How To Live To 100

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Today’s Health Upgrade: Living Longer

• How to live to 100

• Coffee vs. pre-workout

• Recipe of the week

How To Live To 100

Did you know that only .03 percent of Americans live to 100? If you want to become a super-ager, a new study suggests it’s not just what you do earlier in life that matters. 

Researchers found that practicing three behaviors after the age of 80 might have the greatest impact on helping you reach the century club. 

Scientists reviewed data from the Chinese Longitudinal Healthy Database, an ongoing 25-year study of older individuals. For this study, they analyzed more than 5,000 people to assess lifestyle behaviors that helped those over 80 live until 100 (and beyond). 

They found the following three behaviors to have the most significant impact:

• Not smoking (25 percent increase in the likelihood of reaching 100)

• Consistent exercise (31 percent increase in the likelihood of reaching 100)

• Dietary diversity (23 percent increase in the likelihood of reaching 100)

The participants who practiced all three behaviors hit the longevity jackpot and had a 66 percent greater chance of becoming centenarians.  

Trending Down: Pre-Workout Hype

Could strong black coffee be as effective as a fully loaded pre-workout formula? 

Recent research suggests that good old caffeine delivers a similar performance boost to an eight-ingredient pre-workout supplement. 

The scientists focused on improving maximum repetitions using near-maximum weights. Participants completed as many reps as possible on one set of leg press using 80 to 85 percent of their 1-rep max and maximum reps on the bench press using 75 percent of their 1-rep maximum. 

There was no difference between using 200 mg of caffeine (the equivalent of about 2 cups of coffee) and a supplement that included popular pre-workout ingredients such as citrulline malate (8,000 mg), beta-alanine (4,000 mg), betaine (2,500 mg), taurine (1,300 mg), L-tyrosine (1,000 mg), alpha-GPC (300 mg), L-theanine (200 mg), and caffeine (200 mg).

Does that mean there’s no benefit to pre-workout? That would be overstating what was examined. The study was designed to test a single set of maximum reps at a heavy weight on one upper and lower body exercise. Some supplements are designed to help with endurance, fatigue, and work capacity (more reps and sets across an entire workout). So, if you’re focused on maximum strength, caffeine could be all you need for a pre-workout boost. If you have other goals — such as muscle gain — some supplements (such as creatine monohydrate) still offer benefits. 

But it’s a reminder that many supplement ingredients are overhyped, or the products you purchase have good ingredients but an active dose that’s too low to make a difference. 

Recipe of The Week: Sliders

Burgers and a healthy gut. It might sound contradictory, but this recipe could help make it happen. These sliders give you all the enjoyment of a great burger with unique toppings designed to compliment the flavor and feed your gut with fermented foods and probiotics. 

Protein and probiotics. The burger you never knew you needed.

Ingredients (makes 8 burgers; 2 burgers per serving)

• 1 lb beef (preferably 90-94 percent lean or from the high-protein, low-saturated fat options from Maui Nui)

• ½ tsp. garlic powder

• ¼ tsp. cumin

• ½ tsp. salt

• ¼ tsp. black pepper

• 8 whole wheat or sourdough slider buns (think >3 grams of fiber per serving)

• 2 tsp. grass-fed butter

Chipotle Yogurt Spread

• ½ cup plain Skyr or Greek yogurt, full-fat

• 3 chipotle peppers in adobo (canned)

• 1/2 fresh lemon juice

• 2 tbsp ketchup

• salt, to taste

Additional Toppings

• Sauerkraut

• Pickle

Directions

1. Preheat skillet to medium-high heat and lightly grease with butter.

2. Add the ground beef and spices to a medium mixing bowl. Mix together and form into small patties, about 2 oz. each (half the size of a normal patty). Gently make an indent in the center of each with your thumb.

3. Add patties to the skillet. Cook for about 2 minutes per side. Remove from heat and set aside when finished.

4. In a small food processor or blender, add the chipotle spread ingredients. Pulse until smooth.

5. Lightly toast the slider buns. Top each bun with chipotle spread, the burger, and sauerkraut. Enjoy!

Macros per serving (pending fat percentage used in your burger)

375 calories, 15g fat, 30g carbs, 30g protein

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Publisher: Arnold Schwarzenegger​

Editors-in-chief: Adam Bornstein and Daniel Ketchell