Slow Cooker Beets

Beets and brussels are two of my favorite vegetables, and of course they’re very different. But the thing they share is their health benefits. Beets are extremely nutritious and have many health benefits, and have been shown to help reduce blood pressure.

I’m a simpleton when it comes to food and so my method of cooking beets has been to boil them. It works fine for me but my girlfriend doesn’t love them. A few weeks ago we had a braised beet salad at one of our favorite restaurants, Undici, that was insanely good. At dinner I told her I wanted to make them that way.

I couldn’t find a good recipe and she suggested instead I use the crock pot. Wow what a game changer that was! I made them again today. Here’s what I did.

I took five beets, cut the stems off and then peeled them and cut them in half (quarters if they’re larger).

I added them to the crock pot and then added 1/2 cup of water, salt, thyme, parsley, chopped garlic and red onion. Closed the lid and let them cook on slow for 4 hours.

🤌🏽 They came out delicious. Give it a try.

Reconnecting Through Forests and Food

Click here: OneSource Health, February 11, 2024

“The person who takes medicine must recover twice, once from the disease and once from the medicine.”

William Osler

Miyawaki Pocket Forest

Reconnecting With Nature

I wanted to start this week by sharing something cool (no pun intended) pictured above. In Santiago, Chile, students partnered with nonprofit Sugi to plant a Miyawaki style pocket forest just off the road. After 12 months they compared the surface temperature of the forest to the tarmac road. The forest registered a temperature of 12ºC (53.6ºF) and the road 39ºC (102.2ºF), a 27ºC (80.6ºF) difference! 

The Miyawaki method, developed by Japanese botanist and plant ecology expert Professor Akira Miyawaki, is a method of afforestation that mimics the natural recolonization that would occur in nature. Only plant and tree species that are native to the region are used which has the dual benefit of creating a more climate resilient forest and a familiar habitat for birds, insects, and pollinators.

Sugi has been working with local communities throughout the world to plant pocket forests like this one that help the climate and help cities reconnect with nature. Pocket forests only require 25 square feet, grow 10x faster than a normal forest would, and are maintenance free in 2 - 3 years. They can be planted anywhere, even in lands as arid as Jordan, and have the potential, as evidenced above, to help cool the land. Check out their work and see where you can fit a pocket forest in your community.

Old Beliefs Die Hard

I used to believe that health was the direct consequence of choice. That people struggling with weight or metabolic health had consciously decided not to take care of themselves. It’s not a belief that I’m proud of, but it’s also one that was less judgment and more “observation.” I viewed it as an unfortunate choice, and I hoped that they would find ways to take control of their life and enjoy the benefits of health. But as I’ve learned and observed more in recent years, I’ve come to realize how wrong my assumption had been.

For most people in this country, and growing around the world, the moment they enter this world the odds are stacked against them. The environment most people are forced to live in, filled with fake foods and unfulfilling jobs, gives them little choice or chance to better their health. As we’ve learned in recent years health and weight gain are influenced by so many factors, and for a lot of people those factors remain out of their control. This week I learned about another one.

I’ve been reading Matthew Walker, PhD’s book Why We Sleep? which details sleeps impact on health. Sleep quantity and quality affects everything from the type and amount of food we crave, to how we regulate glucose we consume and our insulin sensitivity. Key components of metabolic health which has been linked to numerous chronic diseases. Sleep efficiency also impacts memory development, our ability to solve problems, and to be creative. And not everyone is operating an equal playing field.

Approximately 30 percent of the population intuitively prefers going to bed later and waking up later, referred to as “evening types.” For this sect of the population the standard 9 am - 5 pm work schedule forces them to wake up before their brain is warmed up. As a result, night owls are more chronically sleep deprived, and therefore suffer more chronic illness from their lack of sleep, including depression, anxiety, diabetes, cancer, heart attacks, and stroke.

I’m pointing out this example to highlight the fact that things aren’t always what they seem. The person we know who “doesn’t want to” wake up, is always tired, suffers from brain fog, and makes poor “choices” about their health (i.e. eating foods high in refined carbohydrates and sugar), might not be choosing at all. Rather they’re being forced to operate in a society that runs counter to their biological clock.

To quote Matthew Walker, “the practice of natural biphasic sleep [long sleep periods at night and an afternoon nap], and a healthy diet, appear to be the keys to a long-sustained life.” And for many people sleep and nutritious food remain out of reach.

[If you want to evaluate your sleep, check out this 5 question assessment: SATED]

Food Is Medicine

A conviction which grows stronger and stronger each day is that every sustainable health journey must start first with an appreciation for and access to nutritious food. Food, fuel for our bodies, is the thing that holds it all together, and without it falls apart.

In 2023 44 million Americans suffered from food insecurity. However, nutrition insecurity—the inability to have consistent and equitable access to healthy, safe, affordable foods essential to optimal health and well-being—has become more prevalent than food insecurity.

In 2022 the Biden Administration held a National Strategy on Hunger, Nutrition, and Health. Out of that meeting came the Food Is Medicine (FIM) initiative which granted states the ability to use Medicaid and Medicare funding to replace “healthcare” with nutritious foods. Companies such as FreshRX and FarmBoxRX are two examples of companies taking advantage of this program to help their community.

Several other organizations have been working on ways to support and expand this initiative. ThinkRegeneration is hosting a handful of programs this year around the country to advance this program. FoodTank gathered more than two dozen leaders last year to discuss potential approaches. Last week I read through their summit summary and a few things stood out to me.

The most interesting thing I read was something I’ve always heard but never bothered to look into. Physicians are not taught nearly enough nutrition in Medical School. The report noted that efforts to make nutrition courses mandatory, rather than elective, are making progress. To which I thought, “nutrition isn’t mandatory?”

In doing some research I found that only 25 percent of schools actually require their medical students to take a dedicated course. Currently 9 medical schools, 5 percent of medical schools in the U.S., require nutrition continuing medical education. On average medical students receive less than 20 hours of nutrition education, not dedicated courses, over the course of a 4 year degree.

Which is egregious when considering the positive impact on healthcare that nutrition offers, as evidenced by various FIM programs. Medically tailored meals (MTMs), prepared meals delivered to individuals living with severe illness, have been shown to decrease healthcare costs by 16 percent among critically and chronically ill populations. Through fresh produce boxes and nutrition counseling FreshRX has helped patients lose weight, lower their A1c levels, and manage their blood pressure. FarmBoxRX has been able to improve patient outcomes and lower healthcare costs through incentivizing patients to comply with screenings and doctor visits.

