Forever Chemicals Could Stay in Your Body For Years. But the Risk Isn't What Headlines Claim

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Today’s Health Upgrade

• Number you won’t forget

• Do you need to worry about forever chemicals?

• Weekly wisdom

• Why does change feel so hard? (And what can you do about it?)

Mental Health
Number You Won’t Forget 100

That group text you keep meaning to reply to? The coffee date you've rescheduled three times? The friend you haven't called in months because life got busy? Those delayed connections might matter more than you think.

The World Health Organization released a landmark report declaring loneliness a global health crisis, and the numbers are staggering: social disconnection is linked about 100 death per hour, or nearly 900,000 deaths annually worldwide.

The WHO Commission on Social Connection found that 1 in 6 people globally experience loneliness. But there’s more to that stat than feeling sad or disconnection. The association (not the cause) between loneliness and health is getting harder to ignore.

Decades of research show that people who lack strong social ties face a 32% higher risk of stroke and 29% higher risk of heart disease. Depression risk more than doubles. 

Meanwhile, those with meaningful connections have 50% better odds of survival compared to their isolated peers.

Why does feeling lonely affect your heart and brain? Chronic loneliness triggers sustained stress responses, such as elevated cortisol, increased inflammation, disrupted sleep. Your body stays in low-grade fight-or-flight mode, which wears down cardiovascular and immune function over time. The research also suggests that isolated individuals are less likely to maintain healthy habits when no one's watching or caring.

The fix isn't complicated, but it does require intention and work. Quality beats quantity here; deep conversations matter more than social media likes. If you need a place to start, here are a few ways to reboot your connections:

Upgrade one interaction this week. Turn a text exchange into a phone call, or a phone call into an in-person coffee.

Join something. A running club, book group, volunteer crew—shared activities build connection faster than forced small talk.

Schedule it like a workout. Social time tends to get crowded out by "more urgent" things. Put it on the calendar.

Your social life isn't separate from your health. It is your health.

Together With Our Place 
How Much Do You Need To Worry About Forever Chemicals?

The headlines about "forever chemicals" are designed to scare you. And while they deserve your attention, the actual research points to different concerns than the ones making news.

The strongest evidence links forever chemicals (such as PFAS) to metabolic problems, but the research isn't as definitive about cancer risk, especially at typical exposure levels.

PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances) are synthetic chemicals used in everything from nonstick cookware to food packaging to waterproof clothing. They're called "forever chemicals" because they don't break down naturally in the environment or in your body.

These chemicals accumulate in your blood and liver and interfere with how your body processes fats. Multiple meta-analyses consistently show PFAS exposure is associated with higher LDL cholesterol and elevated liver enzymes. An analysis of 29 studies confirmed these cholesterol associations across different populations.

Here's the tricky part: your body eliminates PFAS very slowly, but the speed depends on the specific compound. For the two most-studied types (PFOA and PFOS), half-lives range from about 2 to 5 years. That means if you have 10 units of PFOS in your body today, you might still have about 5 units two to five years from now, even with zero additional exposure.

For some compounds, full clearance could take 10 to 25 years. This makes PFAS a long-term issue, not an immediate emergency.

Most exposure comes from contaminated drinking water, food packaging (especially fast food wrappers and takeout containers), and nonstick cookware. People living near military bases, industrial sites, or areas with documented water contamination face significantly higher exposure.

Now, about those cancer headlines. Researchers found an 18% increased relative risk for kidney cancer in the general population. That's statistically significant but modest. The alarming numbers you've seen — 74% higher kidney cancer risk in high-exposure groups — appear only in occupational or contaminated-community populations, not typical households. Some studies also suggest roughly double the risk of testicular cancer at high exposure levels, though that finding hasn't yet reached firm statistical significance and needs more research.

For perspective: obesity increases kidney cancer risk by about 75 to 100 percent, depending on the study. Your weight, diet, and activity level still matter far more than typical PFAS exposure for most people.

There's also an assumption that all 14,000+ types of PFAS are equally dangerous. Most research focuses on only two compounds (PFOA and PFOS), which are already being phased out. We simply don't know enough about the others to make sweeping claims.

People in known contaminated areas, workers with occupational exposure (like firefighters), and those with existing metabolic problems such as fatty liver, high cholesterol, or insulin resistance are most at risk.

And it's important to remember: you can't eliminate exposure entirely. But you can meaningfully reduce it. 

If you're concerned about your water, install a filter certified for PFAS reduction (look for NSF or ANSI certification). Research shows people who cook at home have lower PFAS levels than frequent restaurant-goers, likely due to food packaging. And early research suggests that soluble dietary fiber (like oat beta-glucan or psyllium) may help your body eliminate PFAS more efficiently, but more research is needed before making strong recommendations.

One of the simplest swaps? Your cookware. Most nonstick pans contain PFAS, and scratched or overheated surfaces can release them directly into your food.

Our Place makes high-performance cookware free of PFAS and PTFE. Their Titanium Pro line uses pure titanium with no coating at all, so there’s nothing to scratch off in the first place. It's naturally nonstick, ultra-durable, and backed by a lifetime warranty.

