How To Remove Toxins From Your Body With Exercise - Rhonda Patrick

Summary

In this engaging discussion, Dr. Rhonda Patrick explores how exercise plays a crucial role in mitigating the negative impacts of ultra-processed foods and boosting overall health. Through daily physical activity, individuals can enhance their cognitive functions, increase brain cell production, and improve gut health. The conversation highlights various exercise routines, from high-intensity interval training (HIIT) to compound lifts, showcasing their unique benefits. Dr. Patrick emphasizes the importance of consistency and the adaptability of the body to these exercises, proving that being active is an essential component of leading a healthy lifestyle.

Highlights

• Exercise acts as a 'forgiver' for dietary mistakes—you can enjoy life and still be healthy! 🎉
• Regular exercise plays a significant role in enhancing brain and gut health, essential for overall wellness. 🥦
• Consistency in exercise, whether through HIIT or compound lifts, boosts both physical and cognitive abilities. 💪
• Incorporating aerobic routines can improve longevity by enhancing your VO2 max. 🏃‍♂️

Key Takeaways

• Exercise is a fantastic way to combat the sins of our diet—it’s the 'forgiver of all sins'! 🏋️‍♂️
• Daily movement can improve both short-term and long-term cognitive functions and memory. 🧠
• Fitness routines help increase butyrate-producing bacteria in the gut, enhancing gut health. 🌿
• High-intensity interval training (HIIT) is an efficient method to improve cardiovascular and respiratory health. 🚴‍♂️
• Resistance and aerobic exercises positively impact brain health and cognition. 🧘‍♀️

Overview

Dr. Rhonda Patrick emphasizes the critical role exercise plays in mitigating negative effects from consuming ultra-processed foods. Engaging in consistent physical activities, such as high-intensity interval training (HIIT) or resistance exercises, acts as a 'savior' for our dietary choices by enhancing glucose absorption and improving cognition both in the short and long term.

Highlighting the body and mind benefits, Dr. Patrick explains that exercise boosts butyrate-producing bacteria in the gut, contributing to better intestinal health and increased production of helpful metabolites like lactate. These benefits exemplify why exercise is a must-do for those looking to maintain a healthy, balanced lifestyle.

The conversation also underscores the importance of choosing a sustainable and efficient exercise routine. Whether it involves compound lifts or aerobic exercises, integrating regular movement into your daily schedule can significantly benefit your cardiovascular fitness and brain health, extending beyond just looking fit to enhancing overall longevity and wellness.

