January 2026 – Claremont Colonic and Nutrient Resource Clinic

What You Should Know if There’s No Sexual Attraction for Your Partner, According to a Therapist.

A lot of heterosexual male clients are coming into my practice admitting they picked their partner without considering sexual attraction.

During couples therapy sessions with his partner in the room, the man will claim that he doesn’t know why he isn’t experiencing desire. Maybe it’s stress, low testosterone or feeling anxious.

But when I meet with him individually, he often tells a different story. He tells me he picked his partner without prioritizing sexual attraction.

Why would a person pick a potential life partner without feeling the spark of sexual attraction? And can these relationships survive and thrive? Can something like sexual attraction that wasn’t there in the first place be cultivated later?

I’ve talked with many men in their 30s who have told me, “When I found the woman I wanted to marry, she checked all the boxes. Except one.”

Characteristics on that list include “being my best friend,” “will make an amazing mother,” “our friends and families get along so well,” and “she really loves me.” The one box that didn’t get ticked? Sexual attraction — and often the men didn’t even list that quality to start.

I was stunned.

Sexuality is the one thing that really distinguishes a romantic relationship from a platonic one: I find that it’s one kind of “relationship glue” that helps couples stay together through hard times. That’s why I’m puzzled that so many people devalue sex in picking a partner for a long-term relationship.

“Research shows that, while physical attractiveness is usually among the most important traits people desire in a romantic partner, it doesn’t actually top the list for men or women,” said Dr. Justin Lehmiller, a research fellow at the Kinsey Institute at Indiana University, a research center dedicated to sexuality. “Traits like intelligence, humor, honesty and kindness are often at least as important, if not more.”

Some men have internalized an “either/or” view of women: those who make great wives and mothers and those who are sexually adventurous, according to Chicago-based sex therapist Dr. Elizabeth Perri.

“I’ve observed this in male patients who are out in the dating world and feel the pressure to pick someone whom they perceive as ‘wife material’ but without sexual attraction, rather than waiting to find a partner who is a better fit both emotionally and sexually,” Perri told me.

How important is sexual attraction in a relationship?

Good sex can help protect against psychological distress, including anxiety and depression, helps couples achieve a deeper connection, and improves relationship satisfaction.

“If a relationship is a meal, the sexual portion ought to be considered an integral part of it, such as the protein, instead of a frivolous part like dessert,” says Eva Dillon, a sex therapist based in New York City.

“In my experience, it’s possible for women to cultivate desire for a partner with considerable effort, but if a man does not have desire for his partner at the beginning of a relationship, he will never desire her,” Dillon told me. Why count on sexual attraction coming later when you can prioritize it in a partner and enjoy the benefits from the beginning?”

Still, lower levels of sexual attraction aren’t always a problem for couples, said sexologist Dr. Yvonne Fulbright.

“For some people, a lack of sexual attraction can lead to infidelity or divorce. For others, a lack of sexual attraction only becomes a problem when one tunes into societal expectations around sex and desire,” said Fulbright, who is an adjunct professorial lecturer in the department of sociology at American University in Washington, DC.

“A lot of pressure is being put on couples to maintain active sex lives, and hot ones at that. People have the sense that there’s a type and quality of desire that needs to be achieved, with any disinterest in such considered a problem that needs to be solved.”

Some of my therapist colleagues caution against putting too much emphasis on the importance of immediate sexual attraction.

“We have this misconception that we must be physically attracted to someone when we first meet or there is no relationship potential. That’s just not true,” said sex therapist Dr. Rachel Needle. “Attraction can grow as you get to know someone and experience increased closeness and connection.”

How to bring the spark back in a relationship

What should you do if you and your partner are running out of sexual steam? Or if you want to turn up the heat on a relationship that didn’t have any to start with?

Fulbright cautioned against giving any sweeping advice. “Only partners can figure out the best way to manage this challenge in their relationship,” she said.

“Non-monogamy may work for some, but not others. Couples need to decide how honest to be with each other, how much this matter is a dealbreaker in staying together versus not, and how much weight should be given to this issue in light of other good things they have going for them,” she added via email.

