Ep. 013: Movement vs Exercise — What Actually Builds True Health

Ep. 013: Movement vs Exercise — What Actually Builds True Health

Does exercise actually make you healthy? We've been taught that diet and exercise are the foundation of health—but what if that isn't the whole story? In this episode, we explore the difference between exercise and movement, why more exercise isn't always better, and how your environment, redox potential, and overall health determine whether exercise supports or depletes your body. We discuss our own journeys from CrossFitters to rethinking what it means to move well, why some people feel worse despite exercising every day, why some people only feel good if they exercise and why movement—not structured workouts—may be a better strategy for building true health. If you've ever wondered whether you're exercising for health or simply because you think you should, this conversation will challenge the way you think about exercise, your routine and health more broadly. In Part 2, we dive deeper into the biophysics of cellular function, how your response to exercise could be a major clue about your deeper health, the impacts of chronic over-exercising, and best practices for incorporating movement in your day in a way that supports true health.  If you’d like to hear the Part 2 deep dive discussion, 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. 012: Food Isn’t Just Fuel — It’s Information

Food is central to the conversation around health in the modern world.  Within that conversation, food is understood exclusively through the narrow lens of energy, nutrients and biochemistry. A paradigm given to us by many decades of biochemical-based, centralized science. To most, this framework may not seem obvious. But consider the language we use to describe food–terms like calories, macronutrients, and micronutrients dominate the discussion. These are all words that describe food through a biochemical, energetic lens.  The tricky part is that this isn’t wrong. Food has these properties; it contains energy, macronutrients and micronutrients. It does play a role biochemically. But, it’s not the whole story. By stopping at the biochemical, energetic layer and assuming we know all there is to know, we’ve created an understanding of food, health and human function more generally that is entirely insufficient.  If you’re following along, you know that humans are much more than biochemical machinery. We are biophysical beings built by the decentralized network of nature. The same applies to food and how we utilize it. In today’s episode, we are here to push back and expand your perspective on food and health in general. Our bold statement is that food goes beyond energy, macro/micronutrients, and biochemistry. Food is information.  This opens up a whole new conversation about electrons and protons, the mitochondria, redox, timekeeping, circadian function and seasonal eating. To us, this is actually a far, far more interesting way to look at food and brings us much closer to the truth. And we feel confident that you will agree after listening to the conversation. In Part 1, break the paradigm of food as a purely energetic, biochemical story. We detail where that idea came from, where it falls short and how to reframe your thinking around food as supporting your deeper health, but not creating it.  In Part 2, which is available exclusively to Premium members, we hang out at the cell level, looking at food from the perspective of the mitochondria–how they use the information in food to fine tune function, where the information is buried and the practical implications of what and when to eat.  If you’d like to hear this discussion become a member. [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 . 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.]