Being "outdoorsy" can stir up images of big beautiful national parks, snowy slopes or lush, green forests. But smaller moments in nature, like walking my dog around the neighbourhood or even listening to rain sounds playlist while falling asleep, have been just as valuable — and don't require the time, money or physical mobility of a big trip.Nature has enormous emotional and cognitive benefits on people "including improved attention, lower stress, better mood, reduced risk of psychiatric disorders and even upticks in empathy and cooperation.

Going Out In Nature Is Great

<ul><li>Getting your daily dose of nature is vital to your well-being.</li><li>Getting your daily dose of nature is vital to your well-being, says Ming Kuo, who runs the Landscape and Human Health Lab at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.</li><li>Nature helps our mental muscles relax and recover, and our immune systems need it, too.</li></ul>

Think of Time in Nature As A "Multivitamin" — It's Best to Take It Every Day

<ul><li>Find a crew who enjoys the same activities you do. This helps you stay safe in more remote areas. There are numerous online events and groups to check and start your hiking trips with like-minded people.</li><li>You don't have to be outdoors to experience nature's wonder.</li><li>Enjoy natural scents with an aromatherapy diffuser or open a window to get some fresh air. Enjoy a game like #FindThatLizard on Twitter and Instagram to see a camouflaged lizard in its natural environment.</li></ul>

How To Start

Enjoying the outdoors can look like anything from walking the dog to celebrating Indigenous culture — you don't have to hike the tallest mountain peaks or go camping to love nature. Learn how to find your footing in nature in a way that works best for you.

mindfulness

Mindfulness

health

Health

exerciseandfitness

Exercise & Fitness

There's no one way to enjoy nature. How to find what works for you and get outside : Life Kit

People have been practising mindfulness for thousands of years. Mindfulness was popularised in the East by religious and spiritual institutions. The popularity of mindfulness in the West is rooted in Buddhist and Hindu traditions and can be traced to particular people and secular institutions.

The History of Mindfulness

Hinduism is widely considered to be the oldest religion in the world. It initially arose as a synthesis of many religious traditions around the historical region that now makes up India. Then, in the 1800s, British writers started calling Vedic traditions Hinduism. The earliest traditions, which have since been incorporated into Hinduism, arose more than 4,000 years ago in the Indus Valley- now Pakistan. These religious traditions continued to develop in Vedic writings 2,500-3,500 years ago, including rituals and the worship of gods common to modern-day Hinduism.

A Brief History of Hinduism

Buddhism was founded around 400-500 B.C.E. by Siddhartha Gautama, who became referred to as the Buddha. Since the Buddha's lifetime, it has split into several different traditions, including Theravada Buddhism and Zen Buddhism. Buddhism and Hinduism share many commonalities. One is they're both concerned with the concept of dharma - a way of life that is in harmony with the universe's natural order. Mindfulness (Sati) is considered to be the first step towards enlightenment.

A Short History of Buddhism

Some mindfulness meditation practices, such as the body scan, are very similar to yoga as they both involve awareness of one’s body. The origin of yoga coincides with the origin of Hinduism, and the recent rise of yoga’s popularity in the West coincides with the rise of mindfulness. This underscores the intertwined nature of Buddhism, Hinduism, mindfulness, and yoga.

How Mindfulness Relates to Yoga

Jon Kabat-Zinn was the biggest influence on bringing mindfulness from the East to the West. Kabat-Zinn founded the Center for Mindfulness at the University of Massachusetts Medical School and the Oasis Institute for Mindfulness-Based Professional Education and Training. Here, he developed his Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) program. Kabat-Zinn learned about and studied mindfulness under several Buddhist teachers, including Thich Nhat Hanh, which gave him an Eastern foundation in mindfulness that he integrated with Western science.

How Mindfulness Moved From East to West

Mindfulness plays an important role in the greater field of psychology and positive psychology. Mindfulness has become a tool for any practitioner’s toolbox. Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) and Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) are used to treat a variety of patients. Mindfulness meditation is also used to increase an individual's level of well-being.

Mindfulness’ Role in (Positive) Psychology

<ul><li>Mindfulness could be a yoga practice that involves mindfulness</li><li>It might involve setting aside time for mindfulness meditation sessions</li><li>It could involve practising mindfulness during everyday activities, such as washing dishes.</li></ul> Very few mindfulness traditions are based on restricting their teachings to an exclusive group. Therefore the versatility of mindfulness is the key part of the philosophy of mindfulness, whether it is practised religiously or in a secular matter.

