Get ready to unlock the secrets of everyday foods that could revolutionize your health, as we unveil the underrated nutritional heroes that have been hiding in plain sight. From the potassium-packed potato skins to the magnesium-rich almonds, our exploration with Melchizedek and Joshua Williams reveals just how much untapped potential lies within the foods we often take for granted. This episode digs deep into bioavailability, where not all proteins are equal, and sheds light on the complete proteins found in milk that might just be the game-changer for your diet. We even tackle the organic vs. non-organic debate, giving you a simple 'size test' to guide your grocery shopping.
Ever thought about how your stress levels can chip away at your well-being, or how your diet might be impacting your pearly whites? We've got you covered. Our conversation with Melchizedek and Joshua is not one to miss, as we discuss the astounding benefits of liver oil for dental health, and how glycine could be your new best friend for sleep and stress management. Vegans and vegetarians, fear not—this episode is packed with insights on maximizing nutrition, with easy tips on making grains and beans work together in harmony to fuel your body with complete proteins. Plus, we reveal practical ways to manage stress that can have a dramatic effect on your overall health.
As if that wasn't enough, we dive into the world of seeds and healthy fats, highlighting the remarkable benefits of hemp, chia, and avocado. Discover how these tiny powerhouses can combat inflammation and why they're especially invaluable during fasting periods like Lent. Mel and Joshua join us to discuss the optimal timing of meals for muscle growth, and we debate the merits of standing desks for a healthier lifestyle. For those struggling with indigestion, we offer natural remedies and discuss the underlying causes, with practical advice that just might make acid reflux a thing of the past. So, grab a comfortable seat (or stand, if you prefer!) and let's embark on a journey to optimal health together.
[PART TWO]
Huge thank you to hosts:
Melchizedek jermellemacleod@gmail.com
Joshua Williams @thewaymma on YouTube
************
Consider supporting Cloud of Witnesses Radio:
https://www.patreon.com/CloudofWitnessesRadio
Thank you for journeying w/ the Saints with us!
Get ready to unlock the secrets of everyday foods that could revolutionize your health, as we unveil the underrated nutritional heroes that have been hiding in plain sight. From the potassium-packed potato skins to the magnesium-rich almonds, our exploration with Melchizedek and Joshua Williams reveals just how much untapped potential lies within the foods we often take for granted. This episode digs deep into bioavailability, where not all proteins are equal, and sheds light on the complete proteins found in milk that might just be the game-changer for your diet. We even tackle the organic vs. non-organic debate, giving you a simple 'size test' to guide your grocery shopping.
Ever thought about how your stress levels can chip away at your well-being, or how your diet might be impacting your pearly whites? We've got you covered. Our conversation with Melchizedek and Joshua is not one to miss, as we discuss the astounding benefits of liver oil for dental health, and how glycine could be your new best friend for sleep and stress management. Vegans and vegetarians, fear not—this episode is packed with insights on maximizing nutrition, with easy tips on making grains and beans work together in harmony to fuel your body with complete proteins. Plus, we reveal practical ways to manage stress that can have a dramatic effect on your overall health.
As if that wasn't enough, we dive into the world of seeds and healthy fats, highlighting the remarkable benefits of hemp, chia, and avocado. Discover how these tiny powerhouses can combat inflammation and why they're especially invaluable during fasting periods like Lent. Mel and Joshua join us to discuss the optimal timing of meals for muscle growth, and we debate the merits of standing desks for a healthier lifestyle. For those struggling with indigestion, we offer natural remedies and discuss the underlying causes, with practical advice that just might make acid reflux a thing of the past. So, grab a comfortable seat (or stand, if you prefer!) and let's embark on a journey to optimal health together.
[PART TWO]
Huge thank you to hosts:
Melchizedek jermellemacleod@gmail.com
Joshua Williams @thewaymma on YouTube
************
Consider supporting Cloud of Witnesses Radio:
https://www.patreon.com/CloudofWitnessesRadio
Thank you for journeying w/ the Saints with us!
And number eight. So potatoes, I love potatoes. I mentioned earlier they're my preferred starch source. I mean I'll have white rice too, but I prefer the minerals and the copper in potatoes. If you're sensitive, like you know, I really don't want any anti-nutrients. Peel off the skin. The good stuff is still within any anti-nutrients peel off. Peel off the skin, the good stuff is still within. So good amount of copper, which is also another thing that most people are lacking.
Speaker 2:Do you believe there's any benefit to leaving them unpeeled?
Speaker 1:yes, yes, yes, if, if you can, if you can tolerate it.
Speaker 3:The skin is where most of the fiber is so sweet potatoes right, I am sweet potatoes right, the skin on sweet potatoes.
Speaker 1:Yes, I go back and forth. I'm not really too. I'm not too. I'm not too astringent about which ones I use, but the skins in sweet potatoes do have a little bit more stuff. So if you're looking for pure like nutrients, yes, I would say sweet potatoes are. They have quite the leg up. But if you're looking for pure like nutrients, yes, I would say sweet potatoes are, they have quite the leg up. But if you're just looking for a quick and easy to make source of carbs, regular rustic is fine. And lastly, I have almonds just because they're very high in magnesium. I don't have too many almonds.
Speaker 1:I'm not a fan of like having too many nuts in general, but about 10 almonds a day is enough to meet your magnesium requirements yeah, 10. Almonds I'm not a fan of like having too many nuts in general, but about ten almonds a day is enough to meet your magnesium requirements. Yeah, time, all you need is just ten. You know those are technically a bean, which is which makes it weird. So peanuts they're legumes. I'm not against them at all. I just think you think you should limit your quantities of them just because the nutrients in them aren't exactly as bioavailable as other types of foods. Like, for instance, when you have some peanuts right and the label says you're getting 7 grams protein. Well, yes, technically, but only so much of that is bioavailable. Hence why on my list, I emphasize milk a bunch, because the protein in milk is a complete protein. You can be just chugging milk and you're going to get jacked With beans. It's kind of in the middle.
Speaker 5:Sorry, before we leave off food, just a question what's your opinion on kefir? Like fermented milk, Very good.
