WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:01.980 This episode is brought to you by Thorne, the 00:00:01.980 --> 00:00:04.860 industry leader in nutritional solutions. Now, 00:00:04.879 --> 00:00:07.759 Thorne is actually trusted by eight US national 00:00:07.759 --> 00:00:11.019 teams and championship teams in the NFL, NBA, 00:00:11.259 --> 00:00:13.859 and Major League, as well as recently becoming 00:00:13.859 --> 00:00:16.420 the official sports performance nutrition partner 00:00:16.420 --> 00:00:20.579 of the UFC. So when it comes to supplements, 00:00:20.920 --> 00:00:23.879 the tactical athlete space and the athletic space 00:00:23.879 --> 00:00:27.059 need two things. We need efficacy, meaning the... 00:00:27.440 --> 00:00:29.100 Products do what they say they're going to do 00:00:29.100 --> 00:00:31.460 on the label. 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If you 00:03:06.159 --> 00:03:08.979 spend $50, that's five zero dollars. on your 00:03:08.979 --> 00:03:11.879 first order and use the code SHIELD, S -H -I 00:03:11.879 --> 00:03:15.300 -E -L -D, you will save an additional $15. So 00:03:15.300 --> 00:03:19.620 $15 off your first order of $50. So visit govx 00:03:19.620 --> 00:03:24.139 .com, G -O -V -X .com, register and then be a 00:03:24.139 --> 00:03:27.020 member for life and continue to save over and 00:03:27.020 --> 00:03:30.939 over again. Welcome to episode 356 of Behind 00:03:30.939 --> 00:03:32.699 the Shield podcast. As always, my name is James 00:03:32.699 --> 00:03:34.699 Gearing. And this week, it is my absolute honor 00:03:34.699 --> 00:03:38.050 to welcome on the show. Dr. Rangan Chatterjee. 00:03:38.189 --> 00:03:42.069 Dr. Chatterjee is a physician in the UK. He is 00:03:42.069 --> 00:03:46.050 a podcaster, an author, and a TV celebrity. So, 00:03:46.090 --> 00:03:48.330 so many angles and perspectives on the world 00:03:48.330 --> 00:03:50.930 of wellness. So, we discuss a host of topics 00:03:50.930 --> 00:03:54.129 from vitamin D, sunlight exposure, nutrition, 00:03:54.449 --> 00:03:57.530 gut biome, the four pillars of health, the importance 00:03:57.530 --> 00:04:00.340 of sleep, and so many other areas. Before we 00:04:00.340 --> 00:04:02.159 go to interview, as I say, every single week, 00:04:02.199 --> 00:04:03.960 please just take a moment, go to whichever app 00:04:03.960 --> 00:04:06.319 you listen to this on, subscribe to the show, 00:04:06.479 --> 00:04:09.080 leave feedback and leave a rating. Each five 00:04:09.080 --> 00:04:11.159 star rating really does elevate this podcast 00:04:11.159 --> 00:04:13.360 and make us more visible for people looking for 00:04:13.360 --> 00:04:16.209 a project like this. And this is a free library 00:04:16.209 --> 00:04:18.189 for you, the audience, whether individually, 00:04:18.509 --> 00:04:21.009 whether within an organization. So all I ask 00:04:21.009 --> 00:04:23.069 in return is that you pay it forward and help 00:04:23.069 --> 00:04:25.170 share these incredible men and women's stories 00:04:25.170 --> 00:04:27.649 so I can get them to every single person on planet 00:04:27.649 --> 00:04:30.110 Earth that needs to hear them. So with that being 00:04:30.110 --> 00:04:33.670 said, I introduce to you Dr. Rangan Chatterjee. 00:04:33.769 --> 00:04:53.730 Enjoy. So Dr. Chastier, I just want to start 00:04:53.730 --> 00:04:55.470 by saying thank you so much. I know we've been 00:04:55.470 --> 00:04:57.970 trying to get this put together and I am extremely 00:04:57.970 --> 00:05:00.389 excited about this conversation. So welcome to 00:05:00.389 --> 00:05:03.850 the Behind the Shield podcast. James, it's my 00:05:03.850 --> 00:05:06.290 absolute pleasure. And I just want to say that 00:05:06.290 --> 00:05:11.170 I do get approached quite a lot for people to 00:05:11.170 --> 00:05:15.149 come and talk and be on podcasts. But the way 00:05:15.149 --> 00:05:17.230 you connected with me, the way you wrote your 00:05:17.230 --> 00:05:20.220 message. really jumped out at me and I know it's 00:05:20.220 --> 00:05:23.720 taken a while to make this work but I really 00:05:23.720 --> 00:05:26.240 just want to say thank you because I think the 00:05:26.240 --> 00:05:29.439 way we communicate with people It really makes 00:05:29.439 --> 00:05:32.240 a difference to the outcome we get. And you were 00:05:32.240 --> 00:05:34.480 very respectful, but you really wrote a thoughtful 00:05:34.480 --> 00:05:36.839 message as well. So I just want to appreciate 00:05:36.839 --> 00:05:38.600 you for that right at the start of this conversation. 00:05:39.040 --> 00:05:40.620 Well, thank you so much. It's the first time 00:05:40.620 --> 00:05:42.720 someone's going to comment it on the email. But 00:05:42.720 --> 00:05:46.079 I think what made me so passionate about connecting 00:05:46.079 --> 00:05:48.160 with you and basically everyone else on this 00:05:48.160 --> 00:05:52.040 podcast is I see the mission that you're on. 00:05:52.139 --> 00:05:53.899 And obviously your journey is through medicine, 00:05:53.980 --> 00:05:56.839 but we definitely align as far as our philosophy. 00:05:57.759 --> 00:05:59.660 I've seen the guests that you've had on and the 00:05:59.660 --> 00:06:02.800 conversations you have with Johan Hari and Sabrina 00:06:02.800 --> 00:06:06.500 Cohen -Hatton and Gabor Mate and people like 00:06:06.500 --> 00:06:09.920 that. And I see that same mission, that prevention, 00:06:10.399 --> 00:06:13.720 that philosophy that there are solutions to some 00:06:13.720 --> 00:06:15.279 of these problems. So I'm very excited about 00:06:15.279 --> 00:06:19.060 this conversation. Oh, fantastic. Me too. Right. 00:06:19.120 --> 00:06:21.420 So very first question, where on planet Earth 00:06:21.420 --> 00:06:25.189 are we finding you today? Okay, so I am in my 00:06:25.189 --> 00:06:28.250 garden in South Manchester in my new podcast 00:06:28.250 --> 00:06:32.550 studio, which has been built over lockdown and 00:06:32.550 --> 00:06:36.029 is where I do my recordings from. So yeah, it's 00:06:36.029 --> 00:06:40.009 a beautiful British summer's day. And yeah, I'm 00:06:40.009 --> 00:06:42.769 delighted to spend it chatting to you. Fantastic. 00:06:42.769 --> 00:06:45.910 Well, just as a side note, how was the last four 00:06:45.910 --> 00:06:51.769 or five months for you specifically? Yeah, look. 00:06:52.730 --> 00:06:56.310 You know, unquestionably, these are very unusual 00:06:56.310 --> 00:06:59.189 times compared to what most of us are used to. 00:06:59.870 --> 00:07:05.089 And I think, you know, I've had a variety of 00:07:05.089 --> 00:07:06.930 different emotions, if I'm honest, at various 00:07:06.930 --> 00:07:11.550 times. I think if I'm completely honest on a 00:07:11.550 --> 00:07:15.769 personal level, the first few months of lockdown 00:07:15.769 --> 00:07:20.620 were pretty special for me and my family. You've 00:07:20.620 --> 00:07:22.300 got to be really sensitive with how you talk 00:07:22.300 --> 00:07:26.180 about this, because I fully recognize that for 00:07:26.180 --> 00:07:30.720 much of society, it was really difficult. You 00:07:30.720 --> 00:07:34.199 know, job pressure, financial pressure, people 00:07:34.199 --> 00:07:37.220 close to them maybe getting sick, a lot of frontline 00:07:37.220 --> 00:07:39.980 workers, you know, really feeling pressure and 00:07:39.980 --> 00:07:42.779 stress in their jobs. So I'm not being disrespectful 00:07:42.779 --> 00:07:46.180 to that. I fully understand and appreciate that. 00:07:46.579 --> 00:07:51.160 But on a personal level. I feel that it was great 00:07:51.160 --> 00:07:55.579 to connect and have, you know, two or three meals 00:07:55.579 --> 00:07:59.220 a day with my children, with my wife. The fact 00:07:59.220 --> 00:08:01.699 that I wasn't traveling around, doing lots of 00:08:01.699 --> 00:08:03.759 other things, which are all about health promotion. 00:08:04.220 --> 00:08:06.699 But actually, I was in my own backyard, actually 00:08:06.699 --> 00:08:09.720 spending more time with the people that meant 00:08:09.720 --> 00:08:11.660 the world to me and still do mean the world to 00:08:11.660 --> 00:08:13.720 me. So that was an incredible learning for me 00:08:13.720 --> 00:08:18.550 personally. Professionally. You know, what I 00:08:18.550 --> 00:08:22.329 saw with patients who I was seeing remotely was, 00:08:22.629 --> 00:08:26.949 you know, a huge increase in anxiety and stress 00:08:26.949 --> 00:08:32.710 and worry and depression. And, you know, that 00:08:32.710 --> 00:08:35.830 was very hard because, as I'm sure many people 00:08:35.830 --> 00:08:38.190 listening to this show, James, you know, are 00:08:38.190 --> 00:08:40.649 trying to do, we're all trying to help people. 00:08:40.690 --> 00:08:43.690 We're all trying to help society run more smoothly. 00:08:44.169 --> 00:08:47.700 We're all trying to help people. with their well 00:08:47.700 --> 00:08:51.139 -being. And I find it really hard to see how 00:08:51.139 --> 00:08:54.899 a lot of people are really struggling from the 00:08:54.899 --> 00:08:59.080 world outside them changing. And I think there's 00:08:59.080 --> 00:09:00.899 quite an interesting philosophical point there, 00:09:01.019 --> 00:09:05.639 because many of us are very reliant on the world 00:09:05.639 --> 00:09:08.159 around us, our external environment. So we think 00:09:08.159 --> 00:09:11.559 when that's okay, we'll be okay. But what I learned 00:09:11.559 --> 00:09:15.139 or what I relearned personally and also what 00:09:15.139 --> 00:09:17.220 I've been talking to a lot of my patients about 00:09:17.220 --> 00:09:20.659 is you can't control the outside environment. 00:09:20.860 --> 00:09:22.879 You know, the only constant in life is change. 00:09:23.399 --> 00:09:26.700 And therefore, what we really want to do is try 00:09:26.700 --> 00:09:30.379 and get good at dealing with change and try to 00:09:30.379 --> 00:09:32.639 get good at managing and controlling what we 00:09:32.639 --> 00:09:35.299 can control. Because if you go through life. 00:09:36.590 --> 00:09:39.549 You know, allowing the external world to dictate 00:09:39.549 --> 00:09:42.769 how you feel. And I will still do this. So I'm 00:09:42.769 --> 00:09:44.889 not I'm not preaching about this as if I have 00:09:44.889 --> 00:09:48.590 this all sorted. I just feel we've got to really 00:09:48.590 --> 00:09:51.389 focus on what we can control rather than what 00:09:51.389 --> 00:09:54.289 we can't control. And I couldn't agree more. 00:09:54.370 --> 00:09:57.230 And it's a great perspective coming from yourself, 00:09:57.330 --> 00:09:59.710 not only from a physician's element, but obviously 00:09:59.710 --> 00:10:02.629 the platform that you have as well. And I think 00:10:02.629 --> 00:10:05.230 that there's some people that have realized that 00:10:05.230 --> 00:10:07.009 you were saying, even with the traveling, that 00:10:07.009 --> 00:10:10.049 have commuted to an office and sat in a cubicle 00:10:10.049 --> 00:10:12.309 and done exactly what they could have done in 00:10:12.309 --> 00:10:14.269 their own home. So I think there's that efficiency 00:10:14.269 --> 00:10:17.279 element that has... revolutionize some people's 00:10:17.279 --> 00:10:19.799 lives in a positive way. But I think that there's 00:10:19.799 --> 00:10:23.360 also a lot of people that realize how much they 00:10:23.360 --> 00:10:26.240 missed human communication, that tribe, whether 00:10:26.240 --> 00:10:29.259 it was a group in a gym that they went to or 00:10:29.259 --> 00:10:33.039 their class at school. So what I'm hoping, I'm 00:10:33.039 --> 00:10:34.320 sure we're probably going to expand on a lot 00:10:34.320 --> 00:10:37.200 in this conversation. is that we have been given 00:10:37.200 --> 00:10:38.940 a lot of lessons. We've been given lessons on 00:10:38.940 --> 00:10:42.460 nutrition, on the farming practices and the ill 00:10:42.460 --> 00:10:46.200 health maybe of the UK, of the US. Lessons on 00:10:46.200 --> 00:10:48.580 mental health, lessons on the environment. And 00:10:48.580 --> 00:10:50.960 I'm hoping that we're not going to be so distracted 00:10:50.960 --> 00:10:54.779 by this virus itself that we miss the lessons 00:10:54.779 --> 00:10:58.179 and go back to the way we did it before. Yeah, 00:10:58.200 --> 00:11:00.179 I think that's a really key point, James. I think 00:11:00.179 --> 00:11:04.870 the truth is, no matter... And what we had to 00:11:04.870 --> 00:11:07.490 go through and what we are still going through 00:11:07.490 --> 00:11:12.110 during lockdown, I think it's fair to say that 00:11:12.110 --> 00:11:14.210 there's lessons to be learned for all of us, 00:11:14.230 --> 00:11:18.049 right? Of course, we all have had different pressures 00:11:18.049 --> 00:11:20.169 depending on where you live, whether you had 00:11:20.169 --> 00:11:22.269 a garden or a backyard or whether you didn't. 00:11:22.269 --> 00:11:23.769 You know, of course, your experience of lockdown 00:11:23.769 --> 00:11:26.149 is going to be very different if you've got a 00:11:26.149 --> 00:11:30.740 lot of living space and a garden. You know what? 00:11:30.779 --> 00:11:33.039 And the weather's good, as it was in the UK for 00:11:33.039 --> 00:11:35.080 the first two months of lockdown. Your experience 00:11:35.080 --> 00:11:37.840 is going to be very different from someone in 00:11:37.840 --> 00:11:40.779 a studio apartment in the centre of London or 00:11:40.779 --> 00:11:44.059 in the centre of New York where you have no space 00:11:44.059 --> 00:11:48.000 to get outside. Right. So your experience is 00:11:48.000 --> 00:11:50.480 going to be very different. But I think no matter 00:11:50.480 --> 00:11:54.120 what your experience is. We can all still learn 00:11:54.120 --> 00:11:56.600 something. What did we like? What did we not 00:11:56.600 --> 00:11:59.820 like? What can we change going forward? And what 00:11:59.820 --> 00:12:03.620 you mentioned about us missing our tribes, I 00:12:03.620 --> 00:12:06.139 really think that's been playing out throughout 00:12:06.139 --> 00:12:11.220 lockdown. I've got a good friend who is probably 00:12:11.220 --> 00:12:14.340 a bit of a loner, likes being by themselves, 00:12:14.799 --> 00:12:18.019 doesn't really get out and connect with that 00:12:18.019 --> 00:12:21.320 many tribes. but interestingly would often go 00:12:21.320 --> 00:12:24.320 and sit in coffee shops and do some work. And 00:12:24.320 --> 00:12:28.139 she said to me, you know what, I thought I was 00:12:28.139 --> 00:12:32.240 a loner, but she's just missing being in a coffee 00:12:32.240 --> 00:12:34.379 shop, maybe not chatting to anyone, but just 00:12:34.379 --> 00:12:37.399 knowing there's other humans around her. And 00:12:37.399 --> 00:12:41.340 I found that really insightful to hear that, 00:12:41.379 --> 00:12:44.769 that wow, even if you're a loner. you still want 00:12:44.769 --> 00:12:47.889 some human connection, even if it's just a background 00:12:47.889 --> 00:12:49.850 noise around you that there's other humans around. 00:12:50.269 --> 00:12:53.710 So I think that's super interesting. I'll tell 00:12:53.710 --> 00:12:56.269 you one thing, James, that I've been thinking 00:12:56.269 --> 00:12:58.870 about a lot, but it was really highlighted this 00:12:58.870 --> 00:13:05.570 week. I'm very concerned with the negatives of 00:13:05.570 --> 00:13:08.669 lockdown. So, of course, a lot of people are 00:13:08.669 --> 00:13:13.250 making the case for lockdown. And, you know, 00:13:13.269 --> 00:13:15.470 there's opinions on both sides of that, whether 00:13:15.470 --> 00:13:17.070 it was the right move, whether it is the right 00:13:17.070 --> 00:13:21.070 move or not. But let's be really clear. There 00:13:21.070 --> 00:13:24.850 is going to be a significant consequence of all 00:13:24.850 --> 00:13:27.690 these lockdowns. People are going to be more 00:13:27.690 --> 00:13:31.830 isolated. I know suicide rates are going up. 00:13:32.549 --> 00:13:35.629 Mental health problems are going up. And these 00:13:35.629 --> 00:13:38.230 can be harder to quantify in the same way as 00:13:38.230 --> 00:13:40.870 that. as a daily death rate from COVID. You know, 00:13:40.929 --> 00:13:43.009 that's something immediate and something we can 00:13:43.009 --> 00:13:46.110 see and measure. But it's very hard to measure 00:13:46.110 --> 00:13:49.450 in the same way those kind of longer term consequences. 00:13:49.950 --> 00:13:52.809 And that does concern me. And actually, this 00:13:52.809 --> 00:13:55.350 week in the UK, or last week, actually, James, 00:13:55.409 --> 00:13:58.830 swimming pools had opened up. So indoor swimming 00:13:58.830 --> 00:14:02.409 pools had opened up with various social distancing 00:14:02.409 --> 00:14:06.169 measures. And I've only been once and I booked 00:14:06.169 --> 00:14:10.139 my slots. And I went. And on the way out, I spoke 00:14:10.139 --> 00:14:12.980 to the receptionist behind the screen. And he 00:14:12.980 --> 00:14:16.139 said, hey, look, Doc, can you just tell me what's 00:14:16.139 --> 00:14:19.659 your take of what's going on? So I had a little 00:14:19.659 --> 00:14:21.820 chat with him about what I felt, about some of 00:14:21.820 --> 00:14:24.080 the things I'm talking about now. And I said, 00:14:24.120 --> 00:14:27.679 what have you found? And he said to me, he said, 00:14:27.720 --> 00:14:29.600 I've been working in this leisure center for 00:14:29.600 --> 00:14:33.279 20 years. And I'm really worried. I said, why? 00:14:33.460 --> 00:14:36.820 He said, I'm seeing people come in now. particularly 00:14:36.820 --> 00:14:40.960 people above the age of 55 or 60. They're like 00:14:40.960 --> 00:14:44.419 different people. They're withdrawn. They're 00:14:44.419 --> 00:14:47.360 very scared. They're fearful. They're not talking 00:14:47.360 --> 00:14:51.419 as much. And I found that so interesting, James, 00:14:51.460 --> 00:14:54.419 that this is someone who has worked in a sports 00:14:54.419 --> 00:14:57.379 facility, a local community leisure facility 00:14:57.379 --> 00:15:01.940 where there's football, indoor football or indoor 00:15:01.940 --> 00:15:05.419 soccer courts. swimming pools, there's martial 00:15:05.419 --> 00:15:09.460 arts classes, there's a gymnasium. And he's just 00:15:09.460 --> 00:15:12.659 saying people are different. And I think this 00:15:12.659 --> 00:15:15.659 is a story that's not getting amplified enough 00:15:15.659 --> 00:15:19.700 in the media, in the press, that actually human 00:15:19.700 --> 00:15:22.460 beings are social animals. We've always been 00:15:22.460 --> 00:15:26.039 social animals. And we've got to be careful that 00:15:26.039 --> 00:15:28.360 there is going to be a consequence that already 00:15:28.360 --> 00:15:31.879 is a consequence. of keeping people locked up 00:15:31.879 --> 00:15:35.200 and not allowing them to interact. So I know 00:15:35.200 --> 00:15:37.500 this is a very political point and I don't want 00:15:37.500 --> 00:15:39.320 to make it too political, but I just want to 00:15:39.320 --> 00:15:43.539 say as a doctor, I'm concerned about some of 00:15:43.539 --> 00:15:46.279 those negative impacts that we're likely, not 00:15:46.279 --> 00:15:48.220 likely, that I think we will see of lockdown. 