Mindfulness Practice and Philosophy

Mindfulness' roots reach deep into Buddhism, religion, psychology, and philosophy. Here you'll find a complete history of mindfulness.

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Philosophy

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Religion & Spirituality

meditation

Meditation

History of Mindfulness: From East to West and Religion to Science

A slimmer physique, improved cardiovascular health, maybe even the ability to turn heads in that bathing suit you’ve been dying to get into?But have you thought about what exercise is doing for your brain?Numerous studies have proven that exercise, particularly the kind that gets your heart pumping, has a whole host of positive effects on the brain, even to the point of enhancing its structure. Here are just five of the ways exercise improves your already miraculous brain.

When you think of exercising more, what trade-offs come to mind?

Exercise stimulates a rich concoction of feel-good chemicals in the brain, including dopamine, serotonin, endocannabinoids, and norepinephrine, according to the American Psychological Association (apa.org), each of which has different roles in managing stress, enhancing feelings of wellbeing, and promoting an active interest in life. If that wasn’t enough, exercise increases the number of dopamine receptors in the brain, meaning not only is your brain producing more of these happy chemicals, but it’s also better at enjoying them.

Exercise Turns Your Brain into a Pleasure Powerhouse

According to the Greater Good Science Center (greatergood.berkeley.edu), exercise is so good at delivering pleasure to the brain that it’s successfully used to help patients suffering from the ravaging aftereffects of drug abuse. Additionally, it’s estimated that we all lose approximately 13 percent of our dopamine receptors each decade, says Greater Good, causing us to experience diminishing pleasure in everyday life as we age. Exercise can reverse this.

Harvard Health Publishing (health.harvard.edu) reports that exercise sparks neurogenesis, or the formation of new neurons, in the brain. We’re all born with approximately 100 billion neurons in the brain, which regenerate at a fast rate in our childhoods but slow as we mature. It was once thought that this eventually stopped completely, but it’s since been proven that neurogenesis can last a lifetime.

Exercise Stimulates Neurogenesis

In a study conducted at Massachusetts General Hospital (massgeneral.org), doctors experimented with lab rats to see if medicine could ignite neurogenesis. While it could, the neurons died before they had any potential. But when the rats were put through courses of exercises, not only did neurogenesis take place, the neurons were healthy and strong enough to last.

Speaking of neurogenesis, the hippocampus is one area of the brain that continues to create new neurons throughout our lifetimes, says the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (cdc.gov). The hippocampus is integral to learning and memory formation. Multiple studies have shown that adults who exercise perform better on memory, learning, and decision-making tasks than their counterparts who don’t exercise.

Exercise Improves Memory and Learning

Exercise is one of the leading forms of therapy for people suffering from age-related dementia and Alzheimer’s, says the APA, because of its documented boost to memory function. In fact, studies have shown that the hippocampus can increase in volume by 1 percent after a year of regular exercise.

The cerebral cortex is the outer covering of the largest part of the brain, the cerebrum. The cerebral cortex is associated with high-level, conscious thought patterns, including emotion, evaluation, reasoning, and language. And according to Johns Hopkins Medicine (hopkinsmedicine.org), exercise can thicken the cerebral cortex.

Exercise Increases the Thickness of the Cerebral Cortex

Researchers speculate that some of the reason for this is that exercise, particularly aerobic, involves continually making split-second decisions. If you’re running, you’re always managing your environment so you don’t twist your ankle or tangle with a car. If you’re at the gym, you’re keeping your balance and monitoring your levels of exhaustion and thirst. In other words, your mind is working just as hard as your body is and the result is a thicker, stronger cerebral cortex.

Neuroplasticity is a big word to describe how adaptable the brain is. From birth, the brain is malleable, says Scientific American (scientificamerican.com), able to change both physically and functionally in response to events like learning, new environments, injury, and disease. The greater its neuroplasticity, the better the brain can adjust to life events, from acquiring new job skills to relearning how to walk after an accident.

Exercise Improves Neuroplasticity

Even just one workout session can elevate your brain’s neuroplasticity, according to PsyPost (psypost.org). The reasons are currently believed to be because exercise encourages the growth of new neural connections in the brain, and that exercise has a suppressant effect on gamma-Aminobutyric acid, or GABA, which inhibits certain types of neurotransmitters.

The CDC recommends getting 150 minutes of moderate exercise per week, or 75 minutes of intense exercise, or a combination of both. This should be spread out evenly over the course of the week. Talk with your doctor first to eliminate any concerns and to help create a plan that works best for you.

