Health Secrets and Healing Wisdom with John Constas

Hello ladies and gentlemen.Welcome back to the show.Today I'm joined with John Constance.John is a health coach who became a health coach after curing his own autoimmune disease.He also used to work in big pharma,so he has a very interesting insider scoop when it comes to that type of stuff.So I really think you guys are gonna love this one.Catch you guys inside peace.So John,I thought we'd start kind of at the top.What do we need to know about you and your story to make sense of all the stuff that you're doing today on Twitter and with your brand in general?I mean,I,I guess we can start from the beginning.I was,uh,very sick actually in my teenage years.You know,I,I developed an autoimmune disease in my eyes,uh,at like13years old.Went,you know,was running to hospitals back and forth and could never get an answer from anybody as to what was going on.All I was given was medications and,uh,you know,my autoimmune disease was in the eyes.And what ended up happening is I developed cataracts at like16years old and basically,basically had to get a surgery that an80to70year old would get at,at17.So,you know,that left a bitter taste in my mouth.Um,especially growing up in a family with a lot of physicians,a lot of practition,health practitioners.And,uh,you know,I,you know,I,I,I was,I started to question things a bit.I felt like things were off,I was very passionate about health and medicine.But what ended up happening after is I went through a burnout in my mid twenties.Um,very scary stuff.Like really Ill,very depressed,very anxious,not able to sleep,lost my libido at like25years old.Um,very scary times for me.Um,that was my second round of.Bad experiences with the healthcare system.You know,the docs were like,that's all in your head,man.Like,just take it easy.You'll be okay.There's nothing wrong.Uh,your blood look work.Your blood blood work looks good.But I knew something was wrong.I,I felt like an empty shell of myself.And yeah,I mean,that was when I really start to question things.And I came to the crossroad where I was like,okay,I,I know what I'm,if I go down the traditional path,well,I'm gonna go see a doc.He's gonna give me an s s r I or some sort,some sort of sedative,and that's gonna be my lifetime,uh,prescription until the day I die.Or I could find a natural,more holistic,you know,holistic way of doing things and kind of go down the natural path.And I was lucky.I,I,I managed to fall on a,on a practitioner,uh,a natural path who helped me.He gave me two herbs,ashwagandha,rhodiola,changed my life completely,like,brought me back to who I was.And then I was a believer and I was like,damn,like this is powerful stuff.Why didn't my doctor ever tell me about this?How come I don't know about this stuff?So I started digging deep.I started doing a lot of research,and then I fell,you know,I got lucky and fall fell into a company.That was basically,you know,the stuff I teach on Twitter while I was teaching this stuff,uh,working for a company that was basically teaching clinicians that were planning on going from traditional medicine to functional medicine.So I got an in into the industry.I saw this company,I was like,I need to work for them.Um,you know,I built their territory up here in Canada from scratch.So,you know,I,it's pretty much like I started my entrepreneurship as in,in the corporate world,uh,you know,building something from scratch.And,uh,then it evolved to,to me just,you know,building this Twitter thing and,you know,I was just basically sick and I was tired of,you know,not having answers.And then when I found the answers,I was like,Hey,it's my duty to be able to share this with as many people as possible and get this to the ears of whoever's willing to listen.So this is why I'm here on Twitter now,and this is why I've built this brand,honestly.It's such a great story and I mean,the reason why I wanted to start with it is because as sad as it as it is,I don't think it's an uncommon story.I mean,so many people go through this experience nowadays where um,maybe they experience like an autoimmune disease or just some weird,they have some weird stuff going on and,uh,the medical field,uh,fails to give them an answer.Yeah.And in your case,it,um,it ended off,ended up being,uh,resulting in a lot of purpose for you,which is amazing.But,um,not a lot of people get to that point.And,um,I just salute you for being a,being able to find the,um,find the opportunity and the obstacle.Yeah.I mean,it's funny because during those times,I was actually reading meditations from Marcus,Marcus Aurelius,and one quote that stuck with me forever and I actually tattooed it on myself,was,The impediment to action advances action,what stands in the way,becomes the way.And that's exactly what ended up happening in my life.You know,the more,sometimes I even forget I have this tattoo,but it's literally,uh,was the segue that developed exactly what I'm doing.And,um,you know,I think you're right,man.I think people,uh,I think things are changing now.People with the,you know,with the advent of the internet and social media and,you know,having the ability to see other people who went through similar,similar struggles that you're going through,well,it gives you hope that there is more than just medications.There's more than just sedating yourself.For the rest of your life and being,you know,being a,a customer to the pharmaceutical industry forever.I mean,there,that,that,that's what I'm all about.Like,I just want people to understand there's always an answer.There's always a solution.It doesn't mean having to,you know,abide to the traditional way of doing things.And,you know,there's wisdom,uh,healing wisdom that has been with us for thousands of years.Why should we just ignore it and go with,you know,and from,in my opinion,and,and also through my research and understanding how this industry works.Everything that's,everything that has to do with health now is funded by the pharmaceutical industry.So there's bias behind that.There's a reason why they want only medication to be prescribed.It's because.They,that's their business model.Like why would they want everybody to use herbs and use these natural remedies when they cost pennies to use and they could actually heal the body rather than just bandaid,which is what most medications do.Um,you know,that doesn't go to say that there aren't some medications that can help and,and,and our life saving,but the,this chronic,the way we're dealing with chronic illness and,and getting people out of these tough situations like stress and insomnia and things that really are painful in people's lives,we're falling short.And,you know,it's my duty to share what I learned and give people hope because I,I know when,when I was in those dark times,it felt hopeless and I was like,I don't want people to go through the suffering that I went to.I want people to realize that they can get out of this hell and they can get out of this fashion than they,than they even,you know,they think possible,honestly.It's a beautiful story.And,um,you mentioned healing wisdom and there's so many people who will go carnivore and they'll solve their autoimmune disease or,um,they'll go paleo,they'll go vegan.There's all these different people preaching these different things when it comes