If you want to try it: click here and use code APC for 10% off sitewide. They offer a 100-day risk-free trial with free shipping and returns, so you can test it without commitment.

The goal isn't perfection. It's making reasonable choices that lower your long-term exposure while the science continues to evolve.

Mindset
Weekly Wisdom 

You've been meaning to start for a while now.

But first, you need to figure out the right program. The one that matches your goals, your schedule, your equipment. You've bookmarked a few. Saved some videos. You'll compare them this weekend when you have time to really think it through.

And meal prep — you're going to do that too. Once you get the right containers. Once you find recipes that aren't boring. Once you clear out the pantry and do a proper grocery run. Maybe next week, when things settle down.

This isn't procrastination. It feels like preparation. Responsibility, even. You're not the type to half-ass things. If you're going to do this, you're going to do it right.

Except weeks pass. Then months. And "getting ready" starts to look a lot like "not starting."

Hemingway wasn't being modest. He was being honest. 

Hemingway knew that the path to something good runs directly through something bad. There is no shortcut around the awkward, clumsy, embarrassing beginning. You don't get to the final draft without surviving the first one.

The same is true for your body.

Your first week of workouts should feel awkward. You'll pick the wrong weights. You'll feel lost in the gym. Your meal prep will be bland, or you'll make too much, or you'll forget you made it and find sad containers in the back of your fridge on Thursday. This isn't failure. It's the first draft.

Here's what perfectionism gets wrong: it assumes that preparation leads to readiness. But readiness doesn't come from research. It comes from contact. You learn to exercise by struggle at the start. You figure out eating better by “wasting” a few meals. The information you actually need is only available after you start.

Turn Wisdom Into Action

The people who succeed aren't the ones who waited until conditions were perfect. They're the ones who got comfortable being bad at something for a while. They embraced the stumble. They stopped waiting for confidence and let competence build it for them.

Hemingway didn't write clean first drafts and neither will you. But he sat down anyway. Every day. And he made the mess that eventually became the masterpiece.

The question isn't whether your beginning will be messy. It will. The question is whether you'll let the mess stop you or teach you.

This week, commit to “The Ugly First Draft.”

Pick one thing you've been "preparing" to start — the workout routine, the meal prep, the morning walk, the sleep schedule — and do the worst possible version of it. Not the optimized version. Not the Instagram version. The version you can actually do today, with what you have, even if it's embarrassing.

Three rules:

1. No more research. You know enough. Start with what you've got.

2. No judgment. You're not allowed to evaluate the quality until you've done it five times.

3. No waiting for Monday. Today counts. Imperfect action taken now beats perfect action planned for later.

Write "first draft" somewhere you'll see it: your phone background, a sticky note on your mirror, the top of your workout log. Let it remind you: this is supposed to be rough. The rough part is the point.

You don't have to be good this week. You just have to begin. The edits come later. They always do.

Better Questions, Better Solutions
Actions Matter, But So Do Your Internal Beliefs

Old Question: Why does change feel so hard for me?

Better Question: What identity am I trying to grow into, and what's one action that person would take today?

Most people try to force change with rules, pressure, and white-knuckle motivation. But behavior doesn't start with discipline. It starts with identity.

When your actions contradict how you see yourself, change feels like fighting against yourself. When your actions confirm who you're becoming, change feels obvious.

This is what Arnold meant when he said the number of pushups doesn't matter nearly as much as what those pushups prove about who you are. The person wanted to take action, but labeling themselves as lazy would weigh them down and undermine even the best plan. 

Psychologists studying habit formation find that identity-based habits outlast outcome-based goals. Instead of focusing on what people want (lose weight, get fit), researchers examined who people believe they are or are becoming.

Small, repeatable actions work like "identity votes." Each action is evidence. When someone does the thing — even at a tiny scale — their self-image updates. And once identity shifts, consistency increases without constant motivation.

But here’s the thing: it’s even more powerful to think of yourself as the person you want to become, and then every act is support that strengthens that belief. 

If you think of yourself as someone who always quits or someone who is lazy, every missed workout feels like proof. But when you see yourself as "someone who trains," even a short, imperfect effort reinforces that identity and keeps momentum alive.

This is why Arnold's advice to start with 10 pushups and 10 squats works so well. It's not a workout. It's an identity signal.

If you want to change how you act, start by changing who you think you are. And then ask what the person you're becoming would do today, in under five minutes.

Not tomorrow. Not perfectly. Today. Then do the smallest version of that action. Consistently.

We tend to act in alignment with who you believe you are. And change doesn't start when motivation shows up. It starts the moment you create your new identity, and it continues with actions that turn that belief into reality. 

And that’s it for this week. Thank you for being part of the positive corner of the internet. Remember, you have endless opportunities to get better every day. Don’t overthink, do something, and repeat. Have a fantastic weekend!

-Arnold, Adam, and Daniel 

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Publisher: Arnold Schwarzenegger​

Editors-in-chief: Adam Bornstein and Daniel Ketchell