Chasing Life

When it comes to finding joy and happiness, exercise is not always top of mind but maybe it should be. Exercise benefits our physical health as well as helps to reduce anxiety, stress and symptoms of depression, yet many Americans say exercise is not something they enjoy. So where’s the disconnect? And how can people consistently reap the “feel good” benefits of exercise? Health psychologist and a...

Dr. Anthony Fauci became a household name during the COVID-19 pandemic as director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. But the coronavirus pandemic wasn’t the first public health crisis Dr. Fauci helped Americans navigate, or the first time he’s come under fire. Dr. Fauci sits down for an interview with CNN Chief Medical Correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta to discuss his life...

An update on the current bird flu outbreak: it’s still infecting wild birds, mammals and now several farmworkers in the United States. The virus does not appear to be transmitted between humans, but can we prevent further spread? And what are public health officials doing to contain it? Immunologist and virologist Rick Bright has been studying the bird flu for decades and tells Dr. Sanjay Gupta wh...

With the surge in telemedicine, therapy has seen a remarkable rise in popularity. But could therapy hold the key to a happier life? And should everyone go to therapy? Sanjay speaks with psychotherapist Lori Gottlieb, acclaimed author of "Maybe You Should Talk to Someone," and co-host of the Dear Therapists podcast, about how therapy can actually change your brain and get you one step closer to ach...

Do you spend time worrying about what could go wrong in the future, or stressing about something you did or said in the past? That nagging feeling has a name: anxiety. But what if worrying about preventing anxiety is actually getting in the way of our happiness? New York University neuroscientist Wendy Suzuki is on a mission to help more people accept, and even embrace, what she calls “the most mi...

Have you ever wondered: What does it mean to be truly happy? Can our brain chemistry, or even our genetics, determine how we feel about our lives? And, most importantly, can we learn to be even happier? Cognitive scientist and Yale University Psychology Professor Laurie Santos has spent her career researching these questions. As the host of The Happiness Lab, Laurie has gone on her own journey to...

It turns out a simple “thank you” really can go a long way. In fact, giving thanks doesn’t just make others feel good – it can also boost your own mental and physical well-being. Dr. Sanjay Gupta hears how gratitude helped one woman navigate a life-changing medical diagnosis. Plus, how you can implement a gratitude practice into your daily life. This episode originally aired on May 17, 2022. Learn...

We've all heard of processed foods, but what about ultraprocessed foods, which make up more than half of the typical American diet? In this special Chasing Life: Spotlight, CNN Medical Correspondent Meg Tirrell explores how these foods became so widespread and the potential risks they pose to our health. She speaks with Professor Marion Nestle, a leading authority on nutrition and food policy and...

The U.S. is grappling with a recently discovered outbreak of avian influenza in dairy cows, driven by the highly pathogenic H5N1 virus. It's the first instance that the bird flu virus has been detected in US cattle. How concerned should we be about drinking milk or even eating chicken? And could this lead to the next pandemic? Sanjay speaks with epidemiologist Prof. Michael Osterholm, director of...

Global temperatures are rising, severe storms are intensifying and people are feeling climate anxiety. Does saving the planet mean living without comfort or convenience? Can policies and technology turn things around? CNN Chief Climate Correspondent, Bill Weir believes taking better care of the earth and our ourselves can go hand-in-hand. He talks with Dr. Sanjay Gupta about what’s working, what n...

For many of us, our weight and eating habits feel deeply intertwined. But how do you strike a balance between eating for pleasure and eating for fuel? How can we reframe our relationship with food – so it doesn't revolve around what’s “bad” or “good?” Sanjay speaks with Dr. Linda Shiue, an internal medicine physician, trained chef, and the author of Spicebox Kitchen. Dr. Shiue sheds light on susta...

When it comes to optimizing our mental and physical health, many of us focus on managing our weight and metabolic function. But what happens when the numbers are good but the way we feel about our bodies is bad? Should we be striving to love the way we look? Or is it better to not think about our bodies at all? Actress and activist, Jameela Jamil thinks a lot about health, food and diet culture. A...

Keto. High protein. Intermittent fasting. So many diets claim to be the best way to lose weight. But do diets actually work? Research shows that diets don’t lead to long-term weight loss for most people, and that even two people following the same “healthy” diet can have wildly different results. Stanford University nutrition professor Dr. Christopher Gardner has spent more than 20 years studying...

