The Pursuit of Health and Knowledge with Noah Ryan

0:01

What is up guys?Welcome back to the show.Today we have on Noah Ryan.Noah Ryan is a content creator whose work focuses on health and fitness.We had a ton of fun recording this one,and I'm sure you guys are going to love it.Catch guys inside.Peace.

Ryan: 0:40

Dude,I,I saw,so you're back in the States right now?You um,yes.Just visiting.Just visiting.Not staying long.Not staying long.Just picking up the research

Noah: 0:49

chemicals.Exactly.I had to visit my cat and I saw my cat and I was thinking it was gonna be,you know,when,when,when soldiers come back from the war and their dog is like super excited and it's like crying and like jumping on him.I thought it was gonna be like that,but that is not how cats are like,so he didn't give a shit.And then,um,I actually like legally had to come back for two weeks for jury duty,but,uh,Luckily they didn't call me,but yeah,dude,I went to the beach yesterday,so I always go to the beach and um,it was like an American beach.I was like,holy shit,get me out of here.I honestly felt like I was in GTA with just like a bunch of characters everywhere doing crazy stuff,you know,doing like the gospel stuff on the beach.But,um,it's good,it's good culture shock.It's good culture

Ryan: 1:29

shock.It's funny you said culture shock in the states,right?Like it's a Yeah,it's reverse shock,reverse culture shock.But dude,I saw a cool post from you the other day when you were just kinda saying like,that you're content that you are at a place right now where you're,where you're kind of happy.Where,where,

Noah: 1:44

where you're at yeah,I think,was that the one where it's like,can you be too happy?I think so.Can life be too good?I think so,yeah.Dude,life was too good.Life was too good.I was in this small beach town in,uh,NIRI,Mexico,so like the west coast of Mexico.And,uh,when I first got there,like I,I left for two weeks.I was in Mexico City and I was just so sick of the lifestyle that I had.Not that it was bad,but just being in the city,kind of getting caught up in the fast paced lifestyle,which on paper was great,you know.Just having a really,really good time,living a very good life.Um,and then I went to this beach town and then I got there and I just still wasn't happy.So I kind of just said,fuck it.I literally was like,you know,fuck it,I'm just gonna do whatever I want.I'm gonna have fun.I'm just gonna chill out for a little bit.And then whatever happened there,I started chilling out and life just got really,really,really good.Like,I've never been so content,I've never been so fulfilled for such an extended period of time.And then,you know,I think life was a little bit too good to the point where I am definitely motivated by having a chip on my shoulder.And I did not have a chip on my shoulder,so I was like,I'm just gonna do what I have to do to like continue living a good life.But there wasn't that like real inspiration and motivation to like,Do something meaningful.And I found that interesting.So I'm doing a little experiment and I'm leaving that space for a little bit.And,uh,making myself uncomfortable,putting myself in situations where it's a little bit shittier.You know,being in bigger towns,being in,you know,the United States for one.And,um,it definitely has me motivated again.It's like I'm staying up late.It's like,fuck,you know,I gotta do something.It's almost like escapism,you know?It's like,well,shit,if the external environment's annoying or maybe not that enticing to me,or more even frustrating,I might as well like dial into my internal world.And I find that to be the case quite frequently.But,uh,yeah,dude,I,I love just like that lifestyle that I had,I,you can't beat it.Yeah,

Ryan: 3:35

it's awesome.And it reminds me of something I heard,Andrew Schultz say,like the comedian,and during quarantine who moved down to Miami and he was like,yeah,I,um,I moved down to Miami for.About six months,and I couldn't write comedy.I just couldn't.And I didn't know what was up.And he was like,I realized that my life in Miami was too good.Like the weather was too good,the people were too nice.Like I needed to go back to New York City and have people be an asshole to me and be the,and have the weather suck in order to write good comedy.It was like,sometimes you kind of need that,uh,the external world to put a little extra,

Noah: 4:12

Dude.Uh,that's so on point too.And it's,it was the same for me.Obviously I don't write comedy,but a lot of my stuff is,is like researching these nuanced health topics,right?And like these weird things of like,how can we.Essentially improve our baseline health.And that only comes when you think the baseline is broken.So I was in this environment where I'm like,man,life is so good.I don't need any of this.Like,I didn't take a supplement for four months and then I come back to a place like this,which is honestly a good place.But it's like I come back to a normal place with normal people and I'm like,oh my God,life sucks.Everybody sucks.Everything sucks.Like I need to do something about this.So then I just like dive back into that work.And it,it's crazy,but the beauty of it is it gives you this variability that you can't get staying in one place.So I just went from being one person to now,like I'm a completely different person,and then eventually I'll just be able to meld the two.And it's,it's a great way to live multiple

Ryan: 5:02

lives.That's interesting.Right.And you said,we talked a little bit before this talking about how you have a bunch of,uh,supplements coming in right now,and you did this,so many,you did this log experiment for a little bit where you were supplement free for four months and now you're starting to,um,

Noah: 5:18

dive into the kind of the other side of like,

Ryan: 5:20

Ultra supplementing,getting super,super dialed in with what you're taking.Have you been able to notice any differences so

Noah: 5:26

far between the two?Yeah,so I just got my shit last night.I just got into the states yesterday and I went and I got all of my goodies and I,like I said,I was a kid in a candy shop,so I started toying with some of them again and it was,Crazy how immediate and how profound the difference was when I started incorporating some of them,right?Even simple things like antioxidants,GABAergic compounds,all these things that are kind of modulating my neurochemistry in particular and it's like,whoa,holy shit.You know that that constant stimulus that distracts me all the time is,is suddenly gone.It's like,wow,I've never been able to like dial into this flow state like that in,in months.And it was really profound and it reminded me why I love this game so much to begin with,cuz it really is modern day alchemy,right?This idea that you can take a substance,you can take a compound that changes the way that your brain works.Now,is it necessary?Absolutely not.Is it risky?Yeah,somewhat.But if you arm yourself with the information and the knowledge to have a.An accurate risk profile.And also if you're willing to go and be a lab rat,you know,that's a different story.And for me,I am right,like the second I take a compound,the second something enters me,I immediately fixate on it.And I wanna know everything about it.I want to be the closest thing I can be to an expert on it because the stakes are real.I have skin in the game.And I think that's the issue is when people don't look into that and they start,you know,hard lining,200milligrams of Modafinil for two and a half months without ever looking into what,say an er boic compound is to begin with.So it's obviously a different game.It's not necessary.But man,I love it.Like this is the game that I love.Everybody has their hobbies,mine's,you know,alchemy.I love it,dude.It's,it's right on par with,that's funny.This is called the Alchemist Library.I didn't even mean that.No pun intended.I mean,dude,it's awesome.And,uh,I

Ryan: 7:16

mean,even

Noah: 7:17

something as simple as like lion's man,it has such a dramatic effect on your brain and the way you flow through life.

Ryan: 7:25

That's so awesome.And there,

Noah: 7:26

there's so many fun little

Ryan: 7:27

compounds that you can mess around with and experiment and find out what's right

Noah: 7:31

for you.Oh,dude,there's so many Lions.Maine,is it,it holds a special place in my heart because as you probably know,I had some pretty bad brain injuries when I was a sophomore in college.And also just throughout my life from sports,from martial arts in particular,from skiing,I got my head hit a lot.And being someone who has,you know,executive dysfunction to begin with,being,you know,ADHD and being a hunter type,my frontal lobe was like further incapacitated by these brain injuries.So I went through a period of time where my articulation was horrible,my memory was shit.And the one thing that actually regrew my ability to articulate fluently and have these flowing conversations was lion's mane.You know,it's incredible for neurogenesis,it induces brain drive,nootropic factor,which is one of the primary factors you need for repairing damage in your brain.And I found some really,really impressive results with it.Yeah,me as well.

Ryan: 8:23

Honestly,like taking it before a podcast,it's like one of the things I miss most about being in the States is my lines,man,before a podcast because it locks you in and it makes you more articulate and there's um,there is

Noah: 8:35

something there,dude.It is,it's a great compound.Yeah.You know,an interesting thing with Lions Mane as well is I find that it increases my ability to be interested in other people.And that's really,really interesting to me.There's a few compounds that do that where it takes you from that internal world where it's all of your thoughts,your ideas,how do I look,how do I sound,what happened to me last week?What's gonna happen to me a week from now?And enables me to put all that energy outward.I noticed the same thing with some other compounds.A lot of the GABAergic do that for me.So,you know,crate'em in particular,I was gonna bring it up.Uh,crate obviously it's a,it's a gray space thing.It's a gray space thing.But for me,you know,I use it properly and I use it in a effective form.And I find that's the one thing where when it snaps in,I go from being in my head to just focusing on everybody externally.Uh,and you know,I think a lot of that comes down to GABAergic properties.Obviously with Crad there's,there's other mechanisms involved as well,but Lions,Maine does that too.And at the end of the day,I just find the better my brain is functioning.The better life is and the better the world is.I think the number one leading factor of depression and leading contributor to depression is neuroinflammation.Right?An inflamed brain is an unhappy brain,and it's gonna signal to you and the rest of your body that,Hey,we're fucked up.You know,like,do something about this.I'm gonna make it too difficult for you to enjoy life until you do something about this.Dude.

