Luke Storey: [00:00:00] I'm Luke Storey, and this is Episode 423 of the Life Stylist podcast. This solocast Q&A show presents answers to questions called from the Life Stylist podcast Facebook group. Myself and some 7,000 other wellness enthusiasts would love to have you join us. Simply click on the show notes for this episode or search for the group in Facebook and request to join.
[00:00:34] Now despite my contempt for Facebook as a whole due to their communistic censorship and totalitarian information control, it still remains as the most comprehensive platform on which we, like-minded folks in the Life Stylist community can still share ideas and network with one another. However, I do dream of a day when a valid and censorship-free app emerges on which we can support one another without the long arm of big brother reaching into our collective cookie jar. But alas, here we are with it being the best available option.
[00:01:08] Now one thing I do love about our group is the level of not only generosity and care provided by our members, but also the increasing degree of sophistication and knowledge of the group. So I'll dip in there to engage in common threads and posts and often find that the answers to questions provided from member to member far exceed my understanding, imagine that. So I'll do my best here to contribute what I can in an effort to support everyone listening, but just know the group's there and full of awesome and insightful fellow Life Lifestylist listeners.
[00:01:40] And for those of you who've fled the sinking ship, that is Facebook, we also have a censorship-free at least for the time being channel over on telegram. So this is where I post ideas, news, and especially hilarious and shocking, sometimes terrifying memes that would surely get me deplatformed from the big tech apps. To join the telegram channel, go to lukestorey.com/telegram, but enter at your own risk as that channel is pretty far out, folks.
[00:02:09] Before we begin here, I'll offer my obligatory legal disclaimer. The opinions here are solely based on the host's personal experience and should not be interpreted as medical advice. Always seek the counsel of a health care professional before undergoing any medical treatment. And I'll also add that you'll find show notes with links to everything discussed here at lukestorey.com/423. That's lukestorey.com/423. It's also worth noting that you can just click on the links directly in most podcast apps in the show notes there.
[00:02:43] Now rather than offering quick rapid-fire answers to many questions, my preference on the solocast is to take a deep dive into each question to create a more broad context for the answer and hopefully as a result, more value to those listening. Let's get into it. And if you derive some value from this episode, please do share it with some friends and family who also may find it helpful.
[00:03:07] Our first question is from Colleen. She asks, "Has anyone taken the online Wim Hof Method? And if so, has it changed your life at all?" Well, I've done a few live Wim Hof or Vim Hof as he's really known events and loved each one-- a really great crowd, of course, solid breathwork, and massive ice baths. So I felt right at home. And I also used his app for some time, I think it's called Inner Fire, and then basically memorized his simple technique and found that I didn't really need the app anymore.
[00:03:42] And he's for sure on to some great work, but there are also countless other practices of breathing, much of which originating from the yogic history of India. And the most comprehensive, impactful, and interesting techniques for me have always been rooted in these traditions. I got my start in the various breathing techniques, first in Hatha Yoga with Mas Vidal, who is podcast guest number 20 way back when. Then I went into many years of Kundalini yoga practice and ultimately teacher training taught by a woman named Tej Khalsa in LA at Nine Treasures Yoga, and I got to say this practice changed my life in the most positive of ways.
[00:04:23] For anyone interested in trying a variety of breathwork styles and for that matter, meditation and yoga and being led through them, I highly recommend an app I recently found called Open. Now be mindful if you search the App Store for an app called Open, first, you'll find a polyamorous dating app. So make sure you go to the second one which will obviously indicate what I'm talking about. I'll also link, of course, to that in the shownotes.
[00:04:49] Open is a mindfulness studio with breath work, meditation, and yoga classes live in real-time and also on demand. It's pretty awesome. I'm a huge fan. I've signed up recently and actually did one of their meditations this morning, and it was pretty damn cool. If you want to get the full experience of Kundalini Yoga, my go-to would be ninetreasures.com online classes, which Tej still teaches after all these years. I think she's been doing it 30 years, and that's every day at 9 am Pacific. And she was also featured on this, your podcast back on Episode 12 if you want to learn more about that.
[00:05:26] But in summary, yeah, I'm a big fan of Wim Hof and all the ways of breathing that elevate your consciousness and oxygenate your body and brain. I think that the breath is a huge key, and obviously, it's one where you can produce a state change endogenously without having to put anything in your body from the outside world. So it's a great discipline. And I can't say to this day that I've done any breath work, of which I was not a fan from, semantic breathing to all kinds of different techniques. But I think those are some quick resources that will help guide our questioner into the right direction.
[00:06:10] I'm hoping that most of the people listening are aware of how important it is to keep toxic cleaning products out of your home, something I've been working on for years. I found this difficult at times to master completely due to having to buy so many different products, something funky inevitably makes its way under the sink as a result. That's why I was so grateful to find this company Branch Basics. They make an all-in-one concentrate to replace all the other stuff I usually buy.
[00:06:35] You can use it to clean your kitchen countertops, floors, bathrooms and toilets, laundry, produce, and even as a hand soap, and the concentrate is super clean. It's fragrance-free, plant and mineral based, free of harmful preservatives, it's biodegradable, gluten and tree-nut-free, and not tested on animals. So this means it's free of endocrine disrupters as well. These are environmental toxins that mimic your natural hormones. They can affect the ovaries, adrenals, thyroid, and other glands. So it's best to avoid these. And no synthetic fragrances either because they have been linked to asthma, allergies, skin irritation, metabolic syndrome, diabetes, obesity, cancer, and nervous system and respiratory problems. So you definitely want to avoid those too.
[00:07:18] Now since Branch Basics uses a one-concentrate formula here, one bottle of concentrate makes three all-purpose bottles, three streak-free bottles, three bathroom bottles, three foaming wash bottles, and does get these 64 loads of laundry. So when you run out, the only thing you need to repurchase is the concentrate and the oxygen boosts. This saves you a grip of cash. You don't have to buy 20 different products. You buy this one and make a bunch of products out of it. To get some, here's what you do, go to links.branchbasics.com/lukestorey, and if you use the code LUKE, you'll get 15% off all starter kits except the trial kit. Again, that's links.branchbasics.com/lukestorey.
