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#007 Tim Ferriss on Biomarkers, Ketosis, Microbiome, and Lyme Disease

Jul 20, 2015 1h 15m 27 insights
<p><strong>Tim Ferriss</strong></p> <p>Tim Ferris is a notorious self-experimenter, three-time New York Times bestselling author, angel investor, startup advisor, and much, much, much more. </p> <p class="p1"><strong>In this episode, we discuss...<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></strong></p> <ul> <li class="p1"><strong>(00:00)</strong> Introduction</li> <li class="p1"><strong>(02:29)</strong> Oxytocin, vasopressin, and the neuroendocrine basis of pair bond formation</li> <li class="p1"><strong>(05:54)</strong> Tim's self-experimentation with the ketogenic diet and the biomarkers he measures daily</li> <li class="p1"><strong>(14:55)</strong> Can a ketogenic diet reduce Alzheimer's disease risk?</li> <li class="p1"><strong>(22:14)</strong> Inflammation accelerates aging, but is necessary for tissue repair</li> <li class="p1"><strong>(26:17)</strong> Vitamin C reduces inflammation, but may also inhibit muscle growth</li> <li class="p1"><strong>(35:22)</strong> Tim describes his experience with Lyme disease</li> <li class="p1"><strong>(45:43)</strong> Rhonda talks about her experience with MRSA and antibiotics</li> <li class="p1"><strong>(48:55)</strong> Tim's personal experience with ketosis</li> <li class="p1"><strong>(55:06)</strong><em>The 4-Hour Body</em> talks about improving your body's performance while doing less</li> <li class="p1"><strong>(01:02:56)</strong> How to reduce social stress by exposing yourself to similar stresses</li> <li class="p1"><strong>(01:09:52)</strong> Meditation can help you stay focused and improve production</li> <li class="p1"><strong>(01:12:40)</strong> Tim Ferriss' future plans in Hollywood</li> </ul> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">If you're interested in learning more, you can read the <a href="https://www.foundmyfitness.com/episodes/tim-ferriss">full show notes here</a>.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Join over 300,000 people and get the latest distilled information  straight to your inbox weekly:</span> <a href="https://www.foundmyfitness.com/newsletter"><span style="font-weight: 400;">https://www.foundmyfitness.com/newsletter</span></a></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Become a FoundMyFitness premium member to get access to exclusive episodes, emails, live Q+A's with Rhonda and more:</span> <a href="https://www.foundmyfitness.com/crowdsponsor"><span style="font-weight: 400;">https://www.foundmyfitness.com/crowdsponsor</span></a></p>
Actionable Insights

1. Practice Discomfort & Humiliation

Intentionally expose yourself to discomfort or minor embarrassment (e.g., lying on a crowded floor, asking for a discount) to realize that worst-case scenarios are rarely that bad, building resilience against peer pressure and irrational fears.

2. Start Daily Meditation

Begin a daily meditation practice, even for just 5-10 minutes using guided apps like Calm or Headspace, to improve focus, calmness, and efficiency. Commit to meditating first thing in the morning for 5-7 consecutive days to experience profound improvements.

3. Combine Meditation & Discomfort

Combine a daily mindfulness or meditation practice with intentional ‘practicing humiliation’ (controlled discomfort) for a potent and valuable personal development strategy.

4. Focus on Minimum Effective Dose

Prioritize efficiency in exercise by focusing on the minimum effective dose, avoiding overtraining, and recognizing that coaches at high levels often hold athletes back.

5. Prioritize Resistance Training

Engage in targeted resistance training to prevent age-related cognitive and physical decline, as it is highly effective for maintaining and gaining muscle mass and can also serve as effective cardio.

6. Incorporate Long Walks

Adopt a ‘barbell approach’ to physical training, combining brief, high-intensity workouts (e.g., overhead squats) with very long-duration activities (e.g., two to four-hour walks) to improve subjective quality of life and for meditative benefits.

7. Track Ketones & Glucose

Routinely track your millimolar concentration of ketones and fasting glucose levels using a device to monitor your metabolic state and identify your optimal mental performance range (e.g., 1.1-1.7 millimolars for Tim).

