Join Dr. Martin in today's episode of The Doctor Is In Podcast.
TRANSCRIPT OF TODAY'S EPISODE
Announcer: You're listening to The Doctor Is In Podcast, brought to you by MartinClinic.com. During the episode, the doctors share a lot of information. As awesome as the info may be, it is not intended to diagnose, cure, treat, or prevent any disease. It's strictly for informational purposes.
Dr. Martin: Well, good afternoon, everyone. Once again, welcome to another live this afternoon. I almost said this morning. Good to have you guys on. We appreciate it very much. Merci beaucoup! Here's a study, a new study on heart attacks. So you already had a heart attack. If you've already had a heart attack, this they're saying, okay, according to this study, what is the best way to repair the heart? The heart's damaged, but they're showing. And it has to do with food, the lack of food in intermittent fasting. So they compared repair. I'm just talking about repair and those who have had a heart attack, they're talking about repair. And the heart repairs itself better if a person practices intermittent fasting.
Now, that's the type of fasting that I have been preaching for many, many years is intermittent fasting. People ask me about fasting all the time, and it's much more popular than it used to be. But even 30, 40 years ago on my radio show, I talked about fasting. But what I like, two things. Here's what I like. I like fasting without fasting. What does that mean? Well, if you eat certain foods, yes, you have calories. Yes, you have energy. Yes, your body has to work. But one organ that hardly works and is the real key is your pancreas and insulin. If we can only rest our pancreas. So I coined a term years ago called fasting without fasting. So you can actually eat the right foods, eggs, meat, and cheese, dairy, good dairy. And you're fasting in a way because what drives your pancreas to overwork, secreting insulin, which leads to insulin resistance at the cellular level, which leads to a cascade of problems down the road and it's food.
So when you eat the right foods, you don't need a lot of insulin. If you don't need a lot of insulin, your cells are not overwhelmed with insulin. If your cells are not overwhelmed with insulin, you create a lot less inflammation, a lot less oxidation, and your risk of having heart disease, cancer, Alzheimer's, depression, autoimmune, diabetes goes way down. I'm not saying that you eliminate it. I'm just saying that it goes way down. That's a fact. So that's fasting without fasting. But this study is saying that if you practice intermittent fasting, that is when you eat within windows and you're not snacking in between. For example, if you stop eating at 6 o'clock at night and you go to 6 o'clock the next morning, well, you've fasted for 12 hours, right? That's called intermittent fast. Actually, for those in the know of fasting, they prefer fasting 14 hours, meaning you would go from six o'clock at night, stop eating, and then go till eight o'clock the next morning, and now you're into 14 hours fast. And they say that's when the most benefits take place, is when you're in that 14-hour range for intermittent fasting.
And guess what? This study says that the heart repairs itself even more after a heart attack if people practice intermittent fasting. When you eat is really important, guys. Really important. And when you not eat is really important. And you know me, I am big, big, big on not eating at night. Don't get the Netflix syndrome, okay? Did I make that up? Well, I didn't make up Netflix, but people love to snack at night and that disrupts this intermittent fasting. It disrupts a lot of things because your body has to work. Your body has to secrete insulin. You're not digesting. By the time you go to bed, your body is still in the work mode rather than it's not in the rest and digest, it's in activation mode. And again, I love the fact of eating in windows. I know a lot of people that are in our private Facebook group, for example, that watch us daily on our podcast. They practice eating maybe once, twice a day. That's it. Have a real good meal. I know people that have a real good meal at lunch and that's it. Might have a little bit of fruit at 5 o'clock or something. I mean, look, whatever is easier for you, but one thing for sure, the best time not to eat is at night. And this study is showing that in even repair for people who have a heart attack.
So that's one of the studies that I flagged. I found it interesting. I like intermittent fasting. I like fasting without fasting. When you do the 30-day eggs, meat and cheese, the reset, call it the metabolic reset. And there's a reason for it because you turn your pancreas off. It goes on a holiday and the cascade of benefits that occur because of that are incredible. Got it? Got the memo? Okay. Study number two, a new study on sleep. And guys, we've been saying this, but it just confirms it. New study on sleep, nightly shut eye, sleep. It's linked to lower insulin resistance. Now, we got enough problem in our society already with insulin resistance. We're carboholics. The vast majority of people are carboholics. They've been lied to. They've been told that grains are better than beef. They've been told that. It's not true. Cereal is better than bacon. Not true. Okay? That's not true. And that causes insulin resistance. My name is Tony and I'm a carboholic. I used to give my patients to admit it. They thought they were at an AA meeting. My name is Susie and I'm a carboholic.
