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There are certain questions in life — about relationships, work or health — that can feel too intimate to ask even a friend.
Sometimes, though, you’re just wondering: Does hot water with lemon really have health benefits?
Well, maybe, according to experts — but it’s not a miracle drink, as some social media influencers might have you believe.
That answer came from nutrition experts featured in Ask Well, a New York Times column that aims to fill in the gaps surrounding health topics like allergies, microplastics, toxic chemicals in home goods and depression.
Julia Calderone, the column’s editor, fields questions submitted by readers or posed by colleagues. She then taps journalists from the Well section or health and science freelance writers to report the answers, with the help of experts and research. The column, which publishes every Tuesday morning, aims to provide a judgment-free zone for people to pose even their most personal health concerns. (The questions are published anonymously.)
In an interview, Ms. Calderone spoke about how she picks questions, what topics she won’t assign and what she hopes people take away from the column. This interview has been edited and condensed.
Do you look for questions that are topical? Or is it whatever strikes your interest?
It’s a combination. Sometimes, it’s seasonal — like if we’re in allergy season, I’ll look for questions around allergies. Then it’s based on what we’ve published in the past and what we’re running that month.
I try to create a nice mix. One week I’ll do mental health; another week, I’ll do nutrition. I try to have a good variety. I also look at what other stories we published in the Well section that week to make sure there’s no overlap.
Do you notice general themes with reader questions?
Often what will happen is we’ll publish an Ask Well and then readers will ask more questions about that topic. One that was really popular was “How Much Advil Is Too Much?” Then we heard: “Do it for Tylenol.” We get a lot of those thematic questions.
If there’s something happening in the news, we’ll get a lot of questions around it. If ultraprocessed foods are in the news, for example, we’ll get a ton of ultraprocessed questions, or stuff related to Robert F. Kennedy Jr., like, are food dyes or seed oils going to kill me?
When you assign an Ask Well column, is there a stable of experts that you rely on? Or do reporters research people to speak with each time?
It depends on the topic. Everyone we work with is an established health and science reporter — this is what they do, and they’ve been doing it for many years. They all have their own vetted experts that they rely on.
This didn’t happen with a story, but if someone reached out to a chef and asked, “Does lemon water have health benefits?” The chef is not an expert on the health benefits. I’d say, “You need to find someone with a Ph.D. who has studied this, or maybe a dietitian.” But our reporters know how to find good experts.
Are there any questions that you won’t assign?
There are some stories I won’t assign because I know that there’s no way we’ll be able to have nuanced conversations about the topics in 850 words.
There was a recent pitch about the health risks of hair straighteners like Brazilian Blowouts and keratin smoothing treatments, many of which contain formaldehyde. The question is, How can I think about the risk of getting these treatments? Much of the science is not clear, and a lot of it is very preliminary. We really don’t know much about the true health risks.
I don’t think we could take the reader through the science and the nuance of this topic in 850 words, and I don’t think we could answer the question in a helpful way.
Have you read a question that made you raise an eyebrow?
We did one recently on dental X-rays. I grew up in the ’80s and ’90s, and the technology then was a lot different; you were exposed to more radiation. This reader asked if getting dental X-rays at regular checkups would increase the risk of cancer. Going into the story, I thought, For sure, it’s bad for you and it might cause cancer. Actually, I learned through the reporting and the story that the technology is a lot better now, and you’re exposed to much less radiation than you used to be, and at levels far lower than what is considered risky for cancer.
It’s such a good example of a simple question that probably many people have when they go to the dentist. Addressing it gives people peace of mind that they probably otherwise wouldn’t have.
Would you say that’s the mission of Ask Well?
It’s letting people know that they’re not alone in having health questions that are sometimes really intimate or maybe embarrassing to ask. Sometimes they don’t want to ask their doctors or people in their family. Submitting a form semi-anonymously maybe feels a little bit easier.
Ask Well stories are some of our most popular stories. So, clearly, lots of people have these questions that they’re maybe too afraid to ask or didn’t think to ask, and we’re supplying that service.
Do you have a question for our health and science editors? Ask us here.