Abel James Show

If you’re not happy all the time, do you feel like you have a problem? No matter how much you achieve, does it feel like it’s never quite enough?  This is totally normal.  There’s nothing inherently wrong with the pursuit of happiness, but it’s critical to understand that even in the best case scenario, happiness is fleeting. It’s not something we ever get to keep.  We’re conditioned to think that...

Do you feel like you’re addicted to screens? Technology was supposed to improve our quality of life, but instead it’s fueled a war on our attention, happiness, and sanity. Some of the most intelligent brain scientists in the world are paid ungodly sums to make sure you’re as addicted as possible, hijacking your reward pathways so they can mine your time, manipulate your thought processes, and sell...

Are we blaming red meat and butter for the problems vegetable oil caused?  Contrary to popular belief, there is no correlation between either saturated fat or animal fat consumption and heart attacks.  Despite that fact, doctors learn that there is.  So why does the American Heart Association lie to doctors and the public about the true cause of heart disease?  All the way back in the 1950’s, Ance...

What do you think of censorship?  It's a bizarre and uncomfortable feeling when some unelected, self-appointed anonymous party behind the curtain decides what you're not allowed to say or learn.  We live in a world where little people like us are legally responsible for every word we put online. But when our overlords in Big Tech censor potentially life-saving information, should they be...

Does it feel like a dollar isn't worth a dollar anymore?  At first, inflation feels good for some of us.  Homeowners see their houses rapidly increase in nominal price, the stock market appears to rise, even used cars and trucks sitting in the driveway growing older somehow appear to become more valuable.  But when you fill up your cart at the grocery store, pay for skyrocketing ins...

In the face of creeping medical tyranny, a rapidly devaluing dollar, rampant tech addiction and an epidemic of chronic disease, what can we do to reclaim our health, wealth and freedom?  We're back today with our friend Dr. Jack Kruse, a respected neurosurgeon, author, mitochondriac and pioneer of medical freedom.  Dr. Kruse was one of the very first guests on this podcast all the way ba...

What if technology actually made our lives better instead of worse? When you're scrolling non-stop on your phone, do you ever feel like you're at the casino? If you've ever opened 200 tabs on your browser, stared blankly into a screen, or doomscrolled the day away, you know exactly what I'm talking about. Modern computers and smartphones are evolutionarily mismatched to our biology. Algorithms hav...

Have you ever ignored your doctor's advice?  Most doctors enter the medical field with noble intentions, but are unaware of the systemic corruption and profit driven nature of the industry.  The hard economic truth is that nearly every institution that impacts your health makes more money by managing chronic disease than by curing patients.  The pharmaceutical industry has influence...

Did you know that doctors were treating diabetic patients with high-fat low-carb diets all the way back in the 1700s?  Though high-fat ketogenic diets were found to effectively treat diabetes for over a century, they were largely abandoned due to the rapid adoption of insulin in the 1920s, which was considered then to be a miracle cure.  Prioritizing drugs over lifestyle with insulin the...

Have you ever noticed that your cravings seem to change throughout the seasons?  Our nutritional needs are affected by the time of year, climate and even our geographical location. The practice of Chinese Medicine, attuning ourselves to our environment and living in harmony with nature is fundamental to achieving optimal health.  Today, we're here with Ellen Goldsmith, a licensed and boa...

Are your training methods preventing injury or causing them? Why do some athletic pursuits lead to disordered eating, orthorexia, and body image issues?  As the years tick by, how can we move the goalposts to make sure we’re training for the right reasons? One of my favorite things about hosting this podcast for the past 12 years is the chance to revisit with guests in different stages of their li...

Are you a nose-breather or a mouth-breather? I sat down for lunch recently with a few old friends, and one of them asked: “Abel, what is the most underrated performance hack in health and fitness?” I said without hesitation, “nasal breathing.” When you learn to harness the power of the breath, you can rewire your entire nervous system, which has vast implications for your health, performance, and...

Do you ever find yourself bottling up your emotions instead of speaking your mind? We all experience horrible feelings like anxiety, stress, inadequacy, doubt, and confusion, and most of us spend our entire lives trying to run from them.  In fact, research shows that many of us would rather withstand electrical shocks than sit with our own thoughts.  But our guest today reminds us that these painf...

