#298: Wade T. Lightheart on Fixing Your Gut Health, Optimizing Your Digestion and Building Your Body From The Inside Out!

Today on the podcast:

In this episode, Brian speaks with Wade T. Lightheart, 3-Time Canadian Natural Bodybuilding Champion and one of the world’s premier authorities on Natural Nutrition and Training Methods. Having majored in Sports Science, he has authored numerous books on health, nutrition and exercise which have sold in over 80 countries. Wade is also the co-founder of Bioptimizers – a company whose mission is to discover, present, and share supplement products and health strategies backed by cutting-edge research that leads to a happier, healthier, and more fulfilling lifestyle.

Listen in as Wade shares the five stages of digestion, the best way to utilize enzymes and probiotics, the biggest nutritional misconceptions, and nutritional and supplement no-nos to look out for.

Today’s episode is sponsored by:

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Episode Outline

05:55 What brought Wade into the world of fitness?
14:54 The first step in building yourself from the inside-out
18:43 The five stages of digestion
26:05 The single biggest thing someone can do to fix their digestion
28:52 Why do many people not see results when they try enzymes and probiotics?
31:46 Getting the best out of a plant-based diet in a society filled with processed food.
35:36 Which foods to avoid to allow for better gut health
37:26 Knowing what and how to eat depending on your particular goals
42:18 The biggest nutrition-related myths
46:41 What Wade is most excited about right now

Key points

Not everything you eat gets converted into energy units or building blocks. What matters is what your body absorbs. There are, in fact, five stages of digestion that must be fulfilled before food can be properly utilized by your body. Whatever falls short of these five stages turns into toxins, or is otherwise excreted.
Not all enzymes are created equal. There are different types of enzymes that a layman may not be able to tell apart. Namely, there are plant-based, animal-based, systemic, and cultured enzymes.
Be diet-agnostic. Every single human being responds differently to different foods. The best way to optimize your own particular nutritional lifestyle is by knowing what your body can best absorb and utilize, and then to look at common threads between which of these foods have benefitted the most people on the diet you intend to follow.

Powerful Quotes by Wade

Let’s start with the impossible. What a lot of people believe are just a bunch of opinions and theories or common practices; but all breakthroughs happen because people are willing to test what is accepted as normal or possible. Virtually everything that we come to enjoy and accept now was, at one point in history, impossible.
You’re not what you eat. You’re what you digest and absorb and utilize and—dare I say also—what you eliminate.
Assume that assumptions will kill you. I would buy from farmers’ markets instead of from commercial stores so that I don’t need to guess what’s been done or added to my food.
No diet should be static for the rest of your life. Every diet has advantages and limitations. Being flexible enough to explore other areas will set you up for long-term health and high-performance.