Do You Need To Cut Out Meat To Protect Your Heart?

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 recovery playlist

• The real issue with oils

• Do you need to remove meat to protect your heart?

Fitness 
How To Optimize Your Playlist For Recovery

You might think a good playlist can only help you push harder in the gym, but you might be missing out if you’re not focusing on what to listen to after your workout.

Research on nearly 100 studies suggests the right type of music can help you recover faster from your workouts.

When you think about your workout playlist, you probably plan what to play during your training. After all, research suggests that music can help you perform extra reps, train longer, improve endurance, and increase strength.

But what you listen to after your workout might offer the most benefits.

The right post-workout mix can do everything from reducing the perception of fatigue to improving hormones supporting recovery and removing byproducts from training that contribute to muscle soreness.

One study found that listening to slower music (around 70 beats per minute) for a half-hour post-workout reduces cortisol levels faster. Another study found that listening to music you enjoy reduces pain and stress and improves your heart rate variability (which is a sign of recovery), slows heart rate, and improves mood. And it might even improve blood flow and clear lactate after intense exercise. 

Add it all up, and about 15 to 20 minutes of the right music after a workout — even if you’re not doing any type of “cool down” exercises or movement — can help you transition from the amped state of your workout into a mindset and mood that prepares your body to heal.

The key is finding songs that are approximately 70 to 100 beats per minute — and making sure it’s music you enjoy. You can even do it on the commute after your workout, meaning less time in the gym and more time given to your body and mind for what it needs to recover. 

Together with HexClad 
The Real Issue With Oils

Seed oils are a popular target by those who suggest they are the foundation of health issues. But research on popular seed oils — such as canola oil — tells a different story. 

A review of 42 studies found that canola oil can improve your heart health. The scientists discovered that moderate amounts of canola oil significantly reduced total cholesterol, LDL cholesterol, and apolipoprotein B (Apo-B) compared to other oils. In other words, it can be cardioprotective as long as you don’t consume too much.

But that does not mean all oil is good. The poison is in the dose, and adjusting how you cook and prepare foods could improve your cardiovascular health.

Oils are easy to overeat, energy-dense (loaded with many calories), and tend to be found in many ultra-processed foods that lack nutritional benefits. So, if you eat a lot of oils, you can expect worse health outcomes because you’re eating many foods that aren’t great for your health.

Research consistently shows that people under-report their caloric intake, often by 20 to 50 percent. This under-reporting is especially common with calories from fats and cooking oils, which are easy to overlook. 

Studies reveal that people either underestimate the amount of oil they use or fail to account for it altogether, even though oils like olive, canola, or butter are dense in calories—roughly 120 calories per tablespoon.

Because oils blend into foods so seamlessly, it’s easy to forget they contribute significantly to the total calorie count. For many, this unintentional caloric amnesia comes from not realizing that something seemingly healthy, like drizzling olive oil to cook vegetables, can dramatically inflate the caloric content of a meal.

If you want to cut down on oils, the best approach might be better cookware.

HexClad is the first hybrid nonstick cookware designed for people like you—those who want to cook with less oil, more flavor, and zero clean-up hassle.

HexClad’s unique laser-etched non-stick surface means you can use less oil or butter when you cook, allowing you to create healthier meals without sacrificing taste or texture.

So whether you're searing, sautéing, or stir-frying, HexClad’s hybrid technology gives you the best of both worlds—nonstick ease combined with the high-heat power of stainless steel. Perfect for nutrient-dense meals.

With HexClad, you can elevate your cooking without compromising health or performance. As a member of the positive corner of the internet, you get a special discount on all HexClad products. Click here to access your discount and start upgrading your at-home cooking experience.

Nutrition
Can You Have A Healthy Heart And Eat Meat?

If you want to reduce your risk of heart disease and diabetes, you might wonder if you must cut out meat entirely.

A new study suggests that you don’t — as long as you’re focused on eating the right foods and not over-consuming saturated fat.

Scientists put participants on a five-week diet where one group consumed a plant-based diet without meat, and the other group followed a similar plan but added 6 ounces of meat per day. Then, the participants switched groups and tried the other diet (so those only eating plants added meat, and those eating meat shifted to plants). 

Both groups saw improvements in LDL and total cholesterol, fasting glucose, and insulin. While the vegetarian approach led to more improvements in all categories, the numbers were not statistically significant. 

Like most studies, the devil was in the details. Eating lean, unprocessed beef — and limiting how much was consumed — did not lead to adverse changes in cardiometabolic risk factors. 

While red meat is often viewed as problematic, the most recent study suggests how much you eat, the type of meat, and the rest of your diet determine your health outcomes. 

And maybe this shouldn’t come as a surprise. Eating more fiber (from plants), less saturated from animal proteins, and fewer overall calories consistently leads to better health outcomes. So, instead of thinking of red meat as a black-or-white proposition, it’s better to zoom out and look at your diet as a whole.

Research suggests that if you want to eat meat, you have a lower risk of health issues if most of your diet consists of whole foods, which means prioritizing fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, legumes, and whole grains.

And if you’re concerned, the best way to ensure you’re healthy is to take a blood test to see if your diet and lifestyle create risk.

For those who eat meat, the foods used in the study were not preserved by smoking, curing, or salting, and they contained less than 10 grams of total fat, 4.5 grams of saturated fat, and 95 milligrams of cholesterol per 100 grams per serving.

—

Publisher: Arnold Schwarzenegger​

Editors-in-chief: Adam Bornstein and Daniel Ketchell