In this digital, everything-is-online age, interacting with electronics’ screens is an unavoidable part of life. Actually, one could argue that it’s becoming our life. A 2020 survey polling 2,000 US adults on their digital device usage found that we spend nearly five hours in front of computer screens, four and a half on smartphones, another four and a half watching TV, and well over three hours playing gaming devices daily. That’s more than 17 hours total every day—and this was before the pandemic. (If you’re curious, the amount of time has since increased by about two more hours.) 

All that time in front of screens saps our eye strength, and, for those of us whose jobs require sitting at a computer for extended periods, limits the work we can get done. While cutting down on our overall digital usage is certainly a healthy move, the fact remains that most of us have to spend a substantial amount of time in front of screens to be productive.

Two plant compounds—lutein and zeaxanthin—may be able to help protect your eyes from the strain and fatigue associated with looking at screens, supporting eye health while also helping you to keep focus on tasks and complete them more effectively.

What Are Lutein and Zeaxanthin?

Lutein and zeaxanthin are carotenoids—the pigments responsible for the color in certain fruits and vegetables. Lutein is found in dark, leafy greens, while zeaxanthin can be sourced from beans, corn, and oranges, as well as greens. Both carotenoids help protect the body from cellular damage caused by oxidative stress, specifically in the eyeballs.

Exposure to light and oxygen produces free radicals in the eyes, and lutein and zeaxanthin step in to mitigate the damage. They’re known to help scavenge free radicals as well as aid in filtering out blue light—the kind emitted from electronic devices that can damage the eyes, disrupt sleep patterns, and negatively affect cognitive performance. In fact, lutein and zeaxanthin can absorb up to 90% of the blue light that enters the eyes.

While the two compounds are structurally very similar, research in the Archives of Biochemistry and Biophysics indicates that lutein and zeaxanthin are most effective when taken in combination. A mix of the two outperforms either carotenoid when consumed in the same dose separately.

Lutein and Zeaxanthin for Visual and Cognitive Performance

Lutein and zeaxanthin are notable carotenoids due to the fact that they’re the only ones that get stored in the macula region of the retina—in the back of the eyeball. This area is crucial for good vision, and science has shown that a breakdown in lutein and zeaxanthin over time (due to age and a poor diet) can hurt eyesight.

Fortunately, research indicates that lutein and zeaxanthin supplementation promotes levels of the two carotenoids in the retina, thereby supporting eye health.

General eye and vision problems resulting from prolonged use of digital devices is called Computer Vision Syndrome (CVS). Symptoms can include eyestrain, headache, blurred vision, eye dryness, and neck and shoulder pain. Supplementation with lutein and zeaxanthin may play a role in combating CVS. 

A 2017 study in the journal Foods had 48 healthy young adults supplement with lutein and zeaxanthin for six months while they were exposed to at least six hours of blue light from digital devices daily. The researchers found that the blue-light filters in the subjects’ eyes increased in thickness over that time while their overall sleep quality improved. The supplementation also seemed to assist with headaches, eye strain and fatigue, and visual performance.

Other research in the British Journal of Nutrition concluded that lutein supported visual performance in long-term computer users. Meanwhile, a study in Opthalmic & Physiological Optics demonstrated that supplementation with either lutein or zeaxanthin aided visual performance in dim light conditions.

And good news for writers and editors: Applied Ergonomics reports that a lutein/zeaxanthin supplement (with added blackcurrant extract) helped subjects resist visual fatigue on proof-reading tasks.

Lutein and zeaxanthin have been connected to sharper thinking too. A 2019 study found that the carotenoid combination helped older adults with cognitive functions, while a 2017 trial showed that they promoted cognitive function and attention in older people, and memory in men specifically.

Who Can Benefit From Lutein and Zeaxanthin Supplements?

As indicated by the aforementioned research, people who work long hours in front of a computer, use digital devices frequently, or who work at night in dim lighting may be able to perform more effectively by adding lutein and zeaxanthin supplements to their diets.

Furthermore, those who don’t eat enough fruits and vegetables (the best sources of carotenoids) may benefit. There is currently no RDA for carotenoids, but recommendations by several health authorities to consume a variety of fruits and vegetables daily have been made, in part, to increase carotenoid intake. (Research shows up to 20mg of lutein per day can be taken safely.) It’s worth noting that carotenoids are fat-soluble, so cooking vegetables in oil, for example, can increase the absorption of these compounds.

As eye health naturally declines with age, older people may get support from lutein and zeaxanthin supplementation (especially as eye health relates to cognitive performance). And, since smoking is a source of oxidative stress, smokers may need more lutein and zeaxanthin; they tend to have lower levels of carotenoids than non-smokers.

The post Lutein and Zeaxanthin for Eye Health and Performance appeared first on Onnit Academy.

If you want to build a successful career, get through school, or run a business, you probably won’t be able to limit mentally-draining tasks or escape making tough decisions, but you can take steps to keep your mind as focused and sharp as possible in spite of the challenges it faces.

How Can I Improve My Mental Acuity?

According to Dr. Jim Afremow, a mindset coach to Olympians, co-creator of the Champion’s Mind app, and former sports psychologist for pro sports teams such as the San Francisco Giants, the route to better focus, concentration, and understanding is recognizing the interplay between what’s going on around you and what’s happening inside your brain.

“Your mental state is dependent on both internal and external factors,” Afremow says. Here’s an example: “In the 90s, it was so hard to get a reservation at a famous restaurant in New York that [the restaurant] started getting a lot of complaints. So they had psychologists come in to find ways to get people in and out faster. They found that the two biggest difference makers were installing brighter lights and playing faster music, which shows how our external environment subconsciously shapes our mental state.”

The trouble is, says Afremow, “when we allow outside factors like 24/7 email, fast-paced work environments, and constant stimuli to speed us up too much, our performance suffers. That’s when we have to work on our inner [mental] game to slow things back down. Conversely, when we’re feeling sluggish, we need a toolkit of techniques that can energize us so we can perform well even when conditions aren’t ideal.”

Certain foods and supplements, along with daily practices such as meditation, “brain breaks,” and better sleep habits can all alter your mental state significantly, allowing you to speed up or slow down as needed to find the level of mental sharpness you require to be more focused and productive.

Can Natural Ingredients Really Affect My Mental Sharpness?

Everyone knows that caffeine/coffee can help with alertness and focus, but there’s another natural compound that, when combined with caffeine, may be even more effective for supporting a sharper mental state.

L-theanine is an amino acid found in green and black tea, and a trial published in Pharmacology, Biochemistry, and Behavior concluded that it helps lower the body’s stress response to stressful cognitive tasks. In other words, it may be able to help chill you out when you’re working on something frustrating. This calming effect could help to balance caffeine’s stimulant properties.

A study in Biological Psychology looked at the effects of caffeine and L-theanine in isolation and in combination, discovering that the two compounds together boosted cognitive speed, memory, and alertness better than when either nutrient was taken alone. Another study in Nutritional Neuroscience noted that while caffeine by itself boosts alertness, when teamed with L-theanine, it helped promote speed and accuracy on attention-switching tasks and reduced susceptibility to distraction.

Finally, British researchers found that L-theanine may help attenuate the spikes in blood pressure that are associated with caffeine use. This doesn’t necessarily mean it can counter the jittery and restless feelings that often accompany caffeine, but L-theanine seems to help you harness caffeine’s stimulatory effects, leaving you feeling alert but not overly revved up.

L-theanine is available as a supplement, but if you want to keep it simple and stick to coffee, at least get the dosing right, which can minimize the risk of caffeine’s side effects. “The sweet spot for caffeine appears to be between two and three milligrams per kilogram of bodyweight a day,” says Dr. Marc Bubbs, ND, CISSN, performance nutritionist for the Canadian men’s basketball team and author of the book Peak. So, if you weigh 180 pounds, you should aim for 160–245mg of caffeine—about one-and-a-half to three cups of coffee. “This is a level that provides most of the benefits while limiting the drawbacks of excessive caffeine intake,” says Bubbs, “like restlessness, anxiety, and inability to focus.”

Another natural ingredient worth experimenting with is Huperzia serrata (club moss). It’s been shown to help people with cognitive deficits, potentially by way of regulating oxidative stress and supporting nerve growth factors and receptors. It also acts to help promote acetylcholine concentrations, allowing for neuron communication. Lastly, lemon balm shows promise as a brain booster. British researchers writing in Neuropsychopharmacology noted its ability to promote both calmness and memory.

Tips for Achieving Mental Clarity

Here are four simple ways to boost your mental state fast.

1. Follow a Low-Carb Diet

Lowering your carb intake has been shown many times over to help people lose weight and reclaim their health, but one of the first noticeable benefits is improved thinking and concentration. This is because low-carb eating helps you avoid blood sugar spikes that rob your energy and fog your brain. Taken a step further, a low-carb diet becomes a ketogenic diet, where the lack of carbohydrate intake causes your body to run on ketones (compounds made from fat) for fuel.

A team of psychiatrists and neuroscientists from the University of Cincinnati divided adults with mild cognitive impairment into two groups. The one that followed a low-carb diet for six weeks showed improvements in verbal memory performance.

As Shelly Fan reported in Scientific American, a ketogenic diet may benefit the brain by inhibiting stress on neurons, increasing the number of mitochondria (energy-producing structures in brain cells), and regulating neurotransmitters to ensure a balance between excitation and inhibition.

“One of the biggest ‘rocks’ for achieving and sustaining a high level of mental acuity is optimal blood glucose control,” Bubbs says. “With half the US population struggling with pre-diabetes or diabetes, it’s perhaps not surprising that mental performance seems to be on the decline. Chronically high blood glucose levels wreak havoc on the brain, entangling neurons and increasing your risk of dementia and depression. Reducing carbohydrate intake can be an effective strategy for improving glucose control, especially in those with pre-diabetes or diabetes, as a reduction in carbs significantly reduces your post-prandial glucose response. So, if you find yourself falling asleep at your desk after lunch, reducing your carb intake can be a great tool for supercharging your brain game.”

For specific guidelines on following a low-carb or ketogenic diet, see our free e-book HERE.

2. Get More High-Quality Sleep

At the risk of sounding too harsh, lack of sleep is making you stupid. One of the nation’s leading sleep researchers, William Killgore from Harvard Medical School, wrote in Progress in Brain Research that sleep deprivation not only slows response speed and compromises alertness, attention, and vigilance, but also affects “more creative, divergent and innovative aspects of cognition.” Said another way, if you don’t sleep well, your brain just won’t work right. And no matter how many extra shots you get your favorite barista to put in your morning joe, they can’t overcome the detrimental impact of a bad night’s sleep.

“Even a single night of bad sleep reduces your inhibitory control, making you more likely to react emotionally to conflicts and engage in risk-taking behavior,” Bubbs says. “In fact, even after you catch up on your sleep, there’s a major lag time before your full cognitive performance is restored. If you’re serious about your mental performance, prioritize increasing total sleep time and quality above all else.”

