Health Archives - VICE

New Study Suggests Vitamin C Might Help Your Body Deal With Air Pollution

Luis Prada — Mon, 29 Dec 2025 14:44:06 +0000

Air pollution has a knack for being hard to mentally grasp until it’s so thoroughly wrecked your lungs that you have no choice but to confront its effects. A new study from researchers at the University of Technology Sydney suggests that vitamin C, of all things, might help reduce some of the cellular damage caused by fine particulate air pollution, otherwise known as PM2.5.

PM2.5 refers to microscopic particles produced by everything from rush-hour traffic to dust storms and brushfires. They’re small enough to get dragged deep into your lungs with a simple inhale and have been linked to a range of respiratory diseases, like asthma and lung cancer.

The researchers exposed male mice and lab-grown human lung tissue to pollution levels consistent with those experienced in the developed world. And then they added some vitamin C to see what would happen.

Turns Out Vitamin C Might Help Your Body Handle Dirty Air

Vitamin C helped protect lung cells from some of the damage caused by PM2.5 exposure. Cells lost fewer mitochondria, which you probably know better as the “powerhouse of the cell,” and showed less inflammation.

They were better shielded from oxidative stress, which causes tissue damage over time. It’s one of those results that makes a lot of sense in theory, and makes you wonder why we didn’t come across this revelation earlier.

Vitamin C is a well-known antioxidant, and antioxidants are basically housekeepers that you invite into your body to do the dirty work.

The study’s authors, who published their findings in Environment International, stress that this doesn’t mean vitamin C is a magic shield against pollution. After all, we would all be better off if we reduced pollutants overall; we wouldn’t have to deal with the issue in the first place.

And, of course, since the experiments were done on mice, we will have to wait and see whether the same protective efforts translate to humans breathing in real air. Researchers also cautioned against people learning about the study and then self-administering high doses of vitamin C without proper medical guidance, since overdoing beneficial supplements carries risks.

In the case of a vitamin C overdose, a person may develop nausea, diarrhea, and that antioxidant effect you’re looking for would actually be negated, thus rendering the entire pursuit obsolete.

There’s also the fact that, as I intimated above, there is no supplement out there that can adequately substitute for clean air. It’s better to focus our energies on making our cities more hospitable than trying to put a Band-Aid on a gaping wound.

The post New Study Suggests Vitamin C Might Help Your Body Deal With Air Pollution appeared first on VICE.

DNA-Tailored Healthcare Is the Future—So I Decided to Try It

Ashley Fike — Mon, 29 Dec 2025 07:30:00 +0000

I’m 42, and I feel like nobody warned me about this weird middle chapter.

It wasn’t like I woke up one day and everything was falling apart or something. It was more like at the start of the new year, I just felt…off. Like, why don’t I have any energy? Why do I feel “numb” to the world? Why does sex feel as exciting as washing the dishes? I felt like I was just dragging through my days. I didn’t feel like myself.

My energy stayed low no matter what I did. My PMS stopped feeling like PMS and started feeling like a medical event. I got close to passing out more than once, which is a fun little experience when you’re trying to act like a normal adult with a job and a life to live.

And then there was the libido situation. It didn’t “dip.” It disappeared. Like, not a little. Not “I’m tired.” I’m talking zero. Dead. Gone. At the beginning of 2025, my sex drive left the building and took my hormones with it. If Tom Hardy himself were to put his hand on my thigh and tell me to come back to his hotel room, I’d honestly feel more intrigued to put on my pajamas and binge-watch Your Friends & Neighbors.

I love my relationship. I’m attracted to my partner. Nothing about my feelings changed. My body just stopped participating. Which is a mindf*ck, because you start wondering what’s wrong with you. You start bargaining with yourself. You start Googling things at 11 p.m., and we all know that leads to “welp, I guess I’m going to die now.”

I tried all the online stuff, because of course I did. “Balance your hormones.” “Heal your gut.” “Cycle sync.” “Seed cycling.” Supplements with cute names and aggressive promises. Advice that basically boiled down to “sleep more and reduce stress,” which is the wellness version of telling someone with a flat tire to simply drive better.

None of it worked. And the worst part was how generic it all felt. Everything sounded like it was written for a woman who exists in theory. I needed to know what was happening inside my body, specifically. I needed a plan that wasn’t a dart throw.

