Strong As An Ox
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Number 1 Ranked Health & Wellness Substack: Newsletter covers fitness, health, and mindset, all grounded in the fundamentals of physiology.
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Health & Fitness
Training, biohacking, skincare, cooking and science. 11 publications, newest posts first.
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BowTied Biohacking
16K+ subscribers
Leveraging chemistry for unparalleled self-improvement. All things health, fitness, lifestyle, and performance enhancement.
Skincare Stacy Newsletter
7K+ subscribers
Evidence-based skincare, anti-aging, and beauty advice sent straight to your inbox.
BowTiedPhys
5K+ subscribers
Evidence-based protocols 2x/week for the elite practitioner on metabolic health, fitness, nutrition, & performance.
BowTiedVeterinarian
Hundreds of subscribers
Handy Advice from a Small Animal Veterinarian (co-starring Bear the Labrador)
BowTiedLoon
Hundreds of subscribers
Health suggestions and lab interpretation (not medical advice) for people who want to be better than "normal"
BowTiedNeuron
Hundreds of subscribers
Teaching you more about neuroscience and human physiology.
This site is here to help anybody looking for skincare, anti-aging, and beauty advice.
Successfully navigating the business of science
Teaching you to eat the best food of your life, by cooking at home.
Mechanisms of recovery, 12-step analysis and philosophy, exercises to help ease the pain of getting clean and/or sober
Latest in Health & Fitness
What A Cracker Looks Like Without The Bullsh*t
One of the cool features of writing here is the opportunity to work with so many brands. But the reality is, I only end up partnering with a handful of the ones that reach out. For two reasons: I refuse to work with brands caving…
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4% vs. 10% Benzoyl Peroxide: A Complete Guide
If you’re dealing with acne, there’s a good chance you’ve come across PanOxyl. The brand has two popular benzoyl peroxide cleansers, one with 4% and another with 10%, and choosing between them isn’t always as straightforward as…
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22 Japanese Principles to Improve Your Life
Japanese culture has always fascinated me. Their overall health . Their low crime rates . Their high intelligence. Their cleanliness . Their ability to defeat the tragedy of the commons . ( Even when it’s off their own shores .)…
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The Best Skincare Routine for Combination Skin: AM + PM Guide
If you have combination skin, putting together a routine can be a little tricky. A product might feel great on one part of your face and wrong somewhere else. That doesn’t mean you need a complicated routine or a separate product…
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Hot Fudge Sauce
If you’re like me, and nostaligic… Hershey’s chocolate syrup was on hand as a kid. You pop up the cap and out flows a a liquid cascade that would put Wonka’s chocolate waterfall to shame. But that was always the problem If you’re…
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25–30% Off Your Skincare Favorites: The Best Labor Day Beauty Sales of 2026
Quick update on the Labor Day beauty sales I shared with you already. A few more deals have gone live since then, and some of the ones I mentioned before are wrapping up soon, so I wanted to get you an updated list before the…
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Is it time to cut your xylitol intake?
The European Society of Cardiology announced last week that xylitol might not be as safe as we once assumed. Across 17,710 people, those with the highest blood xylitol levels had a 57% HIGHER rate of heart attack, stroke, or…
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Up to 30% Off Your Skincare Favorites: The Best Labor Day Beauty Sales of 2026
Labor Day is coming up, which means a lot of the beauty sales are already starting. There are some pretty good skincare deals this year, including discounts on products I already use and recommend. Some are already live and…
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Summer Sundae
In most respects I’m a purists on desserts. Ice cream is the ultimate frontier of taste, texture and temperature. Especially in high heat which is where my life is now 9 months out of the year. For this release I wanted to share…
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How to Use Adapalene Gel With Moisturizer
If you’re using adapalene for acne, adding a good moisturizer to your routine can make a big difference in how well your skin handles it. Adapalene can cause dryness, redness, and irritation, especially when you first start using…
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11 Longevity Psyops I’m Not Falling For
Longevity has evolved into the buzzword of the health space. It’s also imprecise to the point of meaningless. The traditional David Sinclair-sponsored camp now runs on the premise aging is a disease that is both treatable and…
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Adapalene vs. Retinol: A Complete Guide
