Transmutable Explorations

Category: Quantified Self

  • Intro to Breathwork

    Breathing… we all do it.  Most of us probably don’t pay much attention to how we go about it either.  Unless you do, you probably also don’t realize that some subtle awareness when it comes to your breathwork practice can likely make a radical difference in your day to day health.  I was the same way, until I started researching the subject.  After years of doing so, I slowly incorporated some simple techniques that have changed my mind considerably.  If this is of interest to you, read on for my intro to breathwork.

    My Intro to Breathwork Journey

    I’ve had an on again/off again relationship with meditation and yoga my whole life.  Long time practitioners of both always talk extensively about “paying attention to the breath”.  Early on, I never really put much stock into this.  I associated this with the more ‘woo’ side of the practice without any real scientific basis.  My opinion of this started to change after looking for effective ways of reducing my stress while working in a high strung corporate environment.  My first success in using breathwork for this came from a Navy SEAL friend of mine.  He introduced me to Box Breathing (described below) and subjectively, this seemed to allow me to more easily fall asleep on high stress evenings.

    Eventually, as part of that same high strung corporate environment, I often traveled to India.  On the weekends while I was there, I would travel the country with my co workers and take in many of the experiences associated with traveling to India.  This often involved going to Ayurvedic retreats and temples throughout the country, participating in yogic and meditative rituals.  This exposed me to Pranayama.  This practice defines several different techniques for breathing that are meant to induce different types of changes in the body.  At this point, the focus on breathwork while meditating and doing yoga started to make much more sense.

    I was exposed to all of this before I started using the Oura ring.  With the first generation of Oura, it was easy to see the impact of box breathing on my sleep.  The moment that Oura rolled out it’s mediation support, I started to use it with different dedicated breathing techniques.  It was honestly surprising to see how effective some of them were in terms of impacting heart rate and HRV.

    Scientific Basis

    When I started to really dig into this, I came across numerous studies that laid the groundwork for a very scientific basis for many breathwork practices.  Breathing is actually more about regulating Carbon Dioxide (CO2) than oxygenating the blood.  We strive to maintain our CO2 levels in the blood within a very narrow range.  The brain interprets a low oxygen state as a threat and it activates the sympathetic nervous system as a result.  CO2 is also acidic, so the CO2/oxygen balance has direct effects on the blood’s pH.  Taking steps to rebalance these levels does the opposite and results in an overall calming effect.

    In addition to the effects related to blood oxygenation, more research has shown that diaphragmatic breathing (slow abdominal based breathing) directly stimulates the vagus nerve.  This instantly puts you into a more parasympathetic state.  Vagus nerve stimulation has also been tied to improvements in Heart Rate Variability (HRV).  Additionally, heart rate is directly tied to breathing.  This phenomenon is referred to as Respiratory Sinus Arrhythmia (RSA) and directly impacts blood pressure.

    Understanding these basic concepts is the key to using controlled breathwork to achieve different desired states.  Hear are a few things to keep in mind:

    • Slow breathing, especially from the diaphragm stimulates the parasympathetic nervous system and tends to be more relaxing.
    • Fast breathing and chest breathing tends to increase CO2 levels resulting in a sympathetic nervous system response.  This can energize, but also promotes anxiety.
    • Breath Holds increase C02 levels
    • Emphasizing inhales increases heart rate (and often blood pressure)
    • Emphasizing exhales decreases heart rate (and often blood pressure)

    Proper Breathing Technique

    Many people underestimate the importance of breathing ‘correctly’. The hurried modern life and other stressors have an extremely negative impact on how people breathe and most don’t even realize it. If you don’t currently have awareness regarding how you breathe on a regular basis and aren’t prioritizing doing something about it, you will be amazed at how quickly doing so can change the way you feel. There are many breathing techniques that you can use to address many different goals that you may have, but most modern americans are stuck in a continuous stress state. Even moving into a ‘rest and digest’ state a few times a day can have a profound positive impact on your health.

    Based on the information presented so far, the ideal every day breathing technique would seem to be a reasonably slow, diaphragmatic breath.  I’ll add one more rule of thumb that should be followed: breath through the nose.  Not only does breathing through the nose help filter out pollutants, virii, etc.  It helps warm cold air before it hits the lungs.  Additionally, it’s important in order to effectively get nitric oxide into our systems.  Take a look around you and see how many people are actually breathing this way.  Even though, this will generally be the best way to breath, different types of breathwork are designed to achieve certain temporary responses.