Speaker 1:Okay, yeah, ohing milk Very good. Okay yeah, oh yeah, extremely good. Is it important to you to have organic food or? I personally get organic, although nowadays I question the standards for what qualifies as organic. I think the number is only like has to be like 30% truly organic or something, but it's better than nothing. I wouldn't say there's too much of a preference. The only thing where I would insist on organic would be your produce.
Speaker 1:If you notice like you hold in organic carrot and a non-organic, the size is just criminal. You've got stuff that wasn't injected with whatever. I don't know what they put in those things. But same thing with apples. And organic apple is not as big as an apple. That's not organic. It's a huge difference. So that begs to wonder. What do they put in there that makes it so big? I don't know. I don't want to touch it. So, when it comes to the produce, yeah, you might want to stick to organic Meats, especially beef. It's not too big of a difference. Same thing with chicken, actually. No, I'm going to take that back. Yeah, like I just thought, I've seen an organic slice of chicken and a non-organic and the size was also huge. So do the size test If it's massively bigger when it's non-organic and the size was also huge. So do the size test. If it's massively bigger when it's non-organic, don't touch it. Like you'll know, it's gone in there. Yeah, it's, but that's mainly my thing. Other than that, it's fair game. So, moving on from foods into just general, first things first, before I move on to the supplement part, when in doubt, get it from your food more bioavailable that way and you don't have to just pop a bunch of pills at night like another thing of like. You don't know what's in them, so just be a little bit weary.
Speaker 1:Vitamin D I didn't write any explanation because that's. I mentioned it when I was discussing the Sun aspect. Super important Explore is vitamin K, which is amazing for your bone health. So if your bones are brittle or your teeth are brittle, that's usually a deficiency in Vitamin E and vitamin K. So it'll strengthen your, strengthen your teeth and your bones when combined with enough calcium.
Speaker 1:What foods have vitamin K? Mostly dairy, so mostly dairy. You could have a bunch of milk. You're good. You could have raw cheese, very good as well. Let's see what else. Those are the ones I could think of immediately. I'm sure there's more, but those are the ones that just pop out. And then vitamin A if you like. If you can't eat like liver, you can supplement with vitamin A or just eat a bunch of carrots. They're both fine. Vitamin E I only have vitamin E, like I said earlier, if I've ingested some low quality foods, things that I didn't make myself, and I'm a little bit weary of it. And next one would be collagen. This is also one of those things where it's like a gray area for lents, but I put. But when it's not lent, I will put this in my green tea with some raw honey, so I get. I get everything at once, so it's just like a nutrient bomb as soon as I wake up.
Speaker 1:Do you taste it in the tea. No, if you get the unflavored type, it just goes in there and it tastes just like nothing.
Speaker 2:So it's perfect. That sounds like an idiot. But what's collagen?
Speaker 1:So collagen is? I'm trying to find a way to describe it. Yeah, it's a protein, but it's also okay. So it's what your nails, your hair and also what your ligaments are made out of.
Speaker 2:When you say you put it in your teeth like a powder.
Speaker 1:Yes, it's just a powder, but what it is, it's the thing in your hair, in your nails, in your joints as well. So whenever you have some people who have joint pain, the first thing that people will prescribe is collagen just to get more nutrients in those joints. So you're, in essence, eating the things that make your nails, hair and joints good. What's your opinion on multiple vitamins versus singular vitamins? I'm not a fan of multivitamins. What's your opinion on multiple vitamins versus singular vitamins? I will always get the one thing. So if I need a vitamin D, I will just take straight that and nothing else. I'm a little bit weary of you know, like the, the men's. Once a day where it's like this big and like it promises this much stuff, I'm like, yeah, okay bro. And then next Fermented cod liver oil and concentrated butter oil. That's a mouthful, but this single-handedly took my teeth from sensitive to stone. The amount of nutrients in this is ridiculous. It is expensive but it's worth it. So this was coined by Dr Weston A Price.
Speaker 1:He was a dentist who was pretty much wondering why. Who was a um? He was a dentist who was pretty much wondering why. Why is it that people in the modern area, or um in the in the um, like modern cities and places, have worse teeth than those in Africa who are just eating like roots all day. Right, like that was his. This was his like little thesis why is it that people living in in the modern world have worse teeth than the ancestors? Thesis why is it that people living in in the modern world have worse teeth than the ancestors, despite having more things to eat? When he went around and he realized, like, essentially, like what I'm saying, if you have anything that's processed, you're putting your general health at risk. But when he fed people who had an insane amount of issues with their teeth like we're talking cavities, we're talking caries and we're talking just teeth just falling out when he gave them the liver oil, their teeth got better within days and I can vouch it does work. At one point my teeth were overly sensitive because I was experimenting with a diet that was high in regular sugar and not like honey. Right, teeth got sensitive, stopped. It did this. Three days later teeth got like bone again, straight rocks. Very, very highly recommended.
Speaker 1:It's omega-3s and omega-6s and this is also one of the one of the. The cons about it is it is moderately high in polyunsaturated fatty acids. I usually avoid those, but in this case I accept it because it's so full of other vitamins. I'll take a little hit, but it's in essence how do I word it? It's um. It's best to be taken not in pill form, but it is mostly omega-3s and omega-6s, but there's just so much other stuff. I don't mind it. And lastly is um glycine. So this is just for my sleep. I'll take some glycine before I go to bed and I'm out like a light. You will have the most crazy dreams on this stuff. I could write a book just about the dreams I've had on Glycine.
Speaker 4:I've seen some wild stuff.
Speaker 1:I'm telling you, this is the stuff that if Carl Jung had, he would have been a whole different person. Like this is how serious it is, but it hmm.
Speaker 4:I'm sorry, but is it? Collagen is a lot of glycine already.
Speaker 1:It, yes, but I take more of it because I'm looking when I have my glycine, I'm looking to go to bed, so but if you just need it as like a regular thing into your diet, having it in the collagen is fine, but if you're looking for particularly the sleep and the relaxation benefits before bed, just a little bit more, you're fine. And lastly, the most important thing is to keep your stress low Massive, massive. I know it sounds easy to say, but it's huge. I have seen many people when they quit their job. They ended up like looking 20 years younger. It was insane. I'm not saying quit your job, you had a better job.
