What I've Learned Treating Silicon Valley's Most Optimized People | Dr. Molly Maloof

I would really encourage people, try new things and really push yourself past your comfort zone and really keep learning. Because the more you keep learning, the more fresh your mind is and the more BDNF you get and the more that you can actually, it's very much associated with longevity, is actually learning new things and moving your body consistently. Dr. Emali Malouf, it's a pleasure to have you here. Thank you so much for having me. So I'm very curious about your definition of energy and how energy defines health. Fundamentally, without energy flow inside every one of your cells, you are not alive. That is the difference between a person who is alive and dead. So when we breathe air and drink water and eat food, we break down through digestion, food into substrates. Those substrates get fed through what's called the electron transport chain, which basically helps you produce energy. The electron transport chain transports electrons in the mitochondria to power an ATP turbine. That turbine creates the energy currency of the cell and that creates an electrochemical gradient. So when an electrochemical gradient is created, you get a battery. You also get a capacitor when you have a charge differential between two plates. So fundamentally, without batteries and capacitors, we're not alive. This is the difference between someone who is thriving and someone who is struggling. We used to think that everything was about our genes and our genes determined our destiny. But as we're learning, genes are not really responsible for potentially more than 10 to 30% of our future health. And largely, it's the epigenetic expression of our genes that determines our health. And a lot of that is based on our lifestyle. And our mitochondria are these mini supercomputers inside every cell. They're not just part of our metabolism. They're sensing and integrating the environment and determining where does the energy go. And are we safe? Are we unsafe? Are we producing stress hormones to escape danger? Or are we producing sex hormones to reproduce? So they are a central regulator of health and life. It seems to me it's only obvious that if you want to have more energy, you work on the battery. So how can we do that? One, like physically, but also mentally? Yeah. Well, very importantly, it's making sure that you have more good things that feed energy and remove the bad things that damage the mitochondrial function. So as people are already aware, our environment is very toxic. So just drinking pure, clean water, and I'm not talking about bottled water. There's a lot of microplastics in bottled water. Getting your own water filtration system, getting air filtration systems, even looking at your clothing and looking at your food and trying to remove sources of toxicity in your life, such as pesticides in your produce. Those are little things that you can do to avoid toxins from impairing your mitochondrial function. You can even get tested for heavy metals if you want. But on top of that, you also have to make sure that your digestion is working properly. Because if your digestion isn't working properly and you're not absorbing nutrients, your mitochondria can't function properly because they require B vitamins and a variety of other minerals to function. Things like electrolytes, for example, right? We need sodium chloride, potassium to work properly. And then exercise is crucial. Everybody already knows we should exercise, but they don't always know why. Mitochondria are sensitive to signals that they get, and they are prediction machines. They want to determine what do I need to do today to ensure that tomorrow I am healthy and that tomorrow I have the energy that I need to do what I am doing. And the messages that the mitochondria get from exercise tell the mitochondria that I need more energy for tomorrow. So every time you exercise, you're sending a signal that your body will adapt to the demand by raising your energy stores. Aside from that, we all need recovery. You can't run a machine 24-7, seven days a week and expect it to function well. When people aren't sleeping properly, they're not getting the reparative functions that are necessary for their body to properly function. And there's so much epigenetic activity happening during sleep. So you actually have to turn off the machine once in a while, right? On top of that, I would say very importantly is the messages that we send ourselves from our thoughts are crucial for health. If we are sending messages that we are sick, we are unwell, we are not thriving, that we are struggling, that we are weak, our cells will respond by believing that and by acting accordingly. So our thoughts really matter. And also the people we surround ourselves with. We are electrochemical, electromagnetic beings. So we can sense the energy of other people. We can sense the EEG. We can sense the EKG. This is electromagnetic fields that are emitted from the wiring of our bodies. We can actually sense other people's emotions. And so surrounding yourself with angry or difficult people is not going to create the conditions for your body to stay healthy and you will literally absorb the emotional state of someone else. You've worked very closely with highly competent people in Silicon Valley, you know, CEOs. And you mentioned this concept of really important thing of restorating and, you know, like taking a break. How do you convince them? You know, you're telling them, you know, slow down, have sleep. When they come to you and they're