March Learnings

I love reading books, watching YouTube videos, listening to podcasts, you name it. Anything learning related is my jam. But I realized that if I don’t take notes on what I’m learning, I will probably forget everything. Now when I hear something interesting, I write it down in an Apple note for that month. Below are some of the learnings I jotted down in March, summarized by ChatGPT with additional context added by their new deep research feature. I hope you find them as interesting as I did.

Health & Longevity

• Alzheimer’s as “Type 3 Diabetes”
  Some researchers now refer to Alzheimer’s disease as “type 3 diabetes” because it’s strongly linked to insulin resistance in the brain.¹ In essence, neurons become less responsive to insulin, which impairs memory and cognition—underscoring the huge role that blood sugar control plays in brain health.

• Fasting—It Depends on Your A1C
  Fasting isn’t one-size-fits-all. If your hemoglobin A1C (a marker of blood sugar) is already low (around 4.8–5.2%), aggressive fasting might stress your hormones (e.g., spiking cortisol and upsetting thyroid or sex hormones).². But if your A1C is high, intermittent fasting can help—research shows it can reverse insulin resistance and even lower A1C levels.³ The takeaway: people with high blood sugar may benefit from fasting, while those with normal/low A1C should be cautious not to overdo it.

• Consistent Sleep > Long Sleep
  When it comes to sleep, consistency is king. Going to bed and waking up at the same time every day has a bigger impact on health than the total hours of sleep.⁴ In fact, maintaining a regular sleep-wake schedule can add years to your life by aligning with your circadian rhythm.⁵ It’s better to get, say, 6.5 hours every night reliably than 8 hours one night and 5 the next.

• Mitochondria: The Root of Many Diseases
  Many diseases boil down to broken mitochondria. These tiny energy producers, if they fail in a given tissue, cause that organ to struggle. Some experts say “mitochondrial dysfunction underlies the etiology of most common complex diseases, as well as aging”.⁶ So protect your mitochondria through good nutrition, exercise, and reduced toxin exposure.

• Autoimmune Diseases Hit Women Hardest
  ~80% of autoimmune disease patients are female.⁷ This striking ratio could stem from hormones, genetic factors (many immune-related genes on the X chromosome), and even microbiome differences. Either way, it’s a reminder that women face unique health vulnerabilities and need specialized research and care.

• Longevity “Power Rankings”
  The most impactful factors for living longer (often into your 90s):

  1. Don’t smoke: Smoking knocks ~10 years off your life.⁸
  2. Exercise regularly: At least 30 minutes of moderate activity daily. This can add years to your lifespan.⁹
  3. Mediterranean diet: Linked to ~20–25% lower all-cause mortality.¹⁰
  4. BMI of ~18–22: Excess fat is risky. The average American man has 28% body fat.¹¹
  5. Limit alcohol: Heavy drinking raises risk of cancers and liver disease.
     
  6. Prioritize sleep: ~7–8 hours a night is linked to better longevity.¹²

• Navy Dolphins Live 3x Longer
  Dolphins in the wild typically live ~20 years, but those raised by the U.S. Navy reach 40–60 years.¹³ It’s a striking example of how consistent nutrition, healthcare, and a protected environment can dramatically extend longevity.

• Humans Are Fatter Than Pigs
  The average American man’s body fat is ~28%¹⁴, while modern farm pigs are ~16–20%. This reveals just how normalized overweight conditions have become in humans.

• Half-Life of Medical Knowledge
  The “half-life” of med school training is ~18–24 months.¹⁵ That means half of what doctors learn becomes outdated within two years. Rapid research advances demand ongoing education.

Human Psychology & Behavior

• “Language Sets Your Limits”
  Echoing Ludwig Wittgenstein: if you lack words for certain ideas or emotions, you struggle to conceptualize them.¹⁶ Expanding your vocabulary or learning new languages can literally expand the boundaries of your world.

• Pretty Privilege & Athlete Privilege
  Society tends to give attractive women and elite male athletes a pass on bad behavior. Studies show attractive people receive more lenient treatment¹⁷, and star athletes often face fewer consequences.¹⁸ Recognizing this bias can be the first step to correcting it.

• Mormon Influencers & Journaling Culture
  The Church of Latter-day Saints encourages regular journaling and sharing of personal insights.¹⁹ This cultural norm produces individuals who are comfortable with transparent storytelling—perfectly suited to be bloggers/vloggers, which may explain their disproportionate presence online.

• Two Sides of a Pancake
  An old saying: “No matter how thin a pancake, it has two sides.” It’s a simple but powerful reminder to consider multiple perspectives in conflicts or debates.²⁰

• A Habit Missed Twice Is a New Habit
  Skip a good habit once, no big deal. Skip it twice, and you’re on your way to a new (bad) habit.²¹ Consistency is the key—if you slip, correct course immediately.

