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Today’s Health Upgrade
The Blue Zone scam?
Collagen’s big limitation
Over-stressed and under-slept? Do this.
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Health
The Blue Zone Scam?
The “Blue Zones” have long been considered the holy grail of longevity — geographic areas where people appear healthier and live significantly longer lives.
But now, a Nobel Prize winner suggests that the regions might be too good to be true.
New research suggests that the longer lifespans found in Blue Zones are not due to healthy behaviors but to birth certificate fraud and poor census management.
The shocking discovery was made by Saul Justin Newman, an Ig Nobel Prize winner and senior research fellow at the University College London Centre for Longitudinal Studies.
Newman was able to track down 80 percent of every person on record aged 110 or older. Instead of learning their healthy living secrets, he found something much more shocking, as outlined in this fascinating article. These “longevity hot spots” were created by poor record-keeping.
Of those, almost none have a birth certificate. In the US there are over 500 of these (110 year-old) people; seven have a birth certificate. Even worse, only about 10% have a death certificate.
The epitome of this is blue zones, which are regions where people supposedly reach age 100 at a remarkable rate. For almost 20 years, they have been marketed to the public. They’re the subject of tons of scientific work, a popular Netflix documentary, tons of cookbooks about things like the Mediterranean diet, and so on.
Okinawa in Japan is one of these zones. There was a Japanese government review in 2010, which found that 82% of the people aged over 100 in Japan turned out to be dead. The secret to living to 110 was, don’t register your death.
The Japanese government has run one of the largest nutritional surveys in the world, dating back to 1975. From then until now, Okinawa has had the worst health in Japan. They’ve eaten the least vegetables; they’ve been extremely heavy drinkers.
And it’s not just in Japan. In Greece, another Blue Zone, Newman found that 72 percent of centenarians were dead, missing, or part of pension fraud.
We’ve often warned about magic pills for longevity, but even we didn’t see this coming.
Does that mean all findings about the Blue Zones are worthless? Not exactly.
Many of the traits linked to Blue Zones — such as moving more, social connection, having a purpose, eating more plants, and stressing less — are supported by additional studies and are very likely to support better health and longevity.
Nutrition
Collagen’s Big Limitation
Collagen is one of the hottest supplements for hair, skin, nails, and joint health. Because it’s a protein, many assume it can be used for post-workout recovery. But that’s not the case.
Several studies have found that collagen is not a useful protein source for supporting muscle growth.
A recent randomized controlled trial added 50 grams of protein to participants’ diets from either whey protein, pea protein, or collagen powder.
The researchers found that consuming either whey protein or pea protein increased muscle protein synthesis by 9 percent but supplementing with collagen protein had no effect.
These results make sense because collagen is an incomplete protein, lacking many essential amino acids. In particular, collagen contains very little of the amino acid leucine, which acts as a signal to stimulate muscle growth. Meanwhile, whey protein and pea protein are both good sources of leucine, which explains why these two proteins increase muscle protein synthesis.
If you want to try collagen for other reasons, make sure you pay close attention to the source.
Prior research suggests that the type of collagen you use might influence results because some forms of collagen aren’t as bioavailable as others. People who took type-II collagen for four months significantly improved joint function. Type-II collagen is digested differently than collagen peptides (what was used in the recent study), and it might offer more benefits because it’s better absorbed.
Together With Momentous
Over-Stressed And Under-Slept? Do This
You can’t always control when stress hits or when sleep goes sideways. But rather than feeling like a victim, you can give your brain some backup with one of its preferred sources of energy.
Research suggests that creatine can help protect your brain health and keep your mind sharp when you’re most overwhelmed and exhausted.
While creatine is usually discussed as a supplement, it’s actually naturally produced in the body and fuels your brain and muscles.
Like so many other processes in your body, once stress gets a little too heavy, everything starts functioning a little worse. And when you’re metabolically stressed— such as when you’re sleep-deprived — your brain burns through creatine much faster, which can harm mental performance.
Studies suggest that supplementing with creatine can help you stay sharp, boost memory and focus, and even support better mood.
Momentous is our go-to creatine because they invest in rigorously testing and independently certifying all products. When it comes to quality control, they leave nothing to chance to ensure that what’s on the label is what’s in the product that arrives at your door, which is badly missing in most supplement companies.
If you want to try Momentous Creatine, use the code PUMPCLUB at checkout. As a member of the positive corner of the internet, you receive 20% OFF each order.
While most research shows that 3 to 5 grams of creatine per day helps your muscles, you might need more to benefit your brain. Research suggests 10 grams of creatine might be the sweet spot for cognitive benefits. You can take in one serving, or you might want to take once in the morning and again at night.
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Publisher: Arnold Schwarzenegger
Editors-in-chief: Adam Bornstein and Daniel Ketchell