    Types of Breathwork

    There are many types of breathwork and I’m always learning more.  This list below are the ones that I actively use.  I briefly explain how to do the technique and why I personally do them.

    Box Breathing

    This was the type of breathwork that started it all for me.  I started doing it as a way to immediately calm myself but I’ve since found that it’s also very effective for getting into a state of focus.  It’s super effective even after doing it for a few minutes and it’s very easy for beginners to learn.  Box breathing starts by expelling all air from your lungs.  Stay in this ’empty’ state for a count of 4.  Now inhale through your nose for a count of four.  Hold for a count of four.  Finally, exhale through your nose again for a count of 4.  This is one cycle of Box Breathing.  Repeat for 2 to 5 minutes and enjoy your state of calm focus!

    4-7-8 Breathing

    My success with Box Breathing lead me to discover 4-7-8 Breathing.  Box Breathing before bed, sometimes had the unfortunate side affect of making me more focused on things that I needed to do tomorrow, etc.  This wasn’t helping me get the sleep that had initially hoped this breathwork practice would provide. This breathwork technique is a form of diaphragmatic breathing that involves inhaling for four seconds, holding the breath for seven seconds, and exhaling for eight seconds.  The longer breath hold combined with the longer exhale is what makes this an even more relaxing technique compared to Box Breathing.  Again, repeating this for a few minutes is all that is needed to achieve a dramatically more relaxed state.

    Physiological Sigh

    The physiological sigh is the easiest way to instantly remove anxiety.  It’s also super easy to do.  Just two rapid inhales through the nose and then an extended exhale through the mouth.  One of these works wonders, but do this a few times to really feel the impact.

    Nadi Shodhana

    Nadi Shodhana (also known as alternate nostril breathing) is a great centering practice and one that I often do while meditating in the sauna.  It can be relaxing and it also increases focus.  Studies have shown that left nostril breathing slows down heart rate and decreases blood pressure. These same studies indicate that right nostril breathing increases both heart rate and blood pressure.  Pranayama’s practice of Nadi Shodhana incorporates asanas and the Vishnu Mudra, but it can be done by just simply doing the following:

    • Use the thumb on your right hand to block your right nostril and inhale through your left nostril
    • Close your left nostril with your index finger and briefly hold
    • Open your right nostril and exhale slowly and then immediately inhale
    • Close your right nostril again and briefly hold
    • Open your left nostril and exhale slowly

    This is one cycle.  From this point you can repeat many times.  You can also add holds on exhale or combine this technique with Box Breathing for added effects.

    Kapalabhati Breathing

    Kapalabhati is another classic Pranayama.  It is also known as “Skull Shining Breath”.  This is considered a purifying breathwork technique.  It involves alternating active, explosive diaphragmatic exhales with a longer passive inhale.  This is an energizing technique, so not something you would want to do when you’re trying to relax/go to sleep.  I use this as a form of Respiratory Muscle Training (RMT) that doesn’t require a device.  RMT has been shown to increase cardio athletic performance and VO2 max.  Be careful with this!  It’s common that new practitioners are in pain the next day because they are using muscles that they are not used to using.

    Wim Hof Method

    While the full Wim Hof Method also incorporates meditation and cold exposure as core tenants, the breathing method is also very effective when used alone.  This technique is closely related to Holotropic breathwork.  It is basically a form of controlled hyperventilation.  Hyperventilation has been shown to slow down the default mode network.  This form of breathing is extremely powerful and I use it as a general ‘reset’.  In my experience, I feel an extended state of bliss for days after practicing this.  When properly done, this technique really shows the range of what you can accomplish with breathwork.

    Conclusion

    There are so many different types of breathwork!  These are a few that I use all the time.  I wish I had familiarity with these longer than I have.  I feel strongly that some of these basic techniques should be taught early in schools and/or be added to every parents’ tool box.  It could really make a huge difference in the mental health of our children to have an effective means of reducing stress/anxiety that they can carry with them wherever they go.  Are you a breathwork advocate?  Are you using a technique that I haven’t covered here?  Let me know in the comments!