Don’t feel that all is lost if you’re in a long-term relationship. For some couples, sexual desire can grow over time if they focus on it. “It often isn’t until our 30s that we get comfortable enough to ask for what we want in bed,” Dillon said.

But I refuse to agree with anyone who thinks that married couples will stop having sex anyway so why bother prioritizing sexual attraction.

“Many couples in their 50s can explore and expand their sexuality thanks to maturity and empty nests. For couples in their 60s, 70s and beyond who are able to expand their definition of sex beyond orgasm and co-create intimacy, sex can continue to be vibrant and rich,” Dillon added via email.

And keep in mind, your sexual health is a barometer of your overall health. So if you really are experiencing an inexplicable drop in sexual interest, consider talking to your medical provider. Maybe your testosterone levels really have fallen.

Whatever the source of your lack of sexual interest, just be up-front with your partner. Honesty, as it turns out, can be a turn-on (eventually).

Contributor: Ian Kerner – CNN Health

The Surprising Benefits of Standing on One Leg

Balancing on a single limb can be surprisingly challenging as we get older, but training yourself to do it for longer can make you stronger, boost your memory and keep your brain healthier.

Unless you’re a flamingo, spending time delicately poised on one leg isn’t something you probably invest a lot of time in. And depending on your age, you might find it surprisingly difficult.

Balancing on one leg generally doesn’t take a lot of thought when we are young. Typically our ability to hold this pose matures by around the ages of nine to 10 years old. Our balance then peaks in our late 30s before declining.

If you’re over the age of 50, your ability to balance on a single leg for more than a few seconds can indicate a surprising amount about your general health and how well you’re ageing.

But there are also some good reasons why you might want to spend more time wobbling about on one pin – it can bring a range of benefits to your body and brain, such as helping to reduce the risk of falls, building your strength and improving your memory. This deceptively simple exercise can have an outsized effect on your health as you age.

“If you find that it’s not easy, it’s time to start training your balance,” says Tracy Espiritu McKay, a rehabilitation medicine specialist for the American Academy of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation. (More on how to build a one-legged training regime into your day later in this article.)

Why care about your balance?

One of the main reasons doctors use standing on one leg as a measure of health is its link with the progressive age-related loss of muscle tissue, or sarcopenia. From the age of 30 onwards, we lose muscle mass at a rate of up to 8% per decade. By the time we reach our 80s, some research has suggested that up to 50% of people have clinical sarcopenia.

This has been linked to everything from diminished blood sugar control to waning immunity against diseases, but because it affects the strength of various muscle groups, it is also reflected through your ability to balance on one leg. At the same time, people who practice one-legged training are less likely to be as vulnerable to sarcopenia in their latter decades, as this simple exercise helps keep the leg and hip muscles honed.

“The ability to stand on one leg diminishes [with age],” says Kenton Kaufman, director of the motion analysis laboratory at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. “People are over 50 or 60 when they start to experience it and then it increases quite a bit with each decade of life after that.”

There is also another, more subtle reason that makes our ability to balance on one leg important – how it links to our brain.

This deceptively simple pose requires not only muscle strength and flexibility, but your brain’s ability to integrate information from your eyes, the balance centre in the inner ear known as the vestibular system and the somatosensory system, a complex network of nerves that help us sense both body position and the ground beneath us.

“All of these systems degrade with age at different rates,” says Kaufman.

This means that your ability to stand on one leg can reveal a lot about the underlying state of key brain regions, says Espiritu McKay. This includes those involved in your reaction speeds, your ability to carry out everyday tasks and how quickly you can integrate information from your sensory systems.

All of us experience a certain amount of brain atrophy or shrinkage with age, but if this starts happening too quickly, it can impede your ability to remain physically active, live independently in your later years and increase your risk of falling. Data collected by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has shown that unintentional falls, typically caused by a loss of balance, are the leading cause of injuries among over 65s in the US. Researchers say that practicing single-leg exercises can be a good way of reducing this fall risk.

