Mark Struczewski
Before I introduce my guest today, I want to invite you to follow the podcast on telegram. Just search for Mister Productivity. Taylor Morgan is a Marine Corps veteran, holistic lifestyle specialist and founder of The Captain's Lifestyle Program where he helps entrepreneurs optimize their work life balance by maximizing their health, happiness and productivity. Taylor also hosts The Captain's Lifestyle Podcast where I was a guest, where he and his guests discussed everything you need to take care of you and your business from average, to excellent Taylor. Before I welcome to your show. Thank you for your service to our country.
Taylor Morgan
Mark, thank you for having me. And I want to say you're one of the first hosts that I've been an honor to be a guest on that has said Marine Corps correctly. Most people say marine corpse.
Mark Struczewski
I I've never said corpse before. That's very interesting show. But I do appreciate to for your service. I mean, I think anyone who is not appreciative of the blood, sweat and tears and the lives that our military gave for this country, I mean, there's a reason why this is the only country in the world, you can burn the flag. I'm not a fan of it. But this is the only country in the world you can actually ban the fly because people like you fought for our freedom. So when you're out there protesting, just remember, you can protest because of people like Morgan.
Taylor Morgan
Just just keep that in mind. It is your right. But I think that anybody who does that, they don't really understand what goes behind it. So yes, thank you for bringing that up.
Mark Struczewski
Yeah, absolutely. It makes my heart cringe. When people burn the flag of America. I saw recently, because this is August 4, this episode's coming out. They are when they were protesting last week in Cuba. They were showing the American flag when they are protesting over I think Greece or Spain. They were protesting holding the American flag. Think about that in China as well. Yeah. So think about that these people are protesting their government by waving the American flag because the American flag symbolizes freedom. I want people to understand that. Yeah. So we're going to talk a lot about holistic living. Now we're going through something right now where I won't directly refer to it by name for a couple of reasons. Number one, I don't want to be centered. And number two, a lot of people listen my show because they're tired of hearing it. But we're going to give you some ideas on how you can boost your immune system, which is scientifically proven The best way to fight off not only this current virus, but most viruses. It's using your brain. And I want to your thoughts on this, I want to talk to you about vitamin D. Because my wife has been telling me for years, the best way you can build your immune system is to go out and get direct exposure to the sunlight, which hits your skin makes vitamin D boosts the immune system. So she's got me going out there and actually sunbathing on most days. And here's the thing, the government says you need 600 I use a vitamin D, I get between seven and 10, maybe 15,000 a day, because you can't over D You can't overtake nice word mark, you can od on the vitamin D from the sun. So let's start with our conversation. We're talking about vitamin D and the importance of it for our immune system.
Taylor Morgan
Yeah, well, I mean, you said it vitamin D is extremely important. And I think the reason why it's not talked about more, especially in mainstream media, is because it's free. There's no big pharma company that can get behind it and you know, sell these expensive pills. It's free, just go outside the sun is there. Now, that being said, there are vitamin D supplements that can be extremely beneficial, especially if you're in a northern climate above the 35th parallel, and places like you know, Seattle, they have a very high rates of what's called sad, seasonal affective disorder, because there's no sunlight there. And so if there's no sunlight, you get sad, low vitamin D levels. And so yeah, supplementation is important. If you do choose to supplement. Well first off, I would say, get tested for your vitamin D levels. That's the best way to know if you have adequate vitamin D levels. There are apps that you can kind of track your vitamin D when it's called D. minder. That's what I Yep. And if you do supplement, make sure it's the vitamin d3 form, and not the not the vegan form of vitamin d3, or vitamin that would be vitamin D two, I believe. And then make sure it's also combined with vitamin K to to help increase absorption. You also need adequate amounts of magnesium to absorb vitamin D supplements. And also try to get it in a tincture form which is like a an oil dropper that goes underneath your tongue as opposed to pill form.
Mark Struczewski
But the best still is the natural sun.
