
Show Notes
Cortisol is not the villain wellness culture made it out to be.Cortisol gets blamed for almost everything online.- Weight gain.- Anxiety.- Poor sleep.- Burnout.- Belly fat.- Stress.But most of the cortisol conversation may be missing the point.In EP 16 of More Good Days, Sean Lunn, Faf du Plessis and Dr Michael Mol unpack the truth about Cortisol and Anxiety.Cortisol is one of the body’s most important hormones. It helps wake you up, supports blood pressure, helps you respond to stress and follows a daily rhythm that matters deeply for sleep, energy and mood.The question may not simply be: “Is my cortisol too high?”The better question may be: “Is my cortisol rhythm out of sync?”In this episode, we cover:0:00 Cortisol is the most blamed hormone in wellness. Almost none of it is true.0:50 Faf: nerves are the entry ticket to the arena4:55 Anxiety is not something you can think yourself out of7:20 Why morning light sets your entire day8:43 Blue light at night is waking your body back up11:05 What cortisol actually is and how it works12:32 Chronic anxiety isn't too much cortisol. It's the wrong rhythm.13:56 Your amygdala vs your prefrontal cortex19:32 Dial 1: morning light within 30 minutes20:05 Why coffee in the first 90 minutes works against you23:58 Dial 2: the physiological sigh, 90 seconds a day30:41 Alcohol, sleep and the vicious cycle32:34 Dial 3: exercise and the double whammy on anxiety36:03 One in six South Africans will struggle with anxiety this year37:19 When to stop self-managing and see a professional38:10 Sean's story: the fire, the SSRIs, and what actually helped42:04 Dial 4: protect your cortisol dip48:01 Is cortisol directly related to how long you live?50:52 Cortisol, stress eating and visceral fat52:08 The one takeaway from each of usWHO estimates that 359 million people had an anxiety disorder in 2021.In South Africa, research has reported roughly 1 in 6 adults experiencing a common mental disorder in a 12-month period, with anxiety disorders the most common broad category in that study.This is not just a wellness conversation.It is a body, brain, sleep, stress and longevity conversation.👍 Like, subscribe and join us for evidence-based conversations on health, longevity and performance.PRODUCTS & RESOURCES WE USE:InBody Scan — Code: MGD5https://inbodyhomecare.com/Bare Aminos10% discount: https://www.bareayr.co.za/discount/MoZenii Hydrogen Water10% discount: https://zenii.co.za/discount/MGD%2525Arctic Ape5% discount code: MGD5https://www.arctic-ape.co.za/contactIglu Therapy7.5% discount code: FAF5https://iglutherapy.com/?linkId=lp_63More Good Days:https://linktr.ee/moregooddaysofficialJoin the Community:Subscribe for more conversations around health, longevity, performance, and living better for longer.Newsletter:https://www.moregooddays.co.za/IMPORTANT:This episode is educational and is not medical advice. If anxiety is affecting your sleep, work, relationships or daily life for weeks or months at a time, please speak to a doctor, psychologist or psychiatrist.Medical Disclaimer:This podcast is for educational purposes only and is not medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always consult a qualified healthcare professional before making changes to your health, supplements, medication, or lifestyle.#cortisol #stress #longevity #healthscience #podcast
More from More Good Days
Somewhere around 40, a lot of men start having a quiet conversation with themselves. Slower mornings. Less drive. A workout that used to fuel you now flattens you. Somewhere on your phone, a headline says it's your testosterone.It might be. It might also be your weight, your sleep, your stress or your alcohol.Sean Lunn, Faf du Plessis and Dr Michael Mol break the taboo on testosterone. Is andropause real? Who genuinely benefits from TRT, and what does doing it properly look like? Why are teenagers getting hold of it? Sean shares his own experience, the good and the bad.This one is for men, and for the partners who love them.This episode is sponsored by Quinton. It contains paid promotion. All views expressed are our own.CHAPTERS0:00 The quiet conversation men have at 401:02 Does andropause actually exist?2:20 A cliff vs a slope3:22 Why normal isn't normal anymore4:41 The conversation men won't have6:39 How rare andropause really is8:29 The signs to look out for10:17 Ageing vs lifestyle14:26 Five things to fix before TRT15:44 Faf: asking for a friend18:52 Sean's TRT story27:52 When TRT is the right call32:08 Why a normal result is good news38:01 Do testosterone supplements work?42:04 Teenagers on TRT51:20 Does the snip lower testosterone?53:20 The takeawayTimestamps are approximate.Products & Resources We Use:Quinton — Code: MGD10https://quintonstore.co.za/discount/MGD10?redirect=%2Fcollections%2Fall-productsNAKD Eyewear20% discount code: GOOD20https://nakdeyewear.com/go/GOOD2030-DAY MONEY-BACK GUARANTEEEssentially Young / Recommended Salt for Sean Shooter20% discount code: MGD20https://www.essentiallyyoung.co.za/?ref=MGDHarvest Table10% discount code: MGD10https://harvesttable.co.za/InBody Scan — Code: MGD5https://inbodyhomecare.com/Bare Aminos10% discount: https://www.bareayr.co.za/discount/MoZenii Hydrogen Water10% discount: https://zenii.co.za/discount/MGD%2525Arctic Ape5% discount code: MGD5https://www.arctic-ape.co.za/contactIglu Therapy7.5% discount code: FAF5https://iglutherapy.com/?linkId=lp_63More Good Days:https://linktr.ee/moregooddaysofficialJoin the Community:Subscribe for more conversations around health, longevity, performance, and living better for longer.Newsletter:https://www.moregooddays.co.za/Medical Disclaimer:This podcast is for educational purposes only and is not medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Testosterone replacement therapy is a prescription medicine and should only be started and monitored by a qualified doctor. Always consult a healthcare professional before making changes to your health, supplements, medication, or lifestyle.
