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Optimizing Investing, Blood, Hormones, and Life (Podcast Double-Header: #63 and #65)

  • Tim Ferriss

    • Raoul_-_MPEG_Streamclip_1_9_2_©_2004-2008_Squared_5Discussing life and investing with Mark Hart and Raoul Pal.

    [DISCLAIMER: I’m not a doctor, nor do I play one on the Internet. Speak with a medical professional before doing anything medical-related, m’kay?]

    There is something here for everyone.

    This post details two jam-packed discussions  — one with world-renowned macro investors and investment strategists (Mark Hart and Raoul Pal), and another with a top performance doc you’ve referenced hundreds of times (Peter Attia, MD).

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    In both, we address dozens of topics, including:

    – How do you choose an optimal investment style?

    – What’s the most useful definition of “ROI” for lifestyle purposes?

    – What are the 5 lesser-known physical tests you should consider?

    – How does hormone therapy fit into the bigger performance and longevity picture (or not)?

    – Productivity and exercise/diet tips from all participants.

    Below, you’ll also find the most comprehensive show notes and links I’ve done to date. They’re DEEP.  If you like them, please let me know in the comments, as these take a TON of time to transcribe and summarize.

    EPISODE 63 — I am interviewed by Mark Hart and Raoul Pal for Real Vision Television, which was created to combat the dumbed-down approach to finance in traditional media. Mark predicted and bet on the subprime mortgage crisis, the European sovereign default crisis, and more. As Forbes put it, related to Mark, “Sometimes, combing through a mountain of manager letters felt like reading the newspaper years in advance.” We talk about nearly everything in this roundtable.

    You can find the transcript of this episode here. Transcripts of all episodes can be found here.

    Ep 63: Hedge Funds, Investing, and Optimizing Lifestyle (Mark Hart, Raoul Pal)

    EPISODE 65 — Peter Attia, MD, answers your most popular 10-15 questions (e.g. top blood tests, hormone therapy, increasing VO2 max, long-term ketosis, etc.), as voted on by thousands of you. Peter is President of NuSI and a tremendous endurance athlete in his own right.

    You can find the transcript of this episode here. Transcripts of all episodes can be found here.

    Ep 65: Supplements, Blood Tests, and Near-Death Experiences (Dr. Peter Attia)

    This podcast is brought to you by Mizzen + Main. Mizzen + Main makes the only “dress” shirts I now travel with — fancy enough for important dinners but made from athletic, sweat-wicking material. No more ironing, no more steaming, no more hassle. Click here for the exact shirts I wear most often. Order one of their dress shirts this week and get a Henley shirt (around $60 retail) for free.  Just add the two you like here to the cart, then use code “TIM” at checkout.

    This episode is also brought to you by 99Designs, the world’s largest marketplace of graphic designers. Did you know I used 99Designs to rapid prototype the cover for The 4-Hour Body? Here are some of the impressive results.

    QUESTION(S) OF THE DAY: What is the best investment advice you’ve ever read or heard? Please share and explore answers in the comments here.

    Do you enjoy this podcast? If so, could you please leave a short review here? I read them, and they keep me going. Thanks!

    And here are the copious show notes and links for both episodes…

    Part 1 – Investing and Life Optimization – Episode #63 (Links and Time Stamps)

    People Mentioned

    Companies Mentioned

    Books Mentioned

    Selected Links from the Episode

    Time Stamps

    Key Takeaway Show Notes

    How to Approach Productivity Improvements

    There are a number of ways to try and improve the performance of a company, group of people, or single person.

    If you look at it like rally car racing, you have a racetrack that is designed to kill you.

    People tend to have this separation of mind and body, but at the end of the day you have certain levels of neurotransmitters that are produced and depleted at a certain rate, and that is the rate-limiting step in your mental performance.

    There are also process things like what are the daily habits and ways you approach turning your effort on or off for productivity and recovery throughout the day that you can tweak.

    On Self-Tracking

    You want to establish a self-tracking baseline.

    What you are interested in (in terms of blood values) is not just a snapshot in time, but rather you want to understand the trends.

    Journaling is also a good way to establish a baseline in terms of a daily and weekly routine to identify what led you to states of flow or what 20% of activities / people are producing 80% of your negative emotions / bad decision-making.

    On Hacking

    There are many ways to circumvent the 10,000-hour rule for almost any skill.

    One easy hack is to have 30 grams of protein within 30 minutes of waking up (lentils, spinach, and two whole eggs for example).

    If you have trouble sleeping, it is often due to low blood sugar.

    If you have to have a cheat meal you could have a tablespoon of vinegar before the meal, which will help lower the glycemic index (your glucose response to that meal).

    On Time Management

    Time is one of several currencies.

    Time is non-renewable, whereas capital is renewable.

    In the hierarchy of prioritization (past a certain point of Maslow’s needs), time should take priority.

    If you don’t have time it is an indication of not having sufficiently clear priorities.

    On Cold (Ice Baths)

    Cold exposure can improve immune function, serve as anti-depressant therapy, and effects hormones like adiponectin (which leads to increased rate of fat loss in many cases).

