The 6 Science Backed Brain Fixes Most People Are Ignoring!

I think everybody needs to listen to. this episode if they want to start 2026. properly. If there's one thing I've. learned that's really stayed with me. this year, it's from speaking to some of. the world's leading minds about our. brain, which might just be the most. powerful asset that we all have. You. know, if you listen to the Diary of a. CEO, you're probably listening because. you're trying to get something, whether. it's information, inspiration, maybe. entertainment, [music]. all of which because you're striving. towards some kind of goal. And it's. dawned on me this year because I've. interviewed so many incredible [music]. neuroscientists that this all starts. with having a healthy brain because our.

thoughts, our feelings, our. relationships, our memories, [music]. our chance of having a future start in. the brain. So, in this special Christmas. [music] episode, we're going to focus on. the brain, how you can have the most. [music] fundamentally healthy brain so. you can live the most fundamentally. meaningful life. I've been through all. the episodes where we've talked [music]. about the brain, and I've looked at the. moments that you shared and replayed the. most, and the moments that added the. most value to your life, [music] and. I've put all of them into this episode. today.

>> [music]. >> Do you remember the first time you saw a. human brain? >> I do. >> Did it change how you think about your. own brain? >> It changed my life because I was like, I. want to study that. That is the coolest. thing that I've ever seen in my whole. life. It was life-changing. >> I say that because we, you know, at the. start of this conversation, we said that. most of us don't appreciate our brain. A. lot of people don't even realize it's. there, but. >> Yeah. >> the minute I had a brain scan one day,

and that brain scan. really changed my life because seeing my. own brain for the first time, >> Yeah. >> it was the push that I needed to start. caring more about how my decisions and. behaviors are impacting it. So, let's. talk about how I can make that ball of. tofu in my head super healthy, big, fat, and fluffy. You talked about exercise. early on, but we didn't really dig dig. into exactly what you mean by exercise. cuz exercise, I think, is multifaceted. in its definition. What kind of exercise. should I be doing to make my ball of.

tofu in my head. great? >> Yeah. >> Optimal. >> Mhm. Well, all the research shows that the. best kind of exercise that you can do is. anything that gives you aerobic. activity. That is getting your heart. rate up. So, that that goes for, you. know, power walking will get your heart. rate up. Soccer, so many different. things. Name your activity. So, many. people want to say, "Oh, well, my. favorite activity, will that work?" And. I always just say, "Is it Is your heart.

rate up when you're doing it?" If the. answer is yes, then yeah, that that. works great. We know that that level of. aerobic activity is critical cuz that's. going to release that growth factor. maximally to get into your hippocampus. uh that will grow those new brain cells. >> How much? >> So, um I have an answer to that. So, um. we did two different experiments in my. lab. One in um low-fit people, people. that are really not exercising very much. at all, less than 30 minutes um um in.

the last three three weeks you you've uh. moved your body. And um we asked what. could we see any behavioral improvement. in your memory function from your. hippocampus or your uh ability to shift. and focus attention if we ask you to. move your body in aerobic way for two to. three times a week. And we collaborated. with a spin class, so clearly very. aerobic. And what we found was in those. people that did successfully do two to.

three times a week of 45-minute aerobic. activity, their mood got significantly better, their memory function got better, and. their ability to shift and focus. attention got significantly better. So, that gives a little bit of a guideline. for low-fit people, two to three times a. week can start to give you some of those. some of those cognitive changes. But, you don't look low fit. So, let me let. me answer the question you're about to. ask me with like, "What about me? I I. exercise pretty regularly, and um.

how much how much do I need?" So, to. answer that question, we went to another. spin studio, and we said, "Look, we're. going to give you free classes. You. could exercise as much as you want in. this in this um. at this studio, and uh um go up to seven. times a week." And the control was just. stay the same. You know, you they were. they were working out twice a week at at. the studio. >> Control was the other group that were. you were testing them against? >> Yes, exactly. And so, what we found was.

basically every drop of sweat counted. The more you exercise, the more change. in your brain we noted. Both your. hippocampal function, prefrontal. function, and mood. If you you you were already getting. benefit, you know, you're already going. twice a week. But, the more you did, the. more brain changes you got. So, that. that doesn't give the formula that I. would like, but we were heading in that. direction, which is part of one of the. questions that I want to answer. But, I.

love to leave people with the idea that. every drop of sweat counts for building. your brain into the big fat fluffy brain. that you really want. >> And then in the real world, again making it super um. real for people. >> Yeah. >> How how does that change how I show up? >> Yeah. If you allow it to, should have a. beautiful effect on your mindset. Um that your mindset around um.

how often should I take wake up. 30 minutes early and do that walk before. I start my day or accept the the. invitation to go walk the dog with with. a neighbor. Um it's not an obligation. It is something that you're doing for. yourself. It is going to have direct. benefits on that ball of tofu, as you. call it, in your head. It's going to. make it work better. And And I mean, I. think the most immediate thing that I.

benefit from every single day is the. mood boost that you get from that. serotonin, dopamine, norepinephrine that. gets released every time you move your. body. >> I always think that cuz I also do a. little podcasting and it's I'm super. reliant on my brain being attached to my. mouth and sometimes I notice that it's. not. You know what I mean? Like. sometimes I'm not articulate. I can't. get my thoughts together, whatever. And. I always try I try and figure out the. correlation between what I did that day. when I have a good day versus a bad day. And I from from your And also I speak on. stage sometimes, so I've often asked. myself cuz I saw Tony Robbins, the.

speaker, one day on a trampoline before. he goes up on stage. I asked myself, okay, should I be doing a workout in my. green room before I go up on stage for a. big talk or presentation? You think I should? >> Oh, yeah. Absolutely. >> What's the basis of that in science and. neuroscience? >> Uh it's the basis is that immediate fact. So there's three key effects that we. know happen every time you move your. body. First one is mood. You're going to. get your dopamine, your serotonin up. Um. Second is focus and attention. So So a.

single workout isn't going to make more. synapses in your prefrontal cortex, but. the prefrontal cortex uses dopamine. And. so um it's clear that even a single. workout can make your prefrontal cortex. work better in terms of focus, attention. Also very important anytime. you're speaking. And the third is. reaction time. Your reaction time it you. know, motor your your your working your. motor cortex when you move your body and. your response and reaction time is. significantly shorter after a even a.

single workout compared to if you just. don't work out and sit sit um alone. So. great great things to do. A great thing. to do before you you stand up and speak. >> What about. coffee? I I I'm trying to figure out if coffee. is good for my brain, bad for my brain. I've. a couple of mixed messages around. the impact it might be having. >> Yeah. You know, caffeine is a stimulant and uh.