  • Apollo Neuro Review

    Apollo Neuro Review

    When I finally got serious about ‘getting fit’, I bought my first Oura ring.  At the time, I primarily wanted to fix my sleep issues.  A happy side effect of this purchase was that it made me more aware of my Heart Rate Variability (HRV).  I always considered my HRV on the lower side, but quickly realized that I felt my best when it was at the higher end of the range.  Pretty much since this realization, I’ve been experimenting with various ways of raising my HRV.  Many ways of raising HRV involve dedication to a regular practice… exercise, breathwork, mindfulness, gratitude, etc.  This isn’t always easy and started my quest for the ‘easy’ fix for raising HRV.  This led me to discover the Apollo Neuro device.  Read on for my Apollo Neuro Review.

    What Piqued My Interest

    I eventually started to hear about the Apollo Neuro on various podcasts.  It started out as advertisements and I was like “yeah, right, this sounds like complete wishful thinking”.  Eventually I heard an interview with the founder and key employees and thought “Ok, I can see how this *could* work.”  This led me to the Apollo Neuro website where I was initially turned off by the price.  I did sign up for the email list though to keep up to date with what they were doing.  Over time, as I had a chance, I read their blog posts and some of the scientific studies.  Eventually, I decided to take advantage of a sale and purchase one in order to test it for myself.

    What is it?

    So what exactly is the Apollo Neuro?  It’s a haptic wearable.  You can clip it to your chest or wear it around your wrist or ankle and it silently delivers vibrations to your body.  Apollo mentions that it needs to be worn near a bone in order to have its stress resiliency improvement results.  This is how it claims to achieve it’s results.  What’s the exact mechanism of action?  It’s not clear, but my prior research into improving HRV has indicated many positive studies related to both touch therapy and increasing vagal nerve tone.

    My Apollo Neuro Review

    The Software

    In addition to the Apollo Neuro wearable device, there is also a mobile app.  The Android app allows you to control which ‘Vibes’ are played on the device.  At the time of writing, this includes things like Energy, Social, Focus, Recover, Calm, Unwind and Fall Asleep.  For each Vibe, you can control the length and intensity of how each play.  There is a mechanism for scheduling Vibes.

    The Apollo Neuro Android app also collects metrics on usage.  This is used to provide a bit of gamification and estimates on the perceived benefits you’ve received by using the device.

    The Protocol

    My plan was to stop doing anything new to intentionally modify HRV for 2 months.  This would define a ‘baseline’ HRV using my OURA ring.  Care was taken to maintain my same workout, drinking regimen and note using Oura tags any anomalies.  After defining this, I would do the same wearing the Apollo Neuro device.  There was a one week transition period to figure out the ins and outs of the wearable.  The data collected during this week would not be counted for either part of the experiment.

    I quickly found that I most preferred wearing the Apollo Neuro around my left ankle.  Yes, it looks like I’m wearing an ankle monitor, but shorts season is only part of the year!  Apollo recommends using the device for at least 90 minutes during the day and 90 minutes during the night.  I followed the following schedule for the duration of the experiment:

    • 9:00 AM Focus Vibe for 30 Minutes at 20% Intensity
    • 11:00 AM Social Vibe for 30 Minutes at 20% Intensity
    • 1:00 PM Energy Vibe for 30 Minutes at 15% Intensity
    • 4:00 PM Recover Vibe for 30 Minutes at 25% Intensity
    • 7:00 PM Social Vibe for 60 Minutes at 25% Intensity
    • 10:00 PM Fall Asleep Vibe for 30 Minutes at 40% Intensity

    So what did I find out while doing this?

    The Good

    Wearing the Apollo Neuro device using the supplied band was fairly comfortable.  Sometimes socks interfered with wearing it, but overall I forgot most of the time that I was even wearing it.

    It actually works at raising my HRV! Based on my testing, it consistently raises my HRV by almost 15%  Even when drinking.  It maybe related, but my deep sleep averaged an extra 3 minutes during this time as well.  The Apollo app estimates that I’ve been getting 6 minutes of extra overall sleep each night during this time.  Oura is recording significantly more total sleep time than that.

    The different vibes feel noticeably different.  Subjectively, I do feel a difference in response to the different vibes.

    The gamification is nice.  This is a good way to guarantee that I’m regularly checking in with the app.

    The scheduling capability is fairly extensive.  You can configure everything that you would want to do.  Even though I’ve kept my schedule the same every day for this experiment, you can easily change it to be completely different every day.

    Oura ring integration.  Nothing really appears to be done with this yet, but I like that they’re thinking about it.  They’re getting tons of free information from me here, so it would be nice if they would give me something in return.

    The device supports airplane mode.  This is a requirement for me for any wearable that is likely to be used while I’m sleeping.

