The Man Who Can Predict How Long You Have Left To Live (To The Nearest Month): Gary Brecka | E225

Gary Brecka, a human biologist and former mortality expert, discusses the transformative power of addressing nutrient deficiencies to achieve optimal health. He emphasizes how most people function at only 55% of their potential due to missing raw materials in their bodies. Using Dana White as an example, Brecka illustrates how targeted supplementation, ketogenic diets, and lifestyle changes can significantly improve health and life expectancy. He advocates for basics like grounding, breath work, and sunlight exposure, and cautions against the aggressive pursuit of comfort, which he believes accelerates aging.

• Most people operate at around 55-60% of their true potential due to missing elements in their bodies.
• These deficiencies are often mistaken for consequences of aging, stress, or environment.
• Common symptoms like brain fog, poor sleep, weight gain, and water retention are linked to these deficiencies.
• Understanding and addressing these deficiencies can transform an average person into a superhuman.

"Most people, especially young people, probably don't realize that they're walking around right now at about 55 maybe 60 percent of their true state of normal."

• Many people are unaware of their suboptimal health status due to missing nutrients or elements.

"They have accepted something as either a consequence of aging or a consequence of stress or a consequence of their environment... that's not a consequence of any of those things. It's a consequence of missing raw material."

• Common symptoms are often misattributed to aging or stress instead of underlying deficiencies.

• The guest has a background in mortality science, predicting life expectancy with high accuracy.
• Mortality predictions are based on extensive demographic and medical data.
• The insurance industry uses this data to make financially sound decisions, indicating the reliability of the science.
• The guest left the industry to focus on extending life and improving health.

"I spent 22 years as a mortality expert in the insurance industry... we could tell the insurance company how long you had to live to the month."

• Mortality science can predict life expectancy with remarkable precision using demographic and medical data.

"The presence of oxygen is the absence of disease."

• Adequate oxygen levels are crucial for preventing disease.

"When you deplete certain raw materials in the human body, you get the expression of that deficiency."

• Deficiencies in essential nutrients or elements can lead to various health conditions.

• The insurance industry has a vast database of medical records and demographic data.
• This data can provide insights into common health conditions and their underlying causes.
• The guest believes that if this data were accessible, it could revolutionize modern medicine.

"If this database could see the light of day, I believe it would permanently change the face of humanity."

• The potential of big data to transform healthcare is immense.

"They know the day, the date, the time, the location, and the cause of death for hundreds of millions of people."

• The insurance industry's data is comprehensive and detailed, offering valuable insights into mortality and health.

• Methylation is the process by which the body converts raw materials into usable forms.
• Genetic testing can identify deficiencies and help tailor supplementation to individual needs.
• Addressing these deficiencies can improve mood, gut function, sleep, and overall health.

"If they actually were able to test themselves to a genetic test and look at what's called their methylation... they would begin to thrive in a way that they just never thought possible."

• Genetic testing and understanding methylation can unlock significant health improvements.

• The guest grew up on a farm and was inspired by veterinarians who healed animals.
• Discovered a clinical photographic memory in the eighth grade, which allowed for exceptional recall of information.
• Initially worked in mortality science but shifted focus to wellness and functional medicine to help people live healthier lives.

"I grew up on a very large tobacco farm... I was always just fascinated by the veterinarians that would come onto these farms and fix horses and fix cattle."

• Early experiences on a farm sparked an interest in healing and medicine.

"I found out in the eighth grade sometime during my eighth grade year that I was clinically photographic."

• The discovery of a photographic memory significantly influenced the guest's educational and career path.

• Many health conditions are misdefined or misunderstood in modern medicine.
• Conditions like ADHD are often labeled incorrectly and treated with inappropriate medications.
• Proper supplementation and addressing underlying deficiencies can offer better solutions.

"Attention deficit disorder is not an attention deficit at all... it's an attention overload disorder."

• ADHD is more accurately described as an attention overload disorder, not a deficit.

"Modern medicine says well if the mind's racing let's put an amphetamine into the body... this is a very poor choice."

• Current treatments for conditions like ADHD are often misguided and can have long-term negative effects.

• Trauma can disrupt the body's methylation cycle, leading to various health issues.
• Understanding the impact of trauma on health can help in developing more effective treatments.

"Trauma can trigger methylation... trauma can interrupt the methylation cycle."

• Trauma's impact on methylation highlights the need for a holistic approach to health.

