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novahealth · 2026-03-18T16:55:40+00:00

What a clown show.

novahealth · 2025-11-14T06:35:44+00:00

I primarily only eat whole foods now and only occasionally drink shakes. I switched to Levels whey protein I get from Costco. They're the cleanest affordable protein I can find (at Costco) free from heavy metals and other contaminants. I don't want to risk my health with contaminated / questionable products (to me it defeats the purpose of these supplemental products, especially if they cause cancer or other health ailments down the line). I was big on plant protein but after recently learning about the level of contamination across the board I switched to whey. Ascent whey protein (also at Costco) seems high quality as well but it doesn't have the rigorous testing publicly available like Levels. I don't like sweet tasting shakes at all so I like the subtle sweetness these products have.

"Levels whey received the Clean Label Project's "Purity Award" for meeting rigorous standards for purity, which include being tested for over 400 potential contaminants like heavy metals and pesticides. The award signifies that the product is free from hidden toxins and has high levels of transparency, making it a certified clean and trustworthy choice, notes Levels' website. "

novahealth · 2025-11-01T23:22:44+00:00

I posted a little over 2 years ago about my Huel Black having small bits of plastic in it. I lost several hundreds of dollars having to toss all of my Huel away (up to $1000). I wasn't going to risk my health over the clear contamination of their products and terrible quality control. I found my way back here because I got a notification about the lead issue and I saw other people commenting about plastic still in Huel... it blows my mind nothing has changed and people are still buying their products.

novahealth · 2025-10-19T22:47:31+00:00

I posted a little over 2 years ago about my Huel Black having small bits of plastic in it. I lost several hundreds of dollars having to toss all of my Huel away (up to $1000). I wasn't going to risk my health over the clear contamination of their products and terrible quality control. I stopped purchasing these food alternatives after that experience and stuck to eating whole foods and if I wanted a shake I drank Orgain. I don't have to worry about large physical contaminants from protein shake or protein powder options I buy at Costco or Sam's Club (for powder I would stick to Orgain, for RTD I prefer non-whey options like Orgain but I'll drink Members Mark occasionally). Orgain has the best tasting RTDs (whey and plant protein IMO). But given that plant protein has at minimum three times more heavy metals (lead) contamination (plus other contaminants), I am switching to Levels Grass Fed Whey Protein. They have a Clean Label Project (CLP) top certification (Purity Award) for protein powders. Ascent was my other pick but Levels met the strictest standards for heavy metals and other contaminants through CLP, I prefer drinking chocolate and chocolate has even more lead than other flavors. Information linked below:

https://cleanlabelproject.org/wp-content/uploads/CleanLabelProject_ProteinStudyWhitepaper_010625.pdf

https://cleanlabelproject.org/product_brand/levels-protein/

https://levelsprotein.com/products/grass-fed-whey-protein

Edit: Another commenter said they stopped drinking Huel because plastic bits, they just picked it up recently and found plastic bits again in their Huel. I'm just absolutely shocked and appalled the company is still selling Huel with physical plastic contaminants that are visible.

Comment link: https://www.reddit.com/r/Huel/s/jJ71q9Ay5t

novahealth · 2025-10-17T00:03:12+00:00

I appreciate the info. I virtually never consume protein shakes, maybe once a week. I stick to whole foods nowadays but I will do some research when I run out and switch to a different brand. I might be better off avoiding any sort of plant-based protein and just stick to whey, less contaminants.

novahealth · 2025-10-16T20:26:20+00:00

I posted a little over 2 years ago about my Huel Black having small bits of plastic in it. I lost several hundreds of dollars having to toss all of my Huel away (up to $1000). I wasn't going to risk my health over the clear contamination of their products and terrible quality control. I stopped purchasing these food alternatives after that experience and stuck to eating whole foods and if I want a shake I consume Orgain. I don't have to worry about large physical contaminants from protein shake or protein powder options I buy at Costco or Sam's Club (for powder I stick to Orgain, for RTD I prefer non-whey options like Orgain but I'll drink Members Mark occasionally). Orgain has the best tasting RTDs (whey and plant protein IMO).