Ready to jump into an exercise program

This would tell you the correlation of mental and physical well-being.

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Personal Development

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Science & Nature

5 Incredible Ways Exercise Improves Brain Function

A habit is a routine of behavior that is repeated regularly and tends to occur subconsciously.

What is a habit?

Habits actually give results. If you have a habit of cleaning your teeth after every meal then surely you will have clean teeth.

Why should you build habits?

Start doing a task consistently and remember to start small. Then your brain will slowly subconsciously perform that activity.

How to build habits?

That's the simple no bullshit way to build habits.If you want to learn more then check out this website. It actually has some good information for you!<a href="https://selfdevelopmentfreak.blogspot.com/2022/04/the-best-way-to-start-building-habits.html">How to build habits</a>

That's it!

It's important for you to learn how to build habits because habits create results 

timemanagement

Time Management

The best way to start building habits

Research suggests four leading indicators that together assess our fitness:
<ol>
<li>aerobic health</li>
<li>muscular strength and endurance</li>
<li>flexibility</li>
<li>body composition</li>
</ol>
Being skinny is not the same as being healthy. A 2008 study suggests you can be fat and fit and thin and unhealthy. A 2015 report indicates that many people with a seemingly normal BMI (body mass index) have a significantly higher risk of metabolic problems and death.

Your Level of Fitness

First, find your resting heart rate. The typical healthy adult's resting heart rate should be between 60 and 100 beats per minute. Then test your heart rate while doing aerobic activity. The numbers are different depending on your age. For example, a 25-year-old's target heart rate falls between 98 and 16, while a 55 year old's should be between 83 and 140.

Aerobic Health

There are two types of muscular fitness assessments:<ol><li>Muscular-endurance tests assess the ability to resist fatigue.</li><li>Muscular-strength tests assess the maximum amount of force an individual can produce in a specified number of repetitions.</li></ol> Test your muscular endurance with a push-up and sit-up test.<ul><li>Count how many push-ups you can do. Your chin should touch the floor. A 35-year-old woman should be able to do 19 push-ups without stopping or 30 sit-ups (or crunches).</li><li>For muscular strength, a personal trainer can help to assess your muscle strength.</li></ul>

Muscular Strength and Endurance

Flexibility demonstrates an individual’s overall health profile because it tells the story of joint, muscle and tissue health. Regular stretching can help lessen the natural decrease in flexibility. Check how flexible you are: Sit down with your legs out; line up the bottom of your feet with the 15-inch line on the yardstick. Then, reach forward three times for at least one second and record your farthest distance. A 65-plus should be able to reach from the 17.5- to 15.5-inch mark. A 25-year-old should reach the 19.5- to 21.5-mark.

Flexibility

Measure your waist just above the hipbones. According to the Mayo Clinic, women with a waist circumference of 35 inches or more and men with waist circumferences of 40 inches or greater are at greater risk of heart disease and diabetes. Another way is to use a BMI calculator that uses your gender, age, height and weight and the circumference of your waist. A healthy BMI is between 18.5 and 24.9.

Body Composition

A proper fitness assessment considers aerobic health, muscular strength and endurance, flexibility, and body composition. Here's how to test these variables in yourself.

Health Is Not Defined by Fat and Skinny. Test These Metrics Instead.

It's important for a bunch of reasons. It jump-starts your metabolism and stops you from overeating later. Plus, studies show that adults who have a healthy breakfast do better at work, and kids who eat a morning meal score higher on tests. If a big plateful first thing isn't for you, keep it light with a granola bar or a piece of fruit. Just don't skip it.

Have Breakfast

It'll help you save time and money in the long run. Block out some time, then sit down and consider your goals and needs. Do you want to lose weight? Cut back on sugar, fat, or carbs? Add protein or vitamins? Meal prep keeps you in control. You know what you're eating and when. A bonus: It'll be that much easier to skip those doughnuts in the breakroom at work.

Plan Your Meals

It can do so many good things for you. Staying hydrated is at the top of the list, but it may also help you lose weight. Another reason to go for H2O? Sugary drinks are linked to obesity and type 2 diabetes. If you aren't a fan of plain water, add flavor with slices of orange, lemon, lime, watermelon, or cucumber.

Drink Plenty of Water

Don't just grab another cup of coffee -- get up and move. Do some deep lunges or stretches. It's great for your body and mind. Just 30 minutes of walking five times a week may help keep the blues at bay. And if you can't do those minutes all at once, short bursts help, too.

