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How To Use The Wonderful World Of Self-Quantification To Take Your Health Into Your Own Hands (& The 11 Best Blood Tests To Get).

How To Use The Wonderful World Of Self-Quantification To Take Your Health Into Your Own Hands (& The 11 Best Blood Tests To Get).

Episode 1049 Published 6 years, 10 months ago
Description

I recently had the pleasure to speak at the fabulous and intriguing "Kentucky Castle", a unique destination hotspot with a full biohacking facility, sauna, farm-to-table restaurant, precision medicine arm, hemp farm, horse facilities and much more. The castle is owned by one of the physicians who hosts the "Wild Health" podcast, on which I was recently a guest. 

This is part one of a two part series that addresses the oft-confusing world of "taking your health into your own hands" via genetic testing, blood and biomarker tracking, sleep measurements and other forms of self-quantification. In part two, you'll get to sit in on a very interesting post-talk Q&A with myself and several of the physicians in attendance at the conference. Enjoy!

**Editor's Note: Forgive the extraneous background noises. All effort was made to ensure the clearest possible sound in spite of it :)

In this episode, you'll discover... -Ben's history as a bodybuilder, triathlete and his transition to his current message...9:00
  • Bodybuilding is a bit of a biohacking sport
  • Ben began to take lab tests and was shocked at the results
    • Pre-type 2 diabetes; inflammation
    • Healthy on the outside but dying on the inside
    • Inspired his first book Beyond Training
    • Doesn't work primarily with athletes anymore; mainly people who want to feel good and live a long time
-Some guidelines when examining your lab results...16:15
  • Lab results indicate an absence of disease, not necessarily one's potential for health and longevity
The 11 Blood Biomarkers  -RBC (red blood cell) Magnesium...26:10 -Estradiol...29:23
  • Men need to be concerned with estrogen, not just women
  • Dutch Test
-Testosterone...32:08
  • Women should be concerned, not just men
  • Hormones can be bound up by proteins
  • You want 2% of your testosterone to be free
-High Sensitivity C-Reactive Protein (hsCRP)...40:22
  • Link between inflammation and heart attack risk
  • Numbers will vary depending on your workout regimen
-Triglyceride HGL Ratio...43:25
  • Is more important in determining your risk for C/V disease than total cholesterol or LDL cholesterol
  • HGL to total cholesterol level: lower is better
-Full lipid panel, and an Omega 3 index...48:15
  • Tells you the size of your cholesterol particles
  • You want the particles to be "large and fluffy"; count should be low
  • You want the Omega 3 index to be higher
  • Highest risk zone (4% and below) = 90% chance of C/V disease
-Insulin-like growth factor (IGF-1)...52:10
  • Good for getting bulked up; not so much for longevity
  • View life as a set of press/pull cycles
  • You want to live long, and live an enjoyable life too
    • Work hard, eat red meat one day; fast and yoga the next
  • Sweet spot: 80-150
-Insulin...54:37