people respond to that kind of stimulant. uh in different ways. Overstimulation. with caffeine is is not good for your. your ability to put words together. You. know, this is where I turn to uh. a main theme in in my book Healthy Brain. Happy Life with this which is. self-experimentation. For you, how what can you titrate your. coffee to see what level of coffee is. best for whatever your podcast or you're. giving a talk. The other thing that.

could work similarly to coffee that that. I've started uh and that I do every. morning is um hot cold contrast showers. because that cold that you. shower on yourself after the heat um. stimulates adrenaline in you, a natural. adrenaline. Ooh, it wakes you up and okay, it was painful. the first kind of few times I tried it, but then you get addicted to it and I. have forgotten to do it and gotten back.

in the shower just to douse myself with. cold water because I feel better when I. do that for for you know, first thing in. the morning. So, lots of different. things that one can explore with. >> Okay, on the other side of the coin. then, what are some of the central. behaviors that people do that destroy. their brain? >> [laughter]. >> Well, sedentary behavior is one of them. Um not getting enough sleep. is critical. We haven't talked about. sleep yet. Sleep is so important for.

normal functioning of the brain. I like. to scare my students by saying that um. you know, in torture situations, if you. deprive a person of sleep for too long, they literally die. They They They die. You cannot function if you are deprived. of sleep for too many hours in a row. It's that critical. Yet, we don't We We. happily, you know, watch too much. Netflix at night and and and and get. only 5 hours of sleep when we could have. had eight. So, um what's happening.

exactly? Why is it so important? Well, there's um There's so many different. things. I'm going to I'm going to say. two. One is that we know that in regular. um um healthy sleep, there is activity. in the hippocampus that helps you. strengthen the memories that you have. formed in that previous day. It's called. consolidation, and it's so important. If. you shorten that, if you don't get. enough, you are not consolidating your. normal everyday memories. And second, it.

is uh the time during sleep when all the. metabolites, all that garbage that your. brain is producing because all. biological cells produce garbage, it. gets kind of um cleaned up um through. the cerebral spinal fluid that that is. flowing through your brain. And if you. do not get enough sleep, you build up. garbage metabolites in your brain. It's. like you have a gunky brain. And do you. feel like I feel like I have gunk in my. brain when I don't sleep enough. That is.

exactly what is what is happening. >> Well, when you think about um things. that we consume, you know, like food and. drink and alcohol and all these kinds of. things. Is there Is there anything that. if I'm trying to have an optimal brain, I should be. >> Yeah. >> having or not having? >> Yeah. Well, so um. I think the most evidence is around the. benefit of the Mediterranean diet, which. is basically all healthy uh um kind of. organ- not organic, but non-processed is.

the word I was trying to think of, things to eat that are very, very. colorful. There is so much evidence about how good. that is generally for the brain. That. That is my go-to. Like, what what should. I eat? Well, is it on the Mediterranean. diet? If it is, then go ahead. If it's. too processed, only do it just a little bit. >> Is it true that if we have less friends, if we have less strong relationships, if. we're lonely, >> Yeah. >> then our brain. will shrink and is more prone to.

dementia and Alzheimer's and things like. that? >> Yes, we are social creatures and um. there are uh really powerful studies. that have shown the correlation between. the number of social connections that we. have, including just saying hello to the. barista at Starbucks. It's not a close. friendship that you develop over 30. years. It's It's just how many people. you interact with and greet, and. longevity. The more people you are regularly.

interacting with, the longer you are. living. Overall longevity. But, if you. go into brain health, absolutely, it's. also very, very healthy for you. It also. brings happiness. So, uh friend and. colleague of mine, um Robert Waldinger, uh studied um what makes people happy. The study started in the '20s, the. 1920s, at in Harvard. And after all of. those many, many, many decades, the. answer is. what brings happiness is the strength of.

your social connections. So, it makes. you happier, it makes you live longer, and and uh yes, loneliness on the on the. um flip side, causes stress, uh long-term stress that. that damages the brain, and uh yeah, in. the long term, can can make it smaller. and uh less healthy. >> Here's the fifth most replayed moment. When I asked you before this. conversation started rolling, what you're really excited about at the. moment, your response to me was There. was a few things, but one of them, which. lit up your face, was creatine.

>> Yes. And it's funny because. >> up your face again. >> Yeah, it's it's funny because creatine. has been around for, I mean, ever, for decades. And it's always been. In my mind, it was like one of those gym. bro things. I'm like, I don't need to be. swoll. >> Yeah, yeah. >> I don't need creatine to get get swoll. And, you know, this is this was the. thought for for many, many years. And. then, over the last 5 years or so, the effects of creatine on the brain.

started to really get my interest. Anything that affects the brain, I. really become interested in. And so, that's kind of what did get me the most. excited about about creatine. But also, I started doing a lot of resistance. training. And so, I was like, okay, here. I am now. I'm like one of those gym. guys. I'm doing I'm doing the barbells. I'm doing the, you know, the squats and. the deadlifts and all that. And so, so. why not give myself some of the. creatine? Well, what is creatine, right? Why is it important?

You talked about earlier, you know, why. doesn't our body just make more of these. things that are so beneficial? We do make creatine. We make about, I. don't know, our liver makes about 1 to 3. g a day of creatine. And our brain also. makes creatine. And those are the two. organs that make it. Creatine. gets consumed by other tissues, like the. muscle's probably the one that's the. greediest, because creatine is stored as. phosphocreatine, but it's used to make. energy, essentially.

So, it can increase muscle mass. It can. increase muscle strength in combination. with resistance training, because you're. able to regenerate and make energy. faster. So, for example, I became interested in it after reading. studies where people that supplemented. with creatine that were engaged in. resistance training. were able to gain more lean body mass, they were able to gain more strength. It. was increasing their training volume. So, you can do one to two more reps,

right? Of whatever exercise you're doing. And. it seems to decrease the recovery time. between those those sets, as well. So, you're able to increase your training. volume. Well, anything that's going to. increase your training volume is going. to then have the downstream effect of a. you know, increasing the adaptations, like increased muscle mass or increased. muscle strength. I started supplementing with creatine. about a year ago. And I started supplementing with it for. that reason, for the my training. And I. was doing about 5 g a day, because that.

