Jan. 21, 2025

How to Test if Health Trends Actually Work for You

How to Test if Health Trends Actually Work for You

Why does some health advice works great for others but fails miserably for you? In this conversation with Dr. Bobby Dubois, we dive into the science of personalized health and why the one-size-fits-all approach often leads to frustration and failure....

Why does some health advice works great for others but fails miserably for you?

In this conversation with Dr. Bobby Dubois, we dive into the science of personalized health and why the one-size-fits-all approach often leads to frustration and failure. Whether you're struggling with building healthy habits or tired of wasting money on trendy supplements that don't work, this episode reveals how to conduct your own health experiments and discover what truly works for YOUR body.

You'll learn the truth about cold plunging, sauna benefits, and supplement myths, plus discover your unique "health type" that could be the key to finally making lasting changes.

Don't miss Dr. Bobby's practical framework for testing health interventions that could revolutionize your wellness journey.

Topics Discussed:

  • The N of 1 approach to personalized health
  • Five different health types and how to identify yours
  • Scientific evidence behind cold plunging and sauna use
  • Truth about supplements and common health myths
  • Sleep optimization strategies
  • Combining health practices efficiently
  • Understanding placebo and nocebo effects
  • Evidence-based approach to wellness
  • Personal health experimentation methods
  • Importance of measuring results quantitatively

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Transcript
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Well, here we are.

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It's a new year and you have probably started the 400 things you're trying to change all
at once to finally get your life together, to finally get things right, finally start

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taking better care of yourself, only to realize probably in a few weeks that most of those
you're going to stop doing because you're burned out.

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And probably a lot of them were bad advice to begin Because there's no shortage of
complete bullshit when it comes to

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how to take better care of your health, whether it's your mental health, your physical
health, whatever it is you're trying to take care of.

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that's why today I've invited Dr.

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Bobby Du Bois from the live long and well with Dr.

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Bobby podcast to join us to talk about a lot of the myths that people are believing and
trying to implement in their lives that are ultimately not going to pay off in the way

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they hope they are.

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As both a physician and an endurance athlete, he brings a unique perspective on how to
test and validate health practices using simple, scientific methods that anyone can

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follow, even a dummy like me.

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So when we're done here, hopefully you will have learned how to stop wasting your time and
your money on trends that don't work for your body to health that actually delivers

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results.

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Plus we get to geek out a little bit on cold plunging, which is one of my favorite things
to do.

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And we'll find out how to make sure you're doing it safely and most effectively if it's
something you're interested in trying.

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But our conversation begins with the overwhelming amount of information that exists and
the struggle to take that information from just being information to being something you

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implement to actually improve your health.

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So coming up, my conversation with Dr.

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Bobby Du Bois.

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there is absolutely no shortage of information.

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There's plenty of information for anyone with any condition to to go and try to figure out
what may be holding them back from losing weight, getting healthier.

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dealing with depression, dealing with anxiety, but actually taking those steps, especially
if you do live with any of those mental health conditions, can be a massive obstacle.

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and I've had plenty of doctor friends who have told me like, you can write the
prescription, but getting the person to actually take the pill, good luck.

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So I'm curious what you've seen in your practice and in your work with people that helps
them bridge that gap between the information and the action they need to take to get

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healthier.

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It's a great question.

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guess I would divide it into two pieces.

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The first is there's an overwhelming amount of information out there.

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The problem is a lot of it is conflicting and you will get differing views from differing
people.

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did a podcast not long ago about eight glasses of water a day, know, urban myths or good
idea.

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And I try to basically go into the scientific literature and says, you know, what does
this tell us?

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Does it make sense?

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Does it not?

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Sneak preview.

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You don't need to drink eight glasses of water a day.

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Your brain and your kidneys will tell you when you're thirsty.

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Just listen to them.

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But I delve into things like sleep.

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What have we known from scientific studies that actually improve sleep?

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And there are 12.

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things you can try, each of which are based in randomized control trials or good studies.

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know, sauna, people love to talk about sauna, but what's the evidence?

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Well, the evidence is pretty darn good that it reduces your risk of heart attack, reduces
your overall mortality, and importantly reduces your risk of cognitive decline.

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And so in my podcast, I really try to wrestle with these issues and then figure out

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What does this, what's the essence of it?

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I just finished a podcast on alcohol and it was alcohol, none or some.

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That is the question.

