Peptides, GLP-1s, and the New Era of Preventative Health

How Daniel Rak turned personal tragedy into a mission to fix healthcare

TL;DR

• Why reactive healthcare fails people and what a preventative model looks like

• The truth about GLP-1s, peptides, and NAD+ therapy for real longevity

• How environment, stress, food, and technology shape your health more than genetics

• Why personalised data, labs, and tracking are the future of medicine

• Simple, practical steps you can apply today to improve your long-term health
  
  

  🎧 Available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, YouTube or wherever you listen to your podcasts.

  Watch me on YouTube

  https://youtu.be/Jc3qOIDHcqc

  Listen to the True From Podcast

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Introduction

When you listen to people talk about healthcare, it’s usually after something has already gone wrong. A diagnosis. A scare. A major event that forces them to act. But every so often, you meet someone who sees the system breaking in real time, and decides to build something better before more people fall through the cracks.

That’s exactly why I wanted Daniel Rak on the podcast.

Daniel is the co-founder of ReadyRx, a fast-growing longevity and preventative-health platform that focuses on peptides, GLP-1 therapy, NAD+, personalised supplementation, and proactive medical care. But his journey didn’t start in a lab or a boardroom. It started when he was 12 years old, watching his father lose motor function after an aggressive MS diagnosis. It continued through his dad’s cancer, remission, metastasis and eventual death. And then again when his fiancée was misdiagnosed in an ER with what doctors insisted was “just a virus,” when in reality her appendix had burst.

The system failed the people he loved most, more than once.

In this conversation, Daniel and I dive into why this keeps happening and what a truly preventative future could look like. We talk about GLP-1s, peptides, NAD+, data-driven medicine, AI, and the lifestyle foundations that still underpin healthy ageing no matter what therapy you use. We also explore my own health scare at 27, the hidden cost of stress, and why almost every long-term health problem begins long before symptoms show up.

If you’re curious about longevity, want to understand modern therapies in plain language, or just want practical steps to improve your health, this episode is worth your time.

Lesson 1: Reactive Medicine Is Failing Us; Preventative Health Is the Future

What It Is:
Reactive healthcare treats problems only after they become serious. Preventative healthcare focuses on catching issues early and improving long-term wellbeing before symptoms appear.

Why It Matters:
As Daniel’s stories show, too many people fall victim to late intervention, misdiagnosed cancers, ignored symptoms, rushed assessments, or a simple lack of data. Preventative care changes the timeline. It gives you visibility into what’s happening in your body now, not when it’s too late. This is the foundation of longevity.

How To Apply It:

1. Start tracking essential health markers: sleep, stress, heart rate, blood glucose, steps.

2. Request baseline labs annually (or more often if needed).

3. Build a long-term relationship with a GP or clinic who listens and investigates deeply.

4. Don’t wait for symptoms, examine trends (energy, mood, sleep, cravings, weight).

5. Assume that lifestyle changes today prevent bigger problems later.

6. Use wearables, apps, or a health journal to make your health easier to see.

Pro Tip: Most health issues build quietly over years, not days.

Try This Today: Book your next blood test before you “feel like you need it.”

Lesson 2: GLP-1s Are Tools, Not Magic

What It Is:
GLP-1 medications (like Ozempic and tirzepatide) help regulate appetite, improve insulin sensitivity, and change reward pathways around food.

Why It Matters:
Daniel is open about using GLP-1s himself to overcome deep cravings and a lifelong food addiction. He calls it “a light-bulb moment.” But he also explains why people misuse them: over-dosing, under-eating protein, ignoring muscle loss, or treating them as a shortcut instead of a structured tool.

How To Apply It:

1. Eat enough protein daily (1.6-2.2g/kg bodyweight).

2. Strength train 2-4 times per week to protect muscle.

3. Sleep 7-9 hours GLP-1s don’t fix poor recovery.

4. Hydrate properly; cravings worsen when you’re dehydrated.

5. Address emotional eating patterns or stress triggers.

6. Work with a clinician or program that follows you closely.

Pro Tip: GLP-1s help you eat less, but habits determine whether your results last.

Try This Today: Add 25-30g of protein to your next meal.