was really. what was shown to to be beneficial for. muscle health in combination with. resistance training. And it's important. for people to realize that. supplementing with creatine by itself, without any type of resistance training, isn't going to grow your muscle. It's. not going to make you stronger. You have. to put in the effort. Because what. creatine is doing, it's helping you make. the energy quicker, right? And that and. then being able to make that energy. quicker means that you're able to then. do that exercise better,

um harder, more of it, right? So, [clears throat]. um it's sort of supercharging your. exercise routine. I had already been aware of the effects. on the brain. I thought maybe the 5 g a. day would do that. So, what are the. effects on the brain? Well, your brain. also consumes a lot of energy, you know, needs a lot of energy. So, it does make its own creatine. But, it turns out if you can if you can. give your brain more of that creatine, particularly under a period of anything.

that's causing stress. So, let's say lack of sleep, or let's say. emotional, psychological stress, or in my case, high cognitive load, where you're just. every day learning concepts, complex. things, you're trying to remember them, you're putting ideas together and coming. up with new hypotheses and you know, you're just you're just you're studying. a lot and it's very cognitively.

demanding and it's it's a type of stress. on your brain. That's like my life, right? Um under this condition of stress, depression's another one that's a stress. on your brain or. neurodegenerative disease, that's a. stress on your brain. So, any kind of. stressful condition, that's where creatine shines in the. brain. I would argue that um all of us, who who. has the perfect amount of sleep, never. has stress? Nobody, right? There's. always some sort of stress in the. background. So, um that's when I was like, okay. So,

if you're the perfect person, you have. no stress, you get the perfect amount of. sleep every night, your brain makes. enough creatine to kind of. do what it needs to do. I know that I'm constantly under stress. So, um I'm like, okay, well, I think I. need a boost. And this is where a lot of. very interesting studies have come out. of many different labs. Um some out of. Germany that looked at the dose of. creatine. and how it increases creatine levels in. the brain. And this is why I now supplement with 10.

g a day. So, the study out of Germany. found that 5 g a day of creatine, if. you're supplementing with 5 g a day, your muscles are greedily consuming it, particularly if you're working out. They. want it. They want it. After about 5 g a day, especially over a. few months, like you're you're. saturating your muscle and that's. enough, right? Anything above that kind of spills over. to the brain. And so, they what this German study. found was that 10 g of creatine. increased creatine levels in several.

different regions of the brain and that. was probably the most exciting, you. know, I would say evidence that. supplementing higher than 5 g a day was. actually doing something in terms of. getting creatine in the brain. There have now been a variety of studies. that have looked at different outcomes, right? So, if you supplement with 10 g. of creatine or even go higher than that, like 20 g of creatine, how does that. affect cognitive function, right? And so, um some of these studies have. been been done by a Dr. Darren Candow. He's um at the University of Regina in.

Canada. And it's looked they've looked at things. like sleep deprivation. And it's been found that if you take. someone. and you sleep deprive them for 21 hours. and give them about 25 to 30 g of. creatine. it completely negates the cognitive. deficits of sleep deprivation. Actually, not only does it negate the cognitive. deficits of sleep deprivation. it makes people function better than if.

they were well rested. That's where I was like. wait a minute. There's many times when I'm traveling, I'm jet-lagged, uh lots of times when. I'm sleep deprived and I have to be. doing a podcast or a presentation, whatever. And. in those situations, I go up for my 10 g. to more like 20 g, like today for. example. I wasn't really. sleep deprived, but you know, there's a. lot of high cognitive demand. This is a. long podcast. There's all that stuff.

And so, I went up to 20 g today on my. creatine. And I will I will say, even at. the 10 g for me. we were talking about this with respect. to being in ketosis. I don't feel that mid-afternoon crash. when I have the creatine. Not being on a. ketogenic diet, not being in ketosis. it's very clear for me. And I have done. this where sometimes I only do 5 g and. then if I do that, I'll notice. I'm. like, why am I tired right now? So, there's something interesting and maybe. it's placebo. I'm going to throw that.

out there, very possible. But, I don't know. Maybe the creatine is. again, it's able to regenerate that. energy quicker and so that's also. beneficial for the brain. And now I I. would say all these creatine. researchers, a lot of them are shifting. to the brain. It used to be all muscle. focused. And now people are super. interested in what creatine is doing to. the brain, especially if you're. supplementing with more of it. And you. know, this is important for people that. are under a stressful situation, but also for vegans because creatine is.

found in food, mostly in animal products. like meat and poultry and fish, dairy. A. lot of vegans don't eat that and I've. had so many of my vegan friends. I've got them on the creatine and it's. changed their lives. I mean, they're. like this is like incredible, you know, can you imagine someone who's not. getting any creatine from their diet cuz. they eat no meat. And all of a sudden they start. supplementing with 5-10 grams of. creatine. and it's like they have energy. Some. people say they they require less sleep,

which is kind of interesting. That's. kind of a comment I've heard many, many. times from people is that it's like. their brain doesn't need as much sleep. They have more energy. So um. I've been a big fan of the creatine uh. not only for the muscle, especially. because, you know, working out is. something that's very important, but for. the brain as well. >> I always thought of creatine as. something that you you took and you kind. of had to load up on and then over a. couple of weeks or months, the effects. would kick in. But you're telling me. that if I had creatine in the morning, that same day I would experience.

potentially improved cognition if I have. a big enough dose. >> Yes, so um great question. A lot of. studies that have been done that you're. referring to have been done in the. context of exercise and muscular. performance. And the reason why people. have to load up on like they do a. loading phase, let's say 20 grams and. then they go down to this sort of. maintenance phase of 5 grams. is because it takes. I don't know, I think it's about a month.

or so before you can saturate your. muscular stores of creatine. And then. >> What does what does that mean? >> It means that the creatine which is. actually stored in your muscle as. phosphocreatine is there and ready to be. used to make energy. Uh so it so it. takes. again, it takes. about a month or so to do that. Unless. you are really giving your muscles a. high dose, right? So the 5 g a day, it. only it it can only do it for so many. days and then finally you get saturated.