So how can you start sleeping better? Get all the electronics out of your bedroom, keep it dark with blackout shades and cool with air conditioning, a fan, or a chiliPAD, and trade your tablet or eReader for a good ol’ fashioned paper book to help you wind down before bed. You might also want to consider taking a supplement that contains magnesium, which may help you avoid delayed sleep onset and early wakefulness, as well as improve sleep efficiency, according to a trial in the Journal of Research in Medical Sciences. Get more sleep tips HERE.

3. Take Brain Breaks

If you remember the restaurant example from above, playing up-tempo music and sitting in bright lighting helps you move faster. As we showed in our report on forest bathing, taking a leisurely stroll outside can help you relax significantly. In both cases, the environment you surround yourself with creates changes in your brain.

“If you’re in a mental slump—which hits a lot of people mid-afternoon—then step away from your desk and take a quick walk outside,” says Afremow. “Or, if you’ve got a meeting coming up, just take a stroll around the building and have a chat with a colleague. The change of scene will give you a mental lift. Don’t think of it as time wasted, but rather an investment that will provide greater clarity and focus. The more consistent you are with any mindset practice, the bigger the benefits you’ll experience.”

Findings published in Mental Health and Physical Activity noted that just 12 minutes of activity helped promote mental performance in 10 year-old kids.

4. Schedule Meditation

While walking in nature can be a form of meditation, the value of sitting quietly with your eyes closed can’t be overstated. A 2018 study that spanned seven years concluded that meditation practice can help promote improvements in attention span, as well as prevent age-related mental decline.

“If you only have a few minutes,” says Afremow, “then fire up a guided meditation on an app like Champion’s Mind, or do a little single-point meditating by focusing on your breath. Picture yourself inhaling relaxation and exhaling stress. You could also do color breathing, in which you picture yourself inhaling a calming blue and exhaling a warning color like red.” For a step-by-step guide to how to meditate effectively, go HERE.

A group of researchers led by Mark Krasnow, a professor of biochemistry at Stanford University, found that calm breathing impacts a group of nerves that are directly tied into the arousal centers in the brain. The more control you have over your breath, the more you have over your mind. One journal found that yoga breathing techniques improved performance on mental testing.

Can Blue Light Help Me Focus?

Blue light is a color in the light spectrum that travels at short wavelengths. It’s produced by the sun, but also artificial lights, and scientists believe that exposure to it can help us focus and learn. A study published in the Journal of Neural Transmission concluded that, “a significant increase in alertness and speed of information processing could be achieved by blue light.” Furthermore, a team from the University of Arizona College of Medicine’s psychiatry department determined that subjects who were exposed to blue light for 30 minutes after a learning exercise improved memory retention compared to the placebo group.

According to Bubbs, one of the best ways to get exposure to blue light is to simply go outdoors. “Getting outside is hugely important for cognition and mental health, particularly during fall and winter months. If you’re bold enough to tackle the elements with a morning walk to work or to your favorite coffee shop, your brain will be exposed to over 100,000 LUX of light intensity, even on cloudy days, which will kickstart circadian rhythms and cognition.” A brightly-lit office, by comparison, puts out only a paltry 20,000 LUX. “Get outside to burn off the brain fog and clear your mind before work, or add outdoor morning workouts to further increase the benefits.”

However, there can always be too much of a good thing. Certain biohackers will warn you that blue light can mess with your sleep, as it suppresses the release of melatonin. It can delay the onset and reduce the quality and duration of sleep. For these reasons, it’s a good idea to wear glasses that block blue light when you’re watching TV or using electronics at night. Also, cut off your exposure to as much artificial light as you can at least two hours before going to bed (dim the overhead lights, turn off the TV, etc.). But don’t think you have to live in a cave just to be able to sleep at night.

For more tips on using blue light to your advantage—and avoiding it when it’s disadvantageous—pick up Onnit founder Aubrey Marcus’ book, Own The Day. 

The post The Best Ways to Support Mental Acuity and Sharpness appeared first on Onnit Academy.

Summary

– Binaural audio is sound that travels at two different frequencies. The difference between them stimulates brainwaves that can have powerful effects on your mood and cognition.

– Binaural beats have been shown to help enhance focus and cognitive thinking, as well as promote relaxation and sleep.

– Binaural beats that provoke a 40 Hz response in the brain stimulate gamma brainwaves, which help concentration.

– Fast music (140 beats per minute) is best for increasing focus.

– Music that produces brainwaves of 8 to 13 Hz helps you relax.

– Binaural beats are available on apps and from online stores.

Binaural Audio: Music for Increased Concentration and Relaxation

Music is the Swiss Army knife of sound. It can amp you up, chill you out, entertain, educate, and even change whole cultures (“You say you want a revolution…”). Listening to the right kind of music might even help you learn faster, accomplish more, and sleep better, too.

Music that’s recorded in binaural audio shows promise for enhancing focus, productivity, and relaxation, so—believe it or not—it may be a better choice to play in the background when you’re trying to work than Master of Puppets (relax, we said, “may be…”) We put some on, and then wrote this article.

What Is Binaural Audio?

Binaural audio, sometimes called binaural beats, refers to sounds that travel at two different frequencies—one for each ear. Binaural audio is recorded with the intention of duplicating the way the ears hear sound as closely as possible, so the effect can be very powerful and immersive. In fact, one of the ways binaural recordings are made is with the use of a dummy head that has microphones positioned in the ears, simulating a human listener.

Listening to a binaural audio track is like being in the middle of whatever you’re hearing—a rainforest, symphony concert, temple filled with OM-ing yogis, etc. It’s a prime way to listen to ASMR tracks (Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response)—recordings that evoke relaxation or pleasure, like soft whispers, tapping, brushing, or Mr. Rogers talking. However, because binaural recordings are meant to pick up sound the way your ears do, you need to listen to them with headphones or earbuds to get the full effect, as opposed to a set of speakers.

The two different sound frequencies create a vibrational speed called a beat. When you listen to them, your brain wants to make up the difference between the tones, and in doing so tunes into the frequency of the beat. This activates certain brainwaves—electrical pulses associated with different brain functions—that change your arousal level.

According to research in the journal Anaesthesia, there are five main kinds of brainwaves.

Gamma (25 to 100 Hz): Associated with high levels of concentration, elevated cognitive function, and emotions like compassion.

Beta (14 to 100 Hz): Supports increased focus, alertness, arousal, and, in higher frequencies, can prompt anxiousness.

Alpha (8 to 13 Hz): Helps you unwind and chill out.

Theta (4 to 8 Hz): The sweet spot for upping your creativity, going into a meditative state, or getting better REM sleep.

Delta: (0.1 to 4 Hz): Promotes dreamless, deep sleep.

While the brain is always producing all five types of waves to some degree, different kinds of stimulation can change up the balance and make one more prevalent than the others.

Cory Allen, an Austin-based audio engineer who creates his own binaural beats, and the host of The Astral Hustle podcast (cory-allen.com), says, “When you’re in a flow state [times that you feel you’re “in the zone” and focused], your brainwaves are firing at high speeds. And when you’re asleep or in a deep meditation, they’re much slower. Binaural beats can help entrain brainwaves to match our desired state.” That is, you can play them to conjure up the exact brainwaves you want for a particular time or goal—be it working, meditating, or going to sleep.

How Can Binaural Beats Help Me?

Binaural audio has been shown to promote better thinking, ease anxiety, and encourage relaxation and better sleep. A study in Frontiers in Human Neuroscience found that binaural beats of all frequencies improved listeners’ divergent thinking (creative thinking that involves connecting seemingly disparate ideas). Meanwhile, a trial in the Journal of Neurophysiology concluded that low-frequency, theta wave-inducing audio helped synchronize activity in the cerebral cortex, where high-order cognitive processes take place.

Canadian researchers looked at binaural audio’s effect on anxiety. Fifteen “mildly anxious” people were asked to listen to music that produced brainwaves in the delta and theta range at least five times weekly for four weeks. After a month of listening to the tracks for approximately 30 minutes per session, the subjects reported feeling significantly-reduced anxiety levels.

“I get messages almost every day saying how my music is helping people relax at night,” Allen says. “We’ve all got so much going on that it can be hard to get our minds to slow down when we get into bed. Meditation can help, but sometimes you’re too worn out to concentrate on it. Listening to binaural beats allows you to create a calming ritual in which you’re just a receiver. Many people tell me this helps them fall asleep faster and stay asleep longer.”

Apart from the beats that Allen sells for just a few dollars on his website, you can get brainwave-altering tunes from grammy-nominated composer BT and DJ FreQ Nasty, from apps such as Binaural (β) and Binaural Beats if you’re an Apple user, or, if you use an Android device, Binaural Beats Therapy.

Can Music Really Help with Concentration, Focus, and Relaxation?

Don’t take our word for it. A study in Physiology & Behavior showed that subjects who listened to beats that produced beta brainwaves scored higher on a vigilance task—a test that measures the speed at which you respond to visual stimuli—than the control group, and also reported having a more positive mood. The same frequency range helped people in a 2019 trial to improve their recall and recognition of words. Furthermore, an observational study of students with attention deficit disorder found that binaural beats that stimulated alpha and beta brainwaves improved concentration levels.

Binaural audio may also help you chill out after a tough workout. Research published in Frontiers in Psychology discovered that, when participants listened to theta-inducing beats after exercise, they experienced an increase in parasympathetic activity compared to when they listened to a consistent musical tone. Parasympathetic activity indicates the “rest and digest” state, in which the body recovers from exercise.

Allen recently contributed two types of binaural audio to a multi-university study in Australia. The first track featured audio that makes the music listenable and enjoyable, but without the functional elements he usually includes to stimulate the brainwaves. The second one had both components. While the study is ongoing, Allen says, “So far, the researchers are finding that the [second] full binaural track is having psychotherapeutic benefits for participants who are dealing with trauma.”

What’s the Best Music for Concentration?

For times that you need to get shit done, you want something that gets your gamma waves going. In his book Astonishing Hypothesis, Francis Crick, co-discoverer of DNA and a Nobel Laureate, suggested that the most typical gamma frequency found in the human brain—40 Hz—is optimal for the synchronization of brain activity.

A 2017 study noted that when people listened to binaural beats at 40 Hz, they improved performance on a memory-related visual task, suggesting that gamma waves can also enhance learning.

Of course, binaural audio isn’t the only kind that can affect your thinking. While the so-called “Mozart effect” (the theory that listening to Mozart music can improve mental performance) is the source of much controversy in the research realm, a review by researchers at Western Michigan University suggests that listening to classical music can indeed heighten certain kinds of cognition. Subjects saw improvements on the analytical portion of the GRE exam after listening to a Mozart piano sonata—but similar results were also recorded by a group that listened to traffic sounds instead. Therefore, it seems that there may be benefit to your ability to concentrate whether you choose binaural beats, classical music, or noise that helps you tune out the rest of the word.

What’s the Best Music for Focus?

