5 Healthyish Things, including MA and a healthyish gift guide

Most health advice falls in a grey area. But one piece of advice that’s actually very black and white? Don’t microwave plastic. Okay, you won’t die after nuking a serving of leftovers in a takeout container just once. But you might get a hefty serving of harmful chemicals or a mouthful of microplastics. Even just storing food in plastic can release stuff like BPAs and phthalates—both hormone disruptors—into your next meal. Heating the plastic just causes those chemicals to release even faster. 

Basically every expert not paid by the plastic industry is against plastic in microwaves. Even the plastics that claim to be regulated, tested and “microwave safe” can and probably do leach out harmful chemicals. Will you have to wash an extra dish or two? Yes. But it’s worth it.

I’ve been astonished to see the number of people ready to make jokes about the murder of United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson. Some have even gone so far as calling the shooter a hero. What??

I would have guessed the majority of people are against murder and violence—and I have to believe they are. So how are people joking about this? Yes, Thompson worked in healthcare, and that system has its flaws. But there’s no single person to blame for a messy healthcare system, and certainly none that deserve to die because of it. Anyone making light of this violence is too caught up in the narrative versus the reality. Not everything needs two sides—both healthcare can be broken and his death can be tragic. 

The always on point Chrissy Farr shared a powerful letter to her kids about this, and it pretty much sums up my thoughts. Worth a read!

Everyone’s upset about seed oils, it seems—and it’s very popular to be against them right now. But is it deserved? This week, Andrew Huberman challenged the evil seed oil narrative by asking people on X to share the scientific evidence that seed oils are themselves bad for you. And spoiler: There really isn’t any.

Now that doesn’t mean seed oils are good for you. It’s probably true that we’re consuming far too much of them. I’m hopeful the food industry will work to remove them from being in freakin’ everything. 

And say what you will about Huberman, but I really admire his willingness to question a popular narrative with a science-first approach. We need more of that.

It’s that time again—the season of 2025 health predictions. I read a lot of them, but always pay special attention to those from Sachin H. Jain and the duo Bob Kocher and Bryan Roberts. One thing these three healthcare leaders agree on is that it’s likely Medicare Advantage is making an industry comeback.

Okay, let’s talk about Medicare Advantage (MA), since I’ve been getting more and more into it over the past year. 

Medicare is the health insurance offered to people over 65 at a low monthly rate by the government. And Medicare Advantage is essentially a more comprehensive version of Medicare that’s offered through private companies. MA plans typically come with lower premiums (sometimes zero dollar premiums!), added benefits (like dental, vision, hearing, wellness programs), and other extras (gym memberships, transportation benefits). The private company then gets reimbursed by the government.

In the past 20 years, MA enrollment has surged. More seniors are now enrolled in MA than Original Medicare! Today, basically all the big insurance companies offer MA plans—though there are some MA-focused insurance companies like Devoted, Clover, Bright, SCAN (run by Sachin, mentioned above), and others that serve hundreds of thousands of seniors. I’m a particular fan of Clover's approach and their CEO, Andrew Toy—they’re more tech-driven (offering Clover Assistant) and directly contract with providers. I’m impressed by the innovation these plans take (driven by the model being in the private market), like SCAN partnering with Included Health to offer a plan for LGBTQ+ seniors and Alignment offering a “Black Card” that can be used to buy eligible OTC items with an allowance.

Anyway, for a while these plans were a big growth area for insurance companies. But increased government audit and regulation from Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS)—especially in terms of risk adjustment & reimbursement rates, increased competition, and increased healthcare costs for the aging population—have made MA plans more difficult to profit from and dulled their industry shine… though not their popularity among seniors. (There’s also some controversy over whether MA is really all that better than Original Medicare + Medicare Supplement/Medigap.)

However, with Trump’s incoming presidency being more aligned with the private sector and Dr. Oz—his selection to lead CMS—being publicly pro Medicare Advantage, suddenly MA growing in industry popularity again is on the prediction’s list. There’s more, too. Star ratings are expected to increase (it helped that SCAN won a lawsuit against CMS to increase theirs), which means reimbursements will be better. Plus, more people are getting older!

