Byers says cocoa naturally contains lead and plant ingredients naturally contain heavy metals. Concentrating plant material into protein can therefore concentrate those metals too, making strict thresholds and testing especially relevant for chocolate and plant-based products.

Cocoa naturally contains lead
Plants naturally contain heavy metals
Concentration can increase the amount present in protein products
Independent thresholds and testing matter more in these categories

“Because cocoa naturally has lead in it. So it's just like plant protein has a lot more heavy metals than non-plant protein because when you…”
Jeff Byers · 48:00

“NSF you have to fall below thresholds uh on all of on all heavy metal tests”
Jeff Byers · 48:30

#heavy-metals#protein#cocoa#testing

Myth Buster1:18:30

Why Pro Teams May Avoid Turmeric for Healthy Athletes

Byers uses turmeric for inflammation management but explains why some sports dietitians avoid it for uninjured athletes. The inflammatory response after training helps create adaptation, so aggressively suppressing it can conflict with the goal of becoming stronger or faster.

Inflammation is not always an enemy
Post-training inflammation contributes to adaptation
Some teams reserve turmeric for injury or a defined challenge
The right choice depends on whether adaptation or inflammation control is the goal

“the inflammation response is really important when you think about adaptation, right?”
Jeff Byers · 1:18:30

“they don't give their athletes turmeric unless they're injured or have some challenge.”
Jeff Byers · 1:19:00

#turmeric#inflammation#adaptation#training

Hot Take· 1

Hot Take1:01:00

High Performance Often Sacrifices Long-Term Health

The merger that created Momentous led Byers to distinguish high performance from human performance. Elite performers may sacrifice health to maximize a narrow outcome, while human performance asks how ordinary people can keep doing what they love for longer.

High performance describes elite environments such as the NFL
Human performance applies to daily life
Extreme excellence carries costs outside the target activity
The useful goal is to democratize elite insights without copying elite sacrifice

“how do you democratize high performance and turn it into human performance? Because high performance is what happens in the NFL. Human performance is what…”
Jeff Byers · 1:01:00

“High performers sacrifice health. As a football player, to be great at football.”
Jeff Byers · 1:01:30

#human-performance#health#elite-sport#tradeoffs

Explainer· 5

Explainer08:00

Elite Athletes Need More Than Genetics and Work Ethic

Byers rejects a simple nature-versus-effort explanation for elite sport. He describes a combination of suitable genetics, family and economic opportunity, avoiding badly timed injuries, and exceptional work and mental toughness.

Athletes must fall within a viable genetic range for their event
Family resources, location, gear, and transport shape opportunity
Injury timing can derail a promising path
Hard work and mental toughness remain mandatory

“you have to be lucky enough to have grown up in a household or in an environment that allows you to play and succeed and…”
Jeff Byers · 08:00

“if you do not work your ass off and you are not mentally tough, you will never be great.”
Jeff Byers · 08:30

#athletics#genetics#opportunity#resilience

Explainer38:00

What Real Supplement Quality Control Costs a Brand

Byers explains why stringent certification is hard for small supplement companies: the testing cost is similar whether a run contains 1,000 or 100,000 units. Momentous quarantines production, rejects ingredients outside its specifications, and destroys or relabels failed runs rather than quietly selling them.

NSF Certified for Sport checks banned substances and label accuracy
Testing costs weigh more heavily on small production runs
Ingredient and finished-product testing can both produce failures
A failed batch can cause months of lost sales
Corrective action can require disposal, resourcing, or label changes

“everything that's on the label, if it says 20 grams of protein, it has to test within spec. If it says 40 milligrams of sodium,…”
Jeff Byers · 38:30

“We failed spec of it. Uh and we could have gone like no law against continuing to produce it. Nothing. Right? Because we failed spec,…”
Jeff Byers · 42:00

#supplements#quality-control#certification#manufacturing

Explainer1:10:00

Why Long Training Sessions Need More Than Electrolytes

Byers distinguishes everyday hydration from fuel for longer training. At around 60 minutes or more, glycogen depletion becomes relevant, so the product combines carbohydrates with electrolytes to help endurance athletes continue without bonking.

Shorter sessions can focus on everyday hydration
Long sessions deplete glycogen stores
Carbohydrates replenish glucose during extended work
Fuel combines carbohydrates with electrolytes

“when you train for 60 minutes or more, your glycogen stores get depleted and you have to replenish those with glucose, sugar, right?”
Jeff Byers · 1:10:00

“for 60 minute plus long bouts of exercise, hiking, you name it, you need to onboard carbohydrates”
Jeff Byers · 1:10:30

#hydration#carbohydrates#endurance#glycogen

Explainer1:12:30

Fish Oil Grams Can Hide a Weak Omega-3 Dose

Byers warns that total fish oil is not the same as the amount of useful omega-3s. He recommends looking specifically at EPA and DHA, checking for lower-food-chain fish and careful processing, and protecting the oil from oxidation.

