By Michael J. Critelli | MakeUsWell Newsletter, 

For individuals who are disciplined about nutrition, reading labels, choosing whole foods, and following evidence-based guidance, there is a critical variable that remains largely invisible: how food is prepared.

We assume that if we select high-quality ingredients, fresh vegetables, lean proteins, and whole grains, the nutritional value is largely preserved. But the evidence tells a more complicated story. The application of heat can materially alter, degrade, or in some cases enhance the nutritional profile of food. And in many cases, the losses are not trivial.

Research consistently shows that heat-sensitive nutrients can decline by 30% to 70% or more, depending on how food is cooked. Vitamin C, one of the most fragile nutrients, provides a clear illustration. Studies show that boiling vegetables can reduce vitamin C content by 40% to over 50%, and under more extreme conditions, high heat combined with longer cooking times, losses can approach 80–90%. In contrast, gentler methods such as steaming or microwaving can preserve 80–90% or more of the same nutrient.

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By Michael J. Critelli | MakeUsWell Newsletter, 

The modern food system rests on a quiet assumption: that what is safe for adults is safe for children. Yet when we examine how studies of foods, additives, and preservatives are actually conducted, that assumption begins to look less like science and more like convenience.

Most controlled nutrition studies are performed on adults. The reasons are practical and ethical: adults can consent, their biology is more stable, and regulators impose fewer constraints. But this creates a structural gap. Children, whose bodies and brains are still developing, are exposed daily to the same additives and preservatives, yet are rarely the primary subjects in the studies used to validate their safety.

This matters because children are not simply “small adults.” Their metabolic systems process chemicals differently. Their brains are in active stages of development. Their exposure, relative to body weight, is often higher. A preservative that appears benign in a 180-pound adult may behave differently in a 40-pound child whose neurological pathways are still forming. The scientific literature acknowledges these differences in principle, but the evidence base often lags behind.

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By Michael J. Critelli | MakeUsWell Newsletter, 

Many of us work in businesses where every input is scrutinized. We know where materials come from, how they are processed, and how they affect quality, reliability, and performance.

Yet when it comes to what we put into our own bodies, we accept a level of opacity we would never tolerate in our companies. No CEO we respect would run a business this way. 

That gap is not trivial. The consequences can be profound.

A foundational capability of any serious browser-based health platform should be the ability, through AI or, where necessary, highly informed human judgment, to tell us exactly what is in our food and where it comes from: how it is grown, processed, packaged, distributed, and prepared.

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By Michael J. Critelli | MakeUsWell Newsletter, 

A recent article caught my attention. It described a growing sense among employees that joy at work is fading. One example stood out: companies eliminating small perks like free coffee.

At first glance, this seems trivial. Coffee is inexpensive. Removing it appears to be a rational cost decision.

But it is not trivial. Moreover, it is rarely just about coffee.

It is about how food, context, and human experience interact to shape health, energy, and performance.

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By Michael J. Critelli | MakeUsWell Newsletter, 

Last week, I explored the link between purpose and better nutrition and health. The natural question that follows is this: how do we find a form of purpose so compelling that we stop trying to “escape” our lives through comfort food, distraction, or worse, and instead become fully immersed in them?

Many people believe purpose is a luxury, something to pursue only after securing a stable, well-paying job. The prescribed path is familiar: build the right résumé, gain admission to the right schools, earn the right credentials.

Even “purposeful” activities like community service are often reduced to résumé lines, boxes to check in a competitive process.

This system is not only stressful. It is deeply misguided.

It produces individuals who are accomplished on paper but disconnected from any meaningful sense of direction. They have learned how to compete, but not how to engage. And when engagement is absent, people look for relief through food, alcohol, or other forms of short-term comfort.

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