Head Strong Quotes

“Sugar is the enemy of neurogenesis.”
― Dave Asprey, Head Strong: The Bulletproof Plan to Activate Untapped Brain Energy to Work Smarter and Think Faster-in Just Two Weeks

“If you spend a lot of time in a noisy environment or one with bad lighting, your brain has to use a lot more energy to filter out all of the distractions.”
― Dave Asprey, Head Strong: The Bulletproof Plan to Activate Untapped Brain Energy to Work Smarter and Think Faster-in Just Two Weeks

“To get the full effect, you want at least a few ketones in your blood most of the time. You can get keto strips to measure your urine, and they should be at least a very light pink. The minimum blood level you want every day is 0.5.”
― Dave Asprey, Head Strong: The Bulletproof Plan to Activate Untapped Brain Energy to Work Smarter and Think Faster-in Just Two Weeks

“An inflamed brain can make you unreasonably angry, can be a source of severe food cravings that distract you from whatever you’re trying to accomplish, and can rob you of your memory,”
― Dave Asprey, Head Strong: The Bulletproof Plan to Activate Untapped Brain Energy to Work Smarter and Think Faster-in Just Two Weeks

“Scientists have proven that there are a limited number of decisions you can make each day before you reach “decision fatigue.”2 Each decision requires energy, and when you’re tired, hungry, or have already made a lot of decisions, you run out of energy and start making bad choices.”
― Dave Asprey, Head Strong: The Bulletproof Plan to Activate Untapped Brain Energy to Work Smarter and Think Faster-in Just Two Weeks

“The first symptom that your mitochondria are overtaxed is fatigue. Fatigue is an absolute performance killer. It causes cravings, moodiness, brain fog, forgetfulness, and lack of focus.”
― Dave Asprey, Head Strong: The Bulletproof Plan to Activate Untapped Brain Energy to Work Smarter and Think Faster-in Just Two Weeks

“My favorite is called aniracetam, because it is fat soluble and documented to improve your memory. My second favorite is called phenylpiracetam, which gives you quite a lot of energy. Both of these drugs are available online and are virtually ignored in Western medicine because they’re off patent. I take 800 mg of aniracetam and 100 mg of phenylpiracetam most mornings, and I can feel the difference in my brain as a result. This entire book was written on higher doses of those two substances (as well as every other supplement in the book!).”
― Dave Asprey, Head Strong: The Bulletproof Plan to Activate Untapped Brain Energy to Work Smarter and Think Faster-in Just Two Weeks

“I encourage you to try cold therapy yourself, but before you do, let me offer a note of caution: safe cold thermogenesis protocols involve gradually increasing your exposure to cold over time. Start off by simply putting your face in cold water for a few minutes, then if you choose you can graduate to using soft-gel ice packs that won’t freeze your skin, and then sitting in an ice bath for up to an hour.”
― Dave Asprey, Head Strong: The Bulletproof Plan to Activate Untapped Brain Energy to Work Smarter and Think Faster-in Just Two Weeks

“A few years ago, it was all the rage in biohacker circles to sit in a tub of ice water for cold therapy. That kind of thinking earned me first-degree ice burns over 15 percent of my body (ouch!), but it turns out that it’s not necessary to pack yourself with ice or for the water to be icy—cold water, about 60°F, is a great stimulus for your mitochondria. It sounds miserable, and it is for about thirty seconds. But after that, something shifts, and it feels really good.”
― Dave Asprey, Head Strong: The Bulletproof Plan to Activate Untapped Brain Energy to Work Smarter and Think Faster-in Just Two Weeks

“Cold thermogenesis is a type of cold therapy that uses cold temperatures to create heat in your body. Different types of cold therapies have been around for ages. The ancient Romans took plunges in “frigidarium baths” (large cold pools) and the Norse cracked open icy lakes for a winter swim. Even applying ice to sore muscles is a form of cold therapy. So is finishing your shower with thirty seconds of cold water!”
― Dave Asprey, Head Strong: The Bulletproof Plan to Activate Untapped Brain Energy to Work Smarter and Think Faster-in Just Two Weeks

