5280 Health 2025

My grandfather’s 80th birthday was a double celebration. With our family gathered around the dining room and a mylar balloon floating above his seat at the head of the table, Pop-Pop ushered in his eighth decade, cancer-free. He had been battling colon and liver cancer for more than a year, underwent multiple rounds of chemotherapy, and, in stubborn New Yorker fashion, had seemed to come out on top. And yet, exactly one month after we raised our glasses to him being in remission, on January 11, 2020, he was gone. I was overwhelmed by the unfairness of it all. Didn’t the universe know that Pop-Pop never lost a fight? Didn’t it know that this was the man who attended every dance recital I ever had, wowed my sisters and me…

Spore Treatment Could functional mushrooms become the next CBD? Fungi have long been symbols of decay and witchcraft, but recently, our cultural mycophobia has been giving way to wellness-driven mushroom mania. Studies suggest that pompom-shaped lion’s mane (pictured), for instance, can promote brain health and that cordyceps—the cause of the zombie apocalypse in HBO’s The Last of Us—exhibit cancer-fighting properties. “I think these types of functional mushrooms have more potential to help humanity than psychedelic mushrooms and CBD combined,” says veteran Colorado mushroom forager Del Jolly. That prospect inspired him to co-found Longmont-based Umbo in 2020 with Rashad Evans, a former UFC fighter based in Boca Raton, Florida, and retired Denver Broncos quarterback Jake Plummer. Plummer, who lives in Boulder, also co-founded MyCOLove Farms, a gourmet and functional mushroom grower…

Peter McGraw This University of Colorado Boulder behavioral economist is best known as the co-author of 2014’s The Humor Code, which seeks to answer a deceptively simple question: What makes something funny? CURRICULUM Since 2019, McGraw has hosted Solo: The Single Person’s Guide to a Remarkable Life, a podcast that explores how loners can flourish despite unfair judgments by everyone from parents to insurance companies. NEW PROJECT In January 2024, Solo got some company in the form of McGraw’s new book by the same name, a science-backed celebration of single life that provides tips on finding purpose, selflove, and connection. SAMPLE INSIGHT “If you’re struggling in a tradi-tional romantic relationship, that may not be because there’s something wrong with you,” McGraw says. “There may just be something wrong with that…

Arnica & Lemon Verbena Serenity Lotion Leaf People founder and herbalist Julie Williams hikes nearly an hour up the mountains outside Aspen to harvest the wild arnica for this skin soother. The flowering herb, which has long been used as an anti-inflammatory, creates a lotion that isn’t just hydrating but also ache-minimizing and mind-clearing. $40 Red Rocks Beard Oil Wiry goatees and thick mutton chops don’t stand a chance against the softening blend of horehound, hops, and yarrow in this beard oil made by Longmont’s Colorado Aromatics. Vetiver oil also adds a woodsy aroma to the vegan-approved beard-tamer. $15 Co-Wash Bar Scented with coconut, citrus, and verbena, this all-in-one shampoo and conditioner from Denver’s woman- and Black-owned Black Travel Box is ideal for sailing through DIA security: Light yet mighty (one 2.64-ounce…

After witnessing her parents suffer from addiction, Felicia Gonsalez swore she’d never touch drugs. But when her 18-year-long marriage ended in a difficult divorce, Gonsalez began dating a man who struggled with substance use and soon found herself using opioids. Within a matter of months, she lost her job, her house, and her car to her addiction. The then Pueblo resident tried to recover dozens of times over the next three and a half years, but it wasn’t until after Gonsalez gave birth to her third child in 2021 that she admitted herself into a rehabilitation program. She’s been sober ever since. Other expectant and new moms have had a more difficult time overcoming substance use. According to a 2023 Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment report, accidental…

The first thing to know about cold plunging—the act of dunking yourself in frigid water for an extended period of time—is that it may induce total bliss, pure agony, or both. “It’s completely subjective,” says Justin Weiss, founder of Colorado cold plunge group Ice Church. What’s more definitive is that the practice is heating up thanks to its purported health benefits, including remedying chronic pain, inflammation, and post-workout soreness. (There are dangers, too, such as hypothermia and cold shock, so start slowly, don’t dunk alone, and make sure you have dry clothes and a place to warm up quickly.) Weiss battled fibromyalgia for years until he discovered cold immersion in 2015. “In a few days, my pain was melting away,” he says. But finding the right place to take a…