March 28, 2024 — If you’ve been in a drugstore recently or shopped online, you know: The number and variety of over-the-counter health products on the market — from cough syrups to anti-wrinkle creams — can be overwhelming. Which to choose and which to bypass? Which work best?
In a new report released today, U.S. News & World Report has attempted to answer those questions. The publication partnered with the Harris Poll for the second consecutive year to produce the report, ranking products in 132 categories based on input from pharmacists and dermatologists. Consumers can access it free of charge.
The list is robust, according to Shanley Chien, senior editor of health at U.S. News. It includes more than 900 brands across the 132 product categories. Among the categories are acne treatments, sunscreens, sleep aids, blood pressure monitors, and cough suppressants.
While many products got good ratings, the brand with the most No. 1 products this year is Nature Made, followed by CeraVe and Neutrogena. The company with the most products ranked number 1 is Kenvue (formerly a Johnson & Johnson division) followed by Haleon (Sensodyne, Advil, Centrum) and Parmavite LLC (Nature Made).
How to use the list? “It’s really based on individual needs,” Chien said. For instance, if you’re trying to find the best multivitamin for your child, you can refer to the list for suggestions. (Flintstones got the top spot.) It’s based on symptoms and what you are trying to treat, she said.
Methodology
For the rankings, U.S. News and Harris surveyed 354 pharmacists and 122 dermatologists practicing in the U.S. in February.
Those surveyed took into consideration availability, accessibility, costs, affordability, safety, efficacy, and quality when choosing best brands. For instance, Chien said, many experts said they ranked some migraine medicines higher than others because they were both effective and more accessible — and that accessibility is important for those with migraine trying to resume their schedule.
Both pharmacists and dermatologists selected the top three brands in each product category assigned to them. A top-ranked brand got 5 points, second place, 3, and third place, 1. Unranked got no points. Brands were ranked by the total number of points received.
No compensation or incentives were given to the participants. The pharmacists and dermatologists did comment on how familiar they were with the categories they were asked to rate, but financial ties to companies were not tracked. No responses mentioned conflicts of interest, according to US News.
The Winners
Among the many products ranked No. 1 in various categories by pharmacists are:
Arthritis creams: Voltaren
Arthritis pain relief: Aleve
Back pain: Motrin
Blood pressure monitors: Omron
Burn treatment: Neosporin
Children’s cough medicine: Children’s Delsym
Children’s multivitamins: Flintstones
Decongestants (Oral): Sudafed (Pseudoephedrine)
Diarrhea remedies: Imodium
Fish oil/omega-3 supplements: Nature Made
Men’s multivitamins: Centrum
Women’s multivitamins: One A Day
Sore throat sprays: Chloraseptic
Among the many products evaluated by dermatologists and ranked No. 1:
Baby sunscreens: Aveeno Baby
Baby wipes: Aveeno
Dandruff shampoos: Head and Shoulders
Diaper rash: Desitin
Eye creams (anti-wrinkle): La Roche-Posay
Face moisturizers: CeraVe
Hand creams: Neutrogena
Moisturizers with SPF, night creams: CeraVe
Sunscreens (Facial): EltaMD
Wrinkle creams: Neutrogena
Perspectives
A pharmacist and two dermatologists reviewed the new report for WebMDand had some additional suggestions on how to use it and what other actions are needed to find effective products.
The experts see a need for guidance.
“The variety of products available for similar indications marketed by different manufacturers can be overwhelming and difficult for consumers to navigate,” said Melody Berg, PharmD, editorial director of patient medication information for ASHP (the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists).“Although this list attempts to help make that decision more manageable, it cannot replace the medical expertise of a pharmacist or other health care provider.”
Besides encouraging people to speak with their pharmacist, she stressed the importance of knowing what the active ingredient is in a product, not simply the brand name.
She suggested using the new report “as a launching point for discussion” with one’s pharmacist. The ASHP patient medication website Safe Medication also provides valid information on OTC products, she said.
