June 25, 2016
Click here for the full written transcript of this podcast episode.
UPDATE: Since the release of this podcast, I have launched my newest Kion product, Kion Coffee! This is cleanest coffee you will ever find and the only coffee that meets my strict health standards. Get 10% off your first order of the purest, most antioxidant-rich, completely organic coffee available today. Or subscribe and save 25% on your first month.
I received plenty of puzzled comments and inquiries from podcast listeners when, several episodes ago, I mentioned that one could gain a large number of surprising health, longevity and disease preventing benefits by drinking up to 4-6 cups of coffee a day.
What I said in that episode was based on a book I recently read – a book by a Harvard medical researcher named Dr. Sanjiv Chopra. The book, entitled “The Big Five”, delves into five simple things you can do to live a longer, healthier life and I actually learned quite a bit about everything from coffee to Vitamin D to nuts and beyond in it. Each of the recommendations outlined in this book has been proven by an overwhelming number of tests, trials, and studies to increase health and lifespan.
Dr. Chopra promises that if you adopt the five simple, virtually-free suggestions in his book, you will live a longer and healthier life, guaranteed – without needing the latest expensive supplements, fad diets, jazzy exercise programs, and state-of-the-art gym equipment. Since I'm all about natural living, anti-aging and longevity, I decided I had to get this guy on the show.
Sanjiv Chopra, MD, is Professor of Medicine and served as Faculty Dean for Continuing Medical Education at Harvard Medical School for 12 years. He is the James Tullis Firm Chief, Department of Medicine, at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. Dr. Chopra has more than 150 publications and seven books to his credit.
Dr. Chopra is Editor-in-Chief of the Hepatology Section of UpToDate, the most widely used electronic textbook in the world subscribed to by more than 850,000 physicians in 149 countries. He is a sought-after motivational speaker across the United States and abroad, addressing diverse audiences on topics related to medicine, leadership, happiness, and living with purpose. Awards bestowed upon Dr. Chopra include…
• The George W. Thorn Award – 1985
• Received the highest accolade from the graduating class of Harvard Medical School, the Excellence in Teaching Award – 1991
• The Robert S. Stone Award – 1995
• American Gastroenterological Association’s Distinguished Educator Award – 2003
• Elected as a Master of the American College of Physicians, a singular honor bestowed to only a select few individuals for being ͞citizen physicians, educational innovators, scientific thinkers and humanists who inspire those around him or her and sets the standards for quality in medicine – 2009
• Recipient of Ellis Island Medal of Honor for “Exemplifying outstanding qualities in both one’s personal and professional lives while continuing to preserve the richness of one’s particular heritage.”–2012
On May 10, 2016, Dr. Chopra released his 8th book titled, The Big Five: Five Simple Things You Can Do to Live a Longer, Healthier Life, and during our discussion about the book, you'll discover:
-The shocking answer to the question Dr. Chopra asks when he's giving a lecture on liver disorders…
-The famous philosopher who drank 60-70 cups of coffee per day…
-Whether it matters if the coffee is caffeinated or decaffeinated…
-The one organ in your body that highly benefits from caffeinated versions of coffee…
-The surprising myth about coffee, blood pressure and heart rate…
-How many cups of coffee you can actually drink per day if you are a pregnant woman…
-How men and women respond differently to coffee, and why…
-Fast caffeine oxidizers vs. slow caffeine oxidizers, and which does not respond to caffeine's effects on exercise…
-Dr. Chopra's thoughts on coffee enemas…
-The effect of coffee on muscle motor units…
-The “world's most expensive coffee” from elephant dung and weasel poop…
-The trick to know if you are getting enough Vitamin D from natural sunlight…
-Why mold in peanuts and coffee may not be as big an issue as you think…
-How meditation affects your telomeres, your cells and your gut…
-And much more…
Resources from this episode:
–Weasel poop coffee (Wild Kopi Luwak, the World's Most Exclusive Coffee, Sustainably Sourced From Sumatra, Indonesia)
–Genetically Engineered ‘Mighty Mouse' Can Run 6 Kilometers Without Stopping
–Arrowhead Mills peanut butter
–Vitamin D3 + Vitamin K2 droplets
-The book “True To Form”
Do you have questions, comments or feedback for Dr. Chopra or me? Leave your thoughts below and one of us will reply! And be sure to check out Dr. Chopra's book: The Big Five.
Every time I listen or read a topic such as this I can’t help but think “what is the correlation to lifestyle or is there a cause and effect.” Would love to know what the activity level, lifestyle habits, stress level, quality of life, etc. goes along with most people that do in fact drink several cups of coffee a day? I would expect much better than those who do not? Also, when Dr. C mentioned coke drinkers do not benefit as much, my brain went immediately to fat, out of shape, poor diet and low exercise population peeps that typically drink soda as a daily habit…
Thoughts!?..
