What if the secret to peak performance isn't pushing harder — it's recovering before you even start?

In this episode of the Thrive State Podcast, recorded outside SoFi Stadium where high-performing athletes train, we break down the concept of pre-recovery — the practice of intentionally grounding your nervous system and setting your energetic state before a demand, rather than waiting until you're exhausted.

Using the science of stress, recovery, and growth (from single-cell organisms to elite athletes), this episode gives you a practical framework you can apply in just 5 minutes before any high-stakes moment.

In this episode, you'll learn:

• The science behind why stress + recovery = growth and resilience (and why constant stress without recovery breaks you down)

• What "pre-recovery" is and why elite athletes and high-performing entrepreneurs use it before every challenge

• The 5-55 method: a simple pre-recovery protocol you can use before any meeting, conversation, or performance

• The 4-7-8 breathing technique that resets your nervous system in under 5 minutes

• How to set an energetic intention that shapes the outcome of everything you do

Try pre-recovery this week. Find one moment before a task, meeting, or conversation and take 5 minutes to breathe, walk, or set your intention. Then share your experience in the comments below! Did you show up differently?

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Get the #1 bestselling book Thrive State https://thrivestatebook.com

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Join the Thrive State Membership https://mythrivestate.com/join

You're eating healthy, but is your body actually absorbing any of it?

Most people focus on WHAT they eat. Almost nobody thinks about whether those nutrients actually make it to their cells.

In this episode of the Thrive State Podcast, Dr. V sits down with Doug Grant, founder of Optimal Health Systems and former nutritionist for the Phoenix Suns, at SoFi Stadium to break down the real science of nutrient absorption, digestion, and why your mindset might be the missing piece in your health journey.

From working with NBA athletes to training conventional doctors in nutrition-based health, Doug shares practical, immediately actionable strategies to get more out of every meal -- starting with something your grandmother already told you to do.

In this episode, you'll learn:

• Why eating healthy food isn't enough and what actually determines whether nutrients reach your cells

• The #1 free habit that improves digestion immediately (no supplements required)

• How stress and "fight or flight" mode silently sabotage your physical health

• Why conventional doctors are leaving traditional medicine to study nutrition

• How to create a daily "non-negotiable floor" across mindset, nutrition, exercise, and supplementation

• A simple pre-meal ritual that activates your parasympathetic nervous system for better digestion

• What "focused, intense thought" has to do with longevity and optimal health

Download free longevity resources: thrivestatestarter.com

Learn more about Doug Grant's work: theformulator.com

Explore Optimal Health Systems for custom vitamin packs: optimalhealthsystems.com

Follow Doctor V https://instagram.com/doctorvmd

Get the #1 bestselling book Thrive State https://thrivestatebook.com

Download the FREE Longevity & Human Potential Starter Guide https://thrivestatestarter.com

Join the Thrive State Membership https://mythrivestate.com/join

What if the thing aging you fastest isn't your diet or your genes, but the story running in the back of your mind?

In this episode, Dr Kien Vuu and David Meltzer discuss the hidden link between mindset, the nervous system, and chronic disease. Dr V shares how, 13 years ago, he was a surgeon who was overweight, diabetic, hypertensive and on several medications, and headed toward his own operating table.

Together they explore how the ego's search for safety, love and connection keeps the body stuck in "danger mode," and why choosing faith over fear may be one of the most powerful tools for longevity and performance.

In this episode, you'll learn:

• How Dr. V's own diagnosis of diabetes and high blood pressure changed the way he practices medicine

• Why medical training focuses on matching drugs to symptoms, and what it misses

• How the ego forms when childhood needs for safety, love and connection go unmet

• The epigenetic messages chronic stress sends to your DNA, including more inflammation and less immunity

• Why "dis-ease" is mental, emotional and spiritual as well as physical

• How to spot the subconscious stories that trigger your nervous system, and how to question them

• Faith vs. fear: why both are invisible forces, and why the one you feed shapes your energy and health span

• The moment holding his newborn daughter dissolved Dr. V's belief that he wasn't enough

• How breathwork, stillness and connection help calm an inherited nervous system

• The message behind Dr. V's new book, I'm Possible

Follow Doctor V https://instagram.com/doctorvmd

Get the #1 bestselling book Thrive State https://thrivestatebook.com

Download the FREE Longevity & Human Potential Starter Guide https://thrivestatestarter.com

Join the Thrive State Membership https://mythrivestate.com/join