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Today’s Health Upgrade

• Can a vitamin help prevent heart attacks?

• How sleep affects cravings (and what to do about it)

• Maximize your productivity

Health
Vitamin K2 Passed a Big Test. And Why It Still Might Not Matter

Walk down any supplement aisle, and you’ll see vitamin K2 sold as the nutrient that keeps calcium in your bones and out of your arteries. That pitch has been around for years, built on small studies and big promises. Now a new trial backs it up, but people are still twisting the results. 

In people with heart disease, two years of Vitamin K2 slowed calcium buildup in the arteries. But slowing a calcium score has never been shown to prevent heart attacks.

Researchers recruited adults with diagnosed, symptomatic coronary artery disease. Everyone already had a coronary calcium score between 50 and 400, which is mild-to-moderate plaque, and most were already taking a statin. 

For two years, half took 360 micrograms of MK-7 (a form of K2) daily, and half took a placebo. Blood tests confirmed the supplement was being absorbed.

Calcium scores rose in both groups, but those who took K2 had about 29% less build-up. That’s the good part, but that doesn’t mean K2 is a must-have.

A calcium score is a picture of plaque and can be incredibly helpful for heart attack risk, but it doesn't show overall heart health. 

Statins are the best example. They raise calcium scores while lowering heart attack risk. Research suggests statins turn soft, unstable plaque into harder, calcified plaque that's less likely to rupture.

If some calcification helps stabilize plaque, slowing it isn’t automatically good. It could help, do nothing, or even backfire. Nobody knows yet, because this study measured calcium, not heart attacks.

Vitamin K activates a protein (matrix Gla protein) that works like a bouncer, keeping calcium out of artery walls. When vitamin K is low, more calcium gets in. 

In this trial, K2 also reduced new calcium deposits in plaques that weren’t calcified at the start. If K2 mainly blocks new, scattered calcium deposits rather than the stabilizing kind, it could help. 

So should you take K2? Like most things, it’s best to consult your doctor, but a few variables can help you decide. 

If you take warfarin (Coumadin): don’t add K2 without your doctor. Vitamin K directly counteracts warfarin, and even small changes in intake can affect how well it works.

If you’ve had a calcium scan with a score in the 50 to 400 range: K2 is a fair question to bring to your cardiologist. 

If you want to protect your heart, the most proven methods are managing LDL cholesterol, keeping blood pressure in check, not smoking, and exercising regularly.

Together With Momentous 
Why Cravings Hit Harder After Bad Sleep (And 4 Ways To Stop Them)

A short night of sleep doesn’t only throw off your focus and energy. 

Sleep deprivation can shape your day’s food decisions before breakfast. 

In randomized trials on sleep restriction, people ate roughly 250 to 385 additional calories the following day. They also felt hungrier and didn’t burn enough extra energy to offset the increase.

Short sleep increases hunger and shifts your preferences toward sweeter, calorie-dense food. Because these changes are predictable, you can get ahead of them before cravings get strongest.

Sleep loss also appears to affect how your brain evaluates food. In a small brain-imaging study, a sleepless night reduced activity in regions involved in weighing decisions and increased the desire for high-calorie foods. The study measured food preferences rather than what people ate, but it helps explain why the choices that usually feel easy can require more effort after a rough night.

And it’s not just high-calorie foods. Your body also appears to crave more sugary options when you’re not getting enough rest but also the sugary stuff

However, if you know how your body responds to low sleep, you can plan ahead, outsmart your brain, and satisfy your body. 

Any time you don’t get enough rest, here’s your morning-after game plan. 

Lead with protein: Aim for roughly 30 to 40 grams at your first meal. Three eggs and a cup of Greek yogurt will get you close, or go with a high-quality protein shake for convenience. In one trial, a high-protein breakfast reduced cravings after shortened sleep. 

Make food decisions early: Choose lunch and snacks before the day gets busy and cravings get louder. A tired brain has a harder time evaluating rewarding foods in the moment.

Walk before deciding: A 15-minute brisk walk reduced urges for sugary snacks in a small crossover study. Those participants weren’t sleep-deprived, and the researchers measured cravings rather than food intake. Still, a walk can create some distance between the urge and the decision. If you’re hungry afterward, eat the meal or snack you planned.

Protect the next night: In a two-week randomized trial, habitual short sleepers who added about 1 hour of sleep ate roughly 270 fewer calories per day. We don’t know exactly how quickly cravings return to normal, but improving sleep is the best-supported way to turn down the effect.

