Welcome And Guest Introduction

SPEAKER_00 0:07

Welcome back to Healthy Mind, Healthy Lives. I am Nazish and tonight's guest brings together two words that rarely sit on the same mic. My guest is Dr. Carlos Sanchez, an inventional cardiologist with over 17 years of experience in complex coronary and structural heart disease interventions. He is a principal investigator in clinical trials, a published voice in cardiovascular science, and founder of the Lux Metz Spa and Calamara, a functional energy brand built on a system-based approach to high performance, longevity, and medical health. In tonight's conversation, we are talking about why modern energy is quietly breaking our nervous system and what high-stakes medicine has taught Dr. Sanchez about calming, staying calm under pressure, and what it really takes to perform at our your best without sacrificing the bodies carrying to you. So, Dr. Sanchez, I welcome you to the show.

SPEAKER_01 1:14

Thank you very much. Thank you for having me. It's it's a real pleasure to be here uh and discuss about topics of uh of wellness.

SPEAKER_00 1:23

Yeah, absolutely. Uh so before we proceed ahead, listener, some statements reflect personal belief and experiences and have presented us individual views, not medical advice. Listener should consult qualified professionals for medical conditions.

When Treatment Comes Too Late

SPEAKER_00 1:43

So, Dr. Sanchez, before we open into this big conversation, I want to ask you: you have spent your days inside one of the most high-stakes environment in medicine, working on the human part. That is the world that demands extreme focus, precision, and calm. What when did you first realize that the way most people are chasing energy and performance was actually working against the very biology you treat every day?

SPEAKER_01 2:12

Well, yeah, and yeah, those are uh excellent questions, excellent topics. Like uh you said, Nasis, I I really what I do is interventional cardiology. So what I uh what I see in people on my everyday practice is you know, patients who home with co come and see me for heart disease. I'm subspecialized in interventional cardiology. So uh I typically see patients who are sick with uh uh what we call atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease, meaning blockages in the heart vessels. And by the time they come to me, uh typically it's more of a band-aid approach. We we we call it secondary prevention. So we we treat them with medications because they already have the disease, they already have the condition. Um, if if they are having chest pain tightness or pressure, what we call angina symptoms, you know, we can do a procedure called heart catheterization and then fix the blocked artery that's causing uh the angina or the chest pain, or also open the artery that's causing the heart attack, right? So by the time we see patients like this, it's already too late. The problem is already presenting. Yes, we're we're saving their lives or improving their symptoms, uh, but we're not preventing the disease that came uh came along from from years past, right? And when you think about, okay, what's the really natural history of atherosclerosis, meaning the process where you build up plaque inside your heart vessels? Well, that starts 20, 30, or even 40 years before you um before you you show up with a heart attack, right? So uh when I see all these patients, I help them to a certain extent to help them obviously save the save their lives if they're having a heart attack, but I'm really not changing much of the the history of the disease that they have. And

Medicine 3.0 And Prevention

SPEAKER_01 4:05

so, you know, that led me to get to to think more about of uh what we call medicine 3.0. Medicine 3.0 is more of a preventive uh type wellness uh medicine that that we rarely practice nowadays. And the the the reason nobody practices is because really uh the healthcare system right now it's designed to really just cure uh or treat conditions that already exist. But nobody's paying you, there's no insurance, there's no coverage, there's no to really to really treat a disease or change the habits that will potentially lead to this this disease process. So identifying those risk factors in people early on is what led me to come to this, uh to what we're talking right now.

SPEAKER_00 4:54

Absolutely, and that brings so much clarity for anybody who's listening today, because I think everybody has so many misconceptions about, you know, like energy drinks supplements and biohacks. And like from a cardiologist perspective, there are so many misconceptions about it. So what do you think it is all about?