Speaker 3:But he's not saying don't quit your job, yes, like.
Speaker 1:I am saying that, by and and large, you should keep your stress down.
Speaker 3:I'm going to start with nutrition and then work my way into a few things. We don't have too much overlap.
Speaker 3:At this point. Melchizedek's a lot more qualified with specific information than me, kind of a broad strokes guy here. I was a vegetarian for 11 years so I know some tricks for vegan and vegetarian nutrition so I wanted to share that. I put some of those things on the list so easy staples, ezekiel bread. So if you're doing if you're doing kind of like vegan protein sourcing, the typical mix is going to be grains and beans, because they what the grain lacks and is a little low end for a particular essential amino acid, the legume makes up for it. So rice and beans. So typically, though, it would be whole grains to get a better mix okay.
Speaker 3:So the whole thing about whole grains is they're great for most people, not so great for people who are more sensitive to lectins because they are higher in lectins. So lectins are a plant's natural defense. Anything that is a seed right it has it resists being digested right so that it can propagate again. It's its own natural defense. So I won't get too too deep into lectins. If people have autoimmune disease and you want to look more into lectins, talk to me afterwards. Otherwise, that's pretty much all I'm going to say about it and say for most people, whole grains are your better option. Okay, so whole grains and beans would be the the standard mix. Um, and another way to get that mix is ezekiel bread. It's already done for you and it comes out of a Bible verse, and it's also sprouted, which reduces the lectin content of the whole grains and beans. There is a little bit of soy. It's one of the last ingredients in the Ezekiel bread. I think we can forgive that, even though soy is debatably not the ideal plant protein. So I'll just stay on that. That grain bean mix again.
Speaker 3:So a strategy that I used to use, and you know this line's almost over, but whatever, I would cook in bulk. Something like red lentils and brown rice together. They cook at a similar rate. I would sprout them first, cook in a big old pot and then that's kind of like my mix for the week and there's all different ways that you can that you can fix it up. If anybody's interested in that, again ask me afterward.
Speaker 3:But you know you could figure it out. You could find plenty of recipes. But bulk cooking is sometimes helpful, especially for people like so, like mel was saying cook your own food, make your own food right. So for people like so, like Mel was saying cook your own food, make your own food right. So for people who are like single and you're cooking for one person, you're not going to want to cook every single night in a lot of cases. So bulk cooking can be helpful in that it's not ideal. It's not ideal. Obviously fresh is better, um, but it could end up being the lesser of evils to just have a big batch of something and then you just fix it different ways during the week, okay, so yeah.
Speaker 6:How long can food last before it becomes too poisonous for the body?
Speaker 3:Yeah, your nose knows, so smell it. If it smells, you know, even partly off, don't eat it.
Speaker 2:Yeah, Joshua. Can you repeat the question for the camera?
Speaker 3:Yeah. So the question was how do you know when food is starting to not be fresh enough to eat, and if it smells a little bit bad, don't eat it, what's that?
Speaker 1:If you don't have a sense of smell, ask somebody else to smell it.
Speaker 6:You're absolutely good at cap. You're doing all right, at least have friends sometimes.
Speaker 3:Okay, uh, is there another question or comment?
Speaker 2:well, real quick one. You mentioned whole grains. Yep, everything these days says whole grain on the. Can you trust that?
Speaker 3:so here you have to learn how to read nutrition labels so you know whole foods are best to where. Like you're buying something it's one ingredient, you know what it is like, like mel said. But if you're buying something that is a packaged food, you read the nutrition label. The ingredients are listed in the order of what is the primary ingredient. So if it says whole grain and then you look and the first ingredient is enriched flour, they're lying like they sprinkled a little bit of whole grain in there, right? So yeah, so a lot of things will say multi-grain whole grain.
Speaker 3:Basically like look, and if you really want to eat healthy, you have to retrain your palate. You're not going to like the way healthier foods taste right away, because processed foods are like crack. Now the problem with eating processed foods oreos, uh, chips the problem is the reason why you want more and more and more of them is because there's no nutrients in them. Your body is searching for nutrients. It's not getting them. That's why you're going to eat so much of it, right? Does that make sense? So I say that to say, if you're going to eat bread, learn to like Ezekiel bread. Get over it for a few weeks. Yes, it's going to taste like eating tree bark for a while, but once you retrain your palate to actually like good food and like fiber the amazing thing about fiber I almost wish that I could still eat. Lenten my body. I have an autoimmune disease.
Speaker 3:I can no longer eat so many lectin-rich foods, but it's actually amazing Zecro bread, any combination of grains and beans, that slow release of the carbohydrates into your blood because of all the fiber that's in there, it can be very sustaining. It can be very sustaining.
Speaker 3:Uh, this is not the ideal way to eat, you know, year round for most people, but again, during Lent, if you want to actually be able to go four hours without starving, you know, um, you want to have something that's rich in fiber, and those are the foods that aren't going to taste like cake, okay, not that. White rice is terrible, and if you have, like lectin issues, I eat more white rice because I have issues with lectins Okay. So nut butters are helpful during Lent as a way to get your protein. Especially, I like blanched almond butter because it's lower in lectins. So Mel talked about high magnesium.
Speaker 3:Almonds are also very, very high in calcium, and so another consideration that I'll talk about through other things is body alkalinity is another factor for overall health. Okay, and anytime you're getting foods that are high in calcium, that's going to contribute to body alkalinity, meaning your body not being overly acidic. So when your body's overly acidic, all types of illness are going to be more common, cancer, everything. My man, justin, knows all about this, and there's a myriad of benefits to being alkaline. So you see people carrying the alkaline water, this and that. I'm not a huge proponent of that because I don't know how much you can do through that, but maybe I'm wrong, maybe I just haven't looked into it enough. But on that topic, dark greens choosing, uh, choosing the nuts that are high in calcium, um, things like that you would sorry for breaking in.
