June 29, 2019

Dr. Andrew Weil: From Green Tea To Psilocybin – The Routines, Diet, Lifestyle, Supplements & Sage Advice From One of The Top Natural Medicine Docs on The Face of The Planet – Ben Greenfield Fitness

Check out the Ben Greenfield Fitness Episode Page & Show Notes

Key Takeaways

• The 4-7-8 breathing exercise:
  • Let all the air out through your mouth, breathe in quietly through your nose for a count of 4, hold your breath for a count of 7, and blow air forcibly out for a count of 8
    • Repeat this for 4 cycles
  • Andrew calls it the most powerful relaxation method he’s ever discovered
• You should really start doing some sort of breath work (such as the 4-7-8 breathing exercise)
  • “Breath work can produce the most dramatic physiological effects if it’s practiced regularly”
• “What’s inside our heads influences what’s outside our heads”
  • There’s a very deep connection between how we think, what we visualize, and what we experience
• The best practices Dr. Weil recommends to all his patients:
  • Avoid eating processed, refined, and manufactured foods
  • Be physically fit and active throughout life
  • Get adequate sleep
  • Learn and practice some method of minimizing the harmful effects of stress on the mind and body 
  • Connect with nature
  • Have strong social connections
  • Keep intellectually active
• The body CAN heal itself
  • “Develop more confidence in the intrinsic healing potential of your body because it’s really tremendous”

Supplements Mentioned

• Dr. Weil’s Go-to Supplements:
  • A basic antioxidant stack consisting of carotenoids, vitamin C, and vitamin E
  • A multivitamin with trace minerals (MegaFood for Men)
  • COQ10 (Ben also supplements with COQ10, along with PQQ and MitoQ)
  • A mushroom supplement for immune support
• It’s become the trend in the biohacking community to microdose psilocybin containing mushrooms with Four Sigmatic Lion’s Mane and anything that increases blood flow (like beet-root extract or Onnit Shroom TECH)
• Andrew takes a 2.5 mg of melatonin every night before bed
  • Ben takes 0.3 mg every night – assumed to be from Doc Parsley’s Sleep Remedy (use the code “podcastnotes” at checkout for 10% off)

Books on Psychedelics Mentioned

• Andrew’s Books:
  • The Natural Mind: A Revolutionary Approach to the Drug Problem
  • From Chocolate to Morphine: Everything You Need to Know About Mind-Altering Drugs
  • The Marriage of the Sun and Moon: A Quest for Unity in Consciousness
• The Harvard Psychedelic Club by Don Lattin

Intro

• Dr. Andrew Weil (@DrWeil) is a world-renowned leader and pioneer in the field of integrative medicine.
  • Check out his website
• He has written 15 books on health and well-being, including:
  • Mind Over Meds
  • Fast Food
  • Good Food
  • True Food
  • Spontaneous Happiness
  • Healthy Aging
  • Eight Weeks to Optimum Health
• For more Dr. Weil, check out these Podcast Notes:
  • The Tim Ferriss Show – Dr. Andrew Weil on Optimal Health, Plant Medicine, and More
  • The Kevin Rose Show – Dr. Andrew Weil on Medicinal Mushrooms, Microdosing, Tea, and Supplements

Dr. Weil’s Morning Routine

• He usually wakes up between 4-4:30 AM
• Then he does a sitting meditation in his bedroom
  • It’s starts with the 4-7-8 breathing exercise (see below), which Andrew calls “the most powerful relaxation method I’ve ever discovered”
  • Then he meditates for ~15 minutes
• Next, he takes his dogs out
• Then he eats breakfasts
  • Today he had sauteed tempeh in a lettuce wrap (it’s a staple food of Indonesia – it’s a fermented soy bean product)
    • (Andrew is a pescatarian)
• Andrew then takes his dogs on a long walk (he lives at the edge of a forest in British Columbia)
• Then he makes matcha green tea
• Next comes email

