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The Tim Ferriss Show

#851: Dr. Tommy Wood — How to Future-Proof Your Brain from Dementia

1/28/20262 hr 8 min

Dr. Tommy Wood (@DrRagnar) is an associate professor of pediatrics and neuroscience at the University of Washington, where his research focuses on brain health across the lifespan. This includes therapies for brain injury in newborns, prevention and treatment of adult brain trauma, and the factors that contribute to long-term cognitive function and cognitive decline. He is the author of the forthcoming book The Stimulated Mind.

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TIMESTAMPS:

  • [00:00:00] Start
  • [00:02:30] The cognition conversation commences.
  • [00:03:11] Why human babies are chubby little brain-fuel tanks.
  • [00:05:16] Brain injury in newborns: Cooling, caffeine, and coming home.
  • [00:09:07] Adult concussion protocol: Fever management, ketones, and why you shouldn’t chug Powerade.
  • [00:18:59] Washington’s 2nd Strongest Man talks omega-3s, methylation, and why your brain needs the whole orchestra.
  • [00:29:34] Auguste Deter, Alzheimer’s mystery patient, and the 45-70% dementia prevention sweet spot.
  • [00:39:22] From CGM monitoring to the “use it or lose it” glucose paradox.
  • [00:55:54] VO2 max training as cardio insurance against dementia.
  • [01:01:32] Jiu-jitsu, sleds, and the Norwegian torture method (4×4 intervals).
  • [01:03:37] Lactate training: Forget the finger prick, embrace the misery.
  • [01:06:40] Announcing The Stimulated Mind: Tommy’s brain-saving book.
  • [01:07:35] Foundation supplements: Omega-3s, B vitamins, vitamin D, iron, and magnesium.
  • [01:08:58] Polyphenols, choline, and the case for eating more liver.
  • [01:10:40] Creatine: Tommy’s 10-gram cognitive stimulant ritual.
  • [01:11:58] Cheap creatine temptation leads to lavatory lamentation.
  • [01:14:16] Blood flow restriction training: High lactate, low load, maximum travel convenience.
  • [01:21:45] Language learning, music, StarCraft, and why your brain needs to fail.
  • [01:38:04] Sleep anxiety, air pollution, and gum disease: the overlooked dementia risk factors.
  • [01:45:32] Air purifiers, CO2 levels, and sleep optimization hacks.
  • [01:51:52] DORAs for sleep quality: when cognitive stimulation isn’t enough.
  • [01:54:55] The thesis behind The Stimulated Mind: Practical, referenced, and sustainable.
  • [01:56:32] Kelly and Juliet Starrett’s stamp of approval.
  • [01:57:44] The beautiful compounding effect of fixing just one thing.
  • [01:58:59] Who is Dr. Ragnar, and does he make housecalls to Valhalla?
  • [02:01:06] Tommy’s open invitation for complaints and scientific debates.
  • [02:02:21] Parting thoughts.

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Clips

Cooling Babies, Caffeine Cure
Dance Beats All Exercise
Four-by-Four, Years Of Gain
Dementia Risk: 45–70% Optional
Ketones In Concussion Kit
Alzheimer’s First Case Re-examined
Piss-Shark Tasting Notes

Transcript preview

First 90 seconds

  1. Tim Ferriss· Host0:00

    Hello, boys and girls, ladies and germs. This is Tim Ferriss. Welcome to another episode of The Tim Ferriss Show, where it is my job to interview world-class performers to tease out how they do what they do, or to tease out the frameworks, the specifics, the practical, tactical that you can apply to your own lives. This episode I've been trying to set up for a while. My guest is Dr. Tommy Wood. He is an associate professor of pediatrics and neuroscience at the University of Washington, where his research focuses on brain health across the lifespan. This includes therapies for brain injury in newborns, prevention and treatment of adult brain trauma, and the factors that contribute to long-term cognitive function and cognitive decline. It turns out there's a lot that you can actually do. It is not an inexorable decline into not recognizing your family. There's actually quite a bit from the perspective of lifestyle, supplementation, and much more that you can do to try to stack the odds in your favor, cognitively speaking. Tommy received an undergraduate degree in biochemistry from the University of Cambridge, a medical degree from the University of Oxford, and a PhD in physiology and neuroscience from the University of Oslo. Alongside his academic work, Tommy is head scientist for motorsport at Hinsa Performance, overseeing health and performance programs for multiple Formula 1 drivers. He works with a lot of professional athletes. He has also trained and competed in multiple sports himself, coming in the top 20 in the world for the world's first-ever

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