“Here’s how to do it: First, sit down, get comfortable, and close your eyes. Make sure you’re in a position where you can freely expand your lungs. Wim suggests doing this practice right after waking up since your stomach is still empty. Warm up by inhaling deeply and drawing the breath in until you feel a slight pressure. Hold the breath for a moment before exhaling completely, pushing the air out as much as you can. Hold the exhalation for as long as you can, and then repeat this fifteen times. Next, inhale through your nose and exhale through your mouth in short, powerful bursts, as if you’re blowing up a balloon. Pull in your belly when you’re exhaling and let it expand when you inhale. Do this about thirty times, using a steady pace, until you feel that your body is saturated with oxygen. You may feel light-headed or tingly, or you may experience a surge of energy that’s literally electric. Try to get a sense of which parts of your body are overflowing with energy and which ones are lacking it—and where there are blockages between these two extremes. As you continue breathing, send the breath to those blockages. When you’re done, take one more big breath in, filling your lungs to maximum capacity, and then push all of the air out. Hold this for as long as you can and try to feel the oxygen spreading around your body. When you can’t hold it anymore, inhale fully and feel your chest expanding. Hold it again, sending energy where your body needs it. Bonus points if you do what Wim had me do when we demonstrated this technique onstage at our Bulletproof conference—as you are holding your lungs empty, count how many push-ups you can do before you have to breathe again. I got to twenty! It seems impossible, but you can do it, and that short bit of low oxygen forces your body to better deal with lower-oxygen environments. I recommend you research Wim’s work and watch one of his many videos online demonstrating his breathing technique. I don’t think it works as well as mechanically filtering oxygen out of the air you breathe, but the Wim Hof technique is absolutely free, totally portable, and Wim is capable of things I could never do! His breathing method helps your body adapt to bursts of oxygen and puts you more in tune with the way your body uses your breath to create energy. It also makes you more resilient to cold temperatures, but there is evidence that cold temperatures themselves are good for your mitochondria.”
― Dave Asprey, Head Strong: The Bulletproof Plan to Activate Untapped Brain Energy to Work Smarter and Think Faster-in Just Two Weeks

“Chelation Therapy. If you’ve been exposed to a lot of heavy metals, you might want to try chelation therapy. This is the strongest way to detox heavy metals. It involves an intravenous injection of compounds called chelators that bind to toxins in the bloodstream so you can then pass them normally. Chelation therapy is effective for removing lead, mercury, aluminum, arsenic, iron, and copper. However, it can also be dangerous. If your liver and kidneys have been damaged by the heavy metal poisoning and can’t process the metals, this treatment can make you very ill. Talk to your doctor before attempting this one.”
― Dave Asprey, Head Strong: The Bulletproof Plan to Activate Untapped Brain Energy to Work Smarter and Think Faster-in Just Two Weeks

“While traditional saunas heat the air around you, infrared light in an infrared sauna directly penetrates and heats your body tissue. You can stay in these saunas longer without feeling like you’re going to pass out. Also, infrared light is beneficial to your mitochondria (see chapter 8 for more on this). Keep in mind that sweating pulls electrolytes and trace minerals from your body, so it’s important to drink a lot of fluids and get plenty of salt (preferably Himalayan pink salt or another mineral-rich natural salt) if you use a sauna to detox.”
― Dave Asprey, Head Strong: The Bulletproof Plan to Activate Untapped Brain Energy to Work Smarter and Think Faster-in Just Two Weeks

“Caprylic acid comprises 5–6 percent of the fat found in coconut oil, so you’d have to eat more than a dozen tablespoons of coconut oil to get the amount of caprylic acid in just 1 tablespoon of Brain Octane Oil. It requires the most coconut oil to manufacture, but it is far more potent than XCT oil, generic MCT oil, or coconut oil, and most people can have a lot more of it without the digestive problems of generic MCT oil. A recent groundbreaking study looked at the effects of intermittent fasting with coconut oil versus the effects of intermittent fasting with two subtypes of MCTs, the ones found in XCT oil. When subjects fasted and then consumed coconut oil, their ketone levels remained static—the coconut oil did not raise their ketone levels at all compared to fasting. When they fasted and then consumed a combination of coconut oil and other MCTs, their ketone levels went up slightly. But they got by far the biggest boost in ketones after fasting and then consuming Brain Octane Oil.”
― Dave Asprey, Head Strong: The Bulletproof Plan to Activate Untapped Brain Energy to Work Smarter and Think Faster-in Just Two Weeks