8. Understand Ketone Sources

Be aware that high ketone levels can result from various sources (MCTs, fat meals, fasting) and not solely endogenous production, so consider the context of your readings to avoid self-deception.

9. Monitor Fasting Glucose with Ketosis

When pursuing ketosis, also monitor fasting glucose levels (e.g., aiming for 74-80 mg/dL or lower) to ensure you are in true nutritional ketosis and not just spiking ketones from supplements while having high glucose.

10. Be Cognizant of Insulin

To mitigate Alzheimer’s risk (viewed as ‘brain diabetes’), be cognizant of insulin levels and consider practices like ketosis, fasting, and cyclical ketogenic diets.

11. Limit Sugar for Cancer Prevention

Limit sugar intake to potentially lower cancer risk and growth, especially if you haven’t significantly damaged your system with processed sugars and carbohydrates.

12. Distinguish Inflammation Types

Distinguish between chronic (bad) inflammation (e.g., from gut issues, processed carbs) and acute (good) inflammation (e.g., from exercise, heat/cold stress) and aim to reduce the former while embracing the latter.

13. Use Turmeric with Piperine

Consume turmeric with piperine (from black pepper) to increase its bioavailability and absorption for counteracting unnecessary inflammation, or drink it as a tea with ginger and black pepper.

14. Caution with Post-Workout Antioxidants

Be cautious with supplemental antioxidants (like high-dose Vitamin C) immediately after workouts or during intermittent fasting, as they can negate beneficial oxidative stress that drives mitochondrial biogenesis and other hormetic effects.

15. Consider Short Fasts for Immune Reboot

Consider short fasts (e.g., three days) as a tool to reboot your immune system, which can also lead to deep ketosis and improved cognitive function.

16. Address Gut Microbiome Post-Antibiotics

If experiencing ‘chronic Lyme’ symptoms or gut issues after antibiotic treatment, focus on prebiotics and probiotics to address potential gut microbiome damage.

17. Use High-Dose Probiotics

To repopulate gut bacteria after antibiotic use, consider using a high-dose probiotic like VSL#3 sachets (450 billion CFU), which are more potent than capsules.

18. Prioritize Diet for IBD

When dealing with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) or similar gut issues, prioritize dietary changes (e.g., fiber intake) over pharmaceutical interventions like SSRIs, and seek doctors who address diet.

19. Consider Carb Restriction for Lyme

For severe Lyme disease symptoms, consider trying a carbohydrate-restricted diet, ideally aiming for ketosis, as it has shown subjective benefits for some.

20. Supplement for MTHFR Polymorphism

If you are a poor methylator (e.g., MTHFR gene polymorphism), consider supplementing with L-methylfolate, and potentially methylcobalamin, which may help normalize blood pressure for some.

21. Consume Carbs with Alcohol

Consume carbohydrates on ‘cheat days’ when drinking alcohol to counteract vasopressin inhibition and retain water.

22. Avoid Shaving Before Flotation

Before using a flotation tank, avoid shaving for a couple of days to prevent stinging from the high salt concentration.

23. Improve Negotiation by Haggling

Improve negotiation skills by practicing haggling in low-stakes environments like a state fair, aiming to get more value for your money.

24. Overcome Public Speaking Fear

To overcome fear of public speaking or social anxiety, practice engaging with strangers in low-stakes situations, such as telling jokes to random people in a mall.

25. Isolate Variables to Avoid Self-Deception

Be cautious of self-deception when evaluating lifestyle changes; ensure you isolate variables to understand true causal relationships rather than attributing benefits to one change when multiple were made.

26. Consider Garlic & Grapefruit Extract for MRSA

For MRSA infections, consider a topical and oral application of garlic and grapefruit seed extract.

27. Be Aware of Carb-Induced Bleeding

Be aware that carbohydrate consumption (e.g., on cheat days) may increase bleeding compared to a ketotic state, which could be relevant before procedures where bleeding is a concern.