5HT: 5 Healthyish Things, including Hungryroot and my home gym

#1 Hungryroot

Hungryroot just quietly turned 10—and they’re absolutely crushing it.

Founded by my friend Ben McKean, they started with veggie noodle-based meals (I think I was one of the earliest to try 'em!) and evolved into one of the decade's most successful, under-the-radar health and grocery tech stories. In an industry littered with failed food startups, Hungryroot made bold bets and smart pivots, and now, it feels like a category of one. 

Here’s an abbreviated timeline of their success:

• 📆 2015: Launches with six vegetable- and noodle-based meals (think zoodles + sauce) with the mission to make healthy eating easy. Derek Flanzraich tries all six (and likes them FWIW).

• 🚀 2016: Raises $7.7M and is named one of the most innovative brands of the year by Forbes.

• ⏸️ 2017: Pauses and pivots! Hungryroot realized manufacturing their own food was limiting growth, so they paused operations for 6 months (!!) to overhaul the business—pivoting toward a personalized, health-focused grocery delivery service. (Ben writes about the move here.)

• 🤖 2018-2019: Continues to crush as an online grocer, and makes a very early bet on AI and machine learning with a personalized meal-planning engine that helps build shopping carts for customers. Hits $25M in revenue.

• 📈 2020-2021: Scales and raises $40M in a Series C at a $750M valuation.

• 🤑 2022: Closes out the year with over $237M in net revenue—a 47% year-over-year increase.

• 💰 2023: Continues to lean harder into AI, grows revenue 40% to $333M, and generates $9.4M of profit and free cash flow.

• 🛒 2024: Launches SmartCart™, a “first-of-its-kind” AI system that analyzes millions of data points to recommend healthy groceries, easy recipes, and essential supplements. (My assumption? Hungryroot’s 2024 revenue was probably approaching $600M.)

• 🎉 2025: Celebrates 10 years of growth—with two-thirds of customer purchases now selected by Hungryroot’s AI, pulling from 15,000+ recipes and 800+ grocery items. Also gets the ultimate honor: A feature in 5HT. 😀

That’s an astonishing growth trajectory–and all the more astonishing given no one is talking about them. They’re truly one of the best examples of a smart pivot leading to a massive opportunity. Hungryroot went from shipping zoodle bowls to becoming an AI-powered personal grocer with a deep product market fit that people love.

Their early bet on personalization and AI was spot on. But what really gets me is how they didn’t just build a better food box—they reinvented the grocery experience. Their AI builds your cart each week, pairing personalized recipes with fresh ingredients, pantry staples, and ready-to-eat meals in one seamless delivery—a true one-stop shop that takes the friction out of grocery shopping.

Hungryroot cracked personalization, nailed retention, and created the kind of flywheel most food companies only dream about. Frankly, I’m shocked more players—Instacart, HelloFresh, even Amazon—haven’t tried to copy the model.

Long story short, congrats on ten years, Ben. Keep it going!

#2 Chewing gum

Maybe don’t chew on this: A new study presented at the American Chemical Society found chewing gum releases hundreds to thousands of microplastic particles into your saliva. Even the natural ones. Yikes. 

How many are we talking? Well, researchers found every gram of chewing gum can release 100 microplastics, but some gums can release up to 600 microplastics per gram. Annnd most gum weighs between 2-6 grams, which means one piece could pack up to 3,000 tiny plastic particles. Just one stick a week could add up to 10,000+ microplastic particles a year. 😳

It sounds like a lot. But is it a lot? IDKID—at least for now. We still don’t know enough about how many particles push us into the danger zone, but what we do know about microplastics isn’t exactly comforting. So, yeah, chewing gum officially has joined the party of unexpected plastic offenders, alongside glitter (no!), boba tea (nooo!), balloons (meh), and kitchen sponges (the horror!).

If that surprises or disgusts you, you’re not alone. Catch up on 5HT’s microplastics special edition—my most read issue yet—for more party crashers.

#3 My home gym

One of my big focuses this year has been getting fit—and I’ve lost 20 pounds so far—10 on my own, 10 more since I started microdosing GLP-1s, and I’ve got just 10 more to go.

To balance losing weight, I’ve upped my protein, eaten fermented foods every day, built walking into my calendar, and increased the amount and intensity of workouts.

But I hate going to the gym. So, I decided to build and level up my home gym.

To be clear, I didn’t start with much. My gym is basically a third of my garage (yes, we still park our car in there), and it’s mostly been adjustable dumbbells, a cheap bench, some medicine balls, a foam roller, and the simplest barbell holder you’ve ever seen.

But now I’ve been looking for ways to make the space more motivating. And I decided the answer is… adult toys (no, not like that). I bought a bunch of relatively inexpensive fitness gear, and they’ve all brought me more joy than I expected:

• 💪 Perfect Pushup. Makes push-ups easier to do.

