By Michael J. Critelli | MakeUsWell Newsletter, 

Every July 4, our younger son and daughter-in-law invite about 40-50 friends, ages between 30 and 40 for a party at our Connecticut home. We get a quick tutorial on trends in this generation, although, fortunately relative to this one, not with our family members and their invitees.

One trend is the significant increase in online acquisition and use of self-injectible peptides. The word “peptide” has become a marketing category for substances promoted to reduce weight, build muscle, accelerate recovery, improve skin, increase energy and slow aging. Some are approved prescription drugs.

Peptides are short chains of amino acids, the same basic building blocks that make up proteins. Many occur naturally in the body and act as chemical messengers, influencing appetite, growth, metabolism, inflammation and tissue repair. Some peptide-based drugs are among medicine’s most important treatments. Insulin is a peptide hormone, and the widely used GLP-1 drugs for diabetes and obesity act through peptide-related pathways.

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By Michael J. Critelli | MakeUsWell Newsletter, 

Two friends of mine each had very different major surgeries on July 23, 2026, one in Naples FL and one in Bonita Springs, FL. When patients leave these hospitals after surgery, they are likely to have been given highly detailed dietary instructions, as I learned after a surgery in one of those hospitals in 2021.  

After bowel surgery, they may be told to avoid fiber. After gallbladder surgery, they may temporarily limit fatty foods. After oral surgery, they may eat only liquids or soft foods. These restrictions are easy to understand because they relate directly to the body part that was treated.

But there is a less obvious issue that affects recovery from almost every kind of surgery: blood-glucose control.

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By Michael J. Critelli | MakeUsWell Newsletter, 

On July 20, 2026, The Wall Street Journal reported an embarrassing reversal by the Food and Drug Administration.

On July 18, 2026, the FDA had said that a sample of iceberg lettuce supplied by Taylor Farms from central Mexico had tested positive for Cyclospora, the microscopic parasite associated with a major outbreak of gastrointestinal illness. After reviewing the laboratory data, FDA concluded that the result did not represent “true amplification” and should be considered a false positive. As of July 19, 2026, the agency had no confirmed positive product samples.

That reversal might appear to demonstrate that our food-testing system is unreliable.

The more important lesson is different: no laboratory test, however sophisticated, can carry the entire burden of keeping food safe.

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By Michael J. Critelli | MakeUsWell Newsletter, 

Our beta test for our new food product is underway. We continue to learn a great deal as we talk with potential users or others who can help us get our product into the market.

But today’s topic relates partly to food and partly to other substances that we have believed to be allergens or other substances to which we believe either intolerances or sensitivities. In the past week, I learned that a friend of ours who will be undergoing hip replacement surgery believed from childhood that she had an allergy to penicillin and antibiotics like it. 

She didn’t. She had adverse reactions to it as a child, but these were side effects, and did not activate the immune system to attack the body. She might even have been allergic to the preservatives used to store and deliver it. Penicillin is the preferred antibiotic, so it is good that she will be able to take it. Her experience prompted me to re-examine a long-held diagnosis that I had a broad lactose intolerance, but that my personal experience seemed to challenge.

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By Michael J. Critelli | MakeUsWell Newsletter, 

Historically, if others or I wanted to know whether a food was healthy, whether a supplement was safe, whether a diet claim was credible, or whether one product was better than another, we went to Google. We typed in a question, scanned a page of results, opened a few links, and tried to make sense of competing answers.

That process gave people access to an extraordinary amount of information. But you had to know what question to ask, which sources to trust and how to interpret technical language. You had to decide whether the answer applied to his or her own age, health goals, medications, budget, preferences, and daily life.

That is especially hard in food and nutrition.

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