Evolving with Nita Jain

Why does an essential vitamin share a name with an addictive drug? Meet nicotine and nicotinic acid, the biochemical cousins that behave like total strangers in your body. This naming similarity has confused students, patients, and even some healthcare professionals for decades. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit ww...

Grip strength is a powerful predictor of longevity, linked to lower risks of cancer, heart disease, and all-cause mortality. Jain discusses Goodhart's Law and suggests a holistic approach to health, incorporating compound weightlifting, cardio, mobility exercises, and other health measures like waist-to-hip ratio, HbA1c, and lipids. The key takeaway is that grip strength is a side effect of a heal...

Demo of the Spooniverse, a resource platform for  patients and caregivers dealing with complex chronic illnesses like Long Covid, ME/CFS, POTS/dysautonomia, EDS, MCAS, and more. Explore here: https://www.thespooniverse.org/ Watch on YouTube: https://youtu.be/VtKA8YTdZMY This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.nitajai...

Delve into the intersection of privacy, ethics, and technology with Dr. Rand Hindi, CEO of Zama. We discuss Dr. Hindi's early fascination with encryption, the future of homomorphic encryption, and its profound implications for various sectors including healthcare and advertising. Hindi explains advancements in bioinformatics, his vision of ubiquitous computing, and how individualized medicine can...

In this episode of Evolving , Nita Jain talks with Richard Sprague, a software engineer, quantified self enthusiast, and co-founder of personal health tracking startups. Sprague discusses the complexities of the microbiome, the limitations of single-point microbiome testing, and the importance of longitudinal sampling. He shares insights from his extensive self-experimentation data collection, dis...

This episode features a raw, firsthand account of one person's devastating battle with COVID-19 that began in April 2020. Nita Jain chronicles her harrowing personal journey with Long COVID. What started as seemingly minor symptoms quickly escalated and evolved into a life-altering battle with the disease. Key Topics - The progression from mild symptoms to severe respiratory distress - The cyclica...

In this week’s episode, Senior Vice President of Strategy at Brandwatch James Creech talks about creator monetization methods, parasocial relationships, video podcasts, content moderation, blockchain social media, AI applications, and more! Listen now on Apple , Spotify , Amazon Music , and YouTube . Find the full show notes at nitajain.substack.com This is a public episode. If you'd like to discu...

In this week’s episode, digital forensics expert and certified fraud examiner Jerry Bui talks about personal privacy, data protection, cybersecurity, white collar crime, and more! Listen now on Apple , Spotify , Amazon Music , and YouTube . Find the full show notes at nitajain.substack.com This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episode...

In this week’s episode, engineer, recruiter, and podcast host Andrew Baines talks about breaking into tech careers, representation in STEM, salary negotiation, cold-pitching your way to success, and overcoming bias during the hiring process! Listen now on Apple , Spotify , Amazon Music , and YouTube . Find the full show notes at nitajain.substack.com This is a public episode. If you'd like to disc...

In this week’s episode, writer, coach, consultant, and Ironman athlete Charlie Rogers talks about training for a triathlon, overcoming injury, maintaining an Olympic mindset, and building a portfolio career. Listen now on Apple , Spotify , Amazon Music , and YouTube . Chapter Summaries: [ 00:00:45 ] Charlie began running at the age of 14 when a coach recognized his raw talent. During his first yea...

In this week’s episode, Ryan Prior, author of The Long Haul , shares his insights on patient advocacy, long COVID, ME/CFS, healthcare technology, and precision medicine. We cover many questions, including: * What kind of symptoms does long COVID cause? * How has the pandemic highlighted the need for patient advocacy? * What is precision medicine? * What is the role of genomic innovation in healthc...

In a world where simplicity is attractive, Avisha NessAiver, founder of Distilled Science, bucks trends and embraces nuance while setting out to maximize his health, income, & productivity. We talk about his daily gadgets and apps, science communication, safe workouts for hypermobility, the importance of having a digital second brain, and the need for adequate nutrition as we age. Listen now on Ap...

Are women naturally more nurturing or are these roles simply the result of social conditioning? Any discussion revolving around a given gender’s “natural” propensity towards certain roles is guaranteed to quickly get heated. In her book, Equal Partners: Improving Gender Equality at Home, Kate Mangino discusses how predefined gender norms hurt both men and women and outlines steps for how couples c...

This week, I sat down to chat with Ricky Derisz, author of Mindsets for Mindfulness: Awakening From Crisis To Higher Consciousness and creator of MindThatEgo , a new paradigm for mental illness, spirituality, creativity, consciousness, and human potential. In this episode, he shares his insights on meditation, intrinsic motivation, ikigai, intentionality, intuition, interdependence, and intimacy....

This week, I had the opportunity to chat with the multi-talented Natasha Mott, a neuroscientist, writer, and podcaster. We talked about her views on multiple intelligences, epigenetics, absurdism, acceptance commitment therapy, and more! Time stamps: 1:26 IQ and multiple intelligences 2:50 Emotional intelligence (EQ) 3:50 System 1 and system 2 thinking 5:27 Impulsivity and emotional self-regulatio...

Last time, we discussed how short periods of controlled stress can help us better adapt to future challenges. This week, we’re discussing strategies for stress management in order to maintain optimal function even during times of duress. Inherently, stress means we care about something important to us. The stress response can help us parse time more efficiently and focus more intently. Channeling...

Let’s talk about stress, baby And antifragility Let’s talk about all the good things and the bad things That may be Let’s talk about stress — My attempt at parodying a 1991 Salt-N-Pepa classic Stress is an unavoidable part of our daily lives. How can we mitigate stress so that it doesn’t cause adverse health outcomes? How can we leverage the benefits of stress in order to help us stay motivated? I...

Last time, we discussed how letting go of our sense of self can significantly impact our lives by reducing mental suffering, improving productivity, and helping us experience the benefits of awe. This week, we’ll explore another question together: Can our mindsets make us healthier? Our beliefs can indeed exert surprising physiological effects. A recent randomized clinical trial discovered that ed...

Last time, we discussed the importance of loosening our attachment to our beliefs in order to have more productive discussions with people who disagree with us. Loosening our attachment to one belief in particular can alleviate mental suffering, boost our productivity through flow, and help us experience transcendence. What am I talking about? I’m talking about rejecting the idea of the self . No,...

Last week, we discussed how techniques such as affect labeling and physiological sigh can help us to stay calm when triggered and get into a better state of mind. But how do we go about the messy business of actually engaging with people who think differently from us? British philosopher Bertrand Russell once wrote, Find more pleasure in intelligent dissent than in passive agreement, for, if you v...

We’ve all experienced the flood of negative emotions when someone says or does something triggering. It can often be difficult to remain calm when faced with attacks on our personal character. Sometimes criticism has less to do with us and more to do with the lens through which someone is looking—in light of their own values, hardships, and experiences. Before we rush to defend ourselves in the he...

Have you ever found yourself surprised by someone’s behavior? Perhaps a friend who had always shown you kindness betrayed you by disclosing private information. Maybe old classmates at a high school reunion felt unrecognizable from when you last saw them. Maybe you surprised yourself when you acted in a manner that was out of character. Don’t Judge a Book by Its Cover We often make assumptions abo...

As many of you may already be aware, a bill making Daylight Saving Time (DST) permanent by November 2023 has already made its way through the Senate. The decision has been met with mixed emotions. Some argue that permanent standard time is the better option and some are simply happy to no longer have to change the clocks twice a year. Arguments in favor of permanent standard time and more early mo...