Limitless (2022) s01e03 Episode Script

1
Three, two, one. Action!
Since I was playing Thor
I've definitely ate
a lot more food than I used to.
Each meal is about 1000 calories.
Ice cream.
Big juicy steaks.
Goes straight in there.
Burgers, pad Thai, pasta, ribs.
Sausage rolls, pizza, cake, donuts,
hot dogs.
When it comes to food,
I'm like a starving hound.
Only less picky.
I mean, I do know that what I put
into my body is important,
but what I didn't know
is that the best thing I can eat
if I wanna live a long and healthy life
is nothing.
Absolutely nothing.
Well, at least that's what
this guy says.
Longevity expert, Dr. Peter Attia.
Thank you very much.
- We'll make this our last supper.
- Our last supper.
For the next step in my quest
to live longer and better,
he wants me to go on a fast.
It's basically water
and zero calories for four days.
Thank you very much.
Thank you.
Right.
Yeah, good thing I got to kick it off
with a hearty last supper.
Six shreds of lettuce and a carrot.
- Hmm.
- Look, I'm gonna do it with you.
- You are?
- And Yeah.
It makes it a lot easier to go through
this with somebody else.
- So
- Okay, good.
- Good, we'll suffer together.
- Yeah.
We will.
I've definitely gone a day
without food before.
I think I get pretty cranky when
I've missed a meal.
Certainly, detrimental to my happiness.
So, it's a pretty long time,
why four days? Why not
Why not longer?
I mean, what is the benefit
with four days? Why that number?
Three to four days is probably
that window at which we do enough
to change how your body is interacting
with the absence of nutrients
to basically do kind of a reboot
- on your system.
- Oh, really?
You think I'm gonna be able
to hold it together?
You reckon, in your experience,
you see a lot of people,
the first time they do it, succeed?
In the next four days, there is no doubt
in my mind,
there will be a period of time
in which you feel sluggish or
- Tears?
- Yeah.
- Emotional.
- Kinda grumpy, grouchy, whatever.
But, you know, if you really stop to think
about it,
this idea that we kind of live today
where we're sort of surrounded
by unlimited access to food
and we can eat three meals
and snack in between them,
that's a relatively recent addition
to our species.
- Right.
- And our ancestors would've gone days
without food all the time,
and not only did they have to do that,
they had the ability to,
in a period of starvation,
actually go out and hunt.
Right. I'm done. I have nothing left,
except for one tiny little carrot.
You gonna finish that last piece left
of lettuce?
Though, what about dessert?
We get dessert or not?
No.
Starting to think, this could be
the most difficult four days of my life.
In truth, I think Chris will find
this hard.
But I've been practicing periodic fasting
for many years, and in doing so,
I've realized that the key
is staying busy.
So I've thought
of an entirely appropriate challenge
to help distract Chris from his hunger.
I want him to do what his ancestors did.
I want him to hunt for his next meal.
But not on land. Instead, in the ocean.
So, the plan is, that after four days
without food
we're gonna head
for the Great Barrier Reef.
I'm gonna be armed with a lungful
of air
and a speargun
I'm gonna try and dive 30 feet
to the ocean floor
in search of a fish.
So, there's no pressure at all.
Thanks a lot, Pete.
This is day one of the fast.
I had a good sleep,
I had probably seven seven hours.
I did dream about fasting,
which was weird
'cause I wasn't in a fasted state.
Fed the kids bacon and eggs this morning,
that was a little tempting,
but it's early days
and I don't feel a huge threat
at this point of breaking
my four-day fast.
I'm gonna get rid of the dog though,
just in case he does
eat it.
The dog will start to look like
a roast chicken or something, right?
Yeah, yeah. No, we wouldn't eat her,
unless we really had to.
At first, Chris will feel fine.
He'll be working off the energy
from his last meal. But once that's gone,
he's gonna start to feel a lot worse.
But I'm gonna want him to stick with this,
because, of all the things that we can do
to impact Chris's longevity,
periodic fasting may be one
of the more effective.
My food contains glucose.
The fuel that feeds the trillions
of healthy cells in my body.
But that glucose also feeds
something else
zombie cells.
Old, damaged cells that have lingered
beyond their useful life.
By spewing toxic sludge, these zombies
infect other healthy cells,
speeding up the aging process.