When you’re trying to find optimal focus, you want to stimulate beta brainwaves. University of Wisconsin-Madison research found that listening to fast music was best for increasing brainwave speeds, so put on a playlist that’s heavy on high-tempo EDM (with the optimal beats per minute being around 140). Want to remove the guesswork? Then visit Focus at Will’s website, select one of four profiles (creative thinker, entrepreneur, student, or logical thinker), and you’ll get playlists specifically tuned for the kind of focus you’re trying to find.

What’s the Best Music for Relaxation?

If you find it hard to chill out, binaural beats might be the prescription. “The pacing of our brainwaves mirrors the world around us,” says Allen, “and they get increasingly chaotic as our attention gets pulled in different directions. This contributes to anxiety, chronic stress, and depression. You can listen to binaural beats to slow your brain down and reclaim your mental sovereignty.”

If you’re looking to get your relaxation on, then you need binaural beats in a frequency range between 8 and 13 Hz to stimulate alpha waves in your brain. A team from Roanoke College concluded that, unlike other kinds of brain oscillations, alpha waves are unaffected by musical tempo. “Preference, rather than the mental relaxation of the participant produced by the music, has a greater effect on alpha wave activity,” the researchers wrote. In other words, just listen to anything that feels relaxing to you—even if that’s Master of Puppets! If you want a little more guidance, DJ/producer Tom Middleton created an album—Sleep Better —that hits the sonic bullseye for alpha-wave relaxation with disc two, while disc one (big shocker) promotes improved slumber.

If you’re still struggling to wind down in the evening, Allen recommends stacking meditation with binaural beats to amplify the relaxing effects of both disciplines. “Combining binaural beats with meditation will help you become more centered and slow your brain down,” he says. “This kind of music is the perfect complement when you’re trying to access the lower brainwave states.”

The post Binaural Audio: Music for Increased Concentration and Relaxation appeared first on Onnit Academy.

As the cliché goes, you take it one day at a time.

It’s really that simple. If you just focus on getting one day right (maybe today), chances are you’ll be able to do it again (maybe tomorrow). String a few good days together, and before you know it, you’re having a pretty good week, month, year… life.

Own The Day, Own Your Life, by Onnit’s founder, Aubrey Marcus, shows you how to do it with strategies Marcus uses himself to optimize each day. We talked with the author—whose latest work has already made the Amazon.com best-sellers list—to give you a sneak preview.

Owning The Day: A Conversation With Aubrey Marcus

Onnit: Your book is about practices that allow people to be successful every day. Can you show us what they look like on a normal day in your life?

Aubrey Marcus: I generally go to bed around 1:00 a.m. and wake up at 8 a.m. I know both those times are a little later than most people but that seems to be the pattern that works for me.

I focus first on hydration, getting sunlight, and doing some movement, just as I describe in the book. In every shower, I turn that nozzle to cold and I’m doing Wim Hof breaths. If I have breakfast at all, I keep it super keto—either a shake or bone broth with an avocado. I avoid sugar and caffeine early in the day. If I have those things too early, before my body naturally wakes up, I’m dragging all day.

After a few hours of work, I eat a weird lunch [see below]. Then, in the afternoon, I take Alpha BRAIN® before my biggest meetings or recording a podcast. After that, I work out, connect with loved ones and family, play my musical instruments, have great sex, journal, and get as much sleep as I can.

But you didn’t adopt all these habits overnight. How did you begin to transition to the streamlined schedule you have now?

The key was really just having a process. I try to know what the day’s objectives need to be the night before. I don’t like surprises—getting hit with things I wasn’t prepared for. I’m flexible and open to explore that stuff if it comes up, but typically I like to know what my day is going to be ahead of time.

There’s great freedom in knowing what you’re doing every day. You don’t have to think about it. There’s no more, “What should I do this morning?” I know what I should do. I should wake up, drink water, get in the pool and swim laps, and get some sunlight. Making decisions all day gives you decision fatigue, so having little practices like this that are planned in advance structures the day without me having to stress about it.

Working out is obviously not something you skip—we’ve all seen you in the Onnit Gym every day. What’s your training like?

In the gym, I’m pretty intuitive. I do what I feel I need that day. But I’m almost always going to do some kind of sprint. It may be on a ski erg, a heavy bag, or with battle ropes, but I’ll do some kind of all-out, max exertion, going until I just can’t go anymore. Whenever I do that it seems to reset me for the rest of the day.

Lately, I’ve also been trying to move more in general. Walk more, swim laps in the pool. I’ll put on music and dance and do squats and lunges. I try to extend my activity and movement throughout the day so I’m not just doing it in the gym.

Many people complain of having low energy, and that’s why they don’t work out or get other things done. What is the worst energy drains?

One is playing metabolic ping pong with sugar and carbs. Having your blood sugar rise and crash, back and forth, all day is exhausting. When your body is fighting off anti-nutrients, or things that are really bad for you, like alcohol or too many chemicals, that can wear you out too.

Another one that people don’t often think of is simply not moving enough. That creates a negative feedback loop. You think, “I’m tired so I don’t want to move.” And then you find out that you’re more tired because you didn’t move. But if you went to the gym you’d feel better. Beyond that, mindset practices and letting go of stuff that’s bothering you is re-energizing. Try this: take six, slow deep breaths—in through your nose and out through your mouth—and see how you feel. I promise you’ll feel a difference, and research shows it works.

Earlier, you mentioned having a “weird” lunch. What does that mean?

[Laughs] I think that the “breakfast is the most import meal of the day” bullshit was just a great ad slogan. With your body already sleeping through the night, it makes more sense to me to skip breakfast and give yourself a little more time to recover. You’ll think more clearly as-as result. By the time lunch comes around, you’re ready to eat and should eat as diverse a selection of foods as you can.

Most people consume less than 20 different types of food. It’s chicken, wheat, dairy, and so on over and over again. You should push the boundaries and aim for a wide array of foods, like different vegetables and fermented foods—things that may seem weird because they’re not lunchtime staples. A lot of times I’ll have Ethiopian food. There’s a spice they use called berbere that has 12 other spices already in it, like cayenne, fenugreek, paprika, and turmeric. So, if you have, say, collard greens spiced with berbere, that’s like having a 13-ingredient side dish. You need to try more spices than just salt. Expand your palate, and make sure you’re sourcing your food well. Beef should be grass-fed, fish should be wild-caught, and dairy should be organic.

You’ve done a lot of research on flow states—being “in the zone.” How do we tap into one fast when we need to?

The flow happens in the present. So you have to get your mind into the present moment one way or another. It’s helpful when you have some incentive to do that or a practice that helps you get there. When I give a talk, I get into a flow state very quickly because I know there are people who have paid money to see me and I better deliver. When there’s a little bit of risk involved, that drives you. So whatever you want to be in the zone for should be something that scares you a little.

If you want a flow state to help you get work done, some people say to procrastinate. That will raise the stakes so that when you do sit down to work, you’re going to have to focus, but that also adds stress, so that’s not the optimal way. I think a better way is to understand the “why” of what you’re doing. Maybe it’s to make more money that buys you more free time, or maybe it’s to create more free time that allows you to have more sex. Whatever it is, create a reward scenario around your task rather than a punishment scenario. You shouldn’t be thinking, “If I don’t get this done, I might get fired.” It’s “If I get this done, I can go on vacation.”

There are also performance-enhancing plants that I talk about in chapter six of the book that helps prepare your mental state for a flow. They can provide caffeine, nicotine, and nootropics that set the stage very well.

Can you reveal one of them now?

Well, the biggest improvement in my life recently has come from Swedish snus tobacco. There’s been no single thing that I’ve bought in the last year that’s had a more dramatically positive effect. It helps with focus, clarity, and flow state.

That will come as a surprise to a lot of people. You’re a healthy guy and we’ve all been taught that tobacco is bad for you.

Cigarettes are bad. They’ll fucking kill you, no question about it. No one should smoke a cigarette—not once, not ever. But snus is a safer way of getting the benefits of a bad-ass plant that has a kick-ass compound called nicotine. Now, nicotine can be addictive, but if you’re able to control it and you have a way of delivering it to the body cleanly, which snus does, it can have a powerful, positive effect. There was an analysis done by the London Royal College of Physicians that found that smokeless tobacco is 10 to 1,000 times safer than smoking cigarettes. I have one pouch maybe five days a week. It’s only in my mouth for five or 10 minutes, so I have adequate time to recover from it.

Our brains are normally in a beta-wave state, where thinking is frantic and our attention is off. Nicotine drops me more into the alpha frequencies so I’m more relaxed and focused at the same time. Whereas coffee can make me more beta and frantic, nicotine will slow me down and help me zone in more on a conversation or a task. There have been studies on nicotine showing that it helps improve marksmanship, among other things.

Let’s say a person follows the plan you lay out in the book, and for reasons that are maybe beyond his or her control, the day goes haywire. How does someone get back on track?

We have this idea that when you fall off the wagon, you might as well stay off and throw all caution to the wind. If you have a shitty meal, you might as well have a shitty-ass dessert too, right? Pile it on.

But the truth is, every decision you make is cumulative. Throwing away half of a chocolate cake is a win—even if you’ve already eaten the first half [laughs]. We tend to have a defeatist mentality when we screw up, but if you turn around and immediately start following your plan again, you’ll be fine. If you’re drinking, you don’t have to keep going until you’re obliterated. It’s a win if you go home right afterward and drink water. At any point, you can turn something negative into a positive. Don’t think you always have to start next week fresh. Life isn’t binary—you’re not ever only “on” or “off.” The decisions you make add up over time to determine an outcome.

If somebody does screw up and eats a bunch of carbs, for example, do you have any tricks for getting energy and focus back?

I have something called the “Cheater Shooter” in the book. It’s apple cider vinegar and Ceylon cinnamon, and it can help you rebound. You can also just go with the fatigue and take a short nap, and then you may wake up feeling fresh. Or you can go for a walk, which can lower blood sugar, and, of course, you can work out.

Some people are going to look at this book and say, “I’m not Aubrey. I don’t have his talents or his money, so I can’t accomplish the same things.” How can people stop making excuses and believe that they can do big things too?

The book makes the point that the world has a number of free doctors and you should use them. The free doctors are sunlight, water, sex, sleep, movement, and breath. All that shit is free! You don’t need any money, or talent, to start using them to feel better and do better.

And people need to remember: you’re not trying to be me. You’re just trying to be the best version of yourself. If you apply those doctors, you’ll get there. The other part of the equation is believing that you’re the type of person who deserves to change and be better.

A lot of people find that they can’t be happy because they can’t stop comparing themselves to others and what they have or have done. What’s your advice for breaking the pattern of comparative thinking?

It comes down to this: you can be a second-rate version of somebody else or the very best version of yourself. Those are the only two choices that you have. You have to realize that nobody can be you better than you can, and that’s fucking rad! Nobody can top that. But if you’re chasing after somebody else’s shit, they’re always going to beat you—if they’re being themselves.