Caffeine Limits And Energy Drink Myths

SPEAKER_01 5:15

The misconception about, let's say, um, energy drinks, I think you just the the misconception it comes from um the ingredients that are inside the beverage, right? Uh and and yes, uh everything, everything you do, um, including the the good things, uh, when you do it in an excessive manner, they're not good, right? So let's say, let's put an example, exercise. Yeah, exercise is excellent for you. But if you overdo excessively exercise, then your body's gonna break down, right? So you're gonna have uh you're gonna have all the problems. So everything that you do in excess is no good. And that uh and that brings the the the topic of of energy drinks, right? Because to begin with, energy drinks by definition have caffeine, right? So let's just say that every every source of caffeine and every ingredient is absolutely perfect, is beneficial to people, uh, and there's no side effects. Well, even if you drink over 400 milligrams of caffeine a day, you're gonna start having some symptoms of of over-caffeinated uh your your body. You're gonna get the jitters, you're gonna get all this, all those symptoms. So that's when you start crossing the line, and what people uh mistakenly think that it's well, this is not healthy. Well, it's not healthy because you're drinking more than what you need. Um, and so the recommendations right now from the FDA really to drink caffeine when you talk about milligrams is 400 milligrams a day, right? So, what is 400 milligrams a day of caffeine? Well, you know, in a in an energy drink is very easy to quantify because it's it's spelled. I mean, you look you go to you know Celsius, it's gonna have 200 milligrams of caffeine. Uh, and the same for Red Bulls will have uh 106, whatever it is, and they vary, right? Uh, but if you take, if you think about it, if you take more than two of these uh beverages, you're already surpassing what the FDA recommends in terms of your caffeine limit, right? In terms of a coffee, you know, a venti, those huge cup of coffees of dark roast from you know Starbucks, they do have close to 300 to 400 milligrams, right? Uh, a small cup of coffee will have 80 milligrams of caffeine. So just to give you an idea, when you compare, hey, I'm gonna uh, you know, because people talk about coffee, they talk about energy drink, but really uh you have to compare, you know, the amount of caffeine that you're ingesting to really say, hey, is it safe or not safe? And that's when you cross the line. And then there's all other ingredients that uh that come with the caffeinated beverages uh uh or the energy drinks, right? And those some of them are not the healthiest uh for you and can have short or long-term adverse consequences to the human body.

SPEAKER_00 8:14

Absolutely. Like I couldn't agree more with you. And I do believe it for a fact that anything in excess is never good. There has to be a balance in everything. It's it's like if it is if it is too much, it is never good. And like you mentioned, there are gonna be jitters, there are gonna be other side effects. We do face those things, but we never realize that it is happening because of excess of excess caffeine. It never crosses our mind.

SPEAKER_01 8:41

Exact exactly right. So if you think about well, if you take one energy drink a day, uh whatever energy drink you choose to drink for for one, what I don't think it's gonna cause much of a harm. Uh, the problem comes when you start overdoing this type of uh of drink, or you when you start thinking that you're gonna replace this energy drinks with with real food. Uh that's when when people mistakenly get into trouble and when some sort of side effects may uh may come in uh with energy drinks.

SPEAKER_00 9:16

Yeah, and you know, talking about this makes me remember I personally cannot have caffeine uh in the evening, like after 6 p.m. or 7 p.m. I cannot, otherwise, it disrupts my sleep, it keeps me up all night, and I have this weird anxiety, like the things that you're mentioning, I do have them. And I never thought that and it took me a long time to come come to this conclusion that oh my god, it is happening because of caffeine. And as soon as I stopped it, as soon as I focused, you know, started taking healthy, other healthy options, it really calmed me and it really made my sleep so much better.

SPEAKER_01 9:58

Yeah, and and and you're absolutely right. Uh, absolutely right. That's why you shouldn't. Uh,

Sugar, Sweeteners, And Metabolic Fallout

SPEAKER_01 10:04

but the other thing we haven't touched upon that's also in some of the uh beverages that may be detrimental to your health is sugar, right? Many of these uh energy drinks have high content in sugar or have uh artificial sweeteners that may be detrimental to your health, right? Many of these sweeteners have been associated with increase in heart disease, increase in dementia, increase uh, you know, even cancer, right? Because sugar, what it what sugar does, even if it's fake sugar, uh, you know, you're you're really overstimulating uh your body uh and your your your metabolic rate, uh start thinking that you have to retain, you know, you have your you're you have to fight that sugar, your insulin goes up. Uh then when your insulin goes up, uh you increase your weight, uh, you have uh so many metabolic side effects that are completely detrimental that may end up in in a heart attack, stroke, cancer, or even uh dementia. So sugar is a super important part of any drink that you're you're gonna take. Make sure your the the the sugar that comes with the drink is is either from a natural source uh and not sucralose or not true sugar. And then if it's if it's real sugar, then how much sugar is in the beverage? Uh, because that really, really um can can can bring a lot of problems to to your body. And then the bunch of fatigue, burnout, declining performance, and that's what we are we're talking about. The metabolic effects of all this, uh it's losing your focus, balance, long-term balance, uh, which can lead to this detrimental um health problems.

