Ep . 011: Do Calories Matter?

Ep . 011: Do Calories Matter?

Many years and untold sums of money have been spent training people to believe that the following is consensus science: food is the ultimate source of energy and that humans “burn” calories to “fuel” the living state.  We’ve been taught there is a caloric equilibrium–a perfect balance between what is required and what is consumed; taught that there is a universal caloric requirement that never changes; and taught that everything you need to know about food can be found on a nutrition label.  This has created the widespread belief that an excess of dietary calories will always result in weight gain. By extension, the reverse has to be true: calorie restriction will always equal weight loss. What we've created isn't a model; it's become a culture. Nobody agrees on the “optimal” diet, but everyone seems to agree that calories matter. And our experience in the field supports this reality as patients are constantly asking: How many calories should I consume?  But patients today aren’t asking because they are curious or trying to be proactive; they are asking because they are frustrated.  They eat less and less, and restrict more and more. Some see zero change. Others feel worse. And some even gain weight.  They are confused: isn’t weight loss supposed to be as simple as “calories in, calories out”? When I restricted calories in the past, I always lost weight–what is going on? Do calories actually matter? Well, these are the questions we set out to answer in today’s episode. Our bold statement is this: creating a calorie culture was a major disservice to our understanding of human function, the role of food and how to maintain or restore health. Biophysically, calories are not a useful model and looking at food and human function purely from an energetic perspective is a half-truth. The mitochondria do not “burn” calories; in fact, they don’t even know what calories are. Food is fundamentally electrons and protons; energy AND information. It’s a much more complicated story than we’ve been given; reducing it to the simplicity of calories isn’t just inaccurate, it could actually be harmful. In Part 1, we answer the question everybody is asking right off the bat: do calories matter? We then detail the emergence of the calorie culture; delve into Dr. Alison’s experience with calories as a registered dietitian and naturopath; why calorie restriction once worked; what is at the root of weight gain and obesity; why calorie restriction no longer works; and why it may even be harmful.  In Part 2, we dive deeper into the biophysics of food going beyond energy into the realm of information theory, elucidating its true purpose; frame weight gain–and subsequently weight loss–through the lens of redox potential; the protective purpose of excess mass, especially in the modern world; and outline a framework for restoring your connection to nature in a way that supports weight loss. This was an amazing discussion and one that we are certain people won’t want to miss. Part 2 is available exclusively to Premium members–to become a member, join here:https://fieldlab.mn.co/plans/1903955?bundle_token=180260f0f3488d6e30a110c55270dd5b&utm_source=manual [https://fieldlab.mn.co/plans/1903955?bundle_token=180260f0f3488d6e30a110c55270dd5b&utm_source=manual] [Medical Disclaimer: This podcast is intended for informational and educational purposes only and does not constitute medical, health, or professional advice and no doctor/patient relationship is formed. Any reliance on information provided through the podcast is solely at the user’s own risk. The content of this podcast is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Users should not disregard or delay in obtaining medical advice for any medical condition they may have and should seek the assistance of their health care professionals for any such conditions. If you think you’re having a medical emergency, please contact your healthcare provider or call 911 immediately.]

