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Today’s Health Upgrade

• The “real” anti-inflammatory diet

• Red flag: organic and plant-based proteins (and the exceptions)

• Stronger women live longer

• When changing your diet causes friction in the household

Reader Question 
A Better Way to Judge Your Diet

The Question: I’m worried about inflammation. Is there one food I should be eating to protect myself?

“Anti-inflammatory” has become a shortcut for “healthy.” The problem is that inflammation is one piece of health, and individual foods rarely behave as neatly as the lists suggest.

A Harvard team showed why by building an inflammation-scoring system using diet records and blood tests from thousands of participants.

If you want to improve your health, your eating habits matter far more than whether any single food earns an “anti-inflammatory” label.

The researchers started with diet records and blood tests from thousands of people. They looked at 39 food groups and asked a simple question: Which ones were most common in the diets of people with higher or lower levels of three inflammation markers?

Eighteen food groups helped distinguish between the two, so the researchers combined them into one score for a person’s overall diet. 

People with the highest pro-inflammatory diet scores had inflammation markers roughly 23 to 52 percent higher than those with the lowest scores.

The study never tested whether individual foods caused those differences. That’s why some of the rankings seem backward: coffee, tea, wine, and pizza appeared on the lower-inflammation side, while tomatoes and some fish appeared on the higher side.

That doesn’t mean pizza fights inflammation or tomatoes cause it. The study didn’t feed people individual foods and measure what happened. It observed their diets. 

A food could score well because people who ate more of it tended to have healthier diets overall. Another could score poorly because it frequently appeared alongside less healthy habits.

In other words, these scores identify eating patterns better than they judge the food on your plate.

This is why chasing “anti-inflammatory” foods can make nutrition more confusing than it needs to be. 

You can eat blueberries, turmeric, and salmon while the rest of your diet works against you. You can also eat a food that appears on someone’s inflammatory list without harming an otherwise solid diet.

For better health, zoom out. Eat more vegetables and leafy greens. Cut back on processed meats, refined grains, and sugary drinks. Focus on food categories without stressing calories, and you'll see results.

Start with one change you can repeat, like adding a vegetable to dinner or swapping an afternoon soda for coffee or tea. Your normal week tells you much more about your diet than any single food does.

Together With Momentous 
The Protein Powder Label That Matters Isn’t on the Front

You’d think the organic plant protein would be the clean one. It comes with the earthy tub, the farm photo, and “organic” in big letters. When it comes to heavy metals, it’s a sleight of hand.

Neither “plant” nor “organic” tells you what’s in your scoop. The only label that does is a third-party test.

Start with plant protein. A recent study tested 56 plant powders sold in Europe: pea, soy, and other plant sources. Cadmium averaged about five times higher than the levels the same research group previously found in animal-based powders. 

And that shouldn’t be a surprise. Plants pull metals from the soil, and turning a pea into powder concentrates whatever comes along with it. 

But levels also varied widely by protein source, and with one 30-gram scoop a day of plant protein, nothing crossed safe intake limits.

However, if you’re taking a non-third-party certified plant protein powder that doesn’t test for heavy metals, pushing to two or three scoops a day and some minerals started creeping past recommended levels. 

The lesson: Some plant powders are fine, and some aren’t. The category won’t tell you which. The brand's investment in testing (which is very expensive) is the only safeguard you have.

Organic is murkier. USDA organic rules cover how a crop is grown, like no synthetic pesticides. They don’t require testing the finished powder for lead or cadmium. One watchdog group found organic powders carried more lead than conventional ones, but it didn’t name the products, release its data, or submit the work for peer review, so treat that as a flag, not a fact. 

Either way, organic is a farming standard. It’s not a purity test.

So what do you do?

The easy answer, if you don’t have dietary limitations, is to select a whey powder. It tends to carry less cadmium than plant powders and, in US testing, less lead, too. Picking vanilla over chocolate is a cheap hedge, too, since cocoa brings its own metals.

The better answer, especially if you use protein powder every day, is to buy one that’s been tested by someone who isn’t selling it. 

NSF Certified for Sport and Informed Sport both screen for heavy metals. Some brands also post an independent lab's certificate of analysis on their website. If they won’t show you the numbers, that says something, too.

If you’re plant-based and want to stay that way, find a certified protein powder and keep scooping. They tend to be more expensive, but that’s because they are investing in your safety and peace of mind. 

That’s why we recommend Momentous. They have the highest standard we’ve found for quality, purity, and safety. So whether you have 1 scoop or multiple scoops, you can feel confident that the protein you’re feeding your muscles isn’t harming your body. 

Momentous Whey Protein Isolate and 100% Plant Protein powders are NSF Certified for Sport, and every batch is tested for heavy metals, harmful additives, and label accuracy. That isn’t a one-time stamp. Each batch gets checked.

The whey is an isolate from grass-fed European cows raised without hormones or rBST. It’s cold-processed and micro-filtered, and Momentous adds ProHydrolase, a digestive enzyme, so it sits easier in your stomach. 

The plant protein pairs PURIS pea with organic brown rice, both sourced in the U.S. Pea runs a little light on certain amino acids, and rice fills that gap, so you get a complete profile at 20 grams per scoop. No gums. No fillers. Two grams of sugar.

Pump Club readers get up to 35% off all Momentous products with code PUMPCLUB. Choose whey or plant, whichever fits your diet.

Either way, you’ll know what’s in the scoop (and what’s not). And that’s what really matters.

Longevity
Why Stronger Women Live Longer

Some people treat strength training like dessert. An added bonus once you’ve handled walking and cardio.

A big study of older women suggests strength deserves its own spot, not the leftovers.

Even among women who fell short of the standard 150 minutes a week of moderate-to-vigorous activity, stronger women were associated with a lower death risk.