[00:08:00] Next up, we've got Liz. She says, "Hey guys, does anyone know of a Faraday cage that's a natural fabric? Want to get one since I'm going to be traveling in around more EMFs." I love this question right up my alley. So for those unfamiliar, Liz is referring to a bed canopy that blocks EMF or electromagnetic frequencies while you sleep. And in my humble opinion, and unfortunately, painful experience of getting radiation poisoning from living under a cell tower years ago, sleeping in an ancestral EMF-free environment is my number one top priority over any other health gadget supplement or biohack.
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[00:08:48] EMF is the proverbial elephant in the room when it comes to the destruction of not only human biology, but frankly, of all living things on Earth. So if you've been listening to the show, you know that I'm always banging the drum of EMF safety and awareness. If you're new, keep listening. When we sleep, our body, ideally at least, goes into a parasympathetic nervous system mode, which is when it does all of its repair and detoxing, including fixing the damage done by living in an electrosmog polluted world throughout the day before. And if the body and brain are bombarded by EMF at night, this rest and repair mechanism is hindered dramatically. In fact, chronic EMF exposure can really wreck your health. It's been linked to cancer, weight gain, brain fog, tinnitus, vision loss, and most commonly, and this was definitely my experience when I was exposed, sleep disturbances.
[00:09:42] And speaking specifically to the question, I'm not aware of any natural fabric Faraday canopies. The fabric needs to be conductive and grounded, but they don't touch your body. So the nature of the fabric is not really a concern to me. I've never experienced any chemical off-gassing from any of the EMF fabrics that I've used over the years and I've used quite a few.
[00:10:04] The EMF exposure is likely, I don't know, let's say 10x more harmful than any fabric draped over and around the bed. Now the one I have is from a company called Faraday Labz and I've been waiting years for someone to actually do this right, and someone finally did thankfully. And this thing is made from a silver mesh fabric and blocks-- listen to this, it's so cool-- 99.999% of both electric fields, which would hit you from the electric wiring in the walls, also dirty electricity, which is very common and more impactful than playing on electric fields, and of course, radio frequencies from Wi-Fi, cell towers, yes, 5G included, smart meters, Bluetooth, and so on. So the Faraday Labz canopy is freaking incredible.
[00:10:52] It's also worth mentioning that shielding a magnetic field requires different materials. But magnetic EMF is not typically an issue around your bed area unless you have bad wiring in your house, or have something with a motor close to your bed for example. To figure this out, you can buy an EMF meter, but the results can vary depending on which meter you get and your level of expertise in using it.
[00:11:16] So it's always best to have your sleep area tested by a professional to ensure accurate results. I've done it myself over the years. I've hired people, and I find it much more useful and definitely worth the time, energy, and money to get someone who's specifically trained to come in and check out what's going on in the house, especially the bedroom.
[00:11:34] As for the Faraday Labz bed canopy, I've traveled with this thing, tested it, and it's for sure legit. And the fabric from which it's made does not seem to off-gas any smell or toxins regardless of the degree to which the fabric is natural or not. I also got their grounded floor mat, which is critical if you're on an upper floor, and likely even if you're on the ground floor due to frequencies that can sneak up from under the floor, even concrete floors. We tested that in my house and I'm on the ground floor in the bedroom, sleeping on a concrete slab, but there were still some fields that emerge from that concrete, likely from stray electricity from wires under the ground or God knows what else.
[00:12:13] When I use my Faraday Labz canopy, I put the floor mat under the mattress on top of the boxspring, then tuck in the four side edges of the canopy like a fitted sheet. So both the canopy and the floor mat are touching one another and they're also connected to grounding cables and plugs that ground the entire enclosure making the shielding work properly. And like I said, it's awesome. Fits in my suitcase easily, and I'm just stoked to have this thing.
[00:12:42] Now I also bought some adhesive hooks on Amazon to hang it from the ceiling, which I'll link in the show notes. And Faraday Labz also provided some really handy extension strings for higher ceilings in the event that you're traveling and you're staying somewhere with very high ceilings. And all of their canopies come in one size, which is king, so it accommodates all bed sizes. It's pretty cool. Takes me about five minutes to set it up and one minute to break it down. I actually timed it last time I was in Florida to see how fast it was. And I'll be, damn, it's quite fast and easy.
[00:13:16] Now while our bedroom at home was completely shielded by Brian Hoyer's team at Shielded Healing using a grounded mesh under the floorboards, RF blocking film on the windows, and the multiple layers of shielding paint on the walls and ceiling, I was actually thrilled to find this canopy for travel. I was just stoked that someone finally did it and did it right. It's about $900 and well worth it. And of course, it is also linked in the show notes with a little discount code for those of you that want to check it out.
[00:13:46] And for those of you who want to really geek out on EMF, I created a six-hour online video course which demonstrates how to test for all the different EMF sources in your home and, of course, how to fix it. And when I say "every source," I mean it. In this class, we even test things like electric toothbrushes and all sorts of sneaky items in your home that may be producing dangerous EMF. Spoiler alert, appliances like hair dryers, toothbrushes, and even-- sorry about this for those of you that enjoy using them, but vibrating sex toys happen to also create a lot of EMF, magnetic fields specifically.
[00:14:23] Now this may or may not be a serious issue depending on how often and for how long one uses any of those household or personal appliances. So the course is called the EMF home safety masterclass, and it's only 149 bucks for lifetime access, which will save you much time, money, and, trust me, frustration trying to figure all of this out yourself. You can find it at lukestorey.com/emfmasterclass or just click on the show notes.
[00:14:50] To go further on this topic, I'd like to remind everyone that living in fear about EMF, which I know from personal experience is not going to do any favors either. So I think it's wise to just educate yourself and take practical steps to mitigate by gradually re-habituating yourself to avoid EMF whenever possible. And sometimes it cost some money to do so. And I would say more often, it just costs, perhaps some of our addiction to convenience.
[00:15:16] For example, in our home here from which I am currently recording, every room is hardwired with Ethernet. So this was an older home. Luckily, I think they were getting fancy back in, I think 2004 when this house was built, and they put Ethernet plugs in every room, which most people would probably tear out or not even notice. However, I was super stoked. We also have zero smart appliances or anything like that wired in the house.