Dogs

• Andrew has two Rhodesian Ridgebacks
  • Ben had one as well, prior to it’s passing 8 months back due to a tumor which spread to the dog’s lungs
    • Ben and his wife kept him on a ketogenic diet with lots of supplemental CBD to relieve some of his discomfort prior to death
• ~60% of dogs die of cancer
  • Why? – “Certainly our ancestral wolf wasn’t raised on the wheat and soy in dry dog food” – Ben
• Rapamycin appears to have life extension properties in dogs (and humans)
  • Andrew just started dosing his 11-year-old Rhodesian Ridgeback with it (to be taken every other day for 10 weeks)
  • (Dr. Peter Attia has said he doses with 5 mg of Rapamycin every 4-7 days in these Podcast Notes)

The 4-7-8 Breathing Exercise

• How is it done?
  • Inhale through your nose for 4 seconds
  • Hold your breath for a count of 7 seconds
  • Then blow air our through your mouth for a count of 8 seconds
• Start by doing it for 4 cycles, and over time slowly increase to 8
• Andrew says you have to do it regularly (for ~4-6 weeks) to start seeing the effects
  • He does is 2x daily
• In these Podcast Notes, Andrew said – “For treating anxiety, it is by far the best method I have found”
• Andrew’s resting heart rate is ~38-42 bpm, which he largely attributes to this breathing exercise (Ben says his is around 35-36)
• On breath work:
  • “The beauty of breath work is it’s free”
  • “It’s amazing that researchers have been so blind to it. It can produce the most dramatic physiological effects if it’s practiced regularly.”
    • Such as dramatically lowering your resting heart rate

Matcha Tea

• Andrew owns Matcha Kari
  • (Use discount code: GREEN15 and get a 15% discount on any order)
• “Unfortunately, in North America, most people have only tasted very inferior matcha”
  • Since matcha is so finely ground, it quickly oxidizes and loses its bright green color (and becomes bitter)
  • Everything from Matcha Kari comes from Uji, Japan (which is just outside Kyoto)
• The differences between matcha and green tea:
  • Matcha is a finely powdered green tea, made from tea plants which are shaded for 3+ weeks before harvest
    • In response to this lack of sunlight, the leaves produce higher quantities of chlorophyll (which accounts for the bright green color) antioxidants, and l-theanine (which has a calming effect – this is why matcha tends to product an alert relaxation state)
• How should one prepare matcha?
  • Keep it in the freezer once you open it to avoid oxidation
  • Put the powder through a sieve/filter, or else it’ll form lumps when you try to dissolve it
  • Try whisking it with an electric whisk

Dr. Weil’s Go-to Supplements

• A basic antioxidant stack consisting of carotenoids, vitamin C, and vitamin E 
  • (Specific brands not mentioned)
  • If you can though, aim to get your antioxidants through your diet (vegetables, fruits, herbs, and spices)
• A multivitamin with trace minerals (MegaFood for Men)
• COQ10 (Ben also supplements with COQ10, along with PQQ and MitoQ)
  • (Specific brands not mentioned)
• A mushroom supplement for immune support
• Supplement advice:
  • When choosing a multivitamin, make sure it doesn’t have iron (unless you have a need for it)
    • Why? – Iron is a pro-oxidant that can increase cardiovascular and cancer risk
  • Don’t take pre-formed vitamin A 
    • It is okay though, to take precursors of vitamin A like beta-carotene
  • Look for as many carotenoids in your multivitamin as possible (in addition to beta-carotene, alpha-carotene, etc.)

Psychedelics

• Check out The Harvard Psychedelic Club 
• Dr Weil has a few books on the topic:
  • The Natural Mind: A Revolutionary Approach to the Drug Problem 
  • From Chocolate to Morphine: Everything You Need to Know About Mind-Altering Drugs
  • The Marriage of the Sun and Moon: A Quest for Unity in Consciousness
• Dr. Weil first took mescaline at age 18 in 1960 and experimented with psychedelics throughout the 60s
  • “Without those experiences that I had on psychedelics, I don’t think I would have developed the philosophy of integrative medicine that has become the focus of my life’s work”
    • “I just saw so clearly what’s inside our heads influences what’s outside our heads… there’s a very deep connection between how we think, what we visualize, and what we experience”
    • “Those experiences have been invaluable to me and shown me potentials I would have never believed possible”
• Does Dr. Weil have concerns of long-term neurotransmitter imbalances associated with psychedelic use?
  • Not really – you can’t take them frequently enough for something like this to occur

