Call for Requests: news stories you'd like M&A to unpack

Apparently, if you press return it posts the comment rather than putting in a line break. OK. Would you please consider doing something on "addiction"? It seems very broad. I'm thinking specifically of currently controversial and contested areas around such things as: (online specificially I believe) pornography use and social media use (particularly it seems to me TikTok). The idea that these things are "addictive" (I think this isn't even a correct medical term, it should be "use disorder"?) are being used to introduce restrictions on them. Australia has just banned smart phones for kids. The UK is bringing Jonathan Haidt over to talk to the health secretary about potentially following suit. I see a lot of media coverage that uses the "addictive" framing (and I think a lot of people would use that term themselves, not a as clinical term). I haven't seen much push-back - one Taylor Lorenz video. So, yeah, that's a lot. . . I like to ramble... addiction, use disorders, process addiction, behavioural addiction, bad habits....? Thank you.

Could you do something on "addiction". That sounds very broad I know. I'm thinking specifically contested and controversial

David Goggins!! You don’t know me! 🤣

Please revisit the GLP-1 conversation. I've forwarded your 10/10/23 episode to so many people (including my physician). I see a lot more companies prescribing them without a doctor's visit, regular blood work, etc. I don't think the average person understands the impact of this medication has on basic pancreatic function and the consequences it has on basic nutrition (if you're only eating one meal a day, it can't be French fries every day (well, that sounds delicious and now I want French fries).

Placenta! And how people want to eat them

Ballerina Farm now becoming a wellness brand with farmer hydrate https://www.patreon.com/posts/141985713?utm_campaign=postshare_fan&utm_content=android_share

Would love a deep dive on Chris Farley and the fatphobia-centred hit movie Tommy Boy

I’d really like to see an episode about CrossFit

an episode circling back to the show “drop dead diva” i barely remember it but i remember back in the day it was like the one show with a “fat” protagonist

Slightly off topic, but I'd love an episode on taking apart all the bs around trans issues, such as how the scientific community isn't actually in consensus about what constitutes "biological sex" - I ask this as someone who works for a charity where we support trans+ people and their significant others and sees much of both the assumptions of cis people and the impact that this bs has on trans+ people. My second suggestion is nutrition and disability/chronic illness (I am, myself, a spoonie and wheelchair user) that I can then aggressively play loudly whilst around my family who have taken against my recent weight gain and are suggesting that my wheelchair is slowly killing me because I've put on a few pounds since becoming more severely disabled! (Nevermind that it's the only reason I now have a social life again!) Love you guys x

Huel protein powder is in Consumer Reports news as containing concerning amounts of lead: https://www.consumerreports.org/lead/protein-powders-and-shakes-contain-high-levels-of-lead-a4206364640/

Electrolytes! Should we be supplementing or just another wellness grift?

Deep dive on surrogacy

Rise in breast reduction surgeries

Sketchy med spas, alternative mental health treatments like mdma/ketamine/shrooms

Intuitive Eating

You guys have brought up federal regulators and executive branch agencies a lot (FDA, CDC, USDA, etc) - have you ever thought of doing an episode just about one of these agencies and how it works in regards to impacting human health and wellness?

I’m hearing that the newest eating disorder is moms pumping their breast milk excessively to burn calories without or in addition to exercising. I see this in the online spaces I inhabit as a new mom myself, and I’m floored because pumping is actually a lot of work!!!

Can you please cover "cortisol"? I'm so tired of hearing everyone carry on about "lowering their cortisol levels" because I'm pretty sure that your body does that all by itself?

Intermittent Fasting! My mom is obsessed with it evangelizes about nonstop. Likes to go on about how many hours (and days) she's gone with out food

Just a general comment. I often feel "healthy eating and exercising" advice from expert sources seems really condescending 90% of the time. Why do you think that is?

Andrew Huberman!

12-step programs.

Measles and misinformation in Canada is pretty bad. There are more cases of measles reported this year in the province of Alberta than all of the US. https://www.alberta.ca/. The CDC says there are over 1500 cases; Alberta has over 1900 cases. Alberta is a weird place: it’s like Canada’s Florida and Texas all rolled into one. The provincial government is a whackjob and spreads misinformation that is harming people’s health choices in the province.

Would love to hear your take on the Pete Hegseth speech and anti-fat bias as a part of nation building and military strength? https://www.reuters.com/world/us/trump-preside-over-unusual-military-gathering-virginia-2025-09-30/

The myth that boys are doing worse in schools because of all the mean female leftist teachers, and how they’re just biologically more inclined to not pay attention. This has been big on the right for years and I’ve never seen a leftist response to it

You may get a few from the UK about this forthcoming 'documentary '. https://www.televisual.com/news/joe-wicks-sells-killer-protein-bar-for-c4/ Fitness influencer Joe Wicks is making a 'Killer' protein bar from legal but 'dangerous' UPFs to sell until the Govt bans the ingredients.

Hormone balancing!!

I want to hear about Nikocado Avocado

Not wellness/weight loss but I'd love an ep on IQ.

Kinda niche but genuinely curious why Ta Nehisi Coates is discredited? Sorry if I missed where the list came from in The Food Babe Episode, but it was weird to see an author of one of my favorite books on that list. I tried to search it but all that came up was they recently were dragged for supporting Gaza in an interview (I’m sure there’s some nuance here but…). can you explain or just drop a link here? Not tryna start a niche flame war here but I’m curious, especially since Coates might share some of the same values with your listener base. I’m guessing I missed something here.

How about Paul Stamets and Host Defense mushroom supplements? I’ve always wondered how grifty or legit mushroom supplements are

Steven Bartlett - Diary of a CEO and the seemingly never ending stream of grifty, dodgy, health and wellness people he has on (who he platforms and never questions anything) please!

Vibration plates! They are all over tiktok

“The carnivore diet got me off all my meds” This is a husband and wife team in this episode and it’s soul crushing. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=gdywjnX4Wew

It might be tricky because he has passed away, but a Michael Moseley deep dive from someone who was a trusted science communicator to diet creator/populariser and shill could be good. I went to two of his live shows a few years ago (and a few years apart) - the first one was great, fascinating facts about the human body, tiny bit about the 5:2 at the end. Then the second show was just him shilling for the diet and his wife shilling for her cookbook based off the diet, very boring, disappointing, and expensive.

In terms of grifts... this is up there, 30 000 for someone else to name your child https://www.sfchronicle.com/sf/article/baby-name-taylor-humphrey-21031547.php

Just listened to the food babe episode, I’ll put forth a conspiracy theory that FB is just a grifter who is aware of upcoming changes of products like Carmel coloring or aza-whatever and is legitimizing her platform with these « victories »

I would love to have an episode of sugar alcohols!! And how they are used and abused by the food industry and how they play a role in “health” supplements/meal replacements, etc. Or how they play a role in certain disease management like diabetes! Thank you for considering :) and I apologize if you’ve already done an episode on this, I’m still working my way through the episodes 🫶🏼

You mentioned it a couple of episodes ago, but y'all seriously should do a show on the Weston A Price Foundation. First off, they call themselves "WAPers" and I would love to listen to an hour of M&A repeating that over and over. Second, Joel Salatin is a huge part of the movement (cult?) and y'all need to Google the blog his interns posted about how he was forcing them to drink only unfiltered rain water and they were getting horribly ill while also only receiving $500 for months of labor. I will admit to being a member like 15 years ago back before the anti-vaxxer stuff really picked up. I am curious if any of their "research" on vitamin K2 and vitamins D & A basically preventing tooth decay is real. I still take a daily supplement to this day. Can I give it up? I don't think you'll regret going down the WAPer rabbit hole!

I know one was done on the history of pilates, but I think one about the current pilates girl trend or just the general "don't lift weights or you'll bulk up" advice given to girls and women that I heard all through out sports growing up.

How about the termination of the USDA Household Food Security survey? Because, as the USDA website now says, it did nothing but spur “liberal fodder” and was started by the Clinton administration to trick the US government into paying for assistance programs like SNAP.

Did anyone else get the download today for the episode about Vani Hari and scream F*CK YES!! Just me? I did not realize she was working so closely with RFK and got visibly disgusted when I recently saw her sitting on congressional panels.

The fallout from The Salt Path controversy would be interesting to unpack - specifically framing nature and walking as a cure to terminal illness, potentially misleading readers and hurting people with chronic conditions who were told they should just do the same. The real Salt Path: anger of patients left hopeless after Salt Path revelations | The Observer https://youtu.be/_RSQi6iZX80?feature=shared https://bjgplife.com/what-does-the-fallout-from-the-salt-path-saga-tell-us-about-our-societys-ideas-about-chronic-illness-and-exercise/

Those gruns bears that have taken over all my feeds as though they are the only product on earth that will allow me to get nutrients and survive on earth and digest food. Are they actually all that? Help!

If you want to dip into more of the water drops spelling Satan from the latest main feed ep you can watch the movie what the bleep do we know. It’s so, so dumb.

Curious for an episode on MSG

I’m also late but this cropped up in the paper today: Stanford Medicine research suggests daylight savings time harms health. ‘ The study found changing the clock twice a year disrupts circadian rhythms leading to higher rates of stroke and obesity’ https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/daylight-saving-time-research-finds-health-economic-impacts-editorial/RJDIDVOC4JA2DAY7PFFSWWWAAQ/ Daylight saving time research finds health and economic impacts – Editorial https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2025/09/15/daylight-savings-clock-obesity-stroke/ Sorry if this is already amongst the 900 comments 🙃

This is old but the whole, "If you can't pronounce it, don't eat in" ... seems they don't know names can change. Xylitol is sometimes listed as "Birch Sugar". This is pretty bad development because Xylitol is toxic to dogs. I'm guessing there's other examples

Noom marketing and Noom in general

I know it’s late, but maybe a mention of Tylenol?

Culture Apothecary! I know this is for specific news stories and I’m not following directions with that suggestion, so I’ll continue to not follow directions and urge Mike to read Fourth Wing for IBCK.

Oh and I know everyone and the great lord jesus himself is on board with high protein....but really? Really, really? THAT much protein? They told us to eat like a loaf of bread a day back in the 90's with the food pyramid, so I'm just side eyeing this protein palooza thing everyone is crazy about.

I always want Beachbody, because I was recruited as a "coach" for a little bit before they dropped them. I've also loved their workouts for over a decade...but the whole Shakeology and background business nonsense is fascinating and weird. There ain't a damn thing helpful in that Shakeology I tell you! Also, is there any fun history behind slim fast? I always remember turning to that when dieting. Oh and frozen diet food meals from the grocery stores. What else changed me for a bit? Oh "Skinny Bitch" books back in the early 2010's...got me to be a vegetarian for a bit, however were probably sketchy AF looking back.

Psychology and mental health stuff! - psychology replication crisis - I bet we have a lot of misconceptions about autism and adhd - weird academic fights in the field

Gillian Michaels radicalisation pleeeeeaaaseeee

This study: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1438463925001361

CORTISOL

Declining trust in birth control drugs...

The "leaky gut" concept

Tylenol and autism article that proves nothing. Also, no specific article…but what is with the “sunscreen truthers” rubbing beef fat on their faces?

are chiropractors bad?

Trumps new autism cure anouncement

Well shit paracetamol I guess???? 🙃🙃🙃

If you ever fancy a historical one, Dr Linda Hazzard was a wellness grifter in the late 1800s who quite literally starved her victims to death under the the guise of beneficial fasting so she could pocket the money. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linda_Hazzard

Is the "body positivity" propaganda done? Is it better?

Other ideas: CIBO & how some homeopathic Doctors "wipe out" your gut biome and reset your gut. (Had a friend who did this to get rid of her beer gut. Didn't work)

Michael, you will hate me for this but I used to be Anti-vaxx, and recently remembered an antivax website I used to visit to get all my "real facts" from. Let me know if you want to lose your mind on every page. 🤣🤣🤣

Debunking the idea that women’s hormonal cycle should dictate how she eats, exercises, and feels depending on where she is on her menstrual cycle - starting to see a lot of this online including from those advocating the avoidance of contraceptives

Can you guys react to the Dr. Mike interview with nutrition researcher Kevin Hall? He was silenced by MAHA and left the NIH because of it. His interview had a lot of really interesting information about studies he conducted, and was honest about the results of, but the media falsely reported his results. I would love your analysis on this!

Might be too late but this stupid article. I already know that I am stressed, can I just sleep on my stomach jn peace???? This seems like a tiktok that just got expanded into an article https://www.bustle.com/wellness/high-stress-sleeping-positions

I’d love a deep dive into online weight loss grifting.

Dr. Elisabeth Potter's fantastic reconstructive surgery practice and the absolute nightmare that dealing with the US healthcare industry has been! Her perspective is certainly not unique but it is loud and clear. https://youtube.com/shorts/YRfSm8sMpKQ?si=TEi2bKLDyR2QKssV

I’d love to hear a deep dig into this Midwest Doctor guy! He keeps poppin up in Substack and FB. Start with this piece of work! It’s about how people who are in close proximity to vaccinated people are getting sick 🤦‍♀️ so dumb… https://open.substack.com/pub/vigilantfox/p/the-shocking-truth-about-covid-vaccine?r=4wkgg8&utm_medium=ios

How about this extremely bleak 'war on autism' campaign from the Trump administration. I'm not American, but I hear about it and it makes me feel very sad, as someone with an autistic child. Autistic people end their lives at a higher rate than non-autistic folk: what they need is understanding and to feel like they matter, not to be 'cured'. It makes me sick to my stomach. Everyone is valid and with a little understanding autistic people and those that love them can learn to navigate the neurotypical world and we can all benefit from knowing neurospicy people. This period in history is so surreal: thanks for all the reality that you bring to it.

As someone who watches a lot of cable television I have some questions about a lot of things I’ve seen on commercials. 1. What are these weight loss pills that have been on every channel for my whole life? Are these placebos or like laxatives? They always have someone saying it worked for them and they lost 60 pounds or whatever and there’s usually a money back guarantee. Why doesn’t everyone get their money back? 2. Men’s hair commercials: there are so many commercials for men who are losing their hair. There are like serum based products. There are what seem to be medicinal based products (like through hims.com). There are shampoos and sprays. There are even surgeries. What products if any “work” and what are the consequences of these products? If I remember correctly, Joe Buck almost lost the use of his vocal cords due to a hair plug surgery. 3. During sports commercials there’s often these ads for some sort of testosterone boosting product. Not for trans-men but for cis-men. They should these cis-men doing business better and golfing typically. They state that it’ll help you keep your muscle mass and “she’ll even like it” and show some hot women nodding. Does this extra testosterone actually do anything? Is it bad for you like steroids are?