When you do this loading phase, you kind. of just accelerate that whole process. And so that's why when people are doing. these experiments where they want to. test the effects of creatine, they want. they want the participants to have. really high levels of creatine in their. muscles quick because they don't want to. do a month-long experiment, right? They. want the experiment to be like a couple. of weeks or a week. So that [snorts] was. kind of the whole concept behind this. loading phase. If you're not someone. who's. going to some kind of competition, you. know, like your CrossFit Games or. something, you don't really need to do that loading. phase if you've already been.

supplementing with 5 g a day for like a. month. When it comes to the brain, what's happening if you get above that 5. g, that's pretty much all consumed by. the muscle. You're having some left over in. circulation and the brain takes it up. and it takes it up, right? When it When it really shines is under. that stressful condition, which again, for me I feel like every day is is is. like cognitively demanding for me cuz. I'm constantly, you know, learning new. material or learning new information or.

working on things, right? And so there's. a lot of cognitive stress on my brain. And so I feel like I'm constantly under. that stress and that's where. getting the creatine in your brain helps. you make that energy quicker. And so. that's why like I've done I've had, you. know, been jet lagged and have have to. give a talk at you know, you know, like. 5 a.m. in the morning my my biological. time after not getting sleep and I've. done like 25 g of creatine and it it's. insane how much it helps me. Again, it. could be placebo, cuz I'm anticipating. that effect, which is fine. Placebo is a.

real thing. It's great. I'm all about. it. But, there's some evidence also that. this works, right? That the creatine is. helping with under that sleep. deprivation and that stressful. condition. >> I was reading about a study in 2025. where they. gave creatine to people that had. depressive symptoms alongside CBT. training. And the people that had creatine and the. cognitive behavioral therapy training. experienced a greater improvement in. their depression symptoms than those who. just received the cognitive behavioral.

therapy. Which is which is. incredible. >> It's fascinating. I mean, depression is. a type of brain stress, right? I mean, we know inflammation plays a role in in. depression. We know oxidative stress is. plays a role in depression. And there've now been some animal. studies that have shown creatine is. somehow having an anti-inflammatory. effect. I That hasn't all been worked. out. So, I don't know if it's all just the. energy component of it. It could also be. this other sort of newly identified role.

that creatine's playing in sort of. having an anti-inflammatory effect, and. I don't know how much enough about that. I don't know that there's enough even. known about that, but I do know that it. exists. And it's fascinating, but it. because again, I think where creatine really shines in. the brain and it's been shown study. after study is under some kind of. stressful condition, depression, or. sleep deprivation. Or there's a new. study that came out. It was published. I don't know, a month ago or so, showing. that it was a very small pilot study,

and I want to caveat this. There was no. placebo control. But, it did show that giving people with. Alzheimer's disease creatine, I believe it was 20 g a day, did improve. their cognition. And so, again, it's. this a whole new field. We're now we're. looking at creatine in the brain, not. just the gym bro bros, and not just the. muscular effects, but in the brain and. how it's. affecting the brain and being beneficial. for cognition, for brain aging, for.

depression. >> Here's the fourth most replayed moment. One of the most inspiring and I think. liberating things that I've heard in. your work is this idea of. neuroplasticity because. if you're if the brain can. physiologically change based on what I'm. doing, then it means that who I am now, my identity, that 60 that 19-year-old. who's sleeping in the mummy sleeping. with the ferret isn't who I always have. to be. I can literally change. Um we've spoken a little bit around like. what causes the motivation to actually. change, but knowing that there's a my.

brain will actually change, those two. things are really inspiring for me. because it means that whatever rut I'm. stuck in isn't necessarily a permanent. one. Now, you said that the motivation. to change comes from fear. >> Well, in my case, it took a a fear. circumstance, fear of becoming a. permanent failure. >> Yeah. >> to motivate immense change and um. uh that was that circumstance. I I do. believe, however, that the. best work, our most creative and best. work comes from a a love of craft.

But sometimes in order to find what you. truly love, you have to be scared into. setting off on a path to find it. So, neuroplasticity. is absolutely real, but if the question. is can. a person change? Can you learn new. thing? Can you unlearn certain patterns? Can you overcome traumas? At any age, the answer is absolutely. categorically yes. How? Well, it's very clear that as a.

child until about age 25, more or less, just passive experience will shape the. brain for better or worse. After about age 25, and again, these are. not strict cutoffs, we can change our brain, but what's. required is a marked shift in the. neurochemical environment under which. something happens. So, one of the. reasons why any traumatic event will. forever be remembered, although by the. way, you can remove some of the. emotional load of that. Trauma does not. have to be traumatic forever.

Is because when we see or experience. something very intense of a fearful. nature, there's the release of certain what we. call neuromodulators, things like. epinephrine, adrenaline, and other. neuromodulators that cause a state shift. in our broad body and brain. And the nervous system recognizes this. as unusual, and as a consequence in the. subsequent days, there's reordering of. the connections. So, that the brain can prepare for that.

event should it happen again. This is why we have what's called. one-trial learning. You go to a certain. location, something terrible happens. there, you will forever associate that. location with something terrible. But, there are tools, therapy, and other. tools. that can allow the emotional load to be. removed from that so that you could go. to that location and feel calm, no fear. whatsoever. The good news is you can also learn. anything you want to learn, provided there's a shift in this. neurochemical environment. This is why.

when we are very interested in focused. on something, two of the main. requirements for neuroplasticity, we. have to be alert and we have to be. focused. We can't learn passively as. adults. We can't just play, um, you know, a lecture about AI and large language. models or neuroscience in the room, and. then it just the knowledge doesn't just. sink in by osmosis. But, if we pay attention and we're alert. when we pay attention, there's a shift in the neurochemicals. associated with that attention. What we call the catecholamines. It's.

three molecules, dopamine, epinephrine, and norepinephrine, all which cause an. increase in alertness, all which cause an increase in focus, a. tightening of our visual field and our. auditory field, so like cones of. attention is one way to think about it. And then it sets in motion a bunch of. biological processes such that if we get. adequate sleep that night, maybe the next night as well, there's. reordering of neural connections so that. that knowledge, that new experience. is consolidated in your brain. You are.

forever changed as a consequence of that. experience. So when we hear that the brain is. constantly changing, everything that we. encounter changes our brain, that's not. true. Why would the brain change unless it. needed to? Right? As a child, the brain. is basically a template for change. It's. It's trying to understand the. environment and make predictions. And so. that's true. Neuroplasticity is is. a cardinal feature of of childhood and. adolescence and the teen years. Just. think about the music you listened to. when you were a teen. No other music.

will ever have as much significance. And. that's because as a teen, your body is. flooded with hormones and. neuromodulators that the amount of. meaning that comes from. now seemingly trivial events when you're. a teenager or adolescent is immense. That song meant so much and it's because. of the neurochemical milieu it creates. in you. But as an adult, it takes a. stronger stimulus as we say. The nervous. system is very. um efficient in that way. It doesn't. change unless it has to. And it. always changes if it needs to in order.

to keep you safe. This is why there's an. asymmetric influence of fear as opposed. to um just interest in terms of what. will shift our brain. But. it's nice to know that love and. excitement and appreciation are very. strong stimuli for changing the brain. From everything we know about. neuroscience, it's clear that doesn't. matter if you're 90 years old, 70 years. old, 50 years old, if you want to learn, you can learn. And that learning occurs.

