The Midlife Upgrade: How HCL & Betaine Can Transform Your Energy, Gut, and Brain
If you’re a busy man in your 40s, 50s, or beyond, you know the value of simple changes that deliver big results. Maybe you’re noticing a dip in energy, more brain fog, or your digestion just isn’t what it used to be. The good news? There’s a surprisingly straightforward way to support your gut, boost your immunity, and help you feel sharper and more energetic: HCL and Betaine supplementation.
What If My Liver’s the Reason I’m Waking at 3am?
For a few months now, I’ve been waking in the early hours of the morning, not consistently, but a 1-3 times a week.
Sometimes it’s 2:30am. Other times it’s 4am. But the pattern is familiar.
I wake up wired, alert, almost like my body thinks it’s time to wake up and attack the day. But my mind is foggy, and I'm wired. I can’t seem to fall back asleep.
I’ve done the usual checklist:
Stress? Yes, a bit. Running a business and raising a toddler will do that.
Screen time? I’m pretty dialed there.
Stimulants? Not late in the day.
Sleep hygiene? Covered.
What the liver connection?
Fatherhood Didn’t Arrive When I Felt “Ready”
I was never sure if I wanted kids. Not when I was climbing the corporate ladder. Not when I was pouring everything into building my gym in London. Not even when my friends started settling down.
Back then, I couldn’t imagine having the time or energy that kids deserved. I barely had space for a proper relationship. My focus was narrow: work, training, building something that made me proud.
Kids? They weren’t part of the plan.
My 2025 Functional Blood Work: A High-Performer’s Guide to Liver and Gallbladder Heal - Part 4
In Part 1, I unpacked the signs of an overactive immune system. In Part 2, I explored my kidney markers and why “dysfunction” might be misleading. In Part 3, I looked at my GI function (gut health) and my sub-optimal total protein.
This week, we’re reviewing my liver and gallbladder results. According to my Functional Blood Analysis Report, my liver function has a 56% probability of dysfunction and my gallbladder has a 50% probability of dysfunction.
Not catastrophic. But not optimal either. And when you're training hard, running a business, parenting, and pushing for growth, suboptimal can catch up to you.
When Fitness Isn’t Enough: My Wake-Up Call and the Health Lesson Every Man Needs
In 2018, I walked away from the gym I had poured my heart and soul into. I left London. Sold my shares. Moved to Byron Bay (East Coast Australia), chasing sun, surf, and space to breathe.
From the outside, it looked like a bold life pivot. A clean break. A midlife upgrade.
But the truth?
I was exhausted. Burnt out. Strung out. And completely disconnected from my own health.
My 2025 Functional Blood Work: Gut Health, Protein, and the Hidden Clues - Part 3
My gut health story goes back to around 2010, when I was deep into the endurance world — marathons, triathlons, and Ironman events. At the time, I thought endurance athletes were the fittest people on the planet. That more hours, more miles, more pain meant more health.
It took a few years (and plenty of symptoms) to realise just how wrong I was.
Endurance sports can do a number on your gut — especially when training volume is high, sleep is poor, stress is chronic, and recovery is an afterthought. If you want to read more about how that chapter impacted my health.
My 2025 Functional Blood Work flagged a 62% probability of GI dysfunction.
The Gym That Proved I Wasn’t Crazy
In 2014, I co-founded Momentum Training, a gym tucked away in East London’s gritty backstreets. To most people, it looked like just another CrossFit box.
To me, it was everything.
It was the moment I finally proved, to myself and everyone else, that I wasn’t crazy.
Six years earlier, I’d walked away from a secure, well-paying corporate job in Australia. Four years before opening the gym, I’d stepped off the corporate ladder entirely to become a personal trainer.
I left behind the suit, the steady paycheck, and the “respectable career” I’d worked so hard to build.
My dad thought I was nuts. My mates didn’t get it.
My 2025 Functional Blood Work – Part 2: Kidneys, Creatine & Context
In Part 1 of this series, I broke down my immune system results and what they meant through a functional medicine lens. Today, we’re diving into my kidney function — a system that showed up as needing attention in my report.
According to the functional blood work algorithm, I scored a 77% probability of kidney dysfunction.
Now, that might sound dramatic — but let’s take a breath and look at what’s really going on.
My 2025 Functional Blood Work: Immune System - Part 1
Earlier this year, as part of the Midlife Mavericks Blood Work Workshop, I took a deep dive into my own blood results. And let me tell you — it's a strange mix of confronting and empowering when your own blood starts whispering secrets about your health.
My results are in, and I’m sharing them with you — not because I want sympathy, but because I want more men to take their health seriously before the wheels fall off.
Men in Midlife: You Probably Need to Eat More, Not Less
When most men in midlife think about losing weight or getting healthy, the first instinct is to eat less. Skip breakfast. Cut calories. Try intermittent fasting. Maybe just have a coffee and tough it out until lunch.
Sound familiar?
This might feel like discipline, but the truth is: many men are unknowingly under-eating—especially when it comes to nutrients, not just calories. And it’s wrecking their energy, hormones, metabolism, and long-term health.
Let’s break this down.