These single leg training exercises really improve the balance control and actually change how the brain is structured – Tracy Espiritu McKay

According to Kaufman, falls often come down to waning reaction times. “Imagine you’re walking along, and you trip over a crack in the sidewalk,” he says. “Most often, whether you fall or not isn’t a strength issue, but it’s whether you can move your leg fast enough, and get it to where it needs to be, to arrest your fall.”

Spookily, your ability to stand on one leg even reflects your short-term risk of premature death. Take the findings of a 2022 study, which found that people unable to hold a single-legged pose for 10 seconds in mid-later life were 84% more likely to die from any cause over the following seven years. Another study took 2,760 men and women in their 50s and put them through three tests – grip strength, how many times they could go from sitting to standing in a minute and how long they could stand on one leg with their eyes closed. (Read more about what the grip strength test and sit to stand test can reveal about how you are ageing.)

The single-leg stance test proved to be the most informative for their disease risk. Over the next 13 years, those able to stand on one leg for two seconds or less were three times more likely to have died than those who could do so for 10 seconds or more.

Five minutes to stay young

From reading a page of a book every day to knee-strengthening exercises, this series looks at simple lifestyle changes you can make now that will have a big impact on how you age. The best part? They all take around five minutes.

According to Espiritu McKay, this same pattern can even be seen in people who have been diagnosed with dementia – those who can still balance on one leg are experiencing a slower decline. “In Alzheimer’s patients, researchers are actually finding that if they’re unable to stand on one leg for five seconds, it usually predicts a faster cognitive decline,” she says.

Training your balance

The better news is that research increasingly shows that we can do a lot to reduce the risks of these age-related problems by actively practising standing on one leg. Such exercises – which scientists refer to as “single leg training” – can not only hone your core, hip and leg muscles, but your underlying brain health.

“Our brains aren’t fixed,” says Espiritu McKay. “They’re pretty malleable. These single leg training exercises really improve the balance control and actually change how the brain is structured, especially in regions that are involved in sensory motor integration and your spatial awareness.”

Balancing on one leg can also boost our cognitive performance while performing tasks by activating the pre-frontal cortex of the brain, with one study showing it can even improve the working memory of healthy young adults.

Espiritu McKay recommends that all over 65s should begin doing single leg training exercises at least three times a week to improve their mobility, as well as reducing their future fall risk, but ideally she recommends incorporating it into your daily routine.

There may be greater benefits from starting this kind of training even earlier in life.

Claudio Gil Araújo, an exercise medicine researcher at the Clinimex clinic in Rio de Janeiro and who led the 2022 study looking at one legged standing and premature death risk, suggests that all over 50s should carry out a self-assessment of their ability to stand on one leg for 10 seconds.

“This can be easily incorporated into your daily activities,” he says. “You can stand for 10 seconds on one leg and then switch to the other while brushing your teeth. I also recommend doing this both barefoot and with shoes on, because they’re slightly different.”

This is because wearing shoes produces different levels of stability compared to being barefoot.

Daily activities such as standing at the sink while washing up or brushing your teeth are also perfect opportunities to train your single leg standing abilities, researchers say. Try keeping swaying to as little as possible for as long as you can. Gains can be achieved from spending just 10 minutes a day practicing your balance.

Smooth hip strengthening exercises using gentle resistance – also known as isokinetic exercise – can also help to improve one-legged standing.

Studies have shown that a combination of strength, aerobic and balance training exercises can reduce risk factors associated with falls by 50%, while this connection may also explain why activities such as yoga or tai chi which often involve holding single leg poses, have been linked with healthy ageing. Kaufman points to a study which found that tai chi was linked with decreasing risk of falls by 19%.

Most optimistically, Gil Araújo has found that with persistence and consistency, it’s possible to retain good balance even well into your nineties, and possibly even beyond. “At our clinic, we assessed a woman who was 95 and able to successfully hold a single-leg stance for 10 seconds on either foot,” he says. “We can train and improve the performance of our biological systems until the last days of our life, even if you’re a centenarian.”

Contributor: David Cox – BBC

Bottom-Feeders: To Eat or Not To Eat?

