Good Energy

Means reflects on her classroom experiences while at Stanford, where she sat for hours in subterranean classrooms and ate junk food. While in school, she started researching the consequences of extended periods of sitting, proposing twice to school officials that they add standing desks, with the idea rejected both times. Frequent sitting and stable temperatures are comfortable but come with health consequences. For optimal health, humans need to be physically challenged through movement and temperature fluctuations. Means points out the absurdity of spending money on luxury only to turn around and spend more money on remedies for the health consequences of luxury. Industrialization, Means posits, has led to increased exposure to toxins—”Approximately eighty thousand synthetic chemicals are now used by industry, filling our air, water, food, and homes with substances that interact with our cells” (211).

Means outlines the importance of physical movement, writing that most people in the U.S. now spend the majority of their wakeful hours sitting. At the same time, people spend nearly $2,000 on average on fitness endeavors (212). Means blames the isolation of exercise, arguing that movement should be incorporated into daily life rather than isolated and completed during exercise sessions. Regular muscle contraction optimizes cellular function and energy production, lowers inflammation, and promotes metabolic health. She advises readers to move more throughout the day, stating that the movements need not be intense or difficult to be effective. Means advocates for NEAT, or non-exercise activity thermogenesis, which is daily movement that leads to increased body temperatures. She addresses the widespread confusion over discussions on what type of activities are healthy, suggesting that fitness marketing has led to decreased confidence. She urges people to largely ignore such marketing and to focus on the commonsense notion that all movement is healthy movement. Walking 10,000 steps a day, Means asserts, is correlated with positive health outcomes, yet exercise is rarely prescribed to treat chronic conditions. Means simplifies her exercise advice, writing that people should aim for at least 7,000 steps each day, raise their heart rates for 150 minutes a week, and frequently lift heavy things making sure to target all the muscle groups. Means lists five biomarkers—glucose, cholesterol, triglycerides, blood pressure, and waist circumference—that have been shown to improve with regular exercise.

Means turns her attention to temperature, noting that pre-modern humans often experienced dramatic daily fluctuations in temperature. Modern thermoneutrality, or exposure to relatively constant temperatures, leads to lower baseline temperatures and “bored mitochondria.” The body is positively stressed when exposed to cold, as cold temperatures promote the burning of “brown fat,” which is used to produce heat, as opposed to white fat which stores energy. Frequent exposure to cold temperatures triggers the body to store more brown fat, and higher brown fat levels are correlated with better metabolic health. Similarly, heat exposure has health benefits, improving blood flow and insulin sensitivity, and exposure to either heat or cold can improve one’s mood. Means suggests people can gain such exposure by taking cold showers, swimming in cold water, joining local cold-plunge or sauna groups, taking hot yoga classes, getting outside, or joining a gym with a sauna or hot tub.

Synthetic chemicals are prevalent in air, water, food, and the environment, and many of these chemicals interact with human cells, impairing individuals’ microbiome, genetic expression, hormones, cellular signaling, neurotransmitters, fetal development, and metabolic function, as well as many other bodily functions and structures. Some of these chemicals—obesogens, which are found in many household products and foods—are correlated with obesity. Means criticizes GRAS (a title meaning “generally recognized as safe”) policies as inaccurate and ineffective. She identifies nine chemical classes that have been shown to negatively impact health: bisphenol A (BPA), phthalates, parabens, triclosan, dioxins, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyls (PFAS), organophosphates, and heavy metals. To minimize exposure, Means recommends people avoid plastics, filter their water and air, and eat organic foods.

Means highlights the ways in which negative emotions, like anxiety and sadness, evolved to keep humans safe when facing threats. In the past, humans faced direct threats, like snakes, but in the modern world, humans face more indirect and constant perceived threats. Means addresses the near limitless access to frightening messaging in a contemporary context, which she describes as “potentially the most abnormal thing we face as modern humans” (237). As a result, individuals in the US report an increasing number of stress-related health issues, including mental health conditions. Heightened stress, according to Means, leads to the development of unhealthy coping mechanisms, like smoking, snacking on processed foods, gambling, and casual sex. She cites Johann Hari, author of Stolen Focus, who discusses how people “can’t bear to be present in their daily lives” (238).

Means remembers learning as a surgical resident to prioritize keeping people alive at all costs, and she notes that for much of her life, death was her biggest fear. Her views began to change in 2020 after she attended a health bootcamp with Gayle and felt a profound connection to the Red Rock Mountains after a three-day fast. She and Gayle spoke about death and connection, and she found meaning in the idea that after her death, her molecules would continue to impact the world. Means also remembers her mother’s experience with cancer, reflecting on Gayle’s lasting impact and presence and on her natural burial. Means now sees death as a natural and acceptable part of life rather than as something to fear.

Chronic fear impacts metabolic health, with up to ninety percent of human diseases related to stress. Chronic stress is correlated with chronic inflammation, oxidative stress, mitochondrial dysfunction, high glucose, and poor metabolic biomarkers. Traumatic experiences, too, have negative metabolic impacts. Means suggests people can combat this by seeking ways to feel safe, and she argues fostering Good Energy can help with developing a sense of safety. She offers 15 strategies for promoting fearlessness including seeking help from a coach or counselor, tracking biometrics, practicing breathing exercises, mindfulness, yoga, getting outside, and writing. She also recommends reading, citing works like Mindset, The Four Agreements, and 4,000 Weeks as helpful tools. She suggests certain individuals may benefit from psilocybin therapy, which incorporates psychedelic drugs into a therapeutic context.

Means shares the experience of an emotional moment when she found an inspirational book at a pivotal moment in a building where her mother once lived. She reiterates the importance of gratitude and awe and of taking control of the controllable to consciously improve health.