But without adequate nutrition education, a vital tool, physicians continue to turn to high cost and detrimental treatments such as pharmaceutical drugs and surgery. The report noted that “high-risk patients visit pharmacies ten times more than they do primary care doctor offices,” and that “In a diagnosis-centered health care system, medical institutions and insurance companies can structurally disincentivize the holistic approach FIM requires.”

Said another way, the health care system, made up of medical institutions, insurance companies, and middlemen, aka profit driven centers, are incentivized to keep patients sick and reaching for drugs and procedures. As Brigham Buehler said, “why would they cure your disease when they can monetize it?”

With that said, Food Is Medicine is a huge step in the right direction. Through programs such as this, and the work of companies like ThinkRegeneration, FoodTank, Sugi, and others, it feels like I keep finding more people and organizations focused on the same goal. Revitalizing the land and the people back to a healthy state of homeostasis. There is a lot of work to do, but I’m inspired every day by the actions of a few to shape the future.

Cheers.

James.

How to Make Your Life Harder to Live Longer

Reading The Comfort Crisis provided further clarity to something I’ve been thinking a lot about recently. It’s the idea that contrary to common belief, mine included, we don’t have to work that hard to be “healthy.” Books like Ikigai and shows like Live To 100: Secrets of The Blue Zones are what have led me down this path. In societies where people live the longest no one is focused on hacks, routines, or supplements that we associate with longevity and lifespan in America. Yet they live long and beautiful lives.

Michael Easter drove this home for me in The Comfort Crisis by making something very clear. It’s the small actions, or inactions, throughout our day that are killing us. Whether you want to go back 100 or 1,000 years, the reality is that our ancestor’s way of life made it easy for humans to stay healthy because life was hard. Surviving required being active, self-reliant, aware, and resourceful. There wasn’t time to relax on the recliner, or wallow in regrets of the past or fears of the future. Compare that to the comforts of modern society where “it’s suddenly possible to survive without being challenged” and the reasons why we find ourselves amidst a growing health epidemic becomes clear.

The problem is that instead of getting back to a simpler way of life, which to many might be deemed a more challenging way of life, we’ve instead been sold a lie that vigorous exercise, extreme diets, and unregulated supplements and vitamins, and worst of all pharmaceutical grade medications will save us. So, for most of us, we’ve hitched our life raft to one or more of these items while letting most of our days and actions go by unchanged. The reality is that we don’t need special diets, or high-intensity workouts that leave us in a puddle of our own sweat, and we certainly don’t need pharmaceutical grade medications. We need instead to incorporate small actions into our day that will add up to big changes over the course of our lifetime.

A few weeks ago, my girlfriend joked and said I should publish a post titled “How to Make Your Life Harder to Live Longer.” She was making fun of all the shit I do throughout my day that from the outside appears to make my life harder, but in the long run makes my life easier (like wearing a 30 lb weighted vest as I stand typing this). We laughed, but she was on to something.

When you’re doing a little bit throughout each moment of the day it eliminates the need to play catch up and it eliminates the large swings up and down and it makes it easier to sustain a certain lifestyle. 

The point of The Comfort Crisis is to create discomfort to awaken your best life. Small incremental changes add up and have the power to revitalize your life. So, with that said, I thought I’d share some of the simple ways in which I add a little suck to my day to see if there’s anything that you might be able to incorporate into yours.

How to Make Your Life Harder to Live Longer

• Cook as many meals as you can. Not just for the obvious benefits like eating whole foods over processed or packaged foods, but because cooking will add extra time on your feet. If each meal requires 20 - 30 minutes to prepare and cook, that’s an additional 1 hour to 90 minutes of being active.

• After your meals skip the dishwasher and wash your dishes by hand. Studies have shown that even a 10-minute walk after a meal has the ability to improve your metabolic health. Since it can feel burdensome to get up from a meal and go for a stroll, substitute the walk for standing at your sink and cleaning up the kitchen before sitting back down. Or time your dogs walks for after meals.

• Skip the elevator or escalator and opt for the stairs. At the airport with luggage and running back into your apartment building to grab something you forgot, add some steps to your day.

• Skip the shopping cart, instead use a basket. We aren’t hunters and gatherers anymore, but we can do our best to pretend. Carry your groceries around with you and practice your farmers carry. Weight training doesn’t have to wait for the gym.

• Stand up instead of sitting down to put on your underwear, pants, socks, and shoes. It’s such an easy way to practice balancing on one leg. Maintaining balance as we get older is hugely important. According to the CDC falls are the leading cause of fatal and nonfatal injuries among persons aged ≥65 years (older adults), and older adult patients with hip fractures are 3–4 times more likely to die within one-year after surgery than general population. Practice your balance every day.

• Hit your 10,000 steps. On average walking 1 mile burns 100 calories. 10,000 steps is about 5 miles or 500 calories per day. That’s 182,500 calories burned per year! There are so many ways to sneak steps in. Walk and talk. Park far away from the store or walk instead of driving. Cook and wash the dishes (see above). Go for a stroll through town. Clean up the garage. Pace around your house. All steps count.

• Make your walks harder by carrying a load. In The Comfort Crisis he shares our evolutionary development to be able to carry heavy loads. Whether that was a basket filled with fruit or the body of a dead animal, humans evolved to carry weight over long distances. Put on a weighted vest, throw a weight in a backpack, or buy a proper Rucksack with 10, 20, or 30 lbs. You’ll feel the benefits immediately without the intensity of a workout. You can even put it on while standing at your desk.

• Embrace the weather. On average Americans now spend 93 percent of our time inside in climate-controlled environments. If you live somewhere with cold winters, step outside for a few minutes each day with light layers to activate brown fat, a metabolically active tissue that burns white fat (fat we’re always trying to lose) in the cold. Conversely, get outside when it feels “too hot.” The stress of the heat will cause your body to work a little harder without much effort. 

The point is if it’s change you’re seeking start slow. It doesn’t have to be an extreme new workout. It doesn’t have to be going cold turkey on a new diet. Small changes will lead to bigger ones. Figure out ways to resist the comforts in your life and see how it might change you.