through neuroplasticity, which is the. reordering of neural connections, strengthening of certain connections, weakening of others, and in some rare. cases the addition of new neurons. But, you absolutely can change your brain, but you have to pay attention to the. thing you want to incorporate into your. brain. You have to be alert while you do. that, and then you absolutely have to go. get some rest because it's during sleep. and during meditative states and during. rest that the actual rewiring of the. brain occurs. >> You know, every once in a while you come.

across a product that has such a huge. impact on your life that you'd probably. describe it as a game-changer. And I. would say. for about 35%. of my team, they would currently. describe this product that I have in. front of me called ketone.com. as a game-changer. But, the reason I. became a current of this company and the. reason why they they now are a sponsor. of this podcast is because one day when. I came to work there was a box of this. stuff sat on my desk. I had no idea what. it was. Lily in my team says that this.

company have been in touch. So, I went. upstairs, tried it, and quite frankly, the rest is history. In terms of my. focus, my energy levels, how I feel, how. I work, how productive I am, game-changer. So, if you want to give it. a try, visit ketone.com/steven for 30%. off. You'll also get a free gift with. your second shipment, and now you can. find ketone.com at Target stores across. the United States, where your first shot. is completely free of charge. All I had. to do was brain dump. Imagine if you had.

someone with you all times that can take. the ideas you have in your head, synthesize them with AI to make them. sound better and more grammatically. correct, and write them down for you. This is exactly what WhisperFlow is in. my life. It is this thought partner that. helps me explain what I want to say, and. it now means that on the go, when I'm. alone in my office, when I'm out and. about, I can respond to emails and Slack. messages and WhatsApps and everything. across all of my devices just by. speaking. I love this tool, and I. started talking about this in my. behind-the-scenes channel a couple of.

months back, and then the founder. reached out to me and said, "We're. seeing a lot of people come to our tool. because of you, so we'd love to be a. sponsor. We'd love you to be an investor. in the company." And so, I signed up for. both of those offers, and I'm now an. investor and a huge partner in a company. called Whisper Flow. You have to check. it out. Whisper Flow is four times. faster than typing. So, if you want to. give it a try, head over to. whisperflow.ai/doac. to get started for free. And you can. find that link to Whisper Flow in the. description below. There are few sports that I make time no.

matter where I am in the world, and one. of them is, of course, football. The. other is MMA, but watching that abroad. usually requires a VPN. I spend. so much time traveling. I've just spent. the last 2 and 1/2 months traveling. through Asia and Europe, and I'm back. here in the United States. And as I'm. traveling, there are so many different. shows that I want to watch on TV or on. some streaming websites. So, when I was. traveling through Asia, and I was in. Kuala Lumpur one day, then the next day. I was in Hong Kong, and the next day I. was in Indonesia, all of those countries. had a different streaming provider, a. different broadcaster. And so, in most. of those countries, I had to rely on.

ExpressVPN, who are sponsors of this. podcast. Their tool is private and. secure, and it's very, very simple how. it works. When you're in that country. and you want to watch a show that you. love in the UK, all you do is you go on. there, and you click the button UK, and. it means that you can gain access to. content in the UK. If you're after a. similar solution in your life, and. you've experienced that problem, too, visit expressvpn.com/doac. to find out how you can access. ExpressVPN for an extra 4 months at no. cost. Here is the third most replayed moment.

For those people who have just clicked. to listen to this conversation, can you. tell them. the mission you're on. and why it's so important? >> Yeah. Well, thanks so much for having. this conversation with me. I think that. illustrates the problem. Right? Someone as informed as you don't. know anything, have never heard of. nitric oxide. So, >> it's important for us to just make a. distinction between um. like nitrous gas that people, you know, inhale, and that used to you if you. played like some of those racing car. games, you press a button and the car. goes really fast if you. >> nitrous nitrous.

>> These are two separate things. >> No, very Yeah, very good point. So, this. is the not nitrous oxide. Nitrous oxide. is. I mean, a medicine it's a dental. anesthetic. Right? It's a gas. It's. called laughing gas. That's N2O. That's. the chemical formula. What we're talking. about is nitric oxide or NO, one. nitrogen one oxygen. This molecule is is. foundational for human health and. longevity. So, nitric oxide is a gas. It's a. naturally produced molecule. It's a. signaling molecule in the human body.

And so, it's it regulates things like. blood flow and oxygen delivery and it. mobilizes our own stem cells to help us. recover and repair and replace. dysfunctional. cells. It improves energy production. inside the cell. And it regulates blood. flow. So, nitric oxide is a gas. It's. produced in the endothelium. So, the. endothelium is the single layer of cells. that line every blood vessel throughout. the body. So, the function of these endothelial. cells is to regulate vascular tone. and to regulate, you know, solute.

exchange and extravasation or transport. of molecules across that endothelial. layer. And so, when your endothelial cells can. no longer make nitric oxide gas, they no longer dilate. So, the blood. vessels become constricted. You start to. get inflammation. You get stiff. arteries, plaque deposition. And that's. what starts cardiovascular disease or. atherosclerosis. >> So, let me get this straight. I'll. repeat back to you what I think I. understand about nitric oxide and you. tell me if it's accurate. So, this. nitric oxide is a chemical that is in.

all the blood cells of my body and it. allows my blood cells to basically. expand, open up so blood can flow. through there. So, if I. >> It dilates the smooth muscle. It's not. affecting. the cells per se, but it's dilating the. smooth muscle that surrounds the blood. vessels. And that leads to regular. and dilation. >> Fine. So, my blood cells would then. expand. >> Your blood vessels. >> And more blood would go through there. But, if I'm deficient, that mechanism. doesn't work and my blood cells wouldn't.

expand ultimately expand through the. relaxation of the muscles. >> That's right. >> And therefore, I would have higher blood. pressure, which can lead to a a series. of downstream diseases and consequences. And so, when we look at the graph that I. showed a second ago, where we're seeing. for anyone that can't see this graph. because you're listening on audio, we're seeing a. nitric oxide levels in young people up. to the age of roughly around 20 are. optimal. And then from about 30 to 70,

there's this tremendous sort of 80 90%. drop. In terms of chronic disease that. is downstream from me losing nitric. oxide level, can you give me a bit of a. menu of chronic disease that is. associated with this nitric oxide. deficiency? >> Yep. And we've touched on them. So, erectile. dysfunction. So, erections in both men. and women are dependent upon dilation of. the blood vessels to get engorgement, to. get increase in blood flow, and that's. what an erection is. And we call that the canary in the coal.

mine. Because for years, people thought it was. a lifestyle disorder. Right? >> Well, erectile dysfunction. >> Yeah. But, now it's recognized that it's. a symptom of loss of nitric oxide. and really an accelerated form of. cardiovascular disease. High blood pressure, metabolic disease, and diabetes. And then the other one is. obviously Alzheimer's. Cuz Alzheimer's is a vascular disease. And nitric oxide corrects every single. thing we know about Alzheimer's. It improves blood flow to the brain. It improves glucose uptake. So, it.

