240. Q&A with Gary Brecka: Peptides, Migraines, Sleep Protocols & More!

0:00Gary Brecka:I spend my life studying human biology, biomarkers, and longevity, but you know what keeps me sharp? Your questions. So I went through hundreds of comments and DMs, and I pulled the most common, most important, and frankly, the most interesting questions you've been asking. So number one, what would you recommend for first responders who work two to three 24-hour shifts per week and can't establish a consistent sleep routine? So for people who cannot regulate their sleep and wake cycle, what you can regulate is what are your top evidence-based travel strategies for maintaining optimal health? So my number one that very few people talk about is what evidence-based strategies do you recommend for elderly individuals, 65 or older, who need to gain weight healthy while combating age-related sarcopenia, which is muscle wasting, and maintaining metabolic health?

0:45Gary Brecka:Well, first thing you need to do is

0:59Gary Brecka:Good morning and welcome back to the Ultimate Human Podcast. It's Gary Brecka and today we're doing something a little different. I spend my life studying human biology, biomarkers, and longevity, but you know what keeps me sharp? Your questions. The ones that make me stop and think, okay, how do I explain methylation or insulin response or circadian biology in a way that actually empowers people to take action. So I went through hundreds of comments and DMs and I pulled the most common, most important, and frankly, the most interesting questions you've been asking. We're talking about first responders who can't sleep consistently, kids who need healthy snacks that aren't garbage, whether whey protein is actually processed junk or how to approach peptides without screwing yourself up.

1:40Gary Brecka:So here's the thing. I'm not gonna give you half answers or tell you what you think you need to hear. I'm gonna give you the science, the mechanisms, and the practical protocols because that's what you deserve. If you want to become the ultimate human, you need to understand how your body actually works. So let's dive in. So number one, what would you recommend for first responders who work two to three 24-hour shifts per week and can't establish a consistent sleep routine? So for people who cannot regulate their sleep and wake cycle, what you can regulate is what kind of light comes into your room at night, what kind of light comes into your eyes at night, and when you eat.

2:13Gary Brecka:So here's what I would suggest. Make your eating schedule the same whether or not you're sleeping on a different schedule. This will actually keep your digestive pattern on the same clock. You remember, our brain works off of something called Zeitbergers. Zeitbergers are things that influence your circadian cycle. The main Zeitberger is in the brain, but things that influence that are things like exercise, light, and eating. So you can regulate when you eat, keep that time consistent. You can regulate when you get light. So make sure that whenever you wake up, whether it's early in the morning or late in the afternoon that you get outside and get some natural sunlight into your eyes.

2:49Gary Brecka:And no matter what time you go to bed, make sure you invest in a cheap cotton eye mask, just a full organic cotton eye mask that you can put over your eyes and block out all the light. You'd be surprised how little light it takes to raise cortisol, which is called candle wattage, and this can actually cause your sleep pattern to be even more disrupted. Number two, what evidence-based strategies do you recommend for elderly individuals, 65 or older, who need to gain weight healthy while combating age-related sarcopenia, which is muscle wasting, and maintaining metabolic health? Well, first thing you need to do is maintain your protein intake.

3:25Gary Brecka:As you age, you start to metabolize protein less efficiently. One of the things that I would do is I would add essential amino acids to your diet, two to three servings a day of essential amino acids. I don't care what brand you use. I use one called Body Health, but you can use whatever brand you want, but make sure that you're not only taking in one gram of protein per kilogram of body weight, but also supplementing with the amino acids. You see proteins in the body break down into amino acids and amino acids are not proteins. They're the building blocks of proteins. So very often as we age, we become deficient in protein and it makes it difficult for us to maintain muscle.

4:04Gary Brecka:The other thing that I would do is I would absolutely minimum three days a week. I would do weight training. Now, depending on the condition that you're in, this is weight-bearing exercise. You don't have to strain yourself, but you do have to pick up heavy weight. In fact, there's a saying that if you want to live a long time, lift heavy weight. So three things would be add all nine essential amino acids to your diet, focus on proteins and healthy fats, and make sure that weight training is a part of your routine every single week, at least three days a week. Number three. I experience migraines almost daily and conventional treatments, NSAIDs, tryptophan, and preventative medications provide minimal relief.

