July 2, 2025 • 31 mins
Being the best we can be takes work, but we often look for shortcuts. Sean Casey discusses the pitfalls of looking for quick fixes from supplements that are not regulated. There is a safe and correct way to meet your goals. Sean Casey is a registered dietitian and physical preparation coach who works with everyone from weekend warriors looking to live healthier to middle/high school athletes and elite professionals including an Olympic Gold Medalist. Additional information and Sean’s contact information can be found at https://www.facebook.com/sean.casey.3705 For additional information on the harmful effects of opioids and additional learning opportunities, go to: https://www.dhs.wisconsin.gov/opioids/index.htm
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:12):
Welcome everybody to Avoiding theAddiction Affliction, brought to you
by Westwords Consulting and the KenoshaCounty Substance Use Disorder Coalition.
I'm Mike McGowan.
We all wanna be the best we can be, andmany times we're seduced by shortcuts.
Go to the local convenience store and youcan see rows upon rows of energy drinks.
(00:35):
Check out behind the counter,and you'll see rows upon rows
of products with nicotine andwho knows what else is in 'em.
Online we can order supplements, butdo we really know what's even in them?
You are what you eat ismore than just an old adage.
We're gonna talk about what weput into our body, how we can
literally be the best we can bewith our guests today Sean Casey.
(00:57):
Sean Casey is a registered dieticianand physical preparation coach who works
with everyone from weekend warriors,(clears throat) that would be me,
looking to live healthier to middleand high school athletes, college
athletes and elite professionals,including an Olympic gold medalist.
His expertise is sought out on theinternational level where he has
traveled to 15 countries helpingclients reach their athletic potential.
(01:20):
Welcome, Sean.
Hey, well, thank youfor having me on today.
It's an absolute pleasure, Mike.
Well, I'm so glad you could join me.
I've really been looking forward to this.
When I first contacted you, Sean, forthe podcast, you were in Singapore.
That's not your base of operations.
What were you doing there?
So, I was working witha client in Singapore.
He specifically played playedplayed badminton himself.
(01:43):
And he wanted to kind of really finetune, hone things in, you know, before
he goes into his main stretch with, youknow, tournaments, things of that nature.
So but it was a great experience.
I was there for about three weeks.
You know, Singapore is so cool.
I always encourage people if youhave a chance to travel, travel.
'Cause you learn so much about theculture, the people along the way.
And the one unique thing aboutSingapore, it's known as the Garden City.
(02:06):
So you have millions of people live there.
But their founders were, youknow, gardens, they're beautiful.
I've never seen so much greenin a major city in my life.
It's I can give you a couple examples.
Is no one really driving down the road,you know, in a city and you see like
the median, you have maybe a metalsidebar like separating or something.
They've planted shrubs, so youstill have those separators,
(02:29):
but you don't see them at all.
It's all green across.
And even too, if you have like goingover cross, let's say if there's a bridge
or something that's over crossing aroad, it's like they have like vines or
whatever that are kind of growing on it.
So like, and you have massivetrees just lining the entire city.
Like, it's, it's very,very cool the setup.
(02:50):
And, you know, it almost kind of seguesa little bit into our conversation
today on, you know, things you can doto support mental health and wellness,
you know, other things beyond there.
And it just blew my mind the impactof just seeing nature all around you
despite being in a big city like that.
I love that idea.
I've often wondered when I drive downthe freeway or any place why they
(03:10):
don't do that 'cause it would certainlybe more aesthetically pleasing.
Yeah.
And for those of you listening, littleknown fact as long as you brought it up.
I believe I'm right.
And you can Google it if you'd like to,but the badminton shuttlecock is the
fastest moving object in all of sports.
It's wild when, when they're doingthe overhand smash, like you'll get
(03:32):
250 miles per hour, like off the rack.
It's, I mean, it's ridiculous the speed.
I mean, you know, it's kinda interestinghow I originally got into badminton was.
Oh, you play?
No, no.
I've, I'll be honest with you, I have thehand-eye coordination of a three-year-old.
(laughs) Pathetically bad.
I'm good at like, the running,the jumping, kinda like the more,
the gross motor skills, fine motorskills are not my strong suit.
(03:56):
(laughs) And it, you know, it was reallyinteresting when I first originally
got in Badminton, it was probably,I think 20, it would've been 2014.
And at that point, you know,I, I just received a message
from an individual, who he is.
Like, Hey, my name is, andhe's, he's made this public.
So I'm, I'm comfortable sharinghis name, but his name is Victor
Axelson, who I worked with for,you know, 10 years in total.
(04:16):
And he's like, hi.
And at that time in the world,I, you know, I don't know if he's
in his maybe like ranked in thethirties or something, and he's like,
hi, you know, I'm Victor Axelson.
I live in Denmark.
I'm a badminton player, men's single.
Would you be interested working with me?
You know, and I remembergetting that message.
I'm like, badminton.
Like that's.
You know, interesting.
'cause you know, here in the US it's notnecessarily a huge sport and you know,
(04:37):
I'm sure most people in the US and.
May have a stereotype when they hearbadminton, what they think it looks like.
You know, kinda like thisvery soft, easy thing.
And you know, I, so I startedworking with him and he, you know,
quickly rose into the top five 10.
He's an, except he exceptionallyhard worker, so he is achieved
a lot of success in the sport.
To his credit, I. But it was interesting.
I started watching badminton andit's crazy athleticism, especially.
(05:01):
You know, in singles, the amountof distance that they cover,
the jumps, the, this and that.
And to give you know, listeners anidea of like how hard the training is.
For a lot of badminton players, ifthey're not getting in say, 5,000
calories a day, they won't be ableto keep up with the training demands.
Like it's very intensetraining, things of that nature.
(05:23):
And I'm like, man, like when youstart thinking about 5,000 calories,
like that's not a small amount there.
So I mean, it's a very cool sport.
I've been fortunate to work witha lot of different sports and
every sport I work with has itsown uniqueness, its own beauty.
And I always tell people the uniquenesswith badminton is you can do something
that is like an all out powerful smash, asyou mentioned, where you have, it's flying
(05:44):
at, you know, 200 plus miles per hour.
And then your next shot mightbe the most delicate shot ever.
And the birdie, the shuttle cockis so light depending on how the
wind draft is in the stadium.
If there's any sort of draft in theair, the shuttle, instead of landing
inbounds, it may land, say a yard or ameter out of bounds just based off how
(06:05):
people are walking around in the stadium.
It's so unique in so many differentways to make this, makes it special.
Well, when you mentionedwhat his caloric needs were.
You can't cookie cutter.
This is the sort of stuff youcan't get out of just a book.
You have to tailor your program andwhat you're telling people to what
it is they're looking for, what it isthey do, what it is they look like,
(06:27):
what do they hope to accomplish, right?
Yeah.
Yeah.
Absolutely.
It's the, the more that you cando to, in individualize things to
support the performance is huge.
And whenever I'm workingwith someone, be it.
The weekend warrior, someone who'sjust looking live healthier to, you
know, at your high level competitors.
I always look at, you know, what'shappening from a food standpoint, what's
(06:47):
happening from a movement standpoint?
What's sleep looking like?
What is overall stress managementstrategies do they have in place to allow
for that performance, you know, to build.
Being supportive.
Let's go from there.
'cause I, this is where I, I firstwas talking to you a while back.
Because I get asked these questions too.
(07:08):
Especially with young people.
Well, what can I take?
Right.
And you just mentioned food.
You mentioned sleep, youmentioned rest movement, right?
Yeah.
So there's a lot of things we canput into our body that aren't good
for us, and some things that are.
Go.
No, it's absolutely, one of thenumber one questions I get is, Sean,
what supplements should I be taking?
(07:30):
Mm-hmm.
And I always tell people, it'snot like you can only, you should
only be taking food or no, you canget everything from supplements.
There's, there's a happy blend in between.