“Then came the genetic testing. They mailed me a kit, I did a cheek swab, and I waited. When those results were ready, I was even more surprised than I already was.”

That’s how I ended up doing bloodwork and genetic testing and basically handing science a flashlight and saying, “Please. Go look around. Tell me what’s broken.”

I’m not saying this because I think every person needs a genetic report the size of a novella. I’m saying it because so many women hit this age bracket and get trapped in the same loop: you feel wrong, your life keeps moving, and you get handed advice that feels like it was copied and pasted from a wellness Instagram account run by a 24-year-old that definitely hasn’t had to pluck multiple coarse hairs from her chin.

So I opted into a six-month DNA-tailored health program through 10X Health. It included deep bloodwork and gene testing, and my mindset was simple. I wanted numbers. I wanted context. I wanted something more useful than “you’re fine” when I didn’t feel fine.

The blood draw itself was quick, done at a local lab here in Savannah. No scariness. Just a needle and a normal day. The results came back about five days later and I was honestly shook.

My thyroid was struggling. My testosterone might as well have been nonexistent. My estrogen was too high. My cholesterol came back sky-high. My iron was extremely low. My magnesium was low. My cortisol was so high it literally wasn’t even on the chart anymore. And mind you, I considered myself someone who ate healthy and worked out a few times a week. I thought I was doing “all the things.”

It’s a weird emotional moment when lab work confirms what you’ve been feeling. First, there’s a little relief, because, yay, you’re not imagining it. Then the fear arrives, because okay, so what now? And also, why did it take me paying for a deeper look to get to this point? Why does so much healthcare still feel like it requires you to be actively falling apart before anyone takes out the flashlight? Why does it seem like you need to do the detective work?

Then came the genetic testing. They mailed me a kit, I did a cheek swab, and I waited. When those results were ready, I was even more surprised than I already was.

My genes showed a high sensitivity to carbohydrates. My caffeine metabolism had basically come back defective, which explained why coffee on an empty stomach every morning was spiking my cortisol so badly. My report said I struggled to regulate homocysteine, which is pretty important because high homocysteine can strain the cardiovascular system. There were a lot of variants flagged, a lot of “this pathway isn’t doing what it should,” and it was genuinely surprising to see how much of what I wrote off as “this is normal, right?” might have been my biology trying to scream at me from the inside out.

Quick disclaimer, because I can hear the internet warming up its engines. Genes aren’t destiny. Genetic reports don’t predict your future with perfect certainty. But they can give you something most people never get: clarity on why certain “healthy” habits don’t work the same way for everybody, and why you can follow the generic advice and still feel like trash.

From there, the plan turned into a grind. A very unsexy, very un-Instagrammable grind.

I went on a strict supplement protocol. I started taking about 12 supplements daily, like B-Complex, DIMPRO, zinc, selenium, berberine, and some other stuff. I cut out caffeine completely, which wasn’t terrible. I realized it was more the routine of it all for me, so I switched to decaf and didn’t really notice any difference in my energy. If anything, I had more of it. And I really started upping my whole foods game. Not the store, like actual whole foods.

I also decided to start working with a trainer. Not because I wanted a “new body” storyline, but because I wanted to see how much I could change inside and out if I treated my health like the number one priority in my life. What could happen if I did that?

It was tedious. It required planning. It required consistency even when I wanted to quit. It required me to stop pretending that self-care is always fun. Sometimes self-care is annoying. Sometimes it’s boring. Sometimes it’s choosing the thing you don’t feel like doing because your body has made it clear that the old way isn’t working anymore.

“I could feel those changes. I slept better. My energy improved. My body felt less reactive.”

In early October, I visited a REVIV Global clinic in New York and did a DNA-tailored IV drip that included NAC, glutathione, B-complex, magnesium, alpha lipoic acid, and vitamin C (all sent over as recommended by 10X Health). I left feeling amazing. Clear. Energized. Like I could freaking take anything on.

That “reset” feeling is part of what makes modern wellness so seductive. It feels like proof. It feels like an instant reward for effort. However, it’s important to know that “mega-doses” like that aren’t feasible (or safe…or cheap) to do on the reg.

But I also wanted to ask the obvious question: what’s the line between optimization and overcorrection?