Ryan: 9:54

It's so true.And like I even think about just who I,the person I was and the intelligence I thought I had before I started trying to optimize,like my diet and my lifestyle and grounding and all these type of things.I

Noah: 10:07

genuinely thought I was a very dumb person.

Ryan: 10:11

And then once you take these things out and like I don't wanna say like I'm a smart guy,whatever,but I'm genuinely like different levels.It it's crazy.It's,it feels like I'm a different person and there's a different brain inside and it's,I think it's solely because of the inflammation.And when you get rid of those

Noah: 10:27

things,man,you're a lot more clearheaded.A hundred percent.And listen,everyone's always like,oh,you know,our ancestors didn't need supplements.Yeah.In a perfect world,we would probably have pretty high level function without any need for supplementation,without any need for these ancillary compounds.But we live in the furthest thing.From a perfect world,you know,we're poisoned from the day that we're born.We're developmentally stunted in every aspect,physically and mentally.Not as if there were any difference between the two.So we are fucked from the get go.It is completely.Okay.For us to use our intellect and our understanding of chemistry and biology to find ways to regain some of that.And while we're at it,you know,why not improve it a little bit above baseline.Now,obviously that's a slippery slope to some people,but hey,you know,at the end of the day,I'm gonna do what I want with my body.I love the idea that these things are readily abundant in nature and have these incredible physiological and psychological effects on us.So I'm gonna love the,leverage them to my complete advantage.It's like we've been tinkering with herbal compounds since the beginning of mankind,you know,traditional Chinese medicine,Ayurveda,for literally thousands of years,they've been going through.The jungle and the forest,and they've been picking up different herbs and different spices and different fungi.Fungi and being like,I wonder what will happen if I take this.And they just find that you can have such a flourishing improvement in who you are as a person and really change yourself into whoever you wanna be.And I think that's what I've always been interested in,is like,this is who I am now,there's things that I can control,and I don't like that.What things are within my locus of control that I can immediately do that are gonna get me closer to that person I want to be.And I've done it physically.I've done it mentally.I've done it emotionally.I've done it spiritually for all intents and purposes.

Ryan: 12:07

I took this anthropology class in college and I had a real,almost like conspiracy theorist,like,like professor,

Noah: 12:14

a little Graham Hancock type.And he was

Ryan: 12:17

telling us that one of the oldest humans we've ever found was found at

Noah: 12:22

the top of this mountain frozen.

Ryan: 12:24

So because they were frozen,you know,they had,

Noah: 12:27

they were intact.

Ryan: 12:28

And they were able to notice that they had a bunch of tattoos on them and they were just these little dots and they figured out that all those top dots were trigger points for,acupuncture.But that's the oldest human we've ever found.I mean,just there,I mean,we've been tinkering with the body and with what we're capable

Noah: 12:47

of for we don't even know how long.Yeah,dude,that's so funny.And it's so funny that you bring up anthropology.So the big kind of,what do they call it,cannon event for me,or like,the big turning point for me was when I went and I studied in,in Thailand.Uh,in college my junior year I went to Thailand to study and I studied anthropology there,and I also had one of those far out anthropology professors.This guy has been doing field work for the last30years on like primate behavior and the way that he synthesized this information,this small tie man who looked like George of the jungle,he made it where it's like,you know,we are primates.Like this is why we are the way that we are.This is why we think the way that we think.This is why you're attracted to women with big breasts and like a,an hourglass shape.He just broke it down all in a way where it's like,man,I was always thinking these things,but it always seems so outlandish,especially for me being someone who went to like a Catholic school as a kid and you know,they pretty much taught creationism.I'm like,oh,this all makes sense.Like we are just hairless monkeys.But at the end of the day too,it's like if you look at what made humans different than the other apes and what made humans different than every other species on the planet,Is,we've always been tinkerers,we've always been people or like animals that always asked what if,right?Like that's how we went from the jungles to the planes,right?That's how we've always expanded to new environments and new territories cuz we're always asking what if,like,we're just natural born entrepreneurs and tinkerers.So we're always gonna be wanted pushing,we're always gonna wanna be pushing that status quo.And that's just so natural to us.And it's so natural to who we are as a species.You know,we'd be crazy to just accept things for the way that they are.Yeah.I

Ryan: 14:21

mean,do have you ever,um,have you ever looked into,um,Terence McKenna's

Noah: 14:27

Stoned Ape Theory?Yes.Yeah.I've looked at,into a lot of the APE theories.Uh,I have looked into Terrence McKenna,stone Ape Theory.I find it interesting.Um,I try not to embellish the psychedelic aspect of things too much,even though I have like,had my fair share of experiences with it and like interest in it.Um,I honestly think that my lack of embellishment there just comes from the idea that I think that.To a certain extent,men in particular should be grounded in reality.Um,you know,up until like age35,there was some book I was reading and they said like traditionally in a lot of these,you know,traditional societies,uh,nomadic societies,old school,I think Native American societies,they never let any of the people or the men in particular dabble with the spiritual or psychedelic until they were in their thirties.And I found that really interesting.And I had some experiences particularly with Ayahuasca,where it was like,it was great,it was very enlightening,terrifying at the same time,but it also disrupted me from reality in a way that I thought may have not been fully beneficial to me as a young male.So I don't talk about psychedelics that much.I don't really like ever tweet about them.I don't think you'll find anything mentioning any form of psychedelic kind of for that reason.I think that's something that people should look into after they've already established themself in the world and after they've already achieved a lot of these reality based objectives.Dude.Yeah,

Ryan: 15:49

I couldn't agree more.But dude,we gotta talk.Jack Cruz.Have you,have you looked into

Noah: 15:53

his stuff at all?I have.And God,here's the deal.And this is what pisses me off so much about the health space.This is part of the reason why I'm in the health space to begin with,is Jack Cruz has so much knowledge,so much alpha that could really change the way that people live and make people so much better and happier and healthier.But he ruins it by being an asshole.Dude,he's such a fucking for no reason.Like,Jack,if you are the healthiest man on the earth,why are you such a dickhead all the time?And it completely ruins his message.Think about how many more people he could change an impact if he wasn't such an asshole and didn't fight everybody.Like he,you know,Ray Pete died.I love Raymond P and he's like,he was talking about it on a podcast and he was like,thank God this guy died.I was like,who says that?And no matter how right he is,it's very hard to listen to someone who is,you know,a sociopath.So,um,yeah,I really wish Jack would get his shit together.But

Ryan: 16:48

I feel you dude,I feel you.I mean,did you listen to his episode with Rick Rubin

Noah: 16:53

and Andrew Berman?I did.Dude.He just shit on my boy for the whole time,bro,bro.It was fucked for no reason.And Andrew's so nice dude.Andrew's like six three full of tats,super jacked and super strong and he just sat there and took it.Yeah,

Ryan: 17:08

dude,that,that episode made me have so much more respect for Huberman.I was like,dude,this guy's a g,

Noah: 17:13

you just.No,no.Going back to what you were saying about Jack Cruz,I think his whole,you know,theory of us being like light-based beings,I,I find a lot of merit in it.I mean,listen,the biggest impact that I've been able to enact on my health has been getting more sunlight.And I always knew as a kid,dude,I grew up in Minnesota.I was like,why do I feel like shit all the time?Why am I always so like lethargic and melancholy and just like,feel like dog ship?And it's like,oh,I'm spending all day inside under blue light when the days in the winter are like four hours long.No wonder,cuz then I'd go in the summer and I'd be a different person,I'd be happy.And I was like,okay,the more tan I am,the better I feel.And then I thought that was just an obstacle thing.I thought that was just some form of vanity where it's like,oh,I just look better.But no,it's like very,very impactful.I mean,melanin is such a powerful compound.Like the more tan you are,the healthier you are for all intents and purposes.And obviously there's some discussion about UV damage,but I just think the benefits of sunlight outweigh any potential negative that may occur.So,um,yeah,I,I love what Jack Cruz is saying.I just wish he would've,he would say it in a way that's more,uh,not duty.100%.