Try This Move: Hollow Body Superset

Hollow Body Skull Crushers + Close Grip Press

• I used a 30 lb Ruck Plate for this exercise.

• Lay on your back, bring your feet to the ground, heels to touch your fingertips. Tuck your tail bone, engage your core and straighten your legs.

• Push the weight up, lift your shoulders off the ground.

• Bring the weight slowly towards your head keeping your elbows tucked in.

• Slowly lower the weight towards the top of your head then squeeze through your hands and arms to bring the weight back up.

• Once you've completed the skull crushers, bring the weight back over your chest, squeeze the weight as you lower towards your body, elbows tucked.

• Push the weight away as you keep your body engaged.

• 3 sets x 10 reps each

Meals & Recipes: Healthy Fats, High Fiber

Spicy Salmon with lentils, roasted carrots, red onion and avocado. 

Spicy Salmon. Start with wild salmon. I’ve been enjoying frozen wild sockeye salmon from Whole Foods or Sprouts (grocers closest to me), or fresh wild Sockeye from Trader Joes. Preheat the oven to 425. Lightly coat a baking sheet with olive oil and a few pinches of salt. Place the salmon skin side down. In a bowl mix 1 tbsp of: honey dijon mustard, Primal buffalo sauce, Sweet Baby Rays Hot Sauce, and stone & ground mustard.

Sprinkle 1 pinch of: salt, black pepper, onion powder, and 1 garlic powder on the filet side. Spread mustard evenly throughout the filet. Cook for 8 - 10 minutes. 

Lentils. Add 3 cups of water or vegetable brother to a pot. Add 1 cup of green lentils. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer and cover. Cook for 45 minutes, covered. Taste for tenderness before removing from heat. Strain the lentils and return them to the pot.

Roasted Carrots. Buy a bag of organic baby carrots, to a bunch of regular sized carrots. Preheat the oven to 425. Chop them on a slant into 1 inch pieces (bite size). Toss in a bowl with 2 tbsp olive oil, 4 pinches of salt, 1 - 2 tsp of red pepper flakes, 2 tbsp of honey. Cook for 20 - 25 minutes.

Assemble. Add enough lentils to cover the bottom of the bowl. Cut 1 salmon filet in half and add it to the bowl. Add a handful of carrots, 1/4 sliced avocado and 1 slice of chopped red onion. Top with red wine vinegar and few pinches of sea salt.

Buon Appetito!

Finding Connections The Washington Post Missed

Click here: OneSource Health, February 4, 2024

“There’s a big difference between 20 years of experience and the same year lived 20 times”

Photo by Katie Smith on Unsplash

A Potential Link Between Gut Health and Colon Cancer

I wasn’t intending to but Colleen Cutcliffe, a scientist with a Ph.D. in Biochemistry and Microbiology, sent me down a rabbit hole this week. Ever since I’ve learned how corrupted the media has become, specifically as it relates to pharmaceutical drugs and healthcare, it seems like I keep running into more examples.

A couple of weeks ago I shared this article, Colon cancer is rising in young Americans. It’s not clear why. from The Washington Post as an example of their intention of sowing doubt in the media. The article offers no concrete reasons and instead contradicts itself the moment it makes an assertion about a possible cause, and uses the exception to prove the rule.

From the article, “Although some doctors have pointed to bad diet, alcohol use and lack of exercise as factors, [Whitney] Jones notes that the actor Chadwick Boseman, the star of ‘Black Panther’ and other movies who died of colon cancer at 43, ‘was hardly a smoking, drinking guy. He was a young, vigorous person.’”

Sentences like this one are intended to lead readers to believe that it’s all up to chance, and Group 1 carcinogens like alcohol, processed food, and being sedentary “might” play a role. Whitney Jones, who’s quoted throughout the article, is a gastroenterologist who consults for Grail, a company using liquid biopsies to detect cancers in the early stages. Grail is not invested in preventing cancer.

When I tuned in to listen to Colleen Cutcliffe discuss gut health with Peter Attia on The Drive, I wasn’t expecting to find answers that The Washington Post’s had ignored. But I did.

Gut health, or more specifically, gut microbiome, is a topic that’s grown in popularity in recent years as research continues to find links between poor gut health and metabolic disease which can cause chronic illnesses such as diabetes, obesity, heart disease, and yes cancer. Scientists have focused on gut microbiome in part because of how modifiable it is.

Dr. Cutcliffe points out that the two main ways to modify your gut microbiome are through nutrition, consuming a diversity of foods, and avoiding antibiotics, which she describes as “setting off a nuclear bomb in your gut.” One of the most important nutrients for your digestive tract, which runs mouth to anus, is fiber.

Fiber, insoluble fiber in particular from fruits and vegetables, acts as a prebiotic, food that feeds the organisms that make up your gut microbiome. When fiber is processed in your gut it produces a short-chain fatty acid called butyrate. Butyrate contains anti-inflammatory properties and has been shown to act as a tumor suppressant in the colon. Consuming a low fiber diet, which generates low levels of butyrate in the intestinal tract and colon, leads to poor colon health and a higher incidence of colon cancer.

After hearing this I decided to go back and re-read the Washington Post article to see if there was any mention of butyrate or fiber and its connection to colon health. I thought surely if I could stumble upon the connection a journalist whose job it is to investigate the topic they’re covering would’ve found it also.

In the nearly 3,000 word article the word butyrate doesn’t appear at all. The words “fiber” and “microbiome” appear just once each, and the word “gut” appears twice. The closest they come to touching the science is in this sentence, “…systemic factors could be at work, such as changes in gut bacteria — the microbiome — according to medical experts.” [emphasis mine]

There is also no mention of the fact that 95 percent of Americans are consuming only half of the 25 – 30 grams of recommended fiber each day. Nor do they mention the fact that the average American now consumes 70 percent of their daily calories from ultra-processed foods that are stripped of fiber. Calling attention to these facts would mean calling to account the large food manufacturers that pay their bills.

It would also mean ruffling the feathers of the pharmaceutical and healthcare companies that sell drugs and treatments to cancer patients, and also sponsor their “journalism.” Without patients there is no profits.

To be sure, other factors could be, and likely are, impacting the rise in colon cancer diagnoses. But to avoid discussion of a very clear connection, one that can be improved through behavioral changes, is nothing short of criminal.