When choosing OTC products, individual needs and personal specifics must be considered, said John Barbieri, MD, assistant professor of dermatology at Harvard Medical School and director of the Advanced Acne Therapeutics Clinic at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston. “When it comes to skin care, it’s important to consider which ingredients and formulations make the most sense for someone’s skin type and skin care goals,” he said.
He also urges people to think about an overall skin care routine, not just to focus on single products.
For skin care products, “I would look for products that are dermatologist-approved or recommended,” said Mamina Turegano, MD, a New Orleans dermatologist. “Oftentimes these are brands that have rigorous research behind the products and their ingredients.”
These products often avoid the use of fragrance and dyes, she said, which are problematic for some.
Turegano has been a consultant for Johnson & Johnson, L’Oreal, Estee Lauder, and Dermavent.
“Health care workers compared with non-healthcare workers have greater risks for mental health problems and long-term work absences due to mental disorders, and are at increased risk of suicide, compared with workers in other fields.”
“Our results extend earlier research from outside the United States that health care workers compared with non-healthcare workers have greater risks for mental health problems and long-term work absences due to mental disorders,” said Mark Olfson, MD, MPH, professor of Epidemiology at Columbia Public Health and professor of Psychiatry, Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons. “The importance of increased suicide risk of health care support workers is underscored by their growth from nearly 4 million in 2008 to 6.6 million in 2021.”
Pamela Wible, M.D., is a family physician, author, and expert in physician suicide prevention. In her book, Physician Suicide Letters Answered, she says, “I’ve been a doctor for twenty years. I’ve not lost a single patient to suicide. I’ve lost only colleagues, friends, lovers–ALL male physicians–to suicide.”
Males are not the only ones who die by suicide, but we are much more likely to die. Dr. Wible details the reasons that so many doctors and other healthcare professionals die by suicide including the following:
Doctoring is more than a job; it’s a calling, an identity.
With so much need, we often put the needs of others ahead of our own.
Most practitioners become burned out, overworked, or exhausted.
Workaholics are admired in medicine and other healthcare professions.
Caring for sick people can make us sick if we don’t take care of ourselves.
Seeing too much pain and not enough joy is unhealthy.
We don’t take very good care of themselves or each other.
We don’t acknowledge the reality that we are at high risk of overwork, overwhelm, breakdown, and self-harm.
These issues are not only prevalent in males, but there are sex differences that we need to understand and address. According to Marianne J. Legato, MD, Founder of the Partnership for Gender Specific Medicine,
“Until now, we’ve acted as though men and women were essentially identical except for the differences in their reproductive function. In fact, information we’ve been gathering over the past ten years tells us that this is anything but true, and that everywhere we look, the two sexes are startingly and unexpectedly different not only in their normal function but in the ways they experience illness.”
In Part 2 of the series, I talk about the future of gender-specific healthcare and describe my interview with Dr. Legato, who told me,
“The premature death of men is the most important—and neglected—health issue of our time.”
I also described my interview with Richard V. Reeves, author of, Of Boys and Men: Why the Modern Male is Struggling, Why It Matters, and What to Do About It and founder of American Institute for Boys and Men (AIBM). Reeves says,
“It became clear to me that the problems of boys and men are structural in nature, rather than individual; but are rarely treated as such. The problem with men is typically framed as a problem of men. It is men who must be fixed, one man or boy at a time. This individualist approach is wrong.”
In Part 3, I discuss the unique times we are living in today where rapid change of modern life have created a unique set of mental health problems that must be solved on a systemic as well as a personal level. The futurist, Alvin Toffler called the problem Future Shock and said,
“It will not be found in Index Medicus or in any listing of psychological abnormalities. Yet, unless intelligent steps are taken to combat it, millions of human beings will find themselves increasingly disoriented, progressively incompetent to deal rationally with their environments. The malaise, mass neurosis, irrationality, and free-floating violence already apparent in contemporary life are merely a foretaste of what may lie ahead unless we come to understand and treat this disease.”