I put that to Brandon Dawson, co-founder of 10X Health. He didn’t sugarcoat it. That “reset button” feeling, he said, is “pure gold,” but “megadoses of vitamins or hormone tweaks aren’t toys.” His whole point was guardrails: test, adjust, follow up. And yes, he thinks this is the direction healthcare is heading. “People think this is some sci-fi, 20-year-away thing,” he told me. “It’s already happening right now, just not for the masses yet.”

That last bit is important. Right now, the most advanced personalization often sits behind cost, access, and a certain type of person who has time to make “health” a project. A lot of women don’t have that. They have kids. They have jobs. They have aging parents. They have stress that can’t be reduced with a bath. But Dawson stresses that these tests and supplements are becoming more and more accessible for everyone as they go mainstream.

And, it’s Dawson’s bigger point that landed with me: the model is shifting from reactive to predictive. He put it bluntly. “Traditional healthcare [is] built on treating problems after they show up,” he said. “We’re building the model that prevents the problem before it exists.” This is the type of healthcare I want to see more of. America’s not a big fan of that model.

I also asked him about genetic privacy, because that’s the part that makes people nervous for good reason. Your DNA isn’t a cute data point. It’s your most personal information. Dawson told me, “Your genetic data is your property, not ours.” He added, “We don’t sell it, we don’t share it.” That’s the promise companies in this space need to make very clearly, and it’s the part people should interrogate hard before handing over anything.

Six months after I started, I did follow-up bloodwork. The results showed measurable improvement. My cortisol came way down into a normal range. My iron levels regulated. My B12 returned to normal. My cholesterol dropped a little, though I’m still exploring whether it’s partly hereditary, and I plan to do more testing.

I could feel those changes. I slept better. My energy improved. My body felt less reactive. Over the six months, I lost around nine pounds and over two inches from my waist. My clothes fit differently. My body composition completely changed in a very noticeable way.

And then there was the one thing I wanted fixed the most. My libido still wasn’t back.

And my testosterone dropped even more, to a level that felt scary on paper and frustrating in real life. That’s the part nobody sells you when they talk about “optimizing.” Progress isn’t always a clean before-and-after. Sometimes it’s a win in one direction and a new question in another. Sometimes it’s you realizing that women’s hormone issues still don’t get treated like the serious quality-of-life issues they are.

Because when your sex drive disappears, it’s not just “sex.” It’s connection. It’s identity. It’s confidence. It’s the ability to feel like yourself in your own body. And the way women get brushed off about this stuff is infuriating, especially when it’s happening to so many of us at the exact same time in life.

What I’m left with after this six-month experiment isn’t a miracle story. It’s actually something more useful.

I’m left with proof that “self-care” can’t be the whole plan when the system stays vague. Self-care is important, sure, but self-care without information becomes self-blame. It becomes another way women get told just to handle things. It becomes “try harder,” sold as wellness.

I’m also left with a bigger question that feels like the real point of all of this.

“But if you’re a woman reading this who feels like her body turned on her, I want you to hear me clearly. You’re not crazy. You’re not alone.”

What happens when healthcare becomes truly personal? Not “here’s a generic hormone panel.” Not “try this supplement that works for most people.” I mean healthcare that starts with your baseline, your genetics, your biomarkers, your lived symptoms, and a plan designed around you. As Dawson put it, “Health doesn’t scale in a cookie-cutter way—but it does scale when you make it individualized, measurable, and actionable.”

That future could be empowering. It could also get pretty damn creepy if genetic data becomes another asset that companies own or monetize. Both things can be true. That’s why patient ownership and transparency can’t be optional.

But if you’re a woman reading this who feels like her body turned on her, I want you to hear me clearly. You’re not crazy. You’re not alone. And you’re not asking for too much when you want answers that match your actual body instead of a generic template.

I’m still chasing the libido and testosterone part. That’s my next chapter. I’m still in the middle of it, and honestly, that might be the most relatable part of all.

Because this age isn’t about becoming a brand-new person, it’s about getting your body back from the fog. It’s about refusing to accept “just live with it” as medical advice. It’s about stopping the guessing game.

I used to think I needed more discipline. Now I think I just need more information. I want the receipts, the context, the follow-up, and the retest. If your body changed the rules on you, that doesn’t mean you’re broken. It just means you haven’t found the right answer for your body yet.

The post DNA-Tailored Healthcare Is the Future—So I Decided to Try It appeared first on VICE.

