing about like that oatmeal, fruit, granola combo is he probably did get some good fiber in there. So with that whole so this is where it gets tricky because people say, Hey, I have oatmeal and that sustains me. Well, that's the fiber, but it's not the protein, which is something that you need. We don't need carbs. We benefit from them, especially if we're active, but to truly survive, you don't need them. And so um, that's where it gets tricky, especially when people are like, but I have oatmeal and I feel full. Okay. We're not saying not have oatmeal, we're saying add some protein to it in some way.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. So the conversation was I have oatmeal and I feel full because you're having a big old bowl of oatmeal and then you have fiber, right? But you're still not, it's too much, too many carbs into an empty stomach, and you're gonna get this big old spike in your blood sugar. Body has to release a lot of insulin. Nutrient-wise, I wouldn't put oatmeal up there with nutrient density stuff. Well, my own. Now he's putting fruit in it. Yeah, he put fruit in it, so now we're cooking. But I wouldn't put if you're just having a big old bowl of oatmeal, I don't think you're having you're like, oh, I'm really nourishing my body with nutrients. Um, it's pretty devoid of that, actually.
SPEAKER_00It feels soothing.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, it feels like you're doing something, but that the oats are not high in nutritional content, and a lot of the oats that people are buying are enriched, right? So it's a lot of synthetic stuff in there. Um think about glyphosate content and all this other stuff that's on the road, but talking purely about nutrients that you're receiving when you eat a bowl of oats, they're not there. A fruit bowl, now you're cooking. Eggs, yes, now you're really cooking in nutrition that is coming in. Um so why have breakfast?
SPEAKER_00Right. So this is where it gets a little bit tricky because some people think or some people benefit from fasting. And there is some medical benefits from fasting, but it very much depends on your activity level, um, like kind of like your gender, your age, your hormonal status, things like that. Um some people are able to, and this is like a big bodybuilder debate too about working out fasting versus not fasting. And I mean, I've done both. I find I'm better if I have some fuel in the tank, especially if it's more of a higher intensity, like really heavy weights. If it's something just like I'm gonna do some zone two walking, I can be okay without eating. You, you're the same. You've gotten up first thing in the morning and done some zone two stuff.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, that's fine. Um I I look at from a purely that's super technical for the average person. Right.
SPEAKER_00That's like if you're gonna get on a stage, you're trying to optimize fat oxidation or metabolism and appearance. Like that's but also there, and there is like in that book, Biblio Diet, there is some benefit to fasting. There's also bowel rest for your GI system with fasting, but I'm talking like 12 hours. Like you stop, you eat dinner at like seven, six, seven o'clock, and then you don't eat breakfast until seven, eight o'clock.
SPEAKER_01Assuming that one of the eight of those hours you're sleeping too.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. So like overnight while you're sleeping and you're not eating, that's a fast. But most people don't think that. They only think about when I'm awake.
SPEAKER_01Yep. They forget the count that they're sleeping.
SPEAKER_00And then when the big fasts can be done like sprinkled in throughout the year, and then more of like a 16-8 fast, you have to be very strategic within your eating window, especially if you're trying to increase increase your activity.
SPEAKER_01But and and still that's yeah.
SPEAKER_00So but even in the book, they talk about introducing fasting. They start with try for 12 and 12.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, but super technical still. Like that's even above the pay grade of the average person that needs to max uh improve their health. I don't like the conversation of fasting because people jump on it quickly rather than you need to eat more protein, you need to make better food choices, right? You're naturally gonna fast if you're eating three meals a day or four meals a day. You know, you got potentially the eight hours of sleep and a couple of hours built in there. People will fast. Yes, we can talk about that later because there it there are benefits to fasting in certain points in time, but fasting as a daily strategy for the person that's still trying to improve their nutrition, terrible idea.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, the reason why I brought that up is because breakfast, break fast. Break your fast with breakfast, right? The best way to break a fast, protein and fat.
unknownCorrect.
SPEAKER_00Yep.
SPEAKER_01Yep. Um, something in from a you know, putting in nutrients after sleeping, that sort of thing, from just from a pure strategy of making better food choices. It's easier to make better food choices when you're not hungry. Yes, when you're not starving. This is why fasting is not for everybody. And I feel like you need to be a little bit more involved in your health journey to toy around with fasting.
SPEAKER_00Okay, I understand.
