Opinion: Is more data about your body actually good for you?
This Silicon Valley health trend is making doctors nervous.
From The Times
August 13, 2026

Americans have spent billions of dollars tracking themselves: their steps, their blood oxygen saturation, their sleep cycles, their glucose levels. Is any of this data making us healthier?

Article Image

Illustration by The New York Times; photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty

Opinion

A doctor spoke to David Wallace-Wells about why it can sometimes do more harm than good. →

MORE FROM OPINION

A deflated smiley-face yellow balloon upside-down amid vegetation.

Gen Z fell out of love with work. I don’t blame them. →

An illustration of a classroom in which the teacher and the students are badgers, save for three students who are a penguin, a rabbit and a beaver.

College has a political problem, but it’s not woke brainwashing. →

A pencil held by what appears to be a computer-generated hand.

I’m begging you: Never write with A.I. →

Get expert analysis of the news and a guide to the big ideas shaping the world.

Sign up for the Opinion Today newsletter

Get expert analysis of the news and a guide to the big ideas shaping the world every weekday morning.

Get it in your inbox.

If you received this newsletter from someone else, subscribe here.

Need help? Review our newsletter help page or contact us for assistance.

You received this message because you signed up for updates from The New York Times.

To stop receiving From The Times, unsubscribe. To opt out of other promotional emails from The Times, including those regarding The Athletic, manage your email settings.

Subscribe to The Times

Connect with us on:

facebookxinstagramwhatsapp

Change Your EmailPrivacy PolicyContact UsCalifornia Notices

Zeta LogoAdChoices Logo

The New York Times Company. 620 Eighth Avenue New York, NY 10018