How “Good Stress” Can Rewire Your Body

Jeff discovered this protocol while experimenting to reverse his diabetes and obesity. He was already following a ketogenic diet and intermittent fasting (eating window ~10am-6:30pm). By adding a cold plunge right before his first meal, he maximized the thermogenic demand when blood glucose was at its lowest. He explains that the body's need to return to homeostasis after cold causes it to seek an energy substrate; without circulating glucose, the only option is to oxidize stored fat. This simple cadence—fast, then cold, then eat—acted as a powerful catalyst. Separately, Ben Greenfield had independently developed a similar protocol called 'Strike, Shiver, Stroll' (caffeine, then aerobic activity, then cold), and both marveled at the convergence.

Ben describes this protocol from his book 'Boundless'. 'Strike' is consuming a compound that promotes white-to-brown fat conversion and fatty acid mobilization; caffeine is the easiest. Then 'Stroll' is low-intensity aerobic work to burn circulating fatty acids. Finally, 'Shiver' — cold exposure — forces the body to harvest remaining fatty acids from stores for thermogenesis. Ben emphasizes the step order: the stroll depletes glycogen, making the cold phase even more effective. Jeff wholeheartedly agreed, recognizing the same underlying physiology he had stumbled upon.

Ben and Jeff discuss the evolutionary mismatch: for most of human history, we walked barefoot or with minimal soles. The modern shoe, with its thick sole and narrow toe box, crams the toes together, atrophying the foot's musculature and undermining the big toe's pivotal role in gait. Jeff compares it to putting a limb in a cast — the muscles waste. Ben wears nothing at home and uses toe spacers to undo 30 years of damage. This simple change can alleviate back and knee pain by restoring natural movement.

Jeff explains that society expects us to sit everywhere — doctor's offices, airports, even yoga studios before we get a seat. He refuses nine times out of ten and squats instead. This simple posture mimics the ancestral resting position and maintains the deep hip and ankle range of motion. Ben also squats while waiting for flights. Both find it transformative for back health.

Jeff describes how the body's chemo-receptors near the carotid arteries sense elevated carbon dioxide and signal EPO production, which increases red blood cell count. This is the basis for altitude training. By occasionally exposing the body to brief periods of lower oxygen, you mimic that stressor, making mitochondria more efficient. He frames it within the hormesis principle: the right dose yields adaptation, too much is harmful.

Jeff notes that we often avoid stressful conversations, but on the other side lies the world we imagine possible. The initial panic — the epinephrine surge — is like the shock of cold water. If we stay and breathe through it, we activate the prefrontal cortex to calm the limbic system, reinforcing our capacity to handle stress. Over time, this builds the same adaptive resilience as physical hormetic stressors. He uses this practice especially with family and friends.

Jeff explains that just as a flame's form appears stable while molecules constantly move on, our body's 7 octillion atoms undergo 37 billion billion chemical reactions per second. This means there is no fixed 'Jeff' or 'Ben', only constant change. The Buddha's insight under the bodhi tree — that everything is impermanent — applies at the cellular level, offering agency because we are not stuck with 'bad knees' or 'slow metabolism' as permanent traits. This idea bridges Eastern wisdom and Western science.

Jeff explains that the Buddha saw the universe as an interconnected, mutually dependent web. Similarly, our bodies are not isolated bags of skin; we are in constant exchange with our environment. The exposome includes diet, relationships, childhood trauma, toxins, pathogens, and even screen time. The overwhelming majority of chronic disease stems from how the exposome washes over our genes, not from the genes themselves. Realizing this gives us profound agency: by altering our environment — eating diverse foods, reducing toxins, nurturing community — we can push our health trajectory toward thriving. This is the science of epigenetics in action.

Jeff recounts how the Human Genome Project, spurred by the belief in genetic determinism since Watson and Crick, aimed to find a gene for every trait and disease. When the map came back with a meager count, it was a slap in the face for our complex. This gave rise to epigenetics: our genes express differently based on the exposome. While genes can load the gun (e.g., APOE4 for Alzheimer's), the environment pulls the trigger. Jeff shares his own genetic SNPs for caffeine addiction and carb metabolism, using them to guide focus rather than resign to fate.

Jeff agrees, noting that teens today bury themselves in phones, avoiding real-world interaction. He uses public speaking as an example: the butterflies before stepping on stage are the epinephrine surge, but with repeated exposure, the brain learns to apply top-down control, entering flow. This is essentially exposure therapy for social anxiety. The antidote to the modern epidemic of loneliness — where 58% of Americans eat all meals alone — is to deliberately seek social discomfort as a health practice, balancing the need for solitude with communal connection.

After starting a yoga studio at Ground Zero post-9/11, Jeff's wife's healing work inspired him to merge yoga with music festival scale. Wanderlust exploded, but Jeff became the poster child for burnout: he was chronically stressed, overweight, brain-fogged, irritable, phone-addicted. His daughters nicknamed him 'the boobs of man' due to his 'inner tube adiposity'. A diabetes diagnosis in 2019–2020 became his wake-up call. He then spent years interviewing 400 doctors and experimenting on himself to reverse his decline, eventually writing 'Good Stress'.