You know, it’s easy to dismiss the things that you’re not insecure about. If you know a guy who’s a master backgammon player, but you don’t play backgammon, you don’t care that he’s better than you. But the things that you are insecure about are the ones that bother you about other people. If it’s money, then you want to compare to other people who have more money. The only comparisons that really are hard are the ones driven by your own insecurity, which means that to fix that comparison pain you have to fix your own insecurities. That’s a deep process of accepting yourself for who you really are. It takes a lot of work and forgiveness and self-love, and you have to understand that it’s not about bringing that weak area up to match somebody else—it’s to feel better about yourself. But, ultimately, we shouldn’t feel insecure because we’re awesome at being us and we should work on being
more awesome at that.

You’re a student of philosophy. What is your philosophy of life these days?

Know that it’s all going to work out. Use hindsight as foresight. When we look back on our lives, we’re pretty much grateful for everything, aren’t we? Even the bad stuff, because if that didn’t happen, we never would have learned about ourselves. People talk all the time about some horrible thing that happened to them and they say “but in the end, it was the best thing that ever happened to me.”

When we look forward at the future, however, we’re scared of everything. So we have to make that switch to trust that everything will be alright, no matter what happens along the way.

Let’s talks about the craft of writing for a moment. Most people recognize that writing better can help their business, or help them express their creativity, but they have no faith in their ability to do it. Having written this book now, do you have any tips for being a better writer?

Read and write. I became a dramatically better writer by writing this book. Not only did I write it but I read and rewrote it, and read and rewrote it, again and again. Now when I look back at the first version I think to myself, “Did a child write this?” Reading allows you to understand what good writing is and writing lets you practice that craft.

You’ve said that the book became something different in the end than what you set out to write. What did it become?

I think books take on a life of their own. You have an idea for a book, but through the process of writing it, you will find out what the book wants to be. A book starts to have a soul, a spirit. Ultimately, you’re not the owner of that—you’re a servant of that. Once that’s established, you have to start listening to what the book wants you to write.

The soul of Own The Day is humility. Admitting that we all fuck it up. That we’re all the same. We all have the same struggles and challenges, and there’s a solution to all of it and a path out for everyone. When I started writing, it was just information and action. The soul of the book started to take shape when I added the sections about getting owned. That was the acknowledgment that we’ve all gotten owned by life. We’ve all gotten our ass kicked. And if I could find a way to turn it around, anyone else could too.

Pick up Own The Day, Own Your Life HERE.

The post Owning The Day: A Conversation With Aubrey Marcus appeared first on Onnit Academy.

When you act illogically, people say you’re on “crazy pills.” When you act foolishly, they ask, “Did you take stupid pills this morning?” But when you’re really on your game, express yourself eloquently, or have a creative stroke of genius, nobody ever accuses you of being on “smart pills.” That’s because, of course, smart pills don’t exist.

Sort of.

Nothing is going to make you into a genius overnight, but what if there really was something you could take that could fire up your brainpower, enhance your ability to store and recall information, and put you into a flow state so that you could do your best work without distraction?

The nootropic Alpha BRAIN is that something, and clinical research shows it.

The Study

In 2016, the results and methodologies from Alpha BRAIN’s clinical trial were accepted and published by the Journal of Human Psychopharmacology: Clinical and Experimental. The study was randomized, double blind, placebo-controlled, and conducted by the Boston Center for Memory. It assigned 63 participants to take either one serving of Alpha BRAIN or a placebo for 45 days. Subjects were evaluated before and after the supplementation period using validated neuropsychological assessments.

The Subjects

“The target demographic we were looking to enroll was exactly who [the product] was being marketed to,” says Todd Solomon, Ph.D., the trial’s director. Specifically, healthy 18 to 35-year-old males and females with above average educations and IQ scores. “More than 50% had a bachelor’s degree or some college,” says Solomon.

The Methods

The subjects were split into two groups. One was given two capsules of Alpha BRAIN (the same recommended dosage Onnit prescribes to customers) while the control received a placebo. Both groups were then put through a battery of different neurocognitive tests. The evaluations looked at different aspects of cognition, from verbal memory to visual memory, short- and long-term memory, executive functioning, processing speed, and attentional tasks.

“We tried to isolate different areas of cognition,” says Solomon. “The verbal memory tests had to do with being able to remember a list of words after a short and then long delay.” The visual memory tests had the subjects look at shapes and then try to recreate them from memory later on. To test their attention, the men and women were given maze puzzles to solve and arithmetic problems. “These are all well-known, well-validated neuropsychological tasks,” Solomon says.

The Results

There were no noticeable differences in cognitive performance between the two groups at the beginning of the study. After 45 days, both groups showed improvement, but gains in the Alpha BRAIN group were statistically more significant than the placebo.

Specifically, those who took Alpha BRAIN improved their ability to recall a list of words recited to them 20 minutes earlier, thereby boosting their delayed verbal recall. The Alpha BRAIN group also significantly outperformed the placebo group in a test that asks participants to draw a line connecting alternating numbers and letters in sequence as quickly as possible. Faster completion times reflect better executive function, or a set of higher cognitive processes that rely upon attention, memory, inhibition,  and mental flexibility. “The subjects were able to control or parse the information they were getting from the tests better than their counterparts,” says Solomon. “They were less impulsive.”

Onnit CEO Aubrey Marcus commented, “To see our Alpha BRAIN trial published in a major journal is a significant milestone. To know that the results and methodologies of the study were validated through the rigorous peer-review process supports a scientific opinion that we are offering the absolute best nootropic supplement utilizing earth-grown nutrients in existence. Onnit will continue its mission to provide primary, peer-reviewed research on all of its flagship formulas.”

No significant side effects were reported in either study group, and study compliance was high, indicating overall good tolerability with daily Alpha BRAIN use. Furthermore, there were no differences in sleep quality between the two groups.

An abstract of the study with the full study link can be viewed HERE.

What an Alpha Brain Looks Like

In addition to the neuropsychological assessment, a compelling biomarker was added to the study protocol. A subset of the subjects were recruited to participate in electroencephalographic (EEG) brain recording—a measure of brain activity.

The recordings were done at three different times: baseline, one hour after the subjects’ first dose, and after the full 45-day study period. This way, the brain activity from a single dose could be compared to prolonged supplementation.

Remarkably, those taking Alpha BRAIN exhibited statistically faster processing speed and greater response detection amplitudes after both a single dose and at 45 days compared to their placebo counterparts. This data was presented separately and recently published as an abstract in Alzheimer’s & Dementia: The Journal of the Alzheimer’s Association, available HERE.

Solomon commented, “Having the manuscript of the study accepted in a peer-reviewed journal further validates not only the result of the study, but the scientific rigor that was utilized.”

Onnit’s contribution to the scientific literature sets a precedent for the nutritional supplement industry.

The data has attracted the attention of various researchers with new scopes of study, such as the US Army and the Alzheimer’s Association. Onnit will continue to fund research that is valuable to both consumers of Onnit products and the larger scientific community.

Who Can Benefit From Alpha BRAIN?

Most people consume coffee to heighten their focus and alertness, but many can’t handle the side effects. Because Alpha BRAIN is not a stimulant, the jitters and anxiety that often accompany caffeine use don’t apply. If you’ve been looking for something to replace coffee in your morning routine, or at least help you cut back on it, Alpha BRAIN could be your substitute.

And you won’t need nearly as much of it to get the desired effects. While you may require two or more cups of coffee to feel like yourself, the brain scans showed that Alpha BRAIN took effect with a single dose. It’s not habit-forming either.

Since Alpha BRAIN was specifically shown to help subjects recall words, it’s a no brainer that you should take it before studying for any test that has a language component (say, the SAT’s?), and then again before taking the exam. The same goes if you’re giving a speech or a presentation. If you usually find yourself getting tongue-tied (especially in front of large groups of judgmental eyes), Alpha BRAIN can help you find the right words without a lot of pauses and “ums” in between.

If you’re a writer, musician, or other creative type, you know how frustrating it is to get in “the zone” and then have your concentration shattered by some interruption—be it cars outside your window or even your own wandering mind. Alpha BRAIN promotes flow states, so you can buckle your mind down and keep the creative juices flowing until your project is complete.

The post Alpha Brain Clinical Study Results Published in Scientific Journal appeared first on Onnit Academy.

The Clothes The Man Made: The Aubrey Marcus Collection

We pumped a few cups of MCT-infused coffee into the boss man and asked him to explain how the Aubrey Marcus Collection can do for your wardrobe what gorilla kettlebells have done for bad-ass garage gyms everywhere.

Onnit: You’re known mainly as the founder of a fast-rising fitness product and education brand. Why did you decide to create an eponymous fashion line?

Aubrey Marcus: Style and fashion are a big part of my life. I really enjoy them and always have. But living in Austin [Texas], I literally have zero shops that I can go to. The style just isn’t there. And Austin is a pretty progressive place. It’s not like I’m living somewhere deep in the Dust Bowl where there’s nowhere to shop but Walmart. I’m in Austin and I still can’t find clothes.

I like to push the boundaries a little bit more with the fabrics, with the cuts, with the styles that I wear than what is available here. So, knowing that, I thought, “What if I curate a collection for people all over the country—myself included—that allows them to reliably find well-constructed, well-designed fashion that pushes the boundaries?”

Like a lot of things we’ve created at Onnit, the AM collection started out based on needs that I had. I’m not that unusual of a guy. If I have a need, I know other people will have that need too.

Did you design the clothes yourself?

I co-designed the collection, but really, I’m more of a curator. I’m not a creative visionary that can sketch out what I want. But [Onnit’s Apparel Manager] Stephanie Garrett might be, and between her and our Italian designer partner, Giuseppe, they’ve shown me a bunch of stuff that I’ve loved and other stuff where I’ve thought, “I would dig it if we tweaked a few things,” and then suggested them.

What is it about Giuseppe’s designs that you like?

Italy has always been a few years ahead of most everywhere else when it comes to fashion. It’s like fast forwarding to our future in a year or two. There are elements to their style and what Giuseppe has done—the asymmetrical cut on the shirts that we have, the unfinished hem on the sleeves and collar—that you wouldn’t have seen at all a few years ago except maybe in LA or Europe. It’s becoming more common now but in most places it’s still hard to find those kinds of details.

What do those details—the asymmetrical cuts and unfinished hems—represent to you?

You know, in my worst fashion era, I used to wear Ed Hardy and Christian Audigier shirts. I had some of the ones with the foil and the rhinestones [laughs]. It was like, how much shit can you put on a shirt? It was a two-pound shirt! Those days are long gone.

Look at me now [indicating his current outfit]. I’m wearing a simple white tee with a different fabric and slightly different cuts and design elements, but it’s those slightly different design elements that take a white tee and elevate it. It has the right fit and just the right tweaks to make it unique. So it’s not like popping open a bag of your dad’s Hanes shirts. This collection is something you can own. That represents you and highlights your own style.

