S1E38: Dr.Peter Attia and I Discuss Insulin Resistance
Meta Health: Mindfulness Meets Metabolism
Release Date: 11/13/2024
S2E13: You're Training the Wrong Body
Meta Health: Mindfulness Meets Metabolism
Modern health culture is obsessed with leanness, discipline, and optimization. But many people are getting leaner—and feeling worse or suffering surprising health consequences. In this episode, I share my personal experience chasing single-digit body fat and how it led to increased stress, glucose instability, and accelerated aging despite “doing everything right.” We explore why body composition alone is an incomplete measure of health and why mental composition—the state of the inner body—matters more than most metrics we track. Key topics include: Body composition vs mental...
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S2E12: The Family Effect — The Hidden Driver of Chronic Disease and Burnout
Meta Health: Mindfulness Meets Metabolism
In this episode, I uncover how family dynamics—both loving and dysfunctional—shape our stress patterns, emotional reflexes, and long-term metabolic health. I get personal, sharing my own experiences and those from the clinic and my program. How your childhood emotional environment shapes adult health Recognizing 3 common family stress patterns How family dynamics drive burnout, inflammation, and chronic dissease The concept of "Shamilies" and how it quietly affects so many of us The Roseto Effect vs the "Silicon Valley Effect" How to break inherited stress patterns and create...
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S2E11: The Silent Energy Leak That Drains Us
Meta Health: Mindfulness Meets Metabolism
There’s a quiet form of stress we mistake for normal — a constant readiness that silently drains our energy. I personally discovered it not too long ago, and in this episode I share how to spot it and take your power back. You’ll learn: The brain science behind anticipation and anxiety How even a silent phone nearby burns glucose and attention Why this “always-on” state disrupts sleep and mood The benefits of phone-free walks and mindful mornings Simple ways to turn outward alertness into inward awareness Go to my blog at for related resources and show notes on most episodes.
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S2E10: Every Day is Head Day-Training the Mind with Better Defense
Meta Health: Mindfulness Meets Metabolism
Your mind never stops taking shots — so how do you defend your peace? In this episode I explore how to train your mind like an athlete, treating life as a continuous mental game where playing good defense is critical. We cover some of the following: Using an athletic framework to counter our conditioned self (aka ego) Learning to play great defense to protect the mind "Coach Ego" and the myth of multiplicity Simple drills to improve your mental fitness and wellbeing Everyday opportunities to improve awareness Go to my blog at culturalhealthsolutions.com for related resources and show...
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S2E9: Mitochondria, Microbes and Meaning-Thriving from Inside Out
Meta Health: Mindfulness Meets Metabolism
Your mitochondria and microbes are ancient communities that mirror how we live, connect, and find purpose. We keep turning to the outside to learn from others, instead of tapping into this profound inner wisdom. In this episode, I explore what these inner networks teach us about resilience, loneliness, purpose, and thriving from the inside out. You'll learn: Mitochondria origin story Lessons we can learn from mitochondria and microbial behaviors How Survival fo the Fittest has led us astray How mitochondria and microbes communicate with the brain The loneliness myth and what might matter more...
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S2E8: Prompting the Machine to Set You Free
Meta Health: Mindfulness Meets Metabolism
Prompting AI chatbots is a new skillset humanity has recently acquired. In this episode we use our understanding of how LLMs (Large Language Models) work to gain a deeper understanding of ourselves in an effort to free our minds from ego. We'll cover some of the following: How AI engines mirror the way our ego runs on old scripts and algorithms Why middle-of-the-night “why” and “how” questions usually come from ego, not your authentic self Meet WAYDE, the imaginary AI Agent I created to help free me Prompts to break mental loops and rewire your responses How habitual...
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S2E7: Heart Disease Blindspots-What Risk Calculators and AI Miss
Meta Health: Mindfulness Meets Metabolism
In my clinic, I'm seeing too many individuals with heart disease that's getting missed due to imperfect risk calculators and AI predictions. There are some serious blindspots in our current risk assessment tools. In this episode, we cover: The current risk calculators and why they often underestimate risk Typical examples of a mismatch between true and estimated risk Key blindspots risk calculators miss routinely What you can do to better assess your own risk Lifestyle areas to focus on Go to my blog at where I post a brief summary and show notes for most episodes with relevant links. ...
