The last weird Q&A was quite popular so I figured I would drop another one, and this is a completely unedited version of the podcast where I answer three off-the-wall weird questions about nutrition and training that, yes, you might have thought of before. So today, the first question is if you could choose only one macronutrient to focus on for the rest of your life, which would be the most important for physique and health? Now I think you all know the simple answer to this Protein, protein, protein, right, protein would probably be the most important macro to focus on, aside from the fact that you can't live on any one macro for a long time without some serious health consequences, which kind of then defeats the purpose, if you will. But if we were to just focus on protein and why it's so important, we know it helps build and repair muscle, produces enzymes and hormones, supports immune function. It has all sorts of benefits you might not even have thought about. It tends to give people more energy, keeps them more full. In surprising ways, for your physique goals, it is essential right, it's essential for getting jacked, but it's more essential also for maintaining your muscle as we age and staving off muscle loss, growing that muscle as we age, and, especially if you're an active person, protein all the way, and we talked about satiety. We talked about fat loss and body composition being important as well, but if you neglect fats and carbs, you're going to probably get something they call protein poisoning, or I don't even remember the actual term because this is an unscripted podcast.

I remember seeing an episode of I think it was called Survivorman years ago, where they dropped him into, I think, alaska or something like that, and he started just to eat protein and he was worried that he would die without having anything other than protein. So we know that an all-protein diet could lead to serious health issues, but if I had to choose one, it would be protein, and there we go. So that's the weird question number one. Weird question number two does eating spicy foods actually boost your metabolism enough to aid in fat loss? And this is a really number one Weird question number two Does eating spicy foods actually boost your metabolism enough to aid in fat loss? And this is a really common one people think about and ask about, because spicy foods, especially the ones that have capsaicin right, capsaicin is in chili peppers it does actually slightly increase your metabolic rate when you eat them, and that's a process called thermogenesis, right, your body burns a little bit more as it's generating heat as a response, kind of like an almost a defense mechanism or inflammatory response to the spice.

But again, I'll say this every time a question like this comes up the effect is minimal, it is short lived, it is not anywhere close to enough to rely on for extra calories. I mean, same thing goes with coffee. Right now, if you drink a lot of it, if you eat a lot of spicy food all the time every day, maybe it has a little bit of a meaningful effect, like to the order of a few tens of calories. You know which is something right. More importantly is spicy food. Besides being in a bunch of delicious foods, it could reduce appetite slightly and then that could lead you to a little bit lower calorie intake. So always think of the multifaceted aspect of these things. I do love these questions, so I've thought about them. But if they're asked to get to like the magic pill or to get to like here's the one change that's going to unlock everything. No, I'm sorry, no, but if asked out of curiosity and then you find that there are other benefits, that's awesome. I think that is awesome, right. So, yeah, that's what my thought about. You know, bathing everything in hot sauce to burn a whole bunch of calories and see the fat melt off, all right.

The last question is it possible to train yourself to need less sleep and still maintain optimal performance and health? Now, you might be the type of person or you've heard the person that says, oh, I can live on four hours of sleep, or I can live on five hours of sleep, like I don't need more, I don't need seven or eight hours. And you know there are some people that can function better than others on less sleep. But it doesn't mean you don't need the seven, eight or even nine hours of sleep for optimal health and performance for you, right? Just because you can doesn't mean you should.

We know that chronic sleep deprivation leads to so many negative things. You know improved or impaired brain function, decreased athletic performance, you know imbalances with your hormones, a weaker immune system, you get sick more often, you have higher cravings, you eat more, you have more visceral belly fat, like on and on and on. So the assumption in this question is that you want an excuse to get away with less sleep and the answer is sorry. There is little evidence to suggest you can train your body to need less sleep or even adapt to it. Your body just needs what it needs. It needs all that energy.

Now you might get used to being tired and not having very much energy, but that's not the same as being at your best right. So let's start prioritizing adequate sleep, quantity as well as quality, if you want the best recovery, if you want to lift weights and recover, if you want mental clarity and better overall well-being. All right, that is the three weird Q&A questions for today. Again, if you love these, send me a text message. There is a link in the show notes to do that. And again, I am Philip Pape. You're listening to Wits and Weights and I will talk to you next time.