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Everybody talks about alcohol and says, yeah, you better not have four glasses a night
every night of the week.

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But that's not the question for most people.

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Most people is, well, what's the harm of having one glass a day or maybe two glasses a
day.

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And again, there's evidence on this.

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And that's what I try to distill and share.

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So that's the first part of the question, which is what is, what does the information tell
us?

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And that's no easy step.

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did a podcast on health headlines, confusing or harmful.

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How do you look beneath the headlines?

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Okay.

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So now we've sort of got our, you know, our, our direction.

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This is what we should do.

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Now that you ask the question, how do you get people to do it or continue it or follow it?

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So I did not invent this concept, but I think I've been the one probably most recently to
popularize it.

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They're called N of one trials.

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So if folks know when you do a study, say a new drug, or you say, well, your high blood
pressure is bad, cut out salt in your diet.

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Well, the reality is the studies give you the average.

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On average, if you cut out salt in your diet, your blood pressure might drop three points.

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But the reality is three quarters of people are sensitive to salt.

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So it makes a difference for them, but 25%, it doesn't matter how much salt you have, it
won't budge your blood pressure.

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And I'm one of those.

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And this is true for every other study.

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And I mentioned the 12 sleep approaches.

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So the end of one study is a systematic way to test things in you.

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It's what people love personalized medicine.

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Yeah.

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if your blood pressure is on the higher side and your doctor says, oh, you should cut out
salt.

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What you need to do is measure your blood pressure, get a home monitor, 80 bucks, a
hundred bucks, measure it every day for a week, maybe a couple of times a day.

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Now you got a baseline.

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Now cut out salt in your diet.

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Do that for a few weeks.

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Measure again and then go back to your doctor and say, you know, I am sensitive to salt.

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My blood pressure went up or went down or no, I'm not.

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Similarly with sleep, studies show if you lower the temperature in your bedroom, probably
below 70, it improves your quality and quantity of sleep.

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But that's not true for everybody.

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So again, do a baseline sleep assessment.

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I wear an aura ring, you can do a Fitbit, you can do your Apple watch, or you can just
write down how many hours of sleep did I get and how awful did I feel in the morning.

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Then try for a week.

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Mm-hmm.

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in your room, measure it again.

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And if you're not convinced, raise the temperature back up, see what happens, lower the
temperature back down, see what happens.

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It's a scientific way of figuring out what works for you.

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And you you mentioned depression.

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It's been shown that meditation can be helpful.

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Saunas can be helpful.

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Cold plunge raises the dopamine levels, but that's on average.

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We don't know if it's true for you.

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Hmm.

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do your baseline, you try some intervention like the cold plunge, see how you feel.

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That's the technique and I think that goes from the science of what works to how do I make
it work for me?

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I'm going to pick your brain more on the cold plunging because I love it.

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I do it all the time.

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I'm a big advocate for it, but I'm curious about this.

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The biohackers are hearing what you're saying and going, yes, amen.

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Preach brother track it, measure it, adapt, go.

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The average person, me, you know, sometimes now most of the time, many years ago goes,
cool, great idea.

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Does it once maybe twice, maybe for a couple of days forgets.

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There's no immediate.

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gratification.

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It gets hard to keep up.

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The kids are loud, works hard, life gets in the way, you know, all the excuses.

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And and we stop tracking and we forget about it.

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And two months later we hear on a podcast, oh, yeah, I started doing that.

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I know I should do that again.

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And we don't do it.

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So how do we stick with it?

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That's I mean, that's the thing with all this stuff.

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We can talk about exercise and diet and all this stuff all day long.

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But getting past that initial adoption phase of this is something I do now.

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That's the big barrier.

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How do you stick with it?

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Well, that's the crux of the issue.

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I think one of the reasons that these sort of guidances fall apart is they sound like one
size fits all.

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Everybody needs, you know, seven to eight hours sleep.

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Everybody should do a sauna three times a week.

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Everybody should do this type of exercise for this period of time.

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And the reality is that we're all different.

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And as you said, there are some people that are dialed in and will just

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try every new thing, measure it on their Fitbit and, and move forward.

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So I've developed a quiz called the health type quiz.

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And if you just go to my website, Dr.

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Bobby live long and well, the quiz will pop up.

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It's free.

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takes three minutes and it will then categorize you into one of five types or archetypes.

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And then you'll get a series of reports that will talk about you and hopefully language
that really works.

