If we want a fit, lean, healthy body that lasts into our later years, then we need to not only put in the work and eat right, but we need to be able to spot any pitfalls in our path and handle them before they become a problem.

I'm talking about illness, physical issues, organ troubles, cardiovascular issues, etc.

Many things can exist and are quite visible or easy to spot. But only because they've become big enough to spot. However, there was a point before they became big enough to be visible when they were harder to spot... but much easier to address.

Health troubles can exist without us knowing, leading to troubles we can see later on, if only because they've gotten worse.

They can even impact our ability to build muscle, recover, or lose body fat, without us ever knowing they were there, existing.

But if these things are still too small to see right now, then how do we know? And how can we catch them before they become a problem?

That’s where Heart Rate Variability comes in.

Heart Rate Variability, or HRV, is a literal measuring stick of our current health and how well our body is able to adapt and recover. And it’s something we can use to monitor ourselves.

Whether we're into extreme sports and maximum physical performance, or trying to achieve optimal health for a long life, learning what HRV is, and how to use it, puts our health and performance in our hands.

This helps us spot trouble when it’s still a ways away, so we can handle it before it gets out of hand.

Did you know low levels of thyroid can bring on not only low energy and weight gain, but also contribute to depression and brain fog?

This can make thinking, problem-solving, and just coping with the everyday stresses of life much harder.

With the rise in hormone-blocking toxins in our environment, processed foods and processed sugars, and the low amount of protein most of us consume, low thyroid is affecting more and more people, especially among women and the elderly.

But there’s one more thing affecting this — low magnesium. Magnesium is necessary for thyroid to be produced inside the body. Yet it’s being processed out of our foods more and more every year, until more than half the people in the US are now magnesium deficient.

In this article we dive into what thyroid is, how low thyroid occurs, how it affects our mood, energy levels, mental alertness, and our ability to think and cope with the problems of everyday life and what we can do to raise it.

Electrolytes are necessary for hydration, energy, recovery, and mental clarity.

They power our nervous system, regulate our water levels, allow our cells to function, and are key to protein synthesis, recovery, and even brain function.

And they're vital for fat loss.

Lack of electrolytes can cause dizziness, cramps, headaches, exhaustion, mental confusion, and even affect our heartbeat.

But they are exact minerals and they're needed by the body in exact ratios.

Too much of one and not enough of another can actually exacerbate the problems they're supposed to address.

In fact, the wrong ratio can even cause dehydration and bloating, not to mention weight gain and slower recoveries.

When we look at the fact of aging, or getting older, we often measure it in two ways:

The number of years we’ve been on this earth, chronologically.

And the amount of decay that’s set in: fatigue, lower energy, poor fitness levels, poor sleep, loss of muscle, worsening vision and hearing, digestive problems, memory loss, etc.

But, while we’ve come to see the second as the inevitable result of the first, it’s actually not. It’s the result of getting biologically older, accelerated aging before our time.

We don’t realize this because our view is obviously based on what we’ve seen for decades now. And what we’ve seen is not good.

But this isn’t a natural situation. It’s a created situation.

Today, 90 percent of the money spent on health care in the US, almost $4.1 trillion, is spent on preventable chronic disease.

And a 2018 study found that 88 percent of Americans are in poor metabolic health—meaning they are on the road to the above diseases.

That’s not 88% of the elderly, that’s 88% of the population of the US.

This is despite the US spending nearly double the amount on healthcare and medicine as any other country.

But in the Blue Zones of the world, where they don’t have access to either our medicine or our toxins and very poor foods, they live quite healthily to 100 or more.

This is accelerated aging. And we don't need it.

So sit tight, because we’re about to get sciencey.

Did you know that factors such as diet, exercise, toxins, sleep, stress and more can affect how able our DNA are to make new, healthy cells?

This is a huge factor in aging.

If our DNA can't make new cells properly, but instead makes "faulty" cells, then, as our body is nothing but cells, over time our body begins to slowly degrade.

We see it in our skin, our strength, our energy levels and our overall health.

This is half of what we call "aging."

But it doesn't have to be this way. This is a created situation.

And we can reverse it.

If we want to actually increase longevity, increase lifespan and increase overall health and ability during the entirety of that lifespan, then we need to define what we’re talking about. 

Even more, we need to compare the current “norm” we’ve become accustomed to… to what not only can exist, but does exist in other places today.

A person should be able to live past 100 years old, with high energy levels, strength and mental ability, doing what they want without the need of twenty different drugs to keep them going, and then pass away peacefully.

And not only should that be the case, but in places outside of our “modern world” — called Blue Zones — it is the case. Quite routinely.

Let's dive in.

There is a lot of debate today about how much protein is too much.

And this includes what causes protein toxicity, something that overloads our kidneys and liver, affecting our overall health, and which can be more severe with those who already have issues with their kidneys, liver and insulin levels.

