Welcome to Episode 446 of The Intermittent Fasting Podcast, hosted by Melanie Avalon, biohacker, founder of AvalonX, and author of What When Wine Diet: Lose Weight And Feel Great With Paleo-Style Meals, Intermittent Fasting, And Wine, and Barry Conrad, actor, singer-songwriter, and creator and host of Banter with BC.
SHOW NOTES
SPONSORS & DISCOUNTS
BIOPTIMIZERS
BiOptimizers’ Probiotic Breakthrough, featuring the patented P3OM strain, is a single-strain, stress-hardened probiotic designed to survive stomach acid and support gut health. It’s proteolytic, helping break down protein and improve overall nutrient absorption, while promoting a balanced gut microbiota. This plant-based, vegan-friendly, and travel-ready supplement multiplies in the gut for powerful effects without refrigeration. Get 15% off with code IFPODCAST15 at bioptimizers.com/ifpodcast.
LMNT
LMNT just launched a brand-new 8-count sample pack with their most popular flavors - perfect for summer hydration! This zero-sugar electrolyte drink supports energy and wellness during hot-weather activities like hiking and workouts, without the junk in typical sports drinks. Ideal for keto, paleo, whole food diets, and intermittent fasting. Get your free Sample Pack with any LMNT purchase at drinklmnt.com/ifpodcast.
TIMELINE
Want to feel the energy and strength your body’s been missing? Timeline’s Mitopure is a breakthrough supplement powered by Urolithin A, a nutrient that supports your cells’ mitochondria - the energy powerhouses of your body. Clinical studies show Mitopure can increase muscle strength by up to 12% in just 16 weeks, with no changes to your diet or lifestyle. It also helps reduce fatigue by activating mitophagy, your body’s natural process for renewing and revitalizing cells. Feel stronger, more energized, and ready to take on anything. Get 20% off your order of Mitopure with code ifpodcast at timeline.com/ifpodcast.
LINKS
Featured Restaurant: Prohibition
Essential Oils Recipes: A 52-Card Deck for Healing and Home: 50 Recipes
Melanie's DIY Breath Spray Recipe
Intermittent fasting inhibits platelet activation and thrombosis through the intestinal metabolite indole-3-propionate
If you enjoyed this episode, please consider leaving us a review in Apple Podcasts!
Original theme composed by Leland Cox, and recomposed by Steve Saunders.
Our content does not constitute an attempt to practice medicine and does not establish a doctor-patient relationship. Please consult a qualified healthcare provider for medical advice and answers to personal health questions.
TRANSCRIPT
(Note: This is generated by AI with 98% accuracy. However, any errors may cause unintended changes in meaning.)
Melanie Avalon
Welcome to episode 446 of the intermittent fasting podcast. If you want to burn fat, gain energy, and enhance your health by changing when you eat, not what you eat with no calorie counting, then this show is for you.
I'm Melanie Avalon, biohacker, founder of Avalon X and author of What, When, Wine. Lose weight and feel great with paleo style meals, intermittent fasting and wine. And I'm joined by my co-hosts, Barry Conrad. Actor, singer-songwriter, and creator and host of Banter with B.C. For more on us, check out MelanieAvalon.com and BarryConradOfficial.com. You can submit questions for the show by emailing questions at iofpodcast.com or by going to iofpodcast.com. We would love to hear from you. Please remember the thoughts and opinions on this show do not constitute medical advice or treatment. So pour yourself a mug of black coffee, a cup of tea, or even a glass of wine. If it's that time and get ready for the intermittent fasting podcast. Hi everybody and welcome. This is episode number 446 of the intermittent fasting podcast. I'm Melanie Avalon and I am so excited to be here with Barry Conrad because listeners, we have not personally recorded in a while. So this is so exciting. Welcome back to America.
Barry Conrad
Thank you so much hey mel hey listeners it's so good to be with you today and so good to be back on the pod you probably don't really record like notice because we've done it in advance but we haven't. Record it in a hot second so it's really really exciting to be back now i'm stoked how you how you feeling.
Melanie Avalon
I am good. I actually, I picked out a question to ask you during our little chat.
I mean, you've already seen it because it's in the prep doc, but Damon said, didn't even know you stopped recording. Like you just said, people don't realize. You guys must have done a lot of future shows to prep. How was the show? So listeners, Barry was in Destiny, the Melbourne Theater Company in Australia, the lead man. How was it? How'd it go?
Barry Conrad
It was incredible. Honestly, Melanie, I finished the season just feeling so much gratitude, so much happiness. It went way beyond what I could ever have expected.
The reviews were amazing. The audiences were amazing. This role has been like a role of a lifetime for me. It's been the most challenging but the most fulfilling role I've ever had as an actor. It's just really been a game changer. I had the best time. I got to have the people that I love there as well come and see it from New Zealand and abroad. Words can't really capture how much it means to me. From the beautiful work that Kirsty Marillio created who played the female lead to the direction from Zinzio Kenyo and just the joy of working with the amazing cast that we had bringing Ezra Jones, the character that I played to life, was so meaningful, serendipitous and honor. I have to give a massive shout out to the whole team for making my Melbourne Theatre Company debut a dream. I absolutely loved it.
Melanie Avalon
I am so sad I could not go. I wanna watch it. Will I be able to watch it? Is it gonna be recorded anywhere?
Barry Conrad
You know what goes with theater you go to enough theater to know now just never translates on screen i mean it was yeah it was filmed for an archival but that's not that's not you know.
Melanie Avalon
unless it's like I feel like they did a pretty good job recording Hamilton on Disney Plus, you know, if you have like a whole, you know, really intense thing like that.
Barry Conrad
you're just gonna have to come see me perform in New York.
Melanie Avalon
I know.
Barry Conrad
when that happens.
Melanie Avalon
Wait, I know. I literally like I'm there. I'm like front row gonna be there. I'm so excited. It's gonna be amazing
Barry Conrad
Would you do your, you know how you do your signature walk down the aisle whenever you go to, are you going to do that?
Melanie Avalon
Yes. But you know what, for you, Barry, I will not enter second act late. No, definitely not. No. I know. Normally, I kind of come late. Why?
Barry Conrad
What are you doing?
Melanie Avalon
I thought I've told you this before, have I not told you this before?
Barry Conrad
No, I didn't know it was regular.
Melanie Avalon
it's two reasons. So reason one is, this is like when I'm at the Fox Theater and they have this beautiful marquee club with like wine and food and things like that. And I just don't like stressing. And so I sometimes end up being there a little bit too long.
And then if you miss, like if you miss, if you're not right there when it starts, they kind of hold you sometimes until like after the first song. So by that point, you might as well just wait a little bit longer. So that's one reason. And the second reason is I really like the experience of watching, like walking down and watching the show, like while walking down the aisle.
Barry Conrad
That's really funny, I didn't know that was the reason.
Melanie Avalon
Uh-huh. Yeah, but I won't do that when I come see you, I promise. You won't have to look for me walking down at the top of Act 2.
Barry Conrad
see the silhouette of hair and this long gown. Yeah. I just think it's
Melanie Avalon
fun. But in any case, so you said that this what you said this was your most favorite acting role, serious acting role, intense acting role. What did you describe it as just now?
Barry Conrad
It's the most challenging and the most rewarding. Yeah, definitely.
Melanie Avalon
Was this your first, like, play lead or because they've done a lot of musicals and stuff.
Barry Conrad
Yeah, I've done lots of musicals, but this is my first play and male lead in a play as well, and it's just all acting. There's nothing to really hide behind. Not that you're hiding when you do musical, but there's often a song that you can find a break. You can sing and recover, but this is just all out there, lots of dialogue, big stakes acting-wise, and there's nowhere to hide, which has actually been the best lesson for me, Mel, because I've really walked away from this feeling more bold and confident in what I do than ever before, and just allowing myself to be seen on stage and just going for it.