Aspartame Might Be Bad for Your Brain and Heart, Study Finds

Luis Prada — Fri, 26 Dec 2025 07:00:00 +0000

Ah, the dream of aspartame. Imagine an artificial sweetener, one of the most widely used in the world, that can turn your bitter coffee into a decadent dessert. And without any negative impact on your health. Well, that was the idea. But since it gained popularity in the mid-1980s, researchers have questioned its health benefits.

A recent year-long animal study is raising new questions about the long-term safety of aspartame, even at doses far below what regulators currently consider safe.

Publishing their findings in Biomedicine and Pharmacotherapy, researchers from Spain’s CIC biomaGUNE and Biogipuzkoa Health Research Institute designed the study to address two big gaps in aspartame research: short study durations and unrealistically high doses.

Instead, they gave mice a low, intermittent dose equivalent to about one-sixth of the Acceptable Daily Intake for humans and tracked the effects for a full year. The result was a slow-moving set of changes that didn’t look like much at first but became more apparent over time.

Study Finds Aspartame Might Be Bad for Your Brain and Heart

Imaging revealed that early exposure to aspartame caused a spike in glucose use, as if the brain were revving its engine. By six months, that pattern flipped. By ten months, the brains of aspartame-exposed mice were using about 50 percent less glucose than those of control mice. Since the brain relies almost entirely on glucose to function, this drop suggests metabolic strain rather than adaptation.

Early increases in markers tied to healthy neuron activity gave way to rising lactate levels later on, a sign that the brain’s energy management system was struggling. In practical terms, this kind of imbalance can make neural circuits less efficient, potentially affecting learning, focus, and mental stamina.

Mice given aspartame were slower and less effective at solving spatial memory tasks, and by eight months, some couldn’t complete them at all. Cardiac imaging showed reduced pumping efficiency and mild enlargement of the heart muscle, meaning less blood and oxygen reached the body with each beat. Small changes matter a lot, as chronic drops in circulation can compound stress on organs, including the brain.

On the upside, though, aspartame-fed mice did have about 20 percent less body fat, so it will help you stave off the pounds. But the “benefit” came with a small catch: there was more visceral fat around organs and reduced lean mass, the exact pattern associated with having terrible metabolic health.

Obviously, this is a study involving mice, the favorite research subject of the scientific community. All the requisite limitations apply. But it does suggest that long-term, low-dose exposure to aspartame does its job of keeping the numerical pounds off, but the long-term trade-offs of that short-term gain may not be worth it.

Duration of exposure, not just dosage, might be the bigger problem here, and current guidelines may not be painting a complete picture.

The post Aspartame Might Be Bad for Your Brain and Heart, Study Finds appeared first on VICE.

How to Use Weed for Better Sleep

Macey Wolfer — Tue, 23 Dec 2025 22:00:00 +0000

Weed has long been suggested as a way to help people sleep. It’s evolved over the years, though. What once was a suggestion to smoke a little indica before bed has transformed into an endless list of specially formulated gummies, tinctures, and other cannabis products made with the goal of lulling you into sleepland.

But using weed to help sleep is not a one-size-fits-all deal. For some, a few puffs of a sleepy strain along with a solid nighttime routine is enough to welcome a good night’s sleep. For others, gummies rich in sleep-promoting cannabinoids are crucial to even consider getting in the bed.

Does weed help or hurt sleep?

Many people use cannabis for sleep, though there are varied opinions about whether it actually helps or hurts sleep quality. Like most things weed-related, we could really use more research to better understand the relationship between the two. (We may actually see some more research in the future, if the executive order to reschedule cannabis to a less-regulated substance comes to fruition.)

Before you decide how to use cannabis for sleep, know that high amounts of THC have been associated with lower rapid eye movement (REM) sleep–the part of the sleep cycle responsible for vivid dreams, quick breathing, and rapidly darting eyes. REM sleep is crucial for brain health and function, and lowering it can lead to waking up feeling tired and groggy.

Because of cannabis’ impact on REM sleep, some people note that they don’t dream when they use it before bed. It’s one of the reasons why cannabis can be helpful for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD); fewer dreams means fewer nightmares.

Regardless, a long-term study from earlier this year found that patients who used cannabis-based medical products experienced better sleep quality, mood, and pain management over 18 months.

