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
- 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
- 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 Harvard Psychedelic Club by Don Lattin
Intro
- Dr. Andrew Weil (@DrWeil) is a world-renowned leader and pioneer in the field of integrative medicine.
- He has written 15 books on health and well-being, including:
- For more Dr. Weil, check out these Podcast Notes:
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)
- Today he had sauteed tempeh in a lettuce wrap (it’s a staple food of Indonesia – it’s a fermented soy bean product)
- 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
- Ben had one as well, prior to it’s passing 8 months back due to a tumor which spread to the dog’s lungs
- ~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)
- Matcha is a finely powdered green tea, made from tea plants which are shaded for 3+ weeks before harvest
- 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.)
- When choosing a multivitamin, make sure it doesn’t have iron (unless you have a need for it)
Psychedelics
- Check out The Harvard Psychedelic Club
- Dr Weil has a few books on the topic:
- 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”
- “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”
- 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
- 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)
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)