    The Bad

    Former Android developer speaking here… like almost every wearable device, the Apollo Neuro Android app experience has a lot of room for improvement.  My biggest gripes here are described below (with one major one in the ‘Ugly’ section), but so much more could be done with the gamification and responsiveness of the app.

    No Google Fit/Health Connect support. iOS users can link their Apollo Neuro accounts to Apple Health and track their Apollo wearable usage as Mindful Minutes.  It would be great if the same were done for Android users.  This could also be tracked with the Oura integration.

    Inability to join waitlist for the labs features.  I’ve tried several times and in several different ways to get access to the labs features.  There’s at least one vibe that I’m very interested in: Go Back to Sleep.  In the latest version of the app, clicking on ‘join the waitlist’ appears to do nothing.  NOTE: in a future version of the app, I was indeed able to join and gain access to the labs features.  I was able to trial this out and it was mostly pretty buggy on Android.  I ultimately did not continue with this as it was an additional paid feature of the Apollo Neuro app after my trial expired and it wasn’t something that I found value in.

    There are general issues with syncing data.  It’s not seamless and requires you to constantly connect the Apollo Neuro to the app in order to make sure the app is aware of all of your usage.  You’ll soon see why this is a big problem.  I’ve broken my streak in the gamification because of this issue.  For someone like me, the stress caused by this issue likely counters some of the benefits that the Apollo Neuro wearable seems to provide 🤣

    The Ugly

    The ugliest pain point with the Apollo Neuro is unfortunately an issue with just about every wearable that supports Android.  The app/device is plagued by major bluetooth connectivity problems.  Everyone always blames this on “Android Fragmentation”.  As a former Android developer, this was an issue early on, but it’s really not a valid excuse anymore if you’re properly coding to the Bluetooth stack using modern Android best practices.

    Oura has been one of the only wearable manufacturers that seems to be focusing effort on providing an equivalent experience on Android compared to iOS.  Their app now works very well.  This issue is so bad on the Apollo Neuro that it often takes close to 10 minutes for the wearable to connect to the app.  I’ve experienced this on both the Pixel 6 and 8 Pro.  During a firmware update it once lost its connection resulting in a requirement to factory reset the device in order to make it usable again.

    The device still uses micro USB… the most annoying of the USB connectors.  These days, a device that costs as much as the Apollo Neuro should be supporting USB-C.

    The Apollo Neuro customer support is horrible.  They freely admitted that the Android experience wasn’t what it should be and really didn’t have any suggestions for making things better.  On two occasions they pushed a firmware update that stopped the device from working for days at a time.  The process that they had me go through to fix it the second time ultimately resulted in bricking the device.  This poor support for Android users, ultimately became a deal breaker for me and I returned my Apollo Neuro for a partial refund at the urging of customer support.

    Conclusion

    Overall, I was initially happy with my Apollo Neuro purchase.  If they fixed the bluetooth and syncing pain points, it would definitely be a much more effective device for me.  Being my usual Quantified Self, I look forward to some Health Connect support.  More Oura integration is also intriguing… Apollo is likely getting tons of data from this, but it would be great to see the ability to tag in Oura so I can make correlations.  Another awesome feature would be auto-tailoring your Vibes daily schedule based on data from Oura.  I plan on experimenting more with different vibes and intensities and with wearing the device on other places on my body.  Have you used the Apollo Neuro?

    NOTE: I have stopped using the Apollo Neuro because of the longstanding issues with the Android Software and support.  A firmware update was pushed that ultimately bricked the device.  Apollo support was not helpful in resolving the matter so I ultimately returned the device for a partial refund.

  • Viome Review

    Viome Review

    More and more research points to the importance of the gut microbiome on many areas of health.  In my quest for improving my fitness, I was hitting plateaus that I suspected could have been related to a least than ideal gut microbiome.  I didn’t want to blindly start trying to ‘improve’ something that I wasn’t completely convinced was lacking, so I started looking for ways to confirm my suspicions.  That’s when I came across Viome.  Read on for my Viome Review.

    What is Viome?

    Viome is an AI-powered health insight platform that bases it’s recommendations on analyzing your gut health.  They offer several different tests that you can choose from with corresponding levels of detailed insights.  Like many of these platforms, they offer a personalized supplement regime based on your results.