Toffler notes that Future Shock results when societies are faced with too much change in too short a time. Not only are we being overwhelmed with the rate of change in our lives, but also the overwhelming complexity of our social systems that can lead to collapse of entire civilizations. Rebecca C. Costa describes the effects of complexity in her groundbreaking book, The Watchman’s Rattle: A Radical New Theory of Collapse. The result is a critical increase in fear and anxiety, which impacts everyone.
In his book, Anxious: Using The Brain to Understand and Treat Fear and Anxiety, Joseph LeDoux, one of the world’s leading mental health experts says,
“Collectively fear and anxiety disorders are the most prevalent of all psychiatric problems in the United States, affecting about twenty percent of the population with an associated economic cost estimated to exceed $40 billion annually.”
Dr. Wendy Suzuki is a professor of neural science and psychology at the Center for Neural Science at New York University, says,
“We live in an age of anxiety. Like an omnipresent, noxious odor we’ve grown used to, anxiety has become a constant condition, a fact of life on this planet. From global pandemics to crashing economies, to intense, daily family challenges, we have plenty of justifiable reasons to feel anxious.”
The effects of all these changes are causing social and political upheavals. On April 7, 2024, The Morning Show on CBS aired a segment on the new movie, “Civil War” which follows a team of journalists who travel across the United States during a rapidly escalating Second American Civil War, that has engulfed the entire nation. It offers an unflinching look at a nation divided and violent, not in the 1860s, but today. The movie is a warning about potential things to come and like all wars, males are the main combatants.
Bringing Healers and Health-Seekers Together in Community
It is becoming increasingly clear that the separation between “healers” and “those seeking help” is an artificial divide. We are all in need of help and support in addressing mental health issues and we are all able to learn to help ourselves and others. I believe it is time to bring healers and seekers together. In a recent article, “The Future of Mental Health: Bringing Together Health Seekers and Providers,” I noted the following:
“We are living in crazy times, where the whole world seems angry, anxious, stressed, and depressed and things are getting worse. In 2018 the American Psychological Association surveyed a thousand U.S. adults about their sources and levels of anxiety. The APA found that 39% of Americans reported being more anxious than they were in 2017, and an equal amount (39%) had the same level of anxiety as the previous year. That’s nearly 80% of the population experiencing anxiety.
What are people most concerned about? The APA survey reported that:
68% worried about health and safety.
67% reported finances as their source of anxiety.
56% were stressed about our political system and elections.
The APA also found that 63% of Americans felt that the future of the nation was a large source of stress. 59% checked the box that “the United States is at the lowest point they can remember in history.”
Men in the United States die by suicide, on average, at a rate four times higher than women. But the suicide rate for men is even higher in older age groups.
Clearly with statistics like these, we can no longer view “mental illness” as simply a problem of individuals. We are experiencing a problem of whole systems collapsing and we need to develop new systems to bring about repair. My colleague, Margaret J. Wheatley, author of the book, Who Do We Choose to Be? Facing Reality, Claiming Leadership says,
“Our task is to create Islands of Sanity, both internally and within our sphere of influence, where sanity prevails, where people can recall and practice the best human qualities of generosity, caring, creativity, and community.”
It seems both appropriate and timely that we create a health community focused on men’s mental health as an “island of sanity” that can offer support and services to heal men, as well as our families, communities, and the world.
We need a new approach for addressing men’s mental health issues. In the next parts of this series, I will address the important topic of depression and anxiety. I will examine the differences between the ways males express their dis-ease and wounds verses the way females do so. If you’d like to read more articles like these, please visit me at MenAlive.com and receive our free newsletter with new articles and tools you can use to improve your mental, emotional, and relational health.
Do you sometimes walk to another room in your house to get something, but then can’t remember what it was you wanted? Do you sometimes forget about an appointment or struggle to remember someone’s name?
