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Today’s Health Upgrade

• Number you won’t forget

• Weekly wisdom

• Let’s talk about dirty lettuce

Nutrition
Number You Won’t Forget: 6%

Beans get a lot of credit for being a great source of fiber (because they are). And they have a reputation as heart-healthy food (which is also accurate). 

But research suggests there might be an even bigger reason to sneak in the affordable food into your diet. 

Scientists found that people who ate the most legumes had about a 6% lower risk of dying from any cause than people who ate the least. And all you need to do is eat about a quarter cup per day to see the protection. 

We’ll be honest: a 6% reduction in risk of death might not seem like much. And it’s not. But there’s more to the behavior, and reason to pay attention.

Researchers reviewed 32 long-term studies, which included more than 1 million people, and examined how legume consumption corresponded to lifespan. People who ate a lot of legumes appeared to live longer. 

Specifically, every 50 grams of cooked legumes a day (a little more than a quarter-cup) was associated with a lower risk of death. 

This is observational, so it can't prove beans add years. And, based on other data, people who eat more of them usually eat more vegetables, move more, and smoke less — all of which are healthier behaviors linked with better mortality. 

You might be doing enough healthy behaviors and figure this doesn’t matter, but that would miss the point. Legumes are filled with fiber, plant protein, and resistant starch, which steady blood sugar and feed gut bacteria. 

When possible, finding changes that carry more weight can help you establish easily repeatable good habits that push you closer to your goals.

A finding like this isn't a message about death. It's about which habits are worth your time so you don’t major in the minor. 

The same things that make beans show up in a longevity study — more fiber, steadier blood sugar, better cholesterol, a well-fed gut — are things your body notices every week, not in fifty years. Longevity is just the receipt at the end for a lot of small, good decisions made along the way.

One food will not guarantee a longer life. But one good habit can lead to other good habits, and that’s how health works. And when something is this cheap, this easy, and this free of downside, the math works out well. 

Mindset 
Weekly Wisdom

You're not stalling. You're preparing.

That's how it feels, anyway. You listen to the episode about discipline. You take the assessment that tells you who you are. And you analyze morning routines, hunting for the one that’s best for you.

But how long have you been waiting and putting off the doing? How long have you been handing yourself reasons why you can’t do this or that? How quickly do you find excuses rather than accountability?

Waiting to feel ready is the most respectable form of procrastination there is. It looks like self-awareness. It uses the vocabulary of growth. And it can run indefinitely, because the thing you're waiting for doesn't show up in books or podcasts. 

What you’re missing is the thing you’re avoiding: action.

There's the person your actions have built so far, and there's the person your next actions will build. 

The problem was never that you haven't found your why. Yes, the why matters and can help.  The problem is that you're waiting for answers you can only get by doing.

Psychology long assumed that to change what you do, you first had to change how you think and feel.

Behavioral activation suggests that if you want to help people re-engage with activities that matter to them, then treat your mood as something that follows behavior rather than leads it.

We’ve worked with tens of thousands of people. And it’s rare for someone to think their way into wanting change and seeing change. 

Instead, we see people drag themselves through workouts they didn't want, and at some point, something shifts. The behavior stops feeling like a costume and starts feeling like part of who they are. 

The deception of "finding yourself” is that it puts the payoff before the work, when the work is the payoff mechanism.

Turn Wisdom Into Action

Pick one behavior that belongs to the person you want to be. Then, break it down into something that is doable even on your worst day. It can be 10 minutes of behavior, a walk, or an improvement in one meal.

These are the foundations of anchor habits. 

If you want to help it stick, make a list of the habits. And then check it off each time (we do this for you in the Pump Club app's habit builder). Or, just write the date, the habit, and the word, “Done.” Not how it went. Not how you felt about it. Just that you made it happen.

That's not motivation, and it’s not yet your personality. It's evidence, and that’s what you need to become the person you want. 

You don't have to become the person you want today. But you do have to do one thing that the person you're becoming would have done.

Fact or Fiction
Does Rinsing Protect Your Produce?

You've seen the lettuce headlines. And now, you're standing at the sink with a bag of greens, thinking maybe an extra rinse will keep you safe.

In most situations, the instinct is right. But using water to clean your lettuce is the wrong tool if you’re trying to remove cyclospora. 

Rinsing removes dirt, grit, and pesticide residue, and it lowers the general bacterial load that’s a cause of most foodborne illness. In general, water’s job is to dilute and remove. And for some foods, it is a great protective layer. For others, it doesn’t disinfect anything, and that distinction is why the contaminated lettuce is such a problem.

Researchers coated raspberries and blueberries with Cyclospora (the parasite behind this outbreak), along with two other parasites for comparison (Cryptosporidium and Giardia). They washed the fruit three ways: a one-minute rinse, a vinegar solution, and a swish followed by a salad spinner.

If you love blueberries, they come out clean. Every method took off more than 94% of the Cyclospora.

However, raspberries were a different story. A plain rinse pulled off about 35% of the Cyclospora, while stripping at least 80% of the other two parasites sitting on that same fruit. That's because raspberries are covered in tiny hairs and folds that a stream of water slides right past, and Cyclospora clings harder than the other two do.

The two swishing methods did far better on that same fruit: medians of 84% and 89%. The researchers couldn't say whether the vinegar or the hand agitation deserved the credit, and the two came out statistically even (which points to the swishing).

Texture decides how much comes off. Nobody has run this experiment on lettuce, so nobody can tell you what a rinse does to a leaf.

What we do know is that rinsing is a removal step, not a kill step. Nothing at the sink kills these parasites. In the lab, it took 15 minutes at 158°F to stop Cyclospora from ever becoming infectious.

If you’re worried, it’s helpful to put the threat into context: while none of us want a parasite, this is uncomfortable rather than dangerous for most people. The CDC has linked 1,644 illnesses across five states to shredded iceberg lettuce. Ninety-four people ended up in the hospital; nobody has died in this outbreak, and most healthy people recover without treatment. For the ones who need it, a standard antibiotic works.

If you're trying to avoid this bug, start with the outbreak itself: the CDC says skip shredded iceberg lettuce at Taco Bell in the five affected states. Everywhere else, swish your loose produce in a bowl instead of holding it under the tap. And when the meal allows it, or if you want to be certain, cook the greens at high heat to eliminate the risk.

And that’s it for this week. Thanks for being a part of the positive corner of the internet. And remember: don’t wait to make a change. Take action on any goal, don’t quit in the hard moments, and the results will come. Have a fantastic weekend!

-Arnold, Adam, and Daniel

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 it is used 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 review our interpretations of the research and ensure 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