Hey there,

Here are 3 things I’ve learned and/or expanded on this week.

Enjoy! Subscribe, share, comment, all the things!

Be Cautious With Supplements

If you have any sort of fitness content in your social media algorithm then you probably see people pushing supplements, basically all the time. Supplements can be useful but you have to remember that there’s nothing magic about them. They are the icing on the cake, the cherry on top, the glaze on the donut, the cream on the pie… wait what? Does the cream go on the pie or in the pie? Let me know in the comments. 

The supplement industry is largely unregulated. There’s no one going around to these companies ensuring that they are following evidence-based practices and using safe doses. 

A tale that might spark some caution in you when it comes to supplements is one that I experienced as a paramedic. 

I picked up a patient who was bradycardic (low heart rate)hypotensive (low blood pressure), and basically unconscious sitting on those big chairs in a nail salon. Her heart rate was between 25-30 beats per minute. She was relatively healthy with no obvious or known comorbidities. Once we treated her and she came to, we were having a hard time figuring out the cause of the incident. 

Then she began explaining the fact that she has been seeing a naturopath (eye roll emoji) who recently recommended that she take a supplement called ashwagandha for stress relief. 

Now, ashwagandha is actually a fairly well researched and effective supplement for chilling you out and improving recovery from training. It can have some effects on your blood pressure and heart rate. The daily dose with the most evidence behind it according to Examine is 600 mg daily. Examine is my go to for evidence-based information on supplements. There’s not much research on dosages higher than this.

If you take a look at the dosage on some ashwagandha supplements from popular brands you will find 5000-7200 mg capsules. That is 12 times the recommended daily dose!

This patient of mine was taking 3 capsules of ashwagandha per day at 7200 mg per capsule. That’s 36 times the recommended daily dose. I can’t guarantee that this was the cause of her bradycardia and low blood pressure because I didn’t get a follow up after we transferred care to the hospital, but my suspicion is high. 

Be cautious with supplements. Do some research beforehand. Check Examine out and you’ll probably never go wrong!


3 Important Questions

Here are 3 powerful questions that I have been asking myself every day lately when it comes to my habits and behaviours. 

What would you tomorrow want you today to do? – Chris WIlliamson

Does this habit help you become the type of person you want to be? – James Clear (adapted from Atomic Habits)

Does this behaviour align with or against your desired identity? – James Clear (adapted from Atomic Habits)

Write them down. Place them out in the open somewhere that you will see them frequently. 

Whether you are trying to reinforce a good habit or behaviour or drop a bad one, these 3 questions can help guide your decision making in the moment so that you keep working towards the version of yourself that you want to become. 


I’m No Expert

Expertise in a particular area or field is an amazing pursuit. Experts know that one thing they know really really well. They have a deep understanding and mastery of their area of expertise and people look to them when trying to learn about that particular topic. 

You only have so much bandwidth for learning. You can choose to learn a lot about a small range of topics. You can also choose to learn a little bit about a large range of topics. There is no one size fits all answer to the choice you make. 

I’ve thought a lot about pursuing expertise in particular areas I’m interested in, but I find myself falling into the “learn a little about a lot” camp more often than not.

I’m not an expert. On anything. 

I like to think of myself as a practitioner of progress in many facets of life. I find myself wanting to learn about and share my knowledge on a broad range of topics rather than niching down to one particular area.

Where do you sit on this spectrum? Do you find yourself really submerged into one area of interest? Or do you find yourself jumping around trying to learn as much as you can about many different things? Let me know in the comments!

Peace friend,
Jamie

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