Happy Wednesday! Let’s get into this week’s snapshot of the latest wellness-tech highlights. 📸

In this week’s newsletter:

• 🧊 Alpine Ice Hack Diet: Weight-loss breakthrough or myth?

• 🛫 Flash Pack raises $6.2M to fight loneliness with travel

• 📱 Digital Detox: iPhone and Android's hidden wellness settings

• 🏀 NBA's Secret Weapon: AI-powered lifting tech

• 🧬 Health Hack of the Week: Methylation mastery

• 💊 The Supplement Boom: Cutting-edge updates

🧑‍💻 The Wellness-Tech Roundup

The Alpine Ice Hack Diet: Weight Loss Fact or Fiction? 🤨

In a recent surge of social media attention, the Alpine Ice Hack diet, which promotes a supplement claiming to help lose belly fat by raising internal body temperature, has gone viral.

However, nutrition experts and medical professionals are skeptical.

Despite the buzz and alluring promises of easy weight loss without diet or exercise, experts warn that the so-called ice hack diet lacks scientific evidence, could potentially interact with medications, and utilizes ingredients with dubious safety profiles.

They urge individuals to consult healthcare providers before trying such supplements and to rely on more established methods of weight management.

Key Takeaway: Experts caution against the Alpine Ice Hack diet, emphasizing the absence of scientific validation and potential health risks, and advocate for established, holistic approaches to weight management. 🧑‍⚕️🧊

Flash Pack – Revolutionizing Solo Travel to Cure Loneliness ✈️

Flash Pack, a group-based travel company for individuals in their 30s and 40s, has raised $6.2 million in a bid to combat loneliness and foster friendships through boutique travel experiences.

With a focus on creating meaningful human connections rather than just itineraries, Flash Pack offers unique travel experiences for solo travelers. 

This recent funding will enhance Flash Pack's platform and expand its workforce.

Despite a setback three years ago resulting in bankruptcy, the company has made a remarkable comeback under the leadership of new CEO Radha Vyas.

Key Takeaway: Flash Pack offers a unique opportunity for like-minded adults to make meaningful connections through adventures, from glamping in the Serengeti to yoga in Bali, contributing to their overall health and wellness. 🌱🧳

iPhone and Android's Wellness Settings to Help Limit Your Screen Time 📲

Are you using the digital well-being features available on your Apple or Android device? If not, you’re gonna want to check out this guide.

It provides step-by-step instructions on setting app timers, scheduling downtime, and establishing bedtime routines to help users curb excessive screen time.

As screen time is linked to various health risks, these built-in tools aim to promote healthier digital habits, offering a breather from the relentless pull of notifications and doomscrolling.

Key Takeaway: Both Apple and Android devices offer robust digital well-being settings that can empower users to take control of their screen time, helping you build a more balanced digital lifestyle. 😌🪔

NBA Teams Boost Performance with Perch's AI Weightlifting Tech 🏋️

Leading NBA teams like the Brooklyn Nets and Miami Heat are embracing Perch, an innovative AI weightlifting technology, to gain a competitive edge.

Founded at MIT, Perch uses 3D cameras and machine learning to analyze and enhance athletes' weight room performance.

By utilizing velocity-based training, the platform tailors workouts to individual needs, optimizing performance while reducing injury risks.

Since its inception, Perch has expanded beyond professional sports, reaching military bases, fitness centers, and educational institutions.

Key Takeaway: Perch's AI weightlifting technology offers a transformative approach to training, enabling athletes to train smarter, minimize injury risks, and perform at their peak. 💪🤖

📊 Poll of the Week 📊

Last week, we asked how you feel about sharing your personal health data with fitness apps and wearables.

The most votes went to:

Uncomfortable, I'm concerned about my data privacy.

We get it, there’s a fine line between companies using our data to improve wellness tech, and exploiting it.

This week, we're asking you how we can bring you even more relevant and exciting updates to you!

We'd love to know:

Cast your vote, and we’ll use this feedback to make HealthHack even better for you!