“Two foods that slow the rate of neurogenesis are sugars and oxidized (damaged) fats. When oxidized fats get into your bloodstream, they cause inflammation. That inflammation slows your ability to make precious ATP, chews up the insides of your blood vessels, inhibits blood flow to the brain, and slows neurogenesis to a crawl. A high-sugar diet slows your rate of neurogenesis by increasing the amount of insulin in the bloodstream. Too”
― Dave Asprey, Head Strong: The Bulletproof Plan to Activate Untapped Brain Energy to Work Smarter and Think Faster-in Just Two Weeks

“After the first study came out in 2007, I started experimenting with methylene blue, with mixed results. The biggest concern is getting good-quality methylene blue, given that most of what’s on the market is chemical grade or used to keep fish tanks clean. I found pharmaceutical-grade methylene blue and kept the dose low. The safe range is 1–4 mg per kg of body weight.18”
― Dave Asprey, Head Strong: The Bulletproof Plan to Activate Untapped Brain Energy to Work Smarter and Think Faster-in Just Two Weeks

“Nicotine gum, for example, releases only 2–4 mg over the course of twenty to thirty minutes, so you don’t get an addictive, euphoric rush from it, but you still get nicotine’s benefits. The nicotine spray I prefer delivers a 1 mg dose—about 5 percent of the amount in a cigarette.”
― Dave Asprey, Head Strong: The Bulletproof Plan to Activate Untapped Brain Energy to Work Smarter and Think Faster-in Just Two Weeks

“In 2007, a hallmark addiction study ranked twenty common recreational drugs on a scale of 0 to 3, with higher scores indicating a greater risk of dependence. Tobacco clocked in as the third most addictive drug overall. It had a score of 2.21, beaten only by cocaine (2.39) and heroin (3.00).8”
― Dave Asprey, Head Strong: The Bulletproof Plan to Activate Untapped Brain Energy to Work Smarter and Think Faster-in Just Two Weeks

“Excess nicotine can be toxic for humans, so go with the lowest dose you can feel, and stick to it. The exact amount that qualifies as “too much” varies widely from person to person based on tolerance. A heavy smoker might be able to tolerate 100 mg/day, but that amount could kill me. That’s why I recommend using the lowest possible dose you can feel, starting at 1 mg/day.”
― Dave Asprey, Head Strong: The Bulletproof Plan to Activate Untapped Brain Energy to Work Smarter and Think Faster-in Just Two Weeks

“CES only recently evolved to become a carefully controlled form of brain stimulation called transcranial alternating current stimulation (tACS), where a computer shapes the exact electrical waves that can change your brain activity the most, with more precision than ever before. We use it for brain upgrades at the 40 Years of Zen neurofeedback facility because it can help new neurons grow more quickly and insulate themselves to carry more electrical current. Another less evolved but similar technique is transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS). You can buy tDCS machines online for $100.”
― Dave Asprey, Head Strong: The Bulletproof Plan to Activate Untapped Brain Energy to Work Smarter and Think Faster-in Just Two Weeks

“5,000 IU daily for adults, 1,000 IU/25 pounds of body weight daily for kids, plus twenty minutes of direct sunlight on unprotected skin per day, without sunglasses, or ten minutes of UVB tanning lamp per day (note: UVB tanning lamps don’t cause tanning damage the way UVA lamps do)”
― Dave Asprey, Head Strong: The Bulletproof Plan to Activate Untapped Brain Energy to Work Smarter and Think Faster-in Just Two Weeks

“The glasses are called TrueDark™ and are from biohacked.com, the same company that makes TrueDark™ dots to cover junk light LEDs.”
― Dave Asprey, Head Strong: The Bulletproof Plan to Activate Untapped Brain Energy to Work Smarter and Think Faster-in Just Two Weeks

“Dark chocolate (at least 85% dark) is full of polyphenols and contains a mild amount of caffeine, which also enhances performance.”
― Dave Asprey, Head Strong: The Bulletproof Plan to Activate Untapped Brain Energy to Work Smarter and Think Faster-in Just Two Weeks