to healing.Uh,what do you think the commonalities are and the,uh,true solutions when it comes to people who are kind of in the thick of it and they are looking for,um,that healing?I mean,they're,you know,it's gonna really depend on where they're at,what they're struggling with.Exactly.But in my opinion,I mean,the fundamentals,uh,are really the medicines that are free.Uh,sunlight,exercise,moving,just getting outside.I mean,I think a majority of the reason why our brains are messed up in this day and age is because we're stuck inside in a ki,you know,almost like in a box in front of artificial light all day long.That's stressful on the brain.The brain thinks that we're,we're pretty much like prisoners.So,um,you know,getting outside,making sure that the water that you're drinking is pure.I mean,we're,you know,70%water.Um,I,you know,I've read somewhere that like90%or80%of the,you know,between80to90%of the toxicity we're gonna absorb in our lifetime comes from the water and the water that we drink and the water that we bathe in.So,Water is the,the,it's the,it's the crux of life.It's the crux of health.And if people wanna start getting healthy,well,they start,gotta start really cleaning up their water and making sure that they're hydrating themselves the right way.And the other thing is like,okay,is this water actually getting into your cells and,and properly hydrating?So salts,um,you know,we've had this,you know,it,it almost seems like the entire system is built to make us extremely fragile.And Ill,you know,this fearmongering of salt,this fearmongering of the sun,um,you know,the,in my opinion,that that is,uh,the,they're willingly trying to make us sicker.Um,and,uh,you know,I,I think that if you cover these foundations,you're moving,you're getting sunlight,you're going outside,you're spending time in nature.I mean,those are the fundamental,like those for me will play the biggest role.Another big one is diet and like what people are eating.People today are not eating real food.They're literally eating.Uh,processed garbage that is food-like,but it,it lacks the energetic,uh,healing properties of what?Real wholesome food quality meats,quality seafood,quality vegetables and fruits.I mean,some of the vegetables I find are overrated in my opinion.There's,there's some value to them.But,um,you know,we need to go back to how we were doing things and trying to find sources of food that are just not,uh,intoxicated by,uh,environmental toxins.For example,you know,you look at the crops these days,the way they're growing crops,they're spraying glyphosate,and you know,the,the evidence is out there.Glyphosate is dangerous.It's not a hundred percent safe.They're still unsure that it causes cancer,but.If you look exactly what it's doing,it's literally killing,uh,turning off the metabolism of micro,uh,the bacteria,uh,in weeds and,and,and,and how these plants actually grow.So,you know,we're not much different than plants.We're not much different than bacteria.Um,you know,the D n a our d n a,I mean,it's,it's very,very similar.There's very different,small differences,but biology is biology and we are not made to live in a toxic environment.You know,we are blessed as humans to have livers that help help us detoxify and help us stay,you know,help healthy.But most people's livers are completely backed up because of the terrible lifestyle that they have.So,you know,I think there's a lot of,you know,in my opinion,there's just so many different facets that need to be addressed.Um,but really the best medicines are the ones that are free.Um,you know,like I said,being outside,drinking pure water,drinking,uh,you know,just getting outside and spending time in nature,managing your stress,breathing properly.Um,those are really where I try to get all my clients in,everybody,uh,you know,on Twitter to understand these fundamentals because,um,you know,supplements are the cherry on top of the sundae,but you gotta get these foundations right if you wanna be at the top of your game.It's so interesting how,like,I,I found this to be true for myself and I'm curious if you find it to be true for yourself as well.But,um,when you are at the start of this like healing journey and you're trying to figure everything out,um,it seems so complicated and overwhelming and you.View health as this very complex thing.And,um,the more you learn,the more you realize that like,those basics of just sunlight,movement,water,eating,whole foods,um,grounding,like all these things are so simple and they're gonna give you,they're gonna get you90,95%of the way there.And it's really not as complicated as people make it out to be.Yeah.Yeah.I think,you know,there's just a lot of confusion.Like,there's so many different perspectives.There's so many different philosophies when it comes to foods.You know,you have the carnivores that go to the extremes and say,oh,only meats good.Everything else is poison.And then,you know,then you have the vegans on the other side.Uh,you know,I,in my opinion,you it's the truth is always found somewhere in the middle.Uh,you know,we just need to.Do our best to get these foundations right.And once the foundations are set,well,we can use tools like herbs and supplements and mushrooms and whatever,whatever we think we need to kind of accelerate the process.But you know,what really helped me in my healing journey was working with mentors and working with practitioners,and working with people that actually know what they're talking about.I mean,why should you spend years and years like I did initially,trying to figure everything out on your own.When you can get literally the help of somebody who just knows what they're talking about,that will fast forward the process for you.Um,you know,I,I,I think for a lot of people,in order to get to that point though,it's gotta get really bad.I feel like as humans,we're very resilient.We can take some punches,um,especially men over women,like,you know,men were just like,oh,I'm good.I can,I can take this.I'm not gonna be a,a wissy.Just like,I'm gonna keep going and,and I'm,I'm okay,but.Women are a lot more in tune with their bodies.You know,I,I work with both men and women and,and I've noticed this tremendously.It's,we're very different and our bodies work very differently,but,you know,it still comes down to those foundations if those foundations aren't right.Um,everything else is just gonna be,you know,on a,on a,on a house of cards that's gonna topple over at any,you know,any kind of,uh,movement.So,um,we gotta do this right?We gotta do this right,we gotta do it quick.A lot of truth in those mentors and just having people to guide you through just gives you that like,confidence.And,um,I think there's,like we said before,there's just so much confusion.So having a person like that yeah.Um,can really just help you figure out what's right and what and what's right for you.That's it,man.I mean,what I've noticed,Ryan,is like,I,and you know,having gone through this transmutation of my illness and my suffering,I.Uh,and healing myself.Well,what ends up happening now with the,the coaching work that I do,I'm attracting people exactly like me who are in the same boat as I was,and I'm literally the guy that I wish I had during those times.So my,my,my illness and me suffering in my life was actually became the greatest blessing.And