    The Tests

    Viome offers three tests in order of increasing cost and number of health scores analyzed:

    Gut Intelligence™ Test – Stool only test

    Health Intelligence™ Test – Stool and blood test

    Full Body Intelligence™ Test – Stool, blood and saliva test

    How it Works

    The samples for all of the tests can be collected at home… no lab visit required!  The instructions for doing so are detailed and presented in a way that makes it easy for anyone to accomplish.  Everything for collecting the samples is included in your kit.  Once you receive it, you need to register it via the mobile app or the website.  You can then collect your samples and send them back to Viome with the included prepaid package.  Your results will then appear in the app within 2 – 3 weeks.  While waiting for your results, you’ll need to complete a series of questionnaires which are used to inform your results.

    The Platform

    Unlike many of these platforms, both the mobile app and website contain the full suite of tools and is also laid out in the same fashion.  The main sections include: Home, Nutrition, Scores, Shop and More.

    Home

    The ‘Home’ section is basically a dashboard that contains bits of information from all of the other sections.  You’ll get a daily ‘superfood’ recommendation and can see the details of your personalized supplement formula.  This section also contains your overall health profile which highlights the number of scores that ‘need improvement’.  You will also see a listing of your ‘Avoid foods’ and ‘Superfoods’.  Finally, there are links to relevant webinars and blog posts.

    Nutrition

    This section is subdivided into two: Your Foods and Your Supplements.  Foods are personalized to your results and labeled Superfood, Enjoy, Minimize and Avoid.  Clicking on individual superfoods and Avoid foods will show information about why you should include/exclude them, along with links to relevant published research.  The list of Supplements are based on the personalized supplement that Viome recommends for you.  Each supplement is displayed with the amounts to be taken per day.  Clicking on each one provides some background information on what the supplement does, identifies the ‘Scores’ that the supplement should positively impact and provides links to published studies on the supplement.

    Scores

    Scores shows your Health, Functional and Pathway Activities scores.  Health scores are for very broad things like Oral Health or Gut Health.  Functional scores represent things like Breath Odor and Metabolic Fitness.  Pathway Activity scores are for biochemical reactions that produce beneficial or harmful molecules.  Each of the scores is a numerical number with a range that represents Not Optimal, Average or Good scores.  Clicking on a score provides a brief overview of what the score represents, provides links to any relevant published studies and allows you to ‘Share’ the results via email.  Many of the scores also show the relevant percentage of Viome users who share scores in that range.  You can read much more about Viome Scores here.

    Shop

    Self explanatory… from this section, you can purchase your personalized supplement formula and additional tests.  Like many of these services, one test isn’t usually enough.  You’ll want to repeat the test after making changes to your nutrition to see if you’re improving your non-optimal scores.

    More

    This section contains your settings, questionnaire results and the ability to download your results.  There are also links to blog posts and videos that you can reference for collecting samples and interpreting your results.

    Viome Review

    I opted to go for the Full Body Intelligence™ Test.  This is Viome’s most comprehensive and consists of more than 50 Health Scores based on a Stool, blood and saliva sample.  Collecting all the samples was very straightforward and not as horrifying as it might sound at first glance.  I

    Results

    It took closer to 3 weeks until I got my results, but it gave me plenty of time to complete all of the questionnaires.  I was definitely surprised by many of my results.  The most notable surprises for me included:

    • Significantly differing biological age score compared to those that I’ve observed from other services.
    • A large number of my ‘Avoid’ foods were categorized as such in order to improve scores that I’m not convinced that I really have an issue with based on other testing and asking unbiased third parties.  Many of these foods just happen to be things that I eat often and LOVE.
    • Confirmation on many of the supplements that I was already taking based on other testing results.
    • Confirmation on some of the issues that I expected to have which led me to use the Viome test in the first place.

    Supplements

    It’s clear that the whole platform and results are very much tailored to encourage you to purchase the personalize supplement stack.  I’m not a fan of the ‘shotgun’ approach to supplementation, so I’m not really the target market for this type of product.  Looking at the details however, leads me to believe that the approach to personalization used by Viome seems to be better than many of the other services that I’ve used that do this.

    Areas for Improvement

    For the most part, Viome did provide a lot of valuable information and was a good starting point for investigating ways of mitigating some of the issues that led to me discovering this platform in the first place.  There were a few things that I did not like:

    Inconsistent Scoring

    A few of my scores did not have a numeric value.  It just said that I was in the ‘Not Optimal’ range.  I’m a numbers guy, so if I’m going to invest the effort into taking multiple tests and work on ‘improving’, I need to be able to see that number improve from test to test.