Bottom-feeders. You’ve been taught to revile the name. Its mention has you curling your lip and culturing a look of disgust. These two words have been ingrained within your conscience to conjure up unpalatable visions. Things crawling among the filth of the lake or ocean floor, soaking up the collective waste of the water bodies they eek their pitiful existence in.

It seems reasonable to assume that you’d be far better off going for those aquatic creatures which live above — closer to the light. It stands to reason that such animals would be happier and healthier in the cleaner, clearer parts of the lake, river or ocean. The health of those animals would then pass into you when you eat them. Simple as that.

Plus, let’s face it, that subconscious aversion to things which we perceive as dirty is very much at play. The way you see it, an animal which spends its life on the lake floor or seafloor must be dirtier than the clean, crisp salmon cruising above.

But as with many misconceptions instilled into us by modern society, those poor bottom-feeders might deserve far more credit than you give them. Many of the water-based animals which you now consider to be healthy are in fact bottom-feeders, though it’s likely that you’ve not yet made that connection. Animals like sardines, anchovies, mackerel, squid, octopus, shrimp and shellfish are all classified as bottom-feeders. And they’re amongst the most healthy foods on the planet, both in the water and out.

Let’s get to the bottom of things (surprisingly, pun unintended) and sort out fact from fiction. Should you be eating bottom-feeders, or avoiding them like the dirty scavengers we think them to be?

What are bottom-feeders?

A bottom-feeder is any aquatic animal which spends some or all of its life feeding on or near the bottom of a water body. This could be a lake, river, ocean or even a teeny tiny pond in your backyard!

Common bottom-feeding animals include crabs, lobster and crayfish, shrimp, shellfish, sea anemones, snails, starfish and sea cucumbers. Some of these you’d eat, some you’d consider a delicacy and pay a small fortune to eat, and some you wouldn’t touch with a ten-foot pole!

In the fish world, bottom-feeders include:

Halibut
Flounder
Plaice
Sole
Eel
Cod
Haddock
Bass
Grouper
Carp
Snapper
Sardines
Catfish
And Shark

Probably a larger group than you expected, right? So, after the startling revelation that you’ve been eating bottom-feeders all your life, let’s get into the nitty gritty. Here’s a rundown of which bottom-feeding species provide a net benefit for your health, and which you should probably avoid.

Shellfish

The shellfish family is probably quite a bit broader in scope than you suspect. Yes, it includes all the regulars like mussels, oysters, scallops and clams. But it also includes animals like shrimp, lobster and crayfish… crazy, right?

As a general rule of thumb, shellfish are amazingly good for your health. The fact that they spend their lives immersed in mineral-rich waters means they’re fantastically nutrient dense. In many cases, shellfish provide vitamins and minerals which you’d be hard-pressed to find in any land-based animal or plant. And because you generally eat the whole animal (not a particular section like with beef or chicken), you’re getting the full spectrum of nutritional goodness from your mussel or oyster.

Clearly, shellfish bust the “bottom-feeder, no thanks!” mentality right out of the water. But let’s get down to specifics for a minute.

Oysters

Perhaps the heaviest hitter of the shellfish family, oysters truly are a superfood. Unlike many other overpriced “delicacy” foods, oysters are well worth the extra bucks you fork out at the restaurant. They’re the most nutrient dense of the shellfish. They are a great source of zinc, B-vitamins, vitamin A, vitamin E, copper and selenium.

As if that wasn’t enough, oysters provide an almost unparalleled concentration of anti-inflammatory omega-3 fatty acids. They also come loaded with protein and healthy fats.

Clams

Not too far behind the fabled oyster is the humble clam. Aside from the fact that (in my opinion) they taste considerably better than the snot-like oyster, they’re also a nutritional powerhouse. Clams have plenty of vitamin A, vitamin B12, selenium, magnesium, iron and omega-3s. They’re also super protein-rich, so there’s really no reason why you wouldn’t eat them!

Mussels

Like oysters and clams, mussels punch well above their weight. Not only are they amazingly rich and delicious in a nice white wine or garlic sauce, they also have plenty of nutrients and antioxidants. These include folate, thiamine, riboflavin, magnesium, iron, manganese, selenium and zinc. Many of these are really difficult to obtain from other food sources, making them an important go-to within your weekly diet.