4:42Gary Brecka:I'm at my wits end and I want to investigate root causes rather than just masking symptoms. Could this be related to the MTHFR gene mutation that might be affecting methylation or neurotransmitter production? Wow, that is a great question. There was a very interesting study that was published in the Wiley Journal of Headaches. I've talked about this a lot. And what it looked at was the inverse relationship between migraine headaches and sodium. And what they found was that as migraine headaches went up, sodium levels were down. As migraine headaches went down, sodium levels were higher. This might be controversial and it might be counterintuitive to how you think about sodium.

5:18Gary Brecka:But think about this. Headaches do not come from your brain. Your brain has no pain receptors in it. The brain is not capable of generating a pain signal. So when you think that your head hurts or your brain hurts, it doesn't. It's not generating the signal. So the question is, where is the pain coming from? Very often, it's coming from the covering of your brain, which is called the dura. And the dura is fraught with pain receptors. And it hates two things. It hates being stretched and it hates being contracted. And what determines whether it's stretching or contracting is the sodium gradient.

5:49Gary Brecka:This is why very often migraine headaches have their onset first thing in the morning when you're the most dehydrated. So by adding a mineral salt to your drinking water, you might be able to put migraine headaches permanently in remission. I am not saying that all headaches come from sodium deficiency by any means, and I'm not saying that if you are on cardiac medication or you've been put on a low salt diet, you should change that. What I am saying is there is evidence that sodium deficiency does trigger migraines. I experience migraines almost daily, and conventional treatments, NSAIDs, tryptans, preventative medications, provide minimal, if any, relief.

6:24Gary Brecka:I'm at my wits end and I want to investigate root causes rather than just masking symptoms. Could this be related to my MTHFR gene mutation or affecting methylation or neurotransmitter production? You recommend exercising 30 minutes after eating to utilize glucose and prevent insulin spikes, but I struggle with this because digestion takes much longer than 30 minutes and I can't exercise with a full stomach without feeling nauseous or getting cramps. Can you explain the physiological reasoning behind the 30-minute window? Well, actually the 30-minute window or the 45-minute metabolic window actually doesn't exist.

6:57Gary Brecka:I actually would prefer that you exercise in a fasted state. What I do is I exercise first thing in the morning. I take all nine essential amino acids. I mix that with mineral salt and also hydrogen water, which does not break a fast. And then I eat immediately after exercise. So if you're one of those people that gets lightheaded or shaky during exercise, try adding all nine essential amino acids and see if that is a good fix for you. If it doesn't, then I would have a protein shake and wait 30 minutes to exercise. That's where you might be hearing that I recommended eating 30 minutes before exercise.

7:31Gary Brecka:My preference is actually to exercise fasted, but to take all nine of the essential amino acids. Number five, you recommended essential amino acids during fasting, but I'm confused about how this doesn't break a fast. Doesn't consuming amino acids trigger an insulin response, which could halt autophagy and fat oxidation? No, amino acids being broken down or assembled breaks a fast, but all nine essential amino acids pass through the liver without being cleaved. If you don't have the nine essential amino acids, then what happens is your liver actually tries to make amino acids and when it doesn't have them, it converts amino acids into fat or into sugar.

8:10Gary Brecka:So these will become glucose in your bloodstream if you don't have the essential amino acids. One of the reasons why they are so bioavailable and also why they don't break a fast is because they actually don't engage the liver. The liver does not start to cleave them and turn them into sugar or to fat. So nine essential amino acids is a great way to actually circumvent your protein intake, not as a replacement for protein, but to help you get to your amino acid equivalent without going over your macros. Number six, is whey protein powder considered a processed food that we should avoid or does the bioavailability and amino acid profile outweigh the processing concerns?

8:48Gary Brecka:I like hydrolyzed whey protein, but no, it's not a junk product. There actually are some very good studies showing that whey protein can lead to muscle gains, but you want to be consuming whey protein when you are exercising, not just drinking protein shakes for the sake of drinking protein shakes. A lot of protein shakes, a lot of what you put in the protein shake also matters. Usually people blame on the way, but they've got all kinds of other things they're putting in the shake that are really the concern. You want to make sure that your shake is low glycemic, meaning that it doesn't have high fructose corn syrup or doesn't have other types of high glycemic sugars, and that your whey protein comes from a really good source.