00:15:48.779 --> 00:15:50.879 Yeah, well, it's a shame, because people do refer 00:15:50.879 --> 00:15:53.620 to it as political. And in my opinion, it's not, 00:15:53.720 --> 00:15:55.639 you know, there's two sides that are screaming 00:15:55.639 --> 00:15:57.539 each other, we're perfectly aware of them, they 00:15:57.539 --> 00:15:59.720 make themselves very known. But then there's 00:15:59.720 --> 00:16:02.179 the middle ground of normal people that are in, 00:16:02.200 --> 00:16:05.259 especially in the wellness space, that are, you 00:16:05.259 --> 00:16:07.220 know, looking at this saying, well, you know, 00:16:07.220 --> 00:16:09.679 you keep ignoring the underlying issues. That's 00:16:09.679 --> 00:16:11.480 something we could have been addressing now for 00:16:11.480 --> 00:16:14.100 five months, the obesity epidemic, you know, 00:16:14.100 --> 00:16:18.019 diabetes, mental ill health. And even with the 00:16:18.620 --> 00:16:20.600 I'll use the word fear mongering. It's definitely 00:16:20.600 --> 00:16:24.080 been that in the US. To me, as someone who's 00:16:24.080 --> 00:16:26.440 been in the wellness space now for several decades, 00:16:26.740 --> 00:16:29.799 I'm looking at this and look through the lens 00:16:29.799 --> 00:16:31.700 of, well, if we want to give people the best 00:16:31.700 --> 00:16:34.320 chance of surviving this, we need to maximize 00:16:34.320 --> 00:16:38.580 their resilience. And by pumping this fear, I'm 00:16:38.580 --> 00:16:40.980 not talking about selfishly, you know, not wearing 00:16:40.980 --> 00:16:43.909 masks and breathing over people, but... creating 00:16:43.909 --> 00:16:47.769 such a focus on the fear element i think that 00:16:47.769 --> 00:16:50.870 we're making people more susceptible to to getting 00:16:50.870 --> 00:16:54.690 ill yeah a lot of people don't realize that look 00:16:54.690 --> 00:16:55.970 what are we talking about here we're talking 00:16:55.970 --> 00:16:59.470 about our immune system right so to fight anything 00:16:59.470 --> 00:17:04.430 that we're exposed to we want a well -functioning 00:17:04.430 --> 00:17:08.569 immune system and there are many ways to support 00:17:08.569 --> 00:17:12.950 good immune system health okay so One of them, 00:17:12.990 --> 00:17:15.470 well, one thing that does not support good immune 00:17:15.470 --> 00:17:18.670 system health is stress and fear. We know that 00:17:18.670 --> 00:17:22.410 stress and fear suppress the ability of our immune 00:17:22.410 --> 00:17:27.230 system to adequately respond and react to perceived 00:17:27.230 --> 00:17:30.250 threats. There were multiple studies showing 00:17:30.250 --> 00:17:33.210 that people exposed to the same virus, let's 00:17:33.210 --> 00:17:37.470 say the same rhinovirus or what's often called 00:17:37.470 --> 00:17:41.160 the common cold virus. Right. Depending on their 00:17:41.160 --> 00:17:42.920 state of stress, depending on how much sleep 00:17:42.920 --> 00:17:46.059 they've had, it completely changes how likely 00:17:46.059 --> 00:17:49.519 they are to get symptoms. So, you know, no study 00:17:49.519 --> 00:17:52.480 that I know of has been done yet on that with 00:17:52.480 --> 00:17:55.720 respect to the novel coronavirus that has shut 00:17:55.720 --> 00:17:58.720 the world down this year. But we can apply some 00:17:58.720 --> 00:18:00.720 common sense principles. If our immune system 00:18:00.720 --> 00:18:04.660 works better, whatever threat we face, whether 00:18:04.660 --> 00:18:08.180 it's this virus or another virus. we are going 00:18:08.180 --> 00:18:12.299 to be able to better mount an effective immune 00:18:12.299 --> 00:18:15.960 response if our immune system is working better. 00:18:16.059 --> 00:18:18.200 So what are those things? Well, I've spoken about 00:18:18.200 --> 00:18:20.119 four pillars of health before. That's basically 00:18:20.119 --> 00:18:23.019 what my first book was about. Let's go through 00:18:23.019 --> 00:18:25.819 them. Sleep. We know sleep directly impacts the 00:18:25.819 --> 00:18:28.140 immune system. So, for example, if you are sleeping 00:18:28.140 --> 00:18:31.779 seven to eight hours sleep per night, as opposed 00:18:31.779 --> 00:18:35.400 to five hours per night. The activity of a type 00:18:35.400 --> 00:18:38.920 of cell called natural killer cells can be as 00:18:38.920 --> 00:18:42.420 much as 50 % reduced if you're only having five 00:18:42.420 --> 00:18:44.299 hours sleep. Well, let's just think about that. 00:18:44.339 --> 00:18:46.579 What are natural killer cells? Natural killer 00:18:46.579 --> 00:18:48.539 cells are part of your body's what's called your 00:18:48.539 --> 00:18:51.000 innate immune system, right? They're part of 00:18:51.000 --> 00:18:53.380 the immune system you're born with. And what 00:18:53.380 --> 00:18:56.019 do natural killer cells do? They help fight off 00:18:56.019 --> 00:18:58.440 infections. They do other things as well, but 00:18:58.440 --> 00:19:02.930 they help fight off viruses. If you can improve 00:19:02.930 --> 00:19:05.849 your sleep, let's say from five hours to seven 00:19:05.849 --> 00:19:09.029 hours, the amount of natural killer cells you 00:19:09.029 --> 00:19:12.509 have going around your body may increase, may 00:19:12.509 --> 00:19:17.569 double, right? And we don't need a scientific 00:19:17.569 --> 00:19:19.970 trial to tell us, well, that's clearly going 00:19:19.970 --> 00:19:23.049 to be beneficial for whatever threats, whatever 00:19:23.049 --> 00:19:26.839 infection you're going to face. we can focus 00:19:26.839 --> 00:19:29.160 on sleep. Stress, as I've just mentioned, when 00:19:29.160 --> 00:19:31.839 you're highly stressed, you suppress immune system 00:19:31.839 --> 00:19:36.259 activity. And therefore, stress may well make 00:19:36.259 --> 00:19:39.319 you more susceptible to actually getting infected 00:19:39.319 --> 00:19:44.079 or coming down with complications. Third pillar, 00:19:44.279 --> 00:19:47.299 movement, right? We know that physical activity, 00:19:47.559 --> 00:19:51.980 particularly if it's sort of moderate, can really, 00:19:52.039 --> 00:19:54.920 really help. balance the immune system, and have 00:19:54.920 --> 00:19:57.880 more effective immune system function. Same goes 00:19:57.880 --> 00:20:00.700 for food, the fourth pillar. But I mean, they 00:20:00.700 --> 00:20:02.900 aren't necessarily the order in which I sort 00:20:02.900 --> 00:20:05.960 of write about them. But if people just think 00:20:05.960 --> 00:20:09.720 about food, movement, sleep, and stress, like 00:20:09.720 --> 00:20:12.420 these four key pillars of health that we actually 00:20:12.420 --> 00:20:15.680 have, you know, what I love about these four 00:20:15.680 --> 00:20:19.299 pillars, not only do they have a huge impact 00:20:19.299 --> 00:20:23.339 on how we feel, what our health is, how our immune 00:20:23.339 --> 00:20:26.019 system functions. There are also things that 00:20:26.019 --> 00:20:29.460 a lot of us have quite a high degree of control 00:20:29.460 --> 00:20:32.660 over, right? So I like focusing on things that 00:20:32.660 --> 00:20:35.859 people can do. So for example, air pollution, 00:20:35.980 --> 00:20:41.160 yes, is causing a lot of health problems in society, 00:20:41.500 --> 00:20:44.460 but there's not that much many of us can do about 00:20:44.460 --> 00:20:48.079 it. Sure, we can change. The car we drive, we 00:20:48.079 --> 00:20:50.359 can cycle more, we can not contribute to it. 00:20:50.400 --> 00:20:52.319 But by and large, we can't do that much about 00:20:52.319 --> 00:20:55.759 air pollution. So I prefer to focus with people 00:20:55.759 --> 00:20:57.720 on things they can do. And I would ask everyone 00:20:57.720 --> 00:21:00.220 listening to this right now to ask themselves, 00:21:00.420 --> 00:21:03.640 on those four pillars, food, movement, sleep, 00:21:03.920 --> 00:21:07.420 and stress, which of those pillars do they feel 00:21:07.420 --> 00:21:10.420 they need the most work in? And I would simply 00:21:10.420 --> 00:21:13.500 start by changing one small thing in that pillar. 00:21:13.700 --> 00:21:15.980 And what we often do, James, is we go to our 00:21:15.980 --> 00:21:18.660 favorite area. So let's say, you know, we're 00:21:18.660 --> 00:21:21.000 really into our diet and our diet's already pretty 00:21:21.000 --> 00:21:24.180 good, but we're only sleeping five hours a night. 00:21:24.579 --> 00:21:27.579 We often will try and make our diet 5 % even 00:21:27.579 --> 00:21:29.539 better and go, oh, you know what? I can make 00:21:29.539 --> 00:21:32.680 my diet a little bit even better than this. But 00:21:32.680 --> 00:21:36.049 we're actually much better off. making our weak 00:21:36.049 --> 00:21:39.509 areas a little bit better than making our strong 00:21:39.509 --> 00:21:42.710 areas a little bit stronger. And I think that's 00:21:42.710 --> 00:21:44.410 a key message I want people to take from this. 00:21:44.490 --> 00:21:47.509 What is your blind spot? For me, James, it's 00:21:47.509 --> 00:21:51.289 stress. You know, honestly, my foods, my movements 00:21:51.289 --> 00:21:53.970 is pretty good because I've been working on it 00:21:53.970 --> 00:21:56.049 for years. So I built up some good practices 00:21:56.049 --> 00:22:00.049 and some good habits. My sleep is not too bad. 00:22:00.250 --> 00:22:02.430 But, you know, honestly, for me, I'm going to 00:22:02.430 --> 00:22:06.529 get the most bang for my buck. by spending five 00:22:06.529 --> 00:22:09.470 or 10 minutes a day just trying to manage my 00:22:09.470 --> 00:22:12.690 stress. And I'd ask everyone listening to figure 00:22:12.690 --> 00:22:15.609 out what is that pillar for them that they could 00:22:15.609 --> 00:22:19.109 start making small changes in. And it's such 00:22:19.109 --> 00:22:21.759 a powerful... topic that you hit, and you talked 00:22:21.759 --> 00:22:24.200 about sleep first. So a lot of the people listening 00:22:24.200 --> 00:22:27.140 to this, whether they're in the US, the UK, wherever 00:22:27.140 --> 00:22:29.099 they are around the world are shift workers. 00:22:29.339 --> 00:22:31.259 So whether it's a firefighter, whether it's, 00:22:31.259 --> 00:22:32.759 you know, a member of the military or someone 00:22:32.759 --> 00:22:38.329 in the ER. And when COVID first came about, And 00:22:38.329 --> 00:22:39.869 I've been talking about this for four years now. 00:22:39.930 --> 00:22:42.390 It's one of the underlying issues, I think, behind 00:22:42.390 --> 00:22:45.150 the physical disease that kills our men and women 00:22:45.150 --> 00:22:46.809 and the mental disease that kills our men and 00:22:46.809 --> 00:22:49.869 women. But the people that the world leaned into, 00:22:49.990 --> 00:22:53.589 the frontline personnel, to me, the way a lot 00:22:53.589 --> 00:22:55.849 of their work weeks look, whether it's a junior 00:22:55.849 --> 00:22:58.190 doctor in the NHS or whether it's a firefighter 00:22:58.190 --> 00:23:02.450 in the US, those are some of the most overworked, 00:23:02.450 --> 00:23:06.430 sleep deprived men and women that we have. Again, 00:23:06.569 --> 00:23:09.150 lessons learned from this. We've seen, sadly, 00:23:09.250 --> 00:23:11.509 a lot of doctors, nurses, firefighters, police 00:23:11.509 --> 00:23:15.170 officers, medics pass away during COVID. And 00:23:15.170 --> 00:23:19.029 I hope that we can reframe not only my professions, 00:23:19.049 --> 00:23:21.130 but obviously the civilian population, but understand 00:23:21.130 --> 00:23:25.250 how important that pillar, sleep, is to every 00:23:25.250 --> 00:23:28.680 other element of your health. Yeah, absolutely. 00:23:28.900 --> 00:23:31.019 I really appreciate you bringing that up, James. 00:23:31.099 --> 00:23:32.980 And it's great to hear that you've been talking 00:23:32.980 --> 00:23:36.339 about this for a number of years now, as many 00:23:36.339 --> 00:23:38.759 people who are trying to help promote health 00:23:38.759 --> 00:23:47.079 have. It's tricky because... You know, if you 00:23:47.079 --> 00:23:50.200 are working shifts, your circadian rhythm, which 00:23:50.200 --> 00:23:52.740 is your body's natural daily rhythm that helps 00:23:52.740 --> 00:23:54.579 get you up in the morning and helps you wind 00:23:54.579 --> 00:23:57.720 down before hopefully you fall into a deep, relaxing 00:23:57.720 --> 00:24:02.339 sleep every night, that gets affected by shift 00:24:02.339 --> 00:24:05.519 work. And it's really a very sad thing in society 00:24:05.519 --> 00:24:10.460 that some of the professions that look after 00:24:10.460 --> 00:24:13.359 us the most in our time of need, whether it's 00:24:13.359 --> 00:24:16.680 firefighters, healthcare workers. Even people 00:24:16.680 --> 00:24:22.680 doing security in offices or in hospitals or 00:24:22.680 --> 00:24:26.420 wherever. You know, these are the guys and women 00:24:26.420 --> 00:24:30.779 whose circadian rhythms and whose sleep quality 00:24:30.779 --> 00:24:34.220 are probably being affected the most. And they're 00:24:34.220 --> 00:24:35.940 doing some of the most important roles in society. 00:24:36.460 --> 00:24:38.359 And I think that's something we should really 00:24:38.359 --> 00:24:40.559 be acknowledging, that actually a lot of people 00:24:40.559 --> 00:24:45.269 in these professions are literally... are going 00:24:45.269 --> 00:24:47.829 beyond the call of duty to help society as a 00:24:47.829 --> 00:24:49.269 whole. And I think we should be very grateful 00:24:49.269 --> 00:24:51.869 and thankful for all the work they are doing. 00:24:52.369 --> 00:24:54.529 I'm very proud to be in the medical profession. 00:24:55.250 --> 00:24:57.730 And I think most people who are doing something 00:24:57.730 --> 00:24:59.990 in one of these professions are very proud of 00:24:59.990 --> 00:25:03.210 the work they do, even though it often comes 00:25:03.210 --> 00:25:06.569 at a personal cost. And I think that is sad. 00:25:07.349 --> 00:25:11.019 But I would also say. that although these things 00:25:11.019 --> 00:25:13.680 make shift, make it challenging, make it more 00:25:13.680 --> 00:25:17.140 challenging to sleep well and get into a routine, 00:25:17.220 --> 00:25:22.500 it's not impossible. And I always try and leave 00:25:22.500 --> 00:25:24.480 things optimistically with people. There are 00:25:24.480 --> 00:25:28.519 things that people can do once you turn your 00:25:28.519 --> 00:25:30.019 attention to the fact that I'm going to start 00:25:30.019 --> 00:25:31.980 prioritizing this. And I think with something 00:25:31.980 --> 00:25:35.180 like sleep, for example, James, I would say whether 00:25:35.180 --> 00:25:38.500 you're a shift worker or not. One of the big 00:25:38.500 --> 00:25:41.920 problems is that we don't prioritize it. So even 00:25:41.920 --> 00:25:45.140 if a patient of mine or someone listening to 00:25:45.140 --> 00:25:47.920 my podcast or whoever it is I'm communicating 00:25:47.920 --> 00:25:51.740 with, once they even start to prioritize sleep, 00:25:51.859 --> 00:25:55.059 often that makes a big difference. In the same 00:25:55.059 --> 00:25:57.099 way that they might change their diet in January, 00:25:57.380 --> 00:25:59.859 it's kind of like, oh, I'm going to change my 00:25:59.859 --> 00:26:02.539 sleep diet now. I'm going to actually... work 00:26:02.539 --> 00:26:05.640 on my sleep. And it's amazing with sleep how 00:26:05.640 --> 00:26:10.480 simple little things can make a very big difference. 00:26:11.740 --> 00:26:15.119 Yeah, absolutely. And I think that's an area 00:26:15.119 --> 00:26:17.500 that I think everyone needs to understand. And 00:26:17.500 --> 00:26:20.319 if you get the individual to understand the sleep 00:26:20.319 --> 00:26:22.359 hygiene element, you know, what you can do, as 00:26:22.359 --> 00:26:23.759 you said, whether it's temperature, whether it's 00:26:23.759 --> 00:26:26.220 ambient light, whether it's your routine prior 00:26:26.220 --> 00:26:29.690 to going to bed. and then see the benefits then 00:26:29.690 --> 00:26:33.390 as an employer understanding well maybe we need 00:26:33.390 --> 00:26:35.009 to change the way you know the work week for 00:26:35.009 --> 00:26:36.470 example if we're getting people that are out 00:26:36.470 --> 00:26:38.950 in the streets all night every night maybe they 00:26:38.950 --> 00:26:41.910 need a little extra time to recover to catch 00:26:41.910 --> 00:26:43.710 up on their sleep so i think whether it's the 00:26:43.710 --> 00:26:47.190 employee or the employer i think sleep education 00:26:47.190 --> 00:26:50.069 is important for all of us for for overall wellness 00:26:50.069 --> 00:26:55.069 yeah i think that's a great point and It's amazing 00:26:55.069 --> 00:26:57.950 how a lot of us in the wellness space forget 00:26:57.950 --> 00:26:59.849 that when we've been talking about this for a 00:26:59.849 --> 00:27:03.490 long time, a lot of people, I think, make the 00:27:03.490 --> 00:27:06.809 understandable mistake that everyone already 00:27:06.809 --> 00:27:09.690 knows it now. But they don't. I'm sure you get 00:27:09.690 --> 00:27:11.430 it all the time, whether you're posting on Instagram 00:27:11.430 --> 00:27:15.569 or on your podcast. The same tips often that 00:27:15.569 --> 00:27:17.309 you might have said before, someone will hear 00:27:17.309 --> 00:27:20.589 and go, I had no idea. I tried that, James, and 00:27:20.589 --> 00:27:24.279 it improved my sleep. I never get tired of talking 00:27:24.279 --> 00:27:26.059 about this stuff because there's always going 00:27:26.059 --> 00:27:28.160 to be somebody out there who's hearing it for 00:27:28.160 --> 00:27:31.440 the first time or somebody who's heard it five 00:27:31.440 --> 00:27:34.359 times already and either hasn't made the change 00:27:34.359 --> 00:27:37.779 or weren't ready to make the change. Like it's 00:27:37.779 --> 00:27:40.019 not a one hit wonder. It's not that you, for 00:27:40.019 --> 00:27:41.819 everyone, it's not that you just hear it and 00:27:41.819 --> 00:27:44.259 go, oh, is that all I have to do? Okay, great. 