What a treat. No words. I feel so, hopefully, you can hear through my voice, but I just feel so happy, so grateful that I've experienced that.
Melanie Avalon
That's so incredible. Wait, so were you on the entire time? Like no for each act?
Barry Conrad
No, we wasn't on the entire time, but it was in most of the scenes, so there's not sometimes you were from like intense anger to levity to crying to, you know.
Melanie Avalon
And and I kind of like stalked the theater because I love looking at venues also, I was trying to make sure That my flowers got to you. I was like trying to figure out like the layout of the theater It looked like the perfect size too. Like it looked like it was a nice size where it's like Substantial and large but also it looked like it looked like it felt close up in the front like with seats and stuff
Barry Conrad
Okay, first off, I have to say, listeners, Melanie sent me flowers for opening night. I was so taken aback.
I got into my dressing room and saw these amazing flowers and I'm like, Melanie, what? And she was, she was like, I was stressing that it wasn't going to get to you. It's like, I love you.
Melanie Avalon
I was really stressed. They were blue, right?
Barry Conrad
They're very blue and so you hit the money right on the head.
Melanie Avalon
Yes, awesome. The venue was a nice size that you appreciated.
Barry Conrad
Yes, it was definitely a nice size. It was substantial enough and not too small, not too big.
I couldn't really... I don't know what you're like when you have performed Mel, but I actually can't allow myself to see the people. I have to kind of block it out. I can't do it.
Melanie Avalon
Oh, really? No. Oh, my goodness. This is a mind-blowing moment for me.
Why? I'm thinking about how... Oh, wow. I'm having an in-real-time moment right now, because whenever I go to a show, one of my favorite things is trying to connect with the actors on stage, and now I'm realizing some are probably just completely blocking us out. Like, they don't even see us.
Barry Conrad
It sounds rude, but it's-
Melanie Avalon
Oh, that's funny. Oh, wow.
Barry Conrad
No but wait, no but at the end then the wall comes down like in my head and I allow myself to see everyone because it takes me out of the world if I notice people, you know?
Melanie Avalon
Yeah, that's so interesting.
Barry Conrad
But then some people like hey did you see so-and-so in row so it was like how are you doing the scene and finding these people I can't do it.
Melanie Avalon
No, it's funny. I guess like I and I haven't been on stage in quite a while, but I don't like overly look at the I wouldn't overly look at the audience, but I don't think I've completely blocked it out.
Like I would see them. So, oh, yeah. OK, so you won't see me when I.
Barry Conrad
I probably will see. This is what I'll do. When I know people are coming, I'll know they're going to be there. That's enough.
I don't want to know which row. Don't tell me which row or which area because that's going to freak me out.
Melanie Avalon
Well, you already know which row I'm gonna be on.
Barry Conrad
If you like run up the front trying to make eye contact, Barry, look at me, Barry!
Melanie Avalon
Oh my gosh, that's so funny. Well, congratulations. I'm so happy for you.
And I'm so excited that you're back in New York. Now it's time for all the New York City adventures and the U.S. adventures for you.
Barry Conrad
totally white Christmas and the whole thing.
Melanie Avalon
Yeah. Yes. Yes. Right.
Because you haven't had that before. Well, I mean, right? Because you've always lived like it's listeners. Can you imagine being Christmas and it being summer? This is like mind blowing to me.
Barry Conrad
I mean, I can. You can.
You remember the shrimp and the barbie thing we talked about a few shows ago about, you know, the shrimp? Mm-hmm. Yeah. You know, barbecues, all of that kind of stuff. It's very Australian, very not American at all.
Melanie Avalon
where are all the the um and when does this air so this episode airs hold on a let this actually this episode airs november 3rd so when this comes out it will be winter
Barry Conrad
very much.
Melanie Avalon
Yes, October, November, December are my favorite months of the year.
Barry Conrad
Because Melanie loves to freeze everyone in case you already don't know, pick that up. She likes to be cold and so she can be warm rather than be too hot.
Melanie Avalon
Mm-hmm. I love the cold and you're gonna have to get to experience it here. What are you doing for Christmas this year? Oh goodness. I have no idea yet.
I know I'm seeing like three shows that week. So I gotta figure that out
Barry Conrad
Three shows.
Melanie Avalon
Yeah. Actually, I think I've seen like four Christmas shows. Elf, Christmas Gandene, I don't know, quite a few, quite a few different ones.
Barry Conrad
Speaking of shows Mel speaking of all things festivities and whatnot. I know that you love Disney so much, right?
Melanie Avalon
Mm-hmm
Barry Conrad
Well i have come up with a fun little game for you to play you can.
Melanie Avalon
A game? Yes. I always- I love games.
Barry Conrad
Okay, so this is in theme of Disney, so you're gonna have some multi-choice and you're on, here we go.
Melanie Avalon
Oh, okay. Is this, wait, is this like a quiz? Yeah, it's a quiz. Wait, like a right-wrong quiz? Like, I'm gonna get it wrong?
Barry Conrad
You might get it right, there's going to be multi-choice and...
Melanie Avalon
Okay, no, I'm okay. I'm ready. I'm stressed. Okay, I'm ready. I'm ready. Yes
Barry Conrad
Okay, Mel, which Disney park is home to the restaurant Be Our Guest, which is themed after Beauty and the Beast? Magic Kingdom.
Yeah, you got it. I was going to give you multi-choice. You got it. What makes the Blue Bayou restaurant at Disneyland in California extra magical?
Melanie Avalon
It's inside that Pirates of the Caribbean ride. Ah, you already got it.
Barry Conrad
What's the point of even giving you the multi-choice?
Melanie Avalon
Keep going, this is so fun!
Barry Conrad
At three, at Epcot in Walt Disney World, guests can dine in a giant aquarium at which restaurant?
Melanie Avalon
the coral reef, or is that what it's called? Coral reef.
Barry Conrad
Yes, correct. In Disneyland Paris, what unique dining experience can you have at Bistro Che Remi?
Melanie Avalon
That's a newer restaurant, I believe. I will take the multiple choice. Does that have to do with the ride being there? And if it's not that, then I'll take the multiple choice.
Barry Conrad
A, eat inside a giant teacup. B, shrink to the size of a rat in Ratatouille's world. Or C, dine with Lumiere as your Metra D.
Melanie Avalon
This is a restaurant, not the ride.
Barry Conrad
It's a dining experience, yep, that you can have at Bistro Sherimi.
Melanie Avalon
Okay, because I know in the ride you shrink to a side of to a size of the rat. What was the third one, though? Who is your?
Barry Conrad
You can dine with Lumieri as your matri-d.
Melanie Avalon
Well, I know you shrink in the ride. Oh man, this is like being on who wants to be a millionaire. I'm going to, I'm going to say shrink.
Barry Conrad
correct five which disney park features megalins which is an elegant globe filled restaurant hidden inside a fortress do you want multiple choice
Melanie Avalon
I think I know, but I think it's, don't tell me the choices yet. I think it's either Tokyo or the one in China. What are the options?
Barry Conrad
So A, Tokyo Disney Sea, B, Hong Kong Disneyland, or C, Epcot's World Showcase.
Melanie Avalon
Okay, it's number one or number two. Let me think about this for a second.
Barry Conrad
You're doing great.
Melanie Avalon
Thank you. I'm going to go with Tokyo. Yes. Oh my gosh. Five out of five.
Barry Conrad
What's special about Space 2020 at Epcot in Walt Disney World?
Melanie Avalon
Well, it's the only adults-only lounge. I can tell you more things special about it. There's an elevator that you take up to it. It's space-themed. Is that one of them? Is that the answer?