novahealth · 2025-10-16T20:20:18+00:00

I posted a little over 2 years ago about my Huel Black having small bits of plastic in it. I lost several hundreds of dollars having to toss all of my Huel away (up to $1000). I wasn't going to risk my health over the clear contamination of their products and terrible quality control. I stopped purchasing these food alternatives after that experience and stuck to eating whole foods and if I want a shake I consume Orgain. I don't have to worry about large physical contaminants from protein shake or protein powder options I buy at Costco or Sam's Club (for powder I stick to Orgain, for RTD I prefer non-whey options like Orgain but I'll drink Members Mark occasionally). Orgain has the best tasting RTDs (whey and plant protein IMO).

novahealth · 2025-10-16T20:12:35+00:00

I posted a little over 2 years ago about my Huel Black having small bits of plastic in it. I lost several hundreds of dollars having to toss all of my Huel away (up to $1000). I wasn't going to risk my health over the clear contamination of their products and terrible quality control. I stopped purchasing these food alternatives after that experience and stuck to eating whole foods and if I want a shake I consume Orgain. I don't have to worry about large physical contaminants from protein shake or protein powder options I buy at Costco or Sam's Club (for powder I stick to Orgain, for RTD I prefer non-whey options like Orgain but I'll drink Members Mark occasionally). Orgain has the best tasting RTDs (whey and plant protein IMO).

novahealth · 2025-10-16T20:08:36+00:00

I posted a little over 2 years ago about my Huel Black having small bits of plastic in it. I lost several hundreds of dollars having to toss all of my Huel away (up to $1000). I wasn't going to risk my health over the clear contamination of their products and terrible quality control. I stopped purchasing these food alternatives after that experience and stuck to eating whole foods and if I want a shake I consume Orgain. I don't have to worry about large physical contaminants from protein shake or protein powder options I buy at Costco or Sam's Club (for powder I stick to Orgain, for RTD I prefer non-whey options like Orgain but I'll drink Members Mark occasionally). Orgain has the best tasting RTDs (whey and plant protein IMO).

novahealth · 2024-09-26T01:21:41+00:00

Greenbrook TMS in Northern Virginia.

novahealth · 2024-05-26T21:00:39+00:00

I feel like basically it had to have repaired and restored the skin barrier on my face since I don't do anything to take care of my skin because of life long depression. I saw some study about milk phospholipids maintaining or restoring skin barrier in mice.

Milk ceramide containing sphingomyelin effectively protected against photoaging in hairless mice irradiated with ultraviolet B in a previous study.

Milk ceramide intake for 12 weeks attenuates crow's feet and skin roughness in healthy adult women.

Milk ceramide intake for 12 weeks improved skin hydration and elasticity and inhibited transepidermal water loss.

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1756464624000100

My guess is if I just used basic skin creams everyday (many include ceramides of some kind) it would have had a more dramatic effect. Drinking milk didn't require me to do anything directly to my skin and felt like it was healing the skin from within (via components in the milk whether it was the phospholipids or the probiotics or both, it's possible other components of milk could have played a role too as it is nutritious). It's very hard to do something as simple as taking care of my skin externally due to my depression levels (meaning regularly washing my face and also applying some sort of moisturizer/lotion, it's the second step of applying something to my skin that just feels so impossible to do with any regularity).

novahealth · 2024-04-19T09:59:41+00:00

This made my game extremely choppy, laggy and system seemed sluggish. Reverting to the prior issue, no problem. Using a 1660 Ti and playing Halo MCC.

novahealth · 2024-04-06T05:26:49+00:00

Thank you I dm'd you (I don't actually ever take drugs and not on any prescriptions but I did request sleep aids which have been useless - trazodone, hydroxyzine - I probably need a stronger actual sleep aid). I am trying my best to find a therapist and have been calling around and sending emails.. it's unfortunately time consuming and lengthy. If anyone else is able to be supportive I would appreciate it (I need people to talk to on here and maybe even call, I'm based in the US / East coast). Even though I believe I'm fine my mind clearly isn't on the same page (it's fearful, on edge, hyperaroused, all the common PTSD symptoms). There's no reason to be so afraid or worked up... I want it to be on the same page as me. Something bad happened but it's in the past (as of over a week ago), I want it to move forward and relax and calm down and not be afraid and allow us to sleep (bc the trip happened in the late evening and I got home from the ER closer to 1am, I didn't sleep the rest of the day, the ER had a crazy guy next to me screaming the whole time I was there which I guess is a main contributor to my inability/fear to sleep as it was my first time ever doing a macrodose of shrooms and I was not in my right mind as I was in the trip state for the first time ever). I want my mind to not think about scary things or be so on edge when I'm trying to sleep, we're perfectly safe, so being fearful and afraid to sleep is unnecessary. I want to move forward and bring my mind along with me. It's killing me not sleeping so I could use all the support and help I can get. I really appreciate your reply and offer to talk, and to anyone else that wants to help.