Taylor Morgan
The sun of course, because the sun isn't just good for vitamin D, that's what everybody knows it for. But the sun goes, the sun is probably the best thing that you can do for your health, which it's so unfortunate that in the media, the sun has been vilified. You know, wear sunglasses, put on sunscreen, put on a hat, like don't go outside, especially with now the lock downs like everybody stay inside. It's horrible. Because the sun, yes, it's good for vitamin D. But it's also good for I would say the main thing is sleep. Because as we've talked about on our podcast, when you're on my show, one of the best things for your health is watching the sunrise because that shuts off your melatonin production in the morning. So it wakes you up. And it also resets your melatonin production for that night. So it wakes you up in the morning. And it helps you get better sleep that night. It also raises your serotonin and dopamine levels. So it's really good for boosting productivity, something you know all about. So the sun has so many benefits, red light, infrared light, which is good for healing, muscular healing, skin, so many things. So yeah, I would say if you were to do one thing for your health, it's get outside in the sun more. Now, I should say this, the sun, you want to make sure you get proper exposure. So if you have stayed inside your whole life and you're pale, you don't want to just go outside and bake in the sun and get sunburned, that is bad for you. What you want to do is slowly start to expose yourself by watching the sunrise because when the sun gets in your eyes, it tells your body to produce melanin, which is what makes you can and that helps protect you from the sun. So slowly start to increase your exposure. watch the sunrise. Start with 10 minute 10 to 15 minute increments throughout the day, and then slowly work your way up. So between like 10 and two, the sun is at its highest point. So that's when it's going to be the most exposure to UVA, UVB, so that's when you want to be careful. But in the early morning, in the evening, you should be fine with with getting some exposure, but in that afternoon time, limited to 10 to 15 minute increments.
Mark Struczewski
Yeah, you mentioned D minder, I love that app. It's I think if you pay for the got the paid version is like three bucks or something like that. It's the letter D and then minder, so instead of reminders, D minder, and it's really cool, because number one, it gets your location. So it knows when you get the solar noon, solar noon is where you're going to get the most rays from the sun. And I can tell you, when you get out in solar noon, you don't want to stay out very long, because you're getting so much vitamin D. But if you go out at nine o'clock in the morning, you might say an hour, an hour, an hour and 15 minutes, you got a solar noon, me only stay out 1520 minutes. So do what works for you. But I can tell you, my wife, she says I like your really bronze skin. And I just been and I flip it. So what I do is I get about 10 to 12,000 I use a day. And what I do is I listened to an audio book. And when it gets to 2000, I flip this to 4000 they flipped so I'm not burning on one side. And and and I think it's funny because I read a story once that Bill Gates wants us to stay out of the sun. And of course, you know, he's behind all the V word that we won't mention on the show. And I heard a story I don't know if it's true or not. But he wants to figure out a way where you can make these silver plates that goes up in the airplane and like partially blocked the sun. And like that's really weird. If that's true if he really thinks he can block the sun. Because the sun is here for a reason. Not only is it good for vitamin D, it helps the plants grow it helps warm the planet in just the notion that you want to tell people to stay out of the sun or if you go to the beach, and to your point you put sunscreen on your shirt, you wear a hat, well then being outside is no benefit because you're not getting any sunray on your skin.
Taylor Morgan
Yeah, with the First off, I hope that's not true. Because if we limit the sun exposure, we already have a chronically vitamin D deficient population, which is why we're so chronically ill and sick all the time. That's one of the reasons low vitamin D, not enough people getting outside active in the sun. sunscreen. So there's a few things on this one, stop wearing sunglasses, or limit your use of sunglasses because again, the light coming into your eyeballs is what tells your body to produce the melanin. So if you're always wearing sunglasses, your body doesn't know how much sunlight there is aka it doesn't know how much melanin it needs to produce to protect you from the sun. So you stay pale. And then if you do get, you know, if you go to the beach, you stay out in an hour in the sun, you're going to get burnt. So that's where like all these studies on sunscreen and Cancer come from from improper exposure to sunlight. So limit your use of sunglasses unless you know you have sensitive eyes You're in the snow that's it can yet blind you but watching the sunrise watching the sunset, that's fine. Obviously don't look at the sun when It's high noon. But then yeah, sunscreen blocks blocked you from getting vitamin D, because it's it blocks the UVA UVB which is I forget which one specifically, but that's what produces not only vitamin D, but also nitric oxide, which is a basil dilator helps a lot with blood flow. So if you put sunscreen on, you're not getting any of those benefits. And plus, sunscreen is also bad for the environment. So it's contributing to bleaching of the coral reefs at the beach. So if you do choose to use sunscreen, get a natural zinc based sunscreen.
