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 (Cleveland Clinic)
2. Edit a strand of DNA at the nanometer scale and decide what the changes will be (Children's Hospital of Philadelphia) <- May 2025!
3. Have robots and artificial intelligence assist with surgeries (NIH)
4. Shoot high-energy subatomic particles at tumors inside the body with millimeter precision (Johns Hopkins Medicine Case Study)
5. Predict how a protein will fold from a nearly infinite range of possible options (2024 Nobel Prize in Chemistry)
6. 3D print custom prosthetics and implants (The Guardian)
7.  Utilize ultrasound to break up blood clots in the brain (National Science Foundation)
8. Fully restore senses like hearing and vision in some patients (Stanford Engineering and Nature)

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 in disbelief. Those from 200+ years ago probably wouldn't even comprehend what I was saying. Our rate of progress is only increasing in these areas. 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 lifestyle factors (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)

This is a gut-wrenching paradox...one that drives me a little crazy. Despite extraordinary biomedical progress, we continue to face rising burdens of chronic disease. My conclusion? - Our progress in treating disease is extraordinary. The challenge now is making similar strides in preventing it.

The levers of disease prevention are, in some ways, disarmingly simple (not to be confused with easy...). Among the most powerful are the three fundamental lifestyle behaviors: sleep, nutrition, and exercise. They stand out for their unparalleled, systemic benefits across nearly every domain of human physiology. To date, no medication or procedure has matched their preventive power when applied consistently over time.

In June 2024, just before my 20th birthday, 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. I would research a recommendation, implement it, and track my health data to monitor for changes. I detail my evolving thinking on my Nutrition, Exercise, and Sleep pages.

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

I draw from a variety of materials to inform the protocols I explore — including academic papers, books, podcasts, and webpages from research institutions and medical organizations. I prioritize sources that clearly cite their evidence and are transparent about the limitations of what they present.

I have done my best to link to relevant publications I read throughout my protocols, so you should see links whenever I make a scientific statement.