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And I've

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had about a thousand people do the quiz.

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And so I have a pretty good sense of where folks land.

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Each one of the five are different and how each one of those individuals acquires health
knowledge, makes decisions about health, what motivates them and how they deal with

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setbacks and health triggers like an injury or an illness are completely different.

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So your person that's dialed in is called a holistic

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health hacker.

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And it is what it sounds like they you know, they're on top of everything.

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A very different type is the purposeful path planner.

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This is somebody who can drown in the information.

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Dr.

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Bobby says do this Dr.

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John says that my chiropractor says this, I'm drowning, I don't know what to believe.

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Now, if you hand them a Fitbit, they'll be like, that's not what I need.

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Cool watch,

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What they need isn't more information.

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They need a distillation of the information and clear guidance because once they figured
out the path, they do pretty well.

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The single minded achievers, a third type, and they're the type that is zoned in on one
thing.

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I meditate every day.

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Great.

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That's wonderful.

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But their eyes are not open to, the benefits of sauna, the benefits of a

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nutrition that might be a little bit different, the importance of social relationships and
longevity and wellness and cognitive decline.

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So they need kind of a broadening.

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So each one of these has a different approach.

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The hopeful health seeker is somebody who's failed a lot.

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You know, Dr.

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Bobby, I've tried to lose weight for 20 years.

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I've tried every diet.

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I'm just demoralized.

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You know, Dr.

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Bobby,

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I've been having headaches and I've, you know, tried everything and I can't seem to deal
with it.

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These are not individuals who are a Fitbit or a clear, whatever is going to work for them.

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They need encouragement.

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They need early wins.

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All right.

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Go for a two minute walk.

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All right.

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Can you do that?

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Yeah.

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I did the two minute walk.

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All right.

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Well, next time try three minutes and we'll stick with that for a couple of weeks.

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They need early wins.

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So

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Part of the reason this all fails and the timing of our podcast couldn't be better because
of new year's resolutions is that they have to be tailored to you.

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Not only your health type, what succeeded in the past, what failed in the past, where are
you with your screening tests that should be done or the illnesses that you have and the

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six pillars.

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So taking stock of that and being mindful of your health type, I think people

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can be more successful than maybe they think they can.

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Well, and does seem like, I mean, it's painfully obvious to me now, but some of the advice
that we give and hear a lot from guests is start with what you enjoy.

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And if it is walking, if you enjoy walking your dog, go walk your dog, right?

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You don't have to go to the gym and bench 280, bro.

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Like you can, you can start with what works for you.

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What makes you feel good?

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What lights you up and gets you, gets you excited to put the shoes on because I've seen it
over and over again.

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I've done it over and over again.

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I promised myself I'm going to do something and then I don't because it sucks and it's
hard and it's not fun.

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you know, when I started going to the gym and, you know, would go a few times a week and
after a couple of months, I'm not really seeing anything different.

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I'm not really feeling anything different, except it's a giant time suck and it's pain in
my ass.

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I'm going to give up, but I've found ways now to stay motivated and to learn to really
love it to where now I can go for a few months and start to see, okay.

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It's starting to work.

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I'm starting to see the benefit.

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And that's what I mean.

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that maybe that's I missed which category category I fall into.

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But to me, I'm the guy that needs the win.

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I need to hear somebody say, are you losing weight?

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What's going on with what are you doing over there?

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It seems like like those are the things I'm like, it's working.

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Aha.

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It's not just a story.

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telling myself that I need to do this.

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There actually is some benefit and it's starting to pay off.

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Well, Jeremy, you should take the quiz and then we should have a private discussion about,
know, what does this mean in terms of moving forward?

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You know, I had just heard this quote, the heaviest weight in the gym is the front door.

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The hard part is just getting there and getting started.

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The other thing is that, you know, if you plot out all the things that I and other
scientific oriented people say you should do.

211
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how many hours a week you should exercise, how many hours a week you should meditate, how
many hours a week.

212
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There's not enough hours in a week.

213
00:14:21,130 --> 00:14:29,364
I love those memes that are always like the CEO morning and it's like a 14 hour day before
you get to work if you did all the things you're supposed to do for five minutes a day.

214
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Now there is a kind of a hack that you could try.

215
00:14:33,824 --> 00:14:41,404
So for sleep, getting a sunlight early in the morning resets your biologic clock helps you
with sleep.