If you’re trying to choose between adapalene and retinol, the first thing to think about is what you actually want to improve in your skin. Both are retinoids, but they’re usually used for different reasons. Adapalene is best…
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The Enshittification of Your Supplements
Consumer products giant Proctor & Gamble acquired Thorne for near asking price of $3.8B earlier this month. Outrage about the move naturally hit the digital health space. But many missed that the enshittification of a once S-tier…
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Why I Believe in "Eating Your Skincare"
Paid partnership with SpoiledChild . Every time I share my skincare routine, the focus is usually on the products I apply to my skin. Serums, moisturizers, sunscreen, and beauty devices all play an important role, but one of the…
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Why More People Edit Photos Before Changing Their Look
Paid partnership with FaceApp . Thinking about changing your hairstyle, coloring your hair, trying facial hair, or experimenting with a different makeup look can be exciting. It can also feel like a gamble, especially when some…
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Nighttime Cravings Aren't a Food Problem
The reason why you’re hungry each night is the same reason you’re not waking up refreshed without an alarm each morning. Light is the zeitgeber that sets the central brain clock. Food, social interaction, stress, & other factors…
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The Ultimate Tβ4 & TB-500 Guide
The content of this guide is for informational and educational purposes only and is not intended as medical advice. Always consult with a qualified healthcare provider before using any compound discussed here. We do not condone…
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The Secret to Softer, Healthier Skin Starts in the Shower
Paid partnership with Dove . Body care is one of those parts of a skincare routine that’s easy to overlook. Many of us spend time researching cleansers, serums, moisturizers, and sunscreen for our face, but pay far less attention…
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Vilon: Olympic PED or Underrated Anti Aging Peptide?
Disclaimer: This article is intended for educational and research purposes only. It is NOT medical advice. Do not attempt anything you read without medical supervision. If you wanted everyone tired, inflamed, and begging for a…
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Q&A #58
Welcome back to another Q&A. For the next 48 hours, drop your questions in the comments and we’ll answer them. Apologies for lagging behind, guys. Will do one of these weekly for a while to make up for it. Appreciate your…
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Weird Health Hacks That Actually Work
Mornings Wake up with glutamine, creatine, electrolytes & extra magnesium Before you take down the AM coffee. Glutamine for the gut barrier. Creatine for cell energy metabolism. Electrolytes for mineral balance. Magnesium…
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The Shower That Helped Me Feel Like Myself Again
Paid partnership with Dove . There are moments in life that don’t seem like they should matter that much. Getting ready to leave the house is one of them. Most days, you don’t think twice about taking a shower, putting on your…
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Tretinoin and Azelaic Acid: A Complete Guide
If you’ve been prescribed tretinoin or recently added azelaic acid to your routine, you’ve probably wondered whether it’s safe to use them together. The short answer is yes, but it depends on how you introduce them. Both…
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How to SHRED Fat in Target Spots & Eliminate Stubborn Fat
This ones for everyone that can’t get rid of that lower belly fat no matter how hard they diet and how much weight they lose. I feel your pain. There’s that one spot that, no matter how much you seem to suffer, it won’t budge.…
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How to Get a Six Pack by End of Summer
There are 68 days left in summer. That is about 10 weeks . If your midsection still looks soft when the season ends, it won’t be because of your genetics. It will be because you didn’t pay attention to the secrets we’re about to…
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The Complete Guide to Fighting Acne
A lot of acne advice focuses on products. If you’ve ever searched for the best cleanser, serum, or spot treatment, you’ve probably noticed that everyone seems to recommend something different. The problem is that those…
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How to Buy Cinnamon That Won’t Poison You
Cinnamon has evolved into the most adulterated product on a grocery shelf. In 2023, lead-tainted cinnamon in applesauce pouches poisoned more than 500 kids across 44 states. Fast forward to October 2025, the FDA expanded its…
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Stop asking "cut or bulk?"
