Eat This to Live Longer, Stay Young, and Transform Your Health

I just got out of the studio here in Boston.

“I am so excited about the episode you're about to experience.”

I cannot wait for you to meet our guest today. Dr. Lucia Aronica, Dr. Aronica is a world-renowned researcher and professor at Stanford University in the field of epigenetics, she is going to prove to you that food, it isn't just fuel, it's the pencil that rewrites your health at a genetic level. How cool is that?

Which means you're not stuck. No matter what your family history is or the current state of your health, you hold the keys to changing your future. Your habits and your tendencies right now. They do not determine your destiny because today you're going to learn how eating certain

specific foods foods that you can find in any grocery store, not only make you feel better, but they also help you become a different person at a cellular level. I mean, this is just mind-blowing.

“So if you want to feel stronger from the inside out, if you want to know exactly what foods”

slow down aging naturally, if you want to be more focused and have more joy in your life

and see food not as a chore, but it's something that is powerful and brings pleasure

to your everyday experience. This is an invitation to sit down with an extraordinary scientist who's not only going to teach you that change is possible, she will show you how your fork is one of the most powerful tools that you have to change your future. You know, I not only host this show, I'm also listening and learning, just like you are.

And after hearing from our incredible experts on this podcast, I have been trying to eat more protein because all these experts taught me that protein is one of the ways that you build and keep muscle. Muscle is the engine that powers your energy, your strength and your long-term health. And I've heard a lot of the experts recommend 30 grams of protein in the morning.

Now I can tell you from experience. The mornings I hit that number. I feel better, I'm more energized, more focus and less snippy, I'm not hunting for a snack 30 minutes later, but it's so hard. It seemed like no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't meet my daily goal.

“That's why I started working with the same medical and nutritional experts that I feature”

on the podcast to create something that didn't exist. The result, Pure Genius Protein. It's 23 grams of high-quality protein and a TSA-friendly 3.38 ounce bottle. It's made for busy schedules, travel, long shifts, low appetite days. It'll fuel your workouts and everything in between.

I love the product that we created because Pure Genius Protein makes it easy and delicious to hit your daily protein goals, especially when you're on the go. This week's a 20% on your first order. The Pure Genius Protein.com, when you use Code Mel, plus there's a 30-day money-back guarantee. Hey, it's your friend Mel, and welcome to the Mel Robbins podcast.

I am absolutely thrilled that you're here.

It is always such an honor to be together and to spend this time with you.

Today's going to be extra special. You're going to love this. If you're a new listener, or you're here because somebody shared this with you, I want to personally welcome you to the Mel Robbins podcast family, and I can not wait for you to meet today's guest, Dr. Lucia Aronica.

She is here to teach you how to eat in order to live longer, look younger, and feel better than ever. Dr. Aronica is a scientist and professor at Stanford University School of Medicine, where she specializes in epigenetics, which is how the choices that you and I make every day are especially what you eat, influence how your genes behave, and she is a pioneer in the

field of epineutrition, a way of understanding food, not just as fuel, but as information that changes you and your body and your health at a cellular level. Dr. Aronica has almost two decades of research experience at epigenetics. She earned her PhD in epigenetics from the University of Vienna. She has led research teams at Oxford and the University of Southern California.

She's published more than 25 peer-reviewed scientific papers in the most renowned medical journals in the world, including cell and BMC medicine. Please help me welcome Dr. Lucia Aronica to the Mel Robbins podcast. Thanks, Mel, for having me. I'm absolutely excited about our conversation.

Thank you.

“Please have a crush on your brain, so now I'm blushing.”

Here's what I want to start.

How could my life be different? If I take everything that you're about to teach me today, and I take it to heart, I apply it to my life, what might change? Tomorrow you'll wake up different. You look at your eggs, your broccoli, your coffee, and you realize I'm not just eating.

I'm rewriting my future, because food isn't just fuel. It's the pencil that rewrites your genetic instructions. Starting today, your fork becomes more powerful than your family history. Right now, you may see diabetes in your mom, heart disease in your dad, anxiety in yourself and think I'm stuck.

That's just my genes. But in reality, genes are only 25% of your history, and you are rewriting the other 75% right now with every choice and every meal.

And the best part, you'll never need an under diet again.

You'll transform your relationship with food so profoundly that process food won't even register as food and more, and you'll stop treating your body like a garbage can. Today, we are putting that pencil back in your hand, and you are going to rewrite your health story into a masterpiece. Dr. Aranaka, you came to play, holy cow, you will see the fork as the pencil to rewrite

your future. You will be able to use food to change 75% of what determines your health. I can't wait to get into all of this research around food and how it unlocks potential

in your genes and can change your health forever.

