Professional Grade Supplements for WiseAthletes

On today's show, Dr. Merijn van de Laar, a recovering insomniac, sleep therapist, and the author of How to Sleep Like a Caveman: Ancient Wisdom for a Better Night’s Rest, will tell us how learning about our prehistoric ancestors’ sleep (via studying the Hadza) can help us relax about our own imperfect sleep. He explains that the behaviors we think of as sleep problems are actually normal, natural, and adaptive. Merijn destroys the myth that you have to get 7-9 hours of sleep a night, and how being awake during the night is normal, and how efforts to change normal healthy sleep into "perfect" sleep scores is detrimental to our health.

Today’s episode is not for those few, lucky souls who fall asleep the moment their head hits the pillow, cruise through the night, and bounce out of bed in the morning ready to take on the world. Good for you—but seriously, get out of here. This one’s for the rest of us wise athletes who work hard to be fit and healthy—through exercise, through diet—only to be undone by poor sleep. The poor sleep that slows your recovery, ramps up your risk of illness, and leaves you reaching for caffeine just to survive the day, and then something else entirely just to shut down at night and squeeze 7-9 hours into the 6-hour window we allow for.

This talk is not a list of sleep hygiene factors and discount codes for fancy tools that work well to lighten your wallet without addressing the real reasons for poor sleep. Dr. Merijn van de Laar says "sleep is cheap" and that we've been sold a bunch of BS about sleep. This isn’t about chasing perfection. This is about letting go of the pressure and easing into realistically healthy sleep—the kind your ancestors would recognize—without needing to track every blink and breath.

So unplug, lie back, and listen up—because it’s time to learn how to Sleep Like a Caveman.

Dr Merijn van de Laar (https://merijnvandelaar.com/the-sleep-scientist/)

Merijn van de Laar studied biological psychology at the University of Maastricht and obtained his PhD on the subject of personality and sleep and the treatment of insomnia. He worked for years at Kempenhaeghe, Center for Sleep Medicine, and treated people with insomnia, parasomnia and delayed sleep phase syndrome. He is now adjunct director at the University of Maastricht.

Merijn’s professional and personal mission is to create restful nights across the world. His motivation to give people a better night’s sleep arose when he experienced what it was like to have chronic insomnia in his twenties. He did not receive the right care and, in retrospect, not the right scientifically substantiated information that could have helped him get rid of the problem much sooner.

Merijn’s slogan is “Sleep is Cheap”. By this he means that most people with insomnia do not need expensive products, apps or medication at all and that these often don’t help or even worsen the problem. For most people, a good night’s sleep can be achieved through natural solutions that cost little but are very effective. In many ways, we should learn to sleep like Cavemen again.

Merijn van de Laar website

• Why do modern people report worsening sleep quality, despite the emergence of optimized sheets, mattresses, sound machines, and sleep trackers have emerged during that time, and despite the fact that the amount of time people are sleeping hasn’t decreased...

Professional Grade Supplements for WiseAthletes

Roger Seheult, MD, MedCram Co-Founder & Instructor (MedCram.com website)

Dr. Seheult is currently an Associate Clinical Professor at the University of California, Riverside School of Medicine, and an Assistant Clinical Professor at the School of Medicine and Allied Health at Loma Linda University. Dr. Seheult is also quadruple board-certified in Internal Medicine, Pulmonary Diseases, Critical Care Medicine, and Sleep Medicine through the American Board of Internal Medicine.

NEWSTART Pillars of Health are different than any other "pillars" I've encountered....the typical pillars, and there are so many, are so generic as to be useless. NEWSTART is different in two ways: (1) it brings attention and priority to aspects of health that are missed by the generic pillars, and (2) uniquely, it brings a focus to the entire point of remaining healthy or returning to health and fitness....and that is "purpose". Why do you want to be a fit, strong athlete? Is winning races really that important, or is health and fitness ultimately an means to an end. Where will your fitness take you? What will you do with the gift of life you have been given?

This is what I am thinking about after my conversation with Dr Roger Seheult of MedCram.

I hope you get as much to think about as I did.

• Episode 148 | Adventure for Life | Brian Keane
• Episode 143 | Nasal Breathing | George Dallam PhD
• Episode 144 | Muscle for Athletics & Healthspan | Mark Tarnopolsky MD PhD
• Episode 149 | Near Infrared Light is the Missing Puzzle Piece | Scott Zimmerman

• Yield and Overcome Mindset
• https://newstart.com/home

3 ways to support our show:

• Leave a review (or share this episode)
• Check out our Fullscript site to save big on high quality supplements. Thank you!
• Email us your questions at info@wiseathletes.com.

*This content is never meant to serve as medical advice.

Professional Grade Supplements for WiseAthletes

Bill Harris, PhD in Human Nutrition

Dr. William (Bill) S. Harris is an internationally recognized expert in omega-3 fatty acid research, particularly concerning cardiovascular health. He earned his Ph.D. in Human Nutrition from the University of Minnesota and completed post-doctoral fellowships in Clinical Nutrition and Lipid Metabolism at the Oregon Health Sciences University. In 2009, Dr. Harris founded OmegaQuant, a company specializing in omega-3 blood testing, notably the Omega-3 Index test, which he co-invented in 2004. This test measures the levels of omega-3 fatty acids in red blood cells and has been widely used in research and clinical settings. ​

Over his 40-year career, Dr. Harris has authored more than 300 scientific papers on fatty acids and health. His significant contributions have earned him recognition as one of the top 2% of scientists worldwide based on research impact. ​ In late 2020, Dr. Harris transitioned from his role at OmegaQuant to establish the Fatty Acid Research Institute (FARI), where he serves as President and focuses on conducting and publishing research on fatty acids and health. ​

Dr. Harris is also a Fellow of the American Society for Nutrition and has co-authored multiple American Heart Association scientific statements on fatty acids and cardiovascular disease.

Omega 3. EPA/DHA. Our talk today is mostly about how can the older athlete get the most out of the omega 3 nutrient…sources, forms of supplements, how to dose, what to take it with for better bioavailability, and anything else we should know. We also explore three other areas:

1. what does our body do with omega 3’s? Is more better?
2. should we take only EPA or only DHA?
3. what’s the real story behind the recent negative headlines on omega 3’s (failed pharma studies, Afib risks, DHA is detrimental)?
4. what’s the deal with the new stuff being marketed to us now such as SPMs (specialized pro resolving mediators) and Fatty 15 (they sure are good at marketing…is this a replacement for EPA/DHA?)

EPA & DHA are not "essential fatty acids" but if you are interested in any of the many available benefits, eat more fish....or take fish oil or algae oil. Don't let your body be short of these vital nutrients.

• Lower resting HR (resulting in better oxygen to heart)
• Anticoagulation like aspirin but without stomach issues
• Reduced homocysteine
• Lower triglycerides
• Improved mitochondrial energy production
• Lower chronic inflammation
• Speeds resolution of acute inflammation (from injury or training)

• Nature article: Blood n-3 fatty acid levels and total can cause specific mortality from 17 prospective studies
• OmegaQuant website

3 ways to support our show:

• Leave a review (or share this episode)
• Check out our Fullscript site to save big on high quality supplements. Thank you!
• Email us your questions at info@wiseathletes.com.

*This content is never meant to serve as medical advice.