But I think most people have a falseidea of, especially in the athletic
world, what taking a given dietarysupplement will do for their body.
And what I mean by that is adietary supplement, you know.
(07:52):
It may increase performance, but it mightonly increase performance by two or 3%.
You know, in the world that I workin, two to 3% is a huge difference.
If that's how you're making yourli livelihood for someone who is
just, you know, recreational, thedo this or myself, for instance, you
know, if I increase my performance2% on a, you know, a bench press or
(08:13):
whatever, it doesn't mean a whole lot.
Where I really, if I'm lookingat dietary supplements, I always
have what I call my foundationals.
And these are ones in which ideallywe'd be getting from food, but can
be really challenging at times.
So I do like, you know, a qualitymultivitamin, vitamin D. We
know that most people here inWisconsin, the northern states.
I find are deficient even duringthe summer months, just 'cause
(08:35):
they're inside all day and it's,it's hard to get vitamin D from food.
Magnesium is one that if you look atany sort of studies, roughly about
two thirds of the adult population isdeficient in there or like in omega
threes or which can be found in fish oils.
And again, you can get all thosein food and like I said, I always
go with a food first approach.
And but like I said, those are justones that can be really challenging.
(08:57):
So.
If I am doing any dietarysupplement recommendations,
usually I start with a core base.
What I find is everyone wantsto go to the highest leaf on the
tree thinking that's gonna be themagic bullet for their support.
And what I always tell people,especially pre-workouts, you know, in
my world, the, the energy drinks, thepre-workouts are a very big thing.
And I'm like, you know what?
(09:17):
If you got eight hours of sleep,that'd give you probably 10X.
The performance benefit of taking, youknow, a shot of, you know, caffeine
plus mystery ingredients, X, Y, Z.
So rest is really important?
It's absolutely massive and, you know,it impacts so many different aspects
of not only physical performance wherethere's a bazillion research studies,
(09:40):
but just overall health and wellness.
And one thing I know that's really bigright now or I shouldn't say just big
right now, it's, it's been an issue,but it is like ADHD, ADD, we know
that that is a really large issue.
And for someone who'son those medications.
They do have side effects.
It can be, it can reallysuppress your appetite.
So if you're trying to exercise a lot,it can be almost counterproductive.
(10:03):
And two, and I say this with zerojudgment, so I want to preface by
saying this is when you're on those beit Ritalin, Adderall, whatever it is,
when you're kind of cycling off thatmedication, maybe you miss a dose or
maybe you're at the tail end of your dose,that can really impact your mood levels.
And behavior.
And so and so, again, kind of tyingus back into sleep, you know what's
(10:25):
really fascinating is if you look atthe symptoms of sleep deprivation,
they almost align a hundred percentwith the same symptoms of ADHD.
And so I find a lot of people by justhelping them on the sleep aspect of
things, they're either a, either able toA, reduce the dose of their medication.
Or B, they're able to, you know, someof 'em have been able to get off their
(10:48):
medication and I wanna, you know, throwa disclaimer, make sure you don't just
cut anything cold turkey, work with ahealthcare practitioner to achieve it.
But I've had different people who havebeen able to help them reduce the need
for the medications just through sleep.
I mean, it's, it's pretty wildhow impactful sleep is on health,
wellness, and performance.
You know, Sean, self-disclosure, abouta year and a half ago I ended up having
(11:12):
an allergic reaction to some medication.
So I had a bad cough and itwas, the doctor was great.
She said, oh, it'll go awayin about six to seven weeks.
I went, what?
What?
I mean, I've never heard that before.
And I'm like, you must begetting, I speak for a living.
And then she said, to stay away from bing,bing, bing, caffeine being one of them.
(11:34):
And I drank, I cut out all of that,drank a ton of water, and I gotta
tell you, I feel like such a fool.
I felt so much better.
My inflammation was better.
Some of the, what we started thisby talking about I supplements.
You can buy all of these energysupplements, the stuff you can buy.
(11:55):
There used to be soda popwas in the front counter.
Yeah.
Now it's, I can't even, you know.
People will wanna say Red Bull,but there's so many variations.
Oh.
What do they do to you?
What do they do?
It's they, you know, afew different things.
And you know, one thing youkind of jarred a memory in mind.
So I remember when I was younger, whenI was in high school, you know they
(12:18):
was like, I went, if, if I was gonnaget, like the caffeine drinks was like,
Hey, you grabbed a Mountain Dew, whichhad maybe 75 milligrams of caffeine.
It's like, whoa, like that'slike the high caffeine.
Now you can go into these storesand some of these energy drinks have
300 milligrams of caffeine in it.
And to put that in perspective, that'slike three and a half cups of coffee.
(12:38):
And so tying this back into healthand wellness, we just got done talking
about how sleep is so essentialfor health wellness performance.
Well, caffeine has a half life on averageof six hours, plus or minus a little bit.
And what half life means is.
The amount of time it takesfor your body to eliminate half
of whatever that substance is.
(12:59):
So let's go back to this energydrink that, well, lemme say it
has 200 milligrams, which is astandard, like I said, somewhere 300.
But let's just even say ithas 200 milligrams on it.
Let's say if you're an adult, anadolescent, whoever it is, and
you have that energy drink at fouro'clock in the afternoon, maybe before
your sport practice or before yourshift or your whatever it may be.
(13:21):
Well, what that means is if that has200 milligrams of caffeine in it, that
means when you try to go to bed at 10o'clock at night, you still have a hundred
milligrams of caffeine in your system.
That'd be the equivalent ofdrinking a cup and a half of coffee.
Just before bedtime.
Yeah, as your bedtime wind down.
(laughs) And so then we knowagain, so now you're altering your
(13:41):
sleep patterns, the depth of yoursleep, the quality of your sleep.
And as a result, your immunesystem starts, you know,
suffering your energy levels.
It, it creates this nasty feedback loopwhere then people are like, oh man, now
I'm tired at, you know, 11 o'clock in themorning, so I need to take a cup there.
Now they're taking a cup at, you know,it, and it just creates this nasty system.
(14:03):
So I always look at how can we reversethis through life and wellness, and I
love the fact that you brought up water.
Here's one of the easiest things I tellpeople that you can apply today and
will have profound impacts for you.
A lot of individuals who I work withdo not drink enough water throughout
the day, or I say water but justabout liquids and the easy, and most
(14:24):
of 'em are like, and again, goingback to caffeine now is like, oh man,
I get to two o'clock, three o'clockand I just can't concentrate at all.
My mind's all over the place.
I need to, you know, take a medication,you know, or caffeine, whatever it may be.
I find if people drink enough wateror fluid such that they have to go
to the bathroom every two hours.
That, again, I'm not gonna say makepromises, is gonna eliminate everything,
(14:47):
but for a majority of the clients I workwith, that significantly impacts their
energy levels during the day where nowthey don't have to reach for the caffeine.
They feel like they're more dialed in.
And like I said, the easy rule of thumbis if you're going longer than two
hours without going the bathroom it's agood time to start drinking more water.
And when you go to the bathroom,you shouldn't be able to turn out
(15:08):
the lights and read by it, right?
(laughs) Yeah.
Should, it should be clear.
Yeah.
It, it should berelatively clear on there.
On anything.
The only time where it might be alittle bit of a color is if you have a
multivitamin with some B vitamins in it.
'cause B vitamins will turn itinto like kind of an neon color.
But I always tell people, like, somepeople are like, oh yeah, it's you
(15:29):
know, it, it's like a, a darkish color.
I'm like, that's probably not, you know,where we need to be at and you know.
It, it's always kinda interestingnow that we're talking about, you
know, just bathroom habits too.
One of the other things that canprofoundly impact mood wellness, things
of these natures is your gut health.
Your gut, 70 to 80% of yourimmune system is in your gut.
(15:50):
Your gut is directly connected tothe brain, what's called the vagal
nerve, and they constantly crosstalkall the time so that your gut's being
referred to as your second brain now.
