Welcome back to The Synergetic Health Newsletter! 

In this edition, I’ll summarize some of my key findings from watching the course “Bioenergetic Basics” by Danny Roddy.

After that, a look into an article discussing the disconnect between people with resources to spend on personal transformation and the potential providers of said transformation.

Then a podcast update and, as usual, some of my favorite recent finds.

November 14th, 2024: Greetings from Bali! I’m down to my last few days here before moving on to explore other parts of Southeast Asia. In case you were wondering, my tan is next level at the moment. So many things on my mind recently, in the health sphere and otherwise. The world and our bodies are so much more magical than we have been taught to believe— it’s crazy the wool that’s been pulled over our eyes. It does seem more people are waking up to that fact that we have misplaced our trust in academia, “settled” science, modern medicine, governments, “official” narratives, history books, unproven theories, and all the rest. What a ride it is when you roll up your sleeves and start asking questions.

⚡ Lessons from Bioenergetic Basics

I recently went through the Bioenergetic Basics course by Danny Roddy, a disciple of Ray Peat and a thought leader and practitioner in the online health world. With over ten years experience working with individuals, Roddy’s course offers a unique perspective that challenges many conventional ideas.

I’ve written plenty about the bioenergetic approach in the newsletter in the past. In this post, I will summarize the key lessons from this course, providing practical steps and methods to test your progress if you should choose to implement some of the strategies included.

Understanding the Bioenergetic Approach

The bioenergetic approach focuses on optimizing metabolism and energy production in the body. It emphasizes eating to appetite, prioritizing delicious foods, and paying attention to specific nutrient intakes. The goal is to support thyroid function and overall metabolic health— not to eat a specific amount of calories/macronutrients.

Key Nutritional Foundations

1. Eat to Appetite: Roddy encourages listening to your body and eating when hungry. However, if you're gaining weight, it's essential to check your pulse rate and temperature to assess thyroid function.

2. Carbohydrate Intake: The recommendation is to consume at least 200 grams of carbohydrates per day. This is higher than many low-carb diets suggest and aligns with the course's focus on supporting metabolic function.

3. Calcium Intake: The course suggests aiming for 1500-2000 mg of calcium daily. This is higher than standard recommendations and underscores the importance of calcium in metabolic processes.

4. Antiseptic Fiber: Unique to this approach is the emphasis on "antiseptic" fiber sources. These include well-cooked mushrooms, raw carrot salad, bamboo shoots, and oat bran. These foods are believed to support gut health and reduce endotoxin.

5. Protein and Fat: Roddy advises eating these macronutrients to appetite, as digestion allows. This flexible approach contrasts with strict macronutrient ratios found in many diet plans.

Practical Steps to Implement Bioenergetic Basics

1. Start with "Confidence Foods": The course provides a list of foods Roddy finds to be beneficial for most people. These include:

   • Low-fat milk

   • Organic oat bran

   • Fruits like cherimoyas, guanabanas, lychees, longans, and watermelon

   • Well-cooked zucchini and white button mushrooms

   • Coffee and sweet orange juice

   • Animal products like canned oysters, liver, certain cheeses, and ruminant meat

   • Butter and certain oils (refined coconut oil, tallow)

   Begin by incorporating more of these foods into your diet.

2. Monitor Your Temperature and Pulse: These are crucial indicators of metabolic health in the bioenergetic approach. Take your temperature and pulse rate regularly, especially in the afternoon after lunch. Aim for a temperature of 98.6°F (37°C) and a pulse rate of about 80 beats per minute.

3. Implement the Carrot Salad: Consume a raw carrot salad daily, preferably between meals. This is to help with detoxification and gut health.

4. Gradual Supplementation: The course is cautious about supplements but recommends a few as very safe:

   • Thyroid (under medical supervision)

   • Vitamin D3 (made from lanolin in olive oil)

   • Vitamin K2 (MK-4 form in olive oil)

   • Progesterone (as Progest-E)

   • Aspirin (without additives)

   • Well-aged Cascara Sagrada (for constipation)

5. Address Sleep Environment: Consider factors like EMF exposure and grounding. The course suggests using ethernet instead of Wi-Fi, turning off Bluetooth, and creating a grounding mat for your bed.