Ep. 010: Healing Isn't Linear

There’s a lot of talk about healing in the world of health and wellness–heal your nervous system, heal your gut, heal your mind, heal your life.  Healing has become formulaic, reduced to the level of cause and effect. Countless books, programs and protocols are built on the premise that if you can do “x”, replace “y” or implement “z,” healing–and, thus, health–is sure to follow. Not only is this wrong, it has changed the perception of healing in some really important ways.  First, it has created a correlation between feeling and healing. If you’re not well and do something that makes you feel better, you must be healing. If you don’t feel your best, you must not be healing. This has created a market around supplements, practices and protocols that might make you feel better, but from our perspective, they don’t create true healing. In fact, they could be disconnecting you further from it. Second, people have the perception that healing is always linear; a straight-line; a constant progression toward the goal of health. Many believe that as long as you do what you should be doing to “heal,” you will continue to feel better; therefore, you must be healing. If you aren’t feeling better, you aren’t healing and it’s because you’re not actually doing it or you're doing the wrong protocol. That simple.  Unfortunately, none of these concepts are based in reality. It’s not what we see day-to-day in our work with patients and members in the field and it isn’t how the process of true healing works. True healing is found only in nature. As a result, it’s cyclical, seasonal and dynamic; it rejects sameness and embraces change and transition as its signal. Every part of the year plays a role in creating a distinct whole and, as such, healing will look much more like a spiral than it will a straight line.  Nature also tells us that health is work. Therefore, healing is work. And sometimes you may not always “feel” better due to the demand of a body in repair; but this doesn’t mean you aren’t healing. Healing and feeling are not correlated with 100% accuracy and we should not base our perception of what is happening at a biophysical level entirely on how we feel. In this episode, we will reframe healing–and the healing crisis–through this lens. The timing of this episode is intentional. Spring is the season when people tend to feel more reemergence of past symptoms. That is because it’s an important moment in the annual light cycle and plays a distinct role in driving cell redox. Listen along and we’ll tell you why. In Part 1, we talk about healing within the framework of nature, detailing what makes this time of the year (spring equinox to summer solstice) unique, what it means if old symptoms are coming back and what you can do about it.  In Part 2, which is available to Premium members exclusively, we address the remainder of the year, breaking it down into distinct parts with specific roles; journey a bit deeper into the world of cell redox; talk about how to structure your year in a way that supports health; reframe healing as an ever-changing journey; and tell you what the end goal actually is over longer spans of time. To hear that conversation, become a member here [https://fieldlab.mn.co/plans/1903955?bundle_token=180260f0f3488d6e30a110c55270dd5b&utm_source=manual⁠]. [Medical Disclaimer: This podcast is intended for informational and educational purposes only and does not constitute medical, health, or professional advice and no doctor/patient relationship is formed. Any reliance on information provided through the podcast is solely at the user’s own risk. The content of this podcast is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Users should not disregard or delay in obtaining medical advice for any medical condition they may have and should seek the assistance of their health care professionals for any such conditions. If you think you’re having a medical emergency, please contact your healthcare provider or call 911 immediately.]