Wish these were earmarked with episode numbers so I can search it and listen to it on Overcast at 1.5x speed
Like his stance on coffee but he loses a little gravitas with me because of his position on saturated fats (anti)…
Ben and folks what would you guys say is the best way to brew coffee in order to extract the most healthy properties and oils (and nootropics if talking about Kimera coffee). I was thinking either Moka pot or French press. Any thoughts?
French press!
Thanks man! Listening to your muscle cramping episode now, thanks for what you do ???????? you’re definitely changing lives
Loved the podcast Ben. Great as always. Picked up the book and looking forward to reading and implementing it.
Fyi, links were not working for PB’s and Vitamins.
Ben,
I listen to the show and something that caught my attention was when tou said “Now, if the method with which you make the coffee is important with that, like I don’t use paper filters because it filters out a lot of the kahweol and cafestol. I use like a stainless steel aeropress or a French press or a stainless steel pour over because you can actually filter out a lot of those positive cholesterols and chlorogenic acids.”
My daily coffee preparation routine is a pour over / dripper using single use unbleached cone paper filters and I hadn’t heard about using metal mesh filters and kahweol and cafestol. I did some pubMed research and lots of studies about kahweol and cafestol lowering cancer risk but I also came across a lot of studies about kahweol and cafestol raising LDL-C.
What are your thoughts and how do you weight the potential cancer prevention benefits with raising LDL-C?
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9242972
Cholesterol, even LDL-C is GOOD. Start with my book at http://www.BeyondTrainingBook.com to learn why.
Does it matter if one drinks the coffee black or with a little milk?
Black is better but a little milk is fine.
Ben, any insight on potential benefits of using butter in coffee instead of creamer? I have read some recent articles and saw Turbo mentioning it on Boundless?
big fan of butter. big fan of ghee. big fan of coconut oil. If it's fat and you can put it in coffee it can definitely help with the bioactivity of the coffee!
Hey healthy people,
I wanted to start with- true to form in the mornings-. How long after waking, is it safe to workout… i’ve heard 3 hrs for joints to by fully lubricated, any thoughts?
Advice from someone who is obese and having joint replacements I would take with precaution. An interview with Deepak about the same things would be interesting Ben.
There are plenty of people living long healthy lives who dont drink coffee and have no reason to be fighting off cancer.
Hello Ben. My wife’s grandfather was from the Newfoundland . He left home at 13. He lied about his age so he could work on ships. My father-in-law told me he never remembered seeing him drink anything but coffee. There was a pot of coffee on at all times. He lived to be 98.
Ben I have to say I was a little disappointed with Dr Chopra’s knowledge on the finer details of his own recommendations! You seemed to know more about it than him! Especially when it came to mycotoxins! Oh my goodness… “only if you can see it?” Holy cow. That tells me that he knows NOTHING about this… mold spores aren’t always (I would argue relatively RARELY) visible to the human eye.
I’m really glad you were there speaking so that the listeners could be guided at least towards some issues that they should look out for. If you’re going to mainstream coffee then lets not make it starbucks..
I think it’s obvious when an interviewee hasn’t listened to any of your podcasts.. if he’d listened to any of thenm i cannot imagine him recommending that anyone drink coke for any reason.. far out!
Sorry- normally love your podcasts but this guy was frustrating.
Hey Ben,
Great podcast! Over the last 8 ish years I have been a regular coffee drinker (2-5 Cups per day). I recently have switched to tea and found that the withdraws I was having were intense and lasted at least 2 weeks. I had my cortisol levels tested, and they were super high throughout the day. Pairing my cortisol levels with the side effects of ditching coffee, I am pretty confident in saying my adrenals are being overally stressed. Did I mention I have IBS-C as well? Wonder if this could be linked to adrenal function? Anyway, really would have liked to hear adrenal fatigue brought up. Any thoughts?
Please help a 25 year old health nut!
Thanks Ben, keep on keepin on!
Won’t all that coffee, specifically the large amount of caffeine fry the adrenals?
Rich, I was wondering the same thing. I was only drinking one cup a day but quit anyway because all the holistic/natural practitioners say that coffee is terrible for the adrenals.
Btw, I just saw this mercola article about how the WHO has reversed their position on coffee. http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archiv…
Not only that, such a a large amount of coffee would put the body in an incredibly acidic state one would think. Making it nearly impossible to be alkaline.
As a Mormon, coffee is highly discouraged, but we can take caffeine pills (like most religions, we aren’t very consistent). So, can I get the benefits of lots of coffee by taking caffeine pills (200mg) once or twice a day?
I know the tannins have some powerful effects too. I drink straight cacao every day (brewed in a french press) from Crio Bru or from King Koko. I drink it black or bulletproof style and I feel great (lots of anti-oxidants there). Are there any studies comparing cacao with coffee?