Scallops

Few people can deny the taste sensation that is the scallop… especially if it’s wrapped in bacon! With something that tastes so good, you’ll be pleased to hear that scallops are an excellent nutritional choice. They contain loads of vitamin B12, magnesium, selenium, and zinc. Throw in plenty of protein and omega-3 fatty acids, and you’ve got a winner.

Crab, lobster and crayfish

When you think about it, lobster, crab and crayfish are kind of like the pigs of the sea. They’re skilled foragers and will eat almost anything they come across… including other dead animals. Does this make them bad to eat? No! With pigs, if they’re allowed to roam and forage for the foods they want, their meat is amazingly nutritious. So too with these members of the phylum Arthropoda, which are always wild caught (aside from some crayfish, but these farmed varieties are generally okay to eat as well).

Provided you source your lobster, crayfish or crab from healthy waters (that generally counts out any varieties caught in Asian waters), you’re doing your health a favor. These guys all provide plenty of magnesium, selenium and zinc, plus good levels of omega-3s and plenty of easily-digestible protein. Don’t be shy about dousing your lobster in a dollop of good grass-fed butter, either!

Shrimp

While shrimp doesn’t really compare to other shellfish in terms of its nutritional properties, it’s still a good source of protein. It also has decent levels of selenium and calcium, and is a good source of iodine and B vitamins. Certainly, you could do worse than to eat shrimp, but you need to make sure you source good quality varieties. This includes wild-caught shrimp from the cold, clear waters of the Pacific Northwest, and American farmed shrimp, which is raised surprisingly well. Look for packaging which promises sustainable harvesting.

Fish

Sardines, mackerel and anchovies

You’ve probably heard by now that cold-water, oily fish are good for you. This is doubly true for bottom-feeding fish like sardines, mackerel and anchovies. That’s because their small size means they’re less capable of bioaccumulating heavy metals like mercury. You’re much more likely to get heavy metal poisoning from large predatory fish like tuna or salmon than these little critters.

Aside from the fact that these fish are amongst the most sustainable species to eat, they’re also ridiculously nutritious. They contain very high concentrations of heart-healthy omega-3s, plenty of protein, lots of calcium, and plenty of other important vitamins and minerals. Once again, they run circles around the “bottom-feeder is bad” theory.

Cod and haddock

Cod and pollock are similar in that they are both lean, white, firm, wild-caught fish. Because they’re almost always wild-caught, their meat is generally clean and relatively contaminant free. On the other hand, because they’re lean fish, they’re relatively devoid of the nutrients found in fattier fish, such as those listed above. They are, however, a good clean source of protein and they do have reasonable levels of selenium and B-vitamins. And cod liver, as it happens, abounds with nutrition! As far as occasional meals go, they’re a good choice.

Keep in mind, however, that cod has a particularly nasty history of being overfished. For that reason, only choose cod which is guaranteed to have been caught sustainably.

Flounder and sole

Unfortunately, while tasty, these two species of bottom-feeding fish aren’t recommended. Due to their highly unsustainable fishing track record and the fact that the common Atlantic varieties tend to be contaminated with heavy metals, they should be avoided if possible.

Eel

The American eel, otherwise known as yellow eel or silver eel, is also generally one to avoid. American eel is often found in sushi in the U.S. and is generally very high in PCBs and mercury. Add to that the fact that American eel fisheries are poorly managed, and you’ve got a good reason to avoid these slippery characters.

Contributor: Liivi Hess – Alternative Daily

Wellness Trends Worth Taking into the New Year (and some that aren’t”)

Wellness Trends Worth Taking into the New Year (and some that aren't)

Trying to keep up with the flood of wellness trends last year was bewildering. Influencers promoted seemingly endless products and experiences under the banner of “wellness.” Some trends, like celery juicing, cold plunges and protein bars have been around for a few years now. But other trends that came across our radar in 2025 had more of an “old is new again” energy, like embracing full-fat dairy and cooking with beef tallow.

