5 Healthyish Things, including ChatGPT beating doctors and chia pudding

A new study found ChatGPT was better at diagnosing medical conditions than doctors. Researchers worked with 50 physicians to compare the diagnostic skills of doctors, ChatGPT, and doctors using ChatGPT. The doctors were right 74% of the time (meh), doctors using AI bumped up slightly to 76%, and ChatGPT alone ranked the highest at 90% accuracy. 

You would think doctors using AI would be the best combination, but the study suggests doctors often rejected the chatbot’s recommendation in favor of their own input and experience. Awkwarddd. Let’s hope there’s a future where physicians learn how to work with chatbots effectively and take us beyond that 90% accuracy. (Also shouts to friend Will Young of Sana Benefits for the healthy conversation on this.)

Okay, so there’s a new tape-related TikTok trend. In it, people are applying face tape overnight to try to prevent wrinkles and soften lines. The practice is based off of Kinesio Taping, a method pioneered by a Japanese-American chiropractor in the 1970s to support muscles and alleviate pain after injury. Now it’s blowing up on TikTok as a beauty hack.

Some claim face taping over night helps lift the skin, bringing in nutrients and oxygen to reduce puffiness and fine lines—and even recommend specially designed tape like Frownies (have to admit that’s a pretty great name). Some wear subtle face tape during the day to create an instant face lift. (Apparently, drag queens and celebs have been using this hack to alter their appearance for events since long before the age of #facetaping). The point, though, is this is at best a temporary solution—“like Spanx for your face,” said one Byrdie article.

Unlike mouth tape (can be dangerous), there doesn’t appear to be any downside to face tape other than potential skin irritation. So if you want to tape your face, I say go for it. But can we at least ask for less tape-related health and wellness trends, please?

@kirtitewani

Its simple medical face tape. Paper one is better as its glue is more subtle. Use it over night ir for a few hours during the day, away f... See more

Last week, a new digital health platform called Superpower launched and became the latest to join the labs-first approach to medicine. Effectively a competitor of Function Health (now been mentioned in seven emails, so where’s my sponsorship? 😂), Superpower sells an “all-in-one health membership” which includes lab tests, an on-call “health concierge,” and a marketplace with discounted (and branded) products. They also claim a 100,000-person waitlist. That’s a lot of people! And just another HUGE signal of how much interest there is in taking control of your health, getting the data yourself, and embracing a functional medicine path to improving health. I’m impressed by the launch, the product looks great, and it’s clear this space is heating up so I wouldn't be surprised to see more players jump in.

I’ll flag saying Superpower’s ambitious mission to “change the broken healthcare system” feels a little much given primary care startup Forward just shut its doors with a similarly bold mission. You would think they’d want to have a public mission that’s a little more grounded. I’ll also say they seem to be doing a lot all at once, not always a recipe to startup success in my experience. 😬

Side story: About five years ago, I thought seriously about starting a company called Superpower—not for longevity, but for sobriety, like a millennial version of AA. The idea was to rebrand sobriety as cool and empowering (which IMO it is), essentially a way to keep and grow super powers. Anyway, I didn’t do it. But I did think long and hard about buying the domain and I’m glad someone is putting it to good use now. 🙌

This study published last week in The Lancet shows how obesity rates have increased in the U.S. since 1990—and it’s astonishing. Almost three-quarters of U.S. adults are overweight or obese, and nearly half of U.S. adolescents are too (up from 29% in 1990). Yeesh. 

Yes, we’ve seen a possible drop in obesity rates recently (maybe thanks to GLP-1s?) but this study makes it clear that the overall problem is not going away. 

So what’s the fix? I see a few possible solutions:

• First, GLP-1s work, so making them more accessible could seriously move the needle. Friend Dr. Spencer Nadolsky (worth the follow!) has been very vocal about these drugs in a way that’s pretty contrarian, and studies continue to show they’re effective for weight loss and beyond. (Just this month, new research found they might be a solution for alcohol addiction).

• Second, there could be some good in RFK Jr. running HHS. If he actually can shake something up, our healthcare system badly needs shaking. Eventually, someone needs to fix the structural issues leading to this epidemic. For example, the always sharp Nikhil Krishnan speculates he could split the FDA into two separate administrations—one for food, one for drugs. As Elliot Cohen puts it, “the philosophical stance we use to approve drugs should be very different from food.” That’s for sure. And that alone could have potentially dramatically positive benefits.

• Third, food as medicine has to be part of the equation. The food you eat matters, and compounding evidence continues to prove that. A recent study from The Endocrine Society (shouts to reader Lauren Joskowitz for sending this one in) found people with type 2 diabetes who eat low-carb diets can manage their symptoms to the extent they can actually discontinue their medication. 🤯 It was a small study, but believable since keto (effectively a more extreme version of this) has been known to manage—and even reverse—type 2 diabetes. More of this is critical, too. Let’s make healthy food cheaper, SNAP-accessible food better, school food not terrible, and more good stuff covered by insurance.

Anyway, the overweight/obesity epidemic is dire. But I’m hopeful medicine, food, and—fingers crossed—the right structural changes will help change its trajectory.

I’ve been eating this chia pudding recipe every morning. It’s tasty, nutritious, and I’m very into it.

It’s old news that chia seeds are healthy. In fact, a recent meta-analysis of eight studies reinforced this when it found regular chia consumption helped lower blood pressure in a clinically meaningful way. Love seeing science back up my breakfast choices! 😂

Anyway, here’s the recipe, inspired in part by Farmer's Fridge Pineapple Coconut Chia Pudding (one of my fave on-the-go snacks, go Farmer’s Fridge!). If you try it, let me know what you think.

Mix, cover, and chill overnight. I typically eat it with a big handful of blueberries.

The Healthyish League

Building something in health? I love to help and love to recommend others who help, too. Here are a few of my carefully selected recommendations, all of which I’ve personally worked with (and some of which I have a formal relationship with): Herman-Scheer (branding & creative), Aequitas Partners (exec & board recruiting), Healthyish Content (my SEO & content agency), Perceptual Advisors (comms & public affairs), Right Side Up/Lantern/Matchnode (growth marketing), Verbose (embedded lifecycle marketing), Titan (exec coaching), and Lakehouse (pre-seed venture capital). Email me anytime for intros.