This post by Karl Denniger is a good example of the wacky thinking we see in discussion of health in modern times. Denninger has posted at length about his religious conversion from fat out of shape guy to skinny less out of shape guy. He is a true believer when it comes to diet and exercise. He is also convinced the medical business is out to get him. He spends a lot of time railing about the corruption of the medical business. He is mostly correct about the sorry state of the American health care system, from a financial perspective, but he lurches into conspiracy mongering at times. Regardless, that post and the link is worth reading. No where will you find a more magical thinking and superstition than in the area of human health.

This fantastic blog entry by JayMan is a great example. Genetics control probably 90% of what we are. Yes, smart people can get really smart through training. Fast guys can get faster with training. Ussein Bolt spends a lot of time working on various aspects of his sprinting. He maintains a special diet and works his muscles in specific ways. None of it makes him a world class sprinter. He was born with it. His training and diet allow him to move from 1% to .0001% in the 100 meters. For the rest of us, diet and exercise is not going to significantly alter your health. Yet, “medical science” insists having an egg for breakfast or a cheeseburger for lunch is going to kill you. They insist we go in for regular physicals, despite no evidence that prevention does a damned thing. Supplements are a billion dollar industry, even though 90% are nothing more than pica.

On the other hand, exercise and diet can mitigate some genetic issues. Avoiding tobacco, for example, is not going to lesson your odds of getting Alzheimer’s Disease if that runs in your family. It will lesson your odds of getting lung cancer, even if it runs in your family. Just as physical training and education can only enhance (slightly) what your genetics afford, a healthy lifestyle can (slightly) benefit you over time. The question, of course, is the trade offs. I like to get face down drunk on occasion. If I did it every night, I will die in a year. A few times a year and I’m probably striking the right balance. I doubt I live long enough to see that degree of sensibility exhibited by the medical profession.