The Remembering, Vol 84: Only Six of the Chips Were Telling the Truth

Researchers followed 12,772 adults in Brazil for eight years and tracked how much low and no calorie sweetener they were eating. Aspartame, saccharin, acesulfame-K, erythritol, xylitol, sorbitol, tagatose. The group consuming the most showed cognitive decline that was 63% faster than the group consuming the least, roughly equal to 1.6 years of extra aging. This is observational, so it shows an association and not a cause, and the diet data was self-reported, but we still think it's powerful evidence.

Here's the tip: zero calories is not the same as zero consequence. If you want something sweet, get it from something that grew. Fruit, raw honey, maple syrup, coconut nectar. Real sweetness comes with fiber, minerals, and enzymes attached, and your body knows what to do with all of it.

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UC Davis tested 54 packaged foods that listed avocado oil as the only oil on the label. Chips, mayo, salad dressing. They pulled the oil back out and ran its chemical fingerprint. 48 of 54 came back inconsistent with real avocado oil. Only six passed. As a control they ran the same test on 20 olive oil products, and 19 of those checked out fine.

How did this happen? The FDA has no “Standard of Identity” for avocado oil, meaning there's no federal definition of what has to be in the bottle for it to count. Brands buy through third-party brokers and multiple suppliers, so unless somebody runs the test themselves, nothing surfaces. Most of those companies probably had no idea. This is why we third party test every batch instead of taking a supplier's word for it. A certificate of analysis from a broker is just a piece of paper, but a third party lab result is the real answer.

Is your chip brand on the list? →

For about thirty years the entire Alzheimer's field has aimed at one target: amyloid plaque. In April 2026, Cochrane pooled 17 trials covering more than 20,000 people and found the drugs that clear that plaque did close to nothing for memory or day to day function. The word the reviewers used was trivial. So if the plaque isn't the story, what is? Dr. David Perlmutter, a Lineage customer and fan, has spent four decades on that question, and his new book points at a cell most of us have never heard of called microglia — the immune cells living inside your brain, running cleanup and repair.

Here's the part we found most interesting: Perlmutter's argument is that microglia run on metabolism, and when that energy system gets disrupted, cells built to protect your neurons can start doing the opposite. Which drags sleep, blood sugar, and what's on your plate straight into a conversation most of us assume is out of our hands. We pre-ordered his book to dive in more.

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Elizabeth Cubas · Fort Myers, Florida

When Elizabeth turned 40, she knew something felt off. That realization sent her down the path of ancestral nutrition, and nearly three years later, she's built a lifestyle centered around simple, consistent habits that have transformed the way her whole family lives.

As a homeschooling mom of two and longtime massage therapist specializing in the lymphatic and nervous systems, she focuses on the basics: animal-based meals, sunshine, movement, quality sleep, and plenty of time outdoors. Her family is always on the go, whether it's beach days or jiu-jitsu, which is why convenience matters just as much as quality.

Elizabeth's Lineage staples: Protein Bars and Beef Sticks, which never seem to last long in their house and always make it into her bag before heading out for the day.

Her favorite family meal? Wild salmon with a Lineage honey garlic glaze, roasted asparagus, purple sweet potatoes, and avocado.

Follow Elizabeth at @wildlylivingtribe for simple ancestral living, homeschooling inspiration, and family-friendly real food ideas →

That's the whole lesson from the avocado oil story above. Those brands weren't lying. They trusted a supplier and never ran the test. Supplements work the same way, and creatine is a good example. It's one of the most studied supplements there is, and also one where purity varies a lot depending on how it was manufactured and who's actually checking.

Ours is 99.9% pure micronized creatine monohydrate with a little sea salt for absorption. 5g per scoop. That's the ingredient list. Every batch goes to a third-party lab for glyphosate, pesticides, herbicides, and heavy metals, and you can read the results yourself.

“We don't need a law against McDonald's or a law against slaughterhouse abuse — we ask for too much salvation by legislation. All we need to do is empower individuals with the right philosophy and the right information to opt out en masse.”

Joel Salatin, American farmer