SPEAKER_00 11:58

It does, it does. And you know, sugar is one of those things which are so easily available to us. Oh, it is it is like everywhere, and you cannot, it does not strike your mind that what be and there are so many advertisements that tell us, oh my god, this is not the real sugar, you can have it. But at the end of the day, it does impact us as well.

SPEAKER_01 12:21

Exactly right, exactly right. And so when you think the combination of the the bad source of sugar plus excess caffeine, uh, right, which many uh uh many energy products will have, they're only pushing your nervous system into overdrive, we call it, right? Overdrive, creating that short-term output that people are looking for, right? You go to work, it's like I people want just want to like have that really short-term drive or output, but that that comes at the expense of long-term health, right? So that's what we're trying to educate people. Uh uh, whereas I what I'm trying to do is with my team is is build a new model uh and energy driven by physiology and not stress, right? Caffeine, sugar, stress, a lot of stress to your body and to your nervous system.

SPEAKER_00 13:16

It does, it does.

Fight Or Flight As A Lifestyle

SPEAKER_00 13:18

And you know, I believe the modern nervous system is taking a kind of beating it was never designed for, like constant input, constant pressure, constant decision. What do you see in your work as a clinician through that led to the lens of calamara as the deeper pattern that's actually breaking us?

SPEAKER_01 13:40

Yeah, so so what I see is that uh you know, that caffeine, sugar, and constant input that you mentioned, uh that you keep the nervous system in a prolonged uh fight or flight state, if you will, uh, which is not sustainable at all, right? So you can do this for a short period of time, uh, but that quietly is really eroding your performance and your health. Um, and and so, you know, our mission is really to lead the shift towards sustainable energy, right? More rooted in balance, uh, resilience, and how the body really is designed to perform. That's the most important thing, right? People, people forget about how the body is really designed to perform. And we're all different, but at the same we're the same. We we we perform. We have this, we have a heart, we have a liver, we have kidneys, we have, you know, a metabolic, we all have muscle, we have, you know, so so we have to learn how our body is designed to perform, um, to really understand, you know, what we're trying to do is is is force our body and shift that type of uh uh energy type into uh into a more artificial uh artificial model, which is not right for for us.

SPEAKER_00 15:00

Yeah, absolutely. That is so true. And you know, that is something sobering in what you just said. We treat fatigue like it's a moral failure or like a discipline problem, but it is often a psychological cry from our body that has never been pushed past its capacity.

SPEAKER_01 15:19

Correct, correct. And so that's what we're trying to do in the modern days. Uh, you know, pushing, trying to energy, trying to use energy to push our nervous system. We should find ways to support it, not to push the nervous system, but to support your nervous system, right? And that's where the, you know, with where all this supplements, ingredients, energy drinks, you know, you call it, right? You know, what are you taking? You have to be really aware uh about your your body, wellness to make sure you're not trying to push your nervous system right outside its comfort zone. You just want to support it, not push it, support it. Because when you start pushing it, like I said, you're gonna have uh good short-term results. Uh, but we're not we're we're not designed to do that on the long term. Your your body is gonna break at some point, and then you're gonna have many other problems that you don't want to deal with in the long term.

SPEAKER_00 16:22

Absolutely. And that is such a beautiful way to put it because we don't really see these things happening with us, but hearing them, we can actually figure out that something that we are talking about in this podcast is actually that is happening. Like we can see those things in us, and then we can, you know, work on it in a required manner.

SPEAKER_01 16:46

Exactly right, exactly right. So you have to be very uh uh cognizant of what you're really putting inside your body. You have to really understand what you're drinking. And I know there's so much out there right now, and there's so much misinformation out there right now, but you know, I tell, like I was saying, my mission is to try to uh try to educate um and and and and make sure that people understand that that yeah, be careful. I'm not I'm not telling people what to do. Okay, but I just want to tell them, like, hey, listen, um, this can have detrimental effects on you, and not everything you see out there in the market, in social media, and you know, uh, and through influencers, it's it's it's healthy. And and and that's kind of part of my mission and why I'm so devoted to wellness, is into how I can change or impact lives in the long term. So I I mean, I'm not just preventing you uh to have a long-term disease like a heart attack, but I want you to to live like really vibrant and have uh be full of energy uh and live this beautiful life. So that that's that's kind of my my short and long-term mission, what I'm trying to do with this type of uh products.