Everything from hair loss and wrinkles
to the onset of arthritis, cancer,
and dementia.
But what scientists have realized
is that when we fast and cut off
the supply of glucose,
that zombie army is starved of energy
which saps them of their power.
It's long-term gain
for short-term pain.
For a food lover like me, lots of pain.
Yeah, I'm hungry.
We are not gonna make it.
And by "we," I mean me
and my best mates.
If anybody can help me get through this,
they can, so I'm very, very pleased
and thankful that they've agreed
to fast with me.
We're buddies from high school
- Yeah.
- primary school to Chris.
- I'm Aaron. This is Luke.
- Yep.
And now we work for Chris.
- So we're paid friends, really.
- Yes. With benefits.
- With benefits, and, yeah
- We're a little family.
We're a little family.
Having a bit of moral support
could be good.
Are you doing it all the way?
Aaron, you're doing four days.
- Yeah.
- Yeah.
- No.
- No, you're gonna try.
Yeah, I'll try.
- He loves his food.
- The angriest he's ever got at me
was because I bought him too small
a steak once, in London.
He almost punched me out
'cause it was like that, and he was like,
"Look at the size of me.
Why would you buy me that steak?"
I mean, he's not gonna do four days.
I'm cracking.
We're days away from eating, not, like,
hours.
It's not like we can go home
and smash a big bowl of spaghetti.
Forget pasta, our next meal,
with a bit of luck, is a big, juicy fish.
But if I'm gonna be
the designated fish catcher
I'll need some serious dive training.
So, Peter has hooked me up with someone
with a remarkable set of skills.
I'll give you a brief demo.
I'm gonna start with a really big exhale.
Wow.
- Huge expansion there.
- Okay.
That was incredible.
Tanya Streeter
is a breath-holding phenomenon.
She's a ten-time
free diving world champion
and can hold her breath
for an amazing six minutes.
What we do as average human beings,
is we breathe in the top part
of our chest, but you're not getting a lot
of oxygen into your blood like that.
There's a greater capacity
in the lower part of your lungs,
and you can't access that
unless you relax your abs.
You basically learn to stick
your stomach out as you breathe in.
- All right, how're you feeling?
- Ready to set some records.
Let's do it.
So, is that the goal,
the orange thing there?
Sure, there and back, man.
And what's that, about 50 meters?
- No, that's about 100 meters.
- Oh, is it?
Be rather claustrophobic under there.
Yeah. We've linked up a guideline,
'cause it's pretty dark,
but it gives me an opportunity to see
what you're made of,
- mentally as well as physically.
- Okay, we'll see.
All right, whenever you're ready,
Chris.
It was really poor visibility
and instantly, my lungs are burning.
I hear in my head
that I should give up
and I'm running out of air.
And I'm trying to override that
'cause I know
that there is a lot more oxygen
in my lungs than you'd think.
And surely, I must be there by now.
- Almost halfway.
- I don't think so.
- Not even close. Twenty meters.
- How many meters was that?
I don't think you quite made it 20.
Yeah, I'm a little disappointed.
Turns out, I was under
for a whopping 27 seconds.
I'm actually quite surprised
how ineffective and useless
my free diving skills are.
I know I can hold my breath on land
for a few minutes, but, in the water,
when you're kicking and using up air
and energy,
it's it's just a whole different story.
Diving for my dinner is gonna be harder
than I thought.
Speaking of food
I don't even like broccoli.
And even though I've got homework to do
without mealtimes to punctuate the day,
time just seems to drag on.
It's, uh, almost dinnertime,
and this is the worst I've felt.
Feel pretty light-headed
super weak and incredibly hungry.
I feel tired. I didn't sleep very well.
I woke up a lot feeling really hungry
and then, um
I You know, feel empty, empty of food.
Almost as if I'm empty of, like, energy.
Feel very flat.
Now, cooking this. I feel hungry.
Why can't you eat?
'Cause I'm not supposed to eat.
For how long, Dad?
Four days, bro.
Why?
I'm not even remotely tempted
by this delicious, crispy bacon and eggs.
The second day of a water-only fast
is an especially difficult day.
And the reason for this is that
the body's primary reserves of glucose,
which are kept in the liver
and in the muscles,
are starting to get rapidly depleted.
And as a result of this,
Chris is feeling really tired and groggy.