And a lot of people, I alwaystell them, I'm like, you know.
Without getting too graphic here,but I'm like, you should have a
bowel movement, you know, once a day.
You know, I have clients who might go,you know, two days, three days before
they have their normal thing, and thatjust tells me they're probably not
(16:11):
getting enough fiber in their diet.
You know, the fruits and vegetables.
Again, low hanging fruit, no pun intended.
Actually, that was a pun intended.
But you know (laughs), the, I always tellpeople, if you think about your fist as
it's serving your fruits and vegetables.
I want you to eat whatevernumber you're at today.
I mean, in a perfect world thatyou're getting six to eight servings
a day, but if someone's only eatingone serving, it's hard to go from one
serving to, you know, six or eight.
(16:32):
So I always tell people, wherever you'restarting at today, just increase two
servings of fruits or vegetables in a day.
And that's, you know, I, Ialways like to look back.
Success leaves clues, youknow, it's the popular saying.
And so I always like to lookback at clients I've worked with
over the years and see what wasthe most successful for them.
And early in my career I, I wouldthink it'd be like maybe this very
(16:53):
elaborate meal thing I did or this veryelaborate protocol or whatever it is.
But time and time again, the mostsuccessful thing is simply increasing
fruits and vegetables in, in the diet.
Like, it's just kind of fascinatinghow that all ties together.
Well, it's funny 'cause I'm older thanyou and we went from when I was a kid,
you could watch players smoking cigarettesin the dugout in a baseball game.
(17:15):
Major league players to, to now rumors.
And I suppose there's some fact thatathletes like LeBron and the rest
of them spend hundreds of thousandsof dollars on their own chef's,
nutritionists just to be able to keeptheir body where it needs to be to make
as much money as long as come possible.
No.
It is so profound.
I think LeBron James is a good examplein terms of career longevity, and that's
(17:38):
what I find I have found working withclients as well is, you know, when,
whenever I'm working with a client, beit an athlete or non-athlete, but let's
just say, say I'm working with an athlete.
My goal with any athlete that I workwith is that 20 years after their
athletic career is over, they're ableto live the life that they want to live.
And what I mean by that is.
Let's say you make, I'm justgoing, you make 10 million during
(18:00):
a career or whatever it is, youknow, insert whatever dollar amount.
I'm like, that's great, but Iguarantee you if you're 45 or 50
and you can't bend over to playwith your kids, or maybe you're 60.
And you can't hold your grandkids'cause your body's so broken down,
I'm like, that's gonna make life hard.
So that's what I always thinkabout is what we do today.
And two, I'm like, I want youto perform at your best today.
(18:21):
So that way.
That allows you to, you know,whatever your earning potential
is today to maximize it.
So I always look at that thing aswhat can we do today to make sure
that 20 years down the road someoneis able to have their best life.
You mentioned some of the stuff you canadd to your bodies and this goes to some
of it parallels what I do for a living.
You buy a drug on the street,you have no idea what's in it.
(18:45):
You buy a supplement online, Sean.
They're not regulated.
Am I right about that?
The issue with dietary supplementsis there's regulations in place, but
the FDA is who enforces them, andthe FDA is so understaffed right now.
Basically the only time the FDA willstep in is if there's some sort of
outbreak of, you know, or somethingthat's found that's being tainted.
(19:07):
Salmonella or something.
Yeah, it's something while like they'reall of a sudden, Hey, there's eight
deaths because somebody took supplementX, Y, Z. That's when they step in,
but they don't get everything there.
And here's what I can sharewith you, full disclosure.
I've worked in the supplement industry.
I've launched multiple brandsin the supplement industry, so
I know the, the both ends of it.
And I remember, one of thecontract manufacturers I work with.
(19:29):
So what I will do is like, okay, Iwant the ingredients A, B, C, D in it.
And I all have a contract manufacturer whohas all their licensure mass produce it.
Apparently the FDA frowns upon memixing things in my bathtub, puts
them in a glass jar and not a shelf.
For some reason, that's not allowed.
I don't know why, but it's not allowed.
But jokes aside, so I'm workingwith one of the manufacturers
I've worked with before.
It's a very large one on the east coast.
(19:50):
They very big players in the industry tomass produce the formulas that I work on.
And so I was talking with this one.
I'm like, how many individuals will thirdparty tests their supplements to make sure
what's on the labels actually in there?
And what this individual said wasSean, he's like, less than 10% do any
sort of third party testing on them.
(20:10):
And I'm like, do you mean to tellme that 90% of the supplements I see
on shelves have never been tested?
Right.
To make sure they're accurate.
He's like, it's actually worse than that.
He's like, how you guysdo is probably than 5%.
I'm like, well, what do you mean?
He's like, what most companies do is,let's say if there's 10 ingredients in
a formula, they may test ingredients.
Two of those ingredients be like,oh, well if those two are in line,
everything else should be in line too.
(20:31):
Or they'll say, well let'stest the batch we produce.
Maybe they test the batch they producein say, January of 2025, but they don't
test the batch that's produced in Juneof 2025, so they don't test every batch.
And so that's where peoplerun into issues and two.
You have a lot of issues ofsupplements that are being spiked.
(20:52):
The three main classes that people haveto be extremely, extremely cautious with
is one, anything that's like a sexualperformance enhancement supplement.
If you're getting sexualenhancement performance
supplements from your gas station.
I guarantee there's that'sa high, that's a high risk.
High risk right there.
(laughs) So that is one.
The other big one is energypowders, pre-workouts.
(21:15):
Those are notorious for being spiked withillegal ingredients, just so the effects
are, you know, feel larger for the user.
And the third category, oh gosh.
Don't quote me on this, but Iwanna say the third category
may be anti-aging supplements.
Mm-hmm.
That makes sense.
But that's, yeah.
But that is the thing.
And you know, and again, you'rebuying things online, you
(21:37):
don't know where they're comingfrom, the quality of testing.
And it's, and I always tell peoplelike, if you're gonna do it, make sure
you're buying it, you know, from atrusted resource, you know, healthcare,
whatever it may be, or there, but I'mlike, I always tell people, again,
back to our original point, is.
Unless you're deficient in an essentialnutrient, be it vitamin D, magnesium,
like if you're deficient in thosenutrients and you get those levels,
(21:58):
you'll feel significantly better.
But like all these other like flash,bang, pow things, like you're really
playing with fire based on how themarket is, and the effect may not
be nearly as what you're expecting.
You know, that's really an importantmessage for young people who are all
looking because they hear it, right?
Yeah.
And when you see a pro athlete, whichhappens routinely, get in trouble for
(22:21):
a supplement they've been taking, andthen they do the mea culpa, right?
Oh, I didn't know that this was in it.
It's like, well, there's a reasonwhy their governing body made
certain substances illegal.
Yeah.
'Cause one, they're bad for yourhealth and bad for your body.
Yeah.
You know, it's one of the things I alwaystell people if, if you're taking a dietary
(22:43):
supplement, especially if you're beingtested with them, like make sure that
on the label they say informed choicefor sport or NSF certified for sport,
and that guarantees that they've beentested for all these band substances.
Say that again.
NSF certified for sport.
Or informed choice certified for sports.
(23:03):
So any athlete that I'm working with isany supplement that's being recommended.
I make sure that they have those onthem 'cause it guarantees that they've
been tested for these banned substances.
You mentioned what they're lookingfor and it, and I was at a high school
baseball game a couple weeks ago.
Heard a pitcher who wasn'tdoing particularly well.
(23:28):
Talking to his teammates, not his coaches.
But he, you know, I'm, I'm justpart of the fence at that point.
Say that he had takenfive of those ZYN pouches.
Ooh, yeah.
So that he could boost hispitching performance that day.
Yeah.
Talk about that a little bit.
Yeah, the pouches are so big.
So that's kinda like the newthing right now is taking
(23:50):
nicotine for, to help with focus,concentration, things of that nature.
