Introduction to Dr. Dillon Meier

Kerry 0:00

All right. Hi, everybody. Welcome back to the Get Healthy Tampa Bay podcast. I'm your host, Dr. Kerry Reller, and today we have Dr. Dillon Meier back to talk to us about AI and what he's created to help everybody live longer and better and healthier. He's a cardiothoracic anesthesiologist in Clearwater, and started the 7 Longevity practice. And if you're interested to hear more about that and functional medicine, you can listen to last week's episode. But welcome back to the podcast, Dr. Meier.

Dillon 0:28

Yeah, thanks for having me back. L- I love talking about this stuff, and I'm excited to share more

The challenge of health information overload

Kerry 0:33

All right. So there is so much health information out there, podcasts, social media, social influencers. How do you make sense of it all?

Dillon 0:44

So th- that was exactly the problem that I was facing myself. So as I was building my longevity and health span practice, which involves a lot of functional medicine and cutting-edge research and techniques, I was finding that it was harder and harder to keep up with all of the health podcasts, let alone all of the journals while also trying to build a business, while also working full-time as a cardiac anesthesiologist. And just as an example Andrew Huberman podcast, it's great, has a lot of good content, but sometimes it's three and a half hours long, and you have one of those a week. You have Peter Attia's podcast. You have Rhonda Patrick. There's a lot of really good content out there, but it's hard to filter through all of it to get the essentials that might apply to you personally. And so I wanted a way to understand all of that, especially when some of my clients may be, like, Huberman people or P- or Rhonda Patrick people, and so how do I connect with them in a way that helps them move their health forward? And then the other thing was helping out my parents. Non-science, non-medical people, how do I help them move better and feel better? Because there's a lot of content online, especially on Instagram and TikTok, where it's just, it's whoever yells

Building an AI-powered health research pipeline

Dillon 2:00

the loudest gets the attention, and it may not be factually accurate, and a lot of times there's usually some sort of sale happening in the background. So they're loud. They're catchy. They've got a, a really good intriguing reel, and they've reeled you into their marketing website selling a $70 a month supplement that you probably don't need. So taking all of that together, I I built a intake pipeline for myself and for my c- close friends and family where it searches PubMed every day for the latest articles across a bunch of different keywords related to health and health span and longevity and supplements and exercise and sleep, all the good stuff And then also it ingests all of the top podcast content, so all of the podcasts that I already mentioned. So it takes all of these things and enters them into a custom AI pipeline that I built using Claude. And so it's an evolving process, but let's say there's 10 different steps. And so the data comes in, and I have one master editor that's watching all of it, and then I'm watching the master editor. And essentially it's what should our topics be today? And so the AIs will pull in a couple of things. Oh, Huberman talked about this. This was on th- this podcast, and th- these are a couple articles. And then it'll cross-check if we've talked about those in the past or if they're relevant. And then the long and short of it is, it's like a, an hour and a half run of a bunch of AIs arguing and fact-checking each other and, insulting each other that, they didn't, get the statistics correct. And then by the end of it, it's this finely tuned newsletter with a bunch of different sections so that people can skip through it depending on what they're interested that day. And everything's fact-checked, everything's PubMed sourced. And the other key aspect of it is that the conflicts of interest

Why conflicts of interest matter in health content

Dillon 4:00

are front and center. So it'll say, oh, this guy was on such and such podcast, and he was talking about NAD supplements. And he says that this formulation is the best, and it just so happens that there's a couple of studies that support it. But, little caption, this guy is also the founder and CEO of the company that sells these supplements. So it allows people the transparency to know, okay, this guy does have a conflict of interest, but we also do have some pretty good supporting data behind it. And I think that's critically important so that we're not just doing things based on marketing, but also science

