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0:00
And if you've got a little bit of hope in that , you can do something
0:02
different and better that keeps you
0:04
going forward . But when you lose hope , you
0:06
go backwards . And law enforcement
0:08
man . This is the truth . People need to listen to this
0:10
right now . You are gifted . You're
0:13
gifted because you've faced life
0:15
in all kinds of circumstances . You've
0:17
seen the best and the
0:19
worst of humanity .
0:23
Welcome to Courageous Leadership with Travis
0:25
Yates , where leaders find the insights
0:27
, advice and encouragement they
0:29
need to lead courageously .
0:33
Welcome back to the show . I'm so honored
0:36
you've decided to listen to
0:38
us today and spend a few minutes with
0:40
us . If you weren't aware
0:42
, you can get all of our episodes at www . YatesL eadership . com
0:45
and I know many of you are listening on your
0:48
own platforms , whether that be Spotify
0:50
or Apple , but that website
0:52
has collected all of the reviews that
0:54
have been coming in for the podcast
0:56
. I'm so thankful for them , so
0:59
it's a great place to sort of really quickly
1:01
see all of our episodes and all the
1:03
great men and women that we've been talking
1:05
to , and today is no
1:07
exception . On today's
1:09
show we have Dr Mark Sherwood
1:12
. He's a retired police sergeant from the
1:14
Tulsa Police Department . He dedicated
1:17
24 years of service to his community in
1:19
a variety of capacities , including SWAT
1:21
, training and patrol . He
1:23
revolutionized the wellness section of the agency
1:25
and was in charge of that section when he retired
1:28
. Mark is a former Oklahoma
1:30
State and regional bodybuilding champion
1:32
, professional baseball player and
1:34
traveled the world for over 10 years
1:36
with the world famous power team . He's
1:39
completed training and certifications in age
1:41
management , nutrigenetics , nutrigenomics
1:44
, peptide therapy , hormone therapy
1:46
, stress management , gi health and
1:49
immunology . He's
1:51
a dynamic , motivational speaker whose presentations
1:54
are sought by audiences nationwide and
1:56
currently works with his wife , Dr . Michelle
1:59
Neil , at their clinic , the Functional
2:01
Medical Institute in Tulsa , Oklahoma
2:04
, and they serve patients nationwide
2:06
. Along with his wife , they have authored
2:08
multiple books and produced and acted in multiple
2:11
movies , including the popular documentary
2:13
Fork your Life . You
2:15
can find this and a lot more at
2:18
www . Sherwood . tv .
2:27
Man , I'm doing well .
2:31
Well , I appreciate it .
2:32
I appreciate it Absolutely .
2:34
Yeah , man , I've been looking forward to doing this and
2:37
it was just time . You know , it
2:39
seems the further , the further we go down this
2:41
road called life , the sicker and
2:44
sicker people are getting , especially
2:46
in the law enforcement profession , and
2:48
you have just excelled
2:51
in that area for many , many years . Of
2:53
course , you've helped me out tremendously
2:55
in that area , as well as other people , and
2:58
I just wanted to start off with obviously
3:01
, you were in law enforcement for 24 years
3:03
but specifically , what got you
3:05
interested in the fitness and wellness space ?
3:09
Well , I think , probably as a kid , you
3:11
know , I wasn't the most fit person , but I always
3:13
had the drive to achieve things
3:15
and I always admired , you know
3:17
, fit people . And I wasn't
3:20
necessarily fit , I was more fat
3:22
than fit . And then
3:24
, when I got in the police department , well
3:26
, actually back up a little bit , I was a
3:28
baseball player , and professionally
3:30
, and I was living in Australia , Travis , and
3:32
I was all alone , I had nothing to do in the day
3:34
. This was before cell phones and before computers
3:37
. I know people are listening right now . Really
3:39
, there was such a day as that . Yes , there was
3:41
, and I lived in it and so did
3:43
you probably somewhat . But
3:46
I started to go into a gym , you know , during
3:48
the day , and when
3:50
I came back after living abroad
3:53
for a year , my whole body had changed
3:55
and people saw me differently , they
3:57
related to me differently and
4:00
I realized that , you know , fitness was something
4:02
that could affect me in a positive way and
4:05
could help myself as a team , and that was
4:07
kind of how it started . And then , when I got in the police
4:09
department , being on the SWAT team , you had to kind of be
4:11
in a level of shape and , as you know
4:13
, I was given the opportunity to teach a few
4:15
classes while
4:17
employed at the Tulsa Police Department , and
4:20
that got me looking at statistics
4:22
, and this really got me going . I
4:25
saw the statistic that's well known to law
4:27
enforcement . That was an FBI
4:29
study back in the 70s
4:31
, as I recall , but the average life expectancy
4:34
for the male police officer who served
4:36
20 years was 66 years of age , and
4:39
so this was back in the early
4:42
2000s when
4:44
I was put in charge of the wellness
4:47
program development for the Tulsa Police
4:49
Department . I started digging into
4:51
those same statistics and I thought , well , golly
4:53
, what is it for Oklahoma ? What is it for Tulsa
4:55
and Travis ? I found out it
4:57
was the same 64
4:59
and 66 years of age respectively
5:02
. And that kind of broke
5:04
my heart because I thought people work really hard
5:07
in law enforcement and the officer
5:09
is certainly under the
5:11
gun a lot with stress and the
5:13
way they serve and protect our communities their heroes
5:15
, in my opinion . And
5:18
they're not getting to enjoy
5:20
that retirement at all . And
5:22
then we brag about the pension systems
5:24
being so healthy . Well , that's because the officers are
5:26
so unhealthy . It's kind
5:29
of an obvious , and
5:31
I kind of made an omission to that point to
5:33
go figure out why . And that got me into
5:35
studying about health and learning
5:37
about health , and that's now
5:40
24 years ago and
5:43
I haven't stopped yet . I realize that
5:46
people are probably too
5:49
sick right now , more
5:51
sick than they should be . We're increasing sick
5:53
span and decreasing life span
5:56
and there are unscrupulous people
5:58
in our world that are profiting off
6:00
of sick people and specifically with law enforcement
6:03
, I have always thought , always
6:05
thought and still absolutely am convinced
6:07
that officer wellness is
6:10
officer safety and it is not
6:12
looked at nearly enough at
6:15
all in regard to those areas . So that
6:17
got me started . My passion hasn't changed
6:19
at all . I'm still serving and protecting
6:21
as best I know how .
