Starbucks is selling protein lattes. We need to talk.


In This Issue:

  • Starbucks is selling protein lattes. We need to talk. (~ 2 min)

Dear Reader ,

Every few years - sometimes every few months - there is a new hero ingredient. Probiotics. Omega-3s. Collagen. Vitamin D. Magnesium glycinate. And now, protein - everywhere, in everything, aggressively optimized. You can now order 30 g of it in your Starbucks latte.

When your morning coffee is a macro delivery vehicle, it might be time to ask whether we've lost the plot entirely.

Don't get me wrong; some of these have genuine merit. I recommend several of them to my own patients.

But there is such a thing as too much of a good thing, and the health trend cycle has a reliable blind spot: in elevating one variable, it quietly displaces another.

The most telling example these days is "protein maxxing". In the race to hit aggressive protein targets, fibre has become the quiet casualty. And fibre is not optional. The general benchmark is 14g per 1,000 calories consumed - yet upwards of 35g daily is recommended to lower cholesterol, support bowel regularity, improve IBS symptoms, and meaningfully reduce colorectal cancer risk. Most people chasing protein are nowhere near it. If you're curious about figuring out your daily fibre intake, check out this Fibre Content Calculator.

This is what health trends do. They offer a single lever and imply that pulling it hard enough will move everything. It won't.

Health is a system, and systems require balance - not optimization of one variable at the expense of the rest.

So before you add the next TikTok-endorsed supplement to your cart or act on whatever ChatGPT just confidently told you to take, sit with two questions:
โ€‹"What do I actually hope this will shift for me?" And - honestly, "Am I outsourcing responsibility for my health to a trending ingredient?"

The answer to both will tell you more than the supplement ever could.

Warmly,


P.S. Want to listen to the audio version of this newsletter? Click below.
โ€‹Perimenopause_ proof your body has been keeping score.mp3โ€‹

Dr. Dominika Zarzeczny

Naturopathic Doctor

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Hi! I'm Dr. Dominika Zarzeczny, ND

First inspired by the work of Dr. Gabor Mate, Dr. Dominika has focused much of her career on helping her patients connect the dots between early adversity and trauma and their impact on lifelong health and well-being. She knows that the reversal of chronic illness involves the nervous system, and so she has dedicated her practice to helping patients master their own nervous system to positively influence their mind and body, behaviours and ultimately health outcomes. Her explanation of disease doesn't pathologize or blame, but is nuanced, humanized and filled with hope. She trained with various psychologists and experts in the field of psychological trauma. She incorporates the principles of neuroscience, attachment theory, mindfulness, Polyvagal Theory and compassionate inquiry in her approach with patients. Combining these with her naturopathic training, she likes to say that she works at the intersection of science and human experience.

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