Huberman, Rogan and Shetty: Are podcast gurus ruining our mental health?

There is a trio of very influential men who sit at the helm of the health and wellness space

Between them, these three men boast more than 40 million — and as a result of their global reach (not to mention wide appeal), they wield a lot of power.

Watch Andrew Huberman's morning routine for optimal performance. Post continues after video.

Jay Shetty — AKA the man who married Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez — is a former Hindu monk who rose to prominence as a mental and spiritual wellness Guru after a supposed transformation through monkhood. His podcast, On Purpose, is celebrated as the world's number-one mental health podcast.

Then there's Joe Rogan, a world-famous podcaster whose podcast The Joe Rogan Experience is currently the top third in the country. He is also a martial artist, stand-up comedian, MMA commentator, co-founder of the Onnit supplement company, and former host of Fear Factor.

Lastly, Andrew Huberman is a neurologist and professor at Stanford University. He has had some major breakthroughs in understanding how our nervous system can learn new behaviours and skills. His podcast The Huberman Lab, which debuted in 2021, quickly became a hit and is often in the top 10 podcasts worldwide.

But none of these men are without their controversies.

People close to Shetty have questioned the authenticity of his time in a monastery, alleging that he primarily resided at a London estate, rather than immersing himself fully in Indian ashrams.

Rogan has faced backlash for his conflicting political views — he supports same-sex marriage and universal healthcare, but has promoted COVID conspiracy theories and made controversial remarks about transgender athletes.

As for Huberman, he has been accused of infidelity, exaggerating his role at Stanford, and of sharing contentious health advice — for example, claiming he is just as scared of sunscreen as he is of melanoma. A dangerous and bewildering statement to make.

Nevertheless, each man has managed to build a cult following, with many listeners accepting their word as gospel.

But… why?

According to neuroscientist Dr Haley North, it's to do with the "bandwagon effect".

"This means that just because something's very popular, we tend to believe it as true," she told Grace Rouvray, host of the Mamamia podcast The Quicky.

"So what happens when someone becomes incredibly popular, is that a lot of people tend to believe absolutely everything that comes out of their mouth, and that can be quite dangerous when it's not necessarily backed up by evidence."

In fact, she says, a lot of wellness claims don't actually apply to everyone as health is nuanced and varies greatly from person to person.

"How a lot of our scientific studies work is that we take a sample population and look at the average and say, on average, this particular treatment, or this particular paradigm or protocol that you can be doing, will benefit most people," explained the founder of Understand Your Brain.

The problem is, these sorts of podcasts often present simplified, one-size-fits-all solutions to complex issues. This may leave listeners feeling frustrated or inadequate when the advice doesn't work for them, which can have bad implications on their mental wellbeing.

"It is really important to remember that we're all individuals and every piece of advice isn't actually going to benefit us as individuals based on our own biology, our own brains, our own personal differences," said Dr North.

There's also the little issue of money. Because ultimately, these podcast gurus are here to make a living. And hey, aren't we all? But instead of simply taking health influencers' word at face value, Dr North encourages people to look into the credibility of the person sharing the advice, and whether they have a financial incentive to promote a product.

Indeed, the commercialisation of wellness means that many podcast hosts promote products like supplements, wellness courses, or fitness routines, that may or may not have a lot of scientific backing — and the pressure on people to invest in these products can cause financial strain and increased stress, especially if the promised results are not achieved.

For the full interview, listen to the episode of The Quicky. Post continues below.

Describing wellness misinformation as "obviously problematic", Dr North pointed out how these podcast gurus set unattainably high goals, which many become obsessed with reaching.

This constant striving for "peak optimisation" in all areas of life can leave people with feelings of inadequacy and anxiety when they can't meet these expectations.

"There's these other unhealthy issues where we become obsessed with trying to enhance ourselves and, you know, starting to think that we're not good enough because we don't have absolute peak performance in all aspects of our lives," she said.

"You know, we have to be human and have time for so many different things in our life. We can't be constantly trying to optimise every aspect, because that can be really stressful and problematic in the end."

So before you apply a wellness guru's advice to your life, do a little bit of your own digging before following on blind faith. It might just be the best thing for your mental health.