In this podcast
- The attitude required to heal RA
- Adopting enough self-worth to take action
- How Danny inspired a live audience in the Netherlands
- How the brain is an ‘excuse generator’ and how to reverse the trend of excuses
- Massive action for reversing Rheumatoid Arthritis naturally
- Exercise for RA
- Dietary principles that have to be applied to heal
[powerpress]
Clint: Thanks for joining us again on the Paddison Podcast. Our guest today is Danny. He was in a previous episode, he joined us around November, 2015. And he has continued to improve and continued to amaze everyone in our Paddison Program Community Forum. So we wanted to get him back on another episode and find out how he’s been going, hear about all his improvements, and learn some more things from the master. How are you, Danny?
Danny: I’m good. Hi, Clint.
Clint: Thanks for coming back, mate. It’s really great to be able to welcome you back, especially when we’ve got so much new stuff to talk about and with such positive updates.
Danny: Yeah, it’s great. Yeah.
Clint: So I’ll go over last time what we covered in our last episode. And if you haven’t listened to the episode with Danny, it’s called “Crushing Rheumatoid Arthritis with Danny,” and it’s on the Paddison Program Blog on November 8th, 2015 is the date that it was published. I’m not sure which episode it was if you’re going through the list on iTunes, but you’ll find it. And we talked about how Danny got off Prednisone for his RA, he got off Sulfasalazine, he got off his Naproxen tablets, how much he exercised and used the Paddison Program to replace drugs and replace his pain, his motivation strategies, his mindset for overcoming rheumatoid arthritis, and how he was able to influence so positively so many people through the Paddison Program Forum.
Now, mate, I don’t think since last time we spoke…I think last time we had you on the call, you have since given the public talk in the Netherlands, too. That happened after we recorded our podcast. Why don’t we talk about that? Let’s talk about that. You gave a public talk. So share that with us first before we get into your updates.
Danny: Well, during the podcast, our last podcast, I mentioned that I posted my story on the National Rheumatoid Association in the Netherlands, and there are two Dutch doctors who contacted me because of my post, and they invited me to give a talk in the Netherlands. And that was really great. So they were…they were teaching people and their patients to adopt a plant-based nutrition so they can heal their health issues, and yeah, they wanted to have somebody who has experienced positive results because of it. And yeah, rheumatoid arthritis is so hard to beat, so yeah, that’s a good example to offer people and to inspire people.
Clint: And they were travelling around the world and they happened to just coincidentally be from Australia, too, didn’t they?
Danny: Yeah. Originally they’re from the Netherlands, and one of the doctors went to the same high school as I went. That was really great. But they live in Adelaide at the moment. So that’s what they told me.
Clint: Okay, fabulous. And how was that received when you gave your presentation? How many people were there? And I remember that…and where was it? And just explain how it was received.
Danny: It was in the Netherlands, in Utrecht, that’s in the center of the Netherlands, and it was, I don’t know, 60 people, I think 60-70 people attended the conference or the meeting, and was much more than expected. And there were actually people who came because of me, because of my story, because they wanted to hear how I got rid of the rheumatoid, or at least lessened all the symptoms dramatically. And that was great, yeah. You know, it’s amazing, you start to talk and the whole room is just silent. All the guys and…yeah. At first I was always nervous, I’m thinking like, you know, “Am I looking funny or what?” But no. And the room was so quiet. But you could hear a needle drop as the…you know, it was just…they said it was great. So, it was good.
Clint: Funny about that…you know, my profession, for 16 years I’ve been doing stand-up comedy, it’s like my career, that’s how I think of myself. When people say, “What do you do?” I say, “I’m an entertainer, you know.” I also help people through what we’re talking about right now. But when I…people ask me what I do, that’s what I’ve been doing for the longest time. And I often give keynote talks as well to companies and to people with…specifically with health conditions and stuff. And it’s so vastly different when I…sometimes companies will say, “Well, just do comedy for 20 minutes and then after that, then we’ll hear your keynote story and motivate everyone through your recovery from this impossible-to-cure disease.” And I’m like, “Okay.” And for the first 20 minutes it’s just a riot. And then after I transition into my story, it’s just like you said, people are like really silent because they’re thinking, “Wow, I know someone with this disease, or this could be like the…you know, what I have. I might have something slightly different.” But yeah, it’s fascinating just the absolute pure attention that you get when you’re sharing something that’s really, really raw. And the pain, they can sense the pain when you’re talking about it. They know that it’s serious stuff.
Danny: Right, yes. And even…not only rheumatoid arthritis, but I think a lot or most of the diseases are related to the gut. Even a friend of mine who adopted some of my strategies and…or your strategies or whatever, you know, but he’s curing himself of psoriasis, you know?
