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Context to the 6 f's
For 199,700 Years, things have been pretty consistent for homo sapiens
Our bodies are designed and operate based on the food and stressors we consistently received for hundreds of thousands years.
The last 300 years though we have seen exponential change & growth
Recent technological changes over the past 300 years have allowed humans to scale dramatically (you can see it by looking at the explosive world population growth in the chart on the next page). In doing so, we have created some amazing opportunities to dramatically increase health span, but only if you actively leverage the latest scientific break throughs in a good way and limit the longer-term toxicity and dangers of our hyper industrialized society.
As a result of such stressors, Americans now spend on average $8300 on healthcare per year (versus $2200 on food). All of these toxins and stressors have created chronic diseases and instead of addressing the underlying issues, we typically just address the symptoms through pills. Alternatively, the Japanese well live five years longer than an American and they only spend on average $3300 on healthcare a year bit sorry fifty percent more on healthier/unprocessed ($3200 a year).. Given these new stressors and dynamics, it’s critical to be aware of things you can do (or NOT do) to improve the health of your body / environment.
One challenge though is that everyone is different so some of these action ideas will work for some people (but not all). The exciting thing is that there are now many trackers and metrics that you can use to measure the impact of your behavioral modifications.
1. F(p)hysicality
For the last 200,000 years:
We had lots of physical activity
Recently
We just sit at a desk
Impact
Overweight, sedentary, unpliable
ACTION IDEAS
- It's all about intensity over duration
- Strength training: ARX Machine (body by science protocol)
- Cardio: it’s all about sprints. See One Minute Workouts for protocols.
- Pliability is also key. Tom Brady swears by it. The best sources are Yoga & Melt Method
- Apps: HIIT and Yoga
- In addition, for the last thirty seconds of my shower I make it freezing. Better than a cup of coffee and builds resilience
Measuring Success
Polar Vantage watches track cardio and strength strain and training levels
2. Fear (stress)
For the last 200,000 years:
Our body was designed to be afraid of things like tigers
Recently
Now our body reacts to a stressful email the same way as a real threat
Impact
Our bodies are aging more rapidly because of chronic stress and fear
ACTION IDEAS
Meditation is great ( The biggest challenge with meditation is knowing if you’re doing it right):
- Headspace
- 10% happier app
- TM (transcendental meditation)
- Breathing app
- Muse & HeartMath Inner Balance Sensor to track efficacy of meditation.
Measuring Success
The Oura tracks heart rate & HRV (which are the gold standard metrics for stress and recovery)
3. Food
For the last 200,000 years:
We ate seasonal, diverse, mostly plant foods and had a healthy gut biome
Recently
Now we eat way more corn fed protein, fructose, sugar, artificial sweeteners, grains, GMOs, dairy & engineered foods which our bodies can’t process efficiently & over use antibiotics and pesticides
Industrialization of the food supply and over farming has decreased soil and vegetable nutrients
Impact
- Diabetes, obesity, Auto immune issues, over weight, and chronic illness.
- Unhealthy gut biome and depleted vitamin d
- Addicted to sugar
- Even the food that we do eat has less nutrients and vitamins than we had historically
- Micro nutrient deficiency
ACTION IDEAS
- Eating organic, diverse, real foods is key (and only a palm sized amount of organic & grass fed or wild protein)
- Also, most people’s bodies are not designed for inflammatory lectins (eg gluten), corn, artificial sweeteners, sugar and dairy
- Depending on your DNA and biome make up, you’ll react differently to diets and protocols
- Also given the industrialization of the food industry, we aren’t getting the same level of micro nutrients than we used to.
- I haven’t use Baze but I like their concept of supplements for what you need
Measuring Success
I like Digbi Health to see what foods I need more/less of. Check out their sample personal nutritional plan
4. fasting
For the last 200,000 years:
We would kill and feast on a mastodon and then not eat for a while
We also ate only organic, real foods
Recently
Now we eat every few hours and don’t give our mitochondria a break and fuel ourselves with bad food
Impact
Our body is over stressed and needs like how a computer needs p a reboot every once and a while by not eating. Plus the bad food fuel we are consuming is causing inflammation and aging
ACTION IDEAS
- Giving your body a time to relax / digest is really important
- Time Restricted Eating (minimum 12 hours ideally six hours) is key
- Seasonal fasts (I do five days a quarter) is helpful
- If a longer fast is intimidating, you can try “fasting in a box” Prolon
- Fasting though always seemed really difficult. The key is to become metabolically flexible to not just burn carbs (but to also utilize fat through process of ketosis for energy)
- The body is not designed to always be using carbs as a fuel source
Measuring Success
To do so, I follow the following fasting recipe:
*drink half your body weight in OZ in water with electrolytes & magnesium
*plus I put MCT OIL powder in black coffee or tea Or caffeine free fake coffee
Here is an ios app to help with fasting
5. Friends
For the last 200,000 years:
We lived with a tribe and took care of each other in person
Recently
Now we are isolated and mostly connect digitally
Impact
More social media equals more depression & unhappiness
ACTION IDEAS
- Living long and health really depends on having community / relationships that matter
- Married people live way longer than single people for this reason
Measuring Success
Every day I try to be grateful for friends, family and the little things in life (which inspires me to be a better person) through 5 minute journal
6. Fullness of Sleep
For the last 200,000 years:
Pre Edison & electricity we used to sleep 9 hours a day
Recently
Now, we sleep closer to seven and have constant exposure to blue light
Impact
Increased weight from hormone imbalances, higher stress, poor sleep quality
ACTION IDEAS
- Black out curtains in bedroom
- Blue light blockers in evening
(hardcore ones) (regular looking) - https://sleep.me/product/cube-sleep-system" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Chili Pad (Or ooler is the next gen
version) - Magnesium Spray
- Don’t eat/drink 3 hours before bed
(this is really hard for me) - Wake up at the same time every day
(even on weekends) - Glycine, gaba, and magnesium
- Stop utilizing your phone, iPad or Kindle an hour before bed...it decreases your natural melatonin production and makes your mind active
- Sonic sleep Pink noise app (helps promote deep sleep and Auto adjusts based extension nose)
- Ear plugs have also helped adjust to unwanted sounds
- Crack JetLag through the TimeShifter App (Requires Melatonin, Caffeine & Light)