📚 Good Energy, The Art of Reading 101, and NYC Reading Party.

👋 Hey everyone,

Here are a few popular book summaries you may have missed:

• “The Daily Laws” by Robert Greene

• ”A Guide To The Good Life” by William B. Irvine

• “Nonviolent Communication” by Marshall B. Rosenberg

PS: I’m hosting another Reading Party in NYC on Sept. 25th, grab your ticket here (you get a free book for attending).

🔔 Reminder:

I spent the last few weeks creating a FREE mini-course that will teach you how to become a better reader–it’s called The Art of Reading 101.

You’ll get 1 short email every day for 5 days.

Here’s what to expect:

• Day 1: Quick Hacks To Find Life-Changing Books

• Day 2: How To Ignite (or Reignite) Your Love For Reading

  Day 3: How To Use Books You Loved To Find Even More Amazing Books

• Day 4: Red Flags To Look Out For In Books

• Day 5: When You Should Quit A Book (& How To Do So Without Regret)

The first email goes out tomorrow morning!

PS: If you aren’t interested in the free mini-course, there will be an opt-out link at the top of the page.

📚 Book Summary:

This week's book is “Good Energy” by Casey Means MD.

It’s a mind-blowing book that shows how many of the worst health conditions (cancer, infertility, heart disease, dementia, etc.) all come from the same root cause. It also explains why doctors only focus on treating diseases instead of preventing them (spoiler: money).

Here are 3 key lessons from the book:

📖

1) Incentives Run The World

It’s easy to say that doctors can’t be trusted, but it’s not that black and white.

The truth is that, like all people, they are motivated by money.

Doctors, hospitals, pharmaceutical and insurance companies all make more money when you are sick and less when you are healthy.

In the US, $4 trillion is spent every year on healthcare. The vast majority of that money is spent on treating diseases instead of preventing them.

There’s no money to be made from someone who doesn’t need to see a doctor, surgeon, or pharmacist.

Additionally, it costs hundreds of thousands of dollars to become a doctor, and most graduate with a ton of student loans.

Then doctors are put in a system with variable pay where they get paid based on how many prescriptions they bill and how many surgeries they do.

Doing something like performing surgery earns them higher pay, but telling someone to eat healthy and exercise doesn’t do anything for them.

The system is set up to encourage doctors to treat the patient, not heal them.

“This is not a conspiracy but a statement of hard economic reality that every patient should clearly understand. Your doctor–and the entire system–directly and unequivocally benefits from your continued suffering, symptoms, and sickness,” writes Dr. Means.

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2) Eat Local, Live Longer

If you ever heard your parents say that food was cleaner and tasted better back in their day, well it turns out they’re right.

Due to industrial agriculture practices like monocropping and pesticides, there are vastly fewer nutrients in our food.

“A fruit or vegetable you eat today has up to 40% fewer minerals, vitamins, and less protein than the same food would have had 70 years ago,’ writes Dr. Means.

Additionally, since our food today is transported over long distances, about 1,500 miles from farm to plate, it loses nutrients due to degradation.

During this journey, some fruits and vegetables can lose up to 77% of their vitamin content.

To combat this, try to eat local and shop at your local farmers market to get produce that’s fresher–it’ll have more nutrients and you’ll support small businesses.

📖

3) Avoid Red, Blue, and Yellow

Have you ever looked at an ingredient list and seen a color listed?

If so, that’s a red flag–especially if the color is red.

Red 40 is a synthetic food dye made from petroleum that is thought to induce neurotoxic effects in the brain.

It, along with other artificial food colorings, are manufactured in processes that include many toxic chemicals like formaldehyde and have been shown to be contaminated with cancer-causing substances.

Red 40 along has been linked to aggressive behavior in children, autism, and ADHD, and is thought to “aggravate mental health problems.”

Common foods that have Red 40 include Skittles, Gatorade, Jell-O, Flamin’ Hot Cheetos, Takis, and hundreds of other ultra-processed foods.

“Never eat food with ‘Red’, ‘Blue’, or ‘Yellow’ in the ingredient list,” writes Dr. Means.

✅ Actionable Advice:

1) Realize doctors are put into a system that rewards them for recommending pills and surgeries.

2) Try to buy local produce and meats from farmers.

3) Avoid foods and drinks with the ingredients Red, Blue, Yellow, or other colors.

💎 Weekly Gem:

Podcast: Dr. Jamil Zaki: How to Cultivate a Positive, Growth-Oriented Mindset

This newsletter has been a bit serious/negative, so here’s something to lighten the mood.

Dr. Jamil Zaki is a professor of psychology at Stanford University and studies negative and positive mindsets.

He dives into the science of how each mindset is created, how to shift toward a more growth-oriented mindset, and the surprising benefits of having a positive mindset.

Thank you for your support, read on everyone!

-Alex W.