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Today’s Health Upgrade
The fruit that strengthens your brain
The king of protein
Does zinc prevent the common cold?
Overrated/underrated
Arnold’s Podcast
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Nutrition
A Berry, Berry Good Brain Booster
You don’t need to eat expensive or exotic foods to give your body everything it needs. Even something like a common fruit can act like a superfood.
Recent research found that blueberries can improve your memory, focus, and heart health.
The scientists split participants into two groups: one took a placebo powder, and the other had blueberry powder. After just 12 weeks, the blueberry group had improved cardiovascular health, short memory, attention, and reaction time. Blueberries also appeared to lower blood pressure.
Another study found that eating 2 cups of blueberries daily can delay cognitive aging by nearly three years.
The benefits are likely due to anthocyanidins, polyphenols, and flavonoids—powerful nutrients in blueberries that help reduce inflammation and are associated with cognitive degeneration.
Research suggests that, at minimum, one cup of blueberries can benefit your brain and heart.
Together with Maui Nui
The King of Protein
If you want to upgrade your nutrition, three protein rules can help you feel better and live healthier.
Rule #1: Prioritize protein in every meal — it is the building block of every cell in your body, from your muscles to your hair, skin, and nails. Each day, aim for anywhere from 1.6 grams per kilogram to 2.2 grams per kilogram of your goal body weight or .6 to 1 gram of protein per pound of your goal body weight. (If you want to weigh 150 pounds, then you’d consume 90 to 150 grams of protein per day.)
Rule #2: Don’t stress when or how often you eat protein. Timing is less important than total protein.
Rule #3: Select high-quality proteins. If you eat animal protein, opt for versions with higher nutrient density, more protein, and less saturated fat.
If you want to level up your protein, Maui Nui Venison is the most delicious, tender, nutrient-dense meat on the planet.
Maui Nui Venison has 53 percent more protein to calorie than grass-fed beef, twice as many phytonutrients, more omega-3 fatty acids, brain-healthy choline, B vitamins, and antioxidants like Vitamin A and E. And they do it all with less than 1 gram of saturated fat, meaning it’s a heart-healthy way to enjoy red meat.
We fell in love with the company because of its ethical and environmentally friendly approach to managing the invasive species. By harvesting the venison, Maui Nui is healing the island of Maui while feeding its community. They’ve shared more than 153,000 pounds of meat, equivalent to 1 pound for everyone living in Maui.
Our go-to snack is venison jerky sticks, which pack 10 grams of protein and only 55 calories. You can also enjoy their lean cuts or ground beef, which is perfect for burgers.
However, supplies of this meat are limited. Maui Nui won't go beyond responsible population management. The best way to secure access to this protein is by grabbing a jerky membership. Check out Maui Nui and use the code “pumpclub”for 20% OFF your first order.
Health
Fact or Fiction: Does Zinc Prevent The Common Cold?
When everyone around you is sick, zinc might not be the best method of protection, but it could be helpful if you’re unable to dodge illness.
A recent meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials found that zinc does not help prevent your risk of getting a cold.
The analysis includes 34 studies that analyzed more than 8,000 men and women to determine if zinc played any role in reducing risk, duration, adverse events, or complications from a cold. And they tested as little as 45 mg and up to 300 mg per day.
Even though it doesn’t stop you from getting sick, that doesn’t mean zinc can’t help once a cold hits. It appears that zinc lozenges or sprays helped reduce the duration of a cold by about 2.5 days. But, based on how much zinc you take, it could cause an upset stomach.
The sweet spot for prevention — without the side effects — appears to be anywhere from 50 to 85 mg of zinc per day while you’re sick.
Supplements
Overrated Or Underrated: Glutamine
If you would turn back the clock 30 years, the supplement industry looked very different — and yet the promises all felt incredibly familiar. While today’s shelves are filled with the next generation of hype and hope, one supplement that has stood the test of time is glutamine.
However, despite its longevity, glutamine has repeatedly failed to live up to its hype as a recovery and muscle enhancer.
We can’t tell you how it has survived through so much undeniable research, but as far back as 2001, researchers concluded, “glutamine supplementation during resistance training has no significant effect on muscle performance, body composition or muscle protein degradation in young healthy adults.” Since then, there haven’t been any findings to challenge that verdict.
How did people get it so wrong? It was a matter of a theory that did not work out when tested on humans. On paper, if more glutamine gets into your muscle cell, then hypothetically, it can support muscular growth and recovery. However, your intestines and liver — which regulate distribution to the rest of your body — love glutamine and instead use it all to feed intestinal and immune cells.
So, it might come as no surprise that the real benefit of glutamine has nothing to do with how it’s sold or marketed. There’s evidence that glutamine supports immune function and gut health and could reduce infections after surgery.
The verdict: While it has some specific uses, glutamine is overrated and not worth your money if you use it as a performance, muscle-building, weight loss, or recovery supplement.
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Publisher: Arnold Schwarzenegger
Editors-in-chief: Adam Bornstein and Daniel Ketchell