Ryan: 18:21

Yeah.Especially when you're not burning it really seems like the benefits are significantly outweigh the negatives.

Noah: 18:30

Oh,a hundred percent.And that's the issue,right?Sunburn happens when you're not exposing yourself to adequate levels of sun in a safe and healthy manner.Nikola,I see he's in the group.He posted something today that was so.It crazy to me.He has been in the sun a lot.Dude's,Italian dude's,melanin,maxed,and,um,Nico,I hope you're Italian bro.Maybe you're Portuguese.But anyway,he's dark dude.He's melanin.Um,and he posted this photo of him,his arm,and he had a,a watch on or like a whoops,strap on.So obviously he wasn't getting some there.He took it off and he went in the sun.His full arm was just dark tan.No burn whatsoever.No redness.But that strap area where he was not getting sun exposure,it was bright red,it was sunburn.So it's super interesting.I mean,I,dude,I'm in the sun every day and I never get burned.I go out midday to do like cardio outside for the sake of heat shock proteins.Cause I don't have a sauna near me and I never get sunburned,I never do.And I'm dark as shit.And everyone's like,oh,you're gonna look like shit when you're40.But also it's like,look at a50year old British person compared to a50year old Australian.The Australian has been in son all day his entire life.The British person has probably seen son three times in the last decade,four generations ago.All Australians were British people,right?That's they're just,they're just,they're just British PRI prisoners,yet they look completely different and they have completely different health outcomes.And I guarantee you that50year old British person,he's also gonna have wrinkles.He's also gonna have sun damage.And then we look at melanoma as well,right?Skin cancer.Do I think that UV or DNA damage on your skin can cause skin cancer?A hundred percent.Right?Once again,that comes down to burning.But also we see a lot of cases of melanoma in areas that don't get a lot of sun right behind your ear,on your back,like on the back of your leg.So I am just like,so fully sun pilled.Um,obviously never get sunburned.Obviously fix your diet,obviously maintain proper levels of cellular hydration,but um,it's just been the biggest thing that's helped me.Like sunlight and grounding has been,have been the two biggest things that have helped me just be better and like finally have this feeling of homeostasis and no bodily stress.So,um,yeah,I I,I'm preaching the choir here.I mean,we're on health Twitter for god's sake.Everybody's out here.So

Ryan: 20:38

what is that?I'm blanking on his name.The surfer.He lives in Hawaii.He's like a super cool dude.La Laird Hamilton.Dude,Laird Hamilton surfs every single day and is outside all day and he's like56and he looks amazing.

Noah: 20:53

Yeah.And Laird is pasty as fuck.Like,he,like he is not a type of guy that gets natural tan.He's not a type of guy that is.Susceptible to like high levels of melanin and he's still doing fine.And I look at that a lot.I'm really interested in it now.And you know,I've been on a lot of beaches obviously,and I'm like,you see the British person coming on vacation,they look like shit.They look wrinkly.They have all of these sunspots and moles and all this stuff,but they're pale and pasty and you can tell they haven't seen sun in years.And then you see the old dude out there with the olive oil can and he looks pretty good.Does he look a little leathery?Yeah,maybe.But whoever said leathery was bad.I think also,you know,with men in particular,it's obviously different with women cuz they,they don't want wrinkles with men.It's like having weathered skin.Is it kind of built,it's like it's a character trait.I see no issue with it.I'm completely okay with getting wrinklier.Um,obviously saying that as a25year old is different than saying that as a40year old with a receding hairline.But like at the end of the day,like I want to age gracefully.I think this.Obsession of maintaining a level of unnatural youthfulness is just another one of these weird conjectures of society.So,um,I'm looking forward to like my wrinkly old man arc.I just think I,I just like,I'm looking forward to it.Dude,I'm gonna go full.Jason Sta

Ryan: 22:07

especially when you're healthy,if you're jacked,then like doing the right things,you don't need to have too much fear surrounding aging because you're able to like,maintain a lot of your vitality that you

Noah: 22:18

had in your twenties.A hundred percent.I,I genuinely,like,I'm just,I'm so excited for every single year,like every day.I'm excited to be a30year old.I'm excited to be a40year old.I'm excited to be a50year old.I'm excited to be a60year old.I think the issue comes about when people want to be the same person they were10years ago.Right.I know guys that are my age that still wanna be a sophomore in college.They still do those sophomore in college things,and it's just gonna lead to discontent,unfulfillment,and unhappiness,and it's going to cause them a lot of stress.Like I think we have to be comfortable with letting go of who we were and accepting that next stage of person and understand that humans go through these unique.Phases.Right?And it's not just you,it's humans in general.That's why like toddlers are always really rambunctious,right?That's why like people in their eight and tens,they're usually better behaved.They usually spend a lot of time with their parents.Once they become a teenager,they immediately have this urge to spend less time with their parents to go and interact with their peers.That's hardwired in us.So all of these phases are hardwired in us.They're natural,it's gonna happen,we're gonna wanna be new people.And I think too many people try to like hold on to who they once were.And it's just,it's so fruitless and it's just gonna cause a lot of turmoil.I agree.And

Ryan: 23:32

I think a lot of that,like holding on to like the person you were a sophomore in college or whatever,stems from a lack of purpose.they don't have this clarity with how they should like move and interact with this life.So they just cling on to like that cheap dopamine type

Noah: 23:46

of activities.Absolutely.Absolutely.I think that's a big thing,and I see it a lot,particularly with extroverted people.I'm extroverted myself,but I do notice that people who are extroverted,they spend too much time like with others,not like just being with others,but they spend too much time focusing on others,and they don't spend enough time internally thinking about who are they,who do they wanna be?So for me,it's like I'm extremely extroverted in college,you know,I was just such a big extrovert and because I was spending so much time with other people,I was focusing more on who people wanted me to be as opposed to who I wanted to be.So it wasn't until Covid hit,like as I was just about to graduate,when I was able to actually go and spend time with myself and have that reset period where it's like,cool,now I'm gonna spend the next few months just focusing on myself.Who do I wanna be?And I completely reinvented myself.I talk about it all the time because it was the most impactful period of my life ever.It sucked.It felt like I was just running down deep end.And I really didn't start piecing the puzzles together until I left that stage.And I'm like,okay,I've had enough,you know,like fixating over.Who am I?Who am I?Who am I?Is really not moving the needle anymore.Lemme just go live now.And then all those pieces came together,but I don't think I would've been able to do that if I didn't just spend a little bit more time with

Ryan: 24:57

myself.Do you think that,like,since you're so extroverted,um,and I know obviously you like to travel a lot and move around,have you found that like at times you could find a little bit of loneliness in the traveling just because you do get energy from like,hanging out with people?Or do you try to like actively seek out those environments where you're in,

Noah: 25:20

intertwined with the community?So that's a great question.For me,my objective when I'm traveling is to assimilate with whatever environment that I'm in.So I'll immediately go into a new place and it's like,I wanna be a local by month one.Like if I'm staying for longer than a month,I usually do30day stints.So it's like I wanna be a local by the time that I leave.So,like I said,you know,I've tweeted about this multiple times.I will go and I'll start frequenting these specific places.Like I will build really,really good relationships with everybody that works at the cafe that I go to every day.I'll know all their names.I'll tip them really well.I'll become friends with all of them.To the point where like,Hey,like we're gonna go do this tonight.Do you wanna come?I'll go to a gym and I'll become friends with everybody there.Right?Like that is kind of the blueprint.Because I love that.It makes me feel like I'm part of that community.And to me,community is everything.And I think that's what's lacking in a lot of the western world,especially the United States.Like I come here to Florida right now and it's like I'm in this cool place,there's this giant beach.It's very beautiful,but there's no sense of community.There's no sense of culture that I can really tap into and become part of.It's all just homogenization.So that's a really important factor to me.I've never really had that big of an issue,kind of like meeting people and connecting with people.But um,there have been stints where it's like,man,like I'm in this place and I'm just not feeling it.Like I do feel lonely.And it's the worst feeling ever.And unfortunately,a lot of times when you have that feeling that you're not part of the community,that you're not accepted,that you're not welcome,you double down on it and then you get deeper into this.Rut of loneliness and it's so horrible,especially with us like,especially with guys in particular,it's like you need to have that camaraderie,you need to have that friendship.And there's really not a lot of places we can do that anymore.Traditionally we had the three places,right?We had this three spaces.You had your home life,you had your work life,and then you had that third place.A lot of times it was like a bar,a pub,a church,something like that.We don't even have the workspace,let alone the third space anymore.I mean,we're all working remote for the most part.A lot of us are solopreneurs.So it's so hard to find that.And I think you really need to put the effort in to find that.And the best way that I've found it always is,is gyms the comradery that you build by going and training,particularly martial arts with someone like that,is the best way to build this relationship with that person is to go and like fight each other for a little bit.So that's why I always recommend that.But um,yeah,I,there's a part of me that wants to settle down.I miss that community aspect where it's like you go out every day and you see the same people.I've had that in a lot of places and I love it.But at the end of the day,the world's too big.And I decided early on that this is the life I wanna live for at least the next few years.And I'm willing to make the sacrifices necessary to live that life.You can have anything you want,but you can't really have everything.So,um,one day I will settle,settle down in a spot and like,that'll be my go-to place.I love what you said.You can have anything what you want,but you can't have