Lesson 3: Stress Is the Hidden Killer

What It Is:
Chronic stress elevates cortisol, disrupts sleep, damages cardiovascular health, and fuels poor decisions around food, movement, and recovery.

Why It Matters:
Both Daniel and I have lived this. His family trauma created long periods of high stress. For me, it nearly turned into a life-altering cardiac event at 27. Stress isn’t just an emotion; it’s a biological process that accelerates ageing and disease.

How To Apply It:

1. Identify your stress “inputs” (workload, screens, relationships).

2. Build in 10–15 minutes of daily decompression (walk, breathwork, sunlight).

3. Prioritise sleep hygiene: dark room, no screens 60 minutes before bed.

4. Reduce stimulants when your stress is high (caffeine, alcohol).

5. Create boundaries with work and social commitments.

6. Strengthen social support: community, friends, coaching.

Pro Tip: Your body keeps score even when your mind tries to push through.

Try This Today: Go for a 5-minute walk without your phone.

Lesson 4: Your Environment Shapes Your Health More Than You Think

What It Is:
Blue Zones, research on food systems, and modern lifestyle patterns all point to the same truth: the environment you live in nudges your choices long before willpower does.

Why It Matters:
Daniel talks openly about how our food supply, phones, plastics, endocrine disruptors, and engineered hyper-palatable foods have created an obesity and chronic-disease epidemic. It’s not just personal choice, it’s systemic design.

How To Apply It:

1. Remove trigger foods from your home environment.

2. Improve your defaults: fresh food, routine meals, hydration.

3. Reduce screen time, especially late at night.

4. Spend more time around health-focused people.

5. Set your home up for movement: equipment, walking routes, reminders.

Pro Tip: Design beats discipline. Set your environment up to help you win.

Try This Today: Replace one processed snack in your pantry with a whole-food option.

Lesson 5: Data, Wearables, and AI Are Transforming Personalised Health

What It Is:
Modern tech allows people to track heart rhythm, sleep stages, glucose, steps, HRV, and recovery, giving early insight into problems traditional medicine often misses.

Why It Matters:
During my health scare years ago, none of this tech existed. Today, smart rings include EKG sensors, CGMs offer real-time glucose feedback, and ReadyRx is building systems that merge labs, wearables, and AI to create personalised plans rather than one-size-fits-all advice.

How To Apply It:

1. Use a wearable (ring or watch) to track your sleep, HR, and recovery.

2. Do a CGM cycle once or twice a year to learn your food responses.

3. Store all labs in one place for long-term trend tracking.

4. Look for patterns: poor sleep + high resting HR, or stress + cravings.

5. Share your data with a clinician who understands preventative health.

6. Be curious, not perfectionist, about what the data shows.

Pro Tip: Data is only useful if you act on what it tells you.

Try This Today: Check last night’s resting heart rate and ask, “What influenced that?”

Mini Case/Example

“When my fiancée walked into the ER with a burst appendix, they told her it was a virus and sent her home.” - Daniel Rak

“Doctors didn’t start looking at my heart until something happened.” - Jack Graham

These stories illustrate the same lesson: if you wait until something breaks, you’ve waited too long.

Quick Wins Checklist (Do These Today)

• Book your next blood test or annual health check.

• Add 30g of protein to one meal.

• Go for a 10-minute phone-free walk.

• Check your sleep and resting heart rate data from last night.

• Remove one processed snack from your pantry.

• Drink a full glass of water as soon as you read this.

Closing Insight

The future of health isn’t about extremes, hacks, or chasing perfection. It’s about combining modern tools, like peptides, GLP-1s, NAD+, wearables, and AI, with the timeless foundations of sleep, movement, nutrition, community, and stress management. Daniel’s story is a reminder that most people don’t change until something forces them to. But you don’t need a diagnosis or a crisis to start paying attention. You can build a preventative approach right now, expand your awareness, and take ownership of your long-term health one small decision at a time.

🎧 Available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, YouTube or wherever you listen to your podcasts.

Watch me on YouTube

https://youtu.be/Jc3qOIDHcqc

Listen to the True From Podcast

https://trueform.buzzsprout.com

 Just tell me what you want next.