#131: Tony Robbins - Your DNA is Not Your Destiny
Tony Robbins is a LIFE FORCE.
For over four decades, Tony Robbins has been encouraging people to take control of their destinies to become, as he says, “the CEO of your own health.”
Robbins is an entrepreneur, best-selling author, philanthropist, and the nation’s #1 life and business strategist. Over the past four decades, he has empowered more than 50 million people worldwide through his business and personal development coaching programs and events.
This week, he’s on the PLANTSTRONG Podcast to discuss his new book, Life Force: How New Breakthroughs in Precision Medicine Can Transform the Quality of Your Life & Those You Love.
As you’ll hear, this book is actually the result of Tony Robbins going on his own life-changing health journey. After being told that his health challenges were irreversible, he experienced firsthand how new regenerative technology, precision medicine, and lifestyle change could not only help him heal, but also make him stronger than ever.
Life Force is a true passion project for Tony to aid everyday people searching for answers on how to improve their energy, vitality, and strength that extends and lets them live healthier and longer lives.
Rip and Tony address:
The Top 6 killers and health threats most of us face - cancer, heart disease, diabetes, Alzheimer’s, stroke and autoimmune disease.
The groundbreaking new technologies being developed to fight these diseases, but also actionable lifestyle changes we can all make to improve our health right now – I’m talking whole food, plant-based nutrition, quality sleep, and movement.
Why your DNA is not your destiny when it comes to your long-term health.
Becoming CEO of your own health - actions to take today to improve your health and extend your healthspan.
The breakthrough work and expert insights of more than 150 scientific, medical, and health and wellbeing experts.
Inspiring comeback stories, and amazing advancements in precision medicine that you can apply today to help extend the length and quality of your lives.
Feeding America - 100% of the profits of Life Force are donated to help end hunger today.
About Tony Robbins
Tony Robbins is an entrepreneur, #1 New York Times bestselling author, and philanthropist honored by Accenture as one of the top 50 business intellectuals in the world. Robbins is a leader called upon by leaders: He has consulted with and/or coached some of the world’s greatest athletes, entertainers, Fortune 500 CEOs, and four US presidents. Robbins is a founder, partner, or early investor in 100+ privately held businesses with combined sales exceeding $7 billion annually. Through his philanthropy and partnership with Feeding America, he has provided more than 800 million meals and is on track to provide 1 billion meals by 2025.
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YouTube Transcript
Rip Esselstyn:
I'm Rip Esselstyn and welcome to the PLANTSTRONG podcast. The mission at PLANTSTRONG is to further the advancement of all things within the plant-based movement. We advocate for the scientifically proven benefits of plant-based living and envision a world that universally understands, promotes and prescribes plants as a solution to empowering your health, enhancing your performance, restoring the environment and becoming better guardians to the animals we share this planet with. We welcome you wherever you are on your PLANTSTRONG journey. And I hope that you enjoy the show.
Rip Esselstyn:
Hello, my cruciferous cousins, Rip Esselstyn here and I want to welcome you to another episode of the PLANTSTRONG podcast. On the homepage of our website, plantstrong.com, it says boldly that our mission is to empower people to take control of their health destiny. Well, every once in a while, we get to land a big, big monster piece of kale on the planet strong podcast, and my guest today, he is big.
Rip Esselstyn:
And he's also been encouraging people to take control of their destinies and to become, as he says, the CEO of your own health. I'm talking about Tony Robbins, entrepreneur, bestselling author, philanthropist, and arguably the nation's number one life and business strategist.
Rip Esselstyn:
Over the past four decades, he has empowered more than 50 million people worldwide through his business and personal development coaching programs and events, like Date for Destiny. And I'm sure that many of you have seen on Netflix the documentary, I Am Not Your Guru, I highly recommend it. This week, he launched his new book, and he is on the PLANTSTRONG podcast to talk about it. The book is called, Life Force: How New Breakthroughs in Precision Medicine Can Transform the Quality of Your Life & Those You Love.
Rip Esselstyn:
As you're going to hear about today, this book is actually the result of Tony going on his own life changing health journey. And after being told from different physicians and healthcare providers that he had to take medicine for the rest of his life, he had to have surgery, he had to do this, he had to do this, whether it was his brain tumor, whether it was his torn rotator cuff, his spinal stenosis, the list goes on and on. He experienced firsthand how these new regenerative technologies and precision medicine and simple lifestyle changes cannot only help him heal, but make him stronger than ever.
Rip Esselstyn:
So, Life Force is a true passion project for Tony to aid everyday people searching for answers on how to improve their energy, vitality and strength that extends and lets them live healthier, longer lives. Today, we're going to discuss the top six killers and health threats that most of us face, namely cancer, heart disease, diabetes, Alzheimer's, stroke, and autoimmune disease. He not only shares some of the groundbreaking new technologies that are being developed to fight these diseases.
Rip Esselstyn:
But it wouldn't be a PLANTSTRONG conversation if we didn't dive into these lifestyle changes and discuss what we can all do to improve our health right this second. And I'm talking eating a whole food, plant-based diet, quality sleep, movement and purpose.
Rip Esselstyn:
Okay. Remember, your DNA doesn't determine your destiny. It's your dinner, it's your lunch, and it's your breakfast. With that, please enjoy my conversation with a true life force, Tony Robbins. Tony Robbins. Welcome to the PLANTSTRONG podcast. Can I give you a high five?
Tony Robbins:
You certainly can, Rip. Nice to meet you.
Rip Esselstyn:
Yes, it's my pleasure. Tony, you are a life force. And you have brought this into the universe yesterday, right?
Tony Robbins:
Yes.
Rip Esselstyn:
Life Force, Tony Robbins. How does it feel to finally get this little baby of yours out there?
Tony Robbins:
It's a three-year project. So, it feels so nice. And so nice to hear people's response to it already because it's been out for about 24 hours and I'm just so thrilled to see people's capacity to see what they can do with their life change. There's so much new technology. As you know, because I know you've read most of it, that people just don't know about. And if you know about it, it's like ignorance is not bliss. Ignorance is pain.
Tony Robbins:
If you know the answers, you can make changes in your body so rapidly today because of some of these new tools and technology as well as some of the things you and I have already known, but a lot of people just don't practice that can change things.
Rip Esselstyn:
Yeah, yeah. Well, we're going to get into some of that. I know you know this, but you right now are number one on Amazon of all books. You're right ahead of Little Blue Truck's Valentine, and James Clear's Atomic Habits. Number one.
Tony Robbins:
Well, James Clear, he's been crushing it for a long time. He's done a great job of that book.
Rip Esselstyn:
Yeah, yeah. So, you start off this book with a fantastic quote. It's an Indian proverb. You say that a healthy person has 1000 wishes, but a sick person has only one.
Tony Robbins:
That's right.
Rip Esselstyn:
And that to me leads me right into one of the themes, which is you advocate for people to be the CEO of their health and that nobody has a monopoly on medical wisdom. And you personally have been through a lot that kind of informed you, I think, of that. If you could share with our listeners kind of what you went through.
Tony Robbins:
Sure, I'd be happy to. I'd love to give you like a two-second background. Because a lot of people see me over the years, and I do these events, and I do some pretty crazy things. I'm on stage 12, 13 hours a day. I burn 11,300 calories in a day. I've had this team follow me for three years that work a lot of Olympic athletes.
Tony Robbins:
They couldn't believe it. I jumped 1000 times keeping people involved, because people wouldn't sit for a three-hour movie, and I'm taking them for three or four days, 12 hours a day in a stadium of 15 or 20,000 people. So, that's always made me a biohacker. And I'm always looking for ways to help people improve the quality of their life, and your body's obviously the first place.
Tony Robbins:
But what people don't know is I've had a lot of crazy experiences along the way. And early in my life, I have the privilege of working with a lot of great athletes, turning them around, some great business people and politicians. And as a result, by the time I was 19 literally, I started when I was 17, I was on the world stage doing some really interesting things. And then, there's a part of our brain I know you know about Rip, not all of us are aware of it. But it's that subconscious part of the brain. It's that survival brain.
Tony Robbins:
And if you don't learn how to manage it, when things really go well, quickly, you make up stuff and my brain started going, "Well, I'm working 20-hour days. But maybe I'm successful like this so early because I'm going to die young." And then my brain didn't stop with that. You get these weird thoughts in your head. I didn't know how to manage them back then.
Tony Robbins:
And so then, I wasn't thinking about like getting hit by a car real quick. It was more like it's going to die slowly of cancer. And if you focus on something enough, as you well know, pretty soon you end up finding yourself in a unique place. And so, cancer in my life, not me first. First, it was with a friend, my girlfriend at the time. She came home crying uncontrollably one day and my mother, my mother were like what, I finally got the story. Her mother had cancer and they told her she had nine weeks to live.
