Try this morning tea cocktail instead of coffee. It’s rocket fuel for the brain.
I started experimenting with fat-plus-stimulant beverages in 1998 and 1999 while on the Cyclical Ketogenic Diet (CKD). For the above tea blend, I now add turmeric and ginger to the aged pu-erh, usually Rishi brand.
The above video was shot while filming the parkour episode of The Tim Ferriss Experiment TV show. We filmed 13 episodes back-to-back and I needed a morning pick-me-up that could be prepared quickly but sustain me for hours.
The tea prep might seem reminiscent of Bulletproof Coffee, and it is. They serve similar purposes. For this reason, I jokingly referred to the cocktail as “Titanium Tea” with the production crew.
Alas, BP coffee looks like a delicious frappuccino, and my concoction looks like diabetic horse urine.
Here’s why I still drink TT Horse Urine nearly every day:
- I’m a caffeine “fast metabolizer” according to genetic test results from 23andMe, Navigenics (since acquired), and personal experience. If I drink a cup of black coffee, I feel like a superhero for 30 minutes, then need two cups to get back to baseline. But…
-
When I use a blend of — say — green tea and fermented black tea, I’m combining slightly different pharmacokinetics and biological half-lives, so respective peak plasma (blood) concentrations of stimulants and other compounds are staggered. Instead of one single high point and then a rapid descent into fatigue, I have multiple high points. Rather than feeling amazing for 30 minutes and then fatigued, I can feel 20% more effective for 3-4 hours.
-
This can be extended further if I include a tea like yerba mate (I like Cruz de Malta), which includes three xanthine alkaloids. For our purposes, you can think of these three xanthines as “stimulants”: good old caffeine (by weight, often <50% compared to coffee), theophylline (found in green tea), and theobromine (the primary alkaloid in cocoa and chocolate). Yerba mate isn’t the only tea to include these three, but the ratios in yerba mate appear optimal for my biochemistry and creative writing.
-
NOTE: The most extended effect is only achieved if you sip the yerba using traditional technique. The gourd is my constant companion — plus one glass of Malbec — for 10pm-4am jam sessions when on book deadline. Just as coca-leaf teas don’t = cocaine, which doesn’t = crack, the form and speed of administration matters. For the nerds, this is why powdered “good” foods (e.g. bean flour) aren’t always compliant with the slow-carb diet.
-
If I rely on theobromine and/or theophylline as my uppers, instead of primarily caffeine, I can quit stimulants cold turkey without caffeine-withdrawal headaches. This can be a massive competitive and health advantage, as you can cycle off of stimulants to minimize tolerance development.
-
But — I’m not a doctor and don’t play one on the Internet! As always, the dose makes the poison. Excessive theophylline and theobromine have plenty of adverse effects, particularly when consumed with fat like coconut oil (i.e. “dose dumping“). So speak to your doc first if you have any medical conditions, m’kay? This is an N=1 article.
-
I still drink coffee on occasion, especially if empty handed in the middle of nowhere. It’s a hell of a lot easier to find coffee and butter than pu-erh tea and coconut oil. Definitely 10x better than straight black coffee, and kudos to Dave Asprey for taking it mainstream. It’s now ubiquitous, and that’s no small feat. Many of the top performers I know drink BP coffee, including legendary producer Rick Rubin.
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Were those embers pu-ehr as well?, Sencha is probably my favorite tea, i do feel when i drink it that it helps me a lot with concentration
Yessir. The embers were also pu-erh. Quite honestly, I prefer the cakes, even if the embers are rare and more prized/expensive.
Nice blend, and agree, cake is best. There is a nice ritual about chipping away at your tea cake. My preference is white tea (bai-cha) cake from Fujian. Premium quality tea with the highest level of anti-oxidants (higher than green tea) available. It has a honey undertone. I’m always carrying back a couple of cakes from my visits to China.
How can I get tested to see if I’m a caffeine fast metabolizer.
I love your books. Just started 4hour chef
You can use the service 23andme to have your genetics tested to not only see if you metabolise caffeine faster but also if you a prone to diseases like Alzheimers and any genetic disorders you can pass on to your children.
I just checked into this and it looks like they only provide the raw genetic data. There is a message that they no longer analyze it for health data.
Caffeine sensitivity is still on my 23&me profile. I just checked. And my wife’s. That said, I did get tested some time ago. I am a fast metaboliser.
I just got my report from 23andMe and it still shows (or again shows) caffeine sensitivity.
Do you know there is a correlation between how sensitive you are to caffeine and how paracetamol influences you? People who are caffeine tolerant also usually have to take higher doses of paracetamol in order to have the desired effect. I personally can drink two cups of black tea just before going to sleep and it affects my sleep not even a bit, but I also see that my drug doses are much higher than my husband’s for example.
Where do you buy your teas from? I looked online and with a million options for those types, it’s hard to choose. Would love to find out what brands you buy specifically.