6:23
And no , I mean you're exactly right . I mean you look
6:25
at professional sports teams . They treat
6:27
their employees , their athletes , like athletes
6:30
. You know they don't just stop when they get hired
6:32
and don't pay attention to their fitness
6:34
anymore . And in law enforcement , as we all know
6:36
, that's pretty much what happens . You got to
6:38
get in really good shape before you get to the academy
6:41
. They keep you in shape in the academy , then they just forget
6:43
about you and the
6:45
rest is history and you just describe the statistics
6:47
. And one thing I want to make sure our audience knows , mark
6:49
, is obviously you were
6:51
an expert in the profession
6:54
, in law enforcement , in this area , but you
6:56
lived it . I worked with you for a year on graveyard
6:59
and you know when you've been on
7:01
, I retired for 30 years and there's not a whole
7:03
lot of things that are ingrained in your mind . After all
7:05
, that time is sort of culminated together
7:07
. But the one thing I always remember is
7:09
is we'd be on graveyard I think you
7:11
were a sergeant and I was a corporal working for
7:13
you and all the guys or gals would
7:15
be going to the Denny's or
7:17
the IHOP or the breakfast place it's almost
7:20
a social gathering , right and you would
7:22
come because you're a nice guy and
7:24
we would all be eating whatever crazy
7:27
thing we would eat and you'd bring your chicken or
7:29
you'd bring your little packaged meal
7:31
and I , you know , and you were the only person I ever
7:33
knew that did that and you never
7:36
missed a beat . I can remember being with you one
7:38
day and I was just begging you to eat a piece of pizza
7:40
and you just wouldn't do it . I just from whether
7:42
you know it or not , that's inspiring . And
7:45
you obviously took wellness
7:47
to a different level on the job
7:49
. But you've done more
7:51
than that . I've spoken to you
7:53
about mindset and motivation a lot
7:56
and your accomplishments away
7:58
from the job , what you're doing now . They go far
8:00
beyond just a general interest or
8:03
even a business . I mean , a lot of those
8:05
in law enforcement today are suffering
8:07
from what I call an imposter syndrome
8:09
, meaning that many of them just
8:11
don't believe they have the skills
8:14
and talents to do things outside of
8:16
that profession . But you clearly are
8:18
a unicorn mark . I mean you have excelled
8:20
, in my opinion , much more
8:22
away from the police department and what you're doing
8:24
now than even when you were in the police department
8:27
, because regardless of how expert
8:29
you were , you were still constrained by
8:32
the rules , or who you work for , or
8:34
your assignments and whatever else may be
8:36
. Tell us why you
8:38
think you're so different and what
8:40
people in the profession now can learn from that .
8:43
Well , I think that I just have
8:46
, and I've always had , the
8:48
desire to
8:51
sort of think and work outside the box
8:53
, to believe in this thing called hope
8:55
. The hope is what drives
8:57
the system and drives the body
8:59
and drives our life and drives our motivation
9:02
. If you got a little bit of hope in that you can do something
9:04
different and better , that keeps you
9:06
going forward . But when you lose hope , you
9:08
go backwards . And law enforcement
9:11
man , this is the truth . People need to listen to this
9:13
right now . You are gifted . You're
9:15
gifted because you've faced life
9:18
in all kinds of circumstances . You've
9:20
seen the best and the
9:22
worst of humanity and you
9:24
face it head on . You see it , you have a wide
9:26
range of experience and you can relate . You
9:29
also realize with law enforcement that
9:31
only by the grace of God is
9:33
that you are not capable of anything
9:35
goofy and also anything good
9:37
. And it's kept me in track . And
9:40
through that process I realized
9:42
that what I learned in law enforcement
9:45
was something that I could share
9:47
with the world in an area of creativity
9:49
. That was what reflected of me yes
9:51
, fitness , yes , health
9:53
, but I was able to sort of keep
9:56
learning and go back and become a
9:58
naturopathic doctor and really become
10:00
this , that we became this thing
10:02
, my wife and I , that we represent
10:04
hope now in health for
10:06
12,000 people
10:08
around the world . I would have never
10:11
seen that coming , but now that I look back
10:13
on it , the law enforcement
10:15
experience set the tone for that , travis
10:17
, and it really . It inspired
10:20
me and it trained me and it worked
10:22
on me until it helped me become
10:25
who I am today , and there's
10:27
not a person out there that
10:29
has served in law enforcement that doesn't have the same capabilities
10:32
. It's not doing the same thing , but
10:34
it's going beyond who you think you can be . I've
10:36
watched too many cops that are
10:38
just broken down and beat down that can't
10:40
get rid of the gun because they don't think they can
10:42
do something else . I'm not saying that guns are bad
10:44
. I'm saying just all you know
10:46
. You think all you got is security . You retire
10:49
and all you got is security . It's hard
10:51
to stop . No , you don't . You've
10:53
got more protection and service to do . Find
10:56
the areas of protection and service
10:58
that motivate you and go for it
11:00
. You , if people have served
11:03
in law enforcement and have been
11:05
successful or still alive , come
11:07
on , man , there's nothing you can't achieve .
11:11
Yeah , I mean I watched it firsthand
11:13
and for those listening , I mean I watched
11:15
Mark Sherwood when he goes , I think I'm going to learn
11:17
Spanish . Then he just goes out and next thing you
11:19
know he's no Spanish . And then you
11:21
retire , mark , and within just a matter of a few
11:23
years you've got your
11:26
doctoral , yeah , and . And you just start
11:28
doing all this amazing stuff and
11:30
, as you said , helping thousands of people across
11:33
the world . And it's not about money , because I know
11:35
plenty of people , included myself , that have easy
11:37
access to you for you to help , and you don't ask
11:39
for a dime , and it's so
11:42
you take , you've taken that service that
11:44
you had in law enforcement , but you're
11:46
still in service , just
11:48
in a different capacity , and I can't think of any
11:51
better advice . And so
11:53
you and your wife , you specialize
11:55
in functional medicine . I want
11:57
you to kind of explain to our audience , because I talk
12:00
to people all the time about this and
12:02
they think whatever their doctor
12:04
tells them , whatever their insurance tells
12:07
them , is always in the best
12:09
interest of them . But here's the problem with your doctor
12:11
. Your doctor is trained
12:13
to solve , to , to
12:15
, to , to wait till you're
12:17
sick , right they ? And then they . They're
12:19
not always trained in how to prevent the sickness . It's
12:22
just to maybe put a bandage
12:24
, so to speak , on the sickness , and so there's
12:26
a huge difference with a medical
12:28
, medical philosophy . And some of you listening
12:31
maybe familiar with some of the biohackers out there
12:33
or maybe watch some of the YouTube folks
12:35
out there , but there's a whole different world
12:37
of medicine that very few people in
12:39
law enforcement , in the general public are
12:41
exposed to because it's not
12:43
part of the health care system , or should I
12:45
say the sick care system , and
12:47
so kind of explain to us what you do there at
12:50
the Functional Medical Institute and why that is
12:52
so important .