Speaker 2:You and mel both mentioned almonds. It sounds like they're really highly recommended. Are there any other nuts that are, yes, all nuts are not created equal.
Speaker 3:So I'd say stick to pistachios, stick to walnuts and almonds for the most part. So now I'm going to mention so, now that we're talking about nuts. Okay, so again for low lectin stuff. All those are good for low lectin stuff. But related to nuts is the hemp seeds. So the disclaimer on hemp seeds is if you're a government employee, there's a small chance that there could be a trace amount of THC and you could pop on a drug test.
Speaker 3:For everybody else, and especially during Lent, hemp seeds are like a crazy, crazy hack. They're higher in protein compared to fat than any other nut and seed. They're a complete protein. They're super high in zinc, which Mel mentioned. So oyster is great. Hemp seed is also great high in magnesium. It's it's it's an embarrassment of riches when you look, you know on the on the on the nutrient list. Also very high in fiber. The fats high in omega-3 which are can contribute to less inflammation. But even the omega-6 that's in them is an anti-inflammatory omega-6. So if you're not like doing fish oil, this would be the next best thing yeah, are they impacted by cooking them like?
Speaker 4:is it less nutrients in?
Speaker 3:there, um, I don't know, because I don't see any need to cook them because you can. Oh, they're so easy to just add in after you've cooked whatever, yeah, so I mean you can. They're so tiny, it's almost like a powder, you can just lace them in anything, yeah.
Speaker 5:What about chia seeds?
Speaker 3:Chia seeds, you know, are good. They're super high in calcium If you don't have issues with lectins. If you have issues with lectins, then they're a little higher. Yeah, okay, yeah, okay, okay. So, yeah, we talked about the, the plant, the plant proteins, getting all the essential amino acids. Um, talked a little bit about lectins, so other foods. Is there anybody else who does have issues with lectins here? Because nobody else. How would you know? Yeah, so here that's. That's a good point. You know, to really know, you would have to go on an elimination diet or have a doctor tell you that you have. Generally speaking, if you have an autoimmune disease, you might know you might want to look at reducing lectins.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, yeah, that's kind of where I'm at again, not to so is there a certain symptom that if you were to have a bunch of lectins, inflammation?
Speaker 3:Okay, inflammation could be one, but again, yeah, you'd have to talk to your doctor to figure out or go on an elimination diet to really know, to really know for sure, and I don't mean to raise the alarm. Like you know, for most people it's probably no big issue, yeah, and you, like you know, for most people it's probably no big issue, yeah, and you probably want to still have those foods, like even Mel's. You know, regular potatoes I'm over here going, oh, but those have lectins. Well, for a normal person that's no problem. If you did have problems with lectins, you want to go to sweet potatoes, because regular potatoes are part of a food family called nightshades, which are in the new world that nobody in Europe had before. You know, people came over to the Americas. Um, some people don't do well with those because of that. And then sweet potatoes are a part of the morning glory, uh, food family, which is not a nightshade, and you don't have the lectins.
Speaker 3:You could actually eat them raw. You could eat you wouldn't want to, probably, but you could eat sweet potatoes raw. So so, and that's kind of like hunter-gatherer diet people who are sensitive to lectins hunter-gatherer diet or sometimes called like paleo diet. It's basically like you want to eat things that you could eat raw, even if you don't necessarily eat them raw, okay, so then I hit you guys with a smoothie recipe. We don't need to go over that. Just me personally making my first meal of the day whenever that is a smoothie just made it so easy to get micronutrients from whole food source. Any downsides to smoothies Mel, as long as?
Speaker 1:the ingredients are whole, I don't see much of a problem.
Speaker 3:Yeah, the only thing, the only thing that's ever popped in my mind this is pure speculation is like you're giving your body something that's already chewed up for you, and it's so many different kinds of food. Sometimes I wonder if that confuses the body, or something like that.
Speaker 5:Uh, yes, I've actually did a bit of research on that. So there have been studies that have connected particularly with bananas, where people who will eat a normal banana will digest it in a fundamentally different way if it was eaten whole as opposed to having it in one.
Speaker 2:So I can't say as a whole rule that, oh, everything that you can do to the food will affect it in positive or negative ways, but it's something that you guys need to be aware of and careful about, smoothies especially, of course the amount of fruit that you're going to have in, there is going to be a lot of sugar, and especially if you guys I'm not saying you guys would do this, but if you guys forget to keep the fiber in there.
Speaker 1:That adds more trouble Right, which is why you know if you're drinking juice, you better be drinking stuff with well-finished yeah. Yeah, so the.
Speaker 3:Can you give me the amount?
Speaker 4:of smoothie you make what so?
Speaker 3:yeah.
Speaker 3:I gave the sheet and we can produce more. So I think the one that I have, especially because I put the hemp seeds in and the spinach, it's going to have a ton of fiber. So potentially, the sugar from the banana is hitting your blood much slower, right because it's mixed in with everything else and the protein, versus if you just ate a banana by itself. It's gonna hit your blood real quick. That being said, you know, feel free, and I put on here you can substitute any fruit that you think is best. There's a whole bunch of you know, you can. You can read it later. We don't need to geek out.
Speaker 3:But everything in there has a purpose to create a balance of macronutrients, micronutrients, okay, and it takes like ten minutes you know, and then I also included the recipe with the spread that I did, that I, that I shared, that also has hemp seeds in it. Oh, and then, um, raise your hand if you really like avocados, right, okay, so you might already be on that, you might already know this, but I think the best way to have good avocados, where there's no surprises, they're not rotten when you open them, buy them green and hard if. If you're feeling for the soft ones guess what everybody else already did that if they're, if they look at a hard one, or if it's hard, they can't damage it. But if it's even close to soft, you know you're getting like a fifth hand avocado. So don't buy them soft, buy them, buy them hard, buy them hard and then, you know, ripen them. If you want them to ripen faster, you can put them in a paper bag, but as soon as they're ripe, as soon as they're ripe.