And, you know, at the end of theday, that is still gonna affect
the receptors in your brain.
That is, you know, you might get thata little boost, but that also can get
pretty addictive, pretty in a hurry.
And I think long term wise, I seethat adding a lot of, long term
wise, I'm concerned about the effectthat's gonna have on people's brains,
(24:11):
especially youth individuals wherethe brain is still developing so much.
And how much nicotineis good for the body.
Yeah.
I want as little as possiblein the right, in the body.
(laughs)
Yeah.
Yeah,
You're right.
People don't know this, Sean but Ithink folks like you and I do if I
(24:32):
ask people, you go to your local gasstation, what's behind the counter?
They'll say, cigarettes.
I'm like, look, the next time, cigaretteswere taken over by vaping products,
and now all you see are the pouches.
That's the first row.
That's the first row now, and it'sall being advertised to young people.
Yeah.
And the market is huge.
And you know, you'retalking about the vapes.
(24:52):
Like there was a studythat was in the military.
Don't quote me these exact numbers,but they look at like your traditional
testing for people who are vapingversus non-vaping of their recruits.
And it was like people who, the situp scores was significantly lower.
The pushup scores weresignificantly lower.
The two mile to rest timewas significantly lower
in those who are vaping.
Makes sense.
(25:12):
On there.
And you got, there's a lot of factorsthat go into it, but I'm like.
This is pretty consistent.
Like yeah, you kinda feel morefocus there, but I'm like, long
term wise, it, it can cause issues.
And again, going back to the sleep aspectand, and the hard thing now is there's
so much on TikTok influence that'scoming down by influencers who don't
have necessarily background for this.
(25:32):
And one story that I can sharewith you, I actually have two
stories I can share with you, but.
One story was, I was working with a highschool, this individual's a, a football
player, and he came up to me afterhearing me talk, he's like, Hey, Sean.
He's like, I'm lookingto purchase Ashwagandha.
You know, what do you, you think about it?
I'm thinking like, Ashwagandha'skind of known for like relaxation
a little bit, sleep stuff.
So I'm like, I'm like, oh,you having sleep issues?
(25:54):
Or he is like, oh, not really.
I'm like, well, what are you taking for?
He is like, well, Sean, everyone knowsthat that ashwagandha is gonna jack your
testosterone levels through the roof.
I am like, what?
He's like, oh yeah, it's all over TikTok.
And in my mind it's like, if youlook at the research, it increases
by like a small percentage, which isthe equivalent of taking like a cup
of water and dumping into the ocean,expecting to see a water level rise.
Like it's so insignificant.
(26:15):
But like, you know, I was kinda sharingwith him, I'm, you know, I'm thinking
in my head too, and I'm talking, youknow, the parents and everything.
I'm like, if this individual, if yourson who's clearly going through the
middle of puberty right now, I'm like,if he has testosterone issues, I'm like,
that's a serious medical condition.
I guarantee you this root powderis not gonna solve it for him.
Like, and you hear so many things likethere or the other, I can tell you horror,
(26:37):
horror stories on individuals who will saythe ZYN pouches for instance, or caffeine.
We were talking about energy drinksearlier, who they try that for the
first time before an important event.
They have no idea howtheir body's gonna respond.
They've never tried before apractice or whatever it is.
I remember one swimmer inparticular she was expected to,
you know, set the state record.
(26:57):
She was like division one caliberswimmer at the collegiate level and
her high school race, like wherethey thought she was gonna win this.
She took caffeine for the firsttime ever before the race she was an
endurance swimmer, the first half ofthe race, she was absolutely flying.
I mean, it was like Olympic pace.
It was wild.
Second half of the race, she hit the wall.
Finish dead last.
So her high school career endedwhere they felt like, hey, this
could be a state record before yougo off to your division one career.
(27:20):
It ended with a last place finish.
Like, and so that's why I always tellpeople I'm like, you, you're, you know,
it sounds sexy on the front end side,but like there's a lot of things you
have to consider as you're doing thisand thinking, bing, going back there
is, how's this gonna affect your brainand what, you know, behaviors could
this lead to, you know, especiallyif you're doing it long term.
(27:41):
And I'm also guessing that as partof your regimen that marijuana is
not a performance enhancing drug.
(laughs) No.
I have yet to write a plan withsupplements for athletes on it where
marijuana is high on the list again.
Yeah.
That affects brain behavior.
I know a lot of individuals who yeah,I know sometimes it's kind of marketed
as, Hey, there's no side effects.
(28:02):
It's.
Here and there.
You know, anecdotally, I know, you know,it affects different regions of the brain.
I know individuals who have done itlong period, and if they're being really
honest with me, they'd be like, yeah, Iknow my memory's not what it should be.
And these are individuals who are myage who are doing it, you know, 20
years ago when they were in college.
And, you know, throughout, and like Isaid, I can't say everyone, but a fair
amount have told me like, yeah, my mindjust is not as sharp as what it was.
(28:26):
So, I mean, it's definitely plain.
Well, you know, there'sso much misinformation.
Sometimes we just liketo convince ourselves.
I had a coach one time tell me when Iwas much, much younger, that just before
a game night, before a game, have acouple of beers to relax and hydrate.
(laughs)
I'm like, I don't believealcohol hydrates you.
I think it's the opposite, right?
(28:48):
Yeah, (laughs) it's a dehydration.
You're gonna be in worse shape for there.
And you know, it's interestingyou're talking about like
drinking how things have changed.
So drinking, you know, before you're goinginto bed, and this is something I see with
a lot of people as we're talking aboutaddiction or things, they always think
like, Hey, I'm gonna have a few drinksto help me unwind at the end of the day.
What most people don't realizeis alcohol, it, and they're like,
(29:10):
oh, I, I sleep better when I'mdrinking, you know, type thing.
And like alcohol is like a sedative.
It's like if you're taking anesthesia,it's not like you go into surgery,
you have anesthesia, you wakeup, you're like, oh, I feel so
refreshed after the anesthesia.
It literally knocks you out.
And that's the sameway that alcohol works.
Like it really jacks up your sleep cycles.
Like if you look at somebody, ifyou measure like their sleep cycles
(29:31):
for someone who's drinking, andthen if you have them drink and go
before going to bed, you'll see theirsleep is significantly affected.
And so that's what I always tellingpeople again, as we're looking for
this holistic, health and performanceon someone's performance journey.
I'm like, that is something, again,I'm not saying that alcohol is,
you know, everyone can make theirown decision there, but like here
are the facts that you need to knowas you're making your decisions.
(29:54):
I'll let you wrap this in a bow.
If I wanted to be the bestI could be, I should...
If you wanted to be thebest that you could be.
I'd really focus on increasing food.
Again, too easy take home tipssomeone can implement right away is
drink enough water, especially you'regonna the bathroom every two hours.
If you think about your fist of fruits asit being a fruit or vegetable, increase
(30:16):
the number of eating by two per day.
So that's on the food side.
On the sleep side.
One, try to detach fromelectronics or blue screens.
There actually the best thing youcan do for sleep, this may sound
counterintuitive, but get outsidefor an early morning walk when you
get sunlight in your eyes early inthe morning, that it will actually
help you sleep a lot deeper at night.
So that's an easy take home thing.
(30:38):
And then on a movement standpoint.
Just try to move throughout the day.
Don't do a lot of exercise say firstthing in the morning and then sit at a
computer for the next 15 hours a day,which full disclosure, I'm guilty of
doing that at time, but try to get upduring the day to move around more.
Sounds great.
As you can imagine, those of you whoare listening, I've heard Sean talk in
(31:00):
front of groups and he's just terrific.
So if you're, a high school or a college,and you can just imagine the attention
younger people give to him and thequestions that they will have for him.
So clearly, you know, the linksto Sean's contact information is
at the bottom of this podcast.
Sean, you know so much more thanme about so many things thanks to
(31:21):
your expertise and perspective.