12:54
Well , certainly , what we do is kind of a cross
12:56
between functional medicine , conventional
12:58
medicine and biohacking . But
13:00
to really get into understanding
13:03
the point you're making is , health
13:06
care is one of the biggest
13:08
conjobs that has
13:10
get this . I'm going to say something strong
13:12
hurt and killed more
13:15
cops than any bad guy on
13:17
the street ever could . Here's why Because
13:20
police officers are trained
13:22
, go to the academy , you prepare , you
13:24
prepare , you prepare . You go through annual
13:26
in-services , you prepare , prepare , prepare . You
13:28
have trainings , you prepare , prepare , prepare . We have
13:30
these mandatory in-services
13:33
of preparation , preparations
13:36
of mindset . Except in one area , health
13:39
. We don't prepare at all
13:41
. We are trained to react . Conventional
13:44
health system is not health
13:46
at all , it's sick care system . We
13:48
have an expectation of
13:50
a medically trained doctor to
13:53
know what to do to keep you healthy
13:55
. That is not what they're
13:57
trained in Travis and I'm not knocking
13:59
, there's some of the most brilliant people
14:01
around but they're trained like this If
14:04
you go in and you present or
14:06
you show up with certain symptoms , the
14:08
symptoms are a cough , stuffy
14:10
nose , maybe watery eyes
14:13
they assess that symptom
14:15
algorithm formula
14:17
to prescribe a medication
14:19
. The medication is a pharmaceutical
14:21
drug that's designed to either stop
14:24
or mitigate the symptoms
14:26
. It never goes into what
14:29
created that presentation of those
14:31
symptoms . It is downstream
14:33
philosophy only . It's like
14:35
this Pretend that
14:37
you and I are people that
14:39
live next to a river , and this is the
14:42
illustration what people catch . When
14:44
the water comes up and you live near
14:46
the river and it's flooding , it's over the river , over
14:48
the flood stage , it's getting up near your front door . That's
14:51
like your life . When you get sick , you go to the doctor
14:53
. The doctor gives you a medication
14:56
that's synonymous with giving you a sandbag . Well
14:59
, the water keeps coming . You go back
15:01
and get another pill slash sandbag . So
15:04
what happens is nobody
15:06
ever determines why the water came up . Eventually
15:09
, you're gonna run out of sandbags and the water's gonna
15:11
flood out your house . You're gonna die . That's
15:13
what happens , law enforcement officers . But I
15:15
wanna know what created
15:17
the flood . So if you go back to that
15:19
analogy , I go back upstream and
15:22
I see a big dam up there . Well , the dam is my
15:25
genes , or my genetics , and we
15:27
check that . I wanna know how my dam genes
15:29
work , if you get the analogy
15:31
. And above that , I wanna know
15:33
what the reservoir looks like
15:35
. The environment and I know the cop environment
15:38
is tough . So you get that reservoir
15:40
, dam , river
15:42
analogy in your head . So to
15:45
really get to the root cause of disease
15:47
, you have to go back and understand
15:50
what was the origination
15:52
of the issues that led
15:54
to the imbalances that led to the symptoms
15:56
, that led to the medication . We
15:59
look at it differently . We're
16:01
not we are experts at the symptom treatment
16:03
, but I also wanna know what caused
16:06
it . So upstream , we look
16:08
at genetics , environment
16:10
, lifestyle , et cetera . We remediate
16:13
or fix the cause . Therefore
16:15
, the symptoms go away . Therefore
16:18
, disease then becomes irrelevant
16:20
, and so this
16:22
is a healing mentality . The
16:25
conventional system manages
16:27
diseases . The functional
16:29
medicine , biohacking , et cetera prevents
16:32
diseases . We
16:34
need to have the option today to
16:37
pick which side we're on , and I've not
16:39
seen a police department yet not
16:41
one in all of my years that
16:43
took what I just said seriously and did anything
16:45
about it .
16:47
No , we very much have to understand
16:49
that , while we may have trust in doctors
16:51
, we have to understand who
16:54
we're trusting and I agree , some of the smartest
16:56
human beings we have on this planet . But
16:58
the fact is doctors
17:00
get less than a day of nutrition classes in
17:02
medical school , and the fact is that
17:05
whatever they graduate with the knowledge
17:07
of medical school is they go out through their career
17:09
and work in the healthcare system where they're
17:11
getting more 20 , 30 patients a
17:13
day with hardly no time to talk to any of them . They're
17:16
not getting retrained , they have to choose
17:18
to do that and so that's
17:20
why when I go to a doctor that's maybe
17:22
67 years old , this guy's talking old
17:24
school to me , because I have gone out there
17:26
and looked for myself and people
17:28
don't want to hear that , because they just want an easy
17:31
solution and easy answer . They want to get a pill , but
17:33
that whole system is broken . If
17:35
you care about your health , you must
17:37
listen to what Dr Mark is talking about
17:39
, and it's interesting . You talk about the
17:41
research you did , mark , because I was with you when you pulled
17:44
the pension data from the state
17:46
of Oklahoma and found that 64
17:48
number and how it had not changed in 20
17:50
years . Well , the same is happening to
17:52
the civilians in America . Our
17:54
life expectancy is actually
17:57
going down . It's one of the few
17:59
, you know , not
18:02
a third world . It's one of the few major countries on the
18:04
planet where our life expectancy is not growing
18:06
. It's actually going down , which kind
18:08
of defies logic in a technology
18:11
savvy country as we are , and it's
18:13
because the system that's designed
18:15
to give that longevity is completely
18:18
broken .