Take an Exercise Break

New skills help keep your brain healthy. Sign up for a dance class or a creative writing workshop. Better yet, master a new language. The mental work it takes can slow the signs of aging and may even delay the effects of Alzheimer's disease.

Learn Something New

Super-healthy people know that simple steps are all it takes to stay that way. Make their habits yours -- start today! This WebMD slideshow will let you in on their secrets.

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Food

habits

Habits

12 Habits of Super-Healthy People

Iñigo San-Millán, Ph.D. (@doctorinigo) is an internationally renowned applied physiologist. His research and clinical work focus on exercise-related metabolism, metabolic health, diabetes, cancer metabolism, nutrition, sports performance, and critical care  Iñigo San-Millán returns to The Drive to take a deep dive into Zone 2 training. He and Peter Attia breakdown metrics and levers of elite athletes, how to assess Zone 2 threshold, training levels for optimal health, and touch on learnings gathered from studying the mitochondria of long COVID patients in the ICU.

Podcast Introduction

<ul><li>Tadej Pogačar’s unique characteristics: can sustain high amounts of power output over long periods of time, recovers well, highly trainable.</li><li>Functional threshold power (FTP), lactate measurements, and watts per kilo predict performance – you really know where you stand before the race.</li><li>The Tour de France is won and lost in minutes when your ability to put out power really sets you apart.</li><li>Algorithms and metrics that work with the general population don’t always translate as well into professional athletes because they can mentally ignore a lot more.</li></ul>

Insights From Work With Tour de France Winner Tadej Pogačar

<ul><li>The sport of cycling has changed over time: watts and power output have decreased from the era drug use were rampant.</li><li>It’s feasible that the future of cycling will include real-time physiology & output metrics of riders.</li><li>Tour de France racers like Tadej spend 70-80% of the time in zone 2 training during winter months and increase intensity as the race nears.</li><li>Each energy system has a time in the calendar to achieve the desired output.</li></ul>

The Sport Of Cycling

<ul><li>Zone 2: the exercise intensity at which you are stressing mitochondria and oxidative capacity the most.</li><li>Tenants of zone 2 training: recruits mainly type I muscle fibers, mobilizes the highest amount of fat oxidation, and stimulates bioenergetics (fat & glucose in mitochondria).</li><li>Lactate is the preferred fuel for most cells in the body.</li><li>Lactate is oxidized in the mitochondria back to energy.</li><li>The purest way to estimate zone 2 training is indirect telemetry which will give us information about fat oxidation.</li></ul>

Zone 2 Training

<ul><li>Hook the device up to yourself then ride a bike or machine and gradually increase the intensity, measuring VO2 and VCO2</li><li>Consumption of oxygen production of carbon dioxide – which tells us total energy consumption (in kcal per minute).</li><li>Ratio of VO2 and VCO2 tells us how much energy comes from fat oxidation and how much is glycolytic.</li><li>In a more glycolytic state of fatty oxidation state, you still consume oxygen but don’t produce as much CO2.</li></ul>

Indirect Telemetry

As exercise intensity increases, you need more oxygen so VO2 increases then you give off more CO2 – you are recruiting type II muscle fibres, using more glucose for energy, consuming more oxygen, and producing more CO2.Mitochondria oxidize fuels differently at different exercise intensities – an elite athlete can still recruit slow-twitch muscle fibres at high intensities and rely on fat to produce energy while the average person fully relies on glucose (instead of fat) to sustain the effort.

Increase In Exercise Intensity

<ul><li>The independent variable is workload (in watts); the dependent variable is blood lactate.</li><li>People with metabolic syndrome have high resting lactate (almost 2 mmol) – it’s possible that resting lactate will eventually be a tracked biomarker (the same way we use blood glucose).</li><li>Once lactate exceeds 2 mmol you are leaving zone 2 and entering zone 3.</li><li>A healthy person starts with a lactate of about 1 mmol; an elite athlete starts at lactate of about .5 mmol.</li><li>The fitter the individual, the higher the absolute capacity for fat oxidation.</li></ul>

Muscle Physiology, Lactate, & Fat Oxidation

The metabolic stress of an elite athlete is not the same as a recreational athlete or layperson at the same blood lactate – 2 mmol of stress in an elite athlete might be higher than 2 mmol of stress in the average person because of the intensity it takes the elite athlete to get to 2 mmol in the first place