Clint: Psoriasis, yeah.
Danny: Psoriasis?
Clint: Yeah.
Danny: I’m sorry. So it’s skin disease, so [inaudible 00:06:40].
Clint: That’s an interesting topic. I have a friend who also has severe psoriasis, and he spent a couple of weeks with me on tour. So we toured together as comedians. And during that time, he adopted my feeding [SP], and during that time the quite elevated and inflamed, aggravated psoriasis marks were dramatically lowered just in two weeks. And in that time, only for a portion of that time, did he adopt it full on, like a full-on approach. The rest of it was just partial, you know, just…because he wanted to ask questions, he wasn’t sure, you know, all that sort of stuff. But absolutely, psoriasis…and in an upcoming episode I’m chatting with Matt, another one of our four members who went to talk about psoriatic arthritis, and so he’s had tremendous results, too.
So yeah, I agree with you, I think that everything is the gut, and then what it looks like in terms of our symptoms is just kind of a little bit random, a little bit to do with our genetic predisposition. But if we can heal the gut, we pretty much have a perfect, healthy body.
So anyway, we find it easy to get sidetracked, don’t we? We wanted to hear a little bit more about your progress. So you mentioned some of your strategies. So let’s talk about those. Well, let’s talk about first of all where…since we last spoke on the podcast publicly, you’ve made tremendous continual improvement. Because I think you were at a CRP of down to about 0.1. It was tremendously small, but you were still getting a few niggles here and there, and you had no medications whatsoever. I know that that hasn’t changed, but you’ve even got your pain even lower. Right? So talk us through the last kind of six or seven months or so.
Danny: So when we did the podcast in November was eight months ago, I already improved tremendously. So my ESR [SP] was 101 and my CRP was 87, and both dropped to 1 and the CRP dropped below 1.
Clint: That was November, right? That was in November? Yeah?
Danny: Yeah, that was in November. But in November I couldn’t run. So I could not run, and there was still swelling in my joints, who were affected, and…but I was pain-free and I was drug-free at the time. And I didn’t…how to say? I only got pain after, I don’t know, one hour or one and a half hour of walking. You know, if you put a lot of pressure on your joints and you really aggravate them, then I would get pain, but the pain would dramatically improve when I just stopped walking or…you know? So that was already…you know, it was tremendous improvement back then. And…but now I can…let’s see, it was November, then in February I managed to ski. That was…so my mother-in-law, she brought us to the…to Poland, to the Polish mountains, and I never…I’ve never skied before, I’ve never done it before, but…yeah, it’s an amazing experience, I mean like…you know, going from a cripple to stand on skis and just going downhill. I mean…for the people who do skiing regularly, they know how much pressure you have to put on your joints. So I was pretty skeptical, could I or couldn’t I do skiing because of the pressure on your knee, and…but it was perfect. There was no problem.
Clint: That’s amazing.
Danny: Of course, my joints were tired, my affected joints were tired, but there was no pain. And the next day I could ski again. So yeah, it was amazing.
Clint: Most people would have seen online some of…well not…you know, people who follow my work have probably seen you climbing, scaling the indoor climbing wall. So for those people who may…just jogging your memory, if you’ve seen someone climbing an indoor mountain-climbing wall, that was Danny. And just to emphasize again how far he’s come, you were carried to the hospital initially, weren’t you?
Danny: Yeah.
Clint: Yeah, all right. So we’re talking about crippled and carried to the hospital on a whole bunch of drugs that I mentioned at the top of this. And then now you are skiing, that was February. Now, I’ve pulled up now some notes that you sent me. Then in May you went swimming without a wet suit. Maybe you can pick it up from there. Where was that at?
Danny: I was…I mentioned in a previous podcast that I did a cold training. So I do cold showers, I go in a t-shirt outside when it’s cold and…you know, I was inspired by Wim Hof…
Clint: Okay, let me cut you off there. I just did a podcast with Wim the other day.
Danny: Oh yeah, really?
Clint: And we haven’t…it hasn’t gone live yet, but it might actually go live before this one, I’m not sure on the sequencing. But yes, and it was so much fun to talk to him. And so listeners are gonna know about Wim Hof by the time probably that this one…he will probably be in the episode prior.
Danny: Well, he’s great, isn’t he?
Clint: He’s fantastic. He’s fantastic. So…and so…yeah, talk us through. So how often were you doing these Wim Hof techniques? And did…tell us how much that changed you for the better.