Mark Struczewski
I had never heard that about the sunglasses before. Now. I try not to worn sunglasses, but I only have vision in one eye. And so sometimes I get a little sensitive light is really bright here in Houston. I wear sunglasses because I got to be able to see otherwise I'm sure the other car is wanting want me want to know I know where I'm going. So but that's your answer. Never heard me say that before. Recently, my wife on July 26, my wife and I decided to go keto. And we're both sugar haul. Let's wait a minute, I've got a sugar Valley. And at first I'm like oh man, keto. I don't know. Okay, look, the list what you can and can't eat. And then I heard someone tell me, it don't think about what you can eat, think about what you can eat. And this is like recording this on? Well, yesterday, August 3, and it's like seven days into the thing and I'm like, I'm actually eating less I'm actually losing weight. I'm actually having more energy less brain fog fog. Because you know, when you have a lot of carbs and Snickers bars and ice cream and, and sugary drinks and breads and pasta, you feel fatigued and tired and brain fog because your body is working so hard to break these things down. But when you eat a more natural diet, your body's into worked so hard. So I'm not going to ask you what your thoughts on keto. But I just want to share with the listener that my wife and I are creating a new podcast which isn't out yet. We're waiting for Apple podcast to bless it. It's called market Michelle go keto. It's a it's a it's just a pot just bought our journey going keto. And but I think what I want to talk to you about now, not I think I want to talk to you about now is what we eat because what we eat because you're all about holistic living. And I'm sure you're not going to say hey, a cupcake a day keeps the doctor away. I got a feeling Taylor, you're not going to say that right?
Taylor Morgan
No, not that there's anything necessarily wrong with a cupcake. But that's not going to keep you out of the doctor's office. But to touch on that a little bit. It's like it you can eat. Basically whatever you want. It just matters the quality of that food. For example, My girlfriend is meal prepper healthy, obviously meal prepper. So she makes Sweet Treats almost every single day. Like she makes she made blueberry muffins the other day, but they're healthy made with all healthy ingredients. So no bad oils, very low carbohydrate intake, very low on the glycemic index, which means that it doesn't spike your blood sugar. There's no added sugars, they're gluten free. Like the problem. One of the biggest problems with the sweets and processed foods is that they use inflammatory oils, which cause massive amounts of inflammation in the body, which is I would say one of the number one causes of chronic disease and massive amounts of sugar, which spike your blood sugar, which also contributes to chronic disease and brain fog. So if you limit those things, in addition to the gluten, which causes gut issues, and then brain fog and a whole bunch of other things. If you take those out, then it's really not that bad. You still need to be mindful of your intake. You can't just be eating healthy sweet treats all day. But you can still have them you don't Contrary to popular belief. You don't have to eliminate those things from your diet, just get healthier versions of them.
Mark Struczewski
I was once offered some candy by somebody about three four weeks ago, and oh my god, I'm trying to give up the sweets I said oh, it's it's organic. Okay, there's no dip between organic sugar and conventional sugar. It's still sugar, okay, it's just processed differently. But I think people need to be smart and one of the things I've heard I like know your thoughts on this when you go shopping shop around the outside of the store because that's what the hell like the produce and then me in the in the dairy and stuff like that is but every supermarket I've ever gone into. The first thing you have to walk through is the bakery. Really? So before that strategically, before you get to the produce, you have to walk past the pies and cupcakes in the cookies. Yep.
Taylor Morgan
That's the stuff that smells so good, it looks good, it brings you in. They know that they hire people who do that on purpose. There's a reason the stores are designed that way. So, in general, the perimeter of the store is good, but I mean, the bakeries on the perimeter, the bread aisle is on the perimeter. So what you want to look for most on food labels. First, you should try to avoid most things in packages with labels. You know real food doesn't need a label. There's no label on exactly the ingredients of an apple is an apple. But real quick to your point on organic, try to get most things organic because pesticides and herbicides that's a whole nother conversation that we could talk about. But it really does matter. Not everything has to be organic. There's I forget who puts it out, but there's what's called the clean 15 and the Dirty Dozen list that's updated every year. It's the the Dirty Dozen is the crops that are highest sprayed and pesticides. The Clean 15 are ones that you don't necessarily have to always buy organic. But then things you want to look for on food labels. Number one is inflammatory oils. So things like canola oil, soybean oil, safflower oil, vegetable oil, corn oil, sunflower oil, there's probably others but that's that's what I'm remembering. Instead, look for coconut oil, extra virgin olive oil, avocado oil. Those are the healthy oils, I would say the number one thing to avoid are those whatever it was six oils that I first mentioned, those are bad. No number two added sugars. So this can come in the form of the It doesn't just have to say sugar. They disguise it with high fructose corn syrup. Honey, even though it's natural, it just be aware that it is added sugar, honey, maple syrup, you know, things like that. And then number three are artificial sweeteners, flavors, colors, those contribute to a lot of digestive upset brain fog. It's been linked to ADHD and kids specifically artificial coloring like red is the worst. So those would be the three things I would say to avoid. Interesting.