So you are an epigenetics scientist. What is epigenetics and why should we be excited about it as you are about what you're about to teach us? The Greek prefix epi means on the top. So epigenetic marks are molecular switches sitting at top your genes and turning them up

or down, just like a volume knob on a stereo. This also explains why you go through transformations throughout your life. Puberty, aging itself, losing weight, gaining weight, building muscles, all these transformations underlie epigenetic mechanisms.

“But yes, why you should be excited. Most of these marks are written in pencil, not in pen.”

Every day, they are rewritten by enzymes. We scientists actually call writer and eraser enzymes and guess who controls these editors every single thing you do. What you eat, how you move, how you handle stress, these sent signals to the writer in the eraser enzymes and that's why in epigenetics you are not just a passive reader of your

genetic code, but an active writer of your health story every day with every choice. You hooked me right in the opening couple words, so I want to make sure I really understand this because a lot of us blame our genes for a lot of things, right? Well, my weight, aging, energy stress, my mom had diabetes, as if everything is set and set, there's nothing you can do, so maybe why don't we start with, well, what

“actually are genes and what do they do and what's set and set and set and what isn't?”

Genes are recipes for proteins, the building blocks of everything in our body, okay?

reactions in the function of these proteins that can affect the way we respond to nutrients,

“the way we look, even our predisposition to disease, but here's where people get confused”

about genetic risk, not all genetic variants are created equal. You hear people say genes load the gun and lifestyle pulls the trigger and here's where epigenetics comes in. The landmark study published in 2016, in the new England Journal of Medicine, that's a good one, that's very good one, showed the power of lifestyle over genes, so 55,000 people with an increased

risk of genetic risk for heart disease, if they had a good lifestyle, so, healthy food,

“exercise regularly, no smoking, they cut their risk in half and those with good genes,”

but a bad lifestyle got hurt, this is anyway. So really, the genetic risk is written in pencil and you hold the pencil and the eraser, too. This is so exciting and it's also a little confronting because if you're the kind of person that was like, well, you know, where a heart disease runs in my family diet, that doesn't mean that's not true, but Dr. Veronica's here to say, hey, I have the research and you

just said it, this tendency and your family for these things to happen to people that you're related to does not determine your destiny that in almost every single instance, you hold the pencil and based on the changes that we're going to talk about today, these changes are so powerful that they can activate a different destiny for you moving forward. Wow, this is so cool. What would you say to somebody who is just struggled, for example,

for a really long time to lose weight or to feel good or to not feel so anxious or depressed or whatever and they're skeptical because just nothing's worked for them, I would say you're not stuck, you're just holding the wrong pencil. Oh, maybe you think you have tried everything,

but here's what I want you to know. Every time you went on a yo-yo diet, so you last weighed

and gave it back. Your self-created would we call an epigenetic memory of weight gain. So it's like a problematic software update, the genes that make the keep you lean, like those of burn fat, get turned down. Well, because we don't need them, because we're not doing anything, right? And the one that that keep make you fat, the inflammatory genes, wake up. And so your fat sells literally, remember being fat and fight to get back to that new normal.

“That's why it's so easy to gain back weight, but there's hope. As Stanford, we showed that if you”

lose weight and you keep it off for six months, actually, your fat sells, unlearn that memory. They start the process of re-reasing that memory, so turning up the the genes of burn fat and the rounding inflammatory genes. Now, I know what you're thinking. I can stick to diet for six days, six months sounds too much to me. Well, I think most people

wipe knuckle their way through protocols they hate and they never try to make

the process enjoyable as an Italian. I believe that pleasure isn't the enemy of health.

you hate, but you can be consistent with something you love. And in Italy, when we take our time,

“we share conversations, we see the glass of wine, we activate multiple pleasure pathways”

and health becomes as natural as breathing. So here's what I want you to do. I want you to

not just eliminate process fruit, but replace it with something you generally love. Something that makes you say, "Oh, this is what I've been missing. It can be replacing the eastern noodles for a juicy piece of cinnamon or that Oreo cookie with some sweet berries. Just find your own version of pleasure. In six months, your fat cells won't just forget.

“They were fat. They were remember what it really feels like to be joyfully healthy.”

Oh, my gosh. Okay. So I have made health. My number one goal this year and I've been listening to all the experts that come on this podcast. I'm not only interviewing people, but I am absorbing all of this. And so I've been focusing on resistance training. I've been focusing on whole foods. I've been prioritizing high quality protein. Really changing lifestyle. I can't believe over the last six months to a year. I feel like a different person from the inside out. And you just explained

“why? Because by changing these lifestyle levers that really do change the way your genes express,”

you are changing yourself from the inside out. Exactly. These aren't just health habits. They're said you have signals. Cellular signals to a different life. This is so cool. Why did you want to

get in and how did you get into this? I'd never even heard of epigenetics until like a year ago.