I think these shirts catch people off guard. You’ll have those little moments where people see it on you and go, “Oh, shit! What’s that?” I think that’s what good fashion does. It stops people for a second and makes them think, “Man, look at that.” Obviously, fashion can go too far and somebody can be wearing something that just looks crazy, but I’m interested in pushing the boundaries a little bit while keeping things simple.

All these clothes are simple and understated. We have a hoodie that we call the Gi Sweatshirt. It’s not wildly dissimilar from other nice hoodies that you’ve seen, but there are little subtle details, like the finish of the hem. The four rows of stitching along the edges are similar to the finishings that you’ll find on a jiu-jitsu gi uniform. We all have open hoodies that have zippers. So instead of finishing it with a zipper, this hoodie folds over itself and we use leather loop closures. A subtle detail took this basic thing and elevated it to something cooler.

Speaking of the Gi Sweatshirt, some of these clothes seem to have a martial theme. Is that what you were going for with the collection?

You could say that. The Chop Tee has clean-cut edges like it’s been slashed by a sword. It looks like the bottom was just cleaved off.

There wasn’t an intention to make this line clothing for a modern-day warrior or anything like that, but at the same time, look around my office. I have a samurai sword, armor… that theme is a part of who I am. So it’s natural that the collection would reflect that without even trying. I’m automatically going to tilt that direction.

Some of the shirts feature prints of dogs. What are those about?

To me, they represent an emotion. We have a Doberman blended with a guy who’s smoking a cigarette and looking away. It kind of implies an “I just don’t give a fuck” attitude. A Doberman is a dog that doesn’t give a fuck because it’s the king of the junkyard. So, when you’re feeling it, that’s your I-just-don’t-give-a-fuck shirt.

Then the bull terrier tank top is saying, “Hey, I’m here to party.” It’s an image of a bull terrier wearing an embellished, over-the-top jacket, which essentially communicates that “I’m a playful, party animal at heart.”

Is there anything about the collection that reflects how you’ve grown as a person?

It’s settled into how I want to express myself, which these days is simple and down to earth but a little bit unique. In high school, my attitude was, “Don’t look at me. I’m scared. I want to totally blend in.” But, like most people, you burst forth from that and want to be noticed. Then it becomes all about being loud. “Hey, world, look at me. I exist.” And that’s what my fashion represented for a while.

And then you graduate from that to “I don’t need the world to notice me. I want to wear what I want to wear and I want to express myself for who I really am.” That’s the evolution that this clothing line represents. What’s the “me” of the future? I don’t know, but I have a hard time imagining that it’s going to change in the expression of what that is.

The line is for men. What kind of man did you have in mind when putting it together?

Someone who doesn’t need to be super flashy. Doesn’t feel compelled to wear something that screams, “Look at me.” But at the same time, someone who appreciates style, uniqueness, and the construction of the clothes they put on. It’s for someone who gives a shit about how he looks but doesn’t need everybody else to look at him. Some of the clothes have rough edges and look casual, but they’re carefully designed lifestyle wear and very well made.

A lot of the Onnit audience is very fit. Can these clothes accommodate people who are too muscular or lean to fit in standard, off-the-rack clothes?

Absolutely. The jeans are drawstring, stretchy jeans. This whole line is for people who aren’t sedentary and want to be free to move. As you’re working at your stand-up desk, you can stretch out in these pants, or drop into a squat if you want. All the clothes stretch, whether it’s the knit blazer, the joggers, the hoodie, the shirt. Everything is something you can move around in.

I think that’s really important. We need to be able to move. You don’t want to wear something that binds you up. If your kid wants to play, you want to be able to say “yes,” not, “I’d pick you up but my knees will rip my pants” [laughs]. The collection will be more comfortable for athletic guys who are maybe too wide in the shoulders and thighs for most clothes.

The AM Collection shoes come in bags, not boxes. Why?

Most of the times I’ve bought shoes, the boxes went from the store to my house and then immediately to the trash, and that really seems like a waste. You need boxes when you need boxes. When you don’t need boxes, why waste the paper? It’s hard to be completely carbon neutral and create zero waste, but when you have the opportunity to reduce waste, you should make that choice. While it’s not going to make a huge difference to planet Earth to sell shoes out of bags and not boxes, it is symbolic that we had a choice and we made the best choice we could.

Some fans of yours might be wondering how the AM Collection differs from Spase, a previous line you had.

Spase was more about bringing awareness to certain topics that were dear to my heart—plant medicines, causes. We had a shirt that was a combination of an orca and a sad circus clown because at Sea World the orcas are like sad circus clowns being made to perform for people. So that was me taking two things I love—social causes and fashion—and trying to combine them into one. It was cool, and I think it had its moment, but really, at the core of it, I decided that I’m doing a lot to raise awareness for causes through other means as it is. I don’t need to combine them with fashion to get the word out. I can just focus on fashion for fashion’s sake.

If there are causes that make sense to bring in, we certainly will, and you might see some of those Spase designs in the Aubrey Marcus Collection, but that’s not the main intention.

What is the difference between Aubrey Marcus as a brand and Onnit?

Onnit is a company that’s a collection of the ideas, the ethos, the gravity of hundreds of people… thousands of people. Maybe even hundreds of thousands of people [laughs]. It’s all of our customers and everyone who’s interacted with it. And I’m a guy. Onnit isn’t me. Onnit is its own entity. I often have to take a moment and reflect on that. While I’ve had a major role in raising this child, Onnit is not me. It’s the same as with any parent—your kid is not you. Maybe it has some tendencies, some values you taught it, but Onnit is its own organism. AM is one person with all his strengths and weaknesses, desires and flaws—the whole gamut.

At the same time, Onnit and AM carry a very similar ethos and we’re very interconnected, so it doesn’t make sense to have a hard line between them. Nor does it make sense to have no line at all. Onnit may use [Director of Human Optimization] Kyle Kingsbury to push out a video or our trainers to inspire people—everybody here is creating something. But in AM, I’m curating a specific type of fashion. It’s my taste and people who have similar taste will identify with it. And, ultimately, fashion is about preference. It’s not about science, like the supplements, the nutrition, and the workouts at Onnit are. This type of fashion isn’t about data. It’s about, “Do I like this? Is this cool?”

To answer you more directly, I’d say Onnit as a company offers sportswear for customers who want to conquer the gym and the AM collection is for conquering your life outside the gym. It serves the same person in two different settings.

Why is the collection being sold only on Onnit.com?

There are so many things being sold there already, I didn’t want people to have to leave to go to aubreymarcus.com. I thought it would be frustrating to click over if you also wanted to pick up some Alpha BRAIN® or something, so we’re putting everything in one place. On onnit.com, you can shop for my collection, get a performance fleece, supplements, whatever you want all at the same time. Onnit and AM have a lot of the same customers anyway, and Onnit specializes in customer service and the delivery of goods.

What’s your advice on where to start in shopping this collection?

I think one of the challenges in shopping for anything online is recognizing how well it’s going to fit. My advice would be to try a shirt. Buy that shirt, put it on, and see how it feels. See how you like the construction, the fabric, and see what you think. And then you’ll have a pretty good idea of how the rest of the stuff is going to look and feel. There are brands out there that, when I see one of their shirts, I know how it’s going to feel. So give it a shot. After you try it, I think you’ll gain greater faith in the rest.

The Aubrey Marcus Collection is available HERE.

The post The Clothes The Man Made: The Aubrey Marcus Collection appeared first on Onnit Academy.

You may even know the reason lies in the high levels of omega-3 fatty acids found in fish…and that these omega-3s are somehow, some way, supposed to be good for you.

But knowing is a long way from doing, which begs the question: Are you one of the estimated 4 in 5 Americans who fail to consume enough fatty fish each month to meet the dietary guidelines for the omega-3 fatty acids docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) and eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA)?

Based on probability alone, I’d wager a confident “yes,” which I’ll follow with a, “If you’re not consuming enough fatty fish, you need a stand-in supplement.”

Fish oil capsules have long been the go-to option for enjoying the benefits of fatty fish without, well, eating fatty fish, but over the last few years, krill oil has made a name for itself as a potential omega-3 powerhouse.

So how do you know which supplement is best? Read on, my friends, read on. When it comes to krill oil vs. fish oil, this is what you need to know.

Krill Oil vs Fish Oil: The Basics

It shouldn’t take a rocket scientist to determine that fish oil is oil that comes from fish, and krill oil is oil that comes from krill, but what the eff is krill, and what type of fish does fish oil come from?

Both are good questions.

● What is krill? Krill are tiny crustaceans, a bit like shrimp but smaller, at just one to six centimeters long. They’re plentiful in the ocean, with an estimated biomass of 379-million tons (a biomass significantly larger than humans’ estimated 100-million tons), and they’re a popular meal item for sea animals like whales, birds and other fish, placing them solidly at the bottom of the ocean’s food chain.

● What type of fish does fish oil come from? Fish oil, on the other hand, comes primarily from cold water oily fish, including salmon, herring, mackerel, anchovies and sardines. These fish are higher up on the food chain, which means they sometimes contain high levels of mercury and other toxins.

● Do both provide omega-3s? Whether you take fish oil or krill oil, you’re going to enjoy a healthy dose of the omega-3 fatty acids DHA and EPA, although krill oil is gaining popularity due to its higher levels of EPA and its added antioxidant, astaxanthin, which gives krill oil its reddish color.

● What’s the research say? Fish oil has been studied extensively and appears to have many positive health benefits, ranging from improved cardiovascular function to suicide prevention. Krill oil also has studies backing its efficacy as a health-promoting supplement, but as a newer option on the market, there are fewer studies quantifying its benefits.

● What about fish burps? Fish oil is known for its unpleasant, post-consumption “fish burps,” which krill oil users appear to be able to avoid.

● What’s the difference in price? Krill oil supplements tend to be much more expensive than fish oil supplements. This is largely due to the way each supplement has to be processed to avoid rancidity. Krill begins decomposing and oxidizing much faster than fish oil, so to avoid   decomposition prior to manufacturing, krill must be kept alive in tanks or frozen until processing can begin. This significantly increases the cost to companies producing krill oil. That cost is passed on to consumers.

Importance of Omega-3 Essential Fatty Acids

The whole point of eating fatty fish, or taking a krill oil or fish oil supplement, is to increase your intake of omega-3s. These essential fatty acids (EFAs) are long-chain, polyunsaturated fatty acids deemed “essential” because your body can’t make them on its own.

If you don’t regularly consume foods containing omega-3s, your body could undergo some serious repercussions.

You see, EFAs, including omega-3s and omega-6s, play a key role in just about everything your body does. For instance, they help form healthy cell membranes (which are kinda important throughout your body).

They play a role in hormone production, the function and development of the brain and nervous system, regulation of blood pressure and blood clotting, transportation of cholesterol, and the function of the liver.

Not to mention, due to EFAs’ role in healthy cells and hormones, they help your skin and hair look pretty, preventing premature aging.

