“Dr. Andrew Weil Says We’re Taking Too Many Medicines” – The New York Times – June 22, 2017
Dr. Andrew Weil, the integrative medicine pioneer, has a new book, “Mind Over Meds: Know When Drugs Are Necessary, When Alternatives Are Better”. He argues here that people are now taking far too many medicines (whether statins, antidepressants or common cold remedies) – a problem that’s been building this last century because of a mindset on the part of doctors that medication is the only legitimate way to treat disease. (Dr. Weil will keynote at this October’s Global Wellness Summit.)
“A Position of Power Causes Brain Damage” – The Atlantic, July-August 2017
Over time, leaders lose mental capacities that were essential to their rise: a disorder stemming from the possession of power called “hybris syndrome”. Different lab and field experiments corroborate the historian Henry Adams’s observation that power is “a sort of tumor that ends by killing the victim’s sympathies.” Often, people in a position of power act as if they had suffered a traumatic brain injury, becoming more impulsive, less risk-aware, and less adept at seeing things from other people’s perspectives.
“Meet the Chef Who’s Debunking Detox, Diets and Wellness” – The Guardian, June 18, 2017
This is a takedown of pretty much every food fad that has taken hold in recent years from the author of “The Angry Chef: Bad Science and the Truth About Healthy Eating”.
“You’re Doing Your Weekend Wrong” – Quartz, June 23, 2017
A truly good, work-free weekend might, in fact, take a little work. Most eudaimonic activities (where one seeks meaning/self-realization) will include a hedonic (pleasure-seeking) component, as serious and casual leisure do overlap.
“The $100 Billion Per Year Back Pain Industry Is Mostly a Hoax” – Quartz, June 26, 2017
Bad decisions fuel a $100-billion-per-year back pain industry in the U.S., based on unnecessary painkillers, injections, surgeries, and chiropractic “adjustments.” Research indicates that what most people need to do is just keep moving.
“Why Amazon Bought Whole Foods” – The Atlantic, June 16, 2017
In the flurry of articles on Amazon’s acquisition of Whole Foods for just under $14 billion, this article does a good job at explaining in simple terms what this is all about. The deal isn’t just about the future of (healthier) food: it’s about the future of commerce. At the simplest level, the deal represents a straightforward confluence of interests, but it also holds implications for the future of groceries, the entire food industry, and – as hyperbolic as this might sound – the future of shopping for just about anything.
A Striking Stat:
Commuting to work on a bike is associated with a 40% lower risk of dying from cancer and 52% lower risk of dying from heart disease.
Source: University of Glasgow study, April 19, 2017