Researchers followed more than 5,000 women aged 63 to 99 (average age 79) for about eight years. Each woman squeezed a grip dynamometer, timed five chair stands without using her hands, and wore an activity tracker on her hip for a week. That last part matters. Most older studies just asked people how much they moved.

Those with the strongest grip (above about 24 kg, roughly 53 pounds) had about 30% lower risk than those with the weakest (under 14 kg). That’s after the researchers accounted for measured activity, sitting time, and existing health problems. Adding walking speed or inflammation didn’t change the picture.

The results held whether grip was measured raw or scaled to body size, and they held for women who met activity guidelines and those who didn’t.

Women in the slowest group for the chair sits (about 17 seconds or longer) had the highest risk, but once health conditions were factored in, the steady second-by-second relationship disappeared. The authors suggest that the test may mostly reflect overall health, not muscle.

For the record, men show the same pattern. An older study of nearly 9,000 men aged 20 to 80 tested strength with max bench and leg presses and fitness with a treadmill test, then tracked them for about 19 years. 

After adjusting for age, the weakest third died at roughly 1.5 times the rate of the stronger two-thirds, and the link held after accounting for cardio fitness. 

And yes, in February we covered a study where muscle power beat grip. Different tests, different people, same direction. Muscle is its own pillar.

That’s why the physical activity guidelines call for strength work at least twice a week.

To be clear, this has nothing to do with training grip. A strong grip comes from the rest of your body getting stronger.

If you need help building a training plan around your goals and lifestyle, whether you want to train 2 days per week or 5, or whether you’re in your 20s or 70s, the Pump Club app can help. 

Better Questions, Better Solutions 
The Person Across the Dinner Table

Deciding to eat better is hard enough on your own. Doing it while you share a kitchen with someone who never agreed to the plan adds a layer of complication.

Meals can become a small negotiation.

Underneath the logistics sits a bigger worry. According to emails we get each week from our readers, many people fear, at least a little, that their health goals might put distance between them and the person they love most.

Old Question: How do I get my partner on board with eating healthier?
Better Question: What can I change that makes the healthy choice easier for both of us, without asking them to change or making them feel left behind?

Food in a shared home carries more weight than calories. It’s routine and comfort, and for many couples, it’s how they take care of each other.

So when you suggest a change, your partner can hear a critique of their cooking or their body, even when you mean nothing of the kind. People defend what feels criticized, which is why pushing so often produces pushback.

The better question moves your focus to what you already control. You leave their choices alone and change the environment you both eat in.

Your own change might be the best way to get others around you to change, especially when you’re trying to accomplish something you haven’t before.

Researchers followed married and cohabiting couples aged 50 and older. Among men who smoked, 48% quit when their wife quit too, compared with 8% when she kept smoking. Exercise and weight loss showed the same pattern.

A partner who had always been healthy carried less influence than one who had just changed. Watching someone you love take on something hard and stick with it seems to pull the other person along.

There’s a flip side, though. When one person starts changing, the other can quietly wonder where that leaves them.

When researchers interviewed couples where one partner had lost significant weight, most said the relationship got better. But some of the partners who hadn’t changed admitted they felt threatened. A few pushed back with criticism, or by bringing home the foods their partner was trying to avoid. The goal wasn’t cruelty. It was keeping things the way they were.

That’s rarely about food. It’s about being left behind. 

If you’re getting up early, ordering differently, and talking about protein, your partner may hear: You’re becoming someone I don’t recognize, and maybe someone who won’t need me.

So don’t ignore those feelings. Talk them out with language that explains how the new you strengthens your future together, like, “I’m doing this so I feel better and stick around longer with you.” 

Keep the rituals that belong to the two of you, like Friday pizza or the Sunday breakfast spot. Change what you do, not who you do it with.

The rest is a mix of art and science.

The science is simple: eat better. The art is doing it without making home feel foreign. Think about expanding the comfort zone rather than leaving it entirely.

For example, keep their two favorite dinners in the rotation and build your plate from the same meal, with an extra vegetable side on the table for anyone who wants it.

You also don’t have to toss out all their favorite foods to make healthier choices more accessible. Put cut fruit and washed vegetables at eye level in the fridge, and move the snacks you’re trying to avoid to a higher shelf or out of sight. Once a week, ask them to join you for a 15-minute walk after dinner, and go whether they come or not. It’s an open door, not a test.

Through it all, it’s not really about discussing what’s on their plate or creating a judgmental environment.

Your job is to create a better path for your future together and pique their curiosity to join you for the ride.

The Positive Corner of The Internet
About Arnold’s Pump Club Editorial Standards

We do things a bit differently here, starting with transparency.

1. The Content: All APC emails are researched, written, and fact-checked by the APC editors (see bottom of the email), with written contributions from Arnold (noted with “Arnold’s Corner”). Links take you to original studies (not second-hand sources).

2. Does AI play a role? Not for the primary content, but we use it in two ways. The main items are original content written by the APC team. The summaries at the end are AI-generated based on the human-written content above. We also use an AI tool to edit and review our interpretations of the research, ensuring scientific accuracy. We don’t assume AI is right, but we use technology to hold ourselves accountable.

3. Yes, we have partners (all clearly noted by “Together With”). Why? Because it allows us to keep the APC emails free. We first test products, and then reach out to potential partners who offer ways to help you improve every day. The bar is set high, and to date, we have turned down millions in ad deals. (Example: we will not partner with any non-certified supplements or those without evidence in human trials). If we won’t buy the product, we won’t recommend it to you. And if there’s no evidence it works, then there’s no place for it here.

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Publisher: Arnold Schwarzenegger​

Editors-in-chief: Adam Bornstein and Daniel Ketchell