SPEAKER_01So this is, you know, this is if we look at it like jujitsu, fasting strategies are more at the purple belt level, which is right in the middle of the road. White and blue belt, you need to figure out how to get more protein, how to get over a hundred grams of protein a day, because you're eating 50 to 60 right now, and you're eating mostly carbs and you're eating processed foods, right? So we need to figure out how to take those out, what to eat instead, right? Now, breaking eating breakfast when you feed yourself appropriately in the morning and you get some protein, and you get some healthy fats in there, and you get a little bit of carbs, your energy is better managed, right? We're not in this super high, you know, blood sugar level that I'm gonna crash down two hours later because I had too many carbs, not enough fat and protein. Um, we're that steady state energy. Our mind is working better, so we're going off to work in a better mood. We're more better in a better position to make decisions and stuff. Now, as lunch starts coming around, you're not that hungry. You're getting hungry, but you're not that hungry. That makes it easier to make a better food choice, right? You started off the day with protein, so I have a hard time getting 100 grams of protein in. You started off with breakfast, you picked a good breakfast. Hey, listen, you got 30 to 40 grams already in the bag, right? Come lunch, boom, let's put another 30 grams in there. Um, these are arbitrary numbers, not really not.
SPEAKER_00They do recommend like having a breakfast anywhere from 30 to 50 grams of protein. And especially if you're trying to hit a protein goal, um, bodybuilders talk about this a lot, but also just for the general population, it's better to get start ahead than try to make up protein at night.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, a lot of people that say they have a hard time eating protein, they're skipping meals and they're trying to get it all in with dinner.
SPEAKER_00Right. And so setting the standard for the the day with a good source of protein north of like 30 grams or more is a great way to go. And it sets the tone for your satiety throughout the day, like Dan mentioned. You seem more satisfied throughout the day. You'll get hungry and you'll say, Oh, well, I'm gonna choose a lunch to help with this hunger, not I'm starving, put food in my mouth to get rid of this hunger. Yep. So it's a difference. Everyone has felt it. And the studies actually show the most important meals are breakfast and dinner. So the beginning and end. The middle, plus or minus, but that means breakfast and dinner need to be really optimal with protein. And that tends to be easier to get more like because you tend to have more control over your breakfast if you make time for it. A lot of people just wake up and rush out the door. Um, but dinner, you know, again, if you make time for it, holding that sacred space to have dinner at home with your loved one. If you live alone, take that time for you to nourish your body. There's value in nourishing yourself. And then lunch, a lot of times it's more on the go. So preparing for it, getting a good amount of protein, but really focusing on breakfast and dinner.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. And I think, like I was saying, easier to make better choices if you're not starving, right? Yeah. People that skip breakfast and are like, I'm just gonna go to lunch and I'll have lunch. Now lunch rolls around, you are ravenous and you're itching, you're like dying to eat lunch, you're not gonna make great choices.
SPEAKER_00Right.
SPEAKER_01And again, this is something that's more evolved. In our the beginning of our health journey, we have to make the better choice easier to make, right? You're not doing that if you're skipping breakfast. You're making it harder to make the better choice. As you evolve and you're more of a purple, brown, black belt in your health strategies. Now be like, I'm really hungry, but I have the discipline and the body of work to be like, I'm gonna eat this and I'm gonna make this choice, even though I'm dying right now.
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
SPEAKER_01And I'm gonna hold out and cook my own food or whatever it may be, right? But in the beginning, I have to make it easier to make the right choice. And that means I can't be let myself go ravenous. So when people skip breakfast and they say they're gonna hold out for lunch, lunch comes around, you're ravenous, you're gonna eat whatever. Now we we we messed up, right? Now we're eating whatever, we're not sticking to a nutritional strategy that's actually gonna help us in the long run. Some people are really hardcore and they skip lunch, they skip breakfast, they skip lunch and they wait till dinner, and then they want to eat the world at dinner and they tell you, I just can't stop snacking.
SPEAKER_00Right. Or they'll for they'll have a um not a great lunch. Like you skip breakfast and you'll have they'll have a salad with maybe like three ounces of chicken. Or like a chef salad, which is like the like the deli turkey, you know, a hard-boiled egg, right? And so it's really I remember when I uh remember when I had my surgery and they were like no eating eight hours before, but my surgery was like two o'clock in the afternoon. So I got up early to eat breakfast. So we would still have eight hours. And you know, they ask you like every like the nurse asks you what you ate, the anesthesiologist comes in and asks you what you ate. Everyone asked me what I ate, and I told them, Did you eat today? Yes. They're like, What time? I told them what time? It's in the eight-hour window. So like, okay, what did you have? And I tell them, and all of them were like, Oh, that sounds really good. I had ground um, ground turkey with two eggs and rice and um bell peppers. Simple stuff, very satiating, very satisfying, and good. And you tell that to people they're like, that sounds good, but it's not hard to do.
