Michael Covel interviews Jesse Lawler. Jesse is the host of Smart Drug Smarts, a podcast that is centered around supplements people can take to augment brain function. He has an out of the box perspective on health, fitness and enhancing cognitive performance.Michael and Jesse start the conversation off with the question, “What is healthy?” Some athletes that can perform amazing feats are actually destroying their bodies to get there, so are they really healthy? Mind and body can be at total odds when it comes to health. Jesse breaks open the idea of cognitive performance and where a good starting point is when trying to increase your performance. He says your brain is meant to do everything. It is a universal machine that does things that we are, and are not aware of. To improve performance of the brain, there are a variety of things one can do. He breaks it down into four categories: Mood, focus, creativity, and anxiety. Jesse goes in depth on different supplements you can take to improve your focus (in particular) such as increasing your dopamine.Jesse and Michael talk about how Jesse rode his bike from the west coast to the east coast in about 5 ½ weeks. Michael asks “Why do you think you are constantly experimenting?” Jesse says there are a lot of things that you can’t get the gist of without going through the experience. He wants to continue to understand, and maintain his brains capabilities to keep up with the evolving world.Jesse moves on to explaining what nootropic drugs are and the cognitive effects of them. He is not a doctor but has given himself an education over the last few years by immersing himself in these subjects and talking with field specialists such as doctors or pharmacists a couple times a week. Michael asks about jet lag and how to beat it with different techniques. Jesse says that one of the best ways to beat jet lag is by fasting until it is dinner time at your new destination. Overdosing on tea or coffee can be a good way to stave off the hunger if you choose to use this method. Another trick to help beat jet lag is taking particular weight loss drugs to help you stay awake until it is bedtime at your new destination. Lastly, Jesse talks about some of the more popular drugs on the market such as marijuana and ecstasy and his views on them.
In this episode of Trend Following Radio:

Cognitive performance
Effects of caffeine
Augmenting brain function
Dealing with mood, focus, creativity, and anxiety