9:25Gary Brecka:Look for hydrolyzed whey protein. Number seven, what are your top evidence-based travel strategies for maintaining optimal health? Circadian rhythm, metabolic function, and supplement protocols while crossing time zones and dealing with limited food options? Wow, that is a great question. So my number one that very few people talk about is keeping your digestion on the same time. So I go to bed at 10 p.m. I live on the East Coast. I live in Miami. I go to bed at 10 p.m. Eastern time and I wake up usually around 6 a.m. Eastern time. So that means that my body is used to sleeping between 10 p.m.

9:59Gary Brecka:and 6 a.m. So when I travel, I don't feed my body between the hours of 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. Eastern time. Let me give you an example. Let's say that you went to London and it's five hours ahead. That means that six o 'clock in the morning when you're normally waking is now 11 a.m. in London. That's the first time that you should put solid food into your body. Now, if you're going to be in the location for more than seven days, just go through the damage of getting onto the time zone. But when you're traveling to places that have a different time zone for short periods of time, this could be a game changer for you just by preserving your sleeping window, not eating when your body thinks you should be sleeping.

10:41Gary Brecka:That is my best travel hack. Number eight, what snacks do you recommend for young children that support optimal brain development, stable blood sugar, and healthy growth without processed sugars, seed oils, and artificial ingredients found in conventional kids' snacks? Well, I recommend a lot of those snacks. Number one, I love beef jerky. Really grass-fed, grass-finished beef jerky is a great way for kids to get high protein and get satiated and not get all of the garbage from highly processed foods. Number two, I like Parmesan crisps. A lot of kids like Doritos and Cheetos and other foods that have MSG and all kinds of food dyes in them.

11:17Gary Brecka:Parmesan crisps are a high-protein way to actually satisfy that craving and not give them all the junk. I also like whole foods, things like chips that are fried in grass-fed beef tallow rather than fried in seed oils. I like chips that are salted with natural sea salts rather than conventional table salt. And I also like whole fat yogurt, whole fruits, especially fruits that end in berry. They tend to be lower on the glycemic index. So blueberries, strawberries, raspberries, blackberries, those are great for kids. They also, believe it or not, will love the crunch of cucumbers, cold cucumbers and berries.

11:52These are things that kids like to crunch on. They also taste sweet.

11:55Gary Brecka:Their palate changes when you feed them high sugary snacks, high glycemic snacks, and highly processed snacks. So to change that palate back, try switching to whole foods, whole fat Greek yogurt. You can put a teaspoon of monk fruit in there, which is another way that I actually make it taste like Ben and Jerry's. Put a fistful of berries in there and even some grain-free granola. Your kids will love it. Number nine, what are your thoughts on bison buffalo as a protein source compared to conventional beef, grass-fed beef, or other red meats. I put those on the same plane, grass-fed, grass-finished beef, buffalo, bison.

12:30Gary Brecka:These are all great ways to get clean protein sources. You can get leaner beef if you're actually trying to watch your weight. I use the 85 % lean, so it's actually not that lean because I love the satiation of having a little bit of fat in my grass-fed beef. You can even try some of the organ blends, which are your ground beefs that are actually mixed with organs. I personally don't like the taste of organ meats on their own, but when they mix it with ground beef, you can't even tell the taste difference and it actually significantly increases the nutrient density. Number 10, what natural strategies do you recommend for managing psoriasis by addressing root causes rather than just suppressing symptoms with topical steroids?

13:06Well, there is some evidence that psoriasis and eczema and other skin conditions, rosacea, are related to deficient bacteria in the gut. I don't remember off the top of my head the two strains of bacteria, but they're very commonly deficient in people that have eczema and psoriasis. So if you have something called gut dysbiosis, it might be manifesting itself in the skin. So I would do a couple of things. I would start taking a really good probiotic. I would add prebiotic and probiotic foods like kimchi and sauerkraut to your diet. And I would also think about doing a stool GI map test. This is a test that actually tells you what your gut microbiome looks like and what you need to supplement with to repopulate your gut.

13:46Also, if you've commonly been using antibiotics, that could be the source of your gut dysbiosis. So to

13:52Gary Brecka:restore your gut to a healthy state, think things like colostrum, fermented foods, kimchi, and sauerkrauts, and think about taking a good pre, pro, and postbiotic. Number 11, I read that hormone replacement therapy should not be started in women who are already in menopause or age 70 or over due to cardiovascular risk, but that my mother, she's over age 70, is suffering tremendously from the downstream effects of estrogen deficiency, severe osteoporosis, cognitive decline, loss of muscle mass, vaginal atrophy, and cardiovascular concerns. Can you help me understand the nuance here? Well, good for you, because the US FDA just removed the black box warnings from female hormone therapy.

