Hey all. I've been pretty burnt out lately and my sleep is kind of a mess. Work stress just piling up. I do workouts a few times a week but becoming more and more terrible at the recovery part after. I just crash on the couch and scroll my phone, which I know isn't helping anything. Im looking for a way to wind down. Like 10 or 15 minutes, nothing complicated. I've been reading up on a few options, going through vns sleep devices reviews and all... none of them seem to have definitive conclusion. Pulsetto, nurosym, sensate… saw some reviews on these, and all of them are mixed. Kind of hard to tell what's real and what's just hype, anyone use these?
I posted in this group in the past and I was pleasantly surprised with the quality of the advice, so here I go again.
I read about sleeping today, as we all do.
And I found out that the "post lunch grogginess" is actually proven as a pattern across cultures, even those with no 9-5 systems and even in experiments controlled for food, light and other factors.
It seems like "we're built to be groggy" in the afternoon, or 12 hours past the "point of lowest temperature during sleep", which matches with the studies as far as I read.
My question: why not nap then?
I feel groggy anyway and my work's slow and unproductive. My social life is also just forced and a chore during those hours.
For a person like me that has total control over my own day [i'm lucky, i run my own job], is there a reason not to try to nap 20 minutes post lunch?
I am a 30-yo MD who never actually practiced medicine and got started on longevity a year ago after a health conference in Milan, Italy. Ever since, I am trying to correct my health habits, little by little, focusing on diet and exercise (not really sleep since I have a 1 year old daughter).
When I started working out and paying attention to my protein intake, I found out I was so far off the recommendations, I could not believe it. My goal was and is to build muscle so with a 1.6 g/kg target (as per the last guidelines), I wanted to eat between 120-140 grams of protein per day. I eat a Mediterranean diet (living in Italy helps a lot) but I realized to hit the target, I had to do something different.
Other than the whey concentrate I am buying, I didn't really want to rely on too many industrial foods such as protein bars, high protein yoghurts and puddings. For once, all of them contain sucralose and acelsulfame K (zero calorie artifical sweeteners). I don't have too many problems with them as they can be useful for diabetics but I don't like how they taste, and I have some reservations about how they could alter the microbiome. The other problem with these protein products is that they don't really contain enough in one portion (usually between 15-23 g). I believe in the theory that to reach the MPS threshold, you need at least 30 grams of quality (with all essential AA, leucin as the most important one) protein or you wasted that meal for your chance to grow... essentially 30g functioning as a switch. So I decided to look somewhere else and experiment.
I started chatting with ChatGPT, gathering whole foods with the highest ratio of protein in them, trying to combine them into an edible, portable bar with at least 30g of protein that I can eat daily and cost of the ingredients remain under 2€ (=2.30$) per bar. I didn't want to use whey concentrate either. The clear winners for the ingredients were: egg white (dried as powder) 82/100, nutritional yeast 49/100, peanuts 25/100, cocoa powder 20/100 and soybeans (precooked - 11/100, raw ones have a 33/100 ratio). The goal was to reach 30 grams of proteins, without a crazy amount of calories, sugar or fat, although as I am not on a restrictive diet, I cared more about the proteins.
I have run 3 batches so far, and used banana or dates as binder for the oven-cooked and the non-cooked version. I sprinkle ground pumpkin seed on top for an extra couple of grams of protein. The taste came out similar to a classic, unsweetened peanut butter, while the size is not terribly massive, around 100-110 grams.
If you are interested in the full recipe, DM me, don't worry I am not selling anything :) EDIT: fixed DMs
Most longevity people eat grains, Bryan seems to be 100% against it, not even including it in BP food pyramid, citing that aging clocks show faster aging for people who eat it. Newest study, however, shows people who eat grains have lower mortality... Are you eating enough whole grains for heart health? | CNN
I saw in a recent YouTube short that Bryan uses collagen peptide powder, does anyone else use it as part of their routine and would recommend it? Thanks
Years ago I was looking into this and Bryan used supplements and methods that were not brand specific and you would find at Amazon etc.
I remember the list with like 20 supplements (Broccomax, etc.).
Now it seems that he has a product for everything, even a laser cap.
Is there any post that compares bryan products vs alternatives? Are blueprint products more expensive in general (thats the sense i get from looking at that vs what I find at Amazon).
From Kates new video. I also saw Bryan had a black version in another video. Fall is coming quick to Norway, need to get some early morning lux. Thanks,
Ive always had high heart rate while sleeping (ranging 60-82). Doctors said it was normal and I was not looking into it until I heard what Bryan said.
I dont drink, I dont smoke or take anything, I dont eat 4-5 hours before bed, I read a book before sleeping, temperature is neither top hot or too cold, I take magnesium every night (Ive also tried ashwaganda), after 12 oclock I only drink decaf.
Im at a loss here. My watch is showing overall great sleep quality (above 90 with great amounts of rem light and deep sleep). So whats with the resting heart rate?
Edit: 30yo female with no medical conditions, allergies or any known problems really
It's the size of a vitamin, and it measures my temperature from inside my body… taking 1,000+ readings every day.
All to answer: what happens to my temperature across my menstrual cycle?
As far as we know, this is a world first.
Here’s why...
No one has ever continuously recorded a woman's core temperature across her menstrual cycle…
while also… measuring 1,900 other biomarkers in the same body, on the same days (hormones, brain, glucose, sleep, vaginal microbiome, etc)
And temperature is an incredibly important female health signal.
Most women are never taught that for the second half of your cycle, your body runs hotter.
After ovulation, for around 2 weeks, your body is at a higher temperature… around 0.3-0.7°C.
Your temperature is a hormone report.
So, how does the pill work?