Somewhere right now, someone is paying for a hair strand test to tell them which foods are secretly poisoning them. Meanwhile, the real allergies, the ones that can close an airway, are often under-treated. Professor Claudia Gray is a paediatrician and allergist, one of only a dozen or so allergists in South Africa. She joins Sean Lunn, Faf du Plessis and Dr Michael Mol to separate the real thing from the noise. What is the difference between an allergy and an intolerance? Why does cutting foods out sometimes make things worse? What does an allergy test actually tell you? And are you really gluten intolerant?
How does a Springbok survive an international season? The training, the travel, 80 brutal minutes of game time, and then turning up fit and ready again the next week.
Rachel Kolisi joins Sean Lunn and Dr Michael Mol to talk about the losses rather than the wins. You did the fast. You did the training programme, the proper one, three times a week for twelve weeks. You did the meal plan. You did all of it right, and it didn't work.Most plans seldom fail completely. Most plans seldom succeed completely. Something less dramatic is usually happening, and almost nobody talks about it.What she stopped chasing, why she got rid of the scale, what she has learned about training through the seasons where nothing goes to plan, and the framework for what to do when an intervention is not working for you.CHAPTERS0:00 You did everything right and it didn't work4:31 The one thing to stop chasing12:48 Sugar cravings and what was actually driving them14:14 Why bad sleep undoes good training15:36 Do you own a scale?19:40 Living with depression, openly20:28 We are all guaranteed a storm21:26 The non-negotiable hour26:47 The blockers nobody checks32:31 Put down the pink weights35:41 When intermittent fasting stopped working38:51 Change the lever, not the category39:52 Give it twelve weeks before you quit47:20 Health is not a default setting50:57 The framework for when it is not working54:29 Rachel's one thingTimestamps are approximate.Products & Resources We Use:InBody Scan — Code: MGD5https://inbodyhomecare.com/Bare Aminos10% discount: https://www.bareayr.co.za/discount/MoZenii Hydrogen Water10% discount: https://zenii.co.za/discount/MGD%2525Arctic Ape5% discount code: MGD5https://www.arctic-ape.co.za/contactIglu Therapy7.5% discount code: FAF5https://iglutherapy.com/?linkId=lp_63NAKD Eyewear20% discount code: GOOD20https://nakdeyewear.com/go/GOOD2030-DAY MONEY-BACK GUARANTEEMore Good Days:https://linktr.ee/moregooddaysofficialJoin the Community:Subscribe for more conversations around health, longevity, performance, and living better for longer.Newsletter:https://www.moregooddays.co.za/Medical Disclaimer:This podcast is for educational purposes only and is not medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always consult a qualified healthcare professional before making changes to your health, supplements, medication, or lifestyle.
This episode is a paid promotion. More Good Days is sponsored by Bare Aminos. All views expressed are our own.Fasting has been called an ancient human superpower. It has also been called eating less with extra steps. In this episode, Sean Lunn, Faf du Plessis and Dr Michael Mol go back to fasting and ask three questions the internet is not asking.Does the research actually hold up? Is the advice given to men the same for women? And what is fasting doing to your muscle while it is doing something to your fat?This is Fasting 2.0.CHAPTERS0:00 The three questions2:17 Fasting and GLP-1s may work on the same switches6:30 The ancient fast8:45 Autophagy is a dial, not a switch16:08 What the New England Journal of Medicine found22:11 Why are you fasting? Know this first27:45 The muscle question29:19 Faf: why has no doctor ever prescribed this?31:22 The 72 hour fast36:41 The risk curve is not flat41:34 When is fasting a bad idea?42:36 Fasting for women53:53 The three essentials to take homeTimestamps are approximate.Products & Resources We Use:InBody Scan — Code: MGD5https://inbodyhomecare.com/Bare Aminos10% discount: https://www.bareayr.co.za/discount/MoZenii Hydrogen Water10% discount: https://zenii.co.za/discount/MGD%2525Arctic Ape5% discount code: MGD5https://www.arctic-ape.co.za/contactIglu Therapy7.5% discount code: FAF5https://iglutherapy.com/?linkId=lp_63NAKD Eyewear20% discount code: GOOD20https://nakdeyewear.com/go/GOOD2030-DAY MONEY-BACK GUARANTEEMore Good Days:https://linktr.ee/moregooddaysofficialJoin the Community:Subscribe for more conversations around health, longevity, performance, and living better for longer.Newsletter:https://www.moregooddays.co.za/Medical Disclaimer:This podcast is for educational purposes only and is not medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always consult a qualified healthcare professional before making changes to your health, supplements, medication, or lifestyle.