We’re living in one of the most unfortunate of times where the institutions we’re supposed to trust have been corrupted beyond recognition. Fortunately, we also live in an age where information and answers are available if we’re willing to invest the time to look for them, and question what we’re being told. Take everything you read or see with a grain of salt, because most of the time there’s an agenda you don’t yet know about.

Cheers.

James.

Resources:

More than a microbiome scientist, our pioneering CEO is a mom

CBS’s 60 Minutes News Segment Was an Unlawful Weight Loss Drug Ad, Physicians’ Complaint Alleges

Colon cancer is rising in young Americans. It’s not clear why.

Grail - In pursuit of innovation to solve healthcare’s most important challenges

The Drive with Colleen Cutcliffe, Ph.D. - Gut Health and the Microbiome

Closing America’s Fiber Intake Gap

Butyrate: A Double-Edged Sword for Health?

GPR109A is a G-protein-coupled receptor for the bacterial fermentation product butyrate and functions as a tumor suppressor in colon

Increasing Fiber Intake

Trends in Consumption of Ultraprocessed Foods Among US Youths Aged 2-19 Years, 1999-2018

Meals & Recipes: Breakfast Veggie Scramble!

Activist Scramble: 2 eggs, white onion, tomato, Gouda, potato, broccoli, arugula, black pepper, crushed red pepper and salt

Cooking Instructions:

Preheat a pan to medium heat.

In a bowl combine 2 eggs, 1 slice of chopped white onion, 1 sliced Campari tomato, 1 chopped slice of Gouda cheese 🧀, 1 handful of sliced boiled potato, 1 handful of boiled broccoli, cracked black pepper, 1 pinch of crushed red pepper, and 1 pinch of sea salt.

Add 1 tbsp of olive or butter to the pan and add the mixture from the bowl. Allow to cook for 3 - 4 minutes. Then add a handful of arugula.

Continue to mix and scramble as the egg cooks!

Enjoy!

Sharing Some Thoughts

Doing Less

So much of life is about the things you don’t do as opposed to the things you do do. It’s a hard concept to grasp because a lot of times it’s things that are not visible to other people or visceral to you and often seem immaterial. Like denying the impulse to open my lap top when I sat down for lunch.

There wouldn’t be any real harm in searching for an AirBnb for an upcoming trip, or editing my newsletter one more time, while I’m eating. In fact, both of those things would be viewed as constructive to most people. Myself included. But opening my lap top during lunch has unintended consequences.

Like robbing myself of getting lost in thought for 30 minutes. Like not fully appreciating the taste, sight, and smell of my food. Or not being present when my girlfriend asks me a question, or asks me to come look at the birds.

Not doing has become a powerful tool in the modern age. Fighting your impulses to do can have positive consequences. Doing less actually has the power to make you more productive.

Awakening

I think the problem lies in the word itself. It implies an immediate rebirth. But really all it signifies is the beginning of a journey towards a higher understanding of what life is, or the beginning of a search for the meaning of life. But it by no means signifies reaching the end. And I think that’s where people get messed up.

Everyone is always looking for the magic pill or the immediate fix. We’re a species that feeds on instant gratification. To become awakened is no exception. The expectation is to find out the truth and understand it all in one session, leading people to seek out experiences that they think or have heard will finally provide it.

Psychedelic trips are the primary example of this. Tripping on a psychedelic for many people might provide a glimpse behind the curtain, but that’s all it is, a glimpse. The truth is only unveiled with practice.

I’ve seen and spoken to many people, friends and family, who have peaked into the other side, but the demands of their “life” constantly tug at them and keep them from ever fully exploring the reality they know to be true. The investment of time, energy, and effort, is too much for a result that is not guaranteed. And the public consensus is to not pursue it.

Instead, the status quo, the ways things always have been is the thinking that consistently prevails. Everyone is afraid of an unfamiliar way of life, that promises freedom and equality, but has no room for ego.

Workout Hack When You’re Short on Time

There’s two things you always want to avoid. Skipping a workout and skipping your warm up. The key to long term success in the gym is to be consistent. And one of the keys to staying injury free is to warm up before your workout. 

But the reality is sometimes we just don’t have the time to get in a full workout AND warm up. In those cases we usually end up sacrificing one or both. We either skip our warm up and rush through our workout. Or we scrap the whole workout knowing we won’t have time to do it all. 

When this happens I like to mesh the two together and warm up as part of my workout. Saving me time while also saving me from injury. 

I do this by using my first set of exercises as my warm up. Rather than getting right into heavy weights and high intensity movements I back everything off and use my first sets to prime my body for the remainder of the workout. 

Over the last two months I’ve been training using three circuit workouts. In this case my first circuit is my warm up and the last two are my working sets. 

It’s true I’m not going to get the same results as I normally would, but backing off one circuit is better than missing a whole workout. Using my first circuit as a warm up is better than getting injured and missing a handful of workouts. 

I read this advice recently about writing. It went like this, write down in one sentence the point you’re trying to make in the piece your writing. At the end come back to that sentence and keep what supports that point and cut out what doesn’t. 

If there was one line to write about the point of your workouts it would be, to stay consistent. Keep anything that supports that and cut out everything that doesn’t. 

Being Inexperienced Is Not The Same As Being Bad

“We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act but a habit.”

— Aristotle

I went skiing last week and realized for the first time that I’m getting better. More importantly that I really enjoy it. It was only a few years ago that I told my friends I was done with the sport. I had become fed up with the whole process and my lack of ability, and decided it just wasn’t for me.

Getting to the mountain. Waiting for rentals. Getting fitted for rentals. Buying a lift ticket. Spending the day in the cold. All of it had worn on me and I didn’t want to do it anymore. I didn’t see the fun that everyone else did, and I thought there were better ways I could spend my winters.

But at the end of October, I moved to Colorado and pressured by my girlfriend, bought an Ikon Pass for the season, and everything is different now.

I live 90 minutes away from world class mountains and each week we’ve made it a point to ski at least once. Five minutes away from my house is a ski shop where I pick my rentals up the night before and return them the morning after. I’ve got a gear bag with my ski pants, jacket, gloves, helmet, goggles, and energy bar that’s always standing ready to be simply thrown into the car.

I’ve figured out the perfect layers to wear that keeps me from getting cold, but also doesn’t let me get too hot. Incentivized by my season pass I’ve already been to the mountains seven times this season, which is close to the number of times I’ve skied in total in the last 10 years.