“On the Head Strong program, you are going to eat lots of fresh dark veggies and low-sugar fruits to get the recommended amount of polyphenols per day, which is at least 2 grams.”
― Dave Asprey, Head Strong: The Bulletproof Plan to Activate Untapped Brain Energy to Work Smarter and Think Faster-in Just Two Weeks

“Excessive ultraviolet A radiation causes sunburns, which are associated with cancer, so we decided with no evidence that we should remove all sources of ultraviolet radiation. But our bodies were not designed to be in an environment without any UV light.”
― Dave Asprey, Head Strong: The Bulletproof Plan to Activate Untapped Brain Energy to Work Smarter and Think Faster-in Just Two Weeks

“A FAT BRAIN IS A SMART BRAIN”
― Dave Asprey, Head Strong: The Bulletproof Plan to Activate Untapped Brain Energy to Work Smarter and Think Faster-in Just Two Weeks

“Vishen Lakhiani, author of the New York Times bestseller”
― Dave Asprey, Head Strong: The Bulletproof Plan to Activate Untapped Brain Energy to Work Smarter and Think Faster-in Just Two Weeks

“Racetams are some of the best studied and the oldest cognitive-enhancing pharmaceuticals on the planet, and they have very few side effects. The first of this class of very safe drugs is called piracetam, and I took it for a few years before switching to more recently evolved versions. Four different well-constructed studies show that piracetam improves mitochondrial function.19 In fact, I believe this may be one of its important mechanisms of action, one that is overlooked in most of its descriptions. This is one of the safest pharmaceuticals on the market, and it makes your brain and your mitochondria work better. I recommend two forms of this drug that”
― Dave Asprey, Head Strong: The Bulletproof Plan to Activate Untapped Brain Energy to Work Smarter and Think Faster-in Just Two Weeks

“Nicotine patches are somewhere in between gum and cigarettes. They contain more nicotine than the gum, but since you absorb it slowly through your skin throughout the day, you get sustained focus and energy. When I tried nicotine patches, I’d take the smallest-dose patch I could find and cut it in half (even though it says not to on the label). I’d leave it on for one to two hours, so I would get 1–4 mg of nicotine during that time. Nicotine inhalers are relatively hard to find, but Nicorette makes them, and they have no chemicals at all. It’s just a sponge with nicotine and a little plastic straw that you suck through to get nicotine-scented air. I like these because they’re free of nasty chemicals, but the downside is that the act of sucking on something appears to be addictive. I found myself wanting to take a puff from one when I was sitting at my desk, even when I didn’t need or want the energy from it—so I quit! Nicotine lozenges, like nicotine gum, are full of crappy chemicals and sweeteners such as aspartame, acesulfame potassium (ace-K), and sucralose. The safest one I’ve found is the Nicorette mini lozenge, which is very small and contains no aspartame. You do get a small dose of unsafe sweetener, but it’s so tiny that it’s unlikely to matter much. When I take half of the smallest, 2 mg lozenge, I feel a cognitive shift in about fifteen minutes. These lozenges are easy to find in the United States. And make sure to get the mini lozenges, as the large Nicorette lozenges are full of chemicals you don’t want to put in your body. Nicotine spray is a more recent invention. Each spray of 1 mg of nicotine contains vanishingly small amounts of sucralose. You spray it under your tongue and feel it quickly, making it an excellent option when you want a burst of sustained energy. I’ve done more than one interview while on this, and I find it’s great for jet lag or when you have a heavy day ahead of you and want to maintain focus. If you do decide to try nicotine, treat it carefully. A safe”
― Dave Asprey, Head Strong: The Bulletproof Plan to Activate Untapped Brain Energy to Work Smarter and Think Faster-in Just Two Weeks

“That is how Bulletproof ActivePQQ™ was born, and the supplement Bulletproof Unfair Advantage. Unfair Advantage is the only product on the market today that delivers the active form of PQQ that bypasses your stomach acid.”
― Dave Asprey, Head Strong: The Bulletproof Plan to Activate Untapped Brain Energy to Work Smarter and Think Faster-in Just Two Weeks