5HT: 5 Healthyish Things, including the freedom to disagree and food in Europe

Did someone forward this to you? Join 95,000 readers finding their next health hack. Come hang→

My impressive friend Brendan McCord of Cosmos recently wrote about how societies thrive when they preserve space for experimentation. He argues disagreement keeps us dynamic—and strong social bonds keep dynamism from tearing us apart. His framing was about American democracy, but IMO it applies just as perfectly to health. To me, the freedom to disagree is the most important lever we have in shaping the future of health. 

Online discourse around health too often develops into “the one right answer.” Seed oils: bad 👎. Beef tallow: good 👍. GLP-1s: miracle 🌟. But in reality, what works for one person may not work for another. And what works for you today may not work a decade from now.

The real opportunity in advancing health isn’t getting everyone to converge on the same diet or fitness protocol. It’s keeping everyone’s agency intact while staying open to differing perspectives. Because sometimes it’s actually in pushback that we discover what works—or that the secret to our wellbeing was Icelandic Skyr all along 😆. 

AI and next-gen health tech can really shine here. However, we need to be careful to see AI as too much of an “oracle,” telling us the answer while prescribing the "right" diet or the "right" workout. That framing traps us into pretending there’s one universal answer which, of course, there never really is. 

This is why we should look to AI more as a partner than a preacher. A partner that synthesizes your lab results, wearable data, and preferences—not to command you what to do… but to reveal new possibilities and help navigate trade-offs.

Think of it less like GPS and more like, IDK, AllTrails—showing you multiple routes in the same park. You can choose the scenic loop, the steep climb, or the path with lots of water stops. AI can run simulations, highlight risks, flag new research, and give you feedback along the way. But the choice—the agency—remains yours. Use tech to multiply your individuality, not flatten it. 

At its core, Healthyish has always been about this: protecting the freedom for each community and individual to experiment with what works best for them. Because there is no single right answer in health, only your answer. 

Of course, feel free to disagree with me on all this. 🙃

So I was at ACL this past weekend (I know, I’m not a regular health newsletter writer, I’m a cool health newsletter writer 😎). And I drank a lottt of Liquid Death while there. Now, I have to admit that, when I first wrote about the edgy water last summer, I was a bit, err, negative. 

My argument back then was it’s just canned water… with a skull and gothic font. But honestly? I get it after this weekend. Their core brand insight is simple, but genius. When you’re at a concert, you naturally want to have a drink in your hand. Buuut if you don’t want alcohol, there’s this fear of looking lame drinking water. I genuinely felt way cooler sporting my can of Liquid Death than I would with a Dasani. 

I also think its success is part of a general movement toward hydration. I mean, Stanley has started an emotional support water bottle trend (I use a YETI because it’s Austin-based, okay?) and brands like Dagne Dover are literally selling bags designed to hold your water bottle. Electrolytes are also having a moment—Liquid IV and Electrolit were in full force at ACL, too (shouts as always to my fave LMNT). And when I was telling one of our Healthyish writers about my weekend, they told me their friend, an on-demand IV-nurse, had recently been sent to a festival—and had a line of 200+ people wanting in on that drip.💧

Needless to say, I’m willing to admit I dismissed Liquid Death too soon, and now I’m into it.  

Okay, this one’s for the 5HT+ Slack channel who voted for this topic!

I spent nearly two months in Europe this summer with my family and ate all the pasta and pastries. We found one spaghetti + pistachio + olive oil dish in Amsterdam I still dream of 🤤. So it was a major surprise when I got home and found I’d actually lost five pounds. 

Sure, I was working out and on the last of my GLP-1s, but with all the indulgences I allowed myself, I was sure I must have gained weight. Yet here we are 🤷. Food quality is almost certainly part of it (whichhhh I’ll save for part II in a future edition), but there’s also a different experience around food I think played a major role. 

For starters—portion sizes. I live in Texas, where everything’s bigger 😂, including the portions. In Europe, portions are more reasonable, and people spend more time eating them. Walk around most European cities at lunchtime, and no one looks like they’re racing back to a 1 p.m. conference call. They’re sipping wine 🍷, talking, taking their time—making eating about pleasure, not productivity. Way better than a sad desk lunch 🥗 while scrolling Slack, if you ask me.

And this pace extends beyond lunch. Dinners start later, stretch longer, and rarely come with a 90-minute limit. Seriously, what’s up with that? Those limits may turn tables faster, but they’re not great for socialization—much less digestion 🙄. In Europe, lingering is expected. That slower rhythm likely reduces stress, which changes how your brain perceives taste (hello, mindful eating).

All of this creates a completely different rhythm of eating. When meals are satisfying, social, and unhurried, there’s less grazing between them. It’s not that snacks don’t exist in Europe—it’s just that people don’t need to reach for something every few hours. (Though their snack economy does appear to be growing.)

You’re also probably eating outdoors (hello, vitamin D), and walking back home or to the office instead of to the parking lot. Growing research shows walking after a meal can dramatically improve metabolic health—and can even be effective for weight loss. 

It all adds up. Or, in my case, the opposite!

This past weekend I was playing around with Sora and gave it the following prompt: 

👉 A whimsical sequence showing @derekflanzraich opening a notebook labeled “5HT,” and scenes from my newsletter topics emerge — tennis, GLP-1 molecules, sunlight, protein bars, and dumbbells, Rice Krispy treats—make them graphical, not realistic/photography, and make it seem like these are all being generated from the notebook and from my mind.

The result is totally worth a watch, IMO. 😂 (And the linked editions above are totally worth catching up on if you missed ‘em!)

Annnd if you want more (I don’t blame you), this one has me leading a K-pop band and singing and dancing about being healthyish. 😂😂

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

👋 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.