In this podcast, Cody Gough and Ashley Hamer discuss the following stories from Curiosity.com — and talk to Dr. Michael Greger, internationally-renowned nutrition expert, physician, and founder of NutritionFacts.org — to help you get smarter and learn something new in just a few minutes: To Sharpen Your Mind, Try Taking Some Device-Free Quiet Time The Freemasons Are a Real Secret Society that Dates Back to The 1600s Earth's Not Alone — The Solar System Could Be Full of Volcanoes More resources from Dr. Michael Greger: NutritionFacts.org Michael Greger’s Website “How Not to Die: Discover the Foods Scientifically Proven to Prevent and Reverse Disease” (Free with your Audible trial) “The How Not to Die Cookbook: 100+ Recipes to Help Prevent and Reverse Disease” Learn about these topics and more onCuriosity.com, and download our5-star app for Android and iOS. Then, join the conversation onFacebook,Twitter, andInstagram. Plus: Amazon smart speaker users, enable ourAlexa Flash Briefing to learn something new in just a few minutes every day!
In this podcast, Cody Gough and Ashley Hamer discuss the following stories from Curiosity.com — and talk to Dr. Michael Greger, internationally-renowned nutrition expert, physician, and founder of NutritionFacts.org — to help you get smarter and learn something new in just a few minutes:
More resources from Dr. Michael Greger:
Learn about these topics and more on Curiosity.com, and download our 5-star app for Android and iOS. Then, join the conversation on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
Plus: Amazon smart speaker users, enable our Alexa Flash Briefing to learn something new in just a few minutes every day!
Full episode transcript here: https://curiosity-daily-4e53644e.simplecast.com/episodes/the-healthiest-diet-w-michael-greger-space-volcanoes-freemasons-and-device-free-quiet-time
[MUSIC PLAYING] SPEAKER 1: Hi, we've got three stories from curiosity.com plus a special guest to help you get smarter in just a few minutes. I'm Cody Gough.
SPEAKER 2: And I'm Ashley Hamer. Today, you'll learn about the benefits of having some device free quiet time, the real history of the Freemasons, and how volcanoes in space can change the way we look at our universe.
SPEAKER 1: We'll wrap up today's episode with a sprinkle of curiosity, where we have a special guest dig into a question from an awesome listener like you.
SPEAKER 2: Today's question comes from Sarah in Florida who wants to know what does science say is truly the healthiest diet? Is there a consensus? Great question. We'll get some answers from Dr. Michael Greger, internationally renowned nutrition expert, physician, and founder of nutritionfacts.org.
SPEAKER 1: Let's satisfy some curiosity.
SPEAKER 2: Cody, do you ever set aside quiet time like no interruptions from your phone or other devices?
SPEAKER 1: I don't set it aside. But occasionally, I, literally, get home, and I just sit on the couch and just don't do anything.
SPEAKER 2: That's good.
SPEAKER 1: Like anything, anything, like stare off into space. It's almost not good, because it's so anti-doing anything. But--
SPEAKER 2: I think sometimes your brain just needs to be able to reset.
SPEAKER 1: Yeah. Well, you take that time for yourself when you're running and stuff, right?
SPEAKER 2: I do. But sometimes, I'm still very connected when I'm running because I usually have a podcast or music I'm listening to. And I'll have my Garmin watch that's like connected to my phone. And a lot of runners say that you should go on a few runs without any devices. And I haven't done that actually, I mean not recently.
Well, you might want to start taking a break from your emails, your texts, your phone calls, Facebooking, and all the other devices, and noise you deal with every day. We'll call it quiet time. But we don't mean just sitting and staring off into space, Cody, although, that would certainly count as quiet time, too. Quiet time is anything that doesn't involve technology or social interaction. It's self care.
We've talked about research showing that Facebook can make you feel bad. And even just taking a five-day break from Facebook can lower people's levels of cortisol, a hormone associated with stress. But it goes beyond that. Downtime is critical to reaching your full mental capacity.