if there's,you know,for anybody who's listening to this,I mean,there is nothing more powerful than healing yourself and going,you know,making the changes and building up good habits and doing what's necessary to get yourself in the best,you know,into the best version of yourself.For some people,it could,it,it could become a,a calling,it could become,uh,a coaching practice for other people.It is just going to give you that drive and that confidence to crush anything else in your life.Because I.You know,if for,if you're not the own,the master of your own temple,well,how are you gonna master the outside world?How are you gonna master your life?For me,health is fundamental and it's an absolute necessity to make changes and get things done in life.That doesn't go to say that there aren't a lot of unhealthy people that are,that are doing things.Uh,you know,a lot of pop,uh,powerful things in society.But,you know,if we want to change the world into a better place,well,we need to heal ourselves first and then the outside world will follow.It's such a true,true statement that I don't think people realize at all.Is that like,um,when you heal,heal yourself and you are almost like,let's call it a little selfish.Yeah.And,and you're in that pursuit,you don't realize the effect it has on other people.Like,um,I.Once you start to heal yourself,then other people who need healing start to come to you and you're able to provide this guidance and this wisdom.And,um,I love how you used the word transmutation because I mean,dude,that's literally like the exact story that you told is the reason why the podcast is called The Alchemist Library.Um,because that transmutation of taking a negative experience in something like,um,an autoimmune disease and transmuting that energy and changing it into,um,the purpose and the thing that you're doing today,man,it's,it's beautiful.Yeah,absolutely.I think it's,uh,it's a must.I mean,it takes a lot of grit,it takes a lot of discipline.It takes a lot of,uh,you know,messing up and realizing,okay,this,maybe this didn't work as well as for me as I wanted to,but I.Um,you know,I,I strongly recommend,uh,if you have that self-awareness and you want to get something done,start,start somewhere.And if you feel like you really need help,get the guidance and get the support.And don't,don't get to the point where you're knocking your head against the wall and frustrated with yourself.I mean,there,you know,it's obviously very important that you invest,that people invest time and trying to learn how their body works.But there are people who have been,you know,uh,down the path that you're currently struggling,struggling with right now in your health.And look,seek out those people because,um,you know,I wish I,I had that self-awareness to do that back in the day when I was struggling.I,I,you know,I was,uh,in my mid,in my early twenties,mid twenties,I mean,social media was just kind of getting popular.Uh,you know,people were on it,but I just didn't know how to use it properly.Um,I think now as time has progressed,people are just a lot more pre present on,on these platforms and.There's a lot of gold.You know,as much as there is negativity and,and bad stuff on,on,on Twitter and on social media,there is a lot of good and there's a lot of light and,and people that are trying to do good things and change the world in a positive way.And I think,um,it's extremely powerful and I'm blessed to be in that position,man.It's beautiful.And,um,let's get into some of the more tactical things,right?Yeah.So for that person who,um,wants to go down that healing route,uh,so we mentioned sunlight,movement,water,eating,whole foods.Um,and I was thinking though that we'd start with,I.Um,two things that aren't mentioned there,which is stress and,and,uh,lack of sleep.Yeah,I mean,stress and lack of sleep are like the,you know,two,they're,they're brothers.They,when you're,when you're stressed out,you can't sleep well.If you're not sleeping well,it stresses you out and vice versa.So it's,it,it sleep.Insomnia falls under the umbrella of stress,but,um,stress is like a silent killer man.A lot of people don't,you know,a lot of people kind of don't realize how stressed out they are until things get really bad.I know that was the case for me.I mean,in my youth,I was partying,drinking,staying up late,you know,my body was able to take the punches for years and years and years.It was only a decade later where I hit that brick wall and it was,you know,it was disastrous.It was to the point where like,I didn't feel like who I,who I was anymore,and I was extremely ill.Um,so for me,stress,you know,stress,anxiety,insomnia,has a very,you know,it's very,it has a very important place in my heart,um,and in what I do because I know how painful it is to struggle with these things.I know how painful it is to not,you know,not get answers when you're struggling with these things.I,I feel like the traditional medical system when it comes to stress,Fails miserably.Like they don't,they don't teach people how to manage stress properly.They don't teach people how to breathe properly to manage their stress.They don't teach people to get outside and move.You know,they,they,you know,they'll,it'll come in passing,but it's never,it's never concrete actionable advice.And,um,stress for me is,it's the,it's,it's what?It breaks you down.It wears you down slowly but surely.And at a certain point it'll wreck you so much that,uh,you know,in severe cases people go on to get,you know,develop an depression so they get put on antidepressants or severe anxiety.I mean,I'm a big believer that the majority of our mental health struggles as a society are coming from us sleeping like crap.Like people are just don't know what good sleep is anymore.And because of it,well,their mind is struggling and,and it's,it is playing a big role in our,in our mental health epidemic that's happening right now.It absolutely is.And especially with things like,um,just the way that modern society is,is,um,situated in terms of,um,how,how much blue light we're getting past sunset and,um,just these dopamine hits we're getting at,at,uh,late at night.Yeah.It's messing up our sleep.And,uh,the analogy that was told to me once that really resonated was,um,sleeping is like landing a plane.It's a slow descent down.Mm-hmm.And every time you open up TikTok or you look at your phone without blue light blockers on all these things,it's just like,it,it's messing up that landing and it doesn't allow you to get into that proper phase to go to bed.Um,so how,how do we land the plane correctly?I mean,it's,it's all about setup,right?Like,The whole,you know,I always tell this with a lot of clients that I'm working with is,you know,they're,they're living extremely high stressful lives all day long.Go,go,go.Um,you know,not fueling themselves,right?Uh,not eating the right food,so their bodies in a,in a,in a rollercoaster all day long.And then at night,you know,how,how do you expect your body to wind down and land and kind of,you know,land that plane when the engine is roaring at full speed and everything's still going extremely fast.Um,I think it's all about setup.It's all like if you want to sleep well at night,well the moment you wake up in the morning,You're doing the right things to keep your body into this harmonious state.And