Every 3–4 months, the same health topics get recycled across the major social platforms. Last week it was another classic. Should the skinny fat dude cut or bulk? Only fitting we give it a proper analysis. I couldn’t care less…
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Changes to Federal Funding II
Welcome to Science with Shrike! Today we will discuss the bad parts of the OMB Proposed Rule changes. The full links are available in the previous post. As Shrike alluded to in the last post, there may be some serious problems…
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Changes to Federal Funding I
Welcome to Science with Shrike! Today we will discuss potentially sweeping changes to government contracts in general and NIH funding in particular. While these changes may not last more than a few years, they aim to reshape how…
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Wedge Salad Revisited
There’s something about iceberg lettuce in the summer that just hits right. Hot temps outside… the cold, crisp crunch of the lettuce straight out of the fridge and the blank canvas of the lettuce offers limitless opportunities.…
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Sweet Corn Chop Bowl: The Summer Volume Side
Welcome to the Phys Recipe Series. You get three things: the ingredients, the deliberate step-by-step with photos, and the full nutritional breakdown. Nothing more. Nothing less. A staple summer side dish of the Phys household…
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Prime Day Ends June 25 — Here's My List
If there was ever a time to load up on health products for the year, this is the week. To save your valuable time & coin, I scoured, vetted & curated the ultimate list of top Amazon Prime Day deals to take advantage of this week…
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Stop Trusting "Normal"
The Phys Debrief · #03 Practical takeaways & the latest research from the health space’s most valuable long-form content, without the rest. Centralized medicine has defaulted to handing you a reference range and calling it a day.…
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A Tale of Two Sauces (II)
I love a good peppercorn sauce. My mouth starts watering at the thought of steak au poivre. Outside of bearnaise and bordelaise… peppercorn sauce is right at the top of the list for perfect steak sauce accompaniments. Until…
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A Tale of Two Sauces
Just as the famous Dickens novel begins with an opening line of extreme contrasts, I want to show you two classic steak sauces that are complete opposites . Well, one is not-so-classic… but I turn it into a riff on a classic.…
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Kicking Your Cell Phone Addiction
Everyone’s addicted to their phone, and from being in recovery, working in recovery institutions, speaking with addicts, and putting together protocols for addicts, I can tell phone addicts are just like substance addicts (are…
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Step 5 part 1: The Reluctance Map
We admitted to God, to ourselves, and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs. When We Last Left Addicts in Recovery… Not to sound elitist, but if you did step 4 like an absolute champ, you likely have a notebook…
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Pasta Giapponese 🇯🇵 🍝
It has been a while and, in the midst of some big life changes, I’m still behind the stove cooking and now tasked with opening another restaurant which has been a consuming but fun challenge as opening day approaches. Given the…
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Q&A #57
Welcome back to another Q&A! For the next 48 hours, drop your questions in the comments and we’ll answer them. Please attempt to do some basic searching (Grok, Perplexity, etc.) before asking your question. Paid subscribers may…
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How to Eat to Beat Addiction
None of this is medical advice, even though i’m friends with and learning from some of the greats when it comes to stuff like this. But look into it on your own before taking action. and most importantly, TALK TO YOUR DOCTOR.…
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You Missed the Gym Today. Now What?
Most guys treat a missed gym day like a binary event where they either trained or they didn’t, the day was either anabolic or catabolic, productive or wasted. This is a terrible mental model and it’s costing you EVERYTHING.…
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The Addiction Recovery Emotional Hierarchy
Quick one for today, frens. In my 12-step group, maybe i’ve mentioned this, but people call me “grateful (my name)” or “serendipitous (my name).” No matter how i’m feeling, i always say out loud that i’m grateful. I am not always…
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FREE: The Complete DHT Esters eBook
DHT esters just hit the underground market for the first time in history. Thousands of men are about to pin these compounds with close to zero reliable information, and the majority of UGL listings are straight up fake. Wrong…
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DHT Esters For Penis Growth
This article is not medical advice, is not a protocol recommendation, and exists for informational and educational purposes only. We are not telling you to inject DHT esters to grow your penis. DHT esters are prescription…
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How to Beat (Almost) Any Addiction
I love my 12-step group once a week. But to find it i went to like 200+ different 12-step groups in about 100 days and listen to every excuse in the book for why addicts (even 30+ years clean) desperately need their 12 step…
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Everything You Need to Know About Thiamine: The Bioenergetic Master Switch
Most people have never thought about Vitamin B1 for even one second of their lives, and that might be the single biggest gap in their entire health stack. Thiamine costs pennies per day, has no known toxic dose, and fixes…
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Pinealon: Best Dose Timing for the ULTIMATE Brain and Athletic PED
Pinealon (Glu-Asp-Arg) is a tripeptide discovered by Vladimir Khavinson’s lab in St. Petersburg over 40 years of bioregulator research. It doesn’t work like a normal peptide. Instead of binding cell surface receptors, it…
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