If you didn't have to worry about money, what would you do with your life?  Are billionaires actually happy? What are their deepest regrets?  And are tacos the best food in the entire universe?  Today we're here with our friend Noah Kagan, creator of 7 multimillion dollar businesses, founder and CEO of AppSumo.com, and author of the excellent new bestselling book, “Million Dollar Weekend.”  I hope...

How can we feed our families nutrient-dense meals on a shoestring budget?  What are the hidden costs of cheap ultra-processed foods?  And what are the dangers of wiping out biodiverse ecosystems to make way for subsidized monocrops? (And what should we do instead?) I'm here today with Robby Sansom, co-founder and CEO at Force of Nature, a regeneratively sourced meat company based in our stomping g...

What's better carnivore, vegan or a cyclic ketogenic diet?  Does dramatically spiking your caloric load once a week actually lead to increased fat loss over time? And why are bodybuilders the most successful dieters in the world, no matter which diet they seem to follow?  Today we're here with Wade T. Lightheart and Matt Gallant. Wade is a Certified Sports Nutritionist Advisor, and three-time Nati...

You’ve likely heard the buzz around photobiomodulation, but can light exposure significantly improve sleep, recovery, and performance?  Well, there are more than 15,000 studies exploring photobiomodulation as a healing modality, but despite an abundance of research, the effects of light for our health has been largely overlooked in the past few decades.  Now we’re becoming more aware of how artifi...

How do ancient myths and legends shape our virtues?  What are the cognitive benefits of listening to and telling stories?  And what's the danger of outsourcing our creativity to artificial intelligence?  Today I’m honored to be here with the one and only Odds Bodkin, Master Storyteller in the Bardic Tradition, published author, educator, and award-winning recording artist who has been mesmerizing...

Does printing a cartoon character on the front of a box of cereal change the way that it tastes?  The answer is a resounding yes. Marketing has deep and profound effects on our perception, and food manufacturers use tactics like these to get us to crave, buy and consume more and more ultra processed food.  Returning to the show today is our friend, Shawn Stevenson, creator of the The Model Health...

Do you find that you're more easily distracted than ever? You're in good company. In the age of nonstop notifications, painfully short attention spans, and endless fear mongering and doom scrolling, sometimes it feels difficult to get things done. So are you ready to master your time, attention and productivity? Imagine what you could accomplish if you could stay focused and follow through on your...

What’s the secret to achieving and maintaining top performance, even into our 40’s, 50’s, 60’s and beyond? If you’re ready to achieve life-changing results this year, and keep your momentum for the long haul, you’re in the right place. Today we’re here with the one and only Tony Horton, a world-class fitness and lifestyle expert, bestselling author, and the madman behind the most successful fitnes...

How do you feed your family when you're as poor as a churchmouse? To help celebrate the holidays, today we have a very special throwback episode for you with my grandmother Nan. When I first started this show, almost 13 years ago, I bought a cheap little video camera and interviewed Nan at her house because she's pretty much my favorite person in the universe. As many of you know, Nan's wisdom is...

Do you use wearable technology to track your health data? How accurate is it? And most importantly, how can we use those data points to change our habits and create meaningful results in our actual lives? Whether you're collecting data from wearable technology or not, we're going to share a few simple strategies we can use to boost mood, productivity and energy. And joining us today is Dr. Erik Ko...

Can you increase your IQ in just 15 minutes a day? How easy is it to transform your brain to become more creative, intelligent and productive? With AI positioned to take over our jobs and our hobbies, we have to pause and consider the true purpose of writing, art and music. And I'm honored that joining us here today is Vitaliy Katsenelson, an award-winning writer, the CEO of Investment Management...

Have you ever heard that dramatically under-eating or chronically starving yourself will lead to increased longevity?  I've seen multiple media reports claiming that undereating by 20% or 30% of your daily caloric needs will add years to your lifespan.  Thankfully, it's not true. In fact, starving yourself of food, especially protein, could actually reduce your lifespan.  So what are the lifestyle...