Water is the new 'it' beverage.
You don't need to buy it from influencers, though! Plus other news in this week's headlines.
Welcome to 2025, Health Heroes!
We’re starting this year’s first newsletter with a bird's-eye view of the curious, intriguing, and sometimes disturbing health headlines that have already begun to trickle in.
Although you probably know the drill by now, I've created an easy system for sorting health news to de-mystify the headlines designed or inadvertently written to scare or mislead us about our well-being.
Is the content encouraging you to buy and try? Is it trying to empower, scare, or make you feel an emotion? Or is it educational? Or is it simply someone’s opinion? This matters because you may be unnecessarily persuaded to do something you wouldn’t have otherwise.
Get your wits about you before reading any health article. Start by putting them into perspective first before being persuaded.
With that in mind, let’s dive into this week’s news!
A CLOSER LOOK
I’ve covered several of these topics recently here at Health Shift. Here’s a closer look at them.
Remember when I said water was one of the best but least-sexy options for improving health? I take it back—apparently, water (and its electrolyte-balanced flavored cousins) is now the sexiest of all beverages. Sheesh - read this.
“Most recently, Call Her Daddy host Alex Cooper has announced that her Unwell Hydration beverages will be available exclusively at Target on January 1. “Women are often expected to juggle multiple roles and be everything to everyone, which is why I wanted to create a hydration drink that helps replenish what we give out,” she said in the press release, making the case that we can hydrate our way out of mental exhaustion, too. (The drink is being produced in partnership with Nestlé — a famously uncontroversial player in the hydration field.)”
Remember, gals — water comes out of the ground, a well, a lake, or a river before finally coming through our faucet. We don’t need to buy special water to become a female superhero. We need to drink clean water.
Speaking of brands marketing at you in the new year…
Elon Musk is thoroughly endorsing GLP-1s like Ozempic, referring to himself this year as ‘Ozempic Santa.’ This jarring, wholehearted show of support is another marketing technique of using celebrity endorsement, and it’s very powerful. But remember, this medication hasn’t been used for weight loss in this way until recently and hasn’t gone through long-term studies yet, which are very important in evaluating any medical treatment. We need to realize that side effects can appear many years after the initial consumption of a medication. What we don’t know is as important as what we do know. Although it’s promising that GLP-1 medications help significantly reduce weight in most people, is it right for a celebrity to endorse it? If someone tries Ozempic because of Elon, it’s on him if things go awry. (Read my Ozempic coverage here.)
This feels like a good time to remind everyone that you don’t have to buy your way to better health. Whatever the new year brings, know that the best thing you can do for your health is take charge of it!
Do your homework. Understand your health philosophy. Get information from credible sources! And, when May 13 comes out, buy my book, Health Shift: Your Personalized Guide to Making Strategic Health Decisions, which helps you do just that!
I wrote the following article to help you see that your health is for sale and how you should remove it from the market. And keep reading this post—I have more of the latest health news.
THE LATEST NEWS IN HEALTH…
The latest health information articles contain opinions. They also provide awareness, perspective, education, and useful information. Be informed first, so you don’t get persuaded.
What do we really know about egg donations? This is an interesting (and frankly rather disturbing) look at the world of egg donations. Ladies, have you ever considered this? I would love to hear your perspectives.
There’s a new cooking oil on the market. Enter algae oil! (Perhaps poised to replace seed oils…?) My daughter is a chef, and she’s been sharing her opinion on the culinary quality of algae oil. It seems to be a hit.
Children are suffering from kidney stones at a much higher rate than ever. Experts in this article claim everything from higher sodium intake to dehydration due to climate change is the culprit… reminding us to read these articles with a grain of salt (pun intended!), taking in the information without rushing to panic or draw hasty conclusions.
THINK LIKE A HEALTH HERO
Empowering and educating topics.
Suffering from post-holiday indigestion? This post has you covered! (A lot of these things link back to — you guessed it — the Core 4!)
Herbs and liver health have been hot topics lately in medicine. Recently, inflammatory headlines linking common herbal supplements to liver toxicity have had companies scrambling to clarify the science. If you’re into the drama and science of herbal supplements, this is an interesting read this week.
Why do we like spicy food so much, and where does that craving come from? In these cold winter months, we often find ourselves reaching for the warmth of the chili pepper… and our bodies really do crave it!
All right, that’s all for today, everyone. Happy New Year!
And don’t forget: amid all the noise about resolutions, fresh starts, and ‘new year, new you,’ take a second to remind yourself of the unsexy but inspiring truth that you don’t need trending products or promising miracle ingredients to improve your health. Enhance the Core 4: You need clean water, good sleep, nutritious food, and lots of good movement. Isn’t this approach simply beautiful?
See you next week,
Dr. Alice
A little more about Dr. Alice Burron and The Health Navigator Group:
You can find more about The Health Navigator Group at our website: www.thehealthnavigator.org
On Instagram: @the.health.navigator
Learn more about Dr. Alice Burron at her website: draliceburron.com
View her personal Instagram: @dr_burron
And connect on LinkedIn, if you want to be professional about it. 👓
And if you’re not subscribed to Health Shift here on Substack, what are ya doing? It’s free, and packed full of useful tools to help you on your journey to better, faster healing.