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Today’s Health Upgrade
The light diet
When you need to bounce back fast
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A drink that makes your baby smarter?
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Health
The Light Diet
What if your struggle to sleep, feel happy, or stay focused could be improved by getting more light in your life?
Research suggests that light exposure—from smartphones, LED bulbs, and natural sunlight—may have a bigger influence on well-being than you realize.
Researchers examined how different light behaviors impacted sleep quality, emotions, and cognitive performance. Participants completed five assessments measuring their light habits, mood, chronotype (morning vs. night preference), and issues with memory or concentration.
The researchers found that certain behaviors consistently made people feel worse, and others helped them thrive.
Not surprisingly, more screen time before bed, within an hour of sleeping, led to delayed circadian rhythm (they went to bed and woke up later), lower morning energy, poorer sleep quality, and memory and concentration problems.
Overall, scrolling before sleeping was associated with a 20 percent decrease in cognition. On the other hand, more time outdoors leads to a brighter mood and a more optimistic mindset.
The scientists found that increased sunlight exposure during the day led to a 33 percent improvement in positive mood, improved memory, earlier rise and sleep times, and fewer depressive symptoms.
It all comes back to your circadian rhythm — your internal clock that’s deeply influenced by light. Morning sunlight or mimicking it with smart bulbs helps “set” your clock and regulate hormones that affect sleep and mood.
The bottom line: People who spent more time outdoors and avoided screens before bed had better sleep, stronger memory, and a more positive mood.
Performance
When You Need To Bounce Back Fast
You just crushed a workout. But you want to train again the next day and still push hard. What’s your move?
Assuming you’re prioritizing sleep, a new review examined what helps you bounce back fastest when you have 24 hours or less to recover.
The scientists found that the right combination of carbs, protein, hydration, and a few key supplements can significantly speed up recovery, rebuild muscle, and improve your next performance.
Researchers broke recovery into four key categories: energy replenishment, muscle repair, hydration, and supplemental support. Here’s what they discovered:
Carbohydrates help (but timing and intensity matter)
Carbs replenish glycogen stores, your muscle’s primary energy source. This matters most for high-intensity exercise or workouts lasting more than 1.5 hours. If you’re not pushing the limit or training for longer durations, there’s less urgency and need for carbs.
The most significant glycogen resynthesis occurs in the first few hours after training, especially when consuming 1.0–1.2 grams of carbs per kilogram of body weight per hour. Fast-digesting carbs (like glucose or maltodextrin) can be particularly effective during this window.
Protein powers repair
The research supports 20–40 grams of high-quality protein, such as whey, post-exercise to rebuild muscle and promote a positive nitrogen balance. Co-ingesting protein with carbs helps muscle repair and may also enhance glycogen resynthesis, especially when carb intake is suboptimal.
Electrolytes can restore and rehydrate
Sweating during training depletes fluids and electrolytes. The review highlights the value of milk-based recovery drinks and electrolyte-enhanced solutions for rehydration.
Strategic supplements can tip the scale
Most supplements are over-hyped, over-priced, and lack research showing effectiveness. But that doesn’t mean all supplements are worthless. Here are the ones that can give your body a boost.
Creatine: Can support strength, muscle, and recovery.
Caffeine: Enhances performance in subsequent workouts and might aid recovery when co-ingested with carbs.
Omega-3s: Could reduce inflammation and muscle damage.
Sodium bicarbonate: Helps buffer acid buildup, potentially improving repeat high-intensity performance.
You don’t need a complicated plan — just a smart one. If you're training hard or frequently, prioritize at least 20 to 40 grams of carbs with at least 20 to 40 grams of protein within three to four hours after your workout. If you’re sweating a lot, drink water and possibly include electrolytes. And if you need supplements, creatine and caffeine are your top two choices.
On Our Radar
Can A Beverage Make Your Baby Smarter?
Most pregnancy advice focuses on what to avoid. However, new research suggests that one daily habit might benefit your child’s brain.
Drinking tea during pregnancy—especially in the second and third trimesters—was associated with better cognitive, fine motor, and gross motor development in children.
Researchers followed more than 1,400 mother-child pairs to see how tea and coffee consumption during pregnancy affected their children’s brain development by age 3. Mothers reported their tea and coffee habits across all three trimesters. At around 36 months, children completed the Bayley Scales of Infant and Toddler Development (BSID-III), a gold standard for evaluating cognitive, motor, and language skills.
Mothers who consistently drank tea throughout pregnancy had children with the highest cognitive and motor scores, even when compared to mothers who drank tea only in the first trimester.
Tea intake during the second and third trimesters was more strongly associated with improved child outcomes than early-pregnancy tea consumption.
Notably, coffee consumption showed no significant effect—positive or negative—on child development.
The researchers believe that tea’s natural compounds, like L-theanine and antioxidants, may support fetal brain development. These compounds might help by improving blood flow, reducing oxidative stress, or enhancing neurogenesis during critical developmental windows later in pregnancy.
That said, this was an observational study, so you can’t assume causation or draw too many conclusions. At the same time, the second and third trimesters are important windows for cognitive development, when the fetal brain undergoes rapid growth and synaptic refinement.
If you’re pregnant—or planning to be—moderate tea consumption (particularly green or black tea, in non-excessive amounts) during the later stages of pregnancy may offer brain-boosting benefits for your baby. But, make sure you discuss with your doctor, as most medical experts want to ensure you manage your overall caffeine intake.
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Publisher: Arnold Schwarzenegger
Editors-in-chief: Adam Bornstein and Daniel Ketchell