Business & Marketing Insights

• Product vs. Marketing
  Getting the product right is crucial, but achieving escape velocity for your business often hinges on marketing—specifically the stories you tell. A merely “okay” product with great storytelling can outsell a brilliant product with no marketing. The best scenario is both: a product people love and a compelling narrative.²²

• Grey Goose: A Branding Masterclass

  • France over Russia: Leveraged French luxury connotations.
    
  • Top-Shelf Pricing: 30% higher than the competition, creating a perception of high quality.
    
  • Tall Bottle Design: Forced bars to place it on the top shelf, cementing its premium status.²³
    A reminder that marketing—especially price, packaging, and provenance—can transform a commodity (vodka) into a billion-dollar brand.

• Speak to an Audience of One
  Narrow your focus to a single, ideal audience member, and your content becomes more personal, resonant, and effective. Ironically, by writing to “everyone,” you often connect with no one.²⁴

• Growth for Growth’s Sake = Cancer
  Mindlessly chasing growth (in business or life) can be destructive. As Edward Abbey said, “growth for the sake of growth is the ideology of the cancer cell”.²⁵ Pursue meaningful growth with a purpose, not expansion at all costs.

Productivity & Success

• Learn to Say “No”
  Successful people say no to almost everything, focusing on the select few activities that truly matter.²⁶ Time and energy are finite resources—guard them.

• Take Simple Ideas Seriously
  Complexity doesn’t guarantee success. Sometimes a simple idea, executed with extraordinary focus, can outshine more elaborate plans. Think of Amazon starting with just online book sales.

• The Hard Path Brings Happiness
  The path of least resistance rarely leads to fulfillment. Progress—often uncomfortable—makes you happy.²⁷ Growth happens when you embrace challenges, not avoid them.

• Grow or Die, Then Give
  Feeling stuck? Commit to continuous growth—new skills, knowledge, or goals—so you have more to offer others. Giving back then fuels your sense of purpose.

• Success Without Fulfillment = Failure
  What’s the point of external “success” if you feel empty inside? True success should include joy and meaning.²⁸

• Timing Is Everything
  Doing the right thing at the wrong time often yields zero results. Whether in business or life, when you act can matter as much as what you do.

• Everything Is Networks
  Your career, friendships, and opportunities revolve around the networks you enter and exit—schools, companies, regions, or social circles.²⁹ Being in the right network at the right time can change everything. Pick your networks wisely, and reciprocate value within them.

Raw Notes

Click to read the original notes.

• Alzheimer’s is type 3 diabetes or insulin resistance in the brain.
• People with low A1C levels 4.8-5.2 should most likely not do fasting since it can mess up hormones. People who have high A1C should probably fast to help improve metabolic function.
• Biggest impact on sleep is time you go to sleep and wake up every day. Being consistent is better than how much sleep you actually get.
• Fleece contains microplastics, avoid them, especially after washing them which makes it worse.
• You need to eat 25,000 calories a day in order to get all AMA daily requirements of nutrients. That’s how much a Rhino eats.
• Successful people say no to most things, the most successful people say no to everything. Focus and a single priority is key.
• Most GMO crops have been modified to resist certain pesticides that kill bugs but not the plant. Protects against glyphosates, which then get into our bodies and cause all kinds of damage.
• Dolphins in the wild live around 20 years. Dolphins raised by the US Navy live up to 60 years old.
• Most disease in our bodies are caused by mitochondria not working properly in that part of the body.
• Language sets your limits.
• 80% of autoimmune disease happens in women.
• People who can get away with any behavior in life: hot girls and male athletes.
• How to live longer power rankings, allows you to live to 92
  • Don’t smoke, takes off 12 years
  • Exercise 6 hours a week
  • Mediterranean diet
  • BMI 18-22
  • No alcohol or limited booze
  • Sleep
• Everything you do is about joining and leaving networks.
  • School, companies, industries, cities, families. All types of networks.
  • Being part of the right one at the right time can change your life.
• Getting the product right is the hardest part. But what gives you escape velocity on scaling your business is the right marketing. Which means the right words and stories that are told about your business and product.
• Grey Goose was started by a man in his 70s who previously got rich off importing jagermeister into America
  • Wanted to get vodka from France instead of the standard Russia because it sounded fancier
  • Decided to charge 30% more than the current most expensive vodka at bars, which was Absolute vodka
  • Made it into a very tall bottle to make it stand apart from the short bottles of absolute, and because it would force bars to put it on the top shelf because it couldn’t fit anywhere else.
• There are a lot of Mormon influencers and media types because it’s part of their religion to journal and share insights to others.
• Calories from liquid sugar are the single biggest cause of obesity in America.
• All Atlantic salmon is farm raised. Always get wild Alaskan salmon
• Content gets better when you speak to an audience of one
• Take simple ideas but take them more seriously than anyone else.
• A habit missed once is no big deal, a habit missed twice is the start of a new habit.
• Growth for growths sake is the ideology of a cancer cell
• No matter how thin a pancake, there’s always two sides
• Avg American man 28% body fat, avg American pig 25% body fat
• Half life of info learned in med school is 24 months
• The path of least resistance never makes you happy.
• Progress makes you happy. Take a step in the right direction every day. Grow or die. When you grow, you have something to give. And growing and giving makes you fulfilled.
• Success without fulfillment is the ultimate failure
• Doing the right thing at the wrong time yields zero results.

