Ep. 67 - Gut Health is Non-Negotiable - with Wade Lightheart

Wade T. Lightheart is the host of the AWESOME Health Podcast, a three-time All Natural National Bodybuilding Champion, an advisor to the American Anti-Cancer Institute, and a co-founder at BiOptimizers Nutrition – and all of this contributes to his mission to help others fix their digestion and transform their health with the daily practice of positive principles, rituals, and optimizers.   Because ¼ of the population is on medications for digestion, with millions more suffering from common digestive issues, such as bloating, constipation, diarrhea, food sensitivities, Leaky Gut, and acid reflux. Most have also damaged their gut health through the use of antibiotics, antibacterial cleansers, GMO food, and other toxins.     That’s why focusing gut health is non-negotiable. You must correct your gut in order to thrive.   Wade actually participated in the Mr. Universe bodybuilding competition as a drug free vegetarian – and that’s quite out of the ordinary, if you’ve ever met a bodybuilder. These are people who maximize their protein input to maximize muscle gain, often with the assistance of drugs, and that all puts a pretty strong toll on the human body... especially the gut!   In Wade’s effort to compete at this level without animal protein, he ended up making a mistake that, ultimately, changed the course of his life. He replaced all of the protein in his diet, pretty much all at once, with whey protein. He bloated up from water and he felt terrible, and then he got some life-changing advice from an exceptionally fit and healthy senior citizen:   He had spent years learning how to build his body from the outside in, but he hadn’t learned how to build a body from the inside out.   Over the next four years, with the assistance of some enzymes and probiotics, Wade was able to not only regain his physical form, but feel way better than he ever had before. He entered the world championships again, but instead of eating 250 grams of protein like most competitors, he was only eating 85-100 grams every day, and all of it was plant protein.   And it isn’t just the food that you eat – it’s also the enzymes and nutrients in your body. It took him four years to figure out the science of digestion and how to design a performance-based lifestyle, but now he teaches others through his podcast, BiOptimizers, and books.   Because performance isn’t just based on the food you eat, or at least not the way you traditionally think of food. It’s not just about getting the right amount of calories. It’s about consuming the enzymes and probiotics that aid the digestive process. Because, naturally, all species on this planet eat an enzyme-rich diet – except some humans.   We’re used to chemically-enhanced foods that trick our brains, and even cause us to become addicted, or we cook our foods in ways that damage the enzymes our bodies need. And as a result, our bodies slowly break down into dysfunction. Our bodies don’t all need the exact same things to function optimally, like not all cars need the same parts or fuel, so it does take some work and education to figure out what works best for you.   But this also isn’t a journey you should take alone. Even Wade, who is an expert in this field, has a Jedi Council for his health: a chiropractor, a metabolic guy, an epigenetics guy. He has all of these people giving him feedback so that he can course correct...