[00:15:41] In fact, all of the Sonos speakers are hardwired with the Wi-Fi turned off. So in the shielded bedroom, cell phones don't really work. And if you need to use phones or laptops, you simply plug them into an Ethernet adapter. Takes a minute to get used to, but eventually, you just walk into that room and you're like, "Oh, my phone's dead in here," and just plug it in. And this was a bit annoying at first, but now it's just become normal.
[00:16:04] And we also have three high-powered long-range Wi-Fi routers at strategic locations in the house, if we happen to need it for a special occasion like live streaming on a bunch of devices or something. But the cool thing is, is that they can all be turned off using an app on any of our phones. Our Internet and sound system was set up by an incredible company here in Austin called Bond's TV. A little shout-out to these guys. You can find them at bondstv.com if you live in the area. And they are one of the few subcontractors that I would recommend at this point, as we've built this home, unfortunately.
[00:16:41] Now most audio and video companies can set your house up in the same way if they do Internet networking. That's the word you want to look for when shopping around for someone to dial this in for you. And the price for this type of service, of course, depends on the complexity of your sound, TV, and Internet needs. But just know that this is a really good solution.
[00:17:00] I'll take a quick detour here as well, while I'm giving props of gratitude to the folks we've enjoyed working with. Another great one is Lime Painting. I know it's a bit off-topic, but I thought if I was going to give Bond's TV a shout-out, I might as well mention Lime Painting, who painted our home beautifully using a no-VOC paint. By the way, this is important when it comes to the air quality in your house. You want no volatile organic compounds in your paint. And if you go to just about any paint store these days, they'll have that as an option. You can find Lime Painting at limepaintingofaustin.com.
[00:17:13] Jason's the owner. He's a stellar guy. I really enjoyed working with him. Like I said, we've been through hell quite literally, in the past year and a half prior to moving in this house and getting it ready to move in and Jason was really one of the best we worked with. I'll also give a quick shout-out to Fionn at builditatx.com, that's builditatx. He was also awesome and just built us a badass fence and did some nice hardscaping over here at the house as well.
[00:18:04] And of course, Michael Rubino, former podcast guest, the mold medic also helped with our mold remediation, and Brian Hoyer in Shielded Healing, as I mentioned, for helping us sort out the EMF. And lastly, I would be remiss if I didn't mention my friend, Moyes who is actually a Life Stylist podcast listener, who contacted me back when I lived in LA and said, "Hey, I know how to build things and fix things. Hit me up when you get to Austin." I did. And he's literally been our guardian angel throughout our home-build journey, both by doing tons of impeccable work.
[00:18:42] In fact, he was just over here today, helped me out with getting my chili pad doc pro, running the hose through the wall so that I can keep it in the closet. It's a whole thing and he killed it. And he's also just helped us realize when other people are doing shitty work. So he's been my worker here and also a confidant and advisor. And in the course of my friend Moyes being here over the past year and a half, he saved us from a lot of missteps, unfortunately, and fortunately. So shout out to Moyes. Thank you, sir, if you end up hearing this episode.
[00:19:11] Here's one last hot tip on the EMF stuff. I know I've veered off the topic of the canopy here, obviously. But I think of things as I'm prepping my notes for the solocast, and I'm like, "I got to put this in there." Now we learned this one, which is a really valuable hack during the process of setting up all the AV stuff. What I discovered was that Sonos speakers omit crazy high levels of Wi-Fi, even when they're connected to Ethernet cables.
[00:19:35] Now, I had erroneously believed that as long as you had Ethernet plugged into a Sonos amp or speaker, that that alone disabled the Wi-Fi. I found out it does not using my EMF meter. Now why does this matter? Well, whenever you have a Sonos speaker or any wireless speaker for that matter or amp inside your home, it basically acts as an additional router, creating an insane amount of electrosmog. So imagine in your house you have, say, four or five wireless speakers like a Sonos, each one of those is like having a router. So you'll have one router, then another five speakers. Now you've basically got six routers just blasting your house. Very ill-advised.
[00:20:18] Now the solution to this, which I was thankful to find, rather than just having to put all my Sonos shit on eBay, was that you can go into the Sonos app and manually disable Wi-Fi on each speaker or amp. So now that I've done that, all I have to do to control the home sound system is just hop on any hardware computer, or Ethernet connected phone, or even iPad in the house and we can control all of that sound without ever needing Wi-Fi. So for an EMF nerd like me, this is obviously heaven.
[00:20:50] Wired tech, by the way, always works better anyway. You'd be shocked to see how fast an iPhone is in airplane mode, plugged into an Ethernet adapter. It's quite amazing. And even though airplane mode still emits EMF, it's dramatically less than using your phone's cellular service. I'll get into that later.
[00:21:09] Now, it took me at least the past 10 years to figure all this out. And I'm still learning more constantly because this technology becomes even more pervasive and sneaky. And I will keep you all updated as I continue to strategize this low EMF life. And just remember, be patient and have fun with it if you're someone who's trying to figure this out like I am. It's largely unavoidable in our modern world. So the best we can do is just incrementally improve our environment, especially the bedroom and kids' room. And try not to be paranoid. I know I still struggle with that myself. I'll be driving around-- in fact, I did it today. I went to Home Depot, like I do 10 times a day, and they put up a new small cell 5G tower right outside of there. And I found myself wanting to pull my car out faster to get away from it.
[00:22:00] And I caught myself I said, "Hey, man, some of these things are just unavoidable. And that nervous system response and fear is just compounding the problem or problems associated with the exposure itself." So it's about building awareness and just taking practical steps to do what you can. I know that was a lot of information. So at any point, if you're like, "Wait, what was that thing?" Just remember, all the links and everything I'm talking about here, including complete transcripts to every word spoken should you care to read them is available at lukestorey.com/423.
[00:22:38] When I started this podcast in 2016, I quickly realized that without sponsors, it was going to be very difficult to keep up with the show. However, when I realized that, I made a promise to myself and to the audience that I would always maintain integrity and never promote any products that I didn't personally use or truly believe in, and I'm super stoked to announce an amazing new product today called Magnesium Breakthrough, which you can find at magnesiumbreakthrough.com.