SPEAKER_00 18:05

I completely agree with you there, and we actually have to be conscious about what we are doing because, like you said, misinformation is too much there. Like every step you take, there is a different advertisement. Every internet or anything you open on the internet, any social media profile you open, there is so much misinformation. And I'm so glad that we are doing this to prove why because I am learning so much from it, and I believe my listeners are also benefiting from this.

SPEAKER_01 18:34

That's exactly right. We're living in a culture that rewards output but ignores physiology. Uh absolutely. Yeah, you you have to remember that. Uh, and you cannot outpace your biology forever. Uh, that's the number one thing. You you know, we're designed in certain ways, and your body has certain ways of of functioning. You cannot outpace that with artificial stuff. Uh yeah. What we're seeing now is the consequence of of all that stuff that I just mentioned, right? Chronic overstimulation. Uh, and so we need uh more sustainable models of performance for people uh to live healthier.

SPEAKER_00 19:19

We do, we do. So, you know, uh maybe that is a founder or a professional or a parent, or just someone trying to keep up, like they're drinking three coffees a day and they're fired by 9 a.m. and crashing at 3 a.m. And then they're like really badly sleeping, and they tell themselves like they are high performing, but underneath they know something is wrong. So, how is this energy crisis actually showing up in their daily life without even, you know, in ways they might even not recognize?

The Vicious Cycle Of Needing More

SPEAKER_01 19:51

Yeah, we well, it's it's it's showing up because they, you know, it's it becomes a vicious cycle or snowball effects in their life. Like this doesn't start in a uh in a very advanced stage that people are in, some people are in, um, right? Uh it really started with simple things like uh, okay, I'm not sleeping very well, or I'm gonna sleep five hours a day. I'm gonna tough it out because I have a job or I have two jobs and you got to do all that stuff. So I'm so when you start sleeping five, four, four, five hours a day thinking you can survive, uh, over time, and again, this is you know, we can talk about the short-term effects, but what what I what I talk about is when you break down your body, the long-term effects, then you like all of a sudden you start waking up and you're like, okay, I feel tired. I don't have the same energy. Okay, what is going on? And yeah, you know, there are conditions, disease, perimenopause. You know, we can talk about so many topics here that make be a we make be making you feel that way, but but outside that, completely healthy people wake up and like, I don't have the same energy. I I don't know what's going on with me. Uh, so okay, so I have to really find a way to what to understand. They they go to the doctor, everything's perfect, you get blood tests, you get but listen, I'm I'm just I don't have the same energy. Okay, so then start looking alternatives. So they start doing a lot of research. And you know, in the era we live in, uh you can find you can find solutions to everything very quickly. And so, oh, okay, one one of those is okay, x a little extra coffee or a little energy drink. So you start with one. Okay, oh wow, that I felt really good with with this energy drink. I I now feel more energetic, I can perform. But I'm still sleeping five, four or five days a week. Your sleeping, you know, is getting worse. And then you I get you you get more tired, more tired, more tired. So you're in more need of of more excess energy. And so you you now take two, three, or take a you know, a couple afternoon energy drinks. And by the time you're at between three and five energy drinks. A day come the come the evening time, you completely crash, your system completely crashes, especially if they're full of sugar, right? But we talk about the caffeine, the caffeine has a very good effect, short-term effect, but then it will make you crash as well. So if you have combined that with sugar, sugar will make you feel like uh like really, really uh groggy and and especially the excess of sugar. And now it comes the night. I need a nap. If you take a nap, uh then you you go and sleep another three, four, or five hours, and and you wake up worse, right? And now this is cycles of years. And by the time you realize, you know, by the time you comes come and realize that you're completely dysfunctional, which is where a lot of people are, all of a sudden it's like, okay, what do I do now? Uh, you know, and that's and that's where we are in uh in in this world right now. What do I do? Now I I'm completely functional, I'm not functioning well. Now I'm I'm uh um I'm obese, I have high blood sugar, I have high blood pressure. Now you you transition to the real the real medical problems, right? Which is where you not want to be. So my goal is is the opposite is like, hey, how do you create something that will support you? Right? Uh as we educate to create the right habits, okay. So we're