To things. Okay. Tradition and tragedy. Oh. Tradition. Growing up in Italian kitchen, food has always been medicine to me. Yes. In Italy, food isn't just fuel. It's connection, tradition and pleasure. And then through my work, I then discovered the molecular mechanisms behind this really showing that food is the pencil that rewrites our genetic instructions. And then a tragedy. I lost my father when I was 14. He was a dedicated physician,

always putting his patients first, calm, strong, and watching him fade away. I decided I wanted

to continue his legacy of helping people heal. But I decided to do it with science, not with medicine, and I wanted to help other doctors like him find better approaches to lifestyle medicine. And so every paper I write, every student I teach is my father's legacy living on. But then my mom told me the other half of the equation. Here's a photo of her. At 84, she's the picture of true longevity for me. She's not the hardcore biohacker following complicated protocols. Who the hell

has time for that? Yeah. She doesn't wake up at five a.m. in the morning to eat the gym or a bounce from cold plunge to sauna, and or pick, pick 100 supplements. She dresses elegantly. She's joyful. She takes time to eat savoring food, and she knows. She is our queen, our flower, and our rock. And this joy and purpose feels her life. She embodies something that many longevity

the equation. And that became the foundation of everything I teach. If you're listening,

“Lucius mom is wearing this beautiful navy blue dress with a bright red sash and it's got flowers on it.”

She's got this beautiful, like flower, red flower necklace at the center of her. She's like vibrant and her smile is bright and her eyes are bright. And I can't believe she's 80 in that phone. - It's the fourth. - 80, four. - Let's give a credit for all of yours.

- Four, birthday. - Happy birthday. - Happy birthday to your mother. You teach a framework at Stanford that is called eating your way to younger genes.

Let's just start with what does eating your way to younger genes even mean?

- Yeah, so I've established the first program

and course in nutrition and epigenetics at Stanford. And I teach a framework that is called epinutrition. - Epinutrition. - Yeah.

“- So how to eat to improve gene expression”

for a healthier, longer life? - Well, you know what I'm gonna say to then? I'm gonna say, Dr. Veronica passed me the fork. (laughs) - Here's the fork, I've got to explain you

how these works. - Oh, I can't wait, sadly. - So the concept, the main concept is that food isn't as fuel is the pencil that can arise your genetic instructions.

And my favorite example is the queen bee. Have you ever heard of this story? - No, okay, haha. So the queen bee lives 20 times longer than the other bees in the bee hive,

which are called worker bees.

She's also larger and third time,

whereas the workers are sterile.

“And yet, queen and worker bees are genetically identical.”

- No, they're not. - Yes, yeah. - Queen bees are genetically identical to a worker bee? - Yes, same hardware, different software.

And what rides the different software? Royal jelly. - The substance that the queen larvae eat as they develop. And these works as the epigenetic queen maker.

It turns on the genes that make the queen a queen. Now what's exciting is that we humans have nutrients that work like our royal jelly. And I call them ep nutrients, okay? They are two main categories.

The first category, material donors.

So think of them as the structural material the ink to write healthy genetic instructions. That's five main material donors. - Okay. - Metionine in all protein rich foods.

- Okay, so protein, protein rich foods. And then you have folate in green leafy vegetables. - Okay, liver and legumes. Then you have B12 from animal protein. Then colon from eggs and liver primarily

and beaten from beats, spinach, quinoa, and shellfish. Without this, your genes literally run out. Of ink. Then we have the second category. - Okay.

- I call this epi bioactives. - Okay. - These are the signals to the writer and the razor enzymes. So these regulate the epi biactives. Really tell your writer and the razor enzymes.

What to write and where? So examples of epi biactives. We have colorful pigments from colorful fruits and veggies, like for example, tomatoes, carrots, broccoli, even chocolate and coffee.

Then we have omega-3 fatty acids from fatty fish and post biotics from fermented foods. It's like yogurt, kombucha, sour crowd, kimchi.

between animal and plant foods. You need both.

“You need the ink and as we will see later,”

animal foods are really necessary to provide B12 and colon. So a type of ink, but then you also need the signals. The epi biactives that are primarily represented by plant foods together with omega-3s from fatty fish.

- Dr. Veronica, you are just incredible.

I hate to say this 'cause I wanna just keep on talking and talking, but I need to hit the pause button so that I can give our sponsors a chance to share a few words. And Dr. Veronica is so much more to teach us

so do not go anywhere. We'll be right back. (upbeat music) - Welcome back, it's your friend, Mel, and today, Stanford University Epigenetics Scientist.

Dr. Lucia Aronica is here, teaching you and me.

“How to eat, to live longer, look younger and feel better”

than ever. I am loving this and I'm so glad you're here. Thank you for sharing this with people that you care about. So, Dr. Aronica, I wanna walk through the specific types of food in this framework so that I really understand

and so does the person that is listening or watching. And if you're listening, we're gonna really describe what's happening. So I'm gonna ask our executive producer Tracy to come in, oh my gosh, this looks delicious.