Chapters

• 00:00 - 00:30: Introduction and Overview of Toxins and Ultra-Processed Foods This chapter discusses the challenges and strategies related to mitigating the impact of ultra-processed foods in our daily lives. The key takeaways include the concept of 'imperfect avoidance' where individuals are encouraged to consume whole foods whenever possible, especially when at home. It emphasizes the importance of meal preparation on weekends and creating an environment conducive to making healthier food choices.
• 00:30 - 01:00: Exercise as a Mitigator of Dietary Sins The chapter discusses the role of exercise in balancing out the occasional indulgence in unhealthy foods. It suggests that consistently making healthy choices 80% of the time allows for flexibility and enjoyment of 'ultra-processed' foods during special occasions without significant guilt. Exercise is portrayed as a critical component, acting as a mitigator or 'forgiver' of dietary lapses, emphasizing its importance as a part of daily personal care.
• 01:00 - 01:30: Exercise Benefits on Metabolism and Gut Health This chapter discusses the benefits of exercise on metabolism and gut health. Regular exercise helps in managing added sugar and glucose by utilizing them in muscles, thereby aiding in better cognitive function in both the short and long term. Additionally, exercise increases butyrate-producing bacteria in the gut, which is beneficial for gut health. These benefits occur independently of dietary changes, indicating that exercise alone acts as a beneficial stressor on the body, brain, and gut.
• 01:30 - 02:30: Types of Exercise and Their Benefits The chapter discusses various types of exercise and their benefits on the body, specifically focusing on how exercise induces adaptations. These adaptations include cardiovascular improvements and increased production of butyrate-producing bacteria in the gut, which enhances gut health and resilience. The discussion underscores the importance of regular exercise in promoting overall well-being by explaining the physiological changes and benefits that occur as a result of consistent physical activity.
• 02:30 - 03:30: Exercise and Cognition Improvements This chapter discusses the impact of exercise on cognition and general health, touching upon the benefits of different exercise types depending on the goals. High-intensity exercises and compound lifts are mentioned in the context of building muscle mass, strength, and testosterone levels.
• 03:30 - 05:00: High-Intensity Training and its Impact This chapter discusses the impact of high-intensity training, particularly focusing on multi-joint compound exercises such as squats, deadlifts, rows, and shoulder presses. These exercises are highlighted for their effectiveness in significantly increasing muscle mass, strength, function, and testosterone levels. Additionally, the chapter touches on the cognitive benefits of high-intensity training, suggesting that such exercises can provide a 'quick pump' that may aid in short-term memory recall.
• 05:00 - 06:30: Improving VO2 Max and Longevity The chapter discusses the benefits of high-intensity interval training (HIIT) on improving VO2 Max and increasing longevity. It highlights that short HIIT sessions, even as short as 10 minutes, can significantly boost cognition and memory recall. Additionally, a study is mentioned indicating that a moderate to high-intensity workout at 70% of maximum heart rate for 30 minutes can have profound benefits without the need for exhaustive exercise routines.
• 06:30 - 09:00: Discussion on Different Exercise Equipment The chapter discusses the benefits of integrating exercise with learning, specifically highlighting how engaging in physical activities like cycling or high-intensity workouts can enhance memory recall. The speaker shares a personal hack of combining study sessions followed by exercise to boost short-term cognition. This approach is presented as a strategy leveraging physical activity to improve mental performance.
• 09:00 - 10:30: Impact of Sleep Temperature on Sleep Quality The chapter discusses the positive impact of aerobic and high-intensity exercise on brain health and cognition. It highlights a study conducted on older adults where engaging in aerobic exercise for a year increased the size of their hippocampus by 2%, countering the usual atrophy. The discussion underscores the benefits of exercise not just for muscle gain but also for brain health.
• 10:30 - 12:00: Conclusion and Promotion The chapter discusses the benefits of physical exercise on both physical and mental health. Resistance training, while beneficial for muscle growth and brain health, should be complemented with aerobic exercise to improve cardiorespiratory fitness. The most time-efficient aerobic exercise is high-intensity interval training (HIIT), especially for those who are time-constrained and prioritize weight lifting.