Speaker 3:So one of the hints, especially with Haas avocados, they have a hard peel. Sometimes it's hard to feel how soft they are. If the little nub that came off the branch, off the stem, is wiggly, usually that means that they're ripe, okay. Also, you can kind of play with where you press. If you press close to that, on that that skinny side, you can usually feel a little more accurately how soft it is as soon as they're ripe on your counter. Just put them in the fridge and then they're. They're not gonna rot, and then you'll have a nice you know, and then they keep. I've had them keep for two weeks in the fridge perfectly, because it kind of doesn't a hundred percent stop the ripening process, but almost.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 3:And then uh yeah so a really good, a really good thing like pretty much what I lived off of when I was vegan is I would do Ezekiel toast and put I would smash like a quarter of an avocado on every piece of bread and then just sprinkle a little sea salt and that was like a very satisfying lunch. Okay, oh, we're going to save questions for the end, okay. So what I have to say about exercise is really really simple, guys, okay. Questions for the end, okay. So what I have to say about exercise is really really simple, guys, okay. So the bottom line is is you need to find things that you enjoy, otherwise you're not going to be consistent. Most people are not disciplined enough to just force themselves to do something just because it's good for them, right? So find an activity, um, that you enjoy.
Speaker 3:a sport I really recommend martial arts you can always do it on your own. If you learn how to throw punches and kicks, you could do shadowboxing If you have a punching bag at your house. It can also be really good stress relief, yeah, so, yeah, hit that at least two days a week, um, and then I recommend, at least one day a week. You do the less fun stuff. That's going to um. Allow you to continue to do the things that you enjoy. So if you already have injuries, then there's just a wealth of information about rehab. The best doctors are on YouTube. That's the good news. No, seriously, like I've been to a lot of doctors, I've never been in person to any doctor that's as good as the best doctors I found on YouTube. So, in terms of physical therapy, things like that, they're giving this information away for free.
Speaker 3:So I'm a big, big believer in physical therapy more than any other holistic or whatever you want to call it modality, because we know how the world works for orthodox, you have to work for things. So you have to retrain your muscles to be balanced around a joint in order for your joint problems to go away. So PT around a joint in order for your your joint problems to to go away. So pt, um or, even better, prehab. Prevent injuries by um, just doing gentle weight lifting um. Focus on lowering your weight and making the reps really, really slow and Like see how hard you can make it. Because, again, the goal is not to lift weight, the goal is to work muscles right. And the more you're pushing to your very, very limit of how much weight you can handle, the more you're putting yourself at risk of injury, right? So, yeah, I would just be conservative with that and make things harder. Handicap yourself with the weight that you're working with. Okay, some notes on strengthen to lengthen yeah. So this is.
Speaker 3:The other great thing about lifting weights is, if you go through the full range of motion, like you do push-ups, you know your chest all the way to the ground, or you even do an alternate push-up where you can get deeper into a stretch. If you have this rounding of the shoulders, this is actually a great way to stretch, because you're not really going to get much benefit out of a stretch when you're cold anyway. So you're forcing your body to warm up while you're doing strengthening exercises. So just make sure you're going through a full range of motion where you're getting a bit of a stretch involved with that, and then in terms of, in terms of dedicated stretching, static stretching should only be done after you're fully warmed up, or and then. If you have anything to say about this, let let me know.
Speaker 3:But, uh, this was the the last class that I, the last kinesiology class that I took. He was talking about the latest research and how, basically, like, dynamic stretching is the gold standard. Like, you are not going to increase the length of a muscle long term when you're cold, you know, just warming up itself is going to make you more flexible. The only time I would do static stretching at the beginning of a workout and it would be brief is just to alleviate pain. If you have pain in a muscle and you're like I can't go, I just need to hit that real quick. Again, you're not lengthening the muscle, you're just getting rid of the pain.
Speaker 5:Can you differentiate between static stretching and dynamic stretching?
Speaker 3:Sure. So static stretching is just when you're staying still and you're just holding the stretch. You're staying still and you're just holding the stretch. Okay, so 30 30 seconds is is kind of the the benchmark there where you could hold it for a minute. You're only going to get like a 15 20 increase in in flexibility by holding it for another 30 seconds. So cost benefit 30 seconds is a good plus. Most people peter out after 30 seconds anyway and what's dynamic dynamic stretching is like.
Speaker 3:So, for example, is, if I just went like this, I'm stretching my hamstring, stretching my hip flexor, stretching my hamstring, stretching my hip flexor, thank you, yeah, I'm glad I didn't blow my knee out right there. Yeah, so you want to be fully warmed up before you do static stretching or just save it for the end of your workout? And also, you don't want to do static stretching before you lift heavy, because it will actually make you weaker, right, yeah? So, yeah, that is what I have Awesome. Yeah, you want to go up?
Speaker 2:there, you guys want to do some quick, quick Q&A, q&a, q&a panel.
Speaker 3:So I think it'll be more. I think it'll be most organized if you direct your questions specifically to one of us and then, if the other one wants to chime in, we can Join us.
Speaker 6:Yeah, how many times a day you should eat. Can't you just eat once a day and just have snacks? We can, yeah.
Speaker 3:Who are you directing the question to? Okay, so Mel is less of a fan of intermittent fasting than I am, because he's young, okay, and he doesn't need to work as hard to keep off a little bit of extra fat. So if, if you are, if you are trying to lose excess body fat, I'm a big fan of intermittent fasting, and depending on how hungry you are, some people do one meal a day, year round. That's probably probably a little too little food. Some people do one meal every other day, so they'll do one meal one day, two meals the next day, right?
Speaker 3:I don't think that all year you should be pushing beyond, like intense hunger, like all all day, intense hunger, like all all day. But if you pay attention to your body and if you're not even getting hungry, like it kind of doesn't make a lot of sense, if you're trying to lose weight, to eat when you're not hungry, right. So it depends on what your goals are. So if you, if you, if you, if you have excess body fat, I would say don't ever eat when you're not hungry.
Speaker 6:It's like pretty, pretty simple, right I heard like my husband says, trying to lose weight after surgery, after heart surgery, and uh this, somebody says that you should eat every two hours a little bit, and I disagree with this. It depends what your goals are like. Eating every two hours would be like for an athlete, right, yeah, yeah I?