00:27:44.339 --> 00:27:45.920 I'm going to now sleep perfectly every night. 00:27:46.000 --> 00:27:48.619 No, actually real life often gets in the way 00:27:48.619 --> 00:27:50.859 and we often need, myself included, need to. 00:27:51.440 --> 00:27:54.339 hear or remind ourselves of the same messages 00:27:54.339 --> 00:27:57.740 over and over again. Or it may be that you had 00:27:57.740 --> 00:28:02.559 this sorted and lit before COVID hit. And then 00:28:02.559 --> 00:28:04.799 maybe your life changed overnight and stress 00:28:04.799 --> 00:28:07.259 levels went up. Or maybe there was stress in 00:28:07.259 --> 00:28:09.599 your family. Or maybe you were trying to juggle 00:28:09.599 --> 00:28:13.140 your work and homeschool your kids. So, you know, 00:28:13.160 --> 00:28:15.920 life never stays static. Of course, we've seen 00:28:15.920 --> 00:28:18.059 that to a very extreme degree in the last few 00:28:18.059 --> 00:28:20.529 months. But the principle is always the same, 00:28:20.589 --> 00:28:22.869 James. Life is never static. It's never the same. 00:28:23.009 --> 00:28:25.910 And actually, the podcast I've just released 00:28:25.910 --> 00:28:28.730 yesterday was with someone called Julia Samuel, 00:28:28.930 --> 00:28:30.910 and it's on change. Actually, you should really 00:28:30.910 --> 00:28:33.309 talk to her. I think she's a wonderful, she's 00:28:33.309 --> 00:28:35.269 one of the UK's leading psychotherapists. And 00:28:35.269 --> 00:28:39.789 we really explored this whole idea that change 00:28:39.789 --> 00:28:42.890 and death are the only two inevitables in life, 00:28:43.009 --> 00:28:46.869 right? Change is going to happen. And so... We 00:28:46.869 --> 00:28:49.289 never get to a perfect state of health and well 00:28:49.289 --> 00:28:51.630 -being. I've made this mistake in my life where 00:28:51.630 --> 00:28:54.890 I think, oh, I've got this sorted now. I've got 00:28:54.890 --> 00:28:57.049 these four pillars working. Well, you know what? 00:28:57.089 --> 00:28:59.950 Life doesn't stay static. Something will change. 00:29:00.089 --> 00:29:03.170 A work pressure will change. There'll be maybe 00:29:03.170 --> 00:29:05.009 pressures from your children or one of them is 00:29:05.009 --> 00:29:07.190 not doing so well at school or an elderly relative 00:29:07.190 --> 00:29:11.190 doesn't do so well. Like this is what happened 00:29:11.190 --> 00:29:14.109 to me at the start of lockdown, right? I remember 00:29:14.109 --> 00:29:18.000 that my mum. who lives nearby to me, who lives 00:29:18.000 --> 00:29:20.900 by herself since my dad died seven years ago, 00:29:21.059 --> 00:29:26.539 she had a fall. And I remember going around, 00:29:26.599 --> 00:29:29.720 it took a few hours to sort of pick her up. And 00:29:29.720 --> 00:29:33.539 it was just incredibly stressful because people 00:29:33.539 --> 00:29:36.900 wanted to get her into hospital. And I did not 00:29:36.900 --> 00:29:39.279 want her to go into hospital because, you know, 00:29:39.339 --> 00:29:41.779 COVID had literally just hit in a big way a week 00:29:41.779 --> 00:29:44.400 or two ago. So everyone was still trying to understand 00:29:44.400 --> 00:29:47.150 what it meant. You know, what we were hearing 00:29:47.150 --> 00:29:50.369 on the news, certainly me as a doctor, what the 00:29:50.369 --> 00:29:53.009 chief medical officer was saying. And I was like, 00:29:53.089 --> 00:29:54.769 I really don't want my mum going to hospital 00:29:54.769 --> 00:29:58.089 at the moment. So I went and slept on her floor 00:29:58.089 --> 00:30:01.890 in a bedroom for maybe three to five days just 00:30:01.890 --> 00:30:05.450 to make sure I was around, that she was OK. And 00:30:05.450 --> 00:30:08.109 of course, my sleep went down. My stress went 00:30:08.109 --> 00:30:11.380 through the roof, even though I knew. all the 00:30:11.380 --> 00:30:13.000 things I should do you know I've written three 00:30:13.000 --> 00:30:15.579 books on this stuff right I know with my rational 00:30:15.579 --> 00:30:18.359 brain what I should be doing but at that time 00:30:18.359 --> 00:30:21.480 there was so much stress in my life that I wasn't 00:30:21.480 --> 00:30:24.200 able to apply them all and therefore I was tired 00:30:24.200 --> 00:30:27.000 I was stressed I was a bit more reactive that's 00:30:27.000 --> 00:30:29.119 okay we don't need to beat ourselves up about 00:30:29.119 --> 00:30:30.940 that that was like okay cool I'm going through 00:30:30.940 --> 00:30:33.460 a stressful time this is the way it is at the 00:30:33.460 --> 00:30:36.059 moment I'll do what I can but as soon as life 00:30:36.059 --> 00:30:39.599 starts to calm down again I'll try and make a 00:30:39.599 --> 00:30:43.400 few small tweets to get back on track. And, you 00:30:43.400 --> 00:30:46.619 know, I think it's just important that we don't 00:30:46.619 --> 00:30:48.680 beat ourselves up and we're kind to ourselves 00:30:48.680 --> 00:30:50.640 and go, you know, if you're listening to this 00:30:50.640 --> 00:30:53.839 show and you are a military responder or a hospital 00:30:53.839 --> 00:30:57.380 responder and you've had to deal with pressures 00:30:57.380 --> 00:31:01.720 and stress and grief and work pressures and home 00:31:01.720 --> 00:31:04.279 pressures, and you know what? Your sleep has 00:31:04.279 --> 00:31:06.700 gone off and your stress has gone up a bit. That's 00:31:06.700 --> 00:31:10.289 okay. Right. We're all human. That's OK. But 00:31:10.289 --> 00:31:12.430 maybe as we go through this conversation, hopefully 00:31:12.430 --> 00:31:15.490 you might hear a couple of things that you think, 00:31:15.569 --> 00:31:18.049 hey, you know what? I reckon I could apply that. 00:31:18.190 --> 00:31:20.430 I reckon I might be able to start doing that. 00:31:20.849 --> 00:31:24.890 And it's these small changes can really, really 00:31:24.890 --> 00:31:27.289 make big changes. I just really want people to 00:31:27.289 --> 00:31:29.390 to be kind to themselves and not beat themselves 00:31:29.390 --> 00:31:32.200 up too much. Brilliant. No, I love that. I really 00:31:32.200 --> 00:31:34.359 want to explore the kind of preventative holistic 00:31:34.359 --> 00:31:37.559 element of your philosophy. So you mentioned 00:31:37.559 --> 00:31:40.059 your mom and dad. So going now to your early 00:31:40.059 --> 00:31:42.079 life, I'd love to kind of hear the journey that 00:31:42.079 --> 00:31:44.980 you took into medicine. So where were you actually 00:31:44.980 --> 00:31:47.059 born? And then tell me about your family dynamic, 00:31:47.180 --> 00:31:48.839 what your parents did and how many siblings. 00:31:49.720 --> 00:31:54.400 Yeah. Okay, James. So my dad was born in India. 00:31:54.859 --> 00:31:58.359 And he was an Indian immigrant to the UK in 1962. 00:31:58.559 --> 00:32:02.059 So in the 1960s, the UK government had a shortage 00:32:02.059 --> 00:32:05.819 of doctors and they actively recruited doctors 00:32:05.819 --> 00:32:08.660 from the Indian subcontinent. And my dad was 00:32:08.660 --> 00:32:13.019 one of the many doctors who came over. He absolutely 00:32:13.019 --> 00:32:15.759 came over for better opportunity and a desire 00:32:15.759 --> 00:32:21.700 to build a better life for him, his children 00:32:21.700 --> 00:32:25.240 and his wider family. So dad came out. in the 00:32:25.240 --> 00:32:28.440 early 1960s. My mum came in the sort of early 00:32:28.440 --> 00:32:33.880 1970s. And so I was born in the centre of Manchester 00:32:33.880 --> 00:32:38.180 in the north of England in the late 70s, right? 00:32:38.279 --> 00:32:40.819 So I was born and brought up in the UK. I've 00:32:40.819 --> 00:32:43.720 got one older brother. He's three years older 00:32:43.720 --> 00:32:47.180 than me. And, you know, it's interesting. You 00:32:47.180 --> 00:32:49.740 know, I'm a father of two young kids, a 10 -year 00:32:49.740 --> 00:32:53.619 -old boy, a seven -year -old girl. And what I've 00:32:53.619 --> 00:32:58.180 really seen, James, as a father, and also I filmed 00:32:58.180 --> 00:33:00.259 quite a few BBC documentaries where I go around 00:33:00.259 --> 00:33:02.220 the country and spend a lot of time with families 00:33:02.220 --> 00:33:04.420 to see if I can help them improve their health. 00:33:05.019 --> 00:33:08.000 And I've really become acutely aware that for 00:33:08.000 --> 00:33:12.960 children, what you get exposed to often determines 00:33:12.960 --> 00:33:16.819 what you think is possible. And, you know, the 00:33:16.819 --> 00:33:22.059 truth is, my dad, all his friends, were doctors. 00:33:22.819 --> 00:33:28.079 So as a kid, any social gathering to do with 00:33:28.079 --> 00:33:30.619 the family, I was surrounded by doctors. And 00:33:30.619 --> 00:33:33.039 you know what? In that group, any of the kids 00:33:33.039 --> 00:33:36.660 older than me, at least one person in each family 00:33:36.660 --> 00:33:38.599 would end up becoming a doctor or going to medical 00:33:38.599 --> 00:33:41.960 school. So if I'm honest, that was my norm, James, 00:33:42.019 --> 00:33:44.240 growing up. I was just surrounded by doctors 00:33:44.240 --> 00:33:47.640 and kids going to medical school. So a lot of 00:33:47.640 --> 00:33:49.789 people... A lot of people think in society, oh, 00:33:49.809 --> 00:33:51.650 you know, wow, you got into med school. And, 00:33:51.670 --> 00:33:55.009 you know, I'm not sort of downplaying that. But 00:33:55.009 --> 00:33:57.069 I'll be honest. And I say I had an advantage 00:33:57.069 --> 00:34:00.450 because that was my norm. So I just didn't think 00:34:00.450 --> 00:34:02.349 it was anything special or anything abnormal 00:34:02.349 --> 00:34:05.329 to apply and get into med school because that's 00:34:05.329 --> 00:34:08.449 all I saw around me. Now, that doesn't mean I 00:34:08.449 --> 00:34:11.190 didn't want to be a doctor. I've often spoken 00:34:11.190 --> 00:34:13.050 to my mother about this. And she said, you always 00:34:13.050 --> 00:34:16.800 had this caring side, like you always. very good 00:34:16.800 --> 00:34:19.199 at empathizing and nurturing people and caring 00:34:19.199 --> 00:34:22.900 for people. I think that's what led me into medicine. 00:34:23.539 --> 00:34:26.320 But I think even within medicine, I think I was 00:34:26.320 --> 00:34:28.460 dissatisfied for a number of years without even 00:34:28.460 --> 00:34:30.840 realizing it. I started off, I went to Edinburgh 00:34:30.840 --> 00:34:33.440 Medical School. I did an immunology degree also 00:34:33.440 --> 00:34:35.980 while I was up there. So I finished with a medical 00:34:35.980 --> 00:34:39.780 degree and an immunology degree. I thought I 00:34:39.780 --> 00:34:41.420 was going to work in hospital. So I did all my 00:34:41.420 --> 00:34:44.000 specialist training and exams. I was going to 00:34:44.000 --> 00:34:48.199 specialize in kidney medicine. But something 00:34:48.199 --> 00:34:51.019 just didn't sit with me, James, if I'm honest. 00:34:51.099 --> 00:34:55.380 Something just didn't feel right. I was always 00:34:55.380 --> 00:34:57.460 interested in people. I was always interested 00:34:57.460 --> 00:35:00.400 in how different parts of the body are linked. 00:35:00.719 --> 00:35:02.320 And I thought, I don't really want to spend the 00:35:02.320 --> 00:35:05.739 rest of my career just focusing on one area. 00:35:06.280 --> 00:35:07.920 I want to see everything. I want to see every 00:35:07.920 --> 00:35:10.400 person. I want to see different walks of life. 00:35:10.460 --> 00:35:13.019 I want to see every organ system. So I took the 00:35:13.019 --> 00:35:16.019 step to move from that to general practice. And 00:35:16.019 --> 00:35:18.840 my dad, I must be honest, he was very surprised 00:35:18.840 --> 00:35:20.980 and confused as to why I would have done all 00:35:20.980 --> 00:35:23.559 those specialist exams or certainly the first 00:35:23.559 --> 00:35:27.760 batch of them and then actually leave to do general 00:35:27.760 --> 00:35:32.000 practice. I remember a few maybe heated conversations 00:35:32.000 --> 00:35:36.130 with my father over that. But I did, and I loved 00:35:36.130 --> 00:35:38.190 general practice because I got to see everything. 00:35:38.389 --> 00:35:43.889 I got to see all kinds of symptoms. But a few 00:35:43.889 --> 00:35:48.170 years in, James, I was, again, feeling dissatisfied. 00:35:48.389 --> 00:35:50.730 At the end of one day, I looked at my list of 00:35:50.730 --> 00:35:53.110 patients, and I saw close to 50 patients that 00:35:53.110 --> 00:35:56.090 day. And I went down the list, and I said, Rangan, 00:35:56.150 --> 00:35:59.130 how many people have you really helped today? 00:36:00.710 --> 00:36:03.429 and honestly I thought I've helped about 20 % 00:36:03.429 --> 00:36:05.389 of my patients that really helped them the other 00:36:05.389 --> 00:36:09.510 80 % sure I've done something I've listened attentively 00:36:09.510 --> 00:36:11.489 which I think is very powerful for people in 00:36:11.489 --> 00:36:14.809 general I might have sent them for tests I might 00:36:14.809 --> 00:36:17.090 have given them a pill to suppress their symptoms 00:36:17.090 --> 00:36:20.230 but by and large I felt I was just putting a 00:36:20.230 --> 00:36:22.409 sticking plaster on their problems and not really 00:36:22.409 --> 00:36:26.150 either understanding myself or helping them understand 00:36:26.150 --> 00:36:29.670 how to really get on top of what was going on 00:36:31.110 --> 00:36:35.050 And that dissatisfaction, along with a personal 00:36:35.050 --> 00:36:37.210 experience with my son, I don't know if you've 00:36:37.210 --> 00:36:41.869 read the story on my son or not, but, I mean, 00:36:42.070 --> 00:36:47.369 you know, well, my son's 10 now. When he was 00:36:47.369 --> 00:36:51.690 six months old, my wife and I were on holiday 00:36:51.690 --> 00:36:57.110 in France. And, you know, essentially he had 00:36:57.110 --> 00:37:00.809 a convulsion. He stopped moving. We took him 00:37:00.809 --> 00:37:03.730 to the ER. The doctors were super worried. He 00:37:03.730 --> 00:37:05.949 got transferred down the valley to a different 00:37:05.949 --> 00:37:09.929 hospital. We thought we might lose him. And it 00:37:09.929 --> 00:37:15.150 turned out that he had what's called a hypocalcemic 00:37:15.150 --> 00:37:17.369 convulsion. So he had very low levels of calcium 00:37:17.369 --> 00:37:21.010 in his blood that was secondary to a vitamin 00:37:21.010 --> 00:37:23.869 D deficiency. So he had no vitamin D in his body. 00:37:24.440 --> 00:37:27.000 And as a consequence, his calcium dropped, which 00:37:27.000 --> 00:37:30.539 ended up in him having a convulsion. That was 00:37:30.539 --> 00:37:34.199 a very scary time. And modern medicine saved 00:37:34.199 --> 00:37:36.900 his life for sure. But what was really interesting 00:37:36.900 --> 00:37:39.139 is once everything had returned to normal with 00:37:39.139 --> 00:37:41.280 its levels, it was just like, okay, you can go 00:37:41.280 --> 00:37:43.780 now. And I said, okay, but what about the implications 00:37:43.780 --> 00:37:46.480 of that? And there was nothing. It was like, 00:37:46.559 --> 00:37:48.139 oh, well, we fixed all the levels now. And I 00:37:48.139 --> 00:37:50.820 was thinking, well, could this be if vitamin 00:37:50.820 --> 00:37:54.699 D is important for the immune system, And my 00:37:54.699 --> 00:37:58.400 son's got bad eczema. Could it be that this in 00:37:58.400 --> 00:38:00.280 some way has contributed to that? And nobody 00:38:00.280 --> 00:38:04.219 had any answers. And I thought, James, not only 00:38:04.219 --> 00:38:07.099 did I think, how has this happened? I felt a 00:38:07.099 --> 00:38:09.780 lot of guilt because at that time, you know, 00:38:09.820 --> 00:38:13.519 I was looking externally. I'd gone to one of 00:38:13.519 --> 00:38:15.780 Europe's most prestigious medical schools. I'd 00:38:15.780 --> 00:38:17.980 done specialist exams. I had an immunology degree. 00:38:18.820 --> 00:38:23.259 Yet I wasn't able to prevent my own son. from 00:38:23.259 --> 00:38:26.400 nearly dying, from something completely preventable. 00:38:27.059 --> 00:38:30.320 And I, rightly or wrongly, but clearly wrongly, 00:38:30.340 --> 00:38:32.280 but I felt a lot of guilt. I thought, how have 00:38:32.280 --> 00:38:35.980 I let this happen? And I made a vow to myself, 00:38:36.219 --> 00:38:38.739 and I've not told this story in a long time, 00:38:38.780 --> 00:38:40.219 it's actually bringing up a lot of emotions, 00:38:40.460 --> 00:38:43.960 but I made a vow to myself, James, that I'm going 00:38:43.960 --> 00:38:48.760 to get my son back to full fitness and full health 00:38:48.760 --> 00:38:52.820 as if this had never happened. And I started 00:38:52.820 --> 00:38:55.699 reading and researching. I started to look up 00:38:55.699 --> 00:38:59.039 vitamin D. Why do the immune system, the gut 00:38:59.039 --> 00:39:01.820 microbiome? I started to travel the world. I 00:39:01.820 --> 00:39:04.340 went to go on various courses to learn from experts 00:39:04.340 --> 00:39:09.000 in various areas. And as I learned more, I started 00:39:09.000 --> 00:39:11.699 to apply those principles with my son. He was 00:39:11.699 --> 00:39:14.000 getting better and thriving. Apply the same principles 00:39:14.000 --> 00:39:18.280 with myself, my wife, my daughter, my wider family. 