But it's important for him to understand
that this is okay,
because there are some people
who routinely do this
and not only do they not starve,
but they actually manage to thrive.
Hey
You missed
Listen son,
if you can't hit the target,
the village won't eat.
Try again.
I'll try my best Dad
Yeah, well done.
Isafiri is a member
of the Hadza tribe.
He's a hunter.
We are hungry,
and we have run out of food.
Yeah, okay.
I will hunt tomorrow.
I will catch something big.
Being hungry
is part of life here.
Sometimes we don't eat for days.
But we are not afraid.
because I know we won't starve.
Look, we should hunt there
Come around from the side.
Being hungry
makes me a better hunter.
Even after days
without food, people like the Hadza
are still able to find the energy
to hunt
Look, dik-dik antelop
e has taken a poop.
because
when a person fasts,
when you stop eating
I think he is close by.
it reveals
the body's superpower.
When food is plentiful,
our body stores excess energy
in the form of fat under the skin
and around the internal organs.
When food is scarce
that fat is sent to the liver
where it's turned into an alternative
fuel source called a ketone.
And it's these ketones which provide
the emergency power source.
Not only for our bodies,
but also our brains.
Along with an energy boost,
it seems ketones also sharpen
mental focus.
Heightening the ability to see, hear
and sense things in the environment
that we normally wouldn't be able
to perceive.
And ketone production ramps up
just when a hunter needs it most.
The dik-dik is in there
When you're getting closer,
your mind becomes alert to the wild.
The animal is your only goal.
Yes. it's a dik-dik.
We got it, we got it!
Everyone is happy.
when I bring home meat.
Our children
and our wives are happy.
Everyone is happy.
Ketones help
the Hadza hunt when food is scarce.
And I'm pretty sure I'm gonna need
some ketones of my own
if I'm gonna catch a fish
in two days' time.
Little prick here.
Didn't hurt that much.
So, I'm checking ketones
on two different meters.
Mmm.
They're in pretty good agreement
at about one,
and over time, this will go up.
- There's more of them in my system now?
- Yeah.
Or I'm producing more?
Exactly. Actually,
around ten times more.
- And that's pretty low.
- Right.
But hopefully today, tomorrow
is when we'll start to see that transition
- where once you get over
- Yeah.
two and into three,
that's when you start
to kinda feel, like you're in the Matrix
a little bit. You kinda seeing things
- a little bit different.
- Yeah.
And what about the zombie cells?
Do you think my body's getting rid of them
at the moment?
You're in the process of starting that,
yeah.
- I I think that comes in hand
- Good to know.
with this transition to, uh, ketones,
and so, as the body starts
sort of adapting to what's going on
- Hmm.
- it's gonna start to reprioritize
and hopefully, it's knocking
those guys out.
Good.
So, the war on zombies has begun
but no ketone boost yet.
Which is a little worrying 'cause I'm off
for more dive training.
Can't say I'm swimming in energy.
I'm My ability to speak is
rapidly declining.
How do you guys feel?
Yeah, it's kinda peaks and troughs,
isn't it?
- It is a definite a roller coaster.
- It's like It's a real
It's a roller coaster of emotions. Uh-huh.
At the moment, I'm up, but there will be
- a time tonight when I'm down.
- Hmm.
So, another Peter
and Tanya training gig.
This time, underwater hockey.
They say it's gonna help me
catch a fish.
- Hey, guys.
- Hey, how's it going?
They also think, maybe it'll help
keep my mind off the fast.
Well, it ain't working.
What else would you wanna do
when you're fasting, tired, and starving?
Learn a new sport.
And nothing against underwater hockey,
it's cool, but right now,
I just wanna eat.
Now, it's rough down there,
but it's actually really good
for spearfishing. There's
this sudden burst of energy, there's
- Yeah.
- You know, you don't know
when you're gonna have to dive,
so you have to be super, super efficient.
- Oh, okay.
- Okay?
Yeah.
Peter's playing for the reds.
Me for the blues. Number seven.
And my co-fasting best buddies,
cheerleaders.
I feel like I'm watching my son go off
to battle or something. I'm nervous.
- I'm real anxious.
- I'm just worried about
I'm worried about that
because without that
- We don't have a job.
- we don't have a job, so
- We can't really
- Look after his face, please.
Don't touch his face, please.