Hey, well, it was anabsolute pleasure being on.
I preach to the host and I lovethe work that you're doing to help
people live healthier, active lives.
Oh, thanks.
That's really nice.
For those of you listening,watching, I hope you find health
and wellness wherever you are.
As always, thanks for listening.
Be safe.
Take care.
And remember, there are no shortcuts.
Welcome everybody to Avoiding theAddiction Affliction, brought to you
by Westwords Consulting and the KenoshaCounty Substance Use Disorder Coalition.
I'm Mike McGowan.
We all wanna be the best we can be, andmany times we're seduced by shortcuts.
Go to the local convenience store and youcan see rows upon rows of energy drinks.
(00:35):
Check out behind the counter,and you'll see rows upon rows
of products with nicotine andwho knows what else is in 'em.
Online we can order supplements, butdo we really know what's even in them?
You are what you eat ismore than just an old adage.
We're gonna talk about what weput into our body, how we can
literally be the best we can bewith our guests today Sean Casey.
(00:57):
Sean Casey is a registered dieticianand physical preparation coach who works
with everyone from weekend warriors,(clears throat) that would be me,
looking to live healthier to middleand high school athletes, college
athletes and elite professionals,including an Olympic gold medalist.
His expertise is sought out on theinternational level where he has
traveled to 15 countries helpingclients reach their athletic potential.
(01:20):
Welcome, Sean.
Hey, well, thank youfor having me on today.
It's an absolute pleasure, Mike.
Well, I'm so glad you could join me.
I've really been looking forward to this.
When I first contacted you, Sean, forthe podcast, you were in Singapore.
That's not your base of operations.
What were you doing there?
So, I was working witha client in Singapore.
He specifically played playedplayed badminton himself.
(01:43):
And he wanted to kind of really finetune, hone things in, you know, before
he goes into his main stretch with, youknow, tournaments, things of that nature.
So but it was a great experience.
I was there for about three weeks.
You know, Singapore is so cool.
I always encourage people if youhave a chance to travel, travel.
'Cause you learn so much about theculture, the people along the way.
And the one unique thing aboutSingapore, it's known as the Garden City.
(02:06):
So you have millions of people live there.
But their founders were, youknow, gardens, they're beautiful.
I've never seen so much greenin a major city in my life.
It's I can give you a couple examples.
Is no one really driving down the road,you know, in a city and you see like
the median, you have maybe a metalsidebar like separating or something.
They've planted shrubs, so youstill have those separators,
(02:29):
but you don't see them at all.
It's all green across.
And even too, if you have like goingover cross, let's say if there's a bridge
or something that's over crossing aroad, it's like they have like vines or
whatever that are kind of growing on it.
So like, and you have massivetrees just lining the entire city.
Like, it's, it's very,very cool the setup.
(02:50):
And, you know, it almost kind of seguesa little bit into our conversation
today on, you know, things you can doto support mental health and wellness,
you know, other things beyond there.
And it just blew my mind the impactof just seeing nature all around you
despite being in a big city like that.
I love that idea.
I've often wondered when I drive downthe freeway or any place why they
(03:10):
don't do that 'cause it would certainlybe more aesthetically pleasing.
Yeah.
And for those of you listening, littleknown fact as long as you brought it up.
I believe I'm right.
And you can Google it if you'd like to,but the badminton shuttlecock is the
fastest moving object in all of sports.
It's wild when, when they're doingthe overhand smash, like you'll get
(03:32):
250 miles per hour, like off the rack.
It's, I mean, it's ridiculous the speed.
I mean, you know, it's kinda interestinghow I originally got into badminton was.
Oh, you play?
No, no.
I've, I'll be honest with you, I have thehand-eye coordination of a three-year-old.
(laughs) Pathetically bad.
I'm good at like, the running,the jumping, kinda like the more,
the gross motor skills, fine motorskills are not my strong suit.
(03:56):
(laughs) And it, you know, it was reallyinteresting when I first originally
got in Badminton, it was probably,I think 20, it would've been 2014.
And at that point, you know,I, I just received a message
from an individual, who he is.
Like, Hey, my name is, andhe's, he's made this public.
So I'm, I'm comfortable sharinghis name, but his name is Victor
Axelson, who I worked with for,you know, 10 years in total.
(04:16):
And he's like, hi.
And at that time in the world,I, you know, I don't know if he's
in his maybe like ranked in thethirties or something, and he's like,
hi, you know, I'm Victor Axelson.
I live in Denmark.
I'm a badminton player, men's single.
Would you be interested working with me?
You know, and I remembergetting that message.
I'm like, badminton.
Like that's.
You know, interesting.
'cause you know, here in the US it's notnecessarily a huge sport and you know,
(04:37):
I'm sure most people in the US and.
May have a stereotype when they hearbadminton, what they think it looks like.
You know, kinda like thisvery soft, easy thing.
And you know, I, so I startedworking with him and he, you know,
quickly rose into the top five 10.
He's an, except he exceptionallyhard worker, so he is achieved
a lot of success in the sport.
To his credit, I. But it was interesting.
I started watching badminton andit's crazy athleticism, especially.
(05:01):
You know, in singles, the amountof distance that they cover,
the jumps, the, this and that.
And to give you know, listeners anidea of like how hard the training is.
For a lot of badminton players, ifthey're not getting in say, 5,000
calories a day, they won't be ableto keep up with the training demands.
Like it's very intensetraining, things of that nature.
(05:23):
And I'm like, man, like when youstart thinking about 5,000 calories,
like that's not a small amount there.
So I mean, it's a very cool sport.
I've been fortunate to work witha lot of different sports and
every sport I work with has itsown uniqueness, its own beauty.
And I always tell people the uniquenesswith badminton is you can do something
that is like an all out powerful smash, asyou mentioned, where you have, it's flying
(05:44):
at, you know, 200 plus miles per hour.
And then your next shot mightbe the most delicate shot ever.
And the birdie, the shuttle cockis so light depending on how the
wind draft is in the stadium.
If there's any sort of draft in theair, the shuttle, instead of landing
inbounds, it may land, say a yard or ameter out of bounds just based off how
(06:05):
people are walking around in the stadium.
It's so unique in so many differentways to make this, makes it special.
Well, when you mentionedwhat his caloric needs were.
You can't cookie cutter.
This is the sort of stuff youcan't get out of just a book.
You have to tailor your program andwhat you're telling people to what
it is they're looking for, what it isthey do, what it is they look like,
(06:27):
what do they hope to accomplish, right?
Yeah.
Yeah.
Absolutely.
It's the, the more that you cando to, in individualize things to
support the performance is huge.
And whenever I'm workingwith someone, be it.
The weekend warrior, someone who'sjust looking live healthier to, you
know, at your high level competitors.
I always look at, you know, what'shappening from a food standpoint, what's
(06:47):
happening from a movement standpoint?
What's sleep looking like?
What is overall stress managementstrategies do they have in place to allow
for that performance, you know, to build.
Being supportive.
Let's go from there.
'cause I, this is where I, I firstwas talking to you a while back.
Because I get asked these questions too.
(07:08):
Especially with young people.
Well, what can I take?
Right.
And you just mentioned food.
You mentioned sleep, youmentioned rest movement, right?
Yeah.
So there's a lot of things we canput into our body that aren't good
for us, and some things that are.
Go.
No, it's absolutely, one of thenumber one questions I get is, Sean,
what supplements should I be taking?
(07:30):
Mm-hmm.
And I always tell people, it'snot like you can only, you should
only be taking food or no, you canget everything from supplements.
There's, there's a happy blend in between.
But I think most people have a falseidea of, especially in the athletic
world, what taking a given dietarysupplement will do for their body.
And what I mean by that is adietary supplement, you know.
(07:52):
It may increase performance, but it mightonly increase performance by two or 3%.
You know, in the world that I workin, two to 3% is a huge difference.