A couple weeks ago I listened to the latest regular ep and was laughing out loud, which felt SO GOOD...so I was like, I need more Aubrey and Mike in my ears talking about how shit everything is and being thoughtful AND irreverent and funny about it, so I subscribed and I've been binging the entire back catalog of bonus episodes. I'm currently mid-2023 and you've made a couple comments as if Trump is in the rear-view, which has been a jolt of sadness every time, but I just got to the ep on Tucker Carlson's The End of Men, and you commented about RFK Jr and I legit choked up with some kind of laugh-cry about what 2023 Mike & Aubrey didn't know was coming. So I guess, just, HOW THE FUCK did this man come to exist and be in his position? Maybe unpack the recent hearings? And by "unpack" I mean "help me feel some kind of catharsis by doing your righteous rage thing" because WOOF.

Chronic Lyme disease debunk

Would love an episode on Dr Stacy Sims! She is referenced a lot in my Perimenopause peloton groups but when I look her up a lot of the advice seems gimmicky or conflicting… ie do SIT instead of HIIT(they seem the same) but also only do low impact exercise at Zone 2? (So no intervals then?) She also goes on Huberman a lot hawking supplements like creatine, which seems to be a huge red flag. As a 50 yr old woman, perimenopause can be a frustrating time and it seems she is capitalizing off that

https://apple.news/A6sqlqvU7RV6pJsVnsJ5gBg It’s a Wall Street Journal article titled “My Family Went Off Ultra-Processed Foods for a Month. The Results Surprised Us.” It references a study on UPF out of England.

Orthorexia in general

Not sure if you have already looked at this but I got a strange advertisement come up where Oprah is talking up “pink salt” something to do with weight loss she says without dieting of course… might be worth a look.

Dr. Jason Fung, the fasting doctor

Food noise. It feels like it’s everywhere now. 😵‍💫 Thank you!

The Lumen device?

I know the ozempic episode was rough, but I’m on a sleep apnea subreddit and someone keeps posting about how ozempic can cure sleep apnea. I’m curious what the data shows for these other issues. very nerdy, I know lol. love you both

And Amara LaNegra!

But also - have you ever thought about covering keeping kosher and other religious dietary guidelines?

Howard Dean screaming!!!!!!

Hi Michael and Aubral, this comment isn’t useful at all, but I did find it weird the other night when I got 4 different AI ads blabbering about how the master cleanse (now with added Himalayan sea salt!) juice made them loose 5 million kgs when I was binge watching videos about how fucked up Americas Next Top Model was

This one seems to have everything in it - raw food, peptides, vaccine skepticism, ACV… the Goopified list goes on. Plus it’s about pets! Who doesn’t love a furry companion. https://www.nytimes.com/2025/09/13/well/pet-wellness.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare

https://www.usatoday.com/story/entertainment/celebrities/2025/08/20/abby-phillip-jillian-michaels-race-slavery/85738441007/

Jilly Michaels commitment to white supremacy in all of its forms, not just austere Euro beauty standards.

The intersection of diet/wellness culture and religion. Dr Liz Bucar (lizbucar on insta) has been doing research and posting a lot about this lately and it fits in so well with MF, but ads a dimension I hadn’t thought about before. She talks about how diet/wellness are rooted in religious frameworks not meant for health, but to control the evil body. It’s very interesting

So we all know that the supplement industry is an unregulated hellscape, but WHY is it an unregulated hellscape? Have there been attempts to regulate it that have been sabotaged by bad actors? Is this another thing we have to blame Reagan for? Why is it Like That anyway?

Inflammation!!!!

Not sure if it’s too late, but would obviously love your take on this new NYT article! https://www.nytimes.com/2025/09/18/well/live/obesity-american-men.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare

I don’t know how widespread this is in the Anglo-sphere but I’ve definitely seen it on French social media. This trend of “feminist” adjacent wellness influencers who argue against hormonal contraception, especially the pill, because of its known side effects, especially on weight gain and mental health. Especially when advocating for “natural” contraception instead with the success rate issues that come with that, especially when paired with the recent returns on reproductive rights and increases in natalist policies. I think it’s a very nuanced discussion and you guys could do a great job with it.

I’d like to hear Aubrey talk about her appearance on the biggest loser doc! I enjoyed the entire thing but her parts were my favorite! I would watch only her talk about the show if it was possible! Lol

literally any conversations about "getting rid of double chins"!! Is it even possible to do "targeted" double chin exercises and other nonsense? what are the harms and risks of more plastic surgery and plastic surgery lite options? what the fuck even is a DOUBLE CHIN??

women's wellness: why it's not studied and the effects of that. every woman has heard a dr say "just go on The Pill" as if it is a cure for female acne, female moods, female everything. because it's the only women's med that's been studied for women? sort of. i would love to know who is trying to study women's bodies, what fads for women's bodies that are bs, is my dr just reading women's health weekly or do they actually know things that aren't click bait? etc etc.

I'm really curious about membership-based primary care. https://www.npr.org/2025/03/27/nx-s1-5311627/long-wait-times-for-appointments-at-your-doctor-you-can-now-become-a-member

Seed cycling! The MAHA girlies on instagram wont shut up about it.

Oh! And the urine freaks! The people that age urine and drink it and bathe in it and claim it cures cancer and all manner of health issues

Fecal transplants for neurodivergent gut biomes The fucking Telepathy Tapes - and the way the right has taken up autism as something to be either eliminated or used as a tool of fascism

Would love to hear a medley of some of the grifter docks you have not covered yet. Mercola, Gundry, Saladino, etc.

I’d love to hear more about chemophobia! Sorry no article just a future idea

Barefoot running! Who does it, what does it signify, is it a bad idea

Ooh, maybe an ep about chemo vs other natural measures to fight cancer? Ananda Lewis’s recent passing and the realizations she came to towards the end vs the “Chris Beat Cancer” perspective

Non diabetics using CGMs. Why? This article tries to thread the needle between highlighting real benefits for those who are pre diabetic and weirdos who just want more data to "optimize their metabolic health" https://thrombosis.org/patients/patient-articles/continuous-glucose-monitoring-for-non-diabetics-a-new-frontier-in-metabolic-health-optimization

This diet https://bestleanlife.com/cb/?hop=saleoff8&hopId=d3431d2a-1db4-40d9-baba-e62bb6a10089&fbclid=PARlRTSAM3_IFleHRuA2FlbQIxMQABpyXLb3W7ZODJwyw9Ehj1VBXgDSZxB95odgth39SLIAfSerp9HsfzNX8KYZog_aem_zbF_gHmyTfdzjBQCeXDVbw

Use of drink powders AG1, liquid IV, rapid hydration. Pros and cons.

Bat season, is it an thing? and why the rabbies vaccine is so expensive.

Probably a full episode, but Antibiotics and other medications effects on stomach biome / need for low lectin low anti-inflammatory diets

What if you just did a round-up/update on things previously covered? Or compiled recent things that aren’t juicy enough to warrant a whole episode? Everyone loves a clip show!

Supplements to lengthen/prevent shortening of your telomeres please!

I have concerns regarding information suppression regarding youth mental health research and care access. I'm a social and behavioral sciences librarian and research has started disappearing. For example, the CDC's Health Disparities for LGBTQ youth was removed and has been restored with "caveats." https://www.cdc.gov/healthy-youth/lgbtq-youth/health-disparities-among-lgbtq-youth.html. add to that MAHA wanting to end school mental health screenings, criticism of mental health meds, and the tearing down of protections and support under IDEA, etc... and it is obvious youth mental health is under attack.

Hyperbaric chambers

Cool sculpt! Just melt the fat away but sometimes it makes it hard and expanded a la Linda Evangelista?

"Anti-Inflammatory" diets would also be great, I think.

Everlywell!

You've outdone yourselves on glp-1 coverage and I'm sorry to ask for more, but the hype and ubiquity of it all is still really hard for me to get my head around. Some aspects I'd appreciate insight on: 1) Driving cross-country, I've seen more and more billboards for weight loss clinics, basically advertising themselves as prescription-distributors. How (or is) this different from other historical pharmaceutical booms (namely, drug mills à la opioid epidemic)? Is the fact of these clinics reason to be skeptical in and of itself, or am I layering other factors into what is otherwise simply increasing accessibility (at least in terms of capitalist America)? 2) How can the medical effects of taking these drugs be so beneficial across health markers, when similar behavior prompted by disordered eating (i.e. pharmacologically-driven versus mentally-driven) is so harmful? Is there evidence that the mechanism of reducing food intake produces different outcomes than the behavior itself? I don't understand, and of course everyone is entitled to bodily autonomy. But I come to these issues from a background with severe orthorexia, and the medical community's virtue-signaling around glp-1s is a profound mindfuck. I've appreciated Virgie Tovar's "Truth Serum" series--but I also fear that I'm seeking information that validates my own biases, even in the face of overwhelming data. I don't want to be anti-science! And yet!

Also: good news. Really, an overview of where you see actual progress or promise would be so interesting and also lovely.

The lady filtering microplastic out of people's blood as a luxury service. It is called Clarify Clinic. I need you on it!!

Is Ear Seeding The Solution To “Cortisol Face”? https://www.vogue.co.uk/article/ear-seeding-cortisol Is what the solution to what please?

You’ve had so many, and I don’t know if this guy is in your wheelhouse since it’s mental health related, but please consider looking into Daniel Amen.

Apologies if this has been posted already, but what about Dose/ liver cleanses? I feel like they’ve touched this topic in the past but I keep getting Instagram ads for Dose for Liver Function

Also! The various household water purifiers that claim to filter micro plastics and fluoride- including berkey, which won’t sell in California despite missing a massive market there. Supposedly berkey says Cali laws are “not as rigorous” as their testing, but really just have stronger false-claim marketing laws

A scandal I cannot stop thinking about - NEDA replacing their staff with an AI chatbot after they looked to unionize, after about 2 days had to be shut down for good for telling eating disorder patients about how to lose weight

Not recent but I've been listening through old MP episodes, and I would love an update on the Daily Harvest food poisoning scandal, if one exists. Last we heard there was an FDA investigation in progress but not yet concluded. (My apologies if there has been an update on this that I missed.)

https://www.popsci.com/health/daylight-saving-time-health-2/ Claiming ending daylight savings time would reduce obesity by 2.6 million cases per year.....

https://lithub.com/the-fascist-history-of-yoga

“Human Design”. It’s suddenly everywhere. Wtf.

The ethics of healthcare workers and therapists posting about patients and patient care on social media. An obgyn clinic went viral for some of its staff posting videos making fun of their clients and it makes it even more daunting to go to a doctor.

Sort of outside of the normal topics, but I would love to hear about medical gaslighting for women; for example, symptoms being ignored and doctors saying, “it’s probably just anxiety” or “you should try losing weight.” We all know it happens, so in order to not just rage bait everyone, would love to have suggestions on how to advocate for yourself when you feel like the doctors don’t hear you. I’ve seen tons of stories where people get better diagnostics and information from TikTok/Instagram than they can get from a doctor.

Tying into the ultra processed foods issue - Zoe in the UK - had one of their ads pulled as their claim of "whole food" was found to be misleading https://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/zoe-supplement-ad-banned-over-ultraprocessed-claims-b2754859.html

Oura ring partnering with the department of defense 😭😭😭

This New Yorker article seems so up your streets - How Jessica Reed Kraus Went from Mommy Blogger to MAHA Maven - https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2025/09/22/how-jessica-reed-kraus-went-from-mommy-blogger-to-maha-maven?utm_source=nl&utm_brand=tny&utm_mailing=TNY_Daily_091525&utm_campaign=aud-dev&utm_medium=email&utm_term=tny_daily_digest&bxid=62cadf5cddb3bbb43702e586&cndid=70253399&hasha=37e7ee8dd8fe6669bf2f8a4faa56595e&hashb=5fda8b72165fc4eb76682a58ff70cddf06f2959e&hashc=6aff82ef0568cd7a7b32d30f584822ee5d4e85adfe8acc9a1ac6e3aa8c57bc61&esrc=MARTECH_ORDERFORM&mbid=CRMNYR012019

Scam Ozempic in Aus https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2025/sep/16/scam-weight-loss-product-marketed-australians-water-saline-solution-analysis-finds?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Other

This is so tiny but after unpacking step counts, it would be interesting to look at the next ring in my Apple Watch: standing. Or maybe it wouldn’t! But the advice to stand for at least a minute 12 times/day… where does that come from? Is it just about movement or is there meant to be something about standing itself that’s good for the body? Also feels like an overlap with the “hang upside down” crowd.

This just popped up and while I didn't recognize the name, that book cover brought me back to one that definitely hung around my kitchen as a child. (Although my mom was teeeeeeny in 1985 and didn't start dieting until about 10 yrs later, wonder if it was a hand me down from a friend?) Marilyn Diamond, Who Wrote a Blockbuster Diet Book, Dies at 81 - The New York Times https://share.google/tG3Bj9WgXkRyMvqYY

The 90s MSG Panic

I think a look into menopause and HRT would be interesting. Especially Dr Mary Claire Haver she seems to genuinely be doing the most to dispel myths but there so much misinformation out there 🫣

Please please please do more MAHA coverage! Specifically their weird obsession with finding the “cure” for autism. I want to hear Mike go hard on explaining the correlation vs causation of autism rates increasing over the years. This was touched on in a previous episode, but it’s so relevant right now that I think it could warrant its own episode. To what are they attributing the increase in autism rates, and why is that false? We need the full fledged debunking

This isn’t necessarily a recent media idea but I was talking to my brother about body image issues that we both have (thanks mom) and he brought up that our dad is an “endomorph” so we have to keep that in mind. I’ve been thinking about these specific body “types” and what they really mean and if they even matter. I tend to avoid looking into any wellness/health claim due to my past disordered habits around food and body so I don’t have any links but would love to hear what you all think.

I'm an NIH funded researcher - I'd really appreciate a breakdown of how the federal government is dismantling the CDC and NIH and what the implications are for normal people who don't like having cancer or polio.

Bon apetite test kitchen scandal

It’s mentioned elsewhere, but seconding the sunscreen scandal in Australia/ NZ As someone at heightened risk of skin-cancer who’s spent a fortune on an expensive, supposedly SPF 50+ sunscreen that was revealed to actually be SPF 4, I feel personally invested in this. And, in fact, a user in the article did get a cancerous growth. With sunblock always a staple in every wellness influencer’s 10 step skincare routine, it’s easy to forget that it’s an area where misrepresentation can be dangerous https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c4gzl41rpdqo.amp

All the articles/studies about alcohol and cancer. How much is actually correlation that could be other things, like environmental toxins or microplastics? Obviously a lot of alcohol isn’t healthy but….