[00:23:05] Magnesium is the body's master mineral. It's so powerful. It's responsible for over 300 critical reactions, including detoxification, fat metabolism, energy, and even digestion is influenced by the presence of magnesium. But there's two big problems here. Magnesium has been largely missing from the US soil since the 1950s, which explains why it's estimated that up to 80% of the population may be deficient.
[00:23:33] And most supplements contain only one or two forms of magnesium when in reality, there are at least seven that your body needs and benefits from. Now if you take this later fact into consideration, it's just not logical to conclude that 99% of the population is likely deficient in two or more essential forms of magnesium. It just doesn't make sense. The good news is that when you do get all seven critical forms of magnesium, pretty much every function in your body gets upgraded from your brain to your sleep, pain and inflammation. It all improves fast.
[00:24:08] That's why I'm so pumped that my buddies over Bio Optimizers, makers of the industry-leading digestive supplements, have just created Magnesium Breakthrough. Their research team recently formulated what I believe is the ultimate magnesium supplement and easily the best one I've ever seen or experienced with all seven forms of this mineral. And I've taken every magnesium on the market that I've ever heard of straight up. I'm obsessed with magnesium, especially due to EMF which is entirely different conversation.
[00:24:37] Now these guys even include trace elements of something called monoatomic magnesium, which helps make all of the other forms more bioavailable. So this is by far the most complete magnesium product ever created. And until or unless someone comes out with a better one, I highly recommend that you give this one a try. Bio Optimizers calls this product Magnesium Breakthrough and they're running a special promotion for you, the listener, right now at magbreakthrough.com/luke. That's M-A-G-B-R-E-A-K-T-H-R-O-U-G-H.com/L-U-K-E, magnesiumbreakthrough.com/luke. You can get an additional 10% off the normal package price with the coupon code luke10.
[00:25:24] And here's what's up. The guys that make this product are so brazenly confident that you're going to like it that they will give all your money back if you don't. So with this one simple action, you can reverse magnesium deficiency in all its forms and upgrade the performance of your entire body, including how you look and feel in every possible way. So go to magbreakthrough.com/luke, enter the code luke10 to save 10% off.
[00:26:00] Okay, on to the next question from Kelly Anne. She asks, "Has anyone done a heart/lung scan? It looks for plaque buildup and early detection of disease. Sounded good at first, but now I'm wondering if it will just show some plaque buildup, which is inevitable in your 60s, right? And then they make us nervous. And we go to the cardiologist and all they want to do is put us on statins? Is this a good thing to get?"
[00:26:27] Now personally, I don't tend to have any testing done unless I'm experiencing symptoms. So I don't take it for granted though because I'm of a certain age, that disease is inevitable. I do periodic lab testing using something like InsideTracker, VIOME, or various functional medicine doctors. But that's more for gut biome, nutrient levels, metals, mineral testing, and so forth. But if one had concerns about plaque, my guess would be to investigate systemic calcification as the root cause of these issues. And I'll add that I think they're entirely avoidable or at least healed naturally.
[00:27:07] And by the way, EMF exposure is a significant contributor to this problem due to the fact that exposure to EMF opens our voltage-gated calcium channels, flooding ourselves with excess calcium where it doesn't belong. Now, unfortunately, this also displaces magnesium, which needs to be in balance with calcium in our system.
[00:27:29] Another cause of this calcium plaque buildup is a lifetime of drinking hard water or water with high TDS or total dissolved solids. And this is also an issue sadly for much spring water. Now for me, the best spring water will be low in inorganic minerals, especially calcium. And there is some debate as to whether or not high mineral content water is good or bad for you. And I would tend to agree that we should get bioavailable minerals that have been pre-digested by plants and animals who have eaten plants rather than eating or drinking basically dissolved rocks, which is the case with hard water.
[00:28:06] Think about the scale build-up around your sink or the white dust leftover in a pot after boiling water. That's hard water. And that's what's been deposited into your body over a lifetime of drinking high TDS water. You can even get a TDS meter and check your water. I'm looking for numbers under 50 parts per million if possible.
[00:28:28] Now I won't get too far off on the water tangent here as I've done a dozen or so podcasts on this topic to date. So you can easily find those by searching lukestoreywater. There's tons of content there. Back to calcium and plaque. Some other strategies I use to keep my calcium in check are as follows, mega dosing K2 and magnesium. K2 is critical in calcium metabolism as is magnesium, which is, of course, as I said the counterpart mineral to calcium.
[00:28:57] In fact, K2 deficiency is likely the top culprit in calcification due to the fact that our modern diet is severely lacking this critical nutrient. I personally take K2 every single day largely due to this fact and the host of other benefits it provides. I also avoid calcium supplements as calcium is wildly prevalent in foods. And if I wanted more of it, I would get it as I do from raw grass-fed A2 cow milk. And I get this stuff weekly from a place called Richardson Farms here in Texas delivered to the local farmers market. So I have to order it on Wednesdays online and then they deliver it there. It has to do with food laws here in the state. Unfortunately, you can't just go to the store and buy raw milk like you eventually could back in California.
[00:29:45] And this is just such an incredible superfood. Bonus is that it's raw and unpasteurized. But A2 versus A1 cow milk is also much more easily digested and is even tolerated by many people who have a reaction to A1 milk. And I personally drink about a gallon of this stuff per week and use it in my smoothies and coffees and just about anything I can put it in and I love it. So for the calcium, it's a win for good grass-fed, hopefully, raw milk.
[00:30:15] The next hack, I think for calcification here would be to get a hair mineral analysis test from Upgraded Formulas followed by a coaching consultation with one of their experts over there to determine your various mineral levels and supplement accordingly. So you might find that you're really high in calcium and low in magnesium, etc. Now for magnesium, which I take all the time regardless of the calcification issue, just because our body needs it so badly, I like Magnesium Breakthrough. You probably heard me talk about it. That's a great one for oral administration and then Ease Magnesium spray by Activation Products for a transdermal application.