Would very much appreciate your response!!
http://www.hiddenpeakteahouse.com; try unblended brick, or big blessing. or visit them in santa cruz, and taste a bunch first 🙂
+1 for Hidden Peak! This guy’s the real deal… he’s so into tea culture he’s never even used a computer. Clean, high-energy teas like none I’ve found elsewhere to date.
Fantastic post!! Tim, what brands do you choose to go with for the different teas? I looked on Google and was overwhelmed with an ocean of choices. If I’m going to spend $50 in tea, I want it to be high quality stuff and also have the quantity.
Would truly appreciate your help on this. Maybe even post links to the sites or places? Thanks in advance and keep up these fantastic posts!! I can’t get enough useful knowledge!
See the links in the post! Those are the pu-erh and turmeric/ginger I use. Any green will work, and I typically only include a pinch.
Fyi the Amazon link to Rishi tea is currently unavailable. Going to take a wild guess and say that is related to this post but thought you should be aware.
I have been using a similar morning blend for a couple years now, athough my rational was to get synergistic action from various polyphenols (the caffeine is just a plus). In the past I used green, black, and rooibos teas. I started adding yerba last fall and swapped the black for pu-erh after reading one of your posts on it. On a side note, myself and a few new friends I’ve made in PT school discovered that we each listen to your podcast.
why are do theophylline and theobromine have adverse side effects “particularly when consumed with fat” ? I thought the fat was supposed to curb the side effects.
Check out the links. Fat extends the effects, it doesn’t prevent side-effects from excessive use (or contraindications).
Hi Tim,
(I am late to the party here)
I just bought some Pu Erh tea after spotting this in China Town (Manchester, UK) at the weekend since I remembered you mentioning this frequently as an alternative to coffee…
However reading through your post I am slightly confused about the effect fat has on the active ingredients (theophylline, theobromine). You say that “fat extends the effects”… I assume you mean extends the duration of the effects, as in prolongs?
But, how does that reconcile with the Dose Dumping effect? Is the Dose Dumping effect in this case mainly an effect of increased intake in terms of “stimulate the body’s absorptive surfaces to increase the rate of drug uptake” and not so much as in “speeding up drug release”?
Just checking…
Many thanks in advance
All the best
Tim,
Thumbs up for your pu-erh + green tea combo. My question is… how do you feel about medicinal mushrooms such as Chaga, Reishi, etc?
Awesome Tim. I needed this to convince me to get back off of my high-caffeine dependency (for the 4th time, yeah). As a Buenos Aires half-resident, I’m a fan of mate, and I look forward to switching over to fat-plus stimulation instead of coffee guzzling.
Hey Tim,
Great video. I also like mate in a gourd for writing. It helped me through writing my thesis.
Is this beverage all you take as breakfast? Or do you still have a protein shake or a slow-carb meal?
Cheers,
Julio
I go back and forth. While in ketosis, I often skip breakfast and lunch. If I’m not ketotic (most of the time), I will eat a slow-carb breakfast first thing after meditating in the morning.
If you are in ketosis, then do you still drink this? I thought more than about 50 calories can stop ketosis when brought on by fasting, so I would think the butter and coconut oil would be out.
Terrific post, Tim. I’ve tried this TT beverage and it does smooth out my cognitive “high” quite nicely as you mention. I was introduced to Yerba Mate and gourds at an early age and was deeply hooked. I still have the $7 gourd I bought 10 years ago – the things are indestructible! As always, much appreciated for directly linking to articles and products – saves us all so much time and duplicative effort.
In past podcasts/videos you’ve touched on this briefly. THANK YOU, for finally getting into the details of this tea concoction. I can’t wait to test it out!
Very interesting. I make a similar combination, but I use natural raw honey instead of the oils you mention. This helps to sweet the drink and hold the effects of the teas.
Tim, great recipe, I am going to try it tomorrow. I travel a lot, too. Could you tell us what portable blender you use? that could come in handy!
Yes, would be great to know the recipe as a starting point.
Does the oil increase the ability of the active ingredients to cross the blood brain barrier due to some sort of increase in lipophilicity, or is the stimulatory effect due to the production of ketones during fat metabolism? Interested as to why the presence of triglycerides / hydrocarbon chains improve the activity of the concoction….
I think it’s a combination of both. Just had an interesting convo with Ben Greenfield about lipophilic terpenes in coffee, but I’d imagine similar things could happen with tea.
There are a few studies about increased drug permeation due to terpenes – oxo-containing are more effective than hydrocarbon predominant. Certainly interesting! No doubt the myriad of compounds present in tea will produce similar effects. Crude drug delivery systems – if only it was that easy for chemotherapy molecules.
did you find out an answer to this?
Tim – do you accept skills-off challenges? I challenge you to a skills-off, which is something I just invented.
