Your Body Reset: How to Eat & Exercise for a Healthier and Longer Life

The Mel Robbins Podcast

In this episode of The Mel Robbins Podcast, Dr. Rhonda Patrick shares science-backed lifestyle strategies for improving health and longevity, focusing on five key behaviors: daily vigorous exercise, nutritious eating, quality sleep, stress management, and avoiding harmful habits. She emphasizes the power of short, breathless 'exercise snacks' and nutrient-dense foods to combat visceral fat, reduce

Key takeaways

• 10 minutes of breathless, vigorous exercise daily provides exponentially greater health benefits than prolonged light activity.
• Three minutes of vigorous exercise three times a day reduces cancer, cardiovascular, and all-cause mortality by up to 50%.
• Visceral fat, not subcutaneous fat, is the primary driver of chronic inflammation, insulin resistance, and disease risk.

Transcript preview

Hey, it's your friend Mel, and welcome to the Mel Robbins podcast. I want to start our conversation today a little differently, because right now I am holding a spreadsheet of dream guests. You can hear it, it's multiple pages long from July of 2023. And I'm talking way back in the early days of this show, and at the very top of Mel Robbins list of dream guests, Dr. Rhonda Patrick. Dr. Patrick is a biomedical scientist who's known for her deep research on micronutrients, exercise, and longevity, but here's what I love about her. She has this genius ability to make the science somehow so understandable and simple to apply to your life. I'm not kidding. This is why she was the number one expert that I wanted on the show. Now look, it may have taken a few years to get her here but she finally flew across country and came to our Boston studios and I had very very high expectations but let me tell you Dr. Patrick just blew us all away this is one of my favorite episodes that we have ever recorded and the reason why I can say that is because Dr. Patrick took a topic that I kind of thought I knew a lot about and flipped it on its head everything shared is relevant and doable for you and every single person in your life and today she is going to boil down extensive research into five core lifestyle changes that she also will make super easy to implement and that's a tall order and she delivers in fact one of them you can do in just one minute and I will do it live while we taped the episode. What Dr. Patrick is here to teach you will add years to your life It is easy to do and it gives you exponential gains in your health. It puts you in a better mood. You're going to love this. I cannot wait for you to hear and learn from the extraordinary Dr. Rhonda Patrick. this time with you. And if you're new here or someone sent you this particular episode, I just want to take a moment and personally welcome you to the Mel Robbins podcast family. Today you will learn the science of living a longer and healthier life. Today's guest is someone I've wanted to sit down with for such a long time because if you've been doing all the quote healthy things and you still feel off, Dr. Ronda Patrick will explain why and exactly what to change. Dr. is a PhD trained biomedical scientist who has spent her entire career studying nutrition, aging, and disease prevention, with research experience spanning mitochondrial metabolism, cancer biology, and neurodegeneration. She completed her PhD in biomedical science at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center and her graduate research was conducted at St Jude's Children's Research Hospital. Dr. Patrick's's, scientific journals and she's also the founder and host of the top podcast an online platform found my fitness where she's known for taking peer-reviewed science and translating it into practical guidance with total transparency about what we know, what we don't know, and what's just the internet hype of the moment. So please help me welcome Dr. Rhonda Patrick to the Mel Robbins podcast. I'm so excited you're here. So, now how busy you are I really appreciate you hopping on a plane and coming and spending time with us here's where I want to start Dr. Patrick if the person who's listening is overwhelmed like I'm overwhelmed by all the advice about health and they follow your research back approach that you're about to teach us today what might change about their life or their health outcomes I think for the person listening it's really really important to understand that they don't have to do 50 different health hacks to improve the way they feel and ultimately the way they age. The way I like to look at health is what are the few behaviors that we can adopt that are going to affect many different underlying biological processes in our body that will affect these things that we care about that's going to improve our mood, reduce environment. inflammation, improve metabolism, ultimately, you know, improve cardiovascular health, brain health, and just the way you age. And I think that if we sort of zoom out and take that approach, we realize there's just a few core behaviors that we should be doing that are really not that difficult to do and that are ultimately going to make us feel better and age better. And so what are those? behaviors and I'm sort of going to speak in a sort of just 10,000 feet up, you know, like big zoom out sort of picture because I think again they're very easy for people to do. First, top of the list. Move every day and when I say move every day we want to make sure we're getting some vigorous exercise. We're going to talk about what that means and we're going to challenge our muscles. Very, very important because your body is very resilient and if you can put a good type of stress on it, which exercise is. It's going to adapt. And when stress is thrown at you later in life or in the day or in the minute, whatever, your body's already dealt with stress. It's adapted. And so when that stress comes, you're going to be stronger and you're going to be able to deal with it. Mental stress as well. By the way, challenging your muscles, doing exercise, vigorous exercise. This is challenging many systems, your lungs, your heart, heart, your brain as well, it's hard to do hard things. And so again, you want to be resilient and that's what it's doing. Number two, make sure you're just eating a nutritious diet that