Research shows that mental rest and reflection can boost learning and memory. And other studies back its ability to get the creative juices flowing. So you can read a book, or write in a journal, or take a hike. Whatever you do, it'll be good for your brain. And if you don't know where to start, then try making bedtime quiet time.
Studies show that people who spend the most time on their phones spend the least time sleeping and have a lower quality sleep when they do get shut eye. I even changed my bedtime habits, and I pass out right away. We've got more details on all these health benefits in our full write up today on curiosity.com and on the Curiosity app for Android and iOS. So try some quiet time and see what happens.
SPEAKER 1: Ashley, when's the last time you closely examined the dollar bill?
SPEAKER 2: Oh, no. Is this a conspiracy theory?
[LAUGHTER]
It's been a while. Has it changed?
SPEAKER 1: No, it has not changed. Look, we talk about science here at Curiosity, and conspiracy theories aren't really our thing. We know that you're probably not really a huge fan of a lot of them, but we do like to teach you about the world around you. And aside from maybe the Illuminati, you've probably heard people mentioned the Freemasons when you hear about secret societies that apparently control the world. And I think it's worth at least knowing who the Freemasons are and where they come from.
So let's learn about them. Back in the day, stonemasons were skilled crafters who mastered stone sculpting and the principles of complex engineering and geometry. They weren't just builders. They were scholars and architects. Their guild set fair rates in terms of employment. So they're kind of like an early union.
But in the early 1600s, the guilds were running out of money. So they opened their doors to intellectuals. Actual mason members built walls and buildings while gentlemen members were given the task of practicing secrecy morality and good fellowship. Even before they started admitting new members, this now called Freemasons Guild had come up with an elaborate history tying their origins back to Pyramid builders of ancient Egypt.
After that, the focus of the Freemasons shifted towards philosophy and politics and a bit of an obsession with ritual and semi but not totally true history started to grow. In particular, the Freemasons on both sides of the Atlantic became more opposed to monarchies around the world. They were focused on equality and uplifting the world. But it's easy to see why people started to be suspicious when you see how much influence they had.
The US Declaration of Independence, for example, was signed by nine Freemasons including George Washington. And 14 of the 45 US presidents and 5 kings of England were Freemasons. Freemasons also include legendary artists and entertainers including Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Duke Ellington, Dizzy Gillespie, Richard Pryor, Don Rickles, Oscar Wilde, Mark Twain, and Arthur Conan Doyle, makes the conspiracy theories seem a bit less far fetched. But we'll leave that up to you to decide.
SPEAKER 2: I couldn't believe how many jazz musicians were Freemasons. Blew my mind.
SPEAKER 1: It was the jazz musicians that blew your mind.
SPEAKER 2: Of course.
SPEAKER 1: Yeah, I wouldn't typically associate jazz musicians with secretly ruling the world. But here we are.
SPEAKER 2: Cody, did you know that the Earth might not be the only place in our solar system with active volcanoes?
SPEAKER 1: It's a thing I never would have thought of.
SPEAKER 2: Well, it might be true. In space news, NASA recently spotted a possible volcano on Io, one of Jupiter's moons. And that's cool because when you think space, you might not think about stuff like volcanoes. But where there's geological activity, there's energy and possible life.
You might have heard of NASA's Juno spacecraft, which is a space probe orbiting the planet Jupiter. Last month, during a distant flyby Juno spotted a possible new volcano near the south pole of the moon Io. Io is actually the most volcanically active body in our solar system. And many of its hundreds of volcanoes are very active.
The volcanoes are born because Io was caught between some really strong gravity fields between Jupiter and two other large moons called Europa and Ganymede. That creates a lot of pressure under Io's surface because of tidal forces. And those erupt as volcanoes.
We won't be able to verify a whole lot of information about the volcano until Juno passes by again in December. But in the meantime, NASA's insight mission will have reached Mars. NASA should land on the red planet on November 26th to dig under the surface looking for heat sources. So maybe we'll figure out if there's any volcanic activity there.