Just a few things I’m good at: drums, piano, guitar, breakdancing, filmmaking, writing, table tennis, golf, disc golf, foosball, standup comedy, computer programming, Photoshop, painting, drawing, puns, yoga, card tricks, card flicking, poker, chess, skateboarding, among others.
Thank you for considering my challenge
A fascinating bit of bio-hacking. Might be a worthwhile addition to the the Athletic Greens and tart cherry juice that usually start my day.
As an FYI, the RSS article came through without a link to the video, which made it a bit puzzling at first (maybe that’s standard; if so disregard).
p.s. -> Love the Tim Ferris Experiment episodes. The Parkour one made me appreciate I’m not the only one whose body no longer accepts the abuse it once shrugged off easily. Damn this onward march of time! 😉
Just to repeat what Tim said in the post, this is a sample size of one. Your milage may vary. When I did 23andMe, I discovered that I’m a horrible caffeine metabolizer–the half-life of caffeine is effectively double for me compared to the average person (thus, maybe 4x the length of effects compared to Tim). What is optimized for one person may not be optimized for another, so I hope people keep that in mind as they experiment!
Exactly. Super important.
Can you share what area would tell about your caffeine metabolizing in 23andme? I joined after the health care info was not provided anymore.
Just to chime in, you can very easily run your raw data through Promethease (quick google search should find it). Costs $5, but will give you all the information 23andme used to, and tons more. Promethease compares your raw genetic data against SNPedia.
Hi Tim — Do you recommend using 23andMe even after the government shut them down? Is it still worth the money to get? Or is there another site that you would recommend?
23 & me, then Promethease
http://www.granma.cu/salud/2015-05-22/beber-mate-caliente-puede-causar-cancer-segun-oms Amo el mate ¿Qué piensa sobre esto? saludos desde Bogotá
I’ve been doing this for several weeks now since I saw your original video. I had to switch to MCT oil from regular Coconut Oil because I can’t stand the taste of the Coconut Oil. MCT seems to be more tasteless. Am I losing any benefits by using MCT instead of Coconut Oil?
When you say “This can be extended further if I include a tea like yerba mate,” do you mean you include it with the pu-erh and green in this particular cocktail?
Or, by your references to the gourd, do you mean you follow this cocktail with the mate at another point in the day?
Maté is the best for a late-night workathon… especially with another green leafy smokable plant for added creativity 😉
Fantastic post, Tim!
So glad when time if given to as much an art form as a “pick me up”. From the video it looks like the caffiene extraction method was used. Are you intentionally cutting out 70-80% of your morning caffeine, even during a day you may need it like a grueling physical day filming or long writing sessions? Much thanks and keep the amazing content coming!
Tim,
I notice in the video that you do two steepings (I presume the first one is to remove caffeine as you describe), but when you pour what appears to be the second steep into your drinking cup it is already half full and the cup from the first steep is empty. It appears as though a step is missing in the video.
What was the purpose of steeping in two cups?
Cheers
Tim, we have got to get you some Herbal Zap (instant ancient Ayurvedic blends)!!! It would be perfect in that recipe! It’s 14 super concentrated herbal extracts (ginger, long pepper, shankapushpi, etc…) bound to just a little cane sugar- no caffeine but plenty of kick. Our original one kicks ass for your Agni (Ayurveda – internal (digesitve fire) which when it is cooking right gives you lots of balanced energy. We’ll get some out to you and your crew ASAP!
If you love Yerba Mate Tim, you gotta see my mate rap about it!
https://youtu.be/4_BjnFMtw0I
Yes! I’ve been doing “Titanium Tea” for almost a year now (nice name). I’ve recently started using grass-fed ghee instead of butter, and MCT oil instead of coconut oil (oddly I find the latter to be harder on my stomach). Here’s some things to experiment with for both tea and functionality:
I also add…
cocoa powder (for antioxidants and taste)
cinnamon (for taste and testosterone production)
turmeric (for immunity, thanks to you Tim)
collagen protein (for joints and ligaments)
And DEFINITELY blend it! Magic bullet works great. Becomes nice and frothy and evenly blended rather than oily on top. Tastes amazing (2.5x as good when blended).
Thanks for writing the article Tim. You have packed so much value into it. Question who do you suggest to consider using to interpret the results from genetic testing? Even the Promethease material needs some explanation about what to do with it.
Why coconut oil instead of MCT oil? (MCT oil from coconut, not palm) Isn’t MCT much more concentrated and therefor more juice fats?
Nice one Tim! I’m not a coffee drinker so the virtues of tea have always been on my radar. Making a tea cocktail sounds a bit complicated, but if ginger is added, it makes everything taste and feel so much better. Anyone for tea!
So Tim, I know you have interviewed Tony Robbins in the past and he is a big fan of alkalizing your diet. Have you looked into that, and does this tea alkalize or create more acid in the body? I guess I have conflicting thoughts as I have been trying to go with less coffee and energy drinks which are particularly acidic.