Microdosing:

• In these Podcast Notes, Ben said he takes a cognitive enhancement cocktail 1-2 times a week, which includes:
  • 2 packets of Four Sigmatic Lion’s Mane
  • 0.2 grams of psilocybin containing magic mushrooms
  • Anything that increases blood flow (like beet-root extract or Onnit Shroom TECH)
• Andrew has experimented in the past with micrdosing 10 ug of LSD (but he wasn’t a fan)
• Andrew has also tried microdosing with 100 mg of psilocybin mushrooms
  • “I liked the energy and I like the after effects”
  • He’s been doing it ~1x a month for the past year
• Ben has also tried microdosing with 1P-LSD which you can buy from Lysergi
  • “I notice no perceptual difference between that and a microdose of LSD”
  • From these Podcast Notes – “Ben will sometimes order blotter tabs of it, and will dissolve it with alcohol in a dropper bottle so he can microdose precisely at 10-20 ug on days he’s doing a lot of writing (usually only 1x per week)”
    • You can read more about how to dissolve it here

Cannabis

• Dr. Weil doesn’t smoke it anymore, but used to quite frequently in his 20s-30s
  • At first – his highs were fairly joyful and full of laughter
  • Then they became more introspective and tended to enhance his creativity
  • But eventually, in his 30s, cannabis started making him groggy/sleepy/sluggish
• Why the change?
  • Probably a change in his endocannabinoid syste receptor system over time

The Best Practices Dr. Weil Recommends to His Patients

• Simply avoid eating processed, refined, and manufactured foods
  • Eat as many whole/natural foods as possible
• Be physically fit and active throughout life
• Get adequate sleep
• Learn and practice some method of minimizing the harmful effects of stress on the mind and body (like the 4-7-8 breathing exercise)
• Connect with nature
• Have strong social connections
• Keep intellectually active

Dr. Weil’s Evening Routine

• He tries to disconnect from his devices once the afternoon hits (which means avoiding his phone/computer)
• In the afternoons, Andrew likes to swim and do some work in the garden
• In the evening, Andrew loves cooking with friends
• After dinner, he’ll often read or take another walk in the forest near his house
• He usually goes to bed by 9 PM
• Andrew takes a 2.5 mg of melatonin every night before bed
  • Ben takes 0.3 mg every night – assumed to be from Doc Parsley’s Sleep Remedy (use the code “podcastnotes” at checkout for 10% off)
  • As you age, your meltatonin production decreases (so older people should definitely supplement)
• A more about Ben’s pre-sleep routine:
  • He wears blue light blocking glasses (use the code “PodcastNotes10” for 10% off at checkout)  and supplements with chamomile and a large dose of CBD (~100mg) (as mentioned in these Podcast Notes) 
    • Here’s a great brand of CBD we recommend at Podcast Notes – use the code “PODCASTVIBES” for 15% off at checkout
    • You could also try making chamomile tea
  • But the thing he found best preps him for sleep – breath work

Wrapping Up

• The body CAN heal itself
  • “Develop more confidence in the intrinsic healing potential of your body because it’s really tremendous”

Additional Notes

• “With all soy products, and with many foods, it’s very important to get the organic versions because you want to avoid GMO soy”
• Ben switches to decaff coffee 1x a month for 7-10 days to upregulate his adenosine receptors
• “I’m fascinated with transcranial magnetic stimulation and pulsed light therapies. I think these are going to turn out to be extremely useful for mental health conditions.”
• Ben will sometimes use a Nucalm prior to a nap (it’s a vagal nerve stimulator)
• Andrew lives on the ocean in British Columbia and will take a dip every day (the water is quite cold)