Top all-time · #289
Peter Attia
Personal blog · peterattiamd.comhealthscience
Peter Attia's personal blog at peterattiamd.com covers health and science. Since 2018, 174 different Hacker News readers have linked it 461 times, most often “The Straight Dope on Cholesterol (Part I)”. It is still writing: the last post was on 2026-10-31, and you can follow it by feed.
Sometimes recommended · 12 of 40 sampled comments recommend it?
Why HN links it
HN readers link Peter Attia's site mainly to podcast interviews and articles on nutrition, VO2 max, sleep and COVID vaccines. Most links cite a point; a few call them worth a listen.
- Recommended for · 12 comments
- Called 'enjoyed', 'very motivating', 'worth a listen', 'excellent', 'great podcast' and 'great article'; one says 'anything from Peter Attia'.
Summarised by Claude from a sample of 40 HN comments that link here. Each comment is marked recommending, critical or neutral (citing without judging); how this works.
Explore evidence-informed insights on longevity, nutrition, exercise, sleep, and disease prevention from Dr. Peter Attia to optimize your healthspan and lifespan
Most-linked posts?
- /podcast/11 people · 11 mentions · first linked 2020-01-19
- The Straight Dope on Cholesterol (Part I)9 people · 10 mentions · first linked 2018-03-12
- Dangers of poor sleep, Alzheimer’s risk and mental health8 people · 8 mentions · first linked 2019-04-01
- /outlive/7 people · 15 mentions · first linked 2023-05-03
- /rickjohnson/6 people · 14 mentions · first linked 2020-01-10
- Introduction to My Longevity Tactics6 people · 7 mentions · first linked 2019-04-24
- /rickjohnson2/4 people · 11 mentions · first linked 2022-03-07
- Why I’m for Covid vaccines, but against vaccine mandates4 people · 4 mentions · first linked 2022-01-23
- Covid Part 2: Masks, long Covid, boosters, mandates, treatments, and more3 people · 35 mentions · first linked 2022-01-24
- /donlayman/3 people · 16 mentions · first linked 2022-10-01
What Hacker News says?
While the US health care system as a whole is mess, I don't think it's intractable if you can attack it from the right directions. GoodRX did with pharmaceuticals, and Mark Cuban seems to be doing a good job with CostPlus Drugs. (Valisure is also pretty interesting, doing in-house validation of generics). Marty Makary wrote a book a couple years back, The Price We Pay on the wicked knot of a problem that is US healt…
Comment linking /martymakary/
on ““Amateur” programmer fought cancer with 50 Nvidia Geforce 1080Ti”Submitted Importance of muscle mass, strength and cardiorespiratory fitness for longevity as a story · 152 points
HN discussionIn some cases we don't really know if your kid has autism. Under the DSM-5 criteria there are three levels of autism spectrum disorder: 1, 2, 3. Down at the less severe end of the spectrum, clinicians often assign different diagnoses. One psychiatrist might diagnose a patient with ASD Level 1, and then the next day a different psychiatrist might say that the same patient doesn't have ASD at all and actually suffers…
Comment linking /trennasutcliffe/
on “Science YouTuber physicsgirl (Dianna Cowern) stands for the first time in 2 yrs”Submitted Widespread fraud in the generic drug industry as a story · 96 points
HN discussionBuckle up https://peterattiamd.com/why-there-is-no-bad-or-good-cholest...