• Neuroplasticity-altering chemicals are not seen as a solution for long-term relationship issues or trauma.
• Depression and anxiety are real conditions, but their definitions and treatments are often misunderstood.
• Depression is commonly defined by low serotonin levels, leading to treatments that ration serotonin rather than increasing it.

"If you are low in serotonin you're by definition depressed so then you would think that the solution would be to raise serotonin right if we Define depression as low serotonin you think the solution will be an erased serotonin but that's not what we do we take people that are depressed and we put them on ssris selective serotonin reuptake Inhibitors and what these do is they ration what little serotonin these people have so by definition it never raises serotonin so by definition it never ends depression."

• Highlighting the paradox in current depression treatments using SSRIs, which ration serotonin instead of increasing it.

• Serotonin is produced through a process called methylation, which converts tryptophan into serotonin.
• 90% of serotonin resides in the gut, indicating that gut health is crucial for mental health.
• Methylation issues can lead to deficiencies in neurotransmitter production, affecting mental health.

"We actually make serotonin from an amino acid called tryptophan... 90% of it resides in your gut so if you don't have it here you can't have it here so depression rarely begins in the outside environment it usually begins in the gut."

• Emphasizing the role of gut health in producing serotonin and its impact on depression.

• Anxiety often originates from within the body rather than external triggers.
• Excess catecholamines and an inability to down-regulate these can cause anxiety.
• The brain's fight-or-flight response can be triggered by both real and perceived threats.

"If you ask them three questions you can find out very quickly that their anxiety is not coming from a cluster of symptoms it's not coming from their outside environment it is coming from within them it's coming from their physiology."

• Illustrating how anxiety is often physiologically driven rather than triggered by external factors.

"You could also be laying on the 30th floor of a Condo building in bed and start thinking about getting eaten by a shark... but you can have the exact same response."

• Explaining how perceived threats can trigger the same physiological response as real threats.

• Genetic testing can identify where methylation is broken, allowing for targeted supplementation.
• Supplementation with specific nutrients can help restore neurotransmitter balance and alleviate anxiety.

"My mission is to try to help people by taking a genetic test... find out where is methylation broken and then stop supplementing just for the sake of supplementing and start supplementing for this deficiency so your body can thrive."

• Advocating for personalized supplementation based on genetic testing to address deficiencies.

• Gut issues are often linked to mental health conditions like depression and anxiety.
• Many people misattribute gut issues to food allergies when the real issue is gut motility.
• Restoring gut motility can alleviate many gastrointestinal and mental health symptoms.

"Show me a person that's truly depressed and I'll show you somebody that's also suffering from severe gut issues... because the same neurotransmitters that affect these emotional states also are responsible for the motility of the gut."

• Connecting gut health to mental health through the role of neurotransmitters.

"If you're really allergic to corn is there ever a time that you can eat corn and not have a reaction the majority of time people will say yes okay well right there you know you don't have an allergy."

• Highlighting the transient nature of supposed food allergies and their link to gut motility.

• Hypertension is often attributed to genetic inheritance, but it can also be linked to methylation issues.
• Elevated homocysteine levels, due to methylation issues, can irritate blood vessels and cause hypertension.
• Addressing the underlying methylation issues can help manage hypertension.

"When you can't break homocysteine down it rises when homocysteine Rises it's very irritating to What's called the endothelial lining of the blood vessel it in it irritates the lining of the blood vessel when you irritate a blood vessel it clamps down."

• Explaining how elevated homocysteine levels can lead to hypertension through blood vessel irritation.

• Modifiable risk factors are conditions that, if changed, can significantly impact health outcomes.
• Anemia, low vitamin D3, and other deficiencies are common modifiable risk factors.
• Addressing these deficiencies can improve resilience to various health conditions.

"Anemia right low low hemoglobin low red blood cell count low oxygen transport in the blood will exacerbate just about any condition that you have."

• Demonstrating how correcting anemia can improve overall health and resilience.

• Vitamin D3 is crucial for immune health and is the only vitamin the body can produce from sunlight.
• Many people, especially those with darker skin, are deficient in vitamin D3.
• Supplementing with vitamin D3 can help improve immune function and overall health.

"Vitamin D3 is the only vitamin that a human being can make on our own... there is not a single cell in the entire human body that does not have a receptor site for this vitamin."

• Highlighting the importance of vitamin D3 for overall health and immune function.