I’m in an education PhD program and we’re reading from the Handbook of Urban Education by Milner and Lomotey. Chapter 4 is dedicated to the health of urban children in schools and says absolutely unhinged things like PE teachers should be getting kids on calorie deficit diets and blames kids for their low self esteem. They keep saying it’s all the Tv kids (esp black kids) watch. They go on to say obesity is a pandemic COMPARING IT TO The COVID 19 PANDEMIC. PLEASE RIP THIS TO SHREDS. I can give a pdf. https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/edit/10.4324/9780429331435/handbook-urban-education-richard-milner-iv-kofi-lomotey

It's not quite "wellness" per se but Hank green's recent SciShow video about knitting has pissed off the online knitting community in a big way. It's a great low stakes drama that I'm enjoying as a distraction at the moment. There's no drama like fiber arts drama for sure.

I just started watching the documentary What the Health on Netflix. Absolutely loaded with misinformation and lies!

Oh and ICYMI just did a really good ep exploring the cultural shift away from body positivity

Would love to hear y’all discuss medical child abuse and maybe the Take Care of Maya Netflix doc. Andrea from Nobody Should Believe me does great reporting on that case and the subject in general.

Period tracking apps seems like it could be interesting

Hydrogenated water

The smoothie grift of the 1995-2000 era.

Sylvia Browne, the psychic medium! Old clips of her are WILD and everywhere now (was relieved to find out not just *my* feed) Maybe even an episode on psychic mediums in general?

i would love to hear thoughts on the netflix doc aubrey was in. i watched it and thought it was poorly put together, but would love to hear your take.

Here’s one story on Lipedema! A doctor told me i likely have it but wouldn’t put in a referral or in my record that he thought so—it’s really hard to find providers who even know what it is, primarily found in women, and has to be removed with surgery so people w/it are major wellness scam targets https://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/insurance-influencer-aurora-mccausland-lipedema-surgery-rcna217261

Would love an episode on processed meats!

Might be a different sort of format or suggestion, but I'd highly recommend exploring books for young people that are actually good and help move us forward especially in the messages we share with kids- like Bodies are Cool by Tyler Feder, All Food Is Good Food by Molli Jackson Ehlert & illustrated by Fanny Liem, The (Other) F Word: A Celebration of the Fat & Fierce, edited by Angie Manfredi (who is also an amazing librarian). So less of an unpacking suggestion but a collecting resources suggestion. Love the show and grateful for all y'all do!

I'd like your thoughts on Hairspray the musical movie

Sunscreen labeling and reporting abuses! Huge Aussie/american scandal. Also vitamin b6 toxicity in fortified soft drinks like red bull.

This has probably already been suggested by now but this article set off so many MP red flags for me… https://www.npr.org/2025/07/28/nx-s1-5476705/ultra-processed-food-kids-health

My friend just became a GAPS diet certified coach. So I googled and found out it was developed as an autism “treatment” protocol. Yikes! Smells scammy to me. I’d love a deep dive into GAPS.

AI bots impersonating actual doctors are hawking wellness garbage online! Truly the worst timeline https://www.seattletimes.com/business/the-doctors-are-real-but-the-sales-pitches-are-frauds/

Serena Williams now repping a compounded GLP-1 for weight mgmt.

Can you talk about the no bid contract being awarded to Rensselaer Polytechnic to find the link between vaccines and autism? https://apnews.com/article/vaccines-autism-study-da78aea6421a1fb568c9ee1490f5681e I'm sure there's money in this for the maha folks, somehow.

I’d love to hear Aubrey’s thoughts on the Fit for TV doc she was in. She was wonderful, but she was really the only person to actually acknowledge the harm The Biggest Loser caused on a societal level. Even most of the contestants were hesitant to outright condemn the show. Text Me Back pod did a good episode covering the doc: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/text-me-back-with-lindy-west-and-meagan-hatcher-mays/id1713269318?i=1000726094479

I know you’ve discussed in the past issues with the very complex world of food safety such as in the discussion of Daily Harvest. I’m interested in seeing a look at how recent government rollbacks like downsizing the FoodNet program will affect our food safety.

Teal Swan

RFK Jr. is blaming video games for mass shootings. This topic seems to have come up about once every five years for my whole life so far. I guess the link to health is tenuous (you could argue it relates to mental health I guess). I would be curious to hear your take.

Be thy Nader tv show, weight limits with vaccines and birth control, new vaccine research studies, where’s my weight data on health apps- going to?, how to sus out tailors that won’t body shame, updates on new research reports regarding weight or diets to be on the look out for, how to still access vaccines, health and weed? What research is actually fact-based?, weighted everything? What is happening?, stomach biome/health gut craze?, what research could actually help us?, hormones. The ozempic lawsuit, how to file a complaint against your doctor for body shaming, and second the anti-bc rhetoric with Gen z- hate that

Have we done huberman already?

I need there to be an unpacking of all the pet wellness trends, and all the ways celebrities and social media influencers are here to save us from ruining our pets lives with their branded food products, supplements, etc.

I would absolutely love to hear more about lipedema. After being diagnosed this year and joining FB groups I realized this was topic with filled with wellness tips and some medical advice. It seems a lot of people have become culty wellness gurus regarding lipedema.

I’d love to hear you both talk about the turn against hormonal birth control, especially after/while the US approved the first OTC pill. This one hurts my brain. Example: https://www.instagram.com/reel/DOOx1A3j1n0/?igsh=aHd6YmM5emo3cXY5 Oops, you asked for a news artcile: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/09/02/style/birth-control-skepticism-wellness-tiktok.html

The link between colon cancer and marathon running https://www.nytimes.com/2025/08/19/health/running-colon-cancer.html

Tongue ties/myofunctional therapy/breathing

The “exercising during your lueteal phase” thing!

This isn’t news exactly, but I’d love your thoughts on South Park: The End of Obesity

A family off of Ultra-processed foods (UPFs). I’m not sure I can describe all the feels about this. Just didn’t sit well with me in many ways. https://www.wsj.com/health/wellness/my-family-went-off-ultra-processed-foods-for-a-month-the-results-surprised-us-ac8015b1?st=AzAWwA&reflink=article_copyURL_share

Coconut cult https://www.self.com/story/coconut-cult-chocolate-mousse-probiotics

This interesting episode about "Wellness" as a replacement for religion in people's lives. Or any of the authors they reference https://www.npr.org/2025/03/17/1263527059/its-been-a-minute-wellness-spirituality-religion

This would probably be a separate episode - but I would love a “I’m Glad My Mom Died” book club !

Clear protein https://www.today.com/today/amp/rcna225676

Creatine- currently heavily marketed to menopausal women https://thepauselife.com/blogs/the-pause-blog/creatine-benefits-in-menopause?srsltid=AfmBOopFjSyRK5UcOuyMNNOtxZeCrXpuu_6iWK4gljMYC2B1N96TWumW

Intermittent fasting.

https://www.instagram.com/p/DOHuK0QAIn2/?igsh=bmh1MWU3dm53OGIz What do you two know about Marisa Tomei's lifestyle tips?

This specific article is a few years old, but the topic is only getting more relevant. https://rewirenewsgroup.com/2023/03/20/social-media-wellness-influencers-peddle-lies-about-birth-control/ It would be super cool if you could get Garnet Henderson (author of the piece linked above) or Susan Rinkunas from Autonomy News on to talk about the confluence of wellness influencing, birth control disinformation, and the anti-abortion movement. (Both have also talked a lot about how even pro-choice “journalist” influencers spread misinfo and I think MP would be a great space to talk about the difficulty of getting accurate and patient-centered information on reproductive healthcare!)

I'd like to hear about issues facing fat athletes.

“the Adele story” LOL

I've seen a lot of good and bad content around endocrine disruptors and obesogens recently that I'd love to hear your thoughts on! The good: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41366-024-01460-3 The bad: https://www.acsh.org/news/2022/07/05/obesogen-myth-chemicals-dont-cause-weight-gain-16404 The ugly: https://gardenofessences.com/articles/how-to-detox-from-obesogens/

How only rich people get chronic Lyme. the grifter naturopaths that tell people they have latent tick borne illnesses and then have people buy antibiotics not covered by insurance through their office. Popular in CT where there’s lots of ticks. A friend of mine had this happen and was downing $900/mo on antibiotics to get rid of latent rocky mountain fever. And I tried to get her out of it but she was in deep. (I’m an immunologist for context) but this naturopath had her convinced.

The protein craze and glp1 usage.

Apologies if this has been suggested already, but I heard some reporting about phthalates that contained every.single.red.flag for inflammatory and potentially irresponsible science journalism. Apple News Today included the article in their news summary on September 12. The article I am specifically talking about is in the Washington Post by Shannon Osaka. She makes all kinds of health claims related to pregnancy and fertility, but the most unhinged thing she suggests is that male fetuses exposed to phthalates in utero may not have enough testosterone to grow testicles???????? There has got to be more to the science than “plastic is castrating our male fetuses!” A quick google scholar search shows there is a lot out there, and it appears the FDA is reconsidering its previous position that there is not enough evidence of the harm of phthalates to many any official recommendation. I would love to hear Aubrey and Michael’s take on this bananas article!

lectins and whoever came up with the lectin free diet. also weed over the years? sometimes i feel like we’ve gotten so cool abt weed we aren’t doing a great job of researching or understanding the risks - especially bc dispensary weed is so much stronger than weed historically was.

I would love for y'all to look into Lifewave patches. I feel life the stem cell grifters on the right are making money, starting MLMs. My mom has some pretty intense heath issues including a recent amputation and she's reading information that is making her believe stem cells can regrow her hand. And it's thousands of dollars they want to charge for things without any guarantee of course. https://www.mcgill.ca/oss/article/pseudoscience-technology/patchy-science-lifewaves-mysterious-patches

Childhood vaccine schedules, please! (because RFK is a misinformation magnate)

I would love to see y’all look into Emily Oster. Her book Expecting Better saved my sanity when I was pregnant with my first kid, but then she had some weird COVID opinions and she was recently on another podcast and said some things that seemed kinda sketchy.

https://www.usnews.com/news/healthiest-communities/articles/2020-01-27/as-veterans-affairs-tests-keto-diet-for-diabetic-patients-skeptics-raise-red-flags So my husband was talking about how many of his coworkers look like shit lately and of course I asked for more information. He told me his union was offering a free weight loss program and everyone on it looks sick after a week on it. I looked it up and it’s called VERTA HEALTH and apparently his union is not the only partnership they have. They push a keto program to audiences and position it -naturally-as a healthy way to avoid diabetes 🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️ here’s another link: https://www.virtahealth.com/join?employer_id=neihbp

Not a specific news article but, why it seems like I am the only person I know who does not have ADHD these days? Really feels like it cannot ALL be down to "better detection" when it comes to a condition that is diagnosed clinically based on behavioural self-reports, and ALL the symptoms are experiences everyone has sometimes to some degree. (Not to mention "symptom creep" — "Did you know food aversions are actually a symptom of ADHD?" — and the trend of "self-diagnosing.") Maybe it's the specific internet echo chamber I'm in, but all these people on social media are going on about stigma... and all I see is social capital from being in the special club, honestly.

This might not be a full episode but belly fat. This is discussed for a few years and a new study came out a few months ago on heart ageing and belly fat. https://www.ukri.org/news/new-study-finds-hidden-body-fat-is-linked-to-faster-heart-ageing/ After that I was curious and googled how to measure it because I found one number for all bodies of one gender a bit weird. I found 4 or 5 different instructions (on my female body) where I should measure it. And then there were some forms of relations, one with hips and one with height. In the end my results ranged from it‘s ok to high alert

-Nello / Ashwaganda / High Cortisol / TikTok influencers selling supplements -Serena Williams as a spokesperson for GLP1s -Ultra-runners having higher cases of colon cancer? And maybe more examples of extreme "health" behaviors are not really healthy -Environmental factors of health (air pollution, water pollution) and how so much of the discussion of health fails to regulate these elements (e.g., especially the right-wing "purity" / RFK crazes that somehow ignore this entire issue)

SECRET EATERS https://m.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLU8eV4_SMffhxcC_eZuJMDGdzoSWbLTIA

Magnesium and high cortisol!!!

GOSSIP MASCULINE MEN 💀

Ok, I'm OBSESSED with the fact that there's a ton of research showing that women are actually MORE physically sensitive to pain than men, but basically everyone (including doctors & nurses) BELIEVE that women are LESS sensitive to pain!! And it ABSOLUTELY impacts treatment, how quickly & how much pain meds are administered, etc. https://www.washingtonpost.com/wellness/2025/09/17/chronic-pain-women/

I know this might sound broad, but I think there could be an episode to all the "cancer-causing" foods and cooking methods, etc. I think this is a large area of concern for a lot of people, and yet when I dive into the research it is so interested and conflicting. For example: WHO recommends not eating processed meat due to cancer risk, yet when I looked into the studies they cited for increased cancer risk, none of them said there was statistical evidence, and also they lumped processed meats and red meats together - two very different things when you are trying to say the preservatives in processed meats are what is causing the increased cancer risk.

I feel like I've been seeing so many articles about health risks associated with marijuana use and not a lot of data to back up the claims. I would love to hear your analysis on some of these headlines!

This is pretty grim, but what about the idea that gun violence is a public health threat? Context: After the MAHA report on children's health came out, a couple different publications pointed out that the leading cause of child death in this country is gun violence: https://www.latimes.com/science/story/2025-09-09/maha-child-health-report-ignores-gun-violence-the-leading-cause-of-child-death https://www.technologyreview.com/2025/09/11/1123553/maha-report-gun-violence-checkup/ But what does it mean to treat gun violence like a public health issue? And is this even a helpful approach to the problem?

Please cover the new fad of putting protein in everything: https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-025-02472-3 Protein gummies, protein popcorn, protein powder in everything, cottage cheese in every recipe. The protein pressure seems to be coming from everyone but feels very MAGA/alpha male.