is, you know, giving you the proper nutrients that you need and we'll talk about that. Not that hard to do. Number three, make sure you're focusing on good sleep. You have to be able to repair, recover, rejuvenate and that's what sleep is. Could you just tell the person who's listening, based on your expertise, why they should trust these recommendations and really just focus on this? Yeah, I mean because there's a lot of research that has been done by amazing scientists all over the world for decades looking at what we can do in our diet and lifestyle to improve things like mood and metabolism and inflammation and the way we age. And so we have the evidence here, we can see what type of robust gains we're gonna get. So I just think the reality is the reality is. is that we have science and science has done amazing things for advancing human life expectancy and also helping treat and prevent disease and so if you look at the data it's there you just have to look at it and I think that's kind of my role I look at this data and then I help explain it to people so it really is that easy it really really is and we're gonna talk about what kind of gains that you can expect it's kind of mind-blowing to be honest mind blown and my life simplified and the gains made easy. So let's jump into the first category which is moving every day and you know I think we've all heard this obsession around 10,000 steps that we should be getting every single day is that a useful goal what does the research say Dr Patrick? So I think that we need to replace 10,000 steps a day with 10 breathless minutes a day. And what I mean by that is 10 minutes of vigorous intensity exercise, which means you're breathless. I don't want to throw walking out because walking is better than sitting, right? So what are you comparing it to? Okay, walking is better than being sedentary, not moving. But you know, this 10,000 steps a day originated back in the 1960s from Japan. There was a Japanese group that was trying to sell pedometers. And that's what's what? it didn't come from medical research it came from a Japanese company wanting to sell a pedometer and it was very catchy now since the 1960s of course there's been a lot of research on walking and moving and not being sedentary so there are health benefits but let's talk about why I want to replace 10,000 steps with 10 breathless minutes ten minutes of vigorous intensity exercise and why I say breathless is because it depends on where you're coming from if you're already exercise and very fit, breathless for you might be sprinting, might be running. If you're someone that doesn't really exercise a lot, maybe you only walk, then breathless for you might just be walking uphill, you know, going up the stairs. So it all depends on our starting point and that's why I like to say breathless instead of heart rate or you know any other definition because I think we can all relate to if I am at the point where I can only say a few words and then I have to take a breath and then a few words and then I have to take a few words and then I have to words and then I have to take, you know, you can't talk, you certainly can't sing. Breathless would be that where you're just a couple of words in and then you have to take a breath because you're really working hard. Why is that important and why do I want to replace the 10,000 steps a day? There has been overwhelming research over the years, but even as of most recently within the last few months. A very brand new study came out. Now research is done very differently than it was 20 years ago when we were relying on people and questionnaires, how frequent do you exercise? And they have to think back and remember. Now we can actually measure it. We have these accelerometers on people's risks where they can measure movement and how fast they're going. And so there was this huge study that was published showing that people that are moving more vigorously, it's exponential in terms of health benefits versus moderately moving. So that would be where you're not breathless, but you're not able to sing. So that's kind of like you can kind of talk a little bit, but you're still breathy, but you're still, but you're still, but you're still breathy a little bit, but you're still, but you're still, but you're still breathy a little bit, but you're still, but you're still breathy a little bit, but you're still breathy a, but you're still breathy a doing it versus light activity, which is kind of like just walking around the house maybe. So we know that for every one minute of vigorous exercise, you have to do four minutes of moderate intensity, that would be brisk walking, for example, to get the same drop in all cause mortality, dying from cancer, dying from respiratory diseases, dying from cardiovascular disease, right? All non-accidental causes. Four minutes. If you're going to do light exercise for every one minute of vigorous, you have to do about 53 minutes of light walking, gentle walking around. Wait, hold on a second. I want to make sure I understand this. Because first of all, I love the idea of replacing the 10,000 steps, because that might take me an hour and a half. And I don't really have that kind of time to walk five miles, right? Because it feels like this goal that's very hard to achieve if you're somebody that's working and taking care of people and you've got a very busy life, which most people do. So when you say, We really want to look at the research and I want to replace this idea of 10,000 steps with 10 minutes of breathless exercise, which to me I would love to have you unpack breathless just so that as we're trying to absorb this information, we understand what you mean by that. And I've heard you talk about the talk test. What does that mean? Right. Yeah, so the talk test is really that test. okay I'm talking to you right now right I'm talking to you and I'm not breathless I'm not breathing heavy right it's easy I could even seeing if I wanted to right so the talk test is you can't sing but when you're talking you're a little bit breathy that is you know that is moderate intensity exercise the talk test means if you can talk a little bit but you're breathy that's moderate intensity that would be briskly walking if you're you're vigorous intensity exercise the breathless type of exercise okay this