What are the ratios you use for each tea? Is it one teaspoon of each, 1/3 teaspoon of each, or something else?
Tim,
Have you dabbled into grapefruit/caffeine interactions at all? Would be interested to see your (n=1) versus the mess of studies out there currently.
Tim, for slow release/absorption of L-theanine, you should really look into ‘matcha’ tea. Nature’s long proven version of Red Bull, already used by Buddhist monks back in the early days to meditate for hours. The only tea where you consume the whole leaf and thus consume all goodness. Kevin Rose knows this stuff too, did a review long time ago when he was doing tea review vlogs.
Really worth looking into and currently seeing great attention in the U.S.
Awesome clip and accompanying post, Tim! Thanks for sharing the breakdown.
When you do include the yerba mate in your Titanium Tea concoction, do you mix this with other teas or just the standard protocol? I’ve found it difficult to transition from the gourd to this method — curious what your go-to preference has been.
Also, have you found that the late night mate-fueled sessions further delay sleep onset?
Keep up the amazing work my man!
Congrats on inventing the Four Hour Cup of Coffee! 😉 — Tim
Tim, for slow release/absorption of L-theanine, you should really look into ‘matcha’ tea. Nature’s long proven version of Red Bull, already used by Buddhist monks back in the early days to meditate for hours. The only tea where you consume the whole leaf and thus consume all goodness. Kevin Rose knows this stuff too, did a review long time ago when he was doing tea review vlogs.
Really worth looking into and currently seeing great attention in the U.S.
Try adding some Burdock root powder with the ginger and turmeric roots powder.
Tim,
You are awesome.
Cant wait to try this.
I usually have 3-4 espresso in the morning, but as I age I can tell my heart races so much more and makes me edgy, not a good thing.
Do you buy the ingredients on Amazon?
whatabout replacing the the GFB with GF1/2&1/2
Yo! I dig your morning tonic! I’ll have to give the embers a try. Curious: why do you choose to butter over ghee/clarified butter? Thanks for the post!
just received an email in regards to your power beverage. looking forward to experimenting with it myself. just wanted to give you a heads up at the reference to 23 and me for health related DNA is no longer available.
Ref: https://customercare.23andme.com/hc/en-us/articles/202907380-Understanding-Health-Risk-Reports
Thanks Tim – this is awesome stuff to compliment what I know works better for me too! I can relate as I’ve found I have a much better clean experience with yerba mate and lemon or yerba mate and green tea combined with lemon or blended with coconut oil and vanilla bean powder.
Thanks again!
OH – and would this be why when I do coconut oil blended with my tea/mate vs just straight lemon juice I often have a better effect? I’m more solid, confident, consistent with the straight lemon juice with nothing else vs when I do the mate latte with coconut oil and vanilla bean powder I often get brain fog, heavy feeling, and digestive trouble?
Thanks again for your time and consideration!
Brian
Hey Timbo have you ever tried Guayusa? I’d be curious to see what you think of it. It seems pretty similar to yerba mate, but I actually like it a little bit more and similar to mate I can have it on an empty stomach without any problems whereas any kind of tea on an empty stomach is a one way ticket to pukesville for me.
Tim,
Do you always toss the first cup of tea you make? If yes, does it make you feel wired, or do you just need less caffeine this way? Also, do you prefer salted or unsalted butter for this? I know it’s unsalted with coffee. Thank you!
Hi, Tim
I found your writing immensely interesting, especially the part about the times when you made “marathons” of writing on 10pm-4am.
I’m a night owl too, and I will try your advice on the brews, and I thank you for the inspiration, especially the knowledge that night owls can do O.K. too….
I am an aspiring author, and intend to work hard on finishing the research for my sci-fi book, and then of course write it.
I am currently on the beginning of running my campaign on Indiegogo, and I really hope that it will work out, and I won’t have to make myself work a morning job, 09:00-17:00…..
Again, thanks for the hope that you gave me!
I’m not sure that I can get the same concoctions where I live, but I’ll definitely try Green tea….and start looking for special brews….
Thanks!
Hello Tim,
I’m completely new to drinking tea altogether.
I’ve only drank decent green teas from my local co-op and “generic” tea, for a lack of a better description, while travelling in the UK.
I’ve been trying to get myself away from high levels of caffeine because I find myself tossing and turning at night when I do consume lots of caffeine during the day. I absolutely love coffee and really got into drinking high quality coffees. But, no more.
So, just a few questions (and these are open to anyone who can help out):
Where can I go to read about the best tea combinations? I see you’re combining here yerba mate and pu-erh. Pu-erh sounds really interesting. I’m really looking for a quick beginner’s guide. I’m sort of relying on Wikipedia right now.
Also, are there any studies about the high levels of flourine in pu-erh? Is anyone here concerned about the flourine content of pu-erh?