I think one of the biggest issues,dude,that I've seen with most of my clients is the way they're eating.I mean,the,when it comes to stress,how people are eating is probably the most prevalent,uh,issue that I see with pe with,uh,with my clients.And a big one is a lot of these high performers are skipping breakfast.And I know there's a big,you know,there's a big kind of schism right now.It's like,oh,like is breakfast truly good?You know,intermittent fasting has gotten this,uh,you know,has rose to the,to the,to the forefront and everybody knows about it and everybody wants to do,it's like,oh,like I could be lazy and skip my breakfast and,uh,still be able to function and get all these health benefits.Um,I think intermittent fasting was great.Maybe,uh,you know,centuries ago when we weren't constantly hyperstimulated,our bodies weren't constantly stressed from.Multiple things like finances,relationships.I mean,they probably had stress,but it was much more short term.In our day and age,it's all day long from the moment you wake up to the moment you go to bed.We're stimulated from,if it's not social media,it's our work.It's our jobs,it's our families,it's our,you know,our,our future,what we're planning to do with our future.So the stress is just much higher.And I've seen,you know,nine outta10times people that are coming to see me for stress issues,uh,or insomnia is the,they're all skipping breakfast.So like,how do you expect your brain and body to work,uh,to start the day and work at its best when you're,when it's running on fumes?So,you know,intermittent fasting is not,uh,the panacea that everybody thinks for a lot of people.You have to find,uh,you know,you have to find what works for you for most stressed out people that are type A personalities,high dopamine,just big,you know,high performers.They need breakfast,they need to eat proteins and fats to start the day to up that dopamine in their brain,get that drive up and then,you know,if they really want to do the intermittent fasting to,for weight loss and whatnot,well they should be skipping dinner and,you know,or,or eating a,an early dinner and not eating in the evening to get that fasting window.But man,I'm telling you,the fasting thing is,uh,for a lot of people it does not work.And I've,you know,I,I try to say it as much as possible on Twitter,but,um,I'm gonna reiterate it here.It's,it's just so important to eat breakfast and eat a quality breakfast to start your day,especially if you're stressed.And so,And so for the reason,the,the reason for that you're saying is because,um,that fasted state is putting even more stress on your body,right?Well,what it's doing exactly is it's lowering your blood sugar.So our stress levels are affected by our blood sugar.So if we skip breakfast,um,you know,we're fasting throughout the night while we're asleep.We're not eating anything,we're obviously digesting the food from the day before.So we wake up in the morning with,you know,an eight hour fast already on the books.Um,and then we,you know,you know,some people,these high performers will wanna start their day.They'll drink coffee,they won't have breakfast,they'll have some coffee,they'll go to the gym,they'll do all these things.And what ends up happening is when you don't have enough food in you and you don't fuel your body well,your blood sugar starts to drop.And that signal to the brain,uh,you know,your brain isn't,hasn't advanced as much as we has,have advanced as a society.So our brain.What that signal is to our brain is,um,Ryan,are you starving,man?Like,what's going on?Why are,haven't we had food?It's been eight hours since we last ate.Like,is there starvation?Is there,is there not enough food for us?Are we gonna struggle?So it that,that the brain starts to stress a bit.It starts saying like,what am I gonna get my food?And so that's why you start feeling your stomach growling.You start feeling like your energy tanks a bit.It's your body's trying to give you a signal that it needs some sustenance to keep going,but then you're trying to push it and have it do all these things while already in a stressed out state.So what also happens when you drop your blood sugar is your insulin increases,which also increases.Uh,cortisol,which is the stress hormone.So you're messing up your hormones by skipping this breakfast and by dropping your blood sugar,um,you're basically shooting yourself in the foot to start the day off.Like you don't,you,your body does not want that.It wants to be able to keep going and get the gears moving.So eating first thing in the morning,if you're stressed out and you're struggling with your sleep and you're struggling with your stress,is the number one biggest,most important move that you should take.It holds so true too,for people with like,anxiety.Yeah.Like if you're,if you're experiencing anxiety and you're like skipping meals,it is,uh,just gonna exacerbate your system so much.Yeah.I mean,yeah.Man.Yeah.Go.No,I was just gonna say,I mean,it's,it's a stressor.It's a stressor on the body,and if the body's already stressed out,it's,it's not gonna,it's not gonna be able to function.So,Um,we wanna minimize stress.We want to diminish this difficult,you know,our bodies already go through a lot of difficulty with the pollution in the air,with the,you know,the,the toxins in our food that are almost inevitable today,the microplastic,whatever it is.Our body is constantly under attack.So we as individuals need to build these strong foundations and fuel ourselves the right way and stack the chips in our,on our,in our favor because,um,you know,it's,a lot of people are basically living life trying to roll upstream without a paddle.Um,you know,there's the,the current is strong and there's a lot of things going against them,but if you don't have that paddle and you don't have the,you know,the,the,the,the,the,your ducks in a row to get to where you need to go,well,it's just you're burning a lot of energy and you're making things harder on yourself.So,Yeah,as well said,and like,there's so many things going against us in terms of just like the,um,food that's being pushed,the drinking water,we have the plastics that are in almost everything.Um,there's a lot of things that you have to be super cautious of and avoid.And,um,do you think that there's a good solution to that?Like if you want to live,um,You want to be able to go out to dinner and eat water and drink water out of plastic bottle and it's convenient and these things and not stress about'em,or do you think there's any like supplements or just things that we should be doing to mitigate those effects?I mean,my opinion is this,dude,I,I'm a guy,I'm a believer that we gotta live,we have to,we can't live in fear and just constantly be orthorexic about every little piece of plastic or every little piece of toxin.You know,every,every,uh,co toxin is in our food.It's gonna be there.We just have to accept that if we live in a civilized society,these things are just part of our ecosystem.The only really real way you can completely avoid this stuff and,and,and really kind of live a life where,Um,the inputs aren't as negative is to literally live on an isolated island in the middle of,you know,but fuck nowhere and,uh,you know,live off the land and do that.But even then,you know,you don't,you don't even know what's