5 Healthyish Things I like/don't like this week, including lead in tampons

Ugh… fearmongering. People love scaring people for clicks, and they’ve been having too much fun writing headlines about this recent study on lead in tampons. It reminds me of the time Vani Hari aka the Food Babe outed Subway for using a chemical found in yoga mats. It sounds really bad—like lead-in-tampons bad—but ultimately, the amount of azodicarbonamide in five dollar footlongs isn’t a real health threat. (I mean maybe the rest of the sandwich is.) 

Speaking of, did I ever tell you about the time I ate Subway sandwiches for an entire summer trying to lose weight? Okay, maybe that’s a story for another time.

As for metals in tampons, the quantity seems too insignificant to be a threat. Jennifer Lincoln, MD looked at the numbers from the study and found that the amount of lead in the tampons (.12 micrograms per liter) was significantly less than what is allowed in bottled drinking water (5 micrograms per liter). 🙄

So should you throw out your tampons? IDKID. But experts seem to think there’s no real cause for concern here.

Here’s the perfect parody of the dudes that like to one-up you with their weird trendy diets. Because I'm on that sea lettuce and kombu too, bro.

Being active is one of the best things (maybe THE best thing) you can do for your health—wenowdis. It improves sleep, mood, and chronic conditions. New research shows just how potent exercise can be as a treatment for disease. The actual miracle pill is almost certainly exercise.

Obviously, a magic pill would be an easier answer. And GLP-1s could be the closest we’ve gotten to the miracle pill in (soon to be) pill form. But even if they improve all weight-related health conditions, you still need a way to feel happier, sleep better, and feel more energized. For that, there’s exercise. And there’s no known alternative.

To be clear, you don’t need to run marathons or do high-impact interval training to be healthy. People who just walk more—even 10 minutes a day—tend to live longer. The idea is to make a habit of moving a little every day.

Richard Simmons worked to make getting healthy accessible for everyone earlier than almost anyone—rest in peace, legend. 👏

Once upon a time, the only way to get protein was from real food or from chalky protein powder. But one can only drink so many smoothies…

Then along came Magic Spoon, protein powder in cereal form (NOT to be confused with cereal with added protein) with no sugar. It’s what Halo Top was promised to be (minus the runs). And it actually tastes great (though it’s no Rice Crispy Treats cereal). Magic Spoon’s starting to pop up everywhere (even Costco!) despite their high cost relative to their zillions of competitors (none the same quality, don’t be misled). 

Admittedly, I’m super biased since I’ve been rooting for this company since the beginning. Buddies Gabi Lewis and Greg Sewitz started it and I still remember trying the earliest versions back when it was briefly called Discos (yes, back then it was discos-ting.) But I couldn’t be a bigger fan now. I think of it as the perfect post-workout treat when I’m crunched for time. If you’ve never tried it, go buy a few boxes from their website (my favorite flavor is Peanut Butter and my kiddos like Fruity) and report back. The taste isn't for everyone and, duh, it’s still cereal. But as far as shelf-stable CPG goes, hard to come up with a smarter, simpler, and tastier way to build healthier choices into your life.