Go Un-Pro

Go Un-Pro with Dr. Brent W. Laartz, MD FIDSA: Living an Unprocessed Life for Longevity and HealthspanHave you ever known that something is SO good for you that you just can't wait, but life gets in front of you and prevents you from doing it? The inaction and procrastination could occur for a variety of reasons, and we will delve into my motivations and affirmations of a healthy life from this day forward. I am starting this series of videos and articles so that I can be accountable to myself regarding the changes in my diet that I REALLY NEED to survive into my 90s without heart disease, dementia, and arthritis. And hopefully, as you follow along, you can make your own improvements that will extend your life and prevent the horrible illnesses that are heart disease, dementia, and arthritis. Can I introduce myself? I'm Dr Brent W. Laartz, and I am an Infectious Diseases physician with a Master's in Neuroscience, author, creator, and entrepreneur. I've been involved with medical ed

Go Un-Pro is a health podcast hosted by Brent W. Laartz, with 36 episodes on record and a Required Pod Score of 80.

Brent W. Laartz hosts Go Un-Pro, a health show with 36 episodes published.

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  Go Un-Pro

  Week 25: A Doctor's 52 Week Journey to an Unprocessed Life

  Oct 3, 202615 min

  Overview Dr. Brent W. Laartz uses week 25 as a brief check-in across his five pillars — diet, movement, sleep, connection, and plastics — and names bedsheets as this week's new target: the eight-to-ten hours of skin contact he had overlooked while policing utensils, bottles, and clothes. Next milestone**Week 26 — halfway recap** Live events**Aspen · 12–18 (2026)** PILLAR 01 Evolving; "every little bit" of unprocessed food is a deposit in the health plan when busy weeks derail the 100% goal. PILLAR 02 Clearing out space for a home gym; bodyweight calisthenics as the no-equipment fallback. PILLAR 03 Working on allergies — high eosinophils, high IgE, chronic cough — while resisting steroid treatment. PILLAR 04 Building a community aiming for active, creative life at 100–110; subscriber meetups planned in Aspen. PILLAR 05 Replacing old microfiber sheets with 100% cotton, high thread count — the overlooked 8–10 hours of nightly skin contact. Exposure Framing the problem as a question of exposure dose. Micro- and nanoplastics reach the body by three routes, and nanoparticles have been found in the brain. Seafood — otherwise recommended for omega-3s — is one ingestion pathway. He suspects the environmental load in water has passed a tipping point, so the actionable lever is what you control at home. "We ingest, we inhale, and we absorb through the skin."03:37 His order of operations began in the kitchen (utensils, especially heated plastic), then food choices (ultra-processed items carry more plastic contact and more "forever chemicals" for preservation), then containers and bottles. Only after those are addressed does he reach less obvious items: wooden mouse and keyboard, clothing — and now bedsheets. Hormonal system Metabolic / diabetes control Brain Figure 2 · Pathways and systems as described by the host; particle-level claims are attributed to findings he cites, not measured in the episode. The halfway-point recap is deferred: week 26 remains at home, week 27 moves to Aspen with live events, and the full recap will come then.13:42 Wine Women and Shoes — Sole Man for the Children's Cancer Center, Tampa Laartz is raising money as a "Sole Man" for the Children's Cancer Center in Tampa, which he describes as a refuge where children with cancer (ages 2–18, with some returning as adult survivors) enjoy play, music, art, and family time alongside case managers, social workers, and entertainment coordinators, with an outdoor basketball court and playground. Donation link in the show notes: app.giveffect.com/participants/580513-brent-laartz . The main Wine Women and Shoes event is noted for November; tickets to that event may already be sold out, but other fundraising channels continue. Host is matching donations dollar-for-dollar The show exists as both audio and video. Laartz flags a visual cue for listeners: maroon artwork = audio podcast; a near-identical blue artwork = video podcast. Video is available on YouTube, Substack, Spotify, and GoUnpro.com; search by show name or by his surname. Disclaimer (from the episode): This site and any information communicated within it are not intended as medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment, and no doctor–patient relationship is established. Consult your own physician, therapist, or nutritionist before applying any diet, exercise, or product discussed. Referral, affiliate, or advertising fees may be garnered by the site.