overcomes the metabolic aspect of. Alzheimer's. It reduces inflammation. In fact, a. number of my patents are on a method of. reducing inflammation. It inhibits the oxidative stress we see. in in Alzheimer's neurological disease, and it prevents the immune dysfunction. And when you do that, when you restore. blood flow and you get nutrients and. oxygen in, and you take out the. metabolic waste products, there's no. misfolding of protein. So, you don't get. the amyloid plaque, you don't get the. tau tangles. So, this simple molecule, nitric oxide. gas, I'm absolutely convinced will eradicate.

and cure Alzheimer's. >> Really? >> Cuz it it it addresses every. physiological root cause of Alzheimer's. >> If you can get it administered. therapeutically to patients early. enough, or. >> No, I think that's a very key because. the success or failure of any clinical. trial, any drug in any clinical trial, is dependent upon the design of the. clinical trial. In what patients, at which stage of. disease that you enroll these patients? So, what are the inclusion criteria, and. what are the exclusion criteria?

And there's a stage in every disease, whether it's heart disease, kidney. disease, Alzheimer's, where you've reached a point of no. return. There's really no medical. therapy that's going to reverse that. disease because it's progressed to a. state that's irreversible. So, I think what we try to do is take. take patients early in the process, what. we call vascular dementia, mild. cognitive impairment, early Alzheimer's. Because what I want to be able to. demonstrate is two things. Number one, can we stop the progression.

of disease? Once it's started, can we. stop the progression? And then number. two is we want to enroll patients far. enough along to where. we can show regression. So, can you move Can you move the needle. back? And so, that's a very kind of a specific. and finite patient population. when you design a clinical study. Number. one, at the at the absolute worst, we want to. stop progression. At the absolute best, we want to show that we can regress. disease. And that's the goal of therapy is that.

you understand the mechanism of disease. to the extent that you can treat it, you. can prevent it, you can reverse it, and. you can cure it. >> What I want to think about the role that. food plays in my nitric oxide. production. What should I be eating. to increase um my nitric oxide levels or. to keep them at a healthy level? >> I think it the same answer. is for that, too. It's It's not so much. what we should be eating, it's what we. should not be eating. >> Okay.

>> So, we'll we'll We'll cover those step. by step. Number one, you have to avoid. sugar. and high glycemic index foods. Because sugar is a toxin, it's a poison. And let's think about what sugar is. So, when we eat sugar or drink sugar. beverages, right? Whether it's sucrose, whether. it's fructose, whether it's high. fructose corn syrup, the end result inside the human is we. see an increase in glucose. So, elevation in blood sugar or blood. glucose. is.

diabetes, right? And now there's continuous glucose. monitors that you can get anywhere. And everybody does this. So, if you eat. something and it causes an increase in. your blood sugar blood glucose, then you. should avoid that. Cuz glucose, as the name applies, is. glue, right? It's sticky. And if we If you have a soda and you. spill it on your countertop, you come. back the next day, it's sticky, right? Well, that's what happens inside the. body. That sugar sticks to everything. It. sticks to proteins, it sticks to. enzymes. >> And it lowers nitric oxide production?

>> Absolutely. That's why diabetics. have a 10-time higher incidence of heart. attack, stroke, all-cause mortality. mortality. That's why they develop neuro-. neurological or peripheral neuropathy. That's why they have non-healing wounds. There's no nitric oxide. That's why. they're developing diabetic retinopathy, macular degeneration, pancreatitis. I mean, all of that can be. traced back to a lack of nitric oxide. production. because the sugar is stuck to the. enzyme. The sugar destroys the oral. microbiome and completely changes the.

the ecology of the bacteria and. completely shuts down nitric oxide. production, right? But I think. to answer your question, what should we. be eating? I think you've got to eat a balanced. diet in moderation. You know, Americans. are overfed. All you got to do is walk. around and see the the epidemic of. obesity. Good high-quality protein, good-quality fats, and little or no. carbs. And it's really that simple. >> Here's the second most replayed moment. When you think about behaviors and.

habits that are popular and trendy at. the moment, are there any that stand out. to you as being particularly good for. the brain or particularly bad for the. brain? Cuz I had a couple come to mind. that I wanted to throw at you. I mean, one of them that's exploding in the UK. at the moment is. paddle, which is kind of I think you call it. pickleball here. >> [snorts]. >> Good for my brain, bad for my brain? >> It's so good for your brain because. it's working your cerebellum, and I told.

you that because yours was sleepy. And as you activate this, and you do. that with coordination exercises, it. then activates your frontal lobes. >> Does that mean that people that are. uncoordinated have a cerebellum issue? >> Yes. >> Oh, really? Huh. >> And the more you do it, the better coordination. you develop. And that's why coordination exercises. for kids, so we talked about kids,

is. you want to do that with them early. Play sports, but not sports where. they're going to get a head injury, right? I mean, we have to be smarter. than we are. Um. but. when I was young, my mother, who's now 93, was the. ping-pong champion. in the neighborhood, and she was really. good, and she never let us beat her. until we could.

And but she was always encouraging. >> I've got um I was looking then as you. were speaking about different trends at. the moment that are either good or bad. for the brain. And one big trend at the moment is. neuroplasticity training. Lots of people. are doing games and using other things. to like there's apps you can get that. are neuroplasticity training apps. Does. any of that stuff work? >> Some of them. >> Some of them works because. >> And if you're so for example, if you're. doing memorization games, do them while.

you're on the bike. Now, not in the street, but if you're on. a stationary bike. and. you're doing those games, it's been. found that exercise. increases blood flow to the hippocampus, meaning you're more likely to remember. it and you're strengthening your brain. in the process. So, exercise with new.

learning. Stunning. >> So, if I want to learn something, I. should do it while walking or moving in. motion. >> Right. So, if you're listening to a. language app, for example, do it while. you're walking. >> Mindfulness and meditation, good or bad. for the brain? >> Great. I published three studies on a Kundalini. yoga form of meditation called Kirtan. Kriya. It's a 12-minute meditation. I. always say it's the perfect ADD. meditation because it's only 12 minutes.

And for 12 minutes, you do this. Sa Ta. Na Ma. Sa Ta Na Ma. Sa Ta. It's 2 minutes out loud, 2 minutes. whispering, 4 minutes silently to. yourself. 2 minutes whispering, 2 minutes out. loud, you're done. Sa Ta Na Ma. Birth, life, death, reborn. Birth, life, death, reborn. But. the one we studied is Sa Ta Na Ma.

