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What if the biggest thing holding your health back isn’t what you’re doing, but how you’re thinking about it? Most of us have been trained to see the body in silos: diagnose the problem, treat the symptom, move on. But what if that model is missing the bigger picture?

In this episode of The Ready State Podcast, Dr. Jeffrey Bland – widely recognized as the father of functional medicine – joins Juliet and Kelly Starrett to unpack a more complete, systems-based approach to health. From a simple (and surprisingly accessible) blood test that can reveal your inflammatory status, to the real role of inflammation as both a healing response and a hidden driver of chronic disease, this conversation challenges everything you thought you knew about “being healthy.”

Dr. Bland also shares the deeply personal story that reshaped his entire career and led him to question conventional medicine’s focus on downstream symptoms instead of root causes.

You’ll walk away understanding why everyday choices – like sugar intake, sleep, stress, and even your sense of self-agency – play a far bigger role in longevity than most people realize. Because at the end of the day, health is something you actively create.

• Why chronic inflammation is both a healing response and a hidden driver of disease
• How a standard blood test (CBC) can reveal your body’s inflammatory state
• The difference between treating symptoms vs. addressing root causes (upstream vs. downstream health)
• Why your body is a system – and not a set of isolated problems to fix
• How everyday habits like sugar intake, stress, and sleep quietly accelerate aging

(0:00) Intro & Teaser Clips

(0:35) Introducing Dr. Jeffrey Bland, Father of Functional Medicine

(3:11) Dr. Bland Joins the Show / Earth Day Connection

(3:50) How Dr. Bland's Career Began in 1970

(7:33) What's Most Urgent for People to Understand About Health Today

(9:13) Systems Thinking vs. Siloed Medicine

(12:43) A Seismic Life Event That Changed Everything

(15:19) Finding Purpose After Tragedy — The Birth of a Mission

(17:35) Origins of the Term "Functional Medicine"

(19:03) Functional Medicine in The Lancet — 1874

(31:15) Understanding Good vs. Chronic Inflammation

(38:30) The Ibuprofen Epidemic in Youth Athletes

(39:59) The Functional Medicine Model: Antecedents, Triggers & Mediators

(42:47) Big Bold Health & Testing for Inflammaging

(43:33) The CBC with Differential — A $6 Test Everyone Already Has

(45:08) The SIRI Index — Calculating Your Inflammatory Status

(46:25) Immune Cells Renew Every 90–120 Days

(56:03) The 850-Person Clinical Trial on Food & Immune Health

(56:56) Tartary Buckwheat — A 3,500-Year-Old Immune Superfood

(1:02:57) The Healthcare System Isn't Working — A Seismic Change Is Coming

(1:08:13) Rapid Fire: Blue Zones & Eating a Rainbow of Polyphenols

(1:09:47) The #1 Lever for Aging Well — Starting With How You See Yourself

(1:10:56) Where to Find Dr. Jeff Bland & Closing Thoughts

Huge thanks to our sponsors, Kreatures of Habit, LMNT, and Momentous.

Welcome to the first episode of RECESS, a new, more personal series from us, Juliet and Kelly Starrett. In these shorter, looser conversations, we’re pulling back the curtain on what’s going on in our lives, what we’re learning, what’s making us laugh, and what we’re thinking about across health, movement, longevity, performance, parenting, and everything in between.

In this episode, we talk about Kelly’s experience coaching Cal Women’s Water Polo at the NCAA championship and what it’s like to compete at that level. We unpack the “bronze medal mindset” and some of the biggest lessons we’ve learned from elite sport. We also dive into the Dean Potter documentary and reflect on our own experiences in 90s extreme sports culture. Plus, we share why we’re concerned about nicotine being normalized in wellness and what stood out to us at the Stanford Healthy Aging Conference.

And of course, we get into some lighter moments—including Kelly’s definitely-not-a-cat-group: the Meowfia.

• Why we’re still debating whether Kelly is in a cat group
• What Kelly learned from coaching at the NCAA championship
• How we think about loss, silver medals, and the bronze medal mindset
• Why the Dean Potter documentary hit close to home for us
• Why we’re concerned about nicotine products in wellness culture
• What stood out to us at the Stanford Healthy Aging Conference
• How we’re processing our youngest daughter’s senior-year milestones

00:00 — Why we’re starting RECESS

01:17 — The Meowfia, taco cat, and the funny-off

03:15 — Bringing fun back into health and longevity

03:58 — Kelly’s reflections from the NCAA women’s water polo championship

09:03 — Losing gold, winning silver, and the bronze medal mindset

13:51 — Red Vines, fat-free diets, and 90s athlete nutrition

17:24 — Dean Potter, Dark Wizard, and extreme sports culture

22:45 — Nicotine pouches, health washing, and wellness influence

27:34 — Our biggest takeaways from Stanford Healthy Aging

29:02 — Strength training, creatine, isometrics, and old cat syndrome

32:28 — Parenting, graduation, and figuring out how to cook for two

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In this episode, David Epstein explores a powerful idea: constraints don’t limit us – they make us better.

Drawing from his book Inside the Box, he explains why too much freedom often leads to overwhelm, indecision, and worse outcomes. Whether it’s creativity, productivity, or everyday decisions, we perform better when we narrow the field and work within clear boundaries.

Through stories – from failed tech startups with too many ideas to elite performers who thrive under restrictions – he shows how constraints help us prioritize, think differently, and follow through. Even creativity, he argues, doesn’t come from endless freedom, but from being boxed in just enough to spark better solutions.

If you’ve ever felt stuck, scattered, or overloaded with choices, this episode offers a simple reframe: you don’t need more options – just better constraints.

• How constraints improve creativity, focus, and performance
• Why too much choice leads to overwhelm and worse decisions
• Why creativity thrives with fewer options
• How distractions are training your brain to lose focus
• Why doing less often leads to better results

(0:00) Intro – Constraints, Overwhelm, and Why This Matters

(3:37) Meet David Epstein

(6:19) From Range to Constraints

(8:18) The Dizziness of Freedom

(12:05) The Creativity Myth

(14:04) The Green Eggs and Ham Effect

(16:32) Constraints-Led Approach Skill Learning

(19:38) Futsal & Constraints in Sport

(21:16) The General Magic Story

(32:53) HARKing in Science

(51:51) Think Slow, Act Fast

(55:57) Creativity vs. Originality

(1:00:26) Constraints in Parenting

(1:10:19) Commitment Devices

(1:16:06) Make Your Commitments Visible

(1:16:52) Reclaiming Your Attention

(1:21:49) Book Recommendation & Closing

Huge thanks to our sponsors, LMNT, Momentous, Vitality, and Kreatures of Habit