00:39:18.809 --> 00:39:21.090 And then also the same principles with my patients. 00:39:21.829 --> 00:39:25.530 And I realized that actually a lot of my, you 00:39:25.530 --> 00:39:27.250 know, I was getting people better in a way that 00:39:27.250 --> 00:39:29.610 I never had managed to before. I was prescribing 00:39:29.610 --> 00:39:31.809 a lot less medication than I'd ever needed to 00:39:31.809 --> 00:39:34.750 before. And a lot of it came down to lifestyle. 00:39:35.050 --> 00:39:38.369 And I thought, well, why as a doctor, do I not 00:39:38.369 --> 00:39:40.349 know any of this stuff? Why was I not taught 00:39:40.349 --> 00:39:43.420 any of this stuff? But once you know something, 00:39:43.559 --> 00:39:46.440 you can't unknow it, right? You can't just pretend 00:39:46.440 --> 00:39:48.159 you don't know it and go back to the way you 00:39:48.159 --> 00:39:53.820 used to do things. So really, my son nearly dying 00:39:53.820 --> 00:39:57.539 was a hugely transformative experience for me 00:39:57.539 --> 00:40:00.500 personally, in my own life, but also professionally. 00:40:01.599 --> 00:40:03.519 has changed the course of my entire career. I 00:40:03.519 --> 00:40:05.719 don't think I'd be writing books, doing podcasts, 00:40:05.900 --> 00:40:08.360 making TV shows if that hadn't happened. Of course, 00:40:08.360 --> 00:40:11.179 I may have done, but I don't think I would have 00:40:11.179 --> 00:40:13.199 done. So it's literally been life -changing. 00:40:13.480 --> 00:40:15.420 I think the fact that I thought I was only helping 00:40:15.420 --> 00:40:20.000 20 % of my patients was also significant. And 00:40:20.000 --> 00:40:23.500 I think the other piece is that when I was at 00:40:23.500 --> 00:40:26.920 medical school, my dad, who was a consultant 00:40:26.920 --> 00:40:30.639 physician here in the UK, He suddenly got unwell 00:40:30.639 --> 00:40:33.219 and, you know, ultimately what happened, he had 00:40:33.219 --> 00:40:36.559 to retire suddenly from work. He got diagnosed 00:40:36.559 --> 00:40:38.559 with lupus, which is an autoimmune condition. 00:40:38.760 --> 00:40:42.099 He had really bad kidney failure and he was on 00:40:42.099 --> 00:40:45.539 dialysis for 15 years. So I cared for dads. I 00:40:45.539 --> 00:40:48.059 moved back to where I grew up. I was in Edinburgh, 00:40:48.119 --> 00:40:50.599 but I moved back to South Manchester to help 00:40:50.599 --> 00:40:53.119 my mother and my brother care for my dad until 00:40:53.119 --> 00:40:57.059 dad died seven years ago. I think all those sort 00:40:57.059 --> 00:41:00.980 of three things have hugely influenced me as 00:41:00.980 --> 00:41:04.820 a person, has hugely affected the way I practice 00:41:04.820 --> 00:41:07.739 medicine. I think, you know, I'm sure many people 00:41:07.739 --> 00:41:11.980 listening have been carers or are carers. And 00:41:11.980 --> 00:41:13.739 I think when you've been on the other side and 00:41:13.739 --> 00:41:16.599 you've seen what it's like caring for someone 00:41:16.599 --> 00:41:19.780 day in, day out, seven days a week, 365 days 00:41:19.780 --> 00:41:22.380 a year, and you've been waiting in hospitals, 00:41:22.599 --> 00:41:26.900 worried, scared. not getting answers. You see 00:41:26.900 --> 00:41:29.480 things in a very different way. And I would like 00:41:29.480 --> 00:41:31.739 to think that those experiences have made me 00:41:31.739 --> 00:41:35.780 a much more compassionate and empathetic doctor. 00:41:37.199 --> 00:41:39.219 Well, firstly, thank you so much for telling 00:41:39.219 --> 00:41:41.199 the story. I didn't mean to pull emotion out 00:41:41.199 --> 00:41:43.840 of you, but I think that's the main reason why 00:41:43.840 --> 00:41:46.079 I started this too. I buried five, excuse me, 00:41:46.099 --> 00:41:49.940 buried six firefighters over two years. And like 00:41:49.940 --> 00:41:52.869 yourself, That was kind of my moment to look 00:41:52.869 --> 00:41:56.349 back and have just a whole bunch of aha moments. 00:41:56.409 --> 00:41:59.849 I think of myself as a paramedic. And here in 00:41:59.849 --> 00:42:02.349 America, we're firefighters and EMTs or medics 00:42:02.349 --> 00:42:05.710 as well. And all of the cardiac arrest patients 00:42:05.710 --> 00:42:09.150 that we lost that were our age and, you know, 00:42:09.150 --> 00:42:11.590 the wife or the husband hands you a big, big 00:42:11.590 --> 00:42:14.809 bag of medication. Which in the doctor's office, 00:42:14.969 --> 00:42:17.730 I'm sure his blood pressure was 120 over 80. 00:42:17.829 --> 00:42:21.650 I'm sure his blood sugar was 88. But that just 00:42:21.650 --> 00:42:23.710 changed the metric. It didn't affect the human 00:42:23.710 --> 00:42:25.949 being. And they still died with a tube in their 00:42:25.949 --> 00:42:27.630 throat while we were pounding on their chest. 00:42:28.110 --> 00:42:31.449 So it's very powerful hearing you talk about 00:42:31.449 --> 00:42:33.710 your son. And I can absolutely relate to the 00:42:33.710 --> 00:42:38.110 men and women we've lost. that what makes it 00:42:38.110 --> 00:42:39.909 so heart -wrenching is when you realize that 00:42:39.909 --> 00:42:41.969 it is preventable and that's what i want to explore 00:42:41.969 --> 00:42:45.110 now but so many people i think even more so in 00:42:45.110 --> 00:42:49.309 the u .s and the uk are sold this facade that 00:42:49.309 --> 00:42:52.630 these pills are going to fix you and that's like 00:42:52.630 --> 00:42:54.630 you said not the case as a band -aid it's a plaster 00:42:54.630 --> 00:42:58.469 it's just addressing symptoms but you haven't 00:42:58.469 --> 00:43:01.409 addressed the underlying issue at all so i want 00:43:01.409 --> 00:43:02.829 to explore that whole thing but i'm intrigued 00:43:02.829 --> 00:43:06.389 about your son specifically so what What holistic 00:43:06.389 --> 00:43:10.230 element were you able to find or what underlying 00:43:10.230 --> 00:43:13.969 factor can you attribute to that low vitamin 00:43:13.969 --> 00:43:16.449 D? And then how did you fix that with an infant? 00:43:17.570 --> 00:43:20.869 Yeah, so, I mean, thank you for sharing your 00:43:20.869 --> 00:43:22.389 own experience, James, there as well. Really, 00:43:22.449 --> 00:43:24.849 really interesting to hear. And I can't imagine 00:43:24.849 --> 00:43:29.349 what that must have felt like when, you know, 00:43:29.349 --> 00:43:33.969 you're burying colleagues of yours. But with 00:43:33.969 --> 00:43:37.329 respect to my son, It's quite complex, really. 00:43:37.429 --> 00:43:44.650 But to try and simplify, essentially, vitamin 00:43:44.650 --> 00:43:47.369 D is quite well known in the wellness space now. 00:43:47.449 --> 00:43:50.989 But I can tell you, seven, eight years ago, it 00:43:50.989 --> 00:43:53.989 really wasn't. Certainly, most doctors had no 00:43:53.989 --> 00:43:57.670 real idea about it. That is, I would challenge 00:43:57.670 --> 00:43:59.670 anyone who disagrees with me on that to give 00:43:59.670 --> 00:44:01.889 me some data to support that's not the case. 00:44:02.750 --> 00:44:05.690 I spoke to so many experts and specialists and 00:44:05.690 --> 00:44:10.130 GPs and nobody had a clue. In fact, two weeks 00:44:10.130 --> 00:44:14.949 before this happened to my son, I was in my practice, 00:44:15.030 --> 00:44:17.110 in my medical practice where I was working in 00:44:17.110 --> 00:44:19.909 a place called Oldham. And I was seeing, starting 00:44:19.909 --> 00:44:23.030 to see patients who were very low in vitamin 00:44:23.030 --> 00:44:26.730 D. and were symptomatic, all kinds of, whether 00:44:26.730 --> 00:44:29.570 it was fatigue, whether it was bone pain. You 00:44:29.570 --> 00:44:32.150 know, this wasn't like overt deficiency where 00:44:32.150 --> 00:44:35.030 they had none at all. It was just what I would 00:44:35.030 --> 00:44:37.369 call suboptimal deficiency where it was just 00:44:37.369 --> 00:44:40.769 a little bit low, but actually when we addressed 00:44:40.769 --> 00:44:44.230 it, other symptoms got better. And I started 00:44:44.230 --> 00:44:46.449 to look into trials on vitamin D and heart failure. 00:44:46.489 --> 00:44:48.889 I thought, okay, there's quite a lot here. And 00:44:48.889 --> 00:44:51.309 I was thinking, why do we not test it more? Why 00:44:51.309 --> 00:44:54.969 do I not really know that much about it? And 00:44:54.969 --> 00:44:56.849 I was spending a lot of time researching it. 00:44:56.909 --> 00:45:00.090 And I thought, hmm, I wonder if my kids should 00:45:00.090 --> 00:45:02.610 be on vitamin D because, you know, for people, 00:45:02.750 --> 00:45:05.170 I know this is an audio podcast, so my parents 00:45:05.170 --> 00:45:08.010 are Indian background, so I've got brown skin. 00:45:08.789 --> 00:45:11.190 And vitamin D, I'm sure many people know, but 00:45:11.190 --> 00:45:13.369 just in case they don't, by and large, we get 00:45:13.369 --> 00:45:17.389 most of it from the sun. Our skin converts. the 00:45:17.389 --> 00:45:20.530 sunlight into the active form of vitamin D. Now, 00:45:20.570 --> 00:45:23.809 if you have darker skin, you need proportionately 00:45:23.809 --> 00:45:26.550 more sunlight exposure to make the same amount 00:45:26.550 --> 00:45:29.849 of vitamin D. So, you know, the melanin in our 00:45:29.849 --> 00:45:32.449 skin that gives us protection from the sun also 00:45:32.449 --> 00:45:35.889 makes it harder to extract that vitamin D. So 00:45:35.889 --> 00:45:39.530 I phoned my wife from my practice one day. I 00:45:39.530 --> 00:45:40.929 said, hey, babe, look, I know you're going to 00:45:40.929 --> 00:45:44.730 see the, you know, you and my son are going to 00:45:44.730 --> 00:45:47.019 see the doctor this afternoon. I actually think 00:45:47.019 --> 00:45:49.539 he should be on vitamin D. Could you just check 00:45:49.539 --> 00:45:51.679 and have that conversation with the doctor? Now, 00:45:51.719 --> 00:45:54.039 I've asked myself a million times why I didn't 00:45:54.039 --> 00:45:56.780 just make that decision myself. But as many medical 00:45:56.780 --> 00:45:58.599 professionals who might be listening to the show 00:45:58.599 --> 00:46:01.300 know, certainly here in the UK, the GMC, the 00:46:01.300 --> 00:46:04.380 General Medical Council, actually discourage 00:46:04.380 --> 00:46:07.679 us to make decisions around health on our own 00:46:07.679 --> 00:46:10.510 family. It's considered... you know, not best 00:46:10.510 --> 00:46:12.150 practice. So I thought, you know, I'm not going 00:46:12.150 --> 00:46:14.329 to make this call at the moment. But let me just 00:46:14.329 --> 00:46:16.909 see what he says. So I sent my wife a protocol 00:46:16.909 --> 00:46:20.510 that I found. And the doctor actually said to 00:46:20.510 --> 00:46:22.829 her, you could have just made this up and type 00:46:22.829 --> 00:46:24.730 this up on Word and basically gave it back to 00:46:24.730 --> 00:46:26.550 her and said, he doesn't need anything, you're 00:46:26.550 --> 00:46:27.989 breastfeeding, he doesn't have to do anything. 00:46:28.789 --> 00:46:32.230 So she was pretty offended with that consultation. 00:46:33.210 --> 00:46:36.369 And I thought I'd get around to it. I had no 00:46:36.369 --> 00:46:39.400 idea. We were two weeks away from my son collapsing 00:46:39.400 --> 00:46:42.900 and having a convulsion. I wish I'd changed things 00:46:42.900 --> 00:46:46.179 now. But in some ways, had I not, and had I started 00:46:46.179 --> 00:46:48.460 supplementing him then, maybe this never would 00:46:48.460 --> 00:46:49.860 have happened, which of course would have been 00:46:49.860 --> 00:46:52.619 a good thing. But maybe it wouldn't have been. 00:46:52.659 --> 00:46:54.860 Maybe I learned so much from it that I was better 00:46:54.860 --> 00:47:00.719 able to help him. So the first thing I learned 00:47:00.719 --> 00:47:04.940 was how important vitamin D supplementation can 00:47:04.940 --> 00:47:07.820 be for certain populations. And there was actually 00:47:07.820 --> 00:47:10.099 guidance in the UK at the time that every child 00:47:10.099 --> 00:47:11.940 up to the age of five years should be on vitamin 00:47:11.940 --> 00:47:14.159 D drops. And I was thinking, well, if that's 00:47:14.159 --> 00:47:15.980 guidance, how come I don't know this? How come 00:47:15.980 --> 00:47:18.440 my colleagues don't know this? How come when 00:47:18.440 --> 00:47:20.699 I phone my doctor friends, nobody knows about 00:47:20.699 --> 00:47:23.519 this? And this may surprise you, James, that 00:47:23.519 --> 00:47:27.139 rickets, what was known as a Victorian illness, 00:47:27.380 --> 00:47:30.880 rickets is on the rise in the UK year on year. 00:47:31.000 --> 00:47:35.329 Really? Yeah, which is just... It's ridiculous, 00:47:35.489 --> 00:47:37.909 really, when we think about it. It's so easy 00:47:37.909 --> 00:47:40.349 to prevent. So anyway, in terms of what I did 00:47:40.349 --> 00:47:44.530 with my son, we optimized vitamin D. We did various 00:47:44.530 --> 00:47:48.909 things with diet to improve how the gut microbiome 00:47:48.909 --> 00:47:51.230 works. We've been very diligent with all aspects 00:47:51.230 --> 00:47:56.369 of lifestyle, including sleep. And it's what 00:47:56.369 --> 00:47:58.090 we actually went through in terms of all the 00:47:58.090 --> 00:48:00.210 details around his case are probably too complex 00:48:00.210 --> 00:48:03.949 for the purposes of the show. But essentially... 00:48:04.809 --> 00:48:08.269 on my journey to find out more i learned just 00:48:08.269 --> 00:48:13.389 how powerful lifestyle can be for a whole variety 00:48:13.389 --> 00:48:15.530 of different health conditions and i just want 00:48:15.530 --> 00:48:18.510 to say when we talk about lifestyle right i understand 00:48:18.510 --> 00:48:20.769 that it can be hard for people and that for some 00:48:20.769 --> 00:48:22.829 people find it easier to make lifestyle changes 00:48:22.829 --> 00:48:25.829 than others but we talk about lifestyle as only 00:48:25.829 --> 00:48:28.829 prevention and i really want to expand the conversation 00:48:28.829 --> 00:48:32.110 because lifestyle yes works beautifully well 00:48:32.110 --> 00:48:36.320 as prevention But in many cases, you can also 00:48:36.320 --> 00:48:40.539 use lifestyle as part of the treatment. So even 00:48:40.539 --> 00:48:42.980 when things have gone quite bad, even when you've 00:48:42.980 --> 00:48:46.320 got a diagnosis of something, sometimes making 00:48:46.320 --> 00:48:49.460 changes to your lifestyle can reduce symptoms 00:48:49.460 --> 00:48:52.119 or help you reduce how much medication you need 00:48:52.119 --> 00:48:55.000 to take. So it's not just a prevention piece. 00:48:55.380 --> 00:48:58.320 It can also be a treatment and a management piece 00:48:58.320 --> 00:49:01.000 as well. Absolutely. And I want to explore that 00:49:01.000 --> 00:49:04.510 because I think that's such a... a hard concept 00:49:04.510 --> 00:49:06.329 for people to understand they're told you know 00:49:06.329 --> 00:49:09.010 you're you're a diabetic so you're going to be 00:49:09.010 --> 00:49:10.730 taking these pills the rest of your life and 00:49:10.730 --> 00:49:13.449 and understanding that no you can actually reverse 00:49:13.449 --> 00:49:17.409 that with nutrition for example is a very very 00:49:17.409 --> 00:49:20.650 powerful element but we're just staying on the 00:49:20.650 --> 00:49:23.530 vitamin d for a second it's interesting during 00:49:23.530 --> 00:49:25.909 this whole phase that we've all gone through 00:49:26.490 --> 00:49:29.650 where the immunity is so important for everyone. 00:49:29.730 --> 00:49:31.829 As we mentioned, a lot of people have been staying 00:49:31.829 --> 00:49:34.150 in home and not having the exposure to sunlight. 00:49:34.389 --> 00:49:37.809 And then even, as you were mentioning, the East 00:49:37.809 --> 00:49:40.889 Asian communities, just some of the traditional 00:49:40.889 --> 00:49:42.809 dress, and I'm thinking about it now, coming 00:49:42.809 --> 00:49:48.829 from a very hot climate to gloomy England, and 00:49:48.829 --> 00:49:52.239 now wearing the particular... clothing that they 00:49:52.239 --> 00:49:54.480 wear you kind of got to take a step back and 00:49:54.480 --> 00:49:56.280 look at that too are you actually getting the 00:49:56.280 --> 00:49:59.239 exposure here in florida it's really hot so there's 00:49:59.239 --> 00:50:00.960 two things that happen firstly everyone hides 00:50:00.960 --> 00:50:04.440 inside and goes in the ac and secondly there's 00:50:04.440 --> 00:50:06.679 this which i have to question as well this whole 00:50:06.679 --> 00:50:09.019 element of you see the sun you're immediately 00:50:09.019 --> 00:50:11.139 going to get skin cancer which or you know you 00:50:11.139 --> 00:50:14.199 got to lather yourself in in um you know sun 00:50:14.199 --> 00:50:17.309 lotion which i still personally question well 00:50:17.309 --> 00:50:19.130 which is actually contributing to the cancer 00:50:19.130 --> 00:50:21.769 is it the sun or is it the lotion but regardless 00:50:21.769 --> 00:50:24.949 people are scared of being out in the sun sometimes 00:50:24.949 --> 00:50:27.070 so i think that contributes to the low vitamin 00:50:27.070 --> 00:50:30.309 d as well yeah i think you've raised some some 00:50:30.309 --> 00:50:34.869 really good points there james um i think we're 00:50:34.869 --> 00:50:37.769 going to see a lot more about sun cream and what 00:50:37.769 --> 00:50:40.510 it actually does over the coming years one thing 00:50:40.510 --> 00:50:44.849 i think it's safe to say now that What a lot 00:50:44.849 --> 00:50:46.489 of people don't realize is that they go outside 00:50:46.489 --> 00:50:50.090 in the sun and they've got sun cream on, that 00:50:50.090 --> 00:50:52.369 will block the conversion, that will block how 00:50:52.369 --> 00:50:55.829 much vitamin D you make. So one thing I think 00:50:55.829 --> 00:50:58.650 is it's a pretty safe and ethical recommendation 00:50:58.650 --> 00:51:02.429 is, you know, aim for at least 10 or 15 minutes 00:51:02.429 --> 00:51:07.469 sun exposure without sun cream on. And I often 00:51:07.469 --> 00:51:09.530 talk to my patients about that. You know, nobody 00:51:09.530 --> 00:51:12.510 wants a patient to burn. But of course, some 00:51:12.510 --> 00:51:14.389 people need to be super careful. But I think 00:51:14.389 --> 00:51:18.369 a lot of people become so scared of the sun that 00:51:18.369 --> 00:51:21.389 they won't step outside their house, either them 00:51:21.389 --> 00:51:24.329 or their children, before the sun cream has covered 00:51:24.329 --> 00:51:26.829 every ounce of visible skin. And I'm like, look, 00:51:26.909 --> 00:51:29.769 get out a little bit, get a bit of that sun exposure. 