Meta Health is going to take a slight shift in direction with Season 2, as it incorporates more mindfulness, since it's not possible to fully optimize energy and wellbeing unless we recognize thought patterns that hold us back.

I'm calling this the Season of Inner Change, and this episode gives you an overview on my refreshed approach to sharing my insights from the clinic, from my programs, and from my personal life. Some topics include:

• Why the shift?
• Reconciling modern research and ancient wisdom
• Format change to meet the demand of authentic human voices in an AI world
• Addressing youth

Peter 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)

Is alcohol really a low carb, keto friendly substance like many ads and influencers claim, or is there more to it? Even if the glucose on your CGM (continuous glucose monitor) doesn't budge after a drink, there are real metabolic effects on glucose and body fat you should be aware of. Non-drinkers will benefit from this episode too since we cover some key metabolic principles, along with the following:

• Quick overview of the metabolic merry-go-round and liver metabolism
• Why your CGM glucose results may be normal or even low after drinking alcohol
• Pathways by which alcohol affects glucose and body fat
• The surprising impact of alcohol on muscle
• How alcohol is disguised and advertised to be "metabolically neutral"
• My personal approach to alcohol consumption