Barry Conrad
I'll give you the, uh, multi-choice. So A, guests dine underwater in the submarine. Underwater is in quotation underwater. B, the restaurant simulates dining 220 miles above earth. And C, every table has a hidden Mickey.
Two. B.
Melanie Avalon
be, yeah.
Barry Conrad
Correct. Seven, Melanie killing it. In which Disney park can you find Queen of Hearts Banquet Hall, themed after Alice in Wonderland?
Melanie Avalon
What are the options?
Barry Conrad
A, Disneyland Paris, B, Tokyo Disneyland, C, Shanghai Disneyland.
Melanie Avalon
Okay, is it Shanghai?
Barry Conrad
It's Tokyo.
Melanie Avalon
Uh, I missed it. Oh, you tripped me up. You had two tokyos. I went with the logic because I didn't okay.
Barry Conrad
Okay, number eight. The Hollywood Brown Derby in Disneyland's Hollywood Studios is famous for which iconic dish you might need the most to choose.
Melanie Avalon
Is it the grapefruit cake?
Barry Conrad
It's the cub salad.
Melanie Avalon
Oh wait, well, I could have guessed if you, if I've given that, cause they're, they're famous for a few different ones. I would have guessed that if you had given me the choices.
Okay. That one we were throwing out.
Barry Conrad
That's where I got that one. At Carthé Circle Restaurant in Disney California Adventure, the building is a replica of what?
Melanie Avalon
It's a replica of, oh, I know this. One of the options, I'll know it when I hear it.
Barry Conrad
a. Walt Disney's first animation studio, b. the theater where Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs premiered in 1937, or c. the original Sleeping Beauty Castle model.
Melanie Avalon
oh actually okay wait it's a or b wait so either his studio or the premiere place i'm guess what was b
Barry Conrad
The theatre where Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs premiered in 1937.
Melanie Avalon
And the other one is his animation studio.
Barry Conrad
Yeah, it's first animation studio.
Melanie Avalon
Oh, then probably B. You're right. Yes, okay, I can see it, I've been there.
Barry Conrad
Okay this is the last one okay so Melanie if Disney let you design a brand new restaurant which character or movie would you see what after and this is whatever you want it to be.
Melanie Avalon
Okay. You know, that's a really good question because, you know, I would want to go. I have my favorite characters, but also I have to think about the food aspect, you know, like what food do I like? So, cause I mean, obviously I love frozen, but I don't know if I like frozen food.
Am I, where do they have like, uh, I'll probably go with, it could be the emperor's new groove that you could eat at the rec, but that's not a fine dining. I'll Thank you. How about you? How about you for the restaurant?
Barry Conrad
I actually have no idea.
Melanie Avalon
It could be African food.
Barry Conrad
Yeah, exactly. And lots of lots of animal protein, so it's very much me.
Melanie Avalon
Although that's, it's a little bit ironic, because you're like, you'd be eating the animals from the movie. Well, I guess we don't really eat lion, but a circle of life that actually really works, you know.
So, oh my goodness. Well, thank you so much. That was so fun.
Barry Conrad
Yeah, I just thought why not.
Melanie Avalon
All right. Well, on that note, shall we jump into some fasting-related things?
Barry Conrad
Let's do it.
Melanie Avalon
All right, do you have a study to start us off with?
Barry Conrad
I do have a study and the study this week that I'm bringing is called intermittent fasting prevents thrombosis by improving platelet function in humans. This was carried up at Shanghai Zhou Tong University School of Medicine in China by Dr. Zen Wang and his team. It was published earlier this year in Life Metabolism, which is part of the Nature Family of Journals.
Here's the situation. Researchers recruited 80 healthy adults, 40 men, 40 women, all aged between 25 and 45. None of them had any chronic health issues, none were taking medication, and their body weights were in the healthy to overweight range. Not a group of people with serious illnesses at all, they were just every day relatively healthy people, which makes the results even more interesting because we're looking at what fasting can do in a general healthy population.
This study was a randomized crossover trial. Instead of splitting people into two groups and comparing them separately, each participant got to try both approaches at different times. One phase where they ate normally and another phase where they did intermittent fasting. For the fasting phase, Mel, they used the classic 16-8 approach. For any new listeners out there, welcome, first of all. Secondly, that means 16 hours of fasting followed by an 8-hour eating window. It's one of those common fasting protocols, so relatively simple enough that people can realistically stick with it outside of a lab, which is why it's been used for this study.
The big question here was whether fasting couldn't actually change the way blood clots form. For me, this is quite close to home because of my vein situation that I had, so I was really interested in it. Clotting listeners or thrombosis, as doctors call it, is something we all need when we get a cut. Without clotting, we bleed out, but when clots form in the wrong place, for example, inside your blood vessels, they can block blood flow. That can cause stroke, heart attack, deep vein clot in your leg. That's the gnarly stuff.
Here's where it gets pretty fascinating. During the fasting phase, people's platelets, which are tiny, little, itty-bitty little cell fragments that trigger clotting, actually calmed down. They weren't as sticky, they weren't clumping together unnecessarily, and the overall clotting potential of the blood dropped. The researchers measured things like thrombone generation, which is a key marker of how your blood clots normally, and they saw its shift towards a much safer range. Even more impressive is the platelets themselves were healthier. The mitochondria, which is the little energy engines inside each cell, were working way better and oxidative stress, which is cellular wear and tear, was lower. Fasting wasn't just stopping these platelets from overreacting, it was really improving the health of the platelets themselves. This is super important because these benefits weren't just from weight loss or better blood sugar.
Barry Conrad
What the researchers saw was a direct effect of the fasting schedule itself on the biology of the blood. In other words, it's just changing when people ate. Just changing when people ate seemed to have a reprogramming effect on their platelets in a healthy way. Yeah, it's pretty relatively short, the study, and only in healthy adults, so we can't really say for sure what it would be for people who already have heart disease or whatnot.
These are lots of pretty powerful, they're pretty significant, and it suggests fasting could lower the risk of those silent but deadly events like heart attacks and strokes by literally calming your blood down. That's really exciting. Mel, once again, is showing that fasting is not just about the outside, it's what's happening deep down to the behavior of our blood cells. Pretty extraordinary. What do you think, Mel? Any thoughts on the study?
Melanie Avalon
Awesome. No, I think this is a incredible find.
And what I really like about it is I feel like we talk about and focus a lot on the endpoints of things affected by our blood. So things like, like you mentioned, like heart attacks, and just in general, like we focus on like specific organs or specific conditions, but we don't really talk about our blood that much, like as the thing to be addressed. And it's really interesting because there's actually, I don't know if you've heard of like the young blood transfusions things in the world of longevity. Have you heard of this?
Barry Conrad
Yeah, I have actually a little bit elaborate.
Melanie Avalon
Yeah, so basically, there's this idea that our blood is so key, like the health of our blood and the status of our blood is so key to our health and longevity that some people with a lot of money and the longevity sphere will even do like blood transfusions with younger people. Because they've seen when they do that in rats, that it makes the rats live longer. And I will say as a caveat, it's hard to know if it's the actual younger blood that's increasing the lifespan. Or is it just the dilution? Like is it that as we get older, our blood gets clots and the platelets aren't functioning correctly? And so just by diluting it, does that actually increase health biomarkers and such? The point is that was a little bit of a tangent. But the point is our blood is like the health of our blood is so, so important.
I don't think I've ever I don't think we've ever talked about it specifically on this show. So I'm so happy that you found this study. So I find it fascinating regardless. And then the fact that intermittent fasting has all those effects is incredible. That's like such a foundational change in the body. I love it. And you said the fasting window they did was what was the fasting window?
Barry Conrad
So not long at all.
Melanie Avalon
Yeah. So the type that, you know, a lot of people do, I mean, probably the most popular. Awesome. And this was a relatively new study, January 2025, or this year, at least.