18:20
It is broken and I believe it's beyond
18:22
repair because , as you
18:24
also know , I'm
18:27
very politically savvy , having ran
18:29
a campaign at one time . Well
18:31
, how did that ?
18:32
not make it into bio Mark ? Sure would ran
18:34
for the governor . I don't know how
18:36
I left that out .
18:38
Well , it is fine , but I learned a lot
18:40
. I learned about lobby . So
18:42
Big Pharma is one of the most powerful lobbyists
18:44
. Most politicians take money
18:46
from Big Pharma Travis
18:49
. We are one of two countries in the whole
18:51
world Us and New Zealand that
18:54
allow Big Pharma to advertise directly
18:56
on public television to
18:59
our people . How twisted
19:02
and sick is that ? We are
19:04
? Absolutely , and I'm glad you shared that . About life
19:06
expectancy it has declined
19:09
the last couple of years for
19:11
the first time in the last five
19:14
decades and it's been primarily
19:16
because of what you talked about . We
19:18
are looking for a pill for an ill
19:21
. We are taught that the Big
19:23
Pharma , big Medicine , big Government
19:25
is here to help you . But , as
19:27
we all know , using the police analogy
19:29
, when you're out on the street man , you gotta
19:31
know how to take care of yourself or you're gonna get
19:33
killed . This is the same thing
19:36
people need to do with the healthcare . That thing
19:38
is an enemy of itself . Not
19:41
that we don't need pills sometimes
19:43
, not that we don't need the acute
19:45
emergency care , because we've got
19:47
some good ones out there , but
19:49
our preventive care is
19:51
horrible . We spend more
19:53
money per person on
19:55
this fictitious healthcare than
19:57
any other country in the world and we're near
19:59
the bottom of return
20:01
, or near the bottom of health of all the industrialized
20:04
nations in that same world . So
20:07
look at that , I'm like that's not
20:09
working . And if it's not
20:11
working and it hasn't worked in 75
20:13
years , it's probably time
20:15
to start embracing what I would
20:17
consider more traditional care , as
20:20
what my wife and I do , more care
20:22
that's been around for the last thousands of years , and
20:25
really support systems like that
20:27
so that more of them will come up . Because , as
20:29
you know , we're kinda out there a
20:32
lot doing what we do by ourselves a lot of the time
20:34
. Now we're starting to get some traction , but , man , it's been
20:36
a hard road .
20:37
Yeah , and I applaud you for it , because going
20:39
down that narrative path the
20:42
way we've always done it path that's easy
20:44
and that's what we talk about in courageous leadership . That
20:47
is not helping us , and you and
20:49
your wife have been extremely courageous , because
20:51
that is not only a difficult path , it doesn't always
20:53
pay as well as the other path , and so
20:55
you guys truly believe in this . I don't wanna
20:57
go too far down this rabbit hole , but I want the audience
20:59
to understand how broken
21:02
everything is . One of my wife and I's
21:04
passions is when we listen , we watch
21:06
television and we hear . See the pharmaceuticals commercials
21:08
. We wait to the very end and
21:11
we hear all of the
21:13
potential side effects and they say them
21:15
really quick . But it is outstanding
21:18
and crazy when you hear that . But people
21:20
need to understand the studies that
21:22
you have to produce to the FDA to get a drug
21:25
approved are studies financed
21:27
by the same drug
21:29
manufacturer , and then you have many of
21:31
the people that approve these pills
21:34
or medicines , for people then
21:36
get jobs when they leave the FDA
21:38
with the pharmaceutical companies
21:40
. We have similar things in law enforcement the police
21:42
chiefs that are down with the DOJ end up getting
21:44
jobs as DOJ consultants and it's
21:46
all about the money , but it is a twisted
21:49
system that our own government is
21:51
permitting , and when you've made that
21:53
statement early on that this is actually killing
21:56
us more than any bad guy ever could . That
21:58
is why Because the system
22:00
is set up to harm you . And
22:03
if anybody has any question about this
22:05
, watch some of those documentaries
22:07
on OxyCotin . Oxycotin
22:10
, I mean I think Hulu's got some , netflix
22:12
has some but it shows you that
22:14
it was our own government that
22:16
said this was not addictive
22:18
. And now we're losing over 100,000
22:21
people a year in overdose
22:23
deaths because of what our own government
22:26
approved and it's
22:28
, I think a lot of people mark
22:30
they don't want to know this because they don't want
22:32
to believe this . But if you don't
22:34
understand this and you don't study this , you
22:37
are risking your health , are you not ?
22:39
Yeah , you really are , and people need to understand
22:42
that . And I think it's kind of
22:44
comical but also very sad when you
22:46
play those commercials , that
22:49
at the end of those they always talk about
22:51
these side effects . But side effects
22:53
are not unknown side effects . Those
22:55
are noted in the studies , noted
22:58
in the studies , so much so that they tell
23:00
you that that these should
23:02
be expected . Well , a lot of people
23:04
don't understand this statistic I'm getting ready to say
23:06
the third leading cause of death , depending
23:09
on what database you look at , is
23:11
properly prescribed medication and
23:14
properly done procedures . Now
23:16
, come on , does that even make any sense
23:18
? Now , most
23:20
of law enforcement . I'm just going to use a simple little
23:23
analogy that I use . When law
23:25
enforcement officers work , shift work and all that
23:27
, they end up getting on about three medications
23:29
before they've been on about ten years Blood
23:31
pressure medication , blood
23:33
sugar medication and probably antidepressant . So
23:36
you know , when I look at my database
23:38
and I go , okay , what nutrients
23:41
does that pull out ? Nutrients is what drives the
23:43
system right , and so if
23:45
I put in those three drugs into my system
23:47
, get this . I get pulled out
23:49
zinc , which is important
23:52
for immune system . We pull out
23:54
folic acid , b12 , which is important
23:56
for blood health , brain health , energy and
23:59
we pull out sodium , which is important for heart
24:01
. Okay , so when you take drugs
24:03
you actually can get nutrient pullouts that
24:06
actually create more harm
24:08
. Wouldn't it be better to go back and say how can
24:10
we fix blood pressure , how can we fix blood sugar
24:13
, how can we fix our mindset ? We
24:15
need to put drugs in the right category
24:17
, travis , use them appropriately
24:19
, but one of our mission statements here at
24:22
our clinic is to avoid
24:24
all unnecessary
24:26
uses of medication . The other
24:28
one we have is to reverse
24:30
or eradicate all self-imposed
24:32
, choice-driven diseases . When
24:35
I say it's bad , I mean I
24:37
don't even think that word even
24:39
comes close to the criteria of how bad
24:42
it is . People have been completely
24:44
conned and they're in bondage right
24:46
now to a system that has them
24:48
enslaved .
