Podcast Summary:

Something You Should Know
Host: Mike Carruthers
Episode: How Gravity Affects Your Health & Jim Cramer on Beating the Market
Date: October 13, 2025

Overview

This episode of Something You Should Know dives into two distinct and fascinating topics. First, Dr. Brennan Spiegel discusses the surprising and pervasive influence of gravity on our health, both physical and mental, revealing practical strategies for managing its effects. In the second half, Jim Cramer, iconic host of CNBC's Mad Money, debunks the myth that only professionals should pick stocks, passionately advocating for individual investors—and explaining how today’s access to information levels the playing field.

Segment 1: How Gravity Affects Your Health

Guest: Dr. Brennan Spiegel, Director of Health Services Research at Cedars Sinai, Author of "How Gravity Shapes Your Body, Steadies the Mind, and Guides Our Health"

Main Points & Insights

• Gravity’s Unseen Role in Health

  • Gravity is a continuous force affecting not just our outward appearance (like sagging skin), but also internal body systems—back pain, heart failure, dizziness, and many chronic illnesses can be seen as forms of “gravity intolerance.”
  • Quote:

    “Lower back pain is a form of gravity intolerance. Dizziness, heart failure, ankle swelling...almost every chronic illness in a way can be tracked back to a form of gravity intolerance.”
    — Dr. Brennan Spiegel [05:44]

• Astronauts and Microgravity Teach Us About Earthly Health

  • In low-gravity environments, even the fittest human bodies run into problems—blood redistributes, headaches occur, the microbiome is affected, and serotonin (“the happy chemical”) regulation is disrupted.
  • Quote:

    “Even the microbiome...get[s] thrown off when there’s no gravity. Serotonin biology, which we think of as this happy chemical, is really a gravity management substance.”
    — Dr. Spiegel [07:52]

• The "Gravity Goldilocks Zone"

  • Too little gravity (space) causes health issues, but so does too much—or rather, too much relative to the body’s increasing weakness as we age. Health is about managing your relationship with gravity.
  • Quote:

    “Gravity doesn’t change. But our relationship to gravity changes...the gravity Goldilocks zone is finding that sweet spot where you are in tune with the forces of this planet.”
    — Dr. Spiegel [09:07]

• Evolution, Standing Upright, and Ongoing Adaptation

  • Bipedalism (standing and walking upright) is a relatively recent development in human evolution, leading to major adaptations and ongoing issues (like back pain) as our bodies continue to adjust.
  • Quote:

    “We were four legged creatures...as we stood up...we massively changed our relationship to the pull of earth.”
    — Dr. Spiegel [10:25]

• Practical Ways to Manage Gravity’s Impact

  • Strengthening your core and back muscles directly improves gut health by helping “port that sack of potatoes” (your intestines) more effectively.
  • Practices include hypopressive exercises, sit-ups, planks, inverted yoga positions, and flotation therapy—all ways to recalibrate your gravity relationship.
  • Quote:

    “One way to help your gut health is literally to strengthen your back...it opens up your abdominal cavity...planks to help the gut, not just to help be stronger.”
    — Dr. Spiegel [11:30]

• Physical and Mental Health: Gravity’s Influence

  • Gravity even shapes how we experience emotion—anxiety often has the sensation of “falling”; depression can feel like being weighted down.
  • Physical techniques (hydration, weighted vests, compression socks) and even virtual reality “anti-gravity” experiences can impact mood and improve health outcomes.
  • Quote:

    “Anxiety is almost like a neuro-visceral fear of falling...depression has been described as a feeling like there's too much gravity. You can't get out of bed, you're exhausted, you're slumped over.”
    — Dr. Spiegel [20:35]

• Serotonin: The "Gravity Management Substance"

  • 95% of serotonin is produced in the gut, protecting us from being “flaccid sacks on the ground.”
  • Boost serotonin through sunlight, diet, exercise, and cultivating a healthy microbiome.

• Why Isn’t This Better Known?

  • Dr. Spiegel notes that gravity’s central role simply hasn’t been synthesized as a medical narrative until recently, though it makes intuitive sense to many physicians.
  • Quote:

    “Physics came first and biology came second and psychology came third. And what we're seeing is a through line from literally our origins on this planet to how we interact with it right now...”
    — Dr. Spiegel [26:16]

Notable Moments

• [13:13] Inverted yoga and upside-down postures help some people “reshuffle their innards,” alleviating issues like dizziness and digestive complaints.
• [22:45] The emotional language of "up" and "down" traces back to how our bodies and brains sense and react to gravity.
• [26:16] Dr. Spiegel discusses the medical community’s surprise at how foundational—and obvious—this “gravity-centric” approach is when explained simply.