Speaker 1:um, I mean, like you said, it depends on what your goals are and at the end of the day, you have to experiment. Um, by and large, a lot of my answers are going to be well, what did you experiment? But in my opinion, yeah, I'm the exact opposite. I don't, I, I don't like to fast. I think it's too much unnecessary, like unnecessary stress on your body. Um, I do think that you should be in like a constant state of like, not like you should be satiated and you should be energetic. My, my goal is to maximize the quality of life, and being hungry has not maximized my quality of life. So it depends entirely on what your goals are.
Speaker 1:I think there are benefits to, uh, to intermittent fasting. Um, it is good for weight loss and it's also good for making sure that your body is sufficiently detoxed of whatever thing you're going to like. When I'm sick, I'll fast, but if I'm in a healthy state, why would I fast? I'm, I feel great, why? Why would I ruin that feeling of feeling good? Um, so, yeah, like like you said, I'm not the biggest fan of it, but at the end of the day, you should always experiment if you feel like you would benefit from fasting. By all means fast. If you're like me and you're like then, then don't fast yeah, yeah.
Speaker 3:So yeah, there's also intermittent fasting, fasting in general. It can also regenerate your immune cells, so it just depends what benefits you're looking for. Yeah, did you.
Speaker 4:Um, I have a question, mel, I guess, but either of you can answer about if you're trying to. Your goal is to build strength and muscle. Do you need your protein to be a certain amount of grams and a certain time after your workout?
Speaker 1:So, yeah, that's a multi-layered, that's a multi, uh, layered question. So, to build strength, you actually don't need to eat as much protein as you think, because, um, strength is a central nervous system adaptation. So, for instance, the bench press right Dudes who are like I want to bench 315. All right, bench more. Then, all of a sudden they're. They're weighing like 150 pounds, but they're moving absurd amounts of weight. They didn't build any muscle, but their neurological connections are much stronger to the muscles, um, in question.
Speaker 1:And now to build muscle, yes, this is when protein does matter, because your goal is no longer, um, neurological adaptations, it is now tearing down the muscle fiber and rebuilding it. So if your goal is to, you know, like, get jacked and stacked, by all means rip your muscles to absolute shreds and then eat I'm going to say, if you can, approximately 1.5 grams times your body weight. We're speaking in kilograms, not pounds. So, yeah, if you're speaking in pounds, I feel bad for a lot of bodybuilders right now. So, find your weight in kilograms, multiply that by 1.5. That's about where you want to be if you want to build muscle.
Speaker 4:So does the protein need to come in a certain way. You can't spread it out throughout the day.
Speaker 3:Yeah, absolutely you can. Okay, yeah, there are differing opinions on that. I mean, I hate to just bring up one podcast I listen to, but it was a woman where her thing was definitely on the protein-maxing side. She was suggesting that a bolus amount of protein at one sitting was beneficial. Yeah, I would say research it if you're….
Speaker 5:What's considered a healthy body fat percentage?
Speaker 1:Below 20. For a man I'm a little more extreme. I say below 15. And and the reason why I go so low is for men, especially the more fat fat you have, your estrogen goes up, goes up, goes up. So I'm not saying you need to look like brad pitt and fight club, right? That's not fun, it that? That's? That's worse because you, the the healthiest uh percentage in my um, in my research, is in between 10 and 15 to maximize um, your hormones mostly uh. Anything above that, yeah, like you're still I, but it isn't ideal and anything above 20, you know you've got to do some soul searching. But beneath 10% is when your body's in oh, I'm starving right now. You don't want to go that low. So 10 to 15 is ideal to maximize health in general and you're saying men and women generally.
Speaker 1:No, women can have it much higher. Yeah, like women, you guys, women can have much higher. Yeah, like women. You have, like like, you guys got to pump those numbers up because a woman that's too low in body fat, that's dangerous For dudes it's. It's completely different, I think, for women. What is it like 20 to 25%?
Speaker 3:I think it's something like 10% more body fat.
Speaker 1:Really. Oh more body fat Really, oh yeah, yes, yeah, so yeah, that makes sense. So for women it's essential because the hormone health is way different. So for dudes, you know, being a little bit like leaner is very good. For women, the opposite is true. And so, yeah, it's essentially based off of your gender and what you're looking for from being a certain body fat. Luke, did you have a question I did about?
Speaker 3:warming up?
Speaker 5:Yeah, so either of you guys can answer it if you'd like. But like, what is a good warmup routine then? Because I've done sag stretching for legs like squats or deadlifts, and I tend to go heavier. And I noticed that I've tried doing dynamic stuff before but I don't really know what to do. And I noticed that I've tried doing dynamic stuff before but I don't really know what to do.
Speaker 3:I feel like some of this stuff is kind of risky for my knees, yeah, so I have some pretty cool dynamic warm-ups on my YouTube channel, the Way MMA.
Speaker 1:I haven't built my brand yet, but in terms of stretching, yeah, I wouldn't. So, okay. So my background this is a powerlifter, right, this is no longer coach. This is like Jim Broach, just a powerlifting talk, right here. Right, I never stretch and my best squat was like 455, right, so I didn't stretch. Do I regret it? No, I'm perfectly fine. And when it comes to like, if your goal is to move more weight, like it's just like Josh said, you don't want to stretch before you should almost be doing your PR, slightly cold, but this is a feel area, right, because if you're too cold you're going to tear it, but if you're too warm you're gonna tear it, but if you're too warm, your muscles are too lengthy. So, just like gym bro to gym bro, don't worry about stretching. If your goal is strength, like, just Realize it comes, it comes with the territory of what you're doing. And for deadlifts, because you've mentioned squats and deadlifts, I'm not sure why you're doing deadlifts because you've mentioned squats and deadlifts.
Speaker 1:I'm not sure why you're doing deadlifts.
Speaker 5:I'm not as much anymore, but when I do and I don't warm up a lot, I'll get like my knees will be like a loud pop and it's not the ACL tear or something.
Speaker 1:Right, yeah, that's unfortunately. That's just the sports you've chosen, because, like, I know exactly what you're talking about, because when I was squatting, you know I would squat and I feel the little pop. It's just, it's just, that's the path you've chosen, brother.