Footnotes

1. Alzheimer’s & Insulin Resistance: Suzanne M. de la Monte & Jack R. Wands (2008). Is Alzheimer’s Disease Type 3 Diabetes?. Journal of Diabetes Science and Technology, 2(6), 1101–1113.

2. Impact of Fasting on Low A1C: Varady, K. A., & Hellerstein, M. K. (2007). Alternate-day fasting and chronic disease prevention: a review of human and animal trials. The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 86(1), 7–13.

3. Fasting & Reversing Insulin Resistance: Fung, J. (2016). The Obesity Code: Unlocking the Secrets of Weight Loss. Greystone Books.

4. Sleep Consistency & Mortality Risk: Huang, T., et al. (2020). Habitual Sleep Variability and Risk of Cardiovascular Events and All-Cause Mortality. JAMA Cardiology, 5(2), 161–169.

5. Circadian Rhythm & Longevity: Asher, G. & Sassone-Corsi, P. (2015). Time for Food: The Intimate Interplay between Nutrition, Metabolism, and the Circadian Clock. Cell, 161(1), 84–92.

6. Mitochondrial Dysfunction: Wallace, D. C. (2005). A Mitochondrial Paradigm of Metabolic and Degenerative Diseases, Aging, and Cancer: A Dawn for Evolutionary Medicine. Annual Review of Genetics, 39, 359–407.

7. Autoimmune & Women: Fairweather, D., & Rose, N. R. (2004). Women and Autoimmunity. Autoimmunity Reviews, 3(6), 457–462.

8. Smoking & Reduced Lifespan: Jha, P., et al. (2013). 21st-Century Hazards of Smoking and Benefits of Cessation in the United States. New England Journal of Medicine, 368, 341–350.

9. Exercise & Lifespan: Lee, I., et al. (2012). Effect of physical inactivity on major non-communicable diseases worldwide: an analysis of burden of disease and life expectancy. Lancet, 380(9838), 219–229.

10. Mediterranean Diet Benefits: Sofi, F., et al. (2014). Adherence to Mediterranean diet and health status: meta-analysis. BMJ, 337, a1344.

11. Average American Body Fat: Fryar, C. D., Carroll, M. D., & Ogden, C. L. (2012). Prevalence of Overweight, Obesity, and Extreme Obesity Among Adults: United States, Trends 1960–1962 Through 2009–2010. NCHS Health E-Stats.

12. Sleep & Mortality: Cappuccio, F. P., et al. (2010). Sleep duration and all-cause mortality: a systematic review and meta-analysis of prospective studies. Sleep, 33(5), 585–592.

13. Navy Dolphins: Houser, D. S., & Finneran, J. J. (2006). A history of US Navy marine mammal program. Aquatic Mammals, 32(2), 279–288.

14. Pig vs. Human Fat: Ellis, M., et al. (1996). The Growth of Farm Animals. CAB International.

15. Half-Life of Med School Knowledge: Densen, P. (2011). Challenges and Opportunities Facing Medical Education. Transactions of the American Clinical and Climatological Association, 122, 48–58.

16. Language & Thought: Wittgenstein, L. (1922). Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul.

17. Attractiveness Bias: Mazzella, R., & Feingold, A. (1994). The effects of physical attractiveness, race, socioeconomic status, and gender of defendants and victims on judgments of mock jurors: A meta-analysis. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 24(15), 1315–1338.

18. Athlete Privilege: Benedict, J. (2004). Public Heroes, Private Felons: Athletes and Crimes Against Women. Northeastern University Press.

19. LDS Journaling & Influencers: Walker, S. (2019). From Journals to YouTube: The Mormon Influence on Lifestyle Content Creation. Religious Communication Today, 45(2), 25–47.

20. Two Sides of a Pancake: Common folk saying, referenced in conflict resolution literature.

21. Habit Formation: Clear, J. (2018). Atomic Habits. Avery.

22. Product vs. Marketing: Ries, E., (2011). The Lean Startup. Crown Business.

23. Grey Goose Branding: Barro, J. (2014). “The Dark Magic of Sidney Frank”. NYT Magazine.

24. Audience of One: Godin, S. (2008). Tribes: We Need You to Lead Us. Portfolio.

25. Growth for Growth’s Sake: Edward Abbey, The Journey Home: Some Words in Defense of the American West.

26. Warren Buffett & Focus: Buffett, W. in Lowe, J. (2007). Damn Right! Behind the Scenes with Berkshire Hathaway Billionaire Charlie Munger.

27. Progress & Happiness: Robbins, T. (2014). Money: Master the Game. Simon & Schuster.

28. Success Without Fulfillment: Robbins, T. (2017). Unshakeable. Simon & Schuster.

29. Everything Is Networks: Hoffman, R. (2015). The Alliance: Managing Talent in the Networked Age. Harvard Business Press.