216
00:14:41,404 --> 00:14:44,704
Going for a walk is good for all sorts of different reasons.

217
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So I like to combine the things so it doesn't take all that much time.

218
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Grab a friend, go for a walk early in the morning, sip your coffee.

219
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You've got three of the pillars done.

220
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before you get back for breakfast.

221
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And so they don't have to be separate.

222
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They can all be done together.

223
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And it really, really can make a huge difference.

224
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One of the things you talked about that I'm a huge advocate of is cold plunging.

225
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I love it.

226
00:15:13,343 --> 00:15:15,606
let's talk myths and facts.

227
00:15:15,606 --> 00:15:19,079
How good is it for me to be spending all that time in the cold water?

228
00:15:19,422 --> 00:15:21,857
So how long do you spend in the cold water?

229
00:15:21,857 --> 00:15:33,024
My weekly group plunge with my friends is we do 20 minutes and then during the week I'll
do anywhere from three to five to 10, sort of depending on how patient I am on my back

230
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porch by myself in my little tub.

231
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Wonderful.

232
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And how cold is the lake?

233
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Right now it's seven Celsius.

234
00:15:40,534 --> 00:15:43,130
So what is the 40 mid 40s, low 40s.

235
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you are, you're quite a hearty person to be able to do that.

236
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So, exposure to heat and cold is one of the six pillars.

237
00:15:52,847 --> 00:15:57,930
And if folks want to listen to the episode, you can learn about all the evidence that
supports it.

238
00:15:58,210 --> 00:16:02,793
Obviously cold plunge and sauna has been around for, you know, thousands of years.

239
00:16:02,793 --> 00:16:07,876
So there's nothing new, but just because it's been around for thousands of years, doesn't
mean it actually work.

240
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So one of the

241
00:16:09,847 --> 00:16:12,299
arguments about the science in these areas.

242
00:16:12,299 --> 00:16:18,092
Well, sauna and cold plunge is the only people that do it have time and have money.

243
00:16:18,953 --> 00:16:25,227
And therefore the fact that they do better may or may not be a reflection on what they're
doing.

244
00:16:25,227 --> 00:16:29,800
It may just be, they have more money and more time to be able to do this.

245
00:16:29,800 --> 00:16:33,542
So there's been some very creative studies in the sauna world.

246
00:16:33,582 --> 00:16:35,317
As you may know, Finland

247
00:16:35,317 --> 00:16:36,348
loves saunas.

248
00:16:36,348 --> 00:16:38,869
And there's basically one sauna for every two people.

249
00:16:38,869 --> 00:16:42,292
And so it's not a function of money.

250
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Every apartment has them, you just sign up and you do them.

251
00:16:45,274 --> 00:16:53,599
And so there you can actually do studies and look at people who don't do the sauna, who do
it once a week, twice a week, three times a week, so on and so forth.

252
00:16:53,599 --> 00:17:00,964
And you see what's called the dose response relationship, meaning the more you do, the
better you, you are on.

253
00:17:00,964 --> 00:17:05,167
I'll tell you what some of the endpoints are and the longer you're in.

254
00:17:05,239 --> 00:17:07,699
10 minutes is okay, but 15 minutes is better.

255
00:17:07,699 --> 00:17:09,281
20 is even better.

256
00:17:09,281 --> 00:17:14,823
Not necessarily beyond that, but 20 minutes, three times a week is probably the sweet
spot.

257
00:17:14,823 --> 00:17:19,886
And it's been shown again to reduce mortality and reduce the risk of cognitive decline.

258
00:17:19,886 --> 00:17:24,888
Okay, so there's pretty darn good data on sauna.

259
00:17:24,888 --> 00:17:31,751
And I can talk about that with folks and feel confident that it's a real deal.

260
00:17:32,225 --> 00:17:35,238
Cold plunge again, rolling in the snow, going into lake.

261
00:17:35,238 --> 00:17:36,138
There's nothing new there.

262
00:17:36,138 --> 00:17:37,700
It's been around for a long time.

263
00:17:37,700 --> 00:17:40,802
What is new is the scientific studies.

264
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Does it make a difference?

265
00:17:43,365 --> 00:17:46,748
And you know, I, I try to call it as I see it.

266
00:17:46,748 --> 00:17:51,392
have no long-term studies on the benefit of cold plunge.

