December 3, 2021
Welcome to Ben Greenfield's Weekly Roundup and Cool New Discoveries!
Ben Greenfield's discoveries, from the latest news on the fronts of fitness, nutrition, health, wellness, biohacking, and anti-aging research. I also recap my upcoming events and special announcements so you can keep up with giveaways, discounts, and more!
New Discoveries Of The Week: Cool New Things I'm Trying, Books I'm Reading, And More!
What I'll Be Wearing When—Well, If—I Get Vaccinated Against COVID
I haven’t been vaccinated against COVID (yet).
I’m not opposed to the general idea of vaccines and think they’ve done us a great deal of good in the past, but I simply haven’t yet seen enough data on the current vaccine options to be 100% comfortable getting vaccinated.
If you listen to my recent podcast with Donnie Yance, or review my usual updates on COVID here, we discuss a few vaccine options currently under trial, including what I think is a most compelling one called Novavax, and if that particular vaccine is approved, it’s pretty likely that I’ll get it—not necessarily because I’m convinced it’s crucial for my immunity or for the protection of those around me, but rather because it will simply make some of the societal restrictions we’re currently bombarded with just a bit easier to navigate.
However, the last thing I’d want to do is send a message to our government and health authorities that I agree with the notion that—unless we have been proven to be stricken with some horrible malady that severely endangers those around us—I can be told what I should and should not be required to inject into my body. I would prefer the freedom of choice to make that decision for myself when the time comes, thank you very much.
And so, I present to you a t-shirt I recently designed…emblazoned with my feelings on the matter, namely: “I got it because I wanted to, not because you told me to.”
It’s just a bit of a head nod to the fact that if I do get vaccinated, it will be a matter of personal choice, and not “following orders.”
Yeah, I realize this post will likely generate many comments as it’s kinda a polarizing topic. So please be a nice person if you leave a comment. It just makes life more pleasant for everybody. ;) And you can go to BenGreenfieldFitness.com/jabshirt to grab a shirt for yourself (or hoodie, or hat, or whatever—you can put my design on anything you want when you follow that link). So now you can have something waiting in the wings to wear should you decide to get vaccinated, or something to add to your fashion wardrobe if you’ve already been there and done that. :)
Thanksgiving Turkey “The Greenfield Way”
I'm often asked how I prep the Thanksgiving turkey. It slightly varies from year to year, but this year's big ol' US Wellness Meats 16-pounder went as follows:
- Brine for 24 hours in 2 cups brown sugar, 2 cups salt, 1/2 cup peppercorns, 5 bay leaves, 5 garlic cloves, a cup of apple cider vinegar, 5 slices of oranges, and a red onion.
- Rinse, dry, rub down with Provence seasoning, garlic powder, salt, and black pepper, stuff as many slits in the skin as possible with massive amounts of butter, put more butter and spices on the inside, truss up the legs with twine, and throw on the Traeger grill to smoke in pecan pellets at 175° for 90 minutes.
- Jack temp up to 350° and cook an additional 3-4 hours until internal temp is 165°. Keep a roasting pan under it to catch the juices the whole time.
- Pull from grill, let rest 20 minutes, carve, salt, and drizzle a whole bunch of the juices on top.
- Eat/save room for pumpkin pie!
Oh and one amazing, mouthwatering final tip for you: right before the Thanksgiving meal starts, I put a crockpot out on the counter with a bunch of bone broth in it and toss all the turkey bones, the turkey carcass, and even a bit of potatoes, cranberry, spices, wine, green beans and whatever else happens to be lying around and let it simmer overnight to make absolutely wonderful, flavorful broth that lasts me for days after the feast, and is quite good when used to dip turkey sandwiches on sourdough in.
For even more of my favorite recipes, including several that go quite well with turkey, check out my new Boundless Cookbook. Bon appetit!
Podcasts I Recorded This Week:
This episode was brought to you by Kion, JOOVV (code BEN), Lucy Nicotine Gum (code BEN20), and Organifi Green Juice (code BENG20).
This episode was brought to you by Kion, Organifi Gold Chocolate (code BENG20), Butcher Box, and CAR.O.L (code BEN).
Ben Greenfield's VIP Text Club: To receive exclusive texts from Ben Greenfield, text the word “FITNESS” to 411247 (within the U.S. only).
Articles I Published This Week:
Eat, Drink & Be Merry: Ben Greenfield’s Top 10 Tips For Healthy Holiday Eating, Part 1.
Product Of The Week
::: Save 30% On Life-Changing, Gut-Healing Seed Oils :::
Can you imagine a gold medal-winning Olympian who conditioned their body and trained their entire life to compete… and then being faced with a life-threatening diagnosis?