asking for help with optimization, what do you tell them? I've had many different types of high-powered executives who you basically have to explain to them that they're high-performance race cars. And high-performance race cars aren't supposed to be run as much as they are, it turns out. They're supposed to be doing races and then recovering and having pit stops. So I'm kind of like the pit crew. And my job is to go in and help create the conditions in their lives for them to have proper recovery. So that might be going into their homes and finding out, do they need red light setups? Do they need HBOTs? Do they need saunas? Do they need PEMF mats, trying to give them things that they can do that will allow them to recover by doing something active, something they will enjoy. Sauna is a really great tool in the toolbox of longevity. It's great for detoxification. It's great for health. It's great for brain health. And it really helps vasodilate the cells and it just pushes you into a parasympathetic state very easily. So I really try to get people to always own a sauna, but I also do home sleep studies on my clients. And so a lot of executives I've found that are not obese have sleep apnea. And I can't tell you how interesting it is to see people who are really struggling with sleep and even insulin resistance as a result. And we put them on a CPAP and it actually makes a really big difference in their health. I'm very curious, like when working with these people that are optimizing everything external, are there any weird biohacks that you came across? Weird biohacks that I've seen people do. I've had clients mostly overdo biohacking and I have to tell them to pull things back. I had a client that was doing 20 minute cold plunges trying to be Wim Hof and he was actually burning out his hypothalamic pituitary adrenal axis and he ended up with very low cortisol levels because he was really stressing his system more than is necessary. I think a lot of people go a little overboard with too many biohacking interventions. And I'm a perfect example of this. I know what it's like to do too many things at once. And what I've learned is that like anything else, we need balance. We also need to connect with nature. And so oftentimes you see people wanting to depend on more tools and more techniques. And what they're forgetting is the basics, things like sunlight and grounding your feet and human connection, just making sure your diet is consistent. I have to remember to bring people back to the normal place, but we do lots of different things in my practice. I have people do apheresis, which is probably the closest thing to parabiosis that you can get, which is when you filter the blood and you replace it with albumin. It's very helpful for people who have autoimmune conditions, who have just high inflammation states, and it's becoming really popular these days. So you've worked with people that optimize maybe too much. I'm wondering what we can learn, like people like me, normal people, that still want to be healthy and have longevity. What can we learn from them and what are the basics we should implement? Well, I will say that for measuring a lot of people's nutrition in the last few decades, almost everybody needs vitamin D and vitamin K1, K2. I see so much vitamin D deficiency. I also see a lot of magnesium deficiency. It's very, very common, very important for 300 different enzymatic reactions in the body. Most people should be taking a B-complex. You should always get your homocysteine checked, making sure that if you have oxidative stress, you need to make sure you're methylating properly. I think everybody should get a genetics test at least once in their life, preferably from a company that is going to give you more than a few snips. A lot of people are getting sold these genetic tests that give you like five different genes and there's literally thousands that you need to get a full picture of your genetic makeup. So I would tell people to go to my friend's company. I have various companies I would recommend. But then I also think the most important thing for longevity is probably our relationships and our exercising habits and our sleep, as well as our nutrition. The very simple basics are crucial. When it comes to nutrition, most people need a little bit more protein than they're eating. And most people need a lot more vegetables. And hydration is so simple and yet so overlooked. And a lot of people are doing reverse osmosis and they're missing the minerals. Our bodies run on minerals and water. So if you're drinking just plain water and not mineralizing it, you're kind of missing out on the real value. Nature is the most underutilized prescription that almost every doctor should be recommending to patients because it literally reduces stress directly. And it's one of the best tools in the toolbox for just getting your nervous system to regulate itself because there's so much little active stimulation in your environment. It's a passive form of stimulation. You know, relationships and human touch are so crucial and so overlooked. People shouldn't live alone. The one thing I would tell someone is if you're really struggling with your health and anxiety and you're really not getting results, find a roommate or live in a group, live in a home with more than one person. Because we're not really designed to live alone. And it's actually not good for your nervous system. Our nervous systems perceive unsafety as a baseline if we are alone. It's actually our baseline setting. And so that inhibition is turned off through human