Speaker 5:Because I'm like I sit at a desk all day, right. So I am like, so I'll do my first set on the bottle for squat, specifically around the shoulders at the desk and this, the rack position is very tight, so I'll start to do a lot of like stretching and like lunge, kind of like the hip flexor stretches, the hamstring stretches and slowly I feel like able enough to squat. But I wonder if there's like a better approach, just because I can sit a lot and then like I go straight into squat, yeah what you, what you do want to stretch is you want to stretch the antagonist muscles.
Speaker 3:You want to stretch your hip flexors right, so that they're not inhibiting your hip extensors.
Speaker 1:That'll warm up the muscles you need for the movement, yes, but, like I said, you know this is the path you've chosen. Brother, like you're just going to like, one day your knees will pop. You're like you know what? I think I'm done with heavy lifting, and then that's what happened to me.
Speaker 5:It's already happened once. Yeah, you're just like oh no, yeah, yeah, going on, going on.
Speaker 2:Can you guys say something really quick about because you, Luke, you reminded me, because I work in an office as well. Yeah, yeah, Can you give advice for people who have sedentary jobs?
Speaker 3:Yeah, yeah, I'll jump in. So the guideline that I've seen is 33. So every 30 minutes get up and move for 3 minutes. So here's a stat that I learned in the nutrition class that I took a few years ago 6 hours of sitting negates an hour and a half of exercise.
Speaker 2:Interesting.
Speaker 3:Yeah.
Speaker 2:I don't like hearing that.
Speaker 3:So I'm a big fan of standing. Desk Sitting is not a natural position, so a more natural human resting position would be a full squat. So this in between contraction of the hip flexor is not good okay and it's.
Speaker 3:It can distort your uh, your pelvis and give you a forward pelvic tilt shortening the, the, the back muscles here, and so a lot of the low back problems that people have actually come from tightened hip flexors and, uh, weak glutes. So you're, if you're sitting on it, you're not using it, right, right? So even just like, yeah, so get up and move for three minutes every every half hour and squeeze, squeeze your glutes, you know, feel the contraction, drive your knees out, drive your hips forward and and feel the sides, feel the sides fire, feel the backfire together, get weird looks in the office. Whatever that's worth, it, own it, yeah, and just and just moving around, shaking out whatever feels stiff. For that, for that three minutes, open up the shoulders, right, because it's here and then we're also here. Yeah, so you want to open up the thoracic spine? You know, like motions like this open up the thoracic spine and the chest.
Speaker 1:I pretty much agree with everything that he said and I do want to take a moment to emphasize that, yes, like, most people have hip flexors that are made of stone now just because, like, we're sitting so much, so you should be stretching your hip flexors every day. Um, I can't put them in shit right now I have pants on but I like a good stretch for your hip flexors would be the figure four stretch, so something kind of like this. You kind of just sit down and you press, this whole area is gonna be stretched out and those are the muscles that are tight and weak. So it's just a good stretch to do. But in an office setting I can imagine you can't just bust out a stretch.
Speaker 3:I mean, if you can do Even while you're sitting, if I can jump in and demonstrate so while you're sitting you could do one side at a time. So if I just kick one leg off and then I drive it back and I can pull my foot into a better position. And so now I'm pulling off my toe to pull my knee back, okay, and I'm going to contract my glute also and I'm going to push my. I'm going to push my knee back to contract the glute max, I'm going to push my knee out to contract the glute medius together. So that's the stretch, and then I can kind of pulse here, kind of go back and forth, and then this would be sort of more like a PNF stretch, where I pull against the ground and then I drive back. So that's something you could do without, without even getting getting up.
Speaker 4:Standing too much. I'd say standing is pretty good for your body.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I'd say.
Speaker 3:I'd say that's perfect.
Speaker 1:Yeah, if standing hurts, it's probably cause you're already broken from sitting too much. Yeah, if um, if you can um get a standing desk. If, um, if you can um get a standing desk. I know that hemingway, uh, the famous author, he, he had a standing desk. He would never write when he was sitting down. And I, I mean at work, I'm, I mean I'm also, I'm at a desk because I have to input a bunch, a bunch of like numbers for for my clients and whatnot. And even when I'm like sitting down, know, I'll make sure that my back is straight, my chest is out, if I feel my hips being tight, all stretch in the chair. But I'm one of those guys that's like favorite looks at me. I'm to stare them to. But so, by all means, like when you can move, move like does they know what's stopping you? Physically? I don't think a boss is gonna pull by a head. I feel like, think, like, like you're moving a bit too, like what's, what's it to you, dude?
Speaker 1:yeah it'll make you more productive too yeah so, whatever you can move, move, uh, like whenever you can go outside, go outside. I think a lot of the limits that we impose on ourselves at work add to the health issues that we have. Like, like I said, like no one's stopping you. Like like who's gonna stop me for standing up and going outside my break? Who's gonna stop me when? When the work's done, like we're gonna do, yeah, yeah, right.
Speaker 1:Just like, walk in and just look your boss in the eye, just assert dominance but but seriously like you, you have a bit more freedom with your health than you think, and that's part of the reason why why I like it so much. Now I can do whatever I want like there.
Speaker 6:any more questions? Yes, actually, actually, I was hoping that a priest could chime in on this too, but you were. This is specifically for you, but you can also answer it, thank you. You said eat what's natural, what you can find in nature and everything Mostly. There was a time that humans did not eat meat, and this was before Noah.
Speaker 1:Yes.
Speaker 6:So meat was eventually introduced, and then later dairy as well, from cows. That was not normal back in the day. How has that affected human health?
Speaker 1:So okay, so clearly, you've read your Bible. So let's talk about Genesis Theology. So I've read the creation story a multitude of times Because I also think that the key to health is in that story. And you're right, we're most having fruits. In the Garden of Eden, all we had were fruits. We weren't exactly, we didn't really sacrifice animals until later. So so you're right.
