Good Energy
By: Dr. Casey Means
The Surprising Connection Between Metabolism and Limitless Health
From the cover:
What if depression, anxiety, infertility, insomnia, heart disease, erectile dysfunction, type 2 diabetes, Alzheimer’s, dementia, cancer and many other health conditions that torture and shorten our lives actually have the same root cause?
Our ability to prevent and reverse these conditions - and feel incredible today - is under our control and simpler than we think. The key is our metabolic function - the most important and least understood factor in our overall health. As Dr. Casey Means explains in this groundbreaking book, nearly every health problem we face can be explained by how well the cells in our body create and use energy. To live free from frustrating symptoms and life-threatening disease, we need our cells to be optimally powered so that they can create “good energy,” the essential fuel that impacts every aspect of our physical and mental wellbeing.
If you are battling minor signals of “bad energy” inside your body, it is often a warning sign that more life-threatening illness may emerge later in life. But here’s the good news: for the first time ever, we can monitor our metabolic health in great detail and learn how to improve it ourselves.
Key Points:
Metabolic health is key to our well-being
Our cells require energy just like we do. If they struggle to function, we struggle to function. There’s a combination of problems that lead to cell’s having “bad energy":
Mitochondrial Dysfunction: impaired energy production in cells
Chronic Inflammation: ongoing immune stimulation that damages tissues.
Oxidative Stress: an imbalance of free radicals and antioxidants that leads to cellular damage.
When we address these three major problems, we can prevent and even reverse poor health conditions.
How to improve metabolic function:
Nutrition and Diet:
Making sure our cells get the key nutrients to thrive and function
Eating whole and minimally-processed organic foods while avoiding ultra-processed foods
Cutting refined sugar, carbs, and grains
Avoiding blood sugar spikes by eating low-glycemic foods
Balancing meals with protein, fat, and carbs
Consuming fermented foods and fiber to benefit our gut microbiome
Only eating within a 8-12hr window (Ex: 8:00am - 6:00pm)
Walking for 15 min right after a meal
Movement and Physical Activity:
Our cells benefit from movement and exercise
Walking 8k-12k steps a day
Exercising 150 minutes a week (preferably spread through multiple days)
Hot/Cold exposure therapy
Prioritizing Sleep And Circadian Rhythms:
Our bodies and cells have evolved to the patterns of day/night
Sleep deprivation leads to cell dysfunction, insulin resistance, and inflammation
Prioritize 7-8 hours of sleep each night, consistently
Consume meals within 8-12 hour window and avoiding eating right before bed (this increases blood sugar spikes which impact our body’s circadian rhythm)
Get adequate sunlight (15 min - 1 hour a day)
Stress Management for Metabolic Balance:
Practice mindfulness, gratitude, meditation
Spend more time in nature and in sunlight
Try to avoid and limit stressors
Environmental and Toxic Exposure:
We’re exposed to over 8,000 chemicals a day found in our air, water, food, and products
Avoid plastics and teflon in kitchen
Find ways to detoxify your household by changing your products to clean/natural products
Use high quality water filter system (Reverse-Osmosis or charcoal/carbon)
Use air purifiers inside house
Take Advantage of Modern Lab Testing:
Labs are becoming more affordable and no longer require doctor’s orders
Test triglycerides, fasting glucose, cholesterol, Vitamin D, lipids, hemoglobin A1c, liver enzymes, uric acid
Check blood pressure regularly
Waist circumference can tell us about our health
About the Author
Casey Means is the Chief Medical Officer and co-founder of Levels, a health technology company with the mission of reversing the world’s metabolic health crisis. She has been on faculty at Stanford University, lecturing on metabolic health and health technology. She received her undergraduate degree with honors from Stanford, where she was President of her class. She graduated from Stanford Medical School and trained in Head & Neck Surgery at Oregon Health and Science University before leaving traditional medicine to devote her life to tackling the root cause of why Americans are sick.
Calley Means is Co-Founder of TrueMed, and an advocate for policy to change health incentives. He is a graduate of Stanford and Harvard Business School.