Barry Conrad
Yeah, it's really exciting. And just like, yeah, we don't often talk about, we don't associate conversations about intermittent fasting with blood. So it was really refreshing to read as well.
Melanie Avalon
Yeah, I love it. Awesome. Awesome, awesome. Okay.
Well, we will put that link to that study in the show notes. Those will be at ifpodcast.com slash episode 446. And shall we jump into some listener questions?
Barry Conrad
Let's do it. Let's jump in.
Melanie Avalon
Okie dokie, would you like to read the question from Sharon?
Barry Conrad
I will. So Sharon sent in an email to us and that reads, Love your podcast. I await eagerly each week for a new podcast.
Lost 30 pounds since starting last August. My question is any research about using essential oils while in a fasted state. I love my essential oils, lemon slash peppermint oil in my water, et cetera. Just curious your thoughts on this. Thank you. Melanie, what do you think?
Melanie Avalon
Awesome, Sharon. Well, first of all, congrats so much on your weight loss. That's amazing. Yes, essential oils. So I love essential oils. Barry, do you use any essential oils, by the way?
Barry Conrad
I actually used to swear by Essential Oils that when I was doing Beautiful to Carole King musical, I used them a lot, but I just ran out of them and didn't buy any more. But they're awesome.
I love them.
Melanie Avalon
Which ones did you use?
Barry Conrad
I like peppermint. I like there's something called ice blue. What is ice blue?
Melanie Avalon
blue. Was it like a proprietary blend or something of oils?
Barry Conrad
Yeah, exactly.
Melanie Avalon
Yeah, that sounds so, so cool.
Barry Conrad
What did you use? Did you use any?
Melanie Avalon
Yeah, so I, well, peppermint I actually use to, I make my listeners probably know about this, but I make my breath freshening spray that I'm obsessed with. It's the best thing ever.
Have I told you about this, Barry?
Barry Conrad
I've heard you talk about this but I forgot about it so tell me how you make it.
Melanie Avalon
So basically friends, because people to like freshen their breath will do things like chew mints or chew gum. And I used to do all that all the time. And it's not usually like none of that is very fasting friendly, because you don't want to be full for gum, you don't want to be chewing because that's sending your body a signal that you would be eating. So I don't like that.
And then it's really hard to find mints, like I could never find mints that were not sweetened, even if it was sweetened with like stevia or something like that. But I don't like having the sweet taste during the fast because it like we talked about with clean fasting, like I think it, you know, can mess with insulin and with your cravings and your hunger. So my solution that I came up with was if you buy organic food grade peppermint oil on Amazon, and I can put a link in the show notes to what I buy, you buy that and then you buy these on Amazon, they also have these rainbow glass bottles that are like really, really small, they're spray bottles, you put a few drops of peppermint into that little bottle, add some water, close it, shake it up. And then you just like keep it with you and you just spray your breath and it is the most effective. Like, it just makes your breath feel so minty and fresh. And there's nothing problematic because it's literally just essential oil peppermint. It's so great. I highly recommend you'll get to see it when I meet you in person because I'm so obsessed with it that I will have like a, not a panic attack, but if I ever leave and if I'm going to a social event and realize I don't have it, I will probably turn back and go get it.
It's that important to me. So we will put links to all that in the show notes. So peppermint and then for like sleep, I use lavender essential oil every night. I love, I can never say it, ylang ylang. I really like that. I like sandalwood. My go-to, but to answer Sharon's question, so the go-to person that I love for anything essential oils is Dr. Eric Zielinski. I've been following him. Honestly, I have been following him. He's one of the OG people when I first started getting into the world of biohacking and health and wellness that I was following. And it's because I learned about essential oils and his book, he wrote The Healing Power of Central Oils, which is like one of the most, you know, well-known essential oil books out there. It's basically like the Bible of essential oils. I've had him on the show a few times and what's so amazing is he lives in Atlanta and we're like friends now. So I go out with, like me and my sister have had, we go out with him and his wife and they have, they have, is it seven kids now? I think it's wild. It's crazy. It's like Noah's Ark situation. In any case, I highly recommend listening to the episodes I've done with him checking out his books. The most recent time I had him on the show was in June of 2025.
Melanie Avalon
That was episode 305. And that was for, he made this really cool recipe book deck. It's just called Essential Oils Recipes. And it's a 52, 52 card deck. And friends, if you need, it will, A, if you want to make your own essential oil recipes, I highly recommend this deck. B, this is like an incredible present for people. Like it's so cute. It's so approachable.
And they have so many uses of essential oils, everything from, you know, sleep and relaxation to cleaning products that you can make to like massage oils to it's literally anything you could ever want to do with essential oils to actually answer Sharon's question about the fast. So her question is just taking them in a fasted state. Yeah. So, so basically there's different ways that people use essential oils. So if you're doing like a diffuser in your room, obviously that's fine. A lot of people put them onto their skin. And if you're taking it orally, they're all technically fine because they're not caloric. They're, yeah, I mean, I know it isn't oil, but I don't think it's, you're using such a tiny, you know, minute amount. So it's really more about the, like the flavor and taste and is it something that is going to feel like food to you. So if you were going to do like an orange essential oil, you know, or like a fruit related one, maybe not. But I think the majority of the ones that you would be using, it should be completely fine. Like she's saying lemon peppermint oil in her water. Oh yeah. Well, so, so lemon would be another one where it's like, you have to like figure out what works for you. So does that lemon flavor make you feel like you're having food? And do you feel like it's, you know, messing with your, your insulin or your fasted state? I would just be intuitive there. Peppermint, all the mints I think are totally fine. The fruits, like I said, like lemon, I would, I would just evaluate how you respond to it. If it's not affecting your hunger or your, your feeling of the fast, I wouldn't worry about it. What are your thoughts Barry?
Barry Conrad
It's a great question i think you answered it really well and i used to use peppermint as well in the shower if you ever tried the smell where you put a few drops on the floor and as soon as the hot water hits it just like you get this steam of peppermint that wakes you up so if i'm feeling tired it's really good.
Melanie Avalon
That's really cool. Yeah, because peppermint is great for alertness.
Barry Conrad
Yeah, and that would like be I'd have my coffee, my two coffees, two black coffees, and then I'd put a few drops in on the shower floor while drinking the coffee. And then by the time I start the shower, it just like wakes me all the way up.
It's so good. That's awesome.
Melanie Avalon
Yeah, so you can use them. It's great for like waking up and going to bed.
The lavender at night really really helps me with sleep And that I just rub into my skin. I'm gonna have to try your shower thing
Barry Conrad
And Sharon, consistency is the name of the game, as always. And if something small like using the essential oils is going to help you show up day after day, and it's not something that, as Melanie said, is going to remind you of food or bring on that response, then it's doing its job.
And it really does come down to how you feel, like Melanie said as well. If you're still seeing results, if your energy feels steady, if your fast is clean and you're enjoying it, then give it a shot. Let us know how you go and what, quote unquote, flavors or types you use. Thanks, Sharon.
Melanie Avalon
Awesome, awesome. Okay, should we jump into our next question?
Barry Conrad
Let's do it.
Melanie Avalon
So now we have a question from Michelle and this is from Facebook and Michelle says, this might be off topic, but are there any good natural supplements for depression? I get seasonal depression and I'm looking for a mood lifter, but I don't want to be on prescription meds.
Barry Conrad
Wow. Well, Michelle, first off, thank you so much for opening up and asking this question in particular. I know I can feel vulnerable and like you're putting yourself up there bringing something like seasonal depression up, but you're definitely not alone. And I know for me, I can sometimes feel that shift in mood when the seasons change. And when winter hits especially on those colder days when the days are shorter, my energy naturally dips personally. So the fact that you're looking for ways to manage it in a natural, thoughtful way is I really respect that.
