#006 Jim Kean Talks Biomarkers, Building a Spectator Sport

Jim Kean

Jim Kean is the CEO of National Pro Grid League (NPGL) and founder of WellnessFX.

In this podcast Rhonda and Jim discuss the quantified self movement and the importance of measuring biomarkers more than once, the gut's role in cholesterol and serotonin in the gut versus in the brain, about the role of exercise in preventing neuroinflammation and the effects of overtraining on sex hormones.

We also chat a bit about the psychology of constructing a new, non-gender segregated, team spectator sport and bringing it to market, the factors that separate a professional spectator sport from any other form of entertainment: including patriotism, justice, and vicariousness, the mathematical nature of the sport and the floor coach's role in monitoring athletes before they start "redlining," how NPGL teams may find new ways to tune their gameplay and find an edge on the competition in the future by stepping up the use of more advanced athlete-level analytics.

In this episode, we discuss... 

• (00:00) Introduction
• (01:11) Optimizing performance and health has become more accessible 
• (07:18) Frequent blood tests helped Jim find his optimal level of Vitamin D
• (09:45) Jim’s habits for optimizing insulin sensitivity and lean body mass
• (11:06) Exercise reduces inflammation caused by kynurenine
• (12:16) Exercise increases BCAA uptake by muscle, increasing serotonin in the brain
• (13:33) Jim Kean introduces the book, Grain Brain
• (14:32) Dysfunctional insulin receptors are found in Alzheimer’s disease
• (16:11) Endotoxin reacts with LDL cholesterol to form heart disease-promoting foam cells
• (19:09) How you make a successful sport
• (29:13) What is overtraining in cross-fit and what are the consequences?

If you’re interested in learning more, you can read the full show notes here.

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