And so, if they look it up, Kirtan. Kriya, um. activates your cerebellum, activates your frontal lobes, calms down. your emotional brain. People who did that for 12 minutes for 8. weeks, their resting frontal lobe function was. stronger. So simple. >> What the hell is going on there? >> I think it's the focused attention, plus.

you're doing a coordination meditation, Sa Ta Na Ra Sa Ta. >> Loving your job, good or bad for your brain? >> Absolutely great for your brain. If. you're learning new things. People who are in a job that does not. require new learning have a higher. incidence of Alzheimer's disease. >> So, if you're stagnant in your work, you.

have a higher risk of Alzheimer's. >> And like, if I just read brain scans all day, well, I know how to do it. I'm not. learning anything new. So, I do that, but I also am writing about something I. don't know about. Um or I'm learning something new. >> What if you're working with. >> I'm sorry. >> I love my job, but I'm working with. >> Bad for your brain. Chronic stress. >> [snorts].

>> increases cortisol, and I think everybody should sort of. know their baseline cortisol level. And cortisol shrinks the hippocampus. and puts fat on your belly. So, that's. two very bad things for your brain. >> Breath work, that's a big trend. >> Excellent. Excellent. You want to break a panic. attack? The 15-second breath. 4 seconds in, hold it for a second and a. half, 8 seconds out, hold it for a.

second and a half. You just do that. four or five times, your whole nervous system will calm. down. And the research shows take twice. as long to breathe out. as you breathe in. That's why 4 seconds. in, 8 seconds out. >> It shifts your nervous system, doesn't. it? >> Yes. It increases something called vagal. tone. >> Okay, some bad things then. Social media. usage, chronic social media usage, good.

for the brain, bad for the brain? >> Because you're constantly comparing. yourself to people who aren't real. >> What about workaholism and hustle. culture? >> So, I love my work. Am I addicted to it? I don't know. But I love it. When they say people are workaholics and. it's bad for the brain, it's they're.

working. with. or doing something they don't like. or doing it for the money but without. other purpose. >> Microplastics, that's a big topic. >> Awful. for the brain. One of the major causes. of hormone disruption and cancer. >> And other environmental. >> Thank you for not giving me a plastic. water bottle. >> Yeah, it's okay. Imagine if Imagine if we did that. We.

spend a lot a lot of time these days. talking about the microplastics and. other environmental toxins that I think. people are becoming more aware of now, which is. good. Noise pollution. >> Bad for the brain. And if if it hurts your hearing, hearing. loss. is actually one of the risk factors for. Alzheimer's. >> Why is that? I did a I did a huge. >> Because you're not getting input. Right. And if you're not getting appropriate. input, your brain starts to atrophy.

And if you don't hear what other people. are saying and you have a lot of ants, you have a high negativity bias, is you. can actually begin to get a bit paranoid. and fill in the empty spaces with. negativity. >> I just bought some new Apple AirPods and. when I connected them to my phone, it. said, "You want to do a hearing test?". So, I did the hearing test and then I. asked my girlfriend, I said, "You you. should do this hearing test as well cuz. I needed something to compare it to.".

And I was a little bit shocked. Um it said I hadn't lost any hearing. yet, but my hearing was significantly. not as good as hers. And I remember thinking, "Gosh, you know, this is but I didn't have any. idea that it was linked to Alzheimer's. at all.". So, now I've turned down the volume for. the first time in my life because I. think your hearing declines regardless. really of what you do with age anyway. Um but as you said earlier, like. starting from a better baseline when. you're talking about the brain reserves. is really the game, I think with aging.

My last point is a. My last question is a bit of a. seems to be uncorrelated, but the world. is heading towards a world that's driven. by artificial intelligence. It's like. all the all the rage at the moment if. you log on the internet. People talking. about they're going to lose their jobs, all of these new tools that allow us to. optimize our lives in a variety of. different ways. When you think about the. world of AI that we're heading into, there's so many ways that I I imagine. it's going to make your job easier as.

someone who's doing scans of brains and. so on. But do you think artificial intelligence. is going to be good or bad for our. brains? I think in the short run it's going to. be bad because. your brain is going to do less. And. that's bad for the brain. I I think it's. fascinating to watch what's going to. happen. And ultimately, in the words of. my friend Byron Katie, "Argue with.

reality, welcome to hell.". We need to figure out how to use it to. enhance our lives rather than to steal. brain development. >> Here's the first most replayed moment. There was a study done in 2007 that. showed curc- I can't even say it. Curcumin. That shows curcumin upregulates anti-. oxidant defenses and downregulates. oxidative stress.

>> Yeah. >> There was a study done in 2016, which is. a meta-analysis of random controlled. trials, found curcumin comparable to. ibuprofen in terms of pain relief. >> Yeah, there's a lot of work on. curcumin and turmeric. As I say, a lot. of people get confused because they. think they it only works if you absorb. it into the blood. And I'm saying that. actually you don't. What you do is you. work with the microbiome to make it. useful. >> And there's early preclinical studies. taking place around the impact it can.

have with cancers. And there's promising. but early studies showing the impact. that curcumin, that comes from turmeric, can have on brain health. >> Yes, well, that's the. focus is switching on to the blood. supply to the brain. What we call the. vascular effects. on the brain. And there's something that. we used to call the blood-brain barrier, which you've probably heard of, which is. seen to be the place where. the barrier that stops a lot of stuff. entering the brain and potentially.

upsetting it. We now know this. blood-brain barrier is a very dynamic, interesting interface between the. brain's tissue and the rest of us is now. called the neurovascular unit, NVU, and it is so exciting. And the more we look at it. so far, the more we find that the things. that help the neurovascular unit, the. blood-brain barrier, are plants. And we have green tea and you know, we.

can. if you really want to. help. um. uh brain health, regular drinking of. green tea, you know, it it's been shown to be really useful. Not that rather than the supplement, by. the way. It's the drink that you have. Um. >> [clears throat]. >> let's I'll probably put it in here. Right, so we can make it. >> So, as you make that, can you explain to. me why green tea is a good idea?

>> Because it contains a number of, again, polyphenols. >> And polyphenols are those. >> are these colors. >> These colors, yeah. >> And this case it's green, obviously. And. remember, green tea is just the smoked, unprocessed part of the tea leaf. It's a. it's a plant called camellia. sinensis. Um. So, this is a nice Japanese teapot. That's the sort of thing you'd have. green tea in. And these are the mugs, but we've filled these up already with.

uh ginger and cinnamon. So, let's leave. it even for a moment, but what we can. while it's sitting there for a while, there are a number of these polyphenols. in green tea that seem to be. particularly. effective in modulating that barrier. that we talked about, the neurovascular. unit between the brain and the rest of. us. And um. uh there's all sorts of reasons why. regular consumption of green tea seems. to be linked to less of this sort of. trouble.