24:50
Yeah , I mean , you're right , I'll speak to like some
24:53
elderly folks that have sort of been inside the system
24:55
for so long and you just can't convince
24:57
them . Like , people are just so sold
24:59
out to these doctors and the pharmaceutical companies
25:01
. I'll give you one quick example . Obviously
25:04
, I do a lot of reading about this and I found some
25:06
studies on metformin and , by the way , we're
25:08
not giving medical advice here , but I found some studies on
25:10
metformin . Metformin is one of the most prescribed
25:12
drugs for diabetics
25:14
. It keeps your insulin down . Of course , insulin is a driver
25:17
for weight gain , and so there's some
25:19
studies out there that say , hey , the studies
25:21
show that people that weren't diabetic took metformin
25:24
. Their lives were actually extended
25:26
. They believe that the properties in
25:28
this particular drug actually
25:31
does , because it reduces the insulin
25:33
over a long period of time , that your life
25:35
is actually extended . So I'm at my regular
25:38
doctor , mark , and she's asking me she
25:40
made the mistake of saying is there anything
25:42
I can do for you ? And I say , well
25:44
, yeah , you know , I've been
25:46
reading these studies on metformin , I'm
25:49
kind of interested in trying that out . And she
25:51
says , well , you're not a diabetic . And I go , yeah
25:53
, but these studies say this . And she
25:55
tells me well , I know they say that
25:57
, but you're not a diabetic . And
26:00
unless you're a diabetic , I'm not going to
26:02
give you this drug . What's what's no
26:04
? Big deal . No big deal . We could . You know , there's
26:06
some supplements and other things like that that we could get into
26:08
that can do very similar things . But I
26:10
will say this let's talk about supplements
26:12
, because you talked about scams earlier and
26:15
I have been talking to law enforcement
26:17
and tell my head spins about the
26:20
stuff that they're buying . They think that's
26:22
in it . Every study I've ever seen
26:24
on the general supplements off the shelf , the
26:26
vast majority of them don't even have what
26:28
it says it has . Of course it's not . You
26:30
know , the supplements industry is a is a Wild
26:33
West . It's not . There's no oversight to
26:35
that , so to speak , and you can pretty much
26:37
guarantee that if a supplement is sitting on a Walmart shelf
26:39
, it probably doesn't work very well , or the pharmaceutical
26:41
company would have taken it over , because that's exactly what they
26:43
did with ozempic and some other ones , because those were around
26:46
in the peptide form long before
26:48
we heard this word ozempic . And so
26:50
give some advice to the
26:52
law enforcement officers , because law enforcement
26:54
does they gravitate to . I
26:57
mean , I think they understand that they want substances
26:59
, they want things to make them better , they understand
27:01
that athlete mindset , but they get
27:03
sent off in so many different directions
27:05
and you can't just go to Walmart and start
27:07
grabbing stuff off a shelf . How would
27:10
you tell ? What would you tell them
27:12
that they should do if
27:14
they're wanting to , you know , add
27:16
supplementation or add peptides or add
27:18
certain things to help them , as any athlete
27:21
should .
27:22
Well , I agree with you . They need today
27:24
supplementation . Peptide
27:26
use I don't look as an option . I look at it
27:28
as something we ought to be doing Everybody
27:31
. Now , having said that the sub
27:33
, just a couple of ground rules people need to keep in
27:35
mind . The supplement industry is a hundred and fifty nine
27:37
billion dollar industry as of last
27:39
year and it is completely
27:43
full of corruption . The
27:45
supplement industry is regulated
27:47
by the FDA . However , as
27:50
long as you don't say the
27:52
supplement treats , cures , mitigates , prevents
27:55
diseases , it's perfectly legal
27:57
to be on the market and that's a broad
27:59
thing you can do . So you could hire a hired
28:02
celebrity to
28:04
give you a testimonial . That's a lie . But
28:07
as long as he doesn't say that it treats
28:09
diseases and falls the criteria , it
28:11
sells a lot . The looseness
28:14
of the guidelines out there in
28:17
order to get something
28:19
specific , to get
28:22
it where it's actually pure , those
28:24
are all over the roadmap . You got to look for something
28:27
that's at least CGMP
28:31
certified . Certified good
28:33
manufacturing practices is what that stands
28:35
for , but CGMP is kind of what you're looking
28:37
for as a label of
28:40
professionalism . I
28:42
only deal with those companies that do that and
28:44
meet the levels and actually go through the labs . I'm that
28:46
crazy one that does that and people
28:49
didn't look for that . I would not
28:51
buy anything at
28:54
all from a grocery
28:56
store , from a supplement store . I
28:58
wouldn't do that , I wouldn't buy it online . I
29:01
would find somebody a
29:03
clinician hopefully that knows that
29:06
at least looks the part that they know
29:08
and ask them the question
29:11
and then have the clinician
29:13
get them or connect them
29:15
with the best sources at this point . Otherwise
29:18
they're going to get ripped off and
29:21
with peptides especially , those are able
29:23
. You can get those right now kind of on
29:25
the market out there . They say right on them
29:27
, not for human use
29:29
. You're setting yourself up for a potential
29:32
problem because there's no one that's
29:34
regulating that . It may be good , it may not be
29:36
good , but you got to know what you're putting
29:38
in your body . Just like you know how
29:40
to put the bullets in your gun . You want to make
29:43
sure they actually have a bullet in there . It's not just a casing
29:45
. Pay attention to that . Find
29:47
people that know what they're doing . Gravitate to those
29:50
. I see it all the time . Travis , and I'll conclude
29:52
that answer with this Know that
29:54
you cannot bill away , pray
29:57
away , hormone away , supplement
30:00
away or exercise away a bad diet
30:02
.