You may have chalked these lapses in memory up to getting older. And age can indeed play a role in the diminishing power of memory. But as my guest will tell us, there are other factors at play as well.
Charan Ranganath is a neuroscientist, a psychologist, and the author of Why We Remember: Unlocking Memory’s Power to Hold on to What Matters. Today on the show, Charan explains how factors like how we direct our attention, take photos, and move through something called “event boundaries” all affect our memory, and how our current context in life impacts which memories we’re able to recall from the past. We also talk about how to reverse engineer these factors to improve your memory.
Resources Related to the Podcast
Connect With Charan Ranganath
Listen to the Podcast! (And don’t forget to leave us a review!)
British actor Ed Skrein is brilliant at playing both heroes and villains, but there’s no question he’s better known for his baddies. Time and time again, he’s showcased an innate ability to captivate and unnerve with his performances, which is no doubt why he was called upon by Zack Snyder to play the ruthless Admiral Atticus Noble in the director’s epic Rebel Moon saga.
For Skrein, the role was an opportunity to showcase his acting chops and cut an intimidating figure. He started the extreme fitness transformation months before with long-time trainer Matt Lovell, nutritionist Erin Blevins, and muay Thai coach Yusuf Ali-Taleb. The result is a performance and physique as powerful as any special effect out there.
The ideal body type for a villain differs drastically, but for Rebel Moon, Skrein wanted to achieve a “tight, taut look, almost like a snake.” He whittled down his body fat percentage to 5 percent.
Note: There are downsides to having an extremely low body fat percentage. Anything under 5 percent can cause waning energy, risk for heart issues, and low testosterone. Skrein was only at 5 percent for shoot day, and normally walks around at 12 percent. If you’re seeking the right body fat percentage to see abs, aim for 6 to 13 percent, the latter of which is much easier to maintain.
Men’s Journal talked to Skrein about how martial arts helped him mentally and physically for the role and nabbed a sample workout the actor used to burn fat and build muscle.
Men’s Journal: You’ve worked with some great directors over the years, but Zack Snyder has made a unique mark. What was it like working with him?
Ed Skrein: Zack cares deeply about every element of his films. There’s a reason he casts the people he does, and he expects a lot from them. The physical element is just as important as everything else on set. From the beginning that was made clear, and I could tell he trusted me to bring the right result in front of the camera. The words Atticus Noble says and the way he says them is no more important than how his body looks in those moments.
What were you trying to achieve, aesthetically, for the character of Atticus Noble?
I wanted people to lean back in their chairs when I came on the screen. I wanted them to think, “This guy is scary and weird.” I didn’t want muscles for nothing. I wanted this tight, taut look, almost like a snake about to strike. There are all kinds of villains out there. Do you think a big, puffy guy is scary? Personally, I think when you see someone who’s really lean and sinewy, that’s scary. That’s a person who’s desperate but also dangerous. That’s why I wanted the vascularity that you see.
What made this snake-like transformation possible?
Before this role came to me, I’d been speaking with my London muay Thai coach Yusuf Ali-Taleb [about how] I wanted a project I could really train for. I’d done so much work on my fighting, switching positions, and striking. I’ve been training [in] muay Thai for almost a decade at this point, and I think martial arts training was really beneficial for the character. That’s how I wanted him to be able to strike, so we trained hard together for this.
I was also going to the gym with my trainer and friend Matt Lovell, who also handles my supplementation. We’ve been working together for a while, and I was excited to have a reason to really get some muscles. We leaned into the resistance work as well. We go to Muscleworks gym in London for our sessions, and I love the community there.
How did it compare with other training you’ve done in the past?
I’ve done marathons, triathlons, and swam the English Channel from England to France without a wetsuit. I still think this may be the hardest thing I’ve ever done. I had to go back and call on the mental effort that was required during Channel crossing. I remember just having to go arm after arm, coming up for air, and being tossed around by the waves. Those moments of hell on Earth. Those experiences are how I have gotten the resilience I needed to get through training and filming this. At the same time, I’m not sure what my mental health would have been like without being able to go to the gym on set.