Ryan: 28:05

everything you want.It's so true.And I mean,that's been the draw to like Austin for me.It's just like this sense of community.Like there's so many people there that we know and it seems like it's like the only place that actually has that sense of community,at least for our type of

Noah: 28:20

circles in the US Yes.I love Austin.I've,I spent a month there with my meat Mafia buddies.That's,yeah,they're the guys,dude,I'm telling you,you go and you live in a house with some other dudes that are like very type a very competitive,they were college athletes.And all like striving for a like goal that's very similar.I've never been so productive and so driven.It was just such a good feeling.And I went back to Mexico and I was kind of just like chilling once again.And obviously when you're there,when you're on a beach town in Mexico,the friends that you're making in that environment and the community that you're building,it's not what we're seeing on Twitter whatsoever.Like no one's,I was probably the most driven person in that town and I wasn't that driven.I was kinda just,but like,you know,everyone else,they're just like trying to chill,which is great to get that energy.But what I did is like,I hit up some of my buddies,some of my Twitter buddies actually.I was like,yo,you guys wanna come live with me for a month?And they're like,yeah,let's do it.And they just immediately booked a trip like two weeks later,one of'em flew in from Japan,one of'em flew in from the states and uh,we just hung out for a month.And like I had the best of both worlds.So I think that's the new move.Like what I really wanna do is I just wanna have like monthly incubator houses where I grab a few guys.We all have the same mission,we all have the same goal,and we just live together in a really cool spot.And I'm actually gonna do that.Uh,hopefully if everything works out in like a few weeks.So I think that's the new move.It's like this decentralized incubator house movement,and I just like,I wanna do that at scale.I just wanna get a bunch of people to go somewhere,build that community and just rinse and repeat.That's awesome.Yeah.The question

Ryan: 29:49

I was gonna ask you was like,if we gave no,Ryan,all the money in the world,and you're like,dude,build a

Noah: 29:54

community here in

Ryan: 29:56

Florida.Like,what,what's the approach?

Noah: 29:58

I would spend all that money on demolition.I would just destroy all buildings,all structure and everything.And I would just have a bunch of bungalows.I would have a bunch of bungalows,and then we'd figure it out from there.But dude,I need so little.And I really focused on doing that cuz like,I,I just,I like less,like the more stuff that I have,the more encumbered I feel.I don't like this whole materialism thing.The one thing that really changed my mental space and just the way I was able to approach life was adopting a minimalist lifestyle.When I was in college.I had all this shit,you know,I had so much stuff and it was so stressful.And for me,and I think this is particular for hunter types,every single item that I owned took up space in my mind.Whether I was thinking about it or not,my subconscious was ruminating on it.Where is it?Do I need it?What state is it in?Like,am I going to lose it?So I just started getting rid of shit.And a lot of people have retail therapy where when they feel bad or when they feel stressed,they go and buy something.And I had the inverse of that,where it's like anytime I felt bad or I felt stressed,I got rid of something and it was way more effective.And now it's to the point where,dude,I have like one suitcase and that's all I need.And then obviously I'll go and I'll buy a bunch of.Supplements and nootropics and research chemicals.So now I have another suitcase for that,but I just gotta use all of them and I'll be good.We replace retail

Ryan: 31:08

therapy with,uh,supplement therapy.

Noah: 31:11

Yeah.E exactly.There's a pill.There's a pill.That'll help me.But,um,yeah,no,that's kind of where I'm at.I do miss having my space.I,I,I will admit that I miss having like a lab,like right now I've kind of just got like a makeshift lab where I've got all these powders.I was up all night,like mixing like vitamin E and hyaluronic acid with like,like plar and like making some creams and stuff and like just mixing a bunch of stuff.But,um,that's okay.Like one day I'll have my lab and then the goal is cyclical nomadism.I think that's the way that we're supposed to live.It's most.Like congruent with just the typical nomadic lifestyle.Like nomads followed herds and herds,followed a specific migration pattern.They always return to the same feeding grounds.So I wanna do the same.Like,I wanna have a space that I can post up for a while that was in Mexico,but it was in a city and I don't like cities and I'm not gonna live in a city again.So,you know,finding a new one and kinda just posting up there.Um,the last one I was at was a little bit too off grid.I couldn't get packages for the life of me,you know,I didn't have a supermarket.Like,I think the nearest supermarket was like an hour away,so,um,maybe something in the middle,but we'll see.I'm cool with roughnecking it for a while until I find that place.Yeah,it's,it's

Ryan: 32:20

hard to find that place.It's like kinda like that goldilock zone where,where it has the things you need,but it's not like too much of like a big city,you know?Cause that city life is a whole nother issue.You talk about like EMFs and just like your nervous system,just a bit on edge.It's it's a different type of

Noah: 32:37

lifestyle.Oh,dude,it's crazy.And I'm,I'm very observant.Like I've learned how to keep a pulse on how I feel from like a multitude of factors,right?Both objective and subjective.But me,in a city versus me in like a small town on the beach,I can,I feel it immediately.I just feel the difference.The noise pollution,the air pollution,the,the everything,like the light pollution,the actual pollution.It has such a significant effect on my biology personally.Some people are more susceptible to their environment and toxins than others.Especially with hon types,you're more susceptible.You're more attuned,right?It's not a,a weakness,it's not a negative.You're just more attuned with your biology.You're more precise.So some people can tolerate the city life.I personally can't,like I go to the city,like I think I'm more productive,but not really.It's just a facade and I just,I'm,I'm over it,man.I'm over it.I'll say that much.Yeah.

Ryan: 33:29

And like,you know,people say like,oh,New York City,like it has such a special energy about it.Like that energy

Noah: 33:37

is anxiety.Like everyone's just on edge.Yeah.That energy is5G and no ground.Yeah.Everyone's

Ryan: 33:43

freaked out.Everyone's just slightly on edge.Everyone's

Noah: 33:46

hustling,hustling,hustling just because of the um,the way that life's set up out there.Yeah,dude,you wanna know what's crazy is how differently I look when I'm living on the beach versus when I'm living on the city.I look like two different people.Cuz when you feel like shit for a month straight and you're kind of just always on edge,your cortisol's high,your inflammation's high,that shows itself in your physiology.You're gonna be puffier your facial muscles that are usually smiling and like strong and stern are gonna weaken.You're gonna start looking saggier.You're gonna start looking like shit.Because your biology's shit,so it's like,it's just so not worth it to me.I've had enough experiments where I'll go back and forth,back and forth to be like,okay,I know what's beyond a reasonable doubt that city life is not for me and it's negatively impacting my health and my lifestyle.Yeah.

Ryan: 34:34

How have you been enjoying the podcast lately?Have you been,have you been doing it when you've been like traveling around in

Noah: 34:40

small towns?Dude,I have,uh,it's tough because obviously wifi is not necessarily,uh,the most common thing.But honestly,the thing for me is I love the conversations.There's nothing I love more than hopping on a call,to be honest.I like answering questions more than they're like asking questions,cuz it forces me to think and it puts me on the spot.But I have been recording them.I think the thing for me is,for better or worse,I'm,I have a tough time dealing with redundancies and podcast editing is one of the most redundant things that I've ever done.So I'm about to just pay a guy to do all of it.And then I,I'm gonna be honest,I have like seven episodes or like eight episodes that I still need to post.But um,yeah,I,now that I'm back into space where I feel more productive because the external world's a little bit more,a little bit less enticing to me.I've got some good podcasts lined up for this week.I'm gonna start posting more frequently.But,um,I love it,man.If I get,once I get this guy to help me with the editing,I think I'm just gonna start doing it a lot more prolifically,cuz it's intrinsically rewarding.I don't care.I don't look at viewership.I don't care if anybody listens to it.Even when it comes to like promoting it,I don't really promote it that hard because it's like I just enjoy doing it.And I've always found the things that I end up being the best at are the ones that I'm doing for my own sake.Right.With Twitter,for example,I've been posting on Twitter for maybe a year and a half,not even.I started last April.And the only reason that I've been able to have any semblance of success with it is because I really just don't care that much.And I force myself to not care.And when I say not care,it doesn't mean I don't care about posting,it doesn't care about what I'm posting.I don't care about the vanity metrics,impressions,followers,engagement.I care about none of that.Cuz if I were to follow that,it would lead me astray.I would get burnt out.I'd have this cognitive distance and I'd feel like a sham.So for me,like my only objective is I just wanna make sure that this continues to be enjoyable enough where I can post every day without looking at it.And I,I don't have Twitter on my phone.I rarely download Twitter on my phone.I downloaded Twitter on my phone for this space,but like,I don't even have it on my phone.The thing there is like,I'm not trying to have better tweets.I'm just trying to have better ideas.And I find the less time I spend on my phone,the better ideas I have.The less time I spend on Twitter,the better ideas I have.There's a lot of