Ep. 009: Is Perimenopause Normal? The Circadian Biology Answer

Perimenopause is a major conversation we are having in the field on a daily basis–not because the transition is happening seamlessly. But, because women are struggling; experiencing irregular periods/menstrual cycles, hormonal imbalances, poor energy, difficulty sleeping, inability to lose weight and infertility. This trend on its own is cause for alarm, but is made even more concerning by the fact that the age of those who identify as being in perimenopause is getting younger and younger. To us, this is a representation of the state of humanity more broadly. The conventional understanding of perimenopause is purely biochemical, seen almost exclusively through the lens of hormones. Women are told that it’s as simple as imbalance, dominance, surges, swings and declines. The solution: tinker with the biochemicals using hormone replacement therapy (HRT) or bioidentical hormones; measure, replace, repeat.  And for many, that can “work”–relief can be achieved. But, this conversation is for those who don’t want to be tied to exogenous hormones or centralized, medicalized control of their body. This conversation is for those who want true health, connected to nature and so they ask the deeper questions: Why has this transition become so challenging in modern times? Why in younger and younger women? What can I do about it? In this episode, these are the questions we hope to answer. Perimenopause is actually nested within the larger story of fertility and reproductive cycles–or, rather, infertility and irregular cycles. And fertility is nested within the larger story of redox potential and proper circadian timekeeping, which is driven by a connection to the decentralized timekeeper: the light/dark cycle present in a normal earth day. Perimenopause is a symptom–not a cause–of a slow loss of energy created by a complete disconnection to proper circadian timekeeping. As redox collapses, the body must engage in trade-offs; fertility is not a requirement for individual survival–in fact, it may be something that threatens individual survival. It starts to become irregular, mistimed, chaotic, confused. If nothing corrects, eventually it gets turned off. What are we fundamentally saying: perimenopause isn’t a biochemical failure of your body; it’s a biophysical failure of your environment driving circadian collapse. It’s exactly what you’d expect to happen to women living in a modern, artificially-lit world. But, it’s entirely correctable if you’re willing to reconnect. In Part 1, we talk about why we should all be paying attention to this trend; what drives and controls the female reproductive cycle; and how the modern environment is disrupting proper circadian timekeeping, driving redox collapse and creating what we call perimenopause.  In Part 2,  which is available to Premium members exclusively, we talk about the labs Dr. Alison uses and how she interprets them through the lens of biophysics; the story of our surfaces (eyes, skin and gut); and how to reconnect with normal timekeeping, rebuild redox potential and restore normal. If you are not a Premium member, but would like to hear that episode, you can join here [https://fieldlab.mn.co/plans/1903955?bundle_token=180260f0f3488d6e30a110c55270dd5b&utm_source=manual⁠]. [Medical Disclaimer: This podcast is intended for informational and educational purposes only and does not constitute medical, health, or professional advice and no doctor/patient relationship is formed. Any reliance on information provided through the podcast is solely at the user’s own risk. The content of this podcast is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Users should not disregard or delay in obtaining medical advice for any medical condition they may have and should seek the assistance of their health care professionals for any such conditions. If you think you’re having a medical emergency, please contact your healthcare provider or call 911 immediately.]

Ep. 008: Does The Sun Cause Skin Cancer? The Biophysics Truth

Sunlight is a point of major confusion, contention and fear in today’s world. We’ve been taught that UV light is deleterious to humans and that a single sunburn spells disaster for your future health. In response, people have altered their behavior drastically–lathering themselves with SPF sunscreens and makeup, wearing polyester clothing, covering their eyes with polarized sunglasses or simply choosing to stay inside altogether. All in the name of health.  This narrative was built by centralized institutions using reductionist studies with no basis in nature. Distribution was handled by the medical system by doctors in their interaction with parents and children. Generation after generation has been trained to fear sunburns, skin cancer, skin damage, and cataracts, led to believe that the sun and human biology are incompatible.  The result? A society that spends 90% of their time indoors, purposefully burying themselves from the sun, compliant to recommendations like “slip, slop, slap” while skin cancer rates continue to rise and overall health rapidly devolves. Here’s the paradox–what would happen if the sun suddenly vanished tomorrow? The answer is quite simple: life would cease to exist entirely.  This begs the question: How could the primary source of energy and information for planet Earth be something humans can live without? Or, even deeper: How could it be something that is dangerous? When you understand human design through the lens of biophysics, you quickly realize that everything about us–form, structure and function–points back to sunlight. We were built by sunlight and designed to live in flow with the daily and seasonal oscillation between light, dark and frequency. When we disconnect chronically, our form has to change. It has to adapt. We call this disease. Something needs to change. But, we can’t wait for the institutions and trusted “experts” to catch up. We must challenge the dogma of centralized science, trust our own intuition and connection to nature, build health wisdom and pass it onto the next generation. It has to start with you. Now, let’s be clear: we are not telling you to go from 0 to 60 with your exposure to sunlight. If you’ve lived a modern life, assume your solar panel is atrophied. An atrophied solar panel can’t interact with light appropriately. You need to rebuild a normal human surface and that doesn’t happen overnight. It requires work and intentionality. But, don’t worry, we’ll teach you how.  In Part 1, we talk about the historical and scientific framework upon which the fear of sunlight is built and walk through the impact of disconnecting chronically, what it looks like when a human is built on artificial frequencies, the truth behind skin cancer and how to begin reconnecting with natural light in a way that is wise.  In Part 2, which is available to Premium members exclusively, we journey deeper into the biophysics of our interaction with light including, how the effect of a chronic lack of sunlight has compounded transgenerationally and how to rebuild your human surface. If you are not a Premium member, but would like to hear that episode, you can join here: https://fieldlab.mn.co/plans/1903955?bundle_token=180260f0f3488d6e30a110c55270dd5b&utm_source=manual [https://fieldlab.mn.co/plans/1903955?bundle_token=180260f0f3488d6e30a110c55270dd5b&utm_source=manual] [Medical Disclaimer: This podcast is intended for informational and educational purposes only and does not constitute medical, health, or professional advice and no doctor/patient relationship is formed. Any reliance on information provided through the podcast is solely at the user’s own risk. The content of this podcast is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Users should not disregard or delay in obtaining medical advice for any medical condition they may have and should seek the assistance of their health care professionals for any such conditions. If you think you’re having a medical emergency, please contact your healthcare provider or call 911 immediately.]