Anyway, I’m super interested in this space and love that it’s impactful for seniors. And I’m particularly interested in seeing how the MA sector embraces more marketing in the digital age. Most seniors decide which plan to go with based on a phone call with a broker. But seniors are getting increasingly more digitally savvy. This means more modern brokers (shout out to Chapter, a better digital brokerage run by friend Cobi Blumenfeld-Gantz) more tools for brokers (like Spark Advisors, which provides killer software to broker agencies run by new friend James Jiang), and more ways to get your plan in front of seniors. You can’t outspend the big insurance companies, but seeing how Clover, SCAN, and others adapt their marketing to this shift is exciting. Think more niche identity-based plans, more super local-focused benefits (Farmer’s Market rebates, special senior grocery hours, and extra movie discounts), and more ties to local communities (churches, interest groups, etc.) all promoted through standard digital channels. Just imagine TikTok ads for MA plans in a few years. It’s going to happen.

Finally, it wouldn’t be a very healthyish holiday without a comprehensive list of my favorite stuff for healthy living. None of these are random—actually every single one of these is something I use regularly myself and personally recommend. Gift these to someone on your list—or to yourself! (And thanks to everyone who sent in recommendations—I always love discovering the next best thing.)

For sleep:

• Lectrofan White Noise Machine

• Ostrichpillow Eye Mask

• Hullo Buckwheat Pillow

• Coway Airmega Air Purifier

For exercise: 

• Versaclimber TSA (best purchase I made this year)

• Bowflex SelectTech 552 Dumbbells

• JadeYoga Cork Blocks

• Manduka eQua Yoga Mat Towel

• JadeYoga Harmony Yoga Mat

• Damkee Massage Gun (totally a Theragun knockoff and no longer around, but looks like this one)

• Trigger Point Foam Roller

For work:

• Costco Tresanti Geller 47” Adjustable Height Desk

• Moleskine Black Notebook (yes, the Mickey one)

• Palomino Blackwing 602 Pencils (the only ones I use)

• Blackwing Pencil Sharpener (yes, I carry this around with me)

• Apple Airpods 4 (I use one for my phone & one for my computer)

• Dreo Space Heater

For the kitchen:

• Ninja Air Fryer

• Ninja CREAMi (as good as everyone says)

• Vitamix 5200 Blender (and drink out of it!)

Other great stuff

• My Skin Care Routine (big emphasis for me this year)

  • Morning: Cleanser (PanOxyl 10% Benzoyl Peroxide), Toner Blu Atlas Vitamin C Serum), and SPF + Moisturizer (EltaMD UV Facial Broad-Spectrum SPF 30+)

  • Evening: Cleanser (Cerave Foaming Facial Cleanser), Retinoid (Tretinoin Retin-A Cream 0.05%— prescription), Under Eye Cream (Blu Atlas Eye Stick), and Moisturizer (Cerave Skin Renewing Night Cream)

• My Vitamin & Supplements Stack (crazy right now since I’m testing a bunch of long-term and short-term use nootropics, sorry)

  • Seed Probiotics

  • Thorne Super EPA

  • Thorne Vitamin D-1000

  • Nootropics Depot Cognizin (CDP-Choline) Citicoline Capsules 

  • Nootropics Depot Infini-B Capsules | Optimized Vitamin B Complex

  • Nootropics Depot Acetyl L-Carnitine HCL (ALCAR) Capsules

  • Nootropics Depot Smart PS Phosphatide Complex

  • Nootropics Depot Magtein Magnesium L-Threonate Capsules

  • Nootropics Depot Lion's Mane Mushroom 8:1 Dual Extract Capsules

  • Plus, L-Theanine, L-Tyrosine, and Rhodiola Rosea as needed

  • Elo Health’s Berberine HCL, CoQ10, and Turmeric w/ Black Pepper (but getting discontinued)

  • Create Creatine Monohydrate Gummies

• Ikagai Cases (have been using these for storing vitamins and love!)

• Oura Ring (though I’m mixed on mine)

• Function Health Blood Tests (can skip waitlist with code DFLANZRAICH10)

• Ezra Full-Body MRI Screening (though only don’t do Prenuvo because they’re not in Austin)

My wishlist/hopes for next year (in case you’re feeling generous 😆):

• Cedar & Stone Sauna or Plunge Sauna or Panoramic Cedar Outdoor Sauna (I mean why not dream)

• Plunge All-In Cold Plunge or Sun Home Cold Plunge (why are all these so expensive)

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.