Things don't start so well.
Ooh! Oh, oh, oh, oh.
He's taking a beating.
Now, holding your breath is one thing
but doing it while being pushed
and shoved, and thrown around, and so on,
it's just a whole other thing.
It's pretty intense.
My need for air is overpowering.
If that puck was a fish,
I wouldn't get anywhere near it.
Oh!
Well done, Peter.
Good goal.
Half time, and it couldn't have
come quick enough.
- How are you doing?
- It's exhausting.
- I know.
- Just trying to work out,
you know, when to conserve your energy,
and when to dive, and make sure
you dive when the puck's coming
as opposed to waiting under there
- and then by the time it gets there
- Yeah. Yeah. No, no!
- you've got nothing left. It's like
- Yeah. No waiting.
But you got all the oxygen you need,
- so it's mental. Your stamina becomes
- Yeah.
really mental at this point.
Sure. Yeah.
Okay? So, just try to
take some long, slow, deep breaths. So
Through your mouth.
- Do you feel better?
- I feel good.
Okay, good.
Okay.
I don't know
if it's the half time coaching
or something else
but I feel a little different.
My need for air is less urgent.
I feel more efficient in the water.
More aware of the other players around me.
And I'm focused on the puck.
And I feel a slight surge of energy.
Just enough
to score.
- How do you feel?
- I feel all right now.
- Yeah.
- I feel much better than I did
- prior to playing.
- Me, too.
Yeah. Why is that?
I think we're probably making more ketones
at the moment,
our bodies are trying
to ramp up production.
- It's basically saying
- It thinks thinks we're hunting..
- Exactly, it's like
- Yeah.
"Hey, they're they're hunting.
They're getting us food." Um
I wouldn't be surprised if in an hour
or two,
- we feel a little worse.
- Yeah.
'Cause it'll realize,
"We haven't got the food."
"We've been kinda let down,"
and and then, sort of,
that production level
will come down a bit.
That doesn't help though, does it?
Oh, for heaven's sakes.
Just as I was beginning to feel
a bit better
- Oh.
- They're doing it on purpose.
A familiar feeling returns.
See, now I'm hungry again.
Still, at least my best mates
are fasting with me.
And they never let me down.
- Hey, Chris!
- Hey!
What the
Sorry, mate, we couldn't do it.
This is so good.
Are you
Come and have a slice, mate.
Two minutes ago, I was like,
"It really helps the guys
"are doing it with me, you know,
'cause I'm like
"I'm like feeling sluggish."
I'm like, "Oh, I feel bad."
But then I'm like, "Oh, actually,
they're laughing"
"and I gotta keep it up."
You know, "We're all in this tog
together." That was three minutes ago.
And I'd love to tell you
it's not that good,
- but it's honestly the best thing ever.
- Mm-hmm.
- What, I thought you were fasting?
- That's what I said.
Both of them were fasting. I said to them,
like, I like, I like, I
Just have a smell of that.
- Cool.
- I gotta say, I really thought
you were gonna hang tough.
I was gonna, but then this is
the best milkshake I've ever had.
- Good luck finding
- Oh, my God.
I can smell the pizza. I'll just go away.
I can smell it.
Great, my best buddies have bailed,
and just as Peter predicted,
the ketone pick-me-up has gone,
and I feel terrible.
Okay, so this is, uh, day three.
Feeling pretty weak.
Didn't sleep very much last night.
I feel like my sleep's getting worse
and worse.
You know, last night was really hard,
giving the kids dinner.
They had, um, delicious, like, roast lamb,
and vegetables, and and fruit, and
and I saw a chocolate brownie
in there somewhere.
Multiple occasions, I I I
I thought about just ripping that food
straight out of their hands.
Feel pretty weak trying to walk up
the stairs, trying to walk down the hall,
I feel like it's tough to catch my breath.
Uh, but, you know, day three, and, um
I guess we're almost there. It's only
12, 48, I don't know, I can't even think.
Like, I Don't know.
I'm losing it.
I'm trying to get my ketones going again
by working out, but I'm feeling nothing.
Oh, and did I mention that I'm feeling
really, really hungry? Hmm?
I don't think Chris has found this
to be a pleasant experience at all.
But a big part of fasting
is understanding
why you're doing it.
And that's the key to tolerating
this thing.