SPEAKER_01No, I and that's something you just said because that was gonna be my next thing. Things that we suggest for breakfast. I like to have four ounces of ground turkey, lean meat. We do goat, we'll do beef, so anything. The ground turkey is usually 99% lean. Um, four ounces of that, and I have two to three eggs right now, too, because we're in like a little bit of a cut phase, you know, but you put some cottage cheese in there, put some cottage cheese in the eggs, boom, boom, boom, mix that up, and then I make a egg and turkey cheesy scramble, right? And then on the side of that, I'll have fruit right now in season. It's citrusy, and I love me some oranges of the mandarin, tangerine, clementine, uh, honey bells, whatever oranges are available. I have one of those, and then I have a little sourdough toast.
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
SPEAKER_01That's what I like for breakfast right now. We were doing rice for a little bit, like a um a cup of rice or half a cup of rice or potatoes with it. But you know, there's a lot of protein in the egg and turkey scramble and cheese. Janie likes to put peppers in them. Great. Vitamin C, boom, out in your face, right there early in the morning. Then you have a controlled amount of carbohydrates. Now you got protein fats and a controlled amount of carbohydrates, and off you go, and it's pretty satiating.
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
SPEAKER_01Not only that, and then guys, you put your coffee in because people have coffee and they think they have breakfast.
SPEAKER_00Yes, yeah. And so a lot of people, I don't have time for breakfast, but it's you you just have to make time, right? And but and then a lot of people are like, well, I have to get my kids ready to get them out the door, you know, do all this stuff. Again, make time. But there's also stuff that you can pre-make to then heat up and eat either at home or when you get to work, because I do understand that.
SPEAKER_01And so some people don't don't like eggs or they don't do well with eggs. My mother comes to mind. She doesn't like eggs, it blows my mind. But this is where something like Greek yogurt comes in. Um Greek yogurt's great. If you want to put protein powder in the Greek yogurt, it makes it even more protein.
SPEAKER_00Cottage cheese.
SPEAKER_01Cottage cheese, you know, put protein powder in there, that makes sense.
SPEAKER_00We're not a huge fan of smoothies. I used to be a smoothie person when I met Dan.
SPEAKER_01And I saved her and made her have referred.
SPEAKER_00So I I because I would work um seven to seven in a primary care setting, but the commute was 45 minutes to an hour. So I was waking up very early. So smoothies were easy, right? And I was getting in protein, I was getting in micronutrients, right? Looking back, I could have made them better. I was still, you know, a little newbie in with health. But then I read um, who's that guy? Oh, he smoke it, I spoke at Summer Strong. He does a lot of um for strong men and bodybuilders health stuff. Um, he has a vertical diet or whatever.
SPEAKER_01Stan Effordine.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, Stan Effordine. I heard him talk about drinking versus chewing food, right? And I was like, oh, and different. Yeah. And now, besides just like how he does it from a stance of nutrient breakdown, feelings of satiety, like the enzymes and everything going. He talked about from that.
SPEAKER_01And blood sugar too, it's completely different.
SPEAKER_00Yes, blood sugar as well. And then I read about our jaw development with soft drinking foods versus actually chewing stuff. And so I'm I converted to team chew your food.
SPEAKER_01That's a rabbit hole with jaw mandibular function and mandibular strength and how your brain works. So cognitive function as well is very tied to this. And that's that's a rabbit hole that we have to deep dive into.
SPEAKER_00So everything's a process in our body. We don't have to get into it in depth right now, but when you smell food and like when you smell things and you start to salivate a little bit, or you see something and you start to salivate a little bit, that's you know, enzyme starting. That sets off a whole cascade of things in your body for hunger, satiety, digestion, all these things. And so, and then you put it in your mouth and you eat it. The digestion process starts in your saliva and with the mechanical breakdown of the food with your teeth. And then you swallow it, it goes down the esophagus, into your stomach, stomach acids, breaking it down further. And so if we just drink something, we kind of bypass the chewing and it just dumps into our stomach. And this whole process of breaking things down so that it can sort of um trickle into our, you know, circulatory system and then start that whole process of nourishing our body versus just dumped and then here's all this stuff, right?
SPEAKER_01And so um best pat best practice-wise, yeah. Eggs, meat, you know, that sort of thing, potatoes, um, sourdough, some fruit, get a good amount of protein, chew on your breakfast. Second tier, better than not having breakfast. I'm gonna put the Greek yogurt in there, but because you're not really chewing it, right?
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
SPEAKER_01Almost like you're just swallowing.
SPEAKER_00Some granola in there, so you crunch that.
SPEAKER_01Yep, granola, good granola. Shout up here, Lee Elizabeth, the original recipe, because it doesn't have ancient stuff in it. Um, but Greek yogurt with a little bit of protein and and um granola in there and some fruit, boom, that's a better choice. And then third tier, we'd say have a smoothie if it really is.
