5HT: 5 Healthyish Things, including blood cleaning and my morning routine

A growing health trend I’ve been eyeing lately is blood cleaning 🩸, aka therapeutic plasma exchange (TPE). 

Plasma—the liquid part of your blood that comes with hormones and antibodies—also carries some unwanted stuff like microplastics, inflammatory proteins, and potentially even some toxins 😬. TPE removes that plasma and replaces it with a clean solution (usually saline or albumin), then returns your blood cells to circulation. Think of it like an oil change—but for your body 👍. 

A growing number of companies are now offering TPE. One company here in Austin, called Proxima Health, combines TPE with diagnostics and longevity coaching. Another company, Circulate Health, just raised $12M, indicating VCs are interested in the trend. 

Circulate also recently published a study showing TPE (especially when combined with something called IVIG) significantly reversed biological age markers across 15 epigenetic clocks (basically high-tech ways to estimate how “old” your body really is) 🧬. If that holds up, that’s wild!

The science is still early, and the price tag is steep—$8-10K per treatment, not covered by insurance. But I could see a world where this eventually becomes as routine as an annual blood test. (Function x Circulate collab, anyone?) I haven’t tried it (yet 😅), but the idea of a full-body reset is tempting.

Now, this isn’t the same thing as the more headline-grabbing (and controversial) blood swapping, made famous by Bryan Johnson when he traded plasma with his teenage son. That’s a whole different thing—more experimental and inspired by parabiosis studies, where scientists literally connected old and young mice to share blood. Crazy, I know—but the results did show older mice lived 6-9% longer. 

Overall, this whole area is fascinating to me (though maybe a little Frankenstein-y 😬), and one I’ll keep watching. Curious what 5HT readers think. If cost and access weren’t an issue…

As you know, this newsletter is mostly dedicated to covering David protein bars. 

They’re a little bit controversial, but there’s no way to argue against their macros (28g protein, 150 calories). To hammer this point home—and continue to embrace controversy—they’re now selling Wild-Caught Pacific cod 🤔. Like the literal fish, flash frozen. And this isn’t a prank; you can buy them (and, of course, I have).

I frankly just love the audacity and what a PR play to show how difficult it is to get a nutritional profile similar to their bars.

Also, whenever I hear about cod, it’s hard for me not to remember how much cod Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson used to eat. (Spoiler alert: A LOT.)

Yes, I’m one of those people who wakes up at 5am. 😅

But I fully get that it's not for everyone, and don’t believe it’s “the secret to success.” It just works for me, personally 🤷. Getting up hours before my wife and kids also gives me some me-time in the morning before I connect with the fam. 

As I continue to share my healthyish protocols, here’s what my mornings usually look like:

What’s in your morning routine that I should add to mine? Hit reply with your rec. 📩

For the last three months, I’ve been testing holi (mane)—a hair/skin/nails supplement from Agent Nateur that’s heavy on ✨vibes✨ and even heavier on price.

It’s a powder you scoop into your bev or food of choice (I’ve been adding it to my smoothie) and is designed to support longer hair, brighter skin, and stronger nails. The two headline ingredients: Marine collagen and pearl powder. Sounds cool, right? I thought so—cool enough to drop $99 on this Vogue-backed product 😂. I just figured I needed to take something for this stuff since everyone else is…

Anyway, let’s break down these two headliners: 

Buuut as interesting as that sounds, after three months, I’m not convinced 😕. I’ve been on a mission to simplify my supplement stack, and this one ultimately didn’t make the cut 😬. I wasn’t quite seeing/feeling results, and I didn’t really enjoy supplementing with it (its super fine particles kind of got everywhere), plus ultimately couldn’t justify the heavy price tag. Sorry, holi (mane)! 🤷

I have a lot of experience with PT, including having a reallyyy tough time finding one I could trust. 

Years ago, when I first hurt my back, I went to a PT that was basically a sad little room inside a doctor’s office ☹️, and it took about three seconds for me to realize I wasn’t coming back. Unfortunately, that was a huge mistake. I spent years trying to fix what could have been resolved then, all because that first experience gave me the ick. (Am I using this right?)

Eventually, I tried again. This time, I went to three different providers before finding one I felt okay sticking with. But once I did, it made a genuinely huge difference. My back went from “Don’t even think about bending over” to “Yeah, okay, I can do this.” 😆

When you stick with it, PT is pretty amazing—especially if you struggle with any MSK (or musculoskeletal, think back, knee, neck) issues. And given that most of us sit hunched over a desk all day with pretty questionable posture 🤨, it’s becoming even more essential. Unfortunately, finding the right PT is tough. Along my journey, I’ve found some to be too sterile. Some, too woo. Some, too impersonal. And that’s why I’m so glad Myo is doing things differently and offering a more modern take on physical therapy. Finally. 

Myo’s approach to movement care is designed to help you better understand your body so you can improve how you move. Each 1-1 session with an expert clinician is meant to help you boost your body IQ. No machines. No assistants. It’s how PT should be, and I’m so excited about what they’re building. 

I've also known Scott (Myo’s founder) for a long time. He has an amazing vision, has built an experience people love, and it’s no wonder it’s growing. They just opened their newest location in New York City, adding to their clinics in Vancouver, Los Angeles, Calgary, and Toronto. Annnd, if you’re in NYC or LA, they’re offering 50% off your first session—exclusively for 5HT readers 🌟. So cool.

My advice? Don’t let years go by before you do PT…because life is too short to have a bad back. 🫠

👋 Who are you again? I’m Derek Flanzraich—founder of two venture-backed startups in Greatist (👍) and Ness (👎). I’ve worked with brands like GoodRx, Parsley, Midi, Ro, NOCD, and Peloton. I now run Healthyish Content, a premium health content & SEO agency (among other things).

Every Thursday, I share 5 health things I feel strongly about so you can live healthyish. (Disclaimer: I’m more your friend with health benefits. None of this is medical advice.) 

And oh, you also feel strongly about some health things? Hit reply—I’d love to hear it.