Ryan: 36:42

truth in that,just like,how do you expect to have original ideas if you're constantly stim,uh,stimulating yourself247with all this like j content through Twitter,TikTok,whatever it is.So much creativity

Noah: 36:55

is just boredom.Just be bored really.It really is.I try to make myself more bored and I notice it when I,like,I was getting a haircut the other day and the guy was taking forever.I love it.Mexican barbershops,best place in the world.It's my happy place.But I was just bored cuz he was doing it for like an hour.And the ideas that I had,the thoughts that I had were like light bulbs and I was just having such a good time sitting there doing nothing,being bored outta my mind and just having all these incredible ideas.So I love chasing boredom,but the hard thing is we're just in such a stimulating environment and for some of us hunter types in particular,We have a tough time weeding out that stimulus.We can't,like we have too many stimulus receptors that can't be turned off like normal people can turn theirs off with.So it's like you really have to work hard at creating environments of zero stimulus and understand that there's a threshold that you will hit when your body is so bored where it's like,I need stimulus,I need stimulus,I need stimulus.Where it eventually concedes and then it gets to a point where it's like,okay,cool.I'm not finding it.Let's go deep.Let's go internal.What ideas can I ring up to keep myself stimulated?And that's where the magic happens.That's absolutely where the magic

Ryan: 38:00

happens.How have you tried to install

Noah: 38:03

that time for yourself?So I have some like rules about where I don't bring my phone.I never bring my phone in my bathroom.I never bring my phone in my bedroom.Those are like my two rules.Every day I'll go out and I will go and extend a period of time outside with nothing but my notebook.And I don't force myself to do anything.I think that's important.You know,I think prompts work really well.I'm not a prompt guy.I can't work well with prompts.Sometimes I'll just throw prompts in the air to see if my subconscious picks up on it.But a lot of times I'll go and I'll get,like I'll get oysters and I'll just sit there.And a lot of times what I'll do is I'll actually bring a book,because I do find that me as someone who thinks very non-linear,non-linearly,one idea sparks another idea,sparks another idea,sparks another idea.So I'll bring a book.I'll read like one page of it and it'll spark a bunch of ideas,and then I'll run with those ideas.And then those ideas will spark new ideas.So I've got all these little notebooks that I have and they're it like I write bangers only on all of'em because they're just full of bangers.Things that are like,if I turn into tweets,they would be really awesome tweets,but the redundancy of trying to transcribe them is too much.Maybe one day I'll get around to it,but I think that's the biggest thing.It's like just put yourself in an environment where you have no other option.When I'm out there without my phone,I physically can't do anything on the internet,so that's probably the most important thing to me.Now what I'm working on is when I'm done and I kind of reset that baseline of stimulation after that reset period.Can I go back and then go on my computer and not get sucked into Instagram?Not get sucked into Twitter,not get sucked into looking up shit on chat G pt.And I think the thing with that is just putting more confines in place using newsfeed eradicators,using like site blocking chrome extensions,things like that,that are gonna make things less stimulating and less tempting.You know,atomic habits,as much as it's been meaned into the zeitgeist is probably the best book for this,for actually creating better habits.It's just make the things that are undesirable more difficult,make the things that are desirable,less difficult,less friction for the good things,more friction for the bad things.If you just do that,you're gonna be in really good shape.It's so true.

Ryan: 39:58

I mean,it holds true for like diet too.Like just don't carry that stuff in your house.Like

Noah: 40:04

make it hard for you.It's crazy.Yeah,who's out here?Like people that are worried about eating,like people are like,oh my God,I love chips,I love Oreos.And then they have it in their house.I'm like,dude,what are you doing?You're shooting yourself in the foot.Like if I was a coke head,I would not keep an eight ball in my pantry.Like that's just,that's redundant,you know?That's,that's more than redundant.That's stupid.Um,but like once you have that too where you know that you will not,you don't need willpower to not Oreos.When you don't have any Oreos in your house,then you know the only time that you need willpower is when you go to places where there are Oreos.So would that be the supermarket and the gas station?Then you go there and you're like,cool,if I can get through these next10minutes without buying them,I'll go home and I won't have to worry about willpower after that.So it's a really good like new mental model that you have where it's like,cool,because I'm not requiring willpower247during the times that I actually need willpower.I'll have more fortitude to get through that100%.

Ryan: 40:56

I saw you tweet the other day talking about,Mike Menzer.

Noah: 41:01

And like,I know,I know who he is,but I've

Ryan: 41:03

never,I don't know anything about him in terms of like his way of thinking.

Noah: 41:08

Enlightenment.I love that you're being a Mike mentor.So I love contrarians.I love guys that are able to compete in a given domain with set objectives and criteria,but approach it completely differently and be very independent thinkers and be a little bit out there and be a little bit wacky.Mike Menzer was very out there.He was very wacky.I think he did a lot of cocaine,which is hilarious.Um,but he had a very non-typical approach and he very much disrupted the traditional establishment within the old school golden era bodybuilding.And one of his big things was,you know,from the more,I guess tactical standpoint,he did high intensity training with really low volume.So Arnold and all those guys,they were training four hours a day,five,six days a week.Mike Menzer went up there and competed with the best,and Debatably won.With training three hours a week,like three30minute sessions,345minute sessions,more or less.And he had an incredible physique.His physique was different.It was notable,it was so dense.And his whole logic,you know,he was like similar to the whole probe,metabolic,repeat,guys.It's like your body's only gonna recover,or your body's only gonna grow from what you can recover from.And a lot of these guys are just putting too much stress on their body.They're not optimizing for enough recovery.He was really big on carbohydrates.He wasn't as big on protein.I think his ratios is like,you want.60%carbohydrates,25%protein,and15%fat in your diet,which I find interesting.But it,what draws me to Menor was that he was just so articulate and intelligent,and he was such an independent,think ideas were unique,his ideas were novel,and then he applied it and he was successful with it.So I just find it so incredible.I don't think that Mike Men's Way is the only way.I just like looking into it because it's such a breath of fresh air.I like what you said when you were talking about,

Ryan: 42:55

uh,recovery.Like the body's only gonna grow to the extent of which it's recovered.It reminds me of Dan Garner,dude,Dan's such an interesting dude and,uh,loved your guys'episode you did with him and,that was a,that was fun to

Noah: 43:07

listen to.Dan is a pheno.He's a G dude.The,he is so proli.I mean,imagine being a guy,he wakes up at four in the morning to train,he's in incredible shape,top1%physique.The knowledge base that he has and the amount of content that he's able to pump out on a weekly basis is baffling to me.He's just,he's,he's one of the guys,he's just genuinely built different,and I don't know if he's always been that way,if that was something that was built up over time,but I look at,he's one of those guys where I look at him,it's like I,I could never be Dan cuz he's just operating on a different wavelength and a different level.So,you know,definitely very different philosophies,but I think it goes to show that I don't know if there really is one right way.Right?There's so many different ways.And the difference in outcomes are so nominal there,infinite ismal,that it really comes down to what applies best to you,not just from a tactical standpoint and an applicable standpoint,but also from a philosophical standpoint.For me,you know,I think it's great because I get bored of things really easily where it's like,okay,cool,like I have a good thing going here,but what if it could be better?What if it could be different?So I'm just like a perpetual tinkerer and I find that to be great cuz I can try out all these different things.And I'm also not competing for anything.Like,there's no set standard that I'm trying to achieve in any domain.I don't have any set goals.So I can just spend,you know,an extended period of time just experimenting.If it's better for me,it's better.If it's worse for me,it's worse for me.But at the end of the day,the fulfillment that I get out of experimenting is so worth it.That's why

