Man 2.0 Engineering the Alpha

environment that is scientifically proven to keep you healthy. That’s because we’ll also be combining variations of intermittent fasting. Don’t let that word scare you. This simple eating strategy has been shown to help prevent diabetes, according to research published in the American Journal of Cardiology .
    As we discussed in chapter 1, we’ll help your body spend more time in an autophagic state, where your body is constantly healing and cleaning out the garbage. Autophagy is a by-product of intermittent fasting, which protects your cells from the oxidative stress that is typically the cause of cancer, diabetes, and heart disease.
    Not to mention, the latest research from Harvard has identified a new hormone called irisin. This hormone promotes insulin sensitivity, which speeds up your metabolism. But more importantly, irisin transforms white fat into brown fat. Even though you might not even realize that your body has two forms of fat, you do. The white stuff gives you love handles and the brown gives you a six-pack. Simple, right?
    But here’s the best part about brown fat—you can control its presence. A study published in the journal Nature found that contracting your muscles—like you do in any exercise from squats to sprints—produces a substance called PGC1. Do you care what PGC1 is? Probably not—unless you’re trying to impress a hot scientist—but PGC1 is the secret to stripping away your gut. PGC1 produces a protein called FNDC, which then breaks down into several components, including irisin. And irisin is exactly what will turn your white fat into brown fat, transforming you from a man with a belly to a man with flat abs and bigger biceps.
    Brown fat isn’t just about looking good naked, although we fully endorse that motivation. When scientists were able to create more irisin in rats, it prevented diabetes even when the scientists were purposely trying to create the disease, according to a study performed at Harvard Medical School and published in the journal Nature .
    The effect was so powerful that the men and women in lab coats are trying to find a way to bottle irisin and turn it into a weight-loss medication, but there’s no timetable on how long that might take. In the meantime, the easiest way to produce more irisin is to increase activity and hit the weights hard and heavy. That’s what the eggheads at Harvard have concluded—that your muscle cells communicate to your body fat via irisin. Strength training can generate more irisin, and it will literally transform your bad fat (white) into the good stuff (brown).
    This is where we come in to play. We’ve read the studies and talked with the researchers, and we designed this program that will prime your hormones to make you healthier and help you fight disease—while simultaneously making sure we’re taking advantage of their abilities to aid in weight loss and have you look fucking amazing. Our program is the result of more than ten years of testing these strategies on clients. And for the last four years, we’ve fine-tuned the hormonal-based approach and seen consistent results with hundreds of clients. Now it’s your turn.
    Boost Intelligence
    Some of the smartest and most successful people in the world also happen to be the fittest. Look at Richard Branson, Mark Cuban, and Tim Ferriss as three prominent examples. Some might chalk this up to pure coincidence. We’re not part of that crowd.
    You might have heard that your brain is a muscle. Although doing bicep curls won’t make your brain any bigger, it will keep your brain active—which is like steroids for your mind.
    While many people simply assume that slowing brain function is a natural part of aging, it’s actually something that starts in your thirties. And one of the best ways to prevent your brain from hitting snooze is to stay active. Canadian scientists found that physical activity and burning calories are directly linked to boosting brain activity and fighting off Alzhei- mer’s. The reason is simple: exercise promotes blood flow. You know this because when you do curls you feel the pump—that’s just more blood going to your biceps. But that blood flow isn’t limited to the muscles you’re working; it occurs throughout your body, which includes your brain. The blood flow in your brain promotes activity, and that activity keeps you sharp and smart, rather than dull and aloof.
    That’s how exercise and your hormones directly influence your mind.