Is Smart biotech making us dumb?

Okay, so I geek out on personal biotech.

Tracking protein intake on an app, to wearing an Oura ring or continuous glucose monitor (CGM) - I’m curious - what really is worth doing? Since all the high achievers are consuming health data like dark chocolate, biotech has a decent price tag. But there’s also an energetic and emotional cost to the experience no one talks about.

Which ones should we use? My short answer - whatever gives me the data I need to make pressing health choices. In other words, it should be a tool that leads to clarity on my optimal health strategy.

Otherwise, it’s irrelevant and another fear-based “should.” For example, “I should track my protein because I’m perimenopausal.” But unless I’m muscle wasting or increasing my body fat percentage, my body is not communicating that I need to increase protein. It’s my fear of being a fat old lady that latches on to health influencers telling me to eat the equivalent of a small animal daily.

This article is to share all of what you should know (and watch out for) if you’re collecting your health data, my recommendations for those concerns, and when I think health data-tech is worth it.

Concern 1 - not seeing the funnel you enter with the data collection

If you’re not going to align with using a CPAP, do you really want to go down the rabbit hole of starting to monitor your sleep patterns? Sleep rhythm monitors lead to studies, specialists, and there’s a lot of “idiopathic sleep apnea” discovered - but the only solution is a big terrible feeling machine to hook into your face every night. Big emotional costs to give up snuggling and simplicity.

I would rather spend my energy doing pranayama to tone my upper respiratory system than diagnose myself with some sleep issue that has no clear cause or solution.

My recommendation - do the natural solutions and try to feel better first. There’s no downside to taking better care of your body, and that rabbit hole of self diagnosing isn’t going anywhere.

If you don’t like solution options of the problem you are observing with the data, implement alternative solutions instead of entering the diagnostic sales funnel.

Concern 2 - our attention on processing data, and away from sensing our bodies

That leads to less sentience (the ability to feel and sense), and less self trust.

You know if you don’t sleep well. It’s obvious. Have you really taken the time and effort to consider the root causes of that? And then taken steps to improve them and your sleep?

If you haven’t addressed the obvious causes of sleep issues (blue light, over stimulation, internal conflict, inflammation) - you’re perpetuating a “something is wrong with me” mindset over a "I'm a normal human who is doing things that disrupt my sleep and have the power to improve it” one. The data will give you plenty to see that is wrong with you.

That’s an energetic posture of victimization - a prerequisite step in collecting diagnoses.

My recommendation: Instead of proving that we have problems with data, consider and target the root causes of your patterns.

Concern 3 - inaccuracy

I did a “wellness scan” at a fancy resort spa that sold packages based on the results. In the middle of the scan I realized I was late for a meeting, and felt my stress spike. The only yellows on the results where my blood pressure (usually low) and sympathetic NS activity - the scanner (a personal trainer taught to run the software) and I both chalked it up to that “Sh*t I’m late!” moment. While I was flattered by the greens everywhere, but my body’s communication says otherwise - my symptoms let me know that I have things to address.

This scan “is not meant to be diagnostic” the spa says, but how can you not let it persuade your opinion of your health? Had I not done my recent labs and been in tune with my body, I would have walked away feeling like my thyroid and digestive health are in great condition.

When I was wearing a CGM, a young diabetic stopped me to ask about my experience with the brand I had on. He told me how most every CGM he has tried is 10-50 points off of his blood stick values. That’s a scary margin of error for a diabetic, but for people who are just monitoring for health data, it could mean falsely seeing ourselves as with or without a blood sugar problem. I never thought to question the read on my blood sugar as I was enjoying the gamified app.

The truth is my body tells me when it’s had enough sugar, and when it needs some. Weirdly, seeing my levels so low made me feel like I could afford more sugar, and I ended up eating more than I did without the CGM. (Like I hadn’t spent my corporate per diem and I should splurge or I’d waste it.)

Working with a 73 year old client who had been on thyroid hormone for almost 50 years, we saw that her body gave signals that it was no longer hypothyroid (which is what we were trying to reverse) three months before her labs caught up! The labs almost refuted what she was observing in her body and that was discouraging, until they finally reflected the healing.

Data is often with errors. Devices are often with a wide margin that makes them insignificant.

My recommendation - trust your body’s signals and attend to them.

Millions of people are doing this and picking up on things that the tech never would have. Recent examples I’ve overheard: “Chocolate is too activating for me in the evenings” and “If I drink, I wake up with a hot flash.”

Concern 4 - data doesn’t make associations with causes

Only you know if you’re starving all day while getting things done and then self soothing with food when you get home; If you’re sex life is cause for concern for your heart; If you hate your job. All three of those scenarios are going to affect your bodily functions, and the data will pick up the dysfunction. But, what are you going to do about it - just take a pill?

My rec - of course, listen to your inner wisdom about what choices are playing into your dysfunctional patterns.

Those concerns aside, getting your health data is helpful and healing in a few scenarios -

1. If you’re feeling out of touch with your body and want to verify what you think you’re sensing. It can be helpful to have data to soothe our irrational health fears, and some validation when we think we’re heading in the right direction.

2. If you are actively trying to make a data driven decision - aka a dental scan before deciding to get a cavitation procedure, or a Dutch test before you start HRT.

Other than that, personal biotech may be taking you in a direction that is opposite of your healing intention. You want it to smarten your insight into your body, not make it dumber.

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