From Wikipedia: “Some pu’er brick tea has been found to contain very high levels of fluorine, because it is generally made from lesser quality older tea leaves and stems, which accumulate fluorine.[39] Its consumption has led to fluorosis (a form of fluoride poisoning that affects the bones and teeth) in areas of high brick tea consumption, such as Tibet.”
Thanks!
Hi tim
Love all your work, I really want to buy and watch your new show but I live in New Zealand and it seems impossible to buy it from the iTunes Store for me. Please help!!
Thanks
Ryan
Tim, any difference of doing some kind of MCT oil instead of the coconut oil or would it have more worse adverse effects if too much?
Hi Tim,
Tea professional here! Just want to point out that caffeine is not as water soluble as has commonly been thought. Only around18% of the the caffeine of tea is removed from the leaves after a 1 minute steep in boiling water. I’m linking here to the esteemed Nigel Melican’s 2008 summary of caffeine extraction research–studies after 2008, including substantial Chromadex reports in 2010 and 2012 have confirmed these stats; flash decaffeination is a bit of a myth. http://chadao.blogspot.com/2008/02/caffeine-and-tea-myth-and-reality.html
That’s one side effect of the ketogenic diet that I’ve really enjoyed, i.e. the different “feeling” that you get from the brain metabolizing ketones. I find that I don’t need to use caffeine the same way.
Now, if ephedra were still easier to get that’s another story, that stuff treats me very well. Or for all day in the mountains I love using the older adrafanil.
Thanks for keeping a corner of the interwebs interesting.
BA
Hey Tim,
I’m just curious, from your experience what was the difference you felt from drinking butter and coconut oil in your morning coffee?
also if someone were to begin this routine, how would you recommend starting?
I tried this just now with lots of Sencha tea and some Russian Earl Gray (for lack of pu-er. I didn’t like the taste of BP, at the variant I made and this tastes slightly less bad. I would like to try a more proper version though.
Can you write down the recipe with example amounts (I still prefer grams and centiliters over table spoons and cups). It’s hard to see whats going on in the video even after watching it multiple times (“huh, where did that come from?”).
Agree – not too sure what the recipe is – obviously its different every time, but it would be nice to start with something.
Where can I get the mug you are using in the video?…thanks
What do you think of matcha tea, cold or hot brewed (made?) I am a fast metabolizer as well but am also sensitive to caffeine as well so I prefer tea generally.
Hi Tim,
Just read your coffee alternative blog, really resonated as I also have issues with coffee. Bit of a hot endocrine system. So much so I’ve invented a type if Chai that manages the health measures and megalithic function, can be drunk like coffee or tea, been good for keeping my keystone habit in check. It’s based on Organic Matcha Green Tea, plenty of ginger as well so it’s more savory than the sugary Chais. I’ll send you some from Australia if you like, I think it might taste a little better than the horse urine! And keep up the good fight mate.
Cheers,
Alistair
Tim, do you have a recommendation re:yerba mate temperature? I have it in my head it’s supposed to be sub-190 but can’t back it up.
For those who want to try Cruz de Malta go to Amazon. Or check out your local Mexican grocer. And get a Finnum tea basket.
So, if it’s coconut oil strictly for the MCTs, then presumably the bottle of MCT oil in my fridge right now would serve the same purpose.
Unless there are other beneficial compounds in unprocessed coco oil?
Tim, any suggestions for folks that need to stay off caffeine / coffee in general? I’ve tried the usual herbal coffee alternatives – but they do nothing in terms of offering stimulation.
It’s worth noting that there are a variety of different types of Puerh tea, some very stimulating, some not so stimulating… Full disclosure, I have a tea company where I specialize in sourcing ‘sheng’ and ‘shou’ puerh directly from Yunnan, China – the ONLY place where true puerh tea comes from. People often fall prey to the idea that the darker ‘shou’ (aka: ripe, ‘shu’) puerh has more caffeine, which is not true at all. In fact, the natural aging process of either type of puerh, as well as the simulated aging process of ‘shou’ puerh causes a reduction in caffeine content in the leaves. In the world of Puerh tea, the most caffeinated and therefore stimulating leaf is a fresh, ‘sheng’ puerh (ake: raw). Hope this helps! [Moderator: link removed]
Thanks for the great stuff Tim, as always!
It’s worth noting that there are a variety of different types of Puerh tea, some very stimulating, some not so stimulating… Full disclosure, I have a tea company where I specialize in sourcing ‘sheng’ and ‘shou’ puerh directly from Yunnan, China – the ONLY place where true puerh tea comes from. People often fall prey to the idea that the darker ‘shou’ (aka: ripe, ‘shu’) puerh has more caffeine, which is not true at all. In fact, the natural aging process of either type of puerh, as well as the simulated aging process of ‘shou’ puerh causes a reduction in caffeine content in the leaves. In the world of Puerh tea, the most caffeinated and therefore stimulating leaf is a fresh, ‘sheng’ puerh (ake: raw). Hope this helps! Thanks for the great stuff Tim, as always!