267
00:17:51,392 --> 00:18:00,299
What we do have our short-term studies where they measure dopamine levels, which is sort
of the happy hormone in your brain and your

268
00:18:00,299 --> 00:18:08,583
dopamine levels, your noradrenaline levels go up threefold, fourfold, fivefold when you do
a cold plunge.

269
00:18:08,583 --> 00:18:13,004
So it is absolutely changing chemistry.

270
00:18:13,004 --> 00:18:25,490
Now, and anybody who's done cold plunge knows that you feel almost giddy and alive for not
just 10 minutes when you're done, but for hours afterwards.

271
00:18:25,490 --> 00:18:29,471
So we know there's kind of immediate and, and, and

272
00:18:29,525 --> 00:18:39,380
multi-hour benefit, what we don't know is whether that leads to reductions in overall
blood pressure or heart attack rates or, or whatever.

273
00:18:39,520 --> 00:18:44,043
I do know, because there's some people who say, I do a cold plunge right before bed.

274
00:18:44,043 --> 00:18:48,195
That when Gail, my wife and I have tried that we can't get to sleep.

275
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We're so wide awake that doesn't work.

276
00:18:50,916 --> 00:18:59,731
So morning cold plunge, sauna before bed and sauna before bed or a hot shower for board
before bed really makes a difference.

277
00:19:00,164 --> 00:19:01,715
in improving sleep quality.

278
00:19:01,715 --> 00:19:10,620
Absolutely, both how fast you go to sleep, the REM and deep sleep quotient, and how many
hours you sleep.

279
00:19:10,620 --> 00:19:16,664
And people think it's counterintuitive because earlier I said a cold bedroom is really
good.

280
00:19:16,664 --> 00:19:18,745
And you would think, well, wait a second, Dr.

281
00:19:18,745 --> 00:19:26,010
Bobby, I'm going in the sauna, I'm getting hot, and now you tell me I need a cold bedroom.

282
00:19:26,010 --> 00:19:28,499
Actually, what happens when you get out of a sauna,

283
00:19:28,499 --> 00:19:30,781
is your blood vessels are all dilated.

284
00:19:30,781 --> 00:19:32,523
You look like a lobster.

285
00:19:32,523 --> 00:19:37,288
And so what happens is, although when you walk out of the sauna, you may feel hot.

286
00:19:37,288 --> 00:19:43,374
Within five minutes, you actually feel chilled because you've radiated all the heat out of
you.

287
00:19:43,374 --> 00:19:46,917
And so now your core body temperature is actually falling.

288
00:19:46,917 --> 00:19:49,029
And that's perfect for going to sleep.

289
00:19:49,588 --> 00:19:55,891
In the few minutes we have left, we've talked cold punching, good, sauna, good.

290
00:19:55,891 --> 00:20:01,541
What are some of the biggest myths that you see that just drive you crazy every time they
pop up on your Instagram real weird?

291
00:20:01,541 --> 00:20:02,885
like, this is not science.

292
00:20:02,885 --> 00:20:04,916
This is not a thing people should be doing.

293
00:20:05,131 --> 00:20:07,292
Yes, I'm glad you asked.

294
00:20:07,613 --> 00:20:12,577
For those of you who are not watching the video, I have no hair or just about no hair.

295
00:20:12,577 --> 00:20:21,605
It's because I pulled it all out dealing with people who kind of have found religion with
one thing or another.

296
00:20:21,605 --> 00:20:30,191
know, the latest is hydrogen water bottles or red light therapy that cures, you you name
it.

297
00:20:30,372 --> 00:20:34,172
But I would say the biggest one I worry about are supplements.

298
00:20:34,172 --> 00:20:35,060
Hmm.

299
00:20:35,263 --> 00:20:46,411
almost every podcast in the health arena is paid for by supplements and the scientific
evidence on nutrition and supplements really aren't good.

300
00:20:47,752 --> 00:20:52,755
there are very, very, very few supplements that have been shown to work.

301
00:20:52,755 --> 00:20:59,400
Probably the only one that has really shown benefit is just a simple, dumb, boring
multivitamin.

302
00:20:59,440 --> 00:21:03,042
And it's shown some decreases in the risk of, of cancer.

303
00:21:04,275 --> 00:21:10,020
Now, I'm not saying if you are constipated, you shouldn't have a supplement to make that
easier.

304
00:21:10,020 --> 00:21:17,206
I'm talking about the focus on, I must take vitamin D and calcium and omega threes.