6. Experiment with Red Light Therapy: Roddy emphasizes the importance of red light exposure for cellular health. Early morning and afternoon sun works— or purchasing a red light therapy device.

Testing Your Progress

1. Temperature and Pulse Monitoring: Keep a log of your afternoon temperature and pulse rate. An increase towards the ideal range (98.6°F and 80 bpm) indicates improved metabolic function.

2. Symptom Tracking: Note any changes in common hypothyroid symptoms such as fatigue, weight gain, depression, or constipation.

3. Lab Tests: While the course emphasizes symptoms over lab results, certain tests can be informative:

   • Total Cholesterol: Aim for 160-200 mg/dL

   • TSH: Interpret in context with other symptoms and tests

   • Vitamin D: Target around 55 ng/mL

   • Prolactin: 5-7 ng/mL for males, 7-12 ng/mL for females

4. Digestion Improvements: Monitor changes in digestive symptoms. The approach should lead to more regular bowel movements (ideally multiple times per day) and reduced bloating or discomfort.

5. Energy Levels: Track your energy throughout the day. Improved metabolic function should result in more stable energy levels.

6. Sleep Quality: Note any changes in sleep patterns. Better metabolic health often correlates with improved sleep quality.

Potential Challenges and Adjustments

1. Digestive Issues: If you experience problems with certain foods, start with small amounts and gradually increase. The raw carrot salad and well-cooked mushrooms may help with overall digestion.

2. Lactose Intolerance: The course suggests that true lactose intolerance is rare. Try small amounts of dairy, preferably low-fat milk, and observe your reaction.

3. Caffeine Sensitivity: If coffee causes issues, try reducing the amount or switching to sweet orange juice for a morning beverage.

4. Weight Gain: If eating to appetite leads to unwanted weight gain, focus on assessing and supporting thyroid function rather than restricting calories.

The Bioenergetic Basics course offers a unique approach to nutrition and health, focusing on supporting metabolic function through specific dietary choices and lifestyle factors. While this approach may seem unconventional at first glance, many have reported improvements in energy, digestion, and overall well-being.

By implementing these strategies gradually and paying close attention to your body's responses, you can explore whether this bioenergetic approach aligns with your health goals.

What I find to be uniquely beneficial to this approach is its singular goal— to raise your metabolic rate— which drives better health outcomes. It is not all about obtaining the perfect, trim body that so many dietary interventions judge themselves by. Instead, its focus is to improve cellular energy and keep your body in a high-performing state through supportive nutrition and lifestyle choices.

I’ve been following this nutritional philosophy fairly closely for over a year now and it works for me— but it may not be for everyone. To learn more, you can follow Danny Roddy (IG, X), Jay Feldman (YouTube), Ashley and Sarah Armstrong (Strong Sistas), and Georgi Dinkov (Google).

💸 Where’s the Money in Personal Transformation?

This article explores the disconnect between wealth and personal transformation, noting a paradox: many wealthy individuals seek spiritual growth while most spiritual practitioners struggle financially. The author, with 20 years of experience in high-net-worth finance, observes this as a major opportunity.

He presents the concept of "containers" to explain the situation:

• One container holds trillions in stagnant wealth

• The other represents the personal transformation industry

• The wealth container is solid but stuck

• The transformation container is often "leaky" and unclear

The solution involves strengthening three levels of containers:

• Individual: Developing personal presence and self-awareness, treating your own body/mind as a reliable container

• Relational: Building strong therapeutic relationships with qualified practitioners who can "hold space" effectively

• Communal: Creating trusted networks under Dunbar's number (150 people) where transformation can occur safely

The author, Tom Morgan, argues that money won't flow freely between containers until the transformation industry becomes more reliable and transparent. High prices can sometimes indicate practitioner competence, but the key is building strong, loving containers at all three levels that can handle both wealth and power without corruption.

Morgan suggests that while money provides security, truly loving and competent containers (individual, relational, and communal) provide an even more solid foundation for personal growth.