Getting to the mountain is a breeze. I know where to park. I know what shuttle to take. And I know what lift to take up and what runs to come down to get to the runs I want. And yes, my actual ability to ski has drastically improved.

What I realized is that this whole time it wasn’t that skiing wasn’t for me, or that I was bad at skiing, it was that growing up on Long Island, and living in Los Angeles for the last few years skiing just wasn’t that accessible and it prevented me from being consistent. And not being consistent meant I didn’t have the experience to get better.

The first time I ever skied was in high school, and for many years after that we only skied local hills, I can’t call them mountains. In college I skied in Aspen a handful of times, which changed my idea of what real skiing is, but up until now I still only skied less than once a year.

I just never had the opportunity to put in the required reps to improve. But now that I do, it’s changed everything. Stay consistent with the skills you want to get better at. It’s a guaranteed way to improve.

Meals & Recipes: Crispy Salmon, Lentils & Broccoli

This is a full bodied and nourishing meal. Great for dinner.

The Dish:

1 - 1.5 ladles of green lentils. 1 handful of boiled broccoli. 1 filet of wild salmon. Finish with olive oil and salt to taste.

Cooking Instructions:

Salmon. Start with wild salmon (click here to learn why). I’ve been enjoying frozen wild sockeye salmon from Whole Foods or Sprouts (grocers closest to me), or fresh wild Sockeye from Trader Joes. Preheat the oven to 425. Lightly coat both sides of the salmon filets with olive oil. Place the filet skin up on a baking sheet lined with aluminum foil. Add a pinch of salt (or two) to each filet and black pepper. Cook for 8 - 10 minutes (depending on thickness of the fish). 

Turn off the oven and turn on the broiler. Place the baking sheet of salmon on the top row and allow the skin to crisp for 60 - 90 seconds (don’t take your eye off of it, it burns quick!)

Green Lentils. Add 3 cups of water or vegetable brother to a pot. Add 1 cup of green lentils. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer and cover. Cook for 45 minutes, covered. Taste for tenderness before removing from heat. Strain the lentils and return them to the pot.

Broccoli. Chop two broccoli crowns into bite size pieces. Bring a pot of water to boil. Add broccoli and let cook for 3 - 5 minutes. Once strained, add the broccoli back to the pot, add 2 pinches of salt and a tbsp of ghee, butter or olive oil and mix.

Try This Move: Supine Extensions

Supine Resistance Band Extension

• I used a 15 - 35 lb band. If you don't have a resistance band, just follow the move without it.

• Grab the band at shoulder width. Lie face down, gaze 10 inches out in front of you, and extend your arms out past your head. Pull your hands apart until you feel resistance (the wider the more resistance you'll feel).

• Retract your shoulder blades and arms, keep your elbows high, maintain the tension, and pull the band down towards your shoulders.

• Holding a tight grip, from your glutes to your hands, is essential to keep your wrists and hands from caving in.

• Keep your tail bone tucked, glutes tight, core engaged.

• 3 sets x 10 reps

Quick Marinated Salmon

I love to cook but I’m not good at pre-preparing foods, or doing things like marinating meat or fish overnight. But cooking with the same spices was getting a little dull. So I decided to do a “quick marinate” with my salmon. I’m using frozen wild sockeye salmon I bought at Whole Foods and defrosted in the refrigerator overnight. It’s not the greatest but I’m hoping it’s better than the farmed alternative I learned about reading The New Fish.

After the filets have defrosted, pat them really dry, even squeeze them, with a paper towel to get out and off all the excess moisture. Since they were frozen there is bound to bee a lot.

Once dry, add them to a bowl. Then add:

• 2 pinches of sea salt

• 1 tsp of garlic powder

• 1 tsp of onion powder

• 1 tsp of Cracked black pepper

• 1 tsp of chili powder

• 1 tbsp of olive oil

• 1 - 2 tbsp of soy sauce

Mix everything together in the bowl with your hands. Leave the filet meat side down to absorb the flavors for 5 - 10 minutes.

Heat the oven to 425. Place the filets on a cooking tray skin side up, and cook for 7 minutes.

Remove from the oven, and turn the broiler on. Once the broiler heats up (I wait 60 seconds) add the salmon back under the broiler and allow the skin to crisp for 60-90 seconds (watch it closely so it doesn’t burn).

Remove and enjoy!

The Next Generation, Following Intuition

Click here: OneSource Health, January 28, 2024

“A false sense of permanence can cause a person to put off the things they truly want to do”

I had two inspiring conversations this week that gave me hope for the future. On Monday Jen and I spoke to Ryan Slabaugh, founder of ThinkRegeneration, a non-profit that’s helping advance the regenerative agriculture movement forward. They’re doing this in a few different ways.

One way is by securing capital for farmers who want to transition away from conventional agriculture (i.e. growing methods that use harmful chemicals and inhumane animal practices), or who’ve already made the change and need funding to expand or upgrade their operations. Access to capital has been cited as one of the biggest challenges farmers face, so anything to help in this regard, like securing government grants, is welcomed.

Another key tactic is hosting regenerative agriculture programs that bring like-minded people together. In a recent newsletter they announced a program being held in Colorado later this year. Colorado is my new home, so I replied to the email with excitement about the prospect of attending. Ryan in turn extended an invitation to connect via zoom.

As my luck would have it, the program being offered will focus on expanding Food Is Medicine, a program launched in 2023 by the Biden administration that grants states permission to use Medicare and Medicaid funds to provide beneficiaries with nutritious food. The program recognizes the important relationship that exists between food and health. Two areas with the potential to heal a lot of what ails us.

According to Ryan there are ~20 states taking advantage of the program. FreshRX, based out of Tulsa, OK, is one company that’s leading the way. They provide food, cooking classes, and nutritional programs to beneficiaries with Type 2 Diabetes. Patients enroll for 12 months and on average have experienced a 2.2% reduction in A1c levels and a 13-point reduction in blood pressure. Pretty remarkable results.

The goal of the ThinkRegeneration event is to find ways to make a program like this available to everyone. It’s been reported that 50 percent of the adult population is diabetic or pre-diabetic making the success of programs like this extremely important. It’s so exciting to be a part of supporting this initiative.

The second conversation was on a ski lift with an eighteen-year-old college student from St. Louis. He’s majoring in business, and minoring in outdoor management. But his dream is to take over the 500 acres of pasture his family owns and turn it into a regenerative farm. He told me one of his school mates is in a similar position. His family owns over a thousand acres in Montana, and once he inherits it he also plans to flip off the conventional switch.