Ryan: 44:31

I love lab work too.And like,I actually did like a,a mentorship thing with Dan.and I,I went out to California to Andy Galvin's lab and like saw all the shit that they're doing at,rapid and just seeing inside of.Doing over500biomarkers and then just like having it sing a song of like,oh,this is what this person needs because this,this,and that,and it all connects.And it's like,it's such a flow

Noah: 44:58

Oh,it's so interesting.And you know what's interesting about that?And I asked him about this.It.I was having such a hard time trying to wrap my head around how can you possibly make sense of500different biomarkers?So I asked him what his approach was to that,and it started with one biomarker.Then he went up to three,then he went up to five,then he went up to15,then50,then a hundred,then a hundred fifty,two hundred,three hundred,now500.So I think that's really important to look at is in that you will not be able to understand all500at once with any domain.Like you're not gonna be able to gain competency at a high level all at once.You have to start from the base level foundations,from the first principles,and slowly build your way up and just have it be through like an intrinsic knowledge pursuit.You have to enjoy the pursuit of knowledge and be comfortable with starting with the basics.I see it in every domain.Like with the health domain,people are always like,No,like what should I read to start biohacking?Like what should I read to do this?Like what supplement should I take to do this?I'm like,first,just start with understanding basic biology.Like do you know,like,do you even know all the organs that you have in your body?Do you know how your brain works?Do you know all the neurotransmitters?And just starting with those basic things and being comfortable with not knowing everything.I think for me,one of the big things that I,I,I,I guess I pride myself in is I'm okay with not knowing things because I'm comfortable with knowing that I can learn things relatively quickly.So just starting from scratch,not pretending like you know,a bunch of stuff and try to compete at that high level,but just going and learning the basics is really the key to building a strong foundation.And it applies a lot too with Jiujitsu,for example.So many guys come in and they wanna start doing flying arm bars and Oma platas,but like,they don't start with basic like guard control and things like that.And like,if you can just be a guy that prides yourself on pursuing the basics and pursuing those foundations,you are gonna be so better off.And just put that ego to the side and just pride yourself.On your foundation rather than your,I guess,esoteric high level peak expertise.Yeah,I,

Ryan: 46:51

I totally agree.And it's like,just the knowing how to learn is so important.And I love that question that you asked Dan,by the way how do you get to this point where you start to understand like all these

Noah: 47:02

biomarkers And,uh,one of the

Ryan: 47:05

cool things I learned about that when I was with Dan and we were going over labs was him explaining how,he got known as like the guy who could cure eczema because he would do these like tests and,uh,he would do all these extensive lab tests and then anything that was just like outta range,he would just Google,he would just Google

Noah: 47:28

all this stuff and it produced this like knowledge about all these different biomarkers.And from there he would just able to build upon it,and then now

Ryan: 47:38

at the point where they're doing like500

Noah: 47:41

different lab markers.It's crazy.It is so crazy.But that's,I think that's really how it happens.It's like throwing yourself in the crucible,encountering things that you don't know,and then just having the humility to go and look it up.They're very similar with language learning as well.You know,like I think a lot of people,they pretend like they know everything when it comes to a language,when in reality they're like highly proficient.But for me it's like I speak Spanish.There's still words that I don't know.There's still things that I dunno how to say.So on the fly,I will translate it on Google.I'll reverse engineer it so I know why it is the way that it is,and then I'll immediately apply to practice.I think a lot of the knowledge comes from applying like it's applied knowledge.That's the knowledge that counts,the knowledge that you can actually apply for me,I think with like creating content and tweeting,that's my form of knowledge application with things that I learned.I don't consider myself to know something until I can effectively and efficiently teach it to someone with a base level understanding.And I really,really focus on that.I love Richard Feynman.For that reason.I never understood physics.I thought everybody that talked about physics was a wonk.But Richard Feynman comes and he explains in a way that,you know,my toddler brain was able to understand.And I just was always obsessed with that.Ever since.I see so many people who are at the peak of their field,the peak of their expertise and their niche,but they talk like lab rats because they've only talked to other intellectuals.But the real question comes is like,can you explain this to a toddler?And if you can,then you really know it,dude,100%.And like that

Ryan: 49:06

applied knowledge,

Noah: 49:07

it

Ryan: 49:08

separates like the theorists

Noah: 49:10

and the practitioners.

Ryan: 49:12

there's this video,it was like a cartoon,and it was a voiceover of Goggins.I don't know,have you ever seen this?It was like the,applied

Noah: 49:19

theory of pull-ups.I don't think so.Oh,I don't have to pull it up.But he was like,

Ryan: 49:24

there's motherfuckers in the lab writing about what is possible from the human body and theorizing it.And he was like,I'm gonna just go out there and fucking do it.And,uh,it's just to that point,like applied knowledge,you have to,

Noah: 49:38

be the guy actually

Ryan: 49:40

putting what you know into practice.And then that's how you genuinely

Noah: 49:44

know what you know.Uh,absolutely.I,I think that's such a,especially in our,in our space,right?There's so many theorists,there's so many people that gets caught up in the academia of things.How does this look on study?How does this look on paper?But they don't look at the clinical applications of things.And I,for one,like I always start with just applying things and then that application gives me that fire and that desire to understand the more technical nuance aspect of it.But,um,yeah,I think people need to do more experimenting for sure.Or just more applying,honestly,100%.And

Ryan: 50:16

like,do you think there's anything else that's important when it comes to knowing how to learn?

Noah: 50:21

There's a really good book called Ultra Learning.Um,but the,the act of learning how to learn is super important.And we have to understand that everybody learns differently,right?Some people learn,I don't know what the difference,like auditory learners,visual learners,spatial learners.For me,I'm a conversational learner,right?So I know that if I really want to understand something and absorb something,I need to have a conversation about it.My brain just thinks in conversations.It's the way that I rationalize and like,like make sense of the outside world.So if I wanna learn about something,I need to have a conversation about it.So what do I do is like I write notes as if I was talking to someone else.I take voice notes as if I was talking to someone else.I tweet because that's me talking to someone else.That's why I do the telegram,cuz it forces me to apply it to someone that's not me.If you write your notes as if you're writing them for someone else,you will understand the content and information so much better.But for me,it's like I just do the practice.Writing down everything I know about something.And then there's this voice in the back of my head that'll start asking questions.But like,what about this?Like,how does this apply to this?It'll ask me all these questions and I will just go until every stone is unturned.And then that gets to the point where it's like,I can safely and effectively explain this to anybody.And any question they have,I should be able to answer.If I can't answer one of those questions,I need to go and I need to figure out how to answer it100%.

Ryan: 51:36

And I'm gonna put you on the spot here.Put that knowledge to use and ask you about nicotine