That’s exactly what happened to Andreas Wecker, an athlete from Germany. He found himself battling Crohn’s Disease and being given handfuls of prescribed pills that only temporarily alleviated some of the more severe symptoms.
While considering life-altering surgery, he made a fascinating discovery.
After three months of experimenting with oils extracted from flax, coriander, sunflower, pumpkin, and sesame seed Andreas realized the symptoms he took the pills for were fading away.
Today, his company—Andreas Seed Oils—ships these same pure seed extracts all around the world helping thousands of people experience the life-changing benefits they can offer. Plenty of scientific studies have backed what Andreas found. Each seed supports the body's natural processes. Here’s just a few examples:
- Coriander (helps fight infection)
- Black Cumin (supports inflammation reduction)
- Flax Seed (benefits the heart)
- Pumpkin Seed (helps lower cholesterol levels)
…and that’s just a few short examples.
The best part is the oils Andreas’ team extracts the oils from these seeds without heat, solvents, grinding, or anything that might damage the nutrients. They then package the oils in a special tinted glass bottle that shields the oil from ultraviolet light.
You can view them yourself (and save 30% on your order by using code BEN) when you click here.
Keep up on all of my LIVE appearances by following bengreenfieldfitness.com/calendar!
Introducing My New Training Program!
This week, I announced I will be launching my new training program, Boundless, exclusively on the Ladder app. With my program, I will provide you with my own personal training plan every week, including 5 Tabata/bodyweight sessions, 1 active recovery session, and 1 day dedicated to “biohacking.”
This is the next best thing to training with me in person and at an incredible rate. In addition to programming, you’ll get access to a community of individuals who will also help hold you accountable.
So no more guessing. No more planning. No more excuses. Boundless will take care of all of that for you. We begin training together as a team on Monday, September 20th. To secure your spot, join my waitlist and you’ll get your first week of training FREE.
Join my waitlist to secure your spot and get your first full week free!
I Want To Know What You've Got Cooking
I'm so stoked about the positive feedback I've been getting about my new Boundless Cookbook. The cookbook was a labor of love, but I'm really proud of the end result (especially considering I'm definitely not a trained chef).
Now that the Boundless Cookbook is available on Amazon, I have a favor to ask…
If you have the cookbook and you love it, can you hop on over to Amazon and leave a review? Amazon reviews—as I bet you know—are super important. I want your honest feedback and I'll be reading them to hear what you think.
You can leave your review on Amazon right here (and if you don't have a cookbook yet, and you're an Amazon Prime member, you could have your copy at your doorstep as early as tomorrow).
Kion Product Of The Week: Deliciously Smooth Kion Clean Protein
Protein is essential for muscle growth, metabolism, sleep, immune function, brain health, and more—and most people aren’t getting enough.
You deserve a clean, delicious, high-protein powder that’ll build your best body from the inside out.
Introducing Kion Clean Protein. The cream of the crop of whey proteins. Clean Protein delivers an easy-to-absorb complete protein that’s:
- Made with superior quality whey protein isolate
- From grass-fed, pasture-raised cows
- Antibiotic-free and growth hormone-free
- Virtually lactose-free
- Non-GMO
Clean Protein is also rigorously tested for mold, unhealthy bacteria, and heavy metals to ensure you’re getting the cleanest protein possible.
Each serving contains 20 grams of high-quality protein from cows that graze on healthy pastures. The result is a nutrient-dense, protein-rich whey with virtually zero lactose, carbohydrates, or milk fat.
Indulge in rich chocolate or smooth vanilla—flavored with organic natural flavors, Himalayan pink salt, and stevia. Or, opt for unflavored, for you purists out there. Clean Protein has absolutely no artificial sweeteners and only 80 calories per serving.
*The FDA hasn't evaluated these statements. Kion products are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease.
This Week's Most Popular Instagram Post
This Week's Most Popular Tweet:
My Most Popular Facebook Post This Week:
Leave your comments and any news or discoveries that you think I missed below!
Cheers,
Ben
Ben I am sad to hear that you feel you are required to get the vaccine and that’s why you are not doing it. In all due respect, you are a Christian and you should be considering others. Many of us are immunocompromised, or older – so you would be doing this for others more than you’d be doing it for yourself. It’s an act of servanthood. Here’s a little story someone wrote on Medium that feels fairly pertinent.