These steps won’t cancel sleep loss. They give a tired brain fewer food decisions to negotiate until you’ve slept again.

“A high-quality protein shake” is the easy game plan. But you don’t need to be sleep-deprived to be easily deceived into buying a protein powder that looks good but doesn’t deliver. 

That’s the problem with protein powder. Two tubs can look the same and be completely different products. The label is the company grading its own homework, and you’re trusting that grade every day.

We hold protein to a standard: accurate labels, no dangerous levels of heavy metals, no banned substances, high-quality protein, no filters, no unnecessary calories, and investment in third-party certification. 

That’s why we use Momentous 100% Whey Protein Isolate and 100% Plant Protein. It’s NSF Certified for Sport. An independent lab confirms the label matches what’s in the tub and screens for contaminants like heavy metals and pesticides. It also tests production lots for 290 banned substances and audits the manufacturing facility. MLB and NHL clubs allow athletes to use only products that carry that mark.

Each scoop has 20 grams of protein in about 100 calories, plus a digestive enzyme blend and a short ingredient list. One or two scoops give you the protein you need without any cooking or prep. 

For something you put in your body every day, we don’t know you would ever take a protein powder that doesn’t invest in certification. 

Pump Club readers get 35% off their first subscription order with code PUMPCLUB (and a discount off your first one-time purchase). Click here to upgrade your protein.

Productivity
Only Got Three Hours of Real Work Done? That Might Not Be As Bad As It Seems

How often do you sit at your desk for nine hours, spend most of your days answering emails, communicating on Slack or Notion, taking calls and meetings, and only have two or three hours for “real work?” 

It’s easy to feel like you could get so much more done, but a classic study suggests your best work might be limited to a few hours per day.

Years ago, researchers had violin students keep a week-long diary of how they spent their time. These were people whose careers depended on concentrated practice.

Everyone's practice sessions ran about 80 minutes. What set the stronger players apart: about 3.5 hours of solo practice a day, clustered between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m., and roughly three times as much napping as the least-accomplished group.

A replication found something similar: the top players reported about 3 hours a day of concentrated work. And there was one twist: The best group practiced less than the merely good group. More hours didn’t separate them.

You’ve probably seen “science says you can only focus for four hours a day.” And two studies are just pieces of the puzzle. But most research, including new studies, finds similar outcomes. 

A few years ago, scientists found that six-plus hours of hard mental work left people with a chemical buildup in the brain’s self-control region and a pull toward easier choices. 

The likely reason for “less is more” is that short breaks restore energy even when they don’t immediately boost output. 

In one study, 141 companies cut about five hours a week without cutting pay, partly by trimming meetings. Overall, workers reported less burnout and fewer sleep problems.

You can’t control everything you do at work, but you can consolidate your deep work so you can do your best work, even with less time or only a few hours. 

Find your best stretch, which for many people is late morning, and protect one or two 60- to 90-minute blocks from meetings and messages. Do the shallow work around them, guilt-free. Count sleep, and a nap if your life allows one, as part of the job.

It might help to judge the day by what those blocks produced, not by all your obligations. 

The Positive Corner of The Internet
About Arnold’s Pump Club Editorial Standards

We do things a bit differently here, starting with transparency.

1. The Content: All APC emails are researched, written, and fact-checked by the APC editors (see bottom of the email), with written contributions from Arnold (noted with “Arnold’s Corner”). Links take you to original studies (not second-hand sources).

2. Does AI play a role? Not for the primary content, but we use it in two ways. The main items are original content written by the APC team. The summaries at the end are AI-generated based on the human-written content above. We also use an AI tool to edit and review our interpretations of the research, ensuring scientific accuracy. We don’t assume AI is right, but we use technology to hold ourselves accountable.

3. Yes, we have partners (all clearly noted by “Together With”). Why? Because it allows us to keep the APC emails free. We first test products, and then reach out to potential partners who offer ways to help you improve every day. The bar is set high, and to date, we have turned down millions in ad deals. (Example: we will not partner with any non-certified supplements or those without evidence in human trials). If we won’t buy the product, we won’t recommend it to you. And if there’s no evidence it works, then there’s no place for it here.

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Publisher: Arnold Schwarzenegger​

Editors-in-chief: Adam Bornstein and Daniel Ketchell