Metabolic Stress

<ul><li>The lactate in the blood reflects mitochondrial oxidation: someone with high power output who needs a lot of glycolysis to produce energy will produce lactate.</li><li>Lactate is the byproduct of glycolysis – the higher the glycolysis, the higher the lactate.</li></ul>Two routes of lactate: <ol><li>From fast-twitch muscle fibres to slow-twitch muscle fibres; </li><li>Export to blood.</li></ol><ul><li>Every time you use glucose you produce pyruvate; every time that pyruvate will be reduced to lactate.</li><li>No matter how fit you are, at some point, you have to produce lactate.</li><li>When lactate can no longer be oxidized it’s transported to the blood.</li></ul>

Producing Lactate

<ul><li>A reasonable measure of how zone 2 should feel: you can carry out a full conversation, maybe not as comfortably as if you weren’t exercising, but still without much strain.</li><li>You want to know your actual maximum heart rate – zone 2 will be about 70-80% of your realized maximum heart rate.</li><li>Zone 2 will depend on fatigue as well – heart rate variability will be lower on days you are tired or didn’t sleep well.</li><li>Heart rate variability is actually a strong indicator of how hard you should push or back off exercise.</li></ul>

Identifying Your Zone 2 Level

<ul><li>Zone 2 really involves steady-state, sustained cardio.</li><li>If you only train once per week, you will deteriorate overtime – two days per week you might maintain what you have – three days or more, we see improvements.</li><li>Ideal parameters of zone 2: ideally train 1 hour-1.5 hours, 4x per week.</li><li>If it’s difficult to start out with one hour, start with less and work your way up.</li><li>If you look at the workload of an elite athlete, most sessions are of lower intensity – it’s not all about intensity and interval training.</li></ul>

Starting With Zone 2 Training

You can accomplish very important mitochondrial adaptations and very important metabolic adaptations by exercising for one hour…3-4 days per week.

<ul><li>Four pillars of fitness: (1) stability; (2) strength; (3) “low-end aerobic” or zone 2; (4) high intensity/anaerobic capacity.</li><li>VO2 max is highly correlated with longevity.</li><li>Longevity is also highly correlated with mitochondrial function and metabolic health.</li><li>High-intensity training is not sustainable over time, the same way extreme diets are not sustainable over time.</li><li>High intensity is critical for sustaining glycolytic capacity, especially as we age – but thankfully it can be improved in just a few months.</li></ul>

The Four Pillars Of Fitness

<ul><li>Some studies point to elevated lactate levels in patients on metformin</li><li>Metformin carries a lot of potential long term benefits but it’s difficult to parse out effects on mitochondrial function</li><li>NAD levels decrease with ageing, but many other metabolites are also downregulated with ageing</li><li>Taking NAD is not going to increase longevity, I don’t think so, that’s my opinion because longevity is not just one supplement or two or three or four or five, it’s a compendium.</li><li>NR &NMN are precursors to NAD – but we should be cautious when considering – a lot of fads come and go in longevity research</li></ul>

Supplements and Use Of Metformin

<ul><li>Patients with long COVID, even if previously healthy, end up looking mitochondrially like patients with type 2 diabetes in terms of fat oxidation and lactate production.</li><li>Metabolic test results of patients with long COVID often have normal pulmonary function tests and normal cardiac function – but they struggle to go up a flight of stairs at 50 years old.</li><li>It’s suspected that COVID produces a global insult to mitochondria (maybe in skeletal muscle) and leads to severe mitochondrial dysfunction, even one year later.</li></ul>

Patients With COVID in The Long Form

<ul><li>The brain dies if the liver can’t produce glucose continuously</li><li>Muscles deplete glycogen because of high utilization but the liver has plenty of glucose because of gluconeogenesis</li><li>It’s plausible that muscles eat themselves to feed themselves and the rest of the body – so getting some sort of load-bearing training (even moving extremities in bed) and supplementing with amino acids could improve outcomes</li><li>Two main parameters that are predictors of mortality in ICU: (1) high cortisol levels; (2) high lactate levels</li></ul>

ICU Patients: An Observation

You’d much rather err on the side of hyperglycemia than hypoglycemia under a period of stress