Segment 2: Jim Cramer on Beating the Market

Guest: Jim Cramer, Host of CNBC’s Mad Money, Author of "How to Make Money in Any Market"

Main Points & Insights

• Why the System is Paternalistic—and Wrong

  • “Conventional wisdom” says ordinary people shouldn’t invest in stocks—this attitude is paternalistic and outdated.
  • Quote:

    “They think that you don’t know what you’re doing...that you couldn’t pick Apple, that you couldn’t pick Meta...And their view is—let the rich do it.”
    — Jim Cramer [32:52]

• You Now Have All the Tools

  • Today’s investor has access to vast information instantly; ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, and conference calls provide research that was previously only available to insiders.
  • The only thing standing in people’s way is the myth that they CAN’T do it.
  • Quote:

    “Everything in a quarterly report that’s filed with the government is accessible within seconds....If you want to operate on your hunches, your instincts, you can find out anything you want.”
    — Cramer [40:59]

• Instincts and Curiosity Drive Great Investing

  • Start with what you observe in daily life—products, restaurants, technologies—and follow your curiosity by “doing the homework.”
  • “Homework” includes reading filings, listening to earnings calls, and asking today’s AI platforms for comparative data.
  • Quote:

    “People are smarter than they think when it comes to this...They can read a conference call, they can do the work. I will not look down on the vast majority of people in this country.”
    — Cramer [40:59]

• Everyone Should Have a "Two Pocket" Strategy

  • Index funds are valuable—but Cramer suggests 50% of your money can be in them, while the other 50% should be in a handful of thoughtfully chosen individual stocks.
  • Quote:

    “My program is...50% of your money should be in index funds. [But also] act to operate on your instincts and take them to the bank.”
    — Cramer [34:31]

• Why Individual Investors Can—and Should—Succeed

  • Data shows the biggest fortunes often come from individual stocks, not index funds. “Millionaires that have been created by index funds are few and far between.”
  • Quote:

    “The way inflation's going in this country and the amount of debt we have, you have to at least try to have a shot at being a millionaire, recognizing that the index side can be a nice diversification backstop.”
    — Cramer [47:01]

• Dispelling the “Too Late” Myth

  • Even established companies like Google, Meta, or Tesla continue to innovate and grow. It's rarely “too late” if fundamentals and management are strong.
  • Quote:

    “Anyone could have said those things at any given time in the last 20 years. They are wrong because these are great companies and they keep reinventing themselves.”
    — Cramer [47:01]

• Technology Has Flattened the Playing Field

  • Commission-free platforms, instant information—it's never been easier for a retail investor to compete.
  • Quote:

    “To tell them that they don’t really have a shot at it would be like telling them...You can’t possibly drive a car. Well, no, these are things that you can learn and you can do.”
    — Cramer [48:40]

Notable Moments

• [34:15] Discussion of class prejudice in the financial industry
• [36:55] Cramer explains his legendary “FANG” stock picks and advocates long-term, not short-term, investing
• [39:38] His admiration for Peter Lynch and why regular people should invest with curiosity
• [43:48] Live example: How to investigate whether “Cheesecake Factory” stock is a good buy using modern tools
• [47:01] Why the "I missed the boat" mentality for stocks like Tesla or Google is flawed

Notable Quotes & Timestamps

• Dr. Spiegel:

  “Serotonin is a gravity management substance. Without it, you would be a flaccid sack on the ground, unable to talk to me...” [23:59]

• Jim Cramer:

  “I think I want to blast the attitude and take the curtain and show you what’s behind it. And it’s deeply involved with a class structure...” [40:03]

  “People are smarter than they think when it comes to this...[my way] gives them the chance to become millionaires. I think that you won’t become a millionaire otherwise.” [40:59]

• Dr. Spiegel:

  “Depression has been described as a feeling like there's too much gravity. You can't get out of bed, you're exhausted, you're slumped over.” [20:35]

  "It's not as if I've invented some new form of medicine...Physics came first and biology came second and psychology came third." [26:16]

Final Quick Fact

Where does the fat go when you lose weight?
Australian physicist Ruben Meerman discovered that when you lose 10 pounds of fat, you exhale 8.4 pounds as CO₂ and lose 1.6 pounds as water.

“When you burn fat, you’re not really burning fat—you’re just exhaling it, and it disappears into thin air.” [50:40]

Conclusion

This episode links two seemingly unrelated domains—medicine and money—with a common thread: much of what limits us is what experts tell us is possible. By understanding and actively managing forces like gravity, or financial dogma, everyday people have the power to improve both their health and their wealth—if they’re willing to question the status quo and do a little “homework.”