5 Healthyish Things I like/don't like this week, including dietitian visits covered by insurance

Just when I think we’ve run out of diet ideas, something new surfaces. Lately I’ve noticed this low-histamine diet making the rounds—and my guess is you’re about to hear a lot more about “histamines” and “low-histamine foods,” and it’s going to all be hysterical. (See what I did there?)

Histamines are your body’s literal response to allergies and they cause symptoms like hives and itching… which is why you take antihistamines like Claritin, Benadryl, & Zyrtec to lessen their effects.

People have never been more allergy-aware (and maybe have never had so many allergies) so I’m not surprised this diet is trending.

But hey, if your goal is to pinpoint your food intolerances, a short-term low-histamine diet could maaaybe help?

Most people don’t need supplemental electrolytes. 

But after a hard workout (or if you just live in Texas where it’s 100 degrees for months on end like me 🥵) using an electrolyte solution to boost hydration is a nice option. 

For this, I love LMNT and find myself using a pack a few times a week during the summer. (My fave flavor is watermelon, by the way!) 

Co-founded and run by friend James Murphy, LMNT is formulated with salt (which is healthy for you) versus sugar (which is not). The research is pretty consistent that salt (in moderation, but a lot more than you're probably thinking) is an essential part of health. Every other “electrolyte” product on the market is essentially a sugar bomb—more juice box than health drink. 😬 But LMNT is sugar-free and has no artificial ingredients. To me, it’s the perfect example of a product gaining popularity for doing things the right way.

And speaking of sugar…

One thing that feels intuitively bad for you is artificial sweeteners. Like who in their health-conscious mind is jumping at the chance to ingest something with “artificial” in its name? How can something that’s 200 to 700 times (!) sweeter than table sugar be good for you?

But our intuition isn’t always correct. Just because the coin has landed on heads three times in a row doesn’t mean it’s due for tails. (And just because peanut butter on a burger doesn’t sound appetizing, trust me–it is.) Despite MANY attempts, no one has definitively proven (yet) that artificial sweeteners are fundamentally bad for you. Research has found some potential links and associations to health concerns like diabetes, heart disease, cancer, and weight gain… but mostly in research where it’s really hard to separate the sweetener from other factors like lifestyle and diet. If you’re strictly thinking science-first, there’s a strong argument to make that artificial sweeteners are “healthy,” maybe even healthier than some alternatives. 🤯

The New York Times recently wrote an article on mainstream skepticism around artificial sweeteners being safe. And again, nothing definitive. Are they right? Wrong? IDKID! 

Personally, I try to avoid them. That’s not because I’m “smarter” than science (LOL), but because I feel we just don’t know the whole story yet.

Headway (which just announced new a new chunk of funding that takes them to $2B+ valuation) is probably a company you know of. They connect people seeking therapy to in-network therapists. Headway (and other companies like Alma, SonderMind, Rula, and Thriveworks) have been riding two big waves:

1. The increased destigmatization of needing mental health care

2. The increased insurance coverage for mental health (plus increased compensation to therapists, too)

What’s next after mental health and therapists? It’s almost definitely nutrition and dietitians. Diet affects everything. Unfortunately, figuring out what’s healthiest for you (especially if you have food-specific conditions like diabetes, celiac disease, high cholesterol, etc.) is not always an easy journey. More people are realizing registered dietitians (RDs) can help with that—and more insurances are covering these sessions, too.

Companies like Season Health (the first example I knew of, led by awesome friend Josh Hix), Fay (led by another impressive friend Sammy Faycurry), and Nourish (no friends run this one 🤷) work just like Headway—connecting you to in-network RDs and (often) eating/health coaches to help you implement recommendations. They’ve all raised at least $25M and I hear they are experiencing crazy growth.

I’m bullish on this model—especially if, like Season, they offer a more comprehensive food-as-medicine solution that can also be sold B2B.

So what’s up next for this model? I recommend looking at other areas where the stigmas associated with them are starting to fade… and there’s a clinical, convincing reason for insurance companies to cover them. Think physical therapy, “alternative” treatments like acupuncture and medical massage therapy, and maybe even skin care protection/beauty. Any other ideas?

Don’t know about you, but if I’m in a deep state of woe the last thing I want is to seek solace from a robot… er, Woebot. I’m all for the potential of AI to transform health and love the promise of more cost-affordable mental health care, but I haven’t seen much convincing science to indicate that therapy chatbots can make a big difference (at best they reduce anxiety and depression in the short-term as effectively as self-help books).

That said, the Woebot name is just perfection. 👌 And they’re a good example of how much of a difference that can make.