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Today’s Health Upgrade
The power of one vegetable
A depression breakthrough
Do you have a system failure?
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Health
Just One Vegetable A Day Goes A Long Way
Most adults know they don’t eat enough vegetables. But what if you only needed to start with one serving daily?
A new systematic review and meta-analysis found that cruciferous vegetables can help reduce your risk of multiple forms of cancer.
Researchers analyzed data from 226 studies of nearly 6 million people to determine how cruciferous vegetable consumption affects different cancers. While observational studies can only tell you so much (and are unreliable for cause and effect), you are left with some pretty good clues when using this much data.
The researchers grouped people by their vegetable intake and created four different tiers based on their weekly consumption: low intake (less than one serving), moderate (3–5 servings), and high (more than 4–7 servings).
The results showed that a higher intake was consistently associated with lower cancer risk. That’s not shocking, but you might be surprised that you don’t need to fill every meal with vegetables to help protect your health.
Based on this study, you can experience cancer protection from eating one serving of vegetables per day.
Vegetables appear to do the most to help fight gastrointestinal cancers, such as colorectal and stomach cancer, but the protective effects extended to lung and breast cancer as well.
Do we want you to eat more than one serving of vegetables daily? Of course. But that’s not the point. Too often, people make their goals unnecessarily difficult instead of starting with a change that can make a meaningful difference.
If you don’t eat many vegetables, the good news is that you’ll likely benefit if you start somewhere — even having three servings per week is better than none.
Cancer-fighting nutrients appear to be most closely tied to cruciferous vegetables. These vegetables contain potent compounds like sulforaphane and indole-3-carbinol, which have been shown to help detoxify carcinogens, protect your cells against DNA damage, fight inflammation, and offer some antiviral and antibacterial benefits.
If you want to add more vegetables to your diet, cruciferous vegetables include arugula, bok choy, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, cauliflower, kale, radishes, and watercress.
On Our Radar
A Breakthrough In Defeating Depression?
Depression is often framed as a chemical imbalance, but new research suggests something else might be at play.
Recent research suggests your mitochondria — the tiny powerhouses of your cells responsible for energy production — could play an essential role in improving mental health.
Scientists found that people with depression showed reduced mitochondrial function, meaning their brain cells weren’t producing energy as efficiently.
Mitochondrial dysfunction may contribute to depression by increasing oxidative stress and impairing overall brain function. Other research suggests a breakdown can be associated with higher inflammation, which has been implicated in mood disorders and cognitive decline.
If you’re looking to support both your mental and physical health, here are a few habits to boost mitochondrial function:
Resistance Training and Cardio: Movement, especially strength and aerobic exercise, stimulates mitochondrial growth and efficiency.
Sleep Quality: Deep, restorative sleep is critical for mitochondrial repair and brain health.
A Nutrient-Rich Diet: Foods rich in omega-3s, protein, antioxidants, and B vitamins (found in fish, leafy greens, and nuts) help protect your mitochondria from damage. And even creatine might help provide protection.
Adam’s Corner
The Underrated Dangers of System Failure
“I feel like I’m always on the wrong path.”
I stared at this email for five minutes at 3 am while feeding my three-month-old daughter. No one should try to comprehend anything at 3 am. However, I’ve seen some variation of this pain far too often, and I felt a need to respond.
It’s a terrible feeling when it seems like nothing works for you. After more than twenty years of helping people become healthier, it seems like that unsettling feeling has only increased, and now, millions feel like they are blocked from the road to better health.
The friction is real, and there’s a reason for the dramatic increase in health nomads.
You’ve been taught to believe that you’ll be on a good path once you find the right plan. But that’s a misdirection.
Author James Clear once wrote, “You do not rise to the level of your goals; you fall to the level of your systems.”
He’s right — but it’s not just about setting goals and building systems.
It’s understanding that many of us think we have a personal system when we’re really following a general plan.