[00:30:56] The Ease Magnesium spray is the only that I've found that it's not sticky and uncomfortable to use. It absorbs easily. It doesn't get all tacky and sticky or burn your skin. It's pretty rad. And I've tried a bunch of them. And in my experience, it's difficult to get magnesium levels up to par with an oral supplement alone, no matter how great that supplement is. You'd have to take a shit ton of it-- no pun intended. And by the time you got to shed a shit ton, you would likely be making a mess in your pants. So I like the transdermal magnesium.
[00:31:27] And also Epsom salt and magnesium flake baths are also very effective, as well as, of course, sensory deprivation tanks, which are basically big pools of magnesium chloride. And this is one of the reasons why both baths and floats are so relaxing. And I've been doing this for many years. And I got to say it never fails to give me that precious magnesium high for lack of a better term. It really is very relaxing to soak in tons of magnesium.
[00:31:54] In fact, when we built this house, we specifically designed the main bathroom to fit a massive Japanese soaking tub for this purpose. And we've been using it quite a bit and it's incredible. So if you want to get that calcium down, if you want to fortify your body with this vital nutrient, there's a few ways that you can do it.
[00:32:12] I'll also add that my friend and fellow podcaster Matt Blackburn from the Mitolife Radio podcast is a great resource on calcification. In fact, he has a great protocol based on dealing with this calcium issue. And he'll also be on the show one of these days to talk about it. If that is, I can drag him from his Idaho homesteading project long enough for a chat. I think it's on the books and he'll be coming soon. He's onto some really, really great information in that regard.
[00:32:41] And he also has a great K2 product in his Mitolife supplement line, as does our longtime show sponsor Just Thrive, both two great providers when it comes to K2. Now, as for the statins mentioned by Kelly, which is a very common solution offered by the medical establishment, personally, I would probably rather-- and I'm kind of joking, maybe not really-- pass on to the other side than take statins, just nasty stuff, terrible, and in some cases, offer irreversible side effects.
[00:33:14] Now if you're on statins right now, don't freak out. As I said in my disclaimer, I am not a medical professional. I'm just a guy who researches stuff and everything I found on statins is like major, major red flag, sounding alarms, not good. Many folks who get on statins never get off of them and often suffer kidney failure followed by, of course, kidney dialysis and it's just a nightmare.
[00:33:38] But I'm someone who trusts Big Pharma very little due to their overall track record in harming so many people historically. And I'll try to fix just about any problem before caving to pharmaceuticals. Now, of course, they have their place. I recently went to the dermatologist because I had some random itchy spot on my leg and I've tried all the natural things on it and nothing has helped. So I'm like, you know what, I'm going to go get some pharmaceutical cream and you know how it goes.
[00:34:08] So medicines can be life-saving obviously in many cases, but the side effects are sometimes not worth the benefits. So no, thank you. I will pass on the statins myself and find safer solutions if I'm ever faced with these issues. But don't take my word for it. To learn even more about statins and cardiovascular health in general, go back and check out Episode 63 with Dr. Jack Wolfson, the paleo cardiologist where he ruthlessly debunks the whole industry in about 60 minutes. Additionally, Dr. William Davis also has some great info on statins and he was featured on Episode 149. So I would check out both of those people who are actual doctors to give you perhaps a counter-narrative on why you might want to strongly reconsider taking statins as a solution to these issues of plaque, etc.
[00:35:05] One of my superfoods staples has always been cacao. I remain so curious as to why something that tastes so good can also be so good for you, especially when it's sun-dried, 100% organic, and free of mold, and other contaminants. To say that not all cacao is created equal would be a massive understatement, this is why I use ceremonial grade ultra high vibe Cacao Bliss by Danette May of Mindful Health.
[00:35:29] On top of cacao's many health benefits, Cacao Bliss also contains a truly delicious blend of turmeric, MCT oil, coconut, Himalayan sea salt, cinnamon, and a dash of black pepper. Here at the Storey homestead, we keep tons of this stuff in our kitchen and find seemingly endless ways to integrate it into our daily lives. Now since it mixes so easily and doesn't clump, it's amazing hot or cold.
[00:35:53] The best recipe I've come up with is a couple of scoops of Cacao Bliss in hot water with a tablespoon of grass-fed ghee or butter. Talk about a creamy filling delicious elixir. It does feel like you're cheating even though it's quite good for you. Plus, it only takes as long as heating the water since Cacao Bliss is pre-mixed. This stuff really is a homerun and a must-have for anyone wanting to satisfy a sweet tooth or chocolate habit without caving and eating garbage. Plus, it's friendly to paleo gluten-free keto, vegan and vegetarian diets, so there's really no reason not to get on this stuff. Earth Echo Foods is offering Life Stylist listeners up to 15% off when you use the code LUKE15 at earthechofoods.com/lukestorey. Again, it's a long one, earthechofoods.com/lukestorey.
[00:36:49] Next up, we have a question from Tara. She says, "Hi, friends. Does anyone have advice for me on what might be impacting my sleep, specifically why my resting heart rate stays so high at night and my HRV is pitiful? For context. I'm 54 and have sleep apnea and have to use a CPAP at night. I wear blue blocking glasses and stay off my phone before bed. I've tried magnesium and other sleep-enhancing supplements. I'm working on getting outside in the mornings for sunlight. I turn on airplane mode but don't turn off the Wi-Fi. Do you think that could help? I just bought an Apollo neuro device but it hasn't arrived yet. Has anyone used this? Any other suggestions?"
[00:37:34] Now before I get into my suggestions or answers, I want to say that, especially regarding the resting heart rate, there were some really great insights in the group itself when Tara posted this question. So again, if you're a member of that group and you want more from the other members on this, I would recommend checking that out. But it sounds like she's doing a lot right here to me. She's got the blue light nailed, hopefully wearing my very own super stylish and rigorously scientifically backed blue-blocking Gilded glasses, which, by the way, you can find at gildedbylukestorey.com. We've got men's, women's, and kids' frames and prescription readers, and standard lenses. They're super cool, gildedbylukestorey.com. But whatever glasses she's wearing, hopefully, they were made right and she is blocking that blue light which is, of course, really important when it comes to sleep.