30:03
Yeah , and what you said is so true
30:06
. And I know why cops do it because
30:08
they're cheap . We're cheap , our profession's cheap , we
30:10
want the cheapest stuff . But you're literally wasting
30:13
all your money . None of it's going to work and
30:15
I know you and I both know all the companies that are great
30:17
companies . Some of them are sold on Amazon
30:19
, but the easiest thing to do is go to your website
30:22
, Sherwoodtv . You guys actually
30:24
sell supplements . You don't got to buy them from Mark , but you'll
30:26
see these supplements companies that
30:28
they're using and maybe it's not
30:30
Mark , but maybe there's a functional doctor in your area
30:32
. If they're carrying supplements inside that
30:34
clinic , you can guarantee
30:37
if they're a legitimate functional doctor they're going to be
30:39
the ones you need to get
30:41
and they're not that much more expensive . And
30:43
plus , to know what you're getting is
30:46
worth what you're getting . And
30:48
there's a listen . It's
30:50
been a godsend for me , Mark , because I've been talking to you
30:52
for years and you've got me dialed in with the right
30:54
supplements . I just talked to you a few weeks ago
30:56
about grounding . I've been doing that . We're going to get back
30:58
to that hopefully by the end of the show . That's been
31:00
incredible , and so there's
31:02
so many things that doesn't
31:04
take a lot of time that you can really tune
31:07
in what you're doing and make
31:09
yourself feel amazing . I'm going
31:11
to link up an interview with Dana White
31:13
because he was a guy on his deathbed and
31:15
he tuned in some of these things that we're
31:17
talking about , things that you do in more Mark
31:19
, that literally , that you
31:21
can't even recognize a guy now . He looks so
31:24
much different and he's so much happier . And so
31:26
I do want to address this Mark , and sometimes
31:28
we address health and healthy
31:30
as well . I look fine , I
31:32
feel okay , but one thing that I
31:34
noticed after I left the job after 30 years
31:36
is I didn't know how bad I actually
31:38
felt . Stress induced
31:40
mainly , and you don't know if
31:43
you feel bad unless you feel good . So if you
31:45
feel bad for a long time , you
31:47
become used to that . That becomes the normal
31:49
. So let's say , an officer is listening to us right
31:51
now . They think they're doing everything right
31:53
. Their regular doctor did that much to say to
31:55
them they're never really sick that much . They
31:59
look tactical , cool in their uniform and maybe
32:01
even got some tightened up sleeves right . They're
32:03
looking good . They
32:05
lift a little weights . What would you tell them to do if they
32:07
, if they really truly want to make
32:09
sure that they are on that healthy path .
32:12
Well , they need to get a quality
32:15
blood work done , not your
32:18
general practitioner blood work , because
32:20
it's completely inadequate . In my opinion
32:22
, is antiquated with old data
32:24
and Mark , let me interrupt you .
32:26
That's important . Yeah , the
32:28
blood test that you get annually from your primary
32:30
care physician or your health insurance mandated
32:33
tells you literally nothing
32:35
. That's right , nothing . You've
32:37
got to get a legitimate
32:39
full panel blood work
32:42
done . I'll let you finish that .
32:44
Yeah , you know they'll tell you other things . Fine
32:46
, but just know the averages come
32:49
from this population of people in
32:51
our country and if you fall into an average
32:53
of that , they're basically saying you're
32:55
fine , slash , you're dying like everybody
32:58
else . You need to get a more
33:00
complex blood work panel done that
33:02
and do it annually , and
33:05
find a functional medicine doctor that does that
33:07
. I mean we actually . Our panel is
33:09
when we created , we run it through the Cleveland Heart
33:11
Lab that looks at a variety of a broad
33:13
based amount of markers so we can see where a person
33:15
is on disease processes , and
33:17
I see it all the time . You know , when people
33:19
do that they're like shocked . They have no idea
33:21
. That's one Number
33:24
. Two check your body fat percentage
33:26
. It's not about weight , it's about body
33:28
fat percentage . I like men somewhere
33:31
around 10 to about 18%
33:33
and ladies somewhere between 18
33:35
and about 26% . Health
33:38
cannot be equated to scale
33:40
weight anymore and that's been the case for a
33:42
number of years . Also
33:45
, you know , check your ability to sleep
33:47
. Sleeping is one that law enforcement officers
33:50
suffer with because , as time goes on
33:52
, shift work can take its toll on
33:54
you . A lot of people don't take inventory
33:56
of that and you just don't rest
33:58
well . And one thing I find about myself
34:00
. I found that I probably
34:03
became more cynical
34:06
and negative over
34:08
the course of time because you're in a negative
34:10
environment . You don't . People don't give
34:12
a call for service and say , hey , come , let me
34:14
buy you a cup of coffee . No
34:16
, no , it's always a negative thing . So that can
34:18
change you and you've got to kind of
34:20
find things that interest
34:23
you in other areas and challenge you in there
34:25
. So I mentioned I learned Spanish . I
34:27
look forward to my annual Mexico trip
34:30
because I want to go . You
34:32
don't have to go to Spain , you
34:34
know . I need to practice it more , you know , and
34:37
so I really think that learning
34:39
new things and skills like that officers
34:42
can do that and they should . So those are some
34:44
things that people need to do actively
34:47
speaking . And then , last thing
34:49
, build relationships with people that
34:52
are outside of your normal law enforcement
34:54
circle , because you you see that there's
34:56
a whole other world out there that that
34:59
makes , basically , you need and that
35:01
needs you .
35:03
Well , I know this mark . The last time I met with you
35:05
, you gave me that 10 to 18%
35:07
body fat range and you told me 15
35:09
. And I I tried to argue a little bit
35:12
because I know that the government
35:14
tells me that 20% is a healthy
35:16
percentage . And I was right around that and you
35:18
pretty much put me in my place because , as you just
35:21
said , they're comparing me to
35:23
the other sick population . So
35:25
I'm fighting hard , brother . So the next time
35:27
I see you you'll be happy with
35:29
me . But you're right , we put so much stock
35:31
into appearance and weight that
35:33
literally has nothing to do with it . We've
35:37
heard that term skinny fat or skinny
35:39
sick . It doesn't matter what
35:41
the appearance is , what's on the inside
35:43
. And the healthcare system is
35:45
just not set up to be accurate
35:47
and tell you that . Right , because
35:49
you go to the doctor , what do you do ? You get on a scale and
35:51
weigh . They don't take your body fat at the doctor's
35:54
office , they just weigh you and you're good .