00:51:30.070 --> 00:51:32.309 And then if you wish to use sun cream, then put 00:51:32.309 --> 00:51:34.869 the sun cream on. But at least get that vitamin 00:51:34.869 --> 00:51:38.750 D conversion. You know, there's a wider point 00:51:38.750 --> 00:51:40.889 there, James, that goes beyond vitamin D. We're 00:51:40.889 --> 00:51:45.210 seeing just how important sunlight, but just 00:51:45.210 --> 00:51:48.630 natural light per se, is for our health and well 00:51:48.630 --> 00:51:51.329 -being. You know, human beings, the only thing 00:51:51.329 --> 00:51:54.130 probably that has been consistent in all of evolution 00:51:54.130 --> 00:51:57.150 is that the sun will rise in the morning and 00:51:57.150 --> 00:51:59.570 go down in the evening. And that is how our circadian 00:51:59.570 --> 00:52:03.150 rhythms operate, right? Light in the day, in 00:52:03.150 --> 00:52:05.690 the morning, gets us up. That symbolizes the 00:52:05.690 --> 00:52:08.679 start of the day. And the sun goes down, night 00:52:08.679 --> 00:52:12.019 falls, that indicates it's time to sleep, right? 00:52:12.079 --> 00:52:15.000 That has always been a constant. And it's only 00:52:15.000 --> 00:52:16.619 in the modern world now that we can actually 00:52:16.619 --> 00:52:20.619 play, you know, mess around with that. And actually, 00:52:20.639 --> 00:52:24.000 many of us are brightening up our evenings with 00:52:24.000 --> 00:52:29.380 screens and devices. And when we're dimming our 00:52:29.380 --> 00:52:32.360 days by staying inside, we're actually reversing 00:52:32.360 --> 00:52:35.480 how we've actually evolved to live. Let's think 00:52:35.480 --> 00:52:37.340 about that practically. So we've mentioned sleep 00:52:37.340 --> 00:52:39.559 and how important that is for health. Well, let's 00:52:39.559 --> 00:52:41.139 think about that. A lot of people are thinking 00:52:41.139 --> 00:52:45.119 about what they do just before bed or how much 00:52:45.119 --> 00:52:47.139 caffeine they're drinking. Okay, these are very 00:52:47.139 --> 00:52:49.219 important things, so we can come to that. But 00:52:49.219 --> 00:52:50.739 a lot of people aren't thinking about their light 00:52:50.739 --> 00:52:53.880 exposure. We know very clearly that if you get 00:52:53.880 --> 00:52:57.400 15 or 20 minutes of natural light exposure in 00:52:57.400 --> 00:53:00.739 the mornings, that can help to set your circadian 00:53:00.739 --> 00:53:03.110 rhythm. That can help you sleep at night. A lot 00:53:03.110 --> 00:53:05.090 of people aren't thinking about that. So in my 00:53:05.090 --> 00:53:07.210 first book, I said to people, it was one of my 00:53:07.210 --> 00:53:08.730 recommendations, and I said, you might want to 00:53:08.730 --> 00:53:12.130 have a cup of tea or a cup of coffee in your 00:53:12.130 --> 00:53:15.190 backyard or in your garden in the morning rather 00:53:15.190 --> 00:53:17.710 than in your kitchen or in your bedroom just 00:53:17.710 --> 00:53:20.789 to get a bit of that light exposure. Now, to 00:53:20.789 --> 00:53:24.949 really bring this to life for people, let's think 00:53:24.949 --> 00:53:29.070 about light. So light is measured in units called 00:53:29.070 --> 00:53:33.800 lux. A completely dark room where you can't see 00:53:33.800 --> 00:53:35.719 your fingers moving in front of your face would 00:53:35.719 --> 00:53:40.460 be zero lux. If you go outside on a sunny day, 00:53:40.599 --> 00:53:43.099 let's say you're in Florida, right? Or my perception 00:53:43.099 --> 00:53:46.340 as a Brit of what Florida would be like. You 00:53:46.340 --> 00:53:48.820 go outside for 20 minutes on a sunny day, you're 00:53:48.820 --> 00:53:50.739 going to make around, you're going to be exposed 00:53:50.739 --> 00:53:55.300 to about 30 ,000 lux of light, right? If you 00:53:55.300 --> 00:53:59.639 go outside on a cloudy British day for... 15, 00:53:59.659 --> 00:54:02.139 20 minutes, right? So it's cloudy, it's overcast, 00:54:02.179 --> 00:54:04.780 there's no sun exposure. You're going to be exposed 00:54:04.780 --> 00:54:10.340 to 10 ,000 lux. If you go into most offices and 00:54:10.340 --> 00:54:13.300 most indoor environments in the US or the UK, 00:54:13.440 --> 00:54:18.960 you're probably getting at a maximum 500, 600, 00:54:19.139 --> 00:54:23.719 maybe 700 lux, right? So being indoor, even being 00:54:23.719 --> 00:54:27.460 outside on a cloudy day gives you... maybe 20 00:54:27.460 --> 00:54:31.239 times the amount of exposure that you get even 00:54:31.239 --> 00:54:34.079 in a brightly lit indoor room. So we have designed, 00:54:34.280 --> 00:54:37.719 we've evolved to be outside. So getting outside 00:54:37.719 --> 00:54:41.199 whenever you can, but ideally in the morning 00:54:41.199 --> 00:54:45.059 or at the very latest lunchtime is so valuable 00:54:45.059 --> 00:54:48.400 to help people with their circadian rhythm, with 00:54:48.400 --> 00:54:51.320 their sleep. But also there's some new data, 00:54:51.340 --> 00:54:52.860 James, which again is really exciting because 00:54:52.860 --> 00:54:54.980 a lot of us are aware that looking at screens 00:54:54.980 --> 00:54:58.130 before bed, and it's very hard to resist that. 00:54:58.230 --> 00:55:02.070 I get it. I sometimes fall prey to that. That 00:55:02.070 --> 00:55:03.989 can affect the secretion of a hormone called 00:55:03.989 --> 00:55:07.289 melatonin, which can absolutely delay your circadian, 00:55:07.369 --> 00:55:09.510 put your circadian rhythm back by maybe three 00:55:09.510 --> 00:55:13.670 hours, right? It literally light changes your 00:55:13.670 --> 00:55:16.429 hormones. If a drug we were prescribing did that, 00:55:16.530 --> 00:55:18.510 there would be a side effect label. Yet many 00:55:18.510 --> 00:55:21.510 of us are looking at our iPhones or our smartphones 00:55:21.510 --> 00:55:25.000 right in front of our faces. in bed just before 00:55:25.000 --> 00:55:28.659 we fall asleep. And to think that's not having 00:55:28.659 --> 00:55:31.800 an impact on our health and our ability to sleep 00:55:31.800 --> 00:55:34.380 is very, very short -sighted. In fact, James, 00:55:34.480 --> 00:55:36.420 when my first book came out, one of my best mates 00:55:36.420 --> 00:55:39.460 in America, a guy called James, he phoned me 00:55:39.460 --> 00:55:43.280 and said, listen, mate, I love the book. I love 00:55:43.280 --> 00:55:45.260 what's in it. But, you know, the stuff about 00:55:45.260 --> 00:55:47.840 screens, you know, I feel sorry for people who 00:55:47.840 --> 00:55:51.079 can't look at screens before bed. I look at screens 00:55:51.079 --> 00:55:53.800 every night in bed and I'm absolutely fine. I 00:55:53.800 --> 00:55:55.619 was like, okay, fine. There was nothing really 00:55:55.619 --> 00:55:58.260 to add to that. A few weeks later, he bought 00:55:58.260 --> 00:56:02.400 something called an Aura Ring, which is probably, 00:56:02.500 --> 00:56:04.380 I'm not saying people should buy this at all, 00:56:04.440 --> 00:56:07.300 but I'm just saying he chose to buy something 00:56:07.300 --> 00:56:08.860 called an Aura Ring, which is a very good sleep 00:56:08.860 --> 00:56:11.880 tracking device. And he phoned me a few weeks 00:56:11.880 --> 00:56:14.480 later and he said, wrong and wrong and oh my 00:56:14.480 --> 00:56:16.920 word, I've just discovered something. I said, 00:56:16.940 --> 00:56:20.039 what? He says, anytime I look at my screen in 00:56:20.039 --> 00:56:23.980 bed. And then when I look at my data in the morning, 00:56:24.059 --> 00:56:27.880 I haven't gone into anywhere near the same levels 00:56:27.880 --> 00:56:30.539 of deep sleep as when I don't look at my screen. 00:56:30.960 --> 00:56:34.300 So a lot of people may have their eyes closed 00:56:34.300 --> 00:56:37.760 and be technically sleeping. But what's the quality 00:56:37.760 --> 00:56:40.360 of their sleep like? And that changed his behavior 00:56:40.360 --> 00:56:42.320 to the point now where he won't look at a screen 00:56:42.320 --> 00:56:45.219 for one hour before bed. And the only other point 00:56:45.219 --> 00:56:47.699 I wanted to make, James, on that is there's some 00:56:47.699 --> 00:56:50.789 new research which is suggesting that. if you 00:56:50.789 --> 00:56:53.230 have a lot of natural light exposure in the day 00:56:53.230 --> 00:56:56.610 you kind of buffer yourself and insulate yourself 00:56:56.610 --> 00:56:58.550 from some of the negative impacts of looking 00:56:58.550 --> 00:57:01.090 at a screen late into the evening so although 00:57:01.090 --> 00:57:04.010 i'm not advising people to do that if you spent 00:57:04.010 --> 00:57:06.550 your whole day or three hours outside in the 00:57:06.550 --> 00:57:08.150 day if you're lucky enough to be able to do that 00:57:08.150 --> 00:57:10.630 you might get away with looking at your screen 00:57:10.630 --> 00:57:12.989 in the evening in in a very different way than 00:57:12.989 --> 00:57:16.289 had you spent all day indoors yeah and i can 00:57:16.289 --> 00:57:19.090 attest personally like i know When I've done 00:57:19.090 --> 00:57:21.929 that, it just keeps me awake, like you were saying. 00:57:22.130 --> 00:57:25.590 It's not even so much the effects on the sleep 00:57:25.590 --> 00:57:27.150 as the fact that you're losing sleep. You're 00:57:27.150 --> 00:57:29.710 losing hours of sleep. And one of the tools that 00:57:29.710 --> 00:57:33.010 I found that's effective, and I try not to look 00:57:33.010 --> 00:57:35.090 at my phone, but we might watch TV as we wind 00:57:35.090 --> 00:57:37.469 down. We still have electric lights in the house, 00:57:37.570 --> 00:57:40.690 is blue blocking glasses. And I found that very, 00:57:40.789 --> 00:57:45.250 very effective. Yeah, I also have some blue blocking 00:57:45.250 --> 00:57:48.190 glasses. I wear something called blue blocks. 00:57:48.409 --> 00:57:52.090 I think they're incredible. And if I am on screens 00:57:52.090 --> 00:57:53.510 in the evening and, you know, I'm human like 00:57:53.510 --> 00:57:55.190 everyone else, you know, so it's all very well 00:57:55.190 --> 00:57:58.530 knowing this, but we're all, you know, I'm subject 00:57:58.530 --> 00:58:02.150 to the same pressures that anyone else is subject 00:58:02.150 --> 00:58:04.849 to. And if I have to be on my screen in the evening 00:58:04.849 --> 00:58:07.730 or if I perceive I have to, then I'll put on 00:58:07.730 --> 00:58:11.469 my red glasses and it makes a big, big difference. 00:58:11.730 --> 00:58:15.719 So, yeah, just. I hope there's a few take -homes 00:58:15.719 --> 00:58:17.599 there for people to start applying in their lives. 00:58:18.219 --> 00:58:20.000 Absolutely. All right. Well, I want to transition 00:58:20.000 --> 00:58:22.679 to one more area and then we'll go to some closing 00:58:22.679 --> 00:58:23.860 questions. Obviously, we'll make sure we talk 00:58:23.860 --> 00:58:28.440 about the books too. You mentioned about looking 00:58:28.440 --> 00:58:30.800 at lifestyle choices, not just for prevention, 00:58:30.980 --> 00:58:33.360 but for cure as well. And that's an area I want 00:58:33.360 --> 00:58:36.280 to expand on. So without loading the question 00:58:36.280 --> 00:58:40.099 at all, what are some of the common health issues 00:58:40.099 --> 00:58:43.690 that you see with your patients? that you absolutely 00:58:43.690 --> 00:58:49.409 can reverse using better lifestyle choices? Yeah, 00:58:49.449 --> 00:58:53.170 so look, just to be super clear at the top, like 00:58:53.170 --> 00:58:55.769 it's not always possible to reverse things, okay? 00:58:55.909 --> 00:58:58.630 So I'm not trying to sell something to you that 00:58:58.630 --> 00:59:02.969 is, you know, like a miracle. Sometimes you can 00:59:02.969 --> 00:59:06.230 reverse conditions, but other times you can... 00:59:06.460 --> 00:59:09.320 manage them better you can reduce pain you can 00:59:09.320 --> 00:59:11.760 reduce symptoms you can sometimes come off medication 00:59:11.760 --> 00:59:15.659 you can sometimes only reduce medication but 00:59:15.659 --> 00:59:17.619 I've seen this over and over again so an obvious 00:59:17.619 --> 00:59:20.960 one would be type 2 diabetes I think you know 00:59:20.960 --> 00:59:23.579 in 2015 when my first BBC documentary came out 00:59:23.579 --> 00:59:26.239 I showed I demonstrated the case of a lady who 00:59:26.239 --> 00:59:29.079 I diagnosed with type 2 diabetes on the show 00:59:29.079 --> 00:59:35.139 and within 30 days I'd helped her put her blood 00:59:35.139 --> 00:59:37.059 tests into the level that was no longer diabetic. 00:59:37.199 --> 00:59:39.420 It was probably one of the first cases on mainstream 00:59:39.420 --> 00:59:42.840 primetime television where it was shown that 00:59:42.840 --> 00:59:45.179 this was possible. And, you know, there was a 00:59:45.179 --> 00:59:49.519 lot of criticism at the time saying this is unproven, 00:59:49.619 --> 00:59:52.699 you know, type 2 diabetes is a chronic irreversible 00:59:52.699 --> 00:59:55.619 condition. It was like, well, that may be the 00:59:55.619 --> 00:59:58.719 common narrative, but actually as many doctors 00:59:58.719 --> 01:00:00.019 and many healthcare professionals around the 01:00:00.019 --> 01:00:02.940 world are demonstrating now. it is possible to 01:00:02.940 --> 01:00:05.760 put type 2 diabetes into remission in a lot of 01:00:05.760 --> 01:00:09.579 cases by some small, consistent changes to our 01:00:09.579 --> 01:00:11.619 lifestyle. Now, sometimes you can't put it into 01:00:11.619 --> 01:00:14.219 full remission. Sometimes you can just reduce 01:00:14.219 --> 01:00:16.480 how many drugs you're going to take. But even 01:00:16.480 --> 01:00:21.460 that, that is a very attainable goal and a very 01:00:21.460 --> 01:00:23.699 worthwhile goal. You know, if you, instead of 01:00:23.699 --> 01:00:26.719 taking four different medications three times 01:00:26.719 --> 01:00:29.119 a day, if you're only having to take one of those 01:00:29.119 --> 01:00:32.090 medications twice a day, I tell you, most patients 01:00:32.090 --> 01:00:34.889 will take that and go, oh, fantastic. I no longer 01:00:34.889 --> 01:00:38.849 need to take as many. So I think whatever state 01:00:38.849 --> 01:00:43.070 you're in, making changes to your lifestyle does 01:00:43.070 --> 01:00:45.949 have an impact. But if I think about some patients 01:00:45.949 --> 01:00:48.329 I've seen in clinic in the last week, chronic 01:00:48.329 --> 01:00:52.989 pain. I've seen people with chronic pain for 01:00:52.989 --> 01:00:56.349 years. And by applying some changes to their 01:00:56.349 --> 01:00:59.010 lifestyle, whether it's dietary changes, whether 01:00:59.010 --> 01:01:02.599 it's more sleep. and in particular reducing stress, 01:01:02.699 --> 01:01:07.199 which I think is such a big one, that actually 01:01:07.199 --> 01:01:09.980 often their pain goes down. So it's not so the 01:01:09.980 --> 01:01:12.519 pain vanishes, although sometimes it does, but 01:01:12.519 --> 01:01:16.519 often it's gone down by 80%. For somebody suffering 01:01:16.519 --> 01:01:19.780 with chronic pain, an 80 % reduction in pain 01:01:19.780 --> 01:01:24.019 is huge for their quality of life, right? So 01:01:24.019 --> 01:01:28.519 if anyone listening to this has got chronic pain, 01:01:29.119 --> 01:01:31.199 I really would encourage you to think about some 01:01:31.199 --> 01:01:33.980 breathing exercises each day. Five minutes a 01:01:33.980 --> 01:01:36.619 day, either do some yoga or do some sort of deep 01:01:36.619 --> 01:01:38.460 breathing practices. One of my favorite ones 01:01:38.460 --> 01:01:40.699 is one that I use in my patients. It's called 01:01:40.699 --> 01:01:43.619 the three, four, five breath. The idea was really 01:01:43.619 --> 01:01:47.300 simple. You breathe in for three, you hold for 01:01:47.300 --> 01:01:50.860 four, and you breathe out for five. Okay, so 01:01:50.860 --> 01:01:54.800 really easy, very easy to remember. And when 01:01:54.800 --> 01:01:57.579 you do that, you help to switch off. the stress 01:01:57.579 --> 01:01:59.360 part of your nervous system and you have to promote 01:01:59.360 --> 01:02:02.579 relaxation. And I've got a lot of patients who 01:02:02.579 --> 01:02:05.219 use that to help reduce anxiety, to help with 01:02:05.219 --> 01:02:08.099 their mood, to help them sleep. But I've got 01:02:08.099 --> 01:02:10.739 a lot of patients with chronic pain who do that 01:02:10.739 --> 01:02:12.239 for five minutes in the morning, five minutes 01:02:12.239 --> 01:02:15.460 at night, and it dramatically reduces how much 01:02:15.460 --> 01:02:18.559 pain they feel. So, you know, these are a couple 01:02:18.559 --> 01:02:20.179 of conditions. There's quite a few autoimmune 01:02:20.179 --> 01:02:23.760 conditions now that we know that you can often 01:02:23.760 --> 01:02:27.820 slow down the progression. or reduce how many 01:02:27.820 --> 01:02:31.460 symptom flares you get by actively trying to 01:02:31.460 --> 01:02:34.719 manage your lifestyle. And look, James, I just 01:02:34.719 --> 01:02:37.380 want to make it clear. I understand that sometimes 01:02:37.380 --> 01:02:40.199 it's tricky. Sometimes people may, you know, 01:02:40.219 --> 01:02:42.639 you may be a single parent managing working two 01:02:42.639 --> 01:02:46.659 jobs with pressures around bills. I get it. Maybe 01:02:46.659 --> 01:02:50.159 that's more of a priority at the moment than 01:02:50.159 --> 01:02:53.239 actually breathing twice a day. But I will say. 01:02:53.679 --> 01:02:56.179 And I really want to make this point because 01:02:56.179 --> 01:03:01.179 a lot of people say that lifestyle medicine or 01:03:01.179 --> 01:03:05.599 looking after yourself with lifestyle is a very 01:03:05.599 --> 01:03:08.320 privileged thing to do. And it's only the preserve 01:03:08.320 --> 01:03:11.539 of the affluent or the middle classes. And I 01:03:11.539 --> 01:03:14.300 want to address this point because a lot of the 01:03:14.300 --> 01:03:16.980 things being promoted in the wellness space are 01:03:16.980 --> 01:03:19.639 expensive and are out of the reach of many people. 