It's not one news story really, but would love to hear yall (especially aubrey) talk about the spate of injuries in women's soccer and across women's sports and the way that they're JUST starting to study female athletes to figure out how to help. Megan Rapinoe I know talked about them FINALLY starting a study on periods and acl injuries after hearing about the connection from team doctors and the like her whole career. Add in Caitlin Clark, Barbra Banda and Juju Watkins' SEIs, Tobin Heath saying she literally can't play soccer anymore at any level, just so many injuries across the nwsl and wsl, and some high profile players returning from injury after months (Kerr, LJ, Lavelle Purce, etc)....feels like it's a conversation in my zeitgeist at least lol. Mostly another "women's Healthcare is fucked bc patriarchy" story but i love women's sports so

Second Request: Monotropic Diets and Mono-Meals. I noticed these about seven years ago, first in the Raw Vegan demographic, and eventually applied to any food. So this can be “Raw” adjacent, Fruitarian adjacent, “Carnivore” etc. https://www.msn.com/en-in/health/nutrition/mono-diets-the-one-food-trend-that-s-failing-your-body/ar-AA1K1bd0 https://vegnews.com/mono-diets-expert-explains https://www.vogue.in/content/im-a-naturopath-and-heres-why-i-do-one-mono-diet-a-week

First Request: the myths around exercise and sweating during a viral infection. Specifically the risks of “pushing through” COVID-19. https://biologyinsights.com/can-you-exercise-if-you-have-covid/ https://hola.health/health-info/covid/when-to-exercise-after-covid-19/ https://www.yalemedicine.org/news/exercise-may-ease-covid-19-and-long-covid-symptoms

Gossip masculine man 💀💀💀

I don't think it's enough for an episode, but remember Crystal Light? That flavored water stuff from the 80s? This clip brought me some joy https://youtu.be/SeMJOPlK-0E?si=suwJ44RRwErKmR_B

First thing that came to mind was the Serena Williams GLP-1 ads I keep seeing on TikTok. If celebrities as individuals wanna use diet drugs I try not to comment on it but the fact that she’s doing a paid promotion and is apparently on the board of the company. Also her ad is like “even a pro athlete like me needs a little extra sometimes” and I’m sorry if we’re forcing PROFESSIONAL ATHLETES to take diet drugs to reach a magic number, people really need to start considering if that magic number is all it’s cracked up to be

How about a film review of the Apple Cider Vinegar series on Netflix. I'm interested in your thoughts about the complicated ways it explored both wellness influencers and standard medical care.

I forgot if I posted this already but the Oura/Palantir partnership. I know I didn’t post a link so will do so in a reply. Also, in general I’d love to hear any crossover between your takes and those of the guys at Conspirituality pod, which is where I heard about this.

Why are all of us Women Of A Certain Age wearing weighted vests? https://www.npr.org/2025/08/25/nx-s1-5503969/fitness-bone-muscle-trends-weighted-vest https://www.womenshealthmag.com/fitness/a62333130/weighted-vest-for-walking-benefits/?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=mgu_ga_whm_md_dsa_comm_org_us_a62333130&gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=21841705157&gbraid=0AAAAACrQpnzMKgw9Rphc4k6wU6fxEzzt7&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI2anG09zTjwMVVQKtBh0vfhQGEAAYASAAEgKAqfD_BwE

This is the worst, most toxically masculine health product I've seen in recent memory: HOSTAGE TAPE (for better sleep I guess?) https://hostagetape.com/ Are you a REAL MAN enough to tape your mouth shut so you don't snore? Make sure the tape looks like something out of an action hero movie! Not a man? Don't worry, they made a smaller pink one for women too! https://hostagetape.com/products/hostage-tape-variant?variant=43464271134887 Does Michael snore? If he does, we should gift him some manly mouth tape to celebrate is manly man-ness.

Health adjacent is a recent report on a study on the state of healthcare in Idaho. More than one third of OBs left Idaho after they enacted the near total abortion ban. As an Idahoan, I am scared for pregnant people here. https://idahocapitalsun.com/briefs/doctors-left-idaho-after-abortion-ban-study-confirms/ Plus of course the discourse on rising measles 🙄

Okay so not really health and wellness but plssse do a bonus episode of Heidi Fleiss !!!! I’ve not seen anyone do a deep dive of her!!

Just saw this one: I think k there’s a lot about this in general - https://apple.news/AT-Ox_NOHQoa3RYCty6irrg

The Tracy Anderson craze (probably not as crazy now)

I know you’ve talked about Intermittent Fasting as part of other shows, but I would love a deep dive on it. It just feels so much like disordered eating and I’d love to hear your thoughts on it.

the creatine and/or magnesium fitness bro craze. would love an unpacking of the "studies" proving it helps build muscle faster and making you healthier in the 900 ways they claim... and also the companies selling it/influencers peddling it. Nyt article: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/05/29/well/eat/health-benefits-creatine-supplements-muscles-exercise.html (which hilariously had to issue a correction because "An earlier version of this article misstated the units of measurement for creatine dosing. It should be measured in grams, not milligrams.") 😳 https://www.nytimes.com/video/well/100000010195472/the-internet-wants-you-to-take-creatine-should-you.html

Whatever this fuckery is https://www.nytimes.com/2025/09/11/well/child-obesity-un-report.html

I would love to hear your takes on the Whole 30 and the founder. She has pivoted from being a diet influencer to trying to be a Brene brown type.

I feel like my instagram feed served me the most deranged content as my life went from trying to get pregnant to pregnant to parenthood. The exact day my son was born (also his due date) I started getting served with "mommy makeover" content in a way I don't remember with the birth of my daughter which was less than 3 years before.

'Gut health'. It's not a news story, but I'm sick of hearing about it and I reckon it's bollocks. Or just a delightful dunk-fest on someone would be just lovely.

There’s a new-ish documentary about The Biggest Loser and the damage wrought inside that tv torture chamber. Y’all are bound to have some notes about it, including: 1) There are limits to what shapes and sizes our assorted bodies want to be, there is little or nothing we can do to change those set points, and the methods in use on The Biggest Loser created a lot of harm. 2) Bonus points: in interviews, the producers/showrunners/whatever they are come across as the meanest, slimiest, most odious human beings ever. They definitely wanted the show to be a disgraceful, disrespectful spectacle, and do not seem to regard the people who participated as people at all. Yuck. AND THEY KNEW THEY WERE BEING FILMED!! So what we see was their best effort to represent themselves well! Double yuck.

Would love to hear you guys unpack the HHS autism report rumors about Tylenol. I know we're waiting for the actual report, so I just don't know how to think about this rumor/leak news. I honestly just assumed they would be "finding" that vaccines were the cause of autism or at least using the report to do more scare mongering about vaccines. I was recently pregnant and Tylenol is like, one of very few pain relief medication options for pregnant women. The idea that they'll be trying to take that away from people with no real evidence is very troubling to me. Not being able to take Tylenol will have very real impacts on the health and wellbeing of pregnant women. But am I jumping the gun to even worry about this yet? HHS responds to report about autism and acetaminophen : Shots - Health News https://www.npr.org/sections/shots-health-news/2025/09/06/nx-s1-5532143/hhs-responds-to-report-about-autism-and-acetaminophen

This author is speaking on a panel hosted by my university this week and I won't be able to attend because of travel. Would love to hear your thoughts on this book, "Health Freaks," because I was so on board with the book description until the very last line: "Through colorful profiles of the leaders of four major diet movements, Health Freaks demonstrates that these diet gurus weren’t shady snake oil salesmen preying on the vulnerable; rather, they were vocal champions for millions of frustrated Americans seeking longer, healthier lives." ??!! https://uncpress.org/9781469683003/health-freaks/ thanks for all you do!

I believe you’ve touched on this before but the whole “sunglasses are bad for you” thing. Apparently they also promote mental disorders and stop my hormones?!? OH MY! https://www.vitalveda.com.au/learn/circadian-medicine/sunglasses/

I read this article and the only thing I wanted from it was for Aubrey and Michael to talk about it! The line that I was most suspicious of: “Lustig said sugary drinks are marketed and priced in a way to attract the poor, and in many disadvantaged communities the water tastes funny because of chemicals in them.” Guys, the water just tastes funny, it’s not poison!!! As world gets hotter, Americans are turning to more sugar, study finds: https://abcnews.go.com/Technology/wireStory/world-gets-hotter-americans-turning-sugar-study-finds-125365962

Mounjaro price hike, cutting of Golden Dose and people scrambling to stash their Mounjaro as well as trying to find other ways to circumvent the price hike… https://apple.news/AOR6xyzinQB2GUNK33FjAQg https://apple.news/AQ0xHnpSNRde1XmDg_Dy89Q https://apple.news/A2H8aZpIYS12N7wDXaarnkQ https://apple.news/Abld6AQCASRaC7glM6O4QnQ https://apple.news/ApUfxFdq5TDKvdIXKJmiG1g https://apple.news/AMHtbesPTQO2t2FU2A1K2FQ https://apple.news/A9MOXWQauQceb9H2Yu2KYdQ and the after-effects of coming off it… https://apple.news/AG4Wdgq1qSHeNlo-ScawQVQ https://apple.news/A7OXLgp5tQL2T8_WXIdqZLg And last but not least Mounjaro manufacturer announces new weight-loss pill!! https://apple.news/AALhyJglXQby6xy8Ok6FIKw

I know it's probably crazy new, but I would love an EP on the Yuka app! I work in food product development and now have major customers asking for items specifically tailored to be a certain score or above.

I'm very into the David Bar craze, specifically the guy who created it, and his ability to buy the patent for EPG. Overall, I'd like to hear more about your take on the Maximum Protein craze and the implications for health and what effects we could see from something like EPG (that isn't digested, hello Olestra flashback!)

The new BMI obesity guidelines

Episode on the save HHS letter written and signed by over 1,000 current and former HHS employees calling for RFK JRs resignation

More of an influencer. Cara Burke, aka Care by Cara, is interesting. She supports a no Vitamin A diet while doing ballet moves. https://www.instagram.com/carebycara?igsh=NnRhMWlpNXYyamZv

The ozempic lawsuit! Also the updated side effects yikes

https://www.irishtimes.com/life-style/2025/07/21/riona-o-connor-i-was-counting-points-on-weight-watchers-when-i-was-15/

I really like Rióna O'Conner's series of shorts on wearing a bikini. She's not fat, but she's a person with a body who makes fun videos about everything, including wearing a bikini and having a body (gasp)

This isn’t a wellness and weight loss story so I’m assuming it won’t count but my god do I want to hear Aubrey’s take on the bachelorette casting the woman from the secret lives of Mormon wives and all of the media response

https://www.abc.net.au/news/health/2025-08-26/dietary-guidelines-environmental-health-nutrition-balanced-diet/105670278?utm_campaign=abc_news_web&utm_content=link&utm_medium=content_shared&utm_source=abc_news_web

https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2025/sep/10/junk-food-upf-more-children-obese-than-underweight-unicef The Guardian posted this article this week blaming friend-of-the-show ultra-processed foods for more children now being "overweight" than underweight for the first time ever. My initial gut reaction was that at least more children are now getting enough calories rather than too few, but the issue feels very complicated and the article feels overly simplistic so would love to hear you unpack! Much love <3

Dueling federal reports on drinking

At some point, I would love for you guys do an episode on colostrum. Idk much about it except that it seems absurdly gross?? It's like milk, but it just seems way gross. I live in LA, and there's a smoothie shop near me with a big sign out front advertising that you can add colostrum to your smoothie. It's LA so the amount of "wellness" selling and grifting is just through the roof. I don't understand how anyone is taking colostrum seriously. Is there any health benefit to it? WHY is anyone selling it, or eating it?? I feel like there's no way it's ethically produced from cows either. Also I love how, when places advertise colostrum, we're all assuming it's from cows lmao

Conspiracy theories around 15-minute cities

Heidi Klum and her husband are on a “cleanse” to “eliminate parasites and worms” in their bodies https://people.com/heidi-klum-is-starting-a-worm-and-parasite-cleanse-11784245

The whole RFK, Jr. "raw milk is better for you" bullshit, and a discussion of *why* it is bullshit. Would also love a brief rundown of how people dealt with raw milk 100 years ago, because contrary to popular belief, people were not stupid just because they lived a long time ago. I was first introduced to the raw milk nonsense by a video from the YouTube channel Farm to Taber, which did a nice tight 3.5 minutes on this last week. The basic thesis of the video is that no, your grandfather probably didn't grow up drinking raw milk, his mother probably scalded it before she gave it to her children *because she knew that shit could kill them,* but nobody remembers this because as we all know women's work isn't real work and doesn't need to be studied or understood. ("Traditional" lifestyles are not backbreakingly hard work, they are idyllic. Totally. Just trust me, okay??) I know almost nothing about the Farm to Taber channel as a whole, so I'm not recommending it in general - but I really liked that video and its thesis is absolutely one that I can get behind. Edit: just saw that links were specifically requested, so here's a link to the video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vKDPast9WFk)

Overeaters Anonymous

Please please please talk about Feel Free, you have a younger audience and they need to be aware of this shit https://www.nbcnews.com/news/amp/rcna223179

As a teacher and mama, l'd love to see you delve into some of the bad faith child development/education research. Specifically, the research some moms use to literally equate sleep training to abandoning your child in a Russian orphanage https://thebeyondsleeptrainingproject.com/artricles-to-read-when/someone-is-trying-to-pressure-you-into-sleep-training?fbclid=IwdGRjcAMwfmlleHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHppPvLOKnHx2UEr9ZFCMgJdhJ9XHQM8Z06ePJFmQ4V-QWnbRYXlk2S1LYgwS_aem_VH9rQIPMXbB2AMvq-FgMdA

I’d love to hear you cover the recent sunscreen dramas in Australia. Choice did independent testing of a bunch of well known brands and lots of them did not meet the SPF they are marketed at. Some companies reacted well…some didn’t. https://www.choice.com.au/health-and-body/beauty-and-personal-care/skin-care-and-cosmetics/articles/sunscreen-test

Apologies if this is not the sort of thing you were asking for but I was going to save this one for the 2025 worst takes episode - but this entire episode of Consider This from NPR on RFK’s comments on Autism was such a horrible one. Absolutely no research, no fact checking- just a lot of opinions and nowhere to go. https://open.spotify.com/episode/3tefoM8SwNsXv5jDks3brw?si=EOaQMZyMS2W_TqiP_Oo_4Q

Life coaching for weight loss. Katrina Ubell’s program weight loss for doctors only (apparently disbanded in 2024) and how to lose the weight for the last time are stating points. It’s such a mess because there are real lessons regarding mindfulness and managing emotions to be had, but also sich blind spots about big things like pushing into disordered eating

Ozempic babies! https://www.vice.com/en/article/women-on-weight-loss-drugs-are-having-ozempic-babies/ Ozempic teeth! https://www.healthline.com/health-news/ozempic-teeth-may-impact-dental-health This comment section is giving me faith in critical thinking. Hugs to all.