is a little bit more like jogging running this is where you are okay Mel so yeah this is a vigorous intensity because you have to take breaths quite a few breaths in between words that would be vigorous intensity I'll give an example. So there's a walking loop by my house and I would say for three quarters of it it's four miles long love to walk it with my girlfriends shout out to my Wednesday walking group. Three quarters of it I'm chatting up a storm we are catching up we're sharing details about our family dogs are running wild there is a hill where the entire hill everybody's silent because nobody can talk because we're I'll catch up with you. And that's the vigorous part. That is exactly the vigorous type of exercise I'm talking about. That's the breathless moment, the breathless minute or two minutes or three minutes or four, however long it takes you to get up that hill. Okay, now I just want to make sure I'm tracking because that's the breathless part, but you also talked about moderate. And so would moderate be, like this is kind of a long hard walk, but I'm still a long hard walk, but I'm still, but I'm still to talk to you and I feel myself sweating and I'm definitely exerting myself but I can still carry on a conversation. That's correct. That would be moderate where you can still like carry a conversation but you're kind of like this you're just like if you're on the phone you weren't with someone or if you're recording it and like the person listening was listening to it. Yeah. They could tell that you were walking. Right now it's obvious we're not walking right. That would be the moderate intensity. Okay. And the vigorous is so much more powerful so much more powerful so I said, so I said, so I said, so I said, so I said, so I said, so I said, so I said, so I said, so I said, so I said, so I said, so I said, so I said, so I said, so I said, so I said, so I said, so I said, so I said, so I said, so I said, so I said, so I said, so I said, so I said for all cause mortality reduction you have to do 53 minutes of light just walking around. Well that's the piece I wanted to unpack so you're basically saying the one minute that I am walking up that hill and I can't actually really talk because I'm exerting effort I'm getting a 53 minute gain in that one minute against the other 53 minutes I'm walking the rest of the loop? No. Other 53 minutes you're walking the loop would be moderate. That's moderate. Okay that's moderate. Okay. Oh I see. That would be more light. Okay so this is the thing to understand that you could clock 10,000 steps a day. It might take you an hour and a half to do it. You could be walking around your house. You could be getting out of the car and walking into the grocery store. You could be walking around the office. You're saying one minute walking up a hill is the equivalent to 53 minutes of just kind of walking around. That's correct. That's incredible and it gets, listen there's more now. Okay we're just talking about all. cardiovascular related mortality. I mean this is the number one cause of death in the United States and many developed countries for every one minute a vigorous intensity. You have to do about eight minutes of the moderate intensity and you have to do an hour and a half of the light type of just walking around the house. All right so break that down again. So you basically just said walking up the hill breathless, one minute is the equivalent of eight. minutes of the moderate. You're still cooking, you're still exercising, but you're getting... You're still with your walking group, you're still with your walking group, you're catching your breath. You have to do eight times more than you do if you're walking up the hill. Whoa. And if you are just walking around the office, walking around the house, doing some chores, you have to do an hour and a half for every one minute of that walking up the hill. You know what's so cool about this? And also, I slightly hate you a little bit, Dr. Dr. Dr. Dr. Dr. Dr. Dr. Dr. Dr. Dr. Dr. Dr. Dr. Dr. Dr. Dr. Patrick, not only do you have time. Exactly. You're basically saying you do. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. And not only do you have time it has to be something that you go oh my gosh I have to do this I have to do this and I can do this right you know there's other outcomes to cancer is another one and this one's really mind-blowing for every one minute of vigorous intensity exercise you have to do two and a half hours of that light type of exercise. around the office, walking around your house. So, what does that do with? For cancer mortality reduction, dying from cancer, dying from all types of cancer. So there is also what you're saying, Dr. Patrick, if I'm listening closely, is this isn't just the gains that you're making an hour or one minute, right? This isn't just the gains that you get by doing one minute of breathless walking up that hill versus the 53 of st strolling around the house. it's also that there's something powerful about that one minute of walking up the hill and what it does to your immune system I suspect or to other aspects of your physiology and biology that have a meaningful impact long term over things like your ability to fight cancer your longevity your longer range health outcomes. That's exactly true. So what I'm trying to gain to at is intensity matters, your body responds more robustly and adapts more robustly to the more intense exercise. The adaptations to your heart, your cardiovascular system, your lungs, your immune system, your brain, everything, the bigger the stress you're putting on it, which happens when you're doing a more intense type of exercise, the better the adaptations are. And so when life happens, and you're aging, it's all a stress, aging itself every day we're being stressed. We can't see it when we look in the mirror, but it's happening at the cellular level. Your body has adapted to that big burst of stress that it is able to handle all the little types of stress that are happening every day, so much more robustly. And so that's the point here is that why not just do the more intense exercise and we can talk about, well, I've never done that, how do we get there? And there and there are definitely ways there. And there are definitely ways that are very easy. But the point is you have