Danny: Well, when I got off the Prednisone, like I said before in the podcast, in the previous podcast, I needed to combat the pain with exercise, and I discovered that if you take cold showers and you be in the cold a lot, then it gets the blood pumping through your body, and your whole hormone system is being activated. So it was actually the pain, you know? And…because if you lower Prednisone, for example, you get down. Because the cortisol production in your body is going down as well. Some people get depressed even when they lower Prednisone, right? And so I had to find a way to, you know, to feel upbeat again, and that was only through cold showers, you know? I mean, it’s really rough. You step into the shower and you take a cold shower and you do this for 10 minutes…
Clint: Ten minutes?
Danny: …and then you feel absolutely amazing afterwards. I mean…yeah. So I’ve been doing this for…I don’t know, for a long time. I think a year. More than a year. And because of it…and one of my friends, the one who has psoria…
Clint: Psoriasis.
Danny: Psoriasis?
Clint: Psoriasis. Think of it like sir-something. As if like they’ve been knighted. Like Sir Elvis Presley or whatever. Not that he’s…that’s a terrible example. Do you know what I mean?
Danny: Yeah, I know. I scream…no, it doesn’t matter. But he is…he did the cold shower, too, and we went to a lake in Germany at the beginning of May, and it was a beautiful day, it was warm, you know, 25 degrees Celsius, the sun was shining. It was the first real nice day in the Netherlands. And we knew the water was terribly cold. You know? The water is going to be cold, but if it’s too cold we can always lie on the side and just bake in the sun. But we just took off our clothes and we jumped into the lake and I think we swam for 20 minutes, just…the water was 6 degrees Celsius, we calculate after that, we measured it afterwards, about 6-7 degrees Celsius, and oh man, it was cold. But, you know, your body is able to adapt to the cold and you just can swim indefinitely in the cold water afterwards. I mean…yeah, I’m not saying…
Clint: You mean after you’ve done the training and after you’ve understood how to do the breathing and stuff, right? It’s not some…it’s something you’d have to work up to, right? It’s not something that if people were in pain listening to this, they should go and…I mean, they could…is there any danger or thing…do you think being able to just go and take some cold showers right now, or should they go and watch how it’s done online first before they go and attempt something like that?
Danny: First of all, I think your diet needs to be in top shape. So if you’re eating a lot of fats and meat and dairy, then your heart and your arteries aren’t going to be in top shape. So that’s a principle, I think. And…but I would recommend like easing into it. Just start with a warm shower, and then slowly build up to cold shower. First do it 30 seconds or 1 minute. Just…don’t just for the first time jump in the shower and do a cold shower immediately. But then…yeah, you’ve got to train your body to do it.
Clint: Do the pain-relieving effects after doing a 10-minute cold shower stay with you for a while as if you’ve eaten, say, a nice, healthy, clean, plant-based meal, or is it something that is temporary?
Danny: It’s temporary. Right? But…I mean, it’s not temporary. Because if you do this continually, like exercising, your body…you know, I don’t really understand the mechanism of these things really, but I know it works. And I’m going by results. If you keep doing these things over and over and over, every day, every day, every day, you will get better. Because at first I started to do these things because I got temporary relief of pain, and the cold showers gave me relief of stiffness. Because I was really, really stiff during the mornings, and I would get a hard time to get moving, and I needed to move because I needed to jump on my bike and ride to the swimming pool in the mornings so I could live through the day. So I had to find a way to get out of the stiffness. And because I live on the third floor, on the third floor in an apartment, and I needed to go…with my big knee I needed to walk down the stairs. So I needed…first I needed to get out of this stiffness, you know? And that’s…I did it with cold showers every day.
Clint: That’s…we’ve covered some new territory there because…especially when you’re talking about stiffness. There is several members that we have that talk about stiffness, and there’s not been a specific, unique approach that I’ve been able to offer other than the things that we talk about all the time to address the stiffness. So I’m really excited by that. If anyone’s listening and they have that…particularly that morning stiffness that is so difficult to shake for several hours for most people, this could be the way…this could be a routine that they could follow the same way you were following it so you could get down your stairs and you could get on the bike. I mean, I think that’s fantastic. That’s really cool. Okay.
So you went swimming with your mate and then after that, it says in June here, which was…which we’re coming up to date now, you went for a run. Talk us about you went running. I remember what it’s like to go running after not being able to run for nearly six years. It’s exhilarating. My run wasn’t very good, but I’ll tell you what, just…there’s…it’s like…if you’re like a child with your first steps, I’d imagine. Not that we can remember that, but you know, it’s just so exhilarating to feel this new feeling of freedom, isn’t it?