305
00:21:17,206 --> 00:21:27,654
When the scientific studies have been looked at, what's called a meta analysis, where you
basically take all the studies and summarize them statistically on a particular topic,

306
00:21:27,714 --> 00:21:33,675
know, vitamin D and calcium is actually something that can hurt you, not help you.

307
00:21:33,675 --> 00:21:35,656
Now we all need some vitamin D.

308
00:21:35,656 --> 00:21:37,737
If you live in a cave, that's not so good.

309
00:21:37,737 --> 00:21:43,000
But if you're out in the sun a little bit, whatever, know, eating various foods have
vitamin D.

310
00:21:43,000 --> 00:21:50,864
If you actually have too much vitamin D and calcium, it can cause potentially
calcification in your heart.

311
00:21:51,165 --> 00:21:54,146
So people get these calcium heart scans.

312
00:21:54,146 --> 00:22:01,270
so vitamin D, which is a very common supplement people talk about, it's like, well, if I
don't have any, that's a problem.

313
00:22:01,270 --> 00:22:03,563
If I have too much, well, that could be a problem.

314
00:22:03,563 --> 00:22:05,344
By and large, people don't need it.

315
00:22:05,344 --> 00:22:16,451
The omega-3s that people swear by, again, if you look at the randomized trials, and
there's been many, many, many of them, they don't reduce your risk of heart attack, and

316
00:22:16,451 --> 00:22:18,802
they really don't seem to make much of a difference.

317
00:22:18,802 --> 00:22:30,269
So people spend real money, and then you've got the branded green stuff that people spend
a lot of money on, and all of this really hasn't been studied to show that it makes a

318
00:22:30,269 --> 00:22:31,172
difference.

319
00:22:31,172 --> 00:22:31,933
Interesting.

320
00:22:31,933 --> 00:22:35,595
On the vitamin D one, I'm curious, just to make this about me for a minute.

321
00:22:35,595 --> 00:22:39,798
I live in the Pacific Northwest where the sun comes up every once in a while.

322
00:22:39,958 --> 00:22:48,384
whenever I've had my blood tested and I request a vitamin D test to see if it is, it
always tends to be on the high side of low.

323
00:22:48,384 --> 00:22:53,027
So I do take a vitamin D supplement because my numbers show that I'm low.

324
00:22:53,108 --> 00:22:54,689
Doctors I talk to, they're not worried.

325
00:22:54,689 --> 00:22:58,411
But since it hovers around low, I take one.

326
00:22:58,411 --> 00:22:59,862
Am I making a mistake?

327
00:23:00,769 --> 00:23:05,381
Well, I'm not a doctor for you and I'm not a doctor for your listeners.

328
00:23:05,723 --> 00:23:07,565
I think I would listen to your doctor.

329
00:23:07,565 --> 00:23:10,166
He's not worried or she's not worried.

330
00:23:10,767 --> 00:23:12,868
You know, taking small doses.

331
00:23:12,889 --> 00:23:16,792
I mean, again, a multivitamin is going to have vitamin D in it.

332
00:23:16,792 --> 00:23:20,094
So, you know, that's probably enough.

333
00:23:20,655 --> 00:23:30,623
But just people should understand that for a lot of the stuff that there is both a
potential benefit, a potential harm, and then just wasting money.

334
00:23:30,623 --> 00:23:34,925
You know, for most people, magnesium isn't necessary.

335
00:23:34,925 --> 00:23:40,307
I live in really hot weather in the summer in Texas and I sweat like the Dickens.

336
00:23:40,307 --> 00:23:46,270
When I get muscle cramps, I'll try magnesium and it seems to help.

337
00:23:46,270 --> 00:23:49,691
Then when I'm not sweating so much in the winter, I may not take it.

338
00:23:49,691 --> 00:23:52,693
Again, we're back to the end of one study.

339
00:23:52,693 --> 00:23:55,214
Try and see if it makes a difference.

340
00:23:55,214 --> 00:23:58,697
The real problem and why I pull my hair out is

341
00:23:58,697 --> 00:24:04,732
I'm okay with people saying, you know, I tried magnesium because I got cramps in my leg at
night and Dr.

342
00:24:04,732 --> 00:24:06,083
Bobby, worked or Dr.

343
00:24:06,083 --> 00:24:07,234
Bobby, didn't work.