Plans and systems are different. It might seem like a nitpicky differentiation between two similar words, but building a sound system is a competitive advantage that separates the right path from the wrong.
Dieting and nutrition are the perfect way to understand the difference between plans and systems.
If there’s one thing I know, it's that we’ll never stop seeing new diets. Some plans will be novel, while others will be something recycled (low-carb has been repackaged at least ten different ways). Some will be great and effective; others will be miserable and “effective.” (It can deliver results, but you’ll hate the process and likely abandon it.) And the sad majority will be a complete waste of your time, leading to burnout, anxiety, and more confusion. Another short-term solution that leads to more long-term frustration.
But for a moment, let’s assume any diet plan can work.
The success of the plan depends on the effectiveness of the system.
And this isn’t just for eating well — it’s the key to improving anything in life.
The plan is your approach. It’s what you do — whether the workouts you perform or the foods you eat. We give them labels and names like vegan and carnivore, HIIT, and functional fitness.
The plan is what you do.
The system is how you stay committed, identify your weaknesses, and build in methods to prevent you from being your own worst enemy.
It’s strategy vs. execution.
Many businesses have great ideas.
The ones that last and rise above the rest of masters of execution.
They have a system that makes them reliable and consistent. You can trust them to deliver.
Can you say the same about yourself?
We oftentimes blame the plan, but most of us have a compliance problem and a system filled with vulnerabilities.
I could give you the best plan in the world for you. Figure out the foods that will make you feel great, help you pinpoint how much sleep you need, tell you when to connect with your friends, and give you a workout plan that progresses so you’re getting better every week.
Yes, plans matter.
A bad plan followed flawlessly will still lead to an undesirable outcome.
However, if you don’t have a system in place to stay consistent, then the plan doesn’t matter. You will still fall short of your goals.
A good system can make a decent, underwhelming plan look great.
A bad system can make an incredible plan look ineffective.
Great plans are undone by errors, inconsistencies, and flaws that create tension and frustration, bend your will to make you feel bad about yourself, and — ultimately — convince you to quit.
We change our plans almost religiously, hoping that something novel will be what was missing all along.
So, the question becomes: When will you stop searching for new plans and start building better systems?
Most people avoid systems because they require you to confront your weaknesses.
You build an effective system by acknowledging where you will likely fail and make errors. Then, you can build habits and backup plans to help you limit or avoid mistakes.
There are many ways to create a system, but it helps to start by measuring your actions so you can better identify and understand your errors.
Let’s say you want to stick to a diet. Start by breaking down your plan into the components of each meal. Create a checklist of what you’re supposed to do, and then monitor how well you do it.
Maybe you’ll see that you don’t eat enough protein or avoid vegetables.
Maybe you can’t eat healthy at lunch, repeatedly skip breakfast, or abandon everything and eat endless calories on the weekend.
Once you can see the mistakes, that’s only the beginning.
Then, you must ask yourself why these errors happen.
It could be that the plan is a bad fit.
Or maybe some deeper emotional rift makes it harder for you to act the way you want.
Don’t judge yourself for your shortcomings; we all have them. But you only overcome them if you can look them in the eye, be honest that they exist, understand them, and then decide you’ve had enough and want to do something to change it.
Good systems don’t just identify what you’re supposed to do — that’s still planning.
Good systems acknowledge what you need to do differently to lead you to more success.
If you skip breakfast (and want to eat it), what system helps you make that meal happen?
If you overeat on the weekends repeatedly, what changes do you make to help you change that habit?
Before you abandon the plan, create the system. It will increase your awareness and provide a truth serum that might taste a little bitter.
If you view it as something that will make you better, it could be the change that finally makes you feel confident that you’re on the right path.
Adam Bornstein is Editor in Chief of Arnold’s Pump Club and the author of You Can’t Screw This Up.
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Publisher: Arnold Schwarzenegger
Editors-in-chief: Adam Bornstein and Daniel Ketchell