Speaker 1:So how has that affected health? Well, I mean, from a completely uh, theological standpoint, you can't measure. You know what we were like in eden with our fallen state. We don't know what was going. I mean, I mean that we know. I mean like, yeah, like we really were with energy balls, like what there's, there's, there's, there's a lot of questions there.
Speaker 1:But in terms of the uh, food being introduced later, like you said, um, if you notice, or if you, if you recall, we were sacrificing animals, animals to god for since a couple pages into the into the Bible, past the fall, and they didn't just kill it and just walk away, they did eat it. So so it's, it's not. It isn't exactly taboo to do stuff like that, like we're for better or for worse, I mean for worse we're, we're in the fallen state and we can't just eat whatever wasn't. I wasn't eating but the, but the animals that were sacrificed, like with cain and abel, they ate those, they were eaten. So, um, in terms of how that's affected health, I can't imagine having too much of an impact, because the premise shifts.
Speaker 1:It's no longer. We didn't have this until it's now. No, as soon as we fell, we had these foods and we used them. Um, but so health-wise I can't. If you're so, then it it shifts to okay. So if we weren't to have the fallen foods, which would be mostly fruits and vegetables, what would that be like? Let's be things and then from there you know yeah, it's.
Speaker 3:Uh, I've given this some thought too, so let's just consider all these kind of like stabs in the dark right because we're not, we're not yeah, theologians.
Speaker 1:So none of this is authoritative but this is all theory.
Speaker 3:My, my speculations are, even if now what he's saying does present like a logical conundrum. But we would have to see what the church fathers are saying, because it's not explicit in the Bible itself that people were eating meat until after the flood. But the general arc holds the same. It's like now we've fallen, we're in this realm of death. The garments of skin are given to adam and eve right when they leave the garden, and the way I see it is, there's this descent into death and it's like before the flood people were living like 800 years. After the flood they're living 120 and they're also told that they, that they can eat animals.
Speaker 3:So the way I see it is like you're taking on a bit of death to have a buffer against that death that's coming from the outside, if that makes sense. So kind of like the garments of skin idea. So it's like I know, for me, eating meat I'm stronger, because I was vegan vegetarian for 11 years. For me, eating meat I'm stronger. If we didn't have to fend off death I wouldn't need to be stronger. But here we are, so I'd rather be stronger, so I'd rather have that meat.
Speaker 6:The other question I had was actually regarding supplements and what's on the labels. But regarding supplements and what's on the labels, I noticed that sometimes there's like this little plus sign where a number would be. Is that indicative of something?
Speaker 1:I believe that's the proprietary blend, so that the little symbol there is, it's like, basically it's it's like a company secret almost. It's like there's something in there, in there that's extra, that they legally have to tell you there's something, because, like I know, I know what you're talking about like those are, like you'll see some ingredients and then like cross sign or some other sign that's indicative of something else that's added, that could be anything. So usually when I see, see that I'm kind of apprehensive to buy it or use it, because that's just their way of saying we have our own stuff in here and we don't want to tell you what it is.
Speaker 2:You guys, I think, maybe one last question and we'll give you the last word and then if you guys want to stay after and ask questions to our presenters, please do. But I just want to be mindful of everyone's time and thank you guys so much for coming. That was great Acid reflux. So I have a question about it?
Speaker 5:What can you do to negate it especially?
Speaker 3:We're going to give you different answers here.
Speaker 5:I'm curious because I've talked to Michael Blahos before and he had a really interesting theory.
Speaker 3:There's actually a lack of acidity in the stomach that produces it, or there's something that yes, because if it's acid indigestion, if it's indigestion is the problem, then yeah, it could be a lack of acidity that's not digesting it right. So I've had good results with apple cider vinegar to get over um, to get over indigestion, yeah I'm going to.
Speaker 1:I'm also second that, If you take it. I mean, luckily I haven't had those types of issues, but I was there for when you were asking Blahos all those questions. So, yeah, I think the answers that he said like they're still valid. And, for the record, he recommended bitters. He did Right. Yes, he recommended some bitters. I did Right. Yes, he recommended some bitters. I second that as well. I second apple cider as well, but I also recommend honey.
Speaker 5:Like you already know, I got to just toss in some honey, a key for the gate, because otherwise you're kind of stuck here, let's go Justin.
Speaker 1:Thank you, justin. So, yeah, that's mostly what I recommend, and this is actually what I mean by experiment with foods and take some chances, because I'm sure there are some foods that hit you more than others. So this is the process of finding out what works for you until you can find out the ways to mitigate your symptoms Apple cider vinegar and honey yes, together. Yes, they saw that.
Speaker 2:You talked earlier about fermented, like sauerkraut and kimchi right.
Speaker 3:Yes, yeah.
Speaker 2:Would that also maybe affect that?
Speaker 3:Sure, I'd give it a shot. I'd give it a shot, yeah.
Speaker 5:This is something I've had my whole life. It's not just McDonald's and-. Have you been tested for heliobacter? What is it called?
Speaker 3:H pastor bacteria. I think 50 plus percent of acid reflux is caused from bacterial infection in your stomach. Oh really, I think someone won a Nobel Prize in Physiology for this. Okay, most people's acid reflux is either acidity or lack of acidity.
Speaker 4:Wow. Bacterial inflammation in the stomach.
Speaker 6:Super easy to treat. You just put one drop of lemon essential oil in your water every day. Wow, and drink it with a bottle of water Every day.
Speaker 3:Experiment With every water you take. That's so interesting, I'll try that. You're a lemon water guy now yeah.
Speaker 1:Lemon water.
Speaker 2:You guys, before we applaud our presenters, would you guys mind this is for the video. Would you tell our audience where can they find you if they have questions or are interested in your professional services?
Speaker 1:If you have Signal, that would be the best way. If not, I have an Instagram. It's just my name. Well, it's my non-baptismal name, so Jermell McLeod. That's my handle. My email is the exact same, so jermellmcleod at gmailcom. And yeah, you can reach me.
Speaker 3:Yeah, so you can find me on Google Maps in San Diego under the Way MMA. You can find me on YouTube under the Way MMA as well.
Speaker 2:Excellent, you guys get to give him a round of applause. Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you.