And I would get them to admit it based on their blood results. Okay? Like you can run, but you're not going to hide from your results. And when I was testing you for insulin and insulin resistance and blood sugar in A1C, you can't fool those numbers, guys. You just can't. So do I love labs? You better believe I love blood work. I do. I didn't rely on it exclusively because I was a big history taker. I'm into history. My patient's history. Very important. As any physician worth their weight ought to tell you that history means a lot. And that's why I want to know history. I want to know your symptoms. I want to know you as an individual. That is really important. So now back to sleep. A major issue in our society is a lack of sleep. People just don't sleep. Now, there's reasons for that. Okay? We live in a different world. Insomnia has been around forever. Okay? There's always been insomnia, but never like it is today. The numbers aren't insomnia today. I wrote this in a book, chronic fatigue syndrome. So back in the late 80s on sleep because if you had chronic fatigue and fibromyalgia, one of the main symptoms of that was a lack of sleep. Exhausted, but they can't sleep.
So, I've been talking about sleep for a long time and its effects and I wrote a book, Sun, Steak, Steal, and Sleep, because sleep is very important. And they're saying here that even sleep or a lack of it affects insulin resistance. Guys, insulin resistance, remember, is at the root. It's a root cause of 93% of the population that have metabolic syndrome. Metabolic syndrome, when you hear metabolic or metabolism, it's how your body converts energy. So when you're sleeping, it's amazing what happens. We talk about this all the time here on this program because of the importance of, especially to the brain. Your brain has its own self-cleaning oven, but it only works when you're sleeping. It doesn't work any other time. You think you ought to prioritize sleep? I think so. And yet 70. Some have estimated that above 70, and I think a lot of it is our lifestyle today. We have a generally sedentary lifestyle. We live in a toxic soup that has an effect.
Guys, I started measuring cortisol a long time ago. Okay? A long time ago. I can't remember what year that I started measuring cortisol in the office. A long time ago. And for the hundredth anniversary of the Martin Clinic, my grandfather, David Martin, started the Martin Clinic in 1911. Did he even know what cortisol was? Probably not. Maybe he would have studied it. I don't know that. But here's what I know. By 2011, on our hundredth year anniversary, my son and I wrote a book. Serial Killers: Two Hormones that Want You Dead. In 2011, that book was talking about the two hormones. One was insulin and the other was cortisol. If your cortisol's high, cortisol is disguised. Okay? That's cortisol. And in the morning, your cortisol goes up. Why? Because it's waking you up. Wake up. Get your blood sugar elevated. It's why tell diabetics I don't want to know your blood sugar in the morning. Why are you telling me your blood sugar in the morning? Of course, it's going to be elevated. Your cortisol is elevating. That's its job. It's waking you up. Blood pressure comes up, you're coming out of his sleep. Normal.
The problem is if that cortisol does not get turned off and it's on all day. Your body wasn't meant to be in a all day. Wasn't meant for that. You're not meant for that. But we live in a world today and I mentioned this again. If I go back to my book on chronic fatigue, I talked about adrenal gland exhaustion. That was chronic fatigue syndrome. I know they talk about brain and the changes in the brain, much like MS. I fully understand that. But I was a guy that said, why? Well, I wrote a book. Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, the modern woman's curse. Okay? Go back. Over 30 years ago and go back. And women are now in the workplace. Women, like my mother had 11 kids. How did she do it? But the world's different today. You agree with that, I think, and I agree with that. We live in a different world. And everything comes at you today so fast. We're on a 24-hour news cycle. It's just rapid, rapid.
And the stimulation that you and I receive, that affects your cortisol. It affects your circadian rhythm. We get false light. We don't get enough sunlight, right? And that's a big factor because sunlight gets into your eyes. Somebody asked me today, very good question. Was asking me, Dr. Martin, when should you wear sunglasses? You know, my answer is never. Look, some people have very sensitive eyes. They get in the sun. They're very sensitive. I get it. Okay? So for them, yeah, you got to wear sunglasses. But I tell you that if you can get the sun, even in your eyes, don't go look at the sun in your eyes. You know what I mean? Like it's a bright day. Get out. Don't put sunglasses on. Why? You're gathering melatonin. Melatonin is so good for you, helps you to sleep, except as a supplement. That's a whole other story, but I'm not big on melatonin as a supplement. I'm big on vitamin D. I'm big on the sun. Vitderma. Get the sun on your skin and in your eyes. Okay?