What are the “embers” you added to the tea?
If you’re just using loose leaf tea, how much do you use per serving in morning?
Hey Tim,
Thanks for the post! I love this stuff! Makes me feel like like superman!
But was wondering the same thing as mhaning states above.
Do you happen to have measurements in grams for the different teas you mix, when combining pu-erh and green (also when using the turmeric ginger)? What about when your replace with yerba mate?
The OCD in me must know!!!! haha 🙂
Hello – I am an entrepreneur with a web based consumer product idea that relies heavily on work flow optimization algorithms. Do you have a mailbox for business plan submissions? Thank you for your time.
Charles
Tea is liquid gold! Love it. I have watched the clip twice. I am excited to try it. Tim or anyone else? In the clip I only see the second steep poured back into the larger container but the volume of liquid in there appears that both have been poured in to the final cocktail. Not sure if the first steep is not used for the caffeine reduction you touched on. Thanks again for changing the world mate. You rock
Thank you, Tim! Great timing. I was going to google how you prepared your tea today. I have the pu-ehr tea but wasn’t sure what else you did with it. Off to get some grass-fed butter and coconut oil.
Hello Tim!!
I want to share with you some information about what can be call
“The TONY ROBBINS ALKALINE DIET”.
Tony Robbins has been on the alkaline diet for more than 20 years.
I’ve been on it for 4 years and the outcomes are very interesting (more energy, better health, less need of sleep, elimination of
the PAIN IN THE JOINTS, ….).
You have give to me so much value and good moments, and I would like
to share what I think can be interesting for you and potentially for your readers.
I want to clarify that I have no monetary interest in this subject.
The person that Tony has studied and followed is Dr ROBERT YOUNG, a microbiologist. Tony writted the forefront and first pages of his first book
“SICK AND TIRED”. See it here:
http://www.amazon.com/Sick-Tired-Reclaim-Inner-Terrain/dp/1580540562
I know you know well Tony Robbins work, and how obsessed he is in finding the best of the best. You can see his support to Dr Robert Young’s work here:
http://www.phmiracleliving.com/bonusaudio14.htm
There are also some videos in youtube related to his training sesión call
“ENERGY FOR LIFE” where he talks about that.
I know you suffer from PAIN IN THE JOINTS because of LYME’s disease.
In his blog http://www.articlesofhealth.blogspot.com.es Dr Young talks about it
and about the causes of inflamation in the joints.
If you are curious about that, I add a link to the reports made by one of his
students. Her name is Rosa Monís, and she is a microbiologist and microscopist.
In the link there are some images, where you can see the impact at a cellular level of being in an alkaline diet.
It’s in spanish, but the interesting thing is more the pictures than the text.
http://www.masquedietas.es/casos-clinicos-con-tratamiento-biologico-personalizado-y-dieta-alcalina/
I add also a video in which you can see how the live blood analysis it’s done.
It’s also in spanish, and it starts in the minute 57 of the video.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VBbxJhMnGHA
Hope you enjoy Tim!!
DISCLAIMER:
I’m not a doctor. The information I provide should not be cosidered as medical advice. The information I give may be out of date, inaccurate or incomplete.
I suggest the reader to speak with a medical professional before doing anything medical-related
Great post Tim! I’ve been trying this cocktail for the last 2 weeks and I feel better ever (cognitively). I’ll be modifying it to incorporate the Tumeric/Ginger tea and hopefully nothing changes. We will see.
Ode to Tim Ferriss (advance apologies for straying off topic):
Darling, darling Tim,
I purchased your 4 Hour Body audiobook just the other day and have been listening to it during my commute. Interesting stuff, but let me fast-forward to why I felt compelled to post on your blog.
Today, I happened upon the female orgasm section. And at which point, I started listening with rapt attention!! I was one of those girls; the non-orgasming kind. Sure, sure I could reach an orgasm with a wand but had never given myself one without the use of an electronic helper – or from a man for that matter.
I put your instructions to use the moment I got home. I’m pleased to report that using the technique you described, I reached orgasm twice in a five-minute timeframe. Twice!! On the first try. I’m now laying here, blissed out of my fucking mind…
Love you, Tim. Really. Love you a lot.
xx,
Laura
Thanks for the very kind words, Laura, and huge congrats! Hopefully that’s the just the start…
I’m certain that it will make an interesting read by the time I’m through, Tim! Everything is being very well-documented.
If you’re ever in Boston, I’ll treat you to a bottle of Malbec and share my findings with you. (Not an empty invitation…I 100% mean it!!)
Super cool of you to reply to my comment, by the way. I’d say that it made my day, but something else beat you to the punch… 🙂
Be well,
Laura
What kind of mug is that?
