5 Healthyish Things, including bovine colostrum and nicotine pouches

Colostrum—sometimes dubbed “liquid gold”—is the nutrient-rich fluid all mammals produce right after giving birth. It’s packed with everything newborns need to kickstart their immune system and promote healthy growth. It fights off infection, reduces gut inflammation, and helps strengthen the intestine. 

In an attempt to harness (or monetize?) this nutritional power of “liquid gold,” some brands are selling bovine colostrum as a supplement for humans. They collect this colostrum within three days of a cow giving birth, freeze-dry it, pasteurize it, and turn it into powder, which you can buy in pill or powder form. 

Now, proponents claim it improves everything from mood to skin health. And a few studies suggest it can help with gut health, immune function, upper respiratory problems, and athletic recovery… but most of these studies are funded by the supplement companies selling the products. 😬

Studying the impact of supplements is important. While colostrum is a proven powerhouse of nutrients, turning it into a supplement can change things. This isn’t like putting milk in the freezer! Instead, just the opposite—the heat used to sterilize/pasteurize the colostrum can destroy some of the beneficial compounds that are in the colostrum to begin with. So it’s pretty unclear whether all the great nutrients actually end up in the products. Without FDA regulation, you’re basically depending on the supplement companies to have a solid process. If interested, your best bet is to look for brands that use grass-fed cows, minimal, low-heat processing, and no additives. 

ARMRA is one of the more successful brands, and seems to hit all of these marks. (It’s also one of the more expensive options—expect to drop over $100 a month for the recommended dosage. 💸) They claim their powder contains 400+ functional research-backed nutrients, and that it’s more potent, pure, and bioavailable than other colostrum from grass-fed cows. 

Even though I’m skeptical of the sparse research so far, I’ll be the first to admit science is often a lagging—not leading—indicator on how healthy things are. And given the nutrients we know exist in colostrum, it would make sense for humans to benefit from bovine colostrum supplements—and for sure the anecdotal stories seem compelling.

Anyway, it’s a classic case of IDKID. I’m not taking bovine colostrum, but can’t be upset if you do.

I love Farmer’s Fridge. They’re healthy vending machines stocked with salads, bowls, and my favorite pineapple coconut chia pudding—all in eco-friendly packaging with a (get this) recycling area built into each machine. 🙌 They’re even working to bring fresh, healthy food to areas where it’s hard to find (they say 20% of their fridges are in food deserts), a major win IMO.

Farmer’s Fridge has been around for about a decade now (shouts to founder Luke Saunder) and I’m pretty obsessed. Their products are delicious, their mission admirable (my last startup Ness almost partnered with them because our values felt so aligned), and they’re starting to expand quickly (including Austin, where I’m based!). Today, they have more than 400 machines in airports, hospitals, offices, and universities nationwide. Check ‘em out.

There’s actually a broader trend of vending machine marketing, and I’m here for it. For example, Therabody just debuted their first airport vending machine. Vending machines are a high margin business model with no regular staff required, so they’re a good business—and ideally a good way to make healthyish things more accessible.

Even though smoking rates continue to decline (🎉), the tobacco industry has more tricks up its sleeves. The latest? Nicotine pouches—literal pouches of nicotine powder and flavoring that you tuck between your lip and gum. They don’t cause respiratory harm like vapes and cigarettes do, and don’t contain tobacco and its cancer-causing carcinogens, so some think they’re a good alternative or a smart way to wean off smoking. 

Of course, there’s a “but.”  

First, it’s not really being used for smoking cessation since only 35% of people who use nicotine pouches were smokers trying to quit (and only 10% are successful). 

Second, as you already know, nicotine is tremendously addictive. So, nicotine pouches are gaining traction as a stand-alone product. And particularly among younger people. Popular brands like Zyn come in a range of flavors (Black Cherry nicotine, anyone?) which add extra appeal. In fact, over a quarter of nicotine pouch users are under age—and the number has doubled since 2021. Studies also show 73% of young people who have tried nicotine pouches are still using them (especially concerning given nicotine is particularly harmful for the brain development in youth). Yeesh.

Despite the still small reported numbers of total users (less than 3% of adults) I think people underestimate just how many people are using these nicotine pouches recreationally. I mean, sale increased by 641% from 2019 to 2022—that’s far from negligible. You can basically have a zillion of them per day, and they’re much easier to conceal than cigarettes or vapes. Actor Josh Brolin recently said he sleeps with them and effectively uses them 24 hours a day. 😳

Anyway, I’m worried these are blowing up (just search the hashtag “Zynfluencer” on TikTok) and we barely have any research or regulation on them. So I’m concerned.

For the past few months, I’ve been developing an idea for a new CPG health product (!) that brings together a bunch of clinically-proven ingredients to help address brain fog (and long-term brain health). This formulation stage in the process involves a lot of research, which traditionally means tons of time and money.

Enter Claude and ChatGPT. With these AI tools effectively as my research team, I built out a detailed spreadsheet—clinical data, safety ratings, competing products, long-term concerns, you name it. 

I had them refine my lists, prompted them to clarify what factors mattered most and why, and asked them what other things I should consider. This helped me narrow down my research into actionable tiers.

Now, I’m not relying on them too much. I’m still doing most of the heavy lifting myself. And I’m working with some super smart, experienced people. But having these tools assist with things like summarizing studies, pulling data, and flagging what's relevant has been a game changer. Instead of weeks of work and big costs, this process was fast, free, and efficient. It felt like stepping into the future. 

Anyway, 2025 will almost certainly be the year of AI. Things are going to get wonderful and weird. Get ready! (Oh—and I’ll share more on this CPG side project soon.)

Two very cool people recently announced the launch of a new biotech company aiming to solve the plastic crisis with fungi—we’re talking plastic-eating mushrooms, people. HIRO Technologies is the brainchild of good friend Tero Isokauppila (the mushroom king behind Four Sigmatic, author of very, erm, trippy children’s book that ties Santa’s origin story to shrooms) and Miki Agrawal (the powerhouse who started Thinx and Tushy).

They’ve been cooking up (growing?) something pretty epic for the last four years, tapping into fungi's ability to break down trees and redirecting that power towards tackling the 300-400 million tons of plastic waste produced annually. If this works, it’ll be pretty groundbreaking.

Anyway, they’re now bringing the research out of the lab and into the hands of consumers in a friendly, shelf-stable way. The first product? Diapers. Which makes sense, because diapers make up a huge portion of landfill waste. HIRO is currently running a Kickstarter campaign to help fund the next phase of their research with a grand vision of becoming a global supplier of plastic-eating fungi, partnering with manufacturers, consumer brands, and waste management companies worldwide so they can help solve the plastic crisis and improve the planet. 🙌

Check out their fun video below— and start the year on an inspiring note!

hirotechnologies

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The Healthyish League

Building something in health? I love to help and love to recommend others who help, too. Here are a few of my carefully selected recommendations, all of which I’ve personally worked with (and some of which I have a formal relationship with): Herman-Scheer (branding & creative), Aequitas Partners (exec & board recruiting), Healthyish Content (my SEO & content agency), Perceptual Advisors (comms & public affairs), Right Side Up/Lantern/Matchnode (growth marketing), Verbose (embedded lifecycle marketing), Titan (exec coaching), and Lakehouse (pre-seed venture capital). Email me anytime for intros.