This is Optimizer, a weekly newsletter from Verge senior reviewer Victoria Song dissecting the latest 'gizmos and potions' claiming to improve your life. At the Enhanced Games, elite athletes shared their secret cocktails of drugs, but only felt good.

How do we decide what’s safe for our bodies? Wellness influencers obsess over what goes in ours—driving a $6.8 trillion industry expected to grow. Yet, many decry vaccines while happily injecting unproven substances for strength or speed. Athlete James Magnussen raised eyebrows by equating his vaccinations with doping risks.

Hunter Armstrong, an unenhanced three-time Olympic medalist, won but questioned Enhanced’s practices. Financial incentives drove some athletes to dope, then sell products. Dr Guido Pieles revealed discrepancies between telehealth offerings and athlete usage, while CEO Maximilian Martin defended the company as a steward of safe performance enhancement.

The debate centres on bodily autonomy versus safety, especially in youth. The future may see more self-experimentation or just more desperate searches for that next magic pill.