in the seas.You know,there's,there's tons of microplastics in the seas,um,in,in my opinion,we can avoid them.We cannot,we can only mitigate as much as we possibly can and create an environment where most of the time we're doing our best.We're,we're,we're trying to drink that pure water.We're trying to get the clean foods in us.We're,we're,we're nourishing ourselves to build this,you know,essentially a force field.We have a,you know,your body has a resilience to this stuff.So it's about building up that resilience and making sure that the terrain of your body is strong enough to fight off whatever comes in there that shouldn't be in there.Um,you know,I,I,I want people to live.I,I,and I tell this to all my clients,it's like,why?Like,I don't want you to feel like you can't go out with your family and have an ice cream,or eat some bread or eat something that isn't,you know,part of,uh,on paper the healthiest thing for you.Um,I think that I'm a big believer in hormesis.I'm a big believer that,um,you know,you gotta stress the body out a bit to make it stronger.Um,and you know,once you do these foundational things,and once you build a regimen,That,you know,the majority of the time you're doing the best you can.There could be times where you can go out outside that box and,and,and,and enjoy yourself and go out for dinner and have a little bit of seed oils and,and not feel like you're gonna die and implode.You know,I think,you know,that,that's a big issue.I see.Uh,on social media.It's like,um,everybody gives the impression of,you know,wanting to be orthorexic and everything's gotta,you know,toxins are the worst things and seas are the worst things.Don't touch them with a10foot pole.I mean,if you wanna live that life and,and if for you,it works for you,you know,all the power to you.But for me,I mean,I'm a big believer that if I want to have some fries here and there and I want to have something that's outside the box,I'm gonna do it.I'm not gonna worry about it because I know.That,uh,you know,throughout the rest of my life,I'm gonna do everything I can to,to thrive.And,um,you know,when you,when you build these strong foundations,you have the confidence that your body can manage things.Um,if you don't have these strong foundations,it's a whole other story.And that's where,you know,that's where people need to work on,is they need to build these strong foundations first before they can,you know,they can fall off the map and,and kind of let themselves go.But I mean,I,I'm a big believer that,um,orthorexia and just being,uh,perfect all the time is just not sustainable.It stresses people out more.And,you know,I think to,in order to heal,and I've learned this from Bruce Lipton,Um,he says,you know,you're either stressing or you're healing your,your cells and your body cannot stress and at the same time heal you.So you need to find,you know,the,the less,the less stress you have,the more you put yourself into that self-healing mode and stress,you know,stressing about things that are mostly outside of your control is,is a negative,is a,is a net negative in my opinion.It's such a great point.Like that stress that it creates is probably much worse for the body than even just like eating that thing and not stressing too much about it.I,I remember listening to this podcast one time with a monk who,um,he had this awful eczema his entire life and he went off when he was like in his twenties on this,um,on this journey throughout like Europe,I think.And it was the first time in his life he was meditating.And he was with his friend,and it was just like this peak experience trip.And he didn't have a job.He didn't have like,any real stressors in his life and his eczema just entirely went away.And,uh,it just,it goes to show that just stress is really,um,going to do you so much worse or gonna do you going to be the real cause and driver of so many,uh,diseases and dysfunction.Yeah,man,I mean,I,I hear it all the time.You know,it,it'd be,it'd be lovely for us to be on vacation all year round and doing things that won't stress us,but,um,that isn't,that isn't the case.I think it's fascinating to see though,how quickly the body can get back into this harmonious state when stress,the day the,the stress of the,of our daily lives is eliminated.So it's not about trying to find a light,uh,a world where you,you won't stress.I mean,I tell this to all my clients,like.You're,you're gonna stress we're,we are gonna be in situations where that are stressful.You can't avoid that stress.What you can do though,is build the resilience to take the punches of that the stress brings into your life.And that's what I'm all about.It's about building a resilience,building that force field that protects you.I mean,we have a,the,the most sophisticated,miraculous biological system,you know,on the entire planet,right?What,what our bodies can do and the miracles it can produce when it's in the right environment.Um,it still fascinates scientists to this day.They,they don't even understand the brain fully at this point.So we don't,you know,in my opinion,I mean,we don't really understand ourselves yet.We still don't understand how our body fully works yet.And we're trying to go and explore Mars.You know,like I,I,I,I see the,the purpose of that,you know,I see why people would have that aspiration,right?But,I mean,I,you know,there's,there's a saying.Uh,nothing is new.Nothing is new.Uh,you know,there's,uh,what's the saying here?Um,as above,so below,uh,you know,there's nothing new under the sun.I mean,we have all the answers we need here on this planet,uh,you know,in,in our bodies too.I mean,I believe that if everybody made the effort to start healing themselves and doing the internal work,work,like I mentioned before,the outside world would change completely.The reason why we're in this situation right now,and the way society is right now is because nobody's doing that,or very few people,the,the majority of people are not doing that.So,um,you know,the world,the,the,the planet is a,is a living being.And,um,it's,it's a mirror of who we are as,as individuals.So,um,in order to change things,I mean,and,and this is why I do what I do.I'm trying to change the collective consciousness of people to make them realize that I.They are these very powerful beings that have miraculous powers at their disposal.All they need is the right environment and the right inputs to tap into that.I mean,I see it all the time,man.I,uh,it,it's fascinating to me and every,every day I get to do this is,is the utmost blessing.And I couldn't ask for anything more,man.What does your diet look like right now?What are you,what things are you currently eating?I mean,I eat,I mean,the best thing for me that has really changed the game in my.Body and in my performance was game meats.So bison,elk,uh,venison,whatever I can get my hands on.I mean,these,these meats are next.I the only issue with those meats is that obviously they're a little bit,you know,they're not,they're not the cheapest meats,but the quality and the value and the nutrients that you get compared to beef,in my opinion,are not even comparable.Um,eggs are super important to my diet.I mean,Eggs are probably one of the most nutrient dense,cheapest foods that anybody can get access to.So I mean,these are,those are really much the staples of what I