Tony Robbins:
And I think if it had been about me, I probably would have been overwhelmed. But most of us will do more for those we love than we will for ourselves. And so, everything inside me is like, she's not going to die. I've had this belief I learned from my original teacher, Jim Rohn, that success leaves clues. So, if there are people who've had stage four cancer, sent home to die and they live, thousands of them, there's something in common. We're going to find out what it is.
Tony Robbins:
And so, as a speed reader and I was obsessed with reading anyway. So, I started reading everything I could find on literature. And I found this book called One Answer to Cancer. Rip, it's not the book I would recommend today because there's so many better tools. But back then, it was really interesting because this man was a dentist. He was told he was given six weeks to live. He had pancreatic cancer, which, of course, is one of the most deadly cancers.
Tony Robbins:
And he wrote this book 15 years later, free and clear of the disease, and described how he detoxed his body, and then how he used pancreatic enzymes live enzymes to stimulate growth in his body again. And so, I went to this woman, who's in early 40s. Her name is Jenny. And I said, "Jenny, I know you don't want to die. And then they're telling you, you got to do this, and they're telling you go home, I suggest read this. See what this man did. He's a role model of something much more intense than what you're dealing with." I mean, it's equally intense when someone tells you you're going to die.
Tony Robbins:
And then I give her [inaudible 00:09:24] I'm thinking to kind of manage your head. And I said, "Why don't you give it a shot?" And to her credit, she read the book, she got really inspired. And within a few weeks of applying what you learned from this man, oh, she had a tumor, a large one on her back and then one in her female organs have metastasized. And she started feeling better and better, like ridiculously better, more energy again.
Tony Robbins:
And within about six weeks, you couldn't see the tumor. You couldn't even feel it protruding anymore. So, at 10 weeks, she's supposed to be dead by now. The doctor said, "Well, maybe we should do exploratory surgery." And she came to me at 19 years old, if you imagine, almost 20 and said, "What should I do?" And I said, "Well, if I tell you how to do it and you die," I said, "you got to make that your choice yourself." But it was me, you're making progress. I keep making progress.
Tony Robbins:
But I convinced her to do the surgery. And it was ironic, they found something the size at the ended my pinky fingernails, all that was left in her whole body. And the doctor said, "This is a miracle." And she said, "It is a miracle. But let me show you what I did." He's like, "No, no, this is spontaneous remission. This is a miracle. What you did doesn't matter." And she didn't give it up. And now, she's in her 80s, still alive today.
Tony Robbins:
And it changed me from fear and victimhood about my body to becoming obsessed with how do I maximize my energy, my strength and my ability, and set me on a course to be able to do what I've been doing for the last 45 years. And it also made me look for answers. And thank God because, in my own experience, then at 32. Thirty-two years old, I'm a helicopter pilot. And I go to get a physical every two years. You have to, to keep your license.
Tony Robbins:
And as a typical physical, I leave. I'm leaving for the South of France in a couple of days. And I keep getting messages from my assistant saying the doctor says, "He wants to talk to you." And I said, "Please tell him to just send the report. I'm super busy." And I get home one night the night before I'm supposed to leave, and I've got a note there taped to my door that says, "The doctor says it's an emergency. You need to call him tonight immediately."
Tony Robbins:
Well, I didn't get home till 12:30 In the morning, so I get an answering service. So, you know what the mind does. I start going, oh my god, after all I've done all these years, take care of myself. Could I have cancer? I'm on planes. Is it radiation? The mind goes crazy, at least mind did.
Tony Robbins:
But I've learned the foundation of finding your center as like, there's an old phrase that says the coward dies a thousand deaths, the courageous person once. It's like, let me wait and find out what it really is. Sure enough, I wake up the next morning. A lot of foreboding. I called the doc. And he's just very abrupt. He said, "I'm sorry to tell you this, but you have cancer in your brain." I said, "What are you talking about? I'm totally healthy. I just came for this physical."
Tony Robbins:
He goes, "No, so the base, it's your pituitary, there's a tumor there. And we must do surgery immediately." I was like, "Slow down." I said, "Tell me how could you possibly know this?" He said, "Well, I did some blood tests on you. Because I noticed you probably have a larger amount of growth hormone." How did you figure that out? My hands are bigger than your head. I wear 16 shoe. I grew 10 inches in a year. Yeah. Okay. But what does that got to do with it?
Tony Robbins:
And he said, "I'm telling you, you need to come in for your MRI, but I guarantee you have a tumor." And I said, "Doc," I said, "Well, what's the prognosis if I did?" He said, "Well, we do surgery immediately. And he said, "To tell you, obviously, you can die. That's one possibility. But he said, most likely, we'll get it out. You live a long life. But your immune system is not going to be the same as it used to be prepared for the fact that you won't have the kind of energy you have right now. It's like, well, my energy is my life.
Tony Robbins:
And so, I said, "Listen, I want to get a second opinion. And I'm sure ..." Are you still out there? I'm sure you know the Mayo Clinic, they did a study in 2017. There have been many, but the most recent one I saw, they now tell everyone, even their own doctors, people should get a second opinion because they did a study with 286 patients. And when they did the study, they found only 12% of the time was the first diagnosis the same as a second opinion. In other words, 88% of the time that was different.
Rip Esselstyn:
Incredible.
Tony Robbins:
And by having multiple diagnosis it refined it and made it easier to treat. So, I didn't know that study. But because of Jenny, the First Lady, I had learned you better get multiple opinions. And so, I said, "Doc, I'd like a recommendation or a second opinion, because his bedside manner was not ideal. He was very gruff." And he said, "You figure it out yourself."
Tony Robbins:
So, I went to South of France do my event thinking I'll just go to this. He's wrong. Of course, the mind keeps going. So, eventually, I came home and I went and did the MRI. And sure enough, I had a tumor. Good sized one. So, I decided I'm going to try somebody else. I'm going to look at somebody who looks at the biochemical side versus surgery. And I went to this endocrinologist that's in Boston who's very famous man. He had a completely different approach, Rip. He was just the sweetest human being in the world.
Tony Robbins:
He said, "Listen to me, the tumor is there. It actually infarct. It's swelled a little bit of itself up, but it's still there. But I would never do the surgery. It's way too risky. I know of a group in Switzerland who's developed this new treatments and injection only twice a year. You can fly twice a year." And it keeps your arteries from getting too big, because what I have is called gigantism. And the arteries get big and you die, because the blood flow changes.
Tony Robbins:
And I said, "Well, doc," I said, "but you just told me my arteries are normal size for my size body, my size heart." He said, "That's true, but we want to be certain and stays that way." I said, "Well, I'm not certain that the drug is going to be the right answer for me. What if there's side effects." And he said, "Tony, trust me, this is going to be great. This is what you need." So, the other guy wants to cut me and he started to laugh. He was the nicest man. He goes, "The baker wants to bake, the surgeon wants to cut, and I want to drug you." He goes, "That's the nature of things."
Tony Robbins:
So, what if I did nothing and I just measured and if anything got bigger, then I took action. Because why would you recommend that, but it's your choice if that's what you wanted to do. And thank God I chose that. Because six months later, they tried to bring this drug in to the US and the FDA in their studies found it create cancer. So, I missed the bullet again.
Tony Robbins:
I then went to six other doctors. The last doctor I stopped with said to me, "Tony, you have huge amount of this growth hormone but," he said, "you do like the equivalent of two marathons in a weekend, and your body recovers in two days. I really believe that growth hormones allow you of this incredible recovery." And he said, "I know bodybuilders are paying $1,200 a month to get what you're getting for free." So, I've measured since then. I'm 62. I was 32. I've had no problem. And so, that really shifted me.
Tony Robbins:
But why I finally wrote this book was the third thing that happened to me, to give you context, which is I was being an idiot. About five years ago, I'm chasing a young person, who's a pro down the hill, with this snowboard, and I'm snowboarding. I don't have that person's skill. And it was quite disastrous. I thought I broke my neck. But the wreck looked horrible. But thank God all I did, but was still really painful is I ripped the shreds out of my rotator cuffs. And I was zero to 10, nine, nine pain like really, I've been in pain before, but severe nerve pain couldn't sleep, an hour asleep.
Tony Robbins:
So, I found out about PEMF, pulsed electronic magnetic frequency, which I think you know about Rip. And there's like 3000 studies. And I did it and it literally took my pain from nine, nine to about a five. So, now I could sleep. But it didn't make everything recover. It's good for recovering bones. It's good for nerves. But it was just too much going on. So, I went to these doctors. Four doctors were all surgery, surgery, surgery. And I said, "Okay, well, if I do the surgery, what's the prognosis?" "Well, to be honest, you may not be able to lift your arm above your shoulder again." I'm like, "This is what I do for a living."
