Welcome to the positive corner of the internet. Every weekday, we make sense of the confusing world of wellness by analyzing the headlines, simplifying the latest research, and offering quick tips designed to make you healthier in less than 5 minutes. If you were forwarded this message, you can get the free daily email here.
Today’s Health Upgrade
Number you won’t forget
What’s your sleep fitness?
Weekly wisdom
Dementia is on the rise (here’s what you can do about it)
Arnold’s Podcast
Want more stories from Arnold? Every day, Arnold’s Pump Club Podcast opens with a story, perspective, and wisdom from Arnold that you won’t find in the newsletter. And, you’ll hear a recap of the day’s items. You can subscribe on Apple, Spotify, Google, or wherever you listen to podcasts.
Longevity
Number You Won’t Forget: 48 Percent
You’ve been told to aim for 7 to 9 hours of sleep per night. And you might even be aware of the dangers of sleeping fewer than 6 hours per night.
But it’s not just about how long you sleep, but also when you shut down for the night.
A new study suggests that sticking to a consistent sleep schedule could be the key to a longer life.
Scientists reviewed approximately 10 million hours of sleep-tracking data from more than 60,000 adults over 8 years to analyze the relationship between sleep schedules and longevity.
To no one’s surprise, people who got more sleep tended to live longer. But, the data suggests that sleep regularity — or how consistent people are with their bedtime and wake-up schedules — was even more predictive of mortality risk.
Participants with highly irregular sleep schedules (those whose sleep and wake times varied by more than 90 minutes across a week) had up to a 48 percent higher risk of mortality compared to those with consistent schedules.
It’s likely because all risk factors increased with irregular sleep schedules. Regular sleeping patterns were associated with a 16 to 39 percent lower risk of cancer mortality and a 22 to 57 percent lower risk of cardiometabolic mortality.
Irregular sleep disrupts your body’s circadian rhythm, the internal clock that regulates everything from hormone production to digestion.
When your sleep schedule is unpredictable, upsetting your circadian rhythm can increase inflammation, impair metabolic health, leading to conditions like diabetes and heart disease, and reduce immune system efficiency, making it harder for your body to fight off illness.
In other words, your body craves consistency. And an erratic sleep schedule can wreak havoc on your body’s ability to maintain equilibrium, even if you’re technically “getting enough sleep,”
While you won’t be perfect every night, the data suggest going to bed within the same 1-hour window each night, weekends included.
Together With Eight Sleep
Are You Prioritizing Sleep Fitness?
If a consistent sleep schedule is an important part of longevity — your bed is the key to helping you take your sleep to the next level?
The Eight Sleep Pod is scientifically proven to make you fall asleep faster, stay asleep longer, and wake up refreshed.
Their beds have mastered the art of perfect temperature control. The Pod keeps you and your partner at your ideal temperature all night, ensuring tailored adjustments for deeper, more restorative sleep. The Pod even reduces snoring with automated elevation changes that don’t require any wearables.
Its intelligent sensors track your sleep and vitals, fitting over your mattress like a fitted sheet. The result? The Eight Sleep is a bed that adapts to you. Wake up naturally with a gentle vibration and temperature shift, leaving noisy alarms behind.
Sleep fitness is the missing piece to achieving peak performance and health — and Eight Sleep delivers. The nearly 1 million members of the Pump Club loved it so much that it won our 2024 “Product of the Year.”
And maybe it should be no surprise as the bed helped thousands of you fall asleep faster, stay asleep longer, and increase deep and REM sleep:
As a member of Arnold’s Pump Club, you can get up to $350 off the Pod 4 when you use the code “pumpclub.” It comes with a 30-night trial, a 5-year warranty, free shipping and returns, and financing options, and it’s even eligible for payment with HSA/FSA. Try Eight Sleep today and wake up stronger tomorrow.
Weekly Wisdom
Health
Dementia Is on the Rise (Here’s What To Do About It)
Dementia is one of the fastest-growing health challenges in the world, and it’s no longer just a concern for older generations.
A new study published in Nature Medicine reveals the lifetime risk of dementia is higher than many realize — and might only get worse. The latest projections suggest nearly 40 percent of all adults over 55 in the United States will develop dementia at some point during their life.
The findings imply the number of newly diagnosed cases will double from around 500,000 to about 1 million annually over the next 35 years.
But it’s not all bad news. Some of the increase is because people are living longer, and the older you live, the more you increase your risk for a neurodegenerative disease.
More importantly, you can reduce your risk by addressing and preventing other health issues, such as diabetes and high blood pressure. These problems increase the risk of blood vessel damage. Beyond physical health, you also strengthen your brain. Studies have found that an active brain can help protect against brain changes linked to problems like Alzheimer’s.
If you play the numbers game, up to 40 percent of dementia cases could be prevented or delayed by addressing modifiable risk factors like physical inactivity, poor diet, smoking, and unmanaged chronic conditions like diabetes and hypertension.
If you want to keep your brain healthy, here are things you can do to reduce your risk:
Stay Active: Regular physical exercise can improve blood flow to the brain and reduce dementia risk by up to 30 percent.
Eat for Brain Health: Enjoy fruits, vegetables, whole grains, fish, and healthy fats to support cognitive function.
Challenge Your Brain: Keep your mind sharp with activities like reading, puzzles, or learning new skills. Social engagement also plays a key role in maintaining brain health.
Manage Chronic Conditions: Control blood pressure, cholesterol, and blood sugar levels to reduce risk factors linked to cognitive decline.
Prioritize Sleep: Aim for 7–8 hours of quality sleep each night to give your brain the rest it needs for repair and regeneration.
Dementia risk may be rising, but the power to protect your brain health is in your hands.
Sneak Peak
Want to know what we’re thinking about for next week? Here are a few items we’re currently researching:
Are your protein powders filled with heavy metals?
Is a particular form of exercise best for brain health?
Dairy’s curious relationship with cancer.
Recovery techniques that actually work.
Legal blood doping?
Is there something you’ve read or a question you want answered? Tag us (Arnold, Adam, and Daniel), and tell us what’s on your mind. We want to ensure these emails help you all become a little better every day.
And that’s it for this week. Thank you for being a part of the positive corner of the internet. We hope you all have a fantastic weekend!
-Arnold, Adam, and Daniel
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Publisher: Arnold Schwarzenegger
Editors-in-chief: Adam Bornstein and Daniel Ketchell
