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Happy Thanksgiving! Week after week, I get to come back here and gush about the healthyish things I feel strongly about thanks to you, my regular 5HT readers. I love writing this, and I only get to write it because you’re here to read it. So thank you. Truly.

And if there’s anything you especially want me to cover in a future edition, hit reply and let me know. (I read and respond to every email!)

#1 My holiday stress-busting protocol

As much as I love the holidays, they're not without stress. In fact, nearly nine in 10 U.S. adults (!) say something causes them stress during the holiday season. Yikes. 😬

Feeling stressed is never fun, but after all my 5HT-related research, I also know too much stress can mess with way more than your mood—think neuroinflammation, disrupted sleep, and gut issues. Also not fun.

Some holiday stress is inevitable, but some of it is totally preventable. Whenever I feel my inner Grinch starting to peek out, these are the small interventions I use to keep my cool:

  • ❄︎ Book another AustinDeep massage

  • ❄︎ Go to bed earlier than the night before 

  • ❄︎ Schedule my next rock climbing session

  • ❄︎ Do a coffee run… annnd linger a bit longer

  • ❄︎ Give my kiddos 20 minutes of undivided play time

  • ❄︎ Increase my daily meditation from 10 ➡️15 minutes

  • ❄︎ Go for a walk around the block and listen to my fave podcast

  • ❄︎ Plan a future trip or tiny adventure (anticipation = mood boost)

  • ❄︎ Give myself a break for eating too many gingerbread cookies 🤭

  • ❄︎ Get to inbox zero (never easier than during the holidays!)

  • ❄︎ Rewatch a comfort show episode with my wife ❤️

  • ❄︎ Say “no” to an upcoming social commitment

  • ❄︎ Call a friend and wish him goodnight 😆

  • ❄︎ Drink ginger turmeric tea with honey

Annnd when all else fails, I repeat this mantra: 

#2 Brain fog

You know that feeling when you zone out mid-sentence 😵‍💫, walk into a room and can’t remember why, lose your keys (again 😓), or feel like your brain is moving through thick molasses? That’s called “brain fog.”

Brain fog isn’t just a buzzy term—it’s a real, common experience. It looks different for everyone, but usually shows up as some mix of mental symptoms like forgetfulness, slower processing, fatigue, and trouble concentrating. For me, it often feels like getting easily distracted on a call or looking for reasons not to do the #1 thing on my to do list. 

Lifting that haze is actually one of the main reasons I wanted to launch my upcoming CPG brand, Fixie Dust (coming 2026!). It’s basically a Pixy Stick with a nootropic blend designed to sharpen focus and clear mental fog. (Btw, if you want to follow along, I’m sharing the entire build-in-public journey on LinkedIn.)

Based on my research, brain fog has many potential culprits: Stress, poor sleep, depression, anxiety, ADHD, pregnancy, postpartum, perimenopause, menopause, autoimmune conditions, nutrient deficiencies, diet, chemotherapy, and post-viral issues like COVID-19. It’s a long list! 

The best way to deal with it is to understand what’s driving it. Once you figure that out, there are a few levers you can pull to fight it off naturally. Here’s what I personally do:

  • 😴 Prioritize sleep. If you’ve been here for a while, you know this is my weak spot—but I’m (slowly) getting closer to eight hours a night.

  • 🏃‍♂️ Move my body. Movement is basically fuel for your brain. I weight train three times a week, rock climb once a week, play tennis with my wife once a week, and do 1–2 short, low-impact VersaClimber sessions (catch it on rare sale below!).

  • 🧠 Workout my brain. Gotta work the brain too! I loveee playing games like Bracket City and Raddle to dust off the haze. Oh—and two-person board games with my wife. FWIW, the Fixie Dust blog has a bunch of great resources related to this (like this guide of 47 free/relatively cheap mental exercises).

  • 💊 Support my gut. Yes, the gut-brain axis is real. My fave go-tos for this are Seed Health’s Daily Synbiotic, Supergut GLP-1 Booster, and Bryan Johnson’s Snake Oil (to boost nutrient absorption). 

  • 🐟 Eat a healthy diet. For me, that means an anti-inflammatory approach, which I break down in my Special Report on inflammation.