Tony Robbins:
"And secondly, you couldn't tear again?" And how long would it take for rehab, four to six months. And I'm like, "I can't have one arm when I'm doing with 10, 20,000 people." I said, "There's got to be another option." And I work with a lot of the greatest of all time athletes, some of the most amazing ones in the world. And some of them have really had extraordinary results with stem cells. So, I said, "What about stem cells?" Each doctor, every doctor said no, they'll never do it for this. They're worthless. They're overblown.
Tony Robbins:
So, I called Peter Diamandis. He's a rocket scientist, good friend of mine, and also an MD from Harvard. And I said, "Your network, who can I get to as the best in the world in this so I can get the best answers, not these generalized answers." And he said, "Tony, good to see Dr. Bob Hariri," who is now a partner and coauthor in the book as well. He said, "Bob, I knew Bob was a neurosurgeon, one of the best in the world. But he said no, Tony. He, 38 years ago did the initial studies that helped to discover stem cells."
Tony Robbins:
And so, I didn't know at the time. It's kind of like saying, "You want to learn about basketball? Let me introduce you to my friend, LeBron James." It's kind of like that. And so, I met Bob and Bob said, "Look, Tony, at your age," I was about to be 54. He goes, "Stem cells drop off the cliff at 40. So, autologous, your own stem cells, maybe for an elbow or a knee, but this is never going to be enough." He said, "You need the force of life." That's why I got life force. "You need the energy that comes from 40-year-old stem cells."
Tony Robbins:
I said, "I'm not into fetal tissue." And he said, "No, no, no, it's not that." He said, "When babies are born, the placenta and the cord are often thrown away, most often." Sometimes people save them today because we know more about it. Bob was the first people to discover that. And he said, "But this is very different. It could give you the difference. You can always go back to surgery." So, he told me where to go. I went and did it. I did three days of just an IV, 20 minutes a day, one simple shot.
Tony Robbins:
And oh, I left out the most important part, the fourth doctor had been touched by my work. I didn't know him. I just came in and, "Oh my god, you changed my life. You've done this, you've done that. You're amazing." And then he turns to me and says, literally looks at me like this and says, "Now to be fair, I have to be your doctor. Life as you know it is over." And I said, "Excuse me." And he said, "Well, let me show your spine. You have severe spinal stenosis." Of course, I've been in massive pain for more than 14 years.
Tony Robbins:
And he said, "I'm telling you, you cannot snowboard, you cannot jump on stage, you cannot run." He said, "One good hit, one good fall," and he said, "you literally might not be able to walk again." And you know when somebody hits you in the gut and you're prepared for it, Rip, you know you can handle it, but I'm pretty strong guy, but I got to tell you, there was about two or three hours where I thought my life was over and I finally got my head together. Said there's answers, went and saw Bob, went and did this.
Tony Robbins:
So, here's what happens. Day one, I felt a little tired. I slept. Day two, I had a cytokine response. I'm sure you know what I mean. It's shaking, freezing. I knew what it was, so I wasn't scared. I went to sleep. And I woke up the next morning. And for the first time in 14 years, not only was my shoulder perfect, and I think I'm right still perfect. This is like four years ago. But my spinal stenosis, there was zero pain in my body and there still is in my spine.
Tony Robbins:
And so, I became an evangelist. I want to know everything about every kind of stem cell. And then I discovered it's not just stem cells. There is this revolution in regenerative and precision medicine that's been building for years and it's hitting the customer. It's exploding. So, I get invited by the Pope, I'm leaving out the Pope, at the Vatican every two years brings together the best doctors in the world of regenerative medicine and precision medicine and stem cells. And he brings them all together because he sees this as a gift to humanity.
Tony Robbins:
So, sure enough, I go there and they offered me to be the cleanup speaker for the end of the three days. I said, "Here's the deal, I'll do it. I'll be happy to give the time. But I want to go to the rest of all the classes with the other docs." So, I did. And I had the education of a lifetime. And I met people. I met an 11-year-old child, supposed to die at four, 6% chance of living, got his sister's stem cells when she was born. And because of her, he's alive today.
Tony Robbins:
I met dozens of people, I mean, dozens, more than two dozen people who were sent home either to die or sent to go to hospice because they had severe cancers. This is it. You're terminal. And they didn't give up and they managed to get into a trial. Like for example, for CAR T cells. And they're alive today, five years later, seven years later. By the way CAR T cells in nature this week. You know Rip, cancer doctors never use the word cure.
Tony Robbins:
For these liquid type of cancers are leukemia, the latest study, which shows 10 years later, those CAR T cells are still destroying cancer cells. These people are cancer free. They're calling it a cure now many doctors. So, I met all that. And then I met Jack Nicklaus, the greatest golfer of all time, and he told me, he was in pain where he couldn't stand for more than 10 minutes without being a massive pain. He had to sit down. So, they wanted to fuse his spine. You probably know, Rip, that less than 50% of the time, does that even work? And even if it does, you're not left with your mobility.
Tony Robbins:
And he, thank God, chose these stem cells. And now, he's 82. And he plays tennis again, and golf again and has this great life. So, I came out of that. And I said, "I'm on a mission. I want to take the best of this and bring it the general public as they just don't know about."
Rip Esselstyn:
Had you already started writing the book or was this-
Tony Robbins:
No, I wrote the book because of that trip. Because I learned it wasn't just ... Stem cells are amazing. But that's not all. And so, then I started doing my homework. So, then you and I both know, technology doubles every 18 months in housing cost. And so, that tech revolution is now happening to you and I because we're all code. So, I know you know about CRISPR, I'm sure, and gene therapy cured before.
Rip Esselstyn:
Yeah, no, actually, I don't know about CRISPR until I read it in the book.
Tony Robbins:
Really?
Rip Esselstyn:
Oh, yeah.
Tony Robbins:
Oh, my gosh.
Rip Esselstyn:
Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah.
Tony Robbins:
I'm glad you do. Literally, and you read the book so you know, kids with sickle cell anemia, an uncurable disease, they cure it now with gene therapy. Or there's a young man that was on America's has talent, and he's blind. And now he can see from gene therapy, or just again, stem cells. Some of the greatest athletes in the world who are like the best soccer player, like Ronaldo, he did it instead of three months of therapy. It took him two weeks, and he's back on the field again.
Tony Robbins:
Then we started seeing things like there's a brand new, this is mind boggling. If you have osteoarthritis, there's a company right now that's in phase three trials. Now, for your audience to know, phase one is safety. Phase two is effectiveness, efficacy. And phase three is efficacy at scale. And then, if you hit phase three and you succeed, you get approval from the FDA. So, they're in the final phase of approval. They think they'll get approved in the fall or early spring.
Tony Robbins:
Here's what's unbelievable. Single shot, if you got osteoarthritis pain throughout your whole body, it triggers something called the WNT, WNT pathway. When you're born, you got fetal cells. After that, everything you'd call you was directed by the WNT pathway. It tells the stem cells make this many brain cells, heart cells, et cetera. But as you get older, the signaling system gets weaker.
Tony Robbins:
They've figured out how to turn it on, amplify it or shrink it based on need. And when it comes to somebody with osteoarthritis, that one shot over 11 months, you regrow all your tendons. But it's clean from the epigenome. So, it's like 16-year-old tendons even if they're 40, 50, 60, 70 years old, there's a new test. Feels amazing.
Rip Esselstyn:
Well, that, I mean, I want some of that right now.
Tony Robbins:
Oh, you mean two, brother. I'm in. I'm first in line. I invested in the companies. We'll be one of the first people there, right?
Rip Esselstyn:
But in all seriousness, is this available at Fountain Life centers that you're-
Tony Robbins:
Not literally, we have spotlight centers in seven cities across the US, Abu Dhabi, et cetera. And they're expanding. But I'm not here to help people to go to us. We have an app so we can connect you to people that can do these one for you around the world if you're not near one of our centers. But I'll give you an example.
Tony Robbins:
Another one, heart disease. Heart disease is the number one killer of men and women worldwide. Eighteen million people die a year. We worry about COVID. This goes way beyond what you see in COVID. And now, COVID cases are having heart problems, some of them. But check this out. What's the state of the art? Well, in order to see what's going on inside of you, we want to see is there a buildup within those arteries or not.
Tony Robbins:
And so, a CT scan has been the most advanced way to do that. But if you've ever seen a CT scan, even doctors, they're super hard to read. They're gray. They're difficult. A lot of times, people end up with surgeries they don't need. It's really hard to deal with. And they don't tell you this. Is this calcified because if it's calcified, then all of a sudden, it means it's healed. You have nothing to worry about versus is it soft? If it's soft, it can break off and they call it the widow maker, give you a stroke or give you a heart attack.