If that's how you're making yourli livelihood for someone who is
just, you know, recreational, thedo this or myself, for instance, you
know, if I increase my performance2% on a, you know, a bench press or
(08:13):
whatever, it doesn't mean a whole lot.
Where I really, if I'm lookingat dietary supplements, I always
have what I call my foundationals.
And these are ones in which ideallywe'd be getting from food, but can
be really challenging at times.
So I do like, you know, a qualitymultivitamin, vitamin D. We
know that most people here inWisconsin, the northern states.
I find are deficient even duringthe summer months, just 'cause
(08:35):
they're inside all day and it's,it's hard to get vitamin D from food.
Magnesium is one that if you look atany sort of studies, roughly about
two thirds of the adult population isdeficient in there or like in omega
threes or which can be found in fish oils.
And again, you can get all thosein food and like I said, I always
go with a food first approach.
And but like I said, those are justones that can be really challenging.
(08:57):
So.
If I am doing any dietarysupplement recommendations,
usually I start with a core base.
What I find is everyone wantsto go to the highest leaf on the
tree thinking that's gonna be themagic bullet for their support.
And what I always tell people,especially pre-workouts, you know, in
my world, the, the energy drinks, thepre-workouts are a very big thing.
And I'm like, you know what?
(09:17):
If you got eight hours of sleep,that'd give you probably 10X.
The performance benefit of taking, youknow, a shot of, you know, caffeine
plus mystery ingredients, X, Y, Z.
So rest is really important?
It's absolutely massive and, you know,it impacts so many different aspects
of not only physical performance wherethere's a bazillion research studies,
(09:40):
but just overall health and wellness.
And one thing I know that's really bigright now or I shouldn't say just big
right now, it's, it's been an issue,but it is like ADHD, ADD, we know
that that is a really large issue.
And for someone who'son those medications.
They do have side effects.
It can be, it can reallysuppress your appetite.
So if you're trying to exercise a lot,it can be almost counterproductive.
(10:03):
And two, and I say this with zerojudgment, so I want to preface by
saying this is when you're on those beit Ritalin, Adderall, whatever it is,
when you're kind of cycling off thatmedication, maybe you miss a dose or
maybe you're at the tail end of your dose,that can really impact your mood levels.
And behavior.
And so and so, again, kind of tyingus back into sleep, you know what's
(10:25):
really fascinating is if you look atthe symptoms of sleep deprivation,
they almost align a hundred percentwith the same symptoms of ADHD.
And so I find a lot of people by justhelping them on the sleep aspect of
things, they're either a, either able toA, reduce the dose of their medication.
Or B, they're able to, you know, someof 'em have been able to get off their
(10:48):
medication and I wanna, you know, throwa disclaimer, make sure you don't just
cut anything cold turkey, work with ahealthcare practitioner to achieve it.
But I've had different people who havebeen able to help them reduce the need
for the medications just through sleep.
I mean, it's, it's pretty wildhow impactful sleep is on health,
wellness, and performance.
You know, Sean, self-disclosure, abouta year and a half ago I ended up having
(11:12):
an allergic reaction to some medication.
So I had a bad cough and itwas, the doctor was great.
She said, oh, it'll go awayin about six to seven weeks.
I went, what?
What?
I mean, I've never heard that before.
And I'm like, you must begetting, I speak for a living.
And then she said, to stay away from bing,bing, bing, caffeine being one of them.
(11:34):
And I drank, I cut out all of that,drank a ton of water, and I gotta
tell you, I feel like such a fool.
I felt so much better.
My inflammation was better.
Some of the, what we started thisby talking about I supplements.
You can buy all of these energysupplements, the stuff you can buy.
(11:55):
There used to be soda popwas in the front counter.
Yeah.
Now it's, I can't even, you know.
People will wanna say Red Bull,but there's so many variations.
Oh.
What do they do to you?
What do they do?
It's they, you know, afew different things.
And you know, one thing youkind of jarred a memory in mind.
So I remember when I was younger, whenI was in high school, you know they
(12:18):
was like, I went, if, if I was gonnaget, like the caffeine drinks was like,
Hey, you grabbed a Mountain Dew, whichhad maybe 75 milligrams of caffeine.
It's like, whoa, like that'slike the high caffeine.
Now you can go into these storesand some of these energy drinks have
300 milligrams of caffeine in it.
And to put that in perspective, that'slike three and a half cups of coffee.
(12:38):
And so tying this back into healthand wellness, we just got done talking
about how sleep is so essentialfor health wellness performance.
Well, caffeine has a half life on averageof six hours, plus or minus a little bit.
And what half life means is.
The amount of time it takesfor your body to eliminate half
of whatever that substance is.
(12:59):
So let's go back to this energydrink that, well, lemme say it
has 200 milligrams, which is astandard, like I said, somewhere 300.
But let's just even say ithas 200 milligrams on it.
Let's say if you're an adult, anadolescent, whoever it is, and
you have that energy drink at fouro'clock in the afternoon, maybe before
your sport practice or before yourshift or your whatever it may be.
(13:21):
Well, what that means is if that has200 milligrams of caffeine in it, that
means when you try to go to bed at 10o'clock at night, you still have a hundred
milligrams of caffeine in your system.
That'd be the equivalent ofdrinking a cup and a half of coffee.
Just before bedtime.
Yeah, as your bedtime wind down.
(laughs) And so then we knowagain, so now you're altering your
(13:41):
sleep patterns, the depth of yoursleep, the quality of your sleep.
And as a result, your immunesystem starts, you know,
suffering your energy levels.
It, it creates this nasty feedback loopwhere then people are like, oh man, now
I'm tired at, you know, 11 o'clock in themorning, so I need to take a cup there.
Now they're taking a cup at, you know,it, and it just creates this nasty system.
(14:03):
So I always look at how can we reversethis through life and wellness, and I
love the fact that you brought up water.
Here's one of the easiest things I tellpeople that you can apply today and
will have profound impacts for you.
A lot of individuals who I work withdo not drink enough water throughout
the day, or I say water but justabout liquids and the easy, and most
(14:24):
of 'em are like, and again, goingback to caffeine now is like, oh man,
I get to two o'clock, three o'clockand I just can't concentrate at all.
My mind's all over the place.
I need to, you know, take a medication,you know, or caffeine, whatever it may be.
I find if people drink enough wateror fluid such that they have to go
to the bathroom every two hours.
That, again, I'm not gonna say makepromises, is gonna eliminate everything,
(14:47):
but for a majority of the clients I workwith, that significantly impacts their
energy levels during the day where nowthey don't have to reach for the caffeine.
They feel like they're more dialed in.
And like I said, the easy rule of thumbis if you're going longer than two
hours without going the bathroom it's agood time to start drinking more water.
And when you go to the bathroom,you shouldn't be able to turn out
(15:08):
the lights and read by it, right?
(laughs) Yeah.
Should, it should be clear.
Yeah.
It, it should berelatively clear on there.
On anything.
The only time where it might be alittle bit of a color is if you have a
multivitamin with some B vitamins in it.
'cause B vitamins will turn itinto like kind of an neon color.
But I always tell people, like, somepeople are like, oh yeah, it's you
(15:29):
know, it, it's like a, a darkish color.
I'm like, that's probably not, you know,where we need to be at and you know.
It, it's always kinda interestingnow that we're talking about, you
know, just bathroom habits too.
One of the other things that canprofoundly impact mood wellness, things
of these natures is your gut health.
Your gut, 70 to 80% of yourimmune system is in your gut.
(15:50):
Your gut is directly connected tothe brain, what's called the vagal
nerve, and they constantly crosstalkall the time so that your gut's being
referred to as your second brain now.
And a lot of people, I alwaystell them, I'm like, you know.
Without getting too graphic here,but I'm like, you should have a
bowel movement, you know, once a day.
You know, I have clients who might go,you know, two days, three days before
they have their normal thing, and thatjust tells me they're probably not
(16:11):
getting enough fiber in their diet.
