The Random Show — Gut Bacteria, Meditation, Startups, and More (#24)

Hey TimTim! First, your conversations with Kevin Rose are always the best. Second, I’m currently listening to Ep. 26 with Kevin Kelly (it hit the podcast RSS already, totally understandable that it’s not here yet).

I would love to see video feeds though, like a conversation through Skype, maybe then uploaded to YouTube (to save on bandwidth). I doubt I’m the first to request it, but I want to throw my vote into the ring.

Here are three reasons to make my case.

1. I’m less likely to pay attention to audio only. I tend to want to do something else when only listening to something, like typing out this comment for instance.

2. Knowing who’s talking to you, ie. seeing a video, can bring greater value. I feel like points hit stronger and that I develop a better understanding and connection to a conversation when I can see facial expressions.

3. YouTube pays advertising, and videos are good for SEO. We all know this, but it’s a good as reason as any.

Thanks for the podcasts, I’m enjoying them more every episode!

Hi Tim,

very good book about intestinal flora.

http://www.darm-mit-charme.de

Unfortunately (for you 😉 ) its in german. But you will find a way!

Really good episode guys, thank you…totally with Kevin about Anchorman though Tim…set a few hours aside for that one!

Hey Tim, I would be very interested in a post about seeding the gut after anti-biotics.

Regards,

Jeremy

Tim,

Great fan of yours. We studied The 4 hour work week” at a seminar when it first came. Now, years later, I’m coming back to you now to put your concepts to work for me.

About your Lyme disease, you can reverse the effects. Start with proper testing and looking at lyme disease as an over stimulated immune system. You have to test your whole body’s stress load that impacts your immune system. Things like Antichromatin antibodies, Anti-DNA (double-stranded) antibodies, Thyroid Peroxidase (TPO) Ab. (006676) CPT Code: 86376, just to name a few and eliminate those stressors to the body. Once these causes are identified and eliminated you replenish the body’s missing natural nutrients based on testing and research. Functional Medicine doctors (Specialized M.D.’s D.O.’s, D.C.’s) and Chiropractic Internists are the experts here. Also, there is the regenerative component to assure healthy cells are forming. The whole body, except for the spinal cord, has the ability to regenerate. Bone, brain, organs…everything can regenerate. There are only a few of us doctors who know and practice this method. This method has been used on over 100,000 patients successfully, even terminal patients given their last rights.

Hi Tim, I hope you’re feeling well. I have two children with Lyme disease. In the 80’s during the AIDS epidemic, patients and their families knew more about the disease than doctors. This is the case with Lyme. You already probably know more than 95% of general practitioners. A few “pro-tips”: 1) Finding a Lyme literate doctor is essential (LLMD) 2) This is the best online forum/grass roots resource: http://latitudes.org/forums/index.php?act=idx It’s a free forum. My wife knows enough from these forums to actually treat people. One of my kids just finished antibiotic treatment after being on them for 18 months. The other one will hopefully be done soon.

I’m hoping you can use your star power to raise aware of this grossly under diagnosed disease. Within the last year, the CDC upped it’s estimated cases from 30,000 to 300,000. I think they are still low by an order of magnitude. BTW, neither of my kids had knowledge of being bitten by a tick. The bullseye rash doesn’t show up in 25% of cases. In addition to joint pain, anxiety, OCD, and stomach pain are very common symptoms. To the rest of the readers, if your children are struggling, keep fighting for answers and don’t listen to any doctor that is not considered “Lyme Literate” (most aren’t).

1) Looking forward to more from you on nurturing gut bacteria

2) Have you ever tried the sport kiteboarding? I think you would love it.

3) I appreciate you tips on how to eat when traveling, but I still find this a hassle, I have a business plan for a restaurant located in airports that is ultra simple with very limited menu of highest quality food from clean supply chain. If you or any VC friends are interested please contact me or please start one.

Re: LYME – I received IV Ozone for my Lyme after 2 rounds Doxy. It worked incredibly well. Was better after first dose. Did a 2nd dose to be sure. No problems.

Fun interview and lots of useful information as always. Thanks Tim!