Tony Robbins:
And so, one of my partners called me less than six months ago. He said, "Tony, this is the guy who, by the way, who owns 12 hospitals. He's selling all of them now because he's totally full in on precision medicine and regenerative medicine. He doesn't want to be part of the disease culture anymore." And so, this guy is an understanding guy, never overstates. He's like, everybody leans in when Dr. Bill Kapp speaks.
Tony Robbins:
And so, he says, "Tony," in his gentle way, he said, "I've been exposed. And we've got some first exposure to what I believe is one of the first and biggest breakthroughs in the last 10 years in cardiology." And so, I'm leaning in Bill, "What is it?" And Bill says, "Well, you know CT scans?" I said, "Yeah." He goes, "This is called a CCTA scan. It's made by a company called Cleerly. We got the first access."
Tony Robbins:
He goes, "It'll be available to everybody overtime." But he said, "It literally uses an AI to take that CT scan and open your arteries digitally. Go in and search for and see is the plaque calcified or not. If it's calcified, you're healed. There's nothing to worry about. If it's not calcified, then it can break off and you can have a problem. And it can predict a heart attack up to five years in advance. But more importantly, tell you where it is and tell you what to do to cleanse it out of your body."
Tony Robbins:
So, my father-in-law is with me and he's just turned 80. And so, I sit down. And by the way, I've seen this man. He's a self-made man. He had a lumber business. But when you get near 80, a lot of people start saying, "Well, you're getting older. You should organize your affairs." And I could watch over the last two or three years, his energy dropping and just the mindset.
Tony Robbins:
And so, I said, "Dad." I told him about this thing. I said, "I'm going to go do this test. Nothing wrong with it." But I said, "I'd love you to come with me." I said, we're both old enough, we're going to have some of those soft plaques. But it'd be good to know where they are. And they'll give us a plan to clean it up. So, he says okay.
Tony Robbins:
So, we fly to the center here in Florida, in Western Florida. And I bring my pops there. He gets tested, Rip. He has no soft, no problems whatsoever. He's clean as a whistle. I mean, the guy looks like he's 25 years old. And when they tell him this, his entire world changes. I was better, much better than I was five years ago. I'm in really great shape. But he was better than I was. Just totally amazing.
Tony Robbins:
And then there's these techniques that we've done for some of the greatest athletes I've had done. If an athlete, they can have a career ending injury. And the injury is often soft tissue, then you can't get circulation through and sometime nerves get trapped. And so, there's this approach where they scan the body and they can see exactly what's going on. And then they use a very simple syringe and they use the fluid, amnio fluids that you were born in and they open up the tissue, circulation returns, and the nerve if it's trapped, pops up.
Tony Robbins:
So, I have this ankle from being on stage 14, 15 years ago, nothing in rehab worked. And if somebody, even a massage therapist, don't touch the ankle because if you touch it, it felt like a nerve was shocking me through my whole body. I went in there, took five minutes. They figured it out, treated it. That was two years ago. You can smack me, nothing feels that way. So, I said to my dad, "Well, while you're here, you got this hip problem. Why don't you let the docs look at you."
Tony Robbins:
So, they scanned him. They see exactly what the problem is. They treat him in less than 30 minutes. He walks down the hall because what makes you feel old is pain and not smoothness. He walks smooth as silk. You're like a new man. So, we get on the plane. He appreciate this, Rip. And I sat across from him and he's got his arms crossed like this.
Tony Robbins:
And he goes, "You know, Tony," he says, "you know these guys are talking about living 110, 120. I don't know about that. Because you know what? I can live another 20 years. My heart is perfect. It's like a 25-year-old. I'm walking perfect." He goes, "You've only been married to my daughter 22 years. That's like a whole another lifetime." His whole life has changed.
Tony Robbins:
So, I'm obsessed with finding those tools. And within the space, it’s like Dr. David Sinclair, the longevity expert from Harvard, who's actually showed we could slow ... And in animals, he's actually reverse the aging process. And now, he's starting to test it in humans. He's 53 years old, chronologically. But he's 33 biologically. You can measure it now because your organs and body doesn't know age at the same pace. I've been doing what he did to his father.
Tony Robbins:
He was 80 years old and 10 years ago, he barely could walk, was losing cognition. Now, he outlives David in the gym at 80 years old, walks two to three miles a day. Cognition is great. I've done it for about nine months, I just did my test. I'm 62, but I'm 51 chronologically. So, my goal is keep doing these things to hopefully get into early 40s as my body is concerned.
Tony Robbins:
So, we're living in the greatest time to be alive, but most people know nothing is going on because they're stuck in standard of care. Or we hear nothing but COVID and death and fear. And so, I really want to bring it forward. So, everything in this book, none of it is my opinion. I interviewed 150 of the best Nobel laureate, scientists and regenerative doctors, the best in the world. And everything is there and everything is documented.
Tony Robbins:
And what it basically do is I bring you the best on earth, and you know what to do to increase your energy or your strength or your vitality at any age, or if you're really having a problem, here's how to turn it around. And here are some of the tools that help you never get caught up in the problem in the first place with a kind of diagnosis. And then, if you end up with cancer, heart disease, or Alzheimer's, here are the best tools that are available in the world today. And we're donating 100% of the profits like I did my last three books.
Tony Robbins:
I was fed when I was 11 years old. So, I fed 42 million people up until seven years ago. And then, I set a goal to feed 100 million people a year, a billion people over 10 years. I partnered with Feeding America, and we're seven years into it, and we're at 850 million meals. And so, this book, all the profits feed 20 million people. And then the balance goes to Alzheimer's, cancer and heart disease research. So, the book can change someone's life, but also it's helping other people simultaneously.
Rip Esselstyn:
Now, that's amazing. And you know, based upon what you've written about in the book and the power of simple lifestyle changes, do you know if the meals that you're sending out, are they kind of pivoting a little bit to be more plant-based?
Tony Robbins:
Well, it depends on who you deal with. Feeding America tries to do that anyway. But they're the best organization because they're distribution channel. And so, I can get the mass number. So, I encourage the heck out of it. And they're really open to it. But in some regions, it's harder than others because you're dealing with food banks.
Tony Robbins:
But a lot of this food is donated and a lot of it is plant-based. It's just the nature of what usually gets donated to them. And that's the good news of it. You don't see TV dinners being donated or things of that nature. But I can't control the whole piece. I got to start with just getting people food and try to give them the best source we possibly can.
Tony Robbins:
We're heading towards a billion meals. And then, I have an XPRIZE that I did. I funded a million dollars of it. And I've got the heads of the UAE to help me and partner with me with a $20 million prize. And we have people going to start competing from all over the world to come up with vegetable-based protein sources that are delicious enough for people to go, so think of impossible beef on steroids. I mean, not physically steroids, but improved.
Tony Robbins:
And the winner has to add the one that they have a group of chefs that will compete, the highest best chefs in the world to get something that's flavorful so that someone does it because it tastes better. Not because it's better. Because guys like you are going to eat it because it's healthier. But the majority of people that doesn't taste better are not going to change. So, we're trying to enter their world and provide a cost basis that's lower than anything else in the world as well so that we can feed the extra billion people that are in the planet here that aren't sure where they're going to find their next meal.
Rip Esselstyn:
We'll get right back to Tony. But first, I wanted to share a letter, especially while we're discussing actions to take today to improve your health and your health span. My name is Carol. I'm 77 and a half, on no medication. I have been vegan since my mid-30s. And I am now PLANTSTRONG. I am so grateful PLANTSTRONG is universally known. God bless everyone that's involved making PLANTSTRONG a household name.
Rip Esselstyn:
Every day, I look in the mirror, put my thumb up and say, "I am PLANTSTRONG." I feel every beautiful plant that lights up my body. As you can tell, I'm very grateful. Thank you so much for reading. Thank you for your time and energy. Carol.
Rip Esselstyn:
I want to thank you on behalf of the whole planet strong team for your super kind note. And I want to give you a big thumbs up right back. Kale, yeah, you are PLANTSTRONG and at 77 and a half. You are a shining example of what Tony and I are talking about today. Understanding that your DNA is not your destiny and you must be the CEO of your own health. We can all feel that beautiful PLANTSTRONG light shining through in your words. So, thank you so much and continue to stay young.
Rip Esselstyn:
Before we dive back in with Tony, I do want to say, my kale cousins, that I want to invite you to come check out PLANTSTRONG Foods and discover the ever growing assortment of products that we are creating to support your lifestyle and fuel your best life. You know it by now that all of our cereals granolas, popcorn and pizza crust are 100% whole grain, oil free, low sodium and with no added sugar.
Rip Esselstyn:
Our culinary broths are unsalted and will both enhance and elevate your PLANTSTRONG cooking and are ready to eat chilies and stews that are the perfect pantry staple, guaranteeing you are never more than 90 seconds away from a satisfying meal that sticks to your ribs. Visit plantstrongfoods.com today and you can save 10% when you start any subscription plan. I want you to know that we're working hard to create more products to help make PLANTSTRONG living easier and easier. Thank you so much for your support.