 View the Show Notes Page for This Episode  Become a Member to Receive Exclusive Content Episode Description: Iñigo San-Millán is an internationally renowned applied physiologist and a previous guest on The Drive. His research and clinical work focuses on exercise-related metabolism, metabolic health, diabetes, cancer metabolism, nutrition, sports performance, and critical care. In this episode, Iñigo describes how his work with Tour de France winner Tadej Pogačar has provided insights into the amazing potential of elite athletes from a performance and metabolic perspective. He speaks specifically about lactate levels, fat oxidation, how carbohydrates in food can affect our lactate and how equal lactate outputs between an athlete and a metabolically unhealthy individual can mean different things. Next, he discusses how Zone 2 training boosts mitochondrial function and impacts longevity. He explains the different metrics for assessing one’s Zone 2 threshold and describes the optimal dose, frequency, duration, and type of exercise for Zone 2. Additionally, he offers his thoughts on how to incorporate high intensity training (Zone 5) to optimize health, as well as the potential of metformin and NAD to boost mitochondrial health. Finally, he discusses insights he’s gathered from studying the mitochondria of long COVID patients in the ICU. We discuss:  The amazing potential of cyclist Tadej Pogačar [3:00]; Metrics for assessing athletic performance in cyclists and how that impacts race strategy [8:30]; The impact of performance-enhancing drugs and the potential for transparency into athletes’ data during competition [17:00]; Tadej Pogačar’s race strategy and mindset at the Tour de France [24:00]; Defining Zone 2, fat oxidation, and how they are measured [26:45]; Using fat and carbohydrate utilization to calculate mitochondrial function and metabolic flexibility [35:45]; Lactate levels and fat oxidation as it relates to Zone 2 exercise [40:00]; How moderately active individuals should train to improve metabolic function and maximize mitochondrial performance [51:45]; Bioenergetics of the cell and what is different in elite athletes [57:30]; How the level of carbohydrate in the diet affects fuel utilization and power output during exercise [1:08:30]; Glutamine as a source for making glycogen—insights from studying the altered metabolism of ICU patients [1:15:00]; How exercise mobilizes glucose transporters—an important factor in diabetic patients [1:21:00]; Metrics for finding Zone 2 threshold—lactate, heart rate, and more [1:25:00]; Optimal Zone 2 training: dose, frequency, duration, and type of exercise [1:41:15]; How to incorporate high intensity training (Zone 5) to increase VO2 max and optimize fitness [1:51:15]; Compounding benefits of Zone 2 exercise and how we can improve metabolic health into old age [2:01:45]; The effects of metformin, NAD, and supplements on mitochondrial function [2:05:15]; The role of lactate and exercise in cancer [2:13:30]; How assessing metabolic parameters in long COVID patients provides insights into this disease [2:19:00]; The advantages of using cellular surrogates of metabolism instead of VO2 max for prescribing exercise [2:25:45]; Metabolomics reveals how cellular metabolism is altered in sedentary individuals [2:33:45]; Cellular changes in the metabolism of people with diabetes and metabolic syndrome [2:39:15]; and More.   Sign Up to Receive Peter’s Weekly Newsletter Connect With Peter on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and YouTube

podcasts

Podcasts

 View the Show Notes Page for This Episode  Become a Member to Receive Exclusive Content Episode Description: Iñigo San-Millán is an internationally renowned applied physiologist and a previous guest on The Drive. His research and clinical work focuses on exercise-related metabolism, metabolic health, diabetes, cancer metabolism, nutrition, sports performance, and critical care. In this episode, Iñigo describes how his work with Tour de France winner Tadej Pogačar has provided insights into the amazing potential of elite athletes from a performance and metabolic perspective. He speaks specifically about lactate levels, fat oxidation, how carbohydrates in food can affect our lactate and how equal lactate outputs between an athlete and a metabolically unhealthy individual can mean different things. Next, he discusses how Zone 2 training boosts mitochondrial function and impacts longevity. He explains the different metrics for assessing one’s Zone 2 threshold and describes the optimal dose, frequency, duration, and type of exercise for Zone 2. Additionally, he offers his thoughts on how to incorporate high intensity training (Zone 5) to optimize health, as well as the potential of metformin and NAD to boost mitochondrial health. Finally, he discusses insights he’s gathered from studying the mitochondria of long COVID patients in the ICU. We discuss:  The amazing potential of cyclist Tadej Pogačar [3:00]; Metrics for assessing athletic performance in cyclists and how that impacts race strategy [8:30]; The impact of performance-enhancing drugs and the potential for transparency into athletes’ data during competition [17:00]; Tadej Pogačar’s race strategy and mindset at the Tour de France [24:00]; Defining Zone 2, fat oxidation, and how they are measured [26:45]; Using fat and carbohydrate utilization to calculate mitochondrial function and metabolic flexibility [35:45]; Lactate levels and fat oxidation as it relates to Zone 2 exercise [40:00]; How moderately active individuals should train to improve metabolic function and maximize mitochondrial performance [51:45]; Bioenergetics of the cell and what is different in elite athletes [57:30]; How the level of carbohydrate in the diet affects fuel utilization and power output during exercise [1:08:30]; Glutamine as a source for making glycogen—insights from studying the altered metabolism of ICU patients [1:15:00]; How exercise mobilizes glucose transporters—an important factor in diabetic patients [1:21:00]; Metrics for finding Zone 2 threshold—lactate, heart rate, and more [1:25:00]; Optimal Zone 2 training: dose, frequency, duration, and type of exercise [1:41:15]; How to incorporate high intensity training (Zone 5) to increase VO2 max and optimize fitness [1:51:15]; Compounding benefits of Zone 2 exercise and how we can improve metabolic health into old age [2:01:45]; The effects of metfo