[00:38:26] Now in regard to the bedside phone on airplane mode, I recently made a shocking and quite disappointing discovery. I used to think that I was safe from EMF at night when I kept my phone on airplane mode. In fact, I've been doing this for years because I like to have my phone nearby for various reasons. Then I tested it recently with the proper meter and found that iPhones still ping nearby towers not only when in airplane mode, but also why the damn thing is turned completely off.
[00:38:59] So when you turn your phone off and the screen goes black, it's still transmitting radio frequencies. It's crazy. If you think about how the Find My Phone app still works when your phone is turned off, well, that's how they do it. Not good. Now my solution to this is simple. I just turn my phone off at night and plug it into a charging bank like one of those brick batteries, then I wrap it in a Leela Quantum tech EMF blocking beanie like the one I sleep in when I'm traveling and actually used to sleep in at home before we had the room shielded.
[00:39:31] Now you can use any legitimate Faraday phone bag or pouch. I just find the cap easiest to get my phone in and out of quickly. And I'll state the obvious here, that the best solution to the phone in bed EMF issue is just keeping the thing out of your room at night and using an EMF and blue light free alarm if you need one. I keep my shielded phone in the room due to the fact that I sometimes use it to fall asleep, to podcast, etc. Of course, I'm using wired headphones for those wondering.
[00:40:01] As for the Wi-Fi router that she indicated is not being turned off, I would recommend either putting that on a timer or just using a remote to turn it off. I've linked to both of those solutions in the show notes. That said, we really don't know how much EMF is contributing to this HRV score and the heart rate and the issues that she's having at night. But it's widely known that EMF exposure does not do your sleep any favor. So I would say that dealing with the phone, getting that shielded or out of your room, getting the Wi-Fi router turned off completely on a timer using a remote, however you do that it's definitely not going to hurt.
[00:40:42] By the way Defender Shield also sells a Faraday phone bag, as does a company called No Choice just for those of you who want a solution to that issue. She also mentioned morning sunlight. And while any bright sun upon waking is awesome, the real trick in my experience to resetting the circadian rhythm and setting yourself up to produce the coming evening's melatonin is getting that infrared light present at sunrise. So this means not just early morning sun, but specifically, that red light that you see at sunrise.
[00:41:18] It's especially powerful to explore sungazing, though I want to say this is something that needs to be done safely. So find an expert in sun gazing, do some study, don't just go out and stare at the sun, I want to make that clear. But what I love to do when I can wake up early enough is for the first few minutes as the sun appears on hopefully a flat horizon so there's not too much UV, meaning when the sun is just coming up, I gaze either below or above or directly into the sun depending on how long that Sun has been visible.
[00:42:00] Again, huge for disclaimer, maybe I would suggest just if you're not familiar with sun gazing, then just get that sun in your eyes without actually looking at the sun. And it goes without saying hopefully, but I'll state it just in case, it's a really bad idea to stare at the sun any other time than dusk or dawn when that ultraviolet light is present. It could cause you a lot of damage to your eyes.
[00:42:24] That withstanding, if you want to reset your circadian rhythm, man, I don't know of many other ways to do it that are as natural and as effective as getting that first morning light in your eyes or, and or actually on your skin. And I would say when it comes to resetting my circadian rhythm, and just helping my sleep in general, that early morning sun is probably my number one hack.
[00:42:52] Maybe a close second would be the dark pro cooling system from chilly sleep. As I said earlier, we just reset that up today and sleeping cold. I don't think she mentioned that actually in her question, but man, if your sleep sucks, I'm just going to tell you right now and I've done a lot of podcasts about this and specifically on the chilly sleep folks, I've been on I think twice, I didn't even know my sleep sucked until I started using this cooling mat from Chilly Sleep to make my bed cold. And all of a sudden I realized, oh my god, all these years I've been waking up multiple times per night it was literally just because I was overheating.
[00:43:33] Once I fixed the bed temperature and made it nice and chilly, I normally really quite often sleep like a baby. I'll also add-- here's like a more hardcore hack for you-- when I need a hard sleep reset, I mean like I've gotten on a crazy sleep schedule, I'm staying up too late sleeping in too late, I use a product called Ultra Sandman from mitozen.com/luke. Now this stuff is a high-dose melatonin suppository. I know it sounds crazy, but it's pretty rad.
[00:44:06] When I say high I'm talking about 300 milligrams as you heard that right, versus 3 milligrams, which is what most oral supplements provide. The safety on melatonin is pretty robust safety profile, history studies, etc. And it also happens to provide a massive dose of antioxidant and general healing support. In fact, melatonin is our body's number one natural defense against cancer. However, the Sandman suppositories, that high dose melatonin does tend to make me a bit groggy the next day if I take it too late. So if I dose it, I do it around dusk depending on the time of year.
[00:44:46] And this also happens to be my top jetlag hack due to its ability to reset my sleep schedule so quickly. So if I change time zone and I need to start going to bed earlier or later, that's what I use. Now if these high dose melatonin supositories sound wacky to you, and they probably do and should, you can learn about them on Episode 367 with their creator, Dr. John Lieurance, who also happens to be one of the foremost experts on melatonin. He even wrote a book about it called the Miracle Molecule, which is quite fascinating, science backed, and also linked in the show notes.
[00:45:28] As someone who spent so much time, energy, and money to be healthy, I want to keep track of what's working and what's not. That's why I'm really into this company I found called InsideTracker. They are an ultra personalized performance system that analyzes data from your blood, DNA, lifestyle, and fitness tracker to help you optimize your body and reach your health and wellness goals. Through their app and testing protocol, I'm able to get a clearer picture of what my body looks like on the inside. And I also get a clearer measure of whether my diet, supplement, and exercise choices are helping or even hurting.
[00:45:54] I did the whole InsideTracker deal recently and was actually shocked to find that I was less than perfect in some areas. My cholesterol and B vitamins were high, for example, and a few other things that need a little tweaking. There was, of course, also some good news as my overall health score was that of a much younger person and certainly more optimized than your average American. And that's the point. The whole goal with InsideTracker is to be optimized, not normal. So they don't merely show you the normal biomarker zones, they show you the optimal biomarker zones and numbers that are best for your individual body.
[00:46:35] So if you want to check this out, I highly recommend you sign up for InsideTracker now. You're going to get your testing done, the results of your biomarkers, and then some incredible lifestyle and diet recommendations from their brainiac scientists to help you improve everything you find. Just go to insidetracker.com/luke where you will save 25% off your entire order, that's inside tracker.com/luke.