Danny: Right, it’s amazing. Well, I could already run in…back in…I don’t know, February, March, but it was just a minute or two. Right? So I stopped running because I developed pain afterwards. So I said to myself, “Well, just keep riding your bike and going to the swimming pool every day, and things will improve and then you can run later,” and I did. So what I did, it was just a Sunday and I would start my regular exercise routine. You know, I would grab my backpack and go downstairs to grab my bike and…I don’t know, it was a beautiful day and I just decided on the spot I would do something else, you know? So I got back upstairs again and I grabbed my running shoes and I said to myself, “You know, I’m going to test my joints today because they feel so amazing.” You know? One of those days when you have no pressure at all, no pain, you feel nothing. And I’m like, “Yeah, I’m gonna put my running shoes on and I’m gonna run indefinitely. I don’t know how much, I’m just gonna run until I drop from exhaustion or from joint pain. One of the two. I’m just going…”
So I started running and it was comfortably, and I ran some more and more and I continued running, and I was really enjoying my run. Like, you know, there’s no…I have no pain, I was really into the moment, really into the moment. And I ran through the forests and through the hill…you know, up and down the hills, was continuously up and down, because I live in the south of the Netherlands and we do have hills here.
Clint: Yeah, I was wondering about that.
Danny: I live in the…at the border of Germany, actually, and we do have…and we…so I ran and ran and ran. And when I got home, I realized that I ran for 70 minutes continuously.
Clint: Seventy minutes? So, 1 hour and 10 minutes?
Danny: Yeah. And when I took a shower, I realized what I had done. You know? Because during the running, during the running it was only joy. I was totally sucked into the moment because I haven’t experienced this for two years. I mean, even before the rheumatoid arthritis, I could not run 70 minutes continuously. You know? Because of…I don’t know, joint pain or back pain or abdominal pain, or just sheer exhaustion. So with this diet, it’s actually a piece of cake. It’s a piece of cake.
Clint: That’s awesome. But also in the last two years you’ve made your exercise a huge priority and you’ve put tremendous amount of exercise…sorry, tremendous amount of effort into your exercise. So you’ve essentially become really fit in the last two years as well, because you’ve got so much more purpose with your exercise than just recreational exercise before you had any health condition.
Danny: Yeah. I was just thinking, people, they like to do…of course, socialize, and they like to go to restaurants and eat, but I’m just not making a fuss about it anymore, I just…I wanna get the good stuff into my body and then I wanna do something. Because I’m so full of energy. I do not wanna sit all day. You know? I just wanna go and be outside and…because I’m experiencing so much energy, you know, that I just wanna do and go out and be in nature or whatever, you know? It’s amazing.
Clint: It’s awesome. So congratulations on all of these new updates, it makes me just always get such a good feeling whenever we talk, it always just reaffirms everything that both of us know, and it just inspires and encourages everyone who’s listening who’s not at that point yet, to keep doing the right things and keep applying the discipline. That word, discipline, always come up when you and I talk either in this capacity or online. You are the discipline king. I think that’s one thing that we share in common from sort of a non-food point of view as well. Were there days that you found…you know, where you felt like you didn’t want to go and do the cold showers or you didn’t wanna exercise? And if they were, what mindset did you apply to make yourself do it?
Danny: Yeah, you’ve got to develop a sense of self-worth. You know, that’s it. Because…you know, when I walk in a city or in the streets, I just see people all around me who are sick, you know? I mean, people can barely walk, just walk normally like a human being should. And it’s getting worse and worse. You know? And I’m like, “No, I know, I know what to do to get better. So you better do it.” It’s just self-worth, that’s it. The sense of self-worth. You know, first of all, I’m worth it, and where do you want to be? Do you want to be a cripple? You wanna…there’s just no other way in my mind. I don’t know how to explain it, really. I don’t wanna be in that position. Right? Yeah.
I think…you know, all people have brains, but they use their brain as an excuse generator, instead of a capacitor to solve problems. You know, that’s what I learned even as a child. People, they use their brain for excuses. And believe me, I did it too. I’m still doing it sometimes, but you’ve got to be aware of it. That’s it.
Clint: Me too. I mean, I find that…you know, I still go to Bikram once or twice a week, I hadn’t been for a few weeks and I went the other day and there’s a teacher that always challenges me about lying on my arms. There’s a particular posture that I had to sit out for years because of…it’s a complicated thing. It’s too much detail for this podcast. But the point being is that it is still an excuse that I just don’t want to work through that and go through that. And I can justify it because of certain rotation at the elbow joint and all this sort of stuff, but ultimately there is still improvements that I can make and there is still some small excuses that exist in my life. So, you know, I’m referring to structural damage that does cause me inconveniences. You know, sometimes I’ll wake up in the morning and the elbow that’s had surgery on it years ago, if I lie on it and so that it’s more rotated at the elbow, it doesn’t like that. It’s a damaged joint and it just gets angry. And so I need to exercise my elbows regularly and I need to not lie on them at night or they don’t like it. Because when something’s not aligned properly, you know, it tends to attract some problems.