35:57
Yeah , the the person is as old
35:59
as their vessels , right
36:01
? The whole idea of vascular
36:03
health has got to be looked at and
36:06
I think that you know we look at
36:08
the biological aging processes
36:10
and the biological
36:12
aging speed and actuality different than
36:15
we do the chronological age , and
36:17
we actually have tests and things
36:19
that we do that can actually slow down
36:21
, even reverse , if you
36:23
will , somewhat the biological aging processes
36:25
and speeds . So we can actually test that
36:28
, quantify that and move the needle in that . That's
36:30
a whole different way to look at it and that's what I would encourage
36:33
people listening to sort of get
36:35
their mind around that . We've been told
36:38
that this
36:40
is the way you do it you get sick , you
36:42
go to the doctor , you get a pill and move on . We've
36:45
been told that you retire and if you live
36:47
five years , that's good , if you live to 70 , you've had
36:49
a good life . Stop Hard
36:52
, stop . That is not the case at all
36:54
. I believe our organ systems
36:56
as a whole are
36:59
generally created , in all
37:01
things being equal , to live
37:03
and exist about 120 years . That doesn't
37:05
mean we're going to live that long , that's not the
37:07
point , travis but it means that
37:09
we need to start exhibiting
37:12
a higher quality of life in
37:14
the years , as opposed to a decline
37:17
of years in life
37:19
, and that's increasing six-span
37:21
. We don't need to do that anymore . We
37:23
need to increase the fullness of
37:25
lifespan .
37:28
Yeah , and you know , when I
37:30
read the Bible you'll read about people living for
37:32
hundreds of years , and there's some theologians
37:34
that will tell you that that's I
37:36
believe that . Let me tell you why I believe it , mark . Because
37:39
back then we didn't have what's in our water now we
37:42
didn't have what's in our food now , we
37:44
didn't have all the artificial lights and all
37:46
the things in the environment that
37:48
, literally , is killing us . We
37:50
didn't have any of that . And
37:53
you look what the generations have done
37:55
to the body . Because , I agree , I
37:57
think we are set up to live much longer
37:59
than what we're told , but it's almost like we
38:01
expect to live , to be in our 70s . That'd
38:04
be great , right , we're going
38:06
to get to 80 . But what you're saying is that's
38:08
not the case at all . But we have to
38:10
put some effort into it . Before I get to
38:12
this one question , I want to sort of preface the audience
38:14
here . You've got to change your mindset
38:17
about healthiness and wellness
38:19
, and here's how , because it took me a while to do
38:21
it . Once I did it , my life was forever
38:24
changed for the better . You're going
38:26
to have to spend money to be healthy . Your
38:28
health care system , where you pay your
38:30
deductible or you pay
38:32
$5 to see a doctor or you get your prescriptions
38:35
for $15 , that is not
38:37
set up to keep you healthy . So when
38:39
you start diving into these issues we're
38:41
talking about , you're going to have to understand
38:44
I'm going to spend some money , but what better
38:46
thing to spend money on than being
38:48
able to live a long , happy life
38:50
?
38:52
Yeah , Travis , the whole idea
38:54
of cost should
38:57
be analyzed into this microscope . It
38:59
is more expensive to
39:01
live sick than it is
39:04
expensive to live well . People
39:07
that end up having needless procedures
39:09
in the hospital . You know hospitals stay . Average
39:12
right now is over $5,000 per night
39:14
. Just wow
39:16
, how many vacations could you
39:18
take and stay at a five-star
39:20
resort ? You could stay at a $500
39:23
a night room for 10 days and
39:25
enjoy yourself with good food
39:27
, as opposed to spending a one night
39:29
in the hospital with a sterile
39:31
environment and the absolute poor food
39:34
that you could find . It's
39:36
like fast food on steroids . That
39:39
is not okay , and I think previously
39:41
you said something about what we're designed to do . People
39:44
need to know that , and we run genetics a lot
39:46
. The genes have changed 2% in 10,000
39:48
years . That's it . So if we
39:50
believe the creation theory and we believe
39:53
the earth was destroyed by water , that
39:55
would mean that you and I had pretty much
39:57
the same genes as Noah had when he stepped
39:59
off his boat . Now , if
40:01
that's true and I believe it is then
40:04
the diseases and sickness processes
40:06
we have today , such as type
40:09
2 diabetes , heart disease , cancers , autoimmune
40:12
autoimmune diseases , Alzheimer's
40:14
, dementia , osteoporosis , maybe
40:17
, just maybe we've
40:23
been conned to believe that those are normal , but
40:25
in reality there are diseases
40:28
of environmental force . The
40:30
environment that we have as law enforcement
40:32
officers and just people
40:34
in general needs to be checked all the
40:36
time . And on the last
40:38
thing about spending money , when
40:41
you're a law enforcement officer , you
40:43
want the best equipment To
40:45
protect you . You want the best
40:47
to pit equipment to protect you from a defensive
40:49
standpoint and an offensive standpoint . This
40:52
is no different , it's just more
40:54
important .
40:56
Yeah , and it's
40:59
so , so valid Mark . And , and
41:01
I know we have some officers listening
41:03
us right now that are thinking themselves
41:05
man , I'm in trouble . I know I need to sleep
41:07
better . I know I need to lose some weight . I
41:10
know I'm not feeling great because it affects
41:12
your entire life . I'm not just a job , it affects you at
41:14
home and everything else . I'm too tired when I get off
41:16
work to play with my kids . So if
41:18
and they and they're feeling overwhelmed because every
41:20
message they're hearing is is take a pill for this
41:22
, take a shot for this , what
41:25
would you tell that officer that , step
41:27
by step , to get a handle on that ? What advice
41:30
would you give them ?