14:33So for years, a study called the Women's Health Initiative, which was one of the largest hormone studies ever done on the planet, was misquoted as stating that an increase in breast cancer was the result of hormone therapy, and that's patently false. In fact, the study found a reduction in the incidence of breast cancer. So I would talk to your doctor or find a functional medicine provider that's willing to do something called a Dutch test and to supplement their hormones according to the results of the Dutch test. It can be a lifesaver for women that have gone through menopause no matter how far out of menopause they are.

15:06And thankfully, our US FDA has just removed the black box warnings from female hormone therapy. So your timing is excellent. Number 12, I'm interested in exploring peptide therapy, but I'm overwhelmed by the options and concerned about safety, sourcing, and doing this correctly. Where should someone start when considering peptides? Well, first of all, I would have your peptides prescribed by a physician, preferably a functional medicine doctor. They can actually write scripts for peptides. That way, you have someone standing in between you and the peptide source. Usually when a physician writes a script for peptides, it will come from a compound pharmacy and they're going to deliver or they're going to guarantee something called stability, sterility, and potency.

15:48There are a lot of peptides that you can buy over the internet and I would be very, very wary of that. Lots of these come from China. They're fraught with heavy metals. Some of them have been tested to not even have peptides. Then I would isolate what your primary goals and concerns are. Are you trying to lose weight? Are you trying to build muscle? Are you trying to extend your lifespan or your healthspan? Are you looking for just general longevity? Are you trying to boost your immune system? Are you trying to grow more hair? Are you concerned about your skin, collagen, elastin, fibrin, how young or old you look?

16:19Are you concerned about skin elasticity? And then talk to your functional medicine practitioner and they will choose the category of peptides that's right for you. So for example, if you have what I call nips and bibbles, knee, hip, shoulder, rotator cuff, low back issues. These are usually handled by things that are healing peptides that accelerate wound healing and tissue healing. Things like BPC-157, TB-500. There are immune boosting peptides like thymacin alpha. There are peptides that actually lengthen your telomeres. There are telomerase peptides like epitalon. And then there are peptides that are specifically geared to raising your natural growth hormone levels.

16:56These are growth hormone peptides, not human growth hormone, but amino acid growth hormone peptides like sermorlin, ipamorlin, CJC-1295, and tesamorlin. There are also peptides that are geared towards improving your skin, elasticity, and tone. Those are copper peptides called GHKCU. So what I would do is I would isolate what your goals and concerns are. I would bring those to a functional medicine provider and I would have them do the peptide prescription for you. All right. Today, we've covered a lot of ground. We've talked about first responders and how they can protect their health despite brutal shifts in work schedule.

17:31We've discussed strategies for elderly folks to gain weight healthy and focus on muscle, not just fat. We dove deep into chronic migraines and the root cause most doctors never even investigate. MTHFR mutations, methylation issues, magnesium deficiency, histamine intolerance. We've covered healthy snacks for your kids that don't spike their blood sugar and wreck their development. And we even talked about bison as a protein source and natural protocols for psoriasis. Even the truth about HRT in older women and how to approach peptide therapy intelligently. Here's what I want you to understand.

18:03Every single one of these answers is rooted in biochemistry, physiology, and the clinical evidence. This isn't guesswork. This isn't trends. This is how your body actually works at a cellular level. But here's the reality. We could spend 10 hours on each of these topics and still not cover everything. And that's exactly why I created something for people who are serious about optimization. If you found value in today's deep dive, I want to invite you to join my VIP community. It isn't just another membership. This is where I go deeper. We talk about advanced protocols, personalized strategies.

18:35I give live Q &As where you can ask me anything. You get access to genetic testing insights, supplement protocols, and a community of people that are just committed to becoming the ultimate human just like you are. Inside the VIP community, you get stuff I can't fit in a YouTube video. you get the nuance, the personalization, the ongoing support, because here's the truth. Transformation is not a one-time event. It's an ongoing process and having the right guidance, the right information and the right community makes all the difference. So if you're ready to stop guessing and start knowing what your body needs, head to the link in the show notes and join us.

19:14Let's take this to the next level together because at the end of the day, your health isn't complicated. It's just misunderstood. And when you understand the biology, when you address the root causes, and when you give your body actually what it needs at a cellular level, everything changes. And that's just science.