The best recovery protocol is not the hardest one. It is the one the body can integrate. In this conversation from Dr. Isaac Jones, the useful thread is not novelty for its own sake. It is the way small physiological signals become practical guidance for a more resilient life.
Transcript from Dr. Isaac Jones. Timestamps open the original YouTube video at the corresponding moment.
Hey there, Dr. Isaac Jones here, and I'm here with Lauren Berlingeri, and she is a incredible biohacker, CEO, mom, longevity expert, and I'm just really excited to be here with you. you for having me. Yeah. so good. So excited to connect with you today. I would love for you just to share a little bit about your background and how you got into this space in the first place. Yeah. Um because I mean, you know a lot about this space. We're going to get into that in this interview. Uh but I'd love to hear the backstory. Yeah, so my background, um I was an international model for 16 years. I can see that. Um I It's funny, I always say like I wish I knew what I know now then um because I was the typical model um trying to be thin and by uh you know, smoking cigarettes and you know, drinking diet Coke and never eating and crash dieting and all sorts of body dysmorphia and Mhm. and sort of just like spiraled out. I was very unhappy as a model. Um mind you, it brought me all around the world and I got to meet amazing people and and definitely discovered sauna culture around the world living in, you know, Europe and, you know, Norway and Germany and Turkey and, you know, sauna culture is so huge everywhere else. Um Except for America. [laughter] Well, that was That's where the green light went off later on in in my career. Japan, it's big. Yeah, Japan is more baths and spas. Yeah, the baths and spas, yeah. Heat therapy in general. But um so yeah, I really wanted to just empower myself
I really wanted to just empower myself on ways to take care of myself. So I studied nutrition um at IIN and really just discovered my passion for health and wellness and fitness. And I actually started working with young models at Wilhelmina first off to just teach them how to take care of themselves. And just really discovered like a true interest in biohacking. Mhm. But when I was um I think it was like maybe 13 years ago, I was interviewed for a show called Woman vs. Workout, where I was the host. Mhm. And I did all sorts of crazy, physically demanding things, from Navy SEAL training, NASCAR driving, motocross, firefighter training. And if anyone doesn't know what Navy SEAL training is, I mean, that's legit. 24-hour Hell Night with the Navy SEALs, and I was the only woman to complete that course. throw up? I didn't, but my nervous system was out of whack for about 6 weeks afterwards, where I was like shaking and cuz Navy SEALs, it's like being submerged in cold water, pushing your limits. Like, 24-hour Hell Night is 24 hours of just pure movement and torture. Um Wow. So, it set me up to be a good entrepreneur, anyways. Um but really, my, you know, at I think at the age of uh 30, my hormones were all all out of whack, my skin was a mess, I couldn't sleep through the night, I was working out way too hard, I was obsessed with working out, I would run 10 miles in the morning and then do Muay Thai at night, and Was that last year? No. She looks like she's 30 right now. I'm confused. Yeah, no, I'm I'm 40, but um so, yeah, no, it's like actually changed a lot. So, I I just learned the the hard way on
So, I I just learned the the hard way on actually how to take care of myself. So, when I first discovered the infrared sauna, it was like a light bulb went off. Not only have I done sauna all around the world and loved it and didn't know why I couldn't find a good one living in New York City, but for the first time in my life, I slept through the night. My skin was glowing. I felt calm and connected living in New York City, and I was just like, how the F is everyone in New York not doing the infrared sauna? Right. And then I looked into the research, and it was like just crazy efficacious benefits. And I just knew I needed to start my company around that. So, fundraised, got our first infrared sauna location up and running, and it just took off like wildfire, because it was exactly what everyone needed in New York. And it quickly moved to 11 locations. Um and yeah, I guess that's sort of the background of how I got into the biohacking world of better ways to take care of yourself and a focus on recovery. Wow, that's incredible. So, what would you like I you did we just got off a panel which was amazing. It was the best panel I've ever been on so yeah. Uh thank you. [laughter] it really was. It was so good. If you have it recorded everyone should watch it. Yes. We'll we'll make sure you guys get that panel. Um but one of the things I loved and you contributed you were such a a blessing to that conversation just because the information you shared was something that the longevity space, the biohacking space they don't talk about which is like women they they have a different way of of biohacking. They have a different way of of accessing longevity. So, maybe go through um what
longevity. So, maybe go through um what you see what women need to do a little different Yeah. and how that that can apply and then maybe talk about some of your higher dose technology as well and how you utilize it um for both men and women. Yeah. Um so, I always say that women are the original biohackers. We just never called ourselves that. Yeah. Um and you know, unfortunately in the biohacking world it is very male-dominated through the the male lens and and men have different goals than women have. And men are always talking about being faster, stronger, smarter, and living forever. Yeah. Whereas women actually want very different things. We want to feel more balanced in our hormones. We we want to like have glowing skin. We don't want to like age as quickly. Um we want to have more energy to take care of our kids. We want to have like a clear mind so that we can just like think properly cuz when you're balancing a thousand different things as a mom and an entrepreneur and all the things that women have going on just the benefits and the goals are very different for women that we're like looking into. And you know, on top of uh well one women have different endocrine systems than men. So, men have a 24-hour 24-hour cycle which is your day cycle and then women also have their 25-hour cycle with their 28-day cycle, which is their period. Wow. Which we all know, if you have ever had a girlfriend before or wife or, you know, uh we feel very different at different times of the week. And it's funny cuz like as a woman, you don't even really learn about your cycle Mhm. in school when you think you should. I