"The darker the pigmentation of your skin the lower the vitamin D3 the lower the vitamin D3 the more compromised the immune system the more compromised the immune system the more susceptible you are to attack."

• Explaining how skin pigmentation affects vitamin D3 levels and immune health.

• Misdiagnosis of conditions due to nutrient deficiencies can lead to unnecessary treatments and surgeries.
• Sedentary lifestyle exacerbates health issues and leads to early mortality.
• Medical errors and misdiagnoses are significant contributors to death, with studies from Harvard and Johns Hopkins highlighting this issue.
• The average American over 50 is on multiple prescription medications, whose long-term effects are often unknown.

"If you were a 60-year-old female and you were misdiagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis because you had a vitamin D3 deficiency, I would artificially advance your age six years."

• Misdiagnosis can lead to unnecessary treatments and surgeries, advancing aging and reducing mobility.

"Medical error is the third leading cause of death."

• Medical errors, including misdiagnoses, are a major cause of mortality.

"The average American over 50 is on five prescription medications."

• Polypharmacy is common among older adults, with unknown long-term side effects.

• Sleep issues are often due to the mind being active at night, not an inability to sleep.
• The COMT gene mutation can cause the mind to stay active, leading to sleep disturbances.
• Methyl folate and other supplements can help manage these genetic deficiencies.

"When your environment quiets, your mind wakes up."

• The mind becomes active when the environment is quiet, causing sleep disturbances.

"If you have a gene mutation called COMT, then what happens to you is you lay down to go to sleep, and there's nothing more frustrating."

• The COMT gene mutation can cause the mind to stay active at night.

"You take methyl folate, and depending on where the gene break is and how severe it is, you may add something called SAMe."

• Supplements like methyl folate and SAMe can help manage genetic deficiencies.

• Gene mutations can lead to nutrient deficiencies, affecting mood and emotional states.
• The MTHFR mutation affects the conversion of folic acid, leading to deficiencies and conditions like postpartum depression.
• Synthetic vitamins like folic acid and cyanocobalamin can be harmful due to poor conversion in the body.

"44% of the world's population has a gene mutation called MTHFR."

• The MTHFR mutation is common and affects folic acid conversion.

"Folic acid doesn't prevent anything; folic acid has to be converted first into tetrahydrofolate."

• Folic acid must be converted into an active form to be effective, which is hindered by genetic mutations.

"Cyanocobalamin is useless in the human body; the human body actually has to take it and convert it into the active form of B12."

• Synthetic vitamins like cyanocobalamin are ineffective and require conversion to be useful.

• Genetic testing can identify mutations that affect nutrient processing, allowing for targeted supplementation.
• Understanding genetic mutations can improve health outcomes and prevent conditions caused by deficiencies.

"Once you understand where your genetic mutations are, you can go about supplementing targeted for that deficiency."

• Genetic testing allows for targeted supplementation to address deficiencies.

"I'd recommend everyone take that test once in their lifetime."

• Genetic testing is recommended for everyone to understand their nutrient processing capabilities.

• ADD and trouble with prioritization can be linked to nutrient deficiencies.
• External pressure is often used to set priorities due to an inability to do so internally.

"When you don't have the right methylated nutrients in the body, you lend equal weight to every thought that comes into your mind."

• Nutrient deficiencies can cause equal prioritization of thoughts, leading to procrastination.

"I work really well under pressure."

• Many people with ADD use external pressure to set priorities due to internal deficiencies.

• Dana White's health transformation involved addressing multiple health issues through diet, supplements, and lifestyle changes.
• A ketogenic diet, targeted supplementation, and lifestyle changes significantly improved his health and extended his life expectancy.

"His triglycerides were almost 800; they shouldn't be above 149."

• Dana White had dangerously high triglyceride levels, indicating severe health issues.

"In 10 weeks, he had such a material change in his blood work."

• Significant health improvements were achieved in a short period through targeted interventions.

"His life expectancy almost tripled."

• Dana White's life expectancy increased dramatically through health interventions.

• The Superhuman Protocol involves using magnetism, oxygen, and light to improve health.
• Natural methods like earthing and grounding can also provide health benefits.

"He also started something called the Superhuman Protocol, using magnetism, oxygen, and light."

• The Superhuman Protocol uses natural elements to improve health.

"You can take off your shoes and contact the surface of the Earth."

• Earthing and grounding can provide health benefits by discharging built-up charges in the body.