It’s basically consuming more protein than our body can use at the time.

But that’s a very general description, and doesn’t help us to determine how much is too much, or even tell us how this happens.

Saying: “You’re eating too much protein,” is both too general, but also incorrect.

Too much of which type of protein? Because different proteins, consumed in large amounts, cause different effects.

To understand protein toxicity, what causes it, and ensure we aren’t consuming too much protein, we need to take a step backwards.

Because with anything that doesn’t seem to have a direct answer, there is some missing piece of information.

And in this case it’s a big one: there is no such thing as protein toxicity.

You see, our body doesn’t use the protein we eat.

It uses the building blocks that make up the protein, the amino acids.

And unless we look at these, we don’t actually know what protein toxicity is or what causes it, and we don’t know how much protein is too much.

Because what we’re talking about when we say Protein Toxicity is actually Amino Acid Toxicity.

It doesn’t come from eating too much protein, it comes from eating too much of the wrong kinds of proteins that contain too many of the wrong amino acids.

And that can cause real issues.

Let’s dive in.

Did you know that when Estrogen levels rise too high, it can unbalance other hormones? And this significantly impacts body fat gain and loss?

We've covered several hormones now, from Insulin and Cortisol causing fat gain and preventing fat loss, to Growth Hormone and IGF, the hormones that come out while we sleep and which are largely responsible for fat loss.

We cover all of these because they all work together, each influencing the other, and if we want sustainable fat loss, we need to address each one.

But high Estrogen also plays a large role in all of this in both women and men, building excess body fat and lowering testosterone and growth hormone.

It also lowers thyroid, a hormone that regulates our metabolism, which in turn regulates body fat and energy levels.

And it lowers progesterone in women and men, a calming, fat-burning, testosterone-building hormone.

All of this leads to excess body fat, decreased muscle mass, worsened mood, higher stress levels, slower recoveries, and lower energy.

So let's see what's actually happening here, what causes this, and what we can do about it.

In this article we cover how PerfectAmino has a near zero caloric impact on our body, and this is important.

When we work out and take 20 or 30 grams of whey or pea protein, or collagen powder, we think our bodies are getting 20-30 grams of protein or collagen.

But that's not true.

This is because protein and collagen aren't used by our bodies in the forms they arrive in.

Instead, they're broken down into their building blocks — the amino acids.

Amino acids are what our body actually needs, and are the only things of value in protein from our body's point of view.

But the ratio of amino acids present in different proteins determines how much actual useable protein we get from them and how much calories.

And this has a larger impact on our fitness goals than most people think.

There is a lot going around right now about whether it’s better to eat meat or go on a vegan diet.

And there are many proponents of each, quite passionate, providing many different reasons why one is better than the other.

Unfortunately, they often contradict each other.

Some say meat causes an inflammatory response in the body, and can lead to weight gain or protein toxicity. That it’s bad for cardiovascular health and can raise cholesterol levels. And that it doesn’t contain fiber and other important vitamins and antioxidants.

Others say a pure vegan diet doesn’t provide all the nutrients present in meats such as b12 and other key vitamins, or iron, and that it leaves many people protein deficient due to lower levels of protein in plants, leading to lower strength and immune function.

But for each reason put forth as to why one is bad, someone else holds up an example to show how it isn’t true.

And, of course, there is also the moral aspect, which is personal to each individual.

But on a straight scientific basis, how is it that we do not have a definitive, agreed upon answer as to whether we should eat mostly meats or mostly plants?

And why is it that some people do better on meats, without reactions, and others on a plant-based diet?

Well, with all of our ability to test and watch the various reactions within the body at the cellular level, it would seem pretty easy to find out.

So let’s dive in and see if we can answer this question for you.

For the last few years a sort of battle has existed regarding protein.

Is meat or vegan protein better?

How much protein should I take? Is it too little or too much? Do people in general need more protein or less protein?

Beyond that, some say that meat proteins cause an inflammatory response in the body so we should get protein from plants.

Others say we need more animal protein, that it’s a superior protein source and provides key nutrients not available in plant proteins.

Some say too much protein is toxic and others say too little protein impacts our hormones, muscle, bones, mood, and immune system.

So how do we answer this?

Well, we don’t.

Because we’re asking the wrong questions.

And the reason we’re asking the wrong questions is because we’re starting from the wrong point of data.

Let's dive in.

In this article we dive into how body fat is created in our body, and how we get rid of it, so you understand what we're doing on this protocol and why.

About 90% of what most of us consider to be body fat is actually made by and from sugar.

But probably not how you think.

And it has a lot more to do with how it affects your hormones (messenger chemicals that tell your body how to use the food you put into it).

Because it’s your hormones that will determine what will ultimately happen with this sugar and whether or not it will be used to make new body fat.

First, let’s break down what actually happens when we consume carbs and what hormones come into play here.