Zack Snyder is renowned for how he runs sets. What was it like working on Rebel Moon?
I think it’s clear to anyone who’s watched a Zack Snyder movie the scale of his productions is always massive. He creates something completely different. The best part was seeing the gym Zack built. The machines were incredible and there was so much space. I mean, it was the dream.
I knew for sure then that Zack was my kind of director. And I think he brought me in because he knew I was his kind of actor as well. There was a trainer on site called Alessandro, who was there to support some of the actors. I was already on my own training trajectory at that point, but it was awesome to get in there and train with some of the crew.
The most wonderful thing was the sense of community. I was happy to not be lonely. So many times it’s been a very solitary pursuit, training to the level that I do for these projects. That was not the case here, Zack was our leader on set and in the gym. I had met my match in that aspect. I was also in there with Alfonso Herrera, who plays Cassius; Stuart Martin, who plays Den; Sky Yang, who plays Aris; and Ray Fisher, who plays Darrian Bloodaxe. Bae Doona was in there as well.
How did you feel about the results?
It reminded me that I’m 41 years old. I beat myself up and I felt it. But there was also a part of me that was like, “Look, you young fuckers, this is how a man trains.” It took another level of discipline. If there are actors who are okay with doing the bare minimum, that’s fine. But I’m not trying to do that ever, I wanted to take it to the furthest level. I probably went a little too hard, to be honest. But that’s the way I like to do things. Especially with a character who is as extreme as Noble.
It sounds like you went to the edge. What was your mindset like to keep that up?
I have to admit there were times during this process where I had to ask myself, “What is your problem?” There was nobody asking me to push it to that level. There was really no reason I was so beat up by the end of the shoot [that] I couldn’t even sit at the dinner table. I was lying on the floor with my dinner plate next to me because I destroyed my back the day before. Hitting a few painkillers, then going back to do the job again the next day.
I have massive respect for bodybuilders and the fighters who train in my gym. But for most of them, they are prepping for their competition for a certain amount of weeks and they’re doing one well-timed water cut. I was doing this for seven months, and doing water cut after water cut for the scenes that needed it. This was a different kind of hell. I couldn’t show one body on camera, then not show the same thing in the next scene. I was using water and salt to get the exact look I needed. One day I’m doing seven pages of dialogue fully suited up in a military uniform, and a few days later I’m completely undressed, showing everything.
Do you think the mental part of training that hard affected how you played the character?
I looked unhinged on-screen, and I probably was a little unhinged from all of the overtraining I was doing. I don’t believe the performance would have been quite as good if I hadn’t taken it to that level, and when I see the book of photos that Zack Snyder shot, I had no idea my body could even look like that. In the end, it was worth it. And it’s made me enjoy training even more.
These days I’m still working out six days a week, and I have my nutrition locked in. In my garden, I have steel maces and kettlebells, which I was taught to use by my crew at Onnit. And now if I want to have an old fashioned, I’ll have an old fashioned. Maybe a glass of the whiskey Zack founded, which he gave to me after wrap…have a little excess to toast the times of minimalism. I’ll probably open that when the extended version of Rebel Moon comes out. Host a little party.
Ed Skrein Rebel Moon Workout: The Routine That Got Him Shredded Down to 5% Body Fat
Directions
This is a sample chest, back, and core day Skrein did with trainer Matt Lovell in London before hitting the Rebel Moon set. This kind of programming was paired with long martial arts sessions with muay Thai coach Yusuf Ali-Taleb. Be explosive in the concentric phase of the lift (when you flex or lift weight up), then go slow and controlled on the eccentric phase (lowering).