- Thank you Tracy. If you could describe, I'm seeing red pepper, chocolate, carrots, tomatoes, garlic, lime, orange, blackberries, broccoli, this looks like a rainbow. It's a rainbow, so your doctor probably told you

to eat the rainbow. - Yes, versus veggies.

“- Yeah, but here's what your doctor may not realize.”

- These pigments aren't just antioxidants. They are AP nutrients that regulate your writer and eraser enzymes, and each color represents a different signal, no way. - Yeah, so for example, you have red foods like tomatoes

that provide lycopene for cardiovascular benefits. - Tomatoes, and the fact that it is an AP nutrient, means that when you're enjoying a beautiful red juicy,

amazing tomato, you are not just eating food,

you are sending a signal to your DNA about your heart health and about what else. - Your skin and everything. The most, the two areas of research are really cardiovascular and skin, okay?

So, click on trials and shown that, for example, lycopene can really reduce LDL oxidation, which is the process that makes LDL cholesterol truly dangerous. It can also work as an internal skincare.

So, it actually boosts your SPF, your internal SPF by 40%. - How tomato? - Yes.

- How is basically increasing your DNA repair

and also actively inhibiting the breakdown of collagen and the formation of each spots. And now, there is a however problem to see these benefits. These benefits start at 10 milligrams

of lycopene in clinical trials. - Yeah. - The spills. - Now, this is equivalent to eating 20 pounds of raw tomatoes a day, but there is a trick.

If you cook those tomatoes in olive oil or in any type of oil, like Italian grandmothers used to do, then you can boost the absorption of lycopene. - Wow. - Just by cooking the tomato, just by cooking.

But this is just a problem. - That makes me happy because I'd rather have it on pasta than I would. (laughs) But this is just a problem. - Okay.

Because then when you add olive oil, you boost the aviability by an additional 70% why because lycopene is lipo soluble. And so it can't be absorbed without fat. And so basically by cooking your tomatoes

you can reach the 10 milligrams of lycopene with just three tablespoon of tomato paste. - That's incredible. You know what, I gotta hand it to you. When I asked you how my life would change,

you said you will never look at food the same again.

I actually don't, and we're just getting started. Let's talk about the carrot. What happens to you or what is the benefit

“from an epinutrient standpoint when you eat carrots?”

- Yeah, carrots and all orange foods, even pumpkin, contain carotinoids. These carotinoids also are, first of all, a precursor to vitamin A production. And they also work as internal skincare for you.

Then we have green foods like spinach, they provide folate for DNA repair and broccoli. That's my favorite. - Now why do you love broccoli? - Okay.

Because broccoli and other crucifers vegetables in the same family, so we are talking about Brussels sprouts, arugula, kale, these provides an epinutrient called sulforafin. Sulforafin isn't an antioxidant itself.

It's better.

“It's the boss of your body's own antioxidant army.”

It switches on a genetic master switch, called NNRF2. This activates more than 200 protective genes involving detoxification, inflammatory defense, anti-oxidant defense, and this is the best part.

While direct antioxidants, like vitamin C, disappear in a few hours. Sulforafin switches on those genes for up to three days. So it's enough to eat cruciferous veggies to treat times a week to keep your

antioxidant genes switched on, but there's a problem. - What's the problem? 'Cause it sounds pretty good if I'm eating the boss of the army.

The problem is that there's actually no Sulforafin

in this broccoli. Did I buy the wrong kind? - You need to chop it or chew it. And there's a-s-y. Think of Sulforafin as a glow stick for your genes.

You know, she's holding a glow stick if you're listening. - So those light-up tubes you bring at concerts when you break them to compound mix, starting a light reaction, and Sulforafin works the same way. - When I chew broccoli, it activates the Sulforafin

inside the broccoli exactly, and this is exactly what happens. A compound called Glucorafanin mixes with an enzyme called my rosinase and boom. These creates Sulforafin.

So the problem is that most people buy frozen broccoli

and frozen broccoli is quickly blanched. So quickly boiled before freezing, and this destroys my rosinase. So no my rosinase, no glow stick reaction, no Sulforafin is like buying a broken glow stick,

or they throw broccoli directly into the boiling water, same problem. My rosinase dies, and you don't get Sulforafin. So that's why I have three tricks. - Oh, good. - For broccoli.

- Okay, so we can- - You can cook it the way you're talking

“about to make sure, you know what I love about this?”

I will never eat broccoli again without seeing glowy sparkle things all around. It's so amazing to know what's happening. So here are the three tricks. For fresh broccoli, yes.

Shopping 40 minutes before cooking. Wait, because during that time, my rosinase as catalyzes the reaction and produces more Sulforafin. Four frozen broccoli. - Can I ask you a question though?

- Yeah. - So the reason why this works, I'm guessing, is it because the shopping mimics

- Yes.