344
00:24:07,234 --> 00:24:07,564
Fine.

345
00:24:07,564 --> 00:24:08,105
Yeah.

346
00:24:08,105 --> 00:24:09,676
It's a short-term test.

347
00:24:09,676 --> 00:24:10,877
You'll figure it out.

348
00:24:10,877 --> 00:24:20,985
The problem with a lot of this stuff is that people say, trust me, you need to take this
for the next 30 years at this cost per year.

349
00:24:21,446 --> 00:24:23,508
and I know it will help you.

350
00:24:23,508 --> 00:24:27,731
The problem is there's nothing to measure to say it is helping you.

351
00:24:27,925 --> 00:24:32,924
And that's why we really need studies to support what we do and what we don't do.

352
00:24:32,924 --> 00:24:41,268
Well, that's why I think supplements are particularly tricky because I think most of them,
when you take them, unless it is like you, like your example of like leg cramps, you take

353
00:24:41,268 --> 00:24:42,586
them and it, they go away.

354
00:24:42,586 --> 00:24:49,382
It helps your general multivitamin, whatever brand you're either spending too much or not
enough money on, you're going to take it.

355
00:24:49,382 --> 00:24:52,523
You're probably not going to notice a difference in a few days.

356
00:24:52,523 --> 00:24:58,276
Like it's the kind of thing where you probably have to take it for a while, stop taking it
and then realize, now I feel like crap again.

357
00:24:58,276 --> 00:24:59,096
Right.

358
00:24:59,549 --> 00:25:00,181
Exactly.

359
00:25:00,181 --> 00:25:02,356
There's the end of one approach.

360
00:25:02,576 --> 00:25:06,865
So again, listen to your body, try it out for a while and see what happens when you stop.

361
00:25:06,865 --> 00:25:11,479
and isn't just listen to your body, try to be quantitative about it.

362
00:25:11,479 --> 00:25:17,304
So if you have a Fitbit and you're measuring sleep, then look at your sleep numbers.

363
00:25:17,304 --> 00:25:26,872
If you have anxiety, there are anxiety questionnaires on the web that are like six, eight,
10 questions.

364
00:25:27,353 --> 00:25:35,255
Do the questionnaire, get a score, then test, and then redo your questionnaire.

365
00:25:35,255 --> 00:25:36,506
You know, sleep is bad.

366
00:25:36,506 --> 00:25:41,619
There's the also Pittsburgh sleep questionnaire, very easy to find questionnaires.

367
00:25:41,619 --> 00:25:53,817
It's a way just to quantify it because if you leave it to your subjective assessment, now
we're down the rabbit hole of placebo effect, which is going to be a podcast that I do in

368
00:25:53,817 --> 00:25:54,617
a couple of weeks.

369
00:25:54,617 --> 00:25:55,339
let me ask you about that.

370
00:25:55,339 --> 00:25:58,145
I we've just got a minute or two left, but I mean, is there anything to that?

371
00:25:58,145 --> 00:26:04,249
If something makes me feel better, even if scientifically it's not doing anything, is
there value in it?

372
00:26:04,249 --> 00:26:05,910
I like feeling better.

373
00:26:05,970 --> 00:26:13,475
And if whatever it is you do, you know, wearing a purple hat, you know, makes you happy
all day long.

374
00:26:13,475 --> 00:26:14,995
Well, great.

375
00:26:14,995 --> 00:26:23,880
I think where a placebo can be a problem is if it's in lieu of something that we really
know works.

376
00:26:23,941 --> 00:26:32,105
So you're probably too young to remember back in the day there was Leia Trill, which was
the extract of apricot pits.

377
00:26:32,273 --> 00:26:36,714
And people were flying to Mexico to get this cancer cure.

378
00:26:37,294 --> 00:26:38,855
And they said, I feel better.

379
00:26:38,855 --> 00:26:42,616
The problem is they did it in lieu of the standard therapy.

380
00:26:42,616 --> 00:26:44,897
So that's where you can get into trouble.

381
00:26:44,897 --> 00:26:50,358
Now, the funny thing is placebo sometimes works.

382
00:26:50,578 --> 00:26:54,819
Even when you tell people it's a placebo.

383
00:26:56,420 --> 00:26:57,900
and there's also the opposite.

384
00:26:57,900 --> 00:27:00,311
called the nocebo effect.

385
00:27:00,381 --> 00:27:06,883
People who have high cholesterol take statins and people who take statins are like, I get
this muscle weakness.

