Mind & Matter
Whether food, drugs or ideas, what you consume influences who you become. Learn directly from the best scientists & thinkers alive today about how your mind-body reacts to what you feed it.
The weekly M&M podcast features conversations with the most interesting scientists, thinkers, and technology entrepreneurs alive today.
Not medical advice.
At M&M, we are interested in trying to figure out how things work, not affirming our existing beliefs. We prefer consulting primary rather than secondary sources and independent rather than institutional voices. If we encounter uncomfortable truths or the evidence suggests unfashionable ideas may be valid, so be it.
As the host, my aim is to help you better understand how the body & mind work by curating & synthesizing information in a way that yields science-based insights that you can choose to use or disregard in your own life. Taking ownership of your health starts with taking ownership of your information diet.
I am motivated to connect the dots and distill general principles from what I learn, preferring to ask questions and play devil’s advocate to debating or incessantly pushing my own viewpoint.
My beliefs:
- Taking ownership of your health starts with taking ownership of your information diet.
- All knowledge is provisional and we must work hard to prevent ourselves from becoming attached to our favorite ideas & preferred conclusions.
- Wisdom comes from an iterative, trial-and-error process of learning and unlearning. Letting go of pre-conceived notions can be painful, but pain is information.
Sometimes modern discoveries teach us we must unlearn received wisdom. Other times, modern information overload & historical chauvinism cause us to forget ancient wisdom which stills applies. The framework for learning that I embody is inspired by three Ancient Greek maxims inscribed in the Temple of Apollo at Delphi:
- “Γνῶθι σεαυτόν” (Know thyself)
- “Μηδὲν ἄγαν” (Nothing in excess)
- “Ἐγγύα πάρα δ Ἄτα” (Certainty brings insanity)
Mind & Matter
Regenerative Energy & the Light Inside You | Jack Kruse | 221
Short Summary: A mind-bending dive into evolutionary biology and health through a biophysicist’s lens, with Dr. Jack Kruse delivering provocative insights about biology, medicine, and health.
About the guest: Jack Kruse, MD, is a neurosurgeon known for integrating biophysics into medicine. He challenges conventional biochemistry with his “leptin prescription” and decentralized health approach.
Note: Podcast episodes are fully available to paid subscribers on the M&M Substack and everyone on YouTube. Partial versions are available elsewhere. Full transcript and other information on Substack.
Episode Summary: Dr. Jack Kruse joins host Nick Jikomes to explore the Great Oxygenation Event’s role in shaping life, linking it to modern health via biophysics over biochemistry. They discuss oxygen’s impact on metabolism, the significance of deuterium-depleted water, and sunlight’s influence on the leptin-melanocortin pathway. Kruse shares his dramatic weight loss journey using sunlight and cold therapy, critiques modern tech-driven obesity, and unveils a controversial history of SV40 in vaccines, tying it to cancer spikes.
Key Takeaways:
- The Great Oxygenation Event (2.1-2.4 billion years ago) drove life’s shift to oxygen-based metabolism, with cyanobacteria as key players.
- Kruse argues biophysics, not biochemistry, explains evolution, spotlighting light as life’s fundamental driver.
- Deuterium-depleted water is important for enabling our cells and mitochondria to use energy from the TCA cycle without “shocking” the body.
- Sunlight exposure boosts nitric oxide, reducing food needs via the leptin pathway, challenging diet norms.
- Kruse lost 133 pounds in 11 months using sunlight and cold therapy, inspiring his “leptin prescription.”
- He links obesity to indoor tech lifestyles, disrupting heme proteins and mitochondrial function.
- SV40, a virus in 1950s polio vaccines, may connect to cancer rises, a story Kruse says was buried by centralized science.
Related episode:
- M&M #196: Vaccine Contamination & Fiat Science
All episodes, show notes, transcripts, etc. at the M&M Substack
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