Mark Struczewski
One of the things I have I love my ketchup, okay, and ketchup is like high in sugar. A lot of people don't realize this. A couple days ago, my wife purchased no sugar added ketchup. But because I had been weaning myself off the sweets. I said well the sales pretty good. I mean, if you if you're a sugar Holic like I was you do use sugar free. no sugar added No, it was actually sugar free now no sugar added sugar free ketchup, it tastes weird. But if you're already started weaning yourself off, then it doesn't taste that bad. And so what I want to encourage people to do is what you just said, is take a moment to read the label. I remember when I was a kid, I was born in 1965. And the cereal aisle had maybe 24 cereals in there. Now they're like, like it's a whole aisle and people you know, they're not educated. That's why we have shows like this. They say Oh, it's fortified with vitamins and minerals. Here's the key and I've learned this from someplace I wish I knew where and like know your thoughts on this. If it says fortified means either they removed it and had to put it back or didn't have any in the beginning. So when they have to fortify it means they're adding stuff back to it because it's probably not good for you anyways, so you should probably steer clear that stuff.
Taylor Morgan
And it's processed. So do you want to just steer clear of everything processed anyways. So I I heard that I don't remember where I heard this, but I believe that cereal was invented to reduce testosterone in men. Wow. So take this with a grain of salt because I do not remember the source. I think it was a podcast somewhere but I believe it was Kellogg who created cereal because he wanted to reduce the sexual urges of men and you know wheat and gluten in high sugar does that it does lower your testosterone. So yeah, cereal is something you want to limit and if you do eat cereal, definitely make sure you you get cereal with the right ingredients. To your point on catch up, look into primal kitchen, prime that brand Yeah, Primal kitchen. It was founded by Mark Sisson. He, and if you don't know Mark Sisson look him up. He's like, I forget how old he is like 70 to 75 and he is shredded. He's like the most healthy person he's probably gonna live to 150. But yeah, so he created primal kitchen. There are no bad ingredients. They make all the toppings. sauces, you want. No bad ingredients, no bad oils, they make mayonnaise, ketchup, salad dressings. We have it all. I've tried almost everything from them. And it It tastes as good if not better than the regular stuff. Other note on..
Mark Struczewski
That's Primal?
Taylor Morgan
Yeah. Primal and then Kitchen. Okay. Another note on ketchup is that you know, the the popular brand Heinz in America that contains high fructose corn syrup. I think sugar as well. If you buy that in England, it doesn't contain high fructose corn syrup or sugar. Wow, same brand, same bottle. But because we're in America, and America runs on high fructose corn syrup and dunkin's. They pump that stuff in. So yeah, it's ridiculous.
Mark Struczewski
Wow. You know, we add sugar to everything. And I remember three years ago, I had a guest on my show from Australia. And she had told me she had just visited America for two weeks. And and she said to me, she goes, Oh my gosh, you guys put sugar in everything she goes. There's sugar in the bread. There's I mean, I want the McDonald's. There's sugar in the in the meat. There's sugar in the french fries. There's sugar in the bun. There's sugar in the ketchup,
Taylor Morgan
Even things that are already naturally sweet like jam and jelly and like fruit preserves, they add sugar to that. Yeah, it's like that is sugar. Yeah, that's natural sugar. You don't need to add more.