“There was a man in a flood zone during a hurricane and the waters were rising all around him. The water rose to flood the bottom of his house and he couldn’t get out. He cried out ‘Lord, save me!’ Soon, a person in a row boat came by and said ‘Get in. I’ll take you to safety.’ He said ‘No, I’m waiting on the Lord to save me.’ So the row boat left. The waters rose to the roof top and a person in a speed boat came by. The person said ‘Get in. I’ll take you to safety.’ The man said, ‘No, I’m waiting on the Lord to save me.’ So, the speed boat left. Soon the waters were so high that he could barely stand on the roof. A helicopter with the search and rescue team came by and they said ‘We are here to airlift you to safety.’ The man said, ‘No, I’m waiting on the Lord to save me.’ The man drowned. He went to Heaven and saw the Lord. He said ‘Lord, why didn’t you save me?’ The Lord replied, ‘I sent two boats and a helicopter. What more did you want?'” So I explained to my son that the Lord gives us the tools and each other to help us out of disaster. Relying on the Lord means knowing when to accept help from others including the medical community.
You reach thousands of people every day with wonderful information. What an act of servanthood that would be if you recommended that all should be vaccinated so we can get out of this disaster without losing more lives. <3
Thank you for sharing this. It was my first thought when I read this post. Protecting the people around me was the main reason I got vaccinated. I live my life based on the premise that we’re all responsible for each other. I wish more people shared that value.
Oh, and Suzanne, the vaccines for COVID-19 do not prevent infection or transmission, nor do they do much to help you in the instance of infection. The vaccinated are actually perfect carriers, and therefore those who are vaccinated are a threat to the unvaccinated, not the other way around.
Natural immunity to COVID-19 from a past infection is far more robust than vaccine-induced immunity.
This is because the immune system is exposed to all of the pathogen’s proteins, not just one single
protein in isolation.
So, thank you for valuing the wellbeing of those around you, but I don’t think you are achieving what you think you are…
It’s ironic that you pull the ‘Christian’ card. I doubt that it’s very ‘Christian-like’ to subtly attempt to manipulate using guilt and fear to further an agenda that you personally agree with. Its not surprising though, since religious institutions and propaganda have been used for centauries to subtly or forcibly control human behavior often by claiming to have the moral high ground and community’s best interests at heart; when in fact, they do not.
Jesus, the individual whom Christians claim to follow, never actually referred to himself as a Christian. In fact, he was very counter-culture, counter-religion and considered a troublemaker during his time because he questioned the established governing authorities and religious figures, challenging them to think differently about spirituality, reality and the nature of things. All of which, seems to be at odds with the religion of modern day Christianity (generally speaking).
Also, I believe that you are again making an ironic and bold assumption when you allude to the medical community as being God’s help. I’m not saying that the medical community is not a help (generally speaking), but in reference to your post, there are plenty of reputable examples of those in the medical community that do not support the currently recommended mainstream vaccination and COVID-19 protocols.
Perhaps the sceptics are the God given help to avoiding disaster in the first place?
Furthermore, did God not bestow on us, first-and-foremost, an amazing body and adaptive immune system? I’m not saying that our bodies do not need external support or that they always handle disease and illness optimally (especially when elderly or compromised); however why do we feel the need to undergo an experimental medical procedure that further compromises (yes, experimental, and yes, compromising, as most vaccinations by definition are inflammatory and immunosuppressant) in an delusional attempt to protect ourselves and others? Is this not counterproductive?
Are we not better serving ourselves and others by encouraging critical thinking, understanding of our own biology and wellbeing and thoroughly informed consent, instead of blind obedience or “servanthood”?
Who exactly are you serving?
Ben – totally respect your decision on whatever you do with your body/health.
But you said that you were getting it so you could fit into social life a little easier – not for your health, or those around you.
So why bother wearing the T-Shirt?
Don’t you see that by getting it – the message has already been given to Gov and authorities?
They can restrict your movements, and you’ll fold.
Unless you are doing this for your health – then you are doing it because you have been told to do it..
Again – full respect to you always.
You have benefitted my health and wellbeing very positively and I’ll always be grateful.
But let’s call a duck a duck so to speak – or a sheep a sheep maybe (sorry).
If you get it so you can fit into society better – then you got it because you were told to – not because you wanted or chose to!
And authorities have received the message and KNOW they can get you to do anything they want by taking away your freedoms one by one.
You may decide that it’s not worth the hassle of resistance for the sake of maintaining those freedoms. And as you say – the newer vaccines may be better. If so – be clear about it and leave it there and leave the T-Shirt at home.
But given the ‘free’ choice – and considering you have already had COVID! I’ll say it again – if you take it – you did it because you were told to….
May need to redesign the T-Shirt..
Sorry
I don’t understand how you could even consider getting the vaccine. You aren’t doing your homework.
thank you for all your posts ben! i tell everyone down here in houston about you.
Appreciate it Andrew!