eat.I'm eating a lot of seafood as well,some wild,you know,I try to stay as wild as possible.Uh,if I'm getting salmon,for example,it's wild salmon.If it's,uh,you know,any kind of other seafood,like shrimp,it's also wild.I,I feel like the way they're farming these things,um,aren't necessarily the best.So,in my opinion,I know the way I look at things is like I'd rather invest in my food as much as possible now,almost like an insurance policy for the future.And I,and I know that it's not only just for the future.I feel the difference now in my own life.And so,Um,you know,I've decided,I've made the conscious,conscious decision that for me,the number one investment is going to be the foods that I'm eating and the quality of foods that I'm eating,because that will,that will trump honestly,the supplements and all the other stuff that you're taking.The supplements should really just be the,the ice,the cherry on top of the sundae.If your food isn't,isn't where it needs to be.Uh,and you're not getting these nutrient dense foods like,uh,you know,I,I also think fruits have a big benefit as well.Um,I was not a big fruit eat.Uh,in the past,but now as of late,like I try to incorporate,you know,a few fruits in my,in my diet.It just gives me more,that,that quick sugar that,that fuels my brain whenever I need my brain to be,you know,the,the brain is using glucose as fuel,so fruits,uh,at certain times of the day.Uh,if you're active and you're moving a lot and you're doing a lot of,uh,exercise is,is gonna be very important for your performance.So,a and,and also another thing too is,um,I'm a big believer in carbs as particularly in the evening.I mean,I,on my training days,I'm,I'm,I'm trying to incorporate either a potato or,or,or rice in the evening.Uh,I find it really relaxes me.There,there is a relaxing effect from these carbs in the evening.The issue with carbs is when people start their day off with carbs,I mean,it's,your body is not in a state where it's ready to digest those things.Um,it's a quick,you know,it's a quick burning fuel.So,um,you know,I,in my opinion,it's better to do it post workout in the evening.Um,my philosophy is car back loading,because what that does is it actually calms down the nervous system,which is,which,you know,post-workout is very important.The body goes through a stressor when you're training,well,you wanna relax that stressor post-workout,not before.You don't want your body relaxed going to a workout.So carbs do have value,and they do play a role in my recovery and,and my,uh,you know,my sleep regimen in the evening.Um,but yeah,man,it's,I,I stick to the fundamentals,the meats.The,the,the seafood.Um,and,and try to get,you know,those things in those are like the number one priority.So protein with every meal too.I think a lot of people,why they're so hungry all the time as well,is they're not also not getting enough fats.And fats are,uh,you know,there's almost like a,a negative connotation to the word fat.And that comes from the nineties where,you know,the low fat diet gained prevalence and people were like,oh,fat's gonna,you know,fat is high in calories,it's gonna make you gain weight.Well,your brain is,the majority of your brain is fat.The majority of your hormones is fat.Uh,so,you know,if you're not take,you're not getting enough fat in your diet,well,one,you're always gonna be hungry.So you're always gonna overeat.And in my opinion,that's the reason why they wanted people on a low fat diet so they can overconsume carbs and crap and process food to,uh,you know,skyrocket the obesity epidemic,which is pretty much what happened.And,you know,so all this to say is that like we have to,you have to cover your,your foundational bases,right?You gotta fuel yourself with nutrient dense foods,uh,organ meats,seafood,like,uh,oysters,things that give you a lot of nutrients for,you know,that pack of punch so that you don't have to eat these all the time.But when you do eat them,you're really,uh,you know,you're really optimizing,uh,your nutrient status and getting what you're giving your body what it needs.Why do you think,why game meat as opposed to beef?Like,what is superior about game meat?I mean,the,the amino acid profile is different.I mean,the,the one thing you should do,Ryan,is go look at a picture of a bison and then go look at a picture of beef or,or cattle,you know,like,just take a look at both of those animals.When you eat the bison,like you see,it's just this giant,muscular,majestic animal.Well,what do you think is gonna happen when you eat it?I mean,you're gonna get the same nutrients and power that that animal had throughout its life.So,you know,thank,thankfully,you know,and God bless the animals that are,that are doing the sacrifice for us to,to,to thrive and,and live the best lives that we can.But man,those,you know,all you have to,I'm,I'm a believer,like just look.And see and try,you know,you can see the difference in the quality of meat when you cook it,when you eat it,when you see the actual animal itself,you can tell the difference.You can tell which animals are,are,are healthier.And you know,the thing with cattle is,um,they're highly medicated.They're given a lot of vaccines.They're given a,you know,they're,they're not really fed the best stuff.The,these,these animals like bison and venison.You,you have no choice but to feed it the good stuff because the,if not,it won't be a healthy animal.So,um,you know,that's why I opt for these things.And I,you know,I,I got lucky.I got a good connection with the farmer and I try to go right to the source and I,I really recommend people do the same because it ends up being cheaper,going directly to the farmer and getting this quality food than going to the grocery store and paying an arm and a leg to these grocers who are upcharging people,you know,like crazy.Especially now.Yeah.Making a good relationship with,with farmers such a great idea.And with these local butchers.Yeah.Um,so back loading carbs.Um,so you mentioned it has like this anti-stress like property Yeah.I've heard people say in the past,like it has some hormonal benefits.Yeah.Is there any truth to that?Yeah.Well,I mean,in the,in the,in the afternoon,well later on in the day,um,your,obviously throughout the day your hormones are fluctuating.So your testosterone as a man will peak around one to2:00PM and then the body,based on the circadian biology,will start changing the hormonal,uh,profile to start preparing you for bedtime.So in my,you know,and also one important thing about the carbs in the evening is that they also help replenish mu muscle glycogen.So if you're training hard,And you wanna wake up the next day and be able to go back and,and train again?Well,you gotta replenish those glycogen stores.And another thing about these carbs and,and,and,and these carbs in the evening is when you,when you eat things like,uh,like carbs,what happens is you flood your brain with serotonin.Serotonin is the precursor to melatonin,which makes your sleep hormone.So I'm sure you've had a carb heavy meal once in your life and you notice that you're like really sleepy after.And like your eyes start closing and you feel like you just gotta lay down.Well that's the brain flooding with serotonin.And so you can see now like the theory as to why it's better to do that in the evening,to be able to produce