We're also trying to figure out whether Venus is really packed with volcanoes or if there's one on Pluto. Even if alien life isn't walking around on other worlds, it's nice to know that our planetary neighbors aren't just quietly sitting around. It makes the universe feel a little less cold, don't you think?
SPEAKER 1: Yeah, we've got moonquakes up on the moon, got volcanoes blowing up in the solar system.
SPEAKER 2: Yeah, there's a lot going on.
SPEAKER 1: We got an email with this question from Sarah in Florida. My friends and I have been talking a lot about how so many diets claim to have science on their side for being the healthiest way to eat. We've noticed how there seems to be some legitimate evidence to back their claims. So who are we to believe? Is there strong scientific evidence that one diet is truly the healthiest, maximizing benefits in reducing the risk of heart disease or cancer? Paleo, vegan, vegetarian, keto, caveman?
Thanks for your question Sarah. We got in touch with Dr. Michael Greger, internationally renowned nutrition expert, physician, and founder of nutritionfacts.org. Here's what he had to say.
SPEAKER 3: Look, there's only one diet that's ever been proven to reverse heart disease in majority patients. And that's a plant-based diet. And so if that's all a plant-based diet could do, reverse the number one killer of men and women, then wait, shouldn't that kind of be the default diet until proven otherwise? And the fact that it can also be so effective in treating or reversing other leading killers like high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, would seem to make the case for plant-based eating simply overwhelming.
I don't advocate a vegetarian diet or a vegan diet, or even a plant-based diet. I advocate for an evidence-based diet. And it just so happens the best available balance of evidence suggests that the more whole plant foods we eat, the better, both not only to reap their nutritional benefits but to displace less healthful options.
But the reality is there's remarkable consistency in nutrition science literature that goes back decades in terms of the core elements of healthy eating. And so there's really a scientific consensus. In fact, I would point your listeners to the True Health Initiative. This was started by Dr. Katz at Yale.
Basically, because of this ridiculous confusion which is fueled by this trillion dollar food industry, it just got together the top hundreds and hundreds of the top nutrition scientists in the world like Walter Willet at Harvard, everybody to agree on a consensus statement on what really is the healthiest diet period. And they all agreed. And so it's like the climate scientists all agreeing on anthropogenic climate change, or all the biologists coming together saying no evolution really is real.
Well, all the nutrition scientists came together. This is what the science says, don't listen to the people trying to sell you stuff. This is what the science says. And so for people that don't want to geek out on all the fun science, they can go straight to the source.
SPEAKER 1: Thanks again for your question, Sarah. We'll put a link in the show notes to the resources he mentioned. Ashley, wouldn't it be cool if I had a chance to talk to Dr. Greger for a full half hour and ask him a bunch of questions about nutrition and dieting?
SPEAKER 2: Boy, it sure would.
SPEAKER 1: And wouldn't it be cool if we just produced an entire full length podcast episode with the interview and drops from you like we did in the good old days?
SPEAKER 2: I dream about doing drops.
SPEAKER 1: Do you? Well, funny we should mention that. I did have a full conversation. And we are working on producing a full Curiosity podcast episode with Dr. Michael Greger. You will not see it on your regular podcast feed though. You'll have to get it somewhere specific.
SPEAKER 2: Where can you get it?
SPEAKER 1: We will have details on that later this week. So stay tuned. But we can say that we're hoping to make some really cool announcements soon. And we just want to ask you to keep an ear out because we're really pumped about it.
SPEAKER 2: I'm super pumped. Read about these stories and more today on curiosity.com.
SPEAKER 1: Join us again tomorrow for the Curiosity Daily and learn something new in just a few minutes. I'm Cody Gough.
SPEAKER 2: And I'm Ashley Hamer. Stay curious.
SPEAKER 4: On the Westwood One Podcast Network.