in school when you think you should. I actually learned about my period from my like male gym teacher, which is kind of crazy. Wow. So, you know, you kind of have to like go out of your way to learn about your hormonal cycles and that you should be doing different things at different times in your cycle. Different way of eating, different way of working out, like being careful with stress, being careful with like stimulant consumption. Wow. Um because ultimately you're trying to balance your hormones and not boost testosterone, which is what men are trying to do. They're trying to boost. Men do much better with like cortisol-inducing, you know, wellness biohacks. Mhm. Whereas women only do really well with them day 1 to 14. Day 14 to 28, it's when your progesterone tanks, and you really need to do more recovery, more restorative, Mhm. calming that nervous system down so you're not releasing cortisol cuz if you do that, then your period's going to be all out of whack and your adrenals, and it's just a mess. So, there's a lot of confusion on whether or not cold plunging, intermittent fasting, and hit workouts, and all the things in the biohacking world that you know, everyone says are so good for you or even keto diet, that is not always good for women at, you know, certain times in their cycle and just where they're at in their, you know, health. So, day 1 to 14, you do the cold plunge, you do the hit training, you do all right, maybe keto or something like that. And then day 14 to 28 or 15 to 28, you're What what does that look like? Maybe talk a little bit about what you do days 1 to 14 and then Yeah, I love fasting. So, day 1 to 14, I do intermittent fasting. And if I'm
do intermittent fasting. And if I'm going to do a prolonged fast, I'll do like a 3-day fast on day like 2 or three of my period. Yeah. So that's day day three of bleed actually and then um And and what do you find the prolonged fast does for you on day three of bleed? Well, it's just you know, when uh your estrogen levels are every your hormones are more balanced at that time and and women feel that way. It's like once you actually get your period, you feel much more calm. You don't have PMS symptoms. You don't have the food cravings. It's like your body feels much more in balance. Mhm. And that's the time to like you know, do more cortisol releasing style of like health workouts and you can drink the coffee and and you can have like you know, a little bit of alcohol and your body responds quite well to it. But on day 14 to 28, that's when your progesterone starts to tank. You're feeling like you're craving more carbohydrates. You feel like you want to retreat a little bit more. You don't want to be super social. Like I actually don't do any speaking engagements on day 14 to 28 because I'm like Now we know where you are in your cycle. [laughter] Yeah, I'm feeling great. I'm glowing, you know, like day 14 to 28 like don't even talk to me. Um and that's been a privilege as a CEO that I can you know, honor that and I I work with mainly women too as well. So I also like encourage them to like let us know when they're not feeling good and you want to take some time and you know, don't want to like show your face on Zoom. It's like I'll look okay. Well, why don't you tell us a little bit about HigherDose and then we'll we'll conclude.
we'll we'll conclude. Yeah, so um like I said, we started out with infrared spa locations in New York. We had 11 locations. It just took off. We made the infrared sauna famous. Um we were known for this sexy sauna selfie that people would take naked in the sauna with the lights in New York City and we were this like underground cool spa where you'd have to like go through like a hotel or like a department store in order to like find this like cool niche HigherDose infrared spa. Um and we built this amazing community and and you know, people always were asking us to do pop-ups and we couldn't lug around like a 600-lb sauna. So, we were like looking for these like sauna blankets that we could take with us and Shape House had this like really rudimentary like bad version of the sauna blanket, super high EMF, bad materials. So, we created our own sauna blanket with Clearlight, the number one infrared sauna company that makes our saunas. That's great. And we made low EMF, low ELF, we put magnetic therapy in there, we put different layers of amethyst and tourmaline. When you heat those stones, they promote a deeper infrared, clean materials that pass VOC standards. We made this like awesome sauna blanket that's comparable to or comparable to the infrared sauna for a fraction of the price and made it accessible. And longevity. I'm we're trying to make it accessible to people, you know? it's important, right? People Because it's just like it's it's like Dave said, it's nice if you have like 3 hours in the morning to do all the things, but it's just not the reality when you're running a business, you know? You have family and or whatever it
know? You have family and or whatever it might be or you don't have access to nature, we need the tools to make it easy for us. When clients were working with me, it'd be a six-figure investment. And I also remember growing up as a kid in Canada, my parents weren't very wealthy. And I was scholarshiped into a health program that transformed my life. And so, I always have been working with the higher net worth people and I'll continue to do that, but I'm always thinking about the little Isaac that was taken care of by, you know, the the doctor that wanted to, you know, help me. And so, I want to democratize this even third-world nations if we can in the future. So, I love that you've done that. Um, Lauren, thank you for being with us today. There's so much more I could talk to you for hours, but to do another talk later, [laughter] so. Thank you so much. Yes, we really appreciate it. Thank you.
Transcript auto-generated by YouTube. Verbatim — duplicates intentionally preserved.
The modern wellness world often turns mechanisms into promises. A calmer approach asks better questions. What is the body being asked to adapt to? What dose can it recover from? What practice still feels intelligent tomorrow?
"Heat therapy can support sleep, skin, relaxation, and recovery when the dose fits the body."
Sauna (as explored in this deep dive) works through heat stress: circulation rises, sweating increases, and the nervous system shifts as the body works to maintain equilibrium. For many people, that creates the unmistakable feeling of softening after a loaded day.
The most effective heat ritual is matched to the person using it. Cycle timing, sleep debt, training load, hydration, and stress all change the dose the body can use well. Recovery improves when the protocol listens.
Use the idea as a ritual, not a performance. Start with the least dose that changes your state. Notice breath, sleep, appetite, training quality, and mood. Those signals tell you whether the protocol is building capacity or simply adding load.
Heat therapy can support sleep, skin, relaxation, and recovery when the dose fits the body.
Women’s protocols benefit from respecting daily and monthly hormonal rhythms.
Accessible tools matter when longevity practices are meant to become consistent rituals.
Choose one practice you can repeat consistently for the next two weeks.
Track the felt outcome: sleep, focus, calm, recovery, or energy.
Increase intensity only when the current dose leaves you steadier.