So first off, I have to say again, I'm not a doctor, so I can't really give you medical advice. But if things feel heavy or too overwhelming, I always encourage talking to a professional e-trust. That said, I can say from experience as well and from conversations with people close to me to help keep spurts up, especially when the seasons mess with my mood, one thing that does help is a good old shot of vitamin D. We call it vitamin, sunshine vitamin for a reason. Naturally, our vitamin D levels can drop when there's not as much sunlight and that can really affect mood. And if something sounds really simple, but for people who have had their levels tested and found that supplementing even just a little bit can make a huge difference. And I try to get natural light in every day, even if it's just a short walk. I notice how much better I feel when I do that. And back here in New York, I'm making the most of it before it starts to get super cold. Another natural support could be omega-3 fatty acids, which is what you find in fish oil or algae oil. They're really great for overall brain health and some research suggests that they can play a pretty significant role in supporting your mood. I've tried them in the past, not a lot, but I have tried them, not specifically for depression, but more for general health. And I did feel like they kept me sharper and steadier. Then there's also movement. I know it's not necessarily a supplement per se, but honestly, regular exercise is one of the best natural supplements you could ever give yourself. Just moving your body and going for a walk. If you don't go to the gym, just moving your body, doing some stretches, even just doing that can get those endorphins flowing and make a world of difference to your mindset. If I skip just a few days of exercising, my mood takes a massive hit, definitely. And so I would say a combination of fasting and daily movement is something that's going to keep you really balanced and hopefully the suggestions of the vitamin D and the omega-3 fatty acids do help.
But Michelle, definitely want you to know that you're not alone in feeling that way as well. And there are ways to support yourself naturally. Start simple and then layer in those supplements thoughtfully if you feel like you need that extra support. And if things do get too hard, reaching out to your professional nearby is going to help. It's going to be one of the strongest moves you can make. So you're already showing resilience just by asking this question.
Barry Conrad
So be kind to yourself. Michelle, experiment with what feels good. And yeah, it's all about your well-being. You got this, Michelle. What do you reckon, Mel?
Melanie Avalon
Awesome. So I love everything that you said. And yes, thank you, Michelle, so much for your question. And so many people go through this and a lot of what I was going to say echoes what Barry said. The fact that it is the seasonal form does insinuate that it could largely be involved with the vitamin D like Barry was saying. So like he was saying, you know, getting sun exposure, you can use the – I actually haven't used it, but I've talked about it and I've heard about it a lot. There's the Dminder app and that actually shows you based on where you are located, when to best go outside and for how long to get the optimal vitamin D exposure – or vitamin D creation naturally from the sun. And then obviously there's the vitamin D supplements as well.
And then Barry was mentioning the fish oils and, you know, those just have so many incredible nutrients in them. And we actually can get some vitamin D from eating food like fish and things like that, too. And I will say just because you were saying, you know, that you're hesitant about taking the medication, I'm prepping for an interview right now. I haven't done it yet, but the author is Julia – I need to figure out how to say her name. I think it's Julia Hotz. And the book is called The Connection Cure. And it is absolute – it's a fascinating look at our – I guess our health issues today and how we have really dived into a pharmaceutical approach to treat them and how that's just not working so well. And how these other approaches, a lot of it involving connection, so connection to nature, connection to other people, connection to movement, how that has a radical effect on health conditions, including curing people's depression. And she talks in the end about – and people are probably pretty familiar with this, but the – relatively recently they have, when it comes to antidepressants, they've kind of – like meta-analyses and reviews of all the literature on antidepressants have shown that they aren't working the way we thought they were working, especially when it comes to things like serotonin reuptake inhibitors. And that oftentimes they're no better than placebo and or comparable to something like exercise. Or exercise can be even better than that without any negative side effects. I feel like the farther we go and the more we learn, the more the medications, which do work for some people. So I don't want to say that they don't work. I don't want to say that if you're anti-depressant works for you and it is bringing benefit to your life, by all means, keep on keeping on with that. At the same time, it seems like we've been way over-prescribed as a nation, and it's not necessarily always effective. And there are all these other approaches that really can radically help people's mental health and wellness. And so much of it isn't even supplements, which I can mention some other supplements which may help, but a lot of it is just foundational things.
Melanie Avalon
So your diet and your food and your lifestyle, a lot of people actually can have mental anxiety or depression coming from foods they're eating that aren't working for them, but for their personal body constitution and how their immune system might be reacting. Being sedentary, staying indoors, not getting exercise. Like I said, the studies on exercise as an anti-depressant are really, really fascinating and supportive. And then social connection, so, so huge. The loneliness has been shown to have extremely negative health effects, like shockingly so.
And in a lot of longevity studies, they actually find that social connections are one of the things most correlated to health and wellness, especially mental health and wellness. So Michelle, so a broad foundational approach, I'm saying there may be a lot of things that can help there. I know for me, cryotherapy, so cold exposure, there have been studies on that and how it releases feel good neurotransmitters like dopamine and norepinephrine, and that can actually last for quite a while. So the mood boost I get from a cryotherapy session is insane. Like if I go in not feeling so well, I go in for three minutes, I come out and I feel like really good. Same with cold, cold showers can do that, cold ice baths. And then going back to I said I would mention some actual supplements, some natural things you could experiment with like Rodeola, Rosea. Is it Rosea? I think so. I always just call it Rodeola. So that's an adaptogen. It's actually been shown to basically adaptogens the way they work is they help your body reach a state of homeostasis. So if it's like if you have anxiety, they help calm you down. If you're depressed, they help lift you up. So Rodeola is one in particular that has been shown to work well for low mood states. So that's something you could try.
I've tried that in the past. Lion's main mushroom has been shown to help with mood. Also, Sammy is probably the one that is most closest to, it's not a pharmaceutical, it's naturally occurring in the body, but it has a lot of studies on it for antidepressant like effects. But that is one that you do want to be careful with monitoring to make sure that you don't have a negative reaction or go too far. So another one is St. John's Wort. And that is also an herbal remedy. And it's been shown, it has a lot of research and evidence on it working for depression to the extent that in Germany, you actually have to get it by prescription, you can't buy it over the counter. But it is a herbal supplement. So that's something you could definitely try. But you do want to be careful because it can actually interact with other medications like SSRIs or birth control.
So be aware of that. And then in general, something I talk about the importance of magnesium all the time. Magnesium is just so crucial for overall whole body wellness. And in particular, you can get my Avalon X magnesium nightcap.
Melanie Avalon
That's a special type of magnesium called magnesium L3N8 that actually crosses the blood-brain barrier. So it gets magnesium into your brain. And there are a lot of studies on it to show how it can benefit mood, memory, rest, relaxation, all the things. So I would definitely get my magnesium nightcap and try that.
And if you want to get that, you can go to AvalonX.us and use the coupon code IFPodcast. And that will get you 10% off of that. Yeah, I'm just sending you Michelle, so much love and goodness. And I'm sure you can find things that work for you, make you help you feel better and all the things. Would you like to read the next one?
Barry Conrad
Sure. So Nydia on Facebook says, yes, I'm 51 years young. And is it good for me to fast 19 to 22 hours? The 23 hours is only when I get out of work late, but I fast every day except Sunday.
Is it good for my hormones? I recently have been gaining so much weight. Don't matter how many hours I fast. Melanie, what do you think of this question from Nydia?
Melanie Avalon
Yeah, Nydia, thank you so much for your question. And we get this question a lot, not this specific question, but a lot of people are curious about the age of a woman and when it is or is not appropriate to fast.