• Drinking alkaline water is a marketing myth; true alkalinity can be achieved by contacting the Earth's surface.
• Alternative methods to achieve alkalinity include using a PEMF mat, breathing 95% O2 under mild exercise, and red light therapy.

"You can get alkaline by contacting the surface of the Earth."

• Emphasizes that direct contact with the Earth can help achieve alkalinity.

"You need to spend 10 minutes a day breathing 95% O2 under mild exercise and lay in a red light therapy bed."

• Suggests practical steps to achieve alkalinity without expensive equipment.

• Breath work is a powerful and accessible method to improve health.
• Daily practice of breath work can elevate emotional states and improve overall well-being.
• Specific technique described: Wim Hof style breath work with three rounds of 30 deep breaths.

"I spend eight minutes every day doing a very specific series of breath work."

• Highlights the importance of daily breath work practice.

"Every elevated emotional state that a human being can experience actually has in its molecular structure oxygen as a component of that emotion."

• Explains the connection between oxygen and elevated emotional states.

"I do three rounds of 30 deep breaths like obnoxiously deep breaths."

• Describes the specific breath work technique used.

• Exposure to natural sunlight in the first 45 minutes of the day is crucial for resetting the circadian rhythm.
• First light has unique properties that benefit vitamin D3 production and cortisol levels.

"Expose yourself to natural sunlight first thing in the morning."

• Suggests the importance of morning sunlight exposure.

"First light is the best way to reset your circadian rhythm."

• Emphasizes the role of first light in maintaining a healthy circadian rhythm.

• Using an oxygen concentrator during mild exercise can significantly increase the partial pressure of oxygen in the blood.
• Exercise with oxygen therapy is linked to numerous health benefits, including improved oxygen storage in the blood.

"You want to be a superhuman? Do mild exercise every day while breathing 95% O2."

• Advocates for the combination of exercise and oxygen therapy.

"Dr. Otto Warburg won both of his Nobel prizes for his work in exercise with oxygen therapy."

• Cites scientific evidence supporting the benefits of oxygen therapy during exercise.

• Cold water immersion triggers the release of cold shock proteins, which have numerous health benefits.
• Cold water therapy can improve mood, increase protein synthesis, and promote fat loss.

"The majority of the benefit comes from something called a cold shock protein."

• Explains the primary benefit of cold water therapy.

"If you want to strip fat off your body, get in cold water for three to six minutes a day."

• Suggests cold water immersion as an effective method for fat loss.

• The pursuit of comfort accelerates aging and weakens the body's natural defense mechanisms.
• Stressors like thermal stress, weight-bearing exercise, and breath work are beneficial for overall health.

"Aging is the aggressive pursuit of comfort."

• Links the pursuit of comfort to accelerated aging.

"If we don't learn to control our emotional state, we will never control our future."

• Emphasizes the importance of managing emotional states for long-term well-being.

• Emotions are closely linked to memory and future projections.
• Managing emotional states can influence memories and future outcomes.

"The amygdala of the brain, which is where we experience emotion, is the sole gateway to an area of the brain called the hippocampus, where we hold our memories."

• Describes the connection between emotion and memory.

"Your current emotional state determines your future."

• Highlights the impact of emotional states on future outcomes.

• Maintaining a consistent sleeping window and avoiding eating during this window are crucial for adjusting to new time zones.
• Fasting and specific dietary choices during flights can help maintain energy levels and circadian rhythm.

"When you change time zones, the single most important thing that you can do is preserve your sleeping window."

• Advises on the importance of maintaining a consistent sleeping window while traveling.

"I fast on domestic flights... I eat fats and proteins on flights, carbohydrates at altitude are terrible for you."

• Shares practical tips for maintaining energy and health during flights.

• Optimal health is found in basic practices like magnetism, oxygen, light, and whole foods.
• The further we move away from these basics, the more unhealthy we become.

"Optimal Health is found in the basics, not in the complicated fancy neurotropics or some rare root that's buried deep in the Amazon jungle."

• Advocates for focusing on basic health practices.

"If your great-grandmother wouldn't recognize it, don't eat it."

• Provides a simple rule for healthy eating.

• Struggles with guilt over enjoying marginal pleasures like a cocktail or birthday cake.
• Acknowledges the importance of not being overly hard on oneself for maintaining discipline.

"I feel like I'm letting the whole world down when I do that."

• Expresses personal guilt over enjoying small pleasures.

"I'm very hard on myself, on My Own Worst Enemy sometimes."

• Admits to being overly self-critical.