And so I could go to yoga more often, I could emphasize a few more…emphasize the posture that I don’t like more often in class. And I think the brain is good at that, isn’t it? It does like to come up with excuses. And the attitude that I took when I was at my absolute worst, was that…same as what you said, that what’s the alternative? We don’t wanna be a cripple. And for me, I just wanted to start a family so bad, I just couldn’t stay on the drugs that they were telling me that I had to go on because none of them were family friendly. And so if I have to have a family, because for me, that’s something that even when I was a teenager I knew one day that I’d wanted, and I couldn’t be crippled because that just…I don’t know, it just went against who I am as a person. And I know that there are people listening who’ve probably got to a point where they would think of themselves maybe as having some crippling features and feel that it’s not like they wanted that or anything. But if you’re before that stage and you’ve got choices that can stop that, then you should take them. And it really is the classic no-brainer situation where, like you said, you knew you…at your fingertips you had the information that you needed to heal. So really, the job was pretty easy. Really, I mean, you just needed to keep doing it.
Danny: It’s…you know, you can read a book, right? And it’s called knowledge, you know, taking the information in, but true knowing is action. Then you really know. Because of the action you know that it’s true what’s written down. And it’s only through action we can all really know things. I mean, you can start…we can talk all day about rheumatoid arthritis until the sun goes down, right? But we just need to take action. Right? We need to take…we need to do the things we know…not actually know, but you just got to follow examples. You know? And you got to build on it. And you…people always say to me, “But this is my truth, or this is your truth.” But truth, whether you like it or not, whether you agree with it or not, truth stays truth. Whatever happens. If I jump off a cliff, I know pretty sure I’m gonna end up downstairs, you know?
Clint: Yeah.
Danny: And people always say, “But, Danny, you’re very judgmental.” And I say, “Well, I don’t need to be judgmental, right? Judgment has already been cast upon you.” You’re sick. Right? That’s it. That’s judgment. I don’t need to judge. Right? You need to start to do things. Yeah, that’s it. And keep doing it. Because…there are some people who say, “But you know…” I’m sorry. I say to people, “You need to exercise, right?” “Yeah, but, Danny, I don’t feel relieved because of exercise.” It doesn’t matter. You know, a healthy lifestyle…part of a healthy lifestyle is exercise, right? I mean, your lymphatic system depends on it, sitting all day is stress on your body. I mean, you can feel it. If you take a walk, you feel better. You just need to do it. And…you know, it’s also easy to say for me because I had already a head start like I talked in the previous podcast. I already changed my diet to a certain extent and I already felt benefits because of it. And when I saw your talk, I knew 100% what I needed to do. And I did it 100%. So yeah, that’s…yeah.
And some people are having rheumatoid arthritis much longer than I have, so there’s more stuff in their joints, there’s more leaky gut, you know, there’s more going on in their body. But that’s not an excuse, it’s not an excuse to sit all day and…no, you’ve got to do something, right? Action.
Clint: Most definitely, mate. What’s that growling noise in the background?
Danny: I’m sorry, it’s early in the morning here and people are trafficking to work.
Clint: Oh, no problem. That’s all right.
Danny: And there is somebody who is mowing the lawn or something. That’s it.
Clint: No worries. As long as it’s not something we can easily fix, then we’ll just put up with it and keep moving on.
Danny: Yeah, I just…I closed the window so…yeah.
Clint: No problems.
Danny: Nothing more I can do.
Clint: You’ve got some wonderful philosophical gems in there. I absolutely love those, and I might summarize some of those at the end and we’ll also pick one or two for the title of this episode.
But let’s now…let’s just go back and forth and just exchange what we consider some absolute truth. If someone has this disease, some things that they could do immediately, actionable items that both you and I have done to get to a point where we are now, that we agree on. So if the two of us have done these things, and both of us swear by them, that’s a pretty good chance, even though we’re only a case study of two on this episode, but compare that…compare the results to what most people get when they just eat anything they like and they exercise only in an infrequent manner. Let’s just talk about…just back and forth some things that would change people’s lives if they started doing more of those. So for instance, one…like you’ve got to exercise a lot, and I reckon that you have to have 30 minutes of cardiovascular exercise a day. You need to start sweating. Nothing happened for me until I started sweating. No pain relief. You know? It was like a waste of time. Like no benefit until the sweat begins. Was that an experience that you had?
Danny: Yeah. Yeah, of course. Yeah, most definitely. Because what I did, I was riding to the swimming pool and that would cost me 40 minutes. That’s 10 kilometers. And then I swim and then I ride back. So when I did exercise, it was never below two hours, actively.