If, for whatever reason, you aren’t consuming enough EFAs, or if your ratio of omega-6 fatty acids to omega-3 fatty acids is off-kilter (typically you’re supposed to eat a ratio of somewhere between 2:1 and 4:1 omega-6s to omega-3s, but most

Americans consume far more omega-6s than omega-3s), you open yourself up to a slew of potential health problems, including heart disease, cancer, diabetes, arthritis, dementia and depression.

So yeah, who cares if you don’t like fish? You need to find a way to consume those omega-3s!

Omega-3 fatty acids are essential dietary components that play a key role in development and maintenance in a variety of organ systems.

Fish oil contains eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), two long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) that cannot be synthesized by humans.

A large body of research has revealed the enormous benefits of these fats, ranging from enhancing cognitive function to fighting obesity.

Recent research has focused on which source of fatty acids reigns as superior and the answer is clear: krill is king.

The Source

If you’ve never heard of krill, you might not be alone. However, at an estimated 600 million tons, the biomass of these shrimp-like crustaceans more than double the biomass of human beings.

The harvesting practices of krill for human consumption are tightly regulated and make a minimal impact on total krill population.

Comparatively, the use of krill as a nutrient source is more sustainable than other types of fish oil, such as cod or salmon.

Benefits of Supplementation

While it’s completely possible to consume enough omega-3 fatty acids in your normal diet by eating lots of fatty fish, walnuts, flax seeds, chia seeds and egg yolks, there are a few reasons why supplementation is a smart option:

● Most people aren’t consuming enough omega-3s in their diets. Fish just isn’t that popular, apparently, whether based on taste or cost. And even if you try to “make up for” your lack of fish consumption by going heavy on the walnuts and flax seeds, these plant-based omega-3s don’t convert into the important EPAs and DHAs found in marine-derived omega-3s. A high-quality supplement can provide the EPAs and DHAs your body needs, no fish food required.

● Fatty fish can contain high levels of mercury. While consuming one to two servings of fish each week is considered a healthy decision, you may not want to consume much more than that due to the potential for high levels of mercury and toxins. Krill doesn’t contain much (or any) of the toxins and metals found in fatty fish, and fish oil supplements are processed, removing potential toxins. This makes krill and fish oil supplements a safe option for daily consumption in lieu of, or in addition to, fatty fish.

● Supplementation provides a good “insurance” plan. Even if you eat fish regularly, it’s tough to know if you’re consuming enough omega-3s and attaining the correct ratio between omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids. Taking a supplement can hedge your bets and keep you on the right track consistently.

Health Benefits of Krill Oil vs Fish Oil

Krill oil and fish oil each appear to offer many health-promoting benefits. That said, fish oil has been studied much more extensively, so it’s easier to definitively quantify its benefits.

● Heart health. Both types of oil appear to promote heart health, but fish oil’s depth of research unequivocally points to its powerhouse ability to protect your ticker. For instance, Examine.com, and independent organization that examines the available research on nutritional supplements, looked at more than 750 studies on fish oil and concluded there’s significant research to back fish oil’s benefits for lowering triglyceride levels, modestly lowering blood pressure, increasing healthy HDL cholesterol, modestly reducing inflammation and possibly contributing to a decrease in the negative LDL cholesterol. Examine.com also looked at krill oil, finding a comparably small 49 studies to investigate. Even so, the research available indicates that krill oil also increases healthy HDL cholesterol while reducing LDL cholesterol, triglycerides and even total cholesterol, making it a good option for cardiac health.

● Arthritis. Likewise, there’s research to back the use of both forms of oil when it comes to arthritis treatment. Fish oil, specifically, appears to lower inflammation and may also lower the presence of c-reactive protein, a blood test marker for inflammation in the body. Evidence for krill oil’s positive benefits are even more greater, although fewer studies have been done. For instance, Examine.com found a study that supported a significant decrease in c-reactive protein in individuals with rheumatoid arthritis, reducing arthritis symptoms by up to 30-percent within 30 days while taking a 500-miligram per day dose of krill oil.

● Depression. Fish oil, hands down, is the winner (so far) when it comes to improving mood and alleviating symptoms of depression. Whereas krill oil has had very limited studies that point to the supplement’s ability to modestly reduce irritability, stress and symptoms of PMS, the research simply isn’t there to conjecture further. Fish oil, however, has been studied and re-studied on the matter, and is considered comparable to pharmaceutical drugs in the treatment of severe depression. It also appears to decrease cortisol, the stress hormone, decrease symptoms of depression in bipolar individuals, and decrease aggression and anxiety.

● Brain health. Fish oil is a known nootropic – it’s able to improve and enhance neural function and cognition without negative side effects. And the research is significant – it points to fish oil’s ability to increase cerebral blood flow and oxygenation while boosting memory, processing accuracy and reaction time while decreasing cognitive decline. Given krill oil’s similar omega-3 makeup, it’s reasonable to assume it would have similar brain-boosting effects, but unfortunately the research is still too new to completely support the assumption.

Bioavailability of Krill Oil vs Fish Oil

One factor that really sets krill oil apart from fish oil is its bioavailability. According to a 2011 study published in the journal Lipids, study participants given krill oil or fish oil for seven weeks saw similar increases in plasma EPA and DHA levels compared to the control group.

What’s significant about this study is that the dosage of krill oil was 68-percent of that of fish oil. In other words, the omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids in krill oil were more bioavailable than those in fish oil, making it possible to take a lower dose with similar results.

It’s assumed the improved bioavailability of omega-3s from krill oil is due to the fact that they’re bound to phospholipids rather than triglycerides, making them easier for the body to digest, but this may or may not be the case.

One 2015 study published in Lipids in Health and Disease found that krill meal had similar bioavailability to fish oil, when adjusted for dosage, while krill oil offered superior bioavailability.

This argues against the phospholipid suggestion given that krill meal and krill oil had identical fat makeup, both being bound to phospholipids.

Both krill and fish oil contain EPA and DHA. However, the one key disparity is the content of phosphatidylcholine (PC) in krill oil.

The addition of a phosphate group to the fatty acid chain permits simpler digestion in the small intestine and a more rapid incorporation into brain, lung, and liver tissues.

When comparing the effects of the EPA bound to phosphatidylcholine/phosphatidylserine in krill oil as opposed to the EPA bound to triglycerides in fish oil this study demonstrates that krill is more bioavailable.

In the aforementioned study, humans that were given krill oil containing 62.8% of the total amount of omega-3s in fish oil, increased their plasma EPA and DHA levels to the same level as those in the fish oil group… despite that it was a smaller dose (by 37.2%).

The presence of phospholipids in krill oil are responsible for the increased absorption efficiency and may permit a more rapid incorporation into important tissue [source].

Ultimately, it doesn’t matter – the scientists can keep working out the details. The point is, krill oil is more bioavailable than fish oil, and that’s a good thing.

Astaxanthin Advantage

Krill also contains astaxanthin, the same antioxidant that is responsible for the red color of salmon meat [source].

Astaxanthin is a carotenoid, and carotenoids are antioxidants that sequester singlet oxygen. Singlet oxygen is very reactive and can damage lipid membranes, DNA, and proteins in your cells. All of these are fundamental biological causes of aging.

Astaxanthin helps to protect the fatty acid chains from degradation and has been shown to play an important role in reducing inflammation in the cardiovascular system [source].

In a small clinical trial, astaxanthin supplementation itself (e.g. not in combination with omega-3 from krill) was shown to improve immune function while decreasing inflammation (CRP) and lowering DNA damage.

Astaxanthin has also been shown to help increase HDL-cholesterol (which was recently shown to help the body strip plaque off of arterial walls) as well as decrease triglycerides in another clinical trial, suggesting it plays an important role in cardiovascular health.

Health & Cognition

Where does krill display its prowess in the world of supplements? The anti-inflammatory properties of krill oil have been shown to assist in healthy weight management by reducing low-density lipoproteins (LDL), commonly known as the harmful type of cholesterol [source].

The incorporation of krill oil can help the body promote weight loss, healthy blood pressure, and affect a reduction in inflammatory problems. Recent research suggests Krill Oil may have a profound effect on the brain, similar to fish oil.

One advantage it has in this area is that omega-3 fatty acids incorporated in phosphatidylcholine act on brain function more efficiently than those incorporated in triglycerides, which omega-3s are bound to in fish oil.

Since the omega-3 fatty acids are bound to phosphatidylcholine in krill oil, this implies that they will be taken up by the brain tissues more readily than triglyceride-bound omega-3 from fish oil.

This infers that it might be able to get positive effects at a lower dose, which is reinforced by the above study on bioavailability.

A clinical trial involving elderly men that supplemented with krill oil resulted in enhanced working memory function. In addition, the krill oil also caused a significant decrease in latency, which reflects the rate of information processing.

Supercharge Your Fatty Acids

The presence of PC in krill is one clear advantage over regular fish oil. However, either fish oil or krill can be combined with additional PC to enhance absorption and boost choline levels.

In randomized clinical trials, this combination has been shown to help reduce cortisol levels in individuals with stress [source]. Additional studies combining EPA, DHA, and PC showed elevated levels of attention, mood, and memory function [source, source].

Additional Nutrients in Krill Oil vs Fish Oil

Fish oil is fish oil. Period, end of story. Krill oil, on the other hand, is thought to reduce oxidation and inflammation. It also preserves the supplement’s potency, and has been shown to support eye health. There have been few human studies on astaxanthin, but experts believe it may be safer than beta-carotene.

Sustainability of Krill Oil vs Fish Oil

If you care at all about the environment and the state of the ocean’s fragile ecosystem, then krill oil is the only responsible choice you can make. The commercial fishing industry has fished out roughly 90-percent of the large fish species consumed by humans and used to make fish oil.

Not to mention, fishing quotas are consistently 15- to 30-percent higher than the scientist-recommended safe limits for environmental sustainability.

Krill, on the other hand, is practically bamboo-like in terms of its renewability. In fact, its reproduction rate can weigh in the several hundred million tons each year.

In 2008, the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR) set a precautionary catch limit of 5.6-million tons of krill. Amazingly, the actual annual catch is only about 0.3-percent of the unexploited biomass of krill.

In other words, there’s a lot of krill, it won’t be running out any time soon, and harvesting some of it won’t interfere with long-term availability that might disrupt the marine ecosystem.

Safety of Krill Oil vs Fish Oil

Both fish oil and krill oil are considered safe supplements, in terms of mercury, pesticides and other possible toxins that can accumulate inside fatty fish. But if you’re at all worried about what might be lurking inside your supplement, then krill oil is your better option.

Because krill are found in the deep, clean waters of the Antarctic, because they’re at the bottom of the food chain and eat primarily phytoplankton and zooplankton, and because they have a short lifespan, they simply don’t accumulate the heavy metals, pesticides and toxins that other fish that live farther up the food chain do.

Fish oil supplements are also unlikely to have much in the way of mercury or toxins due to the processing they undergo prior to sale, but they do run some risk of becoming rancid and useless, health-wise, because they lack the antioxidants found in krill oil supplements.

Takeaway

While fish oil is the tried-and-true supplement with years of research and support to back its heart-healthy reputation, it may only be a matter of time before krill oil reaches and surpasses fish oil’s popularity.