    Rationale

    The foods labeled ‘Minimize’ and ‘Enjoy’ did not have any rationale for doing so.  I’m ok with this for those in the ‘Enjoy’ category, but I’d like to know more about why I should minimize others.  Is it because of one of the scores that I legitimately feel is in a not optimal range? or is it because of one of the ones that I disagree with Viome’s analysis?

    For the foods/supplements that have rationale behind them, it was great to see why they were recommended and what scores that are meant to impact.  What would be even more valuable for me, is the ability to navigate from the scores that I want to optimize and see all of the recommendations for doing so.

    Potential Bias

    Almost everyone that I’ve spoken to that’s done this test has seen something that I’ve noticed.  Many of the foods that they eat most frequently and enjoy show up in their minimize/avoid lists.  Often there isn’t a rationale tied to an obvious non-optimal score for why this is so.  This may indicate some bias based on how these foods impact your microbiome.  I’m interested in seeing how these recommendations evolve with subsequent tests while experimenting with removing or continuing to use these foods.

    Conclusion

    Overall, I’m glad that I used Viome and I look forward to seeing it evolve in the future.  Compared to other similar services I’ve used, Viome is much more nutrition and supplement focused.  Using Viome for identifying non-optimal scores and nutritional solutions for addressing them was great.  It’s important though to use this as a starting point for your own research.  There are many lifestyle choices that can also be used to address many of these scores.  Focusing on a holistic approach to improving these is probably best long term.  Have you used Viome?  If so, I’d like to hear about your experience.  If you’re interested in trying Viome for yourself, use this link for a discount on your tests!

     

     

     

     

  • Sauna Protocol and Benefits of Sauna Use

    Sauna Protocol and Benefits of Sauna Use

    Fairly early on in my journey toward better health, I kept running into all the research touting the benefits of sauna use.  None of these prescribed a specific sauna protocol, but noted that there seemed to be many benefits that correlated with regular use of sauna.  Sauna use wasn’t really foreign to me.  I had traveled to Ukraine where it was a part of the culture.  Some Russian-American friends of mine had also introduced me to the ‘Banya’.  I always sort of dreamt about having my own traditional sauna, but the cost and other considerations just always made it seem so impractical.  Would I really use it often enough?  How would I find the time to incorporate it into my schedule?

    Traditional vs Infrared

    Research started to show the mechanisms of action for why sauna seemed to have such positive health benefits.  Most of this was done using a ‘traditional’ Finnish style sauna.  These are often wood fired and include steam.  I kept looking into what it would take to build and maintain one of these and kept deciding that it was too much for me to take on.  A spa that I went to for my regular massages had an infrared sauna and I started to add that into my routine.  I noticed that my massage seemed to be much more effective when I started with a sauna session.

    An infrared sauna is different from a traditional sauna in that they are ‘dry’ saunas.  No steam is used.  Instead of the air being heated via convection, these saunas used near and far infrared to heat your body directly.  In addition to the lack of steam, these saunas stay at much lower ambient air temperatures compared to a traditional sauna.  More and more people were using infrared saunas, but it was unclear if these had the same health benefits.

    Eventually, studies started to show that infrared saunas not only conveyed many of the same benefits as traditional saunas, but in some cases, provided even more!  At this point, I started to seriously investigate this style of sauna.  During 2020, I ended up purchasing and constructing one that my research showed was one of the best models available at the time.

    What are the Benefits of Sauna Use?

    So what was I trying to accomplish with regular sauna use?  Originally, I wanted to use it as a recovery tool.  I was hoping to ‘destress’ and heal my sore joints and muscles from upping my workouts.  I had known from my use at the spa that it seemed to be very effective at this.  While researching infrared saunas it seemed that this was likely due to the ability for them to lower inflammation.

    There were also numerous studies touting the cardio protective effects of frequent sauna use.  Lowering my blood pressure was something that I also was very interested in doing… Especially through ways that did not involve pharmaceuticals.  There was conflicting information early on about using infrared sauna for detox purposes.  It seemed reasonable though, that if were causing you to sweat, it was likely helping in some ways with this.  More recently, research into sauna’s ability to raise human growth hormone production has been very appealing in terms of taking my workouts to the next level.

    There are many other benefits of sauna use, but these were the main ones that initially interested me.  Many research papers now have been focusing on how sauna upregulates the production of Heat Shock Proteins and the cytoprotective benefits that they convey.  It seems like regular sauna use is one of the best things you can do in order to create a better healthspan.