more,to fledge your brain with serotonin,which is gonna eventually transform into melatonin,your sleep hormone.So that's why I'm a big,I love car backloading.And um,the benefit too as well is that it keeps you leaner because you're,by avoiding the carbs throughout the day,well you're spiking your insulin much,much,much less,and you're having a much more stable blood sugar.So your body's more in like,in like the fat burning mode versus when you start your day off with carbs and then the body has to deal with all that glucose.Well,it's not in a fat burning state.So I try to do this to make sure that throughout the day,I'm in a state where I'm burning as much fat as possible,and then I'm using the carbs to kind of extinguish the flames of the stress that my body has been through,replenish the muscle glycogen and have a good night's sleep so that I can recover and do the next,do it the next day.I like that perspective,uh,because it's kinda like getting the best of both worlds.Like you get a lot of the benefits that,like the ke keto crowd attributes to,uh,low carb,and you also get the benefits that like the ee crowd attributes to high carb.Um,so I like that little like happy medium trying to.Get the boats out boat best out of both of those worlds.Um,John,you think,is there a concept in health that we haven't discussed today that you think is pretty fundamental?Oh my God.Um,light man.Light is probably,yeah,light,light is,in my opinion,the future of what medicine's gonna be.I mean,we've fully inverted what our ancestors and,and old,you know,doctors of old of the old times really understood.They understood the power of sunlight and how important it was to healing not only,you know,skin issues,but all kinds of health issues.Um,you know,this exposure to artificial light all day long,all the time is messing with our brains.It's messing with our hormones,it's messing with just our,our overall wellbeing.And I've heard,you know,I've,I've really,uh,dove deep into this stuff recently.Um,there's a,something called the Quantum Biology Collective,and they're basically a,a,a group of people that are trying to bring,uh,light and it's,it's therapeutic benefits to the forefront.And,um,you know,I've,I've di I,I've dove deep into their stuff and really learned all,all,all the stuff they had to talk about.And,um,what I'm starting to understand,and you know,you,you can see doctors are using this in their practice with patients that are struggling with chronic illnesses like diabetes,autoimmune disease,cardiovascular disease,and just,you know,obviously the sun is one part of the picture,but it's a very important part because the sun and the light that the sun gives us,Su uh,it,it really,uh,charges our mitochondria.Mitochondria are the,in,in my opinion,the crux of our,our health.If we,you know,if we were,if you look at yourself as a human being,you know,we ha we're obviously made up of a bunch of different organs,the brain,the liver,the gut,the heart,et cetera,et cetera.But if we were to zoom in and take a microscope and go really,really deep,well,we're gonna realize that we're made up of trillions and trillions of cells and each of these cells,except red blood cells,Will have a mitochondria in it,and sometimes they'll have thousands if not a hundred,you know,a hundreds if not a thousands,um,that are all working in,in conjunction to keep you healthy at a cellular level.And this is what I always talk about with all my clients.It's like,you know,people are struggling with stress or struggling with their gut.Um,you know,if the mitochondria aren't taken care of first,and we don't go to at a microscopic level to make sure that these vital components of our cells,our cell circuitry are working.Well,how do we expect,you know,how do we expect our organs to work?How do we expect our brain to work if mitochondria are dysfunctional?So,you know,that's a big hot topic too.And you know,you try to talk about this in the traditional medical system,they'll look at you as if you're,you're crazy.They're like,oh,well,how can mitochondria can't be dysfunctional?Mitochondria can't be sick.They can't not work optimally.It's,it's a bunch of bss.Well,I mean,the researchers coming out now and we're,we're starting to realize that one,a lot of medications that we're prescribing to people,statins,uh,anti inflam,NSAIDs,so anti-inflammatories,all these sorts of medications are actually damaging mitochondria.So,You're trying to help somebody in their health,but at a cellular level,you're destroying their body and making it weaker.Like that's where things are so backwards,in my opinion.So,you know,where one of the biggest sources of vitality that your mitochondria need is sunlight.And so now,you know,I get everybody that I work with to spend more time outside in the sun.Even in my own life now,I'm working outside whenever I can.I'm,I'm blessed to be able to do that and,you know,be outside and do my work.But I try to get,you know,for the people that can't.Whenever you can get your sun,you're out there,your,your body needs the sun to be as healthy as it can.And these mitochondria absolutely.We'll need it as well in order to thrive.So,you know,if there's one thing that our traditional system is lacking now when it comes to healthcare,is using the power of the sun to heal.And,uh,in my opinion in the future,it's gonna play a significant role again in,uh,in the healing of our planet and the healing of our,of our,of our species.You know,the human species.Yeah.And then you have those dumbass dermatologists that tell you that having a tan is gonna give you sun cancer on the other end of the spectrum.It's this like backward system.And,uh,especially with light,like there is so much ignorance,um,in the medical field and people are just not aware of these benefits that sunlight has.And,um,the benefits of avoiding things like blue light at late at night and yeah,it really is this,um,it's this mass.Misunderstanding when it comes to,to light.Yeah.It's uh,it's almost like,uh,they don't want,it almost feels like it's done on purpose,in my opinion,and it,it,what's gonna have to happen is people are more and more people are gonna spend more time in the sun and they're gonna realize how much better they feel and they're gonna tell their friends and their friends are gonna tell their friends,and it's just a matter of time.I think people are realizing that.Um,you know,does that mean the sun is not dangerous and the sun shouldn't be taken lightly?I mean,no.If your,if your body is not ready to get a lot of sun and you try to force it,yeah,you're gonna burn it.You're gonna,you're not gonna,it's not gonna be the healthy way of doing this,but I.Everybody should make an effort to build a solar callus to get outside and get that sunlight and just make,you know,build up the resilience to,to spend more time outside and,and really absorb the,the benefits.I mean,this blue light is not only,I.Just screwing up our sleep.There's studies that show that blue light is actually affecting the health of our skin and the people that are spending a lot of time on their phones,especially in the evening when it,when the blue light is red on your face,you know,you're laying in bed and people are on their phones with the blue light in their face.Well they're,they,they've shown that this blue light actually