Noah: 51:41

thoughts on nicotine.Ooh.Ah,dude.I'm such a big fan of nicotine,so,um,but I don't think it's like,I,I love nicotine.I actually just took a zen out.Um,nicotine's great.It's definitely,uh,not like,It's not a super drug,but it is really enjoyable.And for me,just being a very habitual dude that likes,uh,likes the idea of having something that I can always do.You know,sometimes it was toothpicks,sometimes it was sunflower seeds for me,you know,a lot of times it's nicotine.I like it a lot.Uh,first of all,I wanna talk about the negatives of nicotine cuz there are negatives.So nicotine acts on some of your cholinergic receptors,specifically the nicotine cholinergic receptors.And if you use it for an extended period of time,it will potentially down-regulate those cholinergic receptors,right?And that may have downstream's effect on your dopaminergic functioning.So there is risk involved there.One of the primary risk factors with nicotine is it is a vasoconstrictor.So one of the main side effects that you can experience from nicotine is erectile dysfunction and hair loss.If those are two of your concerns,I don't know if I would take nicotine.Additionally,it is quite addicting,right?Your body adapts a chemical addiction to it where it gets used to being in a heightened state of those receptors being bound,um,by the nicotine.So if you are a very,uh,addictive person,maybe it is not the best thing to take nicotine.Now,in the case of method of administration,that has a big factor on addiction potential as well.Uh,we find addiction rates a lot lower with things like zins versus a vape or a cigarette,right?Because the act of taking something from your hand,putting it to your mouth,taking a big inhale,that's very habitual,and that alone can be addicting,right?That movement,that process,that repeated behavior,humans love repeated behaviors.So that's an addiction in and of itself,compounded by the chemical addiction of nicotine.So that's a big factor as well.I definitely wouldn't vape.Uh,I wouldn't smoke regular cigarettes,e either.Just the amount of shit that's in a Marlborough is.Crazy.It's crazy.Like the tobacco's not even the bad part about a cigarette.It's all the other stuff.Not to mention you're smoking it through a rayon filter and rayons this like cellulose fiber.This synthetic fiber that is not even allowed to be made in the United States cuz it's,when it's heated up,it releases these horrible chemical particles that have fucked a bunch of people up in these rayon factories.So just know you're smoking it through that as well.Now,uh,one of the reasons that I like nicotine as someone who,uh,has brain damage for all intents and purposes,or at least is cognizant of trying to avoid cognitive decline.It is neuroprotective.So we do see that people who consume nicotine have lower rates of Alzheimer's and dementia.And obviously people could be like,well that's because people with nicotine die before they get any of those neurodegenerative diseases.But I think the literature is pretty clear that nicotine is neuroprotective.So I do enjoy it for that.But the real reason that I like nicotine is that it quiets my default mode network.So that voice that I was talking about that's telling me to do this,to do that,that's getting me distracted every time I go to sit down,when I consume nicotine,it tends to dampen that voice.Now there's other compounds that do that as well,I find trine to be really effective at that.Um,and then the last thing I don't like about nicotine is that it can imbalance your GABA to glutamate ratio.So glutamate is an excitatory neurotransmitter.We don't want a lot of glutamate,uh,in comparison to gaba.That's why things like glycine and trine and even l-theanine are really effective at kinda just balancing out your,your neurology,you know,your neurobiology if you wanna call it that.But,um,yeah,dude,I like nicotine.Nicotine is a.Uh,or tobacco in particular.You know,that's a medicinal herb,but just because it's a medicinal herb doesn't mean it should be abused chronically,right?That means it should be used sparingly.Tobacco in and of itself is a cleansing plant in its real form,like actual tobacco leaf.It's an antiviral,it's an anti-parasitic.But it's also like extremely uh,oxidating,right?Anything that you combust in high ratios,it's gonna be oxidative,it's gonna mess with your skin,it's gonna mess with your lungs.Um,it's also gonna deplete you of certain nutrients and minerals like vitamin C in particular.So anyway,that's my stance on nicotine.It's one of those risks that I'm willing to take cuz I can do it safely and I know all like the entire risk profile.So I feel comfortable doing it.I don't recommend nicotine to people as something that they should do if they're already doing it.What I do recommend is people that are already consuming nicotine to consume it effectively,save it for specific purposes,right?I really only use nicotine when I'm focusing or when I'm reading because that's when I noticed the most benefit.And now when my brain is in this state where those nicotine col cholinergic receptors are bind and activated,it's like,oh,I remember this state.This is the state that I'm in when I read.This is the state that I'm in when I focus.So I guess that means it's time to focus.That's my spiel.That's a good point.That last part.I

Ryan: 56:21

think that people.feel that way about smells as well.I think a scent is very powerful in that regard.

Noah: 56:26

If you're able to Oh,the most powerful.It's the most powerful.Yeah.If you're able to pair a scent

Ryan: 56:31

with an activity.That is

Noah: 56:34

incredible.And when it comes to the oxidated properties,

Ryan: 56:37

do you think that holds true only with smoking or is that also true with,um,zens and some of these other

Noah: 56:45

ways of,intake?Oxidation aspect is mainly,uh,from combustion.So I don't have that much of concern when it comes to synthetic nicotine.Uh,one other thing when it comes to nicotine,it's a window,right?Like any stimulant,you want it to be this,you want it to be in this proper stimulus window to improve cognition.So ideally,for a lot of people,they say it's one to two milligrams.So if you go too high,you're gonna actually have negative outcomes.When it comes to cognition,you wanna keep your tolerance as low as possible.So that's why you don't wanna consistently use nicotine,because like I said,your brain is really fast at acclimating to new environments,and it wants to maintain homeostasis.So if these receptors are constantly bound by all this nicotine,you're consuming.It's just gonna down-regulate those receptors.They're gonna go and they're gonna hide in the neuron.Some of them may even get damaged or they're just gonna become less sense,like less sensitive.Um,but yeah,when it comes to the oxidative aspect,that mainly comes from smoking and then obviously vaping is just like a whole different story cuz we don't really know what's in these juices and what effect it has on our very sensitive cells in our lungs,our lungs are not very good at healing themselves at all.I would say they're probably like the second worst,probably the third,like,I guess your mitochondria is probably the worst because like they're d they have separate dna A and they're really bad at like d n a repair mechanisms,but your,your brain cells obviously not good at repairing themselves.Your lung and epithelial cells,uh,or endothelial cells are not good at repairing themselves.So,Care for your lungs.Um,a few things that I used to like improve my lungs after years of vaping was lycopene,which can be found in tomatoes.So a pretty powerful antioxidant.And then,um,ashin as well.But,uh,yeah,that's my spiel.Sweet brother.Um,no,I,anything else you wanna cover today,bro?Uh,no man.Shoot me another question,though.I like your,all right,let's keep

Ryan: 58:29

going.So you,is there some truth when it comes to the aromatase in inhibition with nicotine?

Noah: 58:35

Um,Yeah.Yeah.No,I think that's mainly from tobacco.Um,but yeah.Yeah,the aromatase inhibition is big.And for those wondering,aromatase is the enzyme that converts testosterone in estrogen.So with all of your hormones,once again,your body's trying to maintain homeostasis,and it has mechanisms for keeping things in balance.That's why when people take INO exogenous testosterone,Their estrogen spikes up as well because your body's like,man,I got all this testosterone.I need to go convert it.So it's gonna go convert it to estrogen to try to keep balance.Now,a lot of us deal with estrogen dominance just because of the sheer amount of endocrine disruptors that are in our environment.So tobacco in particular,is an aromatase inhibitor.It's gonna inhibit that enzyme that converts testosterone into estrogen,and it's also pro dht,so it's gonna increase the enzyme that converts testosterone into dht.That's five alpha reductase.I love dht.I think DHT is the most important hormone for men,and I think this whole idea of we wanna suppress D H T to try to save our hairline is bullshit,and it is fucking people up for life.If you look at post Finasteride syndrome,you'll know what I'm talking about.It is maiming people and chemically incarcerating them and essentially making it where they're androgen receptors.The receptors that.When bound by male sex hormones like testosterone or D h t give you all the benefits,it makes them pretty much ineffective in their entirety even after you go off the drug.So,um,yeah,I love D H T I highly recommend everybody focus on keeping their d HT high and healthy.

Ryan: 1:00:01

Let's just quickly,cuz you glance over the,the,the drug for hair loss,um,I'm blanking on how you pronounce the name of it.

Noah: 1:00:09

Fine.Yeah.So

Ryan: 1:00:12

So essentially what it's doing,it's,it's not allowing your body to convert,test testosterone into

Noah: 1:00:17

dht.And DHT

Ryan: 1:00:19

is ultimately,where you get a lot of the benefit from testosterone,but that it is theorized that,um,D H

Noah: 1:00:27

G is also what causes hair loss.Yeah,so the psychological benefits that men get from testosterone,the confidence,the vigor,the aggression,but calm and controlled aggression,not crazy aggression,but like the calm,masculine energy that men with high testosterone have that is not testosterone.That is D H T,that's dihydrotestosterone.Now.Dihydrotestosterone is a stronger metabolite.Of testosterone.So it's metabolized from testosterone.But you want that.I want that.I have tried both high dht and low DHT protocols and I feel infinitem or no,infinitely better on a high DHT lifestyle and protocol.There's a lot of things that are gonna inhibit that five alpha reductase enzyme that converse testosterone or dht Al Meadow,reishi and some other mushrooms will also inhibit that enzyme.But,um,Finasteride completely destroys your ability to leverage that enzyme.Now the issue is that enzyme five alpha reductase is not just responsible for converting testosterone into D H T,it's responsible for other conversions as well.So it converts pregnenolone into allopregnanolone,which are neuro steroids.And if any of you guys follow the repeat.Ideology.We know that pone is like the mother hormone,and Allopregnanolone also has some really important roles and functions in the brain,which I can't go into much depth with cuz I'm more f familiar with pone.But at the end of the day,the issue is that it's causing these long,long-term issues aside from just having low D H T,it's almost like it turns off the signaling and like the ability for these androgen receptors to sense your male sex hormones at all.So it's absolutely terrifying.Um,and when it comes to the D H T theory with hair loss,we know that D H T higher levels of D HT and the scalp are correlated with male pattern baldness,but that doesn't explain the fact that DHT levels are the lowest that they've ever been.Yet.Male pattern baldness is just becoming more and more rampant.So there's other factors there.We know that DHT typically tends to accumulate in areas of inflammation and areas of trauma.So if we're looking at it from that standpoint,a lot of other theories deposit that it may be a blood flow thing,it could also have really big.Connection or a,a high connection with higher levels of prolactin,which is antagonistic to dht and testosterone as well as estrogen dominance.So when it comes to hair loss,I just think there are better approaches that you can take than destroying your most important hormone and just eradicating all the things that make you a man in pursuit of a hairline,right?I think at the very worst case,go bald,accept it,embrace it,but also look at those other factors.Look at blood flow,look at baseline inflammation.Look at your thyroid function,right?Like is your metabolism functioning properly?A lot of people deposit that hair loss is a cause of poor functioning metabolism.If you think about.Sorry,I gotta text,I gotta turn this off.Distracting.If you think about,um,your hair,it doesn't really serve unnecessary survival function,right?There's a lot of theories for why we have hair.Some people are like,oh,it's protective padding for our skulls and our brains,but at the end of the day,we can survive just fine with without hair.So if you body's in a straight of stress,that is gonna be the first thing to go are these unnecessary organs like your hair,like your eyebrows.So if I think addressing your other hormones,prolactin,estrogen,and then thyroid,you're probably gonna have the biggest bang for your buck.Maintaining low inflammation systemically and making sure that your blood flow is optimal,and that's why nicotine being something that's not great for blood flow may have an impact on your hair and also your erection.Oh,such a good point.