Mark Struczewski
But here's the thing, if you can wean yourself off of all this processed foods, and you start eating like you said more holistically, then you can start having like, I not only have no sugar added ketchup, which is probably the ketchup they sell in England, actually, they probably just relabeled but no sugar added on it. Then I don't have as much of it. But I still get the best of both worlds because I'm not having ice cream and cookies every day. So the no sugar added. I'm sorry, the no sugar. Ketchup tastes pretty good. But if you have a high carb high sugar diet, it's going to taste horrible. So look, I only been on the keto diet for like, not keto diet, keto lifestyle for like eight days, I feel great. And that's why my wife and I are starting the other podcast. Because we want to share our journey. We're not scientists, we're not doctors. We're not nutritionists, we're not experts, like you are, we're just gonna say hey, this is what we're doing this how we feel. And that way no one can say, Well, no, you're lying. Because no, that's how I feel. And I think a lot of lot there are given their opinion Exactly. People are given their opinions. Well, if you tell me, Hey, listen, this is what I've experienced. I can't tell you, you're wrong. But if you say, well, I've heard that this is us insights. Well, then I think you're lying. Because now you're you're stating a fact. So I like to be very careful. And all my shows anytime on some of the show on social media, my email, whatever, I want to make very clear, this is what's working for me. I don't your mileage may vary.
Taylor Morgan
Yeah, and on that note, I just want to caution you to be mindful that anytime you try a new diet or lifestyle, I'm glad you made that distinction there because that's a that's a big thing that people misunderstand. Anytime you adopt a new lifestyle. And speaking of this, like you know, diet new food, you you will probably feel better, especially if you're going from the sad diet, the standard American diet, high processed carbs, sugar, you're probably gonna feel better, which is why a lot of people who go vegan or carnivore keto, paleo, whatever, they feel better, but there is no one size fits all diet, right? I don't believe that anybody should be keto their whole life carnivora their whole life, you know, paleo their whole life. It should vary individually. That's what I like in my program. I don't preach one diet, I talk to my clients individually. Okay, what do you like, based on your genetic you should be eating this, this and this. Things like that. So I think keto can be fantastic. But it's not. It's not a long term thing. Like you're not going to want to do that for the rest of your life. But for weight loss is fantastic for chronic disease. It's fantastic things like cancer. It can be great. But one of the problems with like this diet culture is everybody is so dogmatic in their views. Like veganism, for example. They think that they're so right, and that everything else is wrong. There's no possible way that anything else could be different. And of course, when you have that mindset, you're not open to learning anything. So, I think, and just society in general, that's a huge problem. Everybody thinks that they're right. And they're not open to listening and understanding other perspectives.
Mark Struczewski
Yeah, weill, I am a big fan of an app that I use to track my food called Cronometer. The reason why I like Cronometer is it tracks the micronutrients, MyFitnessPal and Lose It doesn't track the micronutrients. I want to know micronutrients. Now, my wife is doing a different version of keto that I am. So when you go to Cronometer, you can do keto aggressive, which is 20 grams of carb or less. I'm doing the moderate, which is 51 grams or less. And then there is like, there's another level and I tracked my my net carbs. That's what that's why tell them, track my net carbs. I'm trying to stay between 50 under 51. What's amazing is eight days in I'm like the highest I had is 30. And what I found out really quickly is I like muscle. Nope. Okay, muscle milk is only got two grams, two net grams of carbs. It's sweet. For me. It's a lot of protein. There's no sugar in it, it gets my sweet tree, and it fills me up. Okay. And then they say eat mainly green vegetables. Well, I don't I like bell peppers, but I don't like green peppers. And I realized looking at my numbers and Cronometer that a whole green pepper has 5.3 net carbs. And the sweet orange, yellow and red have seven. I'm like, it's a 1.5 grant, I'm going to get the sweet stuff to get myself treats. Now, we did buy some keto ice cream, and his two net grams. So there's ways you can have a diet and still have your sweet treat. But you brought up a very good point. Now my wife knows, we're both 56. And she knows that she's probably done with carbs for us for life. She's tried every diet in the world, the only way she keeps weight off as he goes virtually no carb. That's fine. But I told her look, I'm going to go this keto thing for 30 days. But if I go to Bible study class and Saturday night, and Donna, Donna is a great cook, she brings her homemade cookies, I'm going to have a cup of cookies. I'm not going to have cookies all day. That's that's what I did before. I always started with just Bible study. And like, I'll just do it all day Saturday, I'll do Friday, Saturday, and Friday, Saturday, Sunday, and all of a sudden I'm doing it all the time. So if once the while I want to have a sweet treat, I will buy go to a Christmas party or something like that. That's the key. If you do it in moderation, the problem is we live in a society we McDonald's or Burger King for breakfast, lunch and dinner, then we have machine vending machine snacks in between. That's horrible. But if once in a while is okay. And I think you're on board with that.