At NPR’s science desk, we did our best to pick apart what’s healthy and what’s hype. Here are seven of the trends NPR reported on, and what the data and experts had to say about them.

Trend: A return to full-fat dairy

For decades, public health messaging warned against high-fat dairy. But the argument against it is largely “circumstantial,” says Benoit LaMarche, a Canadian food scientist who headed up an evidence review of the relationship between dairy and heart disease risk, published in May.

The review concluded that generally speaking, fat-free, low-fat and full-fat dairy products had the same effects. Some studies have even shown the benefits of higher-fat over lower-fat dairy. For instance, one study that followed 18 adults for three weeks found drinking whole milk actually outperformed skim milk when it comes to raising HDL, or “good” cholesterol.

Moreover, experts are saying that worrying about the fat content in dairy is essentially a distraction from bigger dietary concerns like eating foods with too much salt, refined carbs and sugar.

The topic’s on the radar since Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. promised to end the “attack on whole milk, cheese and yogurt.” It’s also increasingly popular online among those participating in the TikTok-driven “cottage cheese comeback.”

Bottom line: Not the worst idea.

Trend: Wearing a weighted vest while taking your daily walk

Is striding around in an uncomfortably heavy vest a great workout that marries strengthening, weight loss, and cardio with fresh air and sunshine — or are wearers merely projecting a fitness-y image to their neighbors?

Weighted vests are often marketed to women in their 40s, looking to increase muscle and bone growth to mitigate the effects of decreasing estrogen. But the evidence that wearing them works for that is particularly scant.

One small study compared people walking with weighted vests with those who walked without them and found no significant difference in bone health. Another study did find some benefits for people who wore weighted vests while engaging in resistance workouts, but the study doesn’t make clear whether the vests or the exercises were the cause of healthy bone growth.

If you want a science-backed way to build muscle or replace bone density lost during perimenopause and menopause, experts like exercise scientist Lauren Colenso-Semple recommend resistance training.

Weighted vests may have some benefits for cardiovascular health, says Roger Fielding, who studies exercise science at Tufts University. Plus walking the same distance with more weight will burn more calories. (Just don’t expect us to do choreo, ok?!)

Bottom line: Won’t hurt but there are better ways to build muscle.

Trend: Scientifically tracking your blood sugar, even if you don’t have diabetes

Motivation is a tricky business for people looking to get leaner or eat healthier. The reward of fitting into a dress for a wedding that’s months away, or logging lower blood sugar at your next physical is uncertain and remote – but that rum cake will provide the jolt of satisfaction you crave right now. So could real-time data shift the calculus?

That’s the promise behind wearing a continuous glucose monitor, or CGM, a small device that sticks to the back of the arm. Every few minutes it sends a signal to your phone estimating the concentration of sugar in your blood. The tech has been a game-changer for some people with diabetes, providing a more user-friendly alternative to finger prick tests.

For people without diabetes, the theory is, a wearable glucose monitor can show you which snacks or meals make your blood sugar spike too high, and you can modify your diet accordingly.

According to the research, CGMs have helped some people lower their blood sugar or lose weight – others not so much.

There was a lot of personal variation in the results of two recent studies, says Collin Popp, a researcher at NYU Grossman School of Medicine who helped lead one of the studies. “We had individuals coming back and saying, ‘You changed my life. I lost 30 pounds and I feel great.’ Other people in the study put on weight,” he says.

If you try a CGM, you may want to take the data with a grain of salt. One recent study found that the same meal eaten on two different days gave very different readings. Another small study found that the continuous glucose monitor overestimated people’s blood sugar levels compared with measuring it in a blood test.

Bottom line: Continuous glucose monitors can be helpful, but take them with a grain of salt.

Trend: Drinking a bright blue dye

Here’s a weird one. Wellness influencers have been singing the praises of a synthetic dye that stains their tongues blue, and they claim it offers a host of benefits. Methylene blue dye is far from new. Formulated as a textile dye in the 19th century, it’s since been prescribed as a treatment for malaria, cyanide poisoning, and methemoglobinemia, a rare blood disorder.

