Hi there, and welcome to The Contrast - our take on sustainable, practical health and wellness.

John and I started Contrast Market with one simple mission: to help people get easy access to sustainable health habits in a world dominated by trends and fads, starting with heat and cold therapy.

We quickly realized our community wanted more of the same. They wanted to cut through the noise - honest, practical takes on health and wellness they could actually implement in their daily lives. If that sounds like you, keep reading.

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#1 Sleep Scores Outscored

A couple of years ago I jumped into the sleep tracking hype. Enough people were talking about REM vs. deep sleep, so I figured why not. I purchased a Whoop and began measuring my sleep and recovery. What quickly followed was this cycle: restless sleep, poor recovery score, tiptoeing through the day to protect that night’s sleep. On the good days I felt on top of the world. I started to become obsessed and even created a group with friends to compete for bragging rights.

A few months later I noticed something, I started to become okay with the results. Bad sleep, so be it. Good sleep, great. When my Whoop subscription came up for renewal, I let it go. What followed were days of good sleep and days of bad sleep, but something interesting happened. On days I knew I hadn’t slept well, I just pushed through, often at a perfectly acceptable performance level.

Now I know why. A 2014 Colorado study found that your belief about sleep can actually determine your performance. 164 participants were split in two - half were told their total time in REM (the restorative state tied to memory and focus) was 28.7%, half were told 16.2%. They then took two cognitive tests: an auditory serial addition test where you add numbers at increasing speed, and a controlled word association test where you generate as many words as you can starting with a single letter.

The result? The group told they slept better outperformed the other on both tests. Believing they slept better allowed them to allocate more cognitive effort to the tasks.

Sleep still matters. I still have my wind-down routine and aim for 7+ hours when life allows. I’m just saying we’re human. Life gets in the way and perfect sleep isn’t always possible. I’ve learned to be okay with that. How do you think about sleep? Hit reply.

#2 On The Ground

Sauna House — Austin, TX

Sauna House is one of our personal favorites - a dedicated contrast therapy venue with community feel. If you’ve been curious about adding heat and cold to your routine but aren’t ready to commit to a home setup, this is a great place to start.

Claim Your First 3 Visits for $99 →

#3 Worth Listening

If you’ve ever wondered whether sitting in a sauna is actually doing anything for your body, this episode answers that question with more science than you’d expect.

Dr. Rhonda Patrick breaks down why frequent sauna use mimics moderate aerobic exercise at a physiological level and is associated with lower risks of cardiovascular disease, dementia, and all-cause mortality.

We put together a full breakdown of Dr. Patrick’s sauna protocol and the research behind it. Read it here →

Link to episode →

#4 Worth Reading

🧠 Mental Health

💉 Treatments & Research

⌚ Wearables & devices

⚖️ Drug policy & regulation

🚀 Product launches