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Here’s your weekly roundup of news, trends, and stories in the health and fitness space. A list of what’s happening, new innovations, interesting finds, and more.

This week we’re covering:

• Drinking rates hit all-time low.
• Oura’s new pregnancy insights.
• David Protein third-party testing.
• And more...

Hope you enjoy!

Recent Headlines

The U.S. drinking rate hits all-time low of 54%. This is according to the most recent Gallup report on the percentage of U.S. adults who say they consume alcohol. The percentage fell to 54% this year, the lowest percentage in the 85+ years they’ve tracked the trend. Overall the data points to people having less drinks and drinking less frequently.

• Every other month it feels like we get a new alcohol stat that completely contradicts the last one. Gallup says drinking rates are at an all-time low, but just a few months ago IWSR said Gen Z drinking was on the rise. Which is it? In reality, it probably depends on who you ask, how you slice the age groups, and how you define “drinking”. My guess is the people who already leaned toward health and fitness are cutting alcohol entirely, while the people who’ve always drank are still drinking the same - so the overall numbers shift, but the core behaviors don’t really change. Whatever the truth, there’s no denying that more people are at least thinking about their alcohol consumption and making intentional choices. And that shift in curiosity is a good thing.

Oura unveils Pregnancy Insights experience. A pregnancy tracking tool personalized to you, at every phase of your journey. Highlighting key metrics to show your physiological changes throughout pregnancy. Along with a gestational age tracker, symptom tracking, daily vital ranges, and educational insights.

• Over the last 6 months, Oura’s updates have leaned hard into lifestyle tracking. Things like pregnancy insights, metabolic health, glucose sensors, nutrition tools. It’s less about chasing athletic performance and more about staying connected to your body in the everyday moments that matter. And when you zoom out, you can see the bigger play. A play at building a “Health OS“ with its ring. One wearable that give you the full, personalized picture of your health and lifestyle. A very compelling vision.

David bars announced as “Not Approved“ by Consumer Labs. After Consumer Labs did testing that found the bars to have 9g of fat, compared to the 2g of fat listed on the David bar label. David responded, explaining their bars use EPG, which has 0.7 calories per gram, and certain tests will incorrectly identify EPG as a 9 calorie per gram fat, which is where the test inaccuracy came from.

• I’m not a health scientist, so I’m not here to rule one way or the other and tell you what to do. But in terms of what happened, I like how David handled this. They explained the EPG discrepancy and also immediately added a third-party testing page to their site for full transparency. That’s a move more brands should take. Consumers should be given all information and be able to trust products, so that they can make their own informed decisions on consumption. Whether it’s David bars or anything else. And while EPG may not be for everyone, I like that David is pushing CPG innovation forward and trying new things.

OneSkin raises $20M from Prelude Growth Partners. A longevity skincare brand using peptide technology to reduce cellular senescence in the skin. Claiming to reduce inflammation, improve skin aging biomarkers, and keep skin cells thriving. Producing products for face, hair, body, and lips.

• The skincare space is ripe for disruption. We’re starting to see serious innovation with things like peptide-driven products from OneSkin, alongside more natural approaches like beef tallow. And this is no small market, there is a ton of opportunity. The Skincare market was valued at around $192 billion globally this year, and it’s only growing from there. Whether high-tech or back to the basics, this category is full of smart, interesting opportunities right now.

New Illinois legislation prohibits AI therapy. Governor JB Pritzker signed legislation that protects patients by limiting the use of AI in therapy and psychotherapy services. Prohibiting the use of AI to provide mental health and therapeutic decision making, while allowing the use of AI for admin and support services.

• This move makes sense to me. If someone wants to use AI on their own to help process thoughts, fine. But when you’re paying to sit across from a therapist, it feels wrong if the “thinking“ is outsourced to AI. At that point, the therapist becomes a middleman. AI is powerful, and it can be used for so much good, but when it comes to human reasoning and emotional connection, we need to be careful to not hand over too much. If we lose our ability to think for ourselves, we lose something far bigger than efficiency.

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