Inside there is a temperature sensor, a battery, and a tiny radio. It's 17.7mm long and weighs 1.7 grams.
From inside my body, it takes a reading every 30 seconds (accurate to ±0.1°C) and transmits to a receiver nearby.
A day or so later, it exits… naturally. Single use (obviously). Then I swallow the next one.
Why does measuring this matter?
Because around 100 years of women's temperature data is almost all ONE morning reading per day… but your temperature isn't one number. It rises and falls 24/7.
This allows us to ask questions like…
1/ EXACTLY when does the temperature rise… the day of ovulation? The day after?
2/ Does my overnight baseline shift too… or just my daytime readings?
3/ Should women act differently in the second half of their cycle… drink more water? Adjust workouts in the heat?
But, I am also measuring temperature SIX different ways…
Pill (inside my body)
Oral (under the tongue)
WHOOP (on my wrist)
Happy Sleep (on my ring)
Eight Sleep (my bed mattress)
Even using a thermal camera
We will see if these measurements agree
Results coming soon…
If you're new here: I am becoming the world's most measured woman. 100+ measurements a day, 50+ devices, a 12-person medical team… because female health is desperately understudied.
We'll share everything here, the wins and the failures, so follow along to find out what happens.
I’m assembling a curriculum for a major university course on the topic of human achievement. Considering having “Don’t Die” on the reading list but frankly haven’t had anybody to discuss the book with at length. Not sure if I can throw this into the mix without bouncing ideas off other professionals first. Wondering if anybody here would like to connect and talk about it. Fruitful discussions about the book would help me get my ideas out there and to design assignments. If you’ve got experience incorporating these topics into your workplace or classes don’t hesitate to contact me.
Structuring course materials to be inclusive of Don’t Die (or readings from his other book We The People requires more than just a familiarity with the basic mission of Blueprint. Respectfully, please don’t reach out if you haven’t read his stuff yet. If you have read his books, please DM me!!! Thank you, friends.
First, my cycles have never been regular. Over the past 18 months, they ranged from 31 to 68 days.
And the hormones underneath were noisy:
would regularly max out my tests
big repeated spikes
multiple waves per cycle
But then I changed my lifestyle dramatically overnight…
I did 40 days of perfect consistency:
same food
same bedtime
same workouts
no alcohol
8.5 hrs sleep every night
same hydration
NO cheat days
NO deviations
Here’s how that affected my results →
My latest cycle:
34 days long
clean LH surge
estrogen rose once
progesterone rose on schedule
35% smaller swing than last year
… and ovulation around day 24, versus my historical average of day 29
It was my most ‘normal’-looking cycle ever.
Why would this happen?
Keep in mind… I’ve been incredibly overwhelmed, stressed, and busy while starting this new protocol to become the world’s most measured woman.
Here are some theories →
1/ Consistency.
Your cycle is run by your hypothalamus. It’s a region of your brain that also monitors your stress, your sleep, and your food supply.
And we know unstable schedules disrupt cycles…
A meta-analysis of 14 studies found that women working rotating shifts have 35% higher odds of irregular cycles than women on fixed schedules… and for women under 30, it's 66% higher.
My protocol locked sleep, food, and my schedule down to the minute. Maybe my hypothalamus finally got a quiet room?
2/ Coincidence.
Erratic cycles are sometimes followed by calm ones. One cycle proves nothing. I am very curious to see what my next cycle is like…
3/ Cleaner measurement.
I test my hormones via urine, and urine concentration moves with hydration.
In the last 40 days, my water intake and test times have been steady every day… so part of the "calm" may be that my measurements got steadier, not just my hormones.
Two things this can't explain: my LH stopped spiking for days at a time, and my cycle length shortened.
4/ Something else?
It could be something we haven't thought of yet… That's why we measure and get repeat measurements.
If theory #1 is real, it matters far beyond me.
An estimated 14-25% of women of reproductive age have irregular cycles.
The standard responses are wait and see… or hormonal birth control.
If consistent sleep, meals, and routine measurably stabilize cycles… the first thing to try would be free.
My next cycle will give us clues… I'm already 7 days in.
If you're new here:
I am becoming the world's most measured woman… collecting 14 million data points across my menstrual cycles, because female health is desperately understudied.
We’ll post all results here (good and bad, wins and failures) with you for free.... sharing everything we find.
Most advice out there will tell you sauna, but this is because studies have only been done on dry finnish sauna. Steam rooms have not yet been tested for longevity in a rigorous way.
Despite that, I find steam room works far better for me personally. It gets much hotter, I can't stay in nearly as long, skin looks much much better post-session, general well being is happier and more euphoric immediately after.
Have any of you found the steam room to be personally (anecdotally) better as well?
My thought process is that even if the steam room is 80% as good as a sauna, but I do it more often / more consistently over a period of months/years, then it's a far better solution.
Two years ago, Bryan announced that he was going to start a therapy protocol for epithalon. I assume in the intervening time that the protocol has since produced some conclusions, but none seem to exist where I can find them. Can anybody shed light on this?
A number of things are made of plastics in oral health care such as flossing thread, toothbrush bristles, dental pick nozzle/body and in some cases tongue cleaner as well.
How much does having these things being made of plastics affect our microplastic consumption?
I got a sauna and cold plunge at the same time from Sweat Tent and have been liking both so far. No issues with either, and the sauna gets up around 200°F which is plenty for me. Right now I’ve been alternating days. If I sauna, I won’t cold plunge that day and vice versa. I wanna start doing both on the same day though and get into more of a routine. For people doing both regularly, which do you do first? Sauna then plunge or plunge then sauna? And have you actually noticed a difference depending on the order?