518 comments yikes! Someone has probably said this, so apologies I can't go through them all to check. With apologies for its triggering nature, would love to get into the new Southwest "customer of size" policy (sigh).

RFK “ending the attack on whole milk”, what’s up with that? https://www.npr.org/sections/shots-health-news/2025/09/08/nx-s1-5528747/what-kind-of-dairy-does-a-body-good-science-is-updating-the-answer

Women's health research and funding. Melinda Gates just pledged funding and I've seen several creators going viral talking about women having fewer treatment options than men because of lack of testing.

Love the sign off! Michael’s masculinity does not quit. 💪

This has maybe already been covered but the “exercise will lead to significant weight loss” idea. I believe it’s been somewhat disproven but I don’t know how to articulate that to people

https://www.inovanewsroom.org/press-release/2025/08/groundbreaking-inova-study-finds-potential-link-between-long-distance-running-and-colon-cancer/amp/

I'd love to see a deep dive into who is behind the "birth control turns you into a totally different person". Like all meds have side effects but it seems like this all sprang up in coordination especially with gen Z.

Jillian Michaels hit piece 🤭

The spas in my area are all doing IV treatments customized to relieve every possible condition and, more disturbingly, something for depression called Exomind that seems to be shock treatment.

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/09/11/health/usaid-contraceptives-destroyed-trump.html?smid=nytcore-android-share

I know Aubrey was part of the documentary series on The Biggest Loser. I'd LOVE to hear more about it, either the MP take on the series or Aubrey's experience being part of it.

I want to know why my Youtube and podcast ads hate pharmacy benefit managers so much. Also, wtf IS a pharmacy benefit manager?

I’d love a current update on the “EVERYONE IS MENTALLY ILL NOWADAYS” rhetoric

Under ‘wellness at work’… I snorted with rage when I read about this Sydney uni telling staff to cope with the stress of being laid off by washing their underpants. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-08-14/university-technology-sydney-dropping-courses/105654564

Eat Pray Love, please! As well as Gilbert’s recent piece in The Cut and Jia Tolentino’s book review in which it’s reveled Gilbert tried to murder her partner with fentanyl and sleeping pills. https://www.thecut.com/article/elizabeth-gilbert-all-the-way-to-the-river-book-excerpt.html

Dr. Drew!!!

Liv Schmidt, she’s been banned from Tik Tok but continues on YouTube and has paywalled instagram groups promoting disordered eating habits to impressionable young people.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-09-04/pharmacists-photo-manipulated-in-social-media-weight-loss-advert/105698942

Liv Schmidt! https://www.thecut.com/article/influencer-liv-schmidt-subscriber-group-chat-weight-loss.html

Not to out myself as an avid mobile game player but you get fed so many ads on those and I recently saw a product called "Primal Queen" that claimed to cure(?) postpartum depression?

Red Light Therapy! There are so many different red light therapy products/brands that all make their grand claims. What does the research actually say on red light treatments? is it just another influencer wellness product we are made to believe has great benefits so we’ll buy it? https://www.healthline.com/health/red-light-therapy

So this seems to include a LOT of recent scary health news buzz words: ultra proccessed foods, male fertility crisis, chemicals absorbed from packaging. And some greatest hits of not great studies: Small study of a narrow age range of only men over a relatively short timeframe. The study itself could be fine but the reporting is the same as the usual scary health discovery junk reporting that litters the internet. https://www.smh.com.au/lifestyle/health-and-wellness/major-finding-new-study-links-ultra-processed-foods-to-lower-male-sex-hormones-20250829-p5mqvc.html ...it could be pay walled. Happy to provide screenshots if it is!

Reading some NY Times article about people who lost weight quickly on GLP-1s and then having lose skin and how people are managing that. the Times being like “this is just what happens” I mean I cannot imagine how mind fing that would be, you’re smaller but *you aren’t even comfortable in your own skin* and that skin removal is expensive and difficult surgery to do and recover from. And that fat people are expected to take these drugs, be sick, lose muscle, end up with the pain of excess skin, etc, etc . Love you guys.

AI generated heath diagnosis - seems dangerous DxGPT https://share.google/fWl3EsKjAfkF9tog5 or Docus AI Symptom Checker: Quick and Accurate Health Insights https://share.google/eLi4NtMWJnbWBcvEk

Not exactly weight related (and old discussion by now) but the whole media fuss about social media and everyone getting sudden adhd and autism diagnosis. (I got both recently in my thirties and it’s life changing; good, bad and neutral - certainly asked doctors only because of social media and great accounts but still feel like an imposter when I see specialists because it was social media guiding me to this right diagnosis). But I guess the whole mainstream media bashing against social media/new media doing good (mental) health advocacy and education would be great to hear your point of view and thoughts.

Thanks for the show. I love listening to you both. I’d love a deep dive into the psychology and sociology of anti-fatness. Is there any good writing on what purpose it serves for the culture and what it does internally to the oppressors as well as the oppressed? :)

Not sure how interesting this would be but as an Australian, I have no idea how the American health care system works and it seems to be used around the world as a cautionary tale of what to avoid. I would love an Aubrey-Mike level in depth look at how it works, how it got to the place it's in, how it compares to other nations and why there is such aversion to a form of socialised healthcare

The title: "Science in Seconds – Eating Less, Living Longer." The conclusion: "If the effect holds true for humans, it would mean it’s never too late for obese people to improve their health with diet." It's a study in fruit flies, you guys. Fruit flies. Skipping a few important steps there, don't ya think? 🙄 Science in Seconds – Eating Less, Living Longer - UConn Today https://share.google/TdvRKE9mPC7VGrWPG

Weight stigma in midwifery and obstetrics/maternity care. I'd love a deep dive into the actual research on the actual risk to mother and baby because a lot of the time it's correlation rather than causation and reliance on BMI to deny women access to models of care and modes of birth: too fat to waterbirth, too fat to use your vagina, too fat to be in a birth centre or homebirth - go to hospital, where we'll weigh you each visit, shame you about nutrition and exercise which you've heard all before, and make you feel like a bad mum before you've even met your baby.

What's the deal with DHA, ARA, and Omega 3 fatty acids? Is there any evidence in favor of fortifying food with these?

Ooooooooh you guys have to look at the book ‘How not to die’ by michael greger. I read it right before getting into this pod so my threshold for accepting bullshit was a lot lower lol. The science may hold up it might not I honestly dont know but looking back on it the book is such Mike bait. Plus, theres a random Oprah cameo right at the beginning so it feels right in the maintenance-verse

Weigh in on weighted vests! I was visiting family at a beach town near San Diego and it seemed like every 10th person on the walking trail was wearing one. Unsurprisingly this is an influencer-driven trend that does not have clear health benefits.

Anything to do with every ad on TikTok for “reducing your cortisol”

I'd love a discussion of the article that came out in July suggesting that GLP1s help reduce MCAS (mast cell activation syndrome) symptoms. Dr. Lawrence Afrin (who "discovered" MCAS) and several other well-known researchers claim that 89% of their 47 cases studied had some improvement in MCAS symptoms. At least one of the authors has called it a "miracle drug" for inflammatory diseases... but those two words set off alarm bells in my head! I've been told to microdose tirzepatide, but how might side effects of even one-tenth the starting dose dose affect people? Is any inadvertent weight loss going to lead to more weight gain later? What sort of data is there showing long-term benefit (for whatever definition of long-term we have!)? https://doi.org/10.1016/j.amjms.2025.07.006 (CW: frequent use the the "o" words, as well as numbers for weights and BMI)

Would love an update on GLP-1 inhibitors and thoughts on this https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2024/04/ozempic-mounjaro-glp-1-long-term-effects/678057/?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=cr&utm_campaign=2024_Content_ContentTestingII_Prospecting_Sales_Advantage&utm_content=090325_Ozempic20Years_NA_NA_NoCTA&utm_term=ContentTestingII_Advantage&referral=FB_PAID&fbclid=IwYW9zYgMwIy1leHRuA2FlbQEwAGFkaWQAAAYwE7SQpQEeuo9Vyzu6BNuC-AwaOvN-h7mkV2jkwG_eVARG9O-ULZ3GH6GFmbC0vDVAQN4_aem_EiYML-lAeZlGzLPiPByH6g&campaign_id=6581568102677&ad_id=6803558513277&utm_id=6581568102677

Hello yes I would like an explanation of why A Bit Fruity got an extended guest appearance by Aubrey's dog, who looks like a Very Good Sweetiepie, but Maintenance Phase never has https://youtu.be/OfVQ-q5YyC4?si=sABKRW-7pYvJpIMz

If you want to go all in on cringe opinions that are related to sanitization: a recent Guardian "you be the judge" article about if it's ok to share a towel (the comments will haunt me forever but I read all of them. I could not look away.). Or, for ultimate gross out factor: "you be the judge" guardian article about toothbrush sharing. It is the wildest thing I have ever read, and I can't believe there are like 3 percent of people who think it is fine, especially the situation they lay out in this story with the wife knowing that, in her family, everyone "just grabs and uses the nicest looking toothbrush" and subjected her husband to this without his knowledge for literal years. And that his toothbrush was the one that everyone used!!!! And that he has to hide his toothbrush from these people because they think it's funny to keep using it! Haunting. @aubrey we will be living if you read this one to Michael Hobbes.

‘Plus size fashion’ (or: is it fashion or is she just skinny?). That would be very interesting! And thanks Aubrey and Mike! Love you, guys!

What's the deal with the beef tallow skincare trend? : NPR https://share.google/UhJt5wlfDMD47ke13

The ethics around surrogacy and the recent coverage around what happens when it goes wrong. Link to a specific article below about a wealthy venture capitalist who is actively ruining the life of the surrogate who lost the baby at 29 weeks due to placental abruption and how she is trying to hold this poor woman to "account" for a tragedy that could happen to anyone. This is a big dark story, and it strikes at the heart of some of the ethical questions about essentially renting another person's womb.... https://www.wired.com/story/the-baby-died-whose-fault-is-it-surrogate-pregnancy/

Not just Serena Williams & GLP-1s, but her history with coaches: https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2025/sep/11/patrick-mouratoglou-serena-and-i-had-a-few-fights-about-her-weight

I keep hearing about how everyone at the VMAs was ridiculously thin and it's ozempic country now

In the last months it has just felt like Ozempic mounjaro everywhere and I'd love some pick up on the recently published stuff about heart health, and if there's any further research on glp-1s now that we are two years on from the EP you did on it? Maybe too soon but I'd love to have some concrete info in the face of overwhelming and uncontested support for them

https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2025/sep/11/patrick-mouratoglou-serena-and-i-had-a-few-fights-about-her-weight I read this today and felt like I was going crazy. Is Serena Williams not already the greatest athlete in the world? But she should have lost weight earlier and then she could have done even more?!

Balding is solved/ozempic-ed? https://share.google/LUKwyhqwNR4QKvy57 I found out from Paul Scheer- https://open.substack.com/pub/paulscheer/p/to-be-or-not-to-be-bald?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android&r=3gfii

Ozone Therapy: "A dead 'doctor', cancer and 'woo woo': Inside Australia's ozone therapy industry" https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-07-31/inside-australian-ozone-therapy-industry-alternative-medicine/105559636?utm_campaign=abc_news_web&utm_content=link&utm_medium=content_shared&utm_source=abc_news_web

https://wapo.st/4nvjAT3 Microdosing GLP-1s

What about the TENS Machines/ electrical myostimulation people (aka body builders)are wheeling around gyms for muscle growth https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6104107/ NeuFit ANZ: Recover with Neuromuscular Stimulation https://share.google/8LtYTTaNCkm7oKKkV

Heard this on the radio recently and immediately thought of you two - they interviewed the researcher and he mentioned the good old take-the-stairs trick: https://www.womenshealthmag.com/uk/fitness/a65968249/one-minute-exercise-longevity-study/ I’m absolutely fine with the claim that exercise is good for us, and I love to see it being made more accessible to people; but I’d be interested to hear your takes on whether this study is worth paying attention to. The claim that six ten-second bursts of exercise per day can significantly reduce your risk of death in the following six years just seems a bit silly. Surely everyone is doing six ten-second bursts of exercise a day, unless they’re already so unwell that it’s very difficult for them to move at all? And if we shouldn’t be paying attention to the study then why do you think it got so much air time? I heard it on BBC Radio 4’s The Today Programme, which has a large audience. Thank you both for being so marvellous as always ❤️

This man is just so 🤬. https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2025/09/robert-f-kennedy-maha-strategy-chronic-disease/684169/?gift=p_Tdg3BNpRKalwWUjmzKEqNQ1JsczYwH3q4RsZRAky0 https://www.cnn.com/2025/09/10/health/maha-report-children-health-response-wellness?cid=ios_app

I would love y’all to unpack all the nonsense around “ozempic will kill the junk food companies” and related narratives. It’s so wild to me and doesn’t seem at all fact based. It just feels like they’re trying to make us feel bad for multinational food conglomerates. I think they’ll be fine…. Here’s a couple representative articles from NYT: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/08/07/dining/ozempic-appetite-small-meals-restaurants.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare https://www.nytimes.com/2024/12/29/podcasts/the-daily/ozempic-big-food.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare

Jens Walter and the 'ancestral' NiMe diet, for example: https://www.businessinsider.com/gut-health-scientist-ancestral-nime-diet-high-fiber-recipes-mediterranean-2025-3?op=1

I'm sure I'm not voicing anything grand or new to this crowd, but after reading everyone's suggestions (or as many as I can) I see a common through line- money. The majority of the these trend requests either create a new revenue stream, revamp old ones, or double down on the existing. I have been pondering this for awhile and debating it's relevancy, but seeing it all on a thread just made it click. There is no health dialogue anymore or genuine curiosity about science and how it can better our health. Everything has to be read through a commercial filter, because everything inevitably is a commercial. Everything is market driven and exists to sell a product. It just really bummed me out. Hugs to everyone in Maintenance Phase land. I'm so glad you all exist.

My husband won’t stop talking about Peter Attila. Is Attila credible or is he just another Huberman-esque influencer?

Lately the New York Times seems to constantly run stories of the model, "How Healthy Are/Is ____", where ____ is a food that is obviously fine. I would love to hear you two take down this trend of reporting on questions no one needs answers to and to know if these articles are actually made by either ChatGPT or a Mad-Libs form! Examples - How Healthy Are Apples, How Healthy are Peaches, How Healthy is Greek Yogurt, How Healthy is Zucchini, How Healthy Are Mangoes, How Healthy is Asparagus, How Healthy is Chicken Breast, How Healthy Are Eggs, How Healthy Are Chickpeas, How Healthy Is Citrus Fruit, How Healthy Are Sweet Potatoes, How Healthy is Turkey, How Healthy is Broccoli, How Healthy is Sweet Corn, How Healthy Are Tomatoes...

