very interesting tool for comparing by country and by time

Ultra-processed foods and human health: the main thesis and the evidence This first paper in a three-part Lancet Series combines narrative and systematic reviews with original analyses and meta-analyses to assess three hypotheses concerning a dietary pattern based on ultra...

Another article getting a lot of attention in our newsletter last week was this excellent review, by @carlos-monteiro.bsky.social and colleagues, on the scientific evidence related to ultraprocessed foods: www.thelancet.com/journals/lan...

The Measure of Everything Medicine has a word for what ails it. It's not burnout.

One of the popular items from our newsletter last week was this piece, from Bryan Vartabedian, relating Julian Baggini's concept of instrumentalization to his own experience in health care:
liminalmd.substack.com/p/the-measur...

Maybe doing things for health’s sake actually takes us off track. For our latest newsletter, we explore philosopher Julian Baggini’s essay on how so much today is seen through the lens of what benefits it will bring, rather than for its intrinsic value.
mailchi.mp/ff7f57a63af0...

Optimizing Ourselves to Death Perfectionism makes you fragile—here's a better way

Loved this by @bradstulberg.bsky.social critiquing our optimization culture: bradstulberg.substack.com/p/optimizing.... Yet I also noticed the soaring valuations (& popularity if not ubiquity) of wearables like WHOOP & Oura; I will be trying low-end Whoop (again) myself soon. How to square all this?

6 in 10 women will develop heart disease or stroke by 2050, heart association projects “We're just setting up a generation of people to move through life, having their cardiovascular events earlier and more severe."

Projection doesn't factor in GLP-1s, so likely a high estimate, but even so -- unconscionably high. We have to do better.

www.statnews.com/2026/02/25/h...

RFK Jr. created an uproar when he went after New England favorite Dunkin’, questioning whether their sugary frozen coffee drinks are safe. In our latest newsletter we look into the thorny questions that revolve around concepts of ingredient safety and health -- and more mailchi.mp/274d724fd9a7...

Freedom With a Side of Guilt: How Food Delivery Is Reshaping Mealtime

We also featured this piece, from Priya Krishna in @nytimes.com, on the massive influence that food delivery is having on the way we eat, in Monday's newsletter: www.nytimes.com/2026/01/30/d...

How America Got So Sick The health of a nation reflects the health of a democracy.

Also popular in Monday's newsletter was this essay, by Van Newkirk in @theatlantic.com, on the root causes of so many of our health problems in the US.
www.theatlantic.com/magazine/202...

Want to walk more without trying? Move here Researchers found that walkable city design—not personal motivation—was the key factor behind people taking 1,100 more steps per day

The most popular story from yesterday's newsletter was this report, from Eve Lu in @sciam.bsky.social on the role of a city's walkability in, well, getting people to walk more.

www.scientificamerican.com/article/movi...

Remember when we thought all it would take to fix society’s problems was a little nudge, here and there? For our latest newsletter, we look at the critique, from Loewenstein & Chater, that nudges shift the focus from the systemic forces that sustain the problems. mailchi.mp/733f27018448...

thanks!

This would suggest an opportunity for more varied form factors -- i.e. 1 or 2-passenger vehicles, to go along with more traditional 4-5 passenger vehicles for groups. Any sense of the distribution of passengers per trip for Waymo now?

Trends and Disparities of US Adult Obesity Prevalence This study uses measured body mass index (BMI) data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey and bias-corrected BMI values calculated from self-reported height and weight data from th...

New paper projects that US obesity will increase from 42.5% to 46.9% by 2035.

I'm betting against it. By 2035, I think obesity rates will be lower than they are today.

Drugs, obviously.
jamanetwork.com/journals/jam...

The approach of identifying problematic design features is significant (vs. blanket bans by age, for example)

For our latest newsletter, we look at the new Dietary Guidelines for America — what people are saying about it and what it means in the context of a food system dominated by ultraprocessed foods. And more… mailchi.mp/44fb99628b19...

unconscionable

powerful and clear from @marionnestle.bsky.social:

"If the government leaves it to you to 'do your own research' and fight the food system on your own, it is saying it has no responsibility for creating a food environment that can help you eat and enjoy real food.

It’s all on you."

Read about @thgoetz.bsky.social‘s excellent new podcast in the latest @buildingh.bsky.social newsletter and, better yet, listen to the first episode at drugstory.co

The wellness wild west is back on its bullshit with unapproved weight loss drugs I bought an unapproved, experimental drug in five minutes on TikTok.

In this week’s Optimizer, I buy an experimental “GLP-3” drug off the gray market after five minutes on TikTok.

The Wellness Wild West is unregulated and people are turning themselves into guinea pigs with unapproved weight loss drugs.

www.theverge.com/column/84640...

It’s Time to Save Silicon Valley From Itself Big Tech has lost its way. At WIRED’s Big Interview event, Techdirt editor Mike Masnick and Common Tools CEO Alex Komoroske announced a manifesto designed to help the industry get back on track.

www.wired.com/story/big-in...

The Food System Is Broken. The Narratives About It Don’t Have to Be. Why separating real structural problems from fear-based misinformation is essential for improving health in America.

This is good.

open.substack.com/pub/drjessic...

I got a sneak peek at this series and it is … so good!

Anyone want to buy a car that drives itself? No longer vaporware, but not ready for personal ownership.

Here we go: www.theverge.com/transportati...

🤦🏻‍♂️

Tx for flagging, @thgoetz.bsky.social -what a well-done visual feature, kudos @alicecallahan.bsky.social & team. The impact of a changing food environment is also key theme of important book by nutrition scientist @kevinh-phd.bsky.social & @juliabelluz.bsky.social timmermanreport.com/2025/10/food...

How America Got Hooked on Ultraprocessed Foods (Gift Article) They promised convenience and cheap nutrition. But they became one of the greatest health threats of our time.

With the news on ultraprocessed foods this week, it's worth going back to this excellent explainer, from @alicecallahan.bsky.social, on how we got to where we are today: www.nytimes.com/interactive/...

Report Finds That Leading Chatbots Are a Disaster for Teens Facing Mental Health Struggles A report found that leading chatbots are "fundamentally unsafe" for teens looking for mental health support, and failed to catch red flags.

NEW: A risk assessment found that leading general-use chatbots — ChatGPT, Gemini, Meta AI, and Claude — are "fundamentally unsafe" for teen mental health support, failing to catch important red flags and responding inappropriately to users exhibiting signs of crisis.

futurism.com/artificial-i...

Kudos to funders @neenap.bsky.social and @bloombergdotorg.bsky.social and all of the contributors for the moral clarity of this work.

Towards unified global action on ultra-processed foods: understanding commercial determinants, countering corporate power, and mobilising a public health response The rise of ultra-processed foods (UPFs) in human diets is harming global public health. However, policy responses are still emerging—much like tobacco control efforts decades ago—indicating the need ...

3rd of 3: www.thelancet.com/journals/lan...