Health Checklist V1 Feedback & Potential Additions

Feedback collected from Twitter, Discord, friends, and health communities on my Personal Health Checklist (read first)

Potential Additions:

Thinking about adding three more items to the Health checklist:
  • Drink filtered water
  • Monitor your air quality (avoid CO2, chemicals, molds and toxins)
  • Having better self care to your appearance (dressing nicer, straightening teeth, skin care, etc) can have a positive impact in your daily habits
  • Speak to habits (body temp, light, sound) and Forming good habits
  • Monitor blood pressure (I use the QardioArm)
  • Sleeping schedule and time to sunlight
  • Get better at small talk

Community Comments and Feedback:

I plan to take all of this feedback and address it either through citations and clarifications. There are very few disagreements, though the biggest two seem to be around my general recommendation on Melatonin and my personal routine of fasting 48 hours each week instead of something like Intermittent Fasting.

Person 1

If you haven't already, you'd love the Huberman podcast: https://hubermanlab.com/category/podcast-episodes/

Stanford professor who does 3-hour deep dives (and occasional interviews) on the latest science on health, nutrition, fitness, etc. (edited) 

Only thing I'd nitpick is Melatonin. Supposedly not a great long term supplement, since it can suppress natural melatonin production. I've used it in small doses (<0.3 mg) to fix jet lag, but many brands only go down to 10mg capsules. Anecdotally, a former roommate of mine was a long term melatonin supplementer, and his sleep schedule was terrible. Not sure what direction the causal arrow points though. 

Person 2

It's a good list. If it's missing anything, I think regular checking of blood pressure could be on there. Most of the other things should ensure it's okay if you're otherwise healthy though but high blood pressure is one of the best indicators for poor future health going.

Person 3

BTW, I seriously appreciated you partitioning your health strategy. I was going to add a comment online, haven't yet cause it's all a bit involved. Thanks for your partitioning of health strategy. It raised some additional elements I am thinking of tracking, including V02 max I currently do major blood analysis and DEXA scans every 4-6 months. I have an OURA ring which I find attractive on my finger, encouraging me to get good sleep, and gives me HR, HRV and other measurements which I know are not accurate.

The only real comment I would have about an addition to our psychology. Our mind outputs it's emotions of happiness, relaxation, stress and fear to our bodies. So, I think engaging our minds in the right states is essential to our physical health.

Person 4

1. Consider switching to non-toxic chemical free every day products. I changed everything I use from toothpaste to laundry detergent to makeup etc. 

2. Eat broccoli sprouts and other sulforaphane rich foods for anti cancer effects.

3. Open your windows everyday to ensure enough O2 is available. It’s harder during winter but high indoor CO2 levels are harmful. 

4. All fiber is not created equal. Diverse fiber intake = diverse and healthy gut micro biome. So eat different fruits and veggies.

Person 5

There are studies that push back on melatonin use. 

I try to avoid light as much as possible up to a couple hours before bed time. Also, being cold while sleeping is way more restorative for me. Having my bed water-cooled was a game-changer.

Person 6

When I define health, I define it as both long-term health and short-term. Or in other words, how many quality-life living years are you going to get when you get to live the life you want to live unrestricted by health issues.
By that measure, when trying to improve health over the years, you're trying to run in front of what causes health issues, and what causes health issues.

What Causes Death
This is easier to measure, and what lacks most on your list. Here's what you need to avoid most:
  • Cardiovascular disease