Expert insight on health, performance, longevity, critical thinking, and pursuing excellence. Dr. Peter Attia (Stanford/Hopkins/NIH-trained MD) talks with leaders in their fields.

The Peter Attia Drive

#201 - Deep dive back into Zone 2 | Iñigo San-Millán, Ph.D. (Pt. 2)

"Being strong isn’t just about having power or move, it about one’s spirit."

Understand yourself and those around you.

psychology

Psychology

movies

Movies & Shows

Dopo una lunga, lunghissima attesa, arrivano finalmente ben quattrocento pagine di succose ed esclusive informazioni per tutti i fan del pirata dal cappello di paglia! Dopo il grande successo dei primi tre volumi (One Piece Red, One Piece Blue e One Piece Yellow), una nuova enciclopedia arricchirà la vostra conoscenza dell'epica serie creata da Eiichiro Oda, un vero e proprio forziere strabordante di notizie, approfondimenti e curiosità sulla saga di Rufy e della sua ciurma!

Eiichiro Oda

One piece green

Cholesterol is an organic molecule, required by all cell membranes to produce steroid hormones & bile acids.About 25% of our daily “intake” of cholesterol comes from what we eat (egg yolks, meat or cheese) & 75% is made by our body. So we make most of the cholesterol. If you have too much cholesterol in your blood, it can combine with other substances in the blood to form plaque. Plaque sticks to the walls of your arteries.

What Is Cholesterol

No. Cholesterol is absolutely vital for our existence. Cholesterol is one of the main building blocks used to make cell membranes and without we would be dead.There is no such thing as “bad” cholesterol or “good” cholesterol. All cholesterol is good!The only “bad” outcome is when cholesterol ends up inside of the wall of an artery leadimg to an inflammatory cascade which can lead to

Is Cholesterol Bad?

Cholesterol is hydrophobic, so it needs to be carried around our bloodstream using a protein transporting molecule.The protein wrapped “vehicle” that transports the lipids are called lipoproteins. The ratio of lipid-to-protein in the lipoprotein structure determines its density: <ol><li>HDL: high-density lipoprotein. Sometimes called "good" because it carries cholesterol from other parts of your body back to your liver, to be removed</li><li>LDL : low-density lipoprotein. Sometimes called "bad" as it leads to the buildup of plaque in your arteries</li><li>VLDL: very low-density lipoprotein, mainly carries triglycerides</li></ol>

Lipoproteins - How Does Cholesterol Move Around

LDL carries other molecules than cholesterol (LDL-C). These extra particles are called LDL-P. For example, triglycerides (TG) are also carried within LDL-particles. Studies have indicated that if there is discordance between LDL-C and LDL-P (one low, the other high), cardiovascular disease risk tracks more closely with LDL-P than LDL-C. So risk is high if there is a discordance and LDL-P are high. Because the particles are more to blame than the actual cholesterol.

LDL-C & LDL-P

Doctors focus on lowering LDL-C. Most will recommend eating less meat & dairy products or statins. However these interventions do little to lower LDL-P.Interventions that lower LDL-P more than LDL-C include omega-3 fatty acids, exercise and Mediterranean and low carbohydrate diets. Although statins lower LDL-P, it's not significant.Sugar seems to be the most harmful food category for LDL-P. Especially when sugar combines with fat.

Lowering LDL

As I look into lowering my cholesterol, I discovered I had no idea what this even mean .... 

Dr. Peter Attia Ultimate Guide on Cholesterol

"Every day invest more time and energy into good food, activity with friends, and quality sleep."

"One less hour of sleep does not equal more productivity or enjoyment."