Kerry 4:39

Yeah, you really captured a lot of the questions I was gonna ask you already. Basically, the conflicts of interest in the health space like you just mentioned, like why is that such a big issue? Because they're out there, selling the products that they... Or recommending the products that they actually make money off of, right? And I think what's lovely about your newsletter and your site is that it really discloses all that information so you can make a more educated decision on what if you want to purchase any of these types of things. So this really helps, the listeners evaluate the credibility of what they're hearing as well, right? I think you do a good job synthesizing it in, the newsletter, but also on just the website when you look at the different topics that are really prevalent in the longevity space. You mentioned NAD+. Trying to think of what else was on there. Like a certain supplement is recommended. I think that's what you had a good a summary of all the different supplements and things like that, if you wanna share a little bit about that

Healthspan Intel and evaluating longevity supplements

Dillon 5:38

Yeah. So I essentially have a system where all of like the top 50 plus longevity compounds like different vitamins, rapamycin, NAD magnesium, vitamin D, like the big names. And it's each one has their own space on the website. And so it'll have-- It's written in like a-- almost like a a review article would be In a journal where here's all the different evidence, let's grade the evidence. Some things it's like it's compelling in mice studies, but we don't really have the human data behind it. And so I like to have all of that there so that people can make a more informed decision. And the other key thing-- So the-- it's called Health Span Intel, and the key thing about it is like my name's not anywhere on it. And so my whole concept is data over gurus. So there's a lot of gurus in health but ultimately we should be following the data, not what any one person yells about the loudest or has the most fo- or whose marketing or advertising is the best. And I also don't e-ever plan on taking any like advertising or selling any supplements or anything like that. So it's just-- it's purely like a data-driven intelligence product so that everyone can be healthier and live better informed lives.

Letting AI summarize health podcasts

Kerry 6:57

Do you spend the time listening to any of these podcasts anymore?

Dillon 7:02

No, because my, my agents summarize it for me, and I read I read Healthspan Intel

Kerry 7:08

There you go. Yeah, it's very difficult to keep up with all the different, podcasts and things you want. I think the next one is you needing to synthesize all the AI podcasts that we're hearing about and see what's up to date with that as well. That's good. So I think that this is... The Health Span Intel site, definitely recommend you, you mentioned the rapamycin, the NAD+ and other, simple supplements on there. And I guess I wanted to ask you a little bit more of how you use AI in your, even your practice. I know we already touched on your practice, but just to go back to that, and then also in what other ways for this Health Span Intel

Using AI agents to build knowledge systems

Dillon 7:49

Yeah, so using AI to build, it's it's like a blessing and a curse because now you can Y- you convince yourself that anything's possible and that you can do anything. And so then a quick side project turns into a very large project very fast. But you So you're able to move faster, but then you're able to have more ideas and actually see those ideas start to grow and and so that's what's really cool about all of it. And so the website continues to grow and I, like I move up the ladder. So the agents building it are like like junior employees and then there's like project managers over them, and then I'm like the, at the executive level. And so like I, so I set goals like, "Okay, guys, I want, a page for each of these longevity compounds." So then I'll have one agent go and research what are the top 50 longevity compounds, right? And so it'll sp- spend all this time kind of working in the background, and then it comes and it says, "Okay, these are all of them." And then I have a project management system, so it will create an issue or like a task for each of the compounds. Okay, we need a page on this, we need a page on this, we need a page on this. And then other agents will pick them up one at a time and start working on them. And so the other day I was just like clicking around on the website and I came to this section that I'd, I hadn't even seen, I didn't know that they built it. And it was it was like each of the longevity gurus have their own page with all of their supplement protocols that they've publicly said they're on, and then there's all of the evidence that either supports them or questions them. And so that, that's a really cool aspect is that you can see what is Andrew Huberman on, and why is he on it? What does the data say behind these compounds that he's on? And I think that really helps people make even more informed decisions. And so I've created this interconnected web on the website where you can have an idea, okay, I want to know what Huberman's on. You go to Huberman's we- website on there, you click on his stuff, and then you see what he's on, and then you can click on each one of those and go to that page, and then, and everything's starting to become linked so that it's one big like knowledge base.