Begin with a dynamic warmup, then move into the warmup sets, completing 2 rounds with a kettlebell. The workout comprises 10 exercises total, paired in supersets, meaning you’ll perform both exercises back-to-back with no rest in between. The supersets are done with a descending rep count, while adding 20 pounds of weight before beginning the next superset. Rest for 30 seconds between each superset.
Warmup
Directions: Perform 2 sets. Rest for 30 seconds between each set.
1. Goblet Squats x 10 Reps
How to Do It
Stand with feet shoulder-width apart and toes pointed out slightly, to start.
Clean a kettlebell to your chest with both hands on the horns.
Engage your core and hinge your hips to lower slowly into a squat, keeping your spine neutral.
Pause at the bottom, then explode up to the starting position.
That’s 1 rep.
2. Single-Leg Deadlift x 10 Reps Each Side
How to Do It
Stand with a kettlebell in your right hand, resting in front of your thigh, palm facing you, to start.
Hinge at the waist as you bring your right leg straight back, maintaining a soft bend in your left leg as you slowly lower the weight toward the ground.
Stop when the kettlebell reaches your shin and your torso is parallel to the ground.
Push through your left leg and explosively extend through hips to stand.
That’s 1 rep. In the second set of 10 reps, switch arms.
Perform 5 rounds of each superset below before moving to the next superset, increasing the weight by 10 pounds for each weighted exercise, before doing the next set. Rest 30 seconds between supersets.
1A. Dumbbell Bench Press x 15, 12, 10, 8, 6 Reps
How to Do It
Sit on a flat bench holding two dumbbells on your thighs with a neutral grip, to start.
Kick your knees up to hoist the bells over your chest as you lie down.
Slowly lower the dumbbells to your chest, then explosively press them up driving your feet into the ground.
That’s 1 rep.
1B. Chinups x 15, 12, 10, 8, 6 Reps
How to Do It
Stand below a pullup bar, to start.
Grasp the bar with an underhand grip with hands shoulder-width apart (or wider).
Engage your lats by pulling your shoulder blades down your back, then engage your biceps to pull your body up until your chin is over the bar, keeping your core engaged and eyes forward throughout.
Pause at the top, then slowly lower down to a dead hang. That’s 1 rep.
Sit on an adjustable weight bench, set at a 45-degree angle, holding two dumbbells on your thighs with a neutral grip, to start.
Kick your knees up to hoist the dumbbells into position and lie back against the bench.
Inhale, then press the bells straight overhead until arms are fully extended, exhaling at the top.
Pause briefly, then slowly lower to the start position. That’s 1 rep.
2B. Lat Pulldown x 15, 12, 10, 8, 6 Reps
How to Do It
Sit down at a lat pulldown machine with knees bent and feet firmly planted on the ground, to start.
With an overhand grip, grab the handle with hands just wider than shoulder-width apart.
Engage your core and pull your shoulder blades down your back, then slightly lean back as you explosively pull the bar down until it hits the top of your chest.
Pause briefly, squeezing your shoulder blades together, then slowly let the weight return to the start position. That’s 1 rep.
3A. Dumbbell Pullover x 15, 12, 10, 8, 6 Reps
How to Do It
Lie flat on a bench holding a dumbbell with arms straight over your chest, to start.
Keeping your upper arms in the same position, slowly lower the weight until your elbows are bent 90 degrees. This targets the lats.
Conversely, you can keep your arms straight and pull the dumbbell behind your head to hit the pecs and serrates anterior.
Explosively pull your arms back to the start position, straightening your elbows. That’s 1 rep.
3B. Behind-the-Neck Chinup x 15, 12, 10, 8, 6 Reps
How to Do It
Stand below a pullup bar, to start.
Grasp the bar with an underhand grip with hands shoulder-width apart (or wider).
Engage your lats by pulling your shoulder blades down your back, then engage your biceps to pull your body up.
Instead of a traditional chinup, bring your head forward while keeping your neck straight, so the bar touches the back of your neck.
Pause briefly at the top, then lower to the start position in a controlled manner. That’s 1 rep.