Everyone At Glossier Loves This Anti-Stress Drink

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Writing about health fads on the internet is almost always a trap. No one wins. There are too many opinions and caveats and allergies and success stories to make any definitive statements (not that open-ended statements feel that responsible either). But with all that in mind, it has come to our attention at ITG that at least 17 members of the Glossier team are currently pounding shots of something called Natural Vitality Calm Anti-Stress Drink—in various flavors!—and it sounds JUST like the kind of health fad you'd like to know about. So we'll let you in on it–just please don't shoot the messenger.

No one is completely sure how entire swaths of our office got started on this stuff, but looking back to January seems to be the most reliable start date. That's when Kara Freewind discovers it through an email newsletter about safe-for-Whole-30 foods and beverages. She enjoys the "Natural Calm" of it—when you can't drink wine, it's nice to add something to that'll kick up your drowsiness before bed. So Kara starts taking it. This is where the story gets a little fuzzy: It's unclear if Kara tells anyone about her newfound supplement, but conveniently enough, Amy Kanagaki (who sits RIGHT ACROSS FROM KARA) starts swearing by Natural Calm around the same time, particularly the lemon raspberry flavor. Amy almost definitely tells Madeleine Angus about it and the next thing you know...the entire Creative team is singing its praises left and right. It is called to our attention when someone pitches it for this year's Top 25 awards. That's how much they love it. They consider it one of the top products of the year.

And, in terms of dietary supplements that could be great or possibly psychosomatic, this one seems pretty harmless. The hero ingredient is magnesium, something your body needs anyway to regulate muscle contractions and stress reactions and all that. (Why do you think taking a bath in it feels so good?) Sure, it's water soluble—so maybe you do pee a lot of it out. But at least you're hydrated, and that's not nothing! In addition to magnesium, there's...not much else. Flavoring, if you get a flavored version, plus a little stevia. It fizzes in your water when you sprinkle it in, and it even comes in travel packets! (Great for keeping you moving while traveling, says Lara Press, who's actually on our Tech team so only God knows how she found out in this game of office telephone.) At this point, we may as well start stocking it in our kitchen cabinet as part of some health initiative. And it pays to have calm colleagues. Hydrated ones, too!

Photographed by Laura Yeh (also on the Creative team; also a Natural Calm user.)