• 💪 Ab Wheel. Makes ab workouts kind of fun and easier to stick with.

• 💪 Battle Ropes. Slight pain to anchor, but nothing feels cooler than whipping these ropes.

• 💪 Bosu Ball. MUSCLE CONFUSION! (JK, this was a big thing a few years ago, but now I use these to challenge my core and proprioception.)

Heck yeah to spending money on little workout luxuries that trick you into liking exercise. But seriously—getting feel-good fitness gear has made a massive difference. I’ll report back once it makes the difference of 10 more pounds.

(Also open to more suggestions—drop your favorite home gym add-ons if you’ve got ‘em.)

#4 Apple+ Health

Apple’s pushing deeper into health. According to Bloomberg, they’re working on an AI health coach that offers personalized recommendations by analyzing data from Apple devices like your iPhone, Apple Watch, and AirPods. Add what you’ve plugged into Apple Health, and you've got a seriously powerful data ecosystem.

They’re reportedly collaborating with internal and external medical experts and may be branded as Health+. (I'm glad people are really going out of their way to name things 😅.)

I find the whole idea of Apple as a personal health OS pretty compelling… but there are a few reasons I'm also skeptical:

• 1️⃣ Timing. Apple’s eyeing a “spring or summer 2026 release,” which may not sound slow in hardware… but is a lifetime in tech. By then, the space will likely be flooded with other smart, personalized health coaches.

• 2️⃣ Health isn’t Apple’s strong suit (yet). For example, in a recent review of sleep trackers, Apple was faaar behind Oura and even WHOOP. They need data from elsewhere to deliver quality, personalized insights.

• 3️⃣ This probably won’t work if Apple builds a walled garden. Unless they take an App Store-style approach—letting others build on top and users move their data freely—the impact would likely be diluted. 

That said, it’s an interesting strategic move. I’m curious to see how it plays out… even if we have to wait a year to find out.

Oh, and I'm calling it now: They’re definitely bringing on a celebrity doctor. If I had to guess (anyone know the betting lines on this? 😂), it’ll be like Dr. Sanjay Gupta… but there are a lot of up-and-coming (female!) doctors that deserve a chance like Dr. Uma Naidoo, Dr. Olivia Lesslar, Dr. Gabrielle Lyon, Dr. Rhonda Patrick, Dr. Molly Maloof, Dr. Casey Means, and Dr. Robin Berzin. (And I know at least three of you read this email! 👀.)

#5 Raw kale

So, I went to lunch and tennis with my wife last weekend while our nanny was with the kiddos. (I’m just trying to keep up with my competitive wife).

After trading a few good shots, I ordered the crunch salad (I dig crunchy things), and it turned out to mean kale. 😠

For the record: Kale is a lie. 

It’s bitter and hard to digest, and unless it’s drowning in dressing, it’s just gross.

Still, it somehow became the mascot of clean eating without anyone questioning the digestive fallout. You should know kale is loaded with insoluble fiber and compounds like oxalates and goitrogens that can be tough on your gut and thyroid—especially when eaten raw.

Raw kale isn’t even that nutritious. Your body absorbs less of kale’s nutrients when it’s raw. Cooking breaks down those compounds, making it easier to digest and actually absorb minerals like calcium and iron. But how often do you eat cooked kale??

Anyway, for some reason, raw kale keeps showing up in smoothies and salads, as if we’re all just supposed to pretend it tastes amazing and feels great afterward. 🙃

Before kale was trendy, it was mostly used as garnish at Pizza Hut salad bars—so much so the pizza chain was one of the biggest kale buyers in the U.S.

And it should’ve stayed that way. 😒

Other things

• A new study on diets for healthy aging just dropped. Nothing revolutionary—eat plants, some animal foods, avoid the junk, stay consistent. My biggest takeaway is a reminder that healthy aging isn’t luck—it’s shaped by our choices.

• Everyone’s talking about protein like it’s the new avocado toast. (Me included.) But do we really need as much as we think? Experts say: IDKID. 

• This week's big news is that RFK Jr. just announced a “streamlining” of HHS. I think there’s some merit to cutting government spending, but massive layoffs are coming. ☹️

• In good news: Pioneer Pastures (my favorite protein shake) now delivers to your door. You better believe I’ve been milking that delivery service.

• An AI researcher tested eight sleep trackers—including Apple Watch, WHOOP, Eight Sleep, and Garmin—and found Oura stood out as #1.

👋 Who are you again? I’m Derek Flanzraich—founder of two venture-backed startups in Greatist (👍) and Ness (👎). I’ve worked with brands like GoodRx, Parsley, Midi, Ro, NOCD, and Peloton. I now run Healthyish Content, a premium health content & SEO agency (among other things).

Every Thursday, I share 5 health things I feel strongly about so you can live healthyish. (Disclaimer: I’m more your friend with health benefits. None of this is medical advice.)

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