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  Go Un-Pro

  Week 24: A Doctor's 52 Week Journey to an Unprocessed Life

  Sep 27, 202636 min

  Go Un Pro Podcast · Week 24 of 52 Game Day, Rewired Dr. Brent W. Laartz frames Week 24 around a familiar American ritual — football season — and asks whether it has to arrive with beer, chips, gambling and the couch. His answer is to add the healthy things (local produce, a catch in the yard, an N/A beer, seven hours of sleep) until they crowd out what he wants to subtract, while keeping his five pillars — diet, movement, sleep, connection, plastics — moving in parallel. Scene ·Solo podcast studio recap — Week 24 of a physician's 52-week unprocessed-living journey, opening football season Game-day swap · Week 24 challenge Default couch ritual Beer with the game Chips & store-bought dips Sitting through all four quarters Gambling adds stress to every play Anger at the coach / the loss Add-first game day Zero-alcohol beer, invite a friend Carrots, celery, homemade hummus Move between plays / at halftime Less gambling, less stress on the game Backyard catch instead of watching Rule of the season: "play the game, don't watch it" Motivation The Marginal Decade Lartz opens by naming what he is trying to postpone: the "marginal decade" before death, the years when a person can no longer do what they want. The best case, he says, is to push that trough as far into the future as possible. The urgency is clinical, not abstract. That day he had seen a 55-year-old patient — two years younger than himself — with a toe amputation (from trauma, not the disease) and congestive heart failure, whose father had had his first heart attack at 50 and died at 78. The patient had his own first heart attack at 50. Lartz's own parents, considered relatively healthy, had developed diabetes in their 60s. Lartz's stated aim: "manifesting a healthy 100 years of age," 110 as the stretch. Two futures drawn from the same genetic starting point: the patient's early-collapse curve (clay) vs. the delayed-decline aim Lartz is working toward (green). The shaded valley is the "marginal decade." The plan Five Pillars, Week 24 Each week Lartz nudges all five pillars at once rather than overhauling one. Week 24's dials, in his words:15:54 Diet Local + organic Double down on local & organic produce; cut pasta and simple carbs; spaghetti squash instead of pasta. Movement Ease back in Increase variety after a hard work week. Walk first, short run, ramp up. Strength at 12–20 reps to near failure — endurance over max load. Sleep 7+ hrs · 5 days Continue the seven-plus-hour challenge; at most two short nights per week; hold circadian rhythm — no 10–11 a.m. weekend catch-up. Connection Painting, solo Continue the painting challenge — connecting with self also counts. One painting this week: his girlfriend's late dog, chasing a squirrel up a tree. Plastics Fiber swap Continue a 1–2 month rotation to replace polyester clothing with cotton, hemp, bamboo, alpaca, wool — slowly, because it's expensive. Farm→Local store→You Vitamin retention higher Laartz's argument for local: fruit picked pre-ripe and ripened over a 1–2 week transit is a "less effective way of getting vitamins to you," with worse flavor and more contamination points along the way. Eating locally also aligns diet with the growing seasons.10:46 On dressings and dips, the same principle: he makes his own — or skips them — because packaged versions rely on cheap seed oils bought for price, not health. He is not condemning all seed oils, but notes that processed-food companies "are not looking to put the most healthy seed oil in your dressing." Extra virgin olive oil is his preferred base.09:13 Movement gets an ease-in caveat: after several days off, don't jump straight to high-intensity intervals. He also flags what he sees at the gym — heavy kettlebell "elephant swings" done badly, and older lifters who look muscular but, he suspects, carry intramuscular fat — "their bicep would surely look like a prime rib." The takeaway: moderate weight, 12–20 reps, muscular endurance, fewer injuries. Weekly sleep pattern he's tracking By the time a patient is angry about a heart-healthy tray at breakfast, he says, meaningful nutrition education is essentially gone for that moment. As an infectious-disease physician he isn't the ideal messenger about microbiome and diet, but he teaches whoever seems open to it. Two voices Lartz heard this week "Change my diet — I don't want this heart-healthy food. "Typical · heard 3–4 times last week Add, Don't Subtract Vision ＋ Action ＝ Direction·Add healthy→Auto-subtract unhealthy Two lines recur across the episode. First: action without vision has no direction, so name why you want to be healthy — for a grandchild, for a son turning 18, for a future you want to reach. Second: the podcast's working adage — if you add healthy things, they automatically crowd out some of the unhealthy. Bring the carrots and hummus to the tailgate; the chips don't have to leave, they just get less shelf. He closes by treating the week's small failures the same way. A brutal clinic week meant missed intentions and worse sleep scores; his instruction to himself is to notice them, track them, and refuse to dwell — "take the big wins, but take the few small losses and don't dwell on them."34:03 12–20 reps, near failure at lower weight — less injury, longer runway. Looks strong; Lartz suspects fat marbling and higher injury risk with heavy kettlebell swings. Lartz's own metaphor, made visual: he wants muscle that looks like the plain cut on the left, not the marbled cut on the right — a preference for endurance-loaded, lower-weight strength work over ego lifts. Next in the series: Week 25 (a Sunday Science episode), then a Week 26 half-year milestone that he plans to mark in Aspen. Source's own disclaimer, retained: this content is not medical advice and does not establish a doctor-patient relationship. Consult your own physician, therapist, or nutritionist before applying any diet, exercise, or product discussed. Referral or affiliate fees may be received by the source's site.