Sleep, Food, Exercise For Real Energy

SPEAKER_01 23:22

talking about right habits is hey, sleep anywhere from seven to eight hours a day. Protect your sleep. Such an important thing to do in today's world. People don't believe that that sleep is something important. Yeah, sleep, you know, lack of sleep can can lead to also uh pretty bad cardiovascular um problems over time. So yeah, protect your sleep seven to eight hours. Okay, have a routine to eat a low carb, low sugar diet in your life. Do some sort of exercise, you know, if you can mix that with strength training uh three or four times a week, perfect. Uh, and then you know, eat a high protein diet more so, you know, if you can do those with you know sound simple things and then go to bed at the same time and create a sleeping habit, you know, you're gonna have very good, sustainable energy uh for a very long for many years, um, and you're gonna prevent a lot of uh a lot of medical problems down the road, which is what you want, right? And so if you if you if you create those habits, all you need is to support your energy, right? You don't need to find ways to to function, you're just supporting it, supporting your body uh to to to to to give you that energy. And and that's where we need to become a little more educated out there and how you do this. And that's kind of the challenge that I'm facing, and many others, you know, I'm not alone now fighting this uh the this problem, uh, but but that's what what what my mission is as a person is how you can live a fully energetic, vibrant, happy life.

SPEAKER_00 25:17

Right, right. That is so true. And you know, Carlos, this has been such a good conversation because you taught us so many things, like the wisdom that you shared with us, it doesn't come from a textbook. Like you are teaching people something from your experience, from your performances, and you know, and and it brings so much peace to us. Like there are there are the same skills practiced in every different rooms, and the most high-performing humans aren't the ones that who never crash. They are the ones who return to themselves and learn what is good for them at the end.

SPEAKER_01 25:55

That's exactly right. And remember, in medicine, where I practice every day and I love practice in medicine, I see the long-term effects of all this we discuss every day. Okay, so I want you and everyone to take a step back for 20 and 30 years, the younger generations, and change and change what they can to avoid see to avoid becoming what I see every single day in my clinical practice.

SPEAKER_00 26:28

Absolutely. Thank you so much, Carlos, for such a clarifying conversation. And

Where To Find Dr Sanchez And Closing

SPEAKER_00 26:33

I believe that there are gonna be listeners who want to learn more about your work, explore the nukes, meta spa, and follow more what you're building with Carlo Mara. Where is the best place for them to find you?

SPEAKER_01 26:47

Well, they can find they can find me at um in social media at um uh you know Carlos Sanchez, Dr. Carlos Sanchez, uh, on Instagram. You know, if you want you're interested in uh energy drink on the it's a wellness first energy drink, you can go to uh uh drinkcalmara.com uh and and then you can find all the information and and all the ingredients and everything that we discussed today about energy drinks, uh and what ingredients you know we have now to try to prevent or avoid uh many of these problems of the current uh energy drinks.

SPEAKER_00 27:27

Absolutely. Thank you so much for sharing that with us. I will make sure to include uh your details into the show notes so that you know people can just scroll down and reach out to you. Thank you so much for being here on this episode of Healthy Mind, Healthy Healthy Life. Because, you know, these are some real conversations that actually teaches us a lot.

SPEAKER_01 27:49

It's my pleasure to be here, and thank you very much for having me on uh uh on your podcast.

SPEAKER_00 27:55

Wonderful. And dear listeners, that was our episode of Healthy Mind, Healthy Love. It's something in this conversation made you pause, made you rethink the way you have been pushing your body, made you wonder if fatigue you have been ignoring is actually trying to tell you something to take just as take that just as a sign. Don't start a new protocol tonight. Just start with one honest moment. Put the screen down, take a breath that's no longer that you inhale. Drink a glass of water, sleep one hour earlier than you planned to. The small act of respect for your body you live in are the foundation of every kind of energy worth out. Until we meet here again, be kind to your nervous system. It has been carrying you longer than you know. So I'll see you in the next episode.