You know, the fruits and vegetables.
Again, low hanging fruit, no pun intended.
Actually, that was a pun intended.
But you know (laughs), the, I always tellpeople, if you think about your fist as
it's serving your fruits and vegetables.
I want you to eat whatevernumber you're at today.
I mean, in a perfect world thatyou're getting six to eight servings
a day, but if someone's only eatingone serving, it's hard to go from one
serving to, you know, six or eight.
(16:32):
So I always tell people, wherever you'restarting at today, just increase two
servings of fruits or vegetables in a day.
And that's, you know, I, Ialways like to look back.
Success leaves clues, youknow, it's the popular saying.
And so I always like to lookback at clients I've worked with
over the years and see what wasthe most successful for them.
And early in my career I, I wouldthink it'd be like maybe this very
(16:53):
elaborate meal thing I did or this veryelaborate protocol or whatever it is.
But time and time again, the mostsuccessful thing is simply increasing
fruits and vegetables in, in the diet.
Like, it's just kind of fascinatinghow that all ties together.
Well, it's funny 'cause I'm older thanyou and we went from when I was a kid,
you could watch players smoking cigarettesin the dugout in a baseball game.
(17:15):
Major league players to, to now rumors.
And I suppose there's some fact thatathletes like LeBron and the rest
of them spend hundreds of thousandsof dollars on their own chef's,
nutritionists just to be able to keeptheir body where it needs to be to make
as much money as long as come possible.
No.
It is so profound.
I think LeBron James is a good examplein terms of career longevity, and that's
(17:38):
what I find I have found working withclients as well is, you know, when,
whenever I'm working with a client, beit an athlete or non-athlete, but let's
just say, say I'm working with an athlete.
My goal with any athlete that I workwith is that 20 years after their
athletic career is over, they're ableto live the life that they want to live.
And what I mean by that is.
Let's say you make, I'm justgoing, you make 10 million during
(18:00):
a career or whatever it is, youknow, insert whatever dollar amount.
I'm like, that's great, but Iguarantee you if you're 45 or 50
and you can't bend over to playwith your kids, or maybe you're 60.
And you can't hold your grandkids'cause your body's so broken down,
I'm like, that's gonna make life hard.
So that's what I always thinkabout is what we do today.
And two, I'm like, I want youto perform at your best today.
(18:21):
So that way.
That allows you to, you know,whatever your earning potential
is today to maximize it.
So I always look at that thing aswhat can we do today to make sure
that 20 years down the road someoneis able to have their best life.
You mentioned some of the stuff you canadd to your bodies and this goes to some
of it parallels what I do for a living.
You buy a drug on the street,you have no idea what's in it.
(18:45):
You buy a supplement online, Sean.
They're not regulated.
Am I right about that?
The issue with dietary supplementsis there's regulations in place, but
the FDA is who enforces them, andthe FDA is so understaffed right now.
Basically the only time the FDA willstep in is if there's some sort of
outbreak of, you know, or somethingthat's found that's being tainted.
(19:07):
Salmonella or something.
Yeah, it's something while like they'reall of a sudden, Hey, there's eight
deaths because somebody took supplementX, Y, Z. That's when they step in,
but they don't get everything there.
And here's what I can sharewith you, full disclosure.
I've worked in the supplement industry.
I've launched multiple brandsin the supplement industry, so
I know the, the both ends of it.
And I remember, one of thecontract manufacturers I work with.
(19:29):
So what I will do is like, okay, Iwant the ingredients A, B, C, D in it.
And I all have a contract manufacturer whohas all their licensure mass produce it.
Apparently the FDA frowns upon memixing things in my bathtub, puts
them in a glass jar and not a shelf.
For some reason, that's not allowed.
I don't know why, but it's not allowed.
But jokes aside, so I'm workingwith one of the manufacturers
I've worked with before.
It's a very large one on the east coast.
(19:50):
They very big players in the industry tomass produce the formulas that I work on.
And so I was talking with this one.
I'm like, how many individuals will thirdparty tests their supplements to make sure
what's on the labels actually in there?
And what this individual said wasSean, he's like, less than 10% do any
sort of third party testing on them.
(20:10):
And I'm like, do you mean to tellme that 90% of the supplements I see
on shelves have never been tested?
Right.
To make sure they're accurate.
He's like, it's actually worse than that.
He's like, how you guysdo is probably than 5%.
I'm like, well, what do you mean?
He's like, what most companies do is,let's say if there's 10 ingredients in
a formula, they may test ingredients.
Two of those ingredients be like,oh, well if those two are in line,
everything else should be in line too.
(20:31):
Or they'll say, well let'stest the batch we produce.
Maybe they test the batch they producein say, January of 2025, but they don't
test the batch that's produced in Juneof 2025, so they don't test every batch.
And so that's where peoplerun into issues and two.
You have a lot of issues ofsupplements that are being spiked.
(20:52):
The three main classes that people haveto be extremely, extremely cautious with
is one, anything that's like a sexualperformance enhancement supplement.
If you're getting sexualenhancement performance
supplements from your gas station.
I guarantee there's that'sa high, that's a high risk.
High risk right there.
(laughs) So that is one.
The other big one is energypowders, pre-workouts.
(21:15):
Those are notorious for being spiked withillegal ingredients, just so the effects
are, you know, feel larger for the user.
And the third category, oh gosh.
Don't quote me on this, but Iwanna say the third category
may be anti-aging supplements.
Mm-hmm.
That makes sense.
But that's, yeah.
But that is the thing.
And you know, and again, you'rebuying things online, you
(21:37):
don't know where they're comingfrom, the quality of testing.
And it's, and I always tell peoplelike, if you're gonna do it, make sure
you're buying it, you know, from atrusted resource, you know, healthcare,
whatever it may be, or there, but I'mlike, I always tell people, again,
back to our original point, is.
Unless you're deficient in an essentialnutrient, be it vitamin D, magnesium,
like if you're deficient in thosenutrients and you get those levels,
(21:58):
you'll feel significantly better.
But like all these other like flash,bang, pow things, like you're really
playing with fire based on how themarket is, and the effect may not
be nearly as what you're expecting.
You know, that's really an importantmessage for young people who are all
looking because they hear it, right?
Yeah.
And when you see a pro athlete, whichhappens routinely, get in trouble for
(22:21):
a supplement they've been taking, andthen they do the mea culpa, right?
Oh, I didn't know that this was in it.
It's like, well, there's a reasonwhy their governing body made
certain substances illegal.
Yeah.
'Cause one, they're bad for yourhealth and bad for your body.
Yeah.
You know, it's one of the things I alwaystell people if, if you're taking a dietary
(22:43):
supplement, especially if you're beingtested with them, like make sure that
on the label they say informed choicefor sport or NSF certified for sport,
and that guarantees that they've beentested for all these band substances.
Say that again.
NSF certified for sport.
Or informed choice certified for sports.
(23:03):
So any athlete that I'm working with isany supplement that's being recommended.
I make sure that they have those onthem 'cause it guarantees that they've
been tested for these banned substances.
You mentioned what they're lookingfor and it, and I was at a high school
baseball game a couple weeks ago.
Heard a pitcher who wasn'tdoing particularly well.
(23:28):
Talking to his teammates, not his coaches.
But he, you know, I'm, I'm justpart of the fence at that point.
Say that he had takenfive of those ZYN pouches.
Ooh, yeah.
So that he could boost hispitching performance that day.
Yeah.
Talk about that a little bit.
Yeah, the pouches are so big.
So that's kinda like the newthing right now is taking
(23:50):
nicotine for, to help with focus,concentration, things of that nature.
And, you know, at the end of theday, that is still gonna affect
the receptors in your brain.
That is, you know, you might get thata little boost, but that also can get
pretty addictive, pretty in a hurry.
And I think long term wise, I seethat adding a lot of, long term
wise, I'm concerned about the effectthat's gonna have on people's brains,
(24:11):
especially youth individuals wherethe brain is still developing so much.
