By Michael J. Critelli | MakeUsWell Newsletter, 

We are living through one of the fastest scientific revolutions in the history of human health. Every month, new findings emerge that overturn long-held assumptions about metabolism, weight regulation, and chronic disease. 

At the same time, media outlets and social-media influencers continue to oversimplify or exaggerate early findings—making it almost impossible for the average person, or even a busy clinician, to know what is real.

This is why AI agents are becoming indispensable. They can scan new research instantly, separate strong evidence from weak correlation, and explain complex findings with a level of precision and calm that today’s information ecosystem simply cannot match.

Two areas of recent science—gut microbiome research and the interaction among stress, sleep, and ultra-processed foods—show why intelligent AI assistance is no longer optional. They both show that strong research emerges too fast for us to understand and absorb into nutritional decision making and media coverage is a poor way to keep up with this research. 

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By Michael J. Critelli | MakeUsWell Newsletter, 

Over the past two years, the meteoric rise of GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic, Wegovy, and Mounjaro has disrupted not only healthcare but also the food industry’s quiet science of seduction. These medications suppress appetite, slow digestion, and blunt the dopamine rewards associated with overeating. For millions of users, they represent liberation from a lifelong biochemical trap—one that food scientists have spent decades perfecting.  

Within the last week, their importance in population health has been underscored by an attempt by the Trump Administration to negotiate a price of $149 a month, far below their current pricing to large commercial insurance plans and employers.

But as with any innovation that changes human behavior, there is a counter-move underway. In the same way marketers learn to outwit ad blockers and hackers evolve to bypass new security systems, food manufacturers are experimenting with reformulations to preserve the allure of their most profitable products. This is not a morality play with heroes and villains. It is a systems-level conflict between two forms of applied science: one medical, one culinary; one designed to quiet appetite, the other to awaken it.

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By Michael J. Critelli | MakeUsWell Newsletter, 

On October 27, 2025, my wife, son, and in-laws ordered takeout from a local restaurant. That simple act reminded me of a neglected topic: the cues influencing our nutritional decisions when we order online or by phone after viewing digital menus.

We’ve often discussed nutritional outcomes from grocery shopping and dining out, but digital menu design—now central to how Americans eat—deserves special focus. According to Grand View Research, the U.S. online-originated food delivery and takeout market is projected to grow at a 9.6% compound annual rate from 2025 to 2030. This isn’t merely a convenience trend; it’s a profound shift in how behavioral design and algorithms shape our eating patterns.

Restaurants have long used “menu engineering”—strategic choices about layout, descriptions, and visual cues—to influence ordering behavior. When dining moves online, those levers become far more powerful. 

On apps like Uber Eats, DoorDash, and Grubhub, every image, ranking, and prompt is guided by real-time data. Our cravings and nutritional outcomes are molded by the invisible architecture of digital interfaces.

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By Michael J. Critelli | MakeUsWell Newsletter, 

I often start my mornings at Starbucks in Darien, Connecticut, or Naples, Florida. They open early, and like most cafés and restaurants today, they’re loud. The music is so high-volume that conversation is difficult.

At a new restaurant in Darien, I once arrived right at 7 a.m. as its first and only customer. The music was blasting. When I asked the host to turn it down, he said the owner insisted it stay loud all day.

This is not a global norm. In Germany, Japan, and much of Europe, cafés maintain a quiet hum. The contrast made me wonder: why do American restaurants equate noise with “energy”? And what does that do to our health?

Research now shows that noise doesn’t just shape ambiance—it reshapes our eating behavior and physiology.

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By Michael J. Critelli | MakeUsWell Newsletter, 

One of the insights we have gained from decades of study, research and management of health programs is that the body is a network, not a collection of parts. Many symptoms are “downstream signals” of dysfunction elsewhere, because physiological systems are tightly interdependent — through nerves, hormones, circulation, and immune pathways.

For decades, digestion was seen as a simple mechanical process—food goes in, nutrients come out, waste leaves. We now know it’s far more complex: the gut is an intelligent, dynamic ecosystem that communicates continuously with the brain, immune system, and metabolism. Its balance—or imbalance—affects nearly every dimension of health, especially how we respond to chronic stress and environmental pressures.

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