Clint: And I don’t think that sweating itself is the indicator…or it’s not the actual sweat droplets that are detoxing you, and maybe they are a little bit, but that’s not the point. The point is that your heart rate is at a point that it needs to be, and the sweating lets you know that you’re at the point that you need to be at. Now, if you’re in a swimming pool, I…whenever I’ve swam, I like crawl out of the swimming pool exhausted. I mean, it is a tough exercise. So, I think if you’re swimming, you know that you’re at the heart rate. Simple as that. You don’t need to look for sweat. You can’t, right? But you don’t need to think of that, you’re just already there. Okay, so we agree on that. What about with regards to stretching? Any kind of yoga stuff? Did you implicate…did you introduce any of that or did you just do fundamental stretching before and after your exercising?
Danny: To be honest, nothing. So what I did…I love yoga, but the swimming and the biking would get me more results for the time I put into it, and I don’t have a Bikram yoga near me. So…I did Bikram yoga once because I was so curious. So I took the train for one and a half hour, the train, I went to a Bikram studio and did it, and it would even get me more results than swimming. Wait…I mean, I think. Yeah, it was…
Clint: Close?
Danny: Yeah, close. So…all the symptoms were gone after Bikram. But sorry, what was the question again? Sorry. Stretching, right?
Clint: Yeah, we’ll get to the food in a minute. That’s because there’s so much to talk about with that. And exercise is pretty simple. I just wanted to cover some fundamental principles. You’ve got to exercise every day. You’ve got to exercise for more than 30 minutes a day in a cardiovascular manner. Like walking is not enough. Walking is essential, but walking is obviously something we got to do each day, but it doesn’t count as the exercise that’s gonna reverse pain.
Danny: I also walk every day, but it did not reverse pain. Right?
Clint: Yeah.
Danny: Walking is a natural thing to do for the human body, so we walk. And walking is also…your mind gets relaxed and all that, it reduces stress. So walking is perfect. Preferably in the forest. But walking is walking, that’s good. And I wanted to mention that about the stretching, I did not do a lot of stretching, but I did do after I went…after I got out of the swimming pool, there was a little sauna in the swimming pool, and I went into the sauna, I don’t know, for 10 minutes max, I think 10 minutes. It was really hot. It was like a steam bath or something, right? And when I do, I stretch my joints in the sauna. Because of the heat you can bend your…you can bend and stretch your joints more easily. So I did that. And I always hear, you know, like a pop or a knack [SP] when I do it, and for me it’s a good sign, you know? Something has gone…you know…
Clint: Which joints were popping when you did that? Knees?
Danny: My knee and my…the little joints in my feet, the metatarsals.
Clint: Metatarsals, yeah.
Danny: Metatarsals, yeah. This one would…I would just…you know, how to say?
Clint: Squeeze?
Danny: Yeah, squeeze them, put pressure on them, you know, and bend them like this, your foot like this. I would just do this like this.
Clint: I love it, I love that. Yeah, again, some new territory there. I’m glad we’re doing this. Okay. And how important was that hot massage or stretching work that you did after the swimming? Did you ever do a day where you didn’t do it, and did you feel that it was worse if you didn’t do it?
Danny: Good question. There are days when you go to the swimming pool when the sauna is open, and there are days when you go when the sauna is closed of course. So when the sauna is open, I go, of course, I would just go and…and when I do it, my joints are more loose. They’re more flexible. So for me, that’s also a good sign. When I…it’s okay, yeah.
Clint: So we…earlier on in the talk we’ve covered a lot of the mindset stuff and the determination and some attitude stuff, and I think there’s just…there are some basics with exercise. The guideline with exercise is all exercise is beneficial. There’s nothing worse than doing nothing. Doing nothing is going to make you worse. Your joints will get worse, you are going backwards. Simple as that. So you have to exercise enough just to stop the amount of otherwise deterioration that you would have experienced that day by doing nothing, and then you have to go way beyond that and actually reverse some pain and improve your joint quality by doing at least 30 minutes of cardio a day.
So we’ve covered mindset and some exercise, and the only…and if exercise causes your joints to be worse the next day, then you should change exercises and find one that works for you. Now, in the sort of consideration of time, let’s shift across to dietary stuff. You and I have agreed in the past, the more greens, the better. Leafy greens, can’t have enough greens, right? So we’re talking anything from simple lettuce to like bok choy to celery. Anything that’s green and leafy, pain reduction. Tick that box?
Danny: Yeah. Agree.
Clint: Now, let’s try…you spend a lot of time doing a lot more green smoothies than myself. Talk about your green smoothies strategies.
