Key points
- Truemed's Justin Mares says qualified people can use HSA and FSA dollars on prevention like gym memberships and sleep tech with a doctor's note.
- He says the highest-leverage health interventions are improving food sourcing and minimizing toxin exposure.
- Mares avoids chicken and seed oils, citing soybean oil's rise from near zero to 20% of US calories since 1970.
Justin Mares says boring health habits beat extreme optimization
Justin Mares thinks the health conversation is distorted by incentives. Influencers are rewarded for extreme protocols, and doctors get about 40 minutes a year with a patient. What works is cheap and unglamorous, mostly better-sourced food and blood work that shows whether an intervention did anything. Truemed exists because the money does not follow that logic. US health care spends almost everything on chronic disease and almost nothing on prevention, and HSA and FSA accounts are the rare dollars an individual controls.
Takeaways
- Chasing one metric backfires. Mares ran a keto company and says the diet worked for a while before it hurt his life. He now rejects avoiding every glucose spike and considers fruit and honey fine for people without metabolic dysfunction.
- Seed oils are a chief suspect. Soybean oil went from almost 0% of American calories in 1970 to nearly 20% today. Mares calls seed oils among the most processed foods, rich in linoleic acid, and avoids chicken because it is fed corn and soy.
- Sourcing and toxins matter most. Mares says the highest-leverage moves are maximizing nutrient density by improving where food comes from and minimizing toxin exposure. He cites tap water data in major cities like New York and Austin, and recommends water and air filters.
- Modern diets miss collagen and glycine. Collagen, gelatin and glycine have largely disappeared from modern diets, and Mares calls adding them back through whole foods like bone broth or through supplements a very high-return change. He takes Maui Nui's dried liver, kidney and spleen blend daily.
- Test, intervene, retest, repeat. Mares gets labs every six months and a coronary calcium scan every 18 months, and has used Function and Superpower blood work. He suggests running an intervention for 90 to 180 days with ChatGPT's help, then retesting.
- Primary care gives too little time. Primary care gives patients roughly 40 minutes a year, and Mares does not think statins suit younger, low-risk people. He expects medicine to change sharply in the next decade as people take health into their own hands.
- HSA and FSA dollars can fund prevention. Ninety percent of US health care spending goes to chronic conditions and under 3% to prevention. Truemed lets people who qualify use tax-free HSA and FSA money on gym memberships, food, supplements and sleep aids with a doctor's note.
A typical day
- Wake around 7 to 7:30 and spend the first 30 to 60 minutes outside for circadian light.
- Drink one or two cups of coffee, all before 11 a.m., and eat only fruit and occasional honey until noon.