- And so the shopping is mixing everything up,

but you got to sit it, you got to let it sit for 40 minutes because it needs time for the glow to glow. - Yeah, and you know, you can just even come minutes help. - Okay.

- 40 minutes is based on experiment.

“- Great, that's what we're going with these scientists,”

that measure this and the smaller the pieces, the more the Sulforafin. - Well, that makes a lot of sense. And what I love about that is I can shop the broccoli set it aside because then I got to cook the tomato

when the olive oil. - I'm trying here. - Here we go. - I love it. - I love it.

- Then, if you buy frozen broccoli. - Uh-huh. You can rescue that with mustard. Add like a teaspoon of mustard powder or a tablespoon of prepared mustard

every like three ounces of broccoli. - Why? - Because mustard is also a cruciferous vegetables. - So provides the myrosinase enzymes that has been killed. - So it's sort of like when you add

“mustard in the mustard to cook broccoli,”

it's almost like the glow stick. The mustard is activating the core ingredient that the broccoli has. - Exactly, no, you can put it after cooking. - Yeah.

- And this has been measured by scientists that the University of Redding. So this is not just a trick made up. - Well, you don't strike me as the kind of person that makes anything up.

- So, and then there is the third trick.

- Okay, so you really want to maximize so far a thing, grow your own broccoli sprouts. They have up to 100 times the glucoraphone, the precursor compared to make sure broccoli. So just one ounce of broccoli sprouts

equals three pounds of broccoli. And it's so easy. In five days, they are ready. And they're really an epigenetic medicine. - I am learning so much.

I love that you're here.

“I have so many more questions that I want to ask you”

and I'm sure as you're listening, you're like, "Oh, I'll ask her about this." First, we have to hit the pause button. This is an invitation to look at your future and your health completely differently.

And I love that you and I have this free resource. There is so much more we're going to dive into and learn as soon as we're back from this break to stay with me. - Welcome back to your friend, Mel, and today you and I are here with Brinnown,

Stanford Epigenetic Scientist, Dr. La Chia Aranica, who is showing you and me that the food that we eat isn't just fuel. It is information that changes you at a cellular level. And she is pulling back the curtain

on how you can eat till a longer look younger and feel better than ever. Okay, let's move on to the blackberries. - Okay, the blackberries provide end to science. These are epinutrients for cognitive benefits

in general, they are anti-inflammatory. So they have multiple benefits, but click of trials, shoes, benefits, particularly for cognition. And garlic, garlic works similarly to broccoli.

This is also glow stick for legends. - Yeah, because when you chop or chew garlic, too. - Some people chew it, but if you crash it or chop it, yes, to compounds mix. - Elyline and alineus, the enzyme and these creates.

- Elisine, the epinutrient, we need. And Elisine has multiple benefits. It decreases LDL by 10%, yes. Anti-inflammatory benefits, it boosts immune function. Now, even here, there's a problem, right?

It's the same problem, 'cause I don't wanna eat a raw. That's a problem.

- The problem is, Elineus is also sensitive to heat,

just like I don't think so. - So here's what you do, what do we do? - You crash garlic, it's better if you crash it. Actually with the flat part of the knife. So if you're not a cook, let me explain what that means.

So you know when you peel the garlic and you chop, chop, chop, what she's saying is take the whole clove and smash it flat with the flat end of the knife or a spoon or a wooden spoon or something like that. What is smashing do that chopping doesn't?

- Yeah, so they both destroy the plant, cell walls, making those compounds mix together, the crashing destroys more and more destruction, more Ellison. - Okay, so both work, but you said,

or does it hold on to the, yes, you don't want to go,

“so you first crash it, then you wait five minutes.”

Oh, just five minutes for garlic, because this gives enough time for the reaction to maximize the production of Ellison. - Okay. - And then you have two options.

Either add it raw, add the end of cooking, that's the maximum Ellison, or cook it for two to five minutes, medium heat in olive oil. Not water, because if it's water, it'll it's reaches into the water and you lose most of it.

- Okay. - Yeah, so two claves a day and you're good. - Let's talk about chocolate, okay. - This isn't a guilty pleasure. It can be a pediatric medicine

if you choose the right one.

“- So chocolate provides a type of app in nutrients”

called flavonoids with metabolic cognitive benefits.

And now, the problem is that

most commercial chocolate is Dutch processed. So washed with alkali to make it smoother so we use bitterness and make the color look darker, which looks more premium, right? Now, this process destroys 90% of flavonoids.

So you really want to look for non-alcalized or non-dutch process. - Okay, chocolate. - So do they label it somewhere? - Yes. - It'll be labeled Dutch processed if it is Dutch processed.

- Yeah, they should or it should be on the label. Now, my favorite way of incorporating chocolate in my life is eating either cacao powder or cacao beans. This is where you maximize the flavonoids, minimize the calories.