Taylor Morgan
Yeah, absolutely. And I want to caution you with muscle milk because I believe their protein might be soy. And if you have too much soy protein that can be estrogenic, which means it lowers your testosterone. So just be mindful of that I believe it's soy, it might be something else. And then in terms of your wife, cutting out carbs completely, I would caution her for that, because females need more carbs, it might be a little different because she's past menopause already. So that might not be as an issue as big of an issue because the hormones aren't as active. But I would just say to maybe look into the effects of zero carbs on women. I'm not an expert in that area. But that's just something to be mindful of.
Mark Struczewski
Well, my wife is not doing zero carbs, she's gonna she can eat less than 20 grams. And my wife is a student. I mean, she should really do what you're doing. I mean, she has studied every diet. I mean, she like, drives me crazy with all her research because I'm like, I'm gonna do something that works best for me. And I'm a daily runners, you know, I run every day. So I'm taking care of myself getting the vitamin D. And I do allow one of those things that nutrition is like flipped out over when I have Diet Coke. Oh, it's chemical you look at look at nobody eats and lives perfectly. So I allow myself Diet Coke between 10am and 2pm. They cut it off. So that is backed by sleep. I'm not saying I'm a perfect person. Okay, I can tell you how I feel I can tell you. I've lost like five pounds in the week. I've been on keto. I can tell you I'm not eating this much. So am I perfect? No, I'm not perfect. Although I did have a inspiration the other day. I don't know if I told you this on your show. But I have a goal of running 1000 miles every year. I did it in 2019 2020. And I'm going to do it again in 2021. And what I usually do is I run 1000 miles and around mid November, I hit 1000 miles in the night Take it easy, which means running just one mile a day for the rest of the year. And then I had this thought I'm like, Hey Mark, here's an idea. Why don't you do your one mile a day runs in July in August when a stinking hot in Houston and do the longer runs in November, December. I don't know I didn't think about this after almost four years of running. So now what I do is I go out running maybe a mile because hot news is that someone's hot, it's humid, it's 630 in the morning, and I don't want to think About that makes the most sense. That way, I'm not taxing my body. But I do have stuff that's not good for me. But I could tell you I probably eat much better than most Americans do.
Taylor Morgan
Yeah. I think if you're listening to this podcast, you probably eat better than most Americans do. It's, it's disgusting. Like, you go to the grocery store, and you see some people, what their carts are filled with now, I mean, who might a judge they might have, you know, this might be as a celebration, what's in their cards, like, you know, do what works for you. But if that's an everyday thing, like consistently, something's got to change. You can't be healthy, you can't be happy, and you surely can't be as productive as you can be. If you're fueling your body with garbage, your cells, every single cell in your body is literally made up of what you consume. So if you consume garbage, you're going to be made of garbage. And you're not gonna be able to think clearly you're gonna feel like garbage. That's a lot of it stems from the food and micronutrients. I'm glad you brought that up. Because I think that goes unnoticed. Everybody's focused on macronutrients, protein, carbs, and fat. That doesn't matter so much. The micronutrients are what matters. So 100 calories of bread versus 100 calories of sweet potato, that's completely different. You're getting more nutrients from the sweet potato. So it's not I don't like the you know, calories in calories out version of weight loss. If you if you go on a diet of 2000 calories of cookies and cakes and ice cream versus 2000 calories of salad healthy grass fed and finished me you know organic produce, those are two completely different things, your body is going to look different.