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  Week 23: A Doctor's 52 Week Journey to an Unprocessed Life

  Sep 18, 202630 min

  Week 23 · Overview Grit Meets Situation Lartz says he first read Grit twenty years ago while raising his kids. Grit remains what gets you across a hard threshold — but on its own it leaves you fighting your surroundings. Duckworth's newer book, Situations, gives him permission "to not feel guilty about making an easy path" — by choosing the people, environments, and objects around him. He estimates the environment is half the battle, and that roughly half of the environment is the people you surround yourself with. The Five Pillars, This Week Each week, Lartz runs a fresh challenge across the same five pillars, adding good inputs so the bad ones get crowded out — "building consistency without the need for perfection." Diet Raw vegan, 7 days Cauliflower rice, fermented cucumber, homemade oat-milk berry yogurt, bib-lettuce salads, hummus. Movement 5K + resistance Two-a-days after a busy week; rest day today; weekend beach recovery. Avoid injury above all. Sleep Less than 2 short nights Aim for no more than two nights under 7 hours; blackouts, red light at night, early sunshine. Connection Charity + community Serving as a "Sole Man" for Wine, Women & Shoes benefiting the Children's Cancer Center, Tampa. https://www.giveffect.com/participants/580513-brent-laartz Plastics Swap the socks Replacing athletic and dress socks with merino or alpaca wool; reading labels for plasticized fibers. The Raw-Vegan Week Copy A seven-day plan Lartz says he did not hit at 100% — one day drifted because a friend wanted a movie — but succeeded on at "the 90% level." The plan is a fabric of prepared, fermented, and travel-friendly foods; the movie-night gap is the point of the exercise.08:10 Reading Labels: The Sock Swap Copy Lartz is working through his wardrobe slowly — "you can't replace your whole wardrobe" at once. Business shirts, underwear, and some pants are done; socks are next. He warns that fibers marketed as natural can still be plasticized— chemically processed for stretch — so labels have to be read carefully. "Natural" fibers chemically processed with oxidation for stretch Merino wool (already moisture-wicking, some natural stretch) Alpaca wool Organic cotton Merino wool shirts already in rotation The Diet, In Principle Underneath each week's specific challenge is a steady direction: raise antioxidants, polyphenols, and fiber; move toward mostly plant-based eating; and keep any fructose "paying its way" through polyphenol-rich berries.20:39 Connection — Children's Cancer Center Wine, Women & Shoes — the Sole Man role Lartz frames pediatric cancer plainly: "these kids didn't ask to get cancer… they were just being kids."13:55The Children's Cancer Center in the Tampa Bay area runs a non-hospital building where children with cancer can be with other children — including local high-school volunteers — and simply be kids. He is now serving as a "Sole Man" for the fundraising event Wine, Women & Shoes, in which men support the women who raise the bulk of the donations. Lartz invites listeners to donate through him, through the Children's Cancer Center directly, or through a comparable local charity — and to give time as well as money. Host's donation page www.giveffect.com / participants / 580513-Brent-Laartz https://www.giveffect.com/participants/580513-brent-laartz Disclaimer Not medical advice The site and its contents are not intended as medical care, diagnosis, or treatment. Nothing here establishes a doctor–patient relationship. Before copying any diet, exercise, or product used on the show into your own practice, consult your own research, physician, therapist, or nutritionist. No warranties or claims are made about benefits or risks. Referral, affiliate, or advertising fees may be received.29:09 To Do List [ ] 02 Bring homemade hummus on the trip to the 5K to avoid the processed vendor food (bars, plastic-packaged yogurts, sugar packs). [ ] 03 Run the Saturday 5K, taking today as a rest day beforehand. [ ] 04 Fit in some resistance training over the weekend to make up for a light week caused by 5K training [ ] 05 Limit nights of under seven hours' sleep to no more than two per week. [ ] 06 Search stores, Amazon, and other sites for merino- or alpaca-wool socks to replace the current plastic-fiber athletic and dress socks, reading labels to avoid plasticized fibers. [ ] 07 Head to the beach on day 7 for R recovery after the Saturday 5K. 10:07 [ ] 08 Add more topsoil, plant the languishing hot pepper, and later install bigger raised beds at the new house to start growing his own food.