    On Lucid Dreaming

    You can further reinforce or develop your skills while you’re sleeping during lucid dreaming.

    On Journaling

    Journaling has tremendous value, especially if you don’t view yourself as a writer.

    Writing allows you to freeze your thoughts in a form that you can analyze.

    You should write down your fears and worries, and explore them. This will clarify what they are.

    Part of the value is taking these muddy distractive thoughts and imprisoning them on paper so you can get on with your day.

    On Constantly Improving

    Seeking constant improvement and dissatisfaction do not have to go hand-in-hand.

    The way you reach equilibrium, or the sensation of balance, is by having appreciation and a set of activities and practices for that.

    On Enjoying the Journey

    At the end of the day you have to focus on the process because, due to good or bad luck, you can get a bad result after a very good process or a great result after a very bad process.

    Part 2 with Dr. Peter Attia – Episode #65 (Links and Time Stamps)

    Medical Terminology –

    People Mentioned

    Companies Mentioned

    Books Mentioned

    Time Stamps

    Key Takeaway Show Notes

    What Are the Top Five Biological Tests?

    This answer depends on an individual-by-individual basis and the risks each person faces (cardiovascular disease, cancer, etc.)

    Through the lens of preventing death these five tests are the most important:

    1. APOE Genotype – helps us understand what diseases you may be more (or less) at risk for.
    2. LDL Particle Number via NMR (technology that can count the number of lipoproteins in the blood) – counts all of the LDL particles, which are the dominant particles that traffic cholesterol in the body both to and from the heart and to and from the liver. We know the higher the number of these particles the greater at risk you are for cardiovascular disease.
    3. LP(a) via NMR – This is the most atherogenic particle in the body. If this is elevated (independent of the LDL particle number) it is an enormous predictor of risk and something to act on indirectly (diet and drugs don’t seem to work as effectively in mitigating this).
    4. OGTT (Oral Glucose Tolerance Test) – This is a time 0-hour, time 1-hour, and time 2-hour test that looks at insulin and glucose. The 1-hour mark is where you may see the early warning signs with elevated glucose levels (anything over 40-50 on insulin), which can represent hyperinsulinemia (a harbinger for metabolic problems).
    5. IGF-1 (Insulin Growth Factor 1 Level) – This is a pretty strong driver of cancer. Diet can help keep IGF-1 levels low.

    Should You Eat Carbs Following Weight Training to Promote Anabolism Within the Muscle?

    It depends what you are optimizing for.

    If your primary objective is to increase you muscle size, then yes there is a benefit to consuming carbohydrates and / or whey protein.

    However, if you are someone like Peter who could care less about the size of your muscles then the answer is no you should not do that.

    What Are the Top Supplement Recommendations?

    There are few things everyone should take across the board unanimously.

    Peter takes:

    He takes all of these because he is managing to certain targeted levels for all of these markers that he can’t get to without supplementing.

    Peter does not take:

    Should the Ketogenic Diet be a Short-term Intervention or a Long-term Lifestyle?

    Peter is not sure, but questions the evidence of any society (for example, the Inuit culture) that has been claimed to have lived entirely on a ketogenic diet in perpetuity.

    Nobody has done a long-term study of people on ketogenic diets.

    There is a lot of documentation on ketogenic diets being safe and effective, at least over the short-term (less than 1-year) for type 2 diabetes and obesity.

    Peter spent 2.5 years in ketosis, but hasn’t been for a little over 1 year consistently.

    Going forward he would use a diet that cycles in and out of ketosis, but it is less about him believing there is long-term harm in ketosis and more about him scratching other itches in experiencing a broader array of foods.

    It is pretty clear when a ketogenic doesn’t work.

    On Blood Testing at Home

    What is interesting is what a company like Theranos is doing, which is creating a black box that allows you to use less than a thimble of blood and use that for a very broad array of testing.

    Should You Not Drink Alcohol

    Peter has never seen convincing evidence that the addition of alcohol creates a health benefit.

    For some people, ethanol alcohol, up to reasonable doses, has no harm.

    Peter recommends doing an elimination-reintroduction test.

    What Type of Cardio is Best For You?

    The type of cardio activity that puts an undue stress on the heart, in terms of cardiac output, is not ideal.

    The heart has to expand (open much wider) to accompany the extra blood volume.

    At very low levels of physical activity the outcomes are not good (people don’t live that long).

    At medium levels of physical activity (30-45 minutes a session / 4 sessions a week / modest output) had the best outcomes where people lived the longest.

    Really high levels of physical activity (greater duration / greater intensity) resulted in the curve falling down again.

    Testosterone Replacement for Men

    This is a complicated topic because we live in a society where somehow we have let morality get in the way of science.

    Testosterone replacement is a viable option in men with whom levels are deficient and symptoms justify the use.

    The data is not clear that hormone replacement in men results in an increased risk of heart disease.

    The problem with all hormone replacement is that the numbers alone aren’t significant, which means you have to treat patients based on symptoms.

    How Peter Maintains His Productivity

    Peter is a big fan of creating to-do lists, and he carries physical cards with him for daily, weekly, and long-term professional tasks. He also carries a personal monthly to-do list.

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