Rip Esselstyn:
Now, in the book, you mentioned how when you were younger, you were vegan when it wasn't kind of a thing at all, bit of a trailblazer like that.
Tony Robbins:
Yes.
Rip Esselstyn:
What has happened with you and the way you fuel yourself over the years? Are you still predominantly plant-based? Is that fair to say?
Tony Robbins:
I'm about 75%. I look at every meal, about 75 to 80% of it to be plant water based, and then 20% some form of protein. But I went to fish at one point for about 10 years after being a vegan. I just felt like I needed a little bit of protein. I've burned 11,300 calories in a day on stage, if you can imagine. So, the demands required more than I was getting from just plant-based elements. So, I made that shift.
Tony Robbins:
But then, I had another challenge. Around 54, I have found myself on stage. And I don't use notes or anything like that. I'm in the audience. I'm 12 hours a day. I'm fully immersed with people. I got to keep them engaged. And suddenly, I tell the story go, why I was telling that story or what was I talking about. And it got so bad, the audience didn't notice because I was good at what I do. But I didn't want to tell my wife. I was like, "I couldn't have dementia at 54 years old."
Tony Robbins:
But when it turned out was when I went through the situation my shoulder, these blood tests and one of the things they uncovered was I had massive mercury poisoning. And when I say massive, they measured zero to five, I was 123, the most they'd ever measured in the state of New York. I live in Florida. They contacted the Florida Health Department, who came to my home and interviewed my staff because they thought maybe my wife was trying to kill me because they've never seen so much mercury at a large life insurance policy, which of course she was not.
Tony Robbins:
But then they can measure from the source and they found it was fish. And it's because we pollute our oceans and I was having swordfish and tuna salad, swordfish and tuna salad, which is fish in salad because it was fuel. I wasn't doing it for enjoyment. I needed it for the fuel. And sure enough, these older fish eat all the smaller fish and they absorb all of their mercury. And then, my DNA does not methylate as well, just genetically. So, it went through the roof. I burned a hole in my esophagus. I lost a third of my blood supply, I was rushed to the hospital.
Tony Robbins:
So, it takes time. I'm down to like eight on a zero to five scale after all these years. And I tell people it's one of the tests you've got to do as well, such a cheap test. But one of the three people that I've recommended have a metals test will find may have cadmium or they have lead or they have aluminum or they have mercury. And you want to catch it when it's small and easy to deal with. Because a lot of people have ... They think they have long-term COVID or they had fuzzy thinking or they have low energy. And it's usually metals that are disrupting them. And it's easy to solve.
Tony Robbins:
Another one is cancer, by the way, and diagnostics. The one common thing, Rip, in the entire book is I put these stories of these heroes in there. So, you learn these new tools that are mind boggling. But you also go on a journey that's really beautiful. And it also teaches you what to do when you face a giant challenge by modeling people that have done it. But of 150 I interviewed, almost every great person who created a breakthrough have one thing in common. They have this enormous drive that almost always came from losing someone they loved, a husband, a wife, a child or someone really close to them.
Tony Robbins:
And what it did, Rip, is it made them gear up and say, "I will not accept the standard of care. There is another answer." And go 10, 20, 30 years to where we are now where we have answers that we've never had before, like CAR T cells is just one example. So, on the blood, I mean, on the cancer side, the Cancer Society just came out recently and did a study with 100,000 people. And the most important thing that came out of that study was, they found that if you catch things at stage three or four, statistically you have an 80% chance of dying. I prefer the 20% chance of living, you'll figure out what that is.
Tony Robbins:
But your point is, it's hard to turn around. If you catch it at stage one or two, you got an 80 to 99.9% chance of living, and it's sometimes even an outpatient component that can be there. The problem is we have some tests for cancer, mammograms, colonoscopies, but most of the cancers that get us we don't have tests for. So, a man who lost his wife two and a half years to cancer. And he was a Google guy, very wealthy and very smart man. When his wife died, he decided that his number one thing was she would have lived if they could, it's true, if they would have caught it earlier. They caught it at stage almost four.
Rip Esselstyn:
Is this Carl Jung you're talking about?
Tony Robbins:
No, no. I'm talking about a different gentleman. This gentleman on the cancer side is a gentleman that work for Google. I can't remember his first name, but he's a brilliant guy, Jeff Huber is his name, Jeff Huber. And Jeff created something called GRAIL. It just came out in the last five months. And it's a blood test that can go through your bloodstream. It's super inexpensive, and can find up to 50 different cancers, ones we don't normally have tests for, and let you know even before you have symptoms. So, I'll give an example.
Tony Robbins:
At one of our life centers, we had a man that came by. His wife was pushing and saying, "You got to get the latest in diagnostics." And he's like, "Honey, I just did a normal physical and they did my blood and they did my urinalysis, and I'm fine." We did this GRAIL test with him, found out he had bladder cancer. But it was just the beginning of it. So, it was an outpatient procedure that took 20 minutes, and he's cancer free.
Tony Robbins:
So, it's like, we have to know what's going on. So, the CTTA test for your heart, MRI for what they can't find is on the blood brain barrier, so MRI does that, And the rest, your GRAIL. You catch it when it's little. It's a different world. So, that's part of what this book is about also is discovering what you can do.
Tony Robbins:
And I'll give you one more just hormones. All women, pretty much, especially women in their late 30s, early 40s, are familiar with hormone replacement therapy because of menopause. And there's a lot of conflict. I wrote, by the way, I have an entire chapter in the book on women's health, but I did not write it, because I'm not a woman. I wanted written from a woman's perspective. So, I brought three of the best female doctors together. And it's got breakthrough information for people to clarify what's really the latest science today.
Tony Robbins:
But hormone replacement therapy is when you're so far down the line. But even for men, your hormones start to change earlier, sometimes mid-30s, late 30s, certainly early 40s for many people. And you don't have to go for replacement if you deal with it earlier on. So, we had a man who came to one of the life centers, really frustrated. He's trying to work out like crazy. Nothing's working. He's 36 pounds overweight. His wife is upset because he doesn't seem to stay focused. He's frustrated, doesn't feel like he can concentrate.
Tony Robbins:
And we said, "Well, have you looked at your hormones? Have you had a hormone test?" "Oh, yeah, hormone tests, doctor says I'm fine." So, we look at his test, and his hormones, his testosterone was I think 225 if I remember right. And I don't know if you know it, Rip, but most men don't feel like human unless they have seven, eight or 900, sometimes slightly more to feel alive. But most doctors don't tell you till you're like 175 and it's a real problem. So, a small amount of supplementation of that testosterone in three and a half months, he lost the 36 pounds, feels like he's 10 years younger and changed his life.
Tony Robbins:
So, there's so many little things that if you know what's going on that you can do. And around cancer, by the way, I'm sure you probably already know this. But broccoli sprouts. I mean, we show you all these high tech things, when we show these simple things. So, broccoli sprouts have sulforaphane in them. And there are thousands of studies showing how it prevents cancer. But more importantly, studies show it reduced breast cancer in the breast by 80%. So, it's like there's so much you can do and you got your kale across your shirt. So, I'm sure you know these things, but most people don't.
Tony Robbins:
And so, we show you the little things that are not high tech that can change your life immediately and show you the high tech things as well that can transform your energy, your health and your strength.
Rip Esselstyn:
Yes, you do. And you and I are both friends with Doug Evans, the sprout man, who god, he's pushing those sprouts in the sulforaphane in the broccoli. It's pretty cool.
Tony Robbins:
Thankfully, yes.
Rip Esselstyn:
I would love it ... Again, I found the book to be so it flowed so nicely the way you mix the science with all these great stories to back it up. And I'm not pronouncing his name right I don't think, but you talked about under the heroes of regenerative medicine, Martine Rothblatt, if I'm not mistaken.
Tony Robbins:
Oh, Martine, Martine Rothblatt.
Rip Esselstyn:
Martine, and how she just kind of was at the head of the class as far as being trailblazers. [crosstalk 00:43:42]. Yeah.
Tony Robbins:
Martine, people would know her name because they may know her name anyway, she was one of the highest paid CEOs in the United States because she created Sirius Radio. She was scientist kind of a tech person. She was actually a man who became a woman. Her wife and kids got to vote and she transformed, but she didn't feel she was that normal component. She felt she was herself. And so, she built this huge company, Sirius Radio.