[00:47:01] Let's move on to Tara's HRV. And for those of you who don't know, this is heart rate variability, which is how we determine aspects of our overall health based on the balance of our sympathetic versus parasympathetic nervous system. So a super low HRV can be an indicator of sympathetic dominance. And sympathetic is the on alert or the fight or flight zone while parasympathetic is in the rest, digest, and chill range.
[00:47:36] Now I'm totally oversimplifying it here, as many of you, science geeks will know, in an effort to highlight the HRV score she shared, which was 11. And yeah, from what I understand, that's pretty damn low. Personally, my HRV usually sits around the 45 to 50 range while sleeping based on metrics from my Aura ring, which by the way, I only wear in airplane mode, obviously, due to its Bluetooth signal, which is terrible for sleep.
[00:48:03] Now, I also know people with regular HRV scores in the 90 to 100 range, but from what I understand this score is very individual. And thus, it's not productive necessarily to compare yourself to other people. Because I've had friends that share those with me and I go, "Oh my god, mine's only 55. It sucks." And then I've learned from interviewing so many super smart people that your HRV is more of a competition with yourself versus other people. It's very bio-individual, but from what I understand 11 is pretty damn low. Sounds like there's something going on there.
[00:48:29] Tara also mentioned that she has something called an Apollo Neuro. And this is a tech device that produces specific vibrational frequencies via a wrist or ankle strap. And the various vibrations that the Apollo produces help the mind and body ease into various states of relaxation, focus, or stimulation. The Apollo is legit and has been validated by not only neuroscientific studies, but my own personal experience. And you can learn more about it on Episode 284 and 387, featuring its creator, Dr. David Rabin.
[00:49:09] Now I'm really stoked to hear she has an Apollo on the way because I love this thing. And I have found it useful for sleep support. However, there's another similar device called the Hapbee, that's H-A-P-B-E-E. And I found that to be more effective in terms of my deep sleep scores. The Hapbee by contrast, rather than vibrating, emits a subtle, harmless magnetic field, which mimics various molecules, as in the case of sleep, of course, melatonin.
[00:49:38] And I have definitely verified that my deep sleep scores go up when using the Hapbee in the eight-hour setting. So I'll put on the sleep setting, put under my pillow. And I find on those mornings, and I don't use it all the time because I don't always want assistance or need it. But I find on those mornings I definitely get a very long period of deep sleep. So there's something to that. And as I said, I just use it here and there when I feel like I need support or if I'm just being a night person, which I think I naturally I'm, and I can't get myself to go to battle, sometimes use the Hapbee or something like the Apollo to put me in a relaxed state and get me ready to sleep. And then I may or may not use one or even sometimes, actually, both of those to assist with the actual sleep itself.
[00:50:30] And you can, of course, learn all about the fascinating tech that is the Hapbee on Episode 364 with their CEO, Scott Donnel. And remember, by the way, when I mentioned other episodes, as I do quite often in the solocast, you can rest assured that all of these episodes are linked in the show notes as well. So there's no need to try to remember episode numbers or names. Just know you can click on the show notes and find everything I talked about.
[00:50:51] Let's get back to the Apollo. Actually, I want to highlight something else there. I use the Apollo more for focus or in social situations, as it's a bit more low key than having this Hapbee ring around your neck or even more so if you wear it on your head. But I will say that I think both are awesome and very useful. And when I'm talking about the Hapbee ring, it's a ring about the size of a halo that would fit on top of your head.
[00:51:26] And it's no big deal. I'm used to being a freak and looking strange and public. But I don't necessarily always want to have to give people that the Hapbee speech when I'm out and about because inevitably, someone will be like, "Oh, what's that thing? That looks cool." or "What's that thing? You look weird." And then I have to sit and give them the speech on it. So I wear that out sometimes more often at home, while the Apollo is more low-key because you just strap it to your wrist and it basically looks like a garment watch.
[00:51:44] The next bit of insight I'll offer here on the HRV for Tara is really important, I think for not only her, but anyone listening, and that is to make daily meditation a seriously committed practice. There are, of course, endless varieties and styles of meditation most of them that I've ever heard of, I've tried. And I'll go ahead and mention the app that I talked about earlier called Open, which again, has some awesome live and guided meditations on demand.
[00:52:17] And the one I did today at 10 am set me up with a common balanced frame of mind for the rest of the day, including at the time of this very recording. So I'm a huge fan of that. I also often use Dr. Joe Dispenza's recorded meditations, which have been immensely beneficial for me and so many of my friends. And Dr. Joe, by the way, was here with us on Episode 259, wherein he explains how his meditations work. And I've also done multiple field report podcasts about my experiences at his incredible week-long intensives which would likely also be hugely beneficial for Tara to get that nervous system in order.
[00:52:56] And meditation, as I'm sure many of you know from experience is one of the best ways to regulate your HRV naturally, as well as improving sleep quality and duration. So it's a trip. You'd think that if we meditated a couple of times during the day that we wouldn't be able to fall asleep, but because of the letting go of stress and just the groundedness of a meditation practice, it actually improves your sleep, and as I said your HRV as well.
[00:53:22] Now I would say my favorite if I had to pick and definitely my longest practice meditation technique is something called Vedic meditation, which is an offshoot of TM or Transcendental Meditation. I learned my practice from my teacher back in Los Angeles, a great friend of mine, Jeff Kober, who, by the way, you can catch on Episode 94. And my last tip for meditation and HRV would be something called NuCalm, which is a neuro acoustic software app that I actually use on most days for an afternoon restroom meditation.
[00:53:56] The sound frequencies produced in the NuCalm app, it has a number of different journeys that you can take, are highly sophisticated, and very reliably ease your mind into a very restorative theta brainwave state. In fact, I did a NuCalm session a couple of hours ago, which I love to do after a hardcore productive morning to rest myself up for the second half of the day.