Pediatrician wrote and opinion piece on diet and exercise and "obesity" https://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/our-diet-our-destiny-2025a1000ngw?ecd=WNL_trdalrt_pos1_250911_etid7709791&uac=347275FK&impID=7709791

Soooo much talk about “cortisol body” on TikTok, I swear it’s all I see :(

Also - and I know this isn't related and maybe is more of a Mike and Peter story - but I really want to hear sensible and left leaning people discuss the Charlie Kirk killing and what it means for the rest of us. I'm in the UK and it scares me - because of how much MAGA people are ramping up (and ignoring similar murders of left wing politicians and lawmakers) - I can only imagine the affect it's happening over the pond. Also - I adore you both - all. I loved You're Wrong About (it's my happy place) and I now adore Maintenance Phase and If Books Could Kill. I've listened to every episode 20 times or more. Thank you for helping keep me sane in an insane world (most of the time at least).

The trend of replacing all kitchen and food items from plastic to non-plastic (I.e. Tupperware, cooking utensils, cutting boards). Influencers on social media are generating a lot of fear about using plastic but pretty sure it’s just to sell us new versions of things

The UK have suddenly had a big push for weight loss injections and the NHS has put tight controls on it. Would be interested to hear your take from across the pond. I also came across this article and it made me think of Mike 🤣 - not necessarily weight loss related but it is health related: https://theconversation.com/seven-health-conditions-that-show-why-using-your-phone-on-the-toilet-is-a-bad-idea-264808 (Sorry Mike!)

The great lock in of 2025

With so many of my mom friends: eating the placenta and other pregnancy and post-pardum fads.

Dr. Mercola!!!

Weighted vests! Why is every 40+ woman in my neighborhood wearing one to walk around?!? Isn't "just walking" good enough for us?!? And also food noise...what is it and why is it suddenly being mentioned everywhere.

What is mouth tape!?!?

the mood.com weed gummies

How about a focus on the belly episode? All the things our society has come up with to make it go away (and why is this a thing?)….what to eat, what not to eat, do THIS exercise but not THAT one, and do it for THIS long but not THAT LONG…it’s exhausting.

This is on the wellness grifter side of things but I think the disinfo campaigns/vilification around sunscreen is very disturbing. Of course friend of the podcast, RFK Jr, is also in on this, saying things like "we need to legalize the sun again". Lab Muffin Beauty Science did a great debunking video around Tiktok disinfo on sunscreens, which shows you the absolute nonsense that is going around out there (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wCPp8EJSG-Y) but I think what fascinates me is how this is all connected to wellness grifters/conspiracies/antivaxxers/'appeal to nature' folks. It's just devastating that we live in such an anti-science cultural moment.

HHS is going to start using ChatGPT. I use it for some things, and I don't mind it in theory as a tool. But I worry about these large language models spitting back out the garbage they are being fed, so that the misinformation ends up feeding on itself until it looks like a consensus. Thoughts? https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/rfk-jr-mandates-hhs-to-start-using-chatgpt/ar-AA1MiWGz?ocid=winp1taskbar&cvid=4a45fc2a095e45eda5c64b2c0ce3f6a1&ei=15

- Gay stuff! The state of HIV research, including the new vaccine. I guess people are still researching the "causes" of homosexuality, is that just grifting in academia? Aubrey campaigned for equal marriage, I'd love to hear more about that and the minority-stress aspect of it all (so that we can know what to expect when Clarence Thomas gets the opportunity to roll it back next term along with his own marriage) - (I understand if this is just too barbaric to stomach an episode on, but if you're up for it) Bariatric surgery. The specific angle I would be interested in is: how does medical academia justify surgical mutilation to prevent people from eating? What are the actual outcomes - have there been credible studies into long term health for these patients? How different is it really to lobotomy? - Similarly, electroshock therapy, wtf? I know people still do it and claim that it's helpful for them, but also that it causes them memory loss. Even just a round up of medical procedures that are widely done, and are not really justified by evidence, and might be looked back on like lobotomies or leeches. - Sunscreen (the recent australian suncreen efficacy scandal and more broadly), and anti-aging - The state of long covid. What symptoms have what occurrence rates, why some people get it and others don't, what are the newer discoveries, the public health consequences as a result of just getting a slim majority of the public vaccinated and removing all other public health measures.

The cortisol cocktail!! https://www.vogue.com/article/the-cortisol-cocktail And this piece in Slate from someone with Addison's aka not enough cortisol: https://slate.com/technology/2025/09/cortisol-belly-face-cleanse-tiktok.html

Food perfumes 😂😂 Eau de courgette: rise in foodie perfumes may be linked to weight-loss drugs | Fragrance | The Guardian https://share.google/DZpRL3Uuqb6sv9xDT

The post that brought this to my attention: https://bsky.app/profile/hankgreen.bsky.social/post/3lyifwliyfs2p The article itself: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/08/19/health/running-colon-cancer.html?unlocked_article_code=1.k08.pUQl.CbnHKcFqHq46&smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare I know this is a single study and has all those issues but what makes it interesting to me is how it reveals the extremes that culturally, we accept. It shows me how there is an assumption that there is no roof to physical capacity.

1 - I love you both so much, thank you for being you! 2 - I don’t know exactly what to make of the headlines about moving/canceling vaccine panels. Obviously RFK jr is anti vaccine and this signifies that, but practically speaking, what does this mean for future vaccine availability short term and long term? If these panels are indefinitely canceled, is the most likely scenario that flu vaccine access will be privatized ? Without the CDCs oversight, could future vaccines be less safe and effective? What’s the panel do anyway? I also heard the west coast states may establish their own panels - is that a valuable solution and do we expect other blue or centrist states to follow suite?

This one from this week feels appropriate. https://www.nytimes.com/2025/09/11/well/child-obesity-un-report.html

Stepping back in time (but actually still very relevant!), the nestle/formula/breastfeeding scandal and the creation of the WHO code as a result. Breastfeeding as a health improvement behaviour and intervention at population level too.

I loved this column from Tressie McMillan Cottom and would love to hear you both talk about the ideas in it, and the resurgence and repackaging of these ideas by MAHA and the broader “wellness” industries https://www.nytimes.com/2025/08/26/opinion/maha-clean-beauty-health-wellness.html?unlocked_article_code=1.hE8.-JiS.-CVPKnbjbAE2&smid=bs-share

Serena Williams x Ro Weight Loss

what the hell is going on with tracy anderson? she is giving huge rich white lady cult

Glenn Powell’s condiment line launch and how they have been marketing it as organic and “clean” etc. Then selling it in partnership with Walmart and saying how accessible and affordable it is. This one has irrationally annoyed me. https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/lifestyle/shopping/glen-powell-launches-smash-kitchen-walmart-line-organic-sauces-condiments-1236185747/

People are claiming all these diets can impact fertility & hormones for people with PCOS (not sure if endometriosis is getting similar claims?) i know a woman with PCOS who has totally transformed her diet (restricting gluten, cane sugar, dairy etc.) trying to balance her hormones and menstruate again in hopes of having a baby. her OBGYN has blessed this approach to my knowledge. i wonder if it does more harm than good. I'd think spending all this time and effort and stress on a strict lifestyle could make a person less likely to conceive! i am so bad at interpreting research and understanding how well it was done, but here's one link i found: https://www.mdpi.com/2072-6643/17/2/310#:~:text=Dietary%20interventions%20such%20as%20foods,outcomes%20in%20women%20with%20PCOS. there's also people selling supplements for PCOS apparently: https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/ckgz2p0999yo

Joe Wicks is at it again - this time with sugar addiction

I've sent this in before, but I'd love if you dug into the debate over whether ice cream is good for you. There was a fascinating article in The Atlantic about how researchers have actively dismissed their own data because they don't want to believe it could have any health benefits. Gift link: https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2023/05/ice-cream-bad-for-you-health-study/673487/?gift=9TJVKQK2pI-kc5oYeZ864RSOoxedNsJjWYWMLJ8ttYs&utm_source=copy-link&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=share

Lee Whitley is promising to cure cancer with Lee’s Oil (cbd oil) https://leehelps.ca/

Avid listener of MP - I have treasured every new episode drop since y'all started in 2020. Thank you so much for the depth of research and important context of these very challenging and controversial topics. Topics I would love to hear more about from two fave podcasters: - Women's 'hormone balancing' supplements/lack of research on menopause - Rollback of climate policies in the US and associated public health impacts - Why are younger people getting cancer more often? Is it more than just the impact of early screening? - Is drinking alcohol the new smoking? Interested in y'all's thoughts on risk equivalency, for example in this paper from 2024: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10928000/

Did the beef industry infiltrate MAHA? Why are they so into cow products? There’s the carnivore diet (and they’re not eating chicken and fish!), the raw milk, and apparently cow organ smoothies are a thing?? Oh and now RFK Jr. is coming after beans??

This one is very niche GenX content, and not at all timely, but I've been wondering whatever happened to John Robbins' Diet for a New America. It was absolutely ubiquitous in queer/punk spaces in the 90s and, as far as I can tell, has disappeared from wellness history

Hi!! this is less of a specific news story, and more of a trend I’ve seen taking over social: the body-builder-ification of diet discourse. Everyone is “bulking” and “cutting.” It makes extreme diet and exercise feel professional, almost. Fascinated by it.

Ik this would be a full ep rather than a grab bag one, but I’m dying to hear your takes on wheatbelly/the GF craze of the 10s

The New York Times headline for their profile of Hasan - “Hasan Piker: A Progressive Mind in a MAGA Body.” Wtf does the nyt think a MAGA body is? More to the point, what do they think a leftist body is?

Can you investigate the DPP that the government proports to help reduce diabetes risk by 50% (and has for 20+ years). The DPP was based on a very low calorie diet and I don’t think studied long term. The results tied diabetes prevention to losing 10-15% of body weight. Many of the people who worked on the study went on the cash in and develop the NOOM app/program. It was also rolled out at YMCAs nationwide. All based on shaky science (or at least short term effects and no long term longitudinal studies aka what happens if/when people regain the weight). Would love for you’ll to dig in! https://www.cdc.gov/diabetes-prevention/index.html

https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2024/12/robert-f-kennedy-jr-health-big-food-science-democrats.html I'm particularly interested in a deep dive into disability numbers. I remember an investigation a few years ago about federal disability numbers going up as a response to "Welfare Reform" (https://apps.npr.org/unfit-for-work/)

Mitochondria!

Food to manage hormones eg "lower cortisol" or "cure PCOS"

This is an issue that I legitimately don't know how I feel about - RFK jr and the trump administration in general supporting the legalization on psychedelic-assisted therapy. I'm a colorado resident and last year was treated with ketamine-assisted psycotherapy by a long time therapist of mine, for persistent depression and ptsd symptoms. I found it incredibly effective! I'm both excited about the emergence of research regarding this type of therapy, but always deeply skeptical of anything RFK jr espouses. Is this a rare W for rfk? Or does he have more insidious intentions behind this support? https://www.pbs.org/newshour/health/rfk-jr-suggests-administration-support-for-psychedelic-therapy-for-depression-trauma

RFK's call for "nutrition" education in medical education.

Oura and Palantir teaming up to serve wearable data

The obsession with protein: https://www.nytimes.com/2023/01/12/well/eat/protein-bars.html?campaign_id=190&emc=edit_ufn_20250910&instance_id=162234&nl=from-the-times&regi_id=74868842&segment_id=205622&user_id=aa1c9efaa4d7a668ba53b6e566a82144

The colostrum craze! https://www.vogue.com/article/best-colostrum-supplements

This is probably a whole episode and then some but I'm fascinated but the way that people with undiagnosed or unmedicated ADHD self medicate, specifically those who use food. It sounds glib to call sour patch kids "food as medicine" but I'm confident my ADHD eating disorder pulls deeper than the appetite suppressant effects of 90s ritalin!

🍆🍆🍆The Penis Enlargement Industrial Complex🍆🍆🍆 https://www.forbes.com/sites/brucelee/2025/02/23/men-are-getting-filler-injected-into-their-genitals-to-get-larger/

My parents sent me this GLP-1 article that starts by positing that they're miracle drugs and everyone will be on them soon??? https://www.derekthompson.org/p/why-does-it-seem-like-glp-1-drugs

I also work for a food safety nonprofit and am fascinated by RFK/MAHA's approach to less regulation when it comes to food, even though we quite literally need the government's intervention to successfully manage recalls and identify adulterants in the food supply. Be it the Boar's Head listeria outbreak or the (ye olde) Daily Harvest scandal or the lead-contaminated cinnamon apple sauce pouches, we NEED a government and FDA/USDA that has the power to act quickly and effectively, the whole MAHA movement instead seems to zero in on food dyes and additives, which, while important (to an extent) is somehow co-existing with the pro raw milk/raw beef crowd, which is just bananas.

The NHS's 900 calorie a day diet to reverse diabetes.

Beef tallow skin products

https://maintenancephase.buzzsprout.com/1411126/episodes/9989949-illness-influencer-belle-gibson

Lymphatic drainage massages! Ugh it's the latest "trend" but as someone with lipedema, I've been receiving lymphatic treatment for year. It's frustrating to have a progressive disease that presents as fatness, written off as obesity, then thankfully becomes more in the public eye, but with that is even more subjected to toxic wellness trends

sugar! could tie in the rise of artificial sweeteners like aspartame and then the rise of “natural” non-sugar sweeteners like stevia and erythritol.

The Kardashian face bra (originally of Elaine from Ally McBeal!)

Literally anything- anything to forget for an hour that I am currently living in the 9th circle of hell!

“Please cover MSG! The health scare around monosodium glutamate was totally overblown and many people still think of it as poison. Many Asian restaurants even put up ‘No MSG’ signs because of the stigma. The stigma is partially rooted in racist fears around Chinese food ever since the New England Journal of Medicine wrote a thing about “Chinese Restaurant Syndrome,” which blamed MSG for headaches, numbness, and other vague symptoms. Even though later research didn’t back up those claims, the term stuck. I would LOVE to hear your take on this topic

I don't have a news story to tie this to, but my mom wants to know if there is any legitimate nutritional or supplement support out there for thinning hair in women as they age, or anything interesting in the studies out there about causes, etc (and we are also totally open to "some ppl's hair just gets thinner when they get old, c'est la vie"). (I know I notice an improvement in my hair and nails with a certain level of biotin supplementation, but that's literally just about strength, not, like, coverage.)