connection, that tonic inhibition of that system. And so it's really crucial that we recognize the importance of human connection for longevity and health. Hey, quick pause. This channel is all about upgrading your life holistically, mind, body, and inner world. So I'm thrilled to introduce today's sponsor, Shen Yun Performing Arts. Shen Yun is a world's premier classical Chinese dance company. Their mission is to revive 5,000 years of Chinese history through dance and music. I've personally watched the show for several years now, and now I try to go every single year. Why? Well, they have impressive Chinese dance built around stories like Journey to the West, The Monkey King, and Tales of Loyalty and Resilience. But also for someone like me who loves classical music, they have a live orchestra that blends Western and traditional Chinese instruments together. And the sound is super unique. I've never heard anything like it. And the show is anything but boring. They have an animated backdrop that interacts with the dancers in real time. So it feels like a movie, a live show, and a history lesson all combined. And almost without realizing it, you walk out having learned a ton about Chinese history and culture. But also, I would say, you feel truly uplifted. Shen Yun is on tour right now for its 20th anniversary. They have eight companies touring to like 200 cities worldwide. New York City at Lincoln Center is coming up soon, and there's a very good chance they're near you. And I have good news. They've given you, our viewers, a code to waive the booking fee. So if you've ever been curious about the show, want to experience a different culture, or simply be entertained, this is your chance. Use the code MAKAI26 at checkout. Click the link in the description, find your city, and get your tickets. Again, that's code MAKAI26 at checkout. Okay, back to the show. Will you summarize it as love, connection, love? And I'm wondering, you know, how can love actually heal? How can love... Sure. So, love is very fascinating, right? We evolved three distinct human drives of human reproduction. The sex drive, the romantic love drive, and the drive to attach. And these are all driven by different neurobiological systems. Sex drive is largely driven by our sex hormones, which differentiates us between man and woman, and essentially encourages us to mate. But once you find a person that you want to mate with consistently, and you consistently have sexual intercourse with them, you start releasing dopamine. You start actually reducing serotonin initially, and that's a motivational drive to bring you towards them. And then norepinephrine tends to go up. So you end up very focused on them, very nervous and anxious, thinking, oh my God, I can't think, I can't sleep, I just want to be with this person. And then when you're with them consistently, and you connect with them by touch consistently, you start releasing oxytocin. And oxytocin is truly the healing hormone. It is nature's medicine. And there was a study that was recently published in JAMA last week that studied 70 couples, and there was a randomized controlled clinical trial that had an intervention of human intimacy and oxytocin was the intervention with the couples. So one group was just advised to continue doing what you're doing, and the second group was given oxytocin and advice to engage in more physical intimacy. They measured the wound healing rates in both groups. And the group that had the oxytocin and human touch intervention actually had rapidly improved wound healing. So oxytocin is protective to the mitochondria. It's also protective to the heart. It's an anti-inflammatory and it's antioxidant. So it is actually a medical intervention. I know there was another study in JAMA a couple of years ago, very similar. They looked at married couples, the ones that had harmonious relationships, the ones that had more like, you know, aggressive or kind of hostile. And they found the same thing. It was like 40% faster healing, which is just amazing. I know. I'm wondering what you think about self-love and self-compassion. Because of this, we look outside for the answers. Yeah. You can find a partner, but at the end of the day, you are like an individual being. And I wonder what you think about coming to love yourself. I think self-love is actually really crucial in order to actually love well. And it's very difficult for many people because we live in a society that encourages us to be very hard on ourselves in order to achieve. And it kind of instills this mindset that like, working harder and working longer is better. And if you don't achieve, then you're not the person. Sadly, that does lead to a lot of self-flagellation. And I'm even guilty of this myself. This happens to everyone. But there's a woman, I believe it's Kristen Neff, and she has a website all about self-compassion. So oftentimes if I see clients of mine that are struggling with this, I have them fill out her self-compassion questionnaire. Because self-compassion is kind of another word for self-love. It's how do I really treat myself when no one is looking? And I think especially if you are having relational difficulties, especially if you are finding yourself struggling with being judgmental of your partner, to really recognize that your partner is just a mirror for you, just a mirror showing you your own areas of your own self that need to be addressed. And I'm very fortunate to have a very loving boyfriend who constantly reminds me that I need to love myself more. That's beautiful. Yeah. You talk a lot about how women