grows bad bacteria on the surface of the skin,which causes things like acne.So I,I feel like there's,like you said,there's a mass misunderstanding of what light is and what good light is versus bad light.Um,I see it still,and,and,you know,I have all my friends still laughing at me for wearing blue light blockers and they think I'm crazy.But I,I know for a fact that it's changed my sleep.It's played a huge role in,in helping me feel better and get deeper quality sleep.And the beauty with these blue light blockers is they let you live your life.Like I.You don't have to go to the extremes and drop technology and,uh,you know,turn off all the lights and make it into a dark cavern and,you know,live by candlelight.I mean,if,if that's your jam,absolutely do it.But for the people that want to like live their life and not feel like what they're doing is negatively affecting you,uh,blue light blockers are the,the,the best,like,like starter investment in,in your health.Um,they are super important and they,they,it all rolls back to the importance of light and how it's damaging us and negatively affecting us.Yeah,those blue light blockers are,um,incredibly beneficial,especially the ones with like,um,the red tint on them.Yeah.Uh,like the ones from raw optics,man,those things,those things work wonders for your eyes and you feel the difference.Yeah,absolutely.Feel the difference.Yeah.Dude,I wouldn't even recommend anybody get blue light blockers that don't have that red tint if it's doesn't have the red tint.You're,you know,and I've seen so many people come,uh,into the program and,and work with me or,or ask me like,oh,like I,I have these blue light blockers.Are they good?Well,if they're transparent,you're only blocking about40%of the blue light,so you're still getting more than half of it.And,um,you know,you should be getting zero at night.You should literally be getting zero blue light entering your retina,um,at night because it is literally telling your brain that there's an artificial sun in the house that you're hanging out in,or wherever you're at.And your brain when it notices that there's a sun out,it doesn't wanna sleep.It's not made to sleep during the day when there's light out,it's made to sleep when it's dark.And the red light bl the,the,the red tint on the glasses almost mimic as if you're in a,uh,you know,there's a fire.And the fire is making that reddish orange shoe color that's illuminating the environment.While it's the same principle with these glasses,these red,uh,tinted blue light blockers100%.Yeah.That it,it brings,uh,it puts you in a relaxing state.Yeah.Like it,like you are when you're looking at that fire.And,um,it definitely has a nice feel to it.Are you a fan of,um,like have you looked into these like extensive,uh,lab work tests,like these diagnostic text tests?Like which ones are you talking about?Just there's so many,right?Like what are you talking about exactly.Um,So like,let's talk about,like,I,I,I don't know how familiar you are with it,but like the high quality food sensitivity tests.Hmm.Um,like,uh,Cyrex or,uh,Genova Diagnostics has a really good like stool analysis to look into your microbiome.Yeah.Um,there's some really good,or it seems like some really good micronutrient panels and mm-hmm.Mm-hmm.Are you,are you a fan of doing this like,extensive deep dive into your lab work to try to get at the root cause and um,have a more efficient approach?I mean,yes,I do see,you know,there is a big value to these kind of diagnostic tests.The issue that I have with a few of them is there could be a lot of false positive,especially in like stool tests when you're doing things like checking for parasites or checking for mold.Um,there are a lot of false negatives.My full,and you know,the,the issue with these tests is they're not cheap.Right?It's a big,significant investment to just do diagnostic testing.So I,you know,when I have,when I work with people,I mean,if they,if they've done diagnostic testing,it's kind of a,it's,it's a great,it's a great thing to have.Um,I'm more of like the,the camp of.Let's build strong foundations.The,the,the testing and the diagnostic testing in my opinion is gonna be great down the line if we wanna see where,you know,if you wanna,if we wanna track where you're at now versus where you're at later.Yeah,absolutely.Like the diagnostic testing is great,but if you feel like your foundations are already wobbly and you don't have the fundamentals taken care of,the money that you're gonna invest in diagnostic testing would go a lot further.If you took that money and invested in quality food and invested in quality supplements and actually invested into actually.Taking a,you know,taking action to actually heal yourself rather than getting a whole bunch of information that's just going to,you know,if you don't know what to do with that information,it's kind of useless in my opinion.So,um,this is,you know,the testing is great.There's a lot of insights you can get.Um,you know,there's things like organic acids to see how,how healthy your mitochondria or how,how dysfunctional your mitochondria are.Uh,the stool test is great for people that are struggling with gut issues and they,you know,they wanna identify is there,is there something in there that needs to be addressed?Um,they're all great tools,but in my opinion,I'm a guy that I would rather people take that money and invest it into,uh,things that are actually gonna bring them.Benefits than just getting above a bunch of information that isn't actionable.You know,unless you're working with a clinician,right?If you're working with a clinician and they need to do this testing and you know you wanna have this information,uh,yeah,absolutely,it's a great idea.But if you just want to do it on your own and just get this information for yourself,I mean,it's not gonna get you far.So it should,it's it's part,it's a tool,right?It's like it's a tool and people should use,should use them to how well they want to.They,they think it's gonna benefit them.But I mean,there,there's so many labs,man,there's so many things you could possibly check.Um,in my opinion,what I think would be the most important is to check for people.Uh,you know,if people wanna do the testing,they check if they have mold issues,if they have any mold present,any parasites present.Uh,a good stool test would be a good starting point to just understand where the gut is at.Because in my opinion,the gut is the second brain.Uh,well,it's not my opinion,it's,it's actually fact,right?And so,you know,in my work,I work with all these people and I start working on their gut.And I start to,you know,my goal is to heal the gut so that the brain can cannot struggle and,and,and be able to function where your gut is,where your body's absorbing and assimilating all the nutrients.Your microbiome is literally wiring your,how your brain works.So the gut is,is really the most important thing.And if anybody wants to do testing,they should start with the gut first.So anything that looks at the gut,John,I appreciate your time today,brother.I wanna be courteous of it.But thank you so much for being here today.Oh,my pleasure,man.It was a,it was a great chat and uh,thank you for,uh,for having me,man.I really appreciate it.Yeah,absolutely.And thank you guys for listening.Catch you guys next time.Peace.