We Tried to ‘Hack’ Our Diets. We Totally Failed.

We Tried to ‘Hack’ Our Diets. We Totally Failed.

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On this week’s episode of Note to Self, host Manoush Zomorodi and executive producer Jen Poyant team up with The Sporkful’s Dan Pashman to try to cut back on sugar, by using technology that promises to make them healthier.

You might remember Dan Pashman from the time he and Manoush cooked avocado at the instruction of IBM’s Chef Watson. That experiment was a success.

Spoiler: This one really wasn’t. 

By some estimates, health and fitness technology is a $200 billion industry. That includes the oh-so-romantic FitBit you got for Valentine’s Day, the dieting app you paid a dollar for on your phone, and even the sugar detox kit you may or may not have ordered online. But as we’ve heard from many of you, the promise of these magic wellness panaceas doesn’t always play out the way you expect when you put them in the real world.

Many of our listeners tell us their health apps and hacks have been a mixed bag. Early studies bear these experiences out. Inspired by the burbling questions we’re hearing, we’re working on a show that will look more closely into the claims various “we’re going to make you healthy!” apps and services and Silicon Valley entrepreneurs promise will fix us.

Help us take the story deeper. Tell us about the different ways you’ve tried to “quantify” or “bio-hack” yourselves. What happened? Are you still doing it? Why or why not? Has your employer asked you to buy a sleep tracker? Did you make your own optimized protein sludge? Did you lose a ton of weight calculating calories, or did you just lose your mind?

Send a voice memo to notetoself@wnyc.org with your experience. Put “self hack” in the subject line. Help us out by forwarding to anyone you know with a story. The more the better!

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