And how much nicotineis good for the body.
Yeah.
I want as little as possiblein the right, in the body.
(laughs)
Yeah.
Yeah,
You're right.
People don't know this, Sean but Ithink folks like you and I do if I
(24:32):
ask people, you go to your local gasstation, what's behind the counter?
They'll say, cigarettes.
I'm like, look, the next time, cigaretteswere taken over by vaping products,
and now all you see are the pouches.
That's the first row.
That's the first row now, and it'sall being advertised to young people.
Yeah.
And the market is huge.
And you know, you'retalking about the vapes.
(24:52):
Like there was a studythat was in the military.
Don't quote me these exact numbers,but they look at like your traditional
testing for people who are vapingversus non-vaping of their recruits.
And it was like people who, the situp scores was significantly lower.
The pushup scores weresignificantly lower.
The two mile to rest timewas significantly lower
in those who are vaping.
Makes sense.
(25:12):
On there.
And you got, there's a lot of factorsthat go into it, but I'm like.
This is pretty consistent.
Like yeah, you kinda feel morefocus there, but I'm like, long
term wise, it, it can cause issues.
And again, going back to the sleep aspectand, and the hard thing now is there's
so much on TikTok influence that'scoming down by influencers who don't
have necessarily background for this.
(25:32):
And one story that I can sharewith you, I actually have two
stories I can share with you, but.
One story was, I was working with a highschool, this individual's a, a football
player, and he came up to me afterhearing me talk, he's like, Hey, Sean.
He's like, I'm lookingto purchase Ashwagandha.
You know, what do you, you think about it?
I'm thinking like, Ashwagandha'skind of known for like relaxation
a little bit, sleep stuff.
So I'm like, I'm like, oh,you having sleep issues?
(25:54):
Or he is like, oh, not really.
I'm like, well, what are you taking for?
He is like, well, Sean, everyone knowsthat that ashwagandha is gonna jack your
testosterone levels through the roof.
I am like, what?
He's like, oh yeah, it's all over TikTok.
And in my mind it's like, if youlook at the research, it increases
by like a small percentage, which isthe equivalent of taking like a cup
of water and dumping into the ocean,expecting to see a water level rise.
Like it's so insignificant.
(26:15):
But like, you know, I was kinda sharingwith him, I'm, you know, I'm thinking
in my head too, and I'm talking, youknow, the parents and everything.
I'm like, if this individual, if yourson who's clearly going through the
middle of puberty right now, I'm like,if he has testosterone issues, I'm like,
that's a serious medical condition.
I guarantee you this root powderis not gonna solve it for him.
Like, and you hear so many things likethere or the other, I can tell you horror,
(26:37):
horror stories on individuals who will saythe ZYN pouches for instance, or caffeine.
We were talking about energy drinksearlier, who they try that for the
first time before an important event.
They have no idea howtheir body's gonna respond.
They've never tried before apractice or whatever it is.
I remember one swimmer inparticular she was expected to,
you know, set the state record.
(26:57):
She was like division one caliberswimmer at the collegiate level and
her high school race, like wherethey thought she was gonna win this.
She took caffeine for the firsttime ever before the race she was an
endurance swimmer, the first half ofthe race, she was absolutely flying.
I mean, it was like Olympic pace.
It was wild.
Second half of the race, she hit the wall.
Finish dead last.
So her high school career endedwhere they felt like, hey, this
could be a state record before yougo off to your division one career.
(27:20):
It ended with a last place finish.
Like, and so that's why I always tellpeople I'm like, you, you're, you know,
it sounds sexy on the front end side,but like there's a lot of things you
have to consider as you're doing thisand thinking, bing, going back there
is, how's this gonna affect your brainand what, you know, behaviors could
this lead to, you know, especiallyif you're doing it long term.
(27:41):
And I'm also guessing that as partof your regimen that marijuana is
not a performance enhancing drug.
(laughs) No.
I have yet to write a plan withsupplements for athletes on it where
marijuana is high on the list again.
Yeah.
That affects brain behavior.
I know a lot of individuals who yeah,I know sometimes it's kind of marketed
as, Hey, there's no side effects.
(28:02):
It's.
Here and there.
You know, anecdotally, I know, you know,it affects different regions of the brain.
I know individuals who have done itlong period, and if they're being really
honest with me, they'd be like, yeah, Iknow my memory's not what it should be.
And these are individuals who are myage who are doing it, you know, 20
years ago when they were in college.
And, you know, throughout, and like Isaid, I can't say everyone, but a fair
amount have told me like, yeah, my mindjust is not as sharp as what it was.
(28:26):
So, I mean, it's definitely plain.
Well, you know, there'sso much misinformation.
Sometimes we just liketo convince ourselves.
I had a coach one time tell me when Iwas much, much younger, that just before
a game night, before a game, have acouple of beers to relax and hydrate.
(laughs)
I'm like, I don't believealcohol hydrates you.
I think it's the opposite, right?
(28:48):
Yeah, (laughs) it's a dehydration.
You're gonna be in worse shape for there.
And you know, it's interestingyou're talking about like
drinking how things have changed.
So drinking, you know, before you're goinginto bed, and this is something I see with
a lot of people as we're talking aboutaddiction or things, they always think
like, Hey, I'm gonna have a few drinksto help me unwind at the end of the day.
What most people don't realizeis alcohol, it, and they're like,
(29:10):
oh, I, I sleep better when I'mdrinking, you know, type thing.
And like alcohol is like a sedative.
It's like if you're taking anesthesia,it's not like you go into surgery,
you have anesthesia, you wakeup, you're like, oh, I feel so
refreshed after the anesthesia.
It literally knocks you out.
And that's the sameway that alcohol works.
Like it really jacks up your sleep cycles.
Like if you look at somebody, ifyou measure like their sleep cycles
(29:31):
for someone who's drinking, andthen if you have them drink and go
before going to bed, you'll see theirsleep is significantly affected.
And so that's what I always tellingpeople again, as we're looking for
this holistic, health and performanceon someone's performance journey.
I'm like, that is something, again,I'm not saying that alcohol is,
you know, everyone can make theirown decision there, but like here
are the facts that you need to knowas you're making your decisions.
(29:54):
I'll let you wrap this in a bow.
If I wanted to be the bestI could be, I should...
If you wanted to be thebest that you could be.
I'd really focus on increasing food.
Again, too easy take home tipssomeone can implement right away is
drink enough water, especially you'regonna the bathroom every two hours.
If you think about your fist of fruits asit being a fruit or vegetable, increase
(30:16):
the number of eating by two per day.
So that's on the food side.
On the sleep side.
One, try to detach fromelectronics or blue screens.
There actually the best thing youcan do for sleep, this may sound
counterintuitive, but get outsidefor an early morning walk when you
get sunlight in your eyes early inthe morning, that it will actually
help you sleep a lot deeper at night.
So that's an easy take home thing.
(30:38):
And then on a movement standpoint.
Just try to move throughout the day.
Don't do a lot of exercise say firstthing in the morning and then sit at a
computer for the next 15 hours a day,which full disclosure, I'm guilty of
doing that at time, but try to get upduring the day to move around more.
Sounds great.
As you can imagine, those of you whoare listening, I've heard Sean talk in
(31:00):
front of groups and he's just terrific.
So if you're, a high school or a college,and you can just imagine the attention
younger people give to him and thequestions that they will have for him.
So clearly, you know, the linksto Sean's contact information is
at the bottom of this podcast.
Sean, you know so much more thanme about so many things thanks to
(31:21):
your expertise and perspective.
Hey, well, it was anabsolute pleasure being on.
I preach to the host and I lovethe work that you're doing to help
people live healthier, active lives.
Oh, thanks.
That's really nice.
For those of you listening,watching, I hope you find health
and wellness wherever you are.
As always, thanks for listening.
Be safe.
Take care.
And remember, there are no shortcuts.
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