So new study on sleep, nightly shut eye is linked to lower insulin resistance. Okay? You think insulin's only food, but even independent of eating, you can affect your insulin by your stress hormone. If your cortisol is high, you don't sleep. If you don't sleep, your cortisol is high. You get a double whammo. So prioritize sleep. Don't eat at night. One of the best things you can do. I wrote about it in the book, Sun Steak and Steel. I've got bullet points there on what to do. Do everything from Epsom salt bath, to magnesium. Get your cortisol under control. That's why we love our cortisol formula. One of the most popular formulas. I'm not kidding you. Can't get over it. Like I said, I wrote a book about it and cortisol has. Now that people are catching up to start talking, medicine finally, finally is talking about cortisol.
Because I remember being on a radio program with another guest, a medical doctor who said, "Well, cortisol. Who even cares? Who measures it?" I said, "Well, I do. I've been doing it for a long time, Doc." It's really important because it'll drain the living life out of you. And independent of even eating, it will elevate your insulin resistance. That means at the cellular level, your cells are going to resist insulin. And guys, let's follow a piece of bread, okay, just for fun for a second here. You eat a piece of bread. Bread is sugar molecules holding hands. That's all bread is. Okay? Look, sourdough is better. I know that. Okay? Sourdough is a better bread because of the fermentation process, less insulin response. But even then, be careful. Anyway, here's what I'm saying. Bread, you swallow it. You've broken down glucose. A lot of glucose is produced. Well, glucose can't park in your bloodstream. I'm sorry. It's a no parking zone.
So what does your body do? Well, it secretes insulin because insulin is a traffic cop. It says to sugar, "come here. You cannot park in blood because you're going to destroy blood vessels. You're in a no parking zone. Come here, I'm going to park you." So that's insulin's job, to go to the cell and say, open up. I have some glucose for you. I have some sugar for you. And like a pesky neighbor, well, let's say you're a carboholic and you love sugar and you love crappy carbs and you're eating bread, pasta, rice, cereal, sugar, sweets, pastries, and juices, and now your body's overwhelmed. Insulin's got a job to do. It's got to go knock on the door of your cells. And your cells, you know what happens? Your cells get tired of it because insulin lands on the cell wall. And the cell wall says, "You know what? I'm so sick of you. I used to like you. Now I don't like you anymore because you're always coming around." Okay? I never thought when you move next door, you'd be such a pain. Have you ever had a pain for a next door neighbor? Come over, knock, knock, knock, knock, knock. All the time. Okay? That's insulin. And then the cells develop insulin resistance. Okay? And that's with food.
But if you don't sleep, your cells develop a resistant to your insulin. Let's say you're eating pretty good. You're not a carboholic. The prioritizing of sleep. Okay? Autophagy, the brain's lymphatic system is called its glymphatic system. And the glymphatics don't work unless you sleep. And insulin resistance, now you're going to need even more insulin to open up those cells. Interesting, isn't it? I find that interesting. It's not necessarily new to me, but it was a good reminder, a reminder of why sleep is so important. Prioritize it, guys. Do everything you can and don't sedate. Okay? Don't sedate. I had, I'm not going to exaggerate here, probably more than a thousand patients over the years that were on sleeping pills. And I used to tell them, well, you're not sleeping. "Dr. Martin, if I don't take a sleeping pill or I'm only taking half of one." I said, "Well, you're not sleeping. You're sedated." And I said, "You ever have an operation?" "Yeah, I've had an operation." "Did you feel good when you woke up?" "No, come to think of it." Well, you were sedated. You were out like you got knocked out, but you weren't sleeping. Your glymphatics, your brain's autophagy was not working. That's the key.
Okay, guys, thanks for watching. We appreciate it. Tomorrow, Q&A. Okay? Tomorrow's Q&A. Most popular day of the week. TGIF. Thank God it's Friday. Okay? If you want, I'll be on live tomorrow morning at 8:30 with questions. Okay? So send in your questions. I don't think it's too late. Info@martinclinic.com. Okay? Send them there. Okay, we love you guys. Talk to you soon.
Announcer: You've reached the end of another Doctor Is In Podcast, with your hosts, Doctor Martin Junior and Senior. Be sure to catch our next episode and thanks for listening!