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.
The Modern Testosterone Decline: What Every Midlife Man Should Know
Since the 1980s, studies have documented a consistent decline in average testosterone levels among men. One prominent study found that testosterone levels have been decreasing by about 1% per year, independent of aging. This means that a man in his 30s today may have significantly lower testosterone levels compared to a man of the same age in previous decades. [1]
While aging naturally leads to a gradual decrease in testosterone, the accelerated decline observed in recent decades suggests additional contributing factors.
Here are five of the key lifestyle and environmental influences:
The Cholesterol Myth: Why You’ve Been Lied to About Heart Disease
Heart disease is the number one killer of men worldwide. In Australia alone, it causes one in four deaths—yet the usual advice given to men in midlife is: “Your cholesterol is high, you need statins.”
But what if we’ve been misled?
What if cholesterol isn’t the enemy, and the real culprits behind heart disease are metabolic dysfunction, chronic inflammation, and insulin resistance?
Dr. Aseem Malhotra, a world-renowned cardiologist, has been at the forefront of challenging outdated ideas about cholesterol and statins. His research shows
The Secret of Having More Energy in Midlife.
In the dynamic world of human biology, there's a microscopic hero that holds the reins of our energy levels and overall vitality: mitochondria.
These powerhouse structures, often hailed as the "energy factories of the cell," work tirelessly to transform the calories we consume from carbohydrates, fats, and proteins into usable energy in the form of adenosine triphosphate (ATP).
But here's the fascinating part – a significant chunk of these cellular powerhouses resides in our muscles.
How light exposure affects heart health.
As men in midlife, we're often reminded of the importance of maintaining our cardiovascular health to ensure vitality and longevity.
However, the conversation around heart health extends beyond traditional topics of nutrition and exercise.
Recently, while listening to Dr. Gabrielle Lyon's podcast featuring cardiologist Dr. Michael Twyman, I gained valuable insights into the role of light exposure in cardiovascular wellness.
Dr. Twyman emphasizes that cardiovascular health isn't just about what we eat or how often we exercise; it's also intricately linked to our circadian rhythm and light exposure.
Why caffeine is not a consistent performance aid for all recreational athletes?
I recently did an ancestry gene test and discovered that I'm in the 50% of the population who are slow caffeine metabolisers (CYP1A2 AC and CC genotype). I was a little curious to find out what this means and what positive or negative effects caffeine can have on our health and performance?
Numerous studies have linked caffeine with positive health effects like reduced risk of obesity, diabetes, and heart disease. However, recent research suggests that the effects of coffee on health aren’t the same for everyone, and may depend on genetics and other factors.
I love coffee—and I know I’m not alone.
Recreational athletes body types and energy system demands
When working with recreational athletes, it's important to understand their body type and the energy demands of their training and competitions. In a future post, I want to write about the protein demands for different sports. Still, it's critical to understand how to exercise's frequency, volume, and intensity impact the macronutrient (protein, carbohydrate and fat) intake requirements.
No one diet is right for everyone. The right diet should be based on many individual factors. The food we eat contains information that speaks to our genes, not just calories for energy. Science tells us that obesity is ultimately the result of a hormonal imbalance, not a caloric one. It's not about "eating less". It's about eating more of the right foods that nourish and fuel the body and mind. It's not about "moving more," it's about how movement supports your health and encourages positive adaptation, not fatigue.
Fuelling for the demands of training
A low dietary energy intake relative to exercise energy demands (ie low energy availability) may result in an array of medical issues. Many recreational athletes following mainstream diets are under-eating. Most are not eating enough to fuel their training, to improve their body composition (decrease body fat and maintain/increase lean muscle). 99.9% of recreational athletes are not getting enough micronutrients, like vitamins and minerals, in their diet to balance their hormones, strengthen their immune system, achieve their fitness goals, and increase their healthspan.
Goal Setting Begins with the End in Mind
One of Charles Poliquin’s principles was to "always begin with the end in mind." A lot of people have very vague goals like "I want to lose weight", "I want to get strong", or "I want to be fit and healthy." Vague goals lead to vague results; most of these people fail to achieve their goals because they fail to clearly define the destination. This holds true for all of our goals in life, not just in the gym.
In this post, I'm going to focus primarily on training goals, but the same principles apply to all other lifestyles, career, and business goals.