Tony Robbins:
And then her daughter, Genesis is her name, developed a special lung disease and was told that she would die and there's no treatment for it. And this is a woman who is a real creator. And so, what'd she do? She sold her stock, cashed in, took all her money and say, "I'm going to save my daughter's life." And she said, "I cannot believe there's no drug for this." And there's a waiting list of more than 100,000 people for lungs and various organ transplants. You got to be lucky to get there and her daughter wasn't being lucky and she started to not be able to breathe.
Tony Robbins:
And so, she started with a simple biology book, started with a library and studying everything she could about human biology. And then, she hired some of the greatest experts in the world. And she went out with every resource she had and she finally found a drug company who had a drug that had failed for what they're using it for, but it changed one of the side effects of the drug, changed the pressurization around the lungs.
Tony Robbins:
And that's exactly what you needed for a daughter. So, she attempted to buy it. But they wouldn't sell it to her. They said, "We're not going to sell you this. This didn't work. It's powder." But no for her, she always says no is always you need at least 100 nos before you get a yes, that's standard. And her mindset is I'm getting a yes. So, they wouldn't give it to her. She's not a doctor. So, she hired all these doctors. She went and worked on every way she could to solve this.
Tony Robbins:
She finally convinced them to sell this little powder, which they sold in this little bag that had been in a lab. I think it was, [inaudible 00:45:31]. I think it was like $25,000 and a percentage of some future profits. But they fought it. She did nothing with it. She saved her daughter's life. She built the company, now has evaluation, I think it's about $6 billion. And she saved thousands of lives with this. But she didn't stop there. She said this is great for some, but some people it's not enough. They need a replacement lung. And there aren't enough of them.
Tony Robbins:
So, she created a machine that could take lungs that are damaged, heal them up, and then send them to doctors to replace within people. And then, she said the future though is we need replacements for all our organs. Listen, if you got an old car and you replaced the tires and the axle and you replaced the engine and you replaced the paint, you got a new car, basically. She said, why can't we do that with human beings.
Tony Robbins:
And so, you may know that Dr. Anthony Atala from Wake Forest University for 12 years has been working with the Department of Defense. And if a guy gets his gear blown off, I have a picture in the book, he takes their own stem cells, sprays them on a scaffolding. And in 45 days, they have an ear to put back on, on your head that looks exactly like your ear and doesn't get rejected because it's made of your stem cells. He's done 12 years of bladders for people that have never been rejected. So, his work has stimulated many other people.
Tony Robbins:
So, there's two races going on. There are people, and Martine is doing one of these, which is she's one of the people building these organs. And it sounds like sci-fi, but it's happening right now. But she also said, "I need a parallel track that could get us there quicker, because there are people dying right now because they can't get organs." And our view was pig organs are almost identical in size to humans, but you can't replace them because they have their own viruses that we would destroy our bodies and we would reject.
Tony Robbins:
So, she teamed up with some geneticists at Harvard. And together, they figured a way using gene therapy to get these viruses off the animal, kind of humanize the pig organ. And they said because 1% of all the pigs we slaughtered for bacon would provide all the organs you would need. And so, she told me, "I think this is the first solution." Showed me where she was. I interviewed her about this for the first time two years ago and followed up a year ago.
Tony Robbins:
And a year ago, I said, "What do you think? Is this really going to happen?" She said, "Tony, right around the time your book comes out, we'll be replacing somebody's heart for the first time." And I thought, that sounds a little fast from nowhere. But I don't know if you saw. But two weeks ago, three weeks ago, they just did the first heart replacement with a pig into a normal human being.
Tony Robbins:
And she was the company that provide the resources for it. So, they're beginning that process while they're also, there's a group called AMRMI, A-M-R-M-I that's work in Department of Defense. And they're building this conveyor belt to do what Dr. Atala does, where they put in your skin cells. They could convert it to what are called pluripotent stem cells, stem cells that can become anything. And they go through a six week to eight-week process.
Tony Robbins:
And on the other side, you end up with an organ. And they believe in two years, and again, these guys are the smartest in the world, in two years, we should have our first pediatric hearts because if a little baby has a heart problem, you can't do a replacement. And right now thus far, they're on target to do it. So, we're living again in a time that's beyond imagination for most people.
Rip Esselstyn:
No, it's mind boggling. It truly is. And then also, I think I read in your book, like 3D printers that are able to print.
Tony Robbins:
That's what this is. They take your stem cells. They spray across this structure and they 3D print your organs for you. And they don't get rejected because it's your own stem cells. They're also, by the way, if somebody gets burned like a fireman or someone falls in a fire and their face is disfigured, for time immemorial the way they treat this most people don't know is they put cadaver skin on you, pretty grotesque. And then your face looks pretty mangled.
Tony Robbins:
Well, there are I think it's 12 hospitals now in the US that have this new spray on stem cell approach. They take your stem cells. They spray them on. I have a picture in the book and a link so you can watch a video. And you see this person who looks totally disfigured. And then you see him six weeks later, it looks like they weren't even burned. Again, all this sounds like sci-fi or miracles. It is miraculous, but it's happening as we speak.
Rip Esselstyn:
And for in for people that want, are interested in this, if they just go to the Fountain Life centers in the app.
Tony Robbins:
Yeah, they can go to the app and that will do it. But also in the book, you don't even have to do business with us. We have a company that does a lot of these things. But I recommend to you and show you who the doctor are, where they're doing anywhere or they can go to lifeforce.com. And that'll take you to Fountain Life if you're interested in diagnostics, or there's another company called My Life Force that does peptides and hormones and things of that nature.
Rip Esselstyn:
So, let's talk for a second about sleep. Because I think, until you dove in with Matthew Walker and why we sleep, you I think were having ... You didn't sleep the greatest, is that correct?
Tony Robbins:
I'll sleep when I die was my adage. My wife loves eight-hour sleep. "Please come to bed." "Honey, I'll sleep when I die. Don't worry. I don't need to sleep." And so, I've run pretty hard in my life. And then I meet Dr. Walker, who is a neuroscientist, head of neurology over there at UC Berkeley. He's kind of like the sleep guru of the world at Google and people like that. And he convinced me. I'll tell you, he convinced me.
Tony Robbins:
First of all, I'm doing my homework on sleep at 615 in the morning and I got to be up at 930. So, there's nothing wrong with this picture. And then I meet him. And he says, "Tony, I think I can convince you that you need more sleep." And he goes, "I'll tell you how. We've done a study on 1.6 billion people around sleep." I said, "There's no way you could have coordinated that." [crosstalk 00:51:08]. He said, "I don't have to because it's called daytime savings, daylight savings and it happens in 70 countries."
Tony Robbins:
And here's what they found out. This is wild. In 70 countries, when we spring forward and we lose an hour, just one hour, within three days, the average number of heart attacks in all 70 countries are up 24%. Here's what's nuts. When we fall back and we get the extra hour of sleep that one night for three days, heart attacks dropped by an average of 21%. He even shows it around traffic. If you're a man like me, you sleep four or five hours a night, your testosterone is usually that level of a man 10 years older than you are. If you're a woman and you're saying, "Why am I not as intimate, much desire, why am I so frazzled?"
Tony Robbins:
For women, their organism works very differently. So, if they need eight hours and they only get seven, for every hour they don't get, they have a reduction in desire about 16%. So, two hours and there's no way she wants to be intimate even though she loves you. So, I tell, "Men, get your women to sleep they deserve and get the sleep you want." And all you got to do are some simple things. One, you need to have a consistent time to fall asleep and wake up because the body works on rhythms, patterns. And if you're constantly disrupting it, which I did, it makes it tough on the body to say the least. And it ages you.
Tony Robbins:
Two, you need to keep the temperature in the room between 65 and 67 degrees. Because that cold or you get one of those chill pads, it'll make you go deeper in sleep. You get deeper deep sleep and REM sleep.
Tony Robbins:
Three, you really want to get an eye mask or dark curtains because even a small amount of light affects you. And what you don't want to do is look at blue light. Most people know that, but most people do like when people look at their phones or their iPads, or their TVs, I mean, it's hard to sleep because of the blue light. Now, you can just pop on these little kind of rose-colored glasses, do the same thing. But when you're ready to sleep, your brain will go there quicker.
Tony Robbins:
So, those are a couple things people can do right away. But sleep is critical. It affects everything, your hormones. It affects your attitude. It'll affect your mood. It'll affect just about anything you can imagine.
Rip Esselstyn:
What about coffee? Are you drinking coffee? Because [crosstalk 00:53:17]-
Tony Robbins:
I never drink coffee, fortunately.
Rip Esselstyn:
Wow, good for you.
Tony Robbins:
But if you want to find some alternatives to coffee if you possibly can or at least do something that's decaf coffee. Coffee is the habit. Maybe try some tea if you want to do it or something of that nature. But coffee is pretty rough. But I know most people do it. So then, how do you alkalize your body to balance out the acid of the coffee. And as you know, the best way you can do that is with your diet, of course, Rip. But there are also other tools that you can use to get your body to be more balanced out. But I think it's really important for people to understand that.
