My guest this week is Peter Attia, M.D., whose mission is to understand and improve human lifespan and healthspan (or quality of life). Reading Peter’s research, you find that there are many similarities between health and investing—ideas like compounding—which we explore in detail.

We spend a lot of time on mind, body, spirit and performance as it relates to living a better life. Of particular interest is the strategic problem that we face when studying longevity. As Peter puts it in our conversation: we are the species of interest, but we can’t conduct the kinds of experiments on humans—randomized trials, with control groups—that we apply to solve other big problems. So we have to back our way into a better understanding of longevity and quality of life.

To that end, we discuss what we can learn from studying centenarians, the problem of progress in science, a drug called Rapamycin (which Peter believes could be revolutionary), eating, the importance of muscle mass, and the idea of distressed tolerance. We emerge with a framework for thinking about health and well-being which can hopefully help us all live longer, better lives. Please enjoy!

For comprehensive show notes on this episode go to http://investorfieldguide.com/attia

For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast.

Sign up for the book club, where you’ll get a full investor curriculum and then 3-4 suggestions every month at InvestorFieldGuide.com/bookclub

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Posts From Peter Attia That You Should Read

Do Calories Matter

How You Move Defines How You Live

2016 Update

Long List of Questions Answered: Part 1 and Part 2

Links Referenced

The Scientific Method-Richard Feynman

Knowing Versus Understanding-Feynman again

Books Referenced

Barbarians at the Gate: The Fall of RJR Nabisco

Diffusion of Innovations

Good Calories, Bad Calories

Show Notes

2:31 – (first question) – Getting Peter to define the concept of wealth and how it might have changed in his life

5:01 – How do you increase the number of really good people in your life.

6:50 – Looking at the relationship between healthspan and lifespan and a chart that Peter created on this specific topic.

11:11 – Drilling down into the different dimensions and aspects of this chart that could be most important for people, especially how compounding plays into our health.

16:57 – The difference between strategies and tactics that will help you extend lifespan

17:54 – The Scientific Method-Richard Feynman

21:41 – Different types of intermittent fasting

28:59 – What role does repair play in health

34:17 – Barbarians at the Gate: The Fall of RJR Nabisco

36:01 – Looking back, what health trends today will look absurd

36:19 – Diffusion of Innovations

39:24 – What are the primary benefits of weight lifting

40:21 – The importance of glucose disposal

45:07 – Good Calories, Bad Calories

46:31 – What is the state of progress in the scientific community

52:14 – Peter is asked about how he guards against getting too attached to old beliefs

1:01:51 – A look at how performance relates to healthspan

1:03:34 –Peter’s first great auto-racing experience

1:09:17 – Looking into Peter’s medical practice and understanding his thinking that goes into helping people

1:18:11 – The most memorable day in Peter’s career

1:22:31 – The kindest thing anyone has done for Peter

Learn More

For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast.

Sign up for the book club, where you’ll get a full investor curriculum and then 3-4 suggestions every month at InvestorFieldGuide.com/bookclub

Follow Patrick on twitter at @patrick_oshag