A lot of people seem to think that when you get older, that that's not, that fasting is more problematic. When the majority, like honestly, when I think back through people I've interviewed who are experts on fasting, thinking, for example, like, well, Cynthia, they're low, a former co-host here, or Dr. Mindy Peltz, quite a few other women, they're very pro-fasting for women as you get older, especially because you're no longer in this intense, like your fertility is, not that fasting negatively is gonna affect your fertility, but your body is not as sensitive to calorie deprivation and having a negative stress response. So a lot of women, especially like in menopause, find that fasting is a wonderful time to do it. The one thing that you definitely don't wanna pay attention to is that you're getting enough protein because the older that we get, the more protein we need, the harder it is for us to assimilate and break down protein just because of the aging process in general. So yes, and then when it comes to hormones, there's so much research and anecdotal evidence of people doing fasting and it helps regulate their hormones. So I would say definitely green light for fasting in your hormones at your age. I wouldn't be concerned about that as long as you're getting enough protein.
That said, your experience that you are gaining so much weight and it doesn't matter how many hours you fast, to me, that sounds like, it sounds like there's something to look at beyond the fasting that I think would be most effective here. So I wouldn't put all the focus on the fasting for the weight loss or stopping the weight gain. I would look at a broader picture of what is going on to make you gain the weight in the first place. So is it the eating choices? Is it changes in hormones from aging? Is it your sleep? Is your sleep off? Is it stress? Did you start taking a new medication? Like we were saying before, that can have an effect. So I would take a step back and relax into it and look at your dietary choices. What are you eating? Can you make any sort of changes there? If you're not eating a whole foods based diet, can you eat more whole foods? If you're not, basically there's a lot of options here. It's a good thing. If you aren't doing any sort of macro approach, so like a low carb or low fat, maybe that's something to try when it comes to the fast. It sounds like you're fasting, I mean, you're fasting a lot every day. So I don't know that there's that much that you can actually change there. I would go more with maybe looking at the food that you're eating within that window. Or you could try something like maybe ADF, where instead of fasting longer each day, you're not fasting every day.
Melanie Avalon
But then on some days, you're either fasting completely the entire day, or you're only having like a 500 calorie meal. There's a lot of things that you can definitely work with here.
But I would not, I do think, yes, it's good for your hormones. And I think there's a lot that you can look at for the weight gain issue. So including sleep, make sure you're getting your sleep. Barry, what are your thoughts?
Barry Conrad
No, Melanie, you answered that perfectly and so many of the things that you said or I was going to mention in not the hormonal situation, because I'm not an expert in female hormones, so I'm glad you addressed that, but I was definitely going to talk about maybe looking at food choices, because you are fasting so much, I pretty much fast around 20 hours every day as well. Like there's only so much fasting you can do each day, so Melanie's right, zooming out and seeing what other factors there could be.
Is it, are you stressed out? Are you sleeping enough? What are you eating? Because a lot of the times we think, not everyone, but some people can think, oh, I'm fasting so much, so it's going to be fine for me to have this extra insert, whatever kind of food you want. So those things do matter, they really do, even more than we realize, even sometimes we eat way more than we think that we're eating, we don't even know what's in the food, that could be something, maybe it's a medication, that's definitely something, are you taking medications? Everything that Melanie said, I completely echo, so we wish you the best and we really want to hear back what you found.
Is it the hormones? Is it the food? And report back to us, Nadia.
Melanie Avalon
Yeah, and it's kind of like the terminology, like when the focus, because, you know, she doesn't even mention what she's eating. And so the focus on like, no matter how long I fast, and like all the focus is on the fasting really says to me, like you said, like, zoom out.
And what beyond the fasting can we address here? And then you might find that the fasting just falls in line naturally.
Barry Conrad
Right. She does say here, but I fast every day except Sunday. So we don't know what's happening on that Sunday as well.
Melanie Avalon
Oh, good point. Yeah, I miss that. Yeah. So what also what's happening on Sunday?
Barry Conrad
Yeah, because it can be easy from personal experience before I started really dialing down on my nutrition, it can be easy to just blow out on like a day where you don't fast or whatnot. So it's important to realize that just because we're sort of front loading our fast during the week and not fasting on Sunday, it doesn't necessarily mean that it's a magic bullet just to sort of eat or drink whatever we want. Not saying that you do that, but it's just a point, something to keep in mind.
Melanie Avalon
Yeah. Actually, to that point, I'm not saying I don't know what Nydia's situation is, but like a situation, like hypothetical. Say you're in a situation where your food choices are not necessarily the most supportive of weight maintenance or weight loss. And then on top of that, maybe you're not sleeping well, and then stress, all the things, and you're fasting. So basically, maybe that alone would be maintaining you, but then you have this blowout day where it's all the things. Now the scale is tipped towards weight gain, because the rest of the days, you're just kind of getting by with maintaining. And I'm not saying at all that that's the situation. That's just a situation that could apply to somebody.
Barry Conrad
Cause another thing Melanie is, is like, you know, especially with females, well, a lot of females I've met as well, they find it hard to kind of get everything in, like if she's, if Nydia is eating fasting for 19 to 22 hours a day, sometimes 23, that's like a couple hours to eat. And most people, no, I'm not going to say most, a lot of people find it hard to eat massive volume like you and I can, especially in a short time.
So if just as a scenario, taking Nydia aside, if someone were to just eat all day on a Sunday, they have more room to eat more incrementally throughout the day, but a lot more rather than just being unable to eat on those fasting days. You know what I mean?
Melanie Avalon
Yes, exactly. So there's just so many potential factors here. So I think taking a breath, stepping back, looking at the bigger picture, and then reevaluating.
Barry Conrad
Let us know, Nydia.
Melanie Avalon
Awesome. Okay, shall we have our proverbial breaking of the fast moment?
Barry Conrad
I'm so excited for this moment. Let's do it.
Melanie Avalon
Me too. We haven't done this in forever.
Okay. Okay. So I have today's restaurant. I've been collecting berry while we haven't been recording. I've been collecting a lot of restaurants. Really? Yeah. Yeah. So I'm excited about these. So this one, here, I'll tell you about it a little bit first and then I'll send you the link. So it is a, it's in Mansfield, Ohio, and it is a Civil War era beer cavern.
Barry Conrad
Thank you for watching.
Melanie Avalon
It's called Prohibition at the Caverns. It's 30 feet beneath Hudson and Essex, which is the city's fine dining spot upstairs. And they found it by accident. So they were conducting renovations of the building above, and they found a hidden sandstone chamber beneath. And apparently, there have been legends of tunnels under Mansfield for years.
And then they found them. And so the history of it is this is from the mid 1800s. And it's when thousands of Germans fled political unrest and went to all these different cities in the US. And they brought beer with them. And they started brewing all this beer. And it led to, especially during the Prohibition movement, these secret breweries underground. So they probably were dug in the 1860s. Let's see. And so the way it works, though, so you can't just walk in, you have to have reservations. They do four courses on Friday nights, eight on Saturdays. And the way it works is you start upstairs at the restaurant, you take an elevator down. And then let's see, there's warm, soft candles. And it's in these caverns, the menu is seasonal. And you can have wine pairings. And then they also on Thursday nights, they do a dinner movie series where they make the menu be themed to different movies like Casablanca or Pulp Fiction or Ratatouille. So was that fun?
Barry Conrad
This place sounds awesome.
Melanie Avalon
Yes, let me send you the menu. Should we do the dinner in a movie menu or the normal menu?
Barry Conrad
Dinner in a movie kind of sounds like a moment, let's do that.
Melanie Avalon
Let's see if they show CR a full movie calendar. What are they doing right now? Does it say what movie it is?
Barry Conrad
Yes, I clicked on the see our full movie calendar and it has different things in different dates, like there's American Psycho, there's It, there's The Lost Boys, there's Friday the 13th, I guess because of Halloween, I'm guessing it's the scary, yeah.
Melanie Avalon
I guess they don't have the menu, though, for what the actual movies are. I mean, they have a menu, but it's not. Let me look at their normal menu. Yeah, let's go back.
Barry Conrad
the normal ones, see what they got. I love this idea. I think it's...