Hearing him talk about their future plans gave me so much hope and filled me with excitement. We’ve been led to believe that the generations coming up behind us are not interested in taking over and putting in the work, but this conversation gave me insight into what’s really happening.

Everyone is waking up and the movement is gaining steam. Things need to change, and doing what’s right is starting to take precedent over chasing money. It’s only a matter of time until the movement becomes the standard.

Cheers.

James

An easy way to get involved: Tell Congress: Prioritize TEFAP and SNAP in the next farm bill

This Week’s Posts

The Comfort Crisis Reveals the Importance of Intuition

They say that the key to life is being happy. But what exactly does that entail? Ask 1,000 people and you might get 1,000 different answers. It’s been my belief recently that happiness boils down to the ability to listen to and follow your intuition. But it’s occurred to me, and Michael Easter points out, that we now live in a society where our natural instincts are muted by all the “comforts” around us. Read more here…

Ruck Plate Series: Workout 4

The Ruck plate’s unique one foot rectangular shape lends itself to a lot of different movements. The morning after I got mine I put together this four workout progression series. This is workout 4, the most challenging of the series. Get the workout here. And check out the first three workouts: Workout 1, Workout 2, Workout 3.

Homemade Veggie Stock and Soup

I’ve been keeping all of my food scraps in a plastic bag in the freezer. I hate throwing away food so when I learned this technique of making vegetable stock out of scraps I went all in. This was my second time trying it which is always better than the first because I got to try things I missed the first time to make it better. Read more here…

The Comfort Crisis Reveals the Importance of Intuition

They say that the key to life is being happy. But what exactly does that entail? Ask 1,000 people and you might get 1,000 different answers. It’s been my belief recently that happiness boils down to the ability to listen to and follow your intuition. But it’s occurred to me, and Michael Easter points out, that we now live in a society where our natural instincts are muted by all the “comforts” around us.

These “comforts” exist in many forms, but the most prevalent and detrimental are by far ultra-processed foods, unlimited entertainment on our phones, TVs, and laptops, and climate-controlled homes, cars and office buildings which invoke a sedentary life. As he points out, these modern luxuries have only existed for “around .03 percent of the time we’ve walked the earth.” But regardless of the infinitesimal amount of time they’ve been around, their level of toxicity has been enough to wreak havoc on our lives and our health.

Seventy percent of the adult population is overweight or obese. Over 40 million Americans have mobility issues. Fourteen out of 15 adults have poor cardio-metabolic health. And, the one that kills me, 1 out of 4 children are obese and/or pre-diabetic, and are now suffering from diseases such as non-alcoholic fatty liver disease and colon cancer.

And the problems aren’t just physical. In the last two decades overdose deaths have increased 300%. In the last few years alone drug overdoses amongst 10 - 19 years old have nearly doubled, dragging life expectancy down to its lowest levels in decades, and crippling what should be the next generation of thinkers and innovators. The problem, as I see it, is that modern comforts has evolved in a way that blunts our intuition, which in turn leads us to make poor choices that run counter to our needs.

Our lives are filled with fake products and devices that interfere with our innate ability to seek out what we need. Fake foods cloud our brain and stop it from signaling to our body what fuel we need, causing us instead to eat more calorically dense manufactured foods that are devoid of nutrition and filled with sugar and chemicals. Social media makes us crave attention and acceptance from fake relationships and in turn ignore real ones. Binging TV shows, movies, and videos rob us of our inclination to be creative and curious and impedes on our ability to discover our path and achieve fulfillment. The list goes on and on.

It’s no coincidence that the happiest and healthiest people around the world are the ones who live the simplest and sometimes most challenging lives. Whether it’s the people of Okinawa highlighted in Ikigai or all of the communities studied in Live to 100, “The Blue Zones,” there’s a common thread they share. Embracing a life that brings them back to their natural inclinations, and stripping themselves of the desires and toxins that modern society promotes under the guise of “better.”

Living life in this way lends itself to call on your intuition, to listen to your gut, to follow your heart. The modern comforts of life can be enthralling, and they can provide enhancement, but they’re robbing far too many of us of our ability to heed the call. The Comfort Crisis provides a great framework for anyone who is looking to reclaim their life.

Meals & Recipes: Delicata Squash, Wild Salmon & Veggies

Wild salmon, winter squash (red onion, ghee, salt and pepper mixed in), zucchini (garlic and onion sautéed), mushrooms, avocado. 

Your Bowl. Add 1 filet of salmon cut in half. Add 1 handful of zucchini, mushrooms, and 1/4 sliced avocado. Add 1/4 winter squash mixed with chopped red onion, 1 tbsp of ghee, 2 pinches of sea salt and 1 pinch of pepper. Drizzle zucchini, mushrooms, avocado and salmon with red wine vinegar and 2 pinches of sea salt.

Buon Appetito!!

Cooking Instructions:

Wild Salmon. Start with wild salmon. I’ve been enjoying frozen wild sockeye salmon from Whole Foods or Sprouts (grocers closest to me), or fresh wild Sockeye from Trader Joes. Preheat the oven to 425. Lightly coat both sides of the salmon filet (or filets if cooking multiple) with olive oil. Place the filet skin up on a baking sheet lined with aluminum foil. Add a pinch of salt (or two) to each filet and black pepper. Cook for 8 - 10 minutes (depending on thickness of the fish). 

Winter Squash. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Slice squash in half length wise. Use a spoon to scoop out the seeds (save and clean seeds if you’d like to roast them later). Scoop out the stringy meat inside. Coat the entire squash in olive oil and sprinkle salt inside. Place on baking sheet with the skin up. Bake for 20 minutes at 350 or until tender (easily pierced with a fork). 

Zucchini. Bring a pan to medium heat. Chop one slice of yellow onion and two cloves of garlic. Add to the pan with 1/2 tbsp of olive oil and two pinches of salt. Chop a zucchini in half down the middle. Then chop the halves in half length wise. Then cut into bite size (1 inch) pieces. Toss in a bowl with 1 tbsp olive oil and two pinches of salt. Once the garlic and onion are fragrant, add the zucchini to the pan. Add a splash of water and cover. Let cook for 3-5 minutes. Uncover and flip, then cover again and let cook for an additional 3-5 minutes (until done).