What’s up with people saying “Cortisol face?”

Chronic Inflammatory Response Syndrome - i.e. invisible mould is making me sick. My SIL has had encompassing health issues for years and ended up moving home because of the mould that only affected her and could only be found with ghost metre-esq machines. No shade on her, she suffers, but what is this diagnosis? Link to someone diagnosing the condition with apparently causes everything nebulously wrong with the human body and can only be cured with weird diets and house cleaning rituals. Maybe it is real, definitely it shelters grifters, I cannot find real answers. Help me Maintenance Phase! https://thelydaycenter.com/blog/5-signs-mold-might-be-making-you-sick-and-what-to-do-about-it

Intermittent Fasting! Tons of anecdotal claims about what it can accomplish, measured against academic research that it makes no difference: https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/2787246

Throwback weight loss book: Fit or Fat by Covert Bailey. 70s bestseller that somehow ended up being required reading for my high school fitness class in the year of our lord 2001. Some of its sentences still live in my head rent free.

I recently watched a YouTube video from a fitness influencer that walked through what is required to get visible abs. It was surprisingly science-based in terms of acknowledging things like "You have to keep cutting more and more calories," as well as how long the process might take and how much activity was needed. It was also surprisingly frank that this was a purely aesthetic goal - not couched as "12% body fat is healthier than 18%," or anything like that - just, laying out the requirements for being shredded. I am seeing more stuff like that in the fitness space on YouTube, mostly aimed at guys, sometimes for or against pharmaceutical approaches, and I wonder if there is something interesting to explore in that space. It is on the one hand explicitly fat-phobic but there's a refreshing? honesty? And it all ties directly into influencer commerce, because of course these people all have fitness apps and diet recommendations. Not sure if it's in the right frame for this crew, but think of how many double-speed videos the research would involve!

Heavy on Cortisol! Ever since I’ve been diagnosed with an autoimmune, it feels like it’s been everywhere.

personally I can't stop thinking about this Mother Jones article about Mar-a-Lago face: https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2025/03/maralago-face-conservative-girl-makeup-brutal-aesthetics-of-maga-trump-gaetz-guilfoyle/

I have been getting incessant advertisements for “Bitepal” on social media featuring hits such as “When my raccoon sees how many calories are in my latte and forces me to drink water immediately” …. Wondering if this is a trend within the space of MFP style apps as this one seems to be AI generated. https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZP8SjWRYb/

Protein! I can’t even buy oatmeal without having to buy the protein-packed version. Also I know it’s a lightning rod but an ozempic check-in since your episode 2 years ago could be useful. Doesn’t seem like it makes as many headlines now but remains in the atmosphere.

Really interested in thoughts around the "My XXXlb Life" series. Particularly thinking about Ruby Gettinger and/or the Slaton sisters. I am just curious about your thoughts around spectacle and the meme-ification of it all. Additionally, I have also been hearing a ton around cortisol levels being monitored and shifted to help lose that stubborn paunch, or that last little bit of belly fat in relation to products like Colon Broom and other snake oils.

HRT, please! Specifically for menopausal folks. There seems to be some changing ideas about cancer risk and what's really going on with estrogen.

Would be interested to hear your thoughts on the "Enhanced Games" and, somewhat broader, the rising incidence of steroid use in young people: https://www1.racgp.org.au/newsgp/clinical/social-media-fuelling-rising-anabolic-steroid-use https://www.forbes.com/sites/parasjan/2025/09/11/olympic-medallist-ben-proud-joins-the-enhanced-games/

Face yoga! And possibly electrolyte intake

This might be too niche, it’s not really a news story. But I’m a bioethicist and this article in a recent bioethics forum made me so mad: https://www.thehastingscenter.org/what-really-causes-autism-and-what-we-should-do-about-it/

https://english.elpais.com/health/2025-09-09/from-synanon-to-influencers-the-dangerous-return-of-humiliation-as-a-cure-for-drugs.html

I would LOVE an episode on food dyes and the lack of research supporting the panic around them. It all seems to be outdated animal studies.

I would love to hear your analysis of the current obsession with high protein intake, ideally including discuss of the push for post-menopausal women to take creatine supplements to aid in retaining muscle mass and cognitive function. (I've been doing both of these things and recently had blood work done that showed some possible kidney damage that my doctor thinks might be related to these practices.)

social media accounts for fat accessibility (asking where plus size sections are in stores, the plus size park hopper account) are just trying to create an accessible and equitable place for fat people and are absolutely flamed online - this could be a way to highlight these accounts and discuss why they’re so crucial to have

This article ultraprocessed foods! https://www.nytimes.com/2025/08/04/well/eat/avoiding-ultraprocessed-foods-might-double-weight-loss.html Also NYT has multiple protein articles recently published, and some by restaurant critics (!?)

This can also be a sidebar of this, but social media accounts for fat accessibility (asking where plus size sections are in stores, the plus size park hopper account) are just trying to create an accessible and equitable place for fat people and are absolutely flamed online - this could be a way to highlight these accounts and discuss why they’re so crucial to have

I think an episode about traveling could be interesting! Airplanes are getting objectively more narrow and airlines are just overturning policies to protect fat passengers. (southwest)

Food additives/diet and Adhd or behavioral issues. What actually is the science if any on how what kids eat might affect how they behave?

Whats up with Lizzo? Alternatively if you never want to talk or think about Lizzo, I totally get that

I’m sure he might be on your radar, but Bobby Parrish of “Flavcity.” He hates seed oils and demonizes all sorts of foods and products. He has an app to tell people which foods are ‘Bobby Approved’ and never stops shilling for his own profit. Website: https://www.flavcity.com/ and YT https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=rMkNYbujgcw

“As social media and wellness podcasters bombard young women with messages about the pill, many are questioning what they’ve long been told.” Anti pill/birth control discourse. NYT article: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/09/02/style/birth-control-skepticism-wellness-tiktok.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare

Talk to Timothy Caulfield from University of Alberta. You’ll love him!

Seriously what’s the deal with cortisol?

Keto with intermittent fasting was touted as a fix for PCOS, I spent way too long in a reddit forum trying to convince myself I could live on less than 10g carbs a day, and doing OMAD, Nadia brito pateguana was the author of the PCOS book everyone was sharing, her and Jason fung seem like a griftie duo preying on women's health stuff

Cortisol Addiction. No specific magazine articles etc but it ads claiming it’s responsible for mental health issues, energy issues, ADHD and procrastination in general… Almost always delivered via a weird claymation doll dancing sadly in space… Please dig into it because it is weird and I don’t want my fellow Spicy and Sparkly Brain Young Uns being dragged into this shite.

I think it would be great to get your insights (or better outrage) about this horrendous article or one of the other variations of it that have been mentioned already about the Unicef report "Junk food leads to more children being obese than underweight for first time" https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2025/sep/10/junk-food-upf-more-children-obese-than-underweight-unicef

I'd appriciate a take on skin care products Especially things like retinol and chemical exfoliating where they might do active harm. When I was looking into skin care routines I was under the impression that the worst thing that could happen was I'd buy a bunch of stuff that was was actually just lotion in overpriced bottles, but evidently not?

I’ve been relistening to a lot of old episodes recently and Mike used to talk about his obsession with Elon Musk - but it was never expanded on…. What an interesting time it would be to revisit that topic 🤣

The world of menopause! There is a book out from Dr Rocio Salad-Whalen called „Weightless“ about GLP-1 meds. Or why there is a push for supplements, collagen especially, and weighted vests for menopausal women (a very feisty discussion between Dr MCH followers and non-believers). I would love an episode on this! You both rock!!!! Love your podcast.

This is somehow both super dark and very frivolous at the same time, but I stumbled across "Apple Cider Vinegar" on Netflix which was a mini-series fictionalizing (heavily) the Belle Gibson story. I actually thought at times it was close to making some interesting critiques of just, social media wellness culture at large, but it also felt kind of trashy and weird, but maybe that was on purpose? As you can see it left me somewhat baffled. 😅

I LOVED your episode on the Scarsdale Diet. As a fat kid/teen in the 70's and 80's, I was exposed to this and recall being on it. I love all your content, but would love for you to look into other diets/programs from that era (and this one) that targeted girls and young women. Ones that I remember vividly are, "The Womens' Doctor Diet for Teenage Girls (https://a.co/d/ha2YCJ1,)" and Feeding the Hungry Heart by Geneen Roth

WATER. My whole life, there were always low budget Ads and celebrities saying how water is the secret to beauty and a long life. Also didn’t the Nestle CEO say “not everyone deserves clean water”? I was bad at drinking water in my college days. But now that I’m a dialysis social worker, I am more cognizant of how much drinking water instead of sugary beverages affects the kidneys. Also, seltzer. I was addicted to La Croix and only drank seltzer for like 2 years and it gave me incontinence lol. But that went away when I stopped drinking so much. Also are electrolytes or salt in water, are they necessary? What about these waters being marketing with herbs like ashwaganda? And is water across states significantly different? Does the water in my pre war NYC apartment affect me negatively?

Trans and intersex folks are a very lucrative enigma to the weight loss industry! Every diet and weight loss program I've seen requires selecting either "male" or "female" before even entering height and weight. What is healthy weight for someone who's been on a low dose of testosterone for a year? Someone who's been on a more standard dose of estrogen for 8 months? An intersex person? Even in trans medicine it's murky at best and gatekeeps necessary medical care at worst. There is so little clinical research into trans health with HRT, let alone research on how/why someone's weight can change on HRT. Here are a couple articles: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7880308/ https://www.endocrinepractice.org/article/S1530-891X(20)35078-3/abstract https://www.eatright.org/health/wellness/healthful-habits/how-to-approach-sex-specific-nutrition-recommendations-for-transgender-people I'm extremely frustrated with this bullshit. One person I know got rejected by several surgeons when seeking top surgery because of their higher BMI. Literally just the number! I started snoring after taking testosterone for about a year and it's been an ongoing issue. Last year I got diagnosed with mild sleep apnea and my PCP sent me to an ENT to get a specialist's input. This old white dude took a look in my sinuses and just said I don't have a deviated septum and just need to lose weight. I'm at a healthy weight and have dealt with an eating disorder previously, so that was less than helpful. Also, I'm pretty sure testosterone just expanded part of the soft tissue in my throat and it has nothing to do with weight.

Hi this is so specific and maybe a way-future idea, but I've researched & presented multiple times about anti-fatness in trans healthcare, BMI cutoffs for gender-affirming surgery, and specifically chest masculinization surgery. Would be happy to share my slides/citations/research for this! tldr the research does NOT support BMI cutoffs, the surgery benefits far outweigh minor complications. Jay Aprileo, who is a fat influencer, was told they cant get top surgery but COULD go under for bariatric surgery. i was so bummed and sad to see this article about their experience and turning to radical acceptance: https://comfyfat.com/2021/07/13/gender-euphoria-top-surgery/

Why does everyone take collagen supplements now?

I think this is probably more than one episode: https://www.npr.org/sections/shots-health-news/2025/09/09/nx-s1-5534412/rfk-maha-report-childrens-health

https://slimemoldtimemold.com/tag/a-chemical-hunger/

Skkinytok and Morning sheds -- Liv Schmidt in general https://www.instagram.com/reel/DOb2u20EWAv/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA== https://www.instagram.com/reel/DOd6quvDQ-z/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==

Artificial sweeteners , intermittent fasting , trad wives

This fucking guy … https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-dr-hyman-show/id1382804627?i=1000724720623

Not a news thing, but an episode suggestion I keep forgetting to send in -- I want to hear your reactions to the "time and motion study" trend associated with Taylorism and the Gilbreths -- not all of it is wellness-related, but there's enough in there to react to that is up your alley! I wouldn't be surprised if there's a vintage diet book out there in the world that is connected to this set of movements.

INTERMITTENT FASTING. Energy drinks. Overeaters Anonymous. Organic/GMO-free "lifestyle". Anti-inflammatory diets. Etc etc etc

Would love to hear thoughts on artificial sweeteners - articles always seem to come up on these. An article was released this month on use of these sweetners and cognition. https://www.cnn.com/2025/09/03/health/artificial-sweetener-cognition-wellness

What about the worst, most ridiculous advice/"info" about health/wellness/bodies that teens used to read in magazines in the 90s/early 00s (Cosmo, Teen magazine, etc.). Some of them still live rent-free in my 40-something year old brain, e.g., cupping your little teenage boobs in your hands and pushing them up every day would help them grow bigger and more even. 😆🫠

Maybe an ep about “LOCK IN” culture? These goddamn buzz words 🤦🏽‍♀️🤦🏼‍♀️

I have an eye-roller and a jaw-dropper: Fat-blocking microbeads could rival GLP-1 drugs for weight-loss treatment, per study | Fox News https://share.google/rRC4uPC4OVniz2k0J https://youtube.com/shorts/0rV84N279XQ?feature=shared

Dr Hyman (what a name), Chris Beat Cancer and Dr Eric Berg’s bullshit wellness grifts maybe? 😂 It’s the blend of fear mongering content married with cult leader manipulation tactics for me #spooky 🧟‍♂️

Yesterday Al Jazeera English released this incredibly grotesque coverage of a UNICEF report on "childhood obesity" and I'm not even sure where to start. From the horrifying pic's implication that toddlers can be "obese," to the depraved political angle of spending time and money on this "report" in the first place, to the obvious horror of publishing it amidst multiple famines disproportionately affecting very young children. I'd like to know who stands to gain from this: who commissioned it, breathed life into it - and what exactly are the implications of corruption at the heart of UNICEF? https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/9/10/obesity-now-main-form-of-malnutrition-afflicting-youth-unicef

Ice Baths! And the culty grifters like the Wim Hof method and whatever is going on there. https://www.wimhofmethod.com/iceman-wim-hof

I'd love to hear Aubrey's take on the Biggest Loser documentary and her feelings about how her commentary was used in the broader context of the documentary.

I've been seeing a lot of anti-birth control, pro "cycle tracking" videos lately. It feels like a lot of misinformation and fear mongering, potentially with some questionable religious and political undertones. There are also a lot of videos from women talking about wild side effects to getting off birth control - like losing attraction to your partner or their sense of smell changing. It's positioned as a way to gain control of your health, but then puts women in a vulnerable position for pregnancy. esp in this political climate, I can't help but worry that is the goal? The only woman I know that openly talked about doing this birth control technique had 2 oopsie babies within a few years.