01:03:23.639 --> 01:03:25.860 Well, not just that I talk about. If I think 01:03:25.860 --> 01:03:27.739 about my first few books, pretty much everything 01:03:27.739 --> 01:03:30.840 I recommend is free of charge and accessible 01:03:30.840 --> 01:03:34.260 to all walks of society. I worked in Oldham, 01:03:34.280 --> 01:03:36.539 James, for seven years, right in the centre of 01:03:36.539 --> 01:03:40.320 Oldham. It's an area that is commonly regarded 01:03:40.320 --> 01:03:44.059 as having very low socioeconomic status. A lot 01:03:44.059 --> 01:03:47.159 of people on social security benefits, low income 01:03:47.159 --> 01:03:51.460 levels, a lot of fragmented families. a lot of 01:03:51.460 --> 01:03:55.440 a big sort of immigrant population. You know 01:03:55.440 --> 01:03:59.579 what? I used these same principles with that 01:03:59.579 --> 01:04:02.360 population very successfully for seven years 01:04:02.360 --> 01:04:05.139 because the way you get people to make change 01:04:05.139 --> 01:04:08.400 in their lifestyle, and I'm sorry for going off 01:04:08.400 --> 01:04:11.739 on a slight tangent here, but I think it's really 01:04:11.739 --> 01:04:13.760 relevant because a lot of doctors would say, 01:04:13.900 --> 01:04:15.960 oh, Dr. Shasta, you know, all this advice is 01:04:15.960 --> 01:04:17.800 great, but patients just don't do what I ask 01:04:17.800 --> 01:04:20.780 them to do. And it's really interesting because, 01:04:20.800 --> 01:04:24.139 of course, sometimes that does happen. But even 01:04:24.139 --> 01:04:27.440 the way that's phrased, patients don't do what 01:04:27.440 --> 01:04:30.280 I've told them to do. That phrase tells you a 01:04:30.280 --> 01:04:32.599 lot. Nobody does anything that they've been told 01:04:32.599 --> 01:04:35.320 to do. If you tell me to do something, I may 01:04:35.320 --> 01:04:37.880 do it for a day or a week. I won't continue with 01:04:37.880 --> 01:04:40.760 it long term unless I feel I've been involved 01:04:40.760 --> 01:04:42.739 with that process and I have some agency over 01:04:42.739 --> 01:04:46.460 it. So the way I interact with my patients. And 01:04:46.460 --> 01:04:48.980 I teach doctors these principles and we run courses 01:04:48.980 --> 01:04:51.559 for doctors and other healthcare professionals, 01:04:51.699 --> 01:04:53.880 actually, which is really exciting. We're just 01:04:53.880 --> 01:04:55.719 opening up to global healthcare professionals 01:04:55.719 --> 01:04:57.880 and running it online now, which is super exciting. 01:04:58.119 --> 01:05:00.380 First time we're ever going to do that. But what 01:05:00.380 --> 01:05:05.699 we do is I always say connect first, educate 01:05:05.699 --> 01:05:09.139 second. And I think it's a general good principle 01:05:09.139 --> 01:05:11.219 for life. Like if I've got a patient in front 01:05:11.219 --> 01:05:13.800 of me and I think I know what's best for them 01:05:13.800 --> 01:05:16.079 and I don't listen. and I tell them what they 01:05:16.079 --> 01:05:17.800 should be doing in their life, you know what? 01:05:17.920 --> 01:05:21.239 I'm not that successful. But if I listen to them, 01:05:21.340 --> 01:05:24.739 if I hear the difficulties and the struggles 01:05:24.739 --> 01:05:27.519 they have, and then I find some common ground 01:05:27.519 --> 01:05:30.300 where they know I've heard them and I understand, 01:05:30.619 --> 01:05:33.760 and if only then I try and give some advice, 01:05:34.039 --> 01:05:37.119 then patients want to do what you've asked them 01:05:37.119 --> 01:05:40.559 to do. And I honestly have very good compliance 01:05:40.559 --> 01:05:42.320 with my patients, but that's because I think 01:05:42.320 --> 01:05:46.159 I spend the time. connecting first and educating 01:05:46.159 --> 01:05:50.800 second. And if you can give people advice that 01:05:50.800 --> 01:05:53.860 is relevant for them in the context of their 01:05:53.860 --> 01:05:56.960 life, James, they will do what you've asked them 01:05:56.960 --> 01:06:00.780 to do. I really do believe that. And can I give 01:06:00.780 --> 01:06:03.380 you an example of that to sort of bring it to 01:06:03.380 --> 01:06:05.280 life at all? Yeah, please. All the time in the 01:06:05.280 --> 01:06:10.920 world. You know, I remember a patient I saw maybe 01:06:10.920 --> 01:06:14.130 seven or eight years ago, right? in in my practice 01:06:14.130 --> 01:06:18.949 and it was a 42 year old chap who was struggling 01:06:18.949 --> 01:06:22.469 with energy low mood and was a little bit overweight 01:06:22.469 --> 01:06:26.909 you know frankly very common issues that people 01:06:26.909 --> 01:06:28.349 are struggling with these days and he came to 01:06:28.349 --> 01:06:31.329 see me he wanted help and it's very clear to 01:06:31.329 --> 01:06:33.530 me that there were a number of factors in his 01:06:33.530 --> 01:06:37.809 lifestyle that may have been contributing to 01:06:37.809 --> 01:06:40.730 how he was feeling and I discussed a number of 01:06:40.730 --> 01:06:43.460 options with him and he said oh, Dr. Chachi, 01:06:43.500 --> 01:06:45.199 strength training. I really want to do strength 01:06:45.199 --> 01:06:46.800 training. I used to do it when I was a teenager. 01:06:46.940 --> 01:06:49.280 I've not done it for years, but I get it. You're 01:06:49.280 --> 01:06:50.639 going to say it's going to help me with my mood, 01:06:50.780 --> 01:06:53.260 with my weight, with my energy. I'm in. I said, 01:06:53.280 --> 01:06:54.940 okay, great. You really want to do that? Brilliant. 01:06:55.539 --> 01:06:57.280 And he said, what should I do? Should I do 40 01:06:57.280 --> 01:07:00.579 minutes three times a week? I said, well, sure. 01:07:00.679 --> 01:07:02.039 Yeah, if you can do that, that'll be amazing. 01:07:02.639 --> 01:07:04.940 So he walks out, James, with a big smile on his 01:07:04.940 --> 01:07:08.280 face, full of motivation. Four weeks later, he 01:07:08.280 --> 01:07:10.909 comes in for a follow -up. And I said, hey, look, 01:07:11.010 --> 01:07:14.030 how are you getting on? How's the gym? And his 01:07:14.030 --> 01:07:16.489 body language dropped. His shoulders were rolled 01:07:16.489 --> 01:07:19.690 in. He looked a bit sheepish. And he said, hey, 01:07:19.710 --> 01:07:22.750 Doc, you know what? Work's been super busy, super 01:07:22.750 --> 01:07:26.670 stressful. The gym's not on the way either to 01:07:26.670 --> 01:07:30.269 work or back from work. And it's quite expensive. 01:07:30.369 --> 01:07:34.110 I've just not managed to do it yet. And I remember 01:07:34.110 --> 01:07:37.510 James thinking then. I just thought. And Rangan, 01:07:37.650 --> 01:07:41.130 you've clearly not given him advice that he feels 01:07:41.130 --> 01:07:44.590 is relevant for him in the context of his life. 01:07:44.969 --> 01:07:46.570 I never thought, why has he not done what I've 01:07:46.570 --> 01:07:47.969 asked him to do? I thought, Rangan, you've got 01:07:47.969 --> 01:07:50.510 to do better here. So I took my jacket off and 01:07:50.510 --> 01:07:53.730 I said, right, I'm going to teach you a strength 01:07:53.730 --> 01:07:55.969 workout right now. So I taught him these five 01:07:55.969 --> 01:07:59.849 exercises that I call the classic five. And I 01:07:59.849 --> 01:08:02.349 taught him how to do them. I modified them for 01:08:02.349 --> 01:08:04.230 his ability level. You can modify them for any 01:08:04.230 --> 01:08:05.670 ability level. I said, what do you think? Can 01:08:05.670 --> 01:08:07.769 you do them? He goes, yeah, that's not too bad. 01:08:07.889 --> 01:08:10.429 I said, OK, can you manage five minutes in your 01:08:10.429 --> 01:08:13.969 kitchen twice a week? And he looked at me and 01:08:13.969 --> 01:08:17.210 he said, what, 10 minutes a week? I said, yeah, 01:08:17.210 --> 01:08:19.869 can you manage that? He goes, yeah, easy. I said, 01:08:19.909 --> 01:08:22.890 OK, cool. I'll see you in four weeks. So he goes 01:08:22.890 --> 01:08:24.670 out a little bit confused, thinking I've only 01:08:24.670 --> 01:08:27.449 asked him to do 10 minutes a week. Four weeks 01:08:27.449 --> 01:08:31.750 later, James, he walks in. And I say, you know, 01:08:31.789 --> 01:08:34.149 how are you getting on? James, his body language 01:08:34.149 --> 01:08:35.949 was different this time. He had a big beaming 01:08:35.949 --> 01:08:38.829 smile. His chest was puffed out. He was feeling 01:08:38.829 --> 01:08:40.770 really, you could see he was feeling pretty good 01:08:40.770 --> 01:08:43.449 about himself. And he said, hey, Doc, you asked 01:08:43.449 --> 01:08:45.649 me to do 10 minutes, but I found it so easy. 01:08:46.489 --> 01:08:49.270 And I felt so good afterwards. And I now do it 01:08:49.270 --> 01:08:52.210 for 10 minutes every evening before I have my 01:08:52.210 --> 01:08:56.289 evening meal. So he ends up doing 70 minutes 01:08:56.289 --> 01:08:59.210 of strength training a week. Because I've broken 01:08:59.210 --> 01:09:01.989 it down and made it super easy for him. He's 01:09:01.989 --> 01:09:04.449 continued doing that for well over five years, 01:09:04.550 --> 01:09:07.250 James, right? He's transformed his life. And 01:09:07.250 --> 01:09:09.869 that led to what I call a ripple effect. That 01:09:09.869 --> 01:09:12.449 one change done consistently made him start to 01:09:12.449 --> 01:09:14.750 feel good about himself because his identity 01:09:14.750 --> 01:09:17.329 started to change. He wasn't then someone, like 01:09:17.329 --> 01:09:19.010 initially, he was someone who can't follow a 01:09:19.010 --> 01:09:21.670 health plan. He was reinforcing his identity 01:09:21.670 --> 01:09:24.789 that, oh, I can't do health. It's too hard. I 01:09:24.789 --> 01:09:27.359 can't go to the gym. when I made it practical 01:09:27.359 --> 01:09:30.039 for him, when I broke down all the barriers to 01:09:30.039 --> 01:09:33.260 entry, he starts doing it. And then he starts 01:09:33.260 --> 01:09:36.180 increasing it, not because I've asked him to, 01:09:36.380 --> 01:09:39.800 but because he wants to. And now, you know, he 01:09:39.800 --> 01:09:42.619 eats well, he sleeps well, he gets up every morning 01:09:42.619 --> 01:09:45.060 and does five minutes of breath work. I would 01:09:45.060 --> 01:09:46.859 never have gotten to do this stuff seven years 01:09:46.859 --> 01:09:50.100 ago. Never. But by starting small, by making 01:09:50.100 --> 01:09:52.880 it easy, actionable and relevant to his life. 01:09:53.609 --> 01:09:55.789 He starts to do it. And James, I can tell you, 01:09:55.810 --> 01:09:57.890 this is the approach I take with most of my patients. 01:09:58.390 --> 01:10:02.109 And I've seen consistently that this works. When 01:10:02.109 --> 01:10:05.229 it comes to health, James, we think it's got 01:10:05.229 --> 01:10:07.789 to be more complicated than it needs to be. And 01:10:07.789 --> 01:10:09.770 this is something I covered in my last book, 01:10:09.810 --> 01:10:11.710 Feel Better in Five. I really walk people through 01:10:11.710 --> 01:10:15.090 how to make new behaviors stick because everyone 01:10:15.090 --> 01:10:17.970 wants to be healthier. It's not as if you can 01:10:17.970 --> 01:10:19.810 ask anyone on the street and go, hey, look, would 01:10:19.810 --> 01:10:22.390 you like to be unhealthier than you are now? 01:10:22.829 --> 01:10:24.310 And no one's going to put their hand up and say, 01:10:24.369 --> 01:10:26.689 yes, everyone wants to feel better than they 01:10:26.689 --> 01:10:29.630 currently do. But the problem is we think it's 01:10:29.630 --> 01:10:31.609 too hard. We think when it comes to health, it's 01:10:31.609 --> 01:10:34.449 got to be about deprivation and punishment. And 01:10:34.449 --> 01:10:37.109 it really doesn't. Now, business has got this 01:10:37.109 --> 01:10:41.229 figured out. Right. So Amazon, for example, right. 01:10:41.850 --> 01:10:44.170 Amazon, when they moved to one click ordering 01:10:44.170 --> 01:10:49.210 about five or maybe seven years ago now. estimates 01:10:49.210 --> 01:10:52.829 say their profits went up by $300 million a year. 01:10:53.510 --> 01:10:56.329 Can you believe that? $300 million a year, right? 01:10:56.430 --> 01:10:58.630 Why is that? Well, that's because Amazon understand 01:10:58.630 --> 01:11:00.850 human behavior. They've studied the science, 01:11:00.949 --> 01:11:03.770 as I have, and they know that if you make something 01:11:03.770 --> 01:11:07.090 easy to do, people do it. So seven years ago, 01:11:07.109 --> 01:11:09.430 what did you have to do? Had to go to your checkout, 01:11:09.689 --> 01:11:11.949 confirm your order, put in your card details. 01:11:12.600 --> 01:11:15.100 Confirm again before you place the order. Every 01:11:15.100 --> 01:11:18.119 single step you take is a reason to back out 01:11:18.119 --> 01:11:21.140 and not do the behavior. Now they've made it 01:11:21.140 --> 01:11:25.020 so easy that profits are up $300 million. Netflix, 01:11:25.220 --> 01:11:28.079 YouTube, they use the same science to get you 01:11:28.079 --> 01:11:30.560 to use their platforms more. They roll one video 01:11:30.560 --> 01:11:33.560 into the next video. So before you've realized 01:11:33.560 --> 01:11:36.720 it's midnight, I should probably go to bed now. 01:11:36.779 --> 01:11:39.279 I need to be up at six. You're into the next 01:11:39.279 --> 01:11:42.930 episode and you're hooked. And the point I'm 01:11:42.930 --> 01:11:45.750 trying to make is when it comes to health, we 01:11:45.750 --> 01:11:47.909 don't apply the same rules. We think it only 01:11:47.909 --> 01:11:50.170 counts if it's hard, if it's really difficult. 01:11:50.729 --> 01:11:52.529 But Amazon knows that's not the way you get people 01:11:52.529 --> 01:11:55.310 to change their behavior. The way to get most 01:11:55.310 --> 01:11:57.869 people to change behavior is to start small and 01:11:57.869 --> 01:11:59.489 make things easy. So what did I do with that 01:11:59.489 --> 01:12:03.930 patient, James? I incorporated so many principles 01:12:03.930 --> 01:12:06.829 of behavior change in me asking him to do five 01:12:06.829 --> 01:12:11.270 minutes in his kitchen. I made it easy. Because 01:12:11.270 --> 01:12:13.170 he's like, yeah, five minutes, I can do that. 01:12:13.250 --> 01:12:16.149 I can't really say I don't have time. I made 01:12:16.149 --> 01:12:19.449 sure he did not have to go to a gym, he did not 01:12:19.449 --> 01:12:21.310 have to buy any equipment, and he didn't have 01:12:21.310 --> 01:12:23.829 to get changed. Because that's what I say to 01:12:23.829 --> 01:12:24.909 people. I say, look, you don't have to buy anything, 01:12:25.050 --> 01:12:26.069 you don't have to go to a gym, you don't even 01:12:26.069 --> 01:12:28.590 need to get changed. I do, for example, James, 01:12:28.670 --> 01:12:31.510 I do a five -minute strength workout every single 01:12:31.510 --> 01:12:34.109 morning without fail. It's not because I've got 01:12:34.109 --> 01:12:36.510 more motivation than anyone else. It's because 01:12:36.510 --> 01:12:39.189 I understand how you create a new behavior. You 01:12:39.189 --> 01:12:41.630 make it easy and you stick it onto an existing 01:12:41.630 --> 01:12:44.050 habit that you are already doing without thinking. 01:12:44.529 --> 01:12:46.430 So what do I do every morning? I make a cup of 01:12:46.430 --> 01:12:49.869 coffee, right? I don't need a reminder. I don't 01:12:49.869 --> 01:12:51.670 need my PA to phone me. I don't need to put it 01:12:51.670 --> 01:12:54.729 in my diary. I'm going to make coffee. And I 01:12:54.729 --> 01:12:56.489 suspect many people listening to this are also 01:12:56.489 --> 01:12:59.770 going to do that. So what do I do? I weigh out 01:12:59.770 --> 01:13:02.069 the coffee in the French press and then I put 01:13:02.069 --> 01:13:04.350 a timer on for it to brew for four or five minutes. 01:13:05.039 --> 01:13:08.579 In those four to five minutes, I don't look at 01:13:08.579 --> 01:13:11.699 Instagram. I don't look at my email. I do a strength 01:13:11.699 --> 01:13:14.159 workout in my kitchen, either body weight or 01:13:14.159 --> 01:13:15.699 sometimes I use a dumbbell I've got in there. 01:13:16.239 --> 01:13:19.119 That is just part of my daily routine, just as 01:13:19.119 --> 01:13:21.720 brushing my teeth is. I don't go to the gym, 01:13:21.739 --> 01:13:23.420 James. It doesn't fit with my lifestyle. I've 01:13:23.420 --> 01:13:25.539 not been for a long period of time. But I think 01:13:25.539 --> 01:13:27.800 I regard myself as being in good shape and most 01:13:27.800 --> 01:13:29.699 people probably regard me as being in good shape. 01:13:30.300 --> 01:13:32.699 That comes from a five -minute strength workout 01:13:32.699 --> 01:13:35.380 every morning. I do it in my pajamas. I don't 01:13:35.380 --> 01:13:38.739 actually wear sports gear for it. So I'm just 01:13:38.739 --> 01:13:40.840 hoping by telling these stories, James, that 01:13:40.840 --> 01:13:44.399 somebody listening to this goes, oh, yeah, I've 01:13:44.399 --> 01:13:46.359 tried to work out, but I can never make it stick. 