Danny: Well, all right. Well, the goal is to get much of the greens as possible in through your body each day. So when I make green smoothies, it’s no way possible I can eat this, you know? And months [SP] all day and then…yeah. So with green smoothies it’s very easy to get all the greens into the body. So that’s what I do. I just throw in bananas, throw in the greens, water, you know, I put maybe some other stuff in it, just the way you prefer it. You know, some polars [SP] or hamsy [SP] or maybe put an apple in it or blueberries, or…only the things you can tolerate, of course. And then just hit go and…I don’t know, sometimes I only eat green smoothies a day. I only eat green smoothies. I mean, not every day, of course, but…yeah.
You can also make…you can make sweet green smoothies, you can also make green smoothies that are more…how do you say in English? I don’t know. Not sweet. I don’t have a better word for it. Then I put stuff I can tolerate like buckwheat, and just put the greens in it, the buckwheat, the water, and of course miso paste. You know, because the miso paste…yeah, is also very healthy because of the enzymes and the bacteria and all that. So we get…you get greens, miso paste, and buckwheat, which is just…it’s perfect. I mean, you can…and you can…how to say? You can put herbs in if you can tolerate, you know…I mean, it doesn’t matter, you can do whatever you want with it. But these are the basics I put into it. And I love garlic and onion. I love it. Because these will kill all the bad stuff that’s in your tract. So that’s good.
Clint: Well, we agree on absolutely everything that you just mentioned there. So let me just comment on a couple of these things. One word that’s never come up in any of the episodes that I’ve ever created from guests or myself, is a word called quercetin, which is actually an antioxidant. The healing properties, and it helps to seal the tight junctions in the gut wall. And…so there’s a good study on this that shows its effectiveness.
Now, the number one highest source of quercetin is onions. Is onions. So of the only the few things that are actually scientifically studied to heal the gut wall, so some of it is zinc, some of it is quercetin, we also know L-glutamine is being tested. So there’s only a few, right? Zinc, L-glutamine, and quercetin. Buckwheat’s really high on it, and onion is the greatest source of it per gram. So you’re eating these things, and then the garlic of course is an antibacterial…
Danny: Every day, every day. I eat them every day.
Clint: Every day, right? So…you know, there’s no…the science supports your diet, right? It’s a classic, yeah. So you might not be having the L-glutamine, but buckwheat is a complete protein, so L-glutamine’s in the buckwheat. And although it might not be in huge quantities, you’re getting it each day, so…yeah. And you mentioned before one time you were taking zinc, is that right?
Danny: Yeah, I’ve taken zinc. I was because of my natural path. It was before I started the Paddison Program, when I was in such trouble, pain, I…they tested my stool and my blood, and I was very deficient in zinc. Right? So I did some supplementation for zinc, for, I don’t know, maybe two months. Like high amounts of zinc, and then I stopped taking it.
Clint: Okay. Interesting. All right. Well, we’ve cranked up near the 50-minute mark. So I think we’ve covered a fair bit, and time’s going really quick, at least for us. I hope for listeners as well that time’s gone fast. We’ve gone over a lot of the attitudes, things about self-worth, a lot of it comes down to having a self-worth and realizing that if you have the information that’s available and you listen to these podcasts, you’re getting it all for free or you could get, you know, 10 years of my knowledge and my experience all wrapped up into one package with the Paddison Program if you’d like to just have it all in an easy-to-follow, step-by-step guide.
And you talked about how the brain is an excuse generator, and we need to be conscious that our brain does that, and we need to think, “Look, we just have to take massive action and just make things happen.” We’ve covered a little bit about the exercise and we’ve just got to exercise each day a lot, even if it’s just walking, if we don’t have a lot of physical ability, just to at least counter the effect of what your body is doing to itself each day by having an autoimmune disease, so that you’re not just going backwards each day. But if you wanna reverse it, you really got to take it to a new level.
I talk about thinking like an athlete. You know, you’ve got to treat training like you would if you were being paid as an athlete, like be responsible and disciplined with your exercise routines. And then we talked about just some basic food truths. And the more greens, the better, has always been the common thread for you and I. I used to eat such great salads, but the size of my salads were laughable. I would take photographs of them just because, you know, you see something that’s extraordinary. You know the salad bowls that families get to put out on the dinner table, and then everyone uses their tongues to…right? I would eat those.
Danny: The whole?
Clint: The whole thing.
Danny: And is…you know, the more greens I eat, the better I can exercise. I mean, people always tell…ask me, “Danny, what about the proteins and what about the fats and…” Whatever, man. I just go, it works. I mean…yeah. I mean, can you do what I’m doing? You know? I mean, if my diet was deficient, I…you know, I could not do these things.
