Scientifically Proven Ways To Build Muscle & Boost Longevity - Dr Peter Attia - #771

**Chris Williamson** (0:00)
Hello friends, welcome back to the show. My guest today is Dr. Peter Attia. He's a physician, longevity expert, podcaster and an author. There is essentially an unlimited amount of health advice available on the internet. Working out what is legit science and what is bro science is difficult, but thankfully decades of experience means Peter can help cut through the noise about what is actually most effective to improve your fitness and longevity. Expect to learn why a simple hospital visit can cost $6,000 in America, how to improve your cognition, the best supplements everyone should be taking, whether there are any safe doses of melatonin, why so many young men are now dependent on TRT, how worried we should be about processed foods, sun cream, alcohol and all of your favourite vices, how we can better deal with mental decline as we age, how to improve your self-talk and much more. Another awesome episode from that huge shoot that we did on a virtual LED wall here in Austin, Texas. And Peter is a legend. The guy is one of the best voices in health and fitness, super evidence-based. He's an MD. He is teaching people and coaching them and helping them on a daily basis. And you get to find out all of his best hacks today. It's very good and I hope that you enjoy it. Don't forget that you might be listening but not subscribed. And over the next few weeks, we have Mr. Ballen, Tim Ferriss and Gary V coming on the podcast. And you don't want to miss those episodes along with everyone else. And the only way that you can ensure you won't is by hitting the subscribe button. And it's free and it supports the show and it makes me happy. So please go and do it. I thank you. But now, ladies and gentlemen, please welcome Dr. Peter Attia. What's this story about your son going to hospital and getting some insane medical charge for a tiny procedure?

**Peter Attia** (2:11)
Yeah, well, it's unfortunately a very common story, right? Where anybody goes to the ER and they end up needing a bag of IV fluids or something like that, and then they get a bill for thousands of dollars, and you actually look through the line item and you realize this is comical, right? You literally charge me $1,400 for a bag of normal saline that costs, I don't know, somewhere between $2 and $3. But it sort of speaks to a lot of the breaks in the, specifically in the American healthcare system.

**Chris Williamson** (2:42)
What is it, why is it so broken? What is it because it's a commercial enterprise? Is it because it needs to be, additional funds need to be brought in from places where they shouldn't? What's going on?

**Peter Attia** (2:53)
It has to do with the complexity of a multi-payer system, and basically the way contracts are negotiated between payers and hospitals, and you have to decide in those negotiations who is in network and who is out of network. That's like one sliver of one problem. This exists on so many levels. But in that case, I think the issue came down to some very high deductible that wasn't met coupled with some out of network thing. But the truth of it is, there's also ridiculous pricing.
So there's a sense of how much things cost in hospitals. It's funny money, like we're going to really, really mark up the price so that we can give you a big discount if you're in network. So you see this across the board with all sorts of things in medicine.

**Chris Williamson** (3:44)
And to rehydrate your son, it costs like six grand or something.

**Peter Attia** (3:48)
I can't remember the dollar amount. It was so egregious. And again, it's infuriating to me when you keep in mind the fact that probably the average American would have a hard time on short notice producing $1,000. And yeah, I'm fortunate enough that I can produce $1,000 without too much difficulty. But for the average person, maybe 50% of the population, that's a really big deal. And that's a huge inconvenience, right? That means that changes your plans dramatically. It means you're not taking a vacation that summer. It means you're not able to go out with your family for a movie night.

**Chris Williamson** (4:26)
How long are you paying off that credit card debt for, etc.?

**Peter Attia** (4:28)
And it's totally inexcusable.

**Chris Williamson** (4:30)
I went to a ghost tour in New Orleans five years ago, and the guy that was taking the tour finished up afterward. And I was asking him about the American healthcare system. And he said this thing, he's really stuck with me.