01:13:46.479 --> 01:13:48.579 Maybe this is the approach that's going to work 01:13:48.579 --> 01:13:51.979 for me. And, yeah, James, I could keep talking 01:13:51.979 --> 01:13:53.739 about this stuff, but I know I'm sort of going 01:13:53.739 --> 01:13:56.819 off on lots of tangents here. I would really 01:13:56.819 --> 01:13:58.479 say to people, if you're trying to create a new 01:13:58.479 --> 01:14:00.359 behavior or if you've tried to create a new behavior 01:14:00.359 --> 01:14:03.760 in the past, ask yourself two questions. Did 01:14:03.760 --> 01:14:06.479 you make it easy? Second question is, did you 01:14:06.479 --> 01:14:10.220 stick it on to an existing habit? And I bet you 01:14:10.220 --> 01:14:12.260 for most people who've not managed to make a 01:14:12.260 --> 01:14:14.859 new behavior stick, they probably didn't follow 01:14:14.859 --> 01:14:18.380 one of those two principles. And I love that. 01:14:18.420 --> 01:14:20.960 That was a fantastic tangent. It reminds me of, 01:14:21.000 --> 01:14:24.239 I think it's one of the leadership gurus talked 01:14:24.239 --> 01:14:28.229 about. The best plan is the one you follow. There's 01:14:28.229 --> 01:14:30.369 no point having a perfect plan that you don't 01:14:30.369 --> 01:14:33.869 execute. I'm paraphrasing, but those small wins. 01:14:34.050 --> 01:14:35.890 I think that what you've done with your podcast, 01:14:36.069 --> 01:14:38.189 what I'm trying to do with my podcast, is the 01:14:38.189 --> 01:14:40.869 same kind of thing. You're leading someone to 01:14:40.869 --> 01:14:44.069 find the first step of their why. So any sort 01:14:44.069 --> 01:14:45.670 of wellness change. I mean, there's a perfect 01:14:45.670 --> 01:14:47.289 example. I'm sitting here with my French press 01:14:47.289 --> 01:14:49.829 coffee right next to me, so I can relate 100%. 01:14:49.829 --> 01:14:54.010 But there's no point telling someone, or do an 01:14:54.010 --> 01:14:56.970 hour of exercise if they're not going to do it. 01:14:57.050 --> 01:14:59.850 And then they're also going to feel even worse 01:14:59.850 --> 01:15:01.729 about themselves. I'm a failure. Look, I can't 01:15:01.729 --> 01:15:03.810 even do this. I've got no discipline. I'm horrible. 01:15:04.810 --> 01:15:07.949 Versus a five -minute workout that's between 01:15:07.949 --> 01:15:09.869 two things that you know you're going to do anyway. 01:15:10.189 --> 01:15:12.409 And now when you've achieved that, you feel good. 01:15:12.489 --> 01:15:16.170 And that sense of well -being, a sense of pride 01:15:16.170 --> 01:15:18.750 is then going to spur you on and you may or may 01:15:18.750 --> 01:15:21.369 not even do more than you were told to do or 01:15:21.369 --> 01:15:25.439 asked to do. Yeah, exactly. And look, what I 01:15:25.439 --> 01:15:29.859 talk about, James, it comes from 20 years of 01:15:29.859 --> 01:15:32.600 seeing patients, right? So I didn't come out 01:15:32.600 --> 01:15:35.020 of medical school knowing this stuff. But one 01:15:35.020 --> 01:15:38.399 thing I've always done is I've learned from my 01:15:38.399 --> 01:15:40.619 patients. I always say that my patients have 01:15:40.619 --> 01:15:44.699 taught me a lot more than I've taught them. Because 01:15:44.699 --> 01:15:48.960 if you listen, your patients will tell you what's 01:15:48.960 --> 01:15:52.300 going on. So I've always spent time listening. 01:15:52.890 --> 01:15:55.949 not being so in my own head that I think I know 01:15:55.949 --> 01:15:58.310 what's best, if I've asked them to do something 01:15:58.310 --> 01:16:02.010 and they're not doing it, the only sensible question 01:16:02.010 --> 01:16:05.149 to me is why? That patient's coming to see me, 01:16:05.210 --> 01:16:08.630 so that means on one level they want help, yet 01:16:08.630 --> 01:16:10.930 they're not taking the advice. There's clearly 01:16:10.930 --> 01:16:13.489 a disconnect somewhere. Am I not communicating 01:16:13.489 --> 01:16:18.069 it properly? Am I not making it relevant for 01:16:18.069 --> 01:16:20.430 them? Or are they asking for help when they don't 01:16:20.430 --> 01:16:22.619 really want it? And it can be any one of those 01:16:22.619 --> 01:16:25.739 things. But I've always been very interested 01:16:25.739 --> 01:16:28.840 in not only the patients who do well, it's the 01:16:28.840 --> 01:16:30.920 patients who are not doing well or not managing 01:16:30.920 --> 01:16:33.680 to follow things. And I've studied carefully 01:16:33.680 --> 01:16:38.140 and observed what the commonalities are. And 01:16:38.140 --> 01:16:40.159 I've got to say, by and large, it's when we make 01:16:40.159 --> 01:16:42.260 things too difficult. Now, I will say, James, 01:16:42.399 --> 01:16:44.619 there is a type of person who can change their 01:16:44.619 --> 01:16:48.920 life overnight. This tends to be somebody who's 01:16:48.920 --> 01:16:51.770 had a health scare. or gone through a major life 01:16:51.770 --> 01:16:55.789 event like a divorce or a bereavement, or they've 01:16:55.789 --> 01:17:00.310 lost their job, something so traumatic that it's 01:17:00.310 --> 01:17:02.250 caused them to rethink everything in their life. 01:17:02.470 --> 01:17:05.350 Sure, there's many stories like that where people 01:17:05.350 --> 01:17:07.689 have literally overnight changed their life. 01:17:07.890 --> 01:17:12.069 Okay, I get that. But for most people who don't 01:17:12.069 --> 01:17:15.810 have that, actually trying to do that overnight 01:17:15.810 --> 01:17:19.390 overhaul. just doesn't tend to be that successful 01:17:19.390 --> 01:17:22.050 in the long term. You see this every year in 01:17:22.050 --> 01:17:27.890 January when people, you know, they try to revolutionize 01:17:27.890 --> 01:17:29.909 their life with a new diet plan that somehow 01:17:29.909 --> 01:17:31.789 is going to work this January that never works 01:17:31.789 --> 01:17:34.449 for any previous January. And for two weeks, 01:17:34.449 --> 01:17:36.489 they're sticking to it three weeks. And by the 01:17:36.489 --> 01:17:38.789 end of January, they've fallen off the wagon. 01:17:38.850 --> 01:17:40.569 And I think there's some statistic that I think. 01:17:40.890 --> 01:17:43.289 I think 80 % of people are no longer following 01:17:43.289 --> 01:17:44.970 their New Year's resolutions by the first week 01:17:44.970 --> 01:17:47.869 in Feb or something like that. And that really 01:17:47.869 --> 01:17:50.729 speaks to what I've just said. Make it small, 01:17:50.949 --> 01:17:53.170 make it achievable. As you said, the best plan 01:17:53.170 --> 01:17:55.890 is the one that you do, right? So make it so 01:17:55.890 --> 01:17:58.350 if all people do, in fact, let's make the ask 01:17:58.350 --> 01:18:01.270 really clear. If anybody's listening to this 01:18:01.270 --> 01:18:03.970 show right now, James, and they feel they want 01:18:03.970 --> 01:18:05.689 to make improvements with their health and well 01:18:05.689 --> 01:18:10.260 -being, the challenge I make is... Have you heard 01:18:10.260 --> 01:18:13.279 something yet, either on this show or any of 01:18:13.279 --> 01:18:16.180 your previous podcasts or anywhere? Maybe it 01:18:16.180 --> 01:18:17.800 was something you saw on Instagram earlier today, 01:18:17.979 --> 01:18:21.500 right? How are you going to take that inspiration 01:18:21.500 --> 01:18:23.319 and turn it into action? Because inspiration 01:18:23.319 --> 01:18:25.659 alone does nothing, right? It's just an idea. 01:18:26.000 --> 01:18:28.140 You've got to take action. Instead of taking 01:18:28.140 --> 01:18:30.920 action on everything, choose one thing, one thing 01:18:30.920 --> 01:18:32.500 that think you're going to benefit, then break 01:18:32.500 --> 01:18:35.060 it down to the smallest component. Let's say 01:18:35.060 --> 01:18:37.770 it's meditation, right? And you've heard about 01:18:37.770 --> 01:18:40.250 20 minutes a day or 10 minutes a day. Can you 01:18:40.250 --> 01:18:42.010 do that? Can you honestly do that consistently? 01:18:42.510 --> 01:18:44.510 Because I've made deals with my patients before 01:18:44.510 --> 01:18:46.869 that they do one minute, but they commit to me 01:18:46.869 --> 01:18:48.989 they're going to do one minute a day. So let's 01:18:48.989 --> 01:18:50.310 say that's someone who, listen, they want to 01:18:50.310 --> 01:18:53.770 start meditating, right? Choose the time that 01:18:53.770 --> 01:18:56.069 you honestly feel you can commit, even if that's 01:18:56.069 --> 01:18:58.810 only one minute a day. Then figure out where 01:18:58.810 --> 01:19:01.569 are you going to put it in your day? Do not miss 01:19:01.569 --> 01:19:05.029 that step out. Please think about what is that? 01:19:05.479 --> 01:19:07.859 Fix point in your day where you can stick it. 01:19:07.899 --> 01:19:10.180 For me, it's first thing in the morning. If I 01:19:10.180 --> 01:19:12.600 don't meditate when I wake up, I don't ever meditate. 01:19:12.939 --> 01:19:15.159 By and large, I've seen that. I know if I don't 01:19:15.159 --> 01:19:17.420 meditate first thing in the morning, it doesn't 01:19:17.420 --> 01:19:19.800 happen. It could be with your morning cup of 01:19:19.800 --> 01:19:22.159 coffee. It could be at the start of your lunch 01:19:22.159 --> 01:19:24.920 break. It could be the last thing at night. But 01:19:24.920 --> 01:19:27.760 make sure you have an idea of where that's going 01:19:27.760 --> 01:19:30.560 to be. And then just try that for a few days. 01:19:30.579 --> 01:19:32.479 For seven days, try and do that one minute a 01:19:32.479 --> 01:19:35.720 day and just see what happens. I bet you what 01:19:35.720 --> 01:19:38.520 will happen is that one minute will lead to two 01:19:38.520 --> 01:19:40.739 minutes. That two minutes will lead to five minutes. 01:19:40.779 --> 01:19:43.699 That five will lead to 10 over a period of weeks. 01:19:43.899 --> 01:19:46.079 But if you start with the goal of 20 minutes 01:19:46.079 --> 01:19:48.619 a day, what often happens, you do it for three 01:19:48.619 --> 01:19:50.619 days, for four days. And one day you're busy. 01:19:50.720 --> 01:19:52.539 You say, I don't have time today. I'll do it 01:19:52.539 --> 01:19:55.380 later. Later doesn't come. The next day you don't 01:19:55.380 --> 01:19:58.039 do it. And before you know it, it was something 01:19:58.039 --> 01:20:01.100 that you used to do. I love it. Absolutely love 01:20:01.100 --> 01:20:02.699 it. And there's areas that I still need to apply 01:20:02.699 --> 01:20:04.899 that myself. Meditation's a big one. Me too. 01:20:06.079 --> 01:20:07.979 Headspace is something I've loved and I've given 01:20:07.979 --> 01:20:09.859 it lip service and haven't done it. So I need 01:20:09.859 --> 01:20:13.760 to find that space in my daily routine to put 01:20:13.760 --> 01:20:16.060 that consistently. Well, that's a good segue 01:20:16.060 --> 01:20:18.199 to talk about the books. You just released Feel 01:20:18.199 --> 01:20:20.220 Better in Five and then the other ones are The 01:20:20.220 --> 01:20:24.319 Four Pillar Plan and the... The Stress Solution. 01:20:24.500 --> 01:20:26.619 I couldn't read my handwriting. I'm sorry about 01:20:26.619 --> 01:20:31.079 that. Don't worry. So tell me about the books 01:20:31.079 --> 01:20:33.840 and where people can find those. Yeah, look, 01:20:34.079 --> 01:20:37.340 I mean, I'm on this show, James, to try and give 01:20:37.340 --> 01:20:39.380 value to you and your audience. You know, for 01:20:39.380 --> 01:20:43.100 me, I write books to help promote health in as 01:20:43.100 --> 01:20:46.680 accessible a way as possible. As I say, everything 01:20:46.680 --> 01:20:49.479 I do is about making it simple, making it practical 01:20:49.479 --> 01:20:52.579 and making it as cheap as possible so people 01:20:52.579 --> 01:20:55.840 actually can do the behavior. Although I promote 01:20:55.840 --> 01:20:58.220 these books, I'm really not out here to sell 01:20:58.220 --> 01:21:01.479 books. I want to sell people the idea that good 01:21:01.479 --> 01:21:05.939 health is achievable. The books, I think, very 01:21:05.939 --> 01:21:08.960 much condense what I talk about into very actionable 01:21:08.960 --> 01:21:10.899 steps, which is why I think they've been so successful. 01:21:11.239 --> 01:21:13.399 And, you know, here in the UK, the last one, 01:21:13.460 --> 01:21:17.180 Field Bastion 5, is used by lots of responders. 01:21:17.380 --> 01:21:20.140 You know, lots of hospital trusts now and the 01:21:20.140 --> 01:21:21.640 National Health Service have contacted me saying 01:21:21.640 --> 01:21:24.399 we're using the Field Bastion 5 principles. with 01:21:24.399 --> 01:21:26.159 our patients, lots of schools have contacted 01:21:26.159 --> 01:21:29.880 me saying that we're using these principles with 01:21:29.880 --> 01:21:32.340 our patients because with these little five -minute 01:21:32.340 --> 01:21:34.439 habits, I cover physical health, mental health, 01:21:34.500 --> 01:21:37.380 and emotional health. And for me, it's just a 01:21:37.380 --> 01:21:40.340 real honor and delight that so many people are 01:21:40.340 --> 01:21:43.800 finding them practical. So a quick summary, my 01:21:43.800 --> 01:21:46.039 first book was called The Four -Pillar Plan in 01:21:46.039 --> 01:21:47.859 the UK and around the world, but it's got a different 01:21:47.859 --> 01:21:49.960 title in America. In Canada, it's called How 01:21:49.960 --> 01:21:52.409 to Make Disease Disappear. This is where I talk 01:21:52.409 --> 01:21:54.489 about my overall philosophy of health, these 01:21:54.489 --> 01:21:56.850 four pillars and what we can all do in each one. 01:21:57.510 --> 01:21:59.810 Second book is called The Stress Solution All 01:21:59.810 --> 01:22:02.409 Around the World. And that's basically, you know, 01:22:02.409 --> 01:22:06.170 about stress, which is where stress lives in 01:22:06.170 --> 01:22:08.350 the modern world and what you can do about it. 01:22:08.369 --> 01:22:11.289 It's very, very practical. And it addresses the 01:22:11.289 --> 01:22:13.449 point that the World Health Organization say 01:22:13.449 --> 01:22:16.329 that stress is the health epidemic of the 21st 01:22:16.329 --> 01:22:20.500 century. So I think that's a real deep dive into 01:22:20.500 --> 01:22:23.340 stress and how to be happier and calmer. Then 01:22:23.340 --> 01:22:25.319 the final book, Field Question 5, is literally 01:22:25.319 --> 01:22:28.560 about taking everything I've learned in 20 years 01:22:28.560 --> 01:22:31.819 of practice and putting it into five -minute 01:22:31.819 --> 01:22:34.279 what I call health snacks. They're not literally 01:22:34.279 --> 01:22:35.939 snacks that you eat, although one of them is. 01:22:36.279 --> 01:22:39.579 But there's about 40, I think, five -minute health 01:22:39.579 --> 01:22:41.439 snacks. And I ask people to choose two or three 01:22:41.439 --> 01:22:44.720 to do a day. One for your mental health. one 01:22:44.720 --> 01:22:46.600 for your physical health and one for your emotional 01:22:46.600 --> 01:22:49.819 health. And I've got to say that the impact that 01:22:49.819 --> 01:22:53.479 book is having around the world, and it's been 01:22:53.479 --> 01:22:56.119 out in the US for a few weeks now, and it's just 01:22:56.119 --> 01:22:58.699 been a delight to see how many people, whether 01:22:58.699 --> 01:23:01.260 it's health coaches, whether it's Arianna Huffington, 01:23:01.399 --> 01:23:04.140 who's been raving about the book, people who 01:23:04.140 --> 01:23:06.779 I don't know who are just saying, wow, you've 01:23:06.779 --> 01:23:10.739 really made something super, super simple. Mark 01:23:10.739 --> 01:23:12.720 Hyman actually said to me when I was on his podcast, 01:23:12.779 --> 01:23:14.810 he said, So we're going to have written about 01:23:14.810 --> 01:23:17.710 15 books now that I'm so jealous actually of 01:23:17.710 --> 01:23:19.430 this book. This is the book I wish I'd written 01:23:19.430 --> 01:23:22.050 because you've just made health about as simple 01:23:22.050 --> 01:23:26.289 as it can be. So, you know, please, hopefully 01:23:26.289 --> 01:23:28.029 people got enough value from this, but if they 01:23:28.029 --> 01:23:31.949 feel they want to learn more, I'd probably point 01:23:31.949 --> 01:23:33.729 it towards the new one, Feel, Brush and Fight, 01:23:33.810 --> 01:23:36.930 because it really, I feel I've simplified health 01:23:36.930 --> 01:23:42.050 down into, I've distilled health down. into as 01:23:42.050 --> 01:23:45.350 little, it's a deceptively simple book. It's 01:23:45.350 --> 01:23:47.109 basically got everything I know about health 01:23:47.109 --> 01:23:50.449 and it's condensed into a small amount of space 01:23:50.449 --> 01:23:53.710 as I possibly can. You know, if in my first or 01:23:53.710 --> 01:23:55.949 second book, I take eight or 10 pages to work 01:23:55.949 --> 01:23:58.069 up an idea, the challenge in Feel Better in Five 01:23:58.069 --> 01:24:02.050 was, can you make the same case in one page? 01:24:02.149 --> 01:24:05.489 What is the absolute essence of what you're trying 01:24:05.489 --> 01:24:09.640 to say? Put that in and no more. hopefully that's 01:24:09.640 --> 01:24:11.939 a bit of a bit of an overview for people yeah 01:24:11.939 --> 01:24:13.579 well i can attest as well you were kind enough 01:24:13.579 --> 01:24:15.060 to send me a copy of the book and actually i'm 01:24:15.060 --> 01:24:16.939 gonna they offer to send a paperback as well 01:24:16.939 --> 01:24:19.039 which i'm gonna ask for because i'm very old 01:24:19.039 --> 01:24:23.060 -fashioned in in the way i read um but it was 01:24:23.060 --> 01:24:24.840 it was exactly like you said it was fantastic 01:24:24.840 --> 01:24:28.699 and for so many of us that always seem to bite 01:24:28.699 --> 01:24:32.000 off more than we can chew with our planned wellness 01:24:32.000 --> 01:24:35.449 changes It spoon feeds it. And I mean that in 01:24:35.449 --> 01:24:37.649 a very positive way, not a patronizing way, but 01:24:37.649 --> 01:24:39.449 it just gives you little bites, you know, the 01:24:39.449 --> 01:24:42.149 bites of the elephant, as they say, and to able 01:24:42.149 --> 01:24:43.869 to just just flick through and say, all right, 01:24:43.890 --> 01:24:46.210 oh, I didn't realize this food actually deregulates 01:24:46.210 --> 01:24:48.229 my nervous system as well. There's all those 01:24:48.229 --> 01:24:50.949 little nuggets in there that I think are invaluable. 