As I sit here and have my daily coffee and reflect on the last newsletter regarding what goes on when we sleep, I decided to take a 180 and discuss what is right in front of me and what keeps most of us awake. Somewhere around 90% of adults in the world consume caffeine regularly. It's the most widely used psychoactive substance on earth above alcohol, nicotine, etc.. It is everywhere nowadays as people consume it in coffee, tea, pre-workout, soda, energy drinks, little pouches, or whatever...
16 days ago • 6 min read
Most people think of sleep the way they think of charging a phone. You plug it in, the screen goes dark, and something vague happens overnight that leaves you with more battery in the morning. The details don't really matter. But the details matter enormously as what happens in your body between the moment your eyes close and the moment your alarm goes off is one of the most complex, carefully coordinated sequences in all of human biology. Understanding it, even roughly, changes how you think...
19 days ago • 6 min read
Happy Monday everyone and Happy Memorial Day to my American readers! I hope you had a smooth, relaxing weekend and are planning to hit the next week with a full head of steam. Today I wanted to share a recent personal story that sparked some research that I think you will all benefit from. About 5 months ago I tore my ACL, which leads us to the first lesson of this newsletter: Do not get ahead of yourself skiing and try to do more than you can... Three months ago I did surgery to reconstruct...
20 days ago • 4 min read
Picture the last time you heard a song that gave you chills. Maybe it was a chorus that hit perfectly or the first notes of a song tied to a memory you can't shake. For just a second, the hair on your arms stood up, a wave ran up the back of your neck, and tiny bumps appeared across your skin. That's not a glitch or something random. That's one of the most fascinating things your nervous system does and most people have no idea what's actually happening when it fires. Let's fix that. But...
23 days ago • 4 min read
I have been rotating this month at a pediatric clinic and everyone knows that with kids comes lots of germs. Seeing all the fevers and sniffles and ear aches has inspired me to teach something the way I would to one of these kiddos. So let me tell you about a battle happening inside you right now. Not a metaphorical battle. A real one. With scouts, soldiers, commanders, and a spy network that keeps detailed files on every enemy it's ever defeated. This is your immune system and understanding...
25 days ago • 5 min read
There has recently been some huge news in the medical world recently that has resulted in an official name change of a very common disorder. For those studying in school that may cause some unfortunate confusion, but I personally feel favorable about it. (Check out the news here.) We are talking about Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS), recently renamed to Polyendocrine Metabolic Ovarian Syndrome (PMOS). Just one different letter is all you have to remember. Why was it changed? The old name...
27 days ago • 5 min read