Dr. Meier’s personal supplement stack

Kerry 10:04

And what supplements is Dylan Meyer on

Dillon 10:07

So I'm my, my page isn't on there yet.

Kerry 10:10

Oh

Dillon 10:11

yeah, c- currently so my current stack is omega-3s. So I dialed my whole stack back. I kinda... I do a stack reset every once in a while. It'll start to get kinda complex, and then I do a reset. So I just sent a full panel of my seven longevity labs, and so I'm waiting to get back. But my daily drivers are, like, vitamin D with K2, omega-3s, NAC, and magnesium. I think if you're looking for the highest leverage, that's it, and a probiotic. It's kinda one of those you're on a desert island and you can only take five things sorta situations, I would say that's probably it

Kerry 10:48

I think those are pretty reasonable ones. I don't know about the NAC. I'll have to research it as much. But we've used it with other certain types of patients. But the other ones are very much recommended to many of my patients. So at least we're on the right track in the insurance-based world as well. But like you said, it's hard to, trust people when you think that they're selling something. And I think that all the some of the media state that, if the doctor is a social media influencer or something like that, then that you're selling something or whatever. So it's hard to get that trust and alliance with everything as well. And we see that very heavily in the menopause space sometimes, and they're not always selling anything event- sometimes but just trying to get the word out about, proper care in that space as well. That would be another area to comb and see where the data is and things like that as well. so any other... Or how about some practical longevity advice for our listeners and maybe you mentioned those key supplements. How about what is one or a few tests or metrics to be measured by as well?

Practical longevity advice anyone can start today

Dillon 11:55

Yeah, I think that without overcomplicating it, because one-- you can really get deep into this space, and there-- it definitely create-- trying to, to hyper-optimize yourself can lead to orthorexia, where you're, like, obsessed with health, and then that alone can be counterproductive because then you're stressing about every little measurement. I think wearables are great, but if you're waking up every morning and you're letting your wearable tell you how you should be feeling, it's good to track, but if you look at it and you go, "Oh, my sleep was a sixty-seven, I guess my day is gonna be garbage," then it's a s- it's like a self-fulfilling loop. So I do think that people should start with the basics. So things like s- it's what our mothers and our grandmothers told us, right? Sleep, move, finish your broccoli, stay hydrated. And so if people are doing those things, then that's great. But then they can take the next step and start doing little projects on yourself. So if you feel like your sleep isn't as good as it can be, run a little experiment. Stop eating three hours before you go to sleep. There's a lot of good evidence behind that. A lot of people, they're snacking up until the moment they brush their teeth and go to bed. So do that for a week. Compare how you feel. Even if you don't have a wearable, just jot it down in a little notebook. I'm gonna wake up. Do I feel, zero to ten, how did I sleep? Come up with your own metrics. And so that, that's a good place to start. Just little experiments. Try a little invention-- intervention, see how you feel. It can be as simple as that

Kerry 13:32

Yeah, those are great actually really basic things. And to speak with what you said about the devices making things worse, I've definitely had many patients say that they use the Oura Ring and then they got all hyper excited about it, and then it made everything worse, so they stopped it and felt actually a lot better. So every- like we talked about in the beginning of maybe last week's episode, everything is, an N of 1. You gotta figure out what works for you, and everybody, you might be a little bit different, yeah.