are misrepresented or underrepresented in the field of optimization because of the study types, methodologies. I'm wondering what's the biggest health myth with women that you're fighting against? Well, we are literally experiencing an absolutely historical groundbreaking year for women's health because the FDA recently lifted black box warnings on hormone replacement for women. And for 20 years, we've been fed a false narrative around hormones that they are unsafe and that they are inevitably going to cause cancer. The thing that people need to understand about cancer is that if it's already growing in your body, if you do put fertilizer on it, it may grow faster, but it's not going to cause the cancer itself to grow. It will encourage growth, but it's not necessarily going to give you cancer to begin with. This is the thing that people don't understand about hormones. Hormones are highly protective to the brain, highly protective to the heart, highly protective to the sex organs, and essentially what differentiates us from male to female. So when women are told that hormone replacements are dangerous, not only does that make them afraid of taking hormones, which makes it a nocebo, which is the expectation of harm, which is bad, believe it or not, the expectation of harm is going to make something not work as well. But it also gives women this idea that if I do this, it's going to hurt me, and so they decide not to use it. And that actually affects their relationships. That affects their romantic relationships, their sexual relationships. And actually, I've seen it cause marriages to fall apart. So we're now in a place where the FDA is starting to wake up, and society and doctors are starting to recognize that we need to reincorporate this into medical education. And so it's starting to happen because of the change that's happening in the government. And I think the way things have been for a long time, maybe there's things women are not asking about their health. I'm wondering if there's anything that comes to mind, like, as women watching, is there something they should be asking about their health, or maybe be asking a physician? I mean, physicians should be asking the estrogen patients, when did you get your bone density checked recently? Especially if you're in your 40s or 50s, loss of bone mass is actually very, very dangerous as women age. It's very common. And one fall sets you up for early death dramatically. It's a very avoidable problem. It really is fixed by weight training, and by jump training, and by plyometrics, and by even, there's some really great new medications out there that can rebuild bone. But it's unfortunate that some of these medications, you actually have to fracture in order to get prescribed. And I think we need to really take bone health more seriously, and an aging woman, a lot of women have been sort of fed this narrative that they need to be skinny to be healthy. But unfortunately, those skinny women are not exercising. So they're actually, every year, you're losing bone density. And if you're not actually engaging in regular weight training, you are setting yourself up for osteopenia and osteoporosis. And I've seen this even in doctors that I know. Doctors that are famous functional doctors have admitted to developing osteopenia. And they're very lean women. And so this idea that lean is good is being replaced with strong is good. And I think women need to accept that strong is better than just being skinny. So just as a final question, my show is called The Upgrade, because I believe that just by making small changes in your life, you can upgrade your life. So by talking to the audience, is there any one thing that you recommend, philosophy, mindset, habits, physical exercise? If you are feeling stuck in a rut, going out of your way to do something that pushes you past your comfort zone is one of the best ways to realize your potential and help you recognize how much stronger you can actually be. I think some of the best experiences I've had in my life have been with organizations that have brought me on. I used to get to go on these really cool trips with executives, and they would have me do things like ice climbing and jumping off of cliff diving and things that I would never do if it wasn't for the fact that someone pushed me past my comfort zone. And last week I went, I mean, I was not feeling super well, and I went elk hunting on horseback. And I felt like I got this second wind. And it was just so amazing. And it was really by pushing myself past my comfort zone, made me realize that a lot of my issues were in my mind and that I was self, were self-created. So when you're not feeling well, you don't feel motivated to like go and exercise and go and do things. But that's actually the exact moment where you need to get back into the gym, where you need to get back into your body and actually get outside and get into nature. So I would really encourage people, try new things and really push yourself past your comfort zone and really keep learning. Because the more you keep learning, the more fresh your mind is, and the more BDNF you get. And the more that you can actually, it's very much associated with longevity, is actually learning new things and moving your body consistently. So on that note, if people want to learn about you, where do they go? My website is www.drmollie.co and so is my Instagram at drmollie.co. And then I'm also on X and LinkedIn at molliemaloofmd. And my book is called The Spark Factor if they want to learn about it. Thank you so much. We appreciate it. Thank you.