Biohackers claim that methylene blue improves the function of the cells’ mitochondria, thereby slowing aging, improving mood and cognition, among other benefits.

Studies in rodents have shown methylene blue does improve mitochondrial function and reduce inflammation. But in preliminary human studies, the results haven’t shown significant benefit in healthy people, says Lorne Hofseth, a researcher at the University of South Carolina College of Pharmacy.

And there’s risks, including serotonin toxicity – a drug reaction that can cause elevated blood pressure, diarrhea, seizures, and even death. And like other supplements, methylene dye isn’t tested for safety before it goes to market. It can be hard to know what you’re really getting.

Bottom line: You’re probably turning your tongue blue for no reason.

Trend: More protein in everything … even your Oreos!

If you want protein on the go, you don’t have to look far. Grocery and convenience store shelves are lined with bars, cookies, brownies and other snack foods with “high protein” printed on the label.

But how do you suss out marketing from fact? It turns out there’s no particular metric manufacturers need to meet in order to advertise a product as “high protein.” For instance, a candy with 1 gram of protein may have a high-protein marketing claim on the front of the package, which admittedly is a lot more than most candy, says physiologist Stefan Pasiakos, but clearly doesn’t make it healthy.

One quick rule of thumb to assess protein claims is to check the percentage of the daily value of protein on the nutrition facts label on the package. Anything 20% or above can be seen as high protein, according to the FDA.

And even if they are high protein, packaged snacks can also be high in calories, sugar, or processed ingredients. You’ll do better to get protein from whole foods like yogurt or during meals, say nutritionists.

That being said, protein snacks can be a convenient way to reduce muscle soreness after a workout.

Bottom line: Junk food is still not a good choice, even with protein added

Trend: Beef fat is back, baby! For cooking (and skincare?!)

This March, Health Secretary Kennedy sat down at a fast food burger joint with Fox News host Sean Hannity, to talk about obesity and metabolic disease. The two were at a Steak N’ Shake in honor of the chain’s switch from vegetable oil to tallow, or rendered beef fat, to cook French fries.

Tallow was phased out of fast food chains decades ago, but Kennedy says it’s a healthier alternative to seed oils (aka vegetable oils), which he claimed in a post on X are “one of the driving forces of the obesity epidemic.”

So are fries cooked in beef tallow any healthier?

“People should eat fewer French fries, whatever they’re deep fried in,” says nutrition scientist Christopher Gardner. Beef tallow and other saturated fats can lead to clogged arteries and high blood pressure, he notes. And as a threat to health, seed oils have been unfairly villainized, says cardiologist. Dariush Mozaffarian, at Tufts University.

The real health villains in junk food are excessive amounts of refined grains, starches, and sugars, as well as salt and other preservatives, chemical additives, he says.

Meanwhile skincare products made from beef tallow are trending this year, too. It’s all part of a cultural moment where people are skeptical of synthetic ingredients, says Jennifer Reich, a sociologist at the University of Colorado Denver. As a sort of shortcut to healthier choices, Reich says people opt for things like beef tallow that seem natural because it ostensibly comes from a farm instead of an overseas factory supply chain. Yet for some users, they can make skin problems like acne worse.

Bottom line: Not so fast.

Trend: Creatine supplements are everything

Wellness influencer Bobby Parish declared creatine the “supplement of the year” for 2025 in a promotional TikTok post. It’s a compound made from three amino acids that your muscles use as a source of energy. Long a favorite of body-building gym bros, it’s another product that enthusiasts now credit with multiple benefits, including brain function and regulating blood sugar.

The evidence still isn’t strong for those two claims, but when it comes to adding lean muscle mass, the evidence for creatine supplements is “overwhelming,” says Jose Antonio, a professor of exercise and sports science at Nova Southeastern University in Florida. It can also help provide energy to keep at your workout longer.

But one big caveat here: Taking supplements isn’t enough to see strength gains – you actually have to get your butt to the gym and work out. A review of 35 studies found that when creatine supplements were combined with resistance training, adult men added around 2 to 3 pounds of lean body mass.

Contributor: Andrea Muraskin – NPR