Blog
the convenience trap
Nov 15
"If you find yourself in a hole, stop digging".
Plain and simple (as in "not that complicated"), a healthy lifestyle isn't easy (as in, "takes effort"). Sadly, the prevailing narrative in most health-oriented conversations, which isn't without evidence (here and here), is that as effective as it is, Americans simply won't do it. We know the risks and take them anyway. As the story goes, we would rather pay a 16.5% "tax" (the cost of healthcare per dollar generated in the US economy), of which close to 1 Trillion dollars per year is preventable, than spend 30 minutes getting the heart pumping and/or trade some of the 73% of what sits on US shelves for 5-9 servings of daily fruits and veggies. Of course, it's not just a price paid in dollars. Convenience frees up time...which can be spent in front of screens...which has been intimately tied to mental health concerns. In this study, it was a 40% increased likelihood of depression in girls and more than 2X the likelihood of self-harm in boys. Most of us know this and many of us are frustrated by it. If you've been reading this blog for any amount of time, you can imagine the rollercoaster ride this week's dive into the research brought.
The headline instantly hooked me. It read "New Discovery May Lead to More Effective Treatment for Cardiovascular Disease" - I dove right in. The first paragraphs of the press release told the story of the discovery of a new molecule that appears to play a big role in giving a healthy lifestyle its known beneficial and preventative effect. While this could definitely help prove how important it is and maybe even helping those putting in the work to measure gains under the surface and therefore build sustained healthy habits, sadly, that's not where the story led. Instead, it talked about a provisional patent filing and that the research team "are now taking steps to translate ITA-LNP to the clinic, including engineering a pill form of the treatment, which they believe will not only be convenient for patients but also transformative".
[Insert groaning sounds here]
Instead of finding ways to help more Americans get to and change the root of the problem (lack of daily healthy actions and making THOSE more convenient), the goal is to create another convenient quick fix? What!?. [Continued groaning].
Truly, this is an amazing discovery, and for a very small percentage of the population with no alternative, it might be a game-changer. For everyone else, it looks like another version of the convenience trap where we trade money for our quality of life. [Final groan].
OK, rant over, thanks for letting me get that off my chest....next week back to our regularly scheduled program :)
Have a great weekend,
Mike E.