Have you ever considered what your default choices are? Perhaps in a typical busy day? What do you eat? Is what you eat good for you? Do you sleep well and enough? Do you have meaningful connections? Do you feel excited and motivated?

We think the current default for many of us is not aligned with what we actually need and want.

At Brightup Labs we aim to improve the default.

We aim to do this at scale, in ways that can help many people. Education, tools, research and any other ways we find worth doing.

We’re a new company and just getting started. Our first stop is looking at food. As well as doing research behind-the-scenes, we’re slowly working on an app for learning about ultra-processed foods and finding non-ultra-processed alternatives.

Who We Are

We’re Dr. Mihaela Apetroaie-Cristea (Mika) — an engineer-turned-yoga-teacher with a love for mindful living — and Dr. Vlad Velici (Vlad) — a computer scientist driven by curiosity and a good challenge.

Together, we’re on a mission to unpack what’s really going on with the foods we eat every day. From ultra-processed ingredients hidden behind long names to “healthy” snacks that aren’t quite what they seem, we explore the fascinating (and sometimes frustrating) reality behind modern food.

Blending our backgrounds in engineering, science, and wellness, we take a closer look at what ends up on our plates — and why.

We’re not here to fearmonger or preach, just to ask good questions, follow the science, and decode the food matrix one bite at a time.

Are we eating food — or formulas?
Let’s find out together.