Is AI Secretly Sabotaging Your Health? with Dr. Aaron Neinstein

There's someone new in your life. They help you write, plan, think through problems. They're available at 2am, when you can't sleep, because they never get tired of listening to you.You know it's not a person. But your brain isn't always so sure.One in four Americans have already used AI for their health. A third of people under 30 use it like a therapist. A Harvard study found daily users are 30% more likely to show signs of depression.That's an association, not proof. But it's the question that's been sitting with me: are these tools making us healthier, or reaching for something that quietly makes us worse?Dr. Aaron Neinstein is an endocrinologist who's spent his career building technology inside healthcare. We trained together in residency almost 20 years ago, taking care of ICU patients side by side, long before either of us could've guessed where this was headed.Aaron tells me about the night he almost brushed off his dog swallowing a thread — until ChatGPT told him, at midnight, that it was an emergency. It probably saved her life. We talk about where AI is closing real gaps: the oncology visit patients walk into with zero prep, the colonoscopy prep calls that never used to happen, the ambient scribe that finally let him look at his patients instead of typing notes.Then we get honest about what it's costing us. Aaron's sleep has slipped 90 minutes a night for four months. His guitar has sat untouched. I told him about my own late nights on Claude Code, and the spirals I've caught myself in that I now recognize as rumination dressed up as productivity.FREE RESOURCESWhat is a plant-based eater's best friend? A good sauce. Start with the Sauce Library, a free collection of whole-food sauces and dressings that make anything taste incredible. It comes with Health That Flows, a free 5-day email series built around the same approach that helped me lose over 80 pounds and reverse my own chronic diseases. One idea a day. Nothing to overhaul.Get it free at https://rakyourlife.com/experience-life/CONNECT WITH DR. AARONWebsite: aaronneinstein.comLinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/aaronneinsteinCONNECT WITH DR. RAKWebsite: https://rakyourlife.comInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/rakyourlifePodcast: https://rakyourlife.com/podcastTimestamps00:03 – Cold open: the tool that never gets tired of listening02:22 – The stats: 1 in 4 Americans, and a Harvard depression study04:39 – AI as healthcare's "get out of jail free card"09:36 – Colonoscopy prep calls and cutting cancellations in half15:49 – The ChatGPT message that saved Aaron's dog's life25:09 – Rak and Aaron confess: losing sleep to Claude Code27:19 – Inside Aaron's AI chief of staff35:16 – Why there's no universal truth in an AI's answer39:54 – AI as sophisticated rumination, Rak's honest confession44:26 – Setting guardrails before your bad moments arrive55:08 – Sycophancy, and what a good therapist does differently1:00:41 – Life philosophy: enjoy every sandwich1:02:18 – How Dr. Aaron makes his own life a health feast