  • 🧘 Manage stress. See the holiday stress-busters above—I use many of them year-round.

Annnnd hopefully soon Fixie Dust will be part of this list. 🥹🥹

#3 Healthyish Black Friday Dealzzz

This week, it’s officially cheaper to get healthyish. I know you’re getting ALL the emails, but I went through every product in my personal protocol and pulled the best Black Friday deals on stuff I actually, regularly use and recommend. Snag ’em for yourself or someone you love. And don’t worry—I’ve got a li’l Healthyish gift guide coming soon. (Consider this the warm-up.) 🙃

For upgrading your supplement stack 

For a healthier skincare routine

For training at home  

For soothing your recovery 

For better sleep and less stress

For tracking your health 

For more productive workdays

For reducing microplastics

Also! Some of these are Amazon affiliate links, but they’ve paid me $119.06 this year, so trust me when I tell you, there’s not much in it for me other than an honest rec. 😅

#4 Lightwork Home Health, part I

I recently signed up for Lightwork’s home health assessment. Basically, they test your home for environmental toxins—from air quality to water quality to lighting—and give you personalized fixes to optimize your space. 

Now, full transparency: We did the assessment a couple of weeks ago and, uh, we haven’t really had time to make many changes yet 🫣. So consider this part one—I’ll report back on what we implemented to fix these things and how, if anything, things have changed. 

Here was their rundown:

  • ⚡ EMFs. This was the biggest flag. Both of my daughters’ rooms and my wife’s office showed significantly elevated AC electric fields (!!), likely due to the wall wiring. Anything above 2,000 mV is considered “very unhealthy 🚩—and these rooms ranged from 2,600 mV to 7,800 mV. 

  • 💧 Water quality. Our drinking water is solid (we use Mountain Valley Spring water). Buuut our bathing water contains elevated levels of THMs (absorbed through skin and breathing) and was tagged as “unhealthy.” Erp.

  • 💨 Air quality. Overall, our air quality is okay—no gas leaks or carbon monoxide detected. But “particulate matter” could be improved in a few spots, especially our master bedroom, Isla’s room, and my office.

  • 💡 Lighting. We’ve got some work to do here. The assessment found elevated flicker and blue light levels, plus several bulbs they suggest replacing—or at least avoiding at night.

Though I was relieved nothing was craaaazy wrong, there’s more than enough to do here to make a difference. And, best of all, they shared very specific recommendations and have been walking me through every change. (Think: which lightbulbs to purchase, where to place another air purifier, what options to consider for the water, etc.) 

I’m excited to make these shifts. And I think—though the price is high for now—that services like Lightwork are going to be a biiig and popular space moving forward. Very excited for Jay, Dom, Johnny, & team—go get ‘em. 💪

Oh—and I can tell you the one change I’ve already made: I moved our Alexa off the nightstand in the master bedroom—turns out it was way too close to our heads—and put it across the room. “Alexa, play Sorry by Justin Bieber.”

#5 Sword yoga

Is it just me, or has yoga embraced every novelty under the sun? Some I can get behind, but others, er, not so much. Puppy yoga? Adorable. Goat yoga? Okay sure. Paddleboard yoga? Fun! Sword yoga ⚔️? That’s cutting it too close for me. 😅

⚡ Neural signals

Okay, you now know what I’m curious about—but here’s what everyone else is Googling, according to a few trusty platforms.

  • 1️⃣ TheraFace. This skincare device combines LED light therapy, microcurrent, facial massage, and cleansing…and it’s on Therabody’s Black Friday sale!

  • 2️⃣ Shilajit gummies. Shilajit has a long history in Ayurvedic medicine and a growing list of potential benefits—and the gummy version is having a moment.

  • 3️⃣ Dog dental powder. From what I can find, this brand is getting some traction on helping dog oral care. IDK if we should get this for our pup, King Arthur! 🐕

  • 4️⃣ Streetlifting. Basically weighted calisthenics. Not new, but definitely blowing up—some people are even asking if it’s the new CrossFit. 

  • 5️⃣ Perimenopause books. Two titles regularly recommended are The Menopause Manifesto and The Menopause Brain (both cover perimenopause too). If you don’t have time for a whole book, check out this blog post from our friends at Midi.

🍿 Brain snacks

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👋 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.

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