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🌿 Health Hack of the Week: Methylation Mastery 🧬

Did you know that a simple biochemical process called methylation is the unsung hero in keeping our bodies in tip-top shape?

Methylation impacts crucial bodily functions like DNA production, detoxification, and neurotransmitter production.

Basically — this process helps keep our cardiovascular, neurological, reproductive, and detoxification systems running smoothly.

But here's the catch: For optimal methylation, our bodies need a superhero molecule called SAMe, which is produced with the help of a special B vitamin, 5-MTHF (active folate).

Unfortunately, around 60% of people have a genetic mutation that hinders this production. The result? A potential kink in our internal gears, affecting everything from our mood regulators like serotonin to antioxidants like glutathione.

So, how can you support your methylation process?

🥑 Eat methylation-boosting foods like leafy greens and avocados

🚴‍♂️ Stay active with regular exercise

🚭 Cut down on alcohol, avoid smoking, and limit coffee to under 5 cups a day

Plus, consider these 7 essential nutrients to turbocharge your methylation cycle:

• Active forms of B vitamins (folate, B12, B6, B2)

• Magnesium

• Betaine

• Vitamin D

Curious about your methylation efficiency? A simple genetic test can tell you more.

💡 Learn more about methylation and its health implications health here.

📲 The YDY Download

HealthHack is the sister publication of YDY, the "kart style" fitness video game that lets you compete against others using your heart rate as fuel!

We’ve added 7 new races this week across our four different levels.  

Shoutout to Jarod Burton for climbing up the leaderboard. 🙌

The Cutting-Edge of The Supplement Boom 💊

This week, we’re digging into the booming supplement industry. 

We cover a host of exciting updates and innovations in this space, and where the world of supplements is heading.

Let’s get into it!

Market Outlook: Massive Growth Ahead

The global supplements market is projected to grow from $167.5 billion in 2023 to a massive $239.4 billion by 2028, with an impressive 7.4% CAGR.

Key factors driving this expansion include rising health consciousness, increasing burden of chronic diseases, growth in the aging population, and surging demand for functional foods.

This paints an optimistic picture for supplements providing nutritional support in the years to come.

Autoimmunity Support

Taiwan-based EverServe is advancing in the international dietary supplement market with a focus on pioneering autoimmunity supplements.

Leveraging its expertise in strain modification and fermentation, the company develops products targeting human health and immune regulation.

Its portfolio includes diverse supplements and skincare items, all manufactured under stringent quality standards.

With a robust R&D foundation, EverServe is poised to expand its global footprint, especially in the Asia-Pacific region.

Natural Weight Management

Seeking to debunk fad diets, experts continue to emphasize that for sustainable weight management, nutrition and activity are key.

However, some natural supplements do appear to offer support.

HumanN Superbeets features antioxidant-rich beets to boost energy and heart health.

Meanwhile, Myos Corp’s egg yolk-based ingredient Fortetropin has clinically demonstrated potential to maintain muscle mass during weight loss.

With clinical trials planned for 2024 to explore its benefits for individuals on weight loss drugs, Fortetropin is one of the more exciting developments in this space.

Clean Performance Enhancement

Supplements like Finland-based Finaflex’s new pre-workout Wrn harness natural ingredients to enhance workout performance.

Combining expertise from bodybuilding legend Branch Warren and supplement executive Scott James, Wrn aims to redefine clean workout intensification.

Similarly, Myos Corp will also be conducting trials around Fortetropin’s utility in sports nutrition, as a targeted muscle building enhancer, taking it beyond being just another protein supplement.

Conclusion

In summary, supplement brands are tapping into emerging consumer trends and unmet needs to drive product innovation.

Leveraging clinical research and novel ingredients, companies aim to support energy, performance, weight goals, autoimmunity, and beyond through natural supplementation.

The future looks bright for supplements providing specialized nutritional support.

🌐 That's it for this edition! Tune in next Wednesday for your latest wellness-tech fix! 🌟