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Today’s Health Upgrade
The coffee and cream study
An HIV blocker?
Foods are super
Friends don’t let friends…
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Health
Do You Like Your Sugar With Coffee And Cream?
With each passing study, it gets harder to deny that something about coffee unlocks better health. But if you love it sweet and creamy, you might cancel out its biggest benefits.
Drinking one to three cups of coffee per day was linked to a 15 percent lower risk of death, but only when it wasn’t loaded with sugar and fat.
Researchers tracked nearly 50,000 adults for up to 11 years. They wanted to understand how different coffee habits—including the use of added sugar and saturated fat—impacted the risk of all-cause, cardiovascular, and cancer-related death.
Participants were categorized by how much coffee they drank (from none to over 3 cups per day), whether it was caffeinated or decaf, and whether it contained more than 2.5 grams of sugar or 1 gram of saturated fat per 8-ounce serving.
People who drank black coffee improved their mortality. This adds to dozens of other studies suggesting coffee consumption — up to 4 cups per day — protects against some cancers, type 2 diabetes, heart disease, and Parkinson’s.
However, those who added more than half a teaspoon of sugar or more than 1 gram of saturated fat per cup (about one tablespoon of half-and-half or 3.5 tablespoons of whole milk) saw these benefits disappear.
We won’t tell you that you can only drink your coffee black because this study can’t determine cause and effect. But we will suggest being mindful of what you’re dumping in your coffee. A little bit of sugar or creamer is okay, but too much fundamentally changes what you’re drinking.
On Our Radar
The HIV Blocker?
We might be closer than ever to having a new way to fight against HIV.
Recent research suggests that a twice-yearly injection is 99 percent effective at preventing HIV infection in clinical trials.
Researchers conducted a two-part trial to understand the potential of the drug lenacapavir. First, they studied more than 5,300 HIV-negative adolescent girls and young women in South Africa and Uganda, populations where the risk of infection is high and adherence to daily medication is often a challenge.
Over the course of the trial, zero participants contracted HIV in the group receiving the drug, while in other groups, there were 54 infections. In the follow-up trial, it was 96 percent effective.
And through many clinical trials, the drug has repeatedly prevented HIV almost perfectly, which recently led to the FDA approving lenacapavir for the prevention of HIV.
The drug is a long-acting capsid inhibitor that blocks HIV at multiple stages of its lifecycle, making it one of the most potent and durable prevention tools we've seen.
The capsid is the protein shell that surrounds the genetic material of HIV. It plays a critical role in protecting the viral RNA, transporting it into the host cell’s nucleus, and helping the virus replicate and assemble new viral particles.
Lenacapavir works by binding to the HIV capsid and disrupting its structure and function. This prevents the virus from entering the cell nucleus efficiently, replicating its genetic material, and assembling properly into new infectious virus particles.
In short, lenapavir stops HIV from setting up shop in your cells and replicating.
While pill form exists, it’s not as effective, potentially because people are not consistently taking it daily. That’s why a single injection done once every six months could offer continuous protection without daily dosing.
A long-acting HIV prevention shot like lenacapavir could dramatically reduce infections, especially in high-risk populations where taking a daily pill isn't realistic. The simplicity of two injections a year could be the breakthrough needed for better global protection.
Foods Are Super
Oatmeal: The Cholesterol Crusher
Because you don’t need expensive superfoods to be super healthy.
Don’t let the simplicity fool you. Oats are loaded with beta-glucan, a special fiber that supports heart health, digestion, and blood sugar control. One bowl can help you feel full longer and improve cholesterol levels by up to 10 percent. Now that’s a super start to your day.
Fitness
Friends Don’t Let Friends: Chase Soreness
Screenshot and share with a friend who needs to hear it.
And for those who love the studies we share, here it is.
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Publisher: Arnold Schwarzenegger
Editors-in-chief: Adam Bornstein and Daniel Ketchell