    My Sauna Protocol

    Initially, I just sat in my sauna and listened to music or podcasts.  Soon I was spending between 20 and 40 minutes 4+ times a week in there.  My productivity obsessed mind started to preoccupy itself with other ways that I could be making the most of this time.  Moving my meditation practice to coincide with sauna time was a natural progression, but I quickly developed a sauna protocol that I follow just about every time I use it.  This protocol centers around a few central themes:

    • I want to make the most of the time that I spend in the sauna.
    • Most of the time, I want my session to focus on maximizing my recovery.
    • I want to enhance the benefits of my work out.  To me, this is still focused on losing fat, while maintaining/building muscle.
    • I want to make the most of any detoxifying benefits that the sauna provides.

    With all of this in mind, my sauna protocol begins even before I turn on the sauna.

    Before Sauna Protocol

    With very few exceptions, I almost always workout before I use the sauna.  Most days, I work out in a fasted state.  On days that I don’t, I still make sure I’m at least 2 hours fasted before using the sauna.  This is so that I can go in with lower blood sugar levels and to help maximize fat burning.

    About 30 minutes before I get into the sauna, I drink a large glass of water loaded with the following supplements:

    • Taurine
    • Trimethylglycine (TMG)
    • TUDCA
    • Niacin
    • Artichoke Extract
    • Liquid Zeolite

    Along with this pre-sauna drink, I take a few capsules of Calcium D-Glutarate, and liver supportive herbs.  Milk thistle has become one of my favorites for this.  The purpose of most of these items is to get my liver in a state where it’s a toxin processing machine.  The others are for binding toxins for excretion later.  The TMG is because I’m a poor methylator and optimal methylation is important for great liver functioning.  The niacin should be taken in an amount that is just large enough to induce a flush response in you.  This helps to liberate toxins from your fat tissue.  Side note for anyone looking for a great place to buy supplements… check out my link for BulkSupplements on my affiliate page for a discount!

    During Sauna

    Once I’m in the sauna, I continue to hydrate.  Some days I’ll sit in the sauna starting at 80 degrees F while it warms up.  Most days, I’ll wait to enter the sauna until it’s over 150 degrees inside.  There is research that shows different benefits using both of these approaches.  Warming up with the sauna seems to convey more noticeable tissue related benefits.  The higher temperatures encourage heat shock protein production and is a cardio mimetic.  This also more closely approximates what is seen in the traditional sauna studies.  Either way, I’m staying in the sauna for at least 20 minutes and most of the time go for 30 minutes plus a cool down period.

    I still listen to music/podcasts while in the sauna.  Depending on the day, I may do a meditation practice or some stretching/yoga during this time.  Most days a breathwork routine is also included.  This is either Kapalabhati or Nadi Shodhana pranayama.

    After Sauna Protocol

    When the sauna ends, the protocol continues… sometimes I’ll prepare a cold plunge for as soon as I’m finished.  Most days, I’ll just hop in a shower.  It’s important to get all of the excreted toxins off your skin.  If I don’t do a full cold shower, I always end with a few minutes of cold.  Studies have shown this hot/cold contrast to impart even greater benefits.  Note that it’s very important to always finish with cold.  No matter which option I choose, I drink another glass of cold water with added electrolytes.  I drink this with either activated charcoal or chlorella (more binders).

    Additional Benefits

    So is all of this ‘worth it’?  I still use the infrared sauna 4+ times a week.  My biomarkers related to the items I was looking to improve with sauna have all trended in the right direction.  Based on before and after readings using my BPM Connect, my blood pressure was lower.  I’ve also noticed some additional benefits.

    It Feels Great

    The sauna/cold plunge combination just generally makes me feel like a million bucks.  My overall mood has improved dramatically since I’ve started using the sauna.  It’s guaranteed that no matter how I go into the sauna, I’m going to feel better when I leave.

    Improved Sleep

    I’ve noticed (and Oura confirms) that my sleep is much better.  This is especially true if I use the sauna later in the day.  Something about the raise in body temperature about 2 hours away from bedtime that really makes me sleep great.

    Better Skin

    After months of following this sauna protocol, I continually had people that have known me for years comment on how great my skin looks.  When strangers find out my actual age, they often say the same.  Since I don’t really do any thing that’s focused on improving the look of my skin, I attribute all of this to the sauna.

    Heat Tolerance

    This has been most noticeable on my backpacking excursions.  I used to dread hiking in the heat of the summer, but it doesn’t really bother me anymore.  In general, I never really liked doing anything outdoors in the heat.  I can tolerate the heat much more now.