>> What what sort of trouble? >> The the mentioned type problems, cognitive decline as you get older. >> Do they find that in cultures where they. drink a lot of green tea, they have less. dementia? >> Yeah, but that doesn't mean there's a. cause and effect. So, you need a few. other things to establish that. What we're finding is that other plants. have very likely powerful effects in. this area, and I mentioned the rosemary. Now, all you need to do to. appreciate rosemary is to press it and. sniff. >> Oh, smells so good.

Hm, really nice. >> That's not just nice, because what. you're doing there is you're inhaling. volatile oils, >> Hm. >> the things that give the smell. And when you're inhaling, they're literally going into your brain, because. part of the brain actually reaches the. outside world. It's called the olfactory. lobe. And when you inhale something, it. literally moves into the brain. And from there into the limbic system. Remember, there's a line in Shakespeare,

they call Hamlet, Ophelia, the young lady says, "Rosemary, that's for remembrance.". >> Hm. >> Because everyone knew that this improved. cognitive functions. And when I was in. working on our campus in Maryland, we. actually did a clinical trial with. rosemary in people with struggling with. their crosswords, you know, as they get. older, and found that although it wasn't. a conclusive study, there were pointers. to it improving cognitive performance in. those people. And there's been other.

studies since that. that reinforce that. I would say that. rosemary is one of the ones to watch in. terms of long-term brain health. There's another remedy called ginkgo. that a lot of people know about, which. they used as a prescription medicine in. Europe uh for cardiovascular problems, and that's been shown to be likely. useful and using the same sort of. mechanisms as as we've seen here. and with the green tea. I'll just check it here. Yeah, that.

looks all right. You see it's more yellow than green. But. uh. And uh this is flavored with a little. bit of mint to make it a little more. agreeable. Sometimes people find green. tea is not their favorite taste. >> Green tea is rich in polyphenols um. which are linked to benefits ranging. from heart and brain health to fat loss. and cancer prevention.

>> It's got a nice minty flavor. >> Yeah. >> You could live with that, couldn't you? >> Yeah. Yeah. My girlfriend now again she. she's all over this stuff. She's always. bloody right. >> Well, you know that or learn that lesson. a long time ago. >> I know, right? Like I say it all the. time on this podcast, but she's always. like 2 3 years ahead of what then. someone really really smart comes and. tells me. And I spend those 2 or 3 years. in denial. I'm like, "What the is. she like. over there?" Don't get me started on. cacao. If you start talking to me about. cacao. >> No, no, no, no, no. >> She's been telling me this. >> I'm going to nail this because there's a.

lot of people listening who will want to. hear this. Cocoa. >> Yeah. >> chocolate, dark chocolate is a medicine. End of. It's one of the best medicines. around. It's 50 g 100 g of 75% or more. dark chocolate. >> Do you know what? I've just realized my. girlfriend she's going to live till. she's 150 because she she eats. 90% or something 80%. dark chocolate.

She drinks green tea all day. She has. the ginger and cinnamon drinks all day. She eats the the full rainbow. >> She should be sipping it for you. >> I know. I I know. Exactly. >> No, uh cocoa. s- seriously. brain health as well, cardiovascular. [clears throat] health. I mean, they just they do studies where. they've put cocoa into. volunteers, that means students usually, you know, so young kids, and they were.

able to show changes in the blood flow. within minutes. Certainly within an hour of eating. cocoa. Beneficial changes in your blood flow. >> They call it the heart medicine. >> Yeah. No, it's heart, circulation, brain. >> Every So, she's um my girlfriend's very. spiritual. She runs a business called. Bali Breathwork. Um. hashtag I have to I have to say that. But in her business, one of the things. she does at the very start of the. session with women all over the world. that come to her retreats, is she makes.

cacao for them. And. you notice instantly how people change. when they've had a hot cup of cacao. It's And And she says it like almost. brings out their heart. And I guess that's because of the. circulation reasons. It's. >> It is, but it's also, of course, we know. it contains a few other. beneficial stimulate stimulating things. that sort of similar. to the effects of a coffee, which in. certainly as I've already said is a. medicine as well. But cocoa and chocolate does have a.

uplifting effect, which is why we love. it so. >> And we have to be clear here. We're not. talking about hot chocolate that comes. from a packet or something necessarily. >> We would like it to be as dark as. possible. >> Okay. So. >> The less sugar, the less fat. So, we talk about 75% cocoa solids. You. know, so it's dark chocolate. And it tastes a bit more medicinal, doesn't it? It's not as sweet. But I'm saying to many of my patients, take 50 g a day as a medicine.

>> Hm. Damn. She's right. My fridge is full of dark. chocolate. I tend to avoid it, but the. drawer of my fridge has all of her dark. chocolate in it, and it's She She likes. 90%. If she can get a 90%, she'll take. it. >> Yeah, 90% is There's quite a bit in. there. Yeah. Yeah. >> I'm having a look at the. green tea. There was a study done in 2008 which. supports. how it improved cognitive function, memory, attention, accuracy, and.

>> [clears throat]. >> long-term consumption is is associated. with lower risk of cognitive decline and. Alzheimer's disease according to the. Journal of Nutritional Biochemistry in. 2011. >> I just have somebody else just say what. you said. >> Yeah, but it's it's exactly. I didn't realize I didn't I had no idea. I had no idea. All those times I turned it down when. she offered it to me. >> Mhm. Can't say sorry. >> I've literally literally I've got to. Wow, heart health, brain function,

fat burning and metabolism, cancer. prevention early evidence, blood sugar. and insulin sensitivity, gut and oral. health. >> [music]. >> If there's anything we need, it is. connection, especially in the world. we're living in today. And that is. exactly why we created these. conversation cards because on this show. when I sit here with my guest and have. those deep intimate conversations, this. remarkable thing happens time and time. again. We feel deeply connected to each. other. At the end of every episode, the.

guest I'm interviewing leaves a question. for the next guest and we've turned them. into these conversation cards. And we've. added these twist cards to make your. conversations even more interesting. And. there are so many more twists along the. way with the conversation cards. This is. the brand new edition and for the first. time ever I've added to the pack this. gold card which is an exclusive question. from me. But I'm only putting the gold. cards in the first run of conversation. cards. So get yours now before the. limited edition gold cards are all gone.

Head to the link in the description. below. >> [music]. >> Ooh. Ooh.