Rip Esselstyn:
Yeah. You I love to come back to the section you wrote on the power of simple lifestyle changes.
Tony Robbins:
Yes.
Rip Esselstyn:
Now, to basically add 12 years to your life, just eating healthier, exercise and intermittent fasting.
Tony Robbins:
Yeah. Intermittent fasting is fantastic.
Rip Esselstyn:
Yup.
Tony Robbins:
And most people, fasting seems really difficult. But intermittent fasting, Dr. Longo's work, is extraordinary. And it's like if you cannot eat for three hours before you go to sleep and then if you do sleep eight hours, you eat in the morning, it's 12 hours later, that's enough for most people. That's not that hard to do. But it lets the digestive system relax. And that's when your body's able to heal. Most people don't realize, but if they've ever gone on a full blown fast, which of course I do once or twice a year.
Tony Robbins:
Day one might be tough. Day two is easier. By day three, you have no desire for food. You realize how much it is psychological and I always ask people, did your energy increase or decrease. It increases massively because digestion uses energy and the body needs a chance to rest and balance itself out. We weren't made to have Hovis food. This is a recent experience in terms of humanity and our own evolution.
Tony Robbins:
But I will mention one thing though. Little changes, as you mentioned, Rip, or some things we try to show people, because big changes seem overwhelming for people. So, there was a study done with Lancet. People, for example, we have epidemic levels right now of people with blood sugar issues, pre-diabetes, diabetes issue. It's absolutely insane. And most people think that they talk to their doctor and the doctors mean the best they can, but the half life of a medical education according to Harvard 2017 study was 16 to 24 months. And they said by 2022 would be 73 days.
Tony Robbins:
That means, let's take the old version even. That means if you're an incredible doctor who gave your soul to learn, within a year and a half, half of what you learned is worthless. So, where do they learn? The pharmaceutical salesperson. That's how the opioid crisis happened. Can you imagine being a doctor? They're the most devoted people. They often give up their own health for their own taking care of their patients, and you want to help somebody. And so, they tell you, this is not addictive. It's the best thing we can do. And you give it to all your patients and then they get addicted and die.
Tony Robbins:
And the doctors are put in the worst position today. So, most of them are unaware of these things. But what most of them are unaware of is that diabetes, they might tell you, you got to live with it. And we got to do our best to manage it. So, you don't go blind or you don't lose a toe or something of that nature. But the most recent studies in the UK show you can absolutely cure diabetes. Well, you have to lose on average of about 24 pounds. It's the fat that gets into your liver that causes the dysregulation of blood sugar in your body of insulin.
Tony Robbins:
And so, they've shown again and again what can be done. But also, if you just lose weight and you stop taking in 300 less calories a day, that's like a bagel a day, that's like one Starbucks, over two years Lancet show the average person lost 16 pounds. Their blood pressure was transformed. And their blood sugar was transformed. Three hundred calories, one bagel. And we started saying this, sure, I could do that. And that's part of what the book is about. Here's the highest tech thing that can solve it all for you. And here's the simplest thing that you do right now.
Rip Esselstyn:
Well, one of your scientific advisors that I'm friends with is, Dr. Dean Ornish.
Tony Robbins:
Yeah, he's a genius.
Rip Esselstyn:
And what I love is that what Dean does is he makes it drop dead simple. It's like, listen, you know what, let's focus on the foundation of eating a whole food, plant-based diet. And this is one of the most powerful ways to basically I'm going to call it you refer to a jackpot gene in the book, I'm going to call this the jackpot diet because your dinner will outperform your DNA. And this will really help determine you talk about the top six, the heart disease, cancer, the diabetes, the inflammation and autoimmune diseases.
Rip Esselstyn:
And he basically says, "I am done with the diet wars. The science is so heavy on this that you decide if you want to do this or not, but this is the most simple thing that you can do." And then you talk about Valter Longo. And that is longevity diet. And it almost mirrors what Dean is talking about.
Tony Robbins:
A hundred percent. That's why both of them in the book like. And Dean is a dear friend. Dean's also right now in the middle of he can't reveal the results yet. So, I'm not going to tell you what he told me in detail. But I can give you the inference, which is he's doing an Alzheimer study right now with nothing but dietary change, pretty much what you teach when I teach primarily plant-based, really simple, some stress reduction.
Tony Robbins:
All I can tell you without giving away the details because it's not appropriate, I gave him a bunch of money myself. I donated all the money from this book. But I additionally donated a big chunk of money to him because I watch video after video of people that couldn't remember the name, couldn't remember who they are. And four months later, five months later, they're totally cognizant where they are. And all they did was make these lifestyle changes. So, he's in the middle of that study right now. I cannot wait for it to come out. Because it's not drug based and it's incredibly effective.
Rip Esselstyn:
And speaking of Alzheimer's, you have a whole chapter. It's chapter 17, on basically tackling the big six through new breakthroughs and with Alzheimer's, which you said was kind of personal to you because your biological father suffered from it.
Tony Robbins:
That's right.
Rip Esselstyn:
And there's some big breakthroughs there. And I think one of them you talked about is fun guy. [crosstalk 00:59:24]
Tony Robbins:
Wasn't it wild?
Rip Esselstyn:
Yeah, totally wild. Totally wild.
Tony Robbins:
Those mushrooms. Damn, I forget its name. [Stemmons 00:59:34], I think it is. Many people seen him. There's actually an Apple documentary he did on fungi. I mean, it's just amazing what these mushrooms can do to your body. And there's some of these mushrooms. One of them tastes like lobster. And it's shown to create neurogenesis in the brain, just extraordinary. But also, there's a group out of the one of the greatest breakthroughs that I see happening. There's so many breakthroughs in Alzheimer's.
Tony Robbins:
Right now, there's a drug that just got approved that was very controversial, because a lot of the advisory committee did not want to approve. They did it anyway. I think because they just wanted something. And one of the side effects can be brain bleeding. It's not selling well right now, thank god. But if you go the traditional approach, it doesn't seem like there's victories. But right now, we're at the base of a bunch of solutions that are coming together.
Tony Robbins:
One of them was funded by Google by a group with them. And they have this experimental drug. And this is what's so fascinating. Most people think, okay, once you hit full blown Alzheimer's, like my father, he didn't know who I was. He didn't know who anybody was. It's over. You lost all your memories. But at least in animals, they've proven that the neuroinflammation is keeping the communication from happening. But the memories are still there.
Tony Robbins:
And with this experimental drug, they're taking down the neuroinflammation. And they're showing that these animals have the memory like going through a maze that they knew how to do two years before and they can't do now, they can't remember, they go straight through it right away after this. So, to me, that's one of the most exciting things. The idea that even if somebody had full blown Alzheimer's, that there's the potential that those memories can be recovered. That's a very exciting new breakthrough.
Rip Esselstyn:
Yeah. While we're winding down here, I want to just turn to the mind because that's quintessential Tony Robbins. And there's a quote. However vast the darkness, we must supply our own light, Stanley Kubrick. And to suffer or not to suffer. Can you talk a little bit about that and the power of decision and the gift of living in a beautiful state?
Tony Robbins:
So, if you get this book, it's a big book. And you can go through. It's broken up in ways you can easily go through it. But I hope everybody reads the last two chapters, I tell that even the first two chapters. Because if you always create things for your body but you don't manage your mind and your emotions, you're going to have a terrible life. You can have a body that's perfect, but the mind can make you suffer over little things, much less big things.
Tony Robbins:
And so, one of the things I try to show first is just the power of the mind. Most people don't realize its physiological power to heal you or to make you sick. So, we all know about placebos. Most people don't know that they only recently discovered during World War II. And what they discovered is there was a doctor treating people who are in combat. And they needed morphine because otherwise, they're going to shock, not only the pain, but they're going to shock and they die.
Tony Robbins:
And the person that actually discovered this, as I understand it, was a nurse. She didn't tell the doctor first. She just gave him saline in injectors, and said, "Oh, we found some more morphine." And she's just trying to be compassionate. I don't know why she did it. But all I know is he believed her. So, he had so much certainty when he talked to the patient. He said, "Listen, you're going to be out of pain in literally a minute or two. You're going to make it." And he injected them.
Tony Robbins:
And every single person survived. They didn't go to shock. Most of them got out of pain and they had no drug. Then he discovered that it was healing. So, he went back, after World War II, he went back to Harvard. And he meet the person that started what basically now is the standard. We compare a drug to an inert substance to see that the drug really work against the placebo. But what most people don't know is many placebos do better than the drugs, but you don't make billions of dollars selling placebos.