"Every hour of sleep is a positive investment, not an expense."

<ul><li>Exercise isn’t about the total amount of sweat you produce each week, your body only cares about not being inactive for a long stretch of time. </li><li> If you sit for six hours a day, even working out for two hours afterward won’t reverse the health damage you’ve done.</li><li>Don’t sit for longer than an hour. Walk to the house five blocks away, take the stairs, not the elevator, and just get up a few times at work to move around.</li><li>Exercise alone is not enough. Working out three times a week is not enough. Being active throughout the day is what keeps you healthy.</li></ul>

Make Inactivity Your Enemy

The quality of what you eat matters far more than the overall quantity. The researchers discovered that the types of foods you consume influence your health more than your total caloric intake.

Quality Over Quantity

One less hour of sleep does not equal an extra hour of achievement or enjoyment. The exact opposite occurs. When you lose an hour of sleep, it decreases your well-being, productivity, health, and ability to think. Yet people continue to sacrifice sleep before all else.

Don't Sacrifice Sleep

<ul><li>Eating it releases dopamine, which gives you a “high” feeling and makes it addictive.</li><li>The more you eat, the more you want. You build a tolerance, meaning you have to eat more each time, in order to get that dopamine hit again.</li><li>Sugar is candy for cancer cells.</li><li>The average person consumes 150 lbs. of sugar annually.</li></ul>Treat sugar like it’s an illegal drug. Avoid added sugar wherever you can, don’t even buy unnecessary sweets and snacks, and use it very carefully when cooking.

Treat Sugar Like A Drug

<ul><li>Ask yourself if the next food you put in your mouth is a net gain or a net loss. Repeat throughout the day.</li><li>Eliminate an hour of chair time from your daily routine.</li><li>Gradually add sleep to your nightly schedule in 15-minute increments. Continue until you feel fully rested each morning.</li></ul>

Making Small Adjustments

Most people eat more carbohydrates than they need and not enough protein.<ul><li>Try to find foods that have a ratio of 1 gram of carbohydrates to 1 gram of protein.</li><li>At a minimum stay away from foods with a 5:1 ratio. Most chips are 10:1.</li></ul>

What Counts More Than Calories?

“Each ounce you consume is either a net positive or a net negative by the time it runs through your body. You don't get healthier by simply trying to eat better in general. You improve your health on a bite-by-bite basis.”

<ul><li>The total intake of fruits and vegetables is a robust indicator of your happiness.</li><li>Every time you go to the store, start by loading up on fruits and vegetables with dark vibrant colors.</li><li>When disruptions threaten your regular schedule, plan ahead to ensure you get a good night’s sleep.</li><li>As you make adjustments for better sleep, measure your progress. Note the time you get into bed and the time you wake up. Then rate your sleep quality on a 1-10 scale.</li></ul>

Staying Healthy

<ul><li>All carbohydrates convert to sugar in your bloodstream. The more refined they are the faster they convert.</li><li>Avoid processed and refined carbs as much as possible. Carbs stimulate dopamine in your brain.</li><li>Replace chips, crackers, and snack bars with nuts, seeds, apples, celery, and carrots.</li><li>Get a full hour of vigorous activity to burn calories all day long.</li></ul>

Refined Fuel

<ul><li>Make every meal last at least 20 minutes. Nothing good comes from eating fast.</li><li>Eating fast introduces extra air into your stomach.</li><li>Force yourself to put the fork down between bites.</li><li>Learn to enjoy the process of eating correctly.</li></ul>

The 20 Minute Meal Rule

<ul><li>When you are offered complimentary bread with a meal, ask for a healthy alternative or simply pass.</li><li>Eliminate one type of red or processed meat from your diet for good.</li><li>Butter is healthier than bread. A couple of pieces of bread can increase blood sugar as much as a candy bar.</li><li>Glycemic Index: Whole grain bread: 72, Mars candy bar: 69</li><li>Don’t eat your meat and potatoes.</li><li>Daily consumption of processed meat poses the highest risk.</li><li>Plate color can impact your appetite. Contrasting colors will make you tend to eat less.</li><li>Small plates; smaller waistline.</li></ul>

Food Combinations

Keep your bedroom two to four degrees cooler at night. See if it helps you fall asleep and stay asleep.If a room is too warm your body will think it is time to get up.

Keep Your Bedroom Cool

The most influential choices you make for your health occur at the grocery store.Once you put something in your cart, it is likely to end up in your stomach. Shop when you are full whenever practical.

Daily Choices

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