You just need one to two tablespoons of raw cacao powder or 10 to 20 grams of cacao beans. These are delicious if you lightly roast them in the oven, they're just fantastic. - I didn't even know there was such a thing

as a cacao bean, but now I'm gonna be looking for them. - Yeah.

- I also finally see bell peppers.

You gotta break that one, right? - Yeah, bell peppers also provided lycopene and they are a great source of vitamin C. But here, be careful, don't buy them frozen because then they will lose 50% of their vitamin content.

- Is everything else you wanna say about all this stuff? - Just remember, the point isn't picking your favorite color is mixing them up, the rainbow. - Yeah, because only when you eat the rainbow, you are really protecting your genes from all angles.

- I love that. Royal jelly, we're activating the queen bee mode and our genes. We're gonna remove this food, so Trace, why don't you come on in and grab all this for us?

- Maybe that glow stick was amazing.

- Now, I would like to focus on calling. - Great, because I actually need to spell it. - Every time is C-H-O-L-I-N-E calling.

“Yeah, that's how forgotten this essential nutrient is.”

90% of people are deficient without even knowing it. We need 450 to 150 milligrams, which is equivalent to roughly four eggs a day, four eggs a day, four egg yolks is in the yolk, really. And most of us get barely half of it,

a gap that is affecting our liver, our brain, and our genes, because colon is first, it's part of any every single cell membrane in your body, then in the brain is used to produce a subtle colon for memory, focus, movement.

And then in the liver is used to package fat and export it out, so you develop fatty liver without colon. And for your genes is the ink to write these structures. Now, during pregnancy, the demand sky rockets. In our recent research with Dr. Randy Geertal

is the godfather of nutritional epigenetics.

can truly program a child's health for life.

“So when pregnant women take more than double”

the recommended amount of colon, so nine hundred and thirty milligrams instead of 450, then their children have higher cognitive abilities and lower anxiety even seven years later, really, yes, because colon provides the ink

to also regulate genes that are involved in our stress response, including those controlling cortisol. Now, I know what you're thinking. - How can I get colon? - Yeah, exactly what I was thinking.

You're not only an epigenetic, you're a mentalist, but reading my mind.

So I've developed something that I call the four yolk formula.

So try to get the equivalent, the colon equivalent of four yolks a day. - How do I do that? - Do I do that?

“- Yeah, so, and you're going to kill my cholesterol.”

- No, okay, we need to debug that myth. The cholesterol from your diet doesn't equal the cholesterol in your blood. Your liver produces 8% of the circulating cholesterol and if you eat more, the liver produces less.

It's like a thermostat, automatically adjusting. In our own research, a Stanford, when people triple their cholesterol consumption in the context of a weight loss diet,

and also they actually increase their saturated fat consumption,

their blood lipids improved. The problem wasn't the cholesterol, it was the donuts. So, now, only about 25% of people are high responders, which means they eat more cholesterol and they see increases in their blood cholesterol,

due to genetic and other metabolic differences. But, for the other 75%, eggs don't significantly raise blood cholesterol. Let me finish the formula. So, you get one cooling egg yolk equivalent

of course, in one egg, right? So, you could have two eggs. Then, in a three ounces of salmon, for example, do any other fish count? - Or just salmon. - Salmon is the richest source.

- Okay. - Liver, just one ounce. - I know, I don't know, liver, liver, liver. - You like liver? - I hate liver. - I can't stand this.

So, I can really relate if you're listening to this and thinking, "But, however, a liver is a truly, is an epigenetic mouthy vitamin." And then, if you're plant-based, it's going to be difficult, but it's possible.

Cruciferous vegetables, treat cups a day. No, treat cups is only one egg. Three cups of cruciferous is only one egg, so you need one egg, you need four, you need four. You need four, or, and this is the trick.

I recommend four vegetarians in Diggins. One, tablespoon of sunflower or soy lesson.

“And this provides the equivalent of one egg, right?”

So, you will need four tablespoon. But, if you have some sort of, when you say sunflower, you can sunflower seeds, or sunflower, less it in. - What is that certain? - Yes, you can find it, I very few Google it,

is, yes, it's a flower, less it in sexually, because chlorine is part of our membranes, right? That's it. So, now, the plants in the plant membranes, this chlorine is present in the same form that is present in our body,

which is called phosphatidil chlorine. So, less it in is a great source of phosphatidil chlorine. - And that's an oil? - No, it's a powder, it's a powder. - Yeah, okay, yeah.

- So, is that powder kind of the equivalent of, like you get out of to a smoothie, you could shake it on a towel. - And tablespoon is, yeah, on a salad, we're gonna skip the liver, and we're gonna get the less it in. - I'm like a neck rope, right?

- Yeah, yeah. - And this means, you know, that the vegetarians and vegans don't need to eat kilos of cruciferous veggies a day

- Yeah, so, chlorine is very important, I think,

“is one of the most misunderstood and forgotten nutrients.”