It's being able to focus on the motivation
behind the fast.
One of the benefits is,
you have a family.
- Yeah.
- And you can sort of see
how much you enjoy that,
and that's kind of the anchor,
- I think, um
- Yeah.
You can actually look into the eyes
of the people for whom it matters
the most to you.
Yeah, sure. I like that motivation,
you know?
Anything that stops me thinking about food
is sort of a a good thing
at this point, so
Asking Chris for his very first fast to go
as long as four days is a big ask.
But I really need him to continue now.
Because once a human goes three days
without food,
we think some remarkable
biochemical changes take place
that have significant longevity benefits.
Remember those toxic zombie cells
aging my body?
Well, they're not the only things
getting dealt with.
Even inside my healthy cells,
there's wear and tear.
But scientists think that without food
to process,
those cells can switch into repair mode,
fixing damage, cleaning up garbage,
nipping any problems in the bud.
With the zombies in check
and the rest of me in tip-top condition
the future looks healthier
and also longer.
Science is only just beginning
to understand
the longevity benefits of fasting.
In fact, we're just catching up
with the cultures and religions
that have placed fasting at the center
of their practice for millennia.
Today is a beautiful day.
Retired teacher
Todesso and his family
are celebrating Easter
with a walk to church.
Papa, are we nearly there yet?
No, not yet.
But the church
is three days away
in the holy city of Gondar.
Are you tired?
Yes I'm tired.
Don't be tired, be strong.
During their grueling pilgrimage,
the family eat absolutely nothing.
Fasting is very important to us,
it is a tradition handed down
by our ancestors.
We fast to be closer to God.
Come on you two.
I'll be so happy when we get there.
I got you.
And joining her parents
for the first time is daughter Helen.
The first day was the hardest.
I felt so weak.
My brain was telling me,
"You can do this."
But my stomach was saying,
"Bring me food!"
But fasting
isn't just bringing them closer to God
they believe it's bringing them
health benefits.
Although my father
is 75 years old, he is very strong.
I have never seen him sick.
He swears fasting is why.
I started fasting
when I was seven.
And I've been doing it for 68 years.
It keeps me feeling healthy.
I have never been affected
by a common cold,
or any other disease.
Look, Gondar
is just over the mountain.
HELEN I can see it
Come on.
I can smell incense.
Easter isn't
the only time
Ethiopian Orthodox Christians fast.
In fact, they observe up
to 250 fasting days a year,
during which they vary their practice,
sometimes eating nothing,
and others, restricting how much
or when they eat.
All these smells
So much food.
Gondar is an amazing place.
There are
many ways to go about fasting.
There are countless protocols.
But remember, they all have one thing
in common.
They reduce the number of calories
we consume.
And in a world where so many of us
are over-nourished,
this is an essential part of how we can go
about living a longer,
healthier life.
I am very proud of myself
for doing the fast.
I will do it every year.
I will only stop fasting
on the day I die.
Two hundred and fifty
fasting days a year.
Makes me think, "Surely, I can go
another 24 hours
"can't I?"
Struggling, struggling
I'm struggling
I'm on the ferry to our dive base
in the Great Barrier Reef
and I could really do
with a ketone pick-me-up.
I had a little, like
like an hour ago, a little burst
of energy.
I thought, "Oh, this is good." Now
So, this is it.
The last day of the fast, and the day
I'm supposed to catch dinner
for me and Peter. What could possibly
go wrong?
So, how are you feeling
this morning?
Uh, pretty weak.
Pretty Pretty low energy.
I feel like I've just rolled out of bed.
You know, even though you don't feel it,
at the microscopic level,
inside your body, there's a war going on.
And that war is being won
by the good guys.
Hmm.
And that's the real reason
we're doing this.
- Yeah.
- All right, let's see what we got here.
So, I could live longer,
but right now,
I'm not sure I'm gonna make it
through the day.
So, remind me, where
were my ketone levels yesterday?
So, yesterday,
you were at about one.
- Now, you're almost at two.
- Yeah.
- When the ketones get closer to three
- Yeah.
is really
when that switch is flipped.
- But once you get in the water
- Mmm.
I think it's gonna shoot up.
I don't wanna put any pressure on you,
but I'm hungry, man.
And seeing as I can't catch a fish
with a spear and you can
I kinda need you to come through on this.