How To Remove Toxins From Your Body With Exercise - Rhonda Patrick Transcription

• 00:00 - 00:30 what are the best ways to mitigate the impact of ultr processed foods given sort of a typical way that people are going to exist in the world how much can it be offset I mean I think I think to answer your question is like you're it kind of goes back to the imper imperfect avoidance right like you're going to do what you can and most of the time when you're at home and in an environment where you can eat Whole Foods do some meal prep on weekends you know do what you can to kind of make it more convenient for you to have Whole Foods you're gon to you're going to do that
• 00:30 - 01:00 and then when you're traveling or you're going out to have fun at a stadium or whatever you're going to live your life and have fun and like have have the Ultra pess Foods right because if you're if you're 80% of the time doing it the right way you're really doing you're doing good um I think exercise to to really answer your question is it's the it's the forgiver of all s most of our sins basically so you know if you are if you are exercising and it is a part of your personal hygiene you do you're
• 01:00 - 01:30 doing it almost every day to some degree you are you are mitigating you know so the added sugar component right you're getting glucose and bring it in into your muscle you're improving cognition in so many different ways exercise plays a role in in improving cognition not only in the short- term but in the long term your um you know exercise also increases but rate product um butter rate producing bacteria independent of of diet so exercise is actually a stress on the body on the brain on the gut
• 01:30 - 02:00 and it actually very very trans causes intestinal permeability but as an adaptation like exercise does adaptations it does cardiovascular adaptations your brain adapts everything's you know adapting um your your gut actually increases the production of butter rate producing bacteria so that the next time you exercise guess what you have more butter rate around to like really help help the um your gut be more robust so I think that there's like you could just come up with like every explanation why exercise
• 02:00 - 02:30 is going to be beneficial for X Y or Z unhealthy thing that you do and it's going to be like okay at the end of the day I am I am getting that exercise I'm doing I'm really doing a good job is there a particular type of exercise here I'm going to guess that you're going to tell me it's high intensity again well I mean I think it depends on on what you're what you're looking for right I mean so if you're looking to build muscle mass and strength and increase testosterone more we're going to talk about compound lifts right like doing
• 02:30 - 03:00 multi-joint compound types of exercises like squats and deadlifts and you know rows and overhead presses shoulder presses on and on like that's going to help you robustly increase your muscle mass increase your muscle strength function and testosterone like those are things that are known to affect all those things so um you know if we're talking about improving cognition in the short term like you want a quick pump like let's say you want to remember something then we're talking a
• 03:00 - 03:30 high-intensity interval training session short like not you don't want to like because you can you can do a you know an hourong hit workout and you're just drained after it right um but there's studies showing that even like a 10-minute hit workout will boost cognition and memory recall actually there was an interesting study where um doing 30 minutes of it wasn't necessarily high high intensity but you know you're like 70% Your your max heart rate so you're you're you're moderate getting to the high level doing that so
• 03:30 - 04:00 learning something and then doing the 30 minute cycling workout and then having a test after like on your memory recall it boosts memory recall so if you really like it's a little hack I use it all the time I used it today like I go through some of my material do do my workout in my case I only had 10 minutes so I did a 10-minute high intensity workout my favorite is the back toback tatas I do 16 you know intervals but um you know that's something I use to to boost cognition in the short term but there's
• 04:00 - 04:30 just just so much data out there on aerobic exercise high-intensity exercise improving cognition increasing the number of brain cells in the brain there was one study I think I mentioned it last time on the podcast this was in older adults they did aerobic exercise for a year they increase their their hippocampus by like 2% usually they're atrophying okay they increase the size of it by 2% amazing so I I do think like yes if you're someone who likes to like you know gain muscle yeah exactly you
• 04:30 - 05:00 want to you want to gain muscle great there resistance training is good for the brain too and there are studies on that as well but if you want to really have brain benefits and really um you want to have your cardiorespiratory Fitness Fitness improved you have to add in some aerobic exercise in there the most time efficient way to do it would be hit because let's say you're like I'm not going to go run 10 miles a week like I'm going to be lifting weights I only have so much time in the day right
• 05:00 - 05:30 that's where the the high-intensity interval training comes in because it's very time efficient right not only that when you are when you're getting into that high-intensity vigorous exercise type of workout that's when you're making a metabolite called lactate we've talked about this when your body's working so hard that it has to use glucose um without using it through a the mitochondria basically it's like you're not you don't need oxygen you can't get oxygen to your mitochondria quick enough to use glucose and so