Mark Struczewski
Yes, that's a very, very good point. We've always heard a calorie is a calorie? Well, on paper it is on paper it is. But the problem is like you said it very well. I couldn't say it better than you. There's a difference between a calorie in an ice cream cone and calorie from an apple. totally different. And I think people I let me ask you this question. Do you think it's because people don't know you think they're lazy? They think they're like, Oh, it's a pretty box. Why do you think people don't want to eat? Well,
Taylor Morgan
I think a lot of it stems from education, because in the in? Well, certainly in that, you know, traditional education in school, it real health is not taught in school, right? In high school, like even in elementary school, like you're served. Garbage, the food selection error is horrible. It's none of it's good. It. Same thing in college, I'm sure it's getting better now with some better nutrition courses. But it takes a long time. For something like nutrition, for example, the data is always changing. Like there's new studies coming out all the time. It takes the education world a long time to catch up to the latest studies. And in order for them to do that they have to completely rewrite the textbook, somebody has to admit that they were wrong, that this is the right way. And of course, nobody wants to admit that they're wrong or rewrite a whole textbook. So education is like 10 years behind what's currently, you know, right? Or is in the studies. So I think also a another part of it is that these fitness and nutrition influencers, a lot of them promote the calorie and calorie out there promoting exercise, like you can eat almost whatever you want. There's people who say, this is what I eat, I eat pizza and ice cream, and I still look this way. Okay, who you're promoting to, there are different, like you, you've probably, you know, exercise your whole entire life, your metabolism is super high. Now, I still don't think you can out train a bad diet, there's probably there's definitely some form of brain fog going on up there. You can't maximize your performance. But if you advertise that you can eat whatever you want, and still look good. That's not right, because it is not calories in calories out, you should be focusing on the quality of your food. Not to say like I said at the beginning, you can eat basically whatever you want, as long as you have the quality version of that. So if you make your own food, if you make your own healthy version of the treats that you like, in moderation, you can still have those. So it's all about finding that proper balance.
Mark Struczewski
You know, it's funny is I used to do exactly what you said, eat whatever I want. look good. And around 33 years old, my body sent me an email saying, dude, we're not working anymore. And it was like overnight, my body says, We are not going to burn this stuff all day, you're going to change something. And of course, I'm like, Oh, I just ignored the email. And guess what happened, I started putting on weight, I started becoming unhealthy. We all get that point, when they're younger, we can eat whatever we want, if you say healthy, but eventually your body's gonna send you that email or text and say, Hey, I can't do it anymore. I'm 56 years young now. And I know, I have to give my body and assist by eating better. Now I can tell you, I know people in my inner circle, who are younger than me, and I'm healthier than them, why I run every day. I be careful what I eat, okay? They don't like Oh, how are you so much healthy? I am, I am taking care of myself. Okay. Now what really would really launch this whole thing was three and a half years ago, my mom was diagnosed with late onset Alzheimer's. And I got an opportunity to talk to her neuropsychologist. And I said, Is there anything I can do because her mother died of Alzheimer's, my mom will die, and Alzheimer's mostly dies to something else. And I said, anything I could do? He goes, Well, you're already running every day. He goes, it's about diet, and sleep, and exercise, exercise your brain, I thought I'd do that I just learned a language, read books that are outside your comfort zone. And so instead of me going, Well, I guess I'm doomed for Alzheimer's. She said, if you take care of yourself, you may never get Alzheimer's. And when he said that it clicked on like, so right now, this isn't within my control. And the person listening to the show right now, as you're out on a walk or walking the dog, whatever, I want you to know that this is the time to start making changes. Don't wait until you get that diagnosis.
Taylor Morgan
Yeah, chronic disease is up to you whether or not you get a chronic disease that's 100% in your control. Now, you might have a higher genetic disposition to get it. But chronic means that it's lifestyle related. So if you live a healthy lifestyle, and not just the traditional healthy lifestyle, like move your body eat, like yes, that's all important. But prioritize your sleep, get out in the sun, connect with nature, have high quality relationships, avoid EMF exposure, avoid artificial flavors, and environmental toxins, like actually live a holistically healthy lifestyle, you will not get a chronic disease. No healthy person dies from a chronic disease or illness. They just don't. And if you say that they do, then they weren't actually healthy. There's something going on under there. And this brings me to something I want to mention. It's you can't look at a person until that they're healthy, right? bodybuilders are not healthy. Let me say that, again. bodybuilders are not necessarily healthy. Now you can look like a bodybuilder and be healthy. But nobody competes in a sport to be healthy, they compete to compete. So there's injuries you know, they're they're beating their body up. That's not healthy. So people follow like these athlete protocols. That's not for the average person who's just trying to look good and feel good. And like for me, when I was a teenager, I had the same mindset as you I would eat McDonald's, like that was one of my favorites. I would drink soda, I would eat cereal, just basically eat whatever I wanted. And I was always lean, like, I had a six pack almost my entire life. But that does not mean that I was healthy. Wow, I had sleep problems. I had brain fog, I had acne, all of those are contributed to are caused by a poor diet. So just because somebody looks good does not mean that they're healthy. Patrick Swayze, for example, he died of a heart attack, no healthy person is going to die of a heart attack. He had a six pack doesn't mean you're healthy.