Krill oil’s similar omega-3 makeup and superior antioxidant level and bioavailability set it apart from fish oil, while its safety and sustainability make it the responsible choice.

The post Krill Oil vs Fish Oil: What You Need to Know appeared first on Onnit Academy.

A lifelong athlete and fitness freak, Callen turned 50 this past January, and got in a workout at Onnit headquarters in Austin, TX, en route to a sold-out stand-up show. We got him to sit still long enough to answer a few questions, and he proved he could make us think as well as laugh hysterically.

Bryan Callen Q&A

Onnit: Bryan, you’re 50, why are you still going by the nickname “The Kid?”

Callen: You know, apparently I don’t age. Oh, and I gave that nickname to myself. I was on set, doing a movie that nobody will ever see… Like most movies you do, you think this is going to be the one. I said to everyone on set, “From now on I will be known as The Kid, and not Bryan.” They started calling me “Kid,” and I said, “Excuse me, it’s The Kid,” and somehow it stuck.

Did you ever see me moving around the gym? I’m so spry and supple. It’s like someone stretched my skin over a cheetah, you know what I’m saying?

Without a doubt. What’s your training like these days?

My training is pretty unorthodox. I like to haul sand and wrangle cattle. I hunt boar on horseback with a spear. I do a lot of street fighting and power fucking… But seriously, I like to do full-body workouts. I don’t do this isolation bullshit like concentration curls, even though I look like I do. In all seriousness, I do a variety of things. The secret is not to push yourself too hard.

I box. I spar. It makes me nervous and keeps me uncomfortable. I think the new science on exercise is probably dead on. You can work out a short time with intensity and get great results. Weights are very important. You can get a lot done if you follow the Onnit blueprint and vary it—there’s endurance, there’s mobility, strength training, circuit training in what Onnit does. But as you get older you don’t recover as quickly, so you have to be more conscientious about how you warm up, the kind of workout you do, the intensity, and what you put in your body. I work out four or five days a week. I box three or four times a week and play tennis. I think yoga and heavy Olympic lifting—snatches, cleans, deadlifts, and squats—are the foundation. I do those once or twice a week.

@bryancallen ready to lift, no excuses! ? #GetOnnit @onnitacademy @onnit #BryanCallen #Barbells #OnnitAcademy #OnnitAcademyGym

A post shared by Onnit Academy (@onnitacademy) on Feb 5, 2017 at 6:43am PST

How hard do you go in your sparring?

If you’re sparring a pro, they won’t tune you up. They’ll let you move and then you’re going to get more tired than hurt because they can measure their shots. When you get your bell rung is when you’re sparring with someone like you, and it’s like two high school athletes swinging for the fences. I got my bell rung by a girl who was trying to go pro. She caught me with a hook.

BOSTON I’m doing comedy at Laugh Boston starting Thursday but this is a taste of the street fighting seminar I’ll be giving during the day. @boxnlife @boxnburn

A post shared by bryancallen (@bryancallen) on Feb 28, 2017 at 3:50pm PST

You’re going up against pros?

Let’s be careful. Pros can do anything they want to you, but a pro will sometimes be nice enough to move around with me and make me feel like I’m actually doing something. When actors say they spar with pros it annoys the shit out of me. I’m like, “No, you don’t. You move around. You don’t spar.”

What supplements are you taking?

I do fish oil, krill oil. I like multivitamins because most people are short on zinc and magnesium. Sometimes I’ll take Total GUT HEALTH™. I was talking to a medical student whose area of focus was bacteria in the body, and he said, “Believe it or not, Onnit’s Total GUT HEALTH™ has got it right.” I like that Onnit’s owners take their own products. They’re obsessed with purity and the newest science.

You’ve always been health conscious. Most comedians are not. Did that make it any harder for you to break into the business?

It’s funny because I was always considered a physical comic. People would say, “You’re physical because you can’t really write jokes.” To an extent, they were right. But when you’re in shape, people want to take something away from you. I just know that I feel better when I’m in shape. I like using my body and staying elastic. I’m a physical guy.

We all have prejudice. There’s a good-looking, athletic guy I just met in [Onnit founder] Aubrey’s office. The first thing you think when you meet a guy like that is, “I wonder if he’s smart.” We all have a prejudice against people who look good and take care of themselves. “Yeah, she’s hot but she’s probably dumb.” Well, that’s not very fair. It’s probably your own shortcomings that make you think that way, so I try not to.

Have jokes about your healthy habits ever made their way into your act?

I make jokes about the fact that I act like a guru and I know what’s good for you. But here’s the thing, if you spend all your time trying to optimize physically, not mentally, not spiritually or philosophically—if you are simply and only a physical creature—you will become peculiar. I think the whole point of staying in shape and being physically optimized is so your body doesn’t break down and get in the way of what you really want to do. Your body is a tool to service you in whatever your particular endeavor is, and, hopefully, what you choose to do is in service of others.

I think about this stuff as I get older. I’m on TV and I have all this stuff going on, but if I’m only using it to consume… one of the great privileges of being a comic is making people laugh for no reason. And when I do that it only lasts for a minute and then it goes into the ether. People are a little happier for a minute. That’s the best I can do. I don’t know how to cool the planet, save the whales, or ensure that lions have a safe habitat. I’m just a silly goose and make people laugh, and I use my body to do that.

My secret? I eat elk. It also helps that my elk was slain by @joerogan but nonetheless…m’carnivore #man-wolf

A post shared by bryancallen (@bryancallen) on Jan 16, 2017 at 11:19am PST

Are the jokes that you write different when you feel healthy?

I don’t know. Comedy comes from all sources. It sometimes comes from the fact that you hate yourself, or you’re tired. I don’t worry about where it comes from but I do think that sleep and hydration are where it should start. People who say “I sleep four hours; sleep is for the weak…” Good luck. Good luck sustaining that lifestyle. There’s too much evidence, too much science against that.

You’ve said that when you write jokes you think of what you’re afraid of, ashamed of, or what you’re trying to be. Can you elaborate on the process?

We’re all afraid and we’re all ashamed. You come up as a child in this world and you don’t have the tools to navigate it. Everything is a mystery. When you’re younger, you’re ashamed of the fact that you’re not accomplishing things. You’re ashamed of your confusion. Your body is embarrassing. Your urges are embarrassing. As a kid, you think your mindset is different. You have these forbidden thoughts. If you can focus on that…

I always wanted to be a big, powerful athlete, because my father was a giant. I thought that’s what a man must be. I wanted to be built like The Rock. I wished I had a little Samoan in me—still do [laughs]. It’s funny, to write from there. It’s funny to write from deep deficits. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have the ability to write stuff that everybody identifies with. Everybody has longings, fears, and disappointments. I love writing about where I thought I’d be versus where I really am. I’m 50. I don’t even know what the fuck that really means. But that’s old. It just is. I’m older than some fucking presidents… I mean, you know, not of this country.

Now I’m depressed. Thanks for depressing me with that question.

“We’re all afraid and we’re all ashamed. You come up as a child in this world and you don’t have the tools to navigate it. Everything is a mystery. When you’re younger, you’re ashamed of the fact that you’re not accomplishing things. You’re ashamed of your confusion.”

So does comedy exorcise demons for you?

Of course it does. That’s the whole point of self-expression. It should be all your demons. When you write a story, a film, a book, or a one-hour comedy special, the character always wants something—the money, the girl, a certain kind of freedom. If it’s a good story, movie, whatever, the character learns that what they want isn’t really what they need, and typically they give up on what they want but in the end they get what they need. Then all of us in the theater say, “Oh, man, I have to re-assess my life.”

Why was it a great movie? Because it made you laugh and cry. The reason why is because it tapped into an inner truth you share with everyone else. Story and art and comedy are the cornerstones of how a culture defines itself.

You grew up in a lot of different countries. How did that help you develop the different characters you’ve played, such as the Middle Eastern guy in The Hangover?

I lived in Lebanon and the guy in The Hangover was based on a Lebanese guy I knew. When he gets shot he says in Lebanese, “Your mother’s a whore.” The cast laughed so hard when I did that at the table read. The character was originally written as an Italian guy. So I grew up all over the world and was exposed to all different kinds of cultures. But I was also thrown into a whole new situation with new people all the time and the way you get accepted and get other guys to like you is through sports and making them laugh.

Is doing good impressions a matter of talent or practice?

It’s a matter of ear. [In Donald Trump’s voice:] “We’re going to make America great again. It’s in the nose. It’s nasal. I need to work on it but I could get it. I’ll grab you by your pussy if you disagree with me.”

That sounds a little more like Walken.

[In Christopher Walken’s voice:] Walken… is different… he’s got a deeper register. Krill oil is my secret; I’ll never die. Krill keeps me young.

Everybody seems to be starting podcasts these days. Do you have any advice?

I think you should have something to say. You have to be consistent, but also, why are you doing it? I don’t think what I have to say is that interesting but at least I can try to be funny, and I have a great symbiosis with [co-star] Brendan Schaub. Have a hook. Ask yourself why people should listen to you? It’s a pretty saturated market at this point. The Fighter and The Kid just got over eight million downloads last month—it’s all word of mouth and social media.

I think we’ve hit our stride because you’ve got a cage fighter and a dirty comedian. You’re talking about two people who are not only getting paid for what they used to get in trouble for, you’ve also got two guys who failed a lot. Most of our life we just missed every time. He wasn’t a [UFC] champion. I wasn’t a movie star. We spent way more time worrying and being out of work than we did working. People ask me how do you get so successful at 50? I failed for about 20 years. That’s how. For the most part you’re out of work, your show doesn’t take off, people don’t see what you do.

As a comedian, political correctness has to feel limiting at times. How do you fight political correctness without being accused of bigotry?

That’s a very good question. It starts by not allowing the politically correct to bully you with their tyranny, because they’re not being honest. I think the politically correct movement has a fundamental and inherent flaw. Most people who are politically correct have a general and fuzzy notion of what equality is. They want equality at all costs. But they don’t realize that when you work hard you don’t want to be equal, you want to be better.

Of course all of us want everybody to have equality of opportunity, and we don’t want anybody to be discriminated against over things that they have no control over. But you don’t make things equal by bringing down people that are good—productive, effective people who work hard and kick ass. Don’t try to make the strong weak. Stop labeling all of us in power as homophobic and sexist and racist. The problem is way more complicated. I am not as successful as I could be because of my own shortcomings. Because of things I wasn’t willing to do and still am not. I am responsible for the condition that I am in, and I better take on that responsibility.

Look at your culture. If you spend more money on your rims than on your education, your culture has a deficit. I know that’s politically incorrect, but it’s the truth. If you really care about people who are disenfranchised and held down, then start looking at the real causes and not the symptoms. So that’s how you beat the politically correct. You speak the truth and you back it up.

