A fun fact

“It’s one kind of information. And it has its own limitations. I think there are other kinds of information that are valid. For example, the information that comes from your own experience. And I like to point out to people that in all languages derived from Latin, unfortunately not English, the word for experience and the word for experiment are the same. In Spanish, experimentar means both to experience and to experiment. So your own experience is a form of experimentation that produces useful information. You have to check it against other kinds of information. With double-blind studies, this is held out as the gold standard. And many people think this is the only kind of information we should pay attention to. But here’s an interesting thing. You can try this yourself. And it’s an assignment that I give to medical students and doctors.” Dr. Andrew Weil

Discovered via a Tim Ferriss podcast episode with Dr. Andrew Weil. Here you can find the full transcript of the episode.

Podcasts

Podcasts are the new blogging, so they say. If you love podcasts as much as I do you might find value in a website named Podcast Notes. It delivers notes about a series of podcasts. 

An episode I recently enjoyed was an interview of Dr. Andrew Weil, done by Tim Ferriss. Here is a link to the transcript, in case you prefer to read. Andrew Weil is a world-renowned leader and pioneer in the field of integrative medicine. There are some true gems about health in this episode. 

Here is a list of podcasts I like.
Akimbo
Bulletproof Radio
Data-Driven Health Radio
The Awesome Health Podcast
The Peter Attia Drive 
The Ready State
Parabola Podcast
The Tim Ferriss Show
Bruce Lee Podcast
The Human Experience

Let me know which ones you like by dropping me a message or posting a comment. 

Dr. Gabor Maté

Yesterday I wrote about pain. Some people experience constant pain and find temporary relief in an activity that can be described as addiction. I recently listened to a podcast interview by Russel Brand who sat down with Dr. Gabor Maté.  They have a very honest conversation about addiction and the underlying trauma that has to do with it.

Russel Brand is an English comedian, actor, radio host, author and activist while Dr. Gabor Gabor Maté is a Hungarian-born Canadian physician who specializes in the study and treatment of addiction and is also widely recognized for his unique perspective on Attention Deficit Disorder and his firmly held belief in the connection between mind and body health.

I am following Gabor’s work for a few years now. I highly recommend watching one of his talks on YouTube, listening to the above mentioned podcast or picking up one of his books, e.g. “When the Body Says No: Exploring the Stress-Disease Connection“.

After having read it I immediately decided it goes onto my “I need to read this again soon“ shelf. In this book Gabor explains his view on the connection between the mind and the body, how it impacts health and the role that stress and one’s individual emotional makeup play in an array of common diseases.

Gabor sees addiction as something far broader than just illegal substances:„Addiction is manifested in any behavior that a person craves, finds temporary relief or pleasure in but suffers negative consequences as a result of, and yet has difficulty giving up. In brief: craving, relief, pleasure, suffering, impaired control. Note that this definition is not restricted to drugs but could encompass almost any human behavior, from sex to eating to shopping to gambling to extreme sports to TV to compulsive internet use: the list is endless.“ You can find the full text here.

I resonate with this definition. What about you?

P.S. I am following the work of one of Gabor’s sons, too. His name is Daniel and I recommend you check out his new website about a very special kind of service he is offering. This truly seems to be a calling for him.

#gratitude to Russel, Gabor and Daniel