5 Healthyish Things, including cold brew and blue zones

The promise of GLP-1s just keeps getting better—so much so that we’re already at part five of this little “miracle pill” mini-series.

In the latest news, a recent study showed drugs like Ozempic and Mounjaro could help with addiction. Patients taking GLP-1s had 50% lower rates of alcohol intoxication and 40% lower rates of opioid overdoses. 🙌 It makes sense that medication known to reduce hunger and impulsive behavior could also prevent you from overdoing it with substances, but still—wow.

But wait, there’s more! Brand new research on the role GLP-1s could play in Alzheimer's prevention suggests pretty dramatic risk reductions from Ozempic in particular—and seemingly independent of its weight reduction effect. 

Here’s Bryan Johnson’s take. Mine? I remain cynical about who’s funding these studies, why, and how this drug can be so impactful across so many areas… but it just keeps getting more convincing that we really did find the miracle pill and maybe shouldn’t fight that? 🤷‍♂️

Speaking of skepticism, let’s talk about blue zones. They’re supposed to be geographic regions where people live meaningfully longer because of lifestyle choices. It’s interesting in theory, but they also sell too many books, teas, and supplements for me to take them seriously. And let’s not forget their partnership with Bush’s Beans. (?!) Plus, founder Dan Buettner calls himself an “explorer and a writer” which is cool but not exactly the title I want my health experts to have.

Recently, a new study claims to have “debunked” the blue zone concept, suggesting flawed data and clerical errors are the explanation for those unexpectedly long lives. This paper hasn’t been peer reviewed yet and, frankly, seems like it’s trying too hard. Regardless, this provocative theory against blue zones has been widely covered now (people love a good “debunking”). Yes, it’s a really romantic notion that there’s an island in Greece where everyone bathes in olive oil and lives to their 90s, but don’t get so excited about it that you start living off Bush’s Blue Zones® Hearty Bean and Vegetable Organic Soup.

My favorite cold brew is from Costco. 

Yes, I’m worried my glowing recommendation will make you all run out to get it and there will be less for me. 😂 But this 100% Columbian Kirkland cold brew is for real a hidden, affordable gem at $1-2 per can. It’s not for everyone and I’m no coffee snob, but to me it’s as good as anything you’d get at La Colombe or somewhere else fancy… and it’s like 3-4x cheaper plus way more convenient. I have friends that swear by Cometeer, but I’m not convinced yet. Anyway, I drink Kirkland cold brew literally every day, and maybe you should too? Just leave some for me.

People have been mouth taping thanks to—you guessed it—a trend on TikTok. According to creators (many of whom are plastic surgeons, which seems… concerning?) and I guess Huberman, taping your mouth shut while sleeping to prevent mouth breathing leads to better sleep, less stress, and reduced allergies. Some say it gives you more pronounced jaw lines. It’s hard to argue against lots of qualitative, anecdotal examples. Breathing from your nose (mostly) is for sure better, broadly speaking. And lots of DTC mouth tape brands have cropped up like Dream Recovery and Hostage Tape (yikes).

But… taping your mouth shut while you sleep is wildly dangerous—especially if you have sleep apnea or another unknown sleep issue. To my knowledge, there’s no legit science to suggest mouth taping is good, just that nose breathing is better. I’ll admit it’s provocative and visually arresting (perfect for TikTok fodder). But IMO it’s not worth the risk. Just work to breathe through your nose more!

At my first company, Greatist, we used to write about healthy Halloween options. Because hey, people are always dreaming of finding the secret to both indulgence and health. Obviously this is a fool’s errand.

If you pressure an RD (Registered Dietitian) to answer, they might tell you it’s something like Peanut M&Ms, you know, because of the peanuts, which is fine and valid, I guess. But IMO Halloween is not the time to skip the Blow Pops in favor of Smarties (shudder) because you might save a couple calories. If you want to indulge, just pick something that’s really worth it and don’t eat the whole bag.

To me, the superior Halloween candy is 100 Grand. Anyone who pretends not to love a 100 Grand is kidding themselves, plus the fact that this less-popular candy bar is almost only available in assorted candy mixes for the holiday makes them extra special. PLUS they’ve got one of the best commercials of all time:

Eat one or two for me this year. (I sure will.)

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.