Melanie Avalon
Go ahead. Maybe we can do the normal one since there's more choices. Should we do eight course or four course, eight course, right? Let's do eight course.
Always. OK, so this is the Saturday night eight course menu. Oh, wow. You either get it with or without wine pairings. See, here's the problem, Barry. I would obviously love doing wine pairings, but I'm so specific in what I drink that I would rather just pick out my own wine.
Barry Conrad
I was about to say that I was like, we could do one appearance, but I don't think that's really a Melanie Evelyn situation because you want to choose it.
Melanie Avalon
Yeah, so maybe no wine pairings. So first course, Breaking Bread, Vegetable Cracker, Cherlo, French Butter, Peach, Saffron Jelly. Would you like that, Barry? You can have my bread.
Barry Conrad
Yeah, I love a good bread, especially if it's fresh. I always try it.
Melanie Avalon
Okay, so Barry will take over that course. And then, homage to an homage to an egg, that's a cool title.
Barry Conrad
It is.
Melanie Avalon
Crab and artichoke brulee with caviar and Prosecco.
Barry Conrad
That sounds good.
Melanie Avalon
I would have the I'll tell you how I'll tell you what I'll have from this. I'll have the caviar part of the caviar.
Barry Conrad
you'll take it off like wherever it's served, like you'll pick, you know, take it off.
Melanie Avalon
Yeah, I'll have like a like a like I'll like pick one up and then you can tell me how the rest is. So then we have trying to figure out menus hard to read.
Do we pick from the next? Okay, no, no, we just I guess it's all the same. So then do you want to do you want to read the next course La Milpa?
Barry Conrad
The next one is called La Milpa. It's corn chowder zoodles. Is that zucchini noodles?
Melanie Avalon
Yes.
Barry Conrad
corn chowder, zoodles, salsa verde, cotija, lime, cilantro oil, and chili. And then it has French colambard.
Melanie Avalon
I just realized maybe we should run the movie one cause I think you can pick your entree. You can. I think so.
Wait, cause here the main, so the main entree here is tuna, I think, and then confit duck leg. Wait, let me see. Let's look at the dinner in a movie.
Barry Conrad
Let's see the best situation for our tastes.
Melanie Avalon
Dinner, oh wait, dinner and a movie, okay, well, you can't win because dinner and a movie you can pick, but I actually don't want any of that.
So maybe we can go back to the, back to the A course. Okay, wait, hold on, I keep losing it.
Barry Conrad
So we just did the La Milpa, and the next one is, what do we have there, Mel? It's, I like the names, Air to the Ground.
Melanie Avalon
Wait, I like the four-course menu. I am all over the place here. Four-course menu, they have for the third course, you can pick a filet mignon.
Barry Conrad
Okay. Do you want to switch to that one? Do you want to switch to the full horse? Yeah. Okay. We're switching. We're officially changing our minds.
Melanie Avalon
We have now come to this restaurant three different times. Three different times.
Okay, we're starting over. We're going on a Friday, guys. Four courses. Okay, starting over. First course, what would you like?
Barry Conrad
First course. Wow, okay, I'm gonna go for the lobster roll. Lobster roll, kyupai mayo, shallots, herb, green onion, roll, kyewertsraminer. Got that completely wrong, but just go with it.
Melanie Avalon
That's the recommended wine pairing. Oh, it is? Yeah. I'm going to go with it. Okay. I will have, can I have a piece of the lobster from the roll? You can have a piece.
Barry Conrad
Yes, you can.
Melanie Avalon
like a tiny little piece of lobster.
Barry Conrad
Yes. Oh, Melanie is a side note, but not really a side note. When I was in Melbourne just before coming back, the hotel I stayed at, they do this incredible lobster roll. It was so good.
So I do love lobster rolls. Do you like them? I like lobster. Not their whole so much.
Melanie Avalon
Which, oh wait, speaking of, didn't you go to one of our restaurants?
Barry Conrad
Melanie I went to Gimlet. Yeah. I went to Gimlet and it exceeded expectations. Yeah, it was delicious.
It's the first time ever that I've actually tested a restaurant in the wild like after we've talked about it. And it was such an awesome feeling as well. It's like, hey, we talked about this restaurant. The ambience is amazing. The food was 20 out of 10. Really delicious, tasty, incredible.
Melanie Avalon
Oh my goodness. And did you remember the menu at all?
Barry Conrad
I tried to remember, but I don't really know. I did have the oysters though. I remember that much.
Melanie Avalon
That's another thing I've been saving while we haven't been recording. I think I have like 10 different articles about oysters because every time an oyster article comes up, I'm like, I'm going to share this with Barry. And now I literally have like 10 of them.
Barry Conrad
Better not be anything that debunks the amazing joy that oysters bring to my life.
Melanie Avalon
One of them I really liked, the person hated oysters. I was like, this is a great article.
Barry Conrad
That person's terrible.
Melanie Avalon
know, it's like random things like this is the best oyster place. I don't know. It's just like random oyster articles. Okay, awesome choice. Yeah, I'm so excited that you went there. That's so exciting.
So okay, I would get I'm gonna get the galette. Is that how you say it? We're always butchering names. So it's a salad. I'm just gonna eat the prosciutto off of it. It's prosciutto, peaches, ricotta, thyme, rosemary, arugula. I'm gonna eat all the prosciutto prosciutto.
Barry Conrad
Can I have the rest of your things?
Melanie Avalon
What if I asked, okay, yes, nevermind. I was gonna say, what if I asked them, can I get this salad with just prosciutto, like only prosciutto?
No salad, just prosciutto. Then they'll bring me like, what if I did that?
Barry Conrad
What about the irregular salad or the rosemary? You don't like that? There's like a little garnish on the side of the plate or something.
Melanie Avalon
Actually, it's so funny story. I actually do like salad. It doesn't always as my mom says I like it It doesn't always like me. I actually don't like arugula though
Barry Conrad
You don't? Mm-mm. I've only started eating more of that since coming to America, funnily enough. And so far, so far, I'm like nothing to write on about yet, but it's not bad, it's just don't love it.
Melanie Avalon
Yeah, I don't like... No, I don't like the... It's got that... It's got like a negative... Okay, the lettuce I like. I obviously... Well, iceberg is fun because it's like water with like a like a crunch to it and a little bit of freshness.
It's like green water, pretty much. Yeah, I used to... Instead of eating... I don't know if you knew this, you might have known this. Instead of my cucumber fixation, it used to be lettuce. I would eat like... Because, you know, I like to like eat my cucumbers while drinking my wine and everything and then add it to my meat as kind of like a digestible, like hydrating substance to add to the meat. I used to do that with heads of lettuce. Like I would eat like... I'm not kidding, like four heads of lettuce.
Barry Conrad
That's a lot of, but it's very hydrating though.
Melanie Avalon
So hydrating, I know. So I love lettuce and romaine. Everything else, not so much.
Barry Conrad
I like to have with iceberg lettuce, like a bundler's burgers, if I make them at home, like, that's good.
Melanie Avalon
That is good. Yeah. Okay. Yeah.
So I'm just going to get prosciutto. Oh, no, no, no. I'm getting the whole thing so you can have the rest and I'll eat the prosciutto. Okay. Second course. Second course.
Barry Conrad
What are you feeling? What's looking good?
Melanie Avalon
So the scallop, arancini, what does that mean?
Barry Conrad
I knew you were going to go to the UN straight there.
Melanie Avalon
But what is that? Can I just get scallops? We'll see. Scallops.
Barry Conrad
Because arancini, if it's what we call it in Australia, they're little balls. You know those things? Like little balls? Like an arancini?
Melanie Avalon
Oh, yeah, it is. I looked it up. OK, so I'm going to see, they're going to hate me here. I'm going to be like, can I, can you just get like some scallops?
