09/01/2026
10,000 steps.
Your wearable sleep score.
One gram of protein per pound.
The one supplement everyone should take.
Some health advice begins as a useful shorthand and eventually gets treated like a universal rule.
The problem isn’t that every recommendation is wrong. It’s that the context often disappears.
Where did the number come from?
What does the evidence actually show?
And does it apply to you?