How to use weed for better sleep

Figuring out the best way to use cannabis for sleep may take some trial and error. The first step is to figure out what’s keeping you up at night. If racing thoughts, replays of all the weird things you said today, and stress about waking up and doing it again tomorrow all keep you awake, you can focus on using cannabis to quiet some of that noise.

If pain and discomfort keep you up at night, you may be able to use cannabis to ease some of those sensations to help you fall asleep. For those with poor sleep hygiene, incorporating cannabis in your nightly wind-down routine could do the trick. And if you’re someone with a body clock that’s out of whack and keeps you awake and energized at night, you may be able to help re-center your sleep schedule with weed.

Of course, if you have concerns about your sleep habits, you should try to see a healthcare professional to help you find the best solution tailored to your needs. But if you’re just looking to see if cannabis can help, here are some tips:

Create a sleep routine that includes weed

Weed is awesome. But it’s not a miracle drug. If you are looking to use weed for sleep, work on incorporating it into your nightly routine as a tool, not the star of the show.

If you want to smoke or vape your weed before bed, opt for strains that are known to have sedative effects. As a general rule, indica-leaning strains are better for sleep (though without getting into the weeds, we now know that terpene and cannabinoid profiles may play a bigger role than just sativa vs. hybrid distinctions.)

If you’re more interested in taking a gummy or tincture before bed, you can opt for one that’s specifically formulated for sleep. These typically have high levels of sleep-promoting cannabinoids like CBN along with CBD, THC, and other compounds.

To successfully incorporate weed into your sleep routine, you need to first have consistent habits that signal that it’s time to rest. Common suggestions for a good sleep routine include putting away electronic devices, reading a book in soft light, taking a warm bath, and doing stretches or deep breathing.

Here are some suggestions to inspire your own nighttime routine:

Sip on a sleepy THC drink while taking a bath and listening to relaxing music, a podcast, or an audiobook. Just make sure it’s not an energizing cannabis drink.
Smoke a sleepy strain while reading a book on the couch an hour before bed.
Take a nighttime gummy and then stretch while focusing on your breathing.
Smoke a sleepy strain and then journal about anything on your mind.
Take a nighttime gummy an hour before your established bedtime. Then, read, journal, or meditate after brushing your teeth and getting ready for bed.

Weed products for sleep

You may need to try out a few different things before you find the one that works best for you and your sleep schedule. But here are some tried and true weed products to promote sleep:

Wana Island Punch gummies: I love these indica gummies because they taste delicious and hit quickly. With 10 mg of CBD, CBG, and THC per gummy, they do a great job of relaxing the mind and body. They’re not specifically formulated for sleep, but work great for anyone with a higher tolerance who wants to unwind.

Wana Hemp-Derived THC (opens in a new window)

Available at Wana

Health Archives - VICE

New Study Suggests Vitamin C Might Help Your Body Deal With Air Pollution

Turns Out Vitamin C Might Help Your Body Handle Dirty Air

DNA-Tailored Healthcare Is the Future—So I Decided to Try It

Aspartame Might Be Bad for Your Brain and Heart, Study Finds

Study Finds Aspartame Might Be Bad for Your Brain and Heart

How to Use Weed for Better Sleep

Does weed help or hurt sleep?

How to use weed for better sleep

Create a sleep routine that includes weed

Weed products for sleep

How to Use Weed for Anxiety: Tips for Feeling Peaceful, Not Paranoid

Be a Low-Doser

Master Your Method and Timing

Go Heavy on the CBD

Stick With Indica

Know Your Terpenes

Chill Out Instead of Bugging Out

Swearing Might Actually Make You Stronger, Science Says

Science Says Swearing Boosts Performance, Making the Gym Even Weirder

Psychedelics Might Fix Your Depression by Rewiring Your Brain, Study Finds

Study Suggests Psilocybin Can Break Depressive Brain Loops

Lion’s Mane, Reishi, Cordyceps: Are Mushroom Supplements Doing Anything or Just Vibes?

functional mushrooms for a dysfunctional society

what are functional mushrooms?

Lion’s Mane

What’s it’s known for:

What the experts say:

Conclusion

Reishi

What’s it’s known for:

What the experts say:

Conclusion:

Cordyceps

What it’s known for:

What the experts say:

Conclusion:

getting on the functional mushroom bandwagon

but before you do…

final take

Garlic Works Just as Well as Regular Mouthwash, Scientists Say. Would You Use It?

Garlic Might Be the Future of Mouthwash

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