    Improved Immunity

    There’s no doubt that I’ve had fewer colds since I’ve started using the sauna.  When I did get sick, the duration has been shortened compared to prior years.  Recently, I’ve started using the sauna multiple times a day for shorter periods if I feel a potential cold coming on.  This seems to have had a positive impact on the course of any illness.

  • Examine.com/Examine+ Review

    Examine.com/Examine+ Review

    I often get a common set of questions after making new ‘Health’ posts or reviews. “How do you research publications related to what you’re writing about?”  “How do you determine the experiments you conduct in order to reach your goals?”  Part of the answer to both of these questions is: Examine.com/Examine+.  Read on for my Examine review.

    What is Examine.com?

    What exactly is Examine.com?  Their mission statement states it very simply.  “Examine analyzes and summarizes the latest scientific research to help you be healthier.”  In reality, Examine.com is the largest database of nutrition and supplement research on the internet.

    How is Examine Organized?

    Examine.com’s main structural element is 25 broad health categories.  Within each of these health categories there are several conditions, interventions and outcomes.  All of these items as well as individual research paper titles are indexed and searchable.

    Categories

    Each Category page is the top level grouping keeping all related FAQs and studies in one place.  Categories mostly exist to make navigating Examine.com easier.

    Conditions

    Conditions can be actual diagnosed health conditions (Hypothyroidism) or goals (Increase Focus).  Goals can exist in multiple categories.

    Interventions

    Interventions are anything that can be tested in a trial.  This is often a specific supplement or practice.

    Outcomes

    Outcomes are specific measurable pieces of data in trials that are used to measure if a specific intervention works.

    What do I like about Examine.com?

    Some things that I love about this organization approach include:

    • It allows you to easily cross reference interventions so that you can easily see which conditions/outcomes each one may impact.  I use this to tweak my own routines based on how something that might be positive for one condition could be detrimental for another.
    • By cross referencing outcomes that have been positive for conditions, you can hypothesize other interventions that might work that don’t currently have published research on them.
    • With awareness of all the conditions that you suffer from that require improvement, you can easily rule out and create a prioritized list of the interventions that are likely to be most effective for you.

    But the organization isn’t the only thing that I like about Examine.com.

    Transparency

    Each piece of information provided on Examine.com references the sources that it is gleaned from.  Opinions are stated as such.  Studies that are missing crucial information that the reader should be aware of are clearly identified.  Anyone who isn’t clear on why this is so important should checkout the extensive reasoning from Dr. Peter Attia.

    Freely Available

    Even before I became a lifetime Examine+ member, I was making extensive use of Examine.com.  This is because all of the information contained in its database is freely available.

    Independence

    Examine.com does not accept funding from outside sources.  Their revenue is not dependent upon pageviews or products sold.  This allows them to avoid sensationalism and maintain a reasonably unbiased viewpoint.  Examine started because it was impossible to find this information in this format at the time.  Examine derives all of their funding from Examine+.

    What is Examine+?

    Examine+ is the unlock of everything on the Examine.com site.  While all of the FAQs are free and you can access most of the database for free, an Examine+ membership allows you to take your research further.  With an Examine+ subscription you unlock the following additional features:

    Supplement Guides

    Plain language information on supplements that cut through all the hype.  Lists the supplements that are likely to work and which ones don’t have the research backing or may be harmful for different conditions.  All referenced to the studies where the information came from.

    Examine Database

    Examine+ also fully unlocks the power of the Examine Database.  All the deep linking between the organizational features and search capabilities are at your fingertips.  All interventions list every tested outcome without the need to go searching on your own.  The same is true for conditions.  They are now linked to all relevant interventions contained in the database.  While you could find much of this same information with the free product, this is an enormous time saver.

    Personalized Research Feed

    With Examine+ you can also create a personalized research feed that contains summaries of all new summaries related to the health categories that are of interest to you.  This allows you to keep an eye on the latest research so that you can reevaluate any action that you may have taken based on prior information.

    Examine Review Conclusion

    Since I mentioned that I am an Examine+ user, it’s probably clear that I feel favorably about this product.  The reality is that I’ve been using Examine.com/Examine+ as my ‘top of the funnel’ research tool for years.  I really haven’t found anything better that works for me.  If you liked what you read in this Examine review and aren’t already using it, try it out!  Interested in becoming an Examine+ member?  I’d appreciate it if you used my link to sign up.