SPEAKER_00Well, you can load that smoothie up. My friend Jess makes like a superfood smoothie. So you can load the smoothie up. Um, couple other things, just real quick, that I want to talk about. Um, my brother actually made his own granola, like he baked it at home. So taking, so this is what I'm gonna say take stuff that you like that seems easy, right? So when we think about breakfast, the thing that comes to my mind, Jimmy Dean. Okay, because they have the little breakfast sandwiches, they have the breakfast bowls, breakfast burritos, things like that. So I always look at stuff, what's convenient in the store, and then I I can make that. Maybe it takes some time, like on a Saturday or Sunday, to make a bunch of breakfast bowls or like the Starbucks egg bites, make those in a muffin tin. Maybe I make some burritos and freeze them. And then I can more control protein content, fat content, carb content, the ingredients. And now I just grab something in the morning and I've set myself up well. So look and see like what I would buy that's convenient. And now how can I take control and make that? Because those breakfast bowls are great, but they don't have enough protein. And so let me make them, but double the amount of protein, and it's not much different.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, and they're loaded with other extra stuff.
SPEAKER_00Yes, I know, but I'm just talking about that.
SPEAKER_01So it it bottom line, what it comes down to is have breakfast, guys. It's gonna set you up to make better food choices throughout the day, which is what it comes down to. People have a hard time adhering to a nutritional strategy because one of the big reasons, oh, willpower. But willpower when you come and look at it is you're hungry. You let yourself go hungry. You're not gonna make good choices when you're hungry.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, and also not being hungry in the morning is a red flag. I'm not saying you wake up your stomachs growling because, like, I'll wake up and I'll walk the dogs. By the time I'm done walking the dogs, I'm like, mm, I'm hungry, right? That's a sign your metabolism isn't firing like we want it to. Starting to inject food at the beginning of your day will help wake that up and get you back to having a metabolism that's firing appropriately. People wear that like a badge. I'm not hungry in the morning. That's not, no, don't get off, get off that pedestal.
SPEAKER_01Well, and sit down. And immediately I'm like, what's going on? Something's not right. Yeah. But also another better strategy here that's old school, but it kind of holds. People that say, oh, have a big breakfast, a smaller lunch, and then a smaller dinner. I think that's a way better strategy than just kind of wing it in and skipping a meal flat out. Yeah. Like if your breakfast has, let's say, I don't know, you have a 600-calorie breakfast, then your lunch is a little bit less, and then your dinner is a little bit less. I'm just using arbitrary numbers. That's gonna put you way under a good caloric intake. Yeah. But, you know, hey, I had this much food for breakfast. My lunch is a little bit smaller, but it's still protein dense, whatever, and nutrition is dense. And then dinner, I have a smaller thing, and you kind of downstep into sleep. I think that's a way better approach to it than just saying, I'm gonna skip breakfast and I'm gonna try to backlog all my calories in dinner. You know? So something to consider there, guys. Yeah. Bottom line, half breakfast.
SPEAKER_00Yep. And if you need help, um I have some acquired some resources for quick breakfasts, high protein breakfasts. Um, so please um send us a DM at Achieve the Lifestyle on Instagram or shoot us an email, info at achieve the lifestyle.com. We can help you with your breakfast questions.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, we definitely share that with you. Just hit us up and we'll we'll we'll share that with you and help you get on this breakfast wagon. Um, anything you want to close with?
SPEAKER_00No, I had another point, but I forgot it.
SPEAKER_01You're getting old.
SPEAKER_00No, I'm not getting old, you cut me off.
SPEAKER_01No, you're getting old. You're forgetting a lot of stuff. I'm the one that's supposed to be forgetting stuff. I'm worried. I'm worried for my wife, guys.
SPEAKER_00And people, if people, if people just look at your hair, they'll see that I'm not the one who forgets things.
SPEAKER_01You know what? Whatever.
unknownOkay.
SPEAKER_01Okay, guys, that is another episode. So until the next one, what I want you to do is go to your grocery store, buy yourself some eggs, some lean round meats. Make yourself a nice little breakfast scramble. Okay. Um, you can put some peppers in there, you can put some veggies in there, but enjoy a nice breakfast scramble. Feel good, feel that power in your stomach, right? See what it does for your health. Okay, see how your day goes when you have a nice breakfast. I bet you it goes a hell of a lot better. You're ready to tackle drama. And till the next one, stay pharma-free. Bye. Thanks for listening to the pharmaphobic podcast. If you found this conversation interesting, which I know you did, make sure to follow us on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. And also make sure to check us out on Instagram at Achieve the Lifestyle. And if you're interested in pursuing a stronger, healthier, more capable version of yourself, check out our website at AchievethLifestyle.com.
SPEAKER_00The pharmaphobic podcast is for informational and entertainment purposes only. The views expressed are those of the hosts and guests and do not constitute medical, legal, or professional advice. Always consult a qualified healthcare provider before making any medical or wellness decisions. While we discuss pharmaceutical, holistic, and alternative health topics, our content is not a substitute for professional medical guidance.