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  Go Un-Pro

  Week 22: A Doctor's 52 Week Journey to an Unprocessed Life

  Sep 14, 202625 min

  Health & wellness podcast Go Unpro · Week 22 of 52 Dr. Brent W. Laartz · A 52-Week Journey to an Unprocessed Life The 7-Day Raw Food Road, and Why It Is Less Traveled Framed by Robert Frost's "The Road Not Taken," this week trades ultra-processed convenience for a mostly raw, plant-based, whole-food challenge — layered with 5K training, a painting challenge, better sleep, and the next fabric swap. The gamble: a dozen extra years of healthy life, and everyone who gets to see them. The Unprocessed Road Whole-food, mostly plant-based, 90/10 Resistance + cardio + 10–25k steps/day Deep sleep, connection, generosity Ditching plastics — fabrics next +12 healthy years— the great-grandchild sees you active at 100. +12healthy years is more than 10% of a life aimed at 110— the difference the road actually makes, not just a romanticized sigh.03:37 02 / WEEK PLAN Five pillars, one week Week 22 stacks a food challenge on top of maintained work in movement, sleep, connection, and plastics. Addition, not subtraction — enjoyable healthy things naturally crowd out the rest. Food 7-daywhole, uncooked, plant-based challenge for polyphenol density. Cooked exceptions Beans · Oat-milk yogurt base Movement Final week of5K training— race is 8 days out, benefits a charity. Daily steps10k → 25k12:41 Sleep Target7.5 hr average; work on blackout & room temperature to lift deep sleep. Sweet spot11 pm → 7–8 am13:35 Connection 7-day painting challenge— new easel, mix of emotional, nostalgic, landscape. Target5–7 canvases16:01 Plastics Shirts done; now research natural-fabric pants. Underwear, socks queued. Focus this weekPants19:16 Five parallel tracks — each a small addition. Together they compose the road less traveled. 03 / THE CHALLENGE The 7-day raw food week, unpacked — Dr. Brent W. Lartz10:58 04 / WARDROBE Plastic swap — the next front Shirts have been largely converted to 100% cotton. This week the research moves to pants, which "are incredibly plastic, artificial." Field trip next week — the backyard garden Growing food starts as summer heat eases into Florida's rainier, milder season. A work in progress across the second half of the year. Week 22 commitments to execute To Do List [ ] Run the 7-day whole, uncooked, plant-based food challenge (beans & oat-milk yogurt base cooked) 00:36 [ ] Complete the charity 5K — race in 8 days; finish the training taper this week 13:35 [ ] Buy a new easel and paints, then produce 5–7 paintings (emotional, nostalgic, landscape) and share on social 16:01 [ ] Hit a 7.5-hour average sleep and improve room blackout & temperature to lift deep sleep 13:35 [ ] Research and choose better natural-fabric pants to replace plastic-based ones 19:16 [ ] Shop Rolling Oats, Whole Foods, and Sprouts for the week's organic raw produce 22:21

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  Sunday Science 2026_09_13 Diet and Coronary Artery Disease