01:24:51.090 --> 01:24:54.289 So I thought it was a fantastic book. Oh, thank 01:24:54.289 --> 01:24:56.069 you. I really appreciate that, James. And yeah. 01:24:56.699 --> 01:24:57.939 If you have any problems getting hold of the 01:24:57.939 --> 01:24:59.539 paper, let me know. We'll get a copy sent out 01:24:59.539 --> 01:25:01.420 to you. Beautiful. And actually, I just finished 01:25:01.420 --> 01:25:03.159 writing a book. I want to send that to you. So 01:25:03.159 --> 01:25:04.479 we'll discuss that in a moment when we're done 01:25:04.479 --> 01:25:06.779 recording. Oh, I can't wait. So yeah, that sounds 01:25:06.779 --> 01:25:09.260 great. Brilliant. So the first of the closing 01:25:09.260 --> 01:25:11.380 questions, we talked about your books. Is there 01:25:11.380 --> 01:25:13.539 a book that you've read that you love to recommend 01:25:13.539 --> 01:25:20.680 to people? Wow. One book. Or it can be a few, 01:25:20.779 --> 01:25:22.239 but it doesn't have to be related to what we 01:25:22.239 --> 01:25:26.100 talked about either. Any book at all. Yeah, I 01:25:26.100 --> 01:25:31.779 think there are so many. Your audience is mostly 01:25:31.779 --> 01:25:34.020 in the US as well, so I'm trying to make sure 01:25:34.020 --> 01:25:37.899 it's one that people can get over there. One 01:25:37.899 --> 01:25:42.220 that I've really been mesmerized with over the 01:25:42.220 --> 01:25:45.779 summer, and it's a book by someone called Dr. 01:25:45.899 --> 01:25:49.520 Pippa Grange called Fear Less, How to Win at 01:25:49.520 --> 01:25:52.960 Life Without Losing Yourself. It's just incredible. 01:25:53.119 --> 01:25:55.439 I know it's in the UK. Is it out of the US? I 01:25:55.439 --> 01:25:58.039 hope it is. It's basically from this psychologist 01:25:58.039 --> 01:26:01.300 who has worked for the England rugby team, the 01:26:01.300 --> 01:26:04.020 England football or soccer team. She was widely 01:26:04.020 --> 01:26:06.060 credited with getting them to the semifinals 01:26:06.060 --> 01:26:10.100 at the last World Cup. She's such a humble individual 01:26:10.100 --> 01:26:13.699 and she basically makes the case beautifully 01:26:13.699 --> 01:26:16.859 how fear affects all of us and how fear holds 01:26:16.859 --> 01:26:19.640 us back from doing the things that we want to 01:26:19.640 --> 01:26:22.310 live our best life. I think that's an incredible 01:26:22.310 --> 01:26:24.630 book. So I definitely would encourage people 01:26:24.630 --> 01:26:28.789 to get that book. What else? It's an old one, 01:26:28.890 --> 01:26:30.909 but I think I've not read it in a few years. 01:26:30.970 --> 01:26:34.250 But there's a book called, a lot of people will 01:26:34.250 --> 01:26:36.149 know, The Four Hour Work Week from Tim Ferriss. 01:26:36.729 --> 01:26:40.449 And that was life changing for me. And why it 01:26:40.449 --> 01:26:42.090 was life changing, not because I want to work 01:26:42.090 --> 01:26:45.550 four hours a week, but because it helped me understand 01:26:45.550 --> 01:26:50.970 that time. It's the most precious commodity we've 01:26:50.970 --> 01:26:54.590 got. And how do you use your time effectively? 01:26:54.829 --> 01:26:57.710 So for me, that lesson has really stayed with 01:26:57.710 --> 01:27:00.850 me that time has a value. And often we don't 01:27:00.850 --> 01:27:03.710 recognize that value. We give away our time freely 01:27:03.710 --> 01:27:05.590 to other people and other things that are not 01:27:05.590 --> 01:27:08.510 serving us. And it just helps me. So although 01:27:08.510 --> 01:27:11.289 it's over 10 years old, if someone hasn't read 01:27:11.289 --> 01:27:12.609 that, I'd probably recommend they give that a 01:27:12.609 --> 01:27:15.090 read. Absolutely. That's someone I'm sure you 01:27:15.090 --> 01:27:16.609 would love to get as well. But I think Tim Ferriss 01:27:16.609 --> 01:27:21.039 would be a great interviewee. Oh, for sure. He's 01:27:21.039 --> 01:27:22.600 definitely on my list of people I'm trying to 01:27:22.600 --> 01:27:26.020 get at some point. And then Dr. Pippa Grange 01:27:26.020 --> 01:27:28.659 sounds like she'd be fascinating as well. Yeah, 01:27:28.680 --> 01:27:30.060 for sure. I think you'd enjoy talking to her 01:27:30.060 --> 01:27:32.319 as well. So anyway, see what you think of the 01:27:32.319 --> 01:27:35.159 book. But I think those two, there's many more. 01:27:35.359 --> 01:27:38.199 I think I'm a big fan of Gabor Maté books. Gabor 01:27:38.199 --> 01:27:40.180 Maté talks a lot about the impacts of stress 01:27:40.180 --> 01:27:42.960 and trauma on our body, on our emotions, on our 01:27:42.960 --> 01:27:46.680 health. I think. Those books are well worth reading. 01:27:46.960 --> 01:27:48.880 And if people just want an intro into Gabor Massey, 01:27:48.939 --> 01:27:50.619 I'd probably recommend just go to YouTube and 01:27:50.619 --> 01:27:52.819 look up a few of his lectures just to give you 01:27:52.819 --> 01:27:54.920 a bit of a taste of what he stands for. But I 01:27:54.920 --> 01:27:56.359 think that's pretty life -changing stuff for 01:27:56.359 --> 01:27:58.880 people as well. Yeah. Well, I heard you interview 01:27:58.880 --> 01:28:01.420 him, Johan, and all kinds of people on your podcast, 01:28:01.720 --> 01:28:04.880 Feel Better, Live More. So again, shout out to 01:28:04.880 --> 01:28:08.180 that. I think it's very, very powerful. And you 01:28:08.180 --> 01:28:11.279 have so many kind of... uh parallel interests 01:28:11.279 --> 01:28:13.220 that i do and some of the guests you've had are 01:28:13.220 --> 01:28:15.420 incredible so i applaud your podcast as well 01:28:15.420 --> 01:28:19.380 oh thanks man all right so then um very quickly 01:28:19.380 --> 01:28:23.500 is there a film that you love is there a film 01:28:23.500 --> 01:28:30.260 that i love um yeah there are actually um i guess 01:28:30.260 --> 01:28:34.039 can i say a documentary yeah please and i'm gonna 01:28:34.039 --> 01:28:36.479 say i've only seen it in the last week like i 01:28:36.479 --> 01:28:39.989 we're recording this on what thursday I saw it 01:28:39.989 --> 01:28:42.350 on Saturday on Netflix on Saturday evening with 01:28:42.350 --> 01:28:48.130 my wife. I don't know if you've seen it yet or 01:28:48.130 --> 01:28:50.109 not, but it's called The Social Dilemma. I just 01:28:50.109 --> 01:28:53.409 watched it two days ago. Amazing. I just thought 01:28:53.409 --> 01:28:55.270 it was one of the most impactful documentaries 01:28:55.270 --> 01:28:57.449 I've ever seen. I've not been able to stop thinking 01:28:57.449 --> 01:29:01.470 about it since. It kind of reinforced concerns 01:29:01.470 --> 01:29:05.850 that I've had over social media for a period 01:29:05.850 --> 01:29:08.750 of time, particularly for children. And I think 01:29:08.750 --> 01:29:11.729 it's done really well. It just makes you think 01:29:11.729 --> 01:29:16.029 and reflect on your own usage, on your children's 01:29:16.029 --> 01:29:19.329 usage and the wider implications for society. 01:29:19.609 --> 01:29:23.989 So I would highly, highly recommend people watch 01:29:23.989 --> 01:29:27.149 it just to empower and sort of educate themselves. 01:29:27.510 --> 01:29:29.630 I couldn't agree more. And the people they've 01:29:29.630 --> 01:29:33.500 got. speaking are you know founders and the the 01:29:33.500 --> 01:29:36.279 top people in the social media world prior to 01:29:36.279 --> 01:29:38.000 to where they are now where they kind of pulled 01:29:38.000 --> 01:29:40.439 out for ethical reasons so it's not like they've 01:29:40.439 --> 01:29:42.600 got a bunch of people whining about social media 01:29:42.600 --> 01:29:44.420 these are some of the founders of the platforms 01:29:44.420 --> 01:29:47.239 that we use yeah people who created the algorithms 01:29:47.239 --> 01:29:49.520 and now they're seeing the downside of it so 01:29:50.189 --> 01:29:52.289 Definitely worth watching, I would say. Absolutely. 01:29:52.510 --> 01:29:54.789 Okay, next question. Is there a person that you'd 01:29:54.789 --> 01:29:57.550 recommend to come on the podcast as a guest to 01:29:57.550 --> 01:29:59.789 speak to the first responders, military and medical 01:29:59.789 --> 01:30:03.350 personnel of the world? Yeah, I would recommend 01:30:03.350 --> 01:30:06.750 Dr. Pippa Grange, the lady who I've just spoken 01:30:06.750 --> 01:30:09.470 about, who wrote the book Fear Less. I think 01:30:09.470 --> 01:30:13.489 that she is so sought after in so many different 01:30:13.489 --> 01:30:18.310 areas because... Her tools, I think, are widely 01:30:18.310 --> 01:30:20.829 applicable to sports teams, to first responders, 01:30:21.029 --> 01:30:26.170 to any walk of life, frankly. So I have no hesitation 01:30:26.170 --> 01:30:29.430 in recommending her. Fantastic. Thank you. All 01:30:29.430 --> 01:30:31.069 right, the last question then before we underline 01:30:31.069 --> 01:30:33.170 where people can find you online. What do you 01:30:33.170 --> 01:30:38.689 do to decompress? Yeah, so my routine changes 01:30:38.689 --> 01:30:42.250 from week to week, depending on what else is 01:30:42.250 --> 01:30:45.920 going on. I've just submitted... my manuscript 01:30:45.920 --> 01:30:48.659 for my fourth book so that has been six months 01:30:48.659 --> 01:30:51.119 of you know hard work getting that done so I'm 01:30:51.119 --> 01:30:52.800 looking forward to being able to indulge myself 01:30:52.800 --> 01:30:55.979 in some more kind of relaxation practices over 01:30:55.979 --> 01:30:58.859 the next few weeks but by and large what stays 01:30:58.859 --> 01:31:02.239 the same I always have a morning routine like 01:31:02.239 --> 01:31:05.479 so I will always do a few things each morning 01:31:05.479 --> 01:31:07.560 and actually I wrote about this in the stress 01:31:07.560 --> 01:31:09.579 solution I call it the three m's of a morning 01:31:09.579 --> 01:31:12.069 routine so this can Work whether you have five 01:31:12.069 --> 01:31:14.909 minutes or an hour, right? So like with everything, 01:31:14.970 --> 01:31:17.850 I want to make it accessible to everybody. And 01:31:17.850 --> 01:31:20.729 I feel a good morning routine ideally should 01:31:20.729 --> 01:31:23.869 have three components, mindfulness, movement, 01:31:24.029 --> 01:31:27.369 and mindset. So I start out each day with either 01:31:27.369 --> 01:31:31.510 a five -minute meditation or a five -minute breathwork 01:31:31.510 --> 01:31:34.310 practice, which I'll literally come down in my 01:31:34.310 --> 01:31:36.229 pajamas downstairs. I'll sit in my living room 01:31:36.229 --> 01:31:38.909 for five minutes or actually 10 at the moment. 01:31:39.310 --> 01:31:42.710 I will do some meditation or breath work. Then 01:31:42.710 --> 01:31:46.729 I will go and put coffee on. And during the five 01:31:46.729 --> 01:31:48.689 minutes it's brewing, I do a five minute workout. 01:31:49.810 --> 01:31:52.510 Then I'll sit with my coffee with a book. So 01:31:52.510 --> 01:31:54.729 some sort of positive book that I'm enjoying 01:31:54.729 --> 01:31:57.789 just to get my mind in the right place for the 01:31:57.789 --> 01:32:00.810 day. So that's how I start every day, almost 01:32:00.810 --> 01:32:04.890 always. And the days when I don't. I'm just more 01:32:04.890 --> 01:32:07.449 reactive and less calm. I'm less productive. 01:32:07.470 --> 01:32:10.350 So I've learned over a period of time not to 01:32:10.350 --> 01:32:12.250 beat myself up when I don't do it, but just to 01:32:12.250 --> 01:32:14.310 observe what happens. So I know I'm a better 01:32:14.310 --> 01:32:17.529 doctor, I'm a better husband, I'm a better father 01:32:17.529 --> 01:32:20.890 when I've taken those 15 or 20 minutes for myself 01:32:20.890 --> 01:32:23.329 first thing in the morning. So that's one thing 01:32:23.329 --> 01:32:27.369 I do. I'll go for a walk pretty much every day 01:32:27.369 --> 01:32:29.069 for at least half an hour. In fact, that's probably 01:32:29.069 --> 01:32:32.880 a new habit from lockdown. When we were all locked 01:32:32.880 --> 01:32:35.180 down and we made it a habit with the family of 01:32:35.180 --> 01:32:38.279 going out for a good walk for a half an hour 01:32:38.279 --> 01:32:40.619 every day, ideally in nature, that is something 01:32:40.619 --> 01:32:44.020 I've kept going, even though lockdown isn't anywhere 01:32:44.020 --> 01:32:45.979 near as stringent as it was certainly here in 01:32:45.979 --> 01:32:50.340 the UK. I think those are the main things that 01:32:50.340 --> 01:32:53.319 I do. I like going for a run or a bike ride a 01:32:53.319 --> 01:32:55.239 few times a week if I can, but there's no real 01:32:55.239 --> 01:32:58.899 set pattern to that. The other thing I really, 01:32:59.140 --> 01:33:02.489 really... I'm pretty diligent on now. I stop 01:33:02.489 --> 01:33:05.909 eating two to three hours before bed. I have 01:33:05.909 --> 01:33:08.489 tracked this. I've used monitors to track this. 01:33:08.569 --> 01:33:11.390 And when I eat late, even if it's healthy food, 01:33:11.590 --> 01:33:14.729 my heart rate stays higher for longer at night. 01:33:15.229 --> 01:33:18.529 And when I saw the data, I was like, oh, wow. 01:33:18.829 --> 01:33:22.090 So again, I thought I was okay, even though I 01:33:22.090 --> 01:33:23.909 knew it wasn't the best thing to do. But I've 01:33:23.909 --> 01:33:26.930 seen literally with my biological data that when 01:33:26.930 --> 01:33:29.750 I eat earlier. sleep better and i'm more refreshed 01:33:29.750 --> 01:33:31.689 so those are those are probably the main things 01:33:31.689 --> 01:33:33.989 i'm working on at the moment brilliant yeah i 01:33:33.989 --> 01:33:35.850 love it i have a morning routine as well and 01:33:35.850 --> 01:33:39.050 i absolutely the same if i if i adhere to it 01:33:39.050 --> 01:33:41.270 and i mean you know organically adhere not force 01:33:41.270 --> 01:33:44.069 myself then it absolutely sets me up for the 01:33:44.069 --> 01:33:45.810 day and even like you said the daylight but i 01:33:45.810 --> 01:33:48.670 walk my dog when my son goes to school so i get 01:33:48.670 --> 01:33:51.050 that immediate daylight first thing in the morning 01:33:51.050 --> 01:33:54.510 and it absolutely sets you up for the day oh 01:33:54.510 --> 01:33:57.500 fantastic Brilliant. All right. So then for people 01:33:57.500 --> 01:34:00.300 listening, how can they find you online and where's 01:34:00.300 --> 01:34:03.060 the best place to get the books? Yeah, look, 01:34:03.300 --> 01:34:05.899 the books are available everywhere. They're available 01:34:05.899 --> 01:34:08.359 on Amazon. If you do have a local independent 01:34:08.359 --> 01:34:11.180 bookstore, hopefully they've got it there. It's 01:34:11.180 --> 01:34:13.720 always good to support local independent bricks 01:34:13.720 --> 01:34:16.600 and mortar stores, I feel. But yes, if you have 01:34:16.600 --> 01:34:18.359 an Amazon account, you can pretty much get it 01:34:18.359 --> 01:34:21.550 all over the world on Amazon now. Just a lot 01:34:21.550 --> 01:34:23.270 of people ask this, but yes, they are available 01:34:23.270 --> 01:34:27.149 in the paperback, but also in e -book. And all 01:34:27.149 --> 01:34:28.850 of them are available in audio book, which I 01:34:28.850 --> 01:34:31.470 narrate as well. In terms of finding me, I'm 01:34:31.470 --> 01:34:33.810 pretty easy to find online. I guess the best 01:34:33.810 --> 01:34:37.270 place social media wise is probably Instagram 01:34:37.270 --> 01:34:40.329 or Twitter. So I'm at Dr. Chastity on Instagram, 01:34:40.409 --> 01:34:44.510 which is D -R -C -H -A -T -T -E -R -J -E -E. 01:34:44.890 --> 01:34:47.430 And same on Twitter. I'm just at Dr. Chastity 01:34:47.430 --> 01:34:50.460 UK on Twitter. Or I release a weekly podcast 01:34:50.460 --> 01:34:52.439 every Wednesday called Feel Better Live More, 01:34:52.560 --> 01:34:54.640 which you can find on pretty much every podcast 01:34:54.640 --> 01:34:58.380 app. Brilliant. And then the website? My website 01:34:58.380 --> 01:35:00.800 is drchastity .com. There's lots of blogs and 01:35:00.800 --> 01:35:03.060 resources on there. So yeah, wherever people 01:35:03.060 --> 01:35:06.500 find value, come and find me on there. And always 01:35:06.500 --> 01:35:08.460 send me a message. I love to hear from people. 01:35:08.979 --> 01:35:10.960 Beautiful. Well, I want to say thank you so much. 01:35:11.060 --> 01:35:13.199 I think I first came across you when you had 01:35:13.199 --> 01:35:16.529 Sabrina on. And it was right when I was about 01:35:16.529 --> 01:35:18.109 to interview her as well. So I think we did it 01:35:18.109 --> 01:35:20.710 around the same time. So I listened to, I believe 01:35:20.710 --> 01:35:23.329 I listened to your podcast first or vice versa, 01:35:23.350 --> 01:35:26.170 but regardless. And then I saw you had Johan 01:35:26.170 --> 01:35:28.930 on. And then my mom had sat next to a bloke on 01:35:28.930 --> 01:35:32.010 a plane who she had mentioned that I had a podcast. 01:35:32.189 --> 01:35:33.850 And he said, oh, you should, you know, he should 01:35:33.850 --> 01:35:36.310 listen to this gentleman. And it was you. So 01:35:36.310 --> 01:35:38.409 it's so amazing that we're finally able to have 01:35:38.409 --> 01:35:40.130 this conversation. But I want to thank you so 01:35:40.130 --> 01:35:42.170 much for being so generous with your time. I've 01:35:42.170 --> 01:35:44.689 really, really enjoyed this. Hey, no problem. 01:35:44.770 --> 01:35:46.529 And thanks so much, James, for advising me and 01:35:46.529 --> 01:35:48.210 anything I can do to help you and your audience 01:35:48.210 --> 01:35:50.170 in the future, please do let me know.