This “issue” is near to me both because I am passionate about spiritual growth and personal development but also because I have a coach/guide institution. Having seen firsthand the tangible benefits of doing this work, I would love to be able to facilitate the process for other people— but struggle to find the correct entry point to make this happen.

In a dream world, I would serve this role in a community like Morgan mentions.

🎙️ My New Podcasts

Every so often I update which new podcasts I have added to my list, so here are some that I have been newly enjoying:

Alfacast: Not your typical ’alternative health’ show, Alfacast is a weekly discovery into the often misunderstood realms of real science, nature and the human condition. Dr. Lando and Mike Winner cover an assortment of topics from a unique perspective seldom heard in today’s counter culture echo chamber.

Regenerative Health With Max Gulhane, MD: “I speak with world leaders on circadian & quantum biology, metabolic medicine & regenerative farming in search of the most effective ways of optimising health and reversing chronic disease.”

The Emerald Podcast: “The Emerald explores the human experience through a vibrant lens of myth, story, and imagination. Brought to life through the wise, wild, and humorous vision of Joshua Michael Schrei — a teacher and lifelong student of the cosmologies and mythologies of the world — the podcast draws from a deep well of poetry, lore, and mythos to challenge conventional narratives on politics and public discourse, meditation and mindfulness, art, science, literature, and more.”

Connecting Minds: “Interviews on various topics with awesome people, and solo talk on all things health, with Christian Yordanov. Christian is an author and certified Functional Diagnostic Nutrition practitioner.”

The Evolving Wellness Podcast: “Sarah Kleiner challenges preconceived notions about modern health + wellness by breaking down scientific research into digestible, actionable actionable information to help people live genuinely healthy lives. We dive deep into circadian health, quantum health, hormone health, nutrition, and more.”

New Thinking Allowed Podcast: “Conversations on the leading edge of knowledge and discovery with parapsychologist Jeffrey Mishlove, PhD.”

Rooted In Resilience Podcast: “Rooted in Resilience is all about building your strongest, healthiest, most resilient self - without any of the extremes, short cuts, or diet-culture BS! Podcast hosts & sisters, Ashley & Sarah Armstrong of the @strong.sistas, demystify health, sharing practical tips and experiences for overcoming hypothyroidism, hormonal imbalances, autoimmunity & other metabolic disorders, largely inspired by the work of Dr. Ray Peat.”

𝕏 Thread of the Week

📡 EMF Solutions You’ve Never Heard Of: On a recent podcast, Matt Blackburn talked for an hour and a half about how you can protect yourself from electromagnetic radiation. Matt has been studying holistic health for a long time and has tried and tested all sorts of remediation tools. Some of the tools he suggests looking into are dirty electricity filters, healthy light bulbs, quantum services, proper mineral intake, supplements, expensive high-tech devices, and much more.

🤒 Contagion Is An Objective Myth: “In the scientific literature, there are 200+ failed contagion studies.” Some alternative explanations for how people get sick, explained in this short video, include common exposure (weather, stress, toxin, food, etc), bioresonance, mirror neurons, microzyma communication, toxin runoff, and water communication. I talk about this all the time, I know— but it remains wild to me that people still think that it HAS to be germs when there are so many other plausible explanations (that haven’t been disproven by science 🤯).

💩 Proper Elimination Form: (Courtesy of @mjmatc) Getting a squatty potty is one option, but if not, try this out for optimizing your bowel movements (lol). “Lift BOTH seats, prop your feet firmly on the ground and lower down while gently resting on the rim— not sitting fully. Press through your feet while forearms press into thighs or back of elbows into front of knees. Deliberate breaths in and out of nose. Consider pushing right to left through body.”

🔗 One Hitters

💡 Choose incandescent lights over LED’s (Here’s Why)

⚙️ Parts Work: What is it and how to do it (Article)

💪 Broke man’s guide to improving his health (List)

💩 2+ bowel movements a day is ideal (Not You? Some Suggestions)

📚 Read my e-book, “Self-Development for Authentic Living” for free.

🔗 Please share the newsletter with a friend if you feel called, send them this link!

📰 To read all past newsletters, go here.