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S2E6: The Pleasure of Displeasure
Meta Health: Mindfulness Meets Metabolism
An entry from my journal and a passage from J.Krishnamurti inspired my latest episode, which views displeasure and discontent in an entirely new way. I share personal stories and lessons from my own life, and from the highly successful patients I see in my clinic who experience emotional and metabolic health challenges despite material success. Some topics include: The pleasure-displeasure cycle explained through my summer trips to India Why "extraordinary discontent" is often essential for growth Deep lessons from the movie, The Matrix (even if you haven't seen it) My own cycles of...
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S2E5: Catching Emotional Flickers Before They ignite
Meta Health: Mindfulness Meets Metabolism
In prior episodes we've talked about how suppressed emotions can activate the immune system and trigger disease. A critical skill is detecting these emotions and sensations as early as possible so you prevent emotional flickers from turning into full blown fires. In this episode we discuss some of the following: Discover your body’s “smoke detectors” (interoceptors) in the heart, gut, and lungs Understand bottom-up vs. top-down emotional signaling Explore how ancient wisdom aligns with modern science One of my favorite techniques to improve interoception, intuition,...
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S2E4: Why "Healthy" Young People Get Heart Disease
Meta Health: Mindfulness Meets Metabolism
Why are so many seemingly healthy young men and women getting heart disease? These are individuals with seemingly normal labs, no family history, who might even be exercising and eating relatively healthy, but end up with a heart attack or visible plaque on a heart scan test. In this episode we discuss: Surprise heart disease in seemingly healthy individuals Brief science primer on heart disease using boats and tunnels Concept of arterial flammability Commonly overlooked risk factors Common personality profiles for surprise heart disease The role of COVID-19 and Microplastics Go to my...
info_outlinePeter was kind enough to allow me to re-release our interview from 2019 from his podcast, The Drive, Episode #69. Many people have found me through Peter and told me this was one of their favorite episodes. Aside from insulin resistance and metabolism, we end the discussion with a topic that really resonated with Peter, which is the impact of generational stress, social media, and devices on youth and how I've navigated this in my own personal life.
This is longer than my usual episodes since we cover a ton of important topics, so I included detailed timestamps below. I hope you enjoy this important conversation.
- Peter's overview and perspective on our discussion (0:58)
- Surprise moment for Peter from our discussion (2:30)
- How a tough case of insulin resistance led Peter to my work (5:08)
- Metabolic disease in South Asian and East Asian patients (5:54)
- Triglyceride paradox in African Americans (10:38)
- Visceral vs subcutaneous fat and shortcomings of BMI (11:30)
- Cortisol and glucose variability (25:00)
- Mechanistic discussion of insulin resistance (27:20)
- Origins and evolutionary theories on insulin resistance (37:00)
- Brown adipose tissue and impact of climate patterns on insulin resistance (46:43)
- Vitamin D and hyperinsulinemia (50:38)
- Uric acid, high blood pressure, and fructose metabolism(54:05)
- VO2 max and Zone 2, including ethnic diferences (56:23)
- Zone 2 fitness testing to evaluate mitochondrial performance (1:01:15)
- Exercise for long-term functional health (1:01:00)
- Lifestyle changes to improve insulin resistance and other metabolic phenotypes (1:02:55)
- Aging and leg strength (1:09:59)
- Ron's approach to exercise and stress management for those with little time (1:10:00)
- Ron and Peter discuss stress management (1:13:00)
- Ron discusses his 5S approach to fatigue and stress management (1:16:00)
- The impact of family dynamics on health risk (1:17:00)
- PCOS (Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome) and its link to insulin resistance (1:18:34)
- Stress, adiposity, and weight loss resistance in females(1:20:00)
- Sleep apnea and insulin resistance (1:29:00)
- How a culture of achievement and expectations can lead to undue stress, unhappiness, and health problems in our children (a Silicon Valley case study) (1:30:10)
- The negative impact of devices and social media on children and Ron's approach to managing this (1:40:00)