The Weird Things We Do

A strange concoction I drink every morning for "health."

A long time ago, I remember reading that an experimental author whose work I admired used to pop a few garlic cloves every day as if they were pills, not because of anything he’d read specifically about garlic’s purported benefits, but because he thought it felt healthy. (That author has now gotten into leeching.)

I’ve held onto that idea, oddly, because to some extent we all do strange shit in the name of health that’s not grounded in information anyone else would find compelling. That fracture is something I’ve become attuned to when talking to some very smart people about their daily habits for this newsletter: we can validate our practices any number of ways—through studies, through friends, through TikTok—but it almost doesn’t matter. Even placebos can be powerful. We do what we do because it makes us feel like we’re in control of something, and often that’s more than enough.

So, one of the weirder things I’ve been doing every morning is chugging down a flight of beverages to wash down my supplements.

I call the first big one my Weird Drink.

I basically throw everything into a cup of room temp filtered water and give it a few whirrs with a milk frother; the resulting shade of brown is somewhere between the oil-slicked sheen of a rain puddle and the blood-crusted floor of a murder scene. I plug my nose and guzzle it all down in half a second.

And honestly, it doesn’t taste all that bad, but it is definitely a mishmash of flavors that don’t really belong together.

After gulping down the Weird Drink, I refill the cup with more water to capture whatever powdery bits I didn’t get to drink down. And then I’ll make one more glass of Magna for the electrolytes, as I’m prone to cramping, and magnesium helps with that. (I’m pretty fond of the watermelon lime flavor. Use code HEAVIES22 for 15% off :P.)

Here’s a quick snapshot of what goes into the Weird Drink:

1 - Beetroot powder, which I get from Middle East and Indian Spice Shop in Brooklyn, not far from the crib. Online, beetroot supplements can go for $60 for a little tub, but a bag from the local shop will run about $8 and last for half a year. Beetroot aids nitric oxide production, which helps with blood flow and muscle recovery and is often used to lower blood pressure. (My family has a history of high blood pressure; Filipino.) But I was drawn to beetroot powder for more superficial reasons: I had read on bodybuilding Reddit that beetroot can help improve vascularity, especially after lifting, and I wanted the pump.

Beetroot is having something of a moment too. Dr. Rhonda Patrick recently talked about it on her podcast, espousing not just beetroots recovery benefits but also how it helps boost cognition and decision making: all that blood to the brain.

2 - Green powder, which I buy online or at Happier Grocery. The brand often changes—I try to spend around $30—but I try to stay away from any artificial sweeteners. Mostly I’m looking for pre- and probiotics for gut health. I see green powder not as a replacement for eating veggies but as insurance in the event that I don’t.

3 - Collagen powder, which I currently get from Momentous ($40 w/ a subscription). It’s clean, flavor-less, and dissolves relatively easily compared to other brands I’ve tried. As we’ve discussed before, collagen helps with skin elasticity, joint and tissue repair, cell signaling, and more. But it isn’t a 1-to-1 fix; the collagen doesn’t go directly to your knees or whatever. When you digest collagen, your stomach breaks the proteins into its contingent parts. It’s more like you’re presenting your body with a menu of aminos with which to repair itself.

4 - A small scoop of creatine, around 5g. The brand I use is Bulk Supplements ($20). (There are a ton of good brands out there. Just stick with monohydrate powder and avoid creatine pills, which can have added caffeine and other stuff you don’t really need.) Creatine is the most-studied supplement out there and helps supercharge your cells so that you can work out harder and recover quicker.

In fact, a promising study out of India recently found that creatine isn’t just useful for your muscles. It’s good for your brain, too, and might be helpful for treating depression without the aid of antidepressants. Vox has a great write-up on that.

5 - The little blue drop is Blue Burn from Apothekary, which is a metabolism booster. I use it for a little burst of energy before hitting the gym.

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Okay phew. Does my Weird Drink actually work? I mean, hopefully? I do know that when I’m traveling and can’t take it in the morning, I do feel noticeably shittier, sluggish and more prone to tummy issues. If it makes me feel good and I find it tolerable, then why not?

Anyway, I’d love to hear what weird things you guys (non-gendered term) all do. Sound off in the comments.

Other stuff:

• My ankle is about 80% better and my physical therapist Josh Park at MOCEAN gave me a stack of these infrared healing patches, which have been amazing. When you stick them on you can feel the warmth. I plan on writing about the benefits of infrared and red light soon. Stay tuned.

• Not health related, but over at SSENSE,

  Matthew Schnipper
  profiled the reclusive Cameron Winter, whose album Heavy Metal has been on repeat for the last few months.

• Also for SSENSE: I also profiled the New York-based artist Leon Xu, whose work I’ve long admired. I love art that raises questions about reality and how mutable it can feel.

• Hat tip to

  Snaxshot
  : Monster Energy is looking for a brand director of Health & Wellness. Is this the most HEAVIES job post in human history?

Thanks as always for reading HEAVIES. Appreciate you all.