386
00:27:06,924 --> 00:27:08,834
And so I have to stop my statins.

387
00:27:08,834 --> 00:27:10,765
It's a common sort of side effect issue.

388
00:27:10,765 --> 00:27:12,666
And it's real for some people.

389
00:27:12,686 --> 00:27:19,749
If you give people a placebo pill and say, know, one of the potential side effects is
muscle soreness and weakness.

390
00:27:20,309 --> 00:27:28,072
You'd be amazed how many people will say, yeah, doctor, you gave me that pill and yeah,
I'm feeling this muscle soreness all the time.

391
00:27:28,072 --> 00:27:29,873
So it's a real deal.

392
00:27:30,234 --> 00:27:33,659
it's something to pay attention to and be aware of.

393
00:27:33,700 --> 00:27:36,685
And the end of one trial will help you to disentangle.

394
00:27:36,685 --> 00:27:39,214
it real or is it just placebo?

395
00:27:39,214 --> 00:27:42,470
speaks to the power of your mind though to convince yourself how you feel.

396
00:27:42,470 --> 00:27:44,414
So amazing.

397
00:27:44,414 --> 00:27:44,985
Great stuff.

398
00:27:44,985 --> 00:27:49,123
One of the questionnaires you mentioned is yours, the quiz.

399
00:27:49,123 --> 00:27:52,078
Tell me where we can find out more about you, the podcast, and take the quiz.

400
00:27:52,991 --> 00:27:57,275
so my podcast is called, live long and well with Dr.

401
00:27:57,275 --> 00:27:58,241
Bobby.

402
00:27:58,241 --> 00:27:59,747
If you just type in Dr.

403
00:27:59,747 --> 00:28:03,830
Bobby, you'll find me in on Apple or Spotify or wherever else.

404
00:28:04,010 --> 00:28:05,622
my website is Dr.

405
00:28:05,622 --> 00:28:07,613
Bobby DR not D O C T.

406
00:28:07,613 --> 00:28:08,634
So Dr.

407
00:28:08,634 --> 00:28:13,398
Bobby B O B B Y live long and well.com.

408
00:28:13,398 --> 00:28:15,480
And that's where you can find the quiz.

409
00:28:15,480 --> 00:28:21,925
If you want to, or direct interaction or coaching with me, you can find it there and.

410
00:28:22,322 --> 00:28:27,971
I'm just passionate about helping people figure out what could and should and might work
for them.

411
00:28:28,424 --> 00:28:30,720
We can find all that in the show notes for this episode as well.

412
00:28:30,720 --> 00:28:30,951
Dr.

413
00:28:30,951 --> 00:28:32,094
Bobby, thanks so much for your time today.

414
00:28:32,094 --> 00:28:33,216
This was a lot of fun.

415
00:28:33,383 --> 00:28:35,566
Likewise, thank you for having me.

416
00:28:36,061 --> 00:28:37,019
Hey, hang out a minute.

417
00:28:37,019 --> 00:28:38,231
All right, my thanks to Dr.

418
00:28:38,231 --> 00:28:38,941
Bobby Du Bois.

419
00:28:38,941 --> 00:28:41,395
He is the host of the Live Long and Well podcast.

420
00:28:41,395 --> 00:28:46,701
You can find links to his show in the show description for this episode at thefitmass.com.

421
00:28:46,830 --> 00:28:48,281
But that's gonna do it for this episode.

422
00:28:48,281 --> 00:28:49,241
Thanks so much for listening.

423
00:28:49,241 --> 00:28:53,474
If you found any value in it, please do share this with somebody who you think could also
benefit from it.

424
00:28:53,474 --> 00:28:56,876
You can do that with the links again at our website, thefitmass.com.

425
00:28:56,876 --> 00:29:00,058
And that's where we'll be back in just a few days with another episode.

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Dr. Bobby Dubois Profile Photo

Dr. Bobby Dubois

MD, Ph.D., Podcast Host, and Entrepreneur

Dr. Bobby Dubois, a highly regarded Harvard, Johns Hopkins, and Harbor-UCLA trained physician and scientist with 25+ years of industry experience, recognizes the overwhelming misconceptions surrounding wellness. Dr. Bobby now hosts the Live Long & Well Podcast where he debunking common health myths while simultaneously
Providing practical and sustainable ways to improve your health.