- Based on your research, what excites you the most about protein, protein provides the building blocks the amino acids for everything, structural and functional in your body. Here, skin, nails, antibodies, neurotransmitters,

hormones, without protein,

you basically can digest, can't heal, can't move.

- What are some of the other benefits when you think about epigenetics? I know it's the building blocks, but what else is an important reason? You know what I mean for why you really should be focusing

on this, if you wanna age well, and you wanna take advantage of all this research? - Yeah, we talked about, already, about the pencils. - Yeah, yeah. - So, between our primarily found

“and meta-union, our primarily found in protein rich foods,”

that's the first epigenetic benefit, and the direct epigenetic benefit. Then there are other indirect benefits. For example, if you eat more protein and your building muscle, the exercise part,

and the muscle within part does incredible things

to your epigenetics in your muscle cells. - Really? It's on G's that protect you from diabetes, that stimulates mitochondria by a geneticist, so they're really basically rejuvenating

your metabolism from within. So, these are more indirect benefits of protein from the epigenetics type. - Well, when you combine it with the weight training and moving your body, you're saying again,

you get that glow stick of the epigenetic. - When I almost feel like a queen bee,

“because it's changing you from the inside out.”

- Yeah, that's so, so cool. So is collagen protein? - Yes, okay. So, collagen is the most abundant protein. It's really the scaffolding holding you together

is in our skin, in our tendons, and now, most people think, okay, I need collagen supplements as I age, because as we age, we lose about 1% of collagen every year starting at 25, so by age 50,

we are already down 75% of our skin. - Well, that's 10% of our skin. - And that doubles after menopause. - What? - Yes, I actually prefer to focus on collagen rich foods.

And these are the foods we are not eating. The parts of the animals that we are just throwing away. So this is like chicken and fish with a skin, can't fish or with bones, right, salmon, salmon. - Certainly.

- For example, slow cooked meats. - Oh my goodness, yes. - I know, let's talk about, let's talk about, yes. - Yeah, so good, I am, oh my gosh. - Yes, so your ribs, let's keep going.

- Yeah, and bone broth. That provides 10 grams of collagen per cup, more or less. So in general, if you think, let's go back and eat, like, nose to tail, like our ancestors did, like, use it all, use it all,

and then you will get the collagen and all the epinutrients. So first of all, focus on high protein, get that protein, because maybe that's all you need. We don't know, but then support with collagen, you will get, especially if it's from food,

you will get other epinutrients and the glyce. - The next thing that you talk about from an epigenetic standpoint is Omega-3. - Oh, that's my fault. - Oh, right, you love these.

- Yeah, I love this. - These are epibiatis that work as our cellular fire department. Days which on genes that basically is low down inflammation, inflammation is the chronic low-grade inflammation is what ages you faster than time.

It's self.

Now, the problem is that most people think

that plant-based Omega-3s are enough. Yes, it's a flat seeds, walnuts, they provide ALA. This is a plant-based Omega-3 fatty acids

and the HA, which you get directly from fatty fish.

Now, the problem that conversion is dramatically inefficient for young women is five to eight percent. For men is 0.5 to four percent, and things get worse as we age, if you're stressed, or inflink, yes.

So, let's take the perfect scenario, okay? You are a young woman, the best case scenario, and no inflammation, no stress. You will need to get the therapeutic levels of Omega-3 fatty acids that in clink of trial are equivalent to two grams a day.

You will need to eat one cup of才 seed, or chia seeds every day, or two pounds of walnuts.

Two pounds, that's like 2,000 calories or more.

Yes, so this is not an nutritional strategy, it's more like some more nutritional fantasy.

“So, that's why I always encourage people”

to focus on fatty fish. So, this is salmon, macro, and show this. Serdees, and herring. These are the best sources of Omega-3 fatty acids. Three to four times a week.

This is still not enough to get to two grams a day, unless you eat fish every day, and with multiple servings, that's why I do like to supplement

with a quality Omega-3 fatty acids.

That's cool. That's, this is, I'm really into this. Fermented foods as an epigenetic researcher, what a fermented foods do. Okay.

Fermented foods provide what I call the three mosquitoes of gut health, or for one, one, for all. And these are the prebiotics. So, the fiber that feeds your bacteria,

“then the probiotics, the bacteria themselves,”

and the postbiotics. These are the bacterial products that work as ap bioactive. The most studied example is beauty rate. Have you ever heard of it?