Mark Struczewski
Wow. That, you know listener that if that didn't hit you upside the head, like a two by four right there. I don't know what is or what? Well, because I've never heard that before. And as you're saying it, I'm like, wow, do they really just say that? And I can see where that's true. I can see what that's true. Because we don't know what's going inside your body. Wow. That's, that's amazing. I want to thank you for sharing that with us. And by the way, if you're listening to this in the United States, which most of you do, I want you to understand something. The sugar lobby is a real big, powerful mean guy. They recommend this is you can look this up on Google, they recommend that you consume 25% of your diet is sugar. And I want you to think about that the body doesn't need sugar at all. And I know that Taylor would would agree with me if they recommend This multibillion dollar lobby recommends 25% of your food should be sugar.
Taylor Morgan
Yeah. Even Institute like Harvard, you know, you've probably heard of them. Right Harvard University, they came out with their version of the food pyramid, I believe it was a circle, you know, like a pie chart. I forget the exact proportion of it, but it was like 25% of your food should come from grains, which your body uses as sugar converts into sugar grains are sugar. So this, you know, you should be eating more whole grains, multigrain, you know, breads, pastas, your body doesn't need any of that. Like, you should be avoiding that it's processed, you don't need it can cause inflammation, especially if it's not organic, because it's wheat is one of the highest sprayed crops in pesticides. Wow. caveat to that, if you live in Italy, or you're Italian descent, you can get away with eating grains, and pastas and things like that, for a few reasons. One, it's in your genetics. So your whole family has been eaten that for basically eternity to in Italy, they don't spray their crops with pesticides. So you don't get all of those. All of those gut damages from the pesticides. So two reasons why if you're Italian, or if you go to Italy, you can eat the pasta there and still feel fine. And I'll have any issues. That's very interesting.
Mark Struczewski
Wow, Taylor, we covered so much on the show today. But I want to give someone something actionable. One of my friends Jamie Master says an act of action. So maybe we are you already said it in the show or you have something else? What is one thing that somebody can do today, as soon as they finished listening to this episode? What is something they can do to start heading in the right direction for their house? Something simple that anybody could do?
Taylor Morgan
Well, I already said watch the sunrise. I think that's that's one of the most important things.
Mark Struczewski
What if there's no sunrise?
Taylor Morgan
Well, there's there's hacks that you can do. And even still getting outside even if it's overcast, it's way better than staying inside. Oh, really? Okay. Yeah, even if it's overcast, you still get way more light exposure than then being inside. And our light producing devices that you can buy like a human charger. I have that it's it's an in ear device. Now, that doesn't give you vitamin D. But it does wake you up. So it shuts off the melatonin receptor for that night. You could also get like Juve red light panels, again, doesn't produce vitamin D. But what I would say, and this, this isn't directly for health, but it relates, I would say, create your personal core values, mission statement, and vision statement. So really define who you are, what you want to be remembered as the legacy you want to leave. Get crystal clear on that, because you could be running up the ladder to success, only to find out that you don't like the top, you know, people who have nine to five jobs are just working for the money, you know, retire at 65. And then there'll be happy? No, he won't. You can be happy right now. Like define who you are. So that's not a quick process. That takes time, but it's well worth the effort.
Mark Struczewski
But they can start thinking about it. What's the important thing? So where can we go to find out more about you and the dent you're putting in the universe to give a nod to Steve Jobs?
Taylor Morgan
Yeah. Before I talk about that, I'd say if you do want to create your mission statement core values, I'd recommend picking up the Seven Habits of Highly Effective People. I would say that's a great place to start. For me info.thecaptainslifestyle.com, has links to everything. There, you can download my free nightly ritual, the 4, 3, 2, 1, 30 method to start improving your sleep immediately. There's links to my podcast on whatever platform you listen to. There's links to social media accounts, my website, everything can be found at info.thecaptainslifestyle.com.
Mark Struczewski
Well, Taylor, I was so thankful to be on your show. I'm so thankful you came on my show, because you have a wealth of information. And I want to thank you again for your time today.
Taylor Morgan
Mark, thank you for having me. This was fun.
Transcribed by https://otter.ai