EPA and DHA are the label amounts to inspect
A large fish-oil number can contain little omega-3
Smaller fish tend to be preferable because fish carry heavy metals
High heat and oxidation can reduce quality
Opaque or amber capsules help protect the oil

“Not fish oil, I'm not saying fish oil because fish oil is not the same as omega-3.”
Jeff Byers · 1:12:30

“Fish carry heavy metals. So, what do you want? Super low on the on the food chain.”
Jeff Byers · 1:13:00

#omega-3#fish-oil#epa#dha#sourcing

Explainer1:23:00

Use Melatonin for Time-Zone Shifts, Not Every Night

Byers separates his ordinary travel sleep support from melatonin. He uses non-melatonin ingredients to downregulate in unfamiliar environments, while reserving melatonin for brief time-zone changes because he views it as habit forming and useful primarily for resetting circadian timing.

Travel removes the normal routine that prepares the body for sleep
Downregulation matters after work and screen exposure
Byers reserves melatonin for crossing time zones
He uses it only for the first nights of a trip
Regular melatonin use is discouraged in the episode

“everything we do upregulates us work TV screens upre how do we downregulate so that we can get get to sleep and have higher quality…”
Jeff Byers · 1:24:00

“I do not believe meatonin should be taken regularly. I think it should be taken very infrequently.”
Jeff Byers · 1:25:00

#sleep#melatonin#travel#circadian-rhythm

Story· 1

Story03:00

The Injury That Forced Byers to Redefine Himself at 19

After severe hip and back injuries, Byers had to imagine life without football while still in college. He concluded that sport was part of him rather than the thing that defined him, then returned to play while also completing graduate business study.

Athletic identity can make transition unusually painful
Injury forced an early identity reckoning
Byers separated who he was from the sport he played
The interruption also accelerated his education

“the hardest part about transitioning out of sport or military is you let sport define you, right? Because it's everything to you.”
Jeff Byers · 03:30

“the sport never defined me. It was a part of me. I define me. I get to choose who I am.”
Jeff Byers · 04:00

#identity#injury#athletes#transition

Q&A· 1

Q&A1:27:30

Why Byers Treats TRT as a Last Resort at 40

Byers discusses low testosterone after contact sport and the difficulty of evaluating hormone supplements. He says lifestyle, behavior, and diet should be addressed first, describes Tongkat Ali as promising but still developing, and treats testosterone replacement therapy as a last resort.

Brain injury can correlate with low testosterone in former football players
Hormone products often have limited or developing evidence
Momentous removed a product when its evidence stopped progressing
Lifestyle, behavior, and diet remain foundational
Byers is not ready to begin TRT despite testing low

“the data stopped progressing and we pulled it from the market last year because it wasn't up to our snuff in terms of efficacy.”
Jeff Byers · 1:29:00

“TRT should be like the very very last resort.”
Jeff Byers · 1:31:30

#testosterone#trt#hormones#tongkat-ali

Takeaway· 3

Takeaway1:03:00

Why Blending Two Company Cultures Produced No Culture

After combining Amp Human and Momentous, Byers and his cofounder spent months trying to accommodate two histories, boards, and ways of working. They eventually set one direction, accepted that it would not suit everyone, and stopped trying to preserve both prior cultures.

A merger of equals created competing claims about the right way to operate
Young leaders allowed outside voices to steer too much
Trying to blend two cultures left the new company without a clear one
Teams crave definitive direction
A culture does not need to suit everybody

“if you try to blend two cultures you have no culture. If you try to be two things you have nothing.”
Jeff Byers · 1:04:00

“Be definitive in what you do because that's ultimately what matters. People crave direction. I don't need to please everybody.”
Jeff Byers · 1:04:00

#mergers#culture#leadership#direction

Takeaway1:20:00

A Deficiency Supplement Can Become an Excess

The conversation highlights the risk of taking vitamins and minerals indefinitely without retesting. Byers and Cohen discuss vitamin D, vitamin B, magnesium, and multivitamins as cases where measured need and dose matter because a previously low marker can become too high.

The right amount matters more than simply taking a nutrient
Vitamin D can rise too high with prolonged supplementation
A measured deficiency should be retested
Multivitamins are not automatically the best starting point

“the right amount of things matter in right be get your blood tested blood tested”
Jeff Byers · 1:20:00

“it's very important to be very on top of getting your blood tested because then you could be taking too much of something which is…”
Jennifer Cohen · 1:22:30

#blood-tests#vitamin-d#deficiency#supplements

Takeaway1:36:00

Community May Matter More Than Your Supplement Stack

The episode closes by challenging obsessive longevity routines that crowd out joy and relationships. Byers and Cohen argue that supplements remain secondary to daily habits and that friends and community are central to a long, healthy, meaningful life.

Supplements are secondary to daily habits
A longevity routine should not eliminate joy
Fitness can double as community time
Relationships are presented as a major longevity factor
A sustainable health plan must still leave room for life

“these are all supplemental to your daily habits. You have to be happy. You like your life like You can't change your life around supplements…”
Jeff Byers · 1:36:30

“community piece having friends will stay will keep you alive way longer than any supplement on the planet.”
Jennifer Cohen · 1:37:00

#community#longevity#joy#relationships

Frameworks in this episode

Bone-Crushing Consistency

Candor and Conflict Synthesis

Collagen Timing Protocol

N-of-One Supplement Test

Predictable Leadership

The Momentous Three

Win the Next Play

Insights & moments

⚡Myth Buster· 2

Why Chocolate and Plant Protein Test Higher for Heavy Metals