Wearables: benefits, drawbacks, and unexpected lessons

Dillon 13:59

H- here's an interesting anecdote. So I was, a couple of years ago I was testing out which was better, the Whoop, the Apple Watch, or the Oura Ring, and so I wore all three for almost a year. And so every morning it was like I'd sit down with a, my council, and I would go through all of the apps and see who said what, and, which sleep was better, and comparing all the metrics, and then I later did like a Python data analysis on it. But at one point I was like, "Why am I sleeping so bad?" I keep waking up in the middle of the night, I'm not sleeping well. And so I bought a night vision camera and mounted it above my bed. My, my w- my wife loves all this stuff. And so then I monitored my sleep for a couple of nights, and then I I did some data analysis on it using Python again and AI, and I was able to reconstruct my my sleep polysomnogram overnight, and I was able to zero in on the exact frames when I was waking up. And what was happening was I was turned on my side, and because my wrist is a little bony, the light from the Whoop and the Apple Watch was, like, reflecting off of my skin and shooting out the sides, because the lights come on when it's sensing different things like your blood oxygen, and it, the light was hitting me in the eyes, and so it was waking me up. So the wearables were waking me up. so I cut out the wearables and now I just wear an Oura Ring because it's more discreet. It doesn't have the bright light that the other ones have and now I sleep better,

Kerry 15:29

Yeah, I used to sleep with a Fitbit on and then I got a Apple Watch, and I don't sleep with it 'cause it needs to charge, and I haven't explored the WHOOP or the Oura Ring or anything like that yet, but I definitely put it aside. But I have explored CGMs, and if you don't turn off like the lows or turn off the app, then it just wakes you up 'cause you think that They think that you're having a hypoglycemia in the middle of the night. So that I always warn patients if I'm putting them on a CGM, I'm like if you don't have diabetes and we're not worried about it, we're just doing this for fun, put the thing way out of the room or close the app so it doesn't wake you up at night." Yeah

Dillon 16:08

Yeah it's loud. It happened to me too. It'll, 'cause it's trying to save somebody from a severe hypoglycemic event. And so

Kerry 16:15

I hear the commercial... Not the commercial ones, the consumer ones don't have that, or you can turn it off, whereas obviously the ones that are, clinically for diabetes, they don't have that option to turn it off. But I haven't used a non I haven't used the consumer ones

Using continuous glucose monitors for self-experimentation

Kerry 16:29

before.

Dillon 16:29

That's an interesting topic too. A lot of people can get a lot of leverage from buying one of those on Amazon and running their own in-house experiments for a month. So like I tell people, just put it on, and for two weeks just go about your normal life. Don't obsess about it, just look at it and watch what's happening. Eat your normal stuff, put your normal amount of sugar in your coffee and see what happens, and then note how you're feeling. And then the things that spike you the highest and cause you to feel like that sugar crash, then in the next two-week cycle, cut those out and then watch your curve. Or little experiments like the easiest one is just eat a bowl of rice and watch what happens. And then eat a bowl of rice with olive oil on it. Then eat a bowl of rice, not all at once, at different mealtimes, and then eat a bowl of rice with veggies, and then a bowl of rice with veggies, fat, and protein. So you kinda keep mixing things up. And then eat a bowl of rice and then go for a walk right after. And so people don't generally need to wear these things long-term. You put it on, you run a month of little self-experiments, and you can get a r- lot of really good data about how walking after you eat helps keep the, your blood sugar lower. And then mixing in fat or veggies or protein all help to stabilize the curve too and not give you that crash and hunger after

Kerry 17:53

Yeah, I definitely use it in patients who like data and that feedback to really get more information. If patients... Or, and not are going to ob- or even if they wanted to obsess over it for a minute, that's fine, as long as they're not gonna do it forever. But those data-driven patients like yourself, that's when I like to use those as well. They're fun. I'm surprised we didn't bring that up before. But is there anything else you'd like to share about Healthspan Intel or Seven Longevity or anything that you can think of?

The future of Healthspan Intel and final thoughts

Dillon 18:23

If anyone signs up for Healthspan Intel and they find anything that can be better or they're en- enjoying a certain aspect of it, or they're, they'd like to see something else, just, shoot an email to the email at the bottom. I read all of them. I'm constantly looking for feedback and just be in touch, let me know, and I can fine-tune it however people want to help them

Kerry 18:43

Awesome. We will include all that information in the show notes, and thank you so much for being on the podcast again today. And everybody stay tuned next week for next week's episode, and Get Healthy Tampa Bay. Bye

Dillon 18:55

Thank you