[00:54:22] NuCalm is just revolutionary and I can't recommend it enough. I think it's relatively affordable. It used to be quite expensive because I think it was like $3,500 or something. And now they have it more on a subscription model, which is much more accessible to many more people. And you can learn more about NuCalm on Episodes 219 and 318 respectively. I highly recommend that you research that and try that a bit for Tara and anyone else listening.
[00:54:51] All of these meditation suggestions, whether it's with the technology or just doing it you yourself and you with something like Vedic meditation, all of these are going to train us to learn how to dip into a more parasympathetic state. We want to be parasympathetic dominant at least at various times during the day when we don't need to be awake, alert, and productive.
[00:55:14] So life is just inherently stressful no matter what we're doing. I mean, even you go on vacation and you stress out because you left something on the beach, and it got stolen, or whatever the case may be. But I think recovery from stress is so important as it pertains to sleep, HRV, and maybe even that resting heart rate that Tara was struggling with as indicated in her question.
[00:55:37] And I'd also recommend, when we're talking about sleep, man, just you got to do the EMF testing and mitigation of at least the bedroom with a building biologist, like former podcast guest, Brian Hoyer. There's also another great company called testmyhome.com, who does a slew of different home testing not only for EMF, but also, by the way, water, mold, and air quality. They are really awesome. I recommended them to a friend of mine, they did a great job. And as a result, they will soon join us on the show.
[00:56:07] But since EMF is often at the root of sleep issues and numerous other health conditions, I think it's really important to address that when it comes to sleep. I mean, sleep is the time when we're supposed to be recovering from all the ways we get banged up while we're awake. So this is something I would definitely pay attention to. I think because it's invisible, it's very difficult to identify EMF as a causal factor without proper testing.
[00:56:35] You can hear a kook like me talking about it and go, "I feel fine." And then you have someone come into your home with all these sophisticated and sometimes very loud meters and it's a totally different story when you can see what's happening and hear what's happening. Some of these meters are terrifying. It's like, [screeching] , red alert, high EMF next to your pillow.
[00:56:56] And in my experience, sometimes your bedroom is much worse than you guessed it was. And other times it's surprisingly low. And I can say with confidence that if you live in a city, the area in which you're sleeping is likely and, unfortunately, high in EMF, so don't try to figure it out yourself. If you want better sleep, better HRV, all the things, save up some cash if you got to do it and hire someone just to come in and test and then you know what you're dealing with and you can spend your time, energy, and money to fix it incrementally and according to what the testing shows.
[00:57:30] Now regarding the sleep apnea and CPAP mentioned, I must humbly admit that this is not something I've researched or personally experienced. However, I do know that my nighttime and nasal breathing, in general, has been radically improved by multiple intra-laser balloon treatments by both my former guest Dr. Dean Howell, as well as Dr. John Lieurance.
[00:57:52] Intranasal balloon therapies go by numerous names with various practitioners developing their own techniques. It basically involves having very small balloons inserted deep into your nostrils, then rapidly inflating them inside your sinus cavities. Sounds fun, right? Now, I'll admit, while this procedure is undeniably uncomfortable, it's luckily extremely brief. It's just like boom, they inflate, you go, "Oh, my God, what the hell was that?" And then it's over. And it offers a host of benefits, not the least of which being opening your breathing passages by the dilation, which takes place as a result.
[00:58:30] And I personally love it. I won't say I love doing it, but I love the results. And I'll likely continue to do it periodically. In fact, speaking of results, I used to have to sleep with those nose strips and those band-aid looking stickers that you put on your nose to widen your breathing passage. And I had to use those in order to nose breathe while sleeping. And now magically, after the course of a couple years doing a bunch of these intra nasal balloon treatments, I sleep fine and breathe fine without those strips. So definitely it made a huge impact on my breathing.
[00:59:02] Now as to whether or not that's going to get you off of a CPAP I'm not sure again, because I'm not in full understanding of what's involved with sleep apnea. But there's a fair amount of evidence indicating that this modality is helpful in many cases. So it's worth exploring, in my opinion. And even if it doesn't take care of your sleep apnea, it could take care of your TMJ or migraines or any number of ailments that this particular treatment is known to be beneficial to.
[00:59:31] That brings this little rap session to a close, my friends. So thank you so much for joining me and my hope is that you derive some benefit from the ideas shared here today. And as always, I encourage you to do your own research. And when you find something useful, safe and effective to cure what ails you, make sure to post that or any question or suggestion you might have in the Life Stylist podcast Facebook group. And for those of you smirking, saying, "Man, I don't have Facebook," you can catch us on Telegram, lukestorey.com/telegram, where we get real out there.
[01:00:05] I'll be back inside your head next Tuesday with Episode 424. Oh, man, this is a good one. This is MDMA and Psychedelic-assisted Therapy for PTSD and Beyond with Dr. Dan Engle. I've been waiting to interview Dr. Dan for, I don't know, four or five years, maybe longer, maybe almost since the beginning of this podcast. We've just always somehow missed each other like ships in the night. However, I was able to catch him here in the studio recently. And for those of you interested in that emerging or I should say reemerging field of therapy, I think Dan and I, I'll throw myself in there because I did ask some decent questions, hopefully, you'll be the judge. I think we made a really comprehensive podcast about specifically MDMA-assisted therapy for which I've not done actually myself.
[01:00:58] I have journeyed with MDMA and, of course, younger earlier in life, many people attempted to use it recreationally although it was never something I I enjoyed. I never understood why they called MDMA ecstasy because it always makes me feel like I've been up on crystal meth for five days. Not a fan, but I am a fan of Dr. Dan and the work he and so many other brilliant people are doing to create access and education around things like PTSD.
[01:01:26] In fact, here's a little tip for you. I'll give you a little preview. Dan explained during next week's podcast again, number 424 coming out on Tuesday, that based on the clinical trials done with MDMA and PTSD that it has a, listen to this, a whopping 70% cure rate, not alleviating symptoms rate but cure rate. So this is really exciting stuff and brings me a lot of joy to share this formerly fringe information with you in an effort to help create more awareness. So thank you so much for listening to the solocast.
[01:02:01] Thank you for joining me next week. And in the meantime, my friends, stay well, stay grounded, knees crazy as turbulent times, and remember that you are perfect, infinitely lovable, and worthy of healing in every way imaginable. God bless. See you Tuesday.