Ep. 007: Your Nervous System Isn’t Broken. Your Environment Is.

The wellness space is flooded with information, protocols and experiences/retreats focused on the nervous system. We are told repeatedly that our nervous systems are dysfunctional, dysregulated, hypersensitive or burned out. We are told that all you need is a reset, rewire or reprogram your nervous system, you will finally find your health. This trend has exploded since 2020, but it’s hardly new. What we call nervous system dysfunction today was once called “adrenal fatigue." Though completely unrecognized by the western medical system, adrenal fatigue was fully embraced by functional medicine. With it came diets, supplements, and practices that promised to give your tired biology a moment to rest, support the biochemical insufficiency, and help you manage your stress. Initially, the functional medicine approach helped. But, eventually it failed to move the needle. At the same time, the message evolved; what was once considered localized failure became global collapse – the idea that it was more than just the adrenals; it was your nervous system as a whole that was stuck, frozen, unbalanced, or simply broken. But, what hasn’t entered the conversation? The role of the nervous system as an interface between you and the environment. A biophysical, decentralized network responsible for transforming energy and information into action and adaptation, designed to remain in constant flow with nature’s decentralized network. By excluding the deeper story from the conversation, we’ve forgotten that our bodies aren’t broken. It’s the environment that’s broken. We can’t reset, rewire or reprogram anything–this job belongs only to nature. Maybe this is you.  Maybe you’re somebody who feels a sense of chronic stress, overwhelm, anxiety or panic. Maybe you’ve tried a nervous system reset, a diet, a protocol, a supplement or even gone to a retreat or an experience. Maybe, despite doing it all right, you still feel trapped by the battle being waged between you and the environment. Or maybe it’s someone close to you–a family member, a friend, a coworker. There’s no doubt that somebody in your life, whether you realize it or not, would identify with the daily struggle of anxiety, overwhelm, fatigue or panic created by the chronic mismatch of modern living. If you fall into either category, this episode is for you. In Part 1, we talk about: why everyone seems to be identifying with the idea that their nervous system is a problem; where this story originated; the biochemical perspective and where it falls short; how the story has evolved into the modern day belief that global nervous system collapse is the issue; and what you can do to break this cycle.  In Part 2, we explore the biophysics of the nervous system: how it should be functioning versus what is happening in the modern world; the role of POMC, UV light and neuromelanin; why living a proper earth day is the only reset that will truly drive deeper health; and what this all means for the next generation. Part 2 is available exclusively to Premium members–if you would like to hear that episode, you can join here: fieldlab.mn.co [Medical Disclaimer: This podcast is intended for informational and educational purposes only and does not constitute medical, health, or professional advice and no doctor/patient relationship is formed. Any reliance on information provided through the podcast is solely at the user’s own risk. The content of this podcast is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Users should not disregard or delay in obtaining medical advice for any medical condition they may have and should seek the assistance of their health care professionals for any such conditions. If you think you’re having a medical emergency, please contact your healthcare provider or call 911 immediately.]