The stakes are high
- Yeah.
- for the both of us.
- All I heard was "steaks." Edible kind.
- Yeah.
The stakes are high,
and not just for today.
By fasting, Peter says I'm fighting
those zombie cells
and repairing healthy ones.
And that could mean a longer,
healthier life.
But first, I've gotta go hunt down
that fish.
- Welcome aboard.
- Thank you so much.
If only I can find the energy.
I'd love some ketones right now.
Chris's ketone levels have risen,
which is what we wanna see.
I know he isn't feeling it yet,
but just as in the underwater hockey,
the effort of hunting is going to ramp up
these evolutionary adaptations
in his body, giving him the edge he needs.
- Ooh.
- Stretch your legs.
- I know.
- Just made me really light-headed.
I'm feeling really vague
and kinda absent from everything.
I was expecting this big flood of energy
that he keeps talking about.
It's not kicking in though.
Don't overdo it.
Blackout, or what we refer to
as a loss of motor control, is
is very real.
Yeah. So what are the symptoms
that I'll feel if I need to wave the flag
of retreat?
Um There's a fine line
between feeling completely empty and done,
and really feeling almost like your head
is shaking
- and your hands are shaking a little bit.
- Hmm.
I mean, if it's a blackout,
you're not gonna feel anything at all
and you're not gonna remember anything
at all.
So if I take one look at you
and your face tells me that you're done,
doesn't matter how driven you are,
you're done and we're gonna get out.
Sure.
Let me know how you're feeling
and just don't push it too hard.
- I'm hungry.
- I know.
I'm exhausted already.
All right, it's go time.
Right, I'm in.
I know I have enough oxygen
in my body
but I look up and the boat seems
so, so far away.
I feel like I'm losing all focus
and suddenly the urge to breathe
is overwhelming.
How do you feel?
Yeah, I just went down there
and then went,
"Oh, I need to breathe soon,"
and then I felt really weak,
and I thought,
- "There's no way I can do this, ever."
- Yeah.
I'm feeling so tired. And the energy boost
that Peter promised me
nothing.
So after a brief moment, I go again.
But this time,
I start to feel a little different.
As I'm going down,
it's like I'm tuning into the ocean.
I can hear every sound.
Time seems to slow down.
And I start to feel a surge of energy.
And then, I see a fish.
- Nice work. You did it.
- Got one. Peter
your dinner.
Hey, nice one.
Awesome job, man.
He looked great.
You looked great.
Whoo!
We did another test after the hunt,
and the surge of energy,
turns out my ketones had shot up
to nearly three.
So it worked. The science came good.
Not a bad catch, huh?
It's an amazing catch, man.
It smells good, looks good.
But, you know, I'd have been happy
eating vegetables right now
- if that's all we had.
- I know.
Boom!
There's all this anticipation and buildup,
it almost felt guilty
or like I was doing something wrong
if I was gonna take that first bite.
This will be the nicest "break-fast"
I've ever had, I think.
- So who eats first?
- The man who caught the fish.
We didn't dive into it like we'd expected.
It's unreal.
Ceremonial and
and important and special.
Mmm.
Don't know whether to laugh or cry.
That was the best meal I've ever had,
I think.
Sometimes when I'm eating
that first meal after a fast,
I have this tiny, tiny piece of regret.
And I think,
"Should I have gone another day?"
Do you feel any of that?
- Not a teeny, tiny piece.
- Not that much of it?
- Nothing. No.
- No.
Absolutely not.
No, right now, mate, I'm in the middle
of heaven.
- Oh! It's amazing.
- Mmm.
Mmm.
Well, I'd like to make a toast
to the ocean, for feeding us this fish
and you, for making me suffer
through four days of fasting
to really, really appreciate it.
I'll make a toast to your 90-year-old self
and those great-grandchildren
- you're gonna be playing with.
- Cheers.
So, that's it, four days, no food.
Didn't crack. Would I do it again?
Uh
Can't believe I'm saying this, but yes.
From now on, I do want fasting
to be a part of my life.
Oh, oh. Look at us going at it.
Yeah!
That's not to say I'm never gonna go out
with a bunch of friends.
It's so hot.
Basically eat everything on the menu,
like a starving hound.
It's so hot!
I'll definitely do that.
I'm just looking at it. I'm just looking.
I'm not eating anything.