What does good health really entail?

You’ll never hear wellness influencers mention the most important thing

Last week, Andrew Huberman tweeted out a seemingly simple list: 

The basics are covered, though he didn’t mention hydration, which is often under-appreciated. His addendum to nutrients veer into optimization-land, though if we take nutrients broadly to mean “balanced diet,” it’s certainly up there.

Number eight is interesting. There’s certainly some truth to this: some people report better mental and emotional health when believing in whatever spiritual practice or religion they choose. Sometimes it’s physiological—the bodily effects of yoga and meditation, for example—and sometimes choosing a faith practice provides a comforting worldview, which has positive downstream health effects. 

If believing in a god helps you stave off depression, that’s likely a net positive for you. (The flip side occurs when you start imposing that belief on others, which can be and often is detrimental to the health of others, but that’s a different story.)

I find it odd that we separate out “types” of health: physical, mental, emotional, spiritual. Every facet of health affects all others as we are just one animal. Nothing is ever just physical or mental. That said, compartmentalizing is a human trait, and helps us make sense of the world, so I get the impulse. I just don’t find it surprising that certain types of thought patterns affect bodily functions or that injuries produce an emotional valence. Health is health, and an insult to any form of health produces cascading effects.

I appreciate the request for additions or subtractions. Many people replied, some of which Huberman acknowledged. A few people offered an extremely important aspect of health omitted from the original list, and which (perhaps unsurprisingly) Huberman didn’t engage with. Taking a step back and looking at Huberman’s portfolio of sponsors and investments, I’m not shocked it didn’t make his list. Regardless, the social determinants of health are far more relevant than most anything tweeted out.

Wellness influencers and biohackers rarely consider these five factors when creating “ultimate health” lists. The social determinants directly contradict the health-ish tchotchkes for sale on their downlines. The American myth that “everyone has an equal shot” has never been true, yet it persists in right-wing and wellness spaces with something to sell.