I guess someone else wore this dress but they didn’t tell me until I was right in front of the camera! Damn it! @thefighterandthekid new episode is up. Link in bio

A post shared by bryancallen (@bryancallen) on Nov 17, 2015 at 8:27am PST

You’re doing a Goldberg’s spin-off show now. What can we expect to see in that?

I hear the script is really good and ABC OK’d it, so I have my own show now. This is success, I guess. I made it, Ma! I made it! And I feel exactly the same. Only I have disposable income and I drive a Tesla.

You’re known to be well-read. What books do you recommend?

All of them. The classics. The great stories. I like Joseph Campbell for young men. You should understand the allegories of the Old and the New Testaments. Familiarize yourself with what Islam is about, Buddhism and Hinduism. Then get some philosophical underpinnings. Understand a little bit about Aristotle and Socrates.

Read the Federalist Papers and the Constitution, the Founding Fathers. These motherfuckers solved the political problem of the day. Alexander Hamilton was a fucking beast. John Jay, Thomas Jefferson—you should know their names. These were the great thinkers of the day and we benefit every day from their incredible work ethic. Don’t focus on the fact that they had slaves! Yes, I know history is full of injustices. Focus on the spirit that was in the air in 1776 and how it changed the history of the world.

“I think you should have something to say. You have to be consistent, but also, why are you doing it? I don’t think what I have to say is that interesting but at least I can try to be funny, and I have a great symbiosis with Brendan Schaub. Have a hook. Ask yourself why people should listen to you?”

How do we become more successful?

If you learn how to play 20 songs on the guitar, have a conversation in Spanish, and get your black belt in jiu-jitsu, I promise you your life would be immeasurably better. You’d have energy, you’d find a home with like-minded people, and you’d learn the art of learning. You learn how to learn other things and apply that to your life.

Lastly, are you glad Joe Rogan shaved his head so people don’t confuse you two anymore?

Yes, people have always said we look exactly alike. But he’s shorter and angrier and I’m more supple. Just think of me as a cheetah—graceful, beautiful. Joe is more of a badger.

Listen to Callen on The Fighter and The Kid at tfatk.com.

The post Bryan Callen Q&A appeared first on Onnit Academy.

Alpha GPC or Alpha-glycerophosphocholine (aGPC), as the name implies, is a choline-containing phospholipid isolated from soy. A wealth of research on this compound supports a role for enhancing cognitive function, increasing strength and stimulating the release of growth hormone.

Alpha GPC contains a lipid tail that permits the uptake and incorporation into neuronal cell membranes. The membrane-bound choline molecule supplies the necessary and rate limiting compound for acetylcholine neurotransmitter synthesis.

Though found both within the central and peripheral nervous system, cholinergic neurotransmission is the cornerstone for memory formation that takes place in a specialized brain region known as the hippocampus.

The Benefits Of Regular Alpha GPC Intake

Studies in animal models and humans taking place since the 1990’s have shown administration of aGPC improves memory performance [1]. One of the early human studies on aGPC attempted to replicate trials performed previously in animals.

The study gave subjects ten days of aGPC or placebo before inducing temporary amnesia with a potent drug called scopolamine [2]. AGPC supplementation reduced the scopolamine-induced memory impairments as measured by subjects performed on memory and attention tasks.

Since this study, aGPC has become a focus of research age-related memory decline as well as other causes of memory dysfunction [3]. An interesting study that added aGPC to commonly prescribed memory drug most similar in effect to huperzine A (an Alpha BRAIN® ingredient) showed the additional benefit wasn’t with the drug alone [4].

Recent studies on aGPC have shown a potential benefit to athletic performance. A Japanese study investigated the effects of a single dose of aGCP on hormone release in healthy young males. Surprisingly a single dose of aGCP resulted in a substantial change in growth hormone release within one hour.

At 60 minutes, growth hormone levels acute increased by 290% from the baseline hormone level and returned to baseline by the second hour [5]. Also observed, was the growth hormone’s actions of increasing fatty acid oxidation, as indicated by rises in free fatty acids and ketone bodies. The authors proposed that the increase in circulating choline may briefly block the negative feedback mechanism governing GH release.

Short supplementation periods of 6 days have been shown to improve strength in college-aged athletes directly. A study conducted at the University of Louisianna used a crossover design that measured the force generated in deadlift and bench press style movements.

The study found a significant increase of 3% improvement in lower body strength with aGPC supplementation [6]. The study cited the previous research of cholinergic transmission at neural-muscular as a potential mechanism, however, did not have direct evidence for the mechanism leading to improved strength.

The cumulative evidence from animal model and human studies support the role of aGPC as a well tolerated cognitive enhancing compound with ergogenic properties [7]. The soy lecithin isolate contains a phospholipid that permits incorporation into neuronal cell membranes and utilization as a cholinergic neurotransmitter precursor.

Associated with the increase in circulating choline levels was a transient elevation in growth hormone. Even a short period of supplementation with aGPC proved to be beneficial to muscle strength

Recommended Usage & Natural Sources Of Alpha GPC

Alpha GPC is approximately 40% choline by weight, and as such 1,000 mg alpha-GPC confers about 400 mg of dietary choline. A standard dosage of alpha-GPC is 300-600 mg, according to the most common label doses.

This dose is following the study using alpha-GPC to enhance power output (600 mg) and the two studies noting an increase in growth hormone secretion and is likely a good dose to take for athletes.

For the usage of alpha-GPC in attenuating symptoms of cognitive decline, almost all studies use a dosage of 1,200 mg daily, divided into three doses of 400 mg. It is unsure how lower doses would benefit cognition, but the dose which is consistently associated with benefit .appears to be 1,200 mg.

Rat studies suggest that the effects of Alpha-GPC oral ingestion peak at 300-600 mg/kg, which is an estimated human dose of 48-96 mg/kg (and for a 150lb human, 3,272-6,545 mg daily).

For nootropic stack use, we recommend a dose of 300-600 mg to start out and then to increase from there if you decide you would benefit from more.

When taken at recommended dosages Alpha GPC is well tolerated. For most adults the range of acceptable dosage is relatively broad; a cumulative daily dosage of 300-1200 mg, when taken in one or two doses, is safe and efficient.

As is the case with all supplements, it is wise to start with the lowest possible effective dose and build gradually as needed.

Side Effects of Alpha GPC

Although, Alpha GPC is both safe and well tolerated in healthy adults,  side effects have been reported.

Users have occasionally experienced headaches, fatigue, nervousness, nausea, diarrhea and gastrointestinal distress; also, this supplement can result in dizziness and low blood pressure in some individuals.

If you know, you are prone to hypotension you should consult a medical professional before taking Alpha GPC.

Adverse side effects may occur more commonly among users taking high dosages.

Little research has been done on Alpha GPC’s effects on pregnant women, so those who are pregnant or nursing are advised to refrain from use.

Conclusion & Summary on GPC

Alpha GPC is a safe, well-tolerated, and highly effective source of choline. It has been the subject of decades of research and is recognized worldwide as a powerful memory enhancer, prescribed by physicians throughout Europe for a variety of memory disorders.

In addition to being a potent nootropic in its right, Alpha GPC is also a perfect addition to many other supplements, particularly those like the racetams which depend on a sufficiency of choline in order to achieve optimal results.

It also stimulates the production of HGH, which can improve strength, and shorten recovery time following exertion, and encourage the building of lean muscle mass, making it an invaluable supplement for athletes or anyone with an active lifestyle.

For anyone who is interested in improving their memory, physical strength and vitality, or achieving the best results possible with nootropic supplements, Alpha GPC is an excellent choice.

References

1. Klein J, Gonzalez R, Köppen A, Löffelholz K. Free choline and choline metabolites in rat brain and body fluids: sensitive determination and implications for choline supply to the brain. Neurochem Int. 1993;22(3):293-300.

2. Canal N, Franceschi M, Alberoni M, Castiglioni C, De moliner P, Longoni A. Effect of L-alpha-glyceryl-phosphorylcholine on amnesia caused by scopolamine. Int J Clin Pharmacol Ther Toxicol. 1991;29(3):103-7.

3. Parnetti L, Amenta F, Gallai V. Choline alphoscerate in cognitive decline and in acute cerebrovascular disease: an analysis of published clinical data. Mech Ageing Dev. 2001;122(16):2041-55.

4. Amenta F, Carotenuto A, Fasanaro AM, Rea R, Traini E. The ASCOMALVA trial: association between the cholinesterase inhibitor donepezil and the cholinergic precursor choline alphoscerate in Alzheimer’s disease with cerebrovascular injury: interim results. J Neurol Sci. 2012;322(1-2):96-101.

5. Kawamura T, Okubo T, Sato K, et al. Glycerophosphocholine enhances growth hormone secretion and fat oxidation in young adults. Nutrition. 2012;28(11-12):1122-6.

6. Kawamura T, Okubo T, Sato K, et al. Glycerophosphocholine enhances growth hormone secretion and fat oxidation in young adults. Nutrition. 2012;28(11-12):1122-6.

7. Traini E, Bramanti V, Amenta F. Choline alphoscerate (alpha-glyceryl-phosphoryl-choline) an old choline- containing phospholipid with a still interesting profile as cognition enhancing agent. Curr Alzheimer Res. 2013;10(10):1070-9.

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Several of the naturally occurring compounds in AB have cholinesterase inhibiting properties and could prove beneficial in individuals with subjective memory complains or objective cognitive impairment due to Alzheimer’s disease or other cognitive disorders.

This study investigated the effects of AB on ERP and EEG cognitive measures in healthy adults.

Methods

Twenty subjects between 18 and 35 years were recruited into the ERP/EEG study from a larger study participating in an eight-week, randomized, double-blind, placebo
controlled trial of AB.

All subjects were administered an EEG/ERP test at baseline, after acute treatment, and at the end of the study using an integrated hardware/software system for data collection and analysis. The testing protocol consisted of a two-deviant auditory oddball paradigm followed by 3min of resting EEG.

Results

Statistical analysis revealed a significant decrease in P3a and P3b latency in the AB! group compared to placebo.

Post-hoc analyses showed a significantly shorter latency for both measures after acute administration of AB!, suggesting increased attention and classification speed in this group of subjects.

Moreover, ANOVA with repeated measures showed a significant effect of treatment on P3a amplitude over time, suggesting a positive effect of AB on executive function.

While statistical comparisons for P3b amplitude showed no significant effects, a sub analysis limite to the frontal electrodes showed a significant increase in P3b amplitude in the treatment group, suggesting an increase in amount of attentional resources allocated to the stimulus after AB.

Finally,comparison of Peak Alpha Frequency (PAF) in Placebo vs. AB groups showed a significant increase in PAF after repeated treatment administration.

This EEG measure is directly correlated with processing speed and performance in a number of cognitive tasks, and it has been found to decrease with age.

Conclusion

While preliminary, subjects randomized to the AB group demonstrated beneficial effects on cognitive performance in both ERP and EEG tests.

Effects of AB on ERP/EEG appear similar to other cholinesterase inhibiting compounds that are used in patients with cognitive dysfunction due to Alzheimer’s disease and other cognitive disorders.

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