I don't have a lot of desire to pick apart Serena Williams herself (she's suffered enough at the hands of the media), but I do think that an article on celebrity endorsement of GLP1s in general would be really interesting. For example, JVN's sudden 180 from body positivity to GLP1 apologist.

Really, really troubled by the way UNICEF reported on this data recently. https://www.unicef.org/press-releases/obesity-exceeds-underweight-first-time-among-school-age-children-and-adolescents

Beef tallow!

I love to listen to an episode that goes deeper in wearable fitness. Like the Apple Watch, Garmin device, and so on. How accurate are they? I love seeing numbers on my Garmin watch after a run but I’m resistant to believing all the data. But it’s fun nonetheless. On a side note, believe Oura rings are partnered with the DoD and is raising more red flags than before.

I’m a teacher and, maybe this is outside the scope of the pod, but it would be really cool to hear about toxic and non-toxic experiences of students worldwide. What is the “health” curriculum like these days?

This one was wild: How eating insects became a conspiracy theory! https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20250904-how-eating-insects-became-a-conspiracy-theory

Please talk about 75 Hard as a wellness and weight loss challenge!

Lee from America memoir !!

Ok all of this is super great, but for a nice amouse booch/pallet cleanser there are also a bunch of you tuber/tiktoc folks who have legit nutrition training who review the whack influencers who keep pushing the wellness crap and just read them for filth. Additionally, they also will do full take downs in creative ways of online trolls who are so mean to fat folks just existing. Sometimes they make my day!

Both the underlying policies discussed but also Zach's coverage of it and (my impression) thoughtfulness about how he approached it: https://www.usatoday.com/story/travel/columnist/2025/09/03/airline-plus-size-traveler-policies/85763590007/?fbclid=IwY2xjawMv2PhleHRuA2FlbQIxMABicmlkETFyRmczdUluTkNvbll4OGQ5AR4wEgl60V33sJQlxMDXBWW7wCQU0gqb2tlVxTGSBn7IOCkbVSBbikJjqo43Zw_aem_HgPcCDDCFBq6p30VjJE6lg

I'd like to hear one about Noom and other weight loss apps.

I would love to hear you talk about the inflated health benefits of running. So many people who’ve hyped it up as the best form of exercise have died early from cardiovascular problems. I don’t know near enough about it all but I would love your take on it

I would love to hear you two talk about the fatphobia of many news outlets regarding the famine in Gaza. Genocide denial aside, there has been way too much „the child in this picture can’t be starving, because look at their fat mum!!!“ This is so many levels of disgusting.

Has anyone heard about the rise of sleep tourism in Europe?? Stuff like lavender sleep retreats in Croatia, isolated cabins in Sweden, hotels offering medical sleep-programmes? Would love to hear M&A’s take on the wellness marketing vs real benefit in those 😊

i keep seeing on tiktok how theres more research put into male pattern baldness than endometriosis and that could be a good jumping off point for a discussion on discrepancies between (generally) male and female medical problems and research

Would love you to take this one apart: https://www.washingtonpost.com/wellness/2025/07/16/obesity-cause-diet-exercise/ (to sum up: fat people eat too much, and they eat the "wrong foods").

Protein purity- why does protein get such good PR, why is it in all of our snacks now, why is protein seen as pure and good?

Is there a country out there doing it right in terms of policy & science driven (vs. corporate or “vibes”) decisions around healthcare and wellness?

This one about using spray cleaners is freaking me out! Equal to smoking a pack a day? https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29451393/

This one please https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2025/sep/11/patrick-mouratoglou-serena-and-i-had-a-few-fights-about-her-weight

London based Pilates instructor here (loved your Pilates episode!) and have been hearing a lot about “infrared Pilates” lately including this article from the extremely britishly named country and town house magazine: https://www.countryandtownhouse.com/style/health-and-beauty/infrared-workouts/ Apparently it’s already popular in LA? Would love a quick little mini discussion on “hot” workouts, the claims they make and the surrounding vibes. Roo (she/her/they/them) x

CoolSculpting! Specifically, the Linda Evangelista Story. "Linda Evangelista Admits She 'Still' Doesn't Look in the Mirror After CoolSculpting Trauma. After her cosmetic procedure, she was diagnosed with Paradoxical adipose hyperplasia, a side effect where fat cells targeted in the treatment grow bigger instead of smaller" https://people.com/linda-evangelista-still-doesnt-look-in-mirror-after-coolsculpting-trauma-11721535

I work in health insurance, and there have been a ton of stories about the costs of GLP-1s to premiums (recent estimates are that they equate to 1% of premiums), employer plan costs, etc. But I haven’t seen much prominent linkage between the “promise” of these drugs lowering care costs and the enormous cost in the meantime. https://www.uchicagomedicine.org/forefront/research-and-discoveries-articles/glp-1-drug-pricing-analysis

I just heard a podcast ad for Weight Watcher's newest gimmick positioning themselves as some sort of perimenopause/menopause teleheath company. I do think the recent openness around perimenopause/menopause marks an important and necessary focus on women's health, but it also seems like it's already being co-opted by the wellness industry to hawk their grifty supplements and weight loss junk.

This one drove me crazy: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/09/10/opinion/food-environment-chronic-disease.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare

Ozempic lawsuits!

Have you already done episodes about autism and or ADHD? I know there's been recent furore with autism with RFK Jr :/

I dont know if you'd mention "food noise" by jack moseley, the son of the guy who was always doing health stuff on British tv. I tried to listen to it but hes not a great narrator!

Tik tok keeps advertising “glp1 patches” to me. Ingredients look like a combo of your most likely herbal culprits. https://myhealthyshape.com/?https://tryledisa.com/?utm_source=Google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=Brand+search&utm_id=22748029811&tw_source=google&tw_adid=770921112654&tw_campaign=22869281277&tw_kwdid=kwd-2429001823108&gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=22869281277&gclid=Cj0KCQjw5onGBhDeARIsAFK6QJZI9-IfdwBKbR7jMHCeNHaLtDf194bd9WgRcGLYtCec-BHjMKYc5UkaAkpFEALw_wcB

Perimenopause and the lack research that goes into women's bodies

a now (no longer accurate) article about "mass hysteria" at Heathrow https://theconversation.com/mass-hysteria-at-heathrow-airport-how-social-contagion-works-264900 casually mentions that obesity can spread by "social contagion" and links to this study "The Spread of Obesity in a Large Social Network over 32 Years" https://www.nejm.org/doi/pdf/10.1056/NEJMsa066082 please check these guys stats so I don't have to!

If I have to hear about gut health or collagen gummies from some skinny lady on Instagram one more time I’m gonna scream. Will gladly hear about it from you both though lol

Someone recently asked me about vitamin D and weight loss, I don’t think this is recent news though: https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/vitamin-d-weight-loss

Looksmaxxing https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Looksmaxxing

I thought the Vibe check episode where they talked about Serena and her use of GLP-1s was great, but would love more of a look into the Telehealth of it all......the epside was "All Billionaires are Kinda Bad"

Ooh put me in the debunk bed! Fluoride and food dyes!

Listen. My uncle is a very well know grifter and I NEED to talk about it. He does all of it. Flouride, carnivore, detox, sunscreen propaganda, anti vax.

We've been talking about this in Film school, and I know it's not wellness per se, but I'm really interested in your comments on AI: Amazon-backed Showrunner using AI to recreate 'lost' part of this classic Hollywood movie - The Times of India https://share.google/5jR4s7uJwwZ8uVpQh AI Is "Possibly The End Of Human Creativity," CEO Of Amazon-Backed Startup Says https://share.google/CKpMDXsr6Oi99VVdi 'Edward Saatchi, CEO of Amazon-backed startup Fable, sees AI as “possibly the end of human creativity,” at least as an exclusive phenomenon. And no, he doesn’t believe that’s a bad thing.' Yipes.

Please talk about "cortisol face"

Please talk about this piece in the NY Times! I read it and was so frustrated because there are SO many articles in the Times about "Wellness" that are the things that lead people to this thinking. Including their coverage of RFK which seems to be, "well he does have some good ideas..." https://www.nytimes.com/2025/09/09/opinion/maha-health-wellness-influencers.html?smid=nytcore-android-share

Evie Magazine, the right-wing Cosmo knockoff funded by Peter Thiel. Here's a sampling of their bananacrackers wellness takes: "The Mainstream Media Owes Us All An Apology For The Mass Psychosis It Caused During The COVID Era" https://www.eviemagazine.com/post/the-mainstream-media-owes-us-all-an-apology-for-covid-era "I Devoured All Of SkinnyTok's Most Viral Weight Loss Advice: Here Are The Best Tips" https://www.eviemagazine.com/post/skinnytok-s-best-weight-loss-advice "The Internet Has Already Developed A Slur For Robots" https://www.eviemagazine.com/post/the-internet-has-already-developed-a-slur-for-robots "I'm a Hot Mom, and I'm Tired of Being Mom-Shamed About It" https://bit.ly/3GS8NCL "Women Are Using ChatGPT to Lose Weight: Here's How You Can Too" https://bit.ly/3G2ZyiA

Would love to hear you break down The Biggest Loser doc on Netflix! Thoughts on the messaging and takeaways. And this may be in NDA territory but how the concept was presented to you and how you felt watching the whole thing? Thanks for all your hard work! 🥰

Not what you asked, but I just watched The Biggest Loser documentary, and I'd love a bonus episode where you two discussed it.

This terrible op ed published in the Washington Post from RFK Jr & Linda McMahon about how therapists are the problem with children's mental health. OMG I SCREAMED. As a psychiatrist myself AND as a parent of a young child with severe anxiety I am so pissed. Linda McMahon and RFK Jr.: Children need natural sources of mental health https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2025/09/10/linda-mcmahon-rfk-jr-mental-health-students/

I've been hearing ALOT about cortisol and the "cortisol cocktail" and would love your take on this new obsession with cortisol. Here's a link to a related story: https://www.the-independent.com/life-style/health-and-families/cortisol-cocktail-recipe-drink-weight-stress-blood-pressure-b2822062.html

A lot of very weird/gross discourse around Selena Gomez, ozempic, and her weight (especially since she attributes a lot of her weight fluctuation to her lupus medication and SIBO). Lots of articles speculating how she's lost so much weight, a lot of Selena quotes that seem to reflect body positivity... it feels like a very weird ecosystem.

Southwest Airlines changing their customer of size policy!

I’d love to hear your takes on the claims about hormonal birth control being bad for women. For example, Ricki Lake had a documentary a couple years ago that had some controversy: https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-features/business-birth-control-ricki-lake-documentary-1353070/

Protein https://www.nytimes.com/2025/07/27/briefing/the-protein-boom.html and menopause https://www.nytimes.com/2023/02/01/magazine/menopause-hot-flashes-hormone-therapy.html

This isn’t really a news article, but I’ve seen this insane Vimergy liquid vitamin ad nonstop on YouTube and it seems absolutely unhinged. They are clearly using scare tactics to get people to buy their product (“we can save ourselves”) and it leaves a terrible taste in my mouth (pun intended). https://youtu.be/VD-XbYMUfWw?si=llnqM_svioB8DSuB

The sudden use of the phrase “food noise” - for a lot of people I think that translates to “hunger” or simply the anticipation of the enjoyment of food, which apparently we are supposed to fear and mute now. 😔

Microdosing GLP1... wild. https://www.usatoday.com/story/entertainment/celebrities/2025/09/10/andy-cohen-weight-loss-glp-1-drug-micro-dose/86072484007/

I’d love coverage of the claims Serena Williams is making in support of her being on Ozempic 😕 I know we have covered Ozempic a LOT but like… woof. A world champion athlete like herself getting on it feels bleak.

I'd love a deep dive into the alkaline water as better hydration, help with acid reflux and for weight management https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NZkz8cvxQSg&embeds_referring_euri=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.thedrum.com%2F&embeds_referring_origin=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.thedrum.com&source_ve_path=Mjg2NjY https://www.arthritis.org/health-wellness/healthy-living/nutrition/alkaline-water-benefits https://www.tiktok.com/discover/alkaline-water-influencer

The history of trans healthcare! Including the real story behind the Danish girl

Oh please take a look at thr cortisol cocktail/ cortisol face trend https://wellnessmama.com/health/adrenal-cocktail/

The whole thing with LBee health and the “online assessments” for people looking for an affordable ASD/ADHD diagnosis - https://lovettejallow.substack.com/p/lbee-health-lauren-howard-assessment-scam

Oprah’s menopause revolution. Please and thank you

Hit click too soon. My suggestion would be to unpack the long long running TLC show 'my 600 lb life' and related shows. It's A LOT.

Hi MP Team. First off, i have been A HUGE fan of MP for years. Keep doing what you are doing.

I recently came across "How Japan escaped obesity while America got fat" (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TH6Wq4KWu7M). Sounds reasonable at first glance. Smaller portions, less sugar, and a food culture that prioritizes healthier eating at a systemic level. It wasn't until the end of the video that I noticed other hot takes from the channel like, "The Male Crisis - Heat Is Wrecking Testosterone". and "Women don't want equal relationships". A segment that digs into why these types of arguments (the food ones, not the obviously sexist ones) sound reasonable but aren't might be worth a go.

AI-induced psychosis! https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/urban-survival/202507/the-emerging-problem-of-ai-psychosis/amp

This isn’t exactly what you’re asking for, but I’d love to hear more about how you all do research for your episodes. What is your process? How do you know when the research is “done” aka ready for an episode?

Would love a deep dive on Statins - I hear everything from it causes ahlzheimers, to theyve changed the testing ranges so everyone goes on statins, that cholesterol is good for you, etc etc etc

MICROPLASTICS. !!!!!! https://www.nytimes.com/2025/08/04/opinion/contamination-exposome.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare

I recently visited the doctor who said Vivance is prescribed for binge eating disorder. And it got me thinking that I don't know what we know about binge eating disorder. Can you guys do a deep dive on what we know and what treatments are available for BED? At this point literally any information would be helpful.

Not a news story, but I'd love to hear your takes on meal replacements & nutritionally complete foods, so things like Huel, Jimmy Joy, yfood, etc. I know you've covered ultra processed food, I'm thinking more from the self-optimisation and "everyone's so busy we don't even have time or money to enjoy eating anymore" angles

A cursed RFKJ update - ADHD, Tylenol & autism, etc

Can you please unpack the grift of RFK with Autism and Tylenol? I know it's a grift because I got a ton of emails last year asking me to join a lawsuit against Tylenol because it "made" my kids Autistic. https://share.google/KhhSQ8yFP0gMAkKBP