There's no shortage of products and procedures promising a quick way to weight loss. But do they work? Or is it all just marketing and hype? In this episode, Sanjay speaks with Dr. Mikhail Varshavski – better known as Doctor Mike — who has made it his mission to debunk medical misinformation. He’ll dive into popular weight loss methods, how they supposedly work, and the truth behind cleanses, juic...

Thirteen years ago, Seattle-based writer Lindy West wrote an essay that took the internet by storm called “Hello, I’m Fat.” That essay would become the 2016 New York Times best-selling memoir, Shrill: Notes from a Loud Woman, and later a Hulu television series. On today’s episode, Lindy, who is still writing and hosts a podcast, sits down with CNN’s Chief Medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta for...

How much do our genetics determine our destiny when it comes to how much we weigh? Cambridge geneticist Giles Yeo says your genes play a bigger role than you might think. “In casino terms, the house will always win if the die is weighted just a little bit one way versus the other.” On today’s Chasing Life, Professor Yeo, a pioneer in the field of obesity research, joins Dr. Sanjay Gupta to explain...

Weight gain is a common complaint among women in their 40s and 50s, with many blaming it on the ups and downs of menopause. But what exactly is the connection between menopause and weight gain? And can anything to be done to avoid it? In this episode, Sanjay speaks to Dr. Monica Christmas, the director of the menopause program at the University of Chicago Medicine and an associate professor of obs...

Alabama’s Supreme Court has ruled that embryos are children and anyone discarding frozen embryos could face wrongful death charges. So where does this leave fertility doctors and their patients in the state? And could this ruling have national implications? For this special episode, Dr. Sanjay Gupta turns to IVF expert, Dr. Eve Feinberg from the Feinberg School of Medicine at Northwestern Universi...

Children and adolescents are expected to gain weight as they age, but how much is too much? Childhood obesity rates are on the rise, along with disordered eating among teens. So how can kids and their parents address this head on? Dr. Jack Yanovski, a pediatric endocrinologist at the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development recommends first determining who is most concerned about t...

Long before WeightWatchers became a weight loss empire, the legacy dieting company started as a small support group in the 1960s. The company rose to popularity preaching a message of moderation and making healthy choices. But in what some call a surprising pivot, WeightWatchers is changing the way the company does business. On today’s Chasing Life, CEO Sima Sistani sits down with Dr. Sanjay Gupta...

It’s become a multibillion-dollar business: weight loss drugs. Demand is high, as is the cost. How did medications like Ozempic, Wegovy, Mounjaro and Zepbound become so popular and so profitable? And what kind of impact might they have on the future of food and healthcare? Dr. Sanjay Gupta turns to his CNN colleague Meg Tirrell for answers, and a little context about the business behind these new...

New drugs like Wegovy, Ozempic and Mounjaro are billed as a revolutionary new approach for losing weight. But are these actually miracle drugs? Dr. Sanjay Gupta turns to Yale School of Medicine assistant professor Dr. Jorge Moreno to explain the science behind these medications – from the benefits to the risks to the unknowns. Plus, what anyone who’s interested in taking these drugs should know. L...

Everybody knows losing weight is tough. But why? While diet, exercise, and willpower might have something to do with it. The root may lie in how we humans have evolved as a species. Could our bodies be hardwired to resist shedding pounds? In this episode, Sanjay speaks to Daniel Lieberman, a paleoanthropologist and professor of human evolutionary biology at Harvard University. He’ll explain how ou...

At the start of 2024, many of us are thinking about how to look and feel our best. For some of us, that means making changes to our weight. But what does weight really tell us about our health? And are there other metrics we should be looking at? In this episode, Sanjay speaks with Dr. Fatima Cody Stanford, an obesity medicine physician and scientist at Massachusetts General Hospital and a profess...

Chasing Life is taking a short break and will be back with new episodes next month. But for now, we want to highlight a powerful new season of the CNN podcast, All There Is with Anderson Cooper. In the first episode of the second season, Anderson Cooper continues his deeply personal journey through grief and, learn from others who’ve experienced life-altering losses. He also talks with psychothera...