The Bad Mood Buster

When you're feeling down, research suggests you can rewire your brain and lift your spirits in as little as 20 minutes.

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

  • The bad mood buster

  • An Arnold favorite

  • Feed your mental edge

  • Recipe of the week

Arnold’s Podcast

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The Bad Mood Buster

The next time you have trouble seeing a better future, take a page from Arnold’s morning routine. 

Research suggests that getting outdoors can boost your mood and help remove negative thoughts. 

Arnold starts each day by doing chores and feeding his animals. It’s part of his routine, but he also feels a little better each time he goes out. 

The benefits are not just in his head. Research found that being outdoors causes a significant drop in the stress hormone cortisol, as well as your perception of anxiety. 

And if you really want to feel better, go for a walk once you’re outside. Research suggests walking outdoors can improve memory, concentration, and focus, making you feel more hopeful and optimistic.

Just 20 minutes per day is all it took for mood-lifting improvements. And the icing on the cake? If you do that seven days per week, you’ll be close to the recommended 150 minutes of exercise per week, which is associated with longer life and less disease.

An Arnold Favorite

What do you get when you combine a love of protein, a member of the village, and the Weisswurst Party in Austria? A partnership that is as organic as Arnold's love of the pump.

We love partnering with companies that do good and offer products and services you'll enjoy. So when we found ourselves hanging with Jesse and Jeremy in Austria in January, we knew we had to make all of you aware of some of the best sausages we've tried. 

Schaller & Weber is a New York City icon, serving up meats since 1937 and cornering the market on charcuterie and Bavarian-style meats.

Anyone who has traveled to Munich or Austria with Arnold has learned about Weisswurst. It’s a tradition. The biggest party of the year in Austria during the Hahnenkamm Ski Race, is all about that white sausage. It’s a meat everybody eats together to celebrate. I’ll never forget Arnold teaching me how to cut down the site of the sausage, peel it, and then eat it with that delicious mustard.

Bavarian Weisswurst is a true old-world sausage and the king of Oktoberfest. Everyday celebration-goers can be found by the thousands enjoying a Weisswurst with a sweet Bavarian-style mustard and an authentic Bayern beer. Replicating the original style, Schaller & Weber Weisswurst is a finely ground mix of pork flavored with parsley and mildly spiced. The resulting pale color is what originally earned it the nickname “Weisswurst.” Whatever name you use, this sausage will turn every meal into an Oktoberfest celebration. Prost!

There are very few producers in America who make a true Bavarian-Style Weisswurst. Schaller & Weber does, and they have numerous gold medals to prove it. Their quality has earned awards in both Germany and Austria, most recently at the 2022 Deutsche Fleisch Verband / American Association of Meat Producers competition in Frankfurt. But the really cool thing about Schaller & Weber is that they combine their old-school recipes with new-school values. Their Weisswurst (and pretty much everything else) is made with humanely raised, vegetarian-fed, antibiotic-free meat and with no artificial ingredients, so you can treat yourself and feel good about it.

Schaller & Weber also makes delicious grab-and-go salami sticks, which we’ve been enjoying. As a member of the positive corner of the internet, use the code PUMPCLUB20 on anything in their store to get 20% OFF. But, if you want something special, make sure you try the Weisswurst.

Feed Your Mental Edge

Cognitive decline is a part of aging — but it doesn’t have to be that way. In addition to resistance training and daily movement (think walking), you might be able to eat your way to a stronger brain. 

Research suggests eating fish can help protect your memory and intelligence as you age. 

The magic appears in DHA, an omega-3 fatty acid found in fish that plays a key role in brain development and health and fights against brain-related decline. Prior research found that people aged 35 to 54 with higher levels of DHA performed better on reasoning tests, had more mental flexibility, and had better working memory. That’s because DHA can help your brain cells communicate more effectively and fight off inflammation. 

In the most recent study, those who ate more omega-3 had increased brain volume in the structure (the hippocampus) that influences learning and memory. They also showed better abstract reasoning and reduced incidence of cardiovascular disease and dementia. 

In general, research suggests eating fish at least two times per week (a four or six-ounce serving) can provide the DHA levels that might help your brain. While fish oil supplements were not tested specifically, about 2,000 milligrams of DHA per week is comparable to what you’d find in the fish. 

Recipe of the Week

You might not eat fish often — but now you might want to add it for the potential brain benefits. Here’s a quick, easy, and delicious recipe that gets the job done. We’re using halibut because it’s higher in DHA, but other fish work too. Enjoy these fish tacos!

Ingredients

  • 6 small corn tortillas

  • 2 halibut fillets

  • 1 tbsp olive oil

  • Salt

  • Pepper

  • ¼ red onion, cut into cubbed

  • 1 bunch of cilantro, finely cut

  • 1 lime

  • 1 quarter red cabbage, shredded

  • ½ avocado sliced

Instructions

  1. Preheat the oven to 325F.

  2. Lay the fish on a baking tray. Drizzle olive oil. Sprinkle salt and pepper.

  3. Roast the fish for 12 minutes.

  4. Add the onion, cilantro, lemon juice, and olive oil to a bowl. Sprinkle salt and pepper.

  5. In a pan on medium-high heat, dry heat the tortilla.

  6. Once cooked, flake the fish. Add the fish to a tortilla and add a spoonful of the vegetable mix from the bowl. Top with cabbage and avocado.

  7. Enjoy!

Publisher: Arnold Schwarzenegger

Editors-in-chief: Adam Bornstein and Daniel Ketchell