Mushrooms. We like organic baby bellas. Bring a pan to medium-high heat. Add a tbsp of olive oil. Slice the mushrooms into quarters, toss lightly with olive oil (1 - 2 tbsp) and salt (2 - 3 pinches, and add them to the preheated pan. Add a few splashes of water and cover. Leave undisturbed for 5 minutes, then toss and let sit for another 3 - 5 minutes.

Meals & Recipes: Eggs, Peppers & Brussels

Eggs over easy, with brussel sprouts, peppers (garlic and onion), chopped walnuts, diced onion and a splash of red wine vinegar and salt. 

Your Bowl. Add a handful of brussel sprouts. A handful of peppers, garlic and onion. Two eggs cooked over easy, topped with chopped yellow onion, red wine vinegar and 2 pinches of sea salt. Add chopped walnuts to garnish.

Boun Appetito!!

Cooking Instructions:

Eggs Over Easy. Bring a pan to medium heat. Add 1 tbsp of olive oil, butter or ghee. Add 1 pinch of sea salt. Crack two pasture raised eggs into the pan. Add 1 pinch of sea salt to each egg. Allow to cook for 3 - 5 minutes before flipping and allowing to cook for another 2 - 3 minutes, leaving the yolk good and runny!

Brussel Sprouts (garlic, onion, poblano). Cut the stems off and quarter or halve them (if bigger). Dice half a poblano chile. Chop one slice of onion. Toss with olive oil and salt first. Chop two gloves of garlic. Add onion and garlic to a pan with olive oil, set to medium heat. Once the onions and garlic start cooking, add the Brussels and poblano. Add a splash of water to the pan and cover. Let cook for 5 minutes. Toss and cover for another 5.

Peppers, Garlic and Onions. Bring a pan to medium-high heat. Chop 1 slice of onion, 2 cloves of garlic and 1 jalapeño pepper. Add to the pan with 1 tbsp olive oil and two pinches of salt. Cut out the core of three peppers (red, yellow and orange) and slice into 1/8 inch strips. Toss in a bowl with 1 tbsp olive oil and 2 pinches of salt. Add to the pan once the onion, garlic, jalapeño combination starts to give off an aroma. Cook for 15 - 20 minutes depending on how you like your peppers, flipping every 5 minutes.  

Homemade Veggie Stock and Soup

I’ve been keeping all of my food scraps in a plastic bag in the freezer. I hate throwing away food so when I learned this technique of making vegetable stock out of scraps I went all in. This was my second time trying it which is always better than the first because I got to try things I missed the first time to make it better.

It was also exciting because this time I had new scraps. Peppers, eggplant, and my favorite, beets to add to the flavors! The recipe is so simple.

The biggest pot I have in my rental house holds only 10 cups of water. So I unloaded 1/2 of a gallon size ziplock worth of frozen scraps into the pot, and then covered them with water until the liquid hit the 10 cups level.

Then I added 2 bay leaves, 2 tsp of dry parsley, 3 - 4 pinches of sea salt, 1 tsp of turmeric, and 1 tsp of ginger root. Brought it all to a boil, and then brought the heat down to a simmer.

I didn’t time it, but once the liquid came down to about 8 cups, 2 cups evaporated off, I drained the pot. I probably could’ve let it go a bit longer, the originally recipe says once the liquid has reduced to half take it off, but we only have one pot and someone needed to make pasta. The stock (to the left) came out looking medicinal, and it tastes that way too. In a good way. It’s just so rich and full of abundance.

The next logical step of course was to make soup. I started it the same way I have been.

• 2 chopped carrots

• 2 slices of chopped red onion

• 3 cloves of sliced garlic

• 2/3 chopped celery stalk (I typically use 1/2 but it was going bad and needed to be cooked)

After sauteeing those ingredientns in a pot for 5 minutes with 2 tbsp of olive oil and 3 pinches of sea salt, I added the veggie stock from above and topped it off with water. I also added:

• 3 bay leaves

• 2 tsp of dry parsley

• 1/2 purple sweet potato (the only vegetable I had available, plus we’ve been wanting to add potato to the mix)

• 1 handful of Bob’s Red Mill Soup Mix

I brought all of that to a boil, then let it simmer. After 20 minutes I added 1/2 cup of white cannelloni beans to the pot and let it all simmer for another 25 minutes.

Having soup in the refrigerator has been a nice way to add some variety into my day. Recently I’ve been loving pouring a ladle of soup over some wild cod I pan fried (seen in the dish below). The flakey white fish and broth mesh so well together. It creates such a warming dish that fills you up. Give it a try.

Try This Move: Weighted Push Up

Classic push up w/ a Ruck Sack

• In this video I'm using 30 lbs.

• Start in a plank position, hands just past shoulder width, in-line with your chest. Tuck your tail bone, squeeze your glutes. Rotate your elbows back and in.

• Descend to the ground, stopping a fists width off the ground. Keep your tailbone tucked, glutes tight, core engaged as you drive your hands through the floor back to the starting position.

• If you've never done a push up with weight, then take extra precaution to make your form pristine before adding weight.

• 3 sets x 10 reps

Meals & Recipes: Beet, Squash & Salmon

Sockeye salmon. Boiled beets. And delicata squash (mixed with ghee, salt, onion and pepper). 

Your Bowl. Add 1 salmon filet and drizzle with soy sauce. A handful of boiled beets (usually 3 - 4 quarters) chopped into bite size pieces. Add 1/4 delicata squash chopped, and mashed with 1 tbsp of ghee, 2 pinches of sea salt, 1 slice of chopped onion, and 2 pinches of pepper. Drizzle the beets and squash with red wine vinegar and salt.

Buon Appetito!!

Cooking Instructions:

Wild Salmon. Start with wild salmon. I’ve been enjoying frozen wild sockeye salmon from Whole Foods or Sprouts (grocers closest to me), or fresh wild Sockeye from Trader Joes. Preheat the oven to 425. Lightly coat both sides of the salmon filet (or filets if cooking multiple) with olive oil. Place the filet skin up on a baking sheet lined with aluminum foil. Add a pinch of salt (or two) to each filet and black pepper. Cook for 8 - 10 minutes (depending on thickness of the fish). 