Great podcast, Ben. Ticked a lot of boxes. I think I will have to revive my mantra and reintegrate coffee enemas into my life.
But damn… I might have to get another two books.
My favourite road bike ride is 32kms to the best flat white in Mid Canterbury and 40kms home (HR 116; 180- my age, thanks Mark S). Like Dr Chopra, they know my order at the Stavely Store.
Wish it would snow, though. Kinda bleak for the start of winter.
OMG! I was just reading the reviews of Dr. Chopra’s book on Amazon – is he really Deepak’s brother????? Coooool!! :-)
This makes me want to start drinking coffee again! I quit a couple months ago due to HPA axis dysfunction/adrenal insufficiency. I don’t recall this topic being discussed in the podcast? What do you think about that?
Speaking of low acid coffee, this is what I used to drink (and supposedly it’s much higher in antioxidants.) http://www.puroast.com/shop/organic/organic-low-a…
And I used this coffee wand – it’s a glass straw that has a teeny filter on the bottom. https://amzn.to/2NeK2Tf
So I just put some ground coffee in my mug, poured hot water over it, and drank it with the coffee wand. That way you get the beneficial components that you talked about. And did he say that coffee enemas had the same benefits? I would think so, since coffee enemas are for liver detoxification. Awesome podcast! :-)
Ben, I’ve looked up the EXOS vitD3/K2 blend, that’s MK-4 form of K2, which I’ve heard it’s always synthetic (unlike MK-7 which is from the culture normally fermenting natto). I’ve also read that MK-7 has longer half life than MK-4. Which overall paints the pic of MK-7 supp being more preferable than MK-4. So I’d like to know what’s the reason for you using the MK-4, is there something I’m missing out here? Thank you Ben!
Here is the response from Thorne:
Whether K2 is synthesized by humans (ie, in a lab) or by bacteria, the end result is either MK-4 or MK-7 – the bio-identical vitamin.
• Although there are non-soy sources, much of the MK-7 on the market is soy based and many people have soy allergies or otherwise want to avoid soy. Having an alternative is essential.
• Both vitamin K2 supplements are nearly completely absorbed, with peak serum concentration at 2 hours for MK-4 and 4 hours for MK-7 after intake. However, MK-4 disappears from the bloodstream after about 8 hours, whereas MK-7 is capable of accumulating in the bloodstream (remains in the body for approx. 72 hours). You can get around this by taking it twice daily, although it is not necessary for the health benefits of vitamin K for it to be in high continuous levels in the bloodstream,
• Originally, the most compelling research was on high-dose MK4. More recently, some interesting MK7 research has been conducted and published. Therefore, we are working on some new products containing this form of K2. We will continue to provide the MK4 as well so people who are prescribing it based on the extensive MK4 research conducted in Japan will still have it available.
Really insightful cast
A lot of it spoke directly to things that’ve been on my mind.
Vitamin D, coffee, nuts, low back pain.
Downside is now I’m broke buying all this cool new stuff. Weasel shit coffee? Really? My girlfriend may never kiss me again.
I’ve been thinking a lot lately about coffee, mainly sourcing. I primarily buy from http://shop.portlandroasting.com/collections/coff…
They have a good selection of single source beans, and I believe they still roast the Bulletproof beans. Really like their stuff.
I also mix in the 4sigmatic mushroom coffee(excellent taste) and the Kimera(great before competition) occasionally.
These options do get a bit spendy though and have to be ordered which sometimes leaves me in coffee purgatory waiting for them to arrive.
I’ve been wondering about some more convenient coffee options for these dark times. A widely available, decently sourced brand I can find at my grocer/Costco that I can keep handy.
I mean, I’m not trying to stock up on Folgers, and I prefer to grind my own. I’m wondering, aside from looking for whole bean and “organic/free trade(if that even matters), are there certain things I should look for in a store bought brand like roast level or country of origin(Costco carries a couple organic options that are at least budget friendly) so I (or we) can avoid excessive toxin levels, or just plain shitty coffee(like bad shitty not elephant/weasel shitty)? Again just an option to fill in the blanks when one can’t financially keep up with their refined coffee tastes from time to time.
Also on the rare occasion I do bend over for Starbucks or have a cup at a local barista/cafe I keep it black or just go doppio if available.
Thank you once again for a brilliant podcast and thank you Dr. Chopra for blowing my mind with (good)shitty coffee, my mother will now rub it in my face that she’s been right all along drinking 4-10 cups of coffe a day, thanks for that too.
BW
How about people who are over stressed, struggling to relax, but love coffee…like me.
Any opinions on how to objectively make a decision on this, rather than just going with “coffee is good for me, so I should have it” which is biased because I love coffee so much.