Clint: That’s right. So I think approximately 95% of all existing vitamins and minerals are in grains. So people are worried about you when you consume probably the highest intake of greens of any human being in the Netherlands, your intake of greens, of the greatest source of vitamins and minerals on earth is like so superior to anyone else, and they worried about you, you see? Because they’re comparing you to a western system or a western habitual system where people eat fairly crap and everyone feels crap, and like you said, even have trouble walking and stuff, and filling up hospital systems, overcrowding emergency rooms. I mean, it’s nuts, right? And you’re running, after being crippled 2 years ago, and running for 70 minutes non-stop. I mean…so we know who’s got things worked out and who hasn’t.
Danny: It’s results, mate.
Clint: Result, mate. Nothing beats results.
Danny: No. I mean, it’s obvious it has to start people thinking more. Because if you encounter this in life, then…you know, it’s a result, but you can also ignore it, right?
Clint: Mm-hmm.
Danny: I mean, if you’re not taking up this stuff and you just ignore it, and…yeah. Then the random excuse generator pops up again, right?
Clint: Exactly. So with these podcasts, and this one will be no exception, I put a little summary of these on Facebook and I promote the posts to try and share it to groups who all have rheumatoid arthritis or have an interest in that so they may have a family member. And every now and then I’ll put a post up, and the content is life-changing. I think, for instance, what we’ve discussed, if people listen to this, you know, we’re talking about a low fat, plant-based diet, tons of exercise, get your mindset right, keep at it like crazy, do Wim Hof method, and you can’t not improve. I would go so far to say that as…with the exception, as long as your medications aren’t sending you in the wrong direction, if you’re on Prednisone or if you’re on antibiotics or if you’re on non-steroidal drugs, then they do more damage than the worst diet you could ever eat. So it’s very hard under those circumstances. But putting those circumstances aside and you’re doing all the things we’ve discussed in this podcast, you’re going to improve and you’re gonna notice it quickly.
But where I’m going with this is, we can put…we will put this recording on Facebook and promote it to several thousand…you know, sometimes it reaches like 75,000-80,000 people. And you look at the comments underneath, and 60% of the comments will just be complaining about how bad their situation is, as if they haven’t even looked up 1 inch and clicked the link to learn what to do. It’s quite remarkable.
Danny: It’s amazing. Okay.
Clint: One inch…I mean, it’s the link above where they’re typing and complaining that they don’t know what to do and how bad their situation is. I just…yeah, it’s mind blowing.
Danny: It is. “Danny, do you have something to battle arthritis or arthrosis or whatever?” I’m like, “I have something. This wooden block, put your head on it, I’m going to take my baseball bat from my room, just be a little patient.” You know, just…they all want the magic pill, right? They want…they just want some pill and then it’s all right. But, you know, it’s hard work and that’s it.
Clint: That’s it.
Danny: And it’s hard work, that’s it, you’ve got to apply yourself 100%, no excuses. And you know what, it gets easier and easier and easier. Because in the long run, you’re gonna see results, you’re getting more fit, you…I mean, I’m buzzing with energy. Even sitting now, I’m sitting now and talking to you. I’d rather walk, you know, take a walk with you and then we talk. And I’m much more robust and fit than in my teens. I’m buzzing with energy. I decided to, you know, to study again at the university for example, just because I can do it now. I can think straight and clearly. So yeah, it’s amazing.
Clint: It’s awesome, man. And congratulations on that, too. I know that you’ve wanted to move into the certain line of work that you’ve told me about privately, and congratulations on all that, and you’re gonna be wonderful in that role.
So mate, thanks again for coming on this. I didn’t…I don’t wanna run it too much longer even though we could talk all day. I would love to go for a walk with you one day. And look at that, what have you got there? You’re showing something on the Skype video call here. You’ve got a filthy shoe.
Danny: Yeah. That’s how filthy they should be, right? If they’re clean, there’s something wrong.
Clint: That’s good. And so they’re the ones you were running in the other week?
Danny: Yeah.
Clint: Yeah, that’s brilliant, mate. That’s a nice way to end. So, congratulations again, and I’d love to…in a way we could give some talks together in the future. If I hold another event, I’d like you to give a presentation via Skype if it’s not in the Netherlands or if you’re not in the same location, wherever that may be. And I can…you know, for as long as you remain interested and motivated to help others, then there’s always going to be a fascinated audience in your message, because, you know, it’s an incredible transformation and you’ve just got some really wonderful insights to share. So we’ll have you back again, we’ll talk again in the future. But for now I’d just like to thank you for today.
Danny: Thank you. Thanks.