Barry Conrad
What if the same we can't do that in the ball so.
Melanie Avalon
It has to be in the ball. I'd be like, wait, so it's pre-made? Is that what you're telling me? No, I wouldn't, I wouldn't be snarky.
If they said no, then I'd be like, well, you can, what does Barry want? Barry, you can have mine.
Barry Conrad
Not the cannot the house solid because that to me doesn't seem festive the corn chowder i'm curious about but corn chowder like a like a seafood chowder. I probably get if i had to use a property this color and she and the corn chowder is a second.
Melanie Avalon
Okay, perfect. So, okay, and then third course, this is why we switched menus three times. I know what I'm getting.
What are you gonna get? Oh, and I'm really curious if you were gonna get, okay, well, I'm getting the filet mignon.
Barry Conrad
That's exactly what I was going to get.
Melanie Avalon
Okay, perfect. Yes. How are you getting it cooked?
Barry Conrad
I know you're asking this with a judgmental tinge in your voice. How are you doing? Is it going to be medium or done? No, it's going to be medium.
Melanie Avalon
I accept everybody.
Barry Conrad
It's medium rare, but I always say more on the medium, more on the rare side of medium rare.
Melanie Avalon
See, Barry, that's like, that's probably the most right answer, if there's like a right answer. So no judgment.
That's like the correct answer. Like you, you like scored on the fine dining correct answer.
Barry Conrad
And I said that, and I do remember, I promise I do actually remember saying that at Gimlet. Medium rare, please, but on the rare side of medium rare.
Melanie Avalon
And did it come out on the rare side of medium rare?
Barry Conrad
Absolutely. And they were really happy with that request. Like, oh, of course.
Melanie Avalon
Nice. You know what technically the rare side of medium rare is if you're technically using the correct restaurant speak? Oh, wow. No, do you know what it is? Like what you would say? You would say rare plus. Don't say it though because servers hate it.
Why? Because technically that's the correct terminology. So it's like rare, rare plus, medium rare, medium rare plus, medium, medium plus, medium well, and then well. I don't think there's a medium well plus. I think it just goes from medium well to well. But when people use the pluses, you're like, Oh, man, because you're like, it's one of these people.
Barry Conrad
Oh, okay. It's like has a competition. Oh, they're gonna be really they're gonna be like a nightmare to you know
Melanie Avalon
Yeah, so it's correct, but don't use it.
Barry Conrad
Okay, how about I'll use it only if, like, all my other courses preceding this course. We've had a good banter, it's been really friendly, and I'll be like, oh, I'll get Rare Plus, and then I'll be, oh, great.
Melanie Avalon
Yeah, if you've established yourself, although if you're with me, I'm really very pleased with
Barry Conrad
on the side of a rear, please.
Melanie Avalon
So it comes with pesto, cannellini, beans, parmesan, red wine vinegar, and parsley. Would you get it that way it comes?
Barry Conrad
Yeah, I reckon I get it the way it comes because I'm assuming it's not going to be all drowning in that. Hopefully, it's going to be on the side a little bit, but I'll try all of that.
Melanie Avalon
Awesome. And I'll have mine completely plain. Salt and pepper, at least. No.
Barry Conrad
No. No. Okay. Why am I surprised? I know that. You like to have a plan.
Melanie Avalon
Nothing, nothing, nothing, and as blue as they will bring it.
Barry Conrad
on the rare side of rare, on the rare, not even a plus, like minus.
Melanie Avalon
Awesome. And then fourth course. Oh, wait, can I guess what you want?
Barry Conrad
Yes, and you're probably going to get it.
Melanie Avalon
I think you want the Black Forest cream puff.
Barry Conrad
I do and also I know that you're not going to order from this section so I'll get the other one too.
Melanie Avalon
Perfect. Do you want to read them?
Barry Conrad
So at the Black Forest cream puff is a pate a show dark chocolate cream, red one poached cherries. Yum, mascarpone, whip, cherry color reduction with some port over born. The milly fugly is the second dessert and that's spiced cream, crispy filler, lemon curd, love lemon curd, strawberry curd, pistachios, lemon peel, port or bourbon. This actually sounds really refreshing.
So I'd first have the chocolate and then finish with the citrusy deliciousness that sounds great. Awesome. What a find. Thanks, Mel.
Melanie Avalon
You're welcome. And then I would get like drinks wise, I would find a organic European lower alcohol wine, because I don't see a drink menu on here.
Barry Conrad
Yeah, I don't see it. I'm having a look. I don't see, but I'm sure that they will gladly.
Melanie Avalon
Out of the pairings that I see, they have a cab fronk, so I know I would... Ooh, and a cabernet rosé. I've recently gotten more into rosés and orange wines.
Barry Conrad
We've talked about this before. Do we talk about orange wine before the show?
Melanie Avalon
I think we talked about it on the show or offline. We're talking about the stereotypes of drinking Rosé.
Barry Conrad
We did. And I actually, in Melbourne, I drank a lot more, guess what, a lot more rosé than Pinot Grigio in Melbourne. Oh, really? Yes, after our conversation.
Melanie Avalon
I love Rose. What I was saying about the stereotype was that for some reason, well, I guess because it's pink, I don't know, people associate like girls and women drinking Rose, like it's like a quote girly thing to do.
But if you think about it, like they think it's more girly than a white, but technically Rose is more skin exposure. So it's closer to a red. So if you're going to look at it as like a red wine is masculine thing, then technically Rose would be more masculine than a white wine. I'm just saying.
Barry Conrad
You're right. And also, yeah, got over the complex. And also, dry rosé is actually pretty low-calve too. It's pretty good.
Not by much, but in comparison to Pinot Grigio. So I smashed the rosé in Melbourne. And also, orange wine's delicious. What made you want to get into that?
Melanie Avalon
actually a few different things. Well, actually, so it depends for any wine. I feel like it depends on the wine, but I had one that my friend got me for a birthday present and then I found this company called Bliss Wine Concierge online because I was looking for a specific wine that I love that's organic that I used to get from dry farm wines. They didn't have it anymore.
I could only find it from this Bliss place and they have a lot of other really amazing wines and they have some incredible oranges that I have become obsessed with. And he has a lot of, his name is Andre. He's amazing and he has a lot of really, he sources a lot of organic low alcohol, whites, rosés, oranges, and some reds. So listeners check it out. The website for that is, I've been posting about it on my Instagram a lot. It's blisswineconcierge.com. I highly recommend it.
All right. Well, this was so, so fun. Oh my goodness. It was so good to catch up.
Barry Conrad
I know, so great.
Melanie Avalon
And I'm really excited for next week. I have a really fun study to talk about. I can't wait.
So awesome. Well, listeners, friends, these show notes for today's episode will be at ifpodcast.com slash episode 446. You can get all of these stuff that we like at ifpodcast.com slash stuff we like. You can submit your own questions by emailing questions at ifpodcast.com or you can go to ifpodcast.com and you can submit questions there and you can follow us on Instagram. We are ifpodcast. I am Melanie Avalon. Barry is Barry underscore Conrad. I think that's all the things.
Anything from you, Barry, before we go?
Barry Conrad
That's all the things. Thank you so much for tuning in again, all of you amazing listeners, and we will see you and talk to you next time, I should say.
Melanie Avalon
Awesome! I will talk to you next week!
Barry Conrad
See you next week, bye!
Melanie Avalon
Hi! Thank you so much for listening to the Intermittent Fasting Podcast. Please remember, everything we discussed on this show does not constitute medical advice, and no patient-doctor relationship is formed.
If you enjoyed the show, please consider writing a review on iTunes. We couldn't do this without our amazing team. Editing by podcast doctors, show notes and artwork by Brianna Joyner, and original theme composed by Leland Cox and recomposed by Steve Saunders.
See you next week!