41:31
Well , first of all , I say you know , understand
41:34
where you are and know that You're
41:36
in a bad spot . To admit
41:38
that is is courage . To
41:41
admit that you need to change is courage , and to
41:43
actually make changes Is
41:45
even more courageous . I know you talk about that
41:47
in the idea of courageous
41:50
leadership , travis . It it means
41:52
that you're not gonna be like everybody else anymore man . You're
41:54
gonna do what you need to
41:56
do because it's the right thing to do , and
41:58
I think people should take inventory . They should immediately
42:01
seek out some help . Find
42:03
somebody like my wife and I that cares
42:06
about you , loves you and is wanting
42:08
to build a relationship with you in the teamwork
42:10
of your health care and
42:12
in truly health care and Interview
42:15
doctors , ask questions . If they don't
42:17
satisfy what you're looking for , go
42:19
somewhere else . Certainly
42:21
there's , there's a few out there . Find
42:24
somebody that respects and loves law enforcement I
42:26
mean Travis . When I see
42:28
somebody that comes in front of me that is
42:30
a former or Current law enforcement
42:32
officer , my eyes light up , my heart
42:35
goes bitter powder , because I appreciate
42:37
them so much and I want
42:39
to do everything I can To
42:41
not just keep them alive , but
42:44
truly keep them alive . So I
42:46
think that if you're out there right now and that's
42:48
you man . Seriously , there's hope
42:50
out there . Find somebody
42:53
that's doing it , that can help you
42:55
, that will and gravitate
42:57
and hang on to them with everything you
42:59
got , and that way you win
43:01
.
43:03
I've told this story multiple times . I told
43:05
it on one of your stages one night mark and the
43:08
importance of leadership in
43:11
law enforcement . When it comes to this issue
43:13
, you as leaders have a much
43:15
bigger role than just checking
43:17
the doc , checking the box and paperwork and
43:19
sending your officers of training and doing
43:22
the evaluations . I Was
43:25
about 240
43:27
pounds now I don't know how big I actually
43:29
was . That was just the last time I wait , and I
43:32
worked for a police chief at the time that kind of had
43:34
a six since the humor and he put
43:36
me over the wellness unit at the
43:38
training Academy and I was one of my assignments
43:40
. I had multiple signs , but one of them was the
43:43
wellness unit and you were my sergeant
43:45
at the time mark and I
43:47
felt compelled not
43:49
because I really understood any of this
43:52
at the time , but I felt compelled
43:54
to try to get in better shape from the leadership standpoint
43:56
because I'm the leader of
43:58
this unit and officers are Coming to these in
44:00
services of this phenomenal class . That mark
44:02
was teaching and here I was
44:05
and you know I was a little forced in
44:07
because I'm I'm almost six foot four . I held
44:09
my weight pretty well . People probably wouldn't believe
44:11
that I weighed that much , but I did and
44:13
I probably weighed more . I may have been
44:15
bucking 353 , 55
44:17
, whatever it was . I felt terrible and all the
44:19
things you talked about , from sleep apnea
44:22
To all the medicines . I was on
44:24
it all . And I was in the gym
44:26
one day , because it's hard to not go to the gym with the gyms
44:28
right down from your office and that's what your assignment
44:30
is . And I did what a lot of really
44:33
out of shape people did . I got on the elliptical
44:35
and I'll watch TV . Now , nothing wrong with that , do
44:37
something . But that's what I did , that was my
44:39
go-to and I'm in there one day and
44:41
I'm on the elliptical and Mark sure
44:44
would walks by me because , mark , when you see
44:46
mark and I'll have a photograph of mark
44:48
here in the show , in the show notes he
44:50
looks like he works out about ten hours a day , but Mark's
44:52
workout is actually less than an hour . Like you
44:54
don't work out that long , you just know what to do
44:57
and you eat right and it's pretty amazing
44:59
stuff . And you walk
45:01
by me and you said , travis , what are you
45:03
doing ? And I said I'll do a little elliptical work
45:05
. And all mark said to me was
45:08
now , just remember , travis , you were
45:10
an athlete . You were an athlete in high school
45:12
. You were an athlete in college . You
45:15
are still an athlete now . He
45:17
didn't know this at the time , but
45:19
those words were all it
45:21
took , mark . It's all it took , and
45:23
I lost , over the course of a couple years
45:25
, over a hundred pounds , and From
45:28
that day forward I've been on this health
45:30
journey , and there's no telling where
45:32
my life would be if I wouldn't even had
45:34
a life , if a leader
45:36
, a Sergeant in that department that , by the way
45:39
, I outranked him , but that's not what
45:41
leadership is about , has nothing to do with rank had
45:43
the courage to talk to his captain that
45:46
he worked for and gave me those
45:48
words of encouragement . And
45:50
so I just want to encourage
45:52
everyone out there listening that you are
45:54
responsible for this . You may
45:56
not realize that , but the people that
45:59
work for you rely on you to protect
46:01
them , not just on the calls but
46:03
in their life as well , and
46:05
I could never thank you enough , mark . I love telling
46:08
that story and , man , we have so much more
46:10
to cover , but we're not gonna do it now . We're gonna bring you
46:12
back and we're gonna get into all
46:14
sorts of stuff , and if you're listening , I'm gonna tell you
46:16
what we're gonna get into next time . We're gonna get into hormones
46:18
and we're gonna get into weights and cardio and the importance
46:20
of sleep and some of the things that you may be Hearing
46:23
about on YouTube , like red light therapy and grounding
46:25
all of these stuff that we have
46:27
interested . But before you get to all that
46:29
, before you get to hormones or testosterone
46:31
or all that stuff , you need
46:33
to think about what mark said
46:35
. The first thing you need to do
46:38
is to find the right doctor
46:40
, get on the right supplements
46:42
, get that blood work checked a real
46:44
blood panel check . Get your foundation
46:47
. In a few months You're gonna get the second part
46:49
of this interview . That's going to
46:51
blow your way . Dr Mark Sherwood , I
46:53
can't thank you enough . What you've done for law enforcement
46:56
, what you've done for me , what you continue
46:58
to do Serving thousands of people
47:00
nationwide . Thank you so much for being here .
47:02
Oh my gosh
47:04
, great honor . I was looking forward to this
47:06
and I look forward to coming back .
47:08
And if you've been listening , thank you . And
47:10
just remember , lead on and stay courageous
47:13
.
47:15
Thank you for listening to Courageous Leadership with
47:17
Travis Yates . We invite you
47:19
to join other courageous leaders at www
47:21
. Travis Yates . org .
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