Live Long and Well with Dr. Bobby

I’m joined by Dr. Jeffrey Sankoff to talk about three exercise “rules” you may be allowed to break: you don’t always need to spread workouts across the week, intensity doesn’t have to come from a formal interval session, and most short workouts don’t require a complicated hydration or fueling plan.

The Exercise Rules You’re Allowed to Break

Have you ever skipped a workout because you couldn&r...

After 70 episodes, I've noticed a pattern that keeps showing up in every corner of longevity, wellness, and medicine: people don’t fail because they “don’t care.” They fail because the signal is buried under hype, and because perfectionism makes the basics feel impossible to sustain. So I step back and share a simple framework  for living long and well: treat evidence like a compass, treat hype like a d...

Episode Summary: In this episode, I look at diet soda, artificial sweeteners, and the real-world question that matters most: compared with what, at what dose, for whom, and at what tradeoff?

Diet Coke, Twinkies, and the Questions That Matter

I start with a memory from medical training: a cardiology professor walking around with a Diet Coke in one hand and a Twinkie in his pocket. Was he making a smart tradeoff, or fooling himself? Th...

In this episode, I explore where AI can genuinely help with health questions, where it can fall dangerously short, and how to use it more wisely before trusting it with decisions that really matter.

AI tools like ChatGPT, Claude, Grok, and Gemini can be useful for understanding lab results, summarizing a doctor’s visit, preparing questions before an appointment, or making sense of complicated medical language. But when people ...

In this episode, I explore a difficult but important idea: when it comes to depression, anxiety, fear, and emotional suffering, changing physiology often works better than understanding the story behind the pain. 

I begin with a simple question: why do we assume insight should heal us? As human beings, we naturally look for patterns and explanations, but explanation is not the same as relief. I share two personal examples&mdash...

This episode explores what massage and acupuncture can genuinely help with, where the benefits appear to be mostly short term, and where the evidence simply does not support the bigger claims.

Massage and acupuncture are widely used, and many people spend real time, money, and hope on them. I walk through an important distinction: feeling better is not the same as changing the underlying problem or speeding healing. A treatment may ...

“All natural.” “Doctor recommended.” “Used for 5,000 years.” If you’ve ever felt your hand reach for a product before your brain finishes thinking, you’re not alone and you’re not broken. We dig into why health hype works even on people who know better, and how to build a simple mental pause that protects your everyday health decisions.

We start with a personal story from...

Stress is everywhere and so is the marketing. Nearly half of US adults say they feel stressed often, and the wellness world is ready with a supplement, a lab panel, or a pricey device for every symptom. We wanted a cleaner answer: what is stress, what can we measure at home, and what actually reduces stress in a way that’s grounded in real studies rather than hype.

We start by defining stress in a practical way: stress...

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Bold claims make great headlines; clear evidence makes better habits. We take a hard look at the widely shared study suggesting two to three cups of coffee cut dementia risk by 20 percent and unpack what those numbers really mean for your brain and your daily routine.

First, we break down the Harvard JAMA research: massive cohorts of nurses and physicians, decades of follow-up, and self-reported diet data tha...

You read everywhere that you “should” cut salt—especially if your blood pressure is up. But salt also makes food enjoyable. In this episode, I walk through the human evidence (not animal studies) and frame salt as a risk–benefit tradeoff: when does sodium meaningfully matter, for whom, and how can you test your sensitivity?

Big questions we answer

• If you have high blood pressure: does lowering salt always ...

Can you predict when “bad things” will happen to your health—and more importantly, can you do anything about it? In this episode, I break down which prediction tools actually help you live long and well (because you can act on them), and which ones are mostly expensive fortune-telling. Joined by cardiologist Dr. Anthony Pearson (author of The Skeptical Cardiologist), we dig into heart-risk calculators, dementia ge...

A medicine that quiets food noise, trims 15 to 20 percent of body weight, and even lowers the risk of heart events sounds like a fantasy—until you meet GLP-1 drugs. We dig into what makes semaglutide and tirzepatide so different, how they rewire satiety signals, and why their impact extends beyond the scale to blood sugar, blood pressure, and cardiovascular outcomes. Along the way, we get candid about the trade-offs: GI side ...

More of us are being seen by nurse practitioners (NPs) and physician associates/assistants (PAs); for routine care outcomes look similar to physician visits, but for complex, new, or worsening problems you should push to see the doctor and ask for clear oversight.

Key topics

• Why this is happening: Longer waits and rising demand meet a physician shortfall, so systems lean on NPs/PAs to expand access. New-patient waits average ~31 ...

Madrone Springs Ranch and Bed and Breakfast Website

Summary:
I share five lessons that shaped an unexpected path—from physician-scientist to entrepreneur, Ironman triathlete, podcaster, and ranch/inn owner—and how you can use the same principles to build a life you didn’t plan but absolutely love.

What you’ll learn:

• Why it’s smart to seek counsel—but essential to trust your own judgment.
• How ...

Summary: I separate cold-season fact from folklore so you know what truly prevents colds, what (slightly) shortens them, what eases symptoms—and what to skip. Save money, feel better, and keep it simple.

What we cover

• How common colds are and how long they last (2–3 per year on average; usually 5–7 days; cough can linger).

Prevention audit: 

• Vitamin C doesn’t prevent colds in the general popula...

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Summary: I walk you through the proposed shift away from universal newborn hepatitis B vaccination at birth, why it matters, what the evidence shows, and how parents can make a calm, informed choice—without reigniting every vaccine debate.

Episode highlights

• I explain why hepatitis B is uniquely risky for babies: if infected early, up to 90% develop lifelong infection with later risks of cirr...

Summary: Microplastics are showing up in our water, food, air—and in human tissues. In this episode, I unpack what the best studies actually show (and don’t), why risk is plausible but not proven, and the realistic steps you can take today without panic. 

In this episode, I cover:

• What microplastics are and why they’re everywhere—from packaging and clothing to tire dust—and why production is sti...

Exercise is the most powerful longevity tool we have, but after 50 the recovery curve, injury risk, and bone/muscle changes mean the smartest plan blends strength, power, impact, and slightly more recovery—so you can train hard without derailing progress.

What we cover

• Why this matters now: record-setting older endurance athletes (and I’m racing at 69) show what’s possible—if we train wisely.
• The “agi...