Show #209 – Wade Lightheart: From Mr Universe to Optimal Health Pioneer

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Love our new show tune in the intro/outro? It’s talented Australian independent artist Melanie Horsnell’s song “Birds”. So proud to support this wonderful Aussie artist and have her grace the show with her wonderful words and song!

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Want to join a community of like minds and enjoy all the perks of being in the Low Tox Life inner circle such as an online membership platform, 50% off all our Low Tox courses, an awesome chat group, my monthly Q&A, and special guest star interviews for just $49AUD ($29USD/28EUR/23pounds) per YEAR? We have created a special place and set of resources to help you achieve your goals and it’s a wonderful place to be – more details and registration here: https://www.lowtoxlife.com/the-low-tox-club/

And on this week’s show!

Wade Lightheart is someone who knows by sheer experience of failure, trial, test, measuring, and eventual success, what the keys to optimal health are for humans. From his experience competing in the Mr. Universe to putting on a lot of body fat shortly after, to a tragic family story in his youth and much, much more, Wade arrived at the acronym A.W.E.S.O.M.E and turned his focus to supporting people through education and his renowned supplement company, BioOptimizers. He uncovered much of the shady-ness of the supplement industry in both research and manufacturing (if you want to dig deeper, I interviewed Kate Johnston/Holm on this last year, too!) and then started on a journey to independently support as many people as possible with the issues plaguing us today: Poor digestive health and the flow-on effect in all areas of our health. We talk about what the second world war had to do with the food industry history, how what we eat today is very different from what every other animal’s diet is, to how to reestablish great digestive health and vitality with some key basic concepts and changes. I hope you enjoy learning from Wade. A wealth of knowledge. Lots of health nuggets. Enjoy and head over to the show notes for the sponsor offer and further details on Wade and BioOptimizers at lowtoxlife.com/podcast

The questions I asked Wade:

1. Your thing “Mr Universe” was one of the healthiest men alive… but you weren’t: No.1, what makes one decide they want to go for a Mr Universe title? No.2, what happened afterwards that you weren’t expecting? How did that change your life’s course? 
2. When did you come up with the “AWESOME” health acronym? 
3. What did you see in the supplement industry that you didn’t like? What did you see needed (and still does most probably) improving? 
4. I want to discuss three aspects of health in today’s interview: Digestion, Immune Health, Magnesium minefields!
5. So digestion: How did digesting food get so complicated!? Where do you see the biggest impact on our digestion going down the toilet in recent decades! (i.e. the way we have changed our eating, portions, macros, lack of micros, agricultural chemicals, ultra-processed food… the culmination of all things perhaps?)
6. What are the 5 stages of digestion? 
7. Sometimes people feel like they start working on their digestion with a protocol of some kind, it doesn’t work, they switch to another, that doesn’t, people swap and change supps, diets, maco ratios back and forth and start believing they’re never going to have a great gut: How can we simplify and create a clear path to happy digestion through these 5 stages? 
8. Probiotics, enzymes, bile… how do we know what we need and how much – at what point should we seek personalised care with a doctor/practitioner
9. We don’t often talk about the effectiveness of digestion as a barometer for metabolic health: What’s the connection? 
10. Immune health: How does our immune system function? How can we nurture a healthy immune response? What are key nutrients for immune function? What can we say to naysayers who don’t believe we can do anything to ‘support’ our immune system? Why hasn’t there been a global mandate for Vitamin D/Zinc level testing in the face of a novel virus appearing on the world stage? Why is it so darn hard to make basic nutrient/nutritional science a part of mainstream medicine? I know we always say in alternative health “follow the money and see where it goes” but is it perhaps more complex? 
11. Let’s look at how we get Vitamin D – different supp options? sun options/safety concerns with that and seasonal variability; and again is D wise to supplement without knowing one’s level first? 
12. How can we support immune systems that sense danger when there’s really none there – overactive/misfiring? 
13. Speaking of overactive and needing to calm down… MAGnesium: What is the role of magnesium in the body? How is it there are so many different types that do so many different things? Do you have a couple of favourite forms (like LThreonate)? 
14. People are often confused about calcium and if we need to take it or not for bone health, but there’s an art to proper absorption and the connection is mag: Can you talk through this and how best to pair the two? 
15. Is it possible to take too much Mg? 
16. Why would someone do intravenous mag vs transdermal mag vs caps? 

And if we make it through that 70 mins you, Wade are a rockstar. No matter though we can always do a part two next year if not… There is a lot to get through!

Other helpful links:

More details on Bioptimizers here: https://bioptimizers.com/

Get 10% off when you SHOP using this link: www.bioptimizers.com/lowtox

Connect with Wade and the rest of their team here: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82051461221

Find them on Instagram @bioptimizers and Facebook

This week’s Show Sponsors

We still have 2 show sponsors this week!

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Their 100% light blocking sleep mask can be fully adjusted to any size or shape head ensuring 10% light block out every-time.

Offer: 15% off all products sitewide

Code: LOWTOXLIFE

BlockBlueLight is a premium supplier of all things blue light blocking. After experiencing and then researching the harmful effects artificial light has on our sleep and health, we went about designing and creating the most effective devices and tools to allow us to stay healthy and safe while still living with and using modern technology.

Offer: 15% off all products sitewide

Code: LOWTOXLIFE

Giveaway: BLUE LIGHT BLOCKING BUNDLE worth $400

This “Ultimate blue-blocking pack” consists of:

• 1 x Premium NightFall blue-blocking glasses for Night-time
• 1 x Premium ScreenTime blue light glasses for daytime
• 1 x Deluxe Delta Sleep Mask
• 1 x NoBlue Amber Book Light
• 1 x Twilight blue-blocking torch
• 1 x Sleep+ sound blocking wear plug 

To enter, simply follow them on Instagram @blockbluelight_official, like the post, and tag two friends in it.

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