Part 2: How To Identify The Lies That Popular Media Spews About Wellness (& My Reply To “The Most Overhyped Wellness Promises, Debunked”)

Ben Greenfield (0:05)

Everything we've discussed, a lot of times they're simply dead wrong, and do not think that it's correct just because it's written down on a popular website. So they're kinda sorta right, but at the same time, I'm not gonna completely discount. I don't think that you are gonna have any issues at all, and as a matter of fact, I think that vice is way off when they say don't. They're just so far off the mark on this, it's not even funny. I have a master's degree in physiology, biomechanics, and human nutrition. I've spent the past two decades competing in some of the most masochistic events on the planet, from Sealfit, Kokoro, Spartanagoji, and the world's toughest mutter, to 13 Ironman triathlons, brutal bow hunts, adventure races, spearfishing, plant foraging, freediving, bodybuilding, and beyond. I combine this intense time in the trenches with a blend of ancestral wisdom and modern science. Search the globe for the world's top experts in performance, fat loss, recovery, hormones, brain, beauty, and brawn to deliver you this podcast. Everything you need to know to live an adventurous, joyful, and fulfilling life. My name is Ben Greenfield. Enjoy the ride.

Welcome to part two of the VICE Podcast, where I'm attempting to kick the ass of these 44 myths that vice.com put out. So the show notes for this podcast are at bengreenfieldfitness.com/vicepodcasttwo, vice podcast number two. Show notes for the other episode where I covered the first 22 myths, are at bengreenfieldfitness.com/vicepodcastone. This podcast is brought to you by Keyon. We have the most antioxidant rich, and I'm not just saying that we tested against over 45 other coffee brands and discovered that our coffee is not only because it's organic, and only 3% of the coffee on the planet is certified organic. Ours is. We found not only is it the highest in antioxidants, but it contains no mold ever. We use an independent laboratory to test for 60 different types of mold. So our coffee is totally mold-free. It's grown sustainably. It's roasted to perfection. We rigidly test for toxins and never select beans that are chipped enough to risk an uneven roast. So the taste on this stuff, the flavor profile, is out of this world. It's described as a blend of English walnut and cacao with this pleasant citrus-like flavor. It is a wonderful, wonderful coffee, dare I say. And you get a 10% discount on this coffee from Keon and anything else at Keon, site-wide, with my discount code. It's BGF10, 10% off, site-wide. Definitely grab the coffee over at getkeyon.com, getkion.com. Even fantastic for enemas, which you will chuckle at if you listen to either of these Vice episodes. This podcast is also brought to you by Four Sigmatic. Now, Four Sigmatic makes a lot of stuff, but one of their things that I travel with is their mushroom extract, specifically their chaga mushroom extract. Chaga is chock full of alkaloids that have been shown to have anti-carcinogenic properties, but it's wonderful for supporting the immune system. It comes in this little packet. You add it to hot water or you can add it to your coffee. I do that sometimes. And it's got a few other little ingredients. They throw a little organic mint in there, some organic rose hips, little organic eluthero, which is an adaptogenic herb from the ginseng family for supporting stamina and endurance and overall well-being. This is one of my favorite products from Four Sigmatic, their Chaga Elixir. You can get this and any of the other wonderful mushroom extracts that they have. If you go to foursigmatic.com/bengreenfield, that's F-O-U-R, sigmatic.com/bengreenfield. And your code for a 15% discount on anything from Four Sigmatic is Ben Greenfield. Ben Greenfield will get you 15%.

Well, here we go. So if you listened to part one of this special two-part solo-sode, then you already know that this is part of a myth-busting series that is my response to a vice.com article that came out and attempted to debunk what they called the most overhyped wellness promises. And in the last episode, which you can listen to at bengreenfieldfitness.com/vicepodcastone, that's vicepodcastone, I covered everything from lectins to probiotics to kombucha, alkalizing, the ketogenic diet, dark chocolate, gluten, the list goes on and on. I covered 22 different myths. And in today, I'm going to cover an additional 22 myths to top off the 44 different myths that vice.com kind of pissed me off with, based on some of the questionable claims they made that I feel are unfounded and granted some of their claims. For example, as you learned in the last podcast episode, charcoal toothpaste are indeed correct. For example, as you learned, charcoal toothpaste can wear away enamel and strip away fluoride from your teeth, and after doing the research on it, in response to that article, I decided I'm going to move on from charcoal toothpaste. However, many of the other things that they claim, I think there is no evidence for, and in fact, evidence to the contrary. Now, if you hear noise during this podcast episode, it's because I am recording from the Swiss Alps. I'm actually at a little clinic right now doing two weeks of pretty intensive detoxification and liver therapy protocols, everything from hyperthermia, meaning about three hours spent with induction of a fever via an infrared machine where I just sweat like a pig for three hours, to colonic hydrotherapy and coffee enemas, to electrical stimulation of the liver, different infusions, UV treatments of the blood, etc. I'm logging a lot of that over at instagram.com/bengreenfieldfitness. If you want to check that out. And if you're interested in attending something like this yourself, coming over and traveling to the Swiss Alps, flying into Milan and taking the 60 to 90 minute trip up into the mountains here in Switzerland, just go to bengreenfieldfitness.com/swissclinic, and you can read up more on that. But I digress. Let's jump right back in to my response to this Vice article, all research, everything I cite, every story I discuss, as well as the original Vice article, you can find at bengreenfieldfitness.com/vicepodcast2. That's bengreenfieldfitness.com/vicepodcast, the number two. All right. Myth number 23, red yeast rice supplements aren't that effective at lowering cholesterol. Is this true? Well, red yeast rice is a type of fermented rice. It's produced using a specific species of mold, and it contains something called mona colon K, which is actually the same active ingredient that's found in a statin, like lovastatin, for example, a prescription cholesterol lowering medication. Now red yeast rice has actually been studied. The issue is that some forms of red yeast rice do not actually contain doses that are as high as what is used in the literature. So when I say something like, for example, there was an eight-week study in 79 people. It's not a huge population, but it showed that taking 600 milligrams of red yeast rice compared to a control group was very effective at lowering cholesterol.