Ridiculous Morning Routines, Health Technology Obsessions, and How the World Started Trusting Influencers for Health Advice Instead of Doctors, with Matt Frazier and Matt Tullman
Jan 19, 2024
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Matt Frazier and Matt Tullman discuss the rise of health influencers and the shift from doctors to online advice. They touch on ridiculous morning routines, health technology obsessions, and the challenge of navigating and evaluating health advice in today's noisy world.
Health advice online has become drastically different from what doctors used to give, and the internet has allowed anyone to become a health guru regardless of expertise or the effectiveness of their advice.
The focus on health span and lifespan needs to be balanced with the concept of 'Happy Span', emphasizing the importance of enjoying life and experiencing happiness along with maintaining good health.
Deep dives
Introduction and Overview
In this inaugural episode of the Outlier Health podcast, hosts Matt Frazier and Matt Tolman announce the launch of their new show and discuss the motivation behind it. They highlight their upcoming book project and how the podcast will serve as a platform to chronicle the process, ideas, and discussions related to the book's topic. The hosts express the value of sharing their conversations about health and nutrition and invite listeners to participate and provide feedback on the content.
Critique of the Health Advice Landscape
Frazier and Tolman delve into the current landscape of health advice and the challenges of separating legitimate information from self-serving marketing. They analyze how the internet has allowed anyone to become a health guru, regardless of actual expertise or the effectiveness of their advice. They highlight the danger of misinformation and misleading claims, using examples such as the Liver King and the predatory tactics employed. The hosts emphasize the importance of critical thinking and discernment when evaluating health advice.
The Fallacy of Naturalistic Thinking in Diets
The hosts explore the naturalistic fallacy, which assumes that what is natural is always healthy. They discuss how some popular diets, like the carnivore diet and paleo diet, play into this fallacy by appealing to the idea of mimicking ancestral eating patterns. Frazier and Tolman caution against blindly adhering to such diets without considering the broader scientific evidence and long-term consequences. They highlight the importance of comprehensive research and analysis in evaluating dietary advice.
Introducing the Concept of 'Happy Span'
Frazier and Tolman introduce the concept of 'Happy Span' as an extension of the focus on health span and lifespan. They note the importance of not only having healthy years but also enjoying life and experiencing happiness. They discuss the overwhelming nature of health advice and the need to evaluate the true impact of various recommendations on overall well-being. The hosts touch on topics like sleep trackers, alcohol consumption, and the quest for a balanced approach that encompasses both health and happiness.
We’ve kept it quiet so far, but it’s time to spill the beans: Complement co-founders Matt Frazier and Matt Tullman are working on a book together, and we’re starting a podcast to share the process and the ideas in the book. In this “soft launch” episode, we look at how the health advice influencers give online is so drastically different from the advice doctors used to give us, and how it got to be that way. We talk about some crazy morning routines and the “optimization” mindset towards health that, even if it works, makes it very hard to be happy at the same time.
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