Boiled Beets. Buy 3-4 loose organic beets. Remove the skin. Cut them into quarters (1/8s if they’re large). Place in a pot, add water so covered by 1-2 inches of water. Add two pinches of salt. 1 tbsp of red wine vinegar. Bring to a boil then reduce to a simmer for 60 minutes. Make sure you can easily pierce them with a fork before removing from water.

Delicata Squash. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Slice squash in half length wise. Use a spoon to scoop out the seeds (save and clean seeds if you’d like to roast them later). Scoop out the stringy meat inside. Coat the entire squash in olive oil and sprinkle salt inside. Place on baking sheet with the skin up. Bake for 20 minutes at 350 or until tender (easily pierced with a fork). 

The Future of Health and Food Is Here

Click here: OneSource Health, January 21, 2024

“Life is not only a pleasure but a kind of eccentric privilege” - G. K. Chesterton

I had two major epiphanies this week. The first one came while I was listening to Joe Rogan and Brigham Buhler’s conversation for the third time. A few people in my immediate circle recommended I listen to it. But I didn’t grasp the importance of the episode until my third time through.

In this episode Brigham Buhler, founder of Ways2Well, dive’s into the failings of the U.S. healthcare system. Despite spending more than $4 trillion on healthcare each year, two times more than other countries of comparable wealth, disease prevalence continues to increase and life expectancy continues to decline to it’s lowest level in years.

As he describes it, “what you’re seeing is a symptom of a disease… and its spread throughout all of the government, and that disease is private industry and its influence on the federal government and the decisions they make.”

The private industry he’s referring to is the one created by intermediaries such as insurers, pharmacy’s, and pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs). They’ve figured out that it’s a lot more valuable to treat, rather than prevent disease. 

To quote Brigham, “If [the insurer] can monetize your diabetes, why would [the insurer] cure or prevent your diabetes?” And that’s exactly what they’ve done.

These intermediaries now receive 45%, almost $2 trn, of the annual healthcare spend in the United States. This enormous wealth is shared by a little more than a handful of companies that control the industry, and therefore control the treatments they make available to us, the patients.

In recent years they’ve been using their capital to narrow our options even further by creating “vertically integrated networks.” It’s a model of healthcare that promises to reduce costs and improve patient outcomes by bringing all of your healthcare needs under one “roof.” According to The Economist, “between 2013 and August 2023 the nine health-care giants spent around $325 bn on over 130 mergers and acquisitions.”

But the model hasn’t lived up to it’s promise. In fact the exact opposite has occurred. Patient health has declined while costs have increased. “Many studies have found that after hospitals acquire physician practices, prices increase but quality of care does not.”

I can verify this all because I lived it. My former company was acquired by Optum, a subsidiary of United Health Group (UHG), the largest insurer in the country. We were one of many acquisitions by UHG in the last 10 years who now control 70,000 physicians across the country. Their obsession with profits over patient outcomes made it unbearable to work for them, and was one of the main reasons I left in 2018.

But listening to this conversation also gave me hope for the future of healthcare or The Age of Scientific Wellness, a recent book that describes the future of health in great detail. Like the vision shared by Brigham, the book envisions the future as one that is personalized, predictive, and preventative.

By focusing on comprehensive testing (i.e. blood, genetic, gut biome), analysis of data from wearables (i.e. tracking sleep, glucose levels), and alternative modality treatments (i.e. stem cells, red light therapy, optimization of sleep and hormones) they believe they can prevent or slow the onset of early disease.

“The difference between somebody dying at the average human life expectancy, and making it to be a centenarian, the only difference is the onset of chronic disease” Brigham says.

It occurred to me that there is a real movement happening, and it’s being led by guys like Brigham and Ways2Well, Peter Attia and his company Early Medical, as well as companies such as Parsley Health, InsideTracker, LevelsHealth, Prenuvo, Function Health, and many more.

This movement to replace “sickcare” coincides with the movement to transform the food system through a new age of agriculture. Commonly referred to as “The Future of Food.” These two movements have the potential to solve a lot of what ails our society. And they both need as much support as possible if they’re going to have any chance of succeeding.

Which brings me back to my first epiphany. That I need to support these movements and the companies and people who are driving the change. So everything I do going forward will be with an eye towards supporting these efforts.

My second epiphany occurred to me while I was in the sauna. It dawned on me that I needed to stop hiding behind the content of other people; the books, podcast’s, and articles I enjoy. They’ve played a pivotal role in teaching and inspiring my beliefs, and will continue to do so. But I’m going to use my knowledge and experience to highlight what I see, rather than summarizing what I’m consuming.

If you know me then this idea of a renewed focus on healthcare and food might seem obvious, but it’s just never been as clear to me as it is right now, and the work I’ve been doing on this newsletter has helped me to realize it. So with that said, I want to thank you all for receiving week 10 of the newsletter, and providing me with the feedback and support you all have!

Cheers.

James

If you want to help in a small way, consider signing onto this petition: Tell the EPA to keep this toxic pesticide out of our food

This Week’s Posts

5 Names to Follow in Health and Fitness

Photo by Khyta on Unsplash

I’ve written a little bit before about some things to keep in mind when you seek advice from influencers and public figures. I watched this TED Talk with EC Synkowski recently. She opens the talk with this quote that put it all into perspective for me.

“As to methods there may be a million and then some, but principles are few. The man who grasps principles can successfully select his own methods.” - Ralph Emerson.

It made me realize that the people I was most interested in following all had a common thread. Beyond teaching their own methods, they preached and taught fundamentals. And it occurred to me that the biggest problem with 9 / 10 influencers we find online is that they preach their methods as gospel.

Read more here…

Ruck Plate Series: Workout 3

My girlfriend gifted me a Ruck Plate Carrier and 30 lb Ruck plate for our two year anniversary.

The Ruck Plate Carrier is a game changer. But the bigger surprise is the Ruck plate itself. It’s unique one foot rectangular shape lends itself to a lot of different movements. The morning after I got it I put together this workout series.

Get the workout here…

Meal Prep: Salmon, Brussels, and Vegetable Soup

I’ve been doing a lot of my cooking in the morning. I find it therapeutic to start the day that way. My routine recently has been wake up between 5 - 6 am, make coffee, read for 60 - 90 minutes, then walk and feed my dog. Most days I start cooking by 8 - 9 am. This Wednesday I went into the kitchen to make breakfast and before I knew it I had salmon, brussels sprouts, and vegetable soup all going at once.

Read more here…