Tony Robbins:
And it's also the bigger the intervention, the more your brain believes. So, a small pill versus a bigger pill, the bigger pill will give a greater result. An injection provides a bigger change in your body, a placebo injection than a pill. A surgery, a fake surgery, the VA, Veteran Administration, did a study, arthroscopic surgery. They took a third of the people and did a fake surgery. They put them under. They put an X here, cut just the skin and sewed it up and did nothing to the knee.
Tony Robbins:
One year later, the people had no treatment but thought they had a treatment, had little or no pain, were walking perfectly compared to those that have the surgery itself. So, they no longer funded. And it's even more than that. Your mind can overcome the power of a drug.
Tony Robbins:
So, Harvard did a study where they gave people barbiturates. But they made it a big red pill and said, "This is an amphetamine." So, barbiturates make your body go through the floor. They said it's an amphetamine, you're going to speed up and to a man or a woman, their body sped up. They didn't give them a placebo. They gave him an actual drug and their belief overcame it and changed it. And then there are people that have done studies over and over again about how we age based on our belief system.
Tony Robbins:
But here's the last one. We can make ourselves sick based on our beliefs based upon our perceptions. So, for example, kind of the father of psychoneuroimmunology, the study of how your mind affects your immune system is a man named Norman Cousins. He was UCLA professor, was diagnosed with this disease, and they thought he would die and it created enormous pain in his body, and he decided he was going to cure his pain and cure his disease by laughing.
Tony Robbins:
And people thought he was nuts. He was a very bright man. He wrote a book called an Anatomy of An Illness, which became kind of a bestseller and kind of launched psychoneuroimmunology to a different level.
Tony Robbins:
And he literally would watch all these old comedies, laughed his ass off, the pain would disappear. But then, his immune system kicked in. And as a result, he lived and wrote these books and gave very famous. So, I met him when I was 24. He was interested in my Fire Walk, because he was blown away by how the mind could affect the body. And so, we became friends and I interviewed him for those days through our podcasts. I had this little program on cassettes called Power Talk.
Tony Robbins:
And in the interview, he shared with me stories. He said, "Tony, we know we can make ourselves sick. We can take our fears and our beliefs and make other people sick virally." I said, "What do you mean?" He said, "Well, you know if you're around somebody and they yawn, and then, don't do that." You're yawning. Or somebody laughs hysterically, and it's not that funny, but they're laughing, so you find yourself laughing because that's a vitamin by viral.
Tony Robbins:
I'll give an example. I was at a university football game. And he said, a person got visually sick in the stands, projectile vomiting. Everybody's trying to get out of the way. They call for a doctor. The doctor comes. He tries to figure out what the cause is. As he's trying to interview this man, he finds nothing different, except an hour earlier, 45 minutes earlier, he went to the vending machine and had a coke. And he started to say, "Well, maybe it seemed the only thing different, maybe there's something poisonous in the Coke. Maybe there's some chemical that's linked into it."
Tony Robbins:
So that in order to make sure no one else got sick, they make over the loudspeaker at halftime to everybody there, "Please do not use the vending machines. There is a challenge that might make you sick." A lot of people saw this guy get sick to start with. And he said, "Tony, you will not believe it. It was like a movie." He said, "Within five minutes of this, there are people projectile vomiting all over the place."
Tony Robbins:
There were 12 ambulances were called to take people to different hospitals. About an hour and a half later, they confirmed there was nothing wrong with the vending machine. And so, they announced it, sent to the hospital. And within an hour, everybody was well. He said literally.
Tony Robbins:
And it's even worse, COVID. Most people are scared to death of dying of COVID. Well, of course, if you're in your 80s or late 70s, your immune system, unless you've really taken care of yourself, is less effective. And so, that is the biggest risk factor. But outside that, the number one risk factor most people know today, 79.8% of people that died of COVID are obese, 80%, something you do something about.
Tony Robbins:
But you know what number two is? According to the CDC, I put in my book because no one would believe it if I just said it. Number two thing will cause you to die, according CDC, is anxiety and fear. Because your fear will shut down your immune system. Your fear will change your heartbeat. Your fear will change your breathing rate. Or your fear will change your optimization. So, the CDC is saying this and yet, what do we have on the news every night. You're going to die, you're going to die, you're going to die. We're all going to die.
Tony Robbins:
And the news people are good people. They're not trying to hurt anybody. They're just trying to do their job, which is keep your attention. And if it bleeds, it leads. So, we have to take control of our minds. And so, I give people a series of tools of how to take control the thinking process and your emotions, so you have an extraordinary quality of life, not just a good body.
Rip Esselstyn:
Yeah, I love what you say, it's something and it kind of reminds me of something from Willy Wonka. You say, "We are the meaning makers. We can decide what to focus on and what things mean and what we're going to do as a result," love that.
Tony Robbins:
Those three decisions that I finished up with us because I'm going on live television in a few moments, my friend. But let me just tell you this, those three decisions we make every moment. We don't make them consciously most of us. Most of what we do is habitual. It's habit. But if you wake up, every moment you're deciding what to focus on. Most people focus on the same things, like what's wrong is always available, so is what's right. What you focus on, you feel. If you're thinking, oh my god, what if this happens to my kid, you're going to feel sick to your stomach, and then you find out your kids fine and you're okay, right?
Rip Esselstyn:
Yup.
Tony Robbins:
So, people listening might ask themselves, do I tend to focus more on what I have or what's missing?
Rip Esselstyn:
Yeah.
Tony Robbins:
Most people focus on what's missing. Even people that are successful, because they're trying to do the next thing and well, think about this. If you're always focused on what's missing, man, how smart you are, how can you sustain happiness, you cannot. If people focus more on what they can control or can't control. On a COVID world, there's so much you can't control and most people focus on that.
Tony Robbins:
When you're constantly focused on what's missing what you can't control and maybe focusing on what you lost in the past or some horrible future, you're going to be overwhelmed, stressed or depressed. So, in the book, I show people how to shift that. And I also even show you a study where people that are suicidal thoughts and people that are depressed, Stanford did the study, most drugs produce a result of around 40% of coordinators metastatic, meaning they go on an antidepressant, 40% of the people are helped. On average 50% or half is depressed.
Tony Robbins:
A study was done by Johns Hopkins a year and a half ago. The biggest breakthrough in depression. They use psilocybin, mushrooms, hallucinogenic mushrooms. They're illegal, along with cognitive therapy for a month. Thirty days later, 53% of the people are not depressed. It is four times more powerful than any result they've ever seen. Stanford came to me and said, "We know people who have been through your programs. They were clinically depressed or not. But it's anecdotal. We'd like to do a study."
Tony Robbins:
And so, they took a focus group or a comparative group. And they asked the Stanford professors, what do you think makes this work with this Tony Robbins. I go, "It must be positive thinking." So, he said, "What should we do with this group?" They said, "Well, do positive journaling. Positive psychology teaches that." Well, 30 days later, they're still depressed. They had a little improvement for a few days. Some of them are weak, and then they go back.
Tony Robbins:
But the ones that went to the seminar, they could not believe the result. They double blinded the results. And they send them to two different organizations just to be certain. And now, they've just published it. One hundred percent of the people that went through my six-day program, 100% 30 days later had no depression, 90% of those people had suicidal ideation beforehand. None of them had afterwards, even did a followup 11 months later to show the results. So, I have that on the book as well. You can change anything if you start with your mind and emotions.
Rip Esselstyn:
That's amazing. I have one more question and then two-second answer. Tony, what do you think happens to us when we die?
Tony Robbins:
I wish I knew for sure. So, I'm more focused on I believe nothing in the universe ever ends. It just changes.
Rip Esselstyn:
I love it.
Tony Robbins:
We know that, atoms, everything.
Rip Esselstyn:
Yeah.
Tony Robbins:
But my core belief is whatever it is, I'm going to do a good job on here on earth so I can enjoy whatever that next stage is.
Rip Esselstyn:
Hey, thank you. You are a life force, way to be. Congrats.
Tony Robbins:
Thank you, Rip. Thanks for all the great work you're doing out there, brother.
Rip Esselstyn:
There's a reason why Tony Robbins is the nation's number one life and business strategist. He finds those experts and physicians who are at the top of their game, like our friend, Dr. Dean Ornish, among many others, and he learns from all their successes. Life Force is available now wherever books are sold. I want to thank Tony Robbins for coming on board, the PLANTSTRONG podcast. Thank you to all of you for listening. And remember, it's not your DNA that drives your destiny, it's your dinner. See you next week.
Rip Esselstyn:
The PLANTSTRONG podcast team includes Carrie Barrett, Laurie Kortowich, Ami Mackey, Patrick Gavin, and Wade Clark. This season is dedicated to all of those courageous truth seekers who weren't afraid to look through the lens with clear vision and hold firm to a higher truth. Most notably, my parents, Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn, Jr. and Crile Esselstyn. Thanks for listening.