Hey Tim. Thanks for all the quality content.
I’m also a bit confused about the steps in the video. If energy is the goal, wouldn’t it make sense to use some of the caffeine you removed on the first dipping? Apologies if I am missing the point, I’m new to this stuff.
Also, will any black tea work, or specifically pu-erh?
Thanks again,
I understand he uses both, but not sure why he follows that process instead of, for example, make only one steep for 3 minutes with double water.
Various teas have a wide range of caffeine content, and contrary to popular misconception, most black teas actually do not have that much caffeine… compared to fresher, greener, oolong, raw puerh, or green tea. To add to the confusion, there are 2 types of puerh: ripe and raw. Generally speaking, ripe has very little caffeine and raw can potentially have a lot. As these teas age (if they are aged), then often times the caffeine content in raw puerh leaves becomes less and less… The point being — IF caffeine is the goal, different teas will have very different effects.
Given the large part Aspergillus sp. play a role in the fermentation process of pu-erh tea, I am someone concerned because that fungus is known to cause all kinds of pulmonary diseases only when we get immunosuppressed. While no one plans for it, if you are a pu-erh drinker and were to get say HIV, chemo, a transplant, or placed on a ventilator later in life, would all the dormant Aspergillus you have been consuming for years drinking pu-erh have a field day? I don’t know. Any thoughts on this?
Informative as always. but I wish there would be more content, less links and a teeny bit less jargon.
Exchanging coconut oil for palm oil is misinformed. Coconut oil has SO many beneficial properties, probably the most outstanding being lauric acid which, amongst other things, has been proven to kill HIV in a laboratory setting. I was amazed Tim never referred to supporting the thyroid for fat loss in the 4HB – not consuming thyroid suppressants, taking the CORRECT kind of iodine – and consuming Coconut oil being another. Extracting palm oil also requires killing the tree – which means destroying habitats for animals including notably orangatang. No palm, no orangatang. There IS sustainable palm oil plantations so make sure yours is if you want to use it – it will be labelled. I stick with coconut myself. I know heaps of health food stores in Australia that refuse to sell any non-sustainable palm oil products.
Tim, love the post. Never considered mixing teas to get a balanced release of energy. Going to try this. In your video it appears you don’t use your initial steep. Is that correct? If so, why as from what I can tell the second steep has reduced caffeine. Also, can you post a link for the metal tea infuser you used? Keep the posts coming. Great stuff.
Your oil should be cold pressed (just like your olive oil). This means no chemical solvents were used to extract oil. A cheaper product will use highly toxic industrial solvents – and I would imagine MCT uses them because its an abstracted, concentrated, refined product- how else would they seperate the MCT from everything else. Now, this is another reason why grass-fed butter and organic certified oils are important. Because the cheaper non cold pressed extraction method uses these chemicals, they are fat soluble and become very concentrated in the end product (instead of being dispersed or discarded). You eat them in fat and they become stored in YOUR fat cells. We’re talking xenoestrogens, etc. I mentioned butter- because the same thing happens with cows. Any chemicals they consume or receive, get stored in their fat and are found in their milk. Hence need for your fat products, whatever they are, to have a clean origin. Love to you xoxo
Hi Tim,
i really love reading Richard P. Feynman – Surely You’re Joking, Mr. Feynman!: Adventures of a Curious Character. thanks mentioning him, did he do any other writtings?
shamil
Would be a good idea to add lemon to this tea?
Hey Tim—wondering if you’ve heard Kiefer’s discussion of heavy cream vs butter and how the cream is actually conferring greater benefit due to its structure remaining intact. It’s on his podcast, and I think the specific excerpt is on YouTube. You may be interested. BPC is delicious for sure, but IMO non-homogenized grassfed heavy cream is even better.
Hey Tim,
Can I use a French press instead of a gourd?
Tim,
Actually, the thing that caught my eye in this video was the specific brand of creatine you had sitting on the counter; the purple caps. That’s actually my company and brand. Awesome to see you use and trust our products. Let me know if I can be of any help to you in that regard, as I’ve also written a book about that ingredient and work closely with its inventor.
I recommend sourcing your pu-er from somewhere other than china. A lot of their tea’s are becoming contaminated with lead and mercury due to their industrialization.
That looks like some awesome green tea though.
Pu-erh ONLY comes from China, however… and specifically, Yunnan, China. You can hop across the border and buy similar varieties from Laos or Vietnam, possibly Myanmar – but it’s a far less widely consumed tea than cheap green or black teas. Therefore, you’ll typically find more organic and small plot farming practices in these parts. Most “raw”, or sheng, puerh that is aged naturally is completely organic and not mass produced like those from larger “tea factories”, which tend to produce “ripe”, or shou puerh tea…. hope that helps a little!
I still prefer adding these ingredients to coffee. I tried it with yerba mate and it did not taste great.
