September 25, 2025

By Jamie Towey

Anyone want a Tylenol to deal with the news cycle?

No, today’s Jamie’s Corner is not about this rule change and whether it’s a good idea or a bad idea. Not my wheelhouse.

But it’s enlightening to observe how this news story has widened the chasm between two counterposed factions in America, a split that accelerated during Covid.

Let’s call the first group the Revolutionaries. A substantial portion of Americans are exhausted by the various ways in which establishment or expert narratives on healthy living have either been adjusted, or proven flat-out wrong. The list is extensive:

• Fat is the worst thing you could eat (sugar wants a word)
• The food pyramid is a good model for healthy eating (it’s not)
• Kids on social media isn’t thaaaat bad (it is)
• Processed foods aren’t any different from unprocessed foods (they are)
• Red meat is bad for you (is it?)
• The best way to manage your various aches and ailments is through a battery of prescription drugs (so says Big Pharma)
• And much more.

These folks now question everything, and the most extreme Revolutionaries wish to dismantle America’s entire health and science infrastructure and build a new one.

Across the aisle we find what I’ll call the Ancien Régime, the defenders of the establishment. Millions of Americans are exhausted by a growing tendency to dismiss the guidance of leading experts out of hand, particularly when the stakes are so great. A few life-and-death areas come to mind:

• Vaccines – they’re a modern miracle. Does anyone remember what widespread polio looked like?
• Diet – doctors must know something about healthy eating… have you seen some of the TikTok fads going around?
• Skin care – folks, sunscreen’s pros outweigh its cons; ask someone with skin cancer from sun exposure.
• “Big Pharma” – We can forget that they have produced miracle drugs and innovations and their products are a lifeline for multitudes of people.

The Ancien Régime wishes people would just “trust the science.”

I don’t identify with either group. But this divide makes me wonder, why do people care so much about all this?

Well, most people want to live a happy life, and health is a critical enabler of happiness. For America’s 60 million Seniors, health is top of mind. An explosion in longevity science, perhaps best represented by Peter Attia’s bestseller, Outlive, underscores how in 2025, we now have the science and resources to far surpass life expectancies of even our parents’ generation. It’s an amazing time to be alive.

But looming over any conscientious person who wants to pursue a healthy life remain the two warring parties I mentioned earlier. Any attempt at dialogue on basic health questions can devolve into missives between Revolutionaries and the Anciens Régime, leaving average folks questioning who to trust and what to do.

Want a helpful tip?  Dig into the why at play here.

Sure, we all want to be happy, but health on its own won’t get us there. If we’re just living for the sake of living, we’re missing out on something fundamental. Life must be ordered toward a purpose, and no one has articulated that purpose better than Aging with Dignity’s founding inspiration, Mother Teresa of Calcutta: we live to love and be loved.

A couple weeks ago, Tonja Myles, one of the Directors of our Board was in town and she stopped by to say hi. Like always, we had a blast. I asked her about her amazing work in Baton Rouge getting people off the streets and drugs, and into rehab, and helping folks recover from suicide attempts – how does she do it? Tonja said it all came back to purpose. Purpose rooted in truth is what gets people out of bed in the morning and, if you’re struggling to find your purpose, Tonja fired back, “start with what p—– you off!” I love that.

Millions of Americans spend each day without a sense of purpose, particularly our elderly. If we’re focusing on healthy living for ourselves and haven’t stopped by an assisted living facility or a nursing home to offer a helping hand, or called up our aging relatives to simply listen to them, we need to rethink our purpose. If we’re running down rabbit holes on YouTube or Reddit trying to hack our health but haven’t hacked our purpose, then it’s time for a purpose reset.

The happiest elderly folks I’ve ever known weren’t those with the best diets; it was the men and women who lived for others.

So, the next time it’s a sunny day, put on some sunscreen, grab a bottle of Tylenol, pack a plant-based meal for two, and go visit your grandma.

Or, at least, just go visit grandma.

(The views expressed herein are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Aging with Dignity and/or its Board of Directors.)