Even with all of the flaws and imperfections of the healthcare system, modern medicine is unthinkably advanced. Take a moment to appreciate that today we can:

1. Move an organ from one human being to another and keep both people alive
2. Edit a strand of DNA at the nanometer scale and decide what the changes will be
3. Have robots and artificial intelligence assist with surgeries (NIH)
4. Shoot high-energy subatomic particles at tumors inside the body with millimeter precision
5. Predict how a protein will fold from a nearly infinite range of possible options
6. 3D print custom prosthetics and implants on an individual basis
7.  Utilize ultrasound to break up blood clots in the brain
8. Restore the hearing and vision of many

This is a short list from many equally impressive things. Personally, the above meets my criteria for science fiction. If I were to share this with leading scientists and physicians from only 50 years ago, they would marvel at what humanity has achieved. Those from 100 years ago might laugh. Those from 200+ years ago could not even comprehend what I was saying.  My conclusion? - Modern medicine is really, really good at treating disease.

Knowing this, consider the following:

1. In the United States, 60% of the population lives with a chronic condition, the majority of which are caused by poor lifestyle choices (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)
2. In the United States, 73.1% of adult population and 35.4% of the child/adolescent population is overweight or obese (NIH)
3. Nearly half of the premature deaths in the United States are preventable (Population Reference Bureau)
4. By the generation, we appear to be getting sicker and losing mobility (https://doi.org/10.1289/ehp.119-a118a)

This is a gut-wrenching paradox, one that drives me a little crazy. My conclusion? - Modern medicine isn't great at preventing disease. Despite incredible advances, our current culture appears to be harming our health, the health of our loved ones, and that of society.

The answer to the paradox of modern medicine is frustratingly simple. And it's not cold plunging, biohacking, or the latest health fad. It boils down to the three fundamental lifestyle behaviors: sleep, nutrition, and exercise. No pharmaceutical or surgical procedure in existence has been able to reproduce the systemic physiological benefits of "the big three".  

In June 2024, just before I turned 20, I began implementing small lifestyle changes and was blown away by the changes. It began with little things like eating a bowl of ice cream instead of a tub (😅) and gradually became more sophisticated. My interest in medicine and college study in biochemistry fueled much of my curiosity at this stage. I would read about a recommendation, implement it, and track my health data to monitor for changes. This process became addicting and has evolved into protocols that I now follow in my daily life. I began building this website in March 2025. I detail my guidelines and protocols for the big three on my Nutrition, Exercise, and Sleep pages. In addition, there a few other habits I describe in my Lifestyle page. I share all of the data I collect on my Results and Data page.  

While the surface-level purpose of this website is to serve as a repository for me to track my own data and progression of my protocols, there is another purpose: I hope to spark people's curiosity in this subject! 

The deeper I dive into preventive and lifestyle health, the more counterintuitive some aspects of our culture seem to me. Below are some examples, to name a few:

1. At my undergraduate university, the student supermarket dedicates an entire aisle (from the 6 total) to chips and 6 large commercial refrigerator doors to of every soda and energy drink imaginable. The same store doesn't stock lemons or most fresh vegetables.
2. We celebrate life and success by consuming foods and drinks that we know impede life and success. 
3. At school, we serve children and teens in their developing years fried food, milkshakes and pizza.
4. We praise and admire students and employees for enduring sleep deprivation.
5. We cheer on athletes on screens but design cities and jobs where movement is inconvenient.

These things are normal, we don't bat an eye at them! Some might even scoff at my suggestion that they shouldn't be the norm. I consider our culture a major driver of the paradox I described above. As a society, we simply don't prioritize our health in our daily decisions.  

But here's the hopeful part: we can. And many of us are starting to! We live in a time when access to information, wearable data, and scientific knowledge has never been greater. Small changes at the individual level can compound to drive new societal norms, which in turn will shape policies and industries. Imagine a society in which movement, rest, and nutrient-dense food are the expected standard. Our corporations, schools, workplaces, and public spaces would align their services with human well-being. Wouldn't that be a nice place to live? It starts with us!

When people hear how much of my brain power I invest into this subject and how strictly I follow my protocols they tend to ask whether I am miserable all the time. Honestly, I don't blame anyone for thinking this. From a young age, we are taught to associate many harmful behaviors with pleasure, while many healthy behaviors are seen as chores and sacrifices. This is firmly rooted within our culture. Consider how we use candy bars to reward children or use exercise as a personal punishment for eating a tasty dessert. 

But, the truth is that I actually really enjoy doing this! It combines many of my interests (preventive medicine, data, personal development, etc.) into 1 project! Not only that, but this process has transformed my physical and emotional health for the better. I promise, if I was truly miserable, I would have quit a long time ago. 

If I had to estimate, I probably break at least one my protocols (nutrition, exercise, sleep) every 5 to 7 days (15-20%). This is essentially unavoidable, but I do my best to deviate intentionally. In other words, the benefit of the deviation should outweigh the cost. The most common reason I will break a protocol is for social reasons (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25910392/) or due to work shifts.

I consume a fair bit of content surrounding this topic. My inspiration to try adding a new thing to my protocol usually comes from Dr. Peter Attia, Dr. Andrew Huberman, Bryan Johnson, or Dr. Mike Varshavski. It is good to be skeptical of internet health "experts", since they have financial incentives to promote sensationalist content. However, the 4 people above tend to share the data and publications they are using to draw their conclusions, which I appreciate, because it allows me to track their thought process and easily verify what they claim.

I also often stumble across things I want to try from my own reading of the scientific literature and discussions with friends and family. In all cases, I try to implement things that have significant supporting evidence from multiple credible sources. I have done my best to link to relevant publications I read throughout my protocols. Research papers are tracked using doi numbers, which is why you will see something like (https://doi.org/sequence-of-letters-and-numbers) whenever I make a scientific claim.