Blue Collars Benefit TOO
You’re not just helping white collar. After listening to the four hour work week (while working), I dropped my hours, increased output, and negotiated a pay by piece deal with a large company. That was 2008, during the recession, and it allowed me to get my son off the bus when he started school four years ago.
last month I kicked a 17 year, 3-4 cup a day coffee habit with your bullet proof tea. Big Thanks
Do you have an equivalent for Beer?
I dig the mug, the tea strategy and the video. BUT, why would you just be ‘attempting’ to do something if you knew you could not fail? GRINDS MY GEARS.
Great post Tim!
I am vegan will I get the same benefits just using coconut oil? I tried it and its very yummy.
BTW….I love to listen to your podcasts when I walk. I am big fan of 4hour work week. I am a graphic designer and appreciate the design of 4 hour chef and the graphic treatment in your experiment trailer. Thanks for all you do.
Its surprised me while listen to you that you still drink TT Horse Urine every day but i got it while reading your blog. thanks for your nice and informative article.
Tim, I have been researching “super foods” and changing my family’s diet slowly for the past couple of years. I find your research and recommendations very interesting, and have been trying out some of your recommended drinks/food (for example, we now only use macadamia nut oil for cooking). I believe that you have generally done your research well but I am at heart a sceptic and will always do my own research before implementing anything new. Your post/video about the teas that you drink stopped me in my tracks. While I am sure everything you say about the benefits of this drink from an alertness perspective is correct, I would personally never consider drinking Chinese tea, even if it is organic. I live in Hong Kong and I believe that there is not a spot of land on the Chinese mainland that is not chock full of toxins. Therefore, my first rule is not to eat/drink anything that comes from China (if only I can avoid it, which obviously can be frustratingly difficult in Hong Kong at times). Have you researched/considered this aspect of your diet and, if so, what are your conclusions?
Would it be cool to add some almond milk in this concoction to give it a latte feel?
Why Sencha green tea instead of Matcha (ground) green tea? I made something similar for a while with Matcha and really found it satisfying. I tend to think you get more nutritional goodness from the Matcha because you are consuming the whole leaf, not just steeping it. But perhaps there is a reason you chose to steep Sencha instead?
Matcha is $$$. In fact, a lot of slightly more affordable matcha are made with the exact same leaves that are made into shade grown sencha (and the even higher grade shade grown leaves are made into Gyokuro). You can get really good shade grown sencha, aka Kabusecha, for less than half the price of Matcha or Gyokuro.
I’ve been getting mine from Hibiki-an (http://www.hibiki-an.com/index.php/cPath/36) but they can get pricey. Or you can also get very high grade shade grown sencha at a very reasonable price from Soleil Tea (https://www.soleiltea.com/product-category/tea/green-tea/). Much less variety when it comes to Japanese green but they only carry the good stuff so it takes away the headache from choosing between grades.
Wow my Rishi pu-erh arrived today and it was one of those ‘where have you been all my life’ experiences! Thanks Tim, for your neverending generosity.
Modanifil is much simpler.
Oh my, you should be taking ASEA.
Hi Tim.. love your posts and follow your FB feed. Did you know that tea contains VERY HIGH LEVELS of Flouride? Here is a link to an article.. there are plenty more online.
Hope this helps.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Health_effects_of_tea
***All tea leaves contain fluoride; however, mature leaves contain as much as 10 to 20 times the fluoride levels of young leaves from the same plant.
Here’s mine: https://youtu.be/6Xp5Uf6Is1M
I’ve been trying this out recently. I’ve been blending some black tea, green tea and ginger tumeric tea(I think from your quarterly box some time ago). I use about equal parts in a large tea ball and sip slowly. Pretty good effect in my opinion.
Tim this is not quite related to the morning drink (I take Bulletproof coffee by the way), but I can’t seem to be able to get your TV show in Canada. Itunes doesn’t have it in my region. How do I get it ??
I’m not understanding, is it a mixture of Black and Green Tea? Or Yerba Mate?
It wasn’t very clear to me
Thanks
Tim,
If one finds themselves in the tricky situation of not being able to consume caffeine due to acid reflux, and having to memorize lots of 漢子 on a daily basis, what would you recommend they drink to keep them going?
Many thanks in advance!
Tim, what amount of tea leaves do you generally use?
For the lazy – Try yerba mate in an auto-drip coffee maker. I like to add a little half and half and a tiny amount of raw sugar. The mateine (same as caffeine?) gives a different energy boost than coffee. Watch out though, for me, when I first started drinking it, it took a while to kick in but it lasted a very long time. Just to give you an idea: the first time i drank mate tea this way, I woke up at 8 am or so, drank the mate tea at around noontime. I couldn’t sleep until 3 am.
The method you recommend for decaffeinating tea is false:
http://chadao.blogspot.com/2008/02/caffeine-and-tea-myth-and-reality.html