Beauty rate, beauty rate. Now, is a short chain fatty acids produced by your gut microbiome. That works as an epibyactive traveling through your bloodstream and switching on,

genes involved in information control, gut health, immune health, wow, right? And for many people fermented foods are better than fiber alone. In a landmark study, a Stanford,

by my colleague Justin Sunberg,

“they showed that when people increase their fiber in take”

but they have low microbiome diversity. So, fewer bacteria species. Then they actually experience an increase in inflammatory markers. But when people increase their fermented food in take,

the inflammatory markers go down independently of starting microbiome. And their microbiome diversity increases during the process. This is because the fermented foods, don't just feed your bacteria,

they really seed your gut with new, species. So, if you were to really change the way you look at food, and you look at this rainbow of epinutrients and you follow the same instruction you gave to your mom

based on the research of just try to get protein in every meal and also really pay attention to a bag of three in college and like you just do your best to do this and you slow down a little bit. And maybe we channel our inner Italian.

And we enjoy this and think about the fact that we are giving our body the ink and the instructions to write a new chapter. What changes might you notice? Even in a short period of time, if you really take this on.

Yeah, so in 30 days, let's take 30 days.

your epigenetic memories, but they're enough

“to see meaningful physiological changes.”

Then you start to feel better because the energy stabilizes as your blood glucose stabilizes. Your sleep and skin improve as the inflammation goes down. Digestion improve as your microbiome adjust. And most importantly, the real transformation is cellular.

So you are slowly rewiring your habits and rewriting your genetic instructions. You are really starting to becoming a new person. I just said your level. So your transformation has already started.

What would you say to the person who's listening or watching right now? And they are going to follow all these recommendations, but there's someone in their life that they're worried about, and they want to help

a loved one change their lifestyle for the better. I love this question. Because you can change someone else. But you can become the invitation. Don't just force change.

Just show that change is possible by living it, not pushing it. Start your quiet transformation. Be the quiet revolution. Because there's no better argument than your life.

So you start changing first. They don't think healthy diet, exercising. They will get curious. They will notice it. And then when they ask, you can invite them to join you.

And so meet them where they are.

What do you think the single most important thing

that you want someone to take away from this conversation, this incredible rich master class in how to take up the nutrients and rewrite your future?

“What do you want them to take away from this conversation?”

Your genes aren't your faith. They are your opportunity. Stop blaming your DNA. Your genes are only 25%, and you are the other 75%. Every meal, every workout side, every night of sleep

is an opportunity to pick up the energetic pencil and write a healthier chapter. And here's how you can make it sustainable. Remember that pleasure is your compass.

Real food that tastes incredible, connections that light you up.

Even movement that you enjoy, these will guide you exactly to what your genes need. So pick up the pencil, write with pleasure, and create a masterpiece. What I want to say to you is it's really a privilege

when you get to sit with somebody who is in their genes. Thank you. That was wonderful. It really is.

“It chokes me up because you said that you can't change”

someone else, but you can be the invitation. Your example can show that change is possible. Yes. And it's very clear that the research that you do and the way that you live your life and the conviction

and genius through which you share all of this with the rest of us is the invitation that shows us it's possible. So thank you. Thank you, love.

Thank you so much. You are so welcome. And I also want to thank you. I want to thank you for making the time to listen to something that is so life-changing.

And I want to thank you for sharing this episode as a free resource and an invitation to the people that you care about that will show them that change is possible too. I am so excited by this.

I cannot wait to see your comments. I can't wait to see the changes that you make and how you feel when you really take all of this research that we just learned about epineutrition and you apply it to your life.

And in case someone else tells you today as your friend, I wanted to tell you that I love you and I believe in you and I believe in your ability

And one of the things that really struck me

“about our conversation today is something”

that Dr. Luchia said about how change isn't just possible.

What's going to happen if you leverage all of this incredible

research that we learned about today? You're not only going to feel better, you are going to become a different person at a cellular level and holy cow won't that change your life. All right, I will see you in the very next episode.

I'll be waiting to welcome you in the moment you hit play. (upbeat music)

“And today you and I are here with Brannoun,”

Stanford Epigenetics Scientist, Dr. Luchia, aren't Dr. Luchina, oh my God. Dr. Luchia, Aranica, right now you may be seeing your, sorry.

The first category, Mattil Donners.

So, these don't need and the numbness. I am so excited. I literally like, okay, episode over. Does this only make us your Italian?

“Like, you're like, I, you're listening to you.”

So, for a theme, works like a glow stick. Well, this doesn't make me feel good.

But I think it's on your seat.

- Yes, it's my seat. Okay, I did it. - Yeah. - You are so good. - Thank you.

- Oh, okay, thank you. - My God. - Thank you. - It was so fun and I got more excited as we, as we move on. - Oh, and one more thing.

And no, this is not a blooper. This is the legal language. You know, what the lawyers write and what I need to read to you. This podcast is presented solely for educational and entertainment purposes.

I'm just your friend. I am not a licensed therapist and this podcast is not intended as a substitute for the advice of a physician, professional coach, psychotherapist, or other qualified professional.

Got it? Good. I'll see you in the next episode. (upbeat music) - SiriusXM.

- podcast. [MUSIC PLAYING]