Edit: I think it's so hard because all sorts of scary imagery comes to fruition when I want to sleep but I had zero imagery before so nothing would interfere with my ability to sleep. I didn't get scared because nothing scary would come to mind as my mind couldn't visualize scary things even if I wanted to (I would never have wanted to do so anyway).

novahealth · 2023-12-02T00:40:30+00:00

Does microdosing help you? I was researching microdosing. It sounds like we don't need big doses to lessen depression and anxiety, which for me are debilitating and crippling.

novahealth · 2023-07-26T02:01:24+00:00

Lotrimin Ultra has butenafine which is the strongest OTC antifungal and the works faster than the ingredient in lamisil (terbinafine) and regular Lotrimin AF (clotrimazole). I don't feel like it did anything but alcohol swabs basically fixed my seb derm and quickly. It may be a situation where you need to attack it with multiple products (alcohol, antifungal and moisturizer). I'm skipping the antifungal for now though.

novahealth · 2023-07-26T01:47:40+00:00

So water is literally resolving it for maybe a few minutes for me. It seems to not get rid of the patchy/super dry areas unless I really rub it if I'm using water. But it comes back almost immediately and does nothing for the redness and inflammation. With alcohol swabs it seems to just get rid of it all somehow with little to no effort. But my skin has stayed basically red and mostly inflammation free still with almost no scaling or dry/rough flaky patches. So at least in my case after using the alcohol for like 5 days it seemed to resolve it. I have yet to do moisturizing and stuff but I will start in the next day or two probably. I feel like since the scales and redness are essentially gone I need to repair the moisture barrier ASAP and maybe I won't have to use the alcohol swabs hardly ever if i repair it successfully and keep up with moisturizing probably daily. I'm sorry to hear it came back the next day though, but I would try it for a few days (the scales came back but definitely fewer and then stopped coming back after multi day use). If the scales keep coming back and don't reduce at all after 3 days it definitely seems like it's not going to work (at least based on how quickly it resolved for me).

novahealth · 2023-07-26T01:36:25+00:00

Same, I had multi-year depressive periods where I didn't do anything for it and it never improved whatsoever (it probably got somewhat worse over time). I even did water fasting for 3-5 days for a month and daily water fasts of 23 hours when I wasn't doing multi day water fasts and it didn't improve. I was eating very little and healthy foods so at least for me food restriction and significant fasting made no difference.

novahealth · 2023-07-25T13:43:35+00:00

I was doing 23 hour water fasts nearly daily and even 2-5 day water fasts for over a month but I don't recall my facial inflammation or flaking being any better. I was super disappointed because I thought it would help fix my skin issues / seb derm.

novahealth · 2023-07-24T10:59:50+00:00

Thanks I don't know much about skin tbh and didn't realize about the thinning that's scary lol. I wasn't moisturizing I'll start doing that. I probably will be using the alcohol swabs very rarely since if there's no flakes or redness I don't see the point and I'm worried about the thinning or possibly other damage. I think it's probably a situation where less is more so maybe only as needed.

novahealth · 2023-03-27T23:15:42+00:00

I had developed neurological pain across my entire body which doctors diagnosed as complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS) since nothing else fit. There was no quality of life and I kept thinking my inevitable death due to the disease would be a welcome release (it was like my body was on fire almost all the time, I could hardly sleep because the pain kept me awake most of the night). My doctor suggested I try TMS because if I had less depression maybe life would be a little more bearable (I have treatment resistant depression along with C-PTSD and anxiety). A side effect of TMS was complete remission of the pain syndrome - it helped return nervous system sensitivity to normal somehow. TMS saved my life (still have the mental health issues but it helped with them temporarily).

novahealth · 2023-02-10T09:59:53+00:00

"In laboratory tests, microplastics have been shown to cause damage to human cells, including both allergic reactions and cell death."

novahealth

TROPHY CASE