With regards to gut bacteria you may want to check the work of Dr. Thomas Borody : http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed?cmd=Search&itool=pubmed_Abstract&term=%22Borody%20TJ%22%5BAuthor%5D

A good intro can be found in “Think like a Freak” by Dubner & Levitt or in the following article:

http://freakonomics.com/2011/03/04/freakonomics-radio-the-power-of-poop/

Hey Tim,

Another great random show. I listened to it as a podcast and it translated well in audio only. I’m very sorry to her about the ‘Lyme’ diagnosis (This name needs to be changed to Tick Borne Illness or something else to add more credence to this terrible and complicated disease.) I don’t want to rant about the subject but as a former athlete and teacher, seven years later I am jobless, wifeless, and getting around in a wheelchair and on crutches.

It seems to me that everyone who has ‘beat’ the disease has gone about it from a different approach. Many of these individuals are now ‘experts’ selling their knowledge and herbs and books and advice which to me is appalling. How someone who has gone through the pain of this debilitating disease can then turn around and try to make money from other sufferers is unspeakable. As a good researcher I am sure you are aware of this.

I won’t offer any advice on the subject, as enough of that has been posted already and you seem to be more intelligent than the lot of us so I leave it to you. I do think with your reach in the media, your interest in human performance and now your glimpse into ‘Lyme’, you could do a great service to your community and beyond to bring together some real experts on this subject. This is a lot to ask but as you said in the show, it is your writing, books, etc. that has made a real impact on peoples’ lives and has left you feeling more fulfilled than any tech venture ever could. A post or podcast on gut health would also be very interesting.

The new podcast is great. Keep them coming when you are feeling better!

I wish you well.

Great episode. It’s always fun to virtually hang out with you guys. I hope you’re able to find a solution to your Lyme issue. Who knows, it might become the topic of another book and help tons of people in the future.

Even if you guys were joking about it, I think you should consider the Tim Ferriss version of the Kim Kardashian : Hollywood app. Seriously. The Tim Ferris : 4 Hour work week app. It’s a fun way to apply the principles from the book. 😉

Hi, Tim! I just wanted to know if you had interest in posting a life hack for procrastination that I have come up with. I have been a longtime reader, and the first life-changing thing I learned from you was when I read your genius breakdown of the science of muscle building, and the amazingly efficient workout routine which produces such great results. That article has always struck me as the pinnacle of what a “life hack” is all about. I followed your protocol, and realized an amazing change in body type in 2 months. Prior to that, I had always avoided weight lifting, because muscle growth just seemed mysterious. But after you explained that muscle growth was a scientifically understood process which muscles were programmed to do, and that if you provide the correct stimuli and correct nutrition, they will do, and gave an extremely doable routine for achieving muscle growth, I was motivated to do it.

I have been a lifelong procrastinator, and at times it is so pathological that it really seems like a disease. I began learning neuroscience a while ago, but recently I began exploring the brain structures which procrastination is involved with, to gain a deeper understanding of how it might work. Unfortunately I had to resort to learning how these component brain systems work, rather than simply reading someone else’s explanation, because there is no deep explanation by a neuroscience, that I am aware of. Eventually I came to a breakthrough of understanding how it works, which then means I was able to come up with a way of stopping it in its tracks. You may think that procrastinating and bodybuilding are not similar, but in fact, it can be thought of very much as if there are “anti-procrastination muscles” and therefore in order to see results, one must commit to doing exercises to strengthen these muscles, unless one gets luckily put into an environment where this strengthening occurs naturally. I took a page from your book, in that I remembered what worked for me in bodybuilding, was when I found your method which was extremely efficient as well as scientifically backed up, thus being motivating, since you know that it will achieve results. So this is what I set out to do with my understanding of procrastination. Knowing the science of how it works, I attempted to reverse-engineer a solution which would stop it while also being very efficient and not demanding that people plan to invest 100’s of hours in learning something. I knew that if I could not make it something which only requires 20 minutes of a person’s time a day, then it would not be implemented, by either myself, or anyone else. I was wondering if you would be interested in me publishing it here first?

Off the back of losing my Random Show virginity, I spent my Saturday night watching King of Kong. What a recommendation (!), I absolutely loved it. Wiebe is the man.

Tim buddy, I am sorry about the lyme thing!! I have lupus (not the same I know but also inflammatory, possibly both autoimmune, and similar feeling.) and developed a medical diet for it, let me know if you want the info. I saved my life. I developed Lupus after getting Typhoid fever. Don’t take it lying down.