Comment linking /why-there-is-no-bad-or-good-cholesterol/
on “Blue Zones, where people reach age 100 at 10 times greater rates”Submitted Does low cholesterol cause cognitive impairment? Part II as a story · 89 points
HN discussionI'm sorry you've gone through that and I hope your condition improves. While I don't know the specifics of your case, in general there aren't a lot of real solid evidence-based medicine guidelines for treating back pain or injuries. Ask 10 different physicians and you'll get 10 different treatment plans. Surgery has made many patients worse in the long run. Obviously there are some traumatic injuries where emergency…
Comment linking /stuartmcgill/
on “What we know about CEO shooting suspect”Submitted Does NMN improve metabolic health in humans? as a story · 87 points
HN discussionRegardless of insurance issues, are there actually evidence-based medicine guidelines to support an immediate MRI for back injuries? By injury do you mean some kind of specific trauma, or any serious back pain regardless of suspected cause? Many patients do recover with OTC analgesics, proper physical therapy, and time. https://peterattiamd.com/stuartmcgill/ What you'll find with imaging for those structures is that…
Comment linking /stuartmcgill/
on “What we know about CEO shooting suspect”Submitted Egg Boxing as a story · 82 points
HN discussionI just happened to do some reading and listening recently on a topic in exercise science that may be helpful for diabetics. Tl;Dr: The body has two basic metabolic systems, glucose oxidation and fat oxidation. Fat oxidation can be trained to be more powerful (as in wattage of output) through high volume, low intensity exercise. Clinicians have observed higher insulin sensitivity in patients who undergo this training…
Comment linking /inigosanmillan/
on “The Unreasonable Math of Type 1 Diabetes”Submitted Reducing risk of automotive death as a story · 67 points
HN discussionAwesome that it worked so well for you while it did. Tip for others who may try this: don't forget to lower your macros (and, in turn, calories) an appropriate amount as your weight drops. The same diet that maintains keto at 250 lbs won't keep you in keto at 190. For much, much more: https://peterattiamd.com/
Comment linking /
on “Inflammation might be the root of preventable disease”Submitted Is Type 2 Diabetes Reversible at Scale? as a story · 59 points
HN discussionFor those that don't wanna read the book, I enjoyed Peter Attia's interview with Walker. I haven't read the book though, so no idea if you'd be missing something. One of the most interesting takeaways / proofs about the importance of sleep mentioned in the podcast, was that there's a huge increase in car accidents and heart attacks after the clocks shift in the spring (I haven't verified the claim). https://peteratt…
Comment linking /matthewwalker1/
on “What Happens to the Body on No Sleep”Submitted Exercise as an equivalent to medication for treatment of depression and anxiety as a story · 30 points
HN discussionHere's the first part of Peter Attia's three part interview with Matthew Walker (6+ hrs total listening time!). Most of the content of the book is covered; it's very motivating insofar as prioritizing sleep quality. https://peterattiamd.com/matthewwalker1/ Matthew Walker's main site: https://www.humansleepscience.com/
Comment linking /matthewwalker1/
on “What Happens to the Body on No Sleep”Submitted Why I’m for Covid vaccines, but against vaccine mandates as a story · 25 points
HN discussionI second this. In first heard him speak on Peter Attia’s podcast https://peterattiamd.com/bjmiller/
Comment linking /bjmiller/
on “How Doctors Die (2013)”Submitted Is alternate-day fasting superior to calorie restriction in lean adults? as a story · 25 points
HN discussionAll of those can be enjoyed by octogenarians. There are octogenarians who finish Ironman triathlons. https://www.tri247.com/triathlon-news/age-group/ironman-kona... The key is to start early and build up enough strength and fitness to sustain you for awhile after the inevitable, irreversible decline sets in around age 70. https://peterattiamd.com/ama39/
Comment linking /ama39/
on “What if regular exercise is the best cognitive exercise?”Submitted Why I’m for Covid vaccines, but against vaccine mandates – Dr. Peter Attia as a story · 18 points
HN discussionLack of skeletal muscle is extremely dangerous for long-term health. Muscle is a key component of the endocrine system, acting as a sink for blood glucose and preventing insulin resistance (type 2 diabetes). Lack of muscle needed to stabilize your movements also greatly increases the risk of debilitating falls and other skeletal injuries. It's important to build up a good amount of muscle when you're young because h…
Comment linking /ama27/
on “What if regular exercise is the best cognitive exercise?”Submitted Are continuous glucose monitors a waste of time for people without diabetes? as a story · 17 points
HN discussionEating cholesterol has very little impact on the cholesterol levels in your body. https://peterattiamd.com/the-straight-dope-on-cholesterol-pa...
Comment linking /the-straight-dope-on-cholesterol-part-i/
on “Red meat is not a health risk. New study slams years of shoddy research”Submitted Are “safe” levels of air pollution safe? as a story · 16 points
HN discussion> Caloric Deficit == Weight Loss > The only thing you really need to know is that you should be eating fewer calories than your body burns everyday. If you do this, you will lose weight – it’s science. Nothing else matters for weight loss. The magnitude of the caloric difference will regulate how quickly or slowly you lose the weight. This is actually not so clear cut. It's currently being debated if this model is r…
Comment linking /do-calories-matter/
on “Losing 100 pounds in 276 days”Submitted Alternate-day fasting vs. calorie restriction for fat loss in lean adults as a story · 15 points
HN discussionYour surety is misplaced and unfortunately you're not even asking the right question. The relationship between salt and blood pressure is a complex, multi-factorial issue which can't be adequately summarized in a comment here. The best explanation I've heard is this interview with Rick Johnson, MD who is one of the most prominent researchers in that field. It's long but worth a listen. https://peterattiamd.com/rickj…
Comment linking /rickjohnson/
on “Facebook said my article was false – now the fact-checkers admit they were wrong”Submitted Does time-restricted eating increase the risk of cardiovascular death? as a story · 13 points
HN discussion