  Sep 14, 202627 min

  Can Diet Actually Reverse Heart Disease? Three trials, one uncomfortable answer: the "standard American" advice given to most cardiac patients is not enough. Only intensive plant-based lifestyle change has been shown to shrink existing coronary plaque. Ornish · Intensive Vegetarian + Lifestyle 10% fat · exercise · stress mgmt −7.9% Plaque change at 5 yrs (regression) 25 cardiac events Sustained 5 years Henzel · DASH DASH + Optimal Meds mostly plant-based, lean meat OK −1.7% Non-calcified plaque change Total plaque held roughly flat Fatty plaque reduced Modest, achievable diet CT angiography, 2021 Standard Care Haskel "Usual" U.S. Regimen generic advice + meds +27.7% Plaque worsening at 5 yrs 45 cardiac events · 2.47× risk Diseaseprogressed Minimal real diet change "Sad" advice, host argues Source: Ornish Lifestyle Heart Trial (JAMA 1998, 5-yr follow-up) & Hensel DISCO trial (JACC 2021). What "Intensive" Actually Meant The Ornish arm was not a mild tweak. It rebuilt daily life on four pillars — and participants held the line for five years. The Four Pillars ~10% of calories from fat; dietary cholesterol markedly reduced. Rose from 2.66 → ~5 sessions/week; still 4.34/wk at 5 years. Meditation, relaxation, and group support built into weekly routine. Adherence score more than doubled vs. baseline (0.62 increased 1.29 at 1 yr). Three Trials, Compared Side-by-Side Each study tests a different intensity of lifestyle change against usual care. The pattern is consistent: the deeper the change, the better the coronary anatomy behaves. Study 01 · JAMA · 1998 Ornish — Lifestyle Heart Trial Ornish et al., 5-year quantitative arteriography Vegetarian, 10% fat, stress mgmt, exercise. 20/28 completed 5 yrs. Plaque · 1 yr−4.5% Plaque · 5 yr−7.9% Cardiac events25 vs 45 Relative risk2.47× ↓ ✓ True regression of atherosclerosis 08:42 Study 02 · Circulation · 1994 Haskell — Stanford SCRIP Multi-factor risk-reduction program Low-fat/low-chol diet, exercise, weight loss, smoking cessation, lipid meds. HDL+12% LDL / apoB−22% Triglycerides−20% Narrowing rate47% slower Hospitalizations25 vs 44 (−39%) ↘ Slowed progression, no reversal 11:58 Study 03 · JACC · 2021 Henzel — DISCO Trial CT angiography, n=92, non-obstructive CAD DASH nutrition + optimal medical therapy vs. optimal medical therapy alone. Non-calcified plaque−1.7% Control non-calc plaque−0.7% Total plaque (control)+1.1% p-value (change)0.033 Fatty (modifiable) plaque shrank The Host's Bottom Line Dr. Laartz isn't demanding strict veganism — but he is arguing that the routine cardiology counseling most patients receive is dangerously understated. If you already have coronary artery disease Standard advice — "lower your cholesterol, exercise a little more" — allowed disease to progress and doubled cardiac events over 5 years. Intensive plant-forward change is currently the only lifestyle intervention shown to reverse plaque. "If you really have coronary artery disease and you don't want an earlier death, don't listen to the standard American regimen. It needs to be intensive." The host's personal target: mostly vegan, whole-food diet; when meat is eaten (a few times/week), only chicken, fish, or turkey — avoiding pork and beef. Honest Caveats Adherence is hard. The Ornish protocol has been criticized as difficult to sustain — though 20/28 did sustain it 5 years. Not fully replicated at the same intensity in other trials. Nutrient gaps on strict vegan diets:B12, vitamin D, omega-3. Supplements can close them without red meat. Pescatarian diets have scored slightly better than pure vegetarian in prior mortality data — likely the omega-3 from fish. Change gradually. Wholesale overnight diet swaps rarely stick; the host recommends a 52-week glide path. Not medical advice .This summary reflects a podcast discussion of published studies. It does not create a doctor–patient relationship and is not diagnosis or treatment. Consult your own physician, therapist, or nutritionist before changing your diet, exercise, or medications. Ornish D, Scherwitz LW, Billings JH, et al. Intensive Lifestyle Changes for Reversal of Coronary Heart Disease. JAMA. 1998;280(23):2001–2007. doi:10.1001/jama.280.23.2001 Haskell WL, Alderman EL, Fair JM, Maron DJ, Mackey SF, Superko HR, Williams PT, Johnstone IM, Champagne MA, Krauss RM, et al. Effects of intensive multiple risk factor reduction on coronary atherosclerosis and clinical cardiac events in men and women with coronary artery disease. The Stanford Coronary Risk Intervention Project (SCRIP). Circulation. 1994 Mar;89(3):975-90. doi: 10.1161/01.cir.89.3.975. PMID: 8124838. Henzel, J, Kępka, C, Kruk, M. et al. High-Risk Coronary Plaque Regression After Intensive Lifestyle Intervention in Nonobstructive Coronary Disease: A Randomized Study. J Am Coll Cardiol Img. 2021 Jun, 14 (6) 1192–1202. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcmg.2020.10.019

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