Hi Tim, ok read your feces/gluten blog – totally right on – but that is just one step. You need the full diet for medical needs, I can help, I have a full blown system for autoimmune. (not sure if my last post posted). Plus I have some new info on digestive repair.

~Jessica

PS, NOBNOC all the way

PPS, Chesticles haaaaaaaa!

Thanks Tim for the Name Of the Wind Suggestion a few episodes ago! I can’t wait for book three. In the name of returning the favor, Check out The Chronicles of Amber. Amazing Read by Roger Zelazny. It’s long but you end up wanting it to be longer.

Hey Tim I’d love you read about how to properly seed your gut and maintain the gut biome. Mine has been ravaged by antibiotics which was totally unnecessary as it has now turned out that I have ulcerative colitis. I want to get healthy quick!

Good luck with your lyme disease. You are a major inspiration for me man. Hope you get well soon.

Great to see you guys still doing your thing. I enjoyed the mutual agreement towards the end when you realized being creative is the real key to this whole thing. You, Tim, continuing to write and Kevin continuing with tech development. Well done guys

Hello Tim! I am also currently in Lyme treatments and thought I would share a bit of what I learned. There is SO much to Lyme and in time you will understand it all. You will have this for the rest of your life. Hang in there. You can get better.

Where to start?? Lyme Disease is a spirochete bacteria, which means it is spiral or cork screw, and goes by the name borrella burgderfori. It most commonly is transmitted by the black-legged deer tick. A majority of the victims, including humans, are animals, dogs, rodents, reptiles and birds… The list goes on. It is found in all 50 states and on every continent except Antarctica.

Additionally, studies have revealed that Lyme disease can also be passed through the placenta of a pregnant woman to her unborn fetus, therefore allowing Lyme to be a gestational disease. DNA of the bacteria has been found in breast milk, as well as suspected in cases of sexual transmission, but research on these two potential means of transmission is still pending.

When someone is bitten by the tick it is usually in its nymph form which is about the size of a poppy seed. Transmission takes 12 or more hours as once the tick is done feeding it puts back anything it doesn’t need. In this process is where the bacteria are transferred. %50 of people will later see the bulls-eye rash that accompanies a bite.

When detected in its early stage, Lyme disease is treatable with an appropriate course of antibiotic therapy. Some develop flu-like symptoms a week or so after becoming infected If undetected and untreated, the bacteria replicates and the disease progresses into its late stages, becoming chronic. However, many people have no symptoms but can develop Lyme symptoms months, years or decades later. The spirochete bacterium screws itself into the body’s cells meanwhile releasing toxins that the body naturally fights off. When it cannot reach the bacteria it continues to attack the cells surrounding the toxins causing it to become an autoimmune disease. The body begins to attack itself.

Treatment for Chronic Lyme disease is prolonged and complex. Patients often require years of intensive conventional and alternative therapies to fight the infection, recover immune function, and gain strength.

Lyme is not the only thing that can be transferred. Many other co-infections such as Babesia and Bartonella come along with the tick bite and can be worse than Lyme itself. There are also secondary infections that with a normal immune system could be fought off without the host even knowing of its existence. Any one of these alone can have debilitating symptoms and a combination can only make matters worse and harder to treat.

The Lyme spirochete bacteria is hard to detect and hard to kill. Lyme disease is growing at epidemic proportions in the United States. The medical community is divided over the diagnosis and treatment guidelines. Health insurance often doesn’t cover the treatment for Chronic Lyme disease.

It is called the great imitator; looking like many other health problems (Fibromyalgia, Arthritis, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, Bells Palsy, ALS, ADD, MS and Lupus). Common Symptoms include: fatigue, neck stiffness or pain, jaw discomfort, muscle pain, joint aches like arthritis- typically in the knees, swollen glands, memory loss, cognitive confusion, vision problems, digestive issues, headaches and fainting, heart problems and even death…. I’m starting to sound like those medicine commercials!!

The standard and most commonly used Lyme test is the ELISA test. This test is not sensitive enough to detect Lyme and can produce a false negative. The more sensitive test is called the IgG and IgM Western Blots test. This test can be ordered through IGeneX Lab.

Hope this helped and you found something in here that you haven’t already learned on your own.

Tim,

Could you do a show about reducing high blood pressure. I’ve been told that it is just hereditary and I need meds to lower it. Problem is the meds dont seem to help anyway.