Supplement Claims, Testosterone, Personal Care Products, Heart Injury, Living Dangerously, and Way More

Good afternoon Nikkola Newsletterers!

I hope for your health’s sake that you’re not hiding from the heat. Sweating is one of the best ways to get rid of toxins. On top of that, if we don’t expose our bodies to temperature extremes, we lose our ability to regulate temperature well.

Get sweaty, stay hydrated, get healthier.

Oh, and please help more people learn about the newsletter by sharing it. There are even some easy share buttons at the top for you to use. Or, if you want to get free swag, use the sharing tools at the bottom of the newsletter.

Enjoy this week’s carefully curated newsletter!

Health Claims vs. Research: Why Dietary Supplements Sound So Weak: You reach for your multivitamins and fish oil each morning, a habit ingrained in your routine. You’ve heard the benefits, you’ve read about them, and you believe they’re helping you avoid disease, slowing the impact of aging, and helping you maintain better mental health. But when you squint at the labels, hoping to read about the health benefits that’ll motivate you to keep taking them, you find that the language is indirect. Even weak. Are they tiptoeing around something? Keep reading (or listen)…

Testosterone: What men, women, and parents need to know: Though people often associate testosterone with men, it’s essential for women as well. Unfortunately, a significant portion of the population lives with low testosterone, which leads to numerous health problems. In men, it seems to even increase the risk of a severe case of COVID-19. What does testosterone do, and how can you maintain optimal levels throughout your life? Let’s find out. Keep reading (or listen)…

Men are using a lot more personal care products. Toxic ones, too. In 2004, the average dude used six personal care products. Today, he uses 11, almost as many as the 13 women use. And on an average day, men and women expose themselves to 112 chemical ingredients, many of which are bad news for your health (I probably need to write a Deep Dive on this topic soon). Unfortunately, there aren’t many “clean” personal care brands for guys that work, especially when it comes to deodorant. I recently started using Dr. Squatch myself, which smells awesome and it’s the only deodorant I’ve ever used that doesn’t leave me smelling like B.O. the next day. Do you have a favorite? Leave a comment on the online version of this newsletter and let me know.

Moderna boosters cause high rates of heart injuries. Data published in the European Journal of Heart Failure shows that one in 35 healthcare workers in a Swiss hospital had signs of heart injury following Moderna’s booster. It’s shocking to me that doctors and many public health “experts” continue to say it’s safe.

Young women live dangerously. According to a new study, young women are “less likely to use the handrail (long staircase), more likely to carry an item in their hands (both staircases), more likely to engage in conversation (both staircases), and more likely to wear sandals or heels (both staircases).” If you’re wondering why this was an actual study and whether or not we’re taking our “safety culture” a little too far, you’re not alone.

Hypnosis and Spinal Pain. Researchers at the University of Washington School of Medicine studied the effects of medical hypnosis on spinal pain. Almost 90% of patients who completed the treatment found relief. I put this in the bucket of a “shotgun approach” where, when you’re hurt, it’s worth trying anything to recover quickly.

Treating Achilles tendon injuries and other tendinopathies. Hyaluronic acid injections seem to be extremely effective for treating these injuries. If you’re dealing with overuse injuries, it’s worth talking to your orthopedic doctor to see if you can get in on this treatment.

How does that gene-edited yeast in your beer taste? Craft beer drinkers probably don’t know they could be drinking gene-edited, not-proven-safe-for-human-consumption, gene-edited yeast. Berkeley Yeast developed this “frankenyeast” to increase stability or add new fruity flavors to craft brews. I’m not sure how it got out there, but it’s being used by numerous craft breweries already.

Are you sure that what’s on your supplement label is what’s in the bottle? After testing 57 supplements, researchers discovered that 89% of the supplements had inaccurate labels and 12% contained banned substances. This doesn’t happen with high-quality, practitioner-based supplement brands, but it often does with lower-quality junk you find online or in some supplement shops.

Most Young Americans No Longer Patriotic. (American Greatness) Anew Gallup poll shows a record low level of patriotism among the two youngest generations of Americans. According to Axios, the new survey shows that patriotism is at its lowest among Americans between the ages of 18 and 34, while still remaining higher among older Americans. Overall, just 39 percent of American adults describe themselves as “extremely proud” to be Americans. Keep reading…

Our culture war is not a distraction. (Unherd) As our culture war rumbles on, there are hordes of denialists at hand to reassure us that it either “doesn’t exist”, or that it is a mere “distraction”. Labour MP Ben Bradshaw warns us that we need “to resist the Tory culture war”, as though it had been concocted by the very party that has presided over its worst excesses. Writing in The Scotsman, Joyce McMillian claims that the SNP’s Gender Recognition Reform Bill is “being used as a culture-war distraction”. Times columnist Matthew Parris insists that the “Why-Oh-Why War with Woke” is “not a real culture war”, and if we “stop thinking about it, stop talking about it, it will finally go away”. Wishful thinking only explains so much. Keep reading…

RFK Jr demolishes Sean Hannity’s suggestion that ivermectin isn’t effective against COVID. (LifeSite) Rising 2024 Democrat presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. skewered Fox News host Sean Hannity’s suggestion that ivermectin is not effective against COVID-19 during a town hall discussion on Tuesday evening. Keep reading…