👋 Welcome to Healthy, Again. I'm Max, and this publication is all about taking your health back: real food, straight talk, and time-tested wisdom, for you and your family.
01 EPA just cleared three new "forever chemical" pesticides for your food
The EPA just approved three new PFAS pesticides for spraying on everyday crops like wheat, oats, and citrus. PFAS are the "forever chemicals," the kind that build up in soil, water, and us and basically never break down. One of the three, trifludimoxazin, breaks down into 12 lasting PFAS byproducts, and the EPA's own scientists flagged "suggestive evidence of carcinogenic potential", meaning early hints it might cause cancer.
There's no cleaner-chemical answer here; the fix is fewer of them on our food. EWG says the agency is leaving families exposed to a mix of these chemicals at the dinner table. Until the rules change, buying organic for the crops you eat most is the practical hedge.
02 Leafy greens beat every other vegetable for brain health
A large analysis of more than 18,000 people found that each daily serving of leafy greens was linked to about 18% lower dementia risk. Spinach, kale, chard, arugula, and collards did the work, while fruit and vegetables in general didn't show the same effect. No supplement or powder matched it, just the greens themselves. The study is observational, so it shows a link, not proof that greens prevent dementia. A daily salad is still one of the lowest-risk habits you can build.
03 Fermented cabbage is quietly nudging blood pressure down
Sauerkraut is having a moment in Washington. RFK Jr. picked up the habit about a year ago, and now the vice president and a few other cabinet members are eating it most days. Here's the health angle: sauerkraut is just cabbage soured by live bacteria, the friendly kind that help your stomach and digestion. In a 2026 study, healthy adults who ate a little every day for four weeks saw their blood pressure edge down. Score one for the boring basics your great-grandparents would recognize.
✿ QUICK HITS — ON OUR RADAR
One tick bite. In states thick with lone star ticks, a CDC report found up to 1 in 4 adults carry antibodies tied to alpha-gal syndrome, a bite-triggered allergy to red meat.
Anxiety and IBS. A study in Molecular Psychiatry tied low levels of one gut microbe, Phocaeicola vulgatus, to both conditions, and topping it back up calmed both in mice.
Summer's here. Bug bites flare because your immune system floods the spot with histamine (the chemical behind allergic swelling), and oral antihistamine pills beat the creams for relief.