• 05:30 - 06:00 you're making it you're making energy without the mitochondria and that makes lactate as a byproduct turns out it's not a byproduct it's an active metabolite that's like amazing and it's getting into the brain it's um it's been shown to increase brain Drive neurotropic Factor right that's a very important neurotropic factor that can improve short-term memory long-term memory it's it staves off brain aging it makes you feel better it's involved with like neuroplasticity you know being able to adapt to changing I mean it just it goes on and on like you can't like you
• 06:00 - 06:30 you want this stuff right and so lactase out there it's a signaling molecule telling your brain to make it it's an adaptation because your brain is working hard while you're working out and so your your body's more all of the Bros that just want to do sets of eight to 14 are going I need to sign up to Barry's boot camp I'm GNA have I'm going to be sweaty I'm G to have to do all of this work but you convinced me last year and I've been doing the Norwegian 4x4 as much as I can remember and as much as I can tolerate since then and that's a really good workout for cardor respitory Fitness right improving your V2 Max
• 06:30 - 07:00 which is really important for longevity like that's a big longevity marker I mean if you just think about like sitting here talking having this conversation it requires an amount of oxygen to like breathe in and be able to utilize right as we get older like even that becomes hard so you really want to have a high level you want to like build it up as much as you can because you're going to be pulling on it and going down as you age right things like walking to your car have you ever seen like an older person out of breath just by like walking to their car right so you V2 Max
• 07:00 - 07:30 Norwegian 4x4 so this is four minutes of like the maximal intensity that you can sustain for that four minutes this a sustainable intensity and then you have a uh 3 minute recovery Total light exercise and then you go back at it again and you do that four times assault bike after a year of testing I've come to believe that the assault bike is the best place to do it it's it's actually it assaults you like it's so hard I it's it's well the reason the reason I say assault bike is that with this what you
• 07:30 - 08:00 need is to be able to go very slowly very easily so you don't want something you need to strap into or strap out of so a rowing machine is kind of a little bit ungainly when you've then got to go slow uh the same I guess a ski you can pick up and put down quite easily but uh running on a True Form speeding up slowing down in that way is just so difficult and doing it on a static bike a Carol bike or something else fantastic but you do have to work a little bit harder because it's just the lower half of your body right so my choice my preference is bike Carol bike great
• 08:00 - 08:30 assault bike kind of easier to be harder if that makes sense it does um but yeah I've I've tried I agree I I I like I think the bike well I actually think the bike is harder than when I do the rower I on my three minutes off I actually just end up like not really doing anything because I switch off with my husband and he'll be on so it's like I actually get four minutes off sometimes but yeah but it also it does improve cognition in the brain that's another you know there's some some research on on that as well where like at least if you're you're being time efficient and
• 08:30 - 09:00 it doesn't have to be the Norwegian 4x4 like like some you could do a minute on a minute off do that 10 times or you could do tatas right 20 seconds on 10 seconds off all of these protocols H have been shown to improve you toax they've been shown to improve cognition um also like mitochondrial function so yeah Norwegian 4x4 you're going to get a little bit more of a boost because it is a longer interval but you have to do something that you're going to consistently do right I I I found the 4x4 to be quite uh easy to stick to I
• 09:00 - 09:30 it's definitely miserable because 4 minutes is a very long time at a high intensity but there's a bit of me when I'm doing 20 on 10 off to batter unless it's a really demanding movement that just think I can't I'm not I can't work hard enough I can't Sprint fast enough in this 202nd period And I can't recover enough in the 10 seconds to I that Cadence for me maybe it's just a psychological thing that Cadence doesn't quite seem to work in the same way I get
• 09:30 - 10:00 it you know so I when I when I'm really time strapped I do I do my tiata which is a 10-minute one and I agree it's I typically crank up the resistance and stand while I'm doing it because I really have to get my heart rate up I don't find the 10 seconds is enough recovery so my performance goes down on subsequent intervals for sure but I do find when I do a 20-minute hit workout so I have 20 seconds on 20 seconds off and then I have a little bit of time in between my you know sets stations whatever right so I find that my performance goes up because I have a
• 10:00 - 10:30 little bit more recovery time and and that I really do like that 20 minute I mean 20 second on 20 second off 20 minute workout is kind of like a a go-to if it's like it is because you know like you said it's like the 10sec recovery is really it's just not enough and I do notice that my next you know five intervals are not as as as hard yeah sucking on water trying to get it to go through before we continue sleep isn't just about how long you rest but how well your body stay days in its optimal
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• 11:30 - 12:00 tuning in if you enjoyed that clip with Ronda the full length episode in all of its scientific glory is available right here come on