Ryan: 1:03:54

Especially when you think about,how many hidden stressor stressors are in modern society.Like there's so many things that could be,causing the hair loss

Noah: 1:04:04

or at least,

Ryan: 1:04:05

Making it happen quicker.And uh,one thing you mentioned was prolactin.

Noah: 1:04:10

What is prolactin?Dude,I hate prolactin.It is my least favorite hormone by to talk about or in terms of effects.Yeah.Yeah.Estrogen.Okay.So estrogen,first and foremost,it,estrogen dominance is bad.Excess estrogen unbound.Estrogen is bad,but we need estrogen.Estrogen's really important.And people who like shit on estrogen,I think there's Sam merit to it,but we should be shitting on prolactin.So from a,a high level standpoint,prolactin is,I would call it like the,the dormancy hormone.It's the hormone that's released when you're a pregnant mother and you're like a recently born mother,right?It increases lactation,it makes you docile,it makes you risk,or like less.Uh,prone to risk risky behavior,and prolactin's also the hormones that's released when we,uh,ejaculate.Um,so that's why I'm actually a big fan of the no fat movement.Um,I think that like excess prolactin is a great way to be antagonistic to dopamine as well as testosterone,which are both really important things.Um,prolactin is a hormone that tells your body that you need to chill out,be less risk averse,especially when you're expecting a child.So essentially it's gonna stop you from doing all those ambitious,really exciting things that you do.It's gonna lower your energy,it's gonna cause a lot of issues.Um,yeah,for all intents and purposes,it's just like a really shitty hormone,at,at like a high level.And is it pretty significant when

Ryan: 1:05:33

you ejaculate

Noah: 1:05:34

the amount of prolactin it produces?It's not super significant,but there's a reason why they tell fighters not to have sex before fights,right?It's prolactin like there,there's,yeah,it's,it's cuz of prolactin,right?And like I said,it,it's a very docile,like,what,how would I say it?It makes you docile,right?And like it does have some benefits,right?It regulates like your stress response,which is good.But,um,it,it's like it's anti metabolism.It's anti-energy for all intents and purposes.And like I said,it's antagonistic to some of these more important functions like dopamine and testosterone.So I personally try to avoid prolactin inducing things.Um,sometimes they're inevitable,but it's something that people should look into.I'm probably gonna dig deeper into it and try to post some more stuff about it.Um,but I've gone so far as to use anti prolactin compounds like Cabergoline,cabergoline,um,which I can get in Mexico from the pharmacy,just to see what would happen.And like,you need settlement,but you just don't want dominance with it.like other hormones.Like estrogen.And you

Ryan: 1:06:42

said,you mentioned that you're about to go down the deep,uh,the rabbit hole with that and a bunch of other things.Um,you're in this research mode right now.What are you,what rabbit holes are

Noah: 1:06:52

you looking into?Dude,honestly,a lot of it's like metabolic stuff,right?I'm a mitochondria.I'm obsessed with the mitochondria.I've personally been prone and susceptible to a lot of mitochondrial damage throughout the years.I drank a lot in college.I used to be very unhealthy.Um,I used to have a diet that was very unconducive to my mitochondria,my metabolism in general,from going low carb,from going keto,from having a really,really high muscle meat and protein diet with some of the more inflammatory amino acids and not balancing it out with other amino acids like those found in collagen and gelatin.So,uh,to be honest,a lot of this does come down to me.I was gonna say,dude,you becoming a ray repeat guy.I'm fucking Petey.I'm,I'm pretty Petey now.But I say that because I never closed my mind to things.And when I first heard about this repeat thing from being someone who was low carb and almost keto,always doing intermittent fasting,it was such a mindset shift to me because I thought that in order to be extremely healthy,you had to be extremely resilient.Uh,not even resilient,but you had to be hard on yourself,right?It was almost like an act of asceticism where I was,you know,essentially forcing myself to not eat,not a bad way,but just like fasting,eating low carb training,super,super hard three hours a day,like putting myself through all this crazy shit,and at the end of the day was just stressors.And your body cannot perform optimally when it's in really high stress.And like I was addicted to cortisol.Cortisol,if you think about it,it's like a crutch.It's a hormone that keeps up your basic bodily functions in times of stress until you're able to get outta that period of stress.Normally humans,we're always able to get outta that period of stress cuz we're wired to get out of stressful periods.But in this modern world,we're constantly inundated with all these stressors.So that's when chronic stress comes in and it is just so bad for your system.So trying to kind of reset that and rechange my mindset to focusing on lowering stress,right?I'm eating a lot of carbohydrates now.I'm training more intensely,but not nearly as much volume as I used to.I'm still staying very,very active,but I'm just focusing on that recovery more.I'm treating my body better.I'm treating my body kinder because all the guys that I looked up to that were crazy motherfuckers that were going crazy with all this fasting and all this training and just going super,super hard.They started deteriorating so quickly while I was still watching them and I was binging their content.They started getting worse and worse and worse,weaker,less vital,worse looking,especially with a lot of martial arts fighters.They were all losing their hair.They didn't look really strong and full of vitality like they used to.And it oftentimes coincided with them taking this approach that health has to be difficult.Now,health is not difficult at all to me.I'm indulgent.I'm hedonistic for all intents and purposes,and my health has never been better.My physique has probably never been better.Like I've just been great and I can still do all the things that I enjoy.So it's almost like,it's like,obviously there's some compounds that go in it as well.Some antier ics like Cipro Abidine.Which I've used in the past,a lot of like liver improving like compounds.Cause I took Accutane,so my liver has been worse for wear,like tuka and NAC and all that stuff.But a lot of it comes down to just improving my metabolism and subsequently my mitochondria.How are you going

Ryan: 1:09:58

about that?How are you going to improve the mitochondria and,uh,metabolism?

Noah: 1:10:04

I know we,I'm using for the mitochondria at the end of the day,it's like when we talk about these typical things that are gonna improve your health,walk more,get better sleep,reduce stress,like eat healthy foods and eat enough food,reduce oxidation,all of those things are like the best things you can do for your mitochondria.So a lot of that's just like reducing that stress and inflammatory damage that's caused by particularly our diet and lifestyle.Um,I never have been a big fan of PUFAs,but I'm being more adamant about improving my fat composition of my diet.So a lot of times I would have more perfu,uh,just like incidentally,but now,you know,I'm really focusing almost exclusively on saturated fats for the time being.I'm also like lowering my body fat because I have a lot of toxins stored in my fat from like,living a really nomadic lifestyle and at sometimes kind of just letting completely loose.So kind of burning that off like in a way that's manageable and controllable.So like all those toxins aren't re re-released into my blood.Um,and then obviously compounds like methylene blue,just trying to see how I feel when my mitochondria is functioning more effectively.You know,at the end of the day it's all about energy production.So if I can increase the amount of energy that's produced,the storage of that energy,and how effectively my,like calories and food can be converted into cellular energy,um,I just think that I will be like,I don't think I know that I'll be functioning better on all fronts.You know,90%of energy is producing the mitochondria.Every single one of your cells has mitochondria in it.So my brain's gonna be functioning more effectively,my body's gonna be functioning more effectively and my mood will follow.Dude.Great way to

Ryan: 1:11:35

finish this conversation here.I